Digital Scrapbooking

I'm in serious trouble. Dave was gone for a few days this week to a conference in Kentucky. Me, being the dutiful wife I am, spent the entire time cleaning and organizing so he could come home to a sparkling clean house. Heh. Like THAT would ever happen!! What I actually did was spent 3 days on the computer downloading different trials of digital scrapbooking software to test out. I'm not the most computer savvy person on the block, so I think that PSE would be WAAAAY above my level. I found a program called Scrapbook Max that I IMMEDIATELY fell in love with!

Within minutes of downloading it, I was making pages. They have pre-done templates, so I started by just dragging and dropping pictures. Then I decided to go off on my own a bit. This layout is my second-ever digital layout! I know I still have a lot to learn, but I thought for my second try it wasn't too shabby!! Have I mentioned I'm in LOVE with digital scapping?!? (Oh- and that bar at the bottom of the page will go away when I buy the full version of the program. Any geusses what I'M asking for this Christmas?!?)

To give credit where credit is due... The paper and elements I used was a free download from Raspberry Road Designs. It is called the "Annie Collection."

*sigh* I sense a new addiction here...

It's the most wonderful time of the year!!

A few years back, there was a commercial on advertising back-to-school deals, and the parents were waltzing down the aisles of the stores joyfully throwing school supplies into their carts while the Christmas song, "It's the most wonderful time of the year" was playing in the background. That has become my theme song for this time of year!! As much as I love all the fun we get to have together during the summer, I am always very ready to get the little munchkins back in school. And when they are being honest and not going for that pre-teen attitude they seem to be sporting younger and younger these days, they are always really excited to go back to school as well!

Katelyn had a great 8th birthday! Here she is with her loot!












Kate had a Luau theme for her party this year. She and her friends had a lot of fun dressing in their leis and hula skirts and playing games. It was a really hot day, so the swimming and sprinklers were a big hit too!

Lilly's latest photo shoot

Here are Lilly's two year pictures. Aunt Heidi did a great job once again! Thanks Heidi!!

Spring Dance Recital

Recital time again! The girls love to get dressed up and dance on the big stage! Avery even likes getting the makeup on! For Kate, however, that's one of the worst parts of being a ballerina!! The dreaded EYE MAKEUP!!









Katelyn is really getting quite graceful. She is getting better and better. Her teacher says that she has all the technique down, now she just needs to work on her confidence level. She KNOWS the steps, but she doesn't KNOW that she KNOWS the steps! :)














Avery loves every aspect of ballet. She does great too! She had to be put in a class one year above her age level this year because of scheduling conflicts, but she kept up with the "bigger" girls just fine! She has officially decided that she will be a ballerina just like Miss Jessica when she grows up!

Just the Girls

Poor daddy. He is hopelessly outnumbered. With all the females in this house, it's a wonder he hasn't yet lost his mind. But us girls have a lot of fun together. And if he didn't have girls, who would tell him how nice his tie looked or what a great haircut he just got! Little girls give the best hugs and cuddles too! As soon as he walks through the door at the end of the day, he immediately hears "DADDY!!" times 3 and the running of feet to see who can get to him first. So yes, while there are a whole lot of hormones running through this house, I think think he's pretty lucky too! :)

Lilly turns two!!!

Can you believe it's been two years? She's getting so big and talking up a storm!! Everyday she says a new word that we didn't know she knew!
















Here is Lilly with her loot. She loves everything she got, but Big Bird was by far her favorite! He's her new sleeping buddy, and we don't go anywhere without Buh-Bur now!!












She loved picking the skittles off her cake!













MOM!! Enough with the pictures already!!


















Anybody want some?

Here comes Katelyn Cottontail?

Katelyn was THRILLED when Aunt Heather asked if she would like to play the part of the Easter Bunny for our family egg roll this year. (Okay, so she looks more like Bugs Bunny, but we won't tell her that!!)















The hardest part was to keep her from hopping all the way to the party. Yes, those are real eggs in that basket! She managed to make it downstairs without breaking any eggs!

Look ma! Two wheels!

Mom and Dad decided that it was time for Kate to learn to ride a bike without training wheels. Here's Dave giving her the pep talk.











We started on the grass so that if she fell it wouldn't hurt so bad.
















After a few minutes on the grass, she decided that she was ready for the sidewalk! She was nervous the first few times, but she's doing great now and loving the freedom of two wheels!! :)