Happy Day for Ava!

Yesterday Ava, my mom and I went to town to pick out some paint and fabric so I could repaint a wall in my living room. It wasn't planned, but I thought.....why not, it will give the room a change and I love to redecorate. We didn't get home until mid afternoon and I checked my phone messages before getting Ava girl down for her nap. I didn't expect to hear the message that my neighbor had to say. It was about Ava's LillyRose. She had been lost since Thursday and guess what....she came walking up to the neighbors house shortly after midnight last night covered in burrs and ticks. We live about 3/4 of a mile from their house, but I'm sure she took the short cut across the field, but still it is a long way. After Ava's nap we went over to their house to get her surprise. We now have one very happy little girl! Isn't that a great story. I'm really not a patient person, so I had basically written off the kitten to either a raccoon or a coyote, but guess I was wrong! Oh Happy Day for Ava and her Lilly Rose!

So.....yesterday I was determined to get a card/template completed for the PTI guest stamper contest, but this was way more important than any contest. My little girl is very happy...and I can always enter next month!

Just for You Ava!

As those of you that read my blog know that my Ava Girl loves kitties. I found this Sizzlits die from Archivers on my shopping trip and thought I would give it a whirl on my cuttlebug. It works like a charm. I'm so excited because I know that SU has several dies for the Big Shot that I would love to have, but I didn't want another die cut machine. I'm thrilled that these work on my cuttlebug.

I made this card for Ava "just because". You know how I posted pictures of Ava with her new little kitty Lilly Rose, well, we can't find her. We let the kitty sleep out in the barn on the 4th night after we got her and we think that some wild animal must have gotten her in the middle of the night. Ava was very upset, but now she just wants another kitty.

I love how the card turned out. I cut the kitty out twice, once out of white and then again out of PTI's Berry Sorbet. I used some Lemon Tart polka dot paper from PTI to accent my card. The button and ribbons are from PTI as well. I love this company and all of their products and designs. I'm hoping that I can work something up for the Guest Designer contest yet this month....that is on my "to do" list for tomorrow. I haven't submitted anything for that in a very long time and I used to strive to get something submitted every month.

I gave Ava her card and I asked if I could take a picture of it and she instantly said, okay....I'll hold it for you on the stairs!

It's been a month now since our Ethan went to heaven. We've definitely had our ups and downs. I say that we try to get back to normal, but I'm slowly learning that life has drastically changed and there will always be a large void without our son. I'm very lucky though that we have a ton of memories, pictures, and videos to remember him by. One thing that I'm so glad that I did is to have a word document to write down all of the things that my kids do throughout the years. I started this when Ethan was a baby and now I have it for the last 4 1/2 years. I will treasure this forever and I have hopes to compile all of this with my pictures in a picture book. I do scrapbook a ton and have several books of my kids, but I want to make a book at Wal-Mart that I can print more than one copy of that will share pictures and stories of my son's life. It's going to take a while to complete, but I think I'm ready to start.

Hope all of you have a great start to your week.

Lauren's Color Challenge

Finally.....after a call to our DSL provider, I have my picture to share!

Here’s my first creation in 6 weeks…..for Lauren’s Color Challenge! I love this new set from PTI called Vintage Picnic. The baskets are so cute and the set can be used for so many holidays. This color combo was one that I had never used before, but it is always good to “step outside of your norm”…..seems like I’ve done that a lot lately with just life in general.

I colored the flowers with my copic and I colored the leaves with my watercolor crayons. The basket was paper pieced with PTI polka-dot patterned paper. My Mom made the flower embellishment. I added a button to make it pop. I even got out my cuttlebug for this to create the swiss dots in the background. Overall I really like how my card turned out!
Be sure to check out all the other creations from the team!

Dana G
Dawn Easton
Jennifer
Kendra
Kristen
Lisa
MacKenzie
Maria
Odette
Pam
Tamara Harder
Tracey Cuccia


We had a good time shopping yesterday. I got a new body pillow and it made sleeping last night so much more comfortable. I know I’m only half way along, but with number 3 I am big and already having trouble sleeping. Should be fun over the next several months! We found a few new outfits for the new baby yesterday. It’s still hard to look at boy clothes as I’m always thinking about Ethan. I did find these cute little blue jeans with little roll up cuffs that matched the pattern on the button up shirt. It’s too cute and is something that I know Ethan would have picked out for the new baby. I love to buy clothes and dress my kiddos up, it’s just something I enjoy.

Ava did good yesterday as she is used to getting a 2 hour nap and didn’t fall asleep until we were on the way home around 8:30. We met up with a college friend of mine and her daughter for supper so Ava perked up and had a good time playing with her. Overall it was a good day to get away and just do whatever. My biggest purchase yesterday was a purse. I’ve needed one for a long time, but I have one from AMM that hold pictures of my kiddos and I was really looking for something similar. Well, I decided on this other purse and I purchased these clear picture frames that were key chains and I’m going to hang 3 of them from the handle so I can still show off my kids on my purse. I’m going to hang them at different lengths so you can see them….I’ll have to share a picture later once I get it all put together.

Hope all of you have a great weekend. I still need to finish up my stamp area, but I think today we are going to go hang out with some friends tonight. I’ll hopefully be back soon with some more “creations”! Thanks for stopping by!

I'm BACK!

Here's a little peek for you of all the gals that are participating in tomorrow's color challenge for Lauren. I know I said....I have to get my stamp area cleaned up so I can play, but I just said "GOOD ENOUGH"! The table still has stuff on it, but I cleared a space and made a card.....it has been probably 6 weeks since I've made a card. It was quite an accomplishment yesterday. Here's a peek at what everyone has to share. I'll be back tomorrow with the "big picture". I'm off today to do a little shopping. I'm looking forward to it! Hope all of you have a good Friday!

Ava and Ranger (her little ....)

Ava and Ethan both love their animals, but especially our little burro, Ranger (or more frequently called, the little "ass"). As I've said before, everything reminds me of my boy and this was no exception. Ava wanted to go for a ride on Ranger so my husband got him saddled up and ready to go for a walk to the winery. This has to be the cutest most loveable animal that GOD ever created! It isn't any taller than Ava and is just like a little puppy dog. It always wants treats when you go out to the barn and Ava feeds him his fair share plus! He gives her kisses and loves to snuggle. Ethan especially loved to ride on the cart that we had for our burro. It was definitely one of the best additions we have made for our family and it wouldn't be here if it wouldn't have been for our Ethan. He got this burro as a gift from my uncle when Ethan's make-a-wish horse was delivered from Colorado last September. I wanted to share some pictures of our ride the other day. It used to be a fight as to who would ride in front...everytime Ethan and Ava would fight over this. Both kids wore their cowboy/girl hats so sitting right behind each other was interesting......but so cute.

Over on Lauren's Blog she has a perfect little package ready to go for my little girl. It's a little pony from Build-a-Bear and it is adorable. She is going to love it so be sure to check it out. My house is clean except for my stamping table area so that is my goal today. The hope is to have it complete so I can start creating in time for Lauren's Sat challenge. Hope to be back soon with some "crafty" things to share!

Lilly Rose

Ava girl is on cloud nine with her new baby kitty "Lilly Rose". Our friends have a lot of baby kitties and I promised Ava that she could get one when the kitties were ready to leave their Mamas. Yesterday we went and picked up Lilly Rose. She loves her new baby and has been toting her around all day long. I have a few pictures to share of Ava and our new addition to our "small farm".

Lilly was actually the name that we were going to use if we were having a baby girl, but we found out on Thursday that we are going to have a little baby boy. We are very excited and can't wait for him to get here. November seems like so far away.

On the home front my husband and I actually accomplished something that has been sitting for over 4 weeks now. We haven't folded laundry in yes, 4 weeks. It's just hard knowing that this would be the last time to put away Ethan's jammies or hang up his button up shirts. It was hard on me, but we did it and his room is all straightened up and looks so nice. It will take a lot of time to go through everything and get things put away....one thing at a time.

I'm gradually getting my stamp area back together and hopefully will have it completed by tomorrow and can start sharing some creative projects. I'm hoping to actually take part in Lauren's Saturday challenge. We'll see how the week goes before I commit, but that is my plan. Until then....Happy Stampin!

My GIRL!

Yesterday I got Ava all dressed up....well, I do this everyday, but I was thinking that I could take her picture yesterday for her 3 year pics. Luckily she was in a very cooperative mood and did almost everything I asked within a 2 minute time frame. Here are a couple shots that I got of her.

Pictures are another thing that are so easy for me to take, yet so hard to take too right now. I miss capturing my little boy. Everything and I mean everything reminds me of him. We were at the grocery store yesterday and I can remember all of the people saying "What a cute cowboy" and he would get mad or he would goof off and dance in the isles. I'm sure it will get easier with time and the more I go to places, but I find it weird that it is the little things that really bother me. I'm definitely a shopper and always have been, but I can't hardly walk by the boys clothes racks because it reminds me of shopping for him. Ethan loved his clothes and I was always looking for button up shirts that he would like.

I'm finally getting back into my organizing mode and I've started in our office/stamping area. I made some progress yesterday and I'm planning on working a bit on that today before Ava girl wakes up. Some things I have had for years and I think it is now time to part with them! We'll see how ambitious I actually get today. I did make a tribute wall for my Ethan and it looks wonderful. I probably won't share a picture, but it reminds me of all the things he was so crazy for.

Thanks for stopping by. I'm so amazed that the Weiman Wranglers digi stamp has raised almost $2000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Illinois. That is absolutely wonderful. We are still enjoying Ethan's Make-A-Wish gift and I'll post some pictures of Ava riding our little burro (ass) to the winery last night. She has so much fun on him. Have a great 4th.....maybe I'll get my stamp area back in order and make some new creations next week!