the good stuff.   March 15, 2009

and plenty of it! wow- this past weekend was one of the best!
here’s some highlights:
total increase in energy.
just hung with the fam. [normally, i'm doing 3-4 things at once, even when just hangin out] yeah, so didn’t do that friday. watched hsm, had popcorn. snuggled in blankets with my girlies. then, got my groove on and finished a mini for helen/mls DT assignments for april. one of those, even happier moments when i completed it, knowing all the quality time i had just had with my fam!
emiko had another GREAT hit at her softball game. gma and papa came to watch. we got it all on video. miss mari pants cracked them up. they all had a fabulous day/evening together. playing. playing. playing. after lunch, i celebrated at pmp for suzy’s two year anni at her store front. the space was filled with LOVE, beautiful women, and i was so honored to be a part of it:) after finishing gg assignments and DT stuff for MLS, i wasn’t sure how much i would accomplish. but, proud to say, that i got another 3 layouts completed and 1 started:) i’ll be guest designing next month twice…and i’ll share soon:)
i have to say that i’ve met so many beautiful, true, inspiring, and funny women through this awesome hobby we all so passionately share, and i’m so very thankful to have you in my life!
miss char- you sooooooo got your groove on, and am so happy we were finally at the same table! you rocked the mls!
miss kristin- soooooooooooo good to talk with you! you’ve no idea how much i/we all miss you! cannot wait til july!!!
miss maria- you and your sweet family are in my prayers. so so happy you are back, and your layout turned out amazing!
miss rocio- you are just so beautiful, inside and out. so very proud to call you my dear friend.
miss nicole- oh, how i love you! so excited you’re back home, i know, i call sj your home. just adore you and your family. and looking forward to getting our exercise, scrap, and more on!
miss nanice- i miss you.
miss carla- your laugh is so infectious. you’re such a good mamma. love your heart.
miss satyn- love your smile and your style.
and last but certainly not least…
miss suzy- you’re crazy. you’re silly. you’re passionate. you’re kumquat. you’re positive. you’re understanding. you’re supportive. and i love you so much sweet friend!!! and so does my emi-girl!
today: church was solid. so where we all need to be. our entire family. once mari can sit through an entire service, it will be quieter. i won’t say better, because it will just be quieter. she is good at being 2. nothing wrong with that. an elderly member of our congregation confirmed that. nothing wrong with a young family sitting in the front pews. she admires that.
after lunch, emiko had her softball pictures. and then, we headed up to miss suzy’s for an awesome princess castle book class by the wonderful miss pattie! emiko and i had the best time! and she even made daddy a bonus lil creation. will share photos soon. she cannot wait to fill her princess book with photos of our upcoming trip!
signing out. need sleep now.
love you all.
many blessings,
erin

my dearest friend.   February 17, 2009

i love you so.
will be praying for you and your family’s safe arrival tomorrow for your first of many destinations.
you are so strong.
you are so loved.
you are so the multi of all multi-taskers.
you are just amazing.
i will miss you.
take care.
i can’t wait til you come home next month and share all your stories!
and oh, holding avery today totally made me want another one!!!

taking a m o m e n t.   January 23, 2009

s o much has happened since the start of the year, and it is almost february, so i feel the need to just take one moment to let those who make my bubble a happier place know they truly matter to me. and i know God sent them to me for specific reasons. and i thank Him daily.

my dh- your patience, your resilience, your foundation, and your humor all feel like big hugs throughout my day in God’s arms. i love you with all of my heart. i thank you especially for your patience this week, as i’ve been at the gym 4 times, and 2 times it has impacted our evenings and yet i’ve heard no complaints. [so happy i'm finally there again], and taken two nights to do last minute scrap stuff for CHA coming up.

my dds- oh, you just fill my heart with such joy and pride. while there certainly are those, ok mommy take a step back breathe and pray some more, those are all worth it, when i see my 2 yr old’s smile light up the room with pride, after she realizes she did make it on the potty, or that she did make it through playcare at the gym w/o me. or those moments, when my 6 yr old starts cleaning up her and her sisters toys, so she can make room for all of us to play simon says together or teach eachother zumba and kung fu moves.

my mom- is such a giver, and i cherish not only who she is as my mom, but the often all consuming role[s] she has when she is helping to watch our girls.

my dad- who, typically has no words other than down to business, has such a soft side around his granddaughters, it is heartwarming to see. and whose handwritten letters that i’ve kept over the years bring me to tears each and every time i read them.

kristin- oh, my sweet friend, fellow sister in Christ. i did cry that day you told me you were moving. i just got off the phone with you first, before i did. i will miss you so very much, and know that you’re only a phone call away or an fb comment away on brian’s page, but still. you’ve been in my daily life since before we conceived mari, and i will never forget all the silly fun scrappy times we’ve had or those convos re: walks with Him, or how amazing you were for michelle and her family, and so much more!

nicole- you are like a sister to me, and i just adore and love you so much! you’ve been blessed with two beautiful little girls, and i look forward to all our mommy/daughter playdates and fun scrappy times ahead:) you are such a gift to me, you’ve no idea.

suzy- oh, my crazy, silly, passionate, insane, *i got nothin* girl. i love that i can call you and we can just sing, or i can call you when my dd is going through a tough time at school, or i can just call and pour my heart out when we hear about our friend’s moving away from us, over and over and over again. way to go football. LOL.

rocio- you are such an inspiration, girl= and i’m so thankful you’re in my life. know that you’re always in my prayers, and i’m so happy to know your kitty is home with you!

forgive me for not continuing on, however, it is after midnight, and bed is calling my name since i have a zillion things to do tomorrow before we leave for cha at o’dark thirty am on sat!

blessings and hugs,
erin

weekend = f u l l .   January 18, 2009

wow, and it is sunday night already??? seriously, where did this weekend go?
friday night- wow! suzy, pattie and i created our lil hearts out! i promise to take photos sometime tomorrow and get them posted, asap . . . afterall, they are for CHA, and since we leave this saturday- i have to be on it as far as getting everything ready:) i continued working with the flawless line, and i’ll be sharing my project/class at PMP very shortly. kaiser crafts new acrylic + MLS’ flawless line = FUN!
saturday- my dh let me sleep in a little. thank you! and we spent the morning playing, cleaning, and playing some more! miss mari is happy to sit on her potty this past week, so next week, we’ll be having a juice party named in addie’s honor! daddy and emi went to bball practice while mari and i soaked in this gorgeous sunshine, picked some more oranges, and played with the chalk and dirt baby! after we napped, [thank you dh], we played some more, and then i got dinner ready for them, as i headed out for the card swap at suzy’s, and then tackled some more DT work for the show. i was happy to get 3 cards completed, and a new layout started with the wonderful line!
and today:
church. bible study. sunday school.
mommy workout.
daddy and girls played and had lunch.
miss mari pants napped.
we got ready for our photo shoot, with a very dear friend of ours, krista lund. look out for her, she is amazing!
mari warmed up to her in oh… like 5 minutes. she was smiling, laughing, blowing kisses. it was the BEST! and emi posed for her- and krista told her she was a natural. and she didn’t do her kung fu poses, she posed very nicely. i so cannot WAIT to see our photos! i have a feeling, we’ve found our family photographer…
then, we headed up to my parents for dinner and to drop off one of the cars that isn’t working too well. my dad’s mechanic rocks!
and now, i’m decompressing, making the weekly to do list, and freakin out just a lil that all of this stuff has to/will get done before this saturday!!!

pictures will be here shortly.

oh, and had a very interesting convo with my sweet friend, K. i love you girl:)

over and out.
blessings,

erin

p.s. last week- i got in 3 workouts, including a bonus 35 mins on the elliptical b/c mari finally stayed in playcare long enough for me to break a sweat, yippee!!! oh, and she stayed in the little house at church today all through bible study. go mari:)

my dh.   January 12, 2009

is quite the trooper!
he was the one who had patience this weekend. we had a big to do list that i created…
and because he took the time to find out all i wanted to accomplish, and was patient while i had my lil fit in the garage, we did accomplish it all and even more.
and having his photo taken is so NOT his thing.
running errands for me on sunday is not his thing.
cleaning until he is too tired to be standing, not his thing on a sunday.
yet, he did it all, with patience and love, because he loves me.

and he is just an amazing father to our girls. love you dh!

my heart is so full.   January 11, 2009

what a blessed day we had today! thank you, God for such a glorious day!
my dh and i went to early service, and listened uninterrupted. our girls were still with my parents, but i missed them the most this morning! everyone in our congregation asked of course where they were. we told them we wanted to give them a quieter service today, we all laughed! after i got in my car to head up to suzy’s i cried. i just missed them so much during service today. so so very much.
dh got some downtime and some yardwork in, while i went to our semi-annual gg meeting! oh my goodness, can i just say how honored i am to work with such a wonderful group of women! i love each and every one of you. i love how different our styles are. i love how big our hearts are. i love our passion for this craft. and i love being altogether! we have some truly awesome things planned for 09, so i hope to see many more of you there.
once i got home, i got a big hug from my emi girl, and found my parents in our yard, thinking about ideas for our remodel and helping to pick our delicious oranges:) i love them, they are so dear! miss mari pants had crashed in a big way- and was miss fussy when we had to wake her to get her dressed for the shoot. i we played, laughed, and played some more and had a ball when michelle was here taking our photos. turns out, she went to northgate hs, what a small world!!! i cannot wait to see our photos!!! and i’ll be sure to share when i can.
then, we cleaned up, got in comfy clothes and opened our stockings and gifts from santa. the girls were just giddy over their goodies, and santa spoiled us all again!
after a yummy dinner of brian’s lasagna, ham, veggies, salad, rice and more…we enjoyed emi’s special chocolate january cake for dessert! we also each took a note card and wrote down as many resolutions as we wanted, shared them aloud with everyone, and then sealed them all into an envelope. we will open them next year this time. thanks suzy for the idea! i’ll let you know how they turn out.
now, time to clean up, hang out, chill and get to bed.
we’ve got a busy week ahead of us…

hope to see you soon!

new years eve~   December 31, 2008

while the earlier part of our day had two little girls very sad that we were only on a wait list for open play at a local bouncy house, after some homemade miso soup and sandwiches from daddy, and a nap for mari, our girls were in much better spirits. yes, we are in cali, but it was just too cold to play outside, so after taking down our tree and all xmas decor, we headed out for some burgers and splurged with milkshakes, too! now that we have more space in the family/dining room area with the tree gone, the girls were running around, and daddy had the idea that those who were helping with folding the laundry- they got to wear a piece of clean clothes on their head. mari hammed it up, and emi had a turban thing going on…and my dear husband simply put underwear on his head. gotta love those moments!
now that our girls are tucked in, we’ll be hanging out watching goofy movies and chillin.

for those out there partying- have a ball, be safe!

for those traveling- remember to wash your hands and be safe!

ok i sound like my mom. LOL

happy new years eve!!!

december. catch up.   December 28, 2008

literally no clue where i left off in my photo a day here. i’ll have to go back and read my blog in a minute.
xmas eve, was so different this year. my dh was working, and we usually host it for both families, but everyone was either working or out of the country. so, we attended the early church service, after going to a local pasta place. i was surprised at how crowded it was! emi had a friend over for a playdate in the morning, and her older sister came along, too. mari just loved running around acting like a big girl.
ok, i wish i had my camera working xmas. it is working, it is just the mem card is acting funny. and it wasn’t until after breakfast, while we were opening gifts and seeing the sheer joy on my girl’s faces that i felt the blessings He brings this time of year. i had just learned on xmas eve, that my dear friend’s husband had suffered from cardiac arrest. my brother and his gf are in costa rica, and xmas was just off. well, after seeing emi open her gift from santa, it brought it all back. she wanted 2 things: 1. to take tae kwon do lessons. 2. the wall.e movie santa delivered both, but seeing her excitement, and then the fact that she was so happy, she was going to cry [um, yeah, totally my kid!], it just melted my heart.
xmas was wonderful, we spent it at my parents, and after lunch and a much needed nap, we woke up to the wonderful smells only my mom’s kitchen can create, and just had a ball! the girls’ opened more presents, i started making my thank you cards- i made over 30 of them, and they are nearly all written, sealed, and addressed. i have a few more to make, and if i remember, i will photograph them and post them. the day after xmas, we spent lounging, playing outside in the glorious sun in my parent’s beautiful backyard, had an awesome lunch at our fave chinese food spot, and got another nap in:) my mom and i worked on creating her annual calendars for families and friends, however, this year was more time intensive because she chose to customize each one and we used the bind it all. we made 28 of them! we did 12 mini layouts per calendar, trimmed and then binded them. yes, 28. see where i get it from? LOL. my dh went to see a warriors game friday night with my dad, and us girls stayed up til 10:30pm working on thank yous and calendars. emi was tired! saturday, we had a wonderful breakfast, packed up and came home! and after unpacking, doing laundry, and vaccuming, emi and i headed out and ran some errands. i’ve got ideas for our extended family gifts for next year that will include emi’s artwork, and we scored on some ornaments at 70% off.
today, after church, i hit the gym! daddy took the girls grocery shopping, and played outside. he met his sis and bro for a late lunch, and us girls had our nap/down time.

anyway- my dh will work on recapturing some of my lost images…but for now, please enjoy this one:

gets me everytime. look at her, she is so happy playing in the dirt, yet such a lil girly girl with her lil doll, giving kisses to her fave animals, and all maternal. and at 2 yrs old, she is at 95% of her height and 50% of her weight, and full of sass. she almost has her ABCS down, and can now count from 1 – 10. and i can even understand about 90% of it. so very PROUD of my lil princess puff!!!

please pray   

for my dear friend, michelle and her sweet family. she lost her husband last night. i am so very saddened for them, i have no words, other than to ask you to please pray.
kristin had a beautiful post last night.
blessings,
erin

silent night.   December 24, 2008

is my absolute favorite xmas song. when we were at a playdate last week, we were all talking about our favorite songs. and my answer was tied- the first noel and silent night. mostly, because of josh groban’s xmas cd that i’ve been listening to in my mom’s car while she has been down the past few weeks. tonight, at xmas eve service, we had lit the candles from our pastor, and then each of us had one [mari broke hers and played with the wax, but it was all good], and we sang silent night while holding our candles. it was just beautiful.

wishing you and your family a very merry christmas!

*silent night, holy night*

silent night. holy night.
all is calm, all is bright.
round yon virgin mother and child.
holy infant, so tender and mild.
sleep in heavenly peace,
sleep in heavenly peace.

silent night. holy night.
shepherds quake at the sight;
glories stream from heaven afar,
heavenly hosts sing , alleluia.
Christ, the savior is born.
Christ, the savior is born.

silent night. holy night.
son of God, love’s pure light.
radiant beams from thy holy face,
with the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord, at thy birth,
Jesus, Lord, at thy birth.

silent night. holy night.
all is calm, all is bright.
round yon virgin mother and child.
holy infant, so tender and mild.
sleep in heavenly peace,
sleep in heavenly peace.

and a very special prayer goes out to our dear friends and her family.

merry christmas eve!