Happy Halloween

I'm in love with googlie eyes! The Kindergarten teachers were amazed with my giant google eyes for the craft project at the party and here I used 2 different sizes of little eyes! I also bought some oval eyes at the craft store but haven't used them yet! Here I used an Oddbird Planet Stamp isn't the witch adorable!

We had a great day all of us! The girls loved their costumes and had so much fun! They didn't get home until 9pm tonight. Dave had a good day up moving around outside in the BEAUTIFUL weather we're having. Walked down the street and visited a bit handed out candy! His new meds seem to be helping a lot! Hopefully that's it and it's not 1 step forward 3 steps back! Like before! I'll post more with pics in a bit he wants to go downstairs and I need to help!

Update Thursday(Dave) A day late!

Sorry about that it's crazy around here getting ready for Halloween Parties and such. So Dave seems calmer since seeing the Dr. he is less upset about doing nothing which seemed to be bothering him. He got to take a shower and be on the computer yesterday. I left him alone to go to kindergym and run errands and he did fine. The play dates may get the best of him? The pain is still there in his back and legs pretty bad but he's started the steroids for the swelling. I just wish he would actually eat something other than a banana and a slice of bread a day.

Today I have big plans for him he'll be putting together goodie bags for the class party later and cutting and tracing pieces for the project. He has a lot of work to do while I look for the licorice needed to do our pumpkin cookies! That's all for now! Happy Halloween!

Wednesday Update (Dave)

So it was another rough day for moving around. But we're working out a system to make it a bit easier. We went to the Neurologist today. Good and bad I guess. Learned there may be some nerve damage on his left side. Need to get a good ENT to check the ears to make sure their healing. May get a MRI for the back to make sure there is not some other sort of damage. Stitches came out. Needs glasses out doors since the left eye doesn't close all the way or blink. Will start going to physical therapy. He can now do more things ie. stand in the shower etc. The trip to the Dr.'s wore him out. He was exhausted from the walking and being out in the sun.

Tonight was a night out to celebrate Dianne's b-day so Suz came and stayed while the Ladies went out. She hung with the girls and prodded them into cleaning up their room(per my request). She's good she read to them while they worked. Dave rested from his big day out and watched myth busters since the girls left him alone. Then he and I watched top design when I got home. I was wrong I guessed Eddie would stay since he makes good TV. It was pleasant however I think Dave stayed on the couch a little too long he was extremely stiff and it was hard to get up to bed but he was determined. We're going to try to go for a walk tomorrow. He still thinks it's extremely cold when I don't particularly I'm not sure what that means? I'm hoping for a beautiful day to get him outside!

Tuesday Update(Dave)

Well today was a rough day. After a few in a row with improvement it seemed to be a step back. Dave was in extreme pain today mostly in his back and legs still. Not a lot of moving around or eating or doing much of anything but drinking the water I make him drink and taking his medicines. His left eye is still pretty bad and really starting to bother him. It hurts and waters all the time. I'm hoping we are 3 steps forward 1 back etc. and tomorrow we'll begin moving forward again. Fingers crossed everyone! At least tomorrow he sees the head doctor so we should know more about how his recovery looks.

Weekly Feature (Epoxy Brads Linnecards.com)

I've been a bit of a slacker lately in the project photo department. Sorry for those interested in the paper part of this blog. So here goes. This weeks weekly feature at Linnecards.com is Epoxy Brads. Here is a card using the Imaginisce All Kinds of Happy line including the epoxy brad for the center for the flower. Check out the other featured cards in the gallery your going to be WOWED by them!

Monday(Dave)

So things are starting to level out. Dave looks tons better the bruises around the eyes are starting to yellow! Then he actually stood straight up from the couch today without support of the walker. We did another little field trip he sat in the car for a Mike's run to get supplies for the class party and Target to return some stuff. I thought he was completely finished after those 2 things but when I said I was stopping at Subway to get a sandwich he wanted to come in! He even ate the entire sandwich! It was so good for him to actually get out and do something even if it was snowing just a bit. Which was horrifying for both of us. He pretty much has been awake all day so he's really getting better. He seems to be done with laying down all the time and moves from seat to seat trying out different angles for his legs(they are still really sore). He complains about moving so slow but he's really getting tons better it's just hard for him to see it and I'm sure very frustrating! I'm feeling confident that tonight he can go up the stairs and sleep in the bed. I know he's looking forward to that! That's all for now more tomorrow!

Sunday (Dave)

He really slept! After I got Emily up and off to her competition this morning he slept and slept and slept and slept! Till around 11:30 that after sleeping all night. He was quite sore from laying for so long but he was in such a good mood. So after much stretching and walking he seemed a bit better. He played around with Abbi and myself most of the day. Ate a little dinner then asked for pie! We played a couple of hands of rummy and he has decided his hands are not broken. Well after I pointed out he could deal the cards. Therefore he had to give me the "bird" because well his hands aren't broken. He's just mad I creamed him 230 to 90. HA All that fun and excitement wore him out so he had to lay down we watched the news and then he had to go to sleep. Hopefully tonight he'll have another good night(crossing fingers).

Thanks everyone for the cards and letters he loves reading them!

Saturday Update(Dave)

So this is late I'm sorry things got busy! Dave is starting to feel much better. He wants to go upstairs and sleep in his bed and take a shower and sleep in his bed forever but I'm not ready for the stairs yet especially ours straight up. He did try to wash up last night and shave but shaving seems to be a problem which bothered him most of the night. He gets up and walks around and moves his legs a lot. The legs and back seem to bother him the most at the moment. Which is good he may not notice all of the other little pains. So in the AM his dad came out and stayed with him while Abbi and I went to watch Em at her competition(They were AWESOME). We also stopped to pick up new slippers and such. While we were out he apparently ate Pie! I'm trying to get him to eat protein but I'll take pie! Once everyone got home we all went on an adventure to the Walgreen's to pick up prescriptions. He was very snarky in the car about how we didn't need anymore freaking adventures. WOO HOO he's getting back to himself. He cracked jokes all the way there and all the way back. He picked on the girls etc. I think the fresh air helps him a lot. He asked for Spaghetti-O's for dinner and a Pepsi another good sign. He wanted to watch some of his Tivo'd shows and eat his dinner. He's been able to watch more TV without any double vision. He also is reading a lot more it just makes his eyes a bit tired. After all that he was very tired. He seemed to sleep better last night.

Friday AM

Well we all had a rough night. Dave barely slept the pain in his legs and back seem to get getting worse. I slept with one ear open and kept on eye on him while he was moving around. Emily informed me the hamsters kept her up all night with their running and Ab's woke up at 6 after a bad dream. But oh well we were all up very early and ready for the day! Dave was up early wanting to walk so we did a lap around the downstairs then he sat at the kitchen table and had some juice. Em finished her homework and studied her spelling words then went to school with Miss Renee and Haley for Mom's and Muffins. She reminded me before she left that I forgot to feed her. She was happy to find out she was going to get doughnuts for breakfast at school. After she was off we got Abbi ready and she got to watch her favorite program. I worked on more insurance stuff and then we headed out for errands. Poor Dave has to ride along so I can keep my eye on him. He was totally shocked how cold it has gotten since he was in the hospital. He wants warmer clothes. So we dropped off prescriptions at the drugstore, went to the bank, then to the vitamin store for his vit. C's and lastly picked up some milk. After that he wanted to sit at the kitchen table for a bit so I made him some soup since I figured he would need warm now. He also took some more juice which was good. The vitamins are too big for him to swallow so I have to get a pill cutter later. The pills they gave him in the hospital seemed smaller than the ones we have. I think his throat may be a little swollen which would explain why he's hoarse all the time? He's sleeping now which is wonderful since he slept so fitfully last night. Hopefully he'll feel better. I do thing getting out of the house will help him and since it seems all I do all day is drive around he'll get lots and lots of fresh air!

I'll update more later if it's not just about him sleeping. That would be boring!

Thursday Update(sorry it's late but it's good)

Ok so it's been a very long day. First I called. He had, had a very bad night. No sleep whatsoever even after 2 ambien. Later I went over to the hospital at around 9 this morning. There was a Dr. in with him when I got there. Asking questions and talking to him about how he felt etc. etc. He just kept telling him how tired he was and he didn't understand why he couldn't sleep etc. And he has a lot of pain in his back and legs today which they think is just from laying down for so long. Then the Dr. said the magic words. "I think you should be able to go home today"! Woo hoo Dave got considerably more excited about that in his own broken way. So he really wasn't going to to take a nap or anything since he might miss his open window to get out of the hospital. He asked right away if he would be able to shower before he left since he couldn't go upstairs here and we don't have a shower or bathtub downstairs. They promised they would arrange that and began working on his release! He got his vitamins and had a little breakfast. We need a walker so he can get around the house so the Dr. will have to put in an order for that before we can leave as well.

10ish I call his Mom and tell her not to come out since we don't know where he will be and we keep encouraging him to sleep so hopefully he will. He's still alone in the room so I have it as dark as I can and I'm trying to stay away so as not to be a distraction that keeps him awake. He's still to excited to sleep.

Around 11 it dawns on me we have no clothes for him since I took them home over the weekend and I need to get the house ready for him so since we're still waiting on the shower I head out to pack a bag and get him some necessities to come home to. I also get the little one lunch and to school and head back to the hospital. I saw his ER doc on the floor he did all the release stuff for Dave he needed to do and let me know if we needed any other help to let him know.

1pm no progress. The Dr. that told him he could go home on Tuesday is now on vacation and is not answering his pages so we can finish getting the release. They do start preparing him for the shower by removing the IV's and all the heart monitor pads etc. Finally around 1:30 they set up the washroom with his clothes I brought and then begin the process of moving him into the bathroom. This takes forever since everything has to be done in slow motion so has not to joggle is head. They get a shower chair etc. etc. and then the PCT(nurses assistant) discovers the shower head is all wrong for her to attempt to help him with the shower. So back to bed now they are going to get the shower head changed out in the bathroom so that the shower can take place.

2 the maintenance men have been notified twice to come up. And "just switch that shower head from one in another one of the many washrooms up there". The dr. has been paged 3 times and while he's on vacation his messages are getting to him but in a specific order so we should hear from him soon. Dave is now beside himself he'll just take a shower with the shower head that is there he says. Of course he believes the reason he is not going home is because he wants a shower. I try to explain that it doesn't matter we can't leave without the walker or the Dr. calling with his final orders before release. He calms down.

2:30 we now have a new roommate. His name is Mike and he's being transferred downtown for a 3rd attempt at a liver transplant. His family is very nervous. Anyway the walker shows up the guy that brings it sets to the right height etc. and then shows us how to use it and explains the warranty and what to do if we have problems etc.

3pm The maintenance man also comes by and looks at the shower head. Then he says he will have to go find the other type and he will be back.

4pm No word from the dr. and the maintenance man doesn't seem to be coming back again ever. Dave is trying really hard not to be mad but he's seething quietly over the whole thing. Keep in mind he's never been in the hospital before. He broke his ankle once before.

4:30 the maintenance man returns with the needed parts. He tells me there will have to be some drilling then promptly takes the drill and the hammer into the bathroom and begins doing minor construction to the room for what seemed like forever. (here's where my phone battery dies for all those that tried to call me around then sorry)

5 No the Dr. has not contacted anyone as yet. I head home to get another charged battery for my phone and get the girls ready for their evening activities. As I leave I let them know the shower is now fixed and he's very ready.

6 Both girls are off to their respective activities and have already been very disappointed not to find Daddy home yet then I head back over there hoping to find him sitting on the edge of the bed holding his bag and flowers and such ready to go. Mad of course that I was gone for so long and I left him there. HA I walk into the room now filled with paramedics and he points at me and tells me that I should just go out of the room now. Literally he said that. I did notice before being kicked out that he was showered and dressed in his own clothes. I was going to go to the waiting room but decided to talk to the nurses instead. NO THE DR. HAS NOT CALLED(they didn't yell it but that is what I heard in my head). They did tell me though that they were going to go ahead and send him home and his care was pretty standard from here on out. So they would be in in a bit with those instructions. At this point Mike and his paramedics head out he's being transported to the city and hopefully this time he will really get his transplant. Dave had a terrible headache and when we told the nurse she realized he wasn't getting any pain meds to go home with(YIKES). So that required calls to Dr.s that I suppose would respond to them to get prescriptions called in and to just get him one to go home on.

6:30 we get the lowdown on stuff he has to do at home. Move very slowly, don't lift anything heavier than a pencil, don't drive, don't go upstairs, don't fall down etc. etc. Then she went to find out about something for his head before he left. Finally painkillers arrive and the wheelchair is called. His parents arrive right after the wheel chair thank goodness I couldn't carry everything. So we get him into the car and drive very slowly making no sudden stops or sharp turns by 7pm he is home and on his new makeshift bed in our family room. the kids still won't be home for about an hour so he has a minute of peace after his parents head out and I get everything arranged. We made it before the rain started and the kids had to be home I'm totally amazed. He had a wonderful sign on the door welcoming him home which Dianne made that ws very cool!

So that's it, now we have dr.'s appointments to schedule and prescriptions to get etc. I've threatened him if he doesn't drink all of the things I give him I'll wake him every 5 min since I'm not taking him back to the hospital for dehydration. He's in extreme pain all over his body now so it seems all of the shock has now worn off and he is now feeling the extreme pain of his injuries. Which sucks but I suppose that's part of the healing process. The hamsters have taken up residence in the Living room for now but may have to go upstairs if the noise gets to be too much for Dave to handle. He can't hear them right now since his hearing is still not that good.

I have printed out the emails that were sent last night and this morning but he's been pretty much sleeping since he got home except when I made him drink. He's totally exhausted from all our waiting and waiting though I let him know they were there. So tomorrow I'll give those to him! He'll be thrilled to have them and it will give him something to look forward to.

Wednesday Afternoon Update

So I just got back about 20 min ago. He was doing great today. When I got there Harold was leaving, I'll miss him but he was getting out so that's cool. Dave's Mom was there and so was his lunch. He was waiting for someone to come and help him into the washroom and then he was going to sit down and eat some of the things on the tray. He had half an Italian Ice and some Grape Juice along with some ice water. His eyes look tons better and the swelling in his face has gone done tremendously. He did another walk around the nurses station.

There were some Flowers from the ONV which are Beautiful and very cheery! Along with a Cookie Bouquet of bears frosted like dr's and nurses. Very adorable and all the nurses had to come in and look at it. He was excited to get email from those that sent it he read it and asked me to save it and says THANK YOU to everyone for everything!

So we sat and talked for a couple hours. He keeps apologizing for falling asleep, not talking a lot, that Abbi was a little freaked out last night etc. He's very worried about everyone else. He doesn't remember the accident from the moment he fell on. The Ambulance, ER and ICU he doesn't remember.

There still giving him the anti-biotic and the anti-nausea medication through his IV. It's looking good for tomorrow or maybe Friday at the latest for him to come home.

The girls and I are heading over after homework and dinner so I'll report more this evening!

Wednesday AM

Dave had a good night. Slept peacefully! His temperature is normal. Yesterday I had concerns he was getting a fever. All for now we are heading out for a bit to stock up on linens and pillows for Dave to come home.

Tuesday Update

So I don't think I mentioned that yesterday Dave was removed from the Critical list down to Serious. He didn't even know the nurses apparently only told his parents and I?

Ok so as for today his Mom was there most of the morning with him and he slept a lot. Then I went later in the afternoon after doing insurance/disability stuff. He was very tired but a completely new mood for today. He's back to himself more, he's no longer so irritable which was a side affect of the injury and he's much more willing to do what we say without having to figure out the reverse psychology to get him to do it! Phew thank goodness. He was up walking today with a walker. He went all the way around the nurses station in the center of his floor it's pretty big so that's cool. He also has a washroom now and can get up and go as he pleases plus he gets to wash and brush his teeth whenever he wants now as well. I got him to eat some Italian Ice and about half a cup of water. We talked about the kids and the fact that they were doing a disaster drill. The floor he's on is very loud compared to the ICU everyone is busy. I met his roommate Harold. He's a very nice man and keeps up on all that is going on around the floor with everyone so we have the scoop! Dave did mention that he really can't hear very well and his voice seems a bit weaker today and a little horse which might have something to do with how hot Harold keeps the room. He's figured out how to make it warmer and he does so with abandon! If I missed your call today it's because I had to take my sweatshirt off and couldn't tell when the phone vibrated. Sorry. He kept saying how bad he felt that he kept falling asleep on his Mom and I. He's so much more tired now that he's moving around.

Jen was a lifesaver today one of her friends is married to an ER Dr. at the hospital that owns the one we are at. He also works with Dave's Dr. so he sat down with him and found out what was going on then we talked and he explained things that we didn't understand and also some of my worries for the future. We talked about his irritablity and he explained how that was normal for head trauma. He also told me that the reason Dave won't eat or drink is because the part of his head that tells him he's hungry is broke basically so he's never hungry. Which makes total sense when you say it like that but we didn't know that. Also the same area tells you when your dizzy/nauseous etc. and that is why he has to be on the medication so he's not sick all the time. He also said he would probably come home in the next couple of days as long as he can stay hydrated!

I stayed for a bit then got the kids from school and worked on homework then we went out to dinner before going to see him. We ran into Coach Sharon and Lily and they ate with us at the restaurant which was nice but we got there later than I anticipated and he seemed very upset that we might not come. He was excited to see the girls. He opened up all of his cards and drawings and I put them up on his board. Then he told us what he did while before we got there. I guess the occupational therapist came and they worked on some new things with him. He's learning to wash and move around doing other things which was good. I also explained everything the new Dr. told me and he was very interested to know why he wasn't hungry. He immediately asked for some cranberry juice from the nurse. Well he asked her for the crackers she offered the children but she said no he is still on the clear liquid diet. So he got cranberry juice. He didn't eat/drink anything off of his dinner tray but I think now that he knows his head just isn't telling him he's hungry he will whenever the tray comes. Hopefully crossing my fingers! Abbi was a little timid which seemed to upset him a little and she said it was because she was afraid of the dark(the room is kept dark since the light really hurts his eyes) but she was crying over by me so I think she was a little scared of all the bruising and she didn't want Daddy to know she was crying. Emily teared up but didn't cry until we got in the car and then she cried for a bit on the way home all she could say was she missed Daddy. We stayed for about 40 min the girls answering his questions about school and such and then he started to get really tired so we headed out. He was asleep before we left the room I think.

I did ask him if he wanted people to call him but he said a card or letter would probably be better since he was having such a hard time hearing. So even if you send an email I'll make sure he gets it and reads it or I'll read it for him if his eyes are too sore.

Thanks again for everyone's support and well wishes.

Monday Evening to Tuesday AM

So when I went back after dinner last night Dave was still in ICU waiting for a room but they had gotten him to a sitting position in a chair and to the sink so he could brush his teeth and wash his face a bit. The occupational therapist came in to help show him how to move slowly and get to edge of the bed and such so he could move to a new chair they had put in his room with a high back to support his head. The catheter had been removed and he had drank a swallow of lemonade which was totally awesome and went to the washroom. I was there for about an hour before picking Em up from practice and he didn't' get mad at me once! Well he was sleeping really hard for the first 30 from his big adventure. He seemed relieved to be moving around and was talking even more when he woke up. I discussed taking the girls to seem him maybe Tuesday evening.

I called around midnight to find out how it was going and he had finally been moved to neurology so I spoke with the nurse there. The moving around makes him really really really tired. Dave's mom had called and someone told her he drank some water so that's good.

This morning I called twice once during shift change it was a little confusing then again later. His nurse said he was doing well and sleeping but someone had left the overhead light on for she doesn't know how long which she was sure annoyed him. She turned it off and he went back to sleep. I was hoping he would be awake to talk to the girls this morning but he's exhausted so hopefully tonight I can take them over there after dinner. Plus I'm not sure how talking on the phone will work with the ear injuries? We'll see how he's doing today. I'll update more on one of my trips home from the hospital.

Thanks again for everything!

Using this for Updates for now!

Ok I'm going to use my blog to keep everyone up on what is going on with Dave.

First just in case you didn't get the whole thing.

Dave was painting in the Living Room on Saturday and fell off the ladder from about 18 or so feet up he was right near the ceiling at the very tippy top. The girls were upstairs and I was in the kitchen. He heard a noise and yelled out to me in the kitchen asking if it was the Hamsters then he yelled well Sh** because it was the ladder moving. There was a crash and I was going in there but Emily yelled from upstairs Daddy was bleeding. When I got there he was unconscious and bleeding from the back of the head, his ears and his nose. We called 911 and Emily had to take over the call. I was too freaked and trying to hold back the blood coming out of his head. He did regain consciousness before the paramedics arrived he just kept saying it hurt and trying to get up. They talked to him asked him questions etc. He answered some of them right some he didn't know.

In the Hospital they did a Trauma CT scan (head to toe) and many ex rays on his back and neck. He has a Basilar Skull Fracture(across the back of the skull) an Occipital Fracture(his sinus) and he broke all the bones in both ears including his ear drums. There are to hemotoma's on the brain and some bleeding in the brain.

In Emergency they wouldn't give him water or anything until they were certain about all of his injuries and anyway he was throwing up. So he was pretty angry. After he would ask for water and they told him no he would just tell me he was done and we could go now. Still strapped to the board with that huge neck brace on. He was really mad. Once they were sure nothing else was broken they could take him off the board and the braces off and stitch up the back of his head. At least the bleeding slowed down while he was there.

They admitted him to ICU got him pain medication and anti nausea medication, since every time he moved to much or took the pain medication he got sick. His eyes and face were swollen the eyes were swollen shut and completely black. They looked like black eggs. Very scary.

Sunday he was allowed to have ice chips(he had 4 tiny ones) and seemed to hold some of those down well enough. That evening he ate about a third of a Popsicle. They removed the neck brace and oxygen(which he kept taking off and out himself anyway). He slept a lot in between them checking his neurologicals every hour on the hour. His right ear stopped bleeding early on in the day but the left was still going until that evening it seemed to stop. When he woke up Sunday morning and saw me he informed me he was ready to go home. I told him it would be awhile they had to check him out. Then he thought it would be a great idea for me to get his Mom and bring her over so he could tell her he was ready to go. Later in the day he asked me how long he was going to have to stay and by the end of the day he was asking what he had to do to get out of there. He does talk but it's barely audible you have to be right by his mouth to hear. He is able to answer the Dr.'s and Nurses questions when they ask what day is it etc. One Dr. asked him to whistle which he said he couldn't so the Dr. started to make a note. I told the Dr. he couldn't whistle before the accident so that's not unusual. The swelling in his eyes had gone down but the left ear was swelling up it seemed to go down a bit after the bleeding stopped.

Monday the Dr.(neurologist) came early and ordered another CT scan and unfortunately told him he was going home on Tuesday. Which he informed me as soon as he saw me Monday morning that he was going home tomorrow. This of course is a man still on heart and blood pressure monitors, only being fed by an IV and catheterised. Who hasn't moved from a 30 degree Angle in 2 days now and is getting neurological tests every hour still. So I went to talk to his nurse and she confirmed that yes the Dr.(neurologist) said he could go home on Tuesday. I asked how that was going work and they told me I would just be watching him for any change and call 911 if anything changed. I mulled this over with his parents and mine and friends. About an hour later his case Dr. the one that cared for him in the ER and will follow him throughout the hospital since he was the one that admitted him. I call him Golf Shirt Dr. he likes to wear those. He said that Dave couldn't leave until he could eat on his own use the washroom on his own and sit up and stand up for that matter. Thank goodness I wasn't sure where I was going to put him and keep him at his 30 degree angle and how I was going to transport him home and where the IV would go and and and and. By this time Dave was mad at me yet again since I am preventing him from going home along with making him keep his IV arm straight and just in general there to be mad at. But now I'm really bad so he has to turn his back on me wherever I am in the room. Which is actually good because the nurses don't want him sleeping in one position so as long as I move he moves. Anyway he had his scan and they took him off the heart monitor and removed the blood pressure cuff which was one side of his body free. He was talking a lot better unless he was mad then he pretended he couldn't talk. He only did that to me. Thank goodness. The swelling in his eyes were even better on Monday(we could see the pupil in the right and the left opened to a slit)and the Ear seemed a bit smaller too but they are still watching it. He was told he would have to eat and stop refusing food if he ever intended to get out of there so he did ask for ice chips. They asked if he had a problem eating and he told them his jaw hurt. Which I don't think anyone really considered myself included so his nurse last night suggested doing liquids with a spoon. The CT scan came back still the bleeding but it hand not gotten worse and the blood seemed to be being absorbed back into the brain. So far so good. We still don't know if there will be any brain damage as yet too early to tell.

Ok so this is where I left to pick the girls up from a friends and make them a little dinner before they went somewhere else for a bit while I went back to the hospital. I have to get them up and feed for school so I will come back with more about last night and this morning in a bit.

Thanks for everyone's thoughts and prayers we so appreciate all of the wonderful Family and Friends we have and couldn't get through this without you.

WCMD Painting Challenge

Here is another cool challenge this time for justjoahanna's Odd Bird Planet and Limelight Papercrafts. There are tons more challenges going so you need to go check them out! Can you see the squiggles in the paint? I did add some stickles at the end for some more sparkle!
First I misted the paper with Shimmering mist. Love this stuff! Very cool.
Then I stamped my images that I wanted to build my painted background around.
Here I applied a thick coat of paint to the images and paper.
Now to add texture to my paint I combed through it wiggling as I went along and pushing the paint up to add strands of grass.
Once everything was done I added my leaves and flowers and painted them in with chalk in or paint.

Happy WCMD Doodling Challenge - LinneCards

Lots of World Card Making Day Challenges going on at LinneCards! The challenge here is to completely doodle a card. No templates no stamps just some pens and a ruler. Ok I cheated I added some stickles after the fact but I had to tie in the red didn't I? HA any excuse to use glitter!
American Crafts and Millennium my favorite pens!
Starting with a simple shape!
Keep adding see I draw like a 1st grader! Well that's not true I know 1st graders that draw better than me!
Ok so now it's a mess I know we're going to fix and cover that up!
Here we've started adding lines to cover up all my messiness! And begin to fix any visible errors. I shaded the lines with different size tips. Start with wide spaced lines tip 05 and work down to them very close together and tip 001. As you can see I don't measure anything just started filling in with lines!
Now with my ruler and my 08 tip I build a frame around the card that I can then build more doodling off of.
I go back inside with the 03 tip and the ruler I love the way this looks. After all that is done I just add all kinds of leaves, swirlies and circles to again cover any flaws and or mistakes! (Aren't I sneaky?)
I'll be back later in the day with a painting challenge! Have fun playing today!

Yeah Rah!

She's so totally in her Element!
Look a great formation and almost all rows are straight and most of their heads are down. 1 more week until competition only 4 more formations to look this Awesome! Thanks Dave for getting pics of the Competition Cheer on the field! I never get to see it from a distance!

Current Favorite Layout & It's Getting Chilly!

This layout is my current favorite. I created it for a ScrapPink Challenge over at LinneCards. I adore this photo of Dave and the girls they were on their way to the Daddy Daughter Dance! They were so excited to get dressed up, have their hair done and go for dinner and dancing with Daddy! Anyway we did challenges around songs. Since I'm the mom of 2 little Hannah Montana fans for this one I chose the song "7 Things " by Miley Cyrus. The girlies love to play it loud! Of course the October Afternoon paper is my favorite as well! Sidenote: I have been searching my hard drive for this layout for about 45 min now. I just uploaded a week ago to the website. How on earth did it get lost in some bizzar folder in just a week? GREMLINS!

So things are crazy here. House coming together still! We had cheer 2 nights in a row this week but now we're done until the weekend which is weird to be off so many days in a row. Ahhhhhh no rushing around like a maniac for a few days.

Oooh did I mention I started teaching Kindergym last week. Oh my this is funny! I have 5 little kindergartners in my group. My favorite(besides my own child) has to be Kyle! When I was asking each of them their names he stood up straight stuck his little chin out and very seriously informed me that he was Kyle and this(the girl next to him) was Sam and she was his Girlfriend. Sam just agreed to that(she's about 2 inches taller than him!) and smiled. He cracks me up! Apparently he is a Tiny Mite player, which Dave learned when he took Ab's to a party at Chucky Cheese for a classmate. Dave was wearing a Hawks shirt and Kyle wanted to know if he played for the Hawks too and what team. I supposed Dave could be a Junior Pee Wee or a Midget player. Or maybe he's just on the Unlimited team. HA Anyway I digress back to Kindergym. Oh my their funny we worked on various animal walks. They loved the snake which meant I had to slither along the gym floor! This of course was my least favorite I kept pushing for the Giraffe(far away from the floor)! HA I also learned I suck at Army Navy Mr. Harris' (the Real gym teacher) favorite game! I swear I can't listen well! Ab's however is really good she and one other little boy were the last ones standing! I told Mr. Harris she doesn't listen that well at home! BUSTED.........................

OOH it's getting late YIKES! I'm still trying to get warm since the temps have dropped. I refuse to turn on the heat since it may still get warm again! So now I have to go curl up under the Down Comforter and try to get toasty! Have a great day!