A look though my sons baby album(s)......

Unfortunately (and fortunately) I don't have anything new to share with you. I started a new part time job this last week, but because I had to train, I've actually been working full time. So I haven't had anytime to scrapbook.


But I have been trying to tackle one project that has been weighing heavily on me. My existing albums. Because we live in a wild-fire prone area, those have always been my biggest concern. The rule has always been that the house and everything in it can burn EXCEPT my albums. Now, we do take preventative measures, and have fire defense stuff that hopefully we'll never need to use, but just in case......The only problem is that my 30+ albums have now gotten to the point that we can't get them out in an emergency, so I needed plan b. I've been photographing each LO and will send copies of the cds to a family member, praying the day will never come that I'll need them.


But I thought it would be fun to share some of my first pages. Fortunately, it never seemed right to me to cut all my photos into funny shapes, and I've only done that on a few pages. For the most part, most of my pages are still similar to what I would do now, simple, clean lines.


Hope you enjoy this look at yesteryear. (These are all about 4 years old).

Feeling Blessed

I was just posting these pages I've been working on and Robert is watching the doom and gloom channels, oh, I mean CNN & CNBC. All this talk about the dire economy makes me feel so fortunate to have found a part time job. It's nothing fancy, but it's enough to buy groceries and hopefully animal feed each month. I am blessed to have been hired, especially since unemployment in our county is over 10%. The best part is it is a job I'll enjoy! I just get to talk to people and help them all day! And when the days done, I punch the time clock & I'm done! That's my kind of job (especially with a family).

On to some more fun stuff!

I'm getting caught up! Last night I scrapped 47 pictures! Yea, I'm feeling good. Here's a look at the last week or so worth of work.

The Back Home Grumpies!!

I knew it was coming -- thought I'd gotten off lucky though because Tuesday & Wednesday weren't too bad. But slam - they hit yesterday. I think the relaxation of a vacation is immediately negated by the grumpies the kids have when we arrive home (from loss of sleep, too much time in the car & a different diet).

Here's a few pictures from our trip. This one is on the caboose of the steam train in Sedro-Woolley (the town I grew up in). It's one of those you drive by every day but never pay attention to until you have guests in town kinda thing. And since both my kids have an infatuation for trains, we had to check it out. (my sister in law, Juliana, is on the right).


Now, this is another one of those things you take forgranted when you grow up somewhere. For as long as I can remember, this giant slice of a tree has always been in the park near the train. I really wanted a picture of Cody with it because trees like this just don't exist anymore. It's over 10 feet in diameter, and has date markers in it dating how old it is. It was cut in 1940 I believe (somewhere in there), but the date markers go back to the first cruisades in 1000 AD. Unbelieveable. And since this was a logging town, all over you see pictures of the old time loggers pulling out logs this big or bigger. And pictures with 10 people circling the diameter of the tree trunk. Amazing.

Aly and my nephews Zac & Tyler

Cody with Zac & Tyler

Another one at the caboose with a chainsaw carving. This is my mother in law (middle) and Roberts brother & sister (I'm on the right edge).

Aly was talking about how she was 2 years old and how much she liked hot chocolate. Not sure how they correlate, but to her, they did!

Cody & Aly with my grandparents.

On Friday, I took the kids to the Children's Museum. They had a 10 foot functioning crane. I knew I had to take Cody to it.

Unfortunately, I decided it was the right time to play with all my camera settings instead of just leaving it in auto, so not many of the pictures came out very well. But that's okay, I didn't really need 1,000 anyway.

We met some of our friends who used to live here, but moved to Arlington two summers ago. Cody with Andrew (middle) and Kate (right). They had lots of fun playing together again. It amazes me that the boys were both 2 when Andrew moved, but they remember they were friends even though they only see each other a few times a year now.

Cody was operating the crane here, and man, was he in 4 year old heaven. I think he spent 2 hours driving the crane. Fortunately, the museum was pretty empty.

Happy Birthday to......

......i'm not quite sure who, but all day long the kids have been walking around the house singing Happy Birthday. Of course, neither of them have inherited the gift of music, neither can carry a tune in a bucket. (I think they must have gotten that from me :blush:!)

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Now, I'm just a little behind here, I've been meaning to share this little video for a few weeks. Just the kids sledding, Cody wouldn't let me get a more close up shot, he was determined that I should BE sledding rather than taking a video.



blog ya later~!

(I have some paper LOs to share this week soon - maybe tomorrow will be peaceful enough!)

Poor Abandoned Blog

Yup, we were out of town for a week or so. So nothing happening here!

First of all, THANK YOU to whoever sent me the box of scrap goodies. When I got home Tuesday, I had a package waiting for me at the PO. Went to pick it up and I was giddy as I kept pulling out more and more stuff! THANKS A MILLION, you know me so well! LOL!

I have lots of fun pictures of our trip I'll post later. But I can't right now because I GOT A JOB! Woo Hooo (I think). Not sure I'm ready to go back to the "real world", but it's only 2 days a week, so I can handle it. I think....... I have to go for orientation today, but if I have time when I get off, I'll get my stuff posted.

Library Bliss

It was a big week for the kids. They each got their own library card!

Being a mom who tries to teach responsibility (and because unfortunately I've had to buy a library book because I wasn't responsible), I decided to take the kids to the fabric store and let them each pick some fabric to make library bags with.



I tried to get the two goofballs to stand nicely and show off their bags & cards, but of course, they wouldn't do it. So this is the best we got!

They each chose the fabric, and we used the cricut to cut out their names from fabric, and ironed it onto the bag.

(sorry for the bad pic - he wouldn't let me borrow it again for another picture)

To keep their cards in their possession and still safe, we punched a hole with the crop a dile and used a binder ring to attach it to the strap. Works great!

I thought it might be nice if I had a bag myself to keep organized with, so here's mine! No, I didn't put my name on it. LOL!

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Aly must be growing right now because (besides the fact she's outgrown all her clothes), she thinks she needs to eat her body weight in food each day. Every 20 minutes she comes to me and says "hun- ey". So we give her a healthy snack, but today, we though fun should trump healthy.

I had these pretzel rods I was planning to dip in chocolate and put Valentines sprinkles on, but decided to let the kids do it themselves.

We melted some dark chocolate (yes, we use a lot of dark chocolate in our house, it's better for you and the kids actually love it, way more than milk chocolate), with some peanut butter and put a spoonful on the plate for them to dip their stick in. I let them dip that into a few sprinkles.

While it wasn't the healthiest of snacks, it was a fun one!

A Little Lovin'

Ah, the big day. The Valentine's Day Party at preschool! We made some treats to share ahead of time.

This was not the exact valentine we gave out today. (the ones Cody gave out didn't have the pin, heart and ribbon -- I didn't figure that would be to um, safe? LOL!)

And I've been wanting to try making ice cream cone cupcakes for a while, so we gave it a shot. The perfect amount to put in the cone and time to bake them, well, that needs practice. But they turned out pretty cute. We added a strawberry marshmallow, m&m and candy heart. They were a hit!

At preschool, to open it every morning, Pastor Muske always asks the kids to come up one at a time and they do a little greeting and sign the attendance sheet. When they're done, he asks the kids if they want to jump down or fly down. Cody jumped today and I snapped this picture. Yeah, shoulda changed my camera settings, but I kinda like the blur of it, kinda symbolized life with a preschooler!

Getting the wiggles out!

Today Pastor Muske let Aly participate. She ran up front and signed the attendance sheet like she's been there forever. She thought she was a mighty big girl.

And if I can just brag a little here - her dress, made by moi! I LOVE this fabric!