I’m Paper Pumpkin . . .

I come to your door each month (a fully decked-out creativity carriage). I’ll help you to escape your life with some paper fun.

I come in a sweet box, but you’ll really love what you find on the inside:

All the stamps, ink, paper, and accessories to create pinable projects. Create stuff like cards, journals, décor, and more!

Paper Pumpkin by Stampin’ Up! is a new monthly kit program that anyone can enjoy!

Get Started

It’s so easy to get started. Contact me, Jen Jacobsen, and I will get you all signed up! Every month a new, surprise project kit arrives at your doorstep. Just think of the anticipation of creating a fun project to pin, showoff, and share with your friends and family-every month!

The very first Paper Pumpkin will arrive on your doorstep starting in March-if you sign up before March 10.

So here’s the nitty gritty:

• Each month Stampin’ Up! will send you a unique, surprise kit with a project-cards, journals, décor, and more! (We’ve even color-coordinated, measured, and cut everything for you!)
• Each kit includes stamps, ink, paper, and accessories-everything but adhesive.
• Each kit gives you a 30-minute creativity escape.
• Stampin’ Up! will ship your Paper Pumpkin on or around the 15th of the month.
• You need to sign up for a kit by the 10th of the month to get that month’s kit. If you sign up on the 11th of the month, your first kit will come the next month. (Let’s say you sign up on May 10th, we’ll send your kit around May 15th. If you sign up on May 11th, we’ll send your first kit around June 15th.)
• A Paper Pumpkin membership is $19.95 per month (and shipping is included!)
• There’s no commitment, you can cancel your monthly Paper Pumpkin at anytime. You can also skip a month if you want.
• Starting in early March, Stampin’ Up! will offer a Try-It kit if you’d like to try Paper Pumpkin for one month.
• Mom’s these are also great projects to do with your kids. Please contact me if you are interested, thank you!

I was so impressed with the girls,  they just jumped right in without any inhibitions. The entire experience was just priceless and a memory I will treasure forever.

I love capturing my kids smiles when they are with their friends.

~Friends are such a gift.~

The fun part about this particular maze is that they add a fun twist and also made it a game of Clue. There was a game sheet with a list of things we needed to find throughout the maze. You know you have finished if you found all but three items. These remaining items will tell you Who the suspect is, Where they are and What tool they used to commit their crime.
A couple of times we ran into the boys and the game was pretty even, the last time we ran into them, we were getting tired and each only had a couple more things to find. Comparing notes we each had the things the other team needed. Of course, we girls were able to give them good directions to find what remaining items they needed but in true boy fashion, all they could say was, “it was over there, somewhere!”

The boys did finish first, but we girls persevered and finished not too long after the boys.  I was so impressed with how well all of the kids did.  I look forward to doing it again next year.

We got together over dinner one night and it was like we’d never been apart.The coolest thing is that our kids hit it off instantly!!!  The boys were off playing Wii and the girls were off being silly, playing games and crafts.   We are so thankful that we could all hang out and get along so well, looking forward to more fun with the “H” family.

Did I mention she makes killer cupcakes???

We won our first three games on Saturday and were headed to the finals on Sunday – woohooo!!!

Kip won his first round in horseshoes and also went to the finals.

The same family beat us in BOTH tournaments, luckily they were half our age!

We headed to archery next, where Kip and Hayden taught me how to shoot!  I was hooked, we had so much fun!  It was so fun to bond with my boys this way!!!

I felt like I was a kid again as I ran from one activity to the next right along with our kids.  Of course, I am not as young or in shape but I had fun anyway.   The Zip Line was next on my list…and we were off!!!  Unfortunately we ran out of free time that day for Hayden and Kip to get a turn but Gillian and I had fun!!!   Gillian so much so that she went back the next day and took a few more Zips down!!!  She was so stinkin’ cute!!  I cannot even bring myself to post pictures of me – tee hee, but I did have a blast!

We met for Chapel two times each day, we all started out together and then the kids and parents broke out into their own segments.  The speaker was great, had lots of great stories and many wonderful nuggets to hold close to my heart and ponder.

The kids loved the little bit of freedom that they had at camp.  Playing with friends, exploring, learning new things.  What a blessing!  The tire swing was a huge hit with our kids, we always knew if they were not with us, they would probably be at the swing or carpet ball tables.

Loved this time with my son.

Saturday night we went for a moonlit hay ride – what fun that was!

Lunch at Manitou Lake, canoeing and hike back to camp. I truly think that God gave us the gift of time, how was it only lunch?

Sunday night was Square Dancing night, we were all exhausted and were pretty sure we were just going to watch but some where, some how we got a fourth wind.  Could only have been from God because we were tired and sore and it was now 8:00 PM.  The kids were mortified that we were going to actually do this!  BUT…..in the end we all had a blast and sad that it was over.  What a work out, I tell you.  I think we all would love to start square dancing with our kids.  Man oh man were they cute. Gillian and her partner Owen were so precious, it was hilarious going through their teeny, tiny arch in the Virginia Slide.  I hope that my Hayden has some good pictures of this because I did not have my camera with me.  Grab yer partner!!!!

Right after that….smores at the campfire and then bed! But not before we, Russell’s had to continue on our reading streak, day number 400!!!!

We wind the weekend up with a parents vs kids water WAR!  Parents are in the trailer armed with hoses while the kids have water balloons and guns!  It was hilarious!!!!  After that pool wars and canoe races!

Oh what an adventure!!!!  I loved this time with my family!  Thank you God for this HUGE blessing!

Our family weekend was full of fun, laughter, extending ourselves spiritually and physically, making new friends and building upon old friendships.  It is truly amazing how much fun we packed into 3 days.  I know that we all slept well and very hard last night!!!

God was showering His love upon us this weekend, as I was going through many of my photographs from this weekend, it is as if God wanted to be included in our pictures.  The beautiful golden rays of His warmth were in so many of my pictures, it can transport me to those exact moments and fill me with joy!

The forecast where we were staying was to be cold and rainy, however it was cool in the mornings &  evenings and warm during the day.  Perfection….a reprieve from the heat we have been experiencing all Summer.  The view, spectacular; mountains, trees, blue skies and families.  Young and old alike, generations, new traditions and a feeling of belonging.  Not wanting to leave but looking forward to returning.  So thankful for this time of renewal with my precious family.

What filled our days?

I will start a new post for that as there is so much I want to remember.

Unfortunately I am at one of those crossroads.  The journey deepens and it seems we are about to enter into the ‘tunnel of unknown’.  The place where I covet your prayers that can provide the light to guide me out safely.

I pray that I will not bore  you with the not so glimmering parts of our life, this is real life, real fears, real emotions.  I am thankful for God, my family, my friends.  We cannot do this stuff alone, I have learned that leaning on those dear to me lifts me up and can provide the encouragement needed to keep the darkness manageable.

What’s going on?  Well, I will share all that I know at this point.

Late last year my dear husband finally went to the doctor for a pain he has been having for a long time.  After several tests and scans and more tests and scans, they are fairly certain my dear Kip has Sarcoidosis.  His Pulmonologist has been treating him with steroids and we go back in on Monday for another CAT scan to see if the granuloma’s have decreased in size and numbers.  In the meantime blood tests have come back that have indicated other auto-immune diseases but we are to find about more about those in August when Kip sees a Rheumatologist.

After finding out about the Sarcoid, and dealing with that, the pain symptoms had been put on the back burner.  Until a few weeks ago when Kip went to his primary doc and then referred him to a nerve doctor, whom we saw today.  She pretty much thinks his pain is nerve related but needs for Kip to have an MRI to get better pictures of his spine and the nerves.  I am praying (we would welcome you to join us) that it is the best case situation with the nerves.  After lots of research and in talking with the doctors it is very likely that Kip could have Neuro Sarcoidosis.   Which is a more invasive and serious type of sarcoidosis that can move into the brain and other organs – hence the lungs.

As a wife, mother and woman  you can imagine the tailspin I took this morning when we connected all of the dots.  Father, God I need you.  I need you for strength and understanding of all of this.

To go through a rough year and a half with my mom in and out of surgeries and hospitals to move on to my husband who is so young, full of life and vibrant, has really changed my life.  It is so hard to watch the people that you love suffer and endure such a journey.

Clearly most of those changes in life are positive and great.  I cling each day to the blessings of life and to the creator who gave me this life.   I surround myself with people who bring joy, love and encouragement naturally. I love being around selfless, genuine, spirit filled people.

If you have read this long post and are still with me, thank you so much for being part of my life, dirty rags and all.   Pray for my precious husband and that we will get good news and not the dreaded news we are expecting.  Pray for me to surrender my fear and live each day in faith.