a "stay-at-home" day.

Today was a stay-at-home day. After waking up to tons of snow (that was still falling) and freezing cold weather, I decided to skip Payton's dance class and just have a lazy day at home. Good for me, bad for the girls. 'Cause I did the same thing yesterday and skipped taking Payton to playschool. Oops. I didn't realize how just one little outing in the day really breaks it up for the kids. I, of course, am always happy to stay home, but I guess my kids have gotten used to their schedule. So tomorrow, snow, cold and all, we'll be getting in the car to get Payton to playschool. Can I do it? We'll see! (haha)




Honestly, I am just feeling so PREGNANT lately. At 30 weeks I'm getting bigger, tired, and the smallest task seems like a huge one. AAaahhh! Only a couple months to go, but I feel like I could have this baby tomorrow. What the heck am I going to be feeling like in March??? Scary-ness, I tell ya.




ANYWAYS, amidst the hair-pulling, time-outs, mess-making and fighting today (I told you the girls were having some cabin fever!), I DID manage to get out my new camera and play around a bit. "Play" is the keyword here. I was basically turning knobs and pushing buttons and I had no clue what I was doing! But I did get some cute shots...very unplanned, but what the heck. I'm excited to learn how to use this camera...I figure in about a year I'll know what I'm doing. Haha!!



Here are the ones I got of Payton...(and yes, she's wearing a swimsuit. She dresses herself, okay?)









And Gabby-Gabbs...(I love the crumbies on her lips and in her hair from snack time!)








Like I said, LOTS to learn, but at least I finally got that darn camera out of the box. I haven't taken any pictures since Christmas so this was fun! Okay, off to watch American Idol. Soooooo excited that it's on again!




Tal xo

catching up

So, one of my scrapbooking projects for 2008 was a monthly calendar where I did one layout/month using photos from that month. I've finally been working on some projects and this is one that I finished last week...I just sat down a couple nights in a row and made myself do these layouts! It was nice to create and play, with simple, finished layouts as a result. So here they are:



july:




august:





september:





october:





november:






december:






In hindsight, I am so glad that I did this calendar...I'll be doing another for 2009! It guarantees that I have at least 1 layout from every month of the year, plus, it's fun to read all the tidbits of things we did this past year. Many of you may have heard of Project 365...well, this is my take on it. My reality is that there is just no way I would stay on top of taking a picture every single day of the year (even though I think it is a fabulous idea!), so this is just another great way to capture one year of your family's life...as well as the monthly photo collages from the past couple posts!



I'm thinking for 2009, maybe I'll use my monthly photo collages as my layouts for the calendar, and then continue with filling in the bottom of the calendar with all the details from that month. Again, it isn't a picture/day, but it CAN be a handful of pictures from each month that totally depict and showcase a year of your life. Whew!



And just a few other thoughts...because I organize my photos by the month on my computer, it was super easy to pick pictures from each month to scrapbook. This way, you don't have to stay on top of this project on a monthly basis...when you get the urge to scrapbook, you can do a few layouts at a time. However...I did fill in the "calendar bottoms" on a monthly basis, just so I wouldn't forget anything. And that's easy to do every month. Makin' sense?



Anyways, just wanted to share this stuff. It feels good to be getting stuff done...next on my list: the baby album.



Can't wait!



Tal:)

photo collages

I've had quite a few people ask me how I made my photo collages in photoshop. Unfortunately, I am totally the WRONG person to go to for explanations on how to do this kind of thing, but I DID find this tutorial that Rebecca did on her blog last year. (just scroll down to the Friday, Jan 11/08 post titled "photo collages").

Bobbi also did a tutorial on collages here. AND you can  make collages or mosaics here. I hope these help you all out a bit!

In other news, we're busy busy around here trying to get ready for baby, as well as getting back to our regular routine with playschool, dancing, church stuff, etc. First thing on the list is getting the girls moved into the same room so we have a place to put this baby and all of her "stuff". I have lots of fun decorating ideas so we'll see how much I actually get done on these rooms...in my head they're really cute! Haha! And of course, I'll share photos as soon as things are done. Oy. What seemed like a little job is really a BIG job and I thought I had so much time...but only a couple months to go! I am getting soooooo excited for the baby. It seems like much more of a reality now that my due date is getting closer (March 22nd), so I've actually been contemplating on what life will be like with 3. Yes, I am mostly overwhelmed when I think about it, but at the same time I know that we'll all adjust and life will go on...with 3 girls instead of just 2. Haha!

And speaking of girls, I have been so surprised by some of the reactions that we get from people when we tell them we're having another girl. So many people have been like, "oh....." like too-bad-for-us-that-we're-not-having-a-boy. I think it's so funny! As if anyone has a say in whether or not they have girls or boys! Our 2 little girls have been the greatest blessings and joys to Graham and I, so when we found out we were having another one, we were nothing but excited. Of course a boy would be fun, too, but we'll take what we're given...I just feel so lucky to be in my 3rd pregnancy when there was a time in my life that I wondered if I would ever even have one. So boys, girls...bring 'em on. Each little life that comes is such a miracle, I can't imagine caring at all what the sex is. (And Graham secretly wanted another girl from the day we found out we were pregnant, so it's all good!)

Anyways...I'd post a picture, but last night as I was sitting at my computer the screen went blank and wouldn't turn back on...scary!! Luckily we have an external hard drive, so there's no worries that I lost any pictures. Man, I would DIE if that happened. So the computers being "diagnosed" today...hopefully I won't be without it for too long! I like it better than the laptop.

:)

Okay, I'm off...trying to decide if I should clean or nap? Ya, I think the nap wins.

Have a good weekend!! (and Happy Birthday, Winter! We love you!!)

Tal:)

Oh, and P.S.....my sister Niki just started a blog (finally!). She is an awesome digital scrapper and is on a bunch of digi design teams, so check her out when you're in need of some fun digi-inspiration!!

a year in pictures '08

Here's a look at my "Year in Picture's '08" mini album. I made one of these for both my mom and mother-in-law for Christmas...I love doing these albums (remember mine from last year?) because it's such a great way to get a whole year into one, compact little book. This mini has 108 pictures in it and only measures 4" x 6.5". I still need to make one for myself, but the grandma's were priority before Christmas! Hope you like it.



















Some notes about my album:
-measures 4" x 6.5"
-all patterned papers are Basic Grey (this was a GREAT way to use up papers from my stash that have been sitting around)
-most accents and embellishments are Heidi Swapp and American Crafts
-font is Heidi Swapp Clear Alpha Font downloaded from digiswapp.com
-all photo collages were created in photoshop and printed as regular 4x6 photos
-attached with a simple binder ring and tulle



It isn't too late to put together a little album like this for yourself of 2008...such a great way to capture a year. I'm excited to do one for 2009 as well. Crazy to think that I'll have 3 adorable little faces in those pictures instead of just the two. Aaaaahh!




Life is good.




Talia:)

happy new year

...a little look at my 2008.




Is it just me or is it hard to believe that another year has come and gone?



I hope everyone has a wonderful and happy new year in 2009.

(and stay tuned for a post on how I used these collages in a mini album!)




Tal:)