Meet Maxi

Christmas came early at our house!! Meet Maxi our new miniature Schnauzer!! She's completely adorable and such a lover! She has made the perfect addition to our family!

$.99 cent sale on 12x12 Prints!! Don't pass this up!

$.99 Print Sale at Scrapbooks Please

Just in time for the Holidays, the $.99 print sale is back. Get your 12x12 Standard Matte Prints for the same low price as the other sizes. This sale starts on November 20th and ends on December 15th. So, don't miss out on this great deal. Click here to start shopping now.

Tadpole Tuesday

Be sure to stop by the Lilypad today for Tadpole Tuesday. I juts picked up these for a dollar each!

Christmas Magic

Don't laugh at my layout. It seems like it's been months since I've done any scrapping at all. I'm so out of the loop and all the current styles but whatever...lol I don't really care, I just want to get some pages done! Hopefully it won't be another month before I make another layout!

I used Holiday Spirit by Dani Mogstad available at the Sweet Shoppe!
Template by Dani's girls.

I just LOVE her designs!

Gotta Love Dollar Deals!

I'm a huge fan of Kate Hadifield and I love all here products! You have to check out her current dollar deals!

Stop by the Lilypad for these deals and many more!

Look what I got for a DOLLAR!

Stop by the Lilypad today for a few dollar deals! I just love this and it was only a dollar! TODAY ONLY

Ron Clark Academy~Vote for however you like~

Why is it...?

Why is it that the one day I wake up and think to myself.....today I'm going to do some scrapbooking, that I come downstairs and turn on the computer only to discover my monitor isn't working. Could it be my graphics card or do I really need a new monitor? hmm.... It's always something!

Oprah

I'll be watching Oprah tomorrow! It's all about living frugal and saving money. That's sounds totally up my alley. LOL... Will you be watching? I wanted to post this on my new blog (My Frugal Finds) but it's currently been disabled for a couple days. LOL Apparently it looked like spam. Oh well. I have time to wait!

Yesterday my main computer got ticked off again and had a meltdown. Gotta love Vista. It crashed during a Service Pack update. All is well though; I'll just have to reinstall some programs but I don't think I lost any files this time! Alright....gotta get a move on! Later.

Memory Box

I finally got around to making a memory box for the twins. This was a hybrid project from September's DST insider. Mine isn't near as cute as the example but this is my first ever hybrid anything so I'm satisified w/ how it turned out. Now I actually have a place to go w/ all their school papers and momentos from Preschool! It did feel good to just open photoshop after all this time w/ not paying it any mind!

Now isn't this Nifty!

Now isn't this this nifty and THRIFTY too! Recycle your crayons!

I Scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!

Well these are certainly long over due. These date back to April of 2005. Will I ever get caught up? I guess if I look on the bright side I will always have pics to scrap!

Kit: Little Buddies by Gina Miller and Dani Mogstad
Template 435 by Andrea Gold
Ice Cream Elements by ScrapShana
Wordart by Laurie Garza
Kit: Little Buddies by Gina Miller and Dani Mogstad
Ice Cream wordart by ScrapShana
Wordart 12" by Laurie Garza
Template by: Chrissy W

On a Roll

Ahh, I finally finished!! I can scratch this set of photos off my list!
Kit: Breath of Spring by Lindsey Jane Designs
Template 17 by Yin Designs

Fall Fun

Only one more layout left to do before our trip to Nebraska is finished. It's so great to get these done and walk down memory lane! We sure did have a good time there!
Kit: Falling for You by Julie Billingsley at the Sweet Shoppe
Template 50 by Yin Designs

A couple layouts

Frame Cluster by Welli Designs, Kit : On Safari by Colie's Corner, Leaves: Valorie Brown Frames: Digiscrap.ch, Kit: On Safari by Colie's Corner, Alpha by Misty Cato
I am still trying to finish layouts from last fall's weekend getaway to Omaha! 2 more down!

First Day of School

Well the first day of preschool has come and gone. Landon started a few days ago but this was the first official day. We have had a few hiccups but school seems to be going well now. The boys love their teachers and really really enjoy playing on the playground. I couldn't wait to scrap these photos but it turns out I don't really love my layouts. I may redo them sometime in the future but for now I can at least say I have them scrapped even if it's not to the best of my ability. hahah I promise I'm not an underachiever but rather suffering from creative block! I hope all of you have had great back to school send-offs this year. I miss my boys terribly and have to figure out a new routine and what to do with the house so quiet. Clean? hmm maybe!

Template Mira Designs

GDS School Time Collab
Stripe Paper Melissa Bennett and stitches by Sbartonili Chilaxin kit
Color and ABC/123 from Andrea Gold

Kit: Americana by Dani Mogstad

Template from Dani's Girls

New slide show

Yesterday we enjoyed a day at our State Fair. I was so surprised that the boys actually wanted to ride the rides but they loved it! We met up with my mom, sister, and my nephews. We had a blast and even came home with these super fun Wiggly Cars. I put them up for Christmas; shame on me!

What accent do you have?

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Inland North You may think you speak "Standard English straight out of the dictionary" but when you step away from the Great Lakes you get asked annoying questions like "Are you from Wisconsin?" or "Are you from Chicago?" Chances are you call carbonated drinks "pop."
The South
The Midland
The Northeast
Philadelphia
The West
Boston
North Central
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Ok so I found this to be very interesting. Apparently I sound like I'm from the inland North instead of the midland. Shocker! To top it off how do I sound more Southern than I do midland. hmm.... Check it out!

Swimming

Template by Christy Haig

Template Cindy Schneider

Template by Yin designs (modified to add additional photos)

Template by Chrissy W (modified to add additional photos)

I told you I was have a blast with this kit!! You can pick up Deep Blue Sea by Dani Mogstad at the Sweet Shoppe!! The possibilities are endless and there are already so many awesome layouts in the the SS and DST galleries from this kit that you can scraplift!!

Cooling Off

Wowser, I love this kit. I know for sure there will be many layouts coming from this kit. Here is the first of many to come! (oh and I'm finally managing to squeeze in some scrapping. I hope this means my mojo is coming back)

Kit: Deep Blue Sea by Dani Mogstad
Template by: Aggie Aviso

Template: Fluffy Bunny Feet Designs
Take Me Home by: Shawna Clingerman, Larua Grier, and Micheline Martin
Mat by Melissa Bennett
Word Art by: Pattie Knox

Crazy Faces

Template: Fluffy Bunny Feet Designs
Take Me Home by: Shawna Clingerman, Larua Grier, and Micheline Martin
Mat by Melissa Bennett
Word Art by: Pattie Knox

Swimming

Template by Christy Haig

Template Cindy Schneider

Template by Yin designs (modified to add additional photos)

Template by Chrissy W (modified to add additional photos)

I told you I was have a blast with this kit!! You can pick up Deep Blue Sea by Dani Mogstad at the Sweet Shoppe!! The possibilities are endless and there are already so many awesome layouts in the the SS and DST galleries from this kit that you can scraplift!!

Cooling Off

Wowser, I love this kit. I know for sure there will be many layouts coming from this kit. Here is the first of many to come! (oh and I'm finally managing to squeeze in some scrapping. I hope this means my mojo is coming back)

Kit: Deep Blue Sea by Dani Mogstad
Template by: Aggie Aviso

How is it possible?

Wow, I finally feel rested, rejuvenated and back to normal. After months of exhaustion, stress, different little bugs (strep throat, ear infections, sinus infections) and all that the first half of 2008 dumped on me I finally feel like I have reached the light that was waiting on me at the end of the tunnel. I can finally breathe!

I think vacation was a huge help in just finding some focus and putting things in perspective again for me. I have tons of things I want to do now that I'm feeling better and slowly I am accomplishing them. I cleaned out the coat closet, reorganized all our art supplies, got my counters organized and the biggest task of all was cleaning up my desk. What a mess. How is it possible that I had piled so much on my desk. It's a wonder I could see the monitor. I have several more things I want to get done this summer and loads more organizing. I'm just happy I finally feel like I have the energy to do some of the things on my list.

My boys are about to start preschool and I'm so incredibly nervous. I'm afraid to drive first of all and I will be driving them back and forth 4 days a week. Aside from that I worry that they will get to school and act up the way they do here at home. I can't believe they are already starting preschool. I know I have the same jitters every other mom feels when she sends her babies off to school...only if it's for a few hours a day. I hoping that they love going and that they behave!

Well.... one of the things on that list I mentioned earlier was cleaning up my computer. I sometimes go into my files and purge things that I will never use or that I don't need anymore. What a stinking mess. I have files scattered all over my computer in little to no organizational manner. The past three afternoons during nap time I have tried to put my files into a more organized fashion and purge what I no longer desire. Amazingly I freed up 10GB. How is that possible? I was sitting on some SUPER old stuff. Today I finally reached a stopping point. I haven't managed to get all my files where I want them but I'm at a stand still. I don't know where else to go with them. I have all my seasonal type files and a templates file along with different themes. However, I have some items that I can't decide just what category to stick them in. I wish I could just finish up the last two jam packed folders and be done! I'm totally scrap deprived. It's been a long time since I've made a layout. Maybe once I do a couple more things on that list I will be able to put forth enough focus to do a couple layouts!

I did find a fabulous idea on Yin's blog which really has me thinking. She is so organized. She places all her previews together, prints them and places them in her binder. This allows her to mix and match more easily! Maybe I'll add that to my list. On that note, I'm off to try to accomplish another task.

To all my digi friends.... I miss ya and I'm thinking of you all!

Day 7 Last Day RMNP and Estes Park

Well this would be the last day of our vacation (except the long driving day ahead). I'm not counting that one. On our final day we gave the National Park one last go; stopping again at Sheep Lakes and the Alluvial Fan. We then spent the morning and early afternoon in downtown Estes Park. We went to the glass blowing shop and watched the artist making things. That was really neat and each of the boys got a little souvenir there.









We went down to Tregent Park and then had lunch at Penelope's. Yep you heard it right we didn't have a picnic today. It was YUMMO. We spent some time going into shops. Everything is so touristy so we were happy when we came upon a few year round stores! After doing a little bit of shopping we headed back to the cabin where we spent the afternoon relaxing or sleeping in some cases. We got the car nearly packed up for the ride home the next day.





We ended our vacation with a nice pizza from the Estes Park Brewery and go kart riding and monster sliding at Fun City. I'm so glad we did this. When I first looked into this during the planning phase of vacation I didn't think we would do it b/c it seemed pricey and it's something we could do right here at home. Except when i saw their faces light up each time we drove by Fun City and to hear them talking about wanting to ride the go karts I knew I didn't want to let them down. After all they did do pretty much everything Levi and I wanted to do on vacation. What a joy. They had soooo much fun. My only regret is that we didn't do more rides!







Well there you have it. In summary that was our vacation. I'll spare you the gory details of the fighting between the boys on the way home. If you have kids and they've had to sit next to each other in a car for an extended period of time; you already know what I'm talking about! *laugh.

Hope you've enjoyed my stories or find something useful for your upcoming Rocky Mountain Adventure.

For us the best parts were Pike's Peak, Garden of the Gods, Mount Evans, the scenic drives, Bear Lake and Sprague Lake. These are all kid friendly!