Feeling Scrappy and another James moment

Scrappy in a good way though! For the first time in two weeks I felt like opening up Photoshop in the afternoon instead of just taking my (now normal) nap. Maybe I'm doing the digi version of nesting? Looking around my house I think a more traditional nesting might be in order, but since my sciatica is getting worse the lower this baby drops, sitting on my behind in my comfy chair is a lot more appealing. Plus, I have online commitments... yeah, that's it!

Templates have become my friend lately since the basic design is all set out for me, which saves valuable brain cells that would otherwise get fried trying to decide where to put everything, and Sahlin Studio's templates are all on sale right now. For the first page I started with a template from the In Review: Modern set, although you might not recognize it now because it kind of evolved as I went.

I can't believe a year and a half has already gone by since these photos were taken. Peter has definitely lost that baby look, as well as most of his hair. Apparently we hadn't discovered the many benefits of the buzz cut back then! Now I know it's time to cut all their hair off whenever they wake up with bed head. Hey, if I'm going to have all boys, there should be some perks, right? I consider being able to get them up, throw some clothes on them and walk out the door a major benefit of having sons! Saves lots of time on Sunday mornings!!

Grabbed the camera and took a photo of Andrew baking away in there; thank goodness for the bathroom mirror. I tried just holding the camera out to my side, but my arm didn't seem to be long enough anymore! We are so ready to welcome this baby into our family... these last few days seem to be dragging by so slowly. I think the boys are starting to doubt that he'll ever arrive.

Okay, so my James moment...

The boys were sitting around the breakfast table this morning, happily consuming donuts (I know, I'm a bad mom) that Simon had brought home from work yesterday, when the proverbial lightbulb went on above James's head...

him: Mom, I have an idea. Let's pretend this is a restaurant.

me: mmm-hmmm

him: You can be the cooker person...

me: the chef

him: yes, the chef, and the boys and daddy can sit at the dining room table

me: mmm-hmmm

him: then you can bring us a list and we can look at it (pretending like he's scanning a menu) and then tell you what we want, and you can cook it and bring it to us

me: uh-huh, well that's an idea all right

Chief chef, diaper changer, bottom wiper, maid, and comforter of all kinds of injuries... that's me! But, all in all, it's a pretty good job and I wouldn't trade it for the world (most days!) Check back with me in a couple of months when I won't even be able to remember the last time I slept through the night!

Bit of Everything

Well, my friend Shen over at CatScrap talked me into trying my hand at a bit of hybrid design of my own, so you can now find my shop, Paper Crush Studio, there. You have no idea how I agonized over the name and logo!!




I think she's pretty cute; and she looks just like me (well, minus the eight-month pregnant baby belly anyway!!) There's a free sample in my shop, and I've started a design blog and am hosting a chance to win a gift certificate there, so please come check it out if you're so inclined!

Paper Crush Studio blog

That's been taking up a good bit of my available "craft" time the past couple of weeks, but I did find a bit of time to do some scrapping too. With Simon traveling for work this week, it's hard to go to bed at my normal hour so I tend to stay up too late!



and a couple of cards...


One last thing... there's a CatScrap blog hop tomorrow to celebrate the 4th anniversary of the shop, so make sure you stop by the CatScrap blog tomorrow to collect all the beautiful quickpages. I'll have a greeting card printable for my contribution, but I'll be hosting it on the other blog. :)

my dreams v. my reality

I can't believe it's been six months since I posted anything on the blog. There just doesn't seem to be enough time to keep up with everything. In my dreams, I'm able to keep the house perfectly clean, be a patient and creative first grade teacher for James, cook gourmet and healthy meals for the family, craft in my free time and blog about it, and sail through the third trimester of pregnancy with grace and composure. In reality, I have a sink full of dirty dishes that I'm ignoring in order to blog right now. There's no way I can cover all that's happened in the last six months, so I figured I'd just hit the highlights and pick up where we are now.

As far as Project 365 goes, I just about finished January and then barely picked up the camera until April. In fact, I didn't take any photos at all in March. I decided I'd go ahead and scrap what I do manage to take this year anyway, so here's January & February's pages (as always, click to see credits)...


In the past couple of weeks, I've picked up my camera more to try to capture the craziness that is the Pranaitis family. I can hardly believe that we're only three months away from adding another boy to our motley crew. Simon already calls me the "token female" of the family! It's a position I really enjoy for the most part. The weeks when he's working out of state are always hard, but they make me even more thankful for the days he's home. Two months ago we were on our way to some event and were (miraculously) ready about 20 minutes early so we grabbed the tripod and took some family photos on self-timer. The 20 minutes consisted of me pushing the button to start the 10 second countdown, then rushing back to the front porch steps to try to get settled before the photo was taken. We only got one decent photo, and it would never win any awards, but I'm so happy we made the effort because I know we can never get these days back. The photo:

and one of the photos I snapped while I was trying to get the settings right...

Yep, these are my boys!

Okay! I'm off to go tackle those dishes. I really am hoping to get back to blogging more regularly though. I seem to have finally gotten a bit of energy back!

Project E and John's Birthday

I came across a challenge to think of one positive thought a day and scrap it if you can that intrigued me. While I'm not much a believer in the power of positive thinking, I do believe in counting my blessings, especially on those days that I feel prone to grumbling. So here are some of the first pages that I've done for this project, called Project E for "essence of the day."

Working on Awana verses with the boys... I'm always amazed at how easily they are able to memorize the Bible.


Another week where Simon was traveling, and yet it gave me opportunity to get together with a friend whose husband was also gone.


Even though he's 1000's of miles away, I can still talk to my hubby!


This page isn't for project e, but is definitely a page full of thankfulness for one of my biggest blessings.

This little guy turned three this week... where does the time go? I still remember the first time I held him. (He's gotten a LOT bigger since then!)
Here he is blowing out his candles and probably getting some spit on the cake at the same time:

Cake was his one birthday request... the last family party we just had cookies and I think he felt like it wasn't really a celebration without cake! So when I saw this digital image from Mo's of the hamster stuffing his cheeks with cupcake, I knew it was perfect!


Well, I'd better get moving because I still have a sink full of dirty dishes and we're having 15 people over tonight for dinner! I need a house-cleaning fairy... if anyone has one, can you send her my way?

First class all the way...

Well, not really first class actually... more like World Traveler, which is British Airline's way of communicating that they will pack you in as tightly as possible, with only enough room to cross your legs if you don't mind your knee up your nose. And believe me, that gets mighty uncomfortable really fast!



This was our transportation the first leg of our journey... the most ginormous plane I've ever seen. I honestly didn't know that you could get a two-story plane. As we were hurtling down the runway, I was trying not to think about how huge the force of gravity that we were attempting to overcome must have been. Simon, aka Mr. Physics, never worries about the takeoff because he knows all about the different physical laws that work together to get the plane up into the air. He only gets nervous about the landing. Me? I never get nervous about the landing because at least we're headed in the direction I want to be going... down. I've discovered that the older I get, the less I like to fly.

Ironically enough, the only stress on the trip over was while we were on the ground in London. Our flight was delayed getting in because of bad weather, and the flight attendant was assuring everyone that all the connecting flights would also be delayed. We also had some kind of medical emergency on the flight which delayed the disembarking by an additional 45 minutes while the paramedics came on to tend to the woman. By the time we finally got off and got through security, the monitor showed our flight to Delhi as closing in 15 minutes. Of course, right next to the monitor was a sign estimating the time necessary to reach our gate... 15 minutes, hence the stress. Now, no lie, Heathrow airport has the world's longest escalator... and it feels even longer when you're running up it in flipflops, carrying a backpack that's getting heavier by the millisecond, and gasping for air because you think your lungs are about to explode or maybe you'll just have a heart attack! We were second to last to board the plane and I was actually happy to have a chance to sit down again. It was a good thing we ran, because the plane took off right away... wait, just kidding... we sat on the runway for an hour before taking off. Oh well, at least I got some exercise.

Here's my first (of many, no doubt) page about our trip...

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I've been slowly trying to catch up on things I missed while I was gone. This is with one of Creashen's new kits and is Simon & I on our anniversary trip to Seattle last December.


And, speaking of Seattle... lots of families that love my mom and dad got together and sent them on a surprise trip to Seattle for their 30th anniversary this week. I am so excited for them (and amazed that with all the people in on the secret, no one spilled the beans!) I made a card for them... inside it says {you two make the cutest couple}.


And one last project: this one was so easy, but it turned out super cute (if I do say so myself!) A set of thank you notes for James to send out after his birthday this year...


Well, that's it for now. Way too much happened in India to put it all in one post, so I thought I'd spread it out as I have time to sort through photos and process everything that happened. It was an amazing trip though and I'm so glad that we were able to go!

Time for a mid-afternoon pick-me-up...

Part Two!

More catchup

First off, my sweet niece as promised! She is so tiny and light; it's like holding a baby doll. We're planning to get together again this week; I can't wait to see her again.



This month I am getting a chance to guest for Kate Hadfield. She has such a fun, hand-doodled style and it is perfect for hybrid. I applied for her guest team in April and was so excited to get an email from her asking me to be her guest. I've been busily printing, cutting and gluing up a storm! Here's a card I made with some of her new doodles and a piece of cardboard I ripped off of one of the empty diaper boxes that I had. Of these, there always seems to be an endless supply; how I look forward to the day when I purchase the last pack of diapers!

And this one is for Simon for Father's Day from the boys. The razor is kind of an inside joke... everytime a new razor comes out, I always want to try it out and I'm always asking Simon if he wouldn't like to try a new one, but of course he's totally happy with the one he has! Now I ooh and aah over the new ones just to make him laugh. I'd seen the pattern for this somewhere on my blog travels, but I can't remember exactly where. After I'd creased and folded the cardstock, I measured out each piece that I would need and created a template in photoshop for them. I can't wait to see his face when the boys give it to him!


There's some more fun hybrid-ness coming up the end of this month over at the The Hybrid Chick... it's definitely baby season around The DigiChick with lots of the designers either expecting, or having just delivered their precious bundles of joy. The fun starts June 15, so be sure to stop by for some wonderful project ideas and even door prizes. I'm not quite sure what I'll be making yet, but I'm planning a trip to Michael's tomorrow to see what kind of fun things I can find to alter.



I added one more creative team last month; you can see my little FunkyPlayground Design blinkie over on the side there. They added lots of new designers at the beginning of the month so there's been all kinds of fun products to play with. Here's a couple of pages featuring James...


Another layout of James, this time with Creashen's Candid kit... that boy has the most expressive face! I'll never have to wonder what he's thinking. I know that he gets that from me though; I used to get in trouble without even having to say anything because my mom could see it all written on my face.


One last bit of fun stuff for today... during my blog hopping I stumbled across this blog called Paper Possibilities and loved her gorgeous cards so much, I really wanted to try her method of coloring and blending myself. I've always loved to color, and even now I'll sit and color with the boys (I have my own box of crayons!) So I decided to go on ebay and see if I could find some colored pencils... I put in a bid on a set of 120, but all the other sets were going for more than I had bid and I started thinking that I didn't really need THAT many colored pencils, so I decided to simply purchase a 72 piece set on buy-it-now and not rebid on the higher set. Unfortunately, no one outbid me on the first set, so I'm now the proud owner of 192 colored pencils. I have now sworn off ebay... way too dangerous for someone so indecisive as I am!! Anyway, as I was browsing through Paula's cards, admiring the eye candy, I came across some really fun stamp companies that I'd never heard of. One of them is called Elzybells, and it just so happens that their blog is celebrating it's first anniversary this month with giveaways and a discount on all orders so if you like to stamp, go check it out! I'm loving this set here (which will come as no surprise to anyone who knows me!)


Well, we're off to the wedding of my long-time friend's little brother so that's all for me today... I'll try to get some good photos!

Happy scrapping and crafting!

Freestyle Flair

A page for the current HodgePodge challenge which is to scrap a summer memory using bright colors. I mixed up all kinds of goodies for this page, including some stuff I downloaded back when I first discovered digi and was downloading everything in sight, but never got around to using most of it!

You can find the challenge here if you're interested. It closes on Sunday night.

Journaling:
it’s so much fun to watch the two
of you in the pool together! I have
many happy memories of summer days
spent mostly in the water. Grandma
and Grampy’s pool was also the scene
of the infamous Labor Day get-
together when it became obvious to
all that your mommy and daddy liked
each other. Seeing you paddle around
in your little float just makes me
smile, and although I hope that
someday you will learn how to swim,
I get such a kick out of the way
your feet thrash around in an attempt
to propel you forward! I am so thank-
ful that we live close enough to my
parents for you to play in their pool.
June 28, 2008

Part One :)

Overdue
What do I do?
What do I do?
This library book is 42
Years overdue.
I admit that it's mine
But I can't pay the fine--
Should I turn it in
Or hide it again?
What do I do?
What do I do?

Shel Silverstein

This little poem perfectly sums up how I feel about blogging right now... I want to, but it's been so long that it seems a bit overwhelming at the same time. I decided that the best way to catch up was to just post a little bit as I have time over the next couple of days.

Let's see... first happy thing is that I have a new little niece. I'm going to go see her again tomorrow, so I'll be sure to take some photos. She's so sweet and little and all of a sudden my boys seem a lot older and bigger!

I added a couple more CT's this month, and Shen invited me to stay after my guest term was up. I ended up winning the Hodge Podge challenge that I'd entered with her designs, and the kit is now available in both of her shop. I still can't believe how fortunate I am to get to scrap with her stuff! Here's a page I made this month with her Green collab and underneath are a few of her new kits that are just gorgeous!




The other fun thing I did was join the team at The Hybrid Chick blog. You can see the blinkie over on the side there. I feel a bit as if I jumped into water that is way over my head because there are some seriously talented girls on the team, but it's been so fun and the more hybrid I do, the more I am loving the flexibility of using the computer to plan out a project! It's also been fun to actually use some of my physical scrapbooking stash again. In fact, today was my first day to post to the blog and I created a fun little goodie can... click on the photo if you want to go check it out!


Well, the boys are up from their naps now so I'll have to share about my Ebay foibles later