Chewbacca

So yesterday the kids are enjoying our GORGEOUS Alaska summer weather - sorry Utahn's!!! and they are dressing up and playing with neighbors and having a grand time!

I go outside to check on things and see this:

Me: Hi there, cute lion!
A: I'n not a yion! I'n Twobacca!

Then he proceeds to destroy Darth Vader aka: Jack

Man, they're cute!!!

App for kids

I got this new app on my iPhone - Elmo's Monster Maker. The boys love it - and apparently so does Em - I had to tell her to turn it off yesterday because after you choose the hat, eyes & nose - you can make them dance with all sorts of music. It's kinda funny and keeps them entertained.

My Little Princess

While we were on vacation, my beautiful Em turned 9 years old. I can't believe what a sweet and grown up lady she's becoming. I'm so grateful for a daughter. I always wanted boys - but she made me so thankful to have my one girl!!! I love her creativity and smile. She's sweet and kind. She's so very helpful. I just don't know what I would ever do without her!!!

Love you Em!!!

Life is moving forward . . . no matter what I do!

So a couple months ago I closed down my store - yes, my life-long dream to own a scrapbook store came to an end - a bitter-sweet end - by the close of February. And since then, my designers and I have been working on the evolution of More Than A Memory - and as of right now . . . you can see what we've become!!!

I'm so very excited to start our online store. I've been creating like crazy - actually working on all the ideas that have been piling up in my head for the last year and a half - and I'm loving it!!!!

So if you get a chance - click on the More Than A Memory link in the sidebar.

Ahhhhhhhhh - working entirely from home. Getting more sleep. Playing with paper. THIS is the life!

As of late . . .

The past few weeks:

Scramble to finish projects and laundry
Fly to Las Vegas via Seattle
Drive to St. George
Enjoy time with brother, sisters & cousins/bro-in laws
Parks, Zions, Movies, Bakugans, Dino Tracks, Lake, pool, popsicles, Pirate Pizza
Drive to Provo
Enjoy time with Kent side (2 new babies - SO DANG CUTE!!!)
Drive to Martin's Cove
Pull a Hand-cart and climb Independence Rock with Grandma & Grandpa F
Drive to SLC
Stay w/ sister and nephews, Thanksgiving Point
Drive to St. George
Shop outlet mall, pool again
Drive to Vegas
Visit Shark Reef, eat at Excalibur Buffet, walk like zombies through casinos
Sleep in hotel
Fly to Anchorage via Seattle

With only approximately 2.5 meltdowns - it was a HUGE success of a vacation. We absolutely loved it and had such a fabulous time with all those we were able to see. Family is just too far away!!! We need visits in Alaska!!!

Glad to be home - but REALLY had a good time!

So this week has been busy and crazy!!! As you saw in my last post, I had a class scheduled for yesterday - the most adorable altered book ever!!! We took holiday Golden Books, unbound them, added scrapbook pages between the originals and bound it again - so darling. I'd been anxious to get the class example done - and found out my products for the class wouldn't arrive until the MONDAY before the SATURDAY class! Trauma! So my intention was to whip it together once the stuff arrived. It got here Monday and I started organizing it into the four story categories - so the papers would coordinate (Frosty the Snowman, The Night Before Christmas, The Poky Little Puppy's First Christmas and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer) then when I got home - I was rushing to get the kid's dinner before our Scout leaders came over to introduce us to the Webelos Program. As I'm showing my masterful cooking skills, I pulled the boiling water off the stove and proceeded to pour it into a Cup-Noodles container held in my other hand - problem is - I used a pot I don't usually use - and the handle is shaped weird - therefore - the boiling water rushed down my left hand and for the rest of the night I went from hand in ice to crying when I took it out. I couldn't work on my book and I got so frustrated! I didn't go to bed until around 1:30 that morning because I just couldn't find a way to sleep with ice on my hand. I finally got a bag of frozen green beans and slept w/ my hand on a towel all night. By morning - surprisingly it wasn't as horrifically painful as the night before - but I still had to be careful. Well - I did get the book done and photos taken for examples - and my class started to really fill up. I was up late every night this week - because I also did a second example book - as well as prepping 27 kits of four varieties. Not an easy task. To top it off - I had a Silpada party and girls' night Friday evening. But on the morning of the class - I had 2o of the 27 spots filled and when I arrived at my store - exhausted at 9:30 am - I saw the most beautiful sunrise . . .

My class went fabulously - and by the time I left . . . I had just one full kit left and two books that had been taken out of kits sold to people who had their own books. Not bad - we'll see if those were sold after I left. Hope so.

Now - after that huge push to the finale - like when I'd go home after a semester at college - my body is shutting down. I'm so tired!!! I slept through not only Dan trying to wake me up this morning - but church as well. I fully woke up and got out of bed around 11:30 - so needed!

So this week I've had to re-tell my idiot story of how I happened to pour boiling water over my hand - and I tried to take a photo - but none of them showed enough discoloration to justify the sympathy I'm craving - so I scratched that. Instead I've talked a lot to Emery about her burn - some of you have shown interest in her healing and current status. Well - here she is . . . (you can click on the photo for a better look)

Beautiful as ever - with this huge scar across the entire top of her hand. For those who don't know - in the summer of '06 she and Harrison were goofing off on the treadmill and she slipped - landing behind the treadmill with her hand somehow crushed between the belt and the back of the treadmill. Without the quick ninja skills that he's now developed (sure!) - Harrison didn't turn it off right away and the belt continued to burn the entire top of her hand off. She had a horrific burn as well as fears of broken bones. Fortunately - the bones weren't shattered at all. But that started months of medicating, dressing and protecting her open wound. And lots of discussion on the decision for a skin graft - which we still feel isn't necessary. Sweet little girl - she doesn't think much of it - the thing she hates the most is when people ask what happened. She's just sick of explaining it - but the scar itself doesn't bother her. She was a sweetie when I got burned - and my pathetic injury is nothing compared to what that little girl went through at 5 years old.

So my skin started peeling off yesterday - and the pain is gone - just a slight sensitivity - and a desire never to make Cup-Noodles again!!!

What I've been working on

Altered Little Golden Book Class

Desktop Calendar Class