Aug 3 Challenge - Fun in the Sun

We had a great day yesterday helping Andrea and Jeremy prep for the babies arrival which is happening this Wednesday!! The nursery has been done but we helped get their bedroom moved upstairs, moved other furniture downstairs and did some general cleaning. We probably should've gone for the whole weekend and more would've gotten done. But I think most stuff is in place. This is so exciting but I am so glad it is not me... don't think I would've survived 3 babies at once. And I just have to add here that Andrea looks FANTASTIC! I don't think she put on any weight that wasn't baby related. Granted her tummy is very large (but let's see you carry 3 babies at one time) but the rest of her is her same old skinny self! Heck I don't think her ankles ever swelled up... she looks good. We made her post for pictures before we left (mean of us, I know, after she spent the day cleaning)... I plan on doing a layout of them so you will have to wait for the layout to see how good she looks.

Back to scrappin'... Today's challenge had to do with the book, Holes by Louis Sachar. I took this one very literally and challenged the ladies to use something to represent holes on their layout.. eyelets, brads, buttons, etc. My layout is the kids back in 2003 (Kevin looks so little compared to today!) playing at the lake by Grandma and Grandpa's house. "Fun in the Sun" is cut from Life's a Beach cartridge.

August 2 Challenge - Hiking

We are off to the in-laws in the morning so I am posting this now. Got another layout done for my Monthly Challenges at MSH. Today's book is A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle. The quote I used from the book was this... "Love. That was what she had that IT did not have." Okay, if I am being honest, I have never read this book and I don't think my daughters have either. Is that a bad thing??

The challenge I issued to the ladies was to create a layout on something that we love... not necessarily someone (because honestly so much of our scrappin' already involves pictures of those we love). My layout reflects on the hiking we do as a family. My first few mother's days were spent hiking the Ice Age Trail in the lower Kettle Morraines. The picture is from our last hiking excursion at Governor Dodge State Park. The hiking boots were cut from my Camping Solutions cartridge.

Finally Scrappin' Again!

I can't believe it's been 6 weeks since I've last posted but so much has happened... good and bad. The good is that Kaitlyn and I went to Savannah for a week on a girl scout trip. I will try to post some pictures from that soon. And we went camping for the first time in 3 summers! Jeff and Kevin have been so busy the last couple of summers preparing for and going to Philmont. This was the first summer we were finally able to go as a family. We also had a wedding in the family. My aunt married her sweetie earlier this month and Jeff served as photographer for it. Now if only the photo lab we used would get their machine fixed so we could see how his pictures turned out. The bad I am not going into.

I've always said that scrapbooking is my "yoga" or "mental health therapy". And that is so true! When I scrap, everything else goes away...at least for a little while. So I guess it's a good thing I am serving as guest moderator over at MegaScrapHappy, an online Yahoo group I belong too. Everyday this month I have to post a challenge based on theme of my choosing... so I chose Children's Books. Everyday I will post the title and a quote from a well known children's book and issue a challenge to the group.

My first one for today was The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss. My quote had to do with cleaning up the mess they had made so I issued a challenge for this first layout to keep it "clean and simple". Here is my layout for it...



This is the most recent picture of us taken at Lynn and Jeff's wedding. I can't believe how much time has passed... the kids are all getting so old. Which I guess means that I am really getting old. At least I don't have nearly as much gray hair as Jeff though. LOL!

My Birthday Celebration...

Last Saturday was my birthday... not a milestone one... just a plain old ordinary one. However, I was determined to do whatever I wanted on that day and it did not include cleaning, laundry, etc, etc. Unfortunately for me it started with me leaping out of bed at 6:30 a.m. thinking that I had forgotten to set the alarm. Before I could go wake up Kaitlyn, the hubby told me that it was Saturday. Well, once that adrenaline got pumping thru my veins, it was pretty much guaranteed that I was AWAKE. So even though my day started earlier than I had intended, my morning was still a lazy, relaxing one.

By 11:30 the girls and I headed over to Serendipity, a local scrapbook store. They had sent me $5 on a minimum $5 purchase... how could I not go take advantage of that. It also happened to be their customer appreciation day which meant a free gift with purchase (I chose buttons) and a free lunch of hot dogs, chips and cookies. How cool! My birthday and I didn't have to pay for lunch. Score! While we were there the girls and I also took part in one of their make 'n takes... an adorable owl card.

They include phrase such as "You're a HOOT!" and "Thank you for being so wise!" Kendra made hers for Mrs. Bates, her 5th grade teacher, I made mine just because it was too damn cute not to and Kaitlyn made one just because (or so I thought).

After Serendipity, we ended up at the mall and guess what?!?! I didn't have to pay for anything! The girls had gift cards, coupons and their own money to spend. Woo Hoo! Another birthday treat for me. While we were there, Kaitlyn asked if Kendra and she could go to Boston Store to look for a birthday present for me. I let them go in after reiterating that they did not have to get me a present. They were only gone about 20 minutes but were rather pleased with themselves when we joined up again.

We headed for home after that. Jeff had said we could go out to dinner, my choice. I had a craving for Mexican and decided to try a Mexican restaurant that we hadn't been to before, La Estacion. It is a converted old train depot complete with trains still in the station. We were seated in one of the old trains... the kids thought that was pretty cool.

The food was yummy, the portions were huge and the margaritas were perfect. When our waitress asked if we wanted dessert, Kevin made a point of saying that it was my birthday. When she heard that she asked me if I wanted a piece of cake or get this... a tequila shot! Since it was family night and I had just had two margaritas, I chose the cake.... it was also easier to share!



Oh... I almost forgot to mention my birthday present from the girls... a black leather purse. Kaitlyn knows me well. My old one had just broken and I have decided to use a light weight tote for the summer. She however left the original price tag on... $108. WHAT?!?! She assured me that they got a really, really good sale... I hope so as I have never spent that much on a purse.

Crafts, shopping, food, time with my family... It was a great day... probably one of my best birthdays.