Five

I can't believe my big girl is five. Where did the time go?

We celebrated Caroline's birthday Saturday by letting her choose all the things she wanted to do for the day. Here's a recap of our day.

First Daddy went and bought her a special birthday breakfast donut, chocolate covered with sprinkles (emphasis on the sprinkles). She opened her presents from us too--Baby Alive baby doll clothes, a Barbie computer, and new shoes.

Then we went to a paint-your-own-pottery place. She's been begging to do this for almost a year, and was so excited to actually get to go. She chose to paint Snow White. (of course. it had to be a princess.)

Then we went to the movies and watched Tangled. I failed to get a picture of the girls because I was too busy trying to convince them that even though the theater is dark and has loud noises, it really IS a safe place to go. Once we got them to our seats, they were fine. And didn't they want to leave at the end.

And we topped the day off with some Gigi's cupcakes. Caroline chose to get "Strawberry Love". ;) A perfect ending to a really fun day!

Caroline at five:
-Is really coming in to her own.
-loves learning her letters, numbers, and learning to read
-really likes to play board games especially checkers
-now has the Dorothy Hamill 'do, since her hair is finally growing out. hee!
-asks really poignant questions about her faith, Jesus, and heaven
-LOVES her Baby Alive doll. She's named her Kayla.
-Still tells the same "knock, knock" jokes and laughs her head off every time.

She's a great big sister, the energy of our household, who has a quirky fashion sense, a love for all things creative, is very curious and wants to know "why", but also has a very loving heart.

Baby Alive

Which one of these is not like the others? giggle!

When I laid McClain on the bed so I could help the girls with their pjs, they laid their Baby Alives next to him. It totally cracked me up, so I had to take a pic. Corny, I know. But we've been stuck inside/at home since Sunday and I *may* be starting to lose it! The tiniest things are starting to amuse me now.

You are my Sunshine

I did this layout for the weekly challenge over on the American Crafts blog. This week they were focusing on the Details, sweet little embellishments that were just the right touch for my layout. I used 3 of them--the sunshine, the hot air balloon, and the flower. I also used their City Park line, which I loooove! There's more to come from that line! I love it! :)

Powder

This time we got powder.
Seven inches of it!!!

And this one can't stay out of it!!

It's the first thing she asks right after breakfast--
"Can I go outside? Puh-leeease?"
And she spent so much time out in the
backyard today that we were
afraid she was going to have frostbite.

Tomorrow will be Day 3 of it.
I *might* just have to venture out in it myself.
We'll see...

Today.

Today this is how she dressed...bedhead, gymnastics leotard underneath a Belle gown.

Today she wore her new feather boa and practiced her curtsy.

Today she got scared by what the weather looked like outside.

And today we had this conversation:

C: Mommy, I'm scared. It looks like it's going to be a tornado!
Me: It's not going to be a tornado. It's just windy and it's getting dark.
C: But Mommy I'm scared.
Me: It's okay Caroline, God is in control. His Bible says the He knows the plans He has for you.

Then...
C: But Mommy, what if He loses them???

I chuckled and said, "He won't baby. He won't." And kept chuckling.

I love her sweet innocence and her desire to know everything.

January PageMaps is up

And I had the privilege of being a layout contributor again! Woohoo! I was so excited when Becky asked me back! :)

Here's the sketch I got to work with:

And then my interpretation of it:

Products used:
Crate Paper chipboard, pp, and sticker strip. Echo Park pp, and stickers.
Cricut Expression and Winter Woodland cartridge

I seem to be enjoying the winter/snowflake theme lately. I mean, we got so much snow over Christmas that I can't help it! ;) The journaling reads, "One December morning you woke up and saw that it had snowed. So at breakfast you prayed, 'Oh, and God? Thank you for the snow I wish for for Christmas!' Too cute!" I love her and her candid honesty. So sweet, so innocent. I knew right away that I'd include that quote in a layout somewhere.

Favorite projects of 2010

Although creating layouts will always be my absolute favorite, I ventured out more in the project world in 2010 and created some altered art, cards, and other "stuff" that I really like too. Here are some of those.

First some cards. I don't make
that many, and really I have a card complex.
I usually don't like the cards I make.

And some altered projects.
I usually do these as seasonal home
decor projects, because I like to
enjoy some pretties around the house too.

And a mini-album. (The yellow
is not a part of it, but used a background
for photo purposes.)