Thanks [of the ginormous magnitude] to some dear friends of ours and their generosity…last weekend my friend and I spent up at their Lakehouse! We caught up on LIFE, laughed, cried, shared, laughed and cried some more! And we were SO well rested!

The view off their deck…onto the gorgeous Lake!

The view walking back from the water to the Lakehouse…

and some very sweet creatures we met along the way:)

Thank you to Mom and DH for taking care of the littles so I could rest, recharge, and rejuvenate!

Wishing you a beautiful week ahead!

Blessings,

Erin

We got together with some very dear friends…

And bless her heart, she LOVES to throw themed parties!

Black, Red, White…poker party with photo props!!!

Some of us knew how to play…[maybe?]

And the others, well…we sure did have FUN! LOL…Linda, where is your cheat sheet?

No…it wasn’t on our phone!

Thank you, we had such a fun evening:) Love that our children are growing up together, too.

XOXO

My Mom once told me, before I had children, to always remember, and take time for YOU.

She is very wise, she truly is. Every now and then, us Moms and Dads do need time just for ourselves. She is selfless, kind and so very supportive. She helps me on every level that matters! She will peel all my grapefruit for me. She will LISTEN with an open heart. She will be my date at the girly movies that my hubby won’t see with me. She always has a shoulder for me. She finishes my sentences completely. And she is ALWAYS in my corner:)

The past few months have been especially challenging, as miss M [while making tremendous strides in her 1:1 speech and OT therapies - and even surpassing her goals within the initial timeframe due…] is really struggling with her sensory and processing [issues]. I do not like that word issues really…so for a lack of a better term, for now it is what it is.

So…the research starting all over again, with more research, more referrals and new resources tapped into. We interviewed, toured, observed, questioned, and did that over and over until we found the next school for her. It is a PACE [Pacific Autism Center Education] school. It is a bittersweet time really, as I just am now embracing she does need to be here. She needs to be in a special needs school, for now.

She is excited, anxious, happy, and sad all at the same time! Bless her heart, she misses her dear old friends and yet just wrapped her arms so tightly around some new ones. Some new ones that I know she can see similarities in her and her personality. And her tender heartedness, and her every.single.thing. that is HER. She can see in some of her new friends.

So, yes, Mom. Again, you are right…taking time for yourself can better equip you to be able to give more to your family.

And so, after a day [week, months] of taking care of my number one priorities…my family, I did take time for ME.

It came in the form of an AMAZING class by Melissa Frances at my very favorite LSS in honor of Island’s 10 year anniversary!

Naturally, I didn’t complete all 8 projects…yes 8 projects in this sweet class! But boy did we laugh and play, learn, and laugh some more til our sides hurt!

As some very dear friends were there to enjoy her magic!

Thank you: Melissa, Laurie, Pattie, and Linda from the bottom of my heart! How I so needed this:)

And a very big thank you to my hubby, for being instrumental in holding our family together during this time.

God bless!

XOXO

When I was setting up this week’s posts, I had this overwhelming sense of gratitude come over me, as I was perusing through some photos from CHA W, CHA S, and all other CHA’s in general. That lead, to all scrappy classes I’ve taught, had the privilege of attending, and events related to as well:) And it just hit me…I’ve gained so many sweet friendships in this industry we all adore, and am ever so grateful and thankful to paper and glue! I’m truly beyond blessed to have learned from you, and be inspired by you!

Thank you to each and every one of you, who I’ve had the honor of getting to know and feel so very blessed to call my friend through this hobby of paper crafting:) If somehow I’ve not managed to capture you on camera, let’s make sure we do that next time we see one another…

Hope you all have a very blessed Friday!

XOXO

This month, I am fortunate enough to play with AIKO from Helen’s new Winter release for My Little Shoebox!

This is Helen’s follow up to her very well received Harmony and Oasis lines:)

I like how she incorporated more of her trademarks: clouds, cute girls, and again in these bright and whimsical colors!

Here’s some sneaks…

Have you started to play with any new MLS? Please share if you have! Have a beautiful day friends!

XOXO

Hello and welcome to mid- February?!! Ok, so where did January go? My dear Father told me the day our youngest was born, that time will literally fly by now as each year goes by as we grow older! Why does that happen? Anyone have ideas on that?

Oh, I sure was excited when I was asked to create for one of my new families…Ruby Rock-It at CHA!

You know me, once I fall in love with a company, that’s it! I’m loyal, so I could hardly contain my excitement when our fearless leader, Rachel, shared with me that some of my work was chosen for their booth!

In total, I created 2 banners [1 Paper Girl and 1 Paper Boy]. 1 frame, and 3 layouts:)

Here’s the work I created with Melrose Vintage…anything with a name like that is going to be amazing! And it sure was fun to work with, despite knowing how much I love big bright contrasts!

I absolutely LOVE how this turned out…just paper piercing and fussy cutting!

I was hesitant to attempt another layout, given how much I LOVE color, so I really like how this turned out!

And lastly, here’s a layout with one of my MOST FAVORITE photos to date!

Meeting fellow DT members Gina and Carrie was a treat! And having some sweet time with our fearless leader AKA DT coordinator/social media phenom Rachel was just what I needed! And next to her is the fabulous Joanna, who I got to meet back in September 2011 at Teresa Collin’s event!

This layout, [be you] was part of my DT submission, and they liked it so much, it was put into their catalog! Thank you so very much, miss M gets a kick out of looking at it:)

Thank you for letting me share!

Thanks for looking, and I hope each and every one has an awesome week ahead!

XOXO

This post has been one in the making now for months. We found out our youngest has a mild form of Autism last July. I shared a bit back in the summer.

I’ve prayed, read, prayed, researched, interviewed, attended meetings with various professionals, and prayed some more.

While on a daily basis, we learn something new, here’s what we have ALWAYS known…about our little girl.

She is bright. She is witty. She is sensitive. She is confident. She has a tender heart. She has SO much love in her.

We have discovered…

that she processes differently. that she has sensory issues. that she isn’t comfortable in her own body most of the time.

And yet…

She is this BRIGHT, WITTY, SENSITIVE, CONFIDENT, TENDER HEARTED little girl with SO much LOVE inside her!

She has been working so very hard in all of her sessions, and embraces her therapy with arms WIDE open! And gives 110%

And whether she has a good day, not so good day, her skills continue to emerge and we couldn’t be more proud of her!

She has been going through a very very rough patch, and we are gently reminded to trust in Him, and that’s a very sweet lesson in and of itself when you are faced with intense challenges daily. We thank the Lord for bringing her to us EVERYDAY!

Here’s a layout I created shortly after her diagnosis.

[on her own path]

And here’s what my amazing and sweet husband created:

Thank you to everyone who has prayed alongside us, listened, offered advice/referrals, and then continually prayed for her and for us. God bless you all!
XOXO

Hello there and Happy Friday! Boy, it’s days like this where literally I am wondering, where in the world did January go?

At CHA W, Therm O Web came out with some AMAZING new products!

First…a 100 foot tape runner with a pivotal head!

Next…some awesome new adhesive…ICraft Adhesive! This stuff rocks! It can be easily torn, is forgiving when working with ribbon and our ICraft dots, and more! Last, but certainly not least…GLITTER DUST! Like Sesil says, “ICraft a lot and Glitter Dust all the time!]

Here’s the card that’s up on the Therm O Web blog at the moment…Thanks for letting me share!

XOXO