Photo Perspective

Ecuador Team Blog

2009-07-28T16:54:00.002-05:00

The team going to Ecuador with us has set up a blog to journal our trip. Please follow us there, and thank you so much for praying for us.

http://mother-daughter-ecuador.blogspot.com/

Getting Excited

2009-07-25T20:38:00.000-05:00

I've been feeling much better after my collision with Remicade (an I.V. med for Crohn's disease) that landed me in the hospital for a few days. The medicines I was on after the hospitalization made me terribly tired, emotional, and all out-of-sorts. It was so bad that I earned a new t-shirt that states, "I am confused . . . no wait, maybe not."

So in light of all of that, I was hesitant to get very excited about our trip just in case God was making it clear that we shouldn't be going. But now, I'm off all the yucky medicines. I've got energy and motivation to DO things. And I'm letting myself get excited that our trip is only 4 days away!!

We've prepared crafts for our VBS, tie dyed our team shirts, split up all the supplies we are taking down, and been handed our final itineraries. Tomorrow we have our send-off during church - wearing our tie dye shirts. :-)

Mars Edit Trial

2009-07-14T14:32:00.002-05:00

In an attempt to be able to do some off-line editing of the blog for the Ecuador trip, I'm testing out MarsEdit. This is just a test . . .

Hmm, seems to have some issues with images, maybe we'll try something different. :-)

Picture Me!

2009-05-27T23:25:00.004-05:00

Credits:
Background papers and elements from Raspberry Road's Sally Ann kit
Fonts are Century Gothic (title) and Angelina (journaling)

S always wants me to "picture" her whenever I take my camera out. She grabs a prop, tilts her head just so, then flashes me the SMILE.

Special Visitor

2009-05-23T19:13:00.002-05:00

We had a special visitor tonight. I'm torn at what to call him since none of the typical names seem to fit exactly. He is Meister's biological dad, but he was also there for his birth. He is Meister's birth dad, but he was there for him more than just birth. He is Meister's first dad, but that implies that now that there is a second dad, he isn't his dad at all anymore. Our other kids call him Uncle K*, so Meister has taken to calling him Uncle K, too.

Uncle K came to visit for the first time since Meister was adopted 2.5 years ago. The first picture below brings tears to my eyes. I love both of these guys. One as a brother, and one as a son. I desperately want the best for both of them, and yet we had to make a tough choice 2.5 years ago. I never dreamed that reconciliation after that choice would be made so quickly. I imagined Meister going through life wondering what ever happened to Uncle K, wondering if he ever thought about him, wondering if he ever cared, and basically feeling abandoned.

And, yet, here we are while Meister is still fairly young and amazingly Uncle K is back in his life. Meister responded so appropriately - little timid at first, but warmed up and obviously held some tenderness in his heart for Uncle K. He was deliberately re-anchoring himself in our family unit by coming back to Pete and I for cuddles and by intentionally using our names (Mom and Dad) often.

So now Meister doesn't have to wonder if Uncle K ever cared. I can put pictures like these in his scrapbook, and he can know that he is special and cared for.

Not that this visit changes anything for Meister on a daily basis - Uncle K will probably not be around much, and life will go on as normal for Meister. But at the same time, visits like this will make a huge difference for Meister as he grows up.

Sibling Influences

2009-04-25T20:34:00.002-05:00

S modeling her skirt which is a mini version of K's skirt. "I am K," she sings.

"Mommy, wait! Don't take picture yet. I have to get my thing." She returns with the ribbons leftover from the recent musical where K was a flag bearer. "Esther-day! Esther-day! Not tomorrow, but yesterday. Esther-day . . ."

"Mom! Look, there's a bird right over there! Mom! Look! You see it?"

"Bang! Bang! I shot it!"

V turns 11!

2009-03-03T19:07:00.002-05:00

Isn't he handsome? We've been having a really good day with V today. He's been so sweet - not at all self-centered like you'd imagine a kid to be on his birthday. He was thrilled with his technical drawing tools (compass, protractor, triangles), portable desk (basically a clipboard with a compartment to hold all his drawing stuff), and a book on how to draw race cars. Due to busy schedules, we'll be having the birthday supper tomorrow. His request was steak, salad with croutons, red beet eggs, and ice cream sandwiches for dessert. We'll be having the grandparents over for cake and ice cream on Sunday, so we kinda spread the birthday celebrations out over several days.

Landis Valley Museum

2008-09-13T03:35:00.006-05:00

For school this year, we are doing a whirlwind trip through U.S. history. We've studied the Native Americans and what life was like before the America's were discovered by the Europeans and now we are studying the colonial time period.

So we took a field trip to our local Landis Valley Museum thanks to a free family pass available at our local library. We packed a lunch and on our way, we "dadnapped" dad from work. :-)

We started with the leather working shop. An artisan dressed in period clothes was creating a box for storing things in. He also showed us a pair of straight shoes that he had made. "Straight shoes" have no arches and can fit on either foot. People would typically switch the shoes regularly in order to give them even wear.

As we walked along, we examined the different types of fences. S wasn't so sure about petting the lamb.

The kids found a caretaker who had just unyoked a team of oxen. They wanted to know if the yoke was heavy, so the caretaker let them carry it into the barn for him. It is surprisingly light.

K imagined baking cookies in this outdoor oven.

We learned the different steps to creating thread and fabric from flax.

We got a chance to lay on this bed. This one has two "mattresses". The top one is full of feathers, the bottom full of rye to keep the bedbugs away. Typically the parents and grandparents would sleep in this bed. The children under 5 would sleep in the trundle at the foot of the bed. And that pot under the bed? I'll let you figure that out. :-)

This was about 3/4 of the way through. We were all starting to get tired out.

Talking to a lady knitting sleeping socks outside one of the houses from a later period.

Outside of a one-room schoolhouse. The kids posed for me on an old hitching post. V was particularly fascinated by the thought of riding a horse to school every day.

The last stop of the day was the Gunsmith Shop. Everyone else was tired and hungry, but V? Let the expression on his face show you his emotions. He even got to fire an old pistol.

Special Time with Mom

2008-08-30T20:24:00.002-05:00

K and I visited a formal garden this evening in preparation for a few family photo shoots I have scheduled. K and I took turns posing for each other so we could both practice our photography skills. I would take a few of her, and then we would switch and she would try to imitate the composition. She's also been begging me to teach her how to work with Photoshop so that she can create digital scrapbooks with her pictures.

This is my Favorite . . .

2008-08-29T18:22:00.004-05:00

"Mom, this is my favorite chore! I LIKE handwashing. That's why I'm doing it so much."

We implemented a new chore schedule today, and the younger boys graduated to some older kid jobs that they had never gotten the opportunity to do. They were pretty excited about some of the new chores, and I'm hoping and praying the excitement lasts a LONG time.

Isn't She a Doll?

2008-08-27T20:20:00.003-05:00

Had the urge to take a few pictures tonight so that I could play with some new Photoshop actions from Pioneer Woman. I have to give a disclaimer for that link, though. A friend of mine shared it on her blog, and I lost myself in her blogs. Pioneer Woman is an engaging writer and awesome photographer as well as being a decent cook, rancher's wife, and homeschooling mom of four. So before you visit her blog, block out a chunk of time to really explore.

Our Niece

2008-08-26T06:04:00.003-05:00

I took quite a break from scrapbooking lately for a number of reasons. I ran out of room in my albums and need to purchase a ton of album supplies to fit everything I have done. Since I use Creative Memories albums, they are very high quality, but also cost a good bit. I also have been struggling to figure out how to organize my freebie stash. The stash is getting too large for my hard drive, so an external drive is getting to be an necessity. I did figure out that if I tag/keyword my files in Adobe Bridge I can just use Spotlight to find all my files easily. Tagging thousands of files takes a bit of time, though. :-)

So here's the newest layout. We were so excited to reconnect with a niece of ours that we hadn't seen since she was an infant. Pete and I were talking on our way home about how our niece had totally stolen our hearts. We fell in love with her Saturday afternoon, and are looking forward to spending more time with her in the future.

Credits:
All papers and elements are from Summer Driggs' Beautimous kit
Fonts are Pharmacy (title) and Dakota Handwriting (journaling)

Mater Cake Instructions

2008-07-07T18:41:00.003-05:00

This post is WAY late, but I have a friend who needs to know how to make a Mater cake. I made this one in January for Meister's 6th birthday.

The bottom is two rectangle cakes stacked on top of each other. I raised it off the serving board with canning rings and a wax papper wrapped piece of cardboard. The shape of the hood and back is carved from the top layer. If you freeze the pieces for a few hours, they are easier to carve. The cab is a mini loaf pan sized cake placed upside down. Frosting is used for glue in between layers. After piecing it together, put a thin layer of frosting on it and return it to the freezer. This will seal in the crumbs for you.

For the final layer of frosting, the brown is chocolate frosting, the blue and green is tinted vanilla frosting messily spread over the chocolate. The white is just the plain vanilla frosting.

Chocolate covered donuts were used for the tires. Green gummy Life Savers for the eyes. Large pretzels, Oreos and string were for the towing mechanism. I cut a 6 out of construction paper to hang on string. The black for the bumper and the eyes was a tube of black frosting with the tips that you can get at most grocery stores. The tips screw onto the tube.

My extended family has found that they like the cakes better mostly frozen, so I leave them in the freezer until the party. They thaw an hour or so during the gifts before we cut into it.

Update on Rocky

2008-07-05T16:10:00.003-05:00

Well, Rocky is still here. He almost got put out, but due to a goopy eye and the trouper attitude of K, he got to stay inside a bit longer.

The plan now is to trap the other kittens, take them all to the shelter to be tested for leukemia and HIV. If they are negative, then we will bring them home to tame for a few weeks. After they are tame, we'll take them back into the shelter to be adopted. Apparently kitties with more than the usual number of toes are even specifically requested by potential families, so those with the extra toes will not be in the shelter long.

Rocky

2008-06-30T10:36:00.002-05:00

K discovered this cutie in our garbage can Saturday morning. There has been a set of 4 kittens living under our shed for a few weeks now, but they are wild and unapproachable. They've apparently been raiding the garbage at night, they must not have remembered that Friday morning is garbage pick-up in our neighborhood. :-( So in he hopped only to fall all the way to the bottom of an empty can. K discovered him the next morning as he cried for help.

Initially he hissed and spat at me as I wrapped him in a towel to extricate him, but he is has grown used to being cuddled now. K speeds through her chores to spend every free moment with 'her' kitty. Her plan is to keep it inside for a few days until it is tame, then let it go back out with its brothers and sisters.

She decided to name him Rocky because of his stone gray color. He also has extra toes on his front paws that make him look like he's got boxing gloves on, so Rocky fits just fine.

Aviation Museum

2008-03-18T05:57:00.003-05:00

While waiting for the Creation Museum to open on Monday, we filled our time Sunday with a trip to Lexington, KY. Part of our tour group went to the KY Horse Park, and the other part went to the KY Aviation Museum. The docent, Mr. Peters, was extremely friendly, helpful, and patient with the kids' questions and attention spans. At the end of our personal tour, Mr. Peters allowed each of the kids to fly the flight simulator. He led them through a pre-flight safety check, take-off, airborne manuevers, and then landing. It was a lot of fun!

Credits

Green ricrac: Digitreat's Run ABC collection
Remaining papers and elements: Lisa Minor's Run ABC add-on

CoCo Keys Waterpark

2008-03-15T16:13:00.003-05:00

We had a field trip planned to the Creation Museum in KY, and in our search for hotels we found one with passes to the indoor waterpark next door. After dropping Meister, S, and Shadrach off at my mom's, we climbed in the van with Uncle Dan and two other families (13 of us total). We ended up hitting a blizzard on the way, so we never got to the Creation Museum on Saturday as planned since they closed down because of the weather. The kids in the van actually cheered when we discovered this because it meant they could go straight to the hotel and the waterpark.

Credits
Papers & Elements: Carrie Stephen's Inflorescence Kit

I was amazed that after staying up all night, the kids had enough energy to play several hours in the water. I actually ended up finding a lounge chair and taking a nap. But those kiddos played and played and played. They were dead asleep within 10 minutes of getting to bed.

1 Week Post-Op X-ray

2008-03-14T09:56:00.003-05:00

We'll go see what the surgeon has to say in a few hours. The kids have all kinds of questions about how those pins got in there, though. With a hammer? screwdriver? So far no one has asked how they will get out - but I don't mind waiting to answer that question. :-{

Pre-op Pic

2008-03-08T07:04:00.001-05:00

Meister with his special bunny. The time spent waiting for surgery went very quickly thanks to a few episodes of 3-2-1 Penguins on the video iPod.

Surgery

2008-03-07T22:46:00.004-05:00

Meister made it through his elbow surgery without complications and is snuggled in bed on his way to recovery. He was a bit upset that his elbow was in a cast and hurting when he woke up, but he was in much better spirits as soon as I got him discharged.

I picked up a bunny for him to take along with him, and the nurses had fun treating the bunny along with Meister. The bunny ended up with a blue surgical hat, mask, name bracelet, heart sticker, and a bandaged left arm.

I'll post a picture when I get a chance to get it off the camera.

More Details

2008-03-05T17:46:00.006-05:00

Yesterday was rainy at the "park" in the backyard. (We were blessed with a large wooden playset that Meister likes to call "the park".) Meister's favorite way to go down the slide is standing up - surfing style. With his amazing balance and quick reactions he is usually just fine, but I don't think he accounted for the wetness of the slide. Anyway, you get the idea. We're not sure if he went sideways or fell at the bottom, but he must have landed with his elbow extended and taking most of the force of the fall.

Meister was outside by himself when this happened. He came inside and CLIMBED INTO HIS TOP BUNK to "rest". How many times have I told him that his belly/eyes/aches will feel better after a little rest? "When we are sick, we need to rest. We can't stay home sick from church/school and run around the house." So he was in his top bunk whimpering by the time I realized there was something really wrong. My final clue? V yelling, "Mom! The bump on Codey's elbow is not where it is supposed to be!"

So we scrambled. "V, pack a bag with my iPod, earphones, and some books Meister likes. Siah, get a blanket to wrap Meister in." I IM'd Pete to come home ASAP, then warmed the van up. We made it to the hospital about a half hour after the accident. On the way, Meister was extremely nervous. He was afraid I would leave him at the hospital, he would get shots, the doctor would hurt him, and they were "going to kill me." Those big, teary eyes combined with his adorable, little, buzzed head just about broke my mommy heart. I was so thankful I got to be there to comfort him just then.

Intake, pain meds, x-rays, and finally a diagnosis. Meister endured them all stoically - only a few teardrops escaped down his cheeks. The waiting was tolerated (even included a few giggles) due to a couple of movies on my iPod. The earphones didn't make it all the way into the ER, so when the doctor saw that Miester was watching a movie with no sound, he actually let him borrow his own personal earphones. He even had a couple more movies on his own iPod he was going to let us borrow if we ran out before Meister was discharged. I was really impressed with this ER doctor - not hurried, personable, and understood kids.

We were sent home with a disc of x-rays, an appt with an orthopedic surgeon, a splint, sling, and a prescription for some heavy-duty pain meds. Meister slept well, and we headed to the surgeon this morning. To summarize, a corner of Meister's upper arm bone was sheered off and displaced at the elbow. He is going to need surgery, pins, and casting to repair it. It should heal just fine, but we will not know for a few years if the portion of growth plate on the displaced bone will grow at the same rate as the undisturbed portion. If it doesn't grow at the same rate, he could need more corrective surgery in the future. We pray that won't be necessary.

So Meister is scheduled for surgery this Friday at 3:00 p.m. on an outpatient basis. In the meantime the meds are keeping him comfortable and life is actually a bit calmer at home than normal. No arguing - the others are concentrating on catering to Meister's every desire. "Meister, do you want a drink? Mom, can I read Meister a book instead of doing the dishes?"

It's Finally Happened

2008-03-05T10:51:00.003-05:00

Meister is a daredevil and we knew someday he would hurt himself. More details later . . . Off to the surgeon's office.

In answer to Jodi's comment: Yes, this is one of the actual x-ray images taken of Meister's arm!

Kitty Saga

2008-01-23T21:36:00.000-05:00

Our stray kitty did find a home much to the dismay of our kiddos. Here's the layout I did chronicling the experience for the kids.

Credits: backgrounds and elements from Heather Roselli's From the Heart kit www.thedigichick.com
Stitchings were from a variety of creators

FOUND: Affectionate Young Black Kitty

2008-01-17T09:04:00.001-05:00

The excitement level in our house is sky high. You see, yesterday the kids discovered a poor skinny kitty in our shed. Normally the stray cats in our neighborhood are owned and cared for by someone, and are never allowed in the house. But, I had Meister holding my cheeks to look into my eyes and pleading, "PLEEEEEASE, can we save her?" I took a look, felt her bony spine, and saw how affectionate she was with people. What was I supposed to do?

We've called the Humane League asking them to check the Lost Cat reports, checked all the classifieds, looked for flyers in the neighborhood, and even had the vet scan her for a microchip. It seems this one is not going to be reunited with her original family. So anyone want a 6-8 month old very affectionate kitty who even gets along with dogs?

We have until the end of the weekend to find a good home for this sweetie.

A New Year

2008-01-12T21:31:00.000-05:00

Last year I really enjoyed the Project 365 challenge my buddy Jo and I did together, but life got busy and the picture-taking fizzled. This year I'm starting off fresh trying to make it through the whole year with only a few missing holes. We'll see how it goes. If you want to check it out, here's the link: JPPhotoblog

Christmas Concert

2007-12-18T08:37:00.000-05:00

Siah's violin teacher holds a concert each year at Christmas time to allow her students a chance to perform as a group for an audience. It is usually great fun. Last year, Siah had just started and was learning to hold the violin and the bow, but this year he actually got to play along with several of the songs. Isn't he sweet?

Another Huge Christmas Freebie

2007-12-10T06:43:00.000-05:00

It is going to take me YEARS to use all of the Christmas freebies I'm finding this year. Another collaborative mega kit is online this week. Check it out here: Christmas Around The World.

New Source for Scrapbooking Freebies

2007-12-02T05:19:00.000-05:00

I happened across a blog that not only lists freebies, but includes a preview of them as well. Plus there is a new post EVERY DAY. DigiFree is powered by a sophisticated computerized search engine that searches for freebies on blogs.

Currently there is also a huge collaborative freebie kit "One Night In Bethlehem" that is being hosted by 16 different designers. They have committed to keeping their freebies up from Dec. 1 until Dec. 7, so if you want parts of these freebies, you need to jump on it this week.

Thanksgiving Blessing

2007-11-23T05:29:00.000-05:00

Our church holds a Thanksgiving Eve service with a traditional time for sharing what God has done over the previous year. The sharing includes tough stuff - deaths, sicknesses, ect. but also includes more lighthearted things as well. One little boy was thankful for his 5 kitties and shared each name with us. After Meister saw that Pastor Jeff was sharing the microphone with kids, he desperately wanted a chance to speak to the crowd.

"Mom, Can I say something too?"

"What are you going to say?"

Meister shrugs his shoulders.

"You can if you can tell about something that you are really happy or thankful for. Can you think of anything?"

Meister nods his head.

"Whisper it to me first, OK?" I had to check make sure it was appropriate. He whispered what he was thinking, and I tearily agreed that he could raise his hand for the microphone.

Pastor Jeff brought the microphone over to Meister who excitedly took it in his hand. Enjoying the way his voice was broadcast over the entire room, he said, "Well . . . I got 'dopted by Pete and Julie!"

Wow! Talk about making 300 hearts melt! Pete was getting teary-eyed. Pastor Jeff was blinking back tears. And the whole audience applauded. What a gift to us especially since we hadn't been talking about being thankful for adoption. That was totally out of his own sweet little heart.

Playing with a new lens

2007-11-20T17:57:00.001-05:00

It came today. I was sooooo excited! Over a month with no camera was driving me insane. I ended up earning the majority of the money by offering portrait prints of students in our homeschooling co-op. So Sunday evening I ordered my lens of choice - a Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di II. The advantage to this lens is that it is extremely fast - allowing a lot of light in quickly so I do not have to use the flash as often.

Today was an extemely cloudy day. There was a bit of light coming in the window, but with my old lens it would not have been sufficient to capture a fidgety puppy without serious motion blur.

Then with the window to my back, I got this shot of V sitting at the dining room table. The picture actually looked like there was more light than was actually there - and all without a flash. I think I'll be keeping the lens. :-)

Birthday Pages

2007-11-16T19:41:00.000-05:00

I caught up on a few birthday layouts over the weekend.

Trouble with a capital T

2007-11-15T20:06:00.000-05:00

A weekend scrapbooking with a bunch of friends broke through the creative wall I had been hitting in regards to the kid's scrapbook pages. Here is one I finished after I got home. I'll be posting more shortly. :-)

Credits:

Fonts - Girls Are Wierd and Problem Secretary Normal
Papers, flowers - Peppermint Creative Sweet Easter Kit
Doodle frame - Shabby Princess Festival Kit
Ribbon - KEflin (colors tweaked to match rest of page)

Sans Camera

2007-10-23T05:34:00.000-05:00

I pulled out my camera yesterday to take individual pictures of well over a hundred people involved with our homeschool co-op only to discover that my lens is severely misshapen. The focusing ring will not work, and even the zooming ring is tough to turn. As we recounted the life of my camera over the last couple of days, we think it may have been melted as it sat next to the stovetop while the oven was going through a self-cleaning cycle.

I feel totally unprepared for life now. I am so used to being able to be ready to capture any memory that not having that option is disturbing to me. There are so many things I had meant to capture. I need to get pictures of S and Shadrach before either of them grow up too much.

So I've been researching lenses only to discover that the ones that make most sense for me based on how I use my camera cost $400+. Yikes! My job today is to pull out that old box of camera equipment, get a quote for it, and get it packaged to send away. I doubt that will raise all the money, but it will be a start. Hmm, what else can I sell around here?

Soap Suds

2007-10-13T18:56:00.000-05:00

It is quite a story, but one evening we had a Kirby salesman stop by the house and ask to do a demonstration. Pete, an experienced salesman with quite a knowledge of large and small appliances, had a LOT of fun quizzing the poor Kirby sales guy and throwing him off track. At one point I think he knew we were a lost cause as far as closing the sale, but he made the most of it by giving the kids a night to remember.

Symmetry

2007-10-13T18:41:00.000-05:00

We've been talking about symmetry lately, and Miah lost his second tooth to provide an illustration for us.

Of course, Dad had to bribe him with a bowl of ice cream, a banana muffin, a chocolate cookie, and $.50.

Good with Kids?

2007-10-09T09:52:00.000-05:00

One of the major concerns for us in choosing a dog is whether it would be good with kids. I think the pictures tell most of the story, but let me tell you that Shadrach was not whining or struggling during this whole playtime. He definitely has more playful moments when he is not this mellow, but S started playing with him just before his nap.

Christmas . . . in October?

2007-10-07T19:58:00.000-05:00

Once we decided to get a puppy for Christmas, I couldn't wait. The kids agreed that they would rather have a puppy than Christmas presents this year, and I decided I'd rather housetrain a puppy in October than in December/January. So we found a cuddley, sweet little male Bichon Frise who is now officially named Shadrach.

There has been more laughing in this house over the past couple of days than a whole week combined before our puppy days. The kids each react and play with the puppy in different ways, but it always ends up with laughter. Even Pete got into the play and ended up chuckling as he realized his face was more ticklish than he thought.

Our little guy is non-shedding, loves people, and will only grow to 10-12 lbs. He is currently 8 weeks old, and is quickly adjusting to his new family.

Not another Monkey!!!?!

2007-10-03T19:53:00.000-05:00

Miester is a monkey, a dare-devil who has stopped the hearts of many a grandmother with his antics. Now little S started climbing early as well, and has recently figured out how to climb her sister's ladder to her loft bed. She's only 17 months old, so I can only imagine what she will be into at age two.

Miah's Growing Up

2007-09-23T16:42:00.000-05:00

Going . . .

Going . . .
Gone!

Sticks in the Sewer

2007-09-13T21:53:00.002-05:00

We had a similar problem a couple of years ago - stuff stuck down the air vent to the sewer pipe outside in our flower bed. Meister has this uncontrollable urge to throw things down little white pipes after taking the caps off of them. Before it was several sippee cups. This time it was an assortment of sticks, dirt, rocks, water balloons, and scrap wood. We had been wondering why the toilet seemed to be flushing funny. Today we found out, the sewer backed up right down the drain pipe that the washing machine drains into and straight out into our laundry room. GROSS! We used nearly a whole bottle of bleach cleaning it up, and only lost a few boxes of pasta and a few miscellaneous stuff that I probably would have gotten rid of when I got to the decluttering of the basement.

Poor Pete had to come home and rescue us again. He's such a hero in my opinion!

By the Way - If any of you know why blogger decides to randomly post my entries in single spaced format instead of double spaced format, please clue me in!

First Day of Co-op

2007-09-10T15:37:00.000-05:00

Today was the first day of our homeschool co-op classes. If you could have seen me this morning, I felt a little out of sorts trying to get all four backpack-ridden children into the building and to their correct classrooms.

I've been working with Meister for the last couple of weeks to prepare him for the dramatic routine change. Due to his tumultuous start in life, he tends to be very anxious about routine changes. To ease him through this transition, I printed out a color-coded schedule of his K4 activities for him to keep with him, although by the time we actually went, he had the thing memorized. Everytime I checked on him throughout the day, he was calmly participating in whatever activity the rest of the class was doing. Once we got home, rather than the bouncing, climbing, always-moving-not-sure-how-to-deal-with-my-anxiety Meister, I had a quiet, calm, cuddley, don't-want-to-leave-mom Meister.

V's most exciting part of the day was discovering that mom bought him a recorder to learn to play during Music class. He could hardly wait to play a song for us - so we listened to recorder music on the way home. AND for the next 20 minutes or so AFTER we got home. I have to admit, though, that the recorder is much easier to listen to than that trumpet of his!

K is currently singing about her friends. She is such a social butterfly as her father calls her. For the last half hour she has been jabbering non-stop about this friend or that, things that happened during classes, counting how many friends she has now, ect. She is at co-op solely for the social aspect. So far I approve heartily of all of her choices for friends, and it is so good for her to get some normal girl-time.

Then there is Miah, my big Kindergartener. He is acting so grown up, and is begging to be taught to read, write, do math, music, spelling - basically anything under the "school" category. He brought home a "Treasure Box", treasure map, and an ant habitat complete with google-eyed pom-pom ant.

And last, but not least, is little Gus. She lived up to her real name in the nursery today. All the cribs were taken, worker's arms were full, she was sooo tired, but content to just chill out on the floor with her pacifier and blanket. She only fussed once when another little girl started playing with a dolly she had previously claimed as "hers". Oh - and the time at the very end when I knocked a toy off of a shelf which landed on her forehead and gave her a huge goose-egg. I felt so bad. :-(

Family Portrait

2007-08-31T20:06:00.001-05:00

Big thanks to my brother for taking the pictures and to my mom for entertaining the crew. This was my favorite souvenir from our trip.

Pancakes & Peas

2007-08-23T20:32:00.000-05:00

Meister has a love/hate relationship with foods. There was a time when he would gag on anything green. We've patiently pushed and stretched his palate so that now he will at least eat one or two bites of anything green. Well, Meister pleasantly shocked me the other night. Pete was dishing out spoonfulls of peas, gave Meister a generous spoonful and Meister said, "Can I have some more please?" He ended up with a large pile of peas on his plate and the best part - He Ate Every Little Pea.

As much he hated green things, Meister L-O-V-E-S pancakes. He'll ask me at bedtime the night before if I'll make pancakes for breakfast the next morning. When we're at the library, he'll scan the shelves for pancake books. Then when it is time to read, he'll pick out - yep, the pancake books. He knows all the ingredients, and can gather them all for me. If food was one of the five love languages, I would have no problem figuring out how Meister gives and receives love.

Sometimes It Stinks to be the Youngest

2007-08-21T05:01:00.000-05:00

Seems like the youngest always gets to be the guineau pig for the olders "inventions".

She wasn't hurt, but the idea of my baby doll being tied up to a car seat dangling in the air just didn't feel right to me. This "invention" has now been strictly forbidden to be used with live subjects. Stuffed animals and dolls are ok.

Back into Ministry

2007-08-12T20:06:00.000-05:00

After 5 years, it seems God has called Pete back into full-time ministry. Almost two months ago the elders of our church approached Pete requesting that he apply for the position of Interim Children's Ministry Director. After the application and interviewing process, the elders agreed to officially offer the position to Pete, and he accepted. The announcement was made during church this morning.

Personally, I look forward to having Pete home a bit more often. He was working 55+ hrs at his job plus putting in numerous hours this summer working with Junior camp, VBS, planning for this fall's AWANA program, ect. On the flip side, Pete's new more fluid schedule will be a change for our household.

So now that I have our school books for this year chosen and ordered, I'm facing the daunting task of scheduling our days. I was getting most everything done last year - schooling two kids, cleaning, cooking, ect. but not nearly as well as I would have liked. I wasn't often free of my to-do lists to just relax and enjoy my time with the family. This year I am teaching 3rd grade AND kindergarten AND have a very busy little girl to keep track of.

Now if I can get this all figured out in time to catch the free laminating at Office Max, I'll be set!

Cleaning Crew

2007-08-01T03:01:00.001-05:00

After the sounds of sweeping, vacuuming, and busy footsteps stopped, K came down the stairs to find me resting in my bed. At my request, she fetched some Tylenol for my headache, and then asked if I would like a cup of hot tea. After the tea and tylenol, she asked if I would come upstairs. She warned "you need to be careful where you step when you come up, though, because it might be kinda messy." When she led me upstairs, the boys all jumped out yelling, "Surprise!"

The kitchen table was cleared and washed. The kitchen/dining room floor was swept. The living room was straightened and vacuumed. The hallway was clear of toys, clothes, shoes, and garbage. What a relief for a mom struggling with a sore neck and resulting headache!

Stuck in the Basement

2007-07-30T14:07:00.000-05:00

I voluntarily came down into the basement about an hour ago in order to make some phone calls. Just a minute ago, I climbed to the top of the steps to get my to-do list, and realized I am stuck in the basement.

My clues? Stuff that was in the living room but belongs in the basement is lining the top steps. Sounds of chairs moving and a broom sweeping. A sign on the basement door that says, "Your Private Downstairs". No fighting. No arguing. Peace and calm.

Not wanting to ruin what I am hoping is a crew of children trying to surprise me by cleaning the upstairs, I am now gladly stuck in the basement. I think I'll go lay down for a rest -- after I wipe the tears of joy from my eyes.

Do's & Don'ts of Painting with Baby

2007-07-19T12:09:00.000-05:00

In my attempt to paint V's bedroom this week, there have been many times where I have been painting with a busy 14-month old underfoot. I thought I'd share what I've learned from my experiences:

Do expect baby to want to help.
Don't expect to get much done.

Do dress baby in only a diaper because skin washes easier than clothes.
Don't put baby dressed only in a diaper down for a nap without putting more clothes on, she is likely to take the diaper off.

Do put up a baby gate so baby cannot splash in your paint bucket.
Don't use lead-based paint because baby likes to taste anything she splashes in.

Do put plastic or dropcloth under your paint bucket and preferably all over the floor of the room you are working on.
Don't let baby stand on your paint bucket. When she tips it over, the lid will come loose spilling paint all over.

Do secure baby someplace safe before cleaning up spilled paint from the carpet so she doesn't track it through the house.
Don't let the paint spilled on the carpet dry before cleaning it up.

Miah's Muses

2007-07-18T21:21:00.000-05:00

Miah comes up with the funniest things sometimes. Today he spent the day at a friend's home while I was working on V's room. He noticed a picture of Jesus hanging on her living room wall.
"Why do you have a picture of Jesus?" he asked my friend.
"Because I like that picture of Jesus." she replied.
"Did you go to heaven and take that picture?" he wondered.
Of course having a photographer for a mom that WOULD be the ONLY way to get a picture of Jesus, right? Makes sense to me.

Shh! It's a Surprise

2007-07-18T21:02:00.001-05:00

While V is off at Junior Camp this week, I've been repainting his room. He is a self-proclaimed cowboy, so I went with a western theme. I still have more painting and a lot of decorating (curtains, shelves, ect.) but the messiest of the job is done.
The faux wood plank wall took the longest, but wasn't nearly as hard as it looks like it could be. Using a wood graining tool dragged through brushed-on brown glaze gave the grain texture.

I'm hoping to place a video camera in his room when he walks in to see this surprise. Funny thing is that he was already hoarse from yelling and singing at camp as of yesterday (Tues. afternoon), so he probably won't be able to talk by the time he gets home.

Miah's Memory

2007-07-12T23:05:00.000-05:00

Tonight as I was tucking Miah into bed, I told him I loved him. His response took me by surprise. "Don't say that anymore, mom."
"Why?" I asked feeling a little hurt.
"'Cause I took a picture of it in my mind so I could remember that you love me and you don't have to tell me anymore."
"Oh!" I'm glad he will always remember I love him, but I'm not going to stop reminding him.

Vacation Layout

2007-07-11T20:02:00.000-05:00

While on vacation this summer I was working on some scrapbook layouts from our vacation to Virginia two summers ago. Here is one that I finished.

You know Subway is no longer an option

2007-07-09T10:51:00.000-05:00

. . . when you have to have 5 ft of sub to feed your family.

2nd Grade Portfolios In For Review

2007-06-29T15:32:00.001-05:00

Seems like I should celebrate or something. I just dropped off our homeschool portfolios at the local school. Truth is, it wasn't that big of a deal. I'm actually glad to have the portfolios of the kids' school work - samples of their work, artwork, pictures, ect. So much better than that pile of papers and pictures and artwork that I still haven't gone through from their years in public school - I keep meaning to put it in a scrapbook somehow. But they have their second grade scrapbooks now and it will be lots of fun to look back at them in the future.

The principal of the same school K and V went to before homeschooling is the homeschooling superviser of our school district. I placed the kid's portfolios up on the counter, and she glanced at them. "These are cute! Oh - and there's V! (as she pointed to his picture on his notebook) How is V doing? He is so adorable. Did you have a good year?" And so on it went. No nightmares from the school district - didn't even have to ask for proof that I dropped the portfolios off. Mrs. Martin (used to be Ms. Costanza until recently) gave me the receipt, made sure I knew the secretary at the school could notarize next years' affidavit, and chatted about how she keeps forgetting that her name is changed. As I turned to leave, I noticed the 4x6 table set up holding the portfolios already reviewed and waiting for pick-up. I left wondering how I lucked out in having such an easy-going school district to homeschool in compared to others around PA (knock on wood).

So it's over for the year. We can officially start school again on July 1, and I'm actually chomping at the bit to get started again. I kinda doubt the kiddos are going to be as excited though. Maybe I just won't tell them. :-) We'll pick up books here and there to read and they don't have to know that they are actually learning.

Smelly School

2007-06-29T06:12:00.001-05:00

V has always had habit of smelling everything. He is the one who will volunteer to smell people's feet, open every spice jar to sniff, and put his face into each dinner plate to take a whiff before eating. When we visited Letchworth State Park's museum, the first glass enclosed case contained artifacts from the Seneca people who used to live in the area. V lamented, "I sure wish the glass wasn't there. I want to know what the Indians smelled like." Later we found a piece of furniture originally belonging to Mr. Letchworth that V got a nice big sniff of. He was so dissapointed when I tried to explain that the furniture didn't represent the smell of the time period very well anymore. "But WHY?!?" he wondered.

Yesterday I was working on a reading list for this next school year, and found the perfect set of history books by Mary Dobson to supplement our study of the second half of world history.

Wiscoy Creek Lodge

2007-06-26T14:33:00.000-05:00

This is a delayed post about the lodge we were staying in while vacationing in NY because I got soooo sick within an hour or two of coming home, that I hadn't pulled my camera out of it's luggage bag for days. I just now got a one memory card loaded onto my computer. Isn't it pretty? You can find more pictures at www.wiscoycreeklodge.com.

Huge thanks to the Boyd family who graciously gave us a week in their vacation lodge within earshot of the falls of Wiscoy Creek. It was gorgeous, relaxing, and fit all 10-12 of us comfortably.

Luna Moth

2007-06-22T19:56:00.001-05:00

Luna Moth (Actias luna)

Outside a window of our lodge, my sister discovered this beautiful moth and called us all to see it. After a little googling, we learned that "these beautiful members of the Giant Silk Moth family feed as caterpillars on walnut and other trees and overwinter in a cocoon on the ground. Like other giant silk moths, they do not feed as adults and live only about a week or so. They rest during the day, usually well-hidden in the green vegetation, fly at night, and are quite attracted to lights." This particular one measured about 5" wide with its wings extended. Pretty cool!

Letchworth State Park

2007-06-19T08:56:00.000-05:00

We visited Letchworth State Park today where the gorge is described as the "Grand Canyon of the East."
The Genesee River has a Upper, Middle, and Lower Falls in this park. The Upper Falls has a unique railroad bridge above it.The park also has a memorial to Mary Jemison, "White Woman of the Genesee". On the way to NY I read aloud a biography of Mary Jemison, who had been captured by the American Indians as a teenager and eventually chose to remain with the Seneca Indians whom she had grown to love. It have really enjoyed sharing in K and V's excitement when they know the stories behind the places we are visiting.
K is standing outside the restored cabin Mary Jemison lived in during her later years. It had been moved to this location.

Father's Day

2007-06-18T08:18:00.000-05:00

Pete always does such a good job of teaching the kids to honor mom on Mother's Day, but I usually really struggle with ideas on what to do. This year I found an idea on the internet, and the kids really got excited about it. First we went to the store and bought different types of candy with good words for names like snickers, kisses, and treasures. Then the kids thought of sentences using those words and put them together into a giant card for dad. The card was followed by a massive group hug.

Kissable Creatures

2007-06-06T21:45:00.000-05:00

I was going through my pictures looking for stuff to add to our homeschooling portfolio and came across these illustrating our use of our backyard for studying science. I'm not sure why V thought he'd like to "know what it was like to kiss a snake", but now he doesn't have to wonder.

So glad he chose the midsection instead of the head!

Emergency Bathtime

2007-06-05T15:37:00.000-05:00

Just as I was heading upstairs to make supper, I peeked over at S playing with the other kids in the basement. I immediately knew that I would not be making supper just then, but supervising an emergency bath to remove fabric paint from the little wrinkles of S's fingers and face.

Turned out that Miah had created a design for the window with fabric paints and had failed to put it up high to dry. (For those of you with crafty kids, my kids love to paint designs using fabric paints on ziploc bags. After they dry, they can be peeled off the bags and placed on the windows like a window-cling. I even wash windows right over them with no troubles. When we want to remove them, they peel right off.)

Building a Bathroom

2007-05-30T15:14:00.000-05:00

Pete says that we have to build a second bathroom before I can save for a laptop, so I'm doing some design research. I found this decorative toilet, and even though it won't fit with my design scheme, maybe it would fit with someone else's.

Too Much Fun - Too Many Late Nights

2007-05-28T10:08:00.000-05:00

Too much fun and too many late nights resulted in too harried-looking moms. Our 8 kiddos are full of energy, though.

Jodi made it home safely last night, and is already planning a return trip - without the kids.

Ukrainian Orphans Video

2007-05-28T09:48:00.000-05:00

A buddy from college who has also adopted from Ukraine found this video and shared the link on her blog. It is a must-see and explains itself. Click HERE. There has been some discussion regarding the facts that are stated in the video regarding what happens to the children when they graduate at age 16. Some areas in Ukraine are much worse than others, but the government has recognized the problem and is working on it. It is still true that while the government is trying to put supports in place, many kids are graduating and ending up homeless, jobless, and forced to live lives of crime and prostitution.

Franklin Institute

2007-05-24T13:30:00.000-05:00

Jo and I dragged all 8 kids to Philadelphia today to the Franklin Institute. The Tut Exhibit is in town, and since we just studied ancient Egypt in school this year, V and K have been very excited to go see the treasures from Tut's tomb. While we were waiting for our appointed time to enter the exhibit, we explored the rest of the Franklin Institute's science exhibits. It was a little crazy with all the school field trips going on, so we felt more like sheep herders than parents ready to experience science with their children. Thankfully, we had our trusty saints, Kelli and my brother Dan with us so we did manage to come home with all of our children.

Here's a picture of S enjoying the mirror maze. Most of the exhibits were not meant for little ones her age, but this one caught her attention.

Hershey Chocolate World

2007-05-21T18:10:00.000-05:00

These production numbers were in the early afternoon. Can you imagine how much chocolate goes out of there in a day? We took the kiddos (ours and our visiting friends) to the chocolate world factory tour today. Afterward, we learned some of the history of the town and factory through their 3D show. The kiddos were trying to act tough with their new shades.

Where V Started Off

2007-05-18T19:53:00.000-05:00

Last night I was looking through V's adoption file. Specifically I was looking for the name of the hospital where he spent the first 21 months of his life. I was hoping maybe I could find a description or pictures of a typical children's hospital so I could understand better what conditions he may have been in. I found a couple of interesting articles describing maternity wards and problems of obstetrics in Ukraine, but haven't found much on the condition of children's hospitals. They did make for interesting reading anyway and gave me a glimpse of what his birthmom may have gone through. Some interesting tidbits were:

- As of 2005, "700,000 abortions were carried out annually, roughly 65-70 women of reproductive age per 1000, in comparison to 10 in Canada and 5.6 in the Netherlands." This was interesting to me because we were told that the birthmom had been pregnant twice before 's birth, but they could not find any records of those siblings. We were told that these pregnancies were aborted. I have always wondered what made her want to carry V to full term only to give him up after his birth. Did she really intend to keep him only to change her mind when she saw that he was born with club feet?

- "Soviet reproductive health practices continue to be followed which treat pregnancy as an illness rather than the beginning of a new stage of life . . . "

- Maternity wards lack even basic amenities such as heat and hot water. The doctors practice with their medical robes over their winter coats. A team investigating the conditions in one maternity ward writes, "While we walk with the head physician, nurses pass us, running newborns from the delivery room to the nursery to ensure that the infants do not freeze!" The delivery room in this particular maternity hospital in the middle of March was barely 63 degrees F and had no running water.

After all that rabbit trailing, I never did find any info on the children's hospital V was in, but I did find copies of the picture taken for his Ukrainian passport. He is adorable, but so, so sad. He had just been taken out of the orphanage, got to ride in a car, and now had to sit for a picture. Can you imagine the fear that he may have been experiencing? "What is going on? Am I leaving forever like those other kids who disappeared? Why aren't those nice people, Mama and Papa, taking me away? I thought I was supposed to leave with them. I like them because they have crackers and juice in their bag."

This kind of remembering is especially helpful for me after a frustrating day with the kiddos. V has survived so much. Remembering this helps me love him even more.

1st Birthday

2007-05-14T19:13:00.000-05:00

Today was the baby's birthday. Last year, she was born in the truck on the way to the hospital on the evening of Mother's Day. Yesterday, she had her first cake, and seemed to enjoy it. Today Grandma Shirley was officially allowed to give her sweets. (We had forbidden it until she turned one) :-)

Happy Birthday, Baby Doll!

Mother's Day Portraits

2007-05-14T05:31:00.000-05:00

We spent this past week working on portraits of each of the kids to update the grandmothers' picture frames. The owners of Rocky Acre Farm B&B gave us permission to come and take the portraits on their property. After 3 trips for picture taking, I finally got at least one good one of each of the kids. Here they are:

Happy National Scrapbooking Day!!

2007-05-05T12:41:00.000-05:00

Here's the freebie kits I've found today:

Digital Divas Designs - huge pretty kit
Paper Moons - chocolate colored papers and related elements
Peppermint Creative - As usual, Miss Mint makes huge detailed kits each month

I'm going to stop looking for freebies and get to scrapping - got a quiet house for a few hours this afternoon!

Overheard

2007-04-23T20:07:00.000-05:00

While we were staining the side deck today, Miah says to sister K, "When I get growed up like mom and dad, I'm going to marry you."
K chuckles and replies, "Miah, brothers and sisters can't marry each other. What, do you love me or something?"
"Yes, I love you," he answers.
"Do you know what you have to do when you are married?" she asks.
"No."
"You have to kiss each other on the lips!"
"Ewww. Yuck!" [giggle, giggle]

Visitors in Uniforms with GUNS!

2007-04-19T17:12:00.000-05:00

Apparently someone from our house used our phone to dial 911 today. They dialed and then hung up. About 5-7 minutes later, K came running to me yelling, "Mom there are policemen outside!" Three police officers pounded on the door and rushed in yelling "Police Department! Anyone in here?" After we convinced them that all was well, we questioned each child regarding a secret 911 phone call. They all deny it.

I have a suspicion that it could have been S - yes, the 11 month old. At about the time the 911 call was placed, I had S in my lap. I took the phone from its base and pressed "talk" to call my MIL. S grabbed the phone. I grabbed it back and dialed my MIL's number. Oddly, there was no sound at all - just dead line, so I hung up and dialed again. What are the chances that S actually pushed 911 in that order when she grabbed the phone? Are the chances greater that a certain older boy was interested in knowing IF the police would actually come if he called 911? I don't know, but I sure wish I did.

Monster in Miah

2007-04-18T16:58:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, Miah was muttering under his breath, "Hurry, hurry, hurry." Then he turns to me and says, "Did you hear that?"
"What?"
"That 'hurry, hurry, hurry' sound."
A little confused, I just looked at him. Then he says, "Oh, that must have been the monster inside my body that said that."
Now I'm a LOT confused and after all my research on RAD, I'm thinking some wild things. So I ask, "Do you really think there is a monster inside you?"
"No, Mom, I'm just making a story."
Whew!

Being Honest about my Parenting

2007-04-04T04:04:00.000-05:00

God recently gave me a friendship at our homeschool co-op that He has used to force me to be honest about my parenting of V. She encouraged me to seek help because V shows symptoms of Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD). I have felt for years that I have been a failure as a mom to V (V has been home for almost 6 years now). We feel like we are getting nowhere in reaching his heart motivations for his behavior. V can be very obedient and sweet when his dad or I are paying attention to him, but as soon as we are not looking or out of earshot, he often resorts to bad behavior.

I just finished reading Adopting the Hurt Child by Gregory C. Keck & Regina Kupecky, where the author describes the dramatic effects that not being able to bond with a primary caregiver during the first 3 years of life has on a person's ability to relate to everyone in their world in their future. V spent his first 21 months in a Ukrainian hospital, then the next 16 months in an orphanage, so he experienced multiple changes of shifts in who was responsible for caring for him. Since we all learn to relate to people based on our first attachment to our primary caregivers, V did not develop an ability to totally trust us as his adoptive parents. This inability to trust leads to an inability to attach and can be exhibited in various ways for different kids such as:

Superficially engaging & charming
Lack of eye contact on parents terms
Indiscriminately affectionate with strangers
Not affectionate on Parents’ terms
Destructive to self, others and material things (accident prone)
Cruelty to animals
Lying about the obvious (crazy lying)
Stealing
No impulse controls (frequently acts hyperactive)
Learning Lags
Lack of cause-and-effect thinking
Lack of conscience
Abnormal eating patterns
Poor peer relationships
Preoccupation with fire
Preoccupation with blood & gore
Persistent nonsense questions & chatter
Inappropriately demanding & clingy
Abnormal speech patterns
Triangulation of adults
False allegations of abuse
Presumptive entitlement issues
- List is from www.attachment.org

Because of V's ability to be superficially engaging and charming, many of you who know V will find it difficult to believe that we struggle with his behavior. How many times have I heard, "Oh, I just LOVE that V! He is SO sweet, adorable, cute, ect."? So please trust us on this issue, and pray for healing for V as we start learning how we can help him overcome his hurts. We will be starting therapy with a therapist who specializes in attachment disorder in August (there's a LONG wait to get an evaluation done). In the meantime, we will be learning all we can about RAD and try some different parenting techniques that have worked for other kids with RAD.

Focus on the Family has an article about RAD if you would like to learn more.

April Freebie Kits

2007-04-01T11:43:00.000-05:00

There are hundreds of freebies on the web, but I'm looking for the ones that have several papers and elements that coordinate - often called kits or mini kits. Here are the links to what I've found so far this month:

Pink Poodle Studios - HUGE kit given away for an April contest

Lindsay Jane Designs

Designs by Krista

Sweet Digi Creations

Artistic Musings - scroll down for mini kit - link only available for a week

Oscraps - the Queen of Quirky put up a new freebie kit named Orbital

Kris Myers Designs - there is a large collection of various colored ribbons toward the bottom

jennyscrapplace - this one is definitely the find of the month - MANY kits for free here

FOCUS

2007-03-27T13:39:00.000-05:00

My family rarely ever lived nearby relatives growing up. Even still, my grandparents live in Minnesota and California. I even have one aunt I have never met. But growing up we always filled that void with church family, and when we married and moved to the midwest, Pete and I also developed precious relationships with the Christians around us who substituted for family. God has led us home for the time being, and we are very blessed to be closer in distance than we have ever been to both of our immediate families.

We are ever grateful for them, but God has multiplied this blessing in unimaginable ways by also giving us F.O.C.U.S. Our church is large, and partially in order to keep the small church feel, they organized Adult Bible Fellowships. FOCUS is the group that we fit into based on our children's ages and our years of marriage, and over the last four years, this group has encouraged, supported, prayed for, and generally walked beside us through thick and thin. FOCUS is full of prayer warriors. They have prayed us through terrible sickness, high-risk pregnancy, Meister's recent adoption, and many other things. We thank the Lord for these families.

After just returning from a Focus ladies' weekend retreat, I'm reminded that the ladies of FOCUS are priceless. I value their friendships, and look forward to every time I get a chance to chat, laugh, or cry with any of them. Thanks for a great weekend girls! I'm already looking forward to next year . . .

Rounding Corners in Photoshop Elements

2007-03-17T13:27:00.000-05:00

I pulled out the digital corner rounder for this one, and cut away. I had to figure out a good way to round those corners, and I'm sure there are more ways to do it. I basically made a clipping path with the rounded rectangle tool, then placed the layer I wanted to crop on top of the rounded rectangle. After selecting the layer I wanted to crop, I pushed cntrl-G. To simplify further editing, I then selected both the cropped shape and the original layer and merged them together. It sounds complicated, but once you do it a couple of times, it goes pretty quickly.

Credits: inspiration - Page Maps by Becky Fleck (Aug 2006)
Tia Bennett's New Growth kit - alphas, flower print paper, and bottom 3 papers

Journaling font: CK Carefree

Kim Hill - paper under the title alphas

ScrapRaven - dark red paper

Shabby Princess - orangey red paper at the top

Role-Playing Broadcast of the Day

2007-03-08T14:30:00.000-05:00

Today's Role-playing broadcast is a comedy starring K as a Greek princess and V as a Greek hero. The princess requests the hero to find the mysterious monster that has taken her puppy. The Greek hero finds the monster and is able to place a tracking collar on it in order to see where it goes. He is careful not to hurt the monster and lets him loose in a safe place away from humans and puppies. If you've ever watched the Crocodile Hunter and read Greek myths you can imagine the stories possible when you morph the two together.

March Freebie Kits

2007-03-01T07:16:00.000-05:00

I've become a digital scrapbooking freebie junkie. But having all those bits and pieces in a large variety of colors and styles is getting old. I find now that when I'm looking for backgrounds and elements to match a set of pictures, I look for a kit first. Some of the best freebie kits are sites that offer a new freebie kit each month. Here is the list of freebie kits I've found for the month of March.

Sweet Digi Creations
Shabby Shoppe
ScrapKitchen
Oscraps - one of my favorite designers (Leah Riordan) put up a new freebie this month
Peppermint Creative - this designer is incredibly generous. She gives away a huge kit every month and they are lots of fun.

These aren't monthly freebie kits, but somehow I missed them when I was searching for freebies before. There are quite a few coordinated samplers at www.digichick.com. You have to register to download them, but the quality and variety are worth it in my mind. The freebies here are called "Designer Samplers." Also, there are quite a few freebie kits at www.scrapartist.com.

Have fun and don't be afraid to leave a comment if you find any new freebie kits I don't have linked here.

Baby Teeth

2007-02-28T18:38:00.000-05:00

Both K and S are getting their upper right teeth just now. K has a terrible time getting her baby teeth out in order to let the permanent teeth have their proper place, so this is the second snaggle tooth we've had to look at for weeks on end. In the past we've had to bribe her BIGTIME in order to let us help her get those baby teeth out - as in all the ice pops she wants for an entire day or staying up an hour later than bedtime to watch the second hour of Extreme Makeovers: Home Edition. So far the dentist has taken out two, and mom and dad have each pulled one with pliers. Anyone have any great tips for getting these snaggle teeth out of unwilling mouths without traumatizing a poor girl emotionally? {Hint: look for "# Comments" at the end of this post and click - you will find yourself at another page where you can leave a comment or suggestion.}

Penguin Layout

2007-02-28T16:54:00.000-05:00

Credits:

Shabby Princess - alpha for "our"

Fonts - Darling (journaling) and Fishbowl (title)

Leah Riordan - all other papers and elements

Becky Fleck's Page Maps - inspiration for positioning everything

Penguins

2007-02-22T15:05:00.000-05:00

My favorite read-aloud for the kids so far this year has been Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard & Florence Atwater. It just tickled my imagination to think of turning my basement into a refrigerator to keep a dozen pet penguins happy. So I've enjoyed watching the kids take a heightened interest in penguins now that we finally got some snow. K and V have been outside making penguin burrows and nests for penguin eggs. (Each nest even has an extra entrance for a fire escape - think that will fulfill our requirements for teaching fire safety, Rachel?) My favorite thing to watch, though is K sliding down the backyard hills penguin-style. She gets off to a running start, dives to the snow, keeps her legs and arms up, and even leans and kicks in order to turn and control her speed. She actually has more control doing this than sledding in a sled. I finally got my camera out there to grab a couple of pictures of her penguin-style sliding.

Doesn't that look like fun!

February Weather in PA

2007-02-15T15:22:00.000-05:00

It seems we always get a disabling storm or two in February in this part of Pennsylvania. Last week we had some windy gusts that flipped and rolled our trampoline (notice the mesh supports are a bit bent out of shape). This week, though, was a whopper of a winter storm. First snow, then sleet, freezing rain, and back to snow again. It was much too heavy to even attempt shoveling my van out, so we've been home-bound for a few days. My hubby just rammed his way through the snowplow's wake at the end of our drive in his truck to get to the store and to work. The kids have been enjoying the snow - as it is the first snow of this winter that was good enough to play in. V seems to enjoy "snowboarding", but K prefers to go down the hills penguin-style.

Vi-Lo-Lin

2007-02-11T23:32:00.000-05:00

Font: Petra script

Chipboard action: Atomic Cupcake

Tearing action: Atomic Cupcake

Brass Staples: Atomic Cupcake - Brass Necessities

Papers & ribbon: Leah Riordan's Fall On kit

Addition to the family

2007-02-08T14:25:00.000-05:00

We've been raising our nephew as one of ours for a long time now, but today he became legally ours! This is the second adoption hearing for our family, but it sure is much easier to understand in English than in Ukrainian :-) The judge was thankful that Meister had family to "fill the gap" for him, and we are honored to be chosen by God for that role.
Meister's version of what happened today: "We went to that big building, and the judge said I could have a new mommy and daddy."

Tough Enough

2007-02-02T22:55:00.000-05:00

I've been wanting to do a layout like this for quite a while. Meister has so many scars on his back from his misadventures, that I wanted to somehow document them for him. Some are from typical boyhood experiments, but jumping down Grandma's laundry chute and landing in the wooden crate in the basement? How many boys have only wished they could do that, but never dared?

Credits:
Papers and tags - Kim Smith of ScrappinDigiKreations
Font - Brubeck AH
Title Alpha - Atomic Cupcake
Eyelets - Miss Mint of Peppermint Creative

I've been getting more and more addicted to the Wacom Tablet I got for Christmas, and it did make drawing the arrows here a cinch. (Thanks, Mom & Dad!)

Can You Believe This?

2007-02-02T21:17:00.000-05:00

This little firecracker is not even 9 months old yet, yet today she was climbing up the kitchen step stool to reach something up on the counter. I've also caught her letting go and standing on her own for several seconds. What are we in for?

Music in the house

2007-01-31T13:44:00.000-05:00

K and Miah have been playing their instruments individually, but this was the first time they decided to put their sounds together. I've really liked what I've learned about the Suzuki method of learning the violin, so I think we will try to do the same with teaching K the piano.

Breezy Spring Portraits Layout

2007-01-25T05:06:00.000-05:00

I've been trying to catch up on some old pictures to get them into the kids' scrapbooks. Isn't Meister a cutey!

Credits:
Papers: Leah Riordan
Silver embellishments and chipboard action: Atomic Cupcake
Fonts: Brubeck AH and A Yummy Apology

Meister's Birthday Party

2007-01-23T06:30:00.000-05:00

Credits:
Keys & Eyelets: Melony Violette
Background Paper: Shabby Princess
Gel Action for "5": Atomic Cupcake
Font: Architect

Roleplaying

2007-01-10T17:16:00.000-05:00

Children learn from role-playing and role-play what they learn. This afternoon my kiddos are pretending that they are missionaries chased from their home by mean guys burning their house down (Missionary Stories with the Millers). They have run with their horse into the wolf-infested wilderness (Little House on Rocky Ridge). Their names are Katie, Matt, Patrick, and the smallest one is Tom (The Littles). :-)

Meister's Birthday Party

2007-01-10T13:53:00.000-05:00

On Sunday afternoon we shared a Lightning McQueen cake with 13 guests. If you count the 7 that live here, that's 20 all jammed in one little house to celebrate the life of one little guy. If you'd like to see more pictures, please check in my photoblog. I've decided to switch to uploading my Project 365 pictures there so as not to clutter up this blog.

Rust-eze Logo

2007-01-06T09:40:00.000-05:00

Today I'm decorating Meister's birthday cake for his party tomorrow afternoon. In preparation, I needed a picture of the Rust-eze logo from Pixar's Lightning McQueen. I took a picture of a small toy we have in the house and pulled it into Photoshop to delete the extras and fix up all the scratches.

Frantic Friday

2007-01-05T09:36:00.000-05:00

This is how we spend much of Friday on our way to and from vision therapy appointments and other errands:

Brand-new Blue Birthday Bike

2007-01-04T06:35:00.000-05:00

Monkey See . . . Monkey Do

2007-01-03T06:23:00.000-05:00

Pumpkin Page

2007-01-02T21:36:00.000-05:00

Stayed up WAY too late last night working on this (1 a.m.). Once I got going, I just couldn't stop! Journaling reads: "Before you were born, Daddy wrestled with your nickname. He has always had a special name for K (Sweets), and so before you were born he settled on one for you (Sugar). Although you are awfully sweet, “Pumpkin” seemed so natural for you that the other nicknames were soon forgotten. Now even Meister calls you “Punkin”, and you recognize it just as easily as your regular name."

Credits
Page Maps by Becky Fleck: inspiration scheme
Peppermint Creative: yellow tag, eyelets
Shabby Princess: striped paper, frame, staples, red ribbon, red paper, alphas for "daddy"
Sandy D: orange paper
Atomic Cupcake: chipboard action for date tag and "pumpkin" title
Melany Violette: Natural bow

Christmas Stars

2007-01-02T21:20:00.000-05:00

The kids and I were taking the tree down and putting away Christmas decorations today. As we were packing up the kids' homemade ornaments I marvelled again at these pretty stars. They seem to have so much more appeal to me than those reindeer made of popsicle sticks and pipe cleaners. K and V made these in Sunday school this year, and I actually really like them.

As for the technical side of taking a photograph like this, the lighting is very tricky and I obviously don't have it figured out yet. The shadows were terribly distracting, but if I add too much light the reflections of light on some of the beads were overexposed. I could spend an hour or two in Photoshop selecting the ornaments and literally deleting the background, but the infinite number of nooks and crannies . . . ugh!

Project 365: Photo-a-day

2007-01-01T20:57:00.000-05:00

My best buddy over at Cartoon Living and I have decided to take on Project 365 this year as one of our New Year resolutions. The basic idea is just to take one photograph each and every day of the year and post them on at least a weekly basis. At the end of December, we'll each have a journal summarizing the high points, low points, everyday routines, and special occasions for the entire year.

Since my buddy was also the one who convinced me to start blogging in the first place and who faithfully leaves comments at nearly every post, I'm dedicating this first photo to her. You see, she is not from Lancaster County and gets a bit squeamish at the thought of our traditional pork and sauerkraut on New Year's Day. I can understand where she is coming from, though. When I was first introduced to pork and sauerkraut, my mother-in-law showed me the trick for eating the stuff without puckering your face. It is all in the way you load your fork. You must get all three ingredients into your mouth at the same time in order for the taste to be pleasant enough to continue your meal. The ratio of mashed potato, pork roast, and sauerkraut varies depending on your tolerance for the sauerkraut.

So here it is folks, a fork full of pork, mashed potato and sauerkraut!

Christmas Portrait Ordeal

2006-12-31T05:33:00.000-05:00

Here's the newest scrapbook layout. Journaling reads:
Ok, now everyone stay still and look at the camera. Miah, you need to look here. Meister, keep your tongue behind your teeth. K, please put the grass down, S is going to try to eat it. Whoever cooperates can have ice cream when we get home, OK? Meister, that means you can’t be fussy. Can someone put S’s hat back on? Miah, put your head up straight. MIAH! No goofy smiles! K, can you get S’s hand out of her mouth?

Credits
Fonts: Dupree, GeoSlab 703 XBd BT
Background Papers, trim, and metal elements: Debrra Tope at Oscraps
Glitter Stars: Shelle Pukas
Date Stamp: Katie Pertiet