Page in the making.....

I utterly plan on making this photo into a page and I should title this page "Ungrateful" however, since Scrapbooking is supposed to be an enjoyable hobby for me I think the title to this one will be, "You'll see"

After a night of crazed 8 and 9 year olds, 9 of them plus my own 2, Kyle was not happy about how the pinata deal went.. He only got to wack it once before his "friend" grabbed it and split it in half.. (Kid needs therapy.. anger management or something) anyhow, Kyle was heartbroaken.. Not because he didn't get any candy... but because the pinata was made by the other little guy in this shot... and it was made for Kyle. He was upset that his other "friend" ruined his great gift in a fashion that was not meant to be.. so I thik "you'll see" will cover this one just fine. That way, one day when he looks back and has kids of his own, he will understand what we were talking about.... he will understand why we try and limit friend parties to only 3-4 friends, and how 9 can get to be overwhelming.... and he will understand that pouting over silly things don't take away from the big picture... we will see later on when he has kids of his own

Frog .... Run For your life!!

This poor little fella should have hoped on home before being caught by Dustin.....

poor thing

Happy Birthday Kyle!

Happy Birthday to my little Hero. Born on September 11, 2001, amidst all the crazy things that happened that day. The pointless terrorism and loss.... he came into the world, and it has been a brighter place ever since.

This is a victory.... Kuddos to my boy~!

YEAH

!!

Feels like winning the Lotto

If you only knew how excited I am to post this. Dustin has struggled with reading for years. We have done everything to help him...... vision therapy ($ 1600 worth plus two trips to Redding a week for 14 weeks), glasses, tutors, one on one, nothing seemed to get him where he needed to be... Last year, we found him books that interested him, Honus and Me, Jackie and Me... baseball greats.. he loved them but would read through them and not understand what he had just read... you can imagine my surprise when I looked out the back door to find this sight. He literally read 120 pages in a day, finished the entire book in a day and a half. AND REMEMBERED MOST OF WHAT IT WAS ABOUT!!!! a true victory for him.. I hope we can keep him interested and continuing to read....

It's all in the details.

This door knob is from the original house when it was built in 1854. We found the door and the hardware in the cellar but it had been painted at least 5 times. After a little elbow grease and an acid bath, we were able to return the door and the hardware to this beautiful piece of work. I just love it. John insists on painting this door white, but I am trying to talk him out of it, as I love the old look of this wood..

Finally a new bathroom just fo rme.

After living in this three story house for over 5 years and only having one bathroom for the sometimes 8 of us, but mostly 5 of us.. it is finally done..(or at least usable). Once we

completed the downstairs, were we added 1000 sq ft. to the house, (a scrapbook studio for me, a third bathroom(still awaiting a sink) and a lower family room), we began converting the old office/scrap room into the new bathroom. YEAH! I love it.. it is a welcome addition to my Sunday Morning Cleaning list... All that is left is some waynes coating on the lower part of the walls and it will be done..

I just feel that I need to voice my thoughts on this subject.. I began following this case when it started on June 10, 1991. At that time I was 5 months pregnant with my oldest son, Daniel. It scared me to think that I would be bringing a child into this kind of world, and I honestly didn't know if I was going to be able to be a parent.

Later in life, I was assigned to the Sex offender tracking position at the sheriffs department where I worked and Jaycee's story was never far from my mind. I always hoped that one day, she would be found ALIVE. That day has come and I am so very happy for her and her family that she has escaped her 18 year long nightmare. It bothers me to think of the horrible life she had while in the custody of that SICK and TWISTED man and his EQUALLY SICK and TWISTED wife. It angers me to know that on so many occassions those that are paid to protect her let her down by not going that extra step. I pray that she and her children can get beyond that experience and begin their journey to a somewhat normal life.

Having worked in the field and dealing with the twisted thoughts these monsters have.... I can only hope that California puts this monster and his wife to death. They in fact have "killed" the child she once was and therefore deserve to die. Her children have had to suffer for the acts of 18 years ago and therefore I think that they have "killed" their childhood as well... I would be one of the first (of I am sure millions) to volunteer to pull the plug on them, flip the switch or send that deadly dose into their veins without even batting an eye.

If I could say one thing to Jaycee (and her girls) it would be this; "your life and your nightmare has been shared by me and many others in that we have prayed for your safe return since the early days when you first began that nightmare. I can only imagine and cringe at the thought of what you have been through and I pray that one day, you will find a way to know a happy life. You will forever be in my thoughts and in my heart....

This is a shot of my workspace again, however it also shows my collection of Clost to my Heart stamps. Each box above the desk is supposed to hold 15 sets of CTMH stamps... but I have managed to stuff 20 in each one. On the right side wall are drop down bins that hold brads and clasps, as well as little odds and ends.

Completed albums.... I have a few

This is the wall that I have by far my most treasured items.... it is where my completed albums are. As you can see, I have quite a few..

I also store my prima flowers and my idea books as well as at least 10 years worth of magazines and reference books. I also have rubber stamps plugged in on this bookshelf.. I so need to go through things one day and have a yard sale..

The cabinet of shame...

This is where I have most of my Stampin' Up rubber stamps sets as well as paints, various beads and glues, re-inkers, and ribbon... not to mention my sewing machine, the cricut and my photo printer..And what is a good relaxing spot without a radio?

Every paper crafter needs paper.. I think I have enough ...LOL

This is my paper bookshelf. I have it sorted by color for the most part and then I have various themes sorted. I have both 12 x 12 as well as 8x8, 6x6 and 8 1/2 x 11...

depending on what kind of project I have going. This weekend I hope to start working on Birthday party invitations for Kyle who is turning 8 on Friday, September 11th.. he wants a slumber party with 4 friends..

More pictures of my rooom

This is a storage unit that holds a good selection of my tool and embellishments. Every drawer is labeled to reflect with is in it. Everything from Inks to fabrics.. rub ons and chipboard..... Eventually I will hang some clips down the one side to display pages in progress... if I stare at it long enough an idea eventually shows up and I can finish it and put it into an album. On top of this unit is part of my HUGE collect of Humpback Whales... Just love them.. they remind me of better times when I lived and grew up in southern California..

It is a passion... or is it?

These are pictures of my room, my scrapbooking studio. After 4 long years of work and planning, it finally became reality earlier this year. With only one mishap of flooding...(Dustin left the water on outside and it seeped in a bit), it is finally in a workable order. Every chance I get I go down an immerse myself in some sort of creativity.. it is my safe haven from the toils of the day. The first picture is my workspace... surrounded by pictures and pages and stamps and supplies... it is my happy place