Layout of the Day-Pool

I used a piece of SpongeBob Square Pants paper for this layout. My sister gave me the paper piecing. She received it in a swap.

Flash-Back Friday--It's a Boy

Six years ago this week, we became the parents of the beautiful boy that is the star of this blog. Nikolas was born at 3:09 pm (almost 24 hours after we arrived at the hospital). He weighed 7 lbs. 15 oz., and was 20.5 inches long.

Nikolas Turns Six

Nikolas woke up bright and early yesterday to get his presents before Gary had to leave for work.
One of his gifts was this blow-up Scooby-Doo chair.

Chewy left his gift for Nik on his empty dog bowl (as a hint that he needed to be feed).

I was able to volunteer in Nikolas' class. He got to wear a birthday crown and his teacher and all the kids sang "happy birthday" and counted to 6 together. He passed out treat bags to his classmates and got a treat from his teacher.

After school we meet his BFF Dylan for lunch and games at Chuck E. Cheese.

Does this boy look like he had a great birthday, or what?

I had to work at night, but after dinner Gary took Nik to Baskin Robbins for his free scoop since he is in the birthday club.

Layout of the Day-Zoo Camp

Layout of the Day-Hamburger Hat

I used two different Coordinates Collection kits (May and August) on this hamburger layout.

Layout of the Day-SWIM

I used the May 2008 Celebration kit from Coordinates Collections for this layout. I cut the title out with my Silhouette using the Eskargot font (downloaded from the internet).

Layout of the Day- Kane County Courgars Game

I used some pattern paper and stickers from the Cody kit by Love Elsie along with cardstock, letter stickers and fun vinyl Thickers.

Layout of the Day-Pirate Play

In June, Nikolas and I joined some of his school friends to watch the Emerald City players preform "How I Became a Pirate," based on the book by Melinda Long. I am submitting this layout to the guest designer contest on Coordinates Collections. The requirement s on the entries were you had to use at least two pattern papers, 3 buttons, a chipboard accent and journaling strips.

Eleven More Months Until WDW

The countdown continues—eleven months until our trip to Walt Disney World to celebrate my 40th. I’m also continuing posting layouts and memories from our 2006 trip. Click here for the first installment.

10/19/06-After finally checking into our room, we headed to Epcot. Our first stop was Spaceship Earth. I was a little worried about how Nik would handle it since parts of the ride are dark. He was fine until we got to the top and started going backwards. This is the area with stars and the Earth pictured on the ceiling. Nikolas said, “Mommy, I want to come back to Earth now.”

Next, we headed to The Seas with Nemo and Friends. Nikolas loved the pelicans outside (“Mine, mine, mine”). It was surprising to see that there was no line for this brand new attraction that had just officially opened that Monday. I wasn’t that impressed with the ride. The Nemo part of the story was fast and choppy.

We also saw the Turtle Talk with Crush show. Nikolas wasn’t comfortable sitting on the floor with the other kids, but that was OK. After that, we looked around the rest of The Seas including Bruce’s Sub House.After The Seas, our next stop was The Land Pavilion. We grabbed Fast Passes for Soarin' to use after dinner. We saw the Circle of Life show and the Living with the Land ride, which Nikolas loved because of all the animals in the first part. Nik was hungry so we stopped for some fruit at Sunshine Seasons, then road Living with the Land again. We did some shopping and beverage sampling at Club Cool before our dinner reservations.

The food at the Garden Grill was great. Nikolas was a little shy with the characters at first, but he warmed up pretty quickly...and we forgot about autographs and only got Pluto's that night.

After dinner we road Soarin' which we all enjoyed. We left The Land around 7pm and strolled around World Showcase until IllumiNations started at 9pm. Nikolas fell asleep in his stroller before it started (not surprising, since he had been up since 4:30am) and woke up during the show. We started toward the exit before the show was over and was in bed by 10:30.

Layout of the Day-After Graduation & Last Day Party

Two separate events, but they share a common spread in Nik's book, so I created consistency by using the same card stock and pattern papers.

Flashback Friday-Scrap Fest

For today's flashback, we are headed off to the Mall of America where the annual Archivers' Scrap Fest is happening this weekend.
My sister Mary and I have attended two Scrap Fests...2004 & 2005.

Each year we attended we did tons of make-and-takes, took classes, had dinner at Bubba Gumps and went to the Saturday night crop.

Wish I was there this year.

Layout of the Day-Lookin' Like a Genius

I enlarged and cropped Nikolas out of a group shot (see First Friends layout below) for this layout. I used a sketch from Scrapbooks etc. Page Planner book and the most of the supplies came from Coordinates Collections May 08 Celebration kit.

Layout of the Day-First Friends

I got these pictures emailed to me the grandmother of Nik's good buddy Dylan.
Great shots of the boys hamming it up.

Golf Outing

I participated in our church's annual golf outing on Saturday. I had never golfed before (besides mini-golf).

Here is our foursome...we probably weren't the best golfers on the course, but we looked good.

Here I am in action...and bad form. My hands aren't together on the club. (I think the ball is still on the ground just out of the shot.) I was sharing clubs and balls and I am proud to say that I only lost two balls in 9 holes of play.

Layout of the Day-Preschool Grad/Pocket Page

Nikolas' preschool graduation:

A pocket page I made to put in some of his work and his diploma (when I find it).

Flashback Friday-Big Sister edition

Yesterday was my oldest sister Ruby's birthday. So, today we are going to flashback to some of her other birthdays.

This is from her 30th birthday party. We had a surprise party for her. She is opening some of the gag gifts she received...a "Reserve a Night With Me" t-shirt to commemorate her years at the Holiday Inn reservation center and a pair of slippers. The slippers are a reminder of a time when she was little (before I was born) when she had gotten new slippers and while she was trying them out, she slipped and fell into the TV set. (OUCH!)

That little guy sitting next to her is now almost 19 years old!

Here is a layout from her 40th birthday. She was born in 1960, so we planned a 60's themed party. I thought I had more pictures from this...but maybe not since this is all I scrapbooked. Gary is wearing one of my Lithuanian Basketball team t-shirt.

Layout of the Day-Cosley Zoo

I got a bunch of good shots of the animals, but never got one of Nikolas.

Resolution Update--Back on Track, Sort Of

I did some work in August to fix two of my resolutions that got way off track this summer. Here is an update:

I resolve to take more pictures! I did take a number of pictures in August, but this resolution is too vague to really see progress on.

I resolve to read the Bible in a year. I am happy to report that as of yesterday, I am caught up with my readings.

I resolve to read 12 Newbery Medal winners this year. I read two Newbery winners in August (to make up for the one I missed in June). I read A Single Shard and A Year Down Yonder. I enjoyed them both. My next selection will be Bud, Not Buddy. I have decided that in 2009, I will make a resolution to read 12 "classic" children books, suchs as The Jungle Book and The Secret Garden.

I resolve to lose 20 pounds. As of today, I am 3 pounds lighter than I was at the start of 2008. I hope now that school is back in session, I can get into the habit of exercising either before Nikolas gets up or while he is in Kindergarten. Not super progress, but still better than a gain.

Layout of the Day-The Mom 'Do

I got to go scrapbooking for my birthday this weekend. Here is the first layout I finished. It is for my "This Is Me...My Life as a Mom" book.

Last Day of Summer/First Day of School

Since most of the schools in the area started back on Monday, August 25th, we decided to enjoy Nikolas last day of summer with a trip to the zoo. The hippo was on the top of Nik's to-see list.

We got to see a roadrunner in the Fin and Feathers exhibit...the roadrunner is the school mascot of Nik's new school.

After leaving the zoo, we stopped at Cold Stone Creamery for a last day of summer treat.

Tuesday morning was Nik's first day of Kindergarten. Here is outside of our house...

and standing in line with his class (and waiting for his friend Nathan to show up).

Nik hasn't enjoyed school too much so far ("Kindergarten is boring."). His teacher missed the first week due to a death in the family. Hopefully, when she returns tomorrow his attitude will improve.