Free printable signs for 1st day of School

More work on the school album, I found these lovely free printable signs from Pink Peppermint Blogger that work great with the grade titles I made:

 

These can also pretty easily be cut down to fit in 4x6 photo slots if you are working on first-day photos already taken . . . She has a lot of really creative ideas on her blog, check it out:  Pink Peppermint Blogger

Free School Grade Scrapbook Printable Titles

I've been working on school albums for my friend's children as a gift.  She is not much of a scrapper, so I need to make it easy.   I wanted cohesive, simple set of grade titles but could not find anything ready to print, so I made my own.  I took the free chalkboard background from Foolish Fire and used a free school cursive font called LA EI 2, and created a set of titles I could print 4x6.   These are quick and easy, if you snag them just leave me some blog love!

Lesson Learned

I snagged this template free from Jessica Sprague for her "7 Days in May" challenge, and thought it perfect for this layout I needed to do.

The journaling in the center box reads: "Nate’s 4k class theme was “Busy Bees” so I decided (last minute as always) to make bumblebee cup-cakes for the last day of school. I googled for inspiration and became obsessed with learning to make cake-pops. Ever the over-achiever, the project soon evolved to a beehive cake surrounded by bee & flower cupcakes & flying cake-pop bees. I picked up the cake & realized I should in future photograph them before moving - as it plummeted to the floor."

The journaling at the bottom of the page reads, "I’m just grateful that the cake was purely a surprise for fun. No one expected it or was counting on it - it was not the focal point of the party or anything. Nate and I were disappointed, but I managed to salvage enough of the cupcakes to appease him - they were not as pretty, but they were still yummy. I guess the worst part was being late for the program."

The good news is, I DID learn to make cake pops, and boy are they yummy! There's a bit of a learning curve to dipping them just right and getting them to stay on the stick, so I had LOTS of "imperfects". I took a batch to Alex's troop meeting, and the scouts had no complaints!

Cheer Mom

I have always said that my daughter - with her athletic body, competitive spirit, good looks, extroverted personality, and big mouth - was born to be a cheerleader. This past fall I enrolled her in tumbling classes in preparation for tryouts for the high school team. It worked, she made the JV team as a rising 8th grader.

I sat at the "new cheerleader reception" on Monday night with a bag of mixed feelings. I was super proud of Cassie, and pleased with myself for helping her get what she wanted. I was already picturing the fabulous scrapbook I'll be creating in my head.

I was also nervous - I don't think of myself as the "cheer mom" type, I can't imagine I will fit in, but I don't want to disappoint or embarass her (any more than I do just by being MOM that is . . . )

I looked around thinking, this sure wasn't my crowd in high school. I was a nerd, did well academically, historian of the drama club, president of the English club, but certainly NOT a cheerleader! While I may have affected an air of disdain for the cheer leaders, honestly, I didn't have the opportunity. I didn't have the financial or emotional support from my family which is necessary for cheerleading and most other activities. It was never an option for me. I remember secretly wishing I could be a cheerleader, but that was a closed door.

I AM a Cheer Mom. Regardless of the stereotype or the "clicks" I may encounter, I am in fact a Cheer Mom now. What have I gotten myself into now??

Bieber Fever - from Shimelle's Sketch

I enjoyed making this digi layout of my niece's "dreamy" birthday party at the Justin Bieber concert from Shimelle's April 20 Sketch. My girls are too old for "Bieber Fever", so this was a fun layout. My youngest DID walk around for a few months singing "Baby, baby, baby OH . . " from the commercials . . . . I apologize for having so poorly organized my digi-stash til now that I have no idea where the bits and pieces of this kit come from . . .

Aunt Nena's Strawberry Pie

I wanted to create a layout celebrating my great-aunt and her pie which I have loved since childhood. I also wanted to save her recipe in a place I knew I wouldn't lose it - my scrapbooks!!


A long time ago, it seems, I was on a design team for my friend Krystal Hartley when she began selling her digital designs.

I enjoyed being on the team, but always felt my design skills were not on a level with the other team members, who were amazing. Somewhere along the way, life got busy, and I let go of my spot on her team, but I still love her designs.

For this layout I went through my stash and found this kit called "I Believe In Yesterday" available at Sweet Shoppe Designs. If you like this kit, it's on sale for 30% off regular price!

Planting Another Seed

It feels more like taking a plunge . . . I signed up for Weight Watchers Online this morning. My little one is now 5, I can no longer blame him for the extra 25 pounds I've kept since having him. I'm thoroughly depressed with my weight, and fully aware that I am the only person who can do anything about it. I have taken this small step. I can't find any WW blog badges, so I'm using the one from My Fitness Pal. I decided to set it to show my goal rather than my progress, maybe it will help me focus on where I'm going.

I had some success with weight watchers years ago, until I quit. I haven't tried the "new" points system, so we'll see how that works. I remember my biggest frustration was eating out and on the go, so I'm hoping my Droid 2 will make a HUGE difference this time around.

I realized this morning that although I have half-a-dozen blog posts started and waiting to be finished, I haven't posted one in more than a week. I have lots to share, just gotta make time.