They Are

15 years ago I was about to start my freshman year at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Little did I know that the next four years would be some of the best years of my life. Through an amazing organization called Alpha Phi Omega I would meet people who would become lifelong friends. I simply love them.

Over the years some of us have been in each others weddings, added children, gotten married and become family. I think it's a testament to both UWEC and APO that after all this time we still keep in touch.

A year and a half ago a dear friend of mine from college passed away suddenly. While at his wake his friends decided that we would gather every year in Eau Claire on the 1st Sunday in August to celebrate his life. This year was the 2nd Annual Jason Yarrington Memorial GetTogether.

These photos are from this year's event.

TITLE: They Are
Journaling: I wrote little descriptions about my friends and put them around the photos. ~family, coworkers, roommates, APO, road trips, Water St., hookups, headbands, sister, uwec, cubemates
Design Notes: I uploaded 45 photos into Picasa and made them into a thumbnail sized collage on an 8 x 10 print.

Walking on Sunshine

I was inspired by a layout I saw on my friend Kelly's blog. I already had the photos printed in this size so it came together quickly. My friend Jess designs for Bella Blvd and was gracious enough to let me raid her scrap stash. I just love their bright colors.

TITLE: Walking on Sunshine
Journaling: All smiles at the Splash Pad. 06/2010

Eleanor Margaret at 7 Months

Ellie continues to make us smile everyday. She is just a happy, content baby. It's impossible not to smile when you're around her. I love that she is such a "go with the flow" baby. It makes our family schedule run smoother.

20 lbs. 4 oz. weight, 28 in. (97%)
Sleeps about 12 hours a night. 7 p.m. - 7 a.m.
Wearing 12 month clothes
Size 4 diapers
Loves to play with plastic spoons and crumpled paper.
Is starting daycare next week.
Trying very hard to crawl. She'll get up on her knees and scoot around.
Still loves the exersaucer
Has fun splashing in the bath and playing with her feet
Giggles when Bennet sings to her "Coochie coochie coo"
No teeth but very drooly

9 to 5 - ScrapFreak Sept. Kit

It's the 25th of the month- you know what that means? It's reveal day for the ScrapFreak Kit. This month's kit is called 9 to 5 and is the perfect mix of Back to School and Office type goodies. I was completely inspired.



TITLE: The Half of It
Journaling: Halfway through your 1st year. 20 lbs. 4 oz. 28 inches 17 1/2" head

TITLE: Red, White & You
Journaling: Looking cute is stars & stripes to celebrate the 4th of July. Wahkon 2010
Design Notes: I took the star hat pin, dipped it in glue and then dipped it into red glitter.

TITLE: We always have Laughter
Journaling: I love how you make me laugh no matter what life throws at us.
Design Notes: I didn’t have a dry paint brush and I’m impatient so I used crumpled tissue paper to dab the paint on. Getting the twine through the buttons can be a bit tricky so I took some tape and made an aglet on the end. You know- those things on shoelaces. Don’t you watch Phineas and Ferb?

TITLE: School Girl At Last!
Journaling: Supply Stock Up- You were so ready for 4K. I had so much fun school shopping with you. You picked out a purple kitty backpack & a box of crayons. Some glue sticks. markers & pencils. You still want your "noisy shoes" but for now you're set for the 1st day of school. Finally!
Design Notes: I took the larger chipboard buttons and covered them with paper. I also cut the blue tab off the post it and put it behind the pull out card.

WooHoo Wednesday- At the Farm

This week's WooHoo Wednesday was one of my favorites of the summer. We spent the night at my friend Jess's family farm in Marathon. The girls were so excited! It was hard to keep them focused on one thing at a time since there was so much to see. An apple tree, barn cats, cows, tractors, corn. . .

Our first stop was the milking barn. We were able to see all 65 cows during their evening milking. I had alot of fun talking with Jess's Dad Rick about the cows. My family has always been big milk drinkers and I loved learning a little more about the process. It makes me appreciate it more.

This calf is less than 24 hour old. How cool is that? Time to feed the baby calf.

Farmer Rick sprayed Scout with some warm milk.
We got to check out the corn field too. The weather this summer has made the corn far taller than usual. The girls and Trevor. Shortly after I took this photo Bennet tackled him and all 3 of them toppled over.
And it kept getting better. Jess's brother Joe took the girls on a tractor ride. Look at the size of those tires! Scout is an excellent driver.
As if that wasn't enough Trevor had one last surprise. His grandpa and him have constructed an amazing train set in an outbuilding. I was blown away. Trains looping past each other over bridges and through mountains. Scout was mesmerized. She just kept moving around the tables soaking it all in. It's rare to hear her be so quiet.
We ended the night with some John Deere fruit snacks. You know how they love the fruit snacks. "Mom- I'm eating a tractor!!"

Thank you to Jess and her family for showing us around the farm. We had so much fun. I know the girls will be talking about it for weeks!

Genuine

I participated in a Freaky Friday scraplifting challenge last weekend at ScrapFreak. I love how quickly this came together. I cut the circles out of patterned paper, added some brads and kept it simple.

TITLE: Genuine
Journaling: Oh Scout- you certainly are the best kind of trouble. Absolutely crazy, happy, adventurous and always trying to figure things out. You have the best laugh. It is loud, hearty, and 100% genuine.I hope that as you grow up you will stay as unique as you are now. Summer 2010

A Day at Bay Beach Amusement Park

My mom is in town to help me with some projects around the house. But that's on the schedule for tomorrow. Today we made the 1 1/2 hour trek to Bay Beach Amusement Park in Green Bay. We've never been and it was on my Summer Bucket List. They weather forecast today was perfect so off we went.

They have 16 rides. There were only 3 rides that the girls were too short to ride. Even better is the fact that tickets cost 25cents a piece. Most rides are 1 ticket but never more than 2. Can't beat that! Scout literally said, "weeeeeeee" on the swings.

Grandma Mary Ella with Bennet and Scout. Ellie was napping.

I just love this photo of Ellie. Everyone else was waiting to ride the train so Ellie and I relaxed. Getting ready to ride the Ferris Wheel

And of course the classic Carousel