Didn't want to forget Shaun's fun in modeling his new pajamas.

Teriann Hanks - All Together Template

Jessica Bolton - Journey of the Heart background paper

Sweet Genevieve - Journey Of the Heart background paper

I'm trying to work in some scrapping of heritage pages. I can't imagine how much it would mean to me to have these kinds of layouts for family members now gone! I used Tina Williams' Grandma's Family Album kit.
Journaling reads"I wish that I could remember this. I was 4 years old when the picture was taken. Grandma Blanche was holding me on her lap. My brother Randy was one and he was sitting on Grandpa Art's lap. My cousin Steve would have been 4 as well and he is sitting on Uncle Paul's lap. The picture would have been taken at Grandpa Art's old brick house. I can't remember anything about the house. The only real memory of Grandpa Art is that he gave us hard peppermint candies.
Sometimes when I think of that, I'm surprised that Mom let that happen since she was so afraid that we would choke. But Grandpa Art was really her maternal grandfather and maybe that's why.
While I can't remember the picture being taken, I'm sure that Uncle Paul was home from California and we had all gone to St. Charles to see him.
How I wish I could sit down with these people and visit. So many things I'd ask! And I'd tell them I love them...even 4 year old me."

I can't keep up. I admit it! I've created these layouts and I don't think that I've added them here. Credits for all of these layouts can be found at my gallery at DST. I'll add the link later.

That's a picture of my Grandpa Noel. I had an old picture that was torn and probably about 1 1/2 inches by 2 inches. With digital technology, I was able to create the layout above. I used Tina Williams' Grandpa's Barnyard kit for the papers.

I had the radio playing as we were driving to school the other day. Sydney was in her car seat playing. All of a sudden she sat up and said "Thunderstorms?" She looked out the window for a sign of thunderstorms. She had heard the weather forecast. I then explained that it was predicted for tonight. She said, "Oh, sorry mommy" and leaned back in her seat. What aponge she is!

Picture above uses the kit from Tina Williams called Grandpa's Barnyard. Can you believe that those girls turn 50 in the next couple of months? Wow!

A couple more layout. Both kits are from Amy Teets. The orange one is Sun Porch and the green one is Panache.

I scrapped this one earlier this summer and I don't think that I ever posted it here. The picture is from last summer. I remember that I was amazed when I watched my tiny two year old take a huge ear of corn and start eating.

She still loves it this summer and so does her brother. They can each put away two big ears of corn without batting an eye. And, Sydney can spot sweet corn stands from a block away. While Shaun has been home recuperating, I've been taking Sydney to school. In the morning, she will tell me "On the way home tonight, we need to buy sweet corn."

As much as she loves her Iowa sweet corn, I can't imagine what she would have thought about her Great-Grandpa Johnson's sweet corn. It was ALWAYS the best corn ever!

I used a Kay Miller's Barnyard kit to scrap Sydney.

This weekend's challenge for ADSR was to scrap a layout of a place that made you feel good when you went there. I used pictures from our trip to Puerto Vallarta in April 2004. I love the ocean but this was our last visit. I guess we've been just a little busy since then:-) Can you say two kids?

My plan right now is to make a trip to Puerto Vallarta for spring break with the kids and Hannah. I'd like to do that for her Senior year. We will see if it all comes together.

The layout above uses Melissa Rose's Beat the Heat papers and elements. The alphas are
Alison Folendore - Willow Haiku Stamps, Silk Circles, Beaded Buttons, squarekeys and Dani Mogstad – lil sunshine.

Tina Williams' Grandpa's Barnyard kit.

I posted the photo below because you can click on it and enlarge it to really SEE the faces! But, it really deserved its own layout. I'm soooo excited about these photos! So this is my scrapbook page. I used Tina Williams' Grandma's Family Album kit along with a paper from Tina's blog that was a freebie called Sunflower.

This picture was taken in 1966. It has been on slides all these years and I just got it converted to digital today. I'll soon be doing a scrapbook page...but, in the meantime...

Check out my Slide Show!

I'm sitting in the kitchen and Sydney and Shaun are in Sydney's room watching Madagascar. I think this is the 3rd time that Shaun has watched it but since he is on bed rest, he is watching lots of TV.
From Sydney's room I hear this.
Shaun: I did it myself Sydney.
Sydney: You did Shaun. That's excellent! That's so good!
Shaun: Yeah Sydney!
Sydney: Can you do it for me Shaun?
I don't know what "it" is. I'm sure that I should go check. But I don't hear any screams. So I stay seated!

Sydney was on a roll today! She was eating a Lunchable and she tried to fold the "pizza" bread in half. She went to put it into her mouth and said to me "It's like a ..." and then said some word that I couldn't understand. I guessed cracker and something else and neither guess was correct. I asked her to say it again and said that Mommy was sorry that she couldn't understand. At that point she looked at me in disgust and said, "Forget it!"

Later I climbed out of the shower and had on all of my clothes but my shorts. I slipped on my flip-flops and got ready to head for the dresser for my shorts. Sydney said, "Mom, you aren't going like that?" She said it with a mixture of fear and disgust. So I answered, "Yes I am." (Because I thought that I didn't really need fashion advice from a 3 year old.)

She then responded, "Mom, if you go to the store like that, people will say where are your shorts? Besides, you are almost butt naked!" Since she is only 3 and already thinks that her mother is an idiot, what do you think it will be like when she is a teenager?

Having Shaun recuperating is keeping us pretty close to home. So that means that Mommy gets more scrapping in. Here's a page that I made last night. It was taken early morning on July 4th. I probably got such a sweet smile because she was planning her day at the parade and thinking about the candy that they would throw to her!
Credits follow:
Cardboard – Tina Williams – Brandon’s Pockets
Purple & White paper – Teresa Ferguson – Pickin’ Wildflowers
Smile Word Charm – Sondra Teer – Metal Word Charms
Ribbons and Frame – Designs by Krista – Sprinkles on Top
White Paper with Colored Flourishes – Designs by Krista – Sprinkles on Top

What would make a person who is rapidly approaching 50 decide to have a pedicure? A daughter who is more insistent than any other person I know. Sydney just insisted that I needed painted toenails with a beachball. I think it was Michelle P's fault...she had painted toenails for the 4th of July and Sydney liked them.

But, in typical Sydney style, when I got home, she looked at them (they had hearts instead of beachballs) and walked away. Shaun on the other hand believed they were "Purty, purty!"

Used Kay Miller's LovinLife kit for this layout!

Here is one of my entries for this week's ADSR race. I'm sitting here at the table with the laptop, Sydney and her colors on one side, singing a new song that she made up, Shaun and his scissors on the other side, "sweeping" the little pieces of paper that he cut! Sydney is never quiet...I'd think she'd be hoarse!

These pics were taken in May. I love to watch Sarah and Zeb interact because they are about the same age difference as Syd and Shaun and I like to imagine that they will be as close as Sar and Zeb.

I used several kits for this layout.
Tracy Ann Designs - Crumples Seascape
Tracy Ann Designs - Folded Notes
Misty Cato - Blue Glitter Alpha
Shannon Lee Carlson - Felt Alpha Red

My darling son was sitting on my lap as I was finishing a layout today and he began complaining because there were too many pictures of Sydney. He said...and I quote, "Don't forget me Mommy." Oh precious boy, I will never forget you. So, here's Shaun's layout at 4 1/2 years of age...which was about one month after we met him.
I used Melissa Rose's Beat the Heat kit. I made the frame using one of her papers and some PSE 5 tools.

I love this picture of Sydney. It was taken in China...just a couple of days after we met her. In this picture you can see that not all of her teeth were in yet. But she never really opened her mouth for me to see. By the time she would open her mouth for me, she had all of her teeth. Yes, it took that long to build that kind of trust. But, she sure trusts me now! The kit comes from the Collaborative Kit at oscraps for August.

This is an old photo of my youngest niece. The picture was taken two years ago in June. Beka had just turned 2. What a sweet little face...she looked so shy. She has gained much more confidence...which is appropriate I guess when you double in age. I probably have much more confidence than I had at 25.

I used Tina Williams kit, A Day to Remember.

For this week's challenge in the ADSR, we needed to journal about something that someone taught us. It wasn't hard for me to figure out who to journal about...but it was incredibly difficult to choose just one thing that my parents taught me. Expect a few more of these pages over the next few months.
The kit that I used is Tina Williams' A Day to Remember.

I am feeling a little bit sentimental. We are getting notes about the 2nd reunion of the Bethany Hubei girls. It was 23 months ago that I met the little princess in the picture. She has been the light of our lives since the day we met!

She's also quite the character. A few minutes ago, she came over to me and pointed to her breast. The conversation went like this.

Sydney: Mommy, what's this?
Mommy: Your breast.
Sydney: And when I get big it will grow.
Mommy: Yes it will.
Sydney giggles and says: Then I can have a white thing.

The white thing is a bra. And while it seems like a long way away tonight...I have a feeling that the time will fly.

The picture above was created using Melissa Rose's kits. The paper and butterfly are from her freebie "Icefire". The swirls come from her "Decorative Swirls". The poem is from her "Adoption Poetry" kit.