AMY SCRAPS

Happy 5th Birthday, Connor!

2009-03-14T16:06:00.006-06:00

Today is Connor's 5th birthday. Time has gone by so fast and now he's going to be ready for Kindergarten in a few months. I thought I'd share just a little about what a sweet boy he's grown to be.

First of all, for all those who know him, you know how extremely shy and quiet he is. He didn't start talking until he was 3 and even then it was so quietly mumbled that he would have to repeat himself over and over. Well, the day that Brooke went to school is the day he really found his voice...surprise, surprise! And he is getting more bold the older he gets. I hear him bossing his brother now on a regular basis. I guess "giving direction" would be a nicer way to say it.

Connor is such a gentle and sweet child and he is so easy to love. There are several little girls at church who can attest to this fact :) He is quite popular with the opposite sex and that is true from the 3 year olds on up to the teenage girls. They just adore him!! He has the most infections laugh and the most beautiful, twinkly blue eyes! He truly is a heart breaker!!

Connor loves playing ball with his daddy and he is quite good at baseball. Watch out Little League because that boy can hit a ball! I think he is going to take after his dad in this area. Connor also loves art. He loves to color and paint and draw. He has taught himself how to write his letters and numbers. I wrote the letters for him to look at and then he practiced until he could write it to his own satisfaction. He was quite hard on himself and he would often get frustrated with his attempts but he never gives up easily. He persevered until he got it right. Connor says he wants to grow up to be an artist like Uncle "BB" - Randy.

We have been so blessed to have Connor in our family. We look forward to another year as we watch him grow and change. We are excited to see what God has in store for our second born. Our world is a brighter place because of Connor Luke Benson.

A Morning at the Spa

2009-03-14T16:00:00.002-06:00

As usual, I have a couple posts for today. Annoying, I know.

Anyway, this morning Brooke wanted to plan something special. This is nothing out of the ordinary as she always wants to plan something. She came down to my room and asked me for one of my favorite "chapter" books. Being that she is now reading I asked her if she was wanting to read one of my books. She told me, "No", that it was a surprise and that I just needed to come up to her room. She also wanted her Daddy's Bible. I told her I would come up after I got dressed. So, a little while later I went up only to find Dale and Connor sitting on the side of her bathtub with their feet soaking in a warm bath. Brooke was providing spa services - back rubs - while the boys were soaking their feet. There was Dale with his favorite book, the Bible and she had my book, Twilight, all ready and waiting for my spa experience. It was the cutest and funniest thing. I wish I had taken a picture but I was too busy soaking me feet.

Smorgasboard

2009-01-30T13:40:00.010-06:00

And the final post for today...I think.

Last night as I was finishing up some work I heard all 3 kiddies in the kitchen messing around. The water was running and dishes were clanking so I thought maybe Brooke was washing dishes as she likes to do (I'm sure this will not last). I was getting ready to start dinner just as Brooke ran up to tell me she had a surprise. So, I had to close my eyes (kind of) while walking down two sets of stairs and through toys strewn on the floor (just kidding...my house is always perfect..okay just kidding) as Brooke led me to the kitchen.

I opened my eyes and to my wonderment my children had prepared dinner for the family. Never mind that my dinner was cooking in the crock pot. I must say that I was quite proud of my children for the dinner they came up with.

Here's what was on the menu...

Chocolate Chip Pancakes: leftovers from the day before - my children have learned the importantce of the old adage - "Waste not, want not."

A bowl of nuts: protein - a lot of protein actually.

Carrots and ranch dressing: veggie

Cheetos: fat

A beautifully made dessert which consisted of two gogurts in a bowl, peanut butter Oreos (from before Christmas) and some sort of sprinkles. I have to give Brooke points for presentation even though the mix was a little, shall we say, yuck! I believe Brooke is taking after Grammy who is great at just throwing ingredients together and coming up with something yummy. Brooke just hasn't accomplished the "yummy" part yet.

I also have to say that they set the table quite well. Although I'm not quite sure why the cups were on the plates...sometimes you just have to be crazy I guess!! But, look closely and you'll see napkins on the table.

By the way, did I mention that Dale and I had dinner alone last night? I let the kids eat their little smorgasboard and Dale and I got to eat dinner alone at home which NEVER happens. Of course he had to go back out to the store after he got home because the can of cream of mushroom soup I was using was bad...bad...bad. I tasted some and believe me...it was BAD! I can still taste it. But, let's get back to the subject at hand.

You certainly can't appreciate all this without seeing some proof so here it is...

Brooke giving some sort of instruction - as usual.

Just a picture of adorable Liam.

Toothless, crazy Brooke. I think she already had
too much sugar!

Connor - words fail me. He is so doggone cute and SWEET!!

Take a look at that overload of protein. And I know it is
hard to tell but there are Cheetos and carrots on this plate.

And finally, last but not least, look at this beautifully
designed dessert. I even think the choice of the
green bowl sets it off perfectly.

Comfy Cozy

2009-01-30T13:30:00.005-06:00

Yes, I know....this is my 2nd post for today. Sometimes one just has to catch up on blogging when time allows. You might just get one more after this...you never know.

But I digress. What this post is really about is the cute picture I took of Liam the other day. I was doing laundry and there happened to be an empty basket sitting around. I came into my room and there he was, all comfy cozy in the laundry basket with his pillow and my body pillow (one of my favorite things, by the way). Dale bought that for me when I was pregnant and I hardly ever used it. It wasn't until about a year ago that I really became attached to it.

But, I digress again. He was just chillin' in the basket watching cartoons so as is my habit, I grabbed my camera to take a picture. Here's my little cutie.

Happy 40th, Dale

2009-01-30T10:40:00.013-06:00

We celebrated Dale's 40th just a couple days after we got back from Puerto Rico. Getting a party organized while I was in the midst of preparing for Christmas and trying to get ready for a 10 day trip to Puerto Rico was quite a feat. We did have a surprise party, though, at Randy and Judy's and it really was alot of fun. The surprise kind of fizzled though as we drove up and he saw Pastor Jeff and Michele, Brent and Daveta and a few others walking to the door. We were early so it wasn't anyone's fault but mine. What can I say - I should be patted on the back for being early for once!

Anyway, here are some pics from the party...

Alan, Micele, Nancy, Brandon loading up the plates!

Dan and Phyllis Beam

Alan and Emma - our very dear friends!

The beautiful nieces.

David Diehl and the every weird Brent.

My sweet friend, Emma.

Dale's still looking good at 40!

Pastor gave a eulogy for Dale's passing youth. It was
pretty funny.

The gaggle of kids had a great time...I think!

Dale sportin' some cool glass that I'll be borrowing the
next time I go the the eye doctor and get my
pupils dialated.

and the groovy hat from Claire Burgett.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T21:32:00.003-06:00

Dear friends and family, this year I did not send out Christmas cards. It seemed like the days were rushing by too fast and I was just too busy and instead of getting stressed out about it I thought I'd just post a greeting on my blog. Besides, I can update you on our lives a little better here instead of with a Christmas card with a photo or two.

Two thousand eight has been quite an eventful year for our family. Brooke started 1st grade at Franklin Elementary School and when we arrived at her classroom open house we realized that she would have more than one teacher this year being that her teacher, Mrs. McDonald was very pregnant. We, well really I, was concerned about Brooke having such an interruption in her education. However, when the time came in the beginning of October for the interim teacher we were so blessed with a wonderful woman who has been just an amazing teacher. (It is quite interesting that Mrs. Miller, the interim, is getting her Master's degree at Trevecca.) I am blessed that I am able to be involved in Brooke's school as her Room Mom. The kids have gotten to know Dale and I as we go into the classroom to work and help out.

Brooke has grown into a tender-hearted and compassionate young lady and we are so very proud of her. She was in gymnastics in the spring and soccer in the fall and she is growing into a very athletic girl. We are just waiting for something to really spark her interest to find what sport she will stick with.

Connor has really grown and matured this year. He is such a sweet and quiet boy but he has a twinkle in his eye that lights up a room and his laugh is worth a million dollars! If you ask Connor what he wants to be when he grows up more than likely he'll tell you that he wants to be an artist like Uncle BB (Randy). We are amazed at his drawing and coloring abilities. He is so careful and precise and he can spend an hour coloring in the ear or eye of an animal! Connor has also taught himself to write his ABCs. He asked me to write them down for him and he quite frequently we'll find him practicing his writing. Connor will start kindergarten this fall and I'm already feeling very anxious and sad about letting him go! Maybe he should wait until he's six?!? :) Connor also played soccer this fall and I volunteered Dale to be his coach. Dale did such a wonderful job with the boys and it was so much fun watching him teach Connor a sport.

Liam just turned three in November and he has more energy than the rest of the family combined! Liam has the bulk of the personality in our family as well! He is a little clown and is just adorable all the way around - even when he is being naughty. He has always had quite the vocabulary and he expresses himself so well. We always get a good chuckle when we talk to him. Liam and Connor are such great playmates while Sissie is at school. Pretty soon he'll be my only one at home.

I am realizing that my children are just growing up too fast! Not long ago it seemed like they'd all be home with me forever, but such is not the case as many as you know. I am reminded every day that this season of my life truly is fleeting and that I need to treasure and savor all the "every-day" moments because all too soon this will be gone.

Dale has been busy this year but that is nothing new! The church is flourishing and we are so blessed to be on staff with such wonderful friends and co-pastors. We leave tomorrow night with our youth group for a 10 day work and witness trip to Puerto Rico. We are going with Pastor JP and Traci to help with the Nazarene church in Caguas. We are quite excited for this opportunity to get to know the youth better since we don't really get to be around them that much. I, however, am a little anxious about leaving my children for that long! Dale's parents will be here for a couple days and then Grammy will be here for the remainder of the time and so the kids are sure to have a wonderful time!

Our next big trip is in February when we go to Israel for almost two weeks. Dale and I are truly blessed that we get to go on this trip for a 2nd time. The first time we went was in our first year of marriage and it was a completely overwhelming experience. I am hoping to soak in even more than I did the last time. Thankfully, I have a much better camera with which to document the whole experience. Pastor Henecke and Dale are leading this trip and I am so excited that my mom, Judy (my sister-in-law), and Jen Jones (my good friend) will all be going! Once again, I'm a little anxious about leaving the children for that long but I know that they will be in the care of the Heavenly Father.

Well, as for me, it seems that the end of the year has really cranked up my busyness meter! This fall I decided it was time to prepare for the time when my husband would boot me back into the workforce (once Liam was in Kindergarten). I know that is several years down the road but I decided if I didn't want to go job hunting I better find something that I really enjoy doing and start doing it soon so that by the time Liam was in school I'd be making enough money to justify working from home. Since I love scrapbooking and graphic design I decided that I would start my own album design business. So, I set up a website and I have done a couple albums for people. More exciting than that though is that I was contacted by ScrappersGuide.com (the website from which I taught myself to use Photoshop to do digital scrapbooking) asking me to teach some online courses for them. I have been feverishly preparing curriculum for a 4 week class that I'll be teaching once a month (or more) beginning in March once all my travels are through! I am continually amazed at God's goodness towards me. I have prayed about finding work I could do at home (and work that I would enjoy) and I believe this is a blessing from God!

In additional to my personal work I am still leading our MOMents group at church which is the group for moms of preschoolers. I am so blessed to be able to work with wonderful ladies who inspire me to be a better mom than I am. We all are able to share in our motherhood journeys and we are a source of encouragement to each other.

Well, as you can see, 2009 promises to be an exciting and full year! We pray that God will be glorified through our lives and that we will continue to grow as a family in his goodness and grace. Our prayer for you, our family and friends, is that God will bless your homes and that whatever this year may bring that you will feel God's presence in your lives.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Dale, Amy, Brooke, Connor and Liam

510 Kids' Christmas Play

2008-12-10T22:39:00.011-06:00

Brooke was in the elementary Christmas program this year. She played the part of Mary, sang a solo and had a choreography part. She was a busy little girl! I thought I'd share a few pictures with you.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Liam

2008-11-25T08:18:00.005-06:00

Actually, Liam's birthday was Sunday but I'm just now getting around to posting the photos from his little birthday, party. I'm using the term "party" very lightly. We did have a good time with the Cardens, Hills and "Aunt" Robin. Everyone came over after church and we opened presents first, had chili and then cake which was lovingly decorated by Daddy - out of an icing can of course. This is the first year I haven't had a cake make by either Publix, Jen Jones or Grammy and WOW!! it was so easy, cheap and non-stressful for all involved! I'm not sure why I didn't have a cute cake made - I just never got around to it I guess. But all Liam cared about was the chocolate!

Speaking of Liam, I can't believe he is THREE! I don't have any more babies or toddlers :( It's a little sad and it makes me very nostalgic. He has grown up so much this year. He is so articulate when he talks and he picks up so much from his big brother and sister. He mimics Connor 24 hours a day! Poor Connor!! At Liam's party Connor asked, "Do 3 year olds copy everything you do?" I'm afraid so, dear Connor. I have a feeling this mimicking will last a long, long time!

Although Liam mimics everything that Connor does he and Connor are absolutely nothing alike! Liam is like a little tornado tearing through every day. You never have to wonder if Liam is around because he is continually talking or making noise of some sort. Although Liam is the youngest he will never be lost in the shuffle because he always makes himself heard. When Liam wants something he lets everyone around know it!

The funny thing is that Liam was unplanned. We though our family was done with Brooke and Connor. I can't imagine now not having Liam - he brings so much color and humor to our lives. So here's to you Liam Cooper Benson...HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

The Birthday Boy

Lovin' the cake!!

Givng Daddy a big kiss!

We loved this turkey hat that Aunt Robin gave each of the kids.

Chad and Meg

Coulton and Mallory

Our sweet Connor

A Little Goes a Long Way...

2008-11-09T13:58:00.004-06:00

This is a concept that my youngest, Liam, has not learned yet. We'll be working on that I think. He came to me the other day as I was scrubbing floors on my hands and knees, or some such thing, and told me he needed a wipe. Well after taking a look at him I quite agreed except that he needed quite a few wipes.

Bad, Bad Toothfairy

2008-11-09T13:43:00.007-06:00

For some reason the tooth fairy that has been assigned to our house is completely deflicted in a mental way sort of way! She CANNOT remember to bring Brooke her little goodies at night and then I have to scramble around in the morning to fix the whole debacle!!

For instance, this past Wednesday Brooke lost two teeth - yes two! One came out at school and one at church. The one lost at school is literally lost - at school. We wrote a note to the tooth fairy telling her to go look there and of course we still expected the compensation for the tooth. The 2nd tooth was saved by one of the other moms at church until she found me to give it to me. So that one we still have.

We came home Wed night and promptly put the tooth and the note in the tooth pillow that Grammy made. However, the tooth fairy did not bring anything for the two teeth, or so it seemed. Low and behold Brooke went down to breakfast and there sitting in her spot was a kid's scrapbooking kit. Apparently, our toothfairy is much too small and weak and could not carry that kit upstairs. Now, I think this whole scrapbooking kit (about a $10 value) was a little hefty a payment for two teeth and I just think the tooth fairy was feeling a little unprepared and guilty about not putting compensation IN the tooth pillow so she had to come to my closet and pull out something that had been stashed for maybe Christmas, lets say.

So, if any of you all have really good tooth fairies at your house would you please send them to TN!?! And by the way, our tooth fairy's spouse is NO help at all in reminding the tooth fairy of her duties!

Trick -or-Treat

2008-10-31T20:11:00.003-06:00

Once again we had a Peter Pan halloween at our house except the roles have changed. This year Liam was Peter Pan, Connor was Captain Hook/ Jack Sparrow and Brooke was Wendy. Tinkerbell showed up again in the form of Mallory. Richard Simmons heard I needed a good work-out so he dropped by as well. As you're looking at the pics pay special attention to Richard's chest hair - it is very nice indeed!

Peter Pan, Wendy & Hook aka Jack Sparrow

Tink dropped by for a while

And here's Richard - how about that chest hair!

Bragging a Little

2008-10-24T11:23:00.005-05:00

Last night Dale and I went to the parent/teacher conference with Brooke's 1st grade teacher. She really seems to love Brooke and enjoys teaching her. She told us that Brooke is doing well in her subjects and that she is very helpful and compassionate to the other students. Of course Dale and I were glad to hear that Brooke is doing well because usually all we hear about is the warnings she receives at school. The moment she gets off the bus she tells me how many warnings she received that day! It's pretty funny how honest she is.

However, I think what Dale and I are most proud of is that Brooke truly is a friendly and loving little girl. She may barely know you but you will get a big hug from her if you engage her at all! As we were leaving the school last night one of the janitors walked by and Brooke yelled out his name and waved at him. His reply was, "You are really good parents. You have the nicest little girl." We said thank you and smiled and he said, "No, really, Brooke is the nicest child in this school."

I was so proud that he would say that about Brooke. He's not one of her teachers and she doesn't really see him that much but the way that she is warm and friendly to everyone really made an impression on him.

You are a Benson!

2008-10-20T13:52:00.002-05:00

The other night during devotions Dale was talking about the ten commandments and the commandment that night was, "Thou shalt not lie." Dale explained to Connor and Liam what lying was and he gave them a few examples. At the very end he said, "We are Bensons, and Bensons do not lie."

Well several days later Connor and Liam were in my room and Liam apparently did something that Connor didn't like. I heard Connor say to Liam, "You are a Luke and Luke's don't do that!" Liam has no idea that he really isn't a Luke - Connor's middle name is Luke - but it seemed to do the job where scolding was concerned so who cares about the details anyway?

All about boobies

2008-10-19T21:16:00.004-05:00

I knew the day would come that my youngest would embarrass me in public as my older two already have. That day was today. We were at church early tonight and so Liam and I were out in the foyer area dropping some coats off for a coat drive we are having. Well, we have a Haitian congregation that meets in one of our smaller sanctuaries and one of the boys was walking by. He looked to be maybe 13 or so and he was maybe a little chunky but nothing anyone would notice and stare at except my child.

Liam craned his head around as this poor, unfortunate boy walked by and he very distinctly said, "Mommy, he has boobies just like you!" (Have I told you before that Liam is obsessed with boobs?) Well, this poor fellow turned around and said, "HUH?" and once again my sweet little Liam said as clearly as ever, "Mommy, he has boobies just like you!"

Why, oh, why does this NEVER happen when Dale has the kids?!?! This poor pre-teen/teen who is probably just now going through puberty is going to have major issues from now on with his self-esteem and body image thanks to my 2 year old! I'm sure he'll never forget the Sunday night in Nashville, TN when some toddler pointed out his "boobies"!!

Cat Booty

2008-10-18T21:38:00.003-05:00

We have this cat, Chicago, named so because of his white socks. I'll digress for a minute and tell you that when we got him Dale came up with this name before the kids could name him something like Stripey. Incidentally, that was Brooke's suggestion when she saw him.

Anyway, he has grown up thinking he pretty much owns this house. I just wanted to share this photo with you that I took last weekend when Mallory was over. She was laying on the guest bedroom bed talking to me while I was working on the computer. Chicago jumped on the bed, plopped himself down and made himself right at home. I'm glad she likes cats because his cat booty was all in her personal space. Now that I think about it, I think he just cleaned that booty before he went to sleep!

Camp-out

2008-10-18T07:57:00.005-05:00

Brooke's fall break started Wednesday and ends Monday. Because we had several things going on we couldn't take a trip out of town so we decided to just do some fun things around home. Dale took the day off Thursday and we went to the Adventure Science Center in Nashville. They absolutely loved it and it was so fun that we decided to buy a family pass so that we could go anytime that we want. Thursday night was a wonderful, chilly, fall night and so Dale brought the tent (our big, 5 adult person tent) into the family room and Dale, Brooke and Connor camped out. Before bedtime we read a book, watched a movie and ate cookies in the tent. The chocolate chips were gooey so we had chocolate everywhere - inside the tent that is. Campouts are messy anyway. We had such a fun family night. The kids loved it!! We kept the tent up Friday as well and so we had popcorn the 2nd night of our campout and watched the newly released Sleeping Beauty - which is my favorite fairy tale by the way!

Buzz Lightyear came by our camp and decided to stay the night.

Now these two boys are just too cute!

The chocolate chip cookies were really messy but extra yummy!

Connor is a little obsessed with cleanliness so he had to clean up

the mess that Liam made on his sleeping bag! I'm not sure that
real camping would be much fun for him ;)

I love this bunch!

The 2nd night of the campout.

Connor found a comfy seat.

These Buzz slippers are hand-me-downs for Connor

but Liam attached to them very quickly and I
think he might own them now!

Neighborhood Fall Fest

2008-10-14T14:49:00.003-05:00

Last Saturday our neighborhood had a little fall fest which was lots of fun for the neighborhood families. We have a fire department right around the corner, well in the back of our neighborhood and they were friendly enough to bring one of the big engines and lead the parade to the fall fest. They started at the street behind ours and as they passed each house the kids joined in. Connor dressed as a pirate, Liam was Peter Pan and I'm not sure what Brooke was - I think just a glamour girl. She just had fun getting into make-up and doing her own hair.

Here's wittle Peter Pan! Isn't he just the cutest?!?

And Glam Girl and Peter Pan. I'm thinking those
Isotoner looking slippers just make the outfit!

And Peter Pan and the Pirate! How about that
do-rag under the pirate hat?

The parade making it's way by our house.

Brooke, Brooke's friend, Mary Everrett (R) and
Mary Everett's cousin in the middle.

Liam found this little Pumpkin in a hay stack hunt.

Here's our little mummy.

Cousin Mal and Connor - he's not really wanting

anymore pictures taken!

My littlest Fireman!!

My Junior Fireman!

And Ms. Franklin TN Firegirl :)

Brooke bobbed for an apple- in very
sanitary water I might add...ugh!!!

And Connor got one too! I wonder how germ-filled
that bucket is?Let's not think about it!!

A very proud little Connor.

Brooke's 1 Mile Run

2008-10-09T22:35:00.022-05:00

Today marked a 1st for Brooke at school. She had her 1st mile run which she has been "training" for since school started. This is part of their PE program and so this is something that is mandatory. Well, we showed up at Pinkerton Park and watched her class line up to start the run. Now, this wasn't a race but the kids were told to pace themselves, to run without stopping - well, as much as possible, and to not let anything or anyone slow them down.

(This is a pre-race picture of Brooke and one of her friends Incidentally, this little girl came in first with a time of 8:26.)

Parents were encouraged to run with their kids but since I had Connor and Liam and my camera in tow I didn't plan to run. Dale had two meetings in the morning so he wasn't planning on being there. At the last minute he decided to dash back to Franklin between his meetings. He took Liam to the finish line to cheer for Brooke and I headed over to the middle of the "track" which made several hair-pin turns so that I would get some great shots of my little girl running her little heart out.

Well, after the exciting start I learned two things about Brooke. 1) Competition of any sort does not motivate her! She could care less about it! 2) It offends her to have her mother yelling at her to run instead of moseying along the track!!

Now to digress a moment. I had kind of gotten a little bit of a hint this summer about the whole competition thing not being Brooke's cup of tea. I tried to entice her with the YMCA swim team (I wanted her to learn her swimming strokes better) by telling her that she would get to race against other kids and it would be like a contest. Well, when she heard that she said, "Yeah, don't sign me up for that." So we didn't.

Here's the story....the start of the race was great and all the kids were excited so once they passed me I cut across the park to about the 1/2 mile mark. I'm waiting and waiting for Brooke and then I spot her way down the trail and she has stopped to talk with some girls and she has actually turned around and started walking the other direction. She probably saw a pretty flower she wanted to pick - I'm not exactly sure what sidetracked her. Anyway, at this point I start yelling at her to run. After all, this is not recess and this is being timed! Do I sound like one of those out-of-control hockey moms?

Well, once she gets to me I decide the only thing for it is to run with her. So me, my camera and Connor all join in the run. Of course I feel like I'm herding her instead of running with her and she is getting quite perturbed that I won't let her stop to smell the roses! I felt like I was encouraging her but she didn't really see it that way. At one point she said to her friends, "My mom is usually nicer than this." Ha! She'll thank me one day!! I think it was just the hungry tummy talking because she also said her stomach was getting really angry with her! I fed her a breakfast of eggs and bagels - you would think that would be the breakfast of champs!!

So as you can see there are no pictures of her crossing the finish line because I was running with her across it. By the way - did I mention that I didn't come dressed for the run meaning that I didn't have everything restrained properly? I'm sure it wasn't a pretty sight!

Here are some pictures of the boys playing in the park before and after the run. It was the most gorgeous fall day!!

Home Alone?

2008-09-05T09:07:00.002-05:00

I know that many of you - well really, the few of you, - who read my blog on a regular basis must secretly think that my children stay home alone most of the time because of all the mischief and trouble that they get into. The fact of the matter is that they do have a mother, that would be me, who stays home with them. I just often find myself preoccupied with cleaning, bible study, counseling and other worthwhile activities. When I do check on my children I often find them doing things that make for great photo ops so instead of disciplining my children like the few of you would do I get out my camera and take pictures.

This morning Liam came into our room quite early and Dale told him to go upstairs and play in his room. Well, he went out of our room but I don't think he made it back up to his room because a little bit later I stumbled into the kitchen and this is what I found...

"Hey Mommy, look what I got for 'fefast'"!

"Let me show you how I can feed myself this
very healthy and fulfilling breakfast!"

Mmmm...chocolate and vanilla - surely there's some
calcium in there somewhere?
"That was delicious! Much better than Cheerios
or Meatmeal (oatmeal)"!

And this is why I can't resist running for my
camera. He's is just to doggone cute!

National Nazarene Softball Tournament

2008-09-03T14:09:00.003-05:00

For the 2nd year in a row our family made the trip to Cincinnati to the National Nazarene Softball Tournament. I don't have time to give all the details of the trip but I did want to post this picture of our guys and the trophy they won. Our church takes two teams and Dale plays on the older of the two teams - although we do have some young whippersnappers! The tournament ended Monday and our guys played from 10 am until 6 pm with just a couple breaks in between games. They were worn out but they played so well all day. They placed 2nd in the B tournament - I won't go into how everything is divided out into the 3 tournaments because I don't really understand it. But anyway, they did a fantastic job and I was so proud of my soon to be 40 year old husband ;) I'll post again about the weekend with more pics once I have a little more time.

A Good Milker

2008-08-23T14:50:00.002-05:00

Last Saturday we bought chocolate milk from Hatcher's Dairy at the Farmer's Market. When we got home Brooke wanted a cup so I poured her some. She took once sip and said, "That sure is a good milker! I hope she won a prize!" I have to agree, the cow was a good milker but I'm thinking she probably hasn't won any prizes.

A Whole Lot Of Mischief...

2008-08-21T22:01:00.004-05:00

Is what two little boys get into when their mommy (that would be me) is not paying attention. We'll start with what happened today. Now, in my defense, I've got some kind of stomach bug and I've been on the couch pretty much since noon today. Connor came in this afternoon to tell me he needed to show me an "accident" but I was too sick to get up and I promptly forgot about the "accident" until Dale walked into the kitchen a little while ago and let out a loud shout. (I beg you - please pay no attention to how dirty it is!) Apprently the boys had been jumping up and down on the door! So I believe we will be purchasing a new dishwasher. Oh well, we haven't liked this on since we moved into the house.

Now, as far as the other mischief goes, I have to confess that a few days ago I was sitting here in this very spot updating my blog or some such thing. Connor walked in to tell me that Liam had cut his hair and sure enough when I took a close look there was quite a chunk missing. It took me a couple minutes to realize that Connor had also taken the scissors to his own hair. As is usual, the punishment was that they had to sit still and let me take some pictures. Of course I threatened them that there would be a harsher punishment if there was ever a next time. Here's the evidence.

Yes, I know, the spit bubble just finished this whole look off!

I asked Connor how much he had cut his hair and this was the answer.

And here is Liam's new do.

And he's demonstrating how he cut his hair.

Has there ever been more mischievous brothers? I think not!
Oh well, it is good fodder for my photography habit!

Three things I never thought I'd do...

2008-08-19T15:16:00.002-05:00

1) Add butternut squash to french toast
2) Add butternut squash to grilled cheese sandwiches
3) Add chickpeas to chocolate chip cookies

Now, before you gag let me say that it was all very yummy! I just bought the book Deceptively Delicious and the basis of the book is to get your children to eat their fruits and veggies even if you have to deceive them to do it. Now, being the good Christian girl that I am I don't particularly like the term deceive; however, I figure what they don't know won't hurt them :) So, the next time you come eat at my house you might just find a veggie surprise in your food!

Kids say the darndest things...

2008-08-15T00:21:00.002-05:00

Tuesday night Dale had board meeting and so I spent the afternoon/evening running errands for the kids. We wound up at the mall because Brooke needed a couple things including new panties. Well, Connor didn't want to be left out so I bought him some new underwear too (it was a very exciting shopping trip!). I bought him some "big boy" boxer/briefs and he has loved wearing them because they come down to his knees - well, they do after he stretches them all the way down there.

Anyway, today he was prancing around in just his underwear and t-shirt and as I was making his lunch he exclaimed, "Hey mom, I like these new underwear! They have a pocket." And he proceeded to shove his hand into the pocket. The conversation continued to disintigrate from there and I pretty much had to explain to him that the "pocket" was not the new home for his hand! Ahhh, the joy of having boys!

Baby Lily

2008-08-12T14:04:00.002-05:00

I REALLY need to be working on my Scrapbooking class - the one I'm teaching at church - but first I wanted to share some pics with you very quickly. My girlfriend, Michelle, just had adorable baby Lily a few weeks ago. She asked me to come snap a few pics for the birth announcement the other day. I won't share those pics with you but I did want to share a few other pics that I thought were really sweet.

This is how the photo session started out. Not a really good way to
start things I'd say. Apparently we are all born with a carnal nature :) It's a good
thing Lily goes to Sunday School!

There really is nothing sweeter in this whole world than brand new baby parts!

Mommy and baby...I remember this sweet time from my
own babies and I MISS IT!! But, not enough to go for #4! I
guess I'll have to get my fill from Lily and all the other gadzillion
babies at church.

We had to take pictures with Snow White first
before we could convince big sister, Jenna, to have
pictures taken with Lily.

Two sweet little girls.

And of course Brooke needed her turn with Lily.

Summer Break has ended....

2008-08-11T12:41:00.002-05:00

And school officially began today! In some ways I was ready for Brooke to get back to school so that I could get back into the routine of things. Summer break was so fun and relaxing and my house has been screaming for somebody to take care of it. But, we've just been too busy relaxing and having fun to pay much attention to this dirty house.

The summer was quite eventful for us. Brooke and Connor both learned how to ride their bikes without their training wheels. We started off the summer with Brooke riding her scooter all the time because her bike was so slow with the training wheels. Connor zoomed around on his bike and Brooke could only keep up on her scooter. So, I decided that it was time for Brooke to learn to ride her"big girl" bike. Well, when Dale took her training wheels off Connor declared that he also wanted his off. I really discouraged this thinking that he was much too young but Dale went ahead and removed Connor's as well.

Brooke immediately did a great job and her confidence grew quickly. Connor also did very well as long as he didn't stop once he got going. He pretty much couldn't start himself or turn around. So, if he could just ride straight for forever he would have just been peachy. We quickly realized that he needed a shorter bike so that he could get his feet firmly on the ground. We went and bought a 12" bike and he literally zoomed around the neighborhood on the "ROCKET".

Well, I was out the other night and Dale sent me a text letting me know that Liam was now riding the Rocket (with training wheels of course) and Connor was back on his taller Diego bike. He simply need a week or two of getting really confident on the short bike and now he's back to the "big" bike.

Connor also learned to swim really well while we were in the Keys. Once again, it was just a matter of him needing to build up confidence. It took him about a day on vacation and ever since he has been jumping, diving and swimming all over the pool!

Brooke and I read two of the Little House on the Prairie books along with quite a few princess and fairy books. We finished, "Little House in the Big Woods" and "Farmer Boy". We are now reading "Little House on the Prairie". This has been a special time for us and it has really helped Brooke with her reading. One of the goals for this summer for Brooke was to really improve her reading and she is doing a wonderful job.

So, we dropped her off at 1st grade this morning with a very pregnant teacher. We are hoping that Mrs. MacDonald wants to come back after her maternity leave (that's the plan) but those sweet babies sure can change your mind! But for now, we've heard that Mrs. MacDonald is an awesome teacher and we hope her substitute is just as good. I'll be helping in the class every week so I'll have to let you know what I think. Maybe I should put my name in for substituting...okay, just kidding! I'm not that crazy! Besides, what would I do with my two darling boys?

Williamson County Fair

2008-08-08T23:51:00.002-05:00

Last night we took the kids and Aunt Judy to the Williamson County Fair. We had such a nice time together. The kids adored the animals in the petting zoo and they got a big kick out of the pig races. After we had seen all the animals we headed outside to all the rides. We found the kiddie roller coasters and the kids had a complete blast. When we were finally out of tickets we stopped to get some snacks. There's nothing as good as fair popcorn, cotton candy and fresh squeezed lemonade!

Here are some pics from the night...

Liam fed the baby goats. He was a little unsure
at first but then he really started liking it!

Look at this guy! I couldn't get a smile out
of him. I think he's the serious type.

Not exactly sure what this is but he needs
a bang trim.

There's Mr. Unfriendly again - I guess I should
have offered him some carrot before trying
to take his picture.

Look at these two babies! Aren't they cute?

A Scottish Highlander...whatever that is...

And the pig race...poor pigs were racing
for one little cheeto...I think we need to get
some kind of pig union going here so they
at least get fair wages!

These newborn piglets were just so adorable!
They were walking all over their mama to
find the milk.

After a little while Mama had had enough! She
rolled over on her stomach so the milk wouldn't
be accessible. All the others gave up but this one
wasn't done! He came back and nosed around
till he finally found what he was looking for!!

My two little buddies!

Bedhead

2008-08-07T14:18:00.003-05:00

I just had to share this adorable picture I took of Liam this morning. He was playing on my bed and he has the most adorable bedhead! Isn't he just too cute! Can you see what a stinker he is in those big, mischievous eyes?

Crawford Wedding

2008-08-06T22:38:00.003-05:00

Several weeks back I had the privilege of taking wedding pictures for the very first time! My good friend, Denise, needed a photographer and asked me if I would take pictures of her very small wedding. Because she is my good friend I couldn't say no, but I did warn her that I had absolutely NO experience with weddings. Well, thankfully my brother-in-law has an amazing telephoto and all purpose lens (we both have a Canon 30D) and so I was set. I called my niece, Megan, who is a real photographer to get some ideas from her and then I arrived at the church. I was a little nervous but once I started snapping away it turned out to be alot of fun. Denise was a gorgeous bride so all the pictures were great. The telephoto lens provided really great depth of field (blur) so I used it even for some of her bridal "portraits". Now that I look back at her pictures I already have a slew of things I would do differently, but since I plan on leaving wedding photography to the professionals I guess I don't really need to worry about it.

Here is a wedding album I put together as a sample for photographers to look at. I'm looking for busy photographers who need a wedding album designer. If you know of any send them my way.

By the way, some of the pictures on the slide look blurry because instead of the page being 12x12 it is 12x24 so the slideshow is squashing it. There's nothing to do about it until I spend a couple hundred dollars on a real slide program. So, we'll all just have to bear with it!

Franklin Farmers Market

2008-08-05T22:02:00.003-05:00

For the past couple months I've been going to the Franklin Farmer's Market every Saturday morning. I usually get ready to go as soon as Liam wakes up. It's been our little outing and he frequently says to me, "Go to Fomors Moket."It has grown this year and there are so many farmers and crafters there. I love getting the fresh veggies, berries, bread, eggs, honey and meat from local farmers. I go by the same booth every Saturday and get some kind of fresh muffin and then by the dairy for fresh from the cow (well, almost) milk. I then go by the Delvin Farms booth and old Mr. Delvin (I'm assuming that's who it is) helps me pick out a good melon. He looks like he just walked in from the garden! He reminds me alot of my Grandpa Brown.

I'll have to say that my interest in cooking has soared in the last few weeks. I was in such a rut and just didn't ever want to cook but now I really enjoy cooking with all my fresh ingredients. I even planted some herbs to cook with. So far the only one I've used is the basil and it was so yummy. Since I've been getting such delicious tomatoes and bread (the parmesan herb bread is to die for) I've been making tomato and onion sandwiches. I added a little of my fresh basil the other day and it was to die for! Am I country or what!?! My grandma used to eat this kind of stuff. I feel like I'm turning into a little old country woman! Oh well, I'm fine with that!

2008-08-03T14:39:00.002-05:00

It has been almost two months since I scrapbooked for myself! I have been so busy doing projects for other people and trying to get some sample albums done for a business venture I have in mind that my personal scrapping time has been absolutely ZERO! Well, this past Thursday a few of us girls got together and I finally got my feet wet again. I almost didn't know where to start. It took quite a while to get the juices flowing but what I started Thursday night I finally had time to finish today. Hopefully my pictures won't be neglected like this again but with a Digital Scrapbooking Class to prepare for and another project to work on I'm really going to have to make an effort to get my own stuff done.

Credits.
Journaling: July 2008. You have come such a long way in your swimming this year, Connor. At this time last year you were pretty afraid of the water. This year you took 2 weeks of swim lessons and your confidence really grew. Once you learned a little technique you were off and swimming. One day you were afraid to jump to Daddy and the next you were jumping in and swimming to him. It has been so rewarding for me to watch your confidence and your skill grow in the pool. Way to go, Connor! I am so proud of you!

Ahhh....vacation!

2008-07-30T07:37:00.003-05:00

It seems like we look forward to our vacation for so long and it takes forever to get here and then in a blink it is over and done. This year it wasn't quite that bad because we took a two week vacation. We've never done that before but we haven't taken any vacation since we've in back in Nashville so we made up for some lost time. We went to the FL Keys this year with Dale's family. His parents have a time share there and we haven't gone since Brooke was 2. We decided it was time to go back. We arrived in Homestead, to Dale's parents home, on a Saturday and Sunday morning Dale preached two services at their church. After lunch we headed to the Keys and our vacation really began.

The great thing about Marathon (the key where we were) is that there is ABSOLUTELY nothing to do except to fish and relax. Since I'm not really an avid fishermen I just relaxed. Dale went fishing 3 nights but other than that we swam at the pool, went to the beach, played games and read books. Connor became such a good little swimmer on vacation. He was still afraid to jump into us before we left but a day or two at the pool in FL he was swimming like a little fish. He also took to snorkeling and just loved it! He snorkeled with Dale and Brooke for about an hour!

Dale finished 5 books on our vacation - of course they were all non-fiction and related to pastoring and leading. I finished 3 books (approx 1500 pages) and mine were all fiction! I just can't bring myself to ruin a good vacation by having to really think when I read.

Anyway, about the books....I usually do NOT like series. I begin to get bored because so many times they are very predictable. However The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer is so good. I borrowed the first book, Twilight, from my niece Mal because she read it and liked it and I had nothing better to read on vacation. I knew a little about it and didn't think it was my type of book but I ended up LOVING it. So, I ran off to the local KMART and got the 2nd and 3rd book, New Moon and Eclipse. I read the 2nd book in 24 hours and decided I better slow down on the 3rd because I wouldn't have anything left to read the rest of our vacation (except all those non-fiction books Dale thought I should read :)! Anyway, the 4th book is coming out on August 2nd and I can't wait to run right out and get it!

But I digress....our vacation...

After we left the Keys we headed over to Naples to see our friends over there. We stayed with Ken and Denise Main and we had such a wonderful time with them as always! Sunday morning we went to our church - well it still seems like our church and we saw so many people that we miss dearly! Sunday afternoon we went boating (Ken owns a marina so we were able to go out on a fabulous boat) and then Sunday night we went over to where the youth group was having a pool party. Monday and Tuesday we hung out and met with friends for dinner and lunch, checked on our house which we are renting and went to a water park which they built just down the road from our old house. It is a huge waterpark with huge slides, a lazy river and lots of pools! The kids had a blast there!!

Ken and Denise are part of our FL family!
We love them more than words can say!!

Ken let Liam "drive" the boat.

Brooke, Anna Main and Connor tubing!

Coulton showing off his wake boarding skills!

This was a perfect end to the day - seeing dolphins!

Tuesday night we headed back over to Homestead where Dale's parents live and we stayed there until Friday morning. Thursday night Luke and Fran took us to a wonderful Cuban restaurant in Miami. It was so yummy. We love Cuban food and that's one of the things we really miss about FL. Friday morning we headed home fully relaxed...I think I'm spoiled now with 2 week vacations!

Well, I'll shut-up so you can see some pics of all the fun we had!

Every afternoon Liam fell asleep by the pool.

These are some of my favorite FL flowers.

This was a very lazy bird. He waited for the fishermen
to throw him fish.

Randy took his art "stuff" to the beach to paint
on location and he drew quite a little crowd.

Connor and Liam playing at the little beach right
behind our condo.

Our sweet little family. This was at the fish
restaurant we went to Wed night in Marathon.

Well, I guess you know who this is.

Brooke was watching the fishermen fish off
the dock. She and Connor wanted to "pet" the
fish they caught.

The beautiful FL Sunset.

2008-07-10T15:36:00.002-05:00

Lately I've been doing alot of projects for other people instead of for myself. My personal scrap time has REALLY suffered the last few months and I have alot of CT obligations to catch up on. But, I'll worry about that another day ;) I'll share some of these projects with you over the next few days...or weeks. But for right now I'll share a few pics I took of some friends of mine at church. We did this in about 15 min right after church in our church library. Taking pics of 3 kids is a little difficult as I well know being that I have three of my own. But, I got a couple cute shots before the kids were totally done with pictures!

Brooke's new digs!

2008-07-02T14:31:00.003-05:00

Since we moved to our home in Franklin Brooke and Connor have shared a room and Liam was in the nursery. We never really decorated Brooke and Connor's room since we were planning on moving Liam in when he was out of his crib and then making it a big boy room and giving Brooke her own room. We have finally gotten this job done and Brooke's room has turned out so cute! Grammy came to help us with it - she was the purchaser of the curtains, chandelier and other misc items. It has taken Brooke several days but I think she is finally feeling comfy in her new digs. Grammy is coming back sometime in the fall to help Connor and Liam with their room! Grammy knows just how to make it special!! So, without further adieu here are some pics so you can check it out...

Firemen are such friendly sorts

2008-06-30T15:54:00.003-05:00

Today was my first visit to the firestation right around the corner of my house. I wish I had been visiting for a less embarrassing reason but I did my share of groveling today. Let me start at the beginning.

All three kids and the kitty were out in the backyard playing so nicely together. I checked on them periodically and the last time I checked they had all stripped and were playing in the yard completely nude. At least our yard has a high fence around it. Anyway, a few minutes later Connor comes in to bring the bad news that Chicago - the cat - had climbed up one of the trees and he was stuck. Of course he started climbing the tree because Connor put him on it and he naturally just climbed up. So I went out to inspect and sure enough he was high up in the tree and climbing ever higher.

I called my sweet husband at work for some advice and he really had none to give. I thought about calling my brother-in-law who has had to fetch his own cat out of a tree once but I didn't think he had a ladder tall enough for this particular job. My dilemma was that I was going into Nashville tonight to have dinner with Dale and we wouldn't be home until about 9:30 AND he would have to bring home the really long ladder from the church. Well, I called my sister in NY because her husband is a volunteer fireman and I asked if firemen still were in the business of rescuing cats from trees. She said they didn't because it was a volunteer department but mine might. Well, since the fire station is literally around the corner from my house I loaded my kids, now dressed except for Liam who was filthy, into the van. He looked like a truly redneck child in his diaper with dirt smeared all over his body.

Well, the firemen were all very nice and they agreed after some hem hawing to come save my poor cat from certain injury. They brought the big red truck and their tallest ladder and in about 15 minutes Chicago was safe and sound clawing desperately at the fireman's uniform. I've informed Chicago that I will not go grovel at the fire station again even if he is on the uppermost branch in our tallest tree!

A Little Belated Happy Father's Day

2008-06-21T09:38:00.010-05:00

Father's Day passed and I never shared any pics of Dale and the kids because it was such a hectic weekend and then I ended up getting sick Sunday night and being sick most of the week. I figure it's always better late than never so here are a few picks I took Sunday morning...

Hot Day, Cool Treat!

2008-06-20T00:02:00.003-05:00

I just finished a LO with a new kit by Sara Amarie called Lighthearted and a new template set, Still Mixin' It Up by Chrissy W. By the way, Chrissy has moved to Elemental Scraps so go check out her store.

These pics were taken the other night at Dale's softball game - well games. He had a triple header and it was SO hot. The kids cooled off with some popsicles and I enjoyed taking pics of them.

2008-05-24T21:06:00.003-05:00

Alot has been going on this past week. Brooke finished her last day of kindergarten on Thursday and I just cannot believe that her kindergarten year has come and gone. I was a little sad all day Thursday thinking how quickly time is passing us by. Friday we had well child doctor visits for the kids and so we suffered through 5 shots (4 for Connor and 1 for Brooke). Afterwards we went rollerskating which the kids love. They both have roller skates and they have loved learning the last few weeks. Today was a fun and relaxing day at the pool, the highschool graduation party of a friend and dinner at Ghengis Grill - a really yummy Mongolian restaurant. Tomorrow we have Brooke's Sunday School Kindergarten graduation and I'll be back with pics of that. Then we'll be ready for a restful Memorial Day...ahhhh...!

On the Scrapping side of things here is one LO I did with Sara Amarie's new Be Amused kit. You can pick it up this week only at Sweet Shoppe for 20% off AND you will get her Be Amused Abby Album for free! It's a great deal!! Also, check out Sara's blog b/c I made a Quick Page out of this LO for her blog re-grand opening and you can download it there!
Credits here.

2008-05-15T22:24:00.005-05:00

Well, it's been a while, I know, but I've been pretty busy here of late getting some digital scrapbooking "stuff" going. About a month ago mypictales.com advertised over at DST that they were wanting to purchase some completed baby albums to distribute to OBGYN offices and hospitals to advertise their photo books. Well, being that I've only done one "traditional" baby album for Brooke I just went right on past the ad but it just kept niggling at the back of my mind. I went ahead and contacted them and asked if I could have a week to put one together. The very nice owner said that would be fine so I started designing the book in quite a frenzy! I submitted the book and this is the response I received,
"Oh my god, Amy! I cried when I saw your Birth Story. I can't tell you how beautiful it is. Thanks for sending it to us in our preferred way. Taleweaver is the best way for us to get this album because we don't have to redesign the book."

Once I finished with that project I started the legwork on offering a class for digital scrapbooking. So many people have asked me to tutor them and finally after all the arm twisting I decided it was time to do something about it. So, I'm trying to get the details ironed out so we can get some more people scrapbooking - the digital way that is!

On top of all this I was accepted to two new Creative Teams so I've been trying to get caught up on my LOs. I'll share several with you here from the fabulous designers I'm working with. If you click their names it will take you to their stores so you can do a little browsing. We'll start with my newest first designers first.

Sara Amarie at Sweet Shoppe Designs:

Haircut: (misc products from both Sara & Kristin) and Diggin': In the Forest

Refreshing: Popsicle Paradise

Paula Duncan at Sweet Shoppe Designs

Puff: Grown with Love and A Special Grandpa: Garden party

Kristin Cronin-Barrow at Sweet Shoppe Designs

Cousins: Rugged and You Are My Sunshine: My Sunshine

Zoom: Beep Chugga Zoom

Chrissy W at Digital Candy:
Chrissy is such a FABULOUS template designer. I use her templates all the time when I'm in a time crunch to get LOs done for my Cts. I used her templates for Haircut, Diggin' and Popsicle Paradise.

The credits for all the above layouts can be found here.

2008-04-28T08:58:00.002-05:00

WOW! What a busy weekend we had! Saturday I walked/ran in the Country Music Half Marathon. Judy (my SIL) and I arrived in downtown Nashville at 7 am pumped and ready! (We arrived the first time at 6 am but realized that one of us had forgotten our race number (I won't name names to protect the innocent :) so we turned around to go get it. We raced back to Baptist hospital where Judy works, ran inside to use clean bathrooms so we wouldn't have to use the disgusting Port-o-jons unless ABSOLUTELY necessary and walked out to Broadway just in time to see the first runners start. Being that Judy and I are veterans (I use the term lightly) of this race we knew that our corral would be at least 30 minutes behind the first runners so we actually weren't stressed about our late arrival. We finally found Jen J in corral 19 and proceeded to wait 46 minutes after the start of the race until we crossed the start line.

We ran about a 1/3 of the race and walked the rest. We finished the race in 2:59:45 which is 13 minutes faster than last year! We were pretty surprised because the whole race we kept saying to each other how slow we felt like we were walking. After the race we met up with Megan and Jen who ran it, and our fans, Chad, Mal and Randy!

When I got home from the race Mom and Ken were waiting for me. They had arrived about 10:00 am for a short overnight visit. Being that Brooke's birthday was last Wednesday and we had no time to properly celebrate she was waiting as well to begin her birthday celebrations which included roller-skating. Yes, roller-skating! So, we all headed to the Brentwood Roller Skating rink and we all donned our skates - from the oldest to the youngest. Surprisingly I could actually move my legs to get around the rink. Brooke and Connor had so much fun skating and Liam preferred being on the sidelines with any of the adults who were resting their weary selves. After skating we went to Cracker Barrel (Brooke's choice) to meet up with her friend Hailey who was coming to play and spend the night. After a very yummy dinner of pancakes we headed home to finally relax!

Sunday morning I awoke to very stiff and sore legs and so I proceeded to limp through the day! We had a very busy day yesterday as well so I fell into bed about 10:00 pm and awoke this morning not ready to start day. Liam was still sleeping which is RARE so I decided to take advantage of his sleeping in. My sweet hubby got Brooke ready, fed and off to school so I could stay in a bed a while longer. And now, here I sit, still in my pjs with Liam on my lap thinking that it is still much too early to get dressed! Oh well, I'll at least get dressed before I pick Brooke up from school at 3:30 pm.

Nine Years and Going Strong

2008-04-24T15:55:00.003-05:00

Today marks nine years that Dale and I have been married. In some respects it seems like only yesterday that we stood at the altar saying our vows and in other ways it seems like a lifetime. We have shared 3 homes together, been pregnant 4 times and have 3 beautiful children. We've been in 3 pastorates and have said goodbye to beloved friends at two churches. We've come back home to where we started as a married couple although we left with only the two of us and we came back with a family.

As we have struggled at times in our marriage and I've watched others with similar or harder struggles I've often wondered how it would have felt standing at the altar knowing what "for better or worse", "for richer and poorer" and "in sickness and health" would really mean in our lives. Would I have had the courage to take the step into committing myself to stand by my husband through these trying times? As I stood there making a lifelong commitment I had no way to know that my greatest sorrows and joys were yet to come - the loss of our first baby and the subsequent birth of our three children.

As the years have past my love for Dale has deepened more than I ever thought possible. He has proven himself to be the man of character that I knew him to be when we dated and first married. Dale is such a wonderful father to our children and we are so blessed because of him. So, for better or worse, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else except right here beside Dale Benson! Thank you for nine wonderful years and I look forward to the next nine!

Happy 6th Birthday, Brooke!!

2008-04-23T08:24:00.002-05:00

It is hard to believe that it has been six years since Brooke was born. We had no idea the joy that one tiny person could bring to a home! My first pregnancy ended in a miscarriage at 8 weeks and so the first trimester of my pregnancy with Brooke I was a little nervous but after that I absolutely loved being pregnant with her - well, except for the excessive swelling ! Take a look at my ankles in this picture - this was taken the morning I went to the hospital to have her.

We moved to Naples, FL when I was 9 weeks pregnant with Brooke and life really seemed to slow down for us. Naples moves at a slower pace than Nashville and so we just settled into a more relaxing life. I found a new doctor whom I absolutely adored (he delivered all 3 babies) and he took such good care of Brooke and me. The last month of my pregnancy I was out of work on medical leave because I was swelling so much and the doctor didn't want me on me feet (yay for me!) so I pretty much went to the pool every day, got very tan and read books! Wow - what a charmed life it was! I can barely remember what that's like now ;)

I was scheduled for a C-section on Monday, April 22nd because Brooke was breach but Dr. Crandall did an aversion and then induced me. Finally, on Tuesday morning the 23rd Brooke arrived at 9:35 am. Who knew that your heart could actually swell in your chest? I never knew that you could love someone that way. The bonding was instantaneous. Brooke was this tiny, perfect, helpless human and she was ours to care for - I suddenly got this panicky feeling of not being up to the task. We're still working on it but Brooke is growing into such a sweet and loving little girl.

Brooke is very intuitive and smart! She often outwits her Mommy. Dale and I chuckle so often at her because she is just is so matter-of-fact about life. She states things the way they are and that's that! When she asks a question she expects a straight answer. There is no being evasive with Brooke because she'll know it and call you out on it and then continue asking her question in a different way until she is satisfied that you are telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth. When Brooke was two or three she would ask questions and then say, "Mommy, is that the truth or are you just saying that?"

Brooke is turning into quite a little gymnast. Her cartwheels are the best in the class and she almost has her hand stands down pat. She loves any and all things Princess related even though she's not really a prissy girl. She's a tomboy on the outside and a Princess on the inside.

Well, I could go on forever but time is getting away from me. Thanks for letting me share a little bit about our very special little girl on her birthday.

2008-04-04T08:06:00.004-06:00

Well, I just wanted to drop by for a minute and share a couple of things with you. You really need to go by and check out the Sweet Shoppe challenges. They are so fun! Here are some pics I took yesterday for the Shutterbug Shakedown challenge. The Shutterbug challenges are fun because they help you think outside the box when you're taking pictures and then they teach you some post processing tips and tricks.

The most recent challenge was to tell a story with your photos. Well, yesterday I saw Connor bringing down a bunch of stuff to the living room so I assumed that he was going to make a fort out of the couch as he often does. Well, as I was scrapping I realized it was really quiet so I went to investigate and I found him inside the ottoman, sleeping on a pallet he had made. It was just so cute so I ran for the camera!

Then here is a LO that I did for the Sweet Shoppe Paper 2 Digi Challenge. I love this challenge. Every two weeks the sugarbabes find a paper scraper's gallery and the challenge is to find a LO that you like and lift it digitally. So, this is one that I lifted from Kelly Goree over at Two Peas in a Bucket! If you need some inspiration just browse through her gallery - she is an amazing scrapper! For this LO I used Kristin's The Good Life kit which is bright and beautiful and has such great and versatile elements! It is one of my favorite all time kits so you'll be seeing lots of stuff from it! Credits here.

Well, that's it for now. I'm off to Brooke's school to help in the classroom, then to get a much needed haircut and hi-lights!

2008-03-31T20:57:00.002-06:00

Family Haps and Other Ramblings
Today when I picked Brooke up from school she asked me why some children were a different color than their parents and then she quickly said, "O forget it." Well, this was way to good to let drop so I had to pry a little.

I said, "Honey, what do you mean?"
Brooke: "Well, why is Arthur (made up name to protect the innocent) brown and his daddy is white?"
Me: "Well what color is his mommy?"
Brooke: "I don't know, I've never seen her"

Knowing this particular little boy had very light brown skin I explained that maybe his mommy was "brown" and his daddy was white and when people of two different colors have children the children usually have the darker colored skin. Or, I said, sometimes people of one skin color adopt a child with another color skin.

So, that segued us into the adoption conversation.

Brooke: "Why do people adopt?" and before I could answer her she says, "Oh, I know, they adopt out their child because either they don't know how to take care of them, they don't have enough money or they don't like the kid! She said this last little bit very matter of factly.

Well, I certainly wasn't ready for my little girl to be so world-wise as to think that parents actually didn't like their children so I said, "Honey, most of the times that people give up their child for adoption it is because they cannot take care of them. It's not because they don't like them." She looked at me and once again my five, almost six year old said VERY matter of factly, "Mom, SOMETIMES they give them up for adoption because they don't like them, I know! I got the distinct inmpression that my sweet little girl wanted me to know that she would not be guarded from this. She knew and she wanted me to know that she knew! What am I going to do when she is thirteen???

Scrappin' News
I have been meaning to tell you about this amazing, free shareware program that is just great! It's called Noiseware. If you have pics that were shot at low resolution or for some other reason have alot of noise, this program is what you need. Here is a before and after picture. This pic was taken by my niece with her cell phone. It was such a great pic but it was way to grainy to use until I ran it through Noiseware. The one on the left is the BEFORE.

Well, Dana Frantz has a new kit out called Hippie Couture. It is so pretty, you need to go check it out!

Here are two layouts as well that I did with her new kit Daisy Lemonade which I mentioned in the last post. For the one on the right I used Chrissy Williams' template in the Mixin' It Up Again set at Digital Candy. The site is down today for upgrades, otherwise I'd link you up. Credits here.

Kristin Cronin-Barrow also has a new kit that was released on Saturday called The Good Life.

2008-03-28T11:35:00.003-06:00

Family Haps and Other Ramblings
I was hoping for nice sunshiny day to keep me motivated in my Spring cleaning but it is a dreary and cold so here I sit to update my blog. My blog has fallen a little behind so I am reassuring myself that this indeed needs to be done.

Since I didn't update my blog around Easter I thought I'd share a funny little Brooke story. Brooke was home from school Monday and Tuesday with a sinus infection and so Tuesday I was out running a few errands with all three kids. Connor and Brooke were bickering and they had just stepped on my last nerve. I got into the car where they both were verbally stumbling all over each other to tell me what the other had done. I said, "Waaa, waaa, waaaa, you guys sound like two babies." ( I know, a very caring mother I am) Well, Connor thought it was kind of funny but Brooke's feelings were mortally wounded. With quavering voice and tears that she was squeezing out of her eyes he said, "I feel just like Jesus did when he was on the cross and they poked the spear in his side." I, of course, was more than a little taken aback that she had compared her wounded feelings to the agony of crucifixion so I said, "Brooke, you are telling me that just because Connor hurt your feelings you feel as bad as Jesus did when he died on the cross? With a harumph Brooke retorted, "Yes I do and God is the ONLY one who understands how I feel!"

Well, I must say that I felt nudged at the moment to think before I spoke because Brooke really was taking this very seriously. So, I said to her, "You know what Brooke? There are many times that no one is going to understand how you are feeling, not even Mommy and Daddy. However, you are right, God does understand how you feel and he always will so you should always tell him how you are feeling." So, from alot of bickering and drama came a little lesson that I hope will stick with Brooke and me for a long time!

In other news...have I mentioned that I'm walking the Music City 1/2 Marathon in April? Well, I am and I am not prepared!! Lets just say that my schedule has not worked with all the long walks I'm supposed to be doing. Well, last Sunday after lunch Judy and I with a few others went on a 7 mile walk. Let's just say that by the time I got home I had to pick my butt up and carry it through the door! I limped off to bed that night and skipped my spin class the next morning. Brooke had a sinus infection so it was a good excuse. I don't think I would have gone anyway. My legs would have revolted!!! Anyway, that gave me a good dose of reality to think that my walk is only 4 weeks away! So, I'm off to my eight mile walk tomorrow!

Scrappin' News
I haven't gotten many LOs done this month. I thought that I would scrap a ton while we were in TX on spring break but it just didn't happen. I do have two to show you though. This first one is with the Flirty Girl kit by Laura Deceatis. I'm a guest on her CT this month. She is the owner of Shabby Pickle Designs and she also sells at The Sweet Shoppe. So here's my LO using Flirty Girl. Credits here.

Kristin Cronin-Barrow brought back an old kit which she updated called O Happy Day. The colors are beautiful and the elements are fantastic so go check it out! I'm going to be doing another page with the kit because I only used a few of the elements for this very simple page so I'll let you see what else I do with it. Credits here.

Dana Frantz released a kit this week called Daisy Lemonaide. It is so pretty and I'm off to scrap with it today. Here's a preview of it. She has another gorgeous kit coming in the next day or two so make sure to check back!

Happy 4th Birthday, Connor!

2008-03-13T20:50:00.002-06:00

Family Haps
I cannot believe that Connor is four years old! Time has literally flown by and he is such a big boy now. He is absolutely cuter than ever!! He has come out of his little shell so much this past year. I believe it was the day that Brooke went to Kindergarten that he started talking. Well, not quite but he sure does talk a whole lot more with her out of the house. I think he could never get a word in edgewise before!

Connor is still so literal and I LOVE that about him!! He's also a little passive aggressive which is so hilarious! But, back the to literal thing. The other day in the van on the way to take Brooke to school Connor said "stupid" which is something we don't say at our house. Of course, "Miss Reporter" informed me of this infraction. So, here's the rest of the conversation...

Me: "Connor, we don't say stupid at our house"
Connor: "But we're not at our house.
Me: speechless...what could I say...he was correct!

For Connor's birthday we are taking him and a few friends to see Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who. We have the original Grinch movie and the original Horton story is at the end of the video. Connor has loved this story and has watched it over and over. To get us ready for the movie tomorrow Dale helped Connor and Brooke adopt Whos on the Disney website. Brooke and Connor very kindly named their Whos after our dear friends Emma and Alan. I'm sure Emma will be excited to see that she has pink hair and a potbelly :)

So - here's a LO for his birthday! Credits here.

Scrappin' News
Well, the big news for today is that yesterday I received my March/April Digital Scrapbook Magazine which features one of my layouts! It was really exciting to see my work printed. So, I thought I'd share the page with you and we'll just leave it there for today.

Credits:
Background paper: Barb Catrone Flavorfall Papers
Ribbon: Eve Recinella's Frolicsome kit
Flower: Heather Manning's Katiana Kit
Beautiful Definition: Miss Peppermint's Dictionary Defined Girls
Brush Frame: Kim Crother's Tuscany kit
Font: Eight Fifteen

"Do 'Tormatoes' have Neighborhoods?"

2008-03-12T21:22:00.003-06:00

Family Haps
My dear, sweet Connor asked me this today while we were on a bike ride through our neighborhood and I thought it was just so cute. By the way, he meant tornadoes. About a month ago we had some pretty bad tornadoes that swept through Middle TN and so we had to get everybody into our coat closet (which thankfully is quite large for a coat closet) under the staircase. We live quite near the warning sirens and they are so loud! This is the first time that Connor has really gotten scared by something like this. It was so pitiful...after everything had settled down we put the kids back in bed in the guest room and I was working on the computer. Brooke went back to sleep but Connor's eyes were so big and fearful. He didn't say anything but he kept looking out the window. It made me so sad for him. Apparently, he still thinks about it because today on a bright and beautiful almost spring day he was still thinking about "tormatos".

In the last post I told you I would share some pics from Destin so I thought before too much time had passed I'd better do it! My girlfriend, Emma, had a condo in Destin for a week so four of us headed down there for some "girl" time. It was so nice to get away for a few days and just relax without any responsibilites. And, we had uninterrupted scrap time!

Scrappin' News

It's been a while since I've posted any LOs so I thought I'd share a few with you. Here's one I did for Th e Sweet Shoppe's Recipe challenge. I used Dana Frantz's new kit, Whisper. It is so pretty!

This next LO I did was from a kit called Hello Sunshine from Kristin Cronin-Barrow and Traci Reed. It is such a perfect summer kit! I also used Chrissy W's Lotsa Photos templates (I turned a one page template into a two page template). Chrissy's templates are so wonderful - you've gotta check them out here.

Credits for LOs can be found here.

Frosty the Snowman

2008-03-08T21:37:00.003-06:00

Wow!!! What a month February was. I think I'm just now recovering! We had three weekends away - a marriage retreat, a Sunday school retreat and a girls (long) weekend in Destin! And this weekend we had snow!

We started our weekend off right last night! We had dinner with friends at our favorite Mexican place - Panchos. Afterwards we came back and played a rousing game of Kanasta (guys against girls) and then went to bed with it snowing. We woke up with 4 or 5 inches of snow on the ground so we had a fun morning with the kids building a snowman and sleighing. Here are a few pics of us out in the snow today. For the rest of the day we just lazed around (which means I scrapbooked) and pretty much took advantage of a quiet day at home.

Well, I know this post was pretty short but I needed to slowly get back into my blog - I certainly wouldn't want to overdo it after such a long absence. Seriously, since we lose an hour of sleep tonight it's already 11pm CST so I'm gonna leave you with these cute pics and come back next week and share my Destin pics and some of the LOs I've been working on!

A Barking Seal and an Ice Storm (frost really)

2008-02-13T06:25:00.005-06:00

Family Haps
It's still dark outside and here I am blogging. I woke up around 5:30 to the sounds of a barking seal in my home. Liam started sounding a little congested yesterday and overnight it has turned him into a seal. So, off to the doctor we'll go today. Brooke is still recovering from the virus she's had since last Thursday. I had to pick her up from school and she was miserable until Saturday when she began to perk up again. Sunday we were off to church and Monday she was feeling wiped out and yesterday she started running a fever again.

Today school is canceled because of icy roads so I won't have to make the decision of whether to send her or let her stay home from school. By the way, do any of you moms hate making that decision? It's not really as simple as whether or not your kid has a fever. There are a thousand other symptoms to consider and you know what? I'm not a nurse!! I feel like a complete ignoramus in this area of parenting. I sent her to school Monday when I should have kept her home and she was just absolutely worn out when she got home. I felt really bad for the poor girl. Hopefully my children won't require counseling because of bad decisions like these I make. In fact, I'm praying that God will wipe these things from their memories. I need one of those clickers that Tommy Lee Jones had in Men In Black - you know, like a memory re-setter. Oh well, through God and counseling my children might learn to lead normal, productive lives.

Scrappin' News
Well, alot has gone on in the last few days. First off, two of the Creative Teams that I was on have disbanded. Jomi has decided to quit designing because of health reasons. I was sad to see her resign from The Digichick but she needed to get her life back ( being a designer can be quite time consuming). So, she's gonna focus on family and scrapping and maybe come back to designing down the road sometime.

Cori Gammon is still designing but has decided to discontinue her Creative Team. CT's require alot of administration which takes alot of time away from the designing side. I'm not really sure how these girls design when they have full time jobs and families to take care of. They are busy, busy, busy!! Anyway, I'm still a huge Cori fan and I'll be keeping an eye on her store at The DigiChick also.

I am now on the CT for Chrissy Williams over at Digital Candy. She designs awesome templates and I'm really excited to start using them. Templates are THE way to go when you are in a scrap funk, when you're wanting to get pages done quickly or when you just need a spark to get you going. The great thing about templates is that you can completely turn them into your own design - they are just a starting point. So, be on the lookout for some LOs using Chrissy's templates.

Kristin CB has an adorable new kit called Chit Chat. I used it in this LO for one of the Sweet Shoppe Cookie Challenges. Here is the LO I created with it and here are the credits.

Here's one more LO I'll share with you. This is also for another Cookie Decorating Challenge at The Sweet Shoppe (did I mention that you can earn points from participating in the challenges and then you get a discount coupon for products depending on how many points you earn each month.) But I digress. These pictures were taken when Liam was 6 mos and Brooke was 2. I just love these pictures but I kept forgetting about them. I came across them the other day and decided to wait no more in scrapping them. Credits here.

Well, that's it for now. Before you go, check out my blog links - I've added a few that you won't want to miss!

2008-01-31T16:28:00.001-06:00

Scrappin' News
Well, it's Thursday and I'm back for my 2nd blog of the week! Don't get your hopes up though - I'm not sure I can keep this pace up ;) Well, there's alot going on in the scrapworld. Kristin CB has a new adorable kit called, Rugged for those, rough and tumbly boys in your life. Here is a preview of it. And as always you can find it at SweetShoppe. Also, be sure to stop by Kristin's blog periodically. There are going to be some really great downloads compliments of her CT. (Feb 2nd might be a good day to look) :)

As I mentioned yesterday I joined Dana's CT for a guest stint for a few months. Here is my first LO with her kit Dreamery available at Scrapbook Graphics. I've always loved this picture of Brooke - it shows her personality completely! She has always loved to dress up - even at two and three years old. She never would have made it back in medieval times as a princess because she has a mind of her own, but she sure does make a cute Modern Day Princess! Credits here.

Family Haps
Tonight a group of girls (well, 3 - does that count as a group?) from our MOMents group at church is getting together for dinner at Macaroni Grill. A dinner at a nice restaurant with adult conversation, no spills and messes is just what I need on this dreary, cold night. Now, before you think I'm a selfish mom, there is potato soup waiting in the crock-pot for Dad and kiddos. And then, I just might stop by the mall to do some sock shopping. Sock shopping, you say? Well, it is basically a good excuse to go by the mall, once again, with no kiddos in tow. Actually my boys are in desperate need of socks so I need to just make a stop by Children's Place. Of course, there are a few stores between the door and Children's Place. So, we'll see where my whims might take me :)

Hey - did you see that I'm a cup of "Plain Ole Joe" at the top of my blog? I'm not sure I like that. I wanted to be something fancy like a Cappuccino. I took this little "What Kind of Coffee Girl Are You Quiz" (you can too by clicking the link) but I'm not sure I agree with it. Those of you who know me, let me know what you think.

This weekend is shaping up to be another busy one. We are off to Pulaski, TN (the infamous town where the KKK took hold - I feel a little weird going there!) to Martin Methodist College. My BIL is being inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame there for his champion tennis playing eons ago :) My BIL is 50 so I get to tease him about being old, being that I'm a young chick of 34!! Anyway, that will be fun and I'll feel like a celebrity for an hour or two being that I'll be part of his entourage.

Well, you have a great weekend and I'll chat with you next week if not before.

It's Not Thursday...

2008-01-29T22:52:00.000-06:00

And I'm updating my blog :) Well, I just had to share this picture from today. As I was catching up on email Connor and Liam were playing nicely together until I heard Liam squalling. Not a, "My brother is bugging me" fuss, but a full out squall so I ran out of the guest room and smack into Casper the Ghost aka Liam. Apparently the full bottle of baby powder didn't taste so good nor feel so good in his eyes. Needless to say, his room smelled very good being that it had a thick dusting of baby powder all over it. Oh, the things that little boys get into together.

One last thing before we move on. My brother sent me this link of my nephew, Cameron, singing, "God Bless America." It is pretty hilarious, so if you need a good laugh take a moment to watch it! Here's the link.

Scrappin' News
After an insanely busy weekend I finally sat down today and did a really quick LO from a template by Chrissy W over at Digital Candy. The kit I used is This Little Piggy by MandaBean. Credits are here. Speaking of MandaBean, my month as a guest for her comes to an end tomorrow. It was so much fun working with her. Her products are really great. However, since Manda's stint ends this month I'm going to be a three month guest for Dana Frantz over at Scrapbook Graphics. It's gonna be fun getting to know another designers. That is definitely one of the great parts of Creative Teams.

2008-01-24T21:08:00.000-06:00

Well, as of late, it seems that I am becoming a once a week blogger. I guess I just don't have alot to say - or maybe just not a whole lot of time to say it. At any rate, I'll catch you up on what has been going on this week. Let's start with....

Scrappin' News
Kristin CB over at SweetShoppe has some adorable new kits. You've gotta check out, Just Lily, which she made for her daughter's 5th birthday. She asked each of her CT girls to make a page using the kit for a birthday album for Lily and then we made a quickpage from the LO. Kristin is giving all the quickpages away over at the SweetShoppe blog and it would make an ADORABLE album. So, go check it out!! Here is the page I made for Lily, and then my own page for Brooke from the quickpage.

Cori Gammon has a really pretty kit called Be Mine for Valentines over at Shabby Pickle Designs. She is the guest for the month of January there. Here's a LO I did using that. It has some really cute elements in it so if you are looking for something for Valentine's, look no further!

Here's one more LO I did from a bunch of Jomi's kits which are available at The Digichick. All of Jomi's kits are simply elegant and they are so much fun to work with. I used probably 6 or 7 different kits and everything blends just seamlessly. You can find all the credits for the LOs here.

Family Haps and Other Ramblings
Quote of the Day: Today in the van after school I was asking Brooke about her day. She said, "Mommy, my lips really hurt [they are chapped] and Mrs. Barnhill gave me gasoline for them and even THAT didn't work!

Well, It looks like we are going to have a busy weekend. Tomorrow night I have Girl's Night which is a monthly get together at a different home with lots of food and game playing. It's always a treat to get out with my girlfriends. Saturday morning we have our Annual Summit Leadership Conference at church which Dale is leading. Saturday afternoon Connor has a birthday party and Saturday evening there are plans in the works to get together with some friends. Whew...I'm feeling fatigued already. Then it's onto Sunday. MOMents (our moms group at church which I lead) is having our annual fund raiser, Mom's Kitchen, Sunday night after church. We ask people to donate crock pots of soup and we provide dessert and drinks and then people leave donations for the food. Last year we made over $1,000 so we were very pleased. Thankfully, I'm not heading this up - I just have to be there to help Sunday from 3pm until everything is cleaned up.

Monday, Dale and Brooke goes back for a follow-up with the allergist. I'm hoping that he thinks everything is looking good. Liam just had is two year well-check and he is growing like a little weed. He went from the 20th percentile to the 40th percentile in weight and from the 40th to the 50th in height. His head circumference is in the 75th percentile which is no big surprise because his Daddy has a big head.

Well, that's about it. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and I'll be back around next Thursday or maybe before :)

Snip, Snip, Snip

2008-01-17T20:58:00.001-06:00

Family Haps and Other Ramblings
It's been a busy week. Well, that's my excuse at least for being MIA. Some of my blog stalkers (and you know who you are) keep complaining that I'm not keeping my blog updated. Well, my suggestion for you is to start your own blog ;) Actually, I'm glad there's at least one person who doesn't have to be prodded to see if I've made any updates to my blog!

Anyway, the week started of with a bang. Sunday afternoon I called Connor to get him dressed for Sunday night service and he didn't answer. I walked around upstairs for a while and finally wandered into the guest room. I heard some squirming going on under the bed about the same time that I spied this...

It felt a little like the scenario to me of God calling out to Adam and Eve in the Garden after they had eaten the apple. He called and called and finally they showed themselves. That's pretty much what happened Sunday - I called and called and finally Connor slunk out from under the bed. In case the pictures don't tell the whole story, Connor took a pair of scissors and snipped away at the threads holding the blinds together. Of course, he hasn't learned yet to do away with the physical evidence.
Scrappin' News
Well, as far as my resolution to participate in some scrapbooking challenges, I have been doing quite well! Of course, it's all thanks to Sweet Shoppe - they have tons of challenges going on all the time. It has really helped me to put some pages together quickly in the last few days! I think so far, my favorite as been the Cookie Decorating Challenge. They provide a template and then you get to decorate it however you want. My Forever Romance LO was done with the template from that challenge and it took me no time at all to whip it up!

One other challenge that I couldn't resist this week is over at Oscraps. Annie Manning of Paint the Moon Designs is giving away a gorgeous mini kit if you participate in the challenge. You basically have to use all the products in the kit with your favorite picture from 2007 (using it in some fashion twice in your LO). This is what I came up with...

I absolutely adore this photo of Dale and Brooke. It was taken at Megan's wedding this summer.
The journaling reads: This picture of Daddy serving communion to you makes my heart overflow! Oh how I want you to learn of your Heavenly Father's love for you through your Daddy's love for you. You are such a blessed little girl to have a Daddy who is also your Pastor. One day I believe you will understand the significance of this. As you grow, I pray that your relationship with your Daddy will always be as sweet and as full as it is in this moment. This moment where Daddy shares life fully with you. This moment in which he gives to you the holy sacrament of communion. Credits here.

The Sacrificial Reindeer

2008-01-10T20:21:00.001-06:00

Family Haps and Other Ramblings
Monday morning Dale had to serve on jury duty. Brooke asked him what that was and so he had to explain to her a little of our legal system. Of course he used me as an example explaining that if mommy embezzled money (yes, he explained that term as well) that I would have to go to court and the company that I stole from would also go to the same court in front of a judge and jury to decide what my punishment would be. After this long explanation she thought for a minute and this is how the rest of the conversation went...

Brooke: "Why don't they just kill an animal.?"
Dale: "Kill and animal?"
Brooke: Yeah, like a sheep, a goat or a reindeer."

It seems like we might be getting the Old and New Testament mixed up a little (were their reindeers at the birth of Christ?) Anyway, we're glad to know that she is able to apply what she is learning in Sunday School to our legal system.

Brooke and Connor started gymnastics again today (this is Brooke's 2nd year - Connor's 1st time). I was very surprised when I went in to pick them up because the teacher told me that Brooke was ready to be promoted to the Advanced Pre-Recreational class. Apparently her cartwheels are outstanding :) Brooke hasn't taken gymnastics since last spring so I thought she would be a little behind the others.
Scrappin' News
Here are a couple LOs I've been working on the last few days. I've decided since making my first Shutterfly book that I want to try to get back to do more two pagers - I like the way it looks to have one background paper across the two page spread. I may not always do one theme on the two pages but I will at least use the same background paper to give it some unity. The first page is done with a kit by Kristin CB and Paula Duncan called Thumpety, Thump, Thump. It is such a nice mix of beautiful papers and elements along with a few kiddie things like the snowman and a really cute snowman snowglobe.

The page below is just a big mishmash (is that a word?) from a bunch of designers. Credits for both pages can be found here...

Well, I received a sweet little email today from my friend JennyG letting me know that my Honey Bee page (you can see it in the previous post) was chosen as a Gallery Standout Page this week over at The Sweet Shoppe blog. That made my day :)

Oh, How the Mighty Have Fallen

2008-01-04T08:22:00.001-06:00

Family Haps and Other Ramblings
Yesterday afternoon I was doing some cleaning downstairs while my three little ones were upsairs. I heard a little tinkling and then a whoosh and then Brooke was hollering for me to come upstairs. And this is what I beheld as I rounded the corner. Apparently, Thumper was under the tree and for some reason Brooke was worried that he might get hurt under there - how, I don't know. So, she dived under to rescue him and the rest, as we say, is history! So, instead of procrastinating a few more days I guess I'll be taking the tree down, - well, it's already down - undecorating it and storing it!

Scrappin News
Well, as far as my New Year's resolutions go...I've been doing pretty good with all my scrapping ones :) Here are a few LOs I've done in the last few days. Here are the credits for all three.

Well, on another note, my friend and protegee :) Jenny G. has finally posted a few of her LOs at DST. Jenny started digiscrapping back in October and has just taken off with it. Most people - ahem, you know who you are - just haven't gotten off the ground even with my stellar tutelage :) Anyway, go on over and leave some love in jennyg's gallery!

Happy New Year

2008-01-01T11:18:00.001-06:00

Well, 2007 has come and gone...how time flies. Each year I am amazed how much more quickly time seems to be passing. I wish that I could just slow our life down a little. I know that before long I'll be looking back remembering the sweet moments when my children were little. I try to keep this in mind as they are wreaking havoc on the house. I know that SOME DAY I'm going to look back and wish that I once again had them underfoot. By the way, that's one of my New Year's Resolutions - to really enjoy the little things every day with my children. I look back at this year and the events that took place:

1) Megan, our niece who was only twelve when I met her, graduated from college and then was married in Destin in June.
2) Mallory, her sister who was eight when I came into the family, graduated from highschool
2) Brooke started kindergarten
3) I went to my mother's new home in Texas for the first time at Thanksgiving

These were all major, life events that just a few years ago weren't really even on my radar and now they have passed. I'm wondering, what will this year hold? Only time can tell.

Well, in my last post I said I would share some New Year's resolutions and I've only mentioned one so here are a few more. I'll share my scrapping ones for now...

1)To participate in one challenge a week
2) To complete an album entitled, "An Encyclopedia of a Normal Life" which will be a snapshot album of me.
3) To learn a new scrap technique each month from either a magazine, book or Scrapper's Guide.
4) To complete an ABC album for the grandparents
5) To have enough pages by Dec to print a 2008 Family Album.

So, those are mine folks. What are your resolutions?

Merry Christmas to All!

2007-12-26T15:20:00.001-06:00

Merry Christmas!! I hope this finds you well and I hope you had a wonderful Christmas with family or friends. This morning I told my husband that I was a little sad that Christmas was over and he reminded me that Christmas is not over! The twelve days of Christmas begin today and ends on January 6th with Epiphany! Of course as Christians we carry Christmas in our hearts throughout the year but the celebration in December brings it to the forefront of our busy lives. So, since we have 12 more days of Christmas I have a good excuse to keep my tree up until at least Jan 6th :)
With the ending of this Christmas season the new year quickly approaches and I'm eagerly awaiting the start of my New Year's resolutions. I don't know what they are going to be yet - I'm still working on it, but trust me, I'll have a list! I do love resolutions even if some fall by the wayside mid-year. So, for the next few days I'm going to be doing some thinking and I'll let you know what I come up with. The good thing is that I already started my exercising/lose weight resolution back in August. I got a jump-start on that one so I won't have to stand in a mile long line at the Y to sign-up. Well, it's off to some more holiday eating and fun before Jan 1 rolls around! Credits for Christmas card here.

Puppy Love

2007-12-18T08:44:00.000-06:00

Amy's Miscellany
Well, it feels like the holidays are in fulls swing. The in-laws are in town, school is winding down, spending and food consumption are at their annual high I have one more Christmas luncheon today. For some reason I'm having a really hard time feeling the Christmas spirit this year. I don't know if it is because we've been insanely busy with church parties and I've been finishing up photo Christmas gifts but by this point in the season I've usually watched all my "must see" Christmas movies" and just chilled in front of the tree for hours on end. I have taken a two week sebatical from the Y. I know, I know, that's not what you're supposed to give up amid the stress of the holiday season, but I give you my word I'll get right back in there ;) Well, amid all the stress I have certainly been scrapping - that's my stress reliever. This LO is of Connor and his favorite girlfriend, Jenna. He does have another one and I'll be scrappin' her too if we ever get a pic of them together! Credits here.

Scrap Reviews
I've been seeing this blinkie around digitown lately and finally decided to investigate! Well, it belongs to the website Faith Sisters which is a Christian Digital Scrapbooking Community. They have all kinds of inspirations and challenges to get you motivated to scrap about your faith. I'm looking forward to joining in some of the challenges in 2008.

My Favorite Things
Well, once again before I sign off I'll leave you with one of my favorite things. My favorite Christmas ornament I ever received was a glass bride and groom -and dangling from it was my diamond. My then boyfriend, Dale, proposed to me as we were decorating his tree. The story behind this is that Dale and I had met in September '98 in my hometown where he had come to perform a wedding of two of his college students (the bride attended my home church). He was their college pastor and they had asked him to officiate. My mom was the wedding director and I was helping her. Let's just say that I was smitten the first time I saw him and 3 1/2 months later we were engaged. I had come to Nashville to visit him a few weeks before Christmas and he popped the question. Four months later we were married and it has been the most wonderful eight years of my life - not saying we don't have our ups and downs :) So, do you have a favorite ornament?

Shutteryfly Book One - Mission Completed!!

2007-12-14T08:59:00.000-06:00

Remember that Shutterfly book I've been rambling on about? Well as of 1:30 am it was completed and paid for. This is the front cover of the book. Now, I'm anxiously awaiting it's arrival! It's a little nervewracking to pay that much money and not be able to see the finished product! Oh well, if it's not perfect I'll make the changes and print my - this one is going home with my MIL. I know have to get my Christmas card LOs done - do you think I'm cutting it a little close? Maybe they should be Happy New Years card:) Here are the credits for the cover.

Scrappin' News
The other day in the Chatter forum at DST someone posted a thread about being intimated by really awesome scrappers! I clicked right on that thread because that is where I used to live. I would browse through the galleries and look at all the amazing, collage-style LOs! For me it was never even an option of doing one - it would be like putting a Calculus problem in front of a kindergatdner. I didn't even know where to start - it boggled my mind.

But then, one day I came across this book, Clean and Simple Scrapbooking by Cathy Zielske that took me from being a completely frustrated, feeling like a failure scrapper to being completely okay with my style of scrappbooking. After reading what Cathy had to say I realized that it is okay to make Clean and Simple LOs (thus the name of the book:) She also teaches in the book the elements of good design, the art of type, and the importance of journaling, or lack there of. I read this book in one afternoon (while sitting in a business meeting with my husband :) and came away with so many simple tools that improved my scrapbooking. So, if you're looking for someone/something to validate your style of scrapping this is a must read! P.S. the sequel is really great too!

Family Haps and Other Ramblings
The in-laws are arriving today which means that my scrapping room will have to turn back into the guest bedroom. It really is sad my guest bedroom looks like and office with a bed slapped in it. What's even sadder is that I have a real office downstairs but I like being to work up where the kids are - did you notice I called it "work?" :) I figure I am working - my pay is the free kits that I receive from my designers! My husband says that I am very good at justifying things! Hey - whatever it takes!! Anyway, one of my resolutions for the New Year is to turn my guest bedroom into an inviting and welcoming room. Of course if it's not comfy company won't stay so long. Okay, just kidding!!

Finally, remember the cookie recipe search I was on? Well, no one came to my rescue until last night when my friend, jennylongfingers (don't even ask) told me about this SmittenKitchen website with a chocolate chip cookie recipe that looked really yummy! What looks even yummier are all those pics she has posted on her site! It's making me hungry!

My Favorite Things
Last night, my above mentioned friend, jennylongfingers, mentioned that she was a little disappointed at my list of favorite things. She was hoping for some more materialistic things - you know, so she could run right out to the store and buy me a gift for our gift exchange next week. I, of course, told her that Christmas isn't about materialism (grin)! So, jennylongfingers - even though you've already bought me a gift that you're not sure I'm gonna like, here's one for you.

I love watching the Grinch - the old and the new. It is a must see every Christmas - well really my son wants to watch it year round. We have the original Grinch movie but not the new one with Jim Carrey. So - that is definitely on my Christmas list (my husband usually busy be a Christmas CD but this year I asked him to get me that in lieu of a CD.)

Well, that about does it. I have a house to finish cleaning before the in-laws arrive on my doorstep for their 13 day visit!!! :)

2007-12-13T09:37:00.000-06:00

Well, the Shutterfly book has yet to be ordered. I missed out on the free shipping although I spent hours on it yesterday. So, today is the new deadline :) What can I say - that just means I'm flexible, right? Just a word of caution to those of you who have yet to make a book. When you do two page LOs make sure that all the elements (such as ribbon that spans both pages) are aligned perfectly. I had to split my 12x24 LO into two 12x12s and somehow things got a little whacky. But, it's all taken care of and hopefully everything will print perfectly. I am getting ready to start on the cover using a template from Wendyzine. I'm all out of creative mojo so we're just going the simple route. Did I mention that I made two LOs yesterday to go in the book so I wouldn't feel bad about who I left out? Here's one of them. Credits here.

Scrappin' News
My TOOT for today is that KristinCronin-Barrow over at the SweetShoppe asked me to join her team. Check out her designs - they are really fabulous. I also want to share another amazing gallery that I found yesterday over at the Shabby Shoppe by Sheri R. You won't be disappointed and you'll definitely be inspired!

Family Happenings
Yesterday morning as we were discussing Brooke's allergies to chocolate (she's become the food Nazi) she was wondering where chocolate milk came from. Here's the conversation:
Brooke: Mommy, where does chocolate milk come from?
Me: They take chocolate and add it to the milk. (I'm the practical one in the family)
Brooke: Oh, well, I thought that maybe it came from brown cows - or, you know those two things on the cow that the milk comes from (the udders) maybe one is for white and one is chocolate.
Me: You know, Brooke, that is a very smart idea. Maybe that is where chocolate milk comes from (giggle.)

My Favorite Things
Well, before I go I'll share another favorite thing with you. Today, my favorite is hot chocolate. I can remember my mom always mixing up a big batch and we would have it all winter. So now, at the first sign of cool weather I run to the store for my ingredients and make up enough to last the whole winter. Here's a great recipe to keep around the house or mix up and give away.

Hot Chocolate
1 lb confectioner's sugar
6 c Nestle Quick
2 1/2 c powdered creamer
8 c instant milk

Mix all ingredients together. 1/4 c to 6 ounces boiling water. Enjoy!

Well, that's it for now folks. Have a good day!

My Favorite Things

2007-12-12T07:48:00.000-06:00

Do you need a really good laugh today? Visit this mockumentary that pays tribute to die-hard scrappers like us. My sis over at Thinks by Me sent it to me the other day and anything she sends is always hilarious!

Well, I am working on my first Shutterfly Photobook! I downloaded the actions from Wendyzine and let me say that they have made life so much simpler. I have to have the book done today though because free shipping ends today and I certainly wouldn't want to lose out on the six or eight dollars. The other thing I have realized is that I have a gadzillion layouts of Brooke, a few of Connor and like three of Liam! How did that happen?!? So, my New Year's Scrapping Resolution is to not forget about my youngest child. I was the youngest of three and I have the least amount of pics of me - you would think I would be sensitive to that. So, I'll be doing a few LOs of him today to add to the book.

Besides my Shutterfly book (for which I am laying out out of kicking to complete - after I blog that is :) I need to clean my house because my inlaws are coming in town on Friday which means my Scrapping computer will not be available to me 24/7. I suppose I'll survive. I also need to make 6 dozen cookies for a cookie swap. My girlfriend, Emma, who is hosting this has decided that this is going to be an upscale cookie swap - I don't think your standard chocolate chip cookies are gonna cut it. So if you have any yummy cookie recipes that taste and look like they are really hard to make but really are very simple, please send them my way!! You can email me at amyscraps at comcast dot net. (Ps - that's not amys craps - that's amy scraps :)

On another note, here's the LO of the day. This is one I did several months ago for the Stand Up and Scrap contest. I did three LOs for it, got stressed and quit :) Contests really aren't my thing but I did get an awesome kit from it. Anyway, I took these photos one morning while the kids were just laying around on my bed. The light was just perfect so I grabbed my camera and shot a few pics. Just take a look at all those rolls Liam has! Credits here.

Well, before I go I thought I would share one of my favorite things. I was thinking about that song this morning, "My Favorite Things" and it inspired me to start from now until Christmas to list my Favorite Things. So here's the first...

My favorite Christmas Song (Religious): Welcome To Our World by Chris Rice

Tears are falling, hearts are breaking
How we need to hear from God
You've been promised, we've been waiting

Welcome Holy Child
Welcome Holy Child

Hope that you don't mind our manger
How I wish we would have known
But long-awaited Holy Stranger
Make Yourself at home
Please make Yourself at home
Bring Your peace into our violence
Bid our hungry souls be filled
Word now breaking Heaven's silence

Welcome to our world
Welcome to our world

Fragile finger sent to heal us
Tender brow prepared for thorn
Tiny heart whose blood will save us
Unto us is born
Unto us is born
So wrap our injured flesh around You
Breathe our air and walk our sod
Rob our sin and make us holy

Perfect Son of God
Perfect Son of God
Welcome to our world

Well, that's it for today! I hope you have a wonderful day and we'll chat again tomorrow. Well, maybe.

The Benson Pharmacy

2007-12-11T10:10:00.001-06:00

Last night we picked up all the prescriptions from our pharmacy and this is what we came home with. I've never been sent home with a brown shopping back from a pharmacy before. We usually come home with the really small white bags. Between Dale and Brooke these are all the medications they are taking. They better be squeaky clean after 6 weeks of all these meds and $180 later! Why do we schedule these appointments at Christmas time? Bad timing....oh well, they'll be feeling fine and dandy for the New Year!

So I finally got the bright idea to take pictures of the children for our Christmas card which has yet to be designed. Maybe it will be a New Year's card! Anyway, this is what I got from Connor! He has this little penchant of turning sulky and pouty for an reason under the sun and getting him out of that mood is impossible! Even the promise of candy didn't get me a smile so after much cajoling from me and much whining from him I just sent him to his room to play until he can work himself into a better mood! We'll try again later maybe...or maybe I'll Christmas card will be of only a family of four this year :)

Finally, here's a page I did over the weekend. I used Cori Gammon's Snow Angels kit. It has lots of pretty, wintery blue papers and elements. It is a scraplift from tnkbuzan @ DST. Her work is absolutely gorgeous - you'll be seeing lots of scraplifts of her in the future :) If you haven't seen any of her work take a moment to visit her gallery. You'll be most inspired!
Credits here.

Allergic to Chocolate?!?

2007-12-10T16:32:00.000-06:00

It's 4:30 pm and I'm just now updating my blog, but for good reason. Dale and Brooke had an appointment this morning - the full-blown deal - all the pricks, x-rays, shots, etc... It took almost 5 hours and Brooke was such a little trooper. She didn't cry at all with the series of pricks on her back. Once she found out that they had to give her 6 "shots" after her daddy only had to have two she panicked a little and cried for a minute or two. But, she was really, really brave. The outcome was that they both have LOTS of allergies. Poor Brooke is allergic to chocolate. How unfair is that for a little girl?!? Anyway, we came home with quite a regimen of medication for the next 6 weeks until our follow-up to see how she and Dale are doing.

In other news, it was quite a laid back weekend except for the 3 parties we attended - 1 on Friday and 2 on Saturday evening. I did quite a bit of scrapping Friday and Saturday. We did nothing on Saturday except lay around the house which was awesome!

This is a LO I did using the collab kit, Merry Holiday by Jomi and Jackie Eckles. Credits here.

2007-12-07T08:53:00.000-06:00

Yay! It's Friday!! It's rainy and chilly here but I don't really care because I can stay in the house most of the day. Dale is off to SMART this morning with Brooke and he took Connor along so I'm here with only Liam. I've got the laundry going and that's about all I'm going to be doing today. We have a Christmas party to go to tonight so it will be kind of date for Dale and me.

Brooke has been quite funny lately. Actually, she always is. She is just so matter of fact about things and she just says whatever is on her mind. (Kind of like her mommy - Dale says I have no inner monologue!) I don't think I'm quite that bad - well, I know what what I'm thinking that never get said :)

Anyway, I went in to her class to sub on Monday so her teacher could go out to lunch with all the other Kindergarten teachers. I was there for 1 1/2 hours so I sent about 45 min in the classroom "teaching" and then the rest of the time was spent at lunch. Mrs Barnhill had them all on the reading rug and so I read them a story and we reviewed some "I" words and did a few other things. Well, as the kids got used to me they got increasingly more rowdy so I kept having to give them "looks" and firmly, but sweetly :) tell them to sit down and be quiet. Well, Brooke suggested several times that I pull their cards (Mrs. Barnhill's discipline measure - by the 3rd pulled card you are in big trouble), but I refrained. Well, when Dale got home that night he asked Brooke if she was excited that Mommy got to come to her class. Her response was, "Yes, but I don't think she handled the kids very well! She had to get yelly several times." Apparently I'm not quite as accomplished at substituting as I thought I was :) Well, that's fine by me - it just gives me an excuse to stay home and scrap!

Here's a LO I did with Jomi's new Grateful kit found at www.thedigichick.com. This picture is of me, my amazing sister and my sweet Aunt Bunni. The journaling reads:
Aunt Bunni, You have always been such an important part of our lives. Many times you have been like a mom to us - you certainly love us as much as any mother would. We have so many wonderful memories of you and our family gatherings are never complete without you. I love you so much and I know that Jennifer would say the same. So, from us to you, the most wonderful Aunt a niece could have...we love you! Amy & Jennifer

Credits here.

2007-12-06T07:02:00.001-06:00

Jomi has a beautiful kit out today at the DigiChick called Grateful. The colors are really gorgeous and I can't wait to use it later today. I think I know of just the pictures that will be perfect for this kit. So be watching for a LO to come.

I got this little Christmas Survey from Monique's Scrappin' Blog. I thought I'd fill it out for myself.

1. Christmas tree up yet? Two of them. The family tree that we all decorate and Mommy's tree with all the breakable ornaments

2. Any Christmas decorations up yet? Everything that is going to be put up is up.

3. What are you asking for for Christmas? A kitchen table and a camera. Well, I'm not really asking for them because I don't want Dale to spend the money on them but if I were asking that's what it would be.

4.What do you usually do on Christmas Eve? We go to our 6 pm Christmas Eve service and then we come home and set out cookies and carrots for Santa and the reindeer and write Santa a Thank You note. When the kids are in bed I finish wrapping presents while I'm watching a Christmas movie.

5. What do you usually do on Christmas Day? We get up early and open gifts and then the in-laws come over and we do it all again. Somewhere in there we start cooking for lunch and cleaning up. This year I'm thinking that eating out might be a good idea ;)

6. Do you own any Christmas clothes or jewelry? A few pairs of socks

7. Do you use white or colored Christmas lights? I switch back and forth...this year I'm using all white.

8. Do you bake Christmas cookies? I do and I eat most of them myself ;)

9. Do you buy Christmas presents for your whole family? For my side yes, for the in-laws we drew names this year.

10. How many friends do you buy presents for? A few.

11. Is there a Santa Claus? Am I reading this question right? How can somebody even ask that ?!? Of course there's a Santa Clause...he lives right near the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy.

12. Favorite Christmas Carol? This isn't really a carol but my favorite Christmas song is Chris Rice's, "Welcome to Our World"

13. Would you rather it be a white Christmas, or a warm Christmas? White, White White!!! We lived in Naples, FL for several years and my in-laws would come for Christmas and want to go to the beach on Christmas Eve. I boycotted. I stayed home and baked and did Christmasy things - and turned the A/C way down.

14. Was last year a good christmas? Yes

15. Which Christmas color do you like better? RED or GREEN? Green

16. Do you get a real Christmas tree, or is it artificial? We got a real one for several years but right now we are only doing artificial. Soon we'll go back to getting a real one again.

17. When you get older, will you get a real or artificial tree? Hmmm....hadn't thought about it.

18. Do you hang stockings? Yes

19. When opening presents, does your family all open them at the same time? We try to open them in an orderly fashion but the kids get really excited.

20. What is usually in your stocking? Always Avon lotion from my MIL.

21. Do you get up early on Christmas day? Yes

22. Does your family eat breakfast before or after opening presents? After

23. Do you have a favorite ornament you hang on the tree? I have several.....my Grandmother started getting me the White House ornament every year and now my mom buys it for me so I have a whole set of those. Then when I was maybe five my mom bought me a little angel ornament and I just LOVE it. My favorite ornament though is one I don't hang on the tree. My husband (then boyfriend) bought me a bride and groom glass ornament and put the ring on it and proposed to me when we were putting up his Christmas tree one year.

24. What Christmas movie do you like to watch the most? My absolute favorite is White Christmas, but I must also watch "The Grinch" (old and new), "While You Were Sleeping" "Miracle on 34th Street" (new), Holiday Inn, When Harry Met Sally (they end up together on New Year's Eve) and any Christmas movie on TV.

25. What do you like better, Christmas Eve or Christmas Day? Christmas Eve. I'm always a little bit sad when Christmas day arrives. I love the whole preparation and excitement up to Christmas Day.

Christmas Cheer

2007-12-05T22:13:00.000-06:00

For a little Christmas cheer take a look at this!

2007-12-05T11:15:00.000-06:00

It has been an insanely busy past few days. I kind of don't know what to do with myself today. I went to kickboxing this morning and when I got home I realized that I just don't have anything to do except to catch up on blogging and scrapbookin! Well, except for the laundry that has been ignored the last few days while I have been in my cleaning and decorating frenzy. Oh, and I do need to clean up a little from last night, and design my Christmas cards, and order some magnets for stocking stuffers, etc... I guess I do have some things to do today but I think I'll ignore them and wait until tomorrow :) A girl does need a bit of downtime in this busy holiday season. Jomi is coming out with a new kit tomorrow, (I think?) and so of course I need to do a LO or two with it.

Anyhoo, back to the party last night. We had a really great time. We went out to dinner to Monell's which is a family style restaurant in downtown Franklin. From the front it looks very small but once you get inside it is quite large. In fact, it was the original jail (Frankin at one time was the capital of TN) and so they still have some of the bars up AND they have not removed the part of the floor that would drop out when people were hanged. Now, that does sound quite gruesome but there are no hangings on record. They have the records of where people were sentenced to hang but apparently the judge never went through with the hanging sentences (and if he did they didn't record it.)

After dinner we came back to our house for coffee and White Elephant gifts (gag gifts and anything you find around your house you don't want.) I think the best gift was the NFCN 2007 Ornament Collection. Kim, the office manager got a little crafty as you can see here. Dale ended up with it and he has tucked neatly in the back of his closet because it will come out again for next year's gift exchange ;) After the adults finished with their gift exchange Santa arrived with presents for the little ones.

They had such a great time and Bill (a man from our church) is an awesome Santa. He starts growing his beard and hair out at the end of summer so he has perfect "Santa hair" :) Here are some pics of the kids with Santa.

Monday again!?!

2007-12-03T08:34:00.000-06:00

Wow! The weekend just flew by. We of course went to see White Christmas Friday night and then Saturday morning we had an event at church and then a SS party Saturday night. Yesterday morning the children had their Christmas program, we had a birthday lunch for Megan and then last night after church we went out to eat with some friends. It sure would be nice to have a day to recuperate from the weekend.

Well, amid all the craziness I did carve out a little time to scrap (I had to stay up till 1am to do it ;) I couldn't really get into the Christmas spirit on my blog until I decorated it (with my banner) and then I did a cute LO of Dale and Brooke. This picture was taken last Christmas morning but the traditional Christmas kits jut didn't fit it so I used a mix of things from my favorite designers. Credits here.

2007-12-01T09:53:00.000-06:00

I don't usually blog on Saturday b/c there's either not much going on or not enough time to sit down for a few minutes at the computer. But, I thought I'd share my little surprise from yesterday.

Yesterday morning I was sitting at this very spot blogging and browsing blogs (just taking a break from all my cleaning and decorating:) when my hubby called me to tell me a few things and then to remind me to be ready by 5pm b/c some friends were coming by to pick us up. Well, I immediately went into panic mode b/c I had arranged the babysitter for 5pm TONIGHT for our SS Class party and I thought I had made the arrangements for the wrong date. (We have about 8 parties we have to attend in the next 2 weeks so I've been a little stressed about the schedule/babysitting anyway) Well after a minute or so of panic he told me he was taking me to see Irving Berlin's White Christmas at TPAC. That is my FAVORITE Christmas movie and I was ecstatic all day!! We had a nice, relaxing dinner out with our friends and then we went to see the show.

We got home about 11:30 and I was so exhausted I could hardly keep my eyes open. For some reason, unbeknowst to logical part of my brain, I turned the TV on and started watching For the Love of the Game. I thought it was probably half-way through. Nope, I caught it at the very beginning and ended up watching the whole thing! Well, thankfully Dale let me sleep till 9:30 while he got the kids dressed and took them into church for a family Christmas event at church. I'm off to get dressed and head there myself in a few minutes. Daddy is being very good this Christmas - I'm thinking Santa might be bringing him something very nice!

2007-11-30T07:04:00.000-06:00

Amazingly enough, after the stress of finding out my house needed to be party ready by Tuesday I got one Christmas tree up and decorated along with my manger scene and other decorations downstairs. When Dale got home he and the kids put the big family tree up in the family room and it is now awaiting the lights. I left Dale and the kids to finish that task and Brooke was busily delegating to Connor and Liam. It is hilarious, no matter what we are doing she always has a plan for organization. She is her Mamma's girl!

Today Dale will take Brooke to school and stay with her through the first hour to help with SMART and then I'll go in to help in the library for an hour or so. Let me just say this, I now know that I did not miss my calling by not being a librarian. Re-shelving books is not really my idea of fun, but hey, someone has to do it! I have gotten re-acquainted with the Dewey Decimal system though. After that we'll put the lights on the tree (I'm contemplating whether to do colored or white) and we'll have it all ready to decorate when Brooke gets home from school.

Here's another LO I did while in Texas. This is such a great photo (my niece, Mallory took it) and the kit by Jomi is just beautiful! Credits here.

2007-11-29T11:42:00.001-06:00

Well it's 11:45 and I'm just now sitting down to update my blog. Usually I get up b/f the kids in the morning and do a few things on the computer b/f I start my day but this morning I was so tired I slept until Brooke had to get up. Which means that I have been going non-stop since 7am. I dropped Brooke off at school and then rushed to the Y for my AquaFit class. It's my same perky, pregnant kick-boxing instructor that teaches it so it's a great workout. I'm always late b/c it's an 8:30 am class and I drop Brooke off at 8:15.

Anyway, a few weeks ago I laid out of my Thursday AquaFit class (I thought I needed a break) but I found out that my teacher taught one on Fridays as well so I decided I would just go to that one. Well, I was late as usual so I walked into the pool and there were about twenty 70 year olds. I was the youngest by about 25 years. Andrea (the teacher) said my eyes got about as big as saucers but I got my weights and went right on in. It was pretty funny actually! Let me say that I haven't skipped out on my Thursday class since then ;)

Dale called me this morning to tell me that we were having a staff gathering at our house next Tuesday evening. So, all my scrapping plans for this week/weekend have gone out the window. I'll be furiously cleaning and decorating my house (which is what really needed to be done anyway. So, I'll be posting no new LOs for a few days. It's a good thing I have several I made over Thanksgiving that I haven't posted yet ;) I took this picture last Feb and have actually used it in another LO but I love it so much I wanted to use it again. Credits here. This one is using several of Jomi's kits. Her designs are just fabulous - I can always come up with something good when I use them!

Well, it's off to starting the cleaning, laundry and decorating. Fun time :) I hear some crashing and banging in the kitchen - I better go see what's happening.

Wrapped with a bow

2007-11-28T06:47:00.000-06:00

I tell you what, with all these Christmas kits I'll be getting caught up with all my Christmas photos in no time! Here's another page made with the Boyful Christmas Collab kit by Cori Gammon and ChereKaye. This is Liam's cousin Megan. I don't think she needs any presents for Christmas - only this little bundle of love :) Credits here.

Now onto today. Let's see....in a couple minutes I'll be going down to wrestle Brooke out of bed for school. That is my LEAST favorite part of the day. She is not a morning person and so every morning it takes forever to wake her up. I have to use a mix of tickling and threats. We have 12 long years of this, people. Then it's off to kickboxing with my 6 mos pregnant instructor who is perkier and in better shape than me and then lunch with a couple girlfriends to plan the gifts we are going to make for teachers this year. I'm so glad I have a friend who is crafty with paper and stamps. I DO NOT enjoy paper crafts ( I know, a great downfall on my part) but why do I need to be crafty when I have friends who are? Anyway, I wonder why I never get anything done around my house...I guess this is why.

2007-11-27T06:46:00.000-06:00

Being on vacation is such a treat as far as scrapping goes because I don't have to feel guilty about the other 20 million things I should be doing. I didn't scrap as much as I thought I would though because we played Dominoes till all hours of the morning and I was too strung out on caffeine each day trying to make up for the lack of sleep ( two year olds don't sleep any later even though it's vacation :)

Here are a couple of LOs I did while I was away. This first one was taken at Megan's wedding in Destin. I could kick myself because I hardly took any pictures. I guess I was just too busy running around after my three little ones. This is one of the few pics that I have.
The journaling reads: June 2007: We were dressed up at the beach this particular evening for Megan’s rehearsal but you two couldn’t resist running and playing in the sand. So I took the opportunity to snap some pictures of you. Because of the demands of the wedding this is one of the few pictures I have.

This next LO was done for the monthly Scrapper's Guide Premier tutorial gallery. Every month Linda Sattgast sends a tutorial on how to design something and this month it was designing ribbons. We use the tutorial and then make a LO using that month's kit that is also provided with the Premier membership. So, I'm proud to say that the ribbons on this page are my creation :) This picture was taken Oct. 2006 one our now annual visit to Gentry's Farm.

Credits for both LOs here.

Thanksgiving Fun with Family

2007-11-26T12:51:00.000-06:00

We're back from Thanksgiving but I'm not ready for Thanksgiving to be over yet :( We had such a great time in Texas with my mom and stepdad and my sister and her family and of course Aunt Buni - oh, and I better not forget Jen Jones! We had one long week of just being together and pretty much living on top of each other. But that's okay - every once in a while you just need to submerse yourself in family and friend ;)

Jen drove with me to Texas on Friday - Dale had to be at church on Sunday so he flew in on Monday. So Jen and I started out on Friday about 5 pm and from the start the trip was doomed...we went the long way through town during rush hour and then we had several never-ending potty breaks. By 10pm when we got to Memphis (it should have taken us 3 hours - not 5) I'd had enough so we stopped at a hotel. I thought things couldn't get any worse but the next morning we once again took a wrong turn and by 4 pm when we rolled into Longview we were on the verge of being comatose. I thought Jen was going to run for the nearest airport and fly home...but she didn't!

Thankfully the rest of the week was just laid back and fun. We scrapped, made cards (well, Jen did) played lots of Dominoes and ate way too much food! In spin class this morning I was feeling the effects of all the rest and relaxation - my body was not happy with me! Another perk was that we got to see my Uncle Dave and Aunt Susan and their family. They drove over from San Antonio where Dave is stationed so we spent Friday afternoon and evening with them. It was so great for our families to catch up and to just be together! We do not get to see them nearly often enough and so when we do it is quite a treat.

Now we're back and Brooke is wondering why the whole neighborhood is decorated for Christmas and our house isn't. So, I've got to get unpacked, the house cleaned and ready to put the tree up on Friday.

Frazzled....WHO ME??

2007-11-15T06:55:00.000-06:00

So I'm feeling a little frazzled today. About 3:30 am Connor walks over to Dale's side of the bed and whispers, "Daddy, my have to go pee,pee." So I go into the bathroom with him to make sure he makes it in time. He was pretty desperate. And of course, my eyes were as wide as they could be after with all the things I have to do today running through my head. I have MOMents tomorrow (it's our version of MOPS group (Mothers of Preschoolers) and up until now I've been quite organized with everything. Well, it dawned on me that the book I took to church last night to copy cookie jar recipe tags is MIA. I did not bring it home and I have no idea where I put it. Of course, it has the cookie jar recipe instructions along with the ingredient list of things that I was supposed to pick up at Costco this morning. So, needless to say, I'm a little panicked.

Then after I got up and went to right my "to do" list down so that I could go to sleep I start thinking of the conversation I had with my "blog stalking" friend last night at church. She thinks she stalks my blog b/c she visits it more than once a day. Hey, I'm flattered even if she only visits to link to all the other sites I have listed! Anyway, she is interested in digiscrapping and so of course I was thinking of all the stuff she needs to know about that.

As if that weren't enough we are leaving for TX tomorrow to go to my moms for Thanksgiving and while we are there we will be having Christmas. Well, I'm not prepared for the little Christmas time even though I'm the one that suggested it. Of course my sister who always buys the perfect gifts is 100% prepared. I should really hire her to be my personal shopper because she always has the most clever ideas when it comes to gifts. Me, I overthink it way too much and end up with something that is just hohum compared to hers. I'm not jealous or anything, I'm just saying... ;) Of course, I'm always happy to be the recipient of her gifts. So, of course she has found the perfect little something for my husband who is difficult to buy for because he just doesn't ask for alot and she has found something for our stepdad who is impossible to buy for - what do you buy someone who has everything? Of course, I have nothing for her husband or for my stepdad. I'll be calling her AGAIN today for ideas!

2007-11-14T07:01:00.000-06:00

Here's a LO I did for the Stand Up and Scrap contest. The question was, "If you could have one dream come true, what would it be?" That was a really difficult question because I just don't think about that kind of thing very much. I'm much more of a practical, day to day person and if you can't have something why think about it? :) So, it took me severals days to cipher on it and this is what I came up with...

Journaling:
My Dear Sister,
I was recently asked the question, “If you could have one dream come true, what would it be?” I really don’t fancy myself a dreamer, but, it suddenly came to me. It wasn’t a dream job, a dream house, or a dreamy husband. It was this...if I could have one dream come true it would be to live near you. When I was sixteen years old you moved away and for the past eighteen years we’ve lived miles apart only seeing each other once or twice a year. I’ve already missed your kids’ growing up but how I wish you could be here to see mine as they grow. I wish we could meet at Starbucks or go the movies. I wish we could see each other at church and eat dinner together during the week. I wish we could share clothes, aerobic classes and friends. I wish we could spend the nitty-gritty, run-of-the-mill days together. I wish...I wish... But, even if this dream never becomes reality I will always be thankful for you, my sister, no matter the distance that separates us.

Credits here.

100% Fine

2007-11-12T14:07:00.000-06:00

It's kind of funny but for some reason I never scrap page of my sweet husband. Well, today I did because I had this awesome kit by Jomi van Bekkum called Groovy Love and it just inspired me. I came across these pics today and new EXACTLY what I was going to use to scrap them.

These pics were taken back in August during our church's softball league. Dale is on the "old guys" league but they outplayed the spring chickens this year. I was very proud of him. Can you believe a 38 year old still has moves? :)

The journaling says: It’s been a long time since you played high school and college baseball, but you still have what it takes. When I watch you play I’m so glad that you are mine, mine, mine.... all mine! So, baby, even if you think your reflexes are a little slow and your arm isn’t quite the gun it used to be just remember that when I watch you play all I see is the 100% fine man that you are.

Cookies for Santa

2007-11-10T09:12:00.001-06:00

Here's another Christmas layout for you. This time I used Cori Gammon's Funky Christmas kit and I think it is so cute! I love the non-traditional, fun papers - especially for fun things like decorating cookies. The journaling says: "We made cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve. Only the Santa who lives at our house would want to eat them because we spread the icing with our fingers, licking after each spread, and then we decorated them with sprinkles. We had to lick our fingers some more to get the sprinkles to stick to the icing. I’m not sure who got more sugar, us or Santa." Credits here.

Baby Brooke

2007-11-08T14:23:00.000-06:00

I'm trying to get caught up on the kits I'm using from Jenny Binder so I went way back in my photo file and pulled a few pics of Brooke. I can't believe how awful the quality is. We had a camcorder that also was supposed to be a digital camera. Well, it wasn't. I wish I would have figured that out b/f we had babies. It's quite depressing actually, but oh well. Credits here.

Santa Secrets

2007-11-08T14:19:00.000-06:00

It's not even Thanksgiving and I'm already doing Christmas LOs. But, all the Christmas kits are coming out so I have to get the pages done to post in the galleries. Here's one of Brooke from last year that I did with two of Cori Gammon's Christmas kits - Classic Christmas and Homespun Holiday.

Last year we had one of the men from church, Bill Jones, come to our staff Christmas party and hand out gifts to the kids. He starts growing out his hair in the late summer and then he dyes it around Christmas time. He definitely makes a pretty believable Santa!

Credits here.

Adorable

2007-11-03T22:28:00.001-06:00

Here's a LO I did of Brooke today. The other afternoon during Connor's soccer practice she spent probably 30 minutes rolling in the grass, crawling like a lion, picking flowers and singing. She was completely off in her own little world and it made me wish that sometimes I could be just like that - doing my own thing and not concerned one bit about what others would think. However, I think someone would call the loony police to come pick me up if they saw me crawling through a field of grass :)

By the way, this kit is from the new designer, Jomi van Bekkum that I'm creating for. I love it!

Credits here.

Sweet Baby Connor

2007-11-03T13:33:00.000-06:00

I am very behind in my scrapbooking. But as Cathy Zielske says, who would ever want to be caught up? You wouldn't have anything left to scrapbook. Well, the fact still remains that I'm behind and I still have not done a baby book for my 3 1/2 year old, Connor. So I did a page today. It's called baby steps. Not, the page - the process. I'm one of those who gets very overwhelmed by "projects" so I have to take it one LO at a time. Since I do have a whole baby book to do for Connor and then for Liam I'm going to keep it pretty simple. Well, I say that now - we'll see how it goes.

Credits here.

I'm being published!

2007-11-01T21:00:00.000-06:00

Well, my work is anyway. This is a first for me so I'm feeling a little ecstatic about it. The best part is that I get paid for it. Maybe this addiction is worth my time after all :) One of my layouts of Connor is being published in the April/May 2008 issue of Digital Scrapbook Magazine. They sure aren't procrastinators, are they?

I'm feelin' happy!

2007-10-30T13:58:00.000-06:00

Well, I'm feeling pretty good about things today! I've been chosen to be on two new Creative Teams. I've explained this before but basically I get free products to make layouts with. I use the products from my designers to make my layouts (I can mix them with other products not from my designers) , post them to galleries, everyone falls in love with the products and runs to go buy the products! Well, in a perfect digiscrapping world that's how it's supposed to work.

I can't say yet who the first designer is because she wants to announce her new CT formally at one of the galleries. I applied for this team b/c her designs are fabulous and I was thrilled when she offered me a permanent position.

The second designer I'm going to be working with is Jenny Binder from Scrapper's Guide - the one and only place to really learn digital scrapbooking. I always refer anyone whose interested in digital scrapping to this site. I have truly learned everything I know from here.

The other day I was browsing through the forum and I realized that I had two personal messages. I NEVER get personal messages so I never even check. Well, there was one from Jenny asking me if I would be on her Creative Team. I hadn't even applied! The problem was that she had sent me the PM about 3 weeks prior so I assumed that it was too late. Then there was another PM from one of the Forum Moderators asking if I would be on Jenny's team. Well, I replied to both, apologized profusely and begged to still be able to have the opportunity because I really like Jenny's work as well. The neat thing about working with Jenny is that we are very similar. She is a Christian and very involved in church with three children close to the same ages as mine and a little girl named Brooklyn - go figure. Could this be from God ? :) Me thinks maybe.

So, anyway, all that to say, I'm feeling happy!

Fright Night

2007-10-28T20:51:00.000-06:00

I'm a firm believer in scrapping all of life...the good, the bad and the not so pretty :) I hope dear Aunt Bunni agrees.

Two years ago she had knee replacement surgery a day or so before halloween and she was so sad that she wasn't going to get to see her great nieces and nephews all dressed up! So, being the sweet nephew and niece that William and I are, we marched Snow White and the "Dorf" , the pumpkin, the chef and the doctor through the hospital and to her room. We made quite a rucus but I don't think anyone minded being that the kids were so doggone cute!

Journaling: It is a bit unusual to take little trick-or-treaters to the hospital on Halloween but that’s what you do when Great Aunt Bunni just had knee replacement surgery. Luckily, we had a doctor among us to make sure that all was well with the patient. We think Aunt Bunni wins the prize for the best costume!

Credits here.

Kermit Conspires

2007-10-21T14:17:00.001-05:00

This photo was taken when Brooke was two years old. By that time she was fiercely resisting naps so I would let her read books on her bed. This particular day the "Kermit the Hermit" book apparently just put her right to sleep. It is sad when even your books conspire against you
to get you to take a nap!

Credits here.

Make-up

2007-10-18T15:00:00.001-05:00

Brooke was such a mischievious little girl. I often found her doing things that caused messes which I would then have to clean up. She was always so cute though that I usually got my camera and then cleaned up whatever it was that needed cleaning. In this instance it was her face. She had the make-up not only on her but on the bathroom counter, the floor the rugs and anywhere else her hands had touched. I won't complain because it was perfect material for scrapping!

Journaling: Feb 2004, Brooke loves dressing up and she especially loves make-up. I found her this particular day in my bathroom with her make-up kit and she had applied about a two inch layer. I suppose this is only a foreshadowing os what's to come.
Credits here.

My Love You

2007-10-18T14:48:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure when we started doing the sign for "I Love You" but that is now Connor's favorite way to show is affection. It is usually followed by the "pinky promise." I'm not sure what we are promising - maybe our eternal and undying love for one another. But, many times Connor will poke me and I'll look down and there he is doing the "I love you" sign and he'll say ever so softly and sweetly, "my love you, Mommy." Is there anything else a mommy needs to see or hear? I don't think so. Credits here.

The Beauty of Digital Scrapbooking

2007-10-15T22:16:00.000-05:00

I love digital scrapbooking! Have I said that before? If not, let me say it again. I LOVE Digital scrapbooking! Why, you ask? Well, for one thing, it is so compact. We are on a trip to my dad's and all I did was grab my external harddrive which is a very small "box". I hooked it up to Dale's computer once we got here and I've been scrapping away all day while the kids have been playing with their cousins. I set the computer up right at Tammy's dining room table and scrapped while I was visiting with her. So, once again, I love digital scrapbooking!

Anyway, here's the story on this LO. At the beginning of summer Connor was pretty afraid of the "big pool." He played mostly in the baby pool with Liam and was completely content. He took swimming lessons and didn't really like them but he came away with quite a sense of confidence - even though he still couldn't really swim. His little arms and legs flail in every direction but he doesn't seem to come to the surface very well for air. So, we are still working on this skill. Well, we were at some friends house and although he can't swim well by himself he has lost his fear of the water which isn't necessarily a good thing. Here he is jumping off the diving board assured that Daddy will be waiting!

Credits here.

2007-10-12T00:03:00.000-05:00

I've been busy the last day or two. I've got several kits that I need to make layouts for so I'm trying to whip through them.

This first layout is one of Brooke when she was three. I love all the faces she gave the camera when I caught her smearing on her make-up. I have a feeling when she's a teenager I'll have to give her a lesson on "a little goes a long way." Credits here.

Journaling: Feb 2004, Brooke loves dressing up and she especially loves make-up. I found her this particular day in my bathroom with her make-up kit and she had applied about a two inch layer. I suppose this is only a foreshadowing os what's to come.

My second layout is a picture that I came across last night. Megan took this of Brooke when she was visiting us in FL one Christmas. I think it is such a great picture and I had forgotten all about it! Credits here.

Autumn Splendor

2007-10-05T23:04:00.000-05:00

It's getting to be that time of year and so I was in the mood to do some fall layouts. This picture is two years old from a trip we took to visit my family in NC. Lucky for me, I was provided with this awesome kit because I was chosen to be a guest CT member (Creative Team) for Cori Gammon. Her designs are really fun and beautiful. You can see for yourself at the digichick and elemental scraps.

Being on CTs really pays off because you get to scrap with great products for free just for promoting the designers. I'm not sure who gets the better end of the deal - us or them :) But I'm not complaning!

Credits here.

2007-10-04T23:21:00.001-05:00

Wow, has it really been almost a month since I posted anything? Well, my excuse this time - and i always have excuses - is that I am doing the Stand Up and Scrap contest. It's a 6 week contest and basically for me it's just a way to get me out of the little box I scrap in. So, I've done 2 layouts for that but I can't post them until the 6 week contest it over. So, the good news is that you'll get to see 6 LOs at once :)

I did manage to whip this one together tonight. I was a little behind on using Heather's latest kit so I needed to get a LO done and posted to the galleries.

Credits are here.

Addicted to Scrappin?

2007-09-07T22:50:00.000-05:00

At Sweet Shoppe this week they posed the question, "How do you kill time on-line?" What is my favorite "non-scrapping" internet time waster? I must say that pretty much- well all my "fun" time online is scrap related. Does this mean I'm addicted? I believe so. Now, if I were my sister, or my friend JJ (you know who you are) I could list a gadzillion websites that I HAVE to peruse daily. But for me, I'm happy spending all my time scrappin'!

Mischief

2007-09-07T22:19:00.001-05:00

I took this pic last year of the kids and I just thought it was so cute! They were so intent on what they were doing it never even dawned on them that maybe they shouldn't be putting their dirty feet in our water pitcher.

CREDITS:
Scraplift for 9/2/07 Lifts with a Twist by Laviconi @ DST.

Kit: Jomi van Bekkum
Fonts: Arial, Donny's Hand & Eight Fifteen
Journaling:
You call it fun...I call it mischief. I should have know something was amiss when I heard the kitchen sink continually running. However, I was a little too busy scrapbooking to check on you two and when I finally arrived in the kitchen it was to find you both enjoying yourselves immenslely, playing in the water and washing your feet in the water pitcher. I scolded you for good measure and then ran to get the camera. It was just too cute and who cares about a little toe jam in the water anyway?

An evening at the Park

2007-08-30T21:40:00.001-05:00

Dale's softball season just ended so we went to watch him play at one of his last games. One of the parks where he plays has a really nice playground and the kids really enjoyed playing before the game started.

Credits:
Kit: Background Papers, Ribbon, Charms, Buttons, staple, & paperclip from the Toddler Time kit by Angela Barton & Heather Roselli @ sweetshoppedesigns
Frame collage: Carrie Stephens @ fishscraps
Note Paper: Heather Manning @digitalscrapbooking.org
Date Stamp: Christy Lyle @ sweetshoppedesigns

Journaling:
August 2007
Liam at almost 22 months
An evening in the park before Daddy's softball game. What a joy to watch you laugh and play.

Raindrops keep fallin'

2007-08-30T13:07:00.000-05:00

Credits:
Background Paper & Inked Edge: Linda Sattgast @ scrapper'sguide.com
Note paper, Metal link frame & charms: Heather Manning @ digitalscrapbooking.org
Raindrops: Ida @ catscrap.com (Doodles Fall)
Clouds & Sunshine: Carrie Stephens' Sunshine & Rainbows kit @ fishscraps.com
Date Stamp: Christy Lyle @ sweetshoppedesigns.com
Font: Donny's Hand

Brooke's 1st day of Kindergarten

2007-08-29T10:06:00.001-05:00

This is was a big day for us. I thought we were both really ready for her to go to kindergarten but it's been pretty lonely around here without "sissy" around. And after the first couple days of school she has been pretty sad each morning to have to leave her brothers at home. She seems to think that they are having too much fun without her. If she only knew :)

Credits
Papers: Heather Manning's Katiana's Sundress kit
Frame: Heather Manning's All Bent Up Frames
Swirls: Fran Seiford's Love Potion Kit
Fonts: Black Jack, Kristen ITC, Garamond

Journaling:
Brooke, I cannot believe that your first day of kindergarten has arrived. You have grown so quickly it seems. You are the light in your Daddy’s eye and the joy of your Mommy’s heart. We are so proud of the unique and bright and beautiful 5 year old you have become. Today you start a new journey and we are so excited for you - for what and who you will become. We are praying that as you grow in knowledge that your heart will always stay as tender as it is today. We pray for each teacher who will guide you that they will only teach you good and

Completely and Totally Happy

2007-08-28T22:10:00.001-05:00

These pics were taken at Megan's wedding in Destin, FL. Being on the beach in the warm sun was so relaxing. The kids loved it! Today Connor saw this layout and he said, "My want to go back to the beach." You know, we used to live 5 miles from the beach. What were we thinking?

Credits:
Stitching: Heather Manning's Katiana's Sundress Kit
All other papers & Elements: Heather Manning's Jordan's Sandy Beach kit

It's A Guy Thing

2007-08-21T21:27:00.000-05:00

I really think these pictures speak for themselves. Randy took these at Liam's 1st b'day party and I've been waiting to scrap them (I'm not sure why...I guess I haven't been inspired). I think they are so cute and so hilarious!

Credits:
Red Cardstock & Staples: Angela Barton's Toddlertime kit @ Sweet Shoppe Remaining papers & elements: Miss Mint's Little Bug Kit @ Peppermint Creative Date Stamp: Christy Lyle @ Sweet Shoppe

My Beautiful Boy

2007-08-08T21:54:00.001-05:00

I am really pleased with this layout. This is a beautiful kit by Gina Cabrera and it's the Kit of the Month at Digishoptalk. I'm going to do a page for "My Beatiful Girl" and "My Beautiful Baby" so stop back by.

Journaling:
You are truly and completely beautiful! Your sunkissed hair, your deep blue eyes, your pale and perfect skin. Your long eyelashes, the tiny freckles on your nose and the little mole on your temple. Your infections giggle which turns into gales of laughter. Your sweet and sensitive nature. Your complete love for your brother and sister. You ARE the most beautiful boy I’ve ever seen.

Credits:
Gina Cabrera's Summertime fun kit.
Font: Futura Bk, Eight Fi