Thinking about those who are no longer with us

Since I was fourteen years old, March has always been a really difficult month for me. The reason for that is that my father passed away on March 2, 1995 after having spent nearly a month in a coma following a massive heart attack.

So, having a heritage type of scrapbook kit to work with this month has been a great form of therapy for me. Not only have I lost my father, I've also lost all of my grandparents, some friends and two children to miscarriage in my life. Thinking about all of these loved ones is something that has a tendency to bring me down.

Though we never lived really close to my grandparents, I was very close to my grandmother, Mary and I feel very lucky that she had the opportunity to meet both of my children (two of her oldest great-grandchildren) in her life. The day that we brought Paul home from the hospital she was able to hold him. It was less than a short week later and she was gone, but she had the opportunity to meet him. My grandfather passed away when I was just twelve years old, so I don't have quite as many vivid memories of him, but I do remember that I certainly did love him.

Some pictures of my maternal grandparents taken over the years.

For my layout I used Memories are Precious by Joyce de Jonge

Spring and Weddings are in the air

This week has been so beautiful outside that I've not been spending a lot of time at the computer. It is almost impossible to stay cooped up inside when the sun is shining and the birds are singing.

However, yesterday I did have to stay inside because my wonderful son attempted to set our house on fire. Luckily, all he lit was the bag of toilet paper and it was right by the fireplace so I could throw it in there before any damage was able to be done. He is still grounded today, so I'm inside again.

So, the spring season is traditionally thought of as the wedding season and that is when my parents were married, 34 years ago. I decided to scrap a page with their wedding picture using Joyce de Jonge's wonderful kit, Memories are Precious.

My mom and dad on the day that they were married along with the lyrics to their first dance song.

For my layout I used Memories are Precious by Joyce de Jonge

Happy St. Patrick's Day

May the luck of the Irish be with you. I hope that you remembered to wear your green today so that you don't get pinched.


Kathryn and Paul found these cool St. Patrick's Day shirts at Wal-Mart the other day and they both absolutely had to have them. I love the fact that they decided on matching t-shirts and they fit both of their personalities so well. I think that they are rockers stuck in bodies where their mother is more of a country girl.

I've also been doing some scrapping today. I dug out these old pictures of Paul when he was just over a year old. I'd scrapped them before, but that was when I scrapped everything in an 8 x 10 format. I changed over to 12 x 12 a little bit over a year ago and when I find the right kits, I've been rescrapping my old pages.

I absolutely love The Most Wonderful Place on Earth: Wild Mouse Scraps by Glenda Ketcham and find it really easy to use despite the fact that neither I nor the kids have ever been to Disney.

When Paul was little, he was convinced that slides were for climbing up, not sliding down.
For my layout I used The Most Wonderful Place on Earth: Wild Mouse Scraps by Glenda Ketcham.

Hope you are all having a wonderful St. Patrick's Day Weekend

Spring has Sprung

I don't know how the weather is in your neck of the woods, but here in Lexington, it has been wonderful this week. Temperatures have been in the mid-60s to mid-70s and that has meant that I've been able to get out of the house without a jacket on.

It reminded me of our first trip to the park four years ago, just a few days after a large snowstorm.

I created a page with some of those pictures:

Some pictures of the kids playing at the park during our first park visit in 2008.For my layout I used The Most Wonderful Place on Earth: Wild Mouse Scraps by Glenda Ketcham.

Snowwoman

You know, we've had pretty rough winters here for the last couple of years. Thus, this winter when it didn't look like we were going to get any snow was a treat.

Of course, my loving snow for a day or so really did want to have one of those snowfalls where I could send the kids out in the white stuff to play and build a snowman. I got the perfect snow this past Monday. We got four inches of incredibly wet snow that closed schools down for the day (and I did send the kids out to build a snowwoman).

The best part of the snow, it was 65 degrees on Tuesday, so it lasted long enough for a little bit of fun, but on Tuesday I could send Paul up to Sammy's house in his shirt sleeves.

I present to you a lovely layout made with materials by the incredibly talented Paula Yagisawa showing our short-lived snowwoman.

After a winter with very little snow, we had the perfect snow to build a snowwoman this week. The snow packed beautifully, but it didn't stay cold but for one day.For my layout I used Put A Verb in It! Bundle by Paula Yagisawa at Digitals.

It's Been a Long Time

I know, this blog was all but abandoned, but life and depression got in my way over the last couple of years.

I've given up my career as a designer for right now and I'm concentrating on scrapping as that truly is my passion and my therapy. You see, this last year has been filled with a cancer battle for our family as Tom was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma in April of 2011.

I'll be sharing some of my scrapbook layouts, some anecdotes from our life and I might even be venting on here from now on.

But today, I want to share one of my newest scrapbook pages:

To celebrate my best friend's daughter, Star's birthday, she got a hotel room so that the kids could all play in the pool.

For my layout I used Put a Verb in It! Bundle by Paula Yagisawa.