SUPER CROP!!!

Saturday is the BIG Super Bowl Crop!! I love all day crops. Gives you time to actually start and complete a few projects. I just love to crop period! Hanging with friends, catching up on all the gossip news, gettng ideas/suggestions from others. It's awesome! And what's even better, Alixandra is coming to crop with us. Yep, her first ALL DAY Crop. She's home busy printing out pictures, gathering her stuff, organizing her tote, which by the way she has already called Grandpa to inform him that she is going to need a BIGGER tote since she has so much stuff. Looks like the kid just might get a BIG Mimi to drag her stuff around, LOL.

I love it when Alix comes over. Not only does it mean we get to scrap together, it also means snuggle time. She's a GREAT snuggler. She always has been. She would always need a snuggling regardless what was happening. I loved it when she and my daughter lived downstairs and she would run up the stairs right before her bedtime just to get a snuggle from me. She's almost 15 now, and still loves to snuggle. I'm 52, and I still love to snuggle with her too.

I suppose she will be bringing a few changes of clothes also. She will fiddle around with her hair and outfit, and say, "Mema, how about a photo shoot? You never know how much I can change in a few weeks". Then she fixes a 'background' with a black sheet, and brings in a few props for her 'shoot'. Personally, I think she watches America's Next Top Model too much, LOL. That girl can pose!! If Tara Banks is still doing this show in a few years, I'm sending in a portfolio of Alix. I'm sure that she will win - HANDS DOWN!!

They Love Me....

Just look, and you tell me. THEY LOVE ME!!

And I love them too....I really do!!

God Country Up There....

Well, at least I'm feeling a bit better. I have been so sick for the last few weeks, and have even been off from from work for the last 2 weeks. Upper respiratory infection. This cough is about to make me go mad. Can't do anything without coughing, and even worse, there's nothing to cough up. Just a dry, nagging cough. Grrrr.

On the home front tho...Robert and Sheena have settled on a date. July 5, 2008. WOW, only 6 months away, but will come at me at lightning speed. Everything does now days, LOL. So now we're planning a wedding. A GREAT wedding!! My baby is finally, yes, finally, getting married. I'm so proud of him. He's been a good daddy, now he will be a good husband. He's a good man that son of mine. Yep...he sure is.

For my birthday, we went to Hollye's a few weeks ago, even tho my b-day is the 22nd, hers is the 16th, we celebrate 'em together. Of course we did our Red Lobster dinner, which was fantastic. My brother, Dan and his wife, Patty went with us also. We left Friday morning, and got back late Sunday evening because we stopped in Hollywood to view a few sites, like the star's homes, etc.. Yes, before you ask, we did buy a map, LOL. The biggest site that we saw was Steven Spielberg on his cell phone phoning 911 because of an accident this kid was in. Seems the telephone pole 'jumped' out into his way. We didn't stop, but just to make sure that it was Steven S., we went back and forth like 8 times...yep, it was him. Took a picture, but because I was driving, my picture is of the asphalt. (eyeroll)

So, back to our visit with Hollye. Saturday, we decided to go eat breakfast in Solvang. We went through Los Olivos and came in the back way of Solvang. BREATHTAKING That part of the country is God's Country for sure. It's just so pretty, so colorful, just so....

We are definitely going back up there in a few weeks just to do the wine tour. I can hardly wait until it's harvesting season again. I have some GREAT photo's of a year ago, but I need more. It's for an album that I am doing, and need more of the vines.

Solvang is pretty too....but much prettier in the spring. The weather was GREAT, actually perfect for when we went. Had we gone now, it would have been a disappointment as the rains are really bad right now. So I'm glad we went when we did.

I need to go finish cutting some chipboard for a few albums, so I will post a bit later.

First Layouts of the Year

I just created these two (2) layouts from Christmas. I am loving the Creative Imaginations overlays. The pictures didn't turn out as good as I would like them to have, but I guess one can't be perfect all the time.

I'm Invisible

I got this in an email today, and thought of my BEST FREIND. I sent this to her, and her reply was just a smile in an email. No words, nothing, just a smile. So, this is for you...


I'm Invisible

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, "Can't you see I'm on the phone?" Obviously not; no one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible. The invisible Mom.

Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this? Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, "What time is it?" I'm a satellite guide to answer, "What number is the Disney Channel?" I'm a car to order, "Right around 5:30, please."

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude - but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again.

She's going,
she's going,
she's gone!

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England. Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself as I looked down at my out-of-style dress; it was the only thing I could find that was clean. My unwashed hair was pulled up in a hair clip and I was afraid I could actually smell peanut butter in it. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, "I brought you this." It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: "To Charlotte, with admiration for the greatness of w hat you are building when no one sees."

In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names. These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything. A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, "Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it." And the workman replied,"Because God sees."

I closed the book, feeling the missing pieces fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, "I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become."

At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride. I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sac rifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, "My mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table." That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, "You're gonna love it there."

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.

Great Job, MOM! Share this with all the Invisible Moms you know.... I just did.

Goodbye 2007, Hello 2008

Where has the time gone? So much has happened this past year, yet it only seems that the year just started a few months ago. Reflecting back....I thought I would just post some memorable pictures.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Merry Christmas

Yesterday was by far the BEST EVER Christmas Eve that I have had in over 5 years. The reason? My daughter and her family spent the day with us. To some of you, that may not be a big deal, but when your relationship has been strained to the point where you haven't spoken in 5 years, this it IS a big deal.

I love my daughter so much, more than words can convey. I've missed her, and I'm glad we are mending our relationship.

Today, my son and his family, and my brother and his new bride and her brother come over. That will make it a total of 9 people today.

I love my family. They are the world to me. Oh, and shhhh, but the word has been put out that there will be another grandchild before November. It's a wonderful season indeed.

Merry Christmas everyone.

I still believe in Santa Claus...

A friend posted this and it's too good not to share.

I remember my first Christmas adventure with Grandma...I was just a kid.

I remember tearing across town on my bike to visit her on the day my big sister dropped the bomb: "There is no Santa Claus," she jeered. "Even dummies know that!"

My Grandma was not the gushy kind, never had been. I fled to her that day because I knew she would be straight with me. I knew Grandma always told the truth, and I knew that the truth always went down a whole lot easier when swallowed with one of her 'world-famous' cinnamon buns. I knew they were world-famous, because Grandma said so. It had to be true!!!!!!

Grandma was home, and the buns were still warm. Between bites, I told her everything. She was ready for me. "No Santa Claus?" She snorted..."Ridiculous!
Don't believe it. That rumor has been going around for years, and it makes me
mad, plain mad!! Now, put on your coat, and let's go."

"Go? Go where, Grandma?" I asked. I hadn't even finished my second 'world-famous' cinnamon bun. "Where" turned out to be Kerby's General Store, the one store in town that had a little bit of just about everything. As we walked through its doors,
Grandma handed me ten dollars.

That was a bundle in those days. "Take this money," she said, "and buy something for someone who needs it. I'll wait for you in the car." Then she turned and walked out of Kerby's. I was only eight years old.

I'd often gone shopping with my mother, but NEVER had I shopped for anything all by myself. The store seemed big and crowded, full of people scrambling to finish their Christmas shopping.

For a few moments I just stood there, confused, clutching that ten-dollar bill, wondering what to buy, and who on earth to buy it for. I thought of everybody I knew: my family, my friends, my neighbors, the kids at school, and the people who went to my church.

I was just about thought out, when I suddenly thought of Bobby Decker. He was a kid with bad breath and messy hair, and he sat right behind me in Mrs. Pollock's grade-two class.

Bobby Decker didn't have a coat.

I knew that because he never went out to recess during the winter. His mother always wrote a note, telling the teacher that he had a cough, but all we kids knew that Bobby Decker didn't have a cough; he just didn't have a good warm coat.

I fingered the ten-dollar bill with growing excitement. I would buy Bobby Decker a coat! I settled on a red corduroy one that had a hood to it. It looked real warm, and he would like that.

"Is this a Christmas present for someone?" the lady behind the counter asked kindly, as I laid my ten dollars down. "Yes, ma'am," I replied shyly. "It's for Bobby."
The nice lady smiled at me, as I told her about how Bobby really needed a good warm winter coat. I didn't get any change, but she put the coat in a bag, smiled again and
wished me a Merry Christmas.

That evening, Grandma helped me wrap the coat (a little tag fell out of the coat, and Grandma tucked it in her Bible) in Christmas paper and ribbons and wrote, "To Bobby, From Santa Claus" on it. Grandma said that Santa ALWAYS insisted on secrecy!

Then she drove me over to Bobby Decker's house, explaining as we went that I was now and forever officially, one of Santa's helpers. Grandma parked down the street from Bobby's house, and she and I crept noiselessly and hid in the bushes by his front walk. Then Grandma gave me a nudge. "All right, Santa Claus," she whispered,"get going." I took a deep breath, dashed for his front door, threw the present down
on his step, pounded his door and flew back to the safety of the bushes and Grandma.

Together we waited breathlessly in the darkness for the front door to open!!!! Finally it did, and there stood Bobby.

Well...

Fifty years haven't dimmed the thrill of those moments spent shivering, beside my Grandma, in Bobby Decker's bushes. That night, I realized that those awful rumors about Santa Claus were just what Grandma said they were: 'ridiculous'! Santa WAS alive and well, and WE were on HIS team!!!

I STILL have Grandma's Bible, with the coat tag tucked inside: $29.95.

May you always have LOVE to share, HEALTH to spare and FRIENDS that care...And may you always believe in the magic of Santa Claus!

Author Unknown

The Day Santa Came...

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Who is in my living room?

You're young, you have kids. What do you do when you can't afford to take the kids to go see Santa? You make a new plan. You improvise. That is exactly what the kids did...they improvised, with the help of Grandpa of course.

I go to Walgreen's and buy this Santa outfit for $14.99, hoping that it will do the trick. Ok, so it's a bit cheezy, but what the heck. We're improving here, remember?

We go to the kids house yesterday for the BIG VISIT, and Duane decides it's time to go to Walgreen's to pick up my pictures, (wink). He makes his departure, and Sheena calls Vincent into the bathroom to 'do his hair'. Duane sneeks back in, and goes into one of the bedrooms to do his 'magical transformation'. Next thing I hear is him calling out with a touch of panic to his voice. I go into the bedroom, and there he stands, with knickers. LOL I guess the makers of the costume had 5'6" guys in mind when they designed these things, not 6'3" guys. So, once again, we make a new plan, and we improvised. Thank goodness the top was long. He runs out to the living room, and quickly sits, candy canes in hand, and waits. Vincent makes his way out to the living room, and just couldn't beleive his eyes.

SANTA WAS SITTING IN HIS LIVING ROOM.

Santa calls him up to his lap, and the pictures begin. Lighting isn't good, but what the heck. I guess every photographer has an off day. I know I sure did. The pictures turn out ok, with a little adjusting here and there....they are passible.

Kaydence had a GREAT time with Santa. At one point, she reached up and did the unthinkable....yep...the beard almost came off.

Below is a GREAT shot of all the kids by their tree...it was a GREAT day afterall.