In the Storm

date night l tybee island, may 2012

jeff got off work early the friday before memorial day, already planning on having a date, we dressed in comfortable clothes and headed out to tybee island. i really expected us to go ahead and go on in to a.j.'s dockside restaurant for dinner but jeff had other plans. we pulled in to a place off the beatin' track for a dolphin tour. having lived in savannah for many years i've never been on a dolphin tour. i was so excited over the surprise as much as the tour itself. we hit perfect timing on the 5pm tour with just minutes to wait and then enjoyed an hour on the coastal waters hunting down dolphins. we saw many standing up in the front of the boat. i have to admit that if we'd down this sometime before the beginning of the year i'd have been worn out from standing for an hour up on the ledge of a tour boat while holding on to a rail but I wasn't - and enjoyed every minute.

after our excursion with the dolphins and plans for some jet skiing this summer, just jeff and i, we headed on into A.J.'s and spent a leisurely hour waiting on a table, enjoying the breeze, the sun, drinks, and watching the variety of people - and their interesting wears. shrimp and grits were on the appetizer menu which we shared - but next time i will get two for a dinner with a salad. jeff had a very large bowl of gumbo which he enjoyed immensely and we watched the sunset from the dock, and our table.

after dinner we headed out to the beach, parked the van for free because it was after 8pm and enjoyed a hand-holding walk along the shore. the waves were crashing against the shore in advance of tropical storm beryl that was over the ocean to our southeast, and the spray was salty, and warm.

and then we drove home feeling wonderful from an amazing evening.

abc book l a couple more

O is for Oh Oh

Q is for Quiet, Ian and Wyatt are sleeping.

R is for Rhino

abc book

a few more pages to Ian and Wyatt's abc book. i'm hoping to complete it this week, get it uploaded to shutterfly, hopefully have a coupon, and order two books, one for Ian's birthday and one to keep here at the house for when they come to visit.

I is for Ian

J is for Jesus

L is for Lion

N is for nobody loves Ian and Wyatt more than me!

fixin' the van l digital layout

our van is fixed again. yippee! our poor, dilapitated 1996 van has held strong over the years. it has gotten us where we need to go, with a few hiccups along the way. this passed hiccup had us stumped for awhile but hoosier man figured it out and decided he could fix it himself. and he did. with the assistance of his handyman son, john. hoosier man directed, instructed, and trained and john did most of the work. he even had to fix a mistake before he could proceed. great lessons learned.

our back side doors are fixed also. hoosier man ordered some parts to fix it but he ended up having to jerry-rig a fix on top of the new parts. another success! our side door is fixed. it now opens, opens from the outside and from the inside.

elizabeth's mother's day l a digital page

elizabeth, matt, and ella are on their way to alaska right now. elizabeth graduated from morse code school at ft huachuca arizona. her first duty station is in the great north. i found these pictures on facebook - it's really the only way i get pictures of the kids/grandkids, but i'll take what i can get. i have no idea where they were taken but they're beautiful and it looks like a fun day for her - especially since she's been away from ella and matt for a couple months.

date night

my plan is to create an entire 2012 scrapbook - not sure what size yet - of our date nights. at the beginning of the year i got purposeful about scheduling date nights with hoosier man. we've hit everyone and even added one or two more off the cuff. we go on dates now about twice a month. we love it and so do the boys. if we were to forget (not that we have so far, but if...) the boys would be right there reminding us. they love it when we go on dates so they can stay home and eat what they want (usually pizza, or raman, or leftovers) and watch a series of television shows on dvd or watch movies. it's not so fun for them if they are grounded from television but they've made do by playing legos, or drawing elaborate battle scenes.

this night we ate at Applebees (we rarely eat there) and then went to see the Hunger Games. good movie, but the book was better.

digital process: my digital process was pretty simple. i knew i wanted to include the hunger games marque photo along with our picture that hoosier man took of us in the theatre. i found a template that would accomodate two photos, 12x12 size, and went to town. i found some digital movie elements in my stash that i thought would work well with the theme. i kept it monochromatic because i really think i'm in my zone now with what i like - clean and simple with very few elements.

speaking of clean and simple and digital scrapbooking; i've been considering going through my very large stash and purging most everything. keeping cardstock (digital), some elements here and there, and a small, select stash of patterned paper. after putting this page together i found how much i enjoyed the process with clean and simple. well see.

abc's

a couple more pages for my grandsons' abc album.

loved this picture of ian and wyatt - had to use it!

decided to just go in order from here on out. so I've got a, b, c, d, e, and here is f, which is now one of my favorites

I've done G and here is H.

I also did Y before deciding to go alphabetically.

The rest of the completed abc pages can be found here or just select categories and A B C Book.

Enjoy!

12 of 12 I March 2012

12 photos on 12 March 2012. This is my third month completing this exercise. I am becoming more used to it. I would like to get to the point that it becomes a day in the life and actually note my/our entire day with accompanying 12 photos. Until then - here are 12 photos on the 12th of March in 2012

Template: Cathy Zielske   l   Life: Mine

a little creativity l a gift

inspired by a digital book that i saw in the designer digitals gallery i decided to make one very similar for my grandsons. it is an alphabet book. it uses soft zoo animals and other things for the alphabet cards. i'm using Ian and Wyatt's names throughout the book just like they are reading about two little boys Ian and Wyatt. i am making it an 8x8 album so they will be able to handle it easily. here are the first pages that i've made as a teaser and also to show off my bit of creativity for the week.

P is for penguin and paw prints and Pop Pop who plays with Wyatt and Ian and gives them high fives. P is also for panda bears all soft and snuggly and bright colored parrots that make loud noises. P is also for purple and pink cars, and P is also for those prickly porcupines.

E is for elephant and those everlasting gobbstoppers. The letter E is also for the number eight and eight pieces of colored confetti. E is also for eyes, like Ian and Wyatt's enchanting blue eyes and E is also for ears for hearing sounds.

hopefully ash and brad will like it for Ian and Wyatt and they will read it often. can't wait until it's finished, uploaded and ordered.

sunday photo + words...and somethin' creative

we'll maybe just a little creative (inspired by monika wright really...)

anyways, the chili is heating in the crockpot made by hoosier man. the jalapeno poppers made by the georgia boys are on the stove waiting to be baked, and the homemade salsa, also made by the georgia boys, is marrying in the refrigerator, hoosier man is out back workin' on stuff, the barn, workstuff, the boys are playin' x-box, we are all waiting to go over to friends house for super bowl party and i decided to play a bit.

i'm making valentines for my class but thought it'd be nice to make some valentines for my small group. the married couples are goin' get these:

this one is for brent and margie. they've been comin' to our small group about 5 months - we love them. we are also in homeschool co-op together, and we've known them forever from church.

these cute things are an 8 x 10 print that i'll frame out in white i think. we have a new couple that just started coming last week so i'll need to get their anniversay; and two more married couples. haven't decided what i'll make for the two single ladies yet. just a surprise to show them how much i love 'em.

which brings me to my sunday photo + words

(via pinterest)

see what i mean...it's the way to live. rather than just say i love my small group i desire to act out my love. welcome them into my home, gift them with creative things that i make, delish desserts to share, be there for them, be open and honest...

 

sunday photo + words is inspired by write.click.scrapbook