My Hall of Fame entry has been assembled. It is sitting in a Priority mail box ready for an address. I will go to the post office tomorrow and hand over to them the culmination of 4 months of hard work. The last three days alone have been nothing but assembly, and that is why I have been absent. I am back now and promise to be more faithful with my posts.

Before I head off to get some much needed sleep, I wanted to show you guys a couple of the pages that did not make the final cut. The contest calls for 10 layouts and I had 13. The last one that I am holding out and not showing you is one for Holly’s wedding album. I want her to be surprised. *grin*

I really liked this page, but I feared that the journaling was just too small….

The journaling reads:  I sure do wish that this was Benji’s dog. He would love that. As a matter of fact, all of the boys would love it. They love animals of all kinds, but dogs are perfect for rough and tumble little boys. The decision not to have a dog right now is threefold. First is Tyler’s health. The allergy testing was borderline for dogs, but as a worried mommy, I will always err on the side of caution. Second, our house is too small. Our family of five barely fits into our tiny home as it is. Adding a high-energy dog would be insanity. Third, I want to wait until the boys are older. I want them to learn that taking care of another living thing is a huge resposibility. Feeding, grooming, exercising, and especially cleaning up after the dog are all tasks not to be taken lightly. Getting past each of these hurdles will come with time. Then comes the hard part…finding that perfect dog to be my boys’ best friend.

This next one is growing on me (no pun intended). I didn’t like it much at first. It did not make the cut because it was so radically different from anything else in my entry. I’m sure that I will be submitting it, so hopefully we’ll see it in print someday.

40 days until Hall of Fame winners are notified. <—-the official countdown.