Rare

I made this layout in March during the last Feeling Scrappy Sketchapoolza class. The next one is in June- don't miss it!!

I wanted to challenge myself to using a patterned paper as the background since I'd been leaning towards Kraft paper so much. I kind of like all the patterns together.

JOURNALING: You are always on the go, climbing, exploring. These photos stolen while you were stil are as rare as you are. My one of a kind girl.

Life is Good

We had a big case of the Monday's yesterday.

• Unexpected car repairs (again). Tires this time.
• Water in the basement. Bennet said, "Mom- we have a water problem!! Get the fan!"
• I'm dealing with a weird pinched nerve.
• We accidently left Jones in Scout's room all night. Poor kitty.
• Scout is teething and is reaaalllly crabby
• Bennet smeared chapstick all over her walls, window and bedspread.
• Nick can't find a deal on these cool Kenneth Cole shoes he wants.

Sooooooooooooooooooo. . .

I'm going to channel my inner Julie Andrews and try to think of a few of my favorite things. Or at least things that make me smile.

• Wishing my Mom & Dad a happy 36th wedding anniversary. That's big deal!!
• It's sunny outside today
• Nick gets to go the cabin fishing this weekend with his best friend.
• Bennet saying "thank you" without being asked
• Scout pulling on my pants leg to go dance
• My cute new spring coat that I got at 50% off!
• Seeing family last weekend and making Grandpa Bud smile.
• My brother was on TV last week. http://wcco.com/video?id=59160@wcco.dayport.com

Spring Scrapping

Here are some of my recent layouts.

'One Look?' was made for the Scrap4Life manufacturer focus- Basic Grey.

JOURNALING: Zoolander would be proud. You have Blue Steel, Magnum, & Pink Aluminum down. You have always made the best faces. When are you going to spring La Tigre on us? Feb 2009
'What Did you Say?' I made this for a ScrapFreak and Scrap4Life Challenge. The supplies are from the March Kraft Girls Kit. The challenge at the Freak was to use inspiration from an object. I used the clock we have downstairs. The little note tags list some of our favorite Bennetisms.

JOURNALING: Mom, when I sneezed a little pee came out. It happens. Accident happen Mama. D'yeah D'yeah

Is the moon waking up? The sun is tired. The cow ate the moon when he was jumping over it.

Can I have (insert movie or snack) it's mt favorite Mom. It's my FAVORITE. Really.

Dad: Repeat after me. I scream.

B: I scream

Dad: You scream

B: aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Stay away from the bad guys Mama. They come by the car you shoot them. They won't survive. Hug & kiss

You're a nice Mom. You are. You're my best friend. (I'll take it while I can get it!)

'Patty Cakes' Yes- I am really proud of my funny/punny title. This is a lift of a lift from the American Crafts blog. I am a member of a Circle of Creative Ladies and we were challenged to do a scraplift.

JOURNALING: It's an annual tradition. To celebrate St. Patrick's Day & Nick's unofficial 1/2 birthday we make cupcakes. We always use Duncan Hines yellow since they are Nick's favorite. He does the baking, the girls do the licking and I help with the sprinkles. It is a tradition that is uniquely ours. A tasty tradition at that. 2009

Friday Fill Ins

1. Apparently there's some sort of economic crisis. I'm not sure you've heard about it. Constantly.
2. Nothing beats a sunny day. (except a sunny weekend/non-work day)
3. 2009 has been 40% awesome so far.
4. May 28, 2001- that was it. My first date with Nick.
5. For too long I've been needing new glasses and contacts.
6. I am not obsessed with Facebook;I am not!
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to spending time with my parents, tomorrow my plans include shopping and sneaking out for some Nick & Kari time and Sunday, I want to Walk in support of premature babies in the March of Dimes Walk in St Paul!

First Trip to the Dentist

Bennet has been asking to go to the dentist for months. I am finally earning a gold star since I got around to scheduling her first appointment. Today was the day. When I went into her room today she rolled over and said, "Mom. I'm going to the dentist TODAY" with a big grin on her sleepy little face. I am happy to report that AFTER the appointment she is still excited about the dentist. She told me her teeth are dirty again so she needs to go to the dentist again tomorrow. That kid.

Bennet requested a self portrait while we were waiting.

She was so excited. While we were driving there she gave herself a little hug and said, "Oh I'm so excited!!" When the hygenist asked if I flossed her teeth I responded honestly and said, "No." to which Bennet replied "Grandma MaryElla does though mama. She flosses my teeth" Lost 1/2 of that gold star but am thankful that my mom is looking out for Bennet's gums. :)

Besides the toys at the end I think she was most impressed with the water and sucky hose thing. She wanted to do that over and over.

Because I know my mom will ask. She has wonderfully healthy teeth. A little crowding on the bottom but we'll worry about that when she's 6

He's a Good Guy

Our daycare is closed this week since they are enjoying a fabulous family vacation/cruise to Disney World. I will point out that it's snowing here today. Not cool.

This means that Nick has both girls at home this week. Keep in mind that he is not a stay-at-home Dad in the traditional sense. He runs his own successful Graphic Design/Web Design business (Big Fat Designs) as well. So he's really a work-at-home, watch-the-kids, Dad and husband.

We have two great girls but they are constantly on the go and rarely stop to catch their breath. And let's be honest, they're 3 and 19 months so if there is something to get into, they're going to get into it. It's going to be a long week so I wanted him to know how much I appreciate how well he juggles everything.

I must have been trying to send him positive vibes for this week because I did two layouts about him last weekend for the Scrap4Life cyber crop.

This photo is from Matt & Katie's rehearsal dinner in August 2005. Pre-kids :)

These photos are self-portraits we took at the 20Friends black tie fancy dress party last November.

Craft - FT Big difference

Like Mother like daughter. Bennet and I have started to do more crafts together on the weekends when Scout naps. It's usually little painting or coloring projects, but she really likes them.

Unfortunately she has a hard time saying the word CRAFT properly and it comes out CRAP :)

Bennet:
"Mom- can I do a crap today. Please?"
Me:
"We'll see" (stiffling laughter)

Bennet:
"Are we going to the crap store? I really like craps Mom. They're my favorite"

Bennet:
"Can I play with my Tinkerbell crap?"

Over the course of the last 2 days we've been working on saying it correctly. She now says it right but puts a huge emphasis on the FT part of the word. I'll take it!! If she kept saying crap I was going to lose it :)

Friday Fill Ins

1. Join me in supporting the March of Dimes. We are walking for the 3rd year in a row next weekend with my family. Even $5 would go a long way!! Donate Here
2. Put a little laughter in your day!
3. Happiness is in the little things.
4. Watching LOST leaves me dazes and confused.
5. I'm waiting for the girls to take a nap so I can sneak one in too! I love vacation days!
6. A Colin Firth movie is hard to resist.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to going out to an early dinner, tomorrow my plans include spring cleaning and Sunday, I want to do the regular!

Two Little Love Taps

I was working on this layout last night when I was talking to my sister Megan in New Mexico using Skype. Do you have Skype? It's the coooooolest thing. Video calling for free. Perfect for families who live far apart. I'm really addicted to it.

Here is the layout. In classic Kari fashion I did this layout for several different challenges at Scrap4Life and Scrapfreak. I won a free kit from SweetPeaScraps for a layout I entered back in March.

Scout started giving us little love taps on the back when we'd pick her up after sleeps. I never had noticed that I do this subconsciously and she's picked it up from me. She is so sweet.

JOURNALING: When we pick you up from a nap you will snuggle in, lay your head on our shoulder and give us two gentle taps on the back. It is just so sweet. April 09

Happy Easter!

Easter in Wisconsin is always tricky weather wise. We may have snow and 30 degree temps or we may have sunshine and 50 degree temps. Grandma Sweeney bought these adorable dresses for the girls and luckily the weather was nice enough for them to wear them.

We celebrated at Grandma & Grandpa Sweeney's house with the whole troop. 12 adults and 10 grandkids. Oh- and Mark & Sara's 2 new kitties. Scout had so much fun chasing them around the house. She actually crawled under tables to get to them.

Bennet and Meghan. The weather was nice enough to have the Annual Easter Egg Hunt outside this year. Bennet opened one of her eggs to find a $1 bill. Her response, "Mom- I have a million dollar bill in my egg" Oh how I wish :)

All 10 kids. Even Duncan, who is close to 20, humored us and hunted for his eggs. Can you tell that Scout is not a happy camper when she doesn't nap?

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter. We're beat.

Gingerbread Bunny Cookies

On Saturday we made Gingerbread Bunny cookie. I saw the recipe for these bunny cookies on Stacy Jullian's blog and knew I wanted to make them with the girls. The recipe was quick and easy. I hope we turn it into an annual tradition.

Can you tell which bunny is Nick's? Yep- the one with ALL the icing. Bennet wanted to put red hots on her bunnies tail but was quick to warn me "Be careful Mom- they're spicy"

I love the movie 'The Sound of Music'. I remember watching it as a kid during the Easter season. I can't help singing along to every song. It was on last night and I fell in love with it all over again. I made the comment to Nick that they only two big name actors in the movie were Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. Everyone else was not a big name star. I think that makes it all the easier to love. You aren't focusing on the STARS you're focusing on the story. If they made the film today the 7 VonTrapp children would be played by NickeloDisney kids.

The same thing goes for 'Slumdog Millionaire' which we watched this weekend. It was AMAZING. I loved it. The story was original, refreshing and inspiring. The fact that the actors in the movie were not tabloid/People regulars made it all the easier to get sucked into the film. I'm not making alot of sense here but I hope you know what I mean.

Anyways- before I went on my ramble I was talking about The Sound of Music. Scout wanted to dance with Dad to 'My Favorite Things' and he happily obliged.

Eggstravagant Eggs

I love 2 1/2 day weekends. I think the entire world would benefit from an afternoon off each week. I had Friday afternoon off so I took advantage of some extra time with the girls. Nick was able to get some work meetings in too which was nice.

After a trip to the park we came home to dye Easter Eggs. By the way- I love our double stroller (thanks again to the Gasall's for the awesome find) but pushing nearly 50lbs. of kid weight and the stroller is too much of a workout for this couch potato.

On to the eggs-

Here is the finished product. Of course Nick had to make a fancy striped egg. You know, he does have a Fine Arts degree. :) Thanks to Mom for the cute spring towel.

Friday Fill Ins

1. Anonymous... is for wussies. Own your words. Own your actions.
2.Goonies is a classic. Man I love that movie!
3. Let me embrace thee, sour adversity, be banished!!
4. Being able to play outside right when I get home from work with Nick and the girls is what I look forward to most about Spring.
5. Who needs therapy when you have laughter and scrapbooking?
6. Black jelly beans MUST go into the Easter Basket!
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to dyeing eggs with the girls, tomorrow my plans include organizing the kids clothes so I can pass some onto Molly and Sunday, I want to celebrate Easter without having to wear snow boots. Please keep the weather nice!!!

Happy Easter all!!

Basic Grey at Scrap4Life

This month I had the chance to design with the Basic Grey Sugared line at Scrap4Life.


I'll be honest. I am not really a Basic Grey kind of gal (shock and awe!!) I've probably made 5 layouts using BG. But to be honest, I like how these turned out. I may be converted.


This is my mom and me in 1976. The flowers are a combination of chipboard and patterned paper. I handstitched the stems/leaves and around the journaling spot.


JOURNALING: I love this photo of my mom & me. I love how my mom looks. I love her hip flare leg jeans. I love that she has bare feet. I love her feathered hair. I love her scarf around her neck. I love how she loves me. Then & now. April 1976.

Starting this year 3 of my friends and I get together one night/day a month to scrapbook. I don't know why it took us so long to do this but I'm loving it. In Feburary I hosted it at my house. My friend Casie took these photos of Scout. Isn't she cute?

JOURNALING: I was hosting a crop. You woke up and had to be part of the action. Drawing and using stickers- yawning the whole time. Scrap till you drop- or sleep. Feb 2009

Scout at 19 months

Scout is keeping us on our toes. At 19 months she is into everything. She is about 2 inches shorter and 2 lbs lighther than Bennet was at the same age. But when I took this photo last Sunday I realized that she isn't a baby anymore. She's closer to being a 2 year old than a 1 year old.

She has an infectious laugh. It usually resembles a hearty chuckle more than a dainty giggle.

She has started to love books. She'll grab a book and crawl into your lap. She likes to sleep with them too.

She prefers to wear her food in her hair instead of eating it.

She cries every morning when Bennet and I leave for the day. She wants to go too! At 4:30 p.m. she'll go into Nick's office and tug on his leg. She'll lead him to the front closet for her shoes and coat. It's time to get BeBen (Bennet)

She loves her babies. She has 2 little dollies that have become her bestest friends (besides Bennet).

She LOVES to dance. It's hilarious. She has this Joe Cocker thing going on lately. She'll squat down towards the floor and shake her little tush. If you're sitting down she'll come grab your hand and pull you up. Her favorites are American Idol and the MoveItMoveIt song from Madagascar.

And for my mom- she has 7 teeth.

Siblings

I love my sisters and brother. I love that we all get along so well.

They have really been on my mind a lot lately. My sister Katie and brother-in-law Matt just welcomed their first child, Molly Jo, to the family last Wednesday. My sister Megan and brother-in-law Matt just moved from MN to Albuquerque last week. My brother Gregg is, well- I need to call him because I'm not sure what he's doing :)

Anyways- here are a couple of layouts I made for my Book of Me. Both were based off of sketches from Sketchapoolza 3 at Feeling Scrappy. (Sketchapoolza 4 is coming this summer!! Don't miss it!! )

One is a photo from 1983. The other is from 2009.

Journaling: Looking at this photo nearly 26 years later just makes me smile. The clothes, the hairstyled, the memories. It was a good time.

Journaling: Us four are siblings and friends. I that makes us pretty lucky. I love that we're able to see each other often. Elk River, Feb 2009