April treated me very well but I’m still happy to see May here. Despite our typical spring weather being up and down, (snow one day and 70 degrees the next) the world around me is greening up, the sun is out and feeling divine as is shines down on my face. More walks to the park will be happening and if I can swing it, I’ll even be getting some climbing time on the rocks outside tomorrow!

Hurray. Hurray.

Here are some pics to show you what I’ve been up to. (Sorry for the repeat if you are following me on Instagram.)

MS Walk:

Mountain biking with my hunny:

Biking with my Baby (not on the mountain):

Painting rock pets with Emma:

Taking care of this little guy:

Going to the park with this little guy:

And cheering on this little guy’s first steps:

Ha, ha! It feels like a lot of time is spent with my “little guy.”

I’ve been suffering from a repeating clogged mild duct. Luckily there is no infection yet. I’ll work it out and then a few days later it will come back. I get them in the same spot, same side, each time. Usually the clog is in my nipple and then it backs up the whole bottom half. Ouchy, they hurt. They make me grouchy. Have any of you suffered from these over and over again. I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong. Is it Sam’s position? Am I not getting enough sleep?

I’m going to get the hot pad and lay down until Sam wakes up from his nap.

Oh no, he just woke up.

ps. I bought these jeans. I’m not sure if I should have buyers regret or not. Am I too old for printed pants?

Later.

But before I do that I’m going to put my newest template up for grabs. Snag it here for free until I put it in my shop.

For some reason I always love these wonky little pieces of paper on a template. I think they add character and allow you to use a bunch of fun patterned papers without getting too messy.

My scalloped banner is for inspiration for placement of your own elements or banner but I actually ended up using it. I warn you that the string is in no way professionally created and barely even resembles a string if you look closely. So with that disclaimer, I’ll also tell you that the scallops are all on one layer so it was a little tricky to get multiple patterns on it. For a tip, if you decide to use it, use your marquee tool to “cut” out little pieces of paper and then drag them on to the template and group them all together onto the banner. Does that make sense? You can have 7 little pieces of paper all grouped together on one layer. Let me know if you have any questions.

Here are my pages for some inspiration.

And because I liked this template so much I went ahead an made a few more in the same style. This Add-On kit is in my shop here. It will be 50% off through May 1st so save a buck while you can.

More pages scrapped makes one happy mommy. Yea for making a small dent in my pictures! I can’t wait to print these out.

That’s all for now. Thanks for stopping by.

It certainly makes for a busy week.

First off, this little darling turned 4. I love thinking about the day Leah came to us. Her birth is such a fun memory. Do you remember it? It’s my favorite birth so far. I have to say I’m famous around these parts for having my baby on a shower curtain. Hah!

Here’s my little frosting face.

Hasn’t she grown up to be such a darling girl? But then again, I’m biased.

Ah, green eyes.

We had a cupcake bash with her rowdy sweet friends.

I love how the boys are so excited for her to blow out her candles. They boy in the blue stripped shirt is helping her blow. Hah.

Yum, cupcakes!

We made marshmallow towers for an activity. They were, of course, eaten afterwards. It was so nice to have all the kids sitting down for a quiet minute at the table.

Then this big guy turned 7. I had posted this pic on Instagram. He had said, “I’ll show you how to blow a candle out sideways.” Funny. I’m not sure where that came from but we had a good laugh about it.

I’m afraid to admit that I procrastinated planning these birthday parties out. It’s kind of how we roll here at our house. So after I had thrown Leah’s party together there was a bit of a rush to get Isaac’s done. The timing was a little crazy and a bit of a mess so I, feeling a little overwhelmed by it all, turned Isaac’s whole shindig over to Jeremy.

However, it was hard to relinquish the control… especially when it came to Isaac’s birthday invitation. Jeremy spent some time making them, trying to figure out how to make them look nice in Powerpoint or some other program. I could hardly look when he brought them to show me. They were so tiny and illegible, let alone the goofy pictures. Should I really let him pass these out? I almost died that day from rolling my eyes too much. But I swallowed my pride and allowed it, knowing that it was one less thing I had to do.

Afterwards, I had a good laugh with some parents who had a child attend both Leah’s and Isaac’s party. It was obvious to them who had made which birthday invitation. I show them here for memory sake. It’s not that I’m overly proud of mine but from a design perspective the difference between them is hilarious.

Don’t laugh too hard.

Leah’s:

Isaac’s:

I did make cupcakes for my sweet boy. (Which was more than Isaac got the year Leah was born.) Then Jeremy took the party to the swimming pool. I didn’t even go because I was being such a party pooper. So I have very few photos to show compared to Leah’s party.

No, I do not have favorites.

These boys had a blast. They got water guns for favors. Talk about easy.

Boys, boys, boys.

Our birthday week is over (huzzah!) and my sweet darlings are one year older. Sigh.

Anyway, on to what you’ve been waiting for. Template 103 can be snagged here for a limited time before it goes into my shop.

And here are my pages. They kind of resemble the project life pages we are seeing so often around digiscrap town. I quite like the style, even though I’ll never do a project life, because I can get all the photos I need on a two page spread. Yea! My favorite!

I’m a little shy of 2 years behind in my scrapbooking. I’m still plunking away at 2011. I was surprise how young my kiddos looked to me in these pics, especially Leah and Emma. I guess time does fly by.

Happy scrapbooking.

Well, I got it. Jeremy took a couple days off during the kid’s spring break and we headed down south to Zion National Park. LOVED IT! Here are some highlights of our little getaway. (Beware- picture overload!)

We hike to the Emerald Pools. Only one out of 3 were actually emerald in color.

We hid in cool holes.

Leah slipped into the Emerald Pool (literally.) Everyone wondered why she was wearing a jacket on such a nice day. It took hours for her to warm up.

Sammy slept through each hike. (You perfect child!)

We (meaning Jeremy and Emma) caught lots of blue-bellied lizards.

We walked up to The Narrows. The water was too cold for walking up any further. (Frowny face.)

Took pictures of my cute Boys.

Played with way too friendly squirrels.

Got lost in slot canyons trying to find a trail head.

We finally found our trail, Many Pools, and braved murky waters after much screaming (screamers will remain unnamed) and explored some awesome small scale slots.

Leah got scratched up and wanted to show it off.

The kids (and Jeremy) swam at the hotel pool every chance they got.

And we checked out the Dinosaur Museum in St George. (Which I’m telling you about because I loved it despite its small size. Cool stuff, I tell you, if you’re a little bit of a science nerd. Check it out if you’re around.)

So that’s a rap. Did you make it through all my photos? Give yourself a pat on the back.

We’re back to the daily grind. BOO HOO! How about you? Did you get to sneak away for a much needed spring break?

Hello everyone. My kiddos woke up so excited to go on their Easter egg hunt this morning. What a delightful thing it is to be a kid. I hope you all are having a wonderful Easter Sunday.

Here’s my little rag-a-muffins in their Easter outfits. This photo shoot wasn’t much different than any others. Crazy faces, uncooperative babies and it was over before I knew it. Why do I try?

Oh yea, it was lots of fun too.

Ps. This weather has been absolutely divine. Hello Spring!

I’ve spent a small amount of time getting our computer, wireless router and other devices set up so they are as safe as possible. This has brought me some peace knowing that I am doing my part to keep my family safe from some of the harmful things that are out there. In doing, so I have realized how important these things are but also that these simple steps can make a big difference.

So lucky you. I’m going to share 8 tips for internet and media safety at home. Teckie posts are not something that you see here much on my blog but I’m feeling pretty passionate about it and I have hopes of helping out another family who might be trying to do their best too.

1. Talk, talk, talk. This is number one because it is the most important thing you can to do keep your kids safe!!

Keep an open conversation with your kids about media safety and what do if they find inappropriate content. The most important thing you can do as a parent and spouse is to have open communication with your family members. It’s not a matter of if your family member see something inappropriate, it is a matter of when they see something inappropriate, that the communication lines need to be open. It can be scary to think about this but it’s something we need to face.

It is so important that you talk to your children (and spouse) about what they can and should do when they come across something inappropriate. You want your children (and spouse) to be comfortable enough to come and tell you that they accidentally saw something online or that a friend showed them something that was inappropriate. In today’s world, it is important to start young. Most children have already been exposed to pornography by the age of 10. Shoot. I don’t like that number. And it’s getting younger and younger. Whether it’s pornography, cyber-bulling, or identity protection, it needs to be talked about. Kids need to know what is appropriate and what is not.

If a family member comes to tell you that they saw something make sure you do not over react! Remain calm. Do not throw all your electronics out the door. You don’t want your child scared or ashamed that they saw these things. They should not be punished. Remember, that we are trying to keep the communication door open. Being exposed can be an accident. Teach them to look away as soon as they see something. That goes for you too! Talk to them about saying no, turning away from wrong things and making sure to tell an adult as soon as possible. Then talk about how to fix or avoid the problem.

2. Keep tabs on your family members and their devices.

Technology is a wonderful thing. It has a great place in this world but it is a sad fact that it is misused in many way. Talk to your family about the good and the ugly. Make sure you know what your kids (and spouses) are up to. Learn who your children’s friends are and what kind of stuff they are up to when they are over at the friends house. Follow your kids on facebook, instagram and twitter. Make sure you know what apps they have on their devices. Children should not be able to download apps by themselves. Check on them regularly and make sure the apps you have downloaded don’t have inappropriate ads. Have your kids use their electronics in a highly visible area in the home. Hang out with them while they are on it. Browse together or play games together. Set up specific areas of the house where it is ok to use technology. I really like the idea of setting up a charging station where all devices go to at night. This keeps the bed room a much safer place. Set well known boundaries and follow them.

3. Establish time limits for Internet usage and limit what sites they are allowed to visit.

Create passwords, user accounts and time limits on your computer. Here’s how for Windows and for Macs. Each user can have different settings. Set reasonable time limits and usage for your children’s ages. My son loves to play certain games on my computer but I don’t want him doing it all day. I have set up his user account so he has a time block on Saturday mornings for his games. This is plenty for him. He knows when his time is and he doesn’t need to pester me through out the week for computer time. If he needs to get on the computer for a homework assignment or a question about what kind of fuel a rocket ship uses then I’m right there beside him.

4. Teach your kids to never give out their personal information without your permission.

Stranger are strangers even on the internet. Make sure that you and your kids don’t give out too much information online. Addresses, phone number, birthdays and full names should all be considered secret. Be wise and make sure your kids understand the dangers also.

5. Use Filters, ad blockers and parental controls.

It’s important to remember that you can’t just set parental controls on your devices and walk away thinking everything is taken care of. You must still stay near and check on family members frequently. But here are some tools we can use to reduce the chance of accidents happening.

-Refer to #3 for setting parental controls on your computers.

-Use anti virus and internet security tools to protect your loved ones and your computer. Here is a review of several different antivirus programs. This programs will not only block and clean up viruses but keep you from accidentally coming upon dangerous sites and nasty sites.

-Ad blockers are awesome. They make websites load faster and get rid of those annoying ads that grab our attention, distract your kids and make your husband uncomfortable. Good bye to those belly shot ads for miraculous weight loss and dating ads of hunky men from your area. Hurray! Here is a tutorial for blocking ads on your computer depending on your browser of choice, and even a way to do it on your iphone’s safari.

6. Smart phones, tablets and Apple Devices.

There are apps that you can use to protect your devices and smart phones. Here is a tutorial for android devices because I’m not very familiar with them.

Did you know that on apple devises you can turn off Safari using the Restrictions settings by going to Settings>General>Restrictions. Set up a 4 digit pass code that’s you’ll remember (that isn’t 1234) and then adjust the settings. You or your children can then use a filtering web browsing app to browse the web. Hello to much more safer browsing. This would be a great tool for an older child who wants a bit of freedom or to look up the word girandole for their homework. I like Norton and AVG. There are free versions.

With the Restriction settings, you can also set what content you will allow on your or your children’s devices. For example music can be set to clean, movies and tv shows can be set to PG and even the purchasing of apps can be set for specific ages. Remember these settings are not fool proof though. You still need to be aware of what’s going on. Keep an eye out. There is a tutorial here.

7. Put a filter on your Wireless Router.

Your router provides wireless internet for all the devices in the home. Did you know you can set up a filter on it as well? Just like you set a filter on your computer, you can have a filter on all the internet accessed from your home router. Woo hoo! This was new to me so I jumped at the chance. I’m super happy about this. I’ve been impressed with Opendns.com. It’s pretty easy to set up. Sometimes the router itself has a program to use or even your internet provider might provide a way for parental controls. Check it out.

But again! remember to talk, talk, talk because your wifi is not the only place your kids will be browsing. They can always go to any hot spot or friends house so remember that nothing is fool proof. Communication, people! Also check your neighbors wireless internet and see if they have passwords set. If not, give them a little hint or help them set it up.

8. Be aware of your own Internet and media habits. Be an example to your children.

Lastly, you need to be a good example. Don’t watch shows or look at sites that you’d be embarrassed about if someone walked in. Change the channel and find something better to watch. There is so much that kids don’t need to be exposed to and you’ll feel better inside too. We get enough of it outside of the home so make your home a safe and comfortable place to be.

Here is a cool site that reviews and rates movies, shows, apps, music, games, websites and books by ages. I’m looking there next family movie night.

That’s it. I hope my tips help you make your home a media safe place to be. Remember communication is the best answer though because no matter what you set up at home your kids will come in contact with it elsewhere.

Talk Talk Talk!!

I continue to spend time mulling over my home decor. After this silly post, I was still having a difficult time deciding what to do with my space. {Dear readers, you were not very unanimous in your voting.} So while mulling, I was talking to a friend/neighbor about some of the changes I wanted to do in my house and she got super excited and said “You need to talk to my sister!” Turns out her sister is a stay at home mom but dabbles a bit in interior decorating and loves helping out family, friends and friends of friends. My friend showed me some of the work she’d done and I said “YES! Sign me up.”

I could hardly wait to have her over to my house and, guess what, I’m so glad I did. This darling, delightful lady had wonderful ideas and knew what she was talking about. I have a couple of awkward spaces in my house that I have been clueless with and she immediately had great, affordable suggestions. She also nixed the ottoman idea. (Sorry if your heart was set on seeing me attempt on making such a disaster but no fear, there may still be some DIY involved.) She said there was already large stuffed furniture in my front room and adding more would make the space feel crowded and, well, over-stuffed. She said I need a coffee table that is light and airy and ya know what, after thinking about it, I’ve realized she is right. She also made small minor adjustments that made a big difference; move a side table, angle a couch out from the wall and voila! Everything looked much better and put together.

Hurray, hurray!

I really do try but have to realized that I don’t always know what I’m doing.

Anyway, I’m going to keep working on beautifying my house and making it a lovely. It’s a learning, growing, stretching process and something that is important to me. Oh, and it’s fun. I want a comfortable home that is a pleasant place to be. (… not only because my husband insists on continually inviting people over for dessert night despite my small panic attacks and furious cleaning before hand. {He he. Nervous laugh…) I go back and forth feeling a little guilty on being consumed with it all but that’s kinda how I function. This is my job- being a homemaker. I’m fluffing my nest here and there and I don’t think there is anything wrong with it as long as I’m reasonable and I don’t go overboard. It gives me something to think about during the long days at home and I can certainly stay with in my small budget.

With that said, it’s finally March and I find myself wanting to be out of doors more as the world around me warms up. Perhaps my decorating months (Jan and Feb) are behind me. We’ll see how much I get done and I’ll keep you posted along the way.

Oh, and look what has popped out of the ground at my house. Taking these pictures have become a bit of tradition over here.

Ok, really, I’m getting off the computer now. Ta ta!