new scrapping goodies.

liv has a few new goodies out today.

first we have her “little dancer” kit.

I have been going through lots and lots of old photos, and all the while trying to bribe peyton to get in her little leotard and tutu, and bring her american girl doll along for a little dancer photo shoot.

nothing in the world can convince her.

but here’s lynn at 3:

(click on layout for full list of credits.)

I have probably said it before, and you might just be sick of hearing it, but I LOVE liv’s paint brushes!!!

and she has some new ones!!  my paintbox vol. 1 has a variety of brushes and some delicious texture to boot.

(YAYNESS!!)

you can get these on sale through sunday night at midnight!

on the summer front, we have been hiking, spent the day at the dinosaur park, and have had a negotiable bedtime.  I thought I would wake up early every day and get a head start, but I’ve been staying up too late (see the “negotiable bedtime” mentioned above), reading..  so I decided to let myself enjoy a week of sleeping in.  you know, just to reward myself for a hard school year of waking up early.  and stuff.

the back yard is almost all together..  and by almost, I mean about halfway there. 

summer is looking good around here and we are praying that it goes by slooooow.

and this is summer..

historically speaking, it seems as though the first week of every summer here, it rains.

I mean, thank you nature for giving us an awesome memorial day!! 

the nice thing about the rain is that it helps us get our summer kicked-off all nice, clean, and organized-like.

seriously.

we spent the day yesterday cleaning.  not the weekly dusting, vacuuming, clean the glass variety (although that did get done too), but the go through each room and purge, then organize.  the girls’ rooms look amazing!  well, lynn’s always has looked that way, that is just her personality..

it’s kind of nice to have the cool weather, the relaxed days, girls playing nicely together inside..  logging plenty of reading minutes, but we are excited for some summer weather.

summer!!!

it’s finally here!!

I cannot convey how happy I am in this moment, and how sad I am at the same time.

I love that I will have my girls all to myself for the next three months!!  I love that there is no more homework.  I love that the drama and crap that comes home with my girls from school will end (temporarily).  I love that we can sleep in, if we want, and stay up late (but not too late).  I am happy to see growth.

I am sad to see the good things of this school year come to an end.  I am sad knowing that when I send them back at the end of the summer, they will advance a grade, and therefore, be growing..  even though I beg them to stop or at least slow down.  in a way, I am sad to see the changes.  they are not little girls anymore..

more has changed than just age, height, hair length, and what they have gained knowledge-wise.  some teeth have grown in too!  for some reason seeing the side-by-side makes me tear-up…

but we are celebrating, you better believe it!!

thank you pinterest for the inspiration!!

there were long hugs, cleaning-out of backpacks, and those things are packed-away, out of sight!!

it’s summer!!!!

seeing double.

sometimes, creativity urges changes in more places than just one.

as I was playing with amy tangerine’s newest collection “yes please”, I was getting the itch to spring clean the blog and make things pretty.

funny how just a few tweaks to a layout can turn out to be a fun new header!

this spur of creative energy (also brought to you by a couple of extra minutes I was able to rub together..), has me desiring some fun new candid pix of the girls.

well, as soon as lynn gets over strep.

blah.

(my 2013 tax folder is fatter than it should be.  hello deductions!)

anyway, in case you didn’t notice the above newness, here you go:

papers, border bits, camera, arrow elements, stitched heart circle, and brushes for the hearts, arrow, and “wonderful” from ac digitals amy tangerine “yes please”.

paint brushes, kraft tape, frame, staple, and washi tape from liv.edesigns.

“x” stitches from crystal wilkerson.

circle stitches from anna aspnes.

lace (with a hue/saturation adjustment) from kitschy digitals.

only one more day of school left!!

freeeeeedoommmmmm!!!!

(yell it like william wallace..)

our plans for this summer currently consist of:

- keeping in the habit of a decent bedtime, and me (ahem..) getting up early.

- going to the library a lot.

- read-a-thons and treats.

- living by the pool in the sun.

- buying lots of sunscreen.

- washing loads of towels.

- playing in our almost totally fun and finished back yard.

- hiking.

- playing as a family every chance we get.

- quitting the whole pop thing..  and I will be sure to quit at least 6 times a week.

it is still may.

oh, how it is still may.

I should learn to not commit to ANYTHING in the month of may.  well, anything besides the activities for the girls.  it’s a whirlwind of soccer and school.

oy.

we are almost done though!! 

5 days..

(breathe..)

five.

meanwhile, here’s a couple of new products from liv!

another awesome T + Mini: Work of Art.

love her minis!!  they come packed with amazing bits and pieces that you can use with everything and anything.  her previously released minis are some of my favorite go-to products.

(click on layouts to be linked to list of credits.)

and then there’s another volume of loopies!!

we are up to 4, and I can’t wait for 5 and 6 and 7 and…  well, you get the idea.

(I hope.)

we are halfway through another may day.  there has not been a single day this week that we have had nothing to do.  they have all been packed full!

lynn has executed her county report successfully, I hope.  I mean, I was there, and she was awesome!!  but we’ll have to see what the final score is.  she did her report on Kane county, we kinda know a little about it..  going to lake powell as much as we do.  we had the joy (sarcastic font) of putting together her powerpoint presentation rather last minute, and throwing it together from SCRATCH.  it was supposed to have been saved to her flashdrive, not there though.  so after subscribing to microsoft office, and getting the powerpoint program, we were off.  I have to say it really was fun.  my first powerpoint ever, and I am 33.  I couldn’t have done it without lynn guiding me.

our last soccer games are tomorrow.  kinda sad, kinda happy about that one.  the girls have come so far this year!  peyton can actually STAY ON THE FIELD THE WHOLE GAME.  she even runs and plays!!  ashley has become quite the defender.  she prefers playing back rather than forward.

looking forward to summer!

holy crap, it’s friday!

I am having issues keeping up with time.

I blame it on the fact that it is may.

with the list of activities for the girls, both at home and at school, the normal to-do list, and the new to-do list that automatically comes with this season, I do not have time to worry about much else.

so it just seems like friday sneaks up on me! 

then I look in my inbox and see a happy little email from jessica sprague telling me of all the new products that are in store, and my brain says “holy crap!!  it’s friday!!!” 

(my mouth usually follows suit and then I think an apology to my momma.)

(she has issues with my usage of the word “crap”.)

(sorry mom!!)

here’s liv’s two new products today, both alphas, and I LOVE her alphas!!

first up is her “painted alpha”.

this bad boy comes in a brush so you can make it any color you want, or use one of her 5 pre-set fun colors.

in this layout I used her newest “painted alpha rounds”.

now the look blue when you get them, but duplicating them and adjusting the layer style will do some pretty fun stuff!

for the “read” I duplicated the layer 3 times, the bottom two are set to luminosity and the top one is set to overlay.  these are so fun to play with!

for the rest of the credits for these pages, click on the layouts.  you can go to liv’s shop to see some more amazing layouts from some fabulous creative ladies.

a hero.

my attitude towards family history has changed over the years.

initially, I was scared of it.  then I got excited about it, but was a little let-down to discover that both my maternal and paternal grandmothers had done the bulk of the work already.  (not that my family tree is filled in entirely..)  then I was kind of happy, almost relieved that the bulk of it was done, I had kids at that point, but not the time to do that kind of work.  I am at the phase where I realize there is still more work to be done, and someday, I will have the time that is necessary to do that work.  right now, I feel like my responsibility is to share these stories and histories with my girls.  they need to know where they came from and about the great legacies that have been left for them.

this layout came together so easily using liv’s newest t + mini – so blessed.  I literally changed the background paper, removed some of the more flourish-ey feminine parts, added my journaling and this AMAZING photo, and it was done!

so here’s more about my grandpa…  don’t be surprised if he and my grandma are the subjects of more layouts to come..  I love them so much!

(you can click on the layout for full credits.)

the journaling reads:

“This picture of Grandpa has to be one of my favorites.  I am so thankful to have a copy of it in my home.  I want my girls to know of the sacrifices that not only he made, but of the sacrifices that continue to be made.  Grandpa was a member of the Utah National Guard, and mustered into the Regular Army in March of 1941.  He was sent to California, to prepare to go to the Philippines, but in December of the same year, Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese.  His assignment changed.  He was sent to Washington, to train new recruits, then later sent overseas to Europe.  He fought in many battles which included Utah beach on D-Day and the Battle of the Bulge.  He was later injured in the Ruhr Valley in Germany.  He received five battle stars and was awarded the Purple Heart.  He didn’t talk of these things much.  It wasn’t something he was particularly proud of.  We are proud of him though, and thankful for not only his service, but his example in how he lived his life every day.  He will always be our hero.”

this is history that my girls need to know!  what an amazing man..