Scrap Matters is experiencing some technical difficulty due to the recent server move and is currently down. I'm going through withdrawal! I never realized how much time I spend there until it is down. Hopefully it is up and running again very soon.

Tonight Paul and I are headed to his 15th class reunion. It should be interesting. So far the last I heard most of the people I talk to that he graduated with aren't going to be there. It will be nice to have a night without the kids though. We'll actually get to sleep in if we need to on Sunday. lol.

The kids are finally getting a chance to ride with Paul in the truck this summer. On Monday night, Paul made it through town so we met him up at the shop so Michaella could go with him. Hunter was counting down the days until he came home and he gets to go with him. I think that this is one of their highlights of summertime-spending alone time with their daddy. They talk about it the entire year.

On Monday Kailee had her 18 month checkup. Her Dr. confirmed that she is probably allergic to peanuts and prescribed an epi-pen for her. He also said we should have have Benadryl with us all the time, too. Her reaction to them got worse than it ever has this past weekend. Her eyes started swelling shut. Normally she would just get a rash. We have had a feeling that she was allergic since Jan, so we have been really trying to make sure we avoid them around her as much as possible. Now we just have to make sure that everyone else she is around her knows can't have them.

So while it's down I'll show you some of the other layouts I made this month during my guest spot. lol.

First up is a page using Andilynn's newest kit, Festiva.


Check out this fun new kit by Trixie Scraps & Bella Gypsy called Saffron Blues.


So these pictures are about a year after the pictures in the previous page. Can you believe how much she has changed? I know I sure can't. When I seen I Scream, You Scream by The Design Girl, I just knew I had to use it to scrap these pictures.


This page is actually scrapped with pictures that I took during our weekend in the Twin Cities. I just love Haynay's Love My Doll and Love My Baby kits. They were just perfect to scrap this special moment. She is already wanting to be like her big sister. lol.



On Saturday that weekend we went to the Como Zoo. I'm the first to admit that I'm a shutterbug. lol. I took over 60(!) picture of this little guy! He was just being too cute. Someone had dropped a plastic cup in their enclosure and this baby orangutan was so interested in it. I used Boys in my Backyard by Stolen Moments & Stacy's Backdoor Scraps.



Also went through the conservatory there. These pictures are from the Japanese Garden. It was about ready to start raining while I was checking it out. This page uses Spring Whisper by LDrag Designs.



Sunday it was time for Valleyfair! Thoroughly Amused by Haynay Designs & Plum Dumpling Designs was the perfect kit to scrap these pictures of Paul & Michaella going on the Corkscrew for the 3rd time in a row!



These cute little guys are in the courtyard in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle. I used Forest Friends by Erica Zane. Love those cute little critters in that kit.



Yep, finally getting a couple more pages scrapped of our vacation to California in 2007. lol. I guess I'm trying to draw it out until we make it back to Disney again. These pictures are from Sea World. I used Bella Gypsy's At the Dropoff Value Bundle.



Love scrapping my Disney pictures & sometimes some of them just call to be scrapped more than once. I already have this picture scrapped and in my FINISHED Disney World album, but Sahlin Studio's Innovation kit was just calling for me to re-scrap it digitally.



One last one for today. :) This one uses Celebrate (bold) by Chelle's Creations. It has such fun birthday elements.



Can't wait for Scrap Matters to be up and running again so you can all see the awesome new releases that the great designers have coming out this week.

We finally got a chance to go camping this past weekend. It's been since last Memorial Day weekend that we went last. It was a lot of fun, but I have to say that the mosquitos were out in full force. Apparently they thought I made a great meal, too, because my legs and feet are completely covered with bites. Ugh, they itch so bad and everything I have tried hasn't made it much better. Paul, the kids and I headed over on Thursday afternoon. We went to the Mall of America on Friday. Kailee got her first American Girl doll. She had so much fun playing with the display birthday party set up that her daddy decided to get her one of her own. She was so excited to get the doll. The lady at the checkout took it out of the box for her right away and she held tightly on to it for most of day. That is until we went to the Disney Store and she spotted a beanie Minnie Mouse. Michaella got another one of the little dogs with the carrier and Hunter had fun checking out the Lego store. All three kids thought the figures made out of the Legos were very neat. Hunter got to pick out another set to add to his growing Lego collection. He and Michaella have been working on putting it together since last night. Of course we had to cap the day off with a visit to the Rainforest Cafe. Kailee was quite enthralled with all the decorations. Friday night my parents, sister, her boyfriend and our Bolivian "sister" joined us at the campground. We headed to the Como Zoo on Saturday. That night my brother and his girlfriend came up to join us for our day at Valleyfair. My kids went on all the big coasters that they could, along with the water rides. They had a great time there.

Hunter has his last T-ball game this week. He really has done a great job this year. They stopped using the tee a couple weeks ago. They get 3 pitchs to try to hit it and then his coach lets them uses the tee again. He has been able to hit if off the pitch several times. Here is a page I did for this years season using Home Run Derby by Haynay Designs.



I took the kids to the zoo a couple weeks ago for their Animal Enrichment day. The zoo gives all the animal different objects for them to eat & play with. The kids had a great time watching the animal try out all the new items they were given. We even got lucky enough to see the zoo's three baby tigers. They were not supposed to be out on exhibit yet, but they decided they didn't want to go inside in the morning, so the zookeepers let them remain outside. Oh my were they so cute! I took so many pictures of them. lol. The baby tigers weren't the only babies we seen at the zoo that day. Check out this page using Lawteeda's A Day at the Zoo kit of all the little ones we see that day.



Kailee has absolutely loved being outside this summer. Everytime she goes outside she has to find a rock. Even when we are on pavement she has to try and look for a rock to pick up. She likes to just carry them around in her hands. When it's time to go back inside, she knows she has to put them back down. I used Trixie Scraps Nature Girl kit to scrap this page about Kailee and her rocks.



As I said in my last posting this is my guest month on the Scrap Matters' CT and I'm having a great time so far. I'm getting alot of scrapping done. Here are some of the pages I have completed so far.

These are the flamingos at Sea World in San Diego. When I seen the new Daily Download at Scrap Matters I knew exactly what pictures I was going to use to scrap with it. I just love the colors of this kit. If you missed this great kit during the Daily Download, never fear because at the end of the month Coastal Getaway will be available for sale in the shop.



Paul's dad's side rents the group cabin site at one of our local state parks every year for the weekend. The kids have a blast playing with their cousins. Of course what weekend wouldn't be complete without some water sports. WM Squared and Stolen Moments released Lakeside at Scrap Matters this past week & it's the perfect kit to scrap all the pictures from there. Here is Hunter & one of the other boys having a great time riding the water slide. They were having such a great time. The kids look forward to going every year. Unfortunately this year we weren't able to make it though, since we were camping by the cities last weekend.



I can't believe my baby sister graduated from high school this year. I used Graham Like the Cracker's Purple is my Signature Color kit to scrap these pictures of her receiving her diploma.



These page scrapped with Designs by Tater's Yankee Doodle Doo is from when we went to the Wisconsin Dells over the Fourth of July to celebrate my grandparents' 50th Anniversary.



One last page for this week. I used Inspirations from Day's new Summer Woods to scrap these pictures of the deer we seen when we were at the Royal Gorge in 2006.

Apparently I've been a bit neglectful of my blog again. oops. Lot of things have happened since my last post. Some good, some bad. Worked my way through them all and here we are. :) Won't bore you will all the details, but let's just say I'm glad the last couple months are over. Can't believe that stores are already getting out the back to school stuff & that my kids have less than 7 weeks left of summer vacation.

I managed to get 65 pages done for the Queen of Scrap contest in May at Scrap Matters. My goal was to get to all the prize levels and I succeed, so even though I didn't get crown Queen or Princess I'm pretty happy with the outcome. And thankfully my mojo didn't leave me like it did last year because...

This is my month to be a guest on the Scrap Matters' store CT! Woohoo! I'm so excited! :) Lots of fun things happening there this month.

The first of the month seen the return of the Daily Download. The designers have put together a beautiful kit for you this month. There are still quite a few days left to grab it so make sure to head over there and start collecting the pieces.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...at least it will starting Friday at Scrap Matters. They are having a Christmas in July sale again this year. This is the perfect time to get ahead of the game and get some fun Christmas projects started.

So many great releases at the store again this week. I had a chance to work with the pretty new collab called Drift Away from by Becca and Graham Like the Cracker. Love the colors and all the fun elements in this kit. I used the bundle to create this page from our trip to Sea World a couple years ago.



Another new release I worked with this week is The Basics Templates Set 3 by Haynay Designs. I used her Tumble Time kit to finally scrap one of Michaella's gymnastics pictures. Love the fun, bright colors of this kit. I can see myself using this one quite a bit. :)



Summer is a great time to cool off with a bowl of ice cream and this month's Matter of Taste challenge is the perfect place to find some fun new recipes. Make sure to check them out and while your add it scrap a page of your own favorite. I found this recipe on allrecipes.com and can't wait to try it out. We have had an ice cream maker for several years, but don't use it very often. I'm hoping this challenge is just the push I need to get it out and start using it again. This page uses Happy Scrap Girl's Berry-licious Bundle.

Trixie Scraps also has a new release this week, but because of the server move at Scrap Matters was unable to release it there. But don't worry you can still grab it at Gotta Pixel and her personal store. Viva la Vino originally released during her guest spot at The Digi Chick but has now made it's way "home". She collabed with Rachel of Steel City Scraps to bring you this great kit full of rich colors. It was the perfect kit to scrap the pictures of our yummy desserts we had at Le Cellier in the Canada pavillion at Epcot.



She has also started a great new challenge at Gotta Pixel called Show Me the Mini. Each month she will give you a free mini kit that coordinates with one of her kits. Your challenge it to use every piece in the mini to create a page. This month the mini coordinates with her newest collab with Sarah Bennett, Old Glory. Make sure to check it out and join her for this awesome challenge. Here is one of the pages I made using the Old Glory bundle that is available at Scrap Matters, Gotta Pixel and her personal store.



Sya's Blueprints has put out some really great templates in the last month, too.

This layout was done using Just the Pictures.


Here is one using The Chosen One Set 5.


And finally one using Reloaded Vol. 1.


As you can see I've been quite busy scrapping. These are just a few of the awesome new products that have been released since I last posted. Make sure to check out their stores to see the rest. :)

One more thing before I say goodbye for now.

Do you have Disney pictures you are having trouble scrapping because you don't know what to do with them? Well then check out the photo swap going on at Mouse Scrappers. Mouse Scrappers is a board set up for those that love scrapping Disney pictures. There are lots of various challenges going on there to help you get your pages scrapped and if that weren't enough there is also a gallery loaded with great pages to draw some inspiration from.

Well that is all for now, until next time...

Happy Scrapping! :)