Enjoy the Season!

Thanksgiving recap in pictures

deannadaily@yahoo.com (Deanna) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:35:00 +0000

So I'm a wee bit behind. Since Thanksgiving we've been busy hanging out with family, getting our Christmas decorations out and up, and preparing for the Advent season. So here's a quick rundown of Thanksgiving day, which we spent in Calhoun, GA at Josh's aunt and uncle's house.

The (bigger) kids' table

I can't find the picture of the littlest kids' table. No, come to think of it, the littlest kids wouldn't stay still long enough for me to GET a picture.

Em and SK (my fave shot of the day)

And then we hung out on the backporch most of the afternoon, so these photos are of the people who were out there with us. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of everyone who was at the Plummer family Thanksgiving. And while editing I realized that I didn't even get a shot of Grandmother and Pop. Sad. But in total there were 20 adults, and 9 kids who ranged in age from 11 yrs. to 19 mo. (And usually there's more of us.)

Emily and Tim (minus their kiddos)

Josh and Bobby

Sharon and Sarah cuddling under a blanket

Sharon and Aunt Sandy

Not the greatest shot, but I love that it captured the laughter.

Quite possibly a new tradition of roasting s'mores on Thanksgiving.

Ben and Mike

Except this is what happens when Aunt Sandy makes her own marshmellows.

They melt in your hand. literally.

And one little girl is very confused and disappointed because she's sticky. "Heeey! This isn't how marshmellows do!"

Daddy made it all better.

We're thankful for such a large family. It's always a lot of fun when all the cousins get together and start telling stories! :D Thank you Aunt Sandy and Uncle Tommy for hosting such a wonderful family get together!

The Gift of Family

deannadaily@yahoo.com (Deanna) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:49:00 +0000

Thinking of things I'm thankful for this week, but of course I'm thankful for them always, and I wanted to share a couple of those.

1. First up is a the Gift of Family. Not just the LO, but the actual gift of having a family. A husband who loves me despite all my flaws, one very creative and very outgoing little girl who's mission it is to dress up in a different Princess dress every single day, and another little girl who's more shy and reserved until you know her but then incredibly funny and cuddly too. Yes, I'm most definitely thankful for my family.

WHAT a great weekend!

deannadaily@yahoo.com (Deanna) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:53:00 +0000

Wow! That seriously was one of the best weekend's I've had in a LONG time! It was just so much fun! :D Josh and I went to Oxford to see the Rebels play Tennessee. That game's always a little tricky because it dictates the mood of the following week. If WE win, then we have a great week rubbing it in to all our TN friends. But if we LOSE then we have to hear it over and over and over....there's just so many of them! But as it turns out it was a GREAT game (for us). And it looks like it'll be a great week! :D

The final score was 42-17. At one point I even got a little bored watching (but not too bored of course), so I started playing around with my camera. And it's a good thing! I ended up with some shots that I'm REALLY happy with!

Dexter McCluster's big run (later named Nat'l. Player of the Week)

He ran right past us, and I had my camera in hand!

Tennessee's field goal attempt THAT WE BLOCKED!

The massive UM flag in front of the TN section

And then tailgating in the Grove.

But it's more than just tailgating. Everyone sets up these tents at 5am, and it's wall to wall people. Women hang candelabras, order catering for massive feasts, bring out their best serving pieces and display HUGE floral centerpieces of red and blue roses. It's tailgating like no other. And it's one of my favorite places to be. I love Oxford, the Grove, and all things Ole Miss.

Other great highlights of our trip were:

1. Not having to break in to Dennis's house Friday night, but seeing/hanging out with him instead.
2. Running into Mitchell & Gigi, Shea & Terry, and Filly in the Grove. We all got to catch up, chat, reminisce and enjoy each other's company.
3. Touring the Phi Mu house and seeing all its amazing renovations. Oh MY it was beautiful! And memories came FLOODING back! (and made me feel REALLY old)
4. Eating at Old Venice, the place of our first date. And then getting to order my absolute FAVE--crawfish pizza!!! Only in Mississippi can you find such a delectable treat! (okay, maybe Louisiana too, but still it's the best!)
5.Nice QUIET drives to and from Oxford! At one point Josh and I just enjoyed the silence and being together. Funny the little things you appreciate after having kids.
6. Seeing the excitement on the girls' faces when we came to pick them up. That's always a warm fuzzy feeling too. As much as it nice is to get away, it's just as nice to know you're loved and missed by the kiddos.

Overall FANTASTIC weekend! I can't wait to do it again next year! Thanks Sarah and Mike! Next year we won't plan it for the same weekend as Charity Ball. ;) And thanks Mom and Jim for keeping the kids! ;)

It's been a sad sad week around this house.

deannadaily@yahoo.com (Deanna) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 04:59:00 +0000

For the last 10 days or so, we've been without a "bonkie" aka blankie for Caroline. It's been so heartbreaking to tuck her in bed each night and remind her that we haven't found it yet. So so sad. At one point she even said, "Mommy, I don't want to use Baby Kate's and pwetend it's mine. I want MY bonkie." Sad. Pathetic. Heart-wrenching. We've called to see if we'd left it anywhere. We've turned the house upside down searching for it. I even told a friend the other day that I was thinking about just replacing it even though it wouldn't be the same. And ironically, about 2 weeks ago I'd taken these pictures of her with it in anticipation of a "love" layout. But since then, I haven't had the heart to scrap them.

Well today, yes today, WE FOUND IT!!!!! WOOOOHOOOOOO! I had no clue how much that tattered smelly old blanket meant to her...and me. We did the happy dance when we found it! :D And to top it all off, we found 2 missing library books too! Oh yeah! It's a good day here! :D :D :D Baby girl is ecstatic, and Mommy's happy too! :D

A couple SK layouts and a thank you

deannadaily@yahoo.com (Deanna) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 21:03:00 +0000

I've been scrapping a lot lately and I finally get to share. Thanks to tropical storm Ida, we've had a LOT of rain that's kept me from taking pictures of my work. But not any longer!

I'm still working on "catching up" on Sarah Kate's pages. I do a really good job, I think, of taking just as many pictures of her as I do Caroline. Scrapping them is a whole different story. And so later in life instead of hearing "Mom, you didn't take as many pictures of me!" as most younger siblings exclaim, I'm going to hear, "Mom you didn't scrapbook as many layouts for me!" Sooo, I'm trying to remedy that. Here are 2 that happen to be 2 new favorites of mine.

For this 1st one, I called it "Tell me" because I want her to tell me WHEN she got so big!!! (I'm not a fan of the growing UP part of growing up.)

Sketch by Becky Fleck, but then I think I kinda deviated so far from it that I probably could claim it as my own. At what point can you do that? Whatever the case, I originally started out with her sketch in mind. The creative process just overtook it.

This one's "Grateful". I did it from a challenge over at Treasured Scrapbooking. It's a little simpler than I usually do, but then it also only took me 30 min. to do it! I just LOVE it when creativity hits, and a page just flies together! So fun!

Journaling reads,"SK-I'm so incredibly grateful that God chose to spare you from a horrific pregnancy and keep you as one of our family." Obviously there's a much longer story to that, but now's not the time. I don't have the emotional energy. But at this time of year when everyone says they're thankful for family, I always think of her and how thankful I am for her. Not that I love her more, or Caroline any less, I'm just exceedingly grateful. "...For He is faithful in all He does." Ps. 33:4

Speaking of faithful, on this Veteran's Day, I want to thank my grandfather John Frank Dail, for not only faithfully serving in our military, but also for serving his wife and family for so many years. Even as I type he's sitting at Grandmother's bedside. He's probably either sleeping or driving her nuts, but still. He's there. He's faithful like that. And there aren't enough words, and "thank you" just doesn't seem to be enough. But I AM thankful, and grateful, and very proud to be his granddaughter.

Thank you to all the other past and present servicemen and women out there too! Thank you for protecting our freedom!

Sorry to end in such an serious sentimental note. I hadn't intended on ending like that. But I hope everyone is have a wonderful mid-week! I'm looking forward to the Grove on Saturday! ;) :D (More on that later.)

Been playing with "Mill Street"

deannadaily@yahoo.com (Deanna) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:27:00 +0000

I got the latest (and now sold out) Noel Mignon kit last week, and I'm 100% in love. The first few times I pulled the papers out, I just stared at them. They're just so pretty! I didn't want "mess them up" by cutting them! I finally broke down and dove in to some Cosmo Cricket goodness, and now I'm thinking I need more of these papers! Who would've thought that turquoise would be a great Fall color?! But it is! And again, I'm in love. This time it's with CC's Nutmeg. Good grief! And I believe the sermon I/we heard on Sunday was about contentment. Ugh. Tough stuff when it comes to me and paper...Here's what I've done with it so far. I've got another one on my table right now.

Gift cards, free scrappy kits, and more

deannadaily@yahoo.com (Deanna) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 03:04:00 +0000

Want to earn free gift cards towards places like Amazon, Starbucks, Target or iTunes? How 'bout money in your PayPal account? Use Swagbucks. I know I've talked about this before here on my blog, but I thought it was worth revisiting with the Christmas season right around the corner.

You may have noticed the widget on my sidebar over there. I've posted it in hopes that you'll trust me and use Swagbucks as your search engine. It's not a hoax, it's not a gimic. By using Swagbucks do searches on the internet, you'll earn points called Swagbucks, which after you've accumulated so many you, you can cash in for gift cards, music, and other goodies in their online store.

Quite honestly, the only way that I've used Swagbucks is by using its toolbar for searches. It's that simple. I search (and now "search" for everything so I'll get more bucks), I gain Swagbucks, and then I cash in for gift cards. So far I've earned over $20 in gift cards, and I'm about to cash in again for more.

You know what a scrap addict I am, so I've chosen to put those gift cards in my PayPal account to buy kits with! :D I've also put aside an Amazon gift card to start buying Christmas toys for the girls. So in essence, I'm doing these searching in turn for free or discounted scrapbook kits and toys for my kids! I love it!

I just wanted to encourage you to use it too. There are more ways to utilize Swagbucks more than just doing searches, but since I'm on the internet all day, I just do the searches. It uses Google and Ask.com to do the actual searches. And it's a great way to start saving for Christmas.

Just thought I'd throw it out there. You can start you're own Swagbucks account here. It's free. It's easy. And hey, they're paying me just for doing searches! It doesn't get any easier than that!

Halloween costume photoshoot

deannadaily@yahoo.com (Deanna) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 05:50:00 +0000

Learning my lesson from last year, I decided to do a trial run on the costumes and hair the day before Halloween this time. Which turned out to be great because not only could I fix C's hair without a major time stress factor, but also because I was able to get spend more time taking their pictures. (I HIGHLY recommend going this route, because the day OF Halloween is so so stressful. And all the girls wanted to do was go get candy.) Sooo, here are just a few of my favorites:

Our Stinkerbell, who most definitely played the part during pictures. I don't think I've EVER seen her so excited (or hyper for that matter):

And our gorgeous Little Mermaid, all dolled up with RED hair just like Ariel!

I like this one because she's IN LOVE with her costume and it shows on her face.

The ones with the two of them together didn't turn out as good as I'd hoped. Again, Stinkerbell was mostly to blame.

Trick-or-treating pics are coming soon. I took so many that they need to be edited.

Taking on a new challenge

deannadaily@yahoo.com (Deanna) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 22:35:00 +0000

Usually when I "speak" of challenges, especially on my blog, I'm talking about ones that are related to scrapbooking. But I ran across this one from Kingdom First Mom called the 30-day Giving Challenge and decided that this is something I want to challenge MYSELF to do. (And I'm blogging about it so you guys will all keep me accountable to it, and maybe even join me.)

Here's how she describes it:
"I invite you to take a leap of faith and give in some fashion every day this month. Think beyond monetary gifts. Couponers, open up your stockpiles. Bakers, share some pumpkin bread with a neighbor. Get creative!

Most importantly, ask God to lead you each day.

Just remember to write it down. Not in a boastful, look-how-generous-I-am kind of way. But to keep yourself accountable and be transformed."

SOOO, seeing as how today is November 1st I thought I'd challenge myself, and anyone else who wants to join in, to participate and get to giving. I've already got today's planned and am giving it tonight. ;) And I'll tell ya, I'm trying to think of 30 different ways to give. I'd like to do something different every day. So if you have any ideas, leave me a comment. I'd love to add to my list...

Oh, and you know me, I still have to make in to something scrappy. ;) Instead of the December Daily that's been made so popular by Ali E. (cause I did one of those last year), I'm making a "30 days of Giving" journal with all my yummy Fall papers and product. ;) So stayed tuned. I'll be sharing that with ya soon. ;)

So, anybody wanna join me in this challenge? I'd love to compare notes (or notebooks)!

Oh and Halloween recap coming soon. Still editing pics!

Happy Nov. 1st!

Happy Halloween!

deannadaily@yahoo.com (Deanna) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 12:00:00 +0000

Hope you have a wonderful day full of fun, surprises, tricks and treats!

(And that the Rebels beat Auburn!! smile.)

Fun treat for me!

deannadaily@yahoo.com (Deanna) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:43:00 +0000

Since we're so close to Trick-or-Treating, I thought I'd share with you a fun treat that I had the honor to do this month. Carrie Harville over at Chatty Scrappers (A UK based online community) contacted me last month and asked if I would be like to be featured as their guest inspiration for their October Super Scraplift Challenge. Of course I said yes! They chose to scraplift one of my favorite LOs:

Adore

You can see all of their takes on my LO here! It's so much fun to see other people do a "lift" of one of MY projects! What an honor! Thanks Carrie!

In other news, today I'm running around like a chicken with my head cut off! So much to do, so little time!

We had a little snafu with our Halloween costumes, which has had me scrambling to pull it all together. Initially Caroline wanted to be Tinkerbell. Easy enough. We just ordered online and it's been here for a couple of weeks. The PROBLEM is that it didn't run true to the size chart and is too small for her (and I waited to the last minute to try it on her). So now Sarah Kate is going to be Tinkerbell, and we've scrambled to come up with a Little Mermaid costume for C. Not many "good" mermaid costumes out there right now, but we grabbed one of the last ones at Toys R Us yesterday. I also wasn't pleased with the set of wings that came with the Tink outfit, so I'm attempting to make my own a la the Martha Stewart template. We'll see how those turn out too!

Must go work on them more! Hope you're having a wonderful day!!

More to "Leave you Breathless"

deannadaily@yahoo.com (Deanna) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:24:00 +0000

Here's more from my October Urban Anthology kit, "Leaves you Breathless". You can find it here. I did one REALLY Fall LO using a sketch from Stacy Cohen, and then I did a very non-Fall LO too. I love it when kits are so versatile, don't you?

Fall

For this one I hand cut some of Keri's tags, which this month also came in overlay form. I also hand cut the Hambly leaf paper, and popped the leaves up with 3D foam. For instructions on how to do a distressed reverse applique, check out the UA boards here.

Siblings

Part of my "Thrifty Thursday" post is that I used wire cutters to cut the Prima vine, and then used its balls and a butterfly here with more of the vine left over for future projects.

Sadly, this is my last kit from Urban Anthology. Kari has decided that creating kits is no longer her thing, and while UA will still be around, it won't be offering kits any more. You can find the November kit here. The winners of "UA's Got Talent" will be working with that kit, so be sure to check out their work on the site soon!

Fall Banner and a sweet surprise!

deannadaily@yahoo.com (Deanna) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:24:00 +0000

One of my Nikki Sivils projects this month is a Fall banner I made for our fireplace. I LOVE making banners! I love how they add a touch of the season. For this one, I used the "Sweet as Cherry Pie" chipboard mini-book trees, only I turned them upside down and made the into pumpkins. Then I covered them with some papers from "Henry's Brillance", not your typical Halloween paper but I'm a sucker for argyle. Plus, I didn't want JUST a Halloween banner, but something that'd last through all of November too. So here it is:

Other products used: cardstock-Bazzill, silk leaves-Michaels, felt accents-Little Yellow Bicycle, chipboard letters-Basic Grey, (my favorite)brown glitter-Pink Paislee, paper leaves & grapevine accents-Prima, and orange Maya Mist

Close-ups of one of the letters.

detailed shots:

*********************

And then this morning I saw some FUN fun news on the My Mind's Eye blog. I WON their Blog Challenge #4!!! I'm SO excited and still a little shocked! Totally didn't see that one coming! Wow! Thank you so much for choosing me Amber! :D

Hope everyone else's Monday has started off as good as mine!

Chocolate milk without the milk

deannadaily@yahoo.com (Deanna) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:05:00 +0000

Yep! That's what I found them drinking the other day. They'd gone inside to get a drink, which I thought was just a drink of water. A few minutes past and so I went in to investigate. And this is what I found. It kinda went like this:

me: Girls, what are you doing???
C: We're drinking chocolate milk, mama. Want some? (as she wipes her lips on her sleeve then gives them a good smack.)
me: uh...but where's the MILK???
C: Oh. It's in the frig-a-freighter. We couldn't reach it.

Just as matter of fact as she could be! Hee! And did you notice the Hershey's syrup with top off behind her? What about the open chips? Apparently they were planning on eating something salty too. (sigh)

A little MME!

deannadaily@yahoo.com (Deanna) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 03:59:00 +0000

While we've totally been enjoying the Fall weather around here, and more on that to come, I was totally inspired to use pastels for the new My Mind's Eye blog challenge. the challenge was to use an ad to inspire a layout.

Here's the ad:

And here's my take on it:

I really liked the ad because it used a lot of little pieces, and that seems to be all that I have of my MME collection, so it was perfect for me!

Sorry to be so quick, but I'll have more FALL coming quickly! Promise.

Growing up too fast

deannadaily@yahoo.com (Deanna) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:25:00 +0000

Both the girls seem to be hitting a growth spurt right now, but I think it's also got something to do with the change in the weather. Their legs just look sooo long in blue jeans! This has been on my mind for a while now, so I decided to do a LO about it, atleast with Sarah Kate. I'm also excited to report that SK's album size is closing in on Caroline's. I've been determined to scrap her more lately.

Growing up too fast

I used Urban Anthology's October kit. Obviously it's meant to be a Fall-ish type kit, but you can use it for the every day too.

And continuing with the growing/flower theme, I was shooting Tab's kids the other day and Miss Caroline snagged one of their sunflowers as her own. Stinker. At first she was being silly and pretended it was a shower. We all got a good laugh out of that as she pretended to bathe herself right there in the middle of the park!

Then she couldn't keep her nose out of it! Apparently she thinks that all flowers are supposed to smell really good. And then I got this.

An instant favorite, and definitely a keeper.

More with the UA kit coming up shortly. In the meantime, I thought I'd let you know that Simply Obsessed is having a Think Pink crop this weekend in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month. Maybe I'll see ya over there! ;)

Lots of scrappiness going on around here!

deannadaily@yahoo.com (Deanna) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 03:09:00 +0000

Seems like I've been going back and forth with posting a LOT of layouts and projects, and then a lot of photos. You know I've been busy creating even though I've been taking photos too. So here's a sample of what I've been up to. I've been working with some yummy Collage Press "Knave of Hearts". I bought it earlier this summer and am so bummed that I didn't get their "Sweet Shoppe" too. But here's what I've done so far.

So Lovable

Josh and SK at her birthday breakfast this past Spring.

Top of the World

The 2 of us at Amy's reception, which overlooked Birmingham.

I had fun dismantling my Prima swirls and the recreating this pattern with them. I think I like deconstruction. That's what happened to the circular die-cut too. I cut it into arcs and then staggered them across the bottom.

Lucky

An older picture of the 2 of us, but still my all-time favorite. I threw in a few scraps of "Jackson Lodge" and "Camden" in to this one too. And apparently I have a "thing" for using the title "lucky". I think the count's up to 4 LOs with that name now? But who's counting?! What can I say, I AM lucky (and blessed) to have him in our lives!

Btw, I cut out the 18 and put it next to Nov. because that's our anniversary.

Lucky

See what I mean? hehehe! I did this one a while back as a part of a DT challenge on CP's blog.

And then I've made a couple of cards lately.

I did this one for another CP blog challenge.

And here I deconstructed again. LOVE doing that to die-cuts!

Alrighty, that's about it for now. I actually have a LOT more photos from this past weekend, and then LOs with the gorgeous Urban Anthology October kit to share too you'll be seeing me again soon! ;)

Oh, one last thing. The other day I had the wonderful opportunity to do a photo shoot of my friend Tab's kiddos. I'm totally excited with how they turned out!!! Check them out here.

Have a great Friday! :D

Well...we didn't win...

deannadaily@yahoo.com (Deanna) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 19:13:00 +0000

but as an Ole Miss fan, we're kinda used to that. Doesn't make it any easier though. Next time I'm determined to be a pessimist so my hopes don't get shattered quite so badly. But then, how can I stay too depressed when I take one look at this:

What a sight! One quick glimpse, and I thought, 'When the heck did she get that BIG?!"

There goes my heart. And her Daddy's too.

She came up with this pose all by herself. To the best of my knowledge no one showed her. (sigh) Guess we'll be signing up for cheer lessons right along with ballet, cause this came a little too naturally if you ask me. I don't know whether to laugh or to cry. I can just hear it now..."Ready? O-KAY! Hit it!"

Hotty Toddy!!!

deannadaily@yahoo.com (Deanna) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 15:38:00 +0000

Hopin' for a big win today and we're all set to cheer on our Rebs!
Appetizers? check.
girls in cheerleader uniforms? check.
All other Saturday commitments postponed? check.

Now bring on the Tide!!!! :D :D :D

Woohoooo! Pumpkins!

deannadaily@yahoo.com (Deanna) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 03:48:00 +0000

Today we went to pick out pumpkins, which was so much fun. In fact, I think we're in double digits when it comes to the teeny tiny ones. Caroline just couldn't stop picking them out. SK was more enthralled with pulling the wagon, but she picked a few out too. And now the front steps look so good, so Fall-ish! Yay! I really love Fall! :D

UA October sneakie peakie

deannadaily@yahoo.com (Deanna) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 18:46:00 +0000

This month's Urban Anthology kit is loaded with lots of Websters Pages, Graphic 45, and a little Hambly thrown in for good measure. Add those to the yummy embellishments and I'm super excited about this kit! You pre-order yours at the UA store! According to the store count, there are only 3 left so you may want to act fast. ;)

Coming to an end

deannadaily@yahoo.com (Deanna) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 18:48:00 +0000

This season's coming to an end. And while it's had its challenges, I still love coaching. The girls are super sweet, and I hate that we're just now coming together here at the end of the season. Today we quite possibly play are final 2 matches. If we win both of them then we'll continue in the tournament, but if not, then we're done.

I took a brief second to practice on my sports photography during JV warm-ups, and I was happy with a few of the shots. These are of my setter and co-captain Liz. Her mom's my assistant, and so I have permission to put these up. I have more of the other girls too and hope to make a LO about the season soon.

Wish us luck!! Fingers-crossed for an exciting finish! ;)

Cousins and more

deannadaily@yahoo.com (Deanna) — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 04:24:00 +0000

I've been posting a lot of scrap stuff lately, and while I really love the creative process and sharing my stuff, I don't want to forget all the other stuff too, ya know? So here's a little of what we've been up to.

A couple of weekends ago we went to a cousin's wedding where all the little cousins got to hang out. We felt like ours were too little to go to the actual wedding (and we wanted time to ourselves) so that sat that night out, but got to chill with the rest of their cousins the next day.

First of all, these 3 crack me up!

There's less than 2 yrs. between all 3 of them, and we're still figuring out the pecking order. So far I think Gracie's top dog.

That doesn't stop them from getting in to stuff, though.

Emma's always been the more protective one, so happy to see her little cousins.

And Adin was eager to help read a story.

And all five of them make such a good looking bunch!

Missing one you might ask? Yep. He punked out on us and went to the ballgame with his Daddy (which is someplace we all secretly wished we could've been too.)

But then each one was willing to let me take some individual shots of them. Can I just say how much EASIER it is to shoot a subject that actually LOOKS at you!!! Or better yet asks, "Hey Aunt Dee, I got another pose. Will you take a picture of me like this? How bout this? And this one too!) Ahhhh, much better. Someone who'll look and smile at the camera simultaneously!

My all-too-willing model would be Emma

But Gracie did her fair share of it too.

I had to ask (ahemBEG) Adin to let me take some of him.

And finally, StinkerPot let me get one of her. (rolling my eyes)
Some days she can be so opposed to the camera! Sheesh!

But at least she let me take some. SK wouldn't even let me do that. I had to catch hers on the fly.

But overall a very fun weekend! It's always good to catch up with the fam.

And one last pic. One of my faves, I think. The wedding reception was at THE Club, which is very swank in a Sinatra kinda way, and it overlooks B'ham. Even though it was getting dark, I passed my camera over so I could get a shot of me with my handsome date! :D

Fun weekend indeed!

Scrap Street

deannadaily@yahoo.com (Deanna) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 01:58:00 +0000

A while back I was asked by Stacey Michaud, a staff member for ScrapStreet.com, if I'd like to Guest Design for their online magazine. Of course I said heck yeah, and now it's here! Woohoo! You can check it out on page 33.

Sights and Sounds of Game Day

It's a part of their Off Road feature, and I was asked to specifically journaling about the sounds I hear. It was an interesting assignment, and really got me out of my comfort zone, but I'm excited with the way the LO turned out. It's also a bit different from my usual style, but it's good to change it up every now and then, right?

Of course I reminisced about the sounds of game day, walking through the Grove, and hearing our fight sound echo across the canopy of oak trees. (You don't want to get me going about how much I love Ole Miss and Oxford. I get realllly sentimental about it. Can ya tell?) I cut up a ticket stub to use as some embellishment on the page. And I also jazzed it up a bit with lots of glitter and then used the foiled thickers for a nice shiny effect.

Thank you Scrap Street, and Stacey, for giving me such a great opportunity!

Some more Boo-tiful

deannadaily@yahoo.com (Deanna) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 14:20:00 +0000

I thought I'd start off the first day of October with another LO I made using Nikki Sivils' "Boo-tiful" paper. If you haven't guessed it yet, we have a 3 year standing tradition to go trick-or-treating with the Jones family, so all my Halloween photos are of all 4 of the girls instead of just my 2! It's a fun tradition that I hope we're able to keep up for a long time!
Here are our not-so-spooky spooks:

Not so spooky

I also finished up some projects with my September Urban Anthology kit. (sold out) WHICH, by the way, they're are still having a DT call which is an ongoing set of challenges. The deadline is Oct. 22 and you can see more info about it on the UA Blog. (And even though they're about to start challenge 3, it's not too late to join in the fun!)

Baby Kate and Me

Sk's my child that's always been my little shadow. She's always in the room that I am in, and as annoying as that can be, when she does venture out, I miss it. Or if she's not feeling particularly cuddly that day, I find myself needing a hug. So she and I are kind of a package deal. In fact, when asked what she wants or needs for Christmas, I jokingly say "Q-tips, tupperware, or new pots and pans"

Family (photo shoot at the lake)

Can you tell I loved those Jillibean papers with the Fancy Pants die-cut?! I had to use every last piece of both of them!

k, that's all for now. Our last regular season volleyball game is this afternoon. It's a bittersweet feeling because it's been a tough season. We've been on the losing end of some hard fought games and that's been heartbreaking. Not to mention we lost a key player due to a broken arm. I feel like the girls are just now really coming together, and it's just in time for the end-of-the-season tournament. So maybe we'll be able to pull out a good finish! Regardless, we're done next week. If I'm honest, I'd admit that I am looking forward to afternoons at home again. Off to go bake a cake for my JV team! ;)