Happy 60th Birthday Mom!

Happy Birthday to my beautiful Mother.

Today she is 60.

She won't be embarrassed I told you, nor should she be!

Isn't she beautiful?

Everything I am I contribute to my loving Father in Heaven

and my Mom.

I'm so thankful for her!

Here we are together last year when she turned 59.

I'll be 40 this year. . . 

I remember when she was 40.

I hope I am as good and strong and beautiful

at 60 as she is today.

Love you Mom.  Looking forward to our celebration later!!!

Connor's Cards and an Update!

Cards for Connor was a huge success.

Of course I had dreamed of more,

but in the end I am so pleased.

Thanks to my friends and their friends

for helping me with donations and evenings of fun!

So far, my efforts have raised $1105. 

18 women participated!  YOU ROCK!!!

Connor is still a long way from his goal, but he's not worried.

For this class I focused on the inside of the cards as well as the outside.

I did this in honor of Connor, who is

truly beautiful from the inside out.

If you can make a donation, please visit his web-site here.

Hope you enjoy Connor's Cards.

Strawberry Fields Forever

By popular request!

This is another handout for my Beehives.

This lesson was on Righteous Traditions.

The lesson reminded me of one of my favorite

childhood memories - making Jam.

My mom LOVED fresh berries!

She tried to grow our own, 

but we only ever ended up with a handful.

Still she wanted to preserve the tastes of summer.

We would travel to the fruit stands and buy

OH SO EXPENSIVE flats of fresh fruit.

At home we would wash and prepare 

the sweet, red fruit.  (Raspberries too!)

This week I took Mikensee out

and we bought all the supplies.

Strawberries were only $1/lb!!!

We showed up at my Mom's and

announced our plans.  My 18

year old sister (18 tomorrow!)

had never made fresh jam.

We had a great day and while

preserving a taste of summer

we preserved a righteous family tradition!

TIP:  If you'd like to see this (or any image on my blog) larger, click on the image!

Mother's Day . . . the unusual holiday

It sure seems to me that Mother's Day

 is an unusual holiday.

Maybe when I am 

older it will make sense.

Every mother I know

hates Mother's Day

It seems to be the day

above all others

that we feel inadequate,

unqualified, and at best

tired.

Mother's Day should never, ever, ever be

on Sunday, the day that we rush about

to get children fed and dressed

in their Sunday best;

arriving at church frazzled

from the morning's drama.

(or at least in my world.)

Then we come home to hungry children,

tired children, restless children,

and we wonder if or when

this will ever really be a holiday for Mother's.

I am, however, grateful for my mother.

I owe everything to her.

I wouldn't be me without her.

I tried to liven up her day with a special surprise

at work Saturday night.

She's a night house nursing supervisor

at a very big hospital

and she works the graveyard shift

which meant no Mother's Day for her.

She was sleeping.

This was her card (also a card I used for Cards for Connor)

which I will be posting the results of soon, I promise.

And this was my dinner - the one I made.

and bought

and cleaned up.

 and these are the

reasons I "celebrate" Mother's Day.

which I guess in the end

make this unusual holiday,

the one worth celebrating.

Stardom Hits!

I should have posted this BEFORE we were famous. . .

or almost. . .

Last night Jessica was on America's Funniest Home Videos.

The clip was about 30 seconds in the section titled Young Love.

This is the full video from which the clip was taken.

We were sharing a Thanksgiving with my surrogate sister Dawn

and my surrogate nephew Bennett.

You will see that Bennett just LOVES Jessica. . .

It was such a treat to be with them again last night

as our young loves made their debut on prime time tv. . .

Shortly after this aired we were offered a multi-million kiss contract. . .

we obviously had to turn them down. . .

It's a Flower, It's a Handout, It's a Post!!!

Last night I stayed up WAY too late with a

friend and my daughter.

It was soooo late . . . er. . . I mean early. . .

she and her daughter crashed at my house!

Poola (as I fondly call Paula)

my daughter and I spent a few hours in Mesa at CKC,

but then had to come home and spend some craft time. . .

We made these paper flowers.

They were supposed to be Gardenias. . .

I'll say they are Roses. . .

I will admit that I wasn't sure they were going to turn out,

but I'm glad we stuck with it! Mikensee made the pink one.

Poola's bunch isn't here, but I know they will

remind her of night. . . I mean morning together.

Thanks Poola for making my life

sweeter and definitely more vibrant!

One of the reasons my posts these days are few is that

I spend most of my craft time each week making

handouts for my beehives.

We made a book especially for keeping them in.

(I guess I should show it to you!)

The girls love them and it brings me great joy to make

them for them.

Each one of these precious daughters of God has expressed

in some way to me, their gratitude. So much so that

I can't think of NOT making them something each week.

They are designed to remind them of the lesson,

and to show them that I love them and care for their well-being.

I make 14 cards each week. I've never posted them.

This is actually a handout for this week's lesson and next.

So I have a break.

It's a good thing because the next 2 Friday nights are

Cards for Connor

and I have to design 10 cards and prep for 40 guests!

This is actually a card that opens up,

but I'm not going to tell them that.

Next week, I'll show them the secret on the inside.

I don't know why I haven't shared any of them before, but I really

love how these turned out. I hope you like them too!

Maybe I'll share them a bit more often.

Please have a wonderful week and never, ever forget who you are

or of the divinity within you.

You mean the world to someone and to me. . .

Still At It

While it may appear that my creative gene has left the building

or that my blogging hat has been retired, I am still at it.

Wouldn't it be grand if we could truly spend each day as we desire

and not in the way that is sometimes pressed upon us.

I know we have choices and choices I do make,

but unfortunately for me, my choices these days have been limited to circumstances

that I can not control.

Control. . . there's a thought, an idea, a word I've long since had to let go of.

For those of us OCD types (yes, I am one), control is what we often seek, but never get

-- and rightfully so. Control is not what life is about -- choice is.

Which brings me right back to the beginning.

Choices.

Well, lets just say that I am making them, just not necessarily the ones I would like to.

Creativity is a necessity only second to choice in my world.

I live to create and thankfully, occasionally, I am blessed with the opportunity.

Thanks to my dedicated Scrap Gals

I once again eeked out some time and put together another class.

Loosely based on the Topstich CTMH Workshop on the Go,

I better get these posted so my gals can get their photos on them. Hope you enjoy.

Fun is Fundamental - We just love the zoo. Don't these show how much fun we have?

Determination Jessica - ;} Jessica's middle name should be Determination.

Behold Wonder - Walker was lost at the zoo for a time and when we found him this is where he was. Beholding Wonder. We spent a good 30 minutes just watching in wonder at this calf (only 2 days old) and her mother. I think they were just as curious as the boys were!

Remember you can click on each photo individually to see the image larger! Until next time!

Cards for Connor

I've got a notebook here full of things to post and share with you, but life just gets busier and busier and then in comes a story like this. Connor's blog will just give you strength. You can find it here. Kathy is a great friend and her husband is a bike rider who likes to ride his bike cross country for fun. . . you can read more about that here. The team and Project Life info can be found here. All of those links prompted me to do this:



(if you'd like to read this, you can click on the photo to see it in full view.)

And here's how you can help! Please share my post by posting a link to your blog or by emailing me at theinkboutique@gmail.com for a copy you can email to all your friends. . . share this on facebook, twitter or anywhere else you feel inspired. I realize not everyone can come to class, but any donations will go a long way towards achieving the $10000 my friends have pledged to collect.

Thanks for being you and for letting me share this with you!

You Owe Me A Milkshake!

A little something for a friend that is very nice to me. To make one of your own you will need 2 small wash cloths, a clear plastic cup, a straw and decorations of your choice. Roll the washcloths and layer in the cup, decorate, cut the straw, insert and add a "cherry!" Supposed to have been for Valentine's Day about 2 years ago, but I finally got one done!

Wishing You Love

For my 12 adorable Beehive Valentine's. . .

Completely and Utterly Off Topic and Yet Completely Relevant

Many know that I am in real estate, have been for 20 years. . . I love real estate, but never really blog about it because it's my job and blogging, along with my other hobbies are for fun. Anyway, this is a timely topic that I thought might help some of my readers regardless of where they live because of the economy which currently plagues us and by which I too have been completely affected. . .

A common question from borrowers and homeowners these days is how long they will need to wait to buy again if a negative item appears on their credit report. Different loan programs have different disqualification periods for Bankruptcy/Foreclosure/Short Sale. Once the automatic disqualification period has elapsed, the normal income/asset/credit requirements typically apply. It is also important to remember that if a mortgage account is included in a Bankruptcy, then foreclosure waiting periods apply with all loan programs. Here is breakdown by loan program:

Conventional Loans

• Bankruptcy = 4 years
• Foreclosure = 5 years
• Short Sale = 2 years

VA Loans

• Bankruptcy = 2 years
• Foreclosure = 2 years
• Short Sale = industry standard is 2 years

FHA Loans

• Bankruptcy = 2 years
• Foreclosure = 3 years

Short Sale = industry standard is 3 years unless no late mortgage payments have been made in the past 12 months and buying in a different geographic location (out of state job transfer for example).

In trouble? Find a qualified Realtor and find out all you can about your options before losing your home. It's worth trying to short sale first in most cases. Hope this detour from my regularly scheduled blogging helps someone!

P.S. For a more lighthearted post please see my post on my Moments in Time Blog and for a heart wrenching, but soul growing experience, you may want to check out my post here.

Twitterpated with Twitterpated!

I am just twitter-pated with Twitterpated! Who knew mushrooms could make such cute page accents?!?! I love how the layouts for my scrap club turned out this month! All the moving and unpacking has me still way behind on life and creating. . . it's the creating part I miss the most! So glad to have people who WANT me to be creative so I can share my time with them. Thanks to my 9 club gals for keeping me going!

When I revamped my class I took it from "Get-it-Done" to making 3-2 page layouts from the same kit, but it's not necessarily about getting as much scrapped as possible, but more about just making beautiful pages. It's loosely based on CTMH's Workshop on the Go, but I just prefer to make the class my own. You can buy the workshop on the go and make it on your own at home, so that makes it nice, but I like to have hands on classes too! It was a nice change of pace and the class loved the different looks we achieved with the same paper pack.

2 Page Layout One - Just SMILE!

2nd 2 Page Layout - Family and Friends

2 Page Layout - Oh This Face! (Wyatt)

- and once again I proved my old theory that you don't have to have boy themed paper to make boy pages. . . or maybe my boys just exude so much testosterone they can actually wear pink and make it look masculine!

CTMH Products and Supplies Used: Twitterpated Level 2, Twitterpated Workshop on the Go Exclusive Stamp Set, Ribbon Rounds in Chocolate, Basic Brad Assortment, Dimensional Elements Organic, Ink in Chocolate, Crystal Blue, Sweet Leaf and Sorbet

Studio J is coming soon and I've been using it during the preview period. I LOVE that my pictures can be any size and fit perfectly in the layouts and I don't have to print my photos! I LOVE that with the right photographs I can pick ANY paper pack CTMH has offered in the past 5 years and have a layout done in literally a few minutes. . . I don't love that there is no dimension, which is what keeps me from going all digital in the first place! This is an example of one of the things I will always love about traditional scrapbooking;

You just don't get this kind of dimension in digital scrapbooking. . . Now you can always do the layout and place the embelishments on at home and I'm going to try this next, but then the price (which is the other case made for digital/traditional scrapbooking) goes way up and I'm not sure the value is there. . . You'll have to take this journey with me to see what I decide. Hope you'll stay tuned!

My Baby is Thirteen!

SHHHHHH. Don't tell her I posted this picture, she's going to be sooooooo mad at me! I just had to post because I am so thankful for her. She definitely is on of the very best things I have done in my life. Mikensee, I love you. You are amazing and you are capable of doing whatever you dream of doing. Have a wonderful day! (or weekend I should say because she's having a sleep over tomorrow and we're having family birthday dinner on Sunday!) Hope you know how much you are loved!!!

Help for Haiti

Hello friends,

a blog that I follow is offering 2-$500 donations to a charity of your choice that is helping in Haiti. She is also personally donating 10 cents for every comment she receives in regards to this post. This expires FRIDAY, January 15th at NOON HER TIME! Please act quickly!

PIONEER WOMAN DONATES TO HAITI

My family has prayed since the moment this tragedy occurred and we will continue to pray for this nation that could easily perish from this horrific disaster. I, like you feel the need to do something to help and have already donated, but would love to be able to add to their relief that is already on the way.

My charity of choice LDS PHILANTHROPIES. . . They are already sending hygiene kits and baby kits. You can read more about their relief efforts HERE.

If you wouldn't mind, please take a moment and comment on her post (for a 10cent donation) and put in your comments the charity of your choice for your chance to win $500 to go to help in Haiti.

Thanks for reading and PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE pass this along!

Happy New Year, a thought and some Pancakes!

Happy New Year! I can't believe that it is 2010. 10 years since Y2K which some new we would never live through! I remember being a kid and thinking I'll never see the year 2000! I'd be 30!!! Well, I made it and this year I'll be 40!!! Holy Cow!

I don't know about for you, but for my family 2008 and 2009 were tough and because of that I know 2010 is going to be wonderful!!! We had a wonderful holiday. We moved and are hopefully in this new home to stay for awhile. My Walker man asked me this morning when we were going to move again (we've moved twice since August 31st!) and I told him I didn't plan on moving again for a long, long time and he said "good, because I like this house." Our last move was to our "rental-investment property" that we've owned since 2001, but never lived in. It was 1500 square feet and just a tad on the small side for us. Mostly it didn't afford any outside play and that was really hard for my very active kids to get used to. I was thankful for the place to land and wasn't that excited about moving (very hard, I don't recommend doing it any more than necessary and I'm a Realtor for heaven's sake!), but now that we are here and mostly settled I am thankful for the interim move because it has made this home much more enjoyable that I think it otherwise would have been. I'm very thankful indeed for this beautiful home.

I'll be updating my gratitude blog today and also posting my New Year's resolutions. . . I think I've finally figured out how to succeed at making (and keeping) them. . . we'll see!

Hopefully you have a New Year's Resolution or two. . . I think they are good for us. Even if we don't keep them it affords the opportunity to assess our lives and at least make a note on how we want to improve. We were, after all, created to become more than we are. Life is a process of growing and improving that should never stop. We can't be truly happy if we don't become more. It doesn't mean we have to strive for positions of supposed greatness or set goals to do feats worthy of world records, just to improve. How do you want to improve this year? I hope you'll share with me!

on to the PANCAKES! I have 2 small mama's boys that LOVE pancakes. I'm not a huge fan and don't find them to be entirely high on the health and nutrition scale. I have some whole wheat blender pancakes that score pretty well, but my kids don't LOVE them. I have a recipe from Rachel Ray called Oatmeal Cookie Pancakes that I do adore, but let's just say they qualify more for dessert than a healthy breakfast (or dinner!) My boys were good at church yesterday (if you don't count the belching contest at the drinking fountain as we were trying to leave *grin* *grit teeth* *grin*), so they wanted pancakes and pink chicken (left over ham) after church. I agreed to make it for them. I love to use sour cream in my pancakes (a tip from Rachel Ray), but I'm also on a much stricter budget than I used to be so I made sour milk for them and added oatmeal for the health factor. I have to say they turned out very well so here is my recipe for you. Budget friendly, food storage certified, and yummy to boot!

Rachele's Oatmeal Pancakes

(for a family of 6, cut in half to adjust accordingly!)

2 Cups Milk PLUS 2 T White Vinegar

2 Cups Flour

1 Cup Quick Oats

2 Eggs

3 T Oil

2 T Brown Sugar (white will work too!)

1 t Salt

1 t Baking Soda

1 t Baking Powder

1 t Vanilla (optional, but i put vanilla in everything!)

Add vinegar to milk and let sit. Mix all dry ingredients and then add soured milk, oil and eggs. Mix to combine well, but don't beat. Ladle onto medium hot griddle (I use non-stick so no extra fat, spray with Pam or use butter if your griddle is not non-stick.) Cook until bubbly in the middle and dry on the edges, then flip and cook for another minute or two. . . smear with butter and serve with syrup!

A little more "healthy" for a pancake and pretty yummy too!