LOAD Day 31: Finished!

This is the last layout to be posted for this challenge. Yahoo! It has been so much fun and I've learned that I really can fit art into my daily schedule if I make it a "must".

It continues to snow and our school district finally closed. The highway opened this morning so Mark left for town to get a few groceries and check in at work. We're not sure how long it will stay open and I hope he'll be back soon. Still no phone service and I have to keep going outside and scraping the satellite dish to get internet service. And thanks Jill for posting to my blog! I was thinking about you this morning and wondering how things were out your way, so it was nice to hear from you!

LOAD Day 30

Can't seem to stay away from these beautiful, warm summer pictures.

An update on the weather for our families. We are snowed in. The highway to town has been closed since 4pm yesterday. It is what they call a "low impact highway" so it probably won't get plowed before the next storm hits tonight. Our neighbors got stuck coming DOWN their driveway yesterday and we blew the transfer case in our plow rig trying to get them out. So our snow plow is dead on the road at the bottom of their driveway. Our phones are still not working and since they haven't fixed them yet, I am not anticipating it happening anytime soon. The wind is howling and it's really quite impressive outside in an arctic sort of way. We're hunkering down and enjoying each other's company. We've got plenty of food and firewood, but when you dig us out in the spring, could someone bring me a latte?

LOAD Day 29

Joining this group and here's my first layout. Stepping out all the way by making an 8.5x11 layout. I usually scrapbook in 12x12, but I'm liking mixing it up a bit.

Strangeness around here. Our phones are not working, so if you're calling me, stop it! The phone rings twice then stops, then rings twice more and stops, and then the answering machine picks up on this end, but no one is there. And we bought minutes for my Trac Phone and put them on via the computer, but they never showed up on my phone. And our main well is not working, so we're a little short on water. And I couldn't get my email last night! Yesterday was significant in the astrological world, as the planet Mercury turns retrograde, which means that it appears to be moving in reverse. This supposedly causes communication and technological problems down here on earth, so that's where I'll place the blame for all this craziness! Love it when things are completely out of my control!!!

LOAD Day 28

Ben's first day of preschool. I've almost run out of pictures doing this challenge. I think it's time to get my camera out this week!

School is 2 hours late starting this morning (again) because of the snow. There's more snow predicted for today and tomorrow and the next day and the next day. I think I'll stop talking about how much snow we have because it's old news by now. Suffice it to say we're all getting a little stir crazy and are kind of tired of being at home looking at each other! I think Claire may even have been a little disappointed that school wasn't on time today.

LOAD Day 27

Enjoying the sunshine on our christmas-tree-cutting excursion.

More snow for us. Did I mention that JCPenney's is having a sale?

LOAD Day 26

One of our snow days a couple of weeks ago.

Thinking about making this. And oatmeal cookies too!

LOAD Day 25

I lifted this layout from Emily Magleby. I've had it in my files for a very long time now and I finally made it yesterday. Love the soft morning light on Ben.

Supposed to warm up and start snowing again. We can't catch a break this winter.

LOAD Day 24

Fourth of July.

Sorry for the really lame photo job.

I'm running late on my posts today. Forces are conspiring against me, namely the kind that stay home from school because they aren't feeling well and then whine all day and fight with their brother. Gotta love them!

LOAD Day 23

A little tribute to my mother-in-law and her husband Paul. She's been visiting the blog each day to check out my LOAD progress, so I thought I'd give her a little eye candy!

Totally slipped my mind that yesterday was post number 100! I have sat down at this computer 100 times, looked out this same window as I'm gathering my thoughts 100 times, sipped my coffee and blabbed about my life and art 100 times. They say it only takes 21 times to make a new habit, so I guess 100 makes me fully addicted by now!

LOAD Day 22

Christmas morning at home.

Only 9 more days to go on this challenge. It has been a great ride and I hope that I will be able to continue to work on my art daily. It seems to have found a nice little place in my routine.

LOAD Day 21

New Christmas pajamas.

LOAD Day 20

Mark and Ben took a boy's trip to the coast last winter and these are some photos Mark snapped on the beach. I sure could use some "beach" about now, but more of the South Pacific variety. It's snowing again. The joke in our family (from my FIL Paul) is that when you say "it's snowing again" you also say "and JCPenney's is having a sale", because they are always having a sale and it seems like it's always snowing, at least this year.

LOAD Day 19

Ben blowing dandelions in Icy Point Strait on our Alaskan vacation last summer.

LOAD Day 18

Two birds with one stone here; one of my layouts for kit club in Lewiston tomorrow.

It's pajama day at school for Ben today. He was so excited last night just knowing he didn't have to get dressed before school today. And it's "bring a pet to school day" for Claire, which means Teddy the hamster and I have a date this afternoon. 4 day weekend for us. Wish we were doing something exciting, but we'll be working around the house, finishing projects and catching up. It's too cold here to even go skiing or play outside much. Gotta love January!

LOAD Day 17

Pics from our family campout at Winchester Lake last summer.

I'm up early and all alone downstairs, which is a treat. I'm usually making cinnamon toast or helping someone find something or putting in DVD's while I'm posting. Ben and I are headed to Spokane for the day with my friend Erin and her son Evan to visit scrapbook stores. And maybe a quick stop at Toys R Us to appease the little ones, who don't really view looking at paper and embellishments as a fun day out. Funny that it sounds like heaven to me!

LOAD Day 16

A little spray paint art in the driveway last summer.

LOAD Day 15

Claire and Ben playing in the sprinklers at the park last summer.

We had an amazing little ice blizzard last night and as a nice bonus schools were running 2 hours late this morning. I heard that over 400 homes were without power in town. Glad to be out here with our nice cozy fire blazing.

LOAD Day 13 and 14

We had an absolutely marvelous time skiing yesterday. It was Ben's first time skiing alone and he was amazing. He has no fear; the fear was all mine as I watched him snow plowing straight down a steep face and crashing into snow drifts. Claire continues to improve her skills and even rode the lift all by herself. It was sunny and the snow was soft and there was lots of smiling and laughing going on. Good day.

Day 13: Ben learning to ride a two-wheeler last summer.

Day 14: A compilation of pics of Claire.

I'm almost half-way through this challenge and I really think I'm going to make it. It's amazing what you can accomplish when you set your mind to it.

LOAD Day 12

Some photos I snapped of Claire when we were out getting our Christmas tree. She really is such a joyful kid and wears her emotions right on her sleeve; you know everything she's feeling.

We're heading out skiing tomorrow. All the snow at our house has melted already, but we're hoping that the mountains will be great. We took the kids out last week on our little hill behind the barn and they both did really well. They're ready for a day on the mountain.

LOAD Day 11

One Little Word: Steps

This layout brings me up to date on the OLW Challenge. I'm even posting it before the deadline! I love this picture of Ben and have been waiting a long time to use it. We were at Wilderness Gateway campground in the late spring of 2006 and the snow melt from the mountains had Boulder Creek raging. I didn't want Ben to go across the bridge without me, but he turned around and stomped off anyway, determination in his steps. It was really the first time he defied me and instead of chasing after him, I decided to let him go and snapped a picture instead. I guess it could be a good metaphor for his life ahead; I don't want him to go because I am scared for him, but he is curious and fearless and goes anyway. And everything turns out o.k.

LOAD Day 10

Erin and me at our scrapbooking retreat last fall.

Had another one of those weird coincidence things earlier this week. I was at the bookstore browsing in the biography section and I noticed that Sarah McLachlan had a book called Building A Mystery. Registered it in my brain, got in my car, started to drive down the highway and guess what? That song came on the radio. I am really starting to pay attention to these little coincidences in my life. Partly because they're just so cool when they happen and partly because I think there's some lesson/gift there about paying attention and being aware of and grateful for all the seemingly insignificant things that happen in our lives everyday.

LOAD Day 9 and SNOW

One Little Word: Hope

This is our front entry this morning.

And here's how Mark spent most of the morning. We decided it's been about 14 years since we've seen this much snow out here. The kids will be staying home today; our school district is the only one within about one hundred miles that insisted on staying open, so we decided they were INSANE and we're keeping our babies home. Mark and I took a little drive to assess the damage, and we could make it out, but with 30 mph winds predicted there's no way we could make it back in. Hot cocoa and sledding today. Maybe a little scrapbooking too!

What are you doing today?

LOAD Day 8

One Little Word: Live

LOAD Day 7

One Little Word: Full

It is snowing and blowing here and the forecast calls for more snowing and blowing, which means lots of drifting for us. I keep looking outside wondering if we really will get to town today. Ben will be so disappointed if he doesn't get to go to school, but he just looked outside and said "What the...?" as he watched a big gust of wind blow snow against our window. I think winter is officially here.

LOAD Day 6

One Little Word: Delight

Claire and Ben playing at the park last summer. Love how they were holding hands coming down the slide. Gotta capture those great little moments before they're fighting and calling each other morons again!

L.O.A.D. Day 4 and Day 5

So far, so good. Since I have a deadline for posting these layouts, I just tell the family that I need to get my work done, and then I scrap guilt-free because, like I said, I have a deadline to meet!

Claire and Ben jumping and bouncing.

One Little Word: Believe
I am/was participating in this challenge, but I've really gotten behind. So I will use this L.O.A.D. challenge to get caught up on this word challenge. I really love the concept of taking a word and seeing what it brings up for me.

L.O.A.D. Day 3

Claire and Ben playing in the mud in the garden last spring.

Good friends coming for a play date this afternoon and I am almost finished moving stuff around. Looking forward to creating Day 4 in my new space tonight.

Happy (Belated) New Year

Our New Year's party was fun, fun, fun. There was lots of snow on the ground, so we were able to sled and even broke out the snowmobile. We rang in the New Year with a bonfire and fireworks, and we ate and ate and ate. The kids practiced ice climbing and target shooting with their BB guns, and Mark even taught the older ones how to drive a stick shift. As Mark so eloquently put it yesterday "My fun meter was pegged out the whole time."

I am participating in the Get a L.O.A.D. of This challenge at Big Picture Scrapbooking. To play, I must complete and post one layout per day to the online gallery during the month of January. I started to panic on the first day, wondering if I would ever be able to do this, but so far so good. I told the family that I would post the layouts on my blog so they could cheer me on.

My Jan 01 layout: calendar page for my studio.

Layout for Jan 02: Ben lovin' on Belle.

Picking up the Christmas pieces around here and getting ready to head back to school and settle into winter. The bathroom is still not complete, and just to make things more complicated, we are moving my studio downstairs to be closer to the family action. Mark just keeps looking at me like I'm insane, but he's onboard as always. Cheers to 2008.