Mini Book Complete...I think

Well the class was last night and I think it went well, especially considering the chaos that went on in the house in the hours preceding the class. I got up in the morning expecting to get the kids off to school and Ty off to work then I was going to finish cleaning up the kitchen (we had class at the church last night so we had dinner dishes and pots and such in the sink and on the countertops). I went to unload the dishwasher and the dishes hadn't finished washing. The little light on it was flashing and couldn't figure out why. To make a long story a bit shorter, the washer wasn't working either and I figured out it wasn't the appliances out to get me it was the water! Well we rang the owners and he came by, figured it was the front tank out of water, turned the water and compressor thingy (technical word, honest) off in the garage and said to leave it so that the tank could fill. He left. I'm pondering this and thinking it doesn't makes sense as we have an excess tank in the back and it was completely filled. Is that not the reason for this tank? Well Ty rang the owner again and they discussed it further, all of us scratching our heads because it just didn't seem right. To make matters even worse, in cleaning up the entry way, of the house, I went to pick up a rain jacket that had fallen off it's hook and when I did I discovered the dog had decided she didn't need grass to pee on, the coat would do fine. No idea why...but seeing how it was a 'waterproof'' jacket when I picked it up, not knowing it had been peed on, well lets just say it went everywhere. I put the coat and 2 backpacks, a cap and another little bag in the bathtub because I can't wash them, I don't have any water! So now, I have a very clean floof in the entry way, added bonus, but a bathroom that smells terribly of dog pee, washing to do and a kitchen full of dishes to wash as well. Needless to say, I was past the point of frustration at this point! Well later on, as Ty is driving Dagan home from school he asked him if, when he was playing outside yesterday, did you do anything around the back of the garage near the big black tank? "YEP" he says, "I turned a little red 'wheel' " Oh, says Ty. So when he got home, sure enough, the 'wheel' he had turned, had turned the water partially off to the house! Since it was partially off, the dishwasher and washing machine weren't getting enough water to run their cycles which is why they were turning off! Simple solution to fix, thankfully!!! It was a rather stressful morning trying to clean up the house and no water but we laughed about it in the end. Dagan was very sorry and had no idea that would happen and actually felt terrible about it. His little face was priceless when he was told that I had no water all morning! Poor guy! He was just being a boy, as they say...and I got the washing started and my dishes done before the class so that made me happy too!

Now back to the crafting subject.....The ladies seemed to like the book and didn't appear to struggle creating it...which is great because I think I struggled enough for everyone! My brain had a hard time with this project for some reason...not sure if it is just mushy preggo brain or that I was out of practice or what it was but no matter the reason, I still had a hard time! Ok enough of that, regardless of how I got there, I ended up happy with the result...so here is the whole book in all its glory (ok maybe not but here it is anyway)

I adore this picture of Austyn, don't remember now whose camera it was from but the look of amazment on her face is priceless!

I think I'm finished with it now...some pages still look like they are missing something but I don't know what so I'm stopping for now. I'm still wrecked from the class last night...my back is still sore! Kinda sad when crafting makes you hurt so much.....

Thanks for looking...

Finally crafting again!

It's been ages since I sat down and actually 'crafted' anything. After we moved I offically got a Scrapbook Room and it was nearly 2 months later that I got it cleared out and it looked like something more than a storage unit. Well there are still a few boxes in it but I have shelves up and my desk put in place and most of my crafting stuff is somewhat out of boxes, it isn't organised yet but its getting there. I scheduled a class to teach on Monday so after Austyn's birthday party last weekend, I got busy on getting a mini-book created for the class. The book spells TRAVEL and the papers I used were ones that I found at a scrapbook shop in Kansas when we were home a year ago. They were being clearanced out so I couldn't get the amount of each page that I would normally get but I got what they had and made it work. Well I could tell that I was out of practice as my brain really had to think with this book....I guess that could be a little from the pregnancy too, my brain always seems to go to mush when I'm expecting.....either way it took a lot of brain cells to kick in to gear to get this silly book completed but I finally did and I'm happy with the result. I will print out pictures this weekend and add those along with some finishing touches around the photos, then it will be completed...class is monday so I better get busy! Here's just a peek at the front of the book...I'll add some more pics when I get the book completed (probably after the class though)......stay tuned! TFL

Birthday...Baby....& Back 2 School....

We've had so much going on lately, it seems. Austyn turned 6 on Saturday and we had a special day with her, it started with a 7am breakfast of homemade cinnamon rolls and a couple presents! Then after Ty got home from work we went to the Leisure Centre for some video games & bowling. After Austyn beat us all at bowling we had a lovely dinner at a new Italian place in town! It was a nice family day and wonderful way to wind down the summer. (we'll be doing a birthday party with her friends from school in a couple weeks...so watch this space for those pictures too)

School started on Monday and our house was a buzz of excitement! It is so nice for me to listen to the kids' nervous energy as they got ready for their first day! They were genuinely happy to be going back to see their friends and find out who their teachers were going to be this year. When we got to school, all three kids ended up in the same classrooms they were in last year and the girls actually had the same teachers too! That was a surprise for all of us. But, at the end of the day when we picked them up the two girls' classes had actually been rearranged and Austyn now has Emma's teacher from last year and Emma (and Dagan) have new teachers to the school this year. It was a wonderful change for the girls though as all their friends from the last 2 years were in the new classes so they are still together! Needless to say they were VERY excited about that. Dagan still goes home at 2 and when I picked him up, I think he was a little overwhelmed with the day, he didn't say much.....which is SO unlike him! haha He just said, yes it was a good day, yes I like my teacher, I had fun....all very short and direct responses. He fell asleep later in the car so I think it was tiring on him...

Also, last week, we took the kids to a doctor appointment where they got to hear the baby's heart beat! Their faces were fantastic...their little eyes were huge and they grinned from ear to ear when they heard it. The doctor was great, very good with kids, she explained everything she was doing and why she was doing it....what position the baby was in, how big 'it' was etc...they were delighted. Before church last week Ty took this picture of me and my little 'bump'...I was about 23 1/2 weeks or so in the picture.


I have my next appointment at the hospital with the OB on 6th October. The kids are going with us then also and we should be getting a scan so they will be able to actually see what the baby looks like in there and if the baby cooperates we'll find out if we're having a boy or girl. Cross fingers he/she is in a good position and not camera shy!

Ok....well that's all for now....back soon with more pictures and updates on the baby's progress.....

Half Way There...

Well today I am 20 weeks along, so approximately 1/2 way to a new addition to our growing family! I've been feeling the little kicks for awhile now. Ty has felt a few but the kids have been chomping at the bit to be able to feel the little guy or girl. There are some kicks that are hard enough to be felt from the outside but I never know when it's going to happen and generally it's in the evening when I'm settled and the house is quiet. Well anyway, today at lunch I was getting poked and punched pretty good and Austyn happened to be sitting next to me so I told her to come to me very quietly, she was so cute tiptoeing to me. She placed her hand on my belly and stood there for several minutes, not saying a word. She has been the one that has been the most anxious to feel it. Well her patience paid off just when I was about to say we'll try again later, the baby really punched hard and she felt a tiny little movement. Her face lit up, she was so excited! And, she was very proud of herself that she was the first one to feel it!!! It made me very happy that she was able to witness such an amazing thing. Hopefully the kicks/punches/pushes will be getting a little more consistant and the rest of the kiddos will be able to feel the baby too. We have a scan scheduled for the beginning of October and we are hoping to bring the kids with us just so they can actually 'see' whats making my belly so big..hahaha We haven't decided yet if we will find out boy or girl yet but either way it will help the kids feel like they are more involved.

Well that's all on the baby front and honestly not much else is going on. Wow that's kinda sad. Its summer in Ireland so I can see the sun just peeking out behind a massive rain cloud...we'll have to wait to see who wins! Its been a nice summer really so far. We've had several days in a row of sun and then a couple of rain then it will be sunny again so really can't complain too much. The kids have had fun playing outside when they can and all in all are getting along a lot better than I had thought they might. We took Emma's stablizers (training wheels) off a couple weeks ago and she's doing fantastic. She has fallen a couple times but didn't give up (like I did), she kept trying and now is doing great. Austyn has tried a couple times but needs to get a bit stronger, and more confident. I think she could do it but she still 'thinks' its too hard. She was at a friends house yesterday and she was riding without them so that will help I think, she was asking us last night could we take them off again and let her try a few more times...of course it was pouring rain at the time so we said she'd have to wait. Maybe when Ty gets home this evening they can try again, if the weather hold out.

Well that brings me to the end I think....not sure what else to say today.....life's alittle boring at the moment...just doing normal every day stuff every day so not much to report. One of these days I promise to get some more pictures up so you all can see how much the kids have grown...and maybe me too!

Remember When............

Where have the years gone? Its funny sometimes I hear a song or find an old birthday or Valentine's card or something and it triggers not only the memory of the day but sometimes there's so much more attached to the memory, like where we were, what we did to celebrate, if I was pregnant or not (ok that one's a bit sad), who was with us or where we were living. Its fun to remeber things like that, sometimes....other times it can make me a little sad. Well the other day it was a song rather than a card that triggered my brain. We took the kids down to a cave last Saturday and on the drive we put the iPod on and listened to some music. We played random songs for a while, whatever the kids called out from the back but then we found our way to an old album of Alan Jackson's and a song called Remember When played. He wrote the song of course about his life, recalling all he had done, both the good and the bad and that it takes both to bring us to where we are now. Well it got me thinking about how far we have come in such a short time. Its hard to believe our first 'baby' is 7 1/2 and will be starting 2nd class (grade) when school starts back again, how did that happen? Ty and I celebrated 11 years married this month and again the same question comes back to me, how did that much time pass already? It still is so vivid when we met...ok maybe not the night we met but our first few dates anyway. It seems like such a short time ago that we got engaged and mom and I picked out my dress and we stuffed and addressed envelopes for the wedding, how could it have been 11 years ago? We've done a lot in these 11 years, we moved, what seemed like, very far away from our family to a city where we knew almost no one then 8 years later had made some of the best friends we could have ever made! Then we really moved far away from family and friends this time and again have made some very good friends in a relatively short amount of time. It's amazing how things work out. We went thru such a trial leaving CO but it brought us 1/2 way around the world, something we had only talked & dreamed about before! And now we've already been here over 2 years, our 3 kids are in school everyday and now have another one the way! I can only guess where we will have been lead 5 years from now, only time will tell!!!!

We're gonna have a Christmas Baby!!!

Went last week for an ultrasound and found out we have a due date of 23 December which puts me almost 16 weeks along now. That was really good to hear, since we weren't sure of dates, even though it is just an estimate, it's still nice to have some type of an idea of when to expect the new little one. It was also good to 'see' him/her moving around in there and swatting at the doctor that was pushing in on my stomach/his or her little home. We got a great view of the perfect little spine and the doctor took measurements of the abdomen, head and length but that's about it because the baby would roll over off his/her stomach. I go back in October so maybe we can see more then. Not sure if we will find out the sex yet or not. I am doing ok, still feeling pretty yuky in the afternoon/evenings but I keep trying to convince myself it is getting better. I hope it is and that I don't have to have this through the entire pregnancy. All in all though really I don't have much to complain about, we are both healthy and that is a huge blessing!!! While laying down to try to rest today I think I might have felt a little flutter, can't be certain but it made me smile none the less!!! It's such a cool feeling!!

Let's see we've had so much going on, we moved houses (and with that lost our fast internet connection and now have dial up again) and my dad and step-mom came over for a visit. They stayed about 2 weeks and we all had a really nice visit! I think we spent of the time that they were here in the car...I'm pretty sure we drove all over Ireland...or so it seemed. They got to be here for the Girls' dance recital too which was HUGE to them!! They were so excited to have their grandma and grandad here for they're big nights. The recital was a great success which is especially amazing considering the chaos of the rehearsals. Thankfully everything went smoothly and most importantly that everyone had a great time! Of course we had the greatest, cutest and most wonderful dancers in the show! Obviously!!! ;o) We don't have any video (weren't allowed) but do have some pics...but will have to upload those at the office later.

Ok....so I think that's about it for now....more later