Tuesday, July 28, 2009

How Old Am I???


Today as the kids and I were driving, I had a strange moment. I couldn't remember how old I was. Honest. I was sitting at a stop sign and I don't even remember the thought process of why it was important for me to remember. But, I turned to H and said, "How old am I?" At the same time I was counting from my birth year to present, doing the math. I was actually relieved to realize I was still 33. I think I was expecting to be a bit older. That was a really strange feeling. Whew! I've still got several months before I turn 34. I felt like I was given a sip from the fountain of youth. I can handle 33! I guess the older we get the less we actually have to disclose our age. Wouldn't it be cool to kind of pick which age we would like to pause at. And then when we get to 60 or so start keeping track again. Becase I hear you can get some great deals with a senior discount.
Our summer has slowed down considerably. I should be grateful for this "down" time. I did finally finish H's school page, now on to R's. But my master list of things I HAVE to get done this summer is just about finished.
1. clean the siding on the house (check)
2. restain the deck (check)
3. clean out the garage (check)
4. paint furniture on the deck (check)
and a few others that are tragically boring...(check)

So, here I am. My children don't want to go anywhere. They simply want to be at home, which I can understand. But, being a person ALWAYS in motion, this not going anywhere is starting to do strange things to me. I have to shake myself and remember that school will start all too soon and life will dramatically change. So, here's to slowing down and soaking it all in..ALL of it.


Live Today!
Dawn

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

UNO

This game has become a cornerstone of our evening routine. We have REALLY loved going to bed later and sleeping in. Poor D, he has to get up when the rest of us are knocked out! But, we have spent several nights now all piled on our bed trying to outwit each other in UNO! So fun! I think everyone has won except R. He hasn't figured out the right time to use those wild cards. He'll get it soon enough. This is my picture for today. Some of the pictures I use are "fixed up" and some are not. This is one that I kept pretty raw, except I did deepen the contrast. I like the fact that it is a little blurry. I LOVE the golden hue above H's head!
Live Today!
Dawn
P.S. Today Becky Higgins posted a "life story" PDF for you to print out and fill in. It's so cute! I have saved it in my "to do" folder and want to do this. GoHERE.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Too busy summering

I have my kids' school book pages all laid out in my studio. I have been trying to work on them now for about 2 weeks. So far, I have totaled about 1 hour since then. I also have ALL of June's 365 pictures in a folder, ready to be uploaded to Shutterfly, and I have about 20 story cards to make to go with them. But, I decided the time I get to spend with my kiddies and wonderful friends and family takes front seat these days. While I do try to do a little bit of documenting every day, I once read some words that basically said this, "Spend more time making your memories than you do documenting them." So, that is what I'm doing! :) Everything has a season, right? This is a picture of some wonderful people we have gotten to make some wonderful memories with!!!
Live Today!
Dawn

Friday, July 10, 2009

LIFE

Tim Holtz is an amazing creator of all kinds of scrapbook products that I REALLY want to try!! This is one of them... This is actually part of a set of rubber stamps. He's got tons more that he is launching!

If you are interested at all at seeing some of his stuff, go HERE. He has some really fun demo's on his website, timholtz.com. He does alot of grunging and has a different perspective (I guess since he is a guy maybe?). It isn't your normal pink flowery girlie stuff! :)

Live Today!
Dawn

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Day 2 of Class

Wow! Jessica Sprague is breaking it way down and making it so easy! This is what I learned in Day 2.. I didn't realize that the term "brush" actually means like a "stamp". Brush is the digital version, stamp is the "real" version that is made of rubber and goes with ink! Wowee! Didn't realize that there was so much you could do with those things! Oh and here's another something I did with some brushes. So easy and so much fun!! Can't wait until tomorrow...actually I could do day 3 right now seeing that tomorrow is here. But, I think I'll save that for when I wake up all tired from staying up most of the night playing!
Live Today!
Dawn

Monday, July 6, 2009

LEARNING

WOWEEE!! I am having way too much fun now! If you have been wanting to learn more about digital frames and how to add them to your photos, TODAY IS YOUR LUCKY DAY!!! And I am not a big "luck" kind of gal, but this is FABULOUS! Jessica Sprague jessicasprague.com. Right now this class is $45. I signed up for it about a week ago and somehow I got it free. So, if you don't want to pay the $45 maybe bookmark her sight or better yet sign up to become a member of her site and maybe she'll send you upcoming class info. Regardless, I just took my first "class" and learned something very valuable that has been eluding me for quite awhile. Her classes are designed to be accessed at your convenience so that you can go back over it as many times as you want! PS. If you are my sister, I will be sharing some info. that we were just talking about this weekend...Horrah for sisters! :) Look at what I just did after my 10 minute class... And this is my 365 POTD (picture of the day!:)
I opened up my picture in Photoshop Elements and added a layering mask, a frame and added text. Took me about a minute to do! :)

More to come very soon...so very excited!
Live Today!
Dawn

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Portable Pancakes

My picture for today is of the Eggo Waffles Pancake box. I haven't even taken the picture yet (don't have the pancakes in my house right now...long story). But, it's a story worth remembering! My sweet little girl has always LOVED pancakes. So, when we started planning menus for the beach, pancakes were way up on the list. However, I told her that we weren't going to do ANY fancy cooking. I mean pouring hot oil into a pan and actually mixing up batter is FANCY! :) So, she goes, "mom, let's just buy some portable pancakes." At first I was not following, so she explained, "you know the frozen kind you can take anywhere"....portable. I thought that was such a very interesting angle on the whole frozen food. It does have a more sophisticated ring to it...portable pancake!
Anyway...don't want to forget that. Since I don't have the box, I wrote that whole story and the DATE on a ripped out piece of notebook paper. I stuck it in my album where the picture will go so I will remember to get that picture. (truth be told I'll probably have to jot down another note and stick it on the frige so I'll remember). Whatever works for you, do it! Remember all the stories, especially the everyday ones that are so very unique!

Since I don't have the picture of the portable pancakes..I thought I'd leave you a parting shot. My mom, sister and I have started this tradition of taking a yearly self portrait session on a random park bench. This year was no different. We found our park bench, laughed hysterically at nothing and everything and have some great pictures to prove it. This is my picture for June 12th
OK...couldn't resist, here are a few more from our park bench photo session.






Live Today.
Dawn