Back to School Freebie

Well, today was the first day of school for the kids.  Randy was so excited that she was going to be in first grade because that means she is a BIG girl and not a baby anymore.  Last night I threatened them, I mean cautioned them, not to wake me up in the morning when they get up.  They get up an hour before I have to get up and usually make enough noise to wake the dead.  Well first off, Ryan’s alarm woke me up, twice.  The kids did pretty good until Randy ran down the hallway yelling to her mother that Cheyenne was trying to kick her.  Then Brandi was yelling because Sam had gotten out when Randy went out the door.  Now Sam can’t stand it when the kids go to school and he usually sits on the end of his lead barking until he can’t see the kids anymore.  Bear in mind we have no fence in the back yard and that is connected to the open field that leads to the school, so you can watch the kids until they walk into the front door.  Well, this morning he got out and proceeded to run all over the field barking excitedly as he “accompanied” Randy to school.  Brandi chased that stupid dog for almost an hour until one of the school office workers took pity on her and helped her trap him between two cars.  So much for Sam’s first day at school.

So then after the kids went to school, Bob took Brandi and Ryan shopping for a new couch.  Here is what happens when two dogs decide to attack a couch.

That poor couch is so old and has been falling apart for so long that I guess the dogs decided to “help” get rid of it.  A new couch was bought and now we have wall-to-wall furniture.  I cannot understand what would possess them to think we had enough room for such a big couch.  It is definitely pretty though.

So in honor of the first day back to school, here is the freebie for today.  It is a Back To School frame and tag, using Clipart by Tina.  Hope you enjoy it and have a God-filled day.

Download here.

Scripture for the week

Here it is Sunday again.  The weekend always seems to go by pretty fast.  But boy, did the summer really fly.  Friday Brandi and I had to go to the school to sign the residency form out for the kids since they all live with me.  And Tuesday they start school.  Cheyenne is pretty excited about going to middle school as she will be in the 5th grade.  When I was a kid, we had elementary for grades K-5th and then junior high for 6th, 7th and 8th.  But now I guess there are just too many kids because they have middle school for 5th and 6th then junior high for 7th & 8th.  Randy on the other hand will be in first grade and, according to her, means she is now a BIG girl.  She is no longer a baby like she was when she was only five.  Bob took them to see G-Force at the movies today and they really had a ball.

I am trying to post more often and put up more freebies, so today I am starting something new.  Each Sunday I will offer a Scripture WordArt, along with something to go with it, like a frame or paper.  This first one is with a frame from Granny Art.  It is from Deuteronomy and is the greatest commandment.  Sometimes we have a tendency to get so involved in day-to-day living that we forget our real purpose on earth.

You can download here.  Have a God-filled day.

Dogs can be smarter than people

I have to tell you about our dog Sam. He is a one-year old yellow Lab who is the friendliest dog you can find. He loves chewing on things and over the course of the nine months we have had him, he has chewed up a lot of stuff. He loves my granddaughter Randy and sleeps next to her whenever possible. The other morning when I left for work, Randy was sleeping in the recliner chair, side to side, and Sam was sleeping on top of her. All I saw was her head and feet sticking out from under Sam. Most of his body was scrunched in between Randy and the back of the chair, but a lot of it spilled over onto Randy.

Sam has a habit of letting my son-in-law Ryan know when he wants something. He will go up to Ryan and bark at him. The other night, Ryan was sitting in the recliner when Sam came up and starting barking at him. Ryan, figuring that Sam needed to go outside, got up and started walking towards the back door to let him out. As soon as Ryan was clear of the chair, Sam jumped up into it and settled down for his nap. Sam wanted the chair and Ryan was in his way. And it worked too, because Ryan just moved over to the rocking chair and continued to watch TV. No wonder Sam is king of the household.

The kids start back to school next week. During the summer time they stay up quite late and usually make enough noise to keep me up. They go to bed much earlier during school, but they make way too much noise in the mornings before I have to get up. There are lots of Back To School kits available (check out the Back To School Blog here for an enormous free collab kit by over 100 designers.) So I made this cute little sunflower pot for you.

(Link has been fixed. Sorry about that)

You can download it here. Have a God-filled day!

Windows Live

I have just discovered Windows Live, which has all kinds of components, including Windows Messenger, Mail, Photo and Writer.  I could care less about the Messenger or Mail, but I am definitely interested in Writer and maybe Photo.

Windows Writer is supposedly a WYSIWYG editor for writing to your blogs.  So I am writing this post in Windows Live.  I had all kinds of problems getting the settings done correctly, but once I got it right, it was a breeze.

We were watching TV yesterday and Ryan decided he wanted some of his beef jerky as a snack.  He was sitting in the recliner, but had to move to the desk because he had an audience.  These pictures will show you what I mean.

 

 

In case you can’t tell, that is Squeekers the Cat and the two dogs, Dixie and Sam, that are determined to have a share of Ryan’s snack.  Squeekers had the advantage because he could almost get his face into the bag, but Sam and Dixie had to wait their turn.  It is tough eating anything around our house. 

You might also notice the couch behind Ryan.  The dogs have made this couch their own.  And when Ryan accidently tore a small piece off the edge of it, the dogs completed the act by tearing it to shreds one day when we were gone.  Sometimes when we leave them alone, they retaliate by tearing things up.  It is usually just paper or plastic hangers we give them, but sometimes it is more destructive, like the couch, shoes, or the latest victim: the remote control for my big TV.

And they say dogs are FUN.

My Biggest Challenge

I am really getting into doing color challenges. This month it is one at Hummie's World. Because I am just now starting to design, the color challenges present a great way to get inspiration. And that is my biggest challenge. I have always said that I have the talent to do, but I just don't have the talent to create. In order to create, you have to have a really great imagination, of which I have none. When I used to paint ceramics, I could not "see in color". That white piece of bisque I was getting ready to paint was just that....a white piece of bisque. My daughter Brandi can look at it and "see" it in color, so she knew what she was going to paint. I knew how to paint it but I just didn't know what colors to use.

Now I am faced with the same thing in learning to design for digiscrapping. God gave me the desire to create all kinds of things, but in his infinite humor, He left out the ability to create. That I have to struggle with. So color challenges are one way to help give me that push I need. So over at Hummie's World, I decided to participate in her August color challenge. And this is what I came up with.















This kit is for personal use only and is created at 300 ppi. There are 6 papers, 4 frames, 3 ribbon wraps and one flower corner for the frames. You can download here.