Sunday, August 28, 2011

Hurricane Irene & Making the Most of this End of Summer

Hurricane Irene came and seems to have gone without much fuss here. As far as I can tell, we didn't even lose any branches from our four gigantic Norwegian Maples. I'm very sorry to hear about troubles others have had along the seaboard, and hoping that my friend Lisa, who lives in a flood plain, is doing okay.

I LOVE summer!! It is my favorite season - swimming, vacationing, but most of all, time with my handsome husband EVERY day! We normally work opposite shifts, so being able to spent a couple hours with him every evening is a real luxury. That bring me to why I HATE back to school. I don't mind going back to work myself too much, but I hate our most-of-the-year routine, and it weighs heavily on me this week that next week I'll have to say goodbye to him except for Fridays and Saturdays for the next nine months or so. Sigh.

I did get a chance to go and scrap with my friend Jennifer this week, sans daughter, because my husband was home. I have wanted to scrap with her all summer, but this was pretty much our first chance, so I took it while I could get it. I did this layout:



Are you sad to leave anything behind this summer?

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Getting Back in the Homeschooling Game


1. Finishing the essay - Esme has been working on an essay about our Brownie trip to New York for what seems like forever. She has a writing folder to help her stay organized, but this morning she couldn't find a couple pages of the rough draft. O..M..G. I did not kill her though, I just insisted she find it, which she eventually did.

2. I have to mail our assessment/intention letter today - I combined them into one long letter this year, and it makes more sense to me that way.

3. Staying organized is a challenge for ALL of the members of our family - I have to sort a huge pile of independent work for her into categories, folders, etc.

4. We are going to our first 4H meeting today - not an official meeting, but a picnic to meet the other people she'll be working with this year. The theme of this group is Science, which is her very favorite subject.

5. We are going to give her a year to really challenge herself and grow this year - if she was in public school she would be in *third grade,* which is the first really challenging year for many kids.

Monday, August 22, 2011

One Day, Two Layouts

My brother and his daughter came to visit us on his birthday. I am doing scrapbooks for each of my biological nieces and nephew, in addition to MANY albums for my own daughter. Since I went to a crop Friday night, I decided to make packing easier and plan some of the same photos for each album, so I could pack the same colors, embellishments, etc. Here are the layouts I made for each girls' album.


Thursday, August 18, 2011

Last few summer days....

My summer seems to be slipping away so quickly! Nooooooo! I am so lucky to have the summers off, but this year it's been a bit stressful. Between my car needing a new engine and hoping/looking for a permanent job, I've had a lot on my hands. But I did have time to go blueberry picking with my favorite little girl.....



Speaking of that little girl, I am gearing up for homeschooling now. Every morning she gets a folder of independent work, so I've been copying, researching, etc. to make sure we have the materials we need to get started. I do most of the prep and her dad does most of the sit-down lessons.

I am probably super late in the game, but some friends just introduced me to Picnik. I am LOVING it. I used the Lomo filter on the above photo.

Wednesday, August 03, 2011

Smash Book!



I said I wasn't going to get into this fad, but it turns out I couldn't resist! I started my Smash Book on my birthday - I used my first pages to make a list of random facts about me, and then another page with the details of my special birthday celebration planned by my sweet husband. So far, I am really loving it! The only complaint I have is the pen - the ink is definitely not bold enough for me, I will be using a Sharpie for the rest.


Tuesday, August 02, 2011

Talking about Girl Scouts



Anyone who has ever met me knows I am a super passionate leader and I talk about Girl Scouts everywhere I go. Really everywhere, and all the time. But I was really honored to be asked to talk about them today at the Holyoke Rotary Club. I tried to stress how important the movement is to our community, and to the girls. If you are up for some epic reading, you can read my speech here. Esme was one of two girls there, and was very supportive.