The Well Rounded Mama

Trying again...

Okay, I will try to post pictures again.  In another one of my DH's brilliant moves, he has totally messed up our internet.  One of the things that was done is that he somehow enabled a pop-up blocker (which we don't need because the school server gets rid of all that for us.)  But with this yahoo blocker enabled, it was looking at Typepad pop-up menus (such as when you want to upload photos) as a pop-up and has blocked it.  I've disabled it...let's hope this works.

My little Princess on her actual birthday (January 30).  She insisted on wearing the crown all day.

A family picture (minus Caleb who was napping during the party). I swear our faces really aren't that red, don't know why we're all looking so wonky.

My sweet liitle girl with the cake that she decorated and placed the candles in.

This was the crown she chose to wear all day the day of her party (January 28th.)  So cute with her Domino's pizza and breadsticks (she got to pick the menu!)

Mommy and Alaina...

She was SO excited about this new pair of pants!

 

Opening gifts...

Decorating her cake

Resting...

So, I've officially been "not working" for four days now.  I can't really say I am not working.  I am TRYING not to, but life gets in the way.  Dishes still need to be washed, diapers still need to be changed, husbands still need help reading recipes (see the story later in this post), and well, things just have to get done.  However, I will say that I am doing MUCH LESS than I normally would and I am getting a lot of rest.  Not necessarily sleep, but I am getting to spend time just sitting or lying down without feeling like I need to get up every two seconds.  So in this resting time, I have gotten a lot of stuff done at my computer.  Some of it work (emailing , website/blog updates, other paperwork) and some of it scrap related.  I have finished quite a few LO's for Jasbeanie, which has been fun.  I am SO EXCITED for her first kit to debut at A Cherry On Top.  I had a lot of fun working on a LO with it.  SOOOOO different than what I normally do.  I can't wait to show it (you'll have to wait until tomorrow!)  I've also had time to look through the galleries, to be inspired, to praise those that inspire me.  I love the whole idea of leaving praise for people's LO's.  There are dangers -- people just praising because they know someone, people just praising because others do -- but that isn't the bulk of it.  It is a group of women praising another woman's art -- praising her in her endeavor to cherish the memories of her friends and family.  In giving praise, I hope to encourage that person to keep on doing what they are doing. To keep on preserving the memories of special days and every days.  To say to her friends and family, "I love you so much that I need art to help express what is in my heart."  And that is something worth praising!  And so I have roamed the gallery at 2Peas, trying not to look at who created but rather, what they created.  Everyone deserves praise, and I wish I had time to comment on everyone's LO's, but I try to pick a few that jump out at me and inspire me to continue creating.  And as much as all the praise is nice, the really important thing about scrapping is that we are doing it.  Some of my favorite pages have gotten no comments.  And you know what?  It doesn't matter.  There is no way anyone could feel what I feel when I see those pictures.  No one can know the love that is in my heart for the people on that page.  And so for all of you have had a LO that no one praised, I praise you.  I praise you for creating, for letting your heart find artistic expression, and for loving your friends and family enough to savor the memory.

Okay, wow, I had no idea I had all that to say.  I was just going to mention it was nice to have time to go through the galleries. I guess I know now what I feel...

I promised a few pictures from Alaina's birthday.  They aren't great, but she is.

Okay, well maybe not.  Our internet is so messed up right now.  It is not letting me post pictures. I hope I can at least post this entry.  I'll try again later.

Oh, I promised a story about my husband.  Okay…to funny.  It was one of our dorm girls birthdays yesterday and so Jason and Julia (someone who is helping out in the dorm while I am “resting”) were going to make cupcakes.  The cupcakes got made and Jason came in and asked me, “Is icing hard to make if you can read a recipe.”  I told no, it was not, but that he just needed to make sure the butter was softened properly.  Fast forward an hour.  He comes back in and tells me the icing is yellow.  I asked him if he used regular vanilla or clear vanilla.  He said he used regular.  No big deal, the icing was going to be colored pink anyway.  But then I kept thinking, the icing sometimes turns out an off while but not yellow.  So, I decided to go in and have a look.  Sure enough, it was a definite yellowish color.  And it was really runny. Now icing here in Malaysia isn’t nearly as stiff because the butter melts so fast, but still, it shouldn’t look that runny.  I asked him how much milk he added and he told me the right amount.  So, in trying to save this, I said, “Well, let’s just add some more powdered sugar.”  So I started that but knew something was still wrong.  So then I asked him if he used butter-flavored Crisco instead of regular Crisco.  “Crisco?” he asked. “The recipe says vegetable shortening.”  I said, “Yes, that’s what Crisco is.”  And just as I was about to ask what he though vegetable shortening was I saw the vegetable oil sitting on the counter.  Oh my.  I laughed, told him to throw the icing out, and start over.  Yes, dear, icing is easy to make if you know how to read a recipe.

You know it's bad when...

...Your son sees you dressed in real clothes and runs to get his shoes because he knows you only get dressed when you are actually going somewhere!  LOL!  Man, have I been on vacation the last six weeks or what?  Poor guy...had no idea that today re-introduces real life where we ALL have to get dressed EVERY DAY, and not necessarily because we are going somewhere!  I felt so bad.  He wanted to go out SO much but I really couldn't take him.  I really am supposed to be resting (though I am not sure how well I am doing at this!)  We sat and watched Baby Bach together, though, which seemed to appease him some.

Still pretty crazy around here.  We had Alaina's birthday party yesterday which turned out to be MUCH, MUCH simpler than originally planned.  But with all the chaos of the last few weeks I just decided that simple was okay (and probably even preferable.)  So, we just had some good friends of ours come over, ordered pizza, and had ice cream and cake.  Even the cake was NOT what I had planned on doing.  For months I had thought about this beautiful princess cake I was going to make her.  But those plans kept getting dwindled until my only plan was a cherry-chip cake with pink icing, white piped flowers around the edges (with silver balls in the middle), and a tiara on top.  Well, I got most of it done.  I had just finished with the pink icing and was getting ready to pipe all the flowers.  But then Alaina came and said, "Mommy, I want to help with my cake!"  At first, I was in total mommy-is-in-control mode and was trying to think of a way to tell her no because I was going to make it pretty.  But you know what?  It dawned on me.  This was HER cake and HER party and if SHE wanted to decorate the cake, well then more power to her.  I do not have to be in control.  And so I gave her a bowl full of little silver balls (I hadn't even smoothed out the pink icing yet) and let her go.  And she had SO MUCH FUN and was SO PROUD of herself!  I felt like a good mama.  And it was beautiful.  It was beautiful because my three-year-old baby girl decorated her own cake and it made her so happy.  And, I might add, we did NOT have a rerun of last years where I SLAVED over her cake for hours only to have her say, "I don't want any.  It's blah!"  And you know what the very best part of all this is?  I HAD TIME TO SHOWER!  That's right, fifteen minutes before our friends were due to arrive I turned the cake project over the birthday girl and I actually had time to get clean.  Maybe I should give Alaina more things to do...

I'll post pix once I get them downloaded from my camera.

One good thing about being sick and being ordered to rest is the guilt-free (well, almost guilt-free) time to scrap.  I have actually gotten FOUR pages done in two days.  I'll admit, they are both 2-page layouts so it was easier than four separate pages, but still, you gotta give me some credit!

All papers and elements by Jasbeanie from her HUGS & KISSES set, available at Scrapbook-bytes and Jasbeanie Designs.

 

All papers and elements also by Jasbeanie from her awesome TANG set, available at SBB and Jasbeanie designs.

That's all for today.  Jason is on his way home so I think I might try to sneak in a nap!

p.s.  If you ever want to see any layouts bigger, perhaps to be able to read the journaling, you can see them over to the side in my digital scrapbook photo album.

My Life is a Little Crazy...

I know, I know...whose isn't?  But I swear, either nothing seems to be happening in my life or EVERYTHING seems to happen all at once.  KWIM?  So what do I have going on???

MY JOB    So...We've been in meetings for the last three days because our dorm students come back on Sunday/Monday after being home for six weeks.  The beginning of a new semester is always fun, exciting, a little nerve-wracking, and busy.  This is no exception. We found out one of our students is not coming back.  One couple left our staff and so now we are all trying to figure out how to make the schedule work with two less people.  Chinese New Year falls on the two days our kids travel back so the drive to and from the airport will be COMPLETE CHAOS.

MY FAMILY    So much going on here...Alaina turns three on Monday but since that is a travel day for students and Jason will probably be in a van to/from the airport all day we are going to celebrate tomorrow.  So I have a bunch of gifts to wrap and a princess cake to make.  Caleb has been a little weird the last few days...I think he can tell change is in the air.  He has been clingy (especially to daddy) which is very unlike him.)  Plus, Alaina starts in her preschool 3 class on Tuesday.

THE FUTURE     Our contracts come to an end at the end of the school year and we have been working all break to make a decision about whether to stay or not.  This is a very hard and complicated decision BUT, we finally made it.  Because we will have three little ones by then we decided that it would be best to come out of dormparenting.  The program here really isn't suited well for people with small kids.  What we DON'T know is if we will stay at the school in different roles or if we will move on.  We are looking into various opportunities, filling out applications, etc.

DESIGN TEAMS   I am so excited to be a part of MandaBean and Jasbeanie design teams.  What more could a girl ask for?  I get paid with free kits to do what I love!  SO FUN...however, it just worked out that all of this started at the same time as all the other craziness in my life.  No big deal.  I love doing it so much that it will give me a much needed break from everything else.

MY HEALTH   ****WARNING*** some yucky words like snot and phlemn ahead so please feel free to scroll down to the

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Okay, here's a crazy and long complicated situation.  Let's see, I've been sick since before Christmas.  HELLO...THAT IS OVER A MONTH!  It started as a cold...scratchy throat, running nose, cough.  Well then the cough moved deeper and deeper into my chest...the runny nose turned into a severely stuffed up nose and I've just felt yucky.  So, after two weeks of being sick I went to see my OB for my regular monthly check-up and told him I wasn't feeling well (hoping he would just give me something.)  Well, he wanted me to see some other doctor.  So, I waited for the other doc to be able to see me (all the while being frustrated because my OB said he probably wouldn't give me any medication...in my mind NO MEDICINE = WASTE OF MY TIME.)  Anyway, I saw him and he gave me a round of antibiotics and sent me home.  Fast forward 2 weeks.  Back at the doctor.  Still not feeling well. This time he gave me a nebulizing treatment, a chest x-ray (which was clear), and a new inhaler.  Home again.  No improvement (actually, getting worse...more coughing, more phlemn, etc.)  One week goes by.  Back at the OB...told him the other doc was supposed to see me that day too but he was out on an emergency.  My OB wants me to see yet ANOTHER doctor...this time an ear/nose/ and throat specialist.  See him...shoves a camera probe up my nose and says, "Wow, you have really bad sinus infection."  More meds.  "See me in three days...you'll be much better."  Three days later (today).  NOT BETTER...Coughing a little less but much more clogged.  Can't breathe well (being 29 weeks pregnancy doesn't help that either.)  Wait at least an hour to see the doc.  He does that wonderful little camera-up-the-nose thing again and says it is still bad (oh really??)  Then, he squirts something that he *claims* will numb the pain for his next wonderful procedure.  He VACUUMS my nose!  I kid you not.  With the camera probe in my nose and some vacuum thing he sucks the snot out of each nostril. And that pain reliever?  Must be expired because BOY DID THAT HURT!  Then...he wants me to have a facial ultrasound (did you even know these exist?)  Waiting ANOTHER HOUR for the tech (to get the full picture realize, too, that I am *supposed* to be out shopping for my DD's birthday party because EVERYTHING will be closed for the next three days for Chinese New Year, PLUS, I am supposed to be getting ready for a staff dinner at a nice hotel.)  Anyway, Ultrasound tech finally arrives and has me do an oxygen test first.  One nostril is okay, but not great.  Second nostril:  I'M DYING.  I am supposed to close my mouth and breathe through the nostril that does not have a foam plug up it.  BUT I CAN'T.  Her response, "wow, you're really clogged aren't you?"  Duh.  Then comes the ultrasound.  Not quite what I expected...this one hurt.  They have to push really hard against the bones of your cheeks and forehead in order to "see" your sinuses. Yuck.  Back to the regular doctor.  Tells me, "you're really sick."  I say, "well, after a month I was kind of getting that idea."  But then he tells me his options are severely limited because I am pregnant.  Great.  So, he gives me more of the same stuff I have been taking plus menthol to inhale three times a day.  I'm not so hopeful about that one.  If I am not any better in a week, they will stick a needle into my sinus and "wash them out."  Ooooohhhh...that sounds like fun!  And to top all of this off (this being my crazy sickness and all the other CRAZINESS of my life) he tells me I can't work for the next week.  Now this one is hard.  On the one hand someone telling you to do nothing but rest (read: sleep, watch movies, and digiscrap) is WONDERFUL.  On the other hand, I HAVE SO MUCH TO DO!  My dorm kids who I have not seen in 6 weeks are coming back and who in the world is going to fill in for the 80 or so hours a week I work with them?  Who is going to plan, prepare, and host my daughter's birthday party?  AHHHHH!

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Okay, enough whining.  I'm done, I promise.  If you read all of that, you are a saint.  If you skipped the yucky parts, I understand.  Who wants to read about snot, cameras in your nose, and needles in your sinuses?

A few pix just to show you my life isn't all that bad, in fact, it's wonderful.  Crazy, but wonderful.

This is Caleb doing one of his favorite activities.  On Playhouse Disney they have a show called "Out of the Box."  At the end, they do a song called, "so long, farewell..." where they sit and slap their hands on their knees.  Cabe LOVES doing this and every time he sits down he does it.  The only problem is, Alaina can't stand the attention he gets so she always joins him.

And one more...the other day I came into the room and Caleb apparently felt like he needed some cereal.  I guess he helped himself...

Busy....

Okay, so I never got back to posting again the other night.  We have been SO BUSY...the semester is starting up again and we have been in meetings the last few days.  When we aren't in meetings, I am trying to hard to 1)spend some quality time with my family and 2) get some of my to-do list checked off.  Oh, but there is so much!  Don't get me wrong, a lot of it I WANT to do...like downloading some new kits, some LO's I need to do, updating my family blog (separate from this blog), creating a new website for my dorm, etc.  However, this all takes time and it all takes RAM of which I am severely lacking.  That's okay, my computer will hopefully make a trip to the service center this week to get my RAM updated from 512mb to AT LEAST 1gb.  That is one of the things about living in Asia that is SOOOOOO nice...things like that are really cheap.  Last year we had to have our power supply and fan replaced and after spending two weeks trying to get Hp to take care of it, we gave up and took it to a local store.  They fixed in like half and hour and it cost next to nothing. 

Okay, I really should be getting back to all those to-do lit things, especially the not-so-fun ones I didn't list like cleaning my house and doing some paperwork.  Have a great day.

And oh, by the way, Jasbeanie just sent her creative team links to one of her new kits and can I say that she is brilliant?  Don't know what I can share so I won't share much but she has solved one of my greatest scrapping dilemmas.  It will be great!

Have a great day!

P.S.  If anyone knows how I can upload video clips on Typepad I would be extremely grateful for some tips.  I really don't have time to be searching around Typepad to figure it out. Thanks =)

I'm So Excited...

Just a short post right now.  We're on our way for dinner at a friends house (which is SOOOOO wonderful because all afternoon I have been putting off starting dinner and then my dear friend told me she had just made a huge pot of baked potato soup and would we like to join them.)  YUMMMMY!

Anyway, just tooting my own little horn to say that JASBEANIE has invited me to be on her creative team.  WOO HOO!!!  I am so excited.  Not only is she extremely talented, but also I LOVE the idea of working with someone here in Asia...supporting her, routing her on, and getting to work with her gorgeous stuff.

So now, I think my plate is officially full.  I have two little kids, one on the way, a full-time job of being a "mom" to 14 dorm students and two creative teams.  I'm so excited. Yes.  This is my life and I WILL EMBRACE IT! 

(p.s. lots of other fun "life stuff" (NSBR) going on right now, too, but I have to keep some of it to myself.)

Hopefully I'll be back on tonight or tomorrow to share about my day.  Off to eat some yummy soup...

A New Layout, a quiet bath, and one week to go...

I'll work backwards...

One more week of this blessed vacation time we have had.  My DH and I work at an international boarding school in Malaysia where we are dormparents to 14 7th-12th graders.  It is a lot of fun, but a lot of work.  One of the biggest perks of the job is the LONG vacations we get, both at Christmas and during the summer.  So, we've been off since the middle of December and it has been WONDERFUL.  It has been so great to spend QUALITY time together as a family, as a couple, and even alone.  But reality sets in soon and a week from right now our students will be arriving back again.  We LOVE our students and look forward to their return, but I'm not so sure how much I miss 80 hours weeks and cafeteria food.  Also, I'm looking at the clock right now ant it says it is almost 10 pm and I am thinking, "What the heck am I doing up so late?"  HA!  10:00 pm would be a DREAM during the semester.  NEVER happens.  CAN'T HAPPEN, except maybe on our day off but then that is the ONE NIGHT that Jason and I get to be alone without our kids, without the dorm kids.  So, we tend to stay up.  Oh well, once the baby arrives sleep will be a distant memory anyway.

Okay, so I had an awesome half an hour alone today.  Caleb and I slept in and didn't go to Church so when Jason and Alaina got back it was time for me to get cleaned up.  So, rather than a shower, I took a nice long bath, lit my yummy cranberry candles, had DH put on some soothing music for me (I chose Enya), turned out all the lights and RELAXED!  Well, I relaxed after about 15 minutes.  In those first 15 minutes I was too busy dealing with Alex the cat who seemed to think it was fun to stick his paw in the running water and dealing with Alaina, who came in, saw my bath, and said in her most sincere voice, "Mommy, I am SOOOOOO dirty!" (read: Mommy, I want to take a bath with you.) Luckily for me, she likes luke-warm to cold baths and I like my water HOT, HOT, HOT and the tub was already filled.  So, at least I talked her out of wanting to get in with me.  Then, when the bath idea didn't work out for her, she said urgently, "Mommy, I HAVE to go potty."  "Alaina, I'm all wet.  Get Daddy to help you go in YOUR bathroom" (how lucky is she -- a two year old with her own bathroom!)  "But Mommy, I want to use yours."  Ahhhh, gotta love being needed. So anyway, after the cat and potty episodes, Dh was gracious enough to get EVERYONE out of the bathroom and the bedroom and let me soak in my nice steamy tub which by this time was working its way to luke-warm.  But it was still nice.  My sciatic nerve has been acting up lately (all three of my lil' cherubs have chosen to sit on this nerve during most of their time in the womb) so it was good to try to work out some of the tension.

And finally, a new layout.  Papers by Jen Wilson's Comfy Jammies paper pack, jeweled element and stitching from her Butterfly Haven elements pack.

This is a picture my DH took of our little girl.  He asked her to go to her room to start packing for the ONE NIGHT she was going to be gone and when he came in, he saw her suitcase overflowing.  She packed at least 4 outfits, 6 pairs of jammies, and at least 6 diapers (which she only wears during the night.)  HA!  At least Jason is getting good at recognizing scrapping moments and got the camera out.  I am training him well.

Needed to Scrap...

I really needed to scrap...to be creative.  But for some reason, the creativity has not been flowing.  I want to make something, to create something, but I get so frustrated.  Ever have one of those days?  I tried to do a layout last night...my intro page for the Manda Bean creative team, but after over an hour...NOTHING, NADA, ZILCH.  I hated everything I did and so I just deleted it.  All of it.  So, instead of scrapping I have spent my time browsing the galleries, trying to soak in some inspiration.  Or, I read blogs.  Anything other than create.  Frustrating.  But, tonight I MADE MYSELF do something...anything.  So, although I am not looking at these pages saying to myself, "How beautiful!" at least they are done and I have some memories of a really fun morning this week.  And, patting myself on the back, I used TWENTY pictures on two pages.  Not bad, huh?

 by Princess (Tropical winter) and Jen Wilson (Butterfly Haven).  Butterfly elements (pink one recolored) and quote also by Jen Wilson (Butterfly Haven)  Butterfly and swirly stamp from the Compassion kit by Shabby Princess and Gina Cabrera.

Papers by Shab

Okay, in other news. Hmmm...I'm almost 28 weeks pregnant and I swear this baby is trying to kick its way out -- now.  Odd, though.  It will go days without me even really remembering I am pregnant and then one day, as if to say, "Hey! Don't forget about ME!!!" It kicks, and kicks, and kicks.  Feisty little thing.

Speaking of feisty...oh my.  Alaina has been quite the handful the last few days.  SO MUCH ENERGY.  Where did this child come from?  Jason and I are fairly low-key and laid back but she has won herself the nickname of PSYCHO CHICK since she was about 7 months old.  She just goes and goes and goes and goes and then she crashes.  Unfortunately, she often wants to crash in the middle of the afternoon which we CANNOT let her do.  It sounds cruel, I know, but if I let this girl sleep for more than about 5 minutes during the day she WILL NOT fall asleep at night.  And I SO NEED her to go to bed by 7:30 (which is usually more like 8).  I need this for two reasons 1)She gets up at 6:45 EVERY DAY so she needs to go to bed early to get enough sleep and 2) Because Caleb desperately needs some time alone with us when Alaina is not around.  He is just so sweet and content (though he is giving us the impression the last few days that there is a stronger will lurking inside this child) that Alaina just steals the show all day.  If Caleb does anything good or praiseworthy, she has to do it too and do it BETTER.  Of course, we are not impressed when she who is almost three can figure out how to put her dish in the sink but when Cabe does it, we clap for him.  So, when we weren't clapping for Alaina, what does she do?  She stands in the middle of the kitchen and TAKES A BOW!  And then says sweetly, "No one clapped for me!"  Dare I say this girl needs attention?

Caleb wants to talk SO MUCH.  He knows WHEN to talk, he just doesn't have any words.  So he makes unintelligible sounds at the appropriate times (like when we hand him something he mumbles something with the inflections of "thank you."  I swear one day this kid is going to get out of bed and be speaking in sentences.  He might be five by then, but hey, a little late than never.  Mind you, he really isn't that old to not be talking (he'll be two in May) but it was just a little shock to us since madam Alaina was speaking in full sentences by this age.  She even had all the words to say on her second birthday, "I don't want any cake.  It's blahh."  (I must say, her birthday brought on one of her worst moods ever.  She usually isn't this snippy.)

At least they love each other.  They are starting to fight a little but they are also playing more and more together.  The other day I was nice and gave each of them a chocolate chip cookie. I then walked into my room to find this:

 

How sweet!  Of course, about two minutes after I took this there was chocolate ALL OVER my comforter, but hey, it was hard to be mad at my little sweeties.  Just glad we have an industrial size washer on campus to use!

It's been a few days...And some exciting news!

Okay, I really hadn't planned on going this long between posts, but life gets in the way.  We have been pretty busy here, but still having lots of fun.  Our winter break is still going on for another week and a half so we are trying to spend as much time as a family as possible.  It has been SOOOOOO wonderful!  We miss all the special family time once schools starts!

Okay, for my exciting news...

On a whim I decided to apply to the creative team for Manda Bean.  I didn't really think I would get it since I am so new to the digi-scrapping community and there seems to be a hierarchy of people, artists, and designers.  But, I've liked her stuff and thought, "why not."  So I was super-surprised to find out that I was chosen!  I am really excited to be working with a designer and what appears to be a great group of women artists.  It will be great to get fun, new products to use for doing what we love -- scrapping!  MandaBean products will be on sale at Digi Chick until the end of the month and then all of her products will be found only at the new store the Sweet Shoppe.

In other news...

Yesterday we went with some friends of ours to the butterfly farm that is near us.  We haven't been there in over a year.  It is so beautiful and we had a great time.  Here are some of my favorite pictures.

HOPEFULLY I will have some time to do some scrapping today.  I'll post pix if I get anything done!

Just checking in...

No much to report today.  Jason and Alaina arrived home today...it was SO GOOD to see them.  They had a really great time on their trip!  Caleb and I had a good time at home, too.  It was so nice to spend quality time with him.  He is such a sweet and cuddly boy.  I LOVE it!  Fortunately, he slept late today so I got to sleep in until 10:30 when Alex (the cat) insisted it was time to get up.  It is kind of hard to sleep with an annoying cat meowing at you and stepping on your face.

I spent a lot of the day downloading my new Jen Wilson stuff.  It took FOREVER.  But it is done now and I am enjoying my new stuff!  Here are my first two pages with my new goodies:

This is definately much busier than I normally do...many more elements...but it is hard to resist when she packs so much in her kits!  Anway, just a LO of a fun day out with Alaina and Jason to our favorite coffee shop.

I FINALLY did a page from Caleb's birth.  Sheesh! He's almost two.  In my defense, it is hard to find boyish stuff that I like, especially for little ones.  So I was really happy with this kit.

A few more LO's I've done in the past week or so:

A layout using all stuff made by ME.  I'm a little proud.  I really like the beading.

And one more with papers and elements made by me.  Not thrilled with the layout, but I am learning to stop being so picky on my LO's and just get pages scrapped.  So, I quit working on it.

Guess that's it for today.  Everyone in the house is asleep and it is only 10:30 pm so I've got some quiet time to scrap.  Have a good day/night.