A few faves from today

Here are a few of my faves from today shooting on the train tracks. I've wanted these pictures for a long time, but I wish the weather/light would have been better. Oh well. Baby steps.

Has it been a week already?

Seriously, time is just a flying right now. Let's see. It was a pretty busy week again, what with dance, soccer practice, soccer game, parent-teacher conferences for J, a trip to the dentist for J, photography class for me, a crop on Friday night, and just life in general. And I wonder why some mornings Jenna wakes up and the first words out of her mouth are "Is today a day off?" Is it wrong that someone so young is already worn out? Probably, sadly, so.

Got three layouts done for Fancy Pants, one for Sassafras Lass, and two projects for ProvoCraft. That means I'm DONE WITH MY DEADLINES FOR APRIL!!!! Can you feel the joy? I'm feeling it. Today's task is to develop my "Advanced Photoshop Elements" class that I'm teaching next weekend. Plus grocery shopping. Plus laundry. Good times.

Em is preparing for her exams for next week, and stressing to the max. Good luck my girl. You're almost there!

OK, off to face the day. Be careful out there!

A tale of the teeth, part III

Here's the latest. Both top teeth gone. THANKFULLY. The one hanging, dead tooth in a gap of epic proportions was not a good look for Miss J. The funniest part is her permanent teeth are already coming in. She has to work hard not to, but there is no lisp. You can see her struggle to avoid it, and it is so cute! Maybe the whole shark teeth thing wasn't so bad after all.

Soccer game today. It was her first one this season, and the poor thing coughed and snotted her way through. Bill and I talked about the fact that she will most likely not be able to play an outdoor sport due to her allergies. Poor baby. They are so bad in the fall and spring. And unless we decide to go the way of allergy shots, she's just too miserable. She doesn't look too miserable in this picture though. She sure has grown to love this game!

We went to a Rugby game last night. A few of my students asked me to come watch, and I didn't know anything about the game. WOW. Let me just say I was unprepared for the rough nature of the game. And yet, I was impressed with the strength and tenacity my girls showed. I took some pictures, and I'll share them if I get the OK from my students. Bill was impressed, and Jenna was excited to meet my students. I had them in middle school, and now again in high school (they're juniors), and it was an honor to be asked to attend. You learn something new every day!

Off to dinner tonight with the neighbors. Jenna and my niece played with my sister and had a blast. I think Jen was sad to see us come home.

Emily hurt her foot at school this week, and is in a boot. Bad sprain I guess. Plus her allergies are giving her grief. Sorry my girl!

OK, off to edit more pics for my photography class. Peace!

Random Ramblings . . .

Taking a photo class. It's on shooting a series. Meets every other week, and I love the concept. It's got me out shooting again. YEAH!

Had family birthdays over the weekend. Dad, my BIL, and my sister. It was fun having the family together. Missed Billy.

Funny moment of the day, Jenna was spelling words, names specifically. We asked her to spell Emily. She wrote M - O - L - E. Sound it out. She just may be a genius!

She lost one of her front teeth last night. Don't you just love the result? By the way, her face is wet because we were blowing bubbles and a big one popped in her face. It is not DROOL, Em. LOL!

Parent-teacher conferences last night and again all day. BUSY.

Dance and soccer every week. Can you spell busy?

FINALLY some warm weather. Got up into the 70's. Makes me weep with joy.

Jenna is sick again. Allergies are a bummer. Back to the Dr. but thankfully at this point her ears are good. Wish us luck.

A quick BasicGrey layout to share

I could not WAIT to play with the new Basic Grey. I am utterly, totally in love. Here's a quick layout about my girl. Sorry it scanned crooked . . . don't know why that always happens to me! Just this week we have been joking at Scrap Supply about hoarding scrap supplies. And there are a few lines that I am obsessive about. BasicGrey being one of them. These lines have to have their own shelves and separate drawers, they are THAT important to me. (Can you spell obsessive?) Hey, I own it. Steph and I have a little contest going on who has the most BG. We're both going to snap a photo (aka admit our problem) and compare the illnesses. Now if I only had more time to play!

Thoughts on Antiques

So over the weekend we went to Bay City to the antique warehouse looking for fishing poles. Long story. Anyhoo, whenever I am around antiques I feel a strange sense of sorrow. Maybe it's the smell . . . it smells just like my grandparents' homes in Wisconsin. Maybe it's the sense of history. Who did these possessions belong to? What is their story? What gets me the most is the old pictures. That just cuts me to the quick. Wasn't there anyone who cared enough to keep them? Or was it that the story of the people in the pictures was somehow lost in time. Like someone inherited the pics and didn't really know who was in them. Makes me sad, I tell you. When we walked into the store Jenna said, "Mom, there are things in here from generations of people!" True that, my girl. True that.

Guess what, more layouts!

More from Sassafras Lass. I am in love with this line!

The story of the teeth

So here's the deal. Last summer year when Jenna went to the dentist they discovered that her bottom two permanent teeth were coming in BEHIND the baby teeth. I remember the moment well. Jenna was laying in the dentist's chair, and they had me come over to look inside her mouth. Being the graceful sort, when I leaned over and saw them, it shocked me so much I stood up quickly, thus slamming my head on the dentist's light. Good times. After being called "shark-girl" with two rows of teeth (kidding . . . sort of), she lost the front two, and her tongue pushed the permanent teeth in place. COOL.

Well, guess what. The same thing has happened to the top two. Went for her cleaning yesterday and guess what is pushing her top two front teeth? Her new teeth are right behind them. It has been SO WEIRD to see the transformation of said teeth. They started moving together (Jenna has always had big spaces between her top teeth), then they started moving out. A la bunny rabbit. The weirdest thing is they're not very loose, because the permanent teeth are wedging them in that space tightly. I was sort of sad when I thought of her losing the top front teeth. Not so sad any more. LOL! No matters, the girl is still beautiful!

Well, the fabulous Dena Coe tagged me with a "You make my day" award. So here are the blogs I look at on a consistent basis that "Make my day."

First is the amazing Shaunte. That girl can make me laugh like no other. She has been posting about her recent mission trip, and come to find out she can make me cry as well. She's beyond talented, and one of the nicest people I know.

Next is the one and only Torm. Torm has the most amazing way with words. And while journaling is her specialty, her photography skills ROCK. I'd love to have an ounce of her talent.

I have always loved Vicki Chrisman. Her work is inspiring, and so is her outlook on life.

Lisa also makes my day. She has such amazing photography skills, and such a positive outlook on life. I smile each and every time I read her blog, and I'm in awe of her mad skills.

This blog is a constant source of information and inspiration. Jessica Sprague is a GENIUS. No two ways about it.

In other random news, spring break is coming to a close. Sad. It's my last official day off. But it gave me a taste for the summer, and I'm ready, baby!

Here's what I accomplished over break.
~a trip to Ikea for shelves and drawers. Assembled, and reorganized scrap space.
~a trip ('cause I'm an idiot) to see Emily.
~a crop at MHS, where I (mostly) completed 5 pages.
~a trip to the Center for the Arts to see the "Grossology" exhibit
~another trip to the butterfly house
~organized my closet, burning . . . er, putting away the winter clothes.
~redid Jenna's room, moving furniture, cleaning closet, purging old stuff.
~took some pictures, some that I even like!
~signed up for a photography class.
~took Jenna to a pool at the local community college, and she had a blast!

All in all, I got some things accomplished. Still, would have given anything to be in Disney. Next year, baby.

Peace out!

More layouts - Scrap Supply April

My article this month was on black and white photos. Read the newsletter here.

More Layouts ~ Fancy Pants

A few layouts

using the new lines from Sassafras Lass. Got them done at the crop on Monday. TFL!