Elvis Sighting

I know...I'll be a Baked Potato for Halloween!


I know...I'll be a mushroom for Halloween!

The Teen Grim Reaper.

And meet... BUDDY the ELF::::





Dad the Costume Designer:




Now for a little Jailhouse Rock:

Elvis is alive a doing well in Georgia!

We went to Trunk or Treat at church. There was Chili, cupcakes, hotdogs, and games for the kids. Then, everyone opened their car trunks and the kids came by for candy. My mom came and helped the kids at the games and walking with them, while Michael and I gave out treats. They are all bathed, but Noah who fell asleep. Fun night!

Sleep tight! :)

Announcer Girl:

Here is the photo of Rachel doing some of the morning announcements at her elementary school:



She has had a very good week at school. Today she found out she got a small speaking part for the 5th grade Christmas play. She will be Jangle (2)and her friend, Sabrina, is Jingle (2). There were several kids wanting speaking parts, so the music teacher shortened the parts. Rachel is so excited. Another note came home saying she was chosen to help the Kindergartners through second graders during Field Day because she was dependable, trustworthy, honest, and hardworking. Music to my ears, as a parent. I look forward to taking photos of the kids next week.

::::::::::::::Mystery Reader:::::::::::::::::

I got to be a mystery reader for Eve's Kindergarten class, today. The kids were so cute on their big, colorful rug with their faces turned up to see the pictures in the book. I took one of my favorite books, Stellaluna. Such a treat. I had my photo made with the kids.

::::::::::::::Other Stuff This Week::::::::::

On Wednesday I went to help with a service project led by the scouts in our troop at Church. I have a friend at Church who needed assistance with her dog run that had become extremely overgrown and she couldn't take care of due to poor health. I took photos and presented the plan to the scoutmaster and one of the young men spearheaded the rest. I brought loppers, a weed eater and leather gloves. Much of what was needed to be cleared was done. She was very appreciative and made the boys some scrumptious chocolate chip cookies and snickerdoodles. The boys kept thanking her for the great cookies.

:::::::::::::::Halloween Costumes::::::::::::


Michael worked through lunch and was able to come home early and start sewing the annual Halloween costumes. He made Eve a great hat so she could be a mushroom. She came up with that idea a couple of days ago and we all thought it was so cool.

He is working on Noah's Elf costume, right now. Rachel's Baked Potato costume has a foundation of brown sweats and I look forward to what Michael comes up with for the rest. Aaron decided to be a teenage grim reaper. He found glow in the dark skeleton gloves and black hoodie to go with a plastic sickle. He has a black shirt and pants to complete the outfit. Michael will paint his face for him.

I'll post photos of the completed costumes tomorrow.

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Here are a couple of new layouts of older photos:







_{Designs by Rachel Young at scrapartist.com}

Take care!

Two Fun Kids:

Noah's pet, Oinkey, is a nice furry companion that we don't have to clean up after:


_{Paisley Passion Kit by Sandra Boddington at Sweet Shoppe Designs,
Staple from Circus Train by Sandra Boddington,
Tea Overlay from Scrap Artist's Carefree kit,
Font: Ash 94}
Text: "When mom and dad are sleeping in their bed and I'm trying to go to sleep I have a fearless friend who keeps two watchful eyes open for me all night. He is soft and cuddly too! He doesn't make a fuss when I throw him over my arm and he lets me pick the movie and never complains about my choice. I made him a bed out of mom's tissue box, but he prefers to sleep by my side. When I go to school I give him to my mom so he will be safe from my big brother, Aaron and my little sister, Eve. Did I forget to tell you that my friend's name is Oinkey? He is very friendly! You can pet him, but you can't keep him.


Noah"




_{Paisley Passion Kit by Sandra Boddington at Sweet Shoppe Designs,
Paper Tears from Fhunglie's Ultimate Torn Pack,
Scrap fabric template from the Grace Sampler by Katie Pertiet,
Font: Marcishand/Patchanka Px}
Text: "What does a 4 year-old think about?
What makes you cross, joyful, or sad? What stops you in mid exploration to stare and marvel? So much to learn, so much to experience! Eve, one of the greatest joys in my life is watching you grow! Love, Mom"


::::::::::::::::Noah Loves Math:::::::::::::

Noah had us laughing again! As we were driving to Granny Sydney's house for her annual "Pagan Harvest Fest" Noah told us about a math program he was working on at school. He said, "There were 101 math questions on this new math program in the computer lab and I got 100 of them correct. I would have gotten them all correct, but I hit the wrong key and exited the program. I was going to type in 10 as the square root of 100, though." I started laughing because I'm certain I had no clue what a square root was in first grade. As usual, I had to tell him I wasn't laughing at him, but was simply amazed that he understood the concept.


:::::::::::::::::Costumes:::::::::::::

I helped Rachel create her rag doll costume with some funky horizontially striped tights, an old dress, a white apron, some pink blush, dark brown eye liner, and some pink lipstick. The only purchase was a braided yarn head piece from Jo Ann's. She looked adorable. She also wore her black boots from last year. I'll post pictures tomorrow, me thinks!

Michael will be sewing the boys' stuff tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to seeing Noah as Patrick Star!

Sam Taylor We Will Miss You:

An old family friend died last week of a massive coronary. His name was Sam Taylor. He could remember the call letters of my stepfather's C.B. He could remember verbatim conversations that you had with him. Sam's memory was astounding, but his limitation was autism. My brother, Denny, is perpetually hovering around 4 years-old in communication and understanding (from what we can tell). Sam functioned on a genius level. Sam had high aspirations, but being the U.S. President would always elude him. He loved to meet politicians and he was honest. So being autistic and honest would have always kept him from the inner circle of politics. He loved to shake hands with the governors of Georgia. This layout shows Sam, his grandmother, my mother, and brother with the, then, Governor George Busbee.


_{Papers and elements from Fee Jardine's Cool Denim Baby Kit, Font: OldgateLaneOutline, Barbara Hane. Overlay freebie Designs by Lauren at DSP}

Wes Sarginson has done news features about Sam Taylor a few times and he did a final tribute to Sam in this:
News Article and Video Link.


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In Rhonna Farrer's interview in Creative Keepsakes she mentioned one of her new favorite font's called >Newcastle. I went on to check the website called CHANK and found some other wonderful free fonts. The Halloween Font pak by B.J. Harvey was pretty cool. I also liked Cowboy Rumbahut by Matt Frost. There are several neat fonts so see what you think!

Also check Rhonna'sblog she has a link to 5 png files that are awesome for some Halloween fun on cards or layouts. Her link is not only for digital folks. If you paperscrap she has stuff for them too!

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This is my "creation" for the Outrageous Lyric challenge at Scrap Artist. I chose the B 52's song "Love Shack". I figured being from Georgia and having driven down the Atlanta Highway was a good enough reason. So here it is:




_{background photo and sign from Stockexchange Photos, Glitter on the road and front porch by Jen Wilson, Fairies and word blocks by Hope Wallace, Toy Chrysler from Mo Jackson's Party Favors, Jukebox photo from the web, road by Cherie, Daydreamer doodle by nancy Rowe Janitz, Glitter Kiss by Michelle Coleman, glitter heart and the word love by Emily Powers, Fuzzy heart by Kim Christensen and one by Scrapabyte, Font: Minya Nouvelle and paintball, notebook paper from Gina Miller's Note This, pattern paper from Michelle Coleman's Boho Chic, glitter swirl from Michelle Coleman's Birthday Elements, paper man from Maya's Jumping Jacks}

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Noah has his first pack meeting tonight with his Tiger Cub pack. He is excited. Michael just called from the scout office to pick up the missing uniform pieces. Michael had all of Aaron's old patches removed rather quickly. He will have them sewed on in no time.

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I need to go throw some chicken into the slow cooker. I think chicken enchiladas might be good for today!

Smiles!

The Taylors Tailoring:

It is really gratifying when you are able to pass on knowledge of something good and useful to your children. In this vein our daughter, Rachel, is a proverbial sponge for trying to soak up any hands on learning opportunity or reading about how to do something. I suppose we could have given her the nickname "Sponge Rachel", but it seriously doesn't flow, so, though a great idea, will just have to go in the circular file. Michael has an infinite amount of patience for teaching if he feels that whom ever it is wants to learn.



_{papers by Traci Murphy, Fringe from Joann's Fabric Store, Font: Guttenberg MF}
Quote: “Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand." Author Unknown


_{papers by Traci Murphy, fringe from Joann's Fabric Store, Font: Marcishand}

Text: Rachel asked her dad to teach her how to sew her own purse out of CapriSun bags. Michael had made a similar bag, as a Christmas gift, for Rachel's cousin, Haley Morgan. Michael taught her how to thread the bobbin and thread the sewing machine. He had her practice on a piece of denim, so that she could adjust her stitch length. Rachel was a quick study and an enthusiastic student!

Here is a link to make the pursesJuice Pouch Purses. We used Capri Sun pouches, but the site used Kool-Aid Jammer pouches...works the same.

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In other extremely exciting news: My BIL and SIL are officially adopting their 4 foster children today, so they now have 7 children. These kids have been apart of the family, in our hearts, since the first day they arrived. YEAH! YEAH! YEAH!

Another BIL and SIL are found out they are expecting a baby boy! I am EXTREMELY excited, but I am in an Aunt Quandry. What is an Aunt Quandry...don't check Wikipedia because the definition will not be there (I suppose I could add it though)? An Aunt Quandry is when one of your few talents as an aunt is making beaded socks for all the girls in the family. It is a fun and simple project: I simply use plastic tri-beads and crochet thread and bead around the edge of a bobby sock. This makes the girls very happy and makes me happy. I have only branched out with the beading once and that was as a joke for Christmas when I crocheted and beaded a golf cover for my BIL, Benjamin's, sand wedge. I figured he was one of the few male members of the family that might actually take it golfing. It was multi-colored (similar to Rachel's Capri Sun bag and had orange beads). So, what to make for this new little fellow, Spencer (they already picked out his name) has left me in my Aunt Quandry.