Yes...we are still alive :)

A sweet friend of mine sent me a text today saying, "it has been a month since you updated your blog, is everything ok?"  (I still owe you a text back Steph!)  So if you are reading this, I love you!  I can't believe that anyone is still coming back here after I have been gone so long!  :)

Yes, we are OK.  A lot has stayed the same, some has changed this past month or so.  As I posted in my last post, I have seriously changed my perspective on things.  Right now that means less scrapbooking and more growing closer to God.  I am involved in two Bible Studies (one that DH and I host here on Wednesday nights) and the other a more intense study on Thursday mornings.  I am trying to be much more dedicated to my studies.  I will admit, way too often I would treat it as something to "get done", check it off my list.  I am spending more time praying before and after and researching passages I don't understand.  The other change is that I have added more volunteer work to my schedule.  We have been so incredibly blessed and I HAVE to give back.  It is not an option.  I really feel this is why God gave me the opportunity to stay home.  When my girls were little, it was to raise them and play with them and care for them.  Now, I have time to care for others.

As for my awesome family, things are busy as usual but that is nothing new.  K made her middle school soccer team.  Have to say I am so very proud of her.  She set a goal for herself and worked her tail off to achieve it.  The thing that I am the most proud of though is that she didn't give up. She tried out last year and didn't make the team.  Most middle school girls I know would have given up there but she just trained harder, attending two extra practices a week for her travel team so she could get better.  She is an amazing girl.  It sure does make her a busy girl though.  School practice 5 nights a week (two of those nights she goes straight from there to her team practice) and then games on weekends.

L is still as excited about gymnastics as ever.  She has added an additional day to her schedule not because she is trying to work herself to death learning new skills but just because she loves being at the gym.  You would think, with all that practice she would be tumbled out but she just continues when she gets home.  :)  She is a happy chica now that we have the trampoline up. :)  She has also breezed through adapting to middle school.  Her grades are phenomenal, she has made so many new friends and actually likes school for the most part.  I really think that if they started at 10 or 11 AM she would love it.  :)

Both girls are also still actively involved in their youth group.  We are so incredibly lucky to have such an amazing youth program and church.  Both girls are also going to be in the spring play again. Thankfully small parts or I don't know where we would fit it in our schedule.

Gearing up for this next week, as we prepare for DH to have surgery on his hip.  I am praying that his recovery is quick and as close to painless as possible.  He is an active guy and laying around is going to be hard for him.  Please keep him in your prayers.

So, as I stated I am scrapbooking much less but I have found a way to use my skills and talents nonetheless. I am going to be donating a lot of my old supplies to an assisted living facility that I have become involved with, as well as doing some card classes with the elderly women there.  Can't wait to get that started.

I haven't completely stopped scrapbooking for though.  I am still designing for Emma's Paperie.  Seriously, the best opportunity that has ever been given to me.  I adore Cindy and she is the best to work for!  I thought I would share a few of my projects I have done for her lately. As always you can find supply lists for all my projects on her blog along with a ton of amazing inspiration from the other team members.

And a fun card I created using the Silhouette I got for Christmas.  Love it!

Hmmm...guess I have had a thing for red titles lately huh? LOL  Thanks so much for stopping by.  I hope you have a wonderful weekend and I am so thankful for you!

A month really???

Hi everyone!

I can't believe it has been a month since I posted anything.  As I posted in a previous post, God has really been working on me lately (in a good way!)  I have had to stop and reevaluate my priorities.  This had all started before Christmas and then I started a new Bible Study on Nehemiah by Kelly Minter. WOW, it has really made me think about who or what I need to focus my life around.  I have started doing more volunteer work and spending more time with God.  It has been really good.

Thank you to those sweet followers of mine that have let me know I am missed here.  I can't tell you how much your messages meant to me.  Things have been pretty normal as far as the family is concerned.  We actually had to attend Freshmen Orientation for K! I am soooo NOT ready for this. Don't get me wrong, SHE is ready, I am not.  She is excited about the classes she is going to take and so on top of things that I am not worried about her in the least.  Seeing her class choices makes her scrapbooking/former teacher mom happy. :)  In her 4 year plan she has 2 photography classes and classes to prepare her for the field of elementary education.  We have had lots of talks though about how I in no way want her to go into education for me.  I am really trying to emphasize that she needs to keep an open mind about her classes and future but I do think she would be a fabulous teacher.

L is still tumbling and flipping all over the place.  She has added more time at the gym for no other reason than she is so very happy there. :) She has been under the weather this weekend though.  I actually let her sleep in this morning and took her to school late. She has been coughing so bad that she can't sleep.  Last night was better than Saturday night but she was still up from 3:30 until 5:45.  I didn't have it in my heart to get her up at 6:15 to get ready for school.

DH is doing alright but feeling the effects of aging. :)  He has been told that he is going to need a hip replacement.  It is an inherited problem that was probably made worse by all of his years of playing hockey and our water skiing years before we had kids.  It hasn't slowed him down from hockey though.  He is still one of the number one scorers on his team, most who are quite a bit younger than him.

As for me, like I said, I am still involved in Bible Study and volunteering.  Really looking forward to start working in the schools just north of here.  I am going to get to mentor students who are struggling academically or just need some extra one on one with an adult.  I can't wait!  I am also still doing some scrapbooking, just not as much.  I adore designing for Emma's Paperie and will hold onto that position for as long as Cindy will have me.  :)  I am still also designing for Crafts N' Things magazine and Challenge Me Happy.

Speaking of Challenge Me Happy, there is a new challenge up and this was a fun one.  The theme was Typography.  I found the coolest Coca Cola ad on Pinterest that I used as inspiration.  Here is the ad:

And here is the layout I did for the challenge. 

There is still time if you want to join us in this fun challenge and there is a cool prize as well.  Hop on over to Challenge Me Happy for the details.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a wonderful week!!!

You & Me

Happy Monday everyone!

Hope you all had a good weekend. Ours was uneventful and relaxing. The girls had soccer, gymnastics and then had friends over on Saturday. We spent Sunday going to church, running errands, working on homework and soccer.  K got some great news at practice. Her team did so well last season that they are going to be moving up a division AND were invited to play in a huge tournament here in Indiana. Such great news for these wonderful girls. They have worked hard for this!

As I mentioned in an earlier post, my sweet DH got me a Silhouette Cameo for Christmas ( I may have hinted a bit) :) I am having so much playing with it and creating new files to use on my projects.  I created this layout for the color challenge at Emma's Paperie.  Gorgeous colors aren't they?

This is the layout I created about my sweet girls. They really are still the best of friends. I can only pray that they stay that way for years to come. 

 I used my Cameo to create the Chevrons and title. I have loaded the Cheron file here and the You & Me file here.  They are free to anyone who would like to use them.  I just ask that you please give me credit and link them back to here. THANKS!  All other supplies can be found on the Emma's Paperie Blog.

Hope you have a very blessed week!  Thanks for stopping by!

A Recipe for Disaster

Haha, anytime my brother is involved, it is a recipe for disaster! LOL Just kidding, sort of. :)

So, if you read my blog at all, you know that a few months ago we were fortunate enough to all be at my parents house at the same time.  My dad was having surgery and we wanted to all be there for him. My brother has been stationed in Hawaii for almost 3 years and we have not seen him in quite a long time.  He doesn't have any kids of his own but definitely enjoys spending time picking on my girls.  During our photo shoot, I got some great candid photos of the three of them messing around. :)  

I created this layout for the current challenge over at Challenge Me Happy.  The challenge this time around is a recipe challenge. (Get it, my blog entry title, hahaha) OK, so maybe it's not that funny. LOL  So here is the recipe, use the following on a layout:

* a quote*stamping* bird/s*arrows* brads 

Here is what I came up with:

We would love to have you join us in the challenge. All entries are due by January 15, New Zeland time (GMT +13 hours). We are giving away some yummy Zva Creative product to the winner this week!

Have a fabulous week!

A New Beginning

Happy 2013 everyone!

It has been a while since I really posted.  Things have been so busy. The girls went back to school today and  the quiet is comforting and eerie at the same time.  I do miss them already but I am looking forward to getting some things done today.  The first being getting back to posting here regularly.

What a wonderful holiday season we had.  We spent Christmas with my in-laws. Sadly I didn't get pictures of everyone because my sweet niece and my brother-in-law were sick. We ended up opening presents in shifts.  The girls made clay recipe card holders for all the women in the family and ornaments for the men.

My girls are getting to an age where buying them Christmas gifts is getting hard.  Neither of them really care a ton about clothes, they don't play video games much and when they do it is usually on their iPod touches and the games they usually download games that are free.  They don't beg or ask for much.  It makes Christmas shopping tough.  DH came up with a wonderful gift idea for them this year.  We were able to get them new Colts jerseys for a great price and then put an envelope below the jerseys. In the envelope were 4 tickets to the December 30th game.  

This is not a posed photo, no... she wore her jersey over her Christmas sweater and skirt for a good part of the day. :)

Lots of games and good food followed. :)

We were home long enough to unpack Christmas presents and then we headed to Indy for the game.  L kept repeating, "This is the BEST Christmas present ever!"  I think the present was a hit! :)

I have been enjoying one of my Christmas presents too. My sweet DH got me a Silhouette Cameo. I am one happy mama! :)  I have spent some time playing with it and have not completely figured it out yet but I have created a few files I am really happy with.  I am using one of them on a layout I am creating for Emma's.  Here is a link to the file I am using today, hopefully this works. :)  You can find it here. I can't share the layout yet but I will when I can. I am still having a lot of problems with the knife tool on the Silhouette. If you can help me, please send me an e-mail! :)

Since we are on a football theme, I thought I would share this layout I created for Emma's Paperie spotlighting Basic Grey. 

You can find the supply list here. 

Have a wonderful week and I will be back soon!

Merry Christmas!

Hope your holidays are blessed and happy.  Merry Christmas everyone!

Hugs,
Lisa

Christmas hats and bows

Hey everyone! 

Sorry I have been MIA, Christmas gets a bit crazy busy around here.  I am happy to say that I we are done Christmas shopping, have a the house decorated, school play, piano recital and choir concert under our belt. I like the feeling of being able to relax until Christmas.  

Have done a few layouts of my sweet L lately.  Will definitely have to do a few catch up layouts for K to make it even. :)

This first layout was inspired by these adorable tags by Elle's Studio.

I created this second layout for Emma's Paperie.  You can find all the supplies on the Emma's blog.

Hope you have a fabulous, relaxing week.  Thanks for stopping by!