December Scrapbook Pages

I needed some smaller boxes to wrap gifts for my sister's family and we didn't have any, so I made a few of my own with digi supplies. credits: Magical Christmas Kit and Magical Christmas Extras by Flergs and Jady Day at scrapbookgraphics.com; Cupcake box template by Jessica Sprague from Holiday Memories class, pillow boxes and purse gift card holder templates made by myself

 
credits: Studio Mix 15- Wintery Sweet and Wintery Sweet B-sides Graffiti by Ztampf!, Julia Makotinsky, SherrieJD, Rebecca McMeen, and Tangie Baxter at scrapbookgraphics.com; font: Tangie AJF Alice

 
credits: A Very Merry by Natali Designs at Scrapbookgraphics.com; font: FG Script Elegant

 
credits: L'Amour by Flergs and Litabells and Layer Me Up Templates Vol 1 by Dawn Inskip at scrapbookgraphics.com; font: TXT Nuptials, TXT Delicate Script

  credits: 12 Days of Christmas 2011 by Michelle Coleman at LDD
font: TXT Santa Font

journaling: In honor of the girls’ first year of participating in a Nutcracker production, I collected a set of ornaments representing the show for our tree this year. They decorated our mantel with the stockings.
credits: Holiday Charm page kit by Miki Ferkul and pine branch from Dreamcatcher: the Kit by Flergs at scrapbookgraphics.com
font: FG Amelia

 
journaling: It was snowing but still ‘warm’ for a winter day, so it was perfect for a trip to the hill behind the school for a bit of sledding. Mark took Brenna and Sarah out for a few minutes of fun sliding down the snowy hill. Shouts of “It’s a new record” were yelled from the top of the hill when the sled stopped a bit further than previously.
credits: Snow Day Bundle by Lorilei Murphy at scrapbookgraphics.com; fonts: Stampede, Susie's Hand

and the same pictures just scrapped a little differently- single pages that could be split up into the individual girl’s album later.

Our Christmas newsletter background for 2011. Coming to your mailbox soon!

 
credits: A Very Merry by Natali Designs at Scrapbookgraphics.com

Lycos Robotics Club 2010-11, Sea Perch Challenge at Coronado HS

Sea Perch took place on May 7, 2011 at Coronado HS. The Coronado Cougars robotics team had arranged this activity and invited all of the robotics teams in the city to come join them for the day building underwater robots and racing them against each other. It was an optional event, but I think well worth giving up a Saturday lazing around for.

The kids were divided up into groups of 3 or 4 and each was given a robot kit.  They followed the instructions to build their underwater robot, and of course were allowed to ‘tweak’ the design to their liking as they went along.

Once the robots were built and all of the glue set, they got to the really fun part- putting them in the water and ‘driving’ them. The challenge/race was for the robot to navigate through a series of 3 hoops at the bottom of the pool, find a ring and pick it up, then bring the ring to a team  member and return to the starting hoop. Fastest time to complete the course wins.

 

Bryce’s team:

The ‘Mentorbot’ gets it’s turn at the obstacle course.

The girls and I popped in and out of the building as permitted during their dance schedule for the day. I think they all got a turn at driving the ‘mentorbot’- even the ‘I don’t like robots’ girl (Carissa) took a turn and then admitted it was fun. ;)

Big thanks to Coronado HS and Honeywell for sponsoring this day of robotics water fun!

Lycos Robotics Club 2010-11 Season Summary, Part 1

We made it through our first season of the FIRST Robotics competition with the Vista Ridge Robotics Club at the end of May. From the time that Bryce heard about the robotics club at a district school open house in the fall of 2009 and saw the robot that they were building for that year’s competition, he wanted to join and be a part of it. The engineering academy program and the robotics club were the big reasons that we decided to send him to Vista Ridge High School even though it isn’t our neighborhood school.

The club season kicks into high gear at the beginning of January when FIRST announces what the competition challenge is for the year. This is a big deal with groups from the area meeting at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science to hear the challenge specifications via a nationally broadcast video. The kids then have 6 weeks to design and build a robot that can accomplish the designated tasks in a 2 minute and 15 second period.

This year’s challenge was named “Logo Motion” and there were 3 parts to it:
1. Autonomous period where the robot is programmed to hang a gold tube, called the ‘uber tube’, by itself. The drivers are not allowed to even touch the controls of the robot. If an uber tube is hung, then any tube hung on top of it during the second part of the challenge receives double points. This section lasts 15 seconds.
2. Driver period where the robot is controlled by a driver and has 2 minutes to hang as many red, white and blue tubes as they can on any of the 3 tiers of pegs. The top row of pegs was worth 3 points, the middle row 2 points, and the bottom row 1 point. If one of each of the 3 color tubes were hung in the order to make the FIRST logo, then the score for the row was  doubled, and then doubled again if there was an uber tube in place as well.
3. Minibot period ended the competition and the teams had the last 30 seconds of the match to deploy a minibot and have it climb one of four 9 foot tall poles. The first minibot to reach the top and activate the sensors received 30 points, second place 20 points, and third place 10 points.

It is an intense 6 weeks, with 3 hour build sessions Monday through Thursday after school or in the evening, and a 6 hour session on Saturdays. Mark was a mentor for the club this year and attended the evening and weekend sessions to help the kids design and build their robot. He took on the minibot project in particular, spending most of his time working on that part of the robot. Bryce chose to be a part of the CAD team and helped design and draw parts that need to be manufactured for the robot.

“Bag and Tag” day was February 22, and no work was allowed on the robot after that until they unpacked it in the pit area of the regional competition the club was attending. We celebrated the end of build season with a potluck and a robot viewing to which family members and representatives from the corporate sponsors were invited. At the end of the evening the robot was sealed in a large plastic bag in the engineering lab where it waited until the Denver regional competition weekend in April.  
Mark helped a lot with the minibot this year. Many parts were manufactured on our dining room table during the month of February. Brad was the student who headed up that aspect of the robot and worked with him the most. The minibot was nicknamed “Sheila”.
 
“Minibot Land”
Bagged and Tagged, and waiting for April to come.

November Wrap-Up

If you are here looking for the SBG blog train, click HERE.

journaling: We spent Thanksgiving at home this year- the first time in many years. Mark made the turkey, cranberry
sauce, mashed potatoes, gravy and squash while Melinda made green bean casserole, stuffing, spoonbread, sweet potatoes, and of course pumpkin pie. It was nice to enjoy the day together at a relaxed pace.
credits: by Michelle Coleman at LittleDreamerDesigns: Thanksgiving Day and Thanksgiving Day Sample; Template by Aly Hall from Cookies 4 Kids 2010 at SweetShoppeDesigns.com; by Pixel Works: File It Under (retired); By Kate Hadfield: Heavy Duty Staples (retired); Kristin Aagard: Happy Haunters Alpha (blog freebie)
fonts: CK Invitation

It was quite the holiday weekend, to say the least.  Let's see if I can keep the weekend events to short novel-length :P

We had a 5 day weekend respite from all activities because of the holiday and I was looking forward to sleeping in Wednesday. I woke up to the sound of the vacuum cleaner running and the first floor of the house totally turned upside down. I spent the afternoon after getting the SBG spotlight posted trying to make some semblance of order out of the mess of my LR just so I could walk around. The big thing that DH did was move my big computer armoire I use for my paper scrapping supplies into the main LR area next to the table that I now use for my digital scrapping stuff. Of course to do that he had to empty it, as it weighs a ton by itself not to mention the ton of supplies that were packed into it. He took the kids out for lunch and I opted not to go so I could keep working and I had to run to the library to pick up a bunch of books for Carissa that had come in. He was gone a lot longer than I expected and when he did finally come home he told me to get in the car and come with him while the kids stayed at home. Not really knowing what to expect I just did what he asked and went with him. He took me to a big furniture store on the other side of town and told me we were picking out new furniture for the family room. So we did- a new couch big enough to seat all 7 of us at the same time, a tv console for all of the electronics sitting on the floor and table we were currently using, and a trunk-coffee table piece. We arranged for it to be delivered on Saturday.

We spent Thanksgiving at home, just us. That was fine, it was nice to stay home. DH helped cook so the day was pretty relaxed. In between cooking we worked on the house. I cleaned out the closet containing all of my old Creative Memories product, freeing it up for other scrapbook supplies I was keeping. I sent off an email to a consultant I still give referrals to asking if she would help me sell it. I had decided this summer it was time to get rid of the vast majority of it- most I had kept originally after quitting being a consultant intending to finish up some albums I had started and some other projects- but I hadn't really figured out what I was going to do to get rid of it and not feel like it was a total waste of good supplies and money. After not getting to any of it in all of these years it was time to admit I wasn't going to do them and let it go, hopefully getting at least some of the $ back I had invested in it. DH and I spent a couple of hours after the kids went to bed planning where we were going and what we were going to get during the Black Friday sales the next morning.

In the wee-hours after only a couple of hours of sleep we got up and headed out to try and get the items we wanted. After bombing out at the first store we went to because we weren't going to stand in line inside the store just to find out they didn't have what we wanted for one of the kids, we spent 45 minutes standing in line in the freezing cold at an electronics store. DH got his surround-sound system and I got the video camera I wanted at this store without too much drama- only had to have the manager figure out why it wasn't giving us the free movie disc burner we were supposed to get with the video camera. Our next stop was Target – and we got what we wanted in a short amount of time. Out in the parking lot the inconsiderate person parked next to us left their shopping cart right in back of our van instead of walking it back to the cart return- we saw them do it and then leave. It was maybe 5:30 at this point- still dark and we were starting to feel the lack of sleep. After putting the cart in the return I dashed back to the van to put the newly purchased item in my hand in the back since DH had it open for what he was carrying. He didn't notice me at the edge of the van and slammed the back door down on top of me- the door hit me on the left back side of my head and pushed the right side of my face into the back edge of the van- big huge ouch! I was seeing stars. If I hadn't had my glasses on I'm sure it would have been worse. Miraculously my glasses weren't damaged- investing some extra into the super-flexible metal frames was worth it this time for sure. We had a couple more stops, and while my head was hurting it wasn't horrible so we went on. Our last stop was Staples an hour later where I was looking for PSE9- a bust in the store, but it didn't take long to find that out at least. They might have had more copies since all they had on the shelf were empty demo boxes for all of the software, but no one was available who might have been able to check for me. So we headed home and I checked out their website and just ordered it online for the same price with free shipping- that works too LOL

I took some ibuprofen and headed back to bed for a nice long nap just as the first of the kids were getting up. I pretty much was fighting a massive headache all day on Friday, especially over my right eye where I had hit the side of the van. A few hours later I was starting to sport a nice black eye, which wasn't a surprise.

We put up the Christmas tree and decorated the fireplace mantle Friday- had to get the boxes put up again since they were were the new furniture was going the next morning. I helped Bryce rake up the last of the tree leaves in the yard Friday afternoon too. The couch and tv console were delivered Saturday afternoon, later than expected. The trunk we bought was damaged when the guys loaded the truck so we didn't accept that one. They brought the replacement piece Monday morning. I've tried to keep plugging away at the mess and it is actually down a lot, but there is still a lot to get through. I need to do some more weeding and tossing. The new couch is nice, it is nice to have enough room for everyone to sit down on furniture instead of half of us being on the floor when we watch movies together.

All in all, the weekend was pretty good. I had been thinking it would be nice to have my scrapping armoire next to my computer table for a little while, but I hadn't mentioned it to DH as the amount of work to move it was daunting- still is even at about 80% through the whole process. At least I am getting to the end of it, finally.

Bryce had a jazz band concert on November 10 and his first cornet recital November 21. I videoed his songs from the recital with my ipod so I could show them. He did really well!

Bryce playing Ballad in Blue by Robert Girlamo. November 21, 2010. Mark is accompanying him on the piano.

and his second piece was a duet with his teacher, Greg Arnold. They played Blue Skies by Irving Berlin.

Here are some pages I did in November- a few from November’s events and some from older dates- the usual mix ;)

credits: Srsly Stoked by Kim Jensen and Kate Hadfield at Scrapdish.com and The-Lilypad.com; Learning to Sew V2 by Pamela Donnis; template by Roadside Designs for Weeds & Wildflowers Designs template challenge
fonts: TXT Scribbletti

 
journaling: This November afternoon was filled with Thanksgiving activities- making quick costumes for Brenna & Sarah so they could dress up for AWANA that evening, baking mini pumpkin pies to share, and collecting canned food from friends for the Care and Share food drive at school.
credits: at scrapbookgraphics: Basic Buds Vol1 by Buttercup Designs, Everyday 365 Kit Collection (November, solids, flair, and Word Bits) by Baers Garten
fonts: Typewriter

A page about DH's short-lived stint in the Navy.
credits: by Pixel Works at The-Lilypad.com: Always Remember Papers, Always Remember Elements & Alphas, Soldier Stuff Addon, waves from Where Are We? (retired) ; fonts: Typewriter

 
credits: Impressions of Comfort Home by the Studio Girls at scrapbookgraphics.com; fonts: CK Heritage

 
Title page for my 2010 album.
credits: Everyday 365 Kits Collection by Baers Garten at scrapbookgraphics;
font: CK Cursive

 
credits: by Re Kneipp at scrapbookgraphics.com: Color My World with Damayanti Designs and Have a Nice Day Templates; fonts: MA Sexy

 
journaling: There’s nothing quite like getting a brand new box of markers to use. One of Sarah’s favorite things to do is draw and color- in coloring books or on pieces of scratch paper where anything she can imagine comes to life. One of my favorite ‘everyday gifts’ is a new picture drawn just for me by Sarah.
credits: at scrapbookgraphics.com: Doodlemania.ink by Dawn Inskip, Clustered 1-4 by Dutchie for The Lab, Metallicalpha Collection by Flergs; fonts: CK Handprint

 
credits: by Dianne Rigdon at 2PeasInABucket.com: Now I Lay, Journalique Elements (crochet lace), retired: Summer Living Pink Lemonade (ric rac), Little Buddies Glitters; portrait by Roseanne Miske Photography
fonts: Cezanne

 
journaling: Brenna takes ballet, tap and jazz dance classes each week, but her favorite by far is ballet. Her toes are always pointed just so, even without a teacher’s reminder. The audience can tell that she really feels the music and tries to interpret it with her movements, a skill that is hard to teach. She loves the music, the precision, the movements, and of course, the pretty tutus she gets to wear. She is a beautiful ballerina already, and I look forward to watching her improve as she learns more in years to come!
credits: at scrapbookgraphics: Ballet Recital by Dawn Inskip, Sketch Collection 34 by Jen Caputo ; fonts: SP Wonderful Wendy

September Scrapping

Goodness, where does the time go? the end of October is sneaking up on me and I haven’t even posted my September scrapping projects yet. Needless to say, all of the kids’ activities are keeping me extremely busy!

 
credits: by Berna Datema at scrapbookgraphics: Colorbook 12x12 Templates, Power Paper Pack 3; cardstock, fiber by Patons, Sharpie pens

For the one in the green frame: I had laser printable transparencies, so I printed the outline version of the one in the green frame out and started trying to color it in. Waterbased markers wouldn't dry on the transparency, half of my large-tipped sharpie pens I was planning on using were dried out (probably because I let the kids use them for an art project they wanted to do), and something about the fine-tip sharpies I had didn't agree with whatever coating was on the transparency to make it printable and the tips kept clogging up. The larger tipped pens definitely worked better. Alcohol inks worked well on it, but I was very limited in color choices and no good brushes to attempt 'painting' with so I stuck with the pens and eventually got it colored in.
The one in the blue frame: I colored in on the computer with Berna's papers and then printed on my inkjet printer. That was interesting since the transparencies weren't designed for inkjet printers. I couldn't get the printer to feed it correctly at first, so finally I stuck it to a regular piece of paper with temporary adhesive and that solved that problem. My printer didn't have a 'transparency' paper option, so I experimented with the different paper settings to get a good color application. Photo paper settings were too heavy since the transparency didn't absorb the ink after it was sprayed on- it was a very heavy ink application so the colors were running together a bit and there was quite a bit of smearing in certain spots as the paper ejected. Draft mode gave a very fine layer of ink that didn't smear, but it was a bit too light. Regular paper mode worked the best for getting a nice layer of color, but again smearing was a bit of a problem though not quite as bad. The ink layer was still wet even after sitting for 30 minutes, so I got out my clear embossing powder and coated the whole square with a layer and then sealed it with heat. This worked well, but the colors did lose a lot of their vibrancy when heated- not sure if that was a property of the type of ink, the transparency, the heat, or some combination of the former. It could be handled at this point though without ruining it, so I could finally cut it out and frame it with cardstock for hanging in the window.

Balloons I was able to get good pictures of at the annual Balloon Classic Labor Day weekend.  credits: A Perfect Day by Flergs and Kaye Winieki at scrapbookgraphics;
fonts: Typewriter

 
credits: Divine Debris by Studio Gypsy at scrapbookgraphics; Foam Stamp alpha by Jessica Bolton (retired); Portraits by Jen Ulasiewicz Photography;
fonts: Chromosome Heavy

  journaling: We were an ocean apart during most of the year of our engagement- Mark in Germany and I in Washington. We hand-wrote and mailed letters nearly every day. The best part of my day was coming home in the afternoon and finding a letter in the mailbox.
(FYI--Unfortunately the stacks of saved letters didn't survive one of our moves across the country.)
credits: Love Blooms Here by Pixel Works, Cut It Out Templates by Amy Martin; Melt My Heart by Pixel Works (I love you button, retired), letters by Vinnie Pearce
fonts: Bradley Hand ITC

  journaling: You can see Monument Valley from miles away. It looms over the surrounding landscape and as you get closer to it, the colors of the desert get brighter and the desert begins to come alive right before your eyes.
credits: at scrapbookgraphics: Blooming Desert by Berna Datema, PreFABs 13-16 by Dutchie; fonts: SP Holy Guacomole

  journaling: Sarah wants a pet so badly. Every dog she sees sets off a round of oohs, aahs, and isn’t he cute? I hate having to say no whenever she gets that pleading look in her eyes as I know how much having a dog of my own meant to me. We just aren’t home enough right now to take care of a pet properly. Maybe someday in the future the time will be right, Sarah.
credits: Pet Mania by Holly Griego and Kaye Winieki at MScraps; Template 13 by Akizo Designs (blog freebie)
fonts: Vaguely Repulsive, 2Peas Dear Diary, Tickets Capital Impressed

  Mark thought I was nuts to take photos of the TV as we were watching the opening ceremonies for the Olympics in February LOL!
journaling: February 12, 2010 the whole family sat down to watch the opening ceremonies for the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada. It was an amazing show- the gorgeous effects, dancing, music, and Canadian history in a beautiful visual show. It was a fun way to learn more about our northern neighbors!
credits: by Pixel Works at The-LilyPad: I Am Canadian Papers and Elements, Blustery Day (snowflakes, retired), Wear a Flower In Your Hair Alphas (retired); September Template Challenge Freebie by Amy Martin; fonts: Typewriter

 
credits: at scrapbookgraphics: My Baby Girl by SussieM, PreFABs Booklet No. 3 by Dutchie; fonts: Zapf Chancery

journaling: We’ve lived many places around the world, and while we still miss the places in Washington where we grew up, we are now proud to call Colorado home. I’ve become quite attached to this beautiful state with its rugged mountains that glow in the fall with golden aspen leaves.
credits: by Pixel Works at The-Lilypad: Kitschy Fall Papers and Kitschy Stitchy Fall Doodles, Big Stampy Alphas, Irrevocably In Love (music stamp)
fonts: CK Cursive, CK Journaling Condensed

 

journaling: For several years Mark has wanted to hike the 14-ers in Colorado- those are the mountains that are over 14,000 ft. tall. He’s been hiking the incline and Barr Trail to get in shape. He’s been up and down Pikes Peak several times and has now started hiking some of the other nearby mountains. He has made it to the top of Mt. Shavano & Tabeguache Peak on September 4, 2010 and Mount of the Holy Cross on September 11, 2010.
Photos taken on Barr Trail and the top of Pikes Peak on September 23, 2005
credits: Impressions of Adventure by The Studio Girls at scrapbookgraphics;
fonts: TXT Scribbletti, LD Beatnik

 
credits: Precious Memories by Manuella Zimmermann and Laitha at scrapbookgraphics; fonts: Zapf Chancery