Summers almost over (boo hoo)

That's what I wish it was! I wish it was a day where there weren't tons of things to do. But of course that's not the case at all. I love that school started but will admit that summers are my most favorite time of the year and it is starting to get dark here a lot earlier. I do love the fall colors and taking great family pictures in the leaves, but fall comes so fast and it's gone just as quick. And we all know what comes after fall. But I will rewind it a little lol lol it was hot today, humid hot. I loved it too! lol lol!!

I actually do have some great stuff to share (other than the weather).... I scrapbooked last night, I finished a page that I had started working on a few weeks ago. I had been planning on getting the rest of the year's scrapbook pages on the actual calendar but only got started on one page when I got distracted with homeschool organization.

But here is the layout that I created

Supplies used for the layout are
Paper: October Afternoon apples cut from the Detours fruit stand, and Cherry Hill's cookie jar strip. Cosmo Cricket's Girl Friday Wednesday graph paper and also the green lined sheet from early bird? unsure of the name.

Embellishments: MM just chillin' boys trims (star ribbon)and glitter brads, pencil brad from Oriental Trading, and Basic Grey button. Jenni Bowlin alpha stickers. American Crafts orange embossing powder.

Diecuts/embossing folders: Coluzzle oval circle, Cuttlebug star embossing folder, Fiskars bracket border punch, Quickutz central park alpha, and Sizzix Wingo Zingo alpha border, and Doodlebug block lowercase alpha (the letter t in to).

Stamps: Star acrylic stamps, small wooden alpha stamps.

It was inspired by a thought that I wanted to use the entire border strip from Sizzix's wingo zingo alpha border. I had been planning on using it for a while but could never get it to work with my previous school year pages and the # of photos but this time it worked out perfectly.

Well I am off to try and get some plans together. I have an upcoming order and I am excited about making baby cards. I also have to make a customized Alabama mascot card. I have the sketch already done and I know exactly where I want to do.

Sometimes I wonder what is wrong with me? Honestly, I have enough to do in any given day, but somehow I continue to volunteer to do something else.


My oldest wanted a school planner and so he wanted me to make one for him. It would have been so much easier to go to Walmart to buy one but it was something that he wanted us to do together. I do have to say that he has tons of notebooks, story books he's made and even a new day runner he found at a local thrift store (yes, he wanted a planner with the money that he got to spend there). He loves to write, and he does great stories but he isn't organized at all. So this is my one millionth attempt to help him in that area.

It was easy to create in MS word (using a table) and then I asked him if he liked it, he gave me some feedback and then headed to bed. Now that is what I should have done too...but instead I headed to the scrap space and picked out stickers, rub-ons, calendar stamps, images and tons more that he could use to create a planner he loved.

So today he picked what he liked and we were working on it all day long. It was the first day in awhile that we actually stayed in. I can't even tell you if it was a nice day or not...it was a planner making day lol lol! I know that I have tons of other things to do and I really should be doing some of them but it was nice to take some time and work on a project with the kids. And now each of them have a notebook/planner or sticker book.

But here is what I made for my oldest... I told him that I would add it here because he just wanted to show it off to everyone.

Besides the word document, everything else was his decision. He did it his way...and it turned out just fine for what he needs it for, but it was hard not to take over and do it the way that I thought it should look. But that is just part of the crafter/Mom in me. LOL

Well that's enough for tonight. But here are some photos of the crew for the family. I swear Nya still looks like my MIA. And she is adorable! All the kiddos have looked like my MIA at first and then they start looking like either my hubby or me.

Just had to stop in really quick to update. I am a little busy this week trying to do some of the things that I know I need to get done before my oldest starts his online school next week and also still looking for the Saxon math books and now another program that I heard about from a customer. I have purchased some 2nd grade reading and science books from Northwestern Bookstore but I am on the lookout for some more challenging things. I also have contacted a co-op and am hoping to find out about there daily activities that they have for homeschooled children. I am truly excited...

I have also began cutting pages for the mini album class. It is something that I said that I would wait to do (because I don't know how many people will sign up) but I want to be prepared.

I even cleaned up my room today. I would take a picture of it but when I look at it although it is cleaner than it was, it is still a little messy so I won't be sharing that picture of my space just yet. Well not until I have done the class and put up all the stuff that I pulled out for it.

Well I am off to bed...I have an early morning tomorrow. And that includes a 7:30am appt to the dentist.

Family....I will be adding pictures of the kids to the blog again. I guess I never realized (until I was told on facebook) that I don't have any recent pics of the new little one. She is so chubby now. I mean she is no longer that 4lb baby I brought home from the hospital. She was 11 lbs at her last appt (a few weeks ago) so I know she is now at least 13 or more. And she has the chubbest little arms and legs. I think she is so cute. And I have no clue anymore who she looks like? I mean she did look like my hubby's mom and now she looks so different. But be on the lookout for new pictures this week. I will make sure to put all the kids on here so everyone can see them all. Smiles, Tracy

Mini sneaks of the album...

I am so excited to be sharing this with everyone...I worked hard on it so all comments would be appreciated. So here it is....

It is a total of 6 chipboard pages & one acrylic page. It also has stamping, embossing, and hand-made embellishments (see the apple on the above photo).

I will upload a couple of more pages for the next few weeks. Also I have started to work on other projects that I am really excited about too. But I am loving this little album. It will be leaving my possession and making it's way to it's new home tomorrow afternoon.

Oh, I am also selling sets of the mini chipboard albums on ebay currently. I have them listed at $16 for a set of four. Which would be $4 an album and which also is really not a lot.

Plus I will be uploading a picture of the entire kit. It is huge. There are several patterned papers, and cardstock colors. I didn't even use half of the items that I have in the kit on the album but they match the cover paper so well that I couldn't limit them.

Also I am have been busy debating on what to take to the store to sell in the garage sell. I am thinking tons of my cards, maybe a few mini albums that I did and never listed.

A quick update just for you all that are waiting to see the mini album that I am working on. I plan on getting photos of it taken this week and have it dropped off at the Scrapbook Shop so that you can stop in and check it out.

The photos won't be upload here for a few days but the newsletter for the store will show some of the first pages. I have to say that I packed this album full of all kinds of things that I loved and even things that I had been wanting to use but never did. I also have to say that I pretty much blew my budget on the class two times over! I mean who could decide between one line of papers or any other. Especially when you drive over 50 miles to get them. But its all worth it! I mean this is how I scrapbook and so I have to get the best items even if it means I have to go outta my way to get them.

Let's see what else is going on? Well I have decided that my oldest is going to attend an online school and he is excited about that. More so than being home schooled by me alone. Don't get me wrong he was excited about being at home and being home schooled but we went and checked it out and knew immediately that it might be better for him. He'll still be home but the best thing is he does all of his work on the computer.

But I picked up some homeschooling items for my younger son and he is excited. I just have to do some research and price checking on getting him into some kind of activity in the day. I don't really know what but something fun. And exhausting...he really needs to burn off some energy!

I just wanted to say something also about a great man who passed away this last week. He was my hubby's uncle. And he was amazing! Honestly. He and I never met in person but he rocked with a capital R! I wish I would have gotten to meet him before he passed away. I am not sure of all the details but I know that he had a long battle with cancer and he passed away when he seemed to be getting better. I can remember one of the first conversations that I had with him and he told me that whatever I was doing to keep it up because he could see that Vele was happy. I can also remember thinking wow he is so down to earth and that he seemed so fun, educated, and silly all in one. I think it's because of the relationship that Vele had with him that I was able to love Vele so easily. Ray was Vele's role model. And there were times when Vele didn't know what to do about a situation and he would pick up the phone and call his Uncle in CA. I cried when telling Vele that he had passed on. He was just a truly amazing person. And Vele truly has been changed by his passing but we know he is in a better place. But Uncle Ray will be missed...Surf on Uncle Ray.... Surf on!!

A really quick update...(oops this was supposed to post on Friday instead of today)

Well I have been working on the school mini album class and it is really coming together. I never work on the cover of an album first so there isn't anything that I can show you just yet (or maybe I can give some other details. But it is a lot of fun so far and it looks really cute. But I will stop teasing you for now ;0).

So here is one little detail that I can share with you... this is a mini tag that will be just before the front cover (I think?? I might do some acrylic there also??) but the front cover will be the bracket shape (the pages will be a few different shapes). But the circle chipboard tag show is embossed and inked which both will be done in the class. And I can't wait until some of the supplies that I need come in so that I can get it all together.

Now some family updating....

I had been in the process of searching for a new school for the boys the last couple of months (well once I got off bedrest) and I hadn't planned on making a choice to leave their current school until all the budget stuff came up and also the No child left behind info. I know that the numbers are based on a low # of students but it just bothers me that their school has been on that list and now is on stage 3. I am a strong supporter of public education but I feel like things aren't getting better. I don't want to get into too much because my boys are doing well but I do wonder if the school is failing and their personal scores are higher than the school are they getting enough? Especially when my oldest is in some grade levels higher than his current grade and still comes home with no homework because he finished it in class. Both his test scores and grades have told me for a while that he needs to be doing something more than what he is. And while visiting my 2nd son's class and meeting with the teacher we began to hear some of the same things then too...he is advanced, he can read at a third grade level (he was in first grade) and so on and so on.

My hubby and I have decided that homeschooling might be the way to go. I am now looking into it and trying to make sure that I do all the legal things to make sure that I can home school them as well as get the best programs for each of them. Plus now that means lots of things will change, and I am trying to be brave lol lol as well as confident that I can continue to give them what they need. It's scary but exciting, maybe it's more intimidating than anything because I started to second guess that I could do this and still have my sanity. After all them heading off to school was a great thing. But now they will be with me A-L-L day long A-L-L year long. I hope we will survive it!

We have worked with homeschooling materials for years that I got from a neighbor but I am going to have to get the best materials available. So my search for that has begun. And although I say that I will home school them, I still haven't written my letter of intent to the Principal. I called her to today and she began to tell me how she will miss us and how she knows that the boys are going to do great.

Mini album madness!!!

The album is done and I am so finished with it...ok I might add some more ribbons but here are some of the pictures for it. I am trying to list it on ebay but keep getting kicked out?? That has never happened before but the error says it has something to do with ebay's gallery? So whenever that is up and running I can list it and you all can bid on it.

Well here are the pictures of it...I am so excited about the album but at the same time I am going to hate to see it go. It has tons of my favorite papers and embellishments on it but it needs a home where it can be loved and used! I am thinking that with all the stuff that I have left over I could surely make another two of these, but I don't know?

The front cover is embossed (the white circles) and painted (the red). I added tons of ribbon and still think that I need to add some more yellow to the album?

You can get more details about the pages and products I used here... I can't upload all of them because my new little one is fussy right now, she just got 2 month old shots!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tracyross98/sets/72157621868098153/

Also here is the link to the actual auction

http://cgi.ebay.com/Premade-summer-mini-album_W0QQitemZ230365818090QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item35a2df6cea&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14