CHIC MAMA

A Decision - Finally

2007-05-15T07:14:00.000-07:00

Well we finally made the decision last night about what schools the boys are going to go to in the Fall. Roland is going to ETS and Hayden will be going to Victory 3 days a week. I think all in all it's the best for everyone. This was such a tough decision for so many reasons but I'm glad it's finally over!!!

Today is Ro's last day with all of his friends at Riverfield. He will still be in the same class this summer but most of his buddies are moving up to the Kindergarden summer program next week. He will still have some of the same friends in his class but not his core group. I think it's going to be a transition but he'll get through it.

Well, it's been so long since I've posted that I have a ton of layouts to share.

You can find all the credits in my gallery at DST

Here's an old photo of Ro but it's still one of my faves.

I love this picture of Hayden and I'm really happy with how this one turned out.

Here's another sweet one of Hayden

and look at my little charmer...

and next we have Destructive Hayden

This picture is from last summer. I can't believe how much Ro has grown in the last year.

Well that's it for today!

Lots of Fun Stuff

2007-04-20T21:13:00.000-07:00

wow! it's been awhile since I've updated here..... where does the time go????

Well, first I have to share some pictures of my new sweet niece Zoe. She was born on Monday. Justin and I and the boys made a quick trip to Kansas to visit and I'm so glad we did. She is such a doll and it was so good to see Wes and Robin again. We miss you guys terribly! Here are some of the photos we got.

finally a photo with all the grandkids. Yeah!

I don't think Hayden knows quite what to think about baby Zoe.

Isn't she sweet? I love the one of her "smiling".

Let's see... what else have we been up to...
Tonight we went to a surprise birthday party for one of my best friends, Erika. She turns 30 tomorrow! Wow - we're getting old. :)
The party was so much fun and I loved the look on her face when she got there.

Tomorrow we are headed to the bowling alley with a bunch of friends. Roland has become a "Master Bowler" in the Wii world and we think it's time to show him what real bowling is like. He completely cracks me up when he is using his Wii technique. I have no idea how he does it but he has been bowling around a 180 average. When I tried to mimic his "technique" I ended up throwing out my shoulder. It's been sore for 6 days now! I am so out of shape. :)

I've also got several layouts to share.

First I have a layout that I made using those fun park pictures from my last post.

Next is one of my favorite layouts ever. I finally got to scrap some of Roland's photography.

and lastly I did a fun page with some of the other park pictures.

don't you just love that Dr. Seuss quote. This is so perfect for Ro!
You can check out the full credits by clicking on my DST link to the right. I've updated it so it should be working again now.

Well, that's it for tonight.
~Angie

I'm never leaving home without my camera again.....

2007-04-04T20:38:00.000-07:00

This afternoon the boys and I went to our neighborhood park. On the way out the door I thought

"hmmm... is it worth taking the camera? sure - why not!"

Boy am I glad I did. I got some of the best pictures of the boys today. The sky was so beautiful and the sun was perfect. The best part happened as we were about to leave. This little boy walked up to us and asked if we'd like to see his new baby ducks. Oh they were so cute! Hayden didn't know what to think at first but once he did he just started making his cute little quack sound over and over. Both boys got to pet them and it was just so fun. Of course - I had my camera so I got the whole thing on film. Yeah! Well that's my excitement for today. Wow - that's pretty bad when I get this excited about seeing a baby duck. LOL!

Roland is just amazing me all the time now. That boy is smart! I know I'm his momma and that I might be a little biased but he just blows me away with the things he comes up with. Yesterday on the way home from school he started talking about how it makes him sad that his friends and teachers at school don't talk about God. He said it made him really sad and that he wanted to go to a school that "Blesses God". Wow! My heart just fell. We've been contemplating schools for Kindergarten and I think this may have answered a lot of our questions. I have been praying that God would send me a "Clear" message as to what to do and I can't help but this this is that clear answer.

One other funny Roland thing - right before bed tonight he told Justin a new joke.

What do you call a frog with four wheels?

A Toad Truck!

We were cracking up - it's actually really funny! Maybe he got the pun gene from his grandad.

Well that's it for tonight. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

So Many Things

2007-03-26T11:05:00.000-07:00

Wow - so many things are going on right now. I think we're finally back in the swing of things. Two weeks ago I was able to go to the Willow Creek Children's Ministry conference with two of my best friends. It was so inspirational. They have an amazing program and we were able to learn about so many things we could do in our own church. Mainly though I think it was good to just get refocused on what our mission is. To reach children and let them know that God loves them. The worship was so incredible too. Jon Klinepeter and his worship team from the church of Wrigleyville led our worship. It was amazing. It was so inspiring to hymns again!

Here's his myspace page if you want to hear some of their music. (my favorite is return)
Jon Klinepeter

On the home front...
Justin and I are recovering from some weird stomach bug. We were both feeling pretty yuck this weekend.
Ro and Hayden are doing great. Hayden is saying so many new words and I think he can truly understand everything we say to him. He is such a hoot and I think he is going to be our little ornery boy. I can't count how many times we have to get him down off the dining room table!

As for scrapbooking...
I've joined a couple of new creative teams. Yeah! Check out the new blinkies on the side!

I'm also super excited about being part of the new Scrapquick store!
It opens on April 2nd so I can't send out a link yet. Here's a little ad about the new store.

I've also got a couple of new layouts to share!

I still can't believe I actually posted this picture of my 80s self but Oh well!

I did a little "scrap therapy" with this one. I think it's important to scrap not only the good happy moments in our lives but also the real moments.

Love these pics of Hayden!

Here's a double layout of my "little spot"

Hayden has started signing! So cute.

Oh I love this picture that Ro drew!

Well that's it for today! Hope everyone has a good one.

2007-03-06T05:53:00.000-08:00

Things have been a bit quiet around here and it is a welcome relief. We had a fun weekend catching up with our small group from church and spending some time at a family birthday party on Sunday. I also got to do some shopping at the annual JBF Sale. I love this sale and I consign and shop at it every year.
http://www.jbfsale.com

I got a ton of really nice clothes for Hayden and a few fun things for Roland too. The biggest hits were the Yoda T-shirt, Batman pjs, and 2 bionicles. I was so thrilled to find the Bionicles for $2 each. They are normally $10 at Walmart so this was a great find!

Roland seems to be in better spirits the past few days too. Yeah. He was full of funny and wise comments yesterday. Here's a little conversation we had driving home from school.

Roland: "Mommy when I grow up I want to fly"
Me: "Oh you mean like fly airplanes"
Roland: "No - I want to fly"
Me: "Oh - how are you going to do that? With a jetpack or just flap your arms real fast?"
Roland: "Mommy - I can't fly by myself - I'll have to use a jetpack - but it will be invisible - so it will look like I'm flying by myself"

There is no box for Roland to think in. I can't wait to see what he creates some day.

It was pretty funny at dinner last night too. We were in a hurry to eat so Justin just prayed very quickly and kind of silly like. Roland looks at him and says "Daddy that is not how we talk to God!". Oops! So we immediately bowed our heads and said a real prayer!

The chore chart is also working really well. He had earned 25 marbles since we started and he used them last night to "buy" one of the Bionicles I found for him at the JBF Sale. When he earns another 25 marbles he will get the next one. Oh I love that we have found a way to teach him to earn things!

On the scrapbooking front, I've done a couple of layouts sice my last post.

This was was made using the new Spring Collection kit at The Lily Pad. I absolutely love the little frogs.

I created this one using Dani's new Rainy Days Kit. Isn't Hayden adorable in these pictures. :)

Credits Here: http://www.digishoptalk.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=83217

That's it for today! Hope you have a wonderful day.

Yeah!!! it's March

2007-03-01T21:17:00.000-08:00

Can I just say that I am so glad February is over!!

On top of the hospital visit for Hayden and the flu bug that attacked our house - we also got the HORRIBLE stomach bug that has been going around. Hayden had it first - up all night vomitting, then Justin came down with it a few days later. That night both me and Roland got it. Oh it was awful and I am so glad it's over. I have to give a shout out to Justin's parents for being such great grandparents. The night I got sick we asked if Roland could spend the night at their place because I knew we wouldn't be able to take care of him with Justin and I feeling so bad. At the time we thought he was healthy. :) Well the bug attacked him that night and they took care of him through the whole thing. I have to say that this was actually a God thing though becuase there is no way Justin or I could have helped him that night. Well I'm glad it's over and we are all finally starting to get back to normal.

On the scrapbooking front I've actually been able to get a few layouts done during all of this craziness. I hate to post this many at once but I've got to get caught up. LOL!

Here's one I did as an ode to my favorite indulgence - Chocolate!

Credits here http://http://www.digishoptalk.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=72256&cat=all&ppuser=1181

Next is a layout I did for Amy of sweet little Beth. I had to scrap something girly for one of my CTs and Amy was sweet enough to share one of her cute pictures. I love how this turned out.

Credits here http://http://www.digishoptalk.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=73053&cat=all&ppuser=1181

Then I did one using one of the awesome photos Justin took using our new camera.

Credits here http://http://www.digishoptalk.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=74860&cat=all&ppuser=1181

Let's see.... next is one of my favorite layouts ever - I just love these pictures of Hayden and this kit of Dani's was perfect for them.

Credits here http://www.digishoptalk.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=75709&cat=all&ppuser=1181

Then I did a layout about my good friend Erika. I LOVE this picture of us.

Credits here http://http://www.digishoptalk.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=76435&cat=all&ppuser=1181

Then I got to use this really fun kit of Jen's.

Credits here http://http://www.digishoptalk.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=80942&cat=all&ppuser=1181

Last but not least I want to share a little hybrid project I worked on today. I have been trying to find a Chore Chart system that would actually work for Roland. I found this idea on the Supernanny website and loved it. He gets to move the cards into the "I Did It" pocket as he does his chores throughout the day. At the end of the day we count up how many cards he did and he gets a marble for each one. Then he can "cash in" his marbles for either money or other reward (going to the movies, etc.) at the end of the week. This was really fun to put together and I am amazed at Roland's response. He is so excited about it and keeps asking if he can do more chores. Seriously - this is awesome.

Well that's it for today! Hopefully I'll be a little better at posting this month. :)

Welcome to the House of Flu

2007-02-16T09:32:00.000-08:00

Well, it has been quite a week , actually it's been quite the two weeks! Let's see where to start...
Last Sunday Hayden found a piece of an Electrasol dishwasher tablet on the ground and thought it was a piece of candy. Justin found half of it still in his mouth and immediately called poison control. They recommened going to the ER who then recommended that he be observed overnight in the hospital because of the caustic level of the tablet. It was an 11 on the PH scale. He ended up having to have a GI scope done to rule out any damage to his tummy. Everything was fine and we ended up getting to go home the next day.

So the week goes on and we're starting to get back into the swing of things when Roland comes down with a fever on Friday. Several of his friends at school have been sick with a virus so we don't really worry to much about it. He runs a fever all weekend and finally things start to get really bad Monday night. We hear him up in his room laughing hysterically at 1am. Justin asks him whats going on and he tells us about all of the silly things he is seeing in his room. We figure out that he is hallucinating and he feels really hot. So I take his temp (104.2). Hmmm. We get him up and try to get him coherent and he can barely walk. We decide it's best to take him to the ER because he is just acting so strangely. Boy am I glad we did! When we got there he had a fever of 106.2. The triage nurse immediately gave him a bunch of tylenol and got him into a bed. They did a flu test and lo and behold - he is positive. We get his fever down and we come home. Well, when we get home Hayden is now up and he is also running a fever. His fever got up to 104 at one point, but we got him on Tamiflu early on so he is handling the flu much better than Roland.

Wednesday I started feeling really crummy - body aches, nausea, etc. So I went to the urgent care clinic up the street and got tested. Yep - now I've got the flu. Ugh! What's crazy is that we all got the flu shot! I guess we are in that 10 - 20% that it doesn't work for.

So, that's our crazy past two weeks. Lots of doctors, prescriptions, Kleenex and TLC. Here are a few pictures of the boys that I took- and no you may not see a picture of me with the flu. :)

2007-02-02T09:45:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post to share some digiscrappin news

First off I have to share Trish Jones February Newsletter. I did a journal article in it about Justin and I. I just love the layout for it.

You can sign up to download it here

http://visitor.constantcontact.com/email.jsp?m=1101519494659

My friend Audrey is also having a fun contest right now. Here's all of the info

Do you love word art? Would you love a chance to have your favorite quotes turned into great handwritten word art just for you? Then read on!!!!!!

beginning: Friday, Feb. 2

ending: Tuesday, Feb. 13 (12:00 CST)

winners announced: Wednesday, Feb. 14

To enter: Create a layout using a quote from one of my Wordart packs (any pack, any quote). Post your layout to any gallery and add your link to the comments section on my blog. You may enter as many times as you wish, but each layout has to use a different quote. Layouts may be any size and may use any other designer's work that you wish. My creative team will judge the entries. Prizes: 1st place: a $15.00 gift certificate to my store and your own personalized word art pack, containing 6 quotes of your choice 2nd place: a $10.00 gift certificate to my store 3rd place: a $5.00 gift certficate to my store

Make sure to link your designs to my blog entry entitled "it's contest time!"(http://audreyneal.com/blog/?p=19)I can't wait to see everyone's wonderful entries!!! Thanks so much!!!!

and last but not least I want to share my latest layout. I love this picture of the boys!

2007-01-31T20:13:00.000-08:00

Here's a new layout I did for Roland's birthday. I can't believe how fast he's growing up. You can click on the picture if you want to be able to read it. :)

Hayden and I are still feeling pretty cruddy. I think he has an ear infection because he just cried all day and couldn't sleep. I just look like Rudolph with my bright red nose. LOL!

I also found out that I made Audrey Neal's CT team. I am so excited because I just love her designs and her store (the-lilypad) is awesome. You can check out her stuff here

http://www.the-lilypad.com/digitaldesigner.aspx?mid=26

That's about all that's going on around here - just wanted to give everyone a little update for today.

We've got a bug

2007-01-29T15:09:00.000-08:00

Well I noticed that Hayden was running a bit of a fever yesterday. Today he woke up with 102 fever so I had to stay home with him. I'm actually glad I did because I have been feeling myself getting worse throughout the day. I can barely hold my head up at this point so I'm headed to bed. I just wanted to share a couple of layouts before I do.

Justin took these pictures of Hayden and I just love them.

and here is a layout I did for the Amazing Race challenge. We were supposed to create something digitally that could be used to decorate our house. I made this layout, framed it and put it in Roland's room on his nightstand. He actually really likes it.

2007-01-27T17:28:00.000-08:00

Wow - I can't believe how long it has been since I posted on here. Sorry! Things have been very up and down around here lately and several balls have been dropped if you know what I mean. :)

We had Roland & Lucy's family birthday party this afternoon and it was so fun. They were both in great moods and it was nice and relaxing. Yeah! Here are some pictures I thought you would enjoy

Here are the cakes - Roland had an aircraft carrier cake after a VERY failed attempt at making an airplane cake. LOL!

Lucy had the cutest Mickey Mouse cake.

I love this picture of Lucy blowing out her candles with the drool spilling over the cake. Priceless!

I thought this was a great shot of the two of them having their cake feast at the table together.

and last but not least I have to show you the Star Wars indoctrination of Roland. If you look close you can see the label that Uncle Wes added that reads "The Han Shot First Playset". Oh it is so sad that we have to pass our nerd knowledge on to our kids, but I don't really have a choice in the matter. LOL!

Well there you go - lots of Birthday pictures. We have a few more but they are on the cell phone and I haven't figured out how to get them onto the computer yet. Technology is such a wonderful and awful thing. :)

That's all for today and hopefully things are calming down a bit around here and I'll be able to post more often. So until then....

Snow Snow and more Snow

2006-12-01T20:38:00.000-08:00

Wow - the last few days (weeks) have been a blur. Thanksgiving went by so quickly, but we had a wonderful time visiting and spending time with family. The last few days have been out of sync because of the weather. We had a major snowstorm blow through Wednesday night. I thought I was going to go crazy being stuck inside the house with the boys for 3 days. Of course the snow is beautiful and Roland had so much fun playing in it with Justin. I managed to brave the road this afternoon and it felt really good to just get out. Well, here are a couple of new layouts and some fun pics of Ro in the snow.

During our car trip to Dallas I looked in the backseat and saw the boys holding hands. It was so sweet. I just had to scrap this picture.

This is just some silly pics of Hayden we got the other day. Yes - we have a new game!

These are a couple of pages I did as a RAK (Random Act of Kindness) for a little promotion we're working on for Trish Jones. My friend Amy was so sweet to let me use pictures of her little girl. It was so fun to get to do a girly page.

Well, I think that's about it for now. Have a good one!

What a fun day

2006-11-16T10:18:00.000-08:00

So many things have happened today in my scrapbook world. First of all I just found out that I was accepted as part of Trish Jones' newsletter team. She has amazing stuff!

http://www.trishjdesigns.com/emporium/

I also received previews of two new kits that I get to work with. This one is from Marcie Reckinger.

and here is Jen Beschinski's new kit.

All of these ladies are amazing designers and I am so honered to work for them. :)

I also saw this ad and can't wait to go shopping. WooHoo!

On the home front - Hayden has been amazing me lately. I really think he is trying to talk to me. He's only 13 months old but I am amazed at his ability to communicate. Yesterday I asked him if he wanted a bottle and he said "Yeah". Today when he was done eating he started blowing me kisses and saying "Done". Too cute. I'm also amazed at his musical abilities. We were listening to the radio and he went over to his toy box and picked up two sticks and started banging them together. He totally knew what he was looking for in the box and was so excited when he started banging to the music. Roland is doing so much better. He is still really tired though. Last night he fell asleep eating dinner at 6:30. I don't remember the last time he went to bed so early. :)

Well - that's it for today. - Angie

A little update and a few new layouts –

2006-11-14T12:02:00.000-08:00

First of all I have to say Happy Birthday to my sweet MIL! I hope you’re having a good one!

Things have been a little crazy this last week. We took Ro took the doctor on Friday because he’d had a cough for the past few days. Thank goodness we have an awesome pediatrician. He noticed that Ro was breathing a little funny and decided to do a chest x-ray. We find out he has pneumonia. I felt like the worst mother in the world. I had no idea he was so sick. Of course I was totally panicked but the doc said we just needed to put him on some antibiotics and let him get lots of rest. Poor Roland was so bored this weekend. He was literally climbing the walls on Sunday. So it was a good thing the fever broke and he was able to go back to school on Monday. Now we’ve just got to get Hayden over this latest round of cutting teeth and we’ll be a happy family again. :)

Well – onto the layouts – here are a few I’ve gotten done this week. I love the one of the cousins. We were all cracking up when we tried to take these pics.

Credits at http://www.digishoptalk.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=41044&cat=500&ppuser=1181

credits are at the link below. I think the picture looks a little better at DST too.
http://www.digishoptalk.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=41890&cat=500&ppuser=1181

One of my favorite layouts - Why?

2006-11-07T06:54:00.000-08:00

I really like how this layout turned out. I noticed a challenge at Designerdigitals that had the fun question marks and why? word art. I knew exactly what quote to use. :) The picture is one of Brad Church's and I just love the expression on Ro's face. I also started a quote book for Roland this weekend. I'll post pictures later but I just had to have a place to record all of the funny things he has been saying lately. Have a good day!

all of the credits can be found here:
http://www.digishoptalk.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=39185&cat=500&ppuser=1181

Woo Hoo!

2006-11-04T15:13:00.000-08:00

I finally got my blog updated today and I think I have recovered from strep throat. It's been a crazy week! I don't think I've had strep for like 20 years and I had forgotten how much it hurts. Man am I glad it's over. I guess the good thing is that it forced me to catch up on some sleep and slow down a bit. I have felt so bad watching my hubby take care of the kids and house for the past few days. He is definitely getting a day off tomorrow! Better go for now. - oh and here are a couple of layouts I got done this week. :)

An addicted dog and other stuff

2006-10-25T12:46:00.000-07:00

Justin told me about this story he heard on NPR yesterday. It is so funny. Basically a dog gets addicted to the poisonous frogs in the pond behind his house. If you get a few minutes check it out. You can replay it from this page.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6376594

Today is such a blah day. It is so overcast and rainy. It feels like we're in Seattle. I hate days like this because I just can't seem to wake up and get going. We had to today because Roland had therapy at 11:30. On the way home from therapy we stopped by the library and got some fun books. I found a couple of cool Simple Scrapbooks books that look amazing. They are the best of the year books from 2003 and 2004. Can't wait to dig through those puppies. Roland got his typical Star Wars sketch diagram book. I think this is for Episode II and it's about the ships. We are about to sit down and go through it. I never thought I would know SO much about Star Wars. :)

I'm excited about tonight. I am going to a new meal prep place. I found out a friend of our family's has started her own company. I have gone to a couple other places in town, Super Suppers and Dinner Market. It has been so nice to have quality meals each night without having to spend hours cooking when I get home on the days I work. I don't mind cooking on the days I'm off it's just too hard on work days. Anyway - I'm excited and I hope they are yummy.

Another layout and some Roland jokes

2006-10-23T18:35:00.000-07:00

Here is the layout I got done this weekend. The pictures are from 2004 but they still make me laugh. Roland just had to "clean up" the pumpkins.

Here is a link to all of the credits:
http://www.digishoptalk.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=33943&cat=500&ppuser=1181

Roland has been cracking us up lately with his silly jokes that he makes up. Tonight was great. Here they are:

What is a nose’s favorite dance? A booger
What is a dinosaur’s favorite dance? A rock – because they like rocks
What is a t-rex favorite dance? A meaty because he likes meat
What is a spaceship’s favorite dance? A space boogey
What is a rock’s favorite dance? A spaceship booger
Why did the frog cross the road? Because God told him he was naughty and he got hit by a car.

Hmmmm – I think we need to work on some grace theology tonight!

And the last funny thing Ro did tonight – as he was getting ready for bed he got a very sad look on his face and looked up at Justin with big puppy dog eyes and said “I really want a hermit crab”.

New Layout

2006-10-18T08:40:00.000-07:00

I got some really cute pictures of Hayden yesterday with his new specs. I scrapped one of them but decided the rest were too cute not to share too.

Today is going to be busy. Roland has Occupational Therapy at 11:30 and then he's getting his orthodics at 1:30. Sometimes I feel so wierd with my kids having so much medical stuff going on. But I know that I'm not a hypochondriac, I just want to make sure they get the best care possible. Hopefully they'll thank me some day. :)

Glasses for Hayden

2006-10-17T11:33:00.000-07:00

We got some interesting news about Hayden last week. I took him to the eye Dr a few months back to get a plugged tear duct looked at. While we were there he decided to go ahead and check Hayden's vision. He noticed then that he was very far sighted in one eye and extremely far sighted in the other. He thought that Hayden's eyes would get better as he got a little older and told us to come back when he was one. Well, we went last week and found out that his eyes are not getting better, they are getting worse. The doc said we need to immediately put him in glasses so that he can have equal vision or he risks losing vision in the really bad eye. After I picked myself up off the floor :) we went next door and ordered the glasses. They are the cutest things I have ever seen but I don't know how we are going to keep them on him. It is definitely going to be a challenge.

Anyway - that's what we've been up to. Justin and I had a wonderful weekend away in San Francisco last weekend. His company put him up in an awesome hotel (the downtown Marriott). Oh I wish we could have stayed a week. :)

2006-10-11T14:16:00.000-07:00

Justin and I are always looking for and experiencing fractals in our lives. Fractals are seemingly random objects or events that become a pattern. This past week our fractal has been turtles.

On Friday evening Justin shows me this hysterical video about turtles … ummm… “reproducing”. You can watch it here and believe me it is worth the time. You might now want to play it in front of children unless you want to do some explaining if you know what I mean.

http://hedonistica.com/2006/09/turtle_sex.php

Then on Saturday morning Justin and Roland are out in the backyard mowing the lawn. Lo and behold a rather large turtle shows up in the corner of the yard. Roland is completely awe struck by this creature. The poor thing looks like it has had a VERY rough life. It’s shell is all distorted and he has a limp. Yes – a limp. If it wasn’t so sad it would be funny.

So, Roland decides that he wants to help the turtle and give him a safe place to live. We get a box and put some grass and the turtle in it and now we have to figure out what to feed him/her. I read online that the best thing you can feed them is veggies and pureed meat. We just happen to have several jars of leftover baby food meat in the cabinet so we are set.

The turtle is in heaven the first few hours but then he begins to try to climb his way out of the box. It’s sad enough that he has a limp but now he’s stretching his poor body as far as it will go to try to get out. We try to explain to Roland that the turtle is wild and that he wants to be free but Roland insists that the turtle wants to stay with us. We compromise and let him stay for 4 days. Why 4 days? I don’t know - it’s just where the compromise happened.

So, everyday Roland gets up to feed the turtle and check on him. But after a couple of days the thing really starts to stink. He smells like mud and baby food ham. Roland is extremely sensitive to smell so it is hysterical to watch him with the turtle. He stands over the box holding his nose while he looks at him.So after 4 days we put the turtle in a bucket and take a walk down to the park. We say goodbye and release the poor little limping turtle into a creek. He disappears within a couple of minutes and all is good. Of course now Roland is focused on having a pet and won’t stop talking about it. We are thinking about getting a hermit crab because they’re easy and they don’t smell.

So all in all it was a good experience for all of us and I can’t help but wonder if we’ll ever see our turtle friend again.

Test

2006-09-30T10:33:00.000-07:00

This is a test post to check to see if comments are working.

Been a While

2006-09-30T08:23:00.000-07:00

Well I finally got my page set up the way I wanted it. I've had a blog at myspace for awhile but I like blogger better so I'm switching. I found the coolest site last night for blogskins. Really neat stuff. (http://www.blogskins.com/sotd/2006/09)

that's where I found the oh so chic template that I'm using. As usual it took me 2 hours to decide which one I wanted to use. I am so indecisive and OCD sometimes. Everything has to be perfect. :)

Today's going to be busy. We have small group tonight and I have to lead the devotional and bring the main dish. Thank goodness I went to Super Suppers the other night so I have a yummy Turkey Swiss braid in the freezer all ready to go.

I have to share some exciting news too! I am now on Marcie Reckinger's creative team. I applied because I love her templates and I have recently become very addicted to using them. Because I'm creating so many pages lately I've begun to lose some creativity in the actual design of the pages, so templates have really been helping. I am so blessed to be working for so many talented and wonderful women. I am so surprised and overwhelmed by the friendships I have made in just the past few months with these creative teams. I always knew that scrapbooking was more than a hobby for me. It really is a way of life, of preserving our memories and sharing our ups and downs so that we can help others. That's why I'm so happy to have found a group of women that I can do that with. It has just been awesome.

Well enough ramblings, time to get dressed (snicker) and get to work around here.

Angie

First Post

2006-05-13T19:43:00.000-07:00

Well, here we go! We're blogging now. On a fairly regular basis you will be able to see updates on how Angie, Justin, Roland and Hayden are doing _***

Justin here, Angie's making me do this. I'm sure she's right and all, but I'm still paranoid about having my name on the "internets".

Back to Angie...

ANYWAY - we're (I'm) hoping to have fairly regular posts with fun pictures and stories about the kids and us. I'm even hoping to upload some of my new digital scrapbook pages. :^))))

Okie Dokie - here we go!