Say Cheese!

Max loves the camera! He will often ask me to take pictures of him and his toys! It is quite funny and endearing! I love that little boy!

An Ordinary Day!

We have lots of ordinary days...... and our ordinary days can be a lot of fun! We have an awesome swing (which I happen to have created) in a big oak tree in our yard! Max loves this swing! I love it when I can get good pictures of him on it, because he loves to swing!

My Little Monkey

I couldn't resist creating this layout for these photos! Carter has such a sense of humor and loves it when he makes people laugh!

Giving Traditional Scrappin' Another Try!

I have been a scrapper' for a very long time! I remember back in 1997 making a scrapbook from Paul's and my first trip to Walt Disney World. While it is nothing that I showcase in my home, I do treasure it because it was my first "real" scrapbook. From the completion of that scrapbook, I was hooked! I loved everything about traditional scrapbooking: I loved the stickers, the edging scissors, the punches, the shape cutters......you name it, I owned it! I probably should have been a Creative Memories consultant, because I owned more Creative Memories than most consultants. I was obsessed! But sadly, in the 12 years that I traditionally scrapbooked, I completed a pathetic 2 albums.......I have many albums partially completed, but have yet to finish them.

When I was introduced to digital scrappin' 2 years ago, initially it was a hard sell.....my first thought.....why would I spend $39.99 on a computer program.....that is too much money (apparently, forgetting the thousands of $$ spend on traditional scrappin')! Then, Lisa J. from My Memories Suite did a layout for me of my newborn son and my husband.....I was hooked! I immediately got it and began creating awesome layouts!

Recently, I have found an awesome system that compliments My Memories Suite perfectly..... it is a system called We R Memory Keepers. I get mine from The Memory Boutique and have been so happy with them! I chose an 8x8 black leather album and it looks SO professional and classy! I love this system for many reasons, but one the things that I especially love about this system is that I don't have to have all the layouts that I want included in the album done at once. I can order 10 here and 15 here or just 1 or 2 at a time. I don't have to feel overwhelmed by a deadline to get a certain number done to finish a book. Currently, I am working on our 2011 Family Album! I love it because I have been printing my layouts at the end of the month. This is nice because I won't be overwhelmed at the end of the year! You can get your layouts printed through The Memory Boutique printing service with amazing quality! You can get the 8x8 prints for as low as 99 cents each!

When I got my album in the mail, I was surprised that it came with some photo sleeves. They come with 10 sleeves (one page protector and 9 photo sleeves that hold 2 4x6 photos each). I purchased an additional package of page protectors. I had no clue what I would do with the 9 photo sleeves, but tucked them in the back of my album. I recently decided that I have to put those photo sleeves to use! I decided to do some traditional scrappin' with them! I had some paper and embellishments from the We R Memory Keepers Family Keepsake Collection. I gathered some photos that I already had printed and laid all the "stuff" I had to complete my little project on my dining room table. I had to dig out some of my scrappin' supplies to help me complete my pages (which did take me quite a while to locate them). I must admit, I did surprise my husband when he walked in and saw all the "stuff" scattered all over my table! LOL That was a sight that he hasn't seen in years! LOL It was a lot of fun to do this little traditional scrappin' project! The pages look great in my album with my digitally scrapped layouts! I think that I may be doing some traditional stuff more often!

If you are interested in giving digital scrappin' a try so you can see just how great the layout look printed from The Memory Boutique. Use the code STMMMS38029 to get $10 off the purchase of My Memories Suite program. In addition to the $10 off, you will get a coupon for $10 toward the store to buy some kits to use in your program! It is a great deal!

Don't delay........you can combine digital and traditional scrappin' in a beautiful and tasteful way by using the We R Memory Keepers albums and supplies, My Memories Suite for your digital program, and The Memory Boutique printing! You will not be disappointed!

(The layout above is a digitally scrapbook page of photos of my traditionally scrapbooked layouts in the We R Memory Keepers photo sleeves)

Another HOT day in Maine!

Well, it was another HOT day today........the local weather report is that it reached 104 degrees here today........we decided to hit the beach to get through the heat.....it worked! The kids had a great day at the beach! We decided to take my niece, Cordelia with us! The boys had such a great time with her! It was the perfect day to be at the beach! Here is another layout of Jacob's surf lesson! He had such a great time that this photo was just screaming to be scrapped!

More Surfing........

The temperature in Maine has been very high......I must admit, I do love it! I have been scrappin' a lot of Jacob's surf photos! I got some great ones! It is such a fun thing to scrap! He had such a great time that it makes scrappin' them even more fun!

A Great Night for Surfing!

Tonight was a wonderful night! Jacob has the awesome opportunity to have a surf lesson! Aquaholics Surf Shop has several nights each summer that they have kiddos with Autism out to the beach for a surf lesson! It was amazing! He had such a great time! He was shivering but didn't want to stop! I took 401 photos in 90 minutes! It was so cool watching all the kiddos having such a great time!

Memories......

I love spending time with my family......I will admit, the older my boys get, the easier it is to really enjoy any outings we have. I have always enjoyed them, but it has always been a bit more work than fun.....things are changing and it is becoming more fun than work. Don't get me wrong, there is still a lot of work involved, but every year it is getting to be less and less work! One place that we enjoy going is Smiling Hill Farm. It is a real working dairy farm with an area for children to play and visit animals. We have lots of fun there!

A Mermaid of a Great Time!

Imagine our surprise when we were walking down Ferry Beach and found this beautiful mermaid in the sand! It was so beautifully created! The boys thought is was lots of fun to lay down with her and pretend they were mermaids, too!

Good Weather + A Fun Time = Lots of Scrappin' Pages

I am having such a great time scrappin' our memories this summer! I am lucky that I have some awesome photos to work with......and it's only the middle of July! Today we had some great weather....about 76 all day and we stacked wood all day! It really made me realize that winter will be here before we know it.......4 cords of wood should get us through most of the winter! I am not looking forward to winter, nor am I rushing summer, but I really do love a wood stove! But I love the sunshine WAY more! Here's to an awesome summer!

More Wonderful Days.......

I have gotten some of the nicest photos this summer! This one is no exception! This is my little Carter with my Mom. They took a nap for a couple of hours on the beach on the 4th of July! A great place to take a nap! We have such good times at Range Pond State Park. We are very lucky to have such a nice place for us to go!

Summer Fun!

I know you are probably sick of hearing me say what a great summer we are having......but I must say it again! So far, the weather has been awesome! Lots of outside time......which translates to lots of dirty feet! But we are loving every minute!

Another Awesome Day!

Today was another beautiful day! Temperatures reached 90 today.......which if you have ever been to Maine, you know that is a very warm day! LOL Monday is our regular day to grocery shop, so we left right after putting Jacob on the school bus in order to get it done and over with! We love days like this!

We LOVE the Beach!

It is no secret that we love Summer! We love to go to the beach! My children love the beach! We are lucky that we live in Maine and have so many great beaches to choose from. Our favorite beach (fresh water) is 45 minutes away, but it is so worth the drive! Today we went to the beach! We met my Mom there and had a wonderful time! I was the big joke of the day because I faithfully put sunscreen on my children and after I put it on them I apply it myself..... my sunscreen was apparently not working correctly and gave me spotty protection to say the least.......but we still had a wonderful day!

The Wonderful, Fabulous, So Good, Really Great Day.....

What an awesome 4th of July we had! I know I said this before, but many people don't realize how difficult holidays are for my family. Most holidays the title of my blog post would be "The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day".......but not this holiday! It went off without a hitch! Jacob had a wonderful day......and if the truth be told: if Jacob has a good day.....the rest of us have a great day! I didn't get very many good photos because I was too busy having a great day! Here is one photo that I got that I thought was good enough to scrap! Make it a great day!

The Fun Lives on in Photos

I am still smiling from the awesome time we had at Range Pond State Park on the 4th of July. I have been trying to scrap this family photo since Monday, but the creativity for it didn't hit until today! When they say that creativity comes in spurts, they weren't kidding! Thanks to Beth for taking the picture! It is SUPER difficult to get a good picture of all of us, but she did an awesome job! The distractions at the beach were countless, but she still got it! LOL

Happy 4th of July!

Today was a spectacular day! We spent the entire day with friends and family at Range Pond State Park! It was an awesome day! The boys had so much fun! Jacob and Max made friends with some older boys that were so nice to them and Carter has decided that he isn't little anymore and did a great job keeping up with Jacob and Max.....I am afraid my little baby is growing up! We had such a great day! I am so happy that Summer is here!

Lovin' the Summer

I love Summer! I love being able to go outside and play without it taking 25 minutes of preparation and layers of clothing! Today was a rainy day, so I had a chance to do a couple of layouts! Here is a layout with a photo that I took with my phone! It takes pretty good pictures! Have a great 4th of July!

Happy July!

I cannot believe that it is July already! It seems like good weather just arrived and now it is July 1st! I am enjoying every bit of good weather that is coming my way! Here is some of the fun we have had recently! Have a great Independence Day Weekend!