Fall traditions

I read an email a few days ago by a gal I swap ATCs with who lives in Australia. She commented that it's strange to her that our culture is so driven by the change in seasons. It got me thinking...she's right! I get so antsy at the end of each season, ready for the next one. I can't imagine living somewhere without those expected changes. It gives me something to look forward to, otherwise I think I'd be crazy!

So here's a layout using my friend Audra's brand new kit, Urban Flowers, available at DigiScrapShak. Audra is a new designer, but her stuff certainly doesn't look like "new" material...be sure to check her out!

Fonts: Trebuchet MS (journaling), Adler (title)

Now just as I'm saying that I like the change of seasons, I'm not so thrilled about the weather right now. The girls had to miss out on our school's "Trick or Trunk" last night due to 43 degree rain...yuck! All wasn't lost, though. We took the girls to the Y for family night so Rob could see them in action, doing their gymnastics. I got in on the fun too, and tried out the trampoline and foam pit. Let's just say that being 34, overweight and having gone through childbirth...well, those things aren't conducive to gymnastic ability!!

Rob and I are hoping to go to Cedar Point tomorrow for the afternoon, since it's the last day of the season. Once again we are hoping for good weather.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Rockin' Recipes!

I just released a new template for making recipes! It's 8.5x11 so you can put your recipes in plasic sheet protectors and right into a 3 ring binder...how easy is that? I'm really excited about it.

I'm making DH a family recipe book for Christmas (shhh...don't tell him!) and I knew I'd have to create a fast way to do it, so I figured why not throw it into the store to do how it does? Let me know what you think!

[IMG]http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a136/ohiotubagal/1%20Hour%20Scrap%20Products/mlg_0610_RockinRecipes_TemplateSet_.jpg[/IMG]


This is going to be a busy weekend. Tonight we are going to church for the annual spaghetti supper, then I get to go scrapping with a good friend of mine. It's a paper crop, and I think I'll take along the ATC's I haven't started yet for the swap I'm in at Digital Art Quirks. The theme this time is fall, and I have to make 11 cards! Yikes! I better get moving!

Tomorrow Mom and I are going to a breakfast at her church and we'll be hearing my friend speak about nutrition. Should be interesting. And after that, maybe a trip to Cedar Point, an amusement park about an hour from here, for one last chance before they close for winter. We are all going to be pooped!

Sunday is church, then a Halloween party at my grandma's place (she lives in a retirement community). Can you imagine...a bunch of elderly people surrounded by kids full of sugar? Good thing it's only 2 hours!

Signing off now to get out of the house for a while...cabin fever!! Have a great one!

A fun new kit!

~~Scrappin' Fun~~

Amy Knepper has been at it again and she's got a fabulous new kit! Leaps and Bounds is her newest creation and I couldn't wait to play with it!

Credits: Leaps and Bounds by Amy Knepper, available at Scrapdish; Heart template and stitching by
Christina Bartholomew; Font: EscapeTypewriterC

Grab Amy's kit here: Papers Elements

~~Fabulous Fall~~

We had the best weekend, full of fun fall activities. Saturday we drove out to our favorite apple orchard and picked apple with Rob's parents. It's about an hour drive, but it's always worth it to get out into the country and see the beautiful colors. We picked two bushels of apples and bought some fresh apple cider - yum! We also got to check out the farm's llamma, goat and chickens. After lunch at Wendy's (where I totally at a burger and fries...can we say mega points??) we headed back. The girls we soooooo well behaved the whole time. 4 is so much better than 3!!

Sunday we did Sunday School, church, lunch out and then picked our own pumpkins at a local mini-farm. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera for that excursion. The girls were so delighted in run around the fields, checking out the pumpkins, gourds, peppers, tomatoes, etc. And of course they had their church clothes/shoes on! Yikes! They even had a FREE straw maze inside their greenhouse. Fun stuff.

After a drive through the country we stopped for ice cream (DQ Blizzard - 17 points!!!) and then watched football the rest of the afternoon. Doesn't get much better than that. :-)

Okay, getting back to doing some princess puzzles now...LOL!

Bad Blogger!

AACK! It's been 10 days since I've blogged!

~~Gettin' Healthy~~

So...lots of stuff has been going on. The most exciting thing is that WW is going really well, and I'm down a total of 9.4 pounds!!! Yipeeeee!!! That's just a month. Now, I know it won't go that fast next month but it's a great motivator to keep going.

I'm re-training myself about portion sizes, exercise, the whole bit. You know, things like...don't pick a chocolate chip scone for dessert while at your nearby coffee shop, as it's 14 points!!! (that's for you, Dawn and Jeanmarie, since you know WW) (600+ calories, 30g of fat...yikes!). I found this out the hard way last night. I was out having "alone time" after Bible Study at a new coffee shop that has FREE WIFI. I had already bought the darn thing and taken a bite before I looked up its nutrion info. AACK! But, I ate it anyway (that's what those extra weekly points are for, right?). The good thing is...I went to the Y afterwards and walked on the treadmill for 40 minutes. A little damage control...

On a healthy note, here are a couple of layouts I've done for the Healthy Chicks Challenge at The Digi Chick:

Credits: LO based on a sketch at Scrap-Maps; Papers by Robin Cabana, from her Colorfully Yours collection, available at SBB; Wooden Alpha by Jeannie Papai, available at Digital Freebies; Flower by Jen Wilson

Credits: Rusty Flowers by Jeannie Papai, available at Digital Freebies; Date Stamp by Gayle Richter; Font: ChinaCat; Based on a sketch at Scrap-Maps

I enjoyed scrapping these because 7x5 is a different size for me, and it's nice to have a change once in a while.

Just one more nutrition factoid: did you know that a half rack of baby back ribs has 1110 calories, 60+ grams of fat and 11 grams of fiber? That's 26 WW points...the same amount I get for a whole DAY!!! I know this because we are going out to a rib place tomorrow night for my dad's birthday and I'm trying to be proactive. Hmmm...think I'll be ordering a chicken sandwich instead!

~~Gettin' Stressed~~

The holiday planning stress has started early this year. We are trying to get the extended family together the week after Christmas and let me tell you, it's not easy. Oh, the drama! I sooooo wish the holidays weren't like this. I love living near family most of the time, but sometimes it seems easier NOT to! Things are pretty easy with my parents and in-laws...it's the cousins that make it difficult. You know, people not wanting to drive a hour because it's too far and the kids get cranky. HELLOOOOO!!!!! It's Christmas, and kids gets cranky!!!! I could go on and on...but I will restrain myself. :-)

~~Gettin' Organized~~

After reading about the cool photo organizing program called ACDSee, I just HAD to download it and try it out. I've kept my scrapping stuff fairly organized, but oh my, this just takes it to a WHOLE new level! I think I could spend more time organizing all my stuff than actually scrapping. Yikes!


Okay, I better sign off now. Gymnastics tomorrow for the girls, and I think I'll workout while they are in class. Happy weekend!

Princess for a day

It's okay to "just be"
I had a bit of an epiphone the other day. You see, lately I've been having an identity crisis about being a SAHM and trying to decide if I should go get a part time job. But then, as usual, God stepped and gently smacked me in the head and said "get a grip"!

I have remembered the importance of being available to people. To listen, to help, to just be. Last week, our dear friends and neighbors lost their FIL. Since my girls are in school now and I'm not working, I was available to go to the funeral and lunch afterward. I was so grateful to be able to spend that time with them when most people didn't have that luxury.

Today I took my girls to a princess party. I couldn't have done that if I was working. Tomorrow, I am going to volunteer at their school to help the new choir director with sorting/organizing music. Once again, I can do these things because I have the time.

It's so easy to get caught up in getting a paycheck and doing some type of seemingly "important" work, but in terms of eternity, will that really matter? I want to look back on my life and know that I was a good wife, a good mom, a good friend, a good daughter...etc. And you know what? In order to be all of those things, it takes TIME.

'Nough said.


Princess Party
I know you are dying of curiousity about this princess party. So here is the layout I did this evening to record the event:

I blocked out the faces/names of the other little girls at the party...just to be respectful of their privacy. See all the credits here.

Melinda is doing a cool AAM challenge at RAKScraps - create an mini album about your favorite things. Here are the first two I've done:

Credits here

Credits here

Oh I have so much more to say but I really should get to bed, as it's 2:12 am. 'Nite!