The NEWEST MEMBER of the Locher Family...

Jessica and Miss Abby "Lane" Locher

(KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK... COSMO CRICKET... ARE YOU OUT THERE!? IF YES, MY AUDITION IS THE POST BELOW THIS ONE... AND IT IS CHIRPING... (chirp... chirp...)... now back to our regularly scheduled post...

We are dog people. We have ALWAYS been dog people. We have wanted to have a family dog since we were married, but the time was never right... AND... Jeff wanted a BIG dog (yellow or chocolate Lab) and I wanted a little mutt... so time passed and we never got a dog...

... and then I got an email from my sister about puppies and I saw the picture... and I fell in LOVE! A few hours later, I shared the info with Jeff and he said "YES!" We got a call yesterday morning from the "puppy Mommy" to come see the puppies, so we grabbed the kids (without telling them what was going on), threw on some clothes and drove up to San Clemente and picked up the newest member of the Locher family... 9 week Miss Abby "Lane" Locher! We don't know what kind of dog she is... we have heard a bit of Lab, Hound, Pointer... we don't know, but she is ADORABLE! Very sweet personality... SUCH the lover... what a DOLL!

Right after we picked her up, we took the family (and Nicola, Chris' girlfriend) out to lunch at our favorite, "Jon's Fish Market" in Dana Point... and YES... I subjected poor Abby to her first photo shoot... COME ON, NOW... several of you have already been complaining that I didn't have pictures up last night... :-) The pictures here are of Anna, Jeff, Jessica and Abby...

CUTEST STORY SO FAR... Abby has been sleeping in a crate at night, so we rushed out and bought one for her. She had no problem getting into it, but started crying when we closed the door, dimmed the light, and left the room. So Jeff, Anna and I sat and cuddled and played with her in the crate for about an hour trying to get her to sleep. Finally, Anna started singing her a "Good Night" song and within 10 seconds, Miss Abby was sound asleep!!! (Ahhhhhh!) :-)

Have a GREAT week! I know we will!!! (CHIRP!)

My COSMO CRICKET Design Team Audition!!!

It is feeling a bit like Deja Vu trying out for the Cosmo Cricket team for the second year in a row. Although I didn't make it last year, I am tossing my hat into the ring again and I'll tell you why... I have been a Cosmo Cricket customer for YEARS (as you will see below), they sell a great product that I enjoy using, I think my style would add something a bit different to the team, and I REALLY want to be one of those "Crazy Cricketers!!

So, let's jump right into the four layouts I created in the past five days for this year's audition! (including "My Life... at age 4" posted above.)And here are the projects that I created last year. ALL of them have been published, so I thought it was worth posting here again...

The projects from last year were published in Scrapbooking.com Magazine as part of a Featured Article I wrote for the magazine called, "Auditions from the Inside." I also wrote an extended article on the same topic for "ScrapScene," which linked back to my Cosmo Cricket article and was listed as one of the top articles for ScrapScene for 2008!!!

I told you that I have been a Cosmo Lover for YEARS, so below are a few of my other favorite CC projects. What else... Easy to work with/low maintenance...CHECK! Not afraid of submitting for publication... CHECK! (You can see my Scrap Resume link on my sidebar.) Loves and is inspired by Cosmo Cricket... UM, YEAH... CHECK! Is creative and loves design... CHECK (at least my Dad thinks so!!) Maintains a blog and is active in the internet community... CHECK! I think that is it!

Thanks, Cosmo Cricket, for coming to check out my audition and for considering me to join your incredibly talented team! It would be an honor to be one of your "Cricketers!" Time to run... we just got a call and I think we are about to adopt our VERY FIRST PET... a puppy!!! Make it a "Wooooo Hooooo" kinda day!!! :-)

Amazing Race... on to Stop #4...

BAD Blogger... BAD... BAD! Yes, we are already to stop 4 of the Amazing Race and I have not posted a single update! Just keeping up with the Finalists has me running the Race along with them!!! WHEW! The gals are doing a FANTASTIC job and have my mojo running in OVERDRIVE!!! I have been scrapping like mad, as I am doing my own personal Race by preparing my own DT audition... NO, I'm not leaving Rusty Pickle... are you CRAZY!? However, there is another company that I would like to work with, so I'm tossing my hat into the ring! More details to come about that tomorrow!

In the meantime, here are a few of my recent RP projects... A great day at the Pumpkin Patch and yes, I used chain link as a ribbon on the "Biker Chick" layout... I thought it was appropriate for a "bike" layout!!!

WOOO HOOOO... and one of my layouts in the June issue of Scrapbooking.com Magazine is highlighted in their weekly newsletter today!!! Welcome to my blog, Scrapbooking.com!!! :-)

The RUSTY PICKLE AMAZING RACE is about to start!!

Join us all over at the Rusty Pickle blog for the first clue and the Racers' first assignment!!!

On your marks...


... GET SET...

Happy Father's Day to my Sweet Husband (and very cute Dad!)

We had a fun day yesterday at my cousin, Kyle's house... a 2 1/2 hour drive each way, but well worth it! It was a very relaxing and fun day with the family... swimming, playing handball, lots of appetizers and drinks and a great BBQ dinner.

Here are some pictures of a mini album I did for Dad (Father's Day) and Mom (her birthday is coming up on the 26th). I used the "Island Summer" line by Rusty Pickle and their new "Waterfall" chipboard album, which I TOTALLY LOVE! Add flowers, chipboard... painted and stamped, acrylic hearts and stars, trim, ink... and you've got an album!

Can't wait to see the Rusty Pickle Amazing Race #3 start in just a few days... hope you join us for this INCREDIBLE event of perseverance, creativity, and scrapping excellence! Make it a GREAT week!!!

Happy Birthday, Anna!

I can't believe our baby is 5 years old already!!! 5 years ago today was a beautiful day, a pretty normal delivery with Jimmy Buffett playing in the background, an earthquake, and a new miracle of life!

We are going to "Toys Are Less" (as Anna calls "Toys R Us") to get her birthday crown and balloon and to buy one special gift that Anna will pick out herself. Then, off to a fun lunch. Thanks to Penny and Catalina Mackie for making this ADORABLE #5 wall hanging for Anna!!! I LOVE IT! Have a GREAT day!!!

CKC PASADENA... WOO HOO!

I had such a BRILLIANT time at CKC Pasadena! Yes... "brilliant" is my new favorite word! Not only did I teach a few "brilliant" classes developed by Rusty Pickle, one of my classes said that my handmade business cards were "BRILLIANT!!!" WOOOOOO HOOOOOO!

I worked all weekend with my FAVORITE booth manager and FRIEND, Libby McNeily, taught RP classes to the most fun and peppy students from around the state (and Arizona!). I also had a chance to meet RP Finalist Noeleen... sorry to see her daughter is sick, because Noeleen is getting her cold, but I'm sure she will be fine for the RACE!!

The most fun people that I met at the show were Frank and Linda Williams!!! I met Frank in my 3rd class... he walked in and I just HAD to ask his story! Frank has been married to his wife, Linda, for 23 years... they have been SCRAPPING TOGETHER for 15 years. Frank was such a love! He shared pictures of his CUSTOM SCRAP ROOM DESIGNED BY CALIFORNIA CLOSETS... storage, tables, a duel work table where he and Linda can collaborate together... then he showed us a sample of the Christmas cards they made and mailed this past year... needless to say, since I found out that Linda was going to be taking my next class, I just had to take a picture of this INCREDIBLE couple for my blog... they both made me smile, and I hope their story will make you smile, too! ANYONE can scrapbook... as long as it makes you happy!!!

Finally, Danielle (my Teacher's Assistant for half my classes), Noellen (one of the RP Finalists), me, Libby and her family... (little Andrew and Dad Ian) had a "tear down" photo taken with dirty hands, sweaty shirts, and happy smiles! Finally, I did a midnight layout in our hotel room with the NEW "Rockin America"line for the booth... layout posted above...

I can't WAIT to scrap and post some new stuff, but my family and the RP Finalists need me at the moment! See you all soon! Make it a "Woo Hoo" kinda week!!!

Off to CKC Pasadena!!

I'm looking forward to a fun weekend of teaching and working with Miss Libby! Boy, have I missed you, my friend! See you all next week!!!

Anna's Princess Party...

What a BEAUTIFUL Princess Party Anna had to celebrate her 5th Birthday! Anna had 3 little Princess friends, Kami, Kylee, and Catalina, and their Mommies come for the afternoon and evening to partake in a "High Tea," Princess pinata, clothes pin in the jar game, manicures, crafts, a Pin-the-Tail-on-the-Donkey type Princess game, and lots of fun! Even "Lady in Waiting, Krista" and her Mommy were here to play with the girls!! Top it off with Anna's dinner request, "Daddy's yummy spaghetti" and a special cake and gifts and it was a FAB party! Enjoy the following pics of this special day!

OGHS Grad Nite 2009!!!

Here it is... FINALLY! A year of planning and fundraising, a week of set up, staying up for more than 24 hours straight on graduation day, 4 hours of sleep the next day to start clean up, AND THE BEST TURN OUT FOR GRAD NITE IN ABOUT 15 YEARS!!! HOLY COW! I am still getting goosebumps thinking about HOW AWESOME Grad Nite was this year! A big part of it was the Class of 2009! I have discovered that each year, the Class as a whole seems to have a personality, and 2009 was full of some of the best, most successful, most respectful, GREATEST kids EVER! (and, no, I did not have a kid in this class...)

The theme was "Cruise to Your Future" and it was as if the grads were entering a cruise ship, luggage piled everywhere, passport booth, parents dressed in "cruise staff attire with matching name badges", booths designed as cruise ports from around the world... FUN!

Here is a slide show of some of the photos that I took of the day...
starting with t-shirt distribution graduation morning...
to final set up with Anna being treated to a climb on the rock wall and getting her hair done in the beauty salon...
The "Grad Nite Game Master" - he was BRILLIANT!...
Make your own music videos - costumes, instruments, perform against a green screen, special effects added and a DVD burned on the spot (we also had a HUGE video screen in the gym - the next building over from the PAC where the videos were being shot - and Jeff ran cable from one building roof to the next so the live video shoots would be seen in the gym)...
Tattoos - boy do the kids love getting temp tattoos!...
Beauty salon - they boys spent more time getting their hair and nails done than the girls!...
The scrapbook booth where there was A LINE TO GET A SEAT IN THIS BOOTH THIS YEAR!!! Like I wouldn't have the first scrapbook booth at Grad Nite in Southern California... thank you RUSTY PICKLE for your AWESOME donation to make this booth a reality!!! Yeah, I design for the most INCREDIBLE company! :-)
Food, coffee bar, prizes...
Casino and the Texas Hold 'Em Tournament...
Dress up booth, the disco...
Outdoor laser tag, the Velcro wall, joust, and rock climbing wall...
Photo ops and the photo gallery... AND MORE, MORE, MORE!
One of the highlights was a group of teachers and students that played a 30 minute set of songs like, "School's Out for Summer" and a custom OGHS rap... THEY WERE FANTASTIC!
And the end of the event, the Ceremonial Fire and prize give-a-ways.

It was a GREAT night and, yes, I have already had my "OH, OH, OH..." brainstorm moment for next year! It is going to be unlike ANYTHING Grad Nite has EVER seen!!! If you are a 2009 grad, feel free to copy any of the pictures that you would like. Also, we will have a link to all the photos taken on Grad Nite for you to download soon.

Make it a WOOO HOOOO kinda day!!!