Autumn - Luke and Rocky!

So Many Hats -

Me and My Big Ideas 'Chester', DCWV stripe, Mike's ribbon, MM rub-ons, Paper Studio foam stamps, UTEE

seems kind of 'bottom-heavy' but i still love it! got the paper today at Hobby Lobby!

First Swimsuit!

First Outfit!

My House in Tennessee - 1993-1997

Journaling: This was my first venture 'away' from home - my second house purchase when I was transferred to west Tennessee. Smack dab in the middle of the small town where the plant was located, population 3,800. I guess I caused quite a stir when I moved in, being a single female and all! Built in 1904, and remodeled several times, the house was 3,400 square feet! I was pretty popular as a front seat for the annual Newbern Christmas Parade! There were 3 fireplaces, huge bedrooms, and a spectacular view out of the back room windows! I purchased several beds from Miss Anne, the previous owner, to fill the bedrooms! The house had been in her family since her Grandparents built it! On the weekend it was fun to walk down to the hardware store, take in a ceramic class, watch a play in the restored Historic Train Station, and wait for Miss Treva to pull up in the driveway and say "Let's go to Paducah!" or maybe Memphis or Nashville! As for the furniture, I found some papers tucked between the mattresses that linked Miss Anne's family to Charlotte Courthouse, Virginia! What a great first "home away from home" !

and i helped!

most recent creation, inspired by the "Passion for Patterned Paper" idea book. my sweet baby helping me in the kitchen!

michael miller 'fabric' paper, playground sizzlet, michael's ribbon, mm ribbon charm

I Tripped Down Memory Lane!

was cleaning up old diskettes (yup, diskettes!) and came across this picture. a little trivia about me: i am trained to weld! and i've taught welding! this picture is of me preparing to make the first weld on the very first frame (for a toyota truck) to come off the assembly line of the plant in Owensboro, Kentucky! i was on the startup team for that greenfield operation and, being the only female staff member, they asked me to make the inaugurating weld! no matter that i welded the frame to the jig! it was all still very exciting!

in the 'big' picture, i'm right under the red arrow. the smaller picture is a close-up!

My Favorite Card

this is a layout showcasing my most favoritist birthday card from my dh! it's in the mesh pocked so i can look at it whenever i want to! the wording - i look at the life we've created - our home, our family - and i just have to thank God for bringing us together . . . For through it all, we have shared the same hopes, the same dreams, the same ideas about how to live and raise a family. And, through it all, i've come to appreciate you even more, for you are a truly remarkable woman . . . and i'm still very much in love with you - now more than ever.

behind the card is hidden journaling that says - "and inside the card was a gift card to the local scrapbook store for $100!

The "Hanging Seat"

ok, so only one page so far this year. i'll start 'finding' more time to scrap! here's the page showing Grace on her swing in the basement!

Phew - Done, Done, Done !

got my scrap space moved from the basement to a spare bedroom! took weeks, but it's going to work out well! gary didn't think the room was going to be big enough, but it is! and nice views out of the windows, too!

take a peek! click on this link!

scrap room pics

Merry Christmas!

Santa was here! He had some cookies! Just waiting for everyone to rise 'n shine! We had a great day yesterday just hanging out! We watched movies and cooked and napped! For Christmas Eve we had Japanese-style Tempura for dinner - shrimp, tilapia, chicken, broccoli, cauliflower, zuchini, and onions! What fun! Today we'll have the traditional ham, sweet potatoes, etc!

Here we are, hoping all of you have a Very Merry Christmas! Of course Grace isn't wanting to sit still long enough for one picture!















and, of course, Jake (mom's cat) is stirring it up with the older, less playful cats! here he and Arnold are having a face-off (Jake's on the left!) !

Will Finally Be Able To . . .

scrap pics of the decorations on the front of the house! i've been playing with the speed setting on the camera after being inspired by the SBEtc Photography magazine! YAY!

Ending the suspense!

here are the colors i've chosen for when/if i relocate my scrap room to one of the spare bedrooms! i think the middle two, with the darker one being just one accent wall. hope to have everything else in white. the carpet is white!

My First Totally Digital Page!

basically scraplifted from the Pinecone Press Book Tra-Digi for my book club meeting tomorrow morning! hope you like it!

I Found You!

My sweet baby playing hide 'n seek in the dryer!

Favorite Meals in New Orleans!

Wanted to showcase our favorite meals during our trip to New Orleans last August. This is the second of four layouts I have planned from this trip, remembering New Orleans just three weeks before Katrina devastated it! Journaling: Whole Lotta Muffuletta Goin' On - As usual, our favorite part of vacation is eating! We had some wonderful meals in New Orleans! We had breakfast buffet at the hotel each morning, and mostly salads for lunch. But for dinner . . .well, here are our favorites! and in addition to regular meals, we also enjoyed beignets and frozen cafe aulait at Cafe du Monde! BUT . . . the absolute BEST was our lunch in the French Quarter at the Central Grocery where we had the Original Muffuletta! I even brought some of mine home! YUM! The top right is an accordian album with more pics in it!

My Daughter's Treasure Box and Journal

This is an altered box that will hold my daughter's mini-albums. Right now it has her ASD journal in it and will soon have her dada's baby picture mini-book in it. I've hesitated making mini-books because I don't want them scattered around, but this seems like the perfect system!Here are the first few pages of her Autism Journal. We discovered her challenges and started therapy a year ago this December. So it seemed fitting to use this idea from the Pinecone Press Book Club Book 'Calendars' to create this library card pocket accordian-spine book!

Remembering New Orleans

This is one of four layouts that I will be creating from our trip last August to New Orleans.












Journaling: We got up early and rode the St. Charles Street Trolley out to the Garden District. It was a beautiful morning with lots of sunshine and gradually got hotter! We spent the morning doing the walking tour of the houses and had coffee at the local cafe. We paid a visit to the Garden District Bookshop to get Gary a t-shirt and then walked through the Lafayette Cemetery #1. Creeeepy! We took the trolley back to the French Quarter in time for lunch!

Right journaling block: August 8, 2005 just three weeks before Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans

My Brother!

pp - K Foster, K Neuburger, Bazzill cs, vintage typewriter font, wrights snowflake, vellum, ink

Growing Up

Journaling: Oh Grace, time is flying by much too quickly! I look at you now, tall enough to open doors and climb most anything you want to, going to school four mornings a week . . . what happened to this baby face . . . still such a beautiful face. Yes, you have your challenges. But you're taking them on one at a time, in your own time. At three years old you are now ready to give up your naps and when you wrap your arms around my neck you actually squeeze tightly, telling me, without words, that you love me. There is no better feeling in the world to me!