Mom at Home

My first kit Freebie!

2010-09-07T13:52:00.001-04:00

Ok peeps, I absolutely love scrapbook challenges! My favorite challenges are at DigiScrapbookMania and Digi Scrap Drive In! Be sure and check them out! For each challenge, you get points and when you rack up enough points you get free products! So cool, especially for those of us around here who are frugal <read miserly>. =)

Anyway, I participated in a new challenge this week at DigiScrapsDriveIn called Go for the Pinks... and Blues hosted by Jen C Designs (one of my favorite designers, who I am proud to create for!) The rules for this challenge is that you have to create a layout or mini kit using the given color palette. So I decided to be brave this month and jumped in feet first and designed a kit! I got so caught up in the fun that I ended up with a not-so-mini kit with 18 papers and around 20 elements!!!! So here it is:

You can download it here:
Papers 1
Papers 2
Papers 3
Elements

Remember this is my first attempt at designing so please be kind! LOL! Comments are appreciated!

New Scrapbook Page

2010-08-31T02:15:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone! I have been noticing lots more activity on my blog lately! Thanks everyone for checking my page out! Here is my newest layout!

This one is of some great pics I took of my girls last winter... I was trying to get a nice beautiful picture to include in a nice frame for my parents, and all they would do is giggle and make silly faces... but they were so cute I couldn't be upset at them!

I created this page using a beautiful mini-kit from Kiki Halbert called Bubblegum Classic, and a template from Jen C Designs.

Ok, I'm heading to bed now! It's late and the kiddos will be up EARLY in the morning! LOL! Oh well, isn't that what Solomon was talking about in Proverbs 31... Up late and up early = NO SLEEP! See ya later!

It has been forever!

2010-08-14T18:27:00.000-04:00

Oh my Goodness, it has been ages since I have posted anything on here! July was an absolutely busy month and soooo hot! Our A/C was broken for a while and I was about to melt! Thank God it's all better now! LOL!

Kenzie went to church camp and I went with her as a dorm mom! We had a great time and made lots of friends! God really moved in the services and almost 40 kids received the Holy Ghost! Praise God! What an awesome time!

And of course I have been getting ready to start homeschool again. Abby is five now so I will be teaching her basic reading and math mostly. Kenzie is eight and going into third grade, and she reads great. After her achievement test this spring though, I have realized that we need to work on her Language Mechanics... you know, punctuation, capitalization, etc.We will be using mostly Abeka curriculum for Kenzie this year along with lots of classic books, like McGuffey Readers and other books from long ago.

We are planning to do some lapbooking together as a family too so that should be fun! I think lapbooking appeals to me alot because it is so similar to scrapbooking! So as we work on these I will post pictures.

Ok since most of this post has been about homeschooling... I want to share a couple of new scrapbook pages with you that I just finished using a great new kit from Circle of Life Scraps...Hooray 4 Homeschool by Circle Of Life Scraps So here they are!

Desktop Wallpaper Freebie!!!

2010-07-01T17:16:00.000-04:00

I made this desktop wallpaper/ background using the Beach Fun Kit by Jen C Designs, which will be released in her store on July 5. You can download it here. And be sure to check back on Monday so you can get the kit yourself!! It has lots of fun, summer elements and papers!

If you download the wallpaper, please comment and let me know how you like it! You can add your own summer picture or list of events in the frame! Enjoy!

Bright Skies Ahead by Recherché by KH Designs

2010-07-01T15:46:00.000-04:00

I have been accepted into another creative team... this time for Kiki Halbert. She just opened a new store at Funky Playground Designs and I am SOOOOO excited to be on her team. She is an amazing designer and I am excited to be able to work with her designs. For the grand opening of her store, she released a GIANT kit called "Bright Skies Ahead," and you can get it here. My layout using this kit is below!

More Pages using Jen Maddocks Products

2010-07-01T15:30:00.001-04:00

One Cute Boy

Here are the links for the elements I used:

One Fine Day

BG from Tooth Fairy

All in a Row Templates

Lollipop, Lollipop

Using these items:

Patriot Papers

Button from Petals and Things

Jen Maddocks Designs CT Layouts

2010-06-23T12:18:00.002-04:00

Scrapbooking is my creative outlet, and I am really having lots of fun working on the Creative Team of both Jen Maddocks and Jen C. Here are the latest layouts I have done for Jen Maddocks.

This one is made using Jen's Summer Getaway Mini Kit! This is one of my favorite places to visit while we are in the South. Jekyll Island is a state park, and you have to pay $5 to get on the island, which keeps the beach less crowded and clean. It is so beautiful there, and one of these days I want to go on a week-long vacation there!

This page was made for the Leaving a Legacy challenge at Digi Scrap Mania, where we were asked to make a page with five random things about ourselves. I had so much fun putting this page together, and I love it because I rarely scrap about myself... It was a nice change of pace! This page uses Jen's newest Kit: One Fine Day.

Jen C Designs CT Layout

2010-06-21T13:21:00.001-04:00

Ok I had a blast playing with Jen's new kit... So many bright colors! I finally got some pics scrapped that have just been sitting in my hard drive!

Challenge Layouts

2010-06-16T17:22:00.003-04:00

OK, so I have been having a blast over at Digi Scrapbook Mania where both of my designers sell their items. I have been doing the challenges that they post over there every month and when you finish them all by the end of the month there is a free kit, and if you get enough points even a $5 gift certificate!!! Well, I don't know if I am going to be able to get either prize this month I have been having lots of fun trying! Here are the first three layouts for challenges!

Font Challenge:
For this page, we had to use the font Calvin and Hobbes found at dafont.com.

Scraplift Challenge:

For this page I had to choose a Layout to scraplift.

Scrap this way Challenge:

For this challenge, you are given a list of items you have to use, and are able to be creative within those guidelines!

So much fun! You should come over and join us! Click this link: Digi Scrapbook Mania Forums
and go down to challenges! And if you do, send me the link so I can check it out! See ya later!

Jen Maddocks Designs

2010-06-07T22:40:00.004-04:00

Ok, here are the pages I've made for Jen Maddocks... Get all of her newest kits here.

These two use her Grow Kit:

This one uses her Quilt Templates and the Papers are from the Tooth Fairy Kit.

Comments are welcome and please check out Jen's store!!

New Jen C Designs CT Layouts!

2010-06-07T22:31:00.004-04:00

Jen C just released a new kit called Just Another Day and here is my layout!! I love the colors and the elements! Check out her store here.

More Scrapbook Pages

2010-06-04T19:44:00.004-04:00

Ok, so I sometimes don't do so well with updating my blog, so here are some of the layouts I have finished over the last few months.

Creative Team!

2010-06-04T18:11:00.002-04:00

I have been asked to be a part of two creative teams this week! I am so excited... I love scrapbooking and it will be so fun to have lots of new inspiration! I just love their designs and am really looking forward to incorporating them into my scrapbook pages!

The first lady is Jen Maddocks and you can check out her blog here.

And the next designer is Jen C. Again very talented designer! Check out her blog here.

Be watching over the next few months for pages with items from both of these talented designers! And please support them by checking out their stores!

2010-01-10T17:02:00.002-05:00

Ok so to go along with the theme of a new year and fresh beginnings, I decided to change the background of my blog... and have made a few changes on the layout.
I like it! LOL.

And of course, I added my scrapbook counter to the bottom of the page!

My Scrapbook Counter

2010-01-10T01:40:00.000-05:00

Well, I posted earlier that I need one of those counter thingies, so I searched and couldn't find anything I liked so I decided to make one! I will add it to my blog page tomorrow, but I wanted to go ahead and post it because I love it!

New Scrapbook Pages

2010-01-09T12:23:00.004-05:00

One of my favorite pastimes is scrapbooking. I absolutely love to take my memories and artistically present them on a scrapbook page! So I am posting my two newest scrapbook pages here for your enjoyment. I would love your comments! It is my goal to make at least 50 scrapbook pages this year... so here we are 2 down, 48 to go! I need one of those countdown thingies!

Credits:
Paper and Frame by Michelle Underwood
Snowflakes by Brandy Buffington
Overlay by Kim Liddiard
Elements by Raspberry Road Designs

Credits:
Le Jardin de Noel Kit by Imagine by Fran
Hand Stamp Brushes by Michelle Coleman
Glitz Alpha by Victoria Stegall
Snowflakes from Winter Bliss Kit, Winter Dreams Kit, Naughty or Nice Kit
Circle Frame by Amanda Taylor

It's a New Year!

2010-01-03T21:50:00.002-05:00

Happy New Year! The past year has been eventful, busy, sometimes wonderful, and sometimes sad. I haven't posted anything on this blog in a very long time and many things have transpired in the time between. But as a wise man once said...forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before....I am looking forward to the new year!

I have lots of hopes for the new year, but as they teach in almost every business class, if you don't define your goals, you will probably never achieve them. So this is the immortalization of some of my goals for the coming year!

Read through the Bible by reading it DAILY... My biggest problem is consistency, and I tend to get discouraged. This year I really want to stay with it and finish! "Not the one that runs the swiftest, or the one who shines for a day, but the one who endureth to the end."

To improve my housekeeping skills! Over Christmas, due to nine days of power outages, our family went to visit hubby's brother and sister-in-law, and I noticed over the course of the week that her house never seemed to get messy even though she had visitors. Such a contrast to my own home, that can be "clean" one minute and an absolute mess the next! She didn't seem to exert any effort, and I can work all day and there is still clutter everywhere! It wasn't the fact that I have three small children... because they were there too... It wasn't my hubby, who sometimes leaves things laying around and gets blamed for the mess, because he was there too.

So my conclusion is that she is doing something right and I need to copy her! So what does she do that I don't? I plan to explore the depths of this question this year! if this is Housekeepers Anonymous, My name is Amy and I am a Lousy Housekeeper. I hope to change this over the next 12 months!

Next, I want to work on becoming a better wife and mother... I may never be Michelle Duggar, who can juggle close to 20 kids, and never break a sweat, AND still have the grace to be loving to her husband! I Sometimes struggle with the three kiddos that I have! And when I am frustrated, Hubby better stay away from me! I hope this year to become more like the Proverbs 31 woman, whose children (eventually) rise up and call her (me) blessed!

Well, those are my big goals for the year... No weight loss goals (even though I definitely need that), no financial goals (even though God knows we need some... finances, I mean!). Only the things that are most important to me! I am praying that the Lord will help me accomplish my mission this year!

Bottle Rockets!

2008-09-06T17:17:00.003-04:00

We made these nifty little rockets at the Library today. They were so much fun!

The best directions I have found are at the Exploratorium Website.

http://www.exploratorium.edu/math_explorer/tfl_BBO_leaderGuide.html

The only thing we did differently was that we added a couple of pieces of wire hanger on the end of the pvc pipe so it would stick down into the ground.

My girls are a little young to understand the science of the project, but with older kids you could really explore aerodynamics, as well as displacement of air, and the math of figuring out how high they went.

Hope you have fun!

Our little volunteer!

2008-09-02T13:58:00.003-04:00

Earlier this summer we put out a couple of little tomato plants in the front garden, and have gotten a few tomatoes off of them, which the girls have loved. But a few weeks ago, we noticed a tomato plant in the back yard so allowed it to grow and it has been amazing! We didn't even plant it and it has grown better than the two that we did plant. It is loaded with tomatoes! And we have no idea how it got there! The girls think it is so cool and have loved picking the tomatoes off of it! Here is the picture.

God's Provision

2008-08-29T22:48:00.003-04:00

Today it was renewed in my mind that God loves us and wants to give us what we need, and many times answers prayers that we don't even realize that we have need of.

I was in town today, enjoying a quiet day with only the baby, because the girls are with Grandma for the weekend. I went to the Library (a regular occurrence for a homeschooling family) hoping to find some good books to help K. learn to read. While I was there, I overheard a conversation between two ladies who were sitting near me. (I know it's rude to eavesdrop, but it was kind of hard to not notice, and I think it was directed by the Lord.) I heard the one lady say that she was homeschooling, and I kept trying to think of a way to start up a conversation with her. So eventually, I got up enough courage to go up to her and asked her if she was a homeschool mom, and she said she was. Her kids are the same ages as mine and she seemed interested in getting together. Praise the Lord!

Although I totally disagree with those who say that homeschooled children are socially disabled because they aren't constantly in the company of their peers, I think it is good for children to have friends that have some of the same interests. So even though I hadn't actually prayed for a homeschooled friend for K. and some fellowship with another homeschool mom for myself, God knew what I needed and he made it happen - and I am so excited to see what else he is going to do in my life and the lives of our kids.

My Favorite Links:

2008-08-26T23:17:00.001-04:00

Homeschooling:

Thoughts about Blogging

2008-08-26T22:36:00.001-04:00

A blank slate. A new beginning. A fresh undertaking. Many thoughts run through my mind as I sit staring at an empty screen. What do I say? What is important about me? What do people want to know about?

I love my life, but what makes anyone else want to read about it? Maybe this will just be a personal record, never to be shared with others. Maybe just Grandma will occasionally drop in to see what the grandbabies are doing today. Or maybe the Lord will send someone along - someone who needs to know about Him - the Best Friend of All.

Whatever the audience, who ever might happen to read my thoughts, I pray that this will touch someone. Even if the only one who is ministered to is myself by having a record of my thoughts, I pray that I will have not only a spot on the web that is taking up valuable hard drive space, but a place that will help people to live for God Forever!