happy thanksgiving!

I hope you are enjoying a festive celebration with family or friends! Here is a peak at what we did last year with our dear friends.

This little turkey took me a little time to make, but isn't he cute? Hope you have a great day!

happy halloween!

Good morning! This is a layout I just finished of our Halloween last year made with the October Green Tangerines Kit of the Month:

To make these pumpkins, I printed out a clip art pumpkin in three different sizes. I then traced it. I also cut out the center part and traced it. I faux stitched some fun lines and then I raised the center piece with pop dots. I also cut out a stem and put it under the raised piece. Make sense? Pretty quick and easy and a fun accent. I don't own any die-cutting systems, so I have to make do!

Hope you have a fun evening with the kiddos!

breakaway

Breakaway is the Vacation Bible School that we attend every year. I always volunteer because I never want to miss out on all the fun! A huge highlight they added this year was go-karts and a zip line! My girls couldn't have been more thrilled. Seth gets to be a part of the "little-kids" program . . . He can't wait till he is old enough to be able to experience some of the "big kid" stuff.

For accents, I used some of Breakaway's promotional material that they sent home with parents. I just cut and glued . . . super simple and it will help us remember the theme.

This summer church camp is a highlight of our summer every year. Do you have a special camp or church camp that your kids attend every year? Have a great morning!

On Wednesday I showed you Faith's Kindergarten year. I also put a layout together for Paige--her second grade year.

 

This layout was made with my September Green Tangerines Kit of the Month. This was one of my favorite kits! 

See the tiny square picture of Paige (above her I.D. card)? She is doing her school work on a bench at the mall. One of my favorite things about homeschooling is that we can do it anywhere! We do this often when we need a change of scenery. The reward for doing our work at the mall is that we get to eat lunch there! My kids love "mall school days!"

Each year I like to do a layout for each child of highlights from their school year. I also include their I.D. card. We are with a charter homeschool, which simply means that a credentialed teacher checks on us once a month and helps us with any questions that we might have. The girls also attend some extra curricular classes (Spanish, crocheting, cooking, music, P.E.--just to name a few), thus the backpacks they have on in one picture. We also go on A LOT of field trips!

I love having one layout that can remind us of how much fun we had that year!

 Here are a couple of cards made from this kit. Have a great day!

six flags

Each year we participate in the Read to Succeed Program that Six Flags puts on and we get free tickets! I even get a free ticket as their homeschool teacher. Gotta love that! We went with one of their best buddies who also homeschools.

 

I used my August Green Tangerines Kit of the Month for this layout. And yes, I am really behind in posting layouts! 

 And a couple of simple cards made using the same kit.

Hope you have a fabulous Monday morning!

in training

 Seth was thrilled when he learned to ride a bike last fall. We spray painted the girls' pink bike black. 

I know, total redneck thing to do . . .

This layout used the Green Tangerines August Kit. Seth has since upgraded to a bigger bike . . . and yes, it's pink. We haven't spray painted that one yet! I think it hurts the resale value!

snow play

It's a little early for snow, but this layout reminds me of the fun to come! I love winters in California! We are just a short drive from the snow, but we don't have to live and drive in it!

I made this layout with my July kit as well. I had fun using non-traditional colors for a snow layout!

Have a great day!

find me here

The latest issue of Creating Keepsakes is out now . . .

And you can find this layout in the Reader Gallery section.

This history behind this layout . . . My husband started taking the kids on a "bottle hunt" after dinner multiple times per week over a year ago to earn extra money. Every year our family participates in Operation Christmas Child that Franklin Graham puts together. The kids each get to fill a shoebox with toothpaste, a toothbrush and other essentials and some toys for a child in another country that otherwise would not receive a Christmas gift. We have always paid for the shoeboxes in the past, but last year we wanted them to pay for the shoeboxes themselves--we average about $15-20 per shoebox. They were able to completely raise the money on their own by recycling! I was so proud of them. 

Since then, they have continued to collect cans and are able to pay for Christmas and birthday presents for each other and for their friends. I think it teaches them to work hard for their money and gives them a sense of accomplishment from being able to purchase gifts without mom and dad's help. A win-win for all of us!

The idea came to me one day (while in the shower--that's when it's quiet and I get many great ideas) to make a layout using some of the cans that they had collected. Yes, they had to sacrifice a few potential nickels for this layout. It was not an easy task get the cans flat enough to put on a layout. I attached them to some cardstock and left them sitting under some heavy books for a few days--even then, they still wanted to curl. I then attached them to my layout and outlined them.

The best part about being published in this particular issue is that my friend, Brandi Williams, made it into the same issue. Not only that, but we were on the same page! And this was her first time being published . . . she has yet to put the layout on her blog . . . hopefully she will remedy that soon! It's such a great layout and I was so excited for her!

Have a great start to your week!

squinkies!

Are your kids into Squinkies? My kids are into collecting just about anything right now so of course I had to document it!

 

This layout is made with the bright at fun May Kit from Green Tangerines.

 The girls had to sacrifice three Squinkies for this layout! I used the Treat Cups from Stampin' Up to house each Squinkie. I used clear thread to sew and secure them inside the cups. 

The girls are SO good about including Seth in their play. I love how well they get along together and I love capturing it on camera.

Have a great weekend and enjoy the sunshine!

  

favorites at five

I try and do one layout per year of the girls' favorites. I started when Faith was three years old. It's so fun to see how their preferences change . . . and how some of them stay the same!

My favorite part of the March Kit was the "number line" that I used on the right hand side of this layout. Brandi cut this out using her Silhouette to include in all the kits that were sold. Thanks so much Brandi!!

Have a great day! 

six flags and sea life education

I love that Six Flags has a program to teach kids about the animals they have at their park! Our homeschool group was the only group walking through the entire park to visit the sea animals . . . it was strange not seeing the rides running. This was a fun and colorful layout for me to put together using my March Green Tangerines Kit Club.

Happy Friday morning! I am looking forward to date night with my husband tonight! Hope you have fun plans too!

mayflower anyone?

I am a part of an awesome homeschooling group through my church. We have a leadership team that organizes events (aka "fun stuff") for our group. I am part of that team and I organize two educational co-ops per year. It is no small undertaking and I have a team of moms that are a huge help! Below is a recap of the Thanksgiving co-op we had back in November. We taught the kids all about what it means to be grateful and how the first Thanksgiving came about. It was a blast!

My favorite part of this layout is the Mayflower boat! It was so simple to make. I used a coffee cup sleeve and used a circle punch in the middle. I then used a wooden stir stick (thank you Starbucks) for the mast. A few pop dots and glue dots later I had my boat!

I love documenting my children's educational experience. They love looking back to see what they have done and the things they have accomplished.

All product was from the March Green Tangerines Kit Club. 

Have a great weekend!

monterey

This past November we went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium for their free homeschool day. We had a blast! (And so did our kids.)

As I've said before, I don't own any die-cutting systems. I wanted to make a jellyfish for this layout and the ric-rack ribbon was calling to me! I used an AC chipboard piece, a little patterned paper and lots of ribbon and twine. It was simple and I'm happy with how it turned out. 

Happy Monday morning to you!

layouts to share

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a great weekend celebrating with family and friends! I have a couple of layouts to share from the December Green Tangerines Kit Club.

This is Seth's One-Year Birthday party. Yes, I scrapbooked his two-year-old party first. I usually scrapbook out of order and scrapbook what I feel like at the time. I love that I finally have this done for the birthday album. I keep all of my kids birthday party layouts in the same album. They love seeing all their parties (and what the theme was) all in one place!

Banners have been quite the trend over the past couple of years and for some reason I have not had the desire to have one in a layout . . . until now. And I love how it turned out. It makes the layout look more "party-like." And yes, I made the barnyard cake. Probably the most time I have spent on a cake!!

I made this layout because I wanted to remember how athletic my daughter is and how involved my husband is in challenging her to try new things. We have never been in any organized sports, but she is not afraid to try new things and loves to be active! She is a natural at most things she tries.

Hope you are having a great start to your new year! I am enjoying new year start without making any resolutions! : )

merry christmas!

This time last year . . . 

This line by Echo Park is one of my all time favorite Christmas lines! I hope you have a blessed Christmas with family and friends!

sneak week december kit

Just popping in real quick. Sneak week is going on over at the Green Tangerines blog. The December kit is great for festive Christmas pictures AND for school pictures . . . which is what I did.

Hope you are enjoying your post-Thanksgiving weekend!