And So It Begins...

:::::::::::Halloween Costumes for 2007::::



Lollipop Rachel

The Wicked Witch of The East Eve

Ben 10 Noah

The Black Knight Aaron

Michael looked up the Boar Standard and chalked the outline on the fabric, then did a free hand embroidery using the sewing machine. It turned out so cool!




:::::::::::::::::Noah's Black Hole Project:::::

Michael is helping Noah with a project on space due on Monday. It is made up of a 2-liter bottle, cardboard and paint. Tomorrow they will look up information for the report part.






::::::::::::Another New York Layout::::::






Darcy Baldwin: DJB LENA, DJB Pookie Poo, SAVE THE DATE (coming soon) at The Digichick
Kay Miller: Organic Kit background paper
Ida: Crayon Doodle, Fall Leaves
Mary Fran: Spider and web
Kate Hadfield: turtle

:::::::::::::::::Tomorrow is the Program:::::::::

I'm a bit nervous and I hope all goes well!

Later, gators!

Mermaid in Training!

Eve's first real swim!


During her third swimming lesson Eve was able to use her arms and legs with her face in the water to swim to her instructor, Laura.


_{Darcy Baldwin: DJB Teacher, DJB Doodl E Doo, DJB Karenscript at The Digichick
Kay Miller: The Blue Lagoon
Font: Doorkeeper 41}

:::::::::::::Another Layout from Our Summer Vacation::::



::::::::::::::::Another Great One:::::::

This is too true:

Index Card blog





:::::::::::::::Some Really Neat Artist Links:::

This is a great site: Artist Freebies

Acme License Generator

Smiles 'til later!

Nic, Nick and Nicky!

The Atlanta Greek Festival was great! Thursday is the day to attend. Their were no crowds, so we walked right up and grabbed gyros for dinner. Noah and Aaron had cheese pizza...heathens! Then the Rachel and Aaron spotted the sign that said Kafenion where they knew the loukamades are made. Aaron, Eve and Rachel were so excited to partake of the little doughnut hole like confections with a syrup of honey and light karo sprinkled with cinnamon. We asked one of the volunteers a question and laughed when we noticed her name was Nicky. Michael watched the kids while I went to the pastry area and purchased baklava and some super delicious Greek style wedding cookies called KOURABIEDES. We sat and ate while watching and listening to Greek traditional dances and music. The clouds were ominous throughout the event, but the rain didn't come. We also listened to the last 15 minutes of a lecture given about the Greek Orthodox Church in their cathedral. The mosaic art was fascinating! After we were finished with everything we went to take the free shuttle back to our car. Michael and the kids tried to board a private bus for an assisted living home. They were so serious about Michael being on the wrong bus. He replied, "But this looked like where all the fun is! Do you need a driver?" We all laughed and went up the hill to catch our shuttle.

:::::::::::::::A layout of Our Trip to Ellis Island & The Statue of Liberty:::



Katie Pertiet: Bent vintage frame
Kate Hadfield: Knotted stitches, staple, taped alpha
Gina Miller: Canvas of Colors
Darcy Baldwin: DJB DEBBIEC at The Digichick
Font: Pea Renee

::::::::::::::::::::::Niece and Nephew::::::

We have Gabriel and Afton over to spend the night and the kids are a riot. Afton and Rachel are writing a musical about their brothers'. Aaron and Gabriel have been doing guy stuff like Lego Starwars video game, skateboarding, and scooters. I took the kids over to the bowling alley and they bowled one game. Afton was so thrilled when she knocked over the pins you would think every time was a strike. When we got home she said, "Hey, I just lost my tooth!" I grabbed her a paper towel and put the tooth in a ziploc. Moments later Gabriel came rushing in saying, "This is bad!" He had wrecked his skateboard in front of the house. He has a road rash scrape on his side and a quarter-size bit of missing skin on his elbow. I cleaned him up and put some pain relief antibiotic cream on the wound and covered it with an elbow bandaid.

We took the kids over to Chick-Fil-A for dinner and Eve and Noah made friends with another family of kids. Later we took them over to my mom's house to drop of Noah and Eve. We stayed until my parents got home from dinner. Michael and I played the girls in a game of Are you Smarter Than a Fifth Grader, while watching the show on television. The girls made it to the 1,000,000 dollar question, while Michael won the whole shebang. Then we played Simpson Clue. (I won...it was Mrs. White (Mr. Smithers) in the Burns Manor with an extendo glove).
We ended up watching the Japanese cartoon Digimon with the kids. Basically, you can have any kind of name ending with "mon", so Michael was making up names. He jokingly said, "Pain in the @**mon". Almost immediately Afton walked in the room and asked, "Did someone call my name?" Her timing was impeccable. Gabriel just shook his head and kept laughing.

::::::::::::::::::::No Pill Fleece::::::::::

I need to make a run to the fabric store today and purchase some No Pill Fleece for teacher presents. Rachel has a couple of teachers, Noah has one, and Eve has 3 (two pre-school and one ballet/tap teacher). I will just cut and tie the ends and embroider their names on the blankets.


:::::::::::::::::::::The Bourne Supremacy::::

I finished up the book, yesterday. The intrigue had my head spinning and the double talk on the double talk by the spys and government officials was bizarre. I overall liked the read, but found the ending lacking the energy of the prior chapters. I am now reading The Bourne Ultimatum

Smiles!

Happy Birthday, Rachel!

_{Bren Boone: Luscious Solids
Kate Hadfield: Stitched Arrows, Stitched Alpha, Doodle Borders, First Day Jitters kit with Ashley Olsen
Denise Liemert: Bird doodle
Vera Lim: Doodle frame
Rhonna Farrer: Alpha
Tiff Brady: Felt crown, Wordy Bits Alpha}


Rachel is so excited to be 10! My very serious baby is growing up and she is amazing!
:::::::::::::Central Park Zoo: Part Deux::::




Y'all have a great weekend!

_{Bren Boone: Luscious Solids
Holly McCaig: Pop Alpha
Rhonna Farrer: Snapshot Frames
Sande Krieger: Borderline Frames and A Traveling We Will Go
Kate Hadfield: Animal Doodle
Michelle Coleman: Hand Stamped Alpha
Mo Jackson: Paint Brush
Font: DJB MICHAEL by Darcy Baldwin at The Digichick}

Happy Birthday, Aaron!

_{Mo Jackson: Birthday Candles, Party
Kate Hadfield: Birthday Boy doodles
Sande Krieger: Borderlines
Font: DJB DOODL E Doo! / DJB MICHAEL by Darcy Baldwin at The Digichick}

:::::::::::::Sande Krieger Inspired Layout::::
for our Central Park Zoo visit:






_{Sande Krieger: Borderline and A Traveling We Will Go
Kate Hadfield: Animal Doodles
Shawna Clingerman: The Grass is Greener doodle
Amber Clegg: Date Stamps
Fonts: DJB CHERE/ DJB DOODL E DOO! by Darcy Baldwin at The Digichick}

:::::::::::::::
Aaron and I watched this today:


Decoding The Past: Secrets of Kabbalah
The two comments on the film left on Amazon didn't think much of the film.

Smiles!

And Guess What Else?!

...(Take a quick breath), And Guess What Else?! (Try to answer, but no use because...) Guess What Else?! I just realized that Noah was asking me a rhetorical question. He was quite ready to tell me without me having to exercise any brain power on my part. He also had to ask his question in a rapid fire succession that made me just laugh. I took him for a hair cut today and he looks mighty fine! Since it was just the two of us he was able to tell me all about every alien and plot point in the last seasons of Ben 10. He also let me know all about the history of Xiaolin Showdown, another cartoon. His eyes flashed with excitement of each exciting episode. He even told me he loved me, so what a great couple of hours with me chatty dude!

::::::::::::::HEYYYYYYY YOUUUUUUUUUUU GUYSSSS!::::

I'm not sure who will be more excited when I give Rachel one of her birthday presents that I ordered from Amazon.com. It's this:


I absolutely loved this show as a kid! Rachel was at a sleepover with her friend Julia and they watched a pledge drive where they showed interviews and episodes of the old show. They have been laughing and quoting from the show since. I'm "Ex" "Cited"... "Excited"!

::::::::::::::What?! Another Vacation Layout!:::

Why, yes!



Text: After a long day of walking the kids were ready to dive into a large New York style pizza. Eve loved the stretchy margherita cheese. Aaron was so hungry he ordered a pizza just for himself. Our only surpise was that John's Pizzeria charged for refills.

_{Background Paper from Festive Papers by Shabby Princess
Water Color heart by The Powers Sisters designs
Pop Alpha by Holly McCaig
Circle Journal paper by Catrine
Cluster Frame Doodles by Ida
Wordy Bits Basic Alpha by Kate Hadfield and Tiff Brady
Font: DJB MICHAEL by Darcy Baldwin at The Digichick
New York skyline was created using a charcoal filter on an extracted photo of a crystal sculpture of the skyline from the internet.}


:::::::::::::::::::::::What A Fun Surpise:::::

Rachel learned that she really like tennis. She attended a Girl Scout clinic on sports and fitness and they introduced the girls to a few sports and Rachel was just gushing about how cool tennis was to her.

Smiles!

What is your scrapbooking style? This is a question people bandy about and I have thought about myself. I am rather eclectic in the bits and pieces that I like. I have the hardest time using just one photo because I often don't feel like I can tell the story of what is going on behind the scenes. I love layouts that are art for art's sake, but my driving force is trying to chronicle the moments in life before I completely forget what happened. I often have to skew photos because I guess I see the world a bit off center, so that works for me.

I have, also, always loved to look at photos. Whenever I would tag along with my mom to visit people I would ask if I could look in the photo albums they would have lying around. I enjoyed looking at the clothes, hairstyles, cars, architecture...pretty much anything. I find life fascinating. There is always something to learn...or re-learn!

Well, here is one more page to our Ellis Island visit:




This is another layout to go along with our family vacation stop at Ellis Island. The children became very thoughtful when they learned about the medical inspection given to those coming into the United States. The test for trachoma was a bit scary and they realized how unnerving it must have been to be examined in front of a large group of people.


My daughter, Rachel, was intriqued by the hanging beds in the dormitory and thought it looked like "fun" to sleep that way, which gave me the opportunity to explain why it wouldn't be like going to Girl Scout camp. I highly recommend this as a place to visit if you get the opportunity!


<sub>Fonts: Dead Letter Office
CK Good Point
DJB MICHAEL/ DJB RACHELZ by Darcy
Baldwin at The Digichick


Background: Ultimate Backgrounds Vol. 1 by Nancy Comelab


Cluster Frame by Nancy Comelab


Doodled Punctuation and Messy Staple by Kate Hadfield</sub>

::::::::::::::::::::::New Book:::::::::

I just started reading the second book in the Bourne series titled, The Bourne Supremacy. I'm still reading Zimbardo's book, as well.

::::::::::::::::::::::Tooth Fairys are on Alert:::::::::

Noah and Rachel both have squiggly wiggly loose teeth, so I guess by this weekend my wallet will be a bit lighter...who am I kidding! I never have any cash and I will probably forget to go by the credit union, so I will have to give the kids a TFIOU (Tooth Fairy I Owe You).

:::::::::::::::::::::::EVE is 4 and 99% :::::

That is what I told her this morning. Tomorrow morning she will be 5. I have already designed a card for her and I'll post it tomorrow. I think she will like all of the yellow I used.

Smiles, y'all!

Short and Sweet!

:::::::::::Another vacation layout:::::::::::

My Sister:

Text: Rachel held Noah's hand while they walked back to the car after our visit to The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. He was eager for her to tell him her story that she called "Earth Daughters". Whenever she would pause to long, in Noah's estimation, he would again plead for more of the story. I enjoyed watching them walk, talk and listen together.

_{Background paper is Marigold Fields by Katie Pertiet
Flowers from Holliewood Designs
Doodle Alpha by Weeds and Wildflowers
Bookplate Alpha by Christina Renee
Font: DJB Danielle by Darcy Baldwin at The Digichick
Ribbon wrapped frame by Lemonaid Lucy}

:::::::::::::The Vacuum is calling my name...

and trust me, I'm calling it a name, too!

Later, y'all!

A Bit Verbose!

My daughter and The Statue of Liberty


Antique Garden paper by Bren Boone
Date Stamp by Amber Clegg
Paint Stroke and Hand Stamped Alpha by Michelle Coleman
Green Ribbon by Micheline Martin
Vintage frame by Nancy Comelab


::::::::::::::::::::::::Sister Wendy::::::

We are using Sister Wendy Beckett for art appreciation class. Aaron has a hard time getting passed her teeth, but I think her enthusiasm and insights won him over. Rachel and Noah watched her episode about the Lascaux cave paintings in the South of France. In that episode she showed The Book of Kells, Greek art on an urn depicting Achilles killing an Amazon woman, paintings uncovered in Pompei, and some Medieval art. I highly recommend her videos!




Here is a great article about her: Click ME!


:::::::::::::::::::HILARIOUS FUN IN A LITTLE BITTY CARD::::::

3x5 card sized in fact. Check out this amazingly clever blog: Click For a Laugh!




::::::::::::::::::::My Hottie Hubbie:::::

had this hilarious video on his blog



:::::::::::::::::::Iguana Invasion:::::::

This is what the kids create when they watch art how-to videos:


_{Font: DJB ANGELA/ DJB KARAHscript by Darcy Baldwin at The Digichick, Luscious Papers by Bren Boone, Dear Diary by Erica Hite,
Word Topper dates and Sparkle Block Alpha by Emily Merritt,
Gralpha by Birgit Kerr,
Backward Staples by Jenn Patrick,
G-Funk Alpha: Bright by Gina Miller,
Paper Doodle Frame by Sausan,
Word punched alpha by Christina Renee,
Wordy Bit Alpha by Kate Hadfield and Tiff Brady}



Aaron's version::



_{Dear Diary by Erica Hite,
Luscious Solids by Bren Boone,
Tape Alpha by Kate Hadfield,
Word Toppers numbers by Emily Merritt,
Backward Staples by Jenn Patrick,
Wordy Bits dates by Kate Hadfield and Tiff Brady}

Full of Surprises

My kids never fail to amaze me for good or ill sometimes. I'm pretty sure there must be a rift somewhere in the space-time continuum because Noah (my math enthusiast) asked to read a second book. Noah is assigned, by his teacher, 10 minutes of reading each night. He read a book about an ant, then asked to read the chapter book he had also checked out. I was in shock because he usually gives us such a hard time.

Rachel wrote a really cool poem about herself at school (see below for layout). We are really proud of many of the choices she makes. Unfortunately, kids make missteps sometimes...like us all. The neighbor used Rachel as a positive example to her daughters and when I related this story to Rachel she started patting my arm and crying. She said she had something to tell me. Then related that she had been at a friends house without permission. She was reduced to heaving sobs. She apologized profusely and let the neighbor know of her poor choice. I respect her so much for her sincere apology. She is one of the kids I have high hopes of actually understanding actions and consequences.


Noah at The Met:


Text: Noah stops and stares at this painting the longest.

Text: It is a widely accepted notion among painters that it does not matter what one paints as long as it is well painted. This is the essence of academicism. There is no such thing as good painting about nothing.

Text at the bottom: Mark Rothko, Untitled [No.4],1964, National Gallery of Art, Gift of The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc.,1986.43.152
With some exceptions, the darkened palette continued to dominate Rothko's work well into the 1960s. He developed a painstaking technique of overlaying colors until, in the words of art historian Dore Ashton, "his surfaces were velvety as poems of the night."

_{Ultimate Backgrounds Vol. 1
Font: DJB MICHAEL by Darcy Baldwin at The Digichick}


Rachel's Biopoem from 4th Grade Curriculum Night:



_{Luscious Solids by Bren Boone
Curled Edge by Jen Caputo
Watercolor Elements, Paint and Sparkle Blooms by The Powers Sisters at Scrap Artist
Dear Diary by Erica Hite
Backward Staples by Jenn Patrick
Doodled Journal Tape by Kate Hadfield
Magnifying Glass from Who Done It by Mary Fran
Tab Your It by Robin Carlton
Font: DJB TEACHER by Darcy Baldwin at The Digichick}



:::::::::::::Later a layout of Noah's Drawing...

Smiles!

Another Day, Another Couple of Layouts!

:::::::::::::::Aaron and Elliott::::::

from our family reunion:


:::::::::::The Empire State Building




::::::::::::Eve's Check-up::::::

She passed the hearing and vision test. She even passed the blood pressure test, which means we could go on to the Bonus Round. In the Bonus Round they checked her ears (she complained of pain, but there was no indication of an infection or inflammation) and checked her abdomin. She checked out fine. I asked him about what to do about her seed warts. They are smooth...not your classic bumpy kind. He prescribed Retin-A cream, which will cause her skin to exfoliate more quickly and help remove the wart called mollusca.
No shots were needed and that made her happy. She ended up being in the 25 percentile for height and 33 percentile for weight...or visa versa. Anyway, she is proportional.

:::::::::::::Curriculum Night::::

We were able to hear from Rachel's focus teacher for reading and her classroom teacher. Both teachers seemed excited to be teaching and very qualified for the task. Their personalities seemed to meld well with Rachel's so I hope it will be an exciting and fun learning experience for her this year. She had a sketch and poem about herself waiting for us on her desk. I will scan it and put it up later.

Smiles!

In the Eyes of a Child...

Text: "Educate and inform the whole mass of the people...They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty".


Thomas Jefferson


It is my hope that my son Noah will understand the need to uphold our liberties.



<sub>Background Papers and Frame: Vintage Backgrounds 1 by Nancy Comelab,
BookPlate Alpha, Glitter Splats, Grunge Tags, Punched Word Art and Ziggity Zag Stitches by Christina Renee,
Doodle Star and Circle Stitching: Weeds and Wildflowers,
Backward Staples: Jenn Patrick,
Date Stamps: Amber Clegg,


Fonts:Bulky Refuse,
DJB MICHELLED
DJB MESSIE AMANDA by Darcy Baldwin at The Digichick</sub>

::::::::::::::Rachel is Finally Home:::::

Rachel has been hanging out with her cousin Haley at my stepmom and dad's house. She had a great time. She stayed up reading last night and will probably sleep until noon. She is a night owl.

We had a delicious Southern meal for dinner when we went to pick Rachel up. Alice had prepared cooked carrots, yellow sqaush with onions, broccoli and cheese, cooked cauliflower, and my dad had smoked some ham. Eve at the equivalent of 3 regular carrots and wanted me to cook some when I got home. I told her that was enough carrots for the day. The drive home was a rainy one, but our area is in a rain deficit so I just turned my lights on and was thankful for the rain.


::::::::::::::::Real Christianity::::::


This book was and is a call to action from William Wilberforce who wanted people to stop living what he called "Cultural Christianity" and live "Authentic Christianity". Wilberforce speaks strongly for taking action in your life to show you discipleship for Christ and not simply showing up on Sunday as the only sign of your faith. He also speaks with joining your efforts to change the world for the better with others from other denominations and faiths. He calls for every individual to evaluate themselves and make what ever improvement necessary to follow the path set out in the Bible for "authentic Christianity".
The end notes in the book help explain the social and political atmosphere of the time, so the reader can understand the context of some of Wilberforce's statements. The book has not lost its voice in the almost two hundred years since it written. Though our religious denominations are different I think evaluating self and finding ways to put into action the teachings of Christ put us in a similar mindset. I recommend this book.

:::::::Off to Clean::::

the house.

Smiles!

Cool News and Things!

My goal in this layout was to help the kids remember the scope of our two week educational vacation adventure. I think it turned out really fun!


_{Background paper: True North by Anna Benjamin at Paper Moons
Travel Journal Stamp by Sande Krieger at 2 Peas
Vehicle Doodles, Doodle Arrows, Stitched Arrows, Wordy Bits (also by Tiff Brady), Journaling Doodles, Water from Summer Collab kit at TLP by Kate Hadfield
Don't Be Negative Strips by Gina Miller
Taxi Cab by Tara Sroka Designs
Font: Cheapskate Fill}

A Bit Bigger:



::::::::::::::::::Souvenir Photos from our time in New York City:::::::





:::::::::::::::::::Shakespearen Insults::::::::

If you are in a super quirky mood and feeling like a need to know some high brow English insults check this out: Shakespearen Insult generator.


MUST SLEEP! Smiles!

Voices From Our Past:

This one is a layout of Noah using the audio tour to learn about the history of Ellis Island. He was able to hear interviews of some of the immigrants. I also mention in the layout his newest nervous tick, which is shifting his lower jaw. His first nervous tick is called a blepharospasm, which is a nervous eye tick. He developed that one last Summer. It shows up in periods of stress. Much of his stress has to do with arguing with Aaron. Unfortunately, they do bucket loads of disagreeing. ARGH! The lower jaw thing started near the end of school. The photos were funny to me because I caught him at several stages...punching in the audio code...noticing I was taking his photograph...smiling coyily...finally, giving me the goofy crossed eyes. I also included another art piece by Phillip Ratner.


:::::::::::::I Was Tagged::::::::::::::

by Kristen! She is so thoughtful to have included me in her group of 5 Rockin' ladies!



Thanks, again!



::::::::New family reading book:
Escape from the Carnivale: A Never Land Adventure by Ridley Pearson and Dave Barry

Here is a book review from Kidsread.com



:::::::::::::It was brought to my attention::::::

that I forgot to Simpsonize 3 of our dear family members, so I have corrected my oversight:


***WARNING: SERIOUS SUBJECT MATTER BELOW:

The next book on my personal reading list is The Lucifer Effect by Philip Zimbardo. I read an article about the book in an issue of Discover magazine while I was waiting for Rachel to get her braces adjusted at the orthodonist. (Just click on the word Discover for a direct link to the article). Philip Zimbardo conducted prison experiments using college students at Stanford University. From the excerpt I read his experiment had to be called off early because of the abuses by the students who were in the guard group. Highly disturbing was the finding that when the students were able to shield their eyes with mirrored glasses and given a uniform that did not individually identify them they began to feel they had unlimited power and no accountability. The outcome from this experiment was a warning to everyone to be on guard and realize that each of us has a capacity to do evil and if we recognize and admit that part of us that we can be on guard for falling into the trap of making evil choses.

I look forward to reading this book. I always remember the maxim: Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.