Scrap Share

We celebrated my mother-in-law's birthday this past weekend. I made her a set of notecards, inspired by my friend, Cassie. I love the way they turned out. I bought the Cuttlebug embossing folder and used it on the blue paper. [And I don't even own a Cuttlebug. Too expensive right now on our budget...instead, I used a miniature rolling pin to emboss the paper inside the folder. It worked, and the folder only cost me $6!]

Here's a photo of the card I made for her:



And here's the notecards. Half of them are "Happy Birthday" cards and the other half are "So Sweet of You" cards.

And because I'm in a sharing mood, here's a layout I did a few months ago. I just "found" it and decided I really liked the way it turned out. Love my Cosmo Cricket paper...

07~08~09 @ 10:11:12 am or pm

Check out this FUN contest on Elizabeth Kartchner's blog.

I'm playing along.

Will you?

4th of July Weekend

We had a wonderful 4th of July weekend....gorgeous weather, barbecues, family, friends, fireworks, and as Ryan would say, "parklers."

Friday night, my sister, Jill, her hubby, Brian, and daughter, Ava, came out for dinner and stayed the night. Mark bought some fireworks and launched them in the backyard after the kids caught lightning bugs. Ava, Nathan, & Ryan weren't really sure about the fireworks, so they watched from inside the house.


On Saturday, we went to our friends, Marty & Maureen's house, for a barbecue. The kids had a blast playing in the wading pool, riding their bikes, and eating watermelon. Mark finished up his fireworks in their backyard, sending Nathan into a tizzy every time, so we decided we'd pass up on the official fireworks show this year.

On the way home, we caught the fireworks show at Longwood Gardens from the highway. We pulled over and the kids stood up through the moon roof of our car and we saw the show. It was different, but it was fun! I was happy we saw the fireworks there ~ something about 4th of July without fireworks. And BONUS: the show was free!!!!! :) Can't beat that!

One of these years, I'll get a decent shot of the fireworks. I even used the "fireworks" setting on my camera...

Hope you had a happy 4th! :)

This boy....

makes me smile.

Nathan is a happy kid.

Every day, he wakes up in the morning with a smile on his face, singing my name, and he always tells me, "I had a good 'nap,' mom," after sleeping all night.

His goofy personality is adorable.

And the way he giggles and covers his mouth is too much.

Love you, little man!

Thanks for making every day a little brighter :)

Let's Roll

This flag was erected shortly after the attacks of 9/11 on an old building along a busy highway near our house. I've wanted to take a photo of it forever, but never felt comfortable stopping on the busy road. SO, I took a drive-by pic ~ sorry that it's a little blurry....

I LOVE the juxtaposition of the American flag and Flight 93's Todd Beamer's famous line, "Let's Roll" against the stone building that was probably built over 100 years ago.

I think it's a wonderful reminder of the foundation that our country was built upon
~ a foundation of an enduring spirit
~ a foundation of freedom FOR ALL
~ a foundation of a government that is OF the people, BY the people,
and most importantly, FOR the people.

When I think of the current climate in our country's capital, it saddens me:
The PR spin that somehow America owes everyone an apology for being a worldwide bully, instead of the champion of freedom that we've always been.

The granting of rights for special interest groups [lobbyists] that threaten to squash the constitutional rights of freedom of speech and freedom of religion for the majority...that threaten the very freedom of personal conviction and belief ~ all in the name of "protection."

The taxation without representation that is being ramrodded through our house and senate without many checks or balances.

I think our Founding Fathers would turn over in their graves if they saw the mess our government has made of itself.

As we celebrate America's Independence this weekend with our backyard barbecues and fireworks shows, I hope we also remember how precious our hard won freedom is.

I hope we remember the honorable men and women that stand up and fight for freedom throughout our world as members of the armed services.

I hope we remember the spirit of America.

I hope we can snap out of our complacency and stand up to the ridiculousness in Washington and tell them enough is enough.

I challenge you to become more aware of what our leaders are trying to accomplish. I challenge you to independently research pending legislation. I challenge you to write letters, send emails, and make phone calls to your elected representatives to tell them your opinion.

....[stepping down off my soapbox now]
Have a Happy 4th of July! :) America, let's roll!!!


The world is a dangerous place. Not because of the people who are evil; but because of the people who don't do anything about it.
~ Albert Einstein

Loving these photos right now....

Evan, the Organizer

A few weeks back, Evan asked me for paper, marker, scissors, and tape and he disappeared upstairs into his room he shares with Ryan. I didn't really think twice about the supplies he asked me for ~ I can trust him to not draw on the walls or cut up his clothes. And any time I can get my kids to entertain themselves for longer than 15 minutes without the aid of an electronic device, I'm thrilled.

[On the other hand, if Ryan had asked me for the same said supplies and wanted to use them in his bedroom, the answer would have been a resounding, "NO!" But I digress...]

When Evan was finished his project, he proudly dragged me upstairs by the hand to show off his masterpiece: he had labeled his drawers and closet.
Blue dresser, top down:
shirts
gens [jeans]
sock and udwar [underwear]
and my personal favorite, bjomus [pajamas].

Closet: logsl slevs [long sleeves]

White drawers: short slevs [short sleeves] ~ at least his spelling is consistent :)

Mark & I got a big kick out of this and Evan was so proud of himself.