Saturday, January 28, 2012

Olivia has known her letters and letter sounds for a really long time.  She has never, however, grasped the concept that letters go together to make words.  This week, in true Olivia fashion, she suddenly got it!  I was so proud of her!  Word after word, she would tell me what letter it started with by sounding it out.  Of course, she wanted to know how to spell the names of our cats and Autumn threw her for a loop.  Olivia guessed that it started with an O (like octopus) and I had to explain that it was a great guess and yet Autumn starts with an A.  Wait until she learns that Autumn ends with an n.  In retrospect, maybe I should have given Autumn a more phonetically correct name. . .LOL! 

I’m such a proud mommy. . .for too many reasons to count.  I love this girl!

Pizza 4 Paxten

Mark your calendars to remind you that Tues night, Jan 31st, is pizza night!  If you are interested in going, you must print out this flyer and take it with you to the Pizza Huts in Goddard, Maize, Valley Center or Park City.  I was thinking of reserving the room at Goddard Pizza Hut and a bunch of us could meet up, enjoy some pizza and raise money for Paxten.  Please let me know by Saturday if you are interested.   

Digital Scrapbooking Software Giveaway!

I am one of those people who tried paper scrapbooking, but I never latched on to it. I realized that I didn’t have the patience, time or space for paper scrapbooking. I, however, love to create designs online and I’m always looking for fresh ideas to create headers for my blog. So, about a year ago I started searching for a software program that was easy to use, reasonably priced and with many design options to choose from. I found that My Memories Suite (at that time was version 2) was ranked #1 out of 11 in digital scrapbooking software. After reading the stellar reviews, I placed it on my Christmas list and received it Dec 2010.

I have been quite pleased with this software and recently received the version 3 that I will be giving away. It doesn’t compare to programs such as Adobe Photoshop in terms of what it is capable of, but to me Adobe Photoshop has too high of a learning curve and too high of a price tag. Plus, I wanted something I could create without asking my husband for help every 10 minutes.

The software comes with quite a few templates, paper patterns and embellishments. If you are looking for something more specific, their design shop has hundreds of downloads that are reasonably priced for just a couple of dollars and many are even free. Downloading new kits is a simple, pain free process as is importing pictures to use in your designs. You can easily rotate images and add text boxes wherever you see fit and create a truly custom design. One of my favorite features is the color editing tool by using the Color Picker. It displays a preview of your page and you can click on the color that you wish to match, creating a truly uniform page. I used it below on my daughter’s 4^th birthday invitation.

Another creation of mine using the My Memories Suite software is the family tree that I made for my family. I printed it out, framed it and gave it as a Christmas gift.

Here are a few of my other creations, but you can also create photo albums, greeting cards, calendars, and even videos.

Nothing truly compares to the look of a paper scrapbook. If, however, you’ve decided digital scrapbooking is the better option for you, look no further than My Memories Suite. You will truly enjoy every aspect of this software. . .especially sharing your creations with your friends and family.

Not only is it a great digital scrapbooking software, but a great company who is giving one free copy of My Memories Suite version 3, valued at $39.97, to one of my blog readers! Simply leave a comment stating why you would like a copy of this software and/or what you would like to create. The winner will be randomly chosen from http://www.random.org/ Contest ends on January 31^st, 2012 at 10 pm CST.  Good luck!

Sunday, January 22, 2012

I sat down to write a post on a  issue that’s been tugging at my heart.  Sadly, I just don’t have it in me tonight to put it all into words.  Another time, perhaps.  So, I’ll keep this lighthearted and share a bit about what’s been going on lately.

The other day, Olivia was counting and I asked her how high she could count.

Olivia: 1,2,3,4,5 (she spoke really really fast.)

Me: No, not how fast you can count. . .how high can you count?

Olivia: (in a high pitched voice reaching up into the air (1,2,3,4,5. . . .)

__________________________________

Olivia enjoys going with me to the pet store to buy supplies and food for the cats.  She loves looking at the animals.  The other day, she came upon a big barrel of pig ears. . .ya know, the kind dogs chew on?  It horrified her and intrigued her at the same time.  She’s been talking about it ever since.  This morning, I wanted to take her downstairs to show her a surprise (we re-organized the play room.)  With a look of horror, she asked, “Is it pig ears? I don’t want to see pig ears!”  Poor girl is going to have nightmares about pig ears.

__________________________________

Yesterday, Olivia informed me that it was Ducky’s birthday.  She talked about it all day.  She even got out the wrapping paper and asked me if I’d help her wrap Ducky’s present.  So, we wrapped a few presents and sang happy birthday to Ducky.  If only I’d known, I would have baked him a little cake.  He’s 5 now, by the way.

____________________________________