New Layout - 1st Day at Pre-K

I guess while I'm at it and Blogger seems to be cooperating, I'll go ahead and show what I worked on during the all day crop. Can you believe in an 11 hour time period, I only completed 5 pages? What's up with that? I did the last page for the wedding album and 2 additional two page LO's. And since the wedding album is already available for viewing, I'll just share the other 2.

These LO's are of Jayla's first day at Pre-K. Thanks for looking.

Supplies used: TONS of pictures of Jayla :-) and patterned paper & embellishments from the Provo Craft SuperSlab Rob & Bob Studio collection

Thanks again for looking. Be Inspired - I am!

All Day Crop - Part 2 (again)

Ok, I've had about enough of this!!! Let's see if Blogger will cooperate THIS time. Sheesh, I've only got about 2 or 3 more pictures I want to share. And shoot, by the time I get them on here, the thrill will be gone!

So, here they are:

Here's Mandy (with the glasses) and Lisa F. trying to look mean :-). She really did have a good time, ya'll.

Once again, Lauren is trying to hide from the camera. Something about her mom wanting to take pix of her ALL THE TIME!!! Duh!!! Aren't teenagers SUPPOSED to be embarassed by their parents (and their parents friends?) :-)

Jamie's son, Branton made a special apprearance at the all day crop. Lauren and Jayla were happy to keep him company (until his dad got back from Home Depot).

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All Day Crop - Part 2

Hello all. I hope this entry finds you well.
I mentioned back on 10/20 that I was hosting an all day crop here at my house this past Saturday. Well, we did it and we had a ball. I think my first scrapper showed up around 9:30am and the rest soon followed. In TOTAL, there were about 9 of us, 7 of which scrapbooked. We had wonderful breakfast food to eat and we didn't even have to order anything for lunch. One lady brought some DELICIOUS chicken salad and croissants...YUMMY!!! As a matter of fact, she brought so much, we had enough left over for dinner. We were all pretty glad about not having to spend any extra money.
The "original" plan was to crop until midnight. However, around 8pm or so, everyone started losing steam :-). So we called it a night around 8:45pm! Still, we all had a great time and I think we even got quite a bit done.
Here's some pictures from our day. (sorry, some are a little blurry)

This is the cool set up we had in my basement. Jamie, Lisa M., Stacey were just getting started.

This was towards the end of our day. My 4 year old took this picture of me and Jamie

Lisa M. & Stacey engrossed in a little "girl talk" :-)

This is Lauren trying not to look at me taking a picture of her. :-)

Another shot of Lauren, her mom Renee, Lisa M. & Stacey.

ARGH!!!!!!!!!! As always, Blogger is ONCE AGAIN having issues. There are a few more pictures I want to share. But I guess I'll have to put them on another post. I guess I should just always plan to do more than one post whenever I want to add pictures. I'm a slow learner (insert rolling eyes here)

Woo HOO---She LOVED it!!!

I don't know if I've mentioned it yet, but a couple of months ago, I was given, not only the challenge, but the honor of scrapbooking my good friends wedding. Diane & Steve got married back in June of this year. Diane had originally asked if I would HELP her put together her wedding album. And I thought that was a great idea as I've always wanted to do one. I guess, somewhere down the line, I let that desire slip out in her presence, so she thought it would be "fun" to ask me to do the entire thing :-). Ya know, I was cool with that. She's a great friend of mine, so I was very flattered by her trusting ME with such a wonderful day in her life and with her memories.

I worked on the album for a little over 2 months and it's finally finished. I was SOO nervous about letting Diane see the album. But I was excited at the same time. It was so hard not to let her see some of the pages as I completed them. I received positive comments from several people who saw the book...that really helped.

Diane and I met today for lunch and I presented the beautiful, ivory satin album to her. (Now I don't have to make sure people wash their hands before they look at it...LOL.) And my burden was lifted...SHE LOVED IT!!!

The album is now available for all to see. For those of you who do take a look at it, your comments are not only welcomed but encouraged.

Diane & Steve, thank you again, so much for letting me share in your memories...TWICE!!! Love ya!

All Day Crop!

Guess what? I'm hosting an all day crop here at my house tomorrow! I am SO excited. I love having company anyway, so this is right up my alley. So far, 6 people have confirmed that they're coming. Everyone is gonna start showing up around 9:30 in the morning and the "plan" is to go until midnight. How cool is THAT?!?!?
Everyone will be bringing a brunch item and a snack to share. Then we'll order something for lunch and probably dinner too. The tables are all set up in the basement and I'm ready to go!
I'll have to try and take some pictures throughout the day and hopefully get them posted here.
I've never done anything like this before at my home, so it should be interesting. NOW, I know why we got our basement finished...so I could host all day crops every few months, huh? :-) Guess we'll have to see what hubby thinks about THAT!
Have a great weekend!!!

Middle School Cutie!

Ok, I can't post the picture of one good looking child without posting for the other, now can I? Absolutely NOT!!! This is Markell's first picture from Middle School. I can't believe this boy is in the 6th grade already!!! And oh my gosh...he's so freakin HANDSOME!!! Even though he wants to wear this pink shirt, almost to the point of nauseum, I must admit, he looks GREAT in it. So I was glad that he decided to wear it for his pictures.

Isn't he just the cutest thing? :-) Thanks for looking.

Pre-K Cutie!

Back on 9/12, I posted an entry about my DD's first REAL school picture. I mentioned that I'd post the one the school took as soon as they came back. Well guess what? They're back! And oh my GOODNESS....this is one cute little girl.
Soooo, here she is: I am so proud of this little girl. My goodness, they just grow so fast. Before you know it, I'll be posting her Senior pictures.

How can you question God's existence?

As I mentioned in my 2 previous entries, we went up to the mountains last Friday. Well, not only did I get great pictures of the kids and pumkins. But I got the chance to see some of God's handywork.
Heading back home, we got a little, shall we say "misplaced". However, I am now convinced that it wasn't by accident that we missed our turn. As we drove down these long, winding country roads, we were able to see some of the most amazing scenery. I was so glad that there was no one driving behind us, because on more than one occasion, I just HAD to pull over on the side of the road to capture the beauty.
So without further delay....enjoy what God has blessed us with.

The color purple....it simply makes me smile.

My 4 year old caputured this picture of the horizon.

In the far distance, just beyond this mountain top, you could see the Atlanta skyline.

Special thanks to my friend, Amy for taking this shot as I drove.

Thanks for your time and thanks for sharing in the beauty that God has created JUST FOR US to enjoy!

Fall/Pumpkin pix - Take 2

Ok, let's see if BLOGGER will cooperate this time. Here are a few more shots from our field trip to the pumpkin patch. Enjoy!

Originally, the boys had planned to lift the wheelbarrell with Jayla sitting in it. However, when they tried to lift it, it tilted to the side and she almost fell out. :-) This is what we ended up with because she wasn't havin it any other way...LOL.

This little girl is a MESS!!! I think she tried to pose on EVERY pumpkin there was! It seemed like every few minutes I was hearing the words, "Hey mom, look at me!" And I'll be darn if just about every shot wasn't a keeper :-).

I am convinced that the ONLY reason this kid runs from me when he sees me with the camera, is because he knows that he's incapable of taking a bad picture. He even makes pumpkins look good :-).

Too cute! Nothing more to say....

The kids ended their day of pumpkin hunting by hopping aboard a John Deere tractor for one last picture. Amazing how they even make a tractor look good :-).

Thanks for looking.

Fieldtrip to a REAL pumpkin patch!

Happy Friday!!!
I don't remember if I did an entry on my most recent fieldtrip with my daughter. But last Friday, her class went to visit a pumpkin patch. Well let me tell you, this was NO pumpkin patch! Scattering about 40 mini pumpkins on a 20x20 size area in the woods does not a pumpkin patch make. And needless to say, a bunch of 4 & 5 year olds DO know the difference. Personally, I'd never been to one before, so I was really looking forward to it. Boy was I disappointed. Due to that disappointment, I decided that I'd take the kids to see a REAL pumkin patch. But first, here's a couple pictures from last Friday's fieldtrip.

Here's Jayla holding up her cute little pumpkin. And sadly enough, this shot actually shows almost all of the "patch".
This is Jayla's class showing off their findings.

Ok, now lets fast forward to today. The kids were out of school so it made for the perfect day to take them to see some real pumpkins. My friend Amy and her son, Nick came along with us. Now, before I go any further, let me tell you that this trip was obviously VERY important to me. So much so that we drove 1 hour away just to take pictures in a pumpkin patch. I know, I'm nuts! ANYWAY, we made it up to the mountains (along with 1/2 of Georgia). Jayla was in awe. Markell on the other hand, could have cared less about this fun field of orange :-). But he made the best of it. As I've mentioned before, my Jayla is quite the little model and this was the perfect backdrop for her many poses. Here are some of the 93 shots we got today:

Now THIS is a pumpkin!!!

Alright, Markell & Nick, if you can lift it, you can have it!

Ok, I have come to the conclusion that BLOGGER is experiencing some issues. Therefore, I'll have to share the rest of my pictures under seperate cover :-). So check back later.

Welcome back into my life

Isn't it just the coolest thing we you get the chance to reconnect with an old friend? I can't tell you how excited I am that this has recently happened to me. Me and my friend have started chatting with eachother after 22 LONG years! I think the last time we actually saw eachother was when we walked across the stage at our high school graduation on June 6, 1984! Unfortunately, we haven't gotten to actually see one another yet, but I'm anxiously waiting for that day to come. My hope and prayer is that this time, we won't lose touch and that our friendship will not only pick up where it left off 22 years ago, but that new windows of opportunity will open in our relationship. No doubt we have a lot of catching up to do, but that's part of the fun and facination of reconnecting with an old friend. Welcome back into my life, my friend, I look forward to what the future holds.

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"Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring; all of which have the potential to turn a life around." Leo Buscaglia

I'm back!

Happy Tuesday everyone! As you can see, I have yet to give the update on our trip to Illinois! Well, it takes a minute to get back into the groove and get your body back in sync with the right time zone. I know it's only an hour difference...but it's a difference nonetheless.
Anyway, I have a question...how can TWO women fill a Nissan Quest jam packed with STUFF??? Well, we did it! Between the 2 of us, we had 2 bags with our clothes in it, 8 bags/carts/containers of scrapbook stuff, 2 tubs of childrens clothes (for one of the people we were going to meet up with) and one bag of snacks! Isn't that just crazy?? :-) No one can tell us we don't have our priorities in order...hee hee. Oh, and Stacey did carry a big Roughneck tote of stuff to crochet socks with on the ride.
Ok, let's fast forward a bit. We left Georgia around 9am, stopped once to eat and fill up with gas. Then we were on our way...on our way right into off and on rain showers and MILES of traffic. Fortunately, the traffic didn't come until we were about 70 miles outside of Mount Vernon. There was a terrible accident on the opposite side of the highway and that backed everything up for miles. I just hope the people that were involved are alright.
We got to Mount Vernon around 5:30pm and our friends hadn't made it in yet. Fortunately, we were able to get into the room and get things set up for a weekend of scrapping. After everyone arrived, we went to Walmart for a few things, grabbed dinner from Applebee's and got right to work on our scrapbooking. Before I go on, do you think it's strange to require that the CHICKEN meal that you ordered actually have chicken on it? I don't! 4 of the 5 of us ordered a meal that we THOUGHT chicken would be the main ingredient. WRONG!!! We had to call back to Applebee's and tell them how they messed up. However, they were nice enough to bring us our chicken and throw in free desserts to compensate for our inconvenience. Umm, ummm...gotta love cold chicken & broccoli alfredo :-(.
ANYWAY, we wound up having a ball. I have such fun friends! I love those ladies. We were up most nights until 1 or 2am. Which for the 2 of us that live in EST, was actually 2 or 3am! Let me tell you, it's catching up to me now (insert yawn here). Oh, and did I tell you, we were without a toilet for a day and a 1/2.? I won't tell you HOW it happened...just that it happened :-). So that was interesting. I got 17 layouts done..YAY ME!!! and I was also successful in catching a cold while I was there.
Ok, I think that's enough of a recap of our weekend. We had such a fun time and I'm looking forward to doing it again. Just next time I'd like to do it closer to home and minus the cold. Oh and about the cold...please keep this in mind...DO NOT EVER drive through the mountains of TN (or any mountains for that matter) with a head cold, ok? That did not make Dawn a happy girl! Can anyone say spontaneous combustion? Now I know how Arnold Schwartsawhatever felt in Total Recall :-)
Here's a few pix, enjoy!

This is my best buddy Stacey. I absolutely love this lady. We hit it off the very first day we met over 2 years ago and we haven't stopped yet. Riding ALL THAT way to Illinois with her made the trip so worth while...both times. She KEEPS me laughing, talk about a great friend!

This is Kris. She's Stacey's sister in law. She is TOO funny! The first time Kris and I met about 2 years ago, we instantly hit it off. She said we were long lost sisters :-). Love ya girl!

This is Aline (aka Mrs. Quick). Aline is Stacey's other sister in law. I met her the same time I met Kris 2 years ago. She likes to call herself the "elder" of our little "group" and likes for us to call her Mrs. Quick...WHATEVER! :-) Love ya Aline!!!

This is Jamie. Jamie and I first met 2 years ago also on our first trip to Illinois. Stacey and Jamie were friends back in high school.

Kris works part time at a scrapbook store in Omaha. She was nice enough to bring us a stash of stuff. Wasn't that nice? She even gave us a nice little discount on anything that we bought.

This is what we ALL looked like around midnight every night. However, we're not sure if it was from scrapbooking or laughing.

And THIS is what Kris looks like after midnight! :-) This chick is a MESS!!! She got such a kick out of herself and her new found use of candy corns!

And here we all are on our last day. See ya next time ladies!