No Regrets!!

Today's Digichick blog challenge really speaks to me - it's about what you would do differently if you had to do it all over again. Here's my take using Skin to Skin by ViVa Artistry. Come on over to the blog and join us for the challenge - the prizes are AWESOME!

Back to blogging!

Lots going on - not much time to blog!! We had a great time on Sunday celebrating Alexa's sixth birthday (coming up at the end of the month) and my nephew Collin's fourth birthday (was at the beginning of the month). It's so wonderful to be able to get the cousins together pretty much any weekend! Here's a layout I created of the joint cake!

Credits: Party! by Design by Heather T.

And here's a layout I created of one of my favorite photos from our wedding, just because I'm feeling all sappy towards Adam lately:
Credits: Sweet Innocence by Edeline Marta and Charlize Creations, and A Little Chaotic by Nikki Epperson

You can snag all these items for 20% off today - they're Digichick new releases!

Return to Sender

I'm sure many of you have been following the recent story of the woman who sent her 7 year old son, adopted from Russia, back to Russia because she alleges she was afraid for the safety of her family and herself. This story makes me really, really angry. Having adopted two children from Russia, I know how it can be done "right." My children are the biggest joy in my life, and I feel blessed every single day. But Adam and I were prepared for them - and although we are fortunate that neither of our children have behavioral or emotional issues, we were prepared that it could happen.

So, I'm angry with Ms. Hansen, for having unrealistic expectations about what adopting an older child who had been institutionalized for a good part of his life would be like. Every - EVERY - source we consulted before we decided to adopt internationally explained the potential issues with institutionalized children - developmental delays, attachments disorders, behavioral problems, even PTSD. I'm angry that Ms. Hansen apparently didn't obtain the counseling and medical help her family needed. I'm angry she didn't reach back out to her adoption agency for help.

I'm also angry with the agency, for not being aware of the problems in this family. Russia REQUIRES post-placement visits by a social worker, with a full report delivered back to Russia, immediately after placement, at 6 months and 1, 2 and 3 years. This woman and her child are either fantastic actors, or the agency didn't do enough to find out what was really going on in the household. I also have to wonder how this woman ever made it through the screening process, which for many Russian regions requires a battery of psychological tests. Was her screening rubber stamped the same way her post placement visits were?

We'll probably never know what really happened in this case. But in addition to being angry, I'm really sad for all the families - prepared families - who are likely to experience delays in getting their precious children home. Been there, done that - and it sucks.

Thursday already??

So, we're in Mexico, and have been since last Friday. We've been having a blast at the beach and the pool, but having a 22 month old puts a bit of a cramp in our activities! I've had some time to scrap when we're in early for the evening. The first two layouts are of photos taken here, on vacation. Enjoy!

Credits: Gimme a Double by Nikki Epperson, Inspirational Collection - I Wish by Edeline Marta

Credits: Seasons of Change {Summer} by Karen Lewis and Carolyn Rose Kite

Credits: template by Jacinda @ The Digichick, Kelly Girl by Kelley Mickus, Kellie Mize and Kelleigh Ratzlaff

It's another blog hop-hop-hop!

I love Kelleigh Ratzlaff's blog hops because her creative team is truly amazing and I always get so much inspiration from seeing a bunch of work using her templates all in one day!

Want to play along with us? Visit all the hop stops (list is below the photo) and then go to Kelleigh's site to cast your vote for your favorite project via the comments.

Here's my project using the Clover Box Template Set and digital papers from Sweet Shoppe Designs designer contributions to the January 2010 Digi Files.

You're here ----> Tracy - http://tracykosofsky.blogspot.com/
Sally - http://arainbowslife.blogspot.com/
Laura - http://www.lauras-little-corner.blogspot.com/
Juli - http://julifreshfish.blogspot.com/
Julie - http://mycrazylifeasamomandawife.blogspot.com/
Christy - http://scrapsofme.com/
LuAnn - http://livelaughcreate-luann.blogspot.com/
Jacinda - http://www.digikiwichick.blogspot.com/
Viva - http://vivaartistry.blogspot.com/
Dalis - http://www.stampergirl.com
Holly - http://lv2scrapnjp.blogspot.com
Sharyn - http://analteredlife.wordpress.com/
Karen Lewis - http://scrappingmum.blogspot.com/
Linda - http://www.yamstamps.com
Alice - http://aliceslittlewonderland.blogspot.com/
Mel - http://domesticatedlady.com
Sunghee - http://www.creativityinprogress.com/blog/
Carolina - http://creativepad.typepad.com
Debbie - http://www.debbieseyer.com/my_weblog/
Kim - http://paperrocksscissors.blogspot.com/

Have fun!

Yummy New Releases

It's new release day again at The Digichick - 20% off all new releases! There's so much fantastic eye candy in the store today - unreal! Here are a few layouts I created - credits under each. Enjoy!
Credits: Fru Fru by Mari Koegelenberg and Jan Hosford

Credits: I Love the Music by Anja J.

Credits: Spring '10 by Karla Dudley Designs

A layout do-over

Usually, you see do-overs of old layouts. I decided to do-over one I did just earlier this week!

Many people will tell you they scrapbook to preserve their family memories, or to give future generations a glimpse at what their lives were like "way back when." My reasons are much more selfish - creating layouts is my passion. It gives me an outlet for my artistic side that is chained behind a desk job all day. Given that, I tend to focus on the visual aspects of layouts and I often neglect to tell the story.

I was thinking today about what a difficult stage Alexa is going through - doing things that she has been told over and over not to do. We were actually getting really concerned but after a bunch of research, we think it's just an appropriate developmental stage. I wanted to get this down on paper, so I took a layout that I did for one of my creative teams (Mari Koegelenberg's), refreshed the photo with something more recent, and added a bunch of journaling. Here's the before and after:
Before:

After:
I'm really pleased with the change!