Simply Jennifer

Major Renovation!!!

Coming soon--the new and improved life and scrapping blog. :) Check back soon! :)

We just got home from a week at the beach and we all had a wonderful time! The weather was gorgeous--sunny every day! The ocean was warm, the kids were well behaved, and we just enjoyed every second. I took over 1,000 photos, but obviously can't share them all here. Here are just a few from our wonderful vacation:

The entire trip was so wonderful that we hated to come home! Ryan still has a couple of days of school left, Shane has to get back to work, and I have to get back into the swing of things at home. It will take some time, that's for sure! ♥

New Happenings in the Scrappy World...

>> Saturday, April 4, 2009 – Desiging, Layouts

Hi everyone!!! I have a couple of exciting things going on in my scrappy world.

The first is that my layout, "My Daughter," has finally hit the April Issue of Scrapbooking.com Magazine. There's a pretty neat little write up, and the kit uses products from some of my favorite people, so I hope you'll check it out! Just click on the icon below to go to my article (scroll down a bit):

Also, even more exciting is that I've finally dipped my hand into designing...but just a little, lol! I am taking part in the Funky Playground Designs "Capture the Flag" competition and I've created my VERY FIRST mini kit!!! I'd love for you to check it out, leave me some loving (part of the judging process is the traffic that our kit generates), and even download it (it's a freebie!). Check out my mini here:

LOVE BLOOMS HERE

Thank you so much!!!

Have a happy weekend!!! ♥

Happy Birthday, Ry-Ry!!!

>> Monday, March 30, 2009 – Family

Six years ago today, at 9:39 am, my baby was born. It had been a long pregnancy...4 months of bedrest, many complications, lots of long, hard days. Even his delivery wasn't easy. After an emergency c-section, he was born perfect...the most beautiful, perfect, HEALTHY 7 pound 2 ounce, 20 inch long baby ever to be born.

At 9 months old, he was a happy, smiley, loving baby who loved nothing more than a good "nursey."

18 months old with a personality that was really beginning to emerge. Beautiful blue eyes and into everything. He was beginning to be a real boy...running, jumping, falling. Growing.

2 years old...handsome. Boyish. Growing and learning every day. He already had a baby sister on the way!

3 years passed so quickly. Ryan was truly a little boy now. Every day he surprised us with how quickly he was learning new things. He started to become interested in sports and wanted to pay everything.

Already 4 years old...shaggy hair, a total boy. Loving being outside all the time and hanging out with Daddy. Protector of baby sister and mommy snuggler.

5 years old...the age that brought the most changes so far. He became a total boy. No longer so shy, more outgoing and passionate about the things and people he loves. Began kindergarten, made new friends...just amazing in every way.

And now. Ryan is much more of a boy than a baby. He loves his family. Daddy is his go-to guy for everything. Caroline is his best friend, playmate, and tormentor. Mommy is his lovey, his snuggler, his boo-boo fixer. School is fun and he loves being with his friends. He's a sports nut and plays everything he can play...watches it all, too. He's reading, seems to be some sort of math genius. Loves his church, loves God. Compassionate, understanding beyond his years. Underneath that tough boy exterior is a heart of gold.

Happy birthday, Ry-Ry. We love you.

Darcy is Having a Sale!!!

>> Thursday, March 12, 2009 – CT

Check this out:

Don't miss out on this great sale!!!

Sweet Shoppe Saturday 3/7

>> Saturday, March 7, 2009 – CT, Layouts

Wowwwwww...what a fab week at SSD!!! There are so many amazing designs this week! I'm so excited to have a chance to work with some of these great kits and minis! Here are some of the kits and LOs I've worked with this week:

By Traci Reed and Meghan Mullens:

By Shawna Clingerman:

By ScrapKitchen Designs:

By Penny Springmann:

By Melissa Bennett:

By Kristin Cronin-Barrow:

By Julie Billingsley:

By Heather Roselli:

By Eva Kipler:

By Darcy Baldwin (most of my LOs this week feature this amazing new font!):

By Christy Lyle:

You can also see that Darcy released a fab new set of templates and I used them on my LO with Julie's new kit. I also used several Bree templates this week. :)

To find all these goodies (and more) check out Sweet Shoppe Designs today. Remember that new releases are 20% off on Saturday only!!!

To find full credits for each of my layouts, check out my gallery at SSD HERE.

Hope you each have a wonderful weekend...as for me...well...I'm off to soccer practice with a bunch of 5 year olds.

FOB2Y--Random Birthday Facts

>> Thursday, February 26, 2009 – FOB2Y

Sweet Shoppe Designs is in the middle of its 3rd birthday celebration and for this week's FOB2Y, has asked for some random bday facts. sooooo....

Random Birthday Facts:

# More people celebrate their birthdays in August than in any other month. The two other months in which birthday rates are high is July and September.

# Close to two billion Birthday Cards are sent each year in the U.S. alone, accounting for nearly 58 percent of all cards sent.

# The world’s largest birthday cake was created in 1989 it weighed 128,238 pounds, 8 oz. and used 16,209 pounds of icing.

# Anne Frank’s world famous diary was given to her when she was thirteen years old.

# The most common birth date is October 5 and the least common is May 22 in U.S.A.

What Does Your Birthday Mean???

>> Wednesday, February 18, 2009 – FOB2Y

From SSD's Blog:

You Are a Revolutionary

You have many talents, and you are great at sharing those talents with others.

Most people would be jealous of your clever intellect, but you're just too likeable to elicit jealousy.

Progressive and original, you're usually thinking up cutting edge ideas.

Quick witted and fast thinking, you have difficulty finding new challenges.

Your strength: Your superhuman brainpower

Your weakness: Your susceptibility to boredom

Your power color: Tangerine

Your power symbol: Ace

Your power month: May