What I Designed Today: Organic Food Book Layout & Book Cover Design

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I picked up a new client from California and was asked to help out on the interior and the cover. They pretty much had everything already how they wanted it, they just needed someone to professionally lay it out in the correct software. It was a fun (if long!) job and it seems I made a new friend along the way. I love when I have nice clients who respect my time and efforts. It makes for a win/win all the way around. Now, back to unpacking boxes for a few more days — all in an effort to avoid the boys’ clothes closet, I can assure you.

Headed Home!

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We’re headed to Oklahoma – and we’re calling it HOME. That’s a major milestone. We never did call Texas “home” though we loved the people there. It just never felt like home. I can’t wait to see my hubby again and the next 4 days until we close on our new home are going to seemingly be the longest of my life, I am sure. I hope to have some great home pics to share with you relatively soon (we have lots of furniture buying to do to replace what we sold in Houston). In the meantime, check out these great house pictures I’ve found at www.houzz.com. Lovely site for browsing the night away — much more fun than television, anyway.

We’ve Made An Offer

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We’ve made an offer and it has been accepted – I think all docs have been signed until closing which isn’t until June 30th. I’m going to head to Omaha for a month after the kiddos are out of school while Don works his heart out here in Bartlesville. These next six weeks cannot pass quickly enough! I am so in love with this home — I’ve finally found everything I’ve ever asked for in a home: white trim, ranch, 4 bedrooms, farm sink, gas range, patio, good sized yard, fence, sprinkler system, all brick construction. Sigh. It will help justify the price tag. We hope this is our forever home. We really, really love this town.

Happy Mother’s Day & House Hunting

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Happy Mother’s Day to all! These flowers are from the crochet-a-long on Ravelry, pattern created by Claudia “delights“. Her blog posts many colorful versions – what a great idea!

I have a few extra minutes to write today because the boys went to visit the Skiatook Branch of the church we belong to today without me. I missed the children singing to their mothers! …but, on the flip side, I have a few extra QUIET minutes to write. We have been house hunting for 2 and a half weeks. I have mixed emotions. We’ve run the gamut: downsizing, acreage, old home, new home, in Bartlesville, in Skiatook, etc. We have some important decisions to make — there are pros and cons to each choice and combination of choices. The kids are begging for an acreage but the best one we’ve found has a FANTASTIC acreage but a really, really old ranch house that would need to be entirely redone. We found a fantastic house on an acre but no livestock (I want chickens!). We’ve found a fantastic new home in town with a large yard and also another, downsized fantastic new-ish home in town that would have little resale value (it’s the only newish home in the neighborhood). Lots and lots of decisions to make. I’m grateful to be able to make these decisions: thankful for my kiddos, for my husband’s job and for being blessed with the world’s greatest mother.

The Last Hurrah – Aunt Lili Visits Houston

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My sister Lili flew in on late Thursday afternoon and we went to Mega Mel’s Cafe in Tomball and then to the boys’ favorite tire park (Jerry Matheson park, also in Tomball). We are going to miss those places. I heart Tomball. If we ever have to move back to Houston, that is where we would go! Then, Friday, we got up early and drove to San Antonio and went to Six Flags for the day and wore everyone out. Saturday we drove to Kemah Boardwalk for the Crawfish Festival with Zydeco music and, no, I did not eat any crawfish. We went to one of the best restaurants for my birthday that I have ever eaten at: Saltgrass Steakhouse. It was very yummy and I only had the steak salad! Sunday we went to church and then looked for dolphins as we took the ferry across Galveston to the Bolivar Peninsula and spent the day at Crystal Beach. It was a wild ride (with lots of time in the car!) but we had such a great time with Lili here to celebrate my birthday. When we dropped her back off at the airport on Monday, I think it felt like she had just arrived — what a whirlwind tour. It was nice to have a visitor before we leave for Oklahoma.

Big News! Moving to Bartlesville, Oklahoma

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We are excited to move to Bartlesville, Oklahoma.  It sounds like the area is right up our alley (tornado alley, that is) and really our speed.  We love smaller towns and are so excited to be closer to Omaha.  ConocoPhillips (yes, I believe it’s all one word) moved fast and hired Don very quickly.  He’s really looking forward to working with his new boss and team – they sound like great people to work with.  It will be a big change after thirteen years at Hewlett Packard but change is good and I know this move will be really good for him.  I’m worried a bit that the move has something to do with Bartlesville being the home of the largest Colt museum in the world…it sounds like Oklahoma is an outdoor paradise for hunting, fishing, and shooting.  Don + Oklahoma + a Cabela’s catalog = a midlife crisis I can live with!!!

What I Designed Today: Graphics for Educational Systems

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I’ve been busy with some recent design work. It’s for kids so it’s relatively fun and kid graphics are so much easier! The teen segment, however…a little more difficult. Take a look at a few of these babies. I am not sure how they are being used, exactly, but once they’re outta my hands I don’t really care (unless, of course, it’s MY end project and I have a vested interest)!

Happy Birthday Gabe

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So today Gabe is ten (ten!) and in just a few days, Ben will be five. These are milestone years. It seems like Gabe was just the blue eyed kid eating chocolate (above) or the chubbo getting a bath in the sink (above). When Cole turned ten, I cried while he was at school thinking how quickly the time was flying by. Now that it’s Gabe, I can’t promise I’ll cry but I am equally — if not more — stunned at the speed of the years. I feel like Gabe is still just entering the nursery at church! He was such a cute baby and has grown into the cutest young man.

Brazos Bend State Park (The Alligator Park)

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I think I’m going to love the new church schedule. Ahhh….Sunday afternoons spent the way they should be – with family, friends and in the outdoors! We had a nice time yesterday with the Carrs (friends from church) and their kiddos. We only saw one alligator and he was in the water which was different from our last visit when they were along the paths so you had to double back instead of crossing over them! It was a nice, sunny day. I am thankful for this beautiful world. It is good to be outside.

Cute Etsy Bows

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A very good friend from my Utah days recommended her daughter’s etsy shop HUGSANDWICH for hair bows so I’m passing the word along. I do not have any girls that need hair bows but I wish that I did!!! If this girl is half as talented as her mama, they have got to be fantastic bows. Genius runs in the family.

Knit & Crochet: Pink Camo Edged Angel Fleece Blanket

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Knitted for Anna Prathipati’s baby girl coming in a couple of weeks. I missed the baby shower today but hope that I can still get it to her in time. I actually started a knitted dress but it is taking hours on end so I had to go back and get this white knitted blanket I had originally started for one (okay, two) of Don’s sisters and never actually got around to finishing. I decided to give it a pink crocheted camo edge and it is really, really cute. I made it at least 1 1/2 years ago and added the edge this morning. I love the Angel Fleece yarn – so soft but I must admit I still prefer wool as a natural fiber but you can’t beat the washability of something like this for babies! Here’s a link to the Ravelry page (be sure to favorite it if you like it!) and here is a link to the photos directly on our flickr account.

Cole Turns 15

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Sigh. He’s 15. We should be getting a learner’s permit, right? He’s got some catching up to do in scouts for that to happen. He’ll do it – he’s a self-motivated kid and we don’t push like some scout parents. I wish we could have given him a bigger celebration this year because he means the world to us but finances are tight and the poor kid didn’t get anything at all present-wise from us though his grandparents on both sides came through. He does know we love him and I offered to make him his favorite dinner but he couldn’t commit to one so we had Taco Bell. He did get the traditional family chocolate cake. He is the best kid we could have ever asked for! I wouldn’t even trade him for a girl. He’s always been a good kid and here’s to hoping it lasts at least through the rest of the teenage years (one can hope, right?). So anyway, here’s a very public birthday note for Cole: We love you, Cole! You make us proud in every single thing you do. You are a great big brother. You are a smart, capable, responsible young man and you surprise us almost every day with your intelligence and witty humor. We will forgive you the antics on early morning seminary drives (that would be your antics, not ours). Love, Mom & Dad

What I Designed Today: Dorothy Keddington’s Book Cover – Finally Done!

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I haven’t worked on a book cover for a little while and I’m really enjoying working again. Good thing since I’ve been burned out for nearly a decade. Just kidding – it just has felt like that with four kids and fourteen years. Since my kids are aged 4 to 14 I guess I did have one full decade there, didn’t I?! Well, back to some creative endeavors. This book cover has only been in the works for almost a year… I finally read the book and it’s a fantastic, quick read.

Christmas Dinosaurs & Homemade Kool-Aid Play Dough

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I heart homemade playdough. Ben had gotten new Play-Dough of the store variety for Christmas but since we shipped the stuff from Omaha, and it has not yet arrived, I resorted to a tried and true kool-aid play dough recipe that is easy, cheap, and fantastic.

Kool-Aid Play Dough Recipe

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup salt
3 T oil
2 packets of kool aid powder (we used another brand)
glitter – optional
additional coloring such as Wilton’s – optional

Mix dry ingredients with a whisk. Add oil and blend. Pour 2 cups boiling water over all and mix. After it’s cooled, the child can help mix the dough. I mix it and then spread it out on our metal top table and finish mixing it so it cools faster.

Enjoy! I love how Ben always makes his a dinosaur land. He simply can’t conceive of anything else he’s so into dinosaurs.

The Texas Renaissance Festival

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Our first time at the Ren Fest was FANTASTIC! We loved it. The place is huge, the entertainment is vast and varied, and each of the kids found something interesting to make it a great night. Gabe loved the dragon items, Jack enjoyed the jousting, and Cole claims to have enjoyed just being with his family (cough, cough, I think he liked the belly dancers best). I highly recommend the place for lots of entertainment. We are glad it was a relatively colder day so that many of the girls were more covered up than usual, probably!