It's Official... I am a Girl Scout Leader...hehehe..

I know you are probably thinking that I am crazy to add yet another thing to my busy life, but Belle needs me. She has asked for a long time if she can join the GS and we have put her off. The other kids keep us busy enough as it is. Bob and I were talking about all the things the kids have done over the years and we realized that all the other kids were super busy from David and Boy Scouts, Swim Team, Baseball, Awana, and all the other things he did, all the way down to Nathaniel with Scouts, church things, piano. The other kids all are in Scouts, have paper routes, were all active in Awana and other church things, community theatre, school theatre, interp, sports, work, life guarding, etc, etc, etc. the list goes on and on and on.. we then realized that poor Anabelle has been the tail of all these activities. She gets dragged to everything and really has no one thing that is just for Belle. So last night, when the GS director in our area called me she told me that there is no leader for Belle's age group, so I volunteered and I know that we are going to have a blast. I have heard that GS are a lot different than BS because they do a lot of craft stuff, which is just up my ally. So... wish me luck, and pray for the group....

Hugs,
Mary

I just have a few minutes to post about the happenings and activities of the Chapman Clan. My days seem to blend one into another as I look forward to a relaxed weekend. We had a pretty uneventful day. The kids all worked well on their school work and they are all off at Mid-week church activities. Bob ran to the store for more laundry detergent. Why is it that laundry never is fully done? It's a rhetorical question which really has no logical answer.
So, Anabelle has decided that she is brave enough to let me change her earrings. She has had the same pair on since she had them pierced in May 2006. She is super scared thinking that they will hurt like it did when she had them first done. So yesterday she finally let me change them for her. Then I showed her how to do them herself and she must have changed them out at least 10 x in one afternoon. Last night we sat on my bed and we sorted through my drawer of earrings and actually for a few that are appropriate for a young lady of 8. She is too funny. This evening two of our neighbor girls came over looking for Belle. When I answered the back door I said, "I am sorry, Megan isn't here right now, she's at church". Bob laughed and corrected me. Megan has been on my mind for quite a bit lately. It's definitely different around here with her gone. She is really really enjoying school and I have a sneaky suspicion that she is loving her independence. She has always been a trail blazer. Belle reminds me so much of her. It's too funny. I know that kids are supposed to grow up and spread those wings and I am glad that I have Belle, being so much younger than the others. I just dread the day when they are all grown and gone and I no longer answer the door to friends looking for them. Well.... have a great night.
Love you all!

Mary

You never know when the urge to create something stikes. Here I am at 1:40 AM, on Sunday morning just finishing up some fun items. I received some great papers and chipboard in the mail today and couldn't wait to play with it all... Bob, Andrew, and Nathaniel are out camping with the Boy Scouts, Robby is upstairs fast asleep, and Anabelle is conked out on the sofa. It was a fabulous day. I had the funnest day with just Belle. Robby worked from noon til 6:30 at the coffee shop and Belle and I just played the day by ear..well, except for a wedding we went to at 2 pm....

To start my day I slept in! Can you believe that! I loved it! No one bugged me to make a big breakfast, or needed me to help find something...so I was lazy and slept in. Then when I decided to get going I played around with my scrapping supplies which are now strewn about the dining room table. Bob hates it when I take over the dining room. He reminds me constantly that I have a scrap room and really should try to contain my mess there... Shelly came over last night and we scrapped til 12:30 am. In getting ready for the wedding I discovered that Anabelle needed a new pair of pants so after we dropped Rob at work...we did what every mom and daughter do on Saturdays...we shopped. Went to the wedding and then out to lunch, late, with Carla and Laura. I didn't cook a thing today. I am amazed at how few dishes one uses when you don't have to cook...the funny thing is that I LOVE to cook.

We were thinking of going out to a movie but nothing worth watching was at the theater, so we rented a few movies instead. If you get the chance to see Possession with Gweneth Pltrow, it's an older movie, I think. I really enjoyed it.
I am jumping subjects so please forgive me. The reason I posted is this.....

Anabelle and I have always had to share our time with all the other kiddos. Which is fine, but I have come to realize that she gets very little Mom and Belle time. I loved my day, love my Belle, and can't wait for more days like today.

Well, it's getting late and I have a book to finish.

Today was a bit breezy but still beautiful, none the less.
Big news on the home-front..... Rob sang the National Anthem at the High School Varsity Volleyball Tournament and did a great job. That was on Tuesday. Wednesday he auditioned for All State Choir and was told today that he made it. I am so stinking proud of him. He has a beautiful voice.

Meg is doing well and is growing, stretching, and learning lots of new things, even some wonderful things about herself and her heart. Love that.

Homeschooling is keeping me busy beyond belief. I haven't had much scrapping time, but did manage to squeeze in a few minutes here and there to create some fun things.
OK I know it's not Valentine's Day, but I have been in the mood for creating with hearts. I've also been playing with gold leafing. It's tons of fun and just adds a little something extra.Speaking of Hearts. I love the look of White on White and I love Vintage.. Vintage anything. So I dug through my old button jar and came up with this "Love" card. The top of the heart is not attached so a photo or love not could be slid into the center of the heart.
Another card... loving Vintage and old old things. Love Tim Holtz Designs and inks.
I have no idea why I made a "bon voyage" card. No one I know is going anywhere.. Maybe it's that I wish I was going somewhere...hmmmm
I put this layout together for a class that I taught on Creativity Unbound. It's an amazing blog that is devoted to nothing but encouraging, helping, inspiring artists to stretch their creative minds and push the edge. There's lots of stitching on this layout. I love the look of sewing and handwork on layouts. I am really happy with this style and will explore it a bit more in the future.