April 20

Another day without pictures :( I just haven't had time to do anything different, and I am kinda bored with taking pictures in the backyard. I am planning to take the kiddos to the park tomorrow morning while Kalyn gets her hair done so I will take plenty then :) Kinda looking forward to it!

But for today, I am actually going to confess that I am a complete and total stalker of all things Crystal Wilkerson. So much so that I went back through every single page of her blog today. Yikes! Did I actually write that? on my blog? Like I don't have better things to do, right? Not really sure if it's okay that I downloaded pictures of the layouts I want to scraplift, but I figure I am just using it for inspiration and I am crediting it all back to her so hopefully in blog etiquette, I have my bases covered :) I also own nearly everything she sells and I could actually duplicate these layouts :) When I have more free time. Sigh.  There's a permanent link to her blog on the sidebar of mine. You should check it out, too!

This is all stuff from her Sweet Summertime kit. LOVE that one. I really wish I would have taken the heart-belly picture like this when I was pregnant, any of the 4 times :)  I wonder if I could photoshop something like that in....hmmmm.

This is from her My Litle Brother Collection. LOVE that one, too :) And seriously, this has got to be one of the most inspirational pages. I wish I could dream up journaling like this to put on my kids pages. I really want to, but this sort of sappyness just doesn't come naturally to me. I could completely cry right now!

Okay this caught my eye, first of all because her daughter's name is Chloe, like mine :) And secondly, because we are trying to teach our babies their body parts, too! How cute is this layout? Seriously, people. Everyone needs a sweet little girl with kissy lips like this! This is all from her August 2009 Collection.

I love this layout, too -- how it shows the same kid in different outfits. Jammies, in particular. I love my babies pajamas and I always seem to get one picture of them that actually turns out so I am totally going to do a layout like this with all those random pictures. This is her July 2009 collection if you want to have it, too :)

Well, I hope that you all are inspired now, too. Go - make a page for your kids!

April 19

I made another layout today. Last weekend Jonathan took the kids to Benny Russell Park and they had so much fun. I used today's freebie Template Tuesday at DigiLovely.com, and supplies from Echo Park's Dashes Kit and a few things from Bella Gypsy's Mischief Kit.

Click on the picture to see it larger in a new window.

April 18

So I finally broke down and did some digi-scrappin today. Yay! It felt good to be able to use some of the stuff I forgot I had. I fell in love all over again. I also needed to catch up on my Template Tuesday layouts so woohoo! for killing two birds with one stone :)

Click on the picture to see it larger in a new window.

This layout was created with Carina Gardner's Hippity Hop freebie kit. I just love her style! And I like her even more after getting to know her on the forums at our class at JessicaSprague. I am already looking forward to taking her new design class in the fall :)

April 17

I have seriously spent the ENTIRE stinking day working on reorganizing my computer files. Do you ever have a feeling that something is wrong with your computer and it's on its last leg? Well, I kinda have that feeling. Plus, now that I am learning how to design on my own, and I have spent more time developing my own style, I really need to clean out my files of all the junk I downloaded when I first learned of this idea of digital scrapbooking. I was so excited to get something for free, (like when that works out with coupons! Yay!) that I went download-crazy and snagged everything I could get my hands on. And basically, it's a lot of junk that I have never used and probably never will. Say goodbye to cluttered files! I am so excited about how everything turned out and how beautiful and ordered my file system is now. Ahhh, sigh of relief.

Here's a layout that I did a while back since I didn't take pictures today.

Click on the layout to see it larger in a new window :)

This was one of the very first layouts I ever did, and I am not 100% sure where everything came from, but I think it was by Bella Gypsy. They were one of the first designers I ever came across and I loved all their bright colors and patterns. The babies were only about 6 months old here. My, how they have grown!

April 16

Okay so my last few pictures of Claire have not been happy ones :( I had to redeem myself, for her sake if she ever reads the blog one day and wonders why she's been so sad. hehehe! She truly is a very happy, loving and ADORABLE baby. She's probably my most easy going child, and by far, the best sleeper. Love that pretty little face!

Wanna kiss?

April 15

The boys were so excited to spend the night with their Mimi Evie tonight! I had a hard time keeping them entertained until it was time to go, so we spent some more time outside and I was able to get a few cute pics.  My sister came to clean for me so my house smells good again :) Yay! haha!

Do you see what his shirt says? It says, "The Paparazzi just won't leave me alone!" This is SOOO my favorite t-shirt of his :)

My beautiful "big" girl, Kalyn. She's was riding Chloe around in the bike trailer that Jonathan last weekend when I was on the retreat. That has become one of their favorite things to do when he comes home from work.

And Caleb :) This boy is too stinkin' cute for words! Just sayin'. You know I'm right!

April 14

I have been plugging away at my design stuff for the Digital Design class at JessicaSprague.com. It's a lot more work than I thought and I am really behind. You know how I get, all hyperfocused on one thing until I figure it out. Must be my A.D.D. kicking in. Sometimes I just have to get outside and away from all the thinking and the blinding white of the computer screen. So I took the babies outside to play :)

Seriously cutest face I've seen all day!

Okay, maybe this one's a little cuter :)

And seriously, Claire? This has to be the saddest face I've seen all day.

Or maybe it was this one :( Boo hoo! What's a momma to do?

She just wants someone to hold her :)

April 13

Bible Study this morning :) We have had a few new ladies join our group over the last few weeks and I am really enjoying getting to know them all better, too. Seriously, that's the highlight of my week. Every week. It's so wonderful to have a support group of like-minded women to share my life with every week. They encourage me to be a better wife, mom, Christian, and just a better person all around. They inspire me with their ideas on biblical parenting and challenge me to spend more time with my Lord when I see Him working in their lives. I hope that you all have a group of wonderful people in your life, too. These women are such a blessing to me.

After our Bible Study this morning, my sister asked me to come over and go swimming. Umm, yeah, let me think about that. 90 degrees outside, 5 rowdy kids and a messy house I don't feel like cleaning? Yep, be there in about 15 minutes!

Kagen had so much fun when he and Caleb were making waves together.

Oh yeah, he was having a lot of fun chasing everyone down and getting them with this water gun contraption.

This is Chloe, stomping her sweet little feet in the water runoff from where the boys made waves. If only I could have captured her face, but wait no more. I did, in the picture below :)

I love this sweet little girl!!!

I didn't neglect to take pictures of Kalyn. She was at work with her dad :) She loves to go with him because Daddy always buys her a drink, takes her to lunch, and usually gets doughnuts on the way to his job. Such a rough life, huh?

April 12

I know I promised to share pictures from the Women's Retreat a few days ago, but I wanted to make an actual layout instead of just dropping the pictures from a random file on my computer. This was truly an amazing time and I enjoyed every bit of it. I am so thankful for my husband, who sees the importance of making sure that we can afford to send me on trips like this, and also that he's willing to keep all of our kids. That makes me crazy most days, so for him to do it, without complaining (which I never can do) is amazing! I love that man!

The only person I have to credit here is me :) Yay! All of these elements and papers were designed by me, myself and I :) Oh shoot, I forgot! I used one of Tiffany Tillman's Summer Templates - #9 I think!

April 11

Kalyn and I worked on this layout together today. I am so happy to be able to share my passion for scrapbooking with her. I get so excited when I explain something to her, and she tells me, "Mom, I already know how to do that!" I am looking forward to spending more time with her working on our scrapbooks this summer.

I used Tiffany Tillman's Summer Template #5  and the papers and elements are from Echo Park's Life is Good Collection.