Been WAY too long

I can't believe how long it has been since my last post here. Yikes! I can't even begin to catch up on everything that has been going on. I think it is safe to say this blog is probably not going to be updated often anymore. There just aren't enough hours in the day.

However, you can still keep in touch. :) I still have my designing blog that is updated every so often. I am sure I will start my ramblings there, and I need to be better about updating it more often as it is. So, please come on over and leave me some comments there every so often. And feel free to grab some of my freebies while you are there! LOL I want to know how all of you are doing as well. :)
http://fourcubs.zervona.net/blog

There is also email: cpkmelissa AT gmail DOT com.

Things are going ok. The boys are having a lot of medical issues going on right now, some of which have me a bit worried, but I try not to panic unless I have to. Please keep them in your prayers, especially Joshua. The girls are doing great. My designing career is doing well, and I have been having thoughts of expanding into some other areas. Still not positive on that though. Time is my biggest factor right now. Handbells are a blast, and we have a conference coming up that I am really looking forward to.

So, I hope you will come over to my other blog and keep in touch over there. I miss everyone over here and you often cross my mind. I hope all is well with each of you. :) "Talk" to you soon!

How awful am I?

Yep, I'm a blogging slacker! I have never denied that, though. :P I really believe that I need about 36 hours to my day to get everything done. There is always a huge list of "to do" items on my list at the end of each day.

Things are somewhat improving with Joshua since my last post. He is doing better with concentrating on his schoolwork again, though we still aren't back 100% to where we were before our trip in February. It's crazy how two weeks can totally undo a year of hard work. I'm sure the spring weather is not helping his concentration level either. I think it is getting to all of us!

Jacob has been doing awesome on his math. It boggles my mind how we have struggled to get through adding and subtracting this year, and yet he totally rocks on the multiplying and dividing. I was talking to my little brother, Willie, about it last week and he replied that subtracting is HARD! He and Jacob are so similar in so many ways. Their brains do not work the same as mine, that's for sure! Willie is gifted and it wouldn't surprise me a bit if Jacob were to be tested that he would test highly.

The girls are well. Cassie was backtracking on the potty training after our trip, but I think we are finally back on track.

Silas and I attended a symphony concert last Friday. It was Russian night and they ended their regular program with Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony. I LOVE that piece!! So much fun to play, and even better to get to sit and hear the orchestra from the audience. It did get me missing my clarinet though. So I took it out this weekend, not remembering why I hadn't touched it in so long. Turns out one of the pads is missing. Ooops! So, I need to get that fixed up sometime, so I can get back into playing. :)

I will be taking Jacob to his first symphony concert next week. He's excited, as am I. I am hoping to start teaching him an instrument of some sort next year, and maybe this will help him to decide what he would like to learn.

Other than that, I have been designing like a mad woman. My new store is a store I thought was way out of my league and I only dreamed of selling in one day. I was so excited, shocked, and happy when they hired me! I had a CT call and have a group of about 8 ladies using my designs in their LOs. So exciting! I have separated my design blog from my personal blog for many reasons, so if you would like to peek at my designs and/or keep up with me over there as well, just shoot me an email and I'll send you the link. :)

Guess that is about all here. I need to get back to designing some before the kids get up from their naps and rest.

New year and new kit

Happy New Year a few days late. It's been a busy few days.

My newest kit is finished and I am super excited! It was totally inspired by my little guy, Josh. "On The Go" includes:

5 plain textured papers
5 patterned textured papers
5 paper clips
2 grosgrain ribbons
1 bus
1 jet
1 truck
1 car
1 wrench
1 keychain



Also recently finished is the add-on t my Classy Cassie kit:

This includes 3 patterned textured papers, 1 tag, 2 heart-shaped buttons, 1 glass tiara, and 3 paper clips.


And now, most importantly, I want to wish my wonderful husband a very HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!! 9 years...how'd you do it? :)

Christmas...already?!

Woah, where in the world did this year go? I can't believe it is only 5 days until Christmas. Christmas, people! I have gotten nearly all of my shopping done. I still have some things I am working on putting together, and have done zero wrapping. I am usually a little bit better than this about getting things done sooner. I don't know what is wrong with me this year. I think the lack of cold weather is doing it. It's kind of hard to get in the Christmas mood when outside it is in the 70's.

My newest kit is finished as of this morning. Let me tell you, it is pretty hard to get motivated to put together a winter kit when the above mentioned weather is surrounding you. However, I did it!

Not much else to report I suppose. Just keeping busy, as usual. :)

Changes

Ahhh. A week of changes.

First, I have made th switch to Blogger Beta. So far, so good.

Secondly, I resigned from Scrapbooker's Playground. However, the same day I signed on at Scrap2Basics. It is actually the new site that I was chosen to be on the CT for. LOL The other designers are wonderful, and I think I will learn quite a bit by being there. Pamela Gibson, whose CT I am a member of, is also a designer there. Pretty neat, huh? I am so excited about designing with these ladies and can't wait to get the details of my first collab kit. :)

So, I also have a brand new kit, "Sweet Elena". Wanna peek?



We have a busy week ahead. I have bells on Monday, an endo appointment for me on Tuesday, a TRU sale function to go to on Thursday night, and Friday will be two field trips and Silas' work Christmas party. Thank goodness for weekends, huh? I'm going to need it after this Friday!


Jacob's right eye has got something going on with it now. He looked to the side a few nights ago and I thought he had something in it. I pulled his eyelid down a little bit and he looked to the left. He has this really dark and large looking vein in it. It almost looked at first as though he had a large piece of string in there, but it isn't. I asked if it was hurting or itching...nope. Did he hit it or poke it? Nope. Did someone else hit or poke it? Not that he remembers. Does the light bother him...doesn't appear to. So, my first thought is that something maybe flew into it. Silas had an eye appointment a few months ago and didn't know he had a piece of metal in his eye. There were no signs of it at all that he noticed, but the eye doc mentioned there were veins growing towards it. So, I am wondering if this is what is going on. I brought him to my parents' house yesterday to make sure I wasn't overreacting and that it does look abnormal, and they weren't sure what was wrong with it either. So, if it is still there on Monday, I am making an appointment with the ped to see about getting a referral.

I told him this as the plan and he quickly went to the living room and just sat quietly. I asked him if he was ok and he started crying, telling me he is scared. I don't know what to do about his fear of the doctor. He is petrified. I held him and explained that doctors make a promise out loud to other people and to God, "First do no harm". I explained this means they are supposed to do their best to help people that are sick and do their best to not hurt them. We talked for a little while about it and though he is still very scared, I think he understands that they are not trying to really hurt him. This is one reason we are waiting until Monday to make an appointment. I want him to be seen by our regular ped on Tuesday. He has built a trust with her, and after the last time I brought him in and the new ped sprayed his ear, well, I think we need to do our best to stick to who he feels most comfy with. My heart breaks that he is so fearful that they will hurt everytime he goes in. :(

Anyway, I am off to get some more work done before bed. :)

New kit and a sale

My second kit is now completed. Want a peek?













I also learned how to do sales tonight, thanks to Wendy! I've been working hard on getting all of my scrapping and kits done.

My secret that I was having to keep under wraps can now be told! I am now on the CT for a new site: Scrap2Basics. I was so excited when I found out! It looks like it is going to be a great store and board! You should definitely check it out. :)

Ok, Im off to get some work done before heading to bed. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Store is ready!

Woohoo! I finally have my very first product up at SBP. I am SO excited! Here is a preview for you:

It is named after my sweet little Cassidy. I love the colors in this one. It actually is the second kit I made with the intent of hopefully eventually selling, but once I finished this one, it quickly got moved to number one status. My plan is to have at least one kit named after each of my little cubs. ;) I already have the color swatches chosen and am working on them as I get the chance.

I am super excited and motivated now!

News, a trip, and more news!

Goodness. I wasn't kidding when I said I might have news in a few days. Of course, the news I thought I was going to have became something COMPLETELY different than I thought it was going to be. I'll try to catch up and yet keep it brief...

Ok, I will begin with my fun trip. My mother, MIL, brother's girlfriend Mel (also named Melissa, but spelled differently), and I all headed to Disney World on Monday for a girl's day out. We had a blast! Nothing like going to "The Happiest Place on Earth" without any kids or men. Ahhh! It was a long but relaxing and much needed trip. We even got to see Captain Jack Sparrow in action. LOL The guy had all of the mannerisms down to a science. He was great! We ended the day with the fireworks, which were beautiful!

Now to explain my first paragraph...

When I said I was going to have some news, I was speaking of a collaborative kit I participated in at Scrappin' Secrets in which all proceeds would go to Toys for Tots. Well, I think it was about a day later when I learned that SS will be merging with a larger site - Scrapbooker's Playground. This unfortunately put our kit on hold.

In the meantime, one of the designers, Wendy of Neverland Scraps, had seen my contribution to the charity kit, and behind the scenes was talking me up without my knowledge. I was urged to put in an application as a designer and the wheels have been turning ever since. What a whirlwind! I just finished my first it, but I'm not quite ready to give the sneak peek yet. You'll just have to keep checking back for it. LOL I will tell you it has a boyish feel to it though. :)

On top of that, I learned today of yet another secret involving me in the scrapping world. I can't tell anyone yet though! Heehee! I am so bad with secrets. It's a good one, and I can't wait to share it!

So, would you like to see a few LO's?

I have no idea what Cassie was thinking, but she was definitely in a goofy mood the day that we took this photo. She was wearing her hair in pigtails and decided to put a headband on as if it were a sweatband. And to top it off she would stick a plastic ice cream sundae in her mouth and just grin. Little nut. LOL I used Bella Gypsy's "Zen Calm" kit.






This was Cassie in 2004 at her first Easter egg hunt. She was too cute with the eggs. I used Bella Gypsy's "Glitz" kit on this one. I thought it went perfectly with the photo.









Man, this photo seems like it was taken ages ago, and yet it doesn't really seem like it has been that long. This is Jacob in 2001. My grandparents would put out these reindeer each year that were pulling Santa in his sleigh. Jacob loved them! The expression on his face in this photo was too cute. :) I used Pamela Gibson's "Country Christmas" kit.






I love this photo of Elena. I took it in front of our front door..she was wearing a beautiful fancy dress and she was fascinated with it. The lighting wasn't great, the door has all sorts of scratches and the typical grooves. I decided to play around with the photo a good bit and it turned out so pretty, I think. I got rid of all of the grooves and scratches, got rid of the color and played with the lighting, and what you see is the end result. The kit I used in this LO is Kathryn Mhire's "Field of Flowers".




Ok, enough show and tell from me tonight. I need to get some sleep!