new release 5.24

hey everyone! I'm gonna make this quick, lots of stuff going on this week! like the last week of preschool for this little girl... how is it possible she'll be a kindergartener? Her school had a program Monday & it was so adorable.

  She loved the spotlight...can you tell?

YAY! She graduated! It was so cute, she came off the stage to show me & said "I did it!" Too funny, as if there were any doubt!

Evan's also started his baseball season.  Which means lots of nights in the bleachers & I love every minute of it.  It's funny, I never could have imagined how much I would loved watching my kids play sports.  I'm proud of everything they do & I guess I just love seeing their determination.  Evan is definitely a determined baseball player... I don't know that there is a minute that he doesn't think about it.  He might get to pitch tonight.  I'll be biting my nails the whole time, I'm sure ;) 

The boys have this week & next of school before summer vacation starts.  The worst part is finals for Collin all next week.  Blech.  I'm also working on some fun projects coming up, which are keeping me busy with deadlines.  YAY!

Anyway... here is my new release for today:

6 different layered .psd templates with stitching. A super easy way to make a complicated looking page!

layout by {claudia harvey}

layout by {becca dickson}

layout by {shannon dombkowski}

awesome stuff ladies! remember my kit will be 30% off today, as well as all the other new releases {& there are a TON of incredible new releases at DHD today}.  So hope you can go grab up some goodness!

{robyn}

new releases 5.3 + blog hop winner + a contest!

happy Thursday everyone! I hope you all got the chance to do the blog hop & get your free collab kit! If not, make sure to check it out today!  There are tons of great tips, tricks & giveaways along the way!  But now, on to new release Thursday! {ps... keep reading for an exciting chance for you with this new release & the winner of the blog hop prize!}

just a little "this & that"... a bunch of things that make me happy. kraft, type, red, grey, turquoise :)

awesome layout by {allison waken}... I think I'll be scraplifting this one!

cool layout by {shelley haganman}

LOVE this one by {Celeste Smith}

& one from {me}

***YOU're attention, please!!!!

does this & that make you happy too?  want to try for a chance for a guest spot on the pink trike creative team?  In celebration of international scrapbooking day I'm running a quick contest to pick one lucky scrapbooker to be on my creative team from now until the end of July.  What do you need to do?  Create an awesome layout with This & That {which, by the way is 30% off today}.  Then, post the layout &/OR the link to your layout in your gallery on the pink trike facebook page by Sunday, May 6th at 11:59 pm central time.  I'll choose a winner on Monday, May 7th & post it here on my blog & on my facebook page.  Simple, right?

here's the deal: if you're chosen you'll be responsible for 2 layouts in May, 4 in June & 4 in July with my product.  You'll also be responsible to post those layouts to at least 2 galleries.  you'll have access to all my new kits... how cool is that?  that's about it! soooo... go, create & share! I can't wait to see!  good luck!

***winner winner winner!!!

ScrappyMama was my randomly chosen winner & it just so happens I love her comment :)  congratulations! I'll be emailing you with the info!  ***edited*** ScrappyMama would you please send me your email through my {contact me} area to the right of my blog? thank you! Thanks for everyone for taking the time to hop around with us & leaving comments for me.  I love to hear what you have to say!

{robyn}

project life. week 12.

watch out... it's getting crazy over here... I've completed 3 weeks with in the last week!  trying my hardest to get caught up & feeling better about it.  actually I think I'm getting hooked on it again!  I'm enjoying looking back on our photos & my facebook & instagram posts to see what was happening. 

I didn't have as many photos & so I chose to edit it down to a one page instead of two.  totally good with that.

{week 12}

{credits}

great weather led to our first dq visit of the season. dan found an old kite in our garage & set it up for the kids.  we live in a high spot & get a lot of wind, so it's a great place for kite flying.  Collin went for an eye checkup, new prescription for his contacts & he picked out new glasses... what a handsome young man.  the next day Lydia & I had dr visits.  She had her 5 yr checkup & I had blood tests to see how my iron stores were doing {all is good in both depts}.  the center picture is our amazing sky one day I took with my iPhone. awesome.  Lydia got into my makeup bag & tried her eyeliner skills... on her eyebrows.  hmm, not quite hun. The kids have also been enjoying riding 4wheelers around the house & sometimes some farther treks when Dan can take them.

I'll keep plugging away... hope to be back soon with more!

{robyn}

project life. week 11.

whoo-eeee! another week done + a little sneak of a few goodies coming to the shop this week!

week 11

running milestone. birthday milestone. grandma & grandpa come home. golfing. great weather. regional science fair.

the week started out with Lydia's 5th birthday... & my first 5 mile run! since we had already had her party the weekend before, we kept it simple the day of.  She received a few little gifts & balloons from daddy.  That night we went out to Happy Joe's to play games, eat pizza & she was VERY excited to have them sound the sirens, blow the horn & sing happy birthday just to her!  After supper we went to Target for a quick trip to the toys to pick out something with a gift card she had gotten at her birthday party.  The next day we were more than thrilled to have my parents come back from their winter in Texas. I made sure to have my phone ready as Lydia ran in the door to give them hugs & I'm so glad I did... so precious!

Collin joined the jr high golf team this year {pretty much just practice with the high school team} & is loving it.  Basically 2 hours every day after school for a few months playing golf with your buddies has to be a good thing, right?  We've also had been having awesome weather & were enjoying as much outside time as possible. On Saturday we traveled to Cedar Rapids for the Regional Science Fair with Collin.  It was a super long day, but HTC was represented well & the bonus?  I was able to get a few hours of shopping & lunch with some friends while the kids were being judged! 

You may notice a few items you're not familiar with in these pages... just wait... some will be available tomorrow in the shop & some will be available this Sunday!

I'm going to pick up Lydia soon from school & then I think a lunch date with daddy is in order + a little grocery shopping for me.  Hopefully some outside time too... it's a beautiful day here in Iowa!

{robyn}

project life. week 10.

geez, I feel like I've been all over the place with this project. paper, digital, changing up templates & trying to simplify & get it done.  I've pondered not doing it to free up time for more layouts or design time... I'm still not sure. I think I go between loving the everyday aspect of it & remembering all those "little things" & just being annoyed by the thought of having one more thing to keep up with. but I decided over the weekend to try to finish this week up.  this was the week leading up to Lydia's birthday party, so a lot of the first page is pretty focused on her & the entire second page is totally devoted to the day of her party. 

so, here we go...week 10. finally.

the week went from snowy & cold to warm & sunny. Dan started to install the flooring in our basement that we've had stored for about 3 years. {YAY!} we finally got the right kind of snow for a snowman, which lasted approximately 3 hours :(   Lydia had kindergarten roundup & collected all her stars... she was over the top excited this day.  After we went shopping for party supplies...lots of fun!  it's been a good winter/spring for practicing pitching for Evan & Dan.  Love to watch him getting better & better.  My parents were away for the winter in Texas & weren't going to make it back for Lydia's birthday, so my mom sent a whole box of goodies for her.  We called & put her on speaker phone while she unwrapped all the presents.  So fun.  Lydia also was able to bring home the preschool class monkey the weekend of her birthday!  She has been anticipating this pretty much the whole school year.  We recorded lots of fun party events with monkey.

this page is all about the party. I know I've said it before, but this girl is all about her birthday, so I love to plan a really special day for her.  plus, this was #5... my baby is growing up :(  It was a really fun day!

trying to get some things done around here today.  between Cardinals games this weekend {awesome games btw} we were weather watching here in Iowa, hoping the severe storms would stay away & thankfully they did!  Today is super windy & cooler with tons of clouds.  I'm pretty much over the rain & wind. 

we also did our first family meeting {I had notes & everything}.  As the boys are getting older, we're definitely finding parenting more challenging.  I've been in a little bit of a panic, just knowing that Collin will be a teenager in a few short months. I'm not gonna sugar coat it, we were getting fed up at how the kids were starting to disrespect us, the way they were using language, the amount of arguing & yelling that was going on & things were just feeling a little out of control.  We needed to pull in the reigns. So, the x-box has been taken away at least until the end of the school year.  We discussed our expectations of them, what they expect from us, things we can do together as a family, ideas for summer trips, etc.  I was really happy {through the tears} at how it went.  The boys were excited to give ideas & we came up with lots of things to try.  We're trying to get them more involved with how things work in the house, helping out more, giving more responsibilities & just having fun together.  This weekend was really great for us.  It went from turbulent to calm & pretty low key.  Everyone was much happier & hope we can keep it that way.  Wish us luck!

{robyn}