An Almost-Perfect Day!

Well after a miserably chilly week or two, the weather finally gave us a break here in Kentucky - a very welcome break as this week marked the kick off of the Kentucky Derby Festival. We're all about horse racing and since the biggest race of the year is local AND only a week away, it's time to party :) Today we started by attending the Great Balloon Race - probably the most colorful event of the Festival....even if we did have to get up at 5 am to get there. But it was certainly worth it - just look at these magnificent Balloons! I'm in awe everytime I go, especially because as you can see, you can get right up on these things are they're inflating. I had no telephoto lens on my camera and look at how close we were!

Immediately after the race we had to head back home to get Ethan to his 9:00 am soccer game. They were awesome as always and won 4-2 against one of the bigger teams in the league. He's getting better and better visibly each time he plays and it makes his mama (who am I kidding - his DADDY - so very proud). To celebrate it was breakfast at Cracker Barrell and then a good 2 hour nap! (I did say this day was almost perfect! ;)

After our nap, we went BACK into Louisville to do some shopping for our bath remodel project (another story for another post!), we drove past this cute little parking lot carnival. Of course the boys begged us to go and after such a good day, we couldn't say no. I hadn't seen smiles on (all) my boys' faces like this in a long time! Too cool!And to finish it off, we had dinner at pizzeria I hadn't been to since High School - so yummy! (After all this, is anyone surprised I was ready for bed at 8?!
Happy Derby, Everyone!

Buzzworthy?!

Ok, so I wouldn't go calling myself that, but I can't tell you how flattering was it when late last year I got an email from Katie Nugent at Scrapbooks Etc. asking me to be in an upcoming "Buzzworthy" column feature! I was floored and super excited and I finally got my copy IN THE MAIL TODAY!!!

How fun is that? Thank you, Katie, for thinking of me for this article and making my page look so good :)

Cancer Sucks.

In the words of a sweet 13-year-old girl, Abby, "Cancer sucks." And I agree with her. I've never seen such a hideous, sneaky, insidious disease like cancer and I will never understand it or why wonderful people seem to die so young.

On Good Friday, just a little over a week ago, Abby's lost her father to a malignant melanoma that developed on his leg. It reoccurred after being dormant for around 10 years and had come back with a horrid vengeance what seemed like just a short time ago. Courtney was only 39. His parents, David and Penny, and my parents are best friends. So while I didn't know him well personally (he was the youngest of three boys and still several years older than I was growing up), I just adore his parents and I am in such pain over their grief and the grief of their entire family.

Interestingly, Courtney and his family own one of the largest funeral homes in our town and just within the last year or so came to run the family business. As you can imagine, with a history of serving so many families, his own funeral was amazingly poignant and beautiful. He had definate ideas of what he wanted and he planned his passing like he lived his life - with purpose, with passion and with courage.

An avid cyclist, he felt a real connection to Lance Armstrong and he and his family wore Lance's yellow "Live Strong" armbands through out his fight. He had U2 and Cowboy Mouth played alonside secular music for his service - in an Episcopal Cathedral - and everyone smiled as they heard it. He had a love for spicy foods, especially Tabasco sauce, so his pallbearers all wore Tabasco ties and there were small bottles of it tied into his floral spray. So when the family was allowed to select flowers from the spray, his daughter picked a beautiful red Gerbera daisy, but Luke, his 9-year-old son, picked a bottle of Tabasco.

His funeral was attended by hundreds - the Cathedral was packed. As the motorcade finally arrived at Cave Hill, it was met with a horse-drawn glass hearse that was there to take his body to it's final destination. The entire congregation got out of their vehicles and followed behind the carriage on foot. And as we came to the top of the hill he was to be buried on, we could hear the bagpipe playing strains of "Amazing Grace." It was a most beautiful moment, fitting of his beautiful life.
And right now, I can't stop thinking about a sweet friend of mine I've met online through scrapbooking, Jen Gallacher, and her family, especially her Joey, who are in this terrible battle right now. I pray for a miracle for them daily and struggle to find rhyme or reason to why this disease exists and the only thing I can come up with is yes, indeed,

CANCER SUCKS.

(Thank you so much, Tracey, for sending those buttons with that sentiment. I'll make sure Abby and Luke get them.)

Happy Easter!

Ok, so I know I'm a little late, but in my defense, I just got back from Nashville and well, I left my camera there. SO, I had to wait for it to be shipped back to me (THANK YOU, TRACI!) and for me to go through the upteen thousand pics I took!

We had a wonderful weekend visiting although it was stinkin' cold. As we drove off Friday to my Sister-in-law's, the snow was coming down fast and furiously. I had high hopes of outrunning it but no such luck. We did manage an Egg Hunt when it finally warmed up a bit that afternoon - that is after donning our warmest winter coats for church that morning! It was still a bit cool (you can see their little red noses!) but sunny. It's the things we do for pictures, eh? ;) As if the kids would let us NOT have an egg hunt!!


Easter Bunny even remembered we were going to be out of town so they were thrilled to find their baskets waiting for them - even if the crazy bunny hid them in the shower! The big challenge after that was trying to reign in the sugar high they would experience the rest of the day because even though mama and daddy limit sugar, they managed to find all the hidey spots.

Still, we had a great time. The boys completely adore their aunts (Traci especially spoils them rotten!), Mimi and cousins and they played and played until I thought they couldn't play anymore yet were never more excited to finally crawl into their own beds as we got home.

I hope your Easter was just as special.

(And to Dave and Penny Pearson, my parent's best friends, who lost their amazing -only 39 year old - son to cancer on Good Friday - all my love and my deepest sympathies to you and Jennifer and the kids. I'll be posting a small tribute to Courtney as soon as I can.)

GNO!

Oh yes! Last night was Girls Nite Out! What fun and so needed! Miss April was going to be in town on business from Bowling Green so Shannon, Candice and I ditched our respective husbands and children ;) and met up with her for some yummy California Pizza Kitchen and Archiver's shopping! And since you can't get 4 scrapbookers together without pictures being taken, here are my beautiful friends....and me. ;) I had a ball, ladies - let's do it again soon (and maybe Scarlet, Ruth and Audrey might join us?!)

It's SPRING! :)

It's so gorgeous outside here today and we're enjoying it completely. The boys and I have been working in the yard and trying to make it presentable after a long winter. I think I love everything about spring...especially moments like these! ;) Hope you're having a wonderful day!

Finally!

Most of you will so relate when I say that I'm the constant photographer in our family. I never have my picture taken and it's 1/2 way my fault - either I can't stand to relinquish the camera or I'm not dressed right or I forget to ask. But yesterday I asked! I was dressed for meeting a girlfriend for lunch and when I got back , Carson was just getting in from preschool, so we took advantage! Hoyte took these photos and I was pretty amazed! I just love them - so much so I had to create a layout immediate! (What can I say? ;))

I've also been holding in some other amazing news that I just can't keep secret any longer.
Now that there's been a couple of doctor visits and a heartbeat heard, I can finally say WE'RE PREGNANT!!!!
Ok, don't anyone have a heart attack! I don't mean ME literally, but my best friend, my college roommate, my Ann Marie. She's as close to me as a sister could ever be and this baby has been a LONNNNNGGGG time coming. After years of fertility testing, procedures and everything else under the sun, it's finally happening. This wee one will be my niece/nephew and I tease her by saying as much MY baby as hers...ESPECIALLY if it's a girl! ;) (And it doesn't hurt that she's due right on my birthday! How amazing is that??!)
So please, pray for this little one and a healthy pregnancy for my sweet friend who's waited a lifetime for this. XO-Kelly

Just because

he's so darn cute, dirty face and all.

The View from my RearVIEW

My children are rarely sweeter than when they're sleeping and that was especially true after a horrendous day running errands. Being good just proved to be too much for them and they finally gave out on the way home. But seeing this site in my rearview reminded me yet again how truly blessed I am!

As an aside...I had a funny happen today (about the ONLY funny thing that happened today!). I was walking in the mall trying to reign in the above mentioned children when a woman walks by. "Self", I said to me. "That woman looks familiar. That woman looks like Shannon's sister, Paige. I don't know her from Adam, have only seen her in pictures and through stories, but I wonder if I say her name softly if she'll turn around and I could maybe always pretend I was trying to talk to some else if she looks at me strange." (How's that for a run-on sentence. I'm sounding like Kayla Aimee now I think ;)) So I call out "Paige!" and indeed she turns around. So I rush over like some crazed woman and introduce myself. Of course I did. That's just what I do. And graciously she talked to me...even though she probably thought I was some crazed stalker chick! What a sweetie of a sister you have, Shan!

Happy Sunday, everyone! :) ~k

Postcards from Africa

I fell in LOVE in Africa....

Hi all!! Boy is it good to be back! I have to say quickly (full re-cap shortly) that South Africa - both the land and the people - are absolutely beautiful. I had one of the best times of my life and....I have a confession. I fell in love there. Meet the object of my affections ;).

This was this little man's first day on public display at a Lion Park outside of Johannesburg. So I can safely say, I saw him first and he's mine all mine! Too bad he wouldn't fit in my suitcase!

Bye for a Week :)

I'm off bright and early in the morning for my imstillpinchingmyself trip to South Africa! I can't wait to meet the delegates there and see firsthand the amazing scrapbooking talent South Africa has! I'm completely psyched! I'll be back on St. Patty's Day - so until then, when I'm sure I'll have oodles of gorgeous pics to share, I'll leave you with a layout done about our recent Aquarium trip.

Have an amazing week - and to Sus and Lisa...HUGE congrats on those baby BOYS! And to Suz...I'll be looking for an HOF post from you when I return!

XOXO,
k.

Pinewood Derby

Boy was this past weekend crazy! Not only am I trying to finish up things before I head out of town, but Ethan had his 1st Boy Scout Pinewood Derby. He and Daddy worked on his car and he did SUPER well - got mostly 2nd places in his 6 races, but unfortunately it knocked him out of trophy contention. He was very disappointed (such a sad thing for a 7-year-old), but I love that he took it so seriously and was so competitive! ;) Daddy took these pics for me as I had to stay home with the littles...

The Newport Aquarium

Thank you to everyone that has kept my mother-in-law in your prayers and those that have taken the time to send me a personal note. Unfortunately, we didn't get down to Nashville this weekend to see my MIL. She just wasn't ready to come up yet from Georgia - it's been hard letting go and figuring out what she wants to do from here. Since my FIL passed away, the house has been all she had and so much of who you are is tied up in that, and I'm afraid she's feeling a bit lost. Hopefully she'll come up soon and we'll get down to see her. The boys are excited about that.

But since we didn't get to go visit and since I'm heading out of town for a bit in a little over a week, we made this weekend "Family Fun Weekend!" Saturday we took the 1.5 hour drive to Cincinnati to visit the amazing aquarium there. The boys were beyond in awe as they looked around. Carson absolutely adored the huge tunnels with the fish swimming all around him - especially the sharks! I swear this kiddo has NO fear! (VERY scary for me!) His other "cool" thing was "finding Nemo!"

We also spent a little time on the Levee shopping and eating at the 50's Diner, Johnny Rockets. It was really cute when the waiters and waitresses got up to dance. ;) Apparently the trip was so fun that we had three little boys passed out by the time we even got 2 blocks on our way back home! It totally reminded me that we need to do things like this more often!

BasicGrey Back on HSN!

I just wanted to let you know, if you missed it the first time around, BasicGrey will be back on HSN on Saturday, February 24th at 12:00 midnight and 6:00am!! I hope you'll tune in and see the amazing Miss Dana in her pajamas! ;)

And thank you to all who took a minute to send up some prayers or send me a note about my mother-in-law. The house was a total loss as we thought it might be. The insurance company wrote it off yesterday. She's doing as well as can be expected right now and will be coming home with my sister-in-law for a bit until she figures out what she wants to do. We're going down this weekend to Nashville to visit her and lend our support.

And just because he's too cute not to share ;) here's my wee man the other day with his best buddy, Ribbit. He was sitting in his carseat on the verge of a nap. He's not feeling so well today so I love seeing him happy like this...

Devastating News

Late last night we got a phone call from my sister-in-law. I could tell immediately from her voice that she had some bad news...apparently yesterday afternoon, my mother-in-law's house burned down. The fire started behind the fireplace somewhere (some faulty wiring or some such, they aren't exactly sure which right now) and one of my nephews was up visiting and happened to be there and called 9-1-1. Thankfully he made it out safely and no one was hurt (and my mother-in-law was at church). It seems that the only thing salvagable might be the washer/dryer and a deep freeze. Everything else is a total loss. Now begins the long process of insurance claims, deciding if she wants to rebuild, and what we're going to do. I know she'd appreciate any positive thoughts you might want to send her way.

Trying to Recover

I've had the worst cold/flu/bronchitis thing for the past 2-3 weeks it seems and it's just not completely going away :P - which is a big part of the reason I've been so bad in posting my CHA recap. Ok, so I know it's probably all old news now ;) but I wanted to share a few pics and highlights from my trip to Anaheim!

There is almost too much to mention, but I'm going to give it a try! My trip started out with meeting the amazing Tracey Odachowski in the ATL airport - and then proceeding to bug her and her friend for 45 minutes of the flight and then on into baggage claim! (Sorry Trace!) After getting settled in, I managed to take the tram to the show were I finally got to meet Amy Howe in person. I swear I never thought that day would come! ;) Even better was meeting the crew from BasicGrey again and my awesome roomie, Tarrah. They're an amazing group and I am so blessed to work with them!

Then it was show time! It was crazy busy constantly and I think I made-n-took my little heart out! I am so grateful to have meet all of you that stopped by and spent some time with me, especially those of you that were working the show as well as I know how short your free time was - Cari, Davinie, Lea, Suzy, Jamie, Jackie, Angelia, Susan, Kel, Roxanne, Heather - I loved meeting you all...and RUTH! My Dear BFF...I could never forget you, truly! ;)

And I have to say especially to Sande Krieger - it was an absolute thrill to finally meet you. You are even more amazing in person if that's even possible. Huge hugs to you! And Erikia - if you read this, that invitation to Derby is definately open, girl! I hope you take me up on it! :D












And just a few more highlights - the amazing scenery (I mean really - FLOWERS IN JANUARY???!!) and an impromptu photo op with Amy and her amazing family! Aren't they stinkin' cute??!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Mine thus far has been spent at several school parties, getting completely intoxicated on sugar and loving every minute of it! How can you not seeing these sweet faces looking back at you?

Hope everyone has a wonderful evening and gets your heart's desire! XOXO ~Kelly

(P.S. in case you were wondering - in the bottom photo, Carson's shirt says "hunk of burning love" - is it any wonder? :))

JIPPED!

Hmfph! Back in *the* day (approximately the late 70's just so ya know), the toothfairy only left a quarter. Apparenly now the cost of a teeny, tiny, used piece of enamel is $2! I'm definately in the wrong business!

Last Post before I'm CHA Bound

Accccckk!! I leave tomorrow morning at crack-of-dawn o'clock for LA! Trying to hurriedly finish packing, scrapping and umpteen other things that are on my "to-do" list that MUST be done before I go!

I apologize for not putting up the "official" sneak of BG yesterday - so to try and make up for it, here's day 4 AND day 5....Day 5 being the new AMAZING FILE SET! Omgosh, I can't tell you all how excited I am for this file set. It's the grooviest scrapping gadget since I don't know when - it makes getting in all those tiny grooves of wee pieces of chipboard a piece of cake! I LOVE them. They are a definate must have and I know they'll be one of the hits of the show!



For those of you traveling - BE SAFE and see you soon! :D