Do you ever have a day you wish could start over???

Today is one of those days.

Mason crawled in bed with us at 4am with a horrible barky cough that came out of no where...we just got over bronchitis. He coughed, tossed and turned, and I was awake until 7am. I fitfully slept until 8 when he woke up and Tyler took him to watch a little Dora so I could try to get a few more minutes sleep. 10 minutes later we received a phone call from Dean that our church was broken into and Tyler's laptop was stolen. So, he's not one bit happy (his laptop was stolen 2 months ago by a homeless guy that we found out was living on our church bus...scary! But, the cops were never able to catch him. Tyler lost 200+ sermons that he had preached.) Anywho...today the thief entered in through the bathroom window and stole Tyler's new laptop from his office, the TV from the nursery, our bass players bass & amp, a DVD/VCR Combo, a receiver, a bunch of electronics out of the youth room, and some other electronics from the church. Ugh. The nerve of some people!!!

I took mason to the dr. and he has croup and needs steroids and breathing treatments. We're hoping Millie doesn't get it. Poor little guy sounds terrible, but has been playing really well today.

I'm tired and crabby...and should be taking a nap, but know Millie is going to wake up any minute, so what's the point?

Well...now wasn't that all just a ray of sunshine??

How about some fun stuff?

Andrea Burns has these super cool Vintage Photo frames available at her store at www.thedigichick.com and they are on SALE today!!


And, here's a layout I made of Millie using Andrea's frames and her Love note kit!


Jessica Bolton released her new Not Quite Men collection at www.scrapbookgraphics.com and it is so much fun!! It's definitely a collection that I'll use over and over! Plus, if you go to her blog...you can pick up a free sampler! :) www.thescrapspace.com/jessica




And here's a layout I made using her new kit!


Well, that was my enabling for today! :) Go, shop, and post me your links using this awesome stuff! :)

And...let's all hope that tomorrow goes better than today!

Ok...a couple of fun things to share!

I know you aren't all digi scrapbookers, but some of you are showing interest in it, so here's some of my new favorite things!

These are so much fun! I know I'm going to use them over and over! You can find these at www.ginamillerdesigns.com


The rest of these can be picked up at www.funkyplaygrounddesigns.com






And here's a layout I did using most of these awesome goodies! :) It's one of my new favorite pages! (Isn't that dress sweet?? It was part of Millie's Christmas from my parents!)

Click here for credits!

Andrea Burns has a new kit out called Love note that is gorgeous!

Pretty, huh? You can find that one at www.thedigichick.com Perfect for Valentine's day!

Jessica Bolton has an amazing kit that's almost ready for release and I can show you my layout using it once it's released. Plus, I'll post a layout using Andrea's Love Note tomorrow since it has a new goody on it that's being released tomorrow.

But, since you can't see Jessica's new kit, I'll show you one I'm in LOVE with!


You can pick up this cornfed kit at www.scrapbookgraphics.com Isn't that white frame cool? And I love the overall strap...so much fun!

Ashley Olson is busy getting ready to take over ownership of www.thedigishoppe.com I can't wait to see what all she has up her sleeve!! I hear big sales are going to happen at the beginning of February! (hint, hint!) If you're in the mood too pick up some amazing ashscraps goodies, head over to www.thedigishoppe.com

I highly recommend her new fun paint elements!
Here's her sloppy paint alpha!


So, go out...buy...and scrap! (and send me links using this stuff!!!)

Really?? Two already??

Whew! What an insano week this has been! So sorry for not keeping this thing updated, but hey, with two kids it's amazing I get anything done, right? :)

It's official...Mason is now two years old!! How can that be? Where did my little 3 pounder go? He's now a 33 pound little boy...who no longer looks like a baby! I don't know why, but turning two wasn't easy on this mommy. I guess at 1 you're still considered a baby...now we're a little boy! I would ask him “What do you want for your birthday?” He’d say “Daddy!” I’d say “What else do you want for your birthday?” He’d smile and reply “Mommy!” Now, those are the moments that just melt your heart and let you know you must be doing something right as a parent.

On Friday, we took Mason to the doctor for his 2 year check up (the doctor proclaimed him "perfect!") and then went to pick up some balloons. We took the balloons to Miles' grave along with some little fish decorations. Mason had a lot of fun releasing the balloons. We let him do all four of them. He would grab one and then throw it up in the air as fast as he could. He would "wow!" and watch it float away. Mason didn’t love the idea of leaving the fish there…he wanted to take them with him. But, we distracted him with other balloons and he got over it. Mason was really impressed with the “choo choo” that’s engraved on Miles’ grave. He thought that was pretty cool. We sang happy birthday and it really ended up being a sweet time together as a family. We then went to Triple Dog Dare Ya for lunch and then came home to open presents. He got some more stuff for his train that he got for Christmas (more track and a super cool tunnel) and a Tonka fire truck. He was one happy two year-old. After playing with his new toys for awhile, he took a nap and then we went over to Grandma & Grandpa Penn’s since the whole family was in. We had some cake over there and some yummy Monical’s pizza. It really was a fun day!

Saturday was the big birthday party at The Children’s Museum. That place is so much fun. We had Elmo cupcakes & then Mason opened his presents (did we not just have Christmas??…our house has been taken over by toys!) After presents, the kids got to play in the museum for about an hour and a half. Mason LOVED it! (I promise pictures of all of these events are forthcoming…I just want to try to get them scrapped first! J ) We went out to lunch and then came home and crashed!! I think I’m still trying to recover!

Sundays are always busy around here. We get the kids ready and off to church we go. I’m so grateful for nursery on Sunday mornings! After church, we go to lunch at Kay & Lee’s and then home for naps for the kids (and usually some scrapbook time for me!) Tyler watched the Bears game (and I’d catch the highlights). Tyler’s thrilled the Bears are going to the Super Bowl! Sunday nights are starting to be such a challenge for me. I get us all ready for church and we go and Mason is way too loud to be in service. There’s no nursery on Sunday nights, so it’s usually me sitting in the nursery thinking “I got dressed up for this?” Kay actually took Mason into the nursery this Sunday (I think she felt compassion for him as he screamed his way out of the sanctuary!)

Tyler is playing in a church basketball league on Monday nights. So far they are undefeated and having a lot of fun. I haven’t been brave enough to take the kids (plus, the last 2 games have been at 8:30 at night, and that’s their bed time). I’m glad he’s getting to have some fun with the guys…and I usually get some scrapbooking done while he’s gone!

Ok…here’s what happening in the digital scrapbooking world (it’s my little corner of the world…and I love it!)

I’m on a creative team for Andrea Burns! (see her blog here: http://embellishbyandrea.blogspot.com/2007/01/my-new-creative-team.html ) She sells at http://www.thedigichick.com/ and has some really great stuff! I’m totally honored to be a part of her team! I was thrilled to receive that e-mail this week!

Also…I’m a guest creative team member for Gina Miller (http://www.ginamillerdesigns.com/) Look here http://www.ginamillerdesigns.com/boutique/index.php?main_page=page&id=6&chapter=1 Pretty cool, huh?? I'm getting to create with some amazing scrapbookers...so much fun!! It’s definitely a dream come true! She is releasing new goodies left and right, and I’m lovin’ it! I am still pinching myself to see if it’s all really true!

Blogger is acting really quirky, so I'm going to try to hurry up and add some pics before it crashes again (this is my 5th time trying to post this!)

Here's some pictures of Mason from last winter that I scrapped using Andrea Burns' Winter's Grace kit (found at www.thedigichick.com)


The papers/elements used on this page are from the creative team sampler for Andrea. Look at how little Millie was here! Aren't these pictures sweet?


This is a picture from Christmas morning...Millie loved her piano!
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These pictures are by Jessica Hollis (link on the right...check out her new pics...they are great!) The kit I used is by Jessica Bolton (www.scrapbookgraphics.com)


And...better late than never...here are some pics from Halloween! Mason was a fisherman! I used some papers by Ashley Olson and a bunch of other fun goodies!


You can always see the full credits for my layouts at my gallery at www.digishoptalk.com!

(and the kiddos are still sleeping! Maybe I can get some pics from his party done to post!) :) I'll just leave you in suspense and keep checking my blog. They'll be up soon!

A few more pics from the wedding

Ok, here are a few more pics from the wedding...Aren't they the cutest together??


I adore this pic of Justin and Aunt Tresa!


The whole family


Justin and Uncle Mark


This may be my favorite picture from the wedding! :)

Isn't it hilarious! Sorry Jason, but it was just too funny not to put on here! Speaking of Jason...How in the world did you get lucky enough to be marrying Annie? She is adorable & so stinkin' sweet!! I can't wait until your wedding...it's going to be a lot of fun. How you and Justin ended up with the ladies you have is beyond me...your mom must have done an awful lot of praying for her boys to end up with such amazing women!

My first digital convert!!

Kristen Norris came and visited last week and wanted to learn about digital scrapbooking. I just talked to her a little bit ago and she said since she left my house on Friday, she hasn't been to bed before 3 am because she's been scrapbooking! It's super addicting!! We had so much fun when she visited...she showered my kiddos with the sweetest presents and Mason loved the remote control car! It was so good to see her...I hope we can get together more often! (it had been almost 2 years...how crazy is that?)

Let's see...what's been happening in the Penn family? Hmmm...Grandma Penn is in Florida enjoying the 80 degree days. We're quite jealous over here! :) Millie has learned how to roll both directions and is rolling everywhere! Her personality is just blossoming each day...she's so sweet! Mason has become very worried about her cries...he makes sure I know she's crying and he'll go up to her and pat her and say "ok Mimmie. ok" If she's fussing in the car he'll try to talk to her to calm her down and keep telling her "it ok." Isn't that sweet?

I won a New Year's scrapbooking crop last weekend (it was held the weekend after New Years)...I won a couple of gift certicates at some chats and won the prize for completing the most challenges. I was a scrapbooking maniac! Also, I won 3rd place (it's a random drawing, but I'm thrilled) at www.thedigidares.com I got a $5 GC at 3 designer's stores. So, it's been super fun shopping!

Wanna know some thrilling news? Tonight is my last night on dial-up. We have decided to give up the dinosaur dial-up for cable modem. But...we are ditching our satellite TV in order to make that happen. We can't afford both...and I really don't like how much TV Mason watches during the day. So, I think it'll be a good move. He'll still get PBS and he has a whole cabinet full of DVD's so it's not like he'll actually notice, I just feel guilty for getting rid of Nickelodeon and Disney Channel. I haven't watched anything not on the regular prime time channels in forever, so I don't think I'll really notice it being gone much. I'll still have American Idol, The Office, The Gilmore Girls, etc...and I'll be able to scrapbook and not tie up my phone line all of the time! Plus, it won't take me a million years to do what I need to do online! Woohoo!! So, goodbye ESPN, goodbye Backyardigans (I will TOTALLY miss you...going to buy lots of your DVD's for Mason) and goodbye Food Network. Thank goodness Rachel Ray has a talk show now!

I finally got Justin and Amy's wedding pics done and mailed to them last week. I was pretty happy with how they turned out! I would love to get more serious about photography and maybe (maybe) someday venture into the world of photography. I really don't want to go back into teaching and would love the flexibility of photography. Photographing wedding scares me half to death, but I would love to do childrens/family photography (and if I'm ever brave, weddings too). If any of you want me to do some pics of your kids, I'd love to give it a try and see what you think!

Ok, wanna see some new pages? (all of the credits are located in my gallery at digishoptalk if you wanna know where to get any of the goodies that I'm using)

This layout is one of my new favorites. It uses Jessica Bolton's yummy stuff that you can find at www.scrapbook-graphics.com Aren't those frames cool?

This layout uses Ashley Olson's new In Like Winter kit found at www.thedigishoppe.com Love the colors in this kit!

This was for a "bad photo" challenge...not such a bad photo...more like one crazy photo! There's like a million different things hapening here...and it cracks me up! This uses Ashley Olson's new mulled spice kit found at www.thedigishoppe.com

Isn't she sweet?? It's so hard to believe she was ever this little!

Ok...off to round up a few more pics from Justin and Amy's wedding for you!

Goodbye 2006, Hello 2007!!

Wow...life has been so crazy busy!! Here's a quick little recap for you! After Christmas, we headed down on Thursday to visit the Hollis family so Tyler could hunt and try to get him a deer. He & Johnny hunted, and hunted, and hunted...but didn't even see a deer! The kids and I had fun playing with Jessica, Maddie Kate, and Ava. On Saturday morning, Millie woke up and was having some difficulty breathing and just sounded so horrible. When Tyler got back in we called the clinic as soon as it opened and they said we could be seen at 11:00. Mason was coughing, too, so we took him as well. Usually when he gets a cough, it progresses really quickly....one of the joys of being a preemie! The dr at the clinic gave Millie amoxicillin and some cough meds, but would only give Mason cough medicine. I told her "I'm sure he'll get worse...he's a preemie and it progresses really quickly." She said no antibiotics unless he had a fever (which he didn't, but Millie's was quite high that day). She said we'd be fine to go ahead and travel to my parent's house that afternoon in Dexter. On Sunday, Mason's cough was starting to progress and I called the dr again...still wouldn't give me antibiotics without the fever. Ugh. We left the breathing machine at home...so this wasn't great. We celebrated Christmas/New Year's with my family (and you need to meet James' girlfriend Jenna...she's adorable & so much fun to hang out with...good pick James!) and played a lot of progressive rummy. Millie still sounded horrible and was starting to wheeze, and Mason sounded worse. We came home Monday night (Tuesday morning 1am) and I gave Mason a breathing treatment before he went to bed. Of course, our dr was out of town on Tuesday...so I started him and Millie on breathing treatments and I took them in on Wednesday. He said both kids are definitely sick...and needed to be on breathing treatments and antibiotics. He said Mason sounded much worse than Millie...and that it had progressed all the way down the lungs. Poor guy! His cough sounds terrible! Tyler and I both have this yucky cold, too. So, I've been crazy busy giving the kids medicine & breathing treatments...and am officially wore out! Whew...sorry about that novel!

Ok...cute things the kiddos are doing. Mason adores Millie. He hugs her all of the time and says "Hi Mimmie!!" when she wakes up. Today, he wanted her and I to sit on the floor with him and play with the Fisher Price Laugh and Learn house. He kept acting so silly and she kept laughing at him. It was one of those moments when your heart is so full it feels like it's going to overflow. I promise you...I have the world's greatest kids. They are so stinkin' sweet and I couldn't be any prouder of them!

Before I show you new pics of the kids, you know I have to fill you in on some digital scrapbooking news! I've had to keep this one a secret until the designer went public with it, but she announced it today. I am on a creative team for Jessica Bolton (Eclectic Scraps) She sells her AWESOME goodies at www.scrapbookgraphics.com I am totally blown away that I was chosen as one of her team members. Seriously...still pinching myself to see if it's really true! So, go and check out her fun, funky stuff! (you're going to be seeing a lot of it on my blog!) That makes 3 creative teams for me...Jessica, Ashley Olson, and Nikki Meador. I'm one lucky girl!

**and, before I do that, I need to clarify something...on my embarrassing things page...it says "fainting" not "farting" I did not fart in a wedding and knock over the flower girl!! Just to be sure we're all clear! LOL!!!**

All right...here's what you've been waiting for:

2006 in Review:

Journaling reads:

Jan--Happy Birthday Mason! He really enjoyed his cake!

Feb--Valentine's Day--Heart Shaped Pizza at Monicals! We started getting Millie's nursery ready!

Mar--We visited my family...and all were attacked by the rotavirus. We also went from a blizzard to gorgeous spring weather!

Apr--We passed the one year mark of losing Miles and honored him in a special way. I also went into labor and spent some time in the hospital.

May--Welcome to the world Amelia Ree! She arrived a little early and gave us quite a scare! She was transferred to the NICU and spent a week there.

June--Mason's walking!! He also loves his sister, too! We enjoyed a weekend at the Malone reunion.

July--We went to the National Convention in Birmingham, AL and spent a few days with the McGee Family!

Aug--Aunt Ruthie came to visit and we had some fun events at church. Mason loved riding the tractor at the Sunday school picnic!

Sept--Millie's Baby Dedication Service! We also went to Nashville for a couple of days and hung out with Uncle Sean and the family!

Oct--Millie's first Halloween--she was a monkey & Mason was a fisherman. They looked adorable!

Nov--The two hunting weekends at the Hollis house. Johnny got his buck...and Tyler's waiting for next year!

Dec--Millie's first Christmas. Mason loved her gifts...and his, too! Being a parent is so much fun at Christmas. I don't know who was more excited...the kids, or me!

Click here for credits!

Let's Dance: These pictures were taken at Justin & Amy's wedding...

Click here for credits!

Let's Pray: Thank you Jessica Hollis for this sweet picture!

This layout uses Ashley Olson's new All Star kit found at www.thedigishoppe.com Ashley is on a roll here lately and is cranking out totally amazing stuff. I don't know when she finds time to sleep!!

Speaking of sleep, I'm headed to bed. I want to stay up and scrap, but this cold is killing me and I think I should probably get some much needed beauty sleep! I'll try to post more tomorrow (and put up some more pics from Justin & Amy's wedding...I'm almost done editing...woohoo!!!)

You should give this a try...

I'm curious to see if this is true for all of you, too! It'll only take you about two minutes to complete, and it's pretty fun!

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
The Inland North
The Northeast
The West
Philadelphia
The South
Boston
North Central
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

So, here's the deal...leave me a comment and let me know if it worked for you!! :)