What a Way to Start a Year!

Boy oh boy! This year is not off to a good start but I still have a feeling it will be a good year despite one thing (illness) after another. I may as well get them out of the way now. Started with a cold which I still have. Then, I was exposed to Hand, Foot, Mouth Disease (which I was lucky not to get so far although I am still not over the incubation period). I love my grandson but come to the conclusion that little ones are walking disease factories (and I mean that in a loving way).

Then on Tuesday I woke up unable to move without extreme pain in my lower back. I am talking the kind of pain that takes your breath away and although it is in my back, just moving my arms makes it hurt to the point of tears. Sitting in a chair doesn't help it either which I find odd since I am not standing but anyways, I couldn't even walk and it still continues today. I tried everything to get rid of it and found the only way is to lay flat on my back (on heating pad) in bed with a pillow under my knees and it eases the pain to the point where I don't feel it at all but as soon as I stand up it comes back. The longer I stand or try and walk the worse it gets until I reach the point I have to go back and lay down on the heating pad to start the whole cycle over again. I don't know about you but there is only so long I can lay in bed and do nothing!

Needless to say, I haven't done much scrapping but I did manage to do this page. What makes this page so unique is that Damien don't wear hats. He hates them! However, Damien loves the camera so he put on his Grandpa's hat and grabbed my camera to hand to me so I can take his picture.

Scraproom Getting Put Back Together and Here is My 1st Layout!

I have to admit this didn't come out the way I intended. In fact, I really am not sure I even like it but my room is not put back 100% and it will take some time for that to happen but I am not willing to wait any longer. So I wanted to do these pictures of the last of summer days and squeezing in that one last summer visit to the park with Damien.

Last Days of Summer 2014

Children's Museum in West Hartford

On 9/17 I took Damien to the Children's Museum in West Hartford. It not only had things to do but a planetarium, animals, butterflies, and of course it had all kinds of reptiles. Taking him here was a learning experience for both him and me. I learned things about him I never realized. For example:

In certain parts of the museum it is dark, not pitch black but dark (like where the nocturnal animals are kept) and the first thing I learned was Damien was afraid of the dark. We were going to go to the planetarium movie (about a cat in space for preschoolers) but obviously that wouldn't work out since they turn the lights off to show the movie and stars and things. So we skipped it and just did the museum.

This picture was taken on our way out, not in because even though the dinosaurs in the background are statues and the smaller one is only maybe 5' tall, he was terrified of them. It took me over an hour just to get him this close. (Of course I had help by a 'whale' of a friend which you will see later). So going to Dinosaur State Park is out of the question, their dinosaurs are 20' high and more.

His favorite toy was this over sized Lite-Bright type toy and.....

this simple wavy rail against the wall of the ramp down to the next level. You put the ball (in his hand) on the ramp at the top and watch it 'roll' all the way to the bottom where it lands in that red basket.

 I can see where he'd like the top toy since he likes lights but there was a race track with cars and you did races.....I fingered for sure he'd love that and we would be there all day racing. Nope, he liked this better.

He loved the fish tank and his favorite animals were these foxes, not the ferret or bunny.

He was afraid of the lizards and snakes.

This whale is huge yet he isn't afraid of it but was afraid of the small dinosaurs so size don't matter.....it is the shape/look. The dinosaurs must look lizard-like to him so he is afraid of them.

I used this whale to show him it wasn't real and a sort of statue which is how I got him to stop being so terrified of the dinosaurs in the first picture. He liked this whale which he kept calling a "fish".

We had a nice time there but I was glad when he wanted to leave. It was a lot of walking. We both came home and took a nap.

Damien takes his First Train Ride!

Damien has never been on a train, in fact, he hasn't even seen a real one up close so on Tuesday 9/16 we went to Thomaston and took a scenic 1.25 hour train ride on the Naugatuck Railroad in the rain.

When we arrived the train wasn't there but it wasn't long until it came.

Damien seemed a little unsure of this.

 

A little nervous when the train started to move so he hung on tight.

It didn't take long until he realized what it was all about and relaxed.

 The view was pretty in parts, even in the rain. 

 Damien stayed glued to the window for a long time.

We even had snack on the train.

He even got up, walked around, pulled me to take him outside of the train in back. We stood there for a long time but he just got too heavy (I had to hold him, too dangerous to let him stand as he could fit between the bars on the railing and fall onto the track) so we went back inside to our seats. It wasn't long after that the station came into view.

Someone knows where he is!

It was a fantastic time for both of us! Once we got off we went to the back where another train was.

Notice he sure wasn't nervous any longer....he ran right over to it and tried to go up the stairs.

He liked being on top of the train like he was driving it. 

It was a long train (don't move) and what was even better is when they opened one of the cars so Damien could go in and look around. I found it really interesting and Damien had to check out what was behind every door in there, not once, not twice, but like three times. Like if he shut the door and opened it again something different would be in there. Naturally that never happened but he had a great time doing it. 

It was a long day for both of us so when he was done checking the train out, we went home.

The Pickle Page I did for Liftateers!

On Damien's First Birthday there was a party and cookout. We had pickles to go with the hamburgers and Damien wanted one. Well, you can see the results...

(The pickles are a SVG you can find on the left. I used Copic Markers for details.) 

Where Babies Come From

I just love the way this came out....and yes, it did take a long time to do. 

Kitchen Helper

Here is a layout I made for the Oh Baby Challenge on About a Boy Scrapbook Challenge Blog. The rules are it has to be of a boy and the ages are from 0-12 months. Damien is only 6 months now and the picture was taken on the 13th which means he was 5 months at the time. Either way, he is well within the age bracket for this challenge.

Playing with Masks and Layers in Photoshop Elements

I was playing today with my Photoshop Elements and  I was trying to do a blending but I don't have the right photos for it (bright blue isn't quite right) plus he is at the edges of the photo so I ended up with just a story and page. I didn't have anything to embellish it with (nothing in PSE seemed to go) so I just used some embellishments from kits I had in My Memories. I like the way it came out but still can't wait to do some blendings. Maybe I can get some good pictures this week and give it a try on the weekend.

Pinterest Challenge 002 - Using Arrows

This is my entry for the Fiskateers site Pinterest Challenge 002 -  using arrows.
Damien had his first taste of baby food meat. Up until now he only had fruits and veggies. He is eating Beef so I call this page, "Where is the Beef?".

This is called Notions Quick Page and it is by Amy Teets Designs. I used My Memories Suite to do it.