My scrapbooks

So, Monday I had seen on numerous forums out there the questions about 8 x 8 scrapbooks. One of the forums was a question by Lynette. She was looking for a good 8 x 8. It got me thinking - I should tell people what I like to do for my scrapbooks. I buy these albums in 8 x 8 for my girls main albums. Then to dress them up I wrap a ribbon of choice around the cover and tie in the front. I also attach these little metal self-adhesive letters for the monogram. This personalizes the book and keeps it nice and classy I think. These albums are only $14.99 too - which I think is a pretty good page. I guess by time I doll them up I have $20 into them. Still not bad. I have never been into the opening on the front for a picture personally so when I found these books I went with them. They work great for me. Braelyn is on her second and Selah still on first book. The girls have other albums too (like the Baby Daze Album), and also our family album - which leads me to the second forum question. There was a gal looking for an 8 x 8 three ring bound album. I happen to have a two ring bound album in 8 x 8 that I thought she might be interested in. It has a family theme on the outside. It is made by Leisure Arts and it is called the Memories in the Making collection. I cannot find it online though unfortunately. For those that are local I buy them at our LSS in Jenison - Pages in Time. They have such an array of books! Here are a few pictures of my albums just for those who want to see what my LO's go into. I currently have 50+ LO's to print - I am waiting for another sale thru ScrapbookPictures. Last time they had a .99 8 x 8 printed LO deal I think I had like 100+ printed. I need one of those sales again b/c I have found that they are the best at printing my LO's!

(BTW - I just bought the next babies album b/c I do up a page for visitors to sign right at the hospital, and I even picked out the initials that I think we will go with!!! How daring is that?! It's almost like my mind is made up!!!)

So tonight I am doing family salon night and then tomorrow morning we leave bright and early to head down to Indiana for Shipshewana - a flea market! I love going once a summer at least. I hope tomorrow is not sweltering hot or it might be a quick shopping day. I will be packing lots of water and ice cold wash clothes! I am going with the two girls and my mom!

Talk at you later folks!

MandaKay

Short One Today

Hubby got home safe yesterday and we were all glad to see him! He called me this morning from work and said "I hope you can have this baby on a weekend", and of course I ask why. He said he was just given two more projects to run and they are two hours away - so travel time alone in a day is 4 hours. So late nights and early mornings - busy busy for him. I have so much anxiety over it b/c I feel like a single mother - LOL. Add on the fact that I work part time - our poor girls. All is good though - we get to spend all next weekend together up at a cottage with friends - good family time.

Just wanted to spotlight a couple blogs just in case you haven't scoped them out yet. Very inspirational!

Shabby Miss Jenn Designs Blog - fabulous LO's spotlighting her designs!

The-Lilypad Blog - Monday morning challenges and Fri. morning new product spotlights!

Back to work for me, hope you all have a phenomenal day!

I found it...

My scrapping mojo that is. I finished up the two LO's I was working on and even went on to do another. They are NOTHING spectacular, but they are done. They say what they need to say and that is what matters in life and in my scrapping theory. So hopefully I can keep it up, although this coming week will be busy again with work and a salon night at home, and then getting ready for Labor Day weekend! So without further ado...here are the LO's I had such a hard time with.

And here is the LO that I started and finished on Sat. I had to get everything done that I wanted to on Sat. b/c Kyle is back and I just don't get as much guilt free scrap time!

Well, Selah is snug in the babies room crib, and Braelyn WAS tucked into her bed and called me and asked to sleep with me - we'll see how that goes. She seems to have something against her new bed. I hope it will be fine once Kyle gets back. I have been falling asleep here at my computer so I am heading to bed. Happy Sunday everyone!

Where did it go?

My scrapping mojo? Where did it run off to. I have two LO's half done and I cannot for the life of me finish them. Why do things like that happen when I have all the time in the world to scrap with no hubby around. And believe me - it is NOT for lack of GREAT supplies - I mean honestly - I have FABULOUS stuff to work with. I think that may be part of my problem - I am a bit intimidated by some of the great stuff I have. The other thing is, is that the two LO's require a fair amount of journaling - to tell a story so that is rough for me - I am not a good writer. So today (last day without hubby) I will make myself finish up those LO's so that I can move on to others!

Last night's girls night was great! I got NOTHING done, but it was so nice to hang out with some great girls and chat and laugh and have yummy food. The night always goes so quickly. I think around 12:30am we wrapped it up. So - the girls went to bed great last night and then NOT good in the middle of the night. I am not sure what is going on. I was so irate and crabby. It started around 3:15am when Braelyn came into my room. No big deal at that point. I figured I would let her sleep with me since I didn't really mind the company. Problem is she did not fall back asleep, therefore keeping me awake. I brought her back to her room after making her go potty. Just when I start falling back asleep I hear both girls crying. Ugh. Up I get again and calm them down - warning Braelyn not to wake Selah up when she is awake. Repeat that last step - I hear crying again when I njust start falling back to sleep. Braelyn is in the bathroom (which I am sure was just to pass time for her b/c I just had her go at 3:30am), and Selah is awake. Now it is 4:15am and Selah is chatting away - this carried on until at least 5:00am - when I stopped looking at the clock. So that is not the worst of it. I have a monitor in their room so this morning at 7:11am I hear Braelyn say "wake up Selah, Wake up". Now I am ready to lose it. I am the roll of mother and father and it is wearing on me - and to make matters worse now I am working on lack of sleep. I probably got 4 hours last night. Not enough for a crabby pregnant woman. So my morning started with a LONG time out for Braelyn and an early start. Selah is about ready to go back down for her morning nap and I am half tempted to put Braelyn down to. Problem is then I don't think she will take much of an afternoon nap. She is "grounded" from cartoons this morning too. I am probably being a bit harsh, but at minimum she could have just come out of the room and let Selah keep sleeping. So needless to say today and tonight the girls will NOT be sharing a room. They will sleep seperately for MY sanity. So I thought the sleeping together was going good, but I am getting ever more frustrated. We will see how it goes with Kyle back home I guess.

Today I have NOTHING planned. A load of laundry, some more cleaning here and there, and just hanging out. It is pretty wet and dreary out this morning yet and I am sure I will be taking a nap when the kids do. A good day for that I think. I spent too much money already this weekend so I figure I have to stay in b/c doing anything outside of the home will require money.

So there is my re-cap and my day plans. If anyone has an urge to scrap or finish a LO for me feel free to email me - LOL! J/K!

Have a great Sat.!

Mama went a shopping!

So what happens when the hubby goes away??? Mama goes a shopping. I am NOT a shopper. I don't really enjoy it unless I have a TON of extra money floating around. It actually generally stresses me out, but I had a coupon to Old Navy for $10 off a $75 purchase. It expired today and I had a whole virtual shopping cart filled at work - just over $75. Problem is I get cheap and I think "why pay $5 for shipping when I can go to the store, see and feel the clothes, and save the $5. So that is what I did. Instant gratification too. Problem with that, is that when you shop online you can see a running tab and I think I had like $90 total by time I used the coupon and it added the shipping and tax, and at the store you are just tossing things into the cart - paying NO attention to proces. Needles to say I spent quite a bit more b/c I decided to buy it at the store.

First picture is an outfit that Braelyn and Selah each got - matching. Next outfit is Braelyn's - something for church and school. Third picture is Selah's skirt - church. And the fourth pic is Braelyn's camo pants and Selah got the matching green. So I ended up with 4 pairs of pants, two skirts, two tights, two little tees and the little sweater vest for Braelyn. I think that is pretty good for under $150. Good fall wardrobe. Kyle will be happy with the camo pants so that is how I will justify it all to him. :)

TGIF - thank goodness it is Fri. tomorrow. I say it every Fri. - but truly mean it. I LOVE Fri. because I have Fri., Sat., and Sunday off! No real schedule to follow - other than the usuals. Tomorrow I am taking the girls after Selah's morning nap to Jenison to our local scrapbook store to get some paper and embellies. What for - you may ask??? Well since we redid the rooms I need to get the girls' names done for the wall. We have had Braelyn's - so hers will just get moved. Her's hang on the wall by ribbons on pegs - in the CurlyMT font so we just need to move hers over to the new room. For Selah I got the wooden letters from Oriental Trading Company (can't find them now online - sorry). Anyway - they are basic white letters and I am going to paste paper on and add ribbons and embellies. I hope they turn out. So hers will set on a shelf in the room. Then I need to just order the new babies once we are for sure set on the name. I totally am set on what I want it to be - and I THINK Kyle is too - we just don't really talk about it much. But I would like to get them ordered soon anyway. So I have a list of things to get from the scrapbook store - including the new baby's album b/c I make a scrapbook page for people that come to visit can sign - so I need to have that all ready to go. Then I am going to lunch at FAZOLI's!!! So excited about that - I LOVE fazoli's as do the girls. If anyone wants to join me - call me in AM!

Hope you all have a great weekend planned and I am sure I will check back in this weekend!

LO's and pics

First things first! I have a GREAT big FIRST birthday to shout out! HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHABBY MISS JENN DESIGNS!!! Shabby Miss Jenn opened up shop one year ago! Jenn created 3 new kits - one of them being Scrumptious Strawberry - which I chose to use for this LO of Selah sneaking cantaloup during a family prayer at an outdoor party. Along with these three new kits - she has her first original three kits on sale for $2 each. And to add to that, if you make ANY purchase from the store you get a GREAT Creative Team Freebie. This part in and of itself is amazing. Shabby Miss Jenn let any of us make quickpages or use any of her products to make things for the freebie. There are quickpages, word art, cards, templates, a quickpage album, etc... - AMAZING! So don't hesitate to A. wish SMJD a Happy Birthday, and B. Go get a good deal at her store!

Here is a LO I did for the blog challenge at The-Lilypad. The challenge is to use Amy Martin's new Rubber Band shapes in a LO - how EASY is that - I mean these rubber band shapes are great and easy to use! It was great to do a boy LO too. My brother-in-law sent this picture by email along with the story of how my nephew got the big ole bruiser and needed stitches. Used Natalie's new Denim and Dirt kit - her first full kit too - seriously - she better do more!

Went to the fair tonight - so fun! I got a few pics I can share!

The classic Dumbo ride. Selah's first fair ride ever!!! She liked it! Braelyn was a good big sister on the ride!

Kyle and the girls on the ferris wheel. I was going to go in one "car" with Selah and Kyle in one with Braelyn until we got to the stairs to get on and the guy said I could not go on b/c of pregnancy. I was a little bummed. Kyle just took both girls - again - they LOVED it!

Me and Selah on the Carousel - the one ride I got to go on!

The girls each got 5 free tickets from their summer reading program and each ride was only one ticket so they each got to go on 5 rides - which was plenty for them and for mom and dad! They did the dumbo ride, the ferris wheel, circus train ride, carousal, and fun house. We got cotton candy and popcorn as dessert. Dinner was a hot dog for the girls, pizza for Kyle and I, and fries for us all! Yummy! It was a fun family night!

OK - it's late - I am going to bed. Kyle went to bed about 1/2 hr. ago and we RARELY go to bed at different times, but I had LO's to post and a blog post to get done!!! Work again tomorrow.

Have a great Wed. everyone!

Accomplishment!!!

First off - thank you all again for your support and words of encouragement after my last post. Amazingly since then I have felt much better again - so I think just journaling it helped! Sorry you all had to be my sounding board.

So we have accomplished our task for the weekend! Here is a picture of Braelyn and Selah's new room. The room got extremely small once we had the bunk bed set up, but it works nonetheless. I love how the two colors turned out. One is called Mellow Coral and the other is Iris Pink (which is really a light purple). My brother in law Brian came and helped me as did my sister-in-law Nina - super nice of both of them! Kyle pretty much just tried to keep the kids out of our way. We had the room done by about 1:00 and then it was CLEAN UP time. There was a ton of cleaning to be done so we put the kids to bed and went at it. I cleaned my wood floors too which is nice to have done - but man is it a TON of work!

This is the room - I tried to get a shot with both walls - the coral wall is the only wall we did that color - all other walls are the purple. We still have some stuff to hang yet - but mainly done! Notice the crib in the bottom bunk part - that is Selah's bed - poor girl. Should only be for a few months, then we will get her a mattress and she will be more comfy - I just can't move a 19 month old over to a big bed yet. We had gotten this double bunkbed for Braelyn's big girl bed, knowing one day her and Selah would share a room. Didn't anticipate it this early, but it's kind of fun. I hope they sleep well - it's probably good that they can't see eachother - they can talk, but that will get boring with not being able to actually make eye to eye contact. The double bed (mainly letting Kimmy know) is from Kidz Roomz - over on Alpine in G.R. - it was only like $900 and it is two double size beds - so more bang for your buck - they had it in different colors but we got black. You do not need to set it up as bunks either - so some day they will each have their own double size bed - for life!!! The quality is VERY good according to Kyle (who should know seeing he is a builder). It was not fun to put it all together, but we did it all today while the kids napped.

Here is Braelyn already up there playing on it. She seems excited to have an actual room - like a decorated room with a bunk. Selah didn't seem too impressed - although she did like being up on the bunk - but we will discourage that!

Close up of "B" playing up on her bed - with her "Barrel of Monkeys" - do you all remember those??? Great stuff. Her bedding is all different colors, but I picked the coral (which is the color of her sheets) and the purple (the color of her blanket).

And now the nursery is now set up as the nursery again. I actually feel more ready now - more excited. I even have the diaper stacker filled with new little baby diapers - so tiny and cute!



So our weekend was good - Saturday night, after a long days work, Kyle's mom offered to have our kids for the evening while we went out. I can't tell you how awesome it was for her to call us and ask us if she can have them - usually it is the other way around and then you feel guilty for asking. It was so needed for us at that point and it was a great night out. We went to Beltline Bar in Grand Rapids b/c we had never been there before and Kyle wanted to try it. It is a mexican cafe - we each had a wet burrito - very good. We even finished off dinner with a big bowl of Mexican Fried ice cream - YUMMO!!! We NEVER get dessert at dinner time so it was a true treat. We had great conversation and talked about a lot of things that we just haven't had time to talk about. I love going out with other people, but there is something great about just going out together - us two - best friends. Afterwards we went to Gander Mountain - which is a hunting/fishing store for those not from Michigan - I think there are a couple of them in Michigan. Kyle needed a tackle box for his "spoon" lures???!!! All in all a great night.



Sunday - just church, a great lunch at Mom's, and then naps and room arranging. Little more cleaning, dinner, and then movie night for me and Kyle. Flags of our Father is what we watched. I fell asleep - which tells you a little right there. I generally like war movies, but this one didn't hold my interest. Although it is a good story about the picture of the men raising the flag at Iwo Jima.



Work today and a pretty normal standard week this week. I think Tue night if it is not raining we will head out to the fair in the next town - about 15 minutes away. It is kids day and we can get 5 free tickets for rides per kid b/c of the book program they went thru at our library.

Hope you all have a good start to your week!