Carvin' out some fun!

Last night we carved pumpkins. I decided to be brave and let Jordan and Carter do theirs all by themselves, with the exception of cutting the top off. We have a couple of pumpkin carving kits that include special tools so they are not as sharp as real knives would be so I felt confident they wouldn't injure themselves in the process.

The boys did a pretty good job. I had them draw their designs on the pumpkin first so that they knew where to cut. We had a erase a few times cuz' they kept making things too small that would cutting them out be a real chore. They had alot of fun and were excited that they got to do everything by themselves.

Of course, Avery had to have a carved pumpkin too. We put his name and his handprint on the pumpkin. Let me tell you, it is not easy getting an eight month old to sit still long enough to get his hand traced!

Here are some pics of the boys with their pumpkins:

FOBTY (10-23-08)

What Your Jack-o-Lantern Says

You are a gleeful, exuberant person. You enjoy a good party, and you even enjoy a good brawl. This Halloween, there is no question what you should be... a pirate! The candy you should give out: peanut butter cups

The Jack-o-Lantern Quiz

Why Can't They Just Stay Babies?

So, this morning when I dropped Avery off at daycare, they mentioned that he was visiting the next room today, the room that they graduate to at about 8 or 9 months, and that I should just bring him over there right away. I wanted to break down and cry. He has visited this room before, but I have never had to drop him off there. I don’t know if this was the reason I was so weepy, or if this caused a sudden realization that my baby, my last baby, was growing up. I don’t think that it helped that, since he is only visiting, he doesn’t have his own assigned crib or his own coat hook, so I was a little lost of what I was supposed to do with all of his stuff.

Before I had a chance to sneak out of there and secretly let the tears fall, they ask me if they can start trying him on table foods. What?!?! I send food with him everyday, food that I have lovingly cooked and pureed myself. I agreed that they can start on some of the snack foods such as puffs and Cheerios but that I will continue to send his lunch. Am I being overprotective? Should I learn to let go a little more? He is only 7 ½ months old and is only sporting 4 little nubs for teeth at this point. A part of me just feels like it is too soon.

When I got out to my car, I did let a little tear fall and then my conscious told me to snap out of it. It’s inevitable, he is going to grow up and I should be joyful for these milestones.

I think that is why I started the scrap. So that I can try and preserve these precious memories before I get too caught up in life and have no recollection of them. I only wish I had discovered it sooner. I want to go back and scrap pictures of my older boys as babies, but sadly details will be incomplete or left out as now those moments are only memories from the past. Why can’t they just stay babies?

Guest CT for November!!

I am so excited to announce that I will be guesting for lauraskathi in November. Yay!! I am so excited for this. I had the opportunity to play around with one of her kits when I applied for the guest position and it was great. The kit is named Rosie and can be found at Funky Playground Designs. Best part is - it is on sale right now for only $1!! Here is the layout that I came up with:

Genuine Praise

We all work hard on the layouts that we create and it feels great when people leave genuine, heartfelt comments stating how they like what you have spent your precious time creating. However, it seems to be a trend to leave generic comments such as "Nice Layout," "Beautiful," or "Great Job." I myself am guilty of it.

One of our fellow scrappers has started a blog to help spread the kind of love that we all like to receive on our LOs, the kind that recognizes your hard work and puts a smile on your face when you read it. She doesn't want to mass advertise this blog, but would rather see it grow with those that have the same goal in mind.

I encourage you to check it out, leave a link to your layout in "Mr. Linky" at the top, and leave some genuine praise for some of your fellow scrappers who have left links to their layouts. Even if you choose not to participate in the blog, when you are leaving love focus on the quality of your praise versus the quantity. Please appreciate the effort your fellow scrapbookers put into their layouts and look for those tidbits we all know take time and persistence.

Here is the link to the blog:
http://genuinepraise4all.blogspot.com/

Lori picks two layouts to highlight every day - you never know - yours might get picked!

So, I mentioned FruitLoop Sally in my last post with a freebie. Here is a sneak peak at the kit that she has in the works. It's really cute and the pages that some of the CT members have put together are great.





Stay posted and I will let you know where you can start picking up her stuff.

Freebie from FruitLoop Sally!!

FruitLoop Sally, an upcoming designer, is offering a freebie to intoduce you to her stuff. Here is a preview of it.

The freebie contains:

5 handpainted leaves

2 painted colors

1 glitterleafswirl

1 complete alpha!

You can grab it here. Keep your eyes open for more great stuff from FruitLoop Sally! Enjoy!

I got RAKed!!!

I just won a $5 g/c to Laura Deacetis's store at Shabby Pickle. I still haven't decided what I am going to do with it. I may actually hang on to it until Digi Scrapbook Day and see if I can stretch it a little further with any sales that they may be running.

If you have something of Laura's that you love, leave me a comment and help me decide. Thanks!

FOBTY (10-16-08)

Here are my results from taking the quiz about what kind of Halloween candy I am. Turns out I am a lollypop (sweet and lickable.) Hmmmm, I think that my DH would agree with that! :)

Halloween Candy Quiz





You are a Lollypop


Like the Lollypop you are sweet and lickable;)


Find out which Halloween Candy you are at Quizopolis.com

New kit from Trish H Designs and a freebie!!!

Trish H. Designs has just released a gorgeous new kit packed with Fall colors and elements. This is a huge kit with so much stuff and you won't be disappointed if you grab it up. It is ONLY $3.75 at Digital Candy which is a HUGE bargain!

Here are some pages that I made using the kit:

And Trish was so generous to offer up a free alpha to match the kit. You can download it here.

FOBTY (10-9-08)

Your Ice Cream Personality:

You like to think of yourself as a fairly modest person. And it's true that you don't talk yourself up... but you're also pretty happy with who you are. You are incredibly cautious. You rather miss out on something than make a mistake. No one would ever call you wild... but they would call you responsible. You are a somewhat open minded person, but deep down you're fairly conservative. You don't like trying new things very much. And if you do find something new you like, you stick with it. You tend to have a one track mind. You prefer not to multitask. You can be a big dramatic and over the top sometimes. You are bold in every way

The Ice Cream Personality Test

It just keeps getting better!!

Well, Friday I was excited and didn't think that it could really get much better, but it just did. I just got an email that I have been chosen to be a Guest CT for Trish H. Designs. I am just stoked about this!!! I browsed through her store at Digital Candy and I am loving what I see!! I am just really excited to get started!!

Could Today Get Any Better?

Just a quick post about how excited I am today. This must have been my lucky day in the world of Scrap! First, I was chosen to be a CT for a new designer, Frootloop Designs. Second, the famous $1 sale at Shabby Pickle. I paid only $8 and got 8 things, some of which were full kits! And lastly, I won a RAK from Brenda Smith, her new Fall Forever kit, templates and blog template. Just as the title says, could today possibly get any better?

FOBTY (10-2-08)

This weeks From our blog to yours at SSD has to do with fast food. What is my favorite fast food place to eat at? Hard to say. I probably eat out more than I really should. If I had to choose, I think that I would pick Culver's. I love that their food is made fresh when you order and that they have such a wide variety of foods, not to mention their oh-so-good frozen custard!