no time...

no time for blogging-that's for sure.

We are too busy having fun and enjoying the beautiful autumn days. We are definitely trying to get more leaves in the bag then in our hair and mashed in the bottom of shoes. We are also coordinating our outfits to match so mom can attempt to snap a few pictures...if we would just sit still long enough.

funny conversation

Our conversation at dinner went something like this:

3 year old boy currently obsessed with animals and all of their behaviors:
(shaking his head while saying this)
"Mom, dinasaurs don't drive (pause)
they don't wear socks (pause)
they don't wear shoes either (pause)
Mom, they don't have tires"

6 year old sister who knows much more than her younger brother(at least in her eyes:
"They are also extinct!"

Daddy: "Do you know what extinct means?"

Sister: "Yes, of course, it means they are no longer living on the earth"

Daddy: "Okay that is right"

Brother: "Mom, Elephants don't wear socks, and they don't wear shoes.

Mom: "you're right, do elephants drive?"

Brother: "Mom, elephants don't have tires!"

Gather....

Here are the layouts that I made using the amazing kit "Gather" from Freehand Scraps. This one is a must have if you are on the fence about subscribing or trying out kits. It is full of product and lots of items that are hard to find at stores. You have to play with the Buzz and Bloom clouds in chipboard and denim and corduroy. They are so fun! The stitched shapes from Prima are ready to use and so cute on lots of pages. The photo booth page was fun to put together and came together so quickly...the photos were taken at my cousins wedding. They had a fun photo booth at their reception and masquerade accessories to make your pictures even more interesting. I cut a strip from the Sassafrass paper and crumpled it a bit to give the page some texture.

This grateful for family page was fairly easy to put together and I loved the big thick ribbon in this kit-it had the best colors in it and I used the stick pin to accessorize the knot. I have never used one of those stick pins as I don't have a LSS here. I layered the papers and crate paper border stips to give the page some color. EASY....


This page was random but I had to scrapbook pictures from Thanksgiving a few years back because the fun tights on my daughter were perfect with the rainbow paper. I included a fun quote about rainbows that I printed on my computer and chalked to match the layout. The quote says..."Let no one who loves be unhappy, even love unreturned has its rainbow" The flowers were from a previous kit and the buttons were from my stash. I cut small pieces from the papers and just clustered all the embellishments.



This page was really busy but I loved the paper SO much so I had to make it work. I had no room for journaling left so I used some of the lined Sassafrass paper to document the highlights of our day in London on our 2 week journey of Europe and I folded it and tucked it behind the picture. We spent a few more days there at the end of our trip, but this was so classic of London and what I expected it to be.
I used pop dots under the cloud journaling spot and cut apart one of the Sassafrass
playing cards for the word one.



Last,this page was just cardstock with some cutouts from the Sassafras papers in the kit. I crunched up the paper to make lines for my title. I stamped the numbers and made a list of my son right now(in the picture that is) That picture is him reading a book he had just opened at his 1st birthday. He really did choose books over balls back then. I think he still might lean towards reading especially since his sister is crazy about it right now.






Check out the rest of the gallery soon and get in line for this kit!

one more sneak...

Just to tease you a little here is one more sneak of my projects for the November kit at Freehand Scraps....this is definitely a kit you will want to get in line for...it will be going fast. I am in the middle of an October blizzard right now. School was cancelled for the past 2 days and we are digging out but the sun is coming. Hope you are staying warm!

Sneak Peeks......

I have been busy working with the Cutest {with a capital "C"} kit from Freehand Scraps set to be released later this week on Nov. 1st. You will not want to miss this one...talk amongst the designers is that this is their favorite kit of ALL TIME-some even wanting to marry it?! Anyway, how is it possible that we are sneaking up on November. This month has flown by. I have already begun the thoughts and plans for the holiday in December-I don't actually want to mention it yet because for goodness sake it is still only October. I received a planner last year for that holiday and I already broke it out to start making some headway using it. Hopefully it will help me to be more organized during this busy season. I have already bought and wrapped a couple of gifts that were such good buys -75% off-that I just couldn't resist. Enought rambling and to the sneaks....

You at 3.....

interested in tools and building projects. Carefully studies the directions on putting things together and says "Step 1 build a car, step 1 build a choo choo train, step 1 build a hawicopter" Watches the men closely that have done work on the homes we are fixing.

in love with your big sister...just prayed today at lunch for Jesus to bring home "his Halle" soon so they could play. They really do play together and most of the time are best of friends. You really are missing her now that she is in school 5full days a week.

loves cars and all that goes along with them...especially Lightning McQueen and Mater.

loves to read books and some of his favorites right now are Daniel and the Lion's Den, Lift the Flap Bible-especially the stories that include animals. Brown bear, Brown Bear what do you see? and Polar bear, Polar Bear what do you hear? Watch out for Mater, Pajama Time.

Is "ALL BOY" and full speed ahead at all times.

Is inconsistent lately with his afternoon napping. Some days he will still take a 3 hour nap and others he just talks and lays in his crib for 2 hours. Will be moving to a toddler bed soon! (I am in the process of painting it)

Seems to always have a terrific smile on his face...but does not hide his emotions and if he is upset he will definitely let you know. You have a great disposition!

Still enamored with trains and we have been doing lots of setting up and taking down of your train tracks lately.

Favorite animal is the elephant and you have been playing with any toy related to that for months. You and Halle and I always play like we are elephants around the house and march to the Jungle Book elephant song.

Loves to pray anytime of the day and always starts with Thank You Lord Jesus for....and then you list all that you are concerned about or thankful for. PRECIOUS!

Mommy is still your favorite person and that is just fine with me!

You are quite tall and thin now....with size 8ish feet EXTRA WIDE and wearing 3T clothes for about the last 6 months. You are very healthy and have not had one trip to the doctor or hospital in your little life other than for your well-child checkups.

Caleb, you are a wonderful blessing and the sweetest little person! It is fun watching you change and grow and develop into a little boy....although I wish it could slow up just a bit...it is happening so fast.

Arbor Drive....

As promised here is a closer look at my October gallery....
This layout was to document my little boys use of his left hand. I had some cute pictures of him from one of the many days he sits at the table and colors or scribbles. I am left handed so it is fun to see your kids figure out which hand they will use and discovering how best to do things. The journaling reads: You have always been able to do many things with both of your hands, however, everything seems to be done more naturally with your left. It makes perfect sense to me since I am left handed, but either way, we are so proud of you! I used the packaging from the Prima "be" letters and backed his photo with it and tied some of the ribbon through for some texture and interest. The chipboard houses were inked on the edges but I like the look of them raw without paint or paper covering on this layout.




This layout is pretty self explanatory as it is one for my daughters baby book. I cut leaves out of the cosmo cricket paper for the tulle flower which, my daughter was thrilled that it found a place on a layout for her book. I also used the packaging from the lily bee flower on the left of the photo, and I think I used the tree ribbon on each and every layout-so versatile.


This layout was actually inspired by the Darling "be" letters from prima...I heard the words to this song on the radio and knew they would be fun on a layout for my kids. I like to scrapbook advice to my kids from time to time or encouragement....I cut the heart from some of the pink felt and attached it onto one of the tree toppers from American Crafts and then it was all mounted on a Cosmo Cricket journaling block. The "strong" letters were hand cut from the Cosmo Cricket paper, and a button stitched on top of the "o".



I have had these pictures from the pumpkin patch for 5 years...it was time to get them into our albums. The tree was embellished with a some of the printed papers behind them cut in circles to make the tree a bit bulkier. I had to use more buttons on this one as well. Can't get enough of them! The journaling was printed on vellum and attached to the Cosmo Cricket chipboard journaling block.



This last layout was the first one I laid out because of the great fabric included in this kit and it was the last one completed. I simply adhered the fabric as my background and the rest came together easily with paper strips, more buttons, and a few staples. Another reason this kit was very easy to work with--lots of fun embellishments....buttons....PAPER....great for fall pages, baby pages, and any other reason or celebration to scrapbook.


Check out the rest of the DT Gallery now and be inspired! As for the other project that I thought I might finish and share...that will have to wait as I am still putting on the finishing touches. I will hope to share it next week! Have a wonderful weekend!