Right Now...

This girl:

1 - is loving school. Learning to read and loving it, becoming very independent.

2 - is loving making art. I don't know if it's a fad, but she has to draw and/or color every day right now.

3 - is waiting for her first tooth to fall out. Don't tell her, but I really don't think ANY of them are loose yet.

4 - is growing taller. Clothes are starting to not fit again. Must have hit a growth spurt. We went to the mall today.

5 - is kind, thoughtful, observant and a good big sister. She makes us proud.



This girl:

1 - is making leaps and bounds with her speech. Alexa being in school has forced Ava to talk for herself. A very good thing.

2 - is totally into art as well. Has to draw, color and/or cut things out daily.

3 - has the best facial expressions. She can tell you a story and even if you don't know what she's saying her face says it all.

4 - is still a lefty. No doubt, this girl is going to be a southpaw.

5 - is a sweet, slightly stubborn, kind and caring little princess.

LOVE them dearly!

P.S. -stole this idea from another person's blog! Love this idea. :)

Blog Candy Winner!

Just a quick post for now, but I counted up all the posts and challenges and wrote out a bunch of little slips with names (somewhere around 30!) and the winner is.....


REBECCA!

Congratulations and great job on the challenges. I'm going to need your address to ship out your kit and RAK. Rebecca email me at:
swiatkowski01(at)hotmail(dot)com.

I'll be back later!

I have a cold. And my layouts from the ASD blog challenges.

Ok, first things first. Yes, I am going to whine for a paragraph. Hang with me.

My main job is to teach others about H1N1 right now. It's all we do at work, it's all-encompassing. You would think those genetically related to me would heed my "cover your coughs and sneezes and please throw your tissues away and wash your hands" message, right? Hmm, not so much. My oldest has graciously shared her cold with me. Fab-u-lous. Hand washing only goes so far, especially when your darlings have a knack for coughing all over you as you buckle the cherubs in their car seats. *sigh* A nice chesty cough and a voice that sounds like I drank whiskey daily and smoked unfiltered cigarettes for the last 50 years. Yes, I am that hot right now. And just in time for my first day off since Labor Day. Awesome.

So, after that little rant, I did get several layouts created this weekend, including a few for the ASD Crop-tober fest. Apparently, I need more light in my house. These photos aren't the finest.

For the Embellishement challenge (I used glitter, chipboard, - I just love those Maya Road cupcakes - ribbon and a rhinestone):


For the Naked chipboard challenge (this layout is so "un-Maria," it's messy, non-linear, and for the love, I painted on my paper):


I did finish the 2-page sketch challenge, but it is way too dark to get a picture. Perhaps tomorrow morning. It was linear and clean...all things "me" when it comes to scrapbooking.

While I was down at my crafting area, I ended up creating a few other layouts:

This one might be my favorite. New Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses here. And a tiny bit of new Pink Paislee. And my newest fad - a grid.


Alright, off to bed I go, back to work tomorrow. I'm hoping my voice clears a bit, I do have a presentation at noon. (On H1N1, of course!) Even better, tomorrow night, I also have a doubleheaders. Starting at 8:30 PM. Should be a balmy 45 degrees by then.

Apron Strings Designs Crop-tober fest and Blog Candy Time!

Want a chance to win a kit from Apron Strings Design and a bonus RAK from me? Simply leave a comment on this thread by11:59 PM Tuesday, October 13. I have this kit to giveaway:


Right now on the ASD Blog "Crop-tober Fest" is going on. Lot's of challenges and the chance to get a bunch of pages done and maybe win a cookie jar treat as well. So, for bonus entries to win this kit and the RAK, everytime you finish a challenge, leave a comment here with the challenge you completed. There is no limit on entries for this giveaway. So head over to the blog, work on some challenges and get to posting those pages you've completed!

Easy enough right? Leave a comment here for a chance to win, and for bonus entries into the drawing finish a challenge (or two, or three...) and let me know as well. I'll draw a winner Wednesday morning. (P.S. if you load your work up on the ASD Yahoo group, that's fine, just let me know.)

Pictures from the Orchard

A couple weeks ago (yes, I'm behind) we took a trip to Westview Orchards. It was actually a very warm fall day. Cider, donuts, ice cream, apples, more donuts... there were play areas, a bounce pad, a huge slide and a tractor ride.

This picture cracks me up:


The girls had a blast, their favorite part was probably feeding the animals. I loved how the animals poked their heads through the fence when taking pictures. There were donkeys, sheep, ponies, ducks and pigs. Well, hello there Dolly... too cute!

I take that back. The baby animals were the CUTEST EVER!



The weather has turned cold here, pretty soon we'll be out picking pumpkins for painting and carving. I'm looking forward to getting my October ASD kit with some fabulous fall papers. I should go work out, but I think I'll grab a blanket and curl up with a magazine instead!

A couple of toots!

Let's start with the most important one: Alexa "read" her first book this week. :) She was so excited for me to get home on Friday so she could read "What's Alive" to me. It's probably a good amount of memorization of the common sentences and words, but she read it none the less. I cannot wait to hear her read more books as the year goes on. She's really starting to get the hang of blending sounds to form words.

Second, Ava has really started making strides in her speech. One word she has mispronounced forever was "Alexa." From the first time she could say "Alexa", she pronounced it "Al-lah" - yes, just like the Muslim prophet. Finally, this past week we got her to pronounce it correctly "uh-Lex-ah." She does occasionally get lazy when saying it, but is easily corrected.

Third, Apron Strings Designs was featured on the Scrapbook News and Review website. I was lucky enough to have some of my August projects highlighted. You can see the article here. In a roundabout sort of way, I might be able to call this my first magazine (e-zine) published material.

Off to watch some football, baseball and maybe do some scrapping tonight.