Can you hear me now???

I had to give him kisses before he went under.
They made him change out of his favorite batman pjs so that he could wear their "cool" hospital garb.

After almost a year solid of ear infections, Parker's pediatrician finally recommended that he get tubes put in his ears. We had a couple weeks worth of appointments with the ENT and the Audiologist before we could be set up for the surgery. The apt with the Audiologist showed that he has hearing loss in his left ear. We are hoping that by putting the tubes in, he will regain all of that hearing. On Monday, November 30, we went in to the surgery center for his procedure. The actual surgery only took (literally) 5-10 minutes and he was awake very shortly after that. We were able to head home around 9:00 in the morning and I just needed to keep an eye on him throughout the day. He was in pretty good spirits and only complained a couple of times that his ears hurt. He was back at school on Tuesday and says that his ears feel great! I'm hoping this takes care of the problem. Anyway, here are some pictures of Parks at the hospital.

Fall Fun...

Connor and Parker kissing the glass door. Why, you ask? I don't know.

Michael helping Parks dig out the pumpkin guts.

Connor wiping the caramel off of his nose.

Bryce is doing pretty good with his apple.

Well...at least he ate the caramel. Apple dippers may have been a better choice for him.

Fall has been moving fast and furious in our house! I was so sad that we had snow before the leaves turned red and gold. It's normally my favorite time of year because of that, but this year was disappointing since all the leaves fell off the trees and turned a yucky brown color.

I had big plans for the kids but the farthest we got was making caramel apples. This was our first time doing this as a family and the kids had a blast. It was really fun to see them try to sink their teeth into the apples. We also had planned on carving pumpkins together but by the time I got around to buying more pumpkins, EVERYONE was sold out! Luckily, I had already purchased one a couple weeks before Halloween so at least we had one to do.

Fall has been busy with all of the kids and myself going to school. I will be excited when this semester is over, but I am taking a heavier load in the Spring. I'm still doing CTMH and have a great group of friends that come over once a month and do projects. I've spent the last couple of days moving my scrapbook area to a smaller space in the house and I've had to clear out A LOT of my stuff. I plan on having a scrapbook garage sale soon. Since I have now moved and cleaned my area, I will be creating a couple of Christmas projects that I will post soon. Blessings to everyone! Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!

School and other Random Treats...

I just realized that it's been almost two months since I've updated my blog! For those of you that don't know, I have started back to school and I've been hard at work for the past month. School is going well so far and it's nice to be working towards finishing my education. Parker started pre-school and is completely loving it! I had a hard time when I dropped him off that first day, but he has so much fun that I can't complain. I thought I'd add a couple of pictures on here. One is of me and Parker on our first day of school. The other one is the project that I helped Bryce with for his Indian project. He chose the Iroquois tribe and we had to make this diorama to show how they lived. I have to say that I'm mighty proud of the little vegetables that I sculpted (basically, I just think they are cute).

New Artwork...

I've had so many friends having children over the past 6 months that I'm WAY behind in sending out cards! I sat down yesterday to work on a couple of little girl cards and this is what I came up with. I did some clear embossing on the sunflower cardstock and some stitching around the felt shapes. I think they turned out ok. I can't wait to send them out!

All products are CTMH:

• Animal Cookies paper
• Dutch Blue cardstock
• Sunflower cardstock
• Clover Meadow cardstock
• Whimsy Felt Shapes
• Desert Sand Ink
• Tulip Ink
• Clear Embossing Powder
• Versa Mark

Team Closeup (1 photo), by CTMH CTMH

I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.

Leadership...

Me and Jeanette Lynton - Founder and CEO of Close To My Heart.

My beautiful roomies! Melissa Robinson, Sheila Wilkerson, Teri Baxter, Me and Heather Snow

My wonderful upline - Teri Baxter and myself

Me and Kristine Widtfeldt - Close To My Heart VP of Sales and Marketing (she's got a GREAT personality...I always enjoy her!).

Our sandy feet

Well, I'm back from sunny Long Beach, CA and I had such a great time! It was so nice to see my friends and fellow CTMH team mates again. We got to see all of the new and exciting products that CTMH has in store for the Fall AND we got a bunch of free goodies! I'm already looking forward to going to Washington D.C. next summer! Who wants to join me?

What the Fat??!!!.....Update #2

Sorry this isn't a more exciting post since I haven't posted anything in a while. I just had to share that I've officially hit the 20lb weight goal! I'm totally excited that I hit this milestone! I still have a bit to lose but this was the first major goal of mine. I'm still having fun with Abby (my trainer at the gym)...she puts up with all my whining and makes me do it anyway. :-) I'm feeling really good, healthy and strong. I'm also getting ready to go to Long Beach, CA to go to Close To My Heart's leadership conference and I'm super excited about that! I can't wait to see all my girls there! I've been finding it hard to get any scrapbooking or creating done this summer with all the kids home but hopefully creativity will strike me soon!

Parker Turns 3!

Ok... so my baby turned 3 and I need a second to mourn the loss of my baby! He's not a baby anymore!! It was really fun to watch him this year because he knew exactly how this birthday thing is supposed to go. I found this cute cake pan in the shape of ice cream cones at Crate and Barrel and decided it would be perfect for Parks. We topped them with scoops of ice cream and candles and he was good to go. The kids all loves them! Parker's favorite present was the accessories to his favorite Wii sports game. I still can't believe he's 3! Time goes fast...enjoy the little moments!

Beautiful Maine...

My yummy Maine lobster

My feet in the cold Atlantic Ocean

What a wonderful way to spend Memorial Day! My friend Heather and her husband Jake took me up to Maine to see some of the sights. We took a beautiful walk along the ocean, visited some fun little shops and I ate my first whole lobster! It was a great day!

G-ma and G-pa...

I just wanted to share these sweet pictures of Parker, Grandma and Grandpa. For some reason, when everyone comes over, they just take their shoes off by the door even though I've never asked them to or even mentioned it. Anyway, when G-ma and G-pa got there, Grandpa took of his shoes, as usual, and placed them by the door. Later, Parker came in from playing outside and took off his shoes and lined them up next to Grandpa's shoes. I love seeing these little shoes next to Grandpa's big ones.

Last Sunday I caught this pictures of Grandma and Parker out on the swing. He just LOVES Grandma! She talks to him and he listens to her ears (her hearing aids make a beeping sound when you get really close to her ears). They are such a sweet pair. It's moments like these that I cherish.

More Cookies, Please....

Ok..so I can't get enough of the Animal Cookies paper pack so I had to sit down and make a couple more cards with it! Some of the ladies that come to club request cards instead of a layout so this is what they will be making tomorrow night. The smaller card has some clear embossing detail that is hard to see on the picture but it adds just a touch of dimension. All products are CTMH!

May Hostess Club Layout

This is the layout that we'll be making at club this month. I am in LOVE with this paper...it is so stinkin' cute! I used all CTMH products including the new Animal Cookies Creative Basics paper collection, new Memory Protectors Flip Flaps, new Clear Buttons and the new Sweet Baby stamp set. The left (title) page features a pocket to hold tags or other memorabilia! I can't wait to share it with my club buddies!

Charlee and Parker...

I'm about a month overdue in posting these pictures so I figured I should get around to it. Last month my bff, Shauna, came with her daughter Charlee to visit. Charlee is two weeks younger than Parker almost to the minute. I was so excited for Charlee and Parker to get together and play! Well, as it turns out, they only seem to get along when they are getting into trouble together. It was a long two weeks with these kiddos. Lot's of crying, hitting, whining, and tattling. It was fun to have them here though and I'm so glad that they took the time to come and visit. Shauna and I had fun scrapbooking and visiting and my favorite time was after the kids were in bed! Anyway, here are some pictures from their visit.

What the fat??!!!...Update #1

Ok, so it's been a little while since my "What the Fat" post so I thought I would update everyone on my progress. I have officially lost 10 pounds! Yea! I still have a ton more work to do but I am fitting back into those pants that I couldn't fit into a couple of months ago AND some of my other pants are now too big! I've been completely enjoying going to the gym! My energy is back, I'm not as tired as I was a couple of months ago, I'm eating better and I feel great! I've also started working out with a trainer, Abby, and she is kicking my butt into shape! She is wonderful and I'm really enjoying our sessions. Ok.. well I think that's it for now. I'll do another update in a couple more weeks!

May Stamp Of The Month Cards

Here are a couple of cards that I made using the, soon to be released, May stamp of the month, Be Yourself. I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out. I really like the little ladies on this set. Happy Tuesday!

All products used are CTMH

True Love? I think so...

I was completely amazed at how easy it was to break Parker of his binky habit. In fact, he has been off of the binky for well over a year now. Once he got teeth and started to chew through them, I knew it was time to put them away. Anyway, I guess the binky fairy paid a visit to our house because Parker came to me the other day and had found three binkys! Now, either it's been that long since I've done a thorough clean of the house (which is possible) OR he has had a secret stash! Either way, I was shocked when I found him walking around with not one, but TWO binkys in his mouth! When he was allowed to have the binkys, this was his favorite joke...to put two in his mouth. In fact, I have scrapbooked a page of him and his two binkys. After taking some pictures, I promptly put them away in MY secret hiding spot. Here is a picture of Parker and his binkys. Oh yea...and I don't know where he gets this scrunchy face from but it can't possibly come from me!

Tickled Pink!

National Scrabooking Month is just around the corner and Close To My Heart is celebrating by releasing a wonderful exclusive kit called "Tickled Pink". I just got it the other day and it is so stinking cute! I can't wait to show everyone! It is available April 15-May 31st and features a D-size stamp set, die cuts and (drum roll please...) GLITTER PAPER! I was able to make 4 12x12 pages PLUS I had enough left over to make 4 large cards and I could probably get a couple of smaller ones out of it too. For anyone that orders this kit (or qualifies to get it for free), I will enter your name into a drawing to win all 4 cards pictured! For more details go to https://orders.closetomyheart.com/CTMHConsultants/marketing/pdf/May09CCFlyerUS.pdf . Happy Scrapping!