Changes

So I was going to post a few lake photos today, but something happened yesterday in the world of scrapbooking that I wanted to talk about first.
The Two Peas in a Bucket scrapbook site is closing!
You can see the announcement *Here*.

Two Peas was the first scrapbook site I ever visited on-line back in 2004 and it really changed scrapbooking for me.
It was the first place I began sharing my layouts on-line.
I found a lot of great inspiration there and met some extremely wonderful women.
So it's kind of a bummer.
In the past eleven years I have seen several scrapbook websites with wonderful people close
Cropper's Cottage
Create My Keepsake
Scrap Diner
and Scrapgal.
But I will say this, I am grateful for Facebook.
At least I have been able to stay in contact with most of the women I have met on-line through the years that way.

And hopefully Paper Issues will be around a long time because I love it there! And love being on the design team.
I am also going to be checking out the message boards at Cocoa Daisy cause it looks like a lot of my Stashbusters challenge friends are migrating there to continue the challenges. We will see.
If you were a member of 2p's, where do you think you will hang out now?

Now for a few lake photos...

Four days and three nights with not a lot to do but swim, lay in a hammock, go out in the boat and eat. Yes, I felt pretty relaxed. :)

 It really is pretty down there.

Evan has become pretty good at handling the kayak and he even gave Erin a few rides.

We loved riding in the boat. Especially when it meant going...

tubing. Evan and Erin loved it!

Plus, Erin caught her first fish!
Funny story. Evan is the avid fisherman, and on that day all of the other kids caught fish. He was getting pretty bummed he couldn't seem to catch one. But then thankfully he finally did and I think he caught seven total including the elusive catfish.

Erin also went water skiing for the first time...

and she had fun jumping off the platform.
Late dinners and bonfires with smores at night were great, too.
Kind of hard to come back home after that. :)

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Paper Issues: In the Navy

Time for a new issue over at Paper Issues!
This time we are looking for projects that fit the theme - "In the Navy"
A few ideas include the ocean or any other body of water, boats, the Navy, nautical related scrapbook product, or the color navy.
Also, our sponsor is Echo Park, so you can also link up projects using their product as well!
Here are a few projects I plan on linking up:

I used navy mist, letter stickers and ink on these tags.

 

This photo was taken on a boat tour in Mexico.

 More navy here.

I am pretty sure I have shared this one multiple times, but it's a favorite. And there is quite a bit of navy on it :)

A little bit of navy on this one with the letter stickers and my pen. That counts right? :)

This one works because of the navy in the patterned paper around the edges. I love that floral paper!
And last but not least...

And I am including this one because the photo was taken in a canoe on the water.

So those are just a few ideas from my collection of projects.
I will be linking them up on the Paper Issues blog *Here*!
Also, if you are a fan of Echo Park, you can find them on Facebook *Here*.
They will be giving two 12x12 collection packs as prizes this time, so be sure to link up your projects starting today!

Last week, I knew I wouldn't be around much to visit blogs or post here because we ended up going to the lake with our neighbors who have a house down there. Four days and three nights of relaxing and having fun was just what we needed.
But since I have already posted quite a few photos today, I will be back on Thursday to share some pictures from the trip.
Thanks for stopping by today!

Catching Up in Photos

I have to admit that I don't have a lot of time for blogging this week.
No scrapbooking in this post today at all.
But I will say this, I am keeping up with my photos and journaling for my summer pocket page album so far.
Here are a few, well a lot of photos from the past week. And I have to say for the first time in a long time, this is a post that features mostly Evan since Erin went to camp every day last week.

 

Seeing another cake with friends and

a cool Lego exhibit at the Botanical Gardens.

Getting lots of exercise with Evan this week while Erin was at camp. On this day we walked for an hour in the park across the street after making a quick stop at the ponds.

And then more exercise walking the trails here for an hour and a half the next day.

So many cool places on the trails!

Evan also earned a reward of bedtime reading in the hammock under the patio lights one night.

Then Six Flags amusement park one day with friends again.

And thankfully the Sky Screamer (which had been closed most of the time we were there) finally opened. It is Evan's favorite ride!

But we will admit that one of the best parts of our week was when Mike came home!
And he said he had a great Father's Day. We started off with a long family bike ride downtown for breakfast. Stopping at one of the STL birthday cakes where the St. Louis Blues play hockey on the way home.
Then after we gave him presents...

I cut the grass for the first time on my own ever to give Mike a break on Father's Day.
Erin snapped this photo with my phone (lol)
We also made him...

Hershey kiss cookies.
And later that night we went to a movie as a family...How to Train a Dragon 2.

Absolutely loved this past week, and looking forward to an even busier one this week!
I may not be around to blogs until Friday as a result.
But I will try before then!
Have a great week!!

Summertime!

Thanks to my blog friends for your encouraging comments regarding blogging from my last post.
One of the things I love most about blogging is the support and people I have gotten to know. :)
Summer is just such a busy time so I will post as time allows. Maybe not a set schedule, but I will post.

I can't believe we are already almost through the second week of summer vacation.
Erin has been at a little camp that she loves with a neighbor friend this week.
In fact, she loves it there so much she actually let them do her hair!

She had a fancy braid put in by one of the girls. For someone who doesn't like me messing with her hair for more than ten seconds, that is a pretty big accomplishment ;)

So this week, Evan and I have been hanging a little on our own.
And one of the main things we have been accomplishing is exercise!
On Monday, I went for a three mile run alone.
But on Tuesday we went for a one hour walk through the park together.
Then yesterday we went out to Powder valley nature reserve and walked the trails for an hour and a half.
Believe me, I am enjoying the fact that he wants to spend time with me and talk up a storm! I know as he gets older this may occur less, but for now it's great! :)
Today he has a friend over so I am going to try and get some cleaning done!

As far as scrapbooking, I haven't done any really. But I am getting my Craft Your Nest giveaway package ready to mail out to the  winner who was announced *Here*. It was Kelly G.
I haven't heard from her yet though, so if I don't within a week I will most likely choose another winner. Stay tuned. :)

On Sunday, I did bring home this pile of photos from my parents house...

It is a mix of my grade and high school day photos and older family photos. I love the one on top of my grandparents with my mom as a baby. I need to scan and save it before giving it back to them.
But there are more. They have boxes and boxes of photos. And those terrible magnetic albums. I pulled a few pictures from the albums already, but there are so many that still need to be "rescued".
I am thinking of scrapbooking quite a few though.

And I did think of a few more photos to link up to the Paper Issues "Food For Thought" issue...

 Eating out on vacation...

more eating out...

and a much older page about Evan buying pumpkins at the farmer's market :)

I actually did two pages about it at the time. A single and a double. I put one in the family album and one in his personal album. Two different ways to tell the story. :)
Anyway, if you have some old or new projects that would fit the theme, the post to link up is *Here*.

And for those of you who are big October Afternoon fans, the new Public Library line is in the store now!

For this book fanatic, it is one of my favorite lines by them to date! You can see it in the shop *Here*! And if you use code MARYJO, you can get 20% off your order!

Anyway, for the rest of the week, just looking forward to more summer fun and Mike being home for the weekend to celebrate Father's Day.
Hope you have a great weekend!

Paper Issues: Food For Thought

It's time for a new challenge at Paper Issues is up today!
"Food For Thought".
Our sponsor this time around is Some Odd Girl and the prize is completely adorable!

I am not typically a stamper, but I think these stamp sets are so cute. Especially the milk and cookies one. Makes me wish I had signed up to be one of the design team members creating a  project using those stamps.
If you go *Here* to the blog though, you can see the projects the design team members who did sign up created. And you can also link up any projects (new or old) that fit the theme "food for thought".
Here are a few ideas on the Paper Issues blog:
 So, what types of projects would we love to see from you?

• Tell us what makes you think. What do you worry about?
• What's your favorite food or recipe?
• Do you have recipes that have been handed down through the generations?
• What are your "go to" comfort foods?
• Do you enjoy the thrill of the grill? What's your favorite grilled meal?
• Show us anything having to do with fathers and Father's Day. Have you made any Father's Day cards?
• Do you like to eat out? What's your favorite restaurant?
• Have you ever taken a cooking class?
• Do you love to cook and/or bake? What's your specialty?
• Do you follow a particular diet or try to eat healthy in some way?
• Use Some Odd Girl stamps.

For me the first page I thought of linking up has nothing to do with food and everything to do with thought!

This is a page I made a few years back when I was on the Scrapbooking From the Inside Out design team. It perfectly sums up how I was feeling at the time. How I occasionally still feel. But now that I try to focus more and take things one step at a time, it's a little easier. Doing this page was very helpful for me.

Here are a few projects that fit the "food" part of the theme.

an apple card...

cards using some fun food themed papers from Basic Grey...

and a recipe book I created using the same Basic Grey line.

I am sure I have more, but these are all that I am going to link for now. :)

And speaking of food, I tried a new recipe this weekend. Pineapple Chicken Kabobs. Sounds yummy right? Nope, it was pretty disgusting. But hey, I get points for trying something new. :)

As for the blog, I have been debating and going back and forth on whether or not I want to keep blogging here. But after looking back on posts for projects to link up for the current issue, I realize how much I have captured and documented just here on the blog. It's always so much fun for me to go back and read old posts. So I think I will hang in there a little longer.

Thanks for stopping by today!

More Giveaways and a Layout!

I posted about the Craft Your Nest giveaway we have going on *Here* in a previous post. That giveaway is still going on until next Wednesday (June 11th).

And now Paper Issues is doing a giveaway for two of the June swag bags on their Facebook page at some point today which is *Here*! So make sure to check in over there.
The bags are so much fun! Here is a pic...

and here is a layout I created in just thirty minutes one night using a few pieces from the bag...

I am going back to a simpler style here. A style that is totally inspired by Melanie Louette. I think that she is simply fabulous. :) And once again I am finding myself layering project life cards as a photo mat. Really like using them up that way.
The photo of Erin was taken by my brother. :)

In addition to the swag bag giveaway on the Facebook page, they are also giving away two "doggie bags" on the blog *Here*. Doggie bags are a smaller version of the swag bags.

Don't forget, there is still a few days to link up projects over at Paper Issues for the "World is a Circle" issue. There are almost 200 link ups already! That's a lot of projects. And I am going to add this one because there is a round piece of flair on it. :)

Around here we are now into our third day of summer vacation, and so far so good.

Going for walks outside...

Made muffins for breakfast yesterday morning when Erin said she felt like eating something "different". So she found a recipe for blueberry mini muffins in a princess cookbook she received for Christmas from her aunt and uncle. Since we had all the ingredients and no where to be that morning, I said sure. And they were pretty yummy!

And we found our first "cake" of the summer for the "Cakeway to the West" birthday celebration for our town that turns 250 years old this year. :)
Looking forward to finding more this summer. I am pretty sure we won't make it to see all 250, but we are going to find as many as possible!

Well, that is it for today!
Hope you have a great weekend :)

The End of a School Year and a Giveaway!

So this is it! Summer vacation has officially begun for us.  :) (cue confetti cannons)
We are all so ready for it.

 (Erin and I on the scrambler at a local carnival this past Saturday)

Last night we sat down and created a list of things we want to do, rules and expectations, and the weekly schedule. I plan to write up a weekly schedule with them every Sunday night we are home and post it on the refrigerator. That way they will be able to have a general idea of what each upcoming week looks like.
It doesn't mean we can't be flexible and change it up. But it will help us have a little bit of structure which we need. Especially since they do have some summer homework packets to work on as well.

So this upcoming week involves a trip to the Botanical Gardens with friends, a trip to the zoo with another group of friends, some haircuts, bicycle helmet shopping and going to the library to sign up for the summer reading program.
We are also going to have one cleaning morning a week, because I am trying to make it more of a family effort as they get older. Plus, I do not typically get a cleaning day all to myself during the summer like I do during the school year. And frankly, I am not going to be cleaning the house by myself while they watch! (lol)

I also definitely want them to have time to relax and just play whether alone, with each other or with friends. We are going to have play dates galore I am sure. And I am planning on some serious time away from screens so they can be creative.

 

This is a boat Evan created the other day at his grandma's house. Tape and scraps of paper and cardboard. That is all it takes! I love when he does things like this! 

So that is the general plan for summer. We will see how it plays out, but I have high hopes. :)

And one more thing before I go. I have a little giveaway that will be going up on the Craft Your Nest

blog tomorrow, but I wanted to give you all a head start here. :) Our facebook page has almost 100 likes and we are looking to increase it.

This is just a sample of what is going in a priority box that I am filling with scrap supplies. 12x12 and 6x6 papers, masks, photo overlays, frames, project life cards, a few alphabets, an embellishment baggie full of flair, veneer etc...

To be entered in the giveaway, you can leave a comment here. If you are on Facebook though, we would love for you to go *Here!* and like our Fb page if you haven't already. Also, if you share this giveaway and the Craft Your Nest page on your blog or facebook page that will give you additional entries into the drawing! Just let me know in the comments if you do. So spread the love if you feel inclined. :)

Thanks for stopping by today! I'll be back Thursday with a layout!