Digital Scrapbooking here I come!!!!

I have been thinking of converting to digital scrapbooking for about a year now. I didn't know a whole lot about it other than it sounded cool, and there are places to go that you can subscribe to a service and pay for layouts and embellishments. But I'm a do it yourself kind of person, and while I don't mind getting ideas from other people, I don't like to be stuck to a certain template. So, when our ward had an enrichment activity on digital scrapbooking, I was really excited. My excitement turned to pure elation when I got there and the girl showed us how to digital scrapbook for free!!! And just when I thought things couldn't get any better it was super easy! All you need is Photoshop elements software version 5 or newer to get started. I had to order a new version of Photoshop before I could get started, my software came Friday and I have spent most of the day today playing around with it. Here is my first attempt at digital scrapbooking.

Pretty cute for a first attempt right? Click on the picture for a close up view. You can read my explanation there, or for those of you to lazy to do that, I will explain and give my sources again here. Most of the cute embellishments and paper I found on these two websites: shabbyprincess.com and freedigitalscrapbooking,com. I also taught myself today how to scan my own ribbon and embellishments into Photoshop. The brown ribbon on the tree was my own scanned in creation. I also learned how to back my photos using colors extracted from my picture, you will notice how the blue backing is exactly the same color as Brianne's sweater! I also learned of a great site for handwriting fonts, kevinandamanda.com. You can download their cute fonts or send in a sample of you own handwriting to make you own personal handwriting font!

I would love to help anyone out who is interested in learning more about digitalscrapbooking. I don't know a lot yet, but I know enough to at least get someone started. I am still learning about printing options. I know that Costco does a 12x12 photo quality print for $3.00 but I am looking for other options. So far I have found a site with pricing between $3-and less than a dollar per page depending on the paper quality. I welcome any suggestions!

Happy Halloween!!!

We had a great Halloween this year, but I was pretty horrible about taking pictures. I kept forgetting my camera or running out of time. Halloween started on Friday for us. The kids have a Halloween parade for all the parents at school, then I helped out at Kaylee's Halloween party at school. Later that night we had trunk or treat at the church. Shaun surprised us by painting his face like the Joker from the latest Batman movie. I am just sick that I didn't get any pictures, he looked just like him. Then on Saturday we carved pumpkins and went trick or treating. Sydnie loved trick or treating. We had really mild weather and she was able to go with the older girls and Shaun for almost an hour. There was no prying her candy bucket from her hands, and she has been walking around with it all day today. She must be excited to have a whole bucket of candy that is her own(although mom and dad keep stealing pieces of candy from it).

Brianne the witch, she insisted on the green face, Kaylee the baby and Sydnie the dog. She wasn't fond of her costume especially when the hood was on, so this picture was as good as it gets.

Sydnie loved being one of the girls when it came to pumpkin carving, she even dared to stick her hand in and get a few seeds out herself.

Brianne and Kaylee cleaning out their pumpkins. Shaun is in the background making carameled apples for the adult Halloween party that we went to later that night. We went as a prom couple from the eighties/early nineties. I was able to fit into an old prom dress of mine and did my hair with mile high bangs and wings, Shaun wore a mullet wig and pegged his pants. We looked Awesome!!!! Once again we were so late to the party I forgot pictures again.

The Results
I have to say I had a ton of fun decorating this room. I had to try and control myself from going overboard, and decided it was time to be done when Kaylee said "Mom! When are you going to be done making things for our room?!?!" I did make most of the things in their room. I always have been one of those people who think, "why buy it when you can make it?" The list of thing I made included: pillows, the fabric covered headboards, curtains, a chalk board, several frames, magnet boards, and some really cute trees on the wall that matched their bedding. I have a friend who one of her most embarrassing moments was her husband walking in on her when she was pretending to host a cooking show. That probably would never happen to me since cooking is something I do to get the job done, not for fun. But I have to say, when I am standing at my power tools for hours working on craft shows, I often day dream about what it would be like to host my own decorating show. Sadly, this is about as close as it will get, but a girl can dream, right?



As much of the room as I could get in one shot. I actually completed the room a couple weeks ago, but had a hard time finding a time that I could take pictures when their room was actually clean. P.S. the Halloween decorations are not part of the permanent room decor, although they do sort of match.

White Wall Challenge

So, those of you who watch HGTV's Design Star will know what a white wall challenge is. For those of you who don't, it is a show where Designers compete in several challenges to win a show on HGTV. One of the most famous challenges is the white wall challenge, where they take a white boring room and transform it. I am excited to say the girls room is finally done!!! I'd like to consider myself an armature interior decorator, so I thought it would be fun to show you the before and after of the girls room. The pictures below are of their room with just the white primer on. In a few weeks I will have their room completely decorated and show you the afters. I have already started and am excited about how it is coming along so far! P.S. Shaun did a great job with all the finish work, everything looks great.

Go Strikers!

Kaylee had her last game for fall this last Saturday. She has been playing on a competitive soccer team, and has had fun. It has been fun going to all of their games and cheering their team on. Competitive soccer is much more exciting to watch than rec league they actually play positions and know somewhat what they are doing, and its not just a big jumbled mess like rec league. Kaylee has improved a ton since she first started playing. She is going to play indoor soccer to keep her skills up over the winter, and then her team starts regular games again in the spring.

Kaylee "number 6" going for the ball.

Sydnie Turns Two!!!

Sydnie turned two yesterday, we had a fun little party for her. We invited a couple of our neighbors over for root beer floats and cake. Sydnie had a great time being the center of attention. And playing with all the kids.

I thought I would highlight a few of Sydnie's accomplishments by the age of two. Sydnie is turning into a great talker, I was a little worried about her at the age of one because she really wasn't saying much. But now she has a big list of words and phrases that she used regularly. Here are her favorites:

Don't touch it

oh! there's daddy, or its my daddy

Micheal, or Oh! there is my Micheal.(a little almost two year old little boy across the street.)

Here kitty kitty kitty(Meow)

Oh! there is the doggy(Woof, woof)

Where is my blankie,(then when we find it) oh there it is( with a huge sigh of relief and a big grin)

No! not night night.

Backback, & Dora (both interchangeable for the same show)

Sydnie is a animal lover, she can't get enough of cats and especially dogs. Every time she sees one she just can't let them alone. We were at a soccer game the other day and there was a dog she kept trying to pet, it would get excited and jump up on her, she would start crying and run to me only to want down 2 seconds later and go right back to the dog. She did this about ten times until both me and the girl who owned the dog got tired of it and started avoiding each other.

Sydnie loves her older sisters and loves to play with them, she loves it when they read her books and take her on walks in the stroller. Sydnie loves to go outside and recently has taken to escaping out our front door that never shuts tight(I finally started dead bolting it). I found her three different times, once down the street playing with the neighbors dog, another time across the street jumping on the neighbors dug in trampoline, and once was brought in crying by the neighbor because she wanted to play in the middle of the street. Boy do I feel like a bad mother.

We love our sweet Sydnie, even when she throws her tantrums and poops in the tub. She is such and affectionate little girl and is free with her hugs and kisses. She is also a friendly little girl, she loves to talk even when she doesn't have a clue what she is saying and always makes sure to wave hi to all the Walmart door greeters.

I made a cake for Sydnie shaped like a dog, her favorite animal.

Sydnie had fun opening her presents

But not so much fun blowing out her candles.

Sydnie and the neighborhood kids having fun with punch balloons.

Three Polka Dot Dresses and a Purple Jumper

I recently took pictures of my three girls. I had an idea of what I wanted to do. I wanted black and white polka dot dresses in a wheat field. Well, I couldn't find any dresses at the store, so I ended up making them. By the time I got them all made, all the wheat fields had been harvested. Who knew they harvested in mid August? I thought I had till September for sure. Anyway, no wheat fields, but the pictures turned out cute anyway.

Kaylee and Sydnie I love the view of their bows from the back

All Three of the girls. This is the ONLY one that turned out that day of all three of them Sydnie was NOT cooperating

Slide show of Sydnie age 2

Slide show of Brianne age 5

Slide show of Kaylee age 8

And a Purple Jumper.....

As I was sewing the three polka dot dresses I was thinking an assortment of thoughts from "I HATE zippers" to "I wonder if my mom made most of our clothes?" Then I thought of a story my mom told me recently about myself. I have been meaning to write down somewhere before I forget it again. Evidently it was such a traumatic experience, that I completely wiped it from my memory the first time. In kindergarten I had a favorite jumper. I think it was a hand me down and I probably liked it because it was comfortable, I was big into comfort in those days. I must have worn it a lot, because one day my mom got a call from my kindergarten teacher. My beloved jumper had practically disintegrated, and was barely hanging on me. I was in tears, and my mom needed to bring a change of clothes. I think the jumper was so old, and had been worn so much, that the seams and cloth just couldn't hold together anymore. But instead of just one seem ripping, the whole thing decided to come apart at once.This is a picture of me in a purple jumper. I don't know if this is the one that disintegrated but it does seem like around the right age.

I am pictured next to my sister Nancy. In the far back is my Mom and Dad off to the right side is our good friends the Dinsdales. I think there are some of their kids mixed in there but I only recognize the one directly behind Nancy, Lisa.

Fall Craft Show 2oo9

I'm finally getting around to posting my new craft items. Even though my show has already been going for a week now. Fortunately it lasts for five more weeks so if you are in the Idaho Falls go to the Mini Bazaar and check out all of the new fall stuff.



I love my harvest cubes but I have such problems with them sticking together, that this may be the last of them.



This one is similar to ones I've done in the past. But I just love my square pumpkins.



Here is a new one that I am excited about. I also am offering just the vinyl personalize with Initials and names to put directly on your wall. I plan on doing one for each of my girls to stick on the wall above their beds, when they get in their new room.



Here is is again just in different color combo. I also did ones that say welcome and Home. Little girl ones that say Sisters and Princess, and boy ones that say Brothers and Remember who you are.

A long post with no pictures, but this is what has been happening, and been on my mind lately:

You might be a redneck if:

After this weekend this joke may apply to my family. No we don't have anyone in our family named Cleatis or Leroy, we don't have a old couch and a broken down washer sitting on our front lawn, and we don't park any broken down vehicles in our driveway (although Shaun's truck is well on its way to qualifying for that one), but we sure did participate in some redneck activities over labor day weekend. On Saturday I went to my first truck and tractor pull ever. I was not excited to go, but it turned out to be better than I thought and I found myself standing up and cheering along with "Jim Bob", (who was wearing his sleeveless t-shirt and holding his autographed poster), whenever the trucks pulled that trailer the whole length of the track. On Monday we went to the state fair. I must be a redneck because I really do love the fair. I like the fair food and the art exhibits and my kids love the animals and the rides. Sydnie couldn't get enough of the petting zoo, she ran around giving hugs to all the goats and even an emu. So if you attend a truck and tractor pull and the state fair in the same weekend.... you might be a redneck.

How to have the worst day ever...

Well, Friday was a pretty bad day for me. Maybe not the worst day I have ever had in my life but pretty close. So if you would like to have a day as bad as mine was on Friday here are the things you need to do:

1. While packing up to go out of town discover your 2 year old has gotten into the toilet (that still has pee in it thanks to her older sister) and splashed the contents along with a roll of toilet paper all over the bathroom and herself. CHECK

2. Sigh relief when you get everything cleaned up, and the car packed and are only a few minutes late. CHECK

3. Spend an hour looking for your keys because you only have one set. CHECK

4. Finally find your keys at the bottom of the garbage can covered in apple sauce (thanks again Sydnie)CHECK

4. On your way to check your older girls from school have your trunk fly open and loose half the contents on the road. CHECK

5. Get stuck in two hours of labor day weekend traffic. CHECK

6. Run your battery out while getting some dinner at Artic Circle and have to ask someone to jump your car. CHECK

7. Almost get run off the road by a semi when you pull over to shut a door that one of your girls did not shut tight enough at the restaurant (we don't want to have a repeat of step number 4). CHECK

8. By some miracle arrive at your destination safe and sound who cares if we got there about three hours later than we planned. CHECK

Time to get Political

Okay, so I have to do something that I was taught never to do as a hairdresser, that is never talk to your patrons about two things: religion and politics. But since most of you are not my patrons I thought I could get away with it here. I have been thinking quite a bit about things that are happening in our nation lately, and thinking about what I could do to make my voice heard. I think that some of us regular people, no matter what side of the political ticket you find yourself on, have been made to feel somewhat ashamed. Ashamed that we don't believe in the same things the movie stars and the people on t.v. believe in. We don't talk about things because we don't want others to think we are weird or some kind of fanatical freak. Well call me a freak but this is what I believe:

The current debate over the national health care system has me worried. I don't like the idea of the government having so much control over my life and decisions. Isn't that what the forefathers fought to free themselves from? Not that I think that the health care system doesn't need fixing. I just think we are going at it the wrong way. We are a nation of smart people, you would think we could come up with a better way to fix things than letting the government take over health care.

My generation needs to wake up, and start to let those in charge of changing our laws and constitution know what we really think. Even if you live in a state who has representation similar to what you believe, I think it is a good reminder for them to remember why we put them in office. I'm afraid if we don't become more active in what we believe, we may wake up a few years down the road and realize the things you believe and cherish most have been taken away from you. So, write your congressmen or representatives, its easy, most of them have websites with e-mail addresses. Just a quick note to remind them why they are in office. I plan to, and I hope you will join me.