Ugly Sister Pic 2009

I think this started Christmas 2008...the Ugly Sister Pic that is!  Last year was pretty darn ugly, but this one comes pretty close to it!

Bel has to always look purdy, so she just smiled prettily.  Emmy always takes the award for Best Ugly Face!  Here's last year's pic:

On second thought....maybe it's a tie!  Emmy definitely wins both years, though!  Just thought you'd enjoy the photos!  Watch out....I've got a Man of the Week for Monday!  Guessssss!

Hugs,
Mo

Wook Mommy.....

So here is one of my "little monsters"! Gabe is in his Terrible Twos. He's recently had this language EXPLOSION where he went from just two word descriptions to nearly full sentences! It's such an exciting time! Lately, I've just been taken by surprise with what comes outta his mouth!

We were sitting, hanging out the other night watching TV. All of a sudden he says..."Mommy! Mommy! Wook!"

I say "What?" He's pointing at the ceiling.

"Mommy wook! Doughnut! Doughnut!" And I look up again and start screaming with laughter!

Here's what we saw:

Wook. Can you see it? Wook at the ceiling. It's a doughnut!

As challenging as it can be, the Terrible Twos aren't so terrible!

Our Memories....A Vintage Book

Once again, I had a BLAST participating in the Creative Cafe at Vintage Plum this past Tuesday! (CLICK HERE FOR THE TUTORIAL ON CC). Beth hosted CC and posted a tutorial on how she altered a vintage book! Miss Beth is so CRAZY TALENTED! (Click on that last link to learn more about my wonderful friend!)

I am soooooo happy with what I created! For the longest time I've been waiting to find a way to showcase some of my early childhood family photos. Then, Vintage Plum put together the April Kit called Hopscotch and I KNEW I had some wonderful materials to use! Then....Beth showed us some CRAZY vintage books she made a few weeks ago and I went BALLISTIC!

I have to say that I've learned few things about my scrap booking style these past couple of months being addicted to Vintage Plum! I've expanded my talents and learned so much! Thanks to all the VP Homies!!!!!! Woot woot!

Here's my book!I grabbed everything vintagy I had and laid it around the table and just let the MoJo flow! I loved these papers from the Hopscotch kit....the colors reminded me so much of Hawaii! I'm soooo happy!

And then my two-year-old son was running around with this little red fabric flower he pulled off one of my fake plants....I grabbed him and said "Can I have that?".....thank goodness he didn't pitch a fit...he handed it right over! It looks wonderful with the paper!

I love that turquoise color! And the font on the rub ons (another yummy part of the Hopscotch Kit) are sooooo perfect!

I grabbed my bag of ribbon scraps and went WACKY! The messier the ribbon looked...the better it worked! And I found that cute fabric heart in that stash. I actually saved it....it was part of he tag from a baby outfit that was given to my son! Isn't it so adorable! I knew I'd find a good way to use it in my crafting!

Here's a side view so you can see the tags and hanging-outy thingys that peek out from my book! I love that look. It's so here-and-there-and-everywhere....just like my brain! (Don't believe me? Ask my friends and family!)

And to be totally honest.....I wasn't sure about the whole doily thing in the VP Kit...but MAN did it look good on this book! I went from anti-doily to DOILY FREAK! I need more doilys!

My booky book...you're looking so beautiful! Beth! She looks so beautiful, doesn't she?????? (he he he)
I couldn't stop snapping pictures of this book! I can't wait for my sisters to see it in person! My mom saw it and thought it was wonderful!

Look at that red flower....it's like it's just lookin' at you and smiling!

So I got a good start on this...it's not done. I just started few pages. It's gonna take a bit because I have to scan my photos first (I can't cut up the originals!). I'm so glad I got a printer/scanner last year!

Here's my first page. I love this stamp! It's by Provo Craft and it's a rolling journaling stamp called CIRCA. I will be using this lots in my vintage book!

About the photo: For the first 3 years of my life we lived in Guam (Dad was in the Navy. GO NAVY!). Then we moved to Hawaii. Yes, my dad's first car was a VW bug!

I broke into my big button jar....yay! I'm using up all kinds of stuff! Here I am just chillin' and relaxin'.....yes, they made swings back then (1977)! Look....it's made of aluminum!!!! He he.

The little birdy was made with my trusty Big Shot (It's the Birds and Blooms Sizzlits Die)! Order from Stampin' Up! If you don't already have a SU Demonstrator....order from ME ME ME! The black and white paper is part of a journaling book by Making Memories called 5th Avenue.

I asked my dad why they didn't smile in these old photos....he said they hadn't invented smiling in photos yet.....(he's a smart a**)! I never got a straight answer.

Here's a couple pages I started. I used another journaling page from my MM 5th Avenue spiral notebook. That beautiful strip of orange patterned paper is part of the March VP Kit "Hill Country" (can't remember the manufacturer).

Hope you liked the pics! I'll show you guys the pages as I complete them! This was tons of fun! Creative Cafe is on Tuesday at Vintage Plum (here are all the projects so far)! Can't be there on Tuesdays? The tutorials are posted and so you can do them later on your own time! Post your creations to the gallery! Want to peek at the other vintage books? CLICK HERE! Check back often to see new photos!

Okay your link lovers! I'm officially link overloaded AND I've got carpal tunnel! I'm done! See you soon!

365 Photo-A-Day Challenge!

Okay, I was flipping through my Creating Keepsakes magazine and found a 365 photo challenge. You are to take at least 1 photo everyday. The intent is to scrapbook these photos, but you could also choose to put it in a blog or even email daily (or weekly)...the point is to capture moments in your life. I think it would be VERY interesting to look back on it in a year to see how I have spent my time. It's a daily diary entry! I'm all over this project. So far, I have been able to take a photo everyday.....it's really not as difficult as it sounds. At least I know that I've got my battery charged and a backup battery ready to go as well as a spare memory card.....and hopefully, if anything, I can't say that I missed a photo opportunity because my battery was dead or my memory card was full.

Here's some cool links:

PROJECT 365 PHOTO-A-DAY CHALLENGE

365 DAYS, 365 IDEAS FOR PHOTOS

Unfortunately the Kit of the Month by Becky Higgins is SOLD OUT...but hopefully they make more! But, if you wanna take a look at the kit there is a link to it in the Creating Keepsakes link (1st link above). Also, check out Becky's blog too....she posts some of the photos she has taken CLICK HERE for the link to this post. And there's a section where readers are sharing links to their blogs if you want more ideas.

Here are a couple of my photos:

January 3: After spending a long day at work, I came to a house which was just the way I left it!!! The kids were off at their grandparent's house for the weekend...wheeew! Wow, it was so nice being able to JUST WATCH TV....I mean REALLY WATCH. No interruptions, no whining and fighting, no "mommy" repeatly in my ear until I answer......wow. Very cool. I just needed 1 day of this and I was RECHARGED!


I

January 4: Gabe got Mr. Potato Head for Christmas from his Auntie Sherry and Uncle Tony.....and Isabel commented thet he looked like her Uncle Nan (a police officer)....so we lovingly called him Mr. Nan-Tato Head.

A "buh" with a "ooooh" chunk!

It's amazing what Isabel (my daughter) comes home saying! She is learning so much in Kindergarten, I just can't believe how fast. Today I went to Curriculum Night where her teacher talks about what the goals are and what the class is learning and even how they are learning how to read and write.....pretty cool.

So, I realized what she meant the other day when she READ HER FIRST WORD (at least in front of me)! We were watching her favorite YouTube video (I subscribe to lots of crafting videos....he he...and there are a couple she LOVES to watch). In one of the videos, a woman makes a cool Halloween card that says "boo" (below is the video, if you happen to want to see it...it's pretty darn cool). Anyway, we're watching the video and she goes....."Mommy, I know what that says. It says "boo". And my eyes get super big and I go....."how do you know that, honey?" She says, "cuz it has a buh with a ooooh chunk".

As it so happens, her teacher, Mrs. Finan, explains today at Curriculum Night how they are learning how to read "chunks" like the "an" chunk in the word ran and can and so on.......so if they learn the chunks, they can learn lots of other words with different letters before (and after) the chunk. Does that make sense? Anyway, thought that was a cool story...now I know why I've been going around the house these past 3 days saying "a buh with a ooooh chunk"! SO CUTE!

OH! SO FAR, ISABEL HAS $31 IN DONATIONS FOR THE FUN RUN (he he......it's from her mommy and papa).......IF YOU WANNA DONATE,you can find more info and a link at our FAMILY WEBSITE.

Here's the video!




AND IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN THIS YOUTUBE CHANNEL, HERE IS THE LINK TO OKAKUKU (THE NAME OF THE USER).