Sit tight...

...it's gonna be a long one.

So, I figure that since I have been a tad bit absent in blog-land I would make up for it with a longer post.  Well, that is, as long as I don't get interrupted (which is a good possibility with three little kiddos, a bunch of teenage girls, and a hubby who just got off of work).

There is sooooo much going on right now.  When I actually stop and think about it my head spins. Couple all this with chronic sleep deprivation and you end up with a blurry eyed me.  No worries, though.  All is good and I am very happy and deeply content....awesome since life has thrown us for a loop lately.

I don't even really know where to begin!  Hmmm...I'd start with some LO's but since I only  have one or two I will save those for the end.  Seems crazy that I have scrapped SO LITTLE the past two weeks!  It is such a therapeutic endeavor for me...I miss it.  However, it will be another week or two before I can get into the groove again.  Because...

We are moving. Again. At least this time we aren't moving very far, but still.  Over the past month and a half we have been wrestling with some pretty big issues -- some personal, some work related.  And in the end, after lots of thought, prayer, and wise counsel we have decided to step out of the dorm next semester.  This has been such a hard decision but in the end, we know it is right for us right now. We need time to come together as a family. We need time to enjoy each other has husband and wife and time to enjoy our little family.  Our kids are only little once and the crazy schedule that we have been keeping has really prevented quality family time.  And the tiny bit of sleep I get is making even the times we are together hard.  And so, we have rented an apartment in town.  Jason will stay on at the school and I will continue with my business but I will not be looking after the girls anymore. I still want to be involved though -- the girls have nothing to do with why we are leaving.  In fact, they are the reason I want to stay.  We are going to cover some weekends and I look forward to having the girls over and just being with them in a non-supervisory way.

It is going to be a really new situation for us -- having our nights and weekends free.  We haven't had that in a LONG time.  I will be so good. But, that means that in the next week we have to pack up our house!  We can't get into our apartment until the 1st so we are going to pack our stuff up and move it into an empty classroom, then we will go to Michigan for about 10 days to see family and friends.  Then we will come back on the first and move in and Jason goes back to work on the 2nd.  It will be busy, but it should be fun.  We really like our little apartment!

******

Well, I posted my official debut announcement.  I never really planned on designing kits.  Of course I thought about it but really didn't have the desire nor the ability.  Plus, I figured that since there are soooo many great designers out there why add another one? So I was happy being  a little 'ol scrapper and then the opportunity for making templates came along.  Then one day I was working on some templates and I was playing with some graphics and it turned into a piece of paper.  Then I thought, "hmmm...that was kind of fun."  Then it turned into a whole paper pack.  But that was two months ago.  Wasn't really inspired again.  But a few weeks ago I started a second one and then I went back and finished the first. Then I did a third.  Then I thought, "Well, since I spent all this time making them I should probably do something with them!"  Hence my debut. Will there be more?  I guess we'll have to see!  Want a closer look?

And here are a few pages I have done with the kits...

Stitching on this one is by the fabulous Ronna Penner from her FUNKALISCIOUS kit at Scrapbook Graphics.

I also have a bunch of new templates coming into my SHOPPE.  I have actually had these done for weeks but just never packaged them up.  I went on a mad spree a while back with templates and had sooo much fun.  I hadn't even seen them for weeks when I finally opened them up today to proof them.  I want to scrap with these! 

I actually made a COLLECTION ~ the stuff Jason and I have been lovingly referring to as my "FAT PACK."  It is a collection for FORTY-FIVE (yes, you read it right!) templates!  And they will be a steal! 

It will be $45 in my shoppe.  That is just $1 a template.  I will also offer it "in pieces."

The packs of 15 will sell for $19.50... $1.30 a template.  Eventually, I will break it all up into my normal three-packs and will be sold at the normal price of $4.95.

BUT...starting tonight at midnight EST (like two hours from now!) I will be celebrating my debut as a kit designer and my whole shoppe will be on sale for 30% off until Sunday at 11:59 pm EST. So hurry on over!

****

Okay, Christmas.  I mentioned last week that we hadn't even STARTED shopping.  I was feeling a little overwhelmed with it all! We didn't know what we were getting the kids, we didn't know what we were getting each other, we couldn't decide if we should get a tree (since we knew that we were moving before the big day).  Well, we went to Lincoln last Friday and made a dent in our shopping.  On Friday night, we were trying to figure out when we would celebrate Christmas as a family (as opposed to the big extended family gathering on Christmas day). We had talked of doing it once all the dorm girls left but then we would have to be packing and trying to have Christmas at the same time.  Soooo...we decided to do it that weekend!  Yep, you read that right.  We are shopped.  We are wrapped.  We are decorated.  We are opened, put away, and stuffed full of good food!  I can't believe we pulled it together so fast but I am soooo glad that we did!  We spend almost all day on Saturday shopping and trading kids.  Then we came home and wrapped, stuffed stockings, and put up our little 4.5 ft tree that we bought!  The kids had so much fun decorating it!  We put it up on our window seat so it is a little taller and we would have a place to put gifts. Caleb could only reach the bottom branches so he hung all the ornaments there!  He had them stacked like three and four deep per branch! I kept thinking that I would fix it once he went to bed.  But later that night as I stared at the tree and saw the workings of my sweet little kids I decided to leave it just how it was.  It is a total picture of my wonderful little life with my wonderful little kids. And every time I look at it I smile.

So, we got up on Sunday morning and made Christmas last for hours!  We did stockings, we had breakfast, we read (and reenacted via LITTLE PEOPLE) the Christmas story, we opened presents, we played with presents, we cuddles, we laughed, we took pictures, and we were reminded of how incredibly blessed we are!

This last picture made me once again realize how much I love photoshop...

So...we had Christmas.  And it was wonderful!  Now all I have to worry about is extended family stuff.  Alaina had her school Christmas party today so that means a few more Christmasy things to do checked off my list (gift for party, gift for teacher, little gifts for students).  This last thing, something for Alaina to bring her classmates, made me realize how much I prefer scrapping on my trusty 'ol computer rather than with paper.  I thought it would be cute to make those little candy cane reindeer.  Simple enough, right? Wrong.  For the life of me I couldn't get the glue to stick.  I thought I would go crazy.  Then, once I got about four of them done (with Alaina's not-so-helpful help) we laid them down to dry.  Guess who got up from his nap?  Yep..Caleb.  And he just walked right through the living room plowing over them.  Ugh.  So I tried a new tactic and after a few frustrating moments figured out that if you use a huge glob of glue stick glue those pesky beady eyes and the pom-pom nose WILL stay put!  Voila!

Well, is this enough for one night?  Crazy, I know.  A move, a debut, a Christmas.  I've been busy!

Have a great night!

Comments

[MandaKay]

OMG - sure is a whole lot of new stuff going on with you! The kits look great! Very exciting for you! So where do you go in Michigan? How fun that you had christmas already - the pictures look great!

[Laurie G]

Wow Janet- my head is spinning just *reading* this and I'm not even going through it LOL! I pray that all goes smooth with your move!

Awesome kits- I hope they do well for you! Oh and those candy cane reindeer are the cutest- glad you figured it out before they all got smashed to pieces LOL!

God bless!

[Erika]

So glad you started selling your kits! I started a thread about you at DST and hopefully you'll get some sales! Anyway, hope things continue to flow along smoothly for you, hang in there! I know I am totally ready for vacation and still have three days left and I'm not doing all you are!

[Sandra Boddington]

Good luck Janet with the move, I did it a couple of months ago and found it exhausting. Your photos of Christmas are beautiful.

[Rachelle]

Love the kits especially "Just Me"...I will have to get that one for my son...Great new templates...Good luck with the move...And the reindeer are too cute...I may have to try those this weekend....