Blog Your Heart & A Few Christmas Things :)

Hello everyone :)
This is going to be a lengthy post.. just warning ya.

I didn't end up scrappin' at the twelve-hour crop yesterday. I stayed home with my boys and cleaned out the garage, had a friend over and tried on clothes that I hadn't been able to wear in YEARS. I haven't seen my husband much in the past month and felt like I really needed to stay home with he and my son.
There's always next month, anyway...

So I want to share some things with you.. some personal things.
Ali Edwards or some other scrap celebrity started this challenge called "Blog Your Heart". Which is perfect for me because I'm one of the most honest people you will ever meet. I am TOO honest at times.
TMI? - yeah, that's me sometimes. But oh well. I am who I am.
But even though I'm honest, I don't generally tell strangers that read my blog a ton of my business. Yeah, I share pics and stories related to Caleb's Autism and a few things here and there about my weight loss surgery. But I don't share super personal things on here. Well, today I am.
Anyway, here is what's going on with me -
On the weight loss front, I've now lost over 184lbs. Yes, I'm very very proud of myself. People say I should be so happy now. And I am. I LOOK happier and I am able to do SO much more now. But has the weight loss "fixed" everything? No. The surgery helped but, it didn't fix my brain. It's just a tool. Not a magic pill.
I still have to work very hard to lose weight (and keep losing). I mourn the loss of food. It was my best friend for a LONG time. I can pretty much eat anything now without getting sick so I really have to stay diligent about eating the right foods and exercising. I still battle depression. I've thought about selling all my scrap stuff and giving scrapping up. Scrapping doesn't really cheer me up anymore like it used to. And with my scraproom upstairs and a kid that won't stay upstairs with me for longer than a few minutes and a husband that's never home, it's really hard to scrap here at home.
But I know this is just a temporary thing and as soon as I do that I'll regret it. So I'm getting therapy and praying ALOT and hopefully I'll get through all this ---WITHOUT MEDICATION--forget that, anti-depressants don't work on me. Not to mention, we are thinking about having another baby next year and I don't want to be on any meds that could affect the baby. Sometimes I worry being on an SSRI while pregnant with Caleb CONTRIBUTED to him being Autistic.
So there you have it. Say a prayer for me if you will.

On the scrapbooking front.. I went to a Stampin' Up! workshop at my friend Heather's today and here are a few things I made. (cell phone pics, sorry)


mini card


8x8 page - obviously I need to put a pic on this


If you're interested in Stampin' Up! and don't have a local demonstrator, check out Heather's website. She is awesome :) (and please tell her Jenny Brannies sent you, tee hee)

Anyway, that's it. Thanks for "listening" to me "blog my heart". I hope you all have a GREAT week!
I plan on scrapping at Archivers with a few friends this next Saturday night. Hopefully I'll be back with pics of my work next weekend.
Byeee!

Halloween & Fall Cuteness

Hi everyone! Just thought I'd pop on here and say HI and post a few more pics from Caleb's Fall photoshoot with CJS Photography as well as some Halloween pics.

Halloween this year ROCKED!
Unlike last year, Caleb was open to his costume (although he wouldn't wear ANYthing else even though I tried to talk him into it after I saw his costume was too short). And thank God, too. Because it cost me a whopping $3.00 at a rummage sale a few mos ago.. I love bargains!
He also LOVED going from house to house saying "TRICK-OR-TREAT" (often before the homeowners would open their door, though. Mental note: work on that for next year, LOL)

This was the first year he was really into it. It made hubby and I both so happy to see him so giddy about it all. YAY CALEB!!
Another great thing - he doesn't even care about the candy! He ate the lollipops and that was all he cared for. It's all in the trash now which, is great for Mommy & Daddy. No more temptation for us :)

Here are a few pics I took with my iPhone 4S and Instagram. LOOOOVE Instagram!!






And here are some (unedited) pics from my DSLR.
They aren't that great. I was really into being "present" and helping Caleb trick-or-treat this year instead of being the photographer like in years past :)


See how short his costume was? Yep, he was like Steve Urkel but SO darn cute! tee hee



After we trick-or-treated, we went over to our neighbors house and had a bonfire, wine and more fun. It was a blast! :)

And here are some more pics from Cay's Fall photoshoot. I just LOVE them! Can't wait to scrap them!







Regarding scrapping: I have scrapped the past two Saturday nights with friends at Archivers but I've only worked on kits.. no REAL scrapping so far. I find when I'm not in a creative mood or simply don't have the time to get all my scrap stuff together for a crop, working on kits is best.
I'm going to a Stampin' Up! party Friday night and Saturday I'm going to an all day NJS crop. I'm really hoping I'll get some stuff done there but we shall see.. I have NO DESIRE right now to go edit and print out pics and get all my Fall stuff together for this crop so we'll see what happens. I might just do more kitting. Leaves me free to talk more to friends at the crop, anyway.. tee hee :)

Well, have a great rest of the week. Thanks for looking!

Tuesday Morning goodies :)

For those of you with a Tuesday Morning near you and a Prima flowers fetish (like me!), RUN to TM asap!
Check out what I got there today (thanks Teresa for making me aware of your Prima finds).

Lots of flowers. I looooove polka dots!

$2.99 Tim Holtz Grungeboard. I have a ton of GB but I'd never seen either of these sets before so I snatched them up.
Prima 6x6 paper stack. Last one. Love it!

I'll be back later with another post. I have lots of pics from Caleb's Fall photo shoot and Halloween to share :)

Fall Professional Photo Shoot

Hi all, I'm sorry I haven't blogged in awhile. I went to Vegas with hubby for an Autism conference and since I got back, Caleb has been a real handful. I think with Mommy and Daddy both being gone and my MIL watching him, he has regressed a bit on some things.

I also recently joined the local YMCA and have been there alot .. especially in the pool with Caleb. He is normally scared to death of water so when he LOVED the pool, I was SHOCKED! So of course, I take him there any chance I can :)

Regarding scrapbooking, hubby has been gone ALOT. I SO need a break. I'm hoping to crop with a few friends this weekend at Archiver's :) :)

Here are some pics of Caleb that were taken last Friday at a park right by our house - Fishers Heritage Park at White River. Thank you so much to CJS Photography. You did an OUTSTANDING job! I can't wait to scrap these.
And there will be more to come!





Til next time,

Another School Layout

I scrapped at Archivers with Michele last night. Another school layout *sigh*.
I know, I'm sick of them, too. LOL
I have ONE more to do and then I'm done for a while. YAY! Then I'm going to scrap pumpkin patch pics :) Double YAY!


First Day of Preschool 2011-
Background paper, chipboard, fabric, clear & cardstock embellies - Little Yellow Bicycle; Small blue alphas - Prima; "2011" - American Crafts Thickers. Also used blue pen to add dot circles and lines to my paper.. it definitely brought the layout together. It's amazing what such a simple thing adds :)

Thanks for looking. Have a great weekend!

Family & Field Trips

I have been CRAZY BUSY!! I mean, unbelievably NUTSO busy!
In addition to be sick (all three of us have sinus infections), hubs has been out of town all but one day the past few weeks, we've been doing alot of church things (small groups, etc).
Also, Caleb had a field trip to the pumpkin patch w/his school, etc etc.




Sunday we had a family get-together at my parents house. They live on a few acres with a pond and it's really just GORGEOUS property. And since we were altogether for the first time in over a year and a half, they had a professional photographer come out and take pics of all of us. It was my Mom's idea for us to wear Colts gear (which, if you know my Mom, that's pretty shocking! She's not a football fan, LOL).
Here's a pic of the three of us :)


I'd love to say I've been scrapbooking my little heart out but other than some Christmas cards and a few kit layouts, I haven't done much.
And life isn't going to slow down anytime soon.
Next week the inlaws are going to come in from Kansas City and watch Caleb while hubs and I travel to Las Vegas for an Autism conference. I'm hoping to sneak a date night in on Saturday night.. praying it works out :)
I'm going to scrap at Archivers this Saturday night with a friend.. hoping to get something done and maybe, just maybe, I'll have something to show you on Monday :)

Til then, have a GREAT week!

Busy!!

We've been very busy lately (and SICK) so I haven't had time to scrapbook. Hopefully once I get over what it is that I have, I'll be back to scrappin' again.
September 9th my friend Michele and I took Caleb (and her son) to the VIP kids carnival in Zionsville. It's JUST for special needs kids. LOTS of Autistic kids there. Caleb had a BLAST!! All the rides were FREE and he rode his first REAL amusement rides ever! Here are a few pics. It was raining so they aren't the best. But I'm still going to scrap them :)

First face painting:




Mommy won Caleb his first pet (goldfish). Unfortunately, Mommy also killed it (but Caleb didn't really care or understand anything about that).
This is Caleb & Michele:


And then Saturday we did a walk for Autism called "Answers for Autism". I have pics from that as well but they are on my cell phone and I cannot find my USB cord. I'll upload those later and I know I will also be scrapping them :)

I hope to get at least one layout done this week. We'll see.. It's going to be a busy one.
Hope yours is GREAT!

School Days

Yesterday I cropped a few hours with friends Michele & Heather at the NJS crop in Anderson. We didn't stay as long as normal and my mind was elsewhere so I only got one layout done but, I actually like it :)
I know I did a school layout last week but that was from THIS year. The layout below is from his first day of school LAST year.
Expect more to come as well. I still need to do another layout from each year. I took LOTS of pics and also have pics that his teacher from last year gave me of him playing in the classroom :)



"School Days"
Kraft & navy blue cardstock: Bazzill; patterned paper, cardstock star, journaling box & banner flag: October Afternoon; plain chipboard Thickers sprayed with navy blue Glimmer Mist; EK Success border punch; fabric apple brad: Paper Studio (Hobby Lobby)

The journaling box is tucked under the photo on the left and just talks about how we moved to Fishers when we found out Caleb was on the Autism spectrum and how great the school system/early childhood program is. How much he loved his teacher Ms. Heather and school, etc. in the 2010/11 school year.
**********************************************************


Have you seen this new "Hoot Hoot" paper stack from Hobby Lobby? LOVE IT!!!
I've been really into owls the past few years so last night this one caught my eye. And of course, I HAD to get it.. there was one left and it was 40% off! This will be perfect for Fall layouts!
I loooove Hobby Lobby!
And.... I may or may not have bought some Christmas decor there last night :) :) tee hee



Well, that's it for now. Have a great week!

Ready!

This cute little boy started his third year of Preschool on Monday.
We were thrown a curveball in early August. He didn't get the school/teacher we were originally told he would have but so far, the new school/teacher is working out which is a BLESSING because I have been SO worried. Change is hard for most Autistic kids.. Caleb is no exception. But he's been coming home happy and seems to love it :)





I went and cropped at Archivers last night and here's a layout I did about his first day of school. Not too thrilled with it.. it just doesn't feel DONE but I am learning to leave my layouts alone if I ever want to get caught up on Caleb's albums (I'm about two years behind at this point).
Besides, who am I scrapping for?
ME! (and Caleb/future generations).
Not to be on design teams, not to impress anyone else, etc :)
Sometimes I think I forget that.


"Ready!"
Kraft cardstock: Bazzill; Red paper: Core'dinations; patterned school paper & diecuts: Simple Stories; Red corrugated alphas: Jillibean Soup; EK Success border punch & tag punch

Journaling reads: "This is your 3rd year of preschool.... You are a school pro by now.. You {heart} it so much! On this day we went outside an hour before the bus came... you were so excited! You kept asking "Where's my bus, Mommy?" You are so cute!"


No crop this next Friday night for me as we have other (really fun) plans.
But Saturday is my monthly NJS crop. I (hope) I get at least 2 layouts done there.
Til then, have a GREAT Labor Day and, a great week!!