Check out my friend's blog for a giveaway!

Hi everyone :)  I hadn't planned on blogging today...although I'm WAAAAY overdue for a blog post.  But I'm over here trying not to hack up a lung (groan...this crud won't go away), so I'm going to make this short and sweet :)

A friend of mine is having a fantastic giveaway over on her blog...so if you'd like a chance to win some books, head on over to Mommy's Shoes and enter!

I'll try to pop back on later this week...I have holiday photos and guest CT fun to share!

Guesting!

Like many of you, we have had a busy, busy December!  I've been volunteering at two school libraries, planning Christmas activities, enjoying my ladies class at church, and doing the wife & mommy thing (which is full-time in and of itself!)  I am so looking forward to Christmas and New Year's this year...this has been a hard year for our family, but we have come through it, and I am ready to celebrate!

Aside from the hustle and bustle of holiday activities, I've also been enjoying two wonderful guest spots with a few of my absolute favorite designers, Connie Prince and Meg Mullens.  And of course my most favorite designer of all, Tracy of Trixie Scraps, has been cranking out some GORGEOUS Christmas kits.  And since I've got some down time, I'm going to show you some of the layouts I've been able to create this month.

A Thankful Heart by Trixie Scraps (I'm not generally a cluster sort of scrapper, so this page tickled me with how it turned out!)

Wrapped in Ribbons by North Meets South Studios (aka Trixie Scraps & Connie Prince)

I Heart Christmas by Connie Prince

31 Days Has December by Trixie Scraps

Give Thanks by Connie Prince

The Big Guy by Connie Prince

Happy to my Toes by Connie Prince

Christmas Countdown by Meg Mullens & Traci Reed

All Year Long--May

Blue Christmas by Trixie Scraps (one of THE most beautiful kits!)

My Everything by Connie Prince

Frosted Windowpanes by Trixie Scraps

Remember Bethlehem by Trixie Scraps

Our Home by Connie Prince

In the Moment by Meg Mullens, and December 2012 Templatetopia by North Meets South Studios

New Year, New Me by North Meets South Studios

Frostbitten--For Him by Meg Mullens & Traci Reed

Frostbitten--For Her by Meg Mullens & Traci Reed (I might have loved this kit just a little bit LOL)

I have so many snow pictures from the past two winters...so far, none this year.  We've had snow in the state (blizzards to our west, in fact), but at our house, we've had nothing but rain.  As much as I'd like to see some of the fluffy white stuff on the ground, I will not complain about the rain.  After more than a year of drought, it has been a blessing.  With that, I'm going to sign off...we've got friends coming over this evening, and I need to clean up the house and bake some sand tarts.  Merry Christmas, friends!

What are you reading right now?

Moms don't have enough time in the day.  At least I don't know any mom who does.  I actually thought that once Rachel started school full-time, I'd have a lot of free time to myself.  Well, I DO get some free time, but more often than not, I'm busy with one activity or another.  One of the things I'm doing is volunteering at the school library...it gets me out of the house and I really enjoy helping out.  And wouldn't you know it...I told the librarian that I had a listing of my favorite books on my blog, and promptly gave her my blog address.  But....I forgot that when I re-did the blog over the summer, I took down the list and replaced it with my Goodreads sidebar widget.  Boo on me!  So that realization has prompted me to post today.

About that quiet time that I get every so often...I have been enjoying being able to read books that were actually written for adults!  And okay, I've enjoyed some young adult novels as well.  Since I read fairly quickly, I've gotten quite a few books off of my to-read list finished.  I've been browsing Goodreads for some new things, and I keep track of my to-read list there (thank goodness for their app...I can check it while I'm at the library!)  If you're not familiar with Goodreads, I have a link to my Goodreads page in the sidebar...feel free to check it out.  It's basically a Facebook for us bookworms!  And of course, I love hearing what my friends are reading.  Any recommendations out there?

I scrapped a layout about some of my favorite books...actually it was a fun little All About Me page, and it just made sense to add my books to it.  And yes, I have noticed that one book made the list twice...just goes to show that proofreading is so important!  

If you can't read the text, the books are as follows:

1.  Edge of Eternity, Randy Alcorn

2.  Home Before Morning, Lynda Van DeVanter

3.  Plain Truth, Jodi Picoult

4.  The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins

5.  Winter Garden, Kristin Hannah

6.  The Egg & I, Betty MacDonald

7.  The Pact, Jodi Picoult

8.  Anne of Green Gables, Lucy Maud Montgomery

9.  Safely Home, Randy Alcorn

10. Ride the Wind, Lucia St. Clair Robson

11. The Stand, Stephen King

12. Centennial, James Michener

13. House Rules, Jodi Picoult

14. The Body Farm, Patricia Cornwell

15. Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer

16. The Hidden Hand, E.D.E.N. Southworth

17. The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold

18. Where the Sidewalk Ends, Shel Silverstein

19. The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, Jamie Ford

20. A Random Act, Cindi Broaddus

21. The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien

22. Lord Foulgrin's Letters, Randy Alcorn

23. She Said Yes, Misty Bernall

24. Bloody Jack, L.A. Meyer

25. Magic Hour, Kristin Hannah  (this was supposed to be on the list!)

A few notes about the above list...it was made last  year, and while all of these books would still make my list, I've got some new additions :)

26. Rawhide Down, Del Quentin Wilber

27. Saving Max, Antoinette van Heugten

28. Inconceivable, Carolyn Savage---if you read this book and love it, make sure to check out their blog and/or Facebook page.  This family has had a wonderful update recently!

And for those of you who loved the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and its three sequels, Ann Brasheres has recently released Sisterhood Everlasting, which is the story of Lena, Tibby, Carmen, and Bee as they are approaching thirty.  It's been years since I read the original books, and while this new book didn't have the feel of the original, it was still a good read, and if you enjoyed the first,  you'll want to read this to find out what direction each of the girls took in their lives.

Another book that I read over the summer was Jaycee Dugard's book, A Stolen Life.  After watching Diane Sawyer's interview with Jaycee, I really wanted to like this book.  I really did.  But I didn't.  I tried to, but I couldn't.  It was an easy read in terms of the reading level; however, the book as a whole left me feeling very unsettled, and I felt like I was missing something.  

And now for a few books that are on my to-read list...

Bloody Jack is on my list of favorites.  To date, there are SEVEN sequels.  And the eighth sequel, The Mark of the Golden Dragon, is due to release in just a few weeks.  I loved the original.  I loved the second book.  I enjoyed the third and fourth.  But by now, I am growing tired of the series.  And I have heard that this is not the last book.  It's growing tired, but I do want to see some resolution to Jacky's story.  And so I haven't quite given up on her...yet.  I do hope that we either see a big change in personalities, or we see the end of this series SOON.

Another book that I am looking forward to getting my hands on is Shel Silverstein's Every Thing On It.  I'm not a big fan of poetry, but I have always loved Shel's works.  When he passed away, it made me sad to think we'd have no more of his poetry to enjoy.  Thankfully I was wrong, and a book of his previously unreleased poems is due to hit the shelves this month.

I hope that you will be encouraged to pick up a good book, whether it's reading a picture book to the kids or enjoying a book for yourself :)

I'll be back later on this week (I hope) with my list of favorite books for kids :)  And yes, I think I have at least one layout on that topic to share.  Have a blessed week, friends!

DST Chat with Trixie Scraps tonight!

Join us tonight at DST for Trixie's Spotlight Chat!

Choo Choo...It's a Blog Train!

Welcome to my little corner of the digiverse, scrapping friends!  Have you heard that my sweet friend Tracy, aka Trixie Scraps, is this month's Featured Designer at Digishoptalk?  She has created a gorgeous kit for all of the DST Gold/Diamond members!  Check it out!!!  You can head on over to DST to read her interview and download the kit if you are a Gold/Diamond member!

In celebration of her month in the spotlight, Trixie is having an awesome 30% in her store...head on over and check out some of her amazing products!  She's got lots of fun things planned for this month, and we hope you'll take part!

Finally...the reason you are here!  We, the Scrap Stars, have gotten together to share with you some Quick Pages created from Natural Beauty, and we're offering them to you for free!  

You may download my quick page here.  

You should have come here from Jamie B's blog.  Your next stop is Erica's blog.  If you get lost along the way, no worries...just head back to the Trixie Scraps blog for the full line-up!  Have a blessed week, and  happy scrapping!

Back to school

Well, we have made it through two weeks of kindergarten, and I'm happy to say that Rachel is thoroughly enjoying herself.

She was disappointed that her two best friends were in other classes, and I journaled about that after we got back from meet-the-teacher night.  I used Trixie Scraps' Adoption Day (love the little kids in that kit) to scrap my thoughts.

Thankfully, she did have a few old friends in her class, and she has met a few new ones as well.

I scrapped a layout of her first day of school using All About Me:  The Littles by Trixie Scraps.  It's not a traditional school kit, but right now, I am loving these bright colors!

She's been a good listener, according to her teacher.  She did come home on Monday and told us that she had to move her stick to yellow...we told her that it was alright, because we all have bad days.  She was encouraged, and reminded us several times that she'd start back in green the next day.  On Tuesday afternoon, when I asked her what the best part of the day was, she told me it was "staying on green."  My sweet girl might not mind pushing buttons at home, but she really does try to be on her best behavior at school.

With that, I'm signing off for now.  I'll be back in the not-too-distant future with a little somethin' for you!

Anybody thirsty?

When it's hot outside (like it generally is here at this time of year), I love a cold glass of lemonade.  Personally, Chick-Fil-A is my favorite, but now they have some competition, in the form of my daughter.  LOL.  Rachel came out of her room yesterday announcing that she had an idea for a lemonade stand, and so off we went to the kitchen to mix up a small pitcher.
Now, she didn't set up shop on the sidewalk...she sold the lemonade in the living room.  Suffice it to say, she only had two customers, but we did give her repeat business.  And upon NiNi's request, I had Rachel share her recipe, and decided to scrap it for myself.
I used Kristin Cronin-Barrow's Freshly Squeezed; I ran a sepia filter on the photo and then did some customizing on the color.

I will definitely be back next week...Little Missymeets her teacher, goes back to dance, and starts kindergarten...I will be taking lots of photos!