We're Rollin' on the River again

My boys live for our annual trip on the boat with my Uncle. And every year when it's time to go home, they're immediately asking when we're going back! They go 90 mph once they're there - from excursions on the "island" to jumping off the back of the boat to um...flirting with the girls the next boat over. Sigh. So here's our day in picture - including the annual pic (above) I take on top of the boat just for their uncle :)

I just love this photo - one day I will have one of those little boats and spend a carefree life just drifting along. It can happen, right?

And how can a kid be so darn cute and so stinkin' mean all at the same time? And the best part about going out on the boat? Nine hours on the river has my boys are wiped and they finally manage to let Mama and Daddy sleep in too! Ahhh, Heaven! (Not quite as good as the sailboat life, but I'll take it!)

Growing Fast

As another school year fasts approaches (August 6th here!), I'm suddenly too aware of how fast time passes and how big the boys are getting. I had really been noticing it in Turner lately, but after doing an impromptu photoshoot of Ethan for our family wall, it's even more apparent in him. He's lost 2 teeth in the past week and is looking a bit snaggly there in the smile department, but his face is taking on an angular look and his clothing and interests are really changing.

It's 2nd Grade in a couple of weeks and football and turning 8 all coming up fast. If I blink too much, I'm going to miss it all, so I want to write it down while I can.

Friday the 13th...

ended up being pretty lucky for this guy! He finally got his trophy for his very first season of tball and was so proud. Those of you that have 2 boys know just how competitive they can get and so this was a huge deal to Turner as big brother already has 5 trophies! We had such a great time this season and T really seemed to love playing. We've aleady signed up for soccer in the fall for all the boys so we'll see how that goes! Not sure I'm ready to be a soccer mom for three!



Just a funny pic - this is Carson running down the side of one of the soccer fields tonight. I was sitting at the bottom, so looking up, there was a surreal looking horizon - almost like in Teletubbie Land....can't you just picture him meeting up with LaLa in a second??!

And finally - I had to share this portrait of Turner. I took it in celebration of his 5th birthday. I try to do annual portraits of all the boys because they change so fast at this age. When I pulled it off the camera, I was blown away by this sweet expression on his face. There's just something special about this kid :)

Happy Friday the 13th everyone :)

And the WINNER is.....

Congratulations! Email me at kelly.goree@gmail.com so I can get you out some goodies :)

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! :)