The Well Rounded Mama

Hello....and Goodbye!

Just wanted to pop in and say that I hope you have a nice weekend!  I'm heading out in a bit to go see my grandmother.  And since I haven't packed yet, I think I need to skip the 'ol blog today. 

Have a great weekend...I'll be back on Monday!

What?? I scrapped??

LOL!

Seriously...it feels like FOREVER since I have scrapped.  In reality, it has only been a little over two weeks. But to just sit down and scrap...for no reason...not for a CT, not for SOY, not for anything other than my own scrapping pleasure and treasuring the little things in life? FOREVER.  And I have missed it.

But wanting to scrap meant actually finding the desk in my office!  Over the past month or some my office/scrap room has gotten out of control!  And when things like that overwhelm me, I just avoid it at all costs.  Most days I haven't even been turning on my computer...I have just used Jason's!  Now that is bad!

So after a failed nap attempt this afternoon I made myself go in and clean it up and organize.  How wonderful it feels!  I actually know where things are!  I don't feel trapped. So once I got my happy space happy again, I finally unzipped some materials I have had for a while.  And then I just picked some pictures I loved and scrapped. Felt so good!

Credits: paper by Gina Cabrera, stitching by Lisa Whitney, stitching holes by Syrin, flowers by Bren Boone, inked edge (altered) by Ida, staples and circle stamp by Shabby Princess, alpha by Michelle Coleman

Paper by Lisa Whitney, stitching by Lisa Carter, world stamp by Heather Ann Melzer

Paper by Heather Ann Melzer, stitches by Lisa Whitney, staples by Shabby Princess, Cardboard Overlay by Linda GB, tag by Anne Dejong, alpha by Dani Mogstad

*****

Sooo...our first day of homeschooling went great! It was short because a lot of it was just review, but we both seemed to enjoy ourselves.  I am looking forward to a week or two in when we start getting to the new stuff.  Love seeing little minds growing!

****

Since it is a home weekend for the boys we only have a few hours off tonight (instead of the whole evening and morning tomorrow).  Not sure what our plans are for the day/night yet.  Being together -- that is for sure!  Tomorrow my dad comes and we head down to Boca Raton to see my almost-99-year-old grandmother.  She isn't doing very well so I really need to go and say my goodbyes.  Sad.

Hope your Thursday is a good one!

Another new chapter....

...begins today.  Today we start homeschooling Alaina.  I put it off for a while since I wasn't feeling well.  I didn't want the start of our homeschooling experience to be tainted by morning sickness.  And while I am still feeling sick a lot, I am much better than I was and Alaina is very eager to start.  I am feeling ready, too.

Homeschooling was something I always kept in my mind.  People often asked us if we would and I always said that it would depend on where we were, what we were doing, and what options we had. Because of our work schedule we think that this is definitely best for all of us right now.  We will homeschool this year.  And then we will make a decision about next year.  One year at a time.

We also made the decision to do kindergarten this year.  Although technically Alaina is preschool age, we still think this is best for her.  She has done two years of preschool already and is advanced for her age.  We won't push her.  We purchased kindergarten and preschool curriculum so we will accommodate as necessary.  However, after looking through the materials I am confident that she is more than ready.  In fact, at the beginning she may be a little bored.  We'll see.

I am so very proud of this girl.  She is truly something special.  I love seeing her heart and mind expand daily.  Just this morning, I was beaming with pride.  Each morning we have devotions with our boys.  Over the past two weeks we have been learning the books of the Bible.  Alaina sits with us every day but I had no idea how much she was soaking in, especially with words like "Obadiah."  But this morning she recited, with only a few prompts, all of the books of the Old Testament (up until Zephaniah since we haven't done the last four yet). I couldn't believe how well she did -- even with pronunciation!

And to listen to her pray. Her heart is so sweet and sensitive -- praying for the boys who have left us, praying that God would keep His hands around us, praying that we would learn to obey Him. Makes me love being a mom even more.

Thanks for letting me brag a bit. My heart is full.

Pictures as promised....and an update on Cabe

First let me just give you a quick Caleb update.  This poor boy!  So, when I was in Vegas I get a call from Jason telling me that they are back in the Emergency room.  The doctors had told us that if he had a fever over 101 to bring him back in.  Before I left, a fever had kicked in and when I was gone it spiked to over 103.  So back they went.  The doctors determined that it was unrelated to his injury.  Good news I guess.  Well, it lasted for a few days and then finally broke.  Then he broke out in a rash all over his back which my MIL said was probably roseola. I looked it up online and sure enough...sounds like just what he had.  A high fever that breaks and then comes a rash.  No big deal, really.

So then on Saturday I take him back to get his stitches out. Even though the nurses had kept telling the doctor how great they looked when she did them, the doctor that morning informed us that the wound did not close well at all and in a year or two we will most likely be making a trip to the plastic surgeon.  Ugh. 

THEN, Sunday night, I was sitting in the living room talking to my MIL when Caleb comes in, blood ALL OVER his face.  He must have scratched the scab off!  So, I got to clean him up again and try to cut some kind of bandaid for him that wouldn't be in his eyes.  Poor kid!  He seems to be doing okay, though.  I am thankful for that!

***************

Okay...pictures!  I will probably make a photo album for these and a lot more sometime soon, but for now, here are a few of mine and some from some of the other finalists. The comments are below each photo.

The lobby of the Venetian hotel

The Coffee Bean -- this is our FAVORITE coffee shop!  We went here all the time when we were in Malaysia. Unfortunately, they don't have them out east where we are.

The Canal shops INSIDE the hotel.  Yes ladies and gentlemen, this is INSIDE.  The water, the fake sky, all of it.

The first day of walking the floor.  This is some of the finalists with Tim Holtz of Ranger Ink.  He some some incredible new products out!

Noel, me, and Brian Tippets (editor in chief for CK) at the keynote address  by Stacy Julian (founding editor of Simple Scrapbooks Magazine).

Me and Noel at the Autumn Leaves booth.  I LOVE these things behind us -- they are transparent overlays to be used in paper scrapping.  Basically, they help make paper pages look like and be as easy as digital. Place your photo on cardstock, overlay it, and DONE!  Plus, most of these overlays are by digital designers...Rhonna Farrer, Jackie Eckles, etc.

Meet the finalists hour at the CK Media booth.  From Left to right: Gretchen, Noel, Ingunn, me, Paula, Cheryl, Amanda, and Sara.  Ali and Elizabeth hadn't arrived yet.

All of us walking the floor in our Scrapbooker of the Year shirts from CK

In front of my table at the banquet

Up on stage with Lisa Bearnson

Elizabeth and her husband Collin right after they announced her name

All of the finalists after the banquet

A few of us the next day: Gretchen, CD, Ingunn, Paula, and me

Me and CD -- I LOVE this girl and am soooo hoping that she comes down to CKU Orlando so we can hang out again!

Just some of the goodies I came home with!

Hope you enjoyed!  Have a great day!

{EMOTION}

** First let me say that I am sorry for the delayed post.  I know that for my faithful readers, it has been a week since I have posted.  This is literally the first time since then that I have had more than about five minutes to myself!  With the trip to Vegas, having my MIL here, more trips to the doctor with Cabe, and with working all weekend life has been busy!  Feels good to know that for the next six hours (until work starts again) that I have some breathing (and blogging!) time!  Now on to my actual post :)

So...EMOTION.  That is a big word that encompasses so many things.  I think that in the last week I have felt every emotion that there is -- excitement, worry, fear, sadness, overwhelmed, thrilled, giddy, happy, worried, frustrated, eager, etc. etc....

I have also realized that when you open the flood gates to emotion on one level that they seem to be opened on all levels.  This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but you just have to brace yourself :)

So...the trip to Vegas was fabulous. Busy, but fabulous.  And in case any of you read this blog but aren't really in the scrapping world and haven't heard yet, no, I didn't win.  However, I NEVER went into it thinking I would, or even could win, so it wasn't a shocking thing.  The very sweet and talented Elizabeth Kartchner was named this years Scrapbooker of the Year.

Okay, so back to Vegas.  I got in at one o'clock in the afternoon but didn't get to check into my hotel room until after 10 pm!  That is how busy CK kept us! It was fun though -- getting to meet the other finalists, looking through all the booths, talking with the CK people.  We then attended Stacy Julian's keynote address and then we went to dinner. My poor pregnant body was already tired but add three hours of time difference to a 10:30 end to dinner and I was exhausted!  I was so happy to curl up in my comfy bed in my GORGEOUS hotel room and sleep!

The next day was a late start (10 am ) so I enjoyed some time alone!  I realized that I am NEVER alone -- and for someone who really needs it, never getting it is hard.  It was so nice to just be able to get some coffee, take a hot bath, watch a little TV, and just relax without a bazillion demands placed on me!

The rest of the morning and afternoon were busy with more CK stuff -- walking the floor of the show, having a "Meet the Finalists" hour, photo shoots, etc. Then it was back to our room to get ready for the announcement banquet.  That is really when the emotion started to kick in for me.  All these thoughts and feelings were welling up within me -- some having to do with SOY and some totally unrelated.  But when you finally have time to actually FEEL something (instead of just living life at 100 mph and never stopping long enough to actually know what you think about a situation) ALL the emotions rise to the surface.  I found myself  upset over stuff I hadn't thought about in a long time...I found myself excited about things that I hope will one day happen...I found myself crying just because I never have a chance to!  LOL! It was a weird afternoon, to say the least!

On to the banquet.  It was set up beautifully, with each finalist having her own table.  They  put up on of our entry LO's, our bio, and our picture on each table.  Since Jason wasn't with me, CD and her husband Cam sat at my table along with one of the finalists from last year. Lisa Bearnson joined us later.  It was a nice and relaxing dinner.  I can't say I was getting too nervous about the announcement...partly because I never thought I had a chance of winning and because I got a peak at Lisa's announcement notes (she was across from me and as she was going though them I could see through the back!) and knew one of two girls won. I couldn't tell exactly (it was just a brief moment she had the notes up) but I could see a large handwritten "E" which either meant Elizabeth or Gretchen McElveen.  Anyway, so, I wasn't too nervous.  Lisa then called each of the finalists up to the stand one by one and shared a little about us.  Then, they announced Elizabeth this years Scrapbooker of the Year.  Her reaction was so sweet! I wish the CK video had turned out better so you could see it!

I think Elizabeth is a good choice.  She is very talented, she is sweet and soft spoken, and, she is local to CK which I can imagine is only an asset to her and the magazine. I think that any of the ten of us could have done a good job -- each in our own ways -- but we all knew going into it that only one could win. And Elizabeth was the one and I wish her all the best over the next two years.  The fun times, the hard times, everything -- they are hers to hold and cherish. 

Thursday morning was free for the rest of us so I took advantage of an 11:00am check out and hung out in my room...watching some reruns of Grey's, enjoying my beautiful bath tub, and drinking chai from my favorite coffee shop.  After check out I went back to the show to say congrats to Elizabeth again during her official "meet the winner" hour at the CK booth.  I then chatted with some of the other gals and with CD.  Good times.

It was a very exciting few days!  It is hard to pin point what I liked best since there was so much that happened.  But if I had to pick a favorite, then I would say that talking with the CK people was the best.  Hanging out, talking, eating, and just being with the editorial team was fabulous.  I loved talking with CD about the hard parts of her role, I loved hearing Britney Mellen ask for suggestions on her real scrapbooking obstacles, I loved seeing the realness of all of them come through. They are just people -- like me and you -- who have good days, bad days, proud moments, moments they would rather forget. Just people. 

I am sorry to say I don't have any pictures for you!  I haven't even downloaded them from my camera yet (see, I told you I have been busy!) I didn't even take that many photos, but some of the others gals did and we are all sharing.  Hopefully tomorrow I will have a bunch for you!

Alrighty --  I need to sign out.  Now that the weekend is done, my trip is over, my MIL is gone, and we actually have a few hours I need to hang with the family.  I miss them :)

Have a great Monday!

"We Go Doctor!"

So, we were out at dinner last night (we have a few hours off on Sunday afternoon/early evening) and as we were finishing up and getting ready to go home, Caleb kept saying over and over, "We go doctor!" Ever since last Thursday when the family went with me for an ultrasound (aka "the doctor") Caleb wants to go all the time.  Every time we get in the car he asks if we are going to the doctor.  So, as we were coming home from dinner we had to politely tell Caleb that no, we were not going to the doctor and that we were going home.

When we get home Jason and I go through our back door.  Caleb and Alaina went around to the other side of the house where our boys live. The door was locked but one of the other staff let them in.  I am in my living room when I hear the coffee table make a really loud bang.  I hear a scream and I run in to see Caleb on the floor screaming and blood everywhere.  I call Jason in and we try for about ten minutes to get the bleeding to stop. He hit the top of his nose and the blood just kept coming.  Caleb was hysterical.  Jason was with him as I frantically tried to figure out what to do.  Our boys were due back any minute, we had two other kids to deal with, and we don't know any of the doctors or hospitals around here.

After talking with one of the gals on staff who is a nurse, we decided to take him downtown to a Pediatric ER.  Jason wanted to go to so we found someone to watch our dorm boys and the whole family piled back in the car.  Caleb didn't even want to go (he had already stuck a DVD in and wanted to sit on our bed and watch!) I told him, "Caleb, we need to go see the doctor."  Alaina chimes in in, "That's just what you wanted Caleb!"  LOL!

The hospital was fantastic.  I have never been in a pediatric ER before but it was amazing. Just for kids means a playroom in the waiting area and staff who know how to deal with children.  We did a LOT of waiting throughout the evening, but the staff were so good. They brought toys into his room (including a new Matchbox car for him to take home), coloring sheets, and a race car for him to "drive."  The room had a TV in it too.

Caleb was a trooper!  He just wanted to play -- oblivious to the fact that every time he even slightly touched his nose the wound would start gushing again.  But he just did so good!  When they finally came in to do the stitches (the cut was too deep for the new dermabond "glue" stitches) they came in with the doctor, with two nurses, a board to strap him down on and restrain him, and medicine to sedate him.  I told them to hold off on restraining and sedating him until we could see how he would do.  I just held his hand and talked to him as they gave him shots to numb him and one of the nurses worked furiously to keep the blood out of his eyes.  He just laid there -- didn't even flinch!  And about half way through the stitches he fell asleep!  The nurses said they had NEVER seen anything like it.  For a while, one of them kept checking his pulse to make sure he was okay!  But he was fine.  What a guy.  I love that little man more than words can say!

BEFORE GOING TO THE HOSPITAL -- CALEB TOO BUSY WATCHING TV TO WANT TO GO

WAITING FOR THE DOCTOR

WAITING FOR THE FIRST NUMBING TO TAKE EFFECT

DURING STITCHES

FINISHING UP

WAITING TO BE DISCHARGED

With almost five years of parenting under my belt, it is kind of hard to believe that this is our first experience with an ER and with stitches!

****************

So, our little set back last night is going to make today even MORE crazy than it already was going to be!  I haven't packed a thing for Vegas, haven't grocery shopped, haven't gotten the house ready for Jason's mom to come in today, haven't gotten any of my travel info ready, etc. etc. It will be a busy 24 hours to say the least!

If I can get through the next day, I think I will actually be excited for my trip.  I am excited to meet the other SOY finalists, to meet and spend time with the CK staff, and to see a little of Las Vegas. CK is going to keep us pretty busy, but it should be a fun type of busy.  I am also excited for a little page swap that all the finalists are doing.  We all wanted a mini-book about our SOY experience so we have all made 10 2-page 6x6 pages to swap.  On one page we left room for a 4x6 picture and on the other page we have a picture of our shoes and how they match our personality.  Here is a little peek at my pages...

Alrighty...well, I can't put off starting my day any longer. House to clean, kids to feed and bathe, clothes to pack, work to be done, meetings to attend, groceries to be bought, naps to be taken (mine, hopefully!), etc. etc.

I have no idea what my time or internet situation will be so I can't promise I will be back on until Friday or Saturday.  We'll just see how it goes!

Hope you have a GREAT week!

Dinner was great!

So our first experience at a churrascaria was wonderful! The meat was BEYOND fantastic. I knew there were different kinds of meat but I had no idea there would be lots of choices within  each kind of meat.  For the beef, there was Fillet Mignon, Fillet Mignon wrapped in bacon, top sirloin, ribs, BBQ ribs, and maybe one other one. And that was just the beef! Mmmmm!

This weekend will be a busy one! We work all weekend plus I have a TON to do to get ready for Vegas and for my MIL coming!

Okay, I'm super sorry to cut this short but the keys on my computer are not working and I have to type everything at least three times.  Guess I need to add a trip to the Geek Squad at Best Buy to the list of things to do!

Here is my LO for this week's DIGI DARE.  I have to admit I was doing this late last night and I totally missed some of the "dare flair".  I forgot about it!  LOL!

AT TWENTY

Credits: Papers (blended) by Michelle Coleman and Jen Wilson. Bow by Natalie Braxton. Pin by Danielle Catalano-Titus. Heart by Michelle Coleman. Stitching by Lisa Whitney. Staples by Shabby Princess. Font is Susie’s Hand.

Journaling: I wish I would have known that if I just stopped looking and started trusting, that the one for me would come in God’s timing. I wish I would have spent more time becoming the woman I wanted to be instead of the woman I thought the guys would like. I wish I would have known…

Have a great weekend!

Looks like I am not the only one who has been tired...

Poor little Levi has been teething.  Teething didn't really affect Alaina and Caleb, but Levi has always had a hard time with it.  It seems to be really painful, causes a high fever, and really affects his sleep.  The advantage of all of it -- lots of snuggles with mom and dad.

I can't write much today.  My poor laptop, which is slowly fading away, makes it extremely hard to type.  I have to type VERY slowly and even then letters don't show up and I have to go back.  I don't have all day :)

Today is our family day.  We have a few things planned including a very yummy (or so we have heard) dinner at this place.  It is a Brazillion steak house where they serve all you can eat meat.  The waiters come to your table and carve the meat right on your plate. There is beef, pork, lamb, chicken, and Brazillion sausage. It is reported by friends to be AMAZING.  Can't wait!  It would normally be too expensive but we have a 50% off coupon and kids 6 and under are FREE!

Before I go, here is a LO I did a long time ago...just a few days after we found out we were expecting.

Journaling reads:  This is it.  The first last.  Because of the line of work we are in, we are pretty sure that baby number four will be our last.  We aren’t positive, and we are open to whatever God has in store for us, but as far as we can see, this is it.  And as excited as I am to have another baby, it is a little bittersweet.  I realized right when I found out that I was pregnant that this was the first “last.”  The last time I will look at that little line appear in the window.  The last time I tell my husband that our family is growing. The next nine months (and a lot of years afterward) will be filled with “lasts.”  The last time nursing. The last first steps.  The last onsie.  The last day we have a crib.  The last reading of GUESS HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU.  I am excited to see our family grow up but I will miss the baby years.  I have truly loved this time with my babies and this, my first last, makes me a little sad.             June 29, 2007

Have a great Thursday!

Another Crazy Tuesday...

I think I am starting to notice a pattern here.  Tuesdays seems to be full of chaos. Yesterday was no exception.

My day started at 5:00 am when Caleb decided it was time to get up.  I couldn't go back to sleep so I thought I would just get up and get some work done.  That plan didn't pan out too well -- Caleb kept asking for things, my computer was giving me problems, and then my computer just shut down on me -- again.  By that time it was time to get the boys up and start our working day.  At 8:30 I had to leave for an appointment...I didn't get home until 12:30!  Then I had to quickly eat something and be ready for on of the counselors to come over to have a pre-meeting for our two o'clock meeting.  The counselor gets here at ten after one and then at 1:15 my supervisor calls me and says, "Did anyone tell you that the meeting got changed to 1:30?"  Well no, no one did.  Not that big of a deal, really, except now I have about 10 minutes to find someone to watch my kids. After that frantic search ended we then had to sit through over two hours of a very unpleasant meeting which ended in yet another of our boys leaving our dorm. Once we were done with that, our "time off" was over and the boys were home from school and the regularly scheduled busyness took effect.  Even though I still had a ton of work to do I crawled into bed at 9:00. 

Anyway...I am hoping for a better (and more restful) day.  Nothing on the schedule except for some house cleaning. I feel like I have been going non-stop for weeks now.  So today I plan to rest because tomorrow life has to go back into full-swing as I get ready for my trip to Vegas next week.  My MIL comes on Monday so all my Vegas stuff really has to be done by Sunday and I have to have everything set for her arrival.

I did some shopping for my trip on Monday but I am not thrilled with anything I got.  I am in the at horrible "I just look fat" stage of pregnancy so nothing looks good.  Regular  clothes look funny and are uncomfortable.  Maternity clothes look silly. Oh well.  There are more important things in life :)

Alrighty...off to start my restful day (well, at least until 4:00 when our boys get home!) Hope you have a great Wednesday!

I've been keeping secrets...

I only have a few minutes this morning, but I wanted to let you all in in a little (well okay, big) secret that I have been keeping.

We're really excited!  We both come from families with four kids and so that has always been the number we have talked about.  When I was pregnant with Levi, I went through the pregnancy as if it would be my last, but within days of having him I knew I wanted another one.  And then this summer, we were visiting with Jason's grandmother and the three kiddos were sitting on the floor.  There was a space in the circle and I just knew in my heart someone was missing.  One more toe-headed little fire ball to add to the mix.

I am a little over fourteen weeks along.  I was REALLY sick and (am still) REALLY tired.  The sickness was really hard, especially with starting new jobs, etc. Thankfully, some of that has subsided and I am able to do more now.  The tiredness is still hitting pretty hard, but what can you expect when working full-time, raising three kids, and all the other life stuff going on.

There are various reasons we haven't told people until now.  Some of them would make sense to you, some of them probably wouldn't.  That's okay.  We told the kids two weeks ago and we told our families last week.  Alaina of course is hoping and praying for a baby girl.  And while I would love another girl, I love my boys so much that I know another one would be amazing. We didn't find out what we were having with the other three but I think that for this one, most likely our last, we are going to find out.  Seems crazy that I might know in just a few weeks!

So, that's my news. So now maybe some of my previous posts and my general lack of presence in digi land will make more sense now :)

Have a great Monday!  I have staff meeting and then I think I am going to attempt to do some shopping. I need new clothes and I am really hoping to find something cute for the banquet in Vegas.  I leave in 8 days!  Yea!