Annnnnd.... we're back! (with a freebie)

(Note: if you're here for the Digi Chick Blog Train, scroll to the bottom of this post).

It's a feast or a famine with my blog huh. I alternate between posting 3 times a week to only once or twice a month when things get really busy. I don't suppose I'm the only blogger to do this though huh. Well where do I start? Christmas I guess. I was going to post a stack of photos, then thought I might as well just wait till I'd scrapped my pages and show them instead. So here is our Christmas. Since the photos had so much colour in them I decided to go with a fairly neutral background palette and let the pictures do the talking.

















And of course I had to scrap Elisa's broken arm didn't I? She was lucky it was just a greenstick fracture and that it healed quickly. She only stayed in the plaster cast for 2 weeks, getting it cut off on Christmas Eve.







I've done a few CT layouts too, though am still in the process of uploading them to my galleries. Lucky you, you get a sneak peek here on my blog first. There are a few more to come, but I can't post them for another day or two.









Oops, I nearly forgot. Here are my latest 365 pages. I've decided to continue Project 365 in 2010, but simplify it somewhat with Biograffiti's templates. I was lucky enough to win her January set this week. Yay!





OK, you've made it this far, now I guess some of you are here for the Digi Chick Blog Train.



Here is the template freebie I have for you. Perfect for scrapping Christmas photos, or any multiphoto page. Just swap the tree and snowflakes for other elements if you're not doing a christmas page. You can see the page I based it on HERE. I'd love it if you left a comment saying what you think. Click on the preview to download.



I should be your last stop, but if you've missed anyone, retry the links below. Remember, we're all on different time zones, so it may take a little longer for some to get sorted.

Tiffany: http://ascrapaway.blogspot.com/
Jenn: http://jennamy82.blogspot.com
Kelleigh: http://kelleighratzlaff.com/
Sylvia: http://sylviascraps.blogspot.com
Neenee: http://www.itzaneetdesign.com
Jude: http://lildigibits.blogspot.com/
Holly: http://lv2scrapnjp.blogspot.com
Pam: http://www.pameladonnis.com/blog/
Jana: http://www.janam-designs.com/blog/
Marianne: http://www.nowthenhabibi.com/scrapping-stuff/
Jacinda: www.digikiwichick.blogspot.com (you are here)

I hope you had fun and picked up lots of goodies on the blog train. Now go check out what yummy new things the Digi Chick Designers have released in the TDC Store this week. (Pssst.....while you're there you will definitely want to check out the huge NEW range of products in the Studio 365 section).

365

It's not until I do these 365 pages that I realise just how much we fit into one week. And really this is only a snapshot of each day. There are often multiple things going on that don't make it onto the layout.

Elisa is doing well. She favours the right arm a lot, and is becoming very good at doing things one handed. She CAN bend her elbow, but chooses not too, prefering to lift her arm from the shoulder if she has to. We're trying to think of ways to increase her arm mobility, and get her to do her finger exercises too.

Logan is here today and the two of them are playing happily. Elisa is running around nudie bum since we're trying to potty train her. She started it herself yesterday. I wanted to air her bum for a bit since she had a little rash, and over the course of the next 3 hours she went potty all by herself about 3-4 times. Totally without me saying a word. Of course Brooke and I made a huge deal of it after each potty session, giving Elisa heaps of positive reinforcement which she loved. We're trying to see if she'll continue today or not. I wasn't planning on starting potty training till next week, but hey....whatever works.

Scrappy stuff

OK so I was going to update the previous post, then thought hey....why not just start a new one. I have some exciting news to share too. I've been asked to be a layout artist for the Digital Artist Magazine! At first I was like "What? Me?! Seriously?" because the chicks that already create for the mag are like my heroes and their pages are just stunning. I have a much simpler style than them, so I'm hoping they just want to showcase a different scrapping style rather than think it's a mistake and they meant to ask someone else. LOL. OK here are my latest layouts. The first two are my latest 365 pages. Click on them and they'll take you to my 365 blog:

Gimme a break

They say trampolines and monkey bars are notorious for breaking the arms and legs of young kids. Well we have confirmed that theory now, with Elisa falling awkwardly on the tramp last night and breaking her right arm. She wasn't even bounced very high - it was just a bad landing when when already off balanced. I was standing right there at the edge of the tramp watching too. I took her straight to the local Emergency Clinic which thankfully was almost empty of patients. We got into the Dr at 7.30pm, got x-rayed, had a cast put on and were home by 9pm. She has a greenstick fracture of the distal radius (close to the wrist). She had a pretty rough night sleeping, but did manage to get a few hours in. Today we returned to the clinic to check the cast, then came home where Elisa slept for a good couple of hours. She seems happier now. We will return to the fracture clinic on December 24th where they will remove the cast, do another x-ray and put on a new cast for a few more weeks. I so didn't think our kids would be this young when they got their first break.

I've been meaning to update for ages, but for some reason there are only 24 hrs in the day and I need at least 30 to get everything done. First up I think is Elisa's birthday. She had a lovely little party with Ryan, Logan, Brooke, Nanny, Papa and Great Nana. The butterfly cake went down well, and she got some really lovely thoughtful presents from the family. Thankyou so much to everyone for sending/posting them through. She loves them.









OK, I have more to add, but Elisa wants to go play, so I'll be back to update this post later....