a birthday party, an awesome m&t night, a playdate, and more . . .   November 25, 2008

it all started with the banner/decorations…

well, the cupcakes sure deserve their own spotlight. mommy made a boo boo. instead of putting one pink good and plenty for her bow, mommy thought they were for eyebrows! LOL. was that me or what? oh well, when we asked mari what her cupcakes were, she excitedly replied, “kitty!!!” so, we were good:)
we were blessed with a beautiful 70 degree day and wonderful friends and family to celebrate with her!

here she is, our almost two year old sweet and sassy princess!!!

the night before princess mari’s party, we had an AWESOME make n take night at suzys!!! omgosh, it should have been called a night of 9 freakin awesome mini projects night, we all had a blast! there’s KL with her knockout vintage project, the gals from scrap for a cure were there, and there’s my mini gift tin with card project. we had laura vegas from making memories, helen chu from my little shoebox, and all the other rockin’ mechanics who didn’t teach at the big event. cheers to you girls, it was a blast!

our playdate with miss A!

we made turkeys out of cocoa rice krispies. the girls had more fun eating the mini marsh and the fruit loops!

and in case you don’t recognize this, this is their interpretation of wags the dog!!!

and last but not least, this is a card that i created out of a sweet rak i won from her... her work is just amazing! i love all the details and frillies she adds. and it came at a perfect time, so i can now send it on its way to give someone some belated birthday love.
have a wonderful thanksgiving, in case i don’t post more until then:)

many blessings,
erin

winter c l e a n i n g ! ! !   November 23, 2008

the bug sure has hit me! with this beautiful fall/winter weather we’ve been enjoying, how could i not? it started when nicole came over and mari and addie had two playdates in a row. we chose classes for their winter/spring schedule, talked about decorating, purging, and organizing our scrap spaces and it started and continued from there! so far, i’ve cleared two shelves [8 12x12 containers each], and made 3 piles like my dear friend casey recommended before mari was here. 1 was a keep pile, 1 was a donate/giveaway pile, and 1 was a sell pile. for me, 2 + 3 turned into donating/giveaway. it feels good to do that, given the economy and the time of year:) i also have been really into making cards, and i’ve not photographed them all, simply because i’ve been using a lot of them for thank yous! friday, at the crop, we all got our scrap on, and were most productive, using mainly our stashes and scraps! didn’t stop me from spending a little, but i created 3 layouts and 3 cards:) all before 11pm, and that including my and suzy’s MLS meeting, so we’re good to go! omgosh, wait til you girls see the new MLS stuff!!! holy bananas, there’s tons of exciting things to be released at CHA winter! i’m really excited to be setting up, working and representing MLS! hope to see you there:)
i’ll be reorganizing, purging, and cleaning more this week- especially since it is a holiday! in between playing kung fu, making gingerbread houses, and hanging with the family, i’ll be cleaning away! i’ll be posting a RAK or two soon…

so stay tuned!

happy sunday!

blessings,

erin

hello again :)   November 18, 2008

well, it’s been a long time…longer even than my last post truly, is how i feel about missing out on life. now, finally, 3+ weeks post surgery, i’m feeling like my self again…crazy as it sounds, i welcome it! since last friday, i’ve been pain free:) thank you for all of your well wishes, calls, emails, cards, and meals that were given to us. we truly appreciate all of your support.
here’s what has been happening with us lately:
girls’ are doing awesome with swimming!
miss e loves basketball and played in her first tourney a few weekends ago. they all blend together, so not sure when it happened now.
miss m is climbing and jumping everywhere! she won’t just climb normally into her big girl bed nowadays, she has to climb up over the end and then crash down into it. and she has to have an audience while doing so. she climbed into her booster seat at the kitchen table sunday night. that was fun! omgosh, and she is into EVERYTHING! started with her new therapist today, it was harder on mommy than on her. she said “help” for the first time, clear as day. loved it! we celebrated her birthday last weekend. that deserves its own post, for more than one reason. LOL.
suzy and helen are working endlessly on some truly amazing new stuff for MLS to be released at winter CHA. you guys will be all over it! i can’t wait!
next week, i will start ww and hit the gym again! i’ll let the rest speak from our photos- enjoy!

and last but not least, there are some of my kits left from my 5 layouts and 1 card class, at PMP! it was wonderful seeing you, and i missed the rest of you- your kits are with suzy.

zzz’s   November 5, 2008

that’s what we’ve finally been hearing from me:) i’m a night owl anyways, but post surgery, it has been very difficult to sleep, not because i want to stay up, but simply because it is hard to find a comfortable position to sleep in. last night, and sunday night were the first nights i was able to sleep through the night. so thankful for that:)
i’ve got a to do list that is a mile long, which isn’t new. it includes fun things like preparing for my next class, at PMP on tuesday, november 11th. we’ll be creating 5 fun layouts and a card from 2 of the beautiful lines from MLS. hope to see you there:) we had a blast at the last layout class! another fun thing will be preparing for the make n take night for the BIG EVENT, here! it is a weekend long scrappin adventure, where you will get to create and take home 8 fantastic projects/gifts for the holiday season! i opted to not teach this year, since my lil one will be turning TWO very soon, and i knew i’d be occupied planning and throwing her celebration!
during my recovery, my dh has been exhausted trying to keep up the house and with our little ones, and rarely complains, so even though he knows it, you’re doing a great job! and this will pass soon. my emi girl has been super sweet, trying to think of ways of *making mommy better sooner*. that girl just melts my heart. she has been making me cards, she got me flowers, she leaves me love notes, is cleaning up after her and her sister w/o being asked, and openly praying about my healing. that is the part that just gets me every time. that she knows the Lord and knows to turn to Him.
here’s some layouts i had a great time creating, before surgery. i LOVE sassafrass lass!!! tfl.
mari’s speech has been growing daily. she can count to 5, knows all her body parts, and most colors. though these days, most colors are purple.
i’ll be scrappin her lingo soon, so before i forget:
farfane = airplane
flowfer = flower
pupu = purple
pupu = yello
pupu = red, and all other colors LOL
daddy = daddy
mimi = mommy [i went from mama to mommy to mimi]
emi = neigh neigh
thank you to everyone who has called, emailed, brought me meals, and prayed for me. i truly appreciate you.
blessings,
erin

11.2.08   November 3, 2008

happy anniversary, dh!
i love you.
look forward to many more years together + not recovering from surgery like this.
this too shall pass, and we can get on with our lives.
thank you for everything you do for our family!
i love you so very much.
sweet 12 for us:)
God bless.

happy friday!   October 24, 2008

only minimal pain so far today:)
outta my funk.
embracing life.
some MLS DT shares…

layouts and mini featuring the orange marmalade line. YUM. tfl.

the mini is titled [mommy's daily prayers]. something for me and my girls.
and here’s my other trick or treater:

this is her older sisters’ fave costume. we had a make up speech session this morning. her therapist just couldn’t get over how cute she looked! oh, i just cannot believe she will be TWO next month. yikes!

good day so far…   October 23, 2008

only minimal pain, so holding on for monday’s surgery.
had to share these…

in the event your 6 yr old comes to you, and says:
dd: mommy, for halloween, i want to be a BEE!
m: ok, let’s go look online for some costumes and then hit the stores!
dd: ok, but can it be a scary bee?
m: what does that entail?
dd: you know, a stinger and everything!
m: ok, we’ll go see what we can find.
dd: and i want to be magical, like a fairy mommy!
m: ok, so you would like to be a scary fairy bee for halloween?
dd: OH YEAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! exactly, you are now correct mommy!
m: awesome, [thinking to myself, what in the world...] but ok, let’s go to it!

well, online we found many infant and toddler bee costumes, so after 3 stores later, we pieced it altogether, and came up with the above! my personal FAVE are those glasses! reminds me of edna from incredibles! note: the wand, gotta love it!

and here’s some snapshots from the day in the life of an almost two year old! she *helped* me at nicole’s baby shower, played with the balloons, confetti and ate some mints before the guests arrived. she had a ball with angel’s tanner and lil sierra running around the backyard with my dear mom. and then, she was all partied out!
here she is, learning to drink from a big girl cup and NOT spit the water out! so, she will say AHHHHHHH immediately after drinking. and this face in the second photo- i get alot when she is trying to pierce her food onto her fork. instead of directly putting the fork into the food, she will often place it on, and then eat it. kid cracks me up.
hopefully, no more acute attacks!

off to swimming lessons after naptime.

happy thursday!

b l o g break . . .   October 21, 2008

until post surgery. have a wonderful week+ everyone!!!
blessings,
erin yamabe

fun. release. scared.   October 17, 2008

yep, that would be me, all in one day!
scheduled my surgery today.
since i had an abo exchange with our dd, i need to bank some blood.
spent the morning cleaning my house, felt GREAT!
like a weight has been lifted, now to spend all the free time i have with my family.
just in case. something were to happen during surgery.
it is OK to be scared.
went through all of that.
and then, had an absolute blast with my mom tonight, after a day of cleaning, hugs from my girls [who did amazingly well at swim lessons this afternoon], helping at emi’s school, did my monthly session at dream dinners, and created a halloween costume for my emi girl, who cannot wait to rock it at her friend’s party tomorrow:) we had a blast, creating a super fun gift for my dear friend’s baby shower this weekend!!!
i love you mom.
i love you dh.
i love you emiko.
i love you mari.
i love you dad, for helping me make decisions this past week, especially.
i love you gfs, you know who you are!

hump D A Y   October 15, 2008

omgosh, i cannot believe it is already october 15th! yikes! i knew going into october, it was going to be busy, but after meeting with today’s surgeon, it will be that much busier!
this month, started off with a super fun trip with suzy, to the collins group show in florida, representing MLS.
since then, we’ve had our first daisy meeting for the girls, and just to kick off the year!
birthday parties, and coming up a halloween party!
costumes to choose, create, and keep on creating until it works and lil girls are happy.
fun DT assignments- almost completed:)
pumpkin patch day with the family.
fieldtrips for graders!
an awesome assignment from becky fleck, featured on her page maps site!
finally chose and joined an official mom’s group, today! [ for miss mari ]
planning mari’s 2nd birthday bash!
i will be another year older, soon.
basketball practices, swim lessons.
playdates. lots of those:)
kit my lo class, coming up next month.
scheduling my surgery, last week of the month.
trick or treating.

happy 1/2 birthday, emi girl!!!