Digital Scrapbooking Freebies!

Falling Again Paper Pack
Falling Again Elements

I've been working on this kit for several weeks now. I had planned on uploading it to my store at SBB, but decided to give it away. So, to any digital scrapers that stop by, enjoy!
( When you click on the download links, it will take you to another page where you will need to enter the text displayed into the box. It should then start the download process.)
Kristen, If I were super creative and funny, I would have made you the card on this page. Check it out and have a laugh on me. :)(You'll have to scroll down a little.)

It was a beautiful weekend. On Friday Erin spent the night with a friend. David and I took advantage of the free evening and went to a lovely Italian restaurant we have both been to separately but have never visited together. The food was delicious and the romantic setting was a nice change of pace from the family style restaurants we usually go to. It was also an excuse for me to dress up. I finally got the chance to wear that pretty pink shirt I purchased several weeks ago. I paired it with on of my Injoy creations. It felt so good to have my husband all to myself for a few short hours.
I spent Saturday morning relaxing and reading. I'm several chapters into "Eat, Pray, Love" and am really enjoying it.
I'm also working on a new product for my etsy shop, but I have no idea when it will be ready. It's giving me more trouble than I imagined.

I love this guy!

This fabulous fall morning finds me sipping coffee (thank you Coffee Fool) and wishing I were brave enough to call in sick on a day when I'm feeling fine.
Erin and I seem to be back in the swing of school. It turns out, all the trouble she was giving me last week was the result of a boy. Her current crush attends public school and she was so desperate to join him that she cried hysterically as she pleaded with me to enroll her. Luckily logic won out. The chances that she would even be able to go to the same school he does are slim considering he's in a different district. It's difficult to know where to draw the line when it comes to boys. Part of me wants to scream NO! and run away with her to an all girl island. The other part of me knows that it's perfectly normal for her to be interested in boys. As parents, our job is to decide what is okay and what is not. Currently she says she has a "boyfriend" which is driving David crazy. I understand that boyfriend to her is not the same thing as a boyfriend to a 15 year-old. At most, they hold hands and even that hasn't happened yet. David would like to avoid the entire situation by sending her to an all girls school. While I think that we should set clear boundaries and keep the lines of communication open. Telling her that she can't have a boyfriend is only going to make her want to have one even more and cause her to lie to us when she does have one. I'd rather know about it and be able to monitor the situation and add in my advice and rules as often as possible.
When was your first "boyfriend"? Mine was in Headstart. He pushed me on the swings and I knew I would love him forever!

Harvest Festival @ Ardenwood

"The beauty of life, is that you don't have to be modernly beautiful to live it." — C. S. Lewis

1. teaset copy22, 2. bestginafamiy2, 3. yellowflower2, 4. airplane2, 5. bestjaliel2, 6. camera2, 7. cornstalk2, 8. dressform2, 9. erinpickingcorn22, 10. jalilebestone2, 11. light2, 12. pinkflower22, 13. pumpkins2

How do days off manage to slip by so quickly? On Friday Erin and I went to a fare trade craft festival held at a local Mennonite church hosted by Ten Thousand Villages. Erin found a lovely pan flute and a stone with "love" engraved into it to add to her collection of completely unnecessary necessities. I purchased a delicious dark chocolate almond bar and seriously considered buying this blessing bowl. In the end I couldn't decide if I just liked the idea of the bowl or if it was something I would actually use. Rather than spend the $28 on something that would just sit on my dresser, I decided to take the idea of the blessing bowl with me and try it out with a bowl I have here. There were many other things that caught my eye, but knowing they are available online prevented me from jumping into a purchase I might regret later. I plan on doing some of my Christmas shopping from their site. The prices are reasonable, and the fact that all of the products are fare trade makes a huge difference!

Before the craft festival we went to lunch with Gina. We ate at Sendo Sushi and it was delicious! I haven't gone out for sushi since I went with my friend Nicky ages ago. We had four different kinds of rolls. My favorite had salmon skin, carrots, and cucumber.

We spent most of the day today running errands. The weather was spectacular compared to yesterday's downpour. I had planned on going to the pumpkin patch, but it didn't work out that way. Hopefully the nice weather will continue tomorrow and we can visit the patch then. Ardenwood farm is having its annual fall festival with cider pressing, popcorn picking, hay rides, and bluegrass music. How fun is that?

We visited my friend Nicky today and she loaned me two new books, "Eat, Pray, Love" and "A Wedding In December". I can't wait to read them! I should probably finish "Living Buddha Living Christ" first.

It's been a difficult couple of days. Tomorrow would have been Pam's birthday. It's also my mom's birthday. (Just one of the many strange similarities between our families.) All week I've been thinking about Pam and how much I miss her. I guess that is normal. For her last birthday we surprised her with a party. There were balloons and gifts. Laurie brought a cheesecake, Pam's favorite. No one remembered a camera so we have no photos to help us remember. We assumed there would be other birthdays. We were wrong. I can't believe it's been almost a year or that these emotions can come back as fresh and raw as the day we lost her.

Busy Creating

I love these pictures so much I had to scrap them. I haven't scrapped anything in so long. It feels good to create again. I used several new supplies on this one. The backgroud paper is from the "Festive" page kit by Shabby Princess, The torn notebook paper(I added the page tear) is from Amy Martin @ The Lily Pad, and the "on the edge photo mat" is from Nancy C. @ The Lily Pad.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have water!

I am so excited I would hug the plumber if he weren't covered in ...well, you know. I think I'll go into the apartment and run water from every faucet while flushing the toilet a couple dozen times just to bask in the sound of glorious running water!
Goodbye silly hotel room and rude fellow hotel guest who bang on the ceiling every time we make more noise than a church mouse. Farewell five minute drive to the bathroom. You were absolutely no fun at all! (Especially last Tuesday when I had to go really bad and you made sure every light was red!) Adios yucky hotel variety coffee and miniature coffee pot. You served me well, but I've so missed my gourmet coffee pot with it's built in bean grinder and the delicious aroma of freshly ground beans. (This reminds me, A, what was the name of the coffee you were kind enough to brew when I visited? I can't get that coffee out of my head!)

In all seriousness, I am elated to be home and have running water. This past week was trying and tiring. I'm no good when I'm being shuffled from one place to another. My poor husband and daughter bore the brunt of my grumpiness. Sometimes, I don't know how they stand me. They must both love me a really lot.

She is growing more into herself every day and the boundaries she chooses to test strike a nerve every time. "Can I have a boy friend who comes over and watches movies?" The questions are purely hypothetical. She has no close friends of the male variety. She asks me only to see if my stance has changed; if I'll show the slightest sign of weakness. To her eleven is nothing more than another of the ages she has to live through before she reaches the all important teen years. To me, eleven is everything and I will miss it just as much as I miss all those that came before it.
Lately I feel as if my resources have been tapped. I hope I'm not drowning in these home schooling efforts. Even more, I hope she is not drowning in my failed attempt. Scratch that. I won't admit defeat just yet. It's been a rough, waterless week and we are all on edge, me more so than everyone else.