Rest Ye, Atlantis

I cannot believe she will never fly again.

Two more launches.... and then....

Freaking Soyuz.

!!~~Sigh~~!!

Another day another post

First a tip... go to your grocery store. Look in the Ice Cream section for Buzz Lightyear -- find yourself some Dreyer's Slow Churned Lemonade Swirl -- this stuff is AWESOME!

Next another tip... AMAZING Blog candy appearing over at Passion for Crafts!

Are those goodies not divine? Go and register!

And on to some more of my work from the Serendipity Crop last weekend!

As previously discussed, the theme for this crop was classic television and each challenge was inspired by an old tv show!

So, these two were inspired by Leave It to Beaver and the challenge was to use Black, White and One other color (in this case Orange on the first, red on the second) plus 2 pieces of memorabilia or ephemera. If you follow my blog you know I struggle with wrestling pages so I'm glad to knock a couple out -- even ones of a tournament a year and a half ago :)
Paper: WRMK: MVP Collection, Cardstock : DCWV, Wrestling labels: MAMBI, Ephemera: Jenni Bowlin Bingo Card, word torn from Wrestling USA magazine

Can you guess on this one? Inspired by.... The Monkees! Hey, Hey We're the Monkees! People say we Monkee around (hey Jenn -- I wanna buy me a dog...)  .... and the challenge was - to use a Monkey, and a silly picture, and the word Monkey in the title -- so you get this pic of the Little Guy swinging in a tree. I also worked in a daily challenge to use a large arc on the page.
Papers and clear embellies: Little Yellow Bicycle Baby Boy Safari, Cardstock: DCWV, alphas: Basic Grey, Crate Paper

And the fruits of my labor...

This weekend Serendipity hosted another wonderful crop. I did not get to do nearly as much as I usually do -- we had unexpected company off and on through the weekend as a friend got leave and rushed home... and then life just got in the way.

I got 8 Crop Challenges done, plus I finished the gifts I've been working on for the Little Guy's preschool teachers. I am so sad that today is his last day of Preschool -- such a chapter of our life closing. Our baby will be heading off to Kindergarten in two months. And I adore his preschool teacher (she really wants me to take a job at the school but I am not really headed in that direction right now)....

So here's a sneaky peeky at the preschool gifts...

For his main teacher, I put together an 8x8 album. Here's a couple of pages:

For his aide I did this cute little apple mini!

And for the first time in a long time, I worked on some of my own projects, too! Not just gift albums:

Here's a page of the Little Guy sporting some sort of custom costume he put together with a variety of props and silliness. I love this pic and have been holding onto it a while. Susan's "Lost in Space" challenge (using her fab sketch) really got me going!

More tomorrow!

The Serendipity Show!

I'm counting down to a great big Serendipity Crop this weekend!

I've participated in a bunch of Serendipity's crops and events over the last year and every single one has been fun-filled and inspiring! The theme for the crop is "The Serendipity Show" -- think old timey TV -- shows and commercials and that's where we're headed!

Our favorite shows and commercials all lined up in ONE FABULOUS weekend!

The crop will include lots of challenges, games, prizes and shopping deals, too! There's already some pre-Crop challenges posted and the crop itself starts Friday at 9 AM!

Despite the dearth of Scrapping posts, I have been doing a little bit of scrapbooking lately - but it's all been gift albums! 2 baby albums down, one preschool album in the works, and a mini underway, too!

Here's a little sneaky peeky from the baby albums...

These two are from the girl album I did for a friend whose sweet little one joined us earlier this month! I used the heck out of the DCWV Nana's Nursery paper for these - I have no idea why there's so much purple in the supposedly boy line but it's still cute!

And these are from the boy album for another friend whose little bundle made his much awaited appearance on Monday! (the day after MY birthday)... Rocked some Crate Paper for this one! Little Sprout and Baby Bee throughout!

Speaking of my birthday - my DH baked me a cake! My DH who usually whines when asked to make Macaroni and Cheese! VERY IMPRESSIVE! And quite tasty (and according to the Little Guy "Dad makes the best frosting in the WORLD" - thank you Hershey Cocoa packaging for having a convenient recipe!)

12 Questions

Came across this on another blog today and felt like answering it

1. Ever had any run ins with the library police?
I constantly owe library fines. And the Little Guy has been known to climb on the scanner-thingy at the exit. So, yeah a little. 
 
2.  Do you have a special organizational plan and place for wrapping paper, gift bags, etc., or do you just purchase whatever you need as you give gifts?
I think calling it "Organized" is a stretch but I keep it all together in one place (mostly) and try to stay on top of it. For kids birthdays I try to buy bright fun "Happy Birthday" paper that is appropriate for any age or gender so I can keep using it! I don't really do gift bags. Gift bags lack the satisfaction of TEARING into a gift. For some reason I still HAVE a large stock of gift bags (though I recently pared them down).

3. Have you ever been in (first-hand witness) a natural disaster? 
I have seen some amazing natural phenomena... I've seen a tornado, watched a 'water spigot' form and race over a pond (over my shoulder while my mother dragged me bodily away from it)... and floated things in flash floods -- we used to have street engulfing flash floods when I was a kid.

I was camping in Rocky Mountain National Park when the dam broke in 1982 (but we were on the other side of the Continental Divide and missed all the excitement, still 'I was there.'

I remember the ash raining down on us during the Hayman Fire. And blizzards, we've seen our share of blizzards. But no to the truly horrific floods, earthquakes, and hurricanes.

Oh and Hail has done some disastrous things to me!


4. What's your favorite Barry Manilow song?
Copacabana. Any song with the lyric 'Have a Banana' that my then three year old will belt out on American Idol Games ....

5. What's the best costume you've ever worn?

That is a tough one! I was involved in theater in High School and got to sport some fun costumes... my favorite ever was probably a fairy costume with a Grecian flair that I put together for my friend Carol's wedding at the Renn Faire. 

6. Which do you use more often, the dictionary or the thesaurus?
Definitely dictionary. I love words and think like a thesaurus according to Oldest!

7. What's your favorite breakfast food? 
Chicken Fried Steak and Eggs (Eggs over Easy) with Rye Toast and Home Fried potatoes. (My arteries prefer toast and yogurt).

8. Have you ever purchased anything from an infomercial?
Nope.

9. Have you ever crawled through a window?
  Yes. I am a forgetful type and forgot my keys frequently as a teenager... and I've snuck through one once or twice, too.


10. Do you believe in love at first sight?
No. I believe there can be a connection at first sight but love is a growing thing.... unless we're talking about the perfect shoes, then the answer is yes.
 
11. How many pairs of jeans do you own?
Umm 6? I think 6. Not counting capris. I'm a SAHM. I LIVE in my jeans!
 
12. If someone were going to bake a cake to honor/represent you, what would it be? (Think creatively, like Duff and Crew on "Ace of Cakes.")
Oh good golly I have no idea. While I watch crazy cake shows (I LOVE Food Network Challenge, I mean LOVE it!!!) I really care a LOT more about the TASTE of cake... I love a heavenly lemony cake with a lemon curd filling or a fluffy Tahitian vanilla with raspberry creme! I'm not actually big on eating icing and I find the entire idea of fondant very unappealing and unappetizing -- it doesn't look like food, it looks like plastic, and I don't like the smell either (and yes, I've had 'good fondant' I just don't like it) ... so a cake for me would have to be simple which kind of overrules the whole over-the-top Ace of Cakes kind of thing...

Project 12: April!

Time for another month of Project 12

Products: Cardstock: Coredinations (background), DCWV (mat); Patterned Papers Cosmo Cricket Earth Love, Die Cut Embellishments: Crate Paper, Alphas: Sasafrass Lass, Journalling block: October Afternoon sticker packaging, Shaped Journal papers:  Making Memories
 

This is my April LO (as indicated by the pithy title "April") (see also January, February and March if you missed them) This project continues to be fantastic for me! I'm loving working on it. I feel like my journaling for it is really stilted and dreadful but OH WELL. I'm getting this year documented in a fun new way!

Pictured here: DH's birthday, Little Guy dipping eggs, ME at the Space Symposium, Oldest at a Scout function, Middle Child's Pinewood Derby (he won 4th place and is headed for District derby!) There was so much going on this month, can't wait to do that 'actual scrapping'.

Birthday Party Success!

The Little Guy's 5th Birthday Party this weekend was a hit!

We celebrated with a Narnia theme! I even made Turkish Delight (not my favorite!) and put together this shield cake. We decorated with snowflakes, little evidences of a visit from Father Christmas and a few Narnia toys we had on hand. The kids made crowns and shield and were supplied with foam swords for battling. Aslan's visit broke the spell of the snow that fell the day before -- it was lovely and Springy and perfect for outdoor play!



The Little Guy had loads of fun opening presents!


And even Oldest got in on the fun -- sent outside to gather up abandoned cake plates, he grabbed a sword and found himself the common enemy of the entire Narnian army! He was outmatched!

It was a lovely party! And it went off well, and I don't have to think about birthdays again for many months, thank goodness!