The Pumpkin House Finally & The most beautiful words that I ever heard !!!

The Pumpkin House turned out to be pretty amazing. Its located in Kenova West Virginia and we had been trying to see it for nearly two weeks. We ended up going on October 30th and I have never seen anything like the amount of people who were there ! Its just a guys yard. Its not a special venue or a park or anything public. It is a guy who owns a big house and for the past 27 years he has grown this yearly event into what it is now. He was featured this year on several national and local news segments.


I know that they must not have a single blade of grass left on their (or their neighbors) lawn when this event is over ! It was very beautiful and it was unreal that you could just cut this many different things into the side of a pumpkin. I also dont recall that as much as we walked around and looked that I ever saw a duplicate. I couldnt help but think that this guy was amazing...and maybe a little crazy !

The WSAZ news crew was there and Tim Irr and Carrie Cline were there doing a story and a young guy was asking his girlfriend to marry him in the middle of it. It was sweet and she said yes !

While there we fought with Mikey probably harder than ever in a public place. He is four and just this year started school so he goes to bed pretty early. On most any night he will be in the bed at 8 and asleep by 9. There are exceptions of coarse but for us to be two hours away from home after a full day of school at dark....It was going to be a long, sleepy night for the little man !

Mikey was so hyper and grouchy and misbehaving ! I laughed inside myself that his head was gonna spin any second from excitement. You can see here on his face how miserable he was for sleep. Daddy was more than frustrated... it was certainly one of those times that you question your decision to even go ! He of coarse had to wear his Mario costume again.

One of the most beautiful moments of my life took place while there....It is funny that just at the moment that I am frustrated with Mikey he will give me a moment that I am sure will never be forgotten.

We were all very tired and ready for bed with an hour and a half or two hour drive still ahead of us and it was now around 11:30 at night and we had yet to eat any dinner. So we went into the Cheddars there in Ashland for some strength for the drive... It was taking forever and Mikey laid his head over in my lap and looked up into my eyes he was as serious and as honest as anything I have ever heard him say.....he was tired and laying in my lap and feeling comforted by my hand rubbing across his hair when he said.... "Mommy, Will you marry me" ?

I have no problem telling you that it was the single most beautiful words that I have ever heard spoken !!!

Big Mike said he knew right then that he had lost me !

http://www.wendybaisden.blogspot.com/

Halloween 2009

Halloween & Trick or Treat is alot of work ! Mikey was totally ready to bust with excitement. From the moment he got home from School he was ready to go. We have to go to my parents house every year just to let my mom and daddy see him. I guess thats more just for me but every year we take him to see them before trick or treat starts. I guess I know that someday I wont be able to do that and want to squeeze it in for as long as possible. He goes upstairs to see his "upstairs mama" which is what he calls my grandmother, his great grandmother because she lives upstairs in an appartment at my parents house.

He was Mario from the Super Mario Brothers. He had known for months that he wanted to be Mario. He said over and over again to us and to anyone else who would listen...."this is the best Halloween ever" !!!

It cracks me up because I really dont think that he can remember any of the other Halloweens before this one but he still keeps insisting that this is the best one ever !

We let him go in the mall thinking that it would be the safest place and lets face it...I didnt know that it was the big thing that it turned out to be ! I bet you there were a thousand people in the contest area. He walked up onto the stage and pranced over to the lady with the mircrophone and she asked his name and he looked at her like she was so under-educated..."how can she not know the answer" was written all over his face....she of coarse wanted his name...ya know...Mikey Baisden...but he popped out with...I'm Mario !!! He got a good crowd laugh for that one !

He had a couple little school friends who were there as well and his daddy and I both enjoy watching him with the other kids so much. We are not special I guess....We just love our boy like most people love their kids...so we thought that he was the very cutest thing ever. He got a little ribbon in the contest for something...I don't even know what...it was like 3rd place in the "cute" category and he has wore it around all evening telling our guests that he "won" the contest ! 

I'm sure that there are several scrapbook pages to follow !

http://www.wendybaisden.blogspot.com/

See all the photos from the mall and trick or treat by clicking on the slide show on the sidebar on this blog

"Please don't ever be Aaron's Mommy" he said

Mikey is 4 and Aaron is 20. Needless to say there are a few years difference in their ages ! I pretty much started over a whole new family with Mikey. But for as long as Mikey is able to remember Aaron has been "Bubby" and has been a steady part of his life.

If Mikey looks outside and see's Aaron coming into the guest entrance he will run around the house and make his way to the side door to open it to let "Bubby" into the house.

Aaron likes to wrestle with Mikey and rough him up. It always ends in me saying to them "Okay thats enough" Because I'm scared Mikey will get hurt ! Although now that I am thinking back it seems I remember that Aaron is usually the one who walks away in pain ? (Mikey seems to always catch him just right )

Today Aaron was with me when I went to pick Mikey up from school and it was raining and Aaron said, I will jump out and go get him. As I watched out the window I thought it was sweet to see them together but I could see right away when Mikey saw Aaron that he was upset. I got out and started to walk toward them and Mikey said, " Oh Mommy, I thought you were not going to be my mommy any more !" He was so upset.

Our nightly story has always been that we tell about the day. He says, "Tell me about my day" and wants you to repeat line by line whatever he did that day. So tonight when we went in and climbed into the bed for our story he wanted to hear about how Aaron picked him up from school. "Tell me Mommy about Aaron coming to get me from school today"

I started to tell him the story and realized right away that he does not get that Aaron is my child. He realizes that he is his brother but doesn't understand that it also means that I am Aaron's Mommy.
I said to him  "I am Aaron's Mommy too" and he immediately started crying  and said, "Mommy, I dont want you to be Aaron's Mommy !" I tried to explain and he had more questions....

"Does Aaron have a daddy" he said. I told him yes that Aaron did have a daddy and he said...NOT MY DADDY ! ( I think he was certain that he was not going to share his mommy and now be expected to share his daddy as well ! lol ) 

I guess I never really put much consideration into what Mikey thought of me and Aaron together but I realize now that he thought Aaron was "his" bubby and that was okay as long as it didn't mean that he had to share his mommy ! Funny how his little mind works. "Please don't ever be Aaron's mommy" he said.

http://www.wendybaisden.blogspot.com/

Making Birds & Butterflies using the Hot off the Press templates

While playing with the new

15 Butterflies & Dragonflies template that was recently released by Hot off the Press http://www.paperwishes.com/products/4007352

I came up with this new little butterfly & bird that are made from a couple pieces of paper towel sandwiched between two pieces of fabric.

It can be made with a scrap of paper that matches your page as well. The paper towel can be stacked thicker to make the butterfly or bird thicker and have a more dimensional look on your page. In my samples I have laid down a piece of paper towel and layered it so that it is three thick and then put a piece of fabric that matched my scrapbook page and made a little sandwich out of the five layers.  

For the next step I used the 15  Butterflies & Dragonflies template to draw out a butterfly on the top layer.

I used my sewing machine to very quickly stitch along the outer edge of the butterfly. I dont sew ! So no special sewing skills are needed here ! This doesnt have to be perfect and if you use a matching thread to the fabric it will blend in. In my sample I used a black thread for contrast just so that the camera could pick up on the sewing. I used scissors to snip into the threads as close as I could get without cutting them and then used my paper scraper  http://www.paperwishes.com/products/4000153

to run back and forth along the edge of the butterfly to rough up the paper towel and fray the fabrics. I also ran my Tim Holtz http://www.paperwishes.com/products/7506370000 ink along the edges of the butterfly to give it a prettier edge.

Hot off the Press has a full line of templates that range from circles to butterflies and they are very inexpensive and last you forever ! I posted a video on youtube of making the bird and butterflies so be sure to check them out ! I hope you love it !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Og4IQRC07sU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05TAv29hBas

see more of my scrapbook pages and photography at http://www.flickr.com/photos/wendyhackneybaisden/collections/72157622539217870/

God is good !!!

I am thinking tonight that its hard to have a child grow up. Its hard to watch them learn lessons that I have already had to learn. I talk alot about my baby boy, Mikey, but my older son has been on my mind alot this past few weeks. He is about to be 21 and life is all ahead of him.

Im not sure he would say it if you ask him...lol...atleast not right now....but he is very blessed. He has grandparents..my family and his fathers...who love him and a father and mother who want nothing more in this life than to see him be happy and healthy and successful. I am feeling as though my choices have hurt him. What would his life be if....

He has been blessed to have a step mom who has treated him as if he were her own and I say out loud to the world that I am thankful for her.

I know that he has to learn his own lessons. I know that when I think back in my life to the moment when I first heard God call me to be saved (a long long time ago in what seems another life) it was painful. I fought God and ran from him harder than I have ever ran from anything. I look back on those moments of absolute pain and my chest hurts. It takes my breath away to think of him feeling that "bottom of the barrel" feeling that comes before you break and give your life to God. I wish so badly that I could just grab him up and tell him that life is hard and painful and that there's no way we can survive without God ! But I know that my life has not been an example for him these past few years and that makes me sad.

I know...I know...He has to learn this lesson on his own...

I guess as a mother the one thing that brings you to your knees the fastest....is your child. I cannot imagine the pain that Mary the Mother of Jesus must have felt. I can not say that I would have been as brave as her if you asked me to watch my son be hung in sacrifice for others. I know she didnt have a choice. I know that Jesus came to die but her strength amazes me.

I cant help but to think that God has spent a lot of time lately trying to tell me something that I have ran from and maybe watching Aaron and seeing his pain and struggles this past few weeks with lifes lessons has been Gods way of reminding me that HE IS GOD... Reminding me that he gave his son up to die for me. Reminding me that nothing that Aaron will ever do is unforgiveable to me and Reminding me that nothing that I have ever done to God is unforgiveable to him.

The Pumpkin House & Beautiful Fall Leaves in West Virginia

I can't even say how much I enjoyed our day. The big plan was to slip away and spend the afternoon with Mike hunting in the woods. A very rare occasion that we get to do something without little Mikey. I guess we just don't make time to do things without him... We laugh that when we are not with him we just spend the whole time wishing he were there ! Nonetheless, we slipped away while he was in school and it was such a pleasant fall day.

I don't know that I have ever seen the leaves look more beautiful than they do right now. The colors are wonderful. I know I must have said over and over to Mike and Mikey....just look at those trees ! I think I have never seen them as bright and with as many varieties of color as there are this year. Especially in the Charleston/Huntington area of the State.

We planned all week to go to Kenova, WV....Seriously we talked about it every day for a week that we would drive to Kenova,WV to see the big Pumpkin House. So we picked up Mikey from school and out we set for the two hour drive. A wonderful evening with the boys. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fVDO1PxTrc (see the video)Mikey was pleasant and we played "eye spy" over and over during the drive while again discussing the beautiful fall colors ! I thought it would be nice to video the arrival at the pumpkin house. So just as we got into town I whip out the video camera and set the whole thing up. Here we are in Kenova, West Virginia or KY I said...lol...the borders confuse me ! As we turn down the street we are all three so excited....How many pumpkins will there be ? Will there be lots of people ? Wonder if he carves them all himself ? Camera in hand, narrations ago.....there it is ! A beautifully painted victorian house........without a pumpkin in sight ! The pumpkin house turns out isn't until next week !

So instead we took photos of the house and all the scaffolding that he puts up around the house and pieces of wood that he puts everywhere to hold the pumpkins....to hold the pumpkins...next week !

We had a good laugh and the drove down his street looking at how absolutely beautiful his neighbors yards were with the millions of leaves laying on the ground beneath the trees. Next week....we are gonna go back and see the pumpkins !

Mike swore instantly that I had planned the whole thing just to trick him into the two hour drive to hobby lobby ! Which of coarse we ended up going to immediately upon leaving the "no" pumpkins house ! Hehe

See more photos from the day by going to http://www.flickr.com/photos/wendyhackneybaisden/sets/72157622649402590/

You Tube Video of the templates

It turns out that making a YouTube Video is a little stressful. I have spent the past four days trying to make a little video of how to use the new templates I designed and Hot Off the Press manufactured. Its crazy how many things that I say that I think...huh ? Who said that !? HEHE

I guess everyone sounds different than they think they do ? I know when I hear my voice on camera I almost dont know that its me ? Its very odd to hear my voice ? I mean I hear it in my head when Im talking but it doesnt sound the same as when I hear it played back as a recording.

Anyway, I finally just did it and thought I would forget caring if I sounded funny to me....and just put it up so that you can see how to use the new templates because so many people have asked where they can see it in action.

So check it out and if you need any more help with it just let me know and I will post a part two ! LOL

The template is availiable locally by me and if you want to order one online you can get them at several places I have found on the internet by clicking on them here from the sidebar under places Ive seen my templates for sale. The Hot off the Press website is http://www.paperwishes.com/
See the You tube video of how to use the template at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoS4nFl5rm0

Photos of Bash Ryan

Im working of the photos for Pam and AJ Ryan of their son Bash. He is such a cute little guy. What amazing curls in his hair ! Adoreable ! See more photos of him in the Bash Ryan file on my flickr at http://www.flickr.com/wendyhackneybaisden

Pumpkin Guts

Pumpkin Guts !

Im not sure what they are really called. Just seeds? IKD ? But I can see why looking at them you might put together that they are the "Guts" inside a pumpkin.

For four year olds Im sure that sticking your hand inside to pull out oooey gooey sticky seeds is probably an adventure !

Mrs Amy had the kids to make a jack-o-lantern today at school with the help of two of the Notre Dame students who are visiting Sacred Heart this week. The fun part I think was the Pumpkin "Guts". Genesis had no problem with the guts...In fact she thought they tasted good ! Halie wasnt bashful about it either. Mikey thought the whole thing was creepy ! We are excited about going to the Pumpkin House tomorrow in Kenova, West Virginia.  It looks like alot of fun and lets face it....

events + photos = scrapbook pages !

You can see more of the photos I took from the pumpkin day activities on

the sacred heart tab at http://www.thelinkoushouse.com/ http://www.wsaz.com/news/headlines/10776691.html

My list (from Years ago) of things I want to see in the World

I made this list years ago. Some of the things on the list I have gotten to see. I mark them out as I get to go to the places on the list. I also add new things to the bottom of the list as I discover the new things that are out there that I would love to get to go see...this list grows all the time and sometimes I see things and didnt even realize they existed til after I have already found myself there. Its a big world. The thing I am most thankful for is that I see most of these things...with Mikey & his eyes


Paris, France, The Eiffel Tower
Puerto Rico
Bastogne, Germany & the area at the Battle of the Bulge
The Grand Canyon
New York City's Central Park
The Beautiful Statue Of Liberty
Dallas Texas and the Texas School Book depository where Kennedy was killed.
Washington DC and all the monuments
Mount Rushmore
The Giant Sequoia
The St Louis Arch
El Capitan
Yosemite National Park
Hershey PA
Gettysburg PA
New Orleans
Victoria Falls
The Dead Sea
Switzerland
Stay at a B&B in England Someplace
Stonehenge,England
The Mall of America
The Queen
Have 1,000,000 in my checkbook
Westminster
A setting President of the United States (george bush & bill clinton)
The Christmas tree lighting in Rockerfella Plaza
Hawaii
The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
The Golden Gate Bridge
The Leaning tower of Pisa
The Hollywood Sign
The Walk of Fame
California
The Left water (hehe..Pacific)
Disneyland
Disney world
Pittsburg after dark
Ellis Island
Central Park
The sears tower in Chicago
The World trade Center
Set in on the gallery while congress votes
See inside the house chambers in the house of representatives
Go on the tour of the White House
Grand ole opry
San Antonio Texas & the Alamo
Boston Harbor after dark(one of the most beautiful things ever saw)
Wright Patterson Airforce Base
The Smithsonian Institute
The thinker statue(I saw the one at Columbia U-need to see original)
Pan for Gold (didnt like it after I did it)
See something no one but me and God have ever seen (I dug for gems in NC and found a 27 carrot ruby that no one but me and God had ever seen) then i ran and showed it to everyone there ! hehe
Go into an underground coal mines
Graceland
Arlington National Cemetary
The grassy nole & the book depository in Texas
Las Vegas (landed once there but didnt see it)
The desert
Mount Vernon
New york City ( Ive gotten to go many times now and love it )
The Brooklyn Bridge (u have to eat pizza under it on the brooklyn side...some of the best pizza in the US)
Shaker Village
Williamsburg
Cape Canaveral
Tampa Bay
home Shopping Network studios
QVC
Cross the Eastern Continental Divide
Cross an international Dateline
The super bowl
A World Series
A tornado
A Volcano
The French Quarter
Times Square
Atlantic City
Stand on The Four Corners (where arizona,new mexico,utah and colorado meet)
Washington State
French Riviera
Monico
The Liberty Bell
The Declaration of Independence
The Biltmore Estate
Great Smoky Mountains
Albany New York
Martha's Vineyard
Tombstone, Arizona
Ohio State Reformatory where Shawshank was filmed
Normandy
The great wall of China
Jerusalem
The wailing wall
A pryamid
Go on a cruise
The Rocky Mountains
Cross the Western Continental Divide
Go to Timbucktu
Ride on Hwy 101 from top to bottom
Cross the border into Mexico
Cross the border into Canada
Drive on Route 66
See the Hover Dam
Niagra Falls
Ole Faithful
Catch a fish big enough to mount and mount it !
Kill a deer while hunting
invent something

Tonya & family Photos

Did a set of photos tonight of Tonya and her family. Tonya and I went to High School together a very long time ago ! 21 years now. Her son Corey is engaged to Hollie and she seemed like a very sweet girl. We snapped a few of Holly's mom and Tonya's other son Cody too. You can see more of the picutes by clicking the link.  http://www.flickr.com/wendyhackneybaisden

New Scrapbook Paper

New Scrapbook Paper makes me happy. I love cardstock paper and if you throw in glitter its nearly overwhelming. (hehe)  I also have a hard time passing up ANY piece of My minds eye paper. So today when I went into Hobby Lobby and found all these new packs I had to get them. There were more new packs so Im already planning the next trip...but I gotta wait til they are on sale next time !

I so wish that I lived closer to a Hobby Lobby !

Saturday with my little family

We had a nice family day. I had my camera in the car so we stopped to get a few photos in the beautiful fall leaves. I think we take for granted how absolutely wonderful the fall colors are in the area this time of the year. I know I do. Driving along on the route between my house and Huntington
West Virginia today I was struck by how bright and wonderful the colors of the trees were. We grabbed the camera and tripod and here we are. Photos. Who would of thought ! Lol 

Now I just have to scrapbook them ! Speaking of...scrapbooking...yeah...I got four new packs of My minds eye paper from Hobby Lobby today that I love ! Anyone who knows me knows I just cant hardly pass up a pack of My minds eye paper !

These photos we just snapped along the route to Huntington. It was fun. We pulled up on the four lane and jumped out and I threw up the tripod while Mike and Mikey got into position ! I so gotta get the little photo button so that I can snap the photo without running into the shot while the timer is beeping !

We went to eat which is always an adventure with Mikey and went to the Halloween store. It was fun. Mikey tried on over a dozen hats and laughed and ran and played.....we said we thought his head was gonna spin around he was so excited ! Big Mike bought a pair of hands that you wear that are really creepy. He wore them into hobby lobby and all the way home in the car while we drove back (listening to the WVU / Marshall game ) He enjoyed the people in the cars along side of us looking at his funny hands. He is silly.

Overall I would say we enjoyed our day together. It was a beautiful fall day in Southern West Virginia and I was with my boys and bought new scrapbook paper and got photos to scrapbook...It was the perfect day ! (smile)

You can see more of our photos at http://www.flickr.com/wendyhackneybaisden
http://www.thelinkoushouse.com/

Haunted Bed & Breakfast ?

Okay so give me your thoughts ? Mike and I were having a conversation about the Bed & Breakfast and if it would scare folks away if we mentioned in our blog that we have a lingering "ghost" ? It isnt a bad ghost. I promise. I have always felt like Mrs Linkous just hangs out. I never met Mrs. Linkous. But I think she and I have the love of this ole house in common. I have never really believed in ghosts until living in this house. So are you scared yet ? LOL  Mrs. Linkous lived here in this house for most of the 92 years she was alive. I just think she isnt ready to give the house up ?

I can tell so many stories about our visits from Mrs. Linkous. It has been a while since i had more than just a presence feeling behind me as I climb the steps alone at night but she seems to come and go. Thankfully, right now seems to be in a "go" time.

We have had two times that those debunk crews have called us and asked if we would like to do a night where they come in and set all the equipment up and try to see if they can prove or disprove the ghost presence. I agreed once but chickend out. I wouldnt want to feel scared in my own home and I dont see why we should mind "if" Mrs Linkous wants to hang out in her house. I guess in 27 rooms theres enough space for me and her both ! LOL

Ive only had a couple guests who have had expierences with her. Once we had a Dr. who said to me in the  morning...Did you need me last night ? I said, no, of coarse and he said well you didnt knock on my door at around two this morning did you ? He said that he heard someone knock and he got up and said, yes ? But no one answered so he went back to bed. I said...Nope...Not me ! And didnt mention it to him but he was our only guest that night.

Then one time my daddy was working up on the third floor and he said that he had that feeling..ya know...like theres someone under your bed...lol...and he turned around and the door to the room that he was in just blew closed ! He said he said...do you like what we have done to your house Mrs Linkous?

Then when Mikey was a little toddler he would be standing in a room and he would reach up into the air like he was wanting someone to pick him up...that would freak us out ! Ya know how little babies reach up both arms to ya...we would be setting in a room and he would be there and we would look over at him playing and he would reach up in the air both arms like he was wanting someone to pick him up and there was no one there !

One time Mike was out of town on business and me and Mikey were here alone. At the time Mikey was a baby and I was scared to go upstairs when Mike wasnt here so we slept on the first floor that night and I heard something in the coke room (a guest sitting room on the first floor) and I went to see what it was and the toy train that runs around the ceiling in the coke room was running full blast ! No one but me and Mikey were in the house at the time ! The knob had been turned to full blast ! The knob is located inside a closet and the closet door at the time had no handle on it so you would have to get a butter knife to open the door and then reach inside to turn the train on !

Mike has less obvious encounters with her. He is the official breakfast cooker here and claims ownership of the kitchen. He has nearly a weekly event where the grill that he cooks on in the morning is "mysteriously" turned off in the middle of frying bacon ! This happens alot !

My kitchen encounter is fairly often too only she turns the light off. There are two light switches in the room. One as you go in and one as you go out the other side and you turn the light on at one switch and off at the other. Then the lights both have cords that hang down and we never touch them. In fact we cant reach them in the 10 foot ceiling. So a couple times a month I will be in the kitchen and turn the light off and go out and the next time I walk into the room and turn the light on only one of the two lights will come on. I think to myself every time...oh...darn...the light is blown ! Then I get a bulb and climb up there to find that the pull switch as been pulled to the off postion ! (no one but me here )

I will have to remember more of the stories. I have gotten so used to it that it doesnt even bother me now. I just feel like its Mrs Linkous. Once and I mean only once...lol...Im hesitant to say....I saw her out of the corner of my eye....that doesnt happen often and in six years here I only had the visual once....but I was standing at the sink and  I just had that feeling that someone was standing at the stove and out the corner of my eye I had the visual that someone was standing beside me and of coarse when I turned my head to look there was no one there.

So what do ya think ? Is that too scary to put on the Linkous House blog ? I mean I dont want to scare people away...hehe...its a very wonderful old house. Its the oldest house in Williamson. It was built in 1896 by Mrs Linkous' grandmother. The house qualifies for the National Historic Register but we didnt want to do it because there are so many restrictions on what you can do to the house once you put it on the register and I want new siding and gutters and windows and none of that is really allowed if you put it on the register. We named the house after Mrs Linkous because it was sorta known as the Linkous house because of its history in the town and I felt it was a good way to honor her. Its a wonderful house and we feel very blessed to get to live here and take care of it for Mrs Linkous and so far she hasnt ran us off ! hehe

See more photography & scrapbook pages at http://www.thelinkoushouse.com

Mikey's Scrapbooks & Walks to school

Mikey is in Pre-K now and we live about a block and a half from school. I am not sure what the heck we are gonna do when there is snow on the ground because he will not settle for driving the car to school in the morning. We absolutely must walk ! Now I will admit that most days this is a pain....

Our morning is probably not unusual to most families and mommies. We jump up late and struggle to find clean uniform pants. I cant seem to keep him in the pants. They just shrink about three inches at the bottom it seems in days. (or his legs are getting longer) We find the pants and gather a shirt, shoes, socks, clean underwear, etc and I fight with him to roll over and let me get his clothes on. Usually by the time we are doing all of this Daddy has already gotten up and headed down to fix breakfast for our Bed and Breakfast guests. He is an awesome breakfast fixer.

Mikey and I come down and eat cereal usually and I make the attempt to pretend to guests that I dont absolutely hate mornings ! I pretend that I a like to talk about where they are from and what they are doing in town. I do care. I just usually dont really have time to talk to them right now because I always oversleep. I just cant get up on time. My favorite sleep always happens from five to seven in the morning.

Once the lunch is packed and breakfast is eaten Mikey and I go out the door. Daddy will walk him to school every chance he gets that we dont have guests eating breakfast. I am a good substitue but he prefers his daddy's stories. Thats okay with me. I love to watch them together. I have spent many a morning on the side walk watching them as they putter down the street together headed off for the day.

Its the same thing most every day on our walk to school. He chases the four cats between here and the end of Fifth Avenue and he stops at the church to look at the sign out front that changes regularly. We say...Come on Mikey we are late ! Then he realzies we are "in Front" and he rushes to catch up and get ahead. Same thing every morning. By the time we are at the end of the street he has a hole in the yard on the corner that he must stop and step in. He says, This is Aunt Susan's yard and this is Aunt Susan's hole. We plug on with only a half a block to go. Watch for cars at the corner ! Dont step on that broken glass. Your gonna cut your foot open ! Hold hands Mikey watch out for cars coming out of the parking lot at school when we go down the alley. Kisses. Huggs. I love you's. Hello Joey ! ( Joey is his little friend and the very first thing that he talks about most days when I pick him up from school )

I guess those walks to school are important. I guess those are things that he will remember when he is grown. I spend alot of time trying to scrapbook his life and sometimes I forget to live mine !

This page was made using a layout template system that I have. It is a plastic system with tons of shapes and you quickly lay it out on a piece of paper to design a page. I got it a few years ago at the Creating Keepsakes Convention in Tusla, Oklahoma. It is discountinued now I think and I cant even remember what it is called.  I love this photo of Mikey that we snapped on our morning walk to school on picture day. (I know...I know...Everyday is picture day in Mikey's world ! hehe) I fear the child will hate having his life handed to him in a book ! I think I will just have to keep these scrapbooks locked in the safe and someday years from now when he is grown and has children of his own I can present them as gifts for birthdays and christmas presents to his wife and children. Maybe. We will see how hard it is to give them away ! They may have to wait til I die and get them !

You can see that the dimensions are written on the templates and that makes it easier if you are cutting some of the pieces out on your cutter. You can also build the page and then pick the pieces up and trace them. I never end up doing the page exactly like the layout so I just build the page and lay it to the side to look at while making up the pieces for the page.

This new button punch is from Martha Stewart and it is adorable. I love it. It came from Michaels the last trip I made with my scrapbook friend Renee and it is great for making buttons that match your pages. I tried to get a photo so you can see the dimension on the button but in case you cant tell the punch makes the button raised or embossed around the edges.

Somthing I have fallen in love with is a stitch that I saw a girl do on her blog. I love and copy most every page she does !!!  She uses tons of flowers and bling and distresses everything she touches. I love her pages and love how she puts tons of paper together and things that seem to not match at all will go together for her. I am totally a fan and scraplift ideas from her pages all the time. I copy them sometimes as close as I can get without having to call her up and ask her what paper she used. I will be sure to put a link when I copy her pages so you can buy her kits if you would like. I think she sells them. be sure to check her blog out if you get time. Her site is http://gabriellepollacco.blogspot.com/     I am off to clean rooms and face the day. I hardly get started and its time to make that journey back to the school for Mikey. We do the car for pick ups because he wants McDonalds the second school lets out !

Tomorrow I am gonna take more time and enjoy our walk to school....

Remember that you can look at my pages and photography at http://www.thelinkoushouse.com/

My templates are getting out there ! How cool to find them online !

I must admit that it is so super cool to search online and find my templates there. I found this link tonight for a couple places where they mention it or give it a review.

another place I found the spinner template
another place I found the butterflies template
another auction one
www.paperwishes.com/products/4007352


See more great stuff at http://www.thelinkoushouse.com/

Little Flickering lights in the darkness

I am laying here in the dark of our bedroom thinking to myself that life is full of little flickering lights.  I can see the dimness of The tiny  green "on" light and the "red" it needs water light on the ice machine in the corner of our bedroom.The thermostat in the hallway outside our door is lighted and the xbox machine at the foot of the bed under the tv glows. The clock on the night stand, Mikes breathing machine, Mikes computer light and mine. There are lights all over in the darkness. They are not as bright as they would be had I not taken little tiny band aids and put over each of them in an effort to get better sleep.

I guess thats how our lives are....Filled with little lights that shine.

Once a very long time ago when I was 18 and pregnant with Aaron, my oldest son, Gary and I were taking birthing classes at Pikeville, Ky and we drove this beat up clunker of a car that my daddy had given to me.  We were on our way home from class late that night well after dark when the headlights on the car went out. This was long before everyone had cell phones like they do now so doing what I would do now which is call my daddy, was not possible. We had to drive across this mountain that lay between Pikeville and home. Back then it was called Bent mountain and it earned its name.  It was winding and curvy and up and down and a many a times you could see "City" people crossing it and parked along side the road throwing up from the car sickness that it brought on ! (lol) Looking back now it seemed like a roller coaster. Thank God for the four lane that replaced it. Lets just say it was not the kind of place you wanted to be driving in the darkness without headlights !

We had pulled off the side of the road and a man in a big truck came along and pulled over. Gary got out and was talking to him and told him that I was pregnant and we would just drive on in the darkness. The gentleman said "no" you can just drive close to the back of me and I will put my lights on bright and you can follow behind closely and thats what we did for the 20 miles or so that it took to cross over the mountain and reach home safely.

Today I remember that night and I remember that I was happy. I remember the little junky clunker car with gratefullness. I remember how young and in love I was. I look back and I wonder how many times in my life was it necessasary for me to follow closely on the rear of a friend or stranger so that I could make it through the darkness by the light that shown around them.
It sorta made me think about the reality of my life and how I have little lights shining in my darkness. Doesn't matter what I do or how hard I try to block them out.

I have a friend. Her name is Renee and I hate to call her by name but I will anyway. She is somewhat of a new friend and really she reminds me every time that I speak to her that God is good. I dont mean that she says...Look at me, Im a Christian...she doesnt. She doesnt have too. Something about how positive she is just makes me know that she is good. I never feel look down upon or ever feel as though she is judging me for my failures when I am with her. I think...not to embarrass her....I think I like her better than anyone else I know. This is her picture and she has that smile nearly every moment that I see her. She has a light that shines inside of her that you cant just stick a band aid over and hide.

Once when my oldest son was in grade school and I was serving God fully I had gotten to school to pick him up early and I took out my little bible and sat down to read a little. What is a task now... at the time seemed like the normal thing to do. Across the room was a lady who I had known since I was a child. After a spell she came over and said to me, "Wendy, your a christian aren't you" and I remember thinking then, some 15 years ago, that it pleased me inside that someone looked at me from across the room and thought that I was a child of God's.

Me,Gary & Aaron were setting inside of a Mcdonalds once when he was little and we bowed our heads to say prayer blessings over our burgers and then a little pair of ladies setting across the way said to us, "will you watch our purses while we go to the restroom ?" They just looked at us and thought we were good people because we had prayed over our food and they felt a sense of trust toward us they trusted us that they could leave their pocketbooks behind with us. It gave me a great sense of  peace and satisfaction.

I miss that. I miss the feeling of Gods favor. I guess my prayer is that I can again be like the little blinking lights in the room tonight. I cant help but to feel thankful to God for people like the man who stopped to help us that night on the side of the road who's light guided us through the darkness. I am grateful to God for people like Renee who's lives spew out a light in the darkness and for strangers like the ladies at McDonalds who just believe that there are more "good" people in the world than "bad".  I guess I hope and pray that I can shine for God again and not be just a person with a light inside that has a band aid stuck over it !

See more photography & Scrapbooking at http://www.thelinkoushouse.com/

Cheap Lettering "Alterations"

I use a lot of peel and stick letters. I've found that you can find sticker letters cheap at discount or dollar stores and alter them to fit your needs. I buy them even if they are odd ball colors and then use my markers to color them as I need them to match my pages.

As you can see here once you put them on a page you dont know the difference but these letters were a yuckie greenish color at the start that I got from a discount store for 1.00 for the sheet.

I loved the size of these letters and even the shape of them but I never do a page that is appropriate for the use of pastel letters in four or five different colors (why they make them that way I dont know) so I buy them and make them black usually and if you do them like this and you run out of a vowel it wont matter because the color makes them all kinda blend and you can use different shaped ones together. Just a cheap way to get more for your money when doing sticky letter titles and journalling.

See more photography & scrapbooking at http://www.thelinkoushouse.com/

World Championship Chili Cookoff

The world championship chili cookoff was pretty good. Although I have to say that I dont like green chili at all ! I certainly like the red chili better. I thought it was cool that the World Championship is held here in Charleston, WV.

The booths where set up and you bought a ticket to enter the area and then with your tickets you could get sample bowls of chili from each of the 300 chili choices. My favoirite was the New Mexico State champion chili. It was the very best !

To see more photos from the cookoff go to my flickr account at http://www.thelinkoushouse.com/

Handmade Graduation Invitations

Okay, I have had several girls call about handmade, custom, graduation invitations so I am finally getting to that. I will post them to the flickr file for viewing so as I add more you will see them there if you want more than I have room to post here. (http://www.flickr.com/photos/wendyhackneybaisden/sets/72157622424553697/)

All the cards made will be custom to your special personallity and needs and no one else will be given the same card for the same year. So your invitations are Your very own !!!

This is just a sample of the kind of thing we can do and is Not Kierra's actual graduation card...I am working on some ideas for her but needed to post some to give the general idea of what we can do. We can use Pirate paper to make it even more "Belfry" or do them for another school.

There's more to come....

See more photography & scrapbook pages at http://www.thelinkoushouse.com

New Page & Layout ideas

This page is made using a layout designed by me on a page layout system that I have had for several years but never used. I have been playing with it to try to get more photos on a page. Its hard because my preference is to do pages that have lots of filly things on them and then I dont get as many photos onto the page as I probably should. ( I am trying Renee !) I also tend to not do two page layouts....I am gonna work on that later too ! (I promise Kelly...more two page layouts !)

The page has some standard detailing on it that I typically do on every page but assuming that some of you are beginners I will point those details out.

First I love to layer paper. Any paper will work together if it has the same colors or if it comes from the same paper stack. Literally I could pick any two sheets of paper out of a paper pad and make them work together on a page ! (come on Renee...you know you love paper as much as I do !) You can see on this page that one way I make all the paper come together is that I use my Tim Holtz inks  (http://www.timholtz.com/ink.htm) and rub the edges of everything in a unifying color. As long as the paper is inked up in the same edge color...It works !

On this page a couple details to point out that I used are that I used a piece of this new border strip that I love and ran it down the side of the page on the right but it came in white so I used my Tim Holtz ink again and just ran it over the edge strip and made it pink/red  which matched the edges on the rest of the paper and tied it all together nicely.

To bring in the green and add some sparkle...which we scrapbookers love...I used little green "bling" things (http://www.paperwishes.com/products/4001638) and attatched them along the little flower strip. The edging on the strip of paper down the right side in the background is a Martha Stewart Edge punch that I got recently that I love !  You can never have to many punches or border punches ! Its just not possible. (http://www.marthastewartcrafts.com/index.php?v=msc_prod_tool_punches)

The jounaling is done using my label maker and again I ran my finger thru the Tim Holtz ink and drug it over the paper to make it match the details on the rest of the page. You can do this with a little piece of cloth and your fingers wont be red the rest of the day like mine ! But I kinda like the look of scrapbook ink on my hands...lol...

This butterfly is of coarse one that I made using my butterfly templates.(http://www.paperwishes.com/products/4007352)

If you use this layout to make a page please send it to me at wendex@msn.com
and I will post it for others to see ! I will try to put up more layouts monthly and will even be doing contests where we let guests of the blog vote on who they think should win "best page" from the entries ! Good luck !

You could easily turn this layout into a two page spread as with any layout by simply mirroring the page. A trick I have learned is if you dont like it to be totally symetrical then do one page and turn the layout one turn to the left or right and repeat the layout that way and it matches but isnt identical. So you could have a title on one page going across the top of the page and the page next to it your title area may would run down the side.

I hope you are all scrapbookers and if you are not....Get one pretty pad of paper and lets get you started ! Can you remember every little cute thing that your child has said ? Of coarse you cant. None of us can. Thats why I scrapbook. So that I can look back and pass down the memories of his childhood and my life as I see it. No one will ever be able to tell the story of "your" memories like you can ! Just imagine what it will mean to your kids and grandkids and the generations to come to have those memories all documented for them.

Happy scrapbooking !

To see more of my scrapbook pages please visit the scrapbooking & photography tab at

http://www.thelinkoushouse.com/