And oldie but still in love...

Man, has my posts been extremely sporadic. I can't believe it and it is upsetting me. I have had some issues lately. There has been a couple more hurdles that we have dealt with since the last time I shared my woes. I am not going to go into those right now. I want to focus on things getting better and no more bad. Of course, that isn't going to happen. There will always be bad things that happen to people but as for now I need to focus on the good and keep myself and my growing baby happy and healthy.

I have had my niece visiting us since last Saturday and it has been great. She is so easy to handle and a great help with my boys. It has been a blessing having her here. More than I am getting into and will get into.

Last Saturday my parents, my family and my niece went to Sunset Beach again. The difference this time, my husband, father and niece were with us. It was such a wonderful day. We went just to go there and relax and enjoy the ocean breeze and cool air. But I couldn't go to the beach without getting my feet wet. My Dad, niece and I did just that almost the second we got there. Within about 20 minutes my Dad had fallen in the water and I was soaked up to my hiney. My dad had a change of shorts, I did not. Luckily my shorts were kinda thin so it didn't take too long to get them dry.

My oldest son finally put his feet in the water and when he did he couldn't get enough of it. My husband, didn't get near the water, my youngest son, he was feeling kinda ill so he didn't even get near the water either.

Today though I want to show you a project I made a long time ago. Well, it was about 2 years ago. I found the details for it on a message board that I visit fairly well. I just loved how it turned out. I made something similar for my parents and my mother-in-law. The only difference between mine and theirs is that in the middle theirs has their wedding pictures.

I hope to have things going regularly again next week. Thanks for being patient and sticking with me, if you have.

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Missy

Last week as a guest designer

It is Tuesday, I am behind. I have a lot going on. Nothing has never really calmed down at my house. Thank goodness my niece is here and is helping out with my boys.

The last challenge for me as a guest designer at Whimsy Challenge blog. This week's challenge is a sketch. I loved this sketch as soon as I saw it and knew it would be easy to make something with it. I was right.

I am not chatty at all today so I am going to leave with that. If you have any questions for me please don't hesitate to write.

I hope that I can get into the craft room soon. I can imagine what this time has done to my mojo.

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Missy

An explanation

Well, the week has been crazy. In some days I am completely shocked that it is Thursday and on the other hand I keep thiking it is already Friday.

We have had some vehicle issues which is not good considering we only have one vehicle. Tuesday afternoon my husband was running late for lunch but I figured he just got caught up in work and couldn't get out.

When he does walk in for lunch he is red in the face and just looked completely wiped out. I knew something was up. It turns out that he ran a few errands and while on the highway had a tire blow. Now we don't have any old truck. He drives a very big truck and it stands out like a sore thumb here in Southern California. In his military uniform in 100+ degree weather he stands on the side of the road trying to change the tire with semi (18 wheelers) driving right passed him. I ask you all now. If you see a man in uniform changing a tire please stop and at least ask if there is something you can do to help. To take this up one level if you see anyone (male/female, old/young) on the side of the road changing a tire it would be a nice gesture to stop and ask to help.

After lunch we all head out to the truck so that I can take my husband back to work so my boys and I can enjoy the pool for the afternoon. I notice that my oldest is having some difficulty with his seatbelt so I get out to help him. I was wearing flip flops and foot got all twisted up while stepping on the foot step that we have to help get in the truck. I luckily had a hold of the door so I didn't fall to the ground but did end up on the ground. My foot is swollen and still hurting a bit but I can get around a little now. Thankfully my sister had just asked if she could take my boys for a few days before the summer is over. So, they left yesterday afternoon to spend some time with family and I am home to rest and get my foot healed up.

But I also wanted to mention something else. With my husband gone last night to help with the Cub Scouts and my boys at my sister's house I got to spend some quiet time watching a movie I had wanted to watch in quite a while. It is "P.S. I love you". I have heard so many wonderful things about it but never got to see it before. I tell you, if you haven't seen it yet GO. I was here by myself but we share a wall with the neighbors and if they could hear through the wall or if someone was here but had no idea what I was doing, they would have thought I was nuts. I laughed, I cried. When my husband got home there were so many scenes I had to show him and the outtakes. He basically saw half the movie as well :)

Well, I guess that is about it today. I have a bunch of quiet time today so I hope to actually have something to show you tomorrow or later today. Let's plan on tomorrow though.

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Missy

Whimsy-Week 3

Good afternoon everyone!!! Does anyone else wonder where the year is going. I can't believe that July is coming to a close already. My husband and I were talking and we were both thinking that it feels like just last week that we were celebrating the 4th of July. Now it is the 20th of July. Amazing and sad all at the same time. I know there are a lot of mother's out there that are looking forward to the close of the summer. I know my husband is and is especially looking forward to the end of August (our hottest month here in the California desert). I may be a Southern California desert native but I am just not used to this heat anymore. I have been trying to get evening walks in to help with my pregnancy weight gain and figured since yesterday was Sunday we could do a family walk. This was after 7, it was still very hot. The sprinklers we got to walk by were very refreshing. The wind was blowing and there was a cloud cover that promised rain and lightening. There was lightening but as far as I know there wasn't any rain. I wake up this morning to blue skies and sunshine all around. Great for the sun but I would love to tone down the temperatures a bit. It has been 100+ for well over a week now. So not used to that. We were in Alaska for 5 years before this. In Alaska normal summer temps are 60-70 degrees. Maybe a hot 80 once in a great while but then everyone was complaining about the heat. I so miss everything about that place. I can't believe I feel that way either but I do. It got in my blood.

With all of that said I wanted to share with you the card I made for my 3rd week as a Whimsy Challenge Guest Designer. This weeks challenge is to make a card with a fun fold. This can be anything from super easy to really complicated. I went super easy on mine but loved how it turned out. I did have to cut Connor down to size because I was following directions and didn't think about how big my image was. I still think it turned out great. I am pleased with it. My oldest again says it is his card.

This is a pretty simplistic card so I am not going to go into details again. If you do have a question for me please feel free to leave it in a comment or email me with the question. I will be glad to get back to you as quickly as possible.

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Missy

Sketchy Anya

Wooohooo!!! It is Friday. I so need this day. Yesterday was great. I took my boys to the pool and we stayed for quite a long time. We actually missed picking up my husband from work since we were there so long. Thank goodness he had a co-worker who was willing and able to give him a ride. I might take them again today. Nothing better to do and since I had to buy a pool pass for myself I want to make sure I get my money's worth.

I am excited about tomorrow. Nothing really special but I have finally scheduled myself for a haircut. I should have had my mom do it while I was visiting but didn't want to bother her with it. Of course, I don't like spending money on myself either so going to get a haircut is difficult for me. But my hair is long and it is HOT and with being pregnant and irritable I have had about as much as I can handle with my hair. I just might post a picture of it on Monday.

Today I have another sketch challenge for you. I so need to get my mojo back and this is one of the best ways I know how to do it. I went to Spoon Full of Sugar and thankfully they had a sketch to use. I had already decided to color an Anya image. I was fiddling around on some other blogs and saw Amy Rysavy had posted some videos of coloring and such. I think she does a wonderful job and I wish I had as many copics as she does, I am just cheap.

This card was made with PTI and me & my big ideas cardstock. Stamped with Anya and the filigree is from Scrappy Cat.

I hope you like it. I am pleased but not excited. At least I am started to get my mojo. Please come back on Monday I have another Whimsy Design Challenge for you.

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Missy

Magnolia mojo

Good morning/afternoon on this Thursday!!! Today I am showing you some eye candy that I promised yesterday. First though, I would like to thank you for those lovely comments from yesterday. I am a pretty open person but there are some things that are difficult for me to share and you guys made me so happy and feel so much better about sharing what I was feeling. Thank you.

I believe with this card it is obvious that my mojo has been affected by my lack of crafting lately. I even used a sketch challenge to get this card done. I went to Friday Sketchers and got this sketch and after seeing all the magnolia stamps for this challenge I just had to pull mine out too. I just love the magnolia stamps and I cannot wait to get more. They have some wonderful animal stamps now that are just precious.

All the paper is PTI except the green, I have no idea where that came from (it was in my stash). The gold buttons were bought at Michaels and magnolia was colored using copic markers. Her gold sleeves were colored using my gold atyou spica pen to match the gold polka dots stamped on the purple cardstock.

That is about all I got for today. Since we didn't get to go to the pool yesterday (15th, grocery day) we didn't get to go so I promised the boys we could go today. We might go tomorrow to as well since I was already planning on going tomorrow anyway. It is a great way to get some energy out and some fresh air and just enjoy each other.

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Missy

Journal Day

Happy Wednesday everyone!!! Today I don't have anything crafty and I just wanted to journal about what has been going on with me. If you don't want to read it come back tomorrow and I should have some eye candy for you.

For some odd reason I have always wanted 3 kids, I don't know, I have my ideas but don't care to share them here. When I met my husband he knew I wanted kids but wasn't keen on the idea. 3 was a huge stretch for him. We went around in circles several times on the discussion of 3. We made an agreement when we were still living in Alaska (I won't go into details) but we had decided to try for a 3rd. But with a move pending we put it off, for a year, yeah right.

When we got to California we (meaning me) had decided to try and plan this one correctly. Both my boys were born in the Alaska winter (November/December). I wanted a precious April baby. We waited until July to try for our 3rd. No baby, August, September, October, still no baby. I have had some female issues I have been dealing with since before we left Alaska. I started to think that there wasn't going to be a baby or if it was possible it wouldn't be until we got my issues straightened out.

That didn't stop me from getting my hopes up every month that our 3rd precious baby would be here in 9 months. But also in the back of my mind (and has been since before I have had my kids) that I would someday have a miscarriage. There have been a few women in my life that have and I just assumed that since they did it meant that I would as well.

So when my husband and I had our last discussion about having a 3rd baby (we decided that we wouldn't try or prevent and just let it happen) and then finding out the next month that we were pregnant, I was nervous, happy and so scared all at the same time. I have been thinking, in the back of my head, that something would go wrong and my baby wouldn't make it.

Yesterday was my first OB appointment with my doctor. I was nervous and excited. Now I want to say that both my boys were born in a military hospital in Alaska, this one will be born at a civilian hospital because this base does not have a hospital. It has also been 4 years since I last went through all this. So I had no idea what to expect. A good friend of mine, who saw the same doctor, not only watched my boys but also told me that she got an ultrasound at the first appointment. I was excited but scared about what the ultrasound would show.

My husband went with me and we waited and waited and waited. There was a lady who had an emergency and needed to see the doc which set him back. We finally get in there, they tell me all this info, ask for even more info, and then send me back into the waiting room to wait for the ultrasound. My nerves were in knots. We get in the ultrasound room and we wait for the doctor. When he finally comes in he gets right to it. I immediately see my babies little heart beating and a sigh of relief came from me. But then I get to thinking, I haven't seen the baby move yet. I am trying to make myself feel better, the heart is beating the baby has to be alright. And then I see and hear the doctor say, it's moving. I got teary eyed and so excited. My baby IS okay. It is the greatest feeling in the world.

Now according to my research my due date is the 7th of February. The doctor's office has it as the 5th of February (according to my first day of my last period). The ultrasound has it as the 10th or 11th of February. That concerned me a bit that we weren't measuring what we should but the doctor wasn't concerned and left my due date as the 5th of February. My mom wants the baby to be born on the 1st of February so she has an excuse to stop celebrating her birthday :) If that is what she wants than I hope that is what I can give her.

I am just so excited to know that my baby really is in there and kicking and growing. I hope I can truly begin to enjoy this pregnancy since I know it will be my last. The fun thing that we are doing and some people probably think we are crazy; since it is my last and I already have 2 boys I have decided that I don't want to know what we are having. I am going to wait until the baby is born and they announce with 100% surety, it is a ???? My husband on the other hand, just can't stand not knowing. He has assured me that he will be able to keep this big secret. I have 99% confidence that he can.

The next 7 months will go by slowly/quickly, I have no idea. My oldest starts kindergarten next month so I am sure that will keep me busy enough that things will fly by but pregnancies never go as quickly as you hope so we shall see.

So, that has been my life for a while. I hope you are having a wonderful time this summer.

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Missy