family pictures = organized chaos

oh yes. that's right. chaos. pure chaos. now, granted you have to give me credit because i was doing this myself with a tripod and, well, i had no idea what i might get. three boys, one husband, two big dogs (with minds and plans of their own), and one antsy, perfectionist mother. oh, and did i mention this little session was after three hours of church?? at lunch time when everyone's tummy's were growling incessantly. spirits were not high at this moment. but, somehow we managed to pull it together and look like a chummy family of five (minus, of course, the dogs with attention spans of fleas!!). i thought you would like to see the outtakes - these will definitely make it into at least one of my scrapbooks!! they are, after all, the BEST moments. real and as tangible as you can get.
i did do my very best to get those darn dogs in our picture. but wouldn't you know it, as soon as one of the dogs behaves, the four year old decides he's done.

had to do a silly, stupid one. come on, didn't you read the part about THREE boys??!!

.....and now, without further ado.....the final picture:

(the airbrushed version :)

ah, isn't Christmas time grand?

100th post....lots of pictures!!

they say a picture is worth a thousand words. i believe it's worth so much more. that is why i am so passionate about photography. but, i do love words and writing, which is why i started this blog. it is more for me than anyone else who might look in on it. (though it's fun to peek into the ordinary lives of other people) i thought it appropriate for my 100th post, to post pictures from the past two years. some i've already shared here, and some i haven't. they are snapshots of my life. they are precious.

Halloween madness......

so i know halloween is a crazy holiday in and of itself....but this year was all run, run, running. trick or treating here, there and everywhere. and i didn't even have ben and kyle this year!! started with noah going to a rest home with his and another preschool class. cuteness!!!



my little pirate......

cute puppy....not ours. just have the two still!

emma and noah. man are they cuties together!! i adore this little angel.

and noah with one of his best buds, logan.

i am ready for a quiet week next week. :)

pure joy...

this is my recent addition to my art journal - the larger version i am currently working on. it is a page about creating a balance and how it is something i constantly struggle with. i think that is true for most women, and particularly true for moms. we put so much pressure on ourselves to be everything for everyone. we often forget about ourselves. that is one of the reasons i scrapbook and do art journals. it gives me time for reflection and some personal growth. deep, huh? trust me, i'm not really that deep!! HA!!



today was noah's class halloween party. man, these are the days i will always look back on and smile - hugely! what a gift it was for me to experience this day with him. he is going to be a pirate for halloween. it's hard to tell from this picture. he has a skull cap that goes with his costume, but as he says "it's too tight", then he promptly rips it off his head. oh well, i tried.



this is his preschool class, including his adorable teacher, mrs. liz. she was a cowgirl today - so cute!! noah is the third one in from the left...squinting because of the blinding sunshine.

art journal stuff

it's been awhile since i've shared some of my creative pursuits on paper. i have been inspired to do some really free-style things. the kind of things that don't really have a place...don't really belong in the family scrapbook album. but it is what is coming up for me right now. this page below is one of those. it's an 8 1/2 by 11 page (my usual scrapbook size), but i don't know if it's going into an album. maybe it's the start of a new art journal album. i usually do those in smaller journals. hmmm....





these next two are from my latest art journal. i started it on my birthday with the intention of writing in it daily. that hasn't happened, but i have kept up with it somewhat. i add to it with magazine clippings, stamps, whatever looks like it needs to make it's home in there! then i write later because often the writing mood and the collage-ing mood don't coincide.

in other news...noah is in full potty training mode. he has had plenty of accidents, but today is the third day and he has already peed TWICE in the potty!!!! yeah!!! there is light at the end of the tunnel - whew!

pumpkins, corn mazes and little visitors...

we engaged in one of our favorite traditions on saturday....the pumpkin patch! this one had a really cool corn maze too - which took about an hour and a half to get out of! geesh! everyone was tired, thirsty and hot by the time we were done. here are the cherry family pumpins:
the two tiny ones are the prize for finding all the "clues" in the corn maze. a lot of work for two jack be littles!!



what do you do after all that work?? relax in a box 'o corn kernels, of course!

or........sit and ponder!

all in all it was a really fun day and lots of gorgeous color everywhere you looked! orange is fast becoming one of my favorite colors :) it's just such a happy color, no?

this was taken at the beginning of our corn maze quest. when everyone was happy, eager and ambitious! that faded quickly. :)

this week we have a visitor: hopkins the rabbit. he is noah's class pet and it is our job to care for him this week. i opened the pantry one night to discover hopkins sitting amoungst the peanut butter and pasta. i guess a stuffed rabbit has to eat too!

joyous monday to you!!

something new!

a diaper bag!!! a special request for my aunt who's granddaughter is coming into this world very soon. i am kind of in love with the way it turned out. she gave me VERY specific color, size and other instructions...which is why it is so lavender. i really hope it is what she had in mind.


the straps are longer than they appear in this picture.

lots of pockets for bottles, cell phone, other various baby items....

...and a diaper changing kit to go in the bag. for when you don't want to take the whole bag into the bathroom to change the baby. you have everything you need in one place!

here's a view of the inside. in the middle is a changing pad made of vinyl interior. easy to wipe up any messes...as they always occur!!

i've been really busy making more jewelry to put in my little booth. i've sold a few things which is a huge relief in and of itself. i was worried...i'm not a risk-taker. but it seems to be going well so far!

it's almost here....

on saturday...this saturday...in two days....is the:

here are some pics from our little space. i think i've mentioned that i am doing this with two of my girlfriends. anna makes cards and jandi makes the magnet boards and all the vinyl products. i love, love, love the way our space turned out. small? yes. but it's mighty!! :)

i've also made some cute chenille burp cloths and diaper changing kits, which are pictured on the shelf below:

if you live in the denver area come check us out. the address is on the top picture!!! :)

artful season

i would say i am in the middle of a very artful season. both literally and metaphorically. i am producing tons of stuff for the store where i will have a small booth space in. and then of course, there's my favorite season ever........FALL!!

i mean if you can't find art and beauty everytime you step outside, you're just not looking hard enough! it's everywhere - so inspirational to me! :)