JustaBlog

The post of the week :)

Okay so hopefully I will post more than once but man it takes a LONG time to do a post with pictures. An hour minimum. I just don't have it these days it seems. So I'm hoping to just post twice a week with life type posts. And business posts? Well you'll just have to endure those whenever I need to do em :) Lots of great pictures to share. And even a few layouts. It's so nice to scrap again. I missed it. And I find I take way more pictures when I am scrapping then when I'm not. Love that. Well.. doesn't  help that I actually HAVE a functioning camera now eh?

Things around here have been great and crazy. I have been designing lots. Need the cashola. But it's quite a blessing to have the option of designing if we need to. I don't enjoy having to sit at the computer instead of more time with the family. Praise God for that! And the adjustment of having a new baby, etc. well.. life is fun and crazy and wonderful and stressful and blessed all at the same time. Gotta love that kind of life. What would life be if it were just mundane and boring? Though to be honest, I like mundane lol! We don't like to really go places. We like to do the same thing everyday. I like getting up and having breakfast and doing chores, and.. I like us always watching some Sci Fi Saturday shows every Sat. I don't know if I think that the kids should be watching scary shark or mosquito shows but Clay and them LOVE IT and Frankie gets SOO excited each week to go check out what's on. Each Saturday is a theme. Sci Fi Saturday. So one week it'll be shark movies, then another ant movies, crocodile, aliens, etc. A marathon of movies each Saturday. They love it. So I love it. Wonder what this Saturday's will be? Fun either way.

Okay I've decided to leave chicken pictures for next blog post. But man there are some cute ones :) I love watching children with animals. They truly make them happy. First a little country living tale. Okay not so much a tale as just something that happened. So the kids came running in screaming. What did they find? A snake skin. Yeah it was definitely one of the cooler things they had found. Even mom thought it was pretty cool! Adric was so funny because he really thought it was a snake. Well he went back and forth between understanding it was a skin and kind of freaking out when he breathed too hard on it and it moved, insisting that it moved and was alive. Cute. Here's the story in pictures. And Cassie at the end telling me about the snake skin and how big it was. A fisherman, well woman, in the making with all that.

It is quite an adventure for the children living here. Makes me happy.

The sweet baby angel is doing great. Boy they grow SO fast. He seems so much older already. It's like he's already losing his little newborn feel in a way. When he was first born he had this little cry when he would get really upset. We'd never heard a baby do it before. It was like a wail, with a voice not a crying sound. And within a week and a half it was gone. Before we got around to recording it. It was gone. He's growing up already. Gotta get a new mic and record his little newborny cry while we still have a chance to do that too.

Cassie LOVES the baby. She's my little helper. She gets me diapers, rocks the bassinet, talks to him and BEGS to hold him any chance she gets. Here's just a couple of the what seems like 100 I took of her. These are just two that make me happy. Sure there are better quality pics, ones that are more like a photographer took them but these, THESE, just make me smile and those are the best pictures of all.

And speaking of pictures that make me happy, these next two truly move me. Both of them move me.

Okay gonna wrap this up but I have a couple layouts to post. It's been amazing to MAKE myself take a little time (which I have very little of) to actually scrap again. It's how all this began in the first place. It makes me sad that so many designers start out loving to scrap. Then they start designing cause that's fun too but suddenly it becomes a business and they don't have or find time to design anymore. I mean it might be easier to have time if they kids left the house to go to school, etc. so it is hard for me to balance the kids, the house, hubby, school, designing and scrapping. But I truly want to leave my children these pages that have words that tell them how I love them and what they were like and how funny and smart and wonderful I thought and think they are. And there is something freeing about doing something creative that you aren't going to get paid for :) So.. the layouts. I'll post two tonight. The first one is one of Clay. Honestly I adore the way it came out. Makes me smile. I did it for the lilypad blog challenge. The challenge was to do a layout with only green, black, white or pink. So I used a kraft BG but I figure that doesn't count does it? I didn't think of it as a color lol! It was like a blank canvas. Either way, I never use this color let alone just green, black and white. And I LOVED IT! I have been itching to start using more bright colors. It's hard though. And I don't have loads of bright stuff. It will take me a long time to build up having hardly any bright stuff. Anyways love this layout. It makes me smile wide.

Full credits can be found HERE

This next one I haven't posted in galleries yet but will tomorrow. It's one for the Hodge Podge blog challenge. I already have the prize lol but it was nice to do something different. I don't EVER read that EVER do challenges, etc. But I want to really get back into scrapping again so I'm going to do a few of my favorite challenges now and then. I love this layout too. Gotta LOVE when you love a layout. Wait til you see the one I'll post in a few days. Adore that one! Gotta wait though. Anyways, the challenge was to let a song inspire you. So You Are So Beautiful To Me is the theme for this one. Boy this child is beautiful inside and out. I'll come back tomorrow and edit to tell the journaling on the layout when I post it in the galleries.

So editing in the journaling and credit link. Full credits HERE.

Journaling says:
Jesus has given you a beauty that comes from your beauty comes from our Lord Jesus' amazing grace shining from within you. don't see your beauty from the outside. you are more
than your body or face. know yourself. know Him. know that you my dear are beautiful inside  & out. your beauty comes from within baby girl. and your within is gorgeous. 

okay off to make Clay's breakfast and GO TO BED. Night all. Or good morning since most will read this in the morning. Hugs.

Holy New Products Batman~!

Okay since it's late and I have to sleep (and sleep is in short supply these days) I'm only going to talk business and leave the personal stuff for tomorrow. I DO have loads of great pictures to show and layouts and stories to tell so I can't wait to blog tomorrow. BUT.. for now.

Okay okay so the new stuff was supposed to go in the store today. But us ladies behind the scenes live real lives and Nancie at SA has a crazy one so the stuff will be in the store tomorrow. SO I will post the previews and the layouts tonight and the stuff will be in the store sometime tomorrow morning. And then I will SLEEEEEP. Zzzzzzzzz

So head on over to scrapartist tomorrow and pick up some of the new goodies!

Night all. Off to take this baby upstairs and GO TO BED.
   

Of of those days

Can I just scream now? So Clay calls, the phone has been shut off. NO we're not late on the bill. This is the second time we've been shut off in what? 2 months? Was the other time our fault? No. Computer error where it said we were for the SECOND time supposed to fax a copy of my driver's license and SS card. Did I do it? Yepper. Had I done it BEFORE they shut us off? Yeah and the guy had NO idea why it said I needed to do it since I already had. I can guarantee you it's going to be something like that this time. So... Clay says call the phone company. But does the cell phone work? No. It keeps breaking up and when it does they are HANGING UP on me. During this attempt at phone calls, Frankie is cleaning the kitchen and while putting away powdered sugar spills it all over the floor. Then proceeds to get the Shark mini vacuum/sweeper thing for our hardwood floors and instead of it picking up smears it all over the entire downstairs floor. Then we spend half an hour looking for the broom that has a designated spot yet somehow someone forgot that last time they used it. Now the baby starts screaming. Can I just mop? No considering that Adric just spilled his whole bowl of popcorn and I need to hand pick those up. Ahh now Adric knock the SAME thing of powdered sugar on the floor again *sploosh* more flying outward. Now why didn't I put it away? Cause there was so much everywhere I chose not to walk across it and track it everywhere. But Adric disobeyed and did that anyways. Then while looking upstairs for the broom, I hear Adric running. So he tracked it everywhere else. Including the green suede recliner.

Can I scream now? Oh no the baby is doing that loud enough for both of us. The sweetie pie pie.

My Weekend Warriors

Oh my goodness! The amount of both applicants and insane talent that flooded my Inbox! Honestly I was floored. It took my hours to look through them all and email everyone. The group I picked for this week I am in love with!!!!! There's some amazing galleries, amazing ladies, and I am just thrilled to get to work with these ladies! So go check out their galleries. Some are super eclectic, some more simple, some have families and pictures that make you smile ear to ear and some just make you smile when you get to glimpse inside their personality.

Congrats ladies :) Click their name to go to their galleries.

Darcy Baldwin (as herself)
Kirsty Benson (KirstyB)
Mandy Koontz (Mandy)
Melissa Lewis (mlewis)
Audrey Neal (aneal)
Edhish Teintang (edhish)
Davita Edmundson (Davita)
Ellen Ytterland (Sprellen)
Holly (h_griego)
Buzzibie
Jesshunt
Katy (Plucky)
AND my always fabulous CT gals
KEELA
NOVITA
SONYA

So go check those ladies out. They rock!! Hmm and I am looking for a fabulous "I wanna be a weekend warrior" blinkie. Have it have my name on it too. IF you're up for making one and it's the one I choose you'll be a weekend warrior that weekend :) Email them to me at kimchristensen@hughes.net

I'll be back later to post some pics and chat more.

More business... but good business

I have other things to blog about BUT real quick while I'm working, I need a few ladies or men lol to scrap for me this weekend. It could be you! And you get all my new stuff to work with!!

And since I will be making an actual big CT call soon, this spot will help me get to know you and your style better before the big call. A way to get your foot in the door a bit :)

Okay so....

This doesn't really tell anything, LOL but here's my Coming Soon ad. I'm never sure if I'm allowed to post say this ad at DST on Wednesday then again on Saturday. Am I??

But it's coming. A lot of new products. And a lot of new products the week after that! Maybe even the week after that depending on how hard I work lol! But my ideas list is LONG and it's fun fun fun to get some stuff done. So keep your eyes and ears out Monday!

As the day begins

Okay not ready for any announcements or anything but just a quick post for myself more than anything. Clay and I both are really wanting to recommit to eating healthier. Granted we eat pretty darn healthy compared to most people. We eat loads of veggies, fruits, and always whole wheat. But it's easy towards the end of a pregnancy as you're super tired, etc. to let things slip. But Clay has started working out most nights a week and I think he's starting to have his body really crave healthier things. He IS the one in our family that buys ice cream, soda, etc. LOL. Though he has gotten addicted to the more expensive all natural sodas and root beer from Wild Oats, so that's better than icky normal soda. Anyways, so he's been telling me that he wants to eat healthier and considering that's something I have always prayed that he embraced on his own, I need to HOP TO IT! Not to mention that nursing I need to remain focused on eating well for this baby doll. So I want to plan my menu for the day right now (I should have done this last night) so I can be prepared when I get hungry and know what I want to eat.

Breakfast (already ate this): a bowl of old fashioned oatmeal (okay okay rolled oats) with a little molasses and a cut up peach YUM! Oh and a glass of nice cold raw milk.

Lunch - Bean salad (kidney beans, garbanzo beans, chopped crunchy veggies - carrots, etc. and some Ranch dressing) Anyone have a tried and true HOMEMADE Ranch recipe? I need one. All this yummy milk we're getting AND the fact that even Clay has expressed concerns over such processed stuff makes me want something the kids love. Anyways, the kids LOVE this. I've taken it to parties and people have no idea how easy it is and there's never ANY left.

Snack - Fuji apple, sliced

Dinner - Curried garbanzo bean and yellow squash (with coconut milk in it) wrapped in whole wheat wraps (those thick yummy ones you can buy at the store)

Dessert - Maybe a little of the homemade vanilla pudding Frankie and I are going to make soon. Homemade pudding is SO easy, the kids love it and it doesn't have all the crap that boxed pudding does. I'll get our recipe later and post it.

Before bed - I told the kids they could have some warm milk with molasses in it. They LOVE molasses. And it's so good for you. Yum. Me? Before bed I AM AM AM going to take my supplements (cod liver oil, liquid calcium, iron, acidophilis)

AND drink lots of water. That reminds me. I haven't had any water today just milk. So Cassie's off to get me a quart jar of water.

We've been so blessed to find a fabulous co-op where we can get raw milk from the local farmers. Raw milk is SO good for you, the great NON homogenized fats are great for your body, the live enzymes not destroyed my pasteurizing make it so digestable. A story :) Adric was horribly allergic to milk. Even as a baby he had horrible colic from my breastmilk and his reaction to his dairy allergy. He had insanley horrible eczema. It was bad. When I cut milk and eggs (he was allergic to eggs to) he cleared up. As he got older, even touching milk to his skin made me break out is a rash. We have an epipen and all that jazz for him. So we started him on kefir. The probiotics helped his body deal with a lot of the allergy and he could even have milk in his cereal. BUT when he does have normal homogenized pasteurized milk he gets horrible allergy shiners (dark dark circles under his eyes). BUt when he drinks his yummy raw milk he drinks at least 3 cups a day and never has any eye circles. He feels great. What a difference. Anyways, there are often places to get raw milk close by in all areas of the country. Check out www.realmilk.com

Okay off to finish up some other stuff. And chores, laundry, etc. :)

Chickens and business, what a pair

Well I was thinking I was going to do a big long post but the baby's waking up, it's past my bedtime, I forgot to make Clay's lunch and breakfast for tomorrow, etc. Lovely. So I'm going to breeze through this, post pictures and run.

Let's get business out of the way since I'm not really saying much of anything. I have a few quick things:
I am going to be having a huge "Back From Maternity Leave" release on what we think is going to be Monday with loads and loads of products. Second, I'm going to need some ladies to work with the new stuff BEFORE Monday so I'll be putting out a mini CT for a week call later tomorrow or Wednesday. So wait for that! And third, I'm going to need some help with some things as I get adjusted to life with baby so you may be seeing an actual CT call going out as well soon. So... lots of " there's cool things coming so wait" but no real announcements or Ads today. I might do a sneak peek of the new stuff tomorrow though!!

First before everything else, here's a pic of the little Garrison dude just because who can go a day without seeing his cute mug?

Isn't he sweet? :)

So onto country living. So we have a growing flock of chickens and guineas now. I love having them around. Just sooo much fun. And the children love it. It will be such a thrill for them when we start getting eggs. And hopefully Frankie, who has decided that he doesn't like eggs (though he still has to eat them lol), might start liking them when they come from our own chickens. But I'm figuring that we won't get any eggs until at least Christmastime.

First let's look at the chicken coop and the residents thereof.

This coop. The next driveway over from us is a sawmill. So Clay went and got a super cheap SUPER cheap bundle of fresh cut oak. He spent hours and hours for a couple, or maybe a few, weekends making this. That oak is really heavy so it wasn't an easy task. But he was really proud of it :) So we decide that we need to move it over to where we are going to eventually build the big chicken coop. Now remember how heavy that I said that oak was? So we chain it up to the van and are just going to drag it. I mean normally a chicken tractor that size isn't that heavy. But this? It was insanely heavy. So of course the fabulous chicken coop Clay was so proud of, decided to dig itself into the dirt as we dragged due to the weight and start to just rip itself apart. It was BAD. Clay was so upset. He has worked SO hard on it and was so proud and this thing was wanting to just fall apart it was so messed up. He was ready to just get rid of it. Thankfully his sweet wife told him that he could fix it, not to give up, and pushed him forward. So he fixed it the best he could and this coop was what was left after. I still think it's pretty great and it has served us well. The chickens like it :) Note: the rocks on top are holding down plastic on the roof until we can get some rolled roofing and finish it :)

Okay so the players in this play:

The White Rocks. So.. shortly after we moved here I was really really longing for chickens. I missed having them badly. And they eat ticks yunno!! So Clay goes to this garage sale and they're selling chickens. So he comes and gets me to go look. Those poor chicks were all crammed badly in this cage, were missing loads of feathers from picking at each other, etc. They didn't look healthy at all. But I didn't have any other chickens so I got some. I mean there weren't any other chickens to get sick should they be that unhealthy. So we got three little hens and a rooster. They spent a while living in a dog carrier on the front porch. They got their feathers back and were perfectly healthy. Though one day months later the rooster (who by then was quite big) dropped dead out of nowhere. That was a shocker for the kids, but something they need to learn to deal with. Anyways, so here are the white hens:

Not too long after getting the white chickens I got some baby guineas (called keets) at a feed store and brought those home. They were day olds pretty much and tiny tiny. They lived upstairs in the warm bathroom in a big box for a while until they were big enough to go outside in another dog carrier. It sure was fun hearing their little cheeps from the bed at night though when they were inside :) So they moved outside. There were 6 little guineas. Now the holes in the dog carrier were easily the same size as chicken wire and perhaps smaller. One would think they'd be safe in there but.... One morning Frankie was upstairs with me in bed and I could hear the guineas crying loudly. So I sent him to check on them. Then I hear screaming. "A snake, a snake, it's killed some of our guineas!!!" So I run downstairs and low and behold there is a small chicken snake in the back of the dog carrier, three guineas in the front screaming and one dead one that he was too full to eat just lying there. So we take out the guineas of course, I call Clay, he tells me how to open the gun safe and I get the 22. The small snake is so full on our 2 guineas that it can't move. I shot it inside the dog carrier (making a hole out the back side of it but.. who wants to have to take the snake OUT then shoot it???). What an introduction to life in the country that was. Cassie cried and cried and cried. So I told her we'd get some more guineas soon, and we did before long. Here's the three remaining guineas from the first "snake batch"

When we got the new baby guineas that came along to replace the dead ones, I also ordered a batch of Buff Orpington chicks because they're pretty good egg layers but really super gentle by nature. When we got them (when we had NO camera argh) they were perfect little Easter looking fluffy chicks. We got 9 hens and one rooster. They're getting bigger but still only the size of a dove or smaller now. Here's what they look like now:

So Adric is just obsessed with these yellow chicks. They let him catch them and he spends most of the day out there messing with them. We're trying to stop it though lol! One day I came out shortly after Frankie had fed and this is what I found:

And here's one of the obsessed little chicken boy. That chick doesn't look too happy does it??

Frankie has become the chicken guy. It's his job to feed and water the chickens everyday and he helps me when I need anything for the chickens, getting them all in the coop at night, etc. He is great at catching them, etc. I am very proud of him. Hopefully we'll get some good chickens in the next year or so and he can start showing them through 4-H or whatnot. Doesn't he already look like he should show chickens? He's all proud and confident :)

Okay well the baby fell back asleep and this ended up growing long. Though know it's an hour later, I did have Cassie set up Clay's coffee but I haven't done any food for him for tomorrow. And I am TIRED!! Thank the Lord my mom ironed all his shirts for the whole week for me. Yay mom!

Night people. Keep your eyes out for some fabulous calls, goodies, announcements, etc.
Peace out.

Garrison Paul Christensen was born.....

Friday July 27th at 2:45 AM. He's officially a week old now! He's hands down the sweetest little dude in the world. The labor was long, he was a giant, he had his head tilted back, chin up, making it longer and harder, and he was born around 26 hours after I went into labor. What a guy eh? He was named after Clay's grandfather, whose last name is Garrison and Clay's father whose name is Paul. Not sure what his nickname will be. My uncle's name is Gary so we're not going that route, maybe Garris? He really is the best baby. Eats like a champ, doesn't fuss unless there's a reason, nurses and falls right back to sleep during the night. Just a good baby. His hair is a different color from all the other babies. It's like a golden blond. Not reddish like Adric's, not light brownish like Frank and Cass's, but like a golden color, really shiny. And he's got big ole cheeks too. Love that. So without further adieu, here's a couple pics of the sweetie pie:

Thanks to Katie at designer digitals for the frames on the pictures.

So I'm biased but he is cute eh? lol! At first we didn't think he looked much like the other children but in the last few days he's really starting to look like them.

It's funny how children don't really "get" what babies are going to be like. None of the children did. They all had these ideas of what the baby was going to be like. Adric would constantly talk about how the baby was going to play PowerRangers with him. And when we got home from the hospital, the first day Cassie says "I'll watch him for you Mom if you want to rest (what a sweetie huh?) I won't let him crawl off the porch or anything" HEHE. Crawl off the porch? So we explained that he um.. can't crawl let alone be on the porch. Funny how kids are. But they've adjusted quickly to him being here. Cassie keeps telling me that it's hard work taking care of a baby. At least SOMEONE gets it :) Adric's funny cause he sings the ABCs and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to the baby whenever he starts to cry. I think it's because I used to have him sing to my belly every day and he would always sing the ABCs. The interesting thing is that the baby actually does stop crying while he sings. I suppose if you heard the same song for months it would be a comfort when you're out of the belly. Cassie's gotten good at rocking the bassinet.

Oh the bassinet. Man have we scored on some stuff while my mom has been here. First we found an awesome Peg Perego (expensive!!) stroller with the carseat that snaps in for SOOO cheap. And if you know me, the country girl in the small house in the woods, cheap is cheap. It was brand new basically. And I think it was the day before the baby came, we went to a consignment store and found a Peg Perego stroller that folds flat and is a bassinet with zippered sides, etc. It rocks. With all my other babies I used a bassinet stroller. I put the babies in there whenever they fall asleep and then you can roll them around the house when you change rooms, etc. I don't know what I would have done if the Lord hadn't brought us that bassinet stroller. I can't imagine living without it now. Where would I have put that baby when he fell asleep? lol. Anyways, it was super cheap then was like 30% off for their sale. We laugh because I never have super nice things, and suddenly we have a Peg Perego everything. Holy Cow! I just looked and the carriage/stroller is $479 retail~!! We paid $65 and it's brand now. We paid $60 for the carseat and stroller and the carseat alone is almost $200 so I bet that's close to $400 too! WOW. Paid around $130 for $800 worth of stuff. Crazy! Good on my mom for even knowing what Peg Perego brand was (I didn't lol) and snatching that stuff up. Fun!

I finally got a new one of these:

Thank the LORD! The Canon has been out of commission for months now. We have been using my mom's little old digital camera which takes so-so pictures. But it was all we had when Garrison was born. And yesterday morning I took it out to take a picture, Frankie bumped me, it fell and well... broke. So here we were with my mom visiting, a brand new baby and NO camera! So I decided that whether we are almost totally broke or not LOL Clay needed to go to the store and pick up one of these bad boys. Of course I started calling around and no one had one. Lovely. The last store I called, which happened to be across the street from Clay's work (one would think that would be the first one I'd call eh? Nope, not me) anyways it had just gotten ONE in that day and he would hold it. So thankfully I just today could start taking some good pics. Boy a good camera makes all the difference. I sure wish I wasn't having problems getting into the Lilypad so I could buy a few good Lauren Barden actions for these photos. Good ole enabling Gina has me convinced that I NEED some.

Quickly before we get any further, just because, here's another pic of the cutie patootie.

Such a little serious face huh? He's so funny! I think babies are just the funniest little people on the planet. They crack me up.

I have lots of design stuff to talk about but I'll skip that for tonight. Before I go, I'm going to privilege you to be a witness of a miracle!! What you ask? Well...... I actually........ scrapped a layout. EEK! Who would have imagined that I actually scrap anymore?? I miss it so. It seems that there is just never enough time and if I am going to be on the computer I end up designing. It's hard when you need the money to take time away from designing. But I am making it a priority. Why oh why even do all this at all if I can't preserve memories for my family? Or do something creative just for kicks, without any pressure to make it marketable, etc.? SO.. I scrapped. Layout first, story about it after. K?

No credits yet as A, I don't feel like waiting for this slow computer to open the PSD of this LO that has the credits on it, and B, I have some gallery catching up to do before this one will go in my gallery. But soon....

Anyways, I never feel beautiful when I'm pregnant. Well not until this time. This picture, having to scrap this layout, made me face the fact that for the first time I felt glowing, I felt the beauty that having a little lfe that you just adore with your soul, growing inside of you, brings. And at the end of the LO I thank the little Garrison dude for being the vessel for the change that happened in me. If you're pregnant, feel beautiful.

Okay, off to finish cleaning the kitchen and going to bed. Well cleaning the kitchen, taking a bath, then nursing the baby, then going to bed.  Ack it's already 10 o'clock.

Oh and on a side note, (man this is getting LONG) for a while I worked on and planned seperating the blogs into three blogs. I have my homeschooling one and then was doing the homesteading one. In the end, it's just too much. And I kept finding that I wanted to put the same things on some of the blogs. I had friends reading this blog, family members reading the homeschooling blog and I wanted to tell stories to both. It is a chore. So everything is going to be here. So I will be talking about chickens and gardens, homeschooling, scrapbooking, putting work previews here, telling stories about the children and just being myself in all the ways that I am me, here. So yay look forward to some chicken pictures in the next few days :)

A big thanks to some like Kirsty, Sonya and CD who were always thinking of me, praying for me and wondering how I was doing. Love you guys!