Halloween Recap

Let's see...

We carved pumpkins. Drew was so happy that he had graduated from goo scooper to pattern poker. I still maintained the responsibility of carving queen. (Yes, I used scrapbooking adhesives to attach the pattern. I couldn't find the regular tape. Mike suggested running out to get some. I laughed and said, "Are you kidding me!?!")

Drew really did a great job and was so proud of his work. I was too!

After we tag teamed the first one I then made the mistake of telling Drew that he could pick out whatever pattern he wanted me to carve from the book. Of course he went straight to the super difficult section.

The next day we made ghost cookies for Drew's daycare friends. These were easy enough that Drew could make them all by himself. He mostly stuck to the eyes which were mini-chocolate chips. About every 10 seconds I heard, "Uh oh! This one melted. I better eat it."

When it came to costumes we knew long ago what Drew wanted to be. He scored a pair of Buzz Lightyear pajamas that he went crazy over. We took it as a sign that since he refused to take the pajamas off for three days that Buzz would be the costume of choice this year. 

Drew was a little disappointed that he had to wear tennis shoes instead of official Buzz Lightyear boots. He finally accepted them when I said they were magic shoes. I love that kids will believe pretty much anything we tell them.

Since one character of Toy Story was already covered...

Meet Woody. Well, the slightly shorter and chubby version anyway. So chubby, in fact, that the middle set of buttons on Jackson's costume refused to stay buttoned. It was hilarious.

First up on the trick or treating map, Scrapbook Generation.  

The men were, obviously, excited about that.

Then we were off to hit the town with Drew's best bud. Usually we would take the boys to our hometowns and visit family but Drew insisted that we go with his girl. I'm glad we did because they had a blast!

Jackson mostly enjoyed the trick or treating festivities from his stroller. This always-on-the-go little guy has turned his stroller into a leash with wheels. He refused to sit and enjoy the ride and instead walks as we push. (We get a lot of laughs from strangers.) 

To sum up a super long post, we had a great Halloween! (and hope you did too!)

P.S. The number one lesson I learned over the Halloween weekend...don't watch Ghost Hunters alone. 

:)

I'm going to get in trouble with Santa.

The other day I was sitting at our dinning room table scrapbooking/working. In the middle of deep concentration over some crackle paint application, out of the corner of my eye, I see a little red head bob over to the table.

"Watcha doin' Mama?", Drew says.

"Working."

"Can I work too?", he asks.

"Not right now, sweetie. This is something Mama has to have done quickly for a class."

A few seconds pass and when Drew discovers that his sad little pouty face isn't working,

"Mama?"

"Yes, Drew?"

"I think for Christmas I'm going to ask Santa for Scooby Doo movies AND scrapbooking stuff. I bet he'll get the scrapbooking stuff because I'll tell him you don't share."

Ouch.

Now before you think I'm mean, stingy mommy, trust me I'm not. When it comes to play scrapbooking I love having Drew sit with me and letting him join in on the whole process. Which reminds me of this layout:



Drew had started actually forming shapes and pictures with his drawings instead of just scribbling. I really wanted to do a layout featuring some of my favorite pieces of his artwork when suddenly the light bulb switched on. What could possibly be better that using his artwork as a background too? So I handed him two 12 x 12 white sheets of cardstock and a handful of crayons. He loved it!

A lot of times I pre-plan my layouts but for this one I waited until he was done drawing and arranged everything around his designs. I also kept the patterned paper to a minimum because I didn't want it to overshadow his cute drawings. I even used a circle he drew as space for the journaling.

It ended up being one of the most fun layouts I've ever created. There isn't a whole lot to the layout, it's pretty simple but knowing that we both created it together makes it special.

The Davis Clan and the Pumpkin Patch

I would have to say that Jackson won the award for the most entertaining at the pumpkin patch this year. Last year Drew won, hands down, with his pumpkin patch pouty attitude. (He hadn't quite adjusted to life with a baby brother and was not shy to display it in tantrums. Lots of tantrums.) At least this year he was back to sweet Drew.


Jackson was so excited with everything because it was all so new to him. Most of my pictures are of his backside, he was always on the go. I'm quickly discovering that getting a picture of both the boys together is next to impossible. They both were going, going, going and usually going in different directions.

While Drew was making his way through the mini-maze, Jackson caught sight of the pony. He instantly wriggled out of my arms and chased, (and I mean chased), the pony. It was hilarious!

When it was time to pick out some pumpkins. Jackson took one look at a cute little orange one just his size, touched it just because he has to touch everything at least once, and then spent the rest of the time running up and down the little bumps throughout the patch.

He ended up doing a lot of this.




This year we only ended up picking out mini pumpkins because my mom has turned into "Farmer Debbie" and she ended up having four perfect pumpkins for us from her garden. I'm excited to do some carving tomorrow!

Is it too early for...

Christmas stuff? Maybe a little, huh? I couldn't resist though. Merry Christmas a little early.



I had begged Mom to order these 3D Countdown Calendars from Karen Foster and surprisingly she actually got them. (She doesn't listen to me very often. I could go on for hours about the many times we've argued over conversations we've had or, in her opinion, we've never had.)

For years I've said I wanted to make an advent calendar for Drew and I just never got around to it. Finally I got around to it but now I've got to think of fun things to put in each box. I don't really want to do candy but instead maybe a different Christmas activity. If you've got any must do kid friendly activities let me know!

Spooky Recipe Card

Of course, for my October Recipe Card I had to go with a Halloween layout!



Halloween is one of my favorite subjects to scrapbook, mostly because I love Halloween. Cute kids in cute costumes, baking fun Halloween treats, watching "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown", carving pumpkins...I can go on and on.

Last year was the first year that Drew really got involved in the carving process. He loved scooping out all the gooey, sticky insides and was proud of his little orange scoop. He did get a little mad at the fact that we wouldn't let him handle the carving tools. I carved his mini-pumpkin for him and later he used a little plastic tool to add "freckles". He was so proud of his jack-o-lantern that I didn't think he was ever going stop looking at it. We had such a good time and I'm looking forward to our carving fun this year!

Camera Lovin'

I'm thankful that even though I'm in a house with three boys I did manage to convince one to love the camera.


Honestly, I didn't convince him, he has always looked right at the camera. He's still learning on how a camera works though. He'll look at the camera and then smile after the flash goes off or he hears the click. Such a little goof ball.

I'm finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. A very teeny speck of a light, but still a light. I'll take it! I've been so busy the last few months with events that it will be nice to relax a little. Although, I've been busy enough that when it does slow down I'll probably be bored.

We just got back from CKC Kansas City on Sunday. This was the first time that the whole family went. Drew loved staying in a hotel and the whole time called it our apartment. He was also surprised to find out that Stacey, Jeremy and Grandma all had apartments there too.

Scrapbook Generation celebrated our 5th birthday on Monday. I can't believe that we've all managed to work there for five years without killing each other. There have been a few close calls but for the most part it's been great. It's been an amazing opportunity to discover what each of us is good at. Plus it's been so much fun meeting so many others who love scrapbooking as much as we do. Thanks for five years and many more to come!

The Naked Sketch

Have you ever scraplifted yourself? I have. That's the beauty of creativity, there are absolutely zero limits.

• as seen in Creating Keepsakes special issue 101 Expert Solutions for Scrapbooking

After I made "The Drink Thief" I realized there was something about this layout that I really, really liked. Now before you think I'm tooting my own horn, let me explain. It wasn't the papers, the design, or the details that got me. It was the photo placement that I loved. Three 4 x 6 photos and then three smaller photos. To me it was the perfect blend. Room for some big, uncropped pictures and then three smaller photos that would work great for details.

So you know what I did? I copied it. Kind of.

• as seen in Creating Keepsakes special issue 101 Expert Solutions for Scrapbooking

The picture placement and sizes were exactly what I needed for this layout. To mix it up I changed up the papers, colors and the overall placement of everything, except the pictures. It's amazing how using different supplies and paper arrangements can make a layout look completely different from the original.

It's kind of like a naked sketch. A sketch that shows only the photos and it's up to you to design around them. I say, give it a try. Scraplift yourself! Or try taking a sketch you love and only following the picture placement. Another reason sketches are awesome.

On a side note, I wanted to say thank you to all of your nice comments about our (Scrapbook Generation's) sketch books. You all have had the nicest things to say and we love hearing that you are enjoying them so much! To know that you are getting a lot of use out of them makes us so happy. Again, thank you! :)