Ad-Inspiration!

I found this advertisement in my favorite scrapbook magazine!! Although we may complain about all the advertising that many scrapbook magazines seem to have, use them to your advantage as great inspiration!!!

I loved the collage of photos on the advertisement and decided to duplicate the look on my layout. I had these pictures of Kolby eating ice cream last summer during a Kid's Day carnival. I loved all the pictures and the expressions on his face and always wanted to use all the pictures, but never knew how to do it without doing a two page layout. This ad was my answer as I reduced some of the pictures down and created a collage. Love the results!



(Supplies for layout from Addicted Scrappers April 2008 kit)

Thank a Teacher!

"If you can read this, thank a teacher!"

With school just a week away, I wanted to make something special for my son's 1st grade teacher. As a teacher myself, I know how crazy and stressful the first week of school is so I've made a point to do something little for his classroom teacher's each year. Last year I made an inspirational card for his Kindergarten teacher and this year I made a photo frame for his 1st grade teacher (got the idea from the Sept/Aug Scrapbooks Etc. magazine- p.22). I plan to send it in his backpack for her on the first day of school. Its a great pick-me-up that first day for any teacher!!!

And the winner is.....

Thanks so much everyone for coming out to join in my 1000th hit celebration! WHOO-HOO!

My 6 year-old son was my little helper who randomly selected a number between 1-10 (correlates with the 10 people who commented on my post). After wanting to know what "game" I was playing... LOL (I think he thought I was playing his WebKinz!!) he chose number...

#9

Our winner of a scrappy prize is.... BETH!! Congratulations!

Please e-mail me at ajcbretz@yahoo.com and let me know your address so I can send you your prize! Thanks everyone for playing along!! Until next time...

1000 Hits Celebration!

Well... I know that 1000 hits isn't much, but its a big step for a little blogger like me. So to celebrate, I am giving away a little goodie bag of scrapbook prizes to a lucky winner. Wanna play? Just leave a comment here and tell me what you like, don't like or want to see more of on my blog. On Thursday, August 21 I will randomly select a winner! So be sure to check back then to see if you've won! Good luck everyone!!

T-ball season

Well... we survived our first T-ball season with our oldest son Carson. Last year was our experimentation year... we tried gymnastics, soccer, swimming, and T-ball camps. Soccer was definitely not his forte (he was the one running miserably behind all the kids crying "they won't give me the ball"!). Nope... definitely not a soccer kid. But T-ball camp didn't go too bad.

So... we signed up for our first T-ball league this year.

The first practice had me questioning our decision that this was his "best" sport. First was his attempt at throwing the ball... oh help us... his adorable attempt had him flinging his arm across the front of his body and landing the ball all the way in the soccer field to his left. Then he would turn to us with a huge smile and give us a thumbs up... hee hee... hee... yeah... ok.... Then he stepped up to the bat. He was ready, he was holding the bat, ready to swing... until Daddy yelled "Coach- he's right-handed!" He was holding the bat in his wrong hand. Oh boy...

This was going to be a long season.

But much to my surprise, he improved very quickly and loved it! He was a great listener and paid attention most of the time (unless there was a spider or catepillar in the grass... then any ball, coach or players quickly moved into a non-priority position as he squatted down intently watching the lucky little insect! And on some rare occasions, other teammates noticing what he had found would readily leave their positions and race over to see the bug who had commanded so much attention! ...all in the middle of a game!) But if a ball came his way... he usually stopped it. He was a great runner and even managed a few good hits! I was so proud of him! It was fun to go to his games and he was all smiles all the time. What a great little sportsman!

So... T-ball is over, but we will definitely be looking forward to next year's season!

Baby card

Only 8 more weeks and I'm going to have a brand new nephew! I'm so excited! My only baby brother and his wife are due in September. Since they live across the street from us, I hope to see the little peanut all the time! My boys are very excited for their cousin to arrive too! My 6 year-old asks me about every other day "Did Auntie Lisa's baby come yet?" He loves to pat her tummy whenever he sees her! Its really cute. Since all three boys will be three years apart, I hope they grow up to have a lot of fun together!

We had a baby shower for them this weekend. Here's a little card I made with some scraps. TFL!