My latest mini projects for Genuinly Jane (By the way....go check out their blog because they are currently holding a contest were you can win free mini albums!!!!!)
A name tag for Gracie.
A mini about Gracies Dance recital....yes I cut up her costume to get all the elements. I love love love how it turned out!


These flowers are from the headpiece


The flower is from the headpiece

This ribbon is from the headpiece

The back cover is from the bodice of the costume.

I will tell you that neither of these pieces could have been made with chipboard albums. I absolutly love the wood!!!! It allowed me to adhere the fabric to it as well as it will hold up as the years go by. :)

Mom?

Yes, my Quintin?

I wanna go ot-side....and....

And what Q.....?

Pway wis my Tup-a-ware.

Ok we can do that!

Yeah!!!!! I wuv my tup-a ware!
( while he jumps for joy as if I have given him the world! All it took were some mini Tupperware sets!)

I am feeling the itch today......I want to go to Disney!!!!

Gracie on her first day of Girl Scout Camp this past Monday. It was the epitome of summer that day. Super warm and sunny....gotta love it!

Baby For Hire????? Q loves to mow the lawn with his little bubble mower! There have been many a time that I have thought how great that would be if he could actually cut grass with it. If he could I am sure he would make a little business out of it. :)

Project 104-Tuesday

Sometimes days are tough. These are the moments when finding joy can be a bit difficult......But don't worry we did after a good hug and a few tears. Thank goodness we are all working so hard at reminding ourselves how blessed we all are. :)

Project 104 for Monday

Today we had Gracie's dress rehearsal for her Dance recital coming up on Thursday and Sunday. So being the woman that I am I never have taken her to a photography studio. I take all the pictures. So this is what I came up with. Now, on one hand Gracie likes this because she does not have to deal with a stranger getting in her face to take pictures (when they do for school photos she gets all worked up about it....but that's a whole another story) but the flip side of that is this final picture....just looking at it I can feel her frustration with me. For the record she was saying "MOM!!!!! Stop it already, your such a paparazzi! This grass is really uncomfortable." So needless to say that was the last picture in our little photo shoot. We cant continue if the subject is no longer willing to be photographed! The one right below this was my favorite of the day....I made her twilr around and snapped this at the right time. Just beautiful!

Pause.......

Sometimes do you wish you could pause your life? Take a deep breath and soak up a moment before you move onto the next activity? That is so how I feel right now. There is so much good right now in my life even amidst all the chaos that I just want to breath in the joy, look at this place in my life and know that I am truly Happy! :)

Dont get me wrong there are many many many stresses going on but I have found some way to embrace them in such a way that they do not get under my skin like I would have done in times past. I guess Im just learning to cope better. Yeah Me!

Project 104

Ahhh. There's nothing like a good showing of Monsters Inc. under the swingset in the backyard on a summer evening! Take note that he insisted that his "wheel-wheel's" come an watch with him. This to me speaks of the joy of motherhood. Its so good to be a Mom and watch these super cute moments unfold.

Glitter Ball

These balls were all the rage at Gracie's school over the past few months. I swear to you that recess was glitter ball fest just about every day! You would see them bounce them, roll them and chase after them all together or all alone. I love the fact that in today's technologically savvy world kids still get excited about a bounce ball. It was the best $5 ever spent. Now that school is out for summer I thought that maybe the glitter ball would loose its luster ( yes there is pun intended) but I was wrong! She still swoops it up ant chance she gets and plays with it in the yard. We even got one for Q to bounce around because he seemed to be so facinated by it as well.

Now if you would like to get one you can find them at Walgreens in the big size (the ones pictured) Or you can find a smaller size there as well and at Michales...the smaller ones work well for little kids like Q's age. Trust me it will be the best $5 you spend all summer. Its amazing how much they LOVE them! And, Im not only talking about my kids here. Ive talked to several Moms who are as shiokced as I am that in todays workd they play with a ball for hours on end.

Project 104

So i know that there are many of you out there that have done the Project 365 taking at least one picture every day of your life for a year....well that didn't work out so well for me this year due to the fact that I just didn't get my act together. So now that summer has rolled around and frankly our life is far more interesting in these months, we will be doing Project 104. documenting all that goes on in our lives throughout the summer. So for day 1 here it is. My son in the water table he told me he wanted to go "swimming" Gracie and I were laughing so hard!
Other things to look forward to this summer are

Dance Recital
Vacation Bible School
Girl Scout Day Camp
12 Hour Scrapbook Crop
Melissa's Birthday
Kayla's Birthday
Relay For Life
CHA in Orlando
Summerfest
State Fair
4th Of July Fireworks
Mini Vacation to Mackinac Island
Camping
Playing In the Backyard
Trips To The Zoo
and I'm sure there will be much much more

What are you doing this summer?

Today.....

was a hard day. As I write this so forgive me for a may seem a little out of sorts. I wanted to write while the emotions are still strong so I can look back at this day knowing how this felt.

Today was Gracie's last day of school. Not only was it her last day as a fist grader with possibly the best teacher in the world. But it was her last day at Marcy school.

Since I got a divorce we moved out of the school district and are now in the Greenfield District. It was a hard decision to make but the driving her to and from school each day spending 2 hours+ in the car got a little much.

That school wasent just a school for her.....

It was a soft place to fall when things were changing all around her.
It was a place to laugh when Mommy was not tons of fun.
It was a place to be free.
It was a place to express herself.
It was a place she felt as at home as at her own home.
It was HER place.

Not only that but it was mine to....

It was place that I felt I could always have a shoulder to lean on a hand to hold and a person to listen. It was MY place.

Today I learned that not only do Gracie and I feel its our place, they feel we are their people. As we walked through the building saying our goodbyes to all that have touched our lives they began to cry with us. They swooped up Gracie to hold and hug her and tell her just how important she is to them. Most of them would hold her face and tell her that they will never forget her!

I learned that not only do I think she is special but so does the entire staff of a very big school.

So as I sit here drenched in my own tears....I know something I didnt know yesterday....That my daughter is special to many and I could not feel more proud then I do at this moment. She is amazing and if you are reading this blog and you have not gotten the oppertunity to meet her I hope some day you will....you will be forever blessed. :)

Here is a sneak peak at two projects that are going to be upcoming classes at The Scrapbook Store. Don't forget to sign up on class kick-off day June 25th for a 10% discount on any classes that you sign up for. If you jion us on that day from 6-7:30 you will be able to see all the projects in person as well as enjoy some treats and great conversation with your fellow scrapbookers. I look forward to seeing you there....Oh and dont worry I will remind you again so I can see you there!!!!!

Little old ladies are always telling me that I look like Audrey Hepburn. Now I would say we have similarities but its not a total match. I take that as a total compliment, especially when I am not all pretty, wrangling kids in line at Walgreen's. So, to all the little old ladies out there- Thank you, you are too sweet.

My dad found a ton of pictures on his computer at work of Gracie from birth to 2. When I look at them there are so many memories that come to mind. Like how much she loved that excer-saucier....now Q liked it but she LOVED it. We are talking 45 minutes here people. How chubby she was. How she would suck on her Nuk so hard it would make indentations in her chubby cheeks. How she was totally content with just her and her toys at a very early age. How she wore this little pumkin outfit and so did her little brother. How calm she was as a baby. How she had horrible dry skin and felt so bad for her. How she would nuzzle her head on my sholder when she was not feeling well or tired. How she would still take really long naps all the way through 2. How much she hated to be dirty and god forbid a bit sandy.


These are the things I had forgetten. Thes are the things I am glad i still remember. These are the things that remind me how rewarding thes little blessings are. These are the things that remind me how far she has come. Thes are the things I am glad I have now documented.

The reason this picture is awesome is because that's my sister in the window dancing around. I was so glad to see the photographer capture this moment. You can also see me in the backround laughing at her.
Yes, this is really one of only three pictures of the entire family. We got the shirts made at Downtown Disney. We plan on making new ones every year.
The kids and I with Mader...Q's favorite!
Gracie and I- I just love how this one turned out. So sweet.


These are are a few more pictures that I missed while going through my recap. They are from Photopass so I finally got a chance to load them in and post them here. I also thought I would take a little time to make a top 10 list of my favorite moments and or events on the trip!


10) Being mistaken for a 14 year old on the airplane.
9) Gracie's makeover at the Bibidi Bobidi Boutique.
8) Celebrate You Parade
7) The Flower and Garden Festival at Epcot
6) Letting the kids play in the water at Epcot
5) Seeing my sister as a cast member
4) Illuminations
3) No cell phones!!!
2) Riding the train with Q
1) Designing t-shirts at Downtown Disney with the whole family