Total Eclipse of the Heart--Literally!

This is too funny not to share!

Birthday Hop

Welcome to

Laura Vegas'

SURPRISE

Birthday Blog Hop!!

I'm not sure if I should mention how "young" Laura is this year, so I won't. But I don't want you to miss all **40** blogs participating in her blog hop! So if you just randomly arrived here, make sure you go back & start from here--->>>> Lynn Ghahary.

I first "met" Laura through the 2Peas website. Found that her work always caught my eye. Eventually we started "talking" through our blogs & then emails. How can I say this in a way I haven't said already (in many blog posts idolizing her)?

LAURA ROCKS!!!

She is a creative GeNiUs in my book! Her style is incredibly inspiring & so "me"! Not only that, I also consider her a friend. No, I haven't had the pleasure of meeting her (maybe someday I'll be that lucky!) but we are so much alike it's not even funny!

So with that I want to wish my friend a Happy & Wonderful, truly AMAZING Birthday!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAURA!!!

Now please leave Laura some birthday love & then HOP over to the next person on our blog hop.....Sierra Renter.

Mini-Olympics 2010

Today the girls' had their "Mini-Olympics" at gymnastics. All the age groups come out representing a different country. This year the girls were both on the "British" team. As the kids go through all the routines each kid takes a turn holding the flag. Here they are on the balance beam.Not going to show all the pics of the routines, basically because they weren't all that great. :(

At the end everyone gets a medal.
The girls are already talking about going back next year. They love it!

We are Family

I'm still in a Wedding/Anniversary sort of mood. After making this LO, I found these pics & went for it.

I can't tell you how happy it makes me that I'm finally scrapping my wedding pics...even if it is 11 years later!!! I don't plan on scrapping the whole album RIGHT NOW but it's just nice to have some done in 12x12 size. It's a nice change from the girly pages I usually do.

And the best part?

All the wonderful memories of the HAPPIEST DAY OF MY LIFE!!!

Used:

MM Wedding collection (papers, embellies, ribbons)

Martha Stewart punch for the hearts.

15 Years & Anniversary Cards

15 years ago today Joe & I went on our 1st date. {{Yes we celebrate it!! LOL!!}}

Can I just say how that just blows my mind?? In just 5 short years we will be together for 20! It really doesn't even feel that long!!

When did time fly by so fast?? It's amazing when you stop & think about it. And it sort of makes me feel **old**.

With that I wanted to share the cards I made for Joe.....

---------
I made these awhile back when I was having trouble getting the mojo going. Just couldn't share them since I made them for Joe for our Anniversary! He says he doesn't check out my blog but you never know! ;)

Used scraps on these...seems like that's all I use when making cards, yet I still have so many scraps in a file folder!! I stamped it with an Ali Edwards' stamp & used Zing embossing powder to make it stand out.

For some reason I keep getting a sort of "dusting" of embossing powder that clings to the card but if I flick it off the powder comes off the stamped image too. Can someone tell me what I'm doing wrong?? The first card I made that looked like this was really smudged with the powder so I re-did it!

Kept this one on the cleaner/easier side.
And another "matchy" card...

All very quick, very easy cards! Best of all they use up the scraps I hate to toss out!

11 Wonderful Years

Eleven years ago today I married my Prince Charming!

ELEVEN. YEARS. AGO.

That blows my mind! It seems like just yesterday we were married. It doesn't feel like 11 years but at the same time it feels like we've been together forever...but in a GOOD WAY!!

I have to say I love him just as much today as I did the day I said "I do."....if not even MORE so.

Every year just gets better. He just rocks my world! Love him--he's a keeper!!

You 2 Make My Heart Flip

The other day I was checking out the blogs I stalk (follow) & came across this one by Sasha Farina that I jumped on. I literally pulled out a pic & some papers & got to it. It came together pretty fast (for me anyway).

This was also a little out of my normal style but I've always loved the look.

I used the MM Noteworthy Hillary line with a few felt flowers from Jillibean Soup (sorry no link). The letters are Thickers & Doodlebug rub ons. All the punches (Lg Butterfly, Sml Butterfly, Hearts) are Martha Stewart--those things are addictive!! I refuse to admit how many I own. ;)~

Field Day

Today was Field Day at school. Both my girls were on the Green team which made my life easier when I got dressed--only had to wear green & not choose sides! ;) I made sure to get the girls green hair spray--it's like a tradition & this year I was actually well prepared! I made sure to get all different colors so all the kids in class would get covered.

Gianna had to go in the morning & both Kindergarten classes played together. They started earlier than the rest of the school. They did all the basic field day activities.

Potatoe sack raceThe Statue of Liberty race (they had to keep the ball on the cylinder)
Golf/Hockey....she was high sticking it the whole time! ;) At some point I did this to all the kids...well this guy was on the "tie-dye" team so I went a little crazy. ;) LOL!!

When the Kindergarteners were almost done the rest of the school came out. They did the same games but more than Gianna's class.

This is Marissa playing Pig in a Blanket. I noticed after taking these that she runs with her tongue out, just like Gianna does when she's concentrating. Joe concentrates the same way--love it!


Soccer dribbling

There were a lot more games but I'm not going to bore anyone. At the end the kids get treated to ice pops--Now that's a happy girl!

It was such a HOT day & both Gianna & I were out there allllll daaaaayy. By the time we were done we were all ready for a shower.

It was a great day for Field Day....and the best part?? The girls will go right to sleep tonight!!!

Memorial Day Parade 2010

Hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend. We took it very mellow & did some stuff around the house.

Today both the girls walked in the town parade with their Girl Scout troops. This was Gianna's 1st time & she was really excited about it! It was super hot outside so by the time Gianna got to us she was sort of melted. You can't really see her face too well since she pulled the hat so far down her face--the stinker!!
Marissa is more seasoned. She enjoys every minute of it & doesn't mind the heat until the end & she's done walking.

I didn't get a lot of good pics of the girls & by the time they were done walking & came back to where we were sitting they were hot & tired & not in the mood for pics.


When we got home Joe set up our little blow-up pool & the girls jumped into the COLD water! (No pics) While they played I planted some flowers around the yard. (No pics)

Very low key.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Little Nest

Last weekend while walking past the main front door (that hardly gets used--our house has 2) I spotted this. The wreath had something in it.I opened the door to get a better look, trying to be careful not to knock it off.A perfectly formed little nest with two eggs inside!
So excited to see what happens with the eggs! The girls were excited too! Will have to keep an eye out to see what happens.

Pre-School Dance Recital

I have a box full of pics that I printed a long time ago. I used to just print what I wanted to scrap & when I got around to them that's what I'd work with. But that's not how I work anymore. Now I plan ahead after finding the pics I want to scrap. I'll pick out the pics I really like, decide on a design THEN print out the pics I like in various sizes--not the 4x6 size that are already printed in the box.

Don't get me wrong, 4x6 is a great size to scrap. I have a few magazine dedicated to scrapping just 4x6 pics BUT I like to mix it up & use different sizes. So back to the pics I came across....

I pulled them out with the intention to scrap them since they were so old (Marissa was just shy of 5!!!). I have more than just these 6 pics but chose the better ones & plan on putting the others in a divided page protector. This way they're in the album but I don't feel the need to scrap each & every pic.

Marissa was at the end of pre-school here & about a week away from her 5th birthday. Such a cute fun age. She looks so tiny yet still so "Marissa". ;)

Not the greatest pics-- :(

Very simple LO. Tried giving it some ooomph by embossing the top with Zing! clear powder & a HA background stamp. The patterned paper & journal spots are both Jillibean Soup.
Little close-up of the title....
Wish you could see the colors better--it's bright but it worked.

Then since Marissa danced twice that night there were 2 costumes....so I had to make another LO for that routine.

This LO started out really quick. Got the design down right away but when it came down to giving it some ooomph I came to a screeching halt. I kept adding things, moving things, walking away from it. Just didn't like how boring it looked. Finally I dug out this Ali Edwards stamp, embossed it with Zing!, punched the border with this punch & added some string. Better.

I also cut the candy swirls with my QK dies-trying to tie it in with the costume theme & added stickles to make it shiny. Layered it with this punch & a scalloped circle that I embossed with my Cuttlebug folder. Used a little Jillibean Soup around the title & some Thickers.

Not my most favorite LO but I had to get it off my desk. Lately I'm just happy to scrap at all!

Party Party Party!!!

Marissa had her birthday party Saturday....correction parties. She had one with all her friends from school at the bowling place again (the girl likes to bowl). There were a lot of kids there!! Just imagine 21 kids bowling & goofing around for 2 hours--very LOUD & chaotic but in a good fun way.

Here's the birthday girl.....

I didn't think of getting a big group shot of all the kids until the end as they were leaving so I have to settle with this as my group shot.

Everyone had a good time & I have to say I really like the group of girls in Marissa's grade. I really hope some of them are friends with Marissa forever.

After the party we went home to get ready for the next round. I decided to have family over too the same day to just get it over with on my part (yes I know how that sounds but KWIM??)

Marissa didn't mind either....it just means MORE PRESENTS!!!!

Marissa had originally wanted just a sleepover with a bunch of girls but I'm not ready for that so we compromised with the bowling party & a small sleepover. She had my niece Nikki & her BFF from school Ariel sleep over. **SIGH**

All is well in the world.

So the kids spent all afternoon long dancing to Just Dance on the Wii & were happy & giggly. Later on the adults (me & my sisters) joined in & danced too. So much fun!! Sorry no pics!! ;)

Now I have to admit I did NOT bake this cake.

GASP!!! Shocking I KNOW!!!

I ALWAYS bake the girls birthday cakes. And I sorta did but I hated how it looked so I sent Joe out to the bakery to pick something up. No I'm not expecting perfection every time I bake something but it looked awful.

I got these cool Cake Tattoos from Michael's made by Duff from Ace of Cakes & it looked easy enough so I tried it. Well somehow it came out looking like I made it with an Easy Bake Oven.

No lie. Look.Marissa even called it that!! But you know what? Despite it looking awful THAT'S the one she choose to eat. I Love that girl.

After the party broke up I was left with the 4 girls (so happy they included Gianna with them!!)By this time it was pretty late & the kids toned it down somewhat. They stayed up until somewhere around 1am-ish & were up around 9am today ready to go for more Wii dancing.

I wish I had their energy!!

So there was our crazy weekend in a nutshell. Now I need a nap!!

Field Trip/Daisies--Crazy Day!!!

Today was Gianna's Kindergarten class trip. They were going to visit a farm & see the animals. I got lucky & got picked as one of the chaperones. I was thrilled to be able to go with Gianna on her 1st trip!!

I was in charge of 4 kids (2 girls, 2 boys) & our group was in a larger group so it was a lot of kids & a handful of adults walking around with a tour guide. I made sure to take pics of the kids on their FIRST bus ride. Gianna made a new friend with the little girl in our group (both AM & PM kids were mixed in the groups).

Once we got to the farm we got the kids together for group pics. This is the PM class....We got adventurous & went for a group pic with both AM & PM together (38 kids!!) with their teacher.
We saw a lot of ducks, goats, pigs, ponies & bunnies--the usual farm animals. Gianna loved petting the animals! She's been aching for a pet in the worst way but it's not happening in this house.

The kids got quite a show by this extremely scared, vocal pig. It was so scared it pooped all over the tour guide! The kids laughed, the tour guide blew it off with "I'm used to it-happens all the time" & the parents were gagging--bleh!

Oh & did I mention it was frickin HOT?? Yep all our senses were used today!!!

BTW--I brought plenty of baby wipes & hand sanitizer with me--just sayin!!

This was Jellybean--(the goat not the guy).

We finally stopped for lunch (after washing our hands) & towards the end Gianna lost her tooth while biting into her lunch!! Everyone made a big deal about it & she loved every minute of it! This will be a trip she will never forget!

After we got back from the field trip we went home & showered up--did I mention how hot it was? The rest of my day was this....

Home 1:30-3:00

Pick up Marissa from school 3:00

Drop off Gianna at school for Daisies 3:00

Back to school for Gianna's Daisies ceremony 4:15-4:30

Her Daisy troop had this ceremony showing some things they learned this year & all the kids received a special pin.

Later on my friend Samantha had a Lia Sophia party so I went out again around 7pm. I have a TON of stuff to do for Marissa's birthday party tomorrow but hey I need a little downtime too right? It's been a CrAZy day & the weekend looks just as crazy!

She's NINE!!

Just nine years ago today Marissa arrived into the world a whole 3 weeks early. She was 6lbs 1oz....just a little peanut really. At one point she was a chunky little monkey with legs that made her look like the Michelin Tire Man's baby. Now she's a skinny tall beautiful TWEEN!!

I will be freaking out next year when she turns 10 for sure. Huddled in my bed, in denial that I have been a mom for 10 years...but I'm not there yet. I'll save that rant for next year.

Yesterday I took the girls to the mall so she could pick out some clothes (since according to her she has nothing to wear). Her favorite store right now is Justice. I'd still be happy to have her shop at Children's Place but we compromised with Old Navy. She's into anything with peace signs so this shirt was the one she picked to wear to school this morning.Not the best pics but it's been a rainy, cold, cruddy day unlike the beautiful day we had yesterday! ***SIGH***

HAPPY 9th BIRTHDAY MARISSA!!!

I LOVE YOU!!!

1,2,3 Flip

This pic has been floating around my desk for awhile. I just love this pic of Marissa! There are a few other pics from that day but I was more in the mood to do a 1 pic LO. Not wanting to forget those other pics I plan on using a page protector & just adding them to the album that way. Quick & easy!
All I have left to do is print out the journaling from the day I blogged about it. I'm going to add it to the pocket of pics & call it a day.

Used the MM Whimsy line (sorry no direct link) on this & the Slice to cut out the tag & numbers.

Gonna make this quick. Tomorrow is Marissa's 9th birthday & I've got lots to do before her party this weekend!!