DigiScrapChat

Archive for the ‘Monday Challenge’ Category

Happy Monday, folks! Around these parts, it’s the FIRST day of school, and this year my oldest is starting FIRST grade! The house was full of excitement after 7:07 a.m. this morning when Samuel woke up. Of course he woke up saying, “Mom, NEXT year, when I’m in 2nd grade, that is going to be AWESOME!”

Laughingly, I said, “Son, can we just get through the FIRST day of FIRST grade FIRST, please”?

He agreed that yeah, it’d be fun to get through first grade first.

And in case you haven’t noticed - yes, we have a THEME today!

So, let’s make our Challenge for Monday a THEME Challenge, shall we?

And because I’m excited about the FIRST day of school, let’s make the THEME challenge a bit of a CONTEST. Good idea? Yeah, I thought so!

Here it is:

Challenge - complete a NEW layout about “firsts” - could be about the first day of school, could be about your first time flying, could be about your first time eating sushi and not throwing up (ok, sorry, that was gross… but I do live with a 6 year old… and his FIRST day of school is the inspiration for today’s challenge).

Where was I? Oh yes, complete a new layout… about “firsts”…. post your link here in the comments!

On Friday, I’ll pick a random winner, and I’ll award a random prize. I haven’t decided what it will be yet, but past giveaways/contests have netted everything from $5 digi-scrap gift cards to Starbucks gift cards, to books from amazon.com (scrappin’ related, of course!).

There you go - take a chance, do a layout, maybe win a prize! And if Samuel has a great FIRST week of school (we can sure hope!), maybe I’ll pick a few extra winners on Friday!

Layouts… I want to see layouts…

Happy FIRST day!

On Friday, we received the official letter from Samuel’s school, informing us of his teacher/class placement and reminding us that school starts in 16 14 days.  What??!  Where did our summer go?

Well, I know where it went, and I want a little of it back, thank you very much!

I guess I probably won’t get THAT, so we need to make the most of what is left.  FOURTEEN DAYS!

In the spirit of panic, my challenge to you today is not specifically a digi-scrap challenge, but instead a “life” challenge.  I am challenging you (and ME) to get OUT of the house (with the kids if you have them), find something FABULOUS and FUN and MEMORY-worthy to do, and enjoy the dog days (what does that even mean, exactly) of summer!

Now, in the meantime, if you happen to snap a few photos and decide to scrap them - all the better!

I am going to make myself take pictures of us doing our fun summer activity, and I promise to post a few photos here later this week.

Ok… be off with you… and your children… or nieces and nephews… or pets…. or just YOU!  Go have a fun almost-end-of-summer kind of day!

I had so much fun this weekend - visiting new blogs, meeting new people, adding MORE bookmarks (eek!) to my already long list of blogs that are a “MUST read”. Thanks a TON to Pensieve for hosting the Blog Hop 08, and for encouraging a whole host of us who were bummed to be home and not at BlogHer this year!

And now for the THREE winners from my Friday night post/giveaway:

Joy at When Does Daddy Come Home

Dianne at Bunny Trails

Natalie at I AM (not)

Congrats Ladies, you have email - let me know if you didn’t receive it! And thanks to ALL of you who visited… I hope you’ll consider coming back again and again!

Now, on to the Monday challenge…

For the regulars here, you may have noticed that my blogging has been a bit more sporadic than it was during the school year. Of course a lot of that is due to our summer schedule, with my oldest son being home during the day (which means there are THREE little ones that need me all day long, not just two).

Aside from that, I’ve found it a LOT more difficult to blog since June 11th, when we found out that my sister has breast cancer. Quite honestly, I’ve found it a LOT more difficult to do most everything. I’m going through the motions a lot, and maintaining (sometimes barely), but my mind is not 100% THERE in anything I’m doing. A part of me is in CA, wondering and worrying, hoping and praying, thinking and doing more praying…

It should come as no surprise that my creativity is at an all time low. I’ve been trying to push and FIND the creativity, but I finally realized that I need to give myself more time and patience. I have a LOT of projects I want (and need) to be working on, but for a time, it’s just going to take longer to start and finish them.

So, on that note, I’m not issuing a true challenge today. It’s just too much for me, so I’m giving myself a break, and YOU too - in case you might be struggling with a creative block, a busy schedule, a tough day.

RATHER, I’d just like to hear from you - if you have done a layout recently that you are proud of, please share. If you are struggling creatively, tell us about it. If you have a blog post you want us to read, link up in the comments! Basically, just talk to me today, share what’s happening in your part of the world, and IF, IF, IF you are up to it, work on a layout today and preserve just one more memory!

What are you scrappin’ this week?  Me, I’m still working on photos from 2 years ago, before Martha was even born.  I have a lot of layouts I want to catch up on, and today as I looked through images thinking about possible layouts, I thought, “hey, why don’t I do some Christmas layouts?”.  It’s SO hot here in Vegas right now, that it’s a little hard to think “cool” and “Christmas”, but I have some fabulous pictures that really need scrapping.  And ding, ding - perfect challenge for Monday!

Here is a layout from 2006 that I want to scraplift.  Every year Granma gets the kids new pajamas for Christmas Eve, and we try to take pictures of them wearing them.  You can see how much fun THAT is… and this was with just TWO kids.  The pictures of all THREE from this last Christmas are just as fun.  I like this layout that lets me so many pictures in one.  I think I may just use it each year as the official Christmas Pajamas layout.

Wow, they look little!!

AND, since we haven’t done one in ages, today is a Giveaway Day!

Post a link in the comments to one of your own Christmas layouts (one you’ve done in the past or one you did for today’s Monday Challenge), and you’ll be entered to win one of TWO $5 gift certificates to the digi-scrap store of your choice.  I’ll close comments on this post on Thursday night at 8 p.m. central, and pick TWO winners!

COMMENTS ARE NOW CLOSED - WINNERS WILL BE ANNOUNCED FRIDAY MORNING!

It feels like a long time since I posted… or maybe we’ve just been living through some very FULL days lately.

My husband and I traveled to CA last Wednesday, with our three children, so we could spend some time with family and help strengthen and encourage my sister Sarah who was recently (has it only been a week and a half?) with stage four breast cancer.

Here in CA, I have had internet access, but there hasn’t been a lot of time, and quite honestly not a lot of motivation, to blog the last few days.  On Thursday, we spent the day at the hospital, helping and then waiting while Sarah went through a surgical procedure to have a port put in, to make chemo treatments much easier.  It was a difficult day, but she made it through.

Friday we spent the afternoon in the beauty salon… getting our hair cut short.  Sarah’s hospital counselor had recommended it in preparation for the chemo treatments which will surely cause her hair to fall out.  Sarah’s lovely friend Jill made arrangements with her stylist for us all to come in and get new hair-dos.  It was a fun, together, kind of afternoon… with only a few sad undercurrents.  (You will be able to see the write up WITH pictures on Sarah’s health blog soon).

Saturday was spent with family, taking brother and sister pictures, taking family pictures, and wishing it weren’t QUITE so hot! (We apparently brought the Las Vegas weather with us to northern CA).  My brother and his wife had to fly back to Nebraska, so we said our goodbyes to them.

Today, Monday, Sarah begins her first chemo treatment.  She and I will have a light lunch and head to the doctor’s office.  Our mother will be watching all the kids - my three and Sarah’s two.  My husband will be heading home to Las Vegas so he can work for a few days, while my kids and I stay here to help through this first round of chemo.

I’ve been thinking about whether to try and post a Monday Challenge … and honestly, my mind is tired.  My tummy is nervous, and my body aches (sympathy pains?) just a little in anticipation of the afternoon we have ahead of us.  I can only imagine what my sister is feeling (I’ll see her in just a little while), but I’m sure her fear and anxiety is higher than mine.  So, all that to say… no Monday challenge today.  If you pray, please say a prayer for her around 1:30 pacific time.

I’ll try to be back soon…