I've been tagged!

You have to post these rules before you give the facts. Players, you must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. If you don't have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had. When you are tagged you need to write your own blog-post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag. Don't' forget to leave them a comment telling them they're tagged, and to read your blog.

E-energetic! Especially about the things I am passionate about, like my family, scrapbooking, and my friends. I love to go out and have a good time, but I also love to chase my little boy around the house, too! Because of him, I have to have a lot of energy, he demands that of me.

L-life. Through my art, photography, layouts, art journal, and all the other creative things I do, I document my family's life. Taking in all those little, everyday things is part of who I am, and I am so fortunate to have a husband who loves what I do. I am so blessed to have the life I do, and I owe that to him.

I-interaction. This is something I need daily! I am not the type of person who can sit in my room all day and not talk to a single person. Fortunately, I have a son who is constantly wanting to interact with me, and a husband who is my best friend. He is always there, too.

Z-zzzzzzz's. I love my sleep. As most of you know, I am not a morning person. Never have been, and probably never will be. If I could sleep 'till ten every morning, that would be a blessing! I am, however, a night owl, so I do push 1am on most nights.

A-artistic. I do consider myself to be an artist, through my scrapbooking and cardmaking. I enjoy working with my hands to create something beautiful, and I love to gather inspiration from fellow artists.

B-busy. With a seventeen month old, a husband, school (for him and me), Crop, Paper, Scissors, friends, family, and all the little things I do daily, my life is busy! I love it that way, and I am not so busy that I don't have time to have fun, but I do consider myself to be busy!

E-Evan. He is my little man! We have so much fun together, and I am blessed to be able to stay home with him. He is the center of my world right now (and he knows it!), and I love all the moments we have shared. Right now he is picking up so much of our world, and he does new things daily. Today he said "Thank You" for the very first time!

T-travel. My parents live in Western Washington, so we have done quit a bit of travel the last 2 years. We have not let Evan slow us down, he is simply along for the ride...and he does so well on the road. I am thankful he is such a good traveler! We are taking our second family vacation to Coeur D'Alene on Saturday, and I am also going on Retreat and to Boise soon, so our fall is already busy, busy busy!

H-helpful. My mom has started a new business, selling Fifth Avenue Collection jewelry, and I have been her worker bee for the last few months. My sister, Abby, helps out a lot when my mom does shows on her side of the mountains, and I am her go-to girl for Eastern Washington. Working together as a family has been a lot of fun, and I hope to enter the business myself in a couple of years.

Anyone who has a middle name shorter then 9 letters, consider yourself lucky! This was really hard! So I am going to tag.................Kristi W.!!!

Art Journal (weeks 33 & 34), layouts, and Evan turns 17 months old!

OK, I will start with last week's prompt: 10 minutes

I really liked this prompt! I am all about quick and easy, so only taking 10 minutes on something super creative was great! I also was able to use a new acetate flower from MME's Bohemia 2 collection.




This week's prompt: funny ha-ha!
Evan and Mark have so much fun laughing and playing together, I had to pick this great photo of them! I love the expression on Mark's face as Evan sucks on his cheek...too cute!



I have also been super busy creating layouts...I have had some of these photos for over 7 months...I just haven't had the inspiration to create layouts with them: until now that is!

Thanks for the letter stickers Kristi!



I got some great Autumn Leaves paper and rub-ons at Shopko, of all places, and they coordinated perfectly with Evan's bright sweatshirt!


This layout is for Evan's 8 1/2 by 11 album... the photos weren't the greatest at regular size, too much clutter in the background, but cropped they look great!








Evan turned 17 months today! He is such a little talker, and LOVES his cars ("car-cars"), and trucks (he won't say truck! He will correct you by saying "car-car" though!). We had a play date with our neighbors, the Holmes this afternoon, which he enjoys. Tomorrow should be pretty peaceful, then Thursday we have a dermatologist appointment, Friday is playgroup, and Saturday we leave for Coeur D'Alene! September is super busy for us, and every week from now until October we have plans, including Retreat with the gals from Crop, Paper, Scissors! I am really looking forward to spending time with Kristi W., Kristi O., Tami, and Cory!

Have a great Wednesday!

Learning to love books...

My parents emphasized reading when I was a child, and I want to pass that tradition on to my son. Evan hasn't really shown an interest in reading or books, until just recently. He has started picking up "The Wheels on the Bus" and giving it to me, and he will sit through one or two readings before running off to play with his cars. Last Friday, during Lentil Festival, Mark and I took Evan into the library for a little break from all the action. "The Very Busy Spider" was an excellent choice by Daddy!



SCRAPBOOKING NEWS:

Crop, Paper, Scissors is holding their first annual garage sale this Saturday! I believe the sale runs from 8a-1p, but I really can't remember...sorry! I will ask Kristi tomorrow and update this post. Hope to see you there!

busy, busy...

...so I will post more tomorrow! I have a ton of fun pics from Lentil Festival and the parade. I also went to a fantastic crop on Saturday with one of my best buds, Kristi W. Mark started school today, which puts us officially into fall! OK, off to bed...

Working...

...on layouts for a class tomorrow night @ Crop, Paper, Scissors. The group is called "Just Add Chocolate," and they are fantastic ladies who really love to create layouts. My favorite type of scrapbookers! I have dabbled in miniBooks, cards, altered projects, and other scrapbooking-like stuff, but layouts are my favorite. Something about completing a 12 x 12 in piece of art, usually in under 2 hours, is so liberating for me. I love the feeling of creativity, and taking precious moments and events and experiences and placing them "just so" on the page...it really makes me feel good inside. I am looking forward to getting to know everyone a little better, I still consider myself "new" to Crop, P., S., (I thought C.P.S. would be a bit confusing...), so I hope to be welcomed with open arms!
On a different note, Mark and I had a great weekend with my family! It was very busy, but it was good. Abby moved into her new apartment Saturday, we celebrated her birthday on Sunday, and we visited my great-grandmother (Evan's great-great-grandmother) on Monday! Then we drove home today, so it was a whirlwind, but very fun. I am so glad to be home, though. I actually didn't pick up the camera this weekend, except for a couple of shots at the restaurant on Monday. I really was trying to live in the moment, and not worry about capturing the "perfect shot." Sometimes it is good to do that, I guess. I am hoping to get outside with Evan tomorrow, and really enjoy the last few days of summer. Mark starts school on Monday, so we are almost to the end of our Summer season! It amazes me how fast time flies...especially with how busy our summer has been. I am trying to think of everything we did the past three months, but I don't think I can recall everything! We have had fun, and that is what counts.
And because I haven't posted a pic in a couple of days, I will post two!


Evan with pink lips from his animal cookies...


scrunchy nose for the camera!

Ikea

Today was a little bit crazy! Evan was up really early, 6:30am, which is at least an hour earlier than he normally gets up, so he was cranky! Abby moved into her new apartment, and Mark drove to Puyallup from Pullman. He ended up getting stuck behind a fatality accident on Hwy 26, so it took a lot longer for him to get here then we thought, but he made it in one piece.
We went to Ikea in the evening, and picked up some really cool stuff! I LOVE Ikea, and I go through withdrawals because we live so far from one. I finally got a salad spinner! And a new lamp for my desk, and Mark picked up a shelve for his closet.
Also, I wanted to let everyone know that Crop, Paper, Scissors is doing a twelve hour crop on Saturday to benefit the Shriner's, so if you can make it give them a call to reserve your spot!
Have a great Sunday!

Will be back in a few days...

My parents have been in town for a quick trip, and it's been so much fun! My mom and I hosted a Fifth Avenue Collection jewelry show last night down at Crop, Paper, Scissors, then we went to dinner with Kristi and her friend, Jamie. Evan and I leave for Puyallup today with Mom and Dad, and Mark is going to meet us there tomorrow. I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!
Erin.

There's nothing like good conversation...

...between friends. Kristi and Cindy were over this evening for a scrap night, which is always a blast! We love to get together and gossip, share funny stories about our kids, and share our love for creating stuff. Kristi was finishing up her 2007 "kitchen calendar," which turned out amazing! She is so talented and creative...I love the way she combines papers and products. She was also working on a layout for her Heidi Swapp "A year to remember" class, featuring her and Mark (her hubby) on the beach. I love the photo she chose! It is featured on her blog...definitely a happy couple.

I worked on some recent photos, which is always inspiring. Evan had his cardiologist appointment two weeks ago, and i had taken some photos I wanted to scrap. I did one 8 1/2 x 11 for his own album:


The picture isn't the greatest...but it's late and I'm too tired to do any photo editing!

I also completed a page for our 12 x 12 album, but I didn't have the energy to photograph it! Maybe tomorrow?!?! My folks are going to be here early afternoon, so we will see how much "work" I get done this week!

If anyone is going to be in Lewiston on Thursday, Kristi (from Crop, Paper, Scissors), is going to be hosting a Fifth Avenue Collection show from 5:30p-7:30p...hope to see you there!

It's been too long...

...since Mark and I have been on a date, just the two of us. We decided "The Bourne Ultimatum" would be our break-out date...we had such a great time! We went to Fireside Grille for appetizers (Mark had an actual alcoholic drink!), we went to the movie, and ended the evening with some ice cream at home.



I love you honey!

What a crazy, busy weekend!

Our weekend was packed...and our week is just as busy! Friday night we headed out to Clarkston to camp with some friends of ours: the Holmes. Derek, Karen, Aidan, Ethan, Clayton, Merry, and Sage were with us, plus tons of friends from their church. We had so much fun! Aidan did get stung by bees (three of them), and we had a skunk, who lived in the bushes right next to us, try to eat our garbage at four in the morning, but other than that, it was great. Evan was up at the crack of dawn, with all the other kids. He played ball, we stayed up late and talked by the campfire, and I took some pics:








Saturday night I went to a crop at Crop, Paper, Scissors with Bethany, and of course Kristi and Tami were there! We had a blast...I got a ton done, and it was really nice to sit and talk with friends. I have loved getting to know Tami, she is so talented, and I love her projects. The baby album she was working on is simply gorgeous!

This week has been full of appointments, and work! Have a fantastic Wednesday!