Day #2

We are in Moscow staying at a Mariott for the night. The flight was long...10+ hours, then they did a health screening before we got off. The plane was full and they took everyone's temperature via a gun-type device held close to your ear. We waited a while to get our bags and got to the hotel by 2 pm ish Moscow time.

Neither one of us slept well on the plane, so we took a little nap. Had dinner at the hotel and went for a little walk.

Tomorrow is a busy day. We go through our 4 hour many doctor physical, then take a 12 hour train ride to the region. Moscow is a bit easy...there is someone that speaks English at most places we have gone to. Pskov...not so much. We will be trying to learn a little Russian.

On Wednesday, we should be able to see Max again.

Day #1

We have arrived at my Dad's house in Darien. We hit the road around 9:45 this morning. I was ready by 9! I guess I'm finally getting excited and am still in shock that this is actually happening. We will hang out at Dad's until about 2:30 then head to the airport for our 5:25 pm flight.

Hopefully I'll be able to post while in Moscow... Until Russia then!

It's time!!!!!!

Yes! We leave tomorrow morning at 10 am! We travel to my dad's in Darien, IL. He will then take us to the airport. Our flight to Moscow leaves at 5:25 pm. We arrive in Moscow at 10am ish on the 31st.

Finally!! I cannot believe it. This process has taken soo long and I have gone through soo many emotions! Hope, excitement, anger, being bitter, and depression. I struggled this week...soo much to do...lists, shopping, cleaning, prepping while still taking care of our current family. Plus, the realization of my freedom disappearing. I really enjoyed Kelly's first full year of full day school. I got to teach at the local community college and could do basically what I wanted for a couple of hours a day. I LOVED last year!

But...it will be well worth it. AND, another opportunity/challenge to create a better balance in my life. Too often I don't take time for myself and then get resentful. I need to find a better way to do this.

I'm now up for the challenge...the challenge to do it differently! I'm finally excited. I really thought that I wouldn't be excited until Max was sitting on my lap on the plane ride home. So much in our process has gone wrong or taken the longer paths. I felt like I was waiting for something else to happen. But....we will be seeing Max soon! Spending as much time as we can with him before we bring him home. And then we will be spending a life time together!

I can't wait for this little blessing to be home!

Please stay posted...I will be updating our journey as much as I can while we are away. Hopefully we can get connected to the "net" while in region. We had a problem connecting the laptop the first time we went.

YAHOO

Week #11

Week #11 of the 92 days of summer contest has been done for a couple of days...I'm just now getting a chance to post it. This layout was inspired by a July pagemaps sketch. The sketch was an 8.5x11 2 pager that I converted. I really love how the title turned out. AND...I finally used some rub-ons...I always seem to forget about those little guys!

Also...I still cannot believe I have stayed caught up with this contest. I have week #12 photos printed out, 8 more photos to take, and 2 more layouts to finish. I hope to be finished before we leave. I plan on having the last layout done and posted before we leave. I'll fill in the final photos when we get back. Hopefully before the September 30th deadline!

5k?

Yep, we did it! We walked a 5K on Saturday morning and finished at 46 minutes 38 seconds. Last year. It was the HNI fun run. Last year we did it in 53 minutes. We were also pullng a wagon with Kelly and she was getting in and out. This year she ran/walked the whole way. We are very proud of Kelly!!!

Back to school

Kelly started school yesterday. I'm not quite sure who was more excited...her or me! I have 6 days left of "freedom". Today and next week. Then we leave for Russia and will be bringing our son home!

Kelly had a blast...she met old friends, made new friends and has a desk this year. She said her favorite part was recess! LOL!!! I bet today the favorite part will be gym. She is a VERY active little girl!

I will be taking advantage of my time getting ready for the trip. There are ton of things to get done. I have to prepare the house for the grandparents who are watching Kelly. My dad and MaryLou are coming for the first 2 weeks. Then Mike's parents come in for the next 2 weeks. All the freezers are almost full...I still need to get dog food. Many lists need to be prepared...Kelly has a busy schedule full of activities...Cheer, Dance, gymnastics, etc... Then cleaning and of course...MUCH packing. For ourselves and Max. We are leaving in 9 days....wow, I can't believe it is finally happening!

Hunting dogs...chipmunks beware!

Yep, Murphy and Tucker are hunting dogs. They both have had birds in their mouths this year and today Murphy snatched a chipmunk. Poor guy. By the time we got the boys away from the chipmunk it had lost some blood and looked like a back leg was broken. The chipmunk did make it to the safety of the brush line...but who knows if it will survive its injury. I'm not sure if the chipmunk was already injured. They have been tormenting the boys all summer, but the chipmunks have always been able to out run the boys. But not today! We have hunting dogs! LOL!!

Tucker: Murphy:

All caught up -- for now!

I cannot believe I am finally all caught up! AND, I cannot believe I have been able to take a photo a day and complete a layout a week since June 1st. Way cool and I am proud of myself for staying on top of this. This album is going to be a great keepsake!

I'm not sure I like week #9's layout. I really wanted to use the KI transparency...but I this layout seems too disjointed to me. The swirls are cool...but...something just seems to be missing.I really LOVE week #10's layout. I lifted a layout by Gail Linder that is in the August 2009 Scrapbook Trends, page 66. I did stray from the MM line I was using. But I really love the chatterbox papers and the colors. It did take a while to build the border in design studio...and I should have choosen blackout. But still...I love this one!

Sassy Scrapper Reveal Day -- Sweet N Sassy stamps

This month's sponsor at Sassy Scrappers is Sweet N Sassy Stamps --> http://sweetnsassystamps.biz/shop/index.php?main_page
I have to admit I was a little leary of working with digital stamps. But, it was way easier than I thought. Just print, cut, and color. I love the cards I created with the stamps. AND the best thing...most of them are on sale for $3.00 or less. Way cheaper than a normal stamp. I may have found a new love!

Bo Bunny

I have been having a blast with BoBunny's Popiscle line...
I had fun stitching ribbon through this acrylic arrow to make this thank you card. I punched the holes with my crop-a-dile...gotta love that tool.
I tried to recreate the roller coaster with the paper pleats...but I think I created competing elements with the paper strips inside...oh well...

This was based on a sketch from BoBunny's blog. I'm mad that I put the circle strip on crocked! I turned the sketch on its side...still fun!

This ended up working for a color challenge at the Scrapperie, 12345 challenge at Scrapbook Dreamer, and a recipe challenge coming up in the next crop at Sassy

Kelly is a Cheerleader!

Well finally...She's been doing gymnastics since she was 2.5 years old. We thought for sure she'd enjoy cheerleading. But, every time we asked her...she said no. Well...we changed dance schools this year because this one does more acrobatic stuff. They also have cheer classes. So we went to watch...Now Kelly is in LOVE with cheerleading. She does her own cheers, practices her tumbling, and I couldn't get her out of her uniform. So, of course I had to take photos and scrap them!

Now to figure out how to fit everything in...gymnastics, dance, cheer, swimming, soccer....I think we are going to have to drop a few!

I won!!!

I cannot believe I have won!!! I participated in the Scrap Therapy crop over at Scrapbook Dreamer. Laura and the design team came up with wonderfully inspiring challenges and games. It was way fun. I think I got about 7 layouts done, 3 were 2 pagers...and well ...I found out today I won one of 3 boxes filled with $50.00 worth of stuff! Amazing!

Thanks to Laura and the DT at Dreamer!

Blog Candy from Ally

Hey all...check it out...Ally is giving away another stamp set...check out this link: http://yourmemoriescanada.blogspot.com/2009/08/august-blog-candy.html
It is a really cool deal!!!

Up to date!

Ok, I am finally up to date! AND there are only 4 more layouts left to do in the contest. I cannot believe how fast the summer has just flown by. It seems like the last day of school was just yesterday and now Kelly goes back on August 20th. AND today is August 1st! Man-oh-man!

Anyway...here are the latest 92 days of summer layouts of mine. I think week #6 is now my favorite. It was inspired by Heather's sketch, but I just love how everything came together...from the pen work to the title to the flower clusters! Yes...I put flowers on a layout! LOL!!Week 7's layout is based on an Ali Edwards layout in the August CK mag. It is not as pretty as hers...I think I needed a more subtle pp for the main piece.I used some of those pipe cleaners that I have left from one of Kelly's projects. This has to be one of the bulkiest layouts I've done in a long time. I loved threading some buttons on the pipe cleaner and making the flower. I keep thinking that I need some pipecleaner on the bottom somewhere, but everytime I put something there...it distracts from the photos.