"Vacation"

John mentioned that I went to a scrapbooking conference last week. I love his daily reports on being a stay-at-home dad for a few days. They did so well, I should go away more often!

I left for CT Wed afternoon. This meant leaving Ethan with a sitter for a few hours. That was the worst part. Ethan is very attached right now and screamed so much it made me want to cry. But he apparently did OK after he took a nap.

Then I spent the next 3 days scrapbooking. Those of you that know me well enough, know that I'm not really crafty. I cross-stitch, but that's just following directions. I'm not creative. So needless to say, I wasn't so sure I would enjoy this conference.

I had a GREAT time. It was focused on albums, so we had one large one, one small one, and six mini classes. The mini classes taught different techniques, but we always finished with some sort of mini album (or got part way through). The small album was 'My Favorites' and each of the pseudo-celebrities that was teaching at the conference planned a page. They rotated so we each finished with 9 pages. This was a great way to see the different styles (and to get more free stuff). Did I mention that we got free stuff? In every class, we walked in to a stack of supplies that were ours to keep, and at each larger event, we received a tote bag full of supplies! Our tuition was cheaper than the cost of all stuff we left with! (If you are looking to stock up, I recommend a CKU conference.)

OH! The big album. This was the reason I went. I decided to work on Ethan's First Year. The album that mom and I chose was 'About a Boy/Story of a ' (She was doing my sister Hannah) taught by Kolette Hall. It was our second choice, but I am so glad we didn't make it into our first. Hers was the longest album and the biggest at 12x12. Kolette's layout are beautiful. I'm not a big fan of pastels or overly done pages, so her class was perfect. I did have to alter things a bit because her album focused on celebrating how the person became who they are. That doesn't really work for a baby. But I think I did a good job. It was also a wonderfully uplifting class to be in. Kolette's husband is a paraplegic and they have great stories and an amazingly positive outlook on life. (If you are ever looking for a motivational speaker, I highly recommend Jason Hall.) They have a very hard life, but it never stops them.

OK. I keep veering off track! Ethan's album. It's so cute! Well, the 7 pages I've done are so cute. Only 19 more to go! I'm doing 'The A-Zs of Ethan's 1st Year'. I finished Arrival, Johansen and Gibson Families, Uncles Aunts and Cousins, Outings, and Pals. These are 12x12 pages so our scanner isn't big enough, but I will try to take some pictures and post them.