Up and Around Again...

Today was my first day out of bed for most of the day. I had surgery on Tuesday and have been sleeping quite a bit. I am happy to be up and about more today. I even sat at my dining room table and worked on one if my albums today.

I have been wanting to finish the album
from our youth mission trip last summer. We went to Warfield, Kentucky to make homes warmer, safer, and drier as part of A.S.P. (Appalachia Service Project)
Learn more about it here.
Also, my friend Carol Wilson stopped by and delivered a little sunshine with these bright yellow tulips. Just the thing to help me on the road to recovery.

More Scrap Challenges...

I went to a crop this past Saturday to benefit the Midland School. This was my third year going and it is one of my favorite crops. It is really well run with great table space, good food, good vendors, and lots of prizes and ticket auctions. So it is always a great day with friends and playing with pictures and paper.This year before going I had searched online for some challenges and this is what I came up with. It was a great way to get me inspired again and back into scrapbooking. I forgot how much I missed it. So I got about eight pages done for the day, but had loads of fun looking at everyone else's stuff too.Here are some of the ones I did Saturday that were for challenges (I apologize for the bad photos, I didn't have time to scan & stitch them today. Plus its snowing outside so I had to take all inside photos.):This was a four photo challenge from the S.W.A.T blog The only requirement was four photos...This was a Keep Calm layout challenge that I thought was perfect for these first pictures of my son Caleb driving on his permit. This was a blog challenge on Grand Diva's Creative Corner: Loved this idea!This one is a sketch challenge...I always love sketches.Check out her blog and awesome sketch here at Scrappin' n' Happy. These last two were for sketches from this blog, Sketch Much? You could pick any two sketches.I hope I can keep the creative mojo going. It is great to be inspired again.

Scrap Challenges

I went to a crop last month & although I made some great pages, I was feeling uninspired. So knowing that I am going to another crop in a few weeks I decided to look for some scrap challenges with deadlines at the end of the month. I haven't done anything like this in years. I used to love challenges and some of the pages they inspired me to make are among my all time favorites. So I started searching the internet and found a bunch of fum challenges on blogs and websites. I typed up a list and started getting ready. Just the process of doing this got my mojo going again and I couldn't wait to get started. So here is my first challenge inspired layout...watch for more to come soon! This is for a challenge I found on Rochelle Spears blog: It was a color challenge & I thought it worked well with these pictures of Kailey's 8th grade graduation. Thanks for the inspiration...now off to find more challenges.

Wow...It has been a long long time.

I never seem to make the time to keep up with my blog. It has been years since my last post. Recently, I have been organizing my craft room and getting back into scrapbooking again. I didn't realize how much I had missed my creative outlet. Getting back into that made me think about my blog. So here I am. Hopefully it won't be years until my next post.

Help Make A Difference...

I have had such a busy year and one thing that fell by the wayside was this blog.

It seems like this week is the week to catch up on some of the things I haven't found the time for in a long time.



Right now I am busy supporting my 12 year old daughter Rachel raise money for Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) she was diagnosed this past April.
Pain in her side sent her to the ER where tests revealed cysts throughout both kidneys. So after many tests and doctors visits we are still learning about PKD and how it will impact her life.

PKD is one of the most common life-threatening genetic diseases, affecting 600,000 Americans and 12.5 million people worldwide.In fact, it affects more people than Down syndrome, cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, and sickle cell anemia --combined! Still, few people know about it. There is no treatment and no cure... YET.

We are walking to change that.

Rachel learned about the PKD foundation and decided she wanted to become involved & take an active role in raising money and awareness. At Rachel's request I set up a team & we are participating in the Walk for PKD – the Foundation’s signature fundraising event. She has set a challenging personal goal of $1500 and a $3000 team goal to raise money to fund vital patient education and research into a treatment and a cure. Let's help her get there!

You can check out her page here


We are getting a team together and walking for a cure on:
Mercer County Park
West Picnic Area
1638 Old Trenton Road
Princeton Junction, NJ 08550
Registration: 10:00 AM
Penny Kid's Dash: 10:45 AM
Walk Starts: 11:00 AM
Walk Distance: 1.5 or 3 Miles

Together, we can make a real difference.

You can make a secure donation online by simply clicking the links at the bottom of this message. Whatever you can give will make an impact - no donation is too small! I truly appreciate your support and will keep you posted on our team's progress.
If you are inerested in walking please join our team "Ray's Kidney Beans"...we would love to have a huge crowd at the event! Rachel is working on designing a team t-shirt and plans to give one to all her team members.

Thank you for helping us find a cure for PKD!

Happy New Year!!

I can hardly believe I haven't blogged in over a month. I have been very busy with my coaching business, family, the holidays, and just life in general.

2008 was a great year and I am looking forward to more adventures in 2009!

I am not much for New Year's resolutions, but I think maybe I will make one little one to blog more often...lol...but you know how most resolutions go.

I hope you all are doing well and wish you a fabulous 2009!!

My Upcoming Book Study

As most of you know I have started my own coaching business. I am enjoying my course work and busy getting my coaching hours. This is part of the Academy for Coaching Excellence certification program I am enrolled in. You can check out my coaching website here.

I have noticed that in these tough economic times many of my friends and family have expressed negative feelings or fear around money. In response to these concerns I am offering a book study on Maria Nemeth's book, The Energy of Money. In this course you will build a powerful relationship with money, blending spiritual and practical techniques. The course will be offered as a telecourse, making it easily available to most people. See the flyer below for details. Please spread the word among your friends and family. The principles covered in this book are useful to all of us. Also, a diverse group makes for an even more interesting course.

Thanks to all of you.

I hope you will join me.

Let me know if you are interested or would like more information.

I will post more later on some scrapbook projects I am working on.

Twilight Midnight Madness

I have been on a mission to find a book that would hook my 11 year old daughter who is dyslexic enough to have her want to read for pleasure. When someone has a learning difference it can sometimes be difficult to get them to develop a love for reading. So when I heard about the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer I thought I should give it a try.


I went out and bought the first book, Twilight. I decided that since it was a teen book I should read it first to be sure it was appropriate. Well, once I started I couldn't stop reading until I finished the book in under three days. It was just such a fun read. I handed it over to Rachel and it was the most amazing thing ...my little girl who has always struggled with reading got sucked in to the story and was reading every chance she got. This is no little book. It is about 500 pages. She was so thrilled to tell me what part she was on and report how many pages she had read. What a transformation!

I knew the movie was coming out soon and this gave me an idea. I would offer to take both girls to the midnight showing on the release day as a reward for finishing the book. Rachel finished in plenty of time and handed the book off to Kailey who was able to finish it just hours before the movie was released.

Last night, or technically first thing this morning we headed over to the theater. Kailey, Rachel, and I were surprised by how many people were there. We arrived at 11:15PM and we had to search for a place for us all to sit together. More than half of the people there were wearing Twilight t-shirts.

Everyone in the theater was excited and it reminded me a bit of going to see Rocky Horror Picture Show as a kid...minus the water guns and toast. People were rowdy, laughing, clapping, and generally having a good time.

The movie was a bit of a disappointment as is often the case when seeing a movie made of a book you love. The characters rarely live up to what your imagination has created.

What was so fun and fabulous about the whole experience was hearing my girls discussing the book as compared to the movie. Hearing their obvious enjoyment of reading. I loved that they thought it was so special and cool to be out late at night with their mom. I hope they remember this for a long time...I know I will.

How well do you think you know me...

Debbie, a friend of mine who was tagged by Kim, also a friend and one of Crop Addict's Creative Team members, tagged me.

Even though we've all been tagged several times this year, I think it is always fun to find out a few more things about our friends.

Here are the 7 things you may not know about me:

1) I recently started my own business and I am in the process of becoming certified as a professional Life Coach. You can find out more about it on my website...Grace Coaching and Consulting.

2) I really dislike watermelon. Something about the texture is just yucky to me. Although I love watermelon flavored things. One of my favorites are Watermelon Jolly Ranchers.

3) I have the most romantic husband ever. A few times of month we have date night and he cooks gourmet meals for me. He has been teaching himself to cook and it has been so much fun.
My favorite recipe so far was the scallops with roasted corn salsa...yummy!!

4) Clutter is attracted to me. I love a neat and organized house and I am constantly trying to keep it neat and everything in its place. Yet clutter still seems to find me every time. Recently I have learned to be more peaceful about it.

5) I won a poetry contest when I was 10 years old. The poem was published in the local paper and I received a $50 savings bond. Even now 30 years later I think that is pretty cool...lol.

6) I am an amateur face painter. I taught myself a few years ago so I could work at a street fair for my Rotary Club to raise money for flood victims in the town of Bound Brook, New Jersey. I really love it and have considered doing kids parties for extra money.

7) I have a dream to own a home in Costa Rica. I participated and also lead a number of mission trips there. We worked in the rain forest, fishing villages, and an orphanage. While I was there I fell in love with the country and the people there.

So now, onto 7 more people to share 7 things about themselves...Sorry if you have been recently tagged as well...but here it goes...

Gabi

Morgan

Jenn

Jennifer & Amy

Carla

Nicole

Can't wait to see what 7 things you all share!!

Boo!!

I know it has been a long time since I have posted anything on my blog. I have been a bad bad blogger. Usually though that means I am way to busy with fun stuff in my life to even put anything up here. So I guess that is not such a bad thing.

Well anyway...so sorry...here are some Halloween pictures of the kids.

We had a fabulous time and the kids got way too much candy as always.

That is Caleb on the left and Connor on the right

Rachel lying dead on the sidewalk. Our very own zombie prom queen. I had so much fun with the make-up. The wound is a toilet paper glued to her face and painted. Totally cool.

Just had to throw in the close-up. I was so amazed at hopw well this came out. Really super creepy I thought.


Kailey is Rachel's first victim...you know zombies love to bite people.



Kailey was the prettiest prisoner on the block.

Our gang with two friends ready to go out and collect the loot. Kim, Alexandra, Rachel, Kailey, Caleb, and Connor.

Dancing my way into my skinny jeans!

OK I have decided to try a new approach to exercise. Don't laugh...but I am dancing my way to better fitness. I have traditionally been treadmill girl, but the results just haven't been what i was looking for, plus I hated every minute of it.

So one day while playing on the XBOX 360 with the girls we decided to throw in Dance Dance Revolution. The next thing I knew two hours had gone by & I was a sweaty mess. It was super fun.

So pretty much everyday for the last month I have been getting up early to dance. Since it is a game I keep wanting to beat another level or my last score or whatever the challenge is. So the hour just flies by. The best part is I am losing weight...woo hoo.

So you may laugh, but I will be laughing all the way into my skinny jeans!!

I am so excited!!!

I have been dying to share the news...

I decided to reapply for the Crop Addict Design Team for another term and I am proud to say,



"I made it!!"



I am really excited. The kits have been so much fun and now I don't have to give them up.



Speaking of kits, here is some of what I made with the July kit...






I made all of this & I still have plenty more to play with. The papers ans embellishments were totally cool this month.



Don't forget to check out Scrapdragon...the challenge this month is a bit different!!

The Crazy Days of Summer...

It is funny I always look forward to school ending so that I can have a free summer full of fun. So how come it always feels like summer is filled with so much activity that I can barely catch my breath??

Friday was one of those days.

I had a meeting at 7:30am for this big project I am involved in. It is really exciting, but I will share more about it in the next few months.

Then I had to get home and get some work done for my life coaching business, Grace Coaching & Consulting.

Then it was hurry up to feed the kids & get Connor, Kailey, & Rachel off to swim team practice.

Then it was hurry up over to the orthodontist to get Caleb's braces put on.

Check out these before & after photos...



Then hurry back to the pool to pick up the three from practice & get them all some lunch.


Then it was get everyone ready for the big swim team kick-off party. I am swim team manager this year so I had some copies to make & wanted to get there a bit early for any set-up that might need to get done.

But before we could head over to the pool...Caleb had another doctors appointment to get his burn looked at. He was out on his dad's motorcycle and got an awful burn on his leg... good news though it is healing nicely.

We finally got to the pool around 4PM to start getting ready. Festivities started at 6PM. We had pizza and a DJ. The kids had a blast.


Here are a few shots of my kids at the party...

Rachel in a dance contest with a few of her friends.

Connor getting ready for some pizza

Kailey looking cute as ever

I am happy to say the kick-off party was a great success and everyone seemed to have a good time.

Oh!! I better add this on before I forget...Scrapdragons has something cool going on so go check it out!!

From Junk Yards to Golf Courses...

OK you know the house in your neighborhood where the grass is too long, their are weeds everywhere, the driveway needs to be repaved, & there are always kids toys everywhere? Well, guess what?!!? In my neighborhood that would be my house. It is really awful. I joke that our yard looks like Sanford & Son. I can even hear that crazy funky music as I watch the opening credits with Lamont & Sanford driving around in that old pick up in my head. The other image I have is the Addams Family all overgrown & crazy looking. The funny thing is when the yard is cleaned up it really looks great. I just can't seem to keep up anymore with all the other things going on. So we are on the search for a landscaper. Since David has a back injury he can no longer help me out around the yard. I am not sure why, but not being able to do it myself is making me sad. I don't want to keep doing it, but somehow I feel sad about letting it go.


I got a new hair cut. It is way short for me, but I am liking it. I think it will be way cute for summer.

I took these two shots with my phone so you all can see...

One day I styled it under the next with a little flip.Gotta love fun hair for summer!!

Last week Kailey & Rachel were in a golf clinic at one of the local Somerset County Golf Courses. The Neshanic Valley Golf Course offers a juniors program for 5 days two hours a day. The girls had a great time & did very well. My Dad & Marguerite got Rachel a new set of golf clubs for an early birthday present & she was just so excited to try them out.

Here are some pictures of the girls from one of the nights. They look so cute & very serious.




Well that is it for now...good night all!

Bad Bad Blogger!!

Wow...when I came on here to post I was shocked to see I had not posted anything since May....GASP...I am a bad bad blogger!!

The good news is that means I have been too busy having fun with my family. There is so much going on with Caleb & Rachel out of school already. Plus Connor & Kailey have been having a ton of half days as they wind down to their last day on Friday.

I have some exciting news...I made the Design Team for my local scrapbook store Scrapbooking Moments in Time!! I am very excited they are super nice there & their kits are so much fun to play with.

If you happen to live anywhere near South Bound Brook, New Jersey...be sure to check them out!!



Here are the Layouts I made with the July kit...

They wanted an about me layout...

Another layout...

A card... Some other type of project...
This was so much fun to play with.

I hope to get back into the swing of blogging. So much is going on & I have so many pictures to share.

Hopefully it will not be another two weeks before I post!!

Lewis School Awards

Today we had the award ceremony for Caleb & Rachel. The Lewis School has an award ceremony at the end of the school year where they acknowledge each student for all of their accomplishments during the school year.

The students really feel special & it is such a lovely way to let the kids see how well they have done.

Caleb & Rachel have Dyslexia and The Lewis School specializes in educating children with learning differences. It is a miracle what they have accomplished since they started there. I am so grateful.

Rachel & her good friend Jocelyn

Caleb receiving his award from his teacher Mrs. McCullough

Caleb checking out his certificate

Rachel getting her award from her teacher Mrs. Werther

Rachel & her good friend Will. It is so cute seeing them all dressed up.

End of the school year silliness!!

I love the end of the school year, there is always so much fun stuff going on for the kids. I guess it brings me back to my childhood a bit. I remember the days at the end of the year. The pressure of school work is less and there is more time for friends and fun.

Caleb & Rachel had field day last Friday. They divide the school into two teams & they compete in various track type events ending the whole day with a giant tug of war. Rachel really got into it.


Here she is with her "game face"...

She had me put the black lines under her eyes to complete the look.

Today they had crazy hat day...

Caleb & Rachel dug out the fish And frog hats from our stash of goodies int he basement.

It was funny because it was also silly hat day at Kailey's school.

So Kailey found this lovely purple number.

Of course I had to take pictures!!

Even though things are a bit hectic here as things are winding down for the school year, I am enjoying it.

Hope everyone else is having some silly fun too!

We're off to see the Wizard...

and a number of other things too.

I have barely had a chance to get to update my blog. I just have been so busy the last few weeks.

The Lewis School's production of "The Wizard of Oz" took place last week on Thursday May 8th. I did make-up for around 50 kids it was so much fun and a bit tiring. The play was super cute & the kids did a fabulous job.

Rachel was so excited to be Dorothy.

Caleb was not as thrilled to be playing a flying monkey. He thought the ears made him look a bit like a mouse & I must say I think I agree, but he did a fabulous ob none the less. Plus, I reminded him that he got to play Captain Hook last year & you can't have a lead role every year.

Overall I think the play was a huge success. Of course my kids were the stars of the show in my opinion.

After the play my step-mother (Caleb & Rachel's Mema) was staying overnight in a hotel so she could attend grandparents' day the next day at the school. She had a great idea & offered to have Caleb, Rachel, and me stay in a hotel with her in Princeton. That would save us the long drive home. For those of you who don't know Caleb & Rachel's school is about 45 minutes from our house and I spend a whole lot of time in the car driving back and forth. Well, staying in a hotel seemed like a fabulous idea. A mini adventure for me & the kids. So I had our bags packed & ready to go. Although apparently I was a little preoccupied while I was packing. I forgot their toothbrushes & my clothes...oops!! I was able to make do & work things out.

At Grandparents' Day, Pop-pop & Grandma Shafer were there as was Mema. Caleb & Rachel were thrilled to show off all they were doing with their grandparents.

Caleb & Rachel went home with Grandma & Pop-pop. I headed home to meet my husband David. It was our wedding anniversary and David had planned a nice weekend away at the David Glenz Golf Academy in Vernon, NJ. We had a very nice romantic weekend. Although I am still a bit sore form all that golf. I really believe it will improve my game quite a bit. They really gave me quite a few pointers. Plus I got to play one of the hardest golf courses in the country Crystal Springs. I feel after that I should have a t-shirt or at least a bumper sticker that says something like, "I played Crystal Springs & I survived!" It was really hard, but I thought it was fun.

Now hopefully things will settle down a bit & I will keep up with this blog a little better.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day!!

A Prayer Request

My friend Niki who has been on the Creative Team at Scrapdragons with us since the very beginning was just given some very scary & distressing news.

On Tuesday April 30th her daughter Ellie was diagnosed with a diffusely infiltrative brain stem glioma. Ellie spent three days in the hospital with mom and dad while meeting with several specialist in preparation for the radiation that is to start on Monday May 5th. A website has been created by Pat and Niki so that you may follow them as they embark on this horrendous and difficult journey.

Please keep them in your thoughts & prayers and pray for Ellie that God heals her.

Niki is an amazing & talented woman & I hope that all of you that visit my blog will join me in supporting her & her family through this difficult time.

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/elliewillaert

Take a Look at this...

I got published in the May issue of the e-zine ScrapStreet.com. I am on page 12!!! It is a really cool magazine with lots of great inspiration. I was really excited when I got the email saying they wanted my true family layout!

Also I made it on to round nine of American Idol on Scrap-Tastic.com. This has been such a fun contest. I am really loving the challenges. Here was the layout that I made that got me through to the next round...

I already finished my layout for the next challenge...I think it is my favorite so far. It was using a Prima Sketch. So I used mostly Prima products & also entered it for the Prima Contest.

Finally, we have chosen our newest six members for the Scrapdragon Team. We will be posting them soon. It was unbelievably hard to choose. We had over 40 entries and there were so many we loved. We actually were saying no to people that we would love to have on our team. What a difficult decision!! I am so looking forward to seeing what this amazing group of women will bring to the table. So be sure to pop over soon & check out Scrapdragons!