Time For the Christmas List

Christmas is just around the corner and Zac has started his Christmas list. 

Its so funny, I remember waiting with eagerness for the Sears and JcPenny's catalogs to come in the mail so I could make my list.  My brothers and I would lay on the floor paging through one by one, marking our faves and arguing over who got to look at the book next.  Nowadays...the kids just log into Amazon and make their list from the web.  Oh how things have changed.

Zac picked his faves out online and then had me print them to include in a letter to Santa.  Such a keepsake moment.  I captured it and scrapped with Plum Dumpling Designs Still Believing Kit, WordArt, Blog Freebie, and Feeling Griddy templates from www.funkyplaygrounddesigns.com. 

Time to get shopping wrapped up and snag some of the goodies from his list.  Hugs to all!

Celebrating the Holidays!

Its December. The year has flown by and we are eagerly anticipating all the festivities of the holidays. 

The three of us attended a cooking school earlier this week to make our very first family gingerbread house. It turned out amazing, but better yet, we created memories that we'll have for a lifetime.

As December rolls into town, I have been pulling out pictures from past holidays and reflecting on the fun and joy we have had.  I can't believe how much Zac has grown...although he still likes a lot of the same types of toys - games and action figures to battle with always top the list.  Check out this layout from 2008, created with Plum Dumpling Designs Still Believing kit, available at www.funkyplaygrounddesigns.com.  Isn't he adorable?

May the joy of the season be with your family and you find some wonderful time to spend together making memories.

October? Really?!

  Wow - where has the time gone?!  I can't believe it is October already!  It has been an exciting and busy start to the fall season. 

Zac is finally starting to R-E-A-D! YAY!!  We are so proud of him!  He has already jumped three levels in just a few weeks.  Check this out with Plum Dumpling Designs Adventures in Reading (love this!!) and an Erica Zane template:

Isn't that awesome?!  Check him out all focused!

I am also excited to announce that I was selected to be on the Plum Dumpling Designs creative team! YAY! Mary is awesome and she has such fun designs... just check out the awesome goodies I get to play with!

The above was a pic of Zac playing at Gameworks in Las Vegas on our vacation this summer - the kit? PDD's awesome Family Fun -check out the full kit by clicking here!

It is Sunday and we are planning to shop for some more creepy things to decorate with at Halloween... have a great day, enjoy the beautiful fall weather!

This Little Piggy!

  Truly not enough hours in the day... I still haven't uploaded the photos.  I did, however, make some time to play with Brown Eyed Girl... and finally scrapped some sweet photos of my mom playing This Little Piggy with Zac. It was their favorite game together when cuddling in the chair.  Could they be any cuter?!

I'm excited, because my next project is to tackle some of those beach photos from past vacations that are still sitting in a drawer.  I'm definitely loving the brown/blue color scheme and can't wait to use the ScrapMatters Collab Vintage Surf Shop.  Check this out:



It's available by clicking here!

Sweet dreams everyone! See you tomorrow!

New Kit!

  ScrapMatters released a brand new collab kit yesterday that I cannot wait to get my hands on.  My son doesn't have brown eyes - and he is definitely not a girl, LOL! - but I can so see using this with lots of pages!  I've got some cute photos from when he was little with oranges in them on the deck - gonna look adorable! I'll post as soon as I get one done. :)

Check it out at the ScrapMatters Shop!

Zac started swim lessons this morning.  I realized halfway there that I had forgotten my camera - good thing they are for another 3 weeks - I won't forget next weekend!  He did great! Not afraid to jump in and was able to float on his back.... this may just be the year that it all comes together for him!

After lessons, we stopped by the USS LST-325 battleship that is docked at the Riverplex.  It is normally in Evansville, IN but is on a trip this month to several different ports. We were all enthralled. We went primarily because Zac was so excited about it - it was in use during WW2 and was at D-Day - Normandy.  But honestly, I think Shayne and I were just as excited when we actually went on the tour.  So interesting and well worth the money and time.  I took some pics with my phone that I'll try to load tomorrow. :) 

Hugs to everyone - have a wonderful Saturday!

Yay for the Weekend!

  I can't believe how quickly the week flew by and we are here at a glorious three day holiday weekend!  Yay Labor Day!

It was such a hot one this week but looks like we will finally get a few nice cooler September days this weekend, which I am thrilled about! It means we might actually be able to get Zac outside to do something fun. :)

I was super excited to be selected as a ScrapMatters girl this week! I am in love with digital scrapping and their site is so warm and friendly.  I immediately felt at home when I joined there and that has continued.  Check it out and say hi!  You won't be sorry. :)

I created this layout with one of their kits from Jady Day Studio highlighting our trip to Hoover Dam in July.  We had such a great time on vacation and I love revisiting these photos.

Have a wonderful Saturday!

Happy Monday!

  Another week has rolled around again.  Today was super busy and I am glad to be home relaxing after some supper.

I am a music fiend. I loved my ipod, and love my iphone even more because now I can download wherever and whenever I want.  Shhhh! Don't tell my husband.

Here's a peek at a few songs currently on my playlist... created using Kristin Cronin Barrow's Raindrops Keep Falling Kit.

Have a great evening!

Busy Weekend!

Prayers go out to all those affected by Hurricane Irene this weekend.  May you all be able to return home soon and safely. 
Our weekend was much less scary, but certainly busy.  We were cleaning fools but I fit in a bit of scrap time.  :)

I was working on a LO this morning of my son when he was 1 and playing with his ball tower. He was interested and sitting by me while I was scrapping it. I thought I would involve him in the process and asked him if he would like to name it... he is nine.. you can see where this is going can't you? Big mistake...

"For the love of balls"

Really? I tried to get him to change his mind but he was adamant and thought it was hilarious. Therefore....

Yeah... the title is slightly tacky.  Sigh.... Moral of this story is... never ask for assistance while scrapping.. unless you are willing to live with the consequences!  Even so... I love this LO with the amazing Couch Potato kit by the fab Jen Labre!
Sweet Dreams everyone!  See you soon in the new workweek!

The Babies

  I absolutely love our dogs. They are fuzzy, funny, and definitely have their own unique personalities.  Macey the goldendoodle is timid, sweet, and loves to snuggle and lay calmly by you.  Max the standard poodle is still in the puppy stage and is energetic, fiesty, and has to be playing or chewing constantly.

There are days like today when I want nothing more than to come home, see their sweet faces, and relax.  They have been so good for Zac. He used to be terrified to be in a room by himself. With the dogs he is so much more independent.

Zac and Max with the Doggone Cute Kit by Misty Cato, Shawna Clingerman and Melissa Bennett. 

Zac and Macey with Dani Mogstad's Chill Out kit.

Have a relaxing and fun evening all!

He Still Hates Hot

I love Jennifer Labre's digital kits.  Her Color Me Happy Kit immediately brought thoughts of my son to mind.  Zac has always hated to be hot and sweat.  I can recall many a trip to the zoo when he wanted to pour a bottle of cool water on his face and feet to "cool them off."  One memorable trip inspired the layout below. We had a great time at the zoo, checking out the lions and monkeys.  But the longer we stayed, the more Zac's cheeks pinkened, and he finally announced "I hate hot".  He was ready to go... so we went... with a not so happy fellow. 

My Baby Is Growing Up

I can hardly believe that Zac is nine and will start 4th grade tomorrow.  He has grown so much this summer.  I'm so lucky though, that he is still willing to let Mom take pictures of him... ummm... sort of - check these out.

LO with Jady Day Studio kit.

He may be a wild and crazy fella now...but he will always be my baby:

Kristin Cronin Barrow Kit

Off to spend some quality Sunday time before he grows much more.  Have a blessed day!

     

Happy Saturday!

  We finally received some rain this morning. Not quite enough to green the grass back up, but we'll take it. It was so nice and peaceful to snuggle in on the couch and watch the rain come down.

Brought to mind this LO of Zac dancing in the rain.  He was so adorable and excited to ham it up for dad and the camera.  LO done with Kristin Cronin Barrow's Raindrops Keep Falling and a Cindy Schneider Template. 

Maybe I should ask Zac to do another raindance for another little storm today?  Have a sweet Saturday everyone!

More Digi Goodness Today!

I absolutely love grilling out. It is one of our favorite ways to whip up a quick dinner in the balmy summer evenings. Shayne and I love to get shish ka bobs (chicken or steak) from Schnucks grocery store. Zac prefers a good ole' cheeseburger. Yum!

This LO was done with Sweet Shoppe's BBQ Staycation by Traci Reed and Meg Mullens with a touch of Dani Mogstad's All American Summer paper thrown in.

Another summer fave at our house? Bubbles. Or at least it is Zac's fave. I don't think he'll ever be too old to enjoy a good bubble blow. :) We found these fun bubble swords at Wal-Mart. We are on our third already this summer...even Grandma Suzanne enjoyed playing with one on July 4th. Here is Zac having a great time on a LO with Dani Mogstad's All American Summer:

Have a sweet summer evening!

Doin' It Digi Style

Yep, I have converted over to the dark side... the digi dark side that is.

I always thought I would be a paper scrapper... I loved getting my hands dirty...enjoyed the creativity and the excitement of getting those new paper designs in my hands....and stalking CHA to see what was coming out. The downside? cutting into the pretty paper designs, because what if I would rather use it later for something else? and my, oh my, what a pain to clean up the room of all those scraps after each page was done.

Kinda like paper book reading converting to my kindle. I found it hard to give up, but now can't imagine life without my trusty electronic device. I'll admit, going digi scrap isn't a quick learning process, but I am loving it. I love the challenge of it, and knowing that I am improving each day. Plus, I can try 10 different papers and looks to get the one that appeals most before saving it, I can still be creative, and I can reuse a paper for different pages to my heart's content. And better yet? I don't have to wait for a CHA to see new goodies and find patterns to match my recent pics... new kits are constantly available! BLISS!

I love this recent layout created with goodies from Jady Day Studio. Pics are of Zac and my parents in Las Vegas this summer. He is finally learning to backfloat!:

I'm also loving this summer fun of Zac (with Justin Beiber hair) cooling off in the pool, more Jady Day Studios papers. I was pretty excited when this was selected as one of the layouts of the week 8/8/11 in the ScrapMatters Gallery Standouts Blog!:

More digi goodness to come soon. :)