ba'ketball

JT loooovvves basketball right now. His dada got him a hoop that we have in the house for now. But as you can see, he has a bit more to learn about good sportsmanship...

yes. deer.

A few Fridays ago when I was home part of the day, I noticed these two deer in our backyard.

I figured they were just passing through, so I yelled for JT to come quickly!

They ended up staying out there almost all day. They laid down and were comfortable as could be in our yard. Total craziness here in suburbia!

March 12

Another month, another 12 pictures on the 12 of the month! Looking at these layouts together makes me think "wow these days sure pass quickly." It's like a blur. I guess that's why it's worth taking the pictures - so you can look back and remember.

If you draw conclusions from this layout you will think that our mornings last half the day, my toddler has his own blackberry, and I don't water my plants until they are pretty much dead. And you'd be right about the plants. :-)

let your sham rock!

leprachaun09, originally uploaded by brungrrl.

Happy St. Patrick's Day. We played outside all evening, except a short break to eat dinner. The weather was amazing. Looking forward to lots more days like this. Playing at the park gets to be old hat for us... but wow, are we lucky to have a park RIGHT HERE. JT loves it!

challenge #3

Happy Friday the 13th! Again!!

And now for the last of the challenge layouts from the all-weekend crop. Sunday's challenge page was to (1) use some of the paper we got as a gift at the crop, (2) embellish with a tag and eyelet or brad, and (3) cut a photo into a silhouette. The silhouette was my contribution... for which I'd like to send a shout out to my friend E who totally rocks the silhouettes!

I think I broke a lot of design rules on this page, but I was running low on sleep at this point. I think 2 photos is ok, but using 2 cupcakes was wrong. Feels like it should have been one or three. And the tag isn't worked into the page very well. But then I look at that drooly-faced, bald-headed, big-eyed baby and I don't care one bit about design. :)

challenge #2

The second challenge from the all-weekend crop was (1) to use paint in some way, (2) experiment with alcohol inks, and (3) to make an embellishment out of felt. The felt was my idea. I've been toting around a stack of it and never getting inspired enough to follow through on it. So, challenge it is...

I am quite pleased with my stitched owl. Of course, I predicted that John would say, "What does an owl have to do with these pictures?" Men. Owls are hip and trendy. Roll with it.

Today is the 12th! I am taking pictures all day today for 12-of-12. Hopefully a layout (probably digital) will be heading your way soon.

friends don't let friends...

At our all weekend Scrap Happy crop, we like to play games between the 3 of us. I mean, if you don't want to put yourself out there, you should just stay home to do your scrapbooking, right?! As the shirts say, "friends don't let friends crop alone."

Each day we each issued a challenge for one layout that day. That means one layout had to contain all three challenges for the day. Friday's challenges were (1) to use only paper from the scrap bin, (2) stamp an element for your page, and (3) hand-write your title... like old school scrappin' days!

Here is my take on the first challenge:

You should have seen the girls squirm when I stapled the sheep to the page... they may both need therapy after scrapping with me. Haha!

I've got 2 more challenges... but you'll have to wait another day to see more. Toodles...

20 months

JT turned 20 months old yesterday. Oi. He is such the little boy these days. At 20 months, JT...

• is talking up a storm: deer, apple, 'nana (banana), penya (penguin), TRUCK, car, buh (bus), boo (moo, for cow), barn, gong (gone), dardonne (dinosaur), tertut (triceratops). He also says octagon and ambulance... impressive, eh?
• runs everywhere, all the time. 'un! he says!
• loves to hide.
• is obsessed with books. He definitely has his favorites. Though we did recently adopt a Richard Scarry book about trucks and cars. A book with PAPER pages - a big step for him.
• has days where he eats constantly. Which means more growing... which means bigger clothes. I'm kinda looking forward to shorts weather in that respect!
• counts. "Un, two... pi (five)" I think he said "nine, ten" the other day. But I don't know where he got that high up... so maybe I misheard!
• knows that airplanes fly in the sky and the sky is blue.
• has conversations with his parents. One or two words from him... a few words from us... one or two more words from him... etc.
• likes to grab a toy to take upstairs when we go for a diaper change or bath.
• loves to splash in the tub. Really likes throwing the soap bottle from a distance for the biggest splash possible.
• rides his bike by scooting along with one foot or pushing the bike from behind. Not getting the pedals bit yet.
• watches Cars like a boy in a trance. He knows almost all the characters by name.
  
• points out all the cars, trucks, and buses on the road. Also points out flags and counts how many (see counting above).
• likes when I play pretend games where his toys eat his food or his dino-shaped chicken nuggets walk around. hehe.
• is now sporting big boy hair because Mama got tired of the rat's nest of long hair we were always dealing with.

I wish I could actually sum him up for you. He is such a joy to be around. I am loving the silly games, laughter and conversations these days. Just don't make me think about potty training...

holiday mini album

The last weekend in February was my annual get-away scrapbooking weekend with my sisters-in-law. That weekend always brings me joy, joy, joy. And completed projects!

I present, our holiday adventures. Weighing in at 5 by 7 inches, and about an inch and a half thick... sandwiched between delightfully see-through acrylic covers... tada!




Click the photo to see more of the album. I still need to add some journaling on the last pages, but wow, does it feel good to get a project out of my head and onto paper (and glue).

I love this little album. We had some great times and great pictures in December.