Lots of good news!

Yesterday morning was an award ceremony at the elementary school. Chet was given the award for recognition of achievement in reading. This was a big moment for him!! He has struggled so hard with reading because of his apraxia, (it is hard to read when it is hard to make the sounds), and in the last few weeks he has made leaps and bounds with his reading! Yeah, Chet! (bottom row, far right in the red YuGiOh jacket.) I was so impressed with his classmates as well. He came back to sit with his class after the ceremony was over and they all gave him high fives. I thought that was a really nice show of support.


While the awards were being passed out, Beth was playing with my sunglasses. I love this little denim jacket and jeans set with the whimsical daisies on them. I think we need to do a little floral and denim photo shoot and layout soon!

I need to clarify that everything is fine at home... emotional isn't always a bad thing at all! I don't want to post all the details about it, but for those of you who know what it means to us, we know where Jessica is at last. Toss in some other family reunions, and it all added up to a lot of happy tears. I don't know if she has the info for this blog yet, but if you are out there Jessica, just know we love you very much!

I am swamped with the big trade show this week, and the designer dinner is in just a couple of days, so some friends and I are working hard to finish getting it all together. It will probably be a few days before I can update here or reply to emails, but by Wednesday life will be back to normal! Take care!

The Toofless Twosome

Kyle lost his other top tooth this weekend, and Faith's are just barely beginning to poke through her gums. I had to catch a shot of the identical gaps! It isn't the best shot, so I will have to set up a mini photo shoot in the next day or two to get a nice picture of it.

There is so much going on right now, and I can't post about all of it yet. I do want my sisters-in-law and my in-laws to know that it meant a lot to hear from them again. ((hugs)) Last night was a very emotional night for us here in the Wellborn house!

I need to get Kyle off to school, and finish up some things on my to-do list today. Faith has a birthday party to go to tonight, and since it is at Peter Piper's Pizza, I am letting Chet come and use the coupon he received at school for his free pizza and free rides. On Friday morning Chet is receiving an award at school, so I will post some shots of that when we get home.

Working Hard

This has been a very busy scrapping weekend for me. I finished my HOF entry, and just have to send it off now. What a relief!

I also needed to get three things done for a Prima Sneak Peek feature we are having over at Scrap Village. (The City Planners made some gorgeous stuff, you should go check it out!)These are my three projects.

The ASL flashcards are for Faith to carry in her purse. I took two sizes of pre-made tags, and tinted them with aqua, lime, and pink Fiber Scraps tints. I just printed the handsigns on cardstock using an ASL font. (Gallaudet) All of the accent pieces are attached with brads or stitching to keep them secure, and then I stitched two tags at a time together with the right sides facing out so you can't see the backs of the brads. Each set has a ribbon tied to it, and then they are all strung on a clasped ring to store them

This is an 8x10 page we are going to frame and hang in Faith's new hippo-themed bedroom after we move. The picture is of a little 2x4 ceramic hippo she was given by a little girl who was hospitalized when Faith performed "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" last month. Faith was stunned when the little girl gave it to her after her solo, and I thought it was very sweet. I am making a real page about it for the Christmas album, but this makes a great everyday reminder for Faith to hang on her wall. The whole thing is pink, not purple.





















I had a hard time leaving "empty" space on this layout, but I made myself stop embellishing, and now that I am getting used to that empty space I kind of like the page!

Busy week

I just wanted to share this picture I caught of Beth yesterday. She and the tramp have a static cling relationship. She looks like this every time she goes jumping!!

I have been really busy this week working on the Designer Dinner. It is coming together, but the next nine days are going to be a bit crazy!


Sign Design started again this week, and Chet turned in his song that he wants to perform as a solo. His choice was "Who Let the Dogs Out." We found a really fun version of it by Raggs Kids Club Band. I love raggea, and this band has all kinds of great kids raggae songs. I turn them on, and all the kids start bopping around the house!

Matt was elected to the office of Junior Counselor in DeMolay on Wednesday night. He had to memorize several pages of text to even be able to try to get this office, and he nailed it. If we stay in Vegas he will be Master Counselor when he turns 16, and if we move out of state he will need to get re-elected again, but he doesn't care right now. He is just really proud of what he has accomplished, and so am I.

I am almost done with my last HOF layout. I don't know if it is just regular old creative block, or just nerves that this is for a contest, but I am struggling with getting it together. I think I know what I don't like about it now, though, so in the morning I am printing new pics and seeing how it looks then. I have to get it done, though, because I still have other design work to get put together this weekend, and I am not letting myself back out of entering this year!

I should go to bed. It is the middle of the night, and tomorrow will be busy! Have a good weekend!

Hall of Fame Non-contender

This was one of my starter pages for my Hall of Fame entry. I knew when I made it that I would probably pick something else instead, but it was good for getting my juices going. I made something entirely different to replace it, so I am posting it. I made the chipboard letters with modeling paste and stickers. The map paper is from Scenic Route. If I don't hate it by next month, I might submit it for some Halloween calls.. :0)

Journaling reads:

The trick-or-treat seas were a dangerous place to be on that dark
Halloween night. Captain Peach-fuzz Beard and his band of
fiercely-cute pirates were preparing for a night of buccaneering. The
snarls and piratey laughter could be heard for blocks around, and
anybody not shivering in their boots was joining in with the raucous rendition of "100 Bottles of Rootbeer on the Wall." As dusk settled, the merry band set out to collect their bounty at swordpoint, pulling up to the doors and snarling " Surrender yer treasure or ye'll walk the plank!" After two
hours of successfully pirating as much candy as their bounty bags could
hold, they returned home to gloat over their loot before stashing it in
their treasure chests. They didn't bury it well enough though, and an hour after the weary band of pirates went to sleep, their renegade parents
had plundered the goods. Aarrgh, Matey, such is a pirate's life!

Creative Weekend

I had a fun and productive weekend! I finished four more of the HOF assignments. I only have two left to go, so I should be done with those tomorrow.

I made this layout and finished this planner.

Then last night I got my beads out while Jack and I were watching TV. With show season just around the corner again, I wanted some nice stuff to wear on the road. The worst thing about making jewelry is that now I am going to have to go buy some new clothes to match them. Life is rough sometimes.

My scanner is still the bane of my existence. The beads on this set are all shades of robin egg blue, there aren't any green beads at all.

I wanted something double-stranded and kind of chunky, so I put this set together. I still want a bracelet to match, but I need more chunky beads. I also need to get some more crimp covers to finish covering some of the crimps on the necklace. The beads shifted when I covered them with the towel... the two strands nest together like they are supposed to.

This is a more casual necklace. It is just black leather cording, some really light pink beads and silver chain, and a love token.






Then today the UPS man brought me a box full of these pretty Prima products. We will have a feature on them next weekend at ScrapVillage, and then some of them can be found in the Prima booth at CHA. I am staring at the big pretty flower, and wondering how hard it would be to make it into a necklace!

I have come to a conclusion. I need more four day weekends!

a quote I like

“The painter constructs, the photographer discloses.”

2006 planner

I have had the insides together for a few weeks now, but I haven't had time to decorate the cover yet. I sewed the KI paper to chipboard, printed out weekly calendars, and then had it all bound together at Kinkos.The insides are made with a variety of cardstock, Autumn Leaves calendar rub-ons, and then I used a bunch of misc stickers on different pages throughout. I added a few envelopes to hold misc stuff like business cards, and gave myself a notes page for every month.

Tonight I decorated the front with MAMBI stickers, 7 Gypsies stickers, Creative Imaginations stickers, Pebbles In stickers, Provo Craft sticker, and Pressed Petals chipboard letters. (I love those Pressed Petals letters!) The binding has lots of pink, green, purple, and black ribbon.

Little Junque Artist

One of the challenges over at the virtual crop at Scrap Village is to use this sketch by Amy. I went ahead and used it to scrap the photos of Beth I took earlier today. I used a lot of little things here... KI papers, Making Memories Rub-ons, Basic Grey rub-ons, Autumn Leaves rub-ons, MAMBI stickers, Club Scrap stamps, that nice big flower, and a huge brown button. The little black paper in the corner is one of the papers Beth junqued up today. I know you probably can't see all the little sewing details. In real life, that sweater matches that KI paper perfectly... that is why I bought the sweater! :0)

Now that I feel like I have finally been able to post something creative, I have to get back to work on my HOF entry. I am working on the journaling assignment next!

Little Junque Girl

I was working on a HOF project today when Beth decided she wanted to paint too. Look how she is painting her paperall on her own! She makes her junque mommy so proud!

Miss me?

I spent all day today getting some scrapping done. I finished two pages for my Hall of Fame entry. One is a substitute for another I had made earlier, so I have six down and four to go.

Scrap Village is having an online virtual crop this weekend, and you can win door prizes by taking part in the challenges! Come join us!

The kids are all doing well. Chet is fine. We don't have his counts yet since I had to reschedule the appointment due to Beth being sick. (You just can't bring somebody with the flu into an office full of kids with cancer and other weak immune system problems!) Beth started to move around yesterday, and would sit back down when she got too tired. She went full blast again today, so I know she is over it now! And I am crossing my fingers and my toes that the fact that nobody else seems to have caught that nasty little bug means that we got by with only one kid getting it this time! I have been bleaching the floors and counters like a mad woman!

Chris tagged me over on her blog. Here are my answers.

4 Jobs You Have Had in Your Life:
Legal runner
Leasing Consultant
Commissioned Sales
Scrapbook Instructor


4 Movies You Could Watch Over and Over:
I can't think of any, but I really don't watch movies more than once. Books, though, are a different matter. I can read a good book several times.

4 Places You Have Lived:
Las Vegas, NV
Tuscon, AZ
Manteca, CA
Lyman, WY

4 TV Shows You Love to Watch:
CSI
Law and Order SVU
Bones
The Medium

4 Places You Have Been on Vacation:
Lake Tahoe
Pismo Beach
Mexico
Phoenix

4 websites you visit daily:
Different blogs
Scrap Village
The beading boards
Two Peas

4 of your favorite foods:
good queso
sweet cornbread
chicken enchiladas with sour cream sauce
homemade tamales

4 places you would rather be right now:
Nebraska
Alaska
Iowa
Pennsylvania

4 Bloggers You are Tagging:
If you haven't been tagged already, I am tagging Katherine, Carrie, Sarah, and Wendi B

Good night!

Slow week

We had a family birthday party for Matt the other night, where he got a set of drums and some movie tickets. He wanted Chinese for dinner, so we ordered in. He asked me to make sure they sent chopsticks, so all the other kids wanted chopsticks too. I have some funny pictures but I think I might end up using them in my hall of fame entry, so I am holding off on posting those.

I went in for Matt's IEP meeting yesterday morning and came home feeling so proud of him. I knew he was still struggling in math, but he is right where he needs to be in everything else. Not only that, but his teachers really like him, and he is working really hard and enjoying school a lot. I was worried more about him being back in school than anybody, and it does my heart good to see him so happy there.



The elementary school invited kids and parents over after school on Tuesday to play some learning games. There were about 12 families there total, and we made it through three of the stations. Faith loves to play any form of Memory, and the boys really liked playing the computer games in the library station.






I haven't gotten very much else done this week, though. Poor little Beth has the flu, so most of the last two nights and days have been spent getting her through all the nasties the flu brings, trying to keep her fever down, and just letting her rest when she does sleep. I am hoping the worst of it is over.

The CHA dinner has kept me pretty busy as well. I think it is all going to come together fine in the end. It is just getting so large. There are almost 300 people signed up now.

My scraproom is clean right now. I am going to make some dinner, and since my house is cleaned up I am hoping to get some creative time in after Jack gets home. I will share anything I don't have to keep hidden for now!

taking Chet in today

I have to take Chet in to the doctor today. He and Matt and Kyle went in the backyward yesterday and thought it would be a good idea to swordfight with sticks, which is strictly forbidden. Kyle hit him across the stomach, and now he has a huge 3x2 bruise with knots in it. My heart is in my throat. For two years he hasn't show any signs of his aplastic anemia, but that bruise is an indicator that I can't stand to think about. I am praying his blood counts haven't dropped again.

Update: Thank you all so much! It means a lot to me to come back and to see your posts.

Chet is okay. To quote the nurse "If he had this big bruise for no reason, I would be very concerned. He was hit in the stomach with a stick, so I would expect to see a bruise like this on an aplastic kid." He goes in on Thursday morning to do the full check-up and full round of counts, but at least I know he isn't bleeding internally, and it was time to get counts done anyway. I don't think I was at all prepared for the flood of fear that washed over me when I saw that bruise today. We have been so careful to avoid bruises and colds with him, and the last time he had anything that looked like that he was rushed to ICU for immediate transfusions. I am so grateful that he is fine.

Now I have to go make sure there aren't any other sticks left, and I am cutting off any low branches on the tree. And tonight we are having a family discussion to reiterate all of the no wrestling, no swordfighting, no rough and tumble rules. This mom stuff is a bit aging sometimes.

Someone's having a birthday!

In case you didn't know it, today is Elvis Presley's birthday. But more importantly it is also one of his biggest fan's birthday. Happy 14th birthday, Matt! We love you!

Tired

I am exhausted. Faith and I met up with Chris and her sister-in-law last night to see Memoirs of a Geisha. (I really liked the movie. There are a lot of details lost in translation from the book to the screen, but I expected that. They did a good job of pretty much sticking with the story line and covering all the highlights.) Faith fell asleep in my lap, but I knew she might because the movie didn't start until 8:30. She said she was still glad she got to go out with just me, though, and I enjoyed having some one on one time with her too.

Since it was a late movie, we didn't get home until about midnight. I can never go straight to bed, so I ended up being up later than I expected because I am still trying to fix my blog to look the way I want it to. I am playing with brushes to try to make a paisley background. I have learned a lot the last few days playing with the CSS code to change things around, but it is also very frustrating!

Today Jack and I pulled everything out of our storage closet and the garage. We went through everything and took a lot of it to the thrift store, threw quite a bit away, and repacked what we kept neatly so it will be easy to move. Then I cleaned the house pretty good and cooked dinner. The lack of sleep and extra work have left me feeling beaten up and dazed... but it isn't anything a good backrub and a hot bath wouldn't fix! (Well, maybe a full night of sleep too.. :0)

I sat down with my beading magazines and cut out the pieces I want to recreate. I am going to do the same thing with my scrapping mags tonight. That clears up a whole lot of space in my room!

I don't have a lot to talk about today, although I found a couple of poems I wrote as a teenager today that I am thinking about posting for a laugh or two. Maybe I will do that tomorrow.

The Eight by Katherine Neville

I have been up until about 3 every morning for the last three nights reading this book. It was the only time I had to read, and I couldn't make myself put it down and go to sleep! I read a lot of books... 2 or 3 a month usually, but The Eight is one of the best books I have ever read. It is listed as the one of the top ten books ever in several countries, and I can see why.


This book encompasses all of my favorite things to read about: intellectual mystery, Revolutionary stories, European history, free-masonry, ancient civilizations, and then it takes it one step further, because it is all tied to a modern storyline as well. It is the kind of book that when you are done reading it, you wonder whether it is a true story presented as a novel because it feels true. I am keeping this book in my collection for a looooonnnnnnggggg time! I am sure I will read it again a few more times at least just to see what I missed the first time.

What really makes me happy is that I went to the author's website ( Katherine Neville) and learned there is to be a sequel. I cannot wait. In the meantime, I fully intend to read her other books because they look just as fascinating as this one was!

Happy Birthday Kyle!!

Today is Kyle's 6th birthday. He is getting so big! He wanted Tipsy in his birthday photo with him, and I love the way it came out. Happy birthday, happy boy!




















In other news this week, Kyle lost his top tooth on Monday! We are thrilled to report that the tooth fairy actually showed up on time and delivered!












I didn't get my New Year's Eve party pics up yet, so here are some of them. We always end up with a group of kids at our house to ring in the new year. This was a small year since most of the kids' friends had church the next morning, but we still had a good time! They all played video games and snacked on unhealthy junkfood, made English muffin pizzas for dinner, and then everybody but Todd managed to stay awake for the countdown. Matt LOVES ringing in the new year! (Don't you love the way Beth is trying to make "I love you" signs like Faith, but she is using the "f" handsign instead??? LOL)


Beth really wasn't sure why we were all up so late and cheering in the middle of the night, but she knew she was enjoying it!

















This is Faith and her best friend, Ivy. It is amazing to me how much these two look alike, right down to those untamable cowlicks in the same spot!










I think Chet was having entirely too much fun with that sparkling cider!

No School Today!

So I got up this morning, and packed Matt off to school in a timely fashion. He walked there (about a half a mile) and called me to let me know there is no school today. Apparently I need to read those notices the schools send home a little better in the future... LOL

I could really use some help finding some cool music. First off, the kids need songs to use in Sign Design, especially the boys. They need to be upbeat with a good message behind them. You just never realize how much music there is out there until you have to start searching through it!

Secondly, we bought Matt an MP3 player for Christmas, and since I am downloading his stuff, I want to make myself some CDs to listen to, or even better, have the songs ready to install on my own MP3 or Ipod in the near future. I know there is all kinds of music out there I like, but I only know the titles and/or the artists for very few of them! Want to share and tell me what some of your favorites are?

A New Look

I spent hours last night fiddling with my blog to give it a make-over. There are still some things I am trying to figure out, but it is shaping up!

I was blog-surfing and saw this on some sites. You go to google, and type in your name plus wants, and then your name plus needs and see what comes up. Some of the ones I have seen are hilarious, so I decided to try it.

Here are the "Jennifer wants"
*Jennifer wants to get into the Betty Ford Clinic so that she can meet a rich drunk,
*Jennifer wants to make sure the family earns enough money, which is worth 500
points
*Jennifer wants to know why you started to write about animals?
*Jennifer Wants to play the Spanish Guitar.
*Luke offers her riches but Jennifer wants Luke. Luke suggests that Jennifer get
a dog if she's lonely.
*Jennifer wants to show the big boys that they will still have fun if they play
with her,

And here are the "Jennifer needs"
*Jennifer needs a cold shower.
*Jennifer needs a smack daddy
*Jennifer needs the earth energy in her life to learn how to ground and be more
practical

A lot of Jennifer Lopez and Jennifer Aniston came up when I did my google search... uughhh. I thought some of the others I found were pretty funny though!