Happy New Year!

Hummm, so I'm a few days late and a couple of months past due on posting (thank you to those who have been worried about me!). For some reason around the holidays at the end of the year, my blog seems to get shoved by the wayside because there is just so many other things going on. Not only do we get Thanksgiving and then Christmas, but right smack in the middle of those we get Tate's birthday (I cannot believe my baby is 4!) and then there's New Year's and I'm also trying to get taxes finished up (yuck!).

I did manage to squeeze in a little scrapping between there, but not much. Oh, and I have discovered a new passion: crocheting (thanks Teresa!) and rekindled my love of MMORPG's. I started playing World of Warcraft a few weeks ago. So fun!

So, for Tate's birthday this year we made a trip to Tulsa and took him to Build-A-Bear--it was a little before Christmas and it was a nightmare. It took us 2 hours to get through it. But in the end, Tate loved his football star bear. (I'll have to find a pic sometime). Then we went to Incredible Pizza where we ate lots and played tons of games. I even got Brian on the go-karts with Tate. He had a blast!!

Christmas was SO fun this year. Tate really got into the whole Santa thing, which was awesome.


We also made hime some snickerdoodles and left chocolate milk (Tate insisted he liked it better than white milk). He also didn't think Santa would be able to see to eat, so he left him his flashlight to use. How thoughtful he is :)


Santa was very good to us all this year!
Tate got a Black & Decker work bench with lots of tools, a drum, lots of cars and trucks, movies, books and the biggest gift of all:

Yes, that is a gas powered 4-wheeler. He opened up a big box that had some keys in it. He tossed the keys aside, looking for something big and fun in the box. He had no clue. We finally had to ask him what he thought those keys might go to..then he started to get it. It was parked out in the garage with a big bow (thanks Nana & Rusty!)

Brian got some new boots, clothes, tools, his annual Christmas Heinz 57 Sauce (long running funny gift from his family) and a new Henry Rifle.

And I got a new phone--a Motorola Hint:

It's lots of fun, but there's a lot that I still want to learn about it. I also got money, gift cards, a cool rug and HIGH SPEED INTERNET!! Yes, I am SO happy about that one. I can actually update my blog at home in less than 2 hours! :)

We got to spend a lot of time with family this year. That was so nice!
Here's my dad and Tate:


and my baby brothers...they are getting way too old! Kris, the oldest, turned 16 this year...I remember the night he was born.


and cousins Ellie and Emma...Tate adores them! He even shared his new 4-wheeler and let everyone ride :)


and I have to introduce a new member of our family. Meet Zeke:


But sadly, I also have to say goodbye to another member of our family. My basset hound, Lucky.

He passed away on December 2nd. He was over 12 years old, which is pretty old for a basset. My dad and stepmom got him for me for Christmas my senior year in highschool. I miss him SO much. He wil never be forgotten.

Okay, so...wanna see some creative stuff? I found some layouts that I had not posted yet from the last 2 months. Here ya go!









This last one was a lift off of someone on Two Peas, but I cannot remember who it was.

That pretty much wraps up 2008 for me. I'm ready to start fresh in 2009! I have some scrappy projects to work on for the store and some I want to do for myself. I always love the beginning of the year...Now it's time for me to set some goals. I'll be thinking on those and some resolutions and get that stuff posted soon! I promise, I won't wait so long next time :)

I'm Still Here!

And keeping busy as ever. October is one of my most favorite months of the year, but it's also the busiest. And afterwards I'm always glad it's over, but I look forward to it again next year! So, since it's been a while, this is going to be a photo heavy post, so just a warning!

Hmm, let's start with what I've been working on for the scrapbook store. I have several layouts ready for my class coming up this weekend and a couple more that just need scanned. Here's 3 of them:

Love these American Crafts papers!


And some absolutely fabulous Fancy Pants:


And some yummy Scenic Route Sonoma:


And this one is for a Christmas layout class coming up as well...There will be 6 layouts total and I'm contributing 2 of them. These Making Memories Fa La La papers are some of my favorites! This layout was also a lift of the amazingly talented
Christine Middlecamp. LOOOOVE her stuff!


And I've also been the busy picture taker too! I adore fall and I adore fall photos, so I've been draggin Tate around here and there to see what I can get :)













And the Halloween costume, handmade by me!





I really have lots more pictures from the end of October, so I may share some more of them soon. Need to get more edited! Have a great week folks!

More Layouts and Photos!

I'll have a more in depth post later this week with some pics of the fun things we did this last weekend...need to get them edited first though! I do have a few new layouts to share :)

This one is using the Scenic Route Appleton line...it's SO great for boy pics! This is Tate and one of his best friends these days!


This one started as a lift from a layout I saw on 2 Peas the other day, but turned out a little different. I can't remember the pea name to give her credit...I'll try to find that! (And the wood paneling background is actually my poor outdated dining room wall...so no, your eyes are not playing tricks on you! :))


This last one is another one for my "Book of Me" using some papers from Daisy D.


I also took another road trip to Oklahoma City a couple of weekends ago. I left Brian and Tate at home and had some major fun with my girlfriends. We went to a crop on Friday night, had lots of fun, made some pretty things and ate some good food! I also did my second photo shoot ever with Jennifer's boys. Little kids can be hard to photograph when they dont want their picture taken, but we got some good ones...it was much for fun when we started having hay fights! :)







The little one in his adorable pumpkin costume!












I'm still working on my photo editing...it's a little tricky at times, so let me know what you think!

Also, I'm hoping to start getting some stuff up in my Etsy Shop soon! If you like my layouts, I'm going to work on doing some page kits to put up for sale there, so be on the lookout for those and other fun stuff! :)

Have a great week, I'll have more to share in a few days!

Worn Out!

After a big weekend of Scrap Pink and my mom's wedding 2 weekends ago, I'm STILL tired! I taught a mini album class this last weekend at the scrap store too, so I have lots to share! With all the activities going on, I had to drop out of Nook U...maybe I will graduate next time! It's gonna be a photo heavy post, so I will just cut the chit chat and give you some fun things to look at!

Layouts for the store...this first one will actually be part of my layout class that's coming up in 2 weeks!







This is the mini album I made and taught last weekend using some awesome Cosmo Cricket goodies!















And lastly, here's a few shots from my mom's wedding:



The boquet I made with a little added flower from Tate!








Tate just couldn't stand not being able to dig into the chocolate cake...but I caught him trying to sneak some frosting! :)






Have a great week!!