The Taylors

Kalen’s Ballet Class

2011-09-21T09:00:00.000-05:00

Kalen has started a Creative Movement (ballet) class at church. It is SOOOOO cute to see her all dressed up in her leotard and tights.

And the bun! It’s just too much!

She is taking the class with 2 little friends too.

How cute are they??

They love it. I love all the giggles as they are walking to class. I am so glad that Kalen is finally able to be involved with something too. She was feeling a little left out when Tyler had soccer.

Oh, I have a blog?

2011-09-20T12:38:00.001-05:00

Oh, yeah, this old thing! Kinda have forgotten about it the past few months. Well we have been super busy since Tyler started school and this little one has momma super tired!

“For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of him” -1 Samuel 1:27

It was so fun to see the baby moving, or swimming as Kalen says, all around. We went in for a scan a few weeks later than normal so we saw hands, feet, eyes, everything! It is truly a miracle how the Lord forms these little ones in your womb. The difference from week 8 to week 10 is AMAZING!!! This scan is from last week when the baby was measuring 12 weeks. I had a little scare, but everything is just fine now!

The due date is March 28th and we are hoping that it will indeed be a March baby. All mine have been late, so we will see. And NO we will not be finding out the gender. Mike and I both LOVE the surprise in the delivery room!

So that is what has been going on in the Taylor household. I am working on getting some pictures off my camera and onto the blog.

Tyler’s First Day of Kindergarten

2011-08-16T12:26:00.001-05:00

Where has my little boy gone?! This one is all grown up and ready for Kindergarten!

Tyler was SO excited for school this morning! He was a little slow with chores, but after that he couldn’t wait to get to school.

We had family pictures at the school before and I snapped another quick photo of Tyler.

Then all the families gathered inside for a little ceremony. It was great! All the dad’s stood behind the teachers to symbolize that the dad’s were the authority. “By obeying your teacher you are obeying your dad’s, by learning from your teacher you are learning from your dad’s.”

Then we prayed and sent the children off with their teachers! Tyler has Mrs. Appleton this year!

And his best buddy Jonah is in his class too!

Mommy kept it together and Tyler was sure to give me hugs and kisses before he left.

We are looking forward to a great year! I am excited to be involved with Tyler’s school. I get to be his teacher at home on Monday’s and Wednesday’s.

Slip Slidin Away

2011-07-11T08:08:00.000-05:00

What’s summer without some slip n’ slidin!

This was Kalen’s first time to try it! She was a little hesitant at first, but got into it real quick!

I loved all the silly faces!

They would yell “Look out beeelllooooowwww” the whole way down!

I have a feeling we will be pulling the slip n’ slide out again! They had a blast!

Hope you all are having a great summer!

Soccer Star

2011-07-08T16:27:00.001-05:00

Last week’s challenge for Last Scrapper Standing was to create a layout that is not square, is using 2.5 x 3.5 or smaller photos, and has at least one hand made flower on it. This is what I came up with:

This was so fun! I’ve never done a star layout before, but I think it turned out super cute! Tyler loves it! I have it displayed in his room for now .

Have you made any different shaped layouts before?

Last Scrapper Standing

2011-06-27T15:46:00.002-05:00

I recently went onto the Memorable Season’s board and found out they were doing another Last Scrapper Standing challenge. I decided to play along! The first challenge was to make a layout with an embellie cluster, a non-scrappy item for an embellishment, and not to use theme pattern paper for theme photos.

I got out the Sweet Peach April kit and made this layout!

My non-scrappy item(s) is the flower by the title punched out of leftover pieces from a sewing pattern and a rolled flower from leftover fabric scraps. I had just been sewing an outfit for Kalen, so I made use of the leftovers!
I was so excited to see that I made it though that round! I am looking forward to Week #2.

Happy Father’s Day

2011-06-20T20:47:00.001-05:00

to a wonderful husband and father!

Daddy got the kids dressed for church that morning and without even realizing it he coordinated them very well!

We had a great day celebrating our Father’s! We went to church, then rested a little bit in the afternoon (Mike’s favorite part of the day), and then headed to Grandpa & Grandma’s house for dinner and dessert!

Fun at the Playground

2011-06-16T08:00:00.000-05:00

We love going to the playground during the summer (when it’s not too, too hot)!

This boy can do the monkey bars all by himself this year!

And this little girl loves the slide!

We are havin’ fun in the summer sun!

Sweet Peach – June Reveal

2011-06-15T14:41:00.001-05:00

Sweet Peach Crop Shop has two more gorgeous kits this month! The Sweet Featured kit is fun and full of color, perfect for summer pictures!

The Juicy kit is called “Time to Fire Up the Grill!” I love it! This is the kit I created with this month!

The minute I saw the contents of this kit it reminded me of one of Kalen’s dresses that I made for her! I knew I had to make a layout with this picture! The little hanger clip is the perfect embellishment for this page!

A simple page about Tyler at Easter last year. He didn’t want to stay still or look at me for pictures, he was too busy finding eggs!

I just love this layout of the cousins on Grandma’s swing. So sweet! (It was amazing that we got them all to sit still and look in the same direction!)

Then I made a Father’s Day card!

The idea gallery for June has just been updated over at Sweet Peach! I always love seeing everyone’s layouts and how they used the kit items! So be sure to stop on by, you will be inspired!

Cotton Row 5K & Fun Run

2011-06-03T12:01:00.001-05:00

I started going to our Run for God program at church at the beginning of March. It is a 12 week training plan with a Christian focus! It was so great to have God in the center of training. Being a swimmer growing up I really, Really, REALLY disliked running, so I needed to be reminded that I could finish this program with His strength and not of my own!

So on Memorial Day I set out to run my first 5K at the Cotton Row. My goal was to run it in under 35 mins.

This is a BIG event with a 10K, 5K, and 1 mile fun run for the kids. There were about 5,000 people there!

Tyler and Kalen did a great job cheering for me at the start! I actually heard them saying, “Go Brianna, Go Brianna!” It worked out great that I heard them, I forgot to take off my wedding ring and was able to give it to Mike as we started!

It was such a HOT day and was probably in the upper 80’s - low 90’s when we started at 9am! Mike and Tyler went to a couple points where they thought they would be able to cheer for me!

It was nice to have friends to run with and be able to encourage each other!

Almost there!

I did it! Woo Hoo!!! When I crossed the finish line my time said 34:15 and later looking online at the results of my k-tag (which records when you actually cross the start and finish lines) it was 33:33! I was so excited that I finished and under my goal!

Woo Hoo! Love my girls!

Family picture. Kalen didn’t want to be in it, she said, “My not running!”

Then Tyler had to get ready for his 1 mile! He was talking for days and days before about the “big” race! So cute! Daddy ran with him!

I couldn’t find him at the start (he must have been too fast) so these are at the finish line!

We were so proud of him! Mike said he did a great job and really liked it when the people were cheering for him! When I asked Tyler what his favorite part about the race was he said, “Winning!” I think he got his parent’s competitive genes!

So I think we all have the running bug now! Mike wants to do the next race and I think I want to try a sprint triathlon! (Yikes, did I just say that!!)

School’s out for Summer!

2011-05-23T10:32:00.001-05:00

Tyler had his last day of school on Friday!

He did so well in Pre-K and is ready for Kindergarten next year! Here is a picture from his first day and his last day.

He looks a little happier on his first day, ha! Mrs. Cox was a great teacher for Tyler and we can tell how he has grown through this year!

Way to go Tyler on your first year of school!

Sweet Peach–May Reveal

2011-05-21T15:04:00.001-05:00

The Sweet Peach kits for May are just beautiful! I received the Sweet kit this month!

I couldn’t wait to dive into this kit and use all those beautiful papers!

I created 4 layouts! This first one is my favorite! The colors went perfect with these Flamingo pictures.

The little chipboard butterflies included in the kit are perfect for inking/painting your favorite color. I had to make mine pink

I printed some pictures from the splash pad last year since this kit went perfectly!

And one last one using the Sweet Peach sketch this month!

These pictures of Kalen are just too cute!

You have until June 7th to play along with this sketch and Corrie is offering a $25 gift certificate to one person! So go here and check it out!

A Strawberry Shortcake Party

2011-05-13T11:50:00.000-05:00

Kalen asked for a Strawberry Shortcake party this year! Since that is one of my favorite desserts I was so excited!

We had a few simple decorations,

Little strawberry shortcakes for the children,

and a big strawberry shortcake trifle for the adults!

Kalen was so excited to have all her friends over!

She loved it when we all sang to her!

Then she opened some gifts from her friends!

It was such a fun party! I can’t wait to see what kind of party she wants next year!

The Birthday Girl!

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

How can it be? Is my baby girl really 3 years old?

Kalen has gotten so grown up.

She has a fun and carefree personality!

I wanted to get a few pictures in her birthday outfit before her guest started arriving for the party.

She was such a good model and I got quite a few!

I just love these of her in the grass.

Such a sweet girl.

Big brother had to get in a couple!

He’s a cutie too!

So now I have a 5 year old and a 3 year old! Man, how the years fly by!

Happy Mother’s Day

2011-05-09T11:14:00.000-05:00

A few pictures of the kids and I after church on Mother’s day.

Tyler and Kalen told me, “Happy Mother’s Day” right away that morning.

And they were saying it to every Mother they could find at church too!

I got lots of hugs,

and kisses!

I love these two so much!

We spent the rest of the day on the boat and had dinner at Grandpa & Grandma’s! It was a great day!

Easter 2011

2011-04-25T12:02:00.000-05:00

We had a great Easter celebrating our Lord’s resurrection! Tyler is starting to grasp the meaning of it all and it is really exciting for us to see! After church we came home and the kids got their Easter baskets from Daddy and Mommy.

Tyler loved his bow and arrow and outdoor toys and Kalen got a baby doll for the bath! They both were excited about the candy!

Then we got ready for the Easter egg hunt! Since the bunny doesn’t come to our house, Daddy and Grandpa hid the eggs really good for the kids!

Kalen found a lot of them!

Tyler was looking all over the yard!

We tried to leave the pink ones for Kalen and blue ones for Tyler,

but that didn’t always happen!

“I found some mommy!”

Then it was time for a couple family pictures!

I got a few more pictures of the kids in their Easter outfits after the hunt was over.

This was actually not the same outfit Tyler wore to church! He had 2 Easter outfits I guess! Ha!

Love these next two of Tyler!

“Oh, you want me to smile?”

And a couple of the two of them together!

So sweet!

Daddy and Kalen

Mommy and Tyler

And Tyler got this rare picture of Daddy and Mommy together!

We hope you all had a very Happy Easter too!

Sweet Peach–April Reveal

2011-04-15T10:22:00.000-05:00

First of all did you know that this month is Sweet Peach’s one year anniversary!! We have a big celebration going on over at the blog so make sure you check it out! Lots of inspiration, challenges, and PRIZES!!

I received the Juicy kit to create with this month.

I love how this kit came together! Here are my layouts!

This kit was perfect for Tyler’s birthday picture.

And this last one I used one of Liz’s sketches! (There are 4 this month!! Check them out on the blog)

And a cute little card.

Check out the idea gallery for even more inspiration!

And don’t forget to head over to the blog and play along in the Anniversary Celebration. You have until May 1st to complete the challenges! For each challenge there is a prize and for each entry you get entered to win the Grand Prize, a 3 month subscription!!! Yay!!

Sweet Peach–March Reveal

2011-03-16T14:15:00.000-06:00

I LOVE the kits this month at Sweet Peach!! I received the Sweet Featured Kit

and the Embellishment Add-On.

And since the Juicy Themed kit was filled with Echo Park For the Record I purchased that one too! I haven’t gotten to scrap with that kit yet, soon though!

So here are my layouts with the Sweet kit! Kalen at the strawberry patch.

This kit was perfect for the garden pictures I wanted to scrapbook!

Tyler wanted to bring his garden in for show and tell one day, so I managed to get him to take a picture instead. We took this one so he could show his friends at school.

Love this one of Kalen! Sweet and simple.

I have a lot left over from this kit too! I’m always amazed at how much product is included in the kits!

April is going to be a fun month at Sweet Peach! It is their 1 year anniversary! There is going to be prizes…LOTS of prizes, challenges, techniques, and tons of inspirations!

Make sure you join us for that!

Domino's Pizza

2011-03-10T10:11:00.001-06:00

Yesterday I got to take Kalen to make her own pizza at Domino's! She was so excited!!

If you remember last year, she had to stay in the stroller.

This time I forgot my camera, so iPhone pictures it is.

She got to pat out the dough.

And put on all the toppings she wanted. She picked pepperoni, ham, pineapple, and bacon! YUM!

Mommy got to make a pizza too!

Then we waited for our pizzas to cook.

And we took them home for lunch and shared with Tyler and Daddy! Kalen had so much fun and was telling Tyler all about it after school. It was so fun to take her to do something special!

Sweet Peach–February Reveal

2011-02-16T08:00:00.000-06:00

This month I received the Juicy Featured kit, Vintage Love. It is filled with papers and embellishments perfect for Valentine or lovey dovey pictures!

This picture of Jessica & Calvin was perfect! I love those Maya road flowers that come in the kit.

This next one is a simple page. I love this paper, it is already embellished with the saying in the upper right and the glitter. I just added my pictures, title, and a few embellishments.

Here is this month’s sketch:

I haven’t made a round page in a long time, so I was excited about this one.

Then I made a Valentine for Mike.

So if your looking for the perfect kit to scrapbook your Valentine’s pictures head on over to Sweet Peach Crop Shop and get this one! The sweet featured kit is beautiful as well!

Valentine’s Day

2011-02-15T15:03:00.001-06:00

This Valentine’s Day was a busy one! Tyler had a party at school and Kalen had a Bright Light’s party too! I made some yummy mini cupcakes for Kalen’s party! So easy and super cute!

Kalen now has this habit that anytime we are ready to go somewhere special she wants me to take her picture by the fireplace! Of course I like that!

I didn’t get any pictures of Tyler at school, but he did come over to the Bright Lights party so got a few of him there. We got to make a couple crafts.

There was some yummy food and sweets too!

Kalen liked the pizza

Daddy was able to come for lunch too!

Tyler had eaten too much at his school party, so he didn’t want anything else. He played my phone instead.

It was a lot of fun to share Valentine’s Day with our friends!

We exchanged a few gifts at home with each other that night.

Tyler and Kalen got cards from Grandma & Grandpa.

And a couple other fun things from Mom & Dad.

I am so thankful for our little family and it was fun to celebrate our love for the Lord and each other yesterday! Hope you all had a very happy Valentine’s Day! <3

Scrappy Stuff

2011-02-01T16:54:00.001-06:00

I have a few layouts to share. A few weeks ago a friend and I headed over to Georgia for an all day crop with Sweet Peach! It was so much fun and I actually got a few pages done!

I had ordered the January Sweet Peach kit and couldn’t wait to get into it when I got there. I made 3 layouts with that kit.

This one was SO simple. The patterned paper was already embellished so I just added my picture, journal spot, title, flower, and butterfly! I love how it turned out!

I love this picture of Kalen at the strawberry patch! Goes perfect with that October Afternoon paper!

I also brought a kit Shannon made from Stampin Up! supplies. Love all the fallish colors! Perfect for pumpkin patch photos! (say that 3 times fast, ha!)

(I made this last one earlier, but it is using Shannon’s kit too)

It was so easy to pack for this crop! I grabbed 2 or 3 kits, photos, punches, alphas, and a few extras and that was it! I only had 1 tote and a tool caddy! I LOVE working with kits, makes things so easy! Next time you go to a crop plan to bring some kits! You can find the Sweet Peach Crop Shop Kits here and you can email Shannon for her Stampin Up! kits!

In other scrappy news I got my Project Life kit in the mail today!!

(Tyler took that picture, I think he did a great job!)

I am so excited to use this kit this year. I am not going to be taking a picture a day like I did in 2009, but more of putting pictures in each week/month. So I may end up having a few pictures of the same event in one week. That way I can scrapbook my absolute favorite photos and still print out others to put in this album! “Guilt free” scrapbooking!! Woo Hoo!

Tyler’s 5th Birthday Party

2011-01-20T15:02:00.001-06:00

I can’t believe it!!! My baby boy is 5 years old!! Where did the time go?

We had a birthday party for him last week at the indoor playground at church. Perfect place for a winter party! Especially since we still had 6 inches of snow on the ground! Tyler told me he wanted a “Batman birthday.”

The Birthday Boy

We went real simple with the décor this year.

I made some cupcakes with yellow and blue frosting and used batman picks.

Of course we had to have some batman plates.

And the Batman sign!

Favors were Batman bands for the boys, and My Little Pony for the girls.

Schools had been closed all that week because of the snow so we were all very excited to get out and play and visit with friends!

The cake was AWESOME!! Jordan made Tyler a special Batman ice cream cake!

Tyler loved it and it was SO yummy!!

His friends picked out some fun presents for him too!

Tyler had so much fun! Thank you for making his 5th birthday a special one!

Photo Shoot: Tyler & Kalen

2011-01-05T12:00:00.000-06:00

So I realized that I never shared these pictures of Tyler and Kalen. After the Bright Light’s Christmas party we walked over to the Prayer Garden (my favorite place to take pictures) and we did a quick photo shoot (only 15 mins) since they were dressed all cute! I wanted some pictures to frame for the Grandparents and I got a lot of cute ones!

The first picture I took and my absolute favorite!!!

Can’t decide if I like it in B&W better.

Handsome little man.

Pretty little girl!

They are growing up way too fast!

Tyler being…ummm…Tyler! Silly boy!

Contrast to Tyler being serious!

These next three are just too funny.

I said, “How sweet, why don’t you give each other a kiss…”

Awww…

Tyler came up with most of the ideas on where to take the pictures! He was such a good little helper. As we were walking out he said, “Wait Mommy, one right here too by the lamp post!”

I am so happy I got a bunch of the two of them together.

Snow

2011-01-04T11:47:00.001-06:00

So on Christmas day we got snow! A LOT of snow!! Like 4 inches of snow! Crazy!!! Tyler wanted to play outside more than he did with all his new toys! So after we got all the presents open and ate Christmas dinner (lunch) we finally got to play in the snow.

This little boy was SO excited!

Kalen liked the snow a lot better this year than last year!

Tyler made lots and lots of snowballs!

And threw them all at Daddy.

Mom stayed safely behind the camera. Ha!

Kalen is such a little cutie!

Here is our HUGE snowman! It took him 6 days to melt.

Having snow on Christmas day made things a little more exciting! They were just calling for flurries and the snow had not started while Mike was out delivering the paper, so we were all surprised at how much it snowed! It was a beautiful White Christmas!

Christmas Morning!

2010-12-28T14:40:00.001-06:00

On Christmas morning we woke up to find stuffed stockings inside

and SNOW outside!!

We were so SO excited to have a White Christmas! “God sent us snow!” Tyler was the most excited!

Then we got to open our stockings.

Tyler said, “Mommy that one’s mine, the one with the gun!”

Coco got one too!

After stockings we ate our Monkey Bread while Daddy read the Christmas story. Then it was time for more presents.

Tyler’s pile:

Kalen’s pile:

And here are the highlights:

We all got spoiled! Thank you for the wonderful gifts everyone!

Christmas Eve

2010-12-27T15:52:00.001-06:00

We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas! We had a great time celebrating our Savior’s birth! Tyler and Kalen are at such great ages where it really makes Christmas special. I’ve got lots of pictures so I am going to take a couple posts to recap everything

Christmas Eve we went to Mama Jo and Papa Bill’s house (Angie’s parents) to celebrate Jordan’s birthday and Christmas with them.

Jordan turned 18 this year! Hard to believe!

Jordan works at Baskin Robbins and made his own birthday cake this year! It was GREAT!! (I think I am going to have him make Tyler’s)

Then the kids got to open a present.

Then we went to church for the special Christmas Eve Service. We LOVE this and are so excited that we can have this tradition. All the children are invited on the stage with our Pastor while he reads the Christmas story. Tyler and Kalen went up all by themselves this year. They were right up next to Brother Jimmy! If you look close you can see Kalen, I think she it trying to attack someone with her sparkle shoe. Hehe.

I am so glad our friend Shannon got this picture of us! It is the only one with me this Christmas!

Then we delivered a blessing basket to one of the local fire stations and thanked them for their service to us especially during the holiday season. Then it was home to open one present.

This one present is always something that Mommy picks out and is always the same thing every year.

New Christmas pajamas.

This year I also gave them the The Grinch Who Stole Christmas book and a Grinch doll for Kalen. Then we cuddled up and watched the “old” Grinch and went to bed!

Tyler & Kalen sing Christmas Carols

2010-12-23T13:53:00.001-06:00

Tyler and Kalen have really enjoyed singing Christmas songs this year! We were given this cd and have it in the car. We must have listened to it 50+ times now! So Tyler and Kalen wanted to sing a few for you!

Merry Christmas!!!

Sweet Peach–December Reveal

2010-12-15T08:00:00.000-06:00

Have you seen the new kits from Sweet Peach this month!! Gorgeous! I received the Sweet Featured kit!

And the Embellishment Add-on.

This kit was more “boyish” so it was perfect to use with some outdoor pictures. Those chipboard stickers are so fun!

Love this picture of Tyler and Kalen in the covered bridge, and how cute is that owl?!

We had two sketches to work with this month! The first one is from Liz Chidester for the December Sketch Challenge on the blog.

And here is my take. These pictures make me laugh!

Then we got the chance to create with a sketch from Sketch Inspiration! This is the first time I have heard about this site! They have a new sketch each week and this week Sweet Peach is sponsoring the prize, a Sweet Featured kit!!!

I love these pictures I took of Tyler a couple summers ago! They went perfect with this sketch and this kit!

A cute little card with some of the leftover scraps!

Head over to Sweet Peach Crop Shop to get your kit today! The Juicy Themed kit is beautiful too and would be great for all your Christmas pictures!!

Second Annual Taylor Gingerbread House!

2010-12-14T11:17:00.001-06:00

Last year you may remember we did our first Gingerbread House. So we were excited when a box came in the mail with another one for us to do this year! (Thanks Grandpa & Grandma)

Mike and I assembled the house while Tyler and Kalen decorated little cookies.

These were fun, easy, and yummy.

Then it was time to decorate! I forgot to get the camera back out until we were almost finished!

Tyler did most of the work decorating the house and Kalen decorated the little gingerbread man and Christmas tree for the front yard.

This picture shows how much fun they were having!

So here is the Taylor’s second Gingerbread house! Do you see the bite in the Gingerbread man’s head! Ha! Kalen thought she was supposed to eat him.

I think last year’s looks a little better, but maybe it just shows that the kids did most the work on this one. (Or that mommy cut the hole in the piping bag a little too big Woops!)

Christmas Activities in Full Swing

2010-12-08T17:10:00.001-06:00

The Christmas season and activities seemed to start as soon as Thanksgiving was over! With Tyler and Kalen getting older there is just so much for them to do. We are enjoying the activities though. I am going to try and catch you up on what we have been doing.

First we had our Bright Light’s Christmas Party. Here are all the children practicing their singing for the senior luncheon.

And Little Miss Kalen.

Since Tyler is in pre-school this year, I didn’t let him go on stage. I thought we would just let it be special for Kalen, plus he has plenty of activities to be a part of at school. So I gave him a job to keep him happy! He got to have my old camera and be the photographer!

Then it was time to sing! Can you find Kalen?

Yeah, me neither! She was hiding and actually came off the stage at one point. I did get this one when I did spot her in the lower left.

On Saturday our church did something new, The Bethlehem Breakfast. It was for pre-school age children. Tyler and Kalen LOVED it!

There were people dressed up as Mary, Joseph, a Shepard, and 3 Kings. They went around one by one and stopped to tell us the story of Jesus and give out special treats!

It was a great start to the Christmas season keeping the true meaning of Christmas in focus!

Then today at school Tyler had a Shepard’s walk. He got to dress up as a little Shepard boy!

They got to hear the story of Jesus’ birth.

Kalen didn’t want to be left out! She brought her lamb too.

We hope you all are having a great Christmas season so far!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T09:44:00.001-06:00

I am so thankful the Lord has blessed my with a wonderful husband and two beautiful children!

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Peter Pan & Tinker Bell

2010-11-01T14:37:00.002-06:00

We had so much fun having Peter Pan and Tinker Bell around the house this weekend!

Tyler had a blast being Peter Pan! I love his stance, he did this all himself!

He pretended to be fighting Captain Hook with his sword.

As you can tell, he really got into it!

He was telling everyone to “Just call me Peter Pan!”

Kalen made such a cute little Tinker Bell.

She couldn’t really say Tinker Bell so she said she was “Bell Bell.”

Getting her hair up into a bun was a little hard.

Mommy made it all better by putting on a little makeup and making her feel special.

She loved it!

On Saturday afternoon we headed to the Fall Festival at our church! The kids had a blast playing games, sliding, and getting candy. We loved seeing all of their friends all dressed up too.

On Sunday we went to a couple of the neighbor houses to go Trick or Treating.

Tyler asked us “When it was going to be Halloween again?” He was sad that it wouldn’t be till next year. I think he would be Peter Pan everyday if he could!

A Couple Pages

2010-10-30T09:00:00.000-05:00

I have a couple scrapbook pages to share real quick.

This picture that Aunt Michelle took of Tyler & Kalen is just so sweet. I love it!

This one is a double page! I haven’t done one of those in forever, but I just had to use all these cute pictures of Kalen the first time she had pigtails!

Happy Scrappin’!

Pumpkin Carving

2010-10-29T15:26:00.001-05:00

Yesterday we carved pumpkins TWICE! We made one at Tyler’s friends house that morning and then carved a couple last night with Daddy.

In the morning Tyler didn’t want to do too much carving. I think it was because he was too busy playing, but Dad was able to get him to help that night.

Tyler wanted to make a spider one. It was a little complicated, but he helped do some of the carving too.

Kalen wanted a “Bell Bell pumpkin”! So Mommy helped her carve out Tinkerbelle!

When they were through Tyler wanted to put his in his room, but we talked him into letting it stay outside. We had to light them up right away to see how they looked!

Perfect! Now anytime we drive off the kids say, “look at our pumpkins!”

The Perfect Pumpkin

2010-10-27T13:44:00.001-05:00

On Sunday afternoon we took the kids to a little pumpkin patch to search for the “perfect pumpkin!” This was a big job for Tyler and he took it VERY seriously!

Kalen on the other hand, picked out some right away!

Tyler had to help her a little bit.

Daddy did too!

Mom was determined to get the best pumpkin patch photo!

I was so happy when Tyler sat still for a few!

I think this is my favorite.

Kalen kept going from one pumpkin to the next sitting on it and saying “Cheese.”

Silly girl!

They really liked the baby pumpkins.

Kalen picked out a small one which she really wanted to carry herself,

but it was too heavy! “Help please Mommy!”

After about 30mins of running from one end of the patch to the other searching and searching Tyler finally found his!

Now we have two perfect pumpkins to carve!

Kalen’s New Dress

2010-10-25T14:55:00.001-05:00

On Friday I was so excited when I went to Hobby Lobby and found patterns on sale and cute new fabric! I was a little nervous because I don’t really do well with patterns. Sometimes the instructions aren’t really clear. I like those online step by step tutorials with pictures better! I was glad I tried this dress though. It took me some time to figure it all out, but in the end it turned out SO cute!!

It helps that I have this adorable little girl to model it for us!!

Kalen calls it “My special dress,” “Mommy made it.”

When I hear that it makes the hours sewing it all worth it and I want to make more!

Now if I can find some scrapbook paper to coordinate I’ll be all set!

Sweet Peach – October Reveal

2010-10-15T14:36:00.001-05:00

The Sweet Featured October kit is amazing!! I just love it, it’s so fun and colorful!!

I also got the Embellishment kit!

I had so much fun with this kit! Do I say that about every kit? I just can’t help it, the Sweet Peach kits are just put together so good! :)

These colors went so well with some pictures I had of Kalen when she was little.

I love this picture of the kids and I from my 29th birthday!

I really like the Jenni Bowlin butterflies that come in the kit. These pictures from the Botanical Gardens were a perfect excuse to use a bunch on one page! Ha!

I made the rolled flowers from the strips of fabric included in the kit!

The October sketch is also up on the blog! Liz designs some beautiful sketches and I really enjoyed this one!

Here is my take:

A few fall cards.

So be sure to click on over to Sweet Peach Crop Shop and get your October kit! They also have a Halloween Themed kit that looks really cute!

Happy Scrapping!

Fall Decor

2010-09-24T15:43:00.001-05:00

My favorite season is fall! I love it when the weather starts getting cooler and all the leaves start changing colors! It’s just beautiful. I love decorating the house with fall colors too! I don’t have too many decorations, but love it when I open the fall box and finding new places for it all. Today I sat down and made some new decor. Do you remember my butterflies? Well I took them out and replaced them with pumpkins!

Super cute right!? Shannon taught me how to make them using an oval punch and cardstock!

So Happy Fall! I hope you enjoy decorating your homes too! :)

Sweet Peach – September Reveal

2010-09-16T11:10:00.001-05:00

The idea gallery is up for the September kits! This month I got to work with the Juicy Themed kit!

This kit is called “A Little More Country” and full of Paper Trunk and Jenni Bowlin! Perfect!

You already saw this layout I made with the sketch this month.

Here are a couple more! I LOVE this picture of Tyler!

The papers were perfect for this picture of us at Tate Farms last year.

I made a couple cards too.

Don’t you just love those vintage bottle caps!

Make sure you visit Sweet Peach Crop Shop to get your kit!

Kalen’s Picture Day

2010-09-15T16:28:00.001-05:00

Today was yearbook picture day for Bright Lights. Kalen was so excited to get her picture made! She was a little unsure when she didn’t recognize the man behind the camera, but she did good. No crying! She didn’t really smile though. We turned in our family page too. We have so many Bright Light families this year, we had to cut our page in half. I choose to keep it super simple!

Since Kalen was all cute and dressed up I decided to bring along my camera and snap a few photos in the prayer garden.

It was SO easy getting her to pose for pictures! I guess that is the difference between boys and girls.

Such a little model!

Looking at these pictures I just can’t believe how big she is getting! My little girl is growing up WAY too fast!

We have been getting a lot of comments on how long Kalen’s hair is getting.

I just love it and can’t imagine cutting it! Maybe we will just keep it this length and trim it.

We got so many good pictures I’m having a hard time picking my favorite!

Can’t forget the head tilt! Ha!

One in the Gazebo, or as Kalen calls it the “Nemo.”

And one on the lamp post.

Kalen saw the flowers when we were walking back to the car and she said “Picture with flower!” So we had to get her picture made with the flowers.

I think we were there for a whole 10 minutes and got all those great pictures! Now if I could just get a few of Tyler! :)

Grandparent’s Day

2010-09-14T08:30:00.000-05:00

Last Friday was Grandparent’s Day at Tyler’s school! He was SO excited when Grandpa Bob and Grandma Angie showed up!

Mrs. Cox had a special circle time and all the grandparent’s got to see a typical morning at school.

Tyler made something special and gave it to Grandpa & Grandma that morning.

They also got spoiled with cookies and juice!

Too funny!

Tyler enjoyed showing off his school!

I am really glad that Grandma Angie took all these pictures! Next time she will have to get one of herself though! :)

Tyler wishes his other Grandparent’s could’ve been there too!

Happy Grandparent’s Day to all of you!

September Sketch and Online Crop!

2010-09-13T09:36:00.001-05:00

The September sketch is up at Sweet Peach Crop Shop! I have really enjoyed working with Liz’s sketches and this one is just so fun! I love the banners!

Here is the layout I created using the September Juicy Themed Kit!

If you’d like to take part in the sketch challenge you have until Monday, October 4th. Not a subscriber yet? It’s okay, you can use any product (although the featured kit has banners in it and would be perfect!!) Go to the Sweet Peach blog to enter and check out the RAK of Tim Holtz goodies! :)

Now onto the Crop. Sweet Peach is hosting a week long crop right on their blog! Every day there will be a new challenge. It may be a technique, a project, sketch, or layout to lift! The first challenge is already up. So head over there today to get started! There will be prizes for each challenge and a Grand Prize too!!! (I hear it’s a Sweet Peach kit) Yay!!! You will have until Sunday night to enter your layouts! So click on the crop button above and get started today! :)

A Cubbie and a Puggle

2010-09-09T11:54:00.001-05:00

Awana started up again at church.

Tyler is a Cubbie again and working hard to learn his new verses (with the reference) this year! He is doing great and I am always amazed at how fast he learns them. I’m so proud of him!

Kalen got to join the Puggles this year and she LOVES it! She gets so excited when she sees her little Puggle shirt. Right now she is learning that “God made everything!” She loves doing the little crafts too, she brings it home, puts it on the fridge, and says, “I made that!” So cute!

Here is my Cubbie and little Puggle all ready for their first night!

Been Gone Too Long

2010-09-07T16:59:00.001-05:00

Has it really been almost a month since I updated? We have been crazy busy around here! With school, friends and family visiting, church activities starting up again I guess I have just let the blog fall behind. I have taken pictures, but still need to get them off the camera and onto the computer.

I do have a few simple layouts to share though.

I completed these next two in one afternoon! Yay! I usually only have time to get 1 layout done during naptime.

In other scrappy news I received the Juicy Themed Kit from Sweet Peach this month! Can’t wait to show you what I’ve been working on!

Sweet Peach - August Reveal

2010-08-11T14:23:00.001-05:00

The August kit for Sweet Peach Crop Shop is just beautiful! I was asked to be the Guest Designer for this month and received the Sweet Featured kit (and the paper add on):

I love the Scribble Scrabble papers and all the different embellishments that come with this kit, especially those gardenias! So pretty!

I knew this kit would be perfect for some pictures I had of Kalen. These were taken last summer eating her first watermelon, precious!

Tyler and Kalen having a rare moment between the 2 of them. :)

Oh that lace! Just love it! Of course I had to ruffle it :)

This last one I used Liz’s August sketch!I just love the layered scallop border! I know I will be doing that more often!

You still have time to enter the sketch challenge! Go to the Sweet Peach blog to submit your layout!

I also made a quick card.

Be sure to head over to Sweet Peach Crop Shop and get your hands on a kit today! I know you will love it as much as I did!

First Day of Pre-K!!

2010-08-09T14:59:00.001-05:00

Well Tyler had his first day of Pre-K today! He will be going Monday, Wednesday, and Friday’s for 3 hours in the morning. It helps that school is at a familiar place, church! Here is my little man all ready for school!

I was a little sad getting him all ready to go. Tyler prayed for me last night at dinner and said “Jesus, help mommy to not be sad when I go to school.” So sweet! I think his prayers helped, because I did okay. :) He was such a big boy going into his room. I told him I had to get one picture of him with his teacher, and he didn’t complain one bit!

His teacher is Mrs. Cox and I have heard so many wonderful things about her from many, many people! I know both Tyler and I are going to love her!

So after dropping him off Kalen and I came home and Kalen kept asking me, “Do mommy? Do?” and “Tyler go?” We didn’t know quite what to do with out Tyler around! We did get some cleaning done though and it was much MUCH quieter in the house.

So Tyler’s 1st day went well! He got to be the helper and a line leader! He was SUPER excited about that :) I kept asking him if he learned anything and he said, “Ummm…I don’t know.” Maybe today was just a fun day! :) School wore him out though, he took a 2 hour nap! Hopefully that will happen every afternoon after school! :)

Staying Simple

2010-08-06T14:58:00.001-05:00

For the last 2 weeks of Scrap Camp, I kept it simple! Most of the pages I do are pretty simple, and I like to think of it as my style :) So I stayed true to that with these last couple layouts.

I took a “weekend pass” for week #6, since it was right near Mike’s surgery and just after we came back from vacation. So I got right back in for week #7 – Campfire Songs. You had to have horizontal layers, music notes, and photos that give you a warm feeling. I just love these pictures of Kalen and her daddy!

I made it though that round and we are on the last week. Week #8 – Under the Stars. You had to have a dark background, emboss, and use stars. I decided to use a picture of Tyler that I have had in my photo box for a long time! It was just perfect for this challenge though!

Super simple, right? I love it though! I am so surprised that I made it all the way through this challenge! It has been so much fun and I am sad that it will be ending. I’m sure Scrap Friendzy will come up with another great event soon!

Fun at the Splash Pad

2010-07-28T15:43:00.001-05:00

Last week we headed downtown to the splash pad with some friends.

Tyler REALLY enjoyed himself!

Kalen on the other hand…

didn’t want to let go of her daddy. And he couldn’t get his arm wet.

We did manage to get her in once or twice. She ran right out!

And was NOT too happy with us!

Other than that, we all had a lot of fun and it was a good way to cool off on a hot summer afternoon!

Sweet Peach Crop Shop

2010-07-26T09:38:00.001-05:00

Have you heard of this new kit club?

Sweet Peach Crop Shop is a super fun kit club that offers 2 kits each month. The Sweet Featured Kit and the Juicy Themed Kit! They are both filled with a bunch of coordinating papers and goodies!!

I have been asked to be the guest designer for their August kit (and beyond). I am SUPER excited! Go check out the design team page or blog to find my bio. I just got my August kit in the mail and it’s beautiful! I can’t wait to start scrapbooking!

Here is are a couple sneaks for the August kits.

The Featured kit:

And the Juicy kit:

Scrap Camp

2010-07-20T09:00:00.000-05:00

Well, Scrapfriendy’s Summer Camp is still going on, and I’ve made it to week #6! Here are a few of my layouts.

Week #4 – H2O – The layout had to have some paint or mist splashed on to it, be about water, have paper cut into waves, and have a clear element.

Week #5 – Mess Hall Duty – The layout had to have 2 pieces of “trash” on it. Something that you normally would have thrown away.

(my trash was the cardboard, twill, and flowers punched out of clear packaging)

I did a Bonus Challenge that was called Play. The layout had to be about someone playing outside and you had to add some chipboard.

I just love these pictures of Daddy and Tyler and knew they were perfect for this challenge! Tyler even helped me mist the colors onto the background paper!

I’m looking forward to getting week #6 done, and a few more bonus challenges!

Vacation in Michigan

2010-07-19T14:19:00.001-05:00

We had a great family vacation up in Michigan over the 4th of July! We had a lot to do while we were up there and I didn’t take too many pictures. Surprise, I know! I was just enjoying spending time with the kids and family! Here are a few of the pictures I did take.

Some of the highlights: Fishing at the trout farm, beach volleyball, fireworks, feeding the ducks, cooking dinner on the campfire, the Hands On Museum, finding Petoskey rocks, boating, and Cedar Point!

I hope you all are enjoying your summer as much as we are!

More Layouts

2010-06-28T15:20:00.001-05:00

Well I have made it to round 4 at Camp Friendzy! I wanted to share the last couple layouts I have done lately.

Week 2 was called SMORES. It was a color combo challenge and we had to make our layout the color of smores. Tan/Dark Brown/White with a little bit of Red, Orange, or Yellow mixed in to represent the fire.

Week 3 was called Nature. You had to use a shade of green, at least 2 different kids of flowers, and either butterflies or birds (or both). I was so excited because I had the perfect pictures, and the perfect kit for this!

I have also joined another contest going on at Memorable Seasons. It is called the Last Scrapper Standing. I have made it through the first round and just put up a layout for round 2. This is also an elimination contest with voting.

The first challenge was to use the subject “an American Child” and to use stars and stripes on your layout. I chose to do one about my All American Girl! :)

And the second challenge just ended and it was to use black cardstock as a base and have at least 2 handmade flowers! This one was fun, and believe it or not I whipped it up in 20 minutes! A record for me!! (I had to get it in before the deadline of 3pm today).

I am so excited that I have made it through the first couple rounds and am looking forward to the next ones! I’m still trying to figure out how I am going to make it work while we are on vacation next week! I may just have to pack a few supplies :)

I’m a Big Girl Now!

2010-06-21T14:29:00.001-05:00

We got some new furniture from my Great Grandmother (who passed away) and Great Aunt Diane yesterday! It is beautiful! I will have more pictures to show you very soon. While we were clearing out Kalen’s room, we decided to just take down the crib and let her sleep in the new “big girl” bed.

Here she is last night before I shut the door. (It was late and she was tired and cranky…hence the tears)

She did GREAT! She fell right to sleep and didn’t get out of the bed at all! This morning I heard her saying, “Mommy,” so I went in and she was sitting up on her bed waiting for me! At nap time today she just crawled right up in her bed, said “night night,” and I haven’t heard anything since!

I’m SO excited! Hopefully she will be easier than trying to keep Tyler in his bed ;) I need a break! The pacifier will be the next thing to go!

Look at Our Garden Grow!

2010-06-11T13:59:00.001-05:00

We are starting to see some fruit(and vegetables) from our labor!

We have peas, tomatoes, and cucumbers climbing the trellis.

The kids get very excited when we go out and check on the garden every day!

Today we pulled up the last couple radishes from the first planting. We planted seeds every time we pulled one out, so we should have more again soon!

We found a couple strawberries (we are going to wait another day to pick them),

and we picked some beans.

Our lettuce is growing nicely.

And we can see that the baby carrots are almost ready!

We are still waiting on the tomatoes to get bigger and turn red.

Tyler likes the cute little baby tomatoes!

Gardening has been really fun! The kids are enjoying it and I have enjoyed sharing with them the ways to take care of it and how God caused these fruits and vegetables to grow from little tiny seeds!

Gen 1:11-12 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

Summer Scrap Camp

2010-06-09T14:40:00.001-05:00

What a cute idea! Scrap Friendzy is having Camp Friendzy this summer. I decided to join in, this is my kind of camping! :) You should head over and check it out too. There is one main challenge each week and some bonus ones added in too. I have already done a couple of layouts.

This one is a Pre-Camp challenge called Meet at the Flagpole: you had to use some type of banners or flags on your page. I used pictures from Kalen’s first birthday.

Here is the layout I did for Week#1-Archery. You had to have 3 circle elements and an arrow on the page.

One neat thing about this challenge is that it is an elimination contest. So at the end of each week they are going to put all the layouts up on their blog and then have a vote to see which ones will make it to the next round. At the end whoever is left will be named Camper of the Year! Sound fun? There is still time to register for camp, so come on over!

I used the Paper Posies May kit to create these layouts and I also did a couple more! I just love all these Dear Lizzy products!!

On this next one I got the idea for using the tree branch and the dress from the May idea gallery. They really have some beautiful layouts and great ideas over there!

Sewing Night

2010-06-05T18:16:00.001-05:00

Last night a friend, Sara, and I had a sewing night at my house! It was so much fun and I learned a lot! Sara is an experienced seamstress and was very helpful! I wanted to make a pillowcase dress. I thought I could have done it on my own, but I just wanted her there for moral support (and someone to talk to). She showed me how to use a pattern and then we cut the fabric, pinned it together, and I sat down at my machine to start sewing. It didn’t take too long to realize that my sewing machine is old and doesn’t work very good!

No wonder I have been getting frustrated every time I used the thing. I mean I did find it at a thrift store so I can’t be too upset. Sara even had a hard time with it, the thread kept bunching up and jamming the machine. Changing the tension, thread, or bobbin didn’t help. So Sarah brought in her newer machine and I got the dress finished with no problems!

(Don’t worry grandparents, I will have a picture with it on my little model soon)

It was SO nice to not have to rip seams and start over!! I then said to myself, “So this is what sewing is supposed to be like?!?!”

So now that I realize that it is my machine and not me that is the problem, I’m looking at new sewing machines. I need your opinion though. I know a lot of you sew so please tell me what you think, or what you have! By looking online and at reviews I think I’ve narrowed it down to 2.

A Brother XL2600i which is a more basic machine.

Or a Brother CS6000i which is a little more advanced and computerized.

So what do you think? I may not be able to go and get it right away, but I will be getting opinions and putting it on the wish list. :)

Donut Day

2010-06-04T16:44:00.001-05:00

Did you know that today is National Donut Day? We did!! We headed out to Krispy Kreme this morning to get our free donuts to celebrate! YUM! I forgot my camera, but managed to take a few pictures on my cell phone.

Tyler picked the strawberry filled one with sugar on top.

Kalen picked the chocolate one with sprinkles (no surprise there).

They really enjoyed their free donuts and first trip to Krispy Kreme!

It was so neat to see the donuts being made and glazed right there.

I think I’m going to have to take them more than once a year! They really liked it!

Little Monkey

2010-06-02T16:17:00.001-05:00

Tyler has really taken to climbing trees this year!

We have a Crape Myrtle tree in the front yard that is just perfect for him.

He was more than happy to climb the tree while I took pictures of him!

Now anytime we go somewhere Tyler is always looking for the perfect tree to climb! As long as it’s not too big for him!

He can be a bit goofy at times.

And he likes to pretend to be a monkey!

Silly Boy!!

So if you know of any good climbing trees, be sure to let this active boy know!

Jarrett - Senior Pictures

2010-05-28T20:54:00.001-05:00

About a month back I took some senior pictures for Jarrett. Hailey, the little girl I babysat for last year, is his sister. Jarrett graduated yesterday and has his open house this weekend so I thought it would be a perfect time to share my favorite pictures!

We headed up to Green Mountain, one of my favorite places to take pictures.

I kept joking with Jarrett that this was the first time I took pictures of someone that stood where I told them to and stayed there! So much easier than a busy 2 or 4 year old!

He likes to play the guitar and I was so glad that he brought it with him!

This next one is my very favorite.

Don’t you just love those bright blue eyes?

The covered bridge along the trail is so beautiful, it makes for a great place to take pictures.

Again with those eyes!

I have always wanted to take a picture with someone in the window of the bridge. I’m so glad Jarrett was up for it because I love the way they turned out!

We can’t forget Mom, had to get one of the two of them together! So sweet!

Thanks Yvonne for letting me take pictures of your son! And thank you Jarrett for being up for anything and letting me click away! Good luck at college next year and in all of your future endeavors!

The Strawberry Patch

2010-05-27T09:06:00.000-05:00

For Kalen’s party we wanted to have fresh strawberries to dip in the chocolate, so after we picked up Aunt Jess we headed out to Brown Farms in New Market.

The kids had so much fun picking strawberries!

Kalen made sure that she only picked the red ones.

Tyler was on the lookout for the BIG ones!

The strawberries were perfect!

The kids were very good and only ate a couple while we were out there.

And it didn’t take us long to fill up our bucket!

The scrapbooker in me loves that Kalen was wearing red! It will make for some really cute layouts!! :)

The strawberries were so good that we didn’t have any left after the party!! We want to go back and take Daddy with us next time. Plus I really want some strawberry shortcake!

It’s Growing

2010-05-26T09:00:00.000-05:00

Our garden is growing more and more each day! I took these pictures about a week and a half ago and it looks a lot different today.

Notice Tyler’s snake at the top of this picture, he is trying to scare away the birds. It’s not working.

Last night we built the trellis for the peas, tomatoes, and cucumbers to climb.

We also dug up a few radishes!

The kids ate a couple pieces, I was very surprised, and we are waiting to add them to our next salad!

Kalen’s Chocolate Party

2010-05-25T14:18:00.001-05:00

We had such a good time at the Chocolate party! It was so much fun, I already want to have another one! Here is the birthday girl in her chocolate brown outfit that I made for her!

She was so excited for the party and we were so happy that Aunt Jess was here too!

We had the house decorated in brown and pink just for Kalen!

Here is the table with the chocolate fountain and all the goodies!

We had Rice Crispy treats, pretzels, Oreos, mint Oreos, Nutter butters…

marshmallows, graham crackers, bananas, strawberries (fresh picked that morning)…

and yummy chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting and, of course, pink sprinkles!

We also had chocolate and strawberry milk.

We even had Chocolate bars to give out to the kids as they left! I’m sure their parents just loved us! Ha!

I was prepared for things to get messy! Look at these cute napkins I found. Just perfect!

Don’t forget the wipes! (I had to make them match too)

Let the fun begin! Everyone loved dipping in the chocolate.

It was SO good!

The birthday girl approves!

Then we all sang Happy Birthday to Kalen!

I maybe should have wiped her face, but I think it just adds to the whole chocolate theme :)

Make a wish!

Yay!!

I just love seeing that big happy smile!

Kalen loved her cupcake!

She finished up just in time for presents.

She got a lot of fun gifts and has been wearing, reading, and playing with them all week!

It was such a fun time and I know that Kalen really enjoyed it!

We were a little whiny and tired after everyone left though. (Kalen had her head down crying)

“It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to!”

Thank you to everyone who came and made Kalen’s 2nd birthday so special!

Getting Ready

2010-05-19T14:44:00.001-05:00

We are busy getting ready for Kalen’s Chocolate party tomorrow! I’ve got chocolate on the brain…chocolate cupcakes, chocolate frosting, chocolate fountain, chocolate favors…and the list goes on!

We are also getting ready to have Aunt Jess in town for a long weekend! We pick her up at the airport tomorrow morning. Can’t wait!!!

Happy Birthday Kalen

2010-05-12T14:53:00.001-05:00

Can you believe it? My baby girl is 2 today!!

We celebrated a little last night with some Gigi’s cupcakes.

She picked out the one with the heart, Scarlett’s Red Velvet. YUM!!

Make a wish!

That’s a big cupcake! She LOVED it!

Happy Birthday Kalen! We love you!!!

Sketch Challenge

2010-05-07T19:46:00.001-05:00

So if you know me you know I love sketches!! So when I heard from Telah about the “Twist & Sketch” crop at Scrap Friendzy I was so excited! The best part is that you have a twist with every sketch.

For this one the twist was to use butterflies and bling on your page.

This next one you had to use an action word as the title.

And this one you had to fold/pleat some ribbon on your layout.

These were so fun, I’m hoping I am able to do a few more!

Mission Friends

2010-05-06T14:15:00.001-05:00

Last night was the Recognition Service for all the Wednesday night Mission’s programs at church. The 3 and 4 year old Mission Friends got to sing a couple songs for us.

If you saw my twitter/facebook status yesterday you heard that Tyler thought he was going to be singing on the American Idol stage! Too funny!

Tyler is on the far left and make sure you watch it all the way to the end! :)

Thank you Jamie for getting this great video!

Our Garden

2010-04-22T15:11:00.001-05:00

This year we decided to make a couple Square Foot Gardens! My friend Shannon talked us into it, she is making some too! We went to the website, bought the book, and started planting. We really wanted to do something like this so the kids can see how God makes vegetables and fruit grow from little seeds and is able to provides for us.

They have their own 3x3 foot garden.

Mike and I have one too.

We planted a big variety of things. Since this is our first year we will find out what works and what doesn’t.

Tyler has been very helpful and excited about gardening. He planted all the seeds, and has been watering the gardens every morning. This morning he found a couple radish sprouts.

I just have to keep an eye on him though, because I also found this:

On the Mend

2010-04-21T14:16:00.001-05:00

Well if you haven’t heard, Mike broke his arm. He was up 8 foot on a ladder when it kicked out on him and he came crashing down with it. We are SO thankful that it was just his arm that was hurt. It could have been much, much worse! The Lord truly protected him!

He broke it right at the elbow and had to have surgery last Thursday. He was a little nervous about it so after they got the IV in they gave him a little somethin’ to ease the nerves. It put him right to sleep! Go figure, he can sleep ANYWHERE!

I waited and waited for the surgery to start, and finally (after a 2 hour delay) he was in the operating room. The doctor found more damage than what the x-ray showed so it took him a little bit longer. When Mike woke up he was in a lot of pain. Here he is after the surgery, this was the only smile I got that evening.

He is doing much better now, he went back to work yesterday and is doing what he can with one arm.

Thank you to all that have been praying for him and helping us out during this time!

A New Kit

2010-04-08T10:41:00.001-05:00

I wanted to share some projects that I made with a new kit. My friend Shannon has started making kits from Stampin Up! products and I just LOVE them! In February she made the Love mini kit, which included a board book (I’m pretty sure she still has those available). This next kit it is a 12x12 scrapbook kit. It includes 24 sheets of patterned paper(double sided), Sweet Pea stitched flower embellishments, 4 different ribbons, 9 pieces of cardstock, hardware, and die cuts all for $22.50. This really is a great deal!

Don’t you just love those flowers??

Here are some scrapbook pages I created.

I also made a couple of birthday cards.

I tried something new too! I made some home decor.

This was super easy to make and now it’s up on the piano in the living room! I just love those butterflies!

I have over half of this kit left so I’m sure I will be sharing some more projects soon. If you are interested in getting one of these kits email Shannon and she will hook you up! $22.50 is a great price for everything you will receive!

Easter Day

2010-04-05T16:06:00.001-05:00

We had a great day yesterday and we hope that you all did too. We started off the morning with a wonderful Easter Sunday service at church. Here are the kids before we left.

Then we came home to open our baskets, hunt for eggs, and have Easter lunch. We had Grandpa Bob, Grandma Angie, our friends Nick and Shannon, and their son Allen over.

The kids were very excited to hunt the Easter eggs they dyed the night before! I didn’t get too many pictures of the boys, they were too fast!

Tyler did not want to stand still, he was looking hard for those eggs.

But I got a lot of pictures of Kalen!! She was so much fun to watch this year!

Ready…GO!!!

Grandpa had to help her with this one!

She really enjoyed putting those pink eggs in her basket!

I had to get a picture with my sweet girl!

Thanks to Shannon we got a couple family pictures too!

Even Coco got in that one. Too bad Bailey wasn’t on the other side, that would have been perfect!

Happy Easter!

Coupons!

2010-04-02T11:47:00.001-06:00

Oh how I love thee! We made a trip to Publix today and I had a whole stack of coupons. I think there were only 8 things that I bought without one. I even had coupons for the milk and bread.

The best part, I spent $101.55 and saved $116.95! Woo Hoo!!! That was the first shopping trip that I saved more than I spent. That makes Mike REALLY happy, and me too. Maybe he will take me out to dinner tonight?

Spring Fever

2010-03-26T16:23:00.001-06:00

Scrapbooking with the March kit from Paper Posies is really giving me spring fever. Thankfully the weather seems to be warming up! When I saw this kit I printed out all my favorite Easter pictures from last year and got scrappin’!

Those little eggs are too cute!

This next one is simple, I think I may leave it out in a frame in the living room for a couple weeks.

One of my handsome little man!

This one of Kalen is going in her first year book. I can’t believe she is already almost 2!!

I tried something new and made this folded flower. I really like how it turned out.

Love these pictures of the kids! Tyler was too sweet giving Kalen kisses!

These little butterflies are so cute!

Would you believe that I still have more stuff from this kit? I am planning on using a divided page protector to put all the Egg Hunting pictures in and using some accents on that. Then maybe make a couple cards for this Easter.

Are you in the mood for Spring yet?