~Random Kiddie Stuff~

Let me start by introducing you to one of our elementary schools yearly traditions. Every November, all students are sent home with a brown construction paper with a "turkey" outline traced. It's a family project to "dress" the turkey to help disguise it to get out of town before Thanksgiving. EVERY grade participates in this and it is so neat to see the creative results. As the turkeys are finished at home and start to trickle in, teachers post them outside their classrooms and pretty soon the entire school hallways are filled to the brim with fully dressed turkeys!

Kyle has done two turkeys so far and Joshua has always helped with the projects. Since Joshua started a new Pre-K program at the elementary school this year, he gets to participate with his own creation!

Joshua chose to do a Christmas Tree Turkey. We used green Floam.....ick!!! That stuff is so gross! Even Joshua said, "Eeeeww, mommy this stuff is gross!" and promptly went to the sink to wash his hands. So yes.....I had to finish spreading the "gross" floam myself! He decorated his "tree" with beads from our craft bin. And strung jingle bells on pipe cleaners for "garland". The presents I cut out of construction paper and he made "ribbons" using markers all by himself. He made the hat to top the turkey all by himself! I cut a star to put on the hat as a "tree topper" out of some decorative foil. He was so proud of his Turkey!

Joshua & Mrs. Blood hanging up his Turkey


Kyle's idea was much more "involved". He came home with the idea that his turkey was going to be "Elvis"!!! So I got a white scrap of fabric from the bin at Wal-Mart and cut out his outfit. Yes, I know I forgot the bell bottoms! Gene cut out the guitar and drew the "chest feathers". He also made the hair with sideburns from construction paper. Kyle decorated the outfit, belt & all with gold glitter glue. It was a hit for sure at school! His teacher got a kick out of the "chest feathers". And all the kids wanted to "play" the guitar. I only got a picture of his turkey laying on his desk, because his class was out when I delivered the turkeys.


I also wanted to share some handwriting samples. Joshua is in Pre-K and I'm amazed at how well he writes. I promised my mom I would share these. He has a little write-on & wipe-off book and he loves to sit and write. I use this when Kyle has homework and Joshua wants to "help" Kyle with it! Kyle gets so frustrated, so this helps to distract Joshua.




Last, I want to share some Turkey cooking instructions. Kyle's teacher had all the students write instructions on how to cook a turkey and photocopied all the students pictures and directions and sent them home in a little laminated book for us! It was so cute looking through all the kids writings and instructions. Here is Kyle's entry:
Front Page

Back Page

Sorry about the show through on the picture. The pages are very thin. But you get the idea. Notice on the second page that one of his directions is to say "gras" and eat the turkey? He was the only student who mentioned praying before eating. That sure makes this mommy proud!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!! I hope your day is blessed with love, family, and happy memories!

{Want Beautiful Eyes?}

Then you need to head straight over to the FPD Blog!!!! Jaime has added a new photo tip that is absolutely stunning and will make your eyes in photos POP! It was so easy to do too!

I tried the technique on my 'lil Joshua's photo. He has such beautiful eyes, but rarely do you see it in photographs because they always appear too dark and do not show the light that's really in there. He has hazel, bits of brown, green and even blue flecks at times and they are gorgeous but my photos never were able to capture them. I was disappointed until I read the FPD blog and tried this:

Very rough makeover at this point....I'm still playing with the settings, but was awed by the results and it only took seconds to do!!!

BEFORE


AFTER


My oldest has beautiful blue eyes and I cannot wait to try this technique on some of his closeup photos!!!!

Thanks Jaime for helping me ROCK my photos!!!!

{Bird Kingdom}

It was such a beautiful Fall day! We wore light jackets but decided to leave those in the car at the parking lot of Bird Kingdom. The ads say come early to experience the quiet rainforest setting before the waterfall starts. It was neat to be in the rooms with all the birds flying around. We moved to the nocturnal reptile area next.

My boys are daredevils....so when they seen this sign....it wasn't enough to stop them from looking down!

And here's what we saw down inside!

Within minutes of being in the atrium, this horrible (Harry Potter) large beaked bird flew down and smacked the side of my head. {see above pic} I read on this page that they are training some birds to swoop down and take food right from your hand or what's thrown up in the air. Maybe that is why I was nearly attacked 5 times by the birds in the free flying aviary??? I must have smelled good or something, 'cause 5 different birds swooshed past my head!!!

Wicked Parrots!!!

These parrots were so wicked! I understand now why they have such high perches. There is even a sign that says do not get too close to the parrots. The boys were trying to talk to them and apparently one took offense at Kyle, squaking and flapping his wings. Kyle ducked and ran behind Gene! LOL! So I guess there are still some things that will scare them after all!

Here are a few more random pics. The Java House is made completely of tongue and groove wood pieces. It was very intricate design on the inside as well as the outside. Very beautiful....the pic just doesn't do it justice! Inside we purchased some drinks and two cups of nectar to feed the lorakeets. There's a pic of us in the walkway behind the waterfall, hence the raindrops falling in front of us. And that toucan was AWESOME!!! The boys both spent a great deal of time "talking" to him. He made noises back to the boys. He perched on a tree branch right below where the sidewalk path the boys were on.

And then we were off to feed the lorakeets....

Kyle loved all the birds around him and he didn't even seem to mind that two had pooped down the back of both shoulders before we were done!

They allowed me to take my camera in and I was so glad that I captured these shots of Josh and Gene!

Yup, that one left a little "present" on the back shoulder of Gene's shirt too! I believe I was the only one who got out of the area without being "marked" by those birds. Unless you count being head swooshed, being marked by them! LOL!

Josh was laughing and giggling....all smiles! He LOVED the experience! Unfortunately, we were one of the first customers to fee the birds that day and they were a bit more hungry than we thought.

Once Joshua's cup of nectar was empty, one of the lorakeets scooped down and bit Joshua on the fleshy part of his skin between his thumb and forefinger. We didn't realize it had broken skin and had him rub the Hand Sanitizer they provide as you are leaving the lorakeet feeding station into his hands. He cried and fussed and once we got to the gift area it was bleeding in two spots! We picked out a frog stuffed animal for him to help comfort him. He didn't want anything to do with the stuffed birds at that point. The lady at the counter doctored up his boo-boo with some neosporin and a band-aid. He kept saying, "That wasn't nice of that bird, Mommy!"

After leaving the Bird Aviary, we strolled down to the falls. I captured some beautiful fall foliage and yes....the animals were not done with Joshua yet. But I'm gonna have to leave those pics and stories for tomorrow!

Credits: (In order of appearance in this post) Cocktail Hour Frame by Christina Renee, Wood Frame & Layered Polaroid from Signature Collection by Christina Renee, Aged Frame from Cocktail Hour by Christina Renee & Tag from Signature Collection by Christina Renee, French Knots by Amy Hutchinson, Piled High Cluster by Christina Renee, Vintage Frames by Jessica Bolton

We're back from Niagra Falls!

It was fun....and we're tired! :lol:

Here's some pics...at the end I have a small video clip of the boys at the falls (yes that's me asking the kids questions!) I'll have the WHOLE story of our trip later!

Our Family


The Guys in front of the Falls


That's totally AWEsome!


Bird Kingdom






(Josh got bit!)

All frames by Jessica Bolton

Here's the boys experiencing the "Thunder"!

{Golf}

I've been promising my mom that I would post this little video clip of Kyle. He is playing with the new golf clubs that my mom {nana} got for him during her visit.

Here you go MOM!!!

Click Me

Baby Nathan

Just wanted to post my layout for today! I didn't think I'd get this done in time since I went back to work this morning and have been running all day. But the house is quiet and I had some time to relax and scrap.



I loved the story "behind" this photo so I knew exactly what I wanted to do to scrap this photo.


Full Credits for the layout HERE....and leave me some love!!! :-)
Journaling:

Joshua held Nathan for the first time on July 16, 2007. Just after I snapped this photo, grammy came in and asked, “Joshua, did you pinch that baby?”
To which Joshua replied with great big eyes, “NO! He pinched ME!”



We went to my SIL's for my nephew's birthday party and this was the first opportunity that the boys were able to hold their new little cousin. He shares the same birthday as my husband Gene. The boys were tickled pink to hold the baby. I couldn't resist some photos....even though little Nathan was NOT a happy camper!



Photo Frames are from Shadowed Frames Collection by Sarah VanDyke available at PDW

Life's a Beach

We had fun at the beach....well, the kids did. LOL! Anything that involves dirt and seaweed and possible animal parts....leave me out. Yup! I'm a crystal clear pool kinda girl.

But the boys sure did have fun. The waves were coming in directly to shore. Which means that the sand was being gently moved that direction as well. So even though some of these photos "appear" that the boys are in the very far deep end....they both could still stand up and the water was only waist level on Joshua.

Here's some pics I took of them.....having a blast!




We just got our first assignment for the "Amazing DigiScrap Race II". We need to create a layout about a museum AND use the word Amazing somewhere on the layout. I have the perfect pics for the layout and hope to get that completed soon!

And I'll leave you with a layout that I just finished up for the CRD "CRAZY" Challenge.

The winner is.....

.......ROW!!!

Thanks so much to all who left comments on my blog and emailed me guesses. Row was the first to correctly guess AND give me the name of the person the Hair belonged to! Don't run away too fast now....'cause I like to RAK alot and if you check back, I'm sure you'll find some interesting goodies or contests. It's so much fun to do!

Here's the pic that I took the closeup of:


And here's the layout I made using the photos I took yesterday. I used the new Sea Dreams page kit by Ann-Marie at Designs In Digital....she was so kind to RAK me with!


Ok.....I'm off to take the boys to the beach....for some crazy reason they wanna go play in the water in the hot sun! After all, it is summer right????

Can you guess what this is???

I'll post the winner tomorrow morning (in time to shop the sales!) along with the full picture! So feel free to e-mail me with your guesses!

A cute little story.....

We were all sitting in the livingroom after dinner. Kyle was reading a Sports Illustrated magazine. I was lounging in the rocking chair. And Gene was laying on the couch....half pretending to sleep. Kyle looked over at me and said, "Mom, you should play this (finger pointing to a tennis ball in the magazine)" I said, "Why, should I play tennis?" He replied, "Well, 'cause Mom, softball......well.....(hand waves in a "No way" manner)

Gene opened his eyes and shot me a look......holding back a full blown laugh!!!!! The things he comes up with. One things for sure I can always count on him to be totally honest with me! LOL!
Ad Preview Credits:
Ultimate Background Coll. #1 by Nancy Comelab
DB Anna & DB Danielle by Darcy Baldwin

Stay tuned for the GC winner....

One Kit....many different looks!

I have been on a scrapping frenzy this past week! I don't know what's gotten into me....but I have been all over the challenges the CRD (Christina Renee Designs) girls have been putting out this past week.

So, I know there has been a bunch of drama and I've been one of the quiet ones. I missed the first two challenge deadlines because I didn't have a chance to get the d/l's in time to complete the challenges, but that didn't stop me from submitting anyway for the AWESOME grand prize their giving away.....three months of FREE CRD goodies!

I was just glancing at my gallery and I'm quite amazed at the variety of layouts I've done. I've used the same kit as a basis for all these layouts and they all look so different. I used the French Countryside collab duo by Christina Renee and Shabby Princess for all FIVE layouts so far and I have to say that this kit is SO totally versatile!

Here's my layouts for each challenge so far!

Challenge One
Scraplift a CRD CT Member's Layout

Play Ball <~~~~Click for Full Credits

and here's the layout I lifted, Mr. Happy Pants by Hollie



Challenge Two
Scrap Outside the Box....no squares allowed! I had so much fun with this one and it inspired me to start this as a CD gift album!

Mama's Boy <~~~~Click for Full Credits


Challenge Three
Only One (we were only allowed to use one of each item on the page)
I have to confess....I'm a template user and I just couldn't find a template to use that would allow me to use just ONE paper....SO....I found a totally new way of scrapping. I chose a frame (or in this case a set of frames) and started from there. It was so much fun!

July <~~~~Click for Full Credits


Challenge Four
Then we got dirty and GRUNGY!!!! LOVED this!!!
Layers and layers and layers....OH MY!

Faces of Summer <~~~~Click for Full Credits


Challenge Five
A template Challenge.....well of course I jumped all over this challenge! And that yummy gold glitter was included in the template!

Silly Smiley Brothers <~~~~Click for Full Credits


Don't they all look so different and unique??? All but one of those layouts above use papers from the same kit. So only two more challenges to go.....I'm all for 'em!

Stay tuned tomorrow for a cute kidlet story....it's sure to make y'all laugh!!!! And there may just be a little GC giveaway here with a secret pic contest!!! Hint! Hint!

**wink**

I'm B-A-C-K!!!!!

I'm so excited that I can finally check my email at home and maybe even get a little bit of scrapping done today!

Can you believe I actually survived a whole two months without a computer at home? I can't! But it's all good 'cause we're halfway through Kyle's baseball season, so it gave me a few great photo opportunities. Although I did have to monitor my camera use, because I had nowhere to d/l my pics to....eek! I just d/l 255 pics to the new computer.

Ohhhh, the new computer!!! It's heaven! After figuring out the quirks of Windows Vista, I think I'm beginning to actually like it! I have a Dell Dimension with 2 GB of RAM (WOW!!!) That's more than I've ever had and my d/l's fly at the speed of light it seems! It also has a 250 GB Harddrive which is VERY nice for all the CT kits I'm sure to be collecting real soon!

I have the day to myself today....both the boys have church/friend activities outside the house and Gene will be at work 1st shift....so I'm gonna be taking a bit of time to myself to get caught up, install my AC and PB actions and hopefully get a few scrap pages in.

And mom....as soon as I get those actions installed, I'm gonna get some of those pics u/l here for your viewing pleasure!!!

It's a GOOD DAY!!!

The concert was AWESOME!!!

Well, the turnout wasn't what we had hoped. I think I heard someone say that the "unofficial" count was around 150 in attendance.

After helping in the kitchen to serve the bands dinner. I was asked to help run a merchandise table for one of the bands. I hesitated 'cause that's just too much pressure, but they told me that someone would be there to help also. I ended up running the Nevertheless merchandise table. The lead singer Josh (the guy with the red hair) gave us a quick rundown on how to operate the portable credit card processor and what the price was for the various items. I can't tell you how many times they all thanked me for helping out. Very polite, nice young men. I had them sign the back of one of their t-shirts (I'm wearing in the photo below) for the boys. I have a little picture...but I'm almost hesitant to even post it. After posing with all those skinny little guys I feel F-A-T! Ohhhh, alright, I'll post it anyway. Besides, weight is just a number right??

AJ, Adam, Brad, Me, Josh, & Adam

Because I was 0ut in the vestibule area taking care of a few charge cards while they were playing, I didn't get a chance to hear them play their song, "The Real".

But from what I heard outside the doors....they ROCK!!!

Check them out here: Nevertheless

And then came Storyside B! These guys are awesome as well! I got a bunch of pics of them playing. I was able to sneak away to hear them play one of my favorite songs. It was so neat to just be there listening and singing along with them live. Two of the four band members were wearing "Nevertheless" t-shirts while they played. I thought that was pretty cool!

I was able to be there for the song "Everything and More" and snapped these pictures.

Check them out here: Story Side B

After the group pic with Nevertheless, I was afraid to get a group picture with StorySide B, although I did have the opportunity. But I did have them sign a poster for my boys. Ron McClelland (pictured above playing guitar) signed to my boys Kyle & Joshua. I love what he wrote. I told him that the boys were tired and had to go home. I so wish I had kept Kyle with me to get pictures of him with the bands. He really did like the signed posters that I got for him.

I have a pink hoodie from Storyside B and this black/pink angel t-shirt. They all signed the back of my hoodie under the hood and across my shoulder. So has anyone seen Meredith Fenwick's newsletter freebie and DST's template challenge for April??? I think I have some pretty good material here for some neat layouts.