{goodbye may}

May is almost over. Thank goodness! I am looking forward to June! Why does the summer feel like it's almost over, and it hasn't even begun yet? My black-eyed Susans are getting ready to bloom, and that always reminds me of fall. My girls have only been home from school for a week, and I'm already thinking of all the shopping we will have to do to get ready for next year. Maybe that's it....I'm looking forward to August when they will be going back! LOL Actually, they have been real good so far. Except for helping around the house. I CANNOT get them to pick up after themselves! Anyone have any pointers? Something has to give around here! When's a gal supposed to scrap if she always has to clean?

I did finish up my hybrid stuff for ScrapGypsies today. This month was really fun, and I can't wait to show you what I did! Look for that soon after the 1st. I picked up this bad boy with my Hobby Lobby 40% off coupon to help me out with my hybrid stuff:



I love girly tools!

*latest layout: My Idols*



I did this layout for the weekly Inspiration Challenge at the Sweet Shoppe. With all the series finales going on, I thought it would be fun to do a TV-inspired layout. I have been quite faithful to American Idol (although this season was quite disappointing), so I scrapped my own little American Idols.

It just so happens that after I decided on the inpiration, and started work on my layout, my girls and a friend decided (of their own accord!) to have an impromtu outdoor concert! How lucky was that? Of course I grabbed my camera and ran outside. I promise - these are not staged photos! Not my best layout, but I was very happy with the photos, and that Rockstar kit was too much fun to work with!

Life is an adventure. Scrap it!

Cheers!

{where do tadpoles go when they die?}

Happy Memorial Day! It's a glorious summer day, the sun is shining, the tank is clean.... the tank is clean!! (Nemo, anyone?) We will soon be grilling out on the new deck, entertaining our children and their friends, and just enjoying a day off.

Well, I guess it's a day off. Just another day for me, except the hubby is home, which is always nice. Got up early this morning to work in the front yard while there was still shade out there. Hubby mowed the lawn (boy job!) while I weeded the flowerbeds and planted a few things. I love it when the garden looks like this!

A week or two ago, we discovered that our pond was full of tadpoles. As we had plans to drain it and clean it up, the girls panicked that all the tadpoles would perish, which of course, they would have. So they spent that whole day rescuing as many tadpoles as they could find. Seriously. THE WHOLE DAY. They put them in a bucket while we drained the pond, sprayed it down, and removed all the winter detritus that had fallen in it. No chemicals - totally organic cleanup. Then the girls added the tadpoles and plants back to the pond, where they were as happy as...well...tadpoles.

This morning as I was adding water to the pond, I couldn't find a single one. There were literally hundreds just last week, and none of them were big enough to actually be turning into frogs yet. Where did they go? Froggie heaven? There is no evidence at all that the pond was once full of baby frogs. Did the birds have a good lunch one day? It's a mystery. The girls haven't noticed yet, and it's possible that they won't remember until winter. Froggies were last week. This week it's Tomagotchies.

*latest layout: Weed*



I took these photos last month at my mom's house. Her playset has a slide; ours doesn't. Usually Alex had to have his hands held to go down. Now he just scrambles up the slide so that he can slide back down on his tummy. All on his own. Sniff. My little man is becoming my independent man. :(

Cheers!

{if good things come in threes...}

Then I am over-blessed! The graces just keep showering down on me! If I am being rewarded for some act of kindness, then I need to know what it is so that I can keep doing it!

I have only been scrapping for a little over 6 months, and I have been SO lucky to be on some of the best teams, and to meet some of the most fabulous, talented women.

I am SO EXCITED to announce that I am now a member of Little Dreamer Designs! Anyone who does any scrapping at all is familiar with the uber-talented Michelle Coleman. I still can't believe I will be working with her and the awesome designers at her shoppe.

The awesome Christina Renee has also asked me to join her permanent team! She has one of the seriously most awesome teams on the planet (names like Gina Miller, Kate Hadfield, and Angela Powers come to mind. Yowsers!), and I can't believe she deems me worthy enough to join them! Her designs are beyond awesome - with that eclectic, artsy touch that I love. She and I will get along just fine!

There are several other things in my life that just keep getting better and better, and I will touch on those another time. This post would be too long to mention them all here! A few at a time instead...

*Latest Layout: Prom 07*



Speaking of LDD and CR, this layout combines some of the latest of each. This is my biggest little girl, all grown up. She will be going to High School in August, can you believe it?? This was her first formal dance. Alex (the boyfriend) doesn't usually like cameras or other "mechanical devices," but I warned him in advance that there was going to be plenty of picture-taking going on! He was a sport, and cooperated fully. He brought Morgan the prettiest flowers, and even wore a pink tie that matched the pink trim on her dress perfectly. Is he a keeper or what?

Have a great Memorial Day Weekend!

Cheers!

{socializing}

I just had the most lovely, lengthy conversation (via Yahoo Messenger) with Dagmar. I've followed her work since she was on the Scrapologie design team, which she has since left to concentrate on her digital work. She is very talented, and she & I have so much in common!

We now share creative duties on the same team, which I will come back later to detail, with a post deserving of the honor. Thanks for the conversation, Dagmar!

Cheers!

{a new beginning...}

*Disclaimer: Blog pimpage coming soon. I know it's VERY boring right now, but I wanted to go ahead and start posting anyway.*

Welcome to my new home! It was time for a change, since so many things in my life have gone in different directions. I've started this new blog in a hope to post more often, since I find myself wanting to recount so many things, have somewhere to complain, and simply ramble on about things that interest me. I will do my best to make those things interesting to my readers as well (the few of you who still linger...)!

This blog will be a combination of all my personalities, as mother, artist, adventure-seeker, and dream chaser. I am normally a positive person and always try to find the good in everything, but even I must admit at times that life is not always milk and honey. The reality is that the rain must fall on occasion. Only then can new things grow. So.... here's to looking for new growth and, of course, that perfect martini in life. Please join me on my journey!

Cheers!