Well, I have been quite busy lately with this humanitarian project I have taken on. I am pleased with how things are going, but could still use some donations. If you haven't helped me then I hope it is because you have helped in other ways.

I took a trip to St. George and had a great time. My sister came up and we hung out for a couple days. (Sorry Kelly, I'm such a slacker loser and didn't email you back.)

We went to a duck pond by my in-laws house and the kids had a great time feeding them and chucking rocks into the water.

This is my first time uploading vidoes, so I hope this works.

Pendants and Photo Mattes

I had an idea that maybe some of you would be interested in. From now until March 13th, any pendants or photo mattes bought from my shop will have 50% of the proceeds donated to my Haiti Relief Fund. The other 50% will go towards my costs of the pendant/matte and shipping of the pendant/matte to you. So free shipping too! Come on people, can't beat that! Get something totally awesome and help people too! Pendants are $5 each (chain not included), Photo mattes are $10 for and 8x10 and $15 for an 11x14.

Please visit my store for ordering information: Kristal's Digital Creations

Haiti Relief Effort!! You Can Help!!

I have felt so much sadness over this disaster in Haiti along with other disasters that happen all over the world. I always want to help but never end up doing anything unless it is through a church service project.

Well this time I'm not going to sit idly by and just pray that they get some relief over there. I actually want to be proactive. This is where all you bloggers out there come in! I am going to be putting together some hygiene kits and quilts and really need some donations of either items for the kits or money to buy items. I have a button on my side bar that you can donate money (even just a couple dollars) if you don't have time to get the items and send them to me.

Below is a list of the things needed for the hygiene kits and things needed for the quilts. You can send finished kits/quilts or various items in any amounts. d I want to be able to take these items to the LDS Humanitarian Service Center (where they will ship these items for us) by March 13. My goal is 20 quilts and 200 hygiene kits. I don't want to put my address on here but you can email me for my address. joykristal at gmail dot com

Please refer to THIS link for more instructions on the quilts and humanitarian aid kits.

QUILTS

• Material (cotton, cotton/poly blend, or flannel)


• 6-8oz bonded batting

COMPLETED HYGIENE KIT INCLUDES:

• Gallon size ziplock bag


• 2 unbreakable combs without sharp handles


• 4 toothbrushes (in an unopened package)


• 1 tube of toothpaste (6-8oz, no pumps)


• 2 bars of soap (3.5-5oz each)


• 2 hand towels (approx. 15x25 inches)


• (dish towels and washcloths not acceptable)

Please link this on your blog, facebook, whatever. Tell your friends, family, co-workers, make it a party! Lets spread the word! You can make a difference!

My first scrapbook page in who knows how long! Kind of feels good to get back into it.

Christmas and New Year happenings

I needed a change with my hair and so my neighbor chopped it off and also cut Regan's. I LOVE it!! Afterward, the girls wanted some pictures taken with our new doo's so we got our silly on. What cute kids I have.

We had some pictures taken on Sunday. I made these skirts for the girls for Christmas and I loved them so much that I had to make me one.

Sophie loves her 'bootiful' dress.

The girls kept running in circles chasing eachother.

I made this quilt for Jason for Christmas. It is a twin size and a big thanks to my mom for helping me to get it done. I must say that I LOVE it. I love the colors. I love the wonky blocks. I love the quilting And I love the fabric.

This is the back of the quilt. I love it as much as the front. I did mini wonky blocks to kind of tie in with the front.

I had an old sweater that didn't fit anymore, so I took it apart and made it into a sweater dress for Sophie.

But she doesn't like it because it doesn't twirl. She is trying to check it's twirliness in this picture.

My mother-in-law has a bunch of trico and flannel fabric and I got bored after Christmas and made this in my spare time. Regan fell in love with it. Just a nice cuddle blanket.

I made four of these Christmas runners and can't wait to use one of them next year.

I really like the loopy quilting on it. Kind of makes it a little whimsical.

Reasons to Smile

The things my girls do and say regularly make me smile. So I thought I would share them with you and hopefully they will make you smile too.

• Regan loves to dress as silly as possible. Such as putting gloves on her feet and saying she has monkey feet. One day she put on a shirt with one arm in the sleeve and the other out of the neck like a toga. She said she was like Hercules.

• Sophie got out of the bathtub and I told her to get daddy to help her get dressed. Jason was in the computer room with the door closed so she knocked on it and said, "Mr. Griii-iiinch! Are you in there?" She likes that movie. Mary Poppins is her favorite movie and wants to watch it daily.

• My mom was playing with Regan and Regan put a play construction hat on her head and called her Handy Manny. My mom doesn't know that is a Disney Channel show and said, "Well are you Silly Dilly?" Regan, who frequently likes to de-robe herself and was infact clothing-less from the waist down, said, "No. I'm Naked Bummy!" Hahaha, that girl keeps me in stitches.

• Sophie is so wild and crazy she belongs in a circus. She is so physically active and is like a little tom boy. She reminds me alot of my sister, Kandra. She is athletic and skilled physically, but loves to be prissy and dressed up. Everyday she has to wear the "twirliest" dresses she has. Even over her clothes if she has to. She loves to twirl. If the dress doesn't twirl enough for her liking she won't wear it. She has even refused to take them off for bed time and wears them over her pajamas. She wants to wear her "beautiful dress" all day long. Even now in the snowy winter. She lalso loves to wear my lip gloss and have her hair look cute. Regan on the other hand hates to wear dresses and have her hair done.

• I have frequently talked about Regan and her awesome singing ability. She continues to amaze me with the songs she learns, makes up, and remembers. Her new favorite songs to sing are from Mama Mia (which happens to be her favorite movie (and I'm not sure how I feel about that)). I love to sing those songs and ones day she started singing along with me. She can belt out those songs so well and I love hearing her. I'll have to try and post a video of it so you can hear it.

• If you call Sophie anything from cutie to monkey, she says, "No, I'm just Ella Joy." Ella is her middle name.
  
  
• Yesterday I went into the girls room it was torn to pieces. I exclaimed that it was a disaster. My ever curious and questioning Regan asked what that meant and I told her that is was a big, huge mess. We cleaned it up and little while later she comes to me yelling that there was a disaster in her room. Me: What?!? We just cleaned your room! Regan: Come see!! There is disaster in my room!! Regan is scared of the green light on the fire alarm so we covered it up with paper. When I get into the room she yells and points at the alarm calling it a disaster because the paper had uncovered the green light.

• The girls were watching 101 Dalmations with Jason. Jason said, "Do we have dogs?" Regan replied, "No," then thoughfully, "but we do have a monkey. Sophie's a monkey."

Well, with the pregnancy over, the desire to craft has come back. I haven't done anything for Christmas from being so tired and sick and needed to catch up, so I have been crafting up a storm. My mom helped me while she was here and I am happy to report that all the presents I am giving this year are homeade and I am getting close to finishing. I'm not doing a ton of presents, but what I am doing are pretty hefty projects. I can't wait to post them after Christmas is done.

These are pictures my mom took in August when we were in Az visiting.

Thankful

I have so much on my mind but don't know what to say. The last two weeks have revealed so many blessings to me that I knew I had, but just didn't appreciate as much as I should. While my heart is still broken, I feel so much peace in my relationship with my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. The other miscarriages left me angry, bitter, and questioning why, why, why. But I wouldn't trade those experiences as hard as they were, because it has left me with stronger faith in Heavenly Father. I know he loves me and is aware of my struggles. I may be sad now but I know he sees the bigger picture and knows what he is doing. There is great comfort in that knowledge. The blessing of friends and especially family has been brought before me and I feel so blessed to have such wonderful people in my life. My mother-in-law came up here the day we found out and stayed with us for a whole week. I was still so sick and throwing up everything until I had my D/C that Friday. She took care of the girls and took so much weight off of my and Jason's shoulders. Then my mom came up here this past week while I was recovering and is has been so great to have her here.

The biggest blessing I have recognized has been my girls. I am so glad to have them. They are the sweetest and most special things in my life. Regan is like Tender-Heart Bear. She is so aware of people and sensitive to things that happen around her. I had the girls with me in the ultrasound room because Jason was at school and I didn't think there would be anything to worry about. When the doctor said that there was no heart beat Regan wanted me to explain to her what was happening. As I did, I started bawling. She grabbed a ton of tissues and started hugging me saying over and over, "It's alright mama. I'm here. I'll help you feel better." Sophie was there giving me hugs too. Sophie is like Fun-Shine Bear. She just bounces off the walls and her cheesy smile can make me smile anytime.

Right now I just feel so much gratitude. Thank you for your kind words and prayers. I have felt them. I'm going to start posting more upbeat posts now because I don't want you to get sick of my sad posts. I hope you all are having a wonderful Christmas season so far!

I Hate This Part

I hate having to say it out loud...to even type it out loud......sending it out there to the universe, because once it is out there the bad dream is no longer a bad dream. You know that it is not something crazy you just invented. It becomes real. Maybe it really is a bad dream right now. Maybe I'm having an out of body experience. But I know once I type those words and press send that it will become reality. My baby died. There I said it. It really is happening for the 4th time. I can't believe it. I was so positive about this one. I really felt things were going to work out this time.

Well, now I can craft again. Now my feet will quit being cold. Now I will hopefully stop throwing up. Now I will gain some energy back. But even these feeble attempts at making myself feel better doesn't make me feel better. I really wanted that baby. I could really see myself hauling three kids around. You'd think it would get easier after having delt with it 3 other times. I'm not really trying to fish for sympathy right now....I hate to make this kind of stuff public, but I guess I did need to print a retraction from my last blog post. It's like telling people you are going to be the main part in a production and then when you've got everyone's attention you pee your pants and fall on your face when trying to run away. I hate that. I just needed to get my thoughts out of my head before I go mad. It still feels sort of surreal. This day threw me a curve ball and I got blind-sided by it. Sorry to have posted the last post and then this one.

It is sad...

....that to lose 18 pounds I have to get pregnant. That's right. Got a little Jason Jr. in the oven. I'm 10 weeks along and pretty excited in a sadistic kind of way I guess. Maybe pchologically I really like the torture my girls put me through. Good thing they are cute ;) No really, I'm excited.
So there has been no posting because all I really had energy to do was get my girls food and throw up. No crafts to post, well exept for 2 fixed up shirts and 3 Christmas pillows I made before I got sick (no pics because no energy). I haven't even felt like crafting at all!!!! Can you believe that me, the project queen, has no desire to craft?!?!?!?! It is sickening I tell you. But I found a picture I like and it is on the side of my blog. "I'm so crafty I make people." That about sums it up right now. Jason + Me = Baby #3

Side note: Sophie's hand is doing great. My little nephew got burned really bad with boiling water and spent 5 days in the hospital. He's a special boy and we hope he make a quick recovery. What is up with the burns in our family!?!?

Burn Victim, Super Hero, and Costumes...oh my!

Burn Victim

So yesterday we got home from Payless and I was putting the shoes away. Regan comes in to calmly tell me that Sophie turned the stove on. At that moment I hear Sophie scream so I run in there and Sophie is on the burner and there are flames around her. I quickly moved her by the sink with cold water and then tried to put ot the flames. There were uncooked pasta noodles and her stuffed dog on fire and the burner was on high. All in the space of 2 minutes.....will I ever learn that I CANNOT LEAVE HER ALONE FOR MORE THAN 2 SECONDS?!?!?!?! (Side note: That morning Jason gave her a banana while he went to brush his teeth. When he came back, she was on the counter with a sharp knife, and the banana was chopped into tiny little bits. She is seriously faster than you can even imagine!)

Her poor little hand and fingers were crispy black/brown. I am actually surprised that she didn't get burned in more places. I couldn't find anymore burn marks on her. It is a miracle I tell you. I gave her a frozen jar of jam to hold and was trying not to freak out as I called Jason at school to come home. When Jason got home we took her to the emergency room. The poor little thing was in so much pain. They got the burn team down, gave her some medicine that made her loopy and scrubbed her burned skin off. It was not really a pretty sight. They then wrapped it up with GLOBS of burn cream. She was freakin' hilarious as the loopy medicine made its' way out of her system.....talking s l o w l y, being dizzy, saying crazy things.

Through all this Regan was with Jason out in the waiting room and just walking around. Jason said she was an angel. Funny story I heard after...she was sitting in a chair and kept bouncing up and down. Then she said, "My bum won't stop singing! My bum won't stop singing!" Oh my goodness, that girl is a freakin' comedian. Watch out Conan O'Brian, 'cause someone that's actually funny may come to run you out of town.

Anyway, I have to change her bandages once a day. They want to see her back on Monday. I unwrapped and cleaned her hand this morning, then wrapped it back up and now it looks like a child size boxing glove.

Second degree burns

You wouldn't even know she is hurt. She is causing trouble at her usual rate today without signs of slowing down. So glad it is not any worse than it is. Love my sweet cheeks.

Super Hero!

A couple weeks ago, Regan was invited to a super hero birthday party and she was so excited to be a super hero. So I got her all dressed up as Super Regan, with her ducky blanket as her cape and swim bottoms for the...uh...bottoms I guess. She was the cutest super hero you've ever seen.




Sophie couldn't stand to be left out so I made her a super hero cape (out of her"ducky" blanket, as she calls it) and put an S on her shirt. They kept saying "SUPER HERO!!!" over and over. That's why their mouths in the picture all have "O" shapes.

Costumes

Sophie and her "broken" hand, as she calls it.

I just love seeing them loving on eachother.

Sweet girls. My mom made their Halloween buckets for them. The girls love them. Thanks mom! Until next time....A Happy Halloween to all and to all a fright night!

Halloween Pics

We had a village halloween party and a great photographer took pics of all the kids.

Believe it or not, Sophie was trying to smile.

I love this last pic of her. So cute.

Regan wanted to be a dinosaur. When we ask her to smile for a picture, she comes up with these weird smiling faces as seen below. What a goof.

She is so excited about the fact that her costume has a big tail on it.

This one turned out pretty good.