Proud Mama and Scrappy Heavy...

If you only look at one photo here, you must scroll down to the fourth one. Thump. Even Donk took a second look. It's THAT perfect. It is SO them. She with that mischievous smile and he with his sweetness showing through. Sigh. We did survive. What a day. To say it was monumental in our household, would not be an overstatement. Just one month past their third birthday, they went to "cool". "My cool and Puppy's too."...

Yep, he is that adorable...

So excited... And, not JUST about the pink glitter light-up Stride Rites.

A little nervous,

but not that nervous. THIS IS IT!!

Running off some nervous energy...

Oh yeah, nervous... No, you go. No YOU go first.

Ok, proud Momma moment over. Now onto some fun scrappy stuff. A little somethin somethin all available in the shop at Croppin Paradise!

Another project I created for Croppin Paradise's Camp Paradise...

And, the stuff I put together for Simply Obsessed and my Scrap That Vacation Crop...

New favorite yellow paper here. Studio Calico. sigh.

The latest Scrap That Baby prompt Step By Step and a Studio Calico kit with more OA love.sigh.

hope to be back soon. thanks for listening. sigh.

Sittin On a Suitcase, Waitin' for a Ride

All of my Scrap That Vacation Crop challenges are up at Simply Obsessed here. Please come play with me this weekend. I put a ton of work into it and would love some company. AND, you can see what I've been keeping from you all these past weeks. Lots of new eye candy for my challenge samples.


Kept my last Camp Paradise challenge layout pretty simple. Wanted to keep the focus on those JB Playdate papers and the photos of Miss Sassy. Camp is wrapping up this weekend with a Talent Show. Hope you can join us...

Happy 3rd Birthday Simply Obsessed!! C'Mon & Hop Along

Welcome to my Party of Five blog & Simply Obsessed's Blog Hop to celebrate it's 3rd Birthday. I'm one of the designer's over there. It's a totally fun place to hangout and chat and Heather creates some amazing kits. You should have reached me from Andrea's blog, if you arrived here another way and would like to join in on the fun you can go to the SO blog here to get started.

As soon as I heard we were going to be doing this blog hop with a birthday theme, I knew just what I wanted to make. My youngest kiddos just turned 3 and I knew I HAD to make a shadowbox to commemorate the big day. I picked up a cheapy little box at Mike's and started playing with some favorite goodies of mine: October Afternoon K & Co Handmade, and Girls' Paperie diecuts. The key to creating a cool shadowbox is to add layers at varying depths. Some of my stuff is even added to the outer frame and the glass within. Hope this will inspire you to make a little crafty something yourself.

**** Ok, now that we are done here, head on over to SO member Brianna's blog to continue on the SO 3rd Birthday Blog Hop. Don't forget YOURS TRULY is hosting the Scrap That Vacation crop this weekend. We've already started the fun with signups and a game. Look for a Pre-Crop Challenge later today in the forums. The rest of the scrappy craziness will start bright & early tomorrow. Can't wait to "see you" over there. Hope you enjoyed my project and will come back and visit Party of Five again.

**** Leave me a comment and tell me what you're most looking forward to with Fall quickly approaching and I'll draw a name for a little RAK O Fun.

Still Here... I Swear

These last 2 weeks seem like a whirlwind to me. I still want to re-cap the Big Day (Donk's homecoming), just not yet. We're back in our rhythm, a new one at that. As much as I look forward to hubby's return, it always takes some getting used to. We have OUR way of doing things, and he certainly has HIS. It like a weird kind of tango as we put it all together. Tonight will surely test the balance as we have 3 events on the schedule... football, cheerleading, and soccer. We shall see.

Switching gears, Croppin Paradise continues it's month-long Camp Paradise. I love this layout I did as a sample for my Camp Spirit challenge during Week 3.


Scrap That Baby's newest prompts are up. The linkie is on my sidebar, as is Croppin Paradise's. STB's was to scrap something nursery-themed. The current prompt is "How I Met Your Father". Such great stuff has been added already and you still have until the 15th to add yours!

Yep, another banner. I need a 12 step banner program. Can you hook a girl up?!?

And one last kit for Simply Obsessed. I've enjoyed my run there and look forward to my next scrappy adventure. Simply Obsessed is lots of fun due to Heather's great kits and all the fun girls on the boards. So, here ya go. Pink Paislee's lovely Queen Bee...

Wonder who this is for...

Check back here Thursday as we kick off Simply Obsessed's Birthday celebration with a Blog Hop. That is if you'd like a peek at my latest shadowbox creation. Teehee, such a tease.

Less Than Two Weeks To Go

I swear I really am still here. AND, more than that, I'm still kicking. I'm just being pulled in 5 directions with the kids and their activities and I have scrappy deadlines up the wazoo. The Camp Paradise month-long crop kicked off yesterday. The first week's prompts are up and you have until Wednesday at midnight to get in on this week's fun. The crop continues through the middle of August. Come play!! Besides preparing my samples for that, I'm also preparing challenges and projects for my very own Scrap That Vacation Crop over at Simply Obsessed August 13-15. So, I can't share that much with you today. But know that once I get all of this completed, I'll have close to a dozen projects to share with you right here.

Lots to catchup with. We spent the Fourth with some dear friends. My little Justin Bieber lookalike enjoyed himself...



We're in full swing with soccer and getting ready to make the transition to football/cheerleading in just a couple of weeks, too. Ugh. I'm sweating just thinking of those nights!! I tell you, I just don't know where this young man came from. No baby here...

Been busy with lots of dressup. A new favorite picture of Sassy doing her new squinty smile.

Another layout for Simply Obsessed and Sketch Inspiration. Heather was generous enough to sponsor their site for this week. You could win July's sold out Lily Bee kit!

I hope to be back soon with the big third birthday update and Week #1's Challenge from Camp Paradise! Oh yea, there will be Fly In pictures coming soon!

p.s. I'm going to be pubbed in Scrapstreet!

Too Pooped to Care

Croppin Paradise is planning an unbelievable online crop starting on the 15th of July. You can find all the details and a link to the free registration here. I'm knee deep in preparing my projects for the crop, so stay tuned for those starting the middle of the month. The prizes being offered are unbelievably generous.

The Grand Prize includes a $30 gift certificate to the Croppin Paradise store, a BoBunny album kit, a Making Memories jewelry kit, and a "Scrap Queen" t-shirt.

Hope you can join us for conversation, a lot of laughs, and some serious scrapping.

In the meanwhile, here are my projects for Simply Obsessed's July kit featuring Lily Bee and My Mind's Eye So Sophie. Love the summery feel to this kit. Another home run from Heather, I tell ya.

This last one I did for my Layout Challenge at Simply Obsessed. Want a chance to win a gift certificate to Simply Obsessed? Join in on my challenge: YELLOW + OLD + NEW. Link your layout to my post.

I've definitely got plenty of stuff to fill my days until Donk comes home from Afganistan THIS MONTH.... soccer x's 3, gymnastics, camp x's 3, Camp Paradise, and MY crop over at Simply Obsessed the weekend of August 13th. Oh yea, add to all of that my usual scrappy deadlines and the cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping, refereeing, and wiping bums that can fill up any day without even trying.

I'll try to be back soon.

Who's that Lady? AKA Ramona Quimby

Ok, I know I'm totally revealing my age here, but doesn't Sassy's new 'do totally remind you of Ramona Quimby's hair from those classic Beverly Cleary books of our youth?!? And you know what a mischievous little imp Ramona was, so this totally fits our Sassy. Blame it on massive doses of sleep deprivation, but I finally broke down and got Sophia's hair cut. We were all at the haircut place to get all the Bigs done and somehow she ended up in the big chair getting one too. I'm pretty sure I blacked out for a second when I first saw her. I have never seen someone's appearance change so much with just a simple snip of some bangs. Wow. It has grown on me, and I think it suits her. P.J., on the other hand, is even worse with change than his Momma and still doesn't dig it.

Update on my sick DSLR. I got a estimate for the repairs and it just didn't make sense for me to go through with it. Once I paid that and bought new kit lens to replace the one the twins busted last year, it'd almost be as much as a new newer model DSLR. So Donk just bought me my Birthday/Anniversary gift. It'll be here on Monday. Can. not. wait!! I think a brand new camera (fully functional, at that) will be just what I need to jump back into the photo world!!

A little scrappiness for you today. A super cute 2-pager I made for All About Scrapbook's Creative Team Challenge for June. I combined that with my Color Challenge at Simply Obsessed. Feel free to play along with either challenge. The links are on my right sidebar! Check out this amazing ad from Waverly I used for my inspirational springboard...

Here's tha ad I pulled from Traditional Home magazine...

And this is what I came up with. these are some of my all time favorite pictures of the twins. Prepare to see them often. And I'm ok with that.

That's all for now. Happy Weekend!!

If You Have a Pulse, You Have A Life With Purpose

So much to say. But, not a clear thought in the bunch. I am getting by with less and less sleep, with that my brain is getting fuzzier and fuzzier. Who woulda thunk that was even possible?!?

There ARE a few things I AM sure of. I love my job. I love staying home with our children and being there for them on a daily basis. And I mean DAILY basis. I love my husband for supporting our family, thus allowing me to stay home. We both know it is making a huge impact on their young lives and will shape them as they grow into young people and eventually leave our home. With all THAT out of the way, I've realized that I have gotten a little lost along the way. Or as the matriarch on Parenthood said last night, I got swallowed up by it all. I love my job as a mom and I love my role as Patrick's wife. But, what about me? Sure, I have my scrapbooking. It allows me the ability to let some of my other things go on occasion, because I "have to" get some scrappy assignments done. But, is that enough? Today, it's not.

And I'm ok with it. I know that these kiddos of ours are growing up ridiculously fast, and I'll be back at my real job all too soon. I'll be missing out on lunchdates at Oakland and cheerleading practices before I know it. I'll be teaching, just like I did before I married Patrick (11 years ago Saturday) and before we started our party of five. Until then, I'll continue to go without haircuts and pedicures and even the time it takes to sit down and eat a hot meal. The rest of my life will be upon me TOO SOON.

Some projects using Simply Obsessed's June kit. Lots of fun products from Bella Blvd.'s Man of the House line.

A gift for a fellow Hawkeye wife...

And another calendar square for Patrick's ready room aboard the USS Eisenhower. Hope he likes it!

Be back soon, friends!! <3