Still painting..

I went and got a lot of the detail painting done today. I have never painted an entire house by myself before, and it isn't really high on my list of things to do again someday! It is looking very nice, though. If the power company gets the power turned on tomorrow I will clean the carpets and start moving furniture in. I took the cats over today, and they are very, very, very happy to be released from their cages. Poor kitties.

The kids made friends with some of the other kids living in the cul-de-sac today. I love being able to let the kids play in front of the house and not have to worry about cars flying around the corner. As stressful as it has been, I still can't believe how gorgeous it is up here. There is a man who goes walking everyday through the town, and waves to everyone who drives by. I just love the friendly atmosphere here. I don't think I ever realized how much I avoid looking at people I don't know until they all started saying hello to me!

There is still a lot to get done, and not a lot of time left to do it, but it is a huge sense of relief to see it coming together. We are leaving on Sunday to go to court on Monday, and we are all really looking forward to seeing Jessica again. Her caseworker said it looks like she can be home with us before school starts again. Then I am heading to Arlington on Tuesday to teach for the weekend. I am thinking this will be a week where going to work means getting a break!

I am beat, so I am going to bed. TTYS

My arm hurts...

but that is just fine.

We decided to go a different route with the house. There are just too many problems with this particular lender, so we are withdrawing our offer and talking to builders this week to start over. We found lots of land that we can buy outright and then have the house built on it. It will take a little longer, but I am happy to know we are doing something productive now!

I found a rental house and went to paint today. (I can't tell you how scarce rentals are here... we found two total throughout the four closest towns!) The landlord was super nice. We can have our pets, and since I was willing to do the painting he let me paint the walls any color I wanted. I went with a taupy brown for the living room, hallway, our room, and the boys' room. The girls room is a spring green to coordinate with their pink/green/springy bedding, and the kitchen, the utility room, and the bathrooms are country white. We have a big yard for the kids to play in, and the neighborhood is very nice. I love that the deputy is living right across the street from us, and Faith loves that she can see the horses and their ponies from our front porch. Tomorrow I am going back to finish with the cutting in and the baseboards, and then I will start moving furniture in. I am trying to have it all put together before Jack gets back on Friday so he doesn't feel like he has to drive across the country and then do a lot of manual labor. It isn't ours, but at least it can be a comfortable home until ours is built!

I found a really fun science program for the kids through the library that Chet is going to love. Matt is going to scout camp with his troop through the church here on Monday, and he can't stop talking about it. I have to get him to a doctor for the physical he needs before he goes sometime this week. It feels good to be settling in!

I had to add today's quote so I can use it later. I love it!

“Art is the most intense mode of individualism that the world has known.” Oscar Wilde

I won't be on for a couple of days most likely, but I wanted to update and let you all know things are looking up! When the phone gets turned on in the next day or two I will email it out to everyone who needs it!

Have a great week!

so depressing

What started out as fulfilling a dream has become a nightmare. The original lender had problems with the appraiser, and wanted to change the terms of the loan, so we had to go with a new lender. They are putting a rush on it to try to get it all approved and closed by Tuesday, but I am having such a hard time staying positive. It is so depressing to know that we are stressing our friends out by being here so much longer than we were told to expect. I hate not knowing for sure what the outcome is going to be. Today I made some calls about rental homes and began looking into other homes for sale in case they come back with more problems on this house. I know it is all going to work out. It always does. I just hate the not knowing, and feeling ready to cry at the drop of a hat from the stress.

I took the kids to the Saunders Gun Museum today to get out of the house for a while. It is a pretty nice little museum on the historic square here in town, with lots of outlaw guns from Jesse James, Billy the Kid, etc, as well as other antique guns, Native American displays, and early history of the town. We also went to the library and got all the kids library cards and checked some books out. The older kids are at the community center swimming right now, and tomorrow we are going to look into getting them a membership there to go play basketball and swim during the summer. There are positive things happening, and I keep reminding myself of that. I just desperately want to be in my own house, getting it put together and making it a home.

Still waiting

This is killing me. The closing was delayed again until today, if all goes the way they said it would today. Jack and Al flew back to Vegas yesterday because Jack has to work at that office until his transfer finishes going through, and Al had to be back to work today. My mom flew back two days ago for the same reasons. It has been a hard couple of days full of more good-byes. And now everybody who came out to help move us in is gone as well. There are some nice people from the ward (well, technically a branch) that are going to help me get the furniture in when I can actually move in, but I am still going to miss Jack during the next couple of weeks until he gets back.

I went poking around some antique stores the other day while I was waiting, and that was incredibly fun. I found a set of wooden lockers from an old county jail that I simply fell in love with. I love things with cubby holes and drawers. I am looking for a set of old hardware store drawers that I can repurpose in the new house.

Today I am going to assemble my little drawers from Ikea and get them painted, and go ahead and paint the shelves Jack built me before I move them into the house. I figure if I have to put up with all this waiting, I may as well put the time to good use. I also found some old window panes that I am going to sand down, paint, and add some photos to. I have wanted to alter some windowpanes forever.

If you are trying to email me, I can't access my personal account right now. I am not ignoring you, I promise... :0)

Interminable waiting

The escrow is supposed to close today, and we are supposed to be able to move in tomorrow, and the waiting is killing me. I have been working on making the bead curtain for the girls' room (it is very pretty... can't wait to show you!), and yesterday we went and got some non-perishable groceries at Sams Club to stock some of the pantry. Jack is going back to Vegas on Sunday to finish waiting for his transfer to go through. He went in yesterday to talk to the local office, and they have the perfect position for him here. It looks like he should be done transferring out here in a couple of weeks, and that is a HUGE relief.

I saw the sunset last night, and it was gorgeous. I always loved the Vegas sunsets with the sun sinking behind the mountains. It sinks behind the mountains here, too, but the difference is that I am living on top of the mountains, so it looks completely different at this vantage point... simply stunning.

It is still sinking in that this dream is a reality... my kids are in the country, we are moving to a farm, we live on top of a beautiful mountain, and I have fruit and berries growing in my garden. Jack is out riding a riding lawnmower right now trimming down Billy and Johanna's 11 acres as a thank you for letting us stay here while we dealt with the delays that weren't supposed to happen. We are so lucky to have so many good friends all over the country! I will post pictures as soon as I can!~

Live From Arkansas

We mde it safe and sound! The cats are a bit disgruntled, but they will have to get over it! We pulled in about 1 this morning, and today we are taking care of paperwork and other mundane stuff like that. We have to get the truck and trailer unloaded and returned, so it will be a busy day! We can't actually move in until the escrow finishes closing (there was an appraisal delay), but I will keep you updated as I can! I have pictures to share, but those will have to come later! Have a great day and I will be back!

hello from Novi!

I am just popping in from Novi, Michigan to say hi and update a little! It has been a good weekend here at the show! Jack called me today, and the house is packed and he is loading it all into the truck tomorrow. I am getting home Sunday afternoon, and we are leaving to head out to Arkansas first thing Monday morning. Suddenly a part of me feels like crying constantly... as excited as I am for a brand new start in a brand new area the uncertainties of being so far away from family is weighing heavily on me. I simply don't know how to say goodbye.

I have to get wireless internet installed out there before I can post there, but as soon as that is up and running I will be back online and sharing all the new and exciting things in our lives with all of you! Well, they are exciting for me at least, I don't know what pictures of our berry bushes will do for you! :0)

We get to see Jessica again in just a couple of weeks, and that makes us all so happy. We just want to bundle her up and bring her home right now.

I have always liked coming here to Michigan, and this show isn't any different... friendly people, lovely scenery, great weather this time of year... I love it here! I taught a class at Scraptales the other night (Katherine don't laugh at me!) and it went well! Gorgeous store!

I will try to update again before I leave here, but if I don't post again before Monday morning, please jsut say a little prayer for us that he trip is safe and we all arrive in one piece with our sanity intact!

Eleven years and holding

It was eleven years ago at just about this time of day that we promised for better or worse, and we have held to that promise. I don't have any pictures with me of us now, so I am just copying the wedding page from Jessica's album here so you can see how skinny we were back then. Happy anniversary, Jack... I would marry you all over again! Miss you!

Shopping in Chicago...

well, okay, I am working too, but yesterday was a tremendously fun shopping afternoon. I introduced Ronda, Teresa, Amanda, and Sharla to my favorite store of all time... yep, Ikea. We browsed, we oohed, we aahed, and I do believe I have them quite addicted now. Lucky them, they are getting an Ikea practically in their backyard... I am so jealous!

I was only going to pick up a few little things, and then I found this lamp for the boys' room. Chet wants a solar system theme in his room, and the kid asks for so few things, how can I possibly say no? This lamp spins and casts stars, moons, and planets on the walls... how perfect is that? And right next to that wonderful little contraption was a display of these utterly lovely beaded lamps... lamps that perfectly match the beads we are hanging in the two upstairs rooms to divide Jessica's room from the younger girls' room. Who could resist them? Not me, that is for sure! I bought two, one each for both of the rooms! I also bought a gauzy curtain to hang between the beads in the doorway, and some really nice black iron keyhooks. The really great news is that there is an Ikea in Philadelphia, Atlanta, Sacramento, Long Island, Houston, and the St.Paul area... and guess who is hitting all those cities this year??? By the end of the year my house should be completely done over with all the wonderful things Ikea has to offer! After Ikea we headed to TJ Maxx, where I found the perfect coppery brass hanging baskets and fruit basket for my kitchen table. So what if we don't have a kitchen table for the new house yet... at least it will be well dressed when we get it, right? We also went window shopping at Crate and Barrel, Pottery Barn, and the Container Store... what a wealth of inspiration those stores are as well!

The house is almost all packed. I was literally packing up until the minute I had to leave to catch my plane out here. When I get home this Sunday, I will finish up with the final packing and cleaning details before I had out to Novi on Tuesday. Then when I get home next Sunday we are getting a good night's sleep and heading out to Arkansas Monday morning. I am a bundle of very tired nerves, and the kids are going back and forth on whether they are happy about this or not. I am making Faith a little album to keep pictures of her Vegas friends for my next assignment, and I should have it done to give to her before I get home this week. She is having the hardest time with the thought of leaving.

It has been a day today... we are all working hard and well together, but the electronics are conspiring against us. Tomorrow we will be ringing everybody up on calculators, and taking a manual inventory of the remaining stock... fun, fun, fun. I bet you all wish you were here doing it instead of us! :0)

I am going to head back up to my room and go to sleep so I am bright-eyed and bushy-tailed to teach and help run the booth tomorrow. Wish us luck!

Monday, Monday

It is the first of the month, which means the new feature is up at Scrap Village. This month we all made spring related pages.



It was also my turn this month to create the City Planner Blueprint, so this is what I made using a sketch I made with my Pages by Design. Click the Blueprint link if you would like to see the sketch and the layout together. you can print the sketch out and add it to your PBD idea books.



I got home from Nashville yesterday, after I completely slept through the whole flight. That is the best way to fly... sound asleep! I had a good time there. On Saturday I went to see the Grand Ole Opry during my break between classes.














I loved taking the backstage tour. We got to go behind the scenes to see the post office (103 is Clint Black's box and 104 is Garth Brooks), the dressing rooms, the greenroom, we visited Studio A where HeeHaw was filmed, and then we went onstage.








For somebody who sings as poorly as I do, this is the closest I will ever come to performing on the Grand Ole Opry! For me the tour was more rewarding than watching a performance would have been... I loved learning the Opry's history and seeing all the photos on the walls.














I also went through the Opry's museum, where I had my photo taken with Patsy Cline... :0)


























After a very quick teardown on Saturday, we went to dinner, and then to a movie. Sheri, Johanna, and I went and say "Take the Lead", a very, very good movie. I loved how funny it was, and I really loved the true story the movie is based on.

We found














Chet's Barber Shop during this trip, and these are a couple of other funny photos I caught along the way as well.


























How does one walk and keep their jeans around their knees? What kind of girl looks at this and says "ooohh... I love the way it looks like you glued your butt to the back of your knees!"


























And I thought the Cracker Barrel was a family style restaraunt???

Katherine's shout out

I was reading the current issue of Scrapbook Answers last night, and there was an article about Wendi Speciale of Speciale Designs, and she gave a little shout out to Katherine. (pg 24)

We had a really busy day today... the booth was packed almost all day and my classes were great. I had pretty full classes with lots of friendly people... very fun! I saw Amy, who was my TA in St. Louis and met some other online scrappers... it was a good day all around. I am looking forward to getting home on Sunday, though, because there is so much work to still do. This would be a good time to figure out how to clone a couple extra copies of myself!

Hello from Nashville!

We got into Nashville safe and sound last night, and I am having a great time visiting with Johanna and Sheri. This morning we went to visit The Hermitage, President Andrew Jackson's home. 95% of the house is the original architecture and furnishings, and it is just incredible. (the grounds are as gorgeous as the house.) I had a great time. We got back to meet up with Teresa and Ronda and put the booth together, and then we headed out again. Sadly, the Country Music Hall of Fame was closed, so we went to dinner and a movie. We saw "Failure to Launch" and it was a riot... I laughed through the whole thing.



At the movie theater complex, I found the Alabama Grill. Alabama is Jack's favorite band, so I stopped in and took a bunch of pictures for him and even bought his a shirt. If I can't get the band's autograph, at least I can take pictures of their autographs! See how much I love ya, Babe... I am stalking photos and getting squished pennies made for you... :0)


Chet is having a blast at cubscout daycamp this week. I don't know if I will have any pictures of the actual camp, but I will take some shots of the things he is making and the badges he is earning. Have fun, Chet!

Off to Nashville

I spent yesterday making some jewelry and finishing up some assignments for an upcoming City Planner feature. This morning I am busy finishing up laundry and getting packed to fly out to Nashville this afternoon. We have some sights planned to go and see, and I am going to try hard to go to the Opry on Friday night! See you all when I get back!

Window shopping for the yard

I got an email from the realtor yesterday asking if Billy and Johanna would be able to feed the fish until we got there. Fish??? Yep, apparently the little garden pond has a bunch of koi in it, so we are getting fish and turkeys with the property. We will see how long either of them last with the cats and boys!

Today I was browsing for the stuff we want for the yard. We are turning a big part of the property into a BMX track for the kids to play on, and we are eventually going to make a portion of the front pasture a basketball/volleyball/tennis court. I have always wanted to get the kids a big wooden playset as well, and now that we will have the yardspace to have it, I can't wait! This is the teeter totter we are getting. This is the playset they have all oogled over for a couple of years. And this is the waterslide we never thought we would have room for! We can't make it all a reality for at least a few more months, but I cannot wait!

We heard the escrow is supposed to close this weekend. Nerves... I am all nerves right now!

Back from Mesa

I am home, and I had a good time in Mesa this weekend! I love going to Mesa and seeing my AZ friends. I got there Wednesday night and Katherine and I stayed up chatting half the night. Thanks for having me as a houseguest this weekend, Katherine!! We went to Matt's BMX race on Friday night, and that was fun. Matt came in first in his 2nd qualifying moto, and it was great to be there to cheer him on.


Thursday morning was set-up, and since the floor doesn't open until 10, Wendi came by to get me and we headed to Ikea for me to buy the beds and get them shipped off. She brought her husband's truck, which is a behomoth. We stopped at Sonic on the way back to the show for some diet cherry coke, and I snapped this shot when she had to climb out of the truck to place her order. To get this picture she had to stand on her very tippy toes... LOL...


I took this shot of Meghan and I Saturday night after set-up... she is such a sweet kid! She came and TA's for Katherine all day on Saturday, and then helped us tear down afterwards.


Gayle drove down for the show, and we had to go get some change Saturday morning. She decided she didn't want to have to look for parking when we got back, so she stole a parking cone and reserved her space before we left. It didn't work, though. When we got back somebody had just moved the cone out of the way and parked in her spot. It was worth a shot, though... LOL



Okay, if you know anything about me at all, you know I will do just about anything to help out a cause to benefit kids who are in the children's hospitals across the country. (Let's not talk about what a blubbering mess I become when I listen to the St. Jude's radiothons to raise money for their hospital.) Lil
Davis brought their summer road tour to the show, and they were giving boxes of new stuff for anybody who donated products for the kids in the Orange County Children's Hospital to use. If you have some great products you aren't using, and you are going to be at any of the conventions or stores where Lil Davis will be teaching at, please drop them off so the kids can use them to scrapbook with. Yes, you will get a cool box of Lil Davis products, but for me that isn't the point. I have seen what it does for the kids who are cooped up in the hospitals for treatments to be able to sit and create some pages or cards with the supplies that are provided for them, and it is incredible to see how happy it makes them!



I had to get my history fix in while I was there... :0) The Mesa convention center is actually located in a historic district, and right across the street is the Sirrine House. It is only open from October to March, to I didn't get to see the tour, but I did enjoy admiring the brickwork and construction of the house!

Okay, Kara.... this one is for you! When I saw Margie on Friday I told her about the new stalker working for us, and asked her to take a picture with me before the end of the show so I could send it to you... LOL. She saw me at lunch on Saturday, and we snapped a couple of quick shots.

I have known Diana for almost ten years in our email loop, and she stopped by the show to say hi. It is amazing how long our little group of "loopies" had been together!


Yesterday, Katherine's hubby John took me back to the airport to come home. The airport was packed, but I got through the security points in time and caught my plane home. I felt like a complete idiot as I was walking out to meet Jack and the kids at the truck. I was on one of those moving sidewalks outside, and my shoe got caught in the end of it, which caused me to trip. Since my shoe was stuck, and my hands were full of my suitcases, I found myself falling straight forward face first. I managed to land on my knees instead, but it was a hard fall and I ended up hobbling back to the truck. I just wanted the earth to swallow me whole then and there as the guys who materialized out of nowhere kept asking if I was okay or needed help. Real graceful on my part, let me tell ya!

The kids were part of a musical play about Jesus yesterday, but Chet, Todd, Kyle, and Beth were all sick. Somebody filled in for Chet's role (one of the disciples), and I got to the church in time to snap a shot of Faith (who was one of the children Jesus talked to) and Matt (who was Jesus) in their costumes. I hate that I missed it, but my mom videotaped it so I at least get to see it. I am hoping the kids all feel better today and get over this bug quickly.

The older kids have a Sign Design performance tonight, and I am taking pictures of the whole team afterwards. I don't have the best set-up to take the pictures, so hopefully they turn out nice!

Boxes everywhere

There is a new feature up at ScrapVillage using the We R Memory Keepers new products. These are the two cards I made for this feature, and by clicking on the link you can see the layouts the other City Planners made for it. If you use the Pages by Design system, or just really enjoy sketches check back at the first of the month for the Blueprint I put together for May! (This link takes you to Cheryl's April Blueprint.)


What a week it has been! There has been so much packing to get done, and we have gone through every single box we had in our storage shed to clear a ton of stuff out. My goal was to not move a single thing across the country that we didn't know for sure we want to keep! I think we are getting pretty close to being done with the sorting and packing, and I will be glad for that!

Escrow is supposed to close by the end of the month, so we are just sort of hanging here waiting for dates to be confirmed so we can make arrangements for utilities and the moving truck. The goal is here to get 6 kids, 3 cats, 4 kittens, 3 dogs, and a houseful of stuff across the country and keep my sanity intact. If you have any tips for success in that goal, I sure could use them!

I am off tomorrow for the Mesa, AZ convention. I am working in the booth this weekend, so stop by and say hi! You won't be able to miss me... since half of my clothes are packed I am going to be wearing my Pages By Design t-shirts, and they are bright enough to be seen a mile away!

I am also going to be stopping into Ikea to grab some beds and other fun things for the new house. I have been wanting this bed forever, and we are grabbing some new bunkbeds for the boys. My plans for a truck fell through, so if you are in the area and want to go shopping with me, holler! I still have to figure out how to get the beds from Ikea to the UPS store!

I have a lot of photos to share tonight of the kids, but I took them all on my regular SLR so I have to get the film developed to disk today before I can post them. Amidst the packing and project deadlines, I did fit some real-life into this week at home. I took the yearly Easter shots, the kids had a performance on Saturday, and there was this 12 photos in a day thing I was trying to participate in! I'll be back soon!

Look who's blogging!

Today I fulfilled a promise to Matt, and we got a blog set up for him. He is calling it Sketches, which I love since it features his artwork and little sketches of his daily life. I was teasing him because we barely had it up and running, and he already had a girl post on it. Made his day! Please feel free to stop by and say hi to him if you have a chance. I am looking forward to seeing what he does with it now. (If you happen to know any other DeMolay, Rainbow Girls, or Job's Daughters members with their own blogs, he would love to have the links!)

Sketches

Little Comedian

Todd cracks me up all the time. The things he says coupled with the expressions he gives are a combination sure to incite much laughter. I am adding this today so I don't forget it. I need to make a little book about some of the funny things my kids say.

Anyway, I had a lot of errands to run today, and I took the kids with me. I pulled through Sonic to grab a diet coke with cherry syrup... mmmmm... and Todd was sitting in the middle seat by the driver's side window instead of the back seat. While I was ordering my diet coke, he rolled down his window, and as soon as I was done speaking he starts to say "and IIIIII want...." The other kids started chuckling at this, and I began to roll up his window with the controls by the steering wheel. As the window went higher, his voice got louder as he tried to make sure the clerk heard him say "I want a double cheeseBURGER!" (No, I don't let him eat double cheeseburgers, but he is on a kick lately that doubles sound better.) When I pulled up to the window to get my drink, he rolls his window back down and hollers out "and a coke!" Even the clerk was laughing at this point. I rolled his window back up and locked it with my controls, but we all chuckled about it as we went to pick up Jack.

Last Sunday he was at church with my mom, and the Sunday school teacher asked him if he wanted to go see the goldfish that they have. He looked at her and said,"I can't.. I am allergic to goldfish unless I eat them." I don't know where he gets this stuff from, but I do love the laughter he adds to our lives!

Home from St. Louis with lots of photos!

I arrived home yesterday afternoon in one piece, and I am looking forward to having a week or so off before I head off to the next show! I had a good time in St. Louis, and I have a ton of pictures to prove it!

I was working with Susan, Shelly, Sharla, and Kara this weekend, and we all headed into downtown St. Louis on Thursday to visit the Gateway Arch. The first thing we saw when we were parking was the new Busch Stadium for the Cardinals, which was opening this weekend. (On Friday night Sharla, Kara, and I were having dinner at the table next to the Cardinals' owner, and I dared Kara, who is Miss Stalker, to go ask for his photo, but she wouldn't do it.)















We walked over to the arch, which is stunning in its size. Between the four of us with cameras I believe we shot the arch from every conceivable angle. For this one I actually laid down on the ground to get as much into the viewfinder as possible.




















The grounds around the arch are gorgeous... green grass, ponds, riverbeds, red-breasted robins, and there were even geese flying over our heads. Kara and I decided to hug a tree.
















Susan and Sharla rode to the top of the arch, while the rest of us waited on the ground and explored the shops and the museum. Here I am hanging out with Thomas Jefferson.




















Across the street from the arch is The Old Courthouse, which is where slaves Dred Scott and his wife Harriet sued for their freedom, a landmark case that spurred the division over slavery in the country and was one of the major events in the chain of events which led to the Civil War. I was thrilled to get to see this courthouse this year, since last year I wasn't able to, and this heart of mine can't stand the thought of having missed out on a historical spot. (You can see part of the International Fur Exchange building about one block behind on the courthouse on the right in this photo.) There was so much more in the St. Louis area I would have loved to have seen... Ulysses S. Grant's house, the Charles Lyndburgh museums, the pioneer and church sites, but there is never enough time to do it all!














Each of the rooms in the courthouse is a museum of different things to do with the history of the St. Louis area. I see things like leech jars and it makes me so grateful to have the medical technologies we have now.



















This is the inside of the dome on top of the courthouse. It is covered with all kinds of incredible artwork. I wish we had had more time that I could have looked over every single piece of art.














My classes on Friday were great... full of nice people who were happy to be there! I was even asked for my autograph once, had my picture taken a few times, and somebody saw my necklace and recognized the kids from my blog, which I thought was a cute way to meet a blogreader!(Hi out there!) Kara crakced me up because within ten minutes of the show starting, she had found Donna Downey and struck up a conversation. I met Donna later that day, and was really impressed with just how funny and friendly she seems to be... very nice lady!














I didn't have any classes to teach on Saturday, so Katherine told me to go and relax a bit. Of course, relaxing on the road for me means to go siteseeing! I didn't want to go very far from the convention center, so after I got the computers up I went down the road to go see the Cahokia Mounds, which is the site of the largest Native American city found north of Mexico. I was blown away... it is simply stunning to stand on the mounds and close your eyes, and imagine what it must have been like for the Mississipian people who built this city and the areas around it.

This is the largest mound, called Monks Mound, and it is so large that I could not fit it all in my viewfinder. The chief lived at the top of this mound, which was built over the course of 300 hundred years by men who dug the dirt and carried 50 or 60 pounds of it at a time to the mound site. It is mind boggling to think of all the physical work that went into building just this one mound, let alone all of the mounds around it. I had to go to the top of the Monks Mound, which has two major staircases that lead to the top. I stopped counting after 85 stairs, which wasn't even halfway up. My calf muscles screamed at me for two days afterwards, but it was worth every step.














From the top of the mound you can literally see for hundreds and hundreds of miles around. There is a freeway that goes through the center of national park the Cahokia mounds are in, so I tried to not get it in any of my photos. Here is a picture of St. Louis taken from the top of the mounds. I was trying to capture the height of the mound, but didn't really do it. The trees around it were huge trees as tall as buildings, and they were dwarfed by the mound.














Here I am on top of the mound,(quite wind-blown) and I was awed. I haven't felt this moved by the sheer beauty of the things mankind is capable of building since I stood on top of the Mayan temples in Mexico. It is incredible to me that places like those temples and these mounds still exist, and nothing makes me feel more aware of the past than standing in the same places as those ancient people did.



















Being the person I am, I had to take a picture of my feet standing on top of the mound of dirt that was moved thousands of years ago.
















There is a museum on the parkgrounds with several of the artifacts that have been found in the Cahokian Mounds and the surrounding area. I have never seen a pot made to look like a face before, so this particular artifact caught my attention. The park and the museum are free... if you are ever near Collinsville, Illinois you should stop by!















I came home yesterday, and my mom and the girls were all dressed up in pink waiting for me to take their picture. The wind kicked up right as we were snapping, so they are all looking a little windblown as well. That hat was one of my grandma's hats that my mom gave to Faith this weekend.




















You can laugh at me for this, but I bought the kids St. Patrick's Day clothes last month, and then wouldn't let them wear them until I was able to take some photos. Today was the first chance I had to get them out there for a Leprechaun photo shoot, so now they are allowed to wear the green clothes... :0) Things were going well at first as I was working to get them all to look at me at the same time.



Then this pigeon landed right by my feet and proceeded to walk around my legs and back and forth in front of the kids, and refused to be scared away. Of course, the kids thought that was really cool, so for the most part my photo shoot was over since the rest of the pictures looked something like............


this.


I am spending this week getting the house packed up and taking care of some assignments. I really want to get a travel journal put together in the next few days as well... Katherine has really inspired me in that department! I am heading to Mesa for the CKC show in a week and a half, and I am looking forward to seeing my AZ friends and hitting Ikea!





psssttt... did you notice the new banner? that is the house we are working on buying! You can see the little house in the backyard above our storm shelter too. Jack is going to finish the inside with sheetrock and the kids will have a little playhouse.

Hey guys, wait for Beth!

I came home this weekend just really wanting to scrap today, so I decided to work with this photo I printed a couple of weeks ago and was waiting for a chance to use. I don't know how well I really conveyed the message I was trying to send in my journaling simply because I am so tired, but it was nice to just put a page together.

This layout has:
Melissa Frances papers (blue with dots and red stripe)
Pressed Petals paper (black floral)
new Rhonna Farher stamps (swirl)
American Craft letter stickers (black swirly)
Deluxe Designs photo turns
homemade letter stamps for Beth's name (except for the Technique Tuesday stamp for E)
Making Memories punctuation stamps
the outer edges are brushed with white paint, then red paint. The background is a light tan color.
Font is Prissy Frat Boy

Journaling reads: Everyday we walk Kyle to school, with Kyle and Todd leading the way while Beth follows behind them. I love watching the three of them as they trail each other down the path, while I keep watch from the rear. Every twenty feet or so I have to call out and remind the boys to wait for Beth as her little legs try to keep up with them.

Sometimes it is a particularly nostalgic feeling for me. I just know that all too soon these days are going to come to an end. They are going to find ways to go off their own, and they won’t need me to follow behind them to make sure they all stay together. In those
moments I can’t help but think of all the times to come when I am going to remind the boys to look out for their baby sister… bus rides to school, teenage outings, trips to college. I can’t help but think that by teaching them to watch out for her now while they are all so little will help instill a desire in them to protect her when she is older.

But today we are just walking to school, and the boys are eagerly racing forward to see who can get to the gates first. And as Todd and Kyle try to beat each other to the final
destination, I am calling out to them now so that they will hear me when they are older….. "Hey, guys, wait for Beth!"