Alrighty...

So, I redid the entire template and I *think* (hesitantly saying this) that I got it right this time. Those of you who are using Internet Explorer, could you let me know if it looks correct now? Thanks!

Update time, now that I think the template might be correct. ;0)

I had Jacob's homeschooling evaluation this past Monday. It went excellent! We were in and out in 15 minutes. I apparently was organized better than I thought, and she just flipped through everything and looked at a couple of lapbooks we brought. I was a little disappointed that she didn't have him read out loud for her, but she was really doing well to get him to talk. I told my handbell group it was the quietest I think he has ever been his entire life. LOL He must have been nervous, though he claimed he wasn't.

I found out today that I did not make the CT I was trying out for. I'm being a good sport about it, but kind of bummed at the same time. I'm somewhat hesitant to try out for another one right now. We'll see. I would really love to be on a team at some point. Heather was sweet about it and emailed me letting me know what she based the decision on. I wouldn't have wanted to be in her shoes making the decision. I did email her back to show I hold no grudges and that I plan to stay on the forum.

I think I am going to find another gallery as well. I have three...two where I actually participate on the forums and then a third that I mainly just post layouts at. It's so busy at that one that it is rare to get comments, let alone seen. So many of the calls seem to want you to have 3-5 galleries. So, we'll see.

The new template

I am so sorry guys! I had no idea until yesterday that this template is not working in Internet Explorer. It looks fine in Mozilla, and whereas I usually check everything in IE, I totally forgot to do it this time. I have played with the settings and tried tweaking it to no avail. I'm going to have my husband take a peek tonight and see if he can figure out where my code is wrong for IE. Hopefully things will look a bit normal soon!

I was tagged!

Tina from Autism and KC tagged me. :)

5 things in my refrigerator:
1. Salad makings
2. Tea
3. Cheese
4. Jelly
5. salad dressing

5 things in my closet:
1. My clothes
2. shoes
3. presents for elena's b-day in August
4. presents for Josh's b-day in October (yes, I'm a planner LOL)
5. Silas' clothes

5 things in my purse:
1. wallet
2. cell phone
3. brush
4. receipts
5. keys

5 things in my car:
1. seats LOL
2. a CD (not sure which though)
3. 4 car seats
4. double stroller
5. trash bag

5 people I am tagging:
1. Lyndsay - http://cest-la-vie-lynds.blogspot.com/
2. Sarah - http://www.timsellers.net/homeschool/index.html
3. Kim - http://www.dailyrelease.blogspot.com/
4. Captain Tealbird (LOL) - http://tealbeard.blogspot.com/
5. Sunshine - http://letsinger.blogspot.com/

Have fun!

Okies, I think we got it!

So, I have my three column template now, courtesy of the link you can find on the bottom of the page. ;) How does it look on everyone's screens?

We are still waiting for the official kit for our CT call. Until then, we were given another one to play with. It's so pretty! It's Heather Roselli's "It's a Girl Thang" kit. I had so much fun with it, even though I had a little trouble choosing a photo that wouldn't clash with the colors of the kit. Here's what I came up with:



Credits: Heather Roselli's It's a Girl Thang Kit
Fonts: Kayleigh and Milton Burlesque

Possible changes ahead

I am seriously considering merging my scrap blog with this one. I think it would be easier to keep up with that way. I'm going to look for a nice 3 column template so the sidebars won't be too crowded and go on forever and a day. ;) So, if you start to see the blog looking a little funny, you know why.

Baby Madison website and Down Syndrome Awareness kit

I mentioned previously about my board buddy's baby, Madison, and the disease that she is suffering with. Shelli now has a website up that will let you keep up with her progress. I will put the link in my sidebar as well.

http://www.memoriesofmariam.com/madison/

She could really use the prayers right now.

I mentioned previously that I had submitted a small kit to be included in a Down Syndrome Awareness Charity mega kit. Here is the preview to my contribution:



There are 17 very unique kits on all in this mega kit. To find out how you can get them, please click on the blinkie below and it will take you to the page where you can find out all about it!



And I thought I would wrap this up by saying I made the next cut for Heather Roselli's CT team call! I am in complete shock! I never expected my name to show up in Heather's top 9 list. Woah! I am so excited about it though! Can't wait to see what this next round brings. :)

Elena's "bow"

Ugh, I am pretty sick again. It started with allergy symptoms but has now turned into feeling like the beggining of the mess I had for 4 months earlier this year. I took some Mucinex, but it doesn't seem to be having the same effect as it did the last time. Blah.

I think I have figured out how to post a video. Photobucket has a nifty video feature that I could never get to work...until now. :) So, if you promise to ignore the mess in the background and my horrible voice, I'll let you see. ;) I didn't get the entire spin, and it really doesn't show the drama she usually has, BUT it does indeed have her bowing.



I am really enjoying this audition process for Heather's CT call. We are all getting to know each other through the questions she has been asking and it is very relaxed and enjoyable. I think I will stick around at The Digichick now that the ice is broken. :)

Anyway, Heather decided to gift us a second kit and sent us her Father Knows Best kit. Her stuff is so easy to make pages with. It amazes me! She has some of the cutest elements in that one. I had a great idea, but I couldn't find a template for the main idea and am horrible at trying to draw with a mouse, so I had to file that one away for a while. LOL One day I WILL do it though. I think it will work best as a card.

So, here is the layout I made with the second kit:


Credits: Heather Roselli's Father Knows Best Kit available at thedigichick
Fonts: Chinacat and CongressT

The pic was taken last year. Doesn't Silas look thrilled to be in it? LOL

Also, after posting my Ladybug, Ladybug mini kit (found below), I was sent a request for a bee kit. So, I finally sat down a few days ago and worked a little on it..took a break and finished it up last night. The person requesting it really loves it, so I was happy! I decided to share it with everyone. :)

Here's the preview:


And here are the download links:

Papers 1

Papers 2

Elements

Enjoy!

Elena is a ham

I've mentioned before that Elena loves to dance. The music barely comes on and she is dancing all over the place. Lately it is dramatic spinning she is doing (think ice skater with no skates), which I could do without. LOL She is really cracking me up lately though because she bows when she gets to the end of her routine. I haven't a clue where she learned that one, but it is soooo funny. I need to figure out how the heck to post a video and let you be entertained.

She also will go to the tile floor and try what appears to be tap dancing and at the end yells "ta da" with her arms in the air. She will only do it when she has shoes on her feet, so I am guessing she enjoys the sound. I always pictured Cassidy as our little ballerina, but it looks like Elena is going to be our little performer in the family.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wow, wow, wow! I had so mcuh fun using Heather's kit. She seems like such an awesome designer to work for. She said she never wants us to feel pressure and to just have fun with it. She sent us one of her kits and it is beee-u-teeee-ful! The one requirement she had was that we had to use a black and white photo. This isn't something I commonly do, but I knew exactly what photos I wanted to choose from for this particular kit. So, I went to work. Before I knew it, I had made 2 layouts and it was 2:30am. Yikes!

So, I spent all morning trying to decide which of the two layouts I wanted to submit. Decisions, decisions. There were things I liked about both of them, and things I wasn't too sure about on both of them as well, but overall I was extremely happy with them both.

Here they are:
LAYOUT A:


LAYOUT B:


I finally decided on layout B. It was so hard choosing though! I went ahead and uploaded A to my member gallery though.

There are so many great layouts already from the other ladies that made the cut. I don't think I would be able to narrow it down if it were me having to choose!

Chatter, chatter

Well, I think I am having some computer issues lately. I haven't been able to get blogger to allow me to post comments consistently, nor have I been able to make a post in a while. And I had a ton of stuff I had been wanting to write about too. LOL

Let's see...last Thusday I went in to get started with my study meds for the research group. They did all the initial checks and an EKG. Everything came back great. Dr. D is actually able to do my checkups when I go in since he is right across the hall. He is so nice. He looked at my numbers from the bloodwork and very sincerely told me how proud of me he is. It has been a rare occurance in my life that a doctor tells me they are proud of me, no matter how hard I have worked. So, that was a great way to start the study. :)

One of the side effects noted about this medication is headaches. I have had horrible migraines for as long as I can rememebr, and all I have been able to take is Tylenol. Yep, lucky me developed an allergic reaction to Advil and those great drugs called NSAIDs, so I basically wind up suffering for a few days until the pain subsides. Lately, they had been improving. I would catch them early enough that the Tylenol actually seemed to work. Boy, did that ever fool me. I started with one on Saturday and it lasted through yesterday. I had to call my mother to come over and watch the kids because I was so severely ill with the pain. I haven't had one like that in a while. She came over, and I headed to bed and stayed there until 2:30pm. It still wasn't completely gone, but I took the generic version of Excedrin Migraine and it seemed to knock it completely out the rest of the way. I really hate migraines.

Speaking of Saturday, Elena was invited over to her buddy Elizabeth's house for a playdate. We went and had a nice time. I tell ya, everytime we get together it is during Elena's naptime and she takes forever and a day to wake up and adjust. By the end of our time there she was fine and actually talking a bit to the other kids, playing, and having a nice time.

I was the first to arrive, and not too long after a woman walked in with her little girl. After we were introduced we realized that we knew each other from elementary school. We were always in the same class from k-5 and the two of us along with one other girl were always the teacher's pets. (Everyone found that funny for some reason, though I have no idea why. lol) So that was just wild running into her. She also graduated from the same high school and in the same class as my husband. Even crazier! It was a neat little surprise. :)

My other bit of news is something I am really excited about. I applied for Heather Roselli's (a scrapbooking designer) creative team on the 9th. She had 37 applicants and narrowed it down to 18. I actually made the first cut! I am so excited! So, now she is going to be sending us an assignment and will then narrow the group even more to 9. From that 9 she will narrow it again and end up with 3 or 4 new members to her team. I really love her designs. She has the cutest stuff for both boys and girls. Honestly though, I am just thrilled to have even made it this far! So, wish me luck!

And now for my scrapping updates (moved from my scrap blog ;) )Ok, I played some more, and I am still thinking there is something missing. I can't figure out what it is though. I think it is getting there, but there is just something else it needs. Hmmm. Anyone? I'm always open to suggestions. :)



Credits: Morning Glory kit from d2D - dedicated2digital.com

This is a scraplift of Patricia/patara's "Capture The Moment" layout found here: http://www.rakscraps.com/photopost/s...00&ppuser=2325

I loved it so much, I had to do a lift!

The quote is by Ashleigh Brilliant and says, "Keep some souvenirs of your past, or how will you ever prove it wasn't all a dream?"



Credits:
Pencil element and to do list: by me
Kit used: Mrs. Schmuck's SchweetSchtuff


I love this photo of Cassidy. I think she has the most beautiful eyes and the longest lashes to frame them.



Credits: The journaling is from the song by the same title as sung by Martina McBride. Papers - AnneLangpap from the Nov{peas} Freebie, stickpin by Melanie Greene from the Gingham & Flowers Mini Kit, recolored by me and overlay by Lisa West (Zephanee) from the Bloomin' Country Kit

I did manage to get my newbie challenge kit and scraplift made for RAKScraps. Blogger has been being difficult this week for me. I haven't been able to really comment on anyone's posts nor make any new ones of my own in the past two days. Hmmm. Anyway, I had fun making this once I got past my little mental block. LOL I may even do a little add-on to this one day. Who knows? :)

Here is the preview of my newest mini kit:


And you can download it here:
http://www.savefile.com/files/4210642

If you do download it, please leave me a comment. Thanks!

Summer break!

I totally forgot to tell you - we are officially taking our summer break! Woohoo! Jacob's evaluation has been scheduled for June 26th, and I am anxious to get it over and done with. The lady we are going to is so nice. She said the only things she is greatly concerned about is math and reading so we need samples of that and anything else he is excited about from this year. No problems there! We have a bunch of photos showing him working on math, some worksheet samples, some handwriting samples, our reading list for the year, resource list, a book for him to read for her. I asked him if there is anything else he would like to add and he wants to add some of our lapbooks. We have to decide exactly which ones he wants to add. He loves those things! Anything else I need? The evaluator will give us the papers that very day for us to fax into the school board office. Woohoo!

I am already starting to plan out next year for Jacob. I want to "plan" out through December for him this month, and then spend next month planning things for Joshua. I already know of some of the things I want to try and do differently this coming year. Instead of our wall timeline which was destroyed by a certain little girl's hands, I think we are going to try some notebooking. Jacob enjoys the lapbooking so much, and actually remembers things he learns with them, that I think notebooking will allow him to retain the info just as much. We also will do more lapbooks of course. I plan to continue with the Magic Treehouse Series. They have such a great range of topics that I think work well for history lessons. We went to the library today and I had him look at the upcoming books. He was really excited about them. :)

I also plan to get Joshua to do some lapbooks this year. He's improved so much with his willingness to touch the "yucky stuff" like glue and playdough and such, that I think he will be able to handle doing them. Of course, this could all very well have to change by that point, and planning is kind of hard to do in regards to Joshua, yet at the same time, everything has to be planned meticulously. I don't know if that makes sense to anyone but me. LOL

I have been busy, busy, busy lately with my scrapping. I am trying to get pages for my grandfather and other family members put together. I tell ya, it takes me ages to get one page done sometimes. Mostly because I take forever to find what papers and elements I am going to use with what pictures. It doesn't help that I am sooo disorganized with my downloaded kits. There has to be a better system, but I haven't found what will work for me yet.

I attended another newbie chat at RAKScraps. They are great there. I really enjoy posting with a friendly and helpful bunch. 90% of the time my questions have already been answered so I don't have to show them how little I know. heehee Anyway, we have the same assignment, just with a new scraplift. Should be fun.

I also have submitted a kit to be used as a part of a huge kit for Down Syndrome Awareness. Anyone who makes a donation to one of three charity groups will get the kit for free. It is set to be released mid-June, and when it is, I will be sure to add the link and info for you.

Other than that, I don't get as much time as I would like to scrap. I did do the latest RAK sketch challenge though. Here is my page:



Credits: Muted Blue Kit Created by AllS. Font: Arial



Credits: April 06 RAK Mega Kit contributions by Mrs. Schmuck, Jane Atwell, and Ginger Thibodeau




I love this photo of Jacob holding Elena. He was so proud of his baby sister and I feel his love for her really comes out in this photo.

Credits: April 06 RAK Mega Kit contributions by Mrs. Schmuck, CWyckoff, and kmcdonald

Oh! I totally forgot to mention that I actually won something! I did the June Treaure hunt and Gallery Mixer at RAKScraps last night and my name was drawn for a 25% off coupon at d2D. Was I ever surprised by that! I was so excited and after much debating I decided to buy the Morning Glory kit. It is so pretty, and I can not wait to use it! December is so sweet and helpful and I will definitely buy from her again. :)

Here is my first attempt at using this kit...I'm going to play around with the layout a bit more. I'm not totally happy with what I did. Don't you just love those bright colors though?!



Credits: Morning Glory kit by d2D - dedicated2digital.com


Well, to end this, I wanted to post a link to a summer reading program through Build-A-Bear Workshop. The kids need to read 6 books between now and July 31 in order to receive a $5 gift card to their store. Not a bad deal, and very achievable!

Build-A-Bear Workshop Summer Reading Program

Enjoy!

Update on my health issues

Today was my appointment with the clinical research group my doctor works with. He had requested that I be considered as part of a cholesterol or blood pressure study. I was told what the studies were for and then they took a quick blood sample to test and see what my levels were. At first she was going to go on the labs from the end of April, but I told her I had a complete diet change, so she went ahead and did an initial draw.

When she got the results and compared them to the April bloodwork, she looked puzzled and said "This is very interesting...VERY interesting" and left to look something up. When she came back she said again how interesting the labs came back and said she was going to have the machine checked to be sure it was correct. So I asked her if it was a good or bad interesting. LOL I was getting kind of concerned with her saying that over and over. She said it was really good news for me and wanted to know what I had been doing differently. LOL

Anyway, let me tell you about my levels and what has been going on. I don't think I gave numbers earlier this month, but I am going to tell you now. I was scared out of my mind when I posted about my last appointment. I felt like a ticking time bomb...seriously!

My BP was good today. 130/84. It was apparently 148/100 when I went in a few weeks back. Still not great, but not as high as it has been.

My LDL (the bad cholesterol) was 173 (normal is 0-99 and my doctor said he'd be perfectly happy with it at 100, but he'd like to aim at getting it to 90). Today it was 121!

My Triglycerides were 115 (normal is 0-149) so those were good. Today it was 191, so not good. From what she said, this is because of the sugars and being pre-diabetic I tend to have problems with sugars anyhow. Plus just about everyone in my family has triglyceride problems.

My total cholesterol levels: These were 252 last time (normal is 100-199). Yikes! Today it is 204!

She said whatever I am doing is great and keep doing it, and I DO NOT qualify for the 3 studies my doctor was wanting me to get into. Yay! They went ahead and offered me another to test meds for triglycerides, and I am going to go ahead and try it. It is short - only 16-18 weeks and everything is covered. I'm going to try it out. I think the endo I will eventually see will wind up putting me on meds to get it down anyway, so why not? I could end up with a placebo, but you just never know!

I was looking forward to seeing exactly how much I have lost according to their scales, but they didn't weigh me yet. That'll be next week along with all the other tests, providing my bloodwork doesn't disqualify me. LOL According to my scale, I have lost 12 pounds since my appointment 3 weeks ago. Yay!

So, I am feeling much better about the direction my health is going now. Had to give a good update. :)

In scrapping news, since I am working on Jacob's portfolio, I decided that instead of just printing off a bunch of pics and throwing them in there to show what he has done, I'll scrap them. So, this is the first page I did. Nothing spectacular, but it shows the pic in a nicer form.



Credits: backgrounds by - V. Kim Smith from her "Cool Dude Kit" contribution to the RAK May 06 Mega Kit. Also Jane A's RAK May06 Mega Kit contributon. element by - V. Kim Smith from "Cool Dude"

And another Josh layout:


Credits: Patterned background papers by Jeannie Papai and Kelley Elizabeth McDonald from the RAK May 06 Mega Kit Font: Agent Orange