Tuesday, November 20, 2007

A Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving

Ah! It seems I have the power to forsee the future! It wasn't a week ago that I predicted a little Pilgrim would be coming to visit my house and here he is! Pretty cute, huh? :)

As we head out of town on one of the busiest travel days of the year (insert big SIGH) here, I wanted to take a minute to wish each one of you a very happy and blessed Thanksgiving. I am looking forward to spending some extended time with the biggest blessings in my life and hope that you all get to do the same. Stay safe.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Introducing TWO SCOOPS from BasicGrey!



This line is such a versatile one - it's yummy, sherbet-inspired color palette really lends itself to all types of layouts from birthday to Valentines to Wedding or anything in between.



For me, though, it's the adorable embellishment stickers that come with the collection pack that really makes the line. For this fun layout (please click on image to see it larger) about my cousin's daughter and my son, I used one of the largest stickers in the pack - the flower to encircle my photo. I love how it added just the fun touch I was looking for.

And just you wait - it gets better....this line will also have some gorgeous stamps, a rub-on book with such super-cute phrases, amd much more! This line will be shipping soon to a store near you, so be watching. I bet you can't stop and just Two Scoops! ;)

Friday, November 16, 2007

Lunch with Friends

Today Carson and I had the pleasure of meeting my friend Shannon's new son, Eli. Eli is an adorable towhead blonde with big blue eyes and boundless energy. He was recently adopted from the Ukraine and Shan and I thought it would be fun to get the boys together and give Eli some interaction with another kiddo his age outside his typical classroom setting. (Not to mention I've been dying to meet Eli since he came home! :))

We really had a great time and considering that neither of them had naps, the boys were extremely good! We had a nice lunch where the boys got to know each other (and played a few rounds of Monkey See, Monkey Do), we headed to the Capital Building and took a little tour (mostly to use the potty!) then went outside to play and take some pictures on the gorgeous grounds like the good scrapbooking mamas we are. We did a quick runthrough of our LSS, Memories ala Mode, and their new Creative Cafe before heading back home.

It was such a fun day and I'm making Shannon commit to it not being so long before we do it again. And Shan? This last picture is for you! Love seeing you so happy :)

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition


came to MY town! It's been wild around here as ABC and the EHM crew arrived just a week ago today. Everyone in the city - including me - seemed to be fascinated with the program, the construction, TY (hee!), but most especially, the family.

The beneficiary of this gorgeous $2 Million home was Patrick Hughes, a 19-year-old University of Louisville student and his family. Patrick was born without eyes and his arms and legs don't fully extend, so he gets around by wheelchair - and his home wasn't wheelchair accessible, inside or out. He's such an inspiring young man and he's got an amazing gift for music. He plays the piano beautifully and because his father wanted Patrick to live life as "normally" as possible, Patrick attends college and even marches in the band.

You might ask how he could do a thing like that - and the answer lies with Patrick's dad. Patrick's dad attends classes with him - AND when it comes time for band practice and performances, it is his dad that does the marching as he pushes Patrick's wheelchair with him. They are such a testimony to love and it just poors out of them and I think everyone in the city experienced it this week.

I wanted so badly to be a part of something so amazing. Hoyte, Carson and I headed down, rode the buses to the site and just experienced a once in a lifetime event. Due to bad weather, they postponed the reveal for a full 4 hours so we were unable to stay, but during our time there we managed to "sorta" see TY! (see pic!), saw the famous bus, the phenominal house, the mayor of the city and many enthusiastic people who were there for the same reason we were! :)
P.S. I just wanted to add that this episode will air in Febuary on ABC and apparently will be the Season FINALE! (How cool is that??!)

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

10 little, 9 little...

8 little Indians...
7 little,
6 little,
5 little Indians...
4 little,
3 little,
2 little Indians...

1 little Indian Boy!

Boy, how I love Kindergarten class projects! This is the sight that greeted me as Turner ran off the bus this afternoon! (I'm betting a Pilgrim will greet me next week!) ;)
P.S. His Indian name? "He who likes Dogs" How true, how true!

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Fall Weekend


Besides a season-ending banquet for some rowdy football champions, it was a quiet one around here, though we did manage to get outside for a little bit. Looking at all this color, it's no wonder fall is my favorite season :)

Monday, November 05, 2007

We are the CHAMPIONS!!!

Warning: Proud Mama post coming!

It was at the high school. There were official refs. Faces were painted. There were even cheerleaders! It was the Peewee Tackle Football Championship game and we were fired up! We were to play the "Green Team", the Commonwealth Dragons, a team undefeated all season and the ONLY team we had lost to all season...twice.

In the first few minutes of the game, Ethan scored not ONE, but TWO touchdowns (I hardly have a voice today just so you know :)) making the score 12-0, but the Green team came back and answered with 2 TD's of their own. Not to mention that they got their 2-point conversions (what we do instead of extra point kicks), so the score was 12-16. Let me tell you, that Green team is GOOD! They played their hearts out but our little ol' Blue Team had the eye of the Tiger!

We blocked the Dragons on the 5-yard line with just a few minutes to go and held them there as they turned over the ball. When we got our chance, we were on 4th down and getting no where. On 4th down, the quarterback handed off the ball to Ethan and he made an amazing play (proud mama coming in here again!) to get the ball down to the 2 yard line where a teammate was able to run it in. The score was then 18-16. We managed to hold the Green team the rest of the 2 minutes of play to clinch the division title. Daddy was so proud he ran onto the field immediately to give our boy a hug. If you think the smile on E's face is huge, you should have seen Hoyte's!

I while I'm thinking of it, I just wanted to give a shout out to the boys' coaches - Jason Armstrong and Josh Collins - and our assistant coach, Taylor, for all their hard work and dedication this season. You three went above and beyond anything we could have expected and it was you that made this season what it was for all of us. Thank you so much!

Sunday, November 04, 2007

Already??!

Apparenly it's already time to start the Christmas Season in our town. Today was the annual Festival of Lights and although the thought of it almost made me want to hurl, we went down to see what it was all about.

And we really had a great time. The fun thing about a small town is that you always see people you know and run into people you hadn't seen in ages. Children were dancing on the courthouse steps, carriage rides were given, High School Musical was being performed by the high school, all the businesses were holding Open Houses and there was food galore. What more could you want? But seriously. Christmas the first weekend of November?? Blech.

Later today (or tomorrow if you go ahead and "Fall Back"), we play our Division Championship on the High School football field. And believe me, that's a huge deal to a bunch of 6 and 7 year olds (and even their parents!) :) I even got window paint to dress up the car and some noise makers to be a little bit obnoxious! So proud of my little man and his team - they've worked so hard this season! GO LEGENDS! I'll update tomorrow with the results!

Thanks so much to all for the birthday wishes! It really meant alot to me and I would have posted about it a bit, but well...I'm getting old sadly and hate to face that. Plus my day took a bit of a backseat to Miss Lydian Jane this year. And I'm so ok with that. :D

And one more thing - if you have a chance, come on over to Rhubarb Roots (LOVE that name) tonight at 9:00 EST/8:00 CST. I'm doing a little chat with the ladies there and I've love to have you stop by! :)

Thursday, November 01, 2007

It's TIME!!!

Oh how I've always wanted to say that myself but when you go in with three scheduled c-sections, it just doesn't have the same impact. But yay, I finally get to say it this time for my best friend!! I can't believe it but it looks like my baby niece is on her way - I got the email from Daddy Rob at 4:00 am (Good girl for waiting until Halloween was over) that they were heading to the hospital!!!! I should have known after talking to the Mommy-2-Be that it was imminent as she was just a little grumpy and out of sorts. So now I'm doing the traditional pacing of the floor waiting for more news. It's quite the cure for the Halloween hangover, I must say.

So if you wouldn't mind offering up some prayers and positive thoughts for my dearest friend and the birth of this long awaited baby girl, I'd certainly appreciate it and I know they would, too.

Now am I too selfish to wish she'd hold out until just past midnight tonight to be born on her Auntie's birthday??? ;)

(Ann Marie, I love you and am so excited and proud for you. You give that baby girl kisses from her auntie as soon as you can, ok? Oh....and I'm still holding on to Marina Renee for you! ;) XOXO, YR)

UPDATED:
At 6:30 am the word was she was at 5cm...and doing nicely.
at 11:00 am my text msg read "VERY CLOSE!"
At 1:30 pm Baby girl made her appearance!! Six pounds, 19 3/4" and perfectly healthy! (Thank you, God!) Mama and Baby are doing wonderfully (it was a natural birth) and by all accounts, she's gorgeous. Still no name, but we're working on it!
At 11:00 pm She has a name :)


HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Sweet Lydian Jane!