Leroy

On July 3rd, this year, we adopted my sisters cat Max.  We quickly changed his name to Leroy Brown.  (her last name is Brown)  He is bad.  Like really bad!  But we can not help but love him.  He lays around like a porn star (sorry) and goes where he wants, chews what he wants (like iPhone cords) and bothers us at least 3 times during the night.  Right this minute, I can here him scrabbling around upstairs.  He goes on these rampages throughout the house, scaling over chairs, beds, people.  I have not seen anything like it.  I am surprised the pictures on the walls are still straight!  But, he is really really cool.  

So, over at @society52 on Instagram, the weekly challenge is to scrap your pet.  (Thursday, they throw you a twist!)  Also, over at Creative Scrappers, they have sketches, and this one is based off of sketch #254.  I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to introduce to you, the craziest cat ever, Leroy.

Here is the sketch....

Instead of arrows, I opted for hearts.  This awesome cut file is from, The Cut Shoppe by Ashley Horton.  The flair is from A Flair for Buttons, the hearts, washi and stamp are all from Freckled Fawn Oh Deer Me Kits.  The fantastic papers are from Fancy Pants, True Friends.

On May 12th, our family lost one of the best cats ever, Milford.  We had him for 9 short years.  We received him from Santa on Christmas eve when he was 10 months old.  I can not describe to you how cool this cat was.  He was a Bengal cat, so he didn't shed.  People that are allergic, where not as allergic to him.  He loved water and his best friend Flo.  It was one of the hardest decisions I had to make, but it was the right one.

We miss him every day.  Roman still includes him in his nighttime prayer:o(

Weeping as I type

I am sitting here, alone, on the first day of school.  I can hear the dog snoring.  Loudly.  My heart is aching a bit as I miss both my boy and his daddy.  They have all returned to their normal routine and I feel a sense of being left behind.  Don't get me wrong.  I have plenty to do.  But with this heaviness, it is hard to accomplish anything today.  I have started dinner.  Did a load of laundry and plan to do some scrapbooking today.  I was feeling a bit of guilt, wishing that school would start,  but as it got closer and closer, I kept thinking how fast the summer has gone and wished that the time would slow down.  Speaking of time slowing down, my boy is in 4th grade.  

4th  grade people!!!  He is no longer a baby.  boo hoo.  

Here are a few photos of his first day of school.  

First picture I took gives you a sense of how this whole photo shoot thing went down.  

Driving to bus stop.  Trying to get all his accessories put on.  You know, a survival bracelet and a watch!  He say that 7 hrs is too long for a school day and you just NEVER know when you'll need a cord.

The two handsomest men ever!

6-8 more inches and he will be taller than me.  That is NOT acceptable.  

His buddy Cody.  They have a plan to walk home together this year.  Not sure I am ready for this.  I am not sure I am ready for 4th grade.  Next thing you know, he will be moving out and getting married;o(  This is too much for me to handle.  Just too much!

Off he goes.  It is the same bus driver this year, thank you Jesus.  

Now, off I go to bury my head in a pillow and wallow in pity.

Why not celebrate everything?

This card is over on The Rubber Cafe blog.  This map paper from My Mind's Eye is so beautiful.  

If you know me at all, you know that I am not a fan of glitter.  If you even say the word, it is all over my face.  I don't even wanna touch it.  So now, imagine this card without the glitter, it just wouldn't work.  Sometimes, glitter is necessary.  

TFL,

READ - anytime and anywhere!

During the school year, Roman had to read 15-20- minutes a day.  I used to have to set a timer to get him to stop so he could journal about what he read.  Or, so we could start doing math and have our nightly fight!!  I would often times find him in the silliest places.  Under the wierdest things.  

This summer, if it is a book of his choice, he would read and read too.  With this layout, I thought I would highlight his favorite reading spots.  

  I found an awesome cut file over at The Cut Shoppe and started pulling papers from this months Studio Calico KOTM.  I added random enamels and some of my favorite flair from A Flair for Buttons. 

I took the negative of this heart and covered it with washi tape, backed it with foam and added back to the center of the heart.

Hardly any paper was used for this layout exempt the backgrounds, the cut sheet and a touch of the black and white stripped papers from the SC Kit.  It is mostly the embellishments that make this page.    See you soon.