Scrapbooking

I'm not really a scrapbooker. I've made a few things, but never got around to putting pictures in/on them. BUT I have finally completed a project! It was for someone else, which is why I think it was completed. Anyway our good friend's little boy, Malak turned 2 yesterday. I made this book for him (Well, really it's for his mother).

These are two photos I attempted to edit in Adobe Photoshop. Malak is often called Grasshopper or just Hopper. His mother sometimes calls him Hopperosky which I think is too cute. Phil found that grasshopper hat at Micahel's one night and just couldn't resist buying it for Malak. He is a big fan of Toy Story right now, too. So I thought it would be cute if he could be in the picture with his buddies. ;o)

The Weekend

Tonight we will be going to a talent show. Our Children's church is putting it on to raise money for camp this summer. Last year's was a hoot. I just love watching the kids use their talents. It should be a great time.
Tomorrow morning we're going to begin working in the yard! Woo hoo! I'm so excited. We have some overgrown bushes that need pruned and a few plants to be potted. I found two Grecian urns at K-Mart for $12! They're pretty big and will hold a nice arrangement of flowers. My seedlings are doing well. They're still a little small, but they're doing great. I'm waiting to plant them outside. They need to be hardened first.
Tomorrow night we were going to go to an auction for our local high schools fine arts club. But since Phil's Grandmother is in town, we're going to visit with her instead. It's always so nice to visit with his grandparents!
Sunday we will be going to church as usual. But for lunch we've invited 4 students over and we're going to have pizza, play games, and I'm going to teach the girls how to make banana bread(So far...). We realized some time ago that it's very difficult to get to know our students when there is at least 20 of them running around. It's also difficult to do such when you're following your usual service schedule. The girls I invited seem really excited, so that makes me happy. I always feel inadequate when it comes to teaching these girls anything. I feel like I'm too young and inexperienced, and of course not cool enough. But I'm realizing that God has put me in this position for a reason and I should not worry about those things. I'm doing what I can to follow Him, honor Him, and learn all that I can about being a Godly woman. If anything, hopefully they will be influenced by my passion to live for God.
So anyway, this is what this weekend holds for us. It will be nice to just be at home. This week has been very hard at work and has made me long to be a stay at home wife & mother more than ever before. Obviously I can't be the stay at home mother yet, but that's my deepest desire.
Hope all of those who may be reading, have a wonderful weekend!
~Toodles!

Nothing new

has been happening lately. Just taking it day by day. Today was absolutely boring at work. I completed the work I had, and I've been sitting here shopping online and reading blogs for about 6 hours straight. I feel like my brain has completely stopped working. I need something to do physically.
I have been thinking about getting a hair cut. A co-worker mentioned getting one tomorrow, and so now I'm on the prowl for a cute cut. No such luck yet. All of the images are starting to look the same. I think I need to get some fresh air. There's only 20 minutes left of work though.
I wore green today! I also had corned beef and cabbage for lunch. It was pretty good. I'm only like 1/16 Irish. Well, I don't really know what percentage, but there's a little Irish in there somewhere.
I made a cherry pie on Saturday. I've had a piece every day so far. It's good, but I think I'm ready for something else. Maybe a double chocolate cake! Yum. I don't keep anything in the pantry for those kinds of delicacies. I know my weaknesses.
I've been trying to sort through all of my pictures. I have SO many on my lap top at home. I always forget to clear my camera each time I upload my photos to my laptop. So I have about 6 copies of all of my pics. Does anyone have any tips for organizing my digital photos?
I'm ready to head home. Just 15 minutes left! Hope everyone had a jolly St. Patty's Day!

Cheeriness

A Cheerful heart is good medicine; but a downcast Spirit dries up the bones.

~Proverbs 17:22

This scripture has been on my mind quite a lot lately. I've been trying to be realistic with the way I see myself. And if I'm honest, I think that I'm pretty negative. It's difficult to find the glass half full. I usually do, but then I'm not happy about it or grateful that I found a glass half full. I want that glass overflowing. So I have decided to make this my prayer focus for this month, to have a truly cheerful heart. To be grateful for all things, whether they meet my expectations in full, partially, or not at all. I'm also going to pray the God fills my heart with joy. Joy in knowing that I have salvation in Him. That He does good through all things. I want to pray these things so I don't shrivel up and become old before my time. So that my youthful years may be used for Him! So that those around me are encouraged.

Have a great weekend!

~Toodles!!

Well, I'm feeling a little better. ;o)
I took Thursday & Friday off work. Thank goodness it was warmer and very Spring-like. I had all the windows open both days I was at home. I'm sure that didn't help with my sinuses, but it was great. I couldn't just sit and lay around all day, so I started a new afghan for Claire. I know, why would a dog need another afghan? She loves them and I couldn't really do anything else, so I thought I'd go ahead. Saturday I wasn't feeling all that much better, but Phil wanted to clean and organize. You cannot pass up the opportunity for something like that. ;o) He worked in the office and I worked upstairs. We both cleaned out a lot of junk. It's amazing what you can accumulate in a matter of only 2 years. I'm trying to change my pack-rat tendencies to that of a more clean-slate, no clutter mindset. It's difficult. I find that everything has sentimental value. My first cd case-a purple, plastic bubble case-is being put in the garage sale pile. I debated for over 5minutes if it should be put in that pile or not. I held onto Christmas cards from 3 years ago just because the person took time to write a personal note in the card. I've kept my magazines from the very first subscription I had as a teenager. That's a lot of magazines! I'm afraid I'll miss a tip or some useful information on how to make sugar scrub even though I know I could just Google it. It's truly pathetic and somewhat of disease. I hope to be able to get rid of more stuff over the next month. That's what March is really about for me this year, getting rid of unnecessary things. Oh yeah, I also have over 50 t-shirts that I got free from all of my youth events, school events, etc... that I need to get rid of. I thought about making a quilt, but I don't want to hang on to all of them for that long. I've decided to take pictures of them and then give them to Good Will or the Salvation Army.
Anyway, I'm working on that. I've also started compiling all of my design ideas into one place. I've tracked down all my sticky notes with user names and passwords for my fav. websites and important stuff like online banking and put it all in one place as well. I have this nifty little padfolio/planner that I got from Walmart and I just love it! Other than all of that, I've been taking it easy. Thinking a lot about Spring and things I need to do in the yard.
Hopefully I'll be feeling 100% soon!

Sickly

I'm starting to feel sickly... the kind where you hibernate under the covers with a tissuebox & hot tea by your bedside. My throat is raw, my nose is running & yet stuffy. My head feels heavier than a bag of rocks & like someone threw them into that bag. Ugh... I'm not sure if it's just allergies or an actual cold. I'll take the usual meds though and hope for the best. All winter I went without an actual cold, I would hate to get one now.
Despite my health issues, I feel pretty cheery. It's a tad bit warmer today and the temp is only suppose to rise. Yippee! If I'm feeling up to it, I'm definitely going to work in the yard this weekend. I saw a few little sprouts of tulips already! I can't believe that the bulbs I planted are actually doing what they're supposed to. I am not sure if I have a green thumb or not, but I sure hope so. I even planted some flowers in one of those Jiffy starter kits. So we'll see!
OOooh and I found out yesterday that we can get a cd w/the rights for our Fall '08 family pics! Woohoo! When it comes to photos, I'm definitely all digital. I will print out a few for frames, but I don't fill albums or anything. I'm thinking about making one of those books from Snapfish or Shutterfly. I did one with our wedding pics and it turned out fantastic.
Well, I better go. I have actually been given some work for the afternoon. Woohoo!

Baby Gifts

This weekend a friend of mine came home and her husband gave her a surprise baby shower. So of course we had to buy her a gift! She had a registry at Wal*Mart. Phillip and I went to the Baby section before we did grocery shopping Friday night. First I have to say, I already had baby fever, shopping for a baby only makes it worse! So here are the few items we picked up for my friend: Phil actually picked this outfit out! Can you believe it? It's so cute. I don't think I'll have to worry about the hubs dressing our children. ;o)

These were on her registry. I just love the little ruffles!

I picked this out not knowing that the outfit Phil was looking at had little bumblebees on it too.

I can't wait for some of my other friend's baby showers just so I can go shopping again. ;o)

Claire's Afghan

Here is Claire's Afghan:

I started Claire's afghan at the end of January and just finished it last Wednesday. I didn't work on it that whole time, it sat for 2 whole weeks and I didn't work on it at all. I think it turned out really cute though! She didn't like it at first but now she loves it!

I had left over yarn so I thought I would try to make myself some slippers. They didn't turn out perfectly, but they're comfy. I tried, that's all I can say. I'm only showing the one because the other one looks a bit rough. I couldn't remember how I did the first one exactly, so I just made it up. It's a little more floppy or I guess misshapen.

Anyway, those are my latest crocheted items! I need to finish an afghan I had started back in the fall. If I finish that any time soon, I'll be sure to post about it!