a blatant copy

of a layout I saw at Little Dreamer. It made this go fast (sorta!). Most of this is from a kit at Little Dreamer and the alpha I recolored but it is by Krystal Hart. This little kid has been seriously driving me crazy during the very long days while her sister is at school so this cute pic and all her "funnies" were a good reminder to me.

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you never know when

or where you are going to find something that triggers a memory. I started a new job this week, and have been working diligently on my office so I have a nice space to spend time in. Two days ago, I was down to cleaning out the drawers in my desk. I found loads of receipts for old computers, the reciept and instructions for the desk itself and lots of work related stuff from previous jobs. Before just tossing them, I tried to sift through things rather quickly just in case there was something I needed all these years later, or worse, if my social security number was plastered across the page...not something I need to wind up in the paper recycle dumpster at church (so happy with myself for making the effort to take some of it there). Anyway, I found a fax I sent in July 2000, with a doctor's note saying I could return to work after having had my three babies that did not survive. Sad for sure. But the touching part was the exact date on the fax...it was exactly one year to the day that I had Olivia in 2001. Pretty cool. Having had high risk pregnancies, the insurance paperwork is overwhelming, I still had much of that from Olivia and was ready to toss it but again, thankfully I rifled through it first b/c I found about 40 ultrasound pictures of her. I would have hated to miss those. Now you might wonder how a sentimental, scrapbooking fool like me could have let those out of my sight for 7+ years but again, the reality of a pregancy like mine is an ultrasound a week, give or take, for about 30+weeks. She was the most photographed baby even BEFORE birth. Anyway, it was like finding some buried treasure. And also it feels like closing some of those old chapters and really getting focused on beginning, creating and living some new ones. Pin It

what a Nintendo DS addiction looks like

for a 4 year old! When Olivia returned to school last Thursday, Shelby and I had to negotiate a deal on Olivia's DS. Shelby was more and more drawn to using it and Olivia less and less thrilled with her messing it up--especially her Nintendogs game which is the new neighborhood rage. So...we (Shelby and I) agree to buy Shelby her own Nintendogs game (her Chiwalla, Fluffy) and Olivia says she can use the DS, during the school day, for $1 per week. I thought the attorney, I mean Olivia, was going to ask for $1 per day, and quite honestly I was prepared to pay it...until Santa delivers one to Miss S. ***late breaking news*** Shelby's cousin Kacie is prepared to lend her a DS indefinitely. Yea, Kacie!!!!

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the wall

I threw all caution to the wind tonight and just plunked down the first three things. I will build around them. It is supposed to be random, a collection of things I like. I have a fabulous wooden T made by my friend but I will enlist Dave to hang it b/c it's heavy and I use only a tiny finishing nail to balance things from.
I made the bulletin board after seeing this today: fun blog. There are all kinds of cool, easy things to make shown on there. I wanted to cover my little canvases in fabric anyway, and I am glad I gave this a go. I am going to cover one more in another fabric and hang it vertically somewhere else on the wall.
My stepbrother visited yesterday and referred to my office as a "nice space" which I thought was a high compliment coming from a male!
Off to round up the troops for the tub.

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one little sneak peek...

Of my in progress, office re-do. I got that owl on etsy and I love it SO much! I am going to add a third hoop, 10", so a size between the two shown here in a coordinating stripe. I will have one little wall done once that is up. Yea. The tree is impractical but only $5 from Ikea. I hope to make some cutesy tags to go with it. If it is just way too much of a useless space invader, I will go with a basket or something instead. The curtains are from Ikea too. They are very well made and lined. I added the orange grosgrain and the ball fringe. The two fabrics shown here are from J Caroline Creative, an online source I love. They have an awesome how-to section as well. The main thing left to do is begin on the big blank wall behind my desk. I just need to take the plunge, hang the first item and go from there. Here is that space on the day I began the re-do.

On the right is my mammoth scrapbook shelving that Dave built for me years ago. It has served me well but now I want this to be an office and all purpose craft room, but I need to incorporate those as best as possible since they are built in. That is coming along too. Pin It

happy birthday

A digi site, Weeds and Wildflowers, was giving away some very cute premade pages. I am so not ready to create my own "two pagers" that coordinate as seamlessly as this does! I added photos and journaling and all the rest was premade. Cool, huh?

Today we labeled all of Olivia's school supplies which she did willingly and with a teensy bit of enthusiasm even! Then, I finally forced her to wear socks (gasp!) long enough to try on her gym shoes--which were clearly too small. So, with two days to spare, we went out and got new Sketchers. It is not so much the shoes that drive her nuts as the socks. That little quirk is still not behind us. Not sure what compromise we are going to make but I am not up for the morning battles over socks, I can tell you that.

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technology reality

Managing this could be a full time job! So, my daughter has the Sansa shaker and wants the Grease soundtrack. I get that, and add it to my Ipod library. Well, those are MP4 files, her player needs MP3. After some trial and error, and largely due to the genious of Google, I found out how to convert the files from WMA, which they became in Windows Media Player, into MP3?! Do people have advanced degrees in this stuff? Is there a college course for it?
Next are two flash drives. One belongs to my Mom, the other my Mother in Law gave me so that we can easily share my photos between my computer and hers. My Mom's is for her digital photo frame, she wants current pics uploaded to that. I am so woefully behind on all of it, I cannot see straight. I'd love to get it all off my to-do list. I just need the gift of time...and fewer interruptions.

***Let me just add this...I won something! One of my layouts at Little Dreamer was chosen and I get an $8 gift certificate to spend there. Happiness!!!

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soccer stars

Dave is the official head coach of this group of four year old girls. Next week, they will choose a team name, once they know what color their uniforms are! Shelby was about as cute as could be to look at, not so much for her disposition this night though. Two things that hurt her feelings leaving her in tears:
* her Dad telling her not to use her hands to pick up the ball
* and a girl kicking the ball away from her during a friendly game of "sharks and minnows"
Coach Kuethe may have a long way to go this season...

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day 4 of office organization

It may be the smallest room in the house, but it was packed with the most stuff! From true junk on up to my most cherished things: baby books, photos, scrapbooks, cameras, equipment, computer. But how and where to store it all and have it look nearly nice?!
I just used the most basic Dymo labeler to mark 8 of my 19 scrapbooks by date and either o, s or family. That's a start. The thing is, those big honkin' 12x12 books take up a ton of space on my office shelves. Where do you store yours? I know the basement is the worst idea just in case of water damage. I was thinking of putting a few of the girls' older books on the top shelves of their closets? I just don't know. And for now, I am the only one who ever looks through them. Although my girls totally enjoy them, I just don't initiate it that often.
Ok, back to work in here!! I want this work part done so I get down to decorating! Pin It

busy-ness

I have so many things I want to do, and instead, I feel like I am going in circles! I did this today b/c it was just one of those pictures that leapt off the monitor at me. July is so busy with their Bdays but somehow I manage another "moments" layout vs. a "milestone" one! In looking back over my scrapbooks, I find I enjoy those most though.
Sunday, my nephew and his friends helped me to finally change around my desk in my office. It is a big monster desk w/a return, and just like Dave tried to tell me, the return had to come off in order to move it around safely. The boys did all that for me which forced me to clean A LOT of stuff out of here. I cannot say my paper scrapping days are over for good but I am now organizing things more as general crafts that I will use for gifts, cards, tags etc vs. how I used to organize so much by manufacturer in case I were to submit a page. I know those days are long gone...I have more than 20 digital layouts printed that need homes inside of scrabooks so I plan to buy 3 this week at Hobby Lobby for 1/2 off and get those done too. At least then everything I have created will be safely and nicely stored. Right now, the desk return is reaching a wee bit too far into the room so I might also have to say goodbye to the industrial 6 ft folding table that is part of that work station now. I feel like I can live with something a lot more shallow since I pared down my paper scrapping stuff. The most exciting part of this re-do, and the real motivator, was so I had one, entire blank wall to decorate! I cannot wait to get my black shelf/ledge hung, a cork/inspiration board (that I can actually reach now!), all my "t" initials that I have been accumulating and pictures. Of course, pictures. I am also way into vinyl wall graphics right now so I want to get a cute tree or owl or something. And curtains! Right now I have blinds and ugly, white, exposed curtain rods. I got the 09 Ikea catalog so I want to start there for either pre-made curtains or fabric by the yard that I can use for those, and maybe something like this.
Another motivator to get things in tip top shape in here is that I am starting a new PT job very soon. I am going to work as a consultant to sell Outreach Programs for UC Clermont. It is just about the dream job for a stay at home mome: few hours per week, working hours during my girls' school hours, and a teacher's schedule of Aug-June. I hope I've "still got it" in ol' sales arena!!
Shelby begins soccer tomorrow and Dave has his first day as head coach!! Pin It