Ten Summer To-Do's

Today is my first official day of summer break. My students' last day was Wednesday, and I finished up the work I had to do in the classroom yesterday. Summer is generally a relaxing time when I get to spend more time with my family, and can get focused on a to-do list that has been negelected during the school year. So here are the ten things that I want to get done this summer. In no particular order:

10. Sort, Organize, and Purge Scrapbooking and Stamping Supplies...Seriously, my "collection" has taken on a life of its own, and it's time for me to get a little more control and take back some of the space that is being taken by paper and paper accessories.

9. Sell or Donate the Excess Supplies...I have lots of stamp sets that I no longer want to use. In fact, I'm pretty sure that I have some new ones that have never been used. I have a hard time turning down the free CTMH sets that are earned with an order, and many times, I don't have a use for those particular sets. I'm sure there's someone out there who would love to put them to use.

8. Read, Read, Read...Summer is my time to read the things that I want to read, not the things that I have to read. It's time to log into Paperbackswap.com and order some books to read this summer. I'm talking guilty pleasure type books. Nothing academic until at least mid-August. Summer is also when I regularly take the girls to the library to check out books to read. They get to their school library plenty during the school year, and I like to continue that pattern in the summer.

7. Break my Sugar Habit...Ugh, this will no doubt be the most difficult challenge for me. I need to lose weight and get healthier, and I know that means I need to eliminate sugar from my diet as much as possible.

6. Exercise More...No excuses for this one in the summer. More time, plenty of things I could do, and it goes hand in hand with breaking the sugar habit to get healthier and lose weight.

5. Create More...Lots of photos on my desk waiting for their home on a scrapbook page, even more on my computer, hoping to make it out of the jpg form and into a scrapbook.

4. Blog More...Yep, there it is. Gotta get this blog a moving. Creating more should help. Hard to maintain a scrapbooking blog when you don't do any scrapbook pages.

3. Take a Class...I love taking classes online. I'm talking fun, scrapbooking or photography classes, not those boring teacher certification classes. In the past, I've taken classes at Big Picture Scrapbooking, at Shimelle.com, and with Valerie Salmon. If you have any suggestions of other places to take classes, make a comment and let me know about it :)

2. Plan a family trip to Michigan's Adventure...Michigan's Adventure is an amusement park that is about an hour and half away from here. We love amusement parks, and every year, we talk about going, but so far, it hasn't happened. I think this is the year!

1. Spend Lots and Lots of Time with my Girls...They are growing up so, so fast that my head is spinning just thinking about it. I love the summer because we get to hang out together pretty much every day.

So, there you have it...ten things that I want to do this summer. Some fun, some work, but definitely relaxing, because before you know it, September will be here, and it will be back to school.  If you have any suggestions for classes to take or books to read make a comment and tell me all about it!

 To see more 10 Things posts go to Shimelle.com

Morning With Mom

I had the pleasure of spending the morning with my daughter at school last week.  It's a very cool program that they do, and unfortunately, this is the last one that I will attend, as they do not continue this in the next elementary school that she will attend.  We started off the morning with doughnut holes and juice, and then Meghan took me to her classroom where we had some activities to do.

Above is the checklist that we went through.  We had lots to do, and it was so cute the way that Meghan had to check off each of the activities as we completed them.  In her classroom, we had a drawing/writing assignment to complete, and then she took me on a tour of some of her favorite places in the classroom.

After finishing everything there was to do in her classroom, we then went on a tour of the rest of the school building.  I loved this message that Meghan's art teacher had up in her classroom.  Meghan enjoyed showing me all the great things about art class. She loves art, so I'm so glad that she has the opportunity to express herself at school.

Then, it was on to music class, where Meghan played the bells and the keyboard.  I am so very thankful that Meghan's school is so dedicated to teaching not only the core subjects, but also a love and appreciation for the arts as well.  After music, we made a quick pass through the media center (library & computer lab), and then I dropped Meghan back off at her classroom so that she could start her day.  It was a great way to start my day, and I loved spending some time with her, and getting to experience a little bit of her school routine.

My Day in Photos

Hope For Japan

The various images that I've seen coming out of Japan have been heart wrenching to say the least.  I don't even know if I'm capable of fully comprehending the devastation that has happened there, and my heart goes out to all of those who have lost homes, pets, and loved ones.  I hope that those who have survived this tragedy have the strength to persevere and reach some sense of normalcy again, even though they will likely never be the same people that they were before.

Close To My Heart has issued a new stamp set specifically for raising money to help with relief efforts in Japan. From now until April 30, purchase the exclusive, “Hope for Japan” A-size stamp set for the special price of only $5 (retail value $7.95 US / $8.75 CAN) and Close To My Heart will donate 100% of the profits to the American Red Cross’ efforts in Japan. This beautifully designed stamp set reminds us of how our hearts are hopeful for those who are in need. Here are some images of the stamp set:

This stamp set can be ordered at My CTMH Website or by contacting me through e-mail at heatherlabond@yahoo.com

World's Worst Blogger?

Great intentions.  Really. I had them when I started this blog.  I thought that I would be able to manage at least one post a week.  Perhaps more in the summer when school is out of session, but ideally one post a week.  Yet, here my poor neglected blog sits without a post in what seems like forever.  I'm busy, sure, but honestly, I spend plenty of time reading other people's blogs, browsing scrapbooking message boards, and spending all too much time on Facebook playing Bejeweled Blitz.  Time enough to make my own blog posts, for sure.

So, while doing some of that blog reading, I came upon an online class with the title Blogging for Scrapbookers at www.shimelle.com :

Seemed like the perfect thing to get me motivated and back to blogging.  So here I am again: ready, willing, and certainly able to give this blogging thing a go. Go Me!!

Long Time No Blog

Well, it appears that teaching full time along with the kids' activities kept me way too busy to think about posting on here. School is out for the summer, and the activities have dwindled to a very manageable pace, so I guess it's time for me to do some more creating and posting.

I made the card above to let my daughter know that she had moved up to the next level of competitive dance team at her studio. I love the bright colors with the black contrast! I also love the texture of the Cuttlebug embossing folders. The stamp (stars, swirl, and circular background) are all Close To My Heart Stamps from various sets. The CTMH colors used are Citrus Leaf, Watermelon, White Daisy, and Black.

One of my Favorite Photos and Layouts

I made this layout last year for my mom. I love this photo of the girls, and the paper was just perfect :)