OK.. this is going to be short and sweet... I simply can't sleep. I hate when that happens. I know I have to get up early with the kids so why am I up? Well...

something really cool happened last night and I want to see if I think I did what I think I did..lol

About two years ago I let one of the boys do a load of dishes in my new dishwasher and they accidentally locked the settings. I have been pushing buttons for two years to get the machine to wash on any cycle other than "normal". I wanted "Pots and Pans" or "Quick Rinse" or how about "China"? or any of the other settings. So...last night I was loading the dishwasher and I hit the start button like always and it didn't come on.... the delay wash light came on...hmmmm I am thinking "what the heck is wrong now"? So I got mad and rather forcefully pushed every button and yelled at the machine.. and guess what???? It's working correctly..... I washed a load on "Pots and Pans" last night and everything came out sooooo clean. So I wanted to make sure it wasn't a fluke. You know it would be just my luck.... So I put a 3x5 index card and wrote, "DO NOT TOUCH, OR YOU'LL REGRET IT!" on the card and taped it to the machine. Everyone stayed away from the machine like it had the plague..and I am highly suspicious that they stayed away from it in fear of knocking the sign off and then thinking they had to wash the dishes.....Well...I'll tell you, I am sitting here listening to my machine, which cost 3 x as much as a regular one, just because it's stainless and has computer something or another in it...that sure didn't stop it from screwing up now did it.... oh my I am digressing....
Back to the point of the post... it's just that when you think you know something and how it's going to respond, it doesn't do what it should. In this case it was good instead of having my machine decide to break down, it decided to mend up...is that a proper analogy?

At any rate... I thought many of you would enjoy hearing about my dishwasher..hehehehe.. Night all.. oh wait... it's morning... Good Morning... I love you all!!

Mary

Life never ceases to amaze me.....The other day Anabelle asked if we would let her audition for "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever", which was being cast by Town Players. So, we said, "sure, Honey". Then she told me that she didn't want to do it alone so I loaded everyone in the van and took them over to the theatre to audition. I was sitting there watching the kids and thought, "heck, I am forcing them all to audition just because Belle doesn't want to do it alone", "why am I sitting here being a poor example?" I filled out the call sheet and sat back and watched all the 50+ kids audition. Rob just hammed it up and had a blast. They didn't have many males audition so he had to read for two parts and ended up having a conversation with himself. It was hilarious and those in attendance we laughing quite loudly. Belle auditioned with a group of girls and did a great job. She has an incredible memory.
Andrew and Nathaniel did not want to audition and their read through showed their lack of interest and then they called me to read with an adult British man for the parts of the mother and father. I wasn't nervous at all because I just read it like I would have for the kids when running lines with them. Then we went home. I couldn't get Bob to audition and I have a feeling Oklahoma was that last time he'll be on stage for a very long time.
Yesterday the cast list was posted and........Belle got the part of Jaunita, Robby got the male lead, and I got the female lead of "mother". Too funny. I haven't acted since we did "Run to the Roundhouse, Nellie". I think being a mom is going to so much more in my comfort zone than being a can can girl/call girl and the costume has to be better..lol.

The other fun thing that has happened around here is....
Memory Makers' 601 Great Scrapbook Ideas hits the stands the beginning of November and "Ready-Set-Create, October Issue is out. They picked up the altered prom dress and matching shoes and is on page 90, if you get a chance to see it that's great, if not, here's the dress and shoes..

and Meggie wearing the dress. Until next time. Mary

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.

Just got off the phone with my doctor and the biopsy is benign.woo hoo... I feel so good knowing for sure. At least now I can go on and know that it's been checked and the mass is out of me. Thank you so much for all the prayers and good wishes.. God is so good to us all the time.


love you! Mary

Beauty Abounds....

It is such an incredibly beautiful day. The birds are singing and everything is so bright and green. I haven't seen the lawns this green without loading them down with fertilizer. You know the green where it all looks crisp and fresh? Well that's it. I am going to take a photo of it right now and post in a bit. I have made some decisions regarding home schooling. In the past I have treated my schedule much like I did when I was teaching in San Diego, very regimented. I had to when I was teaching in the public system; they have schedules to keep. But, with home schooling, I can make my own schedule and teach the days I want to teach. So here's the plan. We will hit the books hard Monday-Thursday and then take Fridays for projects and "me" time. I really need this because for those of you who do not home school, if I don't take a day, I will not get any time to myself. The weekends are spent doing "family" things and "God" things, ie. Church, etc. The kids are all for this schedule as well.

This year the boys, and Anabelle, have decided that they want to take foreign languages other than Spanish, which they have all had. Robby is in his third year of Spanish but wants to learn Japanese as well. Andrew wants to learn Latin, Nathaniel and Anabelle French. So, we did what every home school family does; we bought Rosetta Stone curriculum and they are taking those languages. Rob and Andrew are having it installed on their school laptops and had to be permission from the Principal at the High School. He was impressed that they are taking those classes and o.k.ed it for them to have it loaded.

Well, I am going to have a nice hot cup of tea and am going to sit out on the veranda and listen to the birds. Talk soon. Love you!
Mary

I think the title of my blog really fits my life, especially right now, this very minute. I am sitting here, trying to type, but am finding it a bit difficult. As many already know I have been having some health issues regarding tumors and some breast lumps that are suspicious. My world for the past four days has really be taken over by circumstances way beyond my control, but definitely in God's control. The short version is this.
Last week before we took Meggie to school I had a follow=up appointment from my mammogram and had to have an ultra sound done of my left breast. That was last Tuesday. We left for Northwestern on Thursday and got home Sunday late. When we arrived home I found a letter from the clinic stating that they tried calling me but were unsuccessful and that I need to get in contact with my doctor as soon as possible regarding the results of the ultra sound. So.. Monday morning I called my doctor and he told me that he wanted me to see a surgeon here in town. I called the surgeon he recommended and his receptionist told me that they already had my file and that the surgeon wanted to see me that very afternoon. I am thinking, "hmmm... something's fishy in Denmark" I went to the appointment with Bob at 4:45 and the doctor examined me and told me not to show him the area...to see if he could find it.. well.. he found it right away and told me that I had two options.. one was to have the area removed and biopsied and the other was to come back every two weeks for ultra sounds to see if there is growth. I opted to have it removed... so he set me up to have the area removed on Wednesday morning. The area removed was rather large, not my full breast, but about 1/4 th of it.. I am awaiting the results and should know tomorrow. In the mean time I have been taking the pain killers, but they make me sick to my tummy, so I am calling tomorrow for a different RX. I am glad that I had them remove the area instead of just sticking a needle in and hoping to hit the right area. it's not just a little bump. It was an area about 4 x 2 inches behind my breast but on top of the rib cage so they had to literally go behind to get to the area. Well.. that's probably more graphics than anyone would ever want so I will shut up now and just ask that you all pray about this. I feel good and really believe that the results are going to be good. Well.. enough for tonight, I am heading up to bed. Hugs.
Mary

Hi there!

Lots going on here. We are getting ready to take Megan to school on Thursday...two days from now... She is heading off to the big city and Northwestern, as you all know. She is super excited and a bit on the scared side. I can't blame her. I remember being a bit scared of facing college, but I didn't go away like she is doing. All will be fine. The kids are getting ready to start a new school year. Classes start on Thursday for them as well. Rob and Andrew are taking a few classes up at the high school...ie. Spanish III, Drama, Meistersingers, regular chorus, and Chemistry. They are taking the rest of their academic load here at home.

I have some great scrapping news.... I was just chosen as a team member for a new scrapbooking site, Creativity {Unbound}. It's a totally new concept of blogging where we go beyond just scrapping and will actually be teaching online classes, much like I already do for my site, but with a much larger audience. We will also be hosting swaps, posting challenges and have some interest in our site from manufacturers. Check it out... here's the link... www.creativityunbound.blogspot.com
seven gals were chosen because of our varied gifts and talents and as a whole group.. it's going to be amazing.

Well... It's gettng late and I have to run. Love you and I need to post some photos... so behind on that..

Mary

Whew! It's over! Woot Hoot. OK.... here it is... the Parade of Homes is over and I am so glad. It was the most work I have ever thought or imagined possible The kids and Bob were unbelievably helpful and worked so hard to get their rooms ready. You would be so proud of them. There were so many people that came through and the most accurate count thus far is... 440 presold tickets and 380 onsight tickets sold... that's a lot of people coming through. Everythinglooked great, especially using all of Nana's beautiful antiques and Bob's great grandmother's silver.. It's late and I am super tired so I will write more later. Love you.


Mary

OK... so we are now five days away from Parade of Homes and having about 800 people tour the house...and I AM GOING CRAZY.... Actually today wasn't as bad as yesterday, so I guess there is hope. I have been busier than I ever thought possible. Saturday I painted the upstairs bathroom and gave the front of the house an extra coat of white paint..on the original clapboard. It looks nice and clean and only took three hours to do. Yesterday I spent the day in the Library going through books and papers. That's all done now and that room looks great. I also did four loads of regular laundry and then washed all the feather beds, which took forever to dry, etc. So... I finally hit the sack at 3:35 am after cleaning the kitchen. I was really mad at the kids because I had asked them to clean the kitchen and instead they camped out in the living room and watched movies until 12:30 am. I made two huge meals yesterday and told the family that I was only cooking big meals so they would have energy to help.... instead, it was too much and they all wanted to sleep... hmm... going to have to use another tactic. So... this morning I was up at 7:40 and woke everyone up. Andrew finished cleaning his room. Nathaniel was in the dog house so I made him clean toilets...hehehe... Megan sorted material. Belle helped me, Robby was at work...as was Bob. I shampooed the bathrooms, library, living room, and the boys' rooms. Then.......

A reporter from our local newspaper, the Public Opinion showed up and wanted to take interior photos. The music room was clean and set so I let her take photos in there... whew... now.... It's dinner time and I AM NOT Cooking a thing...we are going out and I will get back to the house when we get back... gosh... there's such a difference in getting the house company clean and tour clean.... urch..... Bob just pulled up so I will post more late tonight....
until then...

Mary

It's an incredible day!
The sun is shining and the kids are actually happy cleaning their bedrooms. Can you believe that?
After posting yesterday I thought that I need to take the focus off me and share a few blessings with you all. I don't know if I have been holding back posting this because of selfishness or what. I don't like to share some things..lol.



The last Wednesday in July, my little brother and wife, Donnie & Shelly, became grandparents. Haley had her baby is she is so very beautiful. Elin Rosa-Lee arrived at 9:53 am weighing in at 6lbs. 30z and is 19.5 inches long. I have been selfishly enjoying myself whenever I sneak up to their place to hold the baby. She is sooooo stinking beautiful. Haley is doing well and looks fabulous. Watching her hold Elin and experiencing all those instinctive things that jump into action has been a lot of fun. It's a side of every woman that changes the moment she becomes a mother. She is so very intuned to Elin even though motherhood is so new to her. I think that's what makes all new moms so beautiful. I am very proud of Haley and her wisdom. She is getting ready to go back to school, is working full time, and now has her own apartment, which is really great. It's more of a town house than an apartment, with three stories, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a great lower level with washer and dryer.

So, now that Donnie and Shelly are grandparents, I can let the cat out of the bag... no I am not expecting.. whew! David and Brandi are expecting and are due in March, so that means I too will be a grandmother. I am just glad Donnie beat me to the status of grandparent. hehehehe.

Other happenings around here... I will post about the kids and all their adventures tomorrow.... Until then... Love you!

Hi all,
Seems like it's been forever since I blogged....well...it has. So much going on here with life in South Dakota. Kids are all getting ready for school to start and I am still winding down with some health related issues. Many of you know that I have been going through a series of tests and appointments due to my dentist discovering two rather large tumors in my lower mandible. Bob and I spent two full weeks down in Houston at MD Anderson with various doctors to determine the seriousness of these tumors. They are bilateral and are pretty close to identical to one another. To make a long story short, they appear to be benign and a biopsy cannot be done of them because of their proximity to the nerves that control my lower mouth and jaw. If these nerves are severed I will not have feeling, etc. Removing them at this point isn't a good option because it would neccesitate bone grafting, extensive dental work, and plastic surgery...so we are taking a wait and see approach to this whole thing. We will be monitoring them and rechecking them every six months. I completely trust the oncologists at MD Anderson for a few reasons. First, because they are the best in the US, rated above any other cancer facility including Mayo. Secondly they actually have DDS MDs in oncology whereas the other facilities do not... highly specialized. Thirdly, they see 100,000 patients a day and only come across a few cases like mine, where as other facilities have never come across something like this.

I told you it's a long story.... The bottom line is this... God is good! HE is in charge of my life, not me, not the doctors, so I place my trust in Him. If I hadn't waited and trusted the people God has put in my path during this journey I would now be jawless...and in need of several surgeries. But in God there is peace, direction, and hope....I am now awating to get an appointment down in SF for an MRI check of my left breast...I had a mammogram done and there is some concern that needs futher checking... I figure that dealing with the second concern is much easier than dealing with possible bone cancer. God is good.

Being away from the kids for so long really made me home sick. It also made me look long and hard at my priorities and direction of my life. Bob and I had some great quality time alone and after twenty years of marriage I can honestly say that I am blessed to be married to such a wonderful loving man. Soooo... now that I am home, we are getting ready to take Megan off to school, get her all moved in to her dorm, get boys' settled up at the high school, order curriculum for the school year, and get the house ready for the parade of homes which is in less than two weeks from now. It should be an adventure. Thanks again for all the wonderful prayers, notes, emails, and cards. I love you all.

In Christ
Mary

It's been forever since I posted. so sorry.

Well, Meg's grad party is over and all our out of town guests are gone and things are starting to get back to normal... whatever "that" is. This morning I went to Wal Mart to develop some film and while I was there I picked up a few grovery items and a cool summer dress. I don't like clohs shopping and rarely buy for myself. I hate malls and crowded centers. After coming home I decided that I need to reload xp onto my personal computer and the next few days are going to be spent trying to get everything back on the desktop where I feel comfortable where it is. Gosh, all this work simply because I can't remember my password...urgh.....

Well, hopefully I will be posting more in the next few days. So much to do around here and so little time. Hugs!

Mary

Just a few of Megan's recent Senior Photos. Isn't she so pretty? Thought you would like to see these. We have about 250 other shots...lol

May 1st can you believe this.... time has flown by so quickly. We are busy around here getting ready for Meg's graduation. She picked up her announcements today so please be on the lookout for your invitation to arrive shortly. We have been trying to get some major and not so major things done around the house. Not major would be planting flowers and getting my veggie garden in along with reinforcing my herb garden. I am going to plant a wider variety of basil this year since we all love it so much.
Major would be the undertaking of the front porch. We have hired Mike Farthing to replace the entire veranda...all 800 square feet of it! While Mike was tearing up the old cedar planks he was able to remove that ugly faux brick siding that surrounded the front door...and guess what? under that ugly siding we found the original slat siding from the 1800s. We also had him remove some boards that had been covering up the transfer window above the front door. Now we get to wait for Mike to finish the porch and then we will be painting the old siding. It's really exciting to be able to see what lies beneath the ugly siding.. I guess it wasn't so ugly forty some odd years ago when it was first put up there. I will have to post some photos a bit later.

Such a busy weekend. We spent our weekend at home, just the seven of us, reading, watching old movies, baking, cooking, drawing, painting, scrapping, and doing a little work around the house. I really enjoyed our weekend of rest. The kids all wanted to stay put. No one asked to go anywhere, which is a rarity around here. Meg did get to the movies with Stephanie. I worked on a few layouts for upcoming calls and finished some projects for Cut the Crop. I finished another layout and three cards for the site.

Love working with Dream Street Design papers. They are so much fun and very versitile. I am really enjoying these paper right now.

Well..... Here we are, April 5th and we still have snow.... God really has a sense of humor. It snowed on April Fool's day and it's been here ever since. I guess we are going to have a wintery Easter. We are going to spend Easter here at home with just us in our little world of Liberty Hall.
Bob and I are going to have to hide the eggs inside. We have decided to skip the candy thing. The kids are all for this. I am amazed. They all requested that we do books instead. Just shows you how nerding the kids are. I think I will pick up a couple classic movies for them as well.

well, I have to run. Hope you have a wonderful day.

Busy crazy day. It's snowing and I want it to stop. So tired of the snow and really really want spring to stay put. There is something good about being reluctant to venture out into the snow and that's having some time to scrap...that is after I did a bit of house work. My floors look great, by the way. Just sent some images to Cut The Crop for the Month Kit Designs. This is a really cool kit because it actually comes with some really cool Drawers that you can alter. This is

what I did with mine. I really love designing for Tove. She's super nice and always very encouraging. I love her kits because they include some really fun supplies. I also made a fun "Mom" wall plaque and have it hanging in my scraproom. So easy to put this together using some fun supplies. Love brads right now, tomorrow I may love buttons, or clips, or a combination of all

I think what also makes designing a lot of fun is pushing myself to create some fun different layouts using specific papers and supplies. Lots of fun. With Megan graduating this year I find that I need to get all her photos scrapped so I am not running around like a chicken with my head cut off next month getting ready for her celebration. Well. That's about all for now.