DOH!

I just had to share this photo with everyone. About a month or so ago, my parents took the boys and us to the theater (brave them!) to see Ratatouille (Which is an adorable movie, by the way - I highly recommend you rent it when it comes out on dvd). Anyhow...it was just around the time The Simpsons Movie was being released and this HUGE larger-than-life display was in the theater lobby to promote it.

As you can imagine, telling the boys to stay off the Simpson couch would have been an exercise in futility. I mean who hasn't dreamed of the million and one ways to land on their couch and how cool it would be to do so. SO - we embraced it and the photo-taking opportunity! What a riot! (and I dare you not to hum The Simpson's theme song while looking at it! Go ahead - you know you wanna ;))

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

10 Years is more than it seems

It went so fast and yet seems a lifetime that we've been together. We've been through:

4 moves.
2 states.
6 cars (ok, 5 cars and 1 van, mostly because you destroy them ;))
countless jobs.
2 apartments.
2 houses.
3 beautiful sons.
10 years.
1 decade.
Still together and still in love.


Happy Anniversary. :)

Ask the Masters II is now available!

Memory Makers new book Ask the Masters: Making the Most of your Scrapbooking Supplies (the follow up to Ask the Masters: Scrapbook Solutions) is now available for ordering at the MM website. Just click on this link: here!
It was such an honor and alot of fun to be a part of this book. I truly think this series is one of my favorites MM puts out (not that I'm biased at all! ;)) It's definately worth a look - it explores everything you might think of to make the most of your scrapbooking supplies you already have from that abundance of Cardstock to numerous punches and more.

This is one of my contributions to the book. My challenge for this one was to do a cardstock only layout. I hope you'll check the book out for yourself! I don't think you'll be disappointed :)

Last Weekend was a LONG time Coming

Years, actually.

And I couldn't be happier for a day to arrive (that is until another special day a month or so down the road. ;)) Last weekend happend to be the baby shower for my best friend, Ann Marie. After too long a wait, she is finally going to be a mommy, and did we celebrate in style.

Her Aunt Sharon and cousins Megan and Colleen hosted a beautiful shower that included a full sit-down lunch, wine, the works. The entire theme was pink (including their outfits). And the decor was absolutely gorgeous right down to inventive clothesline DRIPPING with little outfits and socks to the mandatory diaper cake. ;) You could totally tell Aunt Sharon is an elementary school teacher with her attention to detail (and seriously, what kid wouldn't have wanted to be in her third grade classroom?!)



I've never, ever, EVER seen such gifts lavished upon an unborn child - made entirely worse by this being a little girl. It's hard pressed to find a woman who can resist little girl clothes! I think Baby Girl got anything she might possibly need and a whole lot more than is imagineable!

It was a wonderful weekend and I'm so glad that I got to spend this time with her. It's been so hard on the two of us since she moved away and our time together doesn't come nearly enough. I miss her already and it's only been a week.

Oh, and I have to post a couple more pics - the proud grandmas with the mommy-to-be and the two of us with a our friend Maureen and Gretchen who I hadn't seen in YEARS! And please note I'm only posting this picture so that you can see the teeniest of baby bellies that "someone" was lucky enough to have! I'm just sayin'.







And just so you know...I'll of course be posting pictures when my darling niece finally makes her appearance. I'm just praying that she's not late like her mama most often is ;)
Stay tuned for THIS weekend's update as it was action packed as well :)

Now Bring Me some...

FIGGY PUDDING!

That's right! :) BasicGrey has released their newest DOUBLE SIDED line, Figgy Pudding, just in time for the holidays. And if you look really closely at these images, you'll see that we're also releasing another CARD KIT as well as some brand new ornaments. And it doesn't stop there! Brace yourselves, guys - BasicGrey is finally delving into the world of CLEAR STAMPS!! They are seriously to die for and I promise you, this collection will be absolutely perfect for your holiday cards and photos. Figgy Pudding (isn't that a stinkin' cute name? :)) will be shipping the beginning of October so be watching for it! :)

I also wanted to give a HUGE thank to to Angel and Judi at the Scrapbook Barn in Dallas. They are such wonderful women and Angel went above and beyond to make me comfortable and feel at home. I loved Dallas - the "scenery" was gorgeous, the food outtathisworld delicious and the ladies I met, hysterical! Thank you, thank you for such a wonderful time!

Look out DALLAS!

As I have never been to Texas beyond a brief stop at the airport, I'm beyond excited to have been invited to teach this weekend at The Scrapbook Barn in Dallas! I'll have two classes going on Saturday - a 2-hour two pages layout class featuring Obscure and Mellow as well as a fun 2-hour mini album class that uses the gorgeous Infuse line. Not only that, Angel, the dynamic owner, has invited me to attend their Pizza and Pajama Crop Saturday night and play around at another crop on Sunday morning. It should be tons of fun and I hope anyone that can be in the Dallas area this weekend at least come and say hi! :) (There's a sneak to the left of the projects we'll be doing!)

I also wanted to mention that the television show Good Things Utah did a segment on Back 2 School projects and one of them which they are streaming online here featured BasicGrey's RECESS line and was done by the fabulous Judi VanValkinburgh! How cool is that? It gives you step by step instructions and product list so you can make it for your very own. It's just awesome, Judi, congrats!

1st NFL Game & a 4th Birthday

It was a busy Labor Day weekend but a fun one as I hope it was for all of you. We spent ours in Nashville with Hoyte's family particularly so we could take Ethan to his very first NFL game - Titans v. Green Bay. Yes, my boy is a Green Bay fan (I blame this entirely on his D.D.) and in particular a Brett Favre fan. I can't even tell you what it was like to walk into LP Field and take Ethan to the edge of the field where he immediately spotted his hero. His eyes lit up brighter than the lights of the stadium. Add to that a footlong hot dog and a coke and the kid was in heaven! That was until the end of the 1st Quarter. After that, my boy would gladly have gone home.

Because after the 1st quarter, Green Bay decided to save their boy, Brett, and didn't play him anymore. And that was when Green Bay started losing. Try explaining why that was to a seven year old as well as why everyone else was cheering for the other team. We ended the night with a very sad little boy. It broke my heart. But here's to the start of regular season and his hero Brett not letting him down again...

We also got to re-celebrate Carson's 4th birthday - this time with his cousins, aunts and other grandmother. The kid can't get enough of being the center of attention and by this time was now a pro at blowing out the candles! ;) Happy Birthday, my baby! (On a side note, the birthday fun is now over and the poor kiddo had to go in for his 4 yr. well visit and the dreaded shots...sigh...at least he's doing great and it's another year before we have to do it again!)
Hope your Labor Day was relaxing and fun and a great end to your summer! And for those of you who just now are starting school - ENJOY! ;)