{Ahh..the little things}

celebrating

I am 33 today  :)

Find the picture & recipe here (no, I did not make these...I just think they look SUPER cute)!

Thanks for the hugs & encouragment after my last post, I (obviously) needed that  :)

FREE

the reason for the tears earlier was not only the fact that I felt I was coming clean...but also because this song started to play on my itunes at the exact moment I finshed the post.

Hello God, are you there?  It's me, Angi.... and You are. speaking. to. me. right. now.

*WOW*

Free, by Ginny Owens

Turnin' molehills into mountains
Makin' big deals out of small ones
Bearing gifts as if they're burdens
This is how it's been
Afraid of coming out of my shell
Too many things I can't do too well
Afraid I'll try real hard
And I'll fail
This is how it's been
Till the day You pounded on my heart's door
And You shouted joyfully
You're not a slave anymore!

CHORUS:
You're free to dance
Forget about your two left feet
And you're free to sing
Even joyful noise is music to Me
You're free to love
'Cause I've given you My love
And it's made you free
I have set you free!

My mind finds hard to believe
That You became humanity and
Changed the course of history
Because You loved us so
And my heart cannot understand
How You accept me as I am
But You say You've always had a plan
And that's all I need to know
So when I am consumed
With what the world will say
Then You're singing to me, as You remove
my chains

Free from worry
Free from envy and denial
Free to live, free to give, free to smile

accomplished

Lately, I will admit it, I have been avoiding taking my kids places. 

Yes, there are some places I HAVE to go, and a few (very few) places I still CHOOSE to go....but I am talking about the other things like the store, on errands, out to eat, etc.  I've also stopped going to my Bible study, church, and FORGET trying to get to the gym.  These things were always "normal" for me, even right after having Zander.  I was working out in the gym when he was 7 weeks AND taking aerobics.  I was right back to all of my church activities, no problem.

I am not sure when this new thing started, I just realized one day that everything that once was...was no longer. 

I know we went out to eat a few times right after we first had Ava, but that proved to be more of a hassle & fight with all of the kids.  Then, I started Bible study & Ava would cry the. entire. time.  They would page me, I would nurse her to settle down & the whole process would start all over again.  She would do the same things at most MOPS meetings, so I have even had Harry talked into staying home a few mornings with her, just so I could still go.

Recently I realized that every night when Harry gets home, I run off to do all of the things  I avoided all day.  Like the grocery, ugh!  Poor Zander has only been to ANY store a handful of times since he was old enough to know how to behave, walk beside the cart, etc.  Now when I take him, he just goes crazy asking for this or that,  or walking/running too far ahead, or lingering WAY too long when it is time to move on, etc.

This makes me feel bad.  Very bad.

So, last weekend, Harry & I talked about some things and I came to the conclusion that the only way that Ava was going to get used to new surroundings and people (she still cries alot for the sitter), and the only way that Zander was going to learn how to behave in the store, was to JUST DO IT.  No more excuses.

On Monday, a friend asked me to go to Target.  During the day?  When I have all the kids with me?  Are you serious? But, I did it :)  I took my three youngest, and everything was fine.  Yes, they asked for things (alot of things, LOL) but I just agreed that they could hit the dollar spot for one thing...and it worked, for the most part.  After that, we visited another friend.  And later that night I decided to take the older two out for ice cream.  It was a great day overall, and I felt like I had really accomplished alot on a personal level.

I know if you are reading this, you may be surprised at it seems we are always going places & keeping busy.  This is true, but there are alot of things that I avoid doing too.  Part of me is hoping that it is just this time of year, because I used to take all four of my kids to the pool nearly everyday in the summer, and although it was alot of work, I did it.  But now, if it requires that we all get out of the car/carseats/coats I just do not do it.

I am working on it though. 

Just like Monday.  I have also taken all four of the kids to "the candy store" after school a few times this month.   Today we all had to take Ellie into school because we were ONE minute late & the door was already locked *sigh* and then we took the scrapbook layouts to my friend's work. 

The little things for most, big accomplishments for me.  Now I am crying....

MORE scrapping!!

It seems I am scrapping CRAZY these days, and loving it :) 

Maybe it is the new papers I bought, or the fact that I have been getting some old prints, or just that I have had sick kids & have not left my house all month, LOL...who knows?  But I have been enjoying it SO much!  Some of these are very simple, but I just let myself be imperfect with the journaling & placement things, and have ended up loving each new page. 

Sorry about the glare on some of them...blah!

This one has hidden journaling & an extra picture too...

Tomorrow I'll share the details of my Supermom of a day :) but tonight I need some sleep.....ZZZZZzzzzzzzzzz

carefree....for the moment anyway ;)

I typed a post this morning & something (or maybe someONE) happened to it.

The point was, I had some time in my daily devotional this morning when everyone but Ava & I were still sleeping (ahhh....). 

After all my fussing over the pictures, and the kids being sick, and various other day to day things, etc.  I was happy to read this:

"Be carefeul, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life"  LUKE 21:34

Today I will be more carefree, leaning on this scripture  :)

<-------- the cute owl hoodie I mentioned that I love so much.  It just makes me happy to wear it!

backing up your backup?

*sigh*

In my recent cleaning of the computer, I decided to burn all of my pictures to CD's & then. delete. them. from. my computer.

When I went looking for some pictures of the last year to have printed yesterday, (I rarely print since switching to all digital in 2004) I put in the cd that was labeled "March, April, May, June 2007" there was an error message of some type, and no images.  No images.

This was when Ava was about 4-7 months.  Hello, milestones!  No pictures?  No pictures.

I freaked out a little, and immediately started looking for ways to recover files that had been deleted from the recycling bin.  I found a few, tried a few, but I had deleted SO much stuff that day that it was like searching for a needle in a haystack.  Literally.  Files also get re-written once deleted, so the file names were all weird and wrong.

It was a lost cause, at least for me.  I MAY consider calling someone to see if there is a better way...

I was thankful when I remembered that I had started saving some pictures to my laptop this year, and recently saved them all to a zip drive.  Of course, the zip drive only works in my laptop, not the home computer (???), and the laptop is currently away getting looked at.  So, I had no way of seeing what pictures I actually had saved on the zip.  I decided to run to Kroger last night & I was happy to see some Easter pictures and knew I had at least some from that time period. 

What a mess, and I am VERY upset, of course.

The laptop decided to stop working the other night.  Just stopped.  I called the computer place here in town & explained the message I was getting (start up files corrupt or missing maybe, I can not remember the details now)  and he said that sometimes the start up files can become corrupt, but some times that is the beginning of a hard drive failure.  NOOOOOO!  Only time will tell, as he will be checking it out Monday.  I am just happy that MOST of the important stuff has been backed up (or has it....???).

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This just in....my sister just had her second baby  :)  I am an aunt again!!

A little girl she named Brianna.  She was about 3 weeks early & is a tiny little 5lbs 9oz.  We are lucky that my tubes are tied, as after she had my nephew, I wanted another baby.  Holding him made me want to do it all over again.  Ava was conceived soon after & arrived 1 year later, LOL :) 

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I was able to get to Hobby Lobby for the first time EVER this week & was VERY excited!  There was SO much stuff there, Ellie & I had alot of fun choosing lots of fun papers together!  I've been doing a few creative things this week & decided to upload it here so that I could share (and learn to use the picasa web albums), let's see if this works...

 

I think that sums up the last few days here.  Zander is finally starting to get better & I am hearing less & less coughing going on around here.  We've all been hit to some extent, but poor Zander.  As soon as he was over the stomach bug, this cold hit him HARD.  He carried a fever all last week, and was miserable.  All in all I think he was sick this entire month.  That is a first for any of our children, and definitely something I hope we never have to do again.

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I know he never reads my blog, but I have to let my hubby know how great I think he is this week.  He has been keeping up on the dishes (!!!!!!) and helping take the kids here or there when needed, and just being here to let me get out when needed (like letting me go to MOPS pampering day when the kids were too sick to take along).  Given the last few weeks of sick kids, I really have needed some ME time, and he has delivered.  Thanks babe, I love you  :) 

happy things

This font is called pea cammi-pea, and I found it on this free site and just had to have it!  I think it is ADORABLE :)

I decided I needed to do a post like this today because I am in a grouchy mood, and just plain tired of the sickness around here, and nothing lifts my spirits like being reminded of little, everyday things that make me happy...so here goes.

• my cute new font
• getting new music added to my playlist (maybe one day I can even figure out how to add one here)
• mini corndogs for lunch (yes, I love them too)
• getting the kids back to school, they reeeeeally needed to get out of here
• getting out of the house for the first since Saturday
• warm drinks to soothe my sore throat
• I am wearing my cute new hoodie
• my birthday is in a week and 2 days
• the lightbright that Zander is playing with, it reminds me of my childhood
• plans for a quiet afternoon with the two little ones

I hope you can find some simple, yet HAPPY things surrounding you today :)

a minor miracle

Yes, I take great joy in the small things, and today it is this...

Both of my sinks are EMPTY.  At the same time.

I called my best friend to tell her my news & she corrected me by saying it is not a MINOR miracle, LOL  :) 

I've confessed here before that I am not the best housekeeper, and shared that I do not have a dishwasher, and I have four kids, so there is always at least some dishes in the sink.

But today, there are NONE. 

It's completely clean, and I feel very happy :) MAYBE I will even keep it this way!!

scrap therapy

ahhhh....

I wish took the time more often, I have been enjoying alot of scrapping this week.  My friend Mandy came over one afternoon, but we did not do much in the way of scrapping   We were busy dealing with the kids & getting lunch ready,  etc.  I did get a 2 page layout of Zander started, but cannot seem to finish it up.  I need more elements for it so I will have to make a trip to Jo Ann's or Hobby Lobby soon to see what I can find.  I am not usually into the cutesy stickers, but I think that a picture of a pb&j sandwhich would be very cute on this layout.  We'll see.

I stayed up late last night working on the pages for the gift album, and it was a lot of fun making pages for other people.  You would think that you would be more worried about the details, but it seemed I was actually LESS worried, and then just as hapy with the results.  Weird!

I was assigned the first tooth, haircut & Christmas for each of her two children (one boy & one girl).  Here is what I have made so far...

It has been alot of fun to get into my paper stash again.  I do not have alot of elements in my things though, so if I am going to be paper scrapping again, I may have ot do some shopping :)  Today I might work on the Christmas pages between loads & loads of laundry I am doing, but I am not sure I have all that I need.  I want to make something different & I saw a VERY cute layout last night on 2 peas that I thought about scraplifting, but I need a circle punch.  I am not about to cut theam all by hand, LOL!

It is freezing outside today & we are still battling some nasty colds (and two low grade fevers), so we are staying in.  The sickies, and our staying in have made for some pretty crazy days, but we are trying our best to keep the kids busy to avoid the fighting.  Kaden would sit on the computer all day if we allowed him to, and though I'll admit that makes keeping him occupied very easy to do, I just will not allow it.  He is the tough one right now.  His energy levels are through the roof, so he is either quiet and busy on the computer or running WILD through the house irritating the other kids.  He needs outside time, he is all boy, and must have that energy release, and right now he is just not getting it. 

The kids are off tomorrow too, and we have nothing going on then either.  Just hanging out, maybe working on some valentines or something crafty.  We can always just make some homemade palydough & they are happy :)  I would love to make some cookies or some kind of treats, but I am *trying* to eat better, and the holiday pounds are not going anywhere.  Fresh baked treats will NOT help, LOL :)  We have a wedding to go to next Saturday & let's just say that I went shopping last night...UGH!  I was VERY unhappy to see myself in those mirrors.  Oh my, full length, two way mirrors.  It was horrible.  Time to get serious about the excercise...

I did get the cutest little hoodie.  It has an owl in a tree and a mushroom on it, it is very 1970's, and it makes me feel like a kid again.  Just in time for my birthday coming up, I need to keep myself feeling young!  I am married, I have four kids, my weight is making me unhappy, and I am getting older.  Do you think a cute hoodie will help?  It is worth a try, right?  :)

Oh yeah...and I woke up to this today  --------->

Yep, that is pink eye. 

As Ellie would say with her crazy face and silly voice  "Good times, Good times...."

once upon a time

I was a digital scrapper.

Then, I was even a digital designer for three different websites.

That is why I started this blog in the first place, so that I could share all of my pages like the other digi-scrappers were doing.

Now I barely even scrap (paper or digital) and I can't tell you the last time I designed a thing.

But, today I am cleaning out all things digi-scrap related, and found a cute little kit to share just in time for Valentine's Day. 

If you are a scrapper (and still wasting your time on my blog) you can download & enjoy this today :)

Download aj_sweetheart.zip