Feeling Melancholy

On Monday, I checked my driver's side mirror for a spider web. There had been a web, most every day, for 3 weeks. When I first saw the orb weaver working on its intricate circular web I thought to flick it off with a stick. My fascination for the hard work and natural beauty of the web won out, though. The fastidious little brown, orb-weaver would create a web about 6 p.m., then have the web eaten and the window left clean the next morning. Talented and tidy...such a great combination. There was a night, last week, when I needed to make a run to the grocery store and I saw the busily moving body diligently at work for the evening. I just smiled and jumped in Michael's truck for the trip. The poor spider did have to make a few 40 mile an hour rides to my mom's house and home. The kids would worry all the way if the spider would be okay. I found myself hoping to get a stop light so the little one would have the time to scurry back to the safety of the side mirror housing. Sometimes it would, sometimes it would just set about repairing the strands that kept it tied to the car.
Well, on Monday I came out of the grocery store and pulled out of the parking lot and the spider's little body tumbled from the mirror housing. Since I was in the middle of the road I needed to keep moving to avoid an accident. I watched as the silk thread snapped and my little spider companion blew away. I figured it had died a few days before, so I wasn't surprised. I just felt an overwhelming feeling of melancholy for this little, natural artist that put a pretty web for us to be dazzled by, then clean it up so we didn't look like trail trash driving around town. So long, my eight-legged pal!

::::::::::::::::::Picture Day:::::::::::


I'm going to help at the elementary school for picture day. It should be a day of organized chaos. I hope to come out smiling in the end, too!

::::::::::::::Another Layout for Noah's Baptism Book::::::

This is a photo of Uncle Benjamin trying to help Rebecca depress the spring on the pogostick, but she was just too light. He tried jumping on the pogostick, but the 80 lb. weight limit kept him from having any fun.
_{Credits: Jacque Larsen's Frog Legs, Fonts: DJB LIZ and DJB Julianna in a Hurry Darcy Baldwin, Kate Hadfield's Doodle Frame}

::::::::::::::::::::::Yearbook::::::::

I've been working on learning the program for the school yearbook. The learning curve isn't too bad. There is some functions that I would like to work differently, but it is okay, so far. I have been asking around for some one with a better camera to take the 5th grade photo, or let me borrow, but no luck, yet. I have about 3 weeks, so I hope to have it figured out soon.

Off to school! Take care.

Taste the Rainbow

::::::::::::::::Some Recent Layouts of Family Events:::::



<sub>Credits: Jacque Larsen and Rachel Young: Good Day Sunshine collab
Font: DJB Dawn/ Inspired by Template by Darcy Baldwin at www.thedigichick.com
Kate Hadfield's Doodle Frames
Kate Hadfield and Tiff Brady's Wordy Bits Vacation



Credits: DJB Kira/ Inspired by template by Darcy Baldwin at www.thedigichick.com

May Collab kit for The Lily Pad featuring Amy Hutchinson, buttons by Kate Hadfield, painted art element by Natalie Braxton.

Emily and Angela Powers "Label It" alpha, and alpha from Art Nation Blossom kit

Date Stamp by Amber Clegg and circles by Jenna Desai


Credits: Jacque Larsen/Amber Clegg's Pocket Full of Sunshine
Jacque Larsen/Rachel Young's Good Day Sunshine
DJB Silje and DJB Sebastian

Credits: Jacque Larsen/Rachel Young's Good Day Sunshine
Jacque Larsen's Home Tweet Home
Natalie Braxton's Hoo Do You Love elements
DJB My Dear Marsha and DJB Sissy</sub>

::::::::::::::Pocketful of Sunshine::::::

I'm really enjoying a recent song by Natasha Bedingfield called "Pocketful of Sunshine".

::::::::::::::Cheeseburger in Paradise:::

I saw this funny thing in our local paper that allows you to dress up Jimmy Buffet. It's pretty funny.

Take Care! :)

Brave Girl

:::::::::::::::::::Dentist::::::

Eve just got back from having a cavity filled at the pediatric dentist. They used orange scented nitrous oxide to prep her for the shot, and they used a mint numbing gel. She looked at me with a hesitant expression and her eyes got that glassy sheen from beginning to tear up. I asked if she was nervous and she nodded yes. She wanted to hold my hand, as opposed to me holding hers. I figure it gave her a small measure of something she could control. She rarely moved during the procedure. Her lip did slip into the little speculum that kept her jaw open and she would point at it with tears in her eyes. I was so proud of her as was the doctor. The novocaine is wearing off and she feels the pain. I can just hug her.


::::::::::::::::Cub Scout Camp:::::::

Noah is at camp for this week. It is a day camp so he goes in the morning and I pick him up in the afternoon. The theme this year is "Cubs in Space". What a perfect theme for my science guy.

::::::::::::::::Fun New Layouts::::::


<sub>Credits: Dawn Inskip's "Hush" kit, Embossed Letters (set 2)
Catrine: Laura Alpha
Font: DJB Donnar at www.thedigichick.com


Credits: Dawn Inskip's "Hush" kit, alpha from "Midnight Diamonds"
Font: CK Cursive



Credits: Dawn Inskip's Hush kit, Evitangel collab kit, Cartoon Caper kit, Make Believe kit, Typecast Alpha
Font: DJB MANDY by Darcy Baldwin at www.thedigichick.com</sub>

Take Care! :)

Summertime, Summertime...Sum...Sum...

Summertime... is time for Poison Ivy! Yes, I have it for the 4th year in a row. No matter how "clever" I was scouting my yard for the nasty things they snuck up and got the back of my left knee. It was probably when I was traipsing through the yard with the poison ivy killer spraying their kind. The irony isn't lost on me, neither is the itching pain. Alas, I'm a bit of an oozy mess on that one knee. Sorry, too much information, I know. On to more fun updates:

:::::::::::::::Cousin Esther:::::::
came to Georgia for a 2 week visit from Utah. She was so fun! She brought flower hair clips for all of the little girls. They were thrilled. We also got to have dinner with her, yesterday. We met up with some of the siblings, spouses and Michael's mom at the Olive Garden. I wasn't feeling too well, but the meal went very well and we got to talk guitars, food, vacations, and work with our brother-in-law, Matthew. Here is a layout with Esther and a few of the girls who were wearing the clips:



<sub>Credits:

Block template by Emily Merritt from Momtourage
painted doodles and papers by Kitty Chen from Momtourage
background paper by Mossa from Primavera kit
Birgit's orange paper from the Primavera kit
button flower by Kate Hadfield from May's BYOC
Emily Powers elements and papers from Momtourage and Art Nation Blossom
Weeds and Wildflowers freebie by Gina Marie Huff "Thank you"</sub>

::::::::::::::::::Beep Beep::::::
Karen Lewis has an adorable new kit at digital freebies this week...



My youngest DS, Noah, and his Pinewood Derby car.

Beep Beep by Karen
http://digitalfreebies.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=2713


_{Beep Beep Chipboard Cutouts by Karen
http://digitalfreebies.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=2714
A Month at a Time date stamp by Karen Lewis http://www.thedigichick.com/shop/product.php?productid=17720&cat=0&page=1
Curly Swirly Alpha by Karen Lewis at The Digichick http://www.thedigichick.com/shop/product.php?productid=17723&cat=0&page=2
Font: DJB SISSY and DJB MANDY by Darcy Baldwin at The Digichick:
http://www.thedigichick.com/shop/product.php?productid=18195&cat=266&page=1
http://www.thedigichick.com/shop/product.php?productid=16434&cat=0&page=1}
:::::::::::::::::::Rec Room:::::

Anna Benjamin has a blue and brown themed kit at scrapbookgraphics...

<sub>Credits:A cherished photograph of my grandaddy and his older siblings.

Credits: Anna Benjamin's Rec Room kit and Preppy kit.
http://www.scrapbookgraphics.com/xcart/product.php?productid=21162&cat=0&page=1
Font: DJB My Dear Marsha by Darcy Baldwin at thedigichick.com

Template by Cindy Schneider at the Sweet Shoppe.</sub>


::::::::::::::::::Just for Fun Pages:::::

using Lorie Davison's "Moonlight Kit" from Scrapbookgraphics...

Misc. Credits: Dawn Inskip's clock parts from Weather Station.




:::::::::::::::::::Drama Camp:::::::

Rachel started her 4 day drama camp, today. She was exhausted when I picked her up from the school. She also ran off the neighbor's house who is attending the same class so they could create a prop for their play. The theme is "spies".

:::::::::::::::::::Outdoor Pool:::::

Michael took the kids to the outdoor pool near our house and they had a blast going down the water slides. Eve was just tall enough to take part. I stayed home with Aaron so he could finish up his last school assignments. He has a final draft and an assessment, then he will be finished for the year.

Take care!

Baby, It's NOT Cold Outside

The weather here is rather warm. Eve has been going to school in skorts and short sleeve tops. But, these new kits I have been fortunate to play with from Shabby Miss Jenn have helped me get into a more festive frame of mind:

:::::::::::::::::::Shabby Miss Jenn mega kits::::::::::

Tree Trimmin' Party
and
Shabby Snow Kisses



Shabby Miss Jenn: Tree Trimmin' Party
Darcy Baldwin: Font: DJB RITA2 and DJB LAURATscript at The Digichick
Jennifer Pebbles: *Template-modified




Journaling: Rachel and Rebecca were thankful for every snowflake they could scoop off the top of the tents. They came up to each of us at the campsite to show off their treasured balls of snow. They ended up with red faces, red hands and happy hearts!


Shabby Miss Jenn Designs: Shabby Snow Kisses mega kit


Darcy Baldwin: DJB MANDYK1, DJB JULIANA IN A HURRY at The Digichick


Paula Duncan: rusty nail hardware

:::::::::::::::::::::Ben 10::::::::::::::

Today is a day to hangout with Noah. The other kids are at my stepmom's house playing with their cousin, Haley. Noah asked if he could come home with us so tonight he could watch Ben 10, Race Against Time at Granny Sue's house. It was an easy request to fulfill.

:::::::::::::::::::::Yesterday:::::::::::

Eve's feast went well and the cupcakes I made were well received. Aaron did a great job reading. I even got to read a short book to the class.

At 2p.m. Eve and I went to Noah's class for their rendition of "Stone Soup". The kids were great. Noah was Villager #8 whose claim to fame was taking the soup pot and placing it in front of the main characters. He also had a few lines.

Aaron and I dissected a chicken wing...well, I dissected it while he watched and tried not to gag.

All in all a productive day!

I'll post pictures once I upload them to the computer.

Smiles!

We Are The Music Makers...

We are the dreamer of dreams:



This is a group of photos I took of my niece while I was on lifeguard duty during our family reunion. She is a collector of rocks and shells. She also likes to line them up.


_{Darcy Baldwin: DJB KarenbScript at The Digichick
Gina Miller: Canvas of Color
Antonio Rafaello: Tattered and Torn Frames
Emily Merritt: Messy Brush Add-on
Michelle Coleman: Handstamed Brush}


:::::::::::::::::::::Emotions Revealed:::::::

Here is a well put observation by Paul Ekman in introduction of his book, "We organize our lives to maximize the experience of positive emotions and minimize the experience of negative emotions. We do not always suceed, but that is what we try to do."

The author started his research in the 1950s studying hand movements to try and determine if patients receiving psychological care were making improvements and it was through "serendipity" and grant money that he was asked to study facial expressions. His goal was to find out if facial expressions meant the same thing in all cultures, or were they learned in each culture. Most scientists felt that expressions were learned and dismissed the writings of Charles Darwin who believed they were innate and universal. Ekman also had a wonderful mentor by the name of Silvan Tomkins who had already been studying human expressions.

I'll give more tidbits as I go along.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::Speaking of Doing Things That...:::::::

that help maximize positive emotions check out my BIL photography website: Invisible Green
He named one of his photographs from a comment I made. Kickin' Cool Electric Lollipop

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::Cool Cousins::::::::

The Rachel and Aaron had such fun having Gabriel and Afton over. The girls giggled, wrote a musical and giggled some more. The boys laughed, got hurt, and played video games. I believe that is some Zen definition of balance.

I'll try to post some of the Taylor Boys Musical if I can get it to load to photobucket.

Until later!

Cold Hands...

Warm Hearts:



Rachel & Rebecca had a great time playing with the small amount of snow thafell during our camping trip to Cloudland Canyon in Georgia. The girls would take off their gloves so they could scoop the sno off of the tops of the tents. They would come over with beaming faces and bright red hands to show off their creations. Then they would stand by the campfire to warm up their cold hands. I love to see the cousins having fun together, no matter the weather!
I wonder how many of those minute snowflakes it took to make a single snowball???


Journaling Bits by Catrine
Arrow from Point It Out By Natalie Braxton
Heart Doodle by Kate Hadfield
Asterick from Doodle Alpha by Kate Hadfield
Doodle frame by Holly McCaig from her blog
Get Reel Frame by Manda Bean
Background paper from Jackie Eckles Monochramatic Challenge
Snowflake from Sweet Evangeline by Michelle Coleman
Cardboard Overlay by Linda Gil Bildal
Yuki Furu brush by Omni
Fonts: Susie's Hand, Trashed, Texas Hero, Pea XOXO Karen/Pea Lacy Chunky



::::::::::::Beautiful Weather Means:::::::::

off to the park! Aaron rode to the park on his scooter and met us at the pond (detention pond...but who's quibbling?!). We took several pieces of bread to feed the ducks and geese, which the kids really enjoyed doing. Then, they went and played on the playground equipment.

Bewitching...

_{Decorative edge by Michelle Coleman,
Fonts: Witch/Cathy
bottles from a Halloween website for Fujifilm,
black paper by Shabby Princess from her freebie kit,
Frame by Rhonna Farrer,
Date Stamp from Jenn Star
web doodle by Lisa Whitney}

Sweet Layout:

<sub>Background paper, bows and overlay from Ellie's World by Nancy Rowe Janitz, notebook paper and Clip It by Gina Miller, Glitter phrase and frame from Sassy Pants by Dani Mogstad, staples by Michelle Coleman, Date Stamp by Jenn Star Font: Ash94


papers and glitter are Sassy Pants by Dani Mogstad, arm from Maya's Jumping Jacks</sub>

READY?

_{Mo Jackson's Novel Paperbacks, Birthday Candles, Board Book Alpha & Bits, Ledger paper by Kellie Mize, Fonts: Pea Angedawn, Punch Label, Pea Happy Girl, starter pistol clip art from internet.}

My kids love to get together with their cousins. The Hardin girls are very competitive and fast. Rebecca gave us all the biggest laugh to watch her get down into that super low crouch and get ready to run! She won, of course!

2nd Part of the Tree Climber Layout

_{Laura's Shabby Arrows a blog freebie and Inked Edge Pack}

Layouts from Lettitia and Justin's Wedding

<sub>Wood overlay by Nancy Rowe Janitz, Laura's Shabby Arrows from her blog,Mo Jackson's Bark alpha (modified), fonts used: Wishes, CAC Shishoni Brush, Boopee, Henry Morgan Hand, Barbara Hand






Back ground paper from Lovely in Lilac: The Digi Chicks (Laura Alpuche), blanket stitching by Jen Wilson's 101 stitches, White Vignette from Edge Pack on internet, Fonts: SK Doodle by Taran Conyers and Amienne



The Digi Chick kit "Lovely in Lilac: Background by Laura Alpuche and Amber Clegg, White Grungy border by Edges Pack Sampler from internet, Fonts: Chalk Dust and Hello Sark

font used: TKDoodle by Taran Conyers and Pumpkinseed Medium</sub>
This picture made me think of an album cover because Aaron is looking off the frame to the right so seriously and Eve is oblivious to the camera as she fixes her shoe, while Noah and Rachel appear to be ready to yell "Boo" at an unexpecting Aaron. The Album cover idea I used was a combination of Joshua Tree and Unforgettable Fire by U2.


_{Paper by Iron Orchid Designs "Little Mai Papers", Kodak film photo from internet, stitches by Michelle Coleman}

Noah looked sharp in his sunglasses at the wedding:

Faux Disney Magazine Covers

These are some silly faux Disney Magazine Covers I made up for my kids and a couple of nieces pertaining to our trip to Disney World in February 2006. My youngest son, Noah, was very excited about being the subject of a Disney cover and that he was in his favorite character, Buzz Lightyear's, costume.