wow... so many months have passed and as usual, so much has happened during those long months. Lifewise....we are all good.. no.. we are great. Meggie got home from school this past week and the other kids finish up this next week. Really needing the break right now from home schooling. 

Lots of exciting news from the home front. First things first. David and Brandi had their baby, Ayvah, and she's beautiful. She arrived on Leap Year day so she will only have a birthday every four years. Meggie and I were able to spend about two weeks in California with the family there.

I have started a new business, biah... it's so exciting how all this transpired. A part of me is still having a hard time believing the greatness of it all...  After getting several items pubbed in beading magazines Traci and I, Traci is my business partner, were contacted by a company out n Ca to design for them. We were tempted and felt very honored that they felt our designs were good enough for a line....then we were contacted by several gals/other designers asking if they could sell our jewelry for us... 

so we started biah... be inspred at home... we have a full line of jewelry 310 items that are offered at inhome jewelry parties and we have 10 reps out there right now. Our catalog will be out within 10-12 weeks.. what makes biah different from the others is this.... we only have real stuff.. real stones, real pearls, real sterling.... and it's all designed and made by us here in American, South Dakota to be exact. We don't send or buy our supplies from overseas. Traci brings an incredible business mind to the partnership along with amazing designing skills and I bring a lifetime of jewelry insight...My dad is a manufacturing jeweler and I grew up in the business. My dad, Don Palmer, is our mentor and advisor and we are so very fortunate and thankful for all his advice and encouragement. So, If you are wanting a biah rep to contact you or if you are interested in the biah opportunity, please leave a comment and I will personally get more information to you.

Keep us in your thoughts and I will try to keep this blog up to date. 

Love you!

Mary

I am sorry I haven't written in such a long time, but as you can see, I have been so very busy.

Hey there.
OK... lots going on as usual. Some days I just think of all the activities I have juggling about and am at a loss as to how to write about it all.
I didn't send out a "family" letter this year simply because if you are close to my family, you know what's going on anyways so why waste the paper, ink, and postage telling you all things that you already know????? just think of all the paper we could conserve if we didn't send those brag letters. It's just a thought.

So, I broke a tooth last week and just got into the dentist this afternoon. Good thing it wasn't too bad, he will be able to fix it next week without doing the crown thing on it. whew. On the way home we stopped by the pharmacy to pick up an order form for a med bracelet for Meggie. After all her scares with Penecillin and Morophine we figure she needs to have a med bracelet. Then stopped by the cell phone place and got new phones for Meggie and Robby... I know boring ya here.

Meggie came into the store with me today and helped with inventory. She spent three days photographing inventory for reordering purposes. She took over 1400 photos of different beads and supplies. She decided that she didn't want money, but wanted beading supplies...so she went away with a lot of fun beads, stones, tools, and supplies. how fun for her.

I was taken aback at the store when a gal came in and called us celebreties. how funny is that? Beading and submitting is so much easier than doing it in the scrapbooking industry. at least it seems that way for me. Other gals that have been submitting for bead magazines say that it is just the same, so maybe it's just that the jewelry industry likes my style better than the scrapbooking industry. hmm.. the local newspaper ran an article with photos and I have some other fun news.... Bead Trends picked up 12 of my items for the May/June issue. March/April will have four items. It's a lot of fun. I keep going back and forth about the HOF stuff. I did step down from all the design teams and Swap site. The hardest one to step back from was Creativity Unbound. I love the concept, but just don't have the time. I love the ladies on there and on the other sites, but it's just way too much for me right now.

I have also made another good decision..... I am going ahead with having the tumors removed from my jaw. I know this is the right thing to do. I just want it over and done with. So... enough pitty and stupidity.... Life is good.... love what you have,...take time to do more than smell the roses... smush them up and take a hot bath in them....yeah! that sounds good.
Well..I have Meggie home for a few more days and am planning on enjoying each moment I have with her. I am so blessed to have her as my little girl. She is a tremendous joy and blessing. I am also doubly blessed to have Anabelle as well. The boys are all four X blessings... I guess what I am trying to say is that they are all soooooo stinking wonderful. I love them all so much and am so blessed to have a terrific husband, too.

Back to my creating things... I love being creative, I love finding art in everything around me. I love seeing God's thumbprint on it all. So... have fun, look around, and CREATE!

Love you.
Mary

OK... it's been crazy, as always, around the house. Meggie is home from Northwestern and we are really happy that she is here. I love having her at home, she balances us all. Today was pretty hectic. Church in the morning, then big formal lunch, then off to Chris' to play with sculpable clay that we will bake later. Then it was home again in time to watch the Broncos barely beat the Vikings in OT. I love football, always have and always will. It's a blast to watch, especiailly in real life. I love the atmosphere of the crowd, the yelling, cheering, the smell of beer and peanuts and hotdogs. I hate hotdogs, but can stomache the smell during a game. I am off on a tangent, which is ok... it's my blog, so I can write what I want..nanner nanner..

Ok... enough of that.. Have you made any "resolutions?" I hate them. I don't make them any longer. I make "Intentions" and I love that thought. There are a lot of things I "intend" to do, and if I do them, that's great, if not, that's ok, too. Well.. it's getting late so I should get off the computer. I fell asleep for a bit earlier, so I guess I should call it a night for real... I "Intend" to get to bed a a decent hour from now on. Well.. night all... love you.

Mary

Well..... It's been forever since I enterred any new posts...so here is the scoop.. Meggie is home for Christmas break. We put off decorating the tree until she was here with us, so we decorated it this evening. While the kids were busy putting the ornaments on, I read a short story from a book that Megan brought us.. Chirstmas stories from the Little House books. I read aloud and they had a great time, the only thing missing was a log on the fire. Which makes me think of cold weather. We do have snow on the ground and may end up with a small storm before Christmas. I just love white Christmases. So festive and cozy indoors.

The other new news around here is that I took a part time job to get out of the house a bit. I am loving working just a few days a week at Beads Inspired, our local new bead store that has amazingly beautiful supplies. Tons of real stone beads in all sizes and lots of incredible findings. Love working and playing with all the fun things. I will post some photos a bit later.

Another thing that has happened and I don't know if this is going to sound strange or not, hopefully not. I know that I said I wasn't going to enter HOF this year. I had resigned to just skipping it all together. Well, I dreampt Nana Sara and in my dream she asked why I wasn't going to enter and I told her. Her response was, "well, Mija, you need to do it, but do it in Spanish, for me," so... I am enterring. I know I won't win, but it's not about winning this time. It's about continueing doing what I love doing and preserving a big part of my heritage by completing it in Spanish. It's coming together rather nicely.

I have also decided to step back from the design teams, to stop doing things that add too much stress to my life. Working with different companies is a lot of fun, and the rewards are pretty good, but, it's becoming more of a task where I have to force my creativity, and that's not what I like. I want to create and play for the sake of fun, not because of deadlines. Giving up my teaching on Creativity Unbound was a big decision and it was a hard one to make, but, I know it was the right one for me. It's still a great site and I will enjoy seeing where it goes from here.

I feel like I am jumping all over the place, I guess that's what the mind does at 3:59 am...hmm.. oh.. other interesting news.. with working at the bead store I am able to play with beads and create beautiful jewelry and get paid at the same time. Can't beat that... I submitted a few things to Bead Trends a while ago and they are publishing four of my items in the March/April issue.

I went shopping the other day with Shelly and Lori D, and we did a power shop day down in SF. We left at 8 am and didn't get home until 12:45 am the next morning. I got all my Christmas shopping done in a day.. woot hoot. while we were there we went to a Scrapbook store and Lori D bought 601 and then asked me to show her my layout. I did and the sales clerks overheard us and asked to see the layout.... it was kinda funny.. they made a big "to Do" over being pubbed and a bunch of other gals got around and wanted to know how I put the page together... it was fun... well... I am rambling so I have to hit the hay and try to get some rest. I think Meggie will be glad that I finally posted something new...

Love you all soooooooo very very much.
Mary

Here She is...... I just got my original layout back from Memory Makers Magazine. They sent me a copy of the book as compensation. That's ok by me....lol. Lots going on here on the home-front, as always. I will post more later as I find time. Love you! Mary

It's Here!!!!! 601 Great Scrapbook Ideas!

I know you are probably thinking that I am crazed, but I am!!! lol. I just got my copies of Memory Maker's 601 book that has my page of Megan in it. I did a page called "Timeless" and they published it. Which makes me feel really good. It's on page 106...See

This is really exciting for me. If you have the book, please check out page 221. My online scrap sister, Theresa Tyree, has a page of her beautiful son with incredible curls and angelic features. Theresa is really a great scrapper, but more than that, she has become a great friend and encouragement/prayer warrior and we can all benefit tremendously from knowing a prayer warrior or two.

Today has been busy as usual. Meggie got home last night/this morning at 2 am and we stayed up til 4 am chatting and laughing. She is so in tuned with me and I really have missed her a lot these past few months with her off at college. She is still loving Northwestern and is keeping busy. When she walked in this morning she told me that she brought me a surprise and I can't believe I said this to her, "please tell me it's chocolate". lol. it's a good thing that it was. She brought me three Godiva truffles.. not telling anyone that I have these...hehehehe.

She really knows what I like. The other kids know some of my favorites, but definitely not all. Robby challenged me to complete a page about what my favorites are. He has been asking me to record more of me than I have ever done before. So... I did this page, "Favorite 20" in response to Robby's request.

The second photo is a pull out that lists all 20 of my favorite things. I took my digi and walked around the house and shot some photos of the things I LOVE..

Well, It's getting to be that time. You know, when you run and throw a load of laundry in, sweep the kitchen, straighten up the living room and pretend you've been cleaning all day.....instead of scrapping.. actually, I haven't scrapped at all today but am planning layouts out in my mind.

I posted a super fun class over on Creativity {Unbound}
Make sure you check it out....

Love you!
Mary

Happy Monday!!!

What an incredible weekend. I cannot believe how much activity happens around here, even when we try to slow down and just hang out at home, there are tons of things that keep us running. The play is over and I am so very happy to have that in the past. Belle is bummed and cried a little on Sunday morning because she realized that there would be no more dress rehearsals or getting to the theatre early for call. Oh well.... there's always next year.

This time of year really gets to me. I love the fall. I love all the colors and crispiness of the air that greets me when I step outside my home nest. I love that Thanksgiving is just a few days away and I still haven't gone shopping. I will, later tonight. Other than doing two shows this weekend I was able to do a little shopping. Mainly looking for a new vacuum cleaner, which brings this little story to mind. You all know how detailed Bob is. He researches everything before he makes his mind up on just about any purchase. Well, I killed our vacuum cleaner, Yeah!, and needed a new one. I looked and found the machine I wanted. Bob wanted to check every vacuum out in our entire town. After spending four hours Saturday morning looking, but not buying, I was done. I wanted to go home, get lunch and get to the theatre in time to get ready for the afternoon show. I had spent an hour at Belle's ice skating lesson prior to going window shopping for the cleaner and was freezing. I was so cold, so we went home unsuccessful in the hunt. I showed Bob the machine I wanted and he decided that it needed further research...urgh!!! I love him, but sometimes that engineer mind just kills me. lol. Then he tells me that he doesn't know if I know what features I want on a machine. What woman doesn't know what she wants her vacuum cleaner to do? Then I asked myself....why the heck does he care, he's never turned a vacuum on in his life... that's when I got ticked....

So, he went out again Saturday night for three more hours and came home empty handed, knowing how badly I needed a machine. We are having friends over this week and Meggie is coming home from school tonight. On Sunday, I was so upset, I stopped talking to him. Then he tells me that he needed to check online, etc. and find more information. Gosh it's not like he was buying a car. So Sunday was pretty chilly inside the house as well as outside.

I can't believe what my mind can think up when it's ticked off. I am human, so please don't judge me too harshly, and I have four kids at home and only one is a girl, so I am sick of the male mind right now. I decided Sunday afternoon that if Bob wanted to hold on to the old vacuum that I would make him really see what it would be like to be tied to a broken vacuum... No I didn't tie him up..hehehe.. though that would have been funny. Bob went out after church and I had decided that if he didn't come home with the specific machine I wanted that I would just substitute the old vacuum for me.. I thought...hmmm.. it would be funny to put the old vacuum in bed with Bob when he was in a deep sleep and just slip out of the room. I thought of putting it in the shower early in the morning before he got in. I thought of tying an apron around it and leaving it in front of the stove. I also thought of putting it in the passenger seat of his car and buckling it up for safety.

And just when my evil mind was envisioning him driving down the street with a vacuum as a passenger, he comes in the house carrying the exact machine I wanted in the first place. It's a good thing. I started laughing and he wanted to know what was so funny. So I told him of my plans and he laughed so hard. The kids laughed and said, "Man dad, you ruined a good opportunity for us to make a funny movie". They are into filming right now. So, alls well that ends well....

I played a little bit with beads and wire and made some embellishments for pages that I am constructing in my mind.









I also am working on this necklace for Megan. I think she's going to like it. Well... that's it for today. Hope this week brings you lots of love, warmth and happiness.
PS... the vacuum works incredibly well.

What a great day. The kids all cooperated and finished most of their work, which is great. Robby is practicing right now and Andrew and Nathaniel are out doing their paper route. We have a concert tonight up at DD Miller, it should be good. I spent a lot of time this past weekend doing not much of anything. I did get my cupboards organized and really didn't accomplish all that I had set out to accomplish. Megan being environmentally conscientious really has made me think about all the plastics and junk I have in the house. Remember when we all had to have every tupperware item in the catalogue? well, that's what is in the land fills, that and diapers. So to cut down on landfill I have decided to donate all my tupperware, not buy anything other than glass and especially vintage/thriftstore finds. I use a lot of thrift store finds in my scrapping, so why not use it in the kitchen. I organized my spices/herbs/grains and really love seeing them all lined up on the shelf.












I wrote about making it as a finalist for the Daisy Ds Design Team and I thought I would just share two of the final items I submitted. I had planned on using these for Hall of Fame, but since I am not doing that this year, I thought it would be good to use them for the DT. We were asked to pick 1-3 of our favorite layouts and 1 altered item. My altered item is an altered 6 pack with four altered boxes, two are made by Maya Road and the other two are handmade from cardboard. I made them to snuggly fit inside the 6 pack. In the boxes I have altered chipboard pieces and recorded favorite scripture verses and prayers for my family. One box has letters I wrote to each of them. I really believe that scrapping is about sharing the heart. I don't scrap like they do in the magazines, but that's not what scrapping is about. for my family, it's about sharing my heart, my dreams, my hopes, and my prayers for my family. I have to keep that goal in my mind.













One of my layouts is one that I did for Bob. I don't usually scrap us. It's usually just the kids. Robby challenged me to write/scrap a bit about me and Bob so they would have those things to look at when we are gone. So... I scrapped about my love for Bob. It may seem corny, but that's ok, it is what was on my heart on that particular day when I was scrapping. Well, speaking of my dear hubby, he is again out of town and due in tonight, yeah!!!
I guess that means I should clean up a bit around here. I spent the past two days playing with supplies and learning a new craft.... And... I can incorporate it into my scrapping. I'll have to share that with you when I get it put together. I also need to get dinner going before the kids all head off in their different directions. Love you!
Mary

Please forgive me for being absent for the past two weeks. Lots has been happening around the Chapman home. Bob is in MN at the U and will be spending some time with Megan. She just finished up Suessical and has auditioned for another play. I don't have the information on that yet. We are getting ready to open tomorrow night with The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. Anabelle is just adorable as a baby angel, Rob is great as Ralph Herdman and I am wondering how in the heck did I get the lead??? We are all memorized and ready but we still need prayers...

I have been spending time scrapping, as always. It's almost as necessary as breathing. I just posted a new class over on www.creativityunbound.blogspot.com under Tuesday's entry. I put up instructions on how to make your own overlays and transparencies. If you haven't tried these, they are a blast, you should give it a try.

I feel like I am jumping around here in my thoughts, but that's ok. The human mind, especially a woman's mind, has that tendency. Speaking of giving things a try.... I had encouraged Chris West to submit some of her beaded creations to a magazine last month and they picked up several of her creations. This past week Megan talked me into submitting some of my stuff and I got an email today that they want all three things that I submitted so they will be featured in the March/April issue of Bead Trends. How fun. Don't worry, Scrapping and writing are still and will always be my passion.

Which brings me to this thought...what have you been scrapping? What stories have you been preserving and sharing with your family. Don't keep those things to yourself. Share them with your family. I am super fortunate in this area. My Nana told me stories every time we sat over a cup of coffee or tea, and that was often. My mom is the master story teller. She has a way of making her characters come to life in the minds of her audiences....which was always her kids. I love telling these stories to my kids and they tell me that they will tell them to their kids. What a blessing this habit has been. It's the same with scrap booking. I guess that's why I love it so much. I love recording today so our kids can ponder and reflect tomorrow and know just how much they were/are loved.

And this thought leads me to this.... I have applied to Daisy D's Design team. They are my favorite paper company. I received an email today that I am one of the finalists. The reason I love this company is their philosophy..."Everyone Has a Story to Tell". How many times have I said that over the years? They truly are committed to getting people to preserve their stories. How cool and noble is that? So.. Please cross whatever things are crossable and say some prayers that I am chosen to be on the team with such an incredible company.

ohhhhh and check out the lesson over on creativity unbound.
Love you!!!
Mary

Well... it's Friday and I thought I would have some time to post earlier in the week, but I was mistaken. We have had another way busy week. I have been pulling kits together for the site and have also been putting my own kits together for my weekend getaway next week. I so need the break.

I went to the dentist yesterday, I know, ya all REALLY want to hear about that..... so, 1700.00 later, I have a crown. I guess Creative Escapes isn't in the cards for this next year. Well, I was feeling kinda down and I came across Robby's Utube post of a song he has been working on. I just want to share it with you and think you will enjoy listening to him. He has such talent. This particular song, he wrote himself, while just sitting at the piano. He seems to have a knack for compossing... without further ado.. I leave you with, Rob Chapman at the piano...

Hope you enjoy,
Love ya.
Mary

The Plains are Alive with the Sound of Music.....

We just returned from the High School and were treated to a wonderful Fall Chorus & Orchestra Concert. Robby and Andrew both sang with their groups and did incredible jobs. Rob was singled out as making All State and Mr. Gauger stated that making All State in small surrounding towns isn't like making All State in our town. He emphasized the competition and talent that is here and that if a singer makes All State from Watertown, it means the student is a great singer. It really made us feel good knowing that Rob is good enough. And to think, I didn't even know my son could sing until he was asked to sing the National Anthem at a school event. lol... It just goes to show that a lot of the time moms are the last to know.

Another surprising thing happened to me today. I have decided, as I posted yesterday, to skip HOF this year. Just when I decided that I received an email from Creating Keepsakes informing me that one of my albums is on their site as the tip of the week. This is the fifth time they have used something I have made on the website for the tip of the week. I am wondering why my things are good enough for the website, but not enough for the magazine. hmm.

I also decided to put in for Daisy D's Design Team call. They are, by far, my favorite scrap paper/embellishment company out there. I have loved each and every paper line they have. I don't know if this is a God thing or what, but their sub heading on their blog is a statement that I have been droning into my children for years. It is: Everyone Has a Story to Tell, I follow that up with... so what's yours? I wanna hear about your day, I wanna hear about your thoughts, I wanna hear about what's on your heart and mind." The kids know that I value communication and recording today's events for tomorrow's reflection. So... what I am asking is that you would all pray that DDs likes what they see and think I am worthy enough to be on their team. Well... I think everyone has headed off to bed..... and I should get upstairs as well...

Oh..... some news on the Megan front. Still enjoying Northwestern and is asking that we pray for direction. God has placed Israel and Africa both on her heart and really needs to work this out between her and God. I am sure she will make the right decision with His guidance. I cannot tell you how proud I am of her and how happy she makes us, knowing that she doesn't do things rashly, but with forethought and lots of prayer. So, if God is telling her something, we have confidence that she is listening to Him. She has an interp meet tomorrow, so please pray that she does well.

Love you all...

Mary
Just finished "Swan" very late last night...I couldn't sleep well and scrapped til 2 am..Shhhh don't tell Bob...heheheh
blogspot isn't uploading files properly so I will post photos in the am... nighty night

It's Sunday and.....

I am home with a sore throat..oh well... I guess that means I get to scrap! I am sitting here in the Library/home art studio, looking out a window at the trees. Some are a beautiful shade of orange, others are brown, light green/yellow, rust, and peach. What strikes me the most is that they are all fluttering in a crazed dance that reminds me of the warped speed of the events of this past week.

Last Sunday we came home from the cities and seeing Meggie and drove through two awful thunder storms. Monday was a holiday so Bob and the boys kept busy getting some stuff done in the garage. They donated a sofa to the thrift store, which is good. I want to park the cars in the garage. It seems that with the veranda restoration, Megan's Grad Party, and the Parade of Homes Tour, that we accumulated a bunch of things in the garage leaving no room for the cars.

Tuesday I started having a tickle in my throat that I just chalked up to eating some popcorn. As the week progressed it got worse and now, here I am on Sunday, home feeling just awful. But that's ok. I had planned on working on my CK HOF entry, but then some interesting events popped up over at Creating Keepsakes that leaves me disappointed, frustrated, and yes, even angry. It will be interesting to see what comes of their policies and rules in the future. I have decided to NOT do HOF this year. I really want to focus on positive aspects of creating and having fun teaching others to tell their stories.

Speaking of teaching, here are a few snippets of what I will be teaching on www.creativityunbound.blogspot.com this next Tuesday....

































These four layouts have a couple things in common. Since I know how smart ya all are I won't insult you by pointing it all out... What I am going to be teaching is the art of graffiti. It's so much fun to just doodle and let go. I love to color outside the lines and do things that aren't expected. Maybe they are expected, but I am not with it enough to know the difference?
I promised a look at "Science" so here it is. I think you all know that we homeschool. It was
while doing a science project that I snapped a few photos of the kids examining an ant farm they put together. It's super cool because it doesn't take dirt, but a jell-like substance. Now we have a mini garden growing in the ant farm and six happy ants that have burrowed holes in the blue stuff. For this layout I purposely chose papers that have a science feel and threw in some vibrant blues and some great reds to pull it all together. I just love the little chirping bird on the "e". Well...thanks for looking and check out www.creativityunbound.blogspot.com for further instructions on how to doodle. Better yet, post some photos of your doodling for us all to admire.
Love ya!
Mary

I bet you are wondering what all this is.....hmmm. Well, it's my first kit that I put together for Swap4fun. Swap4fun is a scrapbook element swap site that encourages scrappers and sets up swaps for it's members. We have about 600 members who love scrapping and swapping items that they make for their scrapbook pages. I have been asked to put together a kit for the month of November. If you are interested in getting a kit you have to go to MSN and apply for membership to Swap4fun. It is a closed group because we really want serious scrappers and no lookie loos..Although once you join there really is no obligation to swap. It's really a fun site.















This kit is loaded... seriously loaded. It has 88 pieces of fun including 13 papers (scenic route, imaginisce, cosmo cricket, Tinkering Ink, A2Z, and Bazzill)
5+ yards of ribbon and fibers (at least 1 yard of it is luxury velvet ribbon)
1 fancy fold box
2 match boxes
1 mint tin
12 buttons
22 brads (fancy, shaped, and autumn colors included)
3 manila tags
2 natural envelopes for our card makers
4 misc. chipboard pieces (shapes vary)
4 silk flowers
2 silk leaves
6 felt adhesive backed leaves
4 paper autumn leaves
6 eyelets (autumn colors)
and... 1 photo turn

I am not making any profit and just put the kit together to have some fun with all our scrappers. If you want one they will go fast and are going to be around 25.00-30.00 depending on what I can do about shipping costs. Well... that's what I have been up to. I am still working on "Science" and will post some interesting angles of that later.
Love ya!
Mary

It's already Tuesday... wow.

We spent the weekend in the cities, visiting Meg at school. It was a beautiful weekend. The weather was simply perfect and we were treated with so much beauty while driving. All the trees are in the midst of changing so we literally drove through a rainbow of fall splendor. The only snag in the whole trip was driving home...we ran into some pretty ugly weather and drove through two large storms complete with rain, thunder, and lightning. I love that kind of weather and love hearing the crashing of thunder, but it's only fun when I am curled up with a good book, not while driving across the midwest.

Robby and I had our first rehearsal this evening and it was pretty fun. There are so many kids in this play. I felt odd, being the only adult on stage at all times, but I am sure it's going to be just fine. well. I will post more tomorrow along with a fun layout that i am working on called, Science". love you!
Mary

Today really felt like fall and I feel so sorry that summer is gone. The warmth of the sun on the back of my head while I sip ice tea on the veranda reading a good book is long forgotten as the leaves on the trees all fall around me. I love fall, too.. and I will lament it's passing as winter sets in here on the prairie. And then when the trees start to bud I will think of the promise of a new season. God is pretty amazing. I love the colors that He has chosen to paint the canvas of the world. No matter how hard I look in stores and online for certain colors to replicate, there are simply a few that can never ever be copied. Take for instance the perfect color that peaches turn when you know they are at their sweetest and you can imagine the wonderful taste and texture when you take your first bite.

This past summer we bought fruit literally by the case because we don't get very good fruit here in South Dakota. We order it from Washington state and it is so very good. Last month, Anabelle was helping me in the kitchen and she was putting peaches and nectarines away. We ran out of room in the refrigerator so we had to eat a bunch of them. I had some errands to run and I left Belle home with the boys and asked them to finish taking care of the fruit. Anabelle lined a few nectarines and peaches up on my kitchen window sill and when I came home the wonderfully sweet aroma of fresh peaches greeted me as I entered the back door. I followed my nose to the kitchen window about the sink area and leaned forward to experience that great smell a bit closer. It was then that I looked down the ledge from an angle that I knew I needed to capture that moment on film. I wanted to preserve that instant when the whole summer could be summed up with just a smell. For some it's the smell of the beach, or woods, or campfires, or even sulfur from fireworks that were shot off on July 4th, but for me, this summer was captured in the scent of "Summer Fruit"





I love the look of sepia photography.

Have a wonderful day, Love you all,

Mary

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.