Alphabitty Moments - The Book

It's here! All 66 pages!













It begins with a excerpt from the original little things post and an explanation of what Alphabitty Moments are....










Then there's the dedication to Sam, including a picture of him wearing his "I still live with my parents" shirt...









Then the next 52 pages cover every letter of the alphabet...





At the end the ittybitty detail section covers the stories behind the words I chose....



Oh how good it feels to know that all of these special memories are preserved for Sam!



If you've been meaning to vote in the contest where I've entered this book - now's the time to do it. (This post from Thursday will explain how to vote before midnight tomorrow)

Others are rallying for votes and my book has slipped from 5th place to 21st. Thank you to all who are pulling for me! There's still hope!!!

Fall Camping

Back in September we enjoyed a fun filled weekend of camping with the same group of friends we've camped with for the past 10 years. (click here for the very first Fall Camping trip) PapaBear and I had only been dating for six weeks the first time I joined the group.

Over the years we've added some significant others to the mix -including a third generation of campers. (This is only six of the eleven kids)









One thing that never changes is Kitty's to die for beef stew. I look forward to her stew as much as I look forward to family Christmas gatherings. It's that good!

We were blessed with incredible weather that weekend and considering how terrible our Fall has been we are so thankful we were able to enjoy our one weekend away (if you can call camping within sight of the house away).

On a whim we're going away again today - just us this time and a visit for dinner from Grandma and Grandpa. It's 60 degrees outside and it's only suppose to get down to 40. We'll hike and listen to the leaves crunch under our hiking boots, play a round of disc golf, swing a bat at a few baseballs, and we'll eat MamaBear Beef Stew before we roast marshmallows. I'm sure we'll talk about all the memories of previous camping trips because with a group like this - there's always stories to tell!

Have a blessed weekend everyone!

Alphabitty Moments - The letter I

Welcome to Alphabitty Moments! For more information on the roots of the carnival and how you can participate, click here. I've had Alphabitty Moments on the brain more than usual this week because #1, Sam's book arrived and I've been able to share it with friends and family and #2, I'm in the process of preparing to teach a bookmaking class in two weeks and I want a Mixbook printed in time to share with the class. That means I've got 17 pages to finish all at once. I'm getting there, but I still need to take a few more photos to fill in some gaps.

The third reason I've got Alphabitty Moments on the brain is that the blurb Best Book Contest is about to wrap up and I've been distracted by watching my book jump all over in the standings. I haven't been tweeting as much about it because I don't want to drive everyone nuts with asking for votes, but if even half my readers voted I would make it to the finals. As with so many contests these days it is a popularity contest, but at least in the final round there is a reputable panel picking the winners. $3,000 is a lot of money and while I'm not saying I have a shot at that prize, second place wins $1,000 and the others in the top 15 get $50 gift cards towards Blurb books. There is some controversy about how the leaders are being displayed but my book has been as high as 6th place so it would mean the world to me if you'd take the time to vote here. (vote once by November 9th)

And now back to your regularly scheduled programming....The letter I.
I would have thought a first born would be more apt to be the independent one, but in our family it's the baby in the family that insists on getting herself dressed, washing her own hands, and getting on the toilet herself. She may have to stand on her tippy toes to reach the faucet, but she can do it. I love that she knows to put her shoes and coat away when we come in from outside.

Independence will mean bigger things one day, say driving for instance....but for now we'll stick to the little things. A few mismatched or backwards outfits I can handle.

What did you chose for the letter I this week?

Wordless Wednesday - Kissed by the sun {twice}

do you see it?

How to make a dinosaur cake

It should be no surprise that the kids both wanted a dinosaur cake for their birthdays this year. Sam wanted to put his {five} candles in the tail (closer to the chocolate - a boy after my own heart). Julia thought her {three} candles would look good stuck in the head.

I don't know about other families with kids who have birthdays eleven days apart like ours, but for us, it has not been an issue to combine their celebrations. They don't mind one bit. If a time comes when it does bother them, we'll make some changes to our routine, but for now we have either a small family gathering on their actual birthdays, or have a bonus meal with our
family who lives close by as close to the actual birthday as we can. A party with friends usually falls between their birthdays as {wedding photography} schedules allow.

But back to the cake:

Here's how I pieced the big guy together:

1 heart shaped cake cut in half and stuck together forms the head

1 round cake cut in half forms the body

1 crescent shape cut from a 2nd round cake forms the tale.

The extra pieces form the legs and fill in the neck area.

I used Hershey's kisses for the spikes and red candies for the eyes.




I can't wait to see what they request next year! The good news is that there is a certain member of the family that is an expert cake maker that I can turn to for advice. See?












Thanks Rena for making the perfect cake {complete with a lighted fire} for our favorite cubs!

The Great Pumpkin Disaster

Here in BearCountry September confused itself with July so the job of producing crisp, cool, colorful Fall days fell on October's shoulders.

Poor October didn't stand a chance.

It was so rainy (8th rainiest in BearCountry history) that Fall sank into the mud with all the farm equipment that attempted to harvest corn and soybeans. Why did I think that we wouldn't get stuck in the mud then when we finally made it out to the pumpkin patch?

The kids thought it was the greatest thing ever even as their parents were wishing we'd just stayed home.

Turns out it was worth all the mud in the fields (and parking lots)

You Don't Say Saturday (on Friday)

If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly our whole life would change.
- Buddha

We had an unexpected girl's night this evening, just Julia and Mommy. She had me in stitches most of the night. She doesn't miss a thing and is always singing or humming something. Tonight it was O Christmas Tree and The Thankful song from Veggie Tales.

I used to think I wanted her to stay a little for as long as possible, but I'm learning that the older she gets the closer we get. She and I are a lot alike and while our stubborn streaks can get in the way sometimes, I wouldn't trade the snuggles, the story times, the hide and seek games, and the joy of watching her get excited about her latest dinosaur coloring page for anything!
Veggie Tales is almost over so it's time to go upstairs and sit in her room. She'll bring her blanket and puppy over to the chair and I'll sing Happy Birthday, Twinkle Twinkle, Jesus Loves Me, and Come Into My Heart.

There isn't any place in the world I'd rather be or any other songs I'd rather sing.

Alphabitty Moments - The letter H

Welcome to Alphabitty Moments! I created this carnival as a way to record the little things my kids do. The special occasions get enough attention in photographs, blog posts, and storytelling. These keepsake book pages are meant to take a closer look at the ordinary and every day moments of childhood. Some day we will look back on all the little things and realize they were really the big things.

This is the second time through the alphabet for me and some of my readers and
I can't tell you how exciting it is to have a completed Alphabitty Moments book under my belt! This project is a labor of love and so much more than a blog carnival. I put the final touches on Sam's book just in time for the Blurb.com Best Book contest.

Even if you were following along the last time and saw all of my pages each week, you'll still want to go here and view the book in it's entirety. I added extra pages to the beginning and the end. The forward explains the meaning and purpose of the book and includes one of the pictures from the original little things post that inspired the project in the first place. At the end of the book I added a section called "the itty bitty details". As the author I know why I picked each word and photograph for the book, but years from now I want Sam to know the reasons.

If you would take the time to vote for my book in the contest I would be SO grateful! I am hovering in the top 20-25 (out of 1,400+ entries!) and even one vote makes all the difference and shoots me to 17-19the place. (Ultimately I need to get to the top 15 to make it to the final round where I will be eligible for the $3,000 prize)

All you have to do is click on the badge below and register with Blurb if you don't already have an account. It takes one minute to enter your email, pick a unique username, and a password. Click on the little box to avoid getting emails from blurb and then you are eligible to vote for my book. (You can only vote for my book one time.)

Vote for my book in the
Best Blurb Books Contest!

Voting ends Nov. 9 View other entries »

With one book down I am even more motivated to complete the others and have the final copies in our home to enjoy. (Sam's will arrive tomorrow via FedEx - YEAH!!!!!!) This round I am focusing on Julia's Mixbook.com book and I chose Holding Hands for the letter H. Already she is showing her desire to do things herself and doesn't like to hold my hand as often so I'm really glad I took this picture of us walking to the park two Springs ago. Is there anything better than a chubby little hand tucked safely in your hand?

Now it's your turn to share an Alphabitty Moment from your kid(s), either in a scrapbook page or by posting photographs to your blog.....

Wordless Wednesday - Stuck in the Mud

It's a toss up

Heads?


Or tails?


It's a toss up.


Or is it?