Stamp Room

So I’ve been asked what my stamp room looks like… keep in mind we just moved, so it’s messy, but here you go…

This was made using a canvas, acrylic paint and the Chocolate Chip Large Create Definition Decor Element (114117) .

This piece was made the same as the Create Definition, but this little flower was a gift from Stampin’ Up! (r) to all the demonstrators when the Decor Elements launched.

This is the view of my desk where my computer sits. Ignore the clutter to the right of the monitor. ;o)

This side of my desk is where I stamp. You can see my ribbon keepers, 12 x 12 paper and various other *things* I use…

This is my stamp shelf, where I store my embossing powders and glitter, my cuttlebug, and various other tools and supplies. )

Books to read…

I’m not a book reviewer by any means. I just happen to love to read. I wanted to share two wonderfully moving books that I read lately…

First was, “The Penny”, by Joyce Meyer & Deborah Bedford. An amazing story that moved me to tears so many times. Second was, “The Shack“, by William P. Young. This is another amazing story, Karen, thank you for recommending it.

Both of them are amazing stories about forgiveness and God’s amazing love for us. Go read them…

psychologist…

So, we met with B’s new psychologist last week, no, the week before. Anyway, we met with him. He is awesome! I just hope B likes him too! When we mentioned the confusioin of the diagnosis, mood disorder vs bipolar, he said that it’s the same, which is what I had thought, but that many doctors still are of the opinion that bipolar disorder does not exist in children, so they wont’ use that diagnosis. Anyway, I think this Psychologist is going to be a good fit for B. )

So far school is going well for him. He’s had a couple of reports assigned now, and he’s not too crazy about that, but he’s working on it. He is doing really well in band too, much better than his mother did when she took band in 6th grade. ;o) He’s switched from the trumpet to the saxophone, and he really seems to be enjoying it. There are a couple of boys that he has made friends with, which is always hard for him, so we’re especially pleased with that. Fishing is his latest passion though. We have a catch & release pond in our community, and B would be up there every evening if he could. He fished the other night by himself for like an hour and a half, while we swam. The pool is right there near the pond thankfully. Last night Donovan took just him and he caught a good sized catfish apparently. Lost his hook though, but the fish had another hook stuck in it’s lip, so someone else had lost theirs as well. He caught some kind of fish last week that had teeth, he thinks it is a Pacu, which is related to the piranha. It amazes us how he cannot sit still for anything, but put a fishing pole in his hand and he’s good for hours it seems. ) It’s good that he’s found something he can enjoy so much!

Wow…

I’ve so been meaning to get on here and blog about our trip and everything, and just haven’t had time. I finally am making time though. )

We left San Antonio on the 2nd. Poor D woke up that morning sick. He was running a low grade fever and couldn’t hold anything down. He was like that the whole trip. I felt so bad for him. Every time he tried to eat he lost it right back up. He’d start to feel better, then kablam! The first day we made it to El Paso. Our room was really nice, although a bit cramped for all of us, but it worked and that’s what counts. The hotel had waffles for breakfast, so we all had waffles, or cereal, and then hit the road. We stopped somewhere on I-10 at “The Thing” to see what “The Thing” was. I stayed outside with D and the dog while Donovan took B & A inside. It was some sort of monkey thing from what I gather. Donovan bought me a cowboy hat while they were inside. While we were waiting there was a major accident on I-10 right in front of the exit. It was going the opposite direction, but there was a news helicopter and everything. A & I were amazed at the beauty of the desert. The rock formations we passed were just awe inspiring. When we got into the Phoenix area, A was amazed by how the freeways are “decorated” with flowers and stuff. She said at one point that she didn’t think she would like it, but that maybe she would. ;o) We got to our hotel Sunday evening about 5:00, I think. Donovan went and found an in-n-out burger for me, so we got to have our first meal here in Arizona. I think it was a hit with everyone! I took A & B swimming after dinner for a little while.

Monday morning, Donovan got up, went and got the keys to the house, and we set off. When we got here, we were all so excited! The house is everything we could have wanted it to be, and we couldn’t have found a more perfect house if we had come out here and looked in person. Awesome! That afternoon, I took A with me, and we went to register for school. I forgot something at the house, of course, but my wonderful husband brought it to me, on his way to Lowe’s. The first thing he did was buy a grill! We had steak for dinner that night. It was pretty yummy! The kids started school the next day! Here is a pic of A & D on the first day… B didn’t want his picture taken…

B had a pretty rough morning the first day. He didn’t want to stay, at all. We met with the school psychologist, and with the counselor, who really took B under her wing. He did good and continues to do so. He got to switch to band, and he’s really been excited about that. He started out the first week on the trumpet, but switched to saxophone now. A brought home a note about beginning orchestra, that meets before school, and she is really interested in that. However, she brought home a note yesterday about dance and cheer that is after school, so she is really torn now trying to decide which she wants to do more. D had basketball tryouts yesterday, well, there were supposed to be tryouts yesterday, but they had to postpone them until next Monday.

We’ve been going to the pond/park in our subdivision regularly. B is loving to fish. It amazes me, he can’t sit still for 5 minutes doing anything else, but he’ll sit there fishing for hours at a time if we’d let him. Everyone has a bike except for me, and I’ve been convinced to get one. We’ll see how that goes. But Donovan & the kids have been bike riding some nights, when we don’t go to the park. We went up to go swimming last night after dinner, but the pool was closed for maintenance. Hopefully we’ll have better luck tonight.

The house is close to being unpacked. My office is unpacked, it’s just cluttered on my desk with all the little things I have to find a home for. The kitchen was the first thing done, it looks great. My books are all unpacked also, they just need to be a little better organized imo. You know me, gotta make it just right. )

I registered to volunteer for the Women of Faith conference that is going to be here in November. I can’t wait! I’m so excited to go, but even more excited to work and hopefully help other women to enjoy the conference. ) Dawn and Marsha are supposed to be coming down to go with me, I’m hoping they can convince Cindy, Karen and Brandi to come along as well! It’ll be so good to see them again! I miss them so much!

It’s nice here, but I haven’t really had a chance to get out and meet anyone yet, so it’s kind of lonely. Hopefully we’ll make it to Church this weekend, that will help I think. I’m also looking into getting back to work with Alpine Access. If I do, that will alleviate some of the boredom, it just makes me nervous, kwim? Anyway, I hope all of you are doing well, leave me a comment and let me know you read this, ok?