The Scrapping Abyss

Intentional Design

2010-06-21T20:38:00.000-07:00

I recently finished a class over at Scrapgirls.com called Intentional Design by Anna Mansfield.
The class was awesome; I would highly recommend it for anyone trying to take their scrapbooking to the next level. Or if you are impatient, lol, buy the book since I don't know when she'll offer the class next: Intention Design ebook I believe if you buy the book now, but later want to take the class for the interactive element (and comments/help from the teacher), they will subtract the cost of the book (as it is partly what Anna teaches from.) Anna comments on each and every homework assignment for everyone, and all class members can see everyone's comments...so not only do you learn from the comments on your own, but you can learn from the comments posted on other members' layouts as well.
The next four layouts are my homework from class:

The mood I am hoping to achieve is peacefulness. soft, cool colors, gentle curves, cursive font...
Journaling: I am so glad that at least you are so peaceful. Daddy was horribly sick with strep throat for your first week of life, Christopher was home from school a lot due to cancellations from the snow & bitter cold weather, and Christopher and Michael predictably fought. You, on the other hand, fussed only when hungry, slept reasonably well, and charmed us all. Grandma helped hold everything together with her tender loving care.
Anna Mansfield Intentional Design Class
Erica Hite Chic Embroidery and Chic Embroidery 2
Valerie Randall 2 Health
Brandy Murry Peaceful
Thao Cosgrove Haven
Thao Cosgrove Dynamic Brush Drawing 5701
Erica Hite Fabric 5401 Patterns (used to make the yellow paper look just like baby's blankie)
Keri Schueller Vintage Nursery Collection Biggie

Mood: This is one of those "everyday" type photos...no particular story attached, just a nice relationship/family photo. Perhaps contentment would be an actual mood to describe this?
Angie Briggs Dress Up
Angie Briggs His N Hers
The white paper was 12 x 12...I just didn't think it looked finished, so I clicked on the top layer, held shift down, and clicked on the bottom layer to highlight them all, then with the move tool, I held down shift AND alt (holding alt down while resizing makes the center of the object stay stationary) and dragged down just a little. Then I placed the super busy, otherwise overwhelming paper behind the white...POP:) I really liked the look; you can bet I'll be doing it more and more!

I had fun on the mats for this one...25 pixel inner stroke on the photos, created new layer with just the stroke on it, used Amanda Sok's icicle style on that and added a drop shadow.
Thao Cosgrove Having Hope (brackets and "SNOWMAN")
Amanda Sok Icicle 6401 Styles (photo mats and on the snowball circular element)
Amanda McGee Jolly Elf (snowman)
Keri Schueller Beautiful Winter (background paper)
Jan Hicks Coin Folder Chip Styles (on the brackets)
Amanda McGee Sketchy Outline font
Sarah Batdorf Basic Shadows styles
Katie Pertiet Winter Wonder Brushes (circular snowball fight)

I hope the silly and short-lived nickname on the page doesn't offend...I didn't think William was protected enough from the sun with just his hat, so used his enormous tea-towel burp cloth underneath his hat to shield his neck and sides of his face better. DH apparently thought he looked like an Arab, thus the name:) I've mentioned before, DH is much better at coming up with good SB page titles than me! ;)
Mood: I was going for "maternal care and concern"...though the nickname is silly, I didn't really want a goofy page for this one. William's eyes are so sparkly and blue in the picture that I wanted a little more of a serious look than I first thought of when contemplating the title. I hope it works...let me know what you think!
Journaling: Since we spent quite a lot of time hiking in South Dakota, Mommy had the creative idea to use your burp cloth to keep the sun off. Daddy came up with the funny nickname.
Valerie Randall Batik (wax alpha)
Melissa Renfro Inspired and AYO Inspired
Keri Schueller Zipper Flowers
Sarah Batdorf Basic Shadows

Long Time No See

2010-06-09T13:21:00.000-07:00

Yikes it's been a long time here. Hope somebody still has me in their feed after all this time! Otherwise I'm posting to thin air. Well I hope this was worth the wait. I'm posting a bunch of paper pages (and 1 related digi page) that I've completed in the last few months. I really have been on a scrapping roll, and that means less posting here I guess.

Family news: Christopher (7) lost his first tooth 2 days ago, and his second tooth came out yesterday...yes, two days in a row! Poor busy Tooth Fairy! This week is Vacation Bible School and I am one of the tribe leaders. The theme is Jerusalem Marketplace and it's a lot of fun. Today among other things we washed real sheep's wool and tomorrow we actually get to meet the sheep! The boys were thrilled they got to make a wooden hammer (mallet) in the carpenter's shop, and tomorrow they make a flower box...with their hammer. They also used the hammer in the leather shop to make a bracelet with punched designs.

William is hanging out in the nursery this week. He is finally expanding his vocabulary and starting to grow a teeny bit more hair (cute little bald guy). His favorite words are still THIS and THAT and Dada (I am Dada as well as Jeff), but he is in fact capable of saying Mama too:) Today he said a 2-syllable something that could pass for thank you when a man gave him a sucker (lucky boy). Christopher got his hair cut and they ALL got suckers...great scam;) He loves to say CHOO CHOO whenever he sees or hears a train, and he said NANA when he got home (banana).

One of my favorite sets of photos with Daisy:)

Labor Day at our neighbors house. They are grandparents and have some rather cool toys our boys don't, so guess who LOVES to play at Kathy and Kevin's house?! Heehee. Here's Hulk Michael jumping on their trampoline, having a blast.

This one was done for an informal challenge at Scrapgirls to post a layout about how much we love their site...since I agree, and had the perfect photo, I posted this one. I'm posting it here to show I like Kathy and Kevin's place too, lol...yeppers, that's me jumping on their trampoline. I was quite the gymnast in my younger days, lol.
I am jumping for joy that I found Scrap Girls! A digiscrapper’s paradise!
Ariadna Wiczling Fleeting Moments
Ariadna Wiczling Herbal alpha
Ariadna Wiczling Freehand Coloring style
Theresa Kavouras Patch it Up paper templates
Valerie Randall Batik alpha
Sarah Batdorf Basic Shadows (color match)
LD Perpetual, papyrus, and the king and I fonts

This one is for my friend Amy. "Bigify" (tm Janet) it to read the sticker and the caption in the lower right. Her son Gray:)

I completed this one way back at our retreat in February. Gina had an awesome challenge where you had to put the entire alphabet and/or the numbers to 10 (I think I remember this correctly, but not swearing to it) on your page, and I think it added to the fun. I circled the ages of C & M and added the title, MUD, around the corners of the collage. I like how it turned out! They were FILTHY after playing in the mud pit, otherwise known as the swing set next door, after a hard rain.

A page of my dear friend Kris, who along with Jeff was my labor support person for both Michael and William's births. And curiously enough, as the journaling points out...Michael and William share a birthday with each other AND with Kris' dad. Kris and her brother have the same birthday. Things that make you go HMMMMMMmmmm....:)

Full Swing

2010-02-25T20:50:00.001-08:00

I hope my scrapbooking is back in full swing, however, I can't always count on the little boys to nap together. Plus, Michael is 4 now and doesn't always take a nap. I was proud of myself to head downstairs today, even in the cold basement to do some paper scrapping. I finished off a few pages that just needed journaling. I had started them at the annual crop I attended earlier this month with some girlfriends in Des Moines.

Well before show-and-tell, how about a little family update? :) We'll start with the littlest guy...William is 13 months old and is trying to figure out how to RUN already. He has the walking thing down pat now. Oh, and as of today he can climb up on the couch. (Please say it isn't so!!) He figured out how to get on the coffee table last week. Once up, he dances around and generally gives us a heart attack. So far he's only fallen off once, when neither Jeff nor I was in the room. He wasn't hurt, thank goodness. He seems bound and determined to do everything at an earlier age than his brothers (except grow hair).

Michael is fighting a cold and cough this week. The preschool teacher wondered if I could pinpoint what activities we'd done the night before or how we'd done our morning routine b/c he was so calm, serene, and grounded on Wednesday....yeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh...he was just getting ill:( (Mental note; Michael behaves better when subdued by illness) He's getting more interested in Legos but is constantly forced out of the room for inadvertently (well usually inadvertently) breaking creations Christopher made.

Christopher is apparently a perfect angel at school and is doing very well in his studies, especially reading. Yeah, I'd like to see the perfect angel a bit more frequently at home;) He just turned 7 last Friday. The weather and Jeff's bronchitis curbed our party plans a little. Due to some GOOD cold meds, Jeff was able to do the friend party at Perfect Games here in town. I stayed home with the little boys while Christopher and friends whooped it up on pop and cake, bowling, air bouncing, and gaming to their heart's content.

Summer 2008 trip to the Des Moines Science Center
I am VERY near to being totally done with 2008!

The first and only time I've seen a praying mantis in the wild. Daisy was acting very peculiar in the backyard so we went out to investigate and found this!

More bug stuff from 2008. I actually did all these paper pages while getting ready for and packing for the retreat a few weeks ago. I still need to upload the pages I did at the retreat itself! :) It's been a papery sort of month!

Jessica Sprague's Pen Tablet class

2010-02-24T20:10:00.001-08:00

I tend to take most of Jessica Sprague's digital classes...haven't hit one yet I didn't absolutely love! This one is no exception. Although I was already quite adept (if I do say so myself) at using my Wacom tablet as a mouse substitute, there have been several things I either didn't know how to do, didn't know existed, or thought I didn't want to do that I have now done and liked the results. One of those was to use my own handwriting on the tablet. I thought I didn't want to do that, and was pleasantly surprised to find that I might even actually do it again after class, lol. One thing I didn't know existed was pop-up menus...let's just say that if you own a tablet or are thinking of owning one, once you have it, you NEED to take Jessica's class:)

Here's the week 1 layout:

Created completely with class materials and a Google map. This is the infamous marching band trip from July 1988:) We won 3rd place in the 4th of July parade in Washington DC...even in the next-larger class than we should have been in. ALL of my pictures from this trip totally suck you-know-what! Most of my decent mementos from this trip are post cards.

Week 2:

Made during Jessica Sprague's Wacom tablet class.
Includes handwritten journaling, handwritten doodles, leaf overlay made with various brush techniques made easier using the tablet, chipboard swirl (IRL) traced using the tablet, and bird traced from artwork paper using the tablet
Jessica Sprague papers, etc
Crystal Wilkerson circle tag
Misty Cato Farmer's Market wooden frame
lstock artwork...extracted the bird from a paper
Katie Pertiet photo frame on right
leaf overlay made my little 'ol me, using instructions from Jessica Sprague's class
stereofidelic, outlaw and AL Serenade fonts
Journaling around frame is my handwriting (using the tablet, of course)

Week 3 was photo editing using the tablet. This was an awesome lesson (no corresponding layout). We were given 2 photos from Jessica to work on with the video lessons. I learned some editing techniques and new tools with this lesson; totally worthwhile. I wouldn't normally put this much effort in to all photos...these are special techniques to really make a good portrait great.

Week 4: Just finished this one up today. The final layout from class:

Week 4 layout template from Jessica Sprague Tablet Fun class
Jessica Sprague: brown paper, swirls and stitching
Dani Mogstad Frosted Flakes circle paper
Bittbox watercolor brushes
Clementine sketch font
Heather Roselli Big Top striped paper (somewhat recolored)
Cheryl Barber Stitching and Holes styles from Scrapgirls.com (soon to be retired:( )
Rhonna Farrer Perfect Pets embellishments
Chatterbox Phonebook and CK_Ali's Handwriting fonts
I usually tend to do the class layouts fairly closely to the original. For this one, though, the photos I wanted to use didn't go at all with the paper selections Jessica used. So I picked different ones except for the solid brown. She also had us do a really cool extraction with some flower photos, but that didn't fit my theme either. The Rhonna Farrer dog freebies really worked well though, whether I needed the tablet to use them or not:)
This one really has a cool photo masking technique using the watercolor brushes...love this look and will definitely use it again!

Ah...class is winding down this week...always bittersweet. :)

Local Peeps...shameless plug for my child's school!

2010-02-24T15:14:00.001-08:00

Bigify this if you want to see the details. The cost of the card is $10...if you go to Hy-Vee grocery store more than 10 times in a year, you've already "made back" the $10, as you get $1 off any total more than $25. There are some really good deals at restaurants and Great Clips too, just to name a couple.

If you want to purchase a card, contact me or go through your child's school instead:)

Bat-Party and Bug Party (all in one!)

2010-01-26T19:24:00.000-08:00

The boys had a super fun time at their party:) Both sets of grandparents, their only aunt, uncle, and 2 cousins, and "our friends with the 5 kids" were there.

Michael really wanted a bat-shaped cake for Batman. I took a simplified bat (the actual logo would have been way too difficult) and cut it out of paper. I cheated and used a cake mix, froze the cake, and cut it using the paper pattern (sprayed with Pam so it wouldn't stick to the cake) while the cake was still frozen. The frosting was more difficult as this was a super crumbly cake, so I finally had to resort to using a pastry bag and frosting tip (which I have no idea how to use professionally, lol). Anyway I thought it turned out fine, and Michael certainly thought it was cool and that's what counts:)

William's cake is my signature made-from-scratch carrot cake, but baked in small Bundt pans instead of one big cake. I'm not sure if it was Christopher or Michael who insisted on the second candle for William's cake. I know to pick my battles and it didn't bother me at all. One of the grandmas thought it was funny/weird and that we would later wonder why there were 2 candles at his first birthday, lol.

Little Boys' Birthday

2010-01-26T13:39:00.000-08:00

These are from the actual day, January 12. We started out the day with Michael at preschool. In the Waldorf tradition, birthdays are very special. So Jeff and I spent most of the preschool day with him (and William too:) Michael wore the special birthday crown and cape, and kept waving a cute, shy little wave at us from across the room. Then he crossed the bridge and sat with us to listen to the rest of the birthday story and open his nature-based gifts from his preschool friends. One example (which I need to photograph) is a little walnut boat with a straw mast and paper sail.

At the end of the preschool morning, they spend about 30-45 minutes outdoors. William had his first sledding experience with me and tried to walk in snow for the first time. Unfortunately his snowsuit is just fleece and not waterproof so I couldn't let him down for too long. Michael adores the tire swing and took turns riding and pushing/twirling it with his friends. Christopher was a little disappointed that he missed out on the preschool activities. He went to Prairie Flower also and misses it.

In the evening, my in-laws came up and took us out to eat at Hickory Park. Michael loved the wooden Indian (and his gun, lol) there. :)

Little Boys Birthday

2010-01-13T08:13:00.000-08:00

My baby turned one and Michael turned 4 yesterday! Where has the time gone?!
William is a champion walker already and adores reading books with us.
Michael loves anything superhero and has an ornery streak matched only by his cute cuddly streak.
Here are the invitations I made to their party this weekend. Pictures to follow after the big day!

FINALLY!

2010-01-08T19:40:00.000-08:00

I tend to be a procrastinator when it comes to non-scrapbooking craft projects. The last 2 days have been snow/cold days off school here, and miraculously the two little boys coordinated their naps BOTH days, woohoo! Christopher and I embarked on a craft/art project both days. Yesterday we finished our gigantic 6 foot wreath so we can hang it on the peak of the garage next year. Well, it still needs some silver tinsel garland (or ribbon), but unless I can find that in the clearance bins tomorrow, it'll have to wait for the stores to get their supplies next fall.

Today our project was something I've had the materials for since 2004. (did I mention I tend to procrastinate?) My sister-in-law found this on Martha Stewart's website (LINK) way back when and she and my brother-in-law made the candle holders at my in-law's house on Christmas Eve while my mother-in-law cooked and/or we all sat around visiting and watching 1 1/2 year old Christopher. Somehow I never got around to starting or finishing our candle holders when I finally found all the pieces we needed. Disclaimer: The photo is actually my in-law's, as we don't have candles for ours yet:) Anyway, Christopher and I made the patterns fit, glued, and glittered today and even Christopher remarked this evening that they look really good!

Our other snow day project was candy cane cookies. It doesn't bother me at all that we do some of our Christmas baking AFTER Christmas most years;) Not only do these cookies look pretty, but they are some of the best tasting cookies. I've been making them since my early 4-H years. I have no idea where I/Mom found the recipe originally, but it's in my photocopied 4-H Christmas cookie book. The scrapbooked version of it was from a Scrapgirls.com recipe swap in December.

Project 52: Final Pages!

2010-01-04T12:58:00.000-08:00

Project 52 lasted through 43 weeks over at Jen Wilson Designs. Chrissy and I were disappointed it didn't finish out, but I'm glad it lasted as long as it did! I have 43 layouts that more than likely I either wouldn't have at all or at least would have been vastly different without the challenges. Here are the the last few I haven't uploaded here yet...(our anniversary one is my favorite!)

Week 43 was to scrap something in general for which we are thankful.
JWD Dried Leaves
JWD Fall in Love Little Autumn Bits
Syndee Nuckles French Market
Syndee Nuckles Cinnamon Suede
Brandy Hackman Blossoms & Blooms Fall
Shalae Tippetts Promise
Shalae Tippetts Aged Frames
Paula Wright Thankful Collection
Amanda Sok Alluring Autumn
Shalae Tippetts Hearth
Kim's Scrappin' Turkey Time

Week #42: Lesson Learned (1 of Jeff's most excellent photos from the 2009 trip to the Boundary Waters)
Scraplifted from a layout by Thao Cosgrove at Scrapgirls.com
JWD Mango Sunrise
JWD Down Home Fourth of July
JWD Fluttering Finishes
Thao Cosgrove Tucked Photos Embellishment Templates
Michelle Coleman quote
Imagine by Fran: Lady in Purple (purple flowers & leaves)
Anita Stergiou Ray of Light (brads)
Sarah Batdorf Deep Shadow action
Candara font

Week #41: Home ...the challenge was to scrapbook at least 5 things we were thankful for regarding our home (address changed for privacy purposes)
JWD Sunburst paper
JWD Halloween holiday flower with Jan Hicks Coin Folder Chip style applied
Leora Sanford Rainbow Glitz alpha
Shabby Princess Olivia (home word art)
Brandy Murry From the Desk Of journaling spot/paint/etc.
Erica Hite Chic Embroidery (home sign)
Valerie Randall Batik (circular home sign)
JWD Buttoned and Looped Blooms flower
JWD Sandcastle eyelet/ribbon
JWD Journaling Card

Week #40: 10th Anniversary (Yep, Jeff and I celebrated our 10th this past November!)
I am so thankful to have found you, my true love. The reasons I love you have deepened over the years. You still have the same wonderful sense of humor, are considerate and loving, and are handsome and sexy. To a busy mommy with 3 boys, there is nothing sexier than all that PLUS you not only work hard at work but help at home with boys and the household. We may not have the quietest or most well-behaved household,but I’m quite sure we have the most fun and share lots of love. For this and much more, I am so very grateful. To the next 10 years and beyond!!
Cynthia Gullett Photography
JWD Laundry Line Tyler
JWD Titled Journal Cards
JWD Grunge Edges
Erica Hite Up at the Villa
Brandy Murry Mossy (love word art)
Thao Cosgrove All About Marriage
Sarah Batdorf Deep Shadow actions
Brandie Valenzuela Grungelle brush set
Cinzia Loosemore That's Amore freebie ("I love you")
Anita Stergiou A Brand New Day alpha
Font: VT Portable Remington

Week #39: God's Art (William in the leaves this fall)
JWD 24/7 Cards
JWD Caring paper (blended with photo)
JWD Fancy Edges
I really liked how the background photo turned out...I put it over a subtle painted background, changed the blending mode, and got something interesting!

Christmas

2010-01-03T19:16:00.001-08:00

Winter break has passed us by in a blur! Barring cancellation of school tomorrow for the expected bitter cold, it is back to the usual schedule in the morning (thank goodness; as of today the big boys had officially had enough of each other, and SO HAD I!)

We celebrated with Jeff's immediate family the weekend before Christmas, with our own little boy-filled family on Christmas, with the larger Borg (my mother-in-law's) family the 27th, and finally with my parents January 1. They intended to stay over on Christmas Eve as usual, but the weather in SW Iowa didn't cooperate and they were snowed in before they could get off work and leave for here.

We had a more wooden or old-fashioned Christmas than usual. I am very tired of commercialized, media-related plastic crap. Now that's not to say the boys don't love it, or that we don't allow it, just that I wanted more durable, meaningful, less violent things to abound this year. I purchased a lot of things from A Toy Garden and was very happy with it all. I also purchased from Three Sisters Toys, also a great store. Both have Waldorf roots, so very nature-based and non-violent. Ah!

Christopher actually had asked for a drum for Christmas, and received a very nice wooden one from Santa. Michael's main gift was a set of wooden castle/tower/knights blocks, and William got a wooden cash register. The big boys both wanted a Batman cave (essentially a doll house for Batman, lol) and BOTH received them from grandparents:)

Bokeh (look it up!) is apparently very popular in photography right now. The angel/nativity below is a new decoration I couldn't resist this year. I thought the photo turned out very nice with the tree in the background. Santa is also a new purchase this year.

We spent New Year's Eve at a friend's house, marred only by a huge fight between the big boys (and a mama-sized blowup in reply) right before we went over. It didn't help that Christopher had just had a private sleepover at Grandma & Grandpa's house and had had a taste of being an "only child" for about 24 hours. He apparently thought the universe still revolved around him when he got back and was in for a rude awakening.

We allowed BOTH big boys to stay up until midnight...and they MADE IT! Yikes! None of that next year, lol. We stayed up late watching "Up"...all but Jeff had already seen it, though I think there were a few scenes I hadn't yet seen. And mercifully they slept in until 8:30ish on the first!

Thanksgiving

2009-12-11T16:06:00.000-08:00

The first image is our seasonal display, including Christopher's "Winter Garden" he made in preschool. They start with a wooden board, then add clay, then plants such as an evergreen sprig, berry cluster, etc, and is topped off with a little gnome/person made of wool and a little baby. He still plays with/changes his around a lot even 2 years later:)

I found the pumpkin candle at Target, and it smells DIVINE. I bought a smaller one we kept in the bay window of the kitchen.

All three boys ate huge amounts, the first Thanksgiving they've done so. Even William sat there in his high chair and stuffed himself with delicious food:) We topped the meal off with a "drunken apple pumpkin pie" which is basically pumpkin pie with chunky applesauce inside, then a small amount of flaming rum poured over it at serving time. Sorry, no pics of that! We were too worried about burning the house down to try to photograph the event;)

Poor neglected blog

2009-12-10T19:57:00.000-08:00

I am dusting off my blog; hope I still have some readers out there to see;) Let's see, what have we been up to? Oh yes, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and most recently: MAJOR snowstorm and cold snap. Yes indeedy, winter has definitely made its appearance!! Christopher has had 2 days off from school due to 12+ inches of snow, then the bitter cold.

Some explanation regarding William's turkey costume below...Jeff started calling him our little Butterball when he first started getting chubby around 3 months of age. I got the notion to find him a turkey costume for Halloween, and found this one on Ebay. It still makes me giggle:)

Due to an illness in the family, our Thanksgiving plans abruptly changed the evening before. So we ran out to buy a turkey and invited my parents and in-laws here to our house. Between the things we were going to take and the things Mom and Dad were going to take to the extended family get-together, we had about everything we needed:) Including a good excuse for not having deep-cleaned the house before company arrived;)

Thanks to the enormous snowstorm and 2 days off from school for Christopher, we now have all of our holiday decorating done. And I put in a huge photo order online today, including enlargements of the family and each boy for us and grandparents. So I'm feeling pretty productive and think I might just kick back for the rest of the evening, heehee. Or perhaps I could kick back with a cookbook and think about cookies; Christopher keeps asking if we can make some Christmas cookies...

Busy Day

2009-10-29T08:06:00.001-07:00

Today is a busy day! In other words, I should be doing what I need to do and not posting on here;) The preschool Halloween party is this evening (figures that it would rain heavily today). I have a pumpkin pie to bake, a cream cheese jack-o-lantern to make (cream cheese ball for dipping crackers), and pea soup to get in the crock pot. 5 people need to be costumed and at the party by 5:40 tonight to finish setting up for 6:00. There are supposed to be multiple stations outside (good luck with the rain), including pirate me, "Sea Salt Mommy" unless someone can come up with a better piraty name for me, lol. I will have a bucket of dry ice for effect, and a treasure chest of beads for all to choose from.

The Jen Wilson challenges have been dwindling a little:( So here are a couple pages I've done recently for me and/or my friend Amy.

Ami Collofello space kit
Art Warehouse title
Jan Hicks Coin Folder chip styles
Amanda Sok Ponder (solid paper)
Heather Roselli Spaced Out (purple rickrack)
I "pimped" the title quite a bit. The base is a chipboard rocket from Ami Collofello, unchanged. The words were primary colors with no outline from Art Warehouse. First I gave them a white mat outline, then I deleted the white part that was underneath the letters. I gave the white part a chipboard style to raise it up and make the letters look embedded in. Then I changed the blending mode on the primary colored letters. Now they are darker with texture...ah:)

Yin template
Amanda Sok Alluring Autumn
Amanda Sok Folded Flowers digital stickers
Syndee Nuckles Cinnamon Suede
Sarah Batdorf Color Match shadows

Happy Fall Y'all :)

2009-10-22T11:32:00.001-07:00

William is now a FAST crawler and of course is curious about all the stuff in the house he couldn't get to before...we deal with tipped over dog water, constant reminders to everyone to keep the bathroom door shut, etc. Our dog now knows how to scratch to ask for her water, lol.
As of this week he is saying his first word other than mama and dada, which he seems to say purposefully as well. Dah, dah heheheheheh, he says this every time he sees a dog IRL/book/statue :)

This is more a reminder to me than anything: Christopher surprised me by announcing that he doesn't want Santa to bring him Legos this year. He wants a drum! I casually (hehe) asked him more questions and he wants a bongo/hand drum. I think I even know where to find a cool one! They usually sell them at our preschool's holiday fair, which we are not having this year. But of course the teachers will know which vendor was selling them and I can contact her. Oops, I mean Santa can contact her...

Michael loves preschool and has made good friends with Maddy and Madeleine:) Sofia doesn't like it when he scares her, and he and Landon tend to fight a bit. And an undisclosed person bit him one day and he still talks about it. I can only feel a tremendous sense of relief that he was BIT, not the BITER :) He was very disappointed around 10am today when he asked if he was going to preschool and I said this wasn't a preschool day for him.

We had family photos taken a couple weeks ago by a good friend of mine I've known since high school. She is in the Kansas City area. Visit Cynthia Gullett Photography for a sneak peek!

Week #38 Jen Wilson challenge. We had to pick a Book of Me question we liked from a website and I chose "If I could change the world" and was supposed to list 3 things. This awesome oak tree is out at McFarland Park for all you nearby readers!
If I could change the world:
1. Reverence for nature
2. Love for your fellow man
3. Peace for all
JWD Forest Glen
JWD Graphic Tagboard No 2
JWD Project 52: Dated Stamp Circles
JWD Zachery striped paper
JWD Complete Boy stitching
Brandy Murry Mossy Collection Biggie
Amanda Sok SSTools Wires 6401 styles
Melissa Renfro Downtown Brush Set
Keri Schueller Patternologie
Cheryl Barber stitching style
Trish Jones circular word art

Jonah learned to knit this summer when he broke his toe. One of the first things he made was this adorable hat for William. Jonah was offended that William didn't wear it (in August) so I made sure to put it on Will's bald little head on our trip to the apple orchard in October. All the other preschool moms wondered who made his hat and I pointed at Jonah each time.

Week #37 Jen Wilson challenge to SB a meaningful item of clothing.
JWD papers from: Nostalgia No 7, Sunburst, Mango Sunrise, Breaking Free-Rush Mountain
Template from Heather Lee
JWD Shimmer Edges overlay
JWD Doodlepad Pages (heart/love)
JWD Laundry Line Buttoned Looped Blooms, Laundry Bag Strings, and Garment Tags
Dragonwick font (title) and Amethyst Zucchini (journaling)
Brandy Murry Knitting Basket style

Latest Jen Wilson Challenge pages

2009-09-28T12:45:00.001-07:00

Week #34: SB about growth
I used the challenge of "growth" a tad bit loosely...I'm talking about birthdays here but never actually mention getting bigger, lol...
Journaling: William arrived exactly three years after Michael was born -Who would have ever thought we’d have two children with the same birthday?! After all, no important event happens 9.5 months before January 12;) This phenomenon seems to run in the Murray/Meyer family. Twins Ron and Ruth were born on Great-Grandma Darlene (Murray) Meyer’s fifth birthday. She married Great-Grandpa Bud Meyer, whose birthday is four years and 364 days before hers, Their third child, Great-Uncle Gary, was born on Grandpa’s birthday.
VT Portable Remington font
Jessica Sprague template from Beautiful Evidence class
JWD Laundry Line Zachery (stripe and blue)
JWD Academy English paper (brown dot)
JWD Fading Days circular tag
JWD Rekindle (yellow dot)
JWD Nostalgia No 3 chipboard word art

Week #33: SB the start of something new
JWD Academy Phys Ed (red and brown striped paper)
JWD Canvas Backpack Labels
Syndee Nuckles School Edge Paper Templates
Melissa Renfro Star Bright styles (silver spirals)
Dani Mogstad It's Elementary word art and buttons
Katie Pertiet Art Class Frame
Angela Barton Sixteen (alpha paper)
Sarah Batdorf Color Match shadows styles
Sweet Blossom School Days (ruler ribbon)

Week #35: SB something you learned
Christopher was elated when it was his turn to bring Starry home for the weekend. Starry has his own light blue backpack he travels in, complete with his journal (which we turned in to a scrapbook by adding a photo). Each child brought Starry home one weekend in the fall and again for one weekend in the spring semester. It was so much fun to see how far Christopher had progressed in that short amount of time. By spring semester Christopher was able to phonetically spell out several things Starry did with us all on his own. I started and finished the process with him. Starry even attended cousin Joe Borg’s wedding with us in Pella. So he really is a well-traveled elephant! Michael always loved saying hi to Starry in Mrs. Fisher’s classroom, even the next year.

JWD Beginnings Solids
JWD Complete Boy 01 and 02
Heather Roselli Life's a Circus
Raspberry Road elephant (lower right)
Carina Gardner Back to School Titles
Angie Briggs Dirt Road (stitched star)
Circus font

Week #36: SB a fall page, using the color orange
JWD Laundry Line Xander
JWD Little Autumn Bits
Katie Pertiet Stacked Photo Clusters
Summer Driggs Gratitude title
Doreen Stolz autumn tree, ribbon, fastener, and buttons

Daddy Love

2009-09-24T12:27:00.000-07:00

Gotta keep going on the tiny baby William pages so I can get to the Big Boy William pages:)

Scraplift of sjford0419 at Sweet Shoppe Designs
Dani Mogstad Father Knows Best
Sarah Batdorf Deep Shadow actions
Sarah Batdorf Color Match styles

By now William (also called Will or "The Will") is pulling himself to standing, doing a little walking around hanging on to furniture, has his first tooth (bottom right) as of this past Saturday (luckily was only grumpy for a day), and is on the verge of crawling:)

The Meeting of the Brothers

2009-09-18T12:12:00.000-07:00

A just-because-I-love-these-photos layout:) (In other words, not a challenge for a change!)

One technique I did for this layout was to select the portion of the focal photo outside of the smaller frame and apply a gaussian blur. I wanted to include the larger portion of the photo, in part b/c you can see my hand and arm around both boys, but I also wanted to keep the focus on their sweet little faces.

Dave & Pauline had just arrived in the snow when Jeff returned from getting the boys from Dan & Amy's house. M stopped by the bassinet to briefly glance at William (who of course was still New Baby/Mr. No-Name then), then both of them greeted Grandpa & Grandma, then C settled in on the window ledge with Jeff's iTouch to play games, completely ignoring the baby. Michael took a nice turn holding William at his own request and commented on how he had little ears, a little nose, etc, then tried to TAKE the baby by himself over to Grandpa, because he hadn't had a turn yet. After C played games a bit and after Grandpa & Grandma left, C wanted to hold the baby constantly. He held even his head alone, very gently. M looked on for part of the time but especially C was very interested in baby's little parts...he gently moved his hat aside so he could examine and touch his ears, see how much hair he had, touch his nose, etc...was very interested that he had no teeth (gently moved his lips so he could look, and William very cooperatively opened his mouth wide), and both were VERY interested in his belly button and its very recent function. The really fun part was that William was awake and checking them out most of this time also.
Amanda Sok Sea Glass
Keri Schueller Tiny Love -Boy (frame)
Thao Cosgrove Emb Templates: String Fling
Cheryl Barber Paua Shell styles

Garden Project

2009-08-29T20:49:00.000-07:00

So first up, an explanation of this page: I'm taking Jessica Sprague's "Beautiful Evidence" class right now. It's a 20 page album and right now we are in the "me" chapter. Each page starts out as a complete layered template from Jessica and unless you change things up, you add the suggested pages from the included kit and then just plug in your own photos. I like the way she did things, so I'm not bothering to change much of anything (except the shade of green on this page, it didn't match!). I LOVE that I have the 20 templates to use again and again. For those of you who aren't digi (yet, evil laughter): It's like a Becky Higgins/FLeck/whoever sketch on STEROIDS:) Oh, and the pictures here are mostly from 2006.

Ok, on to our garden. The original 9 (!) cubic yards of mulch has almost long since disintegrated, disappeared, composted, whatevered, so I had 4 cubic yards (still "!") delivered on Friday. Michael (and me too) loved watching the dump truck dump it on our driveway and talked about it all day to anyone who would listen, including the teachers and other moms at school when we picked up Christopher that afternoon, lol.

Normally the grass is Jeff's domain and the flowers mine (and each of us is firmly convinced he/she has the worst end of the deal), but Jeff kindly agreed to help with the backbreaking work. He hauled the majority, I spread the majority, and I'd say we're more than halfway done. Just the center section of our huge garden area in the backyard, the smaller close-to-the-house section of the backyard, and the very small west side yard left to do. I also got a ton of weeding and a bit of trimming (hoping for a normal, not early frost!) done today. Already have the waste management called to come get the yard waste on Monday. Whew!

For anyone left reading: Any ideas on rabbit-proof fencing? I'd like an absolutely rabbit-proof fence around my huge garden to the north of my house. The bunnies like my burning bushes (although they are larger now and not quite as tempting), basil, lianthus, and "miniature hollyhocks" and will kill them if I'm not careful. Jeff is not really keen on the idea of having to put in such an expanse of fence so I'm thinking I might hire it done either this fall or next spring. If I could REALLY rabbit-proof it, I could grow lettuces/spring mix and save a bundle of money, plus have petunias (which I adore but cannot grow except in a pot b/c they won't last 12 hours with the damn bunnies) again!

Week 31 and 32

2009-08-23T21:07:00.000-07:00

Week 32: SB the values your parents passed to you or that you will pass to your children.
JWD Complete Boy paper
JWD Nostalgia 1 ribbon
JWD Messy Mended Circles
Brandy Hackman Mod Bungalow striped paper, torn alpha, and "good memories"
Meredith Fenwick September Afternoon alpha
Amanda Sok Ponder torn border
Syndee Nuckles Cinnamon Suede flowers
Katie Pertiet Curled Journal Spots
Pea Kristin font

Week #31: SB a day in your life
Katie Pertiet Ad Challenge 8/22/09 (template)
JWD Benjamin paper
JWD Academy solids paper
JWD Laundry Line tied hanger tag
JWD Clear Day alpha
Tracy Ann "First Love" (metal star)
Angie Briggs Dirt Road felt circles

I hope you can read the journaling on this one...just commemorating all the chattering DS does on the way to the neighboring town where I belong to the YMCA and exercise. I put our whole typical school day routine at the bottom.

Might as Well Catch Up!

2009-08-09T20:59:00.001-07:00

Week #25: This week, create a layout telling us about your current fashion style. Do you dress to the shoes every day? Do you lounge around in your sweats? Does your high powered job require you to wear a sassy suit, or maybe even a lab coat? Tell us about the real you!

Your layout must include at least one of each item:
Photo (maybe of you, maybe not!)
Frame
Button
Shade of Blue
Handwritten font
Journaling - because we NEED to know why you dress the way you do!

Journaling: WIth my bright red hair I tend to be drawn to similarly loud and fun colors in my clothing, though I have my fair share of neutrals in my closet as well. This home brought me my life-long dream of a walk-in-closet, which I have organized by dress clothes versus casual, and ROYGBV order. If I were richer, perhaps I’d indulge in a few more trendy clothes, but I do like my fare from Target, Eddie Bauer, Christopher & Banks, and even (gasp) Goodwill. I do love a good bargain, though will not spend inordinate amounts of time looking for one. I wouldn’t have the faintest idea where to shop in a large city. Someone would have to show me. Actually, that would be fun to have a (free) personal shopper to show me the things that would look best on me and help find bargains:)If it’s not comfortable, youwon’t find me wearing it!I was so sad when The Savvy Shopper closed here in Ames. It was a small, locally-owned outlet store on Main Street and had SUPER trendy clothing at deep discounts because it was the last of its kind, or a sample, or whatever. God I loved that place and most of my “modern” dress clothes and many of my favorite casual clothes came from there. My favorite is my pair of lime green Italian suede mules. Jewelry-don’t get me started. After no jewelry purchases for at least ten years, I went wild after being invited to a Premier Designs, and later, a Silpada jewelry party. LOVE my lime green jewelry (complete with ring).
JWD Messy Mending stitching
JWD Being Collection (live out loud)
JWD Totally Girl (frame)
JWD Project 52 Unchartables Paper set
JWD Laundry Line Garment Tags
JWD Beginnings Hand Coloured Bloom Starters (flower)
JWD Delighted (buttons)
Pea Kristin font

Week #26: Everyday duties
JWD Gracie -background paper
JWD Little Agendas
JWD Complete Boy stitching
JWD Nostalgia 1 -lock
Diane Miller Cozy -house
Brandy Hackman -Pressed Petals (freebie)
Melissa Renfro Well Loved -purple paper for letters
A Work in Progress (Vicki) -Great Outdoors tag alpha and staple
Ck Becky and Cooper Light fonts

Week#27: Scrapbook a gadget you just can't live without
There are some distinct advantages to having a PA mama handy at all times. So far William has had a clean bill of health, but I have prescribed antibiotics for Christopher and Michael when they had ear infections. Thank goodness for my otoscope!

JWD Caring paper and ribbon
JWD Daily Dose Prescription journaling block
Erica Hite Love Always lace
Brandy Murry Ephemera stitched lace
Valerie Randall 2 Health otoscope, physician assistant, and ear infection word art
Raspberry Road Take Care (medical symbol)
MA Sexy and CK Becky fonts
My own handwriting on the Wacom tablet

Week #28: This was supposed to be a "why you love your family" aka sappy (lol) layout but I had JUST done a family photo page with a bunch of journaling. So I did mine event-oriented:) Part of the challenge was including journaling on why you love your family, so the journaling is a bit different than I'd normally put on a vacation page:
We’ll never win an award for the calmest familiy, or the most well-behaved, but I love our zany adventures and wild spirits and the fun we have (in between breaking up kid fights that is:)
We began our South Dakota adventure in Dinosaur Park, full of fun statues to explore and climb. We enjoyed the walk up the hill, the views to Rapid City below, and the fact that it’s a rare FREE tourist attraction:)
JWD Graphic Tagboard No 1 (dinosaur word art)
JWD Nostalgia No 1 (cream paper)
JWD Laundry Line Zachery papers
Melissa Renfro Extinct Collection
Brandy Hackman Retro All Boy brads
Jan Hicks Coin Folder Chip Styles
Scrap Orchard I'm with the Band button/string
Heather Roselli Keep Out string tie

Week #29 at Jen Wilson Designs: Scrap your favorite summer food(s). I think you should be able to read the words, if you are so inclined, if you "bigify" the picture:)
JWD Photo Masked Starters
JWD Complete Boy 01
JWD Beginning 02
JWD Laundry Line Fern
JWD Totally Girl 01
JWD His Tuesday Attire
JWD Picknicks Summerish Word Stickers
ScrapGirls Relax (lemonade, watermelon and ribbon, picnic basket)
Erica Hite DaddyO freebie (grill)
Amanda Sok Nostalgia photo mask
Dani Mogstad Happy Camper (cookout)
Dani Mogstad Fun in the Sun (popsicle paper)
Carina Gardner Parisco A La Carte Word Art (ice cream)
Amanda McGee Country Garden (seed packets, tomatoes, bucket)
Nitwit Collections All Fired Up (ribbon)
Sarah Batdorf Deep Shadows action
Ribbon ties from: Robin Carlton Huckleberry Ice Cream, Brandy Murry Ephemera, Scrap Orchard freebie, Amanda McGee Happy Family & Jake & Emma, A. Slagle Happy Camper, Eva Kipler Inner Wild Child

I'm a Camping Widow

2009-08-09T20:46:00.000-07:00

Jeff is off on (I think) his 5th annual cousins and uncles trip to the Boundary Waters (BWCA). Christopher is going along for the first time. Several other cousins have brought their boys at around that age. Why not girls/wives, you ask. Well let me tell you...supposedly what happens in the BWCA stays in the BWCA, but I've heard JUST enough about bodily function noises, snoring at night, and purported mooning (and I'm not talking about the sky) that I don't think any of the women in their right minds would want to go.

Now that said, I LOVE what Jeff has said about the NATURE aspects of the BWCA and I would indeed like to go with my own family someday! :) The boys left 7am Friday and won't be back until sometime late next Saturday. I work ALL weekend at the ER next weekend so won't have much of any time to hear their stories right away:(

Michael is enjoying his time away from Christopher. They are really good at fighting with each other. Knock down drag out wrestling, hitting, pinching, yelling, and fighting over toys and privileges. Not fun. So while I miss Christopher, I do NOT miss the fighting! It's been quite peaceful here, actually:) I can only hope absence makes the heart grow fonder and that they might appreciate each other more when they are back together *snort*

William definitely misses them both. C spends a fair amount of time talking to and playing with Will, so I am putting forth more effort at keeping him entertained:)

Badlands

2009-08-09T20:45:00.001-07:00

For week #30 over at Jenn Wilson Designs (scrap a vacation photo, use color yellow, a button and/or butterfly, 4 patterned papers, and a mask instead of a frame)
JWD Laundry Line Tyler
JWD Rough Beginnings word art
JWD His Road Trip
JWD Signs of Summer
JWD Project 52 Slightly Imperfect photo mask
JWD Complete Boy
JWD Camp Out
JWD Tagboard (compass)
Katie Pertiet Notebook Edged Photo Mask
Erica Hite Bookworm alpha (tabs)
Misty Cato Chatty alpha (black button alpha)
Cheryl Barber Sew Simple Embellishments
buttons from:
JWD Delighted
Brandy Murry Ephemera (also the key)
Brandy Hackman Persian Breeze
Shabby Miss Jenn Little Buckaroos

Layouts and Miscellany

2009-07-24T22:01:00.001-07:00

We had a delicious day! I realized last night I had WAY too much chicken thawed out, so invited friends for dinner. Ginger chicken, marinaded and grilled tofu, stir fry mostly local veggies, margarita (I see no problem with this combination), yeasty beers (I don't get the yeast thing, but the men seemed happy with it), and brownies for dessert. And I hope our kids didn't rot TOO many brain cells in front of the Wii for 3+ hours. Jonah broke/dislocated his toe (long story) so he's not up for much other than sitting around in his cast, thus our laxity in the amount of computer time.

This is from our trip to St. Paul last summer. One of my favorite set of photos from the year!

Irene Alexeeva Dreamer in Me (cloudy background, newspaper swirls, circular word art)
Valerie Randall Avalon (mushroom, flower, greenery)
Jen Wilson Designs (oval turtle word art)
Katie Pertiet Snap Frame Brushes No. 4
Kristin Aagard Turtle (title, ribbon and frame)
2peas scratchy toad font
Jan Hicks Coin Folder Chip styles
Heather Roselli (right turtle)
Kimberly Cameron Exploring My Backyard (left turtle)

Photos from the Children's Museum in St. Paul, story pre-dates the phtotos:

12/07: Christopher said, “Hurray, pesto for lunch! Mommy, can we please have dumpling squash too?” You gotta love a child who is excited about eating vegetables! Up until almost 2 years, Michael would eat almost anything. But then he developed a “vegetable detector,” as in, no vegetables allowed past these lips! 9/07: Michael accidentally ate a lima bean in a bite of pasta...shhhh.Fast forward to Jan/09: All of a sudden M ATE the broccoli on his place and pronounced it delicious...have aliens replaced our son?!
Amanda McGee Country Garden
Shalae Tippetts Aged Frames
Melissa Renfro Lifted Photos: Weathered
Sarah Batdorf Basic Shadows styles (color match shadow lends a beautiful realistic shadow that reflects the background color behind your object)
Brandy Hackman A Little Worn Out (stamped letters)
Brandy Murry Nuts & Berries (lima beans seed packet)
Candara font

Give a Hoot

2009-07-12T13:52:00.000-07:00

I've got a couple pages left to finish from last spring, but otherwise am working hard on last summer's photos now. Need to post pics of some paper pages and projects too! We've been motivated this weekend: some highlights include Jeff put up an umbrella-style clothesline I've been asking for, and prompted by a messy tie-dyed t-shirt (who knew it would bleed WHILE he was wearing it?!?!), I shampooed the living room carpet this morning. As noted on Facebook, Jeff spent at least an hour pulling around 30-40 POUNDS of thistles from our neighbors flowers and yard. The wife has been gone for almost 2 months visiting family out of the country, and they didn't know much about gardening to begin with (she's asked for my assistance when she gets back), and we were tired of thistles growing on our property, so Jeff took them up at the source!

This has to be one of my fastest digi pages to date, but I really like how it turned out. This is a just-because page, not a challenge page:)

I've always been fascinated by owls, and remember dissecting owl pellets at summer nature camp in Cass County as a child. Heather led the "Nocturnal Raptors" day at McFarland Park and even 18 month old Michael paid attention for awhile. The owl is his favorite animal in the "Clifford's Animal Sounds" book. We even got to dissect pellets again, and Christopher kept the bones we found. We've heard great horned owls several times out our windows at home and I even saw one on top of Maha's house next door in the night--HOOOOO, who who who HOOOOO!
Heidi Larsen Hootfest June
Michelle Coleman Boho Flourish Brushes
Jessica Sprague photo mask
Bottled Fart font (love the font, if not the name, lol)

Just For Fun

2009-07-08T21:56:00.000-07:00

As seen on Janet's blog...play along if you like!:) I'd love to see all your answers as well.

1. What is your current obsession? Scrapbooking…isn’t that always my obsession? ;) (DH might argue my obsession is purchasing Scrap Girls supplies, but I plead innocence)
2. What is your weirdest obsession? Some might say scrapbooking on the computer is a rather weird obsession…
3. What are you wearing today? At the moment, my owl pajamas
4. What would you eat for your last meal? Our yummy steak/veggie kabobs with slightly spicy marinade
5. What's the last thing you bought? See number 1
6. What are you listening to now? Silence!
7. What's your favorite ice cream flavor? S’Mores
8. If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished, anywhere in the world, where would it be? Hm…in my dream world, Tuscany! But realistically, Ames…does it come with an interior designer too? I want it painted and decorated and landscaped too, lol
9. If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go? Only for one hour? Almost not worth it, but anywhere in Europe.
10. Which language would you want to learn? Like Janet said, Italian may be impractical, but it’s my dream language. Practically, Spanish. The interpreter who volunteers at Free Clinic is most excellent, but it would be so much easier if I could just talk to the Hispanic patients myself.
11. What's your favorite quote (for now)? I’m not too much of a quote person…
12. What's your favorite color? purple
13. What is your favorite time of day? evening
14. What is your favorite piece of clothing in your wardrobe? Well not for summer, obviously, but I’m really into cords lately.
15. What is your dream job? ? A PA job in a totally revamped health care system in US?
16. What's your favorite magazine? none
17. If you had $100 now, what would you spend it on? Pssst: see number 1 again!
18. Do you admire anyone's style? Scrapbooking-wise? Lots of people, but I’d have to say Brandy Hackman at Scrap Girls
19. Describe your personal style. Scrapbooking-wise? Eclectic.
20. What are you going to do after this? Should consider going to bed.
21. What are your favorite movies? Don’t really have one. I’ve seen Shrek more times than I can count though…and that was pretty much BEFORE I had kids, lol
22. What's your favorite fruit? Blueberries, strawberries, Honeycrisp apples, peaches, cherries, grapes, pineapple, I think you get the picture…
23. What inspires you? Scrapbooking-wise? A good collection or kit of items, or a great photo…
24. Do you collect something? Um, yeah, see number 1 yet AGAIN!!

Vacation

2009-07-05T21:39:00.000-07:00

Other things we've been up to:
We spent almost a week in the Black Hills area of South Dakota and survived (and even enjoyed) the experience. We actually weren't even sure we'd get there with 3 kids;) We had contingency plans to stop in Atlantic (my parents), Omaha, or Sioux Falls if we didn't think we could get clear there due to crying, complaining, fighting, etc.

We drove through the night, leaving around midnight. Christopher briefly woke up when we put him in his car seat but settled back down again pretty quickly. We reclined his seat just a bit to help him keep comfortable. Michael slept straight up in his full car seat. C uses a booster now so of course the back is just the seat of the van. William had no problems sleeping in his car seat. All of them awoke when we stopped to get gas around 4:30am, and Michael and Christopher were still awake until around 6.

The first day we ate brunch at Perkins when we got to Rapid City, checked in to our hotel, and went to Mount Rushmore. This was pretty much the most touristy thing we did all week. We didn't even go to Wall Drug;) Jeff & I would have liked to do the whole walk at MR, but it's 250 steps according to the sign and the kids were dragging by then. So we left to drive the Iron Tunnel Road, created specifically for views of MR and the surrounding terrain. When you exit one of the tunnels cut into the rock, there's a fabulous view of MR!:) Oops, forgot to mention Dinosaur Park, the first place we went that day...there's even a geocache there (see below)
To see more photos, check out these Facebook links: Dinosaur Park
Mount Rushmore

Jeff printed out info for several of the hundreds, if not thousands, of geocaches in the area (see THIS for more info). The tunnel road contained 3 caches, and we took turns staying with 2 sleeping little boys in the van pulled off on one of the convenient turnoffs along the road while Christopher and one parent hiked up to look for the cache. Christopher quickly got into the whole hunting for the cache thing, and also became a master junior geologist. He loved all the mica, pyrite, slate, and quartz in the area.
Geocaching

We spent the next 2 days pretty much geocaching from morning til evening, returning back to Rapid City in enough time to eat a late dinner and spend about an hour in the pool before tumbling into bed to repeat same the next day. William proved very pack-and-go-able:) Friends lent us their small hiking baby-backpack (we have a larger more unwieldy one of our own) and sometimes I'd use the baby sling. We protected him from the sun and used minimal amounts of sunscreen on his exposed legs and arms.

Our final day we checked out of the hotel, went to the Air and Space Museum (pretty small), and did the scenic drive in the Badlands. We spent that night at a hotel in Mitchell, then on to DeSmet to visit Laura Ingalls Wilder's homestead from her later childhood years. Then the mind-numbing 6 or so hour drive home. I had plenty of activities along so the kids wouldn't "have" to watch the dual screen DVD player too much, but by this time, there was no way we would have gotten home without a good dose of screentime;)
The Badlands
Laura Ingalls Wilder Homestead

We got home around 10pm that night and let the kids stay up and run around and play to blow off some excess energy while we ran around putting away as much as possible as quickly as possible and start laundry. The kids were finally all asleep about midnight and we all blissfully remained asleep until 10am (well William nursed at 6 or so but went right back to sleep, lol).

Whew!

Catch-up

2009-07-04T07:20:00.000-07:00

I've been a bad blogger again...time to play catch up with the Jen Wilson challenge layouts! Participation is dwindling (to remain eligible for the grand prize you must have completed ALL of them on time), but I am still having fun with this and it is stretching my skills and forcing me to SB things I otherwise might never do or keep putting off forever.

Week 23: How does your family celebrate the start of summer/end of school? Include metal, something hanging, at least one picture, and plenty of journaling.
The basic "sketch" of this layout came from a layout Felicia in Iowa did here earlier in the Project 52 challenges. Thanks for the inspiration Felicia!:)
We spent one day of our mini-vacation at Waterpark of America. We chose the indoor park to avoid the need for sunscreen and hats. The weather was also a little iffy for an expensive outdoor park. Michael was fearless as usual and he ran us ragged going around and around and around the toddler area. Our favorite part of the large park was the waterslides. Even Michael was allowed to go down them on one of our laps in the innertube. He shrieked with pleasure even the first time down. One of Christopher’s favorite activities was the river. The water carried us along on our inner tubes and dumped us out into the wave pool. At the end of the day Daddy braved the surfing pool and did better than 99.9% of the others in line!
JWD Breaking Free: Cowabunga
JWD Whoos Halloween
JWD Merry Days Sixth
JWD Picknics Summerish Word Stickers
JWD Picknics Charmed Flowers
Shalae Tippetts Dynamic Brush Set Decorative Stitching 4901
LD Fine Print 17 font

Week 22: SB someone you admire. I'd been thinking about SBing a page about Obama anyway, so that was good timing.
JWD Double Negative
JWD Complete Boy 01 circle/star rubon
JWD Project 52 Dated Stamp Circles
Official Presidential portrait
Brandy Hackman Sassy's Stardust & Cinnamon paper
Brandie Valenzuela Grungelle Brush Set
Anita Stergiou Inauguration alpha
Ck Road Trip font

The background paper swirls and stars continued over Obama's face so I used the clone stamp to edit them out.

Week 21 Jen Wilson: SB a hybrid project. Since I'm not as in to paper crafts as SBing I chose to do a layout. The papers up top are "real", the rest is digital. I cut a slit in the sides of the photo to thread them through. The funny part, which I did on purpose, is that the paper and digital papers are by the same artist (Jen Wilson).
JWD The Halloween Holiday Collection paper
Syndee Nuckles Hocus Pocus brush set
Miss Mint Witches Brew
Fonts: CK Scratchy Box & PC Halloween
My Mind's Eye Night Light Line (Jen Wilson)-paper product (2 strips of paper at top)
Basic Grey bat rub-on
Journaling: by hand

Jen Wilson week 20 (SB pictures from the past week)
Apparently our 4 month old not only thrives on attention but is a regular lady's man;) Jeff and Dan were the only men...5 moms, 4 teenage girls, at least a couple pre-teen girls, and several younger boys...all clamoring to hold William and play with him:) And he ws extra super squealy and smily. At the end of the evening he was sacked out on Sydney’s lap with his four limbs hanging down at her sides. Dan & Amy provided and/or prepared a spread fit for kings...grilled fare galore: meat, tofu, asparagus, chimichurri sauce, sangria, and rhubarb crisp. We left hours later still stuffed to the gills.
JWD Caring background paper
JWD April Rieff Project 52 Monday Daily template
JWD Beginnings: Flourished Memo Starter

Life's Messy!

2009-05-27T13:44:00.001-07:00

My latest Jen Wilson layout...for the "What's your motto?" challenge.

The background is a photo of DS#1's perpetual Lego mess in our living room blended with
JWD Holiday Avenue paper.
The photo is DS#2 looking surprisingly like my brother-in-law, who has a real goatee Smile
JWD Serendipitous frame
JWD Love So Much (brown paper for frame)
JWD Hand Stitched Starter
JWD Grunged Edges overlay
JWD Picknics Admit One ticket
JWD Complete Boy: ink scratch, arrow rubons, and dotcircle rubon
JWD Laundry Line Stains
Fonts: Marcelle, Marcelle Swashes, Yukon Gold, CK Regal and Impact
I don't really have a motto, but I do say this one a lot...or its variation, "Life's messy, clean it up." I got it from the old old Bissell vacuum commercials:)

Family Photo Link

2009-05-16T20:24:00.000-07:00

Follow this link to see our pictures: http://maharryphotography.smugmug.com/Families

Click on Jill Purcell

I was impressed with how they turned out! I had no idea if any of the kids smiled for any of them so was excited to see that several photos had happy child smiles and/or neutral expressions and everybody pretty much looking at the camera! :) They are clearly taken chronologically. If you look at the later poses I am visibly holding Michael in the frame, lol. Also, check out frame 17 closely...what do you think Michael is holding up toward the camera? Yep, that would be his stick "gun." Oh boy...

Home

2009-05-15T20:50:00.000-07:00

Sight: Statue of Liberty: I have yet to see her, but love that she is a symbol of our freedom here in America.
Sound: Boom of fireworks: I still love to oooh and aaahhh with the children at the site and sound of fireworks on the Fourth of July.
Taste: Yummy taste (and smell too) of apple pie, that quintessential American dessert.
Touch: The touch of my family’s hugs…for they are my true home within this United States of America.
Smell: or the lack thereof. I love that the air I breathe in Iowa is clean and clear. I am grateful I don’t have to live in an area with heavy pollution and smog.

This Jen Wilson challenge was to scrap a page about "home", however I chose to define it. The page had to include journaling about all 5 senses and at least 2 circular elements. The journaling on the page goes on and on and I'll stick the rest behind the page. I included it at the bottom for your reviewing pleasure...I'll warn you here; it's more political than usual.
JWD Caring paper
JWD His Tuesday Attire paper
JWD Complete Boy stitching
Dani Mogstand Americana
Kerry Veale statue of liberty
Heather Roselli Sweet Orchard apple and pie
Diane Miller Bitsy brush (steam on pie)
Brandy Hackman Persian Breeze (numbers)
Mandy Steward Chipboard style
Jan Hicks Coin Folder Chip style
Photographer's name available upon request

It’s been years since I’ve felt patriotic to my own country, the “good ol’” USA. I briefly felt patriotic after September 11, 2001, but even before we invaded Afghanistan, I felt stirrings of unrest. Just what was with the bumper stickers reading “God Bless the USA” after 9/11? Why should we assume God is on our side at the expense of the rest of the world? Why not “God Bless the World?” I’m pretty sure the rest of the world is also in need of God’s blessing, and who am I to deny them that?
After the invasion of Iraq I felt even less patriotism than before. I did not agree with that decision of our president. While I think Hussein needed to be ousted, I do not think it was our job to invade without provocation. I thought the days of colonialism were over.
So I spent a few years mildly wishing I could become or had been born into a family in Europe (Italy is beautiful, as is their language-the Scandinavian countries have much to offer in the way of health care and paid time off for new mothers). All or virtually all have better health systems that actually insure EVERYONE.
Now that Obama is in office, I have stirrings of hope again. I think though that the job set before him is way too much for one man with limited (and thank goodness for that) power and limited time. We cannot expect to be “on top of the world” forever-all great “empires” fall eventually, even Rome did. But I sincerely hope our time has not come yet, and if that is a glimmer of patriotism, well then call me patriotic again.
We need to be world leaders in innovation, especially in the realm of energy. Can you tell I just read Thomas Friedman’s “Hot, Flat, and Crowded”? We need to revamp our health care system, preferably from the ground up. We need to cure our incessant materialism and reliance on credit. If you don’t have the money for it, don’t buy it! We need to cure our dependence on foreign oil. Why do we essentially “bow down to the enemy” and ignore atrocities simply because we “need” their oil? Why can’t we reward research and innovation to make free fuels more easily obtained and used? Regardless of global warming, it’s the smart, and money-conscious, ethical thing to do.
(Off soapbox now:)

Mothers Day Gifts

2009-05-13T21:02:00.001-07:00

Here's my mother-in-law's gift from us this year. Mom's book is identical except for the front cover. 3 or so of the pages are photos I took of traditional paper pages, the rest are digital pages. I was very pleased with Shutterfly!

DH and the boys always treat me well on Mother's Day...I have received such wonderful gifts as Club Scrap membership (back when they were AWESOME), a pogo stick (I have ALWAYS wanted one, and my parents NEVER got one for me!), Roomba (some women would have hated getting an "appliance" but I think it kicks you-know-what), and this year...a Scrap Girls club membership...woohoo!:)

We spent this Mother's Day at Sunday School, then hightailed it to Greenwood Park in Des Moines to meet my in-laws including sister-in-law and her family. M-i-l had been hinting to s-i-l that she wanted family portraits. So s-i-l hired a professional photographer (same one from our wedding, wow!) and we split the cost of the sitting fee/and will get in-laws at least 1 photo. I think this serves for Father's Day gift too, better check on that;)

Click here to view this photo book larger

Presenting...

2009-05-11T14:56:00.001-07:00

Journaling: William Aidan, born on January 12, 2009 at 11:34am.
Great-Grandma later discovered that a distant relative on her side of the family is also named William Aden Murrah. He is a professor at a college in Florida. His parents are Ruby and William Baker Murrah. His aunt is the “famous” Norma Shields whose pie crust Mommy likes to make.
Another Jen Wilson challenge, this time to do a monochromatic page. I did another version for her website with her paper, but I like this slightly simpler background version better.
Thao Cosgrove Art Gallery Template, Pretty Primavera paper, Merry Mine postage "life"
Keri Schueller Wrought Iron style
Mandy Steward Embed style
Melissa Renfro Downtown frame
Durin Eberhart Rustica paper
Sarah Batdorf Deep Shadows action
Aritus D and Arial fonts

Handle with Care

2009-05-09T10:07:00.000-07:00

Time to play catch up with posting my Jen Wilson challenge pages!

Challenge: Then and now photos/journaling.
Journaling: I’m not convinced that any of you look like Daddy or me, but you sure look like each other! Three cute little peas in a pod; that’s you:)
JWD Holiday Avenue
JWD Laced Ribbons
JWD Sugared Tissue Paper Alpha
JWD Dated Stamp Circles
JWD Simply Charming Boy (charm)
JWD Fluttering Finish
Erica Hite Precious Boy
Keri Schueller Vintage Nursery (brad)
Katie Pertiet Storyboard Frame & Snap Frame Alpha

Challenge: SB something that makes you crazy.
Journaling: Let me just say…I love Daisy in the winter. Look at her sweet beagle face framed in our gigantic wreath. She is so friendly, wagging her tail so hard it looks like she is hoola hooping all over the house. And in winter, she keeps my feet warm at night by sleeping under the covers. And the ground is FROZEN in the winter, so she cannot dig out and run after bunnies like she does the rest of the year. I am journaling this in the spring. Now I love spring, don’t get me wrong. But I HATE spring because Daisy goes absolutely freaking berserk about the bunnies, and her constant running off and whimpering and whining drives me absolutely CRAZY! I’m not sure which of us needs a Valium more!!We are her 4th or 5th, and final, home. If we knew then what we know now, I’m not sure we would have taken her. But Daisy is now 9 or 10 years old, and will live with us until she dies (perhaps of not so innocent means, bwahahahaha). Her only real alternative is to live in a concrete dog run somewhere, and what kind of life would that be?
JWD Project 52 week 3 template
JWD Merry Days 8th (papers)
JWD Sugar Flakes Holiday (red snowflake paper)
JWD Fresh Pine Holiday (bottom stripes)
Anna Aspnes color challenge freebie (paper for circular frames)
Jeannette Bollinger (bunny)
Thao Cosgrove Doggy Tales (words and bone)

Challenge: Take photos of a particular body part of all members of your family.
now DH says he was just kidding about putting "spanking" in there, lol...I'll take it out before I print:)
JWD Love So Much
JWD Beginnings: Torn Ribbon Pocket Starter
JWD Nostalgia No. 1 (family)
JWD Project 52: Dated Stamp Circles
JWD Handy Messy Hearts (warped to the shape I needed)
JWD Complete Boy 01 (arrows in top left)
JWD Caring
JWD Rekindle (adore)
JWD Messy Mended Circles
JWD Meaning 2 (framed T)
Brandie Valenzuela Grungelle Brush Set
Syndee Nuckles Sanded Black style (frames around photos)
Jason Gaylor Valentine brush set
LD Dear Diary font

Did You Ever Wonder Why...

2009-04-23T08:21:00.001-07:00

Did you ever wonder why:
In cartoons, when they blow up balloons with their mouths, the balloons float as if they had helium inside. It never fails! From my childhood on, I've always wondered about this...

Things that are supposed to make life easier often do exactly the opposite, especially in the short run.

You neuter/spay your “best friend” (ie. your dog) (Thanks for this one, Scott!)

Scrapbooking involves very few scraps, and instead a whole lot of relatively expensive artistic items. Don’t worry, YOUR DH’s don’t read this blog, only mine does, and he already knows all my secrets!:)

I wanted to make a way longer list, but a couple weeks have gone by without me coming up with anything new, so this is what you get!

Slow Scrap Week 4 (and final version)

2009-04-22T21:13:00.000-07:00

This was so much fun and seemed to force me to think about design more, since once we posted the week's version, we could not MOVE any object again! And the best part (besides having a cool page done for our album) is that I got all THIS free just for participating:)

On a less fun note, I had a hideous weekend at the Fast Track. VEISHEA was this weekend. As the website says: What is VEISHEA?
A

VEISHEA is an annual celebration held at Iowa State each spring, and one of its oldest traditions. It serves as a showcase and display of the Iowa State community with a wide variety of educational and entertainment events.
Q What does "VEISHEA" stand for?
A

VEISHEA was named in 1922 by Professor Frank D. Paine, Department of General Engineering. He combined the first letters of the colleges at that time, and the name has stuck ever since. The word VEISHEA (pronounced "VEE-sha") stands for:

* Veterinary Medicine
* Engineering
* Industrial Science
* Home Economics
* Agriculture

But during the weekend, some of the ER staff came up with the following, more cynical, and much more apt (sadly to say) acronym:
Violence
Emesis (medical term for vomit)
Incontinence
Stupidity
Hostility
EtOH/Ethanol
Altercation

'Nuff said. I was so glad it was over Sat night, b/c Sunday was a much quieter day and I was able to get caught up on the paperwork I abandoned in favor of sleep when I left at 12:30 midnight Saturday night. Now if I could just find the missing 9 dictations from MARCH instead of having to re-do them, I'd be a truly happy camper:)

Slow Scrap Week 3

2009-04-15T19:22:00.001-07:00

This week we had to add at least 4 "elements" and 1 item to journal on. I assume the actual "journal on it" instructions will come next week, lol.

Alien Kids

2009-04-14T19:24:00.001-07:00

My friend's 2 sons at my DS' birthday party...trust these 2 to come up with something hysterical to amuse themselves (and me smile:) My DH made the faces on the balloons, so I guess all 3 of them were in cahoots, lol.

Syndee Nuckles Mischief Maker
Shalae Tippetts Fall Watercolors solids clipped to the shape of a torn paper/fabric from her Hearth Collection
Melissa Renfro Lifted Photos Biggie Emb Templates
Ro Spacekids (alien helmet)
Thao Cosgrove Peeled Paint style
CK Chunky font

Who am I?

2009-04-12T16:22:00.000-07:00

Another Jen Wilson challenge...ok, here's my soul, all bared out for you to see...
I wanted a Picasso-like fractured, "off-slid" type effect with the photo but had no idea how to accomplish that, so I settled for the fresco filter within PSCS3. It looks cool at full magnification.
JWD Beginnings 01 paper, Nostalgia No 1 (keyhole), Beginnings solids, Beginnings Glitter Blooms, Picknics-Charmed Floral Stringers, Complete Boy 02 (corner paint)
Brandy Hackman Abstract Expressionism frame
Kristin Aagard skeleton key
CK Becky, Gentle Redhead font
Journaling: You can either strain your eyes or email me, lol:) (click on the picture to "bigify")

Funniest

2009-04-09T09:24:00.000-07:00

I just saw the funniest freaking thing EVER....check it out!!!! ROTFL!
Schnauzer
If our Max were still alive I know what I'd be doing right now...

"Slow Scrap"

2009-04-08T19:41:00.000-07:00

I'm participating in a fun "slow scrap" at the Scrap Orchard and Gotta Pixel this month. Details can be found here. Once you have uploaded the layout each week with the specific requirements (eg. week 1 was to have 3 photos and 3 papers), you cannot MOVE any item on the layout for the next week. You can switch the layer of the objects though. Eg. week 2 we were to add 3 ribbons, 2 fasteners such as buttons, and 1 set of stitches. The ribbons could go behind the photos; we didn't have to add the new items on top.

Should be funnier as the weeks go on since we have no idea what kind of room to save for what on the page (thus I opted for a good amount of white space, lol)!

Week1:

Week2:

Easter Hilarity (2008)

2009-04-08T19:22:00.000-07:00

in case you can't see...DS on the left is basically choking himself with the "egg tongs" (whatever they are called) while inspecting them.

Erica Hite Chic Embroidery (not just for girls!) & solids
Erica Hite In Stitches Emb. Templates
Melissa Renfro Well Loved
Syndee Nuckles Noteworthy (nest)
Keri Schueller Going Postal Frames
Hansa font
Journaling: No Michaels were harmed during the inspection of the egg tongs! And thank goodness the eggs were hard-boiled since Christopher kept trying to crack his egg on Michael’s head.

Christmas in April (fits the weather, eh?)

2009-04-04T21:17:00.001-07:00

In light of the snowstorm about to brew out my Iowa windows...here's the challenge I just finished up for Jen Wilson's Project 52.

Christmas hymns to me are an epitome of the Christmas season. I adore singing; I adore the music, especially when accompanied by piano or organ. And I actually get shivers if there is SATB. When sung in company, the hymns make me feel more a part of a community of God than at any other time I can remember.
I am worried that with the lack of carol singing in this day and age, we are raising a generation of children who will no longer be able to hum the tunes, let alone sing the words, to the carols. I love our liberal United Methodist Church, but am disappointed that we “suffer” (my words) Advent at the expense of celebrating Christmas. It means the carols are only sung on Christmas Eve and the Sunday following Christmas. I hope we are able to have a piano at home in the near future so we can have our own caroling there!

JWD Merry Days First (blended 2 papers together)
JWD Circle Words Holiday (with a chipboard style applied)
JWD Holiday Rings
JWD Seasonal Stamped Borderlines (stamped along the bottom)
Melissa Renfro Star Bright style
Keri Schueller Holiday Time (NOEL)
Jan Hicks Coin Folder Chip style
AL Aunt Marie and Candara font
Seishido.com let it snow brush (star with a glittery style applied)

Ribbon Challenge

2009-04-04T13:13:00.000-07:00

I finally dug myself out of my paper scrapping slump, as I've been saying here lately:) My friend Lori gives us monthly challenges on my local SB list, and the challenge for March was to use up as many pieces of ribbon as we could. I'm happy to report I used 72 (!) pieces, many of which were already in pieces, lol! Here are a few of my very favorites I completed this month.

This one is my absolute favorite. I'm going to put this one on the wall in the "big boys'" room for a good long while before tucking it in the SB. :) Read the story, as it is SO SWEET!
Older Carollee's Creations paper, various ribbons including Basic Grey. The sun and title are part of the background paper.

Michael wearing a Scooby mask at his second birthday party 1/08. I still have stories from 2007 that didn't get scrapbooked, though I am done with those photos. so I've recently chosen some early 2008 photos to get those stories down on paper!

This one was based on a layout seen on ScrapGirls.com. I can't find the original now to link to, sorry! Uses brand new Sandylion paper with a bunch of old ribbon, Pebbles Inc metal, and Carollee's Creations stickers along with some fibers.

I consider this Michael's 2-year portrait, so told some cute stories from his life around 18-24 months. Uses up old Basic Grey Color Me Silly paper, ancient gingham ribbon (which I still like), and my last piece of this multi-colored ribbon that Janet tipped me off to during her school years album class. I twisted that piece around and used little glue dots to hold it in place as a partial photo frame. I like how it turned out. The title is an EKS sticker and the train and fire truck are truly ancient K & Company stickers. I love that I can still make a great page (IMHO, lol) using up old old old supplies!

Seventh Photo

2009-04-04T12:58:00.000-07:00

I've been tagged by Janet:
The tag how-to...

1. Go to the photos folder on your computer.
2. Go to the seventh folder of photos.
3. Go to the seventh photo.
4. Put the seventh photo on your blog along with a description.
5. Invite seven friends to join.

This is my friend Amy and her family as of Christmas 2000 (ie. a couple kids ago, lol...they now have FIVE). I went over to their house to take pics with my digital camera as they had none. They didn't expect their children to be too cooperative and wanted to know RIGHT AWAY if everyone's eyes were open and that everyone had reasonably nice expressions. :)

My Big Secret

2009-03-29T20:40:00.000-07:00

Sh....don't tell DH....a couple of you asked in comments how I get so much done with three little boys....I neglect my housework and dinner preparation in favor of diligent scrapping anytime the 2 littlest boys nap at the same time. And I've been quite fortunate in that regard so far (don't worry, I have my fingers crossed in hopes I haven't just jinxed myself.)

Now remember, DON'T TELL MY DH!!!!

Catch-up

2009-03-29T19:55:00.001-07:00

Here's all the Jen Wilson challenges I haven't posted over the last few weeks...whew! Now if I can just post them weekly as I finish them...

The challenge was to scrapbook a quote/scripture/etc that has real meaning at this time in your life, plus use something you'd never used before, and something you couldn't scrap without.
The thing(s) I couldn't scrap without: JWD solids paper (any of her lines) and Candara font
The thing(s) I had never used before: JWD Lotta Heart brushes, Doreen Stolz lace and Vickie's Pink Mocha alpha
Quote: "Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart" -William Wordsworth (journaling says that's why I scrapbook)
JWD Academy: Elementary solids and Laundry Line solids
JWD Lotta Heart Brushes
JWD A Little Love
JWD Being
Doreen Stolz Spring Romantic lace
A Work in Progress- Pink Mocha alphabet
Altas Greeting and Candara fonts

Our challenge was to scrap a less-than perfect photo. This one comes out ok on web, I think, but the original was noticeably blurry and really bugged me, but I love their expressions and what they are doing.
My photo was pretty blurry, so I "hid" that fact by using a chipboard style on the photo to make it look more like a coaster. The style includes a pattern overlay that made it less obvious that pretty much nothing was very focused in the photo.
JWD Laundry Line Zachery papers
JWD Grunge Edges overlay
JWD Grunge Detail Starter
JWD Project 52 Dated Stamp Circles
JWD Cowabunga journaling block
JWD Hand Stitched Starter
JWD Jenerally Speaking "live out loud"
Melissa Renfro Cardboard
Ariadna Wiczling Warped action
Erica Hite Frayed brush
Jan Hicks Coin Folder chipboard style
AL Highlight and Bloktype fonts

Challenge to scrapbook a "bucket list" of the things you want to do before you die. This one is much brighter IRL, despite my resaving it in the sRGB color space that is supposed to be for web viewing. Oh well.
I used a lot of blending modes and had fun with this one...journaling and all!:)
JWD Academy Biology paper and Offset Tinted Stamp Block
JWD Breaking Free Camping Out paper
JWD Jenerally Speaking Live Out Loud
JWD Beginnings Paper Date Starters
JWD Twenty-Nine and Co. Time Flies
Brandy Hackman Retro Family Love (metal corner)
Brandy Hackman Persian Breeze (hinge)
Fonts: Gentle Redhead, CK_Ali's Handwriting, Candara
Journaling: So before I myself kick the proverbial bucket, here’s my list: Oh, and please by all means assume that money and obligations are not an issue!
1. Learn Spanish fluently, and since this is a dream world I’ve entered, I’d also like to learn Italian and French fluently as well.
2. Travel with my family! Florence, everywhere else in Italy, Paris, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Egypt, Israel...
3. Ski at least once per year on a real mountain
4. To be able to make friends and connections wherever I go
5. Learn all the ins and outs of my CraftRobo to use it to its full potential
6. Have time to read ALL the books on my to-read list (you’d need 5 liftetimes for that!)
7. Help President Obama ensure that ALL Americans have health insurance! (And that implies that it’s going to happen in the next four years)
8. Hike in picturesque locations: Yosemite, Grand Canyon, New England in the autumn…
9. Own a truly professional camera and know exactly what makes it tick and how to take a great image
10. Have my very own “Mrs. Gruen” a la Nancy Drew (nanny, cook, and live-in housekeeper all rolled into one person!)
11. Have a PA job that I love…and have PA finally stand for “physician associate”, not assistant
12. Live in a completely green house and be able to eat mostly local foods
13. Have all my heritage memories scrapbooked

Collection Challenge (scrapbook someone's collection of something)
JWD: Being, Delighted, Fancy Free, Rekindle, Academy: Art, Beginnings 05, Laundry Line: Emily, Project 52: Dated Stamp Circles, Stamped Art School Alpha
Brandy Hackman: Sassy's Pumpkin and Hopsack (frame)
AL Charisma font

This challenge was to scrapbook the story behind a name (didn't have to be a person, but I decided not to think too hard since William needed a page about his name, lol)
Journaling:
It was difficult enough for us to come up with one boy name, let a- lone three. I don’t know what made Daddy wait this time, but my line of thinking was that if we waited until you were almost born, there would be less time to argue and agonize. So on the way to the hospital I said I wondered what we’d name you and Daddy said, “How about William Aidan?” I thought, “hm, I like it!” But I still told him what I had been thinking: Andrew Ryan or Andrew Jeffrey (in keeping with our meaningful family middle name thing we had going on with Christopher and Michael). Andrew reminded Daddy too much of someone, but he was ready to compromise with William Andrew. I just didn’t think it had quite the right sound, so William Aidan you are! We didn’t decide for sure until you were 24 hours old, so you were Mr. No-Name/New Baby for awhile. Daddy wanted you to be a “W” name because M is 10 letters past C in the alphabet, and W is 10 letters past M. I think this appeals to his orderly engineering mind:)

JWD Nostalgia 1, Laundry Line: William, His Tuesday Attire, Sugared Tissue Paper Alpha
Thao Cosgrove Endearing (circular elements)
Paula Wright word stickers
Syndee Nuckles Monday and ruler elements
Katie Pertiet date line
Dominican and AFL font nonmetric (journaling)

A Good Activity for a Rainy Day

2009-03-28T10:20:00.000-07:00

Christopher's friend Kiki gave him this Dinosaur kit for his birthday. We were all excited to check it out, so a few weekends ago on a nice rainy day, we settled in at the kitchen table for a super fun, messy, time:) Oh, and if you can't tell already, I want one for MY birthday (May 29)!

Spring Crop

2009-03-28T08:25:00.000-07:00

Nope, I didn't attend a fancy crop without you, lol. Just little 'ol me holed up in my ugly basement scrappin' area when I'm lucky enough to have two little boys asleep at the same time in the afternoons while the big boy is at school and the biggest boy is at work;)

Easter last year: The boys had a lot of fun coloring eggs. I was pleasantly surprised at how the brown eggs took the dye...definitely going to do that again this year!! The slightly shiny wadded up green fiber on the left looked just like Easter grass to me when I saw it in my fiber drawer (the fad may have been and gone but _I_ still like it!), so I just left it all wadded up like it was in the plastic bag I stored it in, lol. The next page is the right side of the 2-page spread.

This one is based on a Pencillines sketch (got the sketch all printed out nice and neat at the Night OWLS Retreat...thanks girlfriends!!!!). Michael riding in the truck cart at Hy-Vee with the Arthur (from PBS) stuffed animal he checked out at Bookmobile. Not sure if you can read the journaling, but he became so attached to Arthur that I had to scour the internet to find a similar one. He was never as enamored with his own as he was with the library's, but didn't seem too upset thank goodness. Basic Grey Fruitcake paper, WRM Keepers eyelets and snaps, and EKS title sticker block.

Ok, a couple of these WERE done at a crop...this one is a photo I took at Christopher's preschool last year when the buds were first coming out on the shrubs and trees. To stave off questions, I haven't the slightest idea what kind of plant this was, lol. (Somebody already asked me that in person). I was just SICK of winter last year and wanted to document the signs of spring. I used some ANCIENT supplies on this page...Sharon Ann paper I've had for at least FIVE years and some cut-outs I've had almost that long, coupled with the leaf ribbon that's probably only a year or so old.

Back in the Groove

2009-03-20T17:51:00.000-07:00

Well in the last month I have FINALLY been back in the groove of paper scrapping:) Unfortunately it's WAY more convenient to share the digi pages though, lol, so you still get to look at one of those for today (later). Eventually I'll get the paper pages photographed and edited to share.

This will be my first weekend back working at the Fast Track (I do one weekend per month) as a PA since William was born. Wish me luck! Not only do I have to add lactating to my already sometimes so busy I can hardly pee or eat schedule, but they have a brand new computer system I have to use. It is an awesome electronic medical record system, and I'm sure I'll love it, just could do without being piled with all the new stuff my first weekend back. Luckily the nurse/trainer for the system will physically be there and can "hold my hand" at least for the first few charts:) And worst case scenario we are still allowed to use the old system if necessary.

Here's a recent page...I actually power-planned this one before William was born and just plugged the photos in and did the journaling a few days ago.

Nitwit Collections: Winter Wishes and What's the Buzz
sketch from SBetc N/D 08 issue
Grace font
You certainly are a bundle of joy, and since we only have winter babies around here we know plenty about bundling you up. The first photo shows you just minutes after birth, then ready to leave the hospital, and arriving at home. The ladies auxiliary makes the hats for all the babies. Grandma Carol has always called the car seat covers “casserole covers.”I guess that makes you a delicious little casserole.

My Unexpected Wednesday Present

2009-03-18T14:11:00.001-07:00

Check THIS out! I'm so excited b/c one TALENTED bunch of women hangs out at this site and it's really cool to be chosen for this week. And rumor has it that I get a prize too...*squeal!* Also, scroll CLEAR to the bottom of this message if you want updates on our lives over the last few days:)

The challenge was to create a layout based on things about your life now that you'll miss in years to come (like Trace Adkin's country song).

I had a bit of a different take on this week's assignment...hope this is not too irreverent, lol. After my Friday 13th, it's a wonder I found ANYTHING to miss about my children. It was the beginning of spring break here and they were at each other's throats (sometimes literally)

Journaling: Things I Will Miss:
Baby kisses
Chubby cheeks
Cute baby clothes
“This little piggie…”
Cooing
The latest Lego creation
Themed birthday parties
Snuggling
Nursing
Babies
Artwork on the frig
giggling
hugs
holiday excitement
baby hands
baby feet
baby blues
“Oh I love my Mommy!”
Stuffed animals
Thomas the Tank Engine and elaborate track setup
Reading books together

Things I Will NOT:
Whining and crying
Temper tantrums
Sibling fights
The Legos all over the floor
Socks strewn all over the house (are they clean or not?!)
Poopy diapers
Potty-training
Guns
Taunting
Picky eaters
Burping and tooting (and incessantly talking about it)
McDonalds
“accidents” (including Poodini and Peedini)
yelling

JWD Academy: Tinted Stamp Block
JWD Project 52: Slightly Imperfect Photo Masks, Unchartable paper, Repeat After Me quote(s)
JWD Complete Boy 02 Accessories
Brandy Hackman Retro Family ribbon tie
Shabby Princess Round Labels: A Child's World (cuddle)
Nitwit Collections Little Men (frog) and What's the Buzz (bugs)
Heather Roselli Backyard Boy (caution sign)
Tracy Ann Baby Boy Kisses Charms
Fonts: Hootie! and Mechanical Fun

Ok, our last few days here: Friday 13th was crazy...Christopher had Thursday and Friday off since last week was parent-teacher conferences at his school. This week is spring break, so they get a LONG break. I'm sure that would be SUPER cool if we were bopping off to Disney/enter your favorite family vacation destination. However, with a 6 and 3 year old who are often at each other's throats (literally, as mentioned several times before), 7 days alone with them is enough to make me cringe. True to form, there were several fights and a couple messes that added to the chaos of me packing for the weekend.

We got through the day on Friday, whew. Saturday morning we all scurried around to get ready for our mini-adventure with my in-laws and sister-in-law and her family (kids ages just turned 2 and 4 months). Then we were off to the Wasserbahn in Little Amana. William was a sleepy and cooperative little traveler, and even stayed asleep for a good long while at the water park. Christopher and Michael had a wonderful fun time, and I did too, though I will admit I was spoiled this summer with the MUCH larger Waterpark of America.

Our favorite thing this weekend (Jeff's too) was the Millrace where supposed to get across the logs in the water. M looked like he was surfing b/c when they wobbled he waved his arms to get balance and was very good at it. C went across on hands and feet b/c weighed too much to walk like M.

M was SO VERY exhausted from no nap and all the physical exertion that couldn’t fall asleep or stay asleep in the night. Christopher couldn't sleep either b/c Michael kept thrashing around due to his exhaustion and they were trying to share a double bed. Mental note: NEVER try to stay at one of these places without adequate notice during spring break!! And NEVER try to stuff TWO small children in a DOUBLE bed, lol. At dinner he fell asleep repeatedly in his food and fussed when head jerked awake. Caught a second wind in mt mother-in-law’s lap. My 2year old niece and b-i-l had to just leave before food arrived b/c she was so tired. No nap for her either.

So despite the usual troubles with traveling with small children it was a fun mini-weekend. I think 1 night was plenty, lol. Oh, and 2 of Jeff's cousins and an aunt and uncle were there too, lol...small world. Apparently they come every year for a day or two for the uncle's birthday and we didn't even know they were going to be there! They had been there a couple days already by the time we got there and we saw them in the hall when arriving, but were never in the pool at the same time b/c they were already getting ready for the uncle's early birthday dinner. Then by the time they were back in the pool WE were eating dinner:)

The Periodic Table

2009-03-15T15:04:00.001-07:00

Coolest periodic table I ever saw!! I think I'd rather be tested on this one than the traditional chemistry version too;)

Scrapping Challenges

2009-03-12T20:53:00.000-07:00

I just love a good scrapping challenge! These are from my local group's metal (February) and ribbon (March) challenges:

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this hat for Christopher! As the journaling states, his head is too big for children's hats, so our friend Dan came through with this awesome black fur (fake) lined hat with ear flaps. Totally cute! I used almost my last scraps of this beloved hoarded winter paper, too as well as some of the last Westrim embellishments I have from my stash:)

A friend's daughter is in competition dance..."Dream Girls" was the name of this dance. Loved this paper...bought a bunch of it and used it for sister-in-law's baby shower invitations and had a couple sheets left.

You've seen all the pics HERE on the blog, and the rest of the journaling for this page is also taken directly from the blog. The boys were climbing in and around the cabinets when it was first delivered.

Paleontology and assorted miscellany

2009-03-09T10:38:00.000-07:00

We had a great weekend...I'll post pictures when I get the RAW files edited, but on Saturday we played with one of Christopher's birthday presents. It was FUN! You'll have to wait and see what it was, but your clue is in the title of this post;)

I had a great day on Friday too. DH took the afternoon off and I headed off to scrapbook with my friends:) We had such a fun time visiting and actually scrapbooking too. We're all trying to win the challenge this month on my local list b/c Amber is going to give out the prize, and word has it there is an awesome ribbon store up where she lives!

Since it's been so rainy I thought I'd post this one I did a few weeks ago...

Partial scraplift of Sokkie at plaindigitalwrapper
Kristin Aagard Swim Fishy, Rain Rain, Glassy Alpha, A Little Blue
Amanda Sok Frosted Glass style (photo mat)
CK Marker and Futura fonts
Jen Wilson Designs tag

This one has been done for awhile, just hadn't gotten around to posting it...The chemistry and physics students at the local university come out to the elementary schools to put on a great show for "Science Night."
For the photos, I practiced pre-focusing while the lights were on so I'd be ready when they shut the lights off and set off the reaction/fire. Click on the layout to "bigify" so you can see the pics...I love the flaming jack-o-lantern one!
Theresa Kavouras Science Collection
Brandy Murry Chronicles (black background)
Melissa Renfro Lifted Photos Weathered Biggie Emb. Templates
CK Chemistry and CK Journaling fonts
Journaling: ISU students present Science Night
Plenty of FIRE
Plenty of EXPLOSIONS
electricity
magnets
centrifugal force
chemical reactions

I Think He Gets It!!

2009-03-08T20:33:00.000-07:00

I think this post has double meaning...What I meant originally was that Christopher gets the meaning of Valentine's Day, lol..."yo git chiclit" :) LOL! He's in kindergarten, btw.
Since I took the photo with the DIVINE chocolate bar I received from DH for Valentine's Day, it also means DH gets it, heehee. I also received a very cool Silpada necklace I've been wanting. Oh yeah, he gets it!

6 Week Photos

2009-03-08T20:06:00.000-07:00

Dh's gorgeous photos of (gorgeous) William at 6 weeks:

Wah, he's getting BIG already!:)

More Paper Pages

2009-03-05T08:06:00.000-08:00

Here's a couple of my pages from a February challenge on my local SB list. I have a small collection of sewing related scrapbooking items b/c Mom used to sew a lot of my clothes (almost all of them until around 1st grade) and I have various heritage photos that I also want to talk about the handmade items people are wearing/quilts/etc.

Anyway...This one uses:
Stella Ruby Basic Grey paper, Two Busy Moms paper, MM pocket, sewing pins (metal), sewing machine charm (metal), canvas title from Club Scrap (God I loved that stuff!), buttons, and embroidery floss

This is a MM chipboard sign that I bought around 2 years ago I think. With my procrastination skills it's a wonder it ever got done, lol, and I started it AFTER Valentine's Day if that tells you anything about me;) I noticed the love-related metal items and decided that was a good place to use them. Charms are MM, stickers are EKSuccess, also used wooden flowers and a "wax" seal.

TFL,
Cheri

Sixth Birthday Penguin Party

2009-03-04T20:47:00.001-08:00

Jeff thinks I was the mastermind behind the theme, but Christopher LOVES his "Flippers" penguin and came up with the theme. I just HAPPENED to have seen Janet make a reference to Paper Capers where the mom put on an absolutely fabulous, over-the-top penguin party. So we borrowed most of her ideas and came up with one or two of our own:)

First up in the photo above is Flippers himself, the inspiration behind the party. The one and only time I've ever caved in at checkout at the grocery store:) You can see the stuffed animal section of the florist area from checkout... Then of course is Christopher with his igloo cake. He chose Pillsbury Funfetti cake and we filled the center with vanilla ice cream and frosted with marshmallow frosting (otherwise known as 7-minute frosting). The little penguins are made from black olives (tutorial on Paper Capers site linked above). Then there's me patting William to sleep in his "I'm grumpy and no other position will do" pose:) This photo is included to show you that I have penguin pajama pants a la JCPenneys and I WORE THEM to both parties, lol!:)

First up here we have the gorgeous paper snowflakes Mom made for us to hang on the front room window and living room window for decoration at the party. I'm leaving them up through March, I think:) Not that I don't want spring, but they look awfully cool from the street! Mom also lent us the large penguin in the next picture, the (antique) sugar bowl in which we put goldfish crackers (penguins eat fish you know) and also all the snowflake and penguin tablecloths. 3rd photo is the cake

Next row Christopher and Jeff begin assembling one of a few Lego sets received, next two are Michael leaping IN THE AIR in Jeff's photos. The boys at Christopher's classmate party (mostly not posted b/c don't have parents' permission) spent the last 20 minutes or so playing Wii b/c one boy noticed it and asked and we were out of games, lol. Michael is pretending/confused that he is actually playing, not just watching and holding a spare controller. He kept yelling, "I won, I won!" :)

3rd row: Cream cheese igloo...DIVINE! Love it on the Pepperidge Farms Harvest Wheat crackers (OMG the crackers are delicious alone, too!). Recipe also on Paper Capers blog...I used goat, not Feta, though I like it also. Next is our friend's silly son/alien;) And last are some of the many boys playing at the party.

Whew!

Paper Pages

2009-03-03T14:41:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe it was this long ago already, but about a month ago I attended the annual scrapbook retreat that a group of my friends organizes. We go down to a hotel in Des Moines on Friday night and scrap through (with varying breaks for sleeping, eating, and socializing) to noon on Sunday. It's always a blast! They have a different theme each year, this year being pirates. I won the contest for best-dressed pirate (need to have Jeff take a pic of me in full garb...when I get it finished I'll upload the layout with the group picture the organizers took and printed 5 x 7s for us all!) Anyway, these are a sampling of what I accomplished that weekend...

First up is my favorite book Christopher has made. In kindergarten they take paper, fold it in half, and staple on the one edge to make books. Once he figured this out he made about 25 more books at home with various themes. This one was a Halloween book. He had us draw some of the monsters on the inside, but he colored them. My favorite page is the vampire page b/c other than the silent "e" he figured out how to spell vampire all by himself:) The second page of this spread in his album will simply be a photograph of all the pages in the book (4 x 6 pictures lined up on the 12 x 12 background to completely cover it). I will also cut an opening so you can look through the original book too.

I scrapbooked about Christopher's 5th birthday party a LONG time ago, within a few weeks of his birthday last February. I had so many cool pics of his pirate cake (about $40 at Hy-Vee!) that I did a layout just of it... The skull and crossbones is a wooden decor item found in my goodie bag or prize pack from the scrapbook retreat...thanks girls! The reflection on the left in the pic is me standing over the layout to take the pic. Very difficult to take a good pic of a layout with a transparency on it:)

These are all dance and gymnastic pics of my friend Amy's oldest two children...

Official

2009-02-22T19:58:00.001-08:00

William is now official: He has his birth certificate, social security card, and I finally (a couple weeks ago) got his birth announcement finished and sent out (pretty much grandparents, great-grandparents, and aunt/uncle only, please don't be offended if you didn't get one!)

I copied this idea from tiny prints and added the "all boys" from my scrapbooking stash...Mindy Terasawa. The dog in the photo is Michael's favorite stuffed animal in the whole wide world. His name is "Little Mouth", so dubbed by Jeff b/c the embroidered mouth has come undone. Michael put him in the car seat with William for a nice nap when William was only a few days old.

I finished this one a couple weeks ago for the Jen Wilson Designs challenge that week: journal a conversation between you and someone, include a framed photo of you and the person (I chose the unusual photo treatment b/c the windows behind us were totally blown out, ie white and very distracting)), repeat everything else on the layout twice, including the title, choose a repetitive design (eg. the background I chose has a repeated pattern).

JWD A Little Love papers
JWD Project 52: Repeat After Me title
JWD Grunged Detail Starters
JWD Hand Coloured (and Glittered) Bloom Starters
Katie Pertiet frame (from free Scrapbooks Etc. kit)
AL Libretto font
Journaling (from a letter from my grandmother): Grandma’s letter to us shortly after William’s birth (and yes, that ’s Michael in the photo): Just imagine if you didn’t have an automatic washer and dryer, disposable diapers, or an indoor bathroom, and milked cows and raised chickens. Ha!I am totally appreciative of modern conveniences, believe you me!But some things never change. . .Grandma said her 3 children acted up the minute she got on the phone. Yeah, that happens ALL the time! Phones ARE cordless now though. . .

Well we spent our weekend celebrating Christopher's 6th birthday (actually the 19th). 8 kindergartners, 1 pre-K, 1 2nd grader, a 3 year-old brother, a baby brother...OMG was our house full! Christopher chose a penguin theme, and as soon as I wade through about 300 RAW photos (don't hold your breath; it'll take awhile), I'll post some pics from the parties. Oh yeah, we had the children's party in the early afternoon and the grandparent/aunt/uncle/cousins/friends of ours party in the early evening. Whew! TG Grandma stayed overnight; b/c Mommy, Daddy, and William SLEPT IN this morning to make up for it!

Thank Goodness for Challenges

2009-02-11T13:04:00.000-08:00

If it weren't for challenges on various boards and groups, William wouldn't have nearly this many scrapbook pages yet:)

Jen Wilson Designs is having the most awesome challenges again, and for HUGE prizes if all 12 of your challenge layouts are on time. This one had to be a timeline, include something denoting time (eg. a clock), and have the color blue somewhere on it.
Photos by DH and Kristina Botts
JWD Spoon Dipped Solids (blue)
JWD Time Flies (clocks)
JWD Flourished Swirls (bottom right swirl)
JWD Paper Date Starter
JWD Urban Bohemian (W)
JWD Rough Beginnings word art
Anna Aspnes Make Your Own Timeline
AL Uncle Charles font
Katie Pertiet sanded overlay (subtle grunge at edges)

For this one, we had a sketch to follow, had to include one photo "straight out of camera" and another that had been edited/manipulated, journaling, decorative edge, big title, and the subject matter had to be "addiction."
Journaling: They say mothers can be addicted (in a sense) to their babies. I’d agree with that. I crave the quiet moments with you (not a lot of those in our loud, busy household), I love the feeling of your tiny body in my arms, or the warmth of you snuggled up on my shoulder, your beautiful baby scent, the sweet sounds you make while nursing, and the earnestness of your adorable little face as you look into my eyes.
JWD Academy Elementary Solids
JWD Rekindle (Adore)
JWD Nostalgia No. 1 (this is a moment to remember)
JWD Laundry Line rough remnants, William paper, messy mended circle
JWD Cowabunga frame
JWD Grunge Edges
JWD Beginnings Photo Masked Starter
Brandie Valenzuela Grungelle brush set
Melissa Renfro Sparkle Curls
Amanda Sok Clipped Flowers
Misty Cato Date Bits 8

This one was a scraplift challenge at scrapgirls.com...I scraplifted TysMommy
I just love her page!
Keri Schueller Vintage Nursery dots paper
Thao Cosgrove Stitched Framery Emb templates
Brandy Hackman Sassy's Pumpkin and Hopsack (squares paper)
Syndee Nuckles Alpha Beads Emb Templates (string)
Amanda Sok Alluring Autumn (brown paper) and Frosted Glass 6401 style
Thao Cosgrove GraphX brush set
Ariadna Wiczling Feather (tan paper)
Cheryl Barber Stitching & Holes 4101 style
Matura, Amienne fonts
The challenge was to change something or add something to the scraplift:
Since I chose the more graphic patterned paper up top, I chose a more graphic brush below. I played around with it b/c didn't want the graphic look too strong, so lowered the opacity and added Amanda Sok's Frosted Glass style to soften it.

TFL,
Cheri

Brotherly Love

2009-01-24T20:10:00.000-08:00

Christopher and William (7 days in this photo)...a rare moment where Christopher actually wanted his photo taken:) Speaking of taken...he is really taken with our new baby. Wants to hold him several times per day, holds him for a fairly long time, supports his head all by himself, is fascinated with William's little body parts, says he loves him...

Brandy Murry Baby Chronicles
Erica Hite Fabric styles (I used to make my alpha)
Erica Hite LYO Scallops
Keri Schueller Vintage Nursery (sheep)
Cheryl Barber Stitching & Holes 4101 style
Syndee Nuckles Alpha Beads emb. templates
Rhonna Farrer photo edges 2
Boris Black Boxx and CK_Ali's writing fonts
Rin ribbon and eyelets

Busy Busy Busy

2009-01-22T20:54:00.000-08:00

Well you can imagine we are all kinds of busy at my house right now...new baby, ornery older brothers (to their credit, they are fine alone, it's just when you get the 5.5 and 3 yr olds together they are at each other's throats!)...then mix in a Daddy with strep throat, and now a 5.5 yr old with strep...luckily Mom is staying with us through Saturday or Sunday, so we do have plenty of help! And it was pure bliss the other night when my Sunday School teacher brought over a meal:) Even Mom got to put her feet up and not worry about what we were all eating that night.

So of course I'm also trying to keep up with some scrapbooking challenges on a couple of my favorite digital sites. Hey, a new mom is supposed to rest, and what better thing to do when resting than scrap! (it's perfectly logical, and productive to boot!)

The people who wanted to see my "basketball" have already seen this on a local list, but I wanted to post it here too:

JWD Merry Days Twelfth (white paper)
JWD Academy Art paper (brown swirls)
JWD Flourished Stamps (flourishes around circular photo)
JWD Sandcastle ribboned eyelet
JWD Rough Beginnings Word Art
JWD Sugared Tissue alpha
JWD Beginnings Glitter Blooms
JWD round tag from Jessica Sprague "Digi in Deep" class
"sketch"/inspiration from Jessica Sprague and Rekindle tag (colored tag)
Rhonna Farrer Cabaret Fever overlay
Michelle Coleman glitter plum paper
Diane Miller Doting paper template (I colored the brown/purple swirls)
Mandy Steward embed style (for the brown/purple swirls)
Sarah Batdorf sugar coated style (for the flourishes)
Erica Hite fabric pattern (background for the brown/purple swirls)
fonts: Scriptina and AL Uncle Charles
Journaling: Mommy, two days before your arrival in the world. Ready to be done with pregnancy; ready to meet you and join in the beginning of your life with us.

Will be back soon with the first SB page of actual William!

Announcing William Aidan Thieleke!

2009-01-13T13:16:00.001-08:00

William Aidan put in his appearance at 11:34am January 12!
Weight: 7 lbs. 13 oz.
Height: 20 1/2 inches
Baby and Mommy are doing fine:)

William shares a birthday with big brother Michael
(3)...who luckily hasn't figured that out yet (we
celebrated his birthday Saturday). We think somebody
better celebrate his half-birthday!

Today we finalized his name and thus are able to share
our good news!

More Holiday Memories

2009-01-09T20:38:00.000-08:00

Christopher's holiday party at school was to have been the day before break, but that turned out to be a snow day. So we got to return to Christmas this Wednesday:) Here it is, scrapped already thanks to Scrapgirls and their ingenuous challenges to scrap pictures from this week!

Journaling: The winter party was snowed out the day before winter break and had to be postponed. The children didn’t seem to mind Christmas in January at all. There was cookie decoration (and eating!), ornaments to make, hot chocolate to be drunk, winter books to be read, and lots of fun for all. Both Mommy & Daddy were able to attend your party and had a good time with you. At the end, Mrs. Fisher gave every child a book and candy cane. Back at home we hung your ornaments right away until we took the tree down a couple days later.
Font: FuturaEF
Amanda McGee Cookie Swap collection and Dynamic Brush Sprinkles
Ariadna Wiczling Stamp a Date brush set

This was the Christmas pageant (aka "Manger Gifts Service") at our church a couple weeks before Christmas:

Brandy Hackman Spiced Cider
Brandy Hackman Abstract Expressionism (paint mat)
Shalae Tippetts Holy Night
Sarah Batdorf Color Matched drop shadows style
Melissa Renfro Star Bright brush and style
CK Regal font
I used a "soft and faded" action on the photos, then found it went perfectly with the Spiced Cider collection!
Journaling: Christopher really wanted to be the sheep in the pageant this year at church. A perfect fit since he loves to dress up and likes animals! And he was perfectly happy up at the manger for the first 20 minutes or so, including singing “We Three Kings” with the other elementary school-aged children and performing with the bell choir. But after that, he just got hot. It’s no wonder. . .I’m always hot in the winter at church too, even with short sleeves. So Jonah took over sheep duties, somehow wriggling into the way-too-small costume.

And a different kind of holiday:

I completed this one for the "Auld Lang Syne" challenge at Scrapgirls. We had to look back to our very first purchase at their site and use some/all of those supplies:)
This was serious fun...a trip down memory lane and combining some things I wouldn't have thought to!
products from my very first SG purchase:
Durin Eberhart Mixed Media
Brandy Hackman ScrapSimple Transparency Overlays: Street Grunge - Scratches
Thao Cosgrove Earthen Vessel
Other supplies used:
Sarah Batdorf Sugar Coated style (on the title)
Amanda Sok Nostalgia photo masks
Thao Cosgrove Luxe borders brush set
Scrapgirls Collaboration collection "Eternal Spring" birdhouse and eggs
Seishido.biz soeggciting brush (bunnies)
Anna Aspnes Easter Word Art (egg hunt title)
Pineapple Plantation painted eggs
Journaling (CK_Ali's font): Prairie Flower Children’s Center (aka Preschool) holds a spring egg hunt each year. The parents and children dye eggs at home, the hare hides them, and much fun is to be had hunting them all down. This year the event was postponed due to a snow day, then rather cold. That’s Iowa in the spring!

TFL,
Cheri

My Crazy Family

2009-01-06T11:05:00.001-08:00

I did this layout as a challenge on Scrapgirls...you had to combine 3 favorite photos from 2008 into one layout...this is pretty much my life:

Amanda McGee Happy Family collection and Fruit Smoothie (heart) collection
Shalae Tippetts LYO Journaling brush set
Pea Kristin font
Journaling at left:
Perpetual motion. . .wrestling is a common sport which often continues until parental intervention after someone is hurt

Journaling on the lower right photo:
Who knew leaf jumping required turning your eyes inside out?! (And no, Michael did not push him)

TFL at my crazy family:)

Buggy 4 Bugs

2009-01-05T20:15:00.000-08:00

A "just because" layout or two...

Journaling: For a long time now, Christopher has liked worms. He’s upset if a bird is going to eat a worm and rescues them off the sidewalk and driveway after a rain (if he’s outside already). He used to dig for them with Braden and Marissa in Minnie’s rocks. At Polliwogs camp he got a worm garden and was sad to let them go in the flower garden later. He will stop his bicycle on the way home to avoid running over an ant or an ant hill. I’m sure he can’t see them if he goes really fast, but when he’s going slow he always seems to look and notice. One day on the way home C was crouched down on the sidewalk and Michael thought he had fallen off his bike. He found a dead worm on the sidewalk and was very sad. I had him “bury” it by laying it in the grass. Figures that I would have a cute picture of M, not C, with a worm. . .
CK Retrospect font
Kristin Aagard Rain collection
Mary Fran (Nitwit Collections) What's the Buzz?
500ml.org frame brush
Jen Wilson Designs Clear Day alpha
LD Ladybug font

Scraplift of cherryberry at plaindigitalwrapper.com (LOVE LOVE Her Page
Kristin Aagard Oink Cluck Moo collection
DH's photo of moon
Michelle Coleman spider
Cinzia Loosemore spider web
Brandy Hackman acorns
McGarey font
Meant to represent Chicken Little, Hey Diddle Diddle, Old Macdonald's Farm, and Charlotte's Web.

Pie Bandit has a page already :)

2009-01-03T20:49:00.001-08:00

This one begged to be scrapbooked right away!;) See previous post for more details...

Mandy Steward Spice Collection
Brandy Hackman Blossoms & Blooms Holiday
Paula Wright Ribbon Journals emb. templates
Cheryl Barber inked edges neutral style (tweaked to make the edges light golden brown)
LD Dear Diary font
Pea Kristin font

The Pie Bandit and other Christmas Moments

2008-12-29T18:23:00.001-08:00

Here's the pie bandit (so named by her grandparents, my in-laws), and otherwise known as Lucy (my niece) in action:) This one is worth big-ifying (in other words click on it!)

Michael was tearing wrapping paper into tiny little pieces with his teeth.

I'm not sure who was more interested in Christopher's stocking...him or Zoe (my s-i-l & b-i-l's dog) :) Obviously there was candy in the stocking!

Michael in action...jumping off the ottoman.

And last but not least, instead of "The Great Pumpkin" we have "The Christmas Beagle" :) She is framed in the humongous wreath we purchased 1/2 off at Michaels a few weeks ago and will get decorated, lighted and hung next year on the peak of the garage facade of our home.

Christmas Leftovers

2008-12-29T16:48:00.000-08:00

Nope, not food:)

(Amanda Sok Glitzy Christmas (red paper)
Brandy Hackman Sassy's Pumpkin & Hopsack (brown paper)
Valerie Randall fireplace (freebie)
Melissa Renfro star bright style
Cheryl Barber inked edges style
Chatterbox flourish font)

Scrapgirls had a challenge to do a layout reflecting a religious tradition from the holidays and this is what I came up with. I combined the music paper with a swirled overlay (on which I applied a glittery style) to make the background.
Kerry Veale A Victorian Holiday
Shalae Tippetts Holy Night
Melissa Renfro Downtown Brush Set & Star Bright style
Erica Hite Enchanted paper template
Amanda McGee LYO Vintage Label brush set
AL Serenade and Amienne fonts

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season!

Have some Daffodils with your Blizzard

2008-12-20T19:57:00.000-08:00

Well we had blizzard warnings here in Iowa today...and by the looks of things out our window, it probably was blizzard conditions out in the country! Very powdery snow plus 35+ mph winds, not a good combination for visibility.

Anyway, here is another scraplift...Charlene J of scrapgirls did a layout of her Swiss Chard, and I couldn't resist doing the same with our daffodils last spring. So if you are, like me, in need of a bright flowery lift to your gray and blizzardy day, here you go:)

Supplies:
Valerie Randall Avalon and Annwyn
Selfish font

2008-12-17T19:33:00.001-08:00

I always enjoy the holiday challenges at scrapgirls.com...here is a smattering of what I've done so far this year:
This is our favorite Christmas decoration...an Avon (go figure!) fiberoptic house given to us by my mom a few years ago. It's fun to watch it change colors:)
SG 2008 Holiday Hoopla Task #5 SB your favorite holiday decoration
Thao Cosgrove Merry Mine overlay
Diane Miller Bitsy brush
Brandy Hackman Spiced Cider background (recolored)
Diane Miller Edgy thin overlay
Jan Hicks Life Quotes 3 brush set special (title)
Amanda Sok Micro Glitter 6401 style (behind title, at reduced opacity)
Amanda Sok Icicle 6401 style (photo mat)

I couldn't resist redoing this one a little...I just wasn't quite happy with it before, and thought of the "Witch Holiday" title after I finished it the first time.

SG Holiday Hoopla Task #8 SB your favorite gift (given or received)
Jan Hicks Scruffy Neutrals (white background)
Sarah Batdorf Felt 6501 style (orange background)
Melissa Renfro Well Loved (title, frame)
Thao Cosgrove Passion (striped paper) & Freestyle Emb. Templates (stitched heart) & Friendship collage paper (journaling paper)
Cheryl Barber inked edges style
CK Carefree font
journaling: My big wish for Christmas that year was for Tenderheart Care Bear. Unfortunately, millions of other little girls wanted the same exact thing, and Care Bears were not to be found in any store. Grandma and Grandpa found a woman selling homemade Care Bears in a nearby town and purchased one for me. Mom, being the wise woman she is, gently warned me of the shortage of “real” bears and the fact that I was to receive a “fake” at the Meyer family Christmas gathering. I managed to act happy (and surprised) and swallowed my disappointment, knowing I’d probaby eventually receive the “real” bear too. Turned out this was my favorite childhood bear!

This one will be printed and given to my grandparents as part of their Christmas present this year:)
Task #2 2008 Scrapgirls Holiday Hoopla
Shopping Challenge...SB the last 3 products you purchased in the SG boutique
1. Brandy Murry Ephemera & Holiday in Lights
2. Thao Cosgrove Christmas Tidings word art & Radiant collection
3. Erica Hite Crochet Snowflakes
Angie Briggs Urban Love background
Shalae Tippetts Embellishment Templates: Sentiment (tag)
Melissa Renfro Golden Holiday ribbon (on tag)
Erica Hite Bookworm staple
Cheryl Barber Stitching & Holes style (I created the staple holes)
Brandy Hackman A Little Worn Out (journaling lines)
Invitation & McGannahan fonts
Journaling: Christmas in some respects hasn’t changed much over the years. . .family, good food, gifts, decorations. Every year Bud would cut a cedar tree from the pasture. Each child would receive a couple gifts, ranging from a .22 rifle, BB gun, doll, hand sewing machine, globe, truck toy. Christmas Eve involved church service and get-together with Elwin & Pearl, The 25th was time spent at a grandparent’s home for dinner with extended family. When Darlene was a child, her grandma Brisler raised a goose to roast, later, she would raise a turkey. Pearl’s specialty was candy-making, especially divinity and fudge.

TFL!:) For those of you in Iowa, be careful tomorrow in the ice and snow!!

Merry Christmas

2008-12-17T11:05:00.000-08:00

This is scraplifted from Sarah in VA's most gorgeous tree she posted last Christmas.

I already had many of the collections she used, so didn't mess with perfection...I did substitute for things I didn't have.
This has been uploaded with Sarah's blessing:) I plan to have this framed!

I hope you are all having a very merry holiday season:)

Kerry Veale "A Victorian Holiday" overlay/border
Amanda Sok "Winter White" overlay/transparency
Amanda Sok Glitzy Christmas
Durin Eberhart Blue Christmas
Brandy Hackman Blossoms & Blooms Holiday
Trish Yochum AYO Christmas Tree
Melissa Renfro Golden Holiday
Melissa Renfro Star Bright brush set
Syndee Nuckles Spearmint Kisses freebie
Katie Pertiet Lil Metal Charms
Shabby Miss Jenn Snowkisses
Raspberry Road Color of Christmas
Thao Cosgrove Gold 5702 style
Brandy Valenzuela Grungelle brush set

Witch Holiday is this???? I'm Confused!

2008-12-12T15:46:00.000-08:00

Journaling:
Ok, the disclaimer first: This was my 5 year-old’s idea, not mine! Really, it was; I’m not just “blaming” him! Ok, well, I hope that you believe me…

I will admit that this is one of the best, creative ideas I’ve seen in a long time. It has a certain, “bah humbug” type appeal to me as an adult, though Christopher was only going for the “joke” factor. I am, in fact, inclined to leave it this way (with decorations of course). The bow that normally resides on the tree is beautiful, to be sure (I made it myself, after all), but…

I am the first to admit that I hate decorating for the holidays, especially Christmas. Don’t get me wrong; I absolutely love the end result, but all the work of getting there, and the thought of having to put it all away again in a few weeks, just makes me tired. And then the inevitable string or two of lights that won’t work properly that necessitates a trip clear across town to purchase more. And then convincing two small children to leave the ornaments alone, both for the ornament’s sake as well as our bare feet. Who wants to step on an ornament hook?

So I will say, that a Christmas tree with a witch hat on top makes me smile, in a cynical, Grinch sort of way. Perhaps after all, Halloween and I have more in common than do Christmas and I. Everyone expects a monster, a grump, at Halloween…

Supplies:
Brandy Murry Holiday in Lights
Erica Hite Bump in the Night
Amanda Sok Glitzy Christmas
Brandy Hackman Blossoms & Blooms Holiday
LD Deck the Halls and dreamed about you fonts

So do I win the prize for the most unusual tree-top decoration or what?! (IS there a contest around...anyone?!)

Blog Award and mysterious picture

2008-12-08T11:53:00.000-08:00

Janet has kindly nominated me for a blog award:) *takes humble bow*

Here are the rules of the Kreativ Blogger award:

1. The winner may put the logo on their blog.
2. Put a link to the person who sent you the award.
3. Nominate 5 blogs.
4. Provide links to their blogs.
5. Leave a message for your nominees.

I nominate anyone who want to participate who hasn't already done so;) (I'm not very good at perpetuating these things.)

Now I will leave you these images to ponder...stay tuned for an explanation! (and maybe even a SB page)

My Little Turkeys

2008-12-01T09:52:00.000-08:00

We had a good Thanksgiving at my grandparents' home. They are now 87 and 92, so the rest of us brought all the food:) The boys refrained from most of their usual WWF-style wrestling (why me, why me?)....we were VERY thankful for that!;)

Michael even took his customary 2ish hour
long nap on their couch. They were the only children
as my other cousins alternate years with traveling to
other sides of their families. My 2 college-age
cousins were there, and Kendra and Christopher did
Mom's craft projects she brought to help keep C
occupied (M slept through that). The boys also got to
"help" put up the snow fence at the farm and ride
around in a wagon behind Uncle Steve's 4-wheeler (I'm
glad I didn't really know about that until it was
over...we make kids wear helmets when riding a bike at
0.2 miles per hour, but let them careen around in a
wagon...) It was a lot of fun for them though, and
Jeff was with them in the wagon to make sure they were
sitting down the whole time.

Our big accomplishment of the week here is....TA DA!
Michael appears to be more or less potty trained!!!!
Woohoohoohoo! :) I'm not sure he'd tell anyone other
than me and Jeff, but at home at least, he's potty
trained. Now we'll work on Grandma, Grandpa, play
group, the gym nursery, church, etc...

Things I've Done

2008-11-21T19:29:00.000-08:00

If you want to play along, just copy the list and highlight all the things you've done. Heehee, the best are the ones Janet added to the list!

1. Started your own blog *
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band *
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower *
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain *
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo *
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris *
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch *
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning *
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables *
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train *
21. Had a pillow fight *
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort *
25. Held a lamb *
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse *
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset *
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors *
35. Seen an Amish community *
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied *
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing *
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke *
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt *
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight *
46. Been transported in an ambulance *
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person *
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris *
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling *
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater *
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies *
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason *
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma *
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter *
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy *
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial *
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt *
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades *
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London *
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican *
82. Bought a brand new car *
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper *
85. Read the entire Bible *
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating *
88. Had chickenpox *
89. Saved someone’s life *
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous *
92. Joined a book club *
93. Lost a loved one *
94. Had a baby *
95. Seen the Alamo in person *
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone *
99. Been stung by a bee *
The following were added by Janet:
• Worn two different colored shoes (at the same time)
• Worn your shirt inside out *
• Called someone by the wrong name *
• Driven the wrong way on a one-way street *
• Driven on a “buses only” street *
• Thought about stealing a cat
• Actually stolen a cat
• Assisted with a hemorrhoidectomy (ok, not sure why the heck Janet did this, but _I_ after all am a PA, so that’s my excuse!) *
• Got lost going someplace you’ve been before *
• Eaten frosting straight from the plastic tub *
•Dropped your driver’s license into the toilet

Finally Getting Around to it...

2008-11-17T14:31:00.000-08:00

Finishing up 2007 Christmas SB pages, that is:)

Santa Was Here uses Basic Grey, Heidi Swapp chipboard frame, Kelly Pannacci Sandylion chipboard.

I don't often bake; I consider it enough of an effort to put a main course on the table...but last year made the effort for a friend's caroling party (which was kind of my idea, but she has the piano, lol) I LOVE these candy cane cookies. They are one of those rare things that are as good to eat as they are to look at. Decorated sugar cookies are almost always a disappointment to me...they look awesome but usually taste like cardboard.

The background is older Christmas paper, and the white scraps are just that...scraps from Basic Grey. The cookies are Westrim Paper Bliss.

Race On uses Basic Grey paper (see a trend here...I could probably scrap the rest of my Christmas pictures for my whole life just with my current collection of BG...oops, that might be too much info for DH if he reads this;), May Arts & Doodlebug ribbon, Stencil font, and race car cut with CraftRobo. Oh, and if I may say so myself...I pulled off using ORANGE on a Christmas page!! (too bad my in-laws didn't pick a red car to match the usual Christmas colors, lol)

TFL:)
Cheri

Dragon Conquest

2008-11-14T19:39:00.001-08:00

We've always loved this adorable dragon sculpture outside Ames City Hall!

Lisa Sisneros Gizmo papers and alpha (gears texture on black paper is from another multi-colored paper used as a texturizer under the filters menu)
Mary Fran (Nitwit Collections) Little Men triangular border

Have a great weekend!

Jumping in the Leaves

2008-11-11T19:18:00.000-08:00

More quickpages:

The quickpages were designed by Glam Fairy Designs and SMD Designs...just wanted to show off a few cute pictures:) The leaf jumping was in our own front yard. We barely have enough leaves to jump in. The other picture is at Ada Hayden Park here in town. A man came this fall to build an artistic sapling structure that turned out really cool.

Click any photo to "bigify" (Janet's word), but especially the last one...I checked...you should be able to read all you ever wanted to know and more about the stick house!

Milestones

2008-11-10T15:02:00.000-08:00

Our 9th anniversary was last Thursday (thus the beautiful flowers, same periwinkle color as at our wedding). At first it looked like we might not get to celebrate alone, but we ended up celebrating two days in a row! I have a maternity aqua exercise class that meets T/Th evenings until 6pm, so my friend Amy watches the kids. She offered to keep them Thursday evening while we went out to eat at The Cafe. This is probably the coolest restaurant in our town...awesome food, awesome ambiance, and they are dedicated to providing as much locally produced food as possible, which is great.

Then Friday night my in-laws, who are in the throes of a COMPLETE kitchen remodel (as in no cupboards on the walls at the moment and just got their new appliances), offered to watch the boys while we went out again:) This time to Cool Basil, which has had mixed reviews. Spouse had been there once before for a business lunch and the service was terrible, but the food great, so we figured it was worth the gamble. It was awesome! I had Tom Yum soup and gingered orange roughy. Spouse had Tom Kai soup and angry dish Pad-Pi-Rod.

Then on Saturday, S-i-L had her baby, so I am an aunt for the second time:) Dominic Borg (family last name) Purcell made his appearance during the day and we saw him briefly before I had to fill in a partial shift at the Fast Track Sunday evening. They've been too busy to blog his appearance yet, so no pics of him yet:(

Back to Summer (at least in photos!)

2008-11-10T13:05:00.001-08:00

On a very cold, overcast day I needed a bit of sunshine in my life:) I rely on my gardening expert/friend to tell little Black-Thumb me what to do with my flower gardens. After our blue hydrangea experiment failed (sob, they are my favorite flowers in the whole wide world) she suggested St. John's Wort shrubs to replace the hydrangeas. I call them my happy little flowers, heeehee. For those who don't know, St. John's wort is best known as a health supplement touted to help those with depression. Well just looking at these flowers helps make me happy:) (They are the picture clear to the right in the filmstrip.)

Plain Digital Wrapper KCS Designs "Joys of Summer"
Aneczka W flowers freebies
Angie Briggs filmstrip
Brandy Hackman daisy
A Langpap orange flowers/leaves

More Spookiness

2008-11-08T08:39:00.000-08:00

A smattering of our holiday decor:

The "scary guy" as Michael calls him was a 50% off find at Target last year...love him! He sits in our storage side of the basement during the off-season and happily scares the kids when they go downstairs to check out the toy stash down there, lol.

Mom made the witch a number of years ago...she's way more cute than scary:)

Christopher designed the jack-o-lantern based on a t-shirt he has, and Jeff did the honors with the sharp pumpkin knife. I'll never forget the first year I convinced my parents I was old enough to carve a pumpkin. I sliced my thumb open and was too embarrassed/didn't want them to know I apparently wasn't old enough after all, and told them I had a hang-nail to explain the band-aid:) Methinks I'll supervise a little closer when my own children start cutting pumpkins alone.

It's been awhile since my last owl reference, so of course I had to show off our new doormat from Target!

Hallowed Halloween

2008-11-07T12:31:00.001-08:00

I have more pictures to upload from Halloween, but my wireless connection isn't working properly right now and I cannot access my stash of pics on the desktop:(

The boys kept us in suspense until the last minute as to which costume they would wear. They opted to be the "Skeleton Brothers" as Jeff dubbed them. Mom actually made Michael an Arthur costume b/c he was infatuated with Arthur...oh well. And she made Christopher a mummy costume...oh well. Then she went to Salvation Army when they had their costumes on clearance about a month ago and this is what the boys fell in love with. Christopher's costume is about 1-2 sizes too small, lol...he didn't care.

Both of these pages are "recreated" quick pages from Cinzia Loosemore. Her "Tales of the Night" collection is awesome! I bought the whole collection and just recreated the quick pages she made in a separate kit. I changed the colors a bit to suit me too. In general I like these "white space" layouts a lot better when someone else does them, but I like the look here.

All Tied Up

2008-11-04T19:16:00.001-08:00

Proud Parental Announcement: As of about 3 weeks ago, Christopher knows how to tie his shoes! Hurray!:) He even double knots them...very smart.

Fall Crafts

2008-11-04T10:18:00.001-08:00

As promised! Here's what we did a week ago on the weekend: We got the ideas for the witch hats from HERE. I really liked their example so I actually bought the pack of digital paper, lol:) The second one is Christopher's...totally his idea to make lightning on his hat. Very creative! Luckily I actually had some glitter on hand (I hate the mess, so am not real big on glitter, and until 4 days ago I didn't own any Stickles either...now I'm the proud owner of one color. More on that later.) I laid down tacky tape and we shook the glitter over it together. The third hat is Mom's, and it uses DCWV glitter/embossed paper with a green shimmery hue that looks perfect with the glittery green "pick".

It was very difficult, surprisingly, to find fall themed ribbon here in town. Either no one stocks much/any to begin with, or they sell out long before fall is over. We eventually scoured Hobby Lobby, Wal-Mart, and Joann Fabrics. The paper mache cone is from Hobby Lobby and was in the Christmas section. The styrofoam cones in the floral section are totally the wrong size and shape for this project, so I was glad to get an answer from the Peppermint Creative team member who originally made the hat!

The Indian corn was a project in a parenting magazine from 2004. I dutifully filed the torn out sheet in a crafts folder and each year promised to do it someday. Well someday finally arrived this year! I spent about $3 on the beads and about $6.50 on shipping to get the fall colors I wanted:) The base is a chenille stem and of course the tie is raffia. Christopher had a lot of fun with this project.

And last, I copied the Halloween card idea from Adobeaddict at Jenn Wilson. Paper is Jen Wilson (a paper version is sold through My Mind's Eye), jewels from Hobby Lobby, and "Hooloween" sign inside is Mindy Terasawa. Christopher's version is the black card. The one card that says "happy" instead of "spooky" was for my friend Jennifer's birthday on the 30th. Hers of course has a birthday message inside as well.

Also note the button usage...I was in a challenge last month to use up buttons, brads, and eyelets. I even added some to my witch hat:)

TFL! Hope you all had a good Halloween...I'll post pics soon! Always behind, always behind...

A Crafty Weekend

2008-10-27T11:12:00.000-07:00

We had a good, busy weekend. The kids got their flu shots Saturday morning with a minimum of crying, then my parents came to spend the next 24 hours with us. Christopher, Mom, and I (mostly I, but I did have help!) finished 6 Halloween cards (I don't usually send H cards, but these are cute...will post when I get pictures of all taken), 3 witch hats, and several beaded Indian corn decorations. I need Christopher to hold up a backdrop for me to take pics of the hats, I hope this afternoon, then I can post:)

Very close scraplift of Sarah Batdorf's layout on scrapgirls.com
Jeff took the photo of me at Adventureland on the carousel
FEI stuff word art
SG_EHI_Applique collection mini (some recolored)
emerritt (formerly of LDD) feltypaper (recolored)
SG_STI Stiching 1 brush & Cheryl Barber Stitching and Holes Style
SG_TCS_Art Journal brads, some recolored
SG_BHA_orange office tab
2peas well behaved & bluecake fonts (redhead part slightly grunged with standard PS faux finish brush)
SG_ASO_Blackberry brush (arrows)

TFL,
Cheri

Typing Fun

2008-10-24T19:56:00.000-07:00

77 words

Typingtest

First time through I had 2 incorrect words (knew they were incorrect but skipped them), second time through, same number of words per minute and 100% correct.

Nope, I don't work in an office:)

Cold, Wet, Rainy Friday

2008-10-24T18:14:00.000-07:00

In addition to a bunch of errands, I spent part of my day making a double batch of chili for the PTO fall social at Christopher's school this evening. We had a good time trying some different soups, the kids enjoyed the hot dogs and lemonade, and of course Christopher ended up with a couple too many desserts:)

I did have a minute to put the finishing touches on my latest layout:

This one was fun! Yin has some great sketches (for paper scrappers) and .psd layered templates of her sketches (for digi scrappers)...some are free, others are in her related blog store.
I like them for the pages that I want to include TONS of photos:)

I rarely purchase specific birthday related scrapbooking supplies, paper or digi. Christopher's pirate-themed party lended itself more to pirate/Halloween items than birthday...but for this generic party at preschool I really had to dig and was glad I had all my digi supplies organized in ACDSee Photo Manager (also great for photo managing and organizing, obviously). The only new thing I had to buy was the candle flames...what's a birthday candle without the flame?!

Journaling: Birthdays are a big deal at a Waldorf preschool, and rightly so. Parents and siblings are invited to come for the day and enjoy all the usual and special activities. I helped the children make yarn fiber tied balls, Christopher played with everyone, especially Daniel, Michael played with the kitchen, the gnomes, and checked out the “vacuumie”, and Jeff took lots of pictures.
Yin template
Sarah Batdorf Birthday Wishes circle/target
Valerie Randall Assemble Your Own Birthday Candles (5 candle and all the flames)
Thao Cosgrove Beautiful Distress Brush Set (white brushwork behind title), rectangle words from her Friendship and Merry Mine collections
Brandy Hackman brads
Sara Carling brad and leather circle tags (Aero collection)
Mary Ann Wise 2 peas Party Hat freebie collection candle paper (recolored)
Dani Mogstad Cabana Boy "play" tag
Cari Lopez "Exotic Bag" candles
Chatterbox Fingerpaint font
Miss Mint "play time" tag

TFL,
Cheri

Tagged

2008-10-17T21:45:00.000-07:00

I was tagged by Janet (and I’m feeling a little short on random and weird facts at the moment, so many of mine are variations on hers.)

RULES:
• Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
• Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
• Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
• Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
My facts:

1) I thought I could never use anything other than brand name Kleenex and brand name toilet paper (specifically Northern)…but Target (LOVE ‘em!) has made cheaper store brands of both, and I really cannot tell the difference.
2) Gotta have a medical reference in here: I have never had to do CPR, but should the need arise, I will now have "Stayin' Alive" stuck in my head. PA or not, I am thankful that it wasn't until about 3 months ago that I even witnessed CPR being performed. Sadly the woman did not make it. Though I work in the Emergency Department, I do NOT thrive on medical adrenal cases. My division is called Fast Track and I see "acute minor" illnesses.
3) I do love total silence while I’m sleeping. Spouse here probably would love to have the TV or radio on half/all the night…Oh, and an occasional owl hoot doesn’t bother me a bit, but woodpeckers in the night would probably drive me nuts (you didn’t think I could go more than a couple days without a bird reference did you? You’d think I’d mention my dog more…)
4) Certain scents bother me regardless of allergy season: strong beer smells (almost didn’t make it through the brewery we toured in San Francisco, much to Spouse's embarrassment), newly mown grass (don’t hate me, but I really hate that smell, probably b/c growing up, it always set off my allergies. Now it usually doesn’t, but it’s a Pavlovian response to hate it, I think.), pine (no real Christmas tree here! Also perhaps a throwback to allergy symptoms).
5) The cow's name, above, is rather apropos...Spouse and I met at the University of Iowa (ie. the Hawkeyes). However, I would not deign to compare Spouse to a cow. Though I know a man who DID, and luckily his wife took it as a complement that he thought her big brown eyes were as beautiful as a cows...I'm thinking "only in Iowa" LOL!
6) I never sleep with socks on, unless my feet are REALLY cold when I go to bed…then I’m decked out with my yummy polar fleece knee socks I purchased on a skiing trip to Jackson Hole, WY. If my feet get hot in the night, I’ll whip ‘em off and find them across the room in the morning. :)
7) Gotta improvise here…Janet has perfect pitch, and I think I’m often off by a note or two (still probably not too bad, but nothing to brag about like perfect pitch)…ok, I said I needed to say something more often about my dog: Reuben, who died at age 12 in July, was my first baby. I’d had him since the moment (pretty much literally) I received my masters degree. Daisy…we are her 4th or so home. I will admit that I love her, but she has to be one of the most exasperating creatures ever! Yes, even a rival to Lily;) She has bunny wanderlust, which is a beagle thing, though Reuben was bred to be a show dog, not a field dog, and had NONE of that hunting instinct. I have a strong feeling this is why we are Daisy’s 4th home. She is otherwise known as Houdini-beagle who can dig out from under a chain link fence in about hm, 2 minutes flat. Poor Spouse has been working on “Daisy-proofing” the yard for the entire 4 years we’ve had her. It’s only been this summer that she’s dug out less due to his constant efforts. It gets embarrassing when the same neighbor finds her more than once or twice a season when she digs out and has been missing for a few hours. It also gets expensive when the pound finds her (at $25 a pop). But she IS a beagle, my favorite breed, and she IS cute, and she IS endearing, wagging her tail so hard her entire BODY sways like she’s hoola hooping or dancing, and she DOES help keep my feet warm in the winter by sleeping under the covers by my feet.  So I have the perfect solution…find someone to take her during the summer, and when the ground freezes and she cannot dig out, I’ll happily take her back until the spring thaw, and repeat the cycle!!

Ok, I work at the ER this weekend, so there may have been 3 posts from me today, but I can almost promise there won't be any more until AT LEAST Tuesday!:)

Chatterbox

2008-10-17T15:47:00.000-07:00

Misty Cato Chatty collection
Doreen Stolz journaling box with my "burned edges" style
American Typewriter font
Journaling: Christopher has always been quite the little chatterbox. He talked early, he talked well, and he talks often and LOUD! We have received countless comments from family, friends, and strangers alike on his eloquence and vocabulary.
A favorite example: “Mommy, why are there two versions of this slide?” (the slide had a divider down the middle so two children could go down at a time)
Before kindergarten started there was a parent questionnaire we had to fill out. His teacher wondered how much/often our child talked and I wrote “constantly.” So far he’s done a great job listening at school though!

Yes, we DO need to do something about health care costs

2008-10-17T12:16:00.000-07:00

A couple of someone’s have approached and/or suggested to me lately that b/c their own health care costs are so very low, that nothing needs to be done in America to change things.
I am truly grateful for my own health insurance (which comes through my DH’s job) and am also truly grateful that should the need arise, I have training that would enable me to find a full-time job with instant benefits. I am also very grateful that most of my close relatives and in-laws have access to health care as well…some are even fortunate enough to have pensions with benefits, something I don’t believe will exist any longer when my own generation reaches retirement age.
But none of this changes the fact that 47 million Americans at any given point in time are completely without coverage at all, and many more (I don’t have a week to do more solid research on numbers…this is NOT a paid blog) are underinsured. Underinsured means they have only catastrophic insurance (ie. if they get cancer it’d all be paid, but no office visits, laceration repairs, physicals, mammograms, or Pap smears are paid) OR that their deductible or co-pays are sky-high.
This also doesn’t change the fact that my own parents, who have health insurance through my father’s job, and who have both had cancer, pay large sums of money out of pocket each month DESPITE their pretty decent insurance! Mom has given permission to use them as an example:
$364/month is deducted from Dad’s paycheck to go toward their health insurance premiums (his employer pays the rest, whatever that may be)
$200/month is their COPAY for their medications (no, not all drugs cost $4/month now, though that’s wonderful that many do and it helps tremendously!)
$300/year (so $25/month) for medical appointment copays, not counting any acute illnesses.
And the big whopper: Dad’s special food he takes in through his gastrostomy tube in his stomach. Their insurance company has an elaborate percentage that varies for this. Full price for the food and paraphernalia is a whopping $900/month. Mom and Dad pay 80% of that $900 at the beginning of the year. Once a certain amount is met, the insurance company kicks in more and M/D pay only 20%, and then in the last couple months of the year they owe only 10%.
Dad just turned 64; Mom is 4 months younger than him. He would love to retire now…he could actually go on disability due to his cancer history (tongue removed in 1995) until eligible for Medicare. BUT Mom depends on his health insurance. As an in-home day care provider, she does not have other options for health care, and there are no free medical clinics in Atlantic, Iowa (population 7500). So Dad will wait until he is 65 years, 4 months, before retiring to keep her covered. Thank God he isn’t 5 years older, or more!
It’s no wonder the political candidates can be “out of touch with Joe the Plumber” on things like this…my parents’ own friends and family seem sadly out of touch. A relative who is retiring early expressed shock when he commented that Dad should retire, and Dad calmly pointed out that would leave Mom without health care insurance. The relative enjoys insurance through his wife (and through his own current job as well).
Addendum to my parents’ story: Dad is a farm implement mechanic for a small-ish company in Atlantic, and due to astronomically rising costs of providing health care insurance to their employees, his bosses have switched insurance companies multiple times in the last several years. The last switch JUST occurred, and unless Dad’s doctor can get it appealed, the new insurance company will not pay a cent toward Dad’s $900/month food and supply costs.
There has been much hype in the Des Moines Register about the World Food Prize, rightly given to those who helped implement plans to feed hungry children throughout the world at their schools. I would make the strong case that workers in America could be more effective if their health care needs were “fed” as a right, not a privilege for the wealthy and well-educated with good jobs, in this country.
I hope that regardless of who wins the election in November that many positive changes will come about in our health care system. I am heartened that both candidates’ health care plans as touted by their websites touch on the sad fact of “pre-existing conditions” and how they plan to cover those persons. Based on the books I have read and previously touted on this blog, I think McCain’s plan of relying on free markets to improve the insurance industry and health care is doomed to fail royally. Obama’s plan is certainly not perfect either but seems to me to be more of a step in the right direction.
So for all who have braved this post thus far, think long and hard about your own, and your family and friends’ own health care plights. Count yourselves as very lucky if you are well-covered (and remember unless you are on Medicare, you are only a job away from no insurance at all), and remember those who are not so fortunate when you make your own decisions at the voting booth in November.
Will now step off soap box.
Credits for image above: Supplies from Theresa Kavouras' "House Calls" collection at Scrapgirls.com

Pica?! (no, not me)

2008-10-16T14:20:00.000-07:00

See, I don't need Jen Wilson's challenges to stay motivated!:)

Everything from Brandy Hackman's Abstract Expressionism collection unless otherwise stated. Edges of journaling block burned for effect, shadow distorted to make it appear slightly curled, and blending mode used to slightly change color/texture.
Brandy Hackman Seed Packet brush set (frame doodles around smaller photos)
Brandy Hackman Stylize (Huh?)
Brandy Murry Table Manners freebie
Thao Cosgrove Luxe Border Brush set (gray brushwork at top and bottom)
Thao Cosgrove Naturescape rocks and leaves
Thao Cosgrove Peeled Paint style (used on the 100% original wordart)
Melissa Renfro Downtown brush set (to distress the edges of the focal photo as well as the edges of the mats for the smaller photos at a lower opacity)
CK_Ali's Handwriting font
Journaling: He won’t let a vegetable pass his lips, but willingly puts a rock in his mouth to taste it. . .
Edited: Darnit, forgot to say these are Spouse's pics of the kids! (Too bad I wasn't around to take HIS picture as he was taking Michael's picture...he had to have been pretty low to the ground as well;)

Random Facts

2008-10-14T19:12:00.000-07:00

I was tagged! This time by Mary Perry aka MFP otherwise known as GrandmaPer.

1. I love the end result of gardening, but derive no pleasure from the actual process of getting there.
2. Hm, this may look like a repeat, but I love the end result of cooking, but derive no pleasure from the actual process of getting there.
3. Since others have commented on making beds or not, I’ll chime in on that one: Our bed gets made each time I wash the sheets, and maybe 1 or 2 other times per year, for example, if we are expecting company that might go upstairs. There’s really no point at our house anyway…if I make the bed, the dog will just unmake it to root under the covers for her naps
4. Since I’m on a roll with these: I love the end process of decorating (general home décor as well as any holiday décor), but (you guessed it) derive no pleasure from the actual process of getting there. My DREAM, which I have been touting for years, would be a fully decorated Christmas tree that disappears into the floor after the season with a mere touch of a button. It would then reside in the basement under a gigantic tarp to keep the dust off until the following late November when I would again press the button and it would magically rise back upstairs…lol!
5. Laundry is my favorite household chore. I don’t mind doing it, and generally keep up with it very well. This may change as the boys get older and start putting slimy things in their pockets…
6. I love a good warm pair of slippers! Mine wore out last year before the end of our never-ending 2008 winter, and then even my ancient back-up pair (purchased in high school for fun, and looked like mallard ducks of all things b/c I wanted an animal pair) wore out completely. I had to wear *gasp* shoes to keep my feet warm in the house! I was SO SO happy when Target got their fall/winter slipper collection in this fall

The "Rules":

* link to the person who tagged you
* list 6 random things about yourself
* tag 6 new people
* let each tagged person know they've been tagged by posting a comment on their blog
* link to the 6 people you've tagged
* and let the person who tagged you know that you posted

My tags:
Anyone who hasn't done this yet who wants to:)

Yes I still remember how to paper scrap:)

2008-10-13T21:10:00.001-07:00

Supplies list:
http://www.paperthreads.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_dnld_info&products_id=2839
(Carrie's Creations File: CS00149)
Cloud 9 background paper
other papers: Kelly Pannacci (sp?) for Creative Imaginations (also chipboard snowflakes), Basic Grey, unknown
Creative Imaginations ribbon

This would have been way cooler with a Rhonda Little (my friend IRL) poem, but alas, she was not nearby when I wanted/needed to finish it. I agonized over stupid little rhyming phrases that had to fit in the slats of the sled, but couldn't pull it off and resorted to:
Sledding Adventures: covered in snow- hat jauntily sideways- boots on the wrong feet- Then home for hot chocolate!

This is one of my favorite pics of Christopher:)
Oh, and this has to be a record...3 posts in 1 day! Hope none of you fell over from the shock of all the posts in 1 day plus the fact that I actually paper scrapped!:) Heehee.

Magnolias (a little dose of spring in the fall)

2008-10-13T19:37:00.000-07:00

Since we scrappers are rarely working in the current season, here's a little dose of spring in the fall. This one goes out to those who think flowers don't belong on boy pages...to that I say PPPPPPPPPPPPPTHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH (or however you'd spell it!)

I really cannot claim any piece of this layout as my own (and the original was done for a boy's page too!)...This is a hook-line-and-sinker type scraplift from Thao Cosgrove at Scrapgirls for their Eternal Spring collection. I substituted Kristin Aagard's "Love in Paris" (recolored) font for the title and Raspberry Road's "Cherry Limeade" rickrack. And the photo is by DH:) It was a bit too sunny to be optimal, and of course by the time the lighting was better, Michael was asleep. So I have better pics of Christopher and me by another magnolia later that day, but wanted Michael in the layout as well.

TFL,
Cheri

Owl Sighting (REAL)

2008-10-13T10:39:00.000-07:00

Yes, I mean a real LIVE owl sighting! You may remember from my other owl entry (a few days back) that we've heard an owl out our windows on a couple occasions in the last 6 months. About 4 nights ago I awoke knowing I had heard something, so I stayed awake to see if whatever it was made noise again. I heard the owl several times over a couple of minutes, and it sounded VERY loud...therefore close by!

So 4am or not, lol, here I am squinting out my west bedroom window with my glasses on (can't see very well in them, especially at night). I thought I could detect something large sitting on my neighbor's roof, and it sure didn't look like the normal little straight pipe/chimney thingie to me. Sure enough, when I slowly tried to open the window so I could hear better, it spooked Mr. Owl (or maybe Mrs.) and he/she flew off my neighbor's roof. Way cool!!

Credits for card: Heidi Larsen Hoot Fest June (check out the next page on the link provided...she's done several Hoot Fest collections, all very cute. So far I've only succumbed to 2 of them, but I have my eye on October...

98 Degrees (ok, it was ONLY 97!)

2008-10-10T21:07:00.000-07:00

My last homework assignment:) These have been too much fun! This one had to have an "extraction" (otherwise known in the paper scrapping world as "silhouette") and include statistics. I didn't exactly have any sports pictures, and like to think outside the box anyway, lol.

JWD: Academy elementary solid blended with history paper, Cowabunga bracket, Creative Fortune journaling box, Benjamin stripes (Laundry Line), offset stamp block
Rhonna Farrer frame
Cheryl Barber inked edges style
Ariadna Wiczling date stamp
Kristin Aagard rain drop
Asman font
Journaling:
12 oz. bottle sarsasparilla: delicious!
97 degrees: Way Too Hot!
1800s Living History Farms: 1 cool place
4 sweaty people having fun despite the heat
2 pieces of rock candy: YUM!

Rockstar

2008-10-07T20:28:00.000-07:00

Here's my second-to-last "homework" assignment for jenwilsondesigns.com challenges...had fun with this pic, which Jeff took one night after playing Rock Band.

JWD: Vinnie (Laundry Line) guitar paper and Academy music paper
Mindy Terasawa red/white striped paper (all three papers blended together with blending modes)
Brandy Hackman grunge frame
McGarey, Mechanical Fun, & Astigma fonts
Keri Schueller wrought iron style on the "rock star" title
photo edges burned a little for more definition

TFL,
Cheri

History Assignment

2008-10-06T19:34:00.000-07:00

Well I'm kicking butt on my homework :) The assignment this time was to include 6-12 photos in chronological order and to use repeats of something like a frame, stickers, or rubons.
Initially I wanted to do a heritage layout with a timeline of photos from various periods (I love heritage), but this layout has been half-finished FOREVER, and it felt good to get it done! The photos are in chronological order right off the camera:)
JWD: Phys Ed stars paper (pin light blending mode with dark red background), canvas backpack label.
Christy Lyle "His Nursery" denim star, recolored
Heather Roselli "Keep Out" and "Backyard Boy" denim, frame, and caution sign
LivEsteban designs: red background, boy tag, bicycle, and stickers/brads
Blue Melody font
Journaling: One day in a boy's life: Spend LOTS of time outside riding on bikes; don't forget to smile REALLY huge when trying to run Daddy down because he's trying to get a great photo. Hope that he jumps aside just in time or you'll probably get in trouble. Chase your little brother, even if he's riding in a toy car. He'll love it anyway unless you actually bump into him. Swing, and swing and swing. Hug your brother. Revel in the joy of nature, of being outside, of being alive. Make sure to ask what's for dinner when you go back inside!

The Scrapping Abyss

Intentional Design

Long Time No See

Full Swing

Jessica Sprague's Pen Tablet class

Local Peeps...shameless plug for my child's school!

Bat-Party and Bug Party (all in one!)

Little Boys' Birthday

Little Boys Birthday

FINALLY!

Project 52: Final Pages!

Christmas

Thanksgiving

Poor neglected blog

Busy Day

Happy Fall Y'all :)

Latest Jen Wilson Challenge pages

Daddy Love

The Meeting of the Brothers

Garden Project

Week 31 and 32

Might as Well Catch Up!

I'm a Camping Widow

Badlands

Layouts and Miscellany

Give a Hoot

Just For Fun

Vacation

Catch-up

Life's Messy!

Family Photo Link

Home

Mothers Day Gifts

Presenting...

Handle with Care

Did You Ever Wonder Why...

Slow Scrap Week 4 (and final version)

Slow Scrap Week 3

Alien Kids

Who am I?

Funniest

"Slow Scrap"

Easter Hilarity (2008)

Christmas in April (fits the weather, eh?)

Ribbon Challenge

Seventh Photo

My Big Secret

Catch-up

A Good Activity for a Rainy Day

Spring Crop

Back in the Groove

My Unexpected Wednesday Present

The Periodic Table

Scrapping Challenges

Paleontology and assorted miscellany

I Think He Gets It!!

6 Week Photos

More Paper Pages

Sixth Birthday Penguin Party

Paper Pages

Official

Thank Goodness for Challenges

Brotherly Love

Busy Busy Busy

Announcing William Aidan Thieleke!

More Holiday Memories

My Crazy Family

Buggy 4 Bugs

Pie Bandit has a page already :)

The Pie Bandit and other Christmas Moments

Christmas Leftovers

Have some Daffodils with your Blizzard

More Pages

Merry Christmas

Witch Holiday is this???? I'm Confused!

Blog Award and mysterious picture

My Little Turkeys

Things I've Done

Finally Getting Around to it...

Dragon Conquest