Last of 2009, first of 2010

Last digital scrapbook page created in 2009:

Julia got her very own Leapster for Christmas. I scrapped about it using Plugged In by Connie Prince. You can pick your favorite store to pick it up ... Gotta Pixel, Elemental Scraps, or ScrapMatters. :)


First created in 2010:

Chase was a Rock Star for Halloween ... he loves music, and loves to rock out to it. :) I used Connie's I Love Rock and Roll Kit and Shabby Paper Pack which you can also find at your favorite shop mentioned above. :)

I had a bit of stretch there with no scrapping going on. I downloaded Adobe Lightroom 3 Beta and between that taking up loads of my (very aged) memory, and working on some other things with a designer friend of mine, I didn't get much scrapping done. But, it was a welcome little break. I am going to aim, once again, for 150 layouts. I made it to 133 in 2009. It shouldn't be too hard to reach that goal this year if I continue on the CT's I am currently on! :)

I will post my 365 photo later ... as another 365 participant and friend, Katie, said on her blog, I may not always post my photos daily, but I will take them and share. Until I fall off the bandwagon ... that's coming from me! ;)

Oreo Cows, Pumpkins and Apples

I went in search of the amazing fall colors, and they were found. :) I of course didn't want to just take pictures of trees ... so I was very excited when on a quiet country road I was able to stop and take this picture (helped the colors along in post-processing to look more like they did in real life). :) If you haven't guessed ... these are the "Oreo Cows" as my oldest son lovingly referred to them. I thought it was hilarious!!! If you haven't guessed, this will HAVE to be scrapped. Blake was a bit grossed out when I explained that I'm pretty sure this type of cow is the kind made into hamburgers. Hamburgers??!! Yes, Blake ... hamburgers. Blech!! And did you know what chicken nuggets and chicken sandwiches are made of? Chickens? Yes! Blech! And ham, bacon, and sausage come from pigs! Blech!

(Do you think he switched to being a vegan?? ... his order later tonight at McDonald's should tell you how concerned he was .... cheeseburger with apples. Hee hee.)



After snapping some pictures of the fall foliage, we went to the orchards ... they were quiet! I am sure they are very busy on weekends. We started at McIlquhams where I actually bought a couple of decorative elements that were inexpensive, and then headed across the way to Connell's - me snapping pictures as we went.




Check out Chase's new GREEN boots!!! (He loves these things!)





After picking out a pie and caramel apples, we went outside and I planned to take a picture of the kids by the huge fence erected by the apple trees ... when I happened to notice the gate had been left open into the orchard!!! So, I quickly herded the kids over to an abundantly laden tree (yes, nice big words, right?) and snapped a few pictures. They looked perfect on my little bitty screen ... here is what I actually got. Hee hee:









I wish a "posed" shot didn't always have a "posed" grin too ... I need some tips, lol. :)

Is it Saturday, er, Sunday yet?

I am so tired! I know, I know ... so why am I writing this post and not in bed? I think my body might go into shock if I was in bed before 11 pm. LOL. Seriously, I will be trying to get to bed soon after I write this, but I'll have to let Lexi out one last time for the night, and then I need to straighten up ... so yeah, gonna be a bit. :)

Tuesdays tend to be an exhausting day for me. I suppose my body is protesting after getting to sleep in on Sunday. But, I managed to wake up on time today regardless. (Yes, it did involve a 30 minute snooze-fest with my alarm clock, but 6:45 is still on time. ;) )

I woke up to a stink in my house ... unfortunately, Lexi got a few nibbles on some grapes that the kids dropped on the floor. I didn't know it, but grapes can be toxic to dogs, and since Lexi isn't big, I'm glad she spit out the one that I'm aware she nibbled on. At any rate, it gave her some loose stools, and she wasn't able to hold them in and went in her crate during the night. So, I spent the first 15 minutes of my morning (when I should have been waking up the munchkins so that they had their "wake-up" time) cleaning out the crate after shoving the stinky dog outside (who was given a bath later this afternoon, thank you DH!!!).

Then, I got the kids up at 7 am and they proceeded to be too tired to get dressed for another 15 minutes or so ... and why do I have to brush my teeth? I don't WANT to wear that shirt, mommy! and I don't want to wear those shoes! ... sigh. I quick dropped the kids off at the corner by the school (instead of in the parking lot as usual), and dashed to work where I was 2 minutes late. I just had to get stuck behind a school bus and then one of those (good, but frustrating) people who actually goes the speed limit as it is posted. There has to be an easier way to do this waking up stuff ... what is it? Please share.

In case my day wasn't enough stress as it was, I decided to go shopping (with the kids, of course) after work because we needed a "healthy snack" for Julia's class for tomorrow (I decided on individual cups of cinnamon apple sauce ... yeah, high fructose corn syrup, I know), and I wanted to look for soccer cleats for the kids. We had gotten a pair that were size 2.5 from my MIL who I think picked them up at a thrift sale or from someone she knew, but Blake said they didn't fit, and we had none for Julia. All of the other kids on the team had cleats, so I decided to bite the bullet and buy some. They must serve some real purpose ... I hope. The kids were being exceptionally hyper, and Blake and Julia pulled out those shoe measuring tools and Blake stuck his on there to "play" and I glanced at it and he should need a size 1 to 1.5 for shoes. So, why on earth wouldn't those (too big) cleats fit him? Oh, he says, they do fit! *D'OH!* So, I saved some money and only bought cleats for Julia. Now, she better keep playing, lol.

To de-stress, I sat down to play with Kristmess' Autumn Rain Page Kit. I went in search of a photo that would fit with the elegant droplets that I wanted to play with, and found a picture of my daughter all dressed up in her (then-new) Halloween costume last October. At first I was determined to do an extraction layout and it was going to be fabulous. Then I pulled my extracted Julia onto the purple background and cringed ... the skirt pieces and headband pieces are see-through, and I couldn't get rid of all of the white background bits without spending hours ... so I decided to do an OOB instead (out of bounds). As I played, the layout unfolded itself easily into what you see here:


WOODLAND FAIRY CREDITS

It is amazing to me how much stress I can release in creating one simple page. NOw I am still tired, but I am not as frazzled as I was ... except for that nagging voice telling me to go to bed ...

I guess I better just listen this time, eh?

Good night, and thanks for reading! :)

The Cabin

Tyler was successful in talking me into going with him to the cabin. He has only been trying all summer long, and probably last year too. All I knew was that it was a good drive away, and that from his description there was going to be nothing to entertain the kids, and I just didn't want to be stuck somewhere with 3 very bored children. I'm sure you understand.

We made the not-as-lengthy-as-I-expected drive to the cabin ... which was out in the middle of nowhere for sure, lol. The driveway was almost non-visible. He says that is on purpose. A tree is fallen over the driveway part-way through. I worry that we'll scratch the roof of the truck, but we drive through and as far as I know there is no scratch up there.

The view is nice. The cabin doesn't look like much, and it needs a lot of work. But, there is a nice clearing, and a pretty view of the river. The bank is pretty steep, though. There were some fall colors popping out randomly on the drive up. I was able to see some from the cleared space by the cabin too. It is very quiet there, and I can see the appeal to Tyler, immediately. I just wished for a few things ... a chaise lounge, more for the kids to do, and a easier/faster way to cook the pork chops that he ambitiously brought along. Oh, and no flies/gnats/mosquitos ... but I wish for that no matter where I am.

The kids had a pretty good time, and they even spent a little bit of time down in the river -- well, Blake and Julia did. Chase wasn't allowed to try to climb down the bank, and I started to go down once but Tyler cautioned me there might be bees nests hiding and I went right back up. I am first to admit I am NOT a nature girl. I like the water, so I was willing to go down ... but NOT if there might be bees, lol.

I made a page with this picture I took not all that long before we left. I know that it was later because Julia had been wearing a bright yellow soccer team shirt most of the time. :)



If you like what I made, you can play around with this kit too. It's called "Autumn Rain Page Kit" by Kristmess Designs and is available at Gotta Pixel.



I will be back soon with soccer pictures, and maybe video if I can figure out how to upload it (has been a while!).

Thanks for stopping in!

First day of school - 2009

Blake on the first day of 1st grade:




No lookin' back, Ma ... I'm all grown up.


My little miss confident on her first day of Kindergarten:


Too excited for words. :)


Blake had his first full day today, and Julia had a half-day with me present. Blake jumped back into the school routine nearly without a hitch. Julia, being the little drama girl she is, did decide to be a little clingy with me at school for that half-day, which I found entirely amusing as she never did this when she went to two year's worth of Head Start. :) Julia is taken with her student teacher, and has decided she likes Ms. Lange.

Blake reports that he has Dillan in his class, which is hopefully not going to be a bad thing ... they get along really well, and Dillan is a nice boy, but I worry about them getting too chatty. Same thing with Julia and Devondre in her class, though ... she really likes him! Hee hee.

Well, that's enough about the first day of school ... 178 days to go. :)

Happy 5th Birthday, Julia!

All we did today was celebrate by singing Happy Birthday and blowing out the candles on 5 cupcakes. No birthday party, and I didn't have a gift for her yet. She did get a gift from Tyler's parents. She loves it ... it's princess figurines and comes with little plastic dress-up clothes. Lexi will love them.

My in-laws head to Tyler's sister's graduation from Boot Camp today ... in South Carolina, and my parents are in Alaska this week. So, definitely no parties this week. We haven't had a party for Julia ... ever. We've always been moving or just about to move around her birthday, pretty much. Would like to have a party, but as usual ... not sure we can afford to! *sigh*

Anyway, happy 5th Birthday, Julia! She told everyone she saw today that it was her birthday so no one was off the hook! LOL!

Love you sweet girl,
Mom

Memorial Week Recap/ Blake's first T-ball games

This past week was a whirlwind! Sunday we had planned on having an anniversary date ... my MIL offered to babysit, so we jumped at the offer. Then, on Saturday night Blake started complaining that his ear hurt. He had a really rough night, and on Sunday morning I took him to Urgent Care to get him meds. His ear drum had ruptured sometime between that night and the next morning ... how on earth the infection got so bad without him complaining before I will never know! He felt awful on Sunday - had a temp of 100, and he was just exhausted. Tyler still wanted to go, and so did I but I could see the date slipping away and accepted it more readily than he did. Blake ended up getting sick - either from an upset stomach due to the meds, or from stress because he freaked out when I went to put the antibiotic ear drops in. He was sure they were going to hurt. I'm not sure, maybe they did. Anyway, we canceled our date and stayed home.

Monday was Memorial Day and our actual anniversary. Tyler wanted to drive around. He didn't really say where to, but I went with it. He had Blake in his car and I had Julia and Chase in mine (can't fit all in one vehicle, you know). We ended up in Chetek, and ate at a little diner there. The food was nothing special. Nothing like seeing a processed cheese slice on the top of your omelette ... yum. After finishing brunch there we headed back toward home and stopped at Klinger's for a while. We didn't buy anything. My mom was shocked. My mom goes there and comes out with flats of flowers, lol. I saw a hanging basket that I wanted, but it was $40 and I wasn't willing to spend that right now.


The sell benches and everything and I snapped this one early on into our visit. I LOVE IT!








Made with Crazy Daisy - a collab by Dana Frantz & Kathryn Estry.
(Everything I used was by Kathryn Estry)

After Klinger's we headed to Blake's scrimmage at the ball fields. Blake's coach and another coach decided to have a scrimmage for one last practice before the games start. It was a beautiful day, and I was glad because Tyler usually has to work during the games. Tyler picked up Pizza Hut to round out the night with supper. It ended up being a really nice anniversary.

Blake's first T-ball game was on Tuesday. Tyler got out of work to come see it. It was raining, but thankfully it was light, and because I got there a little early (wow!) I was able to park next to the fence so that we didn't have to get out for me to watch the game. I had the coloring book along and used that to entertain Julia and Chase. Julia snuck out of the car to stand by me with my umbrella as I snapped pictures by the outfield fence. Blake was put on first base and he did really well! He got two of the outs for that inning.


Blake's first time at bat (he struck out - apparently you can do that in boy's t-ball)


Playing 1st base

I missed the shot of him hitting the ball ... here he is running toward 2nd base


He JUST hit the ball in this picture.


Again, running to second base. :)

Wednesday was supposed to be Julia's next game, but it was rained out. Mom was sad for Julia, but also glad for the break. We came home and had a home-cooked meal for a change, and we picked up the upstairs which was a disaster area.

Thursday was Blake's second T-ball game. My mom and dad came and saw this one. The weather was beautiful, and we sat in the bleachers. My dad stayed by the fence where I was for Blake's first game to take pictures. Blake got to play short-stop, pitcher, and first base. Unfortunately, while he was playing first base he got hurt twice. The person in the pitcher's position threw pretty hard, and Blake got caught in the gut when he was trying to catch the ball, and then later (probably thankfully I didn't see this) he got hit in the mouth when someone threw the ball to him from second base and he wasn't paying attention. I looked back from watching Chase climb around on the bleachers when I heard everyone clapping and saw the coach walking Blake back with the rest of the team. One of the other moms filled me in on what had happened. Poor Blake! He's been afraid of trying to catch the ball ever since.

Nothing special to report about Friday. Yesterday we drove to Eau Claire to Menards and had lunch at Culver's. Then Tyler set up a cheap hammock he'd bought on the clothes line posts. Surprisingly it was able to hold each of us. I got some fun pictures from that too. Oh, and Julia had gone inside to get a (small) blanket because she was chilly in the shade, and Chase copied her to go get a blanket. Except that he brought the big, brown blanket ... got some fun pictures with that too. :)










not color corrected yet, but I love this one. :)

Thanks for reading my week's recap! :)

T-ball game photos - from my dad!

My mom shared these pictures over Yahoo tonight ... so they are not full size if clicked, but they are so awesome SOOC (straight out of camera). Thanks, Dad!!!


Bored already with this outfield stuff ...


Up to bat ... I notice the coach is smiling ... now that is a good coach. :) Look at Julia's concentration!


Great running, Julia!


Think the helmet is a little too big?


On base! YAY!


Getting instructions to watch the batter & get ready to run! (Can she see??)


Getting a run! Yay, Julia!


Papa!!! I didn't know you were here!


Back to being bored ... why would I need to wear this thing anyway?


Julia loves this bat ... she was so happy she got to use it. :)


Gotta love that karate chop action, rofl.


Yep ... DEFINITELY too big, rofl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (You KNOW this is going to get scrapped. Title: Safety first! ROFL!!!)


Why do I need to stand on base? I don't get it? (we love you, Julia)


Run, Julia, RUN!!!

Out-fielder Tips

Did you know that when you're in the outfield for your very first T-ball game, that you are supposed to take your socks off (and throw and play with them)and turn your shirt around backwards? while the game is going? and everyone is watching? LOL!!!!!

YES! If you guessed that the child who did this was JULIA, you are right!!!

She also picked the grass, spun around in circles, and just generally spaced out, lol.

getting last minute pointers before her first time at bat!


spinning around in the out-field ... with socks in hand. *sigh* lol.

I posted this same opening question on Facebook, and an old friend of mine said she wondered if we'd have had more fun back when we were playing softball if we'd followed Julia's lead. I think Julia may have something! ROFL!

~Melinda