Newspaper :)

I had so much fun making this, though it took a long time to get it just right.

Gotta go make dinner...

My Girls

Rebekah has found her feet! I think it's one of the cutest things, watching babies grab their toes. She was playing under her toy (the kind where you hit the things that hang over your head to make the music play), hitting it with one hand and grabbing her toes with the other. Adorable.

(which reminds me. I really need to make a new blog header!)

Jasmine has become a real "little person" lately. She's more than a toddler...she really converses with us now, and is a huge part of things.
The past couple days, everything has been "cute." She saw a picture with a lamp in the background, and said "light, cute!" It's hilarious.
A few minutes ago she asked for chips (healthy ones, no potato chips are in this house most of the time). I looked, but we finished them off already, so I called to her (she was in the other room) and asked if she wanted Cheerios. She came trotting down, and said, "chips!" "Sorry, Jasmine, we don't have any chips. Would you like a rice cake?" She said "cake!" and was happy to get in her high chair and munch. It may seem like a little thing, but it just showed me how much she understands of what's being said and done around here!

Here are a couple layouts I've done in the past couple days:


Oh! And I started up a second blog! Don't worry; this is still my main one. The other is tutorials for beginning digital scrappers. It's rough right now, but hopefully it will get smoother and more professional as I figure out what I'm doing! Come see it here.

Late Discoveries

Appropriate title because it's too late for me to be posting (this will be short)

Have you ever discovered something much later than the rest of the world? I've spent most of my life doing just that. I grew up loving the Beatles (and was born the year John was killed). I didn't discover Frasier until probably the 6th season. I used to think Calvin and Hobbes was a silly comic strip about a spoiled boy (I now own every book and think it's genius).
My latest discovery (thanks, mom): Quantum Leap. What an awesome show! We're on the second season, and really enjoying the twists and turns. I want to call people up after an episode and say "can you believe it???" but it was on in 1990, so most people who don't have the seasons on DVD would barely remember what I was talking about.

Anyways, tonight's episode made me really nervous as I watched, because it's exactly what one of my recurring dreams is. He's supposed to play a concert in Carnegie Hall and doesn't know what he's doing. I have dreamed many, many times about concerts I've never seen music for. Thankfully this one ended well, making me hopeful that if I dream about that again, it will end as well for me too!

Okay, Josh just discovered I'm writing this, which means it's time for prayers and off to bed!!

Exersaucer Joy

Thankfully we had two exersaucers from Jasmine's babyhood, because when I put Rebekah in one, Jasmine wants to be in the other. She's much too big for it (she gets herself in) but it's cute that she likes to be like her sister.
Yesterday morning, she not only got in, but she brought Jenny with her, and was helping Jenny play with the toys on the tray. The following are two videos from that morning...Jasmine and Jenny, and Rebekah discovering that toys are fun! (she's not a newborn now, that's for sure!)

Jasmine
Rebekah

Enjoy!

Optimism

I usually have a positive view of people. I can usually find some reason for bad behavior, which, if nothing else, keeps me from getting really angry at them.

For example: there was someone in the neighborhood behind our old apartment who was picked up every day for work. He (she?) was never ready at the door when the carpool arrived. So the driver honked. "Beep Beep Beeeeep." If s/he didn't make it in about 30 seconds, then I would hear "beeeep beeep BEEEEEEEEEEEEP."

It was almost always when Jasmine was napping. Thankfully, most of the time she was out enough that the noise didn't bother her, but occasionally she was just falling asleep, and the insistent beeping would wake her up and I'd have to start all over (or give up and try again later).

I thought both of them were being pretty inconsiderate. The driver, for honking and bothering neighbors, of which there were many. The person being picked up, for not being ready, knowing s/he was being picked up at the same time, every single day.

So I tried to find a reason for the whole thing. Okay, maybe the person being picked up was blind. Maybe s/he couldn't sit and watch for the car (which would explain why the ride was needed), so the driver had to honk.

Of course, the likelihood of that being the case is pretty slim, but it made me less frustrated at them both. I still rolled my eyes when I heard it, but at least it didn't make me mad.


The garage sale that wasn't, brought this all back up again, but unfortunately in this case there is nothing I could think of that lessened the blow. They were able to close the garage door, put away whatever had been in the yard or driveway...yet they couldn't take the 10-15 minutes to pull down their signs, at the very least the one on the main street? I really did try to come up with some scenario so I could give them the benefit of the doubt. Nope, still nothing. Maybe they planned to open up again on Sunday but had to go to the hospital that morning and didn't get a chance to re-open??? That's such a stretch I can't buy it!

Can you come up with any reason for it, other than sheer laziness and not caring how many people they inconvenienced?

While you're thinking, here are two layouts I've done with pictures from Saturday's birthday party at the park (fun, but cooooold!):

Garage Sales and Roller Coaster Days

Happy Belated Mother's Day to all the moms out there!

What a day we had yesterday!! I have some things to add to my little write-up on our website about garage sales, after our experience yesterday. But for now it will just go here...
We decided to stop at garage sales yesterday on our way to my parents' house. Being Mother's Day, there weren't all that many, which didn't surprise me. But we saw a great sign that we thought looked promising. Even had a big arrow! "Huge Garage Sale, today only, follow the arrows." So we meandered through their neighborhood, following their fantastic signs. Almost there, the signs finally gave the address. We got to their street...no arrow indicating which way on their street. I looked for street numbers...there was no sign because the house was right at the end of the T (i.e. straight ahead). Um, and closed. GRRRRR. We turned around to see another car doing the same thing.
How can people be so completely inconsiderate??? How can you truly not care that you're sending people on a wild goose chase because you're too lazy to take down your signs? I hate seeing signs that are old, but at least have dates so we could stop and read it, if we took the time to, but this?? There's no way we would have known it wasn't still going on.
So we took down the sign at the main intersection. Not for the rude people who didn't get around to it, but for others like us. I was so frustrated.

There were almost no other signs, so we headed to my parents', and then stopped at a house that had had one in the past. Thankfully they were selling new (well, not the same) stuff...they had great stuff, and good prices to start with, and she told Josh all prices were negotiable. We got a shelf for the girls' toys, a bin half-full of huge lego-type blocks,a sit-n-spin, a Fisher-Price barn, Toy Story on VHS, and three books ("Cars and Trucks and Things That Go" (i.e. Goldbug)," The complete adventures of Pooh," and "Hush Little Baby") for $12!!!
This sale made the whole garage sale experience of the day much better. A few more experiences like the first one could have turned me off of even trying for a few weeks, so I'm thankful that it ended on a better note.

**********

It all started when we both forgot to drink our goji juice yesterday morning. I can never believe how much it helps level my emotions, and Josh always notices a lack of energy when he forgets it. So it was our fault that the day was such a roller coaster.

We showered, bathed the girls, and got ourselves all gussied up for brunch with his family. We made it out on time, just barely, and went to the restaurant. The meal was amazing as always, and Jasmine enjoyed getting things she likes to eat. Rebekah was a sweetie, just looking around at everyone.

I hadn't brought in the camera, though I realized there's a pretty fountain outside that would have been nice for pictures of Jasmine. No problem; we got some last Easter, and we would have many opportunities at my parents' house. But when we got to the car, I couldn't find the camera. Josh looked, and couldn't find it either.

So we went back home before heading East. Josh got changed, I grabbed a glass of water, and we didn't find the camera. I remembered putting it in the car, so I was very worried it had fallen out or somehow gotten stolen. I buckled Rebekah back in the carseat, and there, under Jasmine's seat, was the camera!! I was so relieved.

We headed to my parents' and stopped at the two garage sales I already wrote about (2 or 3 others too, but absolutely nothing that we needed or wanted at those). We had a great visit with my parents, siblings, mom's parents, and her sister and her husband. There were 18 people there, if I counted right (which is a big if!). Rebekah almost rolled over onto her tummy. She can get her bottom and legs all the way over, but can't figure out how to move the bottom arm out of the way. We all cheered her on as she tried, until she started complaining (she still rarely cries, preferring to loudly complain) and gave up.

Most of the adults and Rebekah went to mom's favorite coffee shop for yummy drinks, and Jasmine played with her aunts and uncles. We got back and got ready to go...and I asked where Jenny was (Jenny is Jasmine's beloved doll, who she now has with her every night. She burps her and plays with her like I play with Rebekah. Absolutely adorable). Josh said, "She left her at that last garage sale!" Yup, that's what we figured out, because she wasn't in the car or the house, and he remembered her taking Jenny with her to the garage sale and then helping him bring the stuff we were buying.

Vivian has the same doll, so she grabbed it and gave it to Jasmine so she wouldn't realize Jenny was missing. She took it without question, which we were very thankful about.

So we drove back (thankfully it was right on our way, not off on some side street, and since we'd been to that house in the past, he remembered exactly where it was). No lights were on at the house (it was almost 9:45) so he looked through the garage sale stuff left in the yard to make sure she wasn't there. Nope. He went to the door and rang the bell, praying they weren't asleep. Nope! And thankfully, she saw it right after we left, and had set it aside so no-one would take it.
Jasmine was completely out, so she didn't see that there were suddenly two Jennys in the car.
We put Vivian's away and gave her the real Jenny, so when she woke up all was like normal.

I'm not sure how well I did really showing the ups and downs...the next day things don't seem as bad as the moment they happen. Hope you get the idea!

Anyways...I should have fun layouts coming with the great pictures from yesterday!

Jasmine is now officially two!

She's been 2 for a few months now, but the date finally caught up. She is so entertaining! We got her an inflatable trampoline, which she thinks is pretty cool. My family came out yesterday to celebrate, and tomorrow we'll go to the park with Josh's family.

Ready for some pictures?
Jasmine's choice of dress:


What Rebekah thought of it:


Her boots from Anne and Papa:

Who says the crown has to go in the front?

She loves pizza, so here's her cake: (click to see larger with what the candies were):

A contest and some Jasmine and Rebekah stories

I have a hard time titling anything. It's so hard thinking of titles for layouts, and I'm no better at it when I'm posting here! Oh well.

First off, Jenna, whose creative team I'm on, is having a contest. You can win a set of one a kind Quick Pages by the creative team by sharing your favorite "Momisms" or bits of advice you got from your mom. You can check out her blog for details. Here's a preview:
In other news...
Jasmine's been saying "nee-how" lately. I couldn't figure out how she was learning Chinese, but apparently it's "need help." I think that's pretty sweet!
She loves to count. She walks around saying "one, two, three, five, six, seven, nine, TEN! One..." sometimes she has 4 and 8 in there too, but the last couple days she's decided those ones are optional.
And she loves identifying the alphabet. She still is at about 7, though she likes to guess on the others. And she can correctly tell if something is a number or if it's a letter. It's fun to watch her learning this. M is still her favorite...I like that, my name being "Mama" and all.

Rebekah absolutely adores her sister, too. She grins at her and loves it when I help them play "pat-a-cake" together (which I was never good about doing when it was just Jasmine). Unfortunately Jasmine has started "c'mere" to her, trying to pick her up when she's sad. So I have to watch her closely!

Pictures Galore!

We have more work to do (as you can plainly see) but it's coming, and I've had requests for pictures, so here you go. I'll try to get more as we get rooms truly finished, but for now.....(drumroll please):

The kitchen. New stove, new fridge (used dishwasher not shown)

Kitchen view 2.
The dining room. Needs some TLC.
The living room, view one. Sorry I'm not coming up with clever captions for this!
View two. TV hasn't even been plugged in yet! (it will be tonight though, because two of our three shows are on tonight)
My "nook." Finally getting to use my Turkish stuff again! All the decorations are directly from Turkey except the blanket on the back of the chair, which I bought in Cozumel:

The sun porch (i.e. Playroom #1)
The girls' room. Because I'm using the cedar closet in our room, I passed down my dresser to Jasmine. Who loves to open the drawers.
Another view of the girls' room, i.e. Play Room #3.
This is looking from the top of the stairs. At some point we'll put in safety glass since the window is really that close to the floor and we'd rather not something (or someone) go flying out of it *shudder*
Oops. Back downstairs. This is the laundry/toy/changing room. Formerly known as the third bedroom. Play Room #2.
Bed, and Rebekah. Finally using the whole bed again, not just the mattress, now that we found those awesome bed rails!
The cedar closet, and my collection of Occupied Japan Figurines. They haven't all been out together, ever, because I've never had enough room! And yes, I've stopped buying more. Someday I'll tell you the story.
The shadow boxes in our closet door. Isn't that cool?
The girl's room, view 3. That small door is the entrance to the attic (on the same floor, above the kitchen) that we may someday turn into a play room. because three isn't enough, apparently.
Um, girls' room, view 4.



So there you have it!

Haven't updated in "longtime"!

Jasmine's newest phrase now is "longtime." I'm not sure where she picked it up, and have no idea whether she means it's been a long time, or she wants to do ____ (usually sleep!) for a long time. Or maybe that she's been asking for a long time. Whatever she means by it, we get a charge out of it every time.
We're getting moved in, and there are drastic changes every day as we keep chipping away. Still have curtains to hang, a dozen boxes on the main floor to deal with, and a few more in our bedroom that we have to figure out. But there are books on the shelf, DVDs in the case, the kitchen is done, and it's starting to feel like we really do live here.
It took Jasmine a few days before she'd call this "home," but she does now. She loves the steps and asks to go up and down numerous times a day. She could go on her own safely, but she likes to have someone else go with her. I don't mind because it means she's very cautious, but there are times I wish she'd just go on her own.
The neighborhood is so quiet! There are only about a dozen houses on the street, and though it's not a dead end, the only people to drive live in one of the houses (or are visiting someone who lives here). Kids like to play hockey in the street, which tells you how quiet it is. I don't mind...hockey's quiet!

I've made a couple pages since I posted last (It's easier to scrapbook than to type when both girls are asleep in my arms). Here they are! As always, you can see them in my gallery at TDC if you want the long list of credits :)


I guess I'm not quite done yet. Did anyone else grow up on "Music Machine"? I have it on right now (a birthday present from Josh), and my favorite song is on: "Have patience." I always loved this song, maybe not the message quite so much!
I'm on another creative team now! Jenna Nelson, who's an absolute sweetie (she was on my creative team when I was selling my designs) has started designing for sale, and I jumped at the chance to join her team. Both of the layouts above have "Thrift Shop Date Labels" on them, which she made...they're just so cute. I love having dates on my layouts but don't always want something big and obtrusive, so I think I'll be using these all over the place now :)