Send In The Clowns

Text: This was my first attempt at creating a clown after my Wilton decorating class. The recipe had some changes and the consistency was too soft, but the end result was okay.

_{Credits: Lorie Davidson's : Sparky freebie
Kate Hadfield's: Doodle alpha
Darcy Baldwin's: DJB KIRA at The Digichick
Catrine: Pauline Alpha}

::::::::::::::::::Family Reading Time:::::::


The boys were a bit annoyed with me for going from one princess book to another, but I believe the new book has earned their interest. Aaron was disappointed that I had to stop reading due to the lateness of the hour last night. The story is well crafted and the characters and imagery are superb.

::::::::::::::::Valentine's Day is Coming Soon:::::


Shabby Miss Jenn made some really cool quick pages for the Shutterfly blog. Here is a sample:


::::::::::::::::Personal Reading:::::::::

New book for me:
This is a book recommended by my friend, Kim, and she has excellent taste in books!

Smiles...I'm off to Girl Scouts with Rachel!

Three Day Weekend

Here are a couple of layouts I completed using Shabby Miss Jenn's new Valentine inspired designs:




This is my sweet little nephew, Spencer. His personality and beautiful eyes just get you every time!
Shabby Miss Jenn: Love Shack, Frantically Folded (Trashed), staples from Old Letters Lil Kit
Jen Caputo: Torn paper template
Darcy Baldwin: DJB MANDY, DJB KIRSTY, DJB SUSANB1



This is my daughter, Evey, and she can turn it on or turn it off upon her whim.


Shabby Miss Jenn: Love Shack, Brackets Bright, Signature Alpha Uppercase, Signature Alpha lowercase
Darcy Baldwin: DJB MANDY

:::::::::::::::::::::::Three Day Weekend:::::::

Means visiting cousins and grandparents, so we will be running around later this afternoon. This weekend we are going to see Twelfth Night at Shakespeare's Tavern. It should be a lot of fun!

Later, gators!

What is Made from 100% Girl Scouts?

If you answered Girl Scout cookies you are correct. I got Rachel to smile for this shot by making her say, "SAMOAS!" What an instant response of joy with visions of caramel, chocolate and coconut!



Please let me know if you Georgia folks would like any!

_{credits: Sausan Designs: My Little Heart collection
Darcy Baldwin: DJB PASTOR DAVE at The Digichick
Sande Krieger: Borderlines
Miscellanous font: Another Typewriter}

Here is a Girl Scout cookie quiz from the AJC
:::::::::::::::::::::"Is That a Euphemism?::::
That is an oft heard question in our house. We have taught our kids the correct terms for things, but the kids hear parts of the body called other things by family and friends so they started to try to figure out as many euphemisms as they could. They realized the process is endless and here is an Indexed Card as evidence of that:



::::::::::::::::::::Recommendation Friday:::::::

Jessica Hagy has completed a book of her hilarious graphs called Indexed. It's for sale for $8.80 at Amazon and they are taking pre-orders.


I would like this idea to become a weekly thing, but we shall see.

I have layouts to post later, but Shabby Miss Jenn wants us to wait a tad bit more.

I hope your weekend is fantastic! Michael and Aaron are running off to hike and camp. They were going to go to Blood Mountain, but changed their mind due to the recent hiker murder. Michael decided to hike there with the kids another time.

Smiles!

Matroyshka...

Russian nesting dolls:

My sister-in-law, Angela, is a wonderfully talented artist. She drew my name for Christmas and created these dolls:




_{Darcy Baldwin: DJB MANDY at The Digichick
Shabby Miss Jenn: Tree Trimmin' Party
Christina Renee: Sassy Lace, vintage frame from UA Collection}


:::::::::::::::::Silly Christmas Layout:::::::

My nephew, Gabriel, was sporting a mohawk and I thought it would be fun to have his dad and a couple of uncles share in the hairy goodness.


_{Darcy Baldwin: DJB MICHAEL at The Digichick
Tia Bennett: Pixel Mischief
Shabby Miss Jenn: Tree Trimmin' Party
Christina Renee: Glitter Splats, Just for Fun Doodles
Sausan Designs: Needful Things book
Erica Hite: Nessa Alpha
Kate Hadfield: Primary Rubberbands and Doodle Tape}

::::::::::::::::::::::Tomorrow::::::::::

I will be back with some Christmas layouts. Today has been spent with the kids arguing over and with the new computer, watching Season 3 of Dr. Who, Meet the Robinsons, Ratatouille, and Ben 10 Season 2.

I hope y'all had a happy Christmas! :)

So, Whattya Been Doin'?

,...just curious.

The tree is still not decorated...how lame is that!!! The kids are rotating who is sick and I've been busy painting downstairs, so maybe tonight???!!!


::::::::::::::::::::Perfect Attendance:::::::

is what Rachel had until a fever, headache and sore throat sidelined her, yesterday. She felt crumby today, but she went anyway. She is, usually, my healthy kid. Noah who is my croupy kid still has perfect attendance, surprisingly.

:::::::::::::::Swimming Update:::::::::


The kids' have their last swim lesson with Laura tonight. She has been an amazing instructor. Eve went from only floating on her back with some help from Michael to feeling like a little mermaid swimming under her own volition. YEAH! We need to get Noah into a SCUBA program because he wants to spend all his time underwater.

:::::::::::::::::::::Family Reading::::::::::

The kids are clamoring for me to not stop reading the newest Sisters Grimm book Magic And Other Misdemeanors. It was a near riot last night when I stopped reading at the end of chapter 8. The kids would stop me intermittently while I was reading to postulate who might be the Master of the Scarlet Hand and who was stealing the magic items.

:::::::::::::::::::::Hockey::::::::::::

My stepdad is taking Aaron and Rachel to see a Gladiator's hockey game tomorrow. They all like hockey, so they, hopefully, will have a blast.

:::::::::::::::::::::Lunch with A Friend:::

I was able to grab lunch with my friend Phyllis on Monday. She is so fun and we got to talk and eat, which are a couple of my personal favorite hobbies. We stopped in at a restaurant that other friends have raved about called Los Hermanos. We munched on chips, salsa, jalapeno cheese dip and chicken enchiladas. I threw in some tasty Mexican rice.

:::::::::::::::::::::A Sweet Invitation::::::::

Shabby Miss Jenn who I was a guest creative team member for November has asked me back as a guest for January. I thought that was super sweet of her!

:::::::::::::::::::::Gave Up The Ghost:::::::::

My dear smoothie maker has joined the appliance graveyard! It did, however, go out with a last hurrah by making me a delicious drink of strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, bananas, blueberry yogurt, frozen vanilla yogurt and milk. Luckily, there are always a large supply of smoothie makers around.

For now, I MUST GO PAINT!

Smiles!

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!

Give Thanks!

:::::::::Letters to the troops for Thanksgiving:


I got this email today: Something cool that Xerox is doing Let's Say Thanks

"You can pick out a thank you card and Xerox will print it and it will be sent to a soldier that is currently serving in Iraq . You can't pick out who gets it, but it will go to some member of the armed services.

How AMAZING it would be if we could get everyone know to send one!!! This is a great site. Please send a card. It is FREE and it only takes a second.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if the soldiers received a bunch of these? Whether you are for or against the war, our guys and gals over there need to know we are behind them...

...It really did just take a few moments to choose a lovely card and sentiment, so please send one if you get a chance!


::::::::::::::An Oldie, but a Goodie::::::
Who Needs 31 Flavors...
When there is VANILLA and chocolate!




_{Shabby Miss Jenn: Ice Cream Party kit at Shabby Miss Jenn Designs
Darcy Baldwin: DJB KELLI, DJB JULIANA IN A HURRY, Stickbet Alpha, Save The Date at The Digichick
Jenn Patrick: Backward Staples
Kate Hadfield: Wordy Bit Alpha}


This layout is using photos taken in 2005. This photo of Noah's face just makes me smile. I, especially, like the ice cream on his face.

:::::::::::::::::::Genealogy Merit Badge::::::

I worked with the Scouts last night on the Genealogy M.B. We talked about relatives, where to look for information and why it is important to learn information from family sources before they pass on. I also cautioned them that two people at the same event can see things and remember things completely different. It was interesting to note that Aaron was unaware of a lot of family information because I take care of all of that for him. Maybe, just maybe, he will pay a little more attention.

::::::::::::::::::::Indexing::::::::::::

I have signed up to transcribe historical documents. Through www.familysearchindexing.org I have downloaded my first batch of documents from a book of marriage certificates in the 1850's. The handwriting is already stumping me so I need to do some more letter comparisons.

Off to index for a bit!

Smiles!

Remember...You are Allowed To Breath!

This is what Eve's swim instructor kept trying to get her to remember while swimming across the pool. Eve looked like a cute polly wog swimming under the water, but she didn't want to come up for air until she hit a person, or the wall. She was super lung girl. We all just laughed and shook our heads in disbelief.

When we got home all the kids got a bath and Eve sounded pretty horse. She seems to have gotten what ever Aaron has and hers has taken the form of laryngitis and a cold. Aaron is feeling a bit better, but he gets a cold sore every time he gets sick.

::::::::::::::::::Fun & Games:::::::

A fun time at Colonial Williamsburg on the Fourth of July.








The Wooden Hoop and Stick were considered great fun, as well as, exercise. Aaron, Noah, Rachel and Eve were all "game" for playing with the 18th Century toys. Rachel was able to get a good run on the hoop a couple of times. Eve tried valiantly, but couldn't keep the hoop up for long. Both Noah and Aaron had a good time playing...a stick was involved. That was a good enough start for them.



Shabby Miss Jenn Designs: Old Letter Lil Kit
Darcy Baldwin: DJB Lindy at The Digichick
Jen Caputo: Paper tear template

This kit was provided by Shabby Miss Jenn as part of my November Guest appearance on her team. Thank you, Miss Jenn!

::::::::::::::::::::::::Time Out:::::::

Tomorrow I get to go to Time Out. I really like the concept for adults. I am actually going to her some uplifting speakers talk to the women of our Church. My mom and I are looking forward to hanging out together for a few hours!

::::::::::::::::::::::Christmas is Coming:::

and my mom is doing the coolest thing for me! She is paying for a basic cake decorating class at Cake Art. They use the Wilton cake stuff. It should be fun and the kids are looking forward to the samples when I practice. I'll probably start the class in January.

::::::::::::::::::::The Bourne Ultimate:::::

This book had more twists and turns then Wisteria on chain-link fence! The book completely different from the movie, but I enjoyed them both. The mind games of trying to out guess each other were mentally fatiguing! The interesting character difference that is brought out repeatedly in the book from that in the movie is Bourne's height. In the book he stands out for his tall athletic physic. In the movie, Matt Damon, is average height and build. Not a big deal, just different. The most interesting characters were ones that found a bit of humanity and redemption for their evil ways, but never completely changed their spots. There was an interesting paragraph were Ludlum made the statement about people who ask for forgiveness through their religion for something that they know they are going to turn around and do all over again. That was food for thought...sounds like Mardi Gras.

All in all, the Bourne trilogy by Ludlum (a Fourth book has been written with approval by another author) are suspenceful books. They give a bit of insight into the minds of men who fought during Vietnam and the aftermath of world relations from the eyes of an injured man...mind, body and soul.

:::::::::::::::::::::::Digital Scrapbook Day::::

is November 3rd, so check out some of my links if you are interested in getting some great deals!

I hope y'all have a great weekend!

Some Fun and Shabby Comments

My husband saw this comic strip and thought of me:



A little background on this as it relates to being funny to us. When I was a kid my mother would introduce me to people and they would then begin calling me Vicky. My mother would politely correct them that that was not my name. This scenario has been repeated all of my life. My husband, Michael, is a "Michael", so when folks call and ask for Mike I just laugh and tell him that someone we don't know is calling. Once someone who purported to know us well introduced us from the pulpit as "Mike and Vicky". We cringed. Names are important, or else we wouldn't use them and name and classify everything. I try not to be pushy about it, though. Rachel will usually tell people for me. She will say, "My mom likes to be called Victoria."

So, if I have been getting your name wrong let me know...after my little diatribe. ;)


::::::::::::::::::Jim Dale of Harry Potter fame::::::::

I love Jim Dale's voice and he was hilarious on Wait! Wait!. Got to the section called "Not My Job". You get such tidbits as where he got the voice for Dobby.


:::::::::::::::::::::Date Night?::::::

Michael and I are hoping to go on a date night and see The Bourne Ultimatim. We enjoyed the previous two films.

::::::::::::A Shabby Invitation...never looked so good:::::::

Once my dsl was repaired and I opened my email this invitation was waiting for me:


I'm excited to be able to play with her great designs in a few months.
I get to sport this little thing as part of the November Guest C.T.



:::::::::::::::Shopping with my Girly!:::::::






::::::::::::::Book Review::::::::
The Sisters Grimm: Once Upon a Crime


Another action packed story from Michael Buckley that kept the kids pleading to, "read ONE MORE CHAPTER! PLEASE!" The action takes place in NYC where the rag tag group led by Granny Grimm go to take the injured Puck. The king of Fairie, Oberon, is murdered and the Grimms, along with ex-sheriff Hamstead (one of the 3 little pigs) and Mr. Canis (The Big Bad Wolf) try to track down the killer. There is even a love interest for Mr. Hamstead. There is also the pungent cocoon that follows Sabrina around that creates a lot of laughs. The Wizard of Oz also plays quite a prominent role as a friend of Veronica Grimm, the girls' mother. Everyone is surprised to find out some information about Veronica that makes Sabrina rethink an important decision. This is a wonderful continuation of the series and we look forward, excitedly, to book 5 that will be coming out in December.

Non Sequitur
Just thought this was funny in light of the whole fairy tale genre book review.



:::::::::::::Aunt Teashy:::::::


This is one of my SIL's with our twin nieces.


Text: When Corinna and Dakotta saw Aunt Teashy they set off running and she scooped them up into her open arms.


_{Midnight in the Garden kit by Kay Miller
Word Art by Bethany Mott
Doodle Journal art, Pipecleaner flowers, doodled photo corner (Color Me Funky combo with Gina Miller) by Kate Hadfield
Doodle Frame by Holly McCaig
Black frame, scalloped border and white tab from Springtime in Paris by Michelle Godin
Doodle Alpha by Weeds and Wildflowers
Proof frame (modified) by Christina Renee
Block Alpha by Natalie Braxton
Font: DJB MANDY by Darcy Baldwin at The Digichick}

::::::::::::::::Next Family Reading Book::::::

Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift


Have a happy weekend!

Smiles!

Just A Cute Cousin Layout:

Text: Aaron was happy to show his cousin, Tyler Morgan, how to play a Star Wars game. Aaron recieved his GameBoy SP for Christmas from Granny Alice McClure.

_{papers from Popsicle designed by Shabby Princess, Polaroid Frame designed by Rhonna Farrer, Twill element from Rad Kit by Kim Christensen, Alpha: Surprise by Carrie Stephens, Date Labels by Janel Kretschman, Font: Pea Jenny Script, Pea Amy.}