Stacy Marks

Busy, busy, busy

Summer has been rolling right along here at the Marks' house.  We have been busy, busy, busy with family and friends.  Last week we had a nice visit from Patty, my college roommate and best friend for about 21 million years or so (hee hee hee).  She and her two kiddos came for the day.  The kids played so nice that we even got to swap and enjoy each others scrapbooks. When we get together, she always lugs her goodies she has made so I can check it out in person (instead via the blog/e-mail).  That was GREAT!  Then we took tons of pictures....  so we can scrapbook some more (again, hee hee hee).  The kids were busy on the trampoline... and with the hose... and in the pool.  I had to be extra quick about snapping some photos because they moved so fast.  Here are some of the better shots

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Patty's daughter Sarah is the same age as my Sammy.  Her son Ben is a little younger and my Hannah is a little older.  It makes for a nice mix of ideas and creative play time.  We all had a great time and hopefully we will get a chance to do it again before we say goodbye to summer! 

 

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Today we had visited the Philadelphia Zoo with my sister and her three children.  Her family is a member of the zoo so she can invite two adults and five children for a day in the park.  We haven't been there for a while so we thought it would be fun to do.  The kids enjoyed it a lot.  It was crowded and hot but we got through the park without any melt downs... and the kids were good too (just kidding)!   The kids had their list of their favorite animals to see.  Hannah wanted to see the Polar Bears... which we did.  Gracie, my sisters four year wanted to see the Penguins... which we did!  Sammy wanted to see the loins and tigers... which we did!  And as for the twins, Abby and Aly they were just happy to see it all!  I snapped a few shots of the kids but then let Sammy run the camera for the rest of the day!  He loved that.

 

Hannah with Abby...

 

Gracie cooling off near the fountain...

 

Sam, Hannah and the twins, Abby & Aly visiting the turtles...

 

The elephant getting a drink...

 

Friendly penguins...

 

 

To top off a nice afternoon was how sweet my son was to his cousins.  He really does enjoy their company and requested to push the stroller.  He pushed it up all the hills and in the crowds.  Even when I asked him if he needed a break he said, "No thanks".  He going to make a great husband someday!

 

 

 

 

Late night post

You know those nights when you are waken by something and can't get back to sleep.... yeah; it is one of those nights.  I thought I would be productive and get my vacation pictures ready to download to Wal-Mart so I can get to scrappin soon.  I made a collage of some of the highlights. 

 

I tried not to kill my kids with picture pose after picture pose this time.  Just enjoyed being on vacation!  It was a great time... hot, long lines, expensive... but Disney!  Who can't have fun there!  We split the trip in half.  Half at Disney and half at Universal Studios.  Totally fun on all those rides!  My kids could not get enough!  Favs are Rockin’ Roller coaster at Hollywood Studios, Test Track at Epcot,

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Everest

at Animal Kingdom and the “MOTHER” coasters at Universal… The Hulk and the Dueling Dragons!  WOW!!!!

Off to bed!  More later!  Sweet dreams…

The big and little of it all!

Happy July everyone.  I am posting a project I started for a class I was intending to create for Inspired Treasures.  The store had so many of those Signature Suite die cuts that where not selling, so I thought I would make a class out of them.  It is a very tiny album... 3 x 3.  I would not even call it "mini" because it is smaller than any other mini album I created.  That's little.  Plus it contained so many pages that encompassed at least 12 years.  That's big.  I put to use all those left over baby/school photos I spent a fortune on in chronologic order.  It is a fun little thing to leave around to show my kids' friends.  My daughter is not too crazy about it but I am surely proud of it... especially because I made all my daughters special dresses.  I will point out some I made.   I won't post all the pages... there are too many.

 

I love this album, not for the creativity or the products used… all of that is kind-of-boring.  I love it because it is a quick flip through my children’s life.  It makes me want to say AWWWWWW remember that honey… you were sooooo cute!  They don’t remember.  In fact, I don’t think they care.  Not yet anyway!

As you can see... lots of pages.

I made some of the pages different sizes too!

I made these outfits.  Hannah's first Easter dress and a little cheer uniform.  We use to go and support her Daddy when he coach the Emmaus Football team.

Again... another Easter dress and a Christmas dress. 

And another Easter outfit.  I believe that is the last dress I made for Hannah.  I was then pregnant with Sammy... you know how that goes. 

  

Just a little funny thing about Hannah's short hair.  She and her little friend from kindergarten cut it.  They wanted to look like twins.  The funny thing was Hannah was a tall, brown eyed, skinny kid and her friend was a blond haired, blue eyed, chubby, freckled girl.  They could not look more opposite.  But to a kindergartener, the hair would have fooled everyone. (?)  It was a great thing the little girls Mom was a hair dresser.  It looked real cute after it was fixed don't you think?

I even stuck those Sport trading cards in too!

I ended the album in 2006.  I did not have enough room on the rings.  I am starting 2007 with the same idea in mind.  I hope it doesn't take another year to complete! 

Ps: this was a easy project to pull out and work on when I was watching a movie.  I kept all the supplies in one bag and I was ready to go when a good flick came on!  It was not the most creative way to work but it got finished! :) 

What is going on?

Okay, it has been a month since my last post.  I have been enjoying the beautiful weather and trying to keep up with my children.  It is wonderful having nothing to do... no schedules... no soccer practice.... no alarm clocks!  But my kiddos feel the need to fill up every waking moment with something to do.  Outside, in the pool, at friends, friends at our house, at the mall.  Whew!  It has been an ever swinging door around here!  BUT as of right now, they are all gone.  Sam is at a friends and Hannah took a jog with her friend.  Soooo, I could be cleaning OR packing for a vacation that we are leaving for in less than 24 hours... NAH.  I am going to catch up on blogging.

School finished up quite nicely.  Hannah and Sam had awesome school years and I am so proud of them.  Hannah ran for Student Council Treasures for next year and was elected.  Check out her cool poster we made.  We blinged out the dollar sign and used pop dots for her name.

  

My hubby started a new job that is much closer to home (boy it saves us on gas)!  He works summer hours and is usually home before 4:00 everyday. We have been doing lots of swimming and enjoying each others company.  Of course, I have to throw in a picture of my niece here!  That is her Diva look: pool side.

As for me, I have been watching lots of late night movies and scrapbooking. This is a layout I completed sometime since my last post.  It was supposed to be an 81/2" x 11".  I screwed up and made it an inch to tall! 

  

 

Well, I need to get my butt in gear.  Things will not pack them selves.  I will have more to report soon.  A circle journal, a mini album and lots of vacation pictures.  I hope everyone is enjoying summer! 

Happy Tuesday

A quick update here. 

I completed my six week healing process after my surgery and this is my second day back baby sitting my niece and nephew.  So... it is back to lots of dirty diapers and runny noses.  I was looking forward to having some play days outside but it is still very chilly for spring. We are still stuck inside.  I am so ready to trade the rain for a little sunshine and warm temps.  My niece and I did get a very short walk in in the rain today.  She was so cute holding her umbrella.  She wanted to do it all herself.  I snapped a few pictures of her.

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On a creative note…

I am still working on the circle journals as they arrive.  I had this one completed for a while but finally took a few pictures of it before I send it out.  I am looking forward to receiving another soon.

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A Mom's Day Project

I hope you all had a happy Mother's Day yesterday.  It turned out to be a beautiful day.  I had the whole gang here for dinner and dessert.  It was a very casual dinner!  The kids got to play outside and then we even got a few games in on the Wii.  It is usually ciaos with the little ones but yesterday was a great day.  I, my brother and sister (with our spouses of course) got my mom a Camilla Bracelet with a couple of beads as her gift this year.  It was a nice gift and she seemed to love it.  I of course, made a homemade gift too.  I guess I feel like I wanted to.  It goes back to those good-ole-days when you made something for your Momma and she fussed over it and hung it on the refrigerator.  I sometimes still feel like that little girl who enjoys seeing her Mom light up because of something I made. 

Anyway... I had a Balsa Wood box stashed away in my closet from my son's play money.  It was one of those things that I knew right away I had to make something from it.  It was the perfect size for a shadow box.  I painted it with some black latex paint, added a few 5 x 7 photos cut to size and *poof* an instant gift.  I did not scrap-it-all-up with tons of embellishment.  I wanted it to be simple and let those cute faces stand alone!  I will be making one for myself... and one for my husband's office too!

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I knew that this gift would be something my Mom will hang on to for a long time.  So I made a diagram for the back with all their ages so it will be easy to remember them when they were that small.

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Birthday Soup

My favorite cartoon is Little Bear. I think you can catch the show on one of the Nick channels. It is a cute story about the adventures of Little Bear.  My daughter used to watch it every day after lunch and right before nap time.  It has beautiful illustrations by Maurice Sendak, calming music and the sweetest stories created for toddlers.  It was a huge part of our routine in our house so we had to get the book too.  Hannah had all stories memorized.  It brings back fond memories.

Why am I telling you this?  One of the stories in the book was about Birthday Soup.  He did not have a cake for his party so he made birthday soup.  Everyone likes soup. So that was a good alternative to cake.  Well... it is my birthday today and we aren't having birthday cake or soup... we are having birthday pie.  It is my favorite and everyone likes pie... right?

I am looking forward to having a giant piece tonight!

My husband and children made it last evening!  They even got creative and cut out Happy Birthday Mom!  I love it!  I wanted to take a picture of it because it will be gone by tomorrow.  Did I say Cherry is my favorite!!!!  YUM

What I have been up to!

We have been having a string of some beautiful weather lately that the kids have been spending much time outdoors. On Sunday after my hubby went to play softball in the church league, my children had a few friends over to play. My son and his two friends did a lot of running around (and a lot of in and out of the house too). They had an objection to having their pictures taken. The girls on the other hand loved the attention and could not wait to pose for a snap shot. Ahhhhh…to be almost thirteen again.  Nah!

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I haven’t scrapped anything for a while but have had great intentions… see Exhibit A.  I have everything out ready to go.  It is in a pile on my office floor.  I am most comfortable working on the floor rather than a table.  It is set up for when ever the mood strikes me.  Just add Diet Pepsi!  Unfortunately the mood did not strike in quite some time.

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Exhibit A

Opening Day

I know it is only April but my children could not wait to take that first swim.  The temperatures last week went to 83 degrees here at our home so they begged me to go in.  The water temperature was only 68 so I warned them the first sign of a shiver or a blue lip I was going to pull them out.  I did not have to do that because they were to cold to enjoy only a few laps before they ran for their towels!  I did snap a few pictures of opening day!

 

The temperature today will only top out in the 60s with rain... so I think they will not be swimming!

Paper Mosaic

Did you ever make something and did not know what to do with it.  I began this project in February.  I was into cutting paper and making paper mosaics.  There is something therapeutic about tiny scissors and scrap paper.  I had this hanging around my scrap space and thought it was time to finish it.  I am a person who feels like I can not start a new project with one looming.  I have no idea what I was thinking when I started this.  It originally was going to be just an 8 x 8 page.  Why?  I never made one or have an album to put it in.  Well… a few buttons, a couple of pictures, 12 x 12 card stock and some thread and I call it complete.  I can now fit it into my 12 x 12 album.