One More Tan-Man Video

Okay, so if you read my earlier post today, you saw that I have been missing Tannon especially much today. I shared a basketball video there (just scroll down for that post and video). I did a little more searching on YouTube and found a video of his all-time favorite football play. We were playing rival, Pleasant Grove High School. Tannon dropped back to throw and there was no one open so he took off. He neared the end zone and a defensive player broke down to try to tackle him. Instead, Tannon hurdled him. Yep, you read that right. He hurdled a player! No kidding.

This is the video of that. Come on, you can do it! It's only 29 seconds long. So much fun! Tannon is #10 (the QB) in the dark burgundy uniform. Oh how I miss this kid, and watching him play! It will be so much fun to watch him play college football in 2 years.


The man upstairs must have known how much I was missing my boy today because what arrived in the mail but a letter from Tannon and a stack of photos too. YIPEEE! The photo at the top of the post is one of them. Tannon says it's his missionary modeling photo. Silly child.

Thanks for humoring me and sharing my day of Tannon videos!

Missing My Tan-Man

I have seriously had a hole in my heart all day. For some reason I got up today missing my missionary son, Tannon more than ever. To make me feel better, I headed over to YouTube. There are several of his sports videos posted there (but for the life of me, I don't know where the heck they came from. None of us posted them. Thanks to whoever did!). I watched them over and over today.

Here is one that I love. It is a highlight film someone made of Tannon vs. Brighton High School last year (his senior year). It's just a short little video, but it made me feel so much better to watch it today. Tannon is #10 in the black (Lone Peak High School). Enjoy! I know I did!

Water, water and MORE water!

Dan and I are currently in St. George, UT watching Dawson play in a basketball tournament with the Lone Peak Knights (GO KNIGHTS!). We cannot even believe what we are witnessing...not with basketball...but the WEATHER! The heavy rains from California have hit Southern Utah and we have gotten about 14" of rain the past few days. There is a lot of flooding going on all over St. George and the surrounding areas. Our prayers go out to all those whose homes and businesses are being affected.

Are You Ready for Some Football?

This past week has been full of football, football and more football. In between I taught 4 Play Group Scrappin' classes (LOVE my Play Group* ladies!). Stay tuned later this week for photos of October's Play Group projects and class dates so you can sign up!

I thought that instead of artwork, I would share a little of what the Pedersens have been up to this week. I'm also sharing a few photos of something fun from last week too. I'll start with that...

Dawson got asked to his first dance. Since he's 16 now he is allowed to date according to Pedersen rule. His date impressed me by calling me first to make sure it was okay to ask him. Brownie points, girls! That's how to earn them with mommies! She decorated our front door with a big sign and tied balloons to Dawson's favorite treat (2 big bags of Red Vines) with a note that said "It would be SWEET if you would go to Sadie's with me." Dawson decided to answer back with cupcakes. He and I baked and decorated a couple dozen cupcakes and made them spell "YES". On the top of each cupcake, Dawson added a little flag of one of his favorite sayings. Silly but fun. We drove up to her house, Dawson left it on the doorstep, rang the bell and ran. FUN! I am still in denial that my 'baby' is 16 and dating.
Dawson's football season has begun. This past Thursday was our third Lone Peak Sophomore game and our first loss (Darn those Brighton Bengals). We are now 2-1. As sad as Dawson was to lose, he was a little bit happy about his sack, 2 tackles for loss, and several assisted tackles.

Dawson heading in for the sack...

and he gets him!

All but Tannon (he had to work) piled in the car to head down to Cedar City for Southern Utah University's first home game of the season. Easton will be red-shirting this year but was honored to be one of only a few red-shirts to be asked to dress for the game. SUU beat the University of San Diego 32-3. GO T-Birds! Dan, Dawson, Daysha and I all had fun cheering them on.

Warm ups...

more warm ups...
Easton lookin' studly in his uniform...
Easton and Daysha (3 more months 'til the wedding!)
Dawson and Easton
The proud parents with their college football playin' boy

Tannon is going crazy waiting for his mission (he leaves Oct. 20) and trying not to lose his mind while watching his brothers play football and not playing himself. While we were gone he hooked up with some buddies and played a couple of flag football games. He says he misses football so bad it hurts. 2 more years, my son. 2 more years. I can just imagine what it will be like to have Easton AND Tannon playing at SUU together. With Tannon playing QB and Easton receiver, we might actually get to witness one of our sons throwing to the other in a college football game. How cool would that be? But, first things first. Tannon, you'll be a GREAT missionary!

Since I don't have any football photos of T from this week, I thought I'd share one of him doing one of his other favorite things...eating!I still haven't adjusted to having Kori, Rick and Daci in Chicago. Love you guys! I wish you were here to watch all this football!

6" x 6" Card using Magnifique Scrapbook Kit from Close To My Heart

Hello, hello!

As you may have noticed, my past several posts have been sneak peeks at some of the new products that are debuting in Close To My Heart's Autumn/Winter Idea Book. That will be available to view page-by-page right here on my website on September 1. Be sure to check back then.

Today's post is following that theme. The 6" x 6" card you see here uses the gorgeous new Magnifique paper kit. This kit features 3 (Lagoon, Pacifica, Sky) of the 8 new colors CTMH is coming out with in the new Idea Book.

Although the papers and stamps are not available until 9/1 (6 more days!), the supplies I used to color the peacock and to make him shimmer are available RIGHT NOW on my website. CTMH products used that you can purchase NOW: Cocoa Stamp Pad (Z2214), Watercolor Pencils (3505), Waterbrush (1771), Glitz Glitter Gel (Z1313), Corner Rounder (Z578), 3D Foam Tape (Z1151).

Want to know how to make the peacock look like mine? Here's how:

1. Stamp peacock in Cocoa ink on Colonial White cardstock.
2. Color in peacock lightly with Watercolor Pencils (I used a little bit of the turquoise, purple and bright green colors in the 'basic colors' grouping of the Watercolor Pencils).
3. Blend lightly using your Waterbrush.
4. Let dry (if you are in a hurry, use your heat gun to help it dry faster)
5. Add a little glitz glimmer gel to the peacock and using a paint brush, spread it out and 'paint' it where you want it. (P.S.: you'll notice on my card the glitz is smeared a bit at the bottom. That is because my cat decided to walk on it before it was done drying {naughty Tarje'}. Tip for the day: keep your cat OFF the card!)
   
6. On the peacock's 'head dress' put a dot of glitz glimmer gel on each of the dots.
7. Let dry.
   

CTMH products used that will be available on my website September 1 (add them to your wish list!): Magnifique Level 2 Scrapbook Kit (X7127B), Circle of Love (D1438), Shimmer Designer Brads (Z1349), Pacifica Stamp Pad (Z2192), Lagoon Stamp Pad (Z2195).

Have a great day! I am off to Logan to watch my son, Dawson's first football game of the season. GO KNIGHTS!

Graduation

I am sure you have all noticed that there has been very little artwork sharing going on the past couple of weeks. That is not because I have sworn off creating, but because everything I am working on is top secret until after the Close To My Heart National Convention the first week of July. So sorry! I can't wait to share it all after that.

In the meantime, I am very excited to share a momentous occasion in our home with you. Last night, Tannon, my 3rd child, graduated from high school. Happy and sad all at the same time. Congrats, Tan Man. I love you!

All Good Things Must Come To An End

Lone Peak (and my Tan-Man) lost in the 5A Utah State High School Basketball Tournament on Tuesday night. Sadness at the Pedersen home. We lost to Bingham High School (the #1 team in the state, they were 19-1 when we played). We played a good game, fought a good fight, and did our best. What more can you ask? We just came out on the wrong end of the score. We finished the season 17-6. Not too shabby.

Tannon had a good game with 17 points. He finished the regular season as the number one 3-point shooter in the state and one of the the top overall scorers in the state (5A, averaged over 16 points per game). Not bad, little boy! We are proud of you. It was a sad day to watch the loss because that meant it was the last time I would get to watch him play high school basketball....ever (Note to blog readers: that explains why you have not seen anything creative from me for a day or two. As you know, I HATE to lose {something I desperately need to work on}! I spent the day yesterday in my sweats watching my dvr'd American Idol from the night before and anything else that allowed me to stay on the couch with my blankie!).

Here are some photos that were taken of Tannon at the playoff game against those darn Bingham Miners (thanks to the Deseret News for the awesome photos!). Love you, T-man!

I guess the good news is that he can now move on to other things that have been on the back burner. He plans to ask someone to the prom tonight (our prom is March 27 this year...weird!) and he even got busy on a homework assignment last night that is not even due until next week. WOW! Miracles never cease.

Maybe I'll put on some real clothes today (not just sweats) and actually clean my house and create something pretty to share tomorrow. Until then....

Senior Leader

How cool is this? The Salt Lake Tribune had this article about Tannon in the sports section yesterday. VERY nice!

Tonight is Senior Night. It will be the last regular season home basketball game of Tannon's high school career as we face Hillcrest tonight. After already having 2 kids graduate from high school and experiencing the Senior Night thing with Easton for football and Kori for drill team, I know the HUGE emotions that come with it. I have been crying all day! Where does the time go? How did this blonde headed, blue eyed, mischief-filled little boy become an almost graduated Senior?

After tonight Lone Peak plays Jordan High School at Jordan next week and then the state tournament begins. Exciting.

Ups and Downs

What a crazy past 7 or 8 days! As you know, much of the ebb and flow of the Pedersen house comes from sports. With the end of the basketball regular season nearing and the state tournament time just around the corner, games begin to have even more meaning. This past week is a great example of the ups and downs of emotions that come with a house full of athletes.

1. The Mt. Ridge Huskies finished their regular season with a big win over a great team. Dawson led the team in scoring for the game, and even the year, and loved having big brother, Easton there watching this final regular season game. Up!

2. Dawson's team was expected to play for the league championship. They won their division and had only lost 2 games all season. Unfortunately they were upset in the quarterfinals by a team that they had already beaten twice this season. Down. Dawson was sad (that is a very small word to describe how upset our Awesome Dawson was) but thankfully we have now moved on. Whew! He is excited to start some weekend workouts to help him get ready for next football season this Saturday. Up.

3. Tannon's team (Lone Peak High School) is experiencing highs and lows everywhere we turn. Our center, who had been out most of the season due to two severe concussions, came back and played 2 games only to be re-injured in practice the next day and is now out for the season. Down.

4. Tannon has been averaging just under 20 points per game this season, but has really struggled in his shooting this past week against Pleasant Grove and American Fork. Come on, T-Man! We've got to get that percentage back up. Down.

5. Although Tannon only scored 8 points last night against American Fork (Down), they were at opportune moments; like the 3 pointer he hit with no time on the clock to end regulation and put the game into overtime, where we won went on to win it. Definite UP!

6. Tannon hit two three pointers last night which helped him break two records (read the article about last night's game here). One was the single season three point shooting record at Lone Peak. Tannon has hit 57 threes this year. He also broke the career three point shooting record at Lone Peak with those two threes. He now has 83 career threes at Lone Peak. Another BIG Up! He also leads the state of Utah in 3 point shooting this season. HUGE Up! That said, I know that Tannon would prefer a state championship to any other record, any day.

6. Although Lone Peak has not fared as well as hoped in our talented region, we have now secured a birth in the state playoffs. Up!

7. Since Easton returned from his mission, he has been able to attend all of his brothers' games and cheer them on. He is a proud big brother. This means the world to Tannon and Dawson. Up! Easton also found a great job this week that will allow him to put some money away as he prepares to move to Cedar City to go to school and play football for Southern Utah University this coming year. He has hired a wonderful trainer to work him out 4 days per week to get him ready for the physical demands of college football. Up!

I'm happy to say in this week of highs and lows and ups and downs, the ups have outnumbered the downs. That's ALWAYS a good thing!

Take a Deep Breath

Have you ever wanted something really badly, but were a little bit afraid to go for it? I'm not sure the afraid portion was any part of Tannon's psyche last night, but it was mine! I took a deep breath and settled in to watch.

Last night was a biggie win! Lone Peak has only lost 3 basketball games this season (14-3), two of them in overtime, and all three against region foes. NOT GOOD! If it helps to put a little perspective on things, 5 of the 7 teams in our region are in the top 10 in the state. Our region is like the SEC of college football or the ACC of college basketball. Ugh!

But, last night we beat the #1 team in our region and the #2 team in the state; the Brighton High School Bengals. I was sooooooo excited! Tannon led all scorers with 22 points. These awesome photos of the T-Man were take by Mark Johnston of The Daily Herald. You can read the story here, and another one here.

So back to taking a deep breath. I can think of another thing I really wanted once but was a little bit afraid. I signed up with Close To My Heart just over 17 years ago. At the time I was 26 years old, just a babe (and yes, now you know how old I am getting). I REALLY wanted to enter the Mrs. Utah pageant. The entry fee was $600. We were young and our finances were not at a point that I could just take $600 (plus all of the other expenses I would have...gown, shoes, etc.) out of our family budget. I had recently attended a Close To My Heart party and thought to myself, "Self, you could do this!" I took a deep breath and signed up with the intent of earning my money for the Mrs. Utah pageant and then quitting. As you know, here I am 17 years later!

Well, I was a little afraid at those first few gatherings, but I muddled through and lo and behold, I earned $600 in my first month of teaching card making and scrapbooking!

I did go on to win the Mrs. Utah pageant and even placed 6th at Mrs. USA. That was a GREAT feeling. I enjoyed a year of promoting my platform (Community Involvement in Education), doing lots of speaking and appearances, and having the time of my life. The funny thing is that all of that is over and a fun memory in my past. Close To My Heart is the thing that endured from that adventure. I LOVE what I do! I was a little bit afraid, but I took a deep breath and did it. YOU CAN TOO!


Tomorrow (January 31) is the last day to take advantage of Close To My Heart's National Papercrafting Month (Felicity) sign up bonus. If you sign up to be a Close To My Heart Consultant before midnight (Mountain Time) on January 31, you will also get a FREE Felicity Stamp and Paper Pack as a bonus ($34.95 value...see photo).

The basic Consultant Kit is only $99 (before shipping and tax) and is full of over $350 in products. On top of all of that, you get ME! What I mean by that is that I will be your upline, I will train you and help you make a success of this Close To My Heart adventure. In addition to being able to contact me with questions any time, you will have the benefits of my weekly training emails, my quarterly team meetings, and various other activities that I offer my team throughout the year. To sign up, click here. Come on, you KNOW you want to. Just take a deep breath and take the plunge. You will not regret this awesome decision. I NEVER have!

There are two add-on kits that are available in addition to the $99 kit. I have shown all three here. (click on any photo to see it larger).

Consultant Kit ($99 plus shipping and tax..but worth over $350!):

Cardmaking Bonus Kit ($50 plus shipping and tax...but worth over $150):

Scrapbooking Bonus Kit ($60 plus shipping and tax.. but worth over $160!):

Thirteen Threes

3. 3. 3. 3. 3. 3. 3. 3. 3. 3. 3. 3. And 3. There are thirteen reasons that I love "3" today.

1. Easton gets home from his mission in 3 days. The countdown continues! Here he is. I can't wait to see him in person!
2. Tannon hit one three in his game last night.
3. Tannon hit two threes in his game last night
4. Tannon hit three threes in his game last night.
5. Tannon hit four threes in his game last night.
6. Tannon hit five threes in his game last night.
7. Tannon hit six threes in his game last night.
8. Tannon hit seven threes in his game last night. Yep, no joke! Seven three pointers! He finished with 23 points to aid Lone Peak in their victory against Hillcrest High School. The Knights are now 12-2. Here he is working his magic.
9. Dawson hit one three in his game.
10. Dawson hit two threes in his game.
11. Dawson hit three threes in his game.
12. Dawson hit four threes in his game.
13. Dawson hit five threes in his game. Yep, no joke! Five three pointers! He finished with 22 points to aid Mt. Ridge Jr. High in their victory against Westlake. They are now 13-1 in league play. Woo hoo. Unfortunately I don't have any great pictures of Dawson shooting (Jr. High gyms are notorious for terrible lighting) but here is one of him trying to look as macho as possible.

Three is definitely a good number today. I hope to continue the good 'three' vibe by finishing up deep cleaning the final three rooms of the house (guest room, Dawson's room, basement family room). I'm off to clean!

Oh wait! Before I do, I thought I'd answer a question from yesterday's post. The cubes that house my papers in my office are made by a company called Crop in Style. I bought mine a few years ago at Roberts (a craft store here in Utah) but I they are also carried by the Oriental Trading scrapbooking division online. Just go to orientaltrading.com and do a search for crop in style or scrapbooking storage. You will want the cube and the cube dividers.

I also got an email asking me how I choose to store my papers. Since I am a Close To My Heart die hard, I store them by the Close To My Heart seasons (Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter and Basic) and then I store my scrapbooking kits alphabetically by kit name (i.e. Silhouette, Topstitch, Veranda, etc.). Close To My Heart has some great storage options of their own (many of which you saw in the photos of my craft room yesterday). To see some of them, click here to go to the Online Idea Book, then go to page 99. If you find something you like, click here to order from my website. Hope this helps!

Where the Creating Happens and FOUR!

This is where all the creating happens for me; my scrap room. It's simple and pretty basic, but it works for me.My customers (Play Groupies) ask me all the time if they can see it. "Well," I say. " I would be more than happy to show you if you could actually walk in there. But, it is like a minefield right now." How embarrassing that it is like that 90% of the time. Today is one of the 10% that it is actually clean, everything is put away, and it is semi-presentable. So I thought I'd take some photos to remind myself how it really can look if I am disciplined and clean up after myself each time I create.

There is something about having a son come home from a 2 year mission that makes a girl want to make sure that the WHOLE STINKIN' HOUSE is perfect for him. Dan-the-Man thinks I have lost it. I have made him clean out every drawer in his desk, his hunting storage closet, the garage, his clothes closet. He is beginning to feel like Cinderella. Tannon is currently asleep on his bed at 3:30 in the afternoon. He didn't have classes this morning so I put him to work hauling out all kinds of things to the trash and to storage. I have exhausted him. Dawson has been lucky enough to not have had a spare second this week to help me, what with school, basketball, and choir. But, he is in for a day of workin' until he drops tomorrow. Lucky boys! I think I have them wishing that Easton was not really coming home in FOUR DAYS ( The countdown continues...)! Kori has been an angel and spent so much time helping me WILLINGLY! Everyone needs one daughter!

Anyhoo, back to the scrap room. It's CLEAN!

Things I Love about my Scrap Room:

• my little cubby hole closet
• my ikea bookshelf full of stamps and dimensional elements
• my wall of paper!
• my iMac
  

Things I Would Change about my Scrap Room:

• It would be bigger (of course!) for more goodies and would have more wall space for current projects and photos of the people I love
  
• I would paint the walls a color that is more inspiring to me than the current golden color on the walls. I LOVE this color for a family room where I want to feel all cozy...but not for a scrap room where I need to feel energetic and inspired. I think I would paint it a color like Close To My Heart's delicious Sweet Leaf.
• I would take out the black furniture and accents and stick with all white
• I would do hardwood floors and a large area rug instead of wall to wall carpeting

Well, I'm off to get ready to go and watch Tannon play a basketball game. GO KNIGHTS! Dawson's team played three games this week and won them all! Dawson scored 22 points yesterday! WOO HOO! Tannon and the Knights played our cross town rival on Wednesday night (American Fork High School) and won (67-47. Tannon had 18.). I'm crossing my fingers for another big win tonight.