My Dear Nephews

How precious are these 4 boys? Boys are always more precious in a picture when you can't here them, at least my 2 are. And when you put the 6 of them together, whoa! I used another sketch from Stuck Sketches.

Finding time to Scrap

It's been hard the last few months to squeeze in scrap time. So much has been going on with school functions, vacation, and the holidays. Things should be settling down a little bit as much as anyone's life can settle down with 3 kids, so time to try to get some more scrapping done. This LO of Autumn was created using a Stuck sketch. I'm finding with her expanding purple wardrobe, it is easier to scrap with purple. A color that used to be very hard for me.

Merry Christmas

I've been a bit lacking in taking Christmas photos this year. We've done all the normal traditions but it just seems like been there, done that so why get the camera out. Which I know I will regret. So I thought I would share one I did take. Since the boys were sick Autumn was the only one to get to attend her Christmas party this year. Here she is ready to head to school with her teachers presents.

Paper Tree House Blog Hop

I love doing blog hops. They provide a little extra challenge to scrapping. Paper Tree House's blog hop had us hopping along picking up new items from each blog that had to be used on our LO, and using all those elements this is what I created. This is Autumn at VBS last summer. She absolutely loves going to church. She is constantly asking "is it church day" or "we go church night". She is not happy if there is a reason we are unable to go, and gets quite a pouty little face.

Digging in

Of course all of my new papers that I want to play with don't really go with the photos I wanted to scrap. Snow papers don't really go with lake photos. So I dug in and used some of my older stash. A little bit of MME Breaking Free and Abbey Road. It really does feel great to use up some of the old. Makes me feel better about buying new! I couldn't decided which group of photos to use with this sketch from Sketchy Thursdays so I decided to do 2 LO's.

Snowman

Last year during our 1 in 20 years snow storm Autumn finally got to make a snowman, well she did a little of the work. She was quite proud of her work but when I was scrapping this picture she looked at it and said he has no hat and gloves. It was really cute. I used a sketch from Creative Scrappers.

Princess

I finally started scrapping Autumn's birthday pictures from June. We took her to Build a Bear to make her first bear. Of course she had to pick out a pink one and she picked out clothes with Princess's on it. When the lady asked her what she wanted to name it she couldn't decided, there were so many princess names to choose from so she just went with Princess. I used a fabulous sketch I found over at Bo Bunny. I've become quite addicted to their papers!

Snow Fight

The kids had so much fun throwing the snow around. They had no time to think of making an actual snow ball. They just picked up big chunks of snow and started throwing it at each other. Of course this just got them wetter and colder and they were quickly ready to come inside. I used a Crafty Sketch for this LO.

Frosty Family

I'm on a roll with last years snow pictures. Of course how could I not be with all the gorgeous new winter lines out there. This was the first time Jacob ever made a snowman all on his own. Also the first time we ever had enough snow for him to make an actual snowman without having to scrape all the snow off the cars and every surface around to try to even get enough snow to make a snowman. :) I used a sketch from Stuck On U Sketches.

A little bit of snow!

We can only dream of a white Christmas. We do get snow here at very odd times but to have it snow on Christmas and actually stick to the ground would probably be a miracle. It was pretty cool though, that last Christmas Eve it actually was snowing. It didn't stick of course but it was neat to see. This LO was based off of a great sketch from Sketch Thursday.

All done with Christmas

Well, that is I'm all done with scrapping Christmas 2009 pictures. Now on to taking lots of photos of Christmas 2010! I always try to snap a few pictures of the tree and stockings after Santa arrives and before the kids turn the living room into a demolition zone. An inspiration challenge from Scrap Fit gave me just the nudge to get these final pictures done.

Cowboy

Austin is a true Texan. I guess we picked a good name for him. He is all into the boots, plaid shirts, and guns of course. So this years VBS theme was right up his alley. He insisted on wearing his Cowboy gear everyday even though most of the kids did not dress up.He was even quite upset one morning when the shirt he wanted to wear was dirty. It was quite cute! I used a Sassy Lil Sketch for this LO.

Blog Hop

Do you love blog hops? I do! Always so much inspiration going on and lot's of goodies to win. Paper Secrets will be hosting a holiday blog hop December 10 -13. I'll be playing along!

My Snow man

Last years snow fall was a rare event around here. As the weather turns colder the kids are already asking when is it going to snow. Hard to tell them there is a good chance it will not. They had so much fun playing in the snow last year, which is why we decided to vacation in Colorado this year. I had to give a little bit of instruction on how snowmen were constructed since they didn't have a clue how to make those balls. I thought Austin did pretty good for a first timer. He even came up with his own idea for the eyes, pine cones! I use a Creative Scrappers sketch for this LO.

I am the Party

The new Scrap Whispers challenge is "All things bright and beautiful". So I dug out one of my favorite paper lines, Bo Bunny block party. So sad I'm almost out of it. I just may have to buy some more! It worked perfect for this bright color challenge and a picture of Jacob and some of his friends at his last birthday party at the zoo.

All Caged Up

I found these pictures just hilarious. Austin was in love with the shark cage at the aquarium and I had such a hard time trying to be nice in the journaling. Trying not to say things like "I should have locked you in" or "you belong in a cage", LOL. He is my wild child so many times a cage would be quite nice here at the house. This LO was based off a Sketchy Thursday sketch.

Another year

Every school year seems to go by so fast. Which also means every year my son gets older and older. I was a bit scared of 3rd grade for Jacob. I knew he would be dealing with a lot harder material and would be expected to have a lot more responsibility. He informed me at the beginning of the year that he was no longer a little kid and all the things that third graders got to do. At the end of the year he had excelled making the A/B honor roll and getting an award for highest AR points. Now on to Fourth!

I turned a 2 page sketch from Stuck on U Sketches into a one pager.

Scrap Whispers

Do you like doing lifts of gorgeous layouts? If you haven't played along with Scrap Whispers come on over. The new game starts soon. You will get a layout to lift and it will be passed along to the rest of your team. Awesome prizes are awarded for every member of the team. Come check out the blog to learn how to play at Scrap Whispers and join in with their weekly challenges too!

Sweet!

Sweet, as in Awesome! That is the reaction that kids have to Valentines Day. They see it as a holiday where they get lots of candy and treats from all their friends. A day of fun. So I will remind Austin when he gets older and gripes about having to find something for someone for Valentines day how once he used to love this holiday :) I used a Sassy Lil' sketch for this LO.

Smiley Shark

In 3rd grade Jacob went to the imagination fair for the second time with GT. What a difference there was between the years. The first year he was so scared to get up and tell his story. He had to be skipped and told his story after most everyone was done. He also had just stood their and mumbled it. This year he was the first one to tell his story. He stood up with confidence and told it in a strong voice with all the sound effects and hand movements. I was so proud of him. I used a sketch from Stuck sketches.

Middle Ages

Jacob had so much fun studying the middle ages in GT last year. All he could talk about was sword fights and castles getting demolished by flying boulders. After completing a project, he chose to make a castle, the group got to go to Medieval Times in Dallas. This was quite exciting for all. The kids had so much fun sitting in the Kings court, eating with their fingers, and watching the knights fight it out. As we were leaving he wanted to know when we could go again.

I used a sketch from Creative Scrappers for this LO with Jacob and his project.

Group Photos

You would think as they got older it would be easier to get them to stand together for a photo. Nope, it's not. It seems to get harder and harder. Autumn goes through phases of wanting her picture taken to not wanting it taken at all, and Austin is all about having pictures taken all by himself. I don't know how I finally got this shot, but it was the closest I could get to them somewhat posing together. I used a sketch from Stuck sketches.

Oh the Snow

It may be another 20 years before we see snow like this again around here. That will be very disappointing for the kids. They had never seen snow like this before and were ready to go outside the minute they woke up, and were outside by about 7:30 am. We had quite a few arguments about how they were going to dress. They didn't understand it wasn't just about staying warm, it was about staying dry. This was what our driveway looked like with all the trees bend over with snow. I used a Sassy Lil Sketch.

Sea Wonder

The kids love the birds at the beach. Me, not so much! Something about being hounded by what seems like a thousand birds around my head is a little freaky. The kids think it is quite cool how close the birds come and that they will take food out of their hands. Of course, they also get a bit freaked when the birds beak is that close to their fingers and many times will jerk away and drop the food. I used a Sassy Lil' sketch.

On the hunt

It's Easter time again! I'm slowly working through those Easter photos. Egg hunt pictures are always hard for me because the kids hunt eggs around our house in the woods. It really is a great place for hunting eggs, but they are always in play clothes, so not exactly Easter friendly colors. I'm all about matching my papers to the kids clothes in my photos. I made this work a little better by doing one main photo in black and white. I used a Sassy Lil' sketch!

A castle for a princess

The kids and I love going to the beach. Galveston is certainly not my favorite beach but it is the closest and the kids couldn't care less what it looks like as long as there is sand and water. Autumn really got into building castles this year. We helped her dig the moat but she insisted on getting all the water herself, no matter how heavy the bucket was. I used a sketch from StuckonUsketches.

Loves Lookout

It was a beautiful weekend one day last spring and we decided to take advantage of the weather and go letterboxing and have a picnic. We headed to Love's Lookout outside of Jacksonville. One of the few places you get somewhat of a mountain like view around here. After tromping through the woods finding stamps we enjoyed lunch and took some pictures of the scenery. This was a sketch from Sassy Lil' Sketches.

Grad

Austins years of pre school are over. He went to Mothers Day Out at St. Lukes for 2 years and I really feel it helped prepare him for Kindergarten and he is ready. He is so excited to go to his big brothers school. Though I had to explain to him that he had to wait 3 months for school to start. He was ready to go the day after graduation. I used a sketch from Sketchy Thursday.

Blast off

This weeks challenge as Scrap Whispers was camp fires. Well thankfully there is a little leeway because I have no pictures of camp fires, which is amazing considering how much the boys in this household are out burning things. So I chose to go with rocket fire, which seemed appropriate with Austins first time on roller blades. He got them for his 5th birthday and had to try them out in the living room of course. I used a sketch from Stuck sketches.

Father and Son

Austin loves spending time with his daddy. Doing all the strange things that some daddy's do. I say some because I'm sure there are lot's out there who don't enjoy catching and killing snakes. But of course Austin thinks it is cool. They are quite a pair and I couldn't have asked for a better daddy for my kids! I used a sketch from creative scrappers for this LO.

Practice Makes Improvement

I love watching my boys play baseball. I was so happy that Austin showed interest in wanting to play this year. Well about as much interest as most t-ballers do. He's all into it when he got to play pitcher or catcher, but when out in the outfield he was in la la land. He would also get on base and forget that he was supposed to be running. He even had another runner pass him up once. It was quite amusing. I found another new sketch site for this LO, StuckOnUSketches.

Awesome

Finally getting around to scrapping some of the pictures from Jacob's birthday party. Jacob was so excited about his presents this year. He has been asking for a DS for several years now and we kept saying no. In fact we told him he would never get one because I didn't want to deal with the fight of him wanting to be on it all the time. So it was quite a shock when he opened his gifts and saw a DS, as well as all the games that other people got him to go with it. He also got legos and money which absolutely made his day! I used a sketch from a new site I found, Crafty Sketches.

Cutie

I admit it. I've done so many LO's with Autumn in this outfit. I just love it so much and have the camera ready to go whenever she wears it. Of course the hat is only on for a limited time. This was a great sketch from Sketchy Thursday.

VBS

This kids love going to VBS. Austin really got into it this year. He loved the cowboy theme and wanted to dress like a cowboy every day. He got to go on a train ride, sing and clap along with songs, here stories, bounce in a bounce house and make lot's of crafts. He was disappointed when the week was over. This was a sketch from Creative Scrappers.

Eggs

Dyeing eggs is always an interesting experience with little ones. How many will they crack, will there be more die on the egg or on them, what will it look like when it's done? My egg perfectionism had to go out the window the first time I died eggs with Jacob. I just let them do what they will and see there progress in pictures through the years. This year Autumn didn't break any eggs and actually did most of the dyeing on her own. I used a sketch from Sketchy Thursdays.

Oh Happy Day

This weeks Memorable Seasons challenge was to do a LO with no patterned paper in it. That is tough to even wrap my head around. I just love my patterns. So instead I used my water color pencils to give the cardstock a pattern and then used lace cardstock for more pattern. It was actually easier than I thought it would be. I used a sketch from Stuck sketches.

Happy 4th

I'm very thankful I'm only scrapping 4th of July photos and that it is not the 4th of July. I'm quite enjoying this beautiful September weather much more than July. These photos were of Autumn playing around up at the church on the 4th. While most of the kids were enjoying the water slides, she preferred to eat as much ice cream and sweets as she could get her hands on. I used a fabulous sketch from Creative Scrappers!

Aquaman

We had a great day at Six Flags this summer. There was a chance of rain all day so the weather was pretty bearable. The few times it did get a little hot we just hit the water rides. Austin got his first experience of the Aquaman bridge and came running off grinning ear to ear! I used a sketch from Sketchy Thursdays.

Using Lines

This weeks Scrap Whispers challenge is to use lines. This was pretty easy for me because I've become quite addicted to doing LO's with strips of paper lately. It's such a great way to get lots of patterns on the LO without using up too much of my paper stash. This was the boys first day of school. Jacob going into 4th and Austin starting out in Kindergarten.

Time for Easter

Well at least it is time to start scrapping Easter photos, especially the really cute ones. I love this photo of Autumn during her Easter egg hunt at Mothers Day Out. These Echo Park papers are the perfect Eastery colors. I used a sketch from Creative Scrappers.

My Friends

Jacob chose to spend his birthday at the zoo this year. Se we invited a few of his best friends and followed a group of 9 year olds around the zoo for a few hours. It was a really easy way to do a birthday. It is a tradition to always do a photo in the rock wall while we are there. I used a sketch from Stuck sketches.

Giddy Up

Every time I pull out this paper I look at this circle and try to figure out what I can do with it. Who would have thought it would turn out on a LO about Austin. He loved the carousel at Six Flags, but of course thought he should be able to do tricks on the horse rather than just go up and down. This was for the newest Scrap Whispers challenge to use a thought bubble on a LO.

Take me out to the ball game

Well actually I'm quite glad baseball season ends the beginning of summer. I can't imagine being out in this heat right now to watch a ball game, as much as I do loving watching my kids play. This was Austins first year and he was quite thrilled to be involved in it all instead of just watching his big brother. I got this great sketch from Magpie Club. It worked so well for all those far away field pictures.

Summer fun

Summer is coming to an end. I wish the heat would go out with it, but we still have a while for that to leave here in TX. I'm going to miss the relaxing days as we get back into our busy schedules. This is Austin enjoying a sno cone at the zoo. I used a sketch from Stuck sketches.

Sketch versatility

I love when I can use one sketch for multiple LO's. By turning the sketch I get two different looks from a great sketch. This sketch came from stuck sketches. These pictures were all taken in Galveston, at the beach and our trip to Moody Gardens aquarium.

Boys with Attitude

What is with the attitudes. At a certain age it seems to be no longer cool to stand and smile for the camera. There has to be a cool pose with attitude to go with it. Jacob is the worst of all. His poses never contain a smile, so he always looks like he is mad. I used a sketch from Creative Scrappers for this LO.

Fuzzy Critters

This weeks Scrap Whispers challenge is to scrap about our furry friends. At the moment we are down to only 1 furry friend. Autumn got her cat Tinkerbell for Christmas this past year. The poor thing was never left alone and the kids fought over it constantly. I'm surprised she got any sleep with Autumn constantly picking her up. I used a sketch from the Scrappiest.

Rugged

I've finally found some time to play with my new goodies. I just love this Basic Grey Oliver line I got in last week from Memorable Seasons, my favorite online store. There is going to be so much I can do with it. I used a sketch from Creative Scrappers.

One of my faves

Do your kids have an outfit that you just love taking pics of them in? This is mine! I just love this little dress and hat of Autumns. I've gone a little camera happy every time she has worn it and at the zoo on this day was no exception. This is another great sketch from the Scrappiest.