My PicTales review and LOs galore!!

So YAY! My LOs arrived this morning from MyPicTales (MPT). First I must say they arrived very quickly! I placed my order last Sunday (a non-business day). I was notified that my order would be shipped on Thursday and then they arrived this morning!! Also, when I placed my order I chose First Class Mail (delivery est. 2-5 days) because it was the cheapest ($1.34 for 20 prints). However the order was sent Priority Mail instead! I'm not sure why but I certainly appreciate it very much!

I have to say I'm very pleased with my order all around! The prints look brilliant! They are printed on a nice heavy paper :). There was a teensy bit of cutoff on the journaling of one of my pages but I'm going to count that as user error. I sometimes journal perilously close the edge of my LOs and I shold have probably allowed more bleed for that page *oops*!

K, onto the LOs!

This is my little hoot, Gabriel! Kit is Falling for You by Julie Billingsley (SSD)

Let me tell you, Julian wasn't impressed with the veggies at all LOL! Kit is Happy Dance by Eva Kipler (SSD)

My lil baby love, Julian being a cute! Kit is Hootenanny by Libby Weifenbach and ChereKaye (SSD).

Julian and Gabriel....not enjoying each others company LOL! Bratty Brothers by Kristin Cronin Barrow and Meghan Mullens (SSD)

Tristan, doing what he does...being overly dramatic! Kit is Bratty Brothers by Kristin Cronin Barrow and Meghan Mullens (SSD).

I don't miss this *evil* flute at all! Kit is Sassy Sisters by Kristin Cronin Barrow and Meghan Mullens (SSD).

My shy niece, Naomi. Kit is Sassy Sisters by Kristin Cronin Barrow and Meghan Mullens (SSD).

TGIF again!

Woohoo, it's Friday and a 3 day weekend to boot! I actually don't have anything planned this weekend. We'll just be chilling at home with the kiddos. Maybe we'll rent a movie this weekend. We *might* fill up the kids pool one last time and grill. Whatever we do should be fun!

I mourned the end of *my* summer but I'm happy to be settling into fall now. Fall is my favorite season by far. I love the cool weather and changing leaves and warm yummy scents. I'm burning a warm apple tart right now and the house feels so cozy!

I do have a couple LOs to share today! This first one is of Gabriel when he was a widdle guy! He's always been such a happy little fella! He was playing in his exersaucer and having a laugh with me. Kit is Retro Boy by Fee Jardine (SSD).

this one is of Julian playing in his jumperoo! Speaking of which he's been playing in it now for about 10 minutes (a record!) and he's having a blast! I'm so excited!! he's being so cute and laughing out loud! it's sooo adorable!
Kit is Chalking the Way by Eva Kipler (SSD).

over the hump....

Thursday already! My weeks are going by so fast! Can you tell I am still adjusting to the boys being in school all day? Seriously, it's not an easy adjustment!

I've been fairly productive at home! My laundry is caught up which is a major feat for me LOL. I've been scrapping some too. Here are some of my recent creations!

Gabriel is rarely serious so this is a rare shot! Kit is Me-Robot by Robin Carlton.

My grumpy little guy LOL. We always find him in a bad mood and/or asleep at his birthdays! Kit is Alphabet Soup by Melissa Bennett.
!

I did get a bit of good news this morning :)! I received notification that my MyPicTales prints where going to be shipped today! From what I could tell they are shipping from Virginia so they should be here super quick! They were really fast with their processing so I'm impressed :). I can't wait to get my hands on them and see how they look. I'm still getting my big order together using the coupon they e-mailed me. I want to see how the first set printed out so I can see if I need to do anything different to the larger order. I'll be sure to blog about it when they arrive. I'm so excited!

dreary day....

Ugh, it's a rainy, dreary tuesday here. It was icky getting Gabriel off the bus in the rain. I'm about to have to face the ickiness head on as I drag Gabriel and Julian out to pick up Tristan. I dread it terribly. I woke up trying to fight off a migraine so I started off this icky day quite ickily! Of course, Julian has been super fussy all day and Gabriel arrived home quite unhappy himself. Ugh. I hate this weather.

So to share more cheerful things. Here are a couple of recent layouts.

This uses Tomboy Princess by Libby Weifenbach (SSD)

This one mostly uses Riding on Buses by Karen Lewis (TDC).

Success!!

I must say since my last blog post I really did a masterful job of getting our dinner/bath/bedtime routine down better. Things have mostly went off without any hitches every night since then. So....yay me!

Tristan is soooo much more pleasant in the mornings when he has plenty of sleep so it was absolutely necessary to get him on a strict schedule! We fly by the seat of our pants during the summer (and maybe a little on weekends *cringe*) but during the school year we must be more structured.

The boys are doing well in school, as far as I can tell anyway. I haven't heard anything negative from any teachers so far. It is beyond strange to be here most of the day with just Julian.

Julian as been quite a little beast the last couple of days. He's teething really heavily. The other day he arched backwards whilst screaming at the top of his lungs while in my arms and the place where his top two front teeth will be where SO WHITE I thought the teeth had already come through! Poor baby! He's also been a bit constipated and super gassy so he's been quite unpleasant altogether. I think I cured his constipation today with prunes though LOL!

I sent in order to MyPicTales this afternoon and I'm excited. I've been scrapping since October 2005 and NEVER had anything but brag book pages printed so this will be the first time I get to see my pages in a larger format. I decided to print at 8x8 even though the 12x12's were also amazingly affordable too. I have seen my sister's LOs printed in both sizes and I vastly prefered the 8x8's. Everyone seems to rave about their quality/affordability/speed in processing etc so I figured it was worth a shot with the deal they are running now! (Spend $10 on single page prints by 8/31 and they will give you a coupon worth $100 for more single page prints. If you print at 8x8 then that is 200 prints absolutely free! It is SO worth it! I'm still waiting for my coupon but I'm holding in good faith that it will arrive. I can't wait to see my pages printed!

I have a few new layouts to show you now :)!

This uses Fresh Squeezed by Kristin Cronin Barrow new this week at Sweet Shoppe!

Woohoo! Team Edward all the way :)! This uses Apple of My Eye by Julie Billingsley new this week at Sweet Shoppe!
The following two pages use Double Ups 3 by Bree Clarkson at Sweet Shoppe Designs!

I CAN NOT tell you how thrilled I was to find a paci that Julian likes. He is a clingy/fussy high needs litle guy so I need all the comforting help I can get!

Kit is Hello Chickee by Gina Cabrera (Digital Design Essentials)

These were taken of Gabriel on his first day of school! He truly is such a great kid. I'm such a lucky mama!

Kit is Squiggle It by Christy Lyle and Robin Carlton (Sweet Shoppe)

still under the weather...

phew...

I don't know if it's allergies or a cold or something else entirely but I'm still sick. I'm feeling a little better but still not 100% yet. My sister got really sick yesterday too but her sickness seems different so hopefully whatever she has won't pass through the house. My Gabriel gets so ill when he catches something.

This last week has been SO hectic! It's been crazy having Tristan in school too. It's been so exhausting and I don't feel like I'm doing a good job handling all the changes. We've been getting dinner WAY too late and rushing around to get everyone fed, bathed and in bed. Something has got to give because I can't keep this mania up all year! It just doesn't help that I'm sick during all this.

I've got a couple pages to share but I can't post them yet! They are with new product being released this Saturday at the Sweet Shoppe. Look for some awesome new kits by Julie Billingsley and Kristin Cronin Barrow this weekend!

Well I'm off for now. I've got to see if I can pick up the house a bit before Julian starts demanding my full attention!

time for a change....

As much as I'm not ready for it I had to take down my All Summer Long video. I know it's still technically and officially summer but it's really not for me anymore. As I mentioned last week Gabriel started Kindergarten. This week a very excited Tristan began his second year of preschool. So both kiddos off to school all day and summer really feels done to me. I figured out how to put up my playlist here so...yay :)! I have a few layouts to share with you. These first two use Eco Friendly , a perfect pairs by Kristin Cronin Barrow and Meghan Mullens.

This one use's a 2 Scoops with Julie Billingsley and Eva Kipler. I'm so proud of my little brother, Jeremy :)!!

We are still adjusting to life with school in session again and I'm under the weather so....ugh. TTYL!

TGIF?

Whew! I'm not sure exactly why but I am. so. tired. right now! This week has really drained me! Gabriel started Kindergarten this week. It was really bittersweet for me. It's so strange having him gone all day long. Other than that, it's been relatively quiet here. My sister and her kiddos went on vacation so we've been hanging out at home by ourselves. I am just so drained.

We may take a trip to visit my dad and stepmom this weekend. The kids always love that! Anyways, just thought I'd drop by and share some recent layouts. Most are from the blast we've had this summer, a couple are of Gabriel starting school and a few are of my brand new niece, Makayla :)!

Using I Sea by Eva Kipler and Amanda Heimann (Sweet Shoppe Designs)

Using Tough Guy by Shawna Clingerman (SSD Quarterly Assortment)

Using Catch of the Day by Julie Billingsley (SSD)
Using Stop Jammer Time by Robin Carlton and Manda Bean (SSD)

Using Baby Brights by Misty Cato, Bad Sewing Machine by Traci Reed and Little Bits byDarcy Baldwin (SSD)

A Boy's Toys by Heather Roselli (SSD)

Little Peach by Kristin Cronin Barrow and 5x7 Templates#1 byBree Clarkson (SSD)

Using Delilah by Kristin Cronin Barrow (SSD)

Using Robo Boy by Lauren Grier (SSD) and Simply White Papers by Micheline Martin (Scrapartist)

Using Out of this World by Karen Lewis (The Digi Chick) and Collection 21 by Bree Clarkson (SSD)

Using Liberty and Justice by Manda Bean and Inspired by Amanda by Bree Clarkson (SSD)

Using Summer Sunset by Julie Billingsley (SSD)

Bookworm by Gina Cabrera (Digital Design Essentials) and Bad Sewing Machine by Traci Reed (SSD)

Using First Bell by Lauren Grier and Amanda Heimann (SSD)

Using Cold Espresso by Micheline Martin (Scrapartist)

Using A Girl Like You by Shawna Clingerman and Lauren Grier (SSD)

Using Little Miss Sunshine by Karen Lewis (Digital Freebies)

Using Hey, Hey Baby by Libby Weifenbach and Amanda Heimann (SSD)

Using Big Boy Now by Heather Roselli (SSD)