May 1st-recapation!

RECAPAtion! I like that word.  I know it probably isn't a word, but it fits life for me on this blog! I am gonna do a recapAtion of the past 2 weeks! woot I like to use the pages I make for the precious designers that give me such gorgeous kits to rearrange into memory catchers for me.
I will begin with:
Pickle Juice-Our Littles have been blessed with the ability to lie, when a lie needs not to be said.  They each have been doing it, and it is complete craziness.  We have been reading this book called The Connected Child:

Guesting as a Polly has a big perk, forcing myself to scrap with Paislee Press' designs. I buy them, I do, but I open the kit and touch everything and cant bring myself to grunge it up. It is so lovely and clean.....but I did it...I did a clean layout with the beautiful 
On My Desk

Karyn Purvis, and she has so helped both Tony and I with being a bit calmer, patient and able to redirect the littles to help them help themselves.  She doesn't teach about Pickle Juice, we kind of brain stormed it, in a few seconds of helplessness.

helping our kids cope with a lifestyle where lying just was, has been a big struggle, we try anything, and everything. Today, we happened upon, the word pickle juice. it is a word of surrender and grace. if in the middle of a lie, or right after it is said, when they know, they know the lie is coming out, pickle juice gives grace...there are still consequences to the action that they are covering with the lie, but the lie is erased, and truth is helped to come to the surface. This is a huge and very tough life lesson. They are all excited about it. We practiced to sparkles in their eyes. lol
Thank you Michele Godin you make things that make me journal my heart....
and I am so sad that 
Build Your Wings Collab
is retiring. Get it now while it is on sale, cause it is going away forever....sniff sniff

My momma blessed my socks off with the most spectacular necklace, I mean it is so me! I was blown away.  They are called origami owl living lockets.. 

My mom out of the blue,ask if I would like an origmai necklace. They were new to me, but I love it, and we talked about what I liked, and my mom snuck in the heart that says family...very sweet gift.
Musing by Pink Reptile Designs

Spring time is here in New Mexico, and that means headed up! UP! yep, up a mountain somewhere!

Getting it all on the page was fun! Thank you for the challenge Miss HeatherB. Our hike up the mountain. 
Mixed Bag Alpha by CD
and
Happy Camper by Laurie Ann
and a new font by Darcy Baldwin
Please Explain

There was good news, as Whitley finally got good behavior for 10 days in a row!! This is huge for the kid! He is more bossy than me! lol

my boy was so funny at lunch togetehr. We had mcd's for him making it 10 days in a row good behavior! 
Silly Girl collab with Valorie Wibbens and Jenn Barrette

I love these photos of my Tony and me.  Just love this man so much!

when I saw this word art in the collaborative project by Little Butterfly Wings and Pink Reptile Designs called Lean On Me I knew my best friend and Hubby would be on a page!
These photos are from a date night on Valentines day...we laughed and laughed taking the shots, and boy howdy, they match the kit perfect!

Life when you are active in an outreaching church is a blast.  The girls and I went to Deming for outreach and  got adventure along with it:

I went of a church outreach to a town 2 hours away, and on the way back, the van broke down! 13 people laughing and my hubs drove to pick us up, and others fixed it. It was just a great time, no one mad, just laughing! hilarious memory!
You can pick up this FREE template also HERE
on Pink Reptiles Blog and win!
Everything on the page is from
PINK REPTILE DESIGNs
including the new collab...woo hoo
Lean on Me

A trip to Las Cruces means hitting this $1 store that is makeup and jewelry only! Way cool! I got some real hair fake eyelashes! hysterical!

Since Reeces put peanut butter with chocolate, a winning combination; such is the same with 
Michele Godin and Mirjam of Pink Reptile Designs. 
What a Wonderful Day
The green grasses made me think of the weekend prior where I did fake eyelashes on me for church. I loved them, but boy were my eyes tired, those things are heavy! lol

Springtime in New Mexico, also brings dust storms, huge massive rolling, billowing dust storms.

My hubby took this photo as we were driving, I was driving he was snapping pics. It is a huge dust storm covering our town. This is normal for spring in New Mexico.
Thank you to the lovely 
Leah of Mommyish for her delightful kit Sweetest Spring
and font is Darcy Baldwins Room Mother script

I have two very tall boys! I mean they are now both taller than me! Crazy to see, I am gonna be the tiny lady with a ton of gigantic children.

My boys are growing up...wait, have grown up so fast. it is rare to get a photo, and one of them laughing together...score!
thank you to River Rose's Dream It Do It at Scrap Matters

Last one for the night, makes my heart smile every time I look at it!

I found a new setting on my camera, where I hold down the button and it takes about a million shots...so many were blurry, but the one where my 8 year old nestles his head in my hand was worth them all!
Thank you
Allison Pennington for your kit Not Pictured
this is a great kit also for those moments, you didn't get a shot, but want to remember the moment

Thank you for reading til the end! I so enjoy the process of making these pages, and hope you enjoy the end results!

~never lose your joy
anne of alamo

Friday!!

Although I have had an out and out blast for Spring Break, I do love Fridays.  My honey can relax, knowing there is no work tomorrow!  Although if there is no wind, he is gonna spray the back fence! I so hope he can do it.  The girls and I are going to a baby church in Deming(2 hours away) for an impact team to pass out flyers and witness for them! I am so excited.  I haven't been in forever.  Dad and the boys will have some bonding. tee hee Bonding might be with duct tape!
I did a few layouts for the LilyPad this week:

It is no secret how much I enjoy Little Butterfly Wings
and this new kit
Be Brave collabed with The Hidden Heart
was made to art journal, a great afternoon of pondering and the process of making a page.

and then I did one from our hike up the mountain of Gman, I love love this photo:

on a long hike in the mountains of our desert, we took a break, my boy was above me and the storm clouds were rolling in...pure magic in the photo, I then blended a photo of the mountain, and was loving how the horizon went right with the rocks he was on also! 
Thank you to 
Lauren Grier's A Little Off Photos V.1 templates
they are the anchor of this page
and then 
Tape it by Pink Reptile
along with her kicking
You Can Bring Me Flowers Papers
also pulling from my stash of 
stamped alphas by Amy Martin
and a big thank you to MummyD (donna) for her tutorial on the light on the page...I loved playing and learning!

We have a full day today, doing a divide and conquer. Gman, twinks and Bondre to the pool, J is gonna hang with Eric, and Whitley is going with me to a home school curriculum party thingee!  Home to chicken salad sandwiches and fruit! Relax and enjoy!

Spring Break and Hiking

We past the hump of Spring Break yesterday, by hiking up in the foothills (little mountains) of Oliver Lee (in Dog Canyon). We drove all the way out there, and the road was covered with cows and bulls!! Eric got out and tossed some rocks at their feet, I was on the phone to Tony(yeah I was scared), Biscuit was barking, and Boo was too. The kids were all so excited. That could have been the highlight of the day!
The museum was closed, so we kinda hit and missed the trails. We took the nature trail first. It is a short trail that leads to the water. We followed it a bit, well til it disappeared, and figured we weren't gonna find any mysterious waterfall on this one.  We pressed it thru and it brought us back to the front of the museum and  ran us into Frenchie's cabin. The History of Oliver Lee and Frenchie is bad, and cool for kids. Bondre was just amazed at this.  We looked in the windows of the  museum and there were some things they found from the cabin, Guns!!
We finally got on the right path and had a blast! Gabe, Eric, Bondre and Whitley were like mountain goats, bounding up the hills!

I was so proud of the boys, it was really tough hiking for them, and they just pressed in! Little J was not impressed with his mom's love of going up mountains.  He keeps explaining that he is small.  I just laugh and say keep walking little one.

The twins were feeling the fact they haven't been walking up the space hall in the morning! That really does help keep a person in shape! I felt so good on the walk!!
The weather was cool, and the clouds had rolled in and were dark.  I was hoping for some rain so we could see the creek bed rise a bit.  But it didn't happen.
We stopped about 1/2 mile in and had some water and snack.  Jordan had an energy bar! He got running and said he had energy. It was actually nap time for him, but a good hike is always better than a nap in Mom's brain.  We trudged on and views were better and better the higher we went! I even called Tony, and the reception on the cell phone was excellent!

We had a great flat land to cross, and I have to admit, I was glad for it too.  The dogs were running all about from the front runners to the slow pokes in the back.  Looking up the hills was a bit intimidating, and yet beautiful.  I do love the desert and all that it holds.
When we reached the first bench. (found out that it is a hiking term, we were hoping for a bench).  It was cold, and Eric(who had been ill the day before) was feeling a chill pretty bad.  We decided a mile was a good hike in for the day, and that was gonna be two by the time we got back.  I promised sodas to everyone for good attitudes and we headed back down.
It went great.  The steep portion, that seemed like shale of some kind, was not my favorite, but it went quick, and we were motivated.
I kept the camera in my hand, so I could snap more scenic shots.  I made sure to get one of me!  The ol' lady keeping up with all her hoard of children! bhahah
I was indeed the last one down.  I just do so much better going up!
The kids were all exhausted, but happy and that makes a momma smile.
We didn't make the round trip, but I did find a man that did, and he took photos. Here is HIS blog.  We are gonna try in the fall (cool weather too) and plan it for a full day.  I think it would take us about 8-9 hours, with a 1/2 hour lunch break!

Pages Scrapped and Babble!

Spring break continues, this morning with my oldest (who never gets sick) puking and all that.  Poor baby, missed for the first time a college class.  He was trying to do most of it online, but was just too sick.  His professor gave a pass! I was so happy, I wanted to bake her cookies.  I refrained.  You can see I did think of my baby boy as I made this page from Jan 2013:
Eric's First day of college:

My boy is grown, no more photos with teacher...sniff sniff, but he did stop as he was leaving on his first day of college. I snapped the photo, he left and I burst into tears. Crazy.
Amy Martin's Stamped Alphas
Valorie Wibbens Masking Tape Alpha
and
Little Butterfly Wings collab with Mari Koegelenberg A is for Awesome

Yeah, weird feeling to have a kid in college and one in preschool! That brings me to my next page. Yesterday was our one year anniversary bringing the boys home.  Oh we just sat and pondered the changes in all of us yesterday.

journaling:
One year ago today we met the boys and brought them home
I have never felt such real fear to the point of vomiting and shaking uncontrollable. This was the toughest thing we have done as a couple and as a family. Adopting 3 boys, raw and hurting was tough but we made it through the year.

This page was made thru tears this evening, as soon as I saw
Little Butterfly Wings Wonders of MOtherhood
I knew this page would be born
The flair of the woman thinking, the hand next to her face, brought the emotions of a year ago bubbling to the surface.
I delight in being able to scrap these emotions, and thank the ladies here at the lily pad for their talent.
I also used the papers and additional word art that come with Little Butterfly's creation
Kim Jensen's Damaged Goods
CD's Circle Werx
Lynn-Maries Misty Alphas and BoHo Bliss
Sara Gleasons NectarVol one{paint}
and 
Paislee Press Cards no. 24
and ViVa Artistry skin to skin handprints

Then it was an Abby day, this photo is from 2004, when she was only 4 years old, going off the diving board! It has some spelling errors, but I will fix before I print! lol

Thank you for the FREE template Amy! and I love it, had a blast from the past with a photo of my now 13 year old daughter, jumping off the diving board! My daredevil!
I played with
Twiddle Twiddle the whole bundle by Pink Reptile Designs
and 
Lynn-Marie's PL Doodle Blocks

Then a double page from a few years back at Collin's Lake in California...Abby and water!

I used 
Sabrina Dupre's Celebrate Summer Journal cards 
and her
Celebreate Summer elements and Papers

That's it for now, but I have a few more in the wings! Great time guesting at the Lily Pad!

first day of Spring Break

After two totally relaxing days with my hubby, Monday came. No homeschool, and no public school.  Little Jordan has half day at pre-school, but that is fun time!
Honey and I woke up for our morning walk, and it was nice out, but it was a tough walk, my heel was killing me and I felt like I was walking thru thick tar.  But we pushed it thru! yeah!
Jordan is up at the butt crack of dawn, so he snuggled for 20 minutes or so with me in the living room.  He jumped on trampoline for a bit in his jammies and then had some yogurt.  He got dressed and brushed his teeth and the Whitley and DaVondre were stirring.
The twins are at friends house, so no sign of them. Gabe and Eric still out after a late night playing basketball!
I bundled Jordan up for preschool, told D and W I would be back.
Got home to laughter...that is a good thing.
Feed the boys, they cleaned their room, and separated their laundry! We are moving! Out the door, boys on bikes, and me out there scrubbing windows with vinegar! I got the nasty hard water off them! I am pretty excited about that.
Eric had college so he was gone for the morning, and I tasked Gabe to make the basketball hoop shorter! He did awesome, and we NEEDed basketballs! So to Kmart, for some right sized balls! Happy boys!
Did a quick jump to Big5 for shoes! Yes! The ones I love, Asics on sale and on my feet out the door!
I can already feel the difference in my heel!
Home to feed the munchkins, Gabe begins to replace bike tubes.  We are putting in these bad hummers that are tubeless, and no more flats.  We live in the desert and spikeys are horrible.
Whitley and I go pick up Jordan, come home for some more basketball, and spend time with my honey for lunch!.
Gabe and DaVondre to bike park, Eric to do homework, and Jordan, Whitley and I go to PNutButter and a Baseball park! Whitley saw a snake!! for reals! aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh, in a hole, I saw it after...eeeeeeeeeeeeep!
Sprinklers on at park, mom is in great mood, go for it, play.  They do, Jordan falls, butt in the mud! Hilarious!
Home we walk with muddy shoes and all! thank goodness for the porty potty, cause I was in need!  Home to get the boys semi-naked of the mud, have a frozen gogurt, and quick showers. Jordan down for a nap, Eric takes Whitley for outing here and there, and I do laps in the house!
DaVondre's chain is having problems, so they went to Dorris'.  Eric came home called, and now 4 of them are at the Dorris' helping with the cooler!
I am smiling at the day.....pure wonderful!

making layouts and lovin it!

Life has been so fun and full lately! I am having a blast playing over at the Lily Pad this month!
I made 5 layouts in 4 days! That makes me happy!
This one is just for the joy of scrapping, I saw this quote

Products Used:
Messy Marvin deconstructed
Banged-up Biggie Alpha by Michelle Godin
brave girl alphabet by Rachel Young
Sew Artsy by Michelle Godin
Sprinkles v12 by Valorie Wibbens
I have scrapped this next photo before, but got to playing and loved the end results:

Products used:
Messy Marvin deconstructed
Stringbats 4 by Kim Jensen
Woodprints borders and papers by Lynn-Marie
Moments and Memories by Sabrina Dupre
Cleaning Bug by Pink Reptile
Sew Artsy by Michelle Godin
make a quilt templates by valorie wibbens
Cleaning bug alpha
Bring your brella by Splendid Fiins
I love this photo so much, it captures the freakish weather here in New Mexico.  Big, heavy dark clouds and not a drop of rain:

Products used:
Messy Marvin deconstructed
Little Lace Gloves by CD!
Bring your brella by Splendid Fiins
Cleaning Bug by Pink Reptile
Sew Artsy by Michelle Godin
I blame my mom for this, but I remember her cleaning and singing at the top of her lungs to Tammy Wynette and I have that joy for cleaning in my DNA!

Not the best photo of dear J, but he is holding the huge Guinea pigs that sisters brought to his preschool!

Products used:
Misty Alpha by Lynn-Marie
Woodprints borders and papers by Lynn-Marie
Messy Marvin deconstructed
I am so enjoying my time guesting with the Lily Pad, and hope you enjoy all the pages I get done while I am there!

Learning that Good Behavior Gets Rewarded!

When the boys started preschool, kinder and 1st grade this year, their behavior was not to good. Their self-control was a bit, shall I say, non-existent? We tried different things, naps, no snacks and then came upon what worked. A reward of lunch from McDonald's with mom.
Little Man made his full week and I just picked him up at lunch and we had fun eating at Micky D's. He was very mature eating his food, and explaining to me how good he really was all week. Hilarious!

Then DaVondre had his, and it was pure fun watching him

S0, today was Whitley's day. I got there straight up 11am, and hear, MOM! MOM! I am right here!! There is my boy, with the biggest smile ever. I could have eaten him up.  I came in and smiled, and we enjoyed lunch. Bondre was waiting in line and a bit sad.  I showed him my french fries and said they were for him! A big smile, and then we gave him the soda too.

One happy boy! I love the love he showed me, and am pretty proud of how far these precious boys have come!