Never a Dull Moment

New year brings new...stuff!!

2011-12-29T17:15:00.001-06:00

Being a stay at home mom has many, many rewards and, frankly, I LOVE the rewards! Now that both of my boys are in school, well, I have really been wanting to fill up some of my free time and provide a little extra money for my family. But, I knew getting a "real" job would take away so many of the freedoms that we have become accustom to. I started looking into selling jewelry and really thought that would be the avenue I would take. And I was excited about it! Shortly after I had begun to research different jewelry companies I rec'd an email from a friend who had a friend that was looking for people to add to her team selling a skin care line. At first, I thought no way, never heard of it, not fun, not interested at all! But decided to do a little research just for the heck of it. I couldn't stop thinking about it and so I asked Derek what he thought. If you know my husband, you know he is a go-getter, encourager, let's do this kinda guy...but he is absolutely not spontaneous! Anywho...I'll cut to the chase...two months later after lots of questions, lots of prayer, lots of everything we made the decision to go for it! I am a consultant for Rodan + Fields. This is totally out of comfort zone, but it's a challenge and I love a challenge. I'm nervous and I'm excited. If you are reading this and you pray...I need them!! I'm sure you will be seeing and hearing A LOT more about this (and if you have any questions, just let me know)!!! It's gonna be interesting and exciting year, and I can't wait to get it going!!
Here is a link to check it out if you want: http://esherman.myrandf.com/

Snow, snow, snow!!

2011-12-05T17:36:00.001-06:00

It is snowing like crazy today! Finally starting to feel like winter! This was from 1230-5 this afternoon and it is still snowing!! I think we will hibernate tonight!!
BTW....I just found out there is a blogger app, so I can blog from my phone now! So much more convenient! I can't promise I will become a new improved, awesome blogger...but, we'll see!!!

12x12 Paper, Embellishments, etc. for sale

2011-10-19T23:30:00.024-05:00

Acrylic stamps for sale here...

Rubber stamps and punches for sale here...

Mini albums and alphas for sale here...

Below are embellies, stickers, etc.. They are in lots and I have listed what is new and used. A few of the items have the top of the package cut off to fit in my storage, but they still may be unused if noted. If you have any questions please let me know. All offers will be considered and lots can be seperated if you are really wanting just one of something listed, but I would like to sell them as is if possible. Thanks!!

(All prices below are BEFORE shipping! Shipping cost is NOT included)

4 sheets SC, 1 sheet Hambly, 1 Hambly transparency (below), $1.50

4 KI lasercut papers, $3

5 KI lasercut papers, $4

10 die-cut sheets, $3

"girly" paper lot, 8 sheets, $1

Sass paper, 11 sheets, $2

MME paper pack, used (5 or 6 sheets missing), $5

Buttons, $1 a bag

(~~blue~~,only brown left, ~~green, yellow, pink~~)

Halloween stickers, $.50

HS chipboard letters, $2 new

Jounaling tags: about 40 shipping labels (the white tags were bought at an antique store and are a little discolored and they are made of vinyl or something), about 20 MR sheers, about 20 misc journaling cards.

~~$1 for each bag~~--SOLD

Misc embellies: Foam arrows, plastic hearts, chipboard stars, foam punctuation, felt butterflies, $1 a bag

~~Bag of prima flowers, $2--~~Sold!!!

Large lot of pink and white baker's twine (not sure the exact amount, I split a giant spool with two other ladies...approx 80 yards) $3

Misc trims, Noteworthy trim used, others new, $4 for all--sale pending

1 OA and 4 Sass cardstock stickers, new, $4

~~2 Doodlebug buttons, bag of buttons from Studio Calico, new $4~~ SOLD!!!

Chipboard buttons, Martha Stewart, Graphic 45 & Jenni Bowlin, all new $3

~~Studio Calico Bag of buttons~~, MME trims, BG glazed brads, BG decorative stickers, all new $5--sale pending!!

Dear Lizzy rubon-ons, crochet and paper flowers, brads and flair, all new, $9

~~AC brads, new, $3--~~sold!!

~~Misc flowers, all new (tops of some of the packages are cut off, but they are still unused), $7--~~Sold!!!!!

Elsie (1 used, 1 new) and KI (used) Softies and AC flair (used) and Details (new), $5

Sass stickers (one missing) and paper whimsies (one used, one new), $3

AC chipboard, new $2

BG Chip stickers Junebug and Wassail, new, $9--sale pending on Wassail

Misc=OA rubons (new), SEI (new) and MM (new) stickers, CC (new) and KI (used) spinners, $6

Daisy D's, Piggy Tales, AC and SEI sticker and die cut labels, all new $6

~~MS sticker labels (new) and Heidi Swapp paper labels (used, but still a ton of each), $5~~ sold!!!

~~Bling, (top 3 are missing a few, all others new), $10~~ SOLD!!

~~MM paper (black in box, new...brown in bag that came with a kit, not sure how many they put in there) and metal butterflies (new), JB butterflies (new), $6--~~SOLD!!!!!

SR file mattes (new) and 2 JB Bingo cards, $1

PP Queen bee (new), $3

7G stickers, K&Co paper trims, DDs book plates, all new, $4

~~Smash big and little pockets and pad, new, $6--~~Sold!!

"Kitchen" lot, 3 sheets paper, one die-cut label sheet, sticker sheet, border sheets and 2 pkgs felt embell, new, $6--sale pending

2 CosmoCricket stickers, 2 Crate border stickers (one used) and KI glitter border stickers, $4.50--sale pending

albums and alphas

2011-10-19T23:30:00.020-05:00

Acrylic Stamps for Sale here...

Rubber Stamps and punches for Sale here...

Below are mini albums and alphas. The alphas are in lots and I have listed what is new and used. Some of the alphas have the top of the package cut off to fit in my storage, but they still may be unused. If you have any questions please let me know. All offers will be considered and lots can be seperated if you are really wanting just one of something listed, but I would like to sell them as is if possible. Thanks!!

(All prices below are BEFORE shipping! Shipping cost is NOT included)

Acrylic mini album, $1

CC blackboard mini album, $3

Crayola car mini album, $1

Creative Cafe mini album, $4

Melissa Francis mini album, $2

Creative Cafe mini album, chipboard, $1

Maya Road mini chipboard album, $1

Giant alterable clothes pin, $3

Pink Paislee alphas, green and brown new, others used, $3

~~CC x2, BG and Scrap w/in Reach alphas, all new, $7--~~SOLD!!!

Doodlebug x2 (dk blue used), AC, Prima (one missing) and misc alphas, new unless stated, $4

~~BG, SR, BB alphas/#'s, all new, $5~~

~~(back side of BoBunny pack below)~~SOLD!!!

~~MM glitter, MM flocked, PP and K&Co alphas, all new, $5--~~SOLD!!!!

~~MM tiny alphas, all new, $3--~~Sold

~~Thickers, Prima, The Girls Paperie and CI (one B missing), all others new, $5--~~SOLD!!!

Thickers, 2 white glitter new, all others used (colors are hot pink-glitter letters, purple glitter and turquioise glitter. Only one missing from purple and hot pink letters), $6

Mounted Wood Rubber Stamps and some punches for sale...

2011-10-18T12:13:00.005-05:00

Acrylic stamps post here...

Here are the rubber stamps and punches I have for sale, prices are shown BEFORE shipping charges...shipping will obviously be a little more for these items. Let me know if you have any questions.

7Gypsies word stamps, 20 stamps (one is missing), some used, $12

Alphas, some used, 40 stamps, $15

Inkadinkadoo, used once, $4

Alpha w/3 cmas stamps, some used, $2

4 cocktail stamps in one, used once, $.50

Paper Inspirations stamp, used once, $3

Rubber Stampede HBD stamp, used $3

Stampabilities, 4 1/2" x 3 1/2" Grundy grid background, used once, $6

Stampin' up, 5 stamps, new, $12

Stampin' Up texture stamps, 3 stamps-used, $5

Turtle stamp, used, $1

Martha Stewart bird punch, used a few times, $4

~~Martha Stewart heart punch (this is a punch that doesn't punch the heart out all the way, but punches the holes in the heart out, FYI), used a few times, $4~~

~~(below is what it looks like punched, just two small sections still attached on the sides)~~SOLD!!!

Martha Stewart old fence punch, used a few times, $5

Corner notch punch (not a corner rounder), used a few times, $3

Fiskars med star punch, brand new (corner of package is broken, but it has never been opened), $5

Acrylic Stamps for sale!!

2011-10-17T17:57:00.015-05:00

Here are all the acrylic stamps...please check back as I am adding more as time allows. If you have any questions or anything, just ask. Payments can be made through paypal, shipping prices are not included, I would be glad to combine any stamps to send to one location. Feel free to make an offer on any stamp, I will consider all offers! Thanks!
The first 5 stamps are listed on eBay...(click on the stamp info under each pic)

Camera with grungy border

SC stamps not on eBay...

~~Cherries, 2 stamps $2.50, new~~ SOLD!!

~~Clouds and phrase, 3 stamps $4, new~~SOLD!!!

~~Doilies, 5 stamps, $10, new~~SOLD!!

~~Doily border, $3, used~~ SOLD!!!!

~~Holiday sentiments, 7 stamps, $5, 2 of 7 used~~SOLD!!!!

~~Jett Numbers, 17 stamps, $6, new~~SOLD!!!

~~SC dog stamp, 2 stamps, new, $5~~SOLD!!

Addy sentiments, new, 8 stamps, $6

(not a typo, there are two!)

~~Addy sentiments, new, 8 stamps, $6--~~SOLD!!!

~~SC 4x6 Dots background, used once, $7~~sold!!!!

~~SC Harper's ruler, new, $3--~~SOLD!!!

Scarlet Lime exclusive kit stamps, one is in the package, but they have not been used or removed from the plastic backing if listed as new.

$2, used

$4, new

$4, new, two stamps

$3, new

~~$4, new---~~SOLD!!!

Label Tulip exclusive kit stamps, all new and still in original package.

Corner flourish, $1.50 new

Crest (this is one stamp), $3 new

Flowers, $4 new--sale pending

Martha Stewart alpha, $8, new

Rhonna Farrer, Happy Spring, 10 stamps, new but do not have the package. Stamps are on original plastic front and backing. $10

KI "i", new but only have plastic front and backing, $1

KI "o", new but only have plastic front and backing, $1

KI tag stamps, 9 stamps, square and to/from used, all others new, $7

~~Maya Road, tree-bird-apple, new but only have front and back plastic, $3--~~SOLD!!!

Michael's month stamps, new, $1

Prima border stamp, $1 new

Prima owl stamp, $2 new

Pink Paislee (i think) border, new but no package, $1

Creative Cafe flowers, $5, new

Creative Cafe word stamps, $8 new

~~Sassafras borderline, 2 used, $5 (back)~~SOLD!!!

(front)

Chalkboard Tray project

2011-04-28T18:16:00.000-05:00

So....I promised like 20 years ago that I was going to share some projects I have been working on. Ok, so maybe not 20 years, but it sure does feel like it! Anywho...I saw this project on a fellow scrapper's blog in Nov or so (can't remember exactly), and I began the hunt for a silver tray immediately. I had found a few in Amarillo, but thought they were too expensive and then finally I spotted one here in Borger at Thomas Greenhouse and Seasons and snatched it up immediately!! I typically have about 10 or 20 ideas in my head on any given day or see 10-20 cool things that I want to re-produce and so a lot of times, I never get any of them completed. I despise this about myself, but have recently re-focused my attentions and have started getting things done on my ever-growing crafty list. And this was one of the first one's I decided to get going on. I don't have pictures of the step-by-step tutorials that I did, but I just followed it exactly like the tutorial on this blog! (She also did this with it for Christmas...love it, too!!! She is super talented!) It was actually super duper easy and turned out great, I think! I LOVE it!! Here is how mine turned out....

I like how the details on the tray come out once you put the chalk on it.

I have it on the end of my counter with some containers that hold our fruit. And as you can see those are empty right now, meaning I REALLY need to get the to grocery store! :-/

All you need to complete the project is an old silver tray, painters tape, black primer spray paint and black (or green if you like) chalkboard spray paint. You could also use a can of paint and brush it on if you like, also. And if you live here in Borger, you can borrow my paint...there is plenty left over!

April is almost done and May and summer are just peeking around the corner. CRAZY!! Which is exactly what our April was like...CRAZY!! I took a quick look at next months calendar and May is looking just as crazy. AWANA's derby, 2 baby showers, 2 weddings, HS graduations and parties, college graduations and parties, birthday parties, Asia meetings and preparation, VBS preparation, Baseball games and practices, Soccer game and practices, meetings with my prayer partners, husband traveling...and I'm excited about each and every event! With the exception of my hubby traveling, but only because we miss him so much when he is gone. May 5th will be the 5 year anniversary of my mom's passing...and THAT just doesn't seem possible. I can only thank my Awesome Heavenly Father for walking beside me and somedays carrying me through the last 5 years. His patience and grace for me the last five years has been so overwhelming (in a good way) and I truly am thankful for that.

On a side note, if you are reading this and you are believer in prayer...Please remember my brother and his family in Alabama. I finally spoke with him today and he said that a neighborhood about 1/2 mile away from them is completely gone. There home is comepletely untouched and fine. They have no electricity for about 7 days, according to his info....hopefully it will be shorter than that. Water and gas are two of the biggest concerns right now. And also, my step-mother, who was in a roll-over accident last week, hurt her leg and it now has an infection. If it is not better by next week, she will have to have it drained and some other gross stuff. So, please pray the infection is healed pronto!! THANKS!!!!

Have a fabulous day!!!

What the What-ee What...

2011-03-10T09:29:00.000-06:00

Well, I had every intention of getting my blog updated with the going ons of the last year and catch everyone up, and, well, I haven't. And I just realized it. Sorry, friends.

It has been a long, draining week...so today is probably not the day I'm catching up on anything, but I will soon. I actually have a couple of things I've been working on to post. Hopefully I can get them done and post it on here. I'm pretty excited about it!! I think I sould start posting about my weight loss journey, too. Anything to make me more accountable!

Have a great Thursday, friends...or friend...or maybe even noone! HA!
Spring Break is right around the corner...can't wait for some family time!

Ember

Rewind

2011-01-12T15:26:00.002-06:00

Holidays, birthdays, plays, milestones...they have all come and gone and I haven't shared them with you (whoever YOU are, out there...anyone?)

So, I thought I would give you a little run-down of some things that have come and gone in the year twenty-ten!

So...the beginning of the year started out with (from what I remember) lots of snow...

and even some frozen fog...FREAKY and so darn cool!!

February was an exciting month, too! (I'm thinking every month will be exciting!! HAA!!)

Corbin had a birthday

We put our house on the market!!

Derek led the 2nd annual FCA superbowl party at the BCAC (so proud of him!)

and then I had surgery the next morning, which was a GREAT success!! It also snowed that night...

March...we had more snow!

We went to Austin, hung out with friends, went to the kite festival...

Remi had her first spa day...(heeee!!)

More snow on the 19th...

We also got on offer on our house, packed like wild maniacs and I got a clean bill of health from my Dr. I had healed in "stellar fashion"...not my words, his!

April...

WE MOVED!!! And, I don't have any pictures of the front of the house...sorry!!

LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of unpacking!

Easter

Corbin got the lead part in the church muscial "Parableooza". He played a game show host and he did so awesome! SOOO proud of him, too!!

Ok, That is all for today! I think I will do this in 3 posts...so, stay tuned for May-Aug!! :)

Broken Record

2011-01-05T10:22:00.001-06:00

That is kinda how I feel every New Year. I'm always feeling rejuvinated. Ready for life changing events. Ready to take on the world. Ready, ready, ready. And then somewhere along the way I lose all my steam and fall flat on my face. I pick myself up and start over, but with much less enthusiasm and drive, which starts the vicious cycle. Stumble. Fall. Get up. Start over. Stumble. Fall. Get up. Start over...etc, etc, etc. And then by October, I've beaten myself up so much for failing, I can barely look at myself in the mirror.

WOW! How depressing!! :P

Yes, it is depressing. BUT...yes, BUT...I'm feeling different this year. I can't really explain it, but I do. And I had already started feeling different before the New Year rolled around, so, honestly, it really has nothing to do with the NEW YEAR RESOLUTION mumbo jumbo I try to force myself into believing I'm gonna do every year. I start the year out knowing I'm going to fail. This year, I'm not going to fail. Not only because I've completely changed my "woe is me attitude", but I'm not making any resolutions. This has nothing to do with New Year and everything to do with New Ember.

Another reason this is different is because of my husband, Derek. Anytime we hit a wall and decide enough is enough, the other one is on a completely different page. It is almost impossible to change if your spouse is not ready to or unable to give you the support you need. We had some epiphanies over the Christmas break. Some good, some eye-opening and some a little depressing. But Derek said it best...He said, "This is it, Honey. It's now or never. We talk about it every year and our lives never change. This is it. NOW or NEVER."

Whew...I feel like a weight has been lifted and I'm taking charge of my life and MY decisions. No more feeling sorry for myself. No more pity parties. No more blame game.

For the last three years I have participated in OLW. 2009 was PREPARE. 2010 was CHANGE. 2011 is RELAX.

Relax.

Relax.

–verb (used with object)

1. to make less tense, rigid, or firm; make lax: to relax the muscles.

2. to diminish the force of.

3. to slacken or abate, as effort, attention, etc.

4. to make less strict or severe, as rules, discipline, etc.: to relax the requirements for a license.

5. to release or bring relief from the effects of tension, anxiety, etc.: A short swim always relaxes me.

–verb (used without object)

6. to become less tense, rigid, or firm.

7. to become less strict or severe; grow milder.

8. to reduce or stop work, effort, application, etc., esp. for the sake of rest or recreation.

9. to release oneself from inhibition, worry, tension, etc.

And I'm not just saying RELAX as in take it easy. I need to RELAX my grip on my life and let God take control. I need to RELAX my heart and open it up for more He has to offer. I need to RELAX my brain from worry. I need to RELAX and have fun with life. I need to RELAX and listen, be still. Less of me, more of Him.

Matthew6:25-40

²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷ Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life^[a]?

²⁸ “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹ Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰ If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? ³¹ So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Seek HIM first, not me...HIM!!!

I'm also going to RELAX about my blog posts. I always stress about it being enjoyable to others or the most entertaining and intersting. Not so much anymore. I can't promise that I'm going to have a blog post everyday, or every week or even every month. But I do miss blogging. And after reading about a young mom that was killed in a car accident in my area over the break and seeing that she had a blog...a blog that she kept up with for her young children to be able to go to and see what thier momma had to say about them on a particular day...is priceless. Nothing I will stress about, but just a little piece of life to share and have documented.

Sorry I've rambled on for so long. I do have pictures and stuff to share. But I think I will leave that for next time.

Aprons

2010-12-08T15:01:00.009-06:00

Well...I have been trying to post these on Facebook and it is not working! AHHH!! So, I am going to try to put them here on my blog...
I have been working on some little aprons, initially for our craft show...but, unfortunately some things came up and I was not able to attend the craft show. Now I have several little aprons that are unusable in MY life...but I'm hoping they are for someone else!!
There are three sizes, according to the pattern...S=3-4. M=5-6 and L=7-10. They are $15 each. I also a few incomplete aprons and some that I haven't even started. Please message me if you are intersted. Thanks so much!!!

The following are SMALL aprons--size 3-4

The following are Medium aprons--size 5-6

The following are Large aprons--size 7-10--

The following are unfinished, can be easily completed if you are interested:
SMALL

MEDIUM

Christmas fabric--MEDIUM

Christmas fabric--MEDIUM

MEDIUM

LARGE

Just fabric...haven't started. These can be made into any size...

This is chocolate brown with a very light pink back ground and the polka dot fabric is choc. with tiny white dots.

Calling all scrappy friends...

2010-05-01T18:47:00.003-05:00

The scrappy blog I visit and subscribe to (it's also a kit club)...Studio Calico...is having a sweet giveaway for NSD (that's National Scrapbook Day for you non-scrappers) on the forum. The rules and info are here...
It's easy, just sign up and add your name and my user name (Ember S.) to be eligible for a 6 month subscription. That's a prize worth around $180. SOOO...go check it out!!!! :D

Memories, like the corner of my mind...

2010-03-24T11:26:00.006-05:00

And the changes just keep rollin'...

See this little family here...

That's Jason and Hope and their 3 boys...our friends. Some of the closest friends we've made since moving back to Borger. And we had to say goodbye to them on Monday. Even knowing that we probably wouldn't be in the same town forever, didn't make it any easier. I knew that one of our families would move away someday, but I think I secretly hoped it would be us. But you never know what God has planned, and His plan for our friends was moving them...moving them to a new town to be a Sr. pastor. Which is RIDICULOUSLY exciting. I'm beyond excited to see what God has in store for them. IT IS going to be awesome. So while I've shed some tears over their departure, I can't help but feel excited at the same time. We'll huuuuuuuuug again (inside joke)! ;)

So enough of that mushy business...
We are getting closer and closer to our closing date! See, there's always a silver lining. The painters started working on the outside of the house yesterday, but are postponed today due to inclement weather...rain, sleet, snow...not sure what we'll have, but it's cold and wet. Not ideal conditions for painting the exterior of a house. They did leave all their ladders, so I'm confident they will come back when the sun is shining again and complete the job. YAY!!

Well...I guess that is all for today. Happy Wednesday!!

Ember :D

Some things never change, that's just the way it is...

2010-03-01T12:46:00.011-06:00

While we do have a lot of changes going on in our lives right now...one thing that hasn't changed is that I'm still a crappy blogger! HA!

Today starts a new week AND a new month. I can't believe it's already March! Anyone else with me?? We were forcasted to get a HUGE snow storm last night and today, but it didn't happen. Maybe it's all the prayers I've been hearing at church, mostly men, praying for no more snow...LOL! That while they are so thankful for the moisture, please no more snow. I think it's kinda funny. Maybe they're tired of having to drive their wives to and fro. It doesn't really matter to me, I peeked through my blinds this morning fully expecting to see a wintery blanket of white, but nothing. And life goes on! :)

(Here are some pics of one of the snow days we had last month)

The lovely snowman that Derek and Corbin built...they wouldn't let Bryson help because he kept trying to knock it over.

And the boys playing in the snow.

Snowball fight!!

Another one of the changes in my life happened three weeks ago. I had a hysterectomy. I haven't really put it out there via cyberworld...well, because I think it's a little uncomfortable to talk about, for the whole world to see. I grew up/was raised to be VERY (extremely extreme) modest. And for the most part I still am and talking about that kind of thing seems a little private. So, I apologize if that makes you uncomfortable, too! But it is a huge change in my life...and possibly my hubby/boys, too!! If I had a dollar for every woman that told me it would be the best decision I ever made, I'd have a lot of dollars! ;) And so far so good. I really researched EVERYTHING about it. Pros and cons. And prayed over all of them. I didn't want to be depressed that my ability to have children was gone forever...(one con that stuck out to me) and I'm not. I'm completely satisfied with my two gifts from God. And I didn't want to be writhing in pain for days from a giant incision on my belly...and I didn't have to have that incision, so virtually NO pain! Anywho, these are just a few examples. I feel great and just continue to feel better everyday. It's so exciting! I can't believe how much God has blessed me through this

Ok, I'm kinda done talking about that.

I have been able to get some scrapping in, due to being ordered to "take it easy" for a few more weeks. I had forgotten how much I love it! Maybe I'll share some of that soon, too.

And update on my last post. We officially have a contract on our house! I can't believe how fast this happened. But just confirms even more that this is a good decision for our family. So now we have 15 days to get the house inspected, etc. and then it's another 30 days after that, when the contract will be "pending" (so more official, I guess). And we the same goes for the house we are looking to buy. I'm so excited I can hardly stand it. Praying that all goes well with inspections on both houses and everything continues to go SMOOTHLY!!!

Well, I guess that is all for now. Hopefully, I will be back to normal soon and have some exciting things to blog about! HA!

ETA: It's spitting some snow, as I type! We went out to catch some!

Cha-cha-cha-chaaaaange

2010-02-16T09:57:00.004-06:00

So, in my last post I mentioned some changes.

One change, that will hopefully happen very soon, is that we are in the process of selling our house and buying a new one. Yesterday, we finally agreed on numbers, etc. with the seller of the house we want. We went back and forth several times...and finally met in the middle. Only "problem", which is part of the agreement, is that we sell our house before we can close. And we only have 60 days before that agreement ends. So, technically, we have about 45 days to sell our house.

Does that seem crazy??

Well, it is, a little. But I'm banking on faith for this to fall in place perfectly. I'm just not scared, or worried, or nervous. And I'm not always like that. I'm a worrier by nature. My parents are/were worriers, so I learned it well! :) However, there are times in my life when I have this feeling that EVERYTHING is gonna work out. I can't really explain it...but, that's what I'm feeling about this new house. I sure hope I'm right. Because, well, my husband IS freaking out a bit.

Anywho...back to changes...this change is really huge. For me. And my family.

You see...the roof we currently live under, was my parents house. After my mom died, my dad remarried and we all knew he wouldn't want to live in the same house with his new wife. And...for some reason, I just couldn't let the house go. I didn't want anyone but me to paint over the colors she had picked out and painted on these walls. She had finally worked up the courage to paint her house something other than white or off-white and she was so proud of it. I was proud of it. I was proud of her. And she LOVED it. She loved her red kitchen/dining room!

And while this house has been sooo good to us and has "housed" a million memories, it is time to move on. I have a love/hate relationship with this house...and it's time to let go of this piece of my mom. My parents worked hard on this house and have done some beautiful things...and now it's time to let a new family enjoy the fruits of their labor. I've been praying that the perfect family (or single person) will move into this house and be blessed. I want it to the best sitiuation for the new homeowner. I want it to be a relaxing and worry-free transaction.

Speaking of my mom...today would have been her 60th birthday. I can't believe that! Am I really old enough to have a 60 year old mom?! HA! I would have LOTS of black balloons and OVER THE HILL paraphernalia for her! And I would have teased her about being soooo old! I miss her...

(Sorry for the pictureless posts....I'll work on it this week!)
:)

2010-02-12T10:55:00.002-06:00

Can it be?? A new blog entry from me??!!

Well, yes, yes it can be! Frankly, I'm getting bored and I thought, I might as well do some blogging while I'm banned to the bed for the next however many days ahead. Nothing exciting and wonderful today. I can see the sun peeking through the blinds and I hear the birds chirping a little sweet tune...considering all the snow we've had lately, that is exciting! And don't mistaken that for a complaint...I LOVE the snow. But I also love the sun and the chirping birds, too. It's a nice change, even if it's just for a short while.

Life is full of changes at our house...good changes. And I am so excited to see how they all play out.

And, I will end with that. I know, not the best blog of my life...but, I think I am back.

Happy Friday!

2009-09-09T10:52:00.002-05:00

Months...
It's been months! And I realize that I haven't missed a thing about blogging. I just don't think it's my thing. Sooo, as for right now, in my life, blogging will not be a priority. I post just about everything on Facebook that is going on with the Sherman's...so if you wanna keep up with our family...come find me there.
Maybe I will change my mind in the future.
We'll see...

2009-04-21T18:39:00.005-05:00

Gosh! Has it really already been two weeks!? I just don't know where the time goes...it goes by faster and faster every single day!
Well...we have had lots going around these parts. We have something really cool that we are doing at our church this week. It's called The Tabernacle Experience. The guys (including my super awesome Honey) put it up at our church on Friday and it opened on Saturday. Derek and I had the first slot volunteering Sat morning...and it was almost cooler watching people go through it than going through myself.
Then Sunday, was the annual kids program at church. Corbin did soooo great! He had a line and a solo part, also. I was so proud of him!! (I have pics, but haven't downloaded them to my computer yet)
And our choir is also working on The Odes Project to finish off the Tabernacle Ex on Sunday night. I am making 300 programs for this...and it is A LOT of work. More than I had anticipated. I'm anal and a perfectionist, so I'm not sure I can physically let anyone help me...but it probably wouldn't be a bad idea. We'll see.

The boys and Remi and I just got back from a walk and playing at the school playground. The weather is SOOO awesome. There were some gross buggies landing on me...but other than that we had fun. Corbin rode his bike. He is getting better and better. Bryson is starting to ride his little bike, too. He still needs some work :)

We had a really great Easter, too! Seems like it was months ago...

And I last but not least...Corbin had a program at school a few weeks ago. He had to dress in something green...so I made him a costume...a bag of green jellybeans. Turned out pretty good!! :D

Ok...that's all for now!
Hope your week is going great!
Em

2009-04-06T19:40:00.003-05:00

Good evening!!
So sorry this is late! I totally messed up my back last night. Is that a sign that I am getting old?? Hmmm...anywho, I've been flat on my back all day and it is NOT fun!! :(

Ok...so now for the winner of the RAK!!!!

The winner is...

Kerry said...
Beautiful layout...love those flowers! Thanks for the chance to win some fun crafting goodies!

April 3, 2009 10:32 AM

Kerry!!

email me your addy...ember1027@yahoo.com

Congrats!!
I will get that out to you soon!!

2009-04-03T09:00:00.010-05:00

Good Morning!!!
I am thrilled to be apart of a BLOG HOP this morning for the ONE YEAR Anniversary over at Triple the Sketch. I can't believe it's already been a year...time flies!! Hope you are getting a lot of inspiration this morning from all of the TTS girls.
This is the first blog hop I have ever been a part of...so it is pretty exciting! (I think!!)
Hopefully you have arrived from Elizabeth's blog...(You should be starting your hop at the Triple the Sketch blog. If you did not start there, please return to the TTS blog so that you don’t miss any of the fun!)

Ok, so we were to pick one of our favorite sketches from the past year and my favorite is #14. (It was actually REALLY hard to choose one!!)

Here is what I originally did with this sketch...one of my favorite LOs, from a really great day!!

I think this sketch is REALLY flexible for any size LO, cards or anything else your heart desires!! :) On this LO, I opted not to do the scallops on the whole page and just added a small, scalloped, chipboard frame to mimic the scallop edge. (click on images to enlarge)

Not only can you win a RAK at TTS, but you can also leave a comment here and be eligible for MY RAK:

(Note: There is a missing sticker at the bottom...where the arrow are pointing. Just wanted to let you know :D)

To be eligible for the TTS RAK: Continue on to Gloria's blog. Thanks for playing along!!
Good Luck!!!

Ember

2009-03-24T22:07:00.016-05:00

Whew! Back and trying to get everything back to normal! If that's possible.
Lots of unpacking, laundry, etc., etc....And I have the urge to organize things. Spring cleaning, I guess. Usually I get overwhelmed and give up...but I'm just taking one "section" at a time and so far it is going great! I love getting my house orgainzed.
We are also making some changes with our routine. Last night we started doing family devotionals. It was so cute to hear Bryson's answers to the questions and I was really impressed with Corbin's knowledge of the Bible and scriptures. I guess he really does pay attention in Sunday School and AWANAS! We picked out the book at Mardel's a few weeks ago and we also picked up some chore charts for the boys. They each picked out stickers to put on each week. We've added some chores to Corbin's list and he's been forgetting (or maybe just slacking?), so we thought a chore list would help him out. He really wasn't excited about it at all! HA! And we want Bryson to start being more responsible for his room. He is actually REALLY good with doing his "chores" and helping out with ANYTHING we ask him to. I hope that doesn't go away...but it probably will...Oh well, I'll just enjoy it while I can :D
(WARNING!! Lots of pics comin' up!!!!!!)
We had a really great Spring Break. We drove down to Austin on Saturday, leaving some SNOW behind us and heading to a breezy, sunny Austin. The weather was SUPER! Corbin was going to be spending the week with his NaNa (Derek's mom) and Bryson would be with us. They both enjoyed their time away from each other and being the only child! I took lots of pics...but Corbin will not be in any of them b/c he wasn't with us...kinda bittersweet. We missed him, but he had a really great time.
I didn't take pics of EVERYTHING we did...Derek took him swimming twice and we went to Austin Park and Pizza the first few days. Tuesday we went to Sea World. B had a GREAT time. He loved everything, really. (pics are kinda big...but you can click on them to take a closer look-see)

We started off with the dolphins...

He didn't want to touch them, but did want to feed them. Unfortunately, the line was ricidulously long (as usual) to get fish, so he didn't get to feed them.
And can I just say that it is not cheap to go to Sea World, and it was PACKED! No signs of recession in Austin/San Antonio...
Ok...sorry...just wanted to add my random thought there...
Next we headed to see Shamu and other Shamu's (? is Shamu still alive or are these his babies/friends?)...He wasn't as impressed with Shamu as I thought he would be, but he enjoyed himself here, also...

Then we headed to see sharks and other random fish...
Here are some really huge scallops (is that right, that have the pearl inside)...well, whatever they are...

other fish and sting rays...

sharks (it was hard to get a good pic...VERY dark room and they were FAST!)

blurry piranha

grody eels (click on it, I dare ya...you'll have nightmares!) and other stuff...

And...it's late and I can't think of what the heck this is called....:P

And last but not least...and my VERRRRRRY favorite...the penguins...

I want one!!!

Ok...that's all for now...Popsicle making and train riding next!!
Em

2009-03-18T10:30:00.002-05:00

Just thought I'd let you know we're taking the week off for Spring Break. I am not being a slacker again...just taking time off with the fam. I'll have A LOT to blog about at the end of the week :)

Happy Spring Break!!
Em

2009-03-13T11:01:00.002-05:00

Interview with Bryson: age 3 and 3 months
I have seen this on some blogs this week and thought I'd try it out...I wasn't sure what his responses would be or if he even would totally understand...but I think he did pretty good! BTW: He is TOTALLY into Thomas the Train right now...so that is why he keeps referring to that!

1. What is something Mom always says to you? Daddy

2. What makes Mom happy? laughing

3. What makes Mom sad? sad crying

4. How does your Mom make you laugh? HA HA HA! Like that!

5. What was your Mom like as a child? a sister, a sister, you a sister mommy. I call you honey mommy! It's Daddy's honey!! (interesting)

6. How old is your Mom? 5

7. How tall is your Mom? BIG!

8. What is Mom's favorite thing to do? paint

9. What does your Mom do when you're not around? paint (I really never paint...see post below ;P)

10. If your Mom becomes famous, what will it be for? with pens (wha?)

11. What is your Mom really good at? Pens

12. What is your Mom not very good at? Spoons (we have a spanking spoon...??)

13. What does your Mom do for her job? getting the paint out...I LIKE PAINTING, Mommy!!

14. What is your mom's favorite food? B:poopy Me:No, that's gross B:boogers Me:Cmon be serious, that's gross B:Burritos

15. What makes you proud of your Mom? I see what you're making (?)

16. If your Mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? Uhhhhh, Percy

17. What do you and your Mom do together? ride on trains

18. How are you and your Mom the same? same shirts (nope! hA!)

19. How are you and your Mom different? we spin (and he starts to spin! HA!)

20. How do you know your Mom loves you? He makes a kissy noise and says "I know!" makes another kissy noise and says "gives me a kiss!"

21. Where is your Mom's favorite place to go? To trains

Have a great weekend!

2009-03-11T23:06:00.011-05:00

Ok, soooo....I guess I'm ready to get back into this thing. I just needed a break! Just feeling the pressure of...well, I don't know...just pressure!! AND I really started this to keep relatives up to date who live far away...and most of them don't even visit. So, I was kinda thinking "What's the point?"
But...
I changed my mind...or attitude...or whatever...
I told you...I had the FUNK!!!
Anywho...
I'm not gonna try to catch you up on the last month and a half...I'll just go with the last few weeks.
Last week I went and visited my old/good friend Jessica (AKA...JJ). She birthed a little teeny baby girl about 4 weeks ago and I had to meet her!! She is the first of my good friends to have a baby. Can you believe that?? Her name is Edie and she is the cutest thing. All she did was eat, sleep, poop...of course, and one other thing...
she made this "now what?" face...It's like her little brain is thinking "Is this it?? REALLY??"

And I'm pretty sure she was DONE with me taking pictures of her...but who can resist this??

not me...
Cash either...

I had a GREAT time visiting...oh, they live in Boulder, CO...the weather was so beautiful! Can't wait to go back.

I bought a few things for the boys to paint for Easter. Bryson was with me at Hobby Lobby...he picked out a bunny for himself and a cross for Corbin. And we bought some very Eastery paints

He loaded like 90 coats of paint on that poor little bunny...I wasn't sure if it would EVER dry.

But it did and he asked if could paint on it more the next day! HA! I told him it looked perfect just the way it was.
And Corbin actually took some time with his cross and it turned out great, also!

I think B enjoyed it A LOT...I see more painting in the near future! :)

Well, I guess that is all for tonight.
Glad to be back!!
Em

2009-02-16T23:27:00.002-06:00

Just wanted to say that I have been on a bloggy hiatus. Lots going on in this world of mine and blogging didn't rank too high on my list. BUT...we rec'd some good news today and I'm feeling somewhat rejuvinated. You know...I kinda had "the funk", but I think it has subsided. I have lots to post...lots to catch up on...soon, I'll be back to my blogginess soon.
Ember

2009-01-27T18:59:00.006-06:00

It is SOOO cold today! And that really is not a complaint. I enjoy the cold weather. It gives me a good reason to stay home!:)
I did venture out yesterday and today to try and get some pics of the cute little snowflakes. I love them....sooooo much. I wish I could put it in a bottle or something and put it on a shelf...without them melting, obviously. Just having the perfect little snowflake fall on your shirt is one of my favorite things in the world. I hate that it melts away into my clothing in a matter of seconds! SAD!
Ok, so yesterday it was kinda spitting these teeny tiny balls of snow...
NOTHING exciting...at all.

But today...we had some genuine, one of a kind flakes falling from the heavens! It was beautiful...

We didn't really get much accumulation...but it is VERY frigid out there.

Yesterday, I went to put Bryson down for his nap...and he was fast asleep...in his closet! So sweet...I ran to get my camera...

I don't have anything creative to share today. I'm still cleaning and organizing everything. I am making progress, but still have a LONG way to go! Hopefully I will finish this week!! I'll share before and after pics when I'm done. *gulp*

Em

2009-01-24T11:40:00.005-06:00

I need to give a shout out to some life savers...

These guys were there for me this week BIG TIME!! Couldn't have made it without you! Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!

And a shout out to my Honey who brought me these beauties...some get well flowers...

Thankfully the family is MUCH better and done with that ridiculous stomach bug. Now I am a little behind on my motherly duties and should really be doing that instead of blogging on my computer :D

Anyone out there excited about the Super Bowl...Who are you rootin' for?? I'm rootin' for the Cardinals...the underdog. Usually I root for the opposite of my husband just to annoy him, but this year we are actually going for the same team.
D is re-starting FCA in our area and is doing a SuperBowl party. AND it also happens to be C's 10th birthday. So we have a lot to get prepared for next Sunday. AND that is also when our new pastor will be here. It's a pretty big day! I'm excited.

I think today I am going to attempt to make a dent in my disastrous thing called a scraproom. I took pictures of it, but I don't think I'm ready to post them yet. It's pretty ugly.

I'm waiting on a package from Sephora today, too. They always send you free samples with your orders and this time I get some extra samples...So, that's always fun!! I hope it gets here today!!!!!!

Man, I am quite the rambler today...

Ok, here is my LO from Triple the Sketch this week. Not one of my favorite, and for some reason I couldn't get a good picture...but I love the pictures of family game night, so that's all that matters ;)

Last thing...if you are needing something to make you feel miserable, I mean to satisfy your chocolate desires...I made these last week and they are UH-MAZING!!! (Derek took them on his ski trip and they were a huge hit!!) And I don't even care for chocolate all that much. They are super easy to make! YUMMMMMMM!!!!!! (BTW, Bakerella is also having a giveaway for a Wii on her blog, if you haven't been there yet, it ends tonight)

Hope your weekend is going wonderfully!!
Em

2009-01-19T21:45:00.011-06:00

Wellllll...
Not much has been going around these parts, so there hasn't been much to blog about.
D went skiing with our church youth group this weekend, and just got back today. He's in one piece and he had fun. A little sore, but he had fun!
I think B is coming down with a little stomach bug...he started acting a little cranky last night and today he's had some...well...issues. Poor guy. I hope he gets better soon.:(

I was bored while D was gone and found a squirrel to try my new camera lens out on. (it was a Christmas present from D)
He had just opened up a pecan from our front yard...

Then I scared him and he ran to the back, across the alley, and I finally found him in someone's back yard...

He ate his nut and then went and got another one...

Then he stopped and posed for me...

And then went on his way again.

All the boys around these parts use the squirrels for target practice...but, I really think they are cute.

Tomorrow morning I'm starting a new Bible study at church...We are doing this Beth Moore study. Can't wait to get started.

Some scrappin'...
Here is a little gift card holder I made for this week's sketch at Triple the Sketch...(it's made from an envelope, folded in half)the last of my Christmas stuff! Thank goodness...

And a LO from our trip to San Diego...

Ok, that's it.
I think I'm going to bed early tonight.
Hope you had nice holiday today, if you did. Have a great rest of your week!!
Ember

2009-01-13T00:19:00.007-06:00

What to say, what to say...I don't really know!
We did get a new pastor last night. That's very exciting!! He was voted in 100% yes!! We have been with out a pastor for about 19 months...so it is pretty awesome to finally have a consistant speaker each Sunday...and MANY other things. Can't wait to get to know him and his family!!
We have a busy week ahead of us. And then Derek is leaving Friday to go on the Youth ski/disciple now trip until Monday. He has NEVER skied before...so that should be interesting. I just hope and pray he doesn't break, tear, sprain, strain, whatever ANYTHING! Really, he will probably have an amazing time. I can't wait.

I did manage to get some scrapping done! I got LOTD (layout of the day) at CMK!
This is the LO I did. I really love this picture! It is one of the few pictures of all four of them together (My PaPa, grandmother, Mom and aunt). My mom is the littlest one. My PaPa, mom, and aunt all passed away from cancer and my grandmother is not in our lives...They seem so happy in this picture and I journaled that is was probably one of the last before my grandmother left them all. I wonder what was going in her mind in this picture. How she could leave this beautiful family....Anywho, here it is...

Here is another I did of me my best girl, Remi! She's so cute!!

And one more of Bryson with Santa...this was his first Christmas.

And here are the last two projects for Triple the Sketch.
A Christmas card...Hey, I'm way ahead...OR just really behind??

And a picture of Corbin with Santa...this was also his first Christmas.

I have more to share...but I will wait until next time.

Well...I guess that is all for now. I need to get to bed soon, so I can get up early and get some stuff done around the house.
Hope you all have a great week!!!!
Ember

2009-01-08T16:08:00.004-06:00

Hi! It's the moment you've been waiting your WHOLE life for!!
Ok...
So, maybe not your WHOLE life...but it's the moment you've been waiting for...
or
maybe it's just a moment and you haven't been waiting for it...

Whatever it may be...it's here!!

I had some help from Handy Dandy Husband! Thanks Hon!

Here we are...all the names on the list...

into the cup they go...

Honey digs in...

and...

the winner is...

a.k.a. Happay!!!!

PM your address to me and I will get it to ya!!
Congrats!!

2009-01-06T00:48:00.004-06:00

I love doing RAKs!! I should really do them more often!!
OK...so just leave a comment and I will draw a name on Thursday!!
Oh...you want to know what I'll send the lucky winner...
My super awesome deals from Wal-Mart!!

Yep...all of this. Don't worry...I bought some for me too! :D
Good Luck!!!!!

Prepare

2009-01-05T13:26:00.013-06:00

It's over...
Christmas, New Years, Bry's birthday...
2008
It's all over!
WOW, I can't believe how fast everything goes by...time, the holidays, my growing babies.
And now, a new year. I love how we get to start all over every 365 days. Start a new year, attempt to make it better than the one before. To leave the past year behind and start fresh.
I have a feeling this year is going to have a lot of suprises. Probably some good and maybe some bad...But I'm excited for both. I have faith in His perfect plan for us, so I want to have fun and praise Him with everything he will put in our path. I can't wait.

I think my word for the year is going to be PREPARE. I just feel REALLY strongly that God keeps telling me to PREPARE...in sooo many different ways. So I've started off by cleaning out A TON of stuff in the house. I'm going to start cooking and eating in a completely different way (this will probably be the most challenging...for both me AND my children) I could go on and on...but these are just a few of MANY!
Seriously...I can't wait!

So, I thought I would share a few...errr, ok...more than a few...pictures of Bry's birthday. We had a great night!!
Some happy party goers:

New toys!! YAY!! (I had to use my flash on these...this kid was tearin' into them two at a time!)

Time for cupcakes!! He wouldn't quit blowing out the candles! HA! He would blow them out before Derek even got them lit! Sandi covered his little mouth while we sang Happy Birthday...

Annual play-doh molding contest begins...Bryson made a castle...so cute!

all the entries lined up...

And then some Rock Band and Scene it! on the Xbox...(no pics of Scene It...but it was A LOT of fun...you have your own little buzzer to buzz in with your answer)

Whew...sorry for so many photos...that was more than I had planned on posting.
Well...I guess that is all for now!
Happy 2009! Hope you are all putting 2008 behind you and are PREPARING to receive your many blessings in 2009!
Ember

CMK DT entry

2008-12-30T19:30:00.007-06:00

I made it!! I wasn't sure if it was going to be possible...but I did it...with not much time to spare! I was working on my 4th LO...but started getting a little nervous with the time and decided to wrap it up!

Ok, so here is the kit I put together with my stash...

Cardstock—-3 sheets Bazzill
Patterned paper-—2 sheets October Afternoon, 1 sheet Sasafrass, 1 sheet Tinkering Ink, 1 sheet Scenic Route, 1 sheet Chatterbox, 2sheets of Scarlet Lime exclusive paper (5 of these are double sided)
Alphas—-Thickers and Making Memories
Rub-ons-—Hambly
Chipboard-—2 sheets Sasafrass, 4 misc. Maya Road and 1 pc Grungeboard
3 Misc trims from kits and Hobby Lobby (12 in each, although they are not cut in the picture)
Misc. buttons
Journaling cards—-1 jenni bowlin, 2 Elle’s Studio, 1 misc.
3 grey Prima flowers
Other misc embellies from Paper Valise—-blue and white string, 4 tickets, small stamps, 1 metal flower, 2 price tags, sequins, 3 rosette flower cabs
Cream tulle
1 Scarlet Lime stamp

Things not listed: pens, ink, paint, Slice

(you can click on the pics to enlarge :D)
And here is what I created with the kit:

3 Layouts--2 12x12 and 1 6x12 :

and 2 cards:

Well...that's it!

(For all of my non-scrapping readers...this might be kind of confusing, but it is an entry for a scrap booking contest :D)

Ember

Tagged x 2

2008-12-21T13:45:00.003-06:00

Ok...So I have been tagged twice...One by Becky AND Kaci and the other by Holly...she tagged me like a month ago. (Sorry, Holly!)

The first, from Holly, was to name some of my husband's favorite things...he's sitting here next to me, so I'm just gonna take a guess, then ask him and then type it in here!!

Derek's favorite TV show
House or The Office

He also watches A LOT of Sportscenter (which he actually wrote into our vows, seriously...sickness and in health, good times and bad...Sportscenter and shopping...I have it on video..,:D)

Favorite food

Tacos

Favorite drink

Diet Coke or Strawberry smoothies

Favorite ice cream
Blue Bell Cookies and Cream

Favorite hobby

Golf or Basketball (he says any kind of sports)

Favorite Movie

Gladiator, Office Space, or maybe Tommy Boy

Favorite Restaurant

PF Changs

Favorite Music

Casting Crowns, Shane and Shane, any good Christian music

This was kinda hard, because he really doesn't have a lot of "favorites", he just likes almost anything, everything, everyone most of the time.
Most importantly, I know he loves God and his family. And he loves learning about God every chance he gets!
So, there's that!

Ok, the other tag...which Becky and Kaci tagged me on is this...

Rules:
1. Post rules on your blog.
2. Answer the six "4" items.
3. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving them a comment.

4 Things I Did Yesterday: slept LATE!!, I did LOTS of laundry, invited my Dad over to watch the Cowboy game with Derek, Practiced my music/song for Sunday (ummm, I actually didn't do a whole lot yesterday :D)
4 Things On My Wish List: Lose weight!!! *sigh*, for my house to always be clean, for my family to be happy and healthy, for my boys to grow up to be Godly men and marry Godly women
4 Things I Look Forward to: Daughter-in-laws and grand-kids, seeing my mom in heaven, Growing old and retiring with my honey, Singing at church
4 Restaurants I like: PF Changs, The Cheesecake Factory, Chuy's, Chili's
4 Favorite TV Shows: I Survived, Intervention, any Law and Order, So You Think You Can Dance

YAY! All done!! And I'm not tagging anyone, because I think everyone has already done it...

Holy Toledo!!

2008-12-11T22:57:00.007-06:00

My last post was Nov. 20!!! How embarrassing!
I'm soo sorry I have been such a horrible blogger. December has been INSANE!
I think tomorrow will be our 5th party and we still have 2 or 3 more, a wedding rehearsal and wedding, 2 baby showers and 2 birthday parties before the end of the year...and Christmas and NYE of course. Add cooking and baking for almost every event, some fundraising to help our youth for their winter disciple now trip, basketball games and practices, shopping, wrapping, etc., etc....I don't remember being this busy last year...or ever, for that matter!
So...I really have not had a lot of time to do anything "fun" as in scrapping :(! HA! Just kiddding...I've actually been having a lot of fun.
Bry just got back today after visiting his NaNa for almost 2 weeks. I missed that little booger. Bad news is...he's sick. So he has a Dr. appt in the morning to find out what's going on in his little body. Corbin is supposed to have a friend over tomorrow after school, but that is now limbo...b/c of the little dude and his sickness. I think Corbin thinks B was only put here to make his life miserable. Poor Corb. I hope his friend gets to visit tomorrow.
Sooo...I guess I will give ya something to look at and not just my random rambles!
Here is a little project I did...I took an online class here (the 12 days of Christmas) and it was really fun. I have more stuff to make, but I'm really...TOTALLY behind on my online class :(

Our house was taken over by wreaths last week for one of the church fundraisers...messy, but it smelled so yummy. Not a smell we normally get here in the Panhandle. Usually it's more of a spicy sulfury smell. Ok, so not so much spicy...just real stinky. FYI: There are like 4 chemical plants in our small town.

Here are some pics from our visit to the 4 sixes ranch/abilene...

Finally I just have to share one of my FAVORITE sites to visit...Bakerella. She makes the cutest things. One of my faves, the cake pops are SOOO awesome. She just posted her Christmas cake pops this week and I love them! I made some a few months ago and they are YUMMM-MMMY! Takes a little bit of time to do, but so worth it. I'm hoping to make some for friends for Christmas!
Ok, so that is all for now. I have a million more pics to share.
We finally put the tree up tonight, so I'll try to get some good shots tomorrow night. I found some great info here!

Em

Day 1--Part 2...Day 2--Part 2

2008-11-20T00:06:00.005-06:00

Ok...So we get on the bus that takes us to our rental car, they drop us off...I take a quick inventory...MY CAMERA!! I left my camera!! I run back over to the bus and bang on the doors, yelling for her to please open them! ACK! She does and I get my camera. Phew! Derek would have NOT been soo happy with me...and I wouldn't have blamed him. Not one bit!
So, we go check into our room, get a little settled in and decide that the boys are going to the beach and I was going to go to a scrapbook store that I found on the internet. The plan was that I would go with them after I finished shopping (which was so fun...it was the cutest little store, EVAH!!!) I'm checkin' out and my phone rings. I'm thinking "Perfect timing!" but then "Wait, they can't be done already".
Derek: What are you doing?
Me: Checkin' out.
Derek: Bryson pooped his pants (in an extremely annoyed voice)
Me: Oh no! :(
So, I got to spend an hour drinking Peppermint tea next door, while reading the paper...and Derek had to clean some poop pants. (Sorry, Honey!!)
We went back to the hotel, ordered pizza and called it a night. Day 1 is over!!

Ok...So now back to day two...I forgot about our trip to Walgreen's before the zoo. It was so awesome...NOT!! LOL!
I asked Derek if we could go buy another memory card for my camera b/c I only had like 40 pics left on it and didn't have anything I could delete yet. He said sure! I remembered seeing a Walgreen's the day before, so we headed there. I went in with Corbin (he wanted to get a disposable camera) and quickly found what I needed. They had a 4GB card for only 29.99...pretty good deal, right? It took a while to find someone to help me, which I needed because the little boogers are like locked on to the little hanger thing. So the man goes and gets a screw driver, but he can't get the thing off. As he's trying to pry the little lock off, I notice that it says for SD?? only. So I ask him what that means and he asks me how old my camera is...I tell him a few months and then he just kinda looks at me weird. So I say ok, let me just get the regular one. It was 55.99...but I'm thinking the other one is on sale becuase its for a camera they don't make anymore or something. Well, he still can't get the little lock off, so he just rips the card off hanger. Wow...ok, thanks!
I pay, go the car and ask Derek the same thing...what is for SD?? only? He doesn't know either. But I tell they had one half the price...so being the frugal man that he is, he goes back in and gets the cheaper one. He gets back to the car and the package is that plastic stuff that you need the jaws of life to get into. After 10 minutes of wrestling with it...TA-DA...we pry it open. He opens up the cute little plastic box it comes in, I reach to grab it and it pops out. Where does it land, you might ask...down in the crevice between the seat and the middle console. As I'm wedging my hand between this uber tight space, I see that it is slipping...slipping into no man's land. It's about to fall down under the rail that the chair slides back and forth on. I yell, stretch my long fingers vigorously, and it's gone. It's gone. Derek says, "What do you mean it's gone?" I tell him again, it's like, gone! We will have to remove this seat to get it out...it's G-O-N-E!
Seriously!!
So, he calmly says to go in and just get the 2GB card and the two will equal the amount of the first I had purchased. But, I start crying instead. Lovely!
He goes in, comes back out and we leave. As we approach the light, he says...very calmly, "I just lost it in there." He gives me the story. I agreed. He lost it.
I hear Corbin in the back say, "Day 2, chapter 2..."
But now we are on our way to the zoo...so it's all good.
Sorry that story was so long...but it was just too good not to include.

Ok, now more pics of the zoo. :)

We saw some pandas...

the little baby was sleeping in the tree...so cute!!

and my favorite...the meerkats...even cuter!

Then we broke for lunch...some were feeling a little sad...

and other a little...crazy?

elephants...

giraffes...

gross camels...

and some giant koi...We have a koi pond, but ours are no where near this big! :)

I wanted to post the clouded leopard again, so you click on it and see how pretty he is.

Whew! That was a lot of work! I hope you enjoyed our day at the zoo. And I know you've probably seen these animals before, but I wanted to share anyways! :D

Yesterday Bry and I spent the day at the 6666 ranch in Guthrie, visiting friends and then to Abilene to visit more friends...so I will post some pics of that along with Day 3 of our trip at LegoLand.

Sorry this is so long! Hope you enjoyed!!
Ember

Back from our trip, Day 1--Part 1, Day 2--Part 1...

2008-11-19T11:09:00.012-06:00

Is that confusing?! I have SOOO much to share!! We had a really great time in San Diego and I'm trying to go through all of the pics I took, so I can share some of our fun! I'm gonna do this in several parts (ummm, hence the title). There are A LOT of pics!
We left early Friday morning for our trip and aside from a few loud screeches, screams, yells, etc. on the plane (from Mr. B, of course), the trip there went smoothly. We made our way down to the baggage claim...this is where the fun begins. My curious little two year old saw a small box with a little handle on it and wanted to see what was inside. I turned just in time to his tiny,sweet, little hand flip the little knob up, Derek yells his name...sirens go off, a big red light starts flashing and the entire airport is staring! And laughing. I slowly walk away. He had opened up an AED...A.K.A, automated external defibrillator. Some annoyed looking gentleman slowly walked over, turned something, and the alram stopped. Whew! That was fun.
We then gather our bags and head to the escalator. Mr. Curious and now very independent insists that he carry his own bag up the escalator. I disagree. He yells. Derek insists it will be fine. So, against my better judgement, I say ok. He gets on, loses his balance and starts falling down the stairs, head first...face down. His little mystery machine suitcase goes tumbling down with him. Luckily, he had no visible injuries. And didn't really even cry...but it scared the crap outta me!! I told Derek I might need a drink!
So that was the first 20 minutes...it does get better ;)
I'm gonna go ahead and skip to day 2, for now. We went to the San Diego Zoo. The weather was SOO amazing! It was hot for California this time of year, but still really nice to us.
(You can click on the pics for a larger version if they are too little...*ETA* or maybe not...it doesn't seem to be working for this post, sorry!)
We started out with some misc. birds...the flamingos are the only ones I know the names of...Bryson was really fascinated and probably could have just stayed there all day and watched them...

So we move one...

We saw lots of birds (this was my favorite)

some tigers cuddling

two giant hippos...I guess also cuddling

and one fake copper one

a clouded leopard...

Ok...I'll post more animal shots on my next post, Day 2--Part 2 :D

The landscaping was sooo beautiful! That was really one of my favorite parts. I LOVE flowers, cool plants, etc...so here are some shots of some of faves...
I think the Hibiscus is one of my faves...

Don't know what this is but thought it was cool

And these were all over the place, in red also.

I have pictures of some of this same plant/flower from my trip to China last year.

Ok. Well...I also haven't posted A THING for Triple the Sketch in forever...so here are some from last month

and also a page I did of Bryson and I that I really love!!

Oh yeah, I was tagged on a friends blog...I will get that in here soon! I promise.

Hope you are all having an awesome Wednesday!
Ember

Can a girl be any safer??

2008-10-30T23:34:00.004-05:00

With these two awesome guys by her side??

Derek is out of town, so I felt pretty safe with these two! HA!

Just a little quick post to show the boys in their Halloween costumes. We went to the Fall Festival last night, it's an annual event that our church does. We had a great time!! Well, most of the time. The little "Chinese Super Hero" kept weaving in and out of the crowd...without me! I panicked a few times...but it's actually a pretty small place so I knew he wouldn't get too far. Anywho, he is REALLY appreciating Halloween this year and just kept telling me how cool and great it was. And he wanted to wear his costume again today. He's a nut! Corbin found his friends right away, so it's a good thing I took pics of him before, because we didn't see him again until it was time to leave. So grown up and independent.

Well, I'll post more pics later!
Happy Halloween!
Ember

Seriously, how do I get so far behind...

2008-10-15T23:46:00.010-05:00

I think it could be ADD. I took a quiz in this months Real Simple magazine...so, either I have ADD or I just can't get it together. I'm kiddin'...well, kinda...
Well, whatever, just some randomness.
I'm sitting here on the couch, listening to D snore, smelling the dog after she rolled around in poop this evening...while we are at church. Why is that neccessary? We all know who's poop is in the back yard...there is really no need to roll in it. I don't want to take fun pictures with you when you roll in POOP!! SICK!!!

I still love ya, girl!
Yeah, more ramdomness. :D
The weather has been MUCH cooler this week and I love it. I love the fall and winter. And I can't wait for snow. D hates the snow...like really despises the cold weather. I mean he lived in Florida (not sure how long), then moved to Austin in the 2nd grade...so his experience with snow/cold weather is pretty much zero.
RAAAANNNNDDDDDOOOOMMMMM!
Ok...I'll try not to be random anymore :D
We've had another busy week...chiropractor, eye dr., hair appts, Bible studies, fundraiser meeting, choir practice, vet, Derek went to New Mexico yesterday for work, tail-gate on Friday...on and on. Despite all the runnin' around, things have been really good. With everything going on in the country, world...we feel extremely blessed. At this time, there are no real struggles. I'm thankful to have a healthy family, a roof over our head, meals on the tables. Life is good. God always provides in one way or another and always blesses our home. Speaking of blessed, Derek and I are doing really well after LASIK. We both had appts today and we are both seeing 20/15. My eyes are great, no more discomfort, no dry eyes, nothing...it's awesome. Derek's having a little bit of blurriness still, but he said it is getting better everyday. I have some great pictures of him before and after his procedure...but, I think he might kick me out if I posted them. I jokingly told him I had already posted them...he was NOT a happy camper! Maybe some day.

OK, so for some scrappy stuff...
I am the GD at Scrap for a Cure this month...I had to do 4 LOs or 3 LOs and project with the October kit...so I did the latter. Here are the LOs and the project.

Pretty fun! I had fun scrapping old pics of Corbin. I can't belive he will be 10 soon. Freaks me out a little!

Well, that's all for today I guess. I should probably hit the sack!
Ember

Almost 32...

2008-10-01T00:31:00.007-05:00

WOW! I can not believe it is October! And October is looking like another busy month...D goes in tomorrow morning to make sure he will be able to have his LASIK on Thursday...Thursday is also his birthday...his 32nd...and his license is up for renewal, too. Which is why this whole LASIK thing came up...he doesn't want to have the "with corrective lenses" on his DL anymore. Now he's worried that he won't pass his eye test on Friday, which he has to have done to get his license renewed to leave on his trip Monday. I guess it's an important trip, and not being there is not an option. He's crazy. And he makes me laugh!!

SEE??!! He's crazy...

Last night was our last night of small group. We have decided to "drop" out for now because we just have too many things going on. We never just get to chill out for a day...so now we have NOTHING on Monday nights!! YAY!! Small group was also at our house, so now I don't have to make sure my house is spotless every Monday night. HA! But seriously, we are going to miss it...but now it's going to be good for our family.

I still haven't taken pics of the cute little boots. But I will soon. I think he would have slept in them if I had let him. He's crazy, too!! I mean, the whole family is crazy...really.
Including the dog.
She has figured out a way into the neighbors yard, we can't figure out how, and just hangs out with their dogs...they have 3 dogs...just barking and running and having a good ol' time. CRAZY dog!

B not only likes to wear his boots around the house...but he also likes to wear other things around the house...a cape, hats, coats or jackets...even during the summer...He likes to zip it all the way up, and puts the hood on if there is one...like this...

or this, an example of his hat fetish...along with a rockin' choice of PJ's...(I put the tops and bottoms together and he still rummages through the drawer and picks this...eh...whatever makes him happy, I guess)...

Crazy.

Ok...so I finally got to get some scrappin' in! WOO-HOO!!

Here is one I did of crazy B the other night...I love it!! He just looks cute and sweet here.

And also my LO for Triple the Sketch this week...

The pics are these stickers I won...here.
Pretty fun!

Well...I best get to bed. I'm getting sleepy!
Em

20/15

2008-09-25T20:41:00.002-05:00

In less than 24 hours I've gone from being "blind" to seeing 20/15! I don't really think it has sunk in yet. How can that be possible??! I don't know, but I'll take it!! No more glasses, no more contacts, no more worrying when I shower or swim if my contact will fall out, no more worrying about saline, and running out of contacts...NO MORE!! After 24 years of blurriness...it's gone!! YIPPPPEEEE!!
D goes in next week...I hope that his goes as well as mine did.

Lots going on around these parts. I don't even know where to begin. I think the most annoying thing going on is that our little town has some theives on the loose. And they are robbing our churches...of all the places. I think last I heard our church was the 4th and this week they hit our benevolence ministry, Living Water. Not only did they steal some things and make a mess...but they stole food and then left some of the freezers open! I'm not sure if the food was completely ruined or not...but still...SOOO frustrating!!

Anywho...The boys all went to the Homecoming parade tonight. I really wanted to go and take pictures of the boys...but decided I would stay in and "baby" my eyes another day:) They brought home a TON of candy...

B also got some new cowboy boots from Tina (my step-mom) and my Dad tonight. He looks REALLY cute in them and he was SUPER excited wearing them! SOO CUTE! I will take pics of him later...he's in bed now.

So, another new thing in our house is family game night. Tuesday night is now officially family game night. Last week was our first night and we played Hungry, Hungry Hippo...

This week we played Toy Story Memory...which I didn't get any pics of. It's been fun...B of course usually does something to ruin the game...HA! Not really, he just doesn't follow all of the rules...

Well...If I put EVERYTHING I've missed in the last few weeks...this thing would be like 7 million pages long.

Unfortunately I haven't had a lot of time for scrapping lately :(
BUT, I'm hoping to have some stuff later this week. We've made some changes to our schedule and so we don't have AS many things going on now. Still a lot going on, just not as much.

Well, the weeks almost over and I hope it has been great for ya!

Ember

dumb cookies...

2008-09-21T23:24:00.004-05:00

Well...I was planning on updating today...have just been busy and then I kinda forgot. Soooo...I got on here to update and I couldn't sign in due to some issues with my cookies. Anywho, I got it figured out, but now it's time for me to go to bed. I have an appt at 8 in the morning, in Amarillo (that's about an hour away if you don't live around here). So I need to hit the sack.

It should be another busy week...I am supposed to get LASIK done on Wednesday!! I'll post more about that tomorrow also...that is what my appt is for...to see if I actually can get it done for sure. Hope it goes well!!!

I'll leave you with one of my faves of B from last week...

Here is my little super hero...he calls himself "Super Speed".

And when he takes off his gear, he'll tell me that Bryson is back...pretty darn cute!
Hope everyone has a good week!!!

Ember

Wellllll....

2008-09-02T11:40:00.008-05:00

I'm like sooo behind I don't even know where to begin!
Life has been non-stop. I think for two weeks we had someone over at our house almost every night. But now school has started and things are starting to get back to normal, somewhat. It's so much easier to keep a schedule during the school year...
Anywho...we've had a lot going on. C started the 4th grade! WHAT??!!? I honestly can not believe he is in the 4th grade. It kinda makes me feel old...HA! He was blessed with an AWESOME teacher this year and we can't wait to see how the year goes. AND they finished the new school, so he is getting to enjoy each day in a brand spankin' new school. It looks so nice. I think the schools here are all at least 50 years old...probably older. So it is a huge treat for our little town.
Here's the big guy off to his 1st day of school...
He was pretty excited.
B was also excited and loaded up a little backpack with crayons and a coloring book...he cried all the way home after he realized he wasn't staying with his big bro. It was so sad...

Speaking of B, he has been going to the chiropractor for some potty issues he was having. He has done SOOO much better than I thought he would and his problem seems to be fixed. Now if we can get him to acutally do his business in the potty, that would be GREAT! He was doing so good, and I don't know what happened, but he's regressed in the last few weeks.
I was really tempted to take my camera and gets some pics (cause it is just so cute)at the Dr. office, but I felt kinda silly and opted not to. He gets along with the Dr. so well...he even gave him a kiss the other day...yep, on the mouth! He's crazy!

Friday is D and I's anniversary...10 years. I can't believe it's already been ten years. I'll have to dig up some wedding photos to put on here Friday. Love ya honey! Can't wait for 10 more and 10 more and 10 more and...well, you get the picture...

I'm random today...jumping from one thing to another...
but the boys also got a trampoline a few weeks ago. B LOVES it...all he wants to do is go jump...all day long. Here he is doing some laps...burning off some of that intense energy...YESSSSSSSSSSS!!!

OK...so I guess I will post some scrappy stuff now...
Here are some LOs for Triple the Sketch...

The first one is B...one of my favorite pics of him...

And here we are this past Easter...the whole fam...Bry was NOT cooperating!

And last but not least...I'm a little reluctant to share this one...I did post it in my gallery, but my friends and family don't look at stuff there...just here. But I really like it and it was good to get things off my chest and on paper...so here it is...

Here is the journaling...just scroll down a little...sorry it's a little long...

Ok, so now that I've depressed everyone..JK!
I guess that is just about it for today...I'm hoping to get back on some sort of bloggy schedule soon...
So until then...
Be blessed!
Ember

Whoa, momma!!

2008-08-09T00:01:00.008-05:00

I haven't updated in 2 weeks...*sigh*

And the funny thing is that I don't really have anything to say...which is a VERY rare occasion.
D and I just watched the opening ceremonies (Olympics, derrr) and it was pretty awesome. Makes me want to go back to China!!! But really, I'm pretty stoked that the Olympics have started. I'm kinda nerdy and keep up with the medals and what not...whatever...I like it...AND being a nerd.

Ok, so really, I don't have much to say...thus the ramblings above and probably soon to be more...:D

REALLY ready for school to get started so we can get back into a routine...but that also means D will start traveling again...kinda sad :( But I guess I'm pretty used to it now.

Some good news...I got a new camera! AND I love it. It is a Canon Rebel Xsi...and I am pretty much addicted. I can't wait to learn how to REALLY use it to it's potential. Here are some of my favorite pics I've taken in the last week or so...
Remi girl...she looks like she is in deep thought...but she is really just sniffing the carpet...HA!

And I think this is "take another picture of me and I kill you!!!!" or something like that...

And my little diaper head...

Here's a shot of the boys playing...sorta nicely...

and my little Super hero...Super Bry...to the rescue!!!
with...a...hammer...

Still trying to figure out how to not use the flash indoor and not have it soo blurry...any suggestions would be COMPLETELY WELCOMED!! :D I actually haven't tried that hard yet to figure it out...call me lazy...:P

OK...so I guess I will share some scrappiness...and then hit the sack...

Here are two I did this week...
The first is several pics of B acting silly and just being so darn happy..

And this is one of my Nanny and Papa...I really LOVE how it turned out and I actually got LOTD at CMK...so, I was pretty excited about that...

And here are a few things from Triple the Sketch...

This is Halloween...

just a little card...

and a "tag"...Love is...

OK folks, that is all for now...I guess. My brain is just really not 100%...I have to make sure the house is looking spiffy tomorrow...We are having a going away party for some friends from church...VERY sad to see them go, but excited to see what God has in store for our town/church and them. So we are supposed to have about 30-35 people here tomorrow evening. Should be FUN!!

Nighty night...
Em

Happy Tuesday!

2008-07-22T13:45:00.009-05:00

Hello...I am just sitting here and thought I should probably update my blog...so here I am!

My boys finally got home on Saturday...two weeks without these faces:

Ok, Ok...the last one is actually our camp bus driver...just a little inside joke for my girl Anna!! Which, by the way, you should go check out her mini book she did for her boyfriend...it's on her blog. She finished a few weeks ago...she's obsessed now and can't wait to start something new!! YAY!!!

Things have been pretty crazy...so, nothing new...HA!! We had, I think, 4 birthday parties last week...I had to bake a cake for one of them. Not just ANY cake, but a Pinapple Upside Down cake...which I have never done! I was nervous...but it actually turned out ok...at least that is what they tell me. I didn't eat any of it. I also made some cake pops for the JV cheerleaders bake sale on Saturday...I should have taken a picture, but I didn't. They were CUTE and the girls said they went SUPER FAST!! I did try these out...and they were YUMMY!!!! I HIGHLY recommend them!! The recipe is here.

My little turkey is at Boys Camp this week. This is the first time he has ever been without anyone...I think he will do fine...expect in the hygiene dept. Not so sure he will be smelling so great when he gets home...but Oh, well! I'll just toss him the good ol' shower! :D

Ok...so here are a couple of camp pics...some of my faves...
We did trust falls...(yes I did it too, but there is no picture :()

And here are some misc photos...

And here are some pics of the broken window we came home to...pretty crazy!!

Ok...I haven't posted any Triple the Sketch stuff in FOREVER!! So here are the last two projects for TTS...
Sketch #15

and
Sketch #16

Ok...That is probably enough for today! One of these days I will be caught up with EVERYTHING! I can't imagine that...HA!!

Em

What...July is halfway over!!!

2008-07-16T22:22:00.002-05:00

AND this is my first post of the month!! EEK! Well...I do have a few good excuses!

D and I were at camp all last week in Glorieta, NM. WOW...did we have an amazing time. Of course, there were some challenges and I think all of the adults were pretty emotionally exhausted when we got back home on Saturday. I have a TON of pics...I will post some in my next post. I'm not posting anything this time...just really not in the mood.

On the way up to camp, I rec'd a text from a friend that a mutual friend had lost his mother to cancer. I tried not to let if effect me too much...but having lost my mother to the same disease over two years ago...it did make me sad. I still haven't contacted him...I just pray that he is doing well...coping as best as he can. Our bus also started over-heating about 45 miles outside of Glorieta. The two vans that were with us went ahead to register our group and it took us about 2 hours to make the rest of the trip. Sooo...that was the first day...or should I say half of our first day. During the week we had 2 trips to the emergency room...one for an almost broken collar bone and the other for a dislocated knee cap. There were several other injuries/issues, but of course God moved insanely in all of our lives.

Now on the way home, about an hour out...we rec'd a phone call that someone had busted out a window in our car...which was parked at the church. D's golf clubs and GPS were in it...among other misc. things. D was VERY distraught that last 45 minutes of the trip. He made the comment to me that it had taken over 5 years to get the perfect set of golfclubs and there was no way they could be replaced...I just started praying for him. I knew his heart would be BROKEN if they were gone. So we park...he heads to the truck, I head the other direction. Luckily, nothing was missing. I guess it was just some bored kids. We took it in Monday morning and it was ready by noon...$215 later...and we just really didn't let it ruin our days. It could have been worse...so much worse! We felt blessed despite the little bump :)

AND it has been NON-STOP since we got home...church functions, ultimate frisbee, Rock Band at our house, hanging/eating with friends, playing cards, working a little at LW, halping make posters...and much MORE! But we have had soo much fun. I don't know if I'm ready for summer to end anytime soon!

We did get some EXCELLENT news yesterday...B is officially potty trained. He and C have been at their NaNa's while we were gone (and are still there), and we asked her if she would start the process for us...He went from 15 accidents on the first day to none now!! He just goes in the bathroom all by himself and potties. I'm so totally stoked! I can't wait to see him and C and Remi (the dog)...I'm missin'em somethin' terrible!!!

Well...I will post some more exciting things...pics, etc...later this week!
Good night!
Ember

The last day of June...

2008-06-30T14:07:00.005-05:00

Can you believe that??! The year is half way over!
They already had fall AND some Christmas ornaments out at Hobby Lobby this weekend! WHAT!!?? I think that is NUTS! BUT...I bought some cute Bunko prizes...it's not at my house until October...but I just couldn't resist. I also got a few scrappy things (OF COURSE!) and some things for my group at Camp.
Camp is next week and I am going as a "couselor" again this year...I don't really think of myself as a couselor...just hoping to maybe show them some love and more importantly God's love and just to listen and hopefully teach a little...and have fun, too!! I can't wait. I can't say which group of girls I have just yet...we are not letting them know until the day of camp and some of the girls read my blog...so the word is MUM! I will update with pics and all when I get back...

Last week and this weekend were SUPER busy! I was helping plan our church Choir banquet, which was Saturday AND a baby shower, which was Sunday afternoon...after church. So most of the week was getting those two things ready and also trying to get the house organized and cleaned! Our small group is starting back up tonight and we are having at our house now...at least for the summer. So I am trying to get the house looking beautiful! HA! Quite a task with all these crazy boys here :D
My week was also consumed with getting back to a work out routine...I had kinda fallen out of my old one and started back again Wednesday...So I was SUPER, DUPER sore Thurs-Sun. Today was much better and I hope it will only get better from here. We started doing a resistance band workout and I am totally lovin' it...It kicks my booty, but it's acutally fun.

Ok.
So my last post talked about a little contest that I was in...and that I had made it to the next round of 20...well, last Monday they narrowed it down to 10 and unfortunately my name was not on the list. I was pretty bummed, but I made a really fun project that I love and had an awesome time making. It was for Bryson's room and he totally love it, too!
Here it is...

And...
Here is also my work for Triple the Sketch...for Sketch #13...

If you are a scrapper...you should go check it out and make something awesome with Patter's sketch!

Well...That is all I can think of for now. I will leave you with a B funny...

Yesterday he was kind of upset about a little plastic golf ball that our dog Remi had chewed on. He was showing all of us, saying "Look what Remi did to my ball!"...very sad...showing each of us and making us examine it. He then walked back over to D and said "Smell it"...and D said "Smell it?"...B said "Yeah, smell it". So D smelled it and then B started giggling. We both looked at each other and I said "Did he just trick you?"
Well...I don't know if that is as funny to me as it will be to you...but I was crackin' up! The brain of a two year old...makes me giggle!

Have a great week!!!!
Em

A day late....again...

2008-06-21T11:35:00.006-05:00

I don't know why I have been such a slacker lately! UGH!!

Anywho...
We've had another busy week. Derek was out of town all week and got back yesterday...and then he went to do paintball this morning with our church youth group...Hopefully he will get back soon :( I miss him!!!

Last night we went to a friend's house for her little one's first b-day. He was so excited to play with his new toys AND to eat cake. We had a nice time visiting...and then a HUGE storm blew in...and we had walked over to their house! EEK! So we had to get a ride home. After we got home and put the kids down, I went on the front porch to watch the lightening and noticed my hanging flowers were not there...they had fallen on our flowers below and squished one of them...then I noticed that my DH's UT thing he had hanging was gone. It's one of those metal spinning things...with pointy edges...I said it could have taken out one of the teenagers drinking beer next door (We have some college kids that live next door...I think they have parties every night..??? Can someone say payback...um, yeah!!)...I mean it could have, but it didn't. But I looked again for it this morning and I can't find it...?? The wind was seriously kickin' last night...it was awesome!

So another thing I've been slackin' at is not taking photos. I don't think I've taken a photo in 2 weeks (besides my DQ picks down there---V) So, I really don't have any pics to share :(

I know...

it's a sad, sad day in bloggy world...

Ok, snap out of it!
So the week before last we had VBS...I was in the craft room...go figure...and it was exhausting!! I was totally worn out by the end of the week...but we had SO much fun! Derek did outside rec...I don't know if we can be anymore opposite...which I think is one of the best things about us. I guess our children will be very rounded...eh?

Another super awesome thing I have been doing the last two weeks is scrapping with one of the teenage girls from my church. She's very artsy-craftsy and majorly talented and I had told her anytime she wanted to venture into the scrappy world, to let me know. So she approached me at church and asked if I could help her make an album for her boyfriend. Of course I said yes and the rest is history. I asked her yesterday if she was addicted and she said YES!! LOL!! She's been sucked in...I hope I haven't created a monster...HEE HEE!! Love ya, Anna!!!

The uber talented Lissa Anglin had a little contest on her blog a few weeks ago and I actually won! The prize was either an 8x10 of a previous shoot, 10% off a new shoot or a suprise gift...I decided I wouldn't be able to live life completely not know what the suprise was, so I opted for that. Well, I rec'd it in the mail last week and she sent me these cool little stickers of my boys...

Pretty awesome! THANKS LISSA!!!

I also had LO of the week last week at Scrap for a Cure! I didn't realize it until the week was almost over! Totally made my day! Thanks SFAC!!!!

And last but not least...I haven't shared any of my Triple the Sketch stuff...like ALL month! EEK!!!! So here are my projects...

Ok...I guess that is all for today...It's almost a new week AND it's the first day of summer...so maybe I will turn over a new leaf...??? and not be so slacky...???
We shall see...

Later,
Em

Ok...just one day late...

2008-06-18T13:53:00.012-05:00

Not too bad, right??

I've decided that I should split this up over the next few days because I have A LOT to blog about! The last few weeks have been crazy busy!

We traveled around TX the first week of June. We went to Austin to see D's mom and drop the boys off with her. I also was able to have dinner with Patter...my Triple the Sketch "boss" and her three daughters (they're triplets). It was a lot of fun and very interesting to see 3 completely different personalities from 3 girls who looked EXACTLY alike. I don't have a picture yet...:( Coming soon, I hope!!

So then D and I headed to Dallas...he had to work...I got to shop and play. It was tons of fun. We ate at some excellent restaurants...I probably gained a million pounds and we actually got to spend some quality time together. It was a great trip. My last day there I went with Daniela to the GASC and we met up with Leslie. I have only "met" these ladies on-line...so I was a little nervous. But it turned out to be THE BEST day. We shopped till we dropped...seriously...We shut the place down!! And got some great new stuff!! We had a dramatic ending to our day, with tears, hugs and all. It was awesome!! :)
Here's a picture that one of Leslie's friend took of us...pretty cute!!

Ok...so now I am going to skip around a little.

On to some scrappy business...
CMK is having a DT contest called The Last Scrapper Standing...I thought, what the heck...sounds fun...and entered a LO for my entry...This here...

We had to lift a LO in the gallery of one of the current DT members...I chose Leslie's.

The next week they posted the first challenge, it was to scrap one of your weaknesses...Well...I only have a million so it was an easy choice...NOT!!!! I actually almost didn't make it in time because I kept changing my mind...but I managed to get it in...

And I am one of the top 20 that get to move on to the next round!!! They actually picked me (and 19 others) to move on!! I am SOOOO pumped!!! Now we have our next challenge...to do a card or altered item using a slogan from a T-shirt. EEEEKKK!! Pretty exciting and kinda nerveracking. The other 19 ladies are AWESOME!!!!! Soo...we'll see...If nothing else, I have had FUN playing along...and am totally humbled that I was even chosen to move on.

Well...I guess I will wrap it up for today. I'll post more tomorrow or Friday...I still have much more :D

Later...
Em

Super late...

2008-06-16T01:22:00.002-05:00

Super tired :(

I am going to try my VERY best to update tomorrow (No more complaining, peeps...I still love ya though). Be prepared...it will probably be like 5 years long :D

Ember

Winner, winner...

2008-05-30T10:35:00.002-05:00

Chicken dinner!! I just drew a name out of a hat...and the winner is...

DANIELLE!!

YAY! Congrats, Danielle! PM me your addy!! I also have a few questions for ya...

And some other exciting news...I was asked to be a Guest Designer at Scrap for a Cure! The design team is AWESOME! And I can't wait to get their kit...I'm totally stoked! It won't be until October b/c I was actually the last person they got a hold of...so now I'm anxiously awaiting! Can't wait!! Like seriously...Can't wait!!

Also...DH was cleared on Tuesday! Dr. said it wasn't COMPLETELY healed...but good enough to return to regular activities! So that was a HUGE praise!!

OK...I'll leave you with a CRAZY son story...
The other day I hear B gleefully shouting..."Wee...Weee!!! Mommy look at me! Weee...Weeee!!" So I look into the dining room to see what all the fun is about...only to find him SWINGING from the curtains. Think circus, the two long peices of silk hanging from the ceiling, you know...where the performer gets all twisted in it, rolling around in it...Are you there with me?? Well...a very similar performance took place in my dining room...Pretty awesome, eh??!! I quickly ended his fun and told him that was probably not the best idea to swing from curtains and if he did it again he would get a spanking! HA!
I gave birth to pure crazy!! And I love it! :D

Have a great weekend!
Em

Happy Birthday, Brother!

2008-05-27T09:10:00.013-05:00

Soo...today is my BIG brother's 35th birthday! He's so old! HA! (I hope he reads today ;)) Happy Birthday! Hope you have/are having a great day!!!!!!

Can't wait to call him and tell him how old is, too! HEE HEE!

Ok...so, of course, things have been busy...yep, you guessed it! But there are only 3 days of school left for the C man! Wooo-HOO!! I'm probably more excited than he is! He had some really not great teachers this year...and I really try hard to give teachers the benefit of the doubt...I mean I would NEVER want their job and I totally admire men and women who can get up and teach 5 days a week...wether it be tiny, squirmy little ones or smart ankle teenagers...BUT, for these two ladies the benefit has just run out. And everyone that I have spoken to about the problems have said the same thing..."I wish you would have asked me before school started about them..." Including the previous principal. I just don't understand that. Are they just hanging in there for retirement...like, they hate their jobs and what they do and are miserable, but retirement is maybe right around the corner??? And I know MILLIONS of people in this world probably hate their jobs and are doing the exact same thing...but this isn't just any job...they are teaching my baby...preparing children for their future...
Well...I could go on and on...but I'll just end this rant before I get a little crazy :)

DH is off to the DR. this morning...hopefully to get his foot cleared. If you are new to my life, he had foot surgery at the beginning of the year for a fracture that happened LAST summer. Yes folks, he waited 6 months to go the dr....6 months walking around with a broken foot. I know, he's crazy!! BUT...hopefully it will be better today and he will be cleared! It's not been healing exactly the way it is supposed to and I think he's a little discouraged about it...I hope and pray it is done today and that it will be his last Dr's appt!!!!

Last night our small group did a dinner for our ministers and their spouses and then we had a mini redneck golf tournament after dinner. We had sooo much fun. If you are not familiar with redneck golf (I was also clueless until about a week ago) you can check it out here...It's actually A LOT of fun. Maybe something you can include in your next family outing!! I contributed a pie to the event, one of my faves...which I think is really great for summer...The name sounds kinda unappealing, but it is REALLY good...I like to warm it up in the micro before I eat it...YUMMMY!!! Here is the recipe for that too...Nothing like a good desert and some redneck golf!! HA!

Sunday night we had some REALLY bad weather roll through our area...I am completely fascinated with it and made the whole family go storm chasing with me. I WISH I had remembered to take my stinkin' camera, but unfortuantely I did not. I thought we would see a tornado fall out of it any minute...but it just kept rotating and nothing. Just when it started getting really exciting, it was time for church so we had to go back to town. Maybe next time...or maybe I just need to hook up with the Twister Sisters...

OK...onto some scrappiness...
Last week I won two RAK's from Scrap for a Cure...they had an online crop...Can't wait to see what I have won! It's a surprise!! WOOO-HOOO!! And I also did some Etsy shopping this weekend...aren't these the CUTEST tags. I can not wait to get them...Happy mail days for me this week!!! AND I thought I could give someone else a happy mail day, too! Just leave a comment with your fave Etsy store! There are sooo many, I want to know what I'm missin'! I'll draw a winner on Friday and send you some of these tags, plus some other goodies! GOOD LUCK!!!!

Here are some LO's from last week...
Here is my latest work for Triple the Sketch...It is a mini book/album I am working on for B..."All the Things I love @ 2"...

And here is a LO of C playing teatherball at school...(Ok, I googled teatherball/tetherball and it is spelled both ways...if you are an experienced teatherer/tetherer please let me know the official spelling :D)...

AND...in celebration of warmer weather...here is an old LO that I've never posted...C when he was little...

Well...I guess that is all for today! I really need to update more, so I'm not so long winded...sorry!!
Hope you have a GREAT week!!
Blessings...
Em

Times flies...

2008-05-18T16:37:00.005-05:00

and I'm not sure I was even having that much fun...HMMMM!
and I'm starting to sound like a broken record...
Anywho, I guess it flies when your not having fun, too! HA!

The last few weeks have been pretty busy, as always. Week before last I was SICK! UGH! Not fun...at all! I hate being sick, especially when my hubby is gone...which he was...so I ended up being extremely behind on the housework. We spent most of the weekend trying to get caught up...and I was still trying to get better.

Mother's day was pretty uneventful. We went to church, ate at my Dad's and then went home. Corbin had his musical at the church that evening...it was called "Rock Solid". Pretty cute and he had a semi-main part and he did awesome. I was a co-director and Derek, of course, did not bring the camera...so I have no pictures. I'll have to see if I can get some from one of the moms. It makes me soo sad when I don't have pics :(

This week was also crazy busy. Derek was in town and I had several appts...still trying to get my work-outs in. I missed the entire week before b/c I was sick and really did not want to get back into it...but I did, and it was not soo bad. I started doing more cardio this week and I like it much better than lifting weights!

School will be over next week...I can't believe it. Another thing that flew by...and I need to start getting teacher gifts together, which I haven't even started!! UGH!!! and then there's graduations...I have a cousin and several kiddos from our church that are graduating...so I need to get gifts/cards for them as well. Soooo, the next few weeks should be crazy as usual! BUT...then summer!! WOO-HOO!! One really good thing about summer is that we can travel with Derek b/c Corbin is out of school! I think that is probably my favorite part!!!

Well...I can't really think of much else to say...so I'll leave you with some of my scrappiness...as always...

Here is my LO for Triple the Sketch this week...

and another LO I did this weekend...Just one I threw together of Remi...It was for a 3 product challenge at Scrap for a Cure...

Well...I was going to add more pics, but blogger has different plans today...Sooo, I guess that is all for today!

Later peeps!! :)
Ember

A new day...

2008-05-06T13:51:00.007-05:00

And boy am I glad...Yesterday was a tough day. It was the 2 year anniversary of the death of my mother. I really miss her tons and with Mother's Day coming up, it just makes it even more depressing. I just kept replaying the events of that day, and the days before, over and over in my head. It has been a long road, including a lawsuit that we thought ended about a year ago...but the lawyer actually sent us papers 2 weeks ago to sign and actually finalize everything...that we will officially not be pursuing any other cases against any other drs or hospitals. So that was kind of emotional also. But it is a relief to have everything done. One of the ladies from my small group, Elizabeth, and her daughter, Anna, came by yesterday and brought me some flowers and a beautiful card. It just made my day and of course made me cry. I'm so blessed to have such great friends.

So, this weekend is the kids musical at church...it's called Rock Solid. We've been working hard to get everything done and we're almost there! YAY!! I, for one, will be ecstatic when all is said and done!

I'm also working at LW some this week (that is a benevolence ministry that our church, with a few others in town, supports.) I'm kind of excited to have a break in my week! This week is already FLYING by.

I did A LOT of scrappy things this weekend for NSD. CMK had 10 challenges to do and I managed to get 6 done. Each one you do enters you in a drawing for that challenge and I won one!! YAY! I was sooo excited. So I will be getting some goodies in the mail soon...can't wait! Here is what I worked on...3 cards and then 3 layouts!!

The first challenge was a sketch by Patter...

Second challenge was to make a card using a bird, polka dots, flowers and some stamping, this was Dani's challenge...

Third challenge was Carrie's, and she had 2 regular greeting cards to inspire us...

Next was Juliana's, and she had an interior design pic to inspire us...

Then I did Tina's challenge, which was to pick 3 diff brands from a list of 6 or 7 (can't remember) and use only the 3 to make your LO...

And the last one I did was Kate's challenge, we were to use multiple copies of the same pic...

I had a lot of fun and was very thankful that Derek let me play all day. He and the boys also played all day. They went and ate breakfast together and then went to the park. After Bryson's nap they went back outside and played all day, then pizza for dinner, baths, Bryson to bed and then he and Corbin went to the movies to see Iron Man (I think that's what it was called.) Corbin said I would have loved it...I don't know about LOVE...but I'm not opposed to not seeing it...

Well...That is all I can think to ramble about today. The pest control people are coming today, so I need to make sure everything is picked up and out of their way...so I best get busy!
Have a good one...
Ember

Stuff, TTS, and the winner!!!

2008-05-02T10:57:00.005-05:00

SOOOO...another busy week, of course. The family is looking much better after our haircuts...We could have started a Beatles cover band they were getting so shaggy...Well, that may be a BIT of an exaggeration, but not much!! HEE HEE!!
And I am now grounded from contacts until next Tuesday. I'm a rebel and I sleep in my contacts all the time, and the Dr. was less than pleased on Wednesday. I despise wearing my glasses...but have decided to follow doctor's orders...I mean it's a small town AND we go to the same church...sooo, ya know!

Patter came up with another awesome sketch for us this week over at Triple the Sketch. Here is my take on this weeks sketch...
Me and Tahia (friend's daughter) acting ridiculous...

And now the moment you have ALL been waiting for...(yeah, right...LOL)
The winner is.....

LAUREN!!
I have 384 ribbons and you guessed 377!!! A lot of you were sooo close...I wish I could send you all something :(
PM me your addy and I will get it out today or tomorrow!! CONGRATS!!!!

Well, I have a million and five things to do today, so I best get cracka'lackin'!

Blessing,
Ember

RAK pics...

2008-05-01T12:55:00.004-05:00

Here are some pics of the RAK for tomorrow...It's in my previous post. All you have to do it guess how many ribbons I have...EEK!

Good Luck and Have a great day!!! I'll post the winner tomorrow...

Blessings!
Ember

Wow...

2008-04-28T09:51:00.006-05:00

I can't believe how big of a loser I am...(thanks for the subtle reminder Sarah :D) Two weeks have FLOWN by...it's been madness!
Remember the friend's house we were working on?? Well...we ended up having a TON of people join in the next week and the house just looks AMAZING! She returned home on Saturday and I really think she loved the house. She's a woman of few words...but the expression on her face told me enough. It was pretty exciting to see her get home and enjoy her family and "new" home!

I've still been working out...and it is going...I'm not sore anymore...but it still kicks my tushie! Sandi made me start doing sit-ups last week in between a few stations and those are KILLER!! Today is the 21st day, but it still doesn't feel like a routine...more like a horrible, disgusting chore :D

Derek was out of town the last two weeks, but he is back for the week...YAY!! We are all pretty excited about that. And he and Corbin went on the father-son campout Friday night at PanFork. They had an awesome time...Corbin said they ate like champions Saturday morning...that's pretty much all the information I got from him. HA!

We all have another busy week ahead of us...Remi had an appt this morning...She has to have her teeth cleaned in two weeks...EEK! I wish they didn't have to put them under for that...but I totally understand, she would be a total spaz! And then tonight we have small group. Tomorrow I have Bible study and an appt at the chiropractor and Corbin has his Math TAKS test (say prayers for him!!!)...Wednesday, Corbin has a hair cut, I have an eye appt, we both have to go to his musical practice and then AWANA'S for Corbin, FUEL and Elevate for Derek, Praise Team and Choir practice for me...Thursday the rest of the family has hair appts (We are ALL lookin' really shaggy...esp the boys...it's BAD!)...AND we are going to try to finish Corbin's room this week...We are getting rid of the bunk part of his bed and painting the furniture, putting up blinds and curtains, finish painting his camo border, and A LOT or organization. He is the most unorganized kid! Drives me crazy, but I try to let him have his space...but sometimes it just gets ridiculous!
Well, now that I've bored you with my weekly agenda...I'll move on :)

...uh...yes, scrappy stuff...

I have decided to do a RAK for NSD!! I don't have a picture put together, but I promise you will not be disappointed! Juliana asked a question last week about how many different ribbons we have...so I am actually going to count mine and I want you to guess how many I have...Just leave a comment with your guess and I will announce who was closest--over or under--on Friday. Good Luck!!!!!

I really haven't had any time to do much scrapping. What I've done, I can't show yet :( But here is my LO for this weeks sketch over at Triple the Sketch.

She is also doing a RAK for NSD. Be sure to check in this week so you can be eligible for the Prize!!
I'm sure I could say A LOT more...but I will end here...And just a little something to upset my wonderful husband...

I hope none of his Mass. friends see this...HEE HEE!

Blessings...
Ember

Ummm...has it really been a week??

2008-04-13T21:00:00.003-05:00

Sooooo sorry!! This week has been INSANE!! I'm hoping that this coming week will be a little less crazy.
First, I started working out this week. I've been lifting weights with a friend of mine and it has been kicking my booty! I am ridiculously out of shape and so my muscles are not sure what I am doing to them...so they're REALLY sore!
Secondly, I started going to the chiropractor for the first time in my life. I went twice this week and will go 2 to 3 times a week until my back and shoulder start feeling like normal again...I really don't like getting old!
Then we have church, small group (which was my turn to do dinner for on Monday), Bible study on Tues, church and choir again on Wednesday, busy cleaning and doing some more Bible studying on Thursday then started recording our CD for the church choir that night from 6-10--which carried over to Friday night also, from 6-10. On Saturday, we worked on a couple's house in our small group (the wife has been away for 6 months and is returning in two weeks) cleaning, painting, and texturing walls. Next Saturday we will finish the cleaning, painting and then the fun stuff...decorating! And there's more...but I won't bore with ALL of the details :)
Needless to say, we had a FULL week...but I did manage to get some scrapping in here and there...YAY!!
So...here is my DT work for Triple the Sketch...I chose to do a tag for sketch #2. Everyone did fabulous work AS always...so go check it out...NOW! :)

I made this card for a challenge that Dani had on her blog this week. Dani is an AWESOME card maker!! One of my biggest inspirations in the scrappy world! LOVE her work...

And just a couple of pages I did with some random photos...this one of myself that one of the teens took of me at church last week...He got a hold of my camera and WOULD NOT stop taking pictures...I think I was begging him to "PLEASE STOP" :)

And of Derek, Corbin and I on Easter 2005...

Well...I can't really think of anything else...it is soooo quiet at my house right now. Derek had the 7th and 8th grade boys life group at our house tonight, and it got a little rowdy...let's just say some things got broken :(

I hope you have an AWESOME week!
Be blessed!
Ember

And the Winner is....

2008-04-06T19:17:00.008-05:00

CORBIN SHERMAN and the Bumblebee Camaro!!!!!!!!!! WoooHooo!!! We are all pretty excited!!
Here is the car...

Getting ready for the final race...

"buzzin" down the track....Go Corbin, Go Corbin!!

He won all five races...it was awesome!! I think he actually might have won best in show also, but they try to not give the same kids trophies...Corbin and Pie Pie rocked it!!
So here they are, beaming with pride and joy :D!!!

Ok, so moving on now...
Here is some work I did this week...
One of my scripture challenge cards...

And a prayer journal I made for one of my prayer partners...

And a LO I did of Corbin...he was 3 in this pic...

And last but not least, my first DT work for Triple the Sketch, I made this card for Sketch #1...

All of the girls did some awesome work! Be sure to check back every Fri-Sun for more new work and sketches!

WHEW...that was a lot of info...I'll try not to slack next week, so I won't have to load it all in on one day :)

Blessings,
Em

We're racin' today!

2008-04-06T16:30:00.004-05:00

Derby Racin', that is! Corbin and Pie Pie have been working REALLY hard on the car for two weeks and it turned out AWESOME! Corbin is really excited...but I think my Dad might be MORE excited than him! HA!
Anywho...I will post pics after the race...keepin' ya in suspense for a little longer!

Em

Yay for the weekend!

2008-03-29T21:23:00.004-05:00

We've had a REALLY relaxed weekend so far...it's been GREAT! Corbin spent some time with Pie-Pie (my Dad) today working on his pinewood derby car for AWANA's. They are making it to look like the Bumblebee Camaro on Transformers...as you can imagine, he is totally stoked! And Derek and I have been trying to get the laundry caught up after being gone over Spring Break...the last load is going to be in the dryer very soon...HOORAY!!!
Well...just thought I would share some LO's I did last night of the boys (this is one of my favorite pictures taken by Lissa Anglin)

and Remi...

Well...that is all for tonight! We will be busy most of the day tomorrow...have a blessed rest of your weekend!
Em

The phone just rang...

2008-03-28T11:26:00.003-05:00

And on the other end was my awesome, little Corbin...he made an 86 on his TAKS test!!
This has a been a huge burden for him all year...and he passed with flying colors!! We knew he could do it...and in the end he finally gained the confidence, also!
Thanks to those who encouraged and prayed for him!
EM

I've been tagged...

2008-03-27T20:53:00.002-05:00

Ok, so I'm supposed to post 7 random facts about me...Norma tagged me this afternoon...so here goes:

1. I once had turquoise hair and a tongue ring.

2. Singing is my passion. I used to dress up and "perform" for my parents and their friends when I was little.

3. I was once in a commercial for a local department store I worked at.

4. When I was in HS I owned over a hundred pairs of shoes.

5. Any Cub fans out there?? I dated Kerry Wood's brother in college (my closest encounter with anyone famous)

6. I can fall asleep anywhere, anytime if I get still enough.

7. I am still friends with my elementary school buddies.

Ok...I'm supposed to tag others...but it looks like just about everyone else has been tagged already! So, oh well...there ya go!

New York City, baby...

2008-03-26T09:53:00.013-05:00

OK...FINALLY the moment you have all been waiting for...Hee Hee..J/K! But really, here are some pics and a little summary of my trip!

The first night was pretty uneventful, we went to Rockefeller Center...this is where the ice-skating rink is and during Christmas they have the big giant tree...well in place of the tree (since it is not Christmas...duh!) they had this...

the electric fountain...It actually kinda looks like water at night...pretty cool!!

We then went to "The Top of the Rock" aka: the top of Rockefeller Center and you could see over the entire city. It was amazing and very surreal...It took me a while to actually realize I was there. Here is a shot from the top...it was St. Patty's Day, so the Empire State building was green!! It was a different color everyday! :)

The next day we went to see Lady Liberty...This is when my more grown-up, sentimental side started coming into play...I almost cried. My mom ALWAYS dreamed of going to NYC, but she never had the chance before she died...I kept thinking what she would have thought if she had seen her...they would have had a lot in common, both strong, both beautiful. This is also the only thing Corbin asked me take a picture of, so I got several shots of her...here are my faves...

We also passed by Ellis Island, but unfortunately did not have the chance to stop there and look around...

We then ended up at Battery Park, where the The Sphere is now located. Its original home was in between the two towers...here is a before (copied off a website)

and after...

We went and saw the Blue Man Group that night...and it was HILARIOUS!! I laughed soo hard the entire time...if you ever have the chance to go, you should!!

The next day we took a tour...it was very cold and rainy...and our last stop was ground zero...another sentimental moment for me...It was VERY difficult to keep my composure, but I didn't want to seem like a psycho tourist...so I managed. You can't really see anything from the pics...there's A LOT of construction going on and they are in the process of bringing down the last building that was unable to be stabalized. Here is the best picture I have...

The rest of the day was spent seeing Phantom of the Opera (AWESOME!) and Mary Poppins (also AWESOME!). I have ALWAYS wanted to actually go to NY and see a Broadway musical...so this was a dream come true! I wanna see more!

Sooo...most of the remaining time there was spent shopping and eating! We went to Tiffany's, Macy's, Trump Tower...EVERYWHERE! I almost bought a ring at Tiffany's...I fell in love with it and just wanted to splurge on something...I never buy anything of substance for myself and I was ready! As I was walking up to get the ring, I said, "Ok Lord, if I'm making the wrong decision they won't have my size, and I'll just walk away." Soo, guess what...they didn't have my size!! HA! So I went to Anthropologie and bought some earrings, a shirt and 3 pot holders....and saved a TON of cash! :)

All in all it was a fabulous trip...Despite almost getting runover by a cabbie:P!

Please forgive my crazy pictures...they were not cooperating with me AND for this lengthy post!! ARGH!
Em

Easter

2008-03-25T23:34:00.006-05:00

We had a BUSY weekend...I still haven't finished unpacking! And the week has been just as busy so far! Sorry I haven't updated!
We had a lot of family in town and we had a lot of fun hanging out, playing cards, a little Rock Band, and just visiting! My brother and his family came over to our house on Monday and we hung out all afternoon and then we had small group that night. This morning we had some friends over for breakfast, then I had Bible study and I had Bunko tonight! Whew! Derek is leaving tomorrow for the rest of the week...so I think it will probably be crazy around here until this weekend! But it does make the time go by fast...I guess that's good and bad...
Anywho...I wanted to post some pics of us from Easter. The pictures really did not turn out all that great, and I'm not sure why and Bryson was NOT cooperating...but I still think they're pretty cute!

Hope you all had a Happy Easter!
I will post some NYC pics soon!

Ember

I'm back...

2008-03-22T12:18:00.003-05:00

and still in one piece! WHEW!
I had a blast in NYC! It was quite a trip and I can't wait to go back and take Derek with me! I'll post more later with some pics. I am pooped right now, so I think I'm gonna try to get some more rest after lunch!

Ember

Spring Break!!

2008-03-16T22:43:00.003-05:00

Sorry I've been so out of touch the last few days! We have had a lot going on...
Anywho...I just wanted to let you know that I will not be posting all next week. I had initally planned on taking my computer, but changed my mind today...soo, I will tell you all about NYC when I get back. I don't think I will have much time while I'm there anyway...

A few updates...
Derek's sister's surgery went well and the mass was not cancer!! Last we heard she was recovering well and would go home soon! That is a huge praise...thanks for all of your prayers! Also, our friend that was having the breathing problems is doing somewhat better. They still don't have a diagnosis, but they do know her lungs and heart are in great shape! Another HUGE praise!! She has another appt. tomorrow, so hopefully they will be able to pinpoint the problem and fix it!

That's all I have folks!
'til next week...

Em

I don't know...

2008-03-13T15:04:00.008-05:00

I hate the pressure of trying to come up with a catchy title...my brain just didn't have one today!! :)

So...today Derek and I went and ate lunch with Corbin at his school. They are having a special week for parents to hang during lunch, so we decided to take advantage of it! Corbin was SO excited to see us and even more excited to see his favorite meal...Subway! Another little boy from his class asked to sit with us, of course we said yes, and he talked our ears off. He was cute, and asked us what he thought we'd get him for his B-day next week...kids are soo funny! Anywho, after we ate we went to the playground for a little friendly game of...teatherball?? Yep...they all line up to get a piece of the action. Here's Corbin ...

On to some scrappy news...I have been asked to be on a Design Team for a new sketch blog called Triple the Sketch. The "founder", Patter Cross, also heads up the Scripture Challenge that I am involved with at CMK. I couldn't be more excited and honored to be a part of something so incredibly awesome...Go check it out here for all of the exciting info and to subscribe to the blog!

Also, yesterday my layout down there...the one with Corbin and I on Valentine's Day was named LayOut of the Day @ CMK!! I was pretty excited about that, too!

All and all it has been a really great week. We haven't heard yet how Derek's sister's surgery went, but hopefully everything went well. We also have a good friend who has been having some issues with her breathing. They have run several tests and still don't have any idea what is causing the problem. Please pray for her, she goes back to the DR on Monday...so pray she has a restful weekend and that her breathing problems go away!

Only 3 more days until NYC!!

Ember

"O" Who??

2008-03-11T19:41:00.008-05:00

Just wanted to share a few things...
Derek just HAD to send a picture of Bryson to one of our friends today...who just happens to be an OU fan...Soo, this is what he sent him:

I think this is Derek's favorite shirt and would probably try to wear it himself if it weren't so tiny!

And I also did a scrapbook page today of Corbin and I on Valentine's Day. We had strawberry floats, which were REALLY good, to drink and his teacher snapped a pic of us sharing!! She had all the mom's that were there do this with their kiddo...SOO cute!!

One more thing...Derek's sister is having surgery on Thursday to remove a mass on her thyroid. They are not sure if it is cancer at this time, but will know more during and after the surgery. Please pray for her, her daughter, family, friends and all doctors and nurses involved.

Ember

Long time no blog...

2008-03-10T21:53:00.002-05:00

Well, kinda! I feel like I haven't been here in FOREVER!!

Things have been a little out of wack...so let me try and catch up...

Derek is home...he didn't have any problems on either flights Friday. What a huge blessing!! We were all very excited for him to be home. He was supposed to go on a trip this week, too...but he didn't end up going and he's still here with us this week!! YAY!!

I had some kind of crud and slept almost the entire weekend. It was nice to get caught up on sleep!! I'm feeling much better today!

Next week is Spring Break, and I am going to New York City. It will be my first time there and I can't wait! I haven't even started packing yet...EEEK!! But I will soon!

I guess that is about it...not a whole heck of a lot going on...which is a good thing :)

Have a great week!!
Ember

Counting down the hours...

2008-03-06T22:49:00.008-06:00

Until my DH is home!! It should be 12 more hours, but the weather in Dallas is a little nasty...Please pray for no complications tomorrow! Bryson is really missing him, he just doesn't really understand why he's gone...he keeps asking if he can go see him :(

Well...we survived the TAKS test. Corbin thinks he did really well, I think they get the grades back in a few weeks, so we'll see. Thanks for all that prayed for him during this time. It was MUCH appreciated!!

Soooo...

Today was KDO at our church and I was able to get some stuff done around the house and then go...yep, you guessed it, scrap! This weeks challenge was to stamp ON the picture...I think I went a little swirl crazy...:D

It's from our trip to Hawaii, in 2005. I'm starting to wonder if I will EVER be caught up. I still have quite a ways to go...which I think is a good thing...although Derek might disagree!!:D

I'll leave you with some Brysie cuteness...He calls his VeggieTales movie PonyTails! :P

Em

Nerver...Voting...TAKS test

2008-03-04T22:40:00.009-06:00

Ok...so I just realized today that instead of my address saying "never"adullmoment...it says "nerver"adullmoment. HOW ANNOYING!!! Well, I've already sent out the info and neveradullmoment is already taken, so I'm gonna have to leave it. **sigh**

Today was a pretty busy day...Bible study, lunch, visitor, errands, another visitor, grocery store, Corbin's reading tutor, dinner, bath for Bry, another visitor...now I'm ready to go to my scraproom, but I think I should probably just go to bed. We'll see.
Speaking of scrapping...I've decided to share that on here also! Here is a layout I did of Remi (our Jack Russell) yesterday:

She's such a pretty princess!! I love it!

Today was the TX primary and I went to vote and couldn't. I was a little upset! I thought when you changed your address on your license it also changed your voter registration...??? Whatever...I went ahead and registered so I can be ready to vote in Nov.

Tomorrow is the TAKS test for Corbin...so be thinking and praying for him. Up until about a month ago he was having some serious anxiety and acting completely ridiculous at school. I met with his teacher, the counselor, the principal and then a had SERIOUS talk with him and he's been fine ever since. He told me tonight the TAKS test use to be his worst enemy and now it is his best friend. He's so silly!

3 more days until Derek comes home. Can't wait...I think the boy's feelings are mutual!! We miss you Honey/Dad!! :D

Until next time...
Ember

Ok....here is the after!

2008-03-03T09:17:00.004-06:00

So after a long week working hard...here is the almost finished product:

They did a GREAT job!! Thanks Honey, Chad and Tye...and Dad and Tina for helping with the carpet and water clean up!!
Now we just need to work on those doors...

Moving on...

Yesterday was a BEAUTIFUL day...The boys and I went to my dad's for lunch after church and Bryson was outside swinging and playing football and now this is what it looks like:

We didn't get a ton of snow or anything...but the wind is ridiculous! Derek is in New Orleans all week and I saw on the news that they were under T-storm or Tornado watches. The weather is really being kinda silly right now...I'm ready for Spring!!

Happy Monday!
Ember

Yep...We're bloggin'

2008-03-02T23:41:00.000-06:00

I am REALLY horrible at keeping in touch with people, sending pictures, etc., etc...
I've been thinking about doing this for a while, but just felt like it would be a waste of time. It's free...so I'm gonna give it a whirl!
I am going to try VERY hard to keep it updated. Hope you all enjoy taking a peek into our crazy lives :)

Here's the damage

2008-03-02T22:50:00.001-06:00

So...I thought I would share some pictures of our lovely room after gallons of water meandered its way through...

Looks pretty awesome, eh?!

The guys finally got all the new flooring down and all the new trim put up and then quickly realized a small problem....the bedroom and bathroom doors would not open...?? Hmmmm...well, you see, they are pocket doors and they were both open when the new trim was nailed in and the nails just so happen to be long enough to reach into the doors as well. How lucky for us!! So, now the trim will have to be re-removed and re-nailed...I'm hoping it doesn't brake AGAIN and the we don't have to replace it AGAIN! Meanwhile, I am without curtains, blinds and closing doors in my bedroom and bathroom! WOO-HOOO!!

The Flood

2008-02-29T22:36:00.000-06:00

Ok...so, things have been quite eventful around here lately!

Tuesday night we had a "flood" in the master bathroom, which flooded the bathroom, our bedroom, the hallway and the hall bathroom. It was A LOT of water!! Not just trickling out of the toilet...but GUSHING!!! I cried...and yelled a little, too. Needless to say, we had to pull all the carpet up...and padding in our bedroom...and are now in the process of replacing our bedroom floor. We decided to go ahead and paint while we were at it...so that added more work to our fiasco. The house is a disaster...and I am about to go insane!! I'll post some before and after pics soon!

Stay dry!
Ember