Story of a little girl and God's tender care...

This is my spunky little girl, Rachel. She is strong-willed and can be quite a stubborn thing, but then again, she can be quite a cutie, too, when she wants to be. My story is about her.

About 5 months ago, my little girl got a runny nose. It was clear and not bad. I didn't think too much about it. After several weeks it was no longer clear, but a dark tan, and her upper lip and outer nose had become red and irritated from the constant drip. You can see this a bit here in this photo. In addition, her little nose on the right side was so red and irritated on the inside. It even looked almost bloody and if it got bumped she would usually get a bloody nose and have a screaming fit. I also noticed that no matter how much we brushed her teeth, she had this nasty, rank breath.

So, I figured that she must have some wicked sinus infection and took her to see our family doctor. He agreed and prescribed an antibiotic. Rachel took it for 10 days and seemed all better. But within a day or two after the medicine was gone, the nasty nose started to come back. It wasn't long before it was just as bad as it was before. By this time, we were in the midst of the holiday season with Thanksgiving and preparing for Christmas, so I didn't get her back into the doctor right away. I guess, in my mind, I kept thinking this would clear up.

A couple weeks before Christmas I took Rachel back to see the doctor. He deduced that since the previous round of antibiotics seemed to clear things up, she probably just needed to be on them longer. So, he prescribed 3 weeks worth which we diligently administered. Rachel improved, but never got 100% better and as soon as she was done with the antibiotics, everything came right back.

Now, I was getting a bit more concerned. This had gone on for a very long time. I decided to take her to see an ear-nose-throat specialist. The day before her appointment, I was at my bible study with my good friends. I asked if we could pray for Rachel and her upcoming appointment. My friend, Kim, led the prayer and specifically prayed for God to give this doctor wisdom to know how to help Rachel.

So, we go to this new doctor, filling out all the necessary paperwork. I must have been asked 3 times if Rachel had had a CT scan done on her nose. I told them no, but concerned with what we were in for in trying to figure out this problem. The doctor came into the examining room, took one look at Rachel and clarified that all of her problems appeared to be just on the right side and said, "I think she probably has something up there." I was surprised at this thought, but she went on to explain that from her experience, when symptoms like this are just on one side, something is in the nose. She shined her light up there and said, "Yep, I am pretty sure there is something up there." She grabbed a long skinny pair of tweezers and immediately pulled out this huge, nasty, matted wad of something out of Rachel's nose. My jaw must have hit the floor. She placed it in her gloved hand to show me. It was about an inch and a half long and a half inch wide. She asked me if I recognized it. It looked like the polyester batting that I use to make stuffed creatures and dolls. I had been in the middle of sewing several stuffed projects about the time that Rachel's symptoms began. I was shocked! The doctor said she should clear right up now that that was out. I could not believe how quick and easy that was.

Later, after I had shared this with friends, my friend Chris said, "I guess our prayers were answered." That is when it hit me. That is exactly what happened. We prayed for the doctor to have wisdom and that is exactly what happened. God had directed us to the right doctor who had just the right experiences to know what was wrong and to take care of it easily. The doctor had the wisdom she needed. What a great God we serve!

Later, I asked Rachel if she remembered putting that stuffing up her nose. She simply nodded "yes." [Sigh] Unfortunately she is not a very good communicator and I never dreamed of asking her if she had stuffed something up her nose. She now appears to be on the mend. I can only imagine how much better she must feel!

So, that's my story about a little girl and a very big God who tenderly cares.

A Bit of Scrappin'

I've done a bit more scrapping recently. It is something I can sit and do when I am feeling tired, so I have gotten two pages done.

This one uses a picture I have shown off here on the blog on two other occasions. Can you tell that I really love it? When I saw this fun background by Julie Mead (Cottage Arts), I knew this would be a great photo to use. Extracting Abi on the swing out of the photo was a bit time consuming because of the chain and her wispy hair, but it was worth it. I am really pleased with how this came out. Credits for the page can be found here.

This other page a did a few days ago. It captures my littlest bringing me a flower which is a new thing that she has learned. It is just so sweet. Credits for this page can be found here.

I want to thank you all for the kind words and well wishes in response to my announcement. It is wonderful to have others excited with us about this new baby! My sister-in-law even wrote the sweetest entry on her blog. Not many people understand our conviction to leave our family planning up to God. I figure that I am only human and not always real smart, but HE is the creator of the entire universe, all-powerful, and all-knowing. I think He just might have a better idea of what is best for our family. ;-)

Several people have asked me about my due date. I haven't seen the doctor yet to get her official date, but according to an online due date calculator, we are looking at January 25th. I am in my 11th week. I'm experiencing the typical nausea and tiredness, but everything seems normal so far. Thanks for all your sweet words of encouragement!

Dandelion Dreams

Believe it or not, this is what our yard looked like last week. Of course, now, its not quite so pretty as all of these lovely dandelion flowers have gone to seed and I am looking at a weedy mess. I love dandelions. If only they would stay looking like they do here. My children think they are glorious. Someday after I no longer have to put so much effort into getting grass to actually grow everywhere in my 4 acre yard, we will probably spray to get rid of all the dandelions and clover. I'm sure the yard will look better overall, but I will miss photo opportunities like this one.

I know I have been quiet for about a week. I guess I just had too much on my plate to organize my thoughts into writing. I had shared that I was overwhelmed last week with Patrick's allergies. I am feeling less overwhelmed. The no dairy thing is really not fun. I keep running into things that he can not have. At first I thought it was helping with his tummy aches, but by the last half of the week, he was still having some. Some appeared to be food related because they were during or right after eating and some were after he had spent a night in bed which makes you think that they have to do with inhalent allergies. We will continue on the no dairy for one more week and I will be thoroughly cleaning his room (again).

We got a good amount of beautiful, fluffy snow last week and I got some photos of the kids outside. Rachel had not really experienced playing in the snow and she loved it. The scrapbook page here is of Abi. She, too, has always loved snow. After her broken leg incident last year she has an ice phobia, but her affection for snow has not been diminished. Credits and details about the page can be found here.

I have spent the last couple of day creating a video for our church's Upward Basketball nd Cheerleading Awards Ceremony. Sadly, after many hours of work, I was unable to burn it to a disk and share it. I was working on my old computer (because that is where all of my files are) and it just doesn't have enough memory. I threw together a pitiful slideshow of some of the photos I had in Windows Movie Maker and that is what got played at the Awards night last night. When I have time this week, I will transfer the files to the new computer and finish the video up. At least I will be able to post it on the church's website. [Sigh] Computers! Ya' love em' but you hate 'em! It was a frustrating experience. When I get it done, at least I will get to share it with you all.

[sigh]

I'm feeling a little overwhelmed...

Yesterday, I took my son for his check-up with the allergy doctor. Three years ago we began suspecting that Patrick had some serious allergies and we were worried that one of them was peanuts after a couple of reactions and hives. He had to go through allergy testing which was hard on him, but I think even harder on me. (See the scrapbook page above.)



Well, we found out that he is allergic to many inhalent/environmental things like dust, mold, pollen, grasses, animals, etc. In addition to this, he showed tendencies to being allergic to several foods. Strangely, though, peanuts came up negative, although he showed sensitivity to soybeans (another legume) and almonds. The doc told me it would be wise to just avoid nuts altogether to be safe. He also gave me an overwhelming list of things to do and clean around the house and put Patrick on medication to help control the allergies.



Unfortunately, all of this only seems to be helping a little and now Patrick is complaining of stomach aches daily as well as occasional bad headaches. I look at him with his dark circles under his eyes and get so sad. I worry that the tummy aches are due to a food allergy, but am stumped as to what it is. His diet is varied and his stomach aches come after eating lots of different types of food. The only thing I have truly seen is there was one really bad episode after he drank two glasses of chocolate milk at Applebees. The doctor feels that he could be having the tummy aches from either food, or from nasal drainage going into the tummy or a combo of both. So, he asked if I could remove all dairy from Patrick's diet for the next couple of weeks to see if it makes a difference. He also wants to give him another set of allergy tests. He was only 3 years old when he was tested before and got the infant test which isn't as extensive. And he is twice as old and things may have changed for better or worse in different areas. I think the doc wants to consider shots as a possible option and he would need a more current complete picture of what we are dealing with. BUT that means TWO separate visits for testing. Two times he has to have a back and arm full of holes and discomfort. Thankfully, he doesn't really remember when we did it before, but I do. :-(

So, I am feeling overwhelmed. Overwhelmed with the testing, overwhelmed and feeling like I should be cleaning and scrubbing my house more, overwhelmed with figuring out how to cook without dairy. When I said "Sure, we can take him off of milk." I wasn't thinking about all that involved: all cheese, butter, yogurt, cottage cheese, sour cream, ice cream, mac and cheese. Tonight I am making my famous Hot Dog Pie for a family that just had twins so naturally that is what we will be having for dinner, too. But Patrick can't have it because it is full of cheese. I told him I would make him some special pigs in a blanket instead.

Sorry, I am rambling on and on. I guess I just needed to vent. I am off to fix lunch for the kiddos. We have gotten a bunch of beautiful, white, fluffy snow and I plan to take the kids out in it after lunch.

14th Anniversary of Motherhood

It's hard to believe that it has been 14 years.
14 years since I held this girl as a tiny baby.
14 years since I became a mother.
It is 14 years that I am so thankful for!

Take note of this photo because it is a rare thing. Typically my daughter hides from the camera and I have shot after shot of her blurry hand or the back of her head. On this day, something special must have been in the air and she actually looked at me and half smiled. Note the new stylish hat she just bought and the wii controller in her hand. She is my teenager and I adore her! Happy Birthday Sweetie!

My Basketball Star

As promised, her is a page featuring my other basketball player, Anna. She is doing such a great job. She signed up to play basketball for the very first time last year. She didn't know the rules of the game, could barely dribble and shoot. This year she is like a new player! She is handling the ball, passing and shooting like she has been doing it for years. We are so proud of her progress! That center photo is of her making a basket.

You can see the credits for the page and read the handwritten journaling here.

Just Checking In

Sorry, I have been pretty absent from the computer lately and haven't checked in here. We are still alive and kicking. There is always plenty to keep us busy around our home.

Some of the things I am working on:

Breadmaking. I have become a baker. I never would have thought I could because I have made more loaves of brick bread over the course of my lifetime than I would care to admit. For the past several months, I have been honing my breadmaking skills and have adopted it as part of my daily routine. I could go on and on about this, but I will save it for another day. (Actually, I think I feel a scrapbook page coming on about this ;-)

Making bread has brought about a desire for more simple, healthy eating. I am not sure exactly where I am going to go with this. I want to move towards fewer processed ingredients, perhaps more organic and local ingredients. Of course, this means more cooking from scratch which takes time and planning. I think a lot of it is just a change in attitude and mindset. I am reading this book and it has make me think more about what we are eating, what is in it and where it comes from.

I am also reading up on how to make cheese. According to this site, you can make mozzerella cheese in only 30 minutes. Sounds fun!

I am also working on frugality and less clutter. The expenses for a family of 7 are not cheap and I am trying hard to give us more positive cash flow. Anywhere I can realistically cut, I am cutting. I am inspired by this woman who plans to take a year away from shopping and only buy needs and NO wants. I have been thinking more about each of my purchases, even my groceries. I have been postponing my grocery shopping and therefore forcing myself creatively use what's in my pantry. Of course, today I am sitting here with no milk, fresh produce, meat, eggs and many other things that we normally consume each day. I think I am going to have to break down and go. I do, however, have homemade bread. ;-)

This week, my daughters unearthed my guitar. I haven't played it in years. They want to learn to play, especially my oldest. Wow, am I ever out of practice and I soon became painfully (yea, I mean that literally) aware that I have NO callus on my fingers. So, my daughter and I are plucking away a bit each day trying to build up our fingers and learn/relearn how to play.

Those are the highlights of our recents adventures. Surprisingly, scrapbooking hasn't happened in weeks which is really strange for me. I probably won't be able to go too much longer without having a scrap-attack, though. Oh, that reminds me, I forgot to mention one of our big highlights...we bought a new computer. It is awesome! Once I have a chance, I will install Photoshop on it and it will become my primary computer and the old one will be more the kids'. There are currently 6 people in this house fighting for computer time (before we know it, Rachel will figure out she is missing something and it will be 7 people). Adding a second computer has been wonderful! I plan on utilizing it for more school assignments and research now.

Well, I have babbled enough for now and the household chores are calling.
Have a great day!

Snow Day Sunday

We have had a snow storm blow through our area which dumped a fair amound of snow followed by freezing rain followed by more snow. We made the executive decision at 7:30am this morning that taking our pack of children out in the big ol' van to go to church wasn't wise and declared today a snow day. It turned out to be the right choice because we later discovered that our overhead garage door was frozen shut anyway making it impossible to leave in the van.

Barry and our oldest went out and about plowing and blowing snow at our rental properties while I held down the fort here with the rest of the kids. It was rough ;-) So rough that I felt the need to stay in my PJs until after lunch. I can't tell you the last time that happened.

One thing we did manage to accomplish today was to watch "It's a Wonderful Life" with the kids. I couldn't believe it. My older girls told me they had NEVER seen this movie. How did they ever make it to the ripe old ages of 13 and 10 years old without being subjected to this classic during the holidays. I mean it airs all the time! I was feeling like a really bad parent who has been neglecting the cultural edification of her children. Thankfully, we were able to watch it. Elizabeth wasn't sure if she could actually sit through a black and white movie - no color - horror of horrors. Her only comment was, "Did people really act like that back then?" I fear that the deeper meaning of the movie may have been lost. [sigh] As for me, I watch the movie and wonder, "Does my life count?" George Bailey made a huge impact on many people's lives. Hmm...who do I impact? Just thinking out loud here. It is a good reminder that I am here on this earth for a higher purpose and my life is not my own.


Because I tend to get stressed around the holidays and scrapping tends to relieve stress for me and because we had a snow day today, I got a couple of scrapbook pages done. You should recognize the photo from the top page from my last blog entry. My Abi loves to taste the snow.

This second page uses photos from our big extended family get-together that took place yesterday. My father-in-law is one of 11 siblings. Most of them were there along with their children and grandchildren. There were a whole lot of little cousins running around. I have lots more photos but I did this page called StoryTime with Uncle Don showing how he did his traditional reading of "The Night before Christmas" to the kids. This was followed by the traditional singing of the Christmas Carols. The kids aren't too thrilled about it, but it is required by tradition before the opening of the presents. (It's so much fun to torment the kids, isn't it!)

Credits for the pages can be found here and here.

Snow!

We got our first snow of the season here. It started to snow before we went to bed last night and the kids were SO excited! Patrick went to bed tellin me that "There's white stuff on the roof!" Patrick, Abi and Anna were awake first thing this morning ready to don their snow clothes and take a trek outside. As you can see here, Abi couldn't wait to get a good TASTE of it. They had so much fun and stayed outside unil they were freezing cold. Then I welcomed them inside to sip hot cocoa and warm up by the fire.

The Wood Prince

Meet my little wood prince. I had so much fun creating this piece of art that I just had to try my hand at another one. This time I chose my son and I just didn't have the heart to turn him into a fairy. Someone commented at Scrapbook Graphics that he was a Wood Prince and I love that. He has a crown of leaves and a wheat sceptor. Credits for all of the goodies included in this can be found here along with a before and after picture.

Another page...

Had a few minutes this afternoon and I thought I would wrap up this page I started a while back. I had mentioned to Patrick that we should get a birthday photo like this and he loved the idea and it became a big deal. Probably because SIX is SO OLD - I mean it does take two hands! I used a whole big mix of different elements for this. It took me forever to go back andfigure out where each of these pieces was from. Credits for the page can be found here.

I am totally craving a nap today, but I thought I would try and be just a little productive here at the computer. Hope you are having a great Sunday!

Sweet Sweater Set

Just sharing this page of my baby girl in her pretty new sweater set. Well it isn't actually new. My friend made it for her when she was just a newborn, but she made it a bit big so she wouldn't outgrow it so fast. Well, this is the first time she wore it. She has been big enough to wear it for a while but our weather hasn't been cold enough for such a warm sweater. Sadly, I can't get her to keep the hat on. I have tried, but it usually ends up in tears. (Hers not mine ;-)
Credits for the page can be found here. This page was also featured in the Cottage Arts newletter this week because it was done using one of their new Simply Done templates which are really cool and have some special features if you are using Photoshop Elements. This page came together in a snap.

Seeing something like this sweater set makes me want to be able to knit. I can crochet, but some things are just better knitted. Connie (who made this lovely sweater) tried to teach me a while back. I wanted to knit a prayer shawl and she took the time to show me how. Well, I was slow and awkward at it and I ended up getting impatient with myself and crocheting the shawl. A youth prayer shawl ministry has just started at our church and my daughter, Anna, has decided to try it. She has been taught how to knit and it loving it. Seeing her pick up on this so quickly is so wonderful to watch (even if it does disgust me that she has picked up on it much faster than me). She has shown me one more time the process of knitting and it is starting to click better in my brain. I am determined that after the holidays I am going to sit down and actually master knitting.

Sorry I am babbling. I was up late last night because I have a nasty cold and couldn't sleep. Then I woke up early because I was so stuffed and my sinuses feel like they are gonna explode. I though perhaps I would go lay back down after a bit, but it is too late. I have to get everyone up for church in about a half an hour. So, I had better get some coffee into me and get a bit more awake!

Hope you all have a sweet Sunday.

The Golden Compass (revisited)

Back in August, I did a little research about this book after my 13 year old daughter saw it in the Scholastic book flyer. She was intrigued and we got it from the library. I won't go into the details of our experience at this time because I wrote about it here. I am just thankful that my daughter had enough good sense and intuition to put the book down.

Now, with the opening of the movie drawing near, The Golden Compass is getting quite a bit of publicity. I am glad to see that not all of it is good. I just received an e-mail forward that warned against letting your children see the movie. Here is what it said:

Subject: Fw: Warning of upcoming movie
As if we needed more Satanic
influences for our kids... click on the link below for more info- this
author is pretty shocking. If his admission that his series of "children's
books" are about killing God isn't bad enough, they apparently even include
references to castration and female circumcision. The movie is the hook to get
kids into the books.………………………………………………………………………………………….
This was sent to me -
important to know this!!! (I wasn't familiar with this author OR these
books...)

I just wanted to warn all Christian parents to avoid the
upcoming movie "The Golden Compass" put out by New Line Cinema and Scholastic
entertainment. It is due out in December. It looks like a fun movie, but this is
the first movie based on the trilogy of books titled "His Dark Materials."
The author of the books, Philip Pullman is a militant at heist whose professed
purpose with these books is to turn kids away from Christianity. He has said
this outright. The first movie has been cleaned up to avoid a lot of objections
- it is apparently not going to be too bad BUT ..the movie is bait for the books
which are horrible. The books get progressively worse with the heroes (children)
in the 3rd book actually killing God, who is depicted as a little shrunken man.
I am not kidding. This sounds too terrible to believe, but unfortunately it is
not. It stars Nicole Kidman.
See the website below for more info. &
verification:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/compass.asp
The
Golden Compass (new movie out in December).

Part of me hates to even discuss this because from what I have read about the man, Phillip Pullman wants this kind of publicity - he loves it. He had been jealous that Harry Potter had been getting all the attention instead of his books.

I will say it again. Whether we believe it or not, there is a battle being waged all around us - a spiritual battle and often it is our children who are on the front lines. The enemy plays dirty. We need to face these facts and both protect and equip our children as best we can.

When I addressed this before, I felt frustrated because I was unable to find a good children's book review site. There are not enough hours in the day for me to preread everything my children read. I am so thankful that someone passed along this website: Facts on Fiction. It is a fantastic resource with very detailed reviews of quite a few books. Be sure and check it out.

I should really be in bed

I should really be in bed, but I was having trouble sleeping and I can't stand to lay in bed awake. So, I decided to get up and finish this scrapbook page I started a few days ago. I just love photos like this where the subject is bathed in a warm glow from the candles. You have to say it is kinda magical. Just this past year I read somewhere that shots like this are on the must have list. Every person deserves to have their photo taken with all the lights off and just the glow of the candlelight illuminating them. It is so flattering! So here is my son last month on his 6th birthday. Credits for the layout can be found here.

I am off to bed for I know morning will come MUCH too soon!

Fast Food Firsts

I have officially corrupted my baby girl's tastebuds. We took Patrick out to lunch for his birthday last month at the Golden Arches (a.k.a. the chicken and fries place). I realized when we got there that I didn't bring anything for Rachel. No food, bib or sippy cup. So, when the going gets touch, the tough order a Happy Meal. Right? I tried to be a little healthy about it, but the only thing you could substitute for fries was apple wedges which little Rachel doesn't have enough teeth to do. We did skip the soft drink and get the juicebox instead. She had never done a straw but figured it out so fast you would have thought she was a pro. Then there was the ketchup. To say she loved the ketchup would be an extreme understatement! Since I had no bib, I just dipped the end of a fry in a bit and handed it to her. It was love at first taste! I finally decided that giving her a little cup with a little bit couldn't be that messy. I was wrong. Next thing I know, she has completely bypassed the fries and is ramming her whole little fist into the ketcup cup. You can see the results on her face in this layout.

If you are interesed, the tiny journaling for this page reads:

Even though it was Patrick’s birthday, it was a day of “firsts” for Rachel. Upon arriving at McDonald’s, I realized that I forgot to bring anything for Rachel to eat, so she got her very first Happy Meal. She had never sampled ketchup, so I dipped one of her fries in it. Well, she was all about the ketchup! I gave her her own tiny cup with a little bit in it and the next thing I know, she has bypassed the fries altogether and was eating ketchup straight with her fingers! To drink, she had her first juicebox and her first time with a straw. I was worried she wouldn’t be able to figure it out, but it was NOT a problem. She slurped down the entire thing in no time flat. She is official a fast food pro. Hopefully, she will still eat her broccoli after this!

Credits for this page can be found here.

Just another manic Monday....

How did it get to be Monday again so fast? It is a grey day here and I am having a really hard time getting my brain to focus on anything productive today which is not good because my to-do list is really long. I decided to give myself just a little time to put the finishing touches on a layout I started last week. The clothing confusion comes from the fact that we have been having some really inconsistant weather lately. You can see that my daughter, Abi, has no idea how to dress anymore with her winter coat and bare feet!

Journaling reads:
Our October weather has been inconsistent to say the least. One day it is cold and the next it is nearly 80 degrees.The kids don’t have any idea of how to dress each day. They run around barefoot in shorts when it is 46 degrees one day and like Abi here when it is 78. Check out that warm winter coat that she refused to take off and those bare feet she was running around outside with.. This weather is certainly causing clothing confusion.

Credits for the page can be found here.

Now I am going to have a go at the piles of stuff threatening to form a landslide off my desk. Have a great day!

Playing with a fun new scrapbook kit

I just wanted to share a couple of new scrapbook pages. These were both done with a brand new collaborative kit at Cottage Arts created by Doris Castle, Julie Mead, and Michelle Shefveland called Bountiful Blessings. I am loving the colors in this! This first layout has photos of my daughter Abi from last Thanksgiving. The kit colors were a perfect match for her dress and her homemade placecard.

I also used a free template which is available to newsletter subscribers in the next Cottage Arts newsletter.

Journaling reads:
The table has been set...the placecards have been lovingly created by Elizabeth...smells of yummy food are wafting through the air...It’s not quite time to eat, but 2 year old Abi is ready at her place and waiting with fork and spoon in hand.

Full credits for this page can be found here.



This second page uses photos I took last week of my son, Patrick, on his 6th birthday. It was a gorgeous Fall day and I took him outside for a offical 6 year old photo shoot. He loved that! This page uses not only the Bountiful Blessings kit, but also a new page tear template set, too. Click on the banner below to find them both.

Full credits for this layout can be found here.

Signed Scared

So, does this scrapbook page make you scared? Yeah, they are supposed to be signing scared. Part of the sign is making a scared face, but they aren't too convinving. They're having too much fun!

We have been learning sign language in this house. I have been intrigued with sign language since I was a girl. I don't know why, I just thought it was cool. I learned the whole ASL alphabet and tried to get my friends to learn it too so that we could "talk" in this secret code, but it never happened. A year or so ago, I discovered Signing Time videos. They sounded great and had really good reviews, but I couldn't afford to buy them and my local library did not have them. Last Christmas I was struggling to come up with a wish list to pass around for my baby who was just 3 months old (because in our family we always do this for everyone). Then I had the brilliant idea to put down the Signing Time DVDs. Studies show that signing with babies is such a positive thing. Rachel got the first DVD and all the kids and I watched it. Rachel was too young to learn the signs and we were not diligent in signing them to her. But around her 1st birthday I pulled the DVD back out and we all relearned the signs and starting using them with her. Since then she has learned to recognize quite a few and has signed back to us: milk, more, sleep, and cookie. Our library now has the whole series of DVDs and we have been checking them out and learning tons as a family. It has been a fun project.

Anyway...I went into all of this to explain this fun scrapbook page. One of Patrick and Abi's favorite signs is "scared." I am sure this is because they get to make a "scared" face along with the sign. When I had the camera out on Patrick's birthday, they decided to pose silly for me and this is what I got. Details and credits for the page can be found here.

Here is a song from the Signing Time Zoo Train DVD. We got it from the library and my little ones love it.

Oh, and this one has been requested a lot by the younger set in this house.

A bit of fun photo tweakery

I was perusing the gallery at The Digital Scrapbook Place earlier this week and found some unique pages that caught my eye. I discovered that they were done as part of a stylelift challenge. I wasn't even familiar with a "stylelift" which is to copy the style of a particular artist. This month's stylelift is based on the altered art of Jessica Dittmer called Wish You Wells. Unfamiliar with her, I checked out her site and was immediately in love with it. She plays with photos and gives them this combination of an old photo and a drawing. Then she adds goodies like crowns, buttons, and pixie wings along with some sort of verse. Well, I decided that I really wanted to be able to do that! You can see my attempt here. It is close, but not exactly Jessica's look. It was incredibly fun to do, though! I have also shown a before and after shot because the difference is pretty dramatic. Credits for the goodies I used can be found here.

This was so much fun, that I will probably do this again. Shoot, after seeing how much one of these custom art pieces costs on the Wish You Wells site, I am thinking that I am in the wrong line of work. Anyone want to buy one? I'll cut you a great deal!