Silly boys!

Lately I have really been feeling so blessed to able to experience the little everyday moments of Jameson's life. He seems to be growing up so fast and I can't imagine not being actively involved in every step of his life. Now we do have our limits so that is why the little boy is getting excited about starting school next week. Having a few mornings each week of momma & boy not together helps the entire family. It allows me time to get some stuff done and not always have to rely on James entertain Jameson all on his own. Which means we have more family time! Now that is the icing on the cake of us!

So yesterday we headed to Chick-fil-A to play with some friends (the 3rd day of rain would not have been good for us all cooped up inside). We had so much fun. And look how cute these boys are with their ice cream (did you know that at Chick-fil-A you can trade in your kids meal toy for ice cream...sweet!)

Last night I finished up a layout that I'd been working on for a few weeks (started it and just hadn't found the time to get back to it). Here is the finished product (all products from the super talented Nicole - who is now going to be selling at TDC). By far this layout isn't my best ever but you know what, it records this time in my life right now. And from a design standpoint I merged two sheets of digi paper into one. I love the way the background paper turned out! The picture was taken by Carrie while she was practicing one of our photography lessons. This is totally me at the lake during the summer of '08...no make-up, crazy hair and all!

Did you notice the updated header on here? That is one of the butterfly pictures that I took a few weeks ago. I have been wanting to redo it and finally got down to it. I also redid one for my friend Sarah (she may not have uploaded it yet but look out for the owl - this was made with this kit). This kit totally makes me excited for fall. I might just have to make a mini album or something fun with this kit in hopes that fall will come sooner rather than later?!

To help keep this blog focused on my family & creative ventures I've started a new blog for Heartland Select. Keep up with all the fun we're having with this awesome juice over there. Did I tell you that my mom is no longer taking her arthritis meds because of this amazing juice?!

New creations!

Lately I've been trying to stretch myself to create some hybrid items (basically printing out digital elements to use on paper projects). I love the versatility of it. You can print it out as many times as you need to (no need to know how much to buy when I'm an hour away at the store). Plus you can recolor it! Here are a few school supplies sets that were done using digital elements printed out on full sheet labels (basically making them into stickers).

The first set was for Carrie's daughter Tegan. She loved it. The portion on the front of the composition book was actually meant to be a page of a mini album. Sometimes you just have to rethink the actual purpose of something. The other two pics are of Kelley's kiddos supplies. I love that it so matches Av's backpack! And Au's set is so fun (he actually plays the guitar so he was totally into it). The background paper was originally green but I loved the way the designer had distressed the edges and had newspaper like stuff peaking out. So I recolored it to make their school colors. (So love that about digi stuff.)

Earlier today Jameson & I baked a rhubarb pie, made some banana bread and put together some bag tags for his classmates at school. I think they turned out pretty cute. Jameson was excited to identify the various letters of their names.

Rain!

I can honestly say that I've never been so excited to see rain fall from the sky and continue to come down. We were heading out this morning and Jameson just kept saying, mom the truck is going to get wet but it is okay because the lake needs rain. Our lake is so far down it is almost 'normal' now. We just found out that without rain the lake would be down 23.5 feet within the next month. That means lots of completely dry spots. Not the prettiest thing! Let alone thinking about what it is doing to the animals that call the water home. This afternoon we were playing with an umbrella on the porch so I decided to play around with some of the camera settings. I was trying to show the motion of the umbrella yet keeping Jameson in focus. He wasn't really understanding me when I was asking him to stand still. Oh well they were still fun to do and he was actually getting into it a bit. That was until he decided that trying to ride Deacon would be more fun. Oh how I feel bad for our poor puppy being tortured by the boy. This other picture is just another one I was able to capture. This seems to really sum him up right now. Bleached out hair from spending so much time in the sun, Clemson orange shirt on (and did you notice that was an Ashland umbrella in the background - I love the mix of them together - so totally a Jarvis thing), his half smile at me (basically pleading with me to put the camera away - I have been better lately about not pulling it out all day long), overall this picture makes me smile at this awesome 3 year old boy!

The tradeshow this past weekend was fun. I felt like I had stepped back into my past. For the past 5 years I haven't done anything like that, but I stepped right back into it as if I hadn't stopped. I think it definitely helped that I'm so passionate about the Heartland Select muscadine juice. Now to follow-up with those that wanted additional info.

Jameson is starting to get excited about starting school next week. We took a few pictures with is new backpack. He will actually get to go on some field trips this year - exciting! These are times that I feel so blessed to be a stay-at-home mom to be able to participate with him.

On a funny note, how many of you have heard of yearbookyourself.com. It is hilarious. You upload a picture of yourself straight on, then you can scroll through what you would have looked like during various years in history. I can finally see what others see when they say I look like my mother. And the one that was from my high school times, honestly could have been my senior picture. Walk down memory lane!

I'm off to bed now. I'm feeling a bit stuffed up from all the stuff the rain is swirling into the air (why is it that I was able to go so many years in Ohio without any allergy issues but as soon as I moved south - very frustrating). We're supposed to have a couple more days of rain too...bring it on!

ADPi Model

Please help me assist a young ADPi to achieve her dream. My roommate at the summer workshop has asked us to help spread the word about her friend Kelsey. She has a chance to jump to the front of the line for the Next Top Model audition in Houston. Just click here and select the bubble by Kelsey's name. Thanks!

Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. 1 Peter 4:10

Lately I have been overwhelmed with the joy of helping others with my God given talents. About 6 months ago when LALR was sold I knew that He had something else on the horizon for me. I wasn't quite sure what it was but was happy to patiently wait until He showed it to me. I've come to realize it wasn't just one thing that He knew would cross paths with me but many little things. I am passionate about doing things in excel and especially when it involves mail merge. (I mean really love to do it!) I've got a fun project to help with at church. I'm going to be helping to organize some of the details of the upcoming group connections. This a little detail and a totally behind the scenes things. About 10 years ago or so I wouldn't have seen the purpose in something like this - from a greater purpose standpoint. Within the last year I've been reminded that it takes many little things to make something great. The one doing the administrative task is just as important as the big boss, everyone has their own gifts and talents to share with others. Being creative and organized are my things...and I love them!

Okay I'm going to get back to my other talent, entertaining a little boy that is about to get up from nap.

Busy times around these parts! We had a good visit with my mom this weekend. While she was here the two of them ventured into the woods behind our house and found this adorable little box turtle. They named him Timmy Turtle. At first the turtle wasn't too sure of all of us. I'm sure he'd never had a camera that close to his nose before - but he did start to walk toward me so I'm guessing I wasn't scaring him too badly. Now Deacon, that is one that Timmy should have been afraid of. That silly dog tried to bit the hard shelled turtle. He is so protective of Jameson! When it was time for us to head inside we put Timmy into the wheel barrel and he had some lettuce. After dinner the first thing Jameson wanted to do was to check on his new pet. Even later I was cleaning up the yard to get ready to head inside for the night. Mom asked if I was actually going to keep him as a pet. He had left some waste in his 'home' that was enough for me to decide that a caged animal is probably not a good idea in our house. So Timmy went back to the 'wild' and Jameson was upset that his first pet had gone free. He had mentioned it a couple of times since so hopefully Timmy won't come looking for a snack anytime soon. It is cool to be so close to nature!

Sunday we headed down to Atlanta to watch the Braves play (okay I use that term very loosely because it was a very dull game). It was an adventure both getting there and again heading home. Every single entrance ramp going north was closed, without detour signs. Good thing I have a decent sense of direction or we still might be in Atlanta trying to figure out how to get out of town. It literally took us 45 minutes to get from the stadium to the interstate (normally it is a quarter mile from the parking lot). Jameson did have fun with his first taste of cotton candy!

And this weekend...if you or anyone you know will be in Greenville this weekend...come visit me at the Upstate Women's Show. The team I'm with for Heartland Select will be there spreading the news about this awesome new product. We're really hoping that some others will be interested in joining our team.

Hot class

Okay so do you want to take your scrapbooking to the next level of design. Go sign up for this class with Cathy Zielske. She is hilarious. If I didn't have so many other things going on this fall I would totally take this class. If you sign up, let me know!

Now I'm off to finish up some pumpkin muffins for the tasting party tomorrow. I picked the pumpkins from our garden so they are fresh and yummy. I'm totally getting into these fresh ingridents!

End is near...

I can feel that the end of summer is near. The weather has been cooler, our teacher friends have returned to work, some leaves have started to fall to the ground & Jameson has his preschool open house this coming weekend. The odd part about the leaves and the weather turning is that it is still August, not typical for these parts. I love fall though so I'll take it as early as it wants to come. Makes me want to pull out my favorite jeans and sweatshirt and go to a football game (not to actually want the game though - more of a people water than sports - ha!). Speaking of watching, we're going to a Braves game this weekend. I'm so excited. I love watching baseball. My mom is coming in to visit and she is the true baseball lover in our family so it is only fitting that we would go to a game together.

In other news, I've been busy getting things ready for my Heartland Select tasting party this Saturday (if you're in the area - please come!), finishing some ADPi projects, chasing after a sneaker wearing skateboarder & preparing for a trade show next weekend with HS. I also got to test out how much the Cricut could do. I made the above banner for Jameson's school to help advertise. It was neat to use so much vinyl. I am really enjoying the larger bug (couldn't have made some of the letters on the little bug).


So about the sneakers and skateboard. We headed to commerce last night to get some shoes for the boy. I really wanted him to have something like sperry boat shoes so he had some 'dress-up' type shoes. It was quite the struggle to get this croc wearing kiddo to even try on the shoes. By the 3rd visit into the shoe store James wanted him to just pick out shoes. He talked him into these sneakers since they look like spiderman. And because he tried on the shoes his daddy said he could get the skateboard he'd been talking about. So when we got home he showed us all the 'tquits' (aka tricks) that he can do. He is quite entertaining, lets just pray there aren't any hurt parts from riding this fun wheeled toy. It is interesting how much this boys loves toys with wheels. As I watching him last night I was thinking about how almost all of his favorite toys, since he was a baby, have always had wheels.

Earlier today we had lots of friends join us at the pool. It was so nice to see so many of our church friends gathered together. This little cutie to the right is such a doll - I love those cheeks! And the 3 musketeers eating popsicles. I love these kids!

The digital design team that I'm on is having a call for more hybrid artists. Come on you know you want to give it a try.

08.08.08

I love these triple number dates! Jameson was lucky enough to have been born on one (5/5/05). We've joked that if he plays sports we know what number he should be. Until then he will continue to do silly things like play 'moodict' (aka music) with his squishy alligator. He did this for a good 20 minutes. Such a funny kid!

To celebrate today we had pizza at the pool with our cousins, two of which are staying the night. They giggle so much when they are together - love that! Now we're home and are watching the opening ceremony for the Olympics. Someday I think I'd like to actually attend, just for the experience. Until then I'll enjoy these sweet faces snuggling together!

And you all know how much I love etsy (yes my store has been reactivated). Another fun new find was shared with me today...functional, yet adorable patterned camera straps (thanks for sharing Myra!). Cotton Candy is pretty cool. She uses lots of modern fabrics, including some vera bradley ones. Thinking forward to Christmas, I'm thinking that when I get to shopping I'm going to attempt to buy or make as many handmade things as possible. Have you found any fun links lately? Please do share!

I've been doing quite a bit of creating lately - I know big surprise. I've been doing some fully digital pages and some completely paper. The page to the left with pictures from Jamie & Keith's wedding, was actually in a spot light thread - a first for me. I love the mix of having both digital & paper things in my 'toolbox'. However I know that I will never be fully digital. I had been doing so many digi stuff and after doing quite a bit on the computer I could tell that my brain was not 'level' and playing with some paper last night was the total cure. Funny how that works for me but it does.

So I'd mentioned that we'd been spending quite a bit of time on at the lake. I thought I would share a few fun pictures. One day the 'moms' had our turn with the really big Mable (this things is huge). Picture this, 3 grown women on a tube being pulled by the boat that is being driven by 1 hubby along with the other 2 husbands and 8 kids. It was quite a scene. We wished we could have gotten a picture of the boat because not one person was moving about or talking - that would most likely not have been the case if the adult roles had been switched. So the 3 of us did get knocked off one time - and it was a big one. I personally flipped all the way, up and over the back of the tube. We had a good time. After our ride we switched out the tube so that James could try wake-boarding. He loves the water and it was great to see him relax a bit and enjoy himself. I was so proud of him, he got right up!

Earlier today Jameson & I were out for a bike ride (luckily it was on in the mid 80's here today so we could be outside without being in the pool). He is totally into taking bike rides. We met a few of the other boys in the neighborhood who were also out just riding around. One of them was walking along, without a bike or shoes. I asked him why and he said his bike broke. So we got the golf cart and fixed his bike for him. Then the boys stuck around the house to play with Jameson a bit. He so loves to hang with the big boys. And these 3 boys are always so sweet to entertain the little boy. They actually said they like playing with him because he messes back with them and talks to them. I am pleasantly surprised since they are two 12 year old and one is 9. I wouldn't think they would want anything to do with this 3 year old. They were actually trying to encourage Jameson to take his training wheels off because they think he is so good on his bike. And speaking of bike rides. I took a few pictures earlier this week of both of my boys riding together. Look at that adorable little bike!

To practice a little photography I found a friend that has a lantana in her yard that has been attracting butterflies by the hundreds. There were so many of them they were calling me to take a few photos. Here are a few of my favs.

Heartland Select!

My new business adventure is selling an organic juice. The company's name is Heartland Select. The benefits that people are seeing from this juice is awesome. It is made from muscadines.

I'll let the pamplet tell the details...

Does Cancer, Diabetes, Heart Disease, or Alzheimer's run in your family? Do you suffer from joint pain or allergies?

Here is your opportunity to do something good for yourself and your family. Don’t miss your chance to prevent disease, improve your health, and get in on the ground floor of this amazing product launch.

Heartland Select is loaded with Antioxidants. The ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) or antioxidant score of Heartland Select is 3764 per 2 oz. serving. For most Americans, one 2 oz. serving of Heartland Select, the leading functional beverage on the market, will more that double their daily fresh fruit and vegetable intake quotient.

Heartland phytochemicals “phyte” (fight) inflammation. Inflammatory diseases include: Allergies, Atherosclerosis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Asthma, Alzheimer’s, Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, Fibromyalgia, Psoriasis, Colitis, COPD, and Gout.

Heartland Select phytochemicals promote heart and blood vessel health, reverse Metabolic Syndrome, and “phyte” (fight) Diabetic complications.

Finally, the Muscadine phytochemicals in Heartland Select have anti-Cancer properties and both treat cancer and prevent the development of cancer.

Now is the time to take action! Secure your order now for prevention. Learn how you can get your products for FREE and how you can even make a substantial income!

Source – “Muscadine Health: Healthful Benefits of Muscadine Products” by Diane K. Hartle, Ph.D. et.al. © 2008. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

If you're in my area next weekend, we're having a tasting party at the pavilion in my neighborhood. Stop by! Or if you're interested in getting in on the ground floor with me...drop me a line!

Questions? Give me a call or drop me an email. Official site opens October 2008 ~ temporary site.

Random!

Okay so this is going to be a totally random post. A bit of an update on the Ohio trip and a few stumbled upon sites with blurfing (blog surfing).

Wordle - so cool! You can put in a website, type in any words you like and it will make a random mess of the words. I put in the blog address and this is what it spit out. Go try it out!

Ice Cream in Ohio...every single night that we were visiting with our family in Akron we enjoyed good old fashioned ice cream. The second night after we got home, Jameson said "can we get some ice cream tonight." James & I just laughed because we knew that was going to happen. We luckily keep the freezer stocked with a variety of skinny cow treats.

Photography...I'd mentioned a few months ago that I was taking an online class at BPS. We're about a month into it. While I was in Ohio I was lucky enough to get together with my friend Myra (we went to high school together!). She is taking an online class with Candice Stringham. So when we were together what would we do other then take some pictures. The best part about it was that we didn't have any kids with us so we took pictures of each other. Since we're both the photographers in our family, we're rarely in the pictures. The profile picture of me was taken by her as were the pics in the double photo desktop example from last week. (Jameson showed up right at the end of our photography play so Myra grabbed a few of the little man & me.) Here is my favorite shot that I got of her.

Cedar Point! It was so much fun. We're not really amusement park type people, however that might be changing as Jameson gets older. He was was really into it. He loved the roller coasters best but the awesome splash zone was a close second. One morning James & I headed out (thanks MC) for some adult time. There were lots of us all together = silly bunch of peeps all waiting in line for over an hour for 3 minutes of entertainment. Overall we had a great time visiting with lots of extended family.

I got to spend some quality time with my girlfriends (thanks D&D). We were scrapbooking - I know big surprise but hey we all enjoy it! I so treasure these girls. My college roommate Jaimie now lives just outside of Columbus. At the last LALR weekend the group decided that we need to keep scrapbooking together. Without this hobby I know that I would not have stayed in touch quite this much with these gals. Since I live 600 miles from all of them, it is tough with us all having such busy lives. Having set dates to scrapbook together is our connection. We've already started talking about when we're going to do it next. I can't wait! - no photos from this gathering but I did find this one of Julie from 5 years ago. It was at a crop Jaimie organized when she was selling CM. Maybe next time we'll remember to take pictures of us since this time we were all so focused on creating things and chatting like a bunch of school girls! It was awesome. There is just something about being surrounded by friends that you have history with that is comforting to the soul.

We spent quite a bit of time swimming too. Jameson really enjoyed the pool at my mom's house. Since we weren't in public he felt like it would be okay to go without a suit. Really I think he would never wear clothes if we didn't make him. We also go to swim a bit at my cousins house. Their pool has salt water - very cool. Morgen did her first 'flip'. And luck for all of us I captured the whole thing with my handy camera! Thanks Keith, Cathy & Aubrey for having us over! Another day we were on the lake with Papa Jim. These Jarvis boys love their boats. It was fun to watch Jameson playing with so many men - he is a totally guys, guy.

Thank you to everyone that made time for us while we were visiting. It was great to see you all. I know there were lots more that we weren't able to see, it seemed like we were there long enough but there is just never enough time. Maybe next time or you're welcome to come visit us here...we'll be at the pool for the next four weeks for sure!

There was more that we did but I'll have to save that for another day. I have some other exciting news to share with everyone about a new business adventure we're going on. For now we're heading back to the pool to practice jumping!

Autism

This past week we found out that our friend Trey has been officially diagnosed with autism. Even though this is becoming more common, it does not make it any easier to know that a direct friend of mine is living with this everyday. Trey has been dealing with health issues for about a year now (he 2 years old now), seizures mixed with some developmental delays. I went to college with Elise, Trey's mom. She and her hubby James were both in our wedding. They are our friends. I know that with God's help they will get through this. I was reading another blog this week of someone that has a special needs child. A quote struck me, it said “i tortured myself thinking that in order to fully love her, i needed to be able to understand her head.” So many times we find ourselves feeling bad for people with special needs children and like this quote says, we think it is hard to fully love them because we don't fully understand them. The more I'm around children with special needs I know I am wrong in thinking this way. They are just as easy to love as any child...they were created by God to teach us all so much. They remember to stop and smell the roses and truly take it all in. Not worrying about trivial things.



"For we walk by faith, not by sight." 2 Corinthians 5:7 (NKJV)


Now here is the part that we can help to make a difference for Trey. His parents have found a school that will be able to help him be the best Trey that he can be. Their family is putting together a few different things...a Chinese auction, golf tournament in western Pennsylvania and participating in a walk-a-thon in Columbus, Ohio this fall. The main thing that I'm hoping we can help with is the auction by donating anything that could be sold. I'm planning to make an album or something creative. Will you join me? For more info please contact Elise's mom, Karen at weave_kws at hotmail.com. Or drop me a line and I can help out as well. Thank you in advance for reaching out to this family.

Busy week!

Wow we've had a busy week. Lucky for all of us it has been well documented in photos (over 1600 pics in my July folder - crazy I know). And in case anyone has forgotten, which I have not, I will eventually get to recapping our travels in July. I started the post but haven't gotten it all the way done.

This past week Jameson participated in a local soccer camp. It was through Challenger Sports. All of the coaches were awesome and the local families that helped organize the event were great. Jameson was a bit young this year but still had fun out there. His session was an hour long for 5 days. That was plenty long for this young 3 year old. The first picture is of him with the cleats and shin guards on. I wasn't sure if he was going to wear them or not. Once they were on, he decided it wasn't for him. The coach didn't seem to mind if he wore is crocs so that is what we did.
We're excited for next year as I'm sure he will enjoy it even more then, and might even wear the proper equipment. We'll have to wait and see. Maybe these will still fit then?! ha.

Another accomplishment for the little man this week...he jumped into the pool all on his own. He was just hanging out at the steps and then asked if he could jump off like Jeb. Normally when he says this he asks me to come over to hold his hand. Not this time, he jumped right in and got out and did it again. It is so cool to watch him do this on his own. - no photos of this event, I was in the water!

Something else fun from this week was visiting the garden that we'd helped to plant earlier this summer. It is a bit overrun by weeds but there were still some good crop. We brought home 3 rather large zucchinis. They were yummy too. I made a zucchini bread boat recipe and cranberry zucchini bread (delicious!). If anyone has a good recipe with zucchini, I'd love to see it. This seems to be the best thing coming out of the garden so far. Check out that huge bumble bee that was on the pumpkin flowers. So cool!

And the main thing that we've been doing with our time this week...relaxing at the lake!