And the Winner Is...

First off a HUGE thank you to each and every one of you that helped to support my sweet Sarah in any way with her Marching Band fees. It's such a true joy and passion for her and I simply love that she has chosen to nurture such an uplifting talent.

Not only is she gifted with music, but she is a blessed and natural leader and I know she will touch the lives of many throughout her journey here on life. Her band is lucky to have her.

So without further adieu, here are the videos as promised.

Enjoy!  Oh and you lucky lil' winner you - If you can please message me your address on Facebook, I'll get your goods off to you!  

It's Fundraising Time

Did you know that keeping a band geek is rather expensive? That being said, it is worth every penny that the Marching Band and band programs cost, as over the years it has helped keep my great girls on a great path, has given them wonderful friends and has given them confidence in ways that nothing else could.

In short. We. Love. Band.

But just because we love it doesn't mean it is free.

Unfortunately (but fortunately because it will be great on her college application), we agreed to let Sarah attend a week long band camp at Brigham Young University which she received a scholarship toward.  We did this anticipating that the balance of her Marching Band fees weren't due until the beginning of July, which would give us one more massive Lasagna fund raising push.

We were wrong.

Surprise! Band fees for this cute Drum Major are due this upcoming weekend, so it's time to get creative and we NEED. YOUR. HELP! (Because—well—what is a band without their leader!)

 

I am hosting a raffle of some pretty awesome scrapbook swag.

 

 

This package includes not only new stuff, but some fun vintage things on top of some scrapbook papers which are very extinct, which were designed by moi!

 

How do you have a chance to win this sweet package?

• $5.00 buys you one ticket
• $10.00 buys you three tickets
• $20.00 buys you EIGHT CHANCES TO WIN!

Want to sweeten the deal?  If we can reach $500.00 (which is what we need to come up with by this weekend), then I will offer a second box of swag. That's like doubling your chances to win!

 

 

While I would adore any help from friends worldwide, this raffle is for US and Canadian residents only.

You can send your payments via PayPal to leekristym@yahoo.com.

Raffle tickets can be purchased until Saturday, June 15th at 11:59 PM MST.

Winner will be recorded via video and posted on my blog on Sunday the 16th.  Who knows, I may even make the band geek play you a song.  She should have to work for this somehow, right?

Please help my girl and spread the word!  :D

My Graduate

Kind of seems crazy that it's already been one week since my lady graduated from High School.  What a trippy feeling for sure, knowing that she's on her way to the rest of her life. At this point I can only hope that I've done the best job that I can do in helping her to find her way and teach her the things that are right, because now she truly is on her way to spreading her wings and exploring life on her own.

It is kind of funny because a few months ago it hit me how I was kind of feeling jipped that Maddi finished school the same year that Matthew finished Kindergarten. It's kind of like my award for surviving the young years with Matthew and having him finally off to school all day were suddenly robbed from me in knowing that now Maddi will be kicking around the home.

But guess what.  I really am kind of excited and will definitely cherish any moments that we have before she ventures off somewhere in the world for her mission. Plus who am I kidding, playing in the marching band at the University of Utah come fall? She will be a busy girl.

This layout was really a struggle for me but I do love how it turned out. It happens to be for the ScrapbookSteals.com Peridot 6 Mid Week Mojo. I know it really looks nothing like the sketch, but it definitely was my starting springboard.

Well hopefully the scrappy binge hasn't ended.  I was definitely struggling with creating this last night.  Perhaps it's time to actually go to bed on time for a night.

Very much looking forward to tomorrow and my "baby's" birthday, as well as my biggie girls coming home from Youth Conference. I sure love them.

Two Beauties

I have to admit. Tracey and I did a pretty darn good job at mixing our DNA on our oldest offspring—Maddi. Not to be confused with Maddison. Because—well—apparently that name is lame.

She looks nothing like our family. However, I know she is ours and wasn't a hospital baby mix up, because she looks JUST like her Grandma Dahl did at the same age. Gorgeous.

Maddi has been our experiment. I suppose most oldest children are. You get your parenting feet wet on a little bundle of blubber that you have NO clue in the world what you are doing with.

Yeah we messed up.

Yeah we did the best we could.

We never, ever stopped loving her, even when she dropped the "son".

But try as we might, a parent can't always be the person that their child needs.

And that is where we are lucky.

In walk Kyrie. A fellow band geek, of almost the same age exactly. Another beautiful young lady that shares a fair share of the amount of quirks that dear Maddi has.

Kyrie is also an oldest child. A parental experiment as well I suppose.

Thanks to the heavens above these two found each other. Through their love of music and marching band these two found that their souls are shared and they truly get each other. The anxiety. The insecurities. The crushes.

I owe a ton to miss Kyrie. There are times where I just get fed up with trying to soothe and console as my mind doesn't "get" the anxiety that Maddi has been dealt with in this life. That's where Kyrie is the comforter that I try so hard to be but just cant be sometimes.

I love her for that. Kind of like an extension of my own children.

To create this layout I used the June 1st sketch at Sketch N Scrap, (where I happen to be the current featured designer ::blush:: ).

 

Here's how mine morphed:

I absolutely LOVE creating. I love that I can take my photos (my other passion) and turn them into history. 

And now when Maddi has grandchildren, they can see what a babe she was at their age.

And now I should give Mr. Lee a huge thank you for a donation to the DNA mix—in a satisfactory manner.

Mid Week Mojo Peridot 5

You know what? I feel like I need to walk around with a little star stuck on my forehead.

Not only is it the 4th official day of summer vacation—no one has found themselves put up for sale yet.

We are doin' good.

Wanna know what else I'm doing good at?

Keeping up with the ScrapbookSteals.Com Mid Week Mojo's. It's pretty impressive as I never did 5 consecutive weeks when I was the Mojo Mama.

Like I said.  Star on the forehead please.

I had such a great time with Melodee's Peridot #5 sketch this week. Of course I had to twist it and tweak it to make it my own, but I adore what came out of it.

This layout just so happens to be about two pretty special ladies in my life. Actually I think they're kinda strange if you want to know the truth. I mean they're clarinet players. Nuff' said. You should see when Sarah busts out the 90 year old smoker woman voice. You pretty much would never see her in the same light again.

Her friend Sydney? Well she's equally as awesome. She's always been there for my girl. She's never hurt her feelings or done stupid girl drama crap. She and Sarah are Simply Stupendous. The Super S's. Yeah. That's what they are.

It's true. I believe these girls will be BFF's forever. They're kind of lucky that they have that amazing bond. 

Now as much as I'd like to get blogging my other weekend creation, I have GOT. TO. GET. MY. CHA. CLASS. DONE!

Oh and there's the poor neglected flowers that I bought last week, that reeeeally need to get into some dirt.  I think I'll do that first! Shhhh. 

My Turn at Kiwi Lane Designs

Did I ever mention how much I love my job at Kiwi Lane Designs? Not only do I get to work with wonderful women who are just good, good people, but I get to manage a team of incredibly talented ladies that are also just good, good people.

Add the fact that I get to work from home in my jammies aaaaand get paid to create a couple of times a month, well, I'm guessing you're just pretty jealous of me. ;)

Today is my turn on the Kiwi Lane blog, to create this weeks DT Doodles sketch. (Play along! Each week there is a chance to win a $25.00 gift code to the Kiwi Lane shop!

Here's the sketch I created:

Here's my take on it:

Of course the fact that we are highlighting My Mind's Eye this month just makes me giddy beyond belief. I love how well their papers work with the layering process of Kiwi Lane Designs. And. Well. They're kind of one of my faves.  

Know what else is one of my faves? My daughter Maddi. She's kind of awesome. And I'm not just saying that.

I think I was equally as thrilled that she was asked to Prom by her buddy Jared, aka Moses, as she was. For literally years she's been begging me for a "Princess Dress".  I'd get random texts from her at school or even during church (tsk, tsk),  stating nothing more than "I want to be a princess". Or, "Can I get a princess dress". 

When she was asked to Prom, her dad and I decided to make it happen.

We shopped and shopped and looked and looked for a dress that would fit into our budget. Here's the clencher. My amazing daughter, who is modest through and through required that it have sleeves.

How great is that? Great except they are NOT EASY TO FIND!

Usually it's the momma telling their child "ummmm....perhaps you should cover up a little more?" "You don't want to torture those poor young men do you?" "GIRL! Get those 'girls' covered!"  (Oh wait. Our DNA pool barely produces "girls", but still....)

I couldn't have been more proud of her.

We decided to go all out and hired a good friend that Tracey uses as the makeup artist for all of their work shoots, MaryAnn aka "Muchacha Mary".  This. Woman. Is. Amazing. 

Not only is she so incredibly talented with what she does, she is yet another good, good person. 

Grab some tissues and read her most recent blog posting about her IVF - 6 vs Mary 0. And while you're at it say a prayer for her as even though she's an incredibly beautiful and STRONG person, her heart has got to be aching that once again, her time to hold her own baby has been delayed. 

Well. There ya have it! My princess, transformed by another princess.

So glad I have this girl and so glad we could make her dream come true. Worth. Every. Penny.

Stop by a little later today for my creations that I made yesterday. I kinda love em.