Guess who's BACK?!?!?

Hiya friends!!! I'm FINALLY back!! and hope to be posting on a regular basis again!

Wow, it feels like i've been away for months, but really it's only been nearly 2 months! I'm happy to be back and getting crafty again! i do have some creations in the works so come back tomorrow (or maybe the next day) to see what i've been working on... but today, i share with you one of my best creations this year...

my miracle baby..... friends, meet my son Keenan!! he's almost 2 months old.... gaining weight and very strong, he overcame his first obstacles of life... healthy as ever now... so this is how i've been spending my time... with the new man in my life... (sorry hubby, i bumped you down a spot, LOL... jus' kidding)...

i'm enjoying my time with my lil' man... these moments are precious and because he is our last, i'm just totally enjoying his every move, every cry, every sound, everything.... i know i'm going to miss having a baby this small around the house once he's grown....


and mommy is already introducing him to crafting... LOL... when he's up, he'll spend some time with me by my side while i craft... no complaints, unless he's hungry...


THANK YOU so much to everyone that sent well wishes, blessings, gifts, love and support our way!! Your friendship is very very appreciated and your kindness leaves an everlasting imprint on my heart... Keenan and i even got to meet some sisters i've met in blogland for the first time!! Thank you ladies for coming to visit us and give us your support!! These sisters knew i was down and out while my son was in NICU so they were sweet to come and spend some time with us... =D... we were bummed we didn't get to meet everyone on Oahu, and i apologize for not keeping in touch, but our real concern was getting healthy and coming home! We were away just too too long...


Now that Keenan has some kind of daily schedule, i can fit in craft time whenever possible... so i look forward to sharing and inspiring you again! Thanks again for being patient with me!! but i'll say it again... I'M BACK!!!! wooohooo! LOL.... really, it does feel really good to have a pen in my hand again... for now, toodles and check back for a sassy creation...

Announcement: Special Delivery!

Aloha Friends!!! Yes, i'm still around... i know i've been missing since last week, when all my trauma started... Last Tuesday i was admitted into the hospital with contractions and my doctor made every effort to stop it.... However, in the process, my body managed to develop other sicknesses, which lead my doctor to send me to a specialized hospital because i was only 33 weeks gestational.... Under close care at Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children, they managed to treat me for my first sickness that had been causing most of my pain, but, could not stop the labor contractions... as labor contractions continued i developed preeclampsia, another scare for my pregnancy... after realizing that the doctors could not stop my contractions and preeclampsia was present, they decided to deliver baby.... so, i'm proud to announce my special delivery:

Keenan Shigeru Kanalupaehonua Palakiko

was born 08.09.10 @ 1:34 am ~ 5lbs. 10oz. and 18in. long

yes, my bundle of joy has graced us with his presence... because he was born at exactly 34 weeks gestational, he is under care in the NICU (neonatal/newborn intensive care unit) but is doing extremely well... i look forward to a speedy recovery for myself and my son so that we may return to our home and our family... being away from home this last week has been tragic and i miss my darling daughters dearly... an ocean of tears separate us right now, but with faith, we will be together again soon!!

I want to THANK YOU all for leaving such sweet well wishes and congratulations comments and for the emails of support and care... Thank you to Kim Yu for putting on a wonderful Surprise Baby Shower Blog hop for me!!! i have browsed the hop and want to THANK everyone that participated for sending such loving joy my way.... i cried (and cried again).... it was also a big surprise to see my friends particpate along with Lollipop Girls... THANK YOU so much girls for the unconditional love and support!!! when much better, i will hop along the hop again and leave my love.... but i guess the surprise was on all of you.... what coincidence baby wanted to be born on the same day as your surprise for us!!!

with my announcement finally made, i'll be off from crafting for a while... hope to peek in and sneak some commenting here and there to all of you but no promises as i really want to get better, make sure my son gets stronger and go home.... so no crafty posting from me, but i will try my best to still come around and check out your awesome inspirations.... LOL, lots of pain meds so if i missed to say anything, i'm sorry... i don't intentionally mean to forget... well, time to get going so, i'll see you soon!!!

Meets and treats and in betweens...

Tuesday Morning Laziness!!! yep, that's me.... LOL.... Holy moly, my weekend went by so fast... lots of running around and prepping, not much sleep, last minute happenings, celebration and then back to school!! phew, i'm surprised i didn't already collapse... hehe.... but i did enjoy the weekend!!!

Finally got to meet a good friend that i met a year ago when i first initiated my blogging adventures.... She and her family came to visit Hawaii from California this summer and we had the pleasure of spending some time together.... Thank you so much Colleen for visiting with us!!! Here's a pix of my family and Colleen's family on our Maui Ocean Center adventure on Saturday...

Our kiddies enjoying their time together as well... haha! they're looking all over the place....

Colleen and I at the end of touring the ocean center.... can't really see my big belly... hehe.... this part of the island was a little windy, although the sun was out, i was in good comfort with the breeze...

Colleen surprised me with this RAK.... she knew how much i LOVED the embossing folder she used on one of her cards that she sent to me and got me my own!!! i was SO excited and happy!!! and i can't wait to create with it... look at that beautiful flower she made too... and that card is so adorable! Thank you VERY much Colleen!!!

My baby shower was on Sunday and for some reason my camera went missing that day... so i have NO pictures of that to share with you... =( i have to see what pictures my sister took and try and get some from her.... but all in all, even without the camera, we had lots of fun among good company.... everyone had thrills playing the clothespin game... remember those clothespins that i tied ribbon to?! anyway, everyone had a clothespin and the secret word was "baby"... so if anyone heard you say the word, they could steal your pins.... oh my did we have good laughs with that one since here in Hawaii, we call almost all the kids baby... my oldest DD had the most pins at the end of the game... a total of 8 she was able to snatch... fun, fun, fun! Food was yummy and family and friends made it extra special... we were showered with lots of loving gifts, but the most special was just having everyone there....

Yesterday marked the first day back to school for my DD#1!! and i made an effort no matter how tired i was or how wobbly i walk to take her to her first day of 2nd grade... i think she was ecstatic about that as well! She said her teacher is really nice and that she thinks she'll enjoy the new school year... i hope she does too.... school really matters... among all the exhaustion i still had to clean up my big mess from opening presents and go through the gifts and make a list of things we still need... mission accomplished and now it's just picking up the last necessities we don't have and prepping for baby to arrive... i'm pushing my self to get into nesting mode... last night ended with a nice dinner with Colleen and her family before they leave Maui today... only one missig was my dear hubby who is off island again for work... but it was nice to spend one last time with the Kwan family... Thank you very much for dinner Colleen and Benson!!!

Now that most of my stress is relieved, i hope to find more time in the craft room.... with only my baby (ok, she's not a baby but a toddler) home with me i think i can manage keeping up with the house and having some me time too... there's so much i want to do.... just not enough time in a day... but wow... i think i've shared a lot with you and should be letting you go now.... eek!! sorry, i can go on and on... haha!

so before i let you run off into blogland, be sure to check out the new blog at Lollipop Crafts and play along with our debut challenge!!! it's an easy one so why not?! okay.... toodles for now!! and some big hugs too!!

Lollipop Crafts Debut Challenge!!!

{{Please scroll down for TGF Anniversary Hop!! Thank you!!!}}

Happy SWEET Monday!!! I am super excited to announce the debut of a new challenge blog, Lollipop Crafts!!! Yes, after lots of planning to get it on it's way, the Lollipop Girls are extremely happy to bring you our very FIRST challenge!! Be sure to head on over to the blog and get all the full details on how to particpate... Let me give you a few...

Challenge #1 - Anything Goes, is issued by me!! so, ANYTHING goes!! Just create anything your heart desires and make sure you link your creation on the Lollipop Crafts blog... what's more?!? There is a prize at stake... so if you want a chance at winning, make sure you play along...
Thank you very much to MelJen's Designs for sponsoring our first challenge!!! It is definitely a Sugary Sweet prize that is being offered... and another HUGE THANK YOU for allowing the Lollipop Girls to use some images for their creations! Wow, we are ecstatic with your generosity!!!

Time for my debut creation.... something I hope will make your day extra sweet
Please visit the rest of the sweet Lollipop Girls and show them some love... links to their blogs are on my sidebar... and don't forget to check out the new blog too!!!

Have a SWEET sugar filled day!!!

Happy 2nd Anniversary to THE GREETING FARM!!!

If you've reached my blog from the master list over at the TGF Blog, then you are well on your way through the hop... And I do hope you are enjoying all the sprouting around the farm in celebration of a wonderful and special day... If not, I do recommend you start your hopping from the TGF Blog!! Don't want you to miss out on anything...

Let me start by saying "HAPPY 2nd ANNIVERSARY TO THE GREETING FARM!!" Thank you so much for all the farming and fun and new sprouts!! It has truly been another FABULOUS year and I am looking forward to many more to share with ALL the friends of the FARM!!! Wooohooo!

I won't take up anymore of your time... I know there is a lot more awesome creations you need to check out, so here's a few of mine in celebration for this awesome farm rockin' hop!!!

Now head on back to the TGF blog and visit the next blog on the list!!! Have loads of fun and be inspired!!! Thank you SO much for coming to check out my creations!!!

Happy 2nd Anniversary to The Greeting Farm!!!!

Baby Shower Galore!

My, my, my!!! where has all my time gone?! Is it really Thursday?!? LOL, i've kinda lost track of the days... eek!

i do apologize... i'm sure you'll all be queasy over all my baby shower sharings... hehe! but it's all i've been working on for the last week, and all i've got to share with you for now... busy, busy bee... i'm just hoping that some of my creations will inspire you should you ever need to host a baby shower... so let's get going 'cuz this post has a lot of sharing.... =D
my fingers were so sore after making up these clothespins for one of the games.... i wanted to add those cute plastic safety pin favor thingys to this but decided not to after seeing that the curling ribbon did it's job giving this some color... simple... i like that... haha!
as of last night, i officially finished these fillers... wrapped all 50 pens and put them together in those juice containers i saved up... stuffed the containers with some candy for weight so it doesn't topple over, and then stuffed the pens inside...
with some scraps, i managed to cover up these baby food jars... this is another game to be played and the jars looked really ugly once i took off the labels... it was nice to use my scraps for something... and i'm eager to see if the guest can guess what baby food these are....
here's a game my mom always does... guess how many eggs (candy)??? LOL... yes i'm keeping up with my theme... some what... made a band to give it some color... i still have to add my Mommy Anya stamp to it... but first i have to color her up... right now it looks really plain...
again... theme, theme, theme.... here are some of the prize bags for the games... simply added some DP to make them a little bit cuter...
and last but not least... my washcloth candies.... these were too small to make into lollipops, and because i bought a bunch i didn't want to not use them... so i turned them into little candies (like those peppermint candies) and we'll just scatter them on the tables....

i'm almost done with everything... i think the only thing left is to wrap up the centerpieces... thankfully, there are only 4 so i should whip right through it.... prizes are all wrapped... favors are all done... games are all ready to be played... phew... did i cover my portion of what needed to be done.... although a little stressful in trying to complete the crafty part of my projects, it was fun to create and keep my hands busy... tonight is another night of crafting... this time, i hope to work on my cards.... hehe! but i think i need to clean up my craft room first!! hurricane Kris ran right through it... LOL...

off to complete my missions... and i hope to bring you some creations other than baby shower things soon! hehe!! Have a fantastic day!!!

More Baby Shower Things...

Oh my!!! i've been really slacking on posting on my blog.... ahhhh! but for the last week, i think i have a pretty good excuse.... as my baby shower approaches this Sunday, i've been busy busy putting things together.... sorry, for the lack of creations... i didn't have any time to play along with card challenges last week.... =( i'm feeling the withdrawals.... but i did get crafty in other means of creativity... and today i'm ready to share a few with you... so here's what i've been up to.... this pix here is some table fillers we'll have... i didn't make these, i just filled them with some lucky (strawberry flavored) candy... my aunty bought these premade from the craft store... i really wanted to dress them up with more of a baby theme, but time isn't as friendly with me... that's what i get for being so last minute.... haha!

here is one of a different type of table fillers... as in one of my previous post where i had washcloth lollipops inside, we changed it up a bit and are going to use these to hold the pens i've been making... same technique using recycable powder juice containers i've saved up... i covered it up using the DP i used for the invitations... this too is lacking an appropriate dressing, but again, i've just run out of time... maybe at the very last minute i'll be able to get some stamping on here...

this pix is a close up of the pens.... i glued blue bears to the bottom of the pen and used tissue paper (plain and shiny) and wrapped it around the pens... i'm sure you've seen the ones that people have flowers on it, but it is in celebration of a boy and flowers just didn't stick with me... LOL... not for a boy at the least... =D

baby shower favors... i used my sizzix pillow box die to cut out these cute little pillow boxes... again, i kept with the theme and used scraps of the same DP i used for the invites and created me own bands... then we printed some labels thanking those who will be joining us for the shower... and these are filled with chocolate kisses.... SWEET!!! hehe....

we've also been busy wrapping the prizes for the games.... here's a few that i was able to wrap up this weekend... all sorts of prizes that i hope are useful for those that win them... =D

there is still much more to do before the celebration... a few more prizes need to be wrapped... a few more favors need to be made... i ran out of bears for the pens and need to pick up a few more and finish those too... but all in all, everything is coming together really well... i'm super excited! especially to be among family and friends... once i can bump these out of the way, i can get back to card making... i really want to jump from this to that, but priority is the baby shower first!

wow how i've missed you all here in blogland... i know i haven't been the best at keeping up with your blogs lately and commenting, but i'm looking forward to checking out what i've missed once the craziness settles down a bit... please bare with me as i try and get things done... being almost 8 months pregnant with a huge belly, i'm just limited to what i can get done... and of course time plays a huge factor as well.... a few reminders before i head off into my day...

Lollipop Crafts DT Call ends tomorrow 7/27, so if you haven't already, go and check the blog out... and try out for the DT if you fancy another challenge...

a BIG THANK YOU to Cyn at Munchkins for having me join her DT... i hope my creativity and style does her proud!!! i'm SO excited to be creating for her.... =D

alright... enough ramblings... heading out to appointments and errands... hope to be back later to share more things with you.... have a SUPER WONDERFUL day!!! and THANK YOU for always coming by to visit!!! =D