So proud.

Okay, I have to brag for a moment here. My boys (primarily Noah right now, though Asher's starting to get interested) enjoy scrapbooking. Both have actually had artwork published (see Scrapbooking With Your Kids for some awesome ideas and view the boys' work on pages 62, 63, 90, 146 and 175). Tangent: I was re-reading our last year's holiday letter and noticed that Noah had expressed his own intention to be published...guess he made that happen, eh? Helps to be connected. ;)

So. After their first soccer games last weekend, Noah proclaimed that he now needed a soccer album and would make it himself. He explained to me that he needed a layout for each game (but I didn't have to take pictures at practices). Not to squash this opportunity, of course, I pulled out a handy 8x8 album for him (yay for the dollar spot at Target! I picked up a heap of these months ago and pull them out in cases like this) and asked him to pick out which pictures he wanted and let me know how big to print them. He made this sketch:

 

I didn't provide any input at all. Honest! Bursting with pride about this whole sketch thing, I promptly printed the photos and helped him gather embellishments. This is what he ended up with:

 

Aside from painting the wooden letters, I didn't provide outside assistance. He drew those pictures on his own (after a bit of coercing because he initially wanted me to draw the goal/net because he's a perfectionist (yes, I know where he gets it from so hush) and didn't want to risk "messing it up") and decided on picture placement and created that border strip and everything. Dude. I particularly love the pic of the ball in the lower right corner of that left page. Initially, he was going to put a big soccer ball sticker. Then he found this picture of his soccer ball. He decided to use that instead, place a red border around it and use black photo corners. Ya think he's been paying attention when I work? ;) He even cropped these photos before he let me print them out.

Asher, meanwhile, was not to be left out. With a bit more of my assistance, this is what he came up with:

 

With Asher, we settled on a standard layout that he'll use each week. He just has to pick out the pictures and come up with the title. He also added those little soccer ball stickers. :)

So. We'll do this seven more times. Question, now, for all you scrapping soccer moms out there...how many soccer layouts do you do each season? I don't think I want to do one a week per boy for the season, know what I mean? Is one per boy for the season enough? Maybe one for the first game and one for the end of the season wrap up? Ideas would be more than welcome! (And feel free to pretty please answer my questions in my previous post as well!) 

Stash.

Wow. I was tidying up my scraproom last night and, um, let's just say that I could go a year or more and not need to buy anything else. I came across so many cool things that I've had for awhile now that I just haven't used. I'm sure at least some of you can relate. It's crazy. After all, I've made at least 300 layouts so far this year already (about 100 of those just in the past 2 months-ish). And I honestly don't shop that often (no snickering!). Apparently, I just don't *use* a lot of product other than cardstock (which I LOVE...yay for Prism!). Going to work on challenging myself to use up more stuff in my stash from here to Christmas. No guarantees, though, that I won't cave and buy more stuff, hee hee. ;)

Anyhow, in my sorting and cleaning and purging (yes, I purged a bunch also...seems like I do this often but it just multiplies anyhow...will do some fun RAKs before long so keep watching!), I had some questions. I'd love your answers.

1. How do you store the new KI lace cardstock? Right now I have it sandwiched between pieces of cardstock but I'm afraid I'll forget it's there or lose it or whatever. Ideas?

2. Am I the only one who compulsively "saves" really cool product because it's just really cool. I might need it for that perfect layout sometime, right? You know what I mean, don't you? ;) Honestly, I kept coming across these fabulous supplies that I tend to hoard. Gotta do something about that.

3. Chipboard. Alphabets aside, does anyone have any good storage solutions for chipboard pieces? Specifically, I'm looking for ideas on what to do with all the loose pieces after they get poked out of the backing. I need to be able to keep them together by manufacturer or at least be sure I'll be able to identify them for supply list purposes but would prefer to sort them by type (shapes, tags, swirls, etc.) for ease of use. Right now I'm keeping them mostly with their original packaging (in ziplocks when need be) but it's taking up too much room and it's difficult to find stuff.

4. Same sort of question for the loose cardstock shapes and tags that get punched out of larger sheets.

5. (This one isn't scrap related specifically but I honestly would like to know!) Why is the cursor (like on the computer) called the cursor? (Noah asked me this the other day and I have no idea. Anyone know?)

Do not leave child unattended.

Um, normally Micah's an excellent eater. Very competent with fork and spoon and sometimes both at the same time. Last night, apparently, he got bored. The rest of us were sitting in the family room watching a movie (great little kid soccer movie, by the way...The Big Green...highly recommended!) and Micah was in the kitchen chowing. This is normal. He eats more than us and loves being in his chair anyhow. Our kitchen and family room are open with just a banister thing between so we can all totally see each other and he was watching the show also.

I suddenly hear a "splop" and went to investigate. This is what I found.

 

The kid had scooped out the remainder of his yogurt onto his tray (then dropped the container which is what I heard hit the floor), fingerpainted on the wall, and was using the rest as some sort of facial, hand and hair treatment. He was so happy. He earned himself another bath. Lucky for him, he's dang cute. :)

Ahhhhh...fall is here!

Yes, I know it's not "officially" fall yet, but I'm pretty sure it started here over the weekend. I'm sooooo happy. I love fall. It's definitely my favorite season. No more sweating every time you go outside. No more worrying about dehydration from an afternoon at the park. No more warning little boys that metal in the sun is hot. Yup, fall is good. :)

That was pretty much all I had to say. Just walked out to the mailbox down the block and couldn't help smiling all the way back as I noted the lovely temperature and clean, crisp air. Last week it was still definitely shorts and tank tops weather. Now I'm starting to think about getting out the jeans and long sleeve tees. Love that.

What do you love about fall? 

Yikes...I'm a soccer mom!

Maybe it was inevitable. After all, I've attended probably hundreds  of soccer games for my younger (more athletic) siblings. But then I was only the big sister...not the mom in charge of things like getting them outfitted and bringing snacks and all. I feel like such a grown up today. ;) Yes. Today the boys had their first official soccer games. It was a beautiful day for it...almost as if it suddenly decided to be fall.

Asher's game was first. We got there and he practiced with his team and was generally happy. (He had a fun first practice earlier this week.) Then the game started.  It wasn't the most elegant game but most of the kids had fun. Asher's going to need to get accustomed to some bumping and falling and then getting back up rather than sitting down and pouting, though he did have a smile on his face whenever he was running. All in all, it went okay. I don't think it would be a stretch, though, to say that he had more fun at the playground after the game. ;) Look at how adorable he is, though: (he's the one in white)

 

During Asher's game, by the way, Micah managed to stay off the field of play and was mostly content with his own soccer ball. But not always:

 

I don't even remember precisely what he was upset about (just that he was so precious in his pout). It didn't last long. He spent most of the game watching a plane flying overhead (that kept circling for some reason). Whew.

So, then we had a bit of a break to get lunch and run home for a few things before Noah's game (fortunately, this week it turned out well like that...next week the games will overlap). Noah's practice earlier this week didn't go as well as Asher's...mostly because we didn't know what to expect and Noah needs that little bit of control found in knowing what will happen. He was still looking a bit grumpy during warm-ups today, but I think having watched Asher's game earlier helped a good bit. By kick-off, he was fully in the game and having a blast. Here he is blocking a goal:

 

Incidentally, in these age divisions no official score is kept and there are no goalies. Noah, though, informs me that his team won by two goals and Asher's by one. :) So. Now I have two boys looking forward to next week's games:

 

Aren't they cute?

And now, officially, I suppose I am a soccer mom. Do we get some sort of badge for this? ;)