DIY Dad

Beware this is a bit of an all open post...remember i warned you. Here goes, rarely do i talk about my parents but for a moment i need to brag about my dear dad. He is by far the most unbelievable person that i know, yes he does have his faults but that makes us love him even more. He makes me want to be a better person and make him proud. And the best part of all is how much he loves God and wants to learn more about Him. His walk with the Lord is inspiring.

He is an artist, an awesome woodcrafter. A few years ago he was on a show on the DIY network. Just this week i realized that his episodes are now online! When they were first airing we would watch them just to hear him speak. It used to drive Deacon crazy because it was when we had just moved south. Deacon missed his papa. So whether you want to hear him speak or you want to learn some mad woodturning skills...click HERE.

Just last week he mailed me a handwritten letter in the mail to tell me how he was feeling about me. When i called to thank him, he said he knew that he just had to tell me. Jump back a few years, when i first went away to college my Debbie would mail me a card once a week so that i would have mail frequently. Well at the beginning she would just sign the cards for both of them. i asked why dad never signed for himself. So every since he has signed his name, himself. It means so much to me. i'm into the little things in life.

Happy Father's Day!

We wanted to wish all of our many father's a wonderful day. We are so blessed to have each and everyone of you in our lives.

And to the father of my child, you amaze me every.single.day. Just last week while we were at the pool every child was playing with James. It was so sweet to see, tiring for him but awesome to see how much he enjoys being around kids! James we love you and don't tell you enough how much we respect and appreciate YOU!

Time!

Wow really where does the time go? I didn't intend to be away from the blog for quite this long. But guess what, this isn't even going to be a real detailed post either...ha. Too many other things keep pulling me away from here, mainly the pool & the lake. And guess what that really is more important to us right now (don't take it personally)! Yesterday Jameson & i actually didn't have very much time to spare but we were in the pool for 15 minutes and it felt great! The pictures to the right are from earlier this week. The Stacy triplets were down visiting from Ohio and we invited them and the Coulter boys to the pool. We lined them up in age/height order and then they jumped in - i was surprised to see that Jameson was the first to hit the water! The pictures from the boat were from last weekend. i was on the Leon's boat so i could capture Carrie's whole boat and tube in the shot - this is summer to us!!

Next week i'm heading off to Florida for the ADPi convention. i'm planning to keep the tweets coming with updates, especially with exciting pictures of the awesome desserts. There are usually some amazingly creative desserts at convention. And my personal goal is always to leave the last bite (that is my diet for the week - ha). You can also follow along through the blog that was created - here.

Have you checked out the Jill Jarvis Photography site lately? If not, click HERE now! There is a sample gallery posted (click play in the lower right corner). There are some of my favorite images and it also shows what the gallery looks like that is sent to a client following a session.

One more thing before i go, we wanted to congratulate Brandt on his high school graduation. We are so excited to see what God has intended for you!

Thought this quote by Steve Jobs (which i found on from Ali's blog) was inspiring:

Your time is limited, don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma, which is living the result of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinion drowned out your own inner voice. Most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition, they somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

And after an hour of working on this post, a few interruptions, many upload issues and a bit of frustration...Jameson & i are heading out for a scavenger hunt. With the high projected for 100 we may end up back inside very quickly, either way we'll be together!

Unplugged recap...

i've been meaning to come and post about the day that i totally unplugged. But guess what...the challenge helped me so much that i haven't been online as much overall! In case you forgot what i'm referring to, Jodified mentioned something on her blog about unplugging from the computer, internet, phone & television for 24 hours. i decided to do it on Mother's Day so i could spend the day with my boys...totally and fully connected to THEM. And guess what it was AWESOME. Not that i was surprised by that part of it. What i have been surprised by is that over the last few weeks i've been finding myself connecting more on a face to face way. Which over the last few years has seemed to have become lost a bit. For me it hasn't been so much with my guys, more with others. We can stay connected through other avenues...facebook, email, cell phones, etc. Not that i'm going to completely unplug from those places entirely, just making an effort to stay fully IN life, not just wired to life.

One more thing, this weekend at RiverTree, Greg Nettle spoke about how our DNA has wired each of us to connect with God in a different way. Such as serving others, through nature, contemplation, etc. He had 5 other people speak about how they are wired to connect to Him. It was a cool message. One exciting things about the advancements in technology, it allows me (or you) to hear the rest of this series, even once we're back home and unable to attend RiverTree. Click here for audios of their messages.

As you've probably noticed i haven't been blogging or posting much lately. This week, Jameson & i are away visiting family and friends. Lots of fun times that i'll be sharing bits and pieces of but not now. For now i'll be making memories and if the stories float around and makes it from my brain to the computer, you'll be hearing about them at that point! So what pieces of technology have you taken to but may find you have to readjust a bit?

Mother's Day gifts!

This year I challenged myself to make all of the gifts that we gave for Mother's Day. I did it! The cards I created were fun because I decided on a color and found coordinating papers in my stash (just went to the green folder - love having my PP organized by color!). I used the cricut to cut out the butterflies. The piece that I made was creating hybrid bracelets (8 total - yes we are blessed!). I used photos of the boy and digital bits from various Songbird Avenue kits. In addition to the bracelet the mothers each received a really fun fabric wrapped decorative photo thing (that is the true technical term for it). More pictures are on facebook if you want to see some up close shots as well as the second version I made for Nana Susan with pictures of Addy. Full credits for this piece can be found at TheDigiChick (hybrid pieces from Sugarplum Paperie & Ali Edwards).

Now we're off to help with Abby & Caroline's babies. They have something at school with the big kids so Jameson & I are going to watch the littles. I told Jameson about it and he said but mom I'm not a girl so I can't help babysit. Such a funny boy.

Fun-filled weekend!

Wow have we had a fun-filled weekend! It basically started Friday, with Western Day at school! They had a horse drawn wagon, a goat named Ding-Dong, hamburgers on an open flame, stick horse races, horseshoes and best of all...cowboy hats for everyone. Look at how cute this little guys looks! Then later that afternoon James' mom (aka MC/Nana Susan) and Joe-Joe arrived. James even came home a bit early from work! We had a nice relaxing evening here at the house.

Then on Saturday we had Jameson's birthday party...at Home Depot. Oh boy was he excited! So our plan for the day was for Susan & me to get dropped off at Home Depot while the guys went to do something else. Well Jameson wanted to help set up for his party, and he actually did help! His party was all about what he is into these days...The Home Depot and Chick-fil-A. Add in a mix of friends and family and you've got his utopia. The entertainment was that the kids each got to made a wooden wheelbarrow planters. Jameson got done with his before most of his friends arrived so he was entertaining himself with a tape measure. He thought it was the best when it would fly off the end of the boards...simple joys! After everyone was done with the project we enjoyed chicken and cake. The cake was adorable and not only did it look great, it tasted even better! Jameson even wanted to cut it himself, luckily the cutting tool was just a putty knife! Overall the party was a great success and Jameson is starting to look forward to being 4. He keeps asking if he is already 4 or if he has to wait until his official birthday (Tuesday). So funny the different ways he always looks at things. And now I'll answer the question that you're probably thinking, yes we had his party at Home Depot. No they don't typically do parties there but I asked and the manager said yes. We did find out that they aren't really supposed to do it but since they had told us already they went ahead with ours. So if you have a little boy that is also obsessed with HD, you most likely won't be able to have a party there.

After the party we headed up to Split Creek Farm to check out the baby goats. Caroline & Lily were also going so Jameson had someone else his same size (a common question when we're going somewhere). Jameson thought it was hilarious that the goats would try to eat his clothes. He and Nana Susan each had little nibbles from the little goats! This photo of Jameson & Lily was right before Jameson gave Lily a kiss. They are so funny together!

The next activity for the weekend came today. The Fanello girls were all receiving their First Communion. It was nice to get to spend this special time with them and lots of extended family from Ohio. After mass we all headed back to their house to spend some time together. During mass the Priest mentioned something that I thought was very interesting. He said that in Eastern cultures women with small children will bring them to the altar for communion; and it is given to both mother and child. However in Western culture they must wait until the age of reason. The part that has stuck with me throughout the day was that this church has given the age of reason a specific age. Is it possible to set a specific age on when a child is old enough to reason? In my mind, welcoming Jesus into your heart to choose to follow him on a daily basis varies person to person.

More updates will be coming in the next few days. Jameson has his birthday celebration at school tomorrow and then we had the official birthday on Tuesday. For anyone that are on twitter, Tuesday is going to be Jesus Loves You day...join in on the challenge!

Us!

Things have been good lately. Nothing major going on, which has been really nice. Jameson has been on a mega hot wheels kick. The other day he decided to line them all up and look at them all at once. So I of course had to pull out the camera and document it. Oh boy there are lots of them...in total 80 right now (good thing they only run about $.97 each). The really cute part is that this smarty pants can tell you where almost all of them came from...this one came from Uncle Greg's house, this one came from that girl (aka Nana), I got this one with my own money at wal-mart, etc. And for the first time this week he got two duplicates. They are the same cars except different colors. These two pairs at this moment are napping with him, he loves the idea of matching, kinda like rhymes!

As many of you know our family loves Tervis tumblers. This week I found out that the sparkly ones can't go in the microwave. It didn't even dawn on me that they were metal. No one was harmed in this error except the cup.

This other pictures is a silly one I captured of him the other night playing with his new glow stick. He was having a blast with it while watching a little tv.


Yesterday Jameson went to hang out with Jenna for a little while. My friend Sabrina came over to scrapbook. It is always nice to connect with friends through this awesome hobby. I created this page about James' great-grandma E. The day before I had started working on the mother's day gifts. Jameson was having so much fun helping me measure the fabric. Oh he is such a cutie! I did do another page but I created it for a design team call for Vintage Plum. I can't post it elsewhere until after they make the decision. I used the song lyrics from this video on you tube! I love being challenged to create things I don't know that I would have thought of before. I knew I wanted to document Jameson's obsession with Chick-fil-A but I don't think I would have thought to include the lyrics from this silly song on you tube. How about you, what has inspired you lately to create something that you wouldn't have originally done?

We're having friends over for dinner so I'm heading now to get some veggies cut up!

Our Easter!

Wow we had a great Easter weekend! Lots of together time, attending church together, with Greg and then heading to brunch with the Fanello family. Here is a picture of Jameson almost wearing the cute little tie we had for him. He decided at the last minute not to wear it out of the truck. I also posted some other pictures from our day (see the post below). Aunt Tam had an egg hunt for the kids. Boy did Jameson have fun with that, he couldn't decide if he was more excited about the candy or the quarters. Notice in the picture below that the pups even wanted in on the egg opening process!

I love the feeling of new-ness that comes with spring. Celebrating the resurrection of Jesus yesterday seems to fit so well with all the blooms that are on the trees (I'm sure He planned it that way). Sometime last week, after it has rained, there were blossoms all over the road from one of the trees. Jameson likes to call them spring trees - love it!

Friday with James off of work we spent a great day hanging out at home. Some of our part-time neighbors invited us over for dinner. Just as we were heading to their house, the rain that had been coming down on and off all all day seemed to pick up. Quickly we realized that there was a tornado watch. And in about 20 minutes the power was out, lucky for all of us the meal was already done. So we enjoyed a great meal, with friends...in the dark with the winds blowing outside. As the evening moved along we found out that there a tree had fallen on the power lines just up the road. We headed back to our house to go to sleep for the night. On a typical night Jameson watched a tv show before he goes to bed. He did not understand why we wouldn't turn on the tv for him. We tried a few times to explain to him that it was electric and since the power was OUT we couldn't turn it on. Then James realized that we could let him watch a dvd program on one of the laptops. So the boy got to watch a little kid tv before drifting off to dream land. (I posted a picture but for some reason it moved to a new post and I'm not willing to take the time to reload it here - look below).

One more picture, lately this boy has become almost obsessed with golf. Here he is actually hitting off the greens on one of the holes closest to our house. He played two holes...hit a little, run to where the ball landed...hit again, run again...you get the picture. We did have to have a little chat with him about the attire he was wearing for golf - this boy loves his white shirts and comfy shorts, so silly!

Easter pictures...

Here are the pictures that moved from the other post...does this 'little' boy look old or what? It is amazing to think he is going to be 4 in less then a month.

The picture of our family in the bed was taken during the power outage with the boy watching a dvd on the laptop.

Video!

We've been enjoying some good family time today since James is off of work with a long weekend!

I thought I would share this great inspirational video on how to cut fabric using the cricut! Check it out here. The last few baby gifts I've made have been iron-on transfer using digital elements, next I'm going to be trying this fun option with fabric!

I'm recovering from a short bought of major allergy suffering. I went to the doctor yesterday and am on an antibiotic and allergy meds. I suppose I need to face the fact that I now have seasonal allergies and must take the medication this time of year and in the fall if I don't want to get sick!

ABCs...

Okay I thought I would post over here instead of just on Facebook...

1. A is for age: 33
2. B is for butter of choice: country crock
3. C is for career right now: SAHM!
4. D is for your dog's name: Deacon
5. E is for essential item you use everyday: toothpaste and powder
6. F is for favorite TV show at the moment: Grey's is back at the top
7. G is for favorite game: Memory
8. H is for Home town: Akron, Ohio
9. I is for instruments you play: Piano & flute
10. J is for favorite juice: orange
11. K is for whose butt you'd like to kick: none
12. L is for last place you ate: home
13. M is for marriage: 10 years this September
14. N is for your full name: Jill Lynn Jarvis
15. O is for overnight hospital stays: nearly 4 years ago...Jameson's birth
16. P is for people you were with today: Jameson, James & Cade Ratliff
17. Q is for quote: I'm going to go with a recent verse that is sticking with me..."If any of you want to be my followers, you must forget about yourself. You must take up your cross each day and follow me" Luke 9:23
18. R is for Biggest Regret: no regrets
19. S is for status: relaxed
20. T is for time you woke up today: 6:54 a.m.
21. U is for underwear you have on now: black
22. V is for vegetable you love: all of them! (or at least that I've tried and aren't mixed with too many other things)
23. W is for worst habit: spending too much time online, even though I bump back and forth between doing productive things
24. X is for x-rays you've had: hands (I've broken almost all of my fingers at one point in my life)
25. Y is for yummy food you ate today: I should say the stuffed pizza I made for dinner but it honestly wasn't that great so I'll go with the salad I had for lunch!
26. Z is for zodiac sign: Scorpio

And what would a post be without a picture or two. I've added the most recent digital layout that I finished (mix of pictures from the past week), a shot of James & Jameson blowing out candles last weekend and the picture of me with Maria & Jenna...the boy took that one. He was laughing at himself and having such a good time! We've had lots of yummy treats around these parts! I have lots of other pictures to share, eventually!

Treasures!

Lately I have been focused on the word treasures. The first treasure this week came on Sunday night when our life group went out for a fun evening. We went bowling...and even James had a good time! We all took pictures of the fun rental shoes!

Then on Monday morning while Jameson & I were driving the little man was jabbering away to me. What he said was so cute. (Lately he has been telling stories about things that he has basically has completely imagined up. I've heard it is a phase and I'm trying to capture as many of these stories as possible.) Okay back to the story that came out this week. He was telling me about how God was trying to turn him into a robot. Now that alone is pretty cool that he pulls God into a regular conversation. The really neat twist was that he said that he called for Jesus to help protect him so that God wouldn't turn him into a robot.

In the back of my head I've been looking for a vintage, velvet chair to use for photos. I didn't really think I would be able to find one, that was what I was looking for and in my budget. But oh boy did God have another plan in place for this fun treasure. So later in the day on Monday as we were heading to have dinner to celebrate Julia & Rocco's birthdays, I found a true treasure! There was a trailer in front of a furniture store with the exact chair that I had seen in my minds eye...and the best part it was only $15! It is so fun! I can't wait to place it in just the right spot. I did pull it out and got this shot with the 4 kiddos together!

Today we got to spend some treasured time with my dear friend Sarah and her kiddos. Oh that little Mallory loves ME! She can even say my name and reaches for me as soon as she sees me. It feels so good to feel that kind of unconditional love! We headed to a really fun park together.

And the treasures continued this evening, I was reminded what kind of toddler Jameson was about 2 years ago. He used to get up around 11-12 almost every single night. He would come out of his bed, walk to the top of the steps and cry. Not sure why but he was almost every.single.night. So in the last week he has done it again. Tonight I heard him get up and walk to the top of the steps...check. Crying...check. Then I heard something I'd never heard before...pee hitting the wall. Oh yes he had walked out to the top of the steps and thought it was the bathroom. I yelled stop, which he did, luckily! I ran up there and carried him to the bathroom, he finished going potty and then went back to bed. Oh boy, life is fun sometimes! I guess I know what I get to do first thing in the morning (I know I should have done it tonight but I just couldn't bring myself to turn on the lights and wake up James). I'm off to bed now!

"They will summon peoples to the mountain and there offer sacrifices of righteousness; they will feast on the abundance of the seas, on the treasures hidden in the sand." Deuteronomy 33:19

Spring has sprung!

Wow have we had a real taste of spring here today! I'm almost in shock at how nice it was since we just has SNOW here this past weekend. Today it was 75 degree, sunny and just simply beautiful. Not only was the weather great, the activities for the day were dreamy too. For me it started out with not waking up to an alarm clock and then getting a few things done around the house (laundry, checked email, blogged, etc). Then I had the pleasure of taking pictures for some new friends from church. Amanda and Dave are expecting their second baby, SOON! She hasn't had maternity shots taken with this pregnancy or with Noah so I offered to take a few shots for her. They came out and we had fun (well at least I did!) taking some pictures. After getting a few with their whole family, James & Dave headed out for a round of golf. We stuck around the house to take a few more pictures and to let the little boys play together. Jameson was so stinkin' sweet to Noah (who is 20 months old). At one point Jameson had a picture from Disney and he was telling Noah all about what he was doing in the picture, who he was with and where it was from. This evening when we were doing prayers before bed Jameson told me that he wanted to pray that he could play with Noah again sometime soon. So sweet! My favorite shots are posted below!

Today I hosted the blog at A5D. There is a little tutorial on the rule of three and creating this hybrid scrapbook layout, take a look here. Another recent project included this birthday card (both projects are clickable for details).

While I was in Ohio I got to go see the movie He's just not that into you, with some friends from college. It is such a fun movie. I had actually purchased the sound track before I even saw the movie. Lots of variety...great fit for my ADHD mind! I can't wait for the dvd to come out, this might become my new Pretty Woman! (For anyone that doesn't know, in high school I used to watch this movie almost every single day while I would do my algebra or calculus homework.)

Speaking of movies, our house has been overtaken by HSM3 (High School Musical 3 for those that might have been under the same rock as I was before this week!). We borrowed the movie from the Ratliff family and every.single.day since Jameson has requested to watch it. I'm not sure if is the basketball that he enjoys or the singing and dancing. Either way he really likes it. These pictures were taken during one showing when he was 'dancing' along with Troy!

Today the post on the compassion international blog is great. Check it out here. I love the image of the father holding the child's hand with the verse "As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord" Joshua 24:15. This is one of my favorite verses. Paired with this picture...awesome!

What have you been doing this weekend with the warmer weather? Tomorrow our family is going hiking with some other families from church...awesome stuff!!