Summertime...

Sunny days

Sun dresses

Watermelon dripping down her chin

Sweet summertime.

Why do I scrapbook?

I've been asked many times why I scrapbook. Why do I take perfectly good photos and cut them? Why do I spend whole Saturdays once every month or so sitting in a store piecing together things that I've just cut apart.

One reason is that I get to spend time with my friends while I'm scrapbooking. This is Jenny. She and I spent part of the day today scrapbooking. I have other friends (Betty, Tammarie, Denise, and Diana) that I scrapbook with also. Being busy mothers, there is seldom time when we can just sit and chat. Most of the time, there are many other things that need to be done. When we're scrapbooking, we can get caught up on each other's lives while we are accomplishing something. It's a great way to spend time with friends, getting to know them even better.

Who can resist all of these colors? I love to look at a photo and try to find papers that will enhance the photo. It's easy to overdue a page, to overpower the photo. I like to have very simple pages so that the main focus are the photos.

Once you've chosen the photos, there is an amazing variety of embelishments you can add. Some pages have just paper...some have brads, buttons, ribbon, stickers, die cuts, flowers...

...and some pages are lucky enough to have a little "bling."

I made an entire 8 x 8 album today of our family photo shoot. Kyla did such a wonderful job on the photos; I wanted the pages to be simple in order for the photos to be the focus.

Because I go scrapbooking just once a month, I'm usually due for a little "break" from the kids. What I love about scrapbooking is that most of the time, I'm scrapbooking photos of the kids. So, even though I'm enjoying a little time away, the kids and Bob are foremost on my mind. I find that, when I get home, I appreciate them all even more and look forward to another month of quality time. All of that quality time gives me lots of opportunity to take more photos...so I can scrapbook them. See...it's an endless circle! :)
I love it when I get home and either Bob or the kids ask to see the pages that I've worked on.

Every once in a while, one of us will pull a scrapbook off the shelf and look at it. Usually, one of the kids is called over to look at a photo of themselves. Then, another comes off the shelf and then another...until there's a mountain of memories piled on the living room floor.

For me, scrapbooking is a wonderful way to remember the past...to put a feeling with the photos, to record the memories of a special occasion or to document just how much fun running through the sprinkler can be. I'm so lucky because I have a husband who encourages my hobby...who wants me to have a little time to myself, to give me a chance to get a little bit of my sanity back. :)

That's why I scrapbook.

Zerbits and Angel Kisses

At the end of a long, hard day (i.e. packing, "fighting" with Ryan for six hours to get him to write one page in his summer journal, packing some more), all I want to do is crawl into my cozy bed (it was cold and wet here today), curl up with my book and escape to Blossom Street (Debbie Macomber). Just the thought is so tantalizing...but then I hear something. Could it be? Yes it is. Two little voices (one not so little anymore) saying "I want my Mommy!" You see, we have our bedtime rituals that we have to go through each night.

First, I head to Emma's room. We curl up in her new twin-size bed with her "Bedtime Treasury" book. Tonight, she picked the story of the chicken with three very lazy friends who couldn't be convinced to help make the bread but were very ready to help eat the bread. They, as it should be, ended up watching the chicken and her little chicks eat the bread as they had none. After the story, the thumb goes in the mouth. Emma has learned that the story stops if the thumb is in her mouth. Once the thumb is properly inserted, we sing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star." Then, she gets to pick a meeting song. With Emma, it's always either #1 or #2. Tonight, she picked "More About Jesus." Our last song is always the books of the New Testament. Sometimes, her little soft hand covers my mouth as she informs me that she wants to sing it "all my myself." Finally, we read a short story in her Bible and pray. She's added a new part to her bedtime routine. After I pray with her, she gets on her knees at the side of her bed and informs me that she's going to pray to "God, who is Lord." She then proceeds to tell God a story about one of her favorite Princesses, ending with "we ask this in Jesus' name, Amen." Then, it's back into her bed and time to tuck her in. We exchange the normal hugs and kisses, then there's a few butterfly kisses, an eskimo kiss, an "ooh, ooh" hug (courtesy of Nana), and lastly one more normal kiss. Finally, an "I love you" and a "good night" and the lights are out.

Then, I head next door. Ryan (usually) has been laying in his bed looking at a book. I read a chapter to him from whatever book he's reading. He's part way through "My Side of the Mountain," so we read a chapter in that tonight. We talk a little about his day. Then, we sing a song. Lately, he's been picking his favorite song, #29, "God's Word is So Pure." Then, I listen as he prays. A quick kiss and hug, an "I Love You" and lights off.

How could I pass that up? How could I choose a fictional story over the one that's my reality? I love these moments with the kids. I know that they won't last forever. Ryan's bedtime ritual is already shorter...pretty soon, I might not even get the quick hug and kiss. So, I've gotta treasure them while I can.

It makes me remember the first book that Mom bought me when I was pregnant with Ryan, "I'll Love You Forever." The last pages where the elderly Mom sneaks into her grown son's room to hold his as he sleeps tears me up. Then, when the son sneaks into his Mom's room and rocks her...then goes home to his own child and starts the ritual with his child...so sweet. I love the line "I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living, my baby you'll be." How can we not treasure these days?

So, tomorrow, after I've spent most the day packing and arranging our move, I'll look forward to those last minutes of the day with the kids...to know that the last moments of their day were spent thinking of God, family and hearing that they were loved.

Pondering...

This past week, I've spent some time thinking about the passage of time. At the beginning of June, our family was in the same place it has been for the past ten years...just plugging along in Western Oregon. Now, near the end of July, our house is half-way packed up, the memories are off of the walls and inside boxes, and I'm trying to figure out what items I want to take the time to pack...transport...and then unpack again, and which ones can simply spend some time at Goodwill before another family takes them home. It's amazing to me how quickly life can change.

There used to be a commercial on the radio for a gas company. The final line of the ad was "Life happens between empty and full." It spoke about all that you can do with a tank of gas. It always bugged me...to me is seems like all that happened between empty and full was watching the dollars drain out of my checking account as I sat at the gas station. If that's life, I'd say "No, thank you!" But, oh, think of all that can happen between full and empty. Because that's really all we have...what we do between full and empty, start and finish, "You're attention, please" and "This is your final call." It's the every day things that count...how we choose to spend our time, what we choose to spend our time on, who we choose to spend our time with.

Bob has given notice at his current job. He started there just after we got married in 1998. He has thoroughly enjoyed the work, the co-workers and the firm. But, he's made the choice to move our family back "home." To be closer to so many family members, to be in a place where life just moves a little slower, where less time is spent on the freeway and more time is spent with the kids. We are sad to be leaving. We've made so many friends here. We'll think of them often, and we'll stay in touch. We'll come back to visit and we hope that we'll have lots of visitors, too. We'll miss our little meeting here, but look forward to getting to know those in our new meeting.

This week, time has meant many things to me. It meant trying to get as much done as quickly as possible. It meant planning a few fun things for the kids in between packing boxes. It meant making sure to stop, put the kids in my lap and spend some time studying. It meant spending time with some very important people before we leave. It meant trying to stop or cancel things here and get things started there. It meant making list after list in the hopes of not forgetting something. But, most of all, time meant trying my best to make each moment worthwhile for the good of our family.

What makes a great week...

Wondering how many more candles Mom can light before it sets off the fire alarm

Spending some time with another artist

The finished product

Telling Mom just how big a piece of cake I want

Looking at things from a different point of view

Trying to imagine how this 3 1/2 feet tall Thunderegg was formed and

marveling at the beauty within

Being thankful we'll never run into one of these!

Imagining what it would be like to come upon a nest of dinosaur eggs

and waiting...waiting...for whatever's inside to come out

Practicing a little team work

Spending some quality time with Mom...while she gets my hair ready for Bible Study

Hanging out with my best buddy Zack

Burning some rubber

Scooting along

Hanging out with Jordan

Family Photos

We found a turtle stuck in the mud...Ryan was very excited.
While Emma was picking flowers, an airplane flew over.

Gotta love the personality!

I love how our photos turned out. We've always had them done inside at a studio. It was great to have them outside on a beautiful summer evening. Kyla was able to get some great candids of the kids. Here are a few...after Kyla took out the "bad" ones, we still had 155 on our CD! I'll be mailing them out to the family as soon as I can get to Costco to place the order.

Boise Botanical Gardens

After our family pictures on Friday night (they're coming up!), Dad and Bob took the kids back to Mom and Dad's house. Mom and I stayed at Max and Amanda's (they were out of town). We were at the bookstore that evening until almost 11 p.m. I had plans to sleep in the next morning...no kids, no immediate responsibilities. However, the 6:40 Southwest flight traveling over the house woke me up. I went out to their back patio (their backyard is a beautiful golf course) and enjoyed a very peaceful cup of tea. Mom and I headed downtown for the Farmer's Market. On the way, we stopped at a coffee place for breakfast...discovered that Jon had the same plan for his morning. We ended up having breakfast with him (what a nice surprise!) and then enjoyed the market. It's not as big as ours, but still impressive. Then, Mom and I went to the Botanical Gardens. I had never been there. Mom spent quite a bit of time at the gardens while she was getting her horticulture degree. It was like having my own personal tour guide. We had a great time...what a beautiful place. If you're in Boise, I'd definately recommend spending some time there. After the Gardens, we rana few errands and then went back to the house. It was so nice to spend that time with just Mom and I. I knew that the kids were well taken care of and could just relax and enjoy some quite time with Mom. Thanks, Mom!

Adam, Jamee and Clara

Clara - almost one-year-old
Beautiful family


Ryan and his buddy, Adam