It's November 07 all over again! (photo heavy)

We caught it again.

The stomach flu.

This is the 3rd day of preschool Anberlin has missed. I feel really bad, like she's falling behind. But it's pre-k...how far behind could she fall? Hopefully not far.

Just when I think the kids are on the mend (and have gone 8+ hours without spewing), someone gets sick. Again.

So that's what I've been dealing with since Saturday afternoon.

I will be teaching workshops in the Netherlands next month, which is totally and completely exciting. I'll be teaching at the ScrapbookMate warehouse for an openhouse event for retailers. Then I will be teaching at the Scrap-A-Ganza event in Harlaam in November. Karen Burniston, Michelle Van Etten, Cheryl Mezzetti, and Lida de Witte are some of the instructors. Then there will be a handful of the Daily Inspirations dt teaching as well...Moniek, Lucy, Natalie, Emma...I can't wait to show you some sneaks on the classes I will be teaching! I also have some super cute make and takes in store for those attending!

I still have not finished editing all of my pics from when MJ was here. Shame on me, I know. I must have ADD b/c I find it hard to stay on task. I'm always jumping from one thing to the next. Anberlin started school last week, so I'm slowly adjusting to the new sleep schedule.

Some sad news for my family...my Lola (grandmother) in the Philippines passed away. My mom left to go home on Sunday to visit her remaining family and to lay my Lola to rest.

So in lieu of not having enough hours in the day, this is going to be a scrapbook related update. Here are all of my latest works:

Catching up on Project Catwalk...I'm still in the top 25 as of last week. Once week 11 starts, everyone starts back at zero and the competition is going to be harsh! lol.

Week 6: The Old Man at the Zoo. An important lesson about living each day to it's fullest and loving those around you with all your heart. It's german custom to wear the deceased spouse's ring on the pinky finger next to the wedding band. An old man approached us at the zoo and talked about his wife dying...truly a memorable moment.
Week 7: 16 Days of... Texture was the theme, so I used leather adhesive cut into strips and wove it for the background. Then I searched through my stash for anything that had a rough, smooth, or different texture.
Week 8: Let Me Holla Atcha. This was supposed to use SiSTV as inspiration, so I chose the color scheme and JJ's and the gal's constant use of "holla." Photo was taken in Wiesbaden at Warmer Damm.
Week 9: 1,2,3..Read to Me. This was supposed to use a product in an innovative way. So I used backwards brads for the sun rays. I stamped swirls behind the sun and then poked through the designes with a paper piercer. My inspiration from that was some paintings at a museum in Nurenburg.
Week 10: Have Faith in Your Dreams. This was a scraplift challenge. A DAILY INSPIRATION BLOG: I made this Teacher's Survival Kit for Anberlin's pre-k teacher. The tags read:

-A rainbow to remind you that after every storm there is a calm and a star to remind you to shine!
-An eraser to remind yourself that everyoe makes mistakes. That's ok; we learn by our errors.
-Clothespins to help you "hang in there."
-Candles for those days wen you feel you need to light a fire under you students.
-Tea bags to remind you to take time to relax daily.
-A gift to remind you that your students are a gift to you and you are a gift to them.
-A puzzle piece to remind you that without you, things would not be complete.
-Animal cookies for when your classroom seems like a zoo.
-Smiley faces to remind you to wear a happy face.
-Rubber gloves for when you need a helping hand.

Weihnachten in Deutschland (Christmas in Germany). Made this a collage layout b/c I'm behind on my scrapping! All the photos are from December 07. I really like this idea. I think I may try to do a scrapbook with layouts like this, for each month.
SAY IT IN SCRAP: I am the guest designer over at the challenge blog, Say It In Scrap. MJ took these photos while she was here. Aren't the kids getting big?!! BTW- look at Anberlin's bangs in the photo. Now remember it.... (will come back to this in a minute).
SCRAPMOJO: Here are some of the latest challenges:

Anberlin was slowly introduced into her school days. First her teacher came to the house to meet her. Then she went on Wednesday for a full day, but with only 6 other students. Then on Friday with everyone, but it was a half day. Then Monday was her first full day with everyone. And she hasn't been back since. :( But I think tomorrow she will be back. She seems alot better, but better safe than sorry.

And no, she has no seperation anxiety from me. In fact, when the teacher tells the parents it's time to go, Anberlin is the first to say, "ok, mom/dad. go home now."
And finally, a card I made for Josh's best friend's wife who had a baby last month. LOVE this sizzix die cut. In fact, I have a mini album in the works using this die.
Sebastian turned 3 on the 14th!!! Oh my goodness, where did the time go? It seems like yesterday I was in labor for 14 hours, pushing for 2, before finally getting a c-section (sheesh, right?). That experience is movie-worthy. lol. Josh and I still laugh over that whole day. Some highlights:

• Contractions started on Monday. By that night, I was hurting.
• Tuesday at 4 am, decide to go to the hospital.
• Nurse asks, "are you in labor?" to which I reply in a strained voice "YEEESSSS."
• Josh says, "you are??" (yeah ladies, I still don't know why he thought we were there if I wasn't in labor).
• After an hour they sent me home since I needed to be 2 more centimeters dialated to be admitted.
• On the way home, car starts overheating (radiator had a crack? I don't remember).
• Went to our army base to get coolant or something, but it was still early and the stores didn't open until 9 am. So we sat in the parking lot, waiting.
• Still having contractions.
• Had to use the restroom, so begged an commissary employee to unlock the doors and let me in.
• Finally got the coolant and went home.
• 11:45 am, water broke. Freaked Josh out.
• Get to the hospital (yeah, car still had steam coming out), but no parking. Found a spot ON THE ROOF.
• luckily there was a wheelchair.
• Checked in. Got into bed, but water still leaking...made a nurse slip in it (ew.).
• Didn't get an epideral until a few hours later. I was screaming, cursing, I made Josh leave with Anberlin (we didn't know anyone in Georgia who could watch her for us).
• Finally started pushing at 10 pm. At 1 am, I couldn't do it anymore. I didn't sleep Monday night, or Tuesday...no food...no energy. C-SECTION TIME!

And that's the abridged version I suppose. There's more to it, like the 14 year old recovery room roommate...doped up phone calls to Josh (I called him and I fell asleep before he even picked up), not having any furniture at home other than a dining room table and chairs (we were sleeping on an air matress and had no couch). I'll have to go look at my old blog. Things have gotten a lot better since then. lol.

He doesn't look like a newborn, does he?

I didn't make him a cake, but made special cookies for him instead. :) I don't think he minded. My parents gave him a new train set, a Lightning McQueen bed set, a Thomas video game, and some other things. Our main gift to him was a new scooter (Anberlin got one too). Photos of that later.

Now back to Anberlin's hair. She chopped her bangs off.

Me: ANBERLIN!!! Why did you do that??!
Her: "But Mommy. My hair is just TOO long!"

Well, at least she still looks cute. My Dad bought her a Cinderella dress which she absolutely adores. We did a little photoshoot on her new princess sheets (from my parents again).

And I'll leave you with my new fave photo. This was taken in the residenz in Bamberg.
Next update will be photos from my birthday. :)

xoxo
jess

what's going on!?

Where oh where should I start? I guess I'll do a day by day break down, followed by scrapbooking stuff.

Well as most of you know, Michelle was here visiting! We had a blast, playing tourist. Here's the rundown of what we did:

September 4:

MJ arrived. The kids and I picked her up from the Frankfurt Airport. My GPS was on the fritz on the way home and we ended up getting lost. Here's what we heard outta Grace (that's the voice's name on our GPS...she's British):

"100 meters ahead, take a left."

*as I am about to take the turn, the directions change*

"500 meters ahead take a right"

*I bypass the left turn to take the right, and then I hear this*

"At the roundabout ahead, take the second exit."

Um. There was no roundabout. I was getting super frustrated b/c I was in a town outside of Frankfurt with no earthly idea as to how to get home. So I drove around and finally saw a sign to the autobahn. I found it, and even though I was going the right way on the autobahn, the GPS kept telling me to either turn right, left, or turnaround. After about 30 minutes, it corrected itself and we made it back safely.

That night we took MJ out to dinner at the village guesthouse for some German food.

September 5:

MJ, the kids, and I went to Rothenburg o.d. Tauber for a medieval good time. We went to St. Jacob's church... and the Kriminal Museum We munched on Schneeballen... and basked in the gorgeousness surrounding us.

After a few hours, we took the kid's back home (b/c they can only stand so much culture before it becomes a borefest). On the way home we stopped at a "Blumen" field to pick a sunflower for Anberlin. You see these flower fields around. Basically you can go and pick flowers and leave money for your little crop. Totally cute.

Lucky for us, the "candy lady" came around in her van and MJ was able to see what it's like to buy bread/pastries/candy out of a van.

Yum, right? I bought some candy for the kid's and a pound cake for Josh.

Later that night, after Josh came home from work, we went back to Rothenburg to do the "Night Watchman's Tour" except we got stood up. But it's ok, because we experienced Rothenburg at it's best. The towns people were dressed up in various costumes from different medieval times and had a parade to the town hall. After the procession, a beautiful fireworks display was shot off of and over the new townhall. All of my shots from the parade were crap since there was no real lighting. However, if you have access to MJ's flicker, she has some cool shots uploaded. MJ also did a quick review on how to do night shots (which I have never done before). It was quite an evening.

September 6:
MJ and I headed to Nurenburg, which is about 45 minutes away from me. Our first stop was the Germanisches NationalMuseum which boasts to be one of Europe's largest. The museum seemed to be built around an actual church!

This image right here is will relate to a layout I did. So remember it.
After the museum, we hit up some churches, walked around the downtown area, and then took a trek up a semi steep hill to view a fortress over the city.

You know, I didn't really take a lot of photos! MJ has here stuff stored on my comp right now, so I've been snagging some of her shots! lol. So obviously the photo's with me are really MJ's shots.

OK. I must end this for now, but I will continue tomorrow. Anberlin starts her kinda-first day, kinda-not tomorrow. Her preschool is trying to slowly get the kid's to get used to school, so she has tomorrow with only 6 other classmates. Then Friday she has half a day with her whole class (18 kids) and then Monday (my birthday) will be her first full day with all the kids! It's late and I should really get into bed. So more later. I promise!

xoxo

i know, i know

i owe a super long blog which i believe i will do tomorrow. mj left this morning and i'm recovering from our fun. i took a 4 hour nap this afternoon. lol. it took a lot of me! i'm so used to sitting at home with the kids and maybe going out on the weekends. so doing stuff almost everyday for almost 2 weeks...phew!

tomorrow will be editing the 600 plus photos i took and updating this old blog of mine. plus i have a lot of work to show among family news. :)

till tomorrow.

xoxo

it's a good day

pssssst.

MJ is here...well she's napping from her long flight.

And I'm listening to the new Fall Out Boy single. Right. Now.

Can't get much better than this!

A long update is in order, but not right now. :)