Cohen's Nine Month Layout

(double-click to enlarge)
I was super organized last weekend and had pictures to try and match paper and embellishments to. Ususally I just go out and buy pretty paper, get it home, and never use it again. But this time.......

Anyhoo, I bought this Making Memories paper that had a travel theme, and the stickers to match. It was perfect for Cohen's suitcase pictures. The colors matched everything in the pictures, so of course I bought it. However, in keeping with Haley's "use old stuff" goal, the majority of the embellishing is old stuff. The shipping tags have been in my tower for ages, the Chatterbox stickers on the tags are soooo old, the ribbon is old SU! stuff that I had, and of course, buttons.

I love how it turned out.

Decisions Decisions

I can't decide what to do:
Enroll Avery in tap or ballet for next year
Eat a wrap or cookies for lunch
Dust or vaccuum
Scrapbook or make cards

Any suggestions??

I would really like to scrapbook, but it seems a shame to spend such a beautiful day inside. The hard thing is I can't really let Avery out to play alone anymore, at least not until someone kills that coyote... so that means that while Cohen sleeps, we need to be inside. Maybe we can both scrapbook, and then chill on the new gravity lounger I bought today...

Ew...

So I went to feed the dog this morning, and wouldn't you know it. There was a mouse in the trap. I would LOVE to say that I was cool, calm and collected, and dealt with it in an adult fashion. But I didn't. Instead, I freaked out, called Grant and started to rant and rave about how gross it was to have a house "infested" with mice. I don't do mice.
It never fails. As soon as he leaves for work, you know what hits the fan. The last time he left, the water pipes froze and we had no water. And they froze bad. No amount of heat tape, or insulation, or anything else I tried worked. My MIL and I finally sawed the pipe off of the house.
Mice have been a problem before. I have had to call neighbors over to save me from them. I did that again today. How embarrassing. But how gross. I HATE that I can't handle dealing with mice; dead or alive. I would love to be that independent, strong farm wife, but alas, I am a high maintenance, easily flustered girl, who freaks out at the smallest thing.

Oh, and don't get me started about the coyote that was in our yard this morning.

Super Sub!!!!

I subbed today. It felt really good to be back, but I know that I don't have to mark the tests that I administered today. And I don't have to spend my evenings plannings lessons for tomorrow. I miss teaching the kids, and I got to do that today. And I also got to teach kids I wouldn't normally have in my class, so that was fun too. I am really going to like being a substitute teacher...maybe more than being a "real" teacher.

I am also glad that I don't have to play the school politicy game where there is tension between the staff, and some people are way too cocky for my liking. Don't miss that at all........And I get to leave when the bell rings! How great is that?? I picked up my kids before the busses had pulled out.

My New Favorite Layout

I would like to take all the credit for this layout, but props have to go to Haley and Tara. They were full of ideas yesterday, and I thank them both so much.

I wanted to go with the CSI idea, but I never imagined that it would turn out like this. Police tape gives it just the right touch, don't you think?

Avery snuck into her birthday cake on the morning of her birthday. Did she do this to the sample cake I made? OOOOHHHH Nooooooo. Just the one that people would see. Anyhoo, she smushed her fingers into Lightning's tailfin, and got a good sampling of icing. I was a little angry at first, but I would never have made a layout like this otherwise so....

And in keeping with Haley's "use old stuff" goal - the chipboard was old, and the file folders were to be recycled, post-its, and police tape... The only new stuff is the background paper.

Finally, the picture is a little dark, but the sun had set, and I couldn't wait until tomorrow to take it, so there. (I mean that in the nicest way possible.)

Our Very Own Play Park

We have hmmmmed and haaahed for a long time over what type of swing set to get for our kids. Avery LOVES going to the park, but I find that it is a production to get there. I have to time it between meals, and naps and find time to drive to town to go. So our own just made sense. We have had a ton of rain lately and this meant that Grant couldn't do the yard work that so desperately needs to be done, but he could build a playground. We went to Calgary on Wednesday, and Grant spent numerous hours in the shop putting the thing together. While I was at "work" yesterday, he moved it into the yard. Avery called me at work to tell me all the different ways she went down the slide, how she climbed the "rocky wall", looked out the telescope, and drove the steering wheel. Mark was here today and Grant roped him into helping him finish putting the swing and monkey bars up. Avery is in complete heaven, and I can watch it all from my kitchen window...

A New approach...

So while I was doing my hair this morning...(I am sensing a theme here), I got to thinking what Avery and Cohen probably want to see in my albums when they are older. I know that I wish that there were more pictures and stories of my parents and grandparents when they were growing up, and had kids, and at work. So I have decided to redirect my approach to scrapbooking. Call me Stacy Julian, but I think that Avery will want to know the story of how I fell in love with her dad. I think Cohen will benefit from seeing how important farming is to his dad. I don't think that I will regret scrapbooking the everyday stories of our life, and including a little more of Grant and I in my albums, and maybe a little less of the "normal" kid pages.
That said, the first layout that I am going to do for this new approach is one about how I fell in love with Grant, and why. And why things that were important at 20 aren't as important anymore, but that I found exactly what I was looking for without even realizing it.