The Moonlight Scrapper

Our Math Star

2012-02-12T16:30:00.000-09:00

It absolutely warms our heart that Erica loves math as much as she does...and she's really good at it. She talks about her teacher doing "around the world" in class...where two kids go up against each other to do multiplication. If you win, you stay up and go against another kid in class. If you beat everyone, you've gone around the world. Erica is one of the few kids who can go around the world...it's between her and one other kid on who can beat who on a given day.
And her teacher does a really good job at fostering the love of math. Erica's homework one day was math bingo. You use certain cards on the deck. Each person draws two cards and multiplies them together. If the number is on your card, you mark it for bingo, if it's not, you pass to the next player. The first to get five in a row, or eight on your card wins. Jeff beat Erica one day, and Erica beat me the next. What a great game!!!

Father-Daughter Love...

2012-02-11T11:30:00.000-09:00

This is my favorite layout from all those I made in January. I love the story, the pictures, and the final result. It started out as a "people" layout, to show the relationship between Jeff and Erica; but then I thought it was more of a "family stories" layout when I thought about the story behind it. However, I finally decided it was really a "rituals" layout because this is something the two of them do every morning before school and work.
As Jeff is out of the shower and done shaving, Erica comes up stairs after breakfast to get dressed. Before they finish getting ready, Erica gives Jeff a "morning nuggle." She sits on his lap on the bed and they hug for a while. Sometimes she wiggles back and forth trying to get him to fall over, and sometimes he tickles her until she can't stand it anymore and runs away. however it physically ends, the emotional result is the same...they both start their day with a great hug and it carries them thru whatever is thrown their way. What an awesome ritual!

That mom...and twelve, a new BPC class

2012-02-10T15:00:00.000-09:00

OK, so I'm all caught up from the 12 days of Christmas. Now I can tell you a little more about the new class TWELVE I'm taking. This is a class taught by Stacy Julian, the queen of scrapbooking (and have I mentioned that she's called my cell phone before? and I also have a picture with her from a class I took YEARS ago). Anyway, she's the founder of Simple Scrapbooks and teaches techniques geared at getting our stories out and our pictures scrapped. I have not completely bought into all her philosophies, but I'm open to them. This class is a year long class and we're supposed to scrap 12 pages a month for each month of the year. WOW...I don't think I've ever done that. I had a goal of 5 a month a few years ago, and met that. But 12?!?! I wasn't sure I could do that, it seemed very over whelming. But I wanted to give it a try. And with one month down, I'm on schedule! So I have 9 pages all set to show you (3 you've already seen from the 12 days of Christmas).

The class started out by having us create an organization system of TWELVE...twelve colors and twelve topics. The topics are: Me, family stories, everyday life, holidays, fun, inspiration, places, people, things, rituals, personality, and seasons. We assigned each topic a color and each layout we complete on that topic gets a little embellishment from that color, to remind us of the process and our journey we're taking.

We're also supposed to be focusing on the stories behind our scrapbooking to make us better story tellers. Why are we scrapping and what are we trying to say about the pictures we take? It's really got me thinking about what I scrap rather than just putting pictures on paper in a pretty way.

So I wanted to start with this layout. I love it! It's a ME layout and includes a few things that really made me stretch this first month. First, I tweaked the picture, making it a black and white photo, but then put color back in it for me (thanks for the idea, Angela). I've always wanted to try that technique and I like how it turned out. The second thing is the journaling from the heart. I've always wanted to be "THAT MOM." You know "that mom," she's the one that has the perfect house, the perfect kids, puts on the perfect parties, and has her life put together perfectly. Well, with us moving this year, I have the opportunity to be a stay at home mom and then the time to try to become "that mom." But I'm struggling with whether that's really who I am or not...I like working. But, in order to keep working, we either have to stay in AK, move to TX, or I'll be working away from my family. I don't think I can do that, and I know Jeff doesn't want me to. But I also wonder if I can be a stay at home mom,..I guess it's another one of those, "be careful what you ask for" situations, huh? More to come...

Jammies on the 12 day...

2012-02-09T10:00:00.000-09:00

I loved the theme of the 12th day: Jammies, but I didn't like the layout. So I used the pictures I took and found another layout I could lift instead.
For some reason, Erica is starting to like jammies with pants more than nightgowns. Actually, I think I know what it is...whenever her friends come over, they almost always have jammies with pants. So now she wants jammies with pants. School has spirit days from time to time and one of the popular days is jammies day. Well, we don't like her to wear her nightgowns, but wearing jammies with pants is almost like wearing sweats, so I'm OK with that. I bought her some fleece pants and she loves to wear them. But I noticed she'd end up taking them off in the middle of the night...she gets hot. The trick is to find pants that aren't too hot!

Erica's God Mother, Cecile, loves to spoil her. She called to ask what to get her for Christmas and of course I had to tell her jammies with pants. She found these CUTE jammies with cupcakes and Erica LOVES them. They're made out of material that's almost like flannel, but not quite. So Erica doesn't get real hot at night and loves them! And even better, I found a cute cupcake to put on this great page I made...it's like it was meant to be!

More magic from the Santa Adventure...

2012-02-08T19:00:00.000-09:00

...and the 11th day of Christmas. For this day, we were supposed to scrap stockings. I almost told the story of how Erica LOVES Jeff's old stocking that his grandma made. But I'll save that for another year...it's a really cute story! Instead, I kept with the general theme of this year's holiday story and told another story from the Santa Adventure weekend.
After the party was over with reading the Polar Express, writing letters to Santa, having him sign the books, and having pictures with him, we went back to our rooms to get packed and go to bed. When we got back to our rooms, there was a stocking for Erica, FILLED with goodies...including a set of bells. She took them out and started ringing them and making sure we could ALL hear them ring! Yup, the weekend was perfect! She left a believer!

On the 10th day...we wrapped gifts...

2012-02-07T13:00:00.000-09:00

Our homework for the 10th day of Christmas mas to keep some extra wrapping paper from our presents. I knew we'd end up making little presents to put on the page, and we did. Then I had to think of what story to tell about the wrapping. Ha...that was easy. Jeff told Erica that he used to wrap presents with the Sunday comics. She had some presents she wanted to wrap for us so she took his suggestion...sort of. She used the regular newspaper as wrapping paper. Of all the pretty papers we have, and she used that. But she was soooo proud of herself, so I kept my mouth shut and let her do her thing...

White Christmas...the 9th day

2012-02-06T08:30:00.000-09:00

On the 9th day of Christmas, I didn't like the layout. Well, that's not true, I liked the layout, but I didn't like what they wanted us to do with the layout...it was supposed to be making treats. That just didn't go with the title, in my mind. Sooooo, I decided to make it a more traditional White Christmas story. In this case, I wrote about wondering if this would be our last white Christmas or not. We're on track for a record year of snow fall. What a way to say good-bye to the winter wonderland that is Alaska. And while the long, cold, dark winters get old, I bet we're going to miss all the snow when we really think about it. I just can't imagine a Christmas without snow. It seems integral to the magic of the season. So I guess we'll see...
So a little background (that I should've included, but I just didn't have room). Jeff keeps the snow blower in the shed int he backyard. But, because of all the snow we get, if he didn't snow blow a path, he wouldn't be able to get it in and out of the back yard...and in fact, the gate remains open each year for the winter season for the same reason (forget that it blew off in the late fall and he didn't fix it). Erica actually walked right up to the fence in the backyard and sat on it...it's a 6' fence. Some of that is due to the snow blower and a bit of snow drift, but not all of it. We've really gotten alot of snow. And as it warms up, it settles and really packs down, so she was able to walk on top of it as it got closer to the fence line.

Hello again...more 12 days...

2012-02-05T14:00:00.001-09:00

Well, I guess it was easy to see that life got hectic there for a while. Sorry! And thanks for the gentle nudges from family to get me back online. As hectic as life was, I still found time to scrap...and I was really productive, thanks to an all day crop on the third Sat of every month (yeah!!!). I ended up finishing the 12 days of Christmas the weekend after New Year's and then worked on layouts for another class I'm taking called TWELVE...more on that later (I think I've already said that...sorry). Sooooo, let me get back into the groove and get caught up on my layouts!!!

The eighth day of Christmas had to do with Christmas books/stories. Thank goodness for the Santa Adventure Weekend...again. One of the things they did was give every child their own copy of The Polar Express. We never heard the story before, so it was great to hear it...and have it read by an elf! And then Santa signed each child's book. What a great story, especially as Erica is on the verge of no longer believing.

The Christmas gifts...

2012-01-10T14:00:00.000-09:00

On the seventh day of Christmas we were supposed to take pictures of the store or gifts we bought. I was going to skip this one, but since there was no prompt for the actual gifts on Christmas morning, that's what I did instead.
The big hit this year was the BIG dog! She sleeps with it as a pillow every night...even on sleep overs! Her laptop was a real close second...she's so excited she uses it several times a week! She also really enjoys the new pants jammies (not fleece...she gets too hot!) and a beautiful pink hat with big pom poms (one on the top and two hanging from each ear). I've even caught her sitting on the couch watching TV in the hat.

This was another fun layout. I liked making the tag for the title.

Adult fun during the Santa Adventure

2012-01-09T10:30:00.000-09:00

On the fifth day of Christmas we were prompted to take pictures at a holiday party. Nicole told me to take my camera to the office party because that was probably going to be one of the prompts...I did, but I didn't take any pictures. The VERY NEXT DAY the prompt was pictures at a holiday party. Fortunately I had some good pictures to use from the Santa Adventure...hee, hee.

While the kids were writing letters to Santa, listening to the Polar Express, and watching a movie, the adults were drinking wine. Boy, oh boy, did we drink some wine. Jeff kept running around with the Santa hat saying, "This is as merry as I get." All the while we knew he was having a blast. So here is a picture of me on Santa's--I mean Jeff's--lap, and pictures of the men and ladies with Santa...we're such winos! But we had a GREAT time!!!

Dashing thru the snow...

2012-01-08T08:00:00.000-09:00

On the fourth day of Christmas we are supposed to pick a lyric or title from a song. Keeping with the theme of trying to scrap as much as I can from the Santa Adventure, Jingle Bells came to mind, but not the whole song, just the first line in the song: Dashing thru the snow. If I'd have had enough room and letter, I'd have changed it to be: in an eight dog open sled...

We went on a sled dog ride. There wasn't enough snow for us to use the big sled for everyone to ride at once, so they took the small sled that only held two people at a time. Lucky, Erica, she got to go twice...woo hoo!!! Jeff has wanted to drive a sled dog team for as long as we've been in Alaska. He kept bugging the musher (driver) to let him do it. He even told her he'd pay big if she did. Well, she let him. Apparently he did a good job, too (or so I'm told). At the end of the short ride, Jeff held up his end of the deal and gave her $100 to split with the other gal that was helping. Too bad I couldn't get pictures of him driving...

Holiday Decor...

2012-01-07T19:00:00.000-09:00

I'm going out of order and posting twice today cuz I don't really have a story or much to say about the sixth day of Christmas...and I'm really behind! We were supposed to take pictures of the holiday decor. Blah...no people and no real stories to tell. But I do have to say that I like the layout design. I may have to use this on another layout with a good story!

I guess I could say a few things about our decor: Erica and I enjoy making the gingerbread house every year. She begs and begs until Jeff breaks down and buys it. I'm also a bit of a nut when it comes to the tree. I like it all to match. I made many of the ornaments...or I should say, I embellished them. Most of them are red with silver, white, and gold. I also made the stockings for Jeff and I shortly after we were married. Erica's stocking is a hand-me-down. Jeff's grandma made it for him when he was a boy...and she wants to keep it to give to her little boy or girl. The nativity set is my first, given to me by my mom. I can't recall where I got the snowmen...gifts from friends, but I've forgotten who (sorry!). And I absolutely adore the cute Christmoose Jeff's mom made several years back...it hangs on the INSIDE of my door so I can enjoy it!

OK, I guess I had some things to say about the decor...but how do you fit all that on the layout. Oh, well...

Dear Santa...

2012-01-07T18:33:00.000-09:00

Oops...I have been slacking on my 12 days of Christmas posting. Not a good way to start the year, sorry. OK, so here we go trying to catch up.

The third day of Christmas is the Santa letter. And boy do we have a doozy of a story! The last night of the Santa Adventure, the kids wrote letters to Santa and then Santa came to read each child's letter out loud. I read the draft letter, but not the final version...oops. Erica asked Santa for some .22 shells and clips for "her" pistol. Santa stopped reading and looked at her. He said, "I'm not sure I can come visit you...I'm afraid you're going to shoot my reindeer." Erica laughed and laughed.

Santa Adventure Crafts

2012-01-03T13:00:00.000-09:00

Yeah...lots of layouts coming your way in the next few weeks (twelve...OK eleven cuz I already posted the first day of Christmas). AND, I signed up for another class at Big Picture Classes called TWELVE. I'll tell you more about that over the next few weeks (probably after I finish the 12 days of Christmas)...but the goal is to do 12 layouts a month for 12 months...WOW!!! My personal goal/resolution for the year is to really internalize what the class is about and to complete all the layouts. That will definitely be a challenge!!! Oh, and I never really did the One Little Word class last year (Balance was my word...looking at my blog and the lack of posts, I think you can see I didn't really achieve it). So this year's word is Journey. I'll tell you more about that, later, too! Whew...lots going on!

But onto the fun stuff for THIS post...and that's the Second day of Christmas. This day was supposed to be decorating the tree. Well, I already scrapped those pictures, soooo, I decided to use some pictures of Erica making Christmas ornaments during the Santa Adventure Weekend. Of course, once I picked that topic, I found I really only had good pictures from the ornament she made at the Museum of the North. Oh, well...the story is still the same, and that's the important part. She made four or five ornaments that weekend.,,and for her that was GREAT! She loves to be creative and crafty. It's kinda hard to see, but there's holly on the moose's butt...I guess that's what makes it a Christmoose.

Papers and embellishments from Echo Park's Holly Jolly line.

The annual Christmas Tradition

2012-01-02T10:00:00.000-09:00

There are few "staged family fun" activities I can get Jeff to participate in...decorating sugar cookies at Christmas time is one I never have a problem with. Well, that's not completely true. Usually he wants to get things DONE so he can eat them and I have to slow him down so I can get the "staged" pictures.
So here we are, having fun with our annual Christmas tradition of humoring mama with staged family fun...I mean with decorating our Christmas Sugar Cookies. Everyone has their own job. I roll out the dough, Erica cuts them out, Jeff frosts them, Erica decorates them (and makes a BIG mess), I take pictures, and we all enjoy them!!!

Thank you, again, to Basic Grey for the wonderful page layout. This is one I put together over Thanksgiving and had to wait to fill with pictures. Now I've shown you all the ones I did over Thanksgiving...but I have a few more I'll be making over the next few months (I hope!).

Happy New Year!!! And Merry Christmas

2012-01-01T22:00:00.000-09:00

Whew...what a holiday season we just had!!! I can't think of anything in particular we did that made it feel so crazy, but I also don't feel like I've had any free time until this weekend...and even that was packed (details shortly).
One of my scrappy friends and I are participating in a few scrappy classes together. The first is the Twelve Days of Christmas, where each day before Christmas we were given a photo prompt and a list of supplies to gather. Then, for the twelve days after Christmas, we take those supplies and they give us layout instructions for completing them. I think it would've been better to get the photo prompts earlier because many of the things they suggested we had already done and had to fit other pictures into the layouts. For me, it was easy because I had lots of pictures for the Santa Adventure Weekend and used those (woo hoo!!!). So now for the crazy weekend: I scrapped the first seven days....YEAH!!!!!

On the first day of Christmas we were supposed to take the Christmas family picture. Well, I already scrapped two of them during the Thanksgiving Album in a Weekend effort...sooooo, I switched up the Bundle Up layout I last showed you. Below are TWO layouts, the reworked Bundle Up and the First Day of Christmas (no title on the layout).

First, a build up on the Bundle Up layout...I really should've used this picture for this layout the first time cuz it's MUCH more appropriate. I can't recall if I blogged about Erica participating in an Outdoor event at the Campbell Creek Science Center in November. They went snow shoeing and build Quinsey Huts (or something like that...they are shelters made out of snow). These were outdoor activities and it was TWENTY BELOW!!! But she loved every bit of it...and when I picked her up all she wanted to do was tell me about all the fun stuff she did. Thanks to her troop leader, I got this picture of her trying not to freeze :)

And I've already blogged about this picture...so here's a new layout. I used the Winter Park kit from Echo Park (what fun...and you'll see lots more from it in the coming days!!!).

Could one of them be Rudolf?

2011-12-22T11:30:00.000-09:00

One of the side trips we took during our Santa Adventure at Chena Hot Springs, AK was to the Santa Claus House in North Pole, AK. What a great time we had. We had Santa all to our selves, home made fudge, shopping, reindeer, and more Santa.

The kids asked Santa where Rudolf was. He said Rudolf's nose is only red on Christmas Eve. Of course the main reason was to light the way for the sleigh ride. The other reason was because the other reindeer would be ignored when people visited the house...and that just wouldn't be fair. So I wonder...was one of these reindeer Rudolf?

Santa Adventure...Chena Hot Springs Resort

2011-12-20T14:00:00.000-09:00

Do you have kids or grand kids between 5 and 8? If so, you NEED to take a look at this magical adventure!

We went to Chena Hot Springs, Alaska for a 4-day, 3-night Santa Adventure. It may seem a little pricey at first, but it’s all inclusive (except for getting there) and it’s a great deal vs buying each activity here and there. They only do it once a year, so bookmark it and don’t forget it next year!!! Oh, and I highly encourage you to get the transportation package vs driving on your own or renting a car…you don’t know the roads as well as they do, and they’re very good drivers. We were VERY glad we did it!

We swam every night, went on a dog sled ride, had appletini’s in the ice museum (they were extra…and unfortunately there are no drinks for kids), went on a scavenger hunt, visited the Santa Claus House in North Pole, went to the UAF Museum of the North, took pictures at the Pipeline Viewing area, had a Geothermal Energy tour (they are off the grid and produce all their own energy at the resort), had an elf read the Polar Express with Santa signing it for Erica, wrote letters to Santa, and made some GREAT friends!!!

It was one of the best vacations we've taken! I can't wait to get the memory book at the end of the month (also part of the package). And of course, I took one of the pictures and added it to a layout I did during the Album in a Weekend! I had this all planned out in my head...staged family fun!!!

My dream...

2011-12-19T10:30:00.000-09:00

As I mentioned in the Vegas friends post, I made a pact with myself to lose weight a year ago. My goal was to lose 20 pounds by May...I actually lost 25 pounds. Since then I've gained a few back, but I'm still 23 pounds from my initial weigh in. We'll see what next year brings.

I didn't journal this on the layout, but I am sooo proud of my success. In the past year, my cholesterol is all within the super good range...and all done thru diet and exercise. I still struggle with "White Coat Syndrome" where my blood pressure is high in the doctor's office, but it's good at home.

I'm also not shy about being caught in pictures. A year ago I was happy to be behind the camera because I didn't like seeing how I looked in pictures. Now I'm happy to pass the camera to Jeff to be included in more family activities. This layout is essentially a before and after layout. I can't believe what a difference 25 pounds has made.

I've gotten rid of ALL my larger clothes. So I can tell when I start to stray from my routine. So far it hasn't been an issue...here's hoping that continues!

Her mouth is too small...

2011-12-18T16:09:00.002-09:00

Sounds familiar...I remember growing up and having to have teeth pulled because my mouth was too small. And I also remember my dad laughing at that statement. Yes, if you know me, you know that's a funny statement. And life now comes full circle as Jeff and I laugh at the same statement about our very chatty 8-yr old.
But seriously, our dentist suggested we have a consult with an orthodontist. We did so and he asked that Erica have two teeth pulled as soon as possible to make room for all the teeth in her mouth. And Erica's lucky day was this week. We planned to take two teeth out, but the dentist said they have to be flexible in case it's too much for the kids. Fortunately they used gas on her to relax her and she didn't even realize they gave her a shot. They also said it was easier than a flu shot, which Erica got a week ago and said wasn't so bad. So we lucked out and she was sooooo brave they were able to take both teeth out at once. Here's her with the gas mask on.

And that night, she went to bed holding the teeth so she could catch the tooth fairy...no such luck, though. She sleeps too hard and the tooth fairy snuck right in taking the teeth and leaving loot in it's place.

Make it...Eat it...

2011-12-16T08:00:00.000-09:00

Erica is working on a few Brownie Try-Its on her own. Each Try-It requires completing at least four activities. This is the first activity she completed toward the Make It, Eat It Try-It: Sloppy Joes. Here's the journaling on the page:

Erica has been helping us cook for a long time. I thought she'd like earning a Brownie Try-It for cooking: "Make it, eat it." Each Try-It requires you to do four activities. The first one she did was to make Sloppy Joes. I didn't really like the recipe int eh Try-It book, so we used the Better Homes Cookbook. She did it all...even defrosting the ground beef. We were so proud and impressed! Dinner was awesome! I can't wait for the next recipe.

This isn't a Basic Grey layout kit, but I did use one of the kit layouts as a sketch idea with papers from the K and Company Brownie kit. The alphas are from American Crafts. And the flowers are misc embellishments from the Basic Grey Pyrus kit I used last year (no, I don't throw away anything...just ask Jeff).

Turkey and spinach chili

2011-12-14T18:00:00.000-09:00

I have totally forgotten to post the last meal and recipe from the Album in a Weekend. I found a vegetarian chili recipe that called for spinach and two kinds of beans. I made it, and Jeff said, "Real men eat meat!" Since then I have added ground turkey to the recipe. It's so quick and easy...and very healthy. Again, I have to apologize for not being able to give credit to the recipe. I got it from the same website that I found the Shrimp Paella recipe. Enjoy!!!
Turkey and Spinach Chili (modified vegetarian chili)
1 lb ground turkey
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tsp oil
1 15oz can of chili style beans
1 15oz can of pinto beans (rinsed and drained)
1 14.5 oz can stewed tomatoes
4 oz frozen spinach (I use a full 10 oz pkg)
3 c brown rice cooked

Saute garlic in oil. Add ground turkey. Add all but rice and bring to a boil. Simmer 10-15 minutes. Serve over rice.

Easy...peasy. And I thought I took a pix, but I can't find it. Oh, well...chili mostly looks the same anyway, right?

Looking back at the first day of school

2011-12-13T10:00:00.000-09:00

As I've posted before, Erica and I started a tradition of going to breakfast the morning of the first day of school. Last year Jeff joined us and this year Grandma and Grandpa were in town, so they joined us, too. We used to go to the Muffin Man for a giant muffin, but last year we mixed it up and went to Denny's. This year was even better, as we went to Kriner's Diner (our favorite breakfast joint). Because Grandma and Grandpa were in town, Erica didn't have the choice of going to school on the Faith bus with her friends...so we dropped her off. I wonder how long she'll want to continue this tradition. I hope it lasts for several more years!!!

This was another Basic Grey laout that just came together soooo quickly. I can't tell you how nice those layout kits are...I can't wait to do more!

Snow Day...and Crafts...

2011-12-12T08:57:00.000-09:00

Well, here we are in the middle of a snow day (well, the beginning). Snow days are few and far between because we're used to getting snow, and lots of it. The problem is when Mother Nature can't decide what season we're in and it warms up and freezes after the snow melts. That kinda happened over night. Yesterday it rained and snowed most of the day and it was a slushy mess. Then last night it snowed about 6 inches (at least at our house it was about 6 inches). So they called school for the day. I could've driven in and taken Erica to daycare, but I had my work computer, so we're trying to work from home. The trick is that she's trying to grab all my attention (as evidence by the fact that I'm posting this and not working). I'm hoping to get back to work and have her distracted long enough until her neighbor friend can be called to play.

So she's making Christmas ornaments for her teachers. She's punching circles and flower circles, folding them in half, and gluing them together to make dimensional balls. Then we'll punch holes and put string thru them to hang them on the tree. It took a little time to get her set up and gluing them at the folds consistently, but now she's on auto pilot (yeah). Here she is...don't you just love the cute little pink tool bag? It's a mini version of mine.

Erica's Birthday BIG Game

2011-12-11T14:00:00.000-09:00

I just LOVE being able to search the internet for ideas. When Erica decided she wanted to have a sleep over, we immediately started searching for activities. We found all kinds of ideas. My favorite was and still is the giant board game. I drew the board and the girls put different things in each square (move forward one, move back two, jump up and down, take a rest, etc). Jeff brought home a big square box that we spray painted white and added black dots to make it a die. The girls had such a great time they played it over and over...they just didn't like the part about being sent back to start. The best part for me was when the girls would take the ONE die and shake it up and down, saying, "Come on Six..." Ha! It totally cracked me up!!!

Deck the Halls 2011

2011-12-10T19:55:00.001-09:00

Despite having a crazy Album in a Weekend the Fri-Sat after Thanksgiving, I *had* to put up the Christmas Tree on Sunday...and because I had a layout that had empty spaces on it (staged family fun, as Jeff would say). We barely fit the angel on the top of the tree, and even then, the tree is about a foot from the wall so it can fit on top (angled ceiling). I wish we'd put out lights in front of the house, but I haven't been able to convince Jeff...maybe next year. And one of these years I'd like to decorate the inside a bit more. But that just means I'd have to take it all down at the end of the season. We'll see...one of these years I'll give it a try...

Vegas friends

2011-12-07T13:00:00.000-09:00

Before I get more carried away with Erica layouts and Chena Hot Springs vacation adventures...here's a ME layout. Shhhhh...don't tell Jeff. I don't really have a layout of him (yet...I got some great shots and stories at Chena Hot Springs!).

These are pictures of me and "the gals" at Vegas this summer. I was sooooo excited to have lost 25 pounds for our trip. Never mind that I've gained a little back, but I'm working on that! Let's just hope the holidays don't sabotage me tooooo much more (yeah...like THAT'S the problem).

Of course this is another Basic Grey kit...I think it's Marjolaine. What pretty blue and green colors!!! I added the "Vegas" letters for the title. Just don't look too closely at these layouts or you'll see most of them still don't have journaling. I promise I'll get it done before the end of the year!

Hot tubbing in winter...

2011-12-06T10:00:00.000-09:00

OK, so sledding may not be our favorite winter activity after this past weekend. WOW...we had such a BLAST. We went to Chena Hot Springs north of Fairbanks, AK for a 4-day, 3-night Santa Adventure. While we were there, we went swimming, went on a dog sled ride (Jeff got to drive them), went swimming, visited the ice museum and drank appletini's out of an glass carved from ice, went swimming, saw Santa at the Santa Claus House, went swimming, saw the Aurora Borealis, and went swimming some more...along with some other fun stuff. And let me tell you, sitting in the hot tub outside in the middle of winter is AWESOME! This is one of the better pictures from the hot tub (the steam kept getting in the way).

There were natural hot springs that got to 140 degrees...OUCH! The resort converted all their power from diesel to geothermal energy. They are completely off the grid and don't buy any energy. They also have a green house that produces 700 pounds of tomatoes a week...A WEEK!

I'll post more pictures...but I don't want to give it all away. Jeff needs fodder for the annual Christmas letter, after all. Yes, he will be writing it again!

Girl Scout Camping...sledding

2011-12-05T21:40:00.001-09:00

Our favorite winter activity is sledding...all it takes is a sled, some snow, and a hill. And sometimes it only takes snow and a hill (Erica has gone down on her bottom before). We went camping with the Girl Scouts to Camp Togowoods in early November for our annual troop winter camping trip. At least this year it wasn't below zero. Of course, the girls HAD to go sledding. The hill we went on didn't look that great, it wasn't very steep and it had little twigs coming out from all over. But it turned out to be perfect! The girls loved it! And there was a little broken tree at the bottom that made for a nice fun jump at the end.

This is another Basic Grey Nordic Holiday layout...and one of the first ones I scrapped. I just love winter layouts!!!

Moroccan Chicken and Couscous Soup Recip

2011-12-04T10:00:00.000-09:00

Time for another recipe. We didn't actually have this during our album in a weekend, but we've had it in the past...and we were supposed to have it on Saturday night. Kelly and I were the last ones standing (sitting at the scrappy table) on Saturday night, so we opted to have left overs. I thought I'd post the recipe for this because I know I had requests for it from prior scrappy events. This recipe is from Food & Wine's quick from scratch chicken cookbook:

Moroccan and chicken couscous soup
2 Tbsp oil
1 onion, chopped
1 lb shredded chicken
1/4 tsp cayenne (even Erica can handle this much)
1 tsp cumin
1-3/4 tsp salt (I only use 1 tsp)
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1 sweet potato peeled and cut into 3/4" cubes
1 zucchini, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1" pieces
3/4 c tomato puree
1 qt water
2 c low sodium chicken broth
1/2 c couscous
1/3 c chopped fresh parsley (I usually forget this)

Heat oil over medium in large pot. Add onion and cook until translucent, approx 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Increase heat to medium high. Add chicken, cayenne, cumin, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes.
Stir in sweet potato, zucchini, tomato, water, and broth. Bring to boil, reduce heat, and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes.
Add couscous. Simmer for 5 minutes. Remove pot from heat and let set for 2 minutes. Add parsley and serve.

Birthday Celebration

2011-12-03T14:00:00.000-09:00

Well, I'm all over the place on what I'm posting, sorry! I've just been grabbing a few things here and there as they "hit" me. It was hit and miss during Erica's party on the pictures I took. Fortunately I got all the pictures of her presents. She was excited to get the cute little webkins (the blue sea horse), but we still haven't registered it and REALLY gotten to play with it. I think that will be a good activity for a slow weekend...if we ever manage to have one.

Another layout from the Life of the Party kit.

Let it snow...but please not be too cold!!!

2011-12-02T10:00:00.000-09:00

We are taking full advantage of everything AK has to offer in the winter time. Did you know that Chena Hot Springs in Alaska has a really cool Santa Adventure vacation? I'll tell you all about it when we get back. Let's hope the weather holds up and we don't experience the FULL Fairbanks winter adventure, complete with the 40 below temperatures. We got to experience that a few summers ago...for 5 minutes in a cooler. That was good enough for me.

This layout is from last year. Erica and Jeff built a fort next to the drive way out of snow. I think it was the week of Thanksgiving by the looks of the ice in the street. Either way, she had a blast, and that's all that matters!

This is the Basic Grey Nordic Holiday kit. Have I said how much fun I've been having with the kits? I have!!! I think I may need to get them EVERY YEAR!

Chicken and White Bean Soup Recipe

2011-12-01T18:00:00.000-09:00

Here's another of my favorite comfort food recipes. I got this from the Jillian Michaels Newsletter I get weekly. This recipe is so healthy and very filling! Every time I serve this, people want the recipe. Enjoy!
Chicken and White Bean Soup
2 tsp Olive Oil
2 leeks cut into 1/4" rounds (white and light green parts only)
1 Tbsp fresh sage, chopped (I leave this out cuz Erica doesn't like it)
28 oz reduced sodium chicken broth
2 c water
15 oz cannellini beans (aka Great Northern or White Kidney Beans)
2 lbs shredded chicken (we used turkey this week!!!)

Heat oil in dutch oven over medium high heat. Add leeks and cook, stirring often, approx 3 minutes.
Stir in sage and continue cooking until aromatic, about 30 seconds. Stir in broth and water. Increase heat to high, cover and bring to boil.
Add beans and chicken and cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, until heated through, about 3 minutes.

Quick and easy! We make this for weeknight dinners, too. Oh, I forgot to add that we put in two cans of beans!

Birthday party activities

2011-11-30T20:00:00.000-09:00

Erica had a blast at her TWO-DAY birthday party. I don't think I have it in me to do that again. Although, some of the things we did were alot of fun. Decorating pillow cases was one of the fun activities, for sure. The girls used fabric markers and did whatever they wanted. Note to self...next time wash the pillow case first!!! Erica's bled through to her pillow after using it a few days. Oh, well...no real harm done.

The Life of the Party kit was my second favorite. I pulled together all the layouts in no time at all. For this one, I swapped out one of the chipboard die cut shapes for the pillow invitation...since it worked with us decorating pillow cases. And for once I actually remembered to include memorabilia on the page!

A Class Act

2011-11-29T10:00:00.000-09:00

Another one of my favorite layouts is Erica's third grade school picture. She still needs to work on her smile, but this is better than her big cheesy one she often has for pictures. I'm also not quite sure why she wears her head band so low on her head...but she's her own person and I can't change it.

This is another Oxford kit layout...it was soooo much fun to play with.

Paella Recipe

2011-11-28T14:00:00.000-09:00

The food was awesome all weekend, if I don't say so myself. I LOVE LOVE LOVE comfort food. And when it's fairly healthy, that's even better. I tried to google the recipe to give credits appropriately, but I can't find it anymore. Just know this is not my recipe.

Shrimp Paella
2 tsp Olive Oil
1 tsp chopped garlic
1 lb cleaned shrimp
1 c chopped onion
6 oz 1/4" sausage sliced (I use 4 links Chicken and Spinach sausage)
1 box Spanish seasoned rice and vermicelli mix (I use Fred Meyer brand)
1 c peas
1 can stewed tomatoes
14 oz artichoke hearts

Heat oil in skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic and shrimp and cook for 3 minutes. Remove shrimp and keep covered in a bowl.
In the same skillet, saute onion and sausage for 3 minutes. Add rice without the seasoning and cook for 3 minutes. Add 2 cups water, tomatoes, peas, and seasoning mix.
Simmer covered for 20 minutes. Add shrimp and artichoke hearts. Heat and serve.

I'm not sure why the picture came in vertically...but I guess this is better than nothing.

My favorite AIW layout...Lovely You!

2011-11-27T21:27:00.004-09:00

Ha...so I didn't go right to bed last night like I said I was...I scrapped some more. I only got a few more pages done, but I can now say I have a whole album PLUS...21 pages and two more on the dinner table just about done!

I thought I'd post my favorite layout first. I just love my wacky daughter, and this layout totally shows her wackiness. Her school has spirit week in the fall and one day was "Crazy Hair and Crazy Clothes" day. She put on a purple dress with a blue skirt and a green sweater. Sometimes I think she'd actually wear this and not give it a second thought...thank goodness for veto power! Then she had me tease up two piggy tails into big balls on the side of her head.

The layout kit is Basic Grey (all the kits are from Basic Grey) and this is a layout from the Oxford kit.

Album in a Weekend!!!

2011-11-26T22:32:00.001-09:00

WHEW...what a weekend I've had so far. I hosted an Album in a Weekend (AIW as I called it). A bunch of ladies got together and scrapped all day Friday and Saturday...and some of them after they hit the Black Friday sales (I didn't this year).

I was able to complete (3) of my standard 8x8 calendars for Christmas presents (sorry, no pix given "eyes" that read the blog) as well as (9) 12x12 pages, all of which have pictures!!! Last weekend I made (7) 12x12 layouts with pictures, too. That's almost a whole album in a weekend!

Three ladies spent the night and Jeff cooked for us all weekend! One of my layouts is going to be my favorite scrappy meals. We had chicken and white bean soup, paella, omelets, turkey and spinach chili, and Thanksgiving left overs (the last meal was supposed to be couscous soup, but only one scrapper was left, so we just had left overs). Oh, and we even made Sassy Dalons...a fun new concoction made with Gin, Cranberry Twist Mix, and Sprite...YUM!!!

Sorry, it's late and I REALLY need some sleep, so I'll get pictures tomorrow when the sun comes up (ha...I can sleep in for that!). I also promised the scrappers recipes with pictures of our yummy meals...so more to come over the next few days!

Happy belated Thanksgiving!!!

Cards from scraps

2011-11-06T17:00:00.000-09:00

"People" always say that after you finish a scrapbook page, you should use scraps to make cards before you put everything away. I took that to heart as I finished my Embrace Imperfection mini album and then the Pure Bliss layout a few weeks ago. The cards are adapted from the Cooking Up Cards class I took at...you guessed it, Big Picture Classes. Man, I feel like a walking bill board for their classes. But I can't help it...they're awesome! I'm really bummed that I missed out on signing up for the Textuality class in September. Oh, well, I'm going to keep my eyes open and sign up when it comes out again (if you see it, tell me!!!).

Stay tuned...I've been talking to some gals around here about doing a card swap. That's where we all make a card for however many people sign up for the swap. Then we give one to each person and get one from each person. So you end up with a bunch of different cards from other people. The cool thing is, I want to do it as a "recipe" card swap. So not only do you give the card, you include the "recipe" and sketch on how you put it together so they can duplicate it later. What fun...I got the idea from the same class...hee, hee.

What fakers!!!

2011-11-04T10:00:00.000-08:00

Man, can I just tell you what a ham my daughter is? Ha, I think all my blog readers know her and know that I don't have to remind you about that. This summer Erica went to Girl Scout resident camp FOR A WEEK. Yes, she was gone, away from us, with no phone, FOR A WEEK. She even kept a journal while she was gone...but that's another story (maybe a scrapbook page). The best part about the camping trip was that she went for free because she sold soooooo many cookies this year.

The trip TO camp was also a great story! It takes us about an hour to get from home to Camp Togowoods. We drove out with Bella and her family to keep each other company and save on gas. Nicole and I had a great time chatting in the front. We were almost to the camp, and we noticed they were all asleep in the back. Nicole took out my camera and got took these pictures. Then all of a sudden, they snickered and "woke up." Those trick-sters. They were faking! Well, at least two of them were faking. There's a picture of Carolyn in the back asleep so hard she's about bent in half in her seat...she's NOT faking.

This is another layout from the Double Take class at Big Picture Classes...and another layout I finished at the crop in mid October...I was on a roll with the sketches!!!

Girl Scout Power

2011-10-30T14:00:00.000-08:00

Yeah! Another post that wasn't two or more week apart from the last one. Let's see if I can keep this up!!!

This fall has been pretty light on Girl Scout activities...but stay tuned, we have a bunch of good stuff coming up! In September, our troop participated in the BLM National Public Lands Day event. We had 15 people and they were going to put us all on a fairly easy project, but I didn't get us signed in fast enough and it got booked...HRUMPH! By the time we got signed in, the only thing left was a project that had three big arms, signifying it took alot of brute strength. Well, they had our 8 -10 year old girls do it and we did just fine. In fact, we did better than fine. The guy organizing it didn't think we'd finish and we finished in time to where we had to go help another group with their project. YEAH, BROWNIE POWER!

Below is the layout with a few pictures from the project (based on another great sketch from the Double Take class at Big Picture Classes). They had us spread out a special compound of dirt and rock over a trail. Then we grabbed water from the nearby creek and poured it over the trail. Later the BLM worker would bring a big machine to pound it all flat and make it strong. The trail is used often by bikers, so it gets ruts. The goal was to pack it down and make it usable again. Woo Hoo! The girls had fun, got some exercise, and we did a great thing for the community!

Aaaah...I forgot to post more stuff...

2011-10-28T22:42:00.001-08:00

Man...I'm just not completely into the swing of things when it comes to posting on the blog again, I'm sorry! I have several fun things I could have posted and totally dropped the ball.

So this is another layout from the crop TWO WEEKS AGO. And it's also from the Double Take class I took from Big Picture Classes. Sorry for the slight glare...we had been getting alot of rain, so I needed to use the flash. When I saw the sketch for this layout I knew I wanted to scrap pictures that showed motion. These are pictures from the 2011 AK State Fair. They had hoola hoops just laying around at this one part of the park. When Erica saw them, she ran over to them and started hoola-ing (hmmm, not sure how to say what she was doing...but you probably get the point). You can't really tell from these pictures, but she was doing it for a long time. I'm glad I finally took out the camera to take these. Almost as soon as I started taking them she must have gotten tired because the hoop just started going down and down and down...

I have to say that I'm excited by this layout, too. I took another class at Big Picture Classes earlier this year called Embrace Imperfection (I posted the final product several weeks ago). Prior to that class, I never would've used all the various pinks on this page...they don't "match." The class actually got me to get over that (somewhat).

Yeah, more scrappin'

2011-10-16T14:13:00.003-08:00

Wow, I can't believe how long it's been since I blogged. I feel like I'm back into my old routine (and not the *real* old one where I posted regularly). OK, I have some good news (at least good for me). I'm gonna be doing crops on a regular basis again. YEAH!!! I went to a crop last night and the gals hosting want me to help. Soooo, the third Sat of every month I'll have some me time and will be able to get more scrapping (and more blogging) done.

Last night was a blast. I thought it was only going to be from 9-6 and it ended up being 9-11. Woo Hoo!!! It's been so long since I blogged that I'm not sure I mentioned the class I signed up for on Big Picture Classes...Double Take. It's a class with two awesome instructors who walk through their scrapping process for double page layouts. I have done so few lately that I decided to sign up. I got four 2-page layouts done yesterday. No, that doesn't sound like much, but for me it was pretty good. I was going to get one more page done, but I got tired so I just chatted for the last hour or so.

Anyway...this layout is one I've been wanting to scrap since I took the pictures. These are the pictures of Erica in the cage with the cute little birds. It was her favorite part of the fair...well, that and climbing the rock wall, eating ice cream, riding the rides with Mom, and...well, I guess she liked it all. I guess this was MY favorite part. Just look at how much fun she was having...I love that!

And these are Basic Gray papers from the kit I made last March. Yes, I *still* have extra embellishments and papers. That was an awesome kit!

Some creative ME time...

2011-09-25T13:23:00.002-08:00

Earlier this year I signed up for several Big Picture Classes, none of which I was able to finish (or even start in some cases) due to my hectic schedule with Girl Scouts and Work. Now I'm slowly getting back into the groove and am having a blast. Erica slept over at her friend's house last night and I stayed up to be creative. This is what I did (woo hoo!).
One of the classes I took was "Embrace Imperfection." The basis of the class is to try and teach us to get past all the things that make us say we don't have time to scrap or that holds us backing from being productive. The bottom line is we won't ever be perfect, so get past it and document your memories. For me, I stress over the colors being perfect and all the products coordinating or matching on the layout. So to make this mini album, I pulled together some papers and coordinating embellishments from Basic Grey, along with my ribbons, paint, and ink. I can't believe I finished it! I used a great mixed media album from Fancy Pants (acrylic, chipboard, felt, mirror, cardboard, and canvas). Every page is decorated differently an I didn't even "lift" the layouts! Each page also has a quote about perfection like, " No one is perfect...that's why pencils have erasers." And there are alot of things about this album that aren't perfect (the paint is chipping off the acrylic, the chipboard shapes show thru the acrylic, the quotes aren't cut perfectly, the colors don't all match exactly, and things are crooked), but I am learning to...Remember, it is all about the MEMORIES."

I've wanted to use this album for over a year and am thrilled I got a chance to do it.

More than half way done...

2011-09-17T22:26:00.002-08:00

So I've wanted to pull my hair out a few times, but all in all, the weekend is going well. The girls had Mickey pancakes courtesy of Daddy this morning, rainbow mac and cheese for lunch, and they made their own pizza's tonight (thanks to the big Boboli pack from Costco). The coolest part of the day was playing "Erica's Big Game." You can find the coolest ideas online! The girls wrote things like: move 3 back, jump up and down until your next move, sing a song, skip a turn, roll again, etc. They had so much fun we played it twice. I don't think the die would've held up for a third game. And now they're watching "Tangled" and will go to bed after that (I hope).
Even with all the fun, I'm really looking forward to 11am tomorrow! From now on Erica can have only ONE friend over at a time!

Guess what day it is...

2011-09-16T09:00:00.000-08:00

...it's the day I've officially gone insane! What was I thinking when I suggested to Erica that she could have THREE 8-yr olds over for a TWO-night sleep over?! I must be the biggest pigeon in the world...yup, I've taken over the title from Grandpa!
So three of Erica's friends are coming over, along with a neighbor who will come and play, but go home at night. Erica and I have planned all kinds of fun...but I'm not gonna spoil any of the fun since we don't have pictures yet. If I survive the weekend sober, I'll post pictures along the way. For now, here's the cute pillow invitation I made...

A fun project...

2011-09-14T15:00:00.000-08:00

I had an opportunity to be crafty when some friends came over this weekend. This is a chipboard album from Bo Bunny that I altered to include pockets for each calendar month. There's also a place to write names and dates (for birthdays and anniversaries) on each month. I plan on putting cards in the pockets so I can actually mail out cards for friends and family. Now I need to get busy and make some cards so I can really finish the project and be able to use it.

Trick or Treat in the Heat

2011-09-11T19:56:00.000-08:00

This may sound funny for some folks, but not if you are in Alaska. Eagle River participated in the Sixth Annual Ian Robbins Memorial Trick or Treat in the Heat event today. What an awesome idea! The best part is they raised over $7000 for the Ronald McDonald House, Make a Wish Foundation, and Hospice of Anchorage. The fun part for the kids, of course, is getting candy TWICE this year. And the neat part for me is I finally get to see everyone's Halloween outfit...without snow gear.

As usual, Grandma made Erica's outfit. This year she decided to be a Cowgirl. She and Grandma went and found some boots with rhinestones on them, so she decided to be a Rhinestone Cowgirl. And the outfit is GREAT! Here's a picture of Erica and Jenna before the festivities began.

Girl Scouts...Zoo Snooze

2011-09-09T08:00:00.001-08:00

Erica is a Brownie Girl Scout, and loves it. Scouts started early this year so they could finish their "Journey" program before cookies start in January...cookies tend to be all consuming, especially for us! Erica was the top seller in her troop last year and earned a week of free camp at the resident camp grounds. She felt soooo big going away for a whole week "without mom and dad to boss her around."

The troop also did things with the money made from selling cookies. Last year's journey was the Wonders of Water and they bought two water filters for a village in need in Central America. And the fun activity they did was have a sleep over at the zoo. It was a blast! They had a behind the scenes tour of the tigers, wolves, and brown bear cub; had a scavenger hunt, searching for animals based on clues; and then watched Disney's "Brother Bear" with popcorn before they went to bed. I missed the morning activities due to a 5K run, but I understand they went to see the polar bear. The girls thought it was the best!

First Day of School pictures

2011-09-07T08:00:00.002-08:00

My blog is one of the ways family keeps in touch with us. I did a poor job for 6-8 months keeping them updated and am trying to be better. I was having soooo much fun posting layouts and neglected to post pictures from the first day of school...sorry.

For anyone that doesn't know us well, we have a family tradition (mostly just me and Erica) of going to breakfast on the first day of school. Last year Jeff went with us because I started a new job and couldn't take the time off. This year Grandma and Grandpa were in town, so they joined us, too. Erica sure looks like a big girl, doesn't she? A 3rd grader...wow! I can hardly believe it!

Here she is looking like a big girl...even though she hunches over (more of the mama in her!).

And the standard mama and Erica picture...

And in line, waiting for school to start.

And today's holiday...

2011-09-05T14:30:00.001-08:00

Happy Labor Day! In Alaska, it marks the last day of the State Fair. Fair season usually means rainy season in Alaska. The weather has called for rain every day, but fortunately it hasn't stormed all day, so we were able to make it out earlier this week. We like to go right after school to beat the crowds...and it was perfect. The weather was overcast. It drizzled a little, but it wasn't bad.

As usual, Erica wanted to ride all the spinning rides...and I learned this year that I'm finally too old to handle them. Fortunately she is tall enough to be able to ride by herself. She also climbed the rock wall again. The weird thing is, this time she didn't want to let go of her one hand to ring the bell...she finally did, but it took a while. And on her way down, she became proficient at repelling (I'm not sure the operators liked it much...but she sure did).

The standard big pumpkins were there. This one weighed in at 1200 pounds and another one was 1700...but it was disqualified for having a hole in the bottom.

This year they had the outback in Alaska. I'm not sure how Erica was able to do it, but she got Jeff to pay $5 for her to go into a cage with birds. They gave her some food and the birds climbed all over her and literally ate out of her hands.

And last, but not least, we got our standard family picture on the Tilt-o-whirl. Thank goodness it was a short and sweet ride...the spinning was a bit much after all the other spinning I had done. We were the only ones on the ride and the operator started it as soon as we got in, and came over to let us out as soon as it was done. He was a bit impatient, so I didn't get the pix myself, as usual. Instead, he took our picture. Not quite the same, but that's OK, I guess...

All in all, a fun time at the fair!!!

Why not see one more Holiday...

2011-09-04T19:00:00.002-08:00

As I said, holidays are different in Alaska. This isn't so much a celebration of holidays, but it reminds me how things are a little different here. I remember having beautiful gardens around Easter before we moved to Alaska. That's definitely not the case here. We typically can't plant before Memorial Day. Sometimes there's even still snow on the ground at Easter. Fortunately this year was not the case. But, that doesn't mean we can't enjoy the outdoors...and welcome the Easter Bunny to our house. That's certainly what Erica did this year. So while we don't have beautiful flowers and green grass like other places, at least we had beautiful colors on our driveway.

Since Holidays are on the brain...

2011-09-02T14:00:00.002-08:00

...why not a Christmas layout? I'm not sure why this wouldn't scan, maybe the crooked papers messed with the scanner's brain. My linear brain has a hard time with it, sometimes.

We spent Christmas in Arkansas visiting Jeff's parents. Unfortunately I didn't get many pictures, and then many of the ones I did get were really blurry. But, the memories are still the same, so I make due with what I have. I really didn't know what to journal for this layout, so I didn't. Jeff's mom is more crafty than I am (and WAAAY more talented). She decorated a few Santa hats. Erica took this one and wore it one of the days we went to Silver Dollar City. I don't recall exactly where we were, or what we were doing, but I thought she was soooo cute in the hat that I had to take her picture. I think this was the first layout I made this year...sweet and simple.

Holidays are different in Alaska...

2011-08-30T10:00:00.004-08:00

Ha...I have to tell you, when we first moved here, Jeff worked for the Anchorage Economic Development Corporation. He got a call one day from a woman who wanted to come visit Alaska from "the lower 48." She asked alot of questions, and then asked about whether she could spend US currency here. Well, of course you can since we are actually one of the 50 US states.

But, we do things differently here, that's for sure. We can actually go visit Santa at his house (see my post from June 2009), Easter egg hunts are really hard outside since there's still snow on the ground, and fireworks on the 4th of July are REALLY hard when the sun hasn't gone down. Sooooo, we have fireworks at midnight. And even then, the night sky isn't totally dark. Fireworks just aren't very spectacular in Alaska...even at midnight.

The Mama...part 2

2011-08-28T19:30:00.002-08:00

We had a B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L day today. I kinda wish we had gone to the fair...until Jeff told me the traffic was backed up about 10 miles. I guess most of the area thought it was a good day to go to the fair. So, we'll just plan on going one day RIGHT after school and come home after dinner.

The beautiful day gave me the opportunity to take some pictures of layouts that weren't scanning well. I thought the first post should be the "Sammy" layout I mentioned last time. This is the perfect example of Erica being a daredevil...just like me. Hopefully the weather will hold out this week and we'll get some more pictures of us on exciting rides. Until then, enjoy!

That's the mama in her...

2011-08-21T14:00:00.000-08:00

Jeff and I often joke about "That's the mama/daddy in her" whenever Erica does or says something odd...whoever gets it out first, usually. One of the things I will own up to is Erica being a daredevil. She loves rides and doing exciting things, just like me. That's definitely the mama in her! I've posted before about her liking roller coasters. She can't wait until she's tall enough to ride Wild Fire in Branson, Mo (maybe next summer). And I can't wait! Jeff won't ride them with me, so I either go alone or with Grandpa when he's with us. Now I have Erica to go with, too...YEAH!!!

This year at the 4th of July picnic (and last year at the State Fair) she climbed the rock wall and rode Sammy the Slippery Sockey Salmon (Erica says there's a "slammin'" in there, too...but I couldn't make it fit on the layout, sorry). Last year her arms weren't long enough to ring the bell at the top of the wall, but this year they were. I saw a layout with the pictures at an angle in a Scrapbook Trends Magazine and thought it was perfect to show the progression of Erica climbing the wall. And adding the coordinating circles reminded me of the steps she took up the wall. She practically ran up the wall, what a hoot! And she got low and held on tight to that slippery salmon. It bucked her off a few times, but she rode it a LOOONG time.

Weeeeelllll, like I said, my scanner is acting up, and I couldn't get the salmon layout to scan. The black squiggles at the bottom are supposed to be the year, but I guess the scanner didn't like that part of the layout. Oh, well. I'll have to upload the other layout later...hopefully in the next few days...sorry!

Our little turkey...

2011-08-18T10:00:00.002-08:00

Ha, more fun at Erica's expense...isn't that the best part of being a parent? OK, maybe not the best part, but it's sure a fun added benefit.

Erica was invited to a bowling party earlier this year (wow, I'm not as far behind as my last post made it sound). I think that was the first time she bowled without the wii (she's better with the wii, by the way). I couldn't resist the title on this layout. I journaled that while she didn't make any strikes, she's still our little turkey. Boy is she gonna kill me when she's old enough to care about this...hee, hee. That said, she did tie for the high score on her "team."

I made this layout at an all-day crop a week or so ago. The bowling balls and pins are made from a Cricut cartridge (Nifty Fifties).

School has started...

2011-08-16T20:52:00.003-08:00

Well...today was the first day of school--Third Grade. Yes, I got pictures, but no, I don't have my camera downloaded yet. I need to get into a good routine for scrappin' and bloggin'...I'm trying.

Grandma and Grandpa are in town this week, so Erica's first day of school (and first week) is a bit different. We still did our standard tradition of going out for breakfast, but this year she didn't go to Faith for their drop off. And the pick up was a little different since she didn't take the Faith bus, either. But she's easily adaptable...the first day was AWESOME.

Until I get this year's first day done, and the pictures downloaded, here's a studying layout from almost a year ago (wow, I can't believe how far behind I am...I guess Project 12 made me feel like I was getting things done, but I still like to do the individual pages). Anyway...here it is. A total scrap lift from Scrapbooks Etc, including the papers (October Afternoon). I saw the page and wanted to do kite flying, but I didn't have any pictures, so I used these to "get 'er done."

P.S. I'm having scanner problems...not all my layouts are scanning well. For some reason the scanner wants to crop the layouts into smaller pictures. I need to pull my camera out in good weather and take pix, I guess...blah, I'm no good at that, either. Guess I'll get some more practice.

Soccer Stars

2011-08-13T09:30:00.001-08:00

This should've been a post I made last month cuz it's a digital layout. Nicole called and asked if I'd help her make a layout for the Coach Pat and Coach Ben. Of course I would!!! She came over with a bunch of pictures from one of the other moms...and I had the team picture (or a partial team picture since Erica and Bella were camping during the official picture day). This is another template from Scrapbooks Etc. It was perfect for the 13 girls plus the team picture. We put a puffy soccer ball in the center block. This is the one we gave to each of the parents since Coach's daughter was helping and all the girls loved her so much.

By the way, the team WON the Boys and Girls Club tournament for U10. It was a double elimination tournament. The girls lost one game all season--to the leprechauns--and tied one other game to a team they played four times during the season. The leprechauns were undefeated all season. In the tournament they beat us on our second game. We had to play them in the last game and figured they'd beat us and we'd be in second. We beat them and then had to play them again 30 minutes later to determine the final winner...we beat them again!!! We couldn't believe it! The girls did awesome!

Mamma's Pride and Joy

2011-08-11T14:00:00.001-08:00

Well, the last post was such a chuckle at Erica's expense...this one is full of my pride for her. One of our favorite family games is Cribbage. Erica actually learned how to play before I did...and she's better than I am, too! But Jeff usually beats both of us, and not by a little bit. Then, one day in March, it happened...Erica beat Daddy!!! And I got it on film. I just love the look on his face.

And then there was the Alaska Run for Women in June. It's a 5 mile run to raise money for Breast Cancer research. Jeff was shooting, so Erica and I joined my Vegas Girls and their kids on the run...we were planning on walking, though. And then Erica decided she wanted to run. No, she didn't run the whole thing, but she ran alot of it. I was sooo proud of her. Now we're training to run a 5K. I told her she could have my ipod shuffle after she ran her first 5K all the way.

My wacky daughter

2011-08-09T08:00:00.001-08:00

Sometimes I wonder if we have kids just for entertainment purposes. The things Erica says and does just crack us up! Let me share some of her personality with you:

I can't really remember what she was doing when I took these pictures. Forget for a minute that she's a total ham. What really makes me roll on the floor is her mittens hanging out of her hat like floppy ears. WHAT is THAT all about?!? I think that's the DADDY in her! It's got to be...cuz I don't think I'd ever do that... And this story I had to hear second hand...and every time Jeff tells it, his eyes water from laughing so hard. Here goes: It was crazy hair day at school and Erica asked me to give her three pony tails. I did, but it really didn't look very crazy, so I matted each one...now THAT'S crazy! The problem is I didn't know it wasn't crazy hair day at her Elementary School, only at her before and after school center. Oooops! You can't tell from the pictures (or I couldn't when I first took them), but Erica was not happy with me. In fact, she told Jeff, "I didn't ask for this hair...I'm going to be totally humiliated." And as if that wasn't enough, it was the tone in her voice that just put it over the top for him.

Hello...anyone still out there??? I am...finally

2011-08-07T18:51:00.004-08:00

Well, it's been 6 months, but I'm alive again. Work has finally calmed down and Erica is done with soccer until next month. So I took some time to scrap (instead of cleaning). YEAH...a whole day of scrappin yesterday, what a blast. I've also scrapped a few Saturdays in June and July with Nicole (thanks, girl!) and have some pages to share from that, too. So...here ya go.

First, here's a layout from a Basic Gray kit that I finally added some pictures to...this was a kit from last October.
And two more layouts that I did last November with pictures...but to be fair, it's a Christmas layout and I had to wait to get the pictures added. Yeah, THAT'S my excuse.And last, but not least, Erica's first hunting layout. I actually scrapped this earlier this year (March, maybe) and JUST got it scanned.

Good news...bad news...

2011-02-20T21:58:00.003-09:00

Two items of bad news and a note of good news.

The first bad news: nothing new to show you on the scrap side of things, sorry. I'm so bummed I can't seem to find any mojo...or time to conger some mojo. I figure late March or April I may find some time...here's hoping!!!

BUT, good news: my wellness journey continues to be a success. So far I've lost 20 pounds and 2 sizes (3 depending on the brand). YEAH! I weigh less now than I did before I got pregnant. Not quite less than before I broke my leg just before I got pregnant, but that should come in another 4-6 weeks. I'll keep you posted!

Which leads me to my next bad news: I have no pants that fit!!! I've finally convinced myself that as I put clothes on that don't fit, they immediately go into the donation pile. No saving clothes in case I need them again. So, all I have are jeans and skirts to wear...and some of the jeans have made their way into the donation pile. I bought a belt over the Christmas holidays and actually had to punch a new hole in it because it didn't fit, either. How exciting!!!

Even though I'm hopeful I'm not done losing, I decided I needed at least one pair of pants. So, this weekend I bought a pair of size 8 dress pants. Woo Hoo!!! I haven't been a size 8 since before I had Erica. Now I need to find time to hem them so I can actually wear them before they're too big (hee, hee).

I scrapped...woo hoo!!!

2011-02-05T23:36:00.006-09:00

What a night. Kelly came over and I got to play with my scrappy stuff. I pulled out my papers and embellishments...and then went the easy route and did some digital stuff with quick pages from the Wellness Journey class. I started another scrappy class this week, so I decided to knock out the wellness things with digital templates. I'm just starting week 6, so I have two layouts that need pix (week 2 on food, and week 5 on rewards...hopefully I can get them in good light tomorrow) and one more to figure out this week. Ooooh, and the picture on the layout below is my new blog pix...woo, hoo!Now, here's hoping I can be more consistent with my scrappiness and my blog...

Wellness Update

2011-01-22T19:00:00.002-09:00

Well, I'm still not finding time to be creative...other than preparing projects for Erica's Girl Scout Troop (when we're done with a particular project, I'll post it...but it's a secret for now). I'm trying to stay active with the Wellness Journey, though. I'm glad that I'm at least working out and eating healthy...and Jeff is, too (yeah!). I'll be heading to the classroom to download this week's information. And who knows, maybe I'll get some of the crafty stuff done.

I do want to share some details about my successful journey so far. My goal with my trainer is to lose 1.5 pounds a week (the wellness journey wants us to throw out the scale...I just can't bring myself to do that, though). So far, so good. I've been training since Nov 10 and have lost almost 15 pounds to date. At my training session Thursday she called me the incredible shrinking woman...YEAH, me!

Jeff is also experiencing success. He has only had one official weigh in, but I can see the difference already. We have a little competition going...I think our trainer (we both use the same trainer) is on my side, though...hee, hee!

I'm here, really...

2011-01-16T21:09:00.003-09:00

Have you given up on me? Ugh, I wouldn't blame you if you did. I'm still struggling with balance in my life...between family, work, working out, the house, and crafty time. And it's been prioritized in about that order. I am happy to say, though, that I was able to get a little craftiness done this weekend. I'm STILL working on finishing the calendars. The good news is they should be done this week (and before January is over...yeah!).

The other good news is I'm still on the wellness journey...and taking the Wellness Journey Class. I haven't gotten any scrapping done with it, but all the downloads are printed (does that count?). I hope to have more on that next weekend.

And I added a blinkie on my blog, for the other class I'm taking. It's Ali's One Little Word. I think I mentioned it, but just in case, I'll tell you again. My word is BALANCE. How perfect is that?!? I *really* need to figure out how to balance all this stuff in my life. In looking for a quote for balance (one of the exercises for class), I came across the word "no." I can't remember the exact quote or who said it, but it essentially had to do with saying no in order to achieve balance. I know one of my problems is my inability to say no. But I can't bring myself to use it in my journey to invite balance into my life...at least not yet.

So no new craftiness to share, other than to encourage you to check out Big Picture Classes. I've been having a blast with them. Can't wait to see what else they have to offer this year. But more than that, I'd love the TIME to work on the projects.

Like Father (and Grandfather), Like Daughter (and Granddaughter)

2011-01-04T08:00:00.000-09:00

Yes, Erica is her Daddy's little Girl...and Grandpa's pride and joy. As I've posted before, Erica has her own .22 rifle and a cute little PINK camo bow. She enjoys spending time with Daddy at the shooting and archery ranges, and she's really good! She can't wait to go hunting with Daddy one day.

Well, last week Erica had her first chance to go hunting. We visited Grandma and Grandpa in Arkansas for Christmas. They live out in the middle of nowhere, on a lake, in the middle of trees, off the LONGEST dirt road ever (at least it feels like it when you drive it). Grandma and Grandpa have a deer feeder with a tent near by. It was perfect for Erica and Grandpa to sit and wait for the perfect shot. As I heard the story, she was very quiet and still (surprise, surprise...I never would've thought she could be either!!!). In fact, I heard she had to tell Grandpa to be quiet. She had the safety on Grandpa's .22, and spooked a squirrel when she took it off. But she learned from that and was slower and more quiet for the next opportunity. Soon, about a dozen doves came by. Grandpa told her to wait until they walked behind a tree and came out the other side. She slowly took off the safety, and BAM! All the doves, except one, flew off. She was soooo proud and excited...but Grandpa may have been even more proud and excited, himself. Here's a picture of the great hunter and her wonderful guide....scrapbook page to come later (of course).

Happy New Year!!!

2011-01-02T20:06:00.002-09:00

Well, true to form I'm late on the Happy New Year note. I'd like to say it's because I was traveling back home yesterday, but I was home in the early evening and could've done it (I was just sooooo TIRED).

I hope you all had a wonderful start to the New Year. So far so good, for me. I'm so excited to start 2011 and am hoping to find some BALANCE in my life this year. Why did I write BALANCE in caps? It's from Ali Edwards' One Little Word. I posted last year about this and think I selected LIVE as my word for 2010. I'm taking a class by Ali from Big Picture Classes. Take a look and join me...you have until December 2011 to sign up. I've chosen BALANCE as my word because I'm struggling to find BALANCE between Erica's schedule, long work days, my scrappy desires, working out, and time for good nutrition. I really need some BALANCE to make it all work.

So how am I going to figure out how to find BALANCE? Well, to start, I signed up for another Big Picture Class called Wellness Journey. It marries exercise, nutrition, and scrapbooking together. How cool is that?!?!? The class started last Thurs, but I just signed up today...gee, another thing I did late, UGH! Anyone interested can sign up thru January 5. I hope you'll join me!!! Ahem...did the three gals who are going to Vegas with me in May hear that? OK...let me say it again: Tanya, Angela, and Sonya you should all sign up for this class with me!!!

And did you catch that subtle note in the last paragraph? I'm going to Vegas with three women in May. We've all set a weight loss goal and we're going to celebrate meeting the goal by going to Vegas for an extremely long, fun-filled weekend. Shhh...the cool thing is, tickets are already bought (OK, mine will get bought this month) before we go, so we'll be going even if we don't meet our goal. Hee, hee...don't let the cat out of the bag with our hubbies. I'm not sure they've really figured that part out yet. Of course, we had to get the tickets before we met our goal to save money...and we really are all working toward meeting our goals!

Merry Christmas!!!

2010-12-25T08:00:00.000-09:00

Well, here it is Christmas and I have to admit that all the calendars are not done. NOPE...I was sooooo close, but didn't get them out (sorry!). I was missing a picture for "Home for the Holidays" and "You & Me." I'm always behind the camera, so I have so few pictures of me. I wanted to get Erica to take a pix of Jeff and I (and am still hoping to do so), but it hasn't happened yet. I promise the calendars will get done and sent out ASAP.

So here are the full pictures of the months that are done. I'm particularly excited that the "Celebration" month happens to be Erica's birth month...yeah! Again, all the credit goes to Basic Grey on this one. I'll try to put some notes on each month:

Erica's 7th Birthday "party" at Chuck E Cheese's

Our standard family picture on the Tilt-o-whirl...the only ride at the fair Jeff will go on. This year it felt like it went on FOREVER. We aren't quite sure what we did to upset the operator.

Erica ice fishing...she was eventually on her belly looking into the hole. I honestly thought she was "wishing" she could catch a fish.

Erica and Cole tubing on Grandpa's lake

A random picture of Erica...we truly are lucky to have her!!!

Erica, Grandpa Guru, and Grannie Annie at a Yankee's pre-season game in Florida. What a beautiful day!!!

Erica with the top of the world in the background (Denali...aka Mt McKinley). It's rarely seen all the way in Anchorage.

Erica's troop became Junior Rangers by visiting a the Kenai Fjords National Park and completing some great learning activities.

Another picture of Erica on Grandpa's lake...she LOVES to drive the boat!!!

Part of the Girl Scout Law is to make the world a better place. During a camping trip in April, the girls planted trees and flowers at the park for their service project.

Happy Winter Solstice...and calendar peeks

2010-12-21T21:30:00.000-09:00

Today is officially the shortest day of the year. Tomorrow we finally get to GAIN some daylight...YEAH! For those on the east coast, today was a milestone that hadn't been seen in the past 370-some odd years. There was a lunar eclipse on the same day as the winter solstice. Officially it occurred yesterday in Alaska, but oh, well.

My scrappy friends (and parents/in-laws) know I make 8x8 scrapbook calendars as Christmas gifts every year. This year is no different...I think I'd be disowned if I didn't make them. In fact, one year I was late getting Jeff's done and his heart dropped on Christmas morning when his mom opened her calendar, but he didn't have one. It was soooo nice to hear him say he really enjoyed having it at the office. Yes, he got one that year, too.

Since it's not Christmas, I don't think I should post the full pictures. Instead, here are a few sneak peeks. Stay tuned for the complete pictures in a week or so (and since we'll be gone, I'm gonna have to "schedule" the post...let's see if I can do it right). Oh, and this is another great kit from Basic Grey!!! Pre-cut papers, stickers, rub-ons, and INSTRUCTIONS!!! All I had to do was add adhesive, pictures, and TIME. Whew, nothing like cutting it close, huh?

More Card kits...

2010-12-18T08:00:00.001-09:00

My last post was a showing you a great card kit from Basic Grey (and they have them for all kinds of themes). I also made several cards from Fancy Pants Designs (they also have several themes). This one required a little more measuring for cutting papers, but they still went together very quickly...and with lots of left overs. I made extra cards from this kit, too. And I think I was also able to mix and match papers and embellishments from both kits, which was nice!

Now I need to finish getting them addressed (yes, I know I said I was doing that last weekend) and get them in the mail!!! Remember the busy schedule I mentioned? Ugh...is it ever going to let up?!?!?

Awesome Crafty Card Kit

2010-12-16T20:50:00.004-09:00

I love to be crafty...scrapbooking, sewing, home decor, you name it. I have a stash of cards for various holidays (mostly birthdays). If I buy a card, I either forgot to pull one from my stash or I didn't have the right one (boy birthday cards are usually a make it that day thing). So it's no wonder I make cards every year...course, maybe that's why I went a few years without sending Christmas cards (but let's not talk about that).

This year has been crazy with Erica's Girl Scout schedule, soccer twice a week, Jeff shooting, and my new job. So I didn't get creative and make my own from scratch. Instead I found a few great kits and put them together with pre-coordinated supplies and instructions (woo hoo!!!). This is the first set I did from Basic Grey (ooooh, how I love Basic Grey!!!). There was alot of left over supplies. I made a few extra cards from the left overs...but of course I didn't take pix of those. Oh, well. The cards were so easy to complete, and now I have a bunch of new design "go-bys."

The Santa Claus House, North Pole Alaska

2010-12-13T08:00:00.000-09:00

I have a log on the bottom of the blog that shows where people come from when they visit my blog. I see the standard friends and family most of the time. But recently I've seen a bunch of hits on my Magical experience in North Pole, Alaska. I thought I put a plug in for the Santa Claus House. If you have young kids and don't know about this place, take a look!!! You can get a letter from Santa delivered and it's actually post marked from the North Pole.

We visited the Santa Claus house 18 months ago and met Santa in the middle of summer. What an experience it was. If you ever make it to Alaska with young kids and have a chance to travel up to Fairbanks, I highly encourage it. It made a big impact on Erica!

And while we're talking about Christmas fun, do you know about the NORAD Santa Tracker site? This is our favorite activity on Christmas Eve. The site is up and counting down the days, minutes, and seconds. There's also a kids countdown link where kids can play games, too. GREAT site!!!

Just for fun, here's the layout I did after our visit to the Santa Claus House in June 2009. Merry Christmas!!!

A fun mini-album...

2010-12-11T22:09:00.008-09:00

So here I sit again...WEEKS after my last blog post. I'm trying desperately to strike a balance between Erica's activities (girl scouts and soccer), 10-hour days at work, Jeff's shooting, and our new activities at the gym. Yes, we've joined a gym again. I'm down 4 pounds in a month and Jeff is down 6 pounds. The hardest part about trying to live a healthy life is cooking healthy. It was scary when I looked at the food we ate. So now I'm trying to learn about healthy eating...ugh, and healthy cooking takes a LONG time compared to easy unhealthy stuff.

But I digress. The only crafty stuff I've done since the last post is Christmas cards (Yeah!!! They're going out in the next day or two after I get them addressed) and the standard Christmas calendars for Jeff and the grandparents. So...since Jeff wrote the Christmas letter and published the blog address on it, I figured I should get some stuff posted. I don't have the cards or the calendars digitized yet, so here is are some mini album pages I did for a dear friend of mine a few months ago. She has two active boys. The papers I used are called Monstrosity. Ha! I don't know the boys that well, but what boy doesn't fit in the category of "monstrosity?!?"

These pages were really easy to make with just 5 sheets of double sided paper and some coordinating cardstock, stickers, and felties. All she has to do is add a 4x6 photo and she has an instant album!

Project 12 - October

2010-11-28T08:00:00.003-09:00

This weekend has been a good time getting back in the swing of Scrappin. Hopefully I can get a page or two more done and post them over the next few days. I had to take a break on Sat to sew a robe. Erica volunteered me to make a robe for one of her friends for a birthday present...and the party is today. Oh, and I found out on Thanksgiving. Here was the conversation:

Me: What does your daughter want for her birthday

The Mom: {Pause} Well {pause}, I think the girls have already worked that out

Me: Really? And that would be....

The Mom: Erica said you would make her a robe

Me: She did, huh? Well, alright...I guess I'm making a robe...

So Friday I bought the pattern and fabric and Saturday I made the robe. I cut it out on Friday night, but had a friend over for scrappin' so I couldn't sew it. The nice thing is, I was able to start the October Project 12 layout on Friday and finish it Saturday night. Well, I actually started it back in September when I had friends over to scrap. But, I didn't have the pictures for October, so I couldn't finish it. And some time after I started it, I bought a Celebration Flourish Cricut cartridge that had this wonderful tree. So I changed the circle I originally had on it and then modified the picture layout so it didn't cover up the tree.

At first, October didn't seem very busy. But when I started looking thru the pictures, I remembered everything we did. The Girl Scouts are always busy. They're learning to love water and started a save project (more later). They also went to the zoo and met Chance, a fox that was given a second chance when he was rescued after being hit by a car. Jeff won tickets to the Great American Circus and we took Jenna. Erica had a blast, but I think she may have had more fun playing on the blow up jumping things with Jenna. Of course we also experienced all the seasonal fun of falling leave, the first snow fall (that didn't stick), and Halloween. Decorating the house and making the Halloween dinner was really fun! This year Erica went trick or treating by herself, but I decided to pull out an old costume and join her. What fun!

And below is the Becky Fleck sketch. The supplies are BoBunny's Mama Razzi papers and alpha stickers along with Bazzill cardstock and Maya Rd flourish chipboard.

Green Friends

2010-11-26T14:30:00.001-09:00

Yeah...another week of Color done. Week three is green. I love the color green. It's so outdoorsy (not sure how to spell that since it's not really a word). For some reason, I tend to like the earth tones of green and brown in my scrapbooking, so this layout came together fairly easily. I originally planned to use Basic Grey papers, but since Maggie's clothes were teal, the blue tones in the My Minds Eye papers seemed to be a better fit. And it really worked out since I could also add green's complimentary color, red. The journaling blocks and embellishment tickets from the My Minds Eye line was perfect since Erica was wearing a red shirt in the pictures.By the way, the flowers Maggie and Erica planted bloomed all summer and were beautiful in the front of the house. I'm sure Erica will want to do it again next year...at least I hope so.

More color...orange

2010-11-25T22:43:00.003-09:00

Wow, has it really been over three weeks since I last blogged??? I'm soooo sorry! So let's see how productive I can be this weekend (even though I have to work tomorrow after a hard morning of fighting crowds at the store).

So I'm taking some inspiration from the color class I'm taking with Nic Howard. Week two is on orange and yellow. I'm trying to take the feeling of the color and put it into my layouts. Orange is a happy color and adds excitement into layouts. Think, too, about what orange symbolizes: fire, danger, caution. I couldn't help but think about Erica. She has two speeds: off and on. And when it's on, it's on full blast. So that got my mind going into explosions and Powder Keg. Powder Keg is a FAST roller coaster at Silver Dollar City. She LOVES that roller coaster and can't seem to get enough of it. She even HAD to have the t-shirt (and is wearing it in the pictures on the layout). If I remember correctly, this coaster goes from 0-53 in 2.8 seconds (I looked it up). That's not a coaster record, but it's impressive when you're on it, let me tell you. The last part of the journaling says that Erica can't wait until she's tall enough to ride Wild Fire at Silver Dollar City. That one goes upside down. Yes, she's definitely a WILD CHILD.

Working with color...RED

2010-11-02T09:00:00.002-08:00

I told you I was signing up for the Big Picture Class: Color. I did...and it started last week. First we made a pre-class set of tags for the colors of the rainbow...I haven't finished mine since I JUST got the tags this weekend. I'll try to work on them this week.

Each week will focus on a different color. This week is red. I was able to get the first two projects done. Each week we make a 6x6 layout using the color of the week. One page is with our picture, and the other page has words describing the color and tips on how to use it. Then Nic shares a technique she uses on the featured layout and includes instructions on how to make the layout with the color of the week. I really liked the layout for this week and got it done already (YEAH, me!!!).

The layout uses last year's Fancy Pants Christmas papers and stickers, Bazzill flowers that have been inked and embossed, as well as a few die cuts from my Cricut (Serenade and Winter Wonderland cartridges).

Happy Halloween 2010

2010-10-31T21:26:00.005-08:00

What a great day...I just love holidays. The decorating, the food, the fun...it just makes me feel so good. This year I really had a blast with Halloween. I got a book that had ideas on decorating the house as well as party and food ideas.

Halloween Eve I decorated the front windows like a spider web using blanket binding, ribbon, and yarn. I made the spiders out of big foam balls and pipe cleaners. And can you believe I actually convinced Jeff to help hang this outside? Yes, he's a gooooood man!

For dinner I made mummy dogs and spiderweb soup. You wrap dough around hot dogs and put capers for eyes, then bake them until golden brown. For the web, mix sour cream and milk and pour circles over the soup. Then use a tooth pick to pull the circles to look like webs. And it's all yummy!!!

Of course, Grandma made Erica's costume again. This year Erica wanted to be a fairy princess. And because it's always soooo cold at Halloween, it had to go over her snow gear. It was perfect. I decided to get into the dress up fun, too. I had an old Cleopatra outfit from YEARS ago. It wouldn't fit over my coat, though.

Can't wait to work on the October Project 12 layout to put these pictures on it. I wonder if I can find a Thanksgiving book and go nuts in November, too...hmmmmmmm.

What a "pear"

2010-10-29T09:00:00.002-08:00

It took Jeff a while to figure out why I spelled pair as "pear." When you see the layout, I'm sure you'll get it. Creativity must be lost on him...

So Erica and Jenna have been joined at the hip for a while. They played together all summer when school was out, and all weekend once school started again. Last week Jeff won four tickets to The Great American Circus from the radio. Erica wanted Jenna to go. They had a blast. One of Jenna's mom's friends said they had face painting. Rather than spend $12 there to have it done, Jenna's mom painted their faces before we went (yeah!). I'm surprised it lasted all night. The girls played non stop on the bouncy toys (a slide, an obstacle course, and a fun house) before the circus started and again at intermission. I got a few pictures of the circus acts, but I'm not sure if they came out well enough for a layout...we'll see...

This is more Basic Grey, but it's from their Pyrus Page Kit. I guess I should journal in that tan block...oh, well...

More Fall Fun

2010-10-27T14:00:00.000-08:00

So a few days ago I posted about Jenna and Erica having a blast raking leaves. I should have posted this layout after that one, sorry. Here are Erica, Jenna, Ally, and Roxy having fun with the leaf pile after it was raked. Gee, it's a little hard to see the green grass under all the scattered leaves. I guess they'll just have to rake them up again...
Yes, these are more Basic Grey Indian Summer papers and embellishments. And another sketch from Becky Fleck's Pagemaps

A different kind of FALL

2010-10-25T08:00:00.000-08:00

Ha...one of the chipboard titles in the Basic Grey package said "FALL." Well, I didn't get too many Fall pictures this year, but I did have some pictures of Erica "falling." This summer Grandma and Grandpa got her roller blades for her birthday. She was just getting used to them the day I took these pictures...and got a little too confident and fell. I just love the last picture, though...she thinks she's soooo cool!!!

These are more papers, chipboard stickers, glazed brads, alphas, and pop up stickers from Basic Grey's Indian Summer line. And the sketch is from the archives of Becky Fleck's Page Maps

Are you read for some color?

2010-10-23T15:28:00.005-08:00

Ha...this isn't a post about the new Big Picture Class I'm going to take (that starts this week). But I did have some fun with autumn pictures...I just love the beautiful colors! These papers really caught my eye from Basic Grey (Indian Summer). We don't get the beautiful purples up here in Alaska, but the colors are still fun and so were the pictures. Enjoy...

It cracks me up how Erica and Jenna enjoy raking leaves...maybe it's because they have soooo much fun with them once they're piled up (another layout coming soon!). The leaves have been coming down in stages and just before Jeff mows them, they pull out the rakes and make big piles. I just love the little chipboard on the layout that says "Hi Ho, Hi Ho...it's off to rake we go." It's so perfect for the girls because it really never seems like work for them...at least not at this age.

Still on spring break pictures...

2010-10-15T08:00:00.001-08:00

While I had those last two pictures out to work on the cute kit, I decided to work on other Spring Break pictures. I've already scrapped a layout with the side picture of Erica, but I decided it was perfect in this layout, too. The layout is lifted from an old issue of Scrapbook Trends...I had the die cut from a kit I bought (it's an old kit, so I'm using my stash) and the layout I found cut it and split it around a big strip.

The day we watched the Yankees play the Tigers was absolutely perfect...perfectly HOT! We didn't stay the whole time cuz Erica started getting bored, but she was good for more than half the game. She even asked Grandpa Guru questions about the game of baseball. He's called Grandpa Guru because he's a guru when it comes to baseball. In fact, he was in Florida for a tournament with his college baseball team.

All she wanted to do...

2010-10-12T11:00:00.000-08:00

I'm pretty sure I posted about this after our spring break trip to Florida. We went to Orlando and met Grannie Annie. While we were there we went to the Magic Kingdom (of course), to a Yankee's game with Grandpa Guru, to Tampa Bay to visit my friend who set Jeff and I up on a blind date, and to Kennedy Space Center. Erica was most excited to go to the Space Center. She is fascinated with science and wanted to meet an astronaut and touch the moon. So of course I spent the extra money to have lunch with an astronaut and to go on the tour that would allow us to touch a moon rock.

This layout was also made with that cute kit I bought online. See...isn't it perfect?!? The astronaut is Sam Gamar, who was on three shuttle launches. One of the most interesting things I learned at the lunch was that one in 15 astronauts lose their lives in the line of duty. WOW!

No Fear?

2010-10-10T10:39:00.004-08:00

OK, so the Use Your Stash class is over. I'm not sure if I really embraced the whole concept or not. You decide...

I found the cutest papers by We R Memory Keepers at Scrapbook Steals (awesome site, by the way!). As soon as I saw them I thought they'd be perfect for the Kennedy Space Center pictures I got over Spring Break. In the kit was also some stickers, stamps, and brads. Didn't I decide during the class that I have too many kits laying around? I cancelled a kit club this summer because of it. HRUMPH! I completed one layout from the space center and will probably do one more. I also did another layout with a picture from a Disney ride. Three layouts...is that sufficient? Part of me says yes, but part of me isn't convinced. I *might* be able to do more, but I think the papers will be laying around for a while if I do. I think I should share them with friends who have boys...

OK, so here's the Disney layout. Erica says she LOVES roller coasters. When we went to Disney World over spring break she wanted to go on ALL of them...Space Mountain included. Take a look at the picture and tell me if she really loved this ride. She says she did and she wanted to go again, but when it came down to getting in line, she decided not to. At least this ride didn't scare her when it came to other roller coasters. I'll work on a Powder Keg layout...if she could have ridden that one over and over and over in a single day, she would've.

Project 12 - Septemper...and more stash!

2010-10-02T20:00:00.000-08:00

Are you keeping up with Project 12? I just love the project and think I'm going to keep up with it every year! Looking back at September, I don't really have many pictures...but why did I feel like I had little to no time for myself? And why do I feel so tired? Is it my new job that doesn't have every other Friday off to stay home and clean and scrap? It is that Erica studies spelling words almost every night (and has gotten mostly 100s on the tests...yeah, Erica!)? Soccer is only once a week and Jeff hasn't really been shooting much this month. Is it Girl Scouts? They only meet twice a month...but the Brownies sure have lots of activities compared to the Daisies. We may have to pick and choose NOT to go to some activities...but they're sooooo much fun! Mix in Erica's birthday and a GREAT hike up Mt Baldy and I guess I see where the time went. Whew, it didn't seem like we did much this month, but looking at all that, I guess all the little things add up.

So here's the layout with only a few pix. The STASH I used is more of the Fancy Pants It's Your Day kit (and I still have lots left). And the Becky Fleck sketch at the end.

Digital Lift...and more stash work

2010-10-01T11:00:00.001-08:00

I had a few friends over last weekend to scrap and actually got a little scrappin' done myself...that rarely happens when I host crops. This layout came together in no time at all. It's a digital template from Jessica Sprague. And when paired with a kit from My Scrapbook Nook (My Minds Eye papers and embellies), the longest part was journaling. And I'm going to take credit for the Use Your Stash class work since this is an old kit...I'm doing good keeping with the kits to get rid of them!!!

These are a few pictures from a field trip Jeff and I went on with Erica's 1st/2nd grade class. The kids went ice fishing, but only one student caught a fish. I love the progression of these pictures with Erica, from excitement with Daddy, to getting tired and sitting down, to finally looking into the hole and wondering if there really are any fish in the lake at all.

More Mt Baldy

2010-09-29T17:00:00.000-08:00

I told you I was inspired by our hike up Mt Baldy...and the Fancy Pants It's Your Day kit was perfect, too. I didn't quite have the perfect blue background, but I think this was close enough (and don't tell me if you don't agree...hee, hee). The Celebrate glitter cut was absolutely perfect! And this is a May Flaum layout from the class...easy and perfect for my pictures. Gotta love it when a plan comes together.I have to laugh...Jeff's mom emailed me after I posted the pictures from the hike and asked if Jeff's Husker shirt was the standard uniform for hiking up the mountain. I didn't notice before, but indeed, he wore that on another trip where I took pix. But then he tends to wear that shirt alot. I used to rotate his shirts by putting clean ones on the bottom of the stack, but some time over the past few years I stopped doing that.

I'm on a roll...

2010-09-27T08:00:00.000-08:00

I have had a blast with both the Use Your Stash Class and the It's Your Day kit from Fancy Pants Designs. As I posted last time, we haven't had a party for Erica yet, but this kit is so versatile that I've made several non-party layouts.

This is another soccer layout. Can you believe I actually convinced Jeff to BUY pictures of her at soccer? I guess I don't always know what he'll say...This is a layout from the pre-work for the Use Your Stash class. As soon as I saw the wavy strip on the Fancy Pants paper with the star, I knew I was gonna use it for this layout.Stay tuned for more layouts (yeah!).

Color or Colour?

2010-09-26T13:49:00.002-08:00

Ugh...I'm sucked in and I don't know why? I'm still trying to finish the Use Your Stash class at Big Picture Scrapbooking (oops, they changed their name to Big Picture Classes) and now I'm feeling the pull to take a class by Nic Howard called Colour! Or is it Color? I just scanned thru her blog and have tagged a few layouts for inspiration. I guess I'm just wanting to learn and learn and learn. I'm not sure why...I can lift just about anything and tweak it for my stash. I know I don't have time to try out for a design team (although I'd LOVE to eventually). I guess I just want to keep building my capabilities so one day I can try...or maybe I just need to do a little more for me as I'm feeling overwhelmed with my new job, all the Girl Scout events, and no relief on the horizon. It really seems odd to say that cuz I have scrapped more pages in the past few weeks than I have in a long time (you'll see them soon). I'm in a state of confusion and am not sure I understand what's going on in my head.

OK, I'm rambling...but I know one thing...I'm intrigued by the color class and I've registered for it. Stay tuned.

With much scrappiness...

Another Stash Layout

2010-09-25T14:25:00.002-08:00

Well, I said I was going to use kits for my Use Your Stash class. I was hoping to use some old kits, but I had to get busy with completing the monthly layouts for my kit club, so I made some layouts with a fairly new kit from Fancy Pants Designs -- It's Your Day. I realized I hadn't ever done a birthday kit, so I thought Erica's birthday month was a great time to do that. Too bad we haven't had a party for her yet...worst parents ever, I know. She's decided she wants to have a few friends over for a slumber party. Now I just need to find a free weekend so I don't pull my hair out...ugh!

Anyway, we did manage to have a small family celebration for her birthday. We went to Chuck E Cheese's for dinner and then to Dairy Queen for dessert. She was such a hoot at Chuck E Cheese's, everyone she talked to knew it was her birthday...and check out the crown. She's so sweet that when she asked for a crown, the cashier couldn't resist and gave her one...I think they were supposed to be reserved for kids actually PAYING to have their parties at Chuck E Cheese's. Oh, well.

This layout isn't a layout from the Use Your Stash class. I actually saw it as an idea sheet at JoAnn's and thought it would be perfect for scraps. It was quick and fun!

Whew...what a day!!!

2010-09-19T18:02:00.003-08:00

We had a wonderful weekend in Anchorage...couldn't ask for better weather in the middle of September. So we decided to take a hike up Mt Baldy (along with half of Anchorage...there was easily over 100 people on the mountain with us). Not only was the weather great, the view was, too...and Denali was out!!! For anyone out of Alaska, you need to know that this is amazing by itself. Denali is only visible from Anchorage about five times a year. It was a little hazy, but it was still awesome.

The whole trip took us just over two hours. What a great family activity. I hope next weekend is just as nice so we can get one more hike in before the snow flies. Enjoy a few pictures I took..and you'll see them scrapped soon! The hike up to the top...whew, hard work, but definitely worth it. This was one of a few times I was actually ahead of Jeff and Erica and could get a picture of them from the front.And a picture of Erica at the top...if you look closely, you can see Denali (Mt McKinley) on the far right in the distance.This is Erica and I with an overlook of the Anchorage bowl. Jeff took this so there would be proof that I actually made it to the top...

And one last picture of Denali. This overlooks the Cook Inlet with Wasilla in the background. What a day!!!

Adventures in Scrapbooking - Using My Stash

2010-09-17T12:30:00.002-08:00

So I mentioned last week that I am taking a class online from Big Picture Scrapbooking. It's a Using Your Stash class. I told Jeff about it and he said...and I quote: "Amen Sister." Hello, my name is Michelle and I'm a hoarder of scrapbooking supplies. I love to buy stuff. When I buy it I can always see the perfect layout in my head...but I don't always have the perfect pictures. Sometimes I can convince Jeff to participate in "Staged Family Fun" so I can get pictures for the perfect layout and the perfect supplies, but not always. Plus, when I buy those pretty embellishments, I don't want to waste them...so they sit, and sit, and sit, and never get used.

Well, this class is supposed to break me of all that, or at least open my eyes to my habits. One of the first things we had to do was to go thru our supplies and put things we want to use in a box. That's supposed to me our go-to box, the stuff we try to use on every layout. So what did I put in there? My oodles and oodles of kits. I finally had to cancel my subscription to My Scrapbook Nook cuz I was getting so much stuff that I wasn't able to use it all. Add those kits onto the ones I put together every month and the ones I still have from ACBailey's kit club, and I could open a store on my own.

Well, here's my first layout from the class. I bought some Mama-Razzi stickers this past winter or spring and have used them on ONE layout. I'm not sure what I've been saving them for, so I decided to use them. They aren't so much from a kit, but I have them in a big Ziploc bag with all my other kits, so they got put in the box to be used. I had only a partial sheet of coord paper, so this layout was perfect for it. I lifted it directly from the instructor, May, but turned it into a 2-page layout. She used some dimensional glaze to frame the pictures, so I gave it a try, too...yes, I had these in my stash and have used them ONCE about a year ago. I hear they're awesome to make your own flourishes, so stay tuned, you may see that on another UYS layout.

These pictures are from the personalized tour the Brownies got in January during a Zoo Explorer's event. Erica got to join in since I had to attend as the leader. It was a dog mushing event, but this is the part from the tour...dog mushing stuff will come later. The best part about the back-stage tour is how all the predators looked at the girls like they were lunch. I captured some of that in the photos of the wolves and tigers, it just cracked me up! And I was excited to see both the polar bears out and about. We don't always get to see them when we're there, so that was a treat for me.

More Project 12 - August

2010-09-15T08:00:00.001-08:00

I have to laugh at myself for the August Project 12 layout. I couldn't remember anything except the State Fair. Thank goodness for my photo organization (downloading and saving to folders by date). We did several very memorable activities that I can't believe I forgot at first. There was Erica's first salmon (which I wasn't really here for...the pictures are from her third or fourth trip out...hrumph!), and of course the first day of school! How could I forget those?!

You'll see more of the State Fair on another layout (soon, I hope), but I have to mention that my daughter is a dare devil. Check her out climbing the rock wall. She had no fear! And a few days later she went to the fair with some friends and rode the mechanical bull. Thank goodness she's a scrapper cuz she sent me a picture of it (yeah!).

Again, this is based on a sketch from Becky Fleck (I love sketches!!!). The papers are from Sassafras Lass and are from the Indie Girl collection. I added some BoBunny flowers and Basic Grey border papers. All the supplies came from My Scrapbook Nook's August kit.

July Summary - Project 12

2010-09-12T20:39:00.004-08:00

Yes, It's been over a week since I blogged...and I have a few layouts I can share. Erica and I had a blast with Elizabeth and Marissa last weekend. The girls watched movies and the moms stayed up until all hours of the night gabbing and scrapping...no boys and no stress...what a night!!! My goal was to do the July and Aug Project 12 layouts. I was hoping to do more, but at least I can say I met my goal.

So here's July. Take out the rain and we had a great month. I neglected to scrap about the State Trap Shoot...oooops...don't tell Jeff!!! We had the Independence Day Celebration at the Park Strip, the Bear Paw Festival in Eagle River, TWO overnight camping trips WITHOUT MOM for Erica, and the Elmendorf Air Show with the Blue Angels. Erica also started mowing the lawn and Grandma and Grandpa came at the end of the month. And here's the layout using a Becky Fleck Sketch. How are you coming with your Project 12???The papers and stickers are all from Pink Paislee's Starlight Collection.

General Rambling

2010-09-04T12:04:00.003-08:00

I have taken a few classes from Big Picture Scrapbooking in the past. Part of me doesn't like to spend money on stuff like that when I can just find a layout or project and "lift" it (i.e. scraplift, copy it, etc) on my own. But from time to time I get in a kick of just wanting to get out my stash of supplies and pictures and create on my own. I think I'm getting sick of "lifting" again and am wanting to "learn" to create. So I found a few classes I want to take...stay tuned for the results.

While I was checking out the classes I started looking thru the instructor's blogs. I found a really fun one I added to my list: Confessions of a Chocoholic. The name is awesome in it's own, right? When you get a chance, read thru May's blog. I love her writing, there's alot of personality in it, and I'd love to meet her in person some day. For now, I'm settling on taking her stash class.

Anyone else working on Project 12? I'm caught up thru June and am planning on doing Jul and Aug tonight. Erica and I are going to a friend's house for a fun sleepover. She'll play with Marissa and Elizabeth and I will try and scrap in between pulling our hair out with two girls running under feet. At a minimum I know we'll all have fun.

Guess that's all for now...life seems to be calming down just in time for Girl Scouts to start next week. And then I go out of town for work the following week. I'll leave you with our standard Tilt-a-Whirl family picture from the fair...ugh, is there a story that goes with this. I'll save it for later.

Summer rafting with a new friend

2010-08-31T10:00:00.001-08:00

I posted a few months ago about our trip to Arkansas/Missouri. While we were there, Erica met a new friend named Cole. By the way, she says she's gonna marry Cole now. Course, this is the third or fourth guy she's announced she'll marry. But I digress...Cole has a tube and they pulled it behind Grandpa's boat a few times while we were there. These are a few of the 70-80 pictures I took of them on the tube (they mostly look the same, so I don't know why I took so many).

What I particularly liked about this tube ride was how Cole was showing off. Several times he'd get on his knees and go with no hands. Check out the picture where Erica tried to be brave and let go of ONE hand...what a hoot! Grandpa drove fast and went in big circles trying to get them to fall off, but they never did. They rode for a LONG time and talked the whole time. I'd love to know what a couple of First Grader's talk about when nobody else is listening...or do I?

Our Poker Star

2010-08-29T00:46:00.003-08:00

Jeff and I enjoy watching the World Series of Poker (WSOP). Neither of us are very good at playing, but we like watching it for some reason. Last year, Erica watched a few episodes with us. It wasn't long before she started asking how the game was played...and then if we could play. Now she asks us to play all the time! She still gets confused on her hands, but she plays pretty good for a 6-yr old.

These pictures are from Jan 2010 when a friend of Jeff's came over. Erica wanted to show off that she could play. It was fun to play with more than just three people...All supplies are from the My Scrapbook Nook July kit. I cut the cards from the Cricut...what a perfect journaling block!

Summer Soccer

2010-08-25T13:00:00.001-08:00

Erica's favorite sport seems to be soccer...right now. She took the summer off from gymnastics and took soccer in it's place. I was happy with the summer soccer program as they focused on techniques, and the coaches were certified instead of parental volunteers. We went twice a week, but can you believe I only took my camera one day??? So here's the layout with just a few pictures. We also bought pictures, so I'll post those once I get them scrapped.

The field was full of dandelions. I took the main picture with the camera low to the ground. The coach was talking with the players about what part of the foot to use when kicking (although it kinda looks like they're just relaxing). I thought it perspective was cool with the dandelions. Oh, and Erica's nick-name was "The Scoring Machine." She was very aggressive, and with all the energy she has, she was able to run a lot at practice.

These papers are more Sassafras Lass Indie Girl. Sorry for the off-center picture, I couldn't get the layout to scan correctly.