Challenge Taken

This is the last week of Summer of ScrapLovin' at ScrapLove. With this challenge we were to do something we usually do not do. I chose old pictures to scrapbook and a new technique. When I saw Jamie's Try it Tuesday video this week I was instatantly inspired.
YO-YO's.... My Grandmother made yo yo quilts. Growing up I always wanted one of her yo yo quilts. She only had 3 made and could not give me one because she needed 4. There are 4 granddaughters and to her it just would not be fair for me to only receive one. Now as she is admitted into a nursing home, her memories ravaged by Alzheimers disease, her yo yo quilts go on incomplete. When Dad cleaned out her house he did manage to find 1 yo yo quilt for me.

Only 4 Days left of Summer Vacation

I can't believe school starts on Monday! I have enjoyed being a stay at home Mom this summer. I always thought I would be bored to death staying at home, but I wasn't. I started with a pretty ambitious list of things to do this summer and I did most of what I set out to accomplish.
My original plans were to sit on the beach each morning. Didn't happen. I also wanted to ride my bike each morning before the kids woke up. Didn't happen either. But I did work on the yard a lot.
We bought this statue when we took Contessa to Victory Junction Gang Camp
Her name is Rebecca.

My vegetable garden to right of the fountain did not do to well this year. I was really bummed! I was looking forward to all the fresh cucumber, tomatoes and zucchini. Instead everything flourished and immediately fried. I planted some jasmine on the fence to cover it up some.
Victory Junction Gang Camp was a blast again this year. Michael Waltrip stooped by the camp this year. Contessa got a kick out of the pink swimming trunks he wore. My inspiration for this page came from Scraploves' weekly challenge. Use lots of polka dots and this picture. Our Girl Scout troop was very busy this summer. This layout is from our Tennessee Adventure where we went spelunking. this was such a great experience.

On April 26, I started Weight Watchers. My beining weight was 151 pounds. Now three and a half months later I have lost 15 pounds and counting. I made this layout marking this great accomplishment!

This layout I created to tell the story of why I scrapbook. This was an interesting challenge. The requirements: use 5 different pattern papers, 4 chipboard pieces, 3 buttons, 2 colors of cardstock and 1 5x7 photo of yourself scrapbooking. That's it, no other embellishments, paint, ink, ribbon, etc... At least I did accomplish my goal of doing an insane number of layouts this summer.

Tomorrow we will finally hit the beach! This is why we moved here right?

On Vacation

This week the kids and I are on vacation. Poor Marc has to stay at home and watch the dogs(and work). At least this is his long weekend off work. What I wouldn't do to have the family go away for the weekend and leave me at home. Imagine how much (or how little) I could get done!

We are visiting my parents in PA. We spent the first three days touring Gettysburg and the battlefields. We do this every year and it seems they enjoy it more and learn a little more along the way.

While visiting the Eisenhower Farm it occured to me that Contessa could earn a Girl Scout badge while on this trip so we got the requirements and set to work.

Contessa and Winston became Junior Secret Servicemen. Here they are in the playhouse speaking to the Secret Service office.

Next we were off to the National Cemetary. This was a very interesting self guided tour done by the Girl Scouts. The tour begins by setting the scene after 3 days of fighting in Gettysburg. After the battle the surviors packed up and left for home leaving the wounded and dead behind for the people of Gettysburg to tend to.

Many men had no identifcation on them.One gentleman died clutching a picture of 3 children. A local doctor took it upon himself to have the picture printed in the newspaper. A woman in New York recognized the picture of her children and was able to identify her husband. They were finally able to give him a proper burial. We were able to locate this gentleman's headstone at the cemetary.

After the Civil War, men received dog tags to wear so that no one would die unidentifiable.

Next stop on our tour was The Little Round Top and Devil's Den. The view from Little Round Top is amazing. This is one of my favorite places from my childhood.

Winston absolutely loved Devil's Den. He bought this little plastic sword at the gift shop and was off to fight the war. My weekly challenge over at Scraplove was to make a clear layout. This was a little challenging. The most challenging part was not having supplies. Remember, I am on vacation. I had to purchase all my supplies and use what little tools my mom has at her house. I am really pleased how it turned out!
"Sittin' On Top Of The World"
My background is an overlay as well as the overlays over the right two pictures. I used my Cricut to cut stars and the word world out of a transparency and painted around the edges. Who needs to buy ghost letters and shapes any more??? How's that for a cool tip?