Snap...just like that...

This year our boys are playing Upwards basketball at a local church. We love it. They love it. The best part is that for the first time ever in any sport, our boys have practice on the same night at the same time at the same place. It's been wonderful. Tom has been taking them each week and I get to stay home and catch up on things during a wonderful 90 minutes to myself.

Last night the phone rang at about the time practice should have been over. It was Tom calling to tell me that "something happened" in practice and he thought "something was wrong with Blake." Then I could hear Blake screaming in the background. I knew he was hurt worse than he'd ever been before. I told Tom to head to the urgent care center and I'd meet them there.

Aside from worrying about Blake, on the drive up I went into panic mode thinking we'd all walk out of there with flu, too. I was surprised to pull into an almost empty parking lot. Luckily, Blake hadn't had to wait (or sit in a flu infected waiting room!) and was taken right back to an exam room. The nurse commented that we had just missed "the rush." At least Blake had good timing!

Right after I entered the exam room, they took Blake back for x-rays. He wanted me to go with him. He was in so much pain it was painful for me to watch. I felt helpless because I couldn't fix it for him.

His wrist is broken. The radius is split all the way across. In his right arm. Yes, he's right-handed. Basketball season is over just two games into the season. He was devastated. They put a split on his arm (which caused more pain and screams) and sent us home.Today we had an appointment with an orthopedic specialist. He confirmed the break. Blake received a new cast in his color choice of red. Today's events weren't quite as painful. I was happy to see that the real cast will allow for movement of his fingers. Plus, the cast doesn't cover his elbow like the splint did so it will be so much easier for him to dress and perform other routine tasks we take for granted. (This morning I felt like I had my "baby" back while we were trying to get ready.)When we got home, Kevin was the first to sign the cast.And then my boy put on his Boy Scout uniform and headed out for a meeting. He'll be back to school tomorrow. We follow up with the doctor in a couple of weeks for new x-rays and to evaluate how it is healing. If all goes well, he'll only have the cast for about 5-6 weeks. We are keeping our fingers crossed. Baseball starts in 6 or 7 weeks!

Mixing up my holidays...

My February Chocolatier project for Crop Chocolate was to create something for Valentine's Day or love themed. Instead of using your typical Valentine's Day products, I decided to use the leftovers from the amazing "Everybody Loves Christmas" line by Echo Park. Since I scrap my boys, I didn't like using the pink patterns for their Christmas layouts. Plus, I thought the brown patterned paper I used on the left hand side made this page for Kevin a little less feminine, too.

In addition to the items in the EP paper pack, I added a sheet of white cardstock a strip of rose trim, and red foil Thickers (all by American Crafts). The pink brads were from my stash.

Kevin actually helped with this layout. He drew up a "sketch" for me and I actually used elements from that sketch to come up with this page. (He's my little artist!)

Here's hoping we get a full week in at school without any snow! It's back to work tomorrow.

Something to share...

I spent last weekend rearranging my scrapbook area in the bonus room. The moving/cleaning interfered with my scrap time this week. I did manage to finish one layout that I'd like to share.

I used the January "Who's Who" kit from Studio Calico to make this layout for my personal album. I had this photo of me with two of my sisters that told a story I needed to scrap. For years, whenever a camera comes out when we are together the hand gestures do, too. A favorite seems to be the spelling of "blood" with our fingers. Why? I guess we are pretty gangsta down on the farm in Kentucky?

Now, years from now when my grandkids are looking through my albums, they'll know what Lindsey was doing with her hands. She's spelling out "blood" because she's cool like that.

More Christmas memories...

As you may have noticed, once I open up a paper collection or kit, I like to use it until it's gone. The Echo Park "Merry Christmas" line has been keeping me entertained lately. I finished four more layouts with it (we had two more snow days!) and still have a bit left that I might be able to stretch into another one.


I made this really, simple layout for Kevin's album about the cousins all decorating cookies for Christmas. Baker's twine is my latest addiction...

And, I'm still getting a lot of use out of my tags from Shabby Chic Crafts. I ran out of "o"s on my Thicker sheet, so I cut a "g" down into a heart shape.

"Tis the Season for Cookies!" is a layout from the same event, but with close ups of Kevin and one of his finished masterpieces. On this one, I pulled out a piece of oversized rick-rack I've had for a long time. I sewed it down the middle and then pulled a string from each end to wrinkle it up. (I'm sure there's a more technical term for that...) Then I added a sticker strip to cover my stiching.

I also remembered I had some Jenni Bowlin Chistmas themed bingo cards. I ended up cutting the designs out of the packaging card and used the "mini" cards as accents.

I didn't think Kevin wanted to see Santa this year. I didn't push it. Then on Dec. 23rd, one of my sisters called to tell me he told her he WANTED to go see him. So off we went to Louisville (an hour away) to see the "real" Santa. (The one is our town is rude and won't let you take photos. Plus, he wears a fake beard!)

I'm not holding my breathe that he'll ask to go next year. I added a MME die cut quote to this page because Kevin is pretty charming, adorable, AND ever so sweet. :)

And I used more baker's twine. Imagine that!

I noticed the same Santa was on the Echo Park sticker sheet AND on the cut-apart card sheet. So, I cut one out and layered them - with pop dots, of course. Love pop dots. They are right behind baker's twine on my list right now.

And, I'm saving my least favorite page for last. In my mind this was much better than my final result. But, a finished layout is just that...a memory scrapped. My kids won't care if it's "right" or not. :)

My scrapping has come to a tempory halt for right now. I interrupted my space by deciding to rearrange. EVERYTHING. I started at 10 pm last night and while working on and off throughout the day think I'll be really happy with my changes. My computer work area is already complete and a real plus.

Now, I just need to finish putting things in their new places so I can find my scrap table and create something.

I like to create. :)

Enjoying the holiday(s)...

I enjoyed being out of school for the holiday today.

Although Tom had to go into work, we still made time for a family game "late afternoon" with Monopoly. We love the new electronic banking version.

Kevin thought it was a "hair-raising" experience!

I also worked in some time to scrap today and made three layouts last night after the boys went to bed. Since I didn't have to get up early for school, I stayed up late. Really late!

My recent photo order contained several Christmas photos and I decided it was finally time to use my "Merry Christmas" paper collection by Echo Park. I had purchased this as soon as it was released, but saved it to use with this years' photos.

For the first layout, "Ready for Christmas Mass," I used a silvery shade of Bazzil bling cardstock. The boys' expressions were so fun in these photos that I had to scrap them all. To accent my page, I used the ornament stickers from the 12x12 sheet and adhered them with pop dots. I added baker's twine to make them look like they were hanging.

The dark brown background I used for "Christmas Pajama Memories" didn't photograph too well today. It stayed overcast. I am really happy with how it looks in person though. I was inspired by Allison Davis' 2-page Sketch #7 at Sketch Support.

I added a word sticker by KI Memories and foil Thickers for my title.

When I thought I was finished with the layout, I realized it was still missing "something" so I added the buttons to the tree. Of course, I had to tie them on!

Then I switched gears to scrap a few single-page layouts. First up was Kevin's Christmas program at school this year. I liked the "Merry Christmas" sticker so much that I used it in place of a title on the page.

I used pop dots on the sticker embellishments.

One of my favorite Christmas activities was the family outing (16 of us!) to see "A Christmas Story" at a local historic movie theater.

I added bling to the centers of the snowflake stickers.

Finally, I completed a layout showcasing the tree in Kevin's room. He decorated it all by himself. I love seeing the handmade ornaments from each year.

Several items from my stash were added to this page (Jenni Bowlin large star covered in Stickles, Jenni Bowlin mini bingo card, random vellum tag, baker's twine, button, bling brad). I also sprayed the page with Pearl Glimmer Mist.

I think I have enough scraps left for a few more layouts...

Unexpected finds...

My latest two layouts are seem to have very different topics, but when looking back at them, I realize they both tell a story about unexpected finds.

First, is a layout of Kevin and Reese. What's the find? Being reminded of my two youngest sisters around the age Kevin is in these photos playing with Blake when he was a baby. Then it hit me, the age difference between my youngest sister and Blake is the same as that of Kevin and Reese. On Thanksgiving, I loved watching Kevin in the floor playing with Reese and sharing the toy tractors with her. (And aren't her curls just adorable?) I used my "Dear Diary" (Nov. '10) kit from Noel Mignon for this layout. I added the American Crafts crocheted flowers and the yellow Basic Grey alpha stickers.

My boys don't have as many first cousins as I did (50 or so...), but the bonds they share with the ones they do have I hope will be stronger.

I used the same "Dear Diary" kit for my next layout. I thought the papers fit my topic perfectly. In November I attended an auction on the property next to my parents' farm. I didn't go to buy anything, but ended up spending $20. I spent $5 on each sale and my title mocks an auctioneer, "Fi-dolla, fi-dolla, who'll give me fi-dollas???"

When I saw a green floral frog on a table, I knew I was going to make a purchase. Then they grouped it together with a bunch of stuff I didn't want, and the bidding went over $10. I approached the winning bidder and gave her $5 cash for the frog. There were a few green dishes on my wish list, too. They went over my $10 limit. I figured I had nothing to lose, so I approached that winning bidder, too. One of the green bowls what the only thing she had wanted and she said it was actually valuable. She sold the large green salad bowl and 3 matching smaller ones to me for $5. Later, she came by and gave me a green vase, too.

Then I saw the chairs. I actually needed an extra one in our formal dining room. I had my sights on two, hoping to get one of them. They went late in the auction and the crowd was dwindling. They started the bidding high on both and no one would bid. I offered $5 (both times) and no one bid against me. The one with arms looks great in our dining room. I just need to recover the seat. The smaller one has a great shape and is just cute sitting in a corner in our living room. I liked the scalloped shape of the packaging that came with my Jillibean Soup corrgated shapes, so I used it on my layout. I also added a tag and bling frame (around my journaling).

Although I had fun at the auction, I haven't been to one since. I don't "need" anything and am afraid I'd bring home too many deals!

I'm looking forward to spending the day with my boys tomorrow since school is out for the holiday. Apparently UPS is still delivering because I have a shipping confirmation that says I should expect a cool package tomorrow...

Rewind to fall...

It's been sooooo cold here lately. Cold since Thanksgiving. While I can't say that I'm ready for warm weather, I am ready for "warmer" weather. Fall is warmer than winter. Maybe that's why my "fall" Dear Diary kit from Noel Mignon put me in the mood for scrapping when I received these photos in the mail the other day.

My younger son is named after my dad. Some days it's very appropriate that he is. I've noticed lately that Kevin has a funny, serious face when he is concentrating on something. My dad does the same thing. Last month while we were at my parents' house, I captured both Kevins in deep concentration. My Kevin was decorating cookies. My dad was working in a Sudoku book.

The title came to me instantly. And yes, I was a huge Joker/Heath Ledger fan in the last Batman movie!

I actually thought I was finished with this layout before I added the buttons/brads. When I stepped back and looked at it, "something" was missing. I LOVE that I added them. They are my favorite part of the layout. (Aside from the photos/story, of course!)

Even though we've lived here for seven years, we still see a dentist in our old town. It's worth the 40 minute drive a few times a year because it guarantees we'll be visiting an area we love. It's a nice little outing for us. On the boys' last appointment date, we went over early for lunch at the historic Old Tabott Tavern. LOVE this place. Their fried green tomatoes are DELICIOUS! Unfortunately both boys like them now, so I have to share. Blake and I tried their catfish sandwiches and were amazed at how BIG they were when they came out. Blake picked his up and declared, "Mom, it's just like Man vs. Food!" (That's a show on the Travel Channel.) And so, a title for a layout was born...

I added the corrugated star shapes by Jillibean Soup, a Girls' Paperie alphabet ("vs."), and some twine. Finally, I scrapped a super simple 2-pager to document our Thanksgiving. We delivered meals for our church.

I think the house shape is a leftover from another Noel Mignon kit. I also added the envelope.

We are enjoying the beginning of our 3-day weekend. We went out for an early dinner tonight at Outback (yum!) to celebrate two boys' great report cards. On the way home, we attended church (now we can sleep in tomorrow!) and went to a 50th birthday party for my favorite uncle. (50??? Wow!)

Now, it's movie time. ;)