School Kits Pre-School 4 Miss G

This summer seems to have been dedicated to scrapping the girls' school pics. I'm tired of them, but I'm **this close** to being all caught up before school starts in Sept. So that's my goal..we'll see what happens. ;)

Here's Gianna's second year of pre-school. Again I tried to stick mostly to the school kit (& the QK dies). I also seem to have an addiction to banners. I've been using THIS stamp set from Maya Road. So perfect & fun for these LO's, I think. I keep it simple by just stamping onto different papers or cardstock, then cutting them out. Easy.


I can't tell you how many packages of those MM tiny type numbers I've been using for these LO's. Everytime I go to Michaels I add a few packages to my basket. I go through SO many "1's" that I finally printed my own to "match". I think I need to print a sheet of "3's" next....

This is the second LO for the year. I used THIS cricut cart for the apple. So cute, right?



I seem to have a hard time coming up with filling in the "blank" spots without making them all look the same. I don't think she was learning math in pre-k but it fit & looked good enough for me.


So the pre-school days are done. I feel confident that I can get caught up to date. Wish me luck!! ;)

Sassy Swinger

In case it's gone un-noticed, I've been taking a lot of pics lately with my iphone.

These pics were totally un-planned, which is why I love them. Gianna & I were just hanging outside while she was on the swings & I started playing with the Photobooth app on my phone.

Being the stinker she is, she started being all sassy. I got pics of her dirty little feet, & blurred shots but truth be told...this IS Gianna! (Except the dirty feet, not true all the time. HA!)
I used Echo Park for this & the colors are so much better IRL. The title letters are Doodlebug. Very simple LO, but the moment is captured & scrapped. Happiness. ;)

Stopping By

Frame made with Frametastic App

Just stopping in to show that I haven't abandoned the blog. I've been on summer hours, which means being lazy! ;)

I've got some LO's to share but need to take pics of--which I hope to do today.

Meanwhile I'm dreaming of vacation.
Can you guess where???

Summertime

The girls are all about going in their little pool & splashing around.

Made with the Frametastic app on the iphone.

Today while they splashed I worked on going through my old scrapping magazines. I'm behind from 2008, but I'll get caught up!

Now to make the requested lasagna for dinner!

Today I Love

Today I Love...

How Joe came to my rescue to kill a creepy, black spider. (EEWW)
How Joe did my weekly paperwork for me.
Watching the girls during their swim lessons.
How many cute pics of the girls I got with my iphone today.
Finishing a LO that I only just started. (a record for me)
My iphone.
The relaxing time we spent outside.
The sunkissed look I got from hanging outside.
The super easy dinner I made (pulled pork sandwiches)

What do you love??

Bowling Party

Today was Gianna's birthday party with her friends from school. She wanted a bowling party like Marissa's had in the past. I love these kind of parties since they are simple & easy.

Gianna could not wait for her party, even though she had already celebrated on her actual birthday & then again with family. This is like the never-ending birthday!!

Here is Miss Happy Go Lucky with my neice Nikki. I took a pic of Gianna with each of her friends, now I just need to scrap them!! ;)

Everyone had a great time, but I must say for 7 yr olds, they are so competive!! They were all checking out their scores constantly!

There was a minor hiccup where Gianna, while reaching for a ball, got her hand stuck between the ball & the machine. She was crying, I was panicked & couldn't figure out how to get her hand out, while another mother there was trying to help. Luckily, Joe was there & he stayed calm through it all & realized if he pushed the ball back into the machine, Gianna's hand would be free. PHEW!!! He is my hero!!

Luckily, her hand was not damaged, just red & a sore. Unfortunately, I am not good in emergencies & my reaction time is horrible. Needless to say, Gianna was embarrassed by the whole situation & needed some time to herself before re-joining the party.

The party would not be complete without cake & the birthday girl was happy once again!


Make a wish my sweetheart!


Apparently, her wish came true with all the presents she got! She was happy with all the new toys & goodies from her friends. Now her birthday is officially over!!!

Our 4th

Our 4th of July was pretty mellow. We skipped going to the parade we usually go to. Instead we had my sister & her family over for some BBQ. It was pretty relaxing. So relaxing in fact that I didn't take a lot of pics!!

Got these of the girls hanging out on the swings after dinner...

My nephew Tyler thoroughly enjoys his ice cream. He's a chocolate freak...just like Gianna, must be why they get a long.

My neice Nikki, chilling out after having her ice pop.

After hanging out enjoying the backyard, the guys were in "movie mode" & went to figure out what movie to watch. My sister & I requested something we could ALL watch & we narrowed it down to "You Again". What a funny movie!! We all enjoyed it--even the kids!

Part of the plan was to have my neice & nephew sleep over. The kids always talk about "sleeping over" so it was the perfect weekend for it.

The next morning Joe stayed home a little later to make the kids breakfast. Not only did the guy make the kids waffles & pancakes, but the guy also made "bacon pancakes"! He is a real gem, knowing how I'm not a morning person & I was up late the night before.

Knowing the kids would need to be "entertained" I had planned some painting activities. I set them up outside & let them have fun.

Of course being a scrapbooker I needed something to commerate the day, so I had them do "handprints". Gianna chose green to stand out against the bright yellow.Marissa went with a multi-colored print.Tyler opted for red.

While Nikki went with the opposite of Gianna.They painted a little while longer with a few swing breaks but it soon got too hot & they all took refuge inside.

They watched a little TV & had lunch. Then played play-doh...but not until I got a group shot. They look so wound up it's not even funny!! LOL! I took this (& lots more)with my iphone so I could email them to my sister at work.

They had so much fun together! We definately need to do this more!

School Kits Pre-School 3 Miss G

As burned out as I feel about these school LO's I am determined to get them done & in the albums. This is just the start of Gianna's school years, but with all the ones I've done for Marissa, I'm starting to feel the need to put these aside. Problem is I know if I do I won't go back, so I'm pushing through it, taking my time so I don't feel blah about them. Got that?

This is Gianna when she was 3 in her 1st year of Pre-School. She was so tiny!! I can't get over that she's now going to start SECOND grade in the Fall!!

As always there are 2 LO's for each school year.....

I've been modifying the library pockets that come with the kit a little, but I like that I'm using a lot of the kit. There are a few pieces that never seem to "gel" for me when I try to use them but for the most part the kit is being put to good use. And of course, my QuicKutz dies have been put to good use. The A B C letters are the Diesel Alpha dies. Great set! I get such a good feeling when I put my stash to good use! ;)

Little Nest Update

While getting ready for Gianna's family party I happened to take a peek at the nest (which I do when the mama bird is away.)

I spotted a hatchling!! But squealed like a girl in a horror movie since it looked gooey & gross. Bleh!

Since we were having company over & didn't want my F-I-L disturbing the nest, we covered the window on the door. By the time everyone left the baby bird must've had time to fluff it's downy feathers because this is what I found. Awwww!!!

The next day I spotted another baby bird! But the first birdie didn't look so good...not sure if it survived or not.



Later that day a 3rd little bird hatched, and the 1st bird was gone. Not sure what the mama bird did with it. She took it away somewhere, because it wasn't outside the nest, neither was the eggshell. She's a tidy mama bird.


The next day all 3 birdies were gone as were their eggshells. Just 1 egg remained, but no sign of mama bird. I have a funny feeling she ditched the nest & abandoned the egg. I wonder if she & her mate built a 2nd nest for the hatchlings. Now I've got to deal with the nest. :(

Favorite Things LO

I like making lists.
I like to read about people & what they're into.

So when I saw THIS LO on Laura's blog I got right to it & made this.

I think it's great to have something of ME in our albums that my kids can always look back on & learn or remember things about me.

I kept to the basic design but I flipped it & went with rectangles instead of circles, simply because I don't have any luck with my circle cutter.

I have been really bad lately about using my stash, so I chose some OLD KI Memories papers for this. It's not even funny how much paper I have....the need to purge is building up steam. ;)

FYI--I have several posts in limbo that I need to add pics to before I post them so I will be randomly be adding them over the course of the day. I'm not trying to confuse anyone, just playing catch up. In case you need something to read.... ;)

Gianna's Family Party with LOTS of Cake!!

We had family over today to celebrate Gianna's birthday.

Gianna requested chocolate cake...and sunflowers. So I made this.

I didn't like my sunflowers at all. When I asked Joe for his opinion I got an "it's ok" from him. So I did what any other {insane} mother would do.....

I made another cake!! This time I used vanilla cake, that's how I rationalized it, one chocolate & one vanilla. I free-handed the flower & like it much better. Like I said {{INSANE}}, but I didn't want Gianna to think she was getting an "ok" cake when her sister got a "love it" cake. Yes I know I'm nuts. Turns out Gianna loved them BOTH! But my wish of having a girl happy with her cake was fulfilled.

Gianna is always a ham & not just for the camera. She loves attention...can you tell??? She was telling everyone she was "77"....the knucklehead, and yes my nephew Tyler & her are like partners-in-crime. Currently they're both 7, until Sept. anyway.
See what I mean? Knuckleheads. Love 'em! As long as she's happy, I'm happy...and she looks pretty happy to me!

This is the sort of thing that makes me happy....Love my family!Then of course, it's present time!! Gianna went & built herself a little nest, or throne to open presents on. She just cracks me up.

She got all the things that make a 7 year old girl happy. Play-do, Barbie's, clothes for her American Girl Doll, a Scooter. Yep, happy!
Next is her party with her friends from school & I'll be partied OUT!

Yes this is the never-ending party....

School's OUT & a Birthday Re-Cap

Yesterday was not only Gianna's birthday but it was also the last day of school.
YAY!!
Summer is HERE!

The girls' & I are all so over school already.
The getting up & out the door craziness in the morning.
The homework.
Just done with it all!

So we were all very happy for the last day.

The only downfall was the rain that came down as the kids were getting out. (It's been pretty rainy lately!) Here's Marissa all smiles as she hurries to get cover under my umbrella.

Gianna strutted out all smiles in the shades she got from her teacher.

They had swim class later on & I gave them the option of skipping it so they could take it easy, but they were firm in their wanting to go. That's the great thing about swim class--they LOVE it!! In other activities they've done, they usually don't want to go by the end but swim class is a whole different story!

Marissa's class is first (each class is just 30 mins). She's currently in Level 4 & already passed to move up to Level 5 for the next swim session (every 6 weeks). That's her with her arm in the air.

Then it's Gianna's turn (she' in Level 1 & 2), she's had a phobia of the water for a long time, but she's come a long way from when she first started in March.

When the teacher found out it was her birthday, he takes her out to the middle of the pool so she's facing the other kids & they start to sing "Happy Birthday", but they made it extra fun by splashing her in between every line of the song! To avoid it she stuck her head in the water--too funny! (I videoed it but can't seem to get it to work on here-sorry)

After swimming, the girls showered up & Joe came home early so we could go out to dinner. Birthday Girl chose to eat at Fuddrucker's. Then we came home for cake & presents. (We kept it simple with a quick cupcake)

Me & my girl...

Birthday girl loved her American Girl doll! She has a few "knock-offs", but has always wanted one that looked just like her. She named it "Sophia".

It was a great way to start off the Summer!

My Baby is SEVEN!!

A year in pics of my baby.
Whose turning SEVEN today.

I mean wasn't she just in diapers??

This is the day she turned 6. She was just finishing Kindergarten. I was sad to see "5" go.



This pic just captures the true Gianna. She never stands still & is always moving around.
A few years ago she had a mishap in a pool & would never go in beyond the steps unless someone was holding her. This year she got brave & would float around in swimmies & a noodle.

Posing for me after dinner at 1900 Park Fare in the Grand Floridian Hotel at Disney. We love to pass the time in the grand lobby now & then.

Wanting to experience Typhoon Lagoon like a big girl, she wore that life jacket around without complaint. Funny to see her wearing it while playing in the sand.My little princess all dolled up, with a rockin hair do. First day of First Grade.
Marissa took this pic with her camera & it's fun to see how willingly Gianna posed for her. Love the toothless grin!



My little pumpkin.


The supermodel all glammed up for the school Halloween parade.


She looks so stylish.

Another perfect shot of Gianna's personality. She's a bit of a comedian & likes the attention.

She'll pose for me with a little extra flair.


She just makes the most out of every moment.


The snow princess. Doesn't take much to make her content.

My little cookie, helping her Girl Scout troop sell cookies. Isn't she yummy??

Once again getting a make-over on another Disney trip. She loves playing dress-up how ever she can.

She's a joy to be around & I miss her when she's not with me. She's simply a great kid, and she's mine!

Happy 7th Birthday Gianna!

I love you!!