Happy 4th! (Not sure you'll remember me!)

I had all the best intentions, really I did. I've been meaning to post all kinds of updates. The bad thing is the longer I waited, the more things had happened and the more there was to update....so the longer I waited. It was one of those vicious circles, I'm afraid. So I finally had to jump on in and I figured the 4th of July was a good reason (excuse?!) to do that!

A quick recap of the past 2 weeks:
After I returned home, and beyond the jet lag (and yes, to those I promised sharing AUS photos, they will eventually make their appearance here...cross my heart!)...there was Father's Day and Turner's Birthday. And since T's bday was the day after Father's day, we celebrated the same day. We went to a petting zoo, had pizza and, after I got through with it, an upside down cake. It didn't start out that way - it began life as a very cute spiderman cake, complete with web. Of course I have no pics of that to proove it as it soon landed on my mom's wood deck. Thank goodness Turner took it better than I did!

So the actual day of his birthday, we had his t-ball game. All the boys were laying down trying to rest up for it as the games go on pretty late in the evening when we hear this thud and before we can get to the stairs, Ethan is flying down them crying, "Carson is hurt and is bleeding bad!" So not what you want to hear. As Hoyte and I rush to him, we can see the blood pouring from his head. Yep...he decided to take the words literally to "5 little monkeys" and did his darndest to re-inact that song. So Mama called the doctor and the doctor said we had to come in quickly for some stitches. Poor thing.
He looks so sad and pitiful here, but I promise after the whole sewing process was over, he was his normal self and never looked back! (He was even a trooper when we had them out 4 days later!)
After that, things became a whirlwind with the upcoming CHA show and other work-related activities which show little to no signs of slowing, which hopefully somewhat explains my lack of posting.

But yesterday was the annual Preher 4th of July Bash (early this year as it's always held the Saturday before the 4th)...it's the event we look forward to all year. Amy and Scott always put on the most amazing, kid-friendly day. Everyone has a fabulous time - especially the kids! Things don't get started until about 4:00 in the afternoon, but they last until the wee hours. Ok, not so much for us - we're the lightweights who head home at 11:00, but still, it's always an amazing day!

We had food galore, kareoke, water balloons, sack races, volleyball, horseshoes, trampoline, bouncer, pool - you name it, it was there. And then when it got dark, there were the mandatory sparklers and fireworks show.













(Btw, the little redheaded cutie is my friend's daughter, Emma....don't you wish you had that hair??!)I think there were a total of at least 25-30 children, the majority of them my kids' ages. Turner had his best friend from preschool there and Ethan and Carson soon found some buddies to hang with too. They were like a swarm as they went from one activity to another. It was a riot to watch. They didn't want to go home when we finally pulled them away at about 11:00 that night. Already we can't wait for next year.

Happy 4th to all of you. Be safe and try to stay cool :) (P.S. This is my one year blog-iversary! I didn't realize that my first post was the 4th pictures from last year, so I feel a little RAK coming on. Drop me a comment with your name and what you did on the 4th and I'll enter your name to win a little something. Not sure yet what it'll be, but I'll figure that out here shortly! I'll leave this open until Saturday the 7th at midnight EDT and draw for the winner on Sunday!)

5 Years Ago

Five years ago yesterday, I laid in bed next to my then 2.5 year old son and cried my heart out because I just didn't know how I could love another child as much as I loved him. Then 5 years ago today, I cried my heart out again because I saw this sweet face for the first time and knew immediately how it was possible.

Happy 5th Birthday, my Turner. I love you.

(p.s. Yes, that is indeed the cake I dropped right before I took this photo!)

Scrappy Stuff First!

Whew! I finally made it back - a full 24 hours straight (and more like 48 with no sleep), but I'm here! It was exhausting but unbelievably amazing! I promise full details over the next few days all the incredible things I saw, but I've got to get to the scrappy stuff first!

So let me go ahead and get this out of the way now.

Australians (phonetically that's "Auuuuuuzzies" or so I'm told ;)) - are stinkin' amazing scrapbookers and do they love their BasicGrey! Truly, I already knew all that going into this expo, but to get to see the work upclose and personal was an entirely new experience all together. The texture and flair that these ladies have is jaw dropping! It didn't take me long to wonder what I could possibly teach these gals, but I'm thrilled to say that the classes went wonderfully, sold out even, and everyone said they enjoyed taking them as much as I did teaching them. These gals are from just one of the 9 classes I had over the course of the 3 days and I want to tell them and all of my students THANK YOU so much for being welcoming and friendly and making me feel like I had been there all my life! I especially need to thank those sweet ladies who took all THREE of my classes (and stayed with me for an entire day!)...and yes, that even means you, Jen, Bev and Lisa!

And just an added bonus of going down under (like there needed to be anything else!), I got to meet the the other tutors (and esp. Kim Kesti who came with at the last minute!) along with the amazing folks from Expertise. Thank you all so much for your hospitality and patience - and mostly to you, Kirsten, as you put up with me the longest through the almost year long process of making this really happen! Here we are enjoying some gelato at a cafe around the corner of our hotel. Left to right is Judy, me, Kirsten, Margie Romney-Aslett (the guru behind Making Memories and a sweetheart of a person!), and Rebecca.

But I think the highlight of the entire expo had to be my dinner with latest Garden Girl, Loretta Grayson! I may have had to travel around the world to finally meet you, Rett, but I did it!! My night out with her and Ngaire actually made me feel like I was home again...that is until I had to find my way back to my accommodations! ;)

Part 2 coming soon and it's so GOOD to be home!

A little bit of everything!

Hi All!!

This is going to be one crazy post for updating so hang in there with me! The end of May/first of June has been insanely crazy with happenings and there's alot of news to share!

First I want to give a huge hug and even bigger CONGRATULATIONS to Shannon Zickel, her husband and son as they just finalized adoption in the Ukraine of a 4.5 year old little boy they have named Elijah (Eli for short!). They have finally finished the adoption process and are currently on their 10 day waiting period before they can bring Eli home. I'm just over the moon excited for them and posted this here because I know they could use all the prayers and positive thoughts they can get for a smooth trip home and adjustment for Eli and the entire family. So happy for you, Shan, and I'll be over soon to get pics of the new family of FOUR! ;)

Then I want to give a super big smooch to my Ethan who earned a "Flexibility" award at his First Grade Awards program at school. His elementary really focuses on "life skills" and being a good person/doing the right thing, and this award was for adjusting to change well and "going with the flow" - ie: being "Flexible!" :)v(My poor buddy - can you see those eyese? He had a terrible allergy attack the night before which left them so red and puffy :().

So proud of him for that and all that he's accomplished this year. They topped off the school year with Field Day - and seriously, who couldn't love that??! So proud of you, buddy, on a great year!

And my Turner man just had his first T-ball game - he's now officially an Oriole!! And that hat? Yeah, it hasn't come off since he got it (see strawberry pics for evidence!). He did really well - even made a slide into first base after a slight tip off the Tee! Daddy was so impressed! *I* was more impressed he listened to the coaches for the most part!

We also made a quick morning visit on Friday to the patch for some fresh strawberry picking! They were wonderful but small and a bit hard to find due to the lack of rain we've had this spring but they made excellent strawberry shortcakes the next morning, so all was good!
They managed to pick about 3 lbs. combined and then were ready to call it quits! Can't say I blame them as it was SO hot!

And finally, I'm heading to AUSTRALIA in the morning! So excited to be finally going to a place I've always dreamed of doing something I love doing. I've had several emails from ladies who have signed up to take my classes and I can't wait to meet you all! So please, if you're going to the Australasian Scrapbook Convention, PLEASE make sure you stop by and say hi! I'd love to meet you!

Until the 15th! Have a great Early June!

XO, K.

Groovin'

I just had to shout out to Kitty Foster and Wendy McKeehan for their first book now available at a bookstore near you!! I had the pleasure of being a contributor for this book and I have to say, it's probably some of my favorite work ever. They did such an amazing job putting this book together and I think you will absolutely love it!

Run, don't walk, to a store near you!! ;) And just to help you out a bit...here are a couple of online links...
@ Barnes & Noble and @ Amazon
Oh and congrats to cover girls Mindy Bush and Cheryl Manz! (and me...if you count that part where they list Wen and Kitty's names...yeah, that's my layout! ;))

And we also had a superbusy Memorial Day weekend. My fave cousin and her family came to town and that meant the boys had someone new to play with. Sofi took immediately to Ethan...but Turner took to Sofi! This photo was too cute to pass up - Sofi asked if she could hold Ethan's hand and surprisingly he let her.

Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie & Chevrolet

Oh yeah! It's the start of Summer this weekend and we've been doing it up right! It was a trip to the pool today with a cookout tomorrow, but the biggest event for us has to be the start of Turner playing T-ball!
It's a huge deal around here as my son #2 is participating in his first sport, especially because it's different from the one his big brother plays. T was in his element. He loved having all the attention on him and he did so well and tried hard. We always knew he could hit a ball - turns out he has quite an arm too! (Makes his Daddy proud!)









So pass me a hot dog, please! It looks like we're in for quite a summer at the ball field! :)

Shhhh..be vewy vewy quiet....

Every once in a while as a photographer (or more appropriately "picture-taker" in my case), you will capture a moment on camera that completely makes time stand still. For me, that moment was today...and I owe it all to my new 75mm-300 zoom lens. Seriously, I can completely justify it's purchase after the photos I took today - particularly this one. Because you see, this little boy in this photo is my most elusive of subjects. My soon to be 5-year-old NEVER has liked his picture to be taken, so that when I do get a photo of him, he's making a face or is a total blur. Yeah, he's *that* kind of kid. But with this lens, I was able to capture this shot - even from across the playground. I got my prey and he never even knew what hit him!

Oh Baby!!

I'm so excited about this!!
My first cover with BHG's Scrapbooks Etc is out on newstands TODAY! This amazing issue is a reprint of their super popular Baby Bookazine from last summer. The editors decided they wanted a fresh cover option and gave me a shot at it! So thrilled (especially when I saw I got to work with this sweet baby girl photo!) This book is a must have for new moms, expectant moms or moms just now trying to scrap those precious baby photos!

(And yes, Ann Marie - yours will be on it's way, just in time to find out if our baby is a boy or girl ;))

I *LOVE* 1st Grade!

And my very sweet, hysterically funny 1st Grader!

Today was Mom's Day at Ethan's school and we were invited to a Mother's Day "tea." Ethan proudly escorted me to his seat in class where I got waited on with Lemonade and cookies...oh and M&M's - can't forget the M&M's! They sang a song which was stinkin' adorable, then we got a massage, card and a flowering potted plant. (Boy were were spoiled! ;)) But my favorite part? Well, my absolute favorite part was a booklet they made with "First Grade Words of Wisdom." Each child had to fill in the blanks on their own and this is how my son's read:

*ahem*
First Grade Words of Wisdom by Ethan Goree

Better to be safe than in jail.
You can't teach an old dog new stuff.
A penny saved is keeping a penny.
Don't bit the hand that you write with. It's my good arm.
As you make your bed, so shall you get a treat.
It's always darkest before bedtime.
You can lead a horse to water but you can't lead a cat to water.
An idle mind is when your brain is frozen like when you eat ice cream.
Where there's smoke, there's smoking people.
A bird in the hand is worth $5.00.
A stitch in time is worth $4 or $5.
Actions speak louder than a mouse.
Absence makes the heart beat.
Look before you cross the road.
Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man sleepy.
Two may keep a secret if you don't tell.
It's better to have loved and lost than to throw it in the trash.
The grass is always greener than a grasshopper. Sometimes they are brown.
A watched pot blows up.
Children should be seen and not be smoking.

Oh yes, I love first grade!

What a Difference

...a {school} year makes! Today was the last day of Preschool for Carson as tomorrow's field trip (to the petting zoo) doesn't really count! ;)

At the beginning of the school year, my little man would hardly look at anybody at school and wouldn't say a word in class (up until a month ago even). He hated leaving us and would cry terribly. It killed me and it was all I could do to keep sending him. But all of a sudden, he realized what a fun place school was - a place free of brothers bugging you - and a place where he could just be Carson. And he grew - and grew....both inside and out. And I'm in awe....

Congrats on your first year of school, wee man. I love you!


ETA: Ok, so sometimes a photo just inspires you so I stayed up til about 1 am scrapping this! :)

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?!)