Saturday, July 25, 2009

Ikea Run

Yesterday we didn't have any plans but Joe stayed home to make up for all the long days he's been putting in. He knows how I've been wanting to go to Ikea for those Expedit bookshelves for the Den & the girls rooms. I think he got sick of me saying what a mess the girls' rooms were & said we could take a ride to Ikea to pick some up.

I jumped on that!

We measured the girls rooms real quick deciding where they would go but that turned into some furniture re-arrangeing for both rooms & then we left for the store. He put them together right away & the girls & I went to work arrangeing things. Their rooms are roomy now & we're all happy!

Marissa's room BEFORE
Her bed was in the middle of the room...

Marissa's room AFTER....
Gianna's room BEFORE
Her bed was against the outside wall...
We switched her dresser to where her bed was & put the bed where the dresser was on the opposite wall.


The rooms still need to be tweaked a little but overall we all like it so much better!

Today Joe said he measure the Den for another set of the bookshelves & we'll be doing that soon! YEAH!!! Mommy is HAPPY!!!

Another round of "Catch Up"

In case you have nothing better to do, here are the "catch-up"posts that I finally got to....

7-24-09 Vacation Albums

7-20-09 Slip n Slide

7-13-09 How to Keep the Kids Happy

7-12-09 Pool Time

7-11-09 The Jumpy Place

7-4-09 4th of July

6-27-09 My Cousin's Wedding

6-26-09 Not so Spring Cleaning

6-25-09 Earrings

6-19-09 Carnival

6-14-09 Street Fair

Friday, July 24, 2009

Vacation Albums

Awhile back on Laura's blog she had the awesome idea to put together a "Vacation Album". It made me think about all our Disney trips that I haven't scrapped & at the rate I'm going I'll never get to.

So after thinking about it I decided to take all our Disney trips & put them in pocket pages in American Crafts Linen albums grouped by trip.

I got to use a lot of my old stash that I've been hording & at this point couldn't possibly use it all without things looking the same.

Title pageUsed 1st pocket to "date" the trip. I took older papers I had & trimmed them down to 4x6 to use as "filler" pages & use for some simple journaling.I'd also make a simple title "page" to show which park we were at.For some of our pics we bought at the park I included with various sized page protectors. This was 8x8 & I just backed it with some patterned paper I had stashed.Used some American Crafts "mumbo jumbo" alpha stickers as a simple title page on the back...Since we went twice in 1996 I made another title page using different paper I had bought at Disney that I never knew how to use....This was the trip that Joe asked me to marry him...This tells the story of how he proposed.....8x10 pic from the park....my hair was pretty high looking at this now.....That's Joe & I in the last row....I'm screaming the whole way down.....Some pics were processed 3 1/2x5 so I just backed it with some patterned papers...think I'll keep it to black cardstock in the future....That 1st album holds 5 trips to Disney. I'm happy with this set-up & like having them all together. If I feel there's a pic that "needs" to be scrapped then I will but I won't be doing anymore "dedicated" scrapped Disney albums....I still have to finish our 2007 trip!!

So now I'm up to 3 albums & can easily fill more!!
I will eventually do this for our other trips when I'm caught up with these. The 2nd 2 albums still need the journaling on various insert cards but I figure I can easily do those over time. So once again I have Laura to thank for this fantastic idea!!
THANK YOU LAURA!!!
I feel the pressure off my shoulders!!

Wedding March

This is the best wedding march ever!!

Monday, July 20, 2009

Slip n Slide (aka Shiver n Sneeze)

Marissa had her BFF Ariel over today. I had just bought a Slip n Slide & despite the weather being overcast & not that warm, I set it up for the girls.
I warned them the water would be cold but there was no stopping them.
They had this funny habit to hold their breathes while running through the water. See the cheeks?? LOL!! And you can tell by the look on her face it was COLD!!

Ariel was the bravest & went through over & over & over!! She was a trooper. I'm sure by now she has a cold too.Gianna sort of ran through but gave up & rolled over by the edge & continued to roll just cause it annoyed the girls (Ariel's trying to rush her through) LOL!Marissa in one of her giggle fits. Love the look on her face!Gianna looking so innocent despite the evidence of the flower I told her not to pick! She listens well. After taking that pic something flew by me & caught my attention. I first thought it was 2 bees stuck together somehow ***wink wink*** but it was a Hummingbird!!


Cool huh?? Not the clearest pics of it but if you play a little "Where's Waldo" you can spot it.

The girls finally decided they were done with the water & played together on the slide.

They all play so nice together. It was a cool afternoon... literally!!

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Explainations

Awhile ago Joe jokingly asked Marissa....

"What does Mommy do all day long?"

Marissa answered with....

"She blogs, scrapbooks, & orders stuff online."

I still owe her for that!!

Sadly, I have slacking in all three lately. Not that I don't still enjoy blogging, or scrapping or ordering stuff online--who doesn't love happy mail??

I just have been busy with the everyday stuff. Or my computer isn't always cooperative with me & drives me nuts....that kills the urge to blog.

I'm trying to get back in the groove. I will be doing a "Catch-up" marathon with pics. Believe it or not I only just downloaded pics 2 days ago for the 1st time ALL MONTH! That is so not like me. So I will be back to normal....soon!

Monday, July 13, 2009

How to Make Kids Happy

After the busy weekend the girls were restless & had no plans of taking it easy today. I first dragged them to Michael's & found these small 4x4?? printed canvases. I picked out 4 of them thinking I could save them for a rainy day. Little did I know to the girls this meant when we got home!

I gathered all the supplies we'd need & took the girls outside. I set them up with paint, brushes, & water & let them at it.


Gianna with her "Castle"

Her Butterfly

Marissa with her wand....she chose to save her other one for another day.

While the masterpieces dried they went on the swings, while I cleaned up. Then I heard....
"Now what do we do Mom??"
***SIGH***

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Pool Time

This Summer hasn't been much of a Summer but today was one of the warmer days & we hit my sister Marie's pool. The water was on the cool side but everyone managed to have fun. Gianna sat in her usual spot (she hasn't changed much since last year).
My neice Nikki riding this "wave runner". Didn't go very fast at all, but the kids had fun on it. Marissa loves to jump in the water over & over again. My nephew Tyler can now swim in the "deep end"...awesome!
Nikki really turned into a mermaid this year & was all over the pool.


Gianna got a ride from my brother-in-law Danny. We all pretty much floated on those noodles all day long...

After shivering from the cold Gianna caved & got out but she would not give up that water shooter! I have got to find one (or 2) for the girls. Checked in Toys R Us, Target & Walmart...might need to wait till next year...SIGH!!Eventually we convinced the kids to get out of the pool & despite their saying they weren't cold we won. Marissa bundled herself up as best she could & then I turned her into a "mummy". The younger two dried off & played "rock paper scissors". They just look so cute to me here & tiny. Gianna told us that her & Tyler are both 5...turns out she was right since Tyler doesn't turn 6 until Sept. She loved that someone was her "size"!

These two were a riot. I couldn't get Nikki to make a serious face & the sillier she got the more Marissa laughed. After they all dried off my sister brought out stuff to make "S'mores" & we all got gooey.Good Summer fun!!