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*eta: playing with the format of the blog - sorry if it's confusing while i switch back and forth
I am so far behind on photos. And layouts. And generally everything in my life.
And looking at this photo from last weekend reminds me how much I want this little baby. Sigh. I'm going to have to do some serious thinking.
Anyone interested in buying a three-year-old Canon Rebel XT that's in great shape??? :D
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things overheard around our house:
"Where's the phone?" "Emily's on it."
"No, Daddy, you're too ugly." (part of a joke between the boys)
"Emily, where's the remote?" (said by all of us)
"OWWWWWW - Andrew get off me!" (said by all of us)
"Mom, when will I be old enough for sleepovers?" (said by Elizabeth)
"It's NOT FAIR!!" (said by both girls about 15,000 times/day)
"Andrew - STOP IT!!!!!!" (said by all of us about 97,000 times/day)
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO - I don't want a bath." (said by all three kids every single day)
"Andrew slept on my butt all night." (said by me after waking up this morning and realizing why I hadn't been able to move from the waist down for hours)
"I can give you a list." (said to Tom by Emily when he asked what was wrong)
"Good times, good times." (said by Elizabeth when snuggling with Daddy and reading books before bed)
"What a useful husband you have." (said by Tom to me after he mopped the floor and tried to score brownie points for doing it)
"I have to go to a dinner party??????????????" (said by Tom to me after I gleefully announced that we FINALLY set up a potluck dinner with some friends of ours)
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Four years ago yesterday, a friend dragged me to a Creative Memories crop. I took a pile of pictures with me and really thought I would make a cute little brag book for my daughter and that would be it. I was there to make friends and that was my only goal.
Four hours and $200 later, I was completely and totally hooked.
Within months, I was buying every magazine every published, scouring them for design ideas and color ideas and found myself coming back and back to certain layouts. I noticed that they were all designed by a woman who lived just a few towns over from me. And these layouts were spectacular! I would cut out the pages from the magazines and hang them up. I would look at them 10 times a day and wonder if I would ever have that much creativity. And her journaling was second to none - she's an amazing writer and she wrote with such honesty and truth and seemed to be speaking directly to me.
I was, and still am, just in awe of her style and her words. Her family and her writing completely drew me in time and time again. This woman inspired me on a daily basis and I was so sad to hear that she was leaving the scrapbooking industry last year. But, I wasn't letting her go. I followed her blog daily and still do. And now, she has moved on to a very successful photography career and will no longer be blogging.
So, I just wanted to make sure that I took a few minutes out of my day and say thank you to Elizabeth Ruuska for all of the inspiration you've given me and so many others by sharing parts of your life through your designs and your blog.
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This week is going to go down as one of the hardest weeks of our lives. We're hanging on, but barely. Em's not managing very well and is struggling to hold it together every waking moment. We've shed more tears than I thought possible. And so have the teachers, the parents, and the other students. We've been inundated with phone calls, emails, stops in the hallways, and too many gasps and "oh no!s" to count. Like I said - we're hanging on, but barely.
And now, we're realizing how loved our oldest daughter is. And how bright and strong and courageous they all are - we're hearing stories about all of our kids that make us so proud that it brings more tears. And we're feeling everyone else's sadness and dismay about our departure.
And it makes it all so much harder to leave all of them. While their emotions make it even harder, we are so grateful to know how everyone feels.
And it's making us start to rethink our decision. To see if we can cut out other things, to see if we can tighten the purse strings even more, to see if we can keep them there.
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As a child, teenager, and even as an adult, when you experience loss or a broken heart, it feels like the end of your life. You think that you'll never survive it and that life will never get any worse.
But all of those emotions pale in comparison to the pain you experience when you are the cause of your child's broken heart.
This.is.so.hard.
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I don't want to ever go through that again. We told the kids last night that they will be going to a new school next year. The two littles just looked at us. Not comprehending, really. And Emily wouldn't look at me. She went completely still and just stared at the floor and then I made her meet my eyes and the howl that she let out was one of the worst moments of my life. The rest of the night is a blur - so many tears, so much talking, so many attempts to look at the bright side. We ended up going to a friend's house at 9 p.m. and bringing their daughter home with us for the night. She has been good therapy for Em.
Elizabeth is very quiet and still. I stayed in her room with her last night until she fell asleep. She's like Tom - not much of a talker - it's going to take her awhile to process it.
Andrew will be fine. He'll be sad for a day or two and then, in typical little boy fashion, he'll be back to normal. But, both Libby and Andrew have close friends moving to the new school, too, so it will just be easier for them than it will be for Em.
What we keep telling them is that we'll all get through it together and it will all by okay. Now, if I could just make myself believe it. I'm holding onto much of the advice I've received over the past few days. Thank you all.
We're going to transition them as well as we can. The school they'll be going to is brand new and still under construction. So, all the kids who will be attending next year will all be "new kids" together - a major factor in our decision to choose that school. And, we do know other families who are moving their kids there - just not any of Em's friends. But, we'll do our best to seek out other families and maybe someone else will know of another 5th grade girl who will be going there and we can connect. The school is holding a picnic this summer so everyone can meet and that will help. We can't meet the teachers or see the building yet because none of it exists, but we'll take the kids to the construction site and do everything we can to get excited about it.
The hardest part is going to be finishing out these last 8 weeks at our current school. There will be many more tears to come, I'm sure.
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I could use some advice.
My kids have gone to a wonderful school for the past 4 years - the only school my two youngest have ever been in - from preschool till now. Their school is not cheap, though, and we have moved heaven and earth to keep them there. We have made so many financial sacrifices and my husband has been working 70 hours/week for the past 4 years. It's the whole reason I went to work this year - we were willing to do anything to keep them there.
Well, we have recently come to the very difficult conclusion that we simply can't keep the kids there anymore. I've been researching schools for the past 2 weeks and have finally decided upon one. I told the administration at their current school today and we were all sobbing. It has been our second home and it feels like family there. The teachers are my close friends and the kids' only friends are there.
We have to tell the kids this weekend and I'm afraid that they're going to be devastated. I've talked to my mom who is a family therapist and I think we have a good way to present it to them and I know I'm going to have to find a way to make this okay for them. But, I'm struggling with it so much personally that I don't know how I'm going to get through it.
I would love some advice. Have your kids ever changed schools? Any tips for helping them transition?
P.S. I will blog about CKU very soon - it was so cool! And, Missy, if you've found my blog - please email me!!!!!!!
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I have been so inspired by Ideabooks, lately. Of course, Jessica's new book got me started - it is sooooo cool and I think it will inspire everyone who reads it.
And then I pulled out Ali's latest book and remembered why I loved her work so much - there's something about her process that really inspires me. And so I jumped at the chance to take a challenge from her second book when I saw this challenge on the Ideasbooks4u blog. Way too much fun!!!
The challenge was to pick 6 random scraps of paper, pair them with 3 photos, cut them all into squares and journal around the edges. Totally, totally love this idea and I'm going to do it again and again! I love my page and it only took me 30 minutes to do. Next time, I'm going to do the same thing, but punch the paper scraps and photos into circles.
Supplies:
Bazzill Basics Cardstock; Autumn Leaves, Foofala, Daisy D's & 7gypsies Patterned Paper; Making Memories Colorboard Stickers; Autumn Leaves Transparency; SEI Stickers; Stitched Chip Strips by Katie Pertiet for www.designerdigitals.com
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Okay, no. I'm totally not! LOL!! But that song gets stuck in my head every single time I get ready to go a trip.
This trip will be less than 24 hours, but fun!
I will be spending Friday night with the Fabulous Miss Wendy and then spending Saturday TA'ing for the Amazing Jessica Sprague in her digi class at CKU in Chicago.
Can't wait!
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I hadn't scrapbooked purely for myself since early December. I had done a lot of layouts, but they were all for design team requirements and, as much as I love my teams, there are still some requirements to be met. And no matter what, I always feel better when I get some time to create without any restrictions or pressures or expectations that anyone else will even see what I've made.
I made 4 layouts this weekend - 3 that I will use for DTs (**make that 5 layouts - 4 for DTs - I'm having a ball!!). But, then, at the end, I just said to heck with it all and made something for myself.
And now I'm breathing a bit easier and can start my week feeling like my head has been cleared a bit. And the house is fairly clean - that always starts the week off on the right note. I'm ready for Monday this week.
Journaling: I've written about it before and I've scrapbooked about it before, but pictures of Maine always take my breath away. Not just because it's beautiful, and not just because it's home, but because it is the only place that truly grounds me. Every breath I take feels fuller, every morning feels brighter, and every evening feels calmer. We're once again wondering how we're going to find a way to go this year, but I know we will. I need to too badly.
Supplies: Bazzill Basics Cardstock, Jenni Bowlin patterned paper, Making Memories paint and wordfetti stickers, American Crafts Thickers, KI cardstock stickers, 7gypsies cardstock stickers, Imagination Project Coaster, Sakura Pen
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