Wonderful news!!!

I am overjoyed! A few posts back I mentioned a little tidbit about a new grandbaby coming in the spring. Well, today was the ultrasound appointment! I have been so hoping for a little girl. Not that I don't love little boys, I have 5 grandsons that I wouldn't trade for anything in the world! The thing is, my daughter traveled all the way to China to bring a little girl into our family. Meikina needs a girl cousin, right? Well...the ultrasound shows that our new little one is a girl! OMGosh, this day I am viewing the world through pink tinted lenses, LOL! The happy parents have informed me that her name is Sara Ann. Right now she weighs 10 ounces, so tiny! But by the end of March or maybe early April she will be here! Can you tell how elated I am? :)

I haven't done much scrapping this week, other than yet another partway finished layout. But I do have a few pics from the weekend. I picked up my daughters 4 kids Saturday afternoon for an outing to a local park. We finally had gotten just a little color here and there, what hadn't already hit the ground that is!
Chris and Tyler scooped up some leaves to make a pile for Andrew and Meikina to play in. They loved this!


Tyler hanging from a tree. He is wearing his very favorite shirt!


Here is Chris. He is such a big help when we take the kids out.



And here are all four of them walking back to the car. The weather couldn't have been more perfect. We had a wonderful day!


Blessings and Hugs,
Cheryl

Smile!

I have been so buried in wedding photos that I haven't even been able to do more than think about scrapping. I finally went on strike yesterday and started a page. I'll do wedding photos this afternoon.

SMILE!


Full list of credits are here

I started out with some pretty papers by my friend, Betty Jo. Those fabric curls at Scrapgirls have been on my wish list for a long time so I treated myself to something new to play with. It took me awhile to figure out how to make them work with the papers but I think I got it! So, I got the photo, background papers, and some elements on there, but journaling is not so easy for me, though it's very important. Sometimes word art will do the job, so I looked through my stash, and found this one. I don't have many pictures of Meikina smiling like this! She is a very happy girl but when the camera comes out she gets very serious, or she does that fake smile that looks more like a grimace, LOL! So this particular word art worked well for me, and I think there is just a little more meaning to the part "the heart is home". This page will be added to her Shutterfly photo book. if I ever get it done, LOL!

I've got to run now, almost time for church. Until another day...

Blessings and hugs,
Cheryl

Biscuit Adventures

I would like for you to meet Biscuit! He lives at Andrew's preschool, but lately he has been spending a lot of time getting to know the children and their families. Biscuit came home with Andrew for a few days last week. Andrew's assignment was to have fun with Biscuit and at the end of the visit write a story in the book, and maybe even include a photo. Last Saturday Andrew, Meikina, Chris, Tyler, Biscuit and I went to the Louisville Zoo for the annual Halloween Party. It was a super gorgeous day, and we had such a good time walking around, collecting treats and taking photos. Here are just a few photos of our day.

Here is Biscuit and Tyler smiling for my camera...

Biscuit was hungry, so Andrew fed him a bite of his Twizzler.

Andrew would rather push the stroller than ride in it, so Biscuit got to cruise around in his personalized buggy!

(click photo to see up close)

Biscuit needs to go potty. We looked all over for a place where puppies can go!
LOL!

Here kitty kitty kitty!! ( you have to look closely, Andrew and Biscuit are hiding!)

Posing for gramma. Aren't they adorable!



Andrew and Biscuit are getting tired and Biscuit needs some snuggle time.

I hope you enjoyed meeting Andrew's new friend!

Blessings and hugs,
Cheryl

Layout Share! and some news....

This will be quick, lucky for whoever might be reading this today! I have a couple of layouts that haven't been posted here. (For the news you will have to scroll all the way to the end!)

Here is the first one:



Now I don't really let the little ones scavenge through my purse, but since I was supervising Meikina I took advantage of the photo op and let her have her fun. She hadn't been with us too long, was still really young but she absolutely knew what the lip gloss was for! I love the bright colors in this layout and those ladybugs are so sweet! The kit I used is one of Betty Jo's called Ladybug Red. Full credits can be found here: Exploring


This next one was completed just a couple of days ago. I thought I would never get it finished!




I started out with a background to match the pink in Meikina's swimsuit, but finally changed it to see how it would look if I matched the soft blue of the water. That was what I settled on since it helped make her photos stand out so much better. But I still needed to accent with some pinks to balance everything. I prowled through all my digi supplies and found some cute doodled flowers from Weeds and Wildflowers, recolored the centers and there ya have it! The word art and butterfly are also part of that cute (free!) mini kit, it is recolored too. And look at this frame isn't it just adorable?! This was created by my friend Betty Jo, she is so sweet to let me use her stuff. Full credits for the layout are here.

Last of all is one that I did a makeover on. I never was completely satisfied with the old version, but now that old antique-ish frames are so popular, I decided to redo it. If you want to see the original version, go here: Growing Up. I did that one nearly 2 years ago. It's amazing how far digiscrapping has come since then!



Full credits are here

Well this ended up being much longer than I thought it would! Stay tuned for more bragging from this gramma to 6 adorable grandchildren, going on 7!!! Yes, this is my official announcement! Another one is due to be born next spring!

Have a great weekend!

Blessings and hugs,
Cheryl

I really am still alive, LOL!

I just haven't been blogging, had no energy, didn't care. Bad huh? I couldn't scrap, didn't want to edit photos. nothing. ugh. Ok, I had to do something about this, so the other day I downloaded Betty Jo's super cute frames and started a layout. Got stuck. The layout is almost done but what a struggle! So, I prowled around and found a challenge I thought I might be able to manage. I definitely needed something to get me past this inability to do anything creative. The one I decided to try was the weekly Digi-Dare. They have been doing this every week for a year and I have never participated in that one. Not that I do many challenges but sometimes they can be fun. Here is what I had to do: scrap in a style that is not my usual. And use some digi supplies from a designer that I haven't tried before. Easy enough, right?? When I browse the galleries many of the layouts that capture my attention are the ones with lots of "white space". A small photo with lots of nothing around it but background paper. I like those for some reason but they aren't me. I have a hard time leaving all that empty space when I can fill it with something pretty like a picture or some flowers, or even some journaling. I gave that a try and here ya go! My entry for the Digi-dare week # 52...which by the way was in the Gallery Standouts thread at DST yesterday. Now that is a first for me!



Full credits here.

I am pretty well satisfied with this LO, but will most likely add some journaling along the left hand side before printing. Isn't my little granddaughter adorable?!

I need to get some new up to date pics of my grandkids to scrap. I am using lots from the months that I lived with my daughter and her 4 little people. It was just too easy to get snapshots on a regular basis. Now I don't see them as often so I have to make an effort to go pick them up or just show up with my camera with the intention of taking pics. We don't get together as a family anymore because a few months ago my daughter got a job working evenings and every weekend. The opposite of my hours. hate that and I miss her lots.

Ok, I'm going to close for now so I can work on wedding pictures and try to get that other layout finished. I hope that my dry spell is over for awhile. At least I am in the mood to scrap again!

Love you guys lots!

Blessings and hugs,
Cheryl

100 Good Wishes

Hi there! This is just a quick stop to show you a couple of layouts for a 2 page spread...Yes, I am STILL working on Meikina's photo book. Once the Shutterfly coupon expired I sorta slowed down a bit, I guess I work better under pressure, LOL! Anyway, this one is really special to me. It has my Mother in it, and my Princess...and Snoopy! He's a crazy kitty and lives up to his name every minute that he isn't sleeping. He just has to know what is going on, all the time!

These layouts tell about Meikina's 100 Good Wishes Quilt. My daughter was a member of a Yahoo group made up of parents who were also waiting to adopt their little girls from China. They agreed to do a quilt square exchange so fabric pieces from all over the world make up this quilt. Several members of the family got in on the fun too! After all the squares were collected my Mother stitched it all together. I think she worked on it for about a year and finished it a couple of months ago. I brought it home on my last visit in early June. I don't know if you can see the top stitching very well, but it is done in red thread. "An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet regardless of time, place, or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle but will never break." Ancient Chinese Proverb

The photos could never do the quilt justice, it is absolutely beautiful, a work of art made with my Mother's own dear hands! Snoopy made sure she did a good job, LOL!

Here are the layouts along with the journaling in case it's too small on the images. I hope you can see by reading this how special the quilt is to the family, and will be for Meikina as she gets older.

Credits: Frames by Katie Pertiet, Flowers by Jen Ulasiewicz, Stitched silk flowers by Kim Christensen, Journaling Note paper by Gina Miller. Cross Stitches by Amy Teets, Buttons by Christina Renee.
(Click photos to view larger)




Left side journaling:
In some parts of Northern China, when a baby is born, family and friends of the child donate fabric scraps from old clothing to the child’s mother. She then makes a quilt for the baby from the scraps. It is said that the luck and energy of the people who wore these clothes surrounds the child when she is wrapped in the quilt. This is the tradition upon which the 100 Good Wishes Quilt is modeled. In April 2005 letters were sent out to family and friends asking them to contribute a piece of fabric along with a written wish or note for Meikina. Families from all over the world who were waiting to adopt from China also sent squares of fabric along with their blessings and good wishes for Meikina. Each wish was mounted in a scrapbook with a small piece of the corresponding fabric attached to the wish. This way, Meikina will be able to read the wishes and see who sent each piece of fabric. She will cherish this quilt and the good wishes that were made for her before we ever even knew her.Meikina’s great-gramma Betty took all the squares and with her loving hands stitched them together to make this very special quilt.



Right side journaling:
Dear Meikina, I hope you will treasure this quilt for all of your life. I enjoyed putting it together for you. Every stitch was sewn with love. You can count the pieces and see how many people love you even though many will never get to meet you. You might not remember me later, but I hope when you use this quilt you will think of your great-grandma Betty. I wish you happiness and health and may all your dreams come true!
Love, Gramma Betty

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend!

Blessings and Hugs,
Cheryl

I'm ROCKIN'!

As far back as I can remember, ROCKIN' has never been used to describe me. LOL! I will borrow one of my Sister's words and just tell you...I am BO-RANG! gotta love my little word wizard of a Sister! I approach this bloggin' thing hesitantly, and still nearly hit the delete post button after I tell it to publish post! But somehow I have managed to write a little something here and there, and normally I post a photograph or layout to ease the pain of reading my ramblings. To my delight there are a few people who stop by on a regular basis to see lil ol' me! One is my dear friend Betty Jo at Digiscribbles. I met her a few years ago when we were both members of a yahoo group called The Scrappin' Grannies. She was just getting started designing digital scrapbook supplies and asked me to be on her creative team. Since I was really new at digiscrappin' I was just tickled pink and that was where our friendship started. She has been there for me when I was needing prayer during some really dark times in my life, and she cheered for me during the exciting ones, especially when my family was waiting for news of Meikina during our adoption journey. And she is ever faithful to leave me words of love and encouragement, and offers of prayer. Betty Jo is one fantastic and loving friend! Bless her heart, she even awarded me the Rockin' Girl Blogger Award!!
Now that is a friend! I am to pass this on to my blogger friends, but all the people I know in my small bloggin' world have the award, so now my goal is to get out there and expand my circle of friends in the bloggin community. Then I will pass on the award, and will be blessed even more! Thank you dear Betty Jo!

New news is that I have postponed my surgery. I asked the doctor for alternative treatment options. There aren't many, and ultimately I will have to have it done. In the meantime he put me on Synthroid to hopefully suppress my thyroid from growing anymore, and in several months it might shrink it. At any rate, the final diagnosis from one last blood test that he didn't have the results from yet at my last visit is that I have Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. That's a mouthfull. Makes my throat hurt. My surgeon chuckled at me yesterday when I told him I didn't want him cutting open my throat if I could get out of it. He reminded me that he wouldn't be operating on my throat but my neck. So I grinned at him and said it didn't matter what it was, the idea of being cut open anywhere was enough for me. Anyway, I always get off track! It explains alot of what has been going on for so many years. I feel angry that if I'd had any kind of health insurance I might have gotten this diagnosis way before it progressed to this stage and treatment would be so much easier. But for now, my anxiety over the upcoming surgery is easing away, and life goes on. Thank the Lord that I am not too uncomfortable most days and I pray that it will get better and my energy level will also go up.

Of course I can't leave you without some eye-candy ...
Here is my princess posing for a photo I plan to use on a layout in the next day or two. Isn't she just a doll baby!


Better run, it's a work day like every day! Love you guys!

Blessings and hugs,

Cheryl

Buried Treasure

My daughter wants nothing to do with Photoshop, but owns a Canon 20D DSLR. When she purchased this camera for her trip to China, she wanted great images, and most of all NO SHUTTER LAG. She hates that, and was about to just buy a film camera to take with her, but didn't want the aggravation of carrying around film for the two week duration along with everything else. besides, you can't email film easily and that is how I managed to get pictures of Meikina while they were still gone...that and the wonders of a web cam! So, I told her that if they needed any Photoshop work, that I would do it.

Even though I have finished most of what she needed for Meikina's life book, there are still tons of photos in that file that are untouched. I've had these images for well over a year and every once in awhile I glance through them to see what might inspire me to scrap or just do a little editing for prints. I keep going back to what I said in my last post about stressing over making things perfect. To remember more than anything else, that it is the memories that matter. Since I have been feverishly working to finish Meikina's Story I have had to remind myself of this more than once. Many of the photos I am using for this project are far from being technically correct, but I use them because for one thing, they are what I have. However, when I really think about it, those images work perfectly for the job that I need them to do. You know, the way God uses us, our imperfect selves to do His perfect will. I ran across another photograph in my Trip to China folder that were taken either by my daughter or her husband when they were in China. This particular photo had never captured my attention before now. I totally missed it in the hundreds of images in that file because I was looking for the perfect one. The one I wouldn't have to mess with too much, or one that I would have been proud to call my own. I am such a nerd. This photo that I speak of, while not perfect is exactly what I was wishing for! Except the lighting is horrible, the composition leaves alot to be desired. But the emotion! Oh it is there, it's all there, from the eyes and heart of a husband to his wife and their new daughter. All the EMOTION and AWE of that moment is captured forever. I just had to look at it with my heart and not the eyes of a perfectionist/ex-sort of a pro photographer. Once I had cropped, adjusted a bit and added softening, all of what my granddaughter's parents were feeling are more visible. Now I show you this, my daughter holding her very own daughter...on Adoption Day.




"In the mirror of His love I see my own reflection. I accept myself for who I am, with all my imperfections."

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Blessings and Hugs,

Cheryl

IT'S SATURDAY!!

woohoooo!!!

For the most part I like my job, I enjoy being at work. I do love my quiet mornings at home though, and since I work during the day, that only happens on the weekends when I have absolutely nothing planned that I HAVE to do. So, this morning I puttered around the house, drank my tea, and just enjoyed my quiet time!

I also finished a layout that I struggled with all yesterday evening. I don't know why this one was so hard for me. Maybe the odd sizes of the photos? Multiple photo layouts are just tough. I have a hard time getting them to balance and then I wonder what to do with them after I figure out where to place them. I decided to just be satisfied with this one and let it go. I keep telling myself that it's the memories that matter and I'm not making progress when I spend hours on end trying to make it perfect. LOL!

Mother's Love Orphanage is where Meikina spent most of her first 8 months of life. She was very fortunate because Mother's Love was one of the nicer institutions, clean, with lots of space to play and a somewhat bigger budget for food and other necessities. That particular orphanage mostly cared for special needs orphans and only took healthy babies when there was extra space. The first orphanage Meikina was assigned to was really full, and since there was room at Mother's Love, she was sent there 22 days after she was found. Mother's Love was going to close at some point, and once a baby was assigned to a family for adoption, they were sent out to foster care until their adoption day. Meikina went to live with a foster family when she was 8 months old. She was very well cared for compared to many of the babies that are adopted from China. One family that Tammy traveled with were given a baby that they weren't even sure would live through the first night, because she was so tiny and sickly, lethargic, and malnourished. Very sad. It didn't take long for her to perk up though once she was given plenty to eat and lots of love.

The Mother's Love nannies took several photos of Meikina as she grew. It is rare to have any history of the babies, especially photos. God has truly blessed us because Meikina's birth parents even left a note stating her date of birth. Many babies are assigned a birth date based on how old they appear upon first examination. Meikina's foster mother took lots of photos with her digital camera and gave my daughter a CD of all the images when they met at some point during the trip to China. Before that she was emailing them, now that was a huge treat!!

Here is the layout, with photos of Meikina's first day at Mother's Love Orphanage.





Credits:Bg paper by JulieO, pink flowers by Amber Clegg, Tiny Flowers by Coreen Silke, Jewels by Syrin, Ribbon by Kylie Clark, Butterfly by DebF, Button by Ronna Penner, Swirls by LaWanna Lesjardin, Frames by Nancy Comelab. Fonts are CalistaMT, Unnamed Melody.

Lately I have been using oodles of different products on my layouts, and most of the ones I used for this one were freebies! Love that!

Ok, I'm gonna get off the computer for awhile and do something else. Later I will start another page of Meikina's life in the orphanage. I think I am really close to being done with layouts for the Shutterfly book. I do need to get a photo of her with her 100 good wishes quilt and plan to do that either today or tomorrow. And somehow I want to get a photo of Meikina and I together for the back cover of the book. I have no photos of myself with her, hard to do when I'm the photographer!

Have a wonderful Saturday!

Blessings and hugs,

Cheryl

Middle of the Night (and some layouts!)

Ok, I have my sleep schedule all mixed up! The past few weeks I have had a terrible time sleeping (besides staying up late to chat with my sister!) because of the fist in my throat feeling. I have had to prop up almost to a sitting position and sleep on my back and with head in a certain position in order to NOT feel like I was being strangled. Really uncomfortable. Well, Sunday night I had just fallen into a light sleep and I woke up to a voice telling me to get up now. I did. I wasn't sure why I was getting up but I obeyed, LOL! On the way out of my room my legs got all rubbery and my head was swimming, like the day I passed out at work, so I called out to my son who helped me to the living room. I was fighting to stay conscious, my heart was racing at high speed, and then I got to shaking so hard and couldn't stop it. This went on for a couple of hours, off and on. I was up until 4:30 AM, because I was afraid to go back to bed. I am pretty sure I was having a panic attack, but who knows really? I truly thought I was dying. It's hard to describe. I know that seems really strange but I didn't imagine that voice that told me to get up now. I think I had stopped breathing.

Hours later I was able to relax enough to try to sleep a little. And I slept like a rock! I slept through both of my alarms and woke up about the time I should have been leaving for work. YIKES! The people I work for have been so good and since I have never called in sick, or been late that wasn't a problem. I did call my doctor and he saw me later that day. Promptly gave me some antidepressants and an anxiety drug. great. I am sure he was thinking that I am a total basket case! He said my thyroid was enlarged but not enough to block my airway, that I shouldn't be feeling like I am choking. plbbbbt. That didn't change the fact that I was living with it every day and night. That was Monday.

Tuesday morning I woke up after sleeping off and on for a few hours, and started my morning routine. By the time I had showered I realized that "fist in my throat" feeling was gone! I had energy I hadn't had in several weeks! I had a great day that day too...except for a developing rash...hmmm. oh well so what is next, I put some cream on it and went on to bed that night.

Wednesday morning....totally covered with a horrible rash that worsened by the minute! my stomach and back were a solid red swollen miserable mess! My left arm was almost as bad. I could feel it creeping up my neck ears and sides of my face and then to my scalp! I went ahead to work, I didn't have much choice since I have no sick or annual leave because I am so new. I've missed alot of work lately due to medical appointments, but I stay late or work on Saturday to make up the hours. But my dear co-workers kept at me to call my doctor again so finally I did. I just dreaded going after the last visit two days before. I never did start the antidepressants or fill the prescription for Ativan that he gave me. I talked to one of the girls in the office, and she pulled my chart and went to ask the doctor if he wanted to see me and he said yes, today. I went on in there and he was shocked at the way I looked, LOL! It was pretty bad. But the thing is, other than the itch, I felt great. I must have been high on some of the histimines running through my body or something, hahahaaa! Anyway, he told me that it appeared to be a rash associated with an allergic reaction to a medication. But the thing is I don't take anything but Nasonex spray for allergies. That's it. period. Ahhhhh, but when I said something about the CT scan I'd had the week before, the mystery was solved. (Another physician, the ENT surgeon, had ordered the scan so this dr. didn't have it in my chart.) I was having a delayed reaction to the dye contrast that was injected into my veins for the CT scan. And all the fainting episodes were most likely related to that. So, maybe I'm not crazy. I believe I was very blessed to have had a "voice" telling me to "get up now". All I know is that I feel better than I have in a very long time. I'm sleeping way too much, I have been going home from work and sleeping for hours at a time.

Good restful healing sleep. Catch up sleep.

I came home from work today, went straight to bed. I woke up at bedtime, ready to roll! So, that is why I'm sitting here typing this boring stuff in the middle of the night! LOL!

God is very good to me. I know there have been many people praying for me, and I want you all to know that I appreciate those prayers very much. There are some dear people I consider my friends that I have never met in person, but I hold them close to my heart. Thank you so much for caring and for praying!

Now, I have some layouts to make your visit worth reading through all that stuff! LOL! This is a two page spread of my grandsons using photos taken during the two weeks my daughter and hubby were in China adopting Meikina. I had the honor and blessing of taking care of the boys while they were gone, what an adventure that was! We had a great time and stayed busy to help the time pass quickly. I sent new photos by email every day so the parents would feel connected to the boys, these are just a few of the many, many photos I took during those TWO WEEKS.


You can click on the photos for a larger view.
Credits: Background paper - Carla Gibson. Swirls - LeWanna Desjardin. Glitter paint - Meredith Fenwick and Christina Renee. Cardboard - LindaGB. Alpha stamp - Michelle Coleman. I used a template by Penny Springerman, altered somewhat, the frames and drop shadows were included.

Here is another one from the day Tammy and Kenneth arrived at the Louisvile airport with Meikina. The photos are really bad quality but I think for a layout like this, it doesn't really matter. (sorry, the old pro photog in me still stresses about things like bad lighting!) It's the memories and the journaling that are most important. Both of these two pagers will be in my Shutterfly photo book.


Credits:
Background paper - Michelle Coleman. Glitter paint splats and the tab - Christina Renee. Frames are - Nancy Comelab. Alpha Stamps - Amber Clegg.

I have lots more but this will do for tonight! Thanks for checking in!

Blessings and Hugs,
Cheryl

Bumpus Floribundus - LOL!

My sister is a wizard with words. She told me a week or so ago that someday she would finish a book. She has started several but never finished any of them, so the next one she writes she plans to finish it before she starts it. HA! Silly Sister! She has the most fun sense of humor and is one reason I don't get nearly enough sleep. We chat online several times a week and have such a blast! She lives in California and I am in Kentucky, a 3 hour time difference, so by the time she is done with dinner and other family stuff I should be getting ready for bed. anyway, about the Bumpus Floribundus...

My CT scan shows my thyroid is huge. It's wrapped around my windpipe, squeezing it from the sides. I feel like there is a fist in my throat, sleep is something I used to do. I feel like I'm being choked all the time. Skeery! My thyroid has grown several cysts and nodules, the doctor calls it a goiter. What an unattractive word! My sister promptly renames it to Bumpus Floribundus. We have had lots of laughs over this! It's good to laugh about it, because that is the only thing funny about it. I have to have my thyroid completely removed. Not a big deal I suppose but I don't do well when it comes time to actually go and have the surgery. The day after I had the CT scan, I passed out at work. More fun. They called an ambulance, required for liability purposes. So, I get all the standard tests etc. including an EKG. All is normal. The doctor was relieved that I didn't have a cardiac EVENT. Event? That sounds like a partay to me! Some party, and the fun is just beginning, hahahaaaa! I've had more IV's and needles stuck in my arms the past few days than I've had in years. PARTAY ON!!

I've been buried in Photoshop most every evening. I have scrapped probably 15 new pages, re-worked a few others and I'm still not going to make the deadline for that Shutterfly coupon. It expires tonight so I'll just have to continue on and order it at full price when I am done. The book is going to be awesome tho, and I have thoroughly enjoyed it! I wish I had the time to post some layouts but it's time for me to go to work.

I actually feel pretty good today other than a rash covering most of my body. now what? I have no idea, but don't even think I'm seeing a doctor for this one....another event...LOL!

Blessings and hugs,

Cheryl

Journey of a Lifetime

Happy Friday everyone! This is just another quick post with the newest finished layout for my photo book. I am so happy to finally be inspired to do this story. I've had the photos for well over a year. I'm just not good at multiple photo layouts, so I have enlisted the help of some cluster photo frames that were a free download by Traci Sims a few months back. The photos aren't the best quality (except for the main one)but made to help preserve some exciting memories of the day Tammy and Kenneth left for China to get Meikina. This really was a journey of a lifetime in more ways than one...there is so much going on in my mind and heart while I create this memory book.

I just realized that I never did post the credits for the layouts in my last post...and right now I don't have time to do that for this one either. LOL! it's a workday, and the past week has been a little crazy!

I will be getting results and discussing a treatment plan with my doctor later this morning. I am a little nervous I suppose, but it will be a relief to finally know what is going on. Hopefully it will be an easy fix and I'll start feeling better soon. It's out of my hands and in the hands of my Heavenly Father, who better to manage my care? So, today...all is well. **smiles**

Love you guys so much, and will chat more later! I plan on having a quiet scrap filled weekend, as I have to order my book by Wednesday next week. Have a wonderful day!

Blessings and Hugs,

Cheryl

Shutterfly!

Hi there! It's me again! Well, I sort of had a new post on here the other day wishing my Dad a happy birthday. I tried to edit and add a different photo later on and everything just got messed up so I deleted it. I really did update before now, LOL. Oh well! Betty Jo said it's ok to post whenever I feel like it, so there!

I have been pretty busy scrapping these past few days! I got a coupon for a free photo book from Shutterfly, woohoo! So I decided to try and make it really special and create a book about Meikina. Well, I really challenged myself when I set this goal as there are several layouts/pictures I still need to add. I re-scrapped one of her referral pictures. I didn't intend to change so much as I liked the kit I used but it evolved into almost a new layout. I should have known better! Then I threw together another one called Referral Day. Wow the memories that brought back, an emotional rollercoaster! I am needing to add more journaling to my layouts to bring Meikina's story together so I'm starting to wonder if I will be able to finish before the August 1 deadline on the coupon. Last night I worked on a 2 page spread of some really bad photos I tried to take at the airport the day my daughter and her husband flew home with my granddaughter. Even with the bad photos I am loving how that one is turning out. The coupon from Shutterfly expires on August 1st, I wonder why they give you such a short time to use it? Well, if nothing else it has booted me into gear and maybe I'll actually get layouts caught up to date for her at least. Then there are the 5 grandboys.....

Oh my, I really need to be getting ready for work! Here are the two layouts for you to see. I haven't uploaded to any galleries yet so the credits will be added possibly this evening.




Have a wonderful day!

Blessings and hugs,
Cheryl

Some New Pretties to Show You

This is just a quick post to show off some stuff, you know me, I always flaunt my beautiful grandchildren! LOL! I did this layout for last weeks Lifts with a Twist. The layout I lifted, Beautiful by Juliet, was so lovely and I couldn't resist giving it a try. Hmmm.... The one I did is only barely similar in design but no matter, I ended up loving how it turned out. That's how it is done I believe, you use the featured layout for inspiration, not necessarily to be copied. I need to do something different with the title tho...I dead-ended on that, but the main photo kind of makes up for it, don't you think?! Here she is, Gramma's Beauty!

Credits here

Yesterday Mike, Michele, and the boys came over. Michele and I took Joshua and Justin to the pool while Mike and Aaron hung around working on Aaron's car.
The little guys weren't too crazy about the water, so they stayed close to the side and steps of the pool. I did manage to get a couple of shots of them having fun. The water was a perfect temperature, and it was hot outside, a great day to swim!

Here is Joshua...

...and Justin. He thought it was so fun to sit on that top step and splash.
Look, he has a farmers tan!

Watery Washes brushes by Katie Pertiet
Frames by Nancy Comelab

I'm outta here now, my friend from Radcliff is coming to visit. She should be here any minute.
Everyone have a wonderful day!

Blessings and Hugs,

Cheryl

HAPPY 4th of JULY!!

I just wanted to stop by and wish everyone a fun filled day! I am on my way out the door to visit my son and his boys. I think he is going to burn some stuff on the grill later on, LOL!

In the midst of all your festivities let's not forget to say a prayer for all of our soldiers who are overseas. They are spending their holiday in countries where there are fewer reasons to celebrate, especially the freedoms that we sometimes take for granted in our lives here in the USA. So send up a little prayer of thanks for all of them, and ask God to keep them safe and bring them home soon.

Now before I go, here is a little eye candy for you! I took this photo of my sweet Meikina one year ago. I forgot I had this in my stash of unseen images, but decided that it's time to scrap it. I think the quote is very fitting because her life would have been so different if she had remained in the orphanage in China. God is so good! Here she is, in all her American Girl beauty!

Full credits here

Have a wonderful and safe day! Love you all!

Blessings and Hugs,

Cheryl

One more post today!

This post is for Becky's challenge, she's the guest blogger for Nancy Comelab this week. Nancy is the creator of the awesome frames that I use all the time. Here is what Becky said to do..."Instead of a LO, let’s go out on a limb a bit and look through our pictures and find, you know…the ones that we just took because we wanted to try and capture on film some special little moment to remind us…and if you can, here’s the catch: Try to find one without any people in it…or at least for the subject." Well, I just couldn't choose one, so I am showing a few! I took these photos a few years ago at Spring Mill State Park near my hometown. Spring Mill holds alot of childhood memories for me and some fun ones as an adult too. Whenever I visit there even the smell of it reminds me of that time. I love going there and I always take my camera to the old fashioned garden in the Pioneer Village. My grandfather used to work at the Old Grist Mill, he retired from there many years ago. When my daughter was a small girl we used to stop by and visit him. He would give her a quarter to buy a treat from the concession stand. (well, it sounds like I need to make a layout of these and some other images I have from Spring Mill!) So, this is my non-person presentation using Nancy's newest and awesome Ultimate Frames Collection! For the images of the Grist Mill I used Nancy's mask with the blend mode set to overlay. The small flowers are by Correen Silke. I picked those up at SBB the other day using my happy birthday coupon from DST. The jewels and ribbon were a blog gift from Becky, thanks so much! (If you scroll down you will see a layout using Nancy's fab frames and a gorgeous kit by Betty Jo!)




Blessings and hugs,

Cheryl

Layout Alert!

Warning: this smile can be hazardous to the word NO!

full credits are here and here

This is my 3½ year old darling, sweet, mischievous, charming grandson...Andrew. How could anyone resist this smile?! He knows how to use it for sure, and when he wants something or thinks he might be in trouble he does use it. His parents are probably a little more immune to it than I am, but not much! He's all boy, still just a little bit of a baby, loveable, huggable and just all around precious! (well aren't they all?) He has a great sense of humor too. The other day he was lounging across his daddy's legs, head resting on the arm of the chair. He was very tired, and those big blue eyes were slowly blinking, he looked like he could go to sleep any minute. I quietly asked his daddy, "isn't he just the 'prettiest' little boy you have ever seen?" and Daddy agreed with me, because even if Andrew is a boy, handsome is not the right descriptive word for him, tho handsome he is. Well, I didn't think Andrew even heard me, but he piped right up...





"Gramma, I'm not pretty, Meikina is pretty!" Then he smiled that smile!



x




***sighs*** I adore him, can you tell?!


Here is another one of Andrew, taken the same evening as the one in the layout. You will see what I mean by "pretty"!

Now he is showing his mischievous side! LOL!

Okay, that's all for now! I have lots of pictures of the other kids from last Saturday, but you will have to wait to see them:) Laundry and other household chores are calling my name! Have a wonderful day!

Blessings and hugs,

Cheryl

Here is Christopher!

Can you believe it, I finally finished a layout! woohoo! It took me a whole week to figure out what to do with it. I mostly scrap the little kids and I can embellish with flowers and other pretty things even if they are boys. But this time I was scrapping my first born grandson. I couldn't do flowery things for a 12 going on 13 year old young man! I wasn't so sure about glitter either and I wanted this one to have just a little bit of a grown up feel to it, but still fun. So finally I went with the doodled frame, stars, and a touch of cardboard to go with the cream background paper and the stripes. So much for the grown up style layout, LOL! I really like how this came out though and I think he will too. I feel bad that I don't have alot of layouts of Chris, I would love to have a new scanner so that I can scrap my film pictures of him. The very first digi-layout I ever created was one of Chris, it's been over two years ago. I have been tempted to rescrap that photo, but I think I really should leave it alone. I had the best time doing that layout, it would be a shame to change it. Chris isn't around too much when I get my camera out, so I was very happy to get this shot of him last weekend. credits here

I hope everyone had a nice weekend...but look out, here comes Monday!

Blessings and hugs,

Cheryl

Happy Father's Day!

The LORD is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. Psalm 103:13, NLT

It's Father's Day. I have been blessed with TWO men in my life that I can call Dad. One has gone on to be with the Lord. It's already been 7 years since he died, how the time flies! It doesn't seem so long really. And even though I know I will see him again, I miss him still. The other has been married to my mother for nearly 30 years. He is very dear to me and I love him so much! He is so much a part of my family and a wonderful husband to my mom. That by itself makes him very special! Then there is my son-in-law who has helped provide me with gorgeous grandchildren! And my oldest son who has his two boys, Joshua and Justin. Lots to be thankful for, that is certain! So this post is dedicated to all those wonderful fathers in my life! I love you guys!

Blessings and hugs,

Cheryl

It's The Weekend!

Have I been absent or what? I have barely started this blogging thing, and I am already guilty of neglect. It has been a crazy long week though, so I will forgive myself for being away for so many days in a row, LOL! I am really glad to see the weekend though. I don't have a huge bunch of stuff planned but just enough so that in between the busy stuff there will (hopefully) be some much needed downtime for me...and maybe even time and mental energy to scrap a page.

Today is my beautiful Daughter's birthday! Tammy, I wish you love, happiness, and joy on your special day. I love you so very much!

I did promise some more pics from LAST weekend, so since it's been almost a week since I posted I'll just present a few snaps of Meikina, Andrew and Tyler from the playground last Saturday.

The Boys

The Princess

My Birthday Cake

Ribbon flowers and stickers by Shabby Princess!

Have a Wonderful Weekend!

Blessings and Hugs,

Cheryl

Butterflies and Blessings and My Birthday!

Happy Birthday to me! Happy Birthday to me! LOL! I got an amazing email from Betty Jo this morning. Here is what she wrote:

"Hi Sweetie,

I just got to my computer to check the post where I'm designer of the week at Lifts With A Twist. Take a look here: http://pachimactoo.typepad.com/. I actually suggested this layout to Susan, as I think it is one of the most beautiful I've ever seen. Low and behold she went with it too although you're on my team!! Awesome!!"

So this means lots of people will be using my layout for inspiration, how bout that??!!

This is one of my all time favorite layouts too, because it looks so layered and has lots of fun stuff going on, I really enjoyed creating it. Betty Jo even featured it on her blog last week to introduce me to her blogging friends. She's just a doll, I love her dearly.

I also got an amazing email from my Wonderful and Wise Mother, I love you so much Mom!

I'm watching my daughter's kids again today, since she and my son-in-law both have to work. I'm going there around 11am or so, and after lunch we are going to the pool for a little bit. Mike and Joshie are going to try to come to Louisville to visit me this afternoon, that will be a nice treat...I've miss them alot since I moved to Louisville.

I have some photos to share later from my babysitting adventure yesterday, that was an all day one, but it was a fun and awesome day. At one point as we were driving in the van I heard this little voice singing "Happy birthday to Gramma, happy birthday to you". It was my sweet little Meikina singing to me! Here is one photo from yesterday of my sweet princess, I'll post some more later of the boys. Gotta run!

Credits: Frame is a freebie by Mindy Terasawa, background paper is by Christina Smith. (not sure if it's still available.)

Blessings and hugs,

Cheryl

No Internet?? YIKES!

I went all of Monday evening with no internet access. OMGoodness, I actually had withdrawals, with severe anxiety, and I was just totally whacked out! LOL! I guess it wasn't really quite that bad but I still didn't like the way it made me feel. But really, all I wanted to do was check my email real quick, scour through a few blogs that I like to visit and say hi to my Mom and Sister and whoever else might have been online. The internet is my doorway to a bigger world and I miss it when I can't go there! Anyway, I'm back up for now and I sure hope there is no more trouble for awhile.

Ok, that gripe is out of the way. I have a few more pictures to from the weekend that I want to show you. Not many, but Mom's flowers were just so pretty and I had to take a few photos of them. Looky here...

Aren't they gorgeous?

The Photo Frames are by Nancy Comelab.

Silly Frilly Butterflies by Syrin.

Blessings and hugs,

Cheryl

Weekends are TOO short!

I really miss some of the things about working from home, when I was my own boss...in charge of my schedule. I miss the photography part of it too, the pleasure of delivering pictures to the coaches that I knew were some of the best sports pictures those parents would ever have of their kids. Maybe not such a big deal for some, but preserving memories is important to me, and I took alot of pride in my work. I also miss just being at home...free to take a day (or two) off if I needed to. I am glad I got to experience all of that for the time that I did, even with all the struggles that went along with it. So now I continue to move on with my life, still adapting to a "real" job....and thankful that I have one that I don't mind going to. And they are finally getting the paperwork ready so that I will be a permanent employee with benefits...yay!

I left Friday evening for Mom's house. My brother worked on my car Saturday, so while he had the car at the shop I spent the morning with my Sis-in-law and their little guy. Dawson is an extremely bright, ACTIVE 2 year old. Here are a couple of photos I was able to grab of him.

He's such a stinker! Cute tho, huh?! LOL!
My mom gave me the prettiest birthday card while I was there. I love it and the message inside could have been written by her. She's so sweet and thoughtful. We have a really special relationship that I cherish. She also gave me a cute little framed poem to put on my desk at work! And fixed taco salads for dinner on Saturday! yummmmy!! My fave food!

Here is my Mom! Thanks for a really nice weekend, even if it was too short!
Remember, I love you very much!

Blessings and Hugs,

Cheryl