Safe Trick or Treat

We had a Safe Trick or Treat in town today, and it was great. Man, there has been a lot of GOOD STUFF in my life lately. I need to get those instructions done and get them out to all of you who asked for them....

A Silver Medal

For Neil! He came in 2nd in his age group today in a 5 K the girls and I walked 2.5 miles! I was SO PROUD of Kalli. She did great! Kaya went between running, walking, then me pushing her in the stroller. We had a great time. What a fun way to start the day!

After Neil finished...  he walked back towards us and the girls were SO EXCITED to see him. He put Kaya on his shoulders and we all finished together.

 

We also had a family date night last night (for the first time in a very long time). We have had it in my planner for about 6 months! We went to the opening of High School Musical 3 in the theater. We do not go out to dinner ever (unless my dad takes us out) and we rarely go to the movies!!  We had a great time both at the show

 and at dinner later. Kaya picked the place "the place where they throw peanuts on the floor Mommy!!" 

 

Kalli wanted to go to Arby's (she loves that place) but she let us go to Texas Roadhouse because Kaya wanted to go there so badly (Neil and I wanted to go to Red Robin, but we kind of got out voted!)  It was a great night followed by a wonderful morning. Now, we are off to a party and a Safe Trick-or-Treat night at the local safety village! What fun!

Another Sweetwater Album from that kit

Here is a simple Friendship album using the wonderful Sweetwater Rub-Ons. They were so easy to use!
This is the 2nd album I have made in that kit. I cannot believe I still have three more albums to make from that one kit and the other ones look BIGGER!! I love how easy these were for me to make.

Awesome Sweetwater Mini Album

How neat is this that Sweetwater designed this mini book in a clear CD cover? So simple and such a nice little gift you could create quickly. I loved how it came out.

It was part of a Sweetwater kit I picked up last year and never opened.....  It has 5 albums in it total. I made only two of them - and they booth make me so happy. I think my friend Sherrie has one kit left still....  It is a cool kit in a silver tin with everything you need for five complete albums for $75. If you have any insterest in more info on this kit, email me and I will take a photo of my kit and see if Sherrie still has one left. I love their products and they make amazing mini books! Could be 5 great gifts for the holidays! :)

Journaling Question

Someone emailed me and asked me to explain how I do my journaling on the computer...
This was my response...
 I simply use Word (computer progam) for my journaling. I know you are "supposed to" write everything my hand, but I know I would never tell the whole story unless I typed it.
I simply measure the space I have for journaling after I lay out my photos on the page.
I open a blank document in WORD.
I set the paper size to be the space I have available for my jounrnaling and I set the smallest margins I can...  usually .5 for each margin.

EXAMPLE:
If I measure that I have about 3" wide by 6" high for journaling on a page...
I hope a new blank document
I go to PAGE SETTINGS and tell the printer that I am working with a page size of only 3" x 6"
I adjust the margins to .5 for top, bottom, right, and left
I type my journaling and pick a font I love
I print it on white typing paper first to check sizing and make any needed changes
I then usually print directly on the paper I am using for my page

I rely on my computer journaling so much that I carry a tiny portable printer with me to crops. I do try to hand write things on pages and in books so they can see my writing....  and I know some people would tell me I am wrong to use the computer...  but, remember, I am not scrapping to win any awards or follow any rules...  I make pages to tell stories for my girls about their lives right now. The best way for me to do that is to use the computer, and for me, that makes it wonderful. I never try to tell people to do things a certain way - I just want you all to do SOMETHING rather than nothing at all.

If you have questions about how I do this on the computer, email me klsb@comcast.net and I will try to help you.

Remember, I am NOT saying that you should all do your journaling on the computer....  I am just answering a question and letting you know that the right way to do things is simply the way it works for you.

Here are a few photos because you know I cannot do a post without a photo.....  here are some samples of pages I have journaled using my computer.... 

This is not a great photo, but this page has computer AND hand journaling on it

Another example of some computer and some hand journaling....

Remember, I never feel like I have to do things one way or the other....  I just do what works for ME as I am making that page. I do not let myself feel pressured to make things a certain way, in a certain order, or with certain products. I just make things that I think will matter to my family one day. That simply makes me happy. Please do things in a way that makes you happy. Nothing more, nothing less.

Have a super day.

Mom & Me - ALL ABOUT ME class

I am going to be teaching this for the town of Schererville soon....  it is not done yet, but this is the start of the mini tag book for this class. The Moms will get one book for them, and one for a child, and we will do them together in the class. I cannot wait to watch families create this memory together. :)

Four pages for my Sisters Album

As soon as I had Kaya, I started my "SISTERS" album.... I was so excited to have one place to go to see cool photos of them simply being sisters.... I love this book. I made four more pages in it this past weekend....

A few things I made this weekend

At my friend Sherrie's retreat in Iowa. It was a great time. I got a ton done and really just enjoyed creating with a room full of people for three days. Amazing women - funny stories - great projects - incredible food. It was nice and I even took a nap on Saturday. So much fun.

Here are a few 8.5 x 11 pages I made - I put these into the Stacy Julian system of All About Us. I use regular binders for my pages....

I have a lot more stuff I made that I will show you later. I hope you all MADE SOMETHING this fine Monday! :)

Go Bears!

We are Bears fans, too. No matter how badly they play, we still love them!

 

We always have the youngest kids at the games, and some of the only little girls, and the fans around us really are impressed with how much the girls both really enjoy the game. Having little Bears fans just makes me happy. 

 

We Love Soccer!

I love that my girls both love to play sports. Kalli is really doing well at Soccer this year.  We have been blessed with good soccer weather, too.  Kalli has really gotten better about getting in there and getting to the ball. We are really proud of her.

We are so lucky and blessed that Busia gets out to the field for every soccer practice and game. For Kalli to have her Great Grandma there cheering her on is amazing.

And, of course, little bug loves cheering her on and making daddy carry her to the car after the game.