Happy Birthday Robin!

credits: Blog Buds mini kit by Gina Miller, Brown Chipboard alpha by Meredith Fenwick; fonts: MA Sexy

It's Robin's birthday today- happy birthday! thanks for being such a great friend, and I hope you are able to enjoy your day and that it is filled with many happy memories.


After spending just about all day on Tuesday out of the house, I knew today was going to need to be a 'catch-up' day. That means we stay home so that Brenna and Sarah can hopefully catch up on some of the sleep they missed the day before when nap time was non-existent or greatly reduced. Bedtime tonight was still awful as Brenna had finally decided she was hungry at 8:30 after not eating more than 4 or 5 bites at dinnertime. It was a classic Brenna tantrum, and of course Sarah had to add her fussing to the mix because I was ignoring her while trying to get Brenna taken care of. The day overall was actually pretty quiet, mainly because I let the kids play on the computers- Bryce on the kids' computer in his room and Carissa on the internet down here.

I've been making a dent in the to-do list finally. I just have to stay away from the internet, I have found. I get distracted reading and posting in the forums, going through email, reading blogs, etc and before I know it a couple of hours have gone by with nothing other than a little larger number under my name at RAKs. I've got both of the tutorials for the newsletter written up in rough drafts- I have to get those uploaded tomorrow for people to peruse and edit. I finished up the next minicorkboard digicraft, which I think will be for August. I'm just not quite sure what to do with July. In the absence of someone to take it over while I am on vacation, I think we will just have to skip next month. Anyway, I have to get the instructions finished up for that tomorrow, but they are started. I need to get the weekly challenge descriptions for the Home album started too. I am getting excited for it to begin, and a good number of people have expressed an interest in the challenge intro thread I posted (click here).

Tomorrow should be interesting. We will probably hang out at home again- Sarah seems to have developed a nasty cough all of a sudden after dinner. Hopefully it will pass as quickly as it arrived.

I don't think I am ready for this

That's right- she's not even figured out crawling yet and she is already trying to pull herself up to her feet. She moves around the floor by bouncing herself while in the seated position (very funny to watch!) and leaning forward and scooching up a little at a time.

Not much exciting around here this weekend, which is fine by me. Mark took the kids down to the Pueblo Zoo on Friday afternoon after they got home from school. He went to get a membership there because they have reciprocal agreements with other zoos around the country so that you can get in free or for a reduced price, and as we plan to hit 4 or 5 of them on our vacation it quickly becomes more cost effective to do that. He also drove up to Ft Collins last weekend to the Science Center there for the same reason. Sarah and I stayed home and enjoyed some peace and quiet and then I got to go to the monthly crop my friend Bonnie runs a bit early. That was nice! I got this LO done at the crop, plus another paper for the Secret Agent kit. I always have grand plans to get tons of things done and end up being lucky to get one or two accomplished. Oh well, the really important part is getting out the house and spending time with my friends, eating and scrapping are secondary LOL! I used the fabulous Summer Sunsations kit by Jen Reed, Krista Mettler and Jeanine Baechtold at Scrapdish for this one. Robin got the CDs I ordered with this huge kit out to me pronto and they arrived in time for me to take to the crop :)

Brenna just acting goofy after insisting I take her picture too when she saw me trying to get some pictures of Sarah.
credits: Summer Sunsations kit by Jen Reed, Krista Mettler and Jeanine Baechtold at Scrapdish; based on LO sketch by Amy Knepper; fonts: Tweed and Toontime

credits: Strawberry Patch by Amy Knepper; glitter hearts and heart stitches by Dani Mogstad; glitter glue border by Gina Miller; edge tear action by Atomic Cupcake; Scraplift of Family by Traci Reed at Scrapmommies; fonts: Bickley Script

I did this second LO last night for the impromtu Memorial weekend crop at Scrapmommies. I really liked this new outfit on Carissa when she wore it to church a couple of weeks ago, so I made her pose for a picture after we got home. She didn't seem to mind ;)

Now I evidently have to find a picture of Beth to scrap, because she was wanting to see a LO of her on the computer. I cleaned out my LOs folder on the HD in an attempt to clear up some space and I dont' have anything of her left on there at the moment. I should be able to come up with something I would think. A lack of things to scrap is not a problem I have had in a long time.

Oh, and I did one more thing this weekend so far. Whipped up this neat little alpha for a nightowls prize.
I've actually had the base file for this made for a long time- can't even remember when I originally made it- but haven't ever picked a font and made the alpha. I think it took as long to make the cute preview as it did to actually create the alpha itself. LOL We might be giving people a second chance at earning it for the nightowls challenge this week ;) Go check the chats forum at RAKscraps HERE later tonight or tomorrow to see for sure.

Time to get Brenna in bed and wait for my parents' weekly phone call, so I'm off! I hope everyone is having a great holiday weekend!

The great egg drop experiment results

I'm not feeling much better. I intended to post last night, but was just too tired before I got around to it. This cold feels like it is settling into my sinuses. I'm still able to do things, but I had much less energy today than even yesterday. Brenna has it too, and is coughing quite a bit. For some reason she is waking up extremely early in the mornings, and I know not getting enough rest isn't helping her (or me).

I got two more home album pages done yesterday. It is just killing me that I have to wait to post them; sharing them with everyone is a big part of saying that it is 'finished' to me now. I started working on another page today, but only got part of it done- the parts that I had to do on the computer.

So, on to the egg drop results....

Here's Bryce with the completed egg drop contraption on his way to school in the morning. You can see Mark took the 'NASA Mars lander' approach to this project. It consisted of a wire basket frame with an egg carton suspended in the middle by rubber bands, and then the whole thing was surrounded by balloons.




The kids' projects were hoisted onto the roof via rope by the school janitor















and then tossed down one by one



I would guess that well over half of the eggs survived in whatever protective cocoons the kids had come up with. Quite a few were in boxes, or in a plastic leftover container of some sort, and most had a homemade parachute of some sort. Plain plastic shopping bags like you get at the grocery store seemed to be very effective. The most original packing material was red jello cubes.

The most dramatic survival was the egg that was in one of the Glad plastic containers, and when it hit the ground there was a loud thud and the container lid popped off and the egg rolled out. The cushioning material also popped out and the egg landed on that and didn't crack. The girl was holding that egg up like a trophy to everybody cheering LOL

Finally it was Bryce's turn....
the egg contraption fell down and bounced a couple of times when it hit the ground. no loud noises, no popping balloons, nothing to indicate whether the egg had cracked or not.
















and his egg survived completely unscathed.



















Tomorrow is the last day of school. They are sending them home at noon filled with 'goodies', so I won't have to worry about feeding them lunch- Beth and Carissa's classes (and all the other second grade classes) are having an ice cream sundae bar, and at least Bryce's class is eating pizza.

well, that is it for me- it has taken me all evening to get this post done between listening to Mark, getting the pics uploaded, making it look right (I guess we will see about that part in a minute, won't we?), and chatting with a friend I havent seen in a week on IM. Sarah has finally given in and gone to sleep. I need to go find some Sudafed and see if that will help clear out my sinuses so I can get to sleep.

busy busy busy

Somehow today has just gone by without me getting much of anything done that I wanted to do, or intended. Oh well. Some days are just like that.

This is the last week of school and the kids are doing all sorts of fun stuff this week. The girls are looking forward to pajama day tomorrow, game day on Thursday, and an ice cream feast on Friday. I guess I won't worry about feeding them lunch after they get home Friday at noon. Bryce's end of the year project was to come up with a contraption that would cushion an egg and keep it from breaking when they drop it off the roof of the school. Yep, the roof. He did well this time and remembered to tell us about it last week; that doesn't mean that we worked on it until tonight, but there was time to think about what to do and Mark and Bryce had time to go out to the store to get the items they needed after dinner tonight. Of course, Mark had to come up with something that goes down the 'road less traveled.' Oh no, we couldn't contribute anything that would be similar to what most other kids would probably be bringing. It should be an interesting experiment. I believe the egg drop commences at 9 tomorrow morning and I think I might try to make it over there to get some pics and see how our poor little egg fares. Mark was worried about trying to keep it cold inside its protective casing, and I had to tell him that I didn't think we would be eating the poor thing even if it did manage to survive the drop and to not worry about trying to stuff the large contraption into the refrigerator (there is absolutely no way it would fit in there anyway!).

So, I spent most of yesterday starting work on my home album as the new minialbum project begins next Monday. I cleared off my desk enough to be able to sit and work at it and I pulled out the adhesive, paper, scissors, and a few other odds and ends and got started on the title and index pages I had planned. I tried too to lay out some sort of a plan that will attempt to unify all of the different sections into a whole. I guess we will see how it all works when it is done. Which, I am sure, will not be at the end of the minialbum project. I've been planning this album for several years now and just one section of it could be what I have planned for the RAKscraps project. I surprised myself and got both pages done last night. ......Can I stop for a minute and say that working with the paper stuff again reminds me of why I have moved to 90% digiscrapping? It's not that I don't enjoy the cutting and pasting and all of that anymore, it is just that everything takes me so much longer to do because I don't have the right letter style, or size pics, or I want to do something on the computer and I have to print it out to put it on my page.... and it is like I am paralyzed now when faced with having to cut an actual piece of paper because I don't want to screw it up since it can't be undone with the click of a button. Finding things on my crowded HD is still faster than digging through my piles of scrapping stuff too. .......Well, after all that, I will say that I am pretty pleased with how my pages came out. You will just have to wait until next Monday to see them :-P (oh and the whole scanning and stitching the parts together thing is a royal pain the rear too!!) Maybe tomorrow I can get started on the week 2 pages; I guess we will see. I'm not feeling quite up to snuff. I've got a sore throat and am kind of stuffy. I don't feel awful, and it hasn't kept from doing anything I needed or wanted to do (I'm still ignoring the laundry that needs to be folded and the other piles that need to be washed, but that has nothing to do with how I feel LOL), but at the same time I tend to get irritated fairly easily. Brenna was a bit out of sorts today too. I don't think we will be venturing much further than the 3 blocks to the school yard tomorrow.

a little introspection

I guess all of the journaling and soul searching in the UDS contest LOs is rubbing off on me.
journaling: You finally said that you were ready to sell your Rescue Heroes collection, and I think it was harder for me than it was for you. It meant saying goodbye to my little boy, and I wasn’t ready to do that quite yet it turns out. I know you don’t hardly play with them anymore- you spend your time building with your Legos and playing with Bionicles now. It just seems that so many of the toys and shows for boys your age these days focus on fighting themes and the Rescue Heroe’s mission was always just to help people. I’m sad to see you losing your innocence about how the world works, even though I know I can’t protect you from the true reality- that things aren’t always fair, and there are just some people who will not be nice to you no matter what you do. Somehow I managed this task of tagging and boxing up your toys, but it wasn’t easy. You have more room in your bedroom now to do the things I know you love, and that is a good thing. I hope that I can help you steer clear of a few of the realities growing up is sure to bring, because growing up is a good thing too and I am looking forward to seeing you turn into the wonderful young man I know you will be.
credits: RAKscraps Admin May 2006 Megakit Addon: Tan paper and brads by Rachel Dickson, Striped paper by Jeanine Baechtold; Canvas tag alpha from Dirty Boys collection by Dani Mogstad; fonts: Arid ITC, CK Extra

Saturday activities

She finally did it- Sarah that is....
she got herself up on her hands and knees tonight. She didn't know what to do after that. It was kind of funny, seeing her perched in that position and fussing because she couldn't figure out what came next. She has fallen on her face so many times in the last few days that I took pity on her and helped her out without making her wait while I snapped pictures.

No new LOs to show you tonight. I've got so many projects that are 'in the works' at the moment. Lots of stuff I'm trying to get done ahead of time so that I can go on vacation and not worry about what I should be doing for RAKscraps. I did get screen shots done for the next 2 newletter tutorials. Hopefully doing the actual writing will go fairly quickly too. I have a couple of LOs in my head that have yet to been worked on, instead I have spent a lot of time the last couple of days playing with more of my Balloon classic pictures and trying to come up with some elements that will complement them. The pictures are so colorful and busy I'm just not sure what all would be good. If you have any ideas, please leave me a comment and let me know!

I've also been trying to clean off my scrap desk so that I can sit down and get started on my Home album project (the wonderful thing about running a challenge is having a head-start on it!). What a mess! I haven't done much but pile stuff on it for months, and the dust around here is absolutely awful these days. I know the dust wasn't this bad when we first moved here. I am bound and determined to do this project with paper supplies, since I have been saving stuff for this project for years. But I'm finding the thought of actually cutting my gorgeous papers intimidating, to say the least. I love the fact that I can play with the digi papers to my heart's content and still have the whole beautiful piece to play with some more when I am done. If I screw it up when working with real paper, I don't have the option of the undo command. Like most things, just making myself get started is usually the hardest part.

My baby is getting so big

Just look at her now....

journaling: At 7 months old, Sarah
* rubs her nose on my shoulder when she wants to nurse
* ate Cheerios for the first time 5/5/06
* is napping in her bed fairly regularly
* still prefers to fall asleep while nursing, but she will go to sleep on her own too
* sits up very well
* wants to try what Mama is eating- will grab plates
* picks up toys and small objects
*pinches my arm and plays with my lower lip while she is nursing- ouch!
* will sit on the floor and play quietly when with Daddy, but insists on being held when with Mama
* wearing 6/9 month size clothes
* moves backwards on stomach
* is trying to get into the crawling position, but doesn't have the leg or arm strength yet
* moves small distances in the sitting position by bouncing
* reaches to grab things she wants
* holds her arms up when she wants to be picked up
* whines when Daddy walks by without saying hello
credits: Tribute by Dani Mogstad; Notepaper from Note This2 by Gina Miller; Flower Clip from A Little Spring by Dani Mogstad; Shabby Wood Alpha by Dani Mogstad; Doodles by Rhonda Stark, Margarete Antonio, and Susan Cyrus from the Creative Team Spring Doodle Collection by Digital Design Essentials; fonts: Christine

I just love working with Dani's kits~ my 'month' is about up as the guest CT and I am going to miss it. She is having a new CT call in June and I won't hesitate to apply! You know how there are certain designers whose things are just your style? Between Scrapdish (ALL the designers there are fabulous, and I especially love Robin's kits), TracyB, and Dani I am pretty content in the digikit department these days. It's a lovely feeling.

Sarah is just one wiggly bundle these days. I can't get much work done on the computer any more if she is in my lap. She is yanking on the cords, trying to pull open the desk drawer and empty it's contents, kicking my arms with her feet, and whatever else new she can come up with. She was determined to 'help' me finish that LO up above tonight by moving things around with the trackball when I was trying to type. When I finally get tired of trying to keep her out of trouble, I set her down on the floor with the basket of toys in front of her, and she just screws up her little face and lets out a wail that mama would dare to put her down. If she isn't too tired, then it only lasts a few seconds and she will happily play with her toys for a while. She is trying so hard to learn to crawl now too. She sticks out her arms and plants them in front of her and leans way over. Most of the time she moves back to the sitting position after rocking back and forth a couple of times, but there have been a few times when she actually manages to kick her legs out behind her too. She falls over a lot onto her nose too and then mama has to come rescue her. I have always thought it so amazing to watch the kids during this first year and wonder why they keep trying over and over and over. When do we lose that persistence that every baby has to have so that they can learn to do the things we take for granted as children and adults- being able to sit up, walk, feed ourselves?

I am just floored at all of the amazing LOs over in the UDS gallery this week. WOW! there isn't much else to say other than I am so glad I am not a judge LOL!

I'd better wrap this up so that I can pry myself out of bed in time to make lunches for the kids before they have to go out the door. I hope everyone is doing well!

Tagged!

Five things in my fridge: 3 gallons of milk, cheese sticks (Brenna's favorite snack), cottage cheese, half of a boneless ham, pumpkin spice coffee creamer

Five things in my car: box of baby wipes, diaper bags 3 of the them- one for Sarah, one for Brenna, and one for baby toys, stroller, MP3 player, book I need to take to Goodwill that Mark doesn't want any more

Five things in your bag: digital camera, ziploc bag of crayons, Dentyne gum, notebook with a stash of coupons, small bottle of hand sanitizer

Five things on my DVR or video player: last 2 episodes of Dr.Who, NCIS, 24, Cadet Kelly, High School Musical

Five things in my wardrobe: socks with holes (I really need some new ones), light blue jeans, black shirts, MOPS t-shirts, Weekenders skirts and blazers- one ruby red and one sapphire blue

and Tracy's extras:

Five fave foods: chocolate, chai tea, lasagna, enchiladas with red and green chile sauces, muffins of any kind

Five things you are working on: June digicraft instructions, reading my stack of scrap mags, my weight, learning more about the features included in PSE, how to scan negatives with my scanner

Five things you wish you could do right now: go to bed (but I have to finish this first), take a vacation all by myself, work on something uninterupted before 11Pm at night (gee I sense a theme there LOL!), hire a cleaning service that does bathrooms, sleep later than 7AM

I have no idea who hasn't been tagged, and I'm too tired to go look so if you haven't done this then go for it! ;)
--------------------
Here is something fun I did tonight instead of working on the digicraft instructions:

I got a new book on PSE at the library this afternoon and it shows you how to get some really cool effects! "The Digital Photographers Guide to Photoshop Elements: improve your photos and create fantastic special effects" by Barry Beckham.

That's it for me tonight. I'm headed to bed!

and while I'm enableing....

go check out this awesome kit by Black Squirrel Designs! I've been to Hawaii once, the spring break before I got married. As a general rule, I don't redo pages once they have been scrapped (too many new pics to scrap!), but I'm going to make an exception for these just so I can use this Hawaii megakit I bought. I scrapped the pics when I was a pretty new paper scrapper, and frankly they make me cringe just a bit now to look at them (can you say cropping happy?!) I've asked my parents to see if they can find the duplicate prints, but I am not counting on that. I can make do with scanning my funky shaped pictures, but having a 'clean slate' to start with would be better.

Did you miss a digicraft at RAKscraps?

well, then run right over to Scrapdish and get yourself some donuts! Robin got my past digicrafts posted in the Day Old Donuts section tonight.
File Folder Album
4.5" Cards and Envelope set
Gift Basket
Note Holder/Mini-album purse
Treat Bag

All proceeds from the sale of the templates will help to the keep RAKscraps a fun and free place!

Surprise!

So, I spent most of my day today cleaning the house. I completely straightened Brenna's room- I put away folded clean laundry, I folded more laundry, I did the dishes, I picked up and put away, I vacuumed, and I had a list of things for the kids to accomplish after they got home from school to help me finish it up. The house was clean when Mark got home from work. He asked if there was something special going on he needed to know about- I just replied that I spent my day cleaning. He didn't know what to say after that LOL

Yes, those are rare days in our house. Keeping my house spotless is not a priority on my to-do list. But, today it just needed to be done and for some reason I felt like doing it. Oh, and I finally got the new coat rack hung up on the wall by the front door for the kids' coats. No more excuses about how they can't reach the top of the standing coat rack to hang them up. yeah right, we'll see how long it lasts.

Mark did quite a bit of work on the backyard Friday morning, as it was his day off. This picture was taken pretty early on in the morning, so there is quite a bit more done. He is pretty much all the way over to the other side of the terrace area now and has to do steps down there too. He wasn't going to put steps in originally at the other side, but he decided he wouldn't have enougth dirt for the terraces otherwise. Whatever, I don't care either way.

A shot taken of me and the kids at the park on Saturday. I think it turned out really nicely. I might try and clone out the mystery kid standing behind Beth though.

Well, that was interesting

I used the Bloggerbot feature on Hello to upload those last 2 pictures. Not a bad little feature- you pick the photo(s) you want uploaded and Bloggerbot automatically resizes and uploads them for you, and you can add captions righ there in the Hello window too. It puts them up as indvidual posts though, I don't see a way to put multiple photos in one post a this point. though as that was the first time I've tried it, I could just be missing something. I like the auto-resizing part- That is one thing that I find a pain when I am doing it myself.

I've got some major picking up to do around the house this morning- mom's weekend off is over and things are a mess. I got laundry folded last Friday, but never got it put away. Brenna's room is a mess too and needs some help. The kids took it upon themselves to get out all of the Little People toys I had stashed away and I've got to go sort them all out again so that we can walk across the floor without injuring ourselves. I had them sorted into closed bins by theme so that we could easily switch stuff out when Brenna wanted something 'new' to play with. I was not pleased when I walked into her room last night to put her to bed. I also need to get the family room picked up a bit so that I can vacuum.

Lucky Me

description: I just love Sarah's eyes and smile- they make me melt just a little when I see them.
credits: Let Yourself Go Wild Eclectic Style by Clara Wallace at Scrapdish; LO sketch by Gina Miller; fonts: Christine

We had a nice day today- my old friend and neighbor, Dee, is in town with her two kids and we went to one of the larger parks in town and visited and played with them. It was a gorgeous day, if just a mite windy and we all had lots of fun.

She Got It!

journaling: Now that Sarah has mastered sitting up, she sees more things she wants to have. She leans over and stretches out as far as she can to get certain toys. She has also discovered that if she bounces just a little she can move her whole body closer too.
I scraplifted "A Bug!" by Karen (Hom74) http://www.scrapmommies.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=4129
credits: Pink Petals of Perfection by Tracy Blankenship of Skrappindigikreations and Digital Freebies (Coming Soon!); fonts: Christine

I did this LO for the chat over at Scrapmommies this evening.

A collage of some of my favorite pictures I have taken over the last 6 years of going to our local zoo.
credits: Go Wild Eclectic Style by Clara Wallace at Scrapdish; punch labels made by me; edge tear action by Atomic Cupcake; LO inspired by All You Need is Love by Kristina Contes, Scrapbook Answers May 2006, pg 45; fonts: Dirty Ego

Cancer is a word you just don't want to hear. It has been much too big of a thing in my life and the lives' of my friends this year- both 'real life' and internet friends. It just makes you feel so helpless. Tania resigned from the RAKscraps CT yesterday because her mom has just been diagnosed with cancer and she needs more time to help her. I have so enjoyed working with Tania on various projects and I am really sad to see her go. It's not that we won't still talk with each other, but there won't/can't be the same level of interaction for a while.

So, can anyone enlighten me as to what bloglines are and how they work? please? I generally know what they are from what people have said about them, but how do I set it up? I feel so clueless LOL!

Well, we got Sarah's ear infection cleared up and what do we do, but give her immunization shots. Poor baby is running a fever again and just feels miserable.

I've got some more CT LO uploading to do and the mounds of laundry are still calling to be folded, and of course all Sarah wants me to is hold her while she naps.

Coming in June to RAKscraps

--An 8 week minialbum project beginning June 5

I hate change

I hate change. Particularly when it is thrust upon me by outside influences. My life is pretty stable at the moment, but this last year has had it's share of changes for myself and for a lot of people I know. I always adjust in the end, but that doesn't mean I enjoy the process. Friends going through rough patches with family health-wise and other, friends moving away... I'm ready for things to settle down, but I don't think that will be happening any time soon.

The girls and I are headed out to lunch with Mark. Maybe I can get something done after I get home. We'll see I guess.

more LOs

Well, it seems I've run out of steam before I hit the end of the to-do list for the day. So, I'll just show you what I got done today before I head to bed.
Another little weaving project I did today. This one looks really nice- the shadows and highlights really give it a dimensional look; I think it is more of a function of the ribbons themselves rather than my great scrapping skills though as I didn't do anything differently from what I used on the Sisters LO. ;)

journaling: Caitlin’s birthday party this year was at a nursery. The kids were given a tour of the greenhouse and the opportunity to plant some flower seeds in a pot to take home. During the next week Beth anxiously watched her pot wishing for the seeds to sprout and the flowers to grow.
Quote: Happiness held is the seed; happiness shared is the flower
credits: chocolate Garden by Dani Mogstad; fonts: 2Peas Angel

I borrowed a few pics from my friend's Hawaii trip; this is her son. It rained a whole lot during the week that they were there, but they still found a few dry hours to enjoy the beaches and pools.
credits: Cabana Boy and So Square stitches by Dani Mogstad; Loosely based on a sketch by Amy Knepper; fonts: Mom's Typewriter

That's it for today. I've got some more scrapping I hope to accomplish tomorrow, and there are loads of laundry waiting to be folded.

Goodness, where did last week go?

I kept meaning to get over and post some things last week, and it just never happened. It was a busy week last week- the kids were off from school Thursday and Friday for a testing day and Literacy day (I can never figure out why there is no school on Literacy day?!) I also spent some time getting a few things ready to go to a MOPS garage sale- mostly toys we cleaned out of Bryce's room. About half of the things we took sold, which is typical. The stuff that came home again is boxed up and saved for another sale my scrapping buds and I are planning later in the summer.

Tomorrow is a scrapping day- I've got some new kits to play with from my 'shopping' on Saturday night and my gracious friends who let me use their connections today to get them DLed. I actually didn't spend a penny Saturday- I had a GC and coupon I had been saving so that I could 'stretch ' my dollars a bit more- and of course I picked up a freebie or two.
So, I used a good portion of the GC I got from Dani Mogstad for being her Guest CT this month on Saturday because she had quite a few of her older kits on sale half off. I always love 2fer1 sales! I picked up the Grungy Boy and Sassy Pants kits there. I have a LO planned for the Grungy Boy kit, and I know I will find a use for the Sassy Pants one with something in my stash. How could I not with 4 girls in the house? I picked up Gina Miller's glitter border sets with the coupon I got for doing her last sketch challenge at SBB. Gina is so generous with her stuff it is amazing! and of course I got the summer whimsy freebie over at Scrapartist.

Well, I am fading fast. So I will leave you with a couple of LO I did recently and haven't shown off here yet.


This is the DH of one of my scrapping buddies. They went to Hawaii over Spring Break and I sweet talked her out of copies of some of her pics so that I could scrap them for her. The kit I used for this LO was actally a crop kit by our friend Kristen with pieces from two of her new Hawaii kits. I'll have to tell you more about them tomorrow. I can't seem to find the credit info for this LO at the moment, so I will have to add it later.

credits: Glimpse of Spring by Amy Knepper; zigzag stitch from Baby Blanket alpha by Amy Knepper; Sister plaque and photoprongs made by me; Scraplift of Cherish LO by Mellette Berezoski, Scrapbook Answers May 2006. pg 49; fonts: Mayfield

This LO turned out really well, I think. I saw the original I lifted it from in the mag and just had to try to weave ribbons together. I think it was worth the effort!

Ive got more to say, but it going to have to wait as I am heading to bed! Night everyone.

It was quiet

for 5 whole minutes. The TV was off, Brenna was sleeping, and I was finally able to extract Sarah from my lap and put her in her bed. She protested for about a minute and decided it wasn't worth fighting going to sleep any more. I breathed a sigh of relief and looked at the clock and realized I had only about 5 minutes before the big kids came home from school. They come stomping in the door throwing their shoes, coats and backpacks around, and thunder up the stairs to the bathroom when they could come use the one downstairs. I don't think they are intentionally trying to be noisy, they just aren't conscious of how much noise they make. I get really tired of having to tell them to be quiet every time they come in the door though. And don't get me started on the salesguy that rang my doorbell and pounded on the door heavily only 1 minute after Sarah quit crying.

I think Sarah is feeling abit better now, but it is hard to say. She wasn't nursing that well this weekend, didn't want solid food, had a slight fever, and had diarrhea. Today she is nursing better, still felt a bit warm to me this morning, and wouldn't let me put her down for more than a minute (but that isn't terribly unusual). I am really tired of carting the child around all of the time at home. She doesn't sit still when I have her in my lap now. She wiggles around practically falling onto the floor half the time, she has discovered the things at the ends of her arms we call hands and has fun pinching my arms and neck or whatever skin she can get between her fingers, she kicks my arms if she is laying on the nursing pillow, and then she gets mad at me for putting her on the floor. :sigh: I just can't win. Brenna has diarrhea too for the third day in a row.

I finally got everything for the digicraft chat and challenge put together today; that's a good thing since it is tomorrow night. I like to have it posted about a week before so that people have plenty of time to get what they need, but oh well, that just didn't happen this month. You can read the details over at RAKscraps in this thread: http://www.rakscraps.com/forums/showthread.php?p=144837#post144837
At least I have June's digicraft about half done already, but getting my May newsletter tutorial written up has to come first.