Kids are at GG's. Woohoo! Made a layout:

Annie cut her hair!

Yes she did!

Me: (not close enough to see) Annie you did a beautiful job brushing your hair!

Annie: Yeah, and I cut it a little too, pecause I didn't want it to stick up.

Me: Oh really! Wow! *choke* You sure did! Next time let's try wetting it down first though, ok?

Nonna suggested headbands, I think that's the only thing that's going to cover it. It's even worse than the pictures. It looks like she sawed it off with a nail file.

Serenity Springs Sanctuary

A couple of weeks ago I took the kids and Madeline to visit the animals here:

http://www.serenityspringssanctuary.org (I can't get the @#&*$ links to work, so feel free to cut and paste..argh!)

I have been looking at the site of Farm Sanctuary in California (farmsanctuary.com) for quite some time, wishing we could visit, and I found out that there was actually a sanctuary within driving distance. Terry is a great lady. Her place is beautiful and she takes excellent care of all these animals. The sanctuary has 130 pigs, 2 donkeys, 2 goats, 2 steers, some horses, several cats, a few dogs, and I'm sure I'm forgetting someone. One of the dogs is a gorgeous white pit bull that would likely have no chance in a shelter, he's a little bigger than Angel and has every bit of her...shall we say...zest for life? They're all so darling. Some of the pigs followed us around on our tour, talking to us with oinks and little squeals and grunts. One pig lays down for belly rubs as soon as you pay attention to her. Pedro the donkey follows people around so quietly and gently, waiting patiently for attention, that you don't know he's literally an inch behind you until you turn around and nearly smack into him. And Patrick...oh Patrick the baby goat has got to be the cutest thing I've ever seen. As soon as she called him he answered back, "baaah!" and came running to find us. He is into everything, just like a toddler or a puppy. He stayed right with us but I still could barely get a picture of him because he's just never still. Absolutely adorable.

Terry gave us a great tour and made us feel so welcome, even on one of the hottest days of the year. She welcomed us back to visit anytime and accepted my offer of any help I can provide so we're planning to go back often.

Here are some pictures, and a layout:

Parenthood in D

This is so awesome, it's long but you have to watch and hear the whole thing. I insist!

Parenthood in D

"camping"

This is where we go "camping". Aren't we tough to brave the elements like this? This is the new trailer. I need to hunt for pictures of the old trailer for contrast. I love this thing so much, it's really a miniature home in the country for us. John's sister and her family went with us this time and we had so much fun! The kids were in the water almost the entire time. Little raisins. Frances is a total fish. The kids went up to Madeline's house and played in the water hose for a while, but Frances quickly came back, unable to understand why they wanted to play in the sprinkler when there was an entire POOL available. Aunt Liz took to water volleyball as quickly and enthusiastically as John did when he started playing.

Playing Wii, taking a break from the sun:


The view from our front door:


The view from the table...see the little bridge over the creek? Aww!


Mornin'! John Aubrey is such a morning person.


Left to right: Annie, Madeline, Frances, and John Aubrey.

Earthlings

Woah. Forget screening it for the kids, I couldn't even watch it. It's "Meet Your Meat" on steroids. The trailer is so peaceful. I knew there were graphic parts but I expected glimpses. I'll see it, but a little at a time. Alone. Late at night. Not for children, that one.

On a more cheerful note, them wacky kids:

1970 Something

I'm usually too lazy to scan old photos for layouts, but I'm a sucker for a challenge. And I'm always tickled with the results. Here's me - in 1970 something:

Vegan for a Week

I don't know why I'm so proud of myself. I've been trying to do it for what...three years? Knowing of the incredible suffering that factory farming and animal testing causes, I ought to be ashamed that it's taken this long. But for the last week I have actually done it. Eliminated every possible animal product from my diet, and shopped cruelty free to the best of my knowledge. No giving in to the kids' requests for store-bought brownies with "just a little" eggs and dairy (and a heap of preservatives, artificial flavorings, corn-syrup, trans-fats, and colors). Man, you eliminate a lot of junk when you buy vegan. I didn't really realize how much the little things add up until I started to absolutely refuse it all. I can't even find a loaf of bread at the grocery store, so today I'm baking lest John should have to go without a sandwich tomorrow. I've made pizza from scratch and tempeh and white bean sausage patties with whole wheat biscuits. We've had burritos with those amazing Central Market whole wheat tortillas, and I even made vegan nachos with homemade nacho cheeze sauce from The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook which is so wonderful! Lowfat, made with mostly whole foods, and so delicious that even John likes it (not as well as Velveeta, you understand, but well enough!)

Now I just have to deal with the kids' love of ham. They accept change pretty well if they understand the reasons for it. But they don't know that they've ever eaten pigs, I've never told them that's where ham comes from. And they really, really like ham. I'm partly afraid that it will gross them out and make them feel bad for ever eating it, and mostly afraid that they'll think ham tastes so good that it's worth it. They really like ham. I know I'm the mom, but it's their body and ultimately their decision when I'm not around. We live in a world where there's ham in nearly every fridge. I've ordered Earthlings. I'll have to review it when it comes in, I don't know if it's too graphic to show them. It probably is for Annie, but John Aubrey might be old enough to handle and digest some of what goes on.

Even more challenging for me than making ham undesirable is being prepared. There is no such thing as stopping off for a quick bite when you're out and about. And kids get hungry. Like all the time. And when they get hungry, they get cranky. This is a giant stumbling block for me. I have always struggled with being organized and vegan food that the kids will actually eat isn't always terribly portable. I wouldn't want to have to explain that to a hen who just had her beak sliced off though, or to a newborn calf who had just been ripped away from his mother at the dairy farm. Inconvenience is not enough of an excuse. Not anymore.

Busy Busy

Been forgetting to update with all that's going on! We got a new trailer for camping, I'll have to take some pictures and post them, it's such a thrill to have a non-leaky, non-mouse infested, fully functioning space to stay in with enough beds for all four of us! And it's beautiful too!

While jumping through all the hoops to get the trailer though, I managed to crash my car into a tree and shatter the back windshield, so that was fun. And we're ramping up for third grade/kindergarten and trying to squeeze all of the joy that we can into what remains of the summer. I have done a few layouts though!

Just another quick picture...

Kids are at Nonna's so I've made another layout. Seeing a correlation there? DirectTV provides us with XM radio which has a fantastic new age music station. With no one sleeping in the house or using the TV I can have this lovely endless stream of soothing music and nature sounds (loud enough to actually hear it) while I scrap away and drink iced coffee at midnight. Bliss!

The top layout is a redo of the lower layout that I made when I first started digital scrapbooking. I've learned a lot, not the least of which is that bevels aren't always necessary...or good....

Vacation! And More Layouts!

John was on vacation last week and we so enjoyed having him around for a little while! We had Annie's birthday party last Saturday, took him to NRH2O with us on Monday, and Wednesday we left to go camping for the rest of the week. It was hot, hot, hot, but the pool was cool. The kids swam at least three times a day and played with Madeline every available moment. They had so much fun they barely fought for five days! Which was so relaxing for me, I was able to read a book and a half. Everyone in Texas should have a pool, really. It makes the hot weather almost pleasant.

I did four more challenge layouts at The Digi Shoppe. I wonder if I can get all seven thousand (no kidding) of the kids pictures scrapped just doing challenges??

I love Nitwit Collections!

Mary Fran at Nitwit Collections just makes the very best digital scrapbooking stuff. I love the real, fabric-like, homey look of her stuff. I made this with her make-a-scene kit and it will show better in print, but if you click on it you might be able to see that the pictures in the windows are actually of our house and Aubrey and Annie at Christmastime. It's so cute I can't stand it!

Newest Layout

I love these pictures of John and Annie. What a great daddy he is.

Check out my Slide Show!

Another old one...

Gosh even on my hard drive I'm disorganized in spite of trying to keep it together ;) Here is another lost layout. I think I quit on this one because I felt it needed something but didn't know what. Now I think this photo is sweet enough all by itself. Annie is so darling.

Architect

I found this file on my hard drive, I started it a year or two ago and never added the title. That sure makes for a quick easy page, and I just love it! It really captures John Aubrey's talent and spirit. This is what I want from all my scrapbook pages.

Journaling reads: He has said he wants to be a guitar player, a Wal-Mart stocker, an astronaut, a pawn broker (to give people fair deals, after learning how people get ripped off,
sweet boy wants to change the system!), and most recently, a pilot. But with his talent for math and his affinity for symmetry, I really think he should also consider something in the field of ARCHITECTURE

Another challenge, another page, this is so fun!

I give you: Wulf and Grendel

Is there anything cuter than a kitten? No, there isn't. And I found two in a trash can in a hot Wal-Mart parking lot! I brought them home and immediately started to reassure John that I would take them to the humane society, but he took one look and said, "let's keep 'em". I was shocked, but tickled. My tendency to turn our house into a zoo usually makes him groan. He's a good sport though, and these guys are awfully cute. I don't know how anyone could have left them there. We just got them to the vet on Friday. They had worms and ear mites and they were covered in fleas, but they're on the mend now. Getting litter box trained and getting used to Angel, who I think might want to eat them - or at least play with them really hard. China tries to pretend they don't exist. The kids are thrilled. For the first two days John Aubrey kept saying he couldn't believe this wasn't a dream as he was holding or playing with Wulf. They are little characters, and so loving. I feel lucky to have found them.

Digital Scrapping Challenges

I have been taking digital challenges at The Digi Shoppe Cafe. It's so much fun! It really gets me motivated to make more pages and try new things, and I get digital freebies or points that I can use in their shoppe just for doing it. Above are my layouts that the challenges have inspired me to do so far.

A Night to Myself!

The kids are gone, gone I say! To their Nonna's house. Overnight. I almost don't know what to do with myself. Whenever they go anywhere I find myself wandering around in an aimless daze for a little while, not for lack of things to do, but because of such an overwhelming abundance of them. Cross stitch? Scrapbook? Mess around on the computer? Play Oblivion? Catch up on cooking and cleaning (in peace)? Search for clues to the next season of Lost?

Tonight I settled on scrapbooking. I scrapbook digitally using Photoshop Elements and I love it so. I long for more time to scrapbook, or a notebook computer so that I can scrapbook anywhere. But enough crying, here is the page I have made so far tonight.

New to Blogger

I've been playing with templates and different blog servers trying to find one that's easy enough for me to customize. I think this one might be it! Thank you to Microferk Designs for the Mabon kit that I used to make my blog header.