August Scrapbook Pages

The start of August means the kids go back to school in our district. We’ve got 3 high schoolers and 2 elementary students this year. It’s always busy at house!

  journaling: Lookout Vista Ridge! Elizabeth and Carissa are on the scene and ready to take this new school by storm this year. They switched to a new school to work on pursuing the career paths they are interested in, leaving many of their good friends behind. Of course they will see them from time to time, and Facebook chats are only a monitor away. Elizabeth and Carissa are looking forward to the challenges ahead and making new friends along the way too.
credits: by Michelle Godin at The-LilyPad.com: Hello Goodbye Papers
and Hello Goodbye Elements
font: Horse Puke, Chromosome Heavy, custom font by Darcy Baldwin

  journaling: The second half of your 8th grade school year you both got quite a bit of grief from classmates about choosing a different school to attend for high school the next year. You didn’t let it bother you though because you knew what you wanted to do and this was the best place to go to achieve those goals, as well as being feasible transportation-wise. I’m proud of you for not letting other people’s choices influence you. I know you will both do well this year!
Pictures taken at Freshman year registration. July 24, 2012
credits: School Zone Plus Bundle by Kim Jensen at The-LilyPad.com; August 2012 Foundations by Crystal Livesay at LiveYourStories.com

  credits: Cerise Noir Collection by Flergs at scrapbookgraphics.com; August Foundations 2012 by Crystal Livesay at liveyourstories.com; font: Zapf Chancery LT credits: Cerise Noir Collection by Flergs at scrapbookgraphics.com; August Foundations 2012 by Crystal Livesay at liveyourstories.com; font: Century Gothic

  credits: Studio Mix 28- Enduring Grace and Studio Mix 28- Enduring Grace Word Art by The Studio Girls at scrapbookgraphics.com; August Foundations 2012 by Crystal Livesay at liveyourstories.com; font: FO PS I Love You

  credits: Hold on to Happy by Crystal Livesay at DesignHouseDigital.com; Kitschy Kitchen Collection by Sahlin Studio and Jenn Barrette at The-LilyPad.com; The Notebooks, School Zone Elements by Kim Jensen at The-LilyPad.com; Studio Mix 28- Enduring Grace by The Studio Girls (doily) at scrapbookgraphics.com; Stick It Dates by Darcy Baldwin; font: Lobster, custom font by Darcy Baldwin

  journaling: The Waldo Canyon Fire consumed the hills west of Colorado Springs from June 23 to July 10, 2012 and was the most destructive fire in Colorado history. We had a front seat to all of the action with almost 24 hour coverage of the fire on our local news stations, and seeing and breathing the smoke. By the time the fire was put out 17 days after it began, it destroyed 346 homes, killed 2 people, evacuated 32,000 people, and caused $352.6 million dollars in damages, not to mention lost business revenue. As much as we heard about the fire’s destruction, we also saw firsthand the heroic efforts of the thousands of fire fighting personnel that were protecting our community. They worked long shifts, stopping only to eat and sleep right where they were so they could respond quickly if needed again. Thanks to their amazing efforts, the damage was kept to so much less than it could have been.
credits: at The-LilyPad.com: Eclectomania 1 and Recycled Newspaper Alpha by Kim Jensen, To The Rescue and Community Helpers by Jacque Larsen, Mini Dots Alpha by Amy Martin; template by Scrapping With Liz; photos were collected from public postings on Facebook; font: Georgia

  journaling: Beth and Carissa were thrilled when Iyanno asked them to work with her to choreograph and video a dance for the Disney Channel Make Your Mark dance contest this summer. They spent a couple of weeks working on things seperately because they couldn’t find a time to all get together. Iyanno was able to stay a few hours after the twins’ birthday party ended so they could have some time work together, and they were able to finish working things out. We recorded the video the next week during some open time at the dance studio, and it was submitted to the contest. We don’t really expect anything more to come of it, and that’s OK. It was a fun project doing something they all enjoy and a way to spend some extra time together exploring their talents and abilities. They were willing to take a risk and give it a shot, and I’m sure they will all find a way to make their mark on the world eventually.

credits: at The-LilyPad.com: by Michelle Godin- Moody Blues Papers, Moody Blues Elements Sew Artsty Just the Stitches, Keep Calm Splatter On; by Kim Jensen- Perforated Paper Alpha, Bloomin' Octagonal, Bloomin' Baubles, Pinned Purple Paper Dates; Enjoy the Moment (silver wire swirl) by Sahlin Studio; Story Maps Vol. 1 by Crystal Livesay at DesignHouseDigital.com; glitter style by Flergs
font: Ticket Capitals Impressed, custom font by Darcy Baldwin

  journaling: It almost snuck by me this year, but a friend mentioned it in passing in an email that afternoon- it was July 11th and that meant that it was free Slurpee day at 7-Elevens across the country. With it being summer, our more relaxed schedule allowed us to all jump in the van and make a quick trip down the hill to try out a few new chilly flavors to help beat the heat.
credits: TLP Summer Bucket List minis by Allison Pennington, Karah Fredricks, Kate Hadfield, Michelle Godin, Lauren Grier, Sahlin Studio, Emily Merritt, Little Butterfly Wings, Kim Jensen, Amber Clegg, Tickled Pink Studio, Kay Winiecki; Blanc Stitches by Amy Martin; Stamped Hex Templates by Crystal Livesay at DesignHouseDigital.com; font: custom font by Darcy Baldwin

Misc July LOs

It’s August 1st, and that means that school starts officially for everyone tomorrow morning. Mom’s ready and not- I’m not ready to have to get up so stinkin’ early 5 days a week, but I’m more than ready for a little bit of ‘separate time’ for Brenna and Sarah. It seems like they have done nothing but fight with each other the whole summer, and I’ve had enough.

I finished up the Dance Quest 2011 Awakening photo book about a week ago, and now I’m just waiting for final approval from the director to release it to everyone. I’m so glad to have that big project almost off of my ‘to do’ list. Here are the last few single pages I’ve done during July. I’m still working on the summer staycation album, but I’m saving those pages for posting together when I’ve gotten a few more done ;)

 
credits: Studio Mix 5, Summer Romance by Miki Ferkul, Manuella Zimmerman and Veronica Spriggs at scrapbookgraphics.com; font: CK Script

credits: at scrapbookgraphics.com: by Tangie Baxter: Being Me with Lorilei Murphy, Gesso Textures, Paperworn Art Styles; by Wendyzine: Shadows and Borders Styles 2; font: AJF Mock Turtle

journaling: It was a hurriedly arranged visit via messages on Facebook, and much too short, but it was good to see Jamie, Brooklyn, Addison and Jonathan again. It had been 3 years since our last visit to Tulsa, so it was nice to get the cousins together for a few hours. We will have to do it again soon!
credits: Click by BCD and Micheline Martin at scrapbookgraphics.com
font: FO Uptown Girl Lowfat, CK Becky

 
credits: by Kim Jensen at scrapdish.com: School Zone Papers and Elements, Three Rs Alpha; 10080 Minutes 12x12 Slip Ins by Traci Reed at SweetShoppeDesigns
font: FO Printing Primer In Between

HMS Talent Show 2011- it was “So Insane”

Beth and Carissa have danced with their friend Derek for 3 years in tap company and various classes at dance. Last year he moved to the same school that B&C attend. They asked him if he would do something with them for the school talent show this last year. We were of course thinking it would be some modified version of the tap company dance they had been working on since fall. Derek said he would, but on the condition that he could pick the song and do the choreography himself. Beth and Carissa agreed, and they spent about 3.5 months working with him on his version of  this dance to “So Insane” by Smash Mouth, which they performed on April 28. They tweaked the choreography to fit them all as they went along. It was an interesting experience to watch from a parent’s perspective since they did everything themselves, including work out the little disagreements amongst themselves. The girls had fun and enjoyed working on this with Derek. It turned out well, I think. The video below, not so much LOL Lighting was horrible,  the video camera overcompensated, and so you mostly see silhouettes. Oh well. Good job kids, especially with the music troubles that the sound people had too.

At least the camera did a bit better at capturing the details- like faces LOL   

Beth and Carissa’s friend Alyssa sang a trio with 2 other friends. they did very well.

And the show ended with all of the participants singing  the Glee version of  “Don’t Stop Believin”. I think it can officially be declared as the school’s song for 2011, as every spring musical performance had a version of it somewhere on the program LOL

Brenna aka Dot, the Ladybug

Last spring after the first grade did their musical, Goldilocks and the 3 Bears, Brenna told me that she wanted to have a part next year and not just be in the choir. She didn’t hesitate this year to tell Ms. Champlin when the time came and she was assigned the part of Dot the Ladybug in this year’s musical, Bugz. Not only did she get to sing a solo, but she got to dance too- her favorite 2 things in the world.

and here are a few photos of that extra special ‘Lady’ too.

 

I’m slowly figuring out how to edit and share the videos I take with the new digital video camera. The software is fairly easy to use, but it seems to be proprietary and not compatible with the videos I have taken with my iPod. I suppose I’ll figure out if that is truly case one of these days- when I have a bit more time to read the manual (yeah, right! LOL).

Back to School 2010-11

Ha! This little post has been sitting in my draft box for going on a month now… time to go ahead and post it I guess LOL

Bryce is officially a high schooler now. He is in the Engineering Academy at Vista Ridge HS. VRHS is not our neighborhood HS, so he gets to ride the bus to and from school every day. He seems to like it, and is doing well so far.

Elizabeth and Carissa are 7th graders this year, and one of the highlights is finally having a locker to store their stuff in.

Sarah at almost 5 misses the cutoff for starting kindergarten this year, so we have sent her to preschool 2 mornings a week. She is loving it! She also works on preschool activities at home with me on those days she doesn’t go to school. She loves doing pages in the school book and I have to tell her it is time to quit because she has done enough work for the day.

  

journaling: Sarah was so thrilled to be able to participate in the back to school shopping this year, finally. The preschool didn’t actually have a supply list, but she did need a backpack and a lunch box for dinners at the Dance Center. We got some basic supplies like pencils, glue sticks, crayons and colored pencils to contribute to her classroom too.
credits: at scrapbookgraphics: Girlfriend Time and Girlfriend Time Template Bunches by Shabby Miss Jenn, School Daze by Flergs
fonts: CK Handprint, FO Messy Bessy

  journaling: Sarah was excited to start school this year with the older kids. She goes to preschool at Remington on Monday & Wednesday mornings. She loves it! We also do a bit of preschool work at home on her ‘off’ days. She’s going to be a handful in Kindergarten next year, as she is already writing, learning the letter sounds and has no trouble with most of the activities we’ve worked on so far.
credits: at scrapbookgraphics: School Daze Collection by Flergs; Girlfriend Time Template Bunches by Shabby Miss Jenn
fonts: CK Handprint, FO Messy Bessy

Brenna is in 2nd grade this year. One of the best things so far is having both of her best friends in her class this year ;)

   

Brenna and her 2 best friends the first day of second grade.  
credits: by Dianne Rigdon at scrapartist: Pink Lemonade (at The Digi Chick in August), Fade To White alpha, Fresh Start (stitching), Homey (large flowers and white solid paper, recolored); fonts: Pink Flamingo

 
credits: at scrapbookgraphics: Primarily Educational by Jessica Bolton, Patchy Posies and Patched with Love by Christina Renee Designs;
fonts: SBC Courtney's Journal

Valentine’s Day Festivities

We didn’t really do much for Valentine’s day this year because of things that just had to be done this weekend- ticket booth decor to be put together, dance practices, and Olympics to watch. We aren’t huge sports fans, but we always make a point of sitting and watching at least some of the Olympics when they come around. Figure skating is one of our absolute favorites in the winter set and the pairs kicked it off Sunday night. We actually did have the option of going out as the youth were offering babysitting at the church, but I was wanting to see a movie and the times just weren’t working on the movies I wanted to see with the babysitting hours. Either the movies started too early or too late, and I just didn’t see spending a bunch of money on a movie I wasn’t sure I would enjoy. So, we just stayed home and watched Olympics. Mark brought me flowers yesterday and the kids got a few conversation hearts and some valentine socks for the girls and a few $ for Bryce, so the day did not go unacknowledged.

The first grade valentine celebration was on Friday, and since it was only a half-day of school the party was at 11A. The teachers decided to go with a breakfast food theme, and we had to think of something healthy to bring as the school got some sort of grant that requires it- no loads of cookies, cakes, candy and what-not at parties any more. I was at a bit of a loss as to what to bring for a while, but when I was walking through the mall on Thursday afternoon looking for some peace sign earrings for Brenna's hippie costume and I went by one of the pretzel places and that reminded me that I had a quick recipe for soft pretzels. So,  Sarah and I made pretzels Friday morning to take to the party.

Here’s the recipe ;)
Soft Pretzels
3 pkgs dry yeast
2 1/4 C warm water
1 tsp sugar
*Stir yeast, water and sugar together until dissovled, and let rise until foamy.
*Add 6 3/4 C flour, kneading well until smooth. Let rise 15 minutes.
*In a small bowl, mix 1/2 C lukewarm water and 4 tsp. baking soda.
*Shape dough into rolls and slice. Roll out each slice into pencil shape and twist into a pretzel shape. Dip each pretzel into soda water and place on greased sheet. Sprinkle with salt or other mixture of your choice. I used a cinnamon-sugar mix made with 1 T sugar and 1 tsp. cinnamon.
Bake at 375 F for 15 minutes.
*Makes 30 medium size pretzels, or 60 mini size.

 
journaling: Sarah helped make mini heart-shaped, cinnamon-sugar pretzels to take to Brenna’s first grade valentine party. Healthy & yummy, they were a hit with everyone!
credits: by Tania Shaw at funkyplaygrounddesigns: My One True Love, Newsprint Journaling Tags, Layered Up in You Volume 3; fonts: Bradley Hand ITC

and this LO is not related to any particular event, just recording a day when Sarah was in one of her goofy moods and was laughing outrageously at just about everything. I did it for the Studio NeeNee playday at Scrapbookgraphics.
 
journaling:   Some days Sarah is in a really funny mood and she just laughs and laughs at every little thing, whether it is funny or not. laughter is contgious, and soon you can’t help but laugh right along with her.
credits: Estranged Collection, Moments in Time alpha, and Metallicalpha: Red by Flergs, Templatz Vol 3 by NeeNee; fonts: Hopscotch Plain, Gigi, Century Gothic

And a couple of layouts showing off the first grade valentine festivities that Brenna participated in this year.

 
journaling: It’s time for the annual school tradition- exchanging valentines with your classmates. Brenna had fun getting her cards ready and decorating a container to collect them all in for the party on Feb 12th. First grade
credits: My Beloved by Pixel Works and Rachel Young at scrapartist; Scrap Pad Templates Designer Love: Amy Wolff by Amy Martin at The-LilyPad; fonts: Typewriter, Ticket Capitals Impressed

journaling: Brenna’s first grade class celebrated the day of love with a brunch themed celebration before the end of their half-day of class. Word searches, passing out valentines and a box contest along with lots of yummy food kept the kids well entertained during the hour.
credits: by Dianne Rigdon at scrapartist.com: Happy Together papers, solids and elements, Shabby Love elements soft things and shiny things; template by Amy Martin from Port Au Prince at songbirdavenue; fonts: Typewriter