Were you waiting for me?

I FINALLY have a moment to show off what I have been waiting YEARS for!!! On Wed. in the mail I recieved this:

And below is what I have shot pictures with for the last 3 or 4 years. Isn't the difference in picture quality amazing? Obvisouly I had to use my Canon G6 to take the picture of my new 40D, and I took the picture of the G6 with the 40D. So much more crisp and clear!

I bought the 40D camera body. And then the following accessories: Tamron lens (Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 XR DI ASPHER f/CANON), this lens (Canon 50mm f/1.8 II EF LENS), this flash (Canon SPEEDLITE 430EX II), and then the battery grip as well! I just love the feel of it in my hand!

Can you tell I am excited?!

Here is a picture of my tulips from Kyle with my 40D and then the following is the picture I took a few days ago of the tulips with the G6 - major difference (I do realize that they are taken at different angles so that makes a difference too, but it really is so much more crisp)! I still have so much to learn about with the camera, so I will be shooting in manual mode most likely for a while, but I love that I will be able to get some great pictures of my kids and our life!

So, anyway - it came in the mail on Wed. while I was working. I went right from work to a quick dinner at home with the family and then off with Braelyn to church for Wed. night classes. Then I went to my friend Amy's house to go over a class that we are going to hold, and then Thur. I worked all day again! My mom and dad took over pizza and then I had to cut my dad's hair and do my mom's nails before they go on their service project. So needless to say I have been too busy to even take it out of it's package until late last night! Maybe I'll take it to all of the fun stuff we have going on this weekend. The only thing is - I don't have a bag yet - haven't decided on what I want - open to suggestions from you all that have DSLR's!

I must say that this economy stuff is getting pretty depressing. I know that sounds funny after I just bought a 40D and Kyle got a new grill, but I must say we buy things in cash - so that means we wait until we have the money to buy what we want. Unfortunately a concept that is not real well known in America. Kyle and I are VERY blessed with what we have in life and I know that not a single penny of it is ours. Last night though we heard of two more local family run business' that are either going under or struggling. Well established businesses at that. My heart goes out to the owners and what they are going thru right now. Working in a financial leasing company I see daily the struggles of people not able to make their payments and how it effect EVERYTHING. Ugh. I am praying so hard for a renewal of some sort in America. I will say though that I don't doubt for a minute that some of these trials we are going thru are to further our faith. Many will disagree with me or say "what kind of God is that then?", but I have been reading the book of James and he says this to the people:

"Dear brothers and sisters,[a] when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. James 1:2-4.

I pray that we grow in knowledge as a country and people. Knowledge of how we are supposed to live and Who we need to trust and give our blessings back to. OK - not sure where that came from, and I am sure that I didn't write it just right b/c I am no writer, but it is what it is.

OK - hope you all have a great weekend! And in Michigan here - all I can say is when is it going to warm up???

Another Tues. rambling

Apparently Tuesdays are my day to blog. Did you all have a good weekend/valentine's day??? I was suprised to come home on Thur. night last week to these beautiful tulips. I was kind of suprised b/c we don't really "do" valentines day. Very hallmarkish to me and we just really don't do big things on many holidays. So when I saw these sitting on my table last Thur. after workin all day and then sitting at preschool sign up for4 hours that night I was so happy! He also got the girls a bouquet of pink roses that they split up and put in each of their rooms - so sweet!

Our weekend was fun! Friday night we stayed home and hung out. I scrapped some vacation pictures so I'll have to post those as I get them done! Sat. was a very low key day as well. Kyle was out fishing in the morning and then he picked up his folks from the airport afternoon so I just hung out with the girls at home all day. By 5:00 we headed over to my mom's house for a little party. The kids all decorated their own heart shaped homemade pizzas and then we did gifts for Emma and Selah, and a pinata! The party was fun and it was a neat way to spend valentines! Sunday we had church stuff in the AM and then for lunch we actually came home and ate here. That is totally unusual b/c we always either go to my parent's or to Kyle's parents for Sunday lunch. It was kind of nice. I left after lunch to go and find some new jeans and a new shirt for this coming weekend. I had luck with jeans at American Eagle, but I searched high and low for a shirt and came up with NOTHING. Argh. It was nice though to just go out by myelf for a couple hours - Kyle was insisting on it b/c I was kind of crabby on Sunday morning! :) Love when hubby realizes I need alone/quiet time! Don't we all at times?!

This weekend we have a marriage retreat overnighter on Fri. to Sat., and then Sat. night we have Kyle's high school reunion. Should be a fun weekend!!! Anyway - that is what I wanted a new shirt for, but no such luck. Kyle's reunion is like a 14 year reunion - wierd I know. Should be fun though even if it turns out to be a bust b/c alot of our friends will be there - so at least it will be a good time to hang out with friends!

Anyway - here are some scrappy layouts!

Using Shabby Miss Jenn's new kit - Shabby Babies - isn't it adorable?!!!

Using mostly Shabby Miss Jenn's Seaside Picnic kit - but also Sabrina Dupre's Natural Beauty kit

Isn't this LO so fun?!!! I know I am bias of course, but I love it! We had some fun on that trampoline! Made me feel 15 again! Mostly The-Lilypad stuff on here with some Peppermint Creative stuff as well!

And last but not least I did this LO last night while watching my fave show - 24 on Fox!!! The Lilypad blog challenge this week is to scrap a love/hate relationship. For me it's Jillian Michaels. I love her and yet I hate her! If you have ever done her workout you know what I mean. Although I will say at first when I started working out with her I hated her more than I loved her. I am finally leaning a little more to love side only b/c I am seeing some results and that feels GOOD! Most of the goodies on this page are new to the Lilypad today - there are some great dollar deals that you should rush over and buy before tonight!

What's for dinner tonight??? We are having chicken drumsticks! Maybe I'll do some rice with it! Kyle and I went yesterday at lunch and bought him a new grill, so he gets to go pick it up tonight - all assembled!!! He is so excited! We've had the same grill for 8 years and it is HORRIBLE. It has so many hot spots and food never cooks evenly. He's been complaining about it for about 2 years and we don't buy things until we have the money on hand so now he finally gets to get the Weber grill he has been wanting! I can't wait to try out some good meat on it!

I am also ANXIOUSLY awaiting a package that is supposed to arrive tomorrow as well - but I am not going to disclose what it is yet!!! I am sure I will blog out of sheer excitement on Wed. or Thurs.!!! Maybe some of you can already guess what it is!

I'll leave ya with that - sorry about the long post! ;)

Tuesday Ramblings

Happy Tuesday! Those of you who live in Michigan here are enjoying this warmer weather with me, aren't you?!!! At noon is was 55 degrees - and I believe it got even warmer since then! Me and the girls are going to take a walk around the subdivision when Gracyn wakes up! We have to enjoy this warm weather while we have it! Yesterday I had to work so I didn't get out in it much. This morning we dropped Braelyn off at school and then ran some errands with the other two girls. I have a week full of sign ups for kinderartens and threeschool, so today I got one of them taken care of and Thur. I will go at 3:30 and sit until after 7:00 in hopes of getting the days I want for Selah! Tomorrow is a work day for me again and then church with pizza supper at night! Love pizza supper on a night I work - makes dinner so easy!!! This weekend is pretty low key again! Sat. night we are having a birthday party for my niece Kennedy (and a reschedule of Selah's from last month!), combined with a little valentine stuff! I am not in to going out on Valentines and battling the crowds, and fighting for babysitters! That pretty much sums up our week I think!

A few LO's I just finished up!

Both of these LO's are using the new February BYOC (build your own collab) over at The-Lilypad! They also are both done with Janet's templates, which are no longer for sale, but have you seen her new digital knowledge site (thedailydigi.com)??? It is AWESOME and she still gives out great little freebies!

I've been finishing up our taxes and also have been working on Valentines treats so that has been keeping me away from scrapping lately - tonight I am going to a friends house for our monthly scrap night, so hopefully I can do some more tonight! I'd love to have a go at our vacation photos!!!

We're Back!!!

Yep - we're back in the wonderful world of white (meaning snow!) It's amazing to me that in 5 hours we went from 30 degrees to 83 degrees and back again the opposite way! We had a GREAT vacation! I will share some photos of course! Our travel was good - everything went quite smoothly. We left on Fri. the 23rd for Chicago. As we were driving thru the big city we got an idea to find Ed Debevics for dinner (it's one of my favorite places in Chicago!).

We then headed to our hotel to get a little shut eye before our 3:00am wake-up call! Saturday was a bit of a blur to me. We were tired of course, but our flight went well and we made it into Dominican Republic around 12:30. I believe we got to our hotel around 2:00 and got checked in. One of our rooms was ready and one wasn't yet b/c check-in isn't until 3:00. We just had all the luggage brought up to the room that was ready. We grabbed a much needed lunch and then hung out in the nice lobby on the couches while Kyle took a nap b/c he wasn't feeling so hot. We think it was just from the waking up early, plane ride, etc... He re-couped by the evening. It was very warm - but comfortable warm! We did dinner at the Seaside Grill that night which was very good!

Hmmm...the rest of the week all started to get a little blurry - it was mainly a lot of laying out in the sun, drinking a few drinks, a lot of GREAT laughs, and even more R & R!!! We did one excursion and that was to the Marinarium. We took a catamaran out to the reef, went snorkeling, then swam in an area with nurse sharks and stingray. It was amazing to see the shark right below us. Then it was back on the boat for some sandwich and drinks and the boat took us up the coast to a "natural pool" (which on Lake Michigan we just call it a sandbar!). We had a ton of fun on that and we danced a bit on the way back to the starting point! Kyle and Jeff also did a Deep Sea Fishing Tour and it was pretty much horrible. Jeff was sick the whole time and Kyle didn't feel so hot either - it was WAY TOO wavy. The boat caught one fish - a MahiMahi so that was alright. Kyle also got a great shot of a nice whale right by the boat! The resort had a trampoline out in the ocean so that was fun - we did that a couple times. The night life kind of sucked at the resort so I am glad that we had some friends to liven it up a bit - I think if it was just Kyle and I we would have been REALLY bored. They had a nightly show but those weren't all that great. The Dominican people are some of the FRIENDLIEST people I know. They are VERY hospitable and they go out of their way to make sure you are happy. At times they almost seemed too friendly - like one night Gasolina decided to just come and sit by us and make small talk. Unfortunately as American's we really were thinking that he was up to something instead of just thinking he was being friendly. We totally apologized to him for kind of shoving him off. We kind of thought he was getting friendly with Kyle to take him up on the stage as part of the show so Kyle ditched him! :) Poor kid. ;) Anyway - that pretty much sums up the week. It was amazing to not have to think or worry too much about the kids back home. I knew they were in great hands and they loved the time they got with their grandparents! It was so divine to do things at our own pace and not worry about what needs to be done when and who needs to be fed when!!!

Here are a bunch more pictures - straight from camera.

Whew. That just took me all day I feel like!!! Anyway - there you have it! I did forget to mention that Kyle and I celebrated our 8th anniversary while in Dominican! Year number 7 was our toughest so far so we are praying for a great 8th year!!! I am so proud of us for the "home"/family that we have built!!! Beth took some great pictures of us that I am excited to scrap as well (two of the many are above - in the wedding type gazebo, with me and Kyle looking at each other/kissing). It was so great to take a week and focus on each other and not the kids! we needed it!

And of course now it is back to reality! Gracyn has had 3 blow-outs since we got back. She has a completely raw buns, and is teething horribly so we are dealing with that now that we are back. We have been spending lots of time together playing and cuddling though since I got back!!! This month I ramp up my work schedule a bit. I am excited to learn some new things and do a different type of job, but I am nervous about working a bit more. I have still not figured out child care so I am hoping to nail that down this week! That will help with much of my stress!

OK - your bored, I'm tired! Peace out!!!

MandaKay

Happy 3rd Birthday Selah!

Selah was born three years ago today! My second child, second girl. We knew what we were having and we knew we were having her on this day - we set up an induction at the Dr. appt. previous to this day. We had Braelyn overnight at my parent's house because we knew we had to be to the hospital early and figured then we'd for sure get a decent night sleep (as good as one can get being 9 months pregnant!). I had gotten up at about 6:00am I believe to shower and as I was getting up I recieved a phone call from the hospital stating that I needed to wait to come in because there were too many babies being born at that time. So we waited. Finally we were called to come in around 11:30 I believe. We got all situated and settled in our birthing room and I was started with the induction medicine. I HATED being induced. It seemed to take forever!!! I know in terms of time it really didn't but it just seemed to. I hated walking the dang hallways of the birthing unit all big and pregnant and puching my pole. Wincing in pain. I had gotten at epidural sometime late that afternoon and was more comfortable then. I don't remember all of the details, and I am not near Selah's birth book to get real facts, but I know Selah was born into this world rather late - only a few people came once we called them - most waited until morning. I think I remember her bath being around 12:30am or something. So maybe she was born sometime in the 9:00pm hour. Funny how it a little bit becomes a blur. I had three VERY different births, and this one was by far the worst (and that's saying alot b/c the third birth was eau natural!), although still not HORRIBLE. I really never hated childbirthing! Such an amazing experience. Anyway - we knew Selah's name ahead of time and everything and she was as cute as can be. She is an integral part of our family for sure! Happy 3rd Birthday Selah - we love you!

The weekend was great - it went fast! I feel like we accompished a bunch of stuff which is always nice! We had a little cake/present party with Kyle's family for Selah on Sat. night after dinner out and she got some great little gifts that have been keeping her (and Braelyn) busy!!! Someday I really need to sit and post some pictures on here. I've been bad at that lately!

Happy Monday everyone!

Where have I been???

I have to ask myself that! January for us has been busier than Dec. for some reason! Just lots of stuff going on, busy every night and weekend it seems like! All fun stuff for the most part, but it has been keeping us on our feet! I don't know where to even begin with blogging it's been so long!

I got a call last Fri. from my boss asking if I wanted more hours and if I wanted to be office manager! I was kind of taken aback because we are super busy b/c of the economy here and I work for a financing company and we all know how tough financing is right now! Anyway - our office manager resigned on good terms, and I was next up for the spot! I need to pick up at least an extra day, which means extra child care though. So that is the big part - I am looking for someone that I can pay to come to my house possibly one day a week! With my mom and mother-in-law covering the other two days I think that will work out okay. It might pose a problem come next fall with schooling and stuff to work out, but the job and my boss are also very flexible and it's a small office!

We are a week away from our warm weather vacation!!! I can't even express how excited I am! The high temperature today is 10 degree (which is better than other parts of the country - experiencing negative degrees). The roads are quite icy and we need to drive slower around here. I hate having to drive slow! ;) Anyway - Punta Cana 10 day forcast shows an average of 82 degrees and that is looking pretty welcoming at this moment! The break from kids and all the noise and busyness is sounding pretty swell too!

The kids are good. Selah turns 3 on Monday so that's kind of fun! We were supposed to go to Chuck-E-Cheese last night with my family, but we cancelled due to the flu still being passed around in our family. I made a 2 layer marble cake that now sits on my counter so that's a bummer. Selah is quite the girl. She is as sweet as can be at times and yet can be such a little stinker. She longs to be like her big sister, and they have been quite the players lately! Sometimes they are not real nice to Gracyn - they don't always want them around them. Gracyn is growing up so big too - 15 months and full of life. Braelyn is out playing with Kyle in this COLD weather which I think it nuts. She is daddy's girl thru and thru. The girl adores her Dad.

Tonight we are going to Buffalo Wild Wings with a bunch of friends to celebrate my girlfriend Beth's 30th birthday. Tomorrow night we are going out with Kyle's whole family to a yummy local pizza joint (8 adults, 9 kids - yikes - pray for us!) After dinner we are coming here for cake and ice cream for Selah's birthday. Sunday is a soup and sledding event after church for our Fusion group, so it's a busy weekend!

I have not been really scrapping lately. Not sure what it is, but I just am not feeling it. It doesn't help being so busy, but when I do sit to scrap I just don't come up with anything. I am thinking it will be a bit easier after the vacation - should have some nice photos from that, and I picked up a few vacation/island type kits to play with!

Ok - time to scoot - have a great weekend everyone!

MandaKay

Pen Scrappers - Vote Please!!!

So I have been scrapping lately with my Wacom Bamboo Fun Tablet and I love it! I really would love to learn how to use it even more when I have the time, but I love the pen and have gotten used to scrapping with it! I am doing something I don't normally do and I am entering some layouts in the Penscrappers challenge. I just entered this LO (that I did for The-Lilypad Blog Challenge this week) and so if you have a second go on over and vote for it!!! (just follow the link and hit the VOTE NOW "tape" button!) HERE is my entire gallery there - I only have submitted about 4 LO's so far I think.

Check out The-Lilypad Sale Calendar this month too - all kinds of deals going on because of the 2 Yr. B-day celebration - and don't forget the great $1 deals tomorrow - some good "staple" items coming out that every digi stash should have!!!

I also have to just mention how proud of myself I am. On Dec. 13 I got the workout video "30 Day Shred" and I have done it every day except for 2 since then (the two days off were during the flu episode!) I feel great (tanning helps too here in Michigan - getting ready for that warm tropical weather!!!). The workouts are only 20 minutes long and although they are tough they are bearable. I am not a workout type gal -let me tell you. Prior to October of last year I HATED excersizing, and I also don't eat all that great. I am just feeling that now that I am probably done having kids I can actually work at being healthy and I can maintain a decent weight. It's amazing to me how my abs were shot from having 3 kids in 3 1/2 years! Anyway - just wanted to post a little bit about the workout video - I HIGHLY recommend it!