Party of five

Pinky the flamingo

2012-02-09T18:01:00.000-08:00

Being super star of the week means that the class "pet" gets to come home and spend the week with you. Pinky came home with Drew last Friday, and he will be returning to school tomorrow. We took a few pics of the fun things they did to document their time together :)

Watching Drew play on the ipad

Enjoying the Monster Truck Jam

Exhausted on the way home!

When Pinky came home Friday,

Drew couldn't stop asking/reminding me

to take a picture of him and Pinky

watching the Super Bowl. I assured

him I wouldn't forget!

Pinky helping Drew smash

Brady's player - so fun!

All Star Camp

2012-02-07T20:26:00.000-08:00

I FINALLY got the pics I was waiting on from Brady's camp - one of him with Hunter and one at Hunter's hitting station. I have to say, it cracked me up when I went online and looked at the pics of the kids posing with Hunter. Some are right next to him, some are far away, some are smiling, some look awkward. When I got to Brady's, it made me smile! I was hoping I wouldn't be disappointed, and I wasn't :)

Here's the layout:

In the news template - Misty Cato

His new wall display, including the bat he won at camp

Super Star

2012-02-05T18:00:00.000-08:00

Drew is very excited to be "super star" of the week in his Kindergarten class. There are several perks that go along with it - you get to bring home Pinky the class flamingo, make a poster about yourself to share with the class, bring a special snack for the class on Friday, and fill the "guessing jar" for Mrs. G. He immediately pulled out the guessing jar on Friday after school and wanted to fill it right then and there. I assured him there would be plenty of time to get it done! Saturday we worked on selecting pictures for his poster, and this morning he filled the jar with suckers. We have also been taking pics of him with Pinky to write our journal entry later this week.

Here is his poster - as you can see, he is very proud of it!

It's Friday!

2012-02-03T10:48:00.000-08:00

Brady lost another tooth last night! I will spare you

the details, but he was eating a corn dog when it happened...

Showing off her Valentine pj's - she has been

asking whether it's Valentines Day yet for at LEAST

two weeks now, if not longer. lol

Today is Drew's 100th day of school. They

like to celebrate it big in K - he made this

shirt with 100 items on it, mostly paint but

some buttons, too :)

My latest project -

Side by Side Thankful template - Misty Cato

Give Thanks - Jady Day Studio

I am so happy to have this done! Not because I wasn't enjoying working on it, but because it was time consuming! However, it was nice to come back to my blog from November and copy/paste what I was thankful for instead of having to retype it all... And, I think this is one of those layouts I will really enjoy looking back on in the future :)

Interesting Facts

2012-01-31T10:39:00.000-08:00

* The boys think that America's Funniest Videos are, in fact, the funniest thing ever!! Last night, Mallory was also watching. There were some cat videos that she loved, and I was almost in tears laughing at the three of them laughing!
* Instead of watching cartoons in the morning, Brady now watches SportsCenter. He also plays football with his friends at recess EVERY day.
* Drew tried a cheese quesadilla the other day... and liked it! We are moving up :)
* Mallory understands that we are going to Disneyworld on vacation. However, she cannot seem to remember what it is called. lol At first, she was calling it something that started with "Minnie." Today it at least started with "Disney" but I can't recall the other half she said. She has made it very clear to me that she wants to see Mickey and his friends but doesn't want to talk to any of the princesses.
* When I ask her to put things away, Mallory has started to hide them instead. Her favorite hiding place is in the corner of her room, behind her bunny chair. Of course, it's hard for me to understand the point of this since it takes just as long to hide it as it would to put it away!

Going to Seattle!

2012-01-28T11:13:00.000-08:00

Booked our airfare this morning :) I was pretty bummed earlier in the week because the airfare I was looking at over the weekend went up on Tuesday and stayed that way for the rest of the week. However, I took a peek again this morning, and the price had gone back down - woo hoo!! Bryan and I are going and leaving the kids behind with Grandma. We decided to go mid May so that the kids will still be in school, but hopefully it will be close enough to the summer that we can do some whale watching off the San Juan Islands. Of course, it seems like a long ways off at the moment, but I know the time will fly by as always!

Mallory's favorite chore

2012-01-27T10:43:00.000-08:00

In the past few weeks, I have tried to get the kids to help out a little more around the house - to their displeasure, of course. lol They were already doing a fair amount, but I can always use more help! Drew is now setting the table (which really just means putting out the napkins and silverware), and Brady is responsible for pouring drinks for the kids and often times, making his dinner. I've also started asking them to take out the trash and/or recycling. Of course, when Drew took the trash out the other day, I had to clean up the trail he left of chocolate milk, so it actually made more work for me... live and learn!

Mallory's favorite chore is unloading the silverware from the dishwasher. Of course, it takes her forever because there are big spoons, medium spoons, kid spoons, etc. and she wouldn't be happy if everything weren't in the right place. Is she my daughter or what??

Comparing forks to see if they are the same size...

I taught her to do this because she was constantly

asking - is this one big? is this one medium? etc.

Of course, by next week she may be complaining about unloading the dishwasher, but for now I'm happy that she enjoys it!

Living Museum

2012-01-27T10:35:00.000-08:00

Brady has spent the last month at school learning about Leif Eriksson. Each student in the second grade was assigned a historical figure, with the end goal of "becoming" that person during the living museum. The kids lined up down the main hallway of the school this morning dressed as their assigned person. Each child had a "button" that the parents could push. When pushed, the students were to come alive and give a brief speech about that person. I was rather impressed by some of the costumes I saw, and most of the kids I heard really knew their speeches well... including Brady (of course!).

Spent the last two days scrapping...

2012-01-25T19:25:00.000-08:00

I just finished this:

Fall Forest - Heather Roselli

Falling for Her - Traci Reed & Melissa Bennett

A little snippy alpha - Julie Billingsley

template by Jacinda

I had another layout started first, but I couldn't finish working on it because the papers wouldn't download for me. I ended up installing a different browser on my computer, and they downloaded through it without a problem. Go figure! I've bought plenty of stuff from the Sweet Shoppe and that's the first time I've run into that...

I browsed through Cracker Barrel today and came home with this:

I totally bought it so I would be justified in buying this new kit:

Hopefully Mallory won't turn her nose up at it!! She seems to be getting pickier with what she is willing to wear... no real surprise there!

This week...

2012-01-20T22:11:00.000-08:00

*We signed Drew & Mallory up for soccer again this spring - the season starts in March.
*Brady has try-outs for baseball tomorrow. He is pretty excited about it :) At this age, all the kids make
a team, so no pressure.
*Drew learned about bears in school. He asked me to take this pic with his artwork -

*Mallory stayed dry at school two days in a row. Of course, once we got home she showed no interest in

going on the potty. This afternoon, however, she stayed dry from around 2 p.m. until bedtime. She

was pretty enthusiastic, so we'll see what tomorrow brings. I'm sure the two m&m's for each successful

trip to the potty helped. lol

*Bryan has been working nights and is hoping that tonight will be the last shift, but I'm not sure how

promising it's looking at the moment... I got quite a bit of scrapping done last week, but I've lost the

motivation these past few days. I think it's just that I'm doing more in the evenings with him at work, so

once I get everyone in bed, I don't have the motivation to do much of anything!

Here is one of the last layouts I completed -

Super Pop- Dani Mogstad

Embellish Holiday: Fall-o-ween template by

Traci Reed & NettioDesigns

Another day, another dollar...

2012-01-18T20:10:00.000-08:00

spent! I have used most of my free time the past two days to shop :) Good news is that Kohl's is practically giving stuff away, so I got a lot for my money! What, do you ask? 3 pairs of shorts and 3 shirts for Drew, two shirts, a pair of shorts and a pair of jeans for Brady, 3 pairs of pajamas and a pair of shoes for Mallory... all for $125. Plus, I got $20 in Kohl's cash, so I went back today and got Mallory another pair of shoes - hard to beat $20 off!

I also went to Gymboree today to use my Gymbucks. I didn't get much but have my eye on a few things for the boys - I will save those purchases for when my new coupon is good in a few weeks. lol My last stop was Stride Rite to get a couple pairs of shoes for Mallory. They were on sale, but it is Stride Rite, so they weren't exactly cheap. It stinks when she grows out of her current size because one or two pairs of new shoes just doesn't cut it... not like the boys who basically wear 2-3 pairs of shoes and that's it!

Next on my list is a trip to Goodwill. Brady is studying Leif Erikson and is memorizing a speech about his life. I need to find a few things to dress him up as a viking - good luck to me!

Calling it quits

2012-01-15T20:33:00.000-08:00

We have decided that this will be Brady's last month of karate. He enjoys class while he is actually there, but he doesn't look forward to it and would prefer to have more free time at home. He will be playing baseball again this spring, and in the fall we will consider trying out something new. He likes the idea of playing football, but Bryan and I aren't willing to commit to the number of practices it involves. There are a couple of organizations that offer flag football, so that's an option. He has also talked about trying boy scouts in the past - I think both he and Drew would enjoy that. Of course, by the time summer rolls around and we are talking about this again, who knows what he will be enthusiastic about?

At the dojo - Traci Reed

Set #107 Photo Focus 3 template - Cindy Schneider

This is another scraplift of one of my "favorites" at the Sweet Shoppe. I have a couple of pages worth of favorites saved, but this week is the first time I've actually gone back and lifted a couple as I planned! It was fun to do them, and I felt motivated to work on other layouts after I got them done :)

Play-doh Toy Time Race game

2012-01-14T14:41:00.000-08:00

Mallory got this game from Santa, and it is a big hit with the kids! One part of the game is that you get to recycle (i.e. smash) other players, and to say that they LOVE that would be an understatement... They get really excited while playing it - last night Drew kept pretending to fall off his chair. Mallory was in tears a few times after being smashed, but was thrilled two seconds later when she got to smash someone else. Definitely a game of highs and lows!

Blurry, but worth seeing the look on her face :)

Smashed... again!

The smasher instead of the smashee. lol

I was feeling really motivated to do a layout but had no idea which kit to use. I ended up looking through some of the kits I already own and found this one by Traci Reed called Monster Jam. I thought it would work well since a major portion of the board has gears on it. I actually bought this kit in anticipation of using it next month, after the boys go to the Monster Truck Jam (Drew got tickets for Christmas). I think it turned out well!

FYI - if you have a child between the ages of 3-6, he/she will likely receive this game as a birthday gift sometime this year :)

New haircut

2012-01-13T09:47:00.000-08:00

I took the kids for haircuts yesterday afternoon. Mallory said she didn't want one. Drew decided he was finally ready for a change. I have asked him off and on for about a year if he would like to do something different, but his response has always been that he likes it flat. Yesterday, I didn't ask, but he informed Brandie that he would be getting it cut short like Brady's. Of course, I was just hoping he wouldn't wake up today and change his mind once we cut it! Turned out not to be an issue, he was pretty excited about me spiking it for him this morning :)

We'll see how long this lasts! I think I like it better the old way, but that's o.k. If he's happy with it this way, that's fine with me.

Go, Go, Power Rangers!

2012-01-12T20:56:00.000-08:00

Both of the boys got Power Ranger costumes for Christmas. Here they are trying them out for the first time...

Showing off his best move :)

Drew's costume was supposed to come with a mask.

Not sure if it was in the bag when I bought it or if

I somehow misplaced it. Thankfully, he wasn't

too distraught over it and already had a mask he

had made several months back.

This picture is totally cracking

me up tonight!

St. Louis

2012-01-12T19:10:00.000-08:00

I went back to October pics and worked on a couple pages from our trip to St. Louis. The first one is nice and simple - I really love these digital page protectors, and Traci has a free one offered at the Sweet Shoppe right now.

Traci Reed - Document Life Sampler

Elements from Going Places - Kristin Cronin Barrow

This next one is a total scraplift of a layout by NatalieKW. I loved it and saw no reason to change it up much at all!

Explore Exhibits - Meg Mullens & Jady Day Studio

My final Christmas layout!

2012-01-07T19:59:00.000-08:00

I think this kit is SO beautiful! Of course, I only scratched the surface of the papers and embellishments it contains...

Spirit of the Season - Jady Day Studio & Kay Miller Designs

Cindy's half pack #27 Joy template

I spent a good portion of the day today taking down Christmas decorations. The trees are still up, but breaking those down tomorrow shouldn't take too long. I think this is probably the worst part about traveling after Christmas - coming back to a house that is still decorated and tons of presents that now need a home. I spent two days organizing/purging in the kids' rooms and playroom, so all their new stuff has a home. Unfortunately, I still need to tackle my own goodies and finish gathering up everything I will be donating to Goodwill. The pile is pretty large :)

Christmas layouts

2012-01-04T19:40:00.000-08:00

Left

Right

Countdown to Christmas template - Misty Cato

Magical Christmas - Jady Day Studio & Studio Flergs

DJB Holly Berry Wonderland font

A few elements from Cutesy Christmas - Meg Mullens

Santa! I posted this on facebook about a week ago, in case you

are wondering why it looks familiar...

Magical Christmas - Jady Day Studio & Studio Flergs

Cindy Schneider - half pack 27 template

I'm actually almost done with Christmas layouts, but I have plenty of layouts from August-November to keep me busy after that!

A fun week... mostly.

2012-01-03T20:08:00.000-08:00

We spent last week in Alabama with Bryan's brother and family. As always, the kids had a great time together.

Playing some football

At the park

Mallory couldn't get enough of this swing!

Such a cute pic of Rachel :)

Mallory watched the Grinch so many times I lost count!

She asked to watch it today, and I told her it would be

the last time until next Christmas.

Luke couldn't quite make it through the movie...

All six kids slept in the same room, with a couple exceptions.

Two slept in Luke's bunk bed, and the rest slept on the floor.

Watching Animal Planet in Aunt Holly's room -

every time I walked into a room, that is

what Rachel was watching!

The kids spent a lot of time connected - between us we had two

iphones, two ipads, an ipod touch, 4-5 nintendo ds's, and a Leapfrog LeapPad.

Brady also got to go with Uncle Scott and family to Memphis to see the Liberty Bowl. Bryan and I opted to stay back at the house with Drew and Mallory - it was a five hour drive or so to get to Memphis. Considering we drove almost 12 hours to get to Alabama, it seemed like a good idea to stay behind. It actually worked out well because Drew slept in and Mallory took a nap (miracle!) while they were gone. Plus, they left at 5 in the morning - they had a long day, but I know they had lots of fun, too!

So, let me refer back to my title and tell you that the week could have been better. The day before we were scheduled to leave here, Drew woke up with a fever. I felt obligated to take him to the doctor, esp. since he had strep only a few weeks ago. We spent 2 1/2 hours at an urgent care place, only to find out he had a sinus infection. He did have a fever off and on for a few days, but was feeling better by the end of the week. I had a day or so reprieve... then it was Mallory :( On Saturday, she complained about her ears hurting. She woke up several times that night, and had a fever by Sunday afternoon. So, I was off again to an urgent care facility, this one on New Year's Day. We spent a couple hours there, and literally made it to CVS as they were closing the pharmacy window. Thankfully, we got her antibiotic and ear drops. Of course, we were scheduled to leave town the next day so it was important to get this done! For both kids to be sick twice in the same month is unheard of... literally. I can only hope that this is a blip on the screen and not to be the norm from now on.

We did make it home last night in one piece, and everyone seems to be feeling better. The kids had the day to recover today and will be back in school tomorrow. That's the plan, anyway!!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T17:16:00.000-08:00

The kids went to bed last night around 9:30, after sprinkling reindeer food on the lawn and leaving out milk and cookies for Santa. They were all up this morning by 6 a.m. I fully expected the boys to be up that early but I had hoped Mallory might sleep in a bit since she went to bed so late...

A few pics to share -

Time for church!

Brady took this pic - not too shabby!

A few presents...

Excuse the crappy photo... having some camera issues :(

Santa brought Brady this Paper Jamz guitar...

Mallory loves it!

So excited about his Megabloks Power Rangers!

Santa brought Mallory a bike, complete with a doll

carrier on the back :)

My new Christmas tree

Love these star ornaments! I bought a few and then

asked for some more for Christmas.

My Waterford ornaments - so pretty all lit up!

Cookies for Santa

2011-12-23T20:02:00.000-08:00

We made gingerbread men for Santa today. Well, technically, we made three cookies for Santa and are keeping the rest for ourselves. LOL Each kid got to cut out and decorate six cookies. I didn't get any pics of the cookies before they were baked, for one very good reason. The dough got warm fast - so quickly that I didn't have the time to spare! I put it in the freezer and rolled just enough out for six cookies. Even then, I still had trouble getting the darn things off the counter... and yes, I used flour.

My hands are dirty, what should I do??

Brady's men

Drew's men

Mallory's cookies - she let me do the frosting and sprinkles

and was very content to decorate with m&m's. Of course,

she was very explicit in her instructions and I did as I was told.

Jingles

2011-12-20T21:51:00.000-08:00

Today our advent activity was for the kids to make their own scrapbook page. I figured that Jingles would be a good subject since they have really enjoyed looking for him each morning since he arrived :) Brady and Drew agreed and helped me select the pictures we would use. I printed out the pictures and a template (for some guidance) and gave each of the boys a page.

Mallory was happy to stamp while her brothers

were working on the background of our layout.

Brady did pretty well with my trimmer, while

Drew used his scissors.

Drew's side of the layout before Mallory

got her paws on it...

Mallory's turn!

I let her go through two packages of stickers before

I called it quits. Apparently she was in a good enough

mood that it didn't cause a meltdown. LOL

The finished product will be in our family album, along with this layout I did -

Magical Christmas - Jady Day Studio & Studio Flergs

Litabells Designs template - Duets vol.2

Overall, our project went pretty smoothly and the kids definitely enjoyed it. Looks like it will make it back on the advent calendar next year...

Christmas, round two

2011-12-19T21:53:00.000-08:00

Drew seemed surprised to get his Mega T-Rex from

Grandma & Grandpa rather than Santa...

I assured him he wouldn't get another one from

Santa since Jingles is reporting back every night :)

Mallory couldn't be bothered to take any pictures,

so her brothers stepped in.

Reveille (the pillow pet) got a frosty reception.

If she doesn't warm up to her, Reveille may

become my pillow pet. I bet Mallory would want her then!

Brady said that his books were his favorite gift.

He read the third Diary of a Wimpy Kid in less than 24 hours!

Both Grandma and Grandpa got calendars with pics of the kiddos.

Woo hoo! Rock Star Mickey!

I guess this pic was ok because I didn't consult

her first and ask her to look at the camera...

Mallory is more than willing to help open presents... even if

you don't require assistance. LOL

So proud of his latest lego build!

A layout with pics from our gift exchanges so far, plus a few pics from the kids' parties at school.

Left

Right

All Year Long, December - Meg Mullens and Cindy Schneider

By the way, I got some awesome gifts, too... just don't have any pictures to show! I need to get a shot of my new rings, but that would require my hands and nails to look decent, so maybe not. Here are the images from online - I got two of the sparkly bands, plus the Gig 'Em band to wear in the middle.

Brady's Big Day

2011-12-17T19:37:00.000-08:00

Today was Brady's All Star Camp at Hunter Pence's baseball academy. Earlier in the year, I had looked at him attending one of their summer camps, but the timing didn't work out. I did subscribe to their emails, though, and got one several weeks ago about this All Star Camp. When I discovered that Hunter would actually be part of the camp, I was eager to learn more. The only drawback seemed to be the price :( We decided we couldn't pass it up, not knowing if Brady would ever have such an opportunity again.

They spent the morning going to several different stations, where they worked on a different skill at each. When I asked, Brady said his favorite part of the day was the station where he got to work with Hunter. At lunchtime, all the instructors got together to put on a home run derby while the kids watched. Brady was quick to tell me that Hunter won :) After that, they had a Q&A session with Hunter, then an opportunity to get a picture taken with him and have a couple things autographed. Brady took his Astros jersey and also ended up getting a baseball signed by all the instructors. He also won a bat for answering a trivia question correctly earlier in the day.

Bryan took a few pics of the home run derby and Brady getting his things autographed. A photographer was there all day taking pics, so I look forward to seeing those... esp. the one of Brady and Hunter together.

This morning, I heard the firetruck outside the neighborhood and knew that Santa would most likely be driving by soon. The kids were pretty excited to see both the Grinch and Santa :)

Bryan had the camera with him, so I neglected to take any pics of the ornaments we painted this afternoon for our advent calendar. But, I did take a few yesterday of the gumdrop snowflakes we made. Excuse the marshmallow in the center... I was too cheap to buy 50 large gumdrops when I only needed three. LOL

I also took a picture of Jingles today - Mallory was thrilled to wake up and discover that he was in her room!

More Christmas Fun!

2011-12-14T20:59:00.000-08:00

Jingles has been naughty again. LOL Three morning ago, the kids found him face down in a bag of chocolate chips. They were dying to see his mouth, so here is how he appeared the next morning -

Then, this morning he appeared on the Christmas tree - along with some of the boys' underwear :)

Yesterday, our advent activity was to decorate our gingerbread house. As usual, I picked up a prebuilt one to make my life easier! I was actually surprised how well the kids got along as they were working. There wasn't nearly as much whining, complaining, bickering, etc. as there usually is when we all try to sit down and do something together.

Cutesy Christmas - Meg Mullens

Half pack #26 template - Cindy Schneider

Today was Mallory's Christmas program and her last day of school. I never get any great pics where they do the program, so I didn't even take my camera. I did shoot some video, so I need to take a look and see if any of it is worth posting. She did sing along... about half the time, I would say. Tomorrow, the boys both have their Christmas parties at school. I finished up their teachers' gifts, and the boys worked on their cards tonight. I did something similar to last year - a fun Santa pail with goodies inside.

The one thing I made is a post-it holder for each teacher. I bought a 4x6 acrylic frame, post-it notes, and designed the background in photoshop as I would a regular layout, just on a much smaller scale. I think they turned out cute!

Last, but not least, is another layout I finished this week. I hadn't scrapped anything for myself in quite a while, and I was happy to get back to it! If you have gotten your Christmas card, these pics will look familiar :)

Peppermint Stick - Melissa Bennett

Cindy's layered templates - set 107 Photo Focus 3

Christmas, round one

2011-12-11T19:16:00.000-08:00

Pretty darn excited about his new beyblade!

Mallory's gift turned out to be fishing lures... oops!

Mallory helped ALL the adults. LOL

What's a gift exchange without legos??

Drew built this on his own. I was impressed :)

The final lego Heroica game - now we can

piece all four together for one massive game.

Mallory wasn't cooperative at all for pics (or much of

anything else). I was happy to get anything of her

without a sour face!

Enjoying her mini m&m's

Festival of Lights

2011-12-10T20:05:00.000-08:00

Today's activity was to visit the Festival of Lights. The past couple years we went to one about 10 minutes from the house. This year, I thought it would be fun to try the one at Moody Gardens. While I didn't ask Bryan's opinion, I'm certain that next year he will vote for the one closer to home. I wasn't prepared for how crowded it would be! We got there within 15 minutes of it opening, but several of the parking lots were already full, and the ticket lines were long. Although, I will say that the lines were even longer when we left... The displays were neat, but probably not enough for us to go back since it's not that close to home and we much prefer to not deal with the crowds! They had a snow zone that I was hoping would be fun for the kids, but we opted not to do it once we saw the area. It was small, and the snow was very slippery. Plus, the kids in there were on the older side and throwing snow balls in every direction. I know Brady wasn't happy about that, but I was afraid that once Drew and Mallory got in there they wouldn't like it, and we would be out the ticket money. If it had been free, no problem :)

If I remember correctly, she wasn't

allowed to stand where she wanted...

Ahh, much better! Although she cried after seeing

Dora, too, because she wanted more than one picture.

It's hard to win with a 3 year old, I tell you!!

The kids don't know it yet, but Bill and Mary are coming tomorrow afternoon for our first gift exchange. I think they'll be a bit excited :)

2011-12-08T20:55:00.000-08:00

To recap my week, Monday I took Drew to the doctor after five days of fever (on and off) and found out he had strep throat. The same night, Mallory developed a horrible cough. So, I went back to the doctor on Tuesday and found out she has croup. Wednesday, Drew went back to school. Today everyone was back - my first day on my own since last Wednesday! Next week is already the last week of school before the Christmas break, so I am really thankful that the house is decorated and my shopping is done. In fact, we are doing our first gift exchange this weekend with Bryan's parents.

In case you're keeping track, Jingles has moved around the house nightly, but I haven't deemed every spot worthy of a photo. Today, however, he got into a little mischief. The kids loved it! Last year he didn't get into any kind of trouble, but this year I think he might be getting more comfortable :)

On the playroom shelf, holding a dry erase marker...

Look at what that naughty little elf did!

We have been keeping up with our advent activities, too. Tuesday it was Drew's turn to pick a Christmas movie for the kids to watch while they drank hot chocolate in their new mugs. Only problem was, he fell asleep on the couch at 4:30 p.m. and didn't get up the rest of the night! So, we fudged a little and moved it to Wednesday. Wednesday's activity was to purchase a new Christmas movie or book. After going through our collection on Tuesday, I decided it was lacking. So, I actually let each kid pick their own movie... with guidance, of course! In case you are curious, Brady picked Elf (I let him watch the trailor, he has never seen it). Drew picked Tom & Jerry - A Nutcracker Tale. And, we talked Mallory into the new Ice Age Christmas special. The kids are looking forward to those arriving in the mail soon!

Today's activity - ice cream cone Christmas trees

Drew needed a bit of assistance with the frosting. LOL

I frosted Mallory's, and she put on her sprinkles.

Needless to say, this was a big hit! Ice cream cone, frosting and sprinkles... only thing missing was the actual ice cream. I think there was plenty of sugar as it was!

2011-12-05T16:52:00.000-08:00

Jingles, yesterday morning

Jingles, today. The boys especially loved that he

had taken a tiny bite from the marshmallow he is holding...

Yesterday's advent activity

Today's activity - I bought some mugs with inserts

that the kids could color. Today we decorated, tomorrow

we get to use them for hot chocolate :)

Pretty cute for a dollar each, I think! And yes, Drew did go back and finish his. He could only color for so long before getting tired, apparently. LOL

2011-12-03T19:30:00.000-08:00

Here is where Jingles appeared yesterday morning, after reporting back to Santa -

Unfortunately, I already dropped the ball, so Jingles was in the same spot this morning :p Hopefully he will be in a new spot every morning from here on out!

Our second advent activity - snowman doughnuts

Of course, I checked and saw that we had black icing, so I didn't buy any. When I pulled it out, I knew immediately that was a mistake because it was almost empty. So, our doughnuts mainly had red eyes and mouths, but the kiddos didn't care.

Today's activity was to open an early gift from Grandma and Grandpa Farris - Little Passports. I don't have any pictures yet, but so far we have our travel suitcase, passport, map, as well as our first stamp and souvenir from Brazil. Each month a new package will arrive and we will learn about a different country. From this month's activities, we already know that the next country will be Japan.

Another interesting moment from today - Mallory decided to cut her own hair.

Notice how much longer the left side is? Frankly, I wasn't too upset given the circumstances. We have already taken our family and Christmas pictures, and what she cut off could have been MUCH worse. The worst part is behind her ear where there is a chunk that's only about two inches long. That spot is pretty much covered up by longer hair. Also, this was literally two hours before a hair appointment, so we've already remedied the situation. Had she done this after, I would not have been as forgiving...

It's December!

2011-12-01T19:08:00.000-08:00

Brady has really been looking forward to seeing Jingles again (our elf). We watched a new Elf on the Shelf 30 minute special last week, and in that show, the elf arrives through the mail. While Jingles arrived here the first year by mail, last year he just appeared in the house on December 1. So, I was kind of kicking myself yesterday for having watched the show... since Brady is getting older, the details become more and more important. I wasn't certain how to go about having him arrive in the mail. I realized rather quickly he would have to appear at the front door because how could I get him in the mailbox? I was also afraid he would recognize my writing. Anyway, here's what I came up with -

We read the included book again and tried to convey to Mallory that it's important not to touch Jingles (touching him makes him lose his magic, and then he can't fly home to report to Santa). I think it's still going to be necessary to put him places she can't reach him - she's not to be trusted. LOL

We did our first activity from the advent calendar I made - letters to Santa!

The boys discovered new Power Rangers Mega Bloks in the Toys R Us catalog yesterday. Needless to say, they were thrilled and these toys went straight to the top of their lists! This is precisely why I have been saying I'm ALMOST done shopping... I am going to order them, and call myself done :)

Day 30

2011-11-30T14:16:00.001-08:00

Today I am thankful that I get to experience the Christmas season through the excitement and joy of my children. I've always thought it's the best time of the year, but seeing it through the eyes of a child makes it even more special!

Day 29

2011-11-29T21:01:00.001-08:00

Today I am thankful for my new Christmas tree :) I finally found one on sale that I was willing to pay for!

Day 28

2011-11-28T22:17:00.000-08:00

Today I am thankful for my friends - old and new, the ones I speak to often, and the ones I wish I saw more. Thanks for listening to me (good times and bad!), giving advice, loving my kids and going with me to see cheesy movies like Twilight :)

Day 27

2011-11-27T19:40:00.000-08:00

Today I am thankful for my blog. While it is really meant for family and friends, it is important to me personally because it is a written record I can look back on... and my memory sucks.

Ho! Ho! Ho!

2011-11-27T16:59:00.000-08:00

This is what a little bribery will get you...

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

2011-11-27T16:58:00.000-08:00

Bryan got the tree up yesterday, and today the kids and I decorated it. We had a small mishap... looks like next year we will get a new tree. Part of the base is cracked, but hopefully it will hold up long enough to last until Christmas! I'm not precisely sure what happened, but I think Brady was pulling on the tree a bit too much and caused it to fall forward. I think the crack probably happened when we were trying to get it back upright.

This is what the tree looked like after letting the kids do it their way. I did go back and rearrange a bit :)

This afternoon, I told Mallory she could take a few of the stuffed animals and put them on her dresser. This is the result . LOL

All Year Long - November

2011-11-26T22:47:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving Day

Left

Right

Another layout from Meg's new collection :)

Day 26

2011-11-26T21:12:00.001-08:00

Today I am thankful for Brady's love of reading.

Day 25

2011-11-25T21:38:00.001-08:00

Today I am thankful that I still have the weekend ahead of me!

Black Friday

2011-11-25T18:09:00.000-08:00

I'm certain most of you know that I would rather pay full price than actually go shopping on Black Friday. LOL What I did do today was shop my favorite digital scrapbooking site! I spent $25, and I'm pretty certain that's the most I have ever spent at once. It is their biggest sale of the year, everything is 40% off. So, I got quite a bit for my $25 and have enough to keep me busy for a long while...

Two of the designers from the Sweet Shoppe came out with a HUGE collection for this week's sale. It is called All Year Long. Each of the 12 kits corresponds to a month of the year and includes a regular kit with paper and embellishments, along with a two page template, layered title and border piece. Needless to say, I was thrilled to discover I would be working with this collection! I got four layouts done and have plans for many more...

All Year Long - Meg Mullens & Cindy Schneider

Meg has kept me very busy this month! It's been fun to be a guest on her team, and I feel very fortunate to be the recipient of all the awesome kits she produced this month :)

Happy turkey day!

2011-11-25T08:54:00.000-08:00

Pretty cute veggie tray, right?

Not my idea - found it through pinterest

Not quite a traditional Thanksgiving activity,

but they had fun....

Bryan's mom offered to have Thanksgiving at

her house - I don't turn down those kinds of offers :)

Here's what Mallory thought of the mashed potatoes -

no offense, Mary! She has never liked them.

I had a difficult time getting this pic - she didn't

want the turkey to be in the picture. LOL

Playing a little football with Grandpa Farris

Mmm...dessert!

Enjoying his pumpkin pie

Settling in at home to watch the game

Brady has really become interested in football the last few weeks. He was pumped about watching the Aggie game and cut his wii time short to make sure he didn't miss the kickoff :) While I would have liked a better ending, it was still fun watching the game with him. Bryan was at the game with my dad and brother, so it was just he and I watching at home.

Speaking of Aggie football - here are a few pics from Drew's first game:

Drew certainly doesn't have the attention span to sit through a whole game. In fact, I would estimate he watched 5-10 minutes before moving on to other activities. LOL I brought him several things to do, and he worked on those happily for most of the first half. I was a little disappointed that he didn't seem too interested in the band at half time, but to be fair, we had already been sitting there at least an hour and a half at that point. He made it through most of the third quarter with a sno cone, and then we opted to leave since it actually looked like we couldn't lose the game at that point...

Day 24

2011-11-24T21:59:00.001-08:00

Today I am thankful that my parents and Bryan's parents get along so well, and that we often celebrate the holidays together. I'm also thankful that I got to watch the Aggie game with Brady, even though it didn't end well :(

Day 23

2011-11-23T15:09:00.001-08:00

Today I am thankful I don't have to cook Thanksgiving dinner. I just spent two hours in the kitchen and all it got me was some deviled eggs, a veggie tray, and spinach dip.

Day 22

2011-11-22T09:09:00.001-08:00

Today I am thankful I am not a hoarder. (If you have never seen Hoarders on A&E, it's worth checking out. You will feel so much better about the state of your own house!) While I'm sure that everyone who knows me would agree I'm more likely to turn into superman than a hoarder, I'm certain that no one ever thinks they will get to that point.

Day 21

2011-11-21T20:40:00.001-08:00

I am thankful that the "bad" things that happened to me today were finding out I need a new kitchen faucet and dealing with a cranky three year old who isn't feeling well... it could be so much worse!

Day 20

2011-11-20T21:16:00.000-08:00

Today I am thankful for how well Mallory entertains herself. I have many projects I am working on simultaneously, and it's nice to be able to actually get something done during the day while she is on her own in the playroom. Her brothers are off camping with Daddy, so I don't have to worry about any disagreements amongst the children :)

Day 19

2011-11-19T21:19:00.000-08:00

Today I am thankful to be an Aggie. "There's a spirit that can ne'er be told, it's the spirit of Aggieland!" Every time I set foot on campus I feel the spirit of Aggieland, and today was no different - it's such an awesome thing, and I'm so happy my kids have the chance to experience it.

As an example, Drew and I walked around a bit as the third quarter was starting, and I went to buy him a sno cone. I ordered him one, then opened my wallet to discover I only had $2. Of course, it cost $3. The three teenage guys working there were so kind - don't worry about it, they told me. I think one even pulled a $1 out of his own pocket to contribute. Needless to say, I very much appreciated it! I did go grab a $1 from my dad to pay him back, though :) So, technically I owe my dad the $1, but I don't think he will miss it. LOL

Also, I'm thankful we won...

A couple layouts...

2011-11-18T19:47:00.000-08:00

A few older pics of Mallory with Meg's new kit

Juicy Fruity - Meg Mullens

Inspired by Nettio template - Darcy Baldwin

Happy Halloween!

Left

Right

All Treats no Tricks - Meg Mullens & Cindy Schneider

Doubled Over Template Pack - Little Green Frog Designs

Day 18

2011-11-18T19:38:00.000-08:00

Today I am thankful for some quality time with Drew this weekend. I know it's got to be tough sometimes being the middle child! With his brother and sister at Grandma's, he got to pick the restaurant tonight for dinner and then we bought him his very own scrapbook to hold his Power Rangers artwork. Tomorrow he will be going to his first Aggie football game with me and Grandpa Farris :)

Day 17

2011-11-17T20:43:00.000-08:00

Today I am thankful that tomorrow is the last day of school before the break. I think we are all ready!

2011-11-17T20:42:00.000-08:00

A few things to share from this week...

This is Brady's third year in a row to win the "respect" character trait award in his class at school.

While he wouldn't win any such award at home right now, I am still grateful his attitude at school

is exemplary.

Here we are working on cupcakes for

Mallory's Thanksgiving lunch at school.

To say she was eager to help would be putting it mildly!

Our owl cupcakes - so cute, right?

The pitiful number of Oreos I could get that looked decent...

The trash pile was much larger! LOL

I think part of the problem was that I had the

oreos in the panty for a week - they were way

too soft to pull apart easily. Lesson learned :)

Drew has been on an art kick this week...

He has drawn picture after picture of his beloved Power Rangers.

I love that he is starting to label his drawings. It is

so amazing how much they learn the first few months of kindergarten!

This afternoon, he asked me for his own scrapbook to keep

his pictures in :) It warmed my heart to know he understands

that our scrapbooks are special, and that having his own

would be a good place to store his precious drawings.

Last, but not least - Mallory's first trophy!

I was pretty upset to realize I didn't get a good pic of Drew and Mallory together with their trophies :( Perhaps we will put our soccer shirts back on tomorrow and try again. LOL Mallory was the first to get her trophy tonight at the team party, and she thought that was great! The way she was handling it, I was really afraid it was going to get broken before we made it home. So far, so good. But, I need to find somewhere to put it that she can't reach!

Day 16

2011-11-16T20:33:00.001-08:00

Today I am thankful for the little things that make life enjoyable. A good book, a funny movie, and yummy stuff like peppermint bark. Dark chocolate + peppermint = heaven!

Day 15

2011-11-15T19:47:00.000-08:00

Today I am thankful that my kids have cousins that are close to their ages and that they love spending time with them :) Only thing better would be if we lived closer to them...

Day 14

2011-11-14T06:14:00.000-08:00

Today I am thankful for how well Drew has adapted to Kindergarten. He is one of the youngest kids in the class, so that worried me a bit. But, he is doing great! He found himself a best little friend and is learning a lot. When it's time to do homework, he sits right down and gets it done... without complaint! I can't say as much for Brady. LOL

Day 13

2011-11-13T21:02:00.000-08:00

Today I am thankful that we live close to our families. It's awesome that our kids get to see their grandparents on a regular basis and spend birthdays and holidays with them. They are also available to come to things like school parties, soccer games, baseball games, Christmas programs and Grandma is even called on occasion to babysit :)

Advent Calendar

2011-11-12T18:34:00.000-08:00

A thread in my favorite scrapbook forum motivated me to get to work early on my advent calendar. The past two years, we bought a lego one for the boys. While they loved it, I wasn't so thrilled that this year's edition is Star Wars. While they would be excited about that, I was concerned that it would contain repeats of many things we already own. So, I was on the search for something different. I had bought an advent calendar from one of the designers at the Sweet Shoppe, but wasn't sure if I would use it for myself or as a gift. After reading some of the ideas in the forum, I decided to use it to document all the fun things we were going to do leading up to Christmas... as opposed to just getting a treat/toy every day. Here's how it turned out -

Frageelay Advent Calendar - Libby Pritchett

Here is our list:

1. Watch a xmas movie and eat strawberry santas

2. Make snowman doughnuts

3. Write letters to Santa

4. Make a Christmas tree canvas

5. Buy a new Christmas movie or book

6. Buy Angel tree or Toys for Tots gifts

7. Color Christmas mugs (got one for each kid at Michaels, comes with several inserts)

8. Watch a xmas movie and drink hot chocolate

9. Make ice cream cone trees (put green frosting on a sugar cone turned upside down, add xmas colored

sprinkles)

10. Sponge artwork (cut xmas shapes out of kitchen sponges and dip in paint)

11. Visit the Festival of Lights

12. Gumdrop snowflakes (start with a large gumdrop, add 6 toothpicks to get the snowflake shape, then

skewer smaller gumdrops onto the toothpicks)

13. Build a gingerbread house

14. Make Christmas cards for teachers

15. Watch a xmas movie and eat candy canes

16. Make reindeer ornaments (found at Michaels, made out of bells)

17. Make reindeer fingerprint cards (to mail)

18. Have a Christmas treat

19. Wrap presents

20. Kids make a xmas scrapbook page for our family album

21. Explore xmas in other countries

22. Take a drive and look at xmas lights

23. Make cookies

24. Leave reindeer food and cookies for Santa

25. Celebrate Christmas!

I put everything on a calendar and will rearrange activities as necessary! Also, in case you were wondering, there are three xmas movies on the list so that everyone can have a chance to pick :)

Day 12

2011-11-12T13:07:00.000-08:00

Today I am thankful that I am about as far from as procrastinator as a person can be! LOL I started working on Christmas wish lists about two months ago and am almost done shopping for the kids. I am making several gifts and looks like I will have most of them done by Thanksgiving. I was inspired to work on an advent calendar for the house and almost have that finished. Getting things done early is important to me because I want to really be able to enjoy the Christmas season... stress free :)

An exciting week...

2011-11-12T13:01:00.000-08:00

for Brady, that is! Sunday was his last baseball game. The team was pumped because they ended the season undefeated. After the game, everyone headed to Cici's for pizza and trophies.

Later in the week, he finished reading the fourth Harry Potter book. This was quite the accomplishment - it is 700+ pages. He took an ARP test (basically a comprehension test) at school and got a 100. As promised, he now gets to watch another of the movies - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Unfortunately, it isn't arriving today as I thought since the mail didn't run yesterday...

To cap off his week, he got another promotion at karate last night and received his new belt. Unfortunately, I missed it! I ran to Target at the beginning of class, fully expecting to see him receive his belt at the end of class - when they are normally presented. Guess I learned my lesson :(

Day 11

2011-11-11T13:57:00.000-08:00

Today I'm thankful for my family's health. We have been very, very fortunate - in fact, I seriously hesitate to put this in writing! In the past 8 years, we have only had 1 ear infection and between three kids, I have given less than 10 rounds of antibiotics ever. Pretty amazing, I think!

Snow cute!

2011-11-10T21:21:00.000-08:00

I just bought this cute penguin shirt for Mallory last week. When I saw Meghan's kit this week, I was so excited! I had her put it on this afternoon and do a little photo shoot in the front yard :)

Meghan Mullens & Heather Roselli - Snow Cute

All Treats no Tricks template - Cindy Schneider

I decided to forgo trying to come up with a cutesy title of my own and just used the title of the kit :)

Day 10

2011-11-10T21:02:00.000-08:00

Today I am thankful for jazzercise. I love it. It's so much a part of my life now, I don't even question it. I remember when I used to have to FORCE myself to exercise, and I would listen to other people say things like - "You just have to find something you love to do!" I thought that was such a crock, like who actually likes to exercise?? Now, I understand :)

Day 9

2011-11-09T13:00:00.000-08:00

Today I am thankful for my free time :) Even though I fill most of it up with exercise, grocery shopping, and running errands, I'm still grateful! I esp. love eating lunch by myself...in peace. LOL

Not as much free time this week as I usually have, though. Mallory came down with a bit of a stomach bug on Monday, so I kept her home from school yesterday. Tomorrow, Bryan is having his wisdom teeth removed, so I will need to wait at the office while he is having that done. Then, Friday morning Brady has his annual check-up. Mallory and Drew have their last soccer game on Saturday. Next week begins all the holiday lunches at school - I am going to four between the three kids (Drew has one at his regular lunchtime, plus one in the classroom). Now that I think about it, I'm pretty excited that I'm not going anywhere for Thanksgiving and can stay home and relax!! Bryan and his dad are taking the boys camping for two days early in the week, but I will be here with Mallory.

It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving is literally right around the corner!

Day 8

2011-11-08T07:41:00.000-08:00

Today I am thankful that I ventured into digital scrapbooking and found Sweet Shoppe Designs, which I consider to be my "home". I love everything about it - the community, the designs, the inspiration. I love creating my pages and being able to share them with friends and family. I love the convenience and that there is no mess involved!

Day 7

2011-11-07T12:53:00.000-08:00

Today I am thankful that baseball and soccer are coming to an end for the season. As much as I enjoy watching the kids play, I look forward to less time at practice and more time at home :) So does Brady! LOL

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-07T11:36:00.000-08:00

Bippity Boppity - Libby Pritchett

Cindy's half pack #23 template

Day 6

2011-11-06T10:06:00.000-08:00

Today I am thankful that our family pictures are done! I'm thankful the weather was decent, the mosquitoes were tolerable, and the kids were mostly cooperative.

I'm not sure that we got a great family pic out of the session, but I think there will definitely be some good shots of the kiddos. I'm looking at probably two weeks before I see the gallery... hopefully sooner :)

"Harry-cupotamus!!"

2011-11-06T10:01:00.000-08:00

Mallory has invented a new magic spell. She takes Brady's Harry Potter wand, points it at something, and says "Harry-cupotamus!" On any given day, she will say her spell makes things stay where they are, makes them freeze, or today she said it makes things turn to ice. The "Harry" part of her spell obviously comes from being exposed to Harry Potter, and I think the last part she probably came up with after reading one of her books called Hiccupotamus.

Day 5

2011-11-05T19:17:00.000-07:00

Today I am thankful for Bryan and the little things he does to make my life easier. Today it was putting gas in my car and cleaning up the dishes after dinner... without being asked :)

Scrap-a-thon

2011-11-05T09:47:00.000-07:00

As mentioned, I'm pretty excited about being a guest member of Meghan's team this month. I expected her to come out with a kit or two this week and was quite surprised when she came out with 5! So, I spent most of the day yesterday making layouts for her kits that were released today. It was definitely the most time I have spent scrapping in one day.

First up, a fun Christmas kit

Cutesy Christmas - Meghan Mullens

Little Green Frog designs - Even Bigger Picture template

Pictures by Paisley Petals Photography (i.e. Karen)

Next up, a collection with Traci Reed

Tell me about mom - Meghan Mullens & Traci Reed

Cindy Schneider - template pack #17

Blessed with a daughter

Tell me about my daughter

Cindy's template - set 17

Drew, age 5

Tell me about my son

template by Fee Jardine

Angry Birds

Tell me about dad

Scrapping with Liz - Double Album templates II

Obviously, Angry Birds has nothing to do with the theme of the kit. lol I look forward to being able to use it for Father's Day or possibly Bryan's next birthday. But, the colors worked well for these pics of Mallory I have been meaning to scrap. This will turn into a 2 page layout, but I was too tired yesterday to do both pages!

On a side note, my layout of Reagan and Mallory (one of my favs!) was published in GingerScrapsStreet magazine this month. Here is the link - It's not easy being green.

Day 4

2011-11-04T10:26:00.000-07:00

Today I am thankful for Bryan's job. It allows me to stay at home with the kiddos, and I never feel overextended financially. I know that is a MAJOR blessing!

Day 3

2011-11-03T12:46:00.001-07:00

Today I am thankful for this colder weather!

Day 2

2011-11-02T10:43:00.001-07:00

Today I am thankful that I don't have to drag anyone out of bed on school mornings... except myself :)

Scrappy stuff

2011-11-01T19:01:00.000-07:00

One of my recent baseball layouts was picked as a gallery standout on Penny Springmann's blog (she designed the main baseball kit I used in the layout) - if you click the link, it's the fourth one down.

This month, I get to be a guest creative team member for Meghan Mullens. Looks like it's a great month to be on the team because she has a lot of stuff coming out between Digital Scrapbooking Day and Black Friday :)

After some help from the designer with the template, I was finally able to get to work on my soccer layout. Here it is -

template and kit (Kickin' It) by Misty Cato

30 days of thanks

2011-11-01T16:14:00.000-07:00

Day 1 - Today I am thankful for a little girl who tells me I am the best mommy in the world.

Feel free to join me in being thankful for your blessings, whether they are big or small, silly or serious! I am posting on facebook, too, if you want to comment there.

Trick or Treat!

2011-10-31T19:38:00.000-07:00

This first pic is actually from last weekend...

we went to a party, but Drew opted not to wear his costume.

Getting ready to head out tonight...

Give me your gangster faces...

We went with a huge party of trick-or-treaters, and

Mallory was really lagging. She didn't seem to mind, though.

She was just so happy to get candy :)

How many can we eat? How many? Mom? Mom?

A great weekend

2011-10-30T18:57:00.000-07:00

Couldn't have asked for a better weekend - soccer game Saturday morning, baseball game Sunday evening, great weather, pumpkin carving, a night out, and a chance to sleep in without the kiddos :)

Brady stayed at my mom and dad's house Friday and Saturday night so he could go to the A&M game with them. This has become an annual tradition, and it is one that he really looks forward to.

In hindsight, one thing that would have been better this weekend is if the Aggies could have pulled off the win :( Nevertheless, Brady still had lots of fun.

Mallory had her first sleepover at Grandma's house on Saturday. I decided to ask Bryan's mom if she would be willing to keep Drew and Mallory on Saturday night since Brady was getting to stay at Grandma Farris' house. This way, everyone was happy! Bryan picked up all the kids early this afternoon, and we carved all of our pumpkins. Well... all but the one we had to throw away because it was already half rotten.

Drew carving his pumpkin - his request was square eyes,

a triangle nose, and a mouth with sharp teeth.

He was very pleased with the result!

Mallory helping out with the big pumpkin...

her interest in carving didn't last too long, though.

Everyone got some time carving the big one, plus their own pumpkin.

However, Brady felt a little cheated because his was the one

that was rotten. He did carve the smallest one with

the frown entirely on his own, though.

Make a face like your pumpkin, I told them.

Mallory wasn't cooperative so I cropped her out. lol

Looking forward to everyone dressed up tomorrow and getting some fun pics!

Visting the Patch

2011-10-29T13:29:00.000-07:00

Autumn in Hooville - Jady Day Studio

Cindy's half pack 22 template

Scrabble alpha - Traci Reed

Not what I had planned on working on next, but my soccer template isn't cooperating :(

Brady is 8!

2011-10-26T19:50:00.000-07:00

Left

Right

A Wizarding World - Jady Day Studio

Little Green Frog Designs - Doubled Over template pack

I actually started and finished this in the same day, which makes me happy! I have been working on some other projects and that has taken time away from me working on layouts for our family album. I decided it was time to devote some extra time for it this week :) Next up, a soccer layout with Drew and Mallory. I'd like to say I will get it done tomorrow, but don't hold your breath!

13 years

2011-10-24T10:49:00.000-07:00

Happy Anniversary to me! On one hand, it's hard to believe it's been thirteen years, but on the other, I can't even remember what life was like before kids. lol Bryan is an awesome husband and a great dad, and I know I don't tell him enough. I think it often... but rarely verbalize it. So, Bryan - thanks for putting up with all the things you don't love about me and for going out of your way to make me happy. I love you and our little family :)

Celebrating Brady's birthday

2011-10-23T19:06:00.000-07:00

Thursday was Brady's actual birthday. I went to eat lunch with him at school and brought cupcakes for the class. He opened presents after Bryan got home from work, and he chose pizza for dinner.

Notice the excitement on BOTH their faces!

A fancy new beyblade

The next day, we went out to celebrate. He picked one of his friends from school to go with us - blizzards from Dairy Queen after school, then Putt Putt Fun House and finally, dinner at Fuddruckers.

Unfortunately, we didn't actually play putt putt because we were scared of getting eaten alive by mosquitoes :( But, the kids still had lots of fun!

Today, both sets of grandparents came to Brady's baseball game and then back to the house for cake and presents. I had fun decorating the table for a Harry Potter theme. I couldn't find a cake I liked enough, so I ended up buying a small lego set that Brady wanted and used it to decorate the cake. He thought that was pretty cool, so I did well :)

Next on his list - a trip to Toys R Us to spend the birthday money that is now burning a hole in his pocket!

My Stingrays in action!

2011-10-23T08:53:00.000-07:00

Warming up before the game

Hard to tell in the pic, but Mallory kicked the ball to start the game :)

Drew was in the middle of the action most of the game.

Playing defense

The ball came Mallory's way a few times, but

she wasn't able to run fast enough to get it!

Paying more attention would help, too. LOL

She did throw the ball in a few times.

Love Drew's face here - "Go Stingrays!!"

Happy Birthday Brady!

2011-10-20T08:23:00.000-07:00

At eight years old, Brady...

*loves to read and often has 2-3 books going at the same time

*doesn't have a modest bone in his body

*hates to lose and can be brought to tears losing a wii game

*is a model student

*cannot live in the moment - always has to know what's coming next!

*enjoys having the last word

*is protective of his siblings... but bossy, too!

*has developed an attitude at home :(

*has lost five of his baby teeth

In his words...

Favorites: Book - Harry Potter

Movie - Harry Potter

T.V. show - Power Rangers

Place - Minute Maid Park

Biggest Pet Peeve - Drew yelling at Mallory (hmm... wonder where Drew learned that??)

Biggest Fear - tornadoes

What are you good at? baseball and video games

What are you NOT good at? having patience (I did suggest this, but he readily agreed!)

Our trip

2011-10-18T21:18:00.000-07:00

Brady and I made it back into town last night. Needless to say, Brady was sad to leave Zack behind. Having said that, he has quickly gotten back into the swing of things and is anxiously awaiting his birthday in a couple of days :) Mallory was very happy to see me. Drew was, too, but he might have been more excited to see Brady. lol Bryan took them to do a lot of fun things while we were away, so I don't think they missed us too much!

At the Vests' house

On our way to visit the arch -

I definitely should have taken more pics

of the fall foliage!

This is the size of the "pod" we rode to get

to the top of the arch...

630 feet!

Not a great picture, but gives you an idea

of our vantage point.

Looking down on St. Louis

After visiting the arch and eating some famous frozen

custard, we made our way to the carnival at Zack's school

This was hilarious! The boys were tethered together

and each trying to score baskets on their end.

Lunch the next day at Cheeburger Cheeburger - Brady decided

to bring his Chevrolet home as a souvenir.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered Drew had gotten

this one while we were away! What are the odds?

This next place had to have been the highlight of the

trip for the boys, a place called City Museum. I couldn't

even begin to describe it - the website says it "is an eclectic mixture

of children’s playground, funhouse, surrealistic pavilion, and

architectural marvel made out of unique, found objects."

The next three pics are all on the roof. If you refer

back to the above pic, you can see the ferris wheel

and ramp/slide pictured below.

We stayed until the place closed at 5:00 p.m.

I'm certain they could have stayed several

more hours if given the opportunity!

Hi! from St. Louis

2011-10-14T08:31:00.000-07:00

Brady and I made it to St. Louis last night. Bryan, Drew, and Mallory dropped us off at the airport - it went pretty well. Mallory did cry and was calling my name, but Bryan said it didn't take long for her to calm down... she even fell asleep on the way home! I knew that Drew would find a few perks to Brady being gone. Apparently, one turned out to be that he gets to pick his own bedtime story for the next several nights. lol

Zack and Brady were thrilled to see each other. They stayed up until midnight! Apparently, they were up at 5:00 a.m. and Jeffrey went in and told them to go back to sleep. I didn't hear them, but Brady came in my room at 6:45 a.m. to get up for the day. Needless to say, I think they will be exhausted later today. We're taking it easy this morning and just letting the kids play. This afternoon, we are headed to the movies.

On a totally unrelated topic, Brady lost his fifth tooth on Tuesday. We all went to bed, and I woke up at 2:00 a.m. My immediate thought was, "Oh, @#$%, the tooth fairy forgot to come!" Sneaking around the house when you are half asleep is not my idea of a good time... Perhaps I have learned my lesson :)

At the patch

2011-10-10T14:27:00.000-07:00

I picked the boys up a little early from school last Friday - the plan was to swing by the doctor's office for flu vaccinations, then head to the pumpkin patch for pics. That IS what we did, but I had no idea how long we would have to wait at the office... it was crazy in there!

*Note to self - NEVER go to the doctor's office on a Friday afternoon, even if it's just for an appointment with a nurse.

Thankfully, when we got over to the church, we had the pumpkin patch all to ourselves. I made them take a group pic right away, and then they all spent some time picking out a pumpkin.

Drew's pumpkin was a bit on the heavy side...

So, he decided to put it in Mallory's wheelbarrow.

As you could guess, this is the result. LOL

At the Zoo

2011-10-09T19:18:00.000-07:00

Cindy Schneider template - half pack #20

At the Zoo - Jady Day Studio

I cannot put into words how much I adore this kit - just try to tell me those aren't the cutest little animals you have ever seen!! I love it SO much, I can't wait to go back to the zoo and use it again.... to fit in all the elements that didn't make it onto this layout : p

Baseball layouts

2011-10-07T17:09:00.000-07:00

Traci Reed - 12x12 Slip Ins

Cindy's Half Pack #20

Papers from Traci Reed's AV Hero

Both layouts were made with the two baseball kits I already owned - Batter Up by Penny Springmann and Little Slugger by Julie Billingsley. The first one is from an Astros game last June when Marc and family were in town. I didn't actually go, so all these pics are from Sheree's camera :) The second layout is to document Brady's current season, so I am waiting a few more weeks to finish it up. I need to add another pic and finish the journaling. But, I was excited by what I've done so far, so I decided to go ahead and share!

Welcome home!

2011-10-07T17:00:00.000-07:00

Bryan made it home last night, after the kids were asleep. Today, he took the boys to school and then surprised them for lunch. After school, we went to the pumpkin patch at a local church to take some pics and everybody picked out their own pumpkin. Of course, they are already asking when we get to carve them...

Tomorrow, Bryan and I are going out to dinner and a movie. Brady is excited to meet his new babysitter. lol Our "regular" one left for A&M in August, so we are trying out one of her friends :) Next Thursday, Brady and I are flying to St. Louis for a long weekend with Julie and family. We've talked about it some but have tried to not make a big deal of it since Drew and Mallory will be staying home with Daddy. After we get back, it will only be a few days until Brady's birthday.... so, plenty of things to look forward to this month!

Trouble!

2011-10-04T19:59:00.000-07:00

In case you missed it on facebook, here is Mallory at her finest!

Whispered Dreams by Edeline Marta

Back to Scrapping freebie (template) by Jenn Lindsey

I left her alone for a few minutes with her stamps and paper and gave explicit instructions that the ink was only supposed to go on the stamps and paper. Of course, she understood completely... just didn't care! When I came back, she had ink all over her hands, lips, and she had stamped a few pics on her leg.

Let's be honest - I wasn't really that surprised. It's only been a week or so since she took her markers and drew all over herself. In my defense, I only left her alone to go help Drew with his homework :)

Morning at the Zoo

2011-10-02T19:05:00.000-07:00

Great weather today for the zoo. Although, I will say that by Brady's baseball game at 3:00 p.m., it was pretty darn hot again!

Checking out the African Forest exhibit

"Helping" Grandma

Couldn't get a smile without tickling her... stinker!

Mallory loved the carousel today!

Drew the prairie dog :)

Dora and Diego were actually visiting the zoo today, in honor of their new 4D movie. I ran over there with Mallory to get in line. We literally stood in line for 30 seconds before they were escorted away, only to find out they were taking a 20 minute break. 20 minute break + waiting in line = way too long!! I didn't need the heartache, so we walked away. She was ok with it, knowing we were going to get something sweet to eat on the way out :)

Stingrays - Game 2

2011-10-01T08:47:00.000-07:00

Warming up before the game - it was Drew's turn to play

goalie the first half of the game today. He was

pretty excited about it :)

Good thing I snapped these next two pics...

he saw VERY little action at the goal.

In fact, by the half, he decided playing

goalie wasn't so fun after all. Can't say I

blame him!

Time to run!

Mallory stayed on the field almost the whole

game, but did a lot of nothing.

Notice she's not even facing the right direction. LOL

She spent most of her time observing from the center circle, and I saw her playing in the dirt a bit. None of this surprises me much... she does enjoy going to practice, though, so I'm happy with that. Drew got his foot on the ball several times today, definitely more than last week. I'm guessing that each week he will get a little more comfortable going for the ball. Mallory did get to do one corner kick, but I was too far away, and there were too many kids in the way for a pic.

We only had eight players today, and the other team had 13. We still won. I think they would have been better off having some of their players sit out - they kept getting in each other's way!

A couple hybrid layouts

2011-09-28T19:32:00.000-07:00

In case you were wondering, hybrid means mixing digital scrapping with elements of traditional scrapping. For both these layouts, I designed them on my computer, printed them, added the 5x7 pic, then added a few elements to finish them off.

This is the layout as it was printed...

The green rectangle was supposed to be 5x7,

but somehow it ended up a lot bigger :(

This is the finished product! Cut some flowers I

printed separately from the same digital kit, attached

them with pop dots to give some dimension,

then decided to also add a piece of twine and

sticker to cover the center of the bow.

Under the Sea - Julie Billingsley & Kristin Cronin-Barrow
Inspired by Jacinda's layout here

Again, the layout as I printed it...

And, the finished product!

I cut a slit next to the filmstrip so I could

slide the 5x7 in (thanks to Karen for suggesting

that!). Then, I added the fish and pail with pop

dots. I love the metal wire I added to the pail, too :)

Sunbleached - Misty Cato

I am very happy with how these turned out! While I love scrapping digitally, sometimes I still have pictures that I want to be a part of my pages that aren't in a digital form. I don't have a scanner at home, so that's not a practical solution for me at this point.

As I was putting these layouts away, I realized it would work out better in my album if I had another page to go with my Schlitterbahn layout, so I made this one today -

Sunbleached - Misty Cato

template from Scrapping with Liz

(for the Scrap Orchard September Challenge)

My day

2011-09-27T17:19:00.000-07:00

Took the boys to school. Came home. Took Mallory to school, then went to exercise. Came home to shower. Did some shopping and had lunch. Picked Mallory up, came home. Picked the boys up from school, came home. Took Brady to karate, came home. Picked Brady up, came home. Took Brady to baseball practice, came home. Picked Brady up, came home. Are you tired just reading this?? I hope no one has any pressing homework... if so, there's going to be trouble!

Go Stingrays!

2011-09-24T11:49:00.000-07:00

Mallory and Drew had their first soccer game this morning. It went well :) They were both exhausted by the end, and Brady was dripping with sweat even though he wasn't out there playing! lol

I've been around long enough to know I should

take some pics before the game, in case

they decide they aren't actually interested in playing!

Mallory participated the first minute or so...

After that, she mainly stood around and complained

about being tired. I was happy that she spent

most of her time on the field, though, and didn't cry at all.

Taking a little "break"

Drew ran with the pack pretty much the whole game.

He got his foot on the ball a few times and almost

broke away with it near the end of the game. If

only he were a little bit faster!!

A vast improvement over his first game

two years ago, I'd say!

September 2009

Back to today...

Here is the link to some video I posted on facebook - https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=2454362444557

On my own, day three

2011-09-23T19:33:00.000-07:00

Woke up this morning with a horrible headache. I took the boys to school, came back home, took some advil, and climbed back into bed. Mallory let me stay there another two hours (with a couple interruptions, of course). I rarely miss exercise on Friday, but I'm glad I choose to today because I felt a lot better when I got up the second time!

Later in the day, Mallory wasn't quite as delightful. She smeared peanut butter on the couch after I left her alone at the table (which I do all the time). Not sure what got into her! A few hours later she sat down to color with some crayons and markers. We removed her dress, just in case. I literally turned my back for two minutes and she drew all over herself (hands, tummy and back) with the yellow and blue markers. I tried water, rubbing alcohol, and nail polish remover but it's still going to be a few days before it's completely gone. Thankfully, she didn't draw on her face at all, or I would be pretty upset considering her first soccer game is tomorrow morning!

All about Mallory

2011-09-22T14:02:00.000-07:00

A few random things I wanted to post... that all happen to be Mallory related :)

Monkey'n Around at Chick-fil-A

Edeline Marta - Hellow Hellow
Page Formers 4 - Kimbroedelet Designs

It's fall!

Quickpage freebie from Jady Day Studio

I pulled out Mallory's fall dress from last year - as cute as I remembered!

She is also sportin' some new ruffle tights... love them :)

I can't believe she agreed to wear that headband. lol

Her addition to the ensemble (they do actually match!)

Possibly my new favorite outfit -

a pair of jeans I bought at the consignment store and a ruffle

tank from etsy. It's even cuter in person... can't quite see all

the details on the jeans in the picture.

On my own

2011-09-21T19:18:00.000-07:00

One day down. Fifteen to go! Bryan finally managed to plan and actually go on his trip to Europe - Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and a short side trip to Belgium. He will be missing Drew and Mallory's first soccer game this weekend, among other things.

Today was pretty uneventful. School, karate, and then I took the kids to Chuy's for dinner. Thankfully, we had no homework to deal with. Tomorrow will be busier.... haircuts after school, with just enough time to come home, eat dinner, and finish any homework before we are off to soccer practice. I think the thing that wears me down the most is all the driving around! It's not actually going to karate, baseball, soccer, etc... it's shuttling everyone around to get to those places. I shudder to think what it will be like once everyone is in school, a little bit older, and even more involved!

Razorbacks vs. Owls

2011-09-19T08:12:00.000-07:00

Brady's second game was yesterday. He played a lot better! It was overcast most of the morning, so we debated over wearing sunscreen. Of course, we decided we probably didn't need it and all ended up with some degree of sunburn. Seems ridiculous, doesn't it?? Also, I'd like to give a thumbs up to the league for replacing sno cones at the concession stand with slurpees. Sure, the kids can still make a mess, but they are a lot easier to eat in my opinion!

I didn't take my camera, but there was another parent snapping away... The team mom organized a site on Shutterfly, so I was able to download these pics - sweet!

This is not Brady, just a pic of Bryan helping out :)

Toy Overhaul

2011-09-17T20:11:00.000-07:00

I always purge some of our toys each fall as I start Christmas shopping and thinking about where the kids will put all their new ~~crap~~ stuff! But, I really had an urge yesterday to make a dent in the number of toys in our playroom. While I love that we have a lot of storage, I also hate it because it allows the kids to hold onto tons of toys. I decided to make three piles - things to sell, things to give away, and things to put away temporarily. I think it's time for the play kitchen to go, so it's #1 on my list of things to sell. In it's place we now have a new storage area for legos.

Bryan and I worked for a couple hours to

organize the legos. This container has minifigure

pieces only... heads, hair, torsos, legs, etc.

Brady & Drew had a field day today making new "guys"!

Legos that are completely assembled

have a place on the shelf.

I finally bought some more doll stands

to display the rest of Mallory's doll collection.

What I am giving away... so far.

I haven't touched the boys' room yet,

but don't plan to until they are at school. lol

Of course, this was a neater pile until Mallory made her way her through to play with things she hasn't touched in the last six months.