In My Digital Happy Place

Blogger Hates Me

2012-01-31T12:37:00.003-06:00

For whatever reason Blogger won't allow me to comment using Open ID. So, since I have been leaving comments using this profile, I wanted you to be able to find my REAL blog - Little Wonders.

Please visit me there if you're interested!

A New Year, A New Look

2009-01-01T05:00:00.000-06:00

Well, folks, it's been a long time coming, but I am saying good-bye to blogger and my Digital Happy Place. :( Don't worry, I'll leave the blog up. There's freebies here that still get hits and the links will stay good for as long as I can keep them up.

The other thing is that I found over the last year my focus changed a little and I wanted my blog to reflect that as well.

Here's the new address - http://happylittlewonders.wordpress.com/

Don't forget to update your Google Readers!

Oh, and I hope that everyone had a wonderful time ringing in the new year!

Happy New Year!!

My New Freetime Filler

2008-12-29T10:25:00.000-06:00

Lego Star Wars. I resisted this game when I first saw it because I thought it would be silly. A silly little kid game.

Oh, I was so wrong.

A good friend gave this game to us for Christmas and let me tell you, we have spent every available minute playing it. Addictive little game that it is.

It's easy enough that the kids can play and have a level of success, but also challenging enough that the adults have enjoyed it as well. I am not a big fan of "fighting games" because I typically struggle to master the usually challenging series of button pushes required to master a particularly crucial move. Thankfully, the Wii eliminates this because you use the Wii remote as a light saber. The buttons are simple to master and using the remote as the light saber makes winning battles pretty simple. Add to that the really funny aspect of the characters shattering into little lego pieces? Brilliant!

The biggest draw for me though is the puzzle aspect. Every level has a challenge that must be figured out in order to advance. I love that!

I feel like I can highly recommend this game to anyone. We sure do love it!

Some More December Daily

2008-12-19T08:30:00.004-06:00

I have been working madly on the many projects I've got going this month - here's a sample of life as told in my December Daily album:

Here's the front of day seven's page - a shameless scraplift of this page from Ali's book.

Here's the back side. The pictures weren't so great, but I am working with what I've got, so...

Skipping ahead... here's day 13.

And day 14 - you'll notice that I finished the advent calendar. YAY!

And day 15.

Day 16 - Seriously cold!

Day 17 - One of my favorite pages so far (along with day 7). I made the angel ornaments for friends. I have taken their names of the page for display. Internet security, you know... This is actually a 2-page spread. The split comes about 2/3 across the photo.

Well, Christmas draws ever closer. We're pretty much ready. Are you?

All's Quiet...

2008-12-07T22:10:00.000-06:00

Sometimes the only time I get to blog is when the house is quiet after everyone else is in bed. Like tonight.

The December Daily album is coming along well. I am through day 4 and have finished day 7, mostly. Five and 6 are a bit of a challenge, since I don't know what I want to do with them just yet. Hope to have them done tomorrow.

Here are the digital images through day 4. After I get it all printed and assembled (hopefully tomorrow) I will post pictures of the real life album! I bet you are so excited!

Day 1

Created with Merry and Bright by Pamela Donnis

Day 2 is difficult to display in this format and have it make sense, so I'll show it as a completed page.

Day 3

Day 4

Created with Freshly Fallen by Jennifer Barrette

The advent calendar is not coming along so well. This may be one of those projects that gets done and is used next year! See -

So far it's been primed, painted, and I have cut paper for the top and bottom. Now it's all about the day magnets. Sigh. Like I said, it may be next year.

So Thankful

2008-11-25T20:58:00.000-06:00

We already have some Christmas decorations up. I know Mom....Christmas doesn't start until Santa rides across the TV screen in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade... but, I decided that since we aren't hosting Thanksgiving I could get a little head start. And since I have so much "help" it takes twice as long anyway!

Speaking of decorating help, we can't let Captain Chaos anywhere near the tree because he discovered that he could SPIN the Christmas tree. So he tries that every chance he gets. He also discovered that shaking the tree makes all kinds of fun noises and gets a fantastic response from anyone standing nearby...

So, this week I have been focusing on what I am thankful for:

My family - we spent two days with my parents, grandparents, and brother last weekend. So fun!
My kids - they keep me laughing.
My husband - he keeps me laughing.
Photoshop - without it I would be wandering in a scrapbook wasteland from which there is no return.
Cooler weather.
A best friend that totally gets me. And was able to attend a midnight showing of Twilight with me. :)
Christmas decorations that make me smile.

Here's a couple of layouts that I have done - totally unrelated to being thankful, I just really liked them!

Created with Woodsy Whimsy by Jennifer Barrette Designs.

Created with FaLaLaLaLa by Dielle Designs

Just sharing a bit

2008-11-20T06:00:00.000-06:00

I am really looking forward to the holidays this year. I don't know why. Last year, I was so not in the holiday spirit. I think I was just overwhelmed and sleep-deprived!

At any rate, my December Daily album is coming along nicely. The general idea is to have the album basically put together before December. Since I am a digital scrapper this created somewhat of an issue for me. I have very little in the way of paper supplies left and no real desire to go out and buy all that I would need for this album to look the way I want! So, I am improvising.

I am still making my pages ahead of time. When December rolls around I can just drop a picture into the page and print. Easy-peasy.

Here's my Day 1 page. I used a picture from last year to get the idea of layout and composition. I journaled about that picture as well so I could pick my font. :)

All materials from Pamela Donnis' Merry and Bright available at Elemental Scraps.

And something really neat! You can go to Your Fonts and get a free font of your very own handwriting! The "December" on the above page is my writing. You can do as many as you want, so I'll probably do another, better, more thought out one.

But, back to the December Daily, the back side of each page will be other pictures from that day that I like or enjoy.

I am really looking forward to having a completed album celebrating the magic of the 25 days of Christmas. And you know how I know I am gonna finish? Meet my accountability partner...

Some things I am thinking about

2008-11-18T11:41:00.000-06:00

1. I am working on a December Daily album, inspired by the Ali Edwards version here. When I looked at past years holiday pictures I noticed that I hadn't really done a very good job of documenting anything besides Christmas morning. And I guess I feel like there is way more going on in December than just Christmas morning!

2. I hate having days where I really don't want to do anything. Especially when I feel like I have so much to do! I think it is the sense of being overwhelmed that makes me want to say - "just forget it all!"

3. I need to go grocery shopping today. I don't want to. It's getting cold and I just don't feel like leaving the house. Ugh.

4. For the first time in a couple of years I am looking forward to the holidays! I can't wait to start decorating and baking and all that fun stuff. Let's not get started on all the cleaning.

5. We need an advent calendar. So I am going to try my hand at making one this year. Wish me luck...

Hi There!

2008-10-13T08:00:00.000-05:00

You know what is hilarious? And slightly embarrassing too?

When your kid gets old enough to mimic you, starts to do it, and then you wonder, "where did he learn that?" Until one day you catch yourself saying it. The lightbulb comes on and you realize you've been saying it all along.

I am fortunate, because my little guy picked up a completely innocuous phrase and nothing telling about my verbal bad habits. He could have very easily been walking around saying, "SERIOUSLY!" all the time. Instead, any time someone, or especially if he walks into a room he says, "Hi There!" It is the cutest thing. I realized that I say that every time I go to get him out of bed. It was a telling moment.

So from Party Boy, Jr. to all of you - "Hi there!!"

The Best Digital Scrapbooking Site You've Never Heard Of...

2008-10-12T08:00:00.000-05:00

Or maybe you have heard of it. But, it is my new fave digital supply shoppe. Why? Well, because of the challenges, of course!

See, Elemental Scraps has these rocking scrapping challenges. They're fun to do - so you should definitely try one or two. A couple of my favorites are the Scrapjack Challenge where you get a specific formula for finishing a page, and the Flip It, Flip It Good Challenge (and I love the Devo reference, don't you?), where you scraplift a page and rotate or flip the design. Very fun. And let's talk about the Bits and Pieces challenge - you get a FREE mini kit and the challenge is to design a page using only pieces from that mini kit...like this one I did:

Created using Bunkbeds Mini by Erin Keith

So, besides helping me get a ton of pages completed in a short amount of time, I also earn cash money for completing the challenges! Yeah, you heard me right. Cash! Hang with me.

Each challenge is worth 5 points.

There are 20 challenges per month.

So, if you complete all the challenges you earn 100 points.

And....each point is worth 5 cents.

Complete all of the challenges and you could earn $5 in ES cash every month. Now, I know that may not seem like a whole lot of money, it will buy you one whole kit (or 5 if you wait for Dollar Days!). So, that's a kit that cost you nothing but time spent scrapping, and you were going to do that anyway, right??

Like I said. I love Elemental Scraps. What can I say?

And any of you out there that don't scrap digitally, I am available for private lessons! ;)

Continuing Education

2008-10-10T15:47:00.001-05:00

I love learning new things. I love all things digital. I also love FREE! So, if you are anything like me - getta load of this:

Yeah, I'll be signing up on 10/20.

Now for a layout to share.

Created with Autumn Leaf by Pamela Donnis

This one celebrates my $5 Kohl's Door Hanger. I love that thing and look forward to September 21st every year so I can hang it up. It stays up until the day after Thanksgiving when the Christmas wreath makes its appearance. I really should get something for the other seasons, but I haven't come across just the right deal yet!

Have a great weekend everyone!

I have new readers!!!

2008-10-08T20:25:00.002-05:00

I am so excited when people from my "real life" show an interest in my blog... YAY!

So welcome my dear friends PandaMom and Jen. I love you ladies and have added you to my Google Reader. Now I can stalk your blogs and read your posts the minute you post them.

Yay! That brings the total readership to 6! WaHoo!

2008-10-03T09:34:00.001-05:00

Given the current political and economic climate of late I decided that I needed to focus on my blessings. Here are a few:

Created with BeautyFall by eNKay Designs at enkaydesigns.com, nuts4digi.com, and digital-scrapbook-art.com.

Oh my!

2008-10-02T16:32:00.000-05:00

Well, fall has fallen in most parts of the Northern Hemisphere. Not so much here. It's still 90 someodd degrees every day, although we are supposed to get a cold front sometime this week, I think. Then the daytime highs will drop to around 85. Woopee. Color me excited.

Anyway. I told you all I would be busy!!

AWANA got off to a rocking start and is sailing along pretty well now. I went to an amazing Fall Conference last weekend and learned SO MUCH! I am excited about the things that I have planned for my club and the work that I see the kids doing!

I joined another CT - Pamela Donnis is a new (not that you can tell) designer and is selling at Elemental Scraps. Probably one of my fave LOs with her stuff is this one with the Snips N Snails Kit:

We went to an book signing with Mo Willem(s?) and got to hear him read his new Pigeon book. How fun!

In other news - my super-brother ran an ultra-marathon last weekend in Lake Tahoe. I was here being a wonderful sister and dog-sitting his 90 pound toddler Great Pyrenees, W. W is almost a year old and a toddler in every sense of the word! I haven't been that tired in a LONG time. You can read all about my brother's run here.

I plan to be blogging more now that things have settled down some. Of course, with things settled down I don't know if I'll have anything to say?

Just kidding. I'll think of something!

The lake

2008-08-22T21:03:00.000-05:00

We spent three days at the lake this week with my inlaws. It was good. We stayed in a rental house that was okay. Let's just say it would have been perfect if we were all college age drinking buddies. I'll leave it at that.

This week is going to be sooooooo busy. I need to finish getting the school stuff ready and get all that set for the first day of school on September 2nd.

All the fall church stuff starts week after next so there are MORE meetings. Ugh.

Junior has decided that now is the perfect time to increase his skills and he tries to escape every time the gate gets left open. Or a door. Or a cabinet. He's started making word sounds too. You know what I mean? Sounds that really sound like words? Like at the lake - he would point (another new skill) and say "DUH!" (duck) and "KAA!" (quack).

Maybe I give the kid too much credit?

Anyway, back to the school thing and prepping for that. I am looking forward to being in a groove again. As much as I enjoy our breaks (and I really need them too!) I like having the schedule too. I like knowing that from 7:30 to about 12:30 we'll have plans. After 12:30 it usually all goes to pot, but we're getting better. This will be the first year with a toddler in the house. It should be interesting to say the least. I'll let you know how it goes!

*

It's a BLOG CARNIVAL!

2008-08-17T13:58:00.001-05:00

Other

Kelly-Ann Halbert presents Hump Day Hybrid: Recycle your cans! posted at These Chicks, saying, "Great hybrid project"
Kelly-Ann Halbert presents Technique Challenge - Swirly Arrows posted at Hummie's World.

Trends

Kelly-Ann Halbert presents Wednesday Inspiration - dizzy about circles posted at scrapstreet.

Tutorials

Kelly-Ann Halbert presents Bethy's Tutorials: Using Masks for Selective Color posted at Beth Nixon Blogging {Finding Joy & Choosing Happy}.

Fall Must Be Getting Closer...

2008-08-13T09:51:00.000-05:00

It must be getting close to "fall." I say "fall" because here it stays HOT until it just one day get COLD. We really don't have a real fall. Anyway, it must be close to fall because I feel liek my life just shifted into overdrive.

We start school back up on September 2. So I am in the middle of getting our year all settled and planned and organized.

I agreed to head up our church's AWANA program. It's a huge job and I have now 20 days to prepare for the first meeting. I'm not in it alone, but that doesn't mean it's any less work! It just means that I don't have to do EVERYTHING! Thank goodness. Whew!

Bible study promotion is in a week and a half. We're in the midst of planning a great kick-off activity. Gotta get that all organized.

There's tons of trainings, meetings, prep times, cleaning, etc. for all associated activities.

In a word? SWAMPED.

On the bright side though, it does mean a return to routine, which is nice. I am looking forward to that.

How is your fall shaping up?

I have a fun announcement!

2008-08-04T08:00:00.001-05:00

Okay, so I stepped out there and threw my name in the hat to be on a Digi-Scrapping Creative Team for Dielle's Designs and guess what?!?! I was accepted!! How exciting is that?!? I love working with Dielle and her stuff is a dream to work with. I am so very excited!!!

So anyway, I did a couple of layouts with Dielle's stuff (and some stock photos from stock.xchang):

This one is all stuff from Dielle's Spangled Kit. I love the colors and the alpha is so much fun!

This one is from her Teacher's Pet assignment Afternoon in my Garden Mini Kit at Funky Playground Designs (the little butterfly is from a Shabby Princess Kit, Promise, and the mat under believe is Anita Stergiou, Strawberry Iced Kit, and there's that Spangled Alpha again!) Just a note - Afternoon in my Garden is a Freebie, but you need to register for the FPD Newsletter to get the password.:

Wild Week Ahead!

2008-07-29T19:37:00.000-05:00

I wanted everyone to know that posting may be sparse this week because we are having Vacation Bible School this week!! How is it that I can work a 3 hour VBS and come home feeling like I have done hard labor for a 16 hour shift?!?

My goodness it's just exhausting!

MOTS is loving her class and Hollywood is next door to me, which is fun because her class and my class are teamed together so I get to see her quite a bit during VBS.

PBJ is okay being in the nursery, although he can't sleep through the crying. On the plus side, cutting his naps in the morning to 20-30 minutes has meant that he naps for almost 2 solid hours in the afternoon. This is a good thing except that I am too exhausted to take advantage of it.

So, enjoy your week and I will update as I can based on schedules, etc.

~C

Summer Jobs

2008-07-26T15:17:00.000-05:00

I was a lucky kid. I never had to find a summer job. I know, I know...brat.

Most of my summers were spent sleeping in, although Mom would call around 10ish "to make sure we were up." HA! We watched many, many reruns - The Andy Griffith Show, Gomer Pyle, The Munsters, The Addams Family, Green Acres, etc. - and game shows - The Price is Right was a real favorite!

But there was one summer when a job fell into my lap. I was a receptionist for the company that did our senior pictures. It was miserable. See, as many of you know, senior pictures are kind of a big deal, so when things don't go well people (especially parents) get really upset! And who gets the earful? That's right, the receptionist!

I spent most of the summer addressing mass mailings, fielding phone calls from people "that never got the appointment card," and listening to disapointed mothers complain about the picture proofs (that they would try to steal!).

I also had to babysit the other receptionists. Cause, you know, like, they would "forget" their shifts, call in sick (to go to the water park), and disappear (to flirt with the guys that were in studio). Ugh.

When school finally started I was so relieved, because with marching band season starting up I was able to quit. I don't think I have ever been so happy to start school. On the up side I did get a paycheck, if you can call it that. And on Memorial Day I got to spend the day in the office answering the phone (3 calls I think), reading, and watching the entire Indiana Jones series. I got paid double for that day! Woo-Hoo!

Summer jobs aren't all bad I suppose. I'm just glad I didn't have to ever worry about it. Thanks Mom and Dad!

How a Free Tool Can Actually Bankrupt You.

2008-07-24T12:37:00.000-05:00

WARNING: You should read this post at your own risk. I can not and will not be held responsible for your wallet flying open and money that comes flying out of it because of my pointing you in the direction of Kaboodle.

See, Kaboodle is this VERY nifty tool for shopping online. You are browsing the internet, looking at all the cool things that you want/need/must have and it never fails, always find more when you don't have any money!

Kaboodle to the rescue! Now when you are flat broke and want to browse you can! Just add your stuff to Kaboodle. Then when you have saved up the nickels and dimes (incedentally, are you finding that nickels and dimes are all you have left after filling up the gas tank lately?) you can browse your Kaboodle and find someone else to take your money!

Spending your money just got easier courtesy of Kaboodle. Don't you feel richer for knowing this? In the metaphorical sense of course since in reality Kaboodle is going to make you poorer... I'm just sayin'.

Anywho. go forth and find the decorations for your dream house, photography equipment for you aspiring photogs, digi designs for you digital divas and let's fill those Kaboodles! You can organize by topic and create wishlists... the possibilities are endless.

And all of you lucky Firefox users can add sweet little browser buttons that allow you to add to your Kaboodle with the click of one button. You lucky thing!

But don't blame me okay? I mean, you would have eventually spent that money on something right? Even if it was something as mundane as groceries, or toilet paper....

Movies and something I had not considered...

2008-07-22T08:00:00.000-05:00

So, The Dark Knight opened this last weekend and had record breaking ticket sales.

I immediately know why, even if Hollywood couldn't figure it out. Duh, there's not been a movie as hyped as this one all year. Also, one of the lead actors (Heath Ledger) sadly passed away earlier this year. Add to that the lack af many good movies and VOILA! you have a record breaker on your hands.

But then....Party Boy asked me a pointed question. If The Dark Knight had been released on Memorial Day weekend or July 4th weekend, which have historically been the release dates of the huge summer blockbusters, would it have been as big?

Hmmmmm. I don't think so. There was too much competition those weekends. Iron Man on Memorial Day and Hancock on the 4th. I think it might have split the take, you know?

Personally? It kills me that they didn't release it one of those weekends, you know, when I could have actually GONE???

Yeah, I wanna see The Dark Knight. We are so getting a babysitter soon. Real soon. I will see The Dark Knight in theaters... I will.

A Word About Mine

2008-07-21T08:00:00.001-05:00

A word about my one little word.

It seems to be working. We are over halfway through the year and while I still have days that I must make myself refocus on being joyful it does come easier.

Joyfully...

Environmental Frustration

2008-07-10T09:47:00.003-05:00

Occasionally I decide that we need to do more - reduce our carbon footprint, recycle more, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera... (hee hee).

Only, when I do try to do more I get lambasted by environmentalists. And it always leaves me mentally scratching my head, because no matter what I do, it never seems to be enough for anyone else.

Case in point - cloth diapers. I love them. I primarily decided to use cloth because I wanted the money savings. As a SAHM, I evaluated, do I have more money or more time? While both seem to be in short supply on most days, I tend to run towards the end of the more time spectrum, so washing an extra load of diapers seemed a small price to pay as opposed to spending thousands on disposables. And, have no fear, I don't care what kinds of diapers everyone else uses...my environmental concern ends with what I do (or don't do, as the case may be) to be green.

So, I am all happy because I will save some significant moolah in the grocery budget this next couple of years only to be criticized (on a cloth diaper message board with a seriously environmental bent that I obviously missed) for my choices. Apparently buying "regular" pre-folds and covers isn't enough. You have to buy the mega-expensive natural fiber, unbleached, preferably hand-crafted by a WAHM diapers. Then I got lectured on how I was negating any environmental good I was doing by choosing cloth because I was washing them and using SO MUCH WATER. Even the fact that I own a front-loading, environmentally friendly washer wasn't good enough.

Whoops. Now I start backing away. Uh-oh, how am I planning on drying said diapers? Well, I'll use the dryer. I'll tell you what, that revelation nearly sent the uber-greenies off the deep end. All of that energy wasted. Now I am starting to feel like my carbon footprint is probably bigger than anyone else in town.

And yet, I dare not use the evil disposable. All of that water and energy wasted! And the landfill pollution! Sigh.

But then I decided to quit listening and get back to what worked for me. I'm not using any more water than I was before Junior, so that's good. And the energy bill has remained much the same. Also good. Plus, mot putting tons of disposables in the landfill is a good thing, right?

The lesson I learned? For me environmentalism has be all about increments. Little bits at a time. We bought energy saving appliances when replacing the old ones from the great cheese dip disaster of 2007. We bought CFL light bulbs. Little things that will add up. And in time we'll get greener and greener.

For now, that has to be enough and it is for me.

And before anyone even brings it up...no, I do not believe it is environmentally irresponsible to have kids in the first place. Anyone with questions on that needs to visit Books and Bairns. And know this... Angi will take you on here too if I beg enough....

Confessions of an Avoidant Personality

2008-07-09T13:30:00.002-05:00

Have you ever had a hobby or activity that you really enjoy? And then suddenly life gets in the way and you wind up missing some serious time with said hobby? And then getting back into it is hard and so you don't and the next thing you know it's almost embarassing to get back to it? Yeah, that's me.

Sorry for the huge lag in posts. Really.

See, I got really busy when Junior started getting seriously mobile and it was hard to have a coherent thought, much less put it on paper (so to speak) between pulling him off the curtains and monitoring where all of the cords in the house were and making sure they didn't get unplugged and eaten... sigh.

Compound that with a lack of baby schedule and well, there's very little time in the day.

Happily Junior is still mobile and now is on a rough routine. This leaves me a little more time. Whew.

So, I've been avoiding my blog. Because I was embarrassed. But I am back now, although I can not promise daily posts, unless somehow this blog goes viral and I start getting a check for my work here, in which case I will happily post every HOUR!

A Webkinz Tale of Woe....Almost

2008-05-02T08:00:00.000-05:00

Let this tale of woe serve as a warning to all of you in Webkinz World!

MOTS (Mouth of the South) discovered that she could change her Webkinz password at will. So she did. Whenever she felt like it she changed her password. I had to make a hard and fast rule that she could NOT change Hollywood's password. She was disappointed, but she complied.

While I was in the kitchen I hear from the computer, "Mommy, I changed my password again!" I asked what she had changed it to and she told me that to make it easier to remember that she had made her password the same as her screen name. Oops!

I explained what a bad idea that was and asked her to change it back. She came in a little later to tell me that she had changed it to a new password! I just shook my head and told her that I didn't think it was a good idea to change password's unless you have to. She smiled and headed off to play.

A couple of hours later I hear a wail from the computer and much gnashing of teeth. Uh-oh.

"Mommy, I typed in my new password but it won't work!"

So I tried on my computer. No luck. Should be a simple fix for this, right? Yeah.

Webkinz has a plan for just this kind of thing. You just enter your screen name and the code from one of your animals. Simple, right? For a family that leaves the code tags where they belong maybe. But not this family.

So, I had the unhappy task of explaining to MOTS that she may have just lost her account and that very likely she would have to create a new account when she got a new Webkinz. This was especially heartbreaking since to get one she would either have to spend her own money or wait until Christmas! The horror! The tears! The wailing!

And then, what to my wondering eyes should appear but one lonely Kinz Tag. On the floor. Under a bag. But! Would this tag allow access to MOTS account, or was it a tag from Hollywood's account? The suspense.

We tried and, much to MOTS delight, were granted access to her account. I kindly fixed her password and we all learned an important lesson. Never change your password unless you have to.

And the Webkinz all lived happily ever after.

P.S. Please disregard my advice to never change your password if in fact your local IT guy has advised you otherwise. Thanks!

P.P.S. Webkinz World is the online world where you can play games and do things with the e-version of your real life stuffed animals! It's fun and only slightly addicting. You don't even know how close I have come to buying my own Webkinz. The shame.

Shades of Blue

2008-05-01T08:00:00.001-05:00

I love blue. All shades of blue. I don't know why I am so drawn to the color blue, but I am. Party Boy even has blue eyes. :)

Here's a blue paper pack for you all. Moonlight Sonata.

Enjoy.

Strawberry Girl

2008-04-30T08:00:00.001-05:00

No, I haven't renamed my kids again. Yet.

We just finished reading a book by the name of Strawberry Girl. It was a really great book. I particularly enjoyed it because it takes place in Florida and everyone has a backwoods, Southern accent. I can do that particular accent really well! I am not backwoods, but I am Southern. I struggled with previous books that had French, Italian, and British accents. The girls always giggle when I try those for some reason.

I think though, that the most rewarding thing about the book was that it made my girls realize just how easy they have it! I mean, they don't have to set a gazillion Strawberry plants and then water them by hand. They don't have the endless job of weeding a large plat of land. Their family's livlihood does not rest, in any part, on their shoulders.

And they realized this last week. That alone made the book worth reading. I can't recommend it enough!

The First Half Marathon!

2008-04-28T08:00:00.001-05:00

Do you love it? Party Boy ran his first ever half-marathon yesterday! His time was 2 hours and 15 minutes.

I am so proud of him! Of course, this means that he has met his goal for the year, which also means that he does not have to suffer the punishment that he picked out if he did NOT run a half-marathon in 2008, wearing a tire around his waist on 1/1/09. Bummer.

The race was great. It started off pretty bleak and rainy, which was a bummer, but the rain let up after about 45 minutes and then it was just cold and VERY windy.

He's so psyched by the whole experience that he decided that he wants to run a marathon now.

Maybe as early as September.

Wow.

Hollywood and Party Boy

2008-04-25T08:00:00.000-05:00

My DH (previously known as Super-Sonic Cheeseburger) has a habit of changing people's names. He either nicknames them or just forgets their names and calls them by some random name. And since most people are too polite to point it out (especially sales people that want his $$$) he just goes on calling them by the wrong name. I haven't yet figured out if he does this on purpose, or if he really is that bad with names. He won't tell me either. He just smiles knowingly and evades the question.

So anyway, daughter #2, previously known as Tater Tot, loves sunglasses. Loves them. She wears them all the time, even inside.

So, DH started calling her "Hollywood." It was funny, and now it's stuck.

We were at the mall the other day and Hollywood was, once again wearing sunglasses, as if she needed protection from all of the paparazzi flashbulbs! Dh starts in on the Hollywood nickname again. She just smiles and plays along.

And then, are you ready for this? He asks her, "You ready to go Hollywood?"

She replies, "I sure am, Party Boy."

Now at this point Party Boy is speechless and DD#1 and I are laughing so hard that we can barely walk. We were creating quite the scene at the mall.

And it's stuck now. Hollywood and Party Boy. I love it!

As an editorial note, DD#1 will now be refered to as "The Mouth of the South." Go figure. She picked that one. :)

This One is Going to Cost Me!

2008-04-24T08:00:00.002-05:00

I discovered the coolest new toy today! Have you seen this? It's the Lowe's Garden Planner. I have spent the morning laying out my house, the fence, the patio, the driveway, and all without taking any real measurements! It's okay though, I only want an approximation of what I can do.

I got the idea to poke around on the Lowe's site because we are redoing out front yard flower beds. We wanted to use stone to surround them. I think they look great. Check out the after.

Before featured a pathetic black rubber border that didn't serve much purpose beyond annoying the heck out of me. It wouldn't stay in the ground and it did absolutely nothing in the way of keeping the grass out of the flower beds.

Now we have new lovely, castle style stones bordering the beds. We also leveled and raised the beds with manure (SSCB pronounces this muh-NOOR, which cracks me up, but I don't know why). This will enrich the soil and also improve the drainage, or so SSCB says. I'll just take his word for it. I am mostly concerned about what we will be planting this year.

Truth be told, I am not a big fan of the bushes that are in our front beds, except for the dwarf nandina that we planted. Sadly, they were already there and mature when we moved in. We could remove them, but it would be a huge pain, so I live with it. I would however like to have a few words with the genius that decided it would be a great idea to plant holly berry bushes in front of the outside faucet. Everytime we go to turn the water on we come in looking like we lost a cat fight.

Which reminds me of the best lines in the movie I, Robot:

[Detective Spooner enters Calvin's home after the demo-bot destroyed Lanning's house... with him in it. His head is bleeding and he looks really bad]
Detective Spooner: Hey, do you like cats?
Susan Calvin: What?
Detective Spooner: Cats, do you like 'em?
Susan Calvin: No, I'm allergic. You're saying cats did this to you?
Detective Spooner: How the he!! would cats do this to me? Are you crazy?
Susan Calvin: Why are we talking about cats?
Detective Spooner: [as if it were the most natural thing] Because I have a cat in my trunk and he's homeless.

Sorry about that...

Anyway, now, I am inspired and wanted to see what I could come up with to do in our side yards, which are pretty much bare right now. I think they need some work, which usually translates into money spent and back-breaking labor for poor SSCB. Awwwwwwwww.

So, as we put in our new flower beds someday I will be sure to post before and afters of that, okay?

Poor Dad

2008-04-23T08:00:00.002-05:00

I know that I tend to mention Mom in a lot of my posts, especially lately. That's because she actually READS this blog! Hey, it's what Moms do. They support their children's lame creative endeavors. She even saved a lot of those early crafts. They replaced pictures of my brother in the memory box, which is my explanation for why we only have three pictures of him. Well, he was a second child after all.

:P

About my Dad. He did contribute to my childhood, but I don't know that he actually reads this stuff. I'll tell you about him though. He's a writer. He doesn't admit it, but he is. I remember reading some stuff he wrote when I was little. One story was about the brutal murder of a State Trooper. That one still haunts me, but not as much as the one story he wrote about Biker Boy, my brother.

That one haunts me for a different reason. Because I am a parent now, and remembering that story and the raw emotion contained within just makes me shudder. Through my eyes as a five year old there was nothing impressive about biker boy when he came home (as evidenced by the fact that I remember little about him until he was about 18 months old!). But he had some eventful early months and I know from reading that story that my parents lived those months with their hearts in their throats and their stomachs in knots. And I know this because it's how I would feel now if it were my kids.

Dad is also a photographer. Always has been. He has a unique way of seeing the world. I swear, even without a viewfinder to look through, that's what he sees. Composition, color, light, shadows, Photoshop. It's what he lives for. It's who he is!

I get my creative instincts from him. I love photography too. I enjoy writing. And I played trumpet in band in High School. Just like Dad.

Mom is a reader like me, and she taught me sew. And crochet. And cross-stitch. And how to cook.

And now you know all about my Dad, and what he is like (and a little more about my Mom).

P.S. Hi Mom! :)

Coffee Talk

2008-04-22T08:00:00.001-05:00

When I was growing up my parents did not drink coffee. My grandparents did. They drank it black.

I did not drink coffee. Even when Starbucks came to town I only drank hot chocolates and the odd cappuchino. Not really coffee. And never black!

And sometime after Small Fry was born my Mom went over to the dark side and started drinking coffee. I blame the pod machine that made custom coffee stocked in every flavor imaginable with unlimited cream and sugar supplied for free in her office at the time. French vanilla coffee with french vanilla creamer. Oh, it was good. And when I ended up at the office with her she introduced me to the beloved, wondreous coffee maker. Never mind that I was pregnant with Tater Tot at the time. I checked with the OB/GYN and one or two cups of coffee a day was approved and so it began. My on-again, off-again affair with coffee. French Roast with Irish Cream flavored creamer and three sugars. So what if it was more cream and sugar than cream? I needed the dairy - pregnant remember?

But then I left that office for another job. A job that sadly did not have a personal cup of coffee machine brewer. But there was a Starbucks next door. So the daily coffee habit became a twice monthly iced coffee habit. Starbucks is expensive!

And then I left that job and became a Stay-At-Home-Mom (SAHM) without a coffee maker. So the coffee habit died.

And then....my mother the dealer :) made coffee last Thanksgiving while we were staying at her house. Sweet mom made a cup the way she likes it for my sweet SSCB (Super Sonic Cheeseburger).

Two months later I had to go to Wal-Mart and buy a coffeemaker, French Vanilla Folgers and creamer because my husband was craving coffee. It is now a daily addiction for both of us. Sad. But, I still won't drink it black!

Now? McDonald's is my new dealer. Their vanilla iced coffee? Oh, it's GOOOOOOOOOOODDDDD! Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

I try to make it at home and can only create a pale washed out version that passes for iced coffee but it lacks the richness of the McDonald's version.

The point of this post? Thanking Mom for getting me addicted. Thanking Mom for getting SSCB addicted. And forcing me to buy a coffee machine. The first hit's always free, right?

And you want to know what the real injustice here is? Mom quit coffee! Can you believe it? Now she's pushing Chai tea! Oh, the humanity. Thankfully I can brew the tea in my coffeemaker. Mmmmmmmmmm, chai tea. With milk and sugar.

But I'll wax nostalgic on the chai some other time!!

:)

Here's a little Freebie for you!

American Girl

2008-04-21T08:00:00.000-05:00

Tater Tot picked out her birthday present. Kirsten.

She was adamant that she wanted a blond haired, blue eyed doll. Much to Small Fry's chagrin. Small Fry had been campaigning for weeks that Tater Tot should ask for Felicity because Small Fry is the proud owner of Felicity's best friend Elizabeth.

And because Tater Tot loves her sister (and because Small Fry no doubt led TT to believe that it was a given that they should have matching dolls) she went along and at first told us she wanted Felicity.

And then I pulled TT aside and explained that she could have any doll that she wanted. She didn't have to get Felicity, that all of the dolls could play together!

Her eyes lit up! It was a toss up between Kit, Julie, and Kirsten. The tie-breaker? Kirsten has blue eyes and long blond hair.

Now she just has to wait for her birthday. What a cruel, cruel world.

And does it bother anyone else that Julie, the latest historical doll, is from the 1970's? That is really disturbing to me. I mean, come on...what's next? Jessica of the 80's complete with parachute pants and a Member's Only Jacket? Ugh. I don't like to think of the 1970's as historical. It just makes me feel old.

We are TOO Scientific!

2008-04-18T08:00:00.001-05:00

We Small Fry was born she had a club foot. Thankfully our pediatrician recommended that we take her to Scottish Rite Hospital for Children. She was enrolled in a new therapy for club feet that was far less painful and less invasive than the traditional therapy.

When she was three she had surgery to ease her range of movement. It was a great experience. She really only remembers that she got lots of toys when she got to the hospital and that she was coddled and kept entertained by the wonderful staff!

After her surgery we were called and asked if we would participate in a scientific study involving children with club feet. Sure! We love science. So, every two years we pack up and head to the hospital and the scientists hook Small Fry up to leads and reflective balls to measure her muscle strength and gait. She walks around and they video her and we all have a great time.

We also go in every 18 months or so to see her orthopedist and he checks her progress. The kids love going to the hospital because, well, because everything there is all about kids! They have toys and books and games and we never go that we don't come home with something fun. I am not even sure that they understand that it is a hospital.

And a really positive side-effect has come of this. SRHC doesn't just treat club feet. They treat lots of different childhood afflictions. The girls have gotten used to seeing children on crutches, in wheelchairs, with walkers and in every state imaginable. They probably won't realize for a long time just how lucky they are to be healthy and whole, but I imagine that someday they will look back and understand just what a gift they have in that.

All the Smelly Animals

2008-04-17T13:49:00.003-05:00

We went to the zoo on Monday. It wasn't a holiday, unlike Good Friday, when we last attempted a zoo visit, along with the rest of the free world.

It was a beautiful day. Sunny and just the right temperature. The animals were more active than I have ever seen them and we usually try to go to the zoo a couple of times a year.

We gave each of the girls a disposable camera for them to take pictures at the zoo. Tater Tot used most of her film on random pictures around the house. "Oh, Mommy, can I take a picture of the light fixture?!?"

Small Fry took lots of pictures of the first three animals that we saw, despite warnings that the film was limited. Poor kid, she was thinking of Mommy's digital camera that has room for 400 some-odd pictures. She had 27. Life really isn't fair, is it? Everything was okay after I promised to share some of my pictures. I am sooooooo nice.

Here's some of what we saw:

A red wolf. As many times as we have been to the zoo, we have never seen this wolf. It has always been safely hidden in the foliage at the back of the exhibit. The girls were so excited to see it come walking right up towards us.

Here is one of the coyotes that put on quite a show for us! As we were standing there discussing that these coyotes were so much smaller than their brethren that we see around town they started howling and yipping. I could not believe just how loud they were. It was painful and yet, I couldn't walk away. It was a haunting sound and had such a rhythm to it.

Here is the poor jaguar that is forced to live next door to the coyotes. The jaguar was, frankly, not as enthralled with the coyote song as the rest of us. Probably because he has to listen tot he show several times a day (and most likely, night too!). As the coyotes were reaching a peak in their music the jaguar charged the fence in between them and roared. We all jumped, including the coyotes. They quieted down and the poor jaguar marched to the other end of its enclosure and started pacing.

And here is the parakeet that we fed. Actually we fed quite a few of them. They are in an aviary and you can buy seed sticks and the birds will fly down and perch on the sticks to eat the seed. It was so much fun! The buzz kill was the people that insisted on elbowing in to get at the birds and trying to "steal" birds from other peoples sticks. Sheesh!

Much to your relief I did not take a picture of the single most interesting thing we saw. The boa constrictor in the herpetarium having his breakfast. Mmmmmm, yummy.

And the Skies Opened up...

2008-04-10T09:41:00.004-05:00

The last two weeks have been a mild form of torture for me. I am horribly scared of thunderstorms and tornadoes and all manners of meterological disturbances. I handle them outwardly for the sake of my children, but inside I am secretly tied up in knots and quaking in my metaphorical boots.

I blame my 2nd grade school in Alabama whose name escapes me. See, apparently, there was a tornado producing storm somewhere in Alabama. It wasn't over my school where the sun was shining and the birds were singing. Who knows if it was even headed in our direction... Anyway, we had to assume the tornado position and anyone who went to school in the South is wildly familiar with the tornado posistion. You get into the school's hallway on your knees, duck your head down and put your arms over your head. Duck and cover I think they call it. So, we are in the hall in duck and cover position. And we stay there. And stay there. And stay there. It felt like an eternity to this poor little girl. And here I am keeping it real. I had a runny nose. And it was running. And I had no tissue and the teacher yelled at me when I turned around to ask for a tissue. And then I started to cry which made my nose run even more. And then the boys on either side of me started making fun of me. Let's face it, I was a crying, snotty mess. My knees were starting to hurt (wood floors), my back hurt, and the teachers were at the end of the hall having a little party.

After we had been in the duck and cover position forever we were finally allowed to turn around and sit up. Maybe the tornado had moved into Georgia or something. Then the teacher griped at me for not asking for a tissue and I started to cry again. I remember that I cried at school alot in Alabama.

And Mom, I'm sorry, but it is time to come clean. Just be happy that I am not on Dr. Phil, cause I know how you feel about that.

I even got sent to the Principal's office once. I hated Alabama. I don't anymore, but I did then.

So anyway, last Monday we had a tornado in town. I was on Main Street, but it ended up going north of our house. The kids and I spent about 45 minutes in the bathroom reading Ginger Pye though. And now anytime there is rain in the forecast, Tater Tot asks if we will have another tornado.

Then Thursday, at 3 a.m. we had a massive hail storm. I really thought our skylight was going to break. I was so scared as once again the kids and I were huddled in the interior of our house. I even called my poor DH in Arizona and woke him up I was so scared. Here's a picture of the hail - yes, that is a quarter next to it.

And then last night! We had a line of storms come through that was just freaky scary. Several tornadoes, massive damage. And they all managed to miss us, thank goodness.

It was not cool. I seriously hope that does it for our rather frightening spring weather around here. Seriously.

I hope to have another freebie up tomorrow or Monday!

And Mom, I never told you half of what school was like in Alabama. It was awful. They say when you get removed from a situation that you start to only remember the good things. Not that. I seriously remember the misery quite vividly. Just piling on the guilt today, huh?

It;s okay. My therapist says I'll get over it after he makes a few more boat payments.

Excuses, excuses

2008-03-27T09:22:00.008-05:00

I apologize for the unexpected (and unannounced) hiatus. Life gets in the way sometimes, you know? I could come up with a ton of excuses, but, truth be told, I was catching up on some things I let slide... like housework, laundry, dishes. Nothing like a threatened mutiny of the rest of the household to reset your daily to-do list!

No, really, things weren't ALL that bad. Really, we have been busy with school and Junior Burger has decided to go and get all mobile and everything. That means I have to spend a LOT more time chasing him down and checking the floor for things like Barbie shoes and hair bands (not Motley Crue or Poison, silly! ponytail holders!). Okay, that was a bad joke...

We went to the Botanic Gardens last week. It was great fun! We had started out thinking that we would go to the zoo, but when we got there we noticed that people were parking over a MILE away from the front gates. So, we nixed that and decided to go on a day when the general public would be back in school. So shoot me, I forgot it was Spring Break and Good Friday to boot. Duh.

Anyway, here's a few pictures for your enjoyment, with apologies to any of you that are not experiencing spring yet...it is wonderful...I know you can't wait.

Was that exceptionally cruel?

Well, hopefully the belated appearance of the long-awaited Second City Elements will make up for it!

YAY!

Yes, the torn papers are part of the package. I really enjoyed this one. I am hoping to get some more designing done in the future. Mainly, I am waiting for inspiration to strike.

Enjoy!

P.S. Good Luck Mom and Bro in your race on Saturday!

P.P.S. Thank you all for your wonderful comments and support on my last post. It meant alot. I was really afraid that I was going to put people out when I posted that. Whew!

P.P.P.S. Erika - Thank you for being concerned about me. That was so sweet of you to check on me!

Sickness, Scrapping, and Thinking. Oh My!

2008-03-14T14:33:00.003-05:00

This has been a challenging week in many ways for me. My little guy, Junior Burger, has been fighting his first bout of the "crud." So, he's not sleeping well and has been needing lots of extra cuddles and TLC. Thankfully he seems to be on the recovery side of things now and his outlook has improved dramatically. Yay!

The other challenge that I have been dealing with has been in relation to "the seamy underbelly" of the scrapping world. Scrapbboking has certainly changed since I started my hiatus back in 2003.

Maybe I was oblivious, but there seems to be more emphasis on the scrapbook "celebrity" now. Layouts need to have a certain "look" to avoid sharp criticism if they are published or displayed online. Many of the online communities have become quite mean. There seems to be a very real "us vs. them" thing going on here. The crafty scrapper vs. the simple scrapper, the kid page scrappers vs. the edgy scrapper.

It feels like for many, instead of enjoying their hobby there is a real need to scrap a certain way, be that like the LOs online, in magazines, or the way their fave celebrity scraps. Scrapping has become more about competition and the pursuit of perfection than about relaxing and recording memories.

It makes me sad.

I flatly refuse to endorse a certain style of scrapping. I can't anymore, because I think we all scrap for different reasons, don't we? I scrap for several reasons.

I scrap to record memories. I have seen too many old pictures where those in the photograph are no longer remembered. I look at these pictures and wonder why those people were there? What were they feeling? Was there a reason for the pictures? A birthday? An anniversary? A reunion? What was their life like? Pictures and (my sometimes too vivid) imagination have the power to transport me. I want to know what was going on, I can hear the echoing of laughter behind the image on the paper in front of me. It touches me. I want those that I love to have the answers to those questions when they look at my pictures.

I scrap to leave a legacy. What I wouldn't give to have a written record of my ancestor's lives. To know how they felt, what they thought about, their ideas, their dreams and hopes, their disappointments. I hope that someday a descendant of mine will stumble across my scrapbooks and be thrilled to get to know me. To see my life through my words and pictures on a page. To know me even through the distance of time in a way that I can never know those that came before me.

I scrap as a creative release. I love mixing colors and working a visual medium. Playing with the layout of a page, finding the right papers and elements. Striving to strike the right balance between decorative and focus on the pictures. Writing the memory down. Trying to capture the emotions behind the pictures.

I scrap because I love it.

We all have reasons to scrap. Maybe your reasons are the same as mine. Maybe they're different. Does that invalidate your pages, does that invalidate mine?

Not all of my layouts are one page, embellishment heavy, one word, single picture layouts. But I do have some of those. I also have tons of two-page, picture heavy layouts. I have a few that are mostly journaling because I had a story to tell.

Not all of them are worthy of being published, but that doesn't make them any less worthy of being made.

My biggest struggle this past week has been in trying to avoid taking a side. I think I have finally found the balance that I need. Part of this means that I have to take myself less seriously.

On the freebie side of things - I will still post freebies, though probably not daily. In using my own kits I decided that I want to make sure that what I am putting out there is high quality and usable. In order to do that I need to sit with my freebies and use them a couple of times to make sure that you all are getting everything that you need in my kits...

I'll be posting the Second City Elements early next week! (How's that for cutting to the chase?)

Looking Forward to...

2008-03-11T08:27:00.003-05:00

I have gotten out of the habit of watching TV. Thank the writer's strike for that one.

We have mostly switched to watching movies. Or shows on DVD, like "The Office." When we've caught up on that one we'll start on "Lost" and "24."

Anyway, I am so psyched about this summer's movies. "The Dark Knight" for one. I have been looking forward to that one since I saw "Batman Begins."

I am also looking forward to the next installation of the Narnia movies. And finall, this week some good DVDs are coming out. I hate it when my Blockbuster Queue gets low because there's just noting good coming out. Of course it doesn't help that we tend to trade our movies in at the store all the time rather than mailing them back... but, there wasn't anything good on TV, so do you really blame me?

Here's today's freebie, the papers for the Second City Collection.

Scrapping Memories?

2008-03-07T09:18:00.005-06:00

First, the Silly Bear elements:

Now for the bonus items! As I was scrapping yesterday I noticed that I wanted a few more things to go with what I had already created. So.......

Here is an add-on for Grungy Girl, containing a chipboard arrow, a chipboard frame, a paper scrap, a pink photo corner, and a set of paper strips.

Grab the burst-through photo frame from my Little Boy's Joy layout above - here!

The Office

2008-03-06T08:58:00.003-06:00

How is it that I have missed this show? After hearing my Dad, my Brother, and my Pastor RAVE about The Office for probably 2 years I finally decided to see what all the fuss was about. And I am not the least bit sorry. We got season 1 and 2 on DVD from Blockbuster.

I Love The Office. I have laughed so hard. My sides hurt now.

I just finished Season 2 last night. Wow.

I can't wait to get Season 3. Seriously, it's like an addiction.

Anyway, here are the Silly Bear Patterned Papers.

Now go scrap. And watch the Office. You won't be sorry.

100 Miles!

2008-03-05T08:08:00.004-06:00

I am so proud of SSCB - He has run over 100 miles since he started running at Christmas. What an accomplishment!

I think I have probably driven at least 100 miles since Christmas. He drives more often than I do. And we have elves to fill our gas tank, too. It's magic. I drive one day, and the tank is nearly empty. The next day it's all full again. But, I digress.

This kit is in colors inspired by my favorite cartoon character. Be aware, these only contain similar colors. There will be no images or anything to imply the images of the unspoken characters. Honestly, as much I would love to do a kit for these characters (and several others that my kids love) I can't because, well, let's just say that the copyright makes it cost prohibitive.

Hopefully someday the owners of all my favorite characters will release digital scrapbook kits containing my favorite characters. I think that they haven't yet because there are still so many issues in digi-scrapping with piracy. While these corporate conglomerates certainly have the incentive and power to go after pirates they probably are left asking if they really want to. I am holding out hope that someday the digital market will be big enough that we won't be ignored anymore by these copyright holders.

Until that day comes, please enjoy my Silly Bear kit.

Snow?!?

2008-03-04T08:24:00.003-06:00

What in the sam hill is going on around here???

We must've gotten 3 inches of snow last night. Bizarre because on Saturday it was 80 degrees out. Of course it only stuck in grassy areas, and it will all melt off today. Still, it was fun to watch it come down. It's so peaceful.

And I know that all of you that live in snowy areas are aghast that I can speak that way about snow, which by now must be driving you crazy... Well, all I can say is that when you live in an area that gets snow about once a year, it's pretty exciting.

Don't hate me, 'kay?

Here are the Heritage Neutral Elements. It's a little smaller than my usual kit size, but it is all part of the grand plan...

Enjoy.

We had a great weekend!

2008-03-03T11:25:00.005-06:00

I love weekends. On Saturday, we went to a nearby park and had a picnic lunch. Then Junior Burger and I walked around while SSCB and Small Fry and Tater Tot played. It was such a beautiful day.

After we played for awhile we went over to feed the ducks. Ducks which have obviously been overfed. Or have had a very bad experience with bread. Not sure which. Anyway, it was the first time in my life that I have seen ducks swim away from a free meal! I was shocked. SF and TT chased the ducks for quite awhile to try and get them to eat, but, alas, the ducks were so horrified at the thought that they ran from any human contact. I was sad. I love to feed the ducks. When they're appreciative, that is.

Yesterday I worked on my kit offering fo today a little bit and was able to surf the net. Then I went and shopped at CVS. I love CVS. I always spend too much money there though.

Today, I am proud to introduce my Heritage Neutrals Collection. I love using muted neutral colors in my heritage layouts to accent my black and white and sepia-toned photos. Somehow, brights just don't work for that.

P.S. Hi Mom! :)

Spending the Weekend Scrapping

2008-02-29T08:44:00.002-06:00

I get to scrap this weekend. I have so much to do (don't we all?). I need to catch up on Junior Burger's book, start SSCB (that's Super-Sonic Cheeseburger, my DH) a race book, add some to the 2008 book... the list goes on.

I know there is a movement to get away from scrapping chronologically and start scrapping moments. I don't know. I like scrapping moments chronologically...does that make sense? I scrap events, and I scrap the day to day stuff that we do, I just like the pages in order. Am I missing the point here?

Here are the Race Day Elements. Just in the interest of full disclosure, the Race info piece does NOT have holes in it. I did that to add tot he interest of the preview. There is a safety pin in the kit (for pinning on the racing bib, of course!). I can post a tutorial on how to "punch holes" and how to "thread a safety pin" if needed. I just didn't want anyone to be disappointed that the stuff didn't come that way!

Errand Day and Who Says You Can't Get Anything for Free?

2008-02-28T11:35:00.005-06:00

Oh, how I despise errand day. I do not like grocery shopping. Especially with the skyrocketing bill that seems to come with it these days.

After last weekends race I decided that I needed a kit that I could use to scrap SSCB's race pics, because he needs an album right? I mean, each of the kids has an album, but my poor DH is album-less.

So, I made this set of papers and some simple elements. I am sharing them here, well, because with the rising cost of groceries we all deserve a little something for free. Don't we?

The elements will be posted tomorrow and are very running specific, but I tried to keep the papers generic, although the colors were inspired by the colors of the racers clothing. There are three gradient papers in there too.

Hope you guys can use these!

Wednesday...what a day.

2008-02-27T06:40:00.004-06:00

Does it feel to anyone else that the week is just dragging? Sometimes, by Wednesday, it feels like I have lived two weeks, when in reality it's been 3 days.

This is one of those weeks. I don't really know why, it just feels like a really long week.

We went to the library yesterday. I love the library. All the books...ahhhhhh. Our library was recently upgraded and it has been really nice. They added radio chips to speed check-out and everything. It was all great, until yesterday. Yesterday, I couldn't get out of the library. Everytime I tried to walk out the alarm started going off. I had to pat myself down and take the stroller apart to prove that I wasn't trying to steal a book or something. Talk about embarrassing.

What's worse? When the librarian got up and carried my book bag through the alarm did NOT go off. It didn't go off when I walked through sans books. Or when the kids came through.

Must've been my magnetic personality.

It's a burden.

And now - today's freebie: Grungy Boy Elements. Enjoy!

Recovery is Brutal.

2008-02-25T23:39:00.004-06:00

I am officially a race junkie. I had so much fun on Saturday! It was so neat to watch the runner's cross the finish line and cheer for them. The first place in the 5k went to a runner that finished in 15 minutes! That's 5 minutes per mile. Wow!

I can hardly wait for the next race.

In the meantime I have more kits to make. Today is the Grungy Boy Collection Papers. They were inspired by an outfit that I saw. I fell in love with the colors. So me. I love jewel tones in general.

Happy scrapping everyone!

Whew! What a Weekend!

2008-02-25T07:33:00.003-06:00

We were so busy the last part of last week and over the weekend. Between the big church musical (and setting up for all of that), and the race that SSCB ran in on Saturday - he ran a 5k and I am so proud of him!

I finished the Grungy Girl Elements. I like them. I have some pictures to use with them and I am excited about that!

Enjoy...

Time is not on my side...

2008-02-22T08:32:00.001-06:00

I did not have enough time to finish out the elements yesterday. I'll try to get them posted later today, or at the very latest, Monday.

Sorry!

A Little Bit About the Girls

2008-02-21T09:37:00.004-06:00

I was inspired by my laundry for this kit. I don't think you will often hear that.

I have two girls. They are very girly. They loves princesses, butterflies, flowers, and dirt. At least, that is what their clothes tell me. They're girly, and.....well, they're grungy. Blown out knees in their sparkly jeans. Grass stains on their flowery elbows.

As I was pretreating yet another stain I was musing to myself about just how grungy my girls are and the lightbulb came on! I need a grungy girl kit. So I made one, and I let my girls pick their favorite colors. And they approved every paper design.

I hope you enjoy it. I'll post the elements tomorrow, and I hope to have a grungy boy kit ready to go on Monday!

Happy Wednesday!

2008-02-20T07:43:00.001-06:00

Here are the elements for the Caribbean Sunset Collection!

Enjoy!

I have never been to the Caribbean.

2008-02-19T07:35:00.002-06:00

I want to go, it just hasn't happened yet. This is a hint for SSCB. Maybe when he sees the kit he'll think, "Oh, I should take her there so she'll have pictures to go with the kit."

Okay, probably not. I just don't think that guy minds work that way. Guys see a paper think, that's nice. Women (like me, I think I am the worst) see a paper and think, Oh I need to get that for the pictures I will someday have. Hence my need for an external hard drive, and the rather large paper stash in the office.... It's an addiction.

And you reap all the benefit! Enjoy!

A Very Busy Weekend

2008-02-18T07:44:00.003-06:00

We had a very busy weekend! We are helping with a production at our church and had to make several large, glittery decorations. So, we spent about 2 hours on the decorations and I have spent the rest of the weekend trying in vain to rid my house of glitter...

I did manage to squeeze in some time to design, which is good, because that's like my decompression time. For some people, like SSCB (my DH), it's exercise. Me? I like to sit in front of Photoshop. Mmmmmmm.

Anyway, here's the Cotton Candy and Caramel Corn Elements, as promised! I hope you guys don't mind that I tried my hand at distressing - see one of the file folders, and adding stitching to a button. I love to try out new techniques!

I am beginning to see a pattern

2008-02-15T07:17:00.004-06:00

I think that my diet is beginning to have an effect on my scrapping. First, I get my kit name inspirations mostly when I am in the kitchen. Now, that may be due to the massive amount of time I spend in there, but I think it's just because I am hungry....

Today, I present the papers for the "Cotton Candy and Caramel Corn Collection." I think it's fun to say. I'll have the elements posted on Monday morning!

Have a great weekend everyone. By the way, if you have any requests for certain color kits or whatnot leave me a comment and I'll see what I can do.

~C

Happy Valentine's Day!

2008-02-14T06:09:00.003-06:00

Here's the freebie for today! It's the elements for Little Boys Joy.I hope you like them!

An early Freebie...

2008-02-12T22:25:00.004-06:00

Won't have time to post this Wednesday, so I am posting early for you all! I love this kit! I had so much fun making it...I can't wait to scrap with it...

2008-02-12T14:07:00.000-06:00

Do you ever have days where you really and truly got a ton of work done, only it doesn't look like it? I had one of those days yesterday.

I completed a digital kit. I homeschooled my kids. I did our 2007 taxes. I made my Dad a birthday card. I did laundry. I cleaned the living room. I cleaned off my desk.

All of that in addition to the regular occuring housework. And yet....you could walk into the house and wonder what I had done all day.

Truthfully, the taxes consumed most of the day. But I am glad that they are done!

And thankfully, SSCB has learned not to ask me what I did all day anymore. That only had to blow up in his face a couple of times before he quit asking.

On the digital kit front - I am working a boy kit. I wanted something different for JB. While I can still happily use the baby blue baby kits that I have so many of, I felt like I wanted to have some stuff that wasn't babyish....more toddler-like, or even little boyish (I'll tackle teenager when that gets a little closer...).

So, out come the deep blues and greens. I like it a lot. I can't wait to hear what you guys think!!

Spruce Elements

2008-02-11T11:23:00.000-06:00

Here are the elements for the Spruce Collection. Enjoy!!

Spruce....Peaceful

2008-02-11T08:16:00.000-06:00

This kit reminds me of the outdoors. Springtime woods. How Bella described her home in Forks in the book "Twilight," by Stephanie Meyer. My Mom got me hooked on the story of Edward and Bella. It's going to be a movie. "Cedric Diggory" form Harry Potter will be Edward. I think it's perfect. Thanks Mom. I have lost a lot of sleep over "New Moon" and "Eclipse," the second and third books in the series. I am anxiously awaiting the movie (release date? I don't even think they have started filming...) and the fourth book "Breaking Dawn" (releasing August 2, 2008). And I have decided that I never want to go to Washington state, because vampires and werewolves and Sasquatch live there.

Just kidding. Love to my Washington homies...

But I digress. Here's the papers. They're 12x12, 300 dpi. The elements will be posted tomorrow. Unless I am too tired from being up all night reading "Eclipse." Or sleepless because I finished it. I hate finishing a good book. It leaves me feeling....empty. Until I start the next one anyway...

The paper file is huge...sorry. I need to play around and see how to conserve file size somehow...

More Chocolate Cherries!

2008-02-10T08:43:00.000-06:00

Here's the elements to match yesterday's paper! Bon appetit!

Chocolate Cherries

2008-02-09T09:32:00.000-06:00

Another freebie kit for you! Chocolate Cherries has 8 papers. Yummy! I designed it with Valentine's Day in mind, but I think you could use them for just about anything. Especially chocolate layouts. Or am I the only one that has those? :)

Some Digital Musings and a FREEBIE!

2008-02-07T08:58:00.000-06:00

Today's freebie is the element pack to go with the papers from yesterday. You'll find them down-post!

About the elements? It seems like there should be more of them considering the amount of time they took to make! Oh my! It's a pretty steep learning curve! But, it was so much FUN! I am shocked at how much I enjoyed making all of this stuff. The hardest part for me is picking colors, you know? Oh, and names. My hat is off to all you "real" designers out there. You make this stuff look easy! Oh, and thanks to my Scrapshare focus group for putting up with all of my "does this look like glitter?" posts yesterday!

I am learning so much by doing this. Just yesterday I learned:

There are a thousand ways to do digital glitter wrong. :)
All about Photoshop Styles
How to create a style
The true importance of layers.
and it's easy to make cartoony elements, much harder to make realistic ones!

So there you have it. And now for the freebie.

I remembered to do the elements in 300 dpi. They do not have drop shadows in the PNG files, only in my JPEG.

My apologies again about the papers being 200 dpi. I noticed that I had to size up to even use them as 8x8. I was bummed. But, hey, learn something new every day, right??

Click the picture to download!

Expanding Digital Horizons

2008-02-06T10:37:00.001-06:00

I have expanded my digital horizons, people. It's something that I have wanted to do for some time, but lacked the willpower to sit down and do it. Let's not talk about lacking the time, cause I lack that too, but doesn't everybody?

I designed my first ever set of digital scrapbook papers! Hee-hee. I am giddy.

Of course they are a freebie. It was fun. I plan on making more! Yay!

What encouraged me along? Only a challenge at my fave scrapbooking "chat board." (wink, wink - nudge, nudge) Scrapshare. Thanks Tracy!

Anyway, here are the papers. I boo-booed a little and only made them 200 dpi. It shouldn't be too bad for anyone that wants to size up. They are also 8x8 paper, cause that's what I scrap in 8x8. It rocks. If you really would prefer 12x12 let me know. If I get enough feedback to that end I can upsize, but don't want to do that just yet. I mean for now, I am designing for me, you know?

Clicky the picture to download!

Lazy Sundays

2008-01-20T18:11:00.000-06:00

I love lazy Sundays. You know the kind. You get up and go to church and when you get home, don't do much of anything else. Love em.

SSCB (my beloved DH) took over with Junior Burger, which was nice and a much needed break for Mama. He is 3 months old now, and loves attention. Too much, it is only Mama that will comply. Sisters lose interest fast and Daddy is too often out of town. Anyway, SSCB and Junior Burger watched a little football and took a nap.

And I played in Photoshop and created a scrapbook page about JOY, my One Little Word. I also did some other pages in an attempt to get all caught up after my laptop took a week long hiatus.

I was musing during Bible Study, after talking to a dear homeschooling friend of mine, about what a JOB teaching my kids really is. Lately, Tater Tot (age 5 and a HALF) has taken to dragging her feet during reading. I haven't yet decided what she is trying to accomplish. I think it could be a misguided ploy to get more undivided attention, a lack of quality sleep (for her, I haven't had a good nights sleep since January 2000), or a failed attempt to make me give up on teaching her how to read. It is exhausting. It is WORK. But, I love it. I love that my kids really do enjoy learning. Even when it is hard. Sure they test me, they always will, but mostly we have a lot of fun.

Ah, lazy Sunday. Can you linger a little longer?

My Extended Absence

2008-01-12T22:02:00.000-06:00

Last week was a full-on, all-out, direct assault on my One Little Word, my JOY.

Last Saturday, as DD8 was playing Webkinz my laptop, my beloved connection to the outside world while SSCB is out of town, popped a little script error. I didn't think anything of it and cancelled the script. My LT immediately became horrifically slow. Uh-oh.

My first thought was that I had been attacked by malware or a spybot. I started the programs to detect that and went about my business. Over the course of the evening, though, the LT performance got worse and worse, so I called my first line of tech support, my IT expert DAD!

Dad had me do some things to try and give him an idea of what might be going on. We tried what seemed like everything, to no avail and finally the LT shut itself down and when I finally coaxed it into turning back on informed me that it had overheated. Oh no.

After coming to the conclusion that this was unlike anything he had ever seen Dad advised me to turn off the LT and he would come by after church to see what he could do.

Fast-forward to Sunday afternoon. My Dad came over with a bunch of his magic IT CDs and starts trying to figure out what happened. The LT gets gradually worse. Finally, we make the call. Dell Support!

They try to figure out what is going on. Their just as confused as my Dad, but between them and Dad they decide that it must be a hardware problem and decide to replace some parts. The repair guy will be out on Wednesday.

Wednesday comes and the repair guy comes out. He replaces everything inside the LT except the hard-drive and video card. Drum-roll please......... press the power button and NOTHING! I think I am going to cry. He calls Dell support and between them decide to try again, this time also replacing the video card.

Long story short? My computer's insides are brand new except for the hard drive.

The video card burned itself out.

Moral of the Story? Always buy the extended warranty!

So here I am, back to business. The good news is that we got LOTS of school done. LOTS of ironing too. Thankfully the dinosaur server in the office allowed me to check my email, but not much else.

But my beloved laptop is back in business and just as good as it ever was.

My faith in humanity has been restored.... :)

Christmas Has Left the Building

2008-01-04T10:46:00.000-06:00

Yes folks, the tree is down, the wreath is packed up and the nativity is put back in the box. Usually, I dread this day. I hate putting the Christmas decorations away. I must be getting old, because this year was the complete opposite. I dreaded putting the decorations up, and enjoyed taking them down.

Or maybe I'm not old, maybe we're just outgrowing our home. That's probably more like it. The house is just getting too small. Decorating (and the subsequent furniture moving and adjustment) is just a chore and I don't enjoy it. It makes the already cramped house feel even more cramped, I guess. I feel out of sorts with all the decorations about. We need a bigger house.

Unfortunately, that is not in the cards for a few more years. It makes me a little sad, in a way. I used to love this house. I don't hate it now. Me and the house have developed an understanding of sorts. He (the house) won't shrink anymore if I agree not to drag anymore junk home.

I think what added to the Christmas bah-humbugs this year was the baby as well. Okay, not the actual baby, he's too cute to be a bah-humbug. It's all of his .......stuff. More clutter, no matter how necessary to the proper care and feeding of Junior Burger.

So, I found joy in taking down the decorations this year. And a twinge of sadness at the bleak winter month that approaches. Yeah, I said it. Month. Singular. Things start to warm up around February around these parts. Don't hate me, okay?

Today's Assignment

So, SSCB (that's Super-Sonic Cheeseburger) decided last night that we should just get a new dryer. I added that to my list of chores for today.

1. Grocery store. The bane of my existence. Also the reason for my existence, as the provider of nourishment. We have a love-hate relationship.

2. Tax Office. Truck needs new tags. Joy. I will find joy in renewing the tags. I will find joy in the long lines and screaming kids. I will. Just you watch.

3. Dry Cleaners. We're buds. They love me there. Almost as much as SSCB loves to wear dry-clean only clothes.

4. Bank. I will find joy at the bank. I actually have money to deposit. Usually I am draining the account...see next chore.

5. Appliance shopping. This will be the fun stuff. We have a Sears outlet store here, which rocks. We love dinged appliances here. Almost as much as we love dented cans at the grocery store!

Choosing Joy

So far, so good. No funk yet. No self-loathing. I have gotten into the habit of taking each situation that would normally drag me down and turning it over in my mind to find the joy in it. One little word, people. It's already making a difference.

Fresh Starts

2008-01-03T14:30:00.000-06:00

Such is my life. Here I am making a New Year's post two days too late... One of my resolutions was that I would be journaling more often, though. I like to type. I love my computer. So it made sense to do the journaling here....right?

This is my digital happy place. I do almost everything digital now. Digital journaling. Digital scrapbooking. Digital communication. I am all about my computer.

Don't worry though, I also do a lot not digital. I sew. I have a family (a real one even...not digital). I read....although Amazon's new digital books are looking cool.... So, this will cover all of that. A little of everything, if you will.

But, probably mostly digital. Mostly.

Looking Forward

So, for 2008, I have taken on some new challenges.

1. I am participating in Big Picture Scrapbooking's FREE January class, Get a LOAD of this! (LOAD = LayOut A Day). During the month of January I will be completing a layout each day...digitally, of course. I worried that my speed working in digital gives me an unfair advantage, but I have seen the work of other participants working with paper and they are amazing. Some of their LOs would have taken me weeks on paper... It's really amazing. If you are interested, the class is still open (til January 15).

2. I have chosen One Little Word for 2008. This is in thanks to Ali Edwards. My one little word is JOY. I am focusing on JOY and being JOYful in 2008. Already being challenged in this. The dryer quit on me this morning. More on that later...

3. I am in the 365 challenge. I will be taking at LEAST one picture per day with my super cool digital camera. I like the idea of having a chronicle of what has been going on around here this year. I missed so much in 2007. Camera wise. Well, and life wise. I was pregnant the majority of the year and slept through alot, but I digress. I really want to have more pictures of the day to day stuff.

And that's it. These aren't my resolutions, those are another beast. These are just the digital challenges that I have embarked upon.

Maybe you'd like to join me?

The Death of the Dryer

Our wedding anniversary was yesterday. This is relevant, how? You may be asking yourself. Well, the dryer was a wedding gift. We received it nine years ago TODAY. To the day. It died on it's birthday. How sad is that? Even worse? I had to call my husband, my Super Sonic Cheeseburger (yes, I have an un-natural obsession with all things Sonic), and tell him. This. Less than a month after I fried the oven with cheese dip. Which required a full kitchen upgrade. Oy. I'll save that story for another day, okaythanks.

He took it well, though. AFTER I promised that I had NOT been near the dryer with cheese dip. Heck, I try to stay away from the dryer as much as humanly possible.

But, the motor burnt out in the night, I guess. It went quietly. It would cost $250 to fix. So, we are also looking at buying a new one. If for no other reason than this one is an el cheap-o model and burns more energy than I do what with all my digital stuff. And that's a lot of energy.

I would rather have a clothesline, but those are prohibited by our Home Owner's Association (darn them...) and our yard is really too small anyway. So a dryer is my only option. Which is really important to me at this juncture. Witness...the cloth diapers currently NOT drying in my bathroom.

I NEED a dryer. Badly. For now it is all disposable diapers. Which are quite costly, by the way. It pains me to throw each 20 cent diaper away. Pains me. Especially since Junior Burger is kind of a pooping machine. We use a LOT of diapers.

So you can see how my choice of the word JOY is a little bit of a challenge? On the other hand, new appliances do bring me Joy. Doing less laundry will bring me joy. The laundry mounting up to stage a revolt while we are dryer-less will not bring me joy. But, maybe I can lock it in the closet and focus on my digital happy place. That will bring me joy. But, if you come over, don't go in the closet. Okay?