May BYOC Layouts

Okay, I just have to say that being a part of The Lilypad's creative team has been a blast, but has most definitely cut into my sleeping time! *LOL* I just keep staying up late to scrap because I want to use all of the new stuff coming out! I'm addicted... I may need to seek help! :)

Today is the release of the May 2010 Build-Your-Own-Collab kit. I must admit, I went a little crazy! Everything was so beautiful, I couldn't resist! At any rate, it's been a nice break from all the relocation madness.

You Are Wonderful

(click here to view full credits.)

Happy It's Spring

Are these not the funniest pictures?!

Journaling: April 2010 - We were out in the yard on a warm Spring day. I was in the front yard weeding, and I just happened to look back to see you spinning and dancing in the back yard. You had a huge smile on your face, so happy to be out in the fresh Spring air.

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Breathtaking

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Netflix and Scrap Time

Since Lucas is out of state during the week, I have had some pretty quiet evenings lately. Some nights I've read, others I've watch hockey (and yelled like a crazy person at the TV, I might add). But for the past 2 nights, I've found a perfect combination... Netflix and scrapping. Laptop in hand (or on lap, or whatever), and Netflix in PS3. I've been watching chick flicks from our instant queue like no other. And I must say, I am quite enjoying myself! Yes, I would rather have Lucas home, but if I can't have that, this will do! So far this week I've watched Baby Momma (eh... not the greatest), The Proposal (LOVED it... keeping that one in the queue for a re-watch), and The Ugly Truth (a bit abrasive, but endearing, I guess?). I still have a few girly movies piled up and ready to go whenever I get another quiet evening to myself.

A Little Less Broken

We had a follow-up visit and some new x-rays for Isaac's ankle. The bone is regrowing nicely, and he will be out of his boot in three weeks!! We go back on the 18th for one more round of x-rays to be sure, but as long as everything checks out, he will be able to ditch the boot!!

The Lily Pad - {inter}National Scrapbook Day Celebration

Summer Fun

For the last few days, I've been scrapping pictures from last summer, and now I am really starting to feel the itch for warm weather and water play! I can't wait to go swimming!!

The first layout I did was of our trip to the park with my mom last summer. It's right down the road from her, and there's a great little swimming pond with a water slide and a mushroom fountain and everything. The kids had a blast! So when I saw this kit, I thought of these pictures immediately! Perfect!

Waterpark by Sahlin Studio and Jacque Larsen

Here's the layout... I just LOVE these pictures! I'm kind of funny about pictures I really really like... I won't put them on a layout until I LOVE the layout as much as I love the pictures, or else it's just not worth it. Ya know? But I was pleased with this one. It all just fit together so easily!



Journaling: Maybe you were a little slow to warm up to the idea of gallons of water dumping over your heads, but it wasn't long before you were ALL IN!

(click here to view full credits.)

And then there's my FIRST LAYOUT EVER AS A POLLY! *sigh* (Still pinching myself over this!)

So I've discovered quickly that the tough part about being on The LilyPad's creative team is that it is a literal smorgasbord of fantastic stuff to play with! My mind just gets overloaded! Truly, I'm like a kid in a candy shop who wants one of everything! *giggle* But when I saw this kit, I knew instantly what pictures I would use (more pictures that I really like, so I've been holding onto for almost a year!).

Memoir of Two Island Girls by Emily Merritt and Valorie Wibbens

These pictures of Meagan were taken last summer in Ohio. It was the weekend of Sebastian's birthday party, and it was our first swim of the season! Meagan was just sitting in the middle of some of the rafts and floaties, waiting as patiently as she could. I love the colorful background the floats provided! Plus, the little polka-dot bikini and piggy tails help the cuteness factor a bit!

Journaling: First swim of the season.
(click here to view full credits.)

I Owe You

So.... I owe you some updates! WE HAVE A HOUSE!

Last weekend we went back down to Ohio for one last round of house shopping. We went through 10 houses in 3 1/2 hours. Seriously. TEN. *lol*

Anyway, when all was said and done, we narrowed our selections down to just a few that we were really considering, we set a game plan as far as max price / monthly payment, etc, and then we made an offer. The first offer we made was significantly less than the asking price, but we figured it couldn't hurt to try. All in all, we ended up with an accepted offer that was only a little above our original offer! I was floored! So, we ended up with our first choice in house for a really good price! Waaahoooo! How awesome is God?!

So, we are in the process of getting the inspections done, getting the financing squared away, and all the boring grown-up stuff that comes along with buying a house. I can't wait until we get to the FUN stuff, like painting and decorating and moving in!!

Still no bites on our current house... still praying and expecting something good to happen there. It will all work out in the end.

Tooth Troubles

We were eating dinner tonight, and Sebastian said, "Mommy, there's something freaky about Isaac's tooth. The one that's loose is kind of cracked and the rest of it is stuck in the gum part."

Hmm??? So I checked it out. He had one VERY wiggly tooth. But only the top part wiggled. The root was still sitting down in his gums, just like Sebastian said. I called the dentist, and made an appointment for tomorrow. Seriously... does this child have to make EVERYTHING complicated? LOL! I've never heard of having to have a loose tooth extracted! Ha!

What am I Forgetting?

It's no secret that I've been trying to juggle a LOT lately! Between keeping the house clean, and looking for a new house, and winding down to a close at work, and all my normal motherly duties, I feel like I barely have time to sleep! So, needless to say, I've felt a little scattered.

Today, as I was getting ready to leave work, I had this unshakable feeling that I was forgetting something. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but I felt like I was forgetting something. Unable to figure it out, I headed for home to meet the bus.

I got there a few minutes before the bus did. I had just sat down to take a deep breath while I waited on the boys to get off the bus. Just then, the phone rang. I looked at caller ID, and it was the boys' school... never really a great sign. I answered, and heard Isaac's teacher's voice on the other end.

Aaaah. It clicked. Instantly I knew what I was forgetting... I was supposed to pick the boys up! They weren't supposed to ride the bus home. Just as I was telling his teacher that I would be there in a minute, the bus stopped in front of my house... which it should NOT have done, since both of my boys were supposed to be waiting at school to be picked up. I looked out and saw Sebastian getting off the bus. Apparently, he forgot the whole pick-up thing too! So I guess it was a good think I forgot, or Sebastian would have been sitting at home all alone. Sebastian & I loaded up and headed over to the school to get Isaac, who had been waiting on me for a good twenty minutes. Uggh! I seriously need to get my head on straight!

Geography Club

Sebastian's Geography Club has finally come to an end... it was an 8-ish week long, every Monday kind of thing. I didn't have any actual pictures of it since it was an after-school activity, but I had a few homework pics to help document the memory.

Journaling: Third grade. Washington Elementary. You were invited by your teachers to join a new geography club. A group of third graders learning states, capitals, locations, topography and other aspects of each region in fun ways. You stayed after school on Monday's and you loved it!

I used a bunch of new goodies... a few by Sahlin Studio and an alpha by Kate Hadfield. You can click here to view full credits... the credits are linked to the products if you want to check them out!

Love Those Curls

Easter layout #2... I just HAD to document Meagan's curly curls!! She's just so cute! I could eat her up! I just LOVE the little black & whites of her in her curlers! (hehehe)


Journaling: To begin with, you wanted nothing to do with putting curls in your hair. Finally, with a bit of persuasion, you agreed to give it a try. Once you saw the end result, you decided you wanted to curl your hair every day.

I used a beautiful kit by Joyce Paul called Commitment...


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Easter Layout #1

The first of what I can only assume will be many layouts of Easter 2010 pictures. I just HAD to keep this page simple so I didn't distract from THAT DRESS! Even now, after the new dress factor has worn off, I ADORE this dress! It's like some perfect balance of classic and modern and soft and bold. Love it! And she looks OH SO CUTE in it, I might add!

For a change, there is no journaling. Just her name and 'Easter Sunday 2010.' I think the pictures just simply speak for themselves. What else is there to say?

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For Sale

We have a For Sale sign in our yard! We have an open house this Sunday. Now we just need God to bring us a buyer. Keep praying!

Spring Break

Well, we ALMOST made it through Spring Break with nothing but chillin' and relaxin'. Saturday evening, though, the kids were just setting off on a walk with Grandma H. (the boys were walking and Meagan was riding the Big Wheel bike)... they were about three or four houses down the sidewalk when I heard Isaac screaming in pain. He had decided to race Meagan to see if he could outrun her on her bike, but he ran off the edge of the sidewalk... down he went. When I got to him, he was crawling around and crying, "I can't stand up, I can't walk." I grabbed him up and carried him back toward the house. We iced it for a bit, but ultimately decided to take him over to the ER to have it looked at. A few X-Rays and a few hours later, he was in a splint & on crutches.
Today we were able to get him into an orthopaedic specialist in our area. He is now out of the splint and into an air boot thingy. It's basically the same thing as a cast, but he can take it off to bathe (BONUS!!) and sleep (although I may have him sleep in it until we go back to in a few weeks... just in case he needs to get up in the middle of the night). I'm very excited though that he doesn't have to be in a big, bulky, can't get it wet cast! We go back in 2 weeks... he will be in the boot for 4 to 6 weeks.

The Search Begins

Today was our first day of house hunting. Originally, I was planning on taking the kids down with me and spending the day with them and our realtor going through houses. Then, the plan progressed a bit, as my mom was able to take a vacation day to come with us. Well, Wednesday evening on our way home from gymnastics, our van started doing really bad nearly-stalling things, so Lucas came home a day early to fix it... so then HE got to come with us too! It was great to have so many people to keep me company and to be extra eyes for all the looking we did.

We went through seven or eight houses today. Two of them we liked. We are trying to arrange to go back on Sunday to go back through those two and to look at a third that we couldn't get to today. We're praying that we'll be able to find one that we like and that falls in the price range we are looking for. I'll keep you posted!

I'm a Polly!

So, you know how I'm always saying how much I LOVE The Lilypad and the BYOC kits and all that good stuff? Well, I was invited to join their creative team!! I am just completely beside myself! It's like digital heaven! **Sigh** Still pinching myself a bit!

Spring Walk

A new layout to share using Sahlin Studio's new kit, Rejuvenate.

These pictures were taken last year (Meagan took a lot of them herself) on a spring walk we took together. I am SO ready to see the trees blooming like this again!

Journaling: Many of these pictures Meagan took on our walk one spring day. The world was full of things to discover, from little tiny creatures to bright beautiful flowers.

Click here to view full credits.

A 3-Hour Tour

This evening was Sebastian's first practice with team... from 4:30 to 7:30. He'll now be doing 3 hours on Wednesday and 3 hours on Friday until we get to the point that we're ready to move.

All in all, he did a great job, considering he's used to a 90-minute practice. I could definitely tell that he hit a 90-minute wall... his body was thinking 'practice should be over right about now,' but he still had a good 90 minutes to go. By the time the 2-hour mark rolled around, I wasn't sure he wasn't just gonna throw in the towel and fall down asleep right where he was. He looked beat. He managed to find his second wind for the last 45 minutes of practice, though. And by the time it was over, he was back to loving life and thinking gymnastics is the best thing ever.

Where did it go?

Yesterday, Isaac made an interesting discovery. Actually, Sebastian made it for him. We were driving home, when I heard Sebastian say, "Hey Isaac, your tooth is gone!" I looked in the rear-view mirror in time to see Isaac stick his finger in his mouth and feel for the tooth that has been loose for a few weeks now. He looked a bit surprised to find that no tooth was there. "Hey Mom!! I lost my tooth!! I don't even know where it went!"

I'm not really sure HOW you lose a tooth without realizing it. I can't help but wonder if it fell OUT or if he swallowed it. LOL! Oh well. See, I KNEW my short-cut would come in handy. Now I have already established precedent for giving kids $$ for teeth and skipping the whole tooth fairy thing. Just think, if I would have never done that, Isaac would have been all worked up because he didn't have a tooth to leave for the tooth fairy! Instead, I just simply said, "No worries Buddy. I'll give you a dollar when we get home." He was perfectly fine with that. :)

Memory Lane Monday

My good buddy Krista Sahlin (aka Sahlin Studio) has something new going on, and it starts today. I love the idea... take a new look at an older kit. It's SO easy to bury a kit on the hard drive somewhere and forget it's even there! I'm sure I have more unused kits stashed away than I would like to admit. Anyway, this month she is featuring her kit, So This is Love. The idea is to dig that kit out of the stash (or snag it from her shop, or just grab the freebie that goes along with it), make a layout, and get a memory documented properly. At the end of the month, she'll choose a winner and give away $10 to her store. If your interested in knowing more about it, you can find all the details here on her blog.


I had never used this kit before, and I wanted to play along. So I dug out a photo of Sebastian and Lucas from WAAAAYYY back in the day (can you believe this was taken almost 9 years ago!!). Such a sweet photo, really (although I must say, digital cameras have come a LONG way since then... the photo was tiny on its max size. Oh well, work with whacha got, right?).


Anyway, I love Krista's idea. For my own self, I'm thinking I may try to do this a bit more often... pull out those kits that have been tucked away just waiting to be put to good use. I'll be sure to pass the results along as I get them done. :)

Easter Pictures

I decided rather than creating my own slide show... which takes a TON of work... I would let Photobucket do it for me. (It took me forever to figure out how to put this little slide show into this post, so you BETTER look at it!! If you want to see them bigger, just click on the slideshow.) :)

We had a BEAUTIFUL Easter Sunday! God is good! He gave us plenty of warm sunshine to brighten an already amazing day! We got up early, got everyone ready in time for a few pictures, and then headed to church. When we got home, Lucas, Guy & I hid eggs for the kids to find while Jane kept them busy upstairs (or kept them from peaking out the windows, more like it). They had a great time!! I love love LOVE watching their minds at work and their excitement when they find what they're looking for! We had a great lunch out (yes, we did the restaurant thing for Easter dinner... so I cheated!!) Great day! I'm happy!



Just as a side note... the deal with Meagan and the curlers. Yesterday Jane and I kept trying to convince Meagan to let us curl her hair for Easter. She kept insisting that she did not want curly hair. But we bought sponge rollers anyway. After bathtime, and a wee bit of coaxing, I convinced her to let me try it... if she didn't like it, we could wet her hair down & make it straight again. So I put curlers in her hair while she colored.

This morning, when we took the curlers out, she LOVED it! At one point, she turned to Jane and said, "See, I told you my hair was gonna look pretty with curls." Later she declaired that she wants curly hair every day! I think we've created a monster!! LOL! But it was worth it 'cause she looked CUTE!

The Best Kind of Surprise

Last night I was sitting at my computer browsing the internet. It was about 10:00, the kids were in bed, the house was all locked up, and all was quiet, when all of a sudden, I heard a sound that made my heart jump. The garage door was opening!! That could only mean one thing.... Lucas was home early!!!

I wasn't expecting him until way later this evening, so I was definitely surprised to see him last night! He had come home early to be at the "Farewell" dinner for the salary staff at his plant. Yesterday was the last day of production. As of today, the plant is no longer in operation. *Insert sad face here*

Anyway, the funniest part about the surprise was that he had been home earlier (while I was away), and had left his stuff lying around... his coat on the back of the kitchen chair, his shoes by the door, water bottles in the fridge where there had been no water bottles. Somehow, I didn't notice any of these things!!! LOL! I guess it's because I haven't really been busting my backside to keep the house clean this week... taking the week off of obsessive cleaning before we list (expecting it to be next week some time). So his stuff lying around just sort of blended in with everyone else's stuff lying around (which maybe is an indication that I took too much of a break from cleaning??). No matter... I am SO happy to have him home with us today!

I think this morning he is going to go golfing with his work buddies, while the kids & I go Easter outfit hunting. I guess then, later I shall be doing a bit of straightening up around the house. :)

Have a wonderful Good Friday! What a wonderful day to pause and think of why we celebrate this season!

There's no Crying in Baseball

Oh my goodness, the other day Meagan was on a roll with the crying and whining! Truly everything she said came out in the form of a whiny whimper. Aaaaah! Finally, it came to the point where I said something really simple to her and was met with a fake cry response. So I looked at her and said, "What's wrong? Why are you crying? There's no crying. There's no crying in baseball." Apparently I caught her totally off-guard by this. She stopped mid-word, looked at me with the most confused look on her face..... at this point, she had, momentarily stopped crying, and I thought maybe she was going to regroup and return to her normal non-whiny ways... and then she started crying again and said, "Mommy, this doesn't have anything to do with baseball!!" Poor kid! (It was an early bedtime night, FYI).

Hot Cocoa

Today is new BYOC day at The LilyPad! I LOVE BYOC's!!! Seriously! I did this layout with some of the new BYOC products as well as some older BYOC products (from February I think) and a few fun alphas.

Journaling: Hot cocoa with marshmallows is the perfect treat on a cold snowy day.