Zzzzzz

Happy Monday everyone!

Man, I am beat today but it was soooo worth it!  :)  As seems to be our way, we had another incredibly busy, but awesome weekend.  Friday night L had a friend sleep over and then Saturday night she had a gymnastics meet.  I know there are parents that dread their children's competitions but I really do love going to these meets along with K's soccer games.  She did really well on the balance beam again this meet, even got her back walk-over which she has been struggling with a bit.  Funny, how this used to be one of her worst events.

L really loves her coaches at her new gym.  I can see why!  Gotta love a coach that has so much fun with her team. :)

We got up early Sunday morning so we could head to Indy for the Super Bowl celebration.  We have kept in touch with some good friends of ours from Bloomington and were so happy that they were able to meet us there. These girls really miss each other.  I am so glad that we still get to spend time with them!

Of course we had to get our picture taken in front of the giant roman numerals.

They had some cool activities too.  Sadly, Kyle's 6'7 foot height was too much for L and she lost the 100 yard run. :)

According to my children it was much more difficult than it appeared. LOL

We greeted by some very ornery looking football players.  Look at that face!  Ha! Yes, I did get a few pictures of my children that were a little less possessed looking. :)

 What a view to end the night with don't you think?  What a wonderful day!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Have a wonderful week!

Looking for the Brighter Side

Good Morning everyone!

Yesterday morning I dropped L and then got ready to take a trip to Indy to meet my sweet friend Amanda.  I miss her terribly and have been looking forward to this lunch for several weeks.  As I was driving down the highway I was thinking about the day ahead, (where we would have lunch, a few of the stores I wanted to visit, the millions of things I wanted to talk to her about) when my car started vibrating.  I pulled over, got out in the pouring rain on a VERY busy highway to see that I definitely had a flat.  It took 5, yes 5, phone calls to information to find a tow truck to come get my car (I REALLY need to get a smart phone) and then I called Amanda.  Looking back on the day, it was a great day!  I am not being sarcastic I promise.  There are so many things to be thankful for. I am thankful that I was close enough to Indy that Amanda could come get me.  I am thankful we were close to a great restaurant that we could have lunch while we waited for the tow truck.  I am thankful that I got to spend the day shopping with one of the best friends I could ever hope for, while my car was being fixed.  What better way to spend that time?   There are days that you definitely have to strive to look for the good things in life.  I have friends who are dealing with some heavy issues and I would never want to downplay anyone's battles but I do believe we need to look for the good in all situations.  

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."  John 16:33

 So how about a little sunshine on this dreary, winter day?

I also have a layout to share with you today.  Last week the designers for Emma's focused on stickers for our  blog projects.  I will admit, I LOVE stickers.  It makes me laugh because the first thing that pops in my head when I say tha,t is an image of those sticker books I had as a kid.  Did you ever have one of those?  You know, the Lisa Frank sticker books with the glossy pages to collect our stickers in. LOL That makes me smile.

Anyway, my new sticker collection is a bit more grown up (I hope!)  :) I have been scrapping all sorts of photos lately.  Loving looking back and finding photos that have been neglected and need to be scrapped and then doing layouts with brand new photos like these.  Took these photos over New Year's when we visited my in-laws.  I just adore that focal photo!

That cute banner was made using these mixed cardstock stickers by Lily Bee. Of course the title was created using Alphabet Stickers by Webster's Pages. Love, love, love ALL of their alpha stickers.

Lots of yummy stickers on here but these are some of my favorites.  Jillibean Soup has all these great labels that are wonderful for both cards and layouts.  You can find a complete supply list here.

Have a wonderful week everyone!

Lazy weekend

Happy Wednesday everyone! We are half way to another wonderful weekend and here I am posting about last weekend.  I really planned on doing a post yesterday but the day managed to get away from me somehow.  

We had such a great weekend.  DH was gone most of last week so we stayed home all weekend and just relaxed and spent time together as a family.  I have to say, as much as I enjoy watching the girls compete and taking them to different places on the weekends,  I really do enjoy these times at home too. 

Right before we moved last year, L was involved in a pioneer unit at school.  They had to research different aspects of pioneer life and then do a project.  Her paper and project was "Soap Making".  I never realized how much time and energy was put into making soap.  Thankfully we did not have to make the soap the old fashion way but instead found a kit at Hobby Lobby.  That was the beginning of a new hobby for L.  She just loves making soap and pulls the kit out from time to time.  

She made these for all of her gymnastics coaches.

We also had an intense game of Sorry.  Can you believe I was the first one to get all of my pieces either in home or the safety zone and I still ended up coming in third! That darn number 1 eluded me for way too long! LOL

We had another gorgeous inspiration photo over at Emma's Paperie this last week.  Truthfully, when I looked at the photo, I was not completely sure what colors I wanted to play off of.  They are not usually the colors I am drawn to for projects.  But after I started digging through my paper and pulling out stuff that worked with that photo, everything started to come together.  This winter goody jar is completely inspired by the very talented Linda Albrecht. Her use of glitter is amazing.

You can find a complete list of supplies and see the photo here.

There is also a new challenge up at Challenge Me Happy this week! We were challenged to create a layout using the word NEW in the title.  Please come along and play.  There is a fabulous kit from Little Yellow House to be won!

Have a wonderful week everyone!!!!

Back to Normal

Well.....not sure we are ever NORMAL. LOL

As much as I would love to have the girls here with me, I do like getting back into our routine also.

I have been doing a bit of scrapbooking, which got pushed to the back burner during the Christmas rush.  The girls are back to their various sports.  L went to her first skating practice of the new year.  (not to self-need to get pictures of her).  So skating started as a fun, side activity about 9 months ago, soon after we moved.  She thought it would help her become a better roller blader.  Well, it seems she is a decent skater.  She has excelled through the Learning to Skate levels and actually completely skipped level 4.  So last night the head coach tells us that she needs to start their "Bridge" program if she going to continue to improve.  Of course this means more money and practices are on Fridays (the same night as gymnastics).  Not sure where we are going to go from here. I am very glad that she is doing well and likes it a lot but she is not sure she wants to compete as a skater.  We'll see.

The girls have had time to use some of their Christmas presents now that things have slowed down too.  They usually get one gift from Santa that he thinks they will really like.  Looks like he hit the mark this year.  One of the only things K asked for this Christmas was a pair of crutches. (who knows???)  LOL  Actually she has been infatuated with doctors and medicine for as long as I can remember.  She wanted to be a doctor for quite a few years and it would really suit her.  She has recently changed to wanting to be a teacher Hmmm...who am I to argue with that FABULOUS choice of profession. (in case you are wondering, yes, I taught for 7 years before the girls were born) LOL

L got a reading chair for Christmas from Santa.  Although she did not actually ask him for this, he thought it would be a great gift for my reader and he was right.  She has been spending a lot of time snuggled up in here.

I have a layout to share with you today, as well.  Our manufacturer focus for December at Emma's was Hambly.  As soon as I saw the Remnant Transfers I knew what I wanted to do for my layout.  The layout came together so quickly and I love the way it turned out.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!   Have a fabulous week!

Home again, home again

jiggity jig.  That IS a children's rhyme right?  I am not completely losing it am I?  LOL

Having two families that do not live near each other can be a little difficult around the holidays.  Our solution most years is to spend Christmas with one family (this year it was mine) and then celebrate Christmas over New Years with the other side.  We were so lucky to get to see DH's cousin (yes, he only has one!) and her family along with his 2 uncles and aunt.  Since his family is so small and for the longest time my girls had no cousins, Angie's girls filled in that spot so perfectly.  Her oldest is only a couple of months younger than L and they all get along so well.  The family has definitely grown and we managed to get a picture (OK, so not EVERYONE cooperated but what more could you want?)  These kids had such a great time and it was very hard to leave.

So the gift that got passed around the most would have to be L's hat from DH's Uncle John.  :)

 Best gift award (according to both of my girls) was definitely tickets from their grandparents to the Francesca Battistelli concert which include a Meet and Greet before hand. Jeremy Camp will also be there (there mom is very happy about that!) but my girls are more interested in meeting Francesca!

Coolest gift award definitely goes to the one we opened a bit early.  DH and I were told to make sure to have the girls at my in-laws early so they could open a special gift.  My sister-in-law volunteers at the zoo and for a fund raiser they sell tickets to get to feed the tiger.  How cool is that???  So we took the girls to zoo Friday afternoon and they got to help prepare the food for the tiger, bear and a few other animals.  Then we got to take it into the cage (the tiger was locked out of course!)  My sister-in-law got a picture of us in the cage.  I hope to share that soon.

My favorite picture from this weekend has to be this one of the girls with their cousins. It just makes me happy. :)

 Have had fun playing with some gorgeous Webster's Pages paper lately. Love the great patterns they use, vintage but with such great colors.  Used mostly the Trendsetter collection on this one.  I needed to do a layout about DD's unique style.  It is not the clothes that she wheres necessarily, but the ones she won't wear.  She absolutely refuses to wear jeans.  She had a outdoor field trip a couple of months ago and we actually had to buy her some jeans because she did not own a single pair.  I used to buy them for her only to have them sit in the closet and never make it onto her body.  So I gave up!

I have also decided to give the Project 365 a try this year.  I am going to try and add it to my margin on the right if you are interested.

Thanks so much for visiting today.  Have a wonderful Wednesday!