JULY 11 CHALLENGE - At Grandma's House

Grandpa Wynn (William Lawrence Wynn) died when I was 4.  Grandma (Ethel Mae Bean Wynn) lived about 35 more years.  Every Sunday, her 5 kids and their spouses and children would come for a visit to her house in Stevenson, AL.  There were always so many people there and they would sit and talk for hours.  I miss the "Good Ole Days."

JULY 10 CHALLENGE - A Day Out With Thomas

This was of our trip to "A Day Out With Thomas."  Jeremy went through a phase where he loved everything Thomas.  So we just had to go.

JULY 9 CHALLENGE - Sisters Forever

Though Jennifer and I are both a bit anti-social and don't keep in touch like we should, we are still sisters and always will be.  We love each other and are always there for one another.  We may be an hour apart, but she is always in my heart - along with her wonderful family. 

JULY 8 CHALLENGE - Summer Lovin'

My parents, Faye and Gene Campbell (on the right) lived in Illinois.  They met there even though they were both born in Alabama - just one county apart from each other.  My Mom's brother, Bill Wynn and his wife Sue lived there too.  They were very close and spent a lot of time together.  And so I spent a lot of time with my cousins.  We were all very close then and have fond memories to remember.

JULY 7 CHALLENGE - Ethel Mae Wynn

This is one of many heritage pages I plan on doing.  I may use the same page and change out the pictures and information so that all my kids grandparents and great grandparents are placed in layouts.  This is my Mother's Mother.

JULY 4 CHALLENGE - Columbia, SC Zoo

As part of our 2005 Summer Vacation, we went to the zoo in Columbia.  It was very beautiful and somewhat tropical there.  I loved the different plants that they had there.

JULY 3 CHALLENGE - Niagra Honeymoon

Our first Honeymoon -- after 19 years of marriage.

The first time I did this LO, I chose blue.  Then I decided it wasn't romantic enough and changed it above.

JULY 2 CHALLENGE - St. Louis Arch

We went to St. Louis for the River City Hockey Tournament.  We got to go site seeing and went up in the Arch.  It was beautiful and very neat inside.

JULY 1 CHALLENGE - Destin Vacation

Well, I did all the challenges in June.  That is quite an accomplishment for me.  Now I'm starting July.  This week it is all about vacations.  So I'm starting with Destin.  I think this was just about the best vacation we ever took.  Myrtle Beach was good too.  But in Destin, the kids went to the Big Kahuna Water Park and we all had a blast.  Destin is definitely a place we want to return to again!

JUNE 30 CHALLENGE - Our Wedding Day

Well, I did all the challenges for June.  We will have to see about July.  It sure takes a lot of time.  I am really proud of the paper and jewels on this layout.  I made them myself.  I copied part of my bouquet from my picture and turned it into papers.  Jewel tones to be exact.  I am making a set of papers and may try to publish them as freebees - if I can figure out how to do it and get some more stuff together.  Either way, I can definitely use this set again and again because jewel tones are my favorite.  My house is decorated in it.  The papers have ruby, emerald, sapphire and pearl.  And also some in combination with black.  I thought they turned out pretty.

JUNE 27 CHALLENGE - A Day To Remember

Yes, we decided we don't like having June and July sports free.  Why would we need a vacation from running around.  So we put Jarrett on the Sharon Johnston Swimming Team.  He is just learning the ropes, but already has improved a lot.  And he likes it and is becoming a stronger and safer swimmer.  Which is what I wanted, for him to be safe.

JUNE 26 CHALLENGE - I Smile When...

Jarrett tied for trumpet first chair for his first year in band.  The band director took him aside one day and told him that he was the best musician in the whole 6th grade band.  Quite a compliment.  He had a good tutor though - I sit with him and practice with him on my clarinet.  So he can hear what it is suppose to sound like and get the beat.  I think it has helped him a lot.

JUNE 25 CHALLENGE - Too Hot For Hockey

It is amazing to me that my kids can come off the ice with sweaty, slicked down hair and red faces from getting so hot -- on the cold ice.  They really get a workout when they practice.

JUNE 24 CHALLENGE - Easter Egg Hunt

Jarrett's last Easter Egg Hunt.  

JUNE 23 CHALLENGE - Party

Jarrett's baseball party party was a skill competition too.  Jarrett won the fly ball to centerfield and throwing to homeplate competition.  It was a great party and the kids loved it!

JUNE 20 CHALLENGE - My Little Pirate

Jeremy liked the Wiggles and Captain Feathersword in particular.  For Halloween, he had to be the Captain.  He was much cuter though.

JUNE 19 CHALLENGE - You Can Never Have...

Jarrett has always been an athlete.  He could hit a pitched ball with a bat when he was 17 months old.  When he was 3, he shot 27 goals in a row at Vision Land and won a prize.  The game guy just let him keep going till he missed - though he kept backing him up.  He couldn't believe how well he did.  When he was 5, he made 18 goals in 18 minutes of playing time in soccer.  

He is amazing at hockey and plays both offense and defense very well.  He is a smart player and always knows what is going on and where to send the puck.  In baseball, he pitches and plays first base.  He pitches so fast that it is scary and his balls have a natural curve to them.  He scores many goals in soccer and basketball.  And he came in second place at the Alabama State Hoop Shoot Championship.  So he is the second best free throw shooter in the state of Alabama for 11 & 12 year olds.

Obviously he gets all of his natural athletic ability from me - his mother -- HAHA!!   He keeps us running by having to take him to all these sports, but it is well worth it.  We may be tired, but we are very proud.  He works hard at sports, plays trumpet in the band, memorizes tons of verses for AWANA, and makes straight As.  I am proud to be his Mother.

JUNE 18 CHALLENGE - Grandpa's Boys

My Dad was always outnumbered.  It was him and the male cat, Tom, against me, Mom & Jennifer.  He didn't stand a chance.  But when the grandchildren started coming, they were all boys.  Now there are four of them -- all boys.  The first two were mine - Jarrett and Jeremy.  Jeremy was only 2 when Grandpa passed away, but Grandpa always had interesting things to say.  

First of all, he would always tell me that he knew how tired I was because of raising two boys.  I would try to balance his checkbook for him and would be constantly interrupted.  Grandpa would tell my boys - "Let your Mama rest!".  He also always said, "You have two fine boys!"  He was very proud of them and thought they were good looking, smart and very athletic -- just like him.   :-)  

JUNE 17 CHALLENGE - Painting Rocks

In third grade, Jarrett had to show his rock collection.  He and Annie from across the street worked on it and watched a rock that they had painted dry.  It was very cute...

JUNE 16 CHALLENGE - Merry Christmas

This is from Christmas 2007.  It is a time for spending time with my sister and Dwayne's sister.  Family (Christ centered) is what Christmas is all about.

JUNE 13 CHALLENGE - Our Own Paradise

These pictures were from the summers of 2006 and 2007.  Our home is truly our paradise.  We have all we need.   Each other, health, food, clothing.  And fun stuff like a pool, trampoline, basketball court/hockey rink, hot tub.  We couldn't really ask for anything more.   I am very thankful for what we have.  God has blessed us and provided for us extremely well.

JUNE 12 CHALLENGE - It's Important to Make Time For...

This is our Vacation Bible School from 2007.  They were a great group of preschoolers and a lot of fun to work with.  I read and animated stories for them every day.  It was very exciting.  But they sure tired me out too.  I think I'm getting OLD!!!

JUNE 11 CHALLENGE - Electrifying

This is of when Jeremy was two and still had the very long hair.  It was adorable when he would get on the trampoline because the static made it stick straight up.  He looked like some sort of weird scientific experiment.  I miss having a cute little baby.  My boys are all grown up now.

JUNE 10 CHALLENGE - Hoop Shoot Championship

In 2008 Jarrett won the Riverton Middle School hoop shoot contest for ages 11 & 12.  He then went on to win the Huntsville City Championship.  Then he went to Decatur and won the North Alabama Championship.  Then we went to Birmingham where he came in second in state.  He shot 21 out of 25 free throws.  He gets to try again next year - so I'm sure he will be practicing.

JUNE 09 CHALLENGE - Myrtle Beach

This was our first trip ever to the beach as a family.  Don't ask why it took so long.  We have just always gone to the mountains.  But we loved it and loved South Carolina.  It was our first time there too.  The vegetation there was so different and absolutely beautiful.  It was an amazing trip and I'd love to go again.

JUNE 06 CHALLENGE - Cute As A Button

These are pictures of Jarrett on the left and Jeremy on the right.  Some friends of mine thought they were all of Jeremy.  They do look a lot alike - don't they!!  They are at ages 1 and 2 years. And they are cute as buttons.....

JUNE 05 CHALLENGE - You Make Me Smile When...

Jeremy loves to show his Mommy what a big boy he is and show off.  Actually, both my boys want me watching when they do sports or just show me something they have accomplished.  It makes me  feel special that they want to impress me so much.  But I do have the fear of those famous last words:  "Hey Mom, Watch This!!".....

JUNE 04 CHALLENGE - Opening Day

These are pics of opening day of baseball season.  Jarrett is in Majors and Jeremy in T-Ball.  Jeremy's team was undefeated this season and came in first place.  Jeremy caught several fly balls and made two double plays.  He hit the ball like a pro.  Amazing for a t-baller.  Jarrett pitched and played first and shortstop.  He hit the ball like a pro also.  His pitching was spectacular.  

I designed their uniforms, so they were the same team - just different age groups.  That way Coach Daddy only had to have one uniform for coaching.  Plus the boys looked cute when photographed together.

JUNE 03 CHALLENGE - Double Trouble

This is just some shots I took of the boys on our front porch. They are both a mess.

JUNE 02 CHALLENGE - Beach Vacation

For the June Challenges, we have templates that we are told to use. Sometimes we have to use specific colors or shapes or themes. We can usually use our own choice of kits. We do one per week day of the month. For example June 02, 03, 04, 05, 06... They are a lot of fun and give me an excuse to get some digiscrapping done.

For June 02, I did our beach vacation to Destin. It was a lot of fun and a trip that we want to take again.

MAY CHALLENGE #6 - Gardening

My Grandmother always had flowers and so did my Mom. When visiting each other, we always "walked the Pondarosa" - walked all around the yard and enjoyed the flowers that were there. It is something I still love to do even though my Grandmother and Mother are now gone. Sadly, I have no girls to pass this on to and the boys don't seem much interested. Yet I'm still trying to show them the beauty around them.

Credits:
Template: Template26 by http://timounette.canalblog.com

Papers: Spring08 Kit by http://sarylunadesigns.blogspot.com

Fonts: Comic Sans Serif and 2Peas Hot Chocolate

MAY CHALLENGE #5 - Smiles

My Boys.... I love their smiles and everything else!

Credits:
Template: Template1 by http://pouyou.over-blog.fr/

Papers: Just Dirt Kit by http://simplysweetdesignskits.blogspot.com

Font: Andy with outer glow/simple

MAY CHALLENGE #4 - Puppies

It took us so much time and effort to finally have children that these babies were our babies for a long time. Bear, Dusty and Precious were the main ones. Angel came later - after the first child. We only have angel left and really miss our other "children" very much.

Credits:
Papers, tags, and template: doggie template and doggie2 kit by http://scrapintimenfun.blogspot.com

Fonts:
Journaling: Andy
Titles: Boulder/Bulge at 50%

MAY CHALLENGE #3 - Childbirth

In 1988, after two years of marriage, Dwayne and I decided to begin a family. Little did we know that it would be 8 years before that would happen. We finally had Jarrett in 1996 after a very long and sad struggle. Along the way, we lost two babies due to tubal pregnancies. But Jarrett was worth the wait. And we were so thrilled when he finally arrived. God provided a miracle to give us a child.

Six years later, we decided to try again. But this time was different and we were not desperate for a child. We had Jarrett and were completely satisfied, but thought it would be nice for him to have a little brother or sister. I began praying in October of 2001 that if God wanted to give us a child, we would go to the infertility doctors for one year to give it a try. After that time, we would just stop trying and go on enjoying Jarrett. I placed it all in God's will instead of trying to force my will upon God as I had when trying to get pregnant before. It was easier because I wasn't desperate -- I already had Jarrett.

So at the new year of 2002 (January) we went to the infertility doctor. She said I might be too old and needed tests. So I did the tests and they came back --- I WAS ALREADY PREGNANT!!! We couldn't believe it. She said we needed to name this one miracle because I don't ovulate and had only one tube. I truly believe that God wanted to show us what he could really do if we would just place our hearts in His hands. He gave us a baby without having to go through infertility treatments. We did it on our own - a virtual impossibility.

That is why I love childbirth. I waited so long for it. I loved every single minute of it. But the best part of all was getting to hold those tiny miracles in my arms.....


Credits:
Papers and elements from the Miss Mouse kit by http://wyvernsscrapden.blogspot.com.

Template from Erica's Template #10 by http://templatesbyerica.blogspot.com.

Flower by me using Miss Mouse kit.

Fonts: Windsor BT for journaling. Bauhaus for titles.

MAY CHALLENGE #2 - Cats

These are the cats that I have had from childhood until now. I think of them all I love Splenda best. She is the cat we have now and the only full-time inside cat we have ever had. She is lots of fun and fetches better than most dogs.

Credits:
Papers, tags, and template from doggie template and doggie2 kit by
http://scrapintimenfun.blogspot.com

MAY CHALLENGE #1 - Family

This layout shows our family. The Campbells and the Dawsons. And those we no longer have with us. It isn't the same without them, but we are still family.

Credits:
Background and Ribbon from SAS Mega Freebie
by http://stoneaccents.blogspot.com

MAY CHALLENGE COVER PAGE - What I Love...

This month, we are to make pages for an album. The theme is things that we love. The cover is suppose to be pictures of ourselves. So here is mine. The baby picture is of me sitting on an ironing board. My Mom's hands were under the blanket to support me. All other pages are based on a theme word - like cats. There must be journaling to explain why we love that theme.

Credits:
Summer Flight Kit by http://beckygtx.blogspot.com

May Challenges

This month, I'm going to try to do all the challenges -- one per day. I'm already behind, but plan to catch up. There just are not enough hours in the day.....

April 2008 Challenges

In my yahoo group, we do challenges to encourage us to learn new things and to get some layouts done. I only did two in April because I was just getting started, but here they are.

The first is of me and the kids at Tate Farm in October of 2007. We were on the hayride. The background paper is a picture I took of a mound of pumpkins.

Template from: http://www.wersoto.com

In this challenge, I used pics of Dwayne and myself. It was just a quick one using a quickpage.

Template from: http://www.wersoto.com

Gone Fishin'

This is a layout I did of Jarrett, Jeremy & John Campbell going fishing in October 2008. They had a blast, but didn't catch anything. It was a beautiful day though and the scenery was spectacular. In the film strips are pictures I took of the lake. They are smaller and harder to see, but the pictures turned out great. I made the filmstrip myself based on one I saw in another layout. The background paper is just smudged using Photoshop.

Now We're Serious.....

I joined these digital scrapping groups at yahoo. I learned a lot. I also joined a few font groups and started getting all kinds of ideas and information. I started out slowly and have just begun to digiscrap in earnest. Here are some of my creations. As you can see, I haven't been doing it for long.

I did two layouts of camellia flowers from my mothers camellia bush. The bush use to be in her yard. When she passed away, I transplanted it to my yard. The flowers are beautiful and about the size of your palm. The bush was loaded with them -- most of them against the house where you couldn't see them. I figure it was warmer up against the bricks.

April 2008
This camellia layout was done just using colors from the flowers and textures and shading from Photoshop Elements. It was really simple. I used a template to do it, but no papers.

Fonts: Times New Roman




This is the same layout, but this time I used kits and elements created by others. I learned how to paste the papers onto the different layers of the layouts.

Edits: Used flower as circle background after making redder and darker using Enhance/Variations... Also used on eyelets.

Template from Butterfly Kisses by http://digiscraptemplates.blogspot.com

Frame Paper and eyelets from love spring kit by http://unpetitcoindescrap.blogspot.com

Green Background and Circle Flower from tempusfugit_SummerRhapsody kit by http://tempusfug.blogspot.com

Fonts: Cotillion

In The Beginning.....

First of all, I use Photoshop Elements for my layouts. My first digital scrapbooking was in making Christmas cards to send out. I didn't even think of it as digital scrapping. Here are my first "layouts" based on a tutorial I found on digital scrapbooking.

Christmas Card 2005:


Christmas Card 2006:Then, I decided to make a few layouts just for fun. I thought they came out pretty cute. The first came from pictures taken at Tate Farm where we go most Octobers for hayrides and pumpkin pickin. It is a very fun place. Jarrett and Jeremy usually have a blast.



With this layout, I used a template and just found some pictures to put in it to see how templates work. Templates are wonderful things. I love them.


We went to a hockey tournament where there was a professional photographer. He had magazine covers made from his pictures. They cost a fortune. I thought --- I can do that and I could. These are of Jarrett with his Peewee House Team - the Lightning with his coaches. He played up in age to play peewee house and was the leader in points (both goals and assists) as a center and winger. Jarrett has been playing hockey for 8 years.



This is of Jarrett right after they won the Country and Western Tournament in Nashville with his Squirt Travel Team - the Chargers. He played defense for the first time. It was really fun doing the magazines. I did them for some of his team mates too. They really turned out.