The Busy-ness of Life

Things have been crazy around here for the past nine-ish months!

Right after Memorial Day last year, I gained some significant responsibilities at work. I felt like I was drowning - but eventually gained confidence in the new system I was given. While I'm still working some pretty major hours (10 hours most days), I don't feel as lost as I did back in June!! I'm going to try to start blogging on a more regular basis and I'm trying to craft more - it relaxes me!!

Speaking of crafting - tomorrow is Harrison's birthday (he'll be FIVE!!!). He decided he wanted to do a pirate theme for his preschool birthday celebration. And, of course, everyone needs an eye patch. And a compass. And TATTOOS! So, I made a mad dash to Michael's tonight to get the little plastic bags for everything --

Topper is made using PTI Pure Poppy cardstock, Tiny Treats: Halloween and Tiny Treats: Birthday stamps and the Mat Stack 4 Layers die.   The tattoos in this bag are tucked behind the compass.  He's so excited about turning five - it's a lot of fun around here these days. 

I'm also going to try to spend some time getting caught up on my Project Life album. I had 130+ photos developed from Shutterfly earlier this year. Quite a few of them...from a special night with my sister and my two older girls:

Yeah. We were that close to the stage. It was such a fun (but LOUD, even with the earplugs in) night. 

Now, it's almost midnight and I'm so seldom up this late. New job duties require that I'm up and on the system before our staff gets there as I have to set-up everything. I'm dragging!!

Summer is over?

Gracious, I cannot believe how quickly summer has flown by this year! We had a big, big summer!!

Both of the big girls went to Girl Scout Camp this year and both loved it (despite the tragedy of losing BehBear). A week after Elizabeth came home from camp, we were off to Grammie's for a week. We always enjoy our time there - and this year, Brad and I took at day-trip to Atlanta. Archiver's, Trader Joe's, Ikea and, of course, The Varsity (the original!)

We left Elizabeth at Camp Grammie for two weeks. Katherine spent another week going to Day Camp at Ozark Conference Center (Annie and Harrison aren't old enough for that). The truck got a tankful of bad gas (delivery company's fault, they covered it), the motor on the dishwasher went out, DirecTV went out for four days in the smack-dab middle of the Olympics (say WHAT?!)  and my laptop got a brand-new-never-before-seen variant of the TDL4 Rootkit.  And then, we are suddenly in the first week of August -- when we started school!  We've been back at it for three full weeks now.

The girls are doing handwriting, math, spelling, reading, grammar, science and history.  Science and history are done all together. The big girls do spelling and grammar together.  Harrison is doing Saxon Kindergarten math this year and he loves it.  I wasn't supposed to start the lessons until September but he couldn't stand not doing it!  He is also doing handwriting.  Annie is doing fabulously - reading has finally clicked with her. She also continues speech therapy one day/week at the local elementary school. We actually had her evaluation this week and "real" therapy will start next week. Our focus this year is on her rate of speech/conversational speech -- and after this year, she's out. She will be finished.

Harrison's preschool meet-and-greet was today. I had to fight back tears. Our last year, ever, at the preschool. It makes me sad when I think this will be the last year our family interacts with this staff and teachers!  Preschool starts Monday and he. is. ready!!! He is very excited about the year. I can't wait to share a "First Day of School" photo! So, hopefully I will see you Monday!!

Project 52 v2012: Weeks 9, 10 and 11

Week 9: February 26 – March 3, 2012

This is our only photo for the week. We spent the entire week sorting, packing and delivering cookies. It consumed every spare minute we had!! After turning in our order, we sold about 100 more boxes!!!!! A crazy, crazy week! Also during this week, Brad & I celebrated our 22nd anniversary – but he wasn’t here. He was in Hot Springs at the Sun Belt Tournament where the UALR Lady Trojans won and will be going to the NCAA tournament!!

Week 10:  March 4 – 10, 2012

Elizabeth has loved her iPod Touch over the past couple of months. She’s learned how to take screen shots.

Week 11:  March 11 – 17, 2012



We have decided that Elizabeth and Katherine are going to go to Girl Scout Camp this summer. We went to Camp Open House with the three As – to check out what the girls will be doing while they are there. Here we are hiking to where Elizabeth & A will stay (in platform tents). Nin will stay in a cabin.

See that canoe in the middle of the photo? Elizabeth and Nin are in it! A group of four of them – none of whom were experienced canoers – took a canoe out. They did really well considering…

…though when they sounded the dinner bell for lunch, the girls did have to be towed in by the lifeguards.  But they had so much fun!

After lunch, we did some crafts and had a Q&A session with the camp director. Then, we went out to the archery field. Nin was so excited to do this – and she did pretty well.  Elizabeth did, too. There are no pictures of her shooting her bow & arrow because they wanted me to do it, too – she and I were at the line at the same time.

Project 52 v2012: Weeks 7 & 8

Week 7: February 12-18, 2012
 

 

Annie got a new dress and boots from Bippie. And of course, she put them both on immediately and struck a pose.  She looks adorable in both - and if you don't believe me, just ask Mr. John!

 

 

We actually got some snow this week!!!!  We have had an unusually mild winter - but finally it got cold enough for us to see a little bit of snow (you can see the grass still peeking through). It was enough to make our little snowbird a happy girl. Other than her very first snowfall (when she was nine days old), this girl has loved, loved, loved it when we get snow!

 

 I made the kids Scratch-Off Valentines this year. They were a ton of fun and I'll be doing these again for some other kiddie event.

 

We had Harrison's birthday lunch at my parents' house the Saturday after his birthday. Over the past few months, he has developed a love for our pastor's family. Hannah helps in his Sunday School class on the third Sunday of the month and it's just about the only Sunday he'll go into class. Hannah and the girls came out to the house for lunch -- Harrison had a total of NINE females sitting at the table with him!   He was on cloud nine, too!

Week 8: February 19-25, 2012

While Annie is in speech therapy, we hang out in the library.  Harrison plays DSi or on my phone while the big girls do grammar and spelling. 

Girl Scout Cookies have arrived!!! Time to start sorting and preparing them for delivery!

Project 52 v2012: Weeks 5 & 6

So, yeah - we're in something like week 15 and I've not blogged photos. This is for me, so when I finally get the photos printed I'll have my journaling somewhere it won't get lost - and in this little calendar it is likely to do just that.

Week 5: January 29- February 4, 2012

 

It's Girl Scout Cookie Season! We had been taking orders since January 14 and orders had to be turned in on January 29th. Here are our totals (we ended up selling even more after we turned in our orders!)

the next three photos are all from one day (obviously)...

 

One Monday while Harrison was in school, the girls and I finished their school work early and went to spend an hour with Angela and Cadence (our baby cousin). The girls had such a good time holding her and looking at her and kissing her and touching her. They love this baby girl!!  They know how long our family waited and prayed for this baby.

Week 6: February 5-11, 2012

Elizabeth in her new dress.  It makes her look so grown up! She'd gone shopping with Boop the day before and gotten this dress. Mom wanted me to text her a picture of Elizabeth wearing it.

We received a phone call from someone this week - they'd had a Macbook repaired and in the time it took to make the repair, they'd already purchased a replacement Air (jealous!). So, they asked if we'd like to have the Macbook for the kids.  Elizabeth and Harrison have had a great time playing with Photo Booth and applying all the different filters to pictures.

 

Back in  October when Harrison had a bad cold, he woke up at 4:00 one morning. I was still awake when Good Morning, Arkansas came on KATV. They asked a trivia question and the first correct response won two tickets to see Rascal Flatts in concert on February 11. The trivia question, "For what two movie soundtracks has Rascal Flatts recorded songs?"  Oh, easy!!! I fired off a response and was the first correct emailer!  The answer - Cars & Hannah Montana: The Movie (which they were also in) Sammie went to the concert with me and Brad got us into the Dog Pound (their 'pit' area by the stage). One of the crew members gave us Joe Don Neely's guitar picks and took us to the side of the stage in the secure areas for a couple of songs.  We had so much fun!!  And Uncle Chris, Drew & Sam had three of the four Egglets (Nin, Annie & Harrison).  Elizabeth was spending the night with her BFF.  All the kids had fun as well!  I will likely have a spread in the album of concert photos. I got some great ones - we were literally about 12-18 inches from the stage!

Project 52 v2012: Week 4

January 22-28, 2012

It was pretty much a regular week for us.

We went to the library while Harrison was at preschool and got our “regular” study room. We love this room as it has two large windows looking out into the neighborhood surrounding the library.

 

 

On Friday, we had a birthday party for a friend at Build-a-Bear-Workshop. Elizabeth chose the Lil’ Coconut Cub, a cute little pink and black plaid outfit and some little silver shoes. She named her bear Emma Grace – which is the name of another friend (she names all her animals after friends or family – I think it’s sweet).

On Friday night, Brad and I had the cocktail party for Lettermen’s Weekend at UALR. While we were at the event, Mimi (what they call my sister) stayed with the kids. She’d asked us to leave the keys to the van so she could take them for ice cream. As you can see, they were already ready for bed when she said, “Late night ice cream run!” They were so surprised and loved it! Uncle Chris and Sam came over right after we got home – and Uncle Chris took each of the girls for a ride in GrandDaddy’s Corvette. They loved it! And then they all piled in Mimi’s new car and went for a ride, too. They didn’t get into bed until about 10:30, but they were all asleep almost immediately.  Fun memories.

Project 52 v2011–weeks 45-52

I’m just going to do it to you…the last 8 weeks of the year in one post. Feel free to skip over! I’ve had my photos printed (thank you Walgreens for the 25 free prints – I got 28 and my mom got 25 for me…2011 is printed and will be in the photo sleeves this weekend!!!)

Week 45: Nov 6-12, 2011
Hit a big milestone in the van! I was on 430, headed home from church. We were just exiting the 430-630 construction so I pulled off on the Shackleford Exit and snapped this picture at the traffic light (while we were stopped, of course!)

Week 46: Nov 13-19, 2011

Nin was making me laugh. We were going to the preschool for pick-up on Monday afternoon and she was hanging out the window singing at the top of her lungs, so I snapped this picture – what I saw in my driver-side exterior mirror. Silly girl!

Week 47: Nov 20-26, 2011

Typical Thanksgiving at Mom’s – which I love. Brad in the kitchen finishing up lunch preparations, wearing his “King of the Kitchen” apron Mom and Dad put in his stocking last Christmas (he loves it), everyone else standing around chatting and eating appetizers. I love how it’s all about FAMILY when we are there. The entire extended family is with us – aunts, uncles, cousins and their spouses and kids. We love it that way.

Week 48: Nov 27-Dec 3, 2011

Elizabeth sang for the first time with Servants and Singers (3rd – 6th grade choir) in the 11/27 worship service. She is just to the right of Rita, on the front row in a burgundy velvet dress. She was actually much more excited than she appears in this photo!


Week 49: Dec 4-10, 2011

We put up the tree in the girls’ room, with all the new ornaments and tree skirt. It is so much fun! The ornaments are red, hot pink, turquoise blue, purple and lime green – such great, bright colors on that white tree. The skirt is a red velveteen with fun quilted detailing on it. Now to find the perfect tree topper! We haven’t had much luck at all. Maybe next year.

Week 50: Dec 11 – 17, 2011

This was Annie’s first year to sing in the Christmas Cantata. You can see her (just barely) on the front row, to Rita’s right. Elizabeth is on the right in a dark grey dress and black sweater. Nin is just above Rita’s head in a purple dress. The position that the girls were in made it almost impossible to get the three of them AND Brad in the picture…especially since Brad stands just to the right of center stage in the choir.

Week 51: Dec 18-24, 2011

Another choir first this year. It was Harrison’s first year to sing in the Bethlehem Choir (the new name for our 3&4 y/o choir). They traditionally sing the Sunday after cantata and this year the Pilgrim choir (Kindergarten through 2nd grade) helped. We were a little concerned about him doing it – because of issues we’ve had with him going to Sunday School and AWANA; however, he was so excited to do this!! I love how happy he looks in this picture as he is singing. I was so proud of him!!! You can see Nin on the top row in purple. Annie is cut out of the picture – again, the way they were standing made it impossible for me to get all three kids in ONE picture.

Week 52: Dec 25-31, 2011

Merry Christmas!! I don’t think this will be our last photo of the year since we’ll do the traditional “toast” on the 31st.  I love this shot of the kids. They were so happy and excited about Christmas – and so thankful for each and every thing they received, no matter how small. It’s been a joy to watch them grow this year!

Once again I have loved this project. One photo a week is a perfect “speed” for me at this point in my life. If I get more photos in a week, hooray. And if I don’t – that’s okay, too.  In 2012, I hope to do better at blogging the photos on a monthly basis.
Happy New Year, everyone!!

Wow, where did the year go?! Project 52 v2011

So, I haven’t shared weekly photos since September? Really? You’d think I was busy or something!  I won’t overload and share them all at once. And if you want to skip this, my feelings won’t be hurt. The details are blogged so I’ll know what to write when I toss it all in an album.  By the way, my Clementine version of Project Life (not an affiliate link) came a few weeks ago and I’m going to loooove this.  I think I’ll have Project 52 v2010 and v2011 photos printed and put them in an album using this core kit!

Anyway – the beginning of the end of V2011 (and yes, I’ll be doing it again in 2012)

Week 40: Oct 2 – 8, 2011

Nin and Elizabeth had a playdate with their Baby-Cousin. They went to her house to feed the animals and got to meet her pet bird, Andy. They had a great day with her, as they usually do!

Week 41: Oct 9-15, 2011

We went shopping for Halloween costumes with Boop. Harrison got this great little cowboy costume – which he loves. I hate how it makes him look so big, though!! Where’s my baby?!

Week 42: Oct 16-22, 2011

The Arkansas State Fair is in town! This year, we decided to buy all four kids wristbands so they could “ride” whatever they wanted, as much as they wanted. We figured we wouldn’t be able to get them off the carpet slide. Well, it was a “carpet slide” that they loved…but not the traditional one. It was this one (pictured above)  I stopped counting the 17th time they did it.  The other fun thing they did was a “Jungle Funhouse” that had bridges to cross, ramps to run up and more sliding to do.

Week 43: Oct 23-29, 2011

Harrison and I made treats for his preschool class and teachers. This is one of the bags for his classmates. And, of course, he had to sneak in the picture…sweet boy.

Week 44: Oct 30-Nov 5, 2011

As we usually do, we took the kids trick-or-treating on Halloween. We made our rounds out here. Then we went to Mimi & Uncle Chris’s for our traditional hot dogs & chili (and Frito-Chili pie) dinner before we went around their street. Elizabeth was a “groovy girl” (reminded me a bit of Daphne from Scooby Doo), Nin was a bumblebee, Annie was a “happy green witch” (she really wanted this costume because of all the green in the dress – so she made sure to tell everyone she was a ‘happy witch’), and Harrison was the adorable cowboy. We snapped this photo at the beginning of the evening on Bippie’s porch.

Treats for Girl Scouts

The girls had a Juliette Low birthday party/Harvest party at Girl Scouts this week. They made treat bags so we had to take treats for those. Elizabeth has been dying to break out Tiny Treats: Halloween from Papertrey Ink so I decided we’d do something with it. I used the Mat Stack 4 die (shown on the TT: Halloween page linked above…scroll down a bit) to cut tags from  the Midnight Magic paper pad by Recollections (available at Michael’s). I used several different stamps on the circles – each girl chose a couple of designs from the stamp set for me to use. I also wrapped Hershey Nuggets in strips of the Midnight Magic paper and attached them to the back of the Mat Stack tag.


(I had some little ones helping attach the circles and candy to the tags…so, they aren’t perfect and that’s okay!)
Recipe:
Cardstock: Vintage Cream (Papertrey Ink)
Designer Paper: Midnight Magic (Rrecollections)
Stamps: Tiny Treats: Halloween (Papertrey Ink)
Dies: Mat Stack 4 (Papertrey Ink); Nestabilities Standard Circles, Large (Spellbinders)
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black (Tsukineko)
Other: Hershey Nuggets, Scotch ATG, some super sticky glue dots that were in my stash.

Project 52 v2011: Weeks 32 - 35

Week 32: August 7-13, 2011

It’s been so hot here, everything is getting dried on the line. And…mmm…nothing is better than sheets dried on the line!

Week 33: August 14-20, 2011

Elizabeth’s CASE of Audrey’s card for the PTI July Blog Hop.

Week 34: August 21-27, 2011

My baby boy started preschool this week! He goes on MWF and stays for extended care on Mondays. It’s working great and after initial hesitation (the second day was really bad) he loves school!

Week 35: August 28 – September 3, 2011

While Harrison was at preschool, Bippie and LG met us at the library. When we finished school, we went to the park for about fifteen minutes before we had to go get Harrison. The girls had such a fun time.

Project 52 v2011: Weeks 22 through 26

I just realized I’ve not posted my photo-of-the-week in several weeks. Since this is how I’ll go back and journal, I need to get them on here!

Week 22: May 28 – June 3, 2011

A few weeks ago I painted the upper part of the wall in the dining area with tinted chalkboard paint. I wish I’d done this three years ago! The girls do their work there, I can write math meetings on the board…it’s fabulous.

Week 23: June 4-10, 2011

The kids have started their one-on-one playdates with their baby cousin on Wednesdays. Bippie came to pick up Elizabeth and they went to see Rio at the theater, then back to the house for playtime. Bippie sent me a text with this photo of the girls having a great time.

Week 24: June 11-17, 2011

This week was Nin’s week for her playdate. Bippie picked her up early in the morning and they headed to the zoo to see the penguin exhibit, ride the carousel and train, and then went back to Bippie’s – where they laid down for quiet time. To encourage LG to nap, Bippie asked Nin to ‘pretend’ to be asleep. Only, Nin really went to sleep and took a three-hour nap while LG didn’t sleep at all!

Week 25: June 18-24, 2011

This was Annie’s week. Bippie came to get her and they went to The Wonder Place to play, shopping for a little bit (Annie came home in a new dress, shoes, sunglasses, necklace and bracelet…little toot!).

Week 26: June 25-July 2, 2011

Since we didn’t want to have to transfer Harrison’s car seat back and forth, on his playdate day, I took him to Bippie’s house to play. We were a little worried about how they would get along. LG tends to not want to do anything with Harrison or let him touch any of her toys when all my kids are around her. However, they played fabulously together. After lunch, Bippie did the quiet time thing like she did with Nin…everyone lays down and ‘pretends’ to be asleep so LG will sleep. Once again, my kiddo slept for hours while their baby-cousin didn’t sleep at all.