Beer is proof. . .

that God loves us and wants us to happy. ~ Benjamin Franklin.

Photo was taken at a London Pub on our honeymoon in 2003. Simple, simple layout about beer. Sweet, delicious Beer, that if I'm honest, I miss alot when I'm pregnant. I handwrote wrote the 'happy' by hand and cut around it. Instructions can be found at One Little Word

JOURNALING: I love beer. Imports and microbrews. Stout, pale ale or red. Sitting at the bar with a good friend catching up over a cold brew. It's my drink of choice. Crisp cold beer makes me happy.

Don't forget tomorrow is the reveal of the full August Kit at Kraft Girl Kits. You will NOT be disappointed.

Friday Fill Ins

In honor of the Jason Yarrington First Annual Memorial Get-Together this weeks Friday Fill Ins are UWEC or Eau Claire themed :)

1. It's time for a day in Eau Claire.

2. Mogies; it's not a bad place for brews and spuds

3. I must be excited to see old friends. I dreamt I was at a headband party at 440 last night.

4. No classes on Fridays was the best thing I have ever known.

5. My 4 years at UWEC were simply irreplaceable.

6. The last time I laughed really loudly was yesterday.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to packing and perhaps watching a movie tomorrow my plans include wishing my sister Megan a Happy Birthday and a picnic/reunion with college friends and Sunday, I want to see the latest Potter movie!

WooHoo Wednesday (July 29)

Tonight we went to the 400 Block for Concerts on the Square. There was a fun zydeco/rock band called Copperbox playing tonight. We had a nice little picnic supper and then the girls danced!!

Grandma Barb and my sister-in-law Jenny joined us too. The place was packed. It's always refreshing to see so many people taking advantage of free community events. It technically starts at 6 p.m. but by the time we got there at 5:10 it was filling up fast.

Bennet wanted to know, 'Mom- do they have scary potty's there? I don't like those'. Who likes Porta-Potty's? Nastiness in a blue plastic shed. Luckily we have a hook up at The Mint and we could use their facilities. Bennet scored some free Peppermint Patties so she was in love. 'Thank you Mary. I like mints'


Shoes off so they can get down and dirty.

Shaped Paper Fun

I've been creating alot of shaped layouts this past month. I'm consciously trying to use things from my stash so I don't feel guilty about buying new CHA released treats. There are quite a few things that made my heart skip a beat :)

Every great Film should seem new every time you see it - Roger Ebert.
It was nearly impossible to narrow down the list to only 10. Nick and I LOVE movies. We could do a list of our top ten Comedies, our top ten Rainy Day movies, top ten Crapburgers. I should make a mini-album. The Top 5 on this list stay pretty consistent. The Bottom 5 fluctuate.
More
Photo from the 4th of July this year. I took one sheet of die cut paper and trimmed it in two. The right hand side I covered with patterned paper.

The Middle Kid

We hadn't told anyone about Thermos (our nickname for #3. Long story. Our kids have odd nicknames with in utero. Bennet was nicknames Truck and Scout was Leg Lamp) but wanted to share the news with my family in person when we were in MN over the 4th of July.

I had the not-so-original idea to make Scout a 'Middle Kid' t-shirt to wear. I told Nick my idea. I was envisioning a simple circle with a thin black outline, spring green interior and 'the middle kid' in a classic font. His response, "No, no, no you have to do. . . " and I honestly tuned out at that point because I knew he was going to come up with something fantastic. He has a Fine Arts degree in Illustration ya know :) I left for work meeting about an hour away. In less than 2 hours he had sketched and emailed me a rough version of this. I mean come on!! How perfect is this?

It was better than I could have imagined. Bennet with the ever present BandAid on her leg. Stoli & Jones in the background. Our Team Sweeney flag. And of course our pigtailed girl Scout in the middle. Nick- you hit this one out of the park!!

We put the shirt on Scout at Matt & Katie's house once Megan and Gregg arrived. Katie honed in on it right away. Her response, "Megan- Ha! I told you!" followed quickly by "Congratulations!"

When my parents arrived they were just excited to see the kids (and us) that they really didn't tune in. They didn't tune in once we got out of the car to walk to Market Fest. Or when we got to Market Fest. Nick casually straightened Scout's shirt out and then the lightbulb went off.

And then it was destoyed by ice cream from Cup and Cone :)

August Kraft Girl Kits Sneak

I've been inspired by the August Kraft Girl Kit. Of course I can't share the large versions now but here is a sneak peek. This kit is so versatile. I've made a bright & colorful layout, outdoorsy layout and a vintage feel layout. The possibilities are endless!!

The Aught's have been Hot!

The Aught's have been a Hot Decade for Nick and I. 2001-

Started: Memorial Day- Nick and I had our first date.

2003-

Celebrated: Our wedding day on September 6, 2003.

2005-

Welcomed: Our beautiful Bennet Leona into our family. December 21, 2005.

2007-

Added: The irreplaceable Scout Ann to the family. September 5, 2007.

2009-

Learned: Memorial Day, 8 years from the day of our first date, we found out that we would be blessed with Baby #3. It came full circle. Due Groundhog's Day. 2/2/10

Friday Fill Ins

Here are this week's Friday Fill Ins.

1. Losing a board game is not the end of the world. (Can you tell I'm not overly competitive?)

2. Sitting here, listening to the sound of rain falling, I am relaxed and hoping the girls don't wake up

3. Fresh strawberries or any fruit for that mattertaste so good!

4. Sometimes, putting others first makes you feel better.

5. The view from the dock at the cabin is breathtaking, really.

6. Well, maybe there is something to not sweating the small stuff.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to family movie night, tomorrow my plans include cleaning & laundry and Sunday, I want to spend time outside!

Summer Scrapping

Today is WooHoo Wednesday but we are all coming down from last week's vacation high. I think the girls and I will do something low key tonight. I'll leave you with some on my recent layouts.

Up & Away

I really love my circle punches and cutter. My favorite tools hands down! Note: These particular Thickers were REALLY sticky. Once they were on the paper forget about repositioning them.

I am Thankful for You
I scrapped at the cabin last weekend. My siblings and I at my parents house this past 4th of July. There I go using my circle punch again.

I had the chance to get aquainted with the August Kraft Girl kit. Me likey. Can't wait to work on it more!

We now return to our normally scheduled programming

The girls had an awesome time at Camp G&G. They did EVERYTHING. They saw Tim Mahoney, went swimming at the YMCA, played at McD's, went to the parade, the fair, saw animals, rode rides, swam in the lake, toured around on the pontoon. I wasn't surprised that they didn't miss us at all. I had to wait a good hour yesterday before I got a welcome home hug from Bennet. It makes me happy to know that they love their grandparents so much.

Thanks again to Mom & Dad for helping create such irreplaceable childhood memories for our girls.

Nick and I had a fabulous time at Camp You& Me :) The weather wasn't too great up north but Nick fished and I read. Nick fished and I scrapped. Nick fished and I napped. You get the drill. i can't tell you the last time we had a getaway without the kids. I'm guessing summer of 2005 :) We did get out on the pontoon for a nice ride on Sunday. Just enough to get a nice sunburn. I never learn.

That night we went back out on the lake. Nick fished and I curled up with a book. (I read 2 books and am 3/4 of the way through a 3rd).
I am also currently stalking my mailbox for the August Kraft Girl kit. I have about 100 million ideas swirling around in my head of what I want to create with it. Ah- the touch, the feel of scrapbook goodies. It's my first month designing for them and I want to deliver!

Camp G&G, Yeah me and R&R

This week life is truly GREAT! For many reasons in no particular order.

Reason 1- It's Nick's birthday today!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY NICK!! I hope you have a rock star kind of day. I love you.

Reason 2- I was lucky enough to make the Kraft Girl Kits design team. (Link to their blog) I've admired Pam's work since I started hanging out at scrapbook.com back in 2004. She recently started her very own kick ass kit club. You know how I love kraft paper and she puts together the best kits. I can't wait to get started!

Reason 3- It's Camp G&G week. Bennet has been talking about it for the last 2 weeks. "At camp, at camp I'm going to a parade, at camp. . . " I'm off to Eau Claire early this morning to meet my mom and drop the girls off for the 3rd Annual Camp G&G. This is the first year Scout has been old enough to join in the fun. My parents always keep them busy and entertained. While I am excited for some non-toddler time with Nick, I will secretly miss them.

Photo from last year. Bennet was raring to go!

Reason 4- I'm meeting three of my best friends from college, Melissa, Jared & Leah, for breakfast while in Eau Claire. It has been over 6 years since the three of us were in the same place at the same time.

Reason 5- After a little work I'll head back home to pick up Nick and the cats to head north to the cabin. We are so excited to have a little getaway for just the two of us. A couple days to unplug and relax. I have a stack of books, a couple scrappy projects, comfy clothes and no schedule. Sounds perfect to me!

Will see you on the flip side.

Blog Hop Winner

Thank you to everyone that dropped by this weekend for the Paper Popsicles blog hop. It was a ton of fun...and I hope you enjoyed the eye candy...

Now...for the blog candy....congrats to Scoobie...you're the winner from my blog. Please log into the Paper Popsicles message board and send a PM to Melissa and let her know you were the winner from my blog...she'll get your prize out to you!!!

Thank you again...and keep you eyes open for detail on our next blog hop....

Be happy & more

Some recent layouts.

I found this round polka dot paper when I was at Archivers over the 4th of July and knew exactly what I wanted to do with it. Not sure who makes it though.

I adhered two pieces of patterned Cosmo Cricket paper back-to-back and then created the pinwheels.

PRODUCT:Making Memories puffy alpha, American Crafts Thickers, Cosmo Cricket Hello Sunshine,Felt ribbon,Buttons,Creative Imaginations journaling spot

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Photo from the 4th of July. My friend Casie gave me some of the Maya Rd. sequin trim last week at our monthly crop and I couldn't wait to use it!

I took one sheet of die cut paper and trimmed it in two. The right hand side I covered with patterned paper.

Both were completed for challenges over at ScrapFreak.

Our weekend

We had a nice, mellow weekend at home. After being gone the last 2 weekends it was nice to relax in town. Friday night we went out for a traditional Friday Night Fish Fry at the Hiawatha. Darn good fish!
Bennet has a thing for kiddie cocktails. She likes to order them herself. Something about a 3 1/2 yr. old ordering a cocktail. We should have called them Shirley Temples. Too late now!

Saturday we went to the Farmers Market. Nick spent all day Saturday building the girls a park in the backyard. He mapped out the space, layed the brick, ground cover and put mulch on the top. The sandbox is new and they love it!! He put alot of time into it. Thank you Nick!! The girls are so excited!!



Sunday we relaxed at home and took in a Wausau Woodchucks game at night. The weather was perfect for a ballgame, cold beer and hot dogs at the ball park.

We're getting good at the self-portraits :)

Paper Popsicles Blog Hop

Paper Popsicles is having it's first ever blog hop, so you'll be asked to hop from blog to blog featuring yummy eye candy with a summer theme...and of course what's eye candy without a little blog candy...so just leave a comment before you hop along to the next blog and you just might pick up a prize!!!

Each blog will feature a secret word...these words needs to be collected and then put together to form a phrase. This phrase will then need to be emailed to paperpopsicles@gmail.com by Sunday night, July 12 at midnight Central time to be eligible for our grand prize.

So......lets get started!!!

If you are joining me from Tricia's blog great...you are hopping right along...if you just stumbled upon my blog...you won't want to miss a thing, so hop on over to the Paper Popsicles blog to get you started.

This is a quick, inexpensive alternative to a live bouquet. It could serve as a centerpiece or get-well gift. I gave my creation to the nursing staff at St. Clare's as a thank you when I had Scout. You could use stars instead for a patriotic 4th of July display.

Supplies-

Wooden pencil holder box

Styrofoam floral insert

Wooden Skewers

Paper & Embellies

Instructions-

1. I covered the wooden box with paper but you could paint or decoupage it as well.

2. I inserted the floral foam into the box and covered it with paper. You could use marbles, rocks or candy instead of the floral foam.

3. Cut your flowers. I think Paper Popsicles June Mini Kit- Skipping Along (20% off) or Paper Popsicles May Kit- Vanilla would be perfect for this. I cut my flowers by hand but you could use your Cricut/Wishblade/Silhouette.

4. Attach the skewers to the back of the flower. I used transparent tape but you could stitch them together too.

5. Insert the skewers into the foam as you want the arranged.

6. Give your gift and wait for the oooh's & aaahhhh's!

• Did you know that the Paper Popsicles blog features a new card challenge every Wednesday? Did you know that every month we have weekly theme challenges hosted on our message board?



• Did you know that we have a monthly sketch challenge?



• Did you know that we hold auditions each month for our next guest designer....details can be found on our message board!!!



• Have you seen the kits in the store?



• Did you see there is one main kit, two mini-kits, and a card kit each month?



• Have you been over to see the design team and guest designer's galleries to see their amazing work done with the fabulous products offered in the Paper Popsicles store?

now...for my secret word...it is THROUGH before you hop on over there...be sure to leave me a comment here so you are entered into the drawing here on my blog....

next...be sure to keep on hopping and collecting words for your secret phrase by checking out Jen's blog next...

don't forget to send an email with the secret phrase to paperpopsicles@gmail.com at the end of the blog hop....and good luck!

Home is where the Heart Is

Here are some recent layouts I made about houses. I would like to do this for the 2 houses in Elk River too. Someday. :)

Our current house. When we were looking for houses we thought we wanted a 2 story. We pulled up to this house and Nick didn't even want to look at it. I'm glad we did. We went from engaged with 1 cat to married with 2 cats to bringing one baby home to bringing another baby home. This house has been good to us in 6 years.
One day this past spring I was in Eau Claire for work. I spent 4 incredible, memory filled years at UWEC (Univ. of Wisconsin- Eau Claire). I drove around town and took photos of the 6 dorms/houses I lived in during my 4 years there. I lived in some places as short as 1 month (Rented Melissa's room at 110 Broadway) and others a full year. Did some machine stitching around the edges and in between the paper strips. The addresses are listed above each photo.

Friday Fill Ins

1. When I heard that Michael Jackson's funeral cost LA taxpayers $1.4M I remembered why I don't live there (among other reasons).

2. Laughter & chick flicks are the best medicine.

3. It's late, but huh? I don't do late.

4. A camera is in my purse, always.

5. My eyes have seen the production lines of Oscar Mayer and I still eat hot dogs and bologna.

6. I strongly suggest you check out the Stephanie Plum books by Janet Evanovich. So funny.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to going to the Hot Air Balloon Glow, tomorrow my plans include working in the yard and perhaps setting up the tent for a Campout and Sunday, I want to well I don't want to, but I should do laundry/clean!

WooHoo Wednesday (July 8, 2009)

This week for WooHoo Wednesday we went to Marathon Junction to ride the train. Bennet gets a kick out of it. I notice she usually looks over the side instead of ahead of her.

Need to edit this photo since it's a little dark but I'm too lazy today :)

This is such a classic Scout look. "Huh? What am I seeing? Where are we going? Let me see!!"

After the train ride we played at the park. I was reminded of an awesome post my friend Mary made about "Park Mom's" on her blog. My kids are by no means perfect but they are far from bratty. There was a little girl there yesterday who was a text book brat. Bossy, prissy, pushy and spoiled rotten. Did Mom/Grandma do anything? Of course not! Did I? You betcha!

And a photo of me wearing my Leinenkugel's hat. I looked at this photo last night and noticed some more laugh/smile lines around my eyes. I'm embracing them. They are a sign that I've had a fun, laughter filled life so far. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Random side note. Earlier today I was thinking to myself, "Someday I'll be able to go to the bathroom by myself. Someday I won't have baby gates everywhere. Someday I won't have to change a diaper blowout. Someday I won't have to spend 1/2 hour explaining to a 3 year old the response to her "why mom?". Then as we were walking to the car from the park yesterday I was holding hands with both girls. One on each side. That's when I thought to myself, someday I am going to miss all those things. And with every day-to-day thing that drives me a little bonkers there is an equally awesome thing that makes me happy. Walking to the car holding hands with my girls.

4th of July in Elk River

Happy 4th of July. The 4th is one of my favorite holidays. Every year we celebrate with my family in Elk River.

This year we had the chance to go to MarketFest in White Bear Lake. Every Thursday in the summer they block off the streets downtown and have vendors/food and music. The whole family was able to make it. Even Megan was in town from Albuquerque Bennet had her first pony ride. She was so excited. She kept saying, "Mom- that's a pony!! I'm going to ride it. I'm so excited". I love her holding her hand to her mouth/cheeks in anticipation. Her pony even had a glittery heart on it's bum which she got a giggle out of.

We spent Friday hanging out at Mom & Dad's, riding the pontoon, getting pedicures.

This is my adorable niece Molly Jo. Her Dad took this amazing photo of her. Don't you just want to eat her up?
Now onto the big day.

Making homemade ice cream.

Mom & Dad
This is my Dad lighting sparklers with a blow torch. As my sister Katie said, "If you've met him you get it" :)

I can't wait for next year!!