Quick post

I've been working this afternoon with Pineapple Plantation Designs and Misty Cato's Garden District and I LOVE it. The colors are perfect and everything goes together so well. Isn't it just the cutest kit?



Go check out my friend, Li's blog. She has a freebie template on there that I used on this first page.



I have so much around the house that needs to be done. I still have birthday mess in my house. I need to pay some bills too, which I hate. I also need to go to the grocery store. I don't want to because it's rainy and gross out, but the dogs need food and I probably should feed them. I've got two hours to make it look like I did something productive today. hehe.

Pain in the exraction.

I finally finished my round 3 submission, which was extractions. I've extracted simple things before, but never something with this much detail. It was a pain, I didn't mind doing it, but the perfectionist that is hidden deep inside me isn't 100% happy with it. Maybe it's just because I know every single little flaw and that it's not exactly like the original. It's done though. One more thing to cross of my list. I've learned tons from this contest so far.



We celebrated Andrew's birthday on Saturday. It went alright. We had beautiful weather and he got lots of goodies. Randy offered to let my mom take him home to spend the night so it was one less kid for me to care for that evening. It took all of Sunday for me to recover though.


Here's Andrew waving bye before leaving for grandma's house.


Here's pretty little Allison actually looking and smiling at the camera.

That's it for now. It's early for us, 7:56 a.m., and Allison's already awake, usually the kiddos don't wake up until 9:30. It's rainy and gross outside and is looking to be a perfect day for cuddling up on the couch and watching movies.

I made it to round 3!!

If you're following along with me, I'm so happy that I made it to round three of the Funky Playground design contest!! Thanks to everyone who left me some love on my first two entries. It makes me all warm inside that you all have made the effort to leave a comment. Thank you.

I'm also excited that Erica Zane, you know THE Erica Zane, asked me to be on her creative team. I've been using her stuff since I discovered her at ScrapMatters in October and would like to say that I've been a loyal customer. I love her mix of realistic elements and textured papers. Everything she designs is so touchable and real. She has teamed up with Mari Koegelenberg on Tropical Escape AND it's 20% off today!!

I love the colors in this, but unfortunately, have no tropical-ish pictures. We haven't left Indiana since we've had the kids. Oh, wait, we did go to Ohio. lol. I did however make this layout of Allison. Halfway through this, I realized that my Eat Your Peas would've been perfect for these pictures, but I like where this was going.

Here are a couple more pages using some of Erica's goodies

Here's another page that I made using Megan Turnidge's Little Pixie kit. It's just a sweet little kit.

I really should be cleaning the house. We're having Andrew's part this Saturday and I haven't done anything for it. Randy told me he has to work that day until 1, and I've been telling people to come at noon. I'm scared to get to into cleaning since it's going to be destroyed by the kiddos in the next two days, but it has to be done.

Andrew decided not to nap today and is sitting on my lap playing with my jewelry. I did get a new computer for my birthday and it was delivered yesterday. We still haven't bought a moniter yet so I can't really use it. Randy hooked our current moniter up to it last night to get everything going, but I made him hook it back up to the old computer since all my programs, pictures and scrap stuff is on this one. I really need to get everything moved to the EHD and get my programs installed on my new one. I have such a sweet husband.

I've been scrapping.

I spent my free evening last night scrapping. Overall, the night was fine, but I couldn't fall asleep and then the dogs woke me up this morning. My kids survived their first sleepover at grandma's. They were extremely tired all day and Allison sounded a little hoarse as if she'd been screaming all night, but they are fine.

I used Amanda Heimann and Eva Kipler's I Sea kit for this page. I won a gift card on Amanda's blog last week and bought it. I really love it. It has lots of scrapping goodies inside. This is also a template challenge at ScrapMatters.




SherrieJD and Tangie Baxtor have put together Make Merry. It has a TON of stuff in it. So many possibilities. I scrapped a page of myself with it.




I bought Megan Turnidges new Little Pixie kit at Scrap Matters. It's the cutest little kit and I love how there's no pink in it!



I used Color Me Happy from Matahati Designs for this page. It's really a versatile kit. I see myself using it again real soon.





It felt nice to spend some time scrapping again. I'm waiting for Allison to wake for her midnight feeding then I'm off to bed. It's been a really long weekend. I'm ready to get back to the regular schedule again, but when I wake up tomorrow, I'll be 27. eek. I remember not being able to wait to turn 18 and 21, then when I finally did turn 21 the years have seriously just flown by. Where did the last 6 years go?

My round two submission is up!

Okay everyone, I've posted my round two submission over at Funky Playground! I'm really happy with the way this came out and really had to make myself stop working on it. I could've made a ginormous kit with this theme, but the challenge was only 3 patterns, 1 solid, 6 elements and an alpha. I'm thinking I'm going to have to make some add ons now to coordinate. The inspiration from this kit came from my kids and their love to eat. I've had the highchair out for almost two years now. I'm so ready to put it in storage, but miss Allison will be in it for a while. Andrew has always been a good eater and until recently would eat anything you put in front of him. Allison will eat anything but pineapple and green beans.

Image is linked to Funky Playground. You must be registered in their gallery to view.

I've even scrapped a two pager which is rare for me. Here's Andrew at seven months eating chunky baby food. My childhood nickname was messy marvin for obvious reasons. It's still fits me now which is kind of sad. I've also passed on this nickname to Andrew. It fits him well too.

In other news, tonight is the first time I have ever been at home without kids. I really don't know what to do with myself. We dropped them off at my mom's so we could go out to dinner and go grocery shopping and she asked if she could keep them and I said yes. I'm worried sick and I know they are with my mom and I trust her, but the only times Andrew has been away from me overnight was the two nights after I had Allison when we were in the hospital and the two nights Allison spent at Riley Children's Hospital in September. She has never been away from me. This will be the first night in two years that I haven't had a kid in my bed!! How will I sleep without being kicked in the stomach, poked in my eye or pulling on my face??? R already went to bed and I am getting uninterrupted computer time. I may just scrap a page.

so...........

I made it to round two!! Yay! I'm trying to get the next challenge done before this weekend, but I'm just not feeling it. I started working on a coordinating boy kit for the April Skies, but had to put it on hold until I complete this challenge. I've been so consumed in designing that I haven't done much else online. I would really like to get a couple of pages scrapped just for the fun of it. I sold some things on eBay this week and have some extra money and splurged on a couple of kits. I figure it's an early birthday present to me. (the 13th)

The kids have been driving me crazy the last couple of days. Actually, it's been all about Allison for the last two weeks. Let's see, she fell out of bed (mine) and fortunately fell on top of a pillow and not the hardwood floor, this told me it was time to buy another crib and have her start sleeping in it. She learned to sit totally unsupported. She started initiating peek a boo, clapping and waving. When on her tummy she now "swims", she's so close to crawling now. Andrew didn't crawl until he was about a year old. She started eating somewhat solid foods. She hasn't been able to tolerate chunky baby foods until now. Andrew was eating table foods at 7 m/o. Oh, she's also mastered going fowards in the walker. My little baby girls growing up. I can't believe she'll be one in a couple of months.

Andrew's just being Andrew. I don't know how the kid can put away so much food. I swear I spend half the day feeding him. He's constantly going to the cabinets and fridge for food. I'll show him something and he'll shake his head no over and over. I'm running out of things to feed the kid. He's also started running. It's the cutest thing to see a toddler all wobbly trying to run. I'm just afraid he's going to fall face first into the floor. I guess it's better than concrete, right?

With Easter being this weekend, I hope I can find some computer time away from the family. I've done told R that I want some time to "work" on the computer without anyone bothering me. Being the loving and supportive husband he is, he told me that that could be my birthday present. Men. They just don't get it. He's actually been talking about getting me a computer, maybe I'll get one this weekend. {fingers crossed}

That's it from me. I'm tired and have been staring at this screen for way too long. Have a good weekend!

Check out my mini!

Here is my first round submission in Funky Playground Designs Capture the Flag design contest. I'm really proud of myself! I really pushed myself with this one and am quite pleased on how it came out! You'll have to go to Funky Playground's gallery to get it. I've even scrapped not one, but two pages with it!

(image is linked to Funky Playground gallery)


Here's the two pages I did, I've used the fonts Brady Bunch remastered and Pea Aimee on both.




There are several other minis already available there as well. Make sure you check them all out.

Making over the blog

Please bear with me if you see this page undone. I'm trying to figure out how to customize my blog with Haynay Designs new line of blogwear at ScrapMatters.

World Autism Awareness Day

There are many diseases and medical conditions that I've found interest in whether though people I know or just by my fascination to learn more about the human body. I don't think any of them are more close to me right now than autism. My oldest stepdaughter is autistic and was diagnosed around age 3. She is now 9 years old and has made leaps and bounds from where she once was. I don't have her everyday, but it's a condition that everyone in your family has to adjust to. We have to enter her world to help her interact in ours.

Here are the early signs to watch for from www.autismspeaks.org

Watch for the Red Flags of Autism

(The following red flags may indicate a child is at risk for atypical development, and is in need of an immediate evaluation.)

In clinical terms, there are a few “absolute indicators,” often referred to as “red flags,” that indicate that a child should be evaluated. For a parent, these are the “red flags” that your child should be screened to ensure that he/she is on the right developmental path. If your baby shows any of these signs, please ask your pediatrician or family practitioner for an immediate evaluation:

• No big smiles or other warm, joyful expressions by six months or thereafter

• No back-and-forth sharing of sounds, smiles, or other facial expressions by nine months or thereafter

• No babbling by 12 months

• No back-and-forth gestures, such as pointing, showing, reaching, or waving by 12 months

• No words by 16 months

• No two-word meaningful phrases (without imitating or repeating) by 24 months

• Any loss of speech or babbling or social skills at any age

*This information has been provided by First Signs, Inc. ©2001-2005. Reprinted with permission. For more information about recognizing the early signs of developmental and behavioral disorders, please visit http://www.firstsigns.org or the Centers for Disease Control at www.cdc.gov/actearly.

I don't want to go into too many details about her with you all since most of you are really strangers to me and she isn't technically my child, but do any of you know someone with autism? What other causes or conditions are you passionate about?

Happy Birthday Scrap Orchard!!! (and other ramblings)

Today Scrap Orchard turned 1!! They are having a HUGE sale to celebrate.

In other news, I have entered the design contest at Funky Playground Designs and have really got going on a little kit that I'm really quite proud of. It's due by the 6th and I will let you know when it's available. I'm so excited and nervous.