Birthday wishes

So, today is a VERY important day at our house.  Today, my sweet little Nik turns 11 years old.  She has been SO excited all day.  Said it’s her “first palindrome” birthday, and for some reason, she’s very happy about that.  I’m coming up on a palindrome birthday myself this year, and somehow…….I’m not quite as happy about it as she is!

Here is my sweet girl this morning before leaving for school.

She couldn’t contain herself, and burst into a little happy dance.

Sure wish I could get as excited about my birthday!

Right after school, Nik headed straight to her presents.

And one of my favorites of the day…..

Me and my sweet peanut!  I LOVE you, Nik!

And let’s not forget Pete!  He got a little something, too.  It’s sort of a tradition I started years ago to get a small present for the non-birthday child.  You can see that I hit a bullseye.

Carpet sliders………he’s thrilled.

Now, we’ve baked some brownies together, and soon will be heading out to dinner to continue the celebration.  Think it’s going to be greasy burgers and fries……or maybe even onion rings!  Yum-O!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

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Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!  After all the hustle and bustle, Christmas Eve is now upon us, and everything is right in the world.  What a peaceful and beautiful morning.  The kids are filled with excitement, the presents are bought and wrapped, the cookies are baked, the cards are mailed, and now we can just relax, spend time together, think of the meaning of the season, and wait for Santa!

I do have one quick scrappy page to share this morning that is full of special meaning to me at this time of year.  I made it from my first “shop from your stash” kit I put together for my crop last Saturday.  The idea behind this is to put together your own kit from supplies you have on hand and create 2 pages and 2 cards from each kit before you make your next kit.  After 3 kits, you can shop for something new.  My scrappy friend, Kim, came up with this fun challenge and has posted the full details on her blog.  She’s also offering some prizes if anybody wants to play along!  I thought this was such a great idea.  Here’s another peek at the first kit I put together.

And my first page.

These photos are so precious to me.  I’ve been hoarding them for years, not knowing quite how to scrap them.  They are busy and have little focal point..Nik is even cut off on the middle one.  Even so, they are all that I have, and I love them anyway.  That’s my little Nik with her arms in the air at her preschool Christmas pagent when she was just two years old.  The children did a Mexican presentation of La Posadas in the church at school.  La Posadas means the “inns”.  The children line up in a procession with two children at the front carrying a statue of Mary on a camel.  They walk down the aisle, stopping to knock at all the inns seeking room for Mary.  Such a beautiful Christmas story.  Nik had her hands in the air the whole time because she had finally found us out in the church audience, and she was filled with pure excitement to see us.  How sweet she was!  They grow up so quickly.

I made this page based off sketch #6 over at the Inspired Blueprints blog site.  If you all like sketches, and haven’t checked this site out yet, you really should go take a peek.  They have a wonderful interactive community there with a full gallery, 2 new sketches per month, contests and prizes, and a fabulous design team for plenty of inspiration.

I want to take a moment before I go to thank my sweet blogging friends, Krista and Jocelyn for this wonderful award.

Thank you so much for thinking of me, girls!  You’ve made my day!

And now, from the bottom of my heart, I wish you all a safe, beautiful, fantastic Christmas filled with love, family, friends, and good cheer!

Merry Christmas everyone!

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Back to Business

Hi everyone! Happy Monday! I am back from the beach. Had a wonderful time. It was pretty darn cold there, so Friday and Saturday I didn’t even see the ocean. Didn’t want to be outside longer than absolutely necessary. But yesterday warmed up enough that we were all able to bundle up and spend about an hour on the beach. There is just something so soothing about being near the water. Makes the long drive worth every minute.

We spent quite a bit of time scrapping. I got a fair amount done, which is good for me because usually I’m too busy talking and eating at a crop to get much done. Still have to unpack my crop bags and get some photos taken before I can share the pages I made. Can’t wait to show you all what I came up with for the upcoming December kit from Paper-Playground! I think you all are going to love this kit.

I do have a few photos I can share this morning from my birthday celebration Saturday night. The girls surprised me with some princess attire and a yummy chocolate cake. Aren’t girl friends the best?? Of course I was scrapping in my pj’s, so you’ll have to forgive me.

Thank you guys, for making my birthday one I’ll never forget. I also want to send a big thank you to my scrappy friends, Annette and Bonnie for giving me this wonderful blog award!

Annette has been posting some really adorable Christmas projects on her blog lately. I love all the vintage touches she adds to her work.

Bonnie is self-proclaimed new to scrapping and her enthusiasm is absolutely infectious.  She has been on a roll with card-making and I am really impressed with the different techniques she is trying.  Hope you’ll take a moment to go check them out and say hello.

And now it’s my turn to pass this award on to 5 other bloggers. So hard to choose just five, but I am going to pass this along to Sherry, Staci, Louisa, Lisa, and Stacey! I am a big fan, ladies!

I’ll be back soon with more photos. Have a great day everyone!

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It’s Official

I have a teenager in the house.  Peter turned 13 today.  He’s happy as can be, and I’m a little in shock about it all.  It’s just so hard to believe that my first child is this old already.  But it really is just a number thing because the child has been ACTING like a teenager for years.  Here he is in all his birthday glory.

Looks like a teenager, doesn’t he?  Shark tooth necklace, Abercrombie shirt, braces, loooooonnnnnnnnggggg hair… sigh.

Peter really wanted this Nerf gun that was just released called the Vulcan.  Fully automated, this baby pumps three bullets per second a distance of around 20 feet.  Absolute boy heaven.

He also got a pair of kick-back chairs for the game room from Glammie, Pop-Pop, and Uncle Paul.  He was practicing snoozing in them, which was definitely his way of saying “they rock”.

I asked Nik to take a few pictures of Peter and I together, too.  He pulled all his usual stunts and tricks, but I did get a few good ones.  A bit blurry cause he’s always trying to make a move right when the shutter clicks.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PETER!!!    Thanks for all the laughs!  I’ve loved every minute of being your mom. Here’s to the next 13 years!

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