Kiss and Tell Scrapbooking

Get It Scrapped Post: Office Themed Scrapbook Supplies

I thought it might be fun to use office themed supplies on a back to school page.  The alphabet strip from the Cosmo Cricket paper worked well with the school theme.

Journaling: "Every year - its become a tradition that I take a photo of the kids in front of the front gate.  The kids cooperate and this year they knew what to expect in their 2nd year at the "new" school."

Supplies:  Creative Imagination, Cosmo Cricket, Rusty Pickle & October Afternoon Papers. My Mind's Eye Bracket Stamp.

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For more Office Print Pattered Papers Scrapbooking Ideas, head over to the post at Get It Scrapped!

 

The Century Scrapbook Project: 1903 & Proof of New Bedford High School Graduation

"When Aunt Cary showed me this photo of Albert P. Cunningham, my great-grandfather, she mentioned that he was a smart man who never graduated from high school, but I noticed the emblem at the bottom of the photo "NBH" New Bedford High '03 or 1903.  I found proof that Albert Cunningham did graduate!  Hecompleted the 3 year commercial course (rather than the 4 year college course)."

I did a search on the internet and happened upon the Brown University Online Library and found the programme for the New Bedford High School Graduation Exercises on Wednesday, June 24, 1903 at the New Bedford Theatre.  Albert Preston Cunningham is listed under the Commercial Course (three years).  He went on to be successful in the banking industry in New Bedford.

This is the scrapbook page I made for the year 1903:

I also found the 1900 Census which showed that Albert Preston Cunningham lived with his parents and three sisters at 242 Chancery Street, New Bedford, Massachusetts.  Albert Cunningham was born in December 1885.  I added some of that information on the journaling card to the right of the photo.

I have now completed 20 pages in The Century Scrapbook Project! 

 

 

The Century Scrapbook Project: 1925

This is my grandfather's 3rd grade class photo in 1925 from the Harrington School in New Bedford, Massachusetts.    Bit of Journaling:  "Here is Grandpa Allen in the 3rd Grade about the time of the infamous toilet seat frame for the principal."  Apparently my Grandpa was a bit of a rascal and he took a toilet seat and attached it over the principal's portrait and wrote "our hero" on it.  I'm pretty sure he got the dunce cap for that shennanigan.

Get It Scrapped Post: Ideas for Scrapbooking Back To School

Have you ever scrapbooked about the ride to or from school?  I made this page recently about the "Car Circle":

From my perspective, the car circle is a huge part of the school year but I don't think I've ever scrapbooked it, so I thought this crazy morning circus on wheels deserved a page.  Often times my husband and I drive them together and sometimes I wear my jammies (no I don't get out of the car); but it is a complete challenge to get them off to school in the morning.  Maybe this year will be better... (that's what I keep telling myself anyway).

I recently introduced my kids to Ren & Stimpy videos so I used the Happy Happy Joy Joy in the journaling - since we enjoy a bit of sarcastic humor.  My son's face shows off how he feels about the morning ride to school.  He might be more Happy Happy about the pick up from the car school process - he always says his favorite parts of school are lunch & dismissal!

Journaling:  Car Circle:  Happy Happy! Joy Joy!  Its that time again - Oh how we love the car circle. Not!"

I actually found some years old decorative tape in my "school" themed scrapbook supplies; I think it is is DCWV.  I had those KI Memories letters out and they look so scholastic that even though the "R" didn't work perfectly, I used them anyway - our car ride to school is usually less than perfect - so this page didn't need to be perfect in any way.

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Want more ideas for Back To School Scrapbooking?  Head on over to Get It Scrapped's Post "Ideas for Scrapbooking Back to School."   There you'll see awesome school scrapbooking inspiration from Barb Brookbank, Vicki Walters, Audrey Tan, Jennifer Matott, Doris Sander, Tara McKernin, Michelle Houghton, Amy Kingsford, Debbie Hodge, and Tiffany Tillman.

Want to support this little blog?  Head on over to one of the following Amazon Affiliate Links!  Thanks :)

 

The Hunger Games Scrapbooking Challenge (Day 21): Effie Trinket

Welcome, Welcome, to Day 21 of The Hunger Games Scrapbooking Challenge!  Today we are taking our inspiration from Effie Trinket!  She is the highly made up picker of Primrose's name in the reaping ball on The Hunger Games movie trailers.  She is the one who says "May the Odds be Ever in Your Favor!"

I don't imagine there are many on Team Effie, but there was something about her that I liked despite her being outwardly despicable.  For me, I felt like maybe she was just misunderstood.   

Effie reminded me a bit of my first year of highschool, a time when girls are desperately trying to fit in.  A time when I was labeled a "freshman airhead cheerleader" or at least that what the upperclassmen mean girls called us.  My BFF Katie R. and I would then pretend to be completely dumb and have ridiculous conversations like we really were freshmen airhead cheerleaders and then we'd giggle ourselves silly; but really, this was just a clever and fun defense mechanism we devised because some of those girls calling us names we would have looked up to.  Highschool - ahhh the lessons of conformity and breaking the rules.

Since then I've always had a soft spot for girls who are a bit misunderstood like Legally Blonde's Elle Woods and Clueless's Alicia Silverstone - what was her name, Cher?  Its the whole "don't judge a book by its cover" and you don't know a person "until you've walked a mile in their shoes" thing.  And it is fun to get all dressed up sometimes right?

{That's me from a couple years ago when we had a Pirate Themed Murder Mystery Party at our house - so very Capitol right?  I even wore hair extensions and was the Queen of something.}

While reading the books, I always wanted to know a bit more about how Effie got her job.  Was it assigned to her?, did she seek it out?, was she just playing her part in fear of what would happen if she messed up?, and did she secretly have a crush on Haymitch?  Something I loved about the way Suzanne Collins wrote her characters was that all of them were shades of gray, none were black or white.  So while Effie seemed like the worst of the worst in the superficial department since she was from The Capitol, I couldn't help thinking there was a little more to her under the surface and under all that make up. 

Spoiler Alert for the Hunger Games:  Effie Trinket:  The District 12 escort, who was happy and bubbly. She wore many different colored wigs and helped Katniss and Peeta get sponsors in the Games. She constantly bickered and argued with Haymitch. Very proper, she hated it when people did not have proper etiquette. Katniss was shocked when she found out Effie was a rebel. (source The Hunger Games wiki)

Scrapbooking Themes Inspired by Effie Trinket Can Include:

1. High School

2. Conformity

3. Misconceptions

4. Glamour Shots

5. Hair & Makeup

6. Winning the Lottery, and

7. Ettiquette. 

Here are some of my scrapbook pages that fit those categories:

High School Dating: From The Quarterback to the (dare I say it) Comical Nerd.  (20 plus years later: P.S. I love nerds.  And P.S. The Quarterback turned out to be an amazing guy too.  Much admiration for both of these guys.) 

 

 Ahh the glamour of a Disney Princess - here is my daughter with my BFF from highschool Nancy's daughter - on their way to learn the lessons of appearance and glamour and what's real:

And on excess in general, so very Capitol, here's a page of mine from 2007 - before the recession.

P.S. I still have most of this stuff give years later, and that clock still hangs on the wall in my scrapbooking room, it says "Scrap Happy - Think Big" in hot pink letters, an otherwise serious clock got glamourized, I love that.

If you make a page inspired by The Hunger Games Scrapbooking Challenge - please leave a comment with a link.  The movie comes out tonight at midnight - who's going?

If you wish to support this blog, please click through to the affiliate links - and check out The Hunger Games Nail Polish collection, wall decal and triology boxed set!

The Hunger Games Scrapbooking Challenge Series Day 6: District #8 TEXTILES

 Welcome to the Hunger Games Scrapbooking Challenge from District 8: Textiles!

According to the official Hunger Games movie website (thecapitol.pn), the following jobs are offered in District 8:

• Teacher
• Factory worker
• Weaver
• Dress maker
• Designer
• Warehouse manager

So lets use these occupations and the concept of wearing uniforms be the inspiration for the scrapbooking layouts we make for this part of the challenge.

The two layouts at the very bottom relate to textiles in that the school pictures layout shows my kids wearing school uniforms and the other layout is inpsired by the recent trend in scrapbooking to use lots of patterned paper on a scrapbook layout to mimic a quilting pattern (that layout was a scraplift of a Bella Blvd. layout from CHA 2012).

Here are some more examples of my past layouts which could be categorized under the District 8 Theme:

Quick recap of how these layouts are related to the theme of textiles starting from the top left: 

1. Chevron Pattern which is very trendy in the fashion world right now.

2. My holiday outfits for Christmas 2011.

3. Scrapbook Layout using the multi-patterned papers on one page mimicing a quilt which is trendy in the scrapbooking world this season.

4. My son at school in his uniform.

5. My fashionista daughter and her love of retro clothing.

6. My daugher dressing her favorite doll who happens to be named Baby Buttons.

7.  Our Halloween 2011 costumes (or uniforms).

8. The Connection between my Daughter Allison Grace and my Grandma Grace, my grandma was a high school home ec - sewing and cooking teacher.

9. Another school uniform layout including pictures of my daughter with the same uniform but taken during different school years.

Please create a layout using the theme of textiles, uniforms, or even make a page about Project Runway; if you choose to make a page, please leave a comment with a link.

If you wish to support this blog and see some scrapbooking / sewing related product, please click on the affiliate links:

 

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Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games Triology's District 8 specializes in textiles and has at least one factory where Peacekeeper uniforms are made. Two people from District 8, Bonnie and Twill, escaped during one of the uprisings and informed Katniss of the theory that District 13 still existed. It is implied that security is strict in 8, and the citizens are desperate for hope. District 8 was also one of the first districts to rebel, as Katniss saw on Mayor Undersee's television. In the third book, Katniss visits a hospital in District 8, which is later bombed by the Capitol. The leader of District 8, Paylor, becomes President of Panem after President Snow has died and Katniss has assassinated President Coin. Even before she became president, Paylor's soldiers were apparently loyal to her, ignoring Coin's orders when she commanded. None of District 8's Tributes are mentioned much in the 74th and 75th Hunger Games other than Peeta finished off the female tribute in the 74th Hunger Games." (source Wikipedia) 

Winter 2012 CHA Bella Blvd. Scraplifts

Last week, I posted that I'd have my CHA Bella Blvd. inspired scrapbook knock-offs up on Sunday {here's a link to that blog post}; we got back from a ski vacation and I've been busy getting back to my daily routine and haven't had a chance to blog until now.  So here are three pages inspired by the Winter 2012 CHA layouts from Bella Blvd.:

1. Button Heart Layout. 

Scraplift: I have tons of buttons but don't often use them on my scrapbook layouts so it was fun to have a purpose for some of these mismatched buttons. 

The Story:  Since many of the CHA layouts have only one photo, I picked a photo that was very meaningful even though it is not a perfect photo; it is the first photo taken of our whole family - it was taken in the garage - actually here in my home office / scrapbooking room since we had a little crib set up in here- on the day we brought Allison home from the hospital.  Allison is now 8 years old and I didn't do a lot of scrapbooking when she was a baby since I was very busy, so its fun to take out these old photos and scrap them now.

Supplies: I used some DCWV baby themed patterened paper, random buttons fastened to the page with adhesive dots; the red polka dot paper is from Echo Park's basics pack, and the letters were from a dollar bin at Target - they didn't stick particularly well so I machine stitched them to the page.

2. Paper Strips and Buttons Layout.

Scraplift:  I loved the design of this page since it uses a big square of patterened paper and lots of patterened strips to give the page a solid base and the diagonal random buttons were a fun addition but don't feel too random, the design of this layouts allows for a lot of stuff on the page, but also allows for photos and jouranling space.

The Story:  "The school photo process - what a detail ordeal - not only did they get the orders wrong both times, but we had to do re-takes of both kids - but both kids were picture perfect cuties."  The back story is that Mac's hair was so long in the first photo that we got him a hair-cut and had a retake done and Allison's photo pose was weird so that while the photo was cute, the amount of space her head took up in the photo was so small you could barely see her face.  So both had to get re-takes and both times the processor got everything wrong about the  photo packages - and there were about a zillion photo package options, it was seriously confusing and even though the pictures were done in October, we still don't have Mac's package straightened out so that's still on my to do list!

Supplies:  KI Memories patterned paper and Bazzill cardstock, random buttons and epoxy stickers and brads, Sassafrass adhesive border stips. 

3. Horizontal Thirds Layout.

Scraplift:  The original page used a dark blue patterened paper base with a tight design, I didn't have something that worked exactly so I used two different Echo Park papers and stitched them together with the middle strip.

The Story:  "CHA 2009:  As a scrapbooker, it was a total delight to take an entire week off work and go get totall immersed in the world of my hobby and to learn about the industry and all the players.  So total interesting to get an upclose peek into this subculture that I spend so many hours in."  In the photo are Tina Cockburn (Simple Scrapbooks & Write.Click.Scrapbook.); me; Angie Lucas (Simple Scrapbooks & Ella Publishing); Diva Danielle (she had a podcast which I'm not sure is still around or not); Lain Ehmann (Simple Scrapbooks & Layout A Day); & Tami Morrison (Funnest Ever Scrapbooker from Simple Scrapbooks & teacher at Big Picture Classes).

Supplies:  Echo Park patterened paper, QuicKutz die cut letters, sharpie marker, and random other odds and ends.

That's all for now and now that I'm back to my regularly scheduled blog programming, I'll have the rest of the seven Bella Blvd. inspired scrapbook layouts up one per day for the rest of the week.

Plus I'll have my Project Life Album pages up soon and the travel scrapbook I made during our recent ski trip; and I'll be participating in Ali Edward's Day in the Life tomorrow - which also happens to be my son's 10th birthday - but I'm under strict order that we are not to celebrate (not sure what to do about that command). 

Cheers.

 

I Interupt the Scrapbooking Frenzy to Show Off the LOVELIEST APPLE PIE Ever Made!

No, I don't normally make apple pies, or any other kind of pies.  Normally I'm making a ridiculous amount of scrapbooking projects, just look through my blog archives if you have any question about the quantity of scrapbooking pages I make.  Its a crazy lot. 

But.  Tonight.   Allison and I made a pie.  An apple pie.  In my not-so-humble opinion, it is the LOVELIEST PIE that ever was created! 

The photo doesn't even do it justice, it is perfection.

 
Mmmm. Seriously, it is perfect in every  way. 

I'm checking "Apple Pie Baking" off my Fall Bucket List - but in truth, I may have to repeat this experience again and again.  It was exceptionally satisfying.

 
And again and again and again. 

 

Ella Boot Camp: 2 Color Stamped Title

 
I made this stamped title with two colors for the Ella Publishing Boot Camp "Fun With Word Stamps" drill.  I recently heard about the concept of a Project Lifetime scrapbook that would be someone's entire life in one book in chronological order; I also like (but rarely do) the concept of 12 on 12 where you take 12 pictures on the 12th of each month; this layout sort of goes along with those theories of doing a monthly wrap up in one layout.  I would like to go back and do more of these.  I think because of the way my photos are arranged and saved, this would be a good project for a digital photobook.  Maybe I'll get to work on that for a Christmas project, maybe.  P.S. the colors on this layout look much better in real life - I scanned this layout rather than taking a photo of it - and many times I think the photo is better than the scan for digitalizing layouts.

Ella Publishing Boot Camp!

I'm a last minute traveler and signer-upper-for-on-line-classes, I just registered for Ella Publishing's Boot Camp!  There's still time to join the fun at www.ellapublishing.com.  I have loved Angie Lucas & Wendy Smedley since sometime around 2004 when I discovered Simple Scrapbooks - they always produce quality scrapbooking inspiration so I know that its going to be awesome.  Come play with me at the Boot Camp!

In the meantime, here are a few layouts I created while I was an Ella Friend (2009-2010).

 

P.S. And YES! I did pay for the class, just in case you were wondering.

Birthday Card Boycotter & Using Some 10+ Year Old Patterned Paper & Astrological Sign Compatibility Between Gemini and Virgo

On birthdays, I'm not the best at buying cards - actually I think they are a giant waste of money - and I'm not a card maker either.  Chances are, however, if you are in my family and its your birthday - I'll make a scrapbook layout about you.  I won't give you the layout, mind you, but I will make it and think happy thoughts about you.  Maybe someday, I'll put these types of layouts in a digital photobook so that the people in my People We Love Albums will actually get to enjoy these layouts.

 
This aqua colored patterened paper with the cameras is one of the first pieces of scrapbooking patterened paper I ever bought probably in 1998 - but here it is looking hip and trendy (imho) - in this layout which is a scraplift inspired idea from This Layout from I Heart Penguins . 

Chances are, if its your birthday and you are in my family, I'll also make you a birthday border from odds and ends scrapbooking supplies:

 
Ok, so I'm off to a birthday party for a Virgo - we have a lot of Virgo's in our family (my sister, my mother, my cousin, my sister in law, just to name a few); so I've thought a lot about the commonalities of Virgos and my compatibility with them.  I think there is probably a little something to the astology thing - and tarot.com seems to have a general enough but also specific enough daily email horoscope that I've been getting for years and it is freakishly right on every day.  So here's what tarot.com says about Gemini's and Virgo's being friends:

"The two of you have keen intellects and enjoy discussing books, politics and current events. Your attitude toward these issues is a little more detached than your friend's, but that's only to be expected. Virgo takes everything to heart, which can be a source of strain in your friendship. Be very careful about making offhanded jokes to the Virgin, for your friend can take such remarks very personally. At times, your pal's anxiousness can get on your nerves, while your frivolity can drive Virgo to distraction. For the most part, though, you can enjoy a fulfilling friendship. Activities like hiking appeal to you both, since Virgo loves the outdoors and you like exploring. Alternately, you could both enjoy bird watching. Hands-on activities like pottery and knitting could also have tremendous appeal for you."

Hmmmm.   Here's what a few other sites say:

"A relationship between a Gemini and a Virgo is one that evolves over time. Both friends need to take an effort to understand and appreciate each other. Gemini could often have more than one opinion about everything. Vigo must accept this character of Gemini, and act accordingly. If they could understand each other well, Gemini and Virgo could have a long lasting friendship. Initially Gemini might find Virgo too serious and fussy. Both star signs need to be patient and wait for their friendship to blossom.  Gemini and Virgo have an entirely dissimilar outlook of everything. Gemini might find the bare, plain attitude of Virgo drab and monotonous, and Virgo might resent the vacillating and unrealistic nature of Gemini.  Gemini could introduce excitement and fun into the lives of Virgo.  The twins are quicker in reaching decisions than the virgin, but the virgin is more stable in its decisions.  Gemini do whatever suits their fancy for the moment, while Virgo work towards achieving set goals. Gemini must be careful not to be too aloof from Virgo, while Virgo must learn not to censure or rebuke Gemini too much. Gemini might dislike the fussy and exacting character of Virgo, and Virgo might find the fickle and changing nature of Gemini unappealing. Virgo usually concentrate on one thing at a time, while Gemini keep changing their attention to different things. Virgo should not deprive Gemini of their independence. They could always make use of the ideas and innovations of Gemini."

"Gemini is a jack-of-all-trades, a whiz-kid, a trickster and a messenger. Virgo is a technician, an efficiency expert, and a bargain seeker.  If you can give a Gemini good communication, social interchanges and a variety of life experience, then you have a better chance of getting their love and affection. If you can give a Virgo good health and the time to do things right you have a better chance of getting their love and affection. TIP: You will be happy when you determine exactly what you want together. Gemini is essentially articulate, versatile and adroit; Gemini likes variety. Gemini is an idea person. Virgo is essentially level- headed with something of a flair for statistics and analysis. Virgo is highly selective and prone to inquiries and examinations.  Gemini will find Virgo to be practical, methodical and in possession of natural money handling abilities. Gemini's mind naturally likes to go from subject to subject. Gemini has varied interests and like to keep up with what's going on in the world. Gemini can be the original "quick study" who grasps facts, concepts and ideas; but  Gemini can get bored easily and do not like things to drag along. Virgo can be cautious in matters of the heart. Virgo likes to do things for people and tends to be more of a giver than a taker. However, Virgo does need to be thanked. Virgo may feel like Gemini has not one, but at least two different personality sides. Gemini needs open lines of communication. The best friends for Gemini are the ones who appreciate Gemini's sense of humor."

Long Story Short?  I think that the relationship between Gemini's and Virgo's can be challenging because I feel like we are totally different beasts; but I've got a lot of these relationships in my life, so like understanding people with their Myers-Briggs personalities - I think its useful to know astrological signs too, even though I'm not sure I totally and completely believe the astrology bit, the common traits do seem to be right on; and September is a busy birthday month for me because of all of the Virgos in our family.

Scrapbooking Your Work Life

Want to Scrapbook Your Work Life?  Check out these links:

1. Scrapbooking Your Work Life.

2. 20 Years Of Jobs Scrapbook Layout.

3. Paperclipping's Scrapbook Your Commute and Lunch.

4. Debbie Hodge's Scrapbook Jouranling for your Work Self.

5. Office Related Themed Digital Scrapbooking Supplies.

6. Scrapbook Update's Office Supply Inspiration Blog Hop.

7. How To Make a Farewell Scrapbook for a Co-Worker.

8. Scrapbooking Your Job.

9. Career Scrapbooking Ideas.

10. Retirement Scrapbooking Ideas.

I've been rearranging some of my scrapbooks and have noticed that work makes up a major part of my life but is not something I often scrapbook about.  I recently made a photo album scrapbook (sorry I forgot to take pictures - maybe I'll post later) about work.  Today, I made this layout about when Charlie and I got to meet Zig Ziglar back in 1999:

Looking back, I have made some layouts about work, but I do think it is a smaller pile of layouts than the other types of layouts that I tend to do:

 
Do you scrapbook about your work?

Fall Scrapbooking To Do List & Shimelle's Scrapbooking Starting Points

So I'm starting to think about our family's plans for this fall.  I used Shimelle's Scrapbooking Starting Points {click here for the starting points link} to make my Fall Family Fun To Do List which I framed and will live in my kitchen (where the summer to do list used to be).  Here are some photos of me getting ready for fall and the starting points layout and the finished fall bucket list layout:

 
Here are some layouts from Falls Past:

 
What kind of family fun and/or scrapbooking do you have planned for this fall?

School Themed Scrapbooking

I started a School Scrapbook Album for this school year inspired by Becky Higgins' Project Life and Stacy Julian's 180 School Album.  I just used some 8.5 x 11 page protectors with slots for 4x6 photos and three ringed notebooks from the office supply store, I also used some calendar stamps for the side panels to make sure I keep everything in order.   Here are the title page and the first couple of weeks:

 
Yes, we are guilty of letting our kids skip two days in the 2nd week for our trip to Maine - it was a highly learning experience, so I'm ok with this.  I actually ordered a photo book for our trip to Maine and had it done the day we got back - I'll post that soon.

I like to include some pages in my school scrapbooking that is not all about school but are about things that happen over and over - like getting the kids ready in the morning.  I made this page about the morning rush to school and how its always a challenge to get my kids in the car with all their stuff and their shoes on!  I used some old photos that were appropriate, but we still have this issue many days (thankfully not today).

 
Journaling:  "Photos Taken 4/2010 2nd Grade.  These photos explain why we now have a rule that you must put your shoes on before getting in the car to go to school.  These Photos could go in the "No David!" Books!"  Love Mom 9/2011.

There is a contest for school related scrapbooking pages at The Studio Challenges Blog and there is a prize from Ella Publishing.  Go check it out & Good Luck.

Musical Beds and The Tooth Fairy Banned & Project 180

 
5 Notes from Today:

1. MUSICAL BEDS AND THE EVER-CHANGING FENG SHUI OF OUR HOUSE We have some funny sleeping arrangements in our family, I won't go into particulars, but its something like musical beds; I'm pretty sure I've slept in all 4 bed rooms and so has everyone else in the family. We had some movers come this morning to move stuff around - part of my grand impromptu reorganization of the house - which I'm pretty sure I do about this time every year. The one constant thing about our home is that if you have been here in a few months & come back to visit, chances are the furniture will be re-arranged and/or switched up since you were here last time. We are the same way about the office, but Charlie is typically in charge of those changes. We both like to switch things up with the furniture, decor, etc. I think that our surroundings have a big effect on our mood and its good to clear the decks and re-arrange the chairs every 6 months or so. Right now I'm in streamlining mode. I took a ton of stuff off the walls in my scrapbooking room and the area that we use as our entry and exit to the house and Charlie did Spackle-ing and touch up painting tonight. I love a fresh start and this time of year seems like the perfect time for this sort of thing.

2. TWINKLE TWINKLE & MAKING UP LYRICS: Allison had her first music class with Daddy tonight and she learned how to play Twinkle Twinkle Little Start on the piano / keyboard. Of course she also demanded (yes, sassy pants) a microphone - and of course Daddy had one; when I suggested a mic stand, he opened a closet and revealed that we have 3 mic stands, 2 stands for I don't know what, and 2 music sheet stands. Yes, we could totally have a recording studio in Charlie's music room. I'd like for both of them to learn to play guitar. Of course I'd like to learn too but I'm not very musical and have a hard time clapping to the beat - although I love music and singing, I just don't do music or singing very well. Ally & I did have a dance party later to Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, and J Lo, and Pit Bull - whom apparently she thinks is awesome. Her favorite song right now is "Tonight - Give Me Everything" but she makes up her own words. This morning I pulled out the old Ben Folds CD for the car ride to school - we used to play it every morning on the way to school when Mac was in kindergarten (he's in 4th grade now - gasp). They each have their own take on the lyrics and title to "Rockin the Suburbs" - Mac thinks its "Rockin the Sunburst" and Ally insists its "Rocking the Summers" - either way, its pretty cute and it was funny to listen to them remember all sorts of stuff from several years ago when I played it - music has that ability to take you back - even for kids. Scrapbooks should have soundtracks.

3. NO TOOTH FAIRY ZONE:Mac had a playdate afterschool today and he and his friend went on more geo-caching adventures and then ate popsicles and Mac heard a crunch and it was his lose tooth coming out! He showed me the tooth and asked me for something to put it in. I went upstairs to find the tooth-fairy pillow and when I got back, Mac had an elaborate system in his closet where he had put his tooth under lock and key in several containers and then stacked a whole bunch of stuff on top of them. He said he didn't want the tooth fairy to come take his tooth because that tooth had so many memories and because he always pretends to be happy when the tooth fairy comes, but actually - truthfully -literally it just makes him sad when the tooth fairy takes his tooth and he just wants to keep this one. I told him that I had a deal with the tooth fairy that I'd told Allison about after she found several teeth in a jewelry box in my safe - I have this deal with the tooth fairy so that she comes and takes the tooth and leaves the kids the money, but the next day - she brings it back and I leave money under my pillow so that I can keep the teeth. This didn't convince Mac and as far as I can tell the tooth is still hidden in an elaborate hiding place and he didn't leave a letter of explanation so I don't know what the tooth fairy is going to do about that tonight. We'll see in the morning I guess.

4. BUSY BUSY ME. I've been seriously diligent about cleaning up the house and staying on top of daily chores and I've been putting in lots of mom time getting ready for school and adjusting to the new school year. I finally made it to yoga today. Lately, I seriously go from the moment I wake up until way after everyone has gone to bed. Yoga makes me slow down and clear my mind - I love it. I need to get in there more - Its been since Sunday and I like to do at least every other day.

5. BED TIME STORIES:After school I brought Allison to the Library - the same one that she stuck a popsicle in the book depository when she was 3 or 4 and when we told the librarian about it she was relieved that it wasn't a snake because apparently someone thinks its funny to put snakes in there; the same one that she did the puppet show for me at - sadly the puppets weren't there today, the same one where we always pee when we go to any event in Gulfport when its hot and we don't want to use the port-o-potties. We got Stink: The Incredible Shrinking Boy for Mac to use for his daily reading log and we read 2 chapters of that one tonight. Allison picked Courdoroy Lost and Found - she loves that little bear. Speaking of Bears - Beary Weary came out of hibernation tonight to help Mac adjust to his new sleeping arrangements - but at this very moment the two of them and Dandy are on the couch in the living room right behind me waiting for me to put them back to bed - again. I'll have to add the photos for this post later.

Scrapbooking: After the kids are finally asleep, I'm going to set up the framework for my Project 180 school scrapbook - Stacy Julian's blog has some posts on this project. I'll post photos of my book in a week or two.