Where do the years go???

My baby boy is 3 years old today!!! Where do the years go, seriously? It really doesn't seem like 3 years since we brought little Zachary home from the hospital!

Zach is such a fun little boy...he loves Thomas the train and Little Einsteins....playing outside with his brother/sister, and is a total Momma's boy! The first thing he said when he woke up (after giving me a big hug around my knees) was "I love you Momma!". That's the best morning greeting ever! What a sweet little boy!

So Zach had a Little Einsteins Birthday party today.....and his Momma worked REALLY hard to make a REALLY COOL cake.....and I think I did pretty good:



Zach absolutely LOVED the cake.....as I was working on it, he'd come running up to me in the kitchen and say, "that my rocket cake?"....."my rocket birthday cake?"...he was SOOOO excited! That made all the hard work worth it....plus, I'm like the envy of the other moms at the moment! :P



His favorite present was, of course.....a Rocket of his very own.....unfortunately, Mommy and Auntie Stacy never discussed what gifts we were getting for Zach.....so Mommy quickly hid the OTHER rocket......and it'll get returned later! :P oops!



and there was also some cool Thomas stuff:


It took him awhile to actually get the candle blown out....he wasn't blowing very hard and didn't want to get too close to "that hot candle!"......


So I think Zach had a pretty good birthday party. My whole family was here, as well as our friends, the Loftus family. The weather was great and it was a lot of fun for everybody!!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Zach!!! :P

Back to Busy, Busy, Busy! :D

I'm so bummed that this month has flown by so fast! My guest-CT gig at Scrap Matters is drawing to a close....I even got an error today telling me I'd exceed the use of the coupon code for downloading stuff...I guess that's their way of saying, "that's all the freebies you get, girl!" :P I have a couple more layouts to finish with stuff I've downloaded, and then that's it. I applied for a permanent position on the CT, but didn't make it (I'm REALLY bummed about that!), so I'm trying to make the most of this last week, and was doing pretty good until I got locked out. oh well!!!

so, aside from scrapping, it's been a busy week.....School time again!!! Alaina and Matthew's first day of school was this past Wednesday. I'm too lazy to resize pictures, but I posted them on my Facebook account! :P Matthew's in 1st grade and his teacher is Miss Beauchamp (same teacher Alaina had), and since there's only one class for each grade, all his little friends are with him again.....and the way they have their desks arranged, he's surrounded by GIRLS!!! :D hahahahahahaha..... but so far he likes 1st grade he says.

Alaina's in 3rd grade and her teacher is Mrs. Medford. She's super excited because the 3rd grade class moved upstairs at the school, which is where the 'big kids' are, so now she's officially a big kid! To her this is "awesome".....to me, I just **sniff** and wonder where my little baby girl went!! Not only is she getting too old too fast, but we can hardly keep up with her growth....we've taken to calling her Sasquatch, because in the spring, we bought her new gym shoes 'cuz she'd outgrown hers for PE.....in a WOMENS size 5.......I thought SURELY she hasn't outgrown them already by August.....but oh yes, she did! We ended up getting her a pair of womens' size 6 tennis shoes. At this rate, I"m thinking she'll have like size 14 feet or something. :P Sasquatch!!! but she got the same shoes Vanessa Hudgens wears.....apparently that's a big thing to a 3rd grader! So she's happy, that's what matters!

And little Zach....didn't get to start PreK YET......we're pretty confident (thanks to our pestering of the school administrators and teaching staff in charge of such things!) that he'll be starting PreK with the 'late start' group sometime in September. So we're working really hard on the potty-training thing so that he can be as ready as possible when he gets to go to 'kewl' with Bubby and Lai-Lai. Then I'll really be **sniff**-ing......all 3 kids in school? where does the time go?

Aside from school, Karl and I took a CPR class Monday night......way-exciting of course. Karl needed it for Tiger Cubs, and I needed it for Girl Scouts....so that's one checkmark of things we needed to do done.

Last weekend, we went to Branson with my parents......rode the ducks, hit the outlet malls....drove around.....it was a nice little end-of-summer getaway. total tourist trap, but it's got tons to do.....very fun! and on the way home we stopped at the Laura Ingalls Wilder home in Mansfield, Missouri.....that was total selfishness on my part, as I've always wanted to go there. I grew up reading those books (I still dig them out and reread them sometimes.....it was such a simple time back then, kwim?).....Alaina and I had a good tiem walking through her house and the museum there.

And my work life just got slightly more bearable, as a certain someone's last day was Friday. :P And that's all I'll say about that....

and I'm thinking that basically catches you up on our lives! Got a LOT of layouts to post, so here we go:

I did this one awhile ago, but it never got posted for some reason...the kit is called "Carly" by Trixie Scraps, the beads are from 'my bead jar' by britt-ish designs, and the tag is from 'sew dated' by Haynay Designs....


Here's one of those pictures I always attempt and it never quite works out....actually, this seems to happen a lot to us now that I think about it!

the kit is 'so totally teen' by mickey b designs and designs by tater

A pool party we went to a couple weeks ago for one of Matthew's friend's birthday:

the kit is 'make a splash' by chelle's creations

Another one i did awhile ago but never posted.....'hooligans' by britt-ish designs


this one was on our way home from California....got some cool pictures in Utah...somewhere!

the kit is 'bon voyage' by Mira Designs

And this is one of my current faves.....the kids and Ariel:

the kit is 'under sea adventure' by Jenn Barrette, and the alpha is 'alphabetical' by britt-ish designs

Another Disney one.....the fairy garden at Epcot:

using 'fairy princess' by GG digitals and Happy Scrap Girl

And some layouts from our Branson trip:

Alaina and Matthew at Table Rock Lake:

using Haynay's new kit, "Pebbles and Butterflies", and 'fabulous foursome' template by Sya

Me and Alaina at the Laura Ingalls Wilder home....check out our sunbonnets! :P

the kit is 'wild oats' by Chelle's creations and I also used 'together forever photo clusters' by Haynay Designs

And another one from the Laura Ingalls Wilder thing....

using 'the apple of my eye' by jeni hopewell designs

and I think that catches me up on the scrap-posting....I've got a couple other layouts almost done, but not quite ready to post....so I'll do those later....

for now, it's time to get the kids in bed.....get myself to bed....and get ready to start another crazy week at our house! Tomorrow starts soccer practice for Alaina (Matthew's first practice was Friday), then flute lessons for Alaina start back up.....next week they're back in tumbling......I'm already tired just thinking about it. Wait 'till Zach's in some sort of sport, right? :P

so I hope everybody had a great weekend.....and has a good week too......later!

Upcoming fun!!

2 little announcements, really quick.......

First, the big announcement:


For anybody that's interested in a $5.50 gift certificate to Haynay Designs, then be creative with your comments in the gallery at Scrap Matters, as I'll be choosing the first person that uses a secret catchphrase for the prize! So go leave lots of love and perhaps you'll end up with some free stuff!!

and the other announcement......Haynay's new kit is coming out this Friday.....

scrappin' catchup!

Been a busy week so far....getting ready to head down to Branson for the weekend on Friday.....School starts for Karl tomorrow (he's been back for over a week, but his students start tomorrow). Summer is coming to a close around here!!

As part of my guest CT gig at Scrap Matters, I get to scrap with stuff for free, of course....and in exchange I get to plug the designers' work. So I've been busy scrappin'!!! And here's the results:

First up....Alaina and Matthew making cupcakes:
Grandma's Recipe by Designs by Tater
template from 'fabulous foursome' by Sya's Blueprints


When we drove through Vegas on our way home from Disneyland and I took some really bad pictures out the van windows:
Jackpot by Britt-ish Designs
template from '2 pagers set 1' by Britt-ish Designs
'all strung out' element pack by Britt-ish Designs



At the playground in Grafton the other night.....I threw my back out going across those monkey bars, btw! :P
Scrapper's Blocks by Sya's Blueprints
Play All Day by Stolen Moments and Scraps by Jen



The kids and Karl riding Goofy's Barnstormer at Disneyworld:
Thoroughly Amused by Haynay Designs


A picture that just never seems to work out 'perfectly' for me.....
'one-derful template pack' by britt-ish designs
'underwater escape' by erica zane



Alaina, on her birthday, at Disney World:
'fun 'n flirty template' by britt-ish designs
'Berry Crush' by erica zane and Mari Koegelenberg
word art and mickey brad from 'happiest kit on earth' by britt-ish designs



Zach.....playing with his toolbench:
'Circle those photos' by Sya's Blueprints
'lil' mr. fix-it' by Designs by Tater
'Craft Paper alpha 3' by Dirty Feet Designs



Another playground one:
'A Perfect Picnic' Scrap Matters Design team collab
'Completely Clustered' by Sya's Blueprints


BTMRR=Big Thunder Mountain Railroad for those of you not in the 'know' on that one:
'Toy Sheriff' by Britt-ish Designs


And of course....the Jonas Brothers' Concert....admire those zoomed-in shots! :P
2 pagers set 1 by britt-ish designs
pink, purple, aqua papers from do me a solid paper pack by britt-ish designs
teen grunge by wm[squared] designs




And I THINK that's it for now......I plan on getting as many layouts done this month as possible though, so I'll have more to post later!!! Hope everybody's having a great week and is enjoying the last few days of summer......I'm off to go outside and help wash the car!!

The final 4 blessings!!!

Ah.....finished at last with the blessings project....it's like it would never end! :P And SIL Nicole and I have agreed to not take on another project like that until we're "a little more" caught up with our regular scrappin.....and of course all those vacations we take that have to have 100+ page albums in them!!! :)

So anyways....my last 4 blessings.....in no particular order:

blessing#49: Being Together.....this is with a new template pack of Sya's called 'scrapper's blocks' and the kit is called 'Where the Heart Blooms' by Erica Zane:

not in the mood to retype the journaling, but it basically says that it doesn't matter where we are or what we're doing, it's a blessing just being together. Plus, I just love that pic of the kids and had to scrap it for something! :P

blessing#50: Daddy Daycare......using a template from a template challenge at Scrap Matters and the 'Incredi-boy' kit by Britt-ish Designs.

again, paraphrasing the journaling: It's such a blessing to have Karl home in the summer with the kids....it means a lot to him to have that time with them and they love being home with daddy too!

blessing#51: Date nights! Every couple should still have date nights! This is the LO I did for a speed scrap (where you get 1 hour to do your layout and they give you instructions to follow) using Britt's new kit, "i'm yours"

Date nights are such a big deal to us....they let us reconnect as a couple and keep our relationship strong. Love our date nights!

and the final blessing...#52.....How Far I've Come. I'm darned proud of this.....not the LO per se, as it's kinda boring......but the story itself....the LO was meant to be about the journaling, which I WILL recopy here since that's the main point of the layout....oh, and the kit is "eggplant envy" by Erica Zane:

Journaling: "Anybody that claims having weight-loss surgery is an ‘easy way out’ has no idea what they’re talking about. For almost five years, I have worked hard to lose a lot of weight. I didn’t just kick back after my surgery and expect to
wake up looking like a supermodel. I knew there were risks associated with having this surgery, and I carefully weighed those risks and did tons of research before I ever decided to go under the knife. It was by far the best thing I’ve ever done. All my health problems have vanished over these last few years, plus I sleep better and have way more energy and confidence. People that didn’t know me before never believe my story until I show them the pictures. I hated having pictures taken of
me when I was so heavy, but now I wish I had more of them so I could show everyone just how far I’ve come. I’m not at my goal yet, and it’s a daily battle to make the right choices on what I eat. I was simply given a tool to help me lose weight. A Lap-band isn’t a magic wand, and I know that. I’ve fought hard for every pound I’ve lost and I’m pretty proud of what I’ve accomplished thus far. Sadly, I’ve also
suffered a lot of criticism from people that I thought were my friends. I thought they would be supportive, but instead some chose to attack and humiliate me every chance they got. It hasn’t been easy for me to deal with that, but being a mentor to other weight-loss surgery patients has helped me immensely. I know that I made the right decision for me and for my family. Every kid, including mine, deserves to have a mother that can actually run after them when they play. Before my surgery, I couldn’t do that. Now my kids don’t even remember me being heavy, and for that
I’m grateful. I want to be a good role model for them so that they don’t repeat my childhood and young adult life. I am a work-in-progress... I’ve lost over 120 pounds, but I don’t consider my fight “over.” I don’t think it’ll ever really be over, but I’m grateful and blessed with how far I’ve come on this journey. "

And I'll be back tomorrow to post the rest of the layouts I've done this week....having free access to a whole scrap store is pretty good incentive to get stuff scrapped!!! :P

GUEST CT MEMBER!!!!

Hello all!! I'm super excited because for the month of August, I've been asked to be a guest Creative Team (CT) member at Scrap Matters. I'm sooooo psyched about this. I'm having an absolute blast working with all the designers (and oh yeah, downloading free scrap kits ain't half bad either!)

This weekend is a big birthday celebration at Scrap Matters.......come join in the fun:



There's obviously the sale going on, TONS of games and speed scraps (with prizes of course!) and don't forget the blog train!! Visit all the blogs on the train and you'll end up with a LOT of great goodies.....Don't miss out!!!

I've been scrapping like crazy to get stuff done for the big party this weekend, so I'll be back to post all my new layouts once the sale starts......a fun scrappin' weekend is ahead! :P