In Memory of Jasper

My dear friend, Michelle, lost her beloved Jasper on Monday.
I just wanted her to know I am thinking of her and know how much it hurts to lose a fur baby.




MY FOREVER PET

There's something missing in my home,
I feel it day and night,
I know it will take time and strength
before things feel quite right.
But just for now, I need to mourn,
My heart -- it needs to mend.
Though some may say, "It's just a pet,"
I know I've lost a friend.
You've brought such laughter to my home,
and richness to my days.
A constant friend through joy or loss
with gentle, loving ways.
Companion, friend, and confidante,
A friend I won't forget.
You'll live forever in my heart,
My sweet, forever pet.
-- Susanne Taylor


I'm so sorry for your loss, Michelle.

hugs,
Jane

My boys

I realized that this was never posted last night so I'm going to send it through now.
I'm sorry for the delay! It's sort of crafting related... more like proud mommy moments. :)

My boys are rough and tough, silly and goofy, adorable and cranky, crazy full of energy... all at the same time. They never cease to amaze me.


I just wanted to share a couple of things that I am so proud of that each of the boys did this week... aside from being told that my 4 yr old has a swing like Tiger Wood's. Seriously? Get outta here! lol!



Keiji came running to me, very proudly showing me his first written words.

Here he wrote his name:

Here Keiji sounded out and wrote "CAT"

Now how cool is that?!

Last night, my husband showed me something Ken had "secretly" worked on in his room for about a half hour. Get this... a pop-up card! *thud*

He's in Kindergarten and he's making pop-up cards better than me!

Frightening.

Oh, hey! I found a couple of pictures of Keiji's first week of golf lessons.

He has been begging to play golf since he was about two years old. I thought he was too young then. I waited until he was sure this is what he wanted to do. I don't golf much . My father loves the game but can't really play any more. My in-laws go golfing regularly. Maybe it just skipped a generation but the kid's a natural! :)

Thanks for letting me share!

hugs,

Jane

Happy Birthday, Keiji... and a MFD winner!

I can not believe it!
My baby is 4 today!
I am so grateful for the time that I have with him in preschool this year.
I teach the 3's program at MACC (Moreland Area Community Center - Eastus Campus) and I have to say that having him in my class has helped "slow" down time a little. I feel like I have been able to spend good quality time with him that I wasn't able to do with Ken when my oldest was a toddler... something I regret.

So here he is with his first 4-yr old birthday card in the mail from Kevin's Aunt Mariko and Uncle Ray. In the background, you can see the poster that the teachers and children at MACC drew for him. :)



I will have more pictures from Keiji's birthday later tonight!


Hero Arts (last week) had a birthday challenge.
Here is my card...



I didn't realize I had a Sparkle Clear Set called "Sweet Moments" until I was going through my stamps. I thought it was a fun set to work with for the birthday week challenge. :)

I used paper from Imaginisce (Summer Cool "Chocolate Double Dip), stamped on Pink Pirouette (SU) and layered that on Close to Cocoa. The images were stamped in Rich Cocoa (Memento) on the pink cardstock and again on Pure Luxury white cardstock.

Copics were used to color in the images (R27, R29, RV10, RV11, BV04, E51, BG10, blender pen). Images were cut out and I used a glue pen and red glitter on the hearts of the cupcakes. Edges were distressed with a sponge dauber and Chocolate Chip (SU). I pierced the edges of the Close to Cocoa cardstock and wrapped both pink/brown layers with linen thread. Everything was mounted with pop-up dots.


Now for my MONDAY'S FUN DAY WINNER!!

The winner of one beautiful Hero Arts heart stamp and red chalk ink pad....


Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

11

Timestamp: 2009-02-10 17:33:33 UTC


That would be...
chinamomxtwo said...
I like the CPS challenges.
Love the card--great Heart! and I need that ink!
Thx for the chance to win

CONGRATULATIONS!!

Email me at: jane.matsumoto@sbcglobal.net!

Have a happy day, everyone!

hugs,
Jane

Happy 102nd birthday, "Uncle" Harry Katsuyama!

My father's uncle, Harry Katsuyama, celebrated his 102nd birthday!
It was a wonderful gathering of his immediate and extended family members.
My second cousin, Jana (and Paul) invited everyone to their home for the celebration.
I had a fabulous time catching up with my second cousins, Jana and Sean, and their parents, Jane and Ron.

Kevin and I are not yet in this picture but here are the rest of the family:



I took the picture with my Sony Cyber-shot.
The rest of the pictures are still on my Christmas present from Kevin.



It turns out that the memory stick is not compatible with my computer, so we have to get a external card reader first. Believe me, I was totally floored by this most awesome gift! :)

It's 3:40 in the morning and I'm finally starting to come down from all of the excitement from the family reunion. I'll get to the craft table after catching some zzz's and will post another card or two so come back again later tonight!

Cheers!

My grandmother passed away

I don't think there's ever a good time or way to say goodbye to a loved one. Unfortunately for my mother, she didn't really get that chance. Her mother passed away on Wednesday in Japan and she has been trying to get back home ever since for the funeral. My grandmother was in the hospital for many weeks and her health quickly deteriorated over the weekend. The funeral is today. I think my mother will be going back for the 49th day service and I'll try to join her. I always thought I would be able to take my boys to Japan to meet their great-grandmother. I always thought there would be more time.

I'm rambling now. It's kinda how I have been feeling.
Big apologies to all I owe projects to and pictures will go up later tonight of January's classes at Memories Live On.

Will be back with another post shortly.

Treats... no tricks!

Well, as always, I am a little behind but still wanted to share a few pictures from yesterday.

A card to share...


A nugget holder...


A spider in a bag...


The spider out of the bag...


A little basket of treats for a friend...


Mrs. MacDonald & Ken:


A few good punkins:


Spiderman


Yoda


Cousins undercover...


Piper fell asleep before making it out the door, so she was unable to join the Matsumoto cousins for this year's trick-or-treating with Papa. However, I wanted to share this most precious photo of her with you!



Hope you all had a very Happy Halloween!!

~ Jane

All About A Boy named Keiji...

My 3 year old started preschool last week in my classroom.

I just wanted to share some pictures of his first day with you.


Standing proudly in front of school sign!


Cutting and pasting...


There's no stopping this preschooler!


Legos, blocks, now puzzles... oh my!


Home at last! What's this? A card from Giulia?



What a day!!


Thanks for enjoying Keiji's first day in preschool with me!

Hugs,
Jane

First Day of Kindergarten!

Yesterday was the big day! Ken is officially in Kindergarten!
I wanted to get this post up yesterday but was emotionally and physically drained.
Needless to say, it was just a really long day! lol!

I have a bookmark and a flap card to share, but before I post those later tonight, I wanted to get these photos up from the first day of Kindergarten.

You will see that his best bud, Spud, has decided to keep him company on this very special day.

Ken and his dear friend just found out they are going to be in the same Kindergarten class!


New backpack and outfit from Obaachan and Ojiichan!


Walking together with our neighbors to school!


Meeting Mrs. M. for the very first time!


The proud parents!


Hope everyone had a terrific summer and a wonderful first day back to school!

Introducing Piper...

Sunday morning, my little niece was born.
Her name is Piper.
She is 4 lbs and 13 ozs...
I had bought several preemie outfits and they will have to be returned because Piper is 17.5" long! The sleeper I bought was for up to 17". lol!

This is a picture I took of a picture from a camera... can't remember if it's from Shawn's camera or my mother-in-law's camera.



I will keep the rest to myself for now since it is all quite personal and I am sure, very difficult for Kari and Shawn... they will have to go home without Piper tomorrow since she will be in NICU for the next couple of weeks.

Thank you all so much for your sweet thoughts and words!

hugs,

102.9 and 104.5

102.9 and 104.5 - not local radio stations that I'm endorsing, but the fevers that my youngest and I endured yesterday and today.

He got the chills mid morning and went down for a nap, which is pretty unusual for him. He woke up screaming and when I went in to check on him, he was like a heater to the touch. I took his temperature and it registered at 101.7. It just kept climbing until he hit 102.9. It was pretty scary but the doctor's office said that there was a viral thing going around where the fever hit with a punch and then once you could break it, then it goes away just as quickly.

That evening, both my husband and I started getting that achy feeling and sure enough, we woke up feeling dizzy. He never got the fever... lucky him! Unfortunately, I did and my fever hit 104.5 before it broke. No fun!!

Before I got sick, I got to play with my new Unity stamp set, Sweet Baby Boy.
Verve, a new member company over at SCS, is having a Starry Challenge until Tuesday, July 8th (Midnight ET)



Inside view of the card:




Stamps: Sweet Baby Boy
Paper: Certainly Celery, Barely Banana, Whisper White
Ink: Certainly Celery (Craft), Barely Banana, Apricot Appeal, Bashful Blue
Accessories: 1-1/4" Square punch, 1-3/8" Square punch, 5/8" Certainly Celery grosgrain ribbon, Gelly Roll Stardust, Stampin' Dimensionals, sponge daubers


Happy Stampin'!

Oh, BABY!

This past weekend was my sister-in-law's baby shower.
It was so much fun preparing for it!
I was a little lost in that it was my first and probably only baby shower ever, but I think it turned out nicely.

The baby shower invitation:

Onesie Card Tutorial by Lauren Meader

My beautiful sister-in-law, Kari!


The favors:

The baby block holds a white chocolate mint truffle from See's. The square scallop inside the bag holds three Ghirardelli chocolate squares. The topper with the scallop circle is a See's pop.

The Strawberry Gingerale Cupcakes:



The Diaper Cake!



I can not wait to meet this baby! I have a niece, then there's my oldest son, then my nephew, and then my youngest son. So there has been three boys in a row. It will be SO much fun having a baby girl around! August... it's just around the corner!

Okay now...stay tuned for more!
I will be back later with the recipe for the Strawberry Gingerale Cupcakes and a general "how to" for the diaper cake.

Cheers!