Thank you

I just want to say thank you to ALL our service men and women who've chosen to sacrifice their lives for the sake of our freedom. I know that I take it for granted much of the time, but knowing that our younger generations can live safely in a land of freedom because of their sacrifice means a great deal to me. I'm/We're especially thankful for those in our family who've fought for our sake: cousin Bobby, Pop, Daddy Bill, and Granddaddy. Thank you for your love and devotion to our country!

Home.

As much as I love taking trips, it's nice to come home. And this time it's after 7 sun-filled days at the lake. I love love love the lake, it's one of my favorite places on Earth--seriously. But let me tell ya, doing it at 30 wks. pregnant is exhausting! Part of me kept forgetting I was pregnant, like hopping on the SeaDoo to take a ride on the rough waters, or playing with the girls in the water only to have someone try to use my belly as a jumping off point. But then I was constantly reminded of HOW pregnant I am thanks to all the steps it takes to walk back up to the house! Anyway...here are some of the highlights.

Squinchy faces :)

LOTS of cousin time!

ladies with the babies
It's fun to watch our "little" family grow.
Two of us are expecting this summer and fall.

I'll say it again, THIS ONE has no fear!

And how many great-granddaughters
can say they've ridden a Sea Doo with their
Great Grandfather? Especially one that wears
a "do rag"? Not many.
It's something I treasure.

And I did a photo shoot for these little guys.
They'll be ONE next month!

Well that's about it. I have LOTS more pictures, but I don't want to bore you with them all. We had a really good time. It was so good to catch up with family, relax, swim, and get some sun. But it's nice to be home too. Laundry and another nap are calling my name!

Evening at the park plus some

The last 2 nights we've spent about an hour at the park/playground. Last night we took C's bike and SK's scooter, and tried to walk around the track. We MAYBE made one lap around it thanks to the creek being a huge diversion. But the lighting was good, so I decided to try to snap some pics of the girls. They weren't for it as much as I was. (PS--these are straight-out-of-the-camera. I plan on cropping and editing when I get a chance.)




Tonight we went again, and lucky us, there was a bluegrass band playing out on the wrap-around porch of the antebellum house that sits in the middle of the property. It was so nice to sit on a park bench, tap my feet to the music, and watch the girls play on the playground. Doesn't get much better than that! :D

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In other fun stuff, I've been playing with some Girls Paperie papers and this is one of my favorites so far. I used a sketch from Studio Calico by Maggie Holmes (another one of my scrap crushes) and I'm really happy with the way it turned out!




I love that these papers are vintage-y, and can be used for boys OR girls. Of course I had to order more so that I could make a banner to go over Mac's crib. Which, by the way, I'm officially 30 wks. today! Yay! So just 8-9 wks. left. I'm totally not ready yet! eeek!

Okay, well enjoy what's left of your weekend!

Some My Little Shoebox for ya!

I've been playing with some My Little Shoebox papers lately, and they're so fun to create with! I had the perfect pictures for some of their lines, one of which was this page, "Bakerella".

Caroline insisted on making cupcakes for Easter. Sooo that's exactly what we did. It was her first time using the mixer by herself, isn't she a hoot?! I totally didn't ask her or prompt her to pose like that. She's al naturale!

Then I made this little card. I hand-cut a LOT of little pieces to make, and then popped them up for some dimension.



And last is this door hanger I made for Mac's room. I doubt it'll actually "work" since his sisters seem to be rather loud lately, but at least it's cute! hee!



Well, that's about it. Thanks for popping in!
Hope your week is going well!

Training wheels

Josh came home with a new bicycle last night. Apparently one of the guys at work was cleaning out his garage. Josh put training wheels on it this morning, and off she went, sort of...



Concentrating on pedaling. It's hard work you know.


Smile for Mommy! (Because I've trained her well! hee!)


She was so happy with herself! "I did it! I did it!"


Off she goes! I think she took a tiny bit of my heart with her. I don't like this whole growing up thing.

And not to be outdone by her big sister...

Same dress as the other day? Why yes it is. It's one of two that she insists on wearing everyday (because "it matches my bed"! Of all things!)

Week in review

Okay, so it took me a week to get back on the ol' blog. Whoops!

Not too much going on, but it's still enough to keep me "busy". Little things happened this week like Caroline can now swing by herself by "pumping" her legs. She also caught a butterfly while we were on a picnic and was very proud of herself. Sarah Kate finally let me pull her hair into pigtails. And my wallet has been missing now for 8 days. :( Little rascals like to play with my purses, delve into my lip gloss, and this time they've lost my wallet. We've checked all the usual "secret" hiding spots. Now we're just praying that it shows up somewhere--it's in the house I know!

Caroline and the butterfly



SK in pigtails


It's a good thing she's cute, because I tell ya, she's giving me a run for my money lately. (Sigh) I can't wait til the "terrible THREEs" are over with!

This week I also finished up 3 layouts I'd been working on and kinda got lost in the shuffle. The first 2 are using pieces from Noel Mignon's "Playdate" kit, and the last one is with her latest kit, "Lemonade Stand".

"Mommy and Caroline"


"Sail Away"


"Be Yourself"

The "Lemonade Stand" brought out a little of the shabby chic in me. I love its pastel colors, soft gray ink, and the KI lace. (I used the Glimmer Mist from the Playdate kit to make the lace pinker.)

Well, that's about it for this week! Thank GOODNESS it's Friday! :D

Hope y'all have a happy weekend!

A Sister like you

Last weekend I celebrated NSD (Nat'l. Scrapbook Day for those who don't know) by going to a crop with some of my favorite girls! There I opened up my Noel Mignon "Playdate" kit, and while chit chatting, I absentmindedly started playing with the papers and embellishments. Before I knew it I'd basically scrapped the page! It'd practically worked itself. I LOVE when that happens! After a few additions when I got home (because my girls had swiped my black sticker letters...) this was the final result:

A Sister Like You



I wish the bling, pearls, and rhinestones shined in the photo like they do in person. It's such a fun shiny little LO. Lots of Lily Bee here too. And I love that Noel adds unique items to her kits like the red and blue round playing cards seen here. It's so fun to use novelty items that I'd never think of grabbing.

Anyway, this makes 5 LOs posted in 5 days. (But who's counting?!) I still have more in progress, but this weekend I hope to help build our above-ground vegetable garden. So there may not be as much time for scrapping. But then we'll see. My creativity has kicked in with a vengeance and I just can't stop.

If I don't post tomorrow, hope you have a great weekend!

I just couldn't help myself

You know when you're on a roll, then you're on a roll. And well, playing with the Cosmo Cricket sketch that Gudrun created was just so fun that I HAD to do another. I just couldn't help it. And of course I couldn't stop until it was done (ahem, hello 1am haven't seen you in a while).

This time though I switched seasons. I used some CC scraps from my Noel Mignon "Mill Street" kit (sold out) to create this one.

"Picking out Pumpkins"

Playing with some Cosmo

In case you haven't been by the Cosmo Cricket blog lately, they have a new mid-season release that I'm in LOVE with called DeLovely. One way to win some is to complete a layout with this week's sketch. So, that's exactly what I did. (and am crossing my fingers tightly that I win that paper! hee!)

Here's the sketch that Gudrun came up with:


And my take on it, using scraps of their "Snorkel" line.

"She (hearts) boat rides"

Journaling: "Even at the age of 2 Caroline loves boat rides so much, it's the first thing she asks to do."

Lily Bee and ballet

Those two go together, right? Of course they do! I'd love to share one of my latest favorite layouts, created with Lily Bee's "Lovely" line. And if you'll allow me to share just a wee bit more about ballet, this proud mama has to brag.

First up is this layout using a sheet of Lily Bee's "Lovely" that sweet Virginia gave to me as a "happy" for NSD. Also I used some flowers, metal buttons, and a tag that Katie gave me. (Why did I not realize that it's good etiquette to bring happy's to crops?! Next time, girls. Next time.) So anyway, I used my NSD goodies to make a layout about my sister and our kids.

"Now we're mommies"

This photo made me realize how "old" my sister and I are. Now we're both mommies. BUT it's strengthened our bond and given us more to talk about (like we needed MORE). It's been a fun experience to share with her.

And then, if you'll allow me to brag just a weee bit more about my little ballerina, she did SUCH a great job in her recital. Mom tells a story that when I was 4 I just stood on the stage and waved. Nothing else. But Caroline followed all her teacher's moves, made sure she stood in the correct spot, and really did an outstanding job! SHE loved that she got flowers afterwards! (And has been pretending she's a bride ever since. Ha!)



Okay I'm done gushing now. Thanks for listening!

Oh, and can you believe that I've blogged 3 times in the last 3 days! Yay me! Think I can go 5 for 5? We'll see.

Happy "hump" day! And Happy Cinco de Mayo! :D

Recital night!

We're all excited that tonight's Caroline's first ballet recital. And among the craziness that May and recitals bring, I was able to capture a few photos of a very excited (read not too cooperative) little girl in her costume.






And of course I got a little scrappy with it too! ;)



Hope you're enjoying your week!

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Inspiration from The Color Room

In case you didn't know, there's a new ning.com community called The Color Room. Every 2 (?) weeks the girls on the sight choose a "room" inspired by interior design complete with a color scheme and a sketch to get you going.

Last week The Color Room chose to "the sun room" as their inspiration, and this was the design board they came up with.


So I took the inspiration of "the sun room" and created my LO with a lot of Prima goodies I'd been hoarding! ;)



Color Palette #4 is now posted, and is "the family room". It has a very Fall-ish feel to it with burnt oranges, rusty reds, and chocolate browns. I'm hoping to get going on this one soon!

Until then...I'm trying to survive this first Monday in May. It's ballet recital dress rehearsal tonight for us, with family coming in town tomorrow (read I desperately need to clean this house). So my May has started off with a bang! BUT be sure to check back tomorrow. Caroline sure is a cute little ballerina if I do say so myself! ;)