Photo album scrapbooking ideas

I posted on Two Peas that I would put a couple photos on my blog that are examples of photo album scrapbooking. I took a great class by Vanessa Hudson that showed me how to take two 4 x 6 spaces and turn them into an ADORABLE title page. I loved that idea.

I am also posting a few pages of a SIMPLE album I did for my Father-in-Law last August. He was only in town 4 days and I sent him home with over 400 photos in two albums by scrapping them this way. This album was from Target and it had two 4 x 6 places, one 5 x 7 and one small journaling space per page - I LOVED THIS TYPE of album. When they went on clearance I went and bought 11 of them and I have loved giving them as gifts!! Hope you like these simple samples. Sorry I do not know how to post on 2 peas!!

One Summer Class makes my heart feel happy

I am so far into this project and I LOVE IT! I really do. I hope those of you who picked up the kit are enjoying it, and USING it and LOVING it. I am really pleased with how it has come out. I have attached a few photos for you to see how it looks as it fills up with our summer memories....

If you are in the class and have not received the 2nd handout yet, please email me. It think as of today, I have emailed it to anyone who has ordered their class kit as of this week. You can still pick up this kit because Marty has a few left in the store. Go here to get your kit, and I will email you the handouts so you can begin this awesome project. I love it. I love just knowing that the girls will never forget this ONE SUMMER.

Hope you all have a day filled with sunshine.

KLSB

Blessings in a cardboard box...

What an exciting package we received in the mail today!! I accidentally left my phone charger in the room at CHA and Danelle mailed it back to me. Well, I came home from work today to a box much bigger than my cell phone charger! I opened it and found an AWESOME assortment of shoes and almost all of them fit Kaya RIGHT NOW. It is amazing timing.... Kaya only has one pair of shoes that really fit her, and I dreaded having to find the money to go get her a few more pairs. Kalli is hard on shoes - REALLY HARD - so they never really last for Kaya. And I work in construction, and new home building is SUPER SLOW in Indiana, so there is no extra money right now. None at all. Like magic today, this box arrived as if I willed it here. Danelle is a true believer in thinking good thoughts.... bringing about good actions. Well, I think she just might be right. Kaya was so excited about the new shoes... she made all the little friends we have over come into my office to see them all - then, she hunched over them and protected them like a lion protecting her cubs so they would not think about touching her new prized possessions!! There are two pairs of boots that will be PERFECT this winter. Ohhhhhh, it just made me so happy. I love it when friends take care of friends like that. I am so grateful for this very happy package. I am actually happy I left my phone charger behind! :)

Did You Make Something On Monday?

I did... I am a little late on posting.... but I finally added photos to an awesome clock I got at Target over a year ago. My dad came over and hung up a bunch of stuff on our walls, so I had him hang the clock - EVEN with the Target photos that came with the clock. Everyone made fun of me. All the time. Well, it took me year, but I used this Monday to put the real photos of MY FAMILY in that clock. And I love it. I really do. I hope you guys made something. Anything at all.

Grateful for a wonderful day

We were blessed to have 6 Chinese College students come to our home today for a peek into life of an American family (not sure we were the best choice for that... but my brother was in charge of their group, and we only live 90 minutes from Purdue University... so we were the best choice he had I guess!!). Kalli worked all morning on hand making them each a sign with their name on it. She was so cute about it. Today was just amazing. We had a nice cook out and they loved playing games in the basement my dad finished when he lived with us. They LOVED my girls and my girls LOVED all the attention. I took photos all day long and ran into my office and printed them as we went along, so when they left, I handed them each a Cropper Hopper 4 x 6 photo holders (I totally love these) full of about 30 photos from the day. YEAH for my Epson printer - ran through an entire ink pack, and LOVED letting them walk out of our home with photos they will have forever.

After they left, my family swam and Kal swam up to me and told me that between these kids and the two Australian Group Study Exchange girls we had with us earlier this summer - "This has totally been the best summer of my whole life." Cannot really ask for more than that. I am so grateful they have gotten to meet people from other parts of the world. When I think back, I think until I left for College, I might never have met someone who actually lived in another country. Amazing opportunity for us to have these guests today. And, they were such good, sweet students.

At the end of the night - we always ask the girls "What was your favorite part of the day?" And Kalli said "I had such a great day, I cannot even really pick - but I guess it was making 6 new friends from China. Even though we will never see them again, they will always be our friends, right??" And I told her yes, they will. What an amazing day for our family.
I hope your weekend is full of fun memories, too.

Happy for a BIG reason!!

THANK YOU to one of my very special blog readers for the amazing surprise that showed up on my porch today... the book I was obsessing over the book "Happy for no Reason". I was totally stunned to open the Amazon box and read her kind hearted note! It was a super part of a rather stressful day. I cannot wait to get the kids down (they have not been well behaved today, and they are totally getting on my nerves) and get things straightened up so I can snuggle into my bed and start this amazing gift. Never underestimate the power of a kind gesture. That one reader totally rocked my world today and I am so grateful.

Happy 60th Birthday Mom

I am not sure why, but I wanted to post that birthday wish to my Mom. I wish I was putting the finishing touches on a surprise party that would have made her mad at me. But my Mom is not here. She will never turn 60 and I will never see her grow old. I hate that. It is part of our lives every single day, but days like today make it just feel raw all over again. (I know I was incredibly lucky to have her as my mom for 34 years, but selfishly, I still wish I had her for a lot longer than that!)

My Mom was perfectly healthy one day celebrating Christmas surrounded by her family that loved her, and the next she was gone forever due to a freak carbon monoxide leak in her home. We almost lost my Dad at the same time. Everything changed in one single moment in time. I am not saying that to depress anyone - I am saying it because things like that happen and you have no way to see it coming.

I thought I had so many years to have her write letters to my kids, to sort photos and go through old memories. You just never know. That is exactly why I became slightly obsessed with filling in all the lines in the album I just made with Mellie and why I am trying to get people to create a simple album project like ONE SUMMER and 25 things we love about summer. Little projects that you can begin and end.... might mean the world to someone you love someday. So, no matter how busy you are, no matter how much you might really want to go back 20 years and start then and make it all perfectly designed and well organized..... promise yourself to make SOMETHING this week. Something simple, maybe just a letter you write on notebook paper and put in an envelope. Do not make this process harder than it needs to be, do not feel pressure to make it perfect. Just tell someone something that they just might need to hear if anything should ever happen to you. Please. You will never be sorry.

HAPPY 60th Birthday Mom. I love you MORE still every single day. Thank you for teaching me in your death to enjoy the moments a little more, and to make sure I live my life capturing little memories for my family.

Since she died, I really got over my need to make it chronilogical and perfect.... now I just try hard to make it matter. I would give a lot for one little notebook full of random thoughts from my Mom about anytime in her life. I would honestly probably read it a little every single day. You have a huge power to impact your family and I pray you make a choice to do it. Step by step, little by little, just do SOMETHING. Anything at all really.

KLSB

Happy for no reason....

Have you ever gotten lost in the internet? I mean, really lost.... you had plenty of things to do, pages to make, dishes to put away, clothes to fold, but you sat mindlessly clicking away??? I mean, if you are reading this blog, I bet you know what I am talking about! :) I try not to get lost.... I try to do what I need to do, read something on CNN (so I have SOME clue what is going on in the world) and check a few blogs (thanks to bloglines, this task is WAY more efficient because I only look at blogs I love that have been updated).... and then logout and get on with my night. Tonight, I was tired.... too tired to go get a glass of water (what the heck is my problem anyway??) and I was clicking away. I love how amazon tells me books I would enjoy (man, they are so smart because they are usually right). Well, I clicked on one tonight and ended up watching a video promo and going to the site direct Happy for No Reason - I have NO CLUE why I went there, but I fell in love with a quote I found.... I wanted to share it with anyone who might be reading this.....

May you be safe

May you be happy

May you be healthy

May you live with ease

I am not sure when, but I am totally going to make this into a page for the girls. It was so well said - so much about exactly what I wish for them. I wish all those things for them every day. I loved the idea of them "living with ease". Ahhhh, I wish kids would carry that ease of living with them forever that they have now. I have no clue how to give them that gift, but I am sure going to try. And, next time we have a little extra in the budget, I am totally buying this book! :)

And, since my good friend Shannon says a post without a photo is icky.... I included a shot of the WISHES page in my new Mellie journal that I just wrote this quote on (in case I never actually get off the internet to make that page I am dreaming about....) I figured why wait - put it into something for them TODAY! Enjoy your day and may you live with ease.... (I totally LOVE that concept)

Awesome Album from Melodee Langworthy!

This is what I worked on over the weekend, and I am working on it more today, too. I LOVE THIS ALBUM. If you have not taken a class from Melodee Langworthy, you should! She is amazing, and she made me fall BACK in love with stamping. I was a major stamper years ago… with all the embossing powder and things like that…. (back when I loved making things harder then they needed to be) Well, I had forgotten how much I love stamps. And Mellie reminded me this week. She took her spare time to help me stamp and assemble her AMAZING pieces of me project she gave me a long time ago (But I was terrified to take apart the journal by myself). She spent her time in-between events at CHA helping me stamp and re-assemble this journal project. I LOVED IT! I stamped my heart out and really found peace at the process. Once I got home, I immediately started adding in photos and journaling notes to my project! She also showed me how to add photos into the spine once it was already reassembled! I love this project – and it is an amazing gift to my girls. This project makes my heart feel happy. And, I LOVED stamping simply with Danelle’s newer stamps! Ahhhhh, projects like this just really matter and I am grateful Mellie gave me this gift AND helped me assemble it, too! I loved making this project this rainy old Monday..... did you make anything??? I really hope you did.

(edited to note - little Kaya took those photos of me I printed for the cover. They always made me laugh, never had a way to use them. Thought this cover was the perfect reason to finally print them.)

I do love getting things organized....

I know this might seem extreme to some, and it really has NOTHING to do with scrapbooking, but this is what Kalli (my 6 year old) and I did today! I wish I had taken before photos. Her room is always pretty organized, but she had way too many clothes that had gotten too small, and her larger dresser was too deep, and it had become a mess. We took EVERYTHING out of her closet and dresser today – every single thing – and started over. It took a long time, but MAN, it felt great. She was so excited. We ran to the store for Drawer Dividers (these are totally the best invention EVER!) and also picked up some cheetah fabric covered bins (totally her choice, not mine, but they do look adorable). Ahhhhhh, I could just keep looking at it. :) So could she. My husband was not nearly as impressed with us as we were! I thought some of you out there might like to see what totally rocks my world at 36 years old. Surprising, isn’t it! The sheer peace and joy I found today at accomplishing this large task! It will make every day this fall easier on both Kalli and I as she gets ready for school. And, she is my kid that loves order. It was actually fun and she LOVED using the label baby to create all the labels. We are labeling the cheetah baskets tomorrow – she made me promise to wait for her.

And, CHA was cool. I actually left before the show started! :) After 12 years of being on the show floor setting up a booth and working the booth all day, it felt AWESOME to just come in and do a presentation, help Danelle a little the next day, and see some old friends. I spent a lot of time sitting on the floor stamping an amazing project from Melodee Langworthy – she rocks and she made me fall back in love with STAMPING!! I love love love Danelle's new Art Warehouse stamps, and I used some older ones, too, and they made my heart race I loved them so much!! I hope to add photos and get those two projects posted tomorrow….. today, it was all about Kalli! Hope you are having a productive weekend. Get yourself a task or project in mind for Make Something Monday…. having a plan will really help you accomplish at least one little thing each week.

I love sticking things RIGHT to photos.....

Who knew?? All these years I avoided doing that, and now I love it. I am working on pages for my ONE SUMMER class, and I just stuck phrase stickers, rub-ons, cut out stamped pieces, and epoxy stickers right onto the photos! Man, it made me happy. I love this project. It is raw and real and just about our lives this summer. I feel peaceful that we will have this to look at when we are freezing here in the middle of winter. Summer rocks, and my girls enjoy it every day.

We do still have some ONE SUMMER kits left.... we will keep them in the cart until they are gone. If you pick up the kit now, I will forward you the handouts. These kits include FOUR full sheets of Creative Cafe Spirit stickers that you can stick right onto your photos!! :) Remember, you can start this project anytime. Headed to CHA Summer in Chicago (I am driving). Will talk to you when I get back. Have fun and take (and print) lots of photos!

My final pages in my album....

So happy to have this finished. I love that we will have this forever. I wish I had this from when I was little. If you want a kit to create this 25 things we LOVE about SUMMER album, email me at klsb@comcast.net by Friday, July 18th. I am ordering albums and supplies this weekend.

Are you Making Something This Monday??

I hope you make time to even make one little thing... today I am trying to complete the sample album for my "25 things we love about summer" class. And, I finally got the album - it is AWESOME! I had no clue that it actually has four REAL shells on the album!! I love it. And I am almost done. BUT, I have to run so this is what I have so far.... I hope you all make time to make even one thing.... print a photo, upload, journal.... doing one little thing on Monday will add up to lots of things one day. :)

$1 at Target and some mini prints....

Make a super memory for our friend's 6th birthday party!!

I found this High School Musical book in the Target Dollar Spot just in time for Isabella's HSM party yesterday. I had to print 1/2 size prints for the thank you cards, so I printed a bunch of other prints and Kalli and I stuck them in here. We cut out the excess pages so it would lay flat, and make just a few simple titles. There is plenty of space for them to add in names and other journaling. We walked it over to their house! Kalli was so excited to give this to them not even 24 hours after the party. Simple, fast, and DONE! Hope you are all having a nice weekend.

KLSB

I know I just did a post,

But you had to see this. I asked the kids to clean the living room while I posted and got in the shower.... this is what I just came out of my office to see.... guess they thought that it would clean iteself while they lied on the floor eating suckers.... Ahhh, life with kids is NEVER boring. And, YES, this photo will be in my ONE SUMMER journal... how helpful my little buggers were this summer!! Good and bad, I capture it all. Enjoy your day. (Notice all the laundry in the backgroud waiting to be put away??? At least it is folded, right?? One step closer to getting into the drawers!)

11 years ago yesterday....

I got married. I just thought you all might like to see me with BIGGER hair and skinnier! :)

Ahhhh, the days where anniversaries meant fancy dinners and sleeping in the next morning....

Well, we spent our big night helping my dad's new wife move, had dinner at a new local place by their house with everyone, and took the kids swimming at 9 PM. Not what you would have thought would have been fun 11 years ago, but I LOVED IT! I loved helping my dad - having dinner at a fun new place, and just being together. And both kids are getting so much better in the water. It was a peaceful evening.... I enjoyed it all. Oh yeah, we went to bed REALLY late for them especially, and little Kaya drug me out of bed at 6:50 AM. Yeah, there are a couple things I do miss about those sleeping in days.... but overall, life is amazing. And I am very grateful for it all.

I made Neil a SIMPLE, cool album for our 9th anniversary. I will try to dig that out tonight and post photos of you to see a sample of another super easy gift. Have a great today!

A few pages from my One Summer Album

Here are a few pages I did tonight and a few really early this morning.... I just wanted to show you guys how SIMPLE it is to just work towards getting something done. These photos are not perfect... I have a random mix of horizontal and vertical, I am using my good old messy handwriting and simply doing the best I can. And yet, when I close my album and open it back up and flip through it all, my heart swells with pride that I have this simple record of our everyday lives this ONE SUMMER. It is here, it is real, it is a work in progress. I shoot differently and think differently because I have all these amazing simple moments to capture in this little binder album. I hope you are thinking a few things...

1) that you should take and prints lots of photos from this summer

2) that anything you make is better than just surfing the internet and wishing you were scrapbooking or organizing your massive supply stacks on your workspace (yes, I have done all of these over and over!!!)

3) that you can commit to not making memory keeping any harder than it needs to be

You can all capture little moments before they are gone. Grab a notebook and a pen.... a summer kit like ONE SUMMER, a simple photo album.... anything that gets you scrapbooking, creating, journaling..... I know you will love anything you create. Have a memory filled weekend.

One Summer Kit Contents

This is how amazing this One Summer kit is when you open it all up. I am missing a couple of things, too - because I already used the samples I had in my album! I am so excited for all of you who ordered it to get it in the mail! Class One Handout coming to your inboxes today!

You can grab your kit here!

Enjoy your weekend!!

NEW 25 things we love about SUMMER workshop

If you are looking for a SUPER quick & easy way to capture some fun memories from this summer, this 25 things album kit is the kit for you....

This is a SIMPLE class for people who basically have no time to do anything this summer, but they want to have a cool memory to look back on! All you need to do is make a list of 25 of your favorite things about summer (ask your family to help you), take and PRINT 25 horizontal OR vertical photos that can represent the things you love about summer, and glue them in when your album kit arrives. That is it. If you wanted to add a little bit of journaling, 25 journaling cards are also included.... I am going to create your title page for you, send you 25 4.5" x 6.5" photo mattes in various colors, send you an unique Once Upon A Family 7.25 x 7.25 fold out style silk Summer Album, inlcude 25 journaling blocks and, if you email me your list of 25 things by July 28th, I will type out and include your 25 title bars - Is does NOT get any simpler than this.

This class is $50 plus $10 shipping if you are out of town. I can accept checks in the mail or PayPal. Email me at klsb@comcast.net if you want to take this class and I will email you back a paypal invoice. You could enhance this album anyway you want with your own supplies, or, you can simply stick in your photos, glue down your titles and mattes, add journaling if you want to, and BE DONE! I love being DONE with things.

I sure would love to look back on this from 1978 and see what my sister, brother, my parents and I loved about summers back then. I bet a lot of it would be the same, but how funny would those photos be 30 years later??

I am ordering album supplies to create these kits on July 18th. Please get me a check or paypal money by then so I can include your album on that order and begin creating your SIMPLE kit for you! This could even be a great gift for a non-scrapbooking friend!! If you are local, you can come to a workshop at my place on July 31 at 7 PM - just order your kit without shipping fees and let me know you will be there - I will have your kit ready for you that night. If you bring your printed photos, and get me your list ahead of time so I can print out and trim your titles, you can totally make this entire album in one hour!! :)

Make Something Monday - Journal, journal, journal...

What I am making today is going to matter one day. Maybe not now, but one day, my girls will hopefully LOVE this journal. I have decided to journal our journeys AS THEY HAPPEN instead of waiting to find the time to make the perfect time. I wish I could go back in time and do this for JUST ONE of the fun trips we took with my parents. There were SO MANY happy memories.... so many funny stories.... and I cannot remember most of them. It breaks my heart. My parents made us laugh so hard.... there were so many wonderful moments on our journeys.... I would love to know what were my parents and our favorite parts of the day on our trips. I cannot imagine what we would have all said! Anyway, I did this little journal on our short trip to Great America and SummerFest in Wisconsin. I am going to print some photos today and fill in some of the blanks I left. I wrote it as we went about our days. Little by little... when we stopped to eat, at night once the kids laid down.... I asked each person every day what was their favorite part of the day. I love that those answers are HERE in print already if I never went back and printed one single photo. And, I stuck in that one photo I bought at Great America minutes after I got it - in the car while Neil drove to the hotel. I know that might make me seem a little freaky, but I feel this odd sense of peace knowing that no matter how crazy busy my life gets, my kids will have this memory as it happens. I would give a lot for ONE of these.... just one. Here is a photo of the stacks of various journals I have made of our trips to Disney World, my journey to Argentina, my Super Bowl trip (Go Bears), a mini trip to Indiana Beach last summer, and a 10th Anniversary weekend trip Neil and I took last summer. Not one of them is totally complete, but MAN, I love them. Make today the day you start SOMETHING. Something simple that matters.

One Summer Class is in the cart now!

I just wanted to post here that I just sent out an email to anyone that commented or emailed me that they wanted to take this class... a few people commented and did not put their email in the comment. I tried to find those email address, but I failed (I am not great at computer stuff). So, Here is the email.... I hope if you commented that you find this here!

Have a happy week!

KLSB

--------------------------

Hi Everyone!!

First, THANK YOU for signing up to take this class. I am so excited about it, it makes my heart race. I truly think it will be an amazing family for your family to look back at one day.

Second, the ONE SUMMER class kit is in the cart NOW!!

This email is going to everyone who signed up via posting or email to get notice when the kit is available. Please go grab a kit as soon as you can. I am going to post about it as well because a few people forgot to include their email address in their comments! There are a few extras that Marty made to be sure we had enough. On Wednesday of next week (July 9) I will let the rest of the newsletter group know that there are some extras if they want to take it. That should give you plenty of time to go get one if you want it. I wanted to give you plenty of time to get in there and get yours before they are gone.

Third, please have a little patience with us this first class – we are NOT a powerhouse internet teaching company!! This is just an idea Danelle and I had to get you guys some fun projects to work on when we are not able to go out on the road teaching in stores or at events!! I am sure there are going to be a few kinks, and I apologize AHEAD OF TIME for those that might come up! J I hope to get a notice when each of you pick up your kit in the cart, and I will mail you out a PDF file of more class information. More on that later…. But just email me direct (klsb@comcast.net ) if you have any issues opening a file, did not get one about three days after ordering your kit, or anything like that. I am nervous about what might happen, but we had to start somewhere!! This is my very first on line class…. Ohhhh, I am so excited and nervous!

Fourth – take lots of photos. Print ones that you love. Horizontal or Vertical works. I just ordered some 5 x 7 prints to see how those look in this little album, and I will take photos of that for you as soon as I try to stick them in there. For now, print your photos 4 x 6 or mini prints. More details on that coming soon!

OK, do you have any questions??? If so, PLEASE let me know – if you have a question, I am sure a lot of you do. I will do the best I can to stay on top of everything with this class. I work in my dad’s office during the days, so it might be night until I can get a response to you….. just let me know what you need and I will try to get you an answer as soon as possible!!
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for wanting to take this class. You have all probably had more talented instructors, higher end instructors, and much more well-known instructors, but you have NEVER had a teacher more excited for you to capture your memories for your family. That I promise you. Teaching class like this for people all over it what I have dreamt about since my old CKU days!! J I could not be more excited to bring this class into your home for you to work on when it works for YOU!

Enjoy every moment as it comes. You just never know how much that moment could mean one day! J

Go get your kit here

If you do not already have them, here are a few more items I will be using in my album that you might want to grab…. You do not need these items – you have everything you need in the kit to make the ONE SUMMER album… I just wanted to get you links to other things I might use, too while you were ordering your kit!! J I cannot link directly to the item, but I think I can get you to the landing page, and you can scroll to find the item. Like I said…. We are not a powerhouse internet company!!

Impress –On Rub On Booklet ( I love these and use them a lot – I have not used them in my album yet, but I am pretty sure I will – I love this set most of all )
Id: 18268 Spirit Swatch Book

Clear Stamps by Danelle – These are the sets I think I will use the most – you can use any stamps you have, too. Just get what you love or use what you have. Do not feel pressure to make this at all exactly like mine – this is all about YOUR summer and what you love….. Don’t forget to get a clear block if you do not have like 5 of them already!! J

* Just Write – lined set (I use this set all the time in almost everything I make)
Id: CS6146 Just Write

A cool mini phrase set I use a lot
Id: CS6148 My Thoughts

Another mini phrase set that I use often
Id: CS6149 My World

A new, larger size of phrases that I really like – I just got it, so I have not used it yet, but I cannot wait!!
Id: CS6175 Happy Days

Self-Inkers by Danelle –

Round Good Stuff (if you only get one stamp, get this one – it rocks my world and I use it a ton)
Id: SI6103 Real Life

Rectangle Never Want to Forget (I love this stamp)
Id: Si6107 Don't forget

Danelle’s New foam stamps –
I have not used these yet because I just got them, but I love them and plan to!! They are a super size for me!! I cannot wait to use them in this project!
id: VS6157 Traditional Foam Alphabet Set

OK, have a super Sunday and I hope you had a nice holiday weekend. This kit can ship to you as soon as you order it – wow – that is so exciting to me. Thanks again for wanting to create this class for your family.

Kristi Sikora-Blankenship

What a weekend!!

I hope you all had a nice weekend. My family stayed up WAYYYY too late, ate WAYYYY too much and I took WAYYYY too many photos. It was all great. I felt lucky to live in the USA, happy to live in my neighborhood (we had an amazing block party), and just peaceful to be a Mom. It was busy, we are all cranky and a little sick to our bellies from eating so poorly, but we are happy. And that is cool. I am not sure if you will be able to tell in the photo, but cute little Kaya rode her bike ON HER OWN this year in the neighborhood parade..... she was so far behind anyone else - the policeman picking up the rear and Kaya actually became friends as he drove 2 miles an hour talking to my funny little slow biking kid.... it was neat. Then, they let off the fire hoses and the kids go crazy. On top of that and standard 4th of July things like parades and festivals, we had our annual block party yesterday and it rocked. Literally - the DJs were LOUD and we had a blast. Neil and I even came in 2nd in the Corn Hull Tournament - totally fun for all. The kids LOVED playing in the street! Not the best lesson, I know, but they sure love it once a year!! The food was in our garage (huge mess) and the borrowed waterslide totally tore up our yard.... but we would do it all again tomorrow if we could! Here are a few photos from the weekend.... cannot wait to show you what I have going tomorrow for MAKE SOMETHING MONDAY!

Winner Drawn by Kaya!!

The winner for this week's MAKE SOMETHING MONDAY is:

Hey Debbie -Kaya picked you all by herself! Please email me your home address and instead of Cropper Hopper, Shannon from YELLOW FENCE will get you a super cool prize package!! I know you have most Cropper Hopper stuff anyway!! Thanks Shannon - you rock!

Forgot to tell you all something really important....

As I have talked you into taking lots of photos, I forgot to mention two things that I realized are VERY important this weekend.....
1) Make sure you are in some of the photos. That is so important for your family. I know it is HARD to give away the camera, but please try to do that once in a while so your kids can see photos of YOU. (Years ago, I am embarrassed to tell you, Kalli was looking at some pages I had made. She said "Mom, how come you never get to go anywhere with us?" And I told her I went everywhere with them and she said, "Then how come you are not in any of the photos?" Broke my heart - do not make that same mistake.) I even had Neil take a couple photos of me and the kids when I was IN MY BATHING SUIT! I am not kidding. I mean, like any overweight mommy I used the kids to hide most of my body, but my head is IN THOSE PHOTOS I am happy to say. I am even going to post one to prove it to you!! :)
2) Put down the camera, and have some FUN, too. Do not just be the family documentor - be part of the fun, too. At the waterpark this weekend, Kalli said, "Mom, please put down the camera and play in the water." That kid always knows how to kick me where it hurts my heart!! She is RIGHT - please put down the camera and enjoy the moments, too.

OK, off my soap box, and here are a few fun photos from our weekend.