Verbally Challenged

So feed the animals we did. I love this park where you can really get up close and personal with some really well cared for creatures. I’ve been bringing Liam here since he was Addy’s age and now it’s neat to see Addy enjoying the same thing. And the two of them together just makes me happy!

I was too nervous to give addy the food since she can’t grasp the flat hand rule – but it didn’t stop her from watching Liam who was more than happy to be the big brother here!

And Addy did the ever so popular leaning hug SEVERAL times throughout the visit…usually just hugging the fence or a gate. Kind of like this:

And I have a photo of Liam hugging a llama at addy’s age – I need to find it. He’s always been a hugger and when he saw a goat hanging out on the bench he pulled a Tom Cruise and joined him – totally not staged (but it looks like it):

Our kids love animals…I guessing that because we live in the wild kingdom right here at home with our collection of furballs.

I’m going on a photo hunt. More later!

That’s the month flying by. Can you believe that August is almost here? I wanted to throw my bags of chips at the Target workers the other day for moving the back to school stuff to the front of the store – the nerve! But then I realized that school does start in three weeks and promptly went to the tissue isle where I sat on an oversized pack of toilet paper and had a good cry. Sigh. Summer goes WAY too fast.

However, with the time going quickly, I do feel like I’ve had a productive summer and done a lot of fun things with the kids. We’re busy almost everyday and while it’s exhausting at times for me, I know that they’re having fun. I will also admit that creative time has been on a slight decline since I’ve been busy with said kiddos and therefore have less eye candy to share.

BUT, today I have two layouts. And I’m happy to report that Miss Adeline’s book is growing and she’ll soon have 8000 albums just like her big brother! YAY for keeping it even!!!!!!

I was feeling the BasicGrey love here (with some American Crafts added)and playing with one of their new lines (I haven’t done ANY layouts yet with their new collections):

And this is from the new Sassafras Lass Collections (with more American Crafts added):

And then I’ll leave with another photo from my session the other day since she’s so dang cute (totally biased here). Basically, she’s happy AND she knows it:

Today when I was out with the kids I noticed a big blue sky full of perfect clouds. The type of clouds that are white, fluffy and perfectly spaced within the blue sky. And while I wanted to find a big open field, grab the camera and get awesome photos of the kids – I had places to go and people to meet. SO, the plan was to go out tonight after nap time when the lighting would be even more ideal – but that didn’t happen. The clouds passed and the sky was big and blue – usually not something that I’d complain about but I really had my heart set on the clouds.

So I joined walk team (another post on another day) anyway and had a great session with the kids (mainly addy). And it turned out to be her 18/19 month portrait session, even without the clouds.

And I got a photo like this that completely melts my heart.

It’s the only one that I had time to edit, more coming soon!

I’m itchy…VERY itchy and miserable and feeling like I’mbeing punished for something very very bad. Apparently, I have poison ivy on my legs, behind my knees and on my feet and I NEVER used to get poison ivy. I had the immunity that you so often read about and never understood the misery that others were going through. Now, I get it. I don’t like it. And if you see my immunity running around out there laughing at me, smack it upside the head and tell it to GO HOME! I want it back!

That about sums up me in the studio for the past couple of weeks. Pre-CHA time usually means tight deadlines and several trips to the post office (or fed ex, or UPS) but it’s so much fun! Well, almost so much fun until you get stressed, make progress, and then find the fun again.

I did a few pieces this show for BasicGrey and boy did they have a rockin’ release! The papers are GORGEOUS and my altered pieces almost made themselves! LOVE that!!!!

I’m now able to share a bit of the work I did so enjoy!!!

This is a piece using the new Granola line (yummy, earthy, masculine but not necessarily). I made it for my good buddy Jackson who has had a rough year and is now dealing with two wee little pain in the butt (but of so cute) baby sisters.

And then I made this jewelry case that actually holds butterfly hair-clips (made from the paper too and some UTEE). The line is called Ambrosia and it is gorgeous! Awesome color palette and bold colors – no wonder it’s my favorite!

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I made this as proof that I AM going to someday embarrass my daughter in college by showing her how much I love her (isn’t that what parents do)? The line, Urban Prairie, is SO cute!!!

And finally my silhouette frame of Miss Adeline with dimensional flowers in the box. In my book, you can’t go wrong with orange and “Offbeat” NAILS the color combos! The details in the paper are quite amazing as well.

Finally, a mini-book that is 18 pages SO, I did it about my gal recording her monthly milestones. It worked out nicely since she is 18 months now eh? The line that I used was Euphoria which is soft and pretty…and purple! HA! And have you seen the new chipboard albums they came out with? FUN shapes AND colors…this one being chocolate so I NEEDED to show that off!

And THAT is all – whew! More stuff coming later from Sassafras Lass once I get the green-light. They have the cutest mushrooms (yeah, MUSHROOMS) and woodland creatures in their release this time.

FINALLY some time to edit a few photos to share! We’ve been busy and I have more but this will do for now! Here is what we’ve been up to:

We’ve gone to our cottage at the lake, spending time at the beach (going again this weekend):

Proof, AJ with the bucket:

And what they loved most, daddy made sand puddles:

We’ve gone blueberry picking (AND I made a pie from scratch) – GO ME:

Raspberry picking too until our…er…Liam’s legs got tired and he was “getting too sweaty” (HE’S FIVE!):

Miss Addy had surgery (adenoids removed) and looked like this less than 36 hours later (yeah right I’d STILL be in bed eating ice cream):

We visited family and friends who came up from Florida (this is my nephew):

We played outside in style since it hasn’t rained for..gasp…FOUR days straight and the mud is drying up (dang it if I didn’t just curse this whole thing):

And we picked blueberries at home since our bushes are finally turning and the deer are sharing this year (how kind of them):

We’ve also gone to the playground a few times and the pool but since I have two kids and two hands I just can’t snap photos there. Maybe once I finish growing that extra pair of hands I’ll be good!

More later!

Already. How does that happen? I guess being away the bulk of June doesn’t help but honestly, our weekends are getting busier and busier and before we know it – school will be back in session! Booooooo!

Anyway – we’ve been keeping busy since getting back from vacation. We had a bit of a 24 hour flu bug pass through the house. Each one of us got it on a different day just to spread out the fun – yay.

Last week (after recovering) I had some scrappy stuff to do that I’ll be able to share in a bit. Oh, speaking of scrappy stuff, we had a fun challenge over at American crafts to create postcards last month. Check out the gallery if you get some time – there is some really fun stuff in there. I did a set of three kid-themed postcards for playdates and really thought that they turned out cute!

And this past holiday weekend we went to the lake and spent time at our cottage. The kids got to take a boat ride around the lake with Liam asking if we were almost done every. two. minutes. – relaxing huh? We got to hang out of the beach, build sandcastles and lakes – the kids LOVED doing this. And then we watched fireworks in the evening while cuddling on a blanket. I’d say that it was a great weekend.

Photos coming soon!