I am soooo sick of winter!!!

WE had one little taste of spring. Just one...and the it snowed 4 inches. GRRRRR. The kids are cranky and cooped up, momma is cranky and cooped up...we NEED to get outside and make some Vitamin A! Otherwise, I'm going to have to find some artificial Vitamin A (and in medical terms that means Ativan!!) hahaha. These are some pictures from the last week of the doobers.

A FUN online crop going on now!!!

www.ascrappinfriendsy.com


They have been so kind as to invite me to be their guest designer for a couple months, and I 'm having a blast! The crop going on now, is 2 - 3 week sessions with LOTS of challenges and hundreds of points to be won. Come check it out! Online crops are a great way to get all those pictures on paper that you've been putting off!

Just a few scrapbook pages I've done this month...

Lots of fun pages this month...some I can show and some I can't. Here are a few of my faves.


Logan in a big star. A contest layout :)











heather playing on my scraptable. This is using a Becky Fleck sketch created just for www.scrapbookdreamer.com March contest.













A simple, masculine page with logan playing with a tape measure.












One of the few wedding pics I have...I have found this Basic Grey Blush line might be a perfect match to our fall themed wedding. The pinks/teals/oranges are super pretty!














Miss Heather in a wild moment.

Whoops....sorry it's been a while!!

We've had a super busy month of March. First, a big move the middle of February, Dan away from home for days and days attending classes, trainings, and investigations, my daycare business taking off...

So, here are some random, favorite pictures I've taken over the last couple weeks.



Miss Heather and her giggly, girly, grin.















Doug and Linda visited for a few days and helped Dan finish up our deck rails.












I'm a sucker for close cropped, big eye pictures. These baby blues just get me....








Annelise and Amy visited over the weekend as well. Missy P is getting so big...and so very independant!! She is super sweet and super smart, and so much fun to have around!















Heather and Logan are both obsessed with crayons and book-books (notebooks, yanno, like on blues clues :) ) They are both drawing great faces and can tell stories from their drawings. It's very cute...












Logan VS Mom--the nap wars continue. He will finally just crash anywhere, in the middle of doing anything. Poor kid...this time he dozed off in the middle of a grand creation.





Both of the doobers love being outside. Heather insists on wearing a hat 'cause its "indy" and she doesn't like the "ind" in her ears hahaha. She also enjoys power tools, much to her papa's delight.











Logan playing in the dirt that is our backyard.













A guy needs goggles to cut wood, yanno. If you don't have them on, they dust gets in your "eyuez".

One of the few pics I have of Heather actually looking at the camera and smiling...

Logan helping to build the deck railings. He was organizing the screws.

A new scrappy site to visit...

A fun new Scrapping Contest!!

Kittys-Kloset is hosting fun new contest. You must use a sketch/embellishment/technique from the list. The winner will get 2 complete sets of the new Dreamstreet papers-- Take a peek!

The coolest part is I got to write/post this contest :)

Dreams are . . . illustrations from the book your soul is writing about you.
-Marsha Norman

Isn't this a most thought-provoking quote? Here at Kitty's Kloset, we are doing some dreaming of our own.

Let's soothe away those winter blahs and dream of spring flowers and sunshine. What is the prize you ask? 12...yes 12 sheets of the new Dream Street papers. That is 2 complete collections, both Baylee's Garden and Near & Dear!

To have a chance at winning these wonderful papers, you must complete this challenge as outlined below.
We would love to see what you can do with this sketch by Nicole White [url]http://www.scrapforums.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=12146&sort=1&cat=692&page=1[/url] of the famed Funk It Up over at www.scrapforums.com You can turn it upside down, sideways, wonky...however you'd like, but we must be able to recognize that you've used this sketch for inspiration.

Please include at least 1 of the following embellishments:
flower
rub-on
chipboard shape
AND at least one of the following techniques:
inking
embossing (any method)
stitching (this may be machine or hand stitching)

You must complete and upload your layout to this [url=http://www.kittys-kloset.com/phpBB2/album_cat.php?cat_id=90]album[/url] by March 23 at midnight EST. This layout must be newly created for this contest and not posted to any other online galleries until this contest is officially over. After that...post away! Everyone deserves some praise for their hard work.

On March 24th, Queen Kitty will be posting a poll in the forums to choose the winner, so be sure to check back and vote for your favorite layout. The winner will be announced via the forum and featured on the blog, [url=http://www.kittyskloset.blogspot.com/]MEWS-ings![/url] These are due 03/23/07 by midnight (PST).
[b]
Hey now, hey now, don't dream it's over....they come to scrap a wall between us, but we know that they won't win...[/b

Lots of scrapping stuff going on in March!!

It's been a busy February!! I didn't get much scrapping time due to our big move, but I did get some cute pictures of Logan and Dan building things for our home.

I created this page for a valentine's day contest, using the theme "hold hands". I thought of Robert and Barbara and their hand-holding. Then, I dug thru mom's trip pics and found these.

This was a fast, easy one using an artsy black and white of heather.

I'm now working my way thru a big box of childhood pictures. They are a bit of a challenge, as they are small and mostly very dark.

.

www.Scrapbookdreamer.com is hosting a March sketch challenge. The best Part?? This sketch has been created just for us by the ever talented Becky Fleck!! You can see her website and free sketches here: www.pagemaps.com. The winner will receive a $20 gift certificate with free shipping from the store!!

We are Home!

I will start with the most important room of the house, my scraproom :) I put up pegboard to organize all my goodies. This is just one wall. The room measures 10x10.





Our master bathroom is bigger than the bedroom! It has a this huge jetted garden tub, which we haven't used because it takes 2 water tanks to fill it, a big standing shower, double sink and double walk in closet. The bathroom measures 15x 14!!

Our dining room opens up into the living room. It has a sliding door that opens to a deck that goes between this room and the play room. Mom gave me the china hutch :)

Logan and Heather are really enjoying their new space. They are sharing a bedroom right now per their choice, which opens up the second bedroom for a play area. We've also utilized the family room as a toy room. so really, they have about 2/3 of the house for themselves!!

Just a wild and crazy picture of Heather. She was being very silly!!

We are packed...and outta here!!

In between a gazillion trips to Evanston for classes required for childcare licensing, we've been packing and getting ready to move into our new home. As of saturday, everything is finished except for some minor finish work by the carpet guys and the floor of the garage! It really looks great. I'll post some pictures of the inside/garage as soon as we close tomorrow and I can go up there and snap a few.

I've been adding some fun things to my scrapping repetoire. Since all my paper items are packed, I've been dabbling in digital. Let me tell ya, these programs have so many options, it's overwhelming! I'm using Photoshop Elements...and should probably get a book to learn how to use it! The great thing about digi scrapping is that I can print out the digi elements and combine them with traditional paper scrapping. I've wanted to learn to do this for a long time.

Here are some of my first digi pages!





This was a fast one--the fun black brushes are like digital stamps and super easy to use.

This page is my official first digi page. It took about 4 hours!! but, now that I know a few things, it's getting faster.

I put this one together last night in under an hour. I used all freebie elements found online. This is my first attempt at using a digi overlay, cutting empty circles, and using scalloped papers.

Ths page is not digi--but it has some exciting news!! I won my first big manufacturer's contest!! A copy of this layout was used by FiberScraps, the maker of everything on this layout, in their booth at the big Crafts and Hobbies Association convention in Anaheim. I won $100 and lots of free stuff made by FiberScraps. FUN!! I mailed it off to them a couple weeks ago for photographing, and possible use in magazine advertisements.

Heather and Logan....Meet 2

The 'twos' are officially here. I can't believe it!! Where has the time gone?? I can remember thinking "if we can just get til may, everything will be okay". Of course, I was thinking may 2005, not may 2007. I don't think may can help us now. The tantrums, the independence, the only eating yogurt for 4 meals a day...is really starting to take it's toll. It's gonna be a long year hahahaha.

Heather is so independent. She refuses help getting her shoes on, tells me "NO" any chance she can get, and the last few days will only eat apples. "No, momma, apple". ARGH this is fine and dandy for chunky babies--but she needs to dip them in a little peanut butter!!! Her cardiology appointment went very well. Her malformed valve seems to be functioning just as a normal valve would, so no follow ups needed for another 2 years!!

They both enjoyed their little birthday party. We ate lasagna and had little individual cakes with way too much frosting for dessert. We practiced for WEEKS blowing out candles. Logan got it on the first try--Heather got the lip pursing part right, but doesn't like the smoke, so blew from a distance. At least they ate the cake this year :) Last year they wanted nothing to do with anything remotely solid. Heather of course nibbled on hers like a little mouse and Logan just dug in full speed ahead. Amy and Annelise were here so they joined in the fun as well!

Logan is super opinionated and super frustrated that we can't quite understand his version of English. He is starting to learn words very quickly, he just doesn't say them in any english dialect that we recognize :) He is obsessed with cars and trains to the point that they are always in perfect order. He only eats yogurt and the jelly half of a PB&J and ALWAYS tells me NO, no matter what the request. I'm not sure where this comes from, but I'm sure a month in daycare had something to do with it!

And speaking of daycare, Friday was our last day. They had a horrible time adjusting to the noise and activity. Kathy is a sweet lady, but also is running a business and can't justify giving 2 full time spots to 2 part time kids, especially with the shortage of daycare in this county. I wasn't a very good fit for the Big Piney clinic and am leaving quietly. Therefore, I am working as fast as I can to get my daycare open. I already have zoning approval and all the inspections, orientations, and trainings scheduled. I am hoping to start taking kids March 1st--and actually have leads on enough kids needing care to be almost full on March 1st!! This is definitely a different road than what I had planned on taking, but will be quite rewarding ( I am hoping. remind me of this when you visit me at the state hospital lol).


This outfit is her very favorite. aunt Shana and family gave it to her for Christmas and she really does look cute :) Such a girly girl!

Here's one of my favorite pictures from our impromptu photo shoot on their 2nd birthday. She is really starting to look less and less like a toddler, and more like a preschooler. She can sing her abc's--well, her version of abc's--and count to 5 with some help. she knows all the animals on the planet AND the specific noise they make. Blues Clues is her favorite tv show of the moment and her babies never leave her side. Of course, Day-Day is never far either. Grandma Comeau has nicknamed her FiFi, as she will always find a warm lap to cuddle on--and won't leave until she's ejected!

Logie, as Heather has named him, is busy, busy busy. In fact so busy that the only pictures I got of him on his second birthday are of him eating because it's the only time during the day he stays in one place more than a millisecond. He loves to count and can get to 5--usually in a round about way including 2 and 4 several times, but he gets there in his own time --he likes to look at books as long as there's pictures he can recognize. He seems to imitate Heather much of the time and really misses her when she's not around. We had to move him into her room so that he'd quit getting up in the middle of the night looking for her. He is still a great hug-giver and very tender hearted.

Okay Grandpa Urbigkit...it's updated just for you :):)

Merry Christmas!!

There's a new grandbaby in the family...his name is Bugsy--or that's what it was this day. I'm not sure if Jason has made up his mind yet. Bugs is a shar-pei something or other mix and he's just adorable!!






We decided to give him to Jason a day early because it would have been impossible to keep him a secret. Besides, we were tired of getting up every 20 mintues to let him outside!!

We all went sledding the day before Christmas and had lots of fun. This was the first time Heather and Logan had been sledding. I was really suprised--they both LOVED it! Heather would squeal all the way down the hill...and then want to be carried back up. They were both pushing to get in line to go back down. It was very cold that day, but they lasted over an hour.

Here's the whole crew, minus Annelise who was napping in the warm car. Even she made it down the hill a time or two. What a fun day.

Dan and Logan going down the hill.

Annelise's first time sledding. She wasn't so sure about all the layers required.

Christmas morning was fast and furious. All 3 kids had fun...for the first 3 presents and then lost interest. They just wanted to play with the ones they had already opened.

Great Grandma Urbigkeit gave them little rockers for Christmas. They were a huge hit, especially with Heather who lovest to find little places to sit.

The 4 grandbabies in front of the tree and presents. It was impossible to get all of them in the same place, looking the same direction, at the same time.