My Weblog

Short-timer

Yup, I have a very short time to get this post started.  No doubt I will have to finish it later.  I have a 9 o'clock signing........What a way to start a morning.  I had a lousy night's sleep.  Went to bed early knowing I needed to be functional when I got up.  Slept from about 10:30-12:30 when Joe arrived home with Erica.  Unfortunately, I had Punky in bed with me, so when the other dogs started barking in the Living Room, she just joined in.  After that, I had a hard time getting back to sleep.  Then around 3:30AM I made a bathroom run, only to find Joe snoring up a storm when I got back to bed.  I tried to get him to roll over--if he lays facing the wall, it directs the sound AWAY from me, a great blessing--but all he did was mumble at me and pat my hand.  Let me just say that trying to sleep with THAT is a lot like trying to sleep on railway tracks.

We're trying an experiment with Miss Punkin.  We're leaving the TV on for her when we leave.  So far it seems to be working--no chewing in our absence.  Last night's minor catastrophe involved Indiana who managed to go for a tour of our bedroom, unbeknownst to me, while I was throwing a load of clothes in the washer.  Since I didn't know he was in there, I loaded the washer, closed the bedroom door and came back out to the office.  Later, I started to hear some strange noises.  Finally, I figured out those strange noises were coming from OUR house, not next door or on the freeway which is some distance behind the house.  Sure enough he was locked in the bedroom, attempting to dig his way out.  Of course, many years ago when he was a pup, he did just about all the damage possible from that activity, so there's just a little bit of stuff to pick up, but no new damage to speak of. 

We went to the stores last night.  I wanted to hit Target for the "socks and underwear" birthday.  Also, Jen had commissioned me to pick up some Christmas stuff for her.  We looked at both Target and Kohls, and managed to get 2 of the 3 items she requested.  As far as Christmas stuff for our house, I did grab some ribbon and 2 rolls of paper, but that was it.  We went over to Kohls with Joe's gift certificate from Jen and Jason.  We found him 3 ordinary polo shirts on sale for just a bit more than the $50 he had to spend.  Then, on the way out of the men's department we saw a killer dress shirt which we also got for 50% off.  It's going to look great on him as are the polo shirts we bought.  Marci was in charge of color selection and got him three that really show off his eyes.  Then we headed to the ladies department where we looked for and found an acceptable coat for me for 50% off.  I have a couple of coats in the closet, but they're really too small.  So, I got this one which will work til I manage to peel off some significant poundage.  I'm really grateful for it.  The only thing I had to wear was more of a waist length jacket style which is extremely casual and looks really stupid with a long sweat shirt or top.  This will work very well for days like today when I have to go to a signing and it's cold. 

So, Jen wanted enough cookies to make some cookie plates for folks.  I had very few cookies left so I ended up giving her everything I had.  So, I've sent Joe off to work this morning with orders to go to the grocery store that's just down the street from the resort to acquire 2 of the three ingredients for cake balls.  I am determined to make some of those yet!  We found some melting chocolate on sale at Kohls so all I need is a cake mix and some pre-made frosting. 

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Intermission for a signing

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So my signing was a nightmare.  The people came an HOUR late!  I'd have been out of there but for the fact that they called at 9:35 to say they would be 5 or 10 minutes late for their 9:30 appointment.  Of course, their appointment was for 9:00, not 930.  So, finally at 10 they came chugging in.  In the meantime, the escrow officer had found an error in the docs and was back and forth on the phone with the lender, trying to get new docs.  She finally got desperate and made the change herself which is sort of a no-no unless you have their permission.  When we got into the signing, the little old lady proceeded to chatter non-stop.  I'd be explaining what a certain document was and she'd be talking.  When I'd get all done explaining, she'd say "now what is this?"  and I'd have to start all over again.  I didn't get out of there til 11:30 and I was mentally exhausted and totally exasperated by the time I did. 

Well, that's about all the news I have for now.  I'll post some pages for your viewing pleasure! 

My poor girl. "I'm tired" is a way of life for her. Demanding job. Nursing baby. An 8 year old who needs Mom's attention. A husband who needs help. And all the additional duties involved in all that stuff as well as a problem with anemia. I try to help out but no matter what I do, there's more to be done. I couldn't resist scrapping this photo I snapped the other day as the shirt describes her to a Tee (pardon the pun). This is a scraplift of one of my new favorite scrappers, Mabel--her layout called "The Light". I used Lynn Grieveson's new kit, Cherie, for the page. I also used bows by Natalie Braxton. You can get Cherie exclusively at Designer Digitals.

I've noticed I'm having stomach trouble lately. Knowing I've tested allergic to wheat in the past, I've decided to eliminate the bulk of it from my diet to see if that helps, but DH is addicted to sandwiches. We have difficulty finding something to eat for lunch at our house! I've used Nina's Enjoy Fall kit for this page. You can find it at O Scraps! I scrapped this page in honor of National Sandwich Day, November 3. The idea for the page came from Katie's Amazing Month of Memories idea book by Katie the Scrapbook Lady--available at Polka Dot Potato.

Just a quick shot of desert flowers against a typical red rock background--ummmmm. I used the yellow paper from LaWanna Desjardin's Hello Sunshine kit. The stitched frame and the pumpkin are from her Autumn Mix mini-kit. The orange flower and the curled cardboard corner are from the Bittersweet kit. I did the title using LaWanna's new Orange Burlap Alpha. You can find all of LaWanna's products at Scrapbook Bytes.

My DH captured this photo of me holding Atticus. The little guy looks so happy and that just thrills me. I know I WILL scrap this photo again! I used papers and elements from Amanda's My New Beginnings Collection, the Love kit for this very simple layout. The leaf element is not part of the kit but I don't have the designer's name. You can find Amanda's My New Beginnings Collection at amandarockwell.com.

I'm an Atlantic Ocean girl, myself, having grown up on Daytona Beach. But one must say something positive about an ocean that covers about 1/3 of the earth's surface, I suppose. I took this photo just off the road between Santa Barbara and Ventura summer of 2006. Beautiful area. I got the idea for this page from Katie the Scrapbook Lady's Amazing Month of Memories idea book series. I even stole my title from a quote that's featured there. November 28 is commemorated as the date Magellan named the Pacific Ocean. I used paper and a doodle from a new kit by Nina, Lena's World, available at NDISB and O Scraps.

Our Baby giraffe at Halloween--a very happy little fellow. He LOVED his costume. I used a bg paper by LaWanna Desjardin from her customer appreciation paper pack called Blessed. The giraffe (recolored) is from Emily Merritt's part of the Exotic kit. The alpha is Deb Fisher's new grid alpha. The fasteners are by Nina. LaWanna's products are available at SBB. Nina's products are available at O Scraps and NDISB. And that CUTE alpha by Deb Fisher is available at Pickleberry Pop.

Technically, this kit by LaWanna Desjardin is a Christmas kit. It's even named "Merry Wishmas". I didn't have any Christmas photos I wanted to scrap but I did have this great snow scene I found while prowling around on Stock Exchange a few weeks ago. I have so much fun just looking around there! Anyway, you can get Merry Wishmas at LaWanna's Scrapbook-Bytes

Power Outage

Yup, that's what I said.  I had plans for hitting it hard Monday morning with all the cooking, etc when, about 10AM, the power went out.  The power company was called and they claimed they knew nothing about it.  I guess they had to call a guy in who was off for the day.  Joe was outside when he installed a new fuse, about as long as your arm, in the big transformer box that's located on our property line.  The power flicked on for a second and then went out because the fuse immediately blew.  It was after 3PM when the power finally came back on.  In the meantime, I found myself pretty much paralyzed.  I couldn't use the phone, the TV, the computer, the oven, or lights in any part of the house.  I didn't know what time it was.  Not my idea of how to spend 5 hours on Christmas Eve day.   I was so grateful when they finally got it fixed.  It was getting quite chilly in here and I could finally get on with what I should have done earlier in the day.  In the intervening time, I wrapped the few remaining gifts and we went out and got me a Christmas gift!

I've been eligible for a new cell phone for a long time.  And, I've certainly needed one.  But, knowing that the "free" phone always costs money, I have been limping along with the one I had.  Well not any more.  I have a new cell phone.  Joe tried to just buy a new charger and battery for mine, but my 3 year old phone was "too old" and three different cell phone stores didn't have them.  SO, I ended up with a new phone.  It's a pretty little thing, but I'm more concerned that it hold a charge for more than a minute and a half! 

I got a wide angle lens for my camera from Joe and an IOU for a telephoto lens from Jen.  I really wanted those and I knew they would become more difficult to obtain as the days passed.  Fortunately, lenses for this camera are much less expensive than the lenses for the big, fancy DSLR cameras for which some part of me is still holding out hope--someday.  THOSE lenses can run as much as $1500 each.  My camera is less than a year old.  But, when I bought it, Sony already had a later model out.  I think, now, they've introduced two even later generations, at least one........  So, sooner or later, accessories for the model I am using will become non-existent.  One of the selling points, in my mind, for my camera in the first place is that it has 12x zoom.  That's a big deal as the standard digital camera only has 3 x zoom.  It has some other features which make it a wonderful camera to own--outstanding lens, and image stabilization.  It also has many many different shooting modes (presets for the camera) to allow for good photos in many different conditions.  I plan on using this camera for a lot of years to come so I want to make the most of it!  I jokingly told Joe I want to go back up to Utah, to Kolob canyon, and shoot some photos with my wide angle lens.  The view there is spectacular.  In fact, it is so great, it seems almost sinful to take regular photos.  With a wide angle, I can capture the whole scenic panorama--five mountains with intervening canyons lying side by side in all their glorious red rock glory.  And, certainly, by now, frosted over with snow.  But, I doubt that is going to happen.

Christmas was a lot of fun even though it was tiring.  Jen wanted us at their house EARLY for the opening of packages.  So, we were up at 5AM and out of the house before 6.  We were plenty early--they weren't even awake yet!  But, because we were early, she wasn't faced with trying to keep a very excited boy out of his gifts til Grandma and Grandpa got there.  Our primary gift to Will was a snow saucer.  He just LOVED it.  In fact he climbed into it and stayed there for quite a while.....so long and so excitedly, in fact, that Atticus crawled over and sat in it too for quite a while.  That made for some cute photos.  We got Atticus a "Scoot and Scoop".  It's pretty cute though it was a pistol to get unwrapped, and Joe and Jason actually had to resort to reading the directions to figure out how to do the small amount of assembly on it.  But as soon as he could, Atticus climbed on there and began pushing all the buttons to make various sounds.  From us, Will also got his Hardy Boys books (I had a few minutes extra after my signing Friday afternoon and ran through Barnes and Noble), some quilted pants to wear in the snow, a fishing rod (a real cheapie from Walmart), and an outfit.  Atticus also got an outfit and an antique wooden xylophone toy, manufactured in 1974 (I got it on e-bay).  It was a little the worse for wear, but had all its parts and the wooden one Jen wanted me to get him was sold out when I tried to buy it.  There was much juggling of costs and dollars between each purchase as I was determined to get everything purchased for cash.  Now I'm waiting for the credit card bills to arrive so I can pay for the Christmas purchases and see what's left.  I promised to donate some cash to Joe to help with his Christmas gifts to his kids.  I managed to find some coconut toast spread for Jennifer.  She just loves the stuff and squealed with delight when she figured out what it was.  I was so happy she liked it.  I also got her a thing to lie on to ease her back, a vegetarian cookbook I hope she'll find very useful, and a few novels to read.  We got Jason a mug when we toured the Midway.  It's a classy looking mug and he has a lot of those REALLY big coffee mugs so now he has another one to add to his collection.  We also got him a spiral bound sodoku book--he loves that game--and a gift certificate to Big 5, a local sporting goods store.  He can use it toward some new running shoes or whatever he needs.  We still want to give Jen some money, but, though I asked Joe 3 times, he forgot to write a check.  In fact, I had to explain the whole thing all over to him last night, as though we'd never talked about it in the first place.  I'm starting to think early onset Alzheimers!

I got Joe some new pillows.  He's had some that were lumpy and disgusting when he moved in and he's used them ever since.  Each time I've mentioned replacing them, he's told me he didn't need new pillows.  But, I KNEW he did.  I turned on HSN a few weeks ago and they were selling these pillows that looked incredibly supportive, looked like you'd have a pistol of a time wearing them out........  So, I ordered them.  They came in a huge box, but we got a bunch of huge boxes so when it came, not realizing the box had the contents written all over the outside of the box, I asked him to bring it in from the front porch.  He did, and has walked around the box for weeks.  He was still surprised when he unwrapped them yesterday morning.  Men!  I also got him the last CD's of West Wing from the final season.  That is his all time favorite TV show.  And, we had dinner at the Olive Garden the night before my birthday and he was raving about how good their coffee is.  I found out the brand and found some at Cost Plus Friday afternoon, so he got some of that.  The kids got him a gift certificate to Men's Wearhouse which he will love using.  I still have his birthday to face.  I'm planning on "socks and underwear" which is the only answer I ever get if I ask him what he wants for any gift giving occasion.  I'm also going to get him some shower gel, after shave, etc., from Bath and Body Shoppe.  I don't want to rush though--I still have 6 days.........

Well that's about all the news for now.  Erica arrives late tomorrow night for a week.....  I'll post a few pages and get on with my laundry. 

Mom carries the baby around in a sling, so Will has taken to carrying his stuffed puppy dog around in a sling as well. They looked so cute together...... I used the new collaborative kit, Bedtime Stories, by the NDISB designers for this page. The flowers are from a previous collaborative kit which is no longer available. The stitched border (recolored) is by Kay Miller. The filmstrip (recolored) is by Amanda Rockwell.

Photo by Uncle John. My son-in-law's grandmother celebrated her 97th birthday. I used Michelle Bradley's (Shelby Design Studios) Birthday Wishes kit for this page. I have a tough time with birthday pages, but this kit made it easy. You can find Michelle's kit at ACOT.

When the family went to visit Uncle John, John and Will found this spider spinning its web. Will was fascinated by it. So, John took the picture and I scrapped it for Will! I used The new collaborative kit by Amanda Rockwell and Miriam Lima called Tricks N Treats. The bead alpha is by Kimberly Giarusso. Tricks N Treats is available at Funky Playground Designs and Sweet Shoppe Designs.

Snow happens rarely in Southern Nevada and NEVER sticks. That makes this photo of my DD with snow in her hair pretty special. I used the new Nina Scraps/Ashalee Wall collaborative kit, Icing on the Cake, for this page. You can find it at O Scraps. I also used Sequin Spills by Rachel Young.

As we got ready for our trip, Joe gathered up our hats. Of course, to quote him, he "can't do anything straight" so this is what I saw when I looked up. Luckily the camera was handy. I used a bg paper from Katie the Scrapbook Lady's Polka Party kit. I also got the idea for this page from her Amazing Month of Memories Idea Book series--Did you know that October 6th is Mad Hatter Day? You can find Katie's products at Polka Dot Potato. Everything else is by Weeds N Wildflowers.

This little guy is 1/2 of a set of twins who are in Day Care with Atticus. Isn't he a little cutie? Atticus wouldn't cooperate with me, so I grabbed some quick shots of this little guy. I used the new Gina Miller/Amanda Rockwell collaborative collection, This Sweet Boy, for this page. Most of the elements and the papers are from Aidan. The frame is from Cole, another kit in the group. The border and flower (recolored) are from Logan, another of these great kits. The newsprint swirl is from Noah (yup, you guessed it, another kit in the collection). The ribbon (recolored) is by Lynn Grieveson at Designer Digitals. And, I've used some cardboard hearts from Amanda's Color Me Stitched element pack, available at amandarockwell.com. You can find this new "boy" collection at Gina Miller Designs. Run, don't walk.....

What is it about little boys? They all have to make faces when the camera comes out! Will used his baby brother's toy as a prop for this series of photos! I used papers and elements from the new Amanda Rockwell-Gina Miller collaborative kit--Cole--from their new collection called This Sweet Boy for this page. The alpha is from the Girls in Black bonus. The stars are from Amanda's Star Light Star Bright element kit, available at amandarockwell.com. The spilled sequins are by Rachel Young. This Sweet Boy is available at Gina Miller Designs.

Humbug!

Yes, you heard me, HUMBUG!  I am less and less thrilled with Christmas as it approaches.  I figured out last night that one of my gifts for Will did not go through the order process properly at amazon.com.  SO, there will be no Hardy Boys books for him under the tree--there was supposed to be a set of six.  That totally torques me off.  And, yesterday, I finally received the gift I ordered for my mother.  So, today I have to wrap it, find a place to send it out, and pay extra for fast shipping to get it there by Christmas.  Not fun!

I did a bit more baking yesterday.  I made cranberry orange macadamia nut biscotti for us to enjoy with our coffee after Christmas dinner.  I'm thinking of making some cake balls too.  Cake balls were quite the thing in the digital scrapbooking community last year.  You bake a cake mix according to the directions, then reduce it to all crumbs.  Then you add in frosting, mixed right in with the crumbs.  There seems to be some small controversy as to what amount of frosting, but somewhere between 2/3's and all of a can of store bought frosting--enough to make a gooey mess that will stick together.  Then you roll the mixture into balls and dip them in melted chocolate (some people skip melting the chocolate and just roll them in powdered sugar).  From what I read, these things are amazingly good so I really kind of wanted to try them.  Of course, there are as many variations as there are cake flavors--chocolate cake, chocolate frosting, dark chocolate dipped, gingerbread flavored cake, cream cheese frosting, white chocolate dipped, strawberry cake, cream cheese frosting, white chocolate dipped, lemon cake, lemon frosting, white chocolate dipped, and so on and so on.  I don't know if I'll actually get to do these or not.  I do know there is some sort of cake mix in the kitchen and either there's some chocolate frosting or I could make some buttercream frosting.  And, I have some chocolate chips out there, so if I have time.........

I had wanted to make pumpkin pies yesterday.  But, sure enough I couldn't find my recipe again.  It happens every year, but this year I have a really good excuse.  Someone who lives with me (I won't give any names, to protect the guilty) dumped my entire recipe box on the floor a while back.  Then this person just grabbed handsful of index cards and stuffed them back into the box any old way--veggie dishes mixed with pies mixed with main dishes mixed with cookies.  Is it any wonder I can't find a specific recipe when I want it?  I had to call my mother and ask her to e-mail me the recipe--AGAIN.  She wasn't able to get it to me til about 5PM my time, by which time I was too tired to make an attempt at multiple pies.  Then, while I was awaiting the arrival of Mom's e-mail, Jennifer wanted to know if Will could help me make the pies.  Seems that for cub scouts, he's supposed to participate in making a traditional family recipe.  So, I had thought we'd do them this afternoon.  BUT, I was drafted to do an out-of-the-office signing, all the way down in Green Valley.  So, there goes my afternoon.  Out of the office signings pay about 3 times what an in the office signing pays, and at first blush, that sounds really good.  But, by 12noon, I'll have to stop everything, dress in professional clothing, go to the Escrow company to pick up the documents, drive to Green Valley, do the signing, and drive back, then go back to the Escrow Company and drop off the signed documents.  When it's all said and done, I doubt I'll be home before 4:30PM.  All that time elapsed and running around using up gasoline really eats into the dollars per hour........but, any dollar is a good dollar around here right now.  So, the pumpkin pies will have to wait til tomorrow.........

I forgot to tell a Will story here.  Seems last week, I think it was the 14th, Jennifer and Jason and the boys went to a Christmas party for a bunch of lawyers.  At this party, one of the guys dressed up like Santa.  Now, I've scrapped a photo of Will from the same party last year (it's done annually) sitting on Santa's lap looking confused, like "what do I do now?".  This year, he sat on Santa's lap again.  However, we had another source of confusion this year.  Somehow he got it into his head that he just asked Santa for what he wanted and Santa would hand it to him right then and there.  He was sorely disappointed when that didn't happen.  Poor little guy.  His mother never wanted to tell him the whole Santa thing because it's a fairy tale and she didn't want to convince him to believe in a fairy tale--she wanted whatever she told him to be, without fail, the truth.  But, it just seems to lead to him being confused......  I asked him the other day what he wanted for Christmas, and we talked about the party Friday night.  He told me he hoped his mom would help Atticus believe in Santa.  I thought that was so sweet--that he would be concerned that Atticus not be placed in the same position as he has been.  Of course, Mom made the decision about Santa with the best of intentions, but, obviously, this is something Will will do differently when he's a daddy. 

We were supposed to go to a party for DH's work Sunday evening.  I kept asking him what we were to wear and he kept forgetting to ask anyone at work.  So, I went through my boxes of stored winter things and found a "festive" red tank top and matching jacket with gold threads and thought I'd wear that with some red slacks.  When Joe finally remembered to ask, it was December 14th, two days before the party, and I was informed it was "formal".  Yeah, right!  Like I have something formal tucked away in my closet!  Or, like I had time to go and buy something!  Or, even less likely, like I had money to go and buy something!  Not likely......  We found out later that the company had a cash bar, meaning, if you want a drink, a soda, or even a cup of coffee before dinner is served, it costs you.  In this case, it would have cost us about $15 for a couple of sodas.  It's a good thing we didn't go!

Joe has been going to the resort everyday this week.  They have a mob of sales reps and not that many people to sell to, so he's only been doing about one presentation a day.  I think he's disappointed, but by showing up, we get to collect his draw for the week.  It's not much, but it will buy food for a week.  So, I guess he'll keep going whenever they're open. 

I think I mentioned some time ago that someone gave us some carpet.  I was thrilled as I've prayed for carpet for a long time.  There is, for sure, enough to do the master and one other bedroom and it's a very nice color.  However, it's now months later and we still have two big bulky rolls of carpet laying the length of our hall.  It's almost impossible for me to open the hall closet door and one has to step over the rolls of carpet to get into either of the side bedrooms.  Every time we see Matthew, he swears he's going to call his buddy who does carpet laying and get us a good deal on getting the stuff put down.  But, of course, he never does.  I'm so sick of it I could spit.  Of course, we've also waited more than a year and a half for Matthew to do the rest of our floors......  I just hate that we are living this way and I hate that he blows off requests from his father this way.  I have always been grateful for this house though I've never been able to decorate it the way I wanted and I've never been particularly proud of it.  But having huge gaping holes and shredded edges in the carpet is pretty darn embarrassing when the tax clients come or when it's the holidays and you'd like things to look decent.  Oh, well.  I really hope Joe does something about getting that carpet laid soon.........

I need to explain something here.  My cell phone is dying.  It's a two fold problem.  First, the battery in the phone is holding a full charge for shorter and shorter periods of time.  It needs to be replaced or I need a new phone.  And, second, the charger that works off the house's electrical is broken.  Someone--I honestly think it's the lady who cleans for us (she's good at breaking and losing things)--has broken the little metal pieces off the charger that make a connection with the phone to charge it.  So, it requires precariously balancing the phone and charger to even get it to charge.  I try to charge it in the car EVERY time I go somewhere, but the battery runs down very quickly.  So, if I'm not calling you, that's why.  I could use Joe's phone in the evening, but I'd have to find a quiet place to do that--away from the very loud TV--and a time that is before midnight where I'm calling.  Makes for a lot more blogging and a lot less talking on the phone.

Well, that's way more than I have time for today.  I'm off to get some little bit of work done before I have to change clothes and leave here.  I'll post a few pages for your viewing pleasure.

We were all sad that we didn't find any apples left on the trees. Next year, we'll be there earlier! But it was a pleasant day together in the warm fall sunshine. I used a bit of everything on this page: Paper from Weeds and Wildflowers, Apple sticker and apple by Microferk, ribbon by Lynn Grieveson, her Tied and Torn Collection, Katie the Scrapbook Lady's Fill-a-bet, paper by Tracy Ann Robinson for the alpha. Lynn's Tied and Torn ribbons are available exclusively at Designer Digitals. Katie's products are/will be at Polka Dot Potato.

My friend John went for another hike in Oregon and I got another batch of his wonderful nature photos. I used Just A Hint paper pack by Lynn Grieveson for this page. I did my first page with a "real" blended photo last week and now I want to blend everything! The twigs, word art, and dried flowers are by Jen Surge. I'm not going to mention the name of the person who designed the frames. They had the rugged worn look I wanted but came with the biggest, darkest shadows imaginable. I erased most of them and tilted more off the page so they wouldn't be visible. Might have worked just fine on a dark bg, but shocking on a pale green......... You can find Lynn Grieveson's Just a Hint at Designer Digitals.

My friend John went for another hike in Oregon and I got another batch of his wonderful nature photos. I used the Somerset kit by Lynn Grieveson for this page. Someday, when I've done 12,891 layouts with this kit, it will occur to me it is time to archive it. Then I will mourn--I LOVE this shade of blue! The ribbon wrap is by Natalie Braxton. You can find Lynn's products at Designer Digitals. I also used one of the photoblast color pop actions on the photo and love the result.

Jason's uncle, John, took this beautiful photo of Jason and Atticus. Are you a customer of LaWanna Desjardin? Buy anything from her SBB shop between now and November 16 and get this kit free. I also used a template for the scalloped piece by Deb Fisher from her That's My add on's. And the quote is from Deb's Life Quotes, Volume 1. You can find LaWanna Desjardin's designs at SBB. Deb Fisher's products are available at Pickleberry Pop.

This is another of our fall color photos from Kolob Reservoir. Isn't this a gorgeous place? We love it. I used LaWanna Desjardin's newest kit, Bittersweet, for this page. I also used a sketchplate by Anita Stergiou, Blendplate #1. I used LaWanna's Sunwashed Alpha as a clipping mask for papers from the kit for the alpha. You can find LaWanna's designs at Scrapbook Bytes.

Okay, I know that's fewer layouts than usual, but I simply MUST stop for now........

Happy Birthday to me!

Well, today is my birthday and an eventful one so far.  From the looks of the sky, it could be even more eventful.......

Jennifer was driving her carpool from the Day Care to the school that Will attends so she, Will and Sydney called and sang Happy Birthday to me.  Someone was a little off key, but they all made up for it in enthusiasm.  Then, they were discussing whether or not Jennifer was going to be late arriving at the school.  Sydney hoped not because her teacher only gives directions for whatever they are supposed to be doing once and if she's late, she misses out on the directions.  Somehow it came around to her teacher being a mean old lady.  Jennifer said, "Well, there are some NICE old ladies".  And, from the backseat, another voice was heard, young William piped in with "Yeah, like my Grandma.  She's a nice old lady."  Thanks, Will........Pah-rum-pum!

Joe had a card waiting for me along with a gift certificate to Williams Sonoma, the hoity toity kitchen store.  After keeping house in one form or another for almost 40 years, I am the proud owner of a lot of worn out, rusted, outdated kitchen stuff.  I never get a chance to replace it since I never go anywhere that sort of thing is sold.  So, I will take my gift certificate to WIlliams Sonoma and buy really fancy things like a potato peeler that will actually peel something just because the blade is sharp instead of because I've exerted brute force!  Next, I'm hoping for some silicone liners for my baking sheets.  I'm in awe of how nicely everything pops off those cookie sheets when I watch the cooking gurus on TV.  Then, if there's any money left, I will circle the store and just have a good old time trying to figure out what else I can afford.  Considering the prices in that store, chances are that I will march around it enough times to make the walls fall down.  The clerks will all run away for safety and the spoils will be mine if I can just remember to sing while marching......

Jen has sent me a gift which I haven't opened.  I was hoping to wait and open it after Joe gets home tonight, but my curiosity may get the better of me.  I also got a nifty gift wrap center from my mother.  It holds the rolls of paper (if they're standard size), gives you a cutting surface, and holds other accessories like scissors and tape.  It works pretty well.  I really need to give it a workout today!  I have to get a bunch of these packages wrapped or else!  When you're all done with wrapping, it collapses and can be scooted under a couch or bed for storage.

I have decided I have to start praying for a pain free back day.  Sometime between now and Christmas, I need to build a bunch of pumpkin pies.  Most of them we'll freeze for later, but I need to bake one or two to go with Christmas dinner.  If the Lord doesn't give me a pain free back day, rolling out all that dough will be a total torture session.  So, I need a pain free day.  Wanna help me pray?

Sunday we celebrated Atticus's first birthday.  It is hard to believe he is a year old already.  He is so tiny and I remember SO WELL where I was on December 16, 2006.  The kids invited us and a group of friends over for a birthday party.  The birthday boy was, as usual, in a good mood.  I swear I've never seen such a mellow kid!  He had lots of help opening his gifts--all the kids in attendance played big brother or big sister and helped him with one gift.  Will got him a toy cell phone and he fixated on that as it was the first gift he saw.  Someone got him one of those stuffed Sesame Street cookie monster dolls that laughs and laughs and laughs.  He thought that was pretty interesting.  Jen and Jason got him a wooden doll carriage (pram).  The thought was that he could put some of his stuffed animals into it and push them around (and, I'm sure, get better at walking.)  But, he has them outsmarted--he climbs in and waits for one of us to push him around!  This requires much less effort on HIS part, you know.  I got photos of it all which will no doubt show up on future pages.  Sorry, I can't post them here as I haven't uploaded them yet.

Will stayed with me again yesterday.  Of course, I had the privilege (?) of driving him to Green Valley for his appointment with Dr. Smith.  He was in the back seat as is required by law and immediately tuned himself into the DVD player, watching Cheaper by the Dozen 2 AGAIN--I need to scrape up enough money to guy him another movie!!!!!!  Somehow, the traffic was very light and we arrived about 20 minutes early for his appointment.  I cruised the parking lot and realized the doc's car wasn't there yet so thought I'd go exploring.  I used to live in Green Valley, but that was about 15 years ago and there's been SO MUCH development in that area........  Anyway, I figured I'd just head south on the main street for 8 or 9 minutes, then turn around and I'd be back right on time for his appointment.  Now, as I said, I cruised the parking lot at the building where he meets with Dr. Smith.  Then onto the road.  I'd driven for about 6 full minutes when he pipes up from the backseat "Grandma, haven't you gone too far?  Did you miss Dr. Smith's office?"  I explained that we were exploring.  He was very concerned that we would be late, so I turned the car around and headed back to Dr. Smith's office, arriving with 4 minutes to spare (and arriving, let me note, BEFORE the doc!)  After we left there, I tried to talk him into going exploring at a place that does the most magnificent Christmas decorations.  I don't know a lot about their business now, but years ago, they did all the Christmas decorating for the major hotels and casinos.  And you can just imagine how gorgeous THOSE decorations are!  But he wasn't into that at all and had no mercy on me and my desire to take photos of gorgeous Christmas stuff.  We decided to go to lunch (Joe had signings, so we were on our own).  He was angling for Burger King (got to have those el cheapo toys in the kids meals you know) but I told him the road we were on didn't have a Burger King.  He insisted there are Burger King's everywhere.  So we drove past Jack in the Box, Carl's Junior, Dairy Queen, Wendy's, Taco Bell, and McDonald's, but none of those suited him.  Finally, I said we'd just come home and see what we could find in the refrigerator.  Then I decided that was stupid--why should I sentence myself to yucky stuff because there was no Burger King in sight.  So I did a U turn and headed to Applebee's.  He wouldn't get out of the car.  I sat on the bench in front of the restaurant for a few minutes, waiting.  Then I went over and opened his door.  We went in and were seated.  I asked Will what he wanted to eat and his sullen response was "nothing".  I had NO IDEA what was wrong with him--he and I and his Mom and Joe have eaten together at Applebee's a bunch of times.  Well, it turns out he didn't want to eat there because of "what happened in Mississippi".  I had no idea what he was talking about.  Finally I remembered that some woman had been nursing her baby in an Applebee's in Mississippi and was asked to leave.  Will and his mother had participated in a protest over that and he didn't want to eat there.  I asked him how he'd feel if, when we got home, we found that Punkin had eaten the couch, and I punished HIM for it.  He said he didn't think that would be very fair.  I agreed with him and told him that THIS Applebee's was managed by a different manager and had different employees than the one in Mississippi so they couldn't really be punished for the offense.  He decided that made sense and ate a grilled cheese sandwich and some fries........

Well, from the look of the sky, we could actually get some precipitation today.  Rain?  Snow?  Who knows, but it's very overcast.  Even if it rains down here, that usually means snow in the mountains which will be good for Will when we go up there after Christmas.  He is really looking forward to playing in the snow! 

Oh, just a note.  Joe may be a big fan of cauliflower with cheese sauce, but he was definitely NOT a fan of my Cheesy Cauliflower Soup!  Actually, neither was I.  But the next evening I made some Italian soup with scazillion chopped veggies and some Italian sausage in it and that was acceptable!  Thank heavens, I've redeemed myself.......

Well, I have to get a move on.  I have to do a signing today.  I lost much of yesterday because I had Will, and today I will lose at least 2-3 hours because of the signing, so I need to hit it hard between now and then.   Later, gator..........

These photos are from our trip to the Pumpkin Patch last year--My daughter's friend Kirsten and her daughter. I used LaWanna Desjardin's Moonlit Magic for this page. LaWanna's designs are available at Scrapbook-Bytes.

I took this photo of Will and Grandpa while we were visiting Kolob Reservoir. I used Deb Fisher's Rainbow Papers, available at Pickleberry Pop. The swirl is by Tracy Ann Robinson.

Atticus has always had "happy feet", our name for the wild kicking he engages in when he sees something he likes coming his way. But lately, he's developed "hallelujah hands". He throws both hands in the air to celebrate something good. But, he wouldn't cooperate while Grandma was trying to get a photo. I used FPD's October Collaborative--A Second Spring for this page. It's a gorgeous kit, ladies......

When I took this photo a little over a year ago, it was way beyond my photo editing skills. I worked with it a bit today because I love sunsets and I like it. I used Lynn Grieveson's new kit Golden Bay for this. Golden Bay is available exclusively at Designer Digitals. The red ribbon is by Jennifer Layden of Jennilyn Designs and the red stitching is by Anita Stergiou.

Another photo from Kolob Reservoir, the only place halfway close where we can find fall color. We almost got stuck getting this photo, but the good part was we explored a part of the reservoir we'd never seen before. I used Amanda Rockwell's Giving Thanks for Fall kit for this page. The sequin is from her Little Miss Sunshine kit, available at FPD and amandarockwell.com. The flourish and word art are by Tabatha Reed (Bella Gypsy Designs). Amanda's gorgeous kit is available at Funky Playground Designs and amandarockwell.com. Tabatha's Falling kit is available at SBB.

We found a farm in the middle of Las Vegas! It was once way out in the boonies, but the city has grown up around it. I love this place. We've been a little too late in the season for most of the produce, but, I guarantee we'll be on time next year! I used Weeds and Wildflowers Believing in You kit for this page.

Instead of having a birthday party this year, Will got to go to Disneyland. I asked him what was his favorite thing about Disneyland and this was it--the Jedi Academy. I used Kelly Shults' kit, Imagine, for this page.

God's Perfect Timing

We have struggled here in this house because Joe has had so few sales for the last almost 6 weeks.  We have wondered if we got it wrong when we were both so sure this was God's will for us--God's will to help us pay our bills now, God's will to help us save for the future.  We've talked about it and prayed about it til I'm just sure sometimes that God is sick of the sound of my voice.  (Then, fortunately, I remember that He loves me and doesn't react like a human parent would.)  Just yesterday at lunch we had another round of discussion about it.  Today, God shone a light on things that clarified a lot.  A good month ago, if not more, one of the two major companies that did home improvement financing, Joe's specialty, basically pulled themselves out of the market.  This morning, Joe received a voicemail from Barry, the owner of the company through which he works.  The big news--the other big home improvement financier has now pulled themselves out of that market as well.  There are two or three smaller companies still around, but no one knows where those smaller companies will stand a month from now, particularly if the big guys are cutting and running now.  Barry says he's seriously thinking about trying to get back into swimming pool sales.......  So, it looks like that part of Joe's life is coming to a close.  He will temporarily move his lending stuff back home, but we don't expect to see much business........  And suddenly we see that surely this move to timeshare sales had to be the hand of God at work in our lives.  Now, instead of being in a mad scramble, trying to figure out which way to head next, Joe is already up and running.  It was sad news, in a way, as it always is when something you've enjoyed for a long time is no longer around, but I just sat here with a silly smile on my face, knowing this was the ultimate confirmation that we had gotten it right back when Joe took on this new job. 

We now have 4 sales under our belts.  One we won't get paid on til February, but the other is good to go now.  Honestly, we need at least three a week to survive, four if we're going to make any inroads into our debt.  But, we're grateful for whatever we get right now.  It's tough to get folks in for a presentation this close to the holidays.  We've found out that Joe will be pretty much able to pick his work schedule at the resort.  That's a good thing.  We don't have a lot planned for the season, but I was afraid he'd have to work Sunday which is Atticus's birthday.  It looks for now as though he'll finish up at his office Saturday (the 15th) night and go in and start at the resort on Tuesday, the 18th.  He'll be there til after January 1. 

So, with two sales this week, I am hoping we have now faith-walked long enough and all those wonderful promises of God's blessing are going to bring measurable results for us shortly.  We are so dependent on God's good humor and so grateful for all He has done for us.

A tiny bit of news about Atticus--he's now "famous".  At least, he's famous if you're a scrapbooker and you live in the English-speaking parts of the Pacific Rim.  Lynn Grieveson is a designer whose work has been among my favorites for a long time, and after talking with her two or three or more times a week via e-mail for more than a year and being a beneficiary of her good graces as she gives me a lot of her stuff with which to scrap, I consider her my friend.  Sometime ago, she was asked to do an article for an Australian scrapbooking magazine.  She needed a baby picture and asked for one of Atticus.  With his mother's permission, I gladly obliged.  Yesterday, I got a magazine in the mail, one I didn't recognize but it was about scrapbooking.  Well, there he is, our handsome little boy, on page 108.  She featured him on a birth announcement type of mini layout.  And, now, I can honestly say that one of my photos has been published in a magazine!  Not an e-magazine (I've already had THAT happen), but a for real get-it-through-the-mail hardcopy magazine!

So, in my last blog post, I mentioned that Joe and I don't have the same taste in food.   That was spotlighted yesterday, big time.  I made a pasta dish.  It had wonderful sea scallops in it, combined with leeks and garlic, in a white wine and heavy cream sauce.  I'd have gladly walked a mile for it.  Joe, on the other hand, didn't even finish his first plate of it.  And, if he likes what I've cooked, he's usually good for at least two platesful of whatever is on the menu!  To make matters worse, one of us (I'm not saying who) left the heat on under the pan after fixing our plates.  Joe found it later.  The remaining food was dried out and disgusting and part of it was burnt onto the pan.  Let me tell you, I was really proud of my HSN cookware when I went to clean that up.  Most of it I was able to just scoop out of the pan and down the disposal.  The rest disappeared down the drain with a good shot of hot water.  You can't ask for better than that from cookware!  We'll see how I do today.........I'm making cheese cauliflower soup.  Joe LOVES cauliflower and is particularly fond of it when it has cheese sauce on it.  So, hopefully, this will work out better for me.  Whether he loves it or not, it's cooking away in the crockpot.  So, cross your fingers for me.......

Well, I have a signing today at 4PM which will take a couple of productive hours out of my day so I'm going to toddle off.  I have laundry to do and more places to clean than you can imagine.  Also need to make some better progress on wrapping gifts or I'll hate myself come December 24th!  Here are a few pages with which to amuse yourself!

We made a family trek to the local farm, a magical place of apple trees and pumpkins and the season's last zucchini, all set right in the middle of our ever-growing city. I plopped Atticus down in the middle of the growing things and placed a squash blossom on his head which was a real mystery to him. He looked so darn cute! I used Brigitte, one of the kits in the new collaboration, Girls in Black, by Gina Miller and Amanda Rockwell. The stitching is by Dani Mogstad (recolored). I also used the Shimmery Alpha Pink by Loretta Labarca. You can find Girls in Black at Gina Miller Designs. Shimmery Alpha Pink is available at NDISB and, I think, goes with this kit beautifully.

I'd scrapped this photo before, but when I saw this kit I knew I had to do a re-do. I used Lynn Grieveson's new kit, Bats and Potions, for this layout. You can find Bats and Potions at Designer Digitals.

This is a bit of a landmark for me every time we drive up to Kolob Reservoir. I used Grungy Solids by Nina Scraps (at O Scraps) for the background. The frame is from Nina's Frame Collection No 1, also available at O Scraps. The alpha is by Peggy Brucher at ACOT, the Alphabet Soup--Aged Alpha.

We had gone to our favorite place, Kolob Reservoir in search of Fall color. As we came around a curve in the road, the sun broke through the overcast sky and literally sparkled off this gorgeous little yellow tree. When I saw Mabel's layout called charmed, I knew I had to lift it. You can see it here: http://www.digishoptalk.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=189835 I used paper, a frame (recolored), and a raffia bow from LaWanna Desjardin's Autumn Mix kit. The alpha and yellow butterfly are by Hollywood Designs. The orange butterfly is by Amanda Slagle. The green ribbon and twig frame are from Lawanna Desjardin's Creekside Kit. You can find LaWanna's designs at Scrapbook-Bytes.

I took this photo of a green field and a broken down old fence while we were visiting in Pine Valley, Utah a few weeks ago. It's what my husband calls "the obligatory perspective shot". I tried a photo action by Kim Hill that I received free a while back through the Scrapbook Elements newsletter. The brown paper is from Amanda Rockwell's new kit, Cherries and Creme. The green leaves are by Anne Adejong. The alpha is the Shimmery Alpha Green by Loretta Labarca. You can find Cherries and Creme at Funky Playground Designs and at amandarockwell.com. Shimmery Alpha Green is available at NDISB.

This is one of our great "fall color" shots taken at Kolob Reservoir. I tried numerous backgrounds with this photo and didn't like any of them until I saw this layout by Chaos Lounge: http://www.thedigiboutique.com/studio/showphoto.php?photo=36913&limit=recent. I knew immediately I was going to scraplift it for this photo. I used Nina's Parts of Fall kit, available at NDISB and O Scraps. The alpha is by Birgit Kerr. I also used the Orton action by Kim Hill on the photo. I loved it before but now.......WoW! I'm in awe of my camera!

Christmas is a comin'

Ready or not, Christmas is coming.  We're scaling down a bit, but I'm pretty much ready for Christmas as long as the various delivery services do their jobs.   Packages due in and one lonely package due to go out..... 

So Sunday night I was sitting here, causing trouble for no one when the phone rang.  A sweet little voice said, "Grandma, can I spend tomorrow with you instead of going to Day Care?"  Well, now, you KNOW the answer to that one, right?  Of course you can!  Joe went to pick up Will at 7:30AM yesterday morning.  He was shocked to learn that Will had a doctor's appointment with Dr. Smith in Green Valley at 10 AM!  Seems there was a small detail about the day that Will forgot to tell me........  We lost about 3 hours to that little jaunt that I hadn't planned on losing!  Every time I bring Will in there, Dr. Smith thanks me for bringing him.  As I told the Doctor, I'd drive him to Tuscaloosa if it would help......  I'd planned on the two of us making some cookies together in the afternoon, but Will just really wanted to get his cartoon fix, so I let him alone and made the cookies by myself.  I really DO need a granddaughter--maybe then I'd have someone who would enjoy spending time in the kitchen with me.

I have pretty much decided that there are some things in life that each person either loves or hates.  I love eggplant; Joe hates it.  Joe hates seafood; I love it.  I love okra (properly fixed); Joe won't even consider it.  Joe LOVES chocolate covered cherries; I find them SO SWEET that I just can't stand them.  So, I found this recipe for White Chocolate Cherry cookies.  I thought Joe would find them to be totally over the top.  He says they're "okay".  I love them.  I just can't figure it all out........

I've been doing pretty well in the cooking department lately.  Sticking pretty well to my plan to feed Joe dinner at lunchtime on Tuesday-Thursday and cooking in the crockpot Friday and Saturday.  I did a pork roast in the crockpot last week that turned out killer.  Just a pork shoulder roast, but super tender and great flavor.  We made pulled pork with it and used it on pork sandwiches with barbecue sauce.  Yummy.  I also made a Beef Bourgignon.  It didn't appeal all that much to me but Joe thought it was worth 6 stars on a 5 star rating system.  I made a very inexpensive Mexican Casserole with ground turkey which he thought was excellent, and I even found a fish recipe he liked!  So, as long as I can cook, I guess I'm okay.

Funny conversation with Will yesterday.  We were all sitting at the table, eating lunch.  Will began to tell me that there's one thing he really wants for Christmas.  He really wants "one of those round things you ride on in the snow".  Translation:  Snow Saucer.  Like the one he saw last year when we went up on Mt. Charleston.  Some kind soul up there had one and let him ride down the hill a couple of times and he thought it was the greatest.  The funny part of all this is that there is a stack of boxes sitting by the front door waiting to be opened and the contents wrapped and in one of those boxes is a snow saucer.  I can't wait to see his face when he opens it Christmas morning.....  I asked him what he thought he'd use it for and he said he wanted to play in the snow.  I asked him how he was going to find snow to play in and he gave me such a funny look and then said "You and Grandpa will take me" with a big smile.  Yep, you're right, buddy, we will!  Erica arrives the 27th of December and we always try to go up there when she's here because she's good company for Will.

We went over to Jen's house the other night while they put up their Christmas tree.  It was fun to watch Atticus look at the tree and fun to watch jennifer and Will go through all the ornaments and talk about where each one came from, much as she and I used to do years ago.  Jason, as usual, got himself all sidetracked in the lights.  He plugged all 4 strands together and tried to work with them that way.  So much easier to manage one strand at a time, but I kept quiet.  Then, with all four strands still strung together, he began to circle round and round the tree, dragging the remains of the 4 strands behind him.   Years ago, I watched for a long time as a professional put up a tree.  She picked a vertical section of the tree and worked from top to bottom with the lights in that section only.  Then she moved to an adjacent section of the tree and worked from bottom to top.  She continued this til she'd done all the way around the tree.  So much easier than dragging a tail of lights behind you as you circle the tree over and over, even when the "tail" is only one strand of lights.  But, I just kept my mouth shut.  It really doesn't make a difference if you suggest something as he has an idea stuck in his head as to how things "should" be done, and there's no jarring it loose.  Of course, all this time Will was waiting to put the ornaments on the tree.........and missing bedtime.  He did finally put a few ornaments on the tree and then Jason moved them, saying he was teaching the boy how to do it "right".  Well, to an 8 year old boy, "right" is wherever it looks good to him.  There's no one place that's "righter" than any other.  Will went over and hid his head under a couch pillow and then just went to bed.  Joe was sick and he slept through most of it. 

Oh, an update on the sales situation........We're back to 2.  We have no idea what happened, but apparently the "pender" fell out, rather than firmed up as we'd originally been told.  So, we're back to 2.  Joe has decided to volunteer to sell at the resort over the holidays.  The branch office from which he currently works, will be closed from December 15th through early January.  The staff was asked if anyone wanted to work at the resort.  I suggested Joe had better sign up.  The resort staff sells to tourists, not just to locals, so it's a different market.  And, it will give Joe an opportunity to keep trying to sell through the end of December rather than just waiting for the beginning of the year to roll around.  Their work schedule is different.  Whereas  he now works Tuesday through Saturday, at the resort they work 4 days on and 2 days off.  But it's daytime only, no evenings.  It will be different, but if he gets some sales, it will be good.  Right now, he refers to the resort as a meat market and swears he wouldn't work there, but he may find it easier in terms of making money than it is where he works now.    We'll see how it all works out.  In any case, we're believing for 2008 to be a year of increase so we're anxious to get there.

Here are some pages to amuse you....

I took this photo several weeks ago on our trip to Kolob Reservoir in southern Utah. This was the perfect spot just to lean on the fence, stare into the woods, and spend some time thinking about life. I used Tabatha Reed's (Bella Gypsy Designs) new kit, Falling, for the page. Falling is available at Scrapbook-Bytes.

At Atticus's Daycare, they have these little storage baskets. Imagine my surprise when I arrived to pick up the boys and found Atticus sitting in one of the baskets. His big brother was pushing him all around and he was having the time of his life! I used papers from Nina's Inspire Me 3 paper pack, available at O Scraps. The flower is from an old ACOT collaborative kit. The ribbon is by Dani Mogstad. I've also used the Amelie alpha by Sara Carling.

I have always been a history nut and, with continued exposure to me and the places I like to go, Joe is becoming one. So, we toured a few of the historical sites the last time we were in ST. George, Utah, including Brigham Young's winter home. I got some great interior shots too, so look out for those on an upcoming layout! I used Inspire Me #5 by Nina Scraps, available at both O Scraps and NDISB. The satin ribbon is by Gina Cabrera (recolored). The doodled frame is by Lisa Whitney.

There is always a "carnival" at the San Gennaro feast. Will chose to go there with his friend Allison instead of having a family birthday dinner--go figure! I don't do rollercoasters in any size, shape or format, and Jennifer had the baby, so Grandpa was our man to ride with the kiddos. He was such a good sport. The yellow, gorgeously textured paper is by Nina Scraps, her Inspire Me 4 Paper Pack, available at NDISB and O Scraps. The pink paper is by Amanda Heimann and the purple paper is by Cindy Irvine. The rocket (recolored) is by Genevieve Sass, and the template is by Janet Phillips.  NOTE:  I was recently notified that a magazine wants this layout to publish!

Jennifer thought this "got milk" sign was so funny--particularly since she happened to be nursing Atticus at the moment. I used the new Amanda Rockwell-Gina Miller collaborative collection, Girls in Black. This is from the Stephie kit and the stamped alpha is by Jen Star. You can find the kit, on sale, at Gina Miller Designs.

My daughter and oldest DGS were away at college when he was this age. I am so enjoying watching every possible minute of this one growing up! He is sweet, good natured, curious, very very busy, has a mind of his own,and totally without fear. I can't imagine what happens next, when he graduates from pulling himself up to walking! I used papers and elements from the Chloe kit which is part of the Girls in Black collection by Amanda Rockwell and Gina Miller. (I did recolor the turquoise strip from pink on the frame--I didn't want to use too much pink for a page about such a masculine little guy!) You can find this collection of great papers and elements at Gina Miller Designs and it's on sale! The alpha is by Andrea Burns.

One of Atticus's favorite things right now is bathtime. When left to his own devices, he'll crawl down the hall to the bathroom and I find him like this. It is a given that once I start undressing him, I just can't do it fast enough! I used Ella, one of the kits from the new collaboration, Girls in Black, by Gina Miller and Amanda Rockwell for this. I also used the Lace-Up Template by Helena Jole. You can find Girls in Black at Gina Miller Designs. The Lace-Up Template is available at NDISB.