...an EPIPHANY.
You know, for the last few years, I've set these kreative goals for myself and for the last few years, I've come up short. In 2008, it was because my Mom was in the hospital for so long. This year, it's just been SO MANY different things, culminating with our entire house being sick right now. My main goal for this year was to complete 550 layouts. Right now, I've posted 422. I have others to post but it would mean being up until 5am AGAIN. It would mean missing out on all the New Year's Eve festivities we have planned...and really, it's just not worth it. I mean, 422 is a GREAT number...especially with all that's happened this year. And because I'm a glutton for punishment, I'll just set more goals for 2010!!! Naw, it has nothing to do with loving punishment (even though a spanking every now and then never hurt NObody!!!) It's because another realization I've had this week is that setting goals and working hard to reach them is what keeps me focused. I'll leave you with my favorite five layouts for 2009:
(I love these pictures and the fact that this page turned out BETTER than I pictured it in my head...how often does THAT happen?!?!)
(This is the first page where I did a LOT of hand stitching...and realized how much I LIKE it!!!
Hence, the addiction was born!)
(LOVE how this page turned out!!!! LOVE that Memory Makers published it on their blog!!! Never got a chance to be published in the paper mag...but this'll do!!!)
(LOVE all the techniques I used on this page....AND it won the Dreamgirls' Challenge!)
(JUST LOVE!)
(My first PAPER PUB!!!!!)
(My pride runneth over! Plus, my addiction to the mists was starting to overtake me!)
Umm, I KNOW that's more than five...and I'm ONLY up to May, so I'd better stop. I, too have decided to adopt OLW for 2010 and it's RENEW. I want to renew my commitment to God, to myself and to those who are important to me and never falter in their support of me. If I don't get to do another post before the next year overtakes us, may you all continue to be blessed.
30 December 2009
23 December 2009
You know...
...it's like my posts are getting far and few in between! it's not that i haven't WANTED to blog! our baby boy has been really sick this past week. around 1am, when he threw up FIVE TIMES within an HOUR...we knew it was time to go. and, let me tell you: there was NO JOY and fa la la la la in THAT hospital last night! the doctors told us that keanohn has respiratory syncytial virus and bronchiolitis. sunday morning, he awakened with a temperature of 102. but, kea gets like this ever so often (as a matter of fact, he was sick LAST december!) so we didn't immediately take him to the emergency room. but, we watched him closely....and he progressively got worse. by the time we left for the hospital this morning, i was afraid to take my camera with me. i normally DO take it when we go because keanohn does some of the FUNNIEST things while we're there. do you know what my mind kept telling me? if you take pictures of keanohn during this hospital stay, they'll be the last pictures you take of him. may seem crazy to you but i felt that all down in my genes and chromosomes....and i left the camera home.and that's one of the best decisions i've made. the respiratory therapist had to give him two breathing treatments and it took FOUR of us to hold him down!!! he's lost 5 lbs and he's down to 30 but he still has BEASTLY strength!!! he doesn't like anything covering his face so the breathing treatments...a HORRIFICAL experience!!! the chest x-rays weren't much better. all in all, he's doing better. his breathing is not as labored and even though the coughing still rattles him, he hasn't thrown up in the last couple of hours...i even got him to eat scrambled eggs and i'm just monitoring him to make sure they stay down. we have to give him breathing treatments every 3 hours and he goes back to the doctor tomorrow for more tests but he's on the mend...i'm claiming it! i really want to thank pegs, chary and mz blue for their encouragement and prayers this past week!
needless to say, we're gonna miss the christmas celebration AGAIN this year! we think kea will be more comfortable at home with not so many folks around. plus, my mom's immune system is not strong enough to handle getting what he has. the homebody in me is grateful. i prefer being home. it's ahmad's year to spend christmas in atlanta, so the boys won't be opening their gifts until he returns next week. so, i'm gonna enjoy watching movies and eating with two of my favorite guys. and when the little guy sleeps, i'm gonna put on my leopard galoshes and fa la la john's la! it PROMISES to be a GREAT DAY!!!
you know, charyamore told me that john and i are TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE parents because we don't give each of our kids an ornament each christmas. naw, i'm joking but i DID think it was a great tradition when she told me about it. when john and i went to hobby lobby last week, we picked these up for ahmad:
because he's our basketball player this year! (how CUTE is that chuck taylor with the christmas tree in the center?!?! ) for our car and truck fanatic, we got these
i LOVE them but OBVIOUSLY not as much as kea who keeps trying to take them off the tree!OH! the december kreatorville kit is LIVE!!! here's a peek at some of the yumminess:
how BEAUTIFUL are those papers?!?!? and the TRUE beauty of this? that's not the BEST part of the kit!!!! go on over there to SWOON over the rest of the december kit and possibly win a FREE KIT!!!!i have SO MUCH to do that i'll leave you with only TWO of the projects i kreated with this kit!
this is one of the pictures that we took in texas. the "winter" portion of the title is one of the handmade embellishments available with the december kit. every embellishment and paper used on this page is included in the december kit!also, i was able to find a FEW minutes this month to branch out and kreate a home decor item! mr. snowman is decked out in the latest finery from the december kit. i LOVE the way the pearls look all over the front of his plump belly!!!! if you're interested in a kit, contact me @ keandra@kreatorvillekraft.com. i'll be back soon with better news on my kea (i'm CLAIMIN' IT!!!)
14 December 2009
do you know...
...what makes a birthday great? when it's celebrated for DAYS, not just one day! i got this in the mail:
my CHARYamore knew that (sadly!) i've never read the twilight series and i told her that i really want to before we see the movie so she sent me the first two books! plus, she made the tickets for the december kreatorville kraft kit and sent me a BUNCH of other die cuts and papers to play with! i'm sure you'll see tickets on my next 500 projects because that's how many she sent me! just kidding...it was only 300!!! don't forget to check out kreativity.kreatorvillekraft.com to see peeks from the december kit!
OH! i forgot to mention that i got an email from pam (essensevibez) this morning letting me know that i won kenner road kit from ali...it's beginning to look a lot like christmas in this joint!!!!
my CHARYamore knew that (sadly!) i've never read the twilight series and i told her that i really want to before we see the movie so she sent me the first two books! plus, she made the tickets for the december kreatorville kraft kit and sent me a BUNCH of other die cuts and papers to play with! i'm sure you'll see tickets on my next 500 projects because that's how many she sent me! just kidding...it was only 300!!! don't forget to check out kreativity.kreatorvillekraft.com to see peeks from the december kit!OH! i forgot to mention that i got an email from pam (essensevibez) this morning letting me know that i won kenner road kit from ali...it's beginning to look a lot like christmas in this joint!!!!
18 November 2009
oh hey....
...the girl next door has revealed her November kit! Make sure to check it out here...she's giving out some GREAT "incentives!"
17 November 2009
EXTRA EXTRA....
...READ ALL ABOUT IT!!! check out my FIRST INTERVIEW with Essense Vibez here:
http://essensevibezxtraz.blogspot.com/
http://essensevibezxtraz.blogspot.com/
::Interview with Keandra Willis::
check this out, have you ever met someone online and feel their spirit shine through your screen when you're chatting with them?--if you've ever chatted with KIWIKREATOR KEANDRA, you know what i'm talkin' about!!--this woman has been my inspiration for some time now and yes, she knows it!--what i love about KIWI {what i passionately call her} is her beauty, her honesty, her way of making you think and how she can turn things around when you're feelin' like crap-a-doodle after a long day or puttin' up with everyday life--i'm so feeling her passion to create--you talkin about an artist!!--KEANDRA has evolved!--sit back, relax and read about this incredible woman whom i love from bottom of my heart and soul--:
(you can click the link to read the rest!) thanx to pam for allowing me such a wonderful opportunity to express myself and my views!!!
(you can click the link to read the rest!) thanx to pam for allowing me such a wonderful opportunity to express myself and my views!!!
12 November 2009
two years ago today...
...at 2:30 in the morning, i was merely praying for God to please let this kid COME ALREADY!!! now, as i look at those beautiful eyes, i'm just so grateful for the blessing which is him! even though he just cried for 15 minutes straight and gave me a not-so-great, VERY early start to my day, i still appreciate having him in our lives. plus, i understand his pain so i'm cutting him some slack! see, daddy decided that two is "big boy" range. and big boys NEVER walk around looking like this:
john has been talking about it for months...even warning kea: when you turn two, daddy's taking keeper from you! (keeper is short for PEACE keeper). well, the other day kea and i were home alone and keeper was misplaced. so, i decided that i may as well bite the bullet and start the process then. kea was NOT HAPPY. he thrashed; he begged; he screamed; he almost made me lose my mind! but, we're at day four now and he's doing well...for the MOST part. several points to remember:don't mention keeper around him; don't show him any pictures of himself UTILIZING keeper; and the MOST important rule: make sure to freshen his diaper before he falls asleep so that he doesn't have to be awakened in the middle of the night screaming for keeper. why am i up at 2:30 am, blogging? i fell asleep last night before kea. when i was awakened around 1:30 by barney singing about friendship ( i don't LIKE that dinosaur!!!) i checked kea and realized he was SATURATED!!!! of course, he couldn't stay that way because he's so susceptible to diaper rashes so i had to bite the bullet and change him...and i woke him. at first, he just reached for keeper; then, he insisted that i find it FOR him...LOUDLY...for TWENTY MINTUES!!! it's times like these which separate the weak from the strong; times like these REALLY show if you have any abusive tendencies! but, i stayed cool. even though he was twitching, i resisted the urge to stuff keeper in his mouth while screaming, "here...TAKE HIM!!!" you see, the last four days have been like living with a crack addict going through withdrawals. he awakens and he is the SWEETEST little boy, with those big beautiful eyes and those beautiful teeth. then....just...like....THAT...he snaps and turns into pookie from new jack city
twitching, throwing himself around...just like a person who's fighting an addiction. i feel pretty much like a crack addict myself right now because all i can do is hold him and rock him back and forth while he claws at me and his daddy snores (did i mention that daddy can LITERALLY fall asleep in two minutes flat? i've always wanted to suck that ability RIGHT OUT OF HIM like a BODY SNATCHER...i NEED THAT!!!) but, God is good because He gave me some peace and now the murderous thoughts have dissipated and the warm fuzzies have returned. at two the little boy:*snatches his pamper off and asks to use the potty more often
*tells us EXACTLY what he wants/doesn't want (cup, please! stop, ahmad! eat, please!)
*will give me kisses most of the time without making me fall to my knees and beg for them
*loves to be outside
*LOVES LOVES LOVES football! he will throw his arms in the air whenever the crowd roars
during a game. doesn't matter if it's a first down...SCREW THAT!!! EVERYTHING'S
touchdown!!!
*loves the phone...not to talk...just to listen...well, he will say lub you and bye but not much else
*makes us so grateful to have him in our lives. have you ever been in a situation where
you desire a thing for so long that when you finally get it the disappointment is just
overwhelming? well, i wanted this little boy for about eight years. around the time ahmad
turned three, i decided that i wanted another baby. i would daydream about it, pray for it...i could just feel this baby in my arms. that feeling has never diminished. i worried that having another baby at a more...ummm, MATURE point in my life would mean i would be dealing with this little person with a lot less patience. i delivered jamani the month before i turned 20...he was like a toy to me: i just played with him and held him all the time...he was SO MUCH FUN! i was 24 when ahmad came along and still young enough to be pliable. but, i had kea two weeks before i turned 36. i was afraid of not having enough patience to deal with him daily. but, that worry was unwarranted. of COURSE he tweaks my nerves every now and then...but HE actually drives me a LOT LESS crazy than my 18 year old! i feel so blessed that God has entrusted this beautiful, intelligent, FUNNY little being into our care...AND so blessed that God gifted me with a good husband to help raise this little person! so, i guess the good outweighs the bad and we'll keep the little boy (cause about an hour ago i was SERIOUSLY contemplating giving him to Goodwill in the morning with the donations!)
we're having a REALLY small party saturday with some of kea's favorite characters from sesame street. the only one he'll call by name is "elbo" so i made some quick invitations using him
i normally love EVERY aspect of parties, from the food to the balloons to the decorations. but, i'm so swamped with everything else right now that i'm just ready for this one to be OVER!!! i'll be working like a robot today to get as much done as possible before we attend open house at ahmad's potential high school...MERCY!!! that's ANOTHER thing: my baby will be in HIGH SCHOOL next year! UGH!
06 November 2009
i have a new neighbor...
...but i'm not sure if i like her or not. i mean, she seems like a cool chick...very stylish! but, she's always talking business...her business THIS and her business THAT!!! you know i'm all about the family and quality time making memories with them so i'm not sure if our friendship will blossom or not. check her out yourself...let me know what you think!
01 November 2009
first of all, i'd like to thank...
...the academy (velvet) for this auspicious award! always, giving glory to God for blessing me with this gift! To my wonderful husband, who is at this moment cooking breakfast...yeah, i'm feeling kinda silly this morning! my girl, velllllvet (can you tell i love her name?) gave me a great blog award.
The rules are I have to pass this along to 5 other friends and answer a list of questions in ONE word!
Here are the questions:
1. Where is your cell phone? dead
2. Your hair? red
3. Your mother? hungry!
4. Your father? hungry!
5. Your favorite food?crabcake
6. Your dream last night? art
7. Your favorite drink? delaware
8. Your dream/goal? peace
9. What room are you in? kitchen
10. Your hobby? reading
11. Your fear? success
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? comfortable
13. Where were you last night? bed
14. Something that you aren't?white
15. Muffins? carrot
16. Wish list item? lexus
17. Where did you grow up? suburbia
18. Last thing you did? laughed
19. What are you wearing? underwear
20. Your TV? news
21. Your Pets? none
22. Friends? cherished
23. Your life? blessed
24. Your mood? silly
25. Missing Someone? daddy
26. vehicle? truck
27. Something you're not wearing? bra
28. Your favorite store? kreatorville
29. Your favorite color? red
30. When was the last time you laughed? now
31. Last time you cried? month
32. Your best friend? taj
33. One place that I go to over and over? computer
34. Facebook? yes
35. Favorite place to eat? here
now, onto you:
1.taj
2.peggy
3.charity
4.mands
5.jenneke
by the way, we're taking my parents to dinner today to celebrate my mom's birthday (on the 20th)...that's the reason for the "hungry" crack!
The rules are I have to pass this along to 5 other friends and answer a list of questions in ONE word!Here are the questions:
1. Where is your cell phone? dead
2. Your hair? red
3. Your mother? hungry!
4. Your father? hungry!
5. Your favorite food?crabcake
6. Your dream last night? art
7. Your favorite drink? delaware
8. Your dream/goal? peace
9. What room are you in? kitchen
10. Your hobby? reading
11. Your fear? success
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? comfortable
13. Where were you last night? bed
14. Something that you aren't?white
15. Muffins? carrot
16. Wish list item? lexus
17. Where did you grow up? suburbia
18. Last thing you did? laughed
19. What are you wearing? underwear
20. Your TV? news
21. Your Pets? none
22. Friends? cherished
23. Your life? blessed
24. Your mood? silly
25. Missing Someone? daddy
26. vehicle? truck
27. Something you're not wearing? bra
28. Your favorite store? kreatorville
29. Your favorite color? red
30. When was the last time you laughed? now
31. Last time you cried? month
32. Your best friend? taj
33. One place that I go to over and over? computer
34. Facebook? yes
35. Favorite place to eat? here
now, onto you:
1.taj
2.peggy
3.charity
4.mands
5.jenneke
by the way, we're taking my parents to dinner today to celebrate my mom's birthday (on the 20th)...that's the reason for the "hungry" crack!
25 October 2009
i just lost a good friend...
...of mine recently. this friend had been with me since before katrina. he was always there for me when i needed him. i never had to wonder or worry...whenever i needed him, he was available. recently, it's been a situation where he just wasn't right...it's like something was off about him. he just wasn't working out. then, it became a situation where he would be available SOMETIME...he just stopped being reliable. you know with TRUE friends, that's what's important: i need my friends to be available to me ALL the time...just like i am for them. well, just recently my friend just stopped working for me completely. i don't know if he just got tired or what. but, i don't miss him. i did what anyone would do in this situation: i replaced him
naw, i don't miss him because his twin has taken his place!
guess what? i have a new venture! i'm now the proud owner of my very own kit club! it's not like other kit club (yeah, i know: blah, blah, blah!!!!) my kits will always include my handmade titles and embellishments. for those of you who aren't on scrapbook.com and haven't seem my titles, here's a sample:
the titles will come painted or glittered. the embellishments (like the hand mixer and the ice cream sundae) will also be painted or glittered. you can also go here to purchase titles and handmade embellishments. if you buy a kit and items from the etsy store, i will ship everything together. so, no separate shipping! the kreatorville blog will be up and running later this week, so stay tuned. we'll have great prizes for people subscribing to the blog and/or kit. the kit is $37.50 for a one time purchase and $32.50 for a 6 month subscription (i got it right this time, velvet!!!!). trust me, with the handmade titles and embellies, you won't be disappointed!
naw, i don't miss him because his twin has taken his place!guess what? i have a new venture! i'm now the proud owner of my very own kit club! it's not like other kit club (yeah, i know: blah, blah, blah!!!!) my kits will always include my handmade titles and embellishments. for those of you who aren't on scrapbook.com and haven't seem my titles, here's a sample:
the titles will come painted or glittered. the embellishments (like the hand mixer and the ice cream sundae) will also be painted or glittered. you can also go here to purchase titles and handmade embellishments. if you buy a kit and items from the etsy store, i will ship everything together. so, no separate shipping! the kreatorville blog will be up and running later this week, so stay tuned. we'll have great prizes for people subscribing to the blog and/or kit. the kit is $37.50 for a one time purchase and $32.50 for a 6 month subscription (i got it right this time, velvet!!!!). trust me, with the handmade titles and embellies, you won't be disappointed!
15 October 2009
Do you smell...
something? i have a little sumthin' sumthin' brewin' over here in my kitchen that i'll share with you in about a week! stay tuned!!!
27 September 2009
well, i'm not pregnant....
...wait! that's right...you had no idea! and pegs, let me just say right off the bat how sorry i am!!!! i KNOW you're disappointed...i think you wanted me to pop out another baby more than john did!!! so, for those of you not in the know, let me start from the beginning. for a couple of months, i've been feeling some classic baby carryin' symptoms: nausea and dizziness when i first stand; bloating and weight gain; etc, etc, etc. well, friday i was laying i bed wondering if there really was something growing inside my belly. i was poking and prodding (yeah...very scientific, i know!) i got to one spot in particular, poked...and vomitted all over. ummm, yeah...no! NOT normal!!! john kept asking me to go to the emergency room but i wanted to wait. i don't know if any of you have ever experienced it before, but i've had gas in my chest and back that has made me think i was in my final hours! so, i just didn't want to rush to the hospital, spend five hours there for the doctor to tell me to take an antacid!! on the other hand, john researched ectopic pregnancy and ruptured appendix on the internet and my symptoms matched both. i was so overwhelmed all i could do was cry. i've been dealing with these symptoms for a few months now and my first thought was of my father. my dad died in 2006 of cancer. his first complaint? a very sore spot in his stomach. so, i told john to sleep on it. i promised that if i didn't feel any relief by yesterday morning that we would go to the hospital.
when i awoke saturday, the pain was actually worse so kea went to my parents and john and i went to the emergency room. now, keanohn is not use to being with anyone but his parents and brothers. he's stayed with my parents once when he was four months old, twice with my mil before he made one and once with my sister when we were painting our living room (THAT was a complete disaster...but that's for another day!) so, john and i were having visions of my parents meeting us at the hospital to dump our demon seed off to us! don't get me wrong: kea is the SWEETEST little one! but, when you dump kids into situations which they are not used to being...it's NOT PRETTY!!! when we arrived at the hospital, i was triaged and stripped (i HATE those gowns!) within about 30 minutes. because my symptoms mimiced a ruptured appendix, i was warned not to sneak anything to eat...really?!?!? i mean, who DOES that? babe, the doctor may have to perform emergency surgery and i know i could choke on my own bile while unconcious if i eat but could you sneak me a lamb chop?!? i had to drink about 32 oz of CHALK before having a cat scan. we waited another couple of hours for the results: i don't have a baby growing inside of me but i do have an ovarian cyst. i'm so grateful to God that i don't have cancer. even though the hospital gave me good drugs, i tried not to take anything last night...and now i'm regretting it! we left the hospital SO late yesterday. i hadn't eaten in over 24 hours (though i'm sure my body was feeding off of its' fat reserve!) and i knew my husband was exhausted from sitting on that little stool for all of that time! if i wasn't hurting so badly right now, i would really get his booty! it felt so good having him by my side throughout all of this, encouraging and humoring me. he was so optimistic, too. he kept telling me, "we're going home tonight!" after he said it for the third time, i looked at it as verification from God that i didn't need emergency surgery. it made me feel great, too that my kid didn't make my parents tie him up and stuff him into the fireplace (NO! they've never done that before but anything's possible if you have the demon seed in your house!) my dad (who has the patience of oscar the GROUCH) said that he was great! he cried for about 5 minutes after john left him. my mom said then it was as if he said, "oh, well! they're gone! let me enjoy these people!" i LOVE it!!!
if any of you have dealt with this condition, let me know. and if any of you want to pray for me...i wouldn't mind that either!
when i awoke saturday, the pain was actually worse so kea went to my parents and john and i went to the emergency room. now, keanohn is not use to being with anyone but his parents and brothers. he's stayed with my parents once when he was four months old, twice with my mil before he made one and once with my sister when we were painting our living room (THAT was a complete disaster...but that's for another day!) so, john and i were having visions of my parents meeting us at the hospital to dump our demon seed off to us! don't get me wrong: kea is the SWEETEST little one! but, when you dump kids into situations which they are not used to being...it's NOT PRETTY!!! when we arrived at the hospital, i was triaged and stripped (i HATE those gowns!) within about 30 minutes. because my symptoms mimiced a ruptured appendix, i was warned not to sneak anything to eat...really?!?!? i mean, who DOES that? babe, the doctor may have to perform emergency surgery and i know i could choke on my own bile while unconcious if i eat but could you sneak me a lamb chop?!? i had to drink about 32 oz of CHALK before having a cat scan. we waited another couple of hours for the results: i don't have a baby growing inside of me but i do have an ovarian cyst. i'm so grateful to God that i don't have cancer. even though the hospital gave me good drugs, i tried not to take anything last night...and now i'm regretting it! we left the hospital SO late yesterday. i hadn't eaten in over 24 hours (though i'm sure my body was feeding off of its' fat reserve!) and i knew my husband was exhausted from sitting on that little stool for all of that time! if i wasn't hurting so badly right now, i would really get his booty! it felt so good having him by my side throughout all of this, encouraging and humoring me. he was so optimistic, too. he kept telling me, "we're going home tonight!" after he said it for the third time, i looked at it as verification from God that i didn't need emergency surgery. it made me feel great, too that my kid didn't make my parents tie him up and stuff him into the fireplace (NO! they've never done that before but anything's possible if you have the demon seed in your house!) my dad (who has the patience of oscar the GROUCH) said that he was great! he cried for about 5 minutes after john left him. my mom said then it was as if he said, "oh, well! they're gone! let me enjoy these people!" i LOVE it!!!
if any of you have dealt with this condition, let me know. and if any of you want to pray for me...i wouldn't mind that either!
11 September 2009
sooo....
....no road trip for us last weekend! jamani actually came home instead to spend time with his girlfrien........brrr................wait! i think i just threw up a little! naw! i'm just joking! i'm actually cool about him having a girlfriend because he's such a cool dude. i really feel that his head is on straight and that he won't mess over or impregnate this girl! so, he came over and beat ahmad up for awhile-obviously that's how they bond! jamani punches ahmad hard enough to cave ahmad's chest in and ahmad screams like a girl! jamani said this is a neccessity since he's 5'9" @ 17 and ahmad is 5'6" @ 13...ahmad will CLEARLY be taller than him so he has to establish that HE'S the man! ummm.....o...k! i'm on john's computer and of COURSE all of my pictures are on MY computer so you've missed out on the yumminess which is jamani this time!
my friend emanuel was in town and he and his wife brought there little boy over. now, emanuel and i have been friends since i was pregnant with ahmad, which is a little over 14 years. when i was a single mom, he was really good with jamani and ahmad, giving them advice and manly support whenever they needed it. so, i always ASSumed that when he had kids i could establish a relationship with them too. the first time i met his baby (in march) he just kinda stared at me like i was an alien. cool...he was 5 months old...i felt that it would get better. when he visited a few months ago he did let me hold him...for about SIX MINUTES!!!! then, he pushed me away and spent the next hour in john's arms. what the h$%&?!!? i'm a MOMMY!!!! i have BREASTS!!!! he was supposed to put his head on my bosom and be lulled by my motherly heartbeat! so, when they visited for labor day, i fully expected the brush off. but, i was pleasantly surprised: he actually stayed with me for about TWENTY minutes before dumping me for john! by the time he's 10, maybe he'll stay with me!!!! i took about a gazillion pix of him, though, because he's gorgeous!!! i DID get one layout done of his pix so far:
this is for our album...i'll make one for his parents....SOMEDAY!!!
please keep my little sister, taj, in your prayers.
her great grandmother (who raised her) just died. she's having a pretty hard time right now, dealing with the same issues i JUST dealt with a few months ago: she never got to say goodbye. just continue praying for her heart to mend!
my friend emanuel was in town and he and his wife brought there little boy over. now, emanuel and i have been friends since i was pregnant with ahmad, which is a little over 14 years. when i was a single mom, he was really good with jamani and ahmad, giving them advice and manly support whenever they needed it. so, i always ASSumed that when he had kids i could establish a relationship with them too. the first time i met his baby (in march) he just kinda stared at me like i was an alien. cool...he was 5 months old...i felt that it would get better. when he visited a few months ago he did let me hold him...for about SIX MINUTES!!!! then, he pushed me away and spent the next hour in john's arms. what the h$%&?!!? i'm a MOMMY!!!! i have BREASTS!!!! he was supposed to put his head on my bosom and be lulled by my motherly heartbeat! so, when they visited for labor day, i fully expected the brush off. but, i was pleasantly surprised: he actually stayed with me for about TWENTY minutes before dumping me for john! by the time he's 10, maybe he'll stay with me!!!! i took about a gazillion pix of him, though, because he's gorgeous!!! i DID get one layout done of his pix so far:
this is for our album...i'll make one for his parents....SOMEDAY!!!
please keep my little sister, taj, in your prayers.
her great grandmother (who raised her) just died. she's having a pretty hard time right now, dealing with the same issues i JUST dealt with a few months ago: she never got to say goodbye. just continue praying for her heart to mend!
03 September 2009
he...
...called me two days ago. i told him that his car is finally ready. (we got him a car for graduation but it needed some work. hubbs finally found time in his busy schedule-he has like 15 projects going on at the same time-to get it road ready). i asked about how his academic schedule is going. he said, ma, everything is fine. BUT...we don't have any food! i just about lost my mind! the school didn't get his dorm assignment straight so he's blessed to be a freshman in his own apartment. he's also blessed to have a cousin who attends the same school as a junior so they're rooming together. don't worry! my sister lives about 10 miles from the school and he's actually only about 80 miles from home, so we're keeping a close eye on that booty (ummm, LITERALLY!!!!) but, i said all of that to say this: we can't have our kid up there starving! i feel so blessed to have raised a young black male who will be 18 in a few weeks and who has never been disrespectful (well, other than that one time! and after i threatened to send him to meet Jesus...he hasn't slipped since!); he's never been to jail; he doesn't have any kids. i'm so proud of the fact that he's staying on course and i want to do everything i can to encourage him to CONTINUE on the right track. sooo, ROAD TRIP!!! i'm cooking a huge pot of red beans and smoked sausage as i type-actually TWO pots: one for jamani and tristan and one for US to eat next week. we're giving the boys a few things: corn; string beans; vienna sausages; pasta roni; chili; wieners; salt; pepper; grape jelly; rice; and we have to make a trip to the grocery store tomorrow before we go for a few packs of chicken and smoked sausage (they eat a LOT of smoked sausage!) i hope those two know how blessed they are to be in college and in a situation where they don't have to work. jamani's grandmother and father are paying his portion of the rent; john and i bought the car; and EVERYBODY is feeding them! my sister i mentioned earlier? she made them a HUGE pan of lasagna. i guess she thought that would tide them over for a few days...ummm, jamani said it lasted ONE day!!!! hopefully the beans will fare a little better! of COURSE i'll have my camera with me because we may just take the two of them to the buffet for dinner before we leave baton rouge to give the beans a fighting chance for another day! and if my baby continues doing well in school i'll keep you all posted. if you EVER see a post where i say, "oh, jamani? i SPIT on him!"....well, you know he's not doing the right thing! but, we're praying that never happens!
01 September 2009
in 3...2...
1! i'm the guest designer for Coordinates Collections for the month of september and my stuff goes live today! The kit, called Beach Bum, was perfect for me to scrap those gazillion pix we took at Disney last month. i didn't want to do the traditional disney red, black and yellow but i still wanted a summery feel to the pages. you can go here to read my bio and to see all the work i kreated with the kit but in the meantime, let me show you a few:
don't forget to check out coordinates collections to see the other five projects i kreated and also to see what the design team came up with!
don't forget to check out coordinates collections to see the other five projects i kreated and also to see what the design team came up with!
27 August 2009
my house smells....
...like sweaty workmen and sautering iron but the fountain that magically appeared in our living room is gone. what?!?!? i didn't tell you about the fountain?!?! no, it wasn't an expensive feature we voluntarily added to bring the value of our home up to $1.5 million (HA!!). this was something mother nature chose to share with us...and we didn't appreciate it.
a couple of weeks ago, we noticed that there was water leaking from under a cabinet in the kitchen. it wasn't consistent; it would appear and disappear at will. when we would see it, we'd wipe it up and life went on. the water obviously didn't want to be ignored because it got worse. john moved the cabinet, we'd clean the water up....and life went on. after a couple of weeks of this, THAT water dried up and we started seeing water seep from under the tv in the living room. even though the laundry room is behind the living room, THAT floor was dry...WEIRD! well, earlier this week we could hear a "pssst" sound and, as i watched, water started squirting up in the middle of the living room floor...CRAP!!!! now, last year we had another leak and we ended up paying about $1100 to have it repaired so our nerves were instantly set on BAD when the fountain appeared. but, the sweaty workmen came today and rerouted the pipe through our attic and our home smells sweaty but it's dry! THE END!!!
of COURSE you all know about my internet drama, but i won't go into details. all i WILL say is this: if i hadn't kreated as many layouts as i did in the last few weeks, i would have either stabbed one of my guys or overdosed on some of the good drugs we have in our house. i knew that kreating helped me but i didn't realize how much until i had to survive a few weeks with no internet...my husband should be VERY glad about my krafting addiction because he almost got stuck in his eye SEVERAL times in the last couple of weeks! you can go here to see all the work i finished in the past few weeks. to give you an idea of how much i completed, some of my girls over at scrapbook.com have nicknamed me the...ummm...gallery HO!!! check it out!
my head hurts too badly right now to make this long...well, any longer than it already is! i'll be back soon!!!
a couple of weeks ago, we noticed that there was water leaking from under a cabinet in the kitchen. it wasn't consistent; it would appear and disappear at will. when we would see it, we'd wipe it up and life went on. the water obviously didn't want to be ignored because it got worse. john moved the cabinet, we'd clean the water up....and life went on. after a couple of weeks of this, THAT water dried up and we started seeing water seep from under the tv in the living room. even though the laundry room is behind the living room, THAT floor was dry...WEIRD! well, earlier this week we could hear a "pssst" sound and, as i watched, water started squirting up in the middle of the living room floor...CRAP!!!! now, last year we had another leak and we ended up paying about $1100 to have it repaired so our nerves were instantly set on BAD when the fountain appeared. but, the sweaty workmen came today and rerouted the pipe through our attic and our home smells sweaty but it's dry! THE END!!!
of COURSE you all know about my internet drama, but i won't go into details. all i WILL say is this: if i hadn't kreated as many layouts as i did in the last few weeks, i would have either stabbed one of my guys or overdosed on some of the good drugs we have in our house. i knew that kreating helped me but i didn't realize how much until i had to survive a few weeks with no internet...my husband should be VERY glad about my krafting addiction because he almost got stuck in his eye SEVERAL times in the last couple of weeks! you can go here to see all the work i finished in the past few weeks. to give you an idea of how much i completed, some of my girls over at scrapbook.com have nicknamed me the...ummm...gallery HO!!! check it out!
my head hurts too badly right now to make this long...well, any longer than it already is! i'll be back soon!!!
11 August 2009
no internet...
...until the 18th. think...i'm...dying!!! my wireless card died while we were out of town, so we're switching to wireless dsl and they can't come out until the 18th to do the installation...i wonder if shanking someone will calm my nerves until then? maybe not since TAJ keeps reminding me that i can't scrap in jail! oh well! i'll just tell you how i kept my Christian ways instead of cussing ahmad's father!
he and i broke up when ahmad was four months old. over the next year we tried to get back together, to no avail. he dated other people, i dated someone else...which didn't sit too well with him. we finally just decided to be friends for our son's sake...until we decided to give our relationship another try. i thought it was going pretty well...until he told me ahmad had a sister on the way. i was hurt but i also felt that this was God's way of telling me that he wasn't the man for me. fast forward to last week, the last week of ahmad's summer visit. ahmad got it into his head that he's 13 and it's time for him to find out why his father and i aren't together. so, his stupid father sat down and told him...in detail. why did this CHILD need to know that while we were trying to reconcile, i dated another man? why did he need to know about PHYSICAL aspects of our relationship? and why didn't you tell him how YOU impregnated his sisters' mom while you were still seeing me? when ahmad told me about this conversation, my head started hurting...INSTANTLY. if he had asked me first, i would have explained that sometimes PEOPLE choose their mates instead of leaving it to God and PEOPLE ALWAYS mess up. i would have explained what happened between his father and myself without casting either of us in a bad light. because i TRULY feel grateful for meeting him. for one thing, my cheeks wouldn't be the same, beautiful kid if he didn't have the EXACT same genes. secondly, i'm grateful to ALL of the idiots i dated because i have a GREAT appreciation for my awesome husband! is it just me? i don't understand why ahmad's father always tries to ally himself with ahmad instead of just being his father. i chastise ahmad and i show him the right way...being his friend is second- or tertiary! you don't know how grateful to God i was because you know what? i STILL didn't cast him in a bad light. i STILL didn't tell my son, "your father and i are not together because he's one of the biggest idiots i ever let see me naked!" NO. instead i told him, "you just continue praying for him, mahd!" and that type of attitude can ONLY come from God! i'm not completely enlightened, though, because if i THOUGHT i could shank him and get away with it...BAYBAY!!!
he and i broke up when ahmad was four months old. over the next year we tried to get back together, to no avail. he dated other people, i dated someone else...which didn't sit too well with him. we finally just decided to be friends for our son's sake...until we decided to give our relationship another try. i thought it was going pretty well...until he told me ahmad had a sister on the way. i was hurt but i also felt that this was God's way of telling me that he wasn't the man for me. fast forward to last week, the last week of ahmad's summer visit. ahmad got it into his head that he's 13 and it's time for him to find out why his father and i aren't together. so, his stupid father sat down and told him...in detail. why did this CHILD need to know that while we were trying to reconcile, i dated another man? why did he need to know about PHYSICAL aspects of our relationship? and why didn't you tell him how YOU impregnated his sisters' mom while you were still seeing me? when ahmad told me about this conversation, my head started hurting...INSTANTLY. if he had asked me first, i would have explained that sometimes PEOPLE choose their mates instead of leaving it to God and PEOPLE ALWAYS mess up. i would have explained what happened between his father and myself without casting either of us in a bad light. because i TRULY feel grateful for meeting him. for one thing, my cheeks wouldn't be the same, beautiful kid if he didn't have the EXACT same genes. secondly, i'm grateful to ALL of the idiots i dated because i have a GREAT appreciation for my awesome husband! is it just me? i don't understand why ahmad's father always tries to ally himself with ahmad instead of just being his father. i chastise ahmad and i show him the right way...being his friend is second- or tertiary! you don't know how grateful to God i was because you know what? i STILL didn't cast him in a bad light. i STILL didn't tell my son, "your father and i are not together because he's one of the biggest idiots i ever let see me naked!" NO. instead i told him, "you just continue praying for him, mahd!" and that type of attitude can ONLY come from God! i'm not completely enlightened, though, because if i THOUGHT i could shank him and get away with it...BAYBAY!!!
05 August 2009
testing, testing...
1-2-3. a couple of days ago, we took kea to animal kingdom (i guess 13 is THAT age because ahmad didn't want to come with us. jamani COULDN'T come because of getting ready for school). anywho, we stood in line to meet the head rat, took pix in front of all the awesome scenery and guess what?!?!? my camera was set on "crappy" because NONE of the pix came out right! now, if you're readers of my blog, you're probably like minded...good pix are almost like oxygen to us. so, you understand how devastated i was to look at those pix when we got back to the resort. if money wasn't tight, i would have told john, "oh, H*$% no!" let's get MORE tickets and go back tomorrow...DO OVER!!!!" but, praise God, we did go to epcot today. in the truck i took several pix of myself to make sure i didn't shank the receptionist at the resort because i had no good picture memories!!!
for several reasons, we felt that epcot was 500% better than animal kingdom...well, john and i anyway because this is what noonie thought of going to epcot:
animal kingdom just felt like the rain forest...it was too freakin' hawt!!! once we saw so many animals and the tree of life 10 times, we were ready to go. i think john and i may just be getting too old for all of this! the other thing was that i suggested to the man that we bring kea's stroller. but, the MAN said we didn't have room in the back of the truck for the stroller; the MAN said we didn't NEED the stroller. and even though i thought about having to lug the little one around for HOURS, because john IS the man...well, you know how it went! when we were parking at epcot, he told kea, "you're walking today!" i had visions of appealing to all my online peeps to PLEASE help bring my pretty lil boy home safely...UHN UHN, PAD-NUH!!! we'll just be renting a stroller! he flipped because THAT was $15, but the WOMAN stepped in! it was SO WORTH IT!!!
epcot was just so much more interesting to us! there was just so much innovation and vibrance at epcot! this is a paid advertisment by the disney corporation! not really...it just seems like i'm gushing because i've been paid! it just feels good to spend a MILLION dollars to get into the park and not even CARE afterwards because you ABSOLUTELY enjoyed yourself...AND got great PIX!!!!
john had a great time too, getting all into the spirit of things!
he volunteered (well, his wife volunteered him!) to play a game where he had to change and feed as many babies as possible in 60 seconds...of course he whipped tail! (GO WILLIS!!!) AND i got a real smile on FILM, VEL!!!!
oh, and kea?
he felt the same way leaving that he felt entering the park...indifferent!!! we leave for georgia in the morning to pick mr. cheeks up. i may not upload any pix of him when we first get him because he's already told me that his hair hasn't been twisted since he left home so i know he looks like tangled kelp by the head! we head home saturday! can't wait to upload the projects i've started/finished on vacation and to tell you all how God delivered ahmad's father from a royal cussin' yesterday!!!
02 August 2009
No cha cha cha...
...but we're still having a great time!!!! yep, you guessed it: we've been in orlando for a few days now! i ended up not going to cha thursday. the ride from our house to orlando took 9 and a half hours but we couldn't check into our hotel until 4pm. i couldn't ask my husband to drive over 9 hours, drop me off, drive another 3 hours to my mom's house in jacksonville (the only place we knew he could hang out while i was at cha), rest for an hour and turn around and drive ANOTHER 3 hours to pick me up. i wouldn't have been able to cheese it up with div, helene and tim holtz because i would have been so worried that my papa and baby bears weren't safe on the road! so, i was sad that i didn't get to have my first cha experience. but, guess what?!!? we STILL got to have dinner with helene, div and mark (div's hubby) that night! that freakin' RAWKED!!!! we had the BEST TIME!!! they are the WARMEST people you'd ever want to meet!!! i let them know that i NEVER want to leave buzz and bloom's design team! PLUS, they won the most innovative product award at cha...why would i EVER go anywhere?!?!? kea literally JUMPED on div and then helene and had to be pried away...that was confirmation to me that they're good folks because he normally plays shy baby around people he's just met!
friday, we slept ALL day! when we awakened around 4, we got dressed to go out and of COURSE it started storming! this resort is so large that we still had plenty to do here! we had dinner, got cones from the ice cream shop, took kea to the kids' zone and then came back in to...more sleep!!!
saturday i met jules in person! the first thing she said to me was, "you're so pretty!" (yeah, she's a keeper!) i packed two BULGING bags of supplies because i just KNEW i was gonna crop with someone else for the first time...lies and garbage!!! we yap, yap, yapped for about four hours until one of us (i don't remember which!) was in danger of passing out! so, we went (along with john and kea) to dinner. have you ever been to a restaurant where the food is AWESOME but it has OBVIOUSLY cooked itself because the staff SUX too much to have prepared it? well, that's how our experience at uno's was. we were seated in a corner (i honestly think we were in an annex somewhere!) and we were forgotten for about 20 minutes! the waitress finally took our orders and when she brought the appetizers, she brought another waiter! she mumbled something about not serving us because we were sitting on the south side of the building or something but she promised that the waiter would take EXCELLENT care of us...lies and garbage!!! i think he came to the table exactly one and a half times (the half time was when he kinda waved at us from across the room and gave us the thumbs up!) but the food...oh, it's almost a SIN to just call it food! (can you tell we love to eat?!?) before katrina, i was addicted to the blue cheese crap dip at joe's crab shack. well, katrina was better than rehab because she lifted joe's right off the pier! ever since then, i've been jonesin' for that dip! uno's had a dip VERY similar to it!!! i've already told john that i need more before we go home-that'll give me a chance to study the menu and the listed ingredients so i can try to duplicate it when we get home. if i don't get more...mama WON'T be a happy camper! there may be some shanking involved...i haven't decided yet. anywho, john and jules and i joked and had fun and kea laughed at us joking and having fun. when we got back to the resort, jules and i went to the ice cream shop. on the way, we got some seriously dirty looks. i told her maybe everyone was mistaking us for ebony and ivory, the lesbian wrestling gymnists (i've gotten that before!) but she didn't agree.
FUNNY story: you know before we left that kea and the devil thought it would be fun to hide the truck keys, right? well, before the evil locksmith came over and robbed us, we looked up and down and all around for the keys. john kept saying, noonie, tell daddy where the keys are, son. well, i guess kea got tired of being asked because he found his book, brought it to daddy and turned and pointed to this:
i was all FOR shanking him at this point: if a kid is smart enough to show you a PICTURE of the keys that he has so sneakily hidden, i think he deserves to lose a little blood! but, because my husband makes the final decisions around here, i had to go with what he wanted, which was a kea with all his blood, so i didn't cut him! now, if he shows us a picture of a potty while we're trying to train him/save money on pampers, even his daddy won't be able to save him!
oooh, great scrappy news: i just found out that i'm the september guest designer for coordinates collections!!! i love their sketches and their kits...i can't wait to get that yumminess into my hands and kreate with it...i'm STOKED!!! (that's like my third time saying that today so you KNOW i'm excited!!!)
make sure you check out the new lotus challenge to use fingerpaint. even i used my man fingers to kreate a mini...and ummm....i LIKED it! i love seeing paint on my hands and knowing that i've kreated beauty (mushy but true!) give it a try!
i'm gonna cut this short because we're getting up early to take kea to meet the rat. please pray for us because for the last two weeks i've been asking, "do you want to meet mickey?" and he's responded, "NO!" he says no to everything these days but i think he meant it when he said no rat. if i tell you we left the park in 10 minutes, you know mr. kea meant what he said and said what he meant!!!!
friday, we slept ALL day! when we awakened around 4, we got dressed to go out and of COURSE it started storming! this resort is so large that we still had plenty to do here! we had dinner, got cones from the ice cream shop, took kea to the kids' zone and then came back in to...more sleep!!!
saturday i met jules in person! the first thing she said to me was, "you're so pretty!" (yeah, she's a keeper!) i packed two BULGING bags of supplies because i just KNEW i was gonna crop with someone else for the first time...lies and garbage!!! we yap, yap, yapped for about four hours until one of us (i don't remember which!) was in danger of passing out! so, we went (along with john and kea) to dinner. have you ever been to a restaurant where the food is AWESOME but it has OBVIOUSLY cooked itself because the staff SUX too much to have prepared it? well, that's how our experience at uno's was. we were seated in a corner (i honestly think we were in an annex somewhere!) and we were forgotten for about 20 minutes! the waitress finally took our orders and when she brought the appetizers, she brought another waiter! she mumbled something about not serving us because we were sitting on the south side of the building or something but she promised that the waiter would take EXCELLENT care of us...lies and garbage!!! i think he came to the table exactly one and a half times (the half time was when he kinda waved at us from across the room and gave us the thumbs up!) but the food...oh, it's almost a SIN to just call it food! (can you tell we love to eat?!?) before katrina, i was addicted to the blue cheese crap dip at joe's crab shack. well, katrina was better than rehab because she lifted joe's right off the pier! ever since then, i've been jonesin' for that dip! uno's had a dip VERY similar to it!!! i've already told john that i need more before we go home-that'll give me a chance to study the menu and the listed ingredients so i can try to duplicate it when we get home. if i don't get more...mama WON'T be a happy camper! there may be some shanking involved...i haven't decided yet. anywho, john and jules and i joked and had fun and kea laughed at us joking and having fun. when we got back to the resort, jules and i went to the ice cream shop. on the way, we got some seriously dirty looks. i told her maybe everyone was mistaking us for ebony and ivory, the lesbian wrestling gymnists (i've gotten that before!) but she didn't agree.
FUNNY story: you know before we left that kea and the devil thought it would be fun to hide the truck keys, right? well, before the evil locksmith came over and robbed us, we looked up and down and all around for the keys. john kept saying, noonie, tell daddy where the keys are, son. well, i guess kea got tired of being asked because he found his book, brought it to daddy and turned and pointed to this:
i was all FOR shanking him at this point: if a kid is smart enough to show you a PICTURE of the keys that he has so sneakily hidden, i think he deserves to lose a little blood! but, because my husband makes the final decisions around here, i had to go with what he wanted, which was a kea with all his blood, so i didn't cut him! now, if he shows us a picture of a potty while we're trying to train him/save money on pampers, even his daddy won't be able to save him!
oooh, great scrappy news: i just found out that i'm the september guest designer for coordinates collections!!! i love their sketches and their kits...i can't wait to get that yumminess into my hands and kreate with it...i'm STOKED!!! (that's like my third time saying that today so you KNOW i'm excited!!!)
make sure you check out the new lotus challenge to use fingerpaint. even i used my man fingers to kreate a mini...and ummm....i LIKED it! i love seeing paint on my hands and knowing that i've kreated beauty (mushy but true!) give it a try!
i'm gonna cut this short because we're getting up early to take kea to meet the rat. please pray for us because for the last two weeks i've been asking, "do you want to meet mickey?" and he's responded, "NO!" he says no to everything these days but i think he meant it when he said no rat. if i tell you we left the park in 10 minutes, you know mr. kea meant what he said and said what he meant!!!!
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