Our Golf Course

We were out doing yardwork one day and Tony got a little distracted...lol. So naturally the rest of us joined in on the fun. These moments are the ones that I love to capture. Not necessarily a holiday or special occasion, just us spending time together and enjoying a beautiful day outside.

Thanks for the classic pic Mel!

I couldn't resist scrapping this one. Mel sent me this picture the other day. Believe it or not, he wasn't even drunk when he did this...lmao!!!

First Day of School

Well, today was the kids' first day of school. Brody's in 4th grade and Holly started Kindergarten! They are not supposed to grow up this fast. The morning was pretty traumatic for Holly. It took me almost an hour to get her dressed. She just did not want to leave her friends at daycare. The tears were just flowing. The only way I got her to stop was to tell her she could wear make-up...LOL!!!! That did the trick. She was completely fine after that. So I put some clear lip gloss on her and curled her hair and we were off to school.

Brody woke up with no problem except for the fact that he kept asking me if he really had to go...lol. I think he's pretty scared about the amount of work that they will be doing this year (he's not the only one...lol).

By the time I picked them up at daycare this afternoon, Holly couldn't wait to get back. I think she had a great time. Brody's excited that he has so many of his friends in his class this year (we'll have to wait and see if that is a good thing or not...lol). Here are just a few (and I mean few) of the pics that I took this morning. I think I wound up taking about 50 pictures...lol. I couldn't help myself. My babies are no longer babies!!! boohoo, boohoo!!!

Celebration!

Well, last night Jerry and Dana got married. All my husband's old high school buddies were there (not like we never see them anyway..lol). We all had a great time together. It was nice to be able to get out of the house and have a little "adult" time together. We even got to go out after the wedding reception was over!! That's a rare treat in my household...lol.

After getting home from a fun night out, Tony and I decided we might as well go ahead and eat breakfast since it was almost morning anyway...lol. Man! Those hashbrowns and eggs were awesome!! Here a just a few of the fun pics that I captured:

Craft Plastic Wedding Card

We are attending a wedding tonight and instead of giving them the usual card with a gift card inside, I decided to try out a new trend in the scrapbooking world; craft plastic. It's like an extra thick transparancy. I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out actually. I like the fact that you have to be extra creative because you can see through it, so you have to be careful about the placement of things. A normal card usually only takes me about 30 minutes or so to create, but this was more of a challenge. I spent about 2 hours on it, but it is also the first one I've ever done, so I was trying lots of new techniques. Enjoy!

Meet the Teacher Night at School

It's that time of year again, and the kiddos are heading back to school. With one big difference. Now I have two starting school! (boohoo, boohoo, boohoo)!!

Brody has this routine down pat. He's starting the 4th grade! I can't believe that this is his last year in Elementary School. Where has the time gone? We walked into the classroom and his new teacher (Ms. Beck) yelled "Brody!". Apparantly they know each other...lol. We got all of his supplies put away and then it was time to head over to Holly's new classroom. I think I was more terrified than she was.

We walked in the classroom and Mrs. Jannsen walked over and introduced herself. Of course I had to pry Holly off my leg, she's a little shy..lol, but she warmed up to her pretty quick. We took a quick walk around the room and found her desk. She sat right down and started unloading her supplies. Of course I got paperwork duty..lol.

I was doing OK until the Mrs. Jannsen handed me a little red cardstock heart and asked me to write a note on it for Holly. She said that they will keep them in the pencil box and whenever they are missing mom and dad, they can pull it out and get a little comfort. That's when it hit me. My baby is actually starting Kindergarten! I'm not ready for this at all. It was all I could do to keep myself from crying. But I composed myself and wrote her a note and then handed it to dad so he could write her one on the other side.

I managed to keep it together, but come Tuesday morning it's going to be a completely different story...lol. I've actually considered attending Kindergarten again...lol!!! I'll have lots of snapshots to share on Tuesday of their first day. It's going to be an exciting day for them both (if I can pry myself away from the school and actually leave them there...lol!!).

Altered Picture Frame

OK, so my dear friend Chris allowed me to use her precious little babies for this experimental project. My Mom created one of these for their beloved cats and it was soooo cute that I had to give it a try! Thanks MOM!!!

I had to try out my new Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 program. It was so easy to create those pops of color within the pictures. I really like how it just made the pictures pop off the page with that yummy Sassafrass patterned paper.

I think it turned out pretty cute. I hope that it will help preserve the memories of the fun they had that day with their Aunt Kei!

The World Through Your Eyes

OK, this is the last post for tonight I swear! I have a very addictive personality if you haven't noticed...lol. I actually created this LO of Brody for a Creating Keepsakes contest based on my "Defining Moment".

Brody is such a loving, caring and energetic boy. He changed my life the day he was born. I think his eyes say it all. Who wouldn't love that face!

Not everything in life can be so cut and dry; black and white and Brody has taught me that little by little. Heck, I'm still learning!! Each and everyday is a blessing (even though there are several occassions that I would like to pull my hair out...lol). He is truly a very special little boy.

The Fall; Circle Mini-Album

First off, I have to start out by giving a BIG shout-out to voodoovixen for letting me use her template for this absolutely adorable circle mini album! Thanks voodoo!!

This was just one of the most clever mini albums I had seen in a long time. I haven't added any pics or journaling to it yet because I'm saving it for our annual trip to the pumpkin patch this October. This fantastic line of patterned paper (PP) from We R Memory Keepers just screamed fall! Their pumpkin pics should match great.

The album actually went together fairly quickly. It only took about 4 hours. I was amazed!! Thanks again voodoo for being the best paper artist around!!

My Princess; The Free-Spirit

I completed this layout (LO) last week of Holly. This sweet photo was taken when Brody, Holly, my Mom (Betty) and I went to the KC Zoo in April of this year.

I had never tried a LO with a black background, so I really stepped out-of-my-box with this one. I was inspired by a Creating Keepsakes challenge (using a black background with pops of color). But, I'm pretty pleased with the results. All the words on the page are how I would describe my sweet princess. And of course these are her favorite colors!

My first blog!!!

I was talking to Tony this afternoon, telling him I would like to start a blog about our family. Do you know what his response to that was? "Do you even know what a blog is?" And then he proceeds to laugh. I mean I know that I'm not the most technologically advanced person in the world, but geez! I don't live in a cave you know...lol.

So I figured it was about time that I joined the 21st Century. I mean my 9 year old knows more about this stuff than I do...lol. I'm slowly working my way into the message board and blog world. Don't ask me about iPods, GPS, or whatever new fandangled electronic toy is out there these days. I'm sticking one toe in the water at a time here people...lol. (Give me a break, I just figured out the whole text messaging thing...lmao!!! BTW-Tony was completely shocked that I figured it out..nice husband huh...lol.)

I was starting to feel a little left-out. I mean everyone else I know has a blog, why can't I. So here it is. I hope to keep this fairly up-to-date (OK, I mean I'll try my best...lol). My life is fairly hectic working full-time and getting the kids getting ready to start back to school next week. And I know it's only going to get busier with the homework that is going to come with having two in school. (Trust me, I'm not looking forward to that. One was bad enough...lol!)

So that's it! I made my very first ever blog entry. That wasn't so bad. Thanks for taking time out of your hectic schedule to take a peek into my world. I'll see ya next time!!