Goals for the Fall

I decided to start some goals for the fall. Why the fall? Because I will have more time on my hands then than I have had in 18 years. Sure, Carter will be here to entertain me. But, I will still have cut my time going to teenage events into 1/3rd. So, I decided rather than wallow in self pity, I would make a to-do list. This list is things I have put on hold because of the lack of time.

1. Take a photography class. I want to get the most of my camera    instead of just auto mode. I like auto mode, but come on that is not why my hubby spent the money on it!

2. Take the Wilton cake decorating classes. I have been obsessed with Cake Boss and other cake decorating shows for some time now and would love to learn this craft. Too bad, I don't have my butt in gear to get through the classes before we need those graduation cakes for the girls! Joan- help me with this- we have a pact to take those classes- maybe we could start this one now!

Who knew that paste is pasta in French (:

3. Take more trips to Lima to see my momma and papa! I do miss the carefree days of jumping in the car whenever to go there. there has always been softball, the kid's work, school functions etc. With that cut down to 1/3 of what it was, we will be on the road more. Thank you mom and dad for coming here so much over the past several years for us!!

I love you mom and dad!!

I'm sure I will think of lots of things to add to the list. But for now, this will be a good start.

A Few More Pages!

Just a couple more pages to share today! I have been on a roll- I love it when that happens! 

Alexa loves to take her own pictures. She's always posing for herself. She's so silly!

When people ask me if the girls are best friends, I say "Yes, best friends and worst enemies!" Twins are such a unique relationship... you can't get any closer than they are.

And, finally, another page for the Senior Albums. It is really hard deciding on how to narrow down all the pictures I have of them with their friends. I guess if the Senior albums explode, I will put some pages elsewhere!

Have a terrific Tuesday!

A couple more for the Seniors!

I've been good at keeping up with the Senior albums for the girls. (I'm feeling a little neglectful to Carter's albums though- I promise your turn will come buddy!)

Anyway, this first one is from the winter formal. Some of the pictures on the page are a little cloudy, but that is actually fog they had at the dance. I'm so glad the girls have been taking pictures at these events for me!

I love the flower from Making Memories, but that sucker was hard to get to stay glued on. I finally put a hefty glob of glue down and stuck my marker box on top of it over night and that did the trick! That flower is not going anywhere!

Next up is "Prep Rally"! That's right Prep, not Pep! They spend more time prepping for all the events that I just had to get a page in there of all that!

And, I have one more page that is celebrating New Year's with their friends. I used some black Zing to emboss with the bubble stamp in the background. It really does add more pop than just using an inkpad.

The first page is using Studio Calico's Wildflower Add-on kit and the second page uses Candy Shoppe kit with add ons. And, page number 3 uses the Babbling Brook add-on kit.

Have a happy Monday (:

Pages to share!

I have a few pages to share today. My scrap space has been a little bit busier lately. Now, I just need time to show y'all the pages I've made. Hopefully, over the next couple of days I can do just that! We'll see how that goes!

This one was my favorite! I love that picture of her!

Here's a couple of pages from our hike in the Metroparks- I love that we have this practically in our backyard!

And, finally a Christmas page!

For the first 3 pages I used the Candy Shoppe kit and add-ons. And for the last page, I used Holiday Lights add-on. All kits were from Studio Calico (:

Senior Albums

I've been diligently working on Alexa and Mackenzie's senior albums. I want them ready for their graduation party. All the pages have a kraft background as that gives a unity to the books and it is a fav of mine anyway (easy for me to scrap with!)

This one will go in Alexa's album- it documents her struggle choosing a college- Kent State lost, being with her sister won!

Elite 8 for Mackenzie's album.

The football team made it far this year, but sadly the Elite 8 was the end of the road for them.

I used some Zing on the alpha stamp to add some pop!

More Elite 8 for Alexa's album.

More to come!

Orientation

Tomorrow is the big day for Alexa and Mackenzie. It is their college orientation- yikes!! I'm happy and sad at the same time. It came so fast I am sad. I am happy that they have accomplished this moment. I am proud that they received academic scholarships (who knew they would get the exact same amount? well I guess it makes sense when they have taken the same classes and have the same GPA) I'm sad that the time has passed so quickly and they will be off on their own sooner than I'm ready for. I'm excited to go tomorrow and share this day with them and hubby of course!

But, today, Mackenzie came down with the flu! Now what? Miss the big day? Do a make up day? That may be what happens as she is a mess today. And, after the strings I pulled to get their orientations on the same day. Now, we have to possibly change! Ugh! Life throws another curve ball!

This was her only other sick day of her high school career and it was last month after getting her wisdom teeth pulled. By the afternoon she wanted to go to school, but I wouldn't let her! What a trooper! So, the flu really has her mad about tomorrow!

This is a page I made from her first day of Senior year! My how time flies! She is now not real happy about her choice of first day of school outfit- just like a girl huh?

Enjoy the day today! Time moves to fast!

Just a few more!

Well I really submitted a ton of vacation layouts that all got the nixnay! So, here are a few more to share?

Love, love, love St. Croix! The water is so clear and beautiful. The island is gorgeous! I wish I were there now as it is still melting snow here and supposedly going to get cold and more flurries- ugh! I am eager for sunshine!!!

We are by no means kayakers! We did great getting out there, but when Steve jumped the boat to look at fish, it all went downhill from there. We were so glad to see land after that!

Carter would spend hours building motes on the beach!

This is one of my favorite pages. I made one for each of the kids highlighting their vacation. Alexa played around in Adobe with the black and white picture. I love what she did with the pink flower. I wonder who she learned that technique from (:

Hoping for some of that sunshine soon!

The Rejects!

Yes, I'm feeling rejected. I think of the time spent submitting my pages, putting myself out there, sharing my stories, etc. and then what happens.... REJECTED!!! Well, you know what scrapbook magazines? Go ahead and reject me! I'm over it! I like my pages! Those kids in the photos are so much more to me! So, there you have it! You can reject me, but I will get you to see that my pages are worthy of being in print and so much more!

Okay, I feel better now after my venting! So, here are a few of the rejected pages to share!

Mackenzie's much anticipated event was horseback riding along the beach and through the rain forest. We certainly won't forget the dump the horse took on the beach that got washed into the ocean- ewwww!!! That sort of turned the kids off swimming that day. But, I reminded them that the fish are dumping in there all the time- still ewww!!!

Carter's favorite event of the trip! Thank goodness he thought this rock was actual cliff diving!

Alexa was the expert with the underwater camera and she got some awesome pictures of bubbles in the pool as well as fishies in the sea!

Now, I'm going to send in the back to school pages for the magazines to swoon over whether they want to or not!!

A Little Tough Love

Every now and then, we make mistakes. Sometimes it's the kiddos making the mistakes and sometimes it's us, the parents making the mistakes. Well, this time, the kiddos mistakes were just the ticket to getting some much needed household chores done!

I made a parental decision a long time ago that when it came down to punishments, they were going to benefit me. I had found that taking away the t.v. or whatever was harder on me than them. So, I came up with the spring clean punishment. This way, my house gets a good cleaning and I get to sit back and do my own thing while they take over the nitty gritty cleaning.

So, when the girls decided to have friends over while we were gone and things got a little out of hand, we had to lay down some punishments. So, I got my cabinets and closets cleaned and organized while the girls were not feeling so good!! Haha, payback is sweet revenge! 

But, to assure them that I meant business with my punishment, I took their cell phones too! That one is always a killer for them too!! Hahahaha!!!

My OCD at Work

It's been a month since I posted. Really? Where has the time gone? I've just been so busy with working this month. So, in the spirit of working, I've got a page that I made quite a while ago that shows my OCD that I have at work. In these busy days when we have a full nursing unit at work, it takes a lot of organization to keep up. So, I take my babies in the nursery and line them up perfectly wrapped and in the order of feedings. This way, I'm sure to get them to their mommies on time!

If there is something special that a baby needs, I just put the work on their clipboard so I don't miss that either. Sure, there are others who mock my OCD, but their babies are crying and arms a flailing. But, not mine, they are sleeping because I have taken the time to wrap them snugly with some TLC. So, go ahead, make fun of me, but look at the sleeping babes!