This is such an awesome giveaway (among many, it looks like). I'm really hoping to win, since Al wants these for Christmas...she's into Manga and is pretty good at it.

You can find out more here: http://northridgepublishing.com/2013/12/30-days-giveaways-day-10-consumer-crafts/

Pathetic...LOL

Sammie got in trouble for not obeying .....she turned on the water and got the garden muddy while Mario was planting corn. I told her she'd have to go inside and she said, "No thank you, I'd rather stay out."
Don't know what I'm going to do with that kid.

Some pages I've made recently for the race and other things..

 Credits: Rise Above by Dancing Princess Designs (in stores soon)

 Credits: Soul In Bloom by Dancing Princess Designs and Simply You, Simply Me Designs

 Credits: Rise Above by Dancing Princess Designs (in stores soon)

 Credits: Play With Me by Dancing Princess Designs

 Credits: Shadows of Spring by Simply You, Simply Me Designs

 Credits: Love the Earth by Inspired by Dominic Designs

 Credits: Patchwork of My Life by Meredith Cardall Designs

Credits: Moxie by Dancing Princess Designs (in stores soon)

Credits: Rise Above by Dancing Princess Designs (in stores soon)

That's what I've been up to...how about you?

I'm a failure :)

I have my irons in so many fires, I'm not doing very well at keeping them going...or maybe it's balls that I'm juggling...I don't know.

My mom told me I needed to update this today, so I am. Gotta love those angels with cattle prods.

Things are crazy. Sophia is a senior and fighting the typical senior-itis. She visited Bowie state and Snow College at the beginning of the month, and has decided to go to Bowie.  It will be quite the experience for her, we think.

Alanna is showing alot of artistic ability with her clay and drawings.  Isa likes to draw as well, and was excited to open her very first savings account yesterday.  Ellie, Isa, and Alanna joined the Girl Scouts in January and have been having a blast with them...it's been girl scout cookie time and it's been BUSY for us all. Ellie will be baptized the first Saturday in May and is really looking forward to that.

Gabby and Samm are the best of friends. They're finding so much trouble to get into lately, I can hardly keep up.  They love to help me cook, and "clean up" and read the Book Of Mormon reader each day after lunch.  They ALL love to take care of little Lando and nearly smother him to death....but he doesn't mind it too much yet.

He's growing like crazy....I can't believe it's been 5 months already.  We can't imagine life without him.  He is such a sunny little guy...always happy and smiling.  He's starting a cold today, but is still a joy.  And he's a talker! Nobody can get a word in edgewise if you can believe it!

Mario is busy being the bread-winner.  He's also developing my website for me...it's been an interesting collaboration between the technical and creative minds. We're having fun though.  I opened my store back up in January, and then was approached last month by a Scrapbooking Software company to sell in their store, so I've opened up there as well. I really have missed not just the designing, but the involvement in the community, and the opportunities to share my testimony through my work. If anybody wants to get started on digital scrapbooking, let me know...I can hook you up!

There Mom...hope that is a good enough update :) I may update again in 6 or 7 months.

Welcome to our World

Baby Orlando is here!  He arrived by c-section on 10-20-2010 and was a beautiful 7 lbs 4 oz and 19 inches long. He has a head full of black hair and a Harding look. *EDIT: I've been scolded and chastised.....his hair isn't black, it's brown...lighter brown than any of the kids to date. (Well, and will remain so, since the factory has been dismantled).

This is Granny T's 64th GREAT GRAND BABY!!!

His bilirubin is elevated so he's had to be under the lights for a couple of days....we're encouraged that it won't be for too much longer!

  We are so in love with him!!!
I know it's not much of an update, but it's what I've got right now! New mom, you know, LOL
Love you all!

It's shameful...just shameful

I just really should not try and blog....I think that it's because I'm an all or nothing gal....If I can't do it, and do it BIG, I just don't get around to it.
Things are going well.  Everybody is doing good and school has started and if I can get on top of this crazy anxiety, I'll be on top of the world!
Sophia had a Senior Photo shoot last weekend....you can see a few of the resulting photos at Lambourne Photography (this lady was really fun and Sophia had a great time with her).
The Bobsie Triplets, Alanna, Isa, and Ellie are all in their spanish immersion classes and so far, so good.  We're just trying to get a handle on the Back to School routine....
Gabby is great...reading small words and knows all her letters and most of the sounds...so much fun!  Sammie knows her numbers and can identify them to 10....she'll be 3 in a couple of weeks..I can't believe it! AND, the family is going camping later this month and I'll have 2 days to myself!  NICE! At least I assume it will be nice...I haven't had a moment to myself in nearly 11 years, so I'm looking forward to it.
We're boring right now...truly...and I suppose that's not a bad thing....

Anyway, Sayonara.....maybe I'll update before Christmas....then again.....

Time Flies...

What a crazy life.  We've had so many ups and downs lately, I'm not sure which one I am at any given moment.

 Sophia has returned to live with us which has been something of an adjustment. I've made a lot of pages lately...here's a couple of Soph...

We've been moving stuff around trying to configure our home....space is always at a premium. Alanna and Isa are in a different room, as is Sophia, Ellie, and Sammie. We'll have to have the new kid in our room for a while, and then who knows where.

We haven't really done much this summer....but as soon as I can get the discs to work that Josh burned the 4th of July pics on, I can prove that we had fun then, and we'll be doing something fun this weekend for Pioneer Day.
Isa really misses the routine of school...I don't know about her, but I can't wait until it starts again.

Ellie....I swear I have a new page of Ellie somewhere......Hey, there it is!  A birthday page, even.  She's been enjoying her own room this summer. That and the backyard pool.












Gabby is growing up....she's really fun, sayin' all kinds of crazy things....

And that leaves us with Sammie....she's incorporating words like "actually," "quite," and such into her vocabulary and it sounds so funny coming from a two year old.

I think all of the kids have been able to feel the new baby kick, which has been funny...seeing their various reactions.

Let's see....what else is going on???....we joined a food co-op, and it's been fun to get fresh produce and learn to use things we've never bought or eaten before.
The baby's growing well, and all seems to be stable for the moment.  I'm sure it's only a matter of time before the next round of all heck breaks loose, but for the moment....it's quiet on the home front (especially cause everyone's either asleep or out playing).
Well, if I mess with configuring this post any longer, I'll give up and delete it, so you'll have to take it "as is".....I'm Tom BoDett, and we'll leave the light on.....

New and Improved

I decided that I needed a creative kick in the behind.  Decided to apply to a few Creative Teams and be responsible to someone else for getting layouts done, since my mojo has been on maternity leave.  I was invited to be on Danimoy Designs CT, and on the Spirit Squad for MLAS in the last couple of days.

Dani has some really fun designs and a great style, so I had lots of fun with this page...and those of you who know Sophia will recognize how true to form this is :)

I used Dani's new Big Brother and Little Brother kits...they coordinate and are on sale if you wanna check 'em out....

We had a lovely Father's Day at home, where Mario cooked us a lovely dinner, since I was sick in bed.  Been having some crazy stuff going on lately, and on top of it, it looks like I've caught the virus the kids have been spreading around the house.  The kids have taken 5-6 days to work through it, but I'm hoping it doesn't take ME that long.
Sophia has a volleyball camp this week...Sam Atoa is running it, so it should be a fun one.  The rest of the kids are just bumbling around, since most of us are sick and there's not much to do.  Only two more months until school starts (ok, 2 months 4 days, but who's counting???).

Really? Are you serious?

We're having a boy....I'm in shock!  Mario almost passed out when he heard them say boy...he was looking at something else and thinking it meant girl, LOL. I've felt "boy" all along, but kept telling myself it was because I wanted it so bad.
What am I going to do?  I'm going to have to think about all kinds of things I've never had to consider before....WOW. This is crazy. We had fun watching the little guy during the ultrasound.
Have you ever seen a new baby accidentally touch it's mouth with it's little fist, and then turn it's head back and forth, trying to latch on to it?  We got to watch our little one do just that in the womb as the tech was looking down at the top of the head...SO CUTE! And he's a wiggler....wouldn't sit still for a second during the ultrasound.  Bless their hearts, both the Ultrasound Tech, and the perinatologist double checked their answer on gender when they heard we had six girls :)
Anyway, we're thrilled...all the little girls are so excited except Sammie, who wanted a "girl baby." She's somewhat mollified because we were talking about nicknames for the baby, and since he'll have Agustin as his middle name (a fourth generation thing...wasn't even going to try to talk him out of it),  I teased her and told her she can call him "Gus-gus"....she just finished watching Cinderella for the first time :) Sophia hasn't weighed in yet on her opinion. She's taking the ACT today....GOOD LUCK Sophie!

Anyway, that's our big news!

Never a dull moment

I know it's been a while....I just haven't had any GOOD news in a while. What's happened in the last two weeks?  Well, shucks.  The kids are out of school (2 days now). Thank heaven for the internet where I can find age/grade appropriate worksheets for them to do.

Mario and I had to go in and visit with the nurse so she could teach him how to give me alphahydroxy-progesterone injections that I have to have weekly for the duration of the pregnancy. She fell in love with him....said he was a natural.  I have my first shot without "supervision" tomorrow....I don't think I'm nervous, LOL.  I also have to go in and have an early 1 hour glucose in the morning. We're all getting anxious to have the ultrasound.  One more week.

We had some drama this past weekend.  Sophia decided to leave home, and packed all her things and moved in with a friend.  The upside? She was able to attend girls camp, which she wouldn't have been able to do otherwise, with her friend's ward.  I'm hoping she is having a life changing experience.  There's also been very little contention since she left.  The downside?  She really belongs here, and I don't think she understands what it means to be on her own, financially and otherwise.  It will be interesting to see what happens when she gets back from camp tomorrow.

We're working with Isa on Spanish letter sounds and flashcards.  We meet with her teacher tomorrow to learn the next step. 

Everyone else is good...Alanna's butterfly has left it's cocoon, and we're all having fun watching it flex it's wings. I've actually completed a few pages lately...it's been nice, since I feel like my creativity has left on maternity leave....

I know this part is boring for everyone else, but it's a nice little personal inventory for me, so if you wouldn't mind humoring me.....(prompts from the Christian Homekeeper Network)

In my kitchen ….. nothing...but I need to have bread going.  We're back to relying on our food storage, so I'm going to have to be creative.  Something with rice, because Mario has noticed the lack of late (I can't really eat much rice because of it's glycemic index, so I've been trying to do other things....not going over so well with the person who thinks that a meal isn't a meal unless it includes rice).

My marriage or relationship …...  I have to make a constant effort to be calm and loving.  I really like the book "The Love Dare"....I need to get back to it. But things are relatively calm, all things considered.

With my children ……already been over a little of this. Praying for the ability to recognize their needs and their learning styles.  Trying to teach civility...what a novel concept.

I feel so relieved when …..everyone is settled and quiet for the evening and I can breathe by myself.  I know...that sounds so selfish, but hey, at least I'm being honest.

My spiritual life is (choose one) flourishing, declining …. (and talk about why)…I think it's flourishing....I've decided to do the Personal Progress program again.  I'm on my third Faith value experience, as well as saying prayers and studying scriptures each day (most days anyway :).  Faith is critically important to me right now, so it's been a great experience so far.

If I am honest, the thing that keeps me from praying as much as I should is ….. good intentions.  I mean to, but get swept away/overwhelmed by the pace of life, and forget.

I see God moving in ( a particular area) and ……my life in the area of Sophia and her opportunity to attend girls camp, even though it came about as the result of a not great decision, and I have great hopes that this will make a difference for her.

This is in the deepest, darkest recesses of my mind, but should be moved into the light ….
I am struggling with my age.  With the thought that I haven't accomplished nearly what I would have liked to at this point in my life.  I don't know what the answers to that are, since I know I'm doing what I'm supposed to be at this point in my life, but it still lurks there, and makes me doubt myself at times.

Haven't been taking many pictures lately.  I need to get back to it, I know. Anyway, that's about all that is going on...I've probably forgotten something big...I may remember and I may not.

Boil, boil, trouble and toil....

We are currently under a "boil order." Our city water supply "may" be contaminated since thursday, and until Sunday night at the earliest, we are boiling all the water we use for drinking, brushing teeth, and washing dishes.  The good news?  We have/had enough water stored to get through it, AND we haven't been sick so far (some people in the city have been seriously ill...think the worst flu you've ever had times 5). The biggest revelation?  That I am SPOILED for my modern conveniences....like water you don't have to think about, and a microwave...yeah, ours sort of "blew up" yesterday, LOL
Spoiled.

Blood pressure meds (which I am back on) are working to regulate my blood pressure, the baby is a wiggly little thing (FUN, since I never expected to feel that again), and summer is looming. 

We'll find out the beginning of June the gender of this little surprise package.  It still feels a little (LOT) surreal, but I'm slowly getting used to the idea.

We are feeling sad that we aren't close enough to visit the two new babies in the family, but respectfully request frequent photos posted. Sigh. Spoiled.

Sophia and Mario are on their way to her last club tournament.  They won 2 out of 3 tourney play games yesterday....hopefully they do well today. 

That's the update.  Terribly exciting, I know.

Busy, busy, busy

Things are crazy as usual.  Between Volleyball, sick kids, end of school mania, doctors appointments and birthdays, I feel like I haven't taken a breath in a few weeks.
I'm in the middle of creating some DVDs of Dancing Princess Designs kits to be auctioned off at the Spanish Immersion Silent Auction fundraiser this weekend.  It's more work that I thought it would be, but I'm glad to have something to donate.
No more birthdays to worry about until September...yeah!

Who woulda thunk?

I watched a cowboy rope a calf earlier this week.  Who knew there were still cowboys, and that I'd see one during the "get the kid to volleyball" run-around?  No lie...it was poetry in motion.  One of the most beautiful dances I've ever seen....the rope sailing through the air, and the cowboy (chaps included) sliding off his horse in one fluid motion, throwing the calf to the ground......  Wow....it made me want to pull the car over and just stand there with my arms over the side of the fence and wait to see what else I could see.  Didn't realize how that would effect me. 

In other news, Our 10th anniversary and Mario's birthday are coming up later this month.....I wonder if he'd like some cowboy boots???

(photos courtesy of Ree Drummond{cows} and Mary R. Vogt {cowboy})