Ballet Recital

I wanted to do something to enter in a Lifestyle Crafts contest. I love their dies and have lots that I use on a regular basis. When I was thinking about what to make I thought about a card or some home decor project or some sort of other project, but then I came back to the fact that I am a scrapbooker. That is what I do best and that is what I love. And that is why and what I love Lifestyle Crafts dies for. So I needed to do a scrapbook page for the contest.

I decided to pull out some pictures from Peyton's ballet recital last year. I used a mix of some My Mind's Eye papers, Karen Foster ballet rub ons, and some other embellishments from a Studio Calico kit. As far as Lifestyle Crafts dies I used: Lace Scallop, Nesting Frame 4, and the Wildflower Gift Set (title font and flower branch cut from vellum).

July 2011

Here is my July Project 12 page. Pictures of swim lessons, visiting the zoo with Janelle, a Sky Sox baseball game with family friends, Peyton and her cousin at Eliches, Remi playing baseball, Remi and Jock's trip to Montana to fish, and the US Women's Open.


I pieced together this page using what was left of a 6x6 paper pad from Basic Grey that I had made a mini album with. On the left edge it is hard to see but I cut a days of the week border, misted it brown and then cut a plant border thing from vellum and laid it over the days of the week. Oh, and of course, I had to use a little twine so I tied a few bows of twine on the plant border. Just something a little different because I thought the open space was just a little too much. The title and label things were also cut with my Silhouette.

June 2011 - Project 12

Well, Peyton just walked in the door from a few days with Grammy and Jock and Remi are on the plane home right now. So the scrapping is going to slow down. But with this layout and for this moment I am caught up on all my classes I am doing right now. And I did 11 pages in the time the boys were gone. Nice!


I usually use my book club paper for the Project 12 layout each month but this month was just a bunch of brown paper and I just could not make it work! So, as I was cleaning and organizing as assigned in Lain's Mother LOAD class, I found these scraps from some Cosmo Cricket paper. And they were perfect and would work for the layout assignment from her! Yeah!


The pictures are Remi's 13th birthday, the boys and I at a Rockies game, Peyton in her tap outfit for her recital, Remi and Jock and their Little League championship team, and the first day at the pool.

May 2011

Here is my project 12 layout for May.

We had some big events this month with end of the school year awards, our 20th anniversary, and a nephew that graduated from high school and another one from college.

Oh, and after five months of doing this I remembered this OLD Creative Memories cutting thing that I had to cut the edges in a wave. It worked perfectly! It sort of hang on the mat and then you use the colored circle blades that go with the circle cutter to cut the waves! Perfect!

April Project 12

Here is my Project 12 April layout. A birthday celebration of Colston, lots of baseball, lots of sick time, some Easter, end of the school year fun and potty training.

March 2011 - Project 12 Layout

Here is my March 2011 Project 12 page. I used the Echo Park Springtime line. It seems a little plain this month, but I am just done with it.


Pictures are from the International Wildlife Museum in Tucson, Jessica, Deb and another friend and I at our scrapbook retreat, a horrible picture of Colston holding his three fingers up on his third bday, Peyton at her first day of baseball practice, and Remi getting his cast off.

January 2011

I have to say that as I was putting away the Project 12 layouts from last year I LOVED looking at them all in a row. I can see this is going to become on of my favorite albums to look at. I had a hard time deciding, since I am doing Project Life this year and taking and documenting a photo a day is it overkill to do this too? Probably, but I committed to Project Life with friends and family and honestly, for me, I can't give up Project 12. So, I guess I'll do both even though it is a bit overboard.

So, here is January. Pictures from a MESA bridge break that Remi did. Peyton with her cousins at Sip and Sew. Colston at the Colorado Rockies Fan Fest day. Remi working on jumping rope in the double dutch rope trying to make the requirements for JV. Peyton at Dance Sports Challenge. And my sweet Colston walking in the snow.

Project 12 - December 2010

I have really liked doing the Procet 12 this year! I love looking at 2 pages and getting an idea of what we did in a month. So much so that even though I am doing Picture a Day this year, I think I am going to continue with this too!!

Mama’s Holiday Wish List Meme
TodaysMama (link to: http://bit.ly/tmwishlist) and GameStop (link to: http://bit.ly/gamestop10) are giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I’m sharing this meme with you.
1. What is your holiday wish for your family?
I wish for a healthy and prosperous year in the coming year. It has been a struggle for the last few and I think we are seeing a turn - I hope!!
2. What is your Christmas morning tradition?
One of my favorites is all three kids sitting at the top of the stairs until we get down and get the cameras ready. Then they get the go ahead and can run down and see what Santa has left them.
3. If you could ask Santa for one, completely decadent wish for yourself, what would it be?
I love to travel and I would LOVE a trip to New York City for our family to show the kids all the fun sights and great foos and fun things in NYC!
4. How do you make the holidays special without spending any money?
We spend time with our immediate family and extended family. We have game nights and a Christmas tea. We also go up and cut our own tree from the forest which is a wonderful tradition.
5. What games did you play with your family growing up?
We are huge game players! Growing up we loved a game called Masterpiece (which I credit with developing my love of art), Risk, and lots of card games - one I loved was Canasta.
6. What holiday tradition have you carried on from your own childhood?
Making cookies trays. I love to bake during the holidays and have continued to do that with my kids. Sometimes my mom or brother will even join us.
7. Where would you go for a Christmas-away-from-home trip?
Well, as I said above I would love to go to NYC. We did that once with my family growing up and I loved NYC at Christmas (well, except for the bitter cold!). But I would also love to see Disney World at Christmas!
8. Check out GameStop (link to: http://bit.ly/gamestop10) and tell us, what are the three top items on your GameStop Wish List this year?
1.)I would love to get a PS3. We would love to use it for games as well as movie watching! 2.) Currently, we are missing one of our 4 wii remotes so I really need to replace that. 3.) I saw the Epic Mickey game on the website and that looks pretty cool! I think my whole family would enjoy that!

January 2010 Project 12 Page

I decided to participate in Project 12, a challenge to scrapbook a summary page each month of this year. I had a lot of fun choosing the pictures for this. I used a sketch from Becky Fleck that was provided.

Here are the highlights:

1.) Baseball starts - we have a tennis ball machine in the garage that the kids practice with.

2.) We went to the local hunting place to do soem target practice. Jock helped Peyton shoot for the first time.

3.) Remi broke another brick - that makes three times.

4.) Colston and Charlotte hanging out and "playing" together.

5.) My brother, sil and Remi playing our new game that we are all addicted to - Dominion.

6.) Peyton and her best friend dancing in their after school dance class that the gym teacher does.

7.) DH and the kids waiting in line at the Colorado Rockies Fan Fest.

8.) Remi's new karate belt - he is now an Advanced II Black Belt.

9.) Colston drawing - one of his favorite activities.

Yup, another $100 Give Away

Another chance to win a $100 Visa Gift card on http://www.commonsensewithmoney.com/2009/12/fun-giveaway-100-visa-gift-card/#comment-37632

Wouldn't that be a great thing to win!!!

Visa Gift Card

Erin at The $5 Dinner blog is giving away a $100 Gift Card! Wouldn't that make a huge difference in Christma sSjopping money!! I would sooooo love to win!!

December 3 Daily December

december third

quote:this is my wish for you: peace of mind, prosperity through the year, happiness that multiplies, health for you and yours, fun around every corner, energy to chase your dreams, joy to fill your holidays!" ~ d.m. dellinger

I really like this quote!!

write:what does the word "joy" mean to you? does it play a part at the holidays?

Joy definately has to do with my kids and family for me! My kids bring me so much joy in their accomplishments big and small, their giggles and hugs and kisses, their enjoyment of each other and the fun our family has together.

photograph:take a photo that represents the idea of "joy"

Ok, silly picture of Joy above but I was trying to get a picture of the kids playing nice together and they happen to be playing with Nerf guns. But I guess they do love their Nerf guns. LOL!

do:host a christmas party

I will do this on Christmas Eve. We always have Christmas Eve at our house with my family and Maxine and maybe Rod if he is in town. It is always such a nice time together. It truly is a joyful time.

remember: think back to a time of holiday joy in your life. where were you? who was there?

Oh, gosh, this is really hard. I can't really pint point one joyful holiday. That is why I love the holiday season so much - there is so much happiness and joy.

Workbox Give away!!

This is an amazing giveaway! I love these Workbox products! Jessica has the biggest one and it is really cool!! I love how much she gets in it and then can open and close it as she wants. I have always thought it would be such a fun product to have. And now they are doing a change for a giveaway on Stephanie Howell's blog. I would be so excited to win one of their products!

December Daily - December 4

december fourth

quote:"the joy of brightening other lives, bearing each others' burdens, and supplanting empty hearts and lives with generous gifts becomes for us the magic of christmas." ~ w.c. jones

write:talk about a sentimental piece of holiday decor

Oh, gosh, I have waaaay too many favorite holiday decorations! I have so many boxes of decorations it is hard to choose. But I would say one of my favorite things (tonight anyway, LOL!) is one of my newer decorations. A few years ago mom and Remi and Peyton painted a nativity scene for me. It is so pretty and it is so sweet beacuse the kids and mom made it.

photograph:a favorite piece of holiday decor

See photo above.

do:go to a christmas party

Going to the Christmas tea tomorrow - maybe if it doesn't snow too much.

make: wrap a gift

We'll see if I go to the tea tomorrow - if so then I'll wrap something tomorrow. Otherwise I hope to start wrapping things this week. I have never had this much Christmas shopping done this early.

remember: do you have any decorating traditions that were handed down to you?

I don't know about decorating traditions. But I do love getting the ornaments out each year and remembering where they came from. I love that so many of the ornaments on our tree were made by my kids or by me when I was a kid.

Dec 5 - December Daily

Ok, so I will start blogging a bit maybe. Starting with some holiday stuff. This is from a Jessica Sprague class that I didn't actually take but the prompts look fun so I am going to copy and paste from a lady who is doing it on her blog. Have a few days to catch up so I am starting with todays and then going to try to do a couple each day until I am caught up.


december fifth

quote:"o holy night! the stars are brightly shining, it is the night of the dear saviour's birth." ~placide cappeau de roquemaure'

write:write about a specific holiday song that has meaning to you.

I would say one of the holiday songs that has a very stong memory for me is "Do You Hear What I Hear". Growing up we would often go to the midnight church service. And Pastor Carfrae's son who was a Broadway singer would come home for the hoildays and would always sing this song at the service. Our church was not huge but big enough. Yet, when he would come up the aisle with his huge beautiful booming voice it was an amazing thing to hear! You just had to sit and marvel at the beauty of the song. It was magical!

photograph:something that reminds you of your favorite holiday song

picture of the car radio on the Christmas music station. I love when I can change to the station that plays all Christmas music! And the kids enjoy it too - particularly Peyton is enjoying the music although she really likes the music that has vocals and not the instrumental music as much.

do:visit santa clause

The last few years we have gone to see Santa on the day they get out of school. I am not sure if we will do that same thing this year, but maybe.

make:

Today I "made" the Christmas look to the house. We got up early and went to cut the tree down in the mountains. Then took a short break for Peyton's ballet class. Then went to work to get more of the Christmas boxes. Then came home and got the tree up. We got the lights on and started on the decorating. Jock and Remi went to the Air Force hockey game so Peyton and I stayed home to work on the decorations a bit more.

remember: recall a specific instance where you sang or listened to your favorite holiday song. what stands out in your mind?

Two holiday song memories come up for me.

First, very random. My piano lesson career was fairly short. I don't think I took them for more then a year. But I do know I enjoyed them. I just didn't really practice much. But I do remember learning to play "We Three Kings". I always liked the pattern to that song and enjoyed playing.

Second, a much more clear memory. In high school at Fairview, we always had a holiday concert. and of course it was always beautiful with so many talented choirs. But the thing that I remember is the last song - a mass choir version of Silent Night. It was amazing to have several hundered voices singing that beautiful song but then they also invited any alumni that were at the concert to join in. So it was so beautiful and so peaceful and just amazing! It gave you a shiver in your spin to listen to!

Still Here?

I was just messing around with my profile after entering a contest and noticed that this blog is still linked. Hummm, I thought it would be long gone. Will this publish??

Update on Rai

Jill asked for an update on Rai - the man we know that was hurt in the fireworks accident. He got out of the one hospital and has moved to Craig Rehab. Hospital. His wife is living in an apartment in the Denver area and his kids, I believe are going back and forth between the grandparents here and their mom. There were apparently a number of scary moments - his face was so injured that there was an issue as far as infection getting into his head and brain. At one point a lady that I know said that they were worried if he was going to make it. But it seems that he has turned a corner and is recovering now. I saw on the news one evening a press conference that his wife did and she thanked the two MP's that first helped him and then took them up to his room for him to thank them too. There have been quite a few different fund raisers for the family although, I am sure that it is a huge financial burden along with all the other problems that this has caused.

Let's see what else have we been doing??? Remi has finished all his sports camps that he did this summer. He love them but I think he is reasy for a little down time. Last week he got to opportunity to go to see the the Rockies play the NY Yankees and they saw Roger Clemens ptch. He was thrilled! As was my dad - sort of one of those never forget grandpa/grandson things. And Remi turns 9 tomorrow!! I can't believe it! So we are in party mode this week trying to get all the plans made and things done for the party.

Peyton is doing swim lessons and loves it! And I have thouroughly enjoyed hangin at the pool with my book! I have even convinced Peyton that when it is adult swim she should sit on the lounge chair next to me and read her books. LOL! It is awesome! Love the pool days!

And we are also getting everything finalized for our trip to Disneyland in July. Made reservations for meals this morning. Need to call the shuttle and the hotel later this afternoon.

7 Random Facts

Melanie tagged me on her blog, so here goes...

My 7 random facts:
1. While I don't consider myself much of a cook, I love to try new recipies.
2. I actually worry about the fact that there are so many more books that I would like to read then I will ever have time to read.
3. I always wanted to have a boy and a girl and now I do!!!
4. I only got in trouble at school once and I was mortified! And it was just the teacher telling me not to talk while we were walking in the hall. But I still remember that to this day.
5. I did the triple jump in high school. It was the first year that they had that event for high school girls so my friends figured that even not very athletic me could do that! LOL! And I was pretty good at it.
6. I have twin brothers that are a year and two weeks younger that I am. Now, I look at how my mom did three kid basically the same age and can't imagine.
7. I really want to take a photography class and learn how to use my camera better.

So I forgot my blog password ;)

I guess that is a sign that I have not been here a lot lately. But I have successfully logged on now - there is no stopping me. LOL!

We are in the midst of the summer time busy at our house. I keep thinking that something will let up but not so far. We had our "Disneyland fund" garage sale last weekend. The first actual garage sale I have ever done on my own. We really needed to do a husg overhaul on Remi's room and he was not at all in favor of it. So we told him we would have a garage sale and any money he made he could have to spend at Disneyland. We also had a few other larger items haning out that we really needed to get rid of and of course a bit more scrap stuff from my big room clean out. I tried to convince Peyton that she should clean out her toys to get some money for Disneyland, but she just told me, "No, mommy, I'll just use your money at Disneyland and keep all my toys!" I really had no good argument against that logic - it is the logic I would like to use. LOL!

We are also in the middle of all Remi's summer camps. Last week was golf - a great camp and a new teacher this year who was really good. Remi, being fresh from end to school year teacher gift season, told me that he really thought Garrett was a great teacher and we should get him a gift. Welllll, what do you get a very, very young good looking single golf pro??? Not, having any very young good looking girls available we settled on a Starbucks gift card - I had noticed that he had a cup of coffee from Starbucks each day. He was actually a bit taken aback by it. I am sure he had never gotten and "end of golf camp" gift. But Remi felt good about giving him something. I suppose I better think about what we can get the more middle aged, less good looking baseball coach from this week's baseball camp. LOL! Yes, we have moved onto baseball this week. Remi has a number of kids from school and former baseball teammates along with one kid from last week's junior golf in this week's camp so he is loving it. Oh, yeah, he is actually learning a lot too.

Next week, Remi is at baseball camp all day for Mon to Thurs and Peyton starts swimming lessons (she is soooooo very excited!!) Oh, and Peyton started her kindermusik camp last Thurs.

So, basically, just call me Madam bus driver!!

And just beacuse we have not had much going on my dearest hubby invited his brother and his son's basketball team to stay at our house last Fri. night. They are great kids but man, can they go through the food!!!

Next up, we are going to get ready for Remi's bday party at the end of the month and then get ready for Disneyland. WOW! Summer is really going now!!!