Freestyle challenge # 9

This week's challenge on the Freestyle Blog was to use fabric and patterned paper together.

This is a fabric swatch from my search for living room curtains; I used some Scenic Route paper, and the picture of me and Hadleigh is one that I really really like for some reason. She was a couple days away from walking on her own here, and it was a nice autumn day in the park.

Heading up to Norman, OK to help with my dear friend Shannon's baby shower! I just made 72 chocolate chip pecan scones for the shower...the house smells yummy!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Something old and new.

I did this for a challenge by Wendy. Thanks Wendy!

Had fun with the pictures of Hadleigh one year ago...so hard to believe how quickly time goes by. My something old was the MM rub-on (not ancient but...) and my something new was the Heidi Swapp sillouhette and my uniball signo pen doodling!
Once again...yucky picture...oh well. Brent said we could get a new cord for the scanner at Radio Shack...hooray!

Two posts in one day...how's that for catch up?

Hayley.

Are you on a first-name basis with Hayley Westenra? If not, you should be!

We stumbled upon her gorgeous voice by accident. My fault--I was judging an album by it's cover and was intrigued by the pretty face and the title : "Pure". Hmmm. We listened to a sample in the store and we were sold. She has a new one out that we just got last week called "Odyssey". ***so good*** Her voice is absolutely phenomenal. So pure and clear. Perfect for listening to on a cloudy, rainy day like today! (can you tell I'm happy about the weather?)

You can put her into the "Andrea Bocelli" style category ... she has a duet with him on her new album ... She is one of those voices that is never "noise"... at the end of a loud day full of children, I can enjoy hearing her in the background. (And I can't say that about all kinds of music!)

So give her a try...and let me know what you think!

Catchin' up.

Wow...it's been awhile.

Had a great time seeing San Antonio...we got to visit with old friends--some Air Force friends and the pastor who married us and his family, got to visit the church he planted and pastors now(which is awesome! So refreshing!)...we visited the Alamo, Sea World, rode a boat down the River Walk, ate yummy Mexican food, had LOTS of ice cream, drank lots of water (it was h-o-t), went to The Rainforest Cafe on the River Walk, and got to shop at the fabulous outlets in San Marcos for a little while(Pottery Barn, anyone?)! Hadleigh just loved seeing Shamu (the picture of her below is her watching the show. Did I mention we had ice cream? On that note, Haagen-Dazs has this great new flavor...really good! And you gotta love some Marble Slab...and Dairy Queen...

Here are a couple pictures

A great trip...it's always good to get away for a little while.

Lately, I've been taking morning walks, courtesy of our new (to us) double jogger...Hadleigh loves to see all the animals we encounter (mostly rabbits and dogs, although we did see two ducks our first morning and I think I might have spied a bobcat (or some kind of wild cat) a little too close for my comfort.)

And most importantly, an update on little Spencer, who I asked for prayer for. The news we've heard so far went from great (right after the surgery) to really bad (another "surprise" surgery required to fix the problem) and then to doing okay. I haven't heard anything since Wednesday of last week...my friend and supplier of information is on vacation so hopefully things are going well. Continue to pray for healing and strength...Spencer's parents amaze me. But I know that they must be tired and weary. I'll update again when I know more.

Freestyle Challenge.

Here is my take on kellicrowe's challenge for Freestyle.

Sorry for the bad picture...our scanner cord is still missing from rearranging our office. Had fun looking through my piles of candid pictures friends and family took at our wedding. Hard to believe it was five years ago. A fun day!

I will update on our trip to San Antonio soon...since we've been back, life has been about catching up on laundry, cleaning, entertaining kiddos (I mean, after Shamu, what do I have to offer?), and getting this page done!

Mail day.

In my book, a good mail day is right up there with

a good hair day,
a good mascara day (do you know what I mean?),
a good rainy day.

Hadleigh and I love to go get the mail. We have one of those "community" mail boxes (like for apartments) at the end of our cul-de-sac, an attempt I guess to unclutter the sidewalks, protect from identity fraud, and make the mailman's job a little bit easier. I personally miss putting up the little red flag...but maybe in our next move our mailbox will be more old-fashioned.

All that said, Hadleigh loves to open the "package compartment" (with it's locked key in place) and say "no box." That was today. Keys swinging from both package compartments, I knew there were no boxes for us. BUT

when we opened our little door we found a package from one Kelli Darr. She is "one of those people I know" from her blog...what a wonderful virtual world :) Check her out: she is classy, upbeat, colorful, has the cutest kiddos and as "they" say, she is a SuperStar! She had promised a lollipop for a correct answer here but this is what arrived instead:


Lots of fun scrap stuff including two cherry lollipops!

Thank you Kelli! A very sweet surprise! The twill color was just what I was needing on a layout I'm working on. How'd you know???

Hoping to get some scrapbooking done this afternoon even though I need to get ready for our mini-vacation to San Antonio!

Have a great weekend!

Thankful

for these two right here.

Not a new thought, at all, but sometimes life gets so busy and the chatter and noise of a two year old and seven month old can make you feel a little crazy.

And then you have a day like today. A walk on a suprisingly "cool" Texas morning...your little girl commenting on all the birds... how the bunny we saw "hops"...and there are two ducks playing on the side of the road in a puddle.

She has a low-grade fever today and so she is really cuddly...doesn't fight going down for a nap...falls asleep as you sing to her.

And your little boy can't figure out when to nap today...but he did turn around 180 degrees in his crib trying, and the "Mommy, aren't you so proud of me for that?" smile.

I got an email from a friend today with a video attachment asking me to pray for a mutual friend's baby, Spencer. He will be six months old at the end of this month...and he was born with some kind of heart condition...I wish I could remember all the details right now. But he is having surgery on Friday. Another surgery in this little boy's life. And the video...I wish I knew how to attach it so you could see...but it is a slideshow of pictures from this brave little boy's life...interspersed with excerpts from his father's journal and scripture. And it is set to the song "He's My Son" by Mark Schultz.

I cried the whole time I watched it. The pictures of little Spencer in the NICU brought back memories of Nathanael's time there...and made me oh so thankful for Nathanael's health now. Made me thankful for God's power in our lives...His power to heal. Made my heart so tender as I looked at pictures of Spencer's parents...knowing that they too realize perhaps for the first time in their lives just how fragile and precious life is. And seeing their strength through this...a strength that only God can provide...wow...

So I am tender and thankful today whenever I see my children, hear their voices, feel their tiny touches.

And I am praying for Spencer and Katie and Andy. Will you pray too?

Fresh Mint.

I love a light delicious lunch in the summer!

What could be better than apricot chicken salad, strawberries, and mint iced tea?

Mint dip for the strawberries!

I stumbled upon this recipe in a cookbook I got around the time I got married. It's one of those fundraiser cookbooks that a local Christian school did called "Taste and See...that the Lord is good."

I have made it SO many times...it is easy, quick, and so fresh! It is perfect with a fruit salad of any type, although berries are my favorite. And I have to say that it would probably even make cantaloupe taste good...although I can't bring myself to try it...'cause I don't like melons...but it is THAT good!

So I will share the recipe...and you can enjoy it yourself...I told Brent the other night that it tastes like a summer breeze in the mountains!

Mint Dip

1/4 cup lime juice (bottled is fine!)
1/4 cup fresh mint leaves (loosely packed)
2 3 oz. packages cream cheese
6 Tbsp. sugar

Blend the lime juice and mint leaves in a blender until smooth. Add cream cheese and sugar. Blend until smooth. Serve with fresh fruit.

I double the recipe when serving a big crowd (or when I want to enjoy the leftovers!)

June First.

Summer always seems to start for me in June. (Although we've had summer heat here in TX since April...but I won't dwell on that!)

So what is filling my time these days?

1. We put these alphabet wall cards up as a border in Hadleigh's room over the weekend. They are made by eeBoo. Glad that we FINALLY got that project done...it's been on my list since I bought them over Christmas.

2. Of course, that spurred another project...we bought canvases from Hobby Lobby and Brent sketched three of the floral designs from the cards on each canvas. Now we are painting them...which is a lot of fun.

I'm learning a lot about painting. (Isn't it sad that the last formal art class I had was in elementary school?) Painting is therapeutic I think. I am working on the azalea canvas (which is pictured in the card above). So far so good. It reminds me of my parents azaleas in Asheville. They are so beautiful in the spring. Mom always says, driving up the driveway when they are in full bloom, "Make a memory."

3. We are planning our summer trips. We head out to San Antonio next weekend for a short trip, Brent has a friends wedding in Virginia, he is going to the Osh Kosh Airshow with his Dad, I am going to OK to help with a baby shower for my dear friend Shannon, and I am taking the kiddos to Asheville to visit our families. I think that is it.

4. I am mentally preparing for our airline trip to Asheville...just me and the kids. LOL. Not quite there yet...but I'm working on it. (And the end result will be worth the chaos of the DFW security check...struggling with all that baggage...and entertaining two on the two-ish hour flight, right?!) Thankfully we have no connections!

5. I am trying to plan an early fall trip to visit my sister at Baylor. It's always fun to go back to your alma mater...especially when you can hang out with your little sis! (AND, Ali Edwards will be teaching some classes at Crop Paper Scissors, and I am hoping to join in! Registration starts today...just waiting to see if Brent can watch the kiddos!)

6. I am thinking about scrapbooking. It has been awhile since I have been at my desk creating. Lots of things distracting me, but I'm hoping to get going here soon. I need to complete the album for my parents of our trip to Barbados last May...and I need to get pictures developed so that I can scrap them. I won't overwhelm you by telling you when the last time we had pics developed was. But the idea totally overwhelms me!

Okay...off to take advantage of Hadleigh's naptime...of course, Nathanael just woke up! But he'll be down again soon...hopefully!