Valentine Minis

I've recently had a burst of creative energy. And just in time for Valentine's Day! I've had a Summer Mini Album in my mind for some time now (more on that soon), and these 2 Valentine minis were taken from this tutorial. I LOVE Ali Edwards! Her designs are wonderful and simple, and I actually use many of her journaling spots and overlays in my projects. By the way, Designer Digitals is having a fantastic sale on right now until midnight Tuesday. Check it out.

So, I made these 2 mini albums out of felt and paper. I have wanted to do a little felt book for ages, and now was just the perfect time! The first one I made for my parents and the second one I made for my sweetheart, Andy. It was very simple with Ali's free download and her fantastic instructions.











I also used this die to make valentines to hand out to some family and friends and it was a big hit! I borrowed the die from a friend, but will have to get my own because I know I will make good use of it. I can see thank yous and birthdays and favors and special holidays celebrated with this box and a handful of candies. It is SO adorable! I wish I took a picture of one of the ones I made, but they were gone fast! I will post another picture another time.

I hope your Valentine's Day was a lovely one!

First Pic and a Little Wave

Well, we had our first look at this wee babe just yesterday. Very exciting. Not very exciting was the long wait I had to endure with a very full bladder! I think the baby looks like a girl. Or a boy. Or a girl. Or a boy. Yes, you got it, we are NOT finding out the sex. We are looking forward to the surprise. And how cute is this little wave? I think baby is actually rubbing his/her eye, but it sure looks like a little, "Hello Mama! Hello Pappy!" to us! If you recall, Baby #1 aka Otto, gave us an "I Love You" sign in his little video clip here, so this baby had a standard to live up to. This baby is also measuring big for our dates, so it's possible that I'm farther along than we thought!

One Little Word

Hello again everyone (does anyone even read here anymore?!) Yes, it's been some time since I last posted. Let's see.... excuses:

1. I'm pregnant and tired. Lots of naps when Otto naps.
   
2. I have a busy little boy running around all the time. [How do people get anything done with more than one?!!! Maybe my next one will sit still more? Ah, who wants a sedentary child anyway?]
3. I lead a pretty boring life and I haven't done any post-worthy crafts of late.
4. We were all sick on and off through December and a bad cold for me this past week.

I "follow" several blogs by some inspirational ladies who scrapbook and/or craft. They have kids. I honestly don't know where they find the time. I suppose most of them probably have some child-care and/or cleaning help.

So, this issue of TIME has got me thinking. For several years now, I have been familiar with an idea that Ali Edwards set out regarding choosing one word to live by/remember/focus on to help enrich your life through the year. I've often thought it's a nice idea, but with all the thoughts and ideas in my head, I could never narrow it down to just one word. This year is going to be different. I pored over the comments in Ali's blog post about her word, which you can read here, and I wrote down some of my thoughts and some words that were coming to my mind.

My process went a little like this:

• first word: ENJOY. I want to enjoy each moment this year and concentrate on making my time and efforts enjoyable. But this word wasn't quite it.
• second word: TIME. Heaven knows I need more of it... or maybe I just need to learn to manage my time better and use my time for things that are most important. This still wasn't quite right.
• third word: BETTER. I'm constantly thinking to myself and saying in my prayers that I want to be a better mother, wife, daughter, sister, friend, etc. But I think that is always going to be a goal I will constantly be working at.
• fourth word: LISTEN. Stop and listen for what is really important. Listen more to those around me. But that's still not right.

Then, I found it and it spoke to me and I just can't get it out of my head.

focus

My main idea: to focus on what is important in the moment. Focus on not procrastinating. Focus on who is important in my life. Focus on things I want to accomplish - unfinished projects, scrapbooking ideas in my head, sewing, etc. Focus on feeding my family better. Focus on my personal spirituality, which has been seriously lacking of late. If I can only remember to focus, my hope is that my life will be enriched by my more focused choices in the use of my time.

I'm really excited about this and especially excited that I actually have a word this year! I will also follow along in Ali's new class for her prompts to help me keep my one little word in "focus" throughout each month this year. She will be sending out prompts only once a month, which I think will be easy to handle. Join the class yourself and see how your one little word can change your life this year!

Read more about Ali's One Little Word here, here, and here.

Pining

Did we skip right from summer to winter? I miss warmer days.

I Got You, You Got Me

It would seem that we have a budding rock star in the family. Check out my 5 year old niece, Kaiomhe. Singing and playing her own composition. Awesome. I think my favorite part is the very extended ending, with a few extra strums thrown in for good measure. Now that's talent!

Monster Beetle Baby

Maybe it's a cop-out, but sometimes I love using large photos on a LO! It definitely makes a statement, and it can help keep embellishments simple.

Summertime Fun

Hence, the lack of blog posting. We are too busy trying to enjoy the nice weather amidst continuing to keep on top of our everyday existence.

Fun things about Otto right now (at 14 months):

>he can't just walk anywhere, he needs to run.
>he spends a lot of time in the front entryway, circling around his shoes, laying them in different positions in order to try to get them on his feet. then he gets out Mama's shoes and tries to get those on too.
>he still has a great love for books and will sit for great lengths of time flipping through books by himself, or being read to
>he started associating a picture of a lion in one of his books with growling. So now we ask him what a lion says and he does this cute little growl in his throat. Sometimes I hear him in the living room, growling away and I know that he's got that book out.
>when asked where his noes is, he exhales loudly out of his nose. pretty cute.
>will do the actions to "Rain is falling down" song we sing.... if you're lucky. Only a few people have actually witnessed this. Apparently he does not perform for an audience.
>loves to help Mama, especially if it is getting produce from the garden.
>absolutely LOVES the spray park. This kid has no fear going head-first into the biggest sprays. Won't stop for anything (I practically have to tie him down to stop for a snack/bottle!)

I hope you are all having a fun summer, even if it means that you are away from your computer for long bouts of time! Enjoy what is out there!