Official

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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:)