Blinkie for Little Penguins Designs

I successfully created my own Blinkie for my design name, “Little Penguins Designs.”  I’m showing it off, but if you want it, you can follow the link and grab it for yourself!



You can snag it HERE.

Fourth of July

I’m a little behind on posting photos this month, but I’ve been busy, busy, busy!  My sister, Carrie, and her husband, Jarod, came up with their two kids, Dylan and Rhiley, for the Fourth of July weekend.  We had a great time.  Jarod brought the fireworks and we only set off the legal ones! 

53 Mondays – Week 30

Yep.  I failed my resolution.  I missed a week and I’m actually okay with it.  I had a lot going on last week and just ran out of time to find a recipe and go to the store.  Since the whole family is only together two to three nights a week and we had dinner at Justin’s brother’s and sister-in-law’s on Saturday, I only had one day to prepare and I was swamped!  I’m going to continue on, though, because it’s pretty fun! 

I took the kids to Vernal, Utah to visit Justin’s work “home.” I made this meal there.  I hate shopping at new stores because I can never find everything and that’s what happened.  No fresh basil.  Bummer!  Still really good, though! 

Stuff to Scrap – New Release

One more new release for today!  It’s called “Crisp Days of Fall.”  The flyer is linked to the store. 

Stuff to Scrap – New Release

I promise not to do this all the time, but I am so thrilled!  I have just released “Just Add Water” to Stuff to Scrap.  It’s a great, fun, beach kit!  Check it out! 

 

Flyer is linked to store. 

Guest Designer Spot

I assume everyone has noticed my love of digital scrapping.  I have ventured a little into designing of digi kits of my own.  I’m so excited to announce that I’ll be a guest designer at Stuff to Scrap for the next three months!  Stop by and check me out.  I’m working hard to get my store filled shortly!  You can also check out my new blog specifically for digital design!  You can find “Little Penguins Designs” by clicking HERE! 

Tyson’s Bobcat!

Tyson is in Cub Scouts.  He started when he turned 8 in March.  He earned his Bobcat patch a few months ago, but just received it at the pack meeting in June (delayed because of the Pinewood derby).  My camera didn’t want to take good pictures that night, so here’s what I got! 

 

(Mom’s note:  Tyson had on a baseball cap prior to this picture.  I would not have intentionally let him out of the house with his hair like that!) 

Austin’s 23 months old!

To Be a Woman

I had a horrible weekend.  It was me.  I was feeling very emotional, very sad, very unhappy.  To those who really know me, I’m very private with personal stuff, which can be good, but it can also be bad.  This weekend, it was bad.  I’m also not an overly emotional person, but when the emotions are “right there,” I can’t stop them.  It’s hard for me to put words to them and especially hard for me to vocalize them, because usually the vocalization of my emotions is accompanied by tears and I can’t talk and cry at the same time, so I’m left with this running dialog with myself in my head.  That, my friends, can be a problem.

I’m fine now.  Much better.  Life’s all right.  Not perfect, but all right. 

Funny thing…when I’m feeling emotional, I clean. I mean really clean.  So, in the span of the last three weeks, I have gathered bags upon bags of stuff to give away and found things I had forgotten existed.  One of those things came to me in 1993, when I was a senior in high school.  My dear friend, Pam, gave me an envelope and said, “This reminded me of you.”  It was a Nike ad from a magazine.  I looked at it and figured she was being silly, since I am not the person you think of when you think of Nike.  I have plenty of bruises and scars to prove that to you.  Later, she asked me if I had read it and I had to admit that I hadn’t. 

I took it home and read it.  Really read it.  Then, I read it again.  I read it so many times and realized she was right.  It reminded me of me too!  I kept that ad, folded into eighths in my hope chest for the last 17-plus years (yikes, I’m old!).  My heart was warmed when I found that silly old ad again.  Maybe some of it doesn’t fit me now, but the sentiment is there. 

I’m thankful for my friend, Pam, who years ago thought of me.  I was so thankful for her again when I came across this ad when I so needed to reread it and know that emotions are okay. 

 

To Be A Woman: 

Oh, you’re so emotional.

                There you are all caught up in your emotions, wearing your heart on your sleeve, wearing your heart on every piece of clothing you own. You cry at the drop of a hat. You cry absolute buckets. You cry me a river.

                You’re a woman (you can’t help it); you’re a girl (now, don’t get me wrong); you’re a woman and you’re so emotional about everything and

                even at those times when you’re perfectly rational and perfectly capable, somebody somewhere will look at you and say (like it’s the worst thing in the world)

                Oh you’re so emotional

And of course, that really makes you want to scream.

                And then just as soon as you don’t weep, which is most of the time anyway, and you’re cool and calm and absolutely brilliant under pressure somebody somewhere will say you’re too cool and too calm and then, of course,  you’re suddenly and forever called insensitive.

                Ah, to be a woman.

Somewhere in the middle of all these assumptions and all these labels is the way you really are. You are kind (that’s why we have hearts). You are strong (or you wouldn’t have made it this far). You are fearless (or you would’ve hidden your heart long ago). And because you wear your heart so easily sometimes

                you know how easily it is broken.

So through time, you have learned to protect it. You learn to take it for long walks. You learn to let it breathe deeply. You learn to treat it with respect.

                And, through time, you have learned to move it and bend it and make it accountable, because the best way to keep a heart alive is to be unafraid to use it. And you are so very good at using it.

Listen.

                Your heart is beating. This means you are alive. Your body is moving. This means you cannot be stopped. The world and all its labels are calling you. You’d love to answer. But you’re moving so fast you can’t hear a thing.

53 Mondays – Week 28

Weather Report

Emma prepared for this all herself.  This was take two, because she had forgotten to say, “flowers are blooming” on the first take.  She told me that she was going to watch the news on some other days so that she could prepare more weather reports.  

Need a good laugh?

If you are just perfectly happy and don’t need a laugh right now, please do not click here.  Not entirely sure who put it together, but I was laughing all the way to the end.  If you do need a laugh and your not near your sleeping kids, feel free to click away…right HERE! 

June pictures

53 Mondays – Week 27 Pot Roast

I’m not sure how I forgot, but I forgot to post this yesterday!  Oops!

My sister, brother-in-law, and their kids came to town for the weekend.  My brother-in-law put in a special request for pot roast, as my sister does not eat or cook red meat.  I seized that opportunity to try out a new recipe.  The meat was flavorful, but not as moist or juicy as I thought it should have been after cooking for 4-1/2 hours.  With some adjustments, this could be a great recipe.