Valentine-ish recap and what we are up to...

I amight have said this before but Valentines is one of my fav holidays...it is about love, it requires ALOT of red, and is full of candy... what more could a girl want???

Being that it fell mid-week we didn't do too much as a couple but we shared lots of fun time with the kids, special treats etc. I love being able to spend time with family and here's what takes place when we do - laughs and twirls! The laughter during this should've been recorded - Abbi is dizzy, Taylor is dizzy (aka supergir), but both screaming for more:)
This little party at church took quie a bit of time but was totally worth it. The Lord was faithful and all were "in love" with the results. The cupcake liner pom poms were a HUGE hit! and not terribly expensive. How did styrofoam balls get to be $6 though - like a solar system science project must be worth a fortune these "many" years later.

Braden was the only one to do Valentine's for school - we did the shovels and the wording "I dig you!" on it. Just realized I have no pics of the finished project - how does that happen???

And just for kicks.. my sweet girl..growing so fast. We are anticipating some major changes with middle school on the horizon. I am trying hard to hear the voice of God with where they are supposed to be. School is supposed to be challenging. It is supposed to be about academics. Do I think my chilren will be Nobel Prize Winners - the chances are slim. Do I want them to get into great colleges .... YES! We must take this one day at a time. Do i want to be chained to a dining room table for three hours a night with homework ...NO!!!

But these children are my life... I want the best for them... if that means some changes and inconveniences on us as parents...that should be o.k. with us...Their success is our responsibility. Am I nervous...You better believe it! What if they struggle? Didn't I struggle? Sure! But it is much easier I think to be the one struggling than to watch your loved one struggle - particularly your children. Please Lord, Guide us and give us the ability to follow that guidance!

As I am typing Braden and Abbi come in to ask this "we want to take a picture. I will be in a tux and Abbi wants to wear your wedding dress." They have just spend nearly an hour giving foot massages, and he used the straightener to straighten her hair. Oh how I wish they could play like this all the time. Stay tuned for the wedding picture soon:)

Right Back at ya...

or interpreted means "I love you!" - (in Abbi language) She is a super loving, amazingly kind spirit but it is severly like pulling teeth getting her to say she loves you. One thing I want to remember about her is her heart but yet her "arms length" style. She is not a touchy, feely kinda girl (wonder where she gets that from?) She would rather have an arm chopped off than actually say the words "I love you" Her Aunt Lisa tried to get her to say it back the other day and it was the funniest thing - almost like who could hold out the longest. She doesn't give in easily!

Sometimes I have to remember that this blog is as much for history keeping as it is for sharing craft projects. I know I can look back and remember some great stories that I might've forgotten.

Here's hoping you are having an amazing Valentine's Day - this is the first time I feel like it's an ordinary day but yet very extraordinary - sounds weird, I know. I spent the day at the school with the kiddos doing all sorts of Valentiny stuff. I had their goodies with love notes laid out for them this morning when they woke up. They all loved their stuff and I was surprised when Mason decided to bake me breakfast - unfortunately Daddy got it since we had to bolt early for Valentine's Breakfast at school. He can be sweet when he wants to:)

I wanted to give you guys a look at our family photos we took last month.

This was one of the last shots of the day - and of course Abbi's face tells her disdain for public affection - LOVE it!
A kiss in the park (note: these shots are harder than they look!)

He HANDS DOWN is my most photogenic child - melts my heart everytime!

Eyes are the window to the soul....

Fun stuff, again, NOT easy!

A picture of us girls -

Here's to remembering the reason for this day....loving those dear to you....showing them small pieces of your heart...hope you enjoy your day!

There is snow somewhere!

I found the zip drive of our TreeTrek in Canada and thought you might enjoy seeing our adventure. Here is a shot of how high we climbed to then be sent flying down the wire - it was AMAZING! We have done this before but in a different country with MUCH different weather. The snow added a whole new element:
See...we totally enjoyed ourselves!

Look ma... not hands:)

Hopefully I can be back to a "normal" blogging schedule soon. My to-do list has apparently eaten it's Wheaties because it won't.quite.growing!!

Why I Save SOOOO Much Stuff --

So again I say, Boy layouts are much tougher than girl layouts - at least for me. I want to do fun without crossing the line to girly and now that he is "older" I don't want it too baby-ish either. This layout sorta evolved (you know how that is - no idea really but then it sorta morphs into something good).
I had NO plan for a pocket when I first started (I feel like every school layout has those - enough already) however, when I found this writing of his that coincided with the dates of the photos - I couldn't leave it out. We try to get them to write as often as possible. Mason is excellent at writing and as he gets older it only gets more descriptive. If you read this you see he is very matter of fact on this page about what had happened. Apparently I had been trying to drive home the point of "you are responsible for your own actions" and this is how it translated in his mind - misspelled words and all. I love how matter of fact (logical) he is!

I journaled above and below what he had written instead of where it is visible on the page. Some pages the journaling gets lost.

I still can get away with buttons (I think) so I added one here in the middle of the cardstock sticker for dimension/texture.

Here I used a brad again for texture - orange is NOT a girl color!

It sure is fun finding little treasures like this which is exactly why I save so much stuff - one day I think he will treasure it as much as I do - or at least his wife and children will for sure!

What are you up to today - would sure love to hear it! I am going to try to make a belated gift that will now most likely turn into an early Valentine's present. Decorate for Valentines and some other misc. stuff. Enjoy the new week.

Products: Brad/Buttons - Paper Studio

Paper - Basic Grey

Cardstock stickers/alpha - Echo Park

Winner!!!

Soooo, our winner of the Lisa Bearnson Scrapbook Kit and the Creating Keepsake magazine stash is Bridget!! Thank you Bridget for taking the time to comment and I know you will enjoy your goodies:) I will bring them to you tonight!

I hope to be back tomorrow with more inspiration and some Valentine's Decor.

More Inspiration

Sooo, apparently the best thing to get the juices flowing, is to just get going with it. I have been so hapy to be getting some pages done of my oldest guy. It is a joy looking back at these photos and seeing how he has grown. It hasn't all been a breeze but it is a joy.

These photos are of our 2009 trip to Serenbe. I like the "natural" look of the kraft paper and the wooden letters. Boy stuff really is tougher than girl pages.


Here is the cluster of clock/gears to symbolize time sorta "standing still" while we are at this lovely place and the wooden letters by K & Company.

These photos also reminded me of the time we had with Mason and his hair pulling. This is why his hair is so short in these photos. We tried everything to get him to stop! It seems as though it was primarily stress related and once he moved to the next grade - he was "fine" Amazing - he still pulls his eyebrows and front of his hair sometimes when he is concentrating or frustrated.

On to the little lady - we got a new camera a few weeks back and I am still "playing" with it but I found this little jewel that David had taken and just had to share - isn't she lovely!?!?

REMEMBER: I will pick a winner tomorrow morning for the giveaway listed below. Just leave a comment on that post to be entered. Have a great weekend - we are hoping this weather clears up for some family photos this afternoon!

Double Layout!!!

I am so excited to be back to scrapbooking my own children's photos! I didn't realize how far behind I was and now it is a real "mission" to get caught up. One "good" thing I am finding is that the pictures are less - not as many "firsts" as when they were itty bitties - so the process is a bit streamlined - mabybe???

This was of my birthday weekend and our "discovery" of Big Kahuna's. What fun we had (with many more days of this to follow)

I couldn't resist including this photo of my boys being silly - just makes me laugh!

I wanted some texture as I am NOT a fan of "white" space (I hear Lisa saying amen!) I used havey thread for buttons in a "sand" color just to give a bit of texture there. Just a few lines of it and I was satisfied. I struggled with these two pages for nearly a week. They are not perfect but they are done!

Another great shot of the three of them - despite the fact Braden might be on the verge of choking them both - they are having fun TOGETHER!

Hope you are inspired to get your pages "out of the computer" and onto the page!

The two wallpaper pages are American Crafts. The orange "center' page is My Minds Eye (So Sophie) and the journaling tag is Cosmo Cricut. Not entirely sure who to give credit to for the brads and baubles as I took them out of the package long ago and can't be certain - sorry:(