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I just finished Jessica Sprague's Digi In Deep class. I had an amazing time and learned so much! If you are interested in learning digi scrapbooking, I highly recommend checking out her site at here. I can't sing her praises enough! This was our final assignment for her class. I just picked this printed 12x12 layout at Costco for $2.99 a page. I really need to sit down and do the math on the cost of a digi page vs. the traditional scrapbook page, not that cost would stop me. I am just curious.

Need a Photographer?

Can't afford Stephanie of Inky Dinky Do Photography? There is always Plan B. Steph's assistants are now for hire! I thought I'd again share my newest adventure with Stephanie. The shots below are taken by Kim, Madi, and I. If you know a bride to be who has a limited budget, have them call Angela at the Boutique (588-1984).

I Know! Long Time, No Post

This is the time of year where life gets crazy. Open House and end of the year festivities are fast approaching at school. I make a memory book for each student in my class and I am so far behind on them! Along with the normal craziness has been some abnormal craziness. I must sound like a train wreck to everyone!

Last Monday, Petey the Puppy (Nick's toddler alter ego) made a return to our family. For those of you who are going "huh?", when Nick was a toddler he would pretend he was a dog and crawl around on all fours barking and licking people. We thought he grew out of it, WRONG! So on Monday, he and a little friend were pretending to be dogs in my room after school. They were hiking up their legs pretending to pee in my room. Nick, I mean Petey, decides he should mark my Mrs. Wishy Washy tub. I am teaching a farm unit and it is an actual metal can once used on a farm. I use it as a prop to act out a story in class. Well Petey discovered it has a sharp edge so as his leg came down after peeing, he sliced his shin open. He ended up needing six stitches and is out of baseball for the next three games.

My dad has been dealing with Chron's disease and after effects of several surgeries. He is going in for yet another surgery on Monday so we're a little stressed out about that.

Damian had the opportunity to go through a trial run of the physical test for the fire department on Thursday. He passed with almost a minute to spare. We are confident he'll make the list to get into the academy, but where he ranks on that list we're unsure of. We're hoping he'll make it in for the academy starting August-ish. He has a few people mentoring him and has set up to do a few ride alongs with the station down the street. Damian is continuing to heal after his eye surgery and is loving life without glasses.

I've made a few more layouts in my Digi in Deep scrapbooking class with Jessica Sprague. Her classes are addicting! Life has been so busy that I haven't had the chance to do some of the midweek assignments. I am hoping to catch up, but will probably have to do without sleep in order to do so. I am so loving it when I do have the time to spend on it. Here are more layouts to share.

What a Week!

Well, we started off the week with Jack getting a mystery virus Sunday morning. So because of it and Damian continuing to recuperate from his eye surgery, we we home and I became Dr. Mom. Poor little Jack is just now feeling better. He was throwing up and had a fever for four days. He was left with a nasty cough and congestion. I thought he was throwing up because he was hating the Tylenol, but realized Thursday night as Olivia began throwing up on my mom in her bed that the barfies are part of the package. I took Wednesday off due to no sleep. Damian couldn't help me due to part of his recovery involves lots of sleep. Keeping my fingers crossed I don't catch this one! I call this illness a mystery as I don't know where he got the cooties from since we haven't been anywhere and Jack was the first to get it.

Damian is recovering better than we had hoped. He is 20/25 in one eye and 20/30 in the other as of last Thursday. He goes back to work on Monday and returns to the Dr. on Wednesday to check his progress and healing. He couldn't be happier with the results. We are anticipating perfect vision, or close to it. Now Damian's next hurdle in the firefighter process is the physical apptitude test. A lot of guys get cut at this point. I am a little nervous for him. He has been training hard. After it, I have every confidence that the road for my husband will be one he is very capable of!

As you can see in the picture posted, Nick got his glasses. It changes his whole look to me. He doesn't have to wear them all the time like Jared does. Just for school and when he watches TV. Nick had a game yesterday. He's quite the little fielder and still shows a love and talent for catcher. His swing is still a little rusty, but I am sure he'll be back in the groove soon.

Jared made Honor Roll again and received an award at the awards assembly yesterday. Nick received all A's this quarter and also was number one in A.R. for his grade level. We let the boys choose a reward for good report cards. Nick announced since he had all A's, he'd like an iPod Nano. We negotiated him down to an iPod Shuffle. Jared chose to get a new video game. We are very proud of them!

Today I am shooting a wedding as the primary photographer. I am a little nervous for several reasons. Stephanie wants me to shoot with a camera I haven't used before. I picked it up from her last night to familiarize myself to the manual settings. This is also my first time as the main shooter. I am glad I am doing this as it is helping me to learn my camera and to be the best mommarazzi I can be!

I finished my first week of Jessica Sprague's Digi: In Deep class. It is very challenging, but I am loving every minute of it. Kiahna is taking it with me. The two layouts posted were made for her class. I cannot wait to see what she has in store for us next! Have a great weekend!

Here is my latest Layout. I have four Disneyland trips to scrap so I used today as an opportunity to do a little catching up. Last year, my mom bought us a three day vacation package to Disneyland. We stayed at Disney's Paradise Pier hotel and received lots of special privileges. We had a blast! Little did I know at that time I was pregnant with Jack and having a great time riding all the rides I shouldn't. That reminds me last time I was at Disneyland for a Kindergarten Conference and the K teachers & I all went to Disneyland. I was pregnant with Olivia and again riding rides I shouldn't have. Well, the kids seem fine. Anyway, back to this layout. The boys were both selected to be a part of the Star Wars Training Academy show in Tomorrow Land. This was the highlight of their trip!

Damian had eye surgery on Friday so he could pass the vision portion of the firefighters entrance process. By the way, he passed the written and skills portion. I had no doubt. He was supposed to get Lasik. I was super concerned as he had visited three doctors in town and he was a less than prime candidate. Two agreed he should be fine in doing Lasik but one preferred he do PRK instead. One doctor wanted him to get corneal implants (yikes). So he went ahead with Lasik with a doctor who did my mom's procedure as well as a few friends. Friday while at work, I kept waiting and waiting for him to call and I began to get nervous. He was supposed to be done around noon and it was then 2:00. I was having third quarter conferences when I finally received a call. Rather than starting off with "Jen , everything is fine" He began with "Jen, I couldn't get Lasik as there was a complication". Of course I start crying and freaking out. He quickly calms me down and explains the situation. Apparently when they went in to do Lasik, they discovered the could not position the device correctly to do the procedure because of his forehead. The doctor told him (not offered) he was going to have PRK. This is a more expensive procedure that is considered more of a surgery and requires him to be off of work for a week. Everything ended up OK, but he has to see the doctor everyday next week. On Saturday when he went in to be checked, one eye had 20/30 vision and the other had 20/60. This is amazing as Damian was 20/200+. The doctor was so impressed with Damian's results that he had to call the other doctors in to have a look. Damian's vision should only get better over the next few weeks. The best part was that Damian got the surgery for the Lasik price. I guess turning this over to Heavenly Father worked out! My husband was more sure of the success than I was, but I am a stress case by nature. Thanks to everyone for their prayers for us through this process. Damian also wants me to mention how thankful he is to the faith of our children. We would often hear them praying for their daddy. We'd also like to give a shout out to our missionaries who came to give Damian a blessing.

I am getting ready for Jessica Sprague's Digi in Deep class which starts tomorrow. This is her advanced scrapbooking with Photoshop class that I've anxiously been waiting for. My mom paid for the class as an early birthday present and Damian bought me Photoshop CS3 also as an early birthday present. Kiahna will be taking the class with me. I miss her terribly so it will be nice to hang with her in cyberspace! Kiahna said we should be able to access the class late tonight and since it would probably kill me to wait to get home and start tomorrow, I may stay up late with her and get started. I'll be sure to share what we create. Catch ya later!

Tagged Again

I am still working on my Easter pictures. I promise to post them tomorrow. At the end of this post is my latest layout. I got a bit teary eyed creating this one. I made it for Jessica's Sprague Monday Challenge. I usually stew over my layouts, but this one came together quite quickly. On another note, Nick will be getting his new glasses sometime this week. I'll have to post a picture of him sporting his new look. Also, I'm looking forward to scrapping with my peeps on Saturday at the scrapbook store. We haven't had a girl's night out in quite awhile.

My digi friend Heather tagged me today, so here's how it works:

These are the rules: You must post the rules before you give your answers.You must list one fact about yourself for each letter of your middle name. Each fact must begin with that letter. If you don’t have a middle name, just use your maiden name. After you’ve been tagged, you need to update your blog with your middle name and answers. At the end of your post, you need to tag one person for each letter of your middle name. Be sure to leave them a comment telling them they’ve been tagged and need to read your blog for details.

I so got off easy with this one! My middle name is Lyn
L is for lucky. I have been blessed with the greatest husband and four of the most precious children. They are my reason for everything!!! Our family is fortunate enough to have a beautiful home to build our memories in. I have had the opportunity to have received a post graduate education and to have a fabulous career as a teacher (even though right now, my heart is at home with my babies). All this I know is because of my faith in my Heavenly Father and my membership in His church!

Y is for yoga. I've always wanted to try it but just can't find the time.

N is for nuerotic. I am a complete and total stress case! I cannot seem to just let things go. If things are not perfect, it gnaws at me until it is. A possible synonym could be anal.

So now I tag Willow the blogless wonder. I enjoy her hijacking other people's blog to let us know how she's doing.
I also tag my BFF Kiahna and Syndy .

Busy, Busy!!

Let's see, got my hair done (yeah) and I'll be off to get a pedi later today! I had photography class with Steph on Monday (fun, fun!) and I have some Inky Dinky Do errands for today. The big boys are in video game heaven. I made them promise to read everyday this week so they can take an A.R. test on Monday. Olivia and Jack are fighting a yucky cold and cough. I spent WAY TOO MUCH money at Target last night. I bought Easter basket goodies, Jared some shorts, and my frivolous expenditure was a wireless keyboard and mouse. I bought one for school and I love it! I am so sick of the cords at home. I also got Olivia the movie Enchanted for her basket gift, but honestly, I am just as excited to have it in the house as she'll be to get it! You know what I'll be watching Sunday afternoon! Damian, the big dork, played hooky from work today. I normally wouldn't be that peeved except for he'll be taking off all next week to stay with the babies since my mom is going to Washington to visit my brother. She booked her trip for the wrong week (argh!). His day off was out of the kindness of his own heart. He told me this morning that he wanted me to have at least one vacation day this week. My favorite place to vacation lately is my computer (woohoo!). I've been in digiscrap heaven! Here's what I've been working on:

Hooray! It's Spring Break!!!

I am so excited to have some time for myself and with my family!!! No major plans. Spending time with the kids, scrapbooking (of course!), cleaning (argh!), and errands. Steph is going to take Madonna pictures with Jack and I sometime this coming week. We're thinking of something urban, you know, anti soccer mom. Saturday, I helped Steph with her bunny shoot and Olivia had her turn at the end of the day. She regressed a little back to the "I refuse to look at the camera" phase. We do anything to get the perfect shot from her: song, dance, bribery. She did fall in love with her bunny, Blizzard. I'm not the fan of small and furry, but Blizzard is the nicest, most well behaved bunny.
As for Damian, his infection is just about gone (poor guy) and unfortunately did not get the promotion. He was beat out be a team manager who wanted less responsibility. Good news is he successfully passed the firefighter exam and is training for the physical aptitude test in about six weeks. I am a little nervous as he has opted to have Lasik as his vision is bad. We had three consults with Dr.'s here in town. Two said he should do great with it with one concerned about his forehead getting in the way. Darn that Cromagnon forehead! The other doctor thought his corneas were too thin and wanted him to get corneal implants. The fact that these opinions were all over the place makes me a bit nervous. We have been very prayerful and the impression we both are receiving is to move forward with this. It still makes me nervous, but we are going to have faith in God with this one. Becoming a firefighter would be an awesome opportunity for our family. With Damian having a degree, there could be possibility for leadership. He is very excited and I think having more dude friends could be good for him! The thing that excites me the most about this is that I should be able to job share or quit (yeah!!!) and that when he is home, he's home for a nice stretch of time!! What stinks is that when he is gone for two days, I'll be on my own! I'm up for the challenge though!! I'm looking forward to keeping up on posting this week and I'll share my creations and happenings.

A Whole Lotta Nada!

Well, not really nada. Life is just happening, nothing spectacular. Damian did have an infection from his "procedure". His healing time was a little longer than usual. Damian also had an interview at his work and is being considered for a promotion. Keep us in your prayers! We really need this! He's been looking for a better paying job since he received his degree and student loans are about due (yikes!). I really don't want to work summer school and we need to get the van fixed. The Granny Nanny is only watching the little ones until June so we also will have to fork out daycare for two. If I had it my way, I'd be a stay at home mom! I keep hoping it'll happen sooner than later! Man, when it rains, it pours! Other than digi scrapbooking late at night, I've been finishing up my class assessments at school. What stinks about Kindergarten and assessments is that I have to individually test each student's performance so it takes me forever! I've been learning more about my camera in manual mode with Steph and she is actually entrusting me with helping her design albums (blush). I feel like she is the Jedi master and I am her Padawan! I am excited to help her and to have another outlet for my digi addiction, I mean hobby. Jared and Nick are doing great in school. Nick started baseball practice last week. It also just occurred to him that the end of the quarter is next week and he wants to retain his #1 spot in A.R. for his entire grade level. Knowing that kid, he'll do it again. Jared has been loving Webelos! His leader will complete every requirement with him. We do the belt loops and Faith in God requirement. I like this arrangement! Olivia is as stubborn as always (yet still adorable at the same time). I took Olivia out to the almond groves near our house. She was having a blast running around and exploring. I did get some great photos that I will share later! I've been creating a layout with them and they are so precious that I want it to be perfect! Jack is as yummy as ever! He is trying to crawl as well as slobbering like crazy! I'm sure we'll see some teeth soon. I've posted my latest creations to share. Have a great weekend!

My New Boyfriend

Ok, not really, but isn't he cute! Last Saturday, I helped my friend Stephanie with Inky Dinky Do Photography at BabyFest. I helped her to promote her business, but left with goodies in hand. Right across from her space was a lady who makes bows, hats, and tutus. I, of course, ordered a crocheted hat with a big pink gerber daisy on it. I feel a scrapbook layout coming on with Olivia and this gorgeous hat!! I also bought a nursing cover from a lady who named her company Milky Jugs. It's so stinking cute! It looks like a big camouflaged bib, but for me (and Jack). Elmo was there and we couldn't resist the photo opportunity. Olivia has asked to see it about 10 times already. I think she has a crush on Elmo!