I've been tagged...

I'm still playing catch-up, so bear with me! I had over 200 new e-mails to sort through after our Memorial Day weekend and I still haven't gone through them all - and of course as the weeks went on, I kept adding to that total ;-)



Anyway, Laurel tagged me, so here I go!



The rules of the game get posted at the beginning. Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.



1. Ten years ago: I was enjoying my summer between my junior and senior year of High School - showing horses and working at the Red Baron



2. 5 things in todays to do list: Well, since the day is pretty much over, the list is short ;-) I would like to finish some pages I started today, then maybe start on Marjorie's color challenge, and watch a movie with my hubby.



3. Snacks I enjoy: I LOVE graham crackers IN my milk - my hubby thinks it's disgusting. I also love cottage cheese and crackers, and raspberry yogurt.



4. Things I would do if I were a Millionaire: I would pay off all debt, put a lot in savings, go on a few great trips, oh, and hire a maid!



5. Places I have lived:-I was born in Evanston, Wyoming but didn't live there long - grew up in Star Valley, Wyoming. Came to Riverton to go to college where I met my hubby. We lived in Cheyenne for a little bit, but have been in Riverton for the last 7 years.



I am now tagging Nicole, Kari, and anyone else who wants to join in.

June Challenges

For the last two years, I have done a 'Cherish Challenge' with my customers, and then when Imagine came out last year, I added another challenge. I'd like to invite you all to participate now! Here's how it works - at the beginning of each month, I announce which layouts from Cherish and Imagine that we are going to be doing. I will also post my example. You then create the layout using your choice of theme, papers, orientation, etc. and send me a link or a picture of your layout. I will even accept pages that you have previously done, as long as they use that month's layout. I will draw a name from all participants and the winner will get a fun bundle of cards at the end of the month. It's fun to see the different results from the same layout! I have posted my layouts before, but June really snuck up on me, so I had to pick a layout we haven't used before in our Challenges - I promise next month will be new layouts by me, even though that's not a requirement for these challenges ;-)

For the month of June...

...the CHERISH Challenge is 'Silver Screen' on pages 20 and 21

Click here for Ramsey's fun Birthday layout

Products Used - All CTMH: Floral Tapestry, Parchment Accessories (retired), Playful Alphabet stamp sets, Do Nothing stamp set, StickStock Twill, Boutique Alphabet, Ivory Organdy Ribbon, Ivory Eyelets

...the IMAGINE Challenge is 'Everything In Its Place' on pages 54 and 55.

Products Used - All CTMH: It's A Guy Thing, Pewter Accessories, TrueFit Folios, Express Postage stamp set, Tiny Typewriter stamp set, DE photo clips, Weathered Background stamp set, twill ribbon

I can't wait to see what is turned in this month! Let me know if you have any questions!

Mini Books from Card Kit

This is a project I did a couple of months ago for a workshop and I'm finally getting around to doing the workshop this month ;-)

Details, cost, and options for this workshop can be found on my Calendar of Events.

The Cute As A Button book was inspired by my Upline, Janette - they made these at a CTMH Event and she then made one for each of our Unit Swappers. Hers had more accessories and inserts, which is one of my workshop options, but I kept this sample really simple. I also used my BIA to bind the book instead of loose rings like she did. The Happy Everything book I created on my own.

Okay, so I'm having problems with the slideshow here - you can check it out HERE instead.

Dance Recital

I am so proud of my girls - they did a great job at their dance recital and they both looked beautiful! Thanks again to my Mom for all your help - you rock! We had so much fun with you while you were here! My mom has posted some more pictures on her blog if anyone wants to check them out here.


Kaylee had kind of a rough night at the recital. We were all waiting in the dressing room and in the hallway before their dances. Kaylee found a friend and took off with her. A little later, it was time for Brianna's class to line up back stage, so I went with her to help their class. About 10 minutes later, Kaylee's class came down to line up and she came down just sobbing! When she had come back looking for me and couldn't find me, she got a little panicky. It took me a while to calm her down, but she finally did just before her dance and went out there and did a GREAT job! So then I took her up to change into her tap costume and re-apply the make-up since it had washed off with the tears. As we headed backstage again, Kaylee slipped in her tap shoes and fell HARD on her poor little tailbone! So then the tears started all over again. I felt so bad for her - she said, "Mom, I'm having a bad day!" Anyway, once again I got her settled down just in time and she went out for her second dance and did great, of course. You can see in most of the pictures that she has red eyes from crying and it was hard to get a good smile out of her for pictures - most of them are forced ;-P I asked her later if she wanted to do dance again and I was surprised that she said yes! Even with her rough night, she enjoyed herself and loves to dance. Kaylee and Brianna are both excited for dance next year!


Here are some pictures from the recital...

Hooray! I won first runner-up!

I was just checking out the CTMH monthly contest winners and found out that I got First Runner-Up! I made a goal this year to enter something every month and this is the first win for me! You can check out the awesome entries here.

Here is my original page - I did this one back in January. I tried to recreate it a couple months ago, but Brailee got her hands on the page, and the flowers, when it was almost done, so I put it away for a while, and almost didn't try again. Now I'm glad I did!

Here it is with the companion page.

Here is the one I sent in - I changed it just a bit.

We're home!

Now I'm trying to desperately catch up - if that's even possible! I have a busy week ahead with ball games and practices (todays have been canceled so far because of the rain), dance pictures, rehearsals, and the big recital! Oh, and not to mention lots of laundry after a weekend of camping, and since my mom is coming, I need to clean! So this may be my only post this week. I hope to get back to creating next week.

Brianna's last day of school was on Friday and they had their big field day. Since it was cold and wet, they had it inside the school, but they all still had fun! Here is Bri with her ribbon at the end of the day...

Then we headed out on Friday night - the girls were SO excited they could hardly stand it. David and I didn't quite share in their enthusiasm because of the wet and stormy forecast for the weekend - we didn't know how we could stand being stuck in the camper with 3 little girls ;-) But we figured we just need to get out, so we set out. We met David's parents at one of the campgrounds by the Buffalo Bill Reservoir near Cody, Wyoming. It was SO windy (as it usually is) and wet all weekend, so we did spend a lot of the time in the camper - I'm just thankful we're not in tents anymore. I got a lot of knitting done, finished the third Twilight book, the girls had lots of fun card games and activities, plus they learned how to finger crochet - I was very impressed with how fast they picked it up and how well they did it. So even though we didn't do much, it was nice to sit back and relax!

Saturday morning we went to the cemetary in Cody with David's parents and met his brother Martin and his family there. Then we visited the Buffalo Bill Dam - it's really quite a sight, and amazing that it was built 100 years ago!

On Sunday we went to Powell to visit David's Grandma - his brother Martin and his family were there, so the kids had fun playing together. We camped at her house that night and then Monday we went to a few more cemetaries - we got to see the Memorial Day Service at the Byron cemetary. It was very cold and windy, but it was a nice message. After lunch we headed home and it rained the whole way. The moisture is needed here, so I'm not complaining!

Here are some of my favorite pictures from this weekend...

I think Brailee is more ready for potty training than I thought she was. We got her potty chair out a couple of weeks ago just to get her used to it. I've taught her the sign for potty and we 'try' to go every once in a while. Anyway, the minute we got into the camper after arriving in Cody, she tried to pull her clothes off and started signing 'potty' so I got her ready and stuck her on there. I hope this doesn't gross anybody out, but she started 'tooting' and I thought she was actually going to go - it's funny the things that will make a mommy proud!

It's raining, it's pouring!

And I'm so thankful! Not only for the moisture, but for the BREAK! Kaylee and Brianna have both had ball practices this week, and they were overlapping and across town from each other, so Monday and Tuesday were kind of crazy. David was coming home early from work to help out thankfully, but it just felt like we were running all over the place. Next week will be interesting - they have dance pictures on Tuesday, dress rehearsal on Thursday and their dance recital on Friday, so we'll see how much ball they miss. Tomorrow is Bri's last day of school and next week is Kaylee's last, so once dance and school are done, I think it will be a little bit easier! Oh, yeah, and did I mention that we are trying to get ready to go camping this weekend? Anyway, with the rain and severe thunderstorm warnings, ball practice was canceled last night, and it's been pouring all day, so I'm sure practice is going to be canceled again tonight.

Here are some fun pics of my ball players...

Playing in the sandbox at the ball park...

And another 'cowgirl' picture - my girls share my love of horses!

EDIT: Since I posted this earlier, it has since started SNOWING! Crazy! It was 86+ on Monday and Tuesday - it was hot and so David started getting the swamp cooler ready for use, including taking the insulation out - so today, of course, we have a nice cold breeze coming through the open cooler. Love this Wyoming weather ;-)

Once Upon a Time...

...there was a little girl named Jena...

For some reason, I've really been in the mood to scrap some really OLD pictures! Here is what I've done in the last week...can you tell what my favorite animal is ;-) When I was little, apparently, I had my very own corral of imaginary horses. I had a cousin that I was very close to and we were always playing together when she was visiting - we still had our fights, though. One day for some reason, she let all my imaginary horses loose - I was devastated! My aunts and uncles will never let me forget that story.

I need to finish up the journaling on the first two, but I don't remember the horse's names - Mom, or Dad, can you help me out?

Products Used: Reflections, CTMH Wild Adventure paper pack and Stickease (retired), hemp, SU chipboard tag.

Products Used: Reflections, Cloud 9 Sorbet Villa paper, CTMH Vineyard Berry CS

I stamped the buckle on the back of the foil sheet - then I embossed the image, I think it turned out very cool! Here is a close-up of the buckle.

Products Used: Becky Higgins Sketches, Cranberry B&T (retired), Textured Chocolate CS, Colonial White CS, Lovely Buckles stamp set, Silver Foil Sheets, Calendar stamp set, Cobblestone alpha stamp set, Silver Conchos

This one is a little more recent - I still can't believe it was almost 10 years ago, though! I'm the one on the top row in the very middle.

Products Used: CTMH Silhouette paper pack, CTMH Black Brads, CTMH Just Blooms paper flowers, Boutique alpha stamp set, Classic Caps stamp set, SU tag punch

Thanks for looking!

Why is it...

...that on the weekends when you WANT your kids to sleep in, they are up at 6:30 in the morning, begging for breakfast...yet, on a school day, when they NEED to get up, they manage to sleep through their alarm clock for more than 20 minutes? It's crazy, I tell ya ;-)

We've had a busy, yet fun, couple of days - here are some fun pics...

Brianna at her school program - she was Straw, the Horse for the play...

Kaylee's school took a walking field trip to the new school - it's supposed to be done around Christmastime...

David finally came back from Oklahoma - he was gone all week and the girls really missed him! We met him at the airport on Friday and I wish I had Brailee's reaction on video, I think she was the most excited to see him again - she is such a daddy's girl! So we did sparklers that night - I hope these pics don't make anyone dizzy but I think they turned out cool...

The girls and I made cookies for our Ward Party/Picnic. My mom made us all these fun aprons for Mother's Day and we finally got to use them - thanks, Mom!

This picture turned out blurry because I still had it set on night mode from the fireworks fun the night before, but I just loved this cheesy smile that Brailee gave me...

Here are some pics from the party - I missed the funniest picture opportunity when David was throwing some of the YM into the pond ;-) after some of the kids started a water fight, picking on a few of the adults.

Brianna had fun collecting shells (notice the butterfly tatoo she gave herself on her forehead ;-)

Brailee discovered more dandelions - and 'wishes' as her older sisters call them ;-)

Last week, our Snow Crab Apple tree flowers bloomed, so the bees have been all over it. Brianna was watching out the window and said, "Mom, the bees must be having a party!" Then that night she said, "or maybe they're having a hoe down" and then yesterday she was watching the ants on her stepping stone and figured they must be having a meeting. She just cracks me up!

Inspiration Challenge - Week #11

So I couldn't decide on an inspiration challenge for this week, until I received this catalog in the mail yesterday - it was just so fun and simple, and inspired me immediately.

I hope you'll joing me in this week's challenge - use it to inspire you to create anything! You can use the colors, theme, layout, whatever you pull from the picture to inspire you! Please leave me a link to your creations so I can post them in a link here so we can all see how you were inspired.

I've loved this PageMaps sketch since it came out earlier this month and I was just waiting for the right picture to use with it. Well, the sun from the catalog inspired me and reminded me of this sketch and I instantly thought of the song, "You are my Sunshine" - so I found this leftover picture that I really wanted to scrap but didn't have room for on the original layout, so here is what I did with it. I used Marjorie's Color Challenge #18 but I added Sunny Yellow and Crystal Blue to go with Brianna's swimsuit and the sun idea. I have since added liquid glass and prisma glitter on her name and the word 'sunshine' to make them stand out more. I used WordArt to print the song lyrics to go with the circle - I think it turned out fun!

Products Used - all CTMH: Pink Carnation B&T paper (retired); Pink Carnation, Crystal Blue, Baby Pink, and Sunny Yellow Sassy Strands; Free Spirit stamp set (I heat embossed the swirls for the sun rays), Sunny Yellow Embossing Powder, Delightful Alphabet; Baby Pink, Pink Carnation, Key Lime, Sunny Yellow, and Crystal Blue CS

Thanks for looking!

More Hot Springs Pages - last ones, I promise!

I finally finished scrapping the last of my Hot Springs photos - I used more photo storage pages, which is an awesome way to get lots of pics done!

I used Marjorie's Color Challenge #17 again, and this time I used the color combo as is - didn't change a thing - you're shocked, aren't you ;-) It's not your typical color combo for snow pages, but all the colors in the challenge are in the pics, so it worked (for me, anyway).



You can't tell in the pics, but there are lots of snowflakes stamped along the edges and corners of the two pages - I really struggled with the empty space and had to fill it with something, even though you can hardly tell it's there!

I cut up another photo storage page and added it here so it opens up to reveal more pictures...

Here is the photo storage page that goes between the layout...

Products Used - All CTMH: Bubblegum, Sunflower, and Orange CS, Holiday Red Seasonal B&T paper (I used the textured back), Boutique Alphabet, Flurries stamp set (retired), January Word Puzzle, HodgePodge Alphabet, a Dimensional Element photo clip, Font CD for the journaling, and Photo Storage Pages

Shrek...the horse

On Monday the girls and I went to see Shrek - he's a Percheron Draft Horse and he's huge! I can't find the stats about him, so I don't remember exactly how big he is. We got to see Goliath when he came through town 3 years ago - he was featured in the 2005 Guinness World Record Book as the Tallest Living Horse. Shrek doesn't hold that title, but he's still big! Here are some pictures we took that day.

Brailee didn't want to leave - she cried when we were done looking - she just loves animals! Speaking of horses, she is so funny to watch...no listen to...when she plays with the farm animals - she makes the cutest horse sounds ;-)

Here was the page I made 3 years ago after they got to see Goliath - he is 6'5" tall at the withers!