My Joys

I've signed up for the online class "Cut the Crazy Out of Christmas" over at Big Picture Scrapbooking, and one of our pre-class assignments was to do a layout showing something that brings us joy. Here's mine:


I used "Christmas Magic" by Daniela Austen and Danielle Engebretson.

Homecoming 2008

This past weekend was a very busy one. I took Friday off to run errands with my husband. Friday evening, I went with Aaron to the bar where his band was playing that night and took a line dancing class while he did some last-minute tweaking on the sound board. That night, the girls marched in the marching band at halftime at the homecoming game.

On Saturday, I drove the girls to the high school EARLY in the morning to practice for a marching competition later that morning. Then Cassidy caught a ride with a friend to go from the marching competition to a volleyball tournament. (Nancy stayed behind to march in a parade.) I drove to the volleyball tournament to watch the last game and to pick Cassidy up. Then, with my window stuck all the way down and the heat blasting to keep us from freezing, we drove home. Aaron ran to the school to get Nancy, and the girls took showers and did their chores before getting ready for the homecoming dance. Once they were ready, I took pictures out in the front yard before dropping them at the school and then going with Aaron to his gig. Whew!



Used: Love Always (kit from the May Doodle Challenge) by Danielle Engebretson

Cassidy at Age 2 Years & 2 Weeks

This is one of my favorite pictures of my daughter from her early childhood. There's a second that was taken the same day that ranks second. I'll have to eventually put a page together with it, too, but for now, I've just done this one in response to a template challenge.

I really love the simplicity of the page, and I love I was able to showcase this picture in this way.

Austin's Haircut

Every year, Austin has requested to have his head shaved for summer, because he gets so hot. Last year was the only exception. This summer, after 2 years of wearing his hair long and being mistaken for a third daughter on family outings, he's decided to go back to his old ways.



I used Erica Hite's "Up At The Villa" kit to put this together.

My Drive Home

I decided I couldn't be happy with myself unless I figured out a way to use the template in its original orientation. So, I decided to do a new page with the photos I took on my way home from work one night (12July2007) after it had rained. All the colors are taken directly from the photos with the eyedropper tool.

2007-2008 School Pictures

I decided it was about time I did something with the kids' school pictures from this year, you know, since they were taken back in October. This template challenge was perfect ... three photo spots ... three kids. I just had to turn the template a quarter-turn to make it work.

Ping Pong Princess

Cassidy went with me to my most recent scrapbooking retreat. This one was in Tustin at Center Lake Bible Camp. One of the gals in one of the Yahoo! groups I'm in does a fabulous job putting this thing together TWICE every year (love you, Annie!).

As it turns out, there's a game room downstairs from where we were cropping. Cassidy and my friend Theresa's daughter Meagan found it and pried Theresa and I away from scrapbooking to go downstairs for some friendly mother-daughter competition. We watched the girls play air hockey, then played pool, and then played no-holds-barred EXTREME ping-pong.

When we were wrapping it up, Cassidy was bouncing the ball on her paddles, and it landed in the crook of the ping-pong table. Photo finish.



I submitted this layout in the Template Challenge on retrodiva's site.
Used: "Bohemian Love Affair Bonus" & "Another Boho Love Affair"

Congratulatory Flowers

I recently (first day was today) was promoted off of the floor at the call center to the position of Quality Monitoring Specialist. A few days ago, when I came in to work, there was a box on my desk. I thought my husband had done something sweet to surprise me. It turns out it was my new supervisor.



The flowers are beautiful, and I took all the colors for the paper, ribbon, and journaling right from them with the eyedropper tool.

My Hotness

Well, that's what it says on my cell phone when he calls anyway. I decided to go without journaling on this page. The pictures are all from separate events, and the page is more a celebration of the quiet, crazy, awesome man I love than a story of any kind.

Missing Nancy

In case you can't read it, I'm just going to post the journaling from the page. I think it speaks for itself ...



It's been one week since we dropped Nancy off at military school. Saying goodbye to her was one of the most difficult things I've ever had to do.

We've received a few letters from her so far, but what we're really looking forward to is the chance to see her again next Sunday at her Pre-Challenge Completion Ceremony.

Pretty Flowers

Aaron surprised me with a beautiful bouquet on Valentine's Day last year, and I allowed them to dry, hoping to be able to use them somehow. Then I remembered the clear, plastic paint cans I'd bought at Arnie's when I went to the scrapbook retreat in Houghton Lake.

I really like how the page turned out. I love this paper.

Down with Metal!

Austin was so happy to have his braces removed. Of course, he still has to get another set once his mouth is ready, but he's loving the freedom for now.

My Drive Home

I just happened to have the camera in the car as I was driving home from work, and couldn't help but notice all the beautiful colors and lighting after a rainstorm. I had to capture some of what I saw. I even pulled off the freeway to get pictures of the rainbow.

What's the Matter with Misfits?

As the page explains, these are the ornaments for which we could neither find nor remember creation or receipt dates.



Used: "Christmas Magic" by Daniela Austen and Danielle Engebretson

2006 Cassidy's Fifteenth Christmas

Cassidy and I learned how to make these paper pinecones at a Christmas crop. (Thanks, Annie!) We ended up making them as Christmas presents for just about everyone we could think of. I'm seriously considering making them up to use on the tree once the kids have moved out and taken their ornaments with them. They look gorgeous on the tree.



Used: "Christmas Magic" by Daniela Austen and Danielle Engebretson

2005 Cassidy's Fourteenth Christmas

Cassidy became a teenager this year ... scary stuff.



Used: "Christmas Magic" by Daniela Austen and Danielle Engebretson

2004 Cassidy's Thirteenth Christmas

Used: "Christmas Magic" by Daniela Austen and Danielle Engebretson
Can I just say that I love these trees?

2003 Cassidy's Twelfth Christmas

Another year where finances kept me from getting to Hallmark in time to get ornaments before the ones we wanted were gone. At least there was a cool Tweety ornament available. Cassidy loved Tweety.



Used: "Christmas Magic" by Daniela Austen and Danielle Engebretson

2002 Cassidy's Eleventh Christmas

My baby girl hit double-digit age this year. We also moved in the midst of the first quarter of the school year. To make the transition easier, we drove the children to their old school for the remainder of the quarter and allowed them to transfer at the start of the second quarter. It gave them time to get used to the new house while getting a bit longer to say goodbye to the friends they were leaving behind. The homemade items in this layout were made with her classmates at the old school.



Used: "Christmas Magic" by Daniela Austen and Danielle Engebretson

2001 Cassidy's Tenth Christmas

No homemade ornaments this year, though I'm not sure why.



Used: "Christmas Magic" by Daniela Austen and Danielle Engebretson

2000 Cassidy's Ninth Christmas

Welcome to the second grade, where we don't just make ornaments for the tree, but we also perform in musical plays for our parents. The green shiny "thing" is from a Christmas program at the church, and the item in Cassidy's hand (yes, I forced her to participate) is something she found when she was walking from the school to the car and just had to keep.



Used: "Christmas Magic" by Daniela Austen and Danielle Engebretson

1999 Cassidy's Eighth Christmas

And so it begins ... Actually, it had already begun, but two of Cassidy's earlier homemade ornaments had already been lost to falling trees by the time 1999 rolled around. The first grade, though, brought hardier ornaments that have held up fairly well over time.



Used: "Christmas Magic" by Daniela Austen and Danielle Engebretson

1998 Cassidy's Seventh Christmas

I was to late to get a Madame Alexander ornament, as they'd all sold out. However, I've learned that I can find dated ornaments on eBay, so I may still replace the one from 1998 to complete her collection.



Used: "Christmas Magic" by Daniela Austen and Danielle Engebretson

1997 Cassidy's Sixth Christmas

1997 marked the beginning of the Madame Alexander ornaments. Cassidy loves them even now. There were also two gifted ornaments and a punch-out from a Christmas card to decorate and hang from the tree.



Used: "Christmas Magic" by Daniela Austen and Danielle Engebretson

1996 Cassidy's Fifth Christmas

We're not really sure where the snowman ornament came from anymore. We know it was a gift, but we no longer remember from whom. One gift received this year that won't be forgotten was the gift of baby brother Austin, born 23April.



Used: "Christmas Magic" by Daniela Austen and Danielle Engebretson

1995 Cassidy's Fourth Christmas

On 27May1995, I married a wonderful man and allowed him to move my child and I away from sunny Florida to Michigan. The ornaments this year, with the exception of the candy cane-toting bear, were ones she made herself with some guidance from Aaron's mom.



Used: "Christmas Magic" by Daniela Austen and Danielle Engebretson

1994 Cassidy's Third Christmas

Elmo was a major part of life for us when Cassidy was toddling. She had him on her clothes, on her sippy cup, and on her Christmas tree.



Used: "Christmas Magic" by Daniela Austen and Danielle Engebretson

1993 Cassidy's Second Christmas

For her second Christmas, Cassidy received two ornaments, one to continue the teddy bear set started on her first Christmas, and one to commemorate her adoration of Elmo.



Used: "Christmas Magic" by Daniela Austen and Danielle Engebretson

1992 Cassidy's First Christmas

Due to scheduling, I'm starting with Cassidy's ornaments. This is her very first ornament, purchased at Hallmark.



Used: "Christmas Magic" by Daniela Austen and Danielle Engebretson

Title Page

Since a few of the kids' ornaments have been lost over the years due to being broken or being thrown out with the tree, we decided to capture the remaining ornaments (and those to come) in an album. The first step was to take a picture of our tree which, as you can see, is suspended upside-down from our ceiling. The ornaments are no longer lost inside the tree, since they hang down from the branches instead of down into them. We also have more room under the tree for larger presents (or larger Christmas morning Santas).



I decided that I want to use the same kit for this whole album, since the ornaments don't necessarily have continuity on their own. I used "Christmas Magic" by Daniela Austen and Danielle Engebretson.