And Still More Painted Faces...

I know you are all probably getting sick of face painting, but we are really have fun here.

Here are just a few more practice faces...





I really love how the kissing koi fish came out.

I will continue to practice next week, but I am feeling like I have the knack of it again.

Also, just a reminder there is still time to complete Challenge #4 over at Scrapdragons. There is a yummy prize for the winner!! So click here to go check it out!!

Practice, Practice, & More Practice

Well we had another night of face painting here at our house.
I am feeling more confident with my painting again. I am getting the feel for the paints & the brushes. By the time the street fair comes I will be just fine.

Here is what we played with tonight...







I also ordered another set of paints & some new brushes that are due to arrive on October 1st. So I will have even more stuff to play with. I use professional face paint & boy what a difference it makes.

So far the kids are enjoying being my canvas to practice, but wouldn't it be funny if they were like, "Mom no more face painting...pleeeaaase!!"

Playing With Paint

For those of you who do not know I am a member of Rotary International. I have been a member of my local club, Bound Brook/Middlesex Rotary, for about 6 years now. We meet once a week & do all kinds of work for our local community & also help sponsor international projects as well. Well, on Sunday, October 6th there will be a community festival in Bound Brook & our club is going to have a table. we will be selling lollipops, providing fingerprint ID kits for children with the cooperation of the local police department, & I will be doing face painting. The funds raised will all be put to use by our club for service projects & help to add to our flood relief fund.

I have done this event in the past & I really enjoyed myself. I am only an amateur face painter, mainly doing it for my kids, so I decided I will spend a few nights practicing on my kids & their friends. I need to take pictures & make an idea booklet with suggested donations.

So tonight we had one of the girls' soccer friends over for dinner with her family after soccer practice & we pulled out the paints.

Here is some of what I did...






I was a bit rusty & the black paint was a bit runny, but overall I think I will get the hang of it before the festival. I need to adjust some of my brushes. I bought some new ones & I don't love how they work.

Hopefully I can work out all the kinks ove the next week.

It is always a long day, but what fun to see the kids faces when they see themselves int he mirror. It also feels good knowing that all the money I raise goes to a good cause.

Well I did it...

I submitted my entry to be considered for a spot on the Crop Addict Design Team. They are a fun site with a great gallery & message board. Also their kits are just yummy!!

Here are the three layouts & one altered project I submitted:










They will not be announcing the new Design Team members until late November...so I will be on pins & needles until then.

How did I get here?

I decided this morning & would do some kind of blog challenge. I haven't had much time for challenges lately, but I thought the house is relatively clean & all the kids are safely off to school. So what the heck right?

Well, I have been checking out this site Mojo Holder & they had a scrap lift challenge. I love to scrap lift so I got all my stuff out & got started. We were to lift a fun layout by Kimber McGray.

I was really on a mission to scrap some old photos. I have tons & I do mean tons of old photos that need to make it into albums. So what better way to get the mojo flowin' than to hit a few challenge sites.

Well I started out with great intentions with my scrap lift & yet somehow this is what I came up with...


Not one of my best layouts, but I guess you can't love them all. Although I am really pleased to have gotten those not so great photos from our 2000 trip to St. Croix finally scrapped.

I think Mojo Holder is a great site & I will continue to pop in there from time to time for more inspiration.

Finding Focus

So why don't people tell you how hard it can be to be a parent before you have kids? Did people tell me & I just didn't really listen or hear them? Do people just try to put on a good face about parenting just so they can appear to have it all together?

Well, I am just going to lay it all out there...the good. the bad, & the extremely ugly. So if you are looking for a post that is light & sweet...you may just want to stop reading here. Consider yourself warned...LOL.

Now having said all that I am not suggesting that I would not want to have kids had I realized how hard it was...I would never trade my life for the world. I have a fabulous life. It is just the last few weeks have been hard & I want to get some of it out. I think the rewards of raising children far outweigh the challenges.

Recently, Caleb who is almost 12 is starting to have some hormones kicking in. He has been moody and seems to be struggling with sadness & anxiety. I hate to see him like that. I just want to make it better for him & there is really nothing I can do. Nothing is worse as a mom than to see your child suffer & not be able to help them.

I just made this layout of Caleb for an upcoming Srapdragons challenge. (a little side note...if you need a mojo boost...click on Scrapdragons to get one!!) These pictures of Caleb I love, but they are all a bit out of focus, so it seemed fitting to scrap them at this point where he is really struggling to find focus for himself.


He is starting to deal better with his feelings. It seemed to help him when I suggested that maybe he was just sad & that it didn't need to mean anything. I also reassured him that the feelings would pass & that seemed comforting to him as well. I realized last might though when he was having a rough night that I was having a hard time letting go. I wanted him to be happy again. I wanted him to not feel stress. I wanted it all to be OK for my baby...ugh!! He is such a smart & creative child. He is so incredibly sweet & I just love him.

Also, Rachel has been struggling a bit with the start of the school year. Her teacher this year is much more challenging. I know she can do it, but she is feeling overwhelmed. So when she gets all her homework out & sees it...she is like a deer in the headlights...boom she freezes. She can't seem to even get started. So she spends at least an hour complaining & whining instead of just doing it. I got into it with her yesterday, I was trying to support her, but she was so in her head about it she couldn't see what I was saying. I just got so fed up & I snapped at her & walked away. She started to cry...I felt bad...it was awful. She is so smart & capable. I hate to see her sabatoging herself. Again, I have trouble letting go, I want to fix it all for her. She has a beautiful spirit & I love her.

I just had one of those days where I felt I didn't have any of the answers & I was in way over my head. Have you ever had one of those moments? I was wanting things to go my way. Trying to force solutions. All that ever seems to do is make life seem hard & I end up tired and frustrated.

So today I am taking it easy on myself. I am doing laundry & relaxing in between loads. Taking the time to recharge my batteries. Today I want to approach my life & all it has to offer with clarity, focus, ease, & grace.

So how does that sound? Anyone else want to join me?

A Little Time for Myself

Well, today I had a bit of scrap time. I put my ipod on random play, cranked the tunes, & decided to do some challenges. It was fun finally having some time to scrap for myself...not for some Design Team project.

I decided to do the Scrapjacked challenge. Here is my Jack of Sarah Bowen's Layout.

It was so much fun to play with. I wish the scan had come out a bit better, but I guess the most important thing is that it looks great in real life.

I was happy to get these photos on paper. They really are not the greatest photos, but it was such a big deal for Connor. He was so excited to be cutting the lawn. I mean it is a real "big kid" job. We will see how long that novelty lasts. I am sure there will soon be the, "oh man...do I have to cut the lawn again" protests. But hey...I am going to enjoy this while it lasts!

Some Mindless Fun...

OK, it is Sunday, I have no kids at home today, & David is off on a business trip. So do I clean the house, pay bills, go outside & garden? No I am playing on the internet & finding silly goofy things to do.

Actually it is really nice just enjoying the quiet today. It is so rare that I have time just to relax & do nothing with no one making demands on my time. So I am going to enjoy it & play. All the stuff I "should" be doing will still be there waiting for me tomorrow!!

So here is some silliness I found on some blog somewhere...

I just love some of these things...they are silly & can make me laugh out loud. I can always use a good laugh.

So here it is...
1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car) Squeaky Prius {not exactly a cool rock star name, but what are you gonna do??}
2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fav ice cream flavor, favorite cookie) Pistachio Chocolate Chip {Ok now that is just stupid}
3. YOUR "FLY Guy/Girl" NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name)L Shr {huh!?!?!}
4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal) Green Cow
5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born) Margaret Somerville
6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first)ShrLa
7. SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd favorite color, favorite drink put "The") The Orange Dirty Martini
8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers) Luigi Richmond {that kind of works...lol}
9. STRIPPER NAME: ( the name of your favorite perfume/cologne, favorite candy) Sensi Toosie Pop
10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother's & father's middle names ) Michael Bently

OK mine weren't all that funny...oh well!! Hopefully you have better answers than me.
If you get any funny ones...please share. I am wanting a good laugh!!

Oh The Treasures You Might Find...

while surfing the net.

Sometimes when I have a ton of laundry or cleaning to do I play a little game with myself just to make the chore seem more like fun...you know the whole "spoon full of sugar" thing. The game I play is that in between each task I come sit at my computer for a minute & just blog or internet surf. I am not really looking for anything in particular just seeing what cool little things I can find.

Well I was doing this & came across a post on this random blog. I am not even sure how I ended up there...funny how that happens sometimes. It just seemed like something fun to do so I am sharing it here. If you are interested in the blog where I found it...click here!

So here it goes...

All you need is to get your ipod, mp3 player, itunes, or whatever you have ready & have some fun!

Here's what you do:

1. Open your music library
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that's playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don't lie and try to pretend you're cool.

So here it goes...

Opening Credits: You & Me - Lifehouse

Waking up: Salt Peanuts - Charlie Parker

First Day At School: I Miss You - Blink-182

In Love: Let Me Put My Love Into You -AC/DC

Fight Song: Listen to the Music - The Doobie Brothers

Breaking Up: Cupid's Choke hold - Gym Class Heroes

Life's OK: Proudest Monkey– Dave Mathews Band

Mental Breakdown: I Try – Macy Gray

Driving: I Hope Tomorrow is Like Today - Guster

Flashback: My Humps – Black Eyed Peas

Getting Back Together: Lo Que Gusta A Mi- Juanes

Birth of Child: The Other Guy – Little River Band

Wedding: Out of My Mind - James Blunt

Final Battle: Margaritaville – Jimmy Buffet

Death Scene: Doesn't Remind Me – Audioslave

Funeral Song: Take A Breath – David Gilmore

End Credits: Other Side of the World – KT Tunstall

I have like a 1000+ songs on my ipod...it is really funny to see what randomly came up. Really funny!! Some had me laughing out loud.

Now I hope you try it! It is just silliness I know...but isn't silly good once & awhile?!?

If you do - leave a link in the comments so I can see your soundtracks!

Back 2 School!!

The end of last week & this week has been back to school time for all the kids. Adjusting to the new routine seems to exhaust me. So today I am finally taking a moment to post again. Since it is after midnight I was going to wait for tomorrow, but realized the kids will all be home from school then & it is much much quieter now.

Connor & Kailey started school this past Thursday. Connor is in 6th grade & has started at the middle school. He seems very excited & feels very mature. Kailey is in fourth grade and still at the elementary school. It is funny they are growing up & yet I still want to see them all dressed up & snap lots of photos.



Caleb & Rachel's school started on Tuesday. It is such a strange adjustment for me as I just joined a carpool. Even though it will be soooo much easier for me I find myself resisting the change. I mean seriously...I don't really want to be driving them back & forth & spending over three hours a day in the car, but I am feeling sad about all that great "talk" time we had together. The truth is the added time in my day will allow me to get more things done & I will have more time for myself & all the kids as a result.

Caleb is in 6th grade and was really excited to find out that his best buddy Will is in his class again this year. Rachel is in fifth grade & was put in a very advanced classroom. When she found out she was just so nervous & complained a bit, but I also saw that she was so proud of herself. It just fills my heart to see both Caleb & Rachel doing so well. Being Dyslexic has been such a challenge for them...The Lewis School has changed their lives.



I had such a hard time getting pictures of all of them this year. They are getting too old to want me taking pictures anymore. There was lots of eye rolling & complaining. Rachel even scolded me at one point for pulling out my camera as they were walking up to the school. It has started already...I am the embarrassing uncool mom....oh no!!

So now that the kids are in school all day...who wants to come over & play?!?!

Lots of Blog Action Today!!

We have a new mini challenge posted on Scrapdragon today. Click here to check it out! We are also still accepting LO entries for Challenge #3...so be sure to enter that as well.

Also I am so excited to announce that I have a sketch featured on Sisterhood of Scrap!! This is such a fun site & a great place to get inspiration!

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Thanks for stopping by.

Another New Challenge...

I am so excited! We have Challenge #3 Posted at Scrapdragon. Also, we have another great sponsor offering a prize for this one.

justletmescrapbook.com has generously offered a $20 gift certificate.

I hope all of you have a chance to come over & play and enter a layout!