My Glamorous Life

One Mom...One Blog

2009-04-30T11:20:00.002-05:00

Okay. I've come to realize that there are simply not enough hours in the day...and since I'm pretty sure that God is going to stick with the 24 hour plan, something has to give! I have decided to do all my blogging over at Caffeine Created Designs.

I'm gearing up to launch all my digital scrapping products at a brand new store that will be opening soon. We're busy loading products and planning all sorts of fun goodies! I am so excited and thrilled to be part of this fabulous team!

Change your blog reader or favorites list to visit me at Caffeine Created Designs! See y'all there!!

Help Bring Jada Home!

2009-04-24T09:10:00.003-05:00

My sweet friend Becky has just received a referral for their fifth child and second daughter from China! I am just thrilled beyond words for Becky and her family. The cost of adoption has increased dramatically as have travel costs and Becky is working hard to earn the extra funds that they need to bring Jada home. Please take a look at the following options to help this incredible family bring home Jada!

Since Jada is older than they expected (she's 3 years old now), they are selling some of her big sister's clothes that won't fit Jada. So many cute outfits...almost makes me want another baby girl!

Becky also designs blogs that are just wonderful. If you want to spiff up your blog or do a complete overhaul or start a new blog, pay a visit to Busy Mama Blog Designs.

And, please pray for this family and their newest daughter waiting in China for her Mommy, Daddy, three big brothers and big sister.

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

2009-04-23T06:28:00.000-05:00

My mom and dad are celebrating their 49th wedding anniversary today, so I put this together to wish them a happy day!

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad! We are counting down the days until we see you again...just 15! We love you!!

A special credit: My six year old daughter, Emily took the background photo using her very own digital camera.

Credits: Paper and embellishments (Love Story - Kristin Cronin-Barrow); Word Art (Just the Two of Us - Caffeine Created Designs); Tag (Caffeine Created Designs)

A Time for Everything

2009-04-01T19:03:00.004-05:00

The line of scripture above has been my source of comfort over the past several weeks. I’ve had to make some choices about how I want to live my life and this passage reminds me that even though doors may be closing, others are opening.

One door that I have decided to close is my business, Li Tian Designs. I can’t believe that I’ve been making Ribbonlicious bag tags for two years! It seems like just yesterday I made my first tag and in other ways it feels like I’ve been tying ribbons for much longer than two years.

I have decided to focus more of my attention on digital art and the digital scrapbooking industry. It really is an extension of what I was doing with the bag tags and bookmarks because the design process was my favorite aspect of Li Tian Designs. The digital scrapbooking industry is booming and there are gazillions (that may be a slight exaggeration) of tremendously talented designers, but I plan to have a great time giving it a shot!

Credits: Papers and flower embellishment (Story of Us by Michelle Coleman); Font (CK Ali's Writing)

My Annoucement...Finally

2009-03-24T20:48:00.000-05:00

Check it out over at my Caffeine Created Designs blog!

Vote for Colorful Adventures!

2009-03-21T09:01:00.006-05:00

Well. Well. Well. This is new exciting news and I need your help to make it even more exciting! I entered the Design a Kit Contest at toNoodle several weeks ago and my kit "Colorful Adventures" is in the toNoodle gallery just waiting for your vote.

The winners will be determined by visitors to the toNoodle site voting for their favorite. Please click HERE to vote for my kit, "Colorful Adventures". You need to click the radio button next to the name of my kit and then click the "Vote For Your Favorite" button at the bottom of the page. You can only vote once and you don't need to be a member/signed in to vote.
What will the winners receive you ask...The winners will not only get free membership to toNoodle, but will also be offered an apprentice designer position with A Cherry On Top.

Please vote soon! The voting ends March 31, 2009 and the winners will be notified the first week of April.

After you vote, take a minute to check out toNoodle. ToNoodle.com is a membership website with 134 video tutorials on how to digital scrapbook using Adobe Photoshop Elements and Photoshop CS3. Subscribers can purchase a one month trial membership for $5.95. I tried a few of their free tutorials and am very impressed with the content and quality. I even learned a few new things!

By the way...the original exciting news has nothing to do with a baby or a move back to Pennsylvania (sorry Mom and Dad)! I expect that I will be able to reveal the original news next week.

Celebrate!

2009-03-13T11:12:00.003-05:00

Thanks so much to so many of you for the encouraging and kind words in your comments and emails after my last post. This week has been so much better and I even have some exciting news that I'm going to be able to share soon (before the end of this month)! I am busy getting ready to share my big news, so blog postings may be even more sporadic than they already are!

If you're a digital scrapbooker, you can pick up the above chipboard embellishment over at my Caffeine Created Designs blog.

A Rough Week

2009-03-06T09:39:00.000-06:00

It was a rough week here at the House o’ Glamour… no need to rehash the details. Even though it was a rough one, here are a few things I recorded in my gratitude journal.

I am thankful…
- for the amazing women in my Bible study group who came to my rescue with prayer when I needed it most.
- that I have reconnected with my friend who encourages me to dig deeper in my relationship with God and to lay everything before Him.
- for an awesome God who protected me and Mia on Wednesday afternoon.
- for my husband.
- that I have been persistent. It is starting to pay off!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Find the good

--And praise it.

-Alex Haley

Naps and Laundry

2009-02-28T08:05:00.006-06:00

I personally would prefer to participate in the former rather than the latter...

But, that's not really what this post is about. I just have a few random photos on my camera that need posting, so here they are!

Obviously, Mia's playdate with Meisey wiped her out...On our way home, we stopped at Wally World to get what we needed for the project involved in the next set of photos and she crashed in the cart! Poor little thing...her head was bobbing all over the place when we went over the bumpy sidewalk outside, but she never woke up!

When was the last time that you got excited about sorting laundry? Yea, me too!

I got tired of having to pull apart a wadded up ball of pants, underpants and socks when I sort the girls clothing, so I decided to get them involved. My hope is that they will be concerned with making sure each piece gets in the right bag and as a result those wadded up balls of clothing won't make it to the laundry room. Wish me luck! I may be totally delusional, but it's worth a try! So, we had a laundry sorting tutorial yesterday. They had a blast! I hope that their enthusiasm for sorting laundry continues into their teenage years. Yea, I know...but a mom can't be hopeful, right?!

A bit of laundry sorting cuteness...

Seriously. Could they be any cuter?

Recent Happenings at the House o' Glamour

2009-02-12T12:13:00.007-06:00

Tuesday

It's a normal Tuesday evening. I give Mia a bath and blow dry her hair. While she is putting on her jammies I go into the game room to chat with Emily. I walk around the back of the sofa where the book cases are and see this...
Yes, that would be Mia's hair! After lots of tears and conversation (I didn't yell even though I wanted to), she told Chuck that she just wanted to look pretty. The worst part (or quite possibly the best part) is that I didn't notice it when I dried her hair! She sort of gave herself layers instead of taking a chunk out of the side or the front.

After the girls get settled in bed, Chuck and I were watching TV. The local news kept popping in to give updates about the line of storms headed our way. At around 9:30 the front line of the storm hits and we go to get the girls out of bed. They're talking about upper level rotation and a tornado just hit Oklahoma earlier in the day. so I wanted the girls downstairs. We usually keep the girls in our room during bad storms unless the sirens go off. Just as we get to the bottom of the steps, we hear the siren, so we head for the closet. Chuck continues to watch the news to keep up to date on what is on top of us while the girls and I hang out in the closet. And, this is how cozy we are in the closet...
Both of them slept through the whole thing. Thankfully, we were out in about 15 minutes and didn't experience any damage. Mia was sitting on my lap, so it was kind of hard to get this photo!

Wednesday
Our sweet four-legged daughter spent the day at the vet to get her teeth cleaned. She had a rough time recovering from the anesthesia this time. She staggered when she walked and was really loopy when Chuck brought her home. She usually hangs out in the kitchen with me while I cook dinner, but she could barely stand up, so we brought her bed into the middle of the kitchen.
I sat down with her after dinner and she put her bandaged leg (from the IV) up on my leg, so I could give her some lovin'. She's better today, but still slightly loopy. I guess just like us, she's getting older and it takes a little longer to recover.

Okay. If you're a man, you can stop reading here. Actually, if you're a man maybe you should continue reading so you know the torture that women endure...

I had my annual exam yesterday...yeah, that one. Anyhow. They have a new procedure called the Hal0 Breast Pap that can detect abnormal cells in breast tissue that may warrant closer monitoring for breast cancer. I think that medical technology is just awesome, so why not! I don't know where my head was because I never thought to ask exactly how they get cells out of your breast. Well. Let me tell you! The give you two cups to hold over each breast. The cups are attached to what can only be described as an over zealous vacuum cleaner. It starts by getting a little warm and you think, oh this is nice...but then, it starts to pummel your breast in an attempt to suction fluid from your n1pple. Oh! Holy cow! They send the fluid off and in 48 hours have the results. The nurse performing the procedure was really nice and we were cracking jokes the whole time (5 minutes), but still...Ouch! BTW, I still need to go for a mammogram. Swell! Just thought I would share a little more about this procedure that may not be fully disclosed when you sign up. I still think that it's pretty awesome to have this medical technology available to us, but there has to be a better way!

Flashbacks

2009-02-08T08:35:00.005-06:00

So, the other day I decided to (finally) take some Christmas stuff up to the attic. You know, the stuff that was hiding when you took down Christmas decorations in January? I finally got tired of seeing it in my office closet, so I lugged it up to the attic. While I was up there (I typically do not enter the attic), I noticed several boxes marked "Books". I took a peek and found that they were all my books. Hmmm...this could be interesting, so I lugged four boxes downstairs.

I found two boxes full of books that my parents had saved from my childhood. There is a set of encyclopedias as well as many classics that I remember vividly. Whew! Maybe my memory isn't as bad as I thought!

Another box held my books from the classes I took while studying for my teacher certification.

The fourth box held books that the students in the 2nd grade class where I did my student teaching gave me to start my own classroom library. Since I "retired" after getting my certification to stay home with Emily, I never got the chance to start a classroom library. Until now! The girls have a new library of books in their room. Emily thinks I am the coolest mom ever because I pulled out Junie B. Jones and Amelia Bedelia books!

It was so much fun to look through the books at the names of the children who chose each book for my library. What was shocking was realizing that those 2nd graders are now in 8th grade!

Well, that was fun and the girls are having a great time exploring all their new books!

My Husband ROCKS!

2009-02-05T10:09:00.004-06:00

Let me tell you how awesome my husband is...he is a fabulous father who elicits the most outrageous giggles from our daughters, he is a thoughtful and caring husband who will do everything in his power to make me happy, he is a godly man who is on an incredible journey with our Lord God, and he works very hard at his paid job with passion and integrity.

We met in January of 1998 when we started working for the same software company on the same day. We both had a background in Human Resources and were new to the crazy software industry. So, I've watched him work hard in this ever changing industry with great integrity and humility. His hard work is paying off this May when we get to spend a week enjoying a...Seriously! I get giddy just thinking about it! This will be the first time that we take a vacation alone since we became parents. We already have Grammy and PopPop lined up to spend a week spoiling their granddaughters (they rock too!) We will spend the week at the F0ur Seas0ns Res0rt Gre@t Exum@. Sure it will be with his colleagues, but I know that we will get to enjoy plenty of time alone {wink wink} and we also get to share it with our great friends Michael and Karen. This will surely kick up the time that I'm spending on the treadmill!!

Does my husband rock or what?!

A Few Photos from the Weekend

2009-02-02T13:28:00.010-06:00

Saturday was one looooooong day! We participated in a Health Fair sponsored by our awesome chiropractor and our regional Wellness Alliance. We had a vendor table where we shared MonaVie with folks interested in the benefits of 13 servings of fruit in 4 oz. of awesome tasting juice. *That sounds like a sentence written by a marketer...oh...that would be me in the life before mommyhood! Anyhow! It was a lot of fun for us and the girls.

Hanging with Dorothy the Dinosaur and Wags the Dog.

Wags showing off his karate chop!Mia getting ready to "hi-ya the board"!

Emily gave it a try...after pushing her little sister to the front of the line to try it first! I guess she wanted to see if Mia got hurt before she gave it a try...smart girl!

With their broken boards. They were so proud of themselves!

Here's a quiz for you. What's this? "Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

Answer: The scream coming from my office when I heard Emily say, "Hey Mia, let's play karate."

Chuck and Michael at our table.

After we had a quick dinner with everyone, we were all ready for bed by 8 PM! I wasn't so excited about our family spending the day at a health fair, but we actually had a fantastic time!

Sunday

I understand that there was some sort of football game...Really?! We had my dearest friend from my Boston days visit. Needless to say, there was a whole lot of chatting and not a whole lot of football watching...at least for me and Monica. That girl and I had some crazy fun working and traveling together back in the day! She was instrumental in getting the information to Chuck regarding my dream engagement ring (that I now wear on my left hand with my wedding band) and she was my maid of honor when Chuck and I were married 10 years ago (in May).

Emily took this photo of us with her little camera in the hallway without much light. It didn't come out too bad!

And, now it's Monday already!

Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

2009-01-29T09:44:00.010-06:00

Well...kinda sorta snow! We had a huge ice storm that kept Emily home from school yesterday. They were so disappointed that all the white stuff outside wasn't snow, but rock hard ice. Thanksfully, I had previously purchased 4 gallons of Snow in Seconds! It is so cool and the girls played in it for a long time!

Instead of sand between our toes, we have snow between our toes!It's snowing...And, here's a scrapbook page that I did with one of those priceless moments captured on...film? (remember when we used to say that?)...captured on the memory stick (doesn't quite have the same ring to it). Anyhow...it's cute! The journaling reads...This might explain why you were misbehaving at the dinner table...a few minutes after you were asked to leave the table and wait for Mommy on the bottom step, we realized that you were being unusually quiet...Aha! You fell sound asleep!

The Sleepover

2009-01-15T17:24:00.003-06:00

Photos from Emily and Mollianne's first sleepover...

These top two pages are meant to go side-by-side because the second page has the captions for the photos on the first page.

My Girls

2009-01-11T13:48:00.003-06:00

Here are two new pages that I created this weekend.

My dad took this photo of Emily and I love it!

And, here is Mia dancing like nobody's watching...

Last night we hosted Mollianne for the night as Emily's final birthday present. These two have been dying to have a sleepover for as long as I can remember. Last night their wish came true! I have some very adorable photos of the best friends that I will post soon.

Happy Birthday Emily!

2009-01-08T12:31:00.007-06:00

This little girl stole our hearts the first time we layed our eyes on this photo...

It seems like just yesterday that I gazed at this little photo of my first daughter, who celebrated her 6th birthday on Tuesday.

According to Emily, it was the best day of her whole life! We surprised her with a new booster seat that she has been longing for... She also received a new 16 inch bike. We didn't give it to her until we got home from dinner and it was dark outside, so she took a few spins around the kitchen island!
Thankfully, it was warm yesterday afternoon so she and Daddy went for a ride after school...
Happy Birthday Emily! You have blessed us in ways we never dreamed. I love that you care deeply about our world, have a strong desire to learn "everything there is to know about God" and that you love to perform. I am in awe of your beauty, compassion and artistic talent.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T22:56:00.004-06:00

Here's a quick recap of our New Year's Eve celebration...

More photos of our evening spent with our best friends (Erin, Bob, Mollianne and Meisey) and my parents can be found here. We had a great time sharing delicious food in abundance, great wine and wonderful conversation. The girls all made it (in good moods) until almost midnight! We suspected that things might start to go downhill before midnight, so we celebrated the New Year when the ball dropped in NYC! Aunt Sissy - We're sorry that you couldn't make here in time to join us. Maybe next year!

Happy Birthday Mia!

2008-12-28T14:29:00.004-06:00

It's hard to believe, but there is no point denying it...my baby girl is 4 years old!

Here she is in 2004...her first Christmas with us and two days before her first birthday (obviously, I don't have those photos scrapped yet!).

And, yesterday celebrating her 4th birthday!

Happy Birthday my fabulously funny and feisty girl! I love your laugh. I love that you love to learn and are curious about everything. I am in awe of your steadfast determination when faced with a challenge. I love that you are so compassionate and sensitive to the needs of others. You are one remarkable 4 year old and I am humbled and honored to be your mommy!

Ice, Ice Baby!

2008-12-23T19:34:00.006-06:00

Today we took Grammy and Pop Pop (and the girls, of course!) to the ICE! Exhibit at the Gaylord Texan. It was fabulous, but COLD! Here are just a few of the photos...

When we first arrived...All bundled up...
This Santa's eyes gave me the creeps, but the girls didn't seem to mind...

Here comes Mia...Emily's ready for her turn...
And, Daddy came down next, but my camera battery gave out!

Merry Christmas

2008-12-21T18:19:00.002-06:00

May you and your family enjoy a blessed Christmas as we celebrate the birth of our Savior...God's one and only son...who was born to die for us!

Mia's Surprise

2008-12-05T20:49:00.004-06:00

I got Mia to clean up the game room very quickly today by telling her that I had a surprise for her when she finished. And, this was her surprise...A visit from Meisey and Miss Erin! And, Miss Erin brought lunch from Ch.ick-Fil-A! Thanks so much Auntie Erin...we love us some Ch.ick-Fil-A at the House o' Glamour! When they were leaving, I asked Mia what she liked most about her surprise - Meisey or lunch from CFA? She thought for just a moment and bubbled, "Meisey!"

Look how huge Mia looks in this photo! Just three very short years ago, Mia was exactly the same size as Meisey. It takes my breath away...

Blessed

2008-11-30T14:20:00.000-06:00

We hope y'all had a fantastic Thanksgiving!

A Little of This and A Little of That

2008-11-25T16:51:00.010-06:00

Random photos from the past few days...

Girls Night Out!
One day last week the girls and I had a late lunch/early dinner at Steak and Shake. The girls loved it...especially the the hats and of course, the shakes!
Rah! Rah! TCU!

We went to the TCU (Daddy's Alma mater) vs. Airforce game on Saturday. It could have been about 10 degrees warmer, but we had a great time!

After the game, we stopped at the Chi.ck-Fil-A for a bite to eat. This is the CFA that is about a mile down the street from our house. Danger! It's the only fast food that I like...and I like it a lot!

Hmmmm...so many yummy choices.

One tuckered out glamour girl!

Another Milestone

The girls had dentist appointments today. No cavities! But...Emily has a permanent tooth coming in behind her baby teeth. It wasn't going to push out the baby tooth, so we opted to have it removed today. Wow! My baby girl really is growing up...and it's happening way too fast! I guess the tooth fairy is coming to our house tonight! Big excitement at the House o' Glamour!

Yeah!

2008-11-21T20:15:00.006-06:00

My best friend is home with her wonderful husband and TWO daughters after three months in China! Okay. It was only three weeks, but when you're best friend who you talk to several times a day and see at least once a week is out of the country...time quadruples.

Here are a few photos from the airport. The lighting wasn't great and I didn't take very many because I was trying to hold myself together. Oh the joy at finally seeing Meisey in her Mommy's arms!

The mini best friends!

Checking out her Paw...My heart just sings when I look at this photo!
I know that Robyn will have more photos because she was snapping away like crazy!

Totally My Fault

2008-11-20T10:25:00.003-06:00

So, after I post about Emily's perfect attendance award for the first nine weeks of school...you guessed it! She gets sick and misses two days of school.

Most kids snuggle with a lovey when they aren't feeling well. Emily does too, but she adds a big bowl...just in case.

She is better and returned to school today. She was not going to miss the opportunity to get on the stage to participate in the Kindergarten Thanksgiving program, which will be following by a "feast" consisting of cheese and crackers, fruit and juice boxes!

You know photos of that event will follow...

A Milestone

2008-11-11T19:07:00.003-06:00

Emily received this Perfect Attendance Award for the first nine weeks of school! This is such a huge deal for us because she prior to having her adenoids removed in February, she was sick a lot. Most kids get a sniffle and it works itself out in a few days. Prior to the surgery, a little sniffle would turn into a major illness for Emily resulting in antibiotics, oral steroids and breathing treatments. I rejoice and praise God for leading me in the right direction when I was in such despair over her health! I bet that our favorite pediatrician wonders if we moved!

Growing So Fast

2008-11-10T11:39:00.004-06:00

Three years ago Mia was placed in my arms...

And, here she is today...
Mia, we are so proud of you! You are smart, funny and caring. You make me laugh every day and you sometimes push me to the edge with your stubborn independence! Here is one of example of how my girl makes me laugh...

Mia had an appointment with her ophthalmologist a few weeks ago. We are patching her right eye again to strengthen the left eye, which seems to be getting a little weak. When we put the patch on some days, she goes looking for her parrot (because she is a pirate girl, you see). One day she couldn’t find the parrot so she made do…”Mommy, I know it’s a chicken, you just have to use your imagination!”

That's our girl!

Joy in the Small Things

2008-11-09T18:44:00.005-06:00

Check out the cuteness in my sidebar...

The leaves have finally started to change color (a little) and fall from the trees down here in the south. The girls were so excited to see leaves in the yard. Emily patiently collected a (very small) pile and I took the opportunity to get a few photos before they grew impatient with me. They wanted to jump in the leaves!
It's the small things in life that bring great joy!

Speaking of small things...my best friend is going to get her baby daughter (and Emily's best friend is going to finally get her baby sister) today (it will be the wee hours of tomorrow morning for us here in the US, but it will be Monday afternoon in China). We are so excited and praise God for little Meisey who is going to bring great joy!

Trick-or-Treat!

2008-11-01T11:15:00.014-05:00

As has become our annual tradition, Mollianne brought her parents to our neighborhood to trick-or-treat with the glamour girls. Before hitting the neighborhood, which we covered in record time with our speed walking (often running...not such a good idea) trio, we got them to stand still long enough for a few photos!

The Untold Story...There is a little known portion of the Cinderella story that has rarely been told. It's not included in her biographical movie because it was deemed "too graphic" for small children. You see when the clock struck midnight and Cinderella started runnig for her coach, she took a tumble down the palace stairs. Oh sure...the movie shows her running gracefully down the stairs, but that's not how it happened. Oh no. She took a spill that sent her dress flying over her head. And, this is what she looked like the next day...

There is no need to worry about our young princess. Thankfully her fairy godmother won a (more than) one year supply of bandages and was able to fix her up with style! She is recovering nicely at the House o' Glamour.

Haircuts and Loads of Ribbonliciousness

2008-10-30T13:21:00.010-05:00

The girls and I got our hair cut on Saturday. The highlight for Emily is sweeping up her hair and brushing it into the magic box that sucks it into the wall!And, Mia was trying to give Ms. Joyce a hand by combing her hair while Joyce was trying to cut it!
This is what the floor looks like under my desk when I'm working on Ribbonlicious Bag Tag orders. This is only a small portion of the ribbon scraps because the girls like to collect them in little bags and a lot of them get tracked all over the house from being stuck to my feet or clothes when I get up.And, a sampling of what I've been working on. There are several new designs that will be available on my Li Tian Designs website soon!

Owwwwwwww!

2008-10-26T21:32:00.000-05:00

They lay like this all the time! Ah...to be young and limber!

FREE Class with Jessica Sprague

2008-10-25T15:22:00.002-05:00

Jessica Sprague (super talented photographer and digital scrapbooker) is offering a FREE online class - Stories in Hand - starting November 9th. The instructor-led class will cover:

Techniques for capturing memories from our own lives and from others

Dozens of prompts for stories you might have forgotten

A cool system for capturing the stories happening in your life right now, AND for listing the stories you have yet to tell

Technologies you can use to help you gather your stories together with photos, video, your blog, or any other media you have that gives a peek into your life

And we will make a REALLY CUTE project! (You’ll find out the supply list when you register). You are not required to have Photoshop to complete the project.*

*From Jessica's class description on her website.

Hop on over to Jessica's blog to read the story that inspired the class, then visit JessicaSprague.com to learn more about the class and to get registered. It's free, but you do need to register.

I registered last week, got my supplies together today and am anxiously waiting for the class to start. I hope to see you there!

Busy, Busy, Busy

2008-10-22T15:33:00.019-05:00

This is what we've been up to this month...

Sea World!

Waiting for the Shamu show to begin...

A few friends...the whole park was decorated for Halloween.

Emily did NOT want her picture taken with the spiders!

One of our favorite things at Sea World...feeding the dolphins.

After being splashed right in the face by one of the dolphins!

Emily's First Field Trip...the Kindergartener's went to the Pumpkin Farm!

Choosing the perfect pumpkin is hard work.

Emily and her friend "N"...finally found the perfect pumpkins!

I believe that the ride on the school bus (her first) was the real highlight for Emily!

Story Telling Festival
My kids coloring fabric squares that will be made into a quilt.

Mia perfecting her hopscotch technique.

Showing the mosaic tiles they made earlier in the day.

Photo taken by Emily while we waited for the story telling to begin.

And, some fall cuteness...

A Little of This and That

2008-09-19T15:47:00.004-05:00

- Today marked the end of Emily's first 4 weeks of Kindergarten. There have only been a few times when she told me that she didn't like school or didn't want to go. I finally caught on that this happens when she finds out (or she thinks) that Mia and I are doing something fun while she's at school. Uh-oh! Gotta be careful there!

- We are counting down to our long weekend at Sea World and to Emily's first field trip, which is the Wednesday after we get back from Sea World. I can't determine if she's more excited about the field trip or her first ride on a school bus. I'm thinking it's the school bus!

- I bought a really nice brown shirt/jacket at Ro.ss the other day for $14.99. I wasn't so crazy about the buttons...actually, I didn't like them at all! So, I spent $20 on new buttons today. Seriously! When did buttons get so expensive?! But it will look really nice and I know that I'm going to get a lot of wear out of this shirt that I can throw on as a jacket over another shirt for a totally different look. I better after spending $35 for a shirt that I thought I was buying for $15!

- It's starting to feel like fall around here and I love it! After enduring way too many 100+ degree days when it was too hot for the girls to outside, highs in the 80s feel like fall! The mornings have been awesome...a little chilly even!

-I recently caught a glimpse of our future...

Emily is chatting on the phone with Grammy and Pop Pop. I know that some day it will be her girlfriends and then, someday far far far in the future it will be a boy. Gasp!

Have a fantabulous weekend!

What to do...

2008-09-13T21:11:00.009-05:00

On a rain soaked day thanks to Ike? Dig through a bunch of half finished digital kits and get designing again! And, I completed a brand new kit named after Erin's baby daughter, Meisey. The translation of Meisey's Chinese name indicates that her middle name means "butterfly", so I present a long overdue freebie...Butterfly Baby!

And, a layout using one of the photos that came with their referral for Meisey! We can't wait for Bob, Erin and Mollianne to bring her home, so that Mia can "tickle her and teach her how to talk!" Watch out Erin if Mia is going to teach her to talk!

I packaged another whole kit today that I will post later this week when it will hopefully feel a little fall-like (at least in the morning)...oh yeah, there's a littel hint regarding the theme of the kit!

You can pick up the kit at 4Shared by clicking on either of the previews above. If you're new to my designs, visit my other blog Caffeine Created Designs for more free kits still that are still available!

My Sidekick

2008-09-09T08:22:00.005-05:00

This is the view from my desk this morning...Hattie - my sweet fur baby who is either under my desk or laying on the daybed in my office when I'm working!

Look Where You're Going...Not at Your Feet!

2008-08-29T11:47:00.006-05:00

Remember how this excursion ended for Mia? Today I decided that our "curriculum" would include physical education (using our big muscles to push the pedals), physics and geometry (getting from point A to point B in a straight line). It was a much better experience for us and I got a good workout running backwards down the sidewalk shouting directions and encouragement. Hopefully, all of my neighbors were at work today!

I think that I'm getting the hang of this!

And, I forgot that I took this photo yesterday after Emily got home from school. They really do play together nicely...sometimes!

Have a fantastic Labor Day weekend!

Hello Kindergarten!

2008-08-28T20:26:00.009-05:00

According to Emily she has "been waiting for this for forever!" She is finally in Kindergarten and she couldn't be happier. The first day of school (Monday) was a short day for the Kindergarteners because it was basically an orientation for the parents -- carpool line protocol, make sure they can pull up, button, zip, snap whatever you send them to school wearing, their daily schedule, and lots of other subjects from A to Z! We left at 10 AM, which was a real let down for Emily since she was ready to spend the day.

Monday Morning...

Tuesday Morning...the first real day of school!

We all did quite well the first day of school...no tears from any of us. I did feel a little emotional on Wednesday when I walked her to the door and wasn't allowed to go inside with her unless I wanted to walk around to the front to sign in. The counselor was at the door and she assured Emily that she would take her to the gym to wait for her teacher. All of a sudden my baby girl was trotting down the hallway...sigh.

Mia was very grumpy on Tuesday and asked several times when we would be going to get Emily at school. I guess that she missed her! However, now that she realized that she has my undivided attention while Emily is at school, she hasn't been very interested in when we're getting Emily.

Emily has been getting up very early in the morning...like 5:30 AM! After she had a meltdown at dinner tonight, I tried to encourage her to stay in bed in the morning to get some more rest because her days are going to get even busier at school. I asked her why she gets up so early and she said to me, "Because I'm so excited to get to school!" Now that makes me very happy, but that time between 5:30 and 6:30 AM is Mommy's quiet time and I savor that hour!

I hope everyone had (or will soon have) a great start to the new school year!

Women of Faith

2008-08-24T13:03:00.005-05:00

Hey y'all! I just returned from the Women of Faith conference and let me tell you...my sides still hurt from laughing so much! I've cleaned up the mascara from a little crying...not much, but music just gets to me sometimes (for example, Nicole C. Mullen singing "Redeemer" yesterday).

Girlfriends, I know that I said it last year, but I'm going to say it again...if you have the opportunity to attend Women of Faith at any time...GO! If you have to make some effort or sacrifice to get there...GO! It will be worth it!

The "girls on the porch" have so much more than faith. They are women of faith, women of wisdom, women of compassion, women of wit, women of song, women of laughter, women of tears, women of giving, women of integrity. The Women of Faith...they ooze faith, they sing faith, they share faith, they encourage faith. I just adore the Women of Faith organization...all they do for women -- young and old -- around the world is simply remarkable. For example, their work with World Vision has inspired our family to sponsor a little boy in Haiti named Emerson (more on him later).

There are just a few photos of the event...we were having way too much fun, but here are the few that I have. I'm sure that you'll see more from Erin and Robyn.

I always thought that I was a little off kilter, but apparently, according to Anita Renfroe (the funniest woman on the planet), It's Probably Just My Thyroid. Whew!
And, the girls that I love to hang with on the porch. We already have next year's Women of Faith event on our calendars!

Tomorrow...Kindergarten orientation for me and Emily.

Tuesday...Emily's first day of Kindergarten!

Big Changes!

2008-08-21T14:21:00.007-05:00

We're getting ready for some big changes around the House o' Glamour. Emily is starting school next week. Tuesday will be her first full day. On Monday, she and I will go to school from 8:30 - 10:00 for orientation. I'm thinking that this is more for the parents than the kids!

But, we started with our first big change today. Emily has been asking to have her hair cut like mine, so before she pulled a Mollianne, I decided to take her to get it cut.

Before...

After...

This photo takes my breath away...she looks so grown up! Thanks Ms. Joyce...we love it!

And, thanks for letting my glamour girl play dress up at your house!

Hand Me a Paper Bag Please

2008-07-25T17:17:00.004-05:00

This nearly makes me hyperventilate. This is Emily's desk drawers...
Seriously! It took my breath away when I saw this today!

This is what my desk area looks like...
I will readily admit that it doesn't always look like this. It gets to be quite a mess when I'm working on a project, but it doesn't stay that way for long. I cannot stand disarray!

It is very hard, but I think that I might have to accept that Emily is not neat and organized. Sigh... She is a pack rat. Gasp! Of course, I will try to show her the ways of the organized, but I fear that it will only end in frustration...for both of us!

By the way, the top of Emily's desk is cleared off only because I moved it to a new location. It will likely be piled high with her "treasures" within a few hours. Breathe in...breathe out...breathe in...breathe out...

Daddy's Birthday!

2008-07-21T14:58:00.009-05:00

We celebrated Chuck's forty...second birthday on Saturday. It was a mellow affair at home, which is exactly what he wanted and what we all needed after having a busy week after returning home from vacation. I don't know why most of these photos are blurry...guess I'll take a look at one of the gifts that I got for Chuck...The Digi.tal Photo.graphy Book by Scott Kelby.

Hmmm...wonder what's in this big bag?

An iced tea maker! Notice that the girls chose to dress up in their "party clothes" to celebrate with Daddy!

Everybody wants to know what's in this bag...especially since Daddy has already pulled out several pieces of tissue paper.

Although he is smiling pleasantly, he is processing that his crazy wife bought him Guitar Hero: Legends of Rock...WHICH WE ALREADY OWN! Grrr...don't ask!

If you watch "So You Think You Can Dan.ce", you get this. If you don't watch, continue to the next photo.

Getting a little help from his girls.

And, just some general Glamour Girl cuteness!

Vacation Photos!

2008-07-17T19:00:00.017-05:00

I hope that you've caught your breath after the shock of seeing another post from me in the same month! And, it's less than a week since we returned from our vacation in Pennsylvania and here I am with photos! This is a very small selection of the gazillions of photos that I have between my camera, Chuck's camera and my dad's camera.

Mia and Emily all decked out for our Independence Day picnic!

Snuggling with Pop Pop.

Crafts with Pop Pop's fishing supplies.

Mia's fishing lure necklace...it's going to be the next craze on the runways in Paris!

Goofing around with Daddy.

Reading time with Grammy.

Having a blast on the rides on the boardwalk!

A very windy day at the Jersey shore.

I just love this photo. The girls loved the sand and water!

Corn on the cob that we bought at an Amish farm!

Yum! Emily loves corn on the cob!

Mia preferred to lick off the butter...we ended up cutting the corn off the cob for her!

Emily has been looking forward to fishing with her Pop Pop for the longest time and she finally got her chance on a trip up to the Poconos.

Hey! This doesn't look big enough for dinner!

I hope you enjoyed that little sampling of our vacation photos. I still need to download the photos from Chuck's camera, so I'll have more...soon!

What Happened to...

2008-07-01T20:37:00.012-05:00

the month of May? My mom gave me the ultimate dig when she said that she had to visit my friends' blogs to see photos of her granddaughters. Ouch!

Mia wearing Uncle Fred's helmet...

Sweet sisters watching a movie together...May 19...First 100 degree day...we've had many more since this day!Emily on stage at her Preschool graduation...Emily's last day of Preschool. She wore this same outfit on her first day of school back in August! Our nature girls...And then, June seemed to slip by quickly too...

God's (and Our) Little Princesses...
At their cousin's high school graduation party...

I hope to be a better blogger the rest of this summer. Take notice that I didn't promise to be a better blogger, but I'll try! We have been having a great time this summer and I'm having a hard time finding the time to blog about it! I will try though!

House o' Glamour Happenings

2008-04-24T16:23:00.005-05:00

Have you ever had those times in your life when you’re doing and doing and doing, but then, you look back and can’t put your finger on exactly what you’ve been doing? Obviously, we’ve been a bit busy because I haven’t blogged here at My Glamorous Life for quite a few days...a week, maybe? How do people blog every day? Here’s a bulleted recap of the past week or so…

Our friends Valerie and Gary received their precious little girl – Aubriana – yesterday afternoon in the elevator lobby of a hotel in China! She is absolutely beautiful. Valerie says that she is very healthy and a total mama’s girl. Congratulations “Galery”!!
Mia saw our favorite Pediatric Ophthalmologist today. She is doing well, but is favoring her left eye again. Therefore, we’re going to start patching her left eye for about two hours a day to give her right eye a workout again! Of course Dr. Wang gave her anything she asked for, so she came home with 4 lollipops, a fist full of stickers and a little felt flower.

I got a design job! I am so excited about this fabulous opportunity. I’m designing Parent Success Cards for a developmental remediation center in Michigan. I am doing the artwork for 50 two-sided cards with inspirational messages and reminders for the parents and caregivers of children with developmental disabilities. The director contacted me after she heard about me from a client who recently returned from China with their child. Thank you so much to the person who made this referral! It’s a great project that I’m really excited about!

I am still creating digital scrapbook goodies and posting them at Caffeine Created Designs. And, I’ve been busy making Ribbonlicious Bag Tags too! I am doing several for end of the year gifts for teachers. Keep them in mind when you’re looking for something to say thank you to your children’s teachers. Yes, a shameless plug for my store! I already gave Emily’s teachers tags for Christmas, so I need to come up with something else for the end of the year. What they really need (and deserve) after nine months with 12 pre-K kiddos is a spa day!

Emily and Mia are now officially sharing a room. You know what that means? I get my dream come true…my very own craft room/office! I get to move all of my stuff out of the upstairs “loft”, which is really just a big hallway. I just want to be clear that I didn’t kick Mia out of her room. They always ask if Mia can sleep in the bottom bunk in Emily’s room, so a few weeks ago she started going in there every night to go to bed and I let her. It’s working just fine and I hope that it will actually help them develop a stronger bond. Emily will frequently get in the bottom bunk with Mia in the morning and my heart swells when I hear them talking and giggling over the monitor.

Last weekend, we went to Avery’s Welcome party and of course, we had a blast! We took the opportunity to take a Mommies and their girls photo. We have a few more girlies that we’re waiting for who will complete this photo!

Closet Disparity

2008-04-14T17:52:00.008-05:00

Much to the delight of the girls (NOT!), we spent the morning trying on warm weather clothes to figure out who fits into what…or more accurately, what no longer fits Emily. That child outgrows clothes overnight! At the conclusion of my biannual closet reorganization, we ended up with this disparity...

Mia's warm weather wardrobe... And, Mia also has several pair of shorts on the shelf in her closet.

Emily's warm weather wardrobe...Emily has no other warm weather clothes in her closet expect for a variety of vacation t-shirts.

What makes this crazy is that even though Mia has twice as many summer clothes as Emily, I know that Emily has two, three and quite possibly ten times more clothes than many children in the United States. In the past, I would sell the outgrown clothes to consignment, so that I could buy more clothes. This summer, I've decided to donate all their clothes. When I would return to the consignment shop and see what they didn't take, I would get bent out of shape. Seriously?! There are families right here in my community who are going to be so thankful to have every piece of clothing that my girls have outgrown and in many cases only wore once or twice.

Thank you Heavenly Father for opening my eyes and my heart to those in need. Please bless and protect the children who will wear the clothing that once covered my daughters.

Replace Worry with Trust

2008-04-07T15:08:00.004-05:00

We’re moms. We worry about things, right? What do you worry about? Do you worry about your child’s performance in school? Do you worry about their health? Do you worry about keeping them safe?

Have you ever worried about not being able to feed your child? Have you ever worried where your family would sleep tonight?

Do you worry that your child won’t make the elite gymnastics team? Do you worry about how you’ll afford those expensive sneakers that all the other kids are wearing? Do you worry about having a new car or the most beautifully decorated house?

Yesterday, our pastor preached on replacing worry with trust. Bruce is a very smart man and has many wonderful insights when it comes to helping us understand God’s Word. Sometimes I take notes at church and sometimes I am so intent on listening to the message that I don’t take any notes. I took a ton of notes this week!

I’ve tacked my note sheet right here beside my computer so that I can refer to it when I feel worry filling my head and heart. I thought that I would share a few of my notes.

The Bible gives us seven reasons why we should not worry:

Worry is trivial.
God will provide.
Worry is impotent…it accomplishes nothing.
God with clothe you.
Worry is a lack of faith…remember that faith slays worry.
Worry is pagan.
Worry doubts the Father’s care…He will provide!

Rather than worry, we should use our time and energy to pursue God’s kingdom. How? Jesus tells us in Luke 12:33-34 to “Sell your possessions and give to those in need. This will store up treasure for you in heaven! And the purses of heaven never get old or develop holes. Your treasure will be safe; no thief can steal it and no moth can destroy it. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.” (NLT)

Of course, Bruce confirmed that this doesn’t mean to sell everything we own. Whew! It does mean that rather than focusing on the material things of this world, and, getting more and more for ourselves, our focus should be on what will be most valuable to us in heaven – our relationship with God and our relationship with people.

I will wrap up this post with two more points that Bruce made that I will stay with me. And, if I get off course, I have my notes tacked right here to remind me!

There is a big difference between wise concern and worry. Wise concern is about making smart choices – saving for retirement or our children’s education. Worry gets you nowhere. If you worry without taking some sort of action and responsibility for yourself, you will not gain anything.

Finally, he reminded us that worry (and I’d like to add complaining) is like a rocking chair…it gives you something to do, but gets you nowhere. This made me laugh, but it sure makes a good point, doesn’t it?!

I don’t typically summarize Sunday’s sermon here on my blog, but this was too good not to share!

Cute puppy print from www.gods-inspirational-world.com

Two of my very favorite things...

2008-04-02T19:06:00.004-05:00

Can you guess?

If you know me just a little bit, you may have guessed...

Shoes! Of course! But, what makes these beautiful shoes special is that they are made of chocolate! Aren't they gorgeous? Almost too pretty to eat. This little shop - Gayle's Chocolates - has some very unique chocolatey gifts. Very glamourlicious!

A Few Words

2008-03-26T11:39:00.008-05:00

Why there are no photos of the girls from Easter morning...

Yes, the fancy schmancy SLR camera allows you to take "photos" even when the card is not in the camera. What kind of design is that?

A long while ago, I put "create about me layouts" on my Digiscrap To-Do List. I got inspired this week and created these.

I made this page after an amazing Easter service on Sunday. The choir kicked off the service with a fabulous celebration of Jesus’ resurrection. My heart was bursting with joy and you could see the joy on the choir member’s faces as they sang and swayed and raised their hands in celebration. Kudos to our Worship Team...they rocked! And, my husband and I took a symbolic walk through the door to reaffirm our belief and faith in our Savior Jesus Christ. What an awesome day!

I just finished up these two "about me" layouts today.

Credits for above layouts:
The Door: Background Paper from Just Plane Cute by Laura Deacetis (Sweet Shoppe Designs), Photo from ClipArt, Fonts: Euphorigenic and Scriptina

A Few Words About Me: Everything from Altered Book 1 by Jackie Eckles (Little Dreamer Designs) except for the following: Flowers and Frame from Made of Awesome by Eva Kipler & Amanda Rockwell; Ribbon from A Groovy Kind of Love by Lori Barnhurst (Little Dreamer Designs)

Best Friends: Background newspaper by me; Curled edge paper from Ulimate Edges by Ake Pangestuti (SophiaSarducci.com); Notepaper and ribbon from A Groovy Kind of Love by Lori Barnhurst (Little Dreamer Designs); Paper clips from Altered Book 1 by Jackie Eckles (Little Dreamer Designs); Women of Faith CD and book images from Amazon.com

Our God is so Great!

2008-03-24T05:57:00.003-05:00

As with motherhood, you've got to be flexible and accept that things may not get done exactly when you expected. This whole wait has been reminding us of that lesson...right down to actually getting Avery. Here we "Aunties" were in Texas, praying and lighting candles and waiting to hear from Robyn until we started getting punchy. We started wondering off to bed around 11 PM...I was first, of course, because I'm a morning person! Only to find out this morning that they didn't get Avery until 2 PM (China time)/3 AM (our time)! This photo took my breath away...and, there are more photos of Paul and Robyn's "gotcha" moment here.

What more can I say? God is so GREAT!

Prayers

2008-03-23T21:52:00.001-05:00

From half a world away, Robyn’s posse is praying and lighting candles at the moment that Robyn and Paul are meeting their baby girl. I missed the candle lighting at 9 PM, but I was praying. Today has been such an incredible day for me, but to be topped off with one of my best friends getting her baby is indescribable!

The candles are at Erin’s, Christie’s and Valerie’s place. I’ve got a glow in my heart for my dear friend that is brighter than any candle that I could have lit!

My Chicks

2008-03-22T15:13:00.003-05:00

Papers, ribbon, alpha tags from my Spring Garden kit (freebie at CaffeineCreatedDesigns.blogspot.com); knotted twine is mine (not available yet); flowers and leaf from Renewal by Tammy Conlan & Kristi Mahrt; fonts: Script MT Bold with flower above i from Chicks font

Adorable t-shirts from Easter goodie box sent by Grammy & Pop Pop; adorable girls are mine!

Rainy Day Craft, etc.

2008-03-20T13:45:00.006-05:00

It rained here all day on Tuesday...All DAY...RAIN...POURING RAIN...two "bored" little girls...bring out the crafts!

Background paper and white swirl from my 1965 Kit, red paper used for title from my Chinese New Year Kit, Atomic Cupcake cut out action (title) and rub-on action (swirl), paint splatter brushes from BittBox, font: Pussycat

I participated in a Photo Swap this month at ScrapArtist...you get matched with someone and swap photos to do a layout for the other person. I made this layout for Sarah. She lives in Australia which is why they are tan in January! That's Sarah with her Mum and Dad on her 30th birthday.All papers and flower from Made of Awesome kit, Eva Kipler and Amanda Rockwell; cardboard tag and string by me; Atomic Cupcake Action for chipboard letters; Christine Smith Custom Shadow Action

And, she made is fabulous layout for me. Isn't it awesome? I just love it!

Everything from Tara Dunstan Designs' Delightful Essence kit, rhinestone from Tara Dunstan Designs' Sarrera Valley kit.

That's all for now! I'm busy finishing up a HUGE kit that will be posted at Caffeine Created Designs soon.

My Glamorous Makeover

2008-03-18T10:38:00.001-05:00

What glamour girl doesn’t love a makeover and a bit of pampering?! I was lucky enough to win a blog makeover from Becky of Lady in Waiting Blog Design during the last Bloggy Giveaway Carnival. Well, I finally finished the high heel shoe and pink sneakers graphic that I had in my head for a long time, sent it to Becky and she whipped this up for me. Don’t you just love it?!

Becky is such a gem to work with and her prices for blog headers and total redesigns are so reasonable. She started her blog design business to help fund their pending adoption from China. She currently has a beautiful daughter from China and three handsome boys.

If you’re looking for a blog makeover, you must visit Becky at Lady in Waiting Blog Design. You won't be sorry!

After you’ve placed your blog makeover order with Becky, head over to Touching Lives…One At a Time. This is Becky’s brainchild and I think it’s just brilliant! Becky says the following about the Touching Lives blog, “This blog is dedicated to giving you a place to shop that supports adoption and adoptive families. Everyone listed on this blog is trying to raise money either for their family to adopt or to help other families adopt. If you want to support adoption - this is the place to shop!!”

When does she sleep?!

Thanks Becky! I love my new look…since I know that you loved working with this perfectly pink design, the Glamour Girls and I have dubbed you and Chloe honorary Glamour Girls!

This and That and A Little More of This

2008-03-15T15:59:00.005-05:00

A miscellaneous hodge-podge of stuff from the House o' Glamour…

Emily went to see her ENT on Monday. She doesn’t have to go back for a year unless the frequent illnesses start again. She has been sleeping so well that I have had to wake her up for school every day this week. This is the kid who was getting up at 5 AM. We’re wondering if she’s sleeping longer because she isn’t waking up all congested and having a hard time breathing when she was laying down. Whatever the cause, the result is an entirely new morning routine at the House o’ Glamour!

I had a small mishap with the garage door this week. Ever since we got the van, I’ve been afraid that I wouldn’t pull far enough into the garage and the door would close on the van. Well, it happened! As the garage door slid not so smoothly down the back of my van, I felt like I was moving in slow motion to get my hand up to push the button to stop the door from moving. It’s not pretty. My darling hubby was very understanding…after all he did back the van into his father’s car just weeks after I got the van!

I have a goal/mission/desire/hope to lose 15 lbs. before my 45th birthday. For some reason, thinking about this milestone birthday is getting to me. I was totally fine with 30 and 40 was a lot of fun…I was getting ready to become a mom for the first time. But, 45 is weighing heavy on me. The muffin top that is protruding over the top of my pants is not helping. So, I’m going to lose 15 lbs. before I turn 45 on May 27th. That’s 72 days from today…10 weeks and 2 days…that would mean that I will have to lose about 1.5 lbs. per week. I can do that! Bye-bye muffin top!

The guest room is all tidy and I love it again!

The girls ask me if they can sleep together every night when we’re getting ready for bed. Emily does have a bunk bed in her room and they do quite well when Mia “has a sleep over” in Emily’s room. Hmmmm…maybe a craft room is in my future sooner than I thought!

We’re all going out for dinner tonight and then, to do a little shopping. I’m so excited! I feel like I’m going on a date because I will have someone over the age of 5 to talk with over dinner. I’ve missed my hubby this week!

To close, here’s a layout that I did for a ScrapArtist challenge last week. The challenge: "Look around and find something special that speaks to your heart...This special something should have no monetary value. Journal a story about why this is so special to you. Speak to the person that will receive this item after your gone! Remember to tell them how to care for it too." I scrapped about my Grammy’s button box.

Journaling: I remember looking through this button box when I was a little girl. It belonged to my Grammy; your Grammy's mother; your Great Grandmother. Soon after Emily learned how to count, I asked your Grammy if I could have the button box so that we could use the buttons to pratice counting, matching and making patterns. I still enjoy looking at all the different types of buttons collected in this box over the years. I hope that both of you will have fond memories of Grammy's button box. Enjoy looking at them, imagining who's dress or jacket once held each button. Use them for your crafts or school projects and add to the box too. Mostly, I want you to share Grammy's button box with your children when I am the Grammy.

Papers: Amanda Rockwell & Eva Kipler, Made of Awesome (solid beige paper recolored for journaling); Alpha: Nancie Rowe Janitz, Shmootzy Alpha 2 - both from ScrapArtist.com; Font: CK-Ali's Writing

Shocking!

2008-03-13T12:16:00.004-05:00

My friend Erin will be shocked...and, quite possibly a little pleased...to see that our guest room looks like this:

Although Erin is my best friend and knows a lot about me, she is under the misguided perception that my house is always cleaned up. Now it's true that I can't stand mess and clutter, but it is also true that there are times when it all goes haywire! No glamour happening here!

This room is driving me crazy and making me feel guilty because I can see into it from where I sit at my computer. So, no digital scrapping or design this afternoon...I'm cleaning up that room! It's going to be so much FUN!

My Protector

2008-03-12T07:16:00.004-05:00

Today, I'm sharing a layout featuring my protector, my sweet puppy and fur baby, Hattie.And, a little story about Hattie...Chuck has been out of town this week and we have always said that Hattie acts differently when he is away. She is more protective and has a different, fiercer kind of bark when someone comes to the door and Daddy isn't here.

Yesterday morning...around 3:50 something, Hattie launched me out of bed with a bark that I have never heard. Someone had opened my bedroom door. Thankfully, she is so in tune that she immediately realized that it was Emily standing at the door and stopped.

I have no worries that anyone who dares enter our house without being invited will not live to tell about it!

Needless to say that I was up for the day after that wake up! My heart was pounding and the adrenaline was pumping...it was awhile before I needed any coffee yesterday!

Journaling on the layout: We had no idea what to expect when we chose you the 2nd day of 2002. You were named "Girlfriend". You were timid and covered with the remnants of a horrible case of fleas. You had a scab on your nose and no whiskers from a month of sticking your nose through the fence on your cage at the SPCA. You were the only dog who was not barking. You just sat with a sad look waiting for a family to choose you. It was estimated that you were about 2-1/2 years old. We later learned that you were horribly abused and in need of much love. We brought you home and renamed you Hattie. You have given us so much more than we could have ever expected.

Credits: Papers, bow & buttons from Autumn Beauty by designs by krista FREEBIE from HEYITSJUSTME-KRISTA.BLOGSPOT.COM-9/2007; frame, tag & alpha from Altered Book Kit 1 by Jackie Eckles (Little Dreamer Designs); half circle text template from Jessica Sprague.

Snow!

2008-03-08T10:42:00.005-06:00

Click on image to view larger.

Since it's nearly impossible to get a decent photo of the girls together...especially when they're running in every direction picking up snow, I decided to do a 2-page layout for a challenge that I found at this new (to me) digital scrap site -- pickleberrypop. Great designs and reasonable prices and loads of fun challenges!

This is a template challenge from Alice Koh to celebrate the launch of her designs on pickleberrypop. This is the template...Click on it to get information on Alice's launch and her challenge -- you can get a $3 GC for participating in the challenge!
Credits: Papers (white and blue) from the Christmas Needful paper pack by Natali Design and papers (pink and red) designed by Ann-Marie and Sarah Grimwood from the pickleberrypop Kit Bash Vol. 3. Both are available at pickleberrypop. Staples, stitching, border and frames were included with the template. The bow is colored by me from Jana McCarthy/ Hand-Made-Stuff Designs' Big Bows 8. Fonts: You Are Loved (title) and Black Boys of Mopeds (journaling and date)

This is so funny!

2008-03-07T09:31:00.003-06:00

So, this morning I got my weekly traffic report from Site Meter. The report gives me the number of hits per week (221), average site visits per day (32), etc. I can also go to their website for more detailed information. For some reason, I clicked on the link this morning and took a look at referrals…the places that people come from to my site.

The one that caught my eye was a G00gle search on “H0T Te@chers wearing H1gh Hee1s”. Seriously! That just cracked me up…bet that guy was disappointed when he got to this post…unless he has some sort of foot thing!

On to other things…

Yes, it’s true! We got boatloads of snow in Texas yesterday...our second snowfall this week! I just realized that this October will mark 10 years in Texas for me and this is the most snow that I’ve seen fall since I’ve been here. The girls were thrilled and had Daddy outside making a snowman. I was the photographer that kept running back in the house because I was FREEZING! I guess that my blood has really thinned out since my move here from Boston. I hope to get some of the photos scrapped this afternoon. In the meantime…

Don't make fun of their tall skinny snowman...Chuck is a bit out of practice...he's lived in Texas for 20 years!

Nap Time, Snow and A Shiner!

2008-03-04T07:36:00.005-06:00

Here with a quick page that I put together last night for a template challenge over at ScrapArtist. This is the first time that I ever used a template and it was kind of fun...and definitely very fast! I challenged myself to follow the template exactly as it was given to us. I must admit that I did add several embellishments, but ended up deleting them to stick with my original plan.

Journaling: Ever since Emily started school your naptime has been a bit messed up so you often nap on the go... Mia...February 2008

Everything is from Made of Awesome by Amanda Rockwell & Eva Kipler available at ScrapArtist

Come back for photos of the girls in the SNOW! Yup, we got our token dusting of snow here in Texas last night. Gotta run outside now because it will be gone soon with temperatures expected in the 60s this afternoon. Go figure!

Updated...with layouts of the girls out in the "snow"! There really wasn't much snow on the ground, but they had a blast trying to make snowballs.

I love to do grid layouts with square photos! It's my go-to layout when I have a lot of photos and can't decide which ones to use.
Everything is from Serenity©2006 by Angela Sharrow http://ang22022.blogspot.com

This is my "arsty" layout of three photos that I took this morning.

BackgroundPaper & Paper for Title from Autumn Harmony by Anita Designs (www.nanas-attic.blogspot.com); snowflake from Serenity by Angela Sharrow http://ang22022.blogspot.com; photo of Bradford Pear tree by me.

And, I just had to scrap this...Mia woke up with a black and blue eye this morning. We have no idea how it happened because her eye was fine when she went to bed last night. She told me that she got it from her bed. Oh, that girly of mine...

Papers (photo matte recolored), embellishments, and alpha from Spring Shadows Freebie by Amy Sheridan, Little Dreamer Designs Apprentice Program Contestant; Rhinestone swirly from Made of Awesome by Amanda Rockwell & Eva Kipler available at ScrapArtist.

Emily's Surgery

2008-02-28T09:12:00.004-06:00

Thanks for your prayers! Emily's surgery went well and she is doing very well recovering. Once again, I felt an incredible peace as I let nurses wheel away my baby to surgery. I knew that she was in His hands and that all was going to be well. Everyone at the Pediatric Surgery Center was fantastic and took great care of all of us. We arrived at 7 AM and were on our way home by 10 AM. Now we're praying that this surgery helps Emily stay healthy and have fewer illnesses.She had a rough time coming out of anesthesia, but calmed down once she downed a huge cup of apple juice and two ice pops...that was her breakfast!

Prayers Requested...

2008-02-25T15:00:00.002-06:00

Our 5 year old glamour girl, Emily is having surgery tomorrow morning to remove her adenoids. We thought that this was going to be sinus surgery, but after seeing the size of her adenoids on the CT scan films, we agreed with the doctor to get them out to see if it improves her health. Her sinus passage is still quite small, but it looked better after the 4 weeks of sinus washes and new medications. So, we’ll continue with the twice daily sinus washes (oh yea, they’re fun!) and meds to see how it goes.

Please pray for Emily, for a smooth procedure, for her doctors and nurses, and for her healing. And, pray for Chuck and me to have peace, patience and endurance as we care for Emily before and after the surgery. She understands what is going to happen and has quite a bit of anxiety about it.

I’ll post again sometime tomorrow following the surgery.

Celebrating the New Year

2008-02-13T20:36:00.003-06:00

Last Saturday, we went to a Chinese New Year celebration at an Asian art museum. In addition to the regular exhibits, they had several activities for the children. We made a mask, painted lanterns, decorated a drum and watched the lion and dragon dances. The day was topped off by a fabulous dinner at PF Changs with several of our friends...including our friends Robyn and Paul. Have you heard? They got their referral last Monday and are going to China to get their baby girl soon!

By the way, if you're a digital scrapbooker you can get the papers and elements (and more -excluding the photo of the dragon) that I used in the above layout on my blog, Caffeine Created Designs...it's a freebie!

Gong He Xin Xi

2008-02-07T16:02:00.000-06:00

Today, February 7, 2008 is the first day of the Lunar New Year...The Year of the Rat. Emily had the opportunity to share this Chinese festival with her preschool classmates today. They read books, made lanterns, decorated rats and had a lion dance parade with the other 4 year old class where her best friend is a student.

Of course I forgot my camera so I need to wait for Erin to send a few photos to me to post!

Photos of today's festivities will be posted soon (hint hint, E!) and I will remember to take my camera to the New Year activities that we're doing this weekend!

Winners Winners Everywhere!

2008-02-04T16:32:00.000-06:00

My Bloggy Giveaway Winners
Congratulations to Rachel at The Other Huse, Amanda at oh Amanda, and Lisa at Osborn Odds ‘n Ends! They each won a Ribbonlicious Bag Tag from my store Li Tian Designs.

The NY Giants
My darling husband’s beloved NY Giants are the XLII Super Bowl Champions! And, what makes it even sweeter is that we live deep in the heart of Cowboy country!

And, the Biggest Winners
My dear friends Robyn and Paul received their referral today for a beautiful baby girl currently living in China! Two and a half years ago (hard to believe that it was 2005), I gave a presentation at our local library to a room full of families interested in adopting from China. At the time referrals were arriving about 8 months after a family’s paperwork was logged in at the CCAA in China. Emily was 2-1/2 years old and Mia was unknown to us, still living in an orphanage in China. Little did I know that this couple who made me laugh when they asked, “We’re meat and potatoes folks. What will we eat in China?” would become such dear friends. By the way, my reply after a short pause was, “Chinese food!” Robyn and Paul filled out their application on the way home and began preparing their dossier. Six months later, their dossier was on its way to China. And, then the wait for referrals began to lengthen and lengthen and lengthen even more.

While waiting more than two years, Robyn never complained about a situation that she could not control even though I know that her heart longed for her daughter and her arms ached to hold her baby.

Today, their wait to see their precious daughter’s face ended! Head on over to Robyn’s blog to see Avery Christine Xian! If photos aren't posted yet, check back a little later...I just got my first look at her and she is absolutely adorable!

Happy Birthday Pop Pop!

2008-02-01T15:44:00.001-06:00

Today is my dad’s (better known in these parts as Pop Pop) birthday. I won’t divulge his age, but I will say that he’s been around the block a few times!

Here’s a scrapbook page that I put together of Pop Pop and His Girls. Yes Mom, I will print it for your book!
Pop Pop, we hope you had a fantabulous birthday today and that Grammy makes a cake for you. Emily thinks that it should be chocolate with red icing! We love you and miss you lots!

Bloggy Giveaway Carnival!

2008-01-28T08:00:00.000-06:00

Hi y’all! Thanks for stopping by to see what goodies you can win from Glamour Mommy!

In addition to being the busy mom to my two glamour girls, I own a home-based business – Li Tian Designs - where sell my Ribbonlicious Bag Tags©. My personalized bag tags are far from ordinary…they are simply ribbonlicious! Each tag is handmade and personalized with your name or initials. I have also just started making Ribbonlicious Bible Bookmarks.

Come poke around my website to find out a bit more about my Ribbonlicious Bag Tags and Bible Bookmarks! You might want to start on the Ribbonlicious Details page to find out how I create the tags and then, pop over to Bible Bookmark Details to find out about the bookmarks. Visit the About Me page to find out a bit more about me and my business. And then, of course, you’ll want to visit the All Ribbonlicious Bag Tags and All Bible Bookmarks pages to choose your favorite design because I’m giving away three Ribbonlicious Bag Tags or Bible Bookmarks…that’s right, three lucky winners will receive their very own personalized Ribbonlicious Bag Tag or Bookmark!

How my giveaway will work…

Leave a comment. Please only one comment per person. Please include your email address so that I can easily contact you!

Comments will close on Friday, February 1, 2008 at 11:59 PM and I will randomly choose the winners on Saturday morning.

I will contact the winners via email on Saturday. Please leave your email address so I can contact you!

All winners will have until 11:59 PM on Tuesday, February 5, 2008 to claim their prize by replying to me at LiTianDesigns@sbcglobal.net.

If all prizes are not claimed by 11:59 PM on Wednesday, February 6, 2008, I will select new winners until all prizes are awarded.

I regret that I am not able to offer my giveaway to readers outside the United States.

And, if you’re a digital scrapbooker, you can win right now! Visit my brand new blog – Kelley’s Caffeine Created Designs – to snag My First {Valentine} Kit freebie!

Glamour Girl-isms

2008-01-26T14:35:00.000-06:00

Some of the things that the glamour girls say crack me up and other things really make me think before I can answer.

It has been really cold here and while I was getting breakfast ready one morning Mia was complaining that she was cold, so I told her to go get under the blanket in my bed where her Daddy was still sleeping. Of course, he wasn’t sleeping long with Mia in the bed. So, they started chatting. All of a sudden Mia sat up, looked at Chuck and asked, “Daddy, where are your jammies?” I entered the room just in time to hear her question and burst out laughing. Of course that led to a game of trying to figure out who took Daddy’s jammies! I promised Chuck that I would add a disclaimer that he does not sleep in the nude, but he doesn’t wear a shirt.

Emily was congested and not feeling well again earlier this week. She was up at 4 AM one morning coughing, so I was sitting with her for awhile after I gave her medication and a drink of water. She had complained about having to take medicine and I was explaining that the medicine was necessary to help her get better. She was quiet for awhile and then said, “Mommy, I thought that Jesus healed everybody.” Gulp…pause…think, think, think. I finally pulled together an explanation saying that the stories that we have been reading about Jesus healing the sick all took place while he was here on earth. But, since he’s in heaven now, we need to pray to ask him to help heal us, so the healing might take a little longer.

These two girls are my joy, my reality check, my humor, and the loves of my life (in addition to Jesus and their awesome Daddy). I am so blessed!

Mother's Intuition

2008-01-24T19:14:00.000-06:00

Princess Emily had an appointment with an ENT this afternoon and we finally have some answers and a plan! After chatting at length with the doctor, she viewed the CT films that I brought with me. Our allergist had the CT scan done in June of 2007 at my request. Another doctor read the report, called me with the diagnosis of sinusitis, prescribed an antibiotic and I never heard anything else about the scan. When the ENT looked at the films today, she showed me where Emily’s nasal passages are completely blocked. There are actually two little bones that are kind of sideways in this small area where there is supposed to be an opening. This explains why her nose doesn’t run and why she can’t blow her nose. That’s where the mother’s intuition comes in! I knew that there was something else going on in her body other than just the allergies. Yes, she has allergies, but she also has no way to drain her sinuses other than swallowing it. So it gets infected and gets into her lungs and she gets bronchitis again and again and again.

What happens next? She’s on an aggressive treatment of various medications for the next three weeks to clear up any infection and reduce swelling in her sinuses. She’ll have another CT scan on February 18th. And, if this scan still shows that she is blocked, which the doctor believes she will be, she will have surgery on the 26th.

Although I am not looking forward to another one of my babies having surgery, I am so relieved and thankful that we’ve finally identified the problem! And, that it can be corrected!

Lifelong Friendship

2008-01-21T13:25:00.000-06:00

Last night, my darling husband got the girls ready for bed while I finished reading a book. There are few books that I’ve found hard to put down. But, I could not put down Cassandra King’s The Same Sweet Girls until I finished it!

The novel is about six women who would not have met or been likely to become friends if were not for a common location that brought them together (college roommate assignments). The novel begins when they are all in their 50s facing major life challenges. It is a wonderful novel about the friendship and relationships and good times and bad times and weaknesses and strengths and heartache and determination of a group of women who are all so different and who cannot imagine life without each other.

It’s a wonderful book that I highly recommend that you read and then, share with the same sweet girls in your life.

A few other books that I could not put down...
Safely Home by Randy Alcorn
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb

What are some of your “couldn’t put it down until I finished it” books?

Here I Am!

2008-01-19T09:10:00.000-06:00

Well, it appears that I took an unplanned, unannounced sabbatical from blogging. I’m not really quite sure what happened between October and the end of the year, but the time flew by and some things had to give. I didn’t even send Christmas cards this year!

We celebrated Mia’s 2nd Family Day on November 9 and Emily’s 4th Family Day on December 14. These two wonderful events were quickly followed by birthday celebrations – Mia’s 3rd birthday on December 27 and Emily’s 5th birthday on January 6.

I can’t believe how quickly my baby girls are growing up! Santa brought Emily a beautiful white desk for her room so that she can “do her work”. Mia is sleeping in her big girl bed without diapers and started gymnastics two weeks ago.

My parents spent almost a month with us over the holidays, which was wonderful and so enjoyable. Unfortunately, each and every one of us got hit with a nasty bug during the holidays. Chuck was down and out for Christmas and it hit me hard just in time for the New Year. Emily had bronchitis the week before Christmas and missed her preschool’s Christmas program. Mia was sick the week between Christmas and New Year, but little slows down our little energizer bunny. Grammy got sick Christmas week and Pop Pop got it the first week of the New Year. It was not so glamorous around here at all, but we kept our spirits up as best as we could! Here’s hoping that 2008 is a much healthier year for us!

And, here comes the recap in photos…

God is so GREAT!

2007-12-13T15:55:00.000-06:00

Two years ago this week Mia got her first pair of glasses…two weeks before her first birthday. And, today we received the glorious news that she would not need to wear glasses all the time now! She is still farsighted and will need to wear glasses to read, but the thick heavy glasses are gone. Praise our awesome God for answering my prayers! Her first glasses had prescription lenses that were +6.50. Her new prescription is +2.00. Praise God for leading me to Dr. Wang and for giving her such a wonderful gift!

Of course Mia returned from Dr. Wang’s with a shirt full of stickers and a fist full of lollipops…to share with her sister, of course!

BTW, for those of you who know me in real life...of course I cried when Dr. Wang gave me this wonderful news!

We Love Dr. Wang!

2007-12-07T15:04:00.000-06:00

A week ago (I am such a random blogger these days) Mia had her first visit with our Pediatric Opthalmologist since her surgery.

Dr. Wang came out to the waiting room to get Mia herself. As soon as Mia saw Dr. Wang she went running, threw her arms around her neck and yelled, "Dr. Wang! I love you!" Let me tell you, if it wouldn't totally freak her out, I would fling her arms around her neck and yell, "I love you, Dr. Wang!" too.

Before that first appointment, I was feeling really stressed out. Mia's eyes were blood red, she screamed when I put the drops in her eyes four times a day, and she had double vision. By the end of the appointment, I was totally calm and once again adoring Dr. Wang's detailed explanations and calm demeanor.

She immediately took off Mia's glasses because they are too strong and were pulling her eyes too far out (something that I couldn't see). Since she was favoring her right eye by closing her left, we would start patching for no more than one hour a day. Within two days, she was switching between the two eyes and closing one less frequently. Dr. Wang said that we would have to wait a few weeks before she could determine her new prescription. I'm hoping that she will be able to determine the new prescription when we have our next appointment on Thursday.

As of today, Mia's eyes are no longer red, she appears to see a single image again and her eyes are so straight. I wish that we would have found Dr. Wang when we first came home with Mia instead of struggling through two different doctors over 18 months.

Dr. Wang absolutely adores Mia and lets her go through the sticker drawer to pick out whatever she wants...and however many she wants. This is the result...

Thanks Dr. Wang!!

Update in Photos...

2007-11-29T12:01:00.001-06:00

We said goodbye to Mia's crib and hello to a big girl bed on November 21st.
Happy Thanksgiving! The four of us enjoyed a massive dinner with all the fixin's.

On November 24th, this adorable little guy showed up on our doorstep. The girls just finished getting ready for bed when the doorbell rang. Of course that's reason for much excitement in our house at any time of the day. Daddy opened the door to find a box addressed to Emily and Mia from none other than Santa! You can find out more about this little guy here.

Mia had surgery on both of her eyes on November 27th. The purpose of the surgery was to release the muscles that were pulling her eyes in toward her nose. She was a real trooper through the pre-op stuff and coming out of anesthesia. After we got home, she spent the afternoon laying on the sofa eating Gold Fish crackers. She has double vision right now (that the doctor confirmed as normal and expected when I called yesterday) and is still having some discomfort (the doctor also said that older kids have described it as feeling like they had sand in their eyes - ouch!). She hates the antibiotic drops that we need to use four times a day, but they seem to help alleviate some of the discomfort by lubricating her eyes. Unfortunately, she doesn't understand that and fights me with everything she has. She has her first follow up appointment with the doctor tomorrow (Friday), so I will post more after the appointment.

Thanks to all of you who knew about the surgery and prayed for us!

Day before surgery - November 26th

Just hanging out entertaining the nurses and doctors in pre-op...

After the "goofy juice"...I tried to convince the nurses to give me a few doses of the "juice" to take home with me! After a short gigglefest, she was in lala land.

At home after the surgery...

Day 1 after the surgery...

Happenings at the House o' Glamour

2007-11-07T18:17:00.000-06:00

One month ago today, it was our first full day of our vacation at Walt Disney World. I still haven’t had any time to make any scrapbook pages and here’s why…

Monday, October 25…Since it was a beautiful day we made plans to join a new playgroup at a park after we picked up Emily at school. Through a series of events, the “regulars” weren’t able to make it, but we went anyhow. I’m so glad that we went because we had a great time and a friend who I haven’t seen for too long showed up. What a wonderful surprise to get to play with Debra and Joy! I was so excited to catch up with Debra, that I forgot to take photos of the girls with Joy. I did get a few photos of the Glamour Girls though...

Saturday, October 27…The girls and I were invited to a Halloween Party in the afternoon. However, you will see photos of only Mia below because Emily picked today to draw on the carpet in the game room with markers. I seriously think that I was in shock when I discovered it because I didn’t yell at her. My head wanted to pop off, so I just walked out of the room. I think that had more of an impact than yelling about it. What really had the impact was explaining that because she made such a bad choice that she wouldn’t be able to go to the party. It broke my heart, but there was no way that I could let her go after her little indiscretion.
Monday, October 29…A day off from school and we had plans to go to the Pumpkin Farm with our best friends Mollianne and Erin. Unfortunately, we had to cancel. When we picked up the girls last night after our Bible study, Emily coughed the whole way home. In the morning, she had a stuffy nose, so we decided to take it easy. By the afternoon, she had a fever and was coughing and throwing up. Her fever hit 104 at bedtime, so I spent most of the night checking her temperature and making sure she was okay.

Tuesday, October 30…I called yesterday afternoon to get an appointment with our pediatrician for 11:45 today. Unfortunately, our regular and favorite pediatrician wasn’t available so we had to see another doctor. A good doctor, but not nearly as wonderful as our favorite. We finally got back home at 3:30 after a visit to the hospital for x-rays. She may have pneumonia or bronchitis. Whatever she has, she is very sick. *We finally found out that it was bronchitis.

Halloween Day…Or as we call it, “The Halloween That Wasn’t”…I was optimistic in the morning and dressed the girls in their Halloween outfits. I even had them sit by the pumpkins in our foyer for photos.

Emily was not in the mood to have her photo taken...

Daddy finally coaxed a smile out of her...

By the afternoon, Emily appeared to make a rally and we thought that we would be able to get out for a little trick-or-treating. She threw up at dinner and that was the end of her desire to trick-or-treat. I felt so sad because she had been looking forward to Halloween for months and Grammy and Pop Pop bought her a beautiful Cinderella costume at Walt Disney World. We will find an occasion for her to wear it soon!

So, last week was a crazy week of sleepless nights, breathing treatments, antibiotics and oral steroids as well as trying to keep the rest of us healthy and Mia entertained while I cared for Emily.

It was a long week and I’m happy to report that things are looking up this week! Emily returned to school on Monday and stayed the whole 5 hours. I was worried that she would need a breathing treatment or get too tired, but she was a champ and had a great day! And, she continues to feel better every day.

We’re returning to our regular pediatrician tomorrow for a follow up. I’m going to talk to her about seeing an ENT. I just have this feeling that there is something going on with Emily that’s being overlooked. I don’t see any improvement since we’ve started seeing the Allergy/Asthma Specialist. I am so frustrated at seeing my daughter get so sick so frequently.

And, finally a tidbit from our vacation...

Biker Chicks

2007-10-24T15:36:00.001-05:00

We recently bought new bikes for the girls. Emily got a pink Dis*ey Princess bike with training wheels and Mia got a Rad*o Flyer tricycle.

Once Chuck got the seat at the correct height, Emily took off!Mia has a challenge getting very far because she insists on looking at her feet and frequently finds herself stuck in the grass!This is how things ended on today's ride/walk around the block.

Mia got frustrated because she continued to drive into the grass and I got frustrated because I had to continue to rescue her. I carried the bike while she walked back home. We were both much happier!

Out from under the laundry piles

2007-10-18T16:04:00.000-05:00

Hey y'all!

Yes, we are home from Walt Disney World, everyone recovered from whatever plagued the House o' Glamour before we left, the girls did great traveling, we had a fabulous time, we have tons of photos (405...not including the ones that Pop Pop took on his camera), we ate too much and slept too little, we got 26 character autographs and made hundreds of memories! I can't wait to get started on the scrapbook pages, but I had to finish all the laundry first and get back into the swing of the real world.

Until I can find some time to get started on the scrapbook, here are a few photos from our fantabulous vacation !

We love Piglet!

Grammy and Pop Pop at Epcot.

Mulan and Mushu...she was so sweet!

My girls sharing a paper umbrella from China.

The Table

2007-10-02T15:53:00.000-05:00

I came home today after running a bunch of errands to find the table set up in our bedroom. Ooooo....we're getting serious now! We have the packing table set up!The last time we had the table set up, we were packing to go to China to get Mia. That was late October/early November of 2005. This is everything for the three of us for two weeks in China...

We're taking a lot more to Florida!

I also have this going in the guest bedroom. This is the girls' stuff, medicine, toiletries and things for the carry on bags.

Chuck has his clothes out on the table in our room, all the girls' clothes are ready and now I need to figure out what I'm going to take to wear. That will probably be my biggest challenge getting ready for this trip!

With each passing day, we each feel a bit better (yup, I caught whatever the girls had) and get more and more excited to get to Walt Disney World!

Grammy and Pop Pop are leaving on Thursday. Please keep them in your prayers as they are driving from Pennsylvania to Florida. They will meet us there on Saturday!

Numbers at the House o' Glamour

2007-09-29T07:59:00.000-05:00

7 – Days until we leave for Walt Disney World.
2 – Number of sinus infections at the House o’ Glamour (Emily & Mia).
3 – Prescriptions that I got filled yesterday.
4 – Number of breathing treatments that Emily is getting every day.
10 – Days they will be taking antibiotics.
3 – Suitcases that I’m preparing to pack this week.
2 – Cups of coffee that I’ve had this morning.
7 – Days until we leave for Walt Disney World.

Yes, the little glamour girls are sick…a week before we leave for vacation. We went to see our favorite pediatrician yesterday and she confirmed that both girls have sinus infections. So, we’re all about getting healthy here at the House o’ Glamour this week!

Here is an adorable photo that I took of Emily last night. She crashed on the sofa hugging her Heffalump and holding the stickers that she got yesterday from her doctor. Those stickers are like gold to her and she’s still holding them this morning! The precious treasures of a 4 year old!

Back in the Swing

2007-09-23T09:08:00.000-05:00

I'm back in the swing and on a digiscrapping roll! As I mentioned in my last post, I signed up to participate in a digiscrapping contest and it started this week. We got our first challenge to create a layout about our dream and we also had to use a brush in our layout. We post our layouts annonymously, but I'm pretty sure that none of the contest judges read my blog. I created this layout.

Credits: Everything is from the Stand Up and Scrap kit except for the alpha brush that I used to make the word "DREAM", which is from You're Beautiful by Christy Lyle. Both can be found at Sweet Shoppe Designs.

After I posted my layout, I looked at all the other designs in my category (Intermediate - no option for a Beginners category) and was blown away by the extravegant things that others are creating. Most of the time, I like to keep my layouts pretty simple without a lot of embellishment. Maybe this will give me courage to experiment a little more!

Speaking of experimenting... I've been experimenting with feathering the edges of photos. I like the way that the photo of Pooh Bear and Lumpy looked on this background paper after I feathered it. I think that I need to add a bit of journaling to this layout. One afternoon, Emily and Mia were quite busy playing upstairs. When I went to check on them, they had set up this elaborate picnic for Pooh and Lumpy.

Credits: Everything is from Shabby Tea Party by ShabbyPrincess.

And, I just finished this two page layout of photos from Emily's first day of school.

Top Layout Credits: Background paper from You're Beautiful by Christy Lyle (recolored);All other elements from Summer Picnic by SaraAmarie (denim photo mats frayed with Atomic Cupcake action, frame and denim tab recolored)

Bottom Layout Credits: Background paper from You're Beautiful by Christy Lyle (recolored);Denim photo mats, denim pocket, flower and button from Summer Picnic by SaraAmarie (denim photo mats frayed with Atomic Cupcake action; pocket recolored), Notebook paper from Fresh Start by ksharonk; Measuring tape from School Daze by ksharonk.

Summer Picnic and You're Beautiful can be found at Sweet Shoppe Designs.

Projects and Whatnot

2007-09-19T21:28:00.000-05:00

I can't believe that three weeks has passed since my last post! What in the world have I been doing that I haven't posted? It doesn't seem like a whole lot, but we've been busy!

I've driven Emily to and from school 11 times...adding approximately 330 miles to my van's odometer.
Chuck and I started a Bible study in 1 Peter.
I had several orders for Ribbonlicious Bag Tags and Bible Bookmarks.
I'm getting ready to participate in an event for women with home based businesses...I'm so excited about this opportunity!
I have started to make lists and prepare for our vacation...only 17 more days until our departure!
I signed up to participate in a digital scrapbooking contest. This is a first for me and today the first challenge was posted. I have an idea sketched out on notebook paper (another first for me), but I haven't actually started it yet. I have until Tuesday to submit my layout. I hope that I can get it to work in Photoshop the way that it looks in my head!
I've gone shopping for fall clothes for the girls and myself hoping that the weather will soon be cooler.
I've cleaned out and organized the coat closet and Mia's closet. I still need to tackle my closet and the guest room closet. How do they get cluttered up so quickly?

Nothing too exciting, but it all sure does fill up my days very quickly!

Here are photos of a little project that I'm working on for our vacation. I wanted the girls to have autograph books for our trip so they can get autographs from the characters that we meet at Walt Disney World. Of course, I didn't want them to be like everyone else's autograph book, so I've been on the lookout for blank books that I could embellish. I found these 6 x 6 scrapbooks at Wal-Mart with foam covers for $3.97 each.

I made personalized covers in Photoshop, cut them out and glued them on the front.Added a bit of ribbon (of course!) and they are done.I think that I'm going to give them a coat of acrylic sealer tomorrow to protect the cover design. And, then they'll be done!

For the autograph book project, I used the following: Background papers and papers used for Mickey ears and index card and ribbone from Sherbert kit by Pillowgirl. Black and white ribbon on Emily's book from Stand Up & Scrap kit by C Renee. Tinkerbell, pixy dust and word art by me.

First Day of School

2007-08-29T10:16:00.000-05:00

This morning I watched my daughter walk confidently to her classroom for her first day of preschool. It was sort of a surreal moment sending my first baby off to school. I’m so thrilled to watch my daughters grow and learn and explore, but I look back with a bit of longing to those days when I was their whole world. My mommy role is now changing and I’m looking forward to what He has in store for us!

The morning recap...

Backpack, lunch bag (inside backpack) and nap mat all ready to go.

I had a good breakfast and I'm ready for the day!

My big sister is going to school and I get all the toys to myself...[insert evil little sister laugh here].

I'm certain that this backpack did not look this big when we bought it!

At school looking cool!

Heading toward the door and many years of learning.

In my classroom waiting for my teachers and new friends to arrive.

By the way, there were not any tears this morning...hers or mine!

Finally, here's a "just gotta shake my head" moment. Yesterday, I read on Pandapalooza that Panda Girl got her once long hair cut into a very chic little bob. It looked so cute and I commented, "I wish that I could convince Emily to go for a short bob, but she insists on keeping it long even when we're combing out the tangles." After her bath last night, Emily told me that she wanted me to cut her hair. I asked her if she wanted it short like Mia's expecting that she would insist that I cut just a little. Instead, the little stinker says, "Yes mommy, I want short hair like Mia's up to here," as she cupped her hands right below her ears! I was a little nervous to do a cut like that myself, so I just cut off about 4 inches and told her that we would make an appointment with Ms. Joyce if she still wanted it short. Seriously?!

Hmmmm...sure is kind of quiet around here!

Update to add...I picked up Emily at 2 PM this afternoon and as of 4:30 PM, I only know that she had fun...no further details before she crashed!

Women of Faith

2007-08-27T15:53:00.000-05:00

This weekend, I had the pleasure of attending the Women of Faith conference with Christie, Robyn and her momma Martha, and Erin and her mom Barbara. What an event! There we were in an arena with 16,000 other women (and a few men - ??) laughing, crying, cheering, singing, sitting on the edge of our seat and mostly celebrating and rejoicing in the love of our heavenly Father! It is nearly impossible to describe to someone what it was like in that arena. Women know how to celebrate our King! And, when you get the Women of Faith ladies on the stage, it’s exhilarating! When He created these women who entertained, inspired and encouraged us this weekend, He did better than good! Each of the ladies on the Women of Faith team blew my socks off. They are all classy, funny, smart, and lovers of Jesus and many of them can sing…not just sing, but s-ING! If you ever have the opportunity to attend a Women of Faith conference, don’t hesitate…just sign up and go! Better yet, go online and sign up for the next one that is near you. You will be so glad that you did! And, don’t forget to take tissues…you will cry and you will laugh so hard that you will cry!

One word of advice…use the break period prior to Anita Renfroe taking the stage wisely. If you do not use the restroom and choose instead to stand in line to buy something to drink, do not blame me if you pee your pants or snort your beverage of choice out your nose. This woman made me laugh so hard that I was sobbing – tears were pouring down my face and I could barely breathe!

Jump! Jump! Slide!

2007-08-22T08:10:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, we joined our playgroup at an indoor play area. The girls had a great time jumping and mostly sliding down this huge inflatable slide!

Most of the girls in the lobby getting ready to have lunch.

(L to R: Emily, Miss Firecracker, Mia, J and A)

After lunch...actually soon after we got there Beth suggested that we take the girls to DQ for ice cream since Miss Firecracker never had DQ (gasp!) and there was one close by. This photo didn't turn out so great because of the big window, but I love the tier of ice cream cones on the left: Mia, Emily and Miss Firecracker. On the right, we have (from top to bottom) big sister J, D and little sister J with her back to us.The four year olds will be starting preschool next week and the following week, so it was great to see everyone before we start school!

Proof...

2007-08-20T12:23:00.000-05:00

That you can, indeed, put a bandage on a persistent 4 year olds ear!

I never posted about the events of last Monday evening that has led to this ear bandage, so if you haven’t heard the story…

It was after dinner, I was on the phone with my mom while I was cleaning up the kitchen (usually Chuck’s job, but he was traveling) and the girls were playing hide-n-seek. I take a glance at Emily and notice blood on her shirt. Uh-oh! I pull back her hair that is wet with blood. Oh my! And, I see her ear covered in blood. Yikes! After several minutes and several wet paper towels, I get the bleeding to stop enough so I can see where it is all coming from. I see a quarter inch tear in her earlobe. It looked like she had an earring in and it was pulled out. Except that she doesn’t wear earrings. I wouldn’t have been so concerned, but it was gaping open at the edge and went around the back of her earlobe about an eighth of an inch. I didn’t like how it was hanging open so I decided that we should take her to the hospital. The whole time that all of this is going on and I’m trying to get the blood to stop and assess what is going on, I’m still on the phone with my mom. It just never occurred to me to hang up and she’s probably glad that I didn’t!

So off we go to the Urgent Care Center at our local hospital! However, I had to call Chuck to tell him what was happening because I knew that his flight had landed at about the same time that we were leaving for the hospital. Not a phone call that I wanted to be making and definitely not a phone call that he wanted to receive. Especially when I started out by staying, “It’s not a huge emergency. Everyone is fine, but I’m taking Emily to the hospital.”

Emily was a real trooper and never cried at all. The doctor glued her earlobe together, put a nix on our swimming plans for the next day and sent us on our way. The glue patch fell off two days ago, but it looks like she had a little reaction to it, which has made it itch. We fixed that up with a little Neosporin and a princess bandage! Since I didn’t have my camera with me to document the actual event (I know…what kind of dedicated blogger am I?!), I had to document the ear bandage! Emily was so pleased that she finally convinced me to put a bandage on it!

A few other highlights from the trip to the hospital…

While we’re waiting for the doctor, I notice that ALL of Emily’s clothes are on backwards…including her underwear! Observant mom, huh?

She tells the doctor that I used toilet paper to stop the blood.

When the doctor tells her that she is going to put a little special glue on her ear to hold it together, Emily is concerned about the glue matching her skin color.

And, a few random photos from my camera...

This is where I found them one morning when I followed the sound of breathless giggling.

Emily wrote a letter to her best friend Mollianne and we took a trip to the Post Office so she could mail it. About an hour later, she asked if Mollianne had her letter yet. BTW, Emily's birthday isn't until January! They were "paddling their boat" in the tub...there was water EVERYWHERE!

Name Game

2007-08-16T15:48:00.001-05:00

My new real life friend Panda Mom (I almost typed your real name there!) tagged me for this meme a few weeks ago. It was much harder than I thought it would be...even with a short middle name!

You have to post these rules before you give the facts.
Players, you must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had.
When you are tagged you need to write your own blog-post containing your own middle name game facts.
At the end of your blog-post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

A – Aspiring artist and writer…aspiring being the keyword here. As in, wannabe!
N – Nearsighted…I cannot see anything without my glasses or contacts. My hubby thinks it’s funny that I put my glasses on when I get up in the middle of the night for the girls or to go to the bathroom. I. Cannot. See. Anything!
N – New…haircut! Yup, I did it! I got about 8 inches cut off my hair yesterday. I love it and actually want it just a bit shorter, which I'll do before we go on vacation.

Now, I'm going to tag...

Stacey
Sandra

Shoe Addict

Cutest T-shirts and Note Cards

2007-08-11T17:19:00.001-05:00

I could hardly wait to share this awesome find with you, my faithful readers! I discovered the mega talented Diann during the Dog Days of Summer Bloggy Giveaway. As soon as I saw these African inspired note cards, I knew that I had to get them for my friend Christie. However, Christie decided that as soon as I ordered the cards, it would be a good time to get super busy, so I haven't seen her in weeks (gasp!). I could barely contain myself waiting to give these to her! Whew! Finally, got to do that last night and now I can share with y'all!

Click on the card to get more information on the note card and the organization that benefits from every purchase.

And, while I was online ordering, I just had to get this way cute t-shirt for myself.

Check out all of Diann's creations at Paint Puddles!

Pay It Forward

2007-08-10T09:19:00.000-05:00

I signed up for this at Diann's Full Life, and now I'm going to "pay it forward".

This is how it works...The first three people that leave a comment and pledge to pay it forward to three others on their blog will receive a handmade gift from me within one year (August 10, 2008) of this posting. I will read your blog and get the essence of who you are to come up with an idea.

I just love this idea and can't wait to see who I get to create something for!

Of course I will need your address, so if you feel uncomfortable sharing your address with me, don't sign up!

**There is still a spot left for my Pay It Forward!**

Pre-school Prep is Fun!

2007-08-08T08:12:00.000-05:00

At the House o’ Glamour, we’re getting ready for 4 year old Emily to start Pre-K three weeks from today. Wow! That is a shock to my system to say (type) that out loud!

Although we have been practicing some of the skills that she’ll need as she enters the world of school outside our home, there are some areas that we haven’t practiced at all. Lunch, for example. I’m not saying that we don’t have lunch daily, but lunch at the House o’ Glamour is not like she will experience at school. So, this week I have started to pack lunch in her brand new Tinker Bell lunchbox. I am available to help her open containers, just like her teachers will lend a hand, but she is responsible for deciding what order she is going to eat what I’ve packed and that she eats her meal within the specified time allowed for lunch.
This is also great for me to get into the habit of making lunch the night before and getting it into the lunchbox before 8 AM, which is when we will be getting ready to leave the house. Next week, I will be committing to getting up early enough to be showered and dressed before the girls get up. I’ve heard that it takes two weeks to make a new routine a habit, so I’m giving myself two weeks and a few days. And, so we begin a new season and a new flow to our lives at the House o’ Glamour.

I just realized that this might make a good Works for Me post to share at Rocks In My Dryer! If you didn't get here from Shannon's place, head over there now for all sorts of great ideas that work for others...and might work for you too!

Hot Shoes Hot Date

2007-08-05T22:39:00.000-05:00

I’ve gone from wearing this to wearing these…

*You know, they don't look all that high in this photo, but the heel is 3"...I just measured!*

Those of you who know me well, know that I adore high heels. Unfortunately, my feet have had other plans. Prior to the bunion surgery, wearing most high heels was painful. Obviously, since the surgery in September and January, my feet have been in, as my mom would call them, sensible shoes. But, I pulled out these babies and wore them out to dinner last night with my awesome and oh so fun dress that was a great bargain on sale!

Look Mom, no bunions...only scars that are fading and don't hurt!!

****************

Alrighty then, that was the beginning of the post that I had planned for today after enjoying an evening out with my handsome husband to celebrate our friend Michael’s birthday. It was to be a surprise. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite work out to be the hot date that we expected.

We drove an hour to a city nearby to join our friends at a small and oh so chic French restaurant. We got there a bit early, but were shown to our table right away where we each ordered a glass of wine. My wine hadn’t even been poured when my cell phone rang. I looked at it and it said, “Home.” I got that feeling in the pit of my stomach. I rushed outside to speak with our babysitter who proceeded to tell me that Emily had just thrown up. I asked a few questions and told her that I would call her back. I went back to tell Chuck and just then friends of our friends who we have never met arrived. Chuck called home again. Emily wanted us to come home (duh!), but said that we could eat something first. After about 20 minutes, our friends arrived and Michael was very surprised that we were all there! After a bit of chit chat, we told them our situation and decided to leave before getting anything to eat.

So back in the car and another hour later, we arrived home. Chuck and I ended up eating the leftover pizza that we had ordered for the girls and the babysitter (yuck!). It was a long night at the House o’ Glamour, but I am happy to report that Emily seems to be feeling much better today!

By the way, Chuck did tell me that I looked H-OT!

So, we plan to get together again with our friends and their friends, but I think that we're going to have to find another babysitter.

A Sweet Surprise

2007-08-02T14:21:00.000-05:00

Well, wasn’t I surprised when I opened my front door to see if the mailman delivered something that I ordered and found this instead!?!
Emily and Mia say: Thank you so much James and Miah! Mommy said that she knows that we’re going to love this book just as much as you do…if only she could get through reading it without crying! You two and your mommy are so sweet. We are so blessed to have your friendship!

Naptime
I forgot that I had this photo on my camera. I took it on Tuesday afternoon after we returned from playgroup. I looked down into the living room from the cut outs in the upstairs hallway and just had to take a photo. P.S. The dog is not supposed to be on this furniture. She really does think that she’s human!

My Makeover

2007-08-01T20:54:00.000-05:00

So…what do y’all think about my mini bloggy makeover? I just figured out that I can make my own header, so I thought that I would give it a try. I’m pretty happy with the result, but have some other ideas swirling around in my head. Now that I know how to do it, you’ll probably see it change frequently! To go along with my new header, I changed up some of the colors and added more blogs that I enjoy visiting regularly. I also added a slideshow of all my Ribbonlicious Bag Tags and Bible Bookmarks that are available at my online store Li Tian Designs (yes, a shameless little plug!). Finally, I added more of my scrapbook pages to the Scrapbook slideshow that I moved to the bottom of the page.

Ladybugs and White Swans!
On Tuesday, our playgroup the Little Ladybugs and another playgroup in the area but still a good hour away got together to play. It's a long story about how we connected, but it all comes down to moms connecting through blogging. How cool is that? We went to one of our favorite pools, which was pretty brave of us considering that our two groups were meeting for the first time wearing swimsuits and little makeup! Spicy Mom and Mama Darling did a great job taking photos of our fast moving ladybugs and white swans. We can't wait to get together with y'all again soon!

Almost forgot to share this goody...

2007-07-31T15:50:00.000-05:00

Once again Susan and Janice at 5 Minutes for Mom have an awesome giveaway! Actually, if you asked my husband this one is better than awesome...especially if we should win since our TV is on it's last leg.

Head on over to sign up (along with some 900 or so other folks) to win an Insignia® 37″ Flat-Panel LCD HDTV! This incredible prize is valued at $799.99 and is courtesy of Best Buy. Seriously! Can you even believe that they are giving this away to some lucky blogger?!

This and That

2007-07-29T20:14:00.000-05:00

I'm long overdue on an update with photos and I know that Grammy and Pop Pop are probably about ready to start dropping some (not so) subtle hints!

We celebrated Chuck's (Daddy to the Glamour Girls) birthday on the 19th. Emily and I made a cake in the afternoon. We sang Happy Birthday and enjoyed our yummy cake after dinner.

Mia adores her Daddy...
Chuck got a new watch for his birthday, but he had also mentioned Guitar Hero for our PS2. A little background...our friends Robyn and Paul own Guitar Hero and we've played it a few times when we all got together. Little did I know that my husband is a ROCK STAR! He totally rocks at this game! So, I decided to get it for him, but I also wanted to get him a new Men's Devotional Bible. I wrapped the Bible and slipped a piece of paper inside with a photo of the Guitar Hero game. He was so surprised and thrilled that I got both the Bible and Guitar Hero. The two of us have been rocking out after the girls go to bed. Thankfully, they're sound sleepers!! Here he is striking a pose with his two gifts.

Emily had her first experience with Vacation Bible School (VBS) last week. Our new church home had 750 kids in two sessions (one in the morning and one in the afternoon) attend VBS! How awesome is that? And, even more awesome...our Children's Minister announced that 71 children accepted Jesus as their savior this week! On Friday night, they had a family celebration where all the kids sang some of the songs that they learned. Emily had a great time all week and we had a great time at the family celebration! It made my heart so full to celebrate with our new church family! Here Emily is modeling her VBS t-shirt.

On the invitation to the VBS family celebration, it said to bring a picnic dinner. Emily was so excited to have a picnic dinner, but I was at a loss when it came to deciding what to take for our dinner. We finally decided on subs from Firehouse Subs. The kids meals came with these plastic fire chief hats! Thankfully, most everyone else arrived at the church with take out bags!

And, the winners are...

2007-07-27T15:27:00.000-05:00

Okay, at 1:16 PM today I posted that I was going to contact my winners and post here after I got the girls down for a nap. It really didn't take that long to get them down for a nap... I reeeeeally needed to take a shower after spending the morning at the pool, so I did that first...and a few other things! [Sheepish grin]

I am shocked and thrilled and tickled pink that I received close to 250 comments for my giveaway. I’m telling you, I might giveaway something every week! It sure was fun getting all these comments! And, your comments were all so very kind...thank you!

The following ladies have won a Ribbonlicious Bag or Bible Bookmark from my online store, Li Tian Designs!

Aubrey from Little Bits of Life
A Blonde Blogger from So a Blonde Walks into A Blog
Kathy from Highlights from Higher Ground

Congratulations, ladies!

I really wish that I could have given a tag to everyone who left comments. Really, I do, but I must fund my ribbon obsession, so I cannot! But, you can visit Li Tian Designs to order your very own Ribbonlicious Bag Tag or Bible Bookmark!

Comments Closed

2007-07-27T13:16:00.000-05:00

Comments are now closed for my Dog Days of Summer Bloggy Giveaway...I will be notifying the winners shortly! I've got to get the girls down for a nap first!

Dog Days of Summer Bloggy Giveaway!!

2007-07-22T15:37:00.000-05:00

Hi y’all! Thanks for stopping by to see what goodies you can win at My Glamorous Life.

In addition to being a busy mom of two glamour girls, I own a home-based business – Li Tian Designs - where I create and sell Ribbonlicious Bag Tags©. My personalized bag tags are far from ordinary…they are simply ribbonlicious! Each tag is handmade and personalized with your name or initials. I have also just started making Ribbonlicious Bible Bookmarks.
Come poke around my website to find out a bit more about my Ribbonlicious Bag Tags and Bible Bookmarks! You might want to start on the Ribbonlicious Details page to find out how I create the tags and then, pop over to Bible Bookmark Details to find out about the bookmarks. Visit the About Me page to find out a bit more about me and my business. And then, of course, you’ll want to visit the All Ribbonlicious Bag Tags and All Bible Bookmarks pages to choose your favorite design because I’m giving away three Ribbonlicious Bag Tags or Bible Bookmarks…yes, three lucky winners will be selected at random to receive their choice of a Ribbonlicious Bag Tag or Bible Bookmark! But, you must leave a comment to enter!

And, something special for all you moms with boys…I have just started to design tags for boys, so I have just a few designs right now. If you win a tag, I will custom design a tag for your little guy (or you may choose one of the five that I already have). If you don’t win a tag, but would love one for your little guy, I will offer my design services for free (normally a $2 custom design fee) to the first five moms who email me at LiTianDesigns@sbcglobal.net before 11:59 PM on Friday, August 3, 2007.

How my giveaway will work...

Leave a comment to this post. Please only one comment per person.
Comments will close on Friday, July 27, 2007 at 12:00 noon and I will randomly choose the three winners.
All winners will be posted here by 2:00 PM on Friday, July 27, 2007.
If you have a blog, I will also contact you via your blog.
All winners will have until 11:59 PM on Wednesday, August 1, 2007 to claim their prize by replying to me at LiTianDesigns@sbcglobal.net.
If all prizes are not claimed by 11:59 PM on Wednesday, August 1, 2007, I will select new winners until all prizes are awarded.
I regret that I am not able to offer my giveaway to readers outside the United States.

Visit Rocks in My Dryer (hostess of Dog Days of Summer Bloggy Giveaway) to check out all the other participants!

More Ribbonliciousness!

2007-07-19T13:15:00.000-05:00

In anticipation of the Dog Days of Summer Bloggy Giveaway that starts on Monday, July 23rd, I am introducing a new ribbonlicious product...Bible bookmarks!

This idea was born out of necessity for me. I do not know the order of the books of the Bible. I always have to turn to the front of my Bible to find the page number of the book that I need for Bible study. I thought that it would be so much easier and faster if I had a small bookmark with the alphabetical index printed on it. And, because I am Glamour Mommy and I own a boatload of ribbon, my Bible bookmark needed to be ribbonlicious! Here are my first four Ribbonlicious Bible Bookmark designs that are available at Li Tian Designs.

Bloggy Giveaways...Coming Soon!

2007-07-16T13:49:00.000-05:00

I’ll tell ya, that gal Shannon over at Rocks in My Dryer is always coming up with fun ideas! On Monday, July 23rd she will be hosting the Dog Days of Summer Bloggy Giveaway.

I will be participating and giving away (for FREE!) Ribbonlicious Bag Tags and maybe another goody or two…you’ll have to come back on July 23rd to check it out!