Projects on the Horizon...

Besides the thousands of scrapbook layouts I have in progress, I want to accomplish the following projects this summer. Maybe sharing them with you all will inspire you to join me, and actually make me do them!

I think this necklace is darling - and doesn't require microscopic beads to string on, nor any jewelry-making tools. I want one in every color! J CREW NECKLACE

I've got two tall office stools that I got with my craft room cabinets last summer - I'm picturing lime green on the base and some kind of funky fabric on the seats and backs! FUNKY OFFICE STOOLS

For some reason I absolutely LOVE this tablecloth. I want to do a red, white and blue one. You can get the bandanas super cheap online - - let's make it together! BANDANA TABLECLOTH

I finally have all the supplies to make one of these. Super cute! HANGING ALBUM

Tne End of the Beginning! (ie. Kinder Graduation)

Field Day

Here's A doing a gunny sack race - why the bottoms were cut out of the sacks, I don't know - seemed a little pointless...

I don't think J ever got more hugs from his sisters than when we visited the school.

SCHOOL'S OUT FOR SUMMER...

Things going on:
• Attended M's graduation last week, plus lots of "end of school" parties for the girls. Will post pics soon!
• Went to a "card swap" party on Friday night. I love my girlfriends! It was fun. I'll take a pic of all the cards we made and post it.
• Watching and loving lots of season finales on TV. SIGH - It's gonna be a long summer.
• Reading lots of books from the library. I just started another Sophie Kinsella book and A started Percy Jackson "Lightning Thief" today. I also checked out "Heat Wave" from the show Castle (which I'm new to, and liking a lot!) - I'll let you know how it is!
• Inviting myself to anyone's house who has a pool.
• Maintaining weight since end of fitness challenge, hmmm... I guess I need to pick up those good habits again before I'm going to make any more progress.
• Losing TEETH! One of M's bottom front teeth fell out last week, and now one of her top front is very loose - the VERY SAME one our old dentist said was calcified and would never come out on its own, the one they wanted to pull. HA! I knew I made the right decision leaving them.
• Dealing with warts on M's fingers. SIGH, not fun. She won't let me touch them, yet she keeps scraping them on things and then they bleed, hurt, I need to make a dermatologist appt...
• Attending lots of birthday parties on the docket. We went to a party at Skateland on Saturday. M took a lesson beforehand, which was great. I think I'm the one that had the most fun skating, though! I want new rollerblades...!
• Planning J's birthday coming up next week - yikes, better get organized. I intended to have J's quilt done for his bed by his birthday - oops - I guess it's gonna be a while in the toddler bed still, until I get it finished - I refuse to get him a big twin bed until there's something to put on it!
• Needing to get my vacuum fixed, because it sucks. Or rather, it has stopped sucking altogether. My carpet is disgusting, and I can't do anything about it!
• Needing new tires on my car, in a bad way. We've always done Discount Tire in the past - any other recommendations, that maybe won't cost me 700 bucks?
• Needing to get our carpet cleaned, also in a bad way. Why does everything have to cost money??

Too great not to share!

No, this isn't either of my girls, but I loved it and had to spread it!

Giddyup.

Lately, 

my two 

youngest children have been 

dressing up 

as cowboys - 

 (or rather, 

"the sheriff" 

 and 

"the sheriff's daughter" 

according to M. )

I'm not sure 

what a  

purple silk "cape" 

has to do with being 

a sheriff's daughter, 

but it all seems to work. Especially with the 

hand sanitizer 

holding the lasso, 

and the 

Tinkerbell 

T-shirt!

It took J a

while to

stop hiding

from the

camera...





                   but eventually he warmed up.

Don't you just adore this smile???

J has a red flower and a ginormous bird on his hat, too.

(We don't really have "boy" dress-up clothes...but M is super creative and J doesn't mind!)

They can play so well together, when they want to!

Father's and Son's - or is it Fathers' and Sons' - or is it Fathers and Sons

This was J's first real camping experience. He loved going with Daddy and Pah-tee (Poppy) and staying in his little house! Love this grin...

Here's the REAL THING!

Surfin' Safari

Here's to the most beautiful babe on the beach!

Tonight was our school talent show that A (and her mom) have been preparing for during the last month. Fun in the Sun indeed! What a great show. ALL of the performers did better than they had for dress rehearsal, and I was seriously impressed with more than a handful of them - like the very first vocal, who was accompanied on the keyboard by her Dad, and the violinist who played Taylor Swift's "You belong with Me" AMAZINGLY. There were a few moments of laughing out loud, too, and I wished more than once that N was sitting next to me so I could make my funny comments to him... but the show ended up having so many priceless moments that I just HAD to buy a DVD of it, to be able to relive it with N later. Our little group of six second graders did awesome - and they couldn't have been more thrilled to be performing.   Let's go surfin' now, everybody's learnin' how...

Here are the boys with their personally designed surfboards...

A and one of her girlfriends hula-hooped and did some gymnastics tricks...and you can SORT OF see how EXCITED A was during the performance here...

And YAY! They stuck the pyramids!

Adorable, adorable, adorable! I'm so proud of her!

Things I love.

I love when my family comes to visit, I love when my middle child has a good day at school, I love naps (both mine and J's), I love wasting long afternoons reading fun books, I love when my whole family sits around the same table and everybody actually eats dinner, I love to not pay for babysitters, I love to LAUGH, I love sleeping in, I love to wake up to kids who have already eaten breakfast without destroying the kitchen, I love produce baskets, I love to exercise, I love when my favorite sports bra is clean, I love to hit a great volleyball serve, I love the sun, I love clean rooms (and I love them even more when someone besides me cleans them), I love having excuses to throw things away, I love that my kids have friends that want to play with them, I love unexpected good deals, I love fresh strawberries, I love when my car is clean and vacuumed, I love it when our lawn is mowed, I love it when my friends throw parties and invite me, I love good dinners, I love great treats, I love having plans to look forward to, I love when the house is quiet and everyone else is asleep...