Stamping…I have been digging in my stamps lately and playing

I have noticed that a few of the journaling stamps that I have bought have lines that are too small to write in.  I usually only use the smallest point pens…as I like very fine and fairly small journaling…but I also want it to be readable in future!  Anyway…that is annoying!  So that is something I will be watching out for in the future.  

One set I am referring to is one by Maya Road:

  Luckily, each part of the stamp can be used separately so even though the lines are too close together for my liking…I can still use the outlining portion of the journaling stamp.

I have also been using this stamp a lot…such a young, bright-eyed little guy.  

 

And aren’t these cute?  I don’t have this stamp…and probably won’t get it due to the wintery look of it…but it is cute.

Fun Friday, Legos

Oh, for the love of Legos.  Let’s see…me kids love them…I am not sure what my take on them is.  I do like it that they play for hours with them and are not watching tv, running around like crazy children, etc.  And they build stuff all the time with them…so I know the legos are good for them.  However…Legos are MESSY!

So that is why I paused when I saw this:

Link to the lego organizing product here.  I will be looking around and seeing if I can find some educated reviews of this.  We have some Lego kits that we keep together but the boys have a bunch of their dad’s old legos and those are the ones I am thinking might benefit from this type of storage. 

At any rate…today’s Fun Friday is on Legos.  My oldest loves kits that come with directions and he LOVES to follow each direction and get it accomplished.  He is very good at it too.  It looks terribly tedious to me but he loves it. 

My youngest comes up with ideas on how to make “cool stuff” by piecing together this part and that…and he often makes something unique and cool.  He always say, “Pretty cool, right mom?”  Absolutely darling…you two boys are amazing.  So I overlook the mess and know that deep down our life would not be the same without legos.

Right this minute they are playing with some Star Wars Legos…they can seriously play for 3-4 hours with them.   So…in their honor I will post my favorite star wars Lego:

Just because I thought that Anakin’s fighter in Star Wars Clone Wars was very cool.

Oh, Pickles!

Hey…yes you are at the right place…I renamed my blog.  I have been meaning to change things up for awhile and have been busy, busy…but I am feeling a little more charged lately.

“Oh, Pickles!” is what I say when things don’t go exactly the way I had planned…and life is pretty much like that.  Never quite goes the way any of us have it planned out in our heads…and that is okay since God is always in charge. 

I figured that since that phrase is one that I say often and get some smiles from…I might as well name my blog that. 

I may be changing up a few more things…so stay tuned.

Blessings!

Wonderful Wednesday, I scrapped!

I got to scrap last weekend…it was fun and I got to do so with a very sweet friend and I enjoyed my time with her.  So that was totally bonus!

I have been kinda in a scrapbooking slump…and when I come out of slumps I struggle.  It is hard to get your mind off the other stuff in life and really concentrate on what memories you really want to get in a book for you and your family.

So….here goes…

Remember my star kick!

Well..this one has some stars on it!  Old photo of my youngest…and yep he was pretty much an adorable baby…which is hard to remember lately as he is about as sassy as any 4 year old can be (okay…not all the time but every so often his sassy mouth gets him in a lot of trouble).

In terms of supplies…well…the pattern paper is cool but I don’ t know who makes it (Edited to say that piggy tales makes that paper).  It is two sided, with big stars on one side and tiny ones on the other side.  I did the tedious scissor work.     The “Yes you are adorable” sticky is Rusty Pickle.  The big foam stickers are from the craft section at my local Hobby Lobby.  White cardstock is generic from Hobby Lobby.

And this one tells the story about why this picture is so unbelievable…as my oldest was the hardest ever to get down for a nap…and the journaling talks about that.

In term of supplies…I don’t have time to go through the list but I got that “Notes from today” cute journaling embellishment from my friend Ann.  She sent it to me me just because she is sweet.

Watch for another scrapbooking post…as I used some of my Becky HIggin’s School days kits…and LOVED them.

Fun Friday, Seaworld San Antonio

Early in the summer, we did Sea World San Antonio.

So much fun…here is a little bit of it:

They had a special going on…so we got a break on the second day…we had a blast both days.  Totally fun…my oldest will forever think that Killer Whales are the coolest animals ever…and he may be right!

Wonderful Wednesday, Big picture scrapbooking

A free online class being offered this week by Big Picture Scrapbooking.  Last fall I took a daily creativity class from this company and enjoyed it a lot.

Here is the free one.

I may find time to do a few make and takes myself!

Fun Friday, Trip to Grand Canyon with train ride

So for the next couple fun Friday posts I am going to post some of the stuff we did this summer that were fun for us and the kids. 

Getting held up on a train by a bunch of train robbers on the Grand Canyon Railway.

Train entertainment:

And the view…well….grand!

Wonderful Wednesday, new kind of stickles

Remember when I wrote about stickles last time?

Well, Ranger just came out with a new kind. Distress Stickles

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A friend of mine named Roni (that I met on the about.com scrapbooking boards several years ago) has this really cool blog that is sooooo over my head BUT very cool.  I love to look at what she makes…very fun stuff.

Here, Roni shows off this new Ranger product.

School starts!

Well, my oldest stated first grade this morning! 

Yesterday we got hair cuts for the boys then went to the library where we looked through a bunch of “back to school” books that the librarian had pulled out for everyone to see.  There were lots of going to Kindergarten books but none specifically for the first grade.  I urged my oldest to choose one and so he reluctantly grabbed a couple…reluctant because none were “chapter books”…which is what he prides himself of always reading now days!

So one of them that he grabbed was this book:

When it was time to read before bed last night he quickly settled on this book.  Snuggling up in his bed, he started reading it to me.  It was perfect as it talks about being at school ALL the way til 3pm…which is new for us.  He was delighted that the book was indeed perfect for kid going to first grade…since that is when they are first at school for a full day.  The story talks about a reluctant panda bear that misses his mommy and worries that his mommy will not be okay without him all day long…and how 8 o’clock to 3 o’clock IS a very long time.  Well, my well adjusted first grader just thought that idea was totally ridiculous and was like…”silly panda”…

And I was thinking…you know panda has a point!  LOL 

Just yesterday I was totally ready for both the boys to start school and have a schedule (at a very frustrating point in the day!)…and today well…it could have waited a couple weeks (and the truth be told I still wouldn’t be ready!).  So…the children’s book that I urged him to choose benefited me more than him! 

Oh, well…whatever it takes to get though this life, right?

We  have a week before my youngest, who is 4, starts preschool for 3-4 mornings a week.  So…he and I have spent some one on one time today.  We read this for some quiet moments earlier:

We have chatted some and he played all by himself for quite awhile too….all good things for me and my 4 year old. 

Looking at the clock and realizing that I don’t have to rush out to pick up my oldest from a half day of school is actually a relief.  My husband gave me a hard time that I needed to turn off my automatic watch timer goes off at 11:45 (last year’s reminder to hustle over and pick up my kindergartner)…because otherwise I might crack when it goes off.  I am actually okay (no cracking allowed ha, ha). 

I am reminded that…

Ecclesiastes 3:1-10

1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: 2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, 3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, 4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, 5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, 6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, 7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, 8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. 9 What does the worker gain from his toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on men.

11 He has made everything beautiful in its time... 

Amen!  God’s word always says it just right!

Hello all…

I have come across some fun stuff to share…but I have had little or no time to do so.

Lots going on around me.  I have a dear friend who has suffered a huge loss.  My father in law is very ill and the doctors are trying to figure out what is going on.  So do join me in praying for my friend Amy (and her family) and my father in law, Roger.

Stressful, busy times.

It will be good for me to “play” a little here…

These calendar labels might be cute for scrapbooking:

Take the “frozen on” off of it or put a sticker over that part!   Contents would be cute as a way of journaling though.

And as a fun thing for kids:

A couple weeks ago, my family and I went to the Grand Canyon.  My husband had some work to do closeby and so we made it a family trip.  It was sooo fun. 

We rode a train from Williams, AZ to the Grand Canyon.

Here is a pic off of their site:

The train ride was complete with a robbery!  Rogue cowboys on horses in the bushes as the train slowed down. Very fun.