Grin!

First, I have to say that I am LOVING the new look over at TwoPeasinaBucket!  If you haven't stopped over, be sure to check it out!

I am still working on getting myself caught up on my albums.  I was so excited to win this kit from Karla Dudley though that I had to stop and just scrap my most recent pics of my baby girl.  Almost 10 months old already.  Time flies.

So, check out the kit, my layout & don't forget to leave some love.   Link me up to a recent layout of yours and I'll return the favor!

Grin

Have a great day!

Do You Do Challenges? And Do You Like Freebies?

So, I know that templates usually are my crutch when I'm trying to work through a large project quickly.  And I'm generally working through these projects because:
1- Shutterfly is offering an awesome sale or
2- My kids are asking "mommy, where's my book like brother has...?"  and Mommy Guilt sinks in.
3- CT deadlines for my awesome digi designers ;)

I said I've recently found a friend who is helping me get back on the scrapping wagon too and she sent me the link to the Make It Snappy Challenge over on Scrap Orchard tonight.  Low and behold, I did a page.

And funnier, I used a kit that I downloaded last Nov but never got around to unzipping.  *sigh*

So, here's my latest:
Happy Girl

I really do have some big projects that I want to finish up.  Who knows what will be the biggest motivator for me to get it done, so they say.  

I'm curious though, what motivates you???
Need some additional motivation?  Here's an awesome freebie from Dianne Rigdon Designs!  Click on the Mystery Tab on her Fan Page. :)  Don't know how long it will be up, so grab it while you can. 

Have an awesome week!

Scrapping Again! Whoo Hoo!

Using a few new and free kits, here's my layout with some recent pictures of my daughter:
So Big! (click for credits)

And finally, using the new Crafty ART Snippets #3 by Jopke, this page celebrating my husband finishing the Air Force Marathon, his first ever, under 4 hours!

Bucket List

I have no desire to run a marathon, I admit.  

A half is about all I ever intend to do...  Unless there's a zombie apocalypse of course...

Roll Up!

There are days that my house feels like a three ring circus without even heading out to the big top!

I love the new, bright, happy kit Roll Up! from Edeline Marta over at TwoPeasinaBucket!  Featuring all the things you think of when you think CIRCUS, but still practical for every day scrapping.

 Here's what I created with it.  We were selected to host a Fisher Price House Party and here's one of the toys that was included with our party box!

Three Rings!

 

Since I have been getting back to scrapping, which is good because I am VERY behind, I took advantage of a Facebook Freebie from Bella Gypsy and a template The Space Between Vol 4 from EH Studios.  Word Art is by Britt Ish Designs.

Shabby Sheek Sistas

 

 What have you scrapped lately?  Hook me up to your favorite recent layout and I'll leave you some love!

Scrapping has returned!!!

My girlfriend returned from California and we are now having a weekly scrapping date!  I am so excited to be getting moving again.  So without further ado, here are some pages!!!

Using the new kit Homeroom by Dianne Rigdon Designs at TwoPeasinaBucket.

First Week of School

And then You are my Sunshine (I know, cheesy, but seriously, she is) using Shine by Karen Funk Designs at Design House Digital.

So, what do you think?  What are you hoping to make time for this week???

Till next time!

A week of real food

We all get lazy sometimes, right?  I know I do.  I try to do things I know are good for my family but sometimes I fall behind.  News flash- I'm human.  
Notice my lack of menu planning posts lately?

Yeah...

A while back, I Liked 100 Days of Real Food on Facebook.  But, I didn't really do much else than that, I admit.

I have had some recurrent minor medical issues for about a year now and while I was seeing my doula in follow up after my daughter's birth, she commented on something else that would be an external sign of an internal imbalance in my skin.  And I got to thinking...

I am believer that it's all connected.  And I knew I wasn't in balance from what I was putting in to my body to what I was doing with my body (exercise) and maybe it was just time to draw the line in the sand.  She suggested a cleanse which I like the sound of what it could deliver, but not really practical for a nursing mom who hates veggies and fruits in raw form and pretty much lives on carbs, protein and fats (and craves sugar).

So, this 10 Days of Real Food looked like a good starting point.  The goal is to get away from processed foods.  Nothing with more than 5 ingredients.  No artificial crap.

We started with her 1st week menu, with some modifications (egg salad is a no go in my house as well as the gumbo.  But, with list in hand, our family of 5 headed to the small farmers market in our town.  We finished up our grocery shopping at Earth Fare.

While it's a bit too early for real results, I have noticed:

• My sugar cravings are there but already much less than the first 2 days.  And I'm still adding sucanat to my coffee in the mornings, I confess so that probably helps.
• My kids are eating more.  They're not eating and liking everything I put in front of them, but what they do and don't eat is surprising me.  It's not what I assumed it would be.
• I am eating less.  Mostly because the stuff I am craving is stuff I can't have so I don't eat anything.  So far, hasn't been significant- I just wait a bit and then find something I do like.
• The bill was less than I thought it was going to be because she focuses on her blog of doing this on a budget.  And the basic nature of many recipes is appealing to my family and to our lifestyle.

So far, we've made and liked:

Squash Peanut Soup

Zucchini Muffins

Whole Wheat Tortillas

Modified Fajitas (made with some ground chuck and green pepper- not all vegetarian as the menu calls for)
Whole Wheat Banana Pancakes

Almond Crusted Tilapia (kids loved this)

So, I'm curious.  Are you trying to get away from the processed stuff?  If so, what's been the hardest thing to give up?

Personally, all the Facebook updates about Pumpkin Spice Lattes are killing me a little inside.  *sigh*

Our first week of school

I kept meaning to get around to writing this post earlier but just didn't over the long weekend.  So, please forgive me!

First, thank you for the words of encouragement on my previous post about homeschooling the kids! It was very sweet to get some positivity that day!


Second, the week went well!  There were ups and downs of course.  I have been searching the "interwebs" to find good posts about staying organized with Sonlight as there are a lot of materials.  But, I find that it is helping my kids by not using the same material for a long time.  A little of this, a little of that.



Our day looks like this:
Breakfast with Daddy
Get dressed 
Get water bottles filled and go upstairs for school
Review calendar, verse and song
Re-aloud time while they color a picture
Language Arts for E
Science
Math
Done!

The kids still love and are fascinated by their school caddies and all they contain.  I'm ordering zipper pouches for their pencils with their names on them so these can stay on the shelf during book activity time.

I imagine that I will start supplementing with more activities but so far, I like how compact we can keep this.  And how flexible it can be.  We may end up moving school time to after lunch especially as my baby goes towards 1 good nap/day.  It's a bit harder to get anything accomplish with her glued to my side, I admit.  But, so far, so good.

Gymnastics starts up for the kids this week too which will be a HUGE plus I think!  

Do you blog about your adventures in Homeschooling?  If so, hook me up!  Have a great week!

The Journey Begins

I've horribly neglected this blog and my scrapping for the past few months.  No excuse.  Just Tired-Mommy-Itis and my almost 4 year old would diagnose me with, thanks to Doc McStuffins.  (By the way, thanks Disney! I love seeing her pretend to be a dr now instead of another princess.  Not that I have anything against the princesses, but a little variety is awesome.)

Tomorrow is the first day I am homeschooling the children.

I know this is going to be a huge step.  It's not one that I am committing to for the next 18 years currently.  I'm doing it for a few reasons.

First, my son has a late summer birthday.  With the deployment, the new baby and his birthday, plus the trend of red-shirting which is prevalent in the town we're currently in, he didn't go to Kindergarten last year.  Add on to that a school district, like many, strapped for money.  To make ends meet, and be within the state regulations, Kindergartens are on alternating full day schedules.  Why not just have half day, 2 sessions you may ask?  They can't afford the mid-day busses.  I could buy that he could get used to the school and try it, but we move next year.  And my son is a good reader.  He's a high energy boy who can read and answers questions at the doctor's office like "How do you feel?" with "Well, I should feel like a 10 and I only feel like a 6 or a 7."

I love the idea of homeschooling.  I do.  But I don't know that I would have jumped in to without all that in front of me.  So, we're going to try it this year.  I got my approval letter just last week in the mail and I have everything ready from the awesome Sonlight curriculum ready to go.  (If you check it out, I'm referrer: AH20349417).

So, I thought I'd show you our room.  I'm excited for the kids to be starting tomorrow.  We are using P 4/5 with 1st grade readers for my son, Handwriting Without Tears K for both, and Saxon Math K for my son.  My daughter will be 4 in October and I am going to pretty much let her do as much or as little as she's interested in.

And with that...  I am off in hopes of getting at least 3 hours of sleep in a row before we start tomorrow.  My sweet littlest babe is getting 3 of her top teeth so it's much easier said than done, but dare to dream!  I promise soon the scrapping and recipes will return!  

  

Menu Planning for July 2

I am going to TRY and get better about getting back to my blog, planning, etc.  I will have to do this to keep my sanity as I start the first year of homeschooling my children this fall!  My focus will be on my oldest for now and getting him through kindergarten.  A woman of many hats, indeed!

So, now on to this week's menu:

Monday:  Asian Crock Pot Chicken (recipe posting tomorrow!)

Tuesday: Pork with Cherries

Wednesday: Worlds Best Burgers with Baked Potatoes in the slow cooker

Thursday: White Bean Turkey Chili

Friday: Pepperoni Pull Apart

Saturday: Sausage Gravy and Biscuits for breakfast at least!

What about you?  Are you in the midst of a love affair with summer or already thinking and planning for fall?

An adorable 4 month old that I know...

Soo...  My friend asked me if I scrapped on a laptop and would I want to come over and help her learn the basics of Photoshop so she could get started on her venture in digiscrapping.

Right after I'd been getting SO fed up with not being able to carve out time to meet the commitments I had to my digital designers who so generously share with me their kits all the time.  I desperately wanted to finish the projects that I'd gotten behind on too, so I just needed to find a way to SCRAP, yet...  Isn't that always the problem?

So, God took a moment and met two needs with a single text message.  

He's pretty awesome like that.

I made this page while at my friend's for the awesome designer Edeline Marta!  Her kit- Best Mom in the World is available at MScraps or at TwoPeas.

The photos of my daughter, the day she turned 3 months, are courtesy of Kimberly Lange at Portrayable Photography in Orlando, FL.  She's incredible.  These photos were only a small portion of our family session which was shot at the Boardwalk Resort on Disney property.  There will definitely be more pages coming soon.

She's So Happy- MScraps

She's So Happy- TwoPeas

- Comments welcomed!

And I just realized that I missed the spot on the template for the date.  See why I keep the PSD files of all my projects till they are printed?  :)  #tiredmama and all that!

Blessings!