Stars, Stripes, and Swimming

Today is a double feature, two pages created with a patriotic collection from My Mind's Eye. The first layout uses a Starting Point by Shimelle and features two photos from last year's Disney World vacation. Shimelle's basic layout jumpstarted this page nicely. Once the background papers were down, the rest was easy, with small changes to title and journaling placement.

Don't you just love those little birds holding the twine?! They are wood veneers from Studio Calico, and with dozens of birds in the pack, they will be showing up often on my pages. At first I was worried that their small size would be a detriment, but their size means they can fit anywhere and they make the cutest accessories. I'll be trying to fit them in whenever I can now.

With all of those red, white, and blue papers sitting out on my desk, I thought it would be nice to do a second page before putting it all away. The perfect photo was on my desk as well. I had recently rescued it from tape and plastic (a makeshift photo frame my daughter had crafted), carefully wiped off smudges and residue, and now hope to keep it safe in the scrapbooks. It was from the summer of 1998, the second year my swimming-obsessed daughter was chosen for the state zone team, and this one picture of the Louisiana team was her only photographic memento. Those were such exciting times for her, as she was preparing to attend LSU and swim for the Tigers! 

There are a lot of swim quotes I could have included on the page, but decided on a movie quote from A League of Their Own. "It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard everyone would do it. It's the hard that makes it great." It says a lot. Every one of the kids in that photo knows about hard: two-a-day practices, 5:00 AM workouts, going to school with wet hair and smelling of chlorine. Making this elite team was quite an achievement for Laura.

Now my youngest has decided to swim. At 12 years old, he's getting a late start, but Kevin is just as enamored with the sport as his older sister. I just want him to have fun. It will be great to have another swimmer in the family.