Vicky Kelly & her Scrappy Happy Life

You’d not guess it from some of the weird weather around the world!  But, our snow is melting once again.  Being in Kansas USA though means we can at least count on one more ice storm before true spring is here!

I am having so much fun being on the design team for Scrapbooker’s Clubhouse!  This first month we have had the pleasure of playing with Cherry Arte patterned paper.  My first time creating with Cherry Arte, it has been a fun experience.  The paper line is Classic Coffee (can we say YUMMY!).  Nicole, Share, and the past & present design team  are a  joy to work with; very fun, classy group of gals!

My first project created this month was a layout done using a fabulous sketch created by Share Smith-Baxter.  This is my first attempt at masking.  I’m not 100% sure I love it but I do love everything else about the layout.  This paper & the Chipboard accents are so elegant & perfect for wedding layouts! 

My next project I chose to do using a fellow design team member’s (thank you Noella!) sketch. 

Also included in the March Mini Kit are two 8×8 squares of Junkitz Chipboard.  They would be fantastic for creating a mini album but I chose to make a desk layout for my hubby. 

In other scrappy news Scrapvivor on Scrapgalaxy.com is in full swing now.  Lots of fun challenges!

Check back for my final project or projects using the March 2007 Mini Kit from Scrapbookersclubhouse.com.  I still have a load of supplies left!  Check out the site also to get a peak at the Technique kit.  Our design team rocked this month’s sneak peek!

Yes,  indeed, when I saw that my local Walgreen’s had Chicken Poop for sale I HAD to buy some!  After all, what kind of gal would go anywhere without her Chicken Poop?  lol  And, me being the oddball, I had to take a picture. 

Seriously though, for the strange name, this is a fantastic product!  It smells like oranges, goes on smooth.  And, the price was pretty fair for a product made in Kansas.  2.49 for a tube.  Product list includes:  Soybean Oil, beeswax, j0joba oil, lavendar essential oil, sweet orange essential oil. 

I’d like to tell you all to run out & get some but this product is unique to Kansas, go figure!

Now on a more serious note, I have more pictures to share, my grandbaby girl Chloe is becoming a chunky little monkey!  Big sister Savannah is talking more & more.  Charms us all!

Well yesterday I got some very exciting news!  I found out that I made the Scrapbooker’s Clubhouse design team!  Yay!  I am still pinching myself.  My family is not sure what all the excitement is about so thankfully I have a lot of scrappy friends who do know what the fuss is. 

I had made this one of my New Year’s resolution.  To make at least one design team.  I had been on Stationery Magic’s design team last summer & into the fall.  The site closed down due to personal reasons so I was back to square one.  That design team spot I got by invitation so there was no trying out.  I had wanted so badly to go through the application process and get on a team that way.  As difficult as the process can be in terms of nervous waiting & hoping then possibly being turned down, I wanted to get to this goal this way.  I am not 100% sure how many teams I have tried out for in the past few months but figure it to be around 8-10.  And, those times I did not get on the teams.  I got a guest spot here on Scrapgalaxy & that has been fun!  I had decided to stay on at Scrapgalaxy because I really love the site.  Same thing with Scrapbooker’s Clubhouse. 

Fun news of the day also includes that one of my very favorite layouts is layout of the day on Scrapgalaxy!  I was not sure which one would be up there when I got the notification a few days ago. 

I kept very busy scrapping all week.  I joined in on the big anniversary celebration on Creative Crafts & Stickers then joined the crop at Scrapbooker’s Clubhouse which ended in the big announcement.  I think we will have a fun & fabulous 6 months ahead of us over there! 

I had also put in my hat at The School of Scrap but I decided I needed to drop out of the design team running & just remain a member there.  I have observed the time spent by the “faculty” there & knew that if I am to work hard for Scrapbooker’s Clubhouse I needed to devote my time there for now.  As I get more used to the deadline thing & being on a busy design team once again, I may be able to add on more work.  I’m sure I will be able to! 

The rest of my Monday shall be pretty boring.  I have a doctor appointment, just a simple med check.  I am so happy one of my 12 year olds stayed home from school.  I know that’s kind of bad but it worked out well so I can hire him to keep an eye on my little guy.  He’s a fabulous sitter for being a boy & being 12.  Very nurturing kiddo.  

Having rambled on enough I guess I will leave you with this quote

I got a bit of good news this morning.  In my spam box was a reply to the sample layout I had sent in to Becky Fleck of www.pagemaps.com.  She liked my work & is going to add me to her list of contributors!  Her site is awesome!  Lots of fabulous sketches to work with for scrappers. 

This morning is a typical Friday morning for me.  My son & I have a tradition.  I take him to school, we stop off at the grocery store & pick up a small breakfast, then I pick him up after school.  I got him off to school this morning then had to rush on home to get my 5 year old, Elijah, up for preschool (it was 7:55 & preschool starts at 8!  Yikes!) & dressed.  Then I had to brush his hair as well as my daughter’s hair.  Then it was off to drive him to preschool.  All the while darling little son Jonah was ready to be diapered & fed!  Yikes!  Talk about spinning mama’s head.  I had to get out my prod & encourage the hubby to get up & help out a bit.  I survived Friday once again but boy am I ready to go back to bed!  Can’t do that, Jonah & I have an appointment to have his hearing checked. 

On that subject, Jonah is developmentally delayed.  He has been seeing the lone peds neurologist for a few months now and the dr. wanted to rule out hearing issues.  I know Jonah has selective hearing.  Hmmmm….normal child??  lol  He will patty cake on demand but sometimes will also ignore a person.  He is very responsive to his Dora the Explorer dvd’s.  And, very responsive to me.  But, anyhow, this is all pretty much standard get this test out of the way so we can move on to an eventual diagnosis. 

I am very excited to get started on my KI Memories submission for Scrapgalaxy’s contest.  I am not sure that I have a chance to win.  But, I will have fun trying and my main goal this year is just to get things scrapped and create a nice online “portfolio” of work to apply for design team work as well as maybe submit.  The KI Memories paper is so fun too!  I bought the scrapbook value kit at Joann’s & got a steal at $ 9.97 US dollars!  It was such a great deal I got one for a friend in the UK to Rak her (well she paid the price of the kit & I rak’d the postage) and I blessed my oldest daughter with a kit too. 

Before I end this I’d like to also toot for my daughter Valerie.  Her very sweet husband bought her a top of the line professional camera recently.  Valerie has goals to be a photographer & I think she will be great at it.  She had submitted a photo of a snow covered Gage Park (in Topeka, Kansas) to one of our local news stations and that very night they showed the picture on the news during the weather and also mentioned her name.  I wanted to jump around & yell, hey look!!!  lol  I’m proud of her & her family!  She’s come a long way!

Happy Friday everyone!   

Wow January is halfway over! So far I’ve made a small dent in my resolutions for this year. I have done a lot of scrapping already & have submitted to two design teams. And, I am so excited because this week I am Scrapgalaxy’s guest designer! I have grown to really love this site. I love all the people on there, it’s always fun & encouraging to read & post. Jess & Brent have done a fabulous job at building a phenomenol site! It truly is an honor to be invited to do this!

Not only is Scrapgalaxy.com sponsoring the Scrapvivor contest (still time to enter but hurry!) but they have also teamed up with KI Memories for a fabulous contest and the prize package is fantastic! This contest is in progress but ends on February 15, 2007.

Life continues to be busy. I have lofty plans to get more organized this year. Not being organized is definitely a creativity killer and it drives me crazy. So, this is an absolute necessity for me to accomplish at least part of that resolution for this year.

My family is finally on the mend after a long month of flu, pneumonia, & RSV. And, I have plenty of new pictures to share:

Top row (L to R):  My 5yo boy Elijah, total ham!; sweet baby Chloe; Savannah feeding her baby doll that Gamma got her; Savannah again, I love this picture because it completely looks like her mama did at that age; the last 2 pictures are of Savannah making fishy lips.

There’s still plenty of time to enter the Scrapvivor contest at Scrapgalaxy.com! Please click on my link to the left of the page for more details! Last day to enter is January 31, 2007.

Hang in there with me as I learn this blog stuff! I am planning to add some links & other things to my blog as I learn how.

A couple of my friends were having troubles viewing my newest Holiday pictures on Walgreens.com so I am also putting a few here.

From left to right:   Chloe with her cousin Greyson, Chloe in the next 2 pictures, Parker & Dayton (Greyson’s big brothers & my sister’s grandchildren), Elijah holding Chloe, Hope holding Chloe.

Middle row left to right:  My mom holds Jonah (rare!), Hilary holding Greyson with my sister’s son Shawn, Savannah enjoying her Christmas dinner, my daughter Valerie holding her two little girls, Chloe modeling the adorable hat that her aunt Melissa knitted.  Bottom row left to right:  Tim, Chris (who was pretty sick but being a good sport), Bryan (my messy shelf in the background but hey what can I say we have been too ill to do much cleaning this month), Aaron.

On a sad note, as I was editing my blog we learned that our pet rat Skittles had died.  I really had no idea that she might have been sick or injured.  The girls did say they had heard her all night long moving around in her cage.  She was such a cutie & warmed me up to having pet rats.  She was still a baby & the girls were pretty upset.  We had a little prayer service for her out by our tree and put her to rest.

In lieu of sending out a paper holiday letter this year I am blogging one instead.  Welcome to my new blog!  Most of the time I will be writing about whatever comes to mind at the time but for my very first post I would love to update you on our family’s life this past year.

As usual, our summer was very busy!  In June I underwent a tonsillectomy which turned into a one month ordeal with lots of pain as well as a second surgery to stop bleeding.  However, it was well worth it, I am currently experiencing my first illness (which has to be influenza!) in 7 months!

In June Valerie turned 22.  And, the following month she married her best friend & sweetheart Max (aka Robert).  It was a lovely wedding at Auburn Christian Church on July 15 with many relatives & friends present. 

We all kept busy that week also celebrating first Tim’s 16th birthday on July 12, then Aaron, and Bryan turned 12 on July 14.  Chris turned 18 on July 14.

On November 9th we were blessed with the appearance of Chloe Nicole Cook, Valerie & Max’s second daughter.  She is a cutie!  Big sister Savannah is doing well now with her baby sister.  Both girls are an incredible blessing to us!

Tim is still very active in his Christian “rock” band with his friends from our new church, Fellowship Bible.  Tim has a lovely girlfriend Kaylynn, who now lives in Hutchinson. 

Aaron & Bryan have grown so tall!  I am amazed when I look back on the pictures of the tiny babies that they once were!  They spend time skateboarding, hanging out with friends, & playing video games.  Both are doing great in school in the 6th grade.

Chris obtained his GED last year & was awarded a full scholarship to begin his college education at Allen County Community College.  He is doing great & just finished his first semester.  He is also working at Best Buy in Topeka. 

Sarah is now 10 years old.  She is a tall, lovely girl, very artistic & likes to spend time with her friends.

Hope is very sweet, always coming into my room to give me a goodnight kiss.  She’s a petite little girl at 8 years old.  She also loves to be with her friends. 

Rebekah is in first grade & doing well at learning to read.  Not much different from her older sisters, she also loves to be with her friends.  All three girls love music, especially Hannah Montana from the Disney Channel. 

Elijah is a funny, adorable little kiddo.  He is in his second year of preschool at Auburn Christian Church.  He will move onto Kindergarten at Auburn Elementary school in fall of 2007.  He loves to play with cars, legos, & enjoys drawing pictures. 

Jonah has made huge strides in his development & just continues to bless our lives immensely.  He is very close to walking now, he does not verbalize much but does make his desires known (loudly!).  We have worked with TARC from Topeka with therapists & teachers coming to our home for the past year.  He also sees Dr. Katz in Topeka but we have yet to decide on a final diagnosis.  The main goal though is to keep him developing regardless of what has caused his delays.  And, to raise a happy little boy! 

Also now present in our life are two adorable pet rats.  The kids love playing with Snickers & Skittles!  They are lab rats, not the more scary variety that run wild.  These “gals” look a lot like gerbils only much cuter in my opinion & they are super sweet.

Tom is entering his 18th year of working for Yellow Corporation.  I know I could not do his job & am amazed at his knowledge about the shipping industry!

I am just busy being a mom.  I no longer work at Aldersgate Village & while I do miss my residents, it was time for me to move onto something else.  I am still praying about my next direction as a nurse.  But, I am leaning toward postpartum/antepartum at the hospital.  I currently do very part time business as a scrapbook consultant for Topline-Creations.  I really enjoy our products!  It’s especially nice to get a discount!  I am also pursuing my goal of being on a design team & have applied for several on scrapbooking web sites.  I managed to get one of my pages published in a Cantata book (scrapbooking of course!) which has yet to be printed.  I’m waiting anxiously for my copy of the book! 

We so appreciate our family & friends, old and new.  Thank you for adding to our lives & for standing by us through thick & thin!  Blessings to you in the year of 2007!

 Vicky with Tom, Valerie, Max, Savannah, Chloe, Chris, Tim, Aaron, Bryan, Sarah, Hope, Rebekah, Elijah, Jonah