Hodge Podge

I haven’t posted any photos of the kiddos lately. I know you’ve all been missing my random photography so…

I took this photo of Brandon two Saturdays ago. My friend Laurie, Brandon, and I were watching Alexis ride her horse. Laurie kept calling Brandon “SpongeBob” and I didn’t know why at first. This was why. He’s a hardcore gangsta. (Actually, his pants were just way too big!)

We have a friend who lives on our carport. His name is Charlie and he’s lived there since he was about 1/4 of an inch long. It’s a baby toad! We always see him when we go out to play. Jordan wanted to see how big he’s gotten so I caught him and set him inside this bucket so she could get a closer look.

More baby pictures! Last Thursday Alexis and I fed the ducks at Jordan’s therapeutic appointment. There were a bunch of ducks and then there was this little fluffy guy. I wanted to catch him and bring him home but I don’t think Ronnie would’ve approved.

Alexis was as fascinated as I was and she kept breaking off teeny tiny bits of bread for him. (Her? I don’t know!)

On a different note… I have another reader’s page to share. I asked to post it, but she didn’t give me approval. I’m not waiting either! I stole this page from my very good friend Nancy. She used this sketch.

I totally can’t get over how well her dress matches the background AND the patterned paper. This page is just so elegant and pretty! Thanks for using my sketch Nancy. You rock!

I also have a page of my own to share. I’ve been trying to catch up on my Project 365 series. I was two weeks behind with all of the drama that has gone on in the past month. Things are slowly calming down and I spent Sunday scrapping like crazy.

I'm all caught up now! (I can’t post the second layout yet because the product hasn’t been released at JessicaSprague.com!)

Supplies:
Template Tuesday Template by Carol Johnston (I altered it a bit.)
Crystal's {Sweet Vintage Charm} Elements
Crystal's {Sweet Vintage Charm} Add-on Elements
Crystal's {Sweet Vintage Charm} Papers
Crystal's {Sweet Vintage Charm} Add-on Papers
DESIGN 365 - A Year of Rubons
Crystal's {Merry & Bright} Papers

Oh Goody Goody!

Jessica has posted the full reveal for the October Scraptastic Club kits and I am practically drooling over them. The first kit is “Blissful Sunshine”. (She always does such an awesome job naming her kits too. The titles always make me smile!)

I really love the black bling and the flowers she included in this kit. The sunny yellows in this kit make me happy! This is the “Blissful Sunshine” add on.

Don’t you just love it?! The glittery accents are amazing! There will be a few more yellow flowers included in the add on. There was a color mix up! You can read more about that and shipping information here on the Scraptastic Club blog.

I didn’t have any photos that matched the first kit. I was totally bummed out about it! Then I saw the second kit “Witching Hour”. Let me tell you… I am in LOVE.

Glittery spiders?! Bling?! Be still my heart. Halloween is my favorite holiday to scrap and it’s almost like Jessica put this kit together for ME!

This is the “Witching Hour” add on. I love it too. I couldn’t buy it quickly enough! That chipboard is ADORABLE and the fact that it comes with pearl bling… Oh I just can’t wait to get my hands on it!

These kits will be available for purchase on October 1st, or you can preorder. Of course, if you are a member of Scraptastic Club you get to make your choice before the general public! Hurry over and subscribe here so you can send Jessica an email with your choice! Members get other benefits too. Did you know that you get extra goodies for getting a kit every month without skipping? This month’s extra is distress stain in coordinating colors! Jessica sends the colors that match the kits each month because she’s awesome like that.

Best In Show

I have a few layouts to share today! I got an email about a week ago from Suzy. She wanted to feature one of my sketches on her blog and on the A Walk Down Memory Lane blog where she’s on the design team. She created a page for the feature using this sketch.

I love her use of the Fancy Pants paper and those little fish are too cute. The swirls and flourishes really add a lot of movement to the page and I also really like how she tilted her photos and journaling! Thanks for letting me share your page Suzy.

I also got an email from Sarah the other day. She purchased a commercial use license for my Christmas Tree Templates and she’s using them to create super cute cards in her Etsy store. Be sure to head over there and check out the adorable Halloween cards she makes too!

Vija made another amazing travel layout with the same sketch she used in the last post. (Scroll down for details on that!) I absolutely adore the tissue paper she used on this page and the amazing punch work. The photo is awesome too! See what I mean about traveling with her through her pages? So cool.

I have two pages of my own to share! Sharing two seems a little pitiful for an entire weeks’ work but it’s all I have. I’m a slacker this week!

1: Little Princess

If you would like to read the journaling you can click on the image to make it larger. Also, you can find complete credits for this page here. I loved using the second set of Jodie Lee’s Artistic Frames.

2: The Best In Show

I created this page for the Sept. Surprise Chippie challenge. This was my first month participating and we had to emboss the chipboard piece. Talk about an adventure! I colored it and then tried to emboss it with Utee. My Utee looked cloudy and bumpy. I just do NOT do well with that stuff! I ended up using alcohol inks over the top of the messy Utee and then running it through my Cuttlebug so it would count as dry embossing. I am grateful to be finished with it! LOL

Journaling: Even though Jordan placed fourth in her last horse show, she's always the "best in show" to me. She did an amazing job riding on Stella. Apr. 2011

My design was inspired by a Debbie Gaydos sketch. I used PILES of Cosmo Cricket goodies on this layout! The horse chipboard is from 3 Tails Crafts.

Answered Prayers

Many of you know that Alexis has been struggling a lot in the past few months. I’m really happy to say that we finally have her medication adjusted to a level where she is happier and things are just starting to return to “normal” in our home. Thank God!

Speaking of God, I’ll admit that I wondered why my prayers were going unanswered on her behalf. Looking back over the past few weeks, I can definitely see how God has intervened. I’m not good at being patient, especially when my children are hurting. Usually it takes things being resolved before I calm down enough to see how he’s worked behind the scenes to push us toward a resolution.

A few weeks ago, I just happened to look on the parish (county) website to check road closures. On the right side of the page I saw an announcement for a class on advocating for a mentally ill child. I’m always looking for information so I called the the next day. I was just in time.

The NAMI class has been a blessing to me. A lot of the information I’ve gotten along this journey has been pieced together. There was no ONE place I could go for information about all of Alexis’ diagnosis. One day after the second class I happened to look in the extended resource section. I came across a little blurb on bipolar disorder that stated that “children with bipolar disorder should never be given a stimulant and an antidepressant medication at the same time because it can cause psychotic episodes”. A little light bulb went on, and I did a lot more research.

I checked Alexis’ medication and sure enough, she was on both. At her next psychiatrist appointment I was educated enough to ask the psychiatrist why he had prescribed those two medications together. He stated that he didn’t have her diagnosed as bipolar disorder, only as a “mood disorder”. In my opinion, he was splitting hairs. (Her previous psychiatrist diagnosed her with early-onset bipolar disorder at five.) Since Alexis had never been on a mood stabilizer medication, I asked that she be put on one. The first day she was on it things were a little bit better.

The second day she didn’t have a single tantrum or mood swing. She was like a different child. I saw her happy and smiling. She even came up to me and said, “Momma, I feel good!” I am hoping and praying that this medication is the solution that we’ve been praying for.

I can’t help but think that if I didn’t happen to go on that website and glance to the side… if I didn’t read the additional resources and find that little blurb… I think that life is a lot more than a series of random consequences. I have to hope and I have to keep believing.

“Romanse” Is Not Dead

A few days ago I had a really bad night. I was really upset about some of Alexis’ behaviors and I ended up crying. Jordan got worried by the fact that I was crying and she told Ronnie that he needed to “do some romanse” to make me feel better. I told her that it wasn’t her job to make me feel better, but she absolutely insisted.

She wrote up a whole list of romantic things Ronnie could do to make me feel better. I particularly liked the “colme down” and the “get Mom to stop crying” part.

Kissing and saying I love you makes sense… I don’t get the buying snacks thing. Unless you count chocolate. I’m all over that!

I think Ronnie’s favorite was the “dance slow” activity. When the romantic date was over he had to tuck me into bed and read me a bed time story. We chose “Go Dog Go” by Dr. Seuss. It’s actually very romantic. (In the end… he DOES like her hat. I always thought he was mean for saying he didn’t like it in the first place. Why didn’t he just lie and say the hat was fine? That’s a typical man for you!)

This is the kind of little thing I want to remember for a long time. I’m so glad I have this blog to document all of these little moments that make life so very awesome.

A Happy Morning Email

I was really excited to see that I got an award from Sue at Sue’s Scrap Petite Creations this morning. Thank you very much Sue! (Be sure to head over and visit her blog. She’s got a lovely site and beautiful projects to share.)

These are the questions that I am required to answer to accept the award.

Q1) Name your favorite color?
A) LIME GREEN

Q2) Name your favorite song?
A ) I LIKE TOO MANY TO NAME JUST ONE!

Q3) Name your favorite dessert?
A) TIRAMASU ICE CREAM

Q4) What annoys you at the moment?
A) PEOPLE WHO OFFER UNSOLICITED ADVICE

Q5) Your favorite pet?
A) MY PUG NAMED LADY BELLE

Q6) Black or White?
A) WHITE

Q7) Your biggest fear?
A) THAT I WON’T BE ABLE TO PROTECT MY KIDS

Q8) Best Feature?
A) MY EYES

Q9) Everyday attitude?
A) USE HUMOR AS A COPING STRATEGY

Q10) What is perfection?
A) AN ILLUSION

Q11) Guilty Pleasure?
A) COFFEE. LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS OF COFFEE!

Q12) When you're upset you?
A) CALL MY MOMMA AND MY GRANDMA

Now its my turn! I am passing this award on to the following inspirational bloggers.

1.) Michelle- Happenings On This Side Of The River

2. Nancy- Homeschool In My Little Corner

3.) Sharon- That Girl Fritchey

4.) Marlene- Scrap4Brainz

5.) Jaime- Wayward Girls’ Crafts

6.) Cindy- My Creative Life

7.) Mitralee- Mitralee

8.) Jessica- Scraptastic Club

Playing Catch Up!

I’m running behind on posting scrapbook pages again so here goes… I have two beautiful pages from friends to share. I always love to see the different takes on my sketches. We all start with the same idea and then end up with unique creations!

Sharon made this beautiful page with a photo of the morning sunrise reflecting in the windows of her shed. I can’t wait to see the other photos she took that morning! The colors here are so lovely and I just LOVE the metallic orange mesh she added as accents on the page. She used the sketch I posted here.

Marlene is one of my most loyal followers! She has made so many amazing pages with my sketches and I am really grateful that she likes them so much. This page about her two kids is adorable. I love the little tabs on the side of the photo and the way she did the journaling. It’s perfect for this whimsical page! She used sketch #2 as inspiration for her layout.

I have a few pages of my own to share as well. I had a few minutes here and there this week and I managed to come up with three different projects. If I didn’t have my design teams to inspire me I don’t know what I would do when I get into a scrappy rut! Just having the obligation to scrap makes me sit down and start creating. I always end up making something I love even if I’m not into it at first. It’s funny how that happens!

1: Inherited Love

My husband took this photo of Jordan and I curled up in his recliner reading. It's definitely a BIG thing that Jordan inherited from me. She absolutely loves to read. She's 7 and reads on a 4th grade level!

Supplies:
Jodie Lee's Vintage Coffee Brushes
Jessica Sprague Template+ 1.03
Jodie Lee's Ooh La La Collection
Fonts: Vintage + Century Gothic

2: You Are My Favorite Thing About Today

The colors in the September Scraptastic Club kit called "A Walk In The Garden" were perfect with these Easter photos of my kiddos. This page was inspired by sketch #60 from Susan Stringfellow and then I flipped it and embellished the living goodness out of it!

Journaling: Our annual family egg hunt... April 2011.

I also took a close up shot of the die cut flower I put together.

3: Spring Has Sprung Banner

When I saw the mini burlap banner in the September "A Walk In The Garden" kit from Scraptastic Club I knew I had to use it to make a banner. This is what I came up with! I loved how easy it was to work with the feminine colors and the floral accents that came in the main kit and add on.

That’s all for now! I’ll be back soon with another post. Due to all of the chaos with Alexis being hospitalized I will not be offering sketches or templates this month. Everything will go back to “normal” in October!

So You Want To Be A Mommy?

The other day, my Mom asked the kids what they wanted to be when they grow up. They all unanimously agreed that they wanted to be “a Mommy”. Jordan told Mom that she needed an application form to fill out so she could qualify to be a Mommy. My awesome Mom made up an entire form for them to fill out and she emailed it to me. Brandon’s application was to be a doctor because Jordan cruelly dismissed his dreams of being a Mommy. She informed him that he “didn’t have the right equipment”. (Being a doctor was his second choice.)

The kids’ responses on the applications cracked me up. I scanned them and I’m going to post them here so you all can share in the fun!

I loved that Alexis wants to name her son Karlin. That’s really cute! I also loved that she said if the baby doesn’t listen you should “say behave or you get no dessert”. LOL Oh and when the baby is sick, you bring it to the doctor to get “descriptions”.

Jordan said she can’t deal with poop because it’s disgusting and vomit smells like rotten garbage! (I’m with her there!) She also said that I will help her wash and fold the baby’s clothes. I love being volunteered for fun stuff like that. She also would only get a little mad if the baby poops everywhere.

Brandon said that his official doctor name is “Dr. Bro”. He would feed sick people “mayonnaise, sausage, drinks, and a sandwich”. He also knows what to do if there’s a big owie. He said he would “put a band aid on it and have them write him a BIG check”. I think he’d make a great doctor!

I have to admit that even I don’t qualify to be a Mommy based on this application. In fact, the girls probably scored better on the application than I did. (I can’t deal with vomit very well. LOL)

What's Your Dream?

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of UPromise for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Did you know that Upromise has helped families save more than $600 million dollars toward college costs? I didn't, but I do now! Upromise is celebrating their 10th anniversary this year and they are celebrating in a big way. They are giving away $20,000 dollars to users who share a story about how they would help their child achieve a dream. 

There will be 10 winners that receive $1,000 dollars and a grand prize winner that wins $10,000. Can you imagine what you could do for your children with that money? You could put it in their college fund or put the money in a savings account for later use. 

How do you participate? I'm glad you asked! Click on this link... www.upromisetodream.com to go to the Dream Wall and submit your dream. After you do, I'd love it if you would come back and post about your dream here in the comments section of my blog. 

This is the dream I posted: When we were called to the hospital NICU to adopt Jordan, we were told that she would never walk or talk. I looked in her eyes, and I could tell she was a fighter. My dream was to see her walk on her own, unassisted. She never complained during therapy, and I never let her forget how much I believed in her. I'll always remember her first steps! Four years later, she's an intelligent second grader and she reads on a fourth grade level. I'm dreaming different dreams for her now. I dream of sending her to college and watching her walk across the stage to accept her diploma. I won't forget what it takes to achieve that dream. My encouragement and her determination are a powerful combination.

I've submitted my dream. What are you waiting for? I can't wait to hear all about your dreams for your child! For more information about the rules of the contest, please click the following link: dream wall official rules.

Money Saving Momma

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Straight Talk for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

I'm always looking for ways to save money. As a mother of two special needs children, our monthly budget is frequently stretched to the limit! That's why I was really excited to find a new (to me) cell phone provider called Straight Talk. It lets you cut your phone bill in half! Unlimited monthly plans are available for $45.00 and that includes calls, text, picture messaging and web.

Call a friend

I've been imagining what I could do with the extra money that I'll save. If you know me at all, you already know it's probably going to go to scrapbook supplies! What would you spend the extra money on? I also thought it was really neat that they only use reputable cell phone manufacturers like LG, Motorola, Kyocera, Nokia, and Samsung. They even offer Android phones!

Android on Straight Talk

411 calls are included at no extra charge. There are no activation, reactivation, or termination fees. Reconditioned phones are available for as low as $10.00. I think that would be an amazing idea if you have a child who needs a phone. Alexis and Jordan will get hitting the teen years soon and I'm sure they will want to text like crazy. It would be great to have the assurance of no overage fees from your teen going past the allowed amount of texts or minutes.

Hook, line and sinker

Pretty cool right? They even have long distance service that allows you to make international calls from your home, cell, or office phone at low rates. I have one last video to share before I go!

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my review of Straight Talk! 

Opportunity Is Knocking

Happy Wednesday everyone! I have two reader submitted pages to share today. I always love seeing what people make with my sketches and I know you all do too.

This first page is by Marlene. She does amazing work with her Cricut and her journaling on this page made me smile. I could just borrow it and substitute it on a page of my own about Jordan. The little ladybug she used as an embellishment is the icing on an already super cute page! She used this sketch.

The next page is by the awesomely talented Vija. My favorite part of visiting her gallery is that I get to travel “with her” through her pages. She does the most beautiful pages about her vacations. This one is no exception! I love her stitching and that photo is breathtaking. You can find the sketch she used here.

Thank you very much for sharing your pages with me Vija and Marlene! (Please note: If you would like to see the pages that you make with my sketches featured here on the blog, please feel free to email them to me! I’d love to feature you.)

Before I go, I have two pages that I would like to share. I made these for my design team spot over at Scraptastic Club!

1. That’s How We Roll!

I made this page with the September Scraptastic Club kit and add on called "A Walk In The Garden".

Journaling: When Alexis went with Paw Paw to drive the golf cart, I decided to teach the little kids how to roll down the levee. I used to do the same thing when I was little! It's a family tradition. 6/2011

2: Magic Garden

I used my September Scraptastic Club kit and add on called "A Walk In The Garden" to create this page about my grandma's beautiful flowers. I was inspired by a September PageMaps sketch.

Journaling: Spending time in my grandma's garden is magical. She has an incredible green thumb. Everything she touches springs to life and blooms for all it's worth. I wish I had half of the gardening talent that she does. Apr. 2011

***There are big changes happening behind the scenes here at my blog. I’ve picked up my first sponsor. The site is called Social Spark and they connect bloggers with different opportunities to review products and write about them for pay. If you’re interested in learning more about the program you can click the link above, or the image in my side bar. If you would like to become a sponsor of my blog, you can email me at any time with details and requests.

Digital Creative Team Work

With all of the drama here lately, I am seriously behind on posting my design team work. Alexis is home and things have calmed down a tiny bit so I’m going to post a few of my latest digital pages.  Most of these were scrapped weeks ago but I am not allowed to post them until the products are released!

1: Chaotic

I did this layout a few weeks ago for my Project 365 in 2011. The bright colors of the Get Happy collection worked perfectly with the busy feel I wanted for this page.

Supplies:
Cosmo Cricket's Get Happy Paper Pack
DESIGN 365 - Timeline
DESIGN 365 - A Year of Rubons
Artisan Label Templates No.5
Fonts: True Blood + Typewriter

2: Boom!

I absolutely had to use these superhero goodies the day I saw them! I stayed up late even though I knew I’d pay for it dearly the next day. LOL

Supplies:
Splendid Fiins Super Element Pack One
Super patterned-paper pack
Super halftone-paper pack
Jessica Sprague Template+ 1.12

I edited the photos of Brandon for a comic book look and found a comic book font online too!

This next page was featured on the Creating Keepsakes blog on September 12, 2011 as an inspirational page. I was so excited to see that. What an honor!

3. Week 32

I really loved the soft colors in the Clementine line. They worked so well with the black and white photos I use for my Project 365.

Supplies:
Clementine Paper Pack
Clementine Candy Candy
DESIGN 365 - A Year of Rubons
Crystal's {Merry & Bright} Papers
August '09 Basic & Bright Button Collection
The {365 Challenge} Templates - July 2009
Loopies Vol.1 – Flutterby

4: Evidence

This week wasn't the best week so I edited Nisa's template to reflect that. I loved the design and that it had room for lots of journaling. I'm calling this one scrappy therapy!

Supplies:
DESIGN 365 - A Year of Rubons
@ the office paper pack 1
@ the office paper pack 2
Evidence-Splendid Template 2
Evidence-arrow stamps v1
Fonts: Typewriter + CK Letterman

Thank you very much to everyone who has posted kind thoughts and prayers for Alexis. She is home but things are not going well. We are not sure what is going to happen next. It’s to the point where we are taking a day at a time and sometimes even an hour at a time. I don’t want to post in too much detail here on the blog because when she grows up she might be sensitive about everything. I just wanted to say that I really appreciate everyone who dropped by with a caring word or two for our family.

Missing

I just wanted to let everyone know that I’m not going to be posting for a while, and I’ve taken a temporary leave from all three of my design teams.

Alexis had to go inpatient at the hospital and I’m spending all of my time visiting her and comforting the Brandon and Jordan. She seems to be doing well as of this evening. The psychiatrists have not given me any idea when she will be able to come home. We are going for a family meeting with the hospital’s social worker tomorrow.

Please keep Alexis and the rest of our family in your thoughts and prayers. We can definitely use them. I hope she will be home soon and we’ll all get back to our regular lives but until then I will not be very available online.

Thank you in advance for your understanding.