Vacation?

Ever just feel like you need a vacation from your life? Ugh! I think I woke up on the wrong side of the bed because I feel like I have the patience of a baby gnat this morning. I have SO much I want to accomplish and I feel like I spend so much time doing the mundane chores of life. If you are a mom, you know what I mean. The kinds of chores that feel futile (cooking meals, cleaning meals, picking up after everyone else, laundry, breaking up squabbles) because no matter how hard you work at them they are NEVER done. People keep needing to eat, and making messes, and wearing clothes. I feel like I need at least a week long vacation right here in my home. Everyone else needs to just leave so I can concentrate on catching up on some things without having to worry about taking care of everyone else.

I think a big part of my problem is that I have been oversleeping. My goal is to be up by 6am so I can have a little time to myself with no one else awake. Then I can study my bible, have time to pray, and refresh my mind for the day. Unfortunately that's not been happening. I was awake at 5:30, but baby Rachel wanted to eat. I fed her and promptly fell back asleep. I didn't wake back up until 7:15. And quess what? As soon as I stirred Rachel thought she needed to eat again. Then she filled her diaper. By the time I layed her back down, both of my wee ones (Patrick and Abi) were awake and following me around like little puppy dogs. So much for quiet time. [sigh] Ok, enough of my little vent!

In other news...the kids and I spent a chunk of time last Wednesday driving around town taking photos. Our local library sponsored "A Day in the Life of Allen County" on February 21st. They will be doing a display of photos taken thoughout the day. This is one we may submit. I took this one through the van windshield at a stoplight. Between my daughter, Elizabeth, and I we got quite a few good ones. Once I finish tweaking them, I will set up an album and share it.

And in scrappin' news...I just put a fun new product in my store at SOTB called Antiquated Playing Cards. I love these and can't wait to start sneaking them into my scrapbook layouts. They are also available for commercial use, too.

My baby girl...

...is getting BIG! This has been a big week for her. On Valentine's day she officially rolled over for the first time! Now if I could just catch her on film doing that! I had put her down on the living room carpet on her back while I was working in the kitchen. Elizabeth asked me if I had put her on her tummy. Sure enough - there she was on her belly. Now, she hasn't figured out how to roll back over onto her back, but I am sure that will happen soon enough. A couple of times since then I have gone to get her out of bed and she has been on her tummy. She is also getting pretty good at grabbing things and holding onto them. Right now she is in the exersaucer and just LOVES looking at herself in the little mirror on it. It is SO cute! My baby is growing up so fast. I guess it should be expected, she will officially be 5 months old on Monday.

Here is a photo of her from a couple of weeks ago. Here again she was looking at herself in the mirror while I was holding her. I had the camera in hand and snapped a couple of shots of her. I used one of Doris Castle's new flexi-pages to complete this page. LOVE THESE! What a clever idea! The base of the page is done and you can place your photos anywhere. Here I just used one photo and framed it with one of Doris' photolifts. Then this page comes with a predesigned grouping of elements to place on top. In this case it was the tape measure ribbon and flowers. What an easy way to make a page! I am hoping Doris makes a bunch more of these because lately I have been needing some no-brainer projects!

FUN Free Fonts!

Ya' gotta love free fonts! I read about these sites over at Digi Shop Talk today and thought I would post them. (That way I won't forget about them!)

Free Scrapbook Fonts

Fonts for Peas

This last link is a handy little tool for when you are hunting for a specific font. It lists the font's common name its other names it may called.
Font Equivilants

My little girl is13!

My oldest baby is officially a teenager today! It really didn't hit me until I was writing a birthday letter to her this morning. I was reflecting on years past and the young woman she is becoming and then I burst into tears. I think I am mourning the loss of my little girl. It's not that I am sad to see her grow up. I wouldn't have her any other way but just who she is. She is becoming a beautiful young woman both outside AND inside. I am so proud of her. But I love that little girl she was! Hopefully I will still get to see little bits of her now and then. Elizabeth tries to squelch her down and act more grown-up right now. Well, either that or she acts the extreme opposite and is totally goofy. But that is just this age. I remember being the same way. Oh, my mom could tell you some embarrassing stories!

Anyway...Happy 13th birthday Elizabeth!

Winter is HERE!

I don't know how it is in your neck of the woods, but around here winter has officially arrived. Yesterday we got a bunch of snow dumped on us and it has been blowing and drifting. We are literally up to our elbows in it! My hubby and oldest daughter have been the ones to deal with it. They trekked into town to clear our rental properties twice and Barry was worried the 4 x 4 truck was going to get stuck on some of the back roads.

Today the wind has subsided and the sun is shining. Everything looks white, fresh and beautiful!

With winter in mind, I finally completed this cozy kit called Winter Retreat that I have been working on. It reminds me of coming in from the cold and warming up under a blanket by the fire.

I also have another goodie to share. This Frame-It set is new in my store as well. It is a grouping of basics in my digital scrappin' stash that I grab quite frequently. If you have been hanging out at for blog for a while, you may remember that I offered this little set last year as a freebie. Although it is no longer free, it still is pretty cheap!

I should really be in bed!

I just realized that it is after midnight. No wonder I am so tired! I was trying to package some stuff up to be uploaded to my store at Scrap Outside the Box. I can show you this fun little set of painted goodies. There are EIGHT wiggly painted lines in fun bright colors to accent your scrapbook pages. Each have been individually painted and are 13" long.

I have another kit ready that I will be showing off tomorrow.

Now I am off to grab a shower and catch some Zzzzz's before baby Rachel wakes up for a late night snack. Goodnight!

Is it actually Wednesday?

Where is my week disappearing to? I have a scrapbook kit that I have been working on for nearly 2 months. TWO MONTHS! I must be the most inefficient designer ever! It is called Winter Retreat and I am hoping that I can get it into my store this week. The layout here was done with it. The photo is of my 5 year old son take last Friday. He and his big sister, Anna had decided to go outside to play in the snow. The sun was out and it looked warm enough from inside the house, but boy was it cold. He was back inside in less than 5 minutes to warm back up. He must have come back inside 5 or 6 times within a 20 minute period. I snapped this picture at the door during one of those times.

In other news....YAY COLTS!
This is a first for me. Sunday marks the day I watched my first football game on TV. Yeah, I'm such a sports nut...NOT! But I really enjoyed the game Sunday, especially being the Hoosier that I am. Did you hear what the Colts coach said when he was congratulated for being the first African-American coach to win the Superbowl? He said he was more proud of the fact the he was a CHRISTIAN coach who won the Superbowl. How cool is that!

I need to go and get all the kids ready to go out the door. My oldest, Elizabeth, has an orthodontist appointment. It's a big day because today THE BRACES ARE COMING OFF. She is very excited.

Happy Groundhog Day!

Or perhaps I should say, "Happy Spring!" Punxsutawney Phil did NOT see his shadow this morning so legend would have it that Spring will be arriving early this year. Yay! Actually I believe it is 6 weeks away either way, but it is fun to dream of Spring!

In honor of this early Spring I have a FREEBIE for you. It is a paper and a tag from my Song of Spring scrappin' set. The tag includes the verse:

11 See! The winter is past;
the rains are over and gone.
12 Flowers appear on the earth;
the season of singing has come,
the cooing of doves

is heard in our land.
13 The fig tree forms its early fruit;
the blossoming vines spread their
fragrance.
Arise, come, my darling;
my beautiful one, come with me."
Song of Solomon 2:11-13

Enjoy this and dream of pink Spring blossoms! You can download this freebie here. It will be available for only one week or 100 downloads so grab it while you can.

I was doing a bit of research on Groundhog day for the kids this morning and thought I would pass along some great links that I found:
Annie's Groundhog Day page
Is it Spring yet?
Enchanted Learning
Herald-Mail.com

I also discovered that today is Candlemas which is the halfway point between the start of Winter and Spring. It is celebrated by the Roman Catholic church and honors the purification of Mary.

And one more interesting tidbit for the day. Did you know that groundhogs are commonly refered to as woodchucks and uncommonly refered to as whistle-pigs. Yes! Weird but true.
So.....
Happy Whistle Pig Day!!!