Being MrsScrapDiva...

Oh Babycakes!

2012-01-26T13:15:00.000-04:00

We had the same belgian waffle maker for about 11 years! It still worked pretty well but unfortunately it was pulled down from the counter (luckily when it was cold) and the plastic cracked. I am very very thankful that no one got hurt and I learned my lesson that Joey can reach so much more than I think. Oh by the way, we used it all the time, like at least 3 -4 times a week.

So off to Kohls for a new waffle maker. The day we went there was only three or four to choose from. We picked the Food Network square Belgian Waffle Maker. Needless to say, I didn't do research first and it was returned two days later. The reviews were not too good for a $60.00 heavy duty belgian waffle maker, as I found out after purchasing it. I had tried making three different batches and none of them would adhere to form a waffle and they just stuck. And yes, I did read the instructions...a few times.

I picked the Babycakes Waffle Stick Maker. I had also previously bought the Babycakes CakePop Maker. So far I love them both. From what I have read, the Waffle Stick Maker is new and isn't even on the Babycakes Shop website yet. Supposedly Kohls is the first to have them.

These little appliances are so colorful (one is orange and one is purple). They are not too big and they make such fun food!!! The waffle sticks are perfect for Joey's little hands. I would say they are about the size of a twinkie snack. Both machines come with instruction books and recipes.

So far we used the cake pop maker for Apple Cider/Cinnamin "donut holes". The great thing is you can control your ingredients and they are baked not fried. I used my Pampered Chef Cinnamon Plus® Spice Blend sprinkled on top. They were pretty yummy. I bought the mix at Kohls for the lemon cakepops and the chocolate ones too. Can't wait to try them!

Super Mario Bros Birthday Party!

2012-01-17T16:35:00.002-04:00

Here are some details of the decorations for the big 7th birthday party!

iParty does have Super Mario decorations, as does Party Express, but it is limited as to how much you can get. We got pretty crafty with this party, but were happy with the results. The first child that arrived loved it and said "it's like we are in a Mario game!" That made me smile!

Luckily we found some Martha Stewart 3x3 treat boxes on clearance at JoAnns. Some were covered as mystery boxes (created on MS Paint) and others covered with Brick Patterned paper from Hobby Lobby. These were great as stackable decorations and also for the hanging streamer in which I used silver star wire. Gold Coins are cardboard circles from the cake department at AC Moore, covered in gold Christmas wrap (after christmas clearance). Then used gold cardstock to make the 1 up on the coins. Other smalled gold coins we used as a banner with characters and foam stars. Pipes were made from green and lime green foam sheets wrapped around paper towel rolls. I glued and stapled them so they would stay. I then used free clipart on skewers to make Mario, Luigi and characters look like they were jumping out of the pipes.

I made the starry stars out of foam sheets adhered to chipboard/thin wooden stars, found at AC Moore. The flower was made from cardboard, felt, foam and covered paper towel roll. Super easy and it looks so cute and colorful. The green planters were found on clearance at AC Moore.

The phirana plant was a fun modge podge project! I covered a round balloon with modge podge, then red polka dot fabric. Next recovered it with another layer of modge podge and let dry. When dry, I cut out the shape from the sturdy fabric. Next I used a white felt and some creative glue gunning to make the mouth and teeth. The lime green planters had dividers in them to hold up the stem.

We played a few games... Pin the Mustache on Mario, indoor Yoshi Egg Hunt and Meatball Toss. The kids had a great time!!! The winner of the yoshi egg hunt won a t-shirt (mario of course). I hid two gold coins in one of the eggs, the rest had candy in them. I bought after christmas clearance gift bags for the prizes and then just deorated them with Super Mario Bros. characters. The pin the mustache game, I used a large printable picture of Mario. I used MS Paint to delete his mustache. I made a mustache template and just printed them out in different colors, one for each player. The Meatball Toss game was made from a free display from Toys R Us and some left over balls from the ball pit we had. I guess I could have filled it up with something that looked more like spaghetti, like yarn, but I forgot!

For the cake, I went with simple and then made some decorations from martha steward drink picks and some clip art printed out. For the goodie bags, we (my husband mostly) and I made cookies and filled the treat boxes from iParty. I then made labels that said "Game Over" "Thanks for celebrating David's 7th Birthday with Us!"

Busy Season is Over ;)

2012-01-15T09:50:00.000-04:00

I call it the busy season. Halloween, Joey's Birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, David's Birthday. Happy to say, though the time is precious, busy season is over for another year!!! Time to just bask in the memories and the toys, triple the amount of toys! Oh yeah and throw in that this the worst time of year for colds, sickness and inclement winter weather. Boo Hoo!

Tax Return time is right around the corner and Valentines Day (my favorite)!!

Elegant Paper Flowers

2011-12-29T13:04:00.000-04:00

Merry Christmas from the Littlest Elves in Our House!

2011-12-24T11:24:00.000-04:00

Recent Scrapbooking!

2011-10-14T12:58:00.000-03:00

Thanks for looking!

Inspiration for the Boys Halloween Costumes

2011-09-30T20:27:00.000-03:00

More to follow....

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Repurpose!

Vintage Scrapbook Pages as Centerpieces

2011-09-28T15:05:00.001-03:00

Wow, it has been a while since I posted on this blog! I have scrapbooking on the brain but not much time these days. My littlest cutie is not quite 2 but in full swing of "being 2". He is into everything! I have decided to change up my location of my scrapbooking supplies because he is constantly pulling it out and sometimes ripping stuff! By changing where I have my "stuff', it has caused me to sort thru and figure out keep, sell and donate. Schools, churches and clubs are always happy with scrapbook donations!

My best friend and I had our annual girls scrapbook weekend in Massachusetts last week. We had a blast and each of us completed over 25 layouts!!! (I will post pictures of those soon). I haven't scrapbooked much in the past year, so it was good to get some accomplished. Little D has over 20 scrapbooks and poor Joey only has a 2. I better get going on that!!!

In the meantime, I came across these photos that I took of "centerpieces" I made for my Grandmother's 90th Birthday Party. We had one on each table with flowers in a vase. They were a huge hit and it had an unexpted twist. Everyone visited all the other tables to check out the photos, resulting in more mingling! It was alot of fun and my Grandmother was VERY surprised.

I had made this 8x8 scrapbook album for her. I scanned in all of the pages and then had a bound album made from Shutterfly. It was a perfect gift for her. For the centerpieces, I printed off color copies and then laminated them. I bought some place card holders at iParty and used them to hold the laminated layout. Laminated is the way to go especially with food and drink around. Thanks for looking!!!

Best Buddies!

2011-08-15T11:30:00.000-03:00

Mr. Funny Man!

2011-08-01T20:58:00.000-03:00

The Boss Baby

2011-06-24T10:13:00.001-03:00

A few weeks ago, at the library, we checked out The Boss Baby (written by Marla Frazee). We were introduced to this book thanks to Cheerios Spoonfuls of Stories. We buy alot of Cheerios in this house and we love when they have the free book in the front of the box. Our "prize" a few months ago was the book "All the World", a melodic, rhythmic story that is beautifully illustrated. On the back of the free book was a picture of The Boss Baby. By the title and illustration, we knew this might be something we like.

The Boss Baby is one of the funniest books we have read in a while, like laugh out loud funny. It is especially humorous if you have your very own "Boss Baby". You know first hand the constant demands of a high maintenance baby.

This would be the perfect gift for a mom-to-be that has a sense of humor. The '50s-inspired pencil and watercolor illustrations are adorable! Along with the text, the illustrations are hilarious and entertaining. Definitely a book that will get read many times!

June 14th

2011-06-14T22:31:00.002-03:00

All day I knew there was something about this day. Tonight when I was on my friend Karen's facebook page I saw this picture and I instantly remembered, in a sad way, what today is. Today is the 3 year anniversay of Jenny's passing. I hate cancer. I hate that Jenny got cancer. I hate cancer for taking her life.

(Jenny & Karen at the Beach House)

But what I am grateful for is being lucky enough to know Jenny and to share some really really great times with her. She grew up in the same neighborhood I did, but I went to Catholic School and she went to public school. One of the oldest memories of her, is when her and another girl asked us if we wanted to join their club "the pink ladies". It sounds so funny asking someone to join a club in the neighborhood, but it was the 1980s, we watched happy days, clubs were cool...we were probably 8 years old.

We were friends in high school and better friends in college and thereafter. The awesome thing about Jenny is her sense of humor. I bet anyone would remember that about her. She had the best set of friends anyone could ask for. I love how her group of friends are all still close, ever since high school and we are approaching our 20th reunion. Jenny is the kind of person that when we remininse, there is always that "remember the time that...." and then everyone laughs. Sometimes we can just mention silly word and it takes us right back to the Mary Lyons dorm at Plymouth State. Jenny would act goofy, playing jokes, doing funny dance moves, and even attempting triple salchow's down Karen's street. We have alot of really silly pictures we took back in the 1990's. I am so glad I have those to look back on.

Jenny and I lost touch for a while as sometimes friendships do. Then we reconnected and then she got sick. I hate that I didn't see her much when she was sick. Looking back I think I really didn't know how to deal with it. I didn't know what to do, I didn't know the right things to say. I can't imagine how it was for her to battle cancer. We did get to see each other in April 2007. It was hard to see her without her beautiful long curly hair, it was uncomfortable at first finding things to chat about but soon we were back to the way we used to be. I am happy that Jenny, Karen and I got to have that visit.

Everytime I hear the song "Calling All Angels" by Train I think of her. I don't really know why, I just do. Randomly I will hear that song in my car, in the doctors office etc. I believe in angels and heaven and I know Jenny is there watching over us. For a while after her death, I would dream about her often. I have always had really life-like dreams and in my dream she would always be healthy. I so wish she was still here on earth. I want her to be on facebook, I want to tell her some interesting gossip I heard, I want to be able to meet up with her out and our mutual friends for a drink. Maybe we still wouldn't be close friends like we were back in the 90's, but I think if she still were alive, I would have a chance to see her out and about. Knowing that will never ever happen now because cancer took her life really sucks. I hate putting it that way, but that is how I feel, it is so unfair.

Jenny, I am grateful that I got to be part of your life. I know you aren't suffering anymore, but you are loved and missed so dearly by so many people. I cherish all of the times we shared and the memories that were formed. May you always rest in peace. xo

Joey at 18 Months

2011-06-09T11:28:00.000-03:00

My Little Monkey!

Spring Photo Shoot in NH

2011-05-03T19:31:00.000-03:00

Make Me Smile

2011-05-03T18:54:00.000-03:00

I was "trying" to organize some of my scrapbooking supplies last week and I came across a piece of checkered ribbon. It inspired me to scrapbook rather than clean and organize. I get sidetracked pretty easily these days! I am really happy with this layout and think I should challenge myself squeeze in a few layouts a week!

Baby Joey Laughing at his Brother's Funny Noises

2011-03-04T11:18:00.001-04:00

The Past 6 Months

2011-02-24T14:35:00.000-04:00

Picasa has this awesome feature that you can create collages from your albums. I am obssessed. But I was also thinking since I do not have much time for scrapbooking these days, it would be good to have these printed into 8x10s and put them in an album....for memories sake. Also, great for catching up on blogging...what we have been up to for the past 6 months!

My 30 somethingish Birthday

Halloween

Thanksgiving

November 23rd...Joey's 1st Birthday

Joey's 1st Birthday Party ~ Mickey Mouse Theme

Christmas

David's 6th Birthday ~ Go Green Theme

Joey's Baptism

15 Months Old Today!

2011-02-23T12:46:00.001-04:00

Things Are Just Ducky!

2011-02-22T12:22:00.001-04:00

Only 4 Weeks until it is officially spring! The boys are getting big and are busy as ever.

David officially 6 years old!

Joey will be 15 months tomorrow!

These are pictures from the last snow storm. We had so much snow it was covering the mailbox and you can only see the top half of the windows from the street. We were running out of room to put all the snow!

Joey is too little to go out in the all the snow, but him and Chloe had a great time watching David and Daddy from the window.

David has lost more teeth. So far he has lost 7 teeth in 1 year exactly. The 7th one fell out a year from the first one.

Joey is learning all types of tricks. He is getting to that age that he wants out and also trying to get himself into small spaces. He is very persistent and stubborn. And he will definitely let you know if he is not happy.

Therefore landing him in "timeout". It is kind of humorous at this point but he does need to know that he just can't get into things he is not supposed to and then laugh. He gets 1 minute. He sees his brother in Time out so he likes to sit there too. I am sure once he hits the terrible twos, he won't think it is so funny anymore.

The boys love playing together. Everything that David plays with Joey wants too and David is wonderful for the most part and lets his little brother play too. They have alot of fun together. They love it when all the toys are cleaned up and they can just run around and dance to music. It is really sweet to see them interact.

A brother shares childhood memories and grown-up dreams

Joey's 1st Words

2011-01-22T11:03:00.000-04:00

dada

mama

david

ball

and if you ask him what a doggy says he says "woof woof"

Backyardigans Halloween Costumes

2010-10-26T21:57:00.001-03:00

Trick or Treat is right around the corner! It's hard to believe it is already the end of October, this month has flown by. David wanted to be Pablo from the Backyardigans this year. I looked for a boys size 7/8 but couldn't find one, so I made his costume. It only took two afternoons of sewing and it is all done! I must say, I think David look so darn cute and warm and cozy too. The costume is made of warm and fuzzy fleece. I followed a pajama pants pattern for the bottom and the top I just winged it. (LOL winged...pablo is a penguin... really I wasn't trying to be funny)

I need to figure out some sort of beak, maybe tomorrow I will take on that task.

Joey is going as Tyrone. He has a cute baby store bought outfit. I purchased it off Nick Jr 's website last year for a steal! I think it was maybe under $5.00. I couldn't pass it up.

__________________________________________

Halloween Photos 2010

Fall Festival at School

Chocolate covered oreos pops - Mummies and jack o lanterns for the Fall Festival Bake Sale

Sunny But very cold afternoon of Trick Or Treating.

Good think the costumes were fleece!

Visiting Family

Scrapbook Layouts from Girls Weekend

2010-10-04T11:56:00.004-03:00

Garbage Truck Halloween Costume

2010-09-29T14:34:00.002-03:00

The Wait is Over!!!

Finally, I have completed the instructions on how to build your very own Recycle or Garbage Truck costume!

Instructions include the following:

Material List

Step by Step Instructions

Detailed Drawings

Color Photographs

If you are interested in purchasing the instructions, please email me at: jgrl0973@aim.com

If you LOVE Garbage and Recycling Trucks, be sure to check out my other blog www.littlegarbagecollectors.com

PLEASE NOTE: I am not selling pre-made costumes. I am selling instructions for your to make your own. Unfortunately I do not have the time to make garbage truck costumes to sell.

It Wasn't Me!

2010-09-15T23:57:00.003-03:00

Ummm no Mom, I wasn't trying to get my brother's duplo blocks and drool all over them.

Joey is so darn cute! This look on his face just cracks me up!

The Night Before Kindergarten!

2010-09-01T23:04:00.000-03:00

Tonight I tucked David all into bed, we read "The Night Before Kindergarten" and all is well. We chat about tomorrow and we are snuggling. Then I happen to put my hand under his pillow and there is a wad of tape under his pillow.

Here's the conversation:

ME: David...what is this?

DAVID: Mommy, I put that under there to see if the tooth fairy would bring me more tape

ME: [giggling]

David, the tooth fairy doesn't bring tape...maybe there is a tape fairy?

DAVID: Well I was thinking...maybe she (the tooth fairy) can bring me $60324.00 and then I can go buy ALOT of tape!!!

ME: Ummm you are really funny

DAVID: Well Mom...it was just an experiment!!!!

Man! That boy is so funny and clever! I think he will do just great in Kindergarten.

Just a Little Blog Humor

2010-08-24T13:44:00.001-03:00

From the Parade Magazine in the Sunday Paper

Joey's Torticollis

2010-08-19T11:22:00.002-03:00

Torticollis is a condition in which a baby's head is tilted, caused by either a tightening of the muscles of the neck, flattening of the back of the head or a combination of the two. The condition often refers to tightness of a specific muscle which pulls the head sideways toward the shoulder, turns the face toward the opposite shoulder and brings the head forward on the chest. Habitually spending time in this position frequently causes other neck muscles to tighten.
[excerpt from Childrens Memorial Hospital website]

In utero, Joey was transverse for most of my pregnancy. After he was born we began to notice that he always preferred his head tilted to the right and now looking back in photos, it was very apparent. It also makes sense why he had problems breastfeeding in certain positions. When he was a few months old we noticed he was developing a flat spot like David did when he was a baby. So we knew the routine with Plagiocephaly. We talked to the pediatrician and we were referred to physical therapy for Joey. It was diagnosed that he had Torticollis. David did not have Torticollis, just Positional Plagiocephaly. David liked to sleep and in one position. Joey's was another whole set of issues.

Let's just say the first visit to Physical Therapy was not a good one. Joey was irritable and also just began being treated for reflux. He hated being layed down flat. We also learned quickly that he really hated his neck muscles being touched. There was alot of crying and it was difficult to get his measurements. At this point too with his digestive issues, he was spitting up alot. So if we fed him before PT then he would spit up. If he didn't eat he was not happy either.

After a few visits, we had a conflict in scheduling. We ended up switching Physical Therapists to get a morning time slot. Our new therapist specializes in cranial sacral therapy and massage. This worked wonders with Joey. He was calm and he enjoyed his massage time. Her style and personality clicked well with us and Joey really took to her. The therapists were both great in recognizing when he had had a enough and needed a break. It is somewhat overstimulating at times.

With the combination of therapy, daily exercises at home many times a day and the Infant Head Bed, we were able to decrease the flat spot significantly and also improve the mobility and movement of his neck muscles.

Now at almost 9 months he does have a small flat spot. Along with our Pediatrican, we decided not to treat the minor flat spot. It is not very noticable and there are not any abnormalities with his facial features. It is alot more important that his neck is feeling better. Joey still has the reflux, is super sensitive and has sleeping issues. I just felt like the helmet was the last thing we need to deal with now. Though now that he is active and crawling and pulling himself on everything, the helmet would be helpful as a crash helmet!

Brotherly Love

2010-08-19T10:16:00.000-03:00

Here are some pictures of the boys playing together. There is almost a 5 year age difference but they still find things they like doing together like playing in the pool, duplo legos and playing with trucks!

Joey at 8 1/2 Months

2010-08-16T11:57:00.002-03:00

Every Monday I get an email from Baby Weekly that has Joey's age in weeks. Today he is 38 weeks old. Joey is a busy little guy these days. He is very mobile and is quick to get where he wants. Some milestones are:

♥ Has 2 bottom teeth (July) and one top tooth coming in (August 12th)

♥ Can scoot and crawl

♥ Pulls himself to standing in his activity center, pack n play, crib, furniture

♥ Can kneel without holding onto anything and tries to balance

♥ Can sit without assistance

♥ giggles and laughs alot (likes playing peek-a-boo) Likes being out around people.

♥ Likes making sounds like Hi, Gaa Gaa, Baa Baa, Ma mee Ma Mee, Daa Daa.

♥ Mimics sounds and facial expressions like sticking out his tongue and blowing raspberries.

♥ Prefers oatmeal cereal over rice cereal. Loves pears and likes applesauce, bananas, green beans, peas, carrots and sweet potatoes. Likes cheerios and baby mum mums. Not crazy about the puffs. Has tried some table foods and likes alot of it.

♥ Still takes 3 naps a day (mostly 45 - 90 minutes never longer than that)

♥ Likes to be swaddled in mommy's wrap if he is really tired.

♥ Still not sleeping thru the night and still sometimes sleeps in his Rock n Play sleeper. (working on this)

♥ prefers his exersaucer over the jumperoo.

Summertime Fun! 4th of July!

2010-07-04T09:41:00.000-03:00

Joey on the Move!

2010-06-22T13:41:00.001-03:00

Joey is quite the mover and wiggler now. He is busy busy and finding all kinds of new ways to move about the living room to get the toys he wants.

Discovering his hands and putting them together (March/April)

Discovering his toes! (April)

Starting to twist around but can't quite get himself over (April/May)

Finding his toes to play with and put in his mouth! (May)

Rolling over from tummy to back. (May)

Standing on his feet (He loves this!) (end of May)

Rolling over from back to tummy and over and over and over again! (June 2nd)

Trying to figure out how to crawl. He can scoot around in a circle and has even tried crawling backwards. (June 21st)

Southern New Hampshire Public Libraries

2010-06-16T11:56:00.000-03:00

David is really into visiting libraries. We are luckly because the Manchester City Library is linked to a number of locations thru GMILCS Inc. The library cards are common borrower cards.

[from GMILCS Inc. website]
What is GMILCS, Inc? GMILCS, Inc. is a nonprofit consortium of public and academic libraries in New Hampshire, sharing an integrated system, sharing resources and sharing experience. By sharing, we offer more to the communities we serve.

The GMILCS, Inc. consortium serves the libraries of Amherst, Bedford, Derry, Goffstown, Hooksett, Manchester, Merrimack, Milford, Salem, Southern New Hampshire University, New England College and the New Hampshire Institute of Art.

We like to visit Manchester, Hooksett, Derry and Salem. Derry has a nice big open area with lots of toys, games and puzzles. It's a great rainy day actiivity. There is also a door in the children's room that leads out to a nice grassy park. You really could make an afternoon out of it.

On our summer schedule, we hope to include some of the FREE activities that the library has for children. There are story hours, craft projects, outdoor activities and a Summer Reading Program that begins June 21st.

Here is the link to the :
Salem Kelley Library Events
Manchester City Library Events
Derry Library Events
Hooksett Library Events

Strawberry Picking and Other Summertime Plans

2010-06-15T23:53:00.001-03:00

I can not believe this is already the last week of school! Where did May and June go? Life has been busy and different now with baby Joey so I guess I didn't even notice the time flying by. It is funny with a baby... how can time go by so slowly (like when they are not sleeping thru the night) and so quickly (end of the school year already) all at the same time!!!

I am so glad I try to stay somewhat organized and document alot of our plans in spreadsheets and word documents. Otherwise I don't think I would remember from one day to the next what is going on. I pulled up the list I made last year of all the fun places to go and things to do over the summer. Here is our list:

Local (New Hampshire)
Strawberry Picking (Sunnycrest Farm has already started June 5th)
Cherry Picking
Fireworks
Blueberry Picking
Friendly Farm
Sand Sculpture Contest at Hampton
Charming Fare Farm
Fairy House events
Touch a truck events (Manch/Nashua/Londonderry/deerfield)
Playground
Greeley Park - go Nashua events
Derry Splash pad =- moonscape playground
Griffin Park Windham - Johnson’s Highland View Farm Ice Cream stand
Ann Denicola memorial playground in Bedford 101 Nashua road to county road - across the street from highschool
Fishing
Library
Nature Walk
Storytimes
Met Childrens Museum derry
Kaleidoscope museum millyard
SEE science center
Swimming at Livingston

Boston:
Museum of Science
Aquarium
Farmers Market
Childrens Museum
Zoo

OTHER:
Beach
Maine Lighthouse
York animal Kingdom
Childrens Musuem in Dover
Lakes region - kellerhaus
New Hampshire Fairs
Hot Air Balloon Festival

I am anxious to see how the fruit is this summer. I will update when we go Strawberry Picking and Cherry Picking! Yum!

Toy Story 3

2010-06-15T11:12:00.006-03:00

Toy Story 3....Coming to Theaters June 18th
and Toys already in Stores!

Back a month or so ago I was searching online for any new toys that may be coming out this summer. Much to my surprise, Toy Story 3 has a garbage truck and landfill in the movie. They have come out with many toys to go with the story. We were anxious to find out what the story was about so we found two Toy Story 3 books. One is entitled Toy Story 3 a Little Golden Book and the other is Set into Reading Level 2 - The Great Toy Escape. Both books not only have the landfill and garbage truck, they have an incinerator. David is familiar with an incinerator and what it does, but for some reason it is scary to him...perhaps the fire. Or maybe perhaps the toys falling into the fire. We have been reading to David for a very long time (since infancy) and we tried to explain to him that movies and books have a conflict and a resolution. There always has be some sort of drama and then in the end, in most children's book, everyone lives happily ever after. (I wish real life was like this!) I guess it is a hard concept to understand when you are 5.

Prior to knowing the whole story of the 3rd movie, I had bought some early Christmas gifts to put away. I didn't want to wait until the last minute and not be able to find what I was looking for (Garbage Trucks of course! ). One of the gifts I picked up was the LEGO Toy Story Trash Compactor Escape . Well David decided he was too afraid of this toy. So I trekked back to Toys R Us to return it.

Low and behold, David, being so creative and imaginative, came up with his own Landfill, trash compactor and incinerator with toys that he already has. We have this wonderful Lego Duplo Knight's Castle that we earned with Pampers Gifts to Grow Points back many years ago when David was a baby. He combined the legos with k'nex, his garbage trucks, playmobile and Matchbox Rigs to create this masterpiece!

Vision

It reaches beyond the thing that is, into the conception of what can be.

Imagination gives you the picture.

Vision gives you the impulse to make the picture your own.

Author: Robert Collier

Joey at 6 Months

2010-06-08T00:31:00.001-03:00

We had Joey's 6 month appointment today. He is doing great!!!
He weighed in at 16 lbs 3.5 ounces and 25 3/4 inches tall.

May Photos with my new Camera

2010-05-28T10:03:00.001-03:00

I got a new camera from my wonderful hubby when I gave birth to Joey. It is a Cannon Powershot SX120 ls 10X optical zoom 10.0 mega pixels. Life was hectic and I didn't have much time to play around with the settings on the camera. Now that I have finally gotten used to using it and figuring out the settings...I LOVE IT! It takes beautiful photos especially in natural sunlight. I have had a great time doing photo shoots of the boys. Also there is a super 40x zoom on it. It is amazing how great those photos are.

I LOVE this picture of Joey. He is teething and I think it really captures the moment.

David playing outside at GG's house.

Joey enjoying his high chair.
Joey waking up from his nap. PS: I also LOVE the magical Fisher Price Rock'N Play Sleeper. Best thing ever if your baby has reflux.

Close up using the zoom. These dandilions were way across our yard in our our neighbors yard. (of course we do not have dandilions in our yard...LOL)

And if you wonder why there are so many pictures of Joey these days and not David, well it is because David is getting sick of having his picture taken. True child of a scrapbooker and David's 27 scrapbooks of his first 5 years of life! If I do get a picture of him, he does this goofy silly smile and squints his eyes. This one is funny too. This is what happens when I told him to keep his eyes open. You can see his two new teeth that came in. Yes...we are saving for braces!

Thanks for looking!

The Boys

2010-05-06T13:35:00.001-03:00

5 Months old!

2010-05-06T12:09:00.000-03:00

Joey turned 5 months on April 23rd! Sometimes the days seem long but the weeks have been going by fast. He is doing great with his strength in his neck, legs and arms. He is having a great time discovering his toes too!

Megasaucer Baby! We got a great deal on this one! So far he thinks it is okay. Mommy loves it because Chloe can't bother him!

Thanks Auntie Karen for my cute Pooh red outfit. It matches great with my carseat!

Bumbo! Another great deal we found over the weekend. He likes playing "overboard" with his toys on his tray.

Jumperoo and teething!

Mini Getaway

2010-04-25T13:20:00.001-03:00

During School vacation we took a little trip down to Rhode Island. The kids were all excited to see each other (Holly & Allison are getting so big) and they loved visiting with baby Joey too.

We couldn't go to Allison's 3rd Birthday Party because of T-ball opening day, but we had our our little party with them the next day.

Happy 3rd Birthday Miss Allison!!!

We stayed at a Hotel Suite that night and David loved going swimming at the hotel pool. He did great and had no fear because the shallow end was 3 feet and the deep end was only 4 feet.

While the boys were sleeping Sunday night I got to scrapbook!!! I have only scrapbooked 1 or 2 times since Joey was born, so I was really excited to get some layouts done. Monday morning I scrapbooked some more while the big boys were swimming and Joey was napping.

Overall it was really great to getaway and spend the night in a hotel. The only drama was David's broken finger from falling but luckily it was only a broken finger!

T-Ball

2010-04-24T12:26:00.000-03:00

Smiling before opening day started! That saturday was the longest day...too much practice before the game. Let's just say there wasn't as much smiling during the game. :(

Hitting the ball (I think he thinks this is the best part)

In the outfield playing catch.

Waste Managment at Patriots Place

2010-04-20T12:29:00.001-03:00

To celebrate Earth Week, Waste Management was onsite at Patriot's Place with a side loader truck, a robot named "Cycler", and reps from the company giving away coloring books and pens. They were generous to give us also a mini recycling bucket, a reuseable WM shopping bag and pens & books for David's classroom. This was very exciting because we have toys like this WM Side Loader at home and David has seen them in movies but not a real life one. Other states use automated side loaders for their weekly trash pickups but we currently have those trucks in our city. When we were leaving they demonstated how it worked. Let's just say there was a 5 year old that was super excited.

Both Boys had on their recycle/earth day outfits.

Red Robin & Kidville at Patriots Place

2010-04-20T11:00:00.000-03:00

We had a really nice day at Patriots Place. We didn't really know what to expect but we all had a great time. The weather was perfect and it is nice to spend a weekday with all the family together.

We ate lunch at Red Robin and then we visited Kidville. I didn't realize how much we missed JW Tumbles until we got there. The playroom is clean and safe and lots of fun for kids (and adults too). The floor is amazingly soft and the mats were even great for Joey to roll around on.

Our Handsome Little Boys

2010-04-06T11:10:00.001-03:00

Joey 4 Months Old
&
David 5 years old

Hello Mr. Blue Eyes!

2010-01-07T13:12:00.000-04:00

6 Weeks old

2010-01-05T00:41:00.005-04:00

Happy 6 weeks old little Joey!

You weighed in today (Jan 4th) at an amazing

9 pounds 11.5 ounces and you are 21 inches long.

Your original due date of

December 30th was 5 days ago.
We spent the day visiting with Auntie Karen, Holly & Allison and we had a really nice visit.

**********************************************************************************

My Great CVS Purchase:

80 Diapers (two 40 packs)

128 wipes (two 64 packs)

Children's Saline

All for the great price of $2.43 !!!!

I used:

$5.00 of $25 purchase (from a CVS email)

$13.00 extra bucks recieved from the 4th quarter

$3.00 off any Huggies

(home mailer for new babies/included 2 of these coupons and the huggies were onsale for $8.88)

$1.00 off Pampers wipes (used two of these)

An Almost 5 Year Old and a 5 Week Old!

2009-12-28T11:15:00.001-04:00

Life is very busy but great!

4 Weeks Old Already

2009-12-21T23:20:00.003-04:00

In some ways it seems like the whirlwind of November 23rd was so long ago but it is amazing on the other hand that Joey is 4 weeks old today!!! It is a crazy time of year with the holidays so balancing everything hasn't been easy. It seems like our "to do" list is always a mile long, we've had more doctor's appointments than we want to count and the house just doesn't stay clean for more that 1 hour. But I wouldn't change in for the world.

I love that Joey is here for the holidays. I have had fun dressing him in his little Christmas outfits and we brought him and David to see Santa this past week. Christmas morning I am sure will be alot of fun for David and it means even more because this year he can share the holiday with Joey. Lil D is already concerned that Joey might wake up for a feeding when Santa is at the house. I assured him that this will not happen LOL!

Our First Family picture with the 4 of us! All ready to go "play in the snow" (well not really)

I'm Cool!

Brotherly Love

More holiday updates to come!

Welcome....

2009-12-14T13:50:00.005-04:00

If you are visiting from the link on lost and found and connections abound or stirrup-queens, welcome to my blog about everyday life and sometimes my scrapbooking! We are so excited we just wanted to share some good news with LFCA.

After dealing with secondary infertility for the past 4 years, failed clomid and IUI cycles, pcos, two ectopics, loss of a tube, one early miscarriage and then being told by the RE that there was less than a 5% chance of ever having a child on our own without IVF... Our baby Joey was born on November 23rd 2009!!! He was 5 weeks early, spent 8 days in the NICU but is home and doing great.

This past March we got rid of most of the baby stuff in our house and had somewhat accepted that our 4 1/2 year old was going to be an only child. I got pregnant in April, not trying, non-medicated, on an irregular cycle. Joey is a blessing and a miracle. We are so thankful to have him in our life!

If you are new to my blog, here is a post from a year ago about the keeping the hope alive even though the odds of having another child were so slim. http://mrsscrapdiva.blogspot.com/search/label/Fertility%20and%20TTC

Also this is another archive post from my previous blog about dealing and healing from loss. http://themamabear.blogspot.com/2006_06_01_archive.html

Baby Joey 2 1/2 weeks old

"No Earthly Joys Could Bring More Pleasure

than a Little Boy to Love and Treasure"

Settling in at Home

2009-12-10T12:14:00.010-04:00

aka Notes from the 4th Trimester.

(anyone who has read Harvey Karp's Happiest Baby on the Block will know what I mean about the 4th Trimester. We followed the 5 S's with Lil D and continue to do so with Joey. It is a little different since Joey is considered a late term preemie but I think the concept still holds true. )

Here are some pictures from the past week and some random facts:

As of monday December 7th, Joey is 7lbs 1 ounce.
He is sleeping anywhere from 2 - 4 hours at a time
drinking 2 - 2 1/2 ounces of breastmilk per feeding
Loves his swing and getting used to the bouncer seat. Most of all loves to be held.
Cries the second his diaper is wet or he realizes he is hungry.
Tries to suck his thumb. David loves that he is doing this and says "quick get him a silky"
Doesn't like his hands to be swaddled in the blanket nor does he like wearing his little hats.
Fits into NB newborn clothes and diapers. Size 0-3 months is still too big.
Smiles and makes really cute faces (I am sure this is unintentional at this point but it is still really sweet)
Has light blondish hair and his eyes are still blue.
We do tummy time everyday and his neck and arms are getting strong
Was not pleased with his first bath in the tubby. Little David was a great big helper!
David is being a great big brother. He loves to touch the baby's head and says after kissing him that he is "rubbing in the kiss so it goes straight to Joey's heart"

Trying to suck his thumb.

The Boys

Chill'n in the pack n play. He loves that blue whale.

Asleep in the swing (thanks Auntie Karen!)

Mommy post partum. Picture taken by a 4 1/2 year old...LOL

My two handsome little men!

Thanks for looking!

Welcome to the World Our Sweet Little Boy

2009-11-27T23:46:00.007-04:00

Introducing

Joseph "Joey" Raymond

born

Monday November 23rd 2009

7:51 am

6 lbs 13 ounces 18 inches

(born at 34 weeks 5 days)

Please keep Joey in your prayers and positive thoughts that he continues to be healthy and grow more everyday! He is breathing and eating well and we hope that just keeps getting better everyday.

Sorry I forgot about you blog....

2009-11-23T02:22:00.004-04:00

well only temporarily. I guess it is just the pregnancy brain, too much going on, being sick with a yucky cold/flu etc etc etc. I am the queen of excuses.

Here is a picture from this year's trick or treat. No homemade costume, just a catalog bought expensive Batman costume. He looked very cute ~ I love the muscles. We went to a few Halloween events, had a costume party at school and then daytime trick or treat, so he got plenty of wear out of it!

In pregnancy news ~ I am almost 35 weeks!!!! If I wasn't anxious before (yeah right) , I am very anxious now. I am not uncomfortable per say, but it is getting hard to get things done around the house etc.

Getting the crib set up.

Other things on my mind...Christmas. Here is attempt #1 of getting a "cute" picture for our holiday cards. Needless to say, this one won't be the winner. I love the "mom I hate doing this...I am bored" look on lil d's face. We got some better outdoor ones today so hopefully I can get my cards done soon! That's it for now. It is 1:30 am and I really need to get to bed. 7:15 comes early. I took a long nap today, which I must say was very restful, but now I am not even sleepy.

PS: Christmas is only 32 days away!

PSS: Baby's due date is only 37 days away!

Hello 3rd Trimester!

2009-10-07T11:07:00.002-03:00

12 Weeks left! I hope it goes by as fast as the month of September did!

PS: That also means Christmas Eve is only 11 weeks away!!!!

Halloween Garbage Truck Costume Information

2009-09-29T11:25:00.003-03:00

Recently I have had a few inquiries about the garbage truck costume with Halloween right around the corner. I admit that when I made the costume last year, I just took a few measurements and then began sewing with an idea in my head. So now I am trying to back track and write up the materials, measurements and instructions. I am almost finished and will post as soon as I have the information together.

***Added****

Sorry, the original costume I made is NOT for sale and I, unfortunately, don't have time to sew costumes.

99 Days to Go!

2009-09-22T10:48:00.005-03:00

3rd trimester is just a few weeks away. Just saying!

Happy September....

2009-09-02T11:13:00.005-03:00

I love the Fall. The cool crisp morning air, the changing leaves, apple and pumpkin picking and the end of the heat and humidity!!! We had a great summer despite the crazy weather but I am so ready for Fall. David starts Pre-K next week at a new school.

In Baby News:

We are at 23 weeks today!!!

Only 17 more weeks left until Baby BOY Joey makes his appearance.

That's 119 days (not that I am counting wink ;-) wink ;-)

and only 114 days until Christmas!!!

Here is the latest profile picture from my 20 week ultrasound. I feel him kicking a good amount. But somedays he is really quiet and other days jumping and kicking all day.

That's about it for now. I have lots of pictures from summer to upload but maybe later on today!

Oh and here is a picture of my little cutie pie with his new glasses. He is adjusting very well to them. He has grown so much over the summer. He just keeps getting taller and taller.

Baby Update

2009-08-05T10:33:00.004-03:00

19 Weeks! Only 5 more days until our big ultrasound...we can't wait. Lil D is hoping for a boy. But he told me he would still be proud if it was a girl. He will say "I think she is going to be a boy" How cute.

Being 4 1/2, he has had some very interesting questions regarding the baby...how it got in there? How will it get out? Then he says funny things like I think he is watching tv in there. He also said there is another imaginary baby in there so the baby has someone to play with. He snuggles up with my belly and says "I love you baby" Oh and last month his number one name for baby was Supermarket Baby. I guess that could either way for a boy or a girl right?

Here is the newest picture of the baby:

I been feeling pretty good. Very tired by 3:00. I started to feel the baby more and it is a great feeling. This pregnancy feels different than when I was with David but I think it is more because I am 5 years older.

Here is a recent belly picture. Thanks for looking!

In Bloom

2009-07-25T12:00:00.001-03:00

Yeahhhh! My Morning Glory finally bloomed. I have been waiting a long time for it to grow so I was sceptical if it even would get any flowers. I LOVE the bright blue flower! I hope I have more really soon. My blue wild flowers are doing good too. (can you guess who picked out all the blue flowers?)

Our tomatoes on the other hand are still green without a hint of red and I don't have any pumpkins forming on the flowers. There is still 8 weeks left in summer so maybe there is hope!/>

Hello Second Trimester!

2009-06-22T12:03:00.004-03:00

13 weeks! Amazing!

We got to see our little one today - 2 arms. 2 legs, cute little face, and heartbeat of 157.

Such a blessing from above, we have waited a long time for this. We thank God everyday.

Happy June 21st!

2009-06-21T10:56:00.004-03:00

Happy Summer

and

Happy Father's Day to my hubby who is a wonderful and fun Daddy to little David!

And a great Dad to Ms. Chloe too!

Coffee Filter Jellyfish

2009-06-16T15:41:00.009-03:00

We did a this fun little project today and I wanted to share:

Coffee Filter Jellyfish This morning David wanted to paint, so I gave him some watercolors, a large paintbrush and coffee filters. The colors come out almost tie-dye. We set these aside to dry and then did some other things around the house. Clean up time with the washable paints was pretty quick ~ just a few minutes.

This afternoon once the coffee filters were dry, we got out:

different color streamers (crepe paper) for the tentacles curling ribbon (used for gift wrap) for the arms
sticky tape (as Dora calls it)
a small ball (for shaping the jellyfish)
scissors
thread to hang up the final project.

First lay out the painted coffee filter flat. Then tape streamers around the edges. Next tape down curling ribbon in the center.Once complete, you shape the filter around the ball. The coffee filter paper is very flexible and moldable. Once complete, string thread thru the top to hang them up.

Hang up and enjoy! If you have a fan going they look really cute floating around! (And cleanup time was pretty quick)

Thanks for looking!

Long Time Since My Last Post!

2009-06-04T13:20:00.007-03:00

I really am kicking myself that I didn't update my blog with my easter pictures and others because my external harddrive has pretty much died and I didn't back up most of my 2009 pictures. Luckily I do have my Christmas pictures (already scrapbooked) and some 4th birthday pictures but I do no have all the other misc pictures I snap at random :( I had some really cute shots of him at the beach a few weeks ago and those are among the missing. I was able to find some pictures I had posted on Facebook and also that I had emailed.

Lesson learned...stay up to date on backing up harddrives especially beloved photos!

Life is going good. Lil D is done with Pre-K for the school year and is now home for the summer! He will be starting a new school in the Fall. Which means a new schedule, but I think that will be good for all of us. At the new school, I won't have to worry about lunches and naptime since it is just in the morning 3 days a week.

We've been spending alot of time outside near the watertable and sandbox. We recently took D fishing for the first time. That was fun. We didn't catch anything but will be sure to get a snapshot of that when it happens!

We took a little trip to Boston a few weeks ago and D took the subway for the first time. He loved it and loved the fact we connected on a few times on different trains. We also went to the NE Aquarium and then to the Fresh Fruit and Veggie outdoor market. That was alot of fun. There were Garbage Trucks there! David also had corn on the cob for the first time. He loved it. He said it was his favorite and he wanted to eat it everyday! He eats regular corn but never from the cob. I guess we have another favorite summer food. He really loves his fresh strawberries, blueberries and cherries too. I can't wait until it is time to go picking!

So that is about is for now! Thanks for looking. Please send positive thoughts that I will be able to recover some photos!

Happy 2nd Birthday Allison!

2009-04-24T16:18:00.000-03:00

It is hard to believe that this little Princess is 2 years old today! Time has gone by so quickly!

Allison...You are such a sweet little girl.
Your smile lightens a room and you have such an easy going personality.
May this year bring you lots of new discoveries.
You will learn so many new things and test new boundries!
Turning Two is quite an adventure
Enjoy your Birthday!
We look forward to celebrating it with you!

Easter Crafts

2009-04-10T14:50:00.008-03:00

I love springtime and easter. The bright colored eggs, soft and cute bunnies and chickadees, the warmer weather. I have made some easter projects that I wanted to share. The first one is a table topper that I made last week. I just used some cheap remnant pieces I found at J's. It was easy and fun to make.
These are easter cards I made a few years ago. (bad me...didn't send out cards this year - the price of postage is outrageous!) I used DCWV easter/spring stack, sizzix cut outs of bunnies, chicks and tags, that lovely green plastic grass (you know... the one that you are still finding in your house many months after easter!) I also made some additional matching tags to use on the easter baskets.

I made this easter page using very very old scrapbooking stickers that I had in my stash. I really like the simplicity of this layout.

These are quilted scrapbook pages using the sizzix die cut machine. I love these pages and it is an awesome way of using up scraps. I embellished with a little tag I made using cute spring stickers. I keep everything so I end up with alot of scraps. But Being MrsScrapDiva...I love scraps of different colors and patterns.

Thanks for looking!

Oh and here is a picture of D going to see the Easter Bunny. This is just a snapshot I took but we bought the "package deal". Yikes! $24.99 for 4 pictures. He is SUPER excited for the easter bunny to come on sunday. Tonight we are going to color eggs. He keeps calling it "easter night".

Ohhh My!!! A New L@@k!!!

2009-04-06T01:23:00.003-03:00

Edited - I love the leopard but the header just wasn't working for me so I went with this spring one. I like it...not love it. I hope I find something soon that I love <3

I guess I was feeling a little wild! I love leopard and zebra print and was looking for a new look. I don't know if I like it but I will stick with it for now! Happy Spring!

MrsScrapDiva Uses Coupons!

2009-03-01T14:41:00.007-04:00

Yes! It is true. I do use coupons and I shop clearance. (I love shopping clearance for clothes and craft items) My couponing started with Michaels, Joanne's and ACMoore Coupons. Never pay full price there because there is always at least a 40% of coupon. They also do take each others' coupons on most items. I also use Dunkin Donuts coupons when possible. I love iced lattes with skim milk but they are $3.45! without a coupon.

These Making Memories kits were $14.99. I got them on clearance for $1.49. I got them mostly for the flowers, buttons and stickers. I got 4 of them (one for Karen!)
My husband and I have also started using coupons in the mail like $10 off $10 to Bob's stores and to Kohls. These don't come very often but it is a great way to stock up on socks or smaller items = all for free!

Other great coupons are online printables and sign up coupons that they mail to you. This was a huge savings on Baby Formula when David was a baby. Anyone expecting that is going to use formula should sign up for Emfamil, Similac and also Good Start for all the freebies! Always use coupons for diapers and wipes too!

My friend Frugal RI Mama (aka Karen) has a great list of freebies on her website (lots of other great info too!) This week I got a free sample of Seattle's Best Coffee. I love getting free samples in the mail - much better than bills!

I also shop after Holiday sales and deals. I just got 2 of these Target Valentines placemats. Aren't they adorable! They are really big too so they are great when the little one plays playdoh. I got them dirt cheap along with some Dove chocolate and heart wrapping paper.
This past friday I went out shopping. I used coupons at everyplace I went to.
This is what I got:
First Stop: CVS- not much there on my list. Probably because I waited to late in the week. But I did the Breathe Rite nose strips for 75% off. 2 packages for $3.00 total.

2nd stop: Dunkins for my afternoon lift! - Iced latte - used $1.00 coupon. $3.19 total with tax.

3rd stop: Rite Aid. Now I have to admit that I just recently started going to Rite Aid and Walgreens. I usually shop at Target, Walmart or CVS. But I looked at the flyer first, got out my coupons and then also used a printable $5 off $20. I saved $11.00 by clipping coupons and $4.75 for a free Cheerios. There is also $2.00 rebate that I need to enter on their website for the Toilet paper. Scott regular toilet paper was 20 rolls for $13.99 minus $2 rebate = $11.99 for 20 rolls which is 59cents a roll. Some of the coupons I used also were off clearance items that were in with the regular items (mostly toothbrushes and toothpaste). I spent $21.74 total spent.

Last stop Shaws. Shaws does have good deals but Hannaford is cheaper on most items. Shaws does have perks though. I saved $30.65 total with coupons and deals offered, got $5 off my next purchase and 10cents off each gallon of gas at Irving. I spent $69.81 total. (This included bakery items that didn't have coupons etc but they just looked yummy)

Today I Spent $93.73

I Saved $56.13

Savings of almost 38%!

In closing, I just want to say that I am not a hardcore coupon user but even using a few coupons here and there saves money and you get get items dirt cheap. Why pay full price if there is a coupon. At first it is a little time consuming to once you get into rhythm it works. Also buying in bulk is a savings. For example, when going thru the CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid or grocery flyers, use a calculator and figure out how much bulk paper towels and toilet paper are with your coupon. It is much cheaper - save 55 cents vs. 79cents to buy more. I takes a little reorganizing your closet but it is a better deal. Oh and there are plenty of "healthy" coupons out there - you just have to look.

In the coming weeks I am:

1) making a coupon binder

2) planning weekly menus for dinner

3) I am hoping to just do grocery shopping only on paycheck weeks. We do spend alot in groceries but I want to streamline the process a little more.

Thanks for reading!

"Mom can I borrow the car to go to work?"

2009-02-13T13:20:00.006-04:00

and other funny things a 4 year old says...

ME: Ummmm no I don't think so.
So then with a little sass he says : "We'll then can you drive me to work?"
ME: [thinking to myself] when did I get a 16 year old?

Then of course he got the usual speech that it would be extremely dangerous for a person under 16 to try and drive and it is against the law and it would be a very very bad thing. Then Big D chimed in that his legs wouldn' be long enough and he probably wouldn't be able to see over the steering wheel.

One day he said to me "Mom while you get showered I will go ahead and go outside and warm up the car for you" That day I was sure to double lock the door and hide the keys before I got showered.

Backstory: He talks about his "work" all the time. And his co-workers just happen to have all the same names as his dad's coworkers. Except for jobs they sweep the floor, work in the cafeteria, clean up garbage etc. You know...jobs a garbage man does. Oh but one female co-worker "L" hands out cherries to little boys. How funny is that one! When he was 2 1/2 we stopped by Dad's real work and L was eating cherries and gave him one. I guess he remembered it and he figured that must be what she does for a job.

I asked him today what he does. He replied with clean my garbage trucks and dry them, then feed them and tuck them in so they can sleep. And then he has paperwork to do. He is so cute - Daddy is his Hero and he wants to be like him. Well except that fact that he wants to be a sanitation "engineer".
-------------------------------------------
This is a "TV" he built all by himself with his Kids Knex. I though it was very good that he put that all together himself. Oh and he can zip up his jacket himself too which is very helpful for getting ready in the morning!

January Wrap Up - a few days late!

2009-02-02T11:59:00.017-04:00

So we made it thru January. Just that much closer to Spring. Thank Goodness!

I am glad the Holidays are over. My anxiety level has dropped.

I decided I would like to skip over December 17 - January 11th

every year...is that possible?

It's Just a Virus...
I thought since we had made it to Lil D's birthday party without getting sick we would be okay BUT I was wrong. Usually he is so healthy but always gets sick in January. The day after his birthday, he got home from a day with my dad & stepmom and he said "I don't feel too good". Yup he has been sick ever since. That was January 18th...Today is February 2nd. He has had a nasty virus with a very high fever that wouldn't quit and a bad cough. The cough fluctuated from dry and irrating to deep in the chest. We had to have xrays done to rule out pneumonia. I guess his preschool classmates are also sick with the same thing. Poor little guy was getting so frustrated how he was feeling. He is usually so active, running, jumping playing and it was really hard to see him just lying still wanting to sleep. I have had sinus issues and an ear ache since before that and finally I got some antibiotics and I am feeling better. Hopefully we are on the mend and there will be no viruses lurking. We were housebound for over a week. It was awesome to get out this past weekend. Retail therapy always helps!

January 18th - The day he started feeling sick.

Playing playdoh - Thanks Wilmes Family!

My Creation - I *LOVE* Ice Cream Shoppe!

"Happy Birthday on Replay"
David's birthday party was fun. Just the right amount of people. He originally asked if he could invite his whole class - 18 4 -5 year old...um no was the answer on that one. He said his favorite part of his birthday party was all the decorations and I think perhaps the cake. He ended up having "Happy Birthday" sung to him many times. The day of his actual birthday we did a candle in pancakes, then Uno's for lunch and they brought over a sundae with a candle and sang. That night my mom came over and we had a mini cake and sang yet again. At school on Tuesday the class sang to him and they had cupcakes. And then the big birthday party with friends and some family. I am completely all birthday'd out!! Now to just get to those thank you notes.

I can't believe our "baby" is 4!

Uno's Birthday
The Cake - Of course it wouldn't be complete without the garbage truck!Yum! Gotta Love the Blue Frosting!

"Snow Snow Go Away"

I am so done with this winter. Yeah the snow is pretty but it is a mess out there. We have SO much snow on our front lawn. Before Lil D got sick it was so cold out that we couldn't go out in it to play. Hopefully February will be better for sledding and making snowmen. I am anticipiating spring to come quickly (happy groundhog day by the way) but I am nervous about the snow melting and our basement. I need to mentally schedule a weekend for another round of basement cleanout. It seems like we really have made a mess of it since the fall. Just putting stuff down there not back in order. We gotta get all that stuff off the floor. We had a yardsale last year but maybe we need to have another this year.

Waiting for the Garbage Truck

"Projected Projects"
I have so many things I want to do. I actually make myself anxious about it and then I don't get anything done or I do a completely random project like last week wrapping $85 in coins. Sometimes I am my own worst enemy! I need to finish sorting thru Lil D's clothes. I am moving onto 5T pants and either 5T or boys xs shirts. I have a good amount of stuff to get rid of. I am debating (in my head) whether it is better to freecycle or donate for tax purposes. I love Freecycle and I would like to help someone else out because I know how I appreciate handme downs, especially because he is growing so fast!

Hand me down outfit - Thanks to my neighbor! (glasses not included)

I cleaned out my closet last year but never got rid of the old clothes. I NEED to do that. I have a huge pile just building up. Again, should I give away, resell on Ebay, consignment, freecycle? Hummm, I gotta decide and just do it! I so need a personal assistant.

Too Many Toys:

We cleaned out some of the toys prior to Christmas and then before D's Bday. Last week we cleaned or attempted to clean out his closet. He has enough toys for 4 kids. We have some we decided to get rid of and others he just can't part with right now.

Scrapbooking & Crafts:

Well I finally listed my two premade scrapbooks I made on EBAY. Unfortunately I don't have any bids yet and my feelings are hurt :( I have reget that I didn't list them sooner when the economy was better. I have more to list but I may look into Etsy too.

As far as sewing I would love to do a bunch of projects but sewing around Lil D is impossible. Naturally curious, he wants to sit on my lap and watch. I want to make some Silky Taggy blankets to sell and also I have some quilts to work on.

T-Shirt Quilts

Organizing supplies; that is an on going project in my scrappy area. Oh and then there is actual scrapbooking to get to.
I made my Christmas album (early for once) and finally printed 200 pictures over the weekend. Maybe today I will put them in my album. I actually just finishied my 2007 Christmas album in December 2008!

I am going to try something different for my 2009 album. Not so many random layouts or maybe just a layout of two per month. I am running out of room for all my scrapbooks! I need to start going on that and also finish up some 2008 layouts. It works out good that D's birthday is in January. I make each album series usually birthday to following birthday.

I end each "series" with a picture from January 11th.

And Last but not least... My daily affirmation is now going to be

"STEP AWAY FROM THE FACEBOOK"

I started on that a few weeks ago and man it is addicted. I over heard two moms in the grocery store talking about how addicted they are. What the....?

Happy 4th Birthday!

2009-01-12T02:09:00.006-04:00

Where has the past 4 years gone! Our little man is celebrating his 4th birthday today. He was so excited when he went to sleep last night. He will be even more excited when he sees his birthday gifts!

Here is a little photo stroll thru memory lane:

Taken on 1/11/09, right before he went to sleep. I had to get a shot of his last day of being 3!!!!

Positional Plagiocephaly Journey

2009-01-02T23:21:00.010-04:00

I was surfing around Stirrup Queens tonight, a Friday night ritual I have had for a while. I noticed on the Lost and Found portion of the blog, there was another blogger that was looking for others who have experienced their babies being diagnosed with plagiocephaly. Therefore I am going to blog some pictures of lil D that best explain our Journey. It seems so long ago.

Lets start off with a bit about sleeping. David was an awesome sleeper right from the beginning until he was about 2 years old (that's a whole other story). He would sleep in his bouncer, in his swing, his bassinet, his crib, in his carrier and even his highchair. He would even fall asleep in the middle of eating! Looking back at pictures, I can see that he clearly favored facing more to the right. This picture I like to call "My Champion Sleeper" DH was the first to really notice the flat spot at about 2 months old. It became more prominent as time went on. This picture was taken at 5 months old. The pediatrician first had us do neck strengthening exercises with lil D. Time passed quickly because the pediatrician wanted us to concentrate on the exercises with him to see if it made a difference. But after a few followup appointments and a visit to CHAD we were advised lil D needed a helmet to correct the flat spot.

Here we are at the initial fitting. Lil D loved their tape measure. It was a great distraction for him during the visits.

This photo is of lil D getting his helmet molded. It was pretty hard for all of us. He didn't know what was going on and why everyone was touching his head. We felt bad for him and helpless.

Here he is checking out his mold of the head they made. I think he fell asleep shortly after that.

First day with the new helmet. We decorated it with fish stickers. (notice how smart my little boy is reading at only 7 months old!!!)

View of the back of the helmet. I wanted to post this picture because sometimes we were glad he had the helmet. Lil D is extremely active and a little daredevil. Not only was it shaping his head, it was protecting it! I remember this day clearly. We went to a birthday party and he wore his helmet. It was a little hard at first but after we started talking to the other parents at the party, they all were familiar with someone else's child or children that had a helmet.

Sleeping in the highchair with his helmet on. It didn't seem to bother him at all sleeping.

Hey Man! What the heck is this thing on my head!!!!

Never mind the thing on my head - what are these things on my feet!!! Sneakers you call them - get em off now!!!!

Helmet Graduation!!!! November 2005. Again with his favorite tape measure. They insured me that they disinfected it between patients.

And here is our handsome and healthy almost 4 year old Rockin' Out on New Years Eve! He is quite the little Party Animal!

As a side note: This past summer when we were on vacation, there was a family that had a little one with a plagio helmet. My son was saying hi! to the baby, as he usually does with any baby, and I was sure to tell that parents that my son had a helmet too and even though it seems hard at the time, it goes by quickly. I am not sure if my comment was welcome or not but hopefully it helped them.

Happy GeoTrax Boy

2008-12-27T13:27:00.000-04:00

This is onlya small track setup. We have a bunch more and it can pretty much fill up the open space in the living room Santa was very generous with the Geotrax. Those little elves must have been very busy!

D also equally loves his new tonka dumptruck, steamroller (not pictured) and Tonka Titans Green Recyling Truck.

The Big Tree is down (yeah!) and now we just have the cute little tree decorated in blue and my snowflake and nativity stuff. This amount of holiday decoration is alot more managable for me. I really can't stand all that other stuff. I love blue and silver at Christmas and too much of that green and red drives me bonkers after a while!

Thanks for looking!

Santa's Coming!

2008-12-25T00:20:00.000-04:00

Christmas Eve
December 24, 2008
Putting out carrots and magic oats for the Reindeer!

First Day of Winter....

2008-12-22T00:19:00.001-04:00

The First Day of Winter came and went, dumping alot of snow upon us. There is at least 20 inches if not more in some spots because of the snow drifts. And man, is it chilly out there. This snow isn't going anywhere.

This picture was after the first storm (friday into saturday). There was another storm ALL day Sunday.

Put a Star Upon the Tree

2008-12-19T15:49:00.003-04:00

Tree's done and this year it has a very special blue star ontop...as requested by the little one. We ended up making one with wood and painting and decorating it.

I have been trying to figure out good settings for my camera to capture the lit tree during daylight. I used the following settings. Then in Picaso I edited it a bit with color adjustment and then added a blur around the edges. I will have to remember this for future photographs.

Kodak Easy Share Camera Settings:
White Balance: Daylight
ISO 400
LT (long time exposure) 0.7"

Babies Babies Everywhere

2008-12-08T01:58:00.007-04:00

Meet Blueberry, Bubblegum, Brynne (yellow) and Autumn (aqua).

Those are the "babies". As much as there is love for trucks and trains and all things "boy", Lil D loves his babies. They are part of his daily life. Sometimes I just feel surrounded by "Everything Baby". At Shaw's yesterday he said "Mommy I really like coming here shopping because we get to see all the babies [real ones]" . When he is leaving preschool, he always has to stop by the blue room to wave good bye to all the babies. Or it was this morning "Mommy, I want to paint a picture with a garbage truck but I need Coochie and Coo in the picture too". Coochie and Coo are from Rolie Polie Olie. They are pretty cute I must say. Luckily I was able to use MS Paintbrush and create a little picture for him to paint.

After he is on his kick about the babies, I usually get asked when we are going to get a baby. He keeps telling me God is working on one for him. I have to remind him that sometimes children are meant to be only children, just one, but he never accepts that. He has hope and a little part of me sometimes has the hope too.

Whether it is looking at baby pictures, finding a baby blanket that was folded in with the towels, going thru maternity clothes because I need room in my closet, finding a diaper bag in with all my purses and deciding to hold onto it, thinking of what day it is in my cycle...I feel like I think about babies everyday too. I read alot of infertility blogs and it seems to go in cycles. A lot of new babies this month, scrunched up wrinkly new little babies.

Lately I have been craving that feeling of holding and feeding a new baby. I think about what it would be like to have Lil D running around playing and having a baby in the house too, sitting with me while I watch him play. Lil D is so independent, getting further and further away from preschool age, not to mention so far from being a baby or toddler. I loved when all he needed to be comforted was a clean diaper and a warm bottle fed to him. Being 3 going on 4 is a whole different chapter. The baby part of his life seemed to have flown by in a blink.

Alot of the infertility forums and blogs I read are usually first time parents or want to be parents. I haven't come across many that have the secondary infertility issues. It is a weird limbo to be in. On one hand, you are blessed with one and are forever grateful that you have him/her in your life, but you also want to add onto your family. It is pretty darn discouraging when you just want to have one more but it just isn't happening. It makes you challenge your spiritual beliefs, your faith, your body. I find that is best too, but very hard, not to listen to comments of others not in the same situation. I finally decided this past summer and spring to get rid of all the baby gear, equipment and clothes, etc that was hanging around the house. The constant reminders. It felt good to get rid of it. I held onto a few sentimental things, but like I said, if I clean deeper in my closet or basement, I find more "stuff".

When I was cleaning my closet today, I noticed how many maternity tops I still have. The basically look the same as all the other empire waist stuff. I really have to go thru that stuff this week and make a decision what to do with them. And of course, like everything else, we have so much...too many clothes, too many toys, etc. That is my goal from now until the end of the year is to finish the big closet project of 2008, and get rid of the rest of the clutter. I think it will be good physically and mentally.

And for sentimental purposes... here is our squishy cute bundle of joy....almost 4 years ago.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-26T18:10:00.000-04:00

Happy Fall - Happy Thanksgiving 2008

I took some pictures of lil D playing in the remaining leaves we had. He had a great time. He didn't care it was cold out because he was running and jumping around. I love his rosy little cheeks from the crisp air!

Soon I am sure it will be snow out there and I am sure he is going to love it. I really miss summertime. I miss the warm sun, open toe shoes, the sun not setting until after 8:00 pm, the freedom summertime brings. I love it when I can just grab my purse and go out and not worry about a heavy coat, gloves and a hat. Or not have to warm up my car until it defrosts. Tonight it was dark by 4:27 pm...yuck!!! My neighbors all started putting up Christmas decorations and lights today. I guess because it was warmer out today and sunny. It is sad to say, but I am already looking forward to Valentines Day...better yet St. Patricks Day. By that point Spring is right around the corner!

Here are pictures of the growing boy. He is getting so tall.

Happy 4th Birthday Holly!

2008-11-17T01:21:00.000-04:00

Here's the Birthday Girl! Happy 4th birthday Holly. You are such a cutie pie and we had a wonderful time at your party.

Here is the Hungry Hungry Hippo Celebritory Dance:

Ms. Allison looking sweet as can be! And she is so tall - not so much of a baby anymore :( She did so great with all the "big kids".

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!

The Cute Couple! Both in the middle of saying "Cheese"!

Karen- There is a whole lot more pictures... 124 to be exact! I can't wait for you to see them all!

Yearbook Yourself!

2008-11-14T13:59:00.006-04:00

OMG this is so funny. Something to do when you have a few minutes... Yearbook Yourself!

1950's 1962196819661984

1990

2000

:) Hope You had a Good Laugh! :)

What the Little One has been up to!

2008-11-13T12:59:00.007-04:00

Being Suzy Homemaker

2008-11-13T12:50:00.002-04:00

Tuesday was Veteran's Day so there was no preschool. We baked "upcakes" and of course had to frost them in yummy colors with sprinkles. They came out really yummy. I only have oversized cupcake tins and mini tins so these came out 1/2 size because the tins were too big. It is good though because it is just the right ratio for cupcake and frosting. Lil D and I love frosting! I love the look on his face looking at the cupcakes.

Then last night I baked an apple pie!

Yum!

I just had a little piece (sorry Dave I couldn't wait) and it was super good. We had apples left over from apple picking and they needed to be used up. I also used the pampered chef cinnamon plus which gave it a really nice taste.

With these week's sales & coupons I got a bunch of baking stuff at Walgreens. I am hoping to make a pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving and some cookies. I also will be baking some cookies for Christmas treats for Lil D's preschool. I have two cookie presses and I just need to get a new baking sheet. I am excited to do some baking. It has been a few years since we have done any.

Here is a layout from our second Christmas in our house - December 2002, back when my Kitchen and Dining room were wallpapered in Burgandy and Green. We made so many cookies. Boxes and Boxes of them for everyone.

Dr. David to the Rescue

2008-11-06T09:47:00.000-04:00

Target has it's Halloween costumes on sale for 75% off. I was looking for some other things and I saw the doctors outfits. At D's school they do role play in the imagination center all the time, so I thought why not do it at home. D loved the outfit! He lined up Baby Blueberry, Baby Brynn, and Baby Autumn for their Flu Shots. Oh yeah and I think they had Chicken Pox too.

Here is D all geared up. He looks so darn cute!

Flu Shot right in the belly for Baby Blueberry! Ouch!

Luckily Baby Brynn got hers in the leg.

My serious boy! He needed to make sure he had on gloves too. He loves the fact that certain professions wear gloves.

We had lots of fun. First thing this morning he asked if we could play again!

I Heart This!

2008-10-27T11:44:00.000-03:00

"An Ant"
Drawn by
David
3 1/2 yrs old
October 2008

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-26T18:31:00.003-03:00

Trick or Treat was today. Everyone had a blast and my little garbage man was very happy. He looked so darn cute! Chloe dressed as an angel and barked quite a bit of the day. We had alot of kids (and adults) as usual and we ran out of candy at 3:00. ($32.00 worth of candy) I attempted to make a Cotton Candy costume for myself last minute but it didn't work out so well, but I decided to wear a crazy shirt and keep on my blue wig. We had wonderful weather - I think it was like 70 degrees!

The Garbage Truck Costume came out great despite us losing our power last night for 5 hours while Big D and I were trying to get it finished up. Nothing like sewing by hand by candlelight! We are all exhausted from our fun day! I think there is a little garbage man who will be heading to be really early tonight. Thanks for looking!

Halloween Garbage Truck Costume

2008-10-23T01:56:00.015-03:00

If You Love Garbage Trucks... Check out my New Blog "Little Garbage Collectors"

David loves Garbage and Recycling trucks. I guess it is kinda my fault. We are always home on Monday mornings when the trucks come by for the weekly pick up. When he was about 2 I would tell him to look outside. The closer he got to 3 years old, he was fascinated. He loved everything about them. He loves recycling too. If you ask him "when you grow up, what do you want to be?" The answer is always " A garbage man!". Then we will say "Don't you want to just own the company" and he always says "NO! I just want to be the garbage man!".

So, while trying to be the best mommy out there, in late August/early September, I promised my son he could be a garbage man for Halloween Trick or Treat. A few weeks following, he informed me not only was he going to be a "Garbage Man" he was also going to be a Garbage Truck. (insert eyes rolling blinkie LOL)

Most people would just make a cardboard cut out for a garbage truck costume. But not this Mom! I know my son too well. He is probably going to want to wear this costume weeks after Halloween. Perhaps he will be posing for Christmas Pictures in the costume. Also with the unpredictable New England weather, if it rains, well cardboard and poster paint get a little too messy. I think that is just a disaster waiting to happen.

Here is my design of what I wanted the basic costume to look like.

Off to Joann's I went to buy fabric. Plain green, shiny green with silver, silver, white, black, brown, buttons etc. Then wooden dowels, plastic dowels (which I really need more of), batting for the inside, fusible webbing. Don't ask how much $ this has added up to! Oh then the orange shirt and hat, gloves, green work pants, brown shoes and Waste Management patches that I found on ebay.

So as of tonight, this is what has been constructed. I still have to add on the features on the cab on the truck (windows, grill, lights etc). Then I need to attach the tires and then the straps to go around lil D so he can wear the costume.

I will be so glad when this is finished and ready to wear. Like the crazy crafter I am, I already have some other sewing projects lined up. Just no more Halloween Costumes for now!

Thanks for looking!

UPDATED: 10-25-08 The costume was finished very late last night but it looks great and my little Garbage Man is very happy with it!!! Here is a picture of the completed costume.

New Driveway!

2008-10-16T13:34:00.005-03:00

BEFORE:

(I think it is clear why we need a new one)

Ripping it up (very early in the am. the sun was barely up):

Dump Truck with Gravel:

Spreading and Smoothing the Gravel:

Here comes the Pavement!

Dumping (I took this picture for lil D)

Putting down the asphalt (stinky stinky)

All Done! Looks pretty doesn't it?

AFTER:

Leaf Peepers

2008-10-12T13:03:00.000-03:00

Friday, Lil D and I drove around our neighborhood and took some pictures of the beautiful changing leaves. The foliage is in full force and is it is so beautiful when the sky is bright blue and sun is shining thru the leaves. I love all the bright colors.

I really enjoyed summer this year. I am sad to see the warm weather go because we had a great time outside. I am not looking forward to heavy winter coats and freezing weather. I never thought I would feel this way but Autumn is bittersweet. While I love seeing the colorful trees, going apple & pumkin picking, and the fun of trick or treating, I know that winter is right around the corner.

Happy Anniversary Honey!

2008-10-06T17:17:00.010-03:00

Now we feel no rain,

for each of us will be shelter to the other.

Now we feel no cold,

for each of us will be warmth to the other.

Now there is no loneliness,

for each of us will be a companion to the other.

We are two bodies,

but there is one life before us and one home.

When evening falls,

I'll look up and there you will be.

I'll take your hand;

you'll take mine and we'll turn together

To look at the road we traveled to reach this -

the hour of our happiness.

It stretches behind us,

even as the future lies ahead.

A long and winding road,

whose every turn means discovery.

Old hopes, new laughter, shared fears.

The adventure has just begun.

September Happenings

2008-10-02T17:28:00.002-03:00

I know it is October 2nd but I figured I would post some pictures from September. Here is the first day of school (it was still pretty warm that week) Pumpkin picking!
Apple Picking!
Lots of Playing outside enjoying the nice weather:
Mommy's Birthday!
So that is September in a nutshell. Lots of fun times had by all!

One Special Day Mini Album

2008-09-06T00:19:00.007-03:00

I made the following album this past week. I used Three Bugs in a Rug Blossom Collection. I love how it came out. I used all my extra scraps to make some premade pages. I used every last scrap!

Front of Album (6x6 Blank Board Book)

Pages 1 & 2 and 3 & 4 Strawberry Picking
Pages 5 - 12 Cherry Picking

Back Page of the Book Side Profile with MM Tabs:
Scraps used up for 8x8 coordinating Pages:

Thanks for looking!

Target Bargain Part II

2008-09-05T23:54:00.006-03:00

I decided to go for a little trip to the Target in Bedford and they had NOTHING on clearance as far as scrapbooking. All the same items all for full price.

I then went back to the Hooksett Target and got some more great deals. $106.81 worth of scrapbook supplies for $26.39. I went thru everything twice this time. I am all set for now. phhhewww...I thought I might be running low!!!! LOL I can't even type that with a straight face.

Here are the rest of the items I purchased. First price is the original price second is the clearance price.

Hot Hues
Greeting Cards & Envelopes 2 packs 15.98 3.96
Thank You rub ons 2packs 7.98 1.96
Icon Add On Stickers 3.99 .98
Thank you card making pack 5.99 1.48

Marcella by k
School 8x8 album 12.99 3.24
Fresh Paint Textured 12x12 pad 6.99 1.74
Embossed school stickers 1.99 .47
Lemon Drop Alpha Stickers 2.99 .74
Red Sparkle chipboard alphas 7.99 1.98
Fresh Paint b&w Embellishments 2.99 .74

Heidi Swap
Cherish Clear Stamp 1.99 .48
Memories Clear Stamp 1.99 .48

Me&MyBig Ideas
Friends Blink Word 1.99 .48

Ki memories
You Rock Rubon 1.99 .48
Hip Chip Chipboard Accents 7.99 1.98

Making Memories
8x8 Baby Boy Page kit 5.99 1.48
5th Avenue Dimensional Stickers 4.99 1.24
Family & Friends 8x8 Project Pad 9.99 2.48

TOTAL $106.80 regular price $26.39 Clearance Price

_______________________________________

So that is a GRAND TOTAL OF:

$252.88 worth of product for $60.59!!!!!

(see photos below)

Target Bargain!!!

2008-09-03T13:16:00.003-03:00

A little trip to Target yesterday proved to be quite a great shopping spree on Scrapbooking Supplies!!!

I paid a total of $34.20 for $146.07 worth of great scrapbooking products! I love a bargain!!! The first price is the original price second is the sale price.

KI Memories
Pop Culture Sashes (ribbon) 6.99 1.74
Pop Culture Softies Charms 4.99 1.24
Heartfelt 8x8 album Pinata 12.99 3.24
Pop Culture 12 x12 Paper pack 9.99 2.48

Making Memories
Sticker Word Fetti bright 1.99 .48
Noteworthy Page Kit Hillary 7.99 1.98
Garden Party 8x8 album 9.99 2.48
5th Avenue Die Cuts 3.99 .98
5TH Avenue 12x12 binder Album 14.99 3.74

Marcella by K
50 floral accents (prima like) 3.99 .98
Fresh Paint felt flowers 2.99 .74
Fresh Paint textured 12x12 pad 6.99 1.74
Fresh Paint textured 12x12 pad 6.99 1.74

Jolees
HS titles x4 3.99 .92
15.96 3.63

Me & My Big Ideas
Stickers & Embellishments 11.27 2.80

Hot Hues
Greeting Cards & Envelopes 2 packs 15.98 3.96

MoD - Autumn Leaves
Fashion Folio 8x8 paper pack 7.99 1.98

GRAND TOTALS 146.07 34.20
YEAHHHHH FOR TARGET!!!

Beautiful Boy

2008-08-18T13:27:00.001-03:00

What the Heck!

2008-08-08T16:15:00.007-03:00

It was cool out this morning and then it got humid later in the morning. Then this afternoon it was kinda overcast and then sun was popping in and out of the clouds. Then BOOM and these things started falling from the sky. Good size hail all over the place. It looked like popcorn popping all over our somewhat grassy lawn. Mind you we have planted seed 2x this year but it doesn't want to grow.

Then a few more BOOMS and the rain started really falling. Puddles in the mud & grass.
And this furry little one was not happy. She was sitting practically on my foot shaking in fear. Poor thing.

Now the sun is trying to come out. Go figure...welcome to New England!

Recent Scrapbooking Layouts

2008-08-06T12:27:00.004-03:00

My dear friend gave me a huge amount of her leftover scraps because she knew I would use them all up. She is so generous and knows how I can run low on paper (LOL). This is an ongoing joke because I actually have enough supplies to last me many many years.

Here is what I came up with and then a two layouts I did with some older Classic Pooh stuff I had. Please don't mind the poor quality pictures. My camera is going in very soon because something is really wrong with it. I have been procrastinating on getting it fixed but now it is really bad. I would go today but with all this rain, I may wait until tomorrow. Oh and cute pic of lil D being well...cute! He is such a little ham!

This first layout is the only that photographed with the right colors. The other ones have been toned down because they are over saturated.

Big Rigs

2008-07-13T12:10:00.001-03:00

It seems like this summer has been non stop...non stop fun.
We have so much fun bringing lil D to new places. Saturday we went to Deerfield Town Hall to see the Firetrucks, Dump Trucks, Grater, Police Car etc. They also had an awesome park and playground. Lil d loved getting in all the big rigs, pretending to drive and to try out the buttons on the police car. Afterwards we went out for lunch and some shopping.

This picture cracks me up. What a nut!

3 1/2 Years Old Today!

2008-07-12T11:34:00.001-03:00

Happy 1/2 Birthday David!

I can't believe you will be 4 YEARS OLD in 6 months!
You are such an amazing little boy!
.

We went to see this yesterday in North Conway. Fun but a very short trainride to nowhere. That was kinda weird. He loved the trains and couldn't wait to get on them. They had all kinds of fun activities like a bounce house, vendors, face painting and temp tattoos. A little reptile/creatures area. Seeing the trains though was the best part.

After the Day out with Thomas (of which we were done with at noon since we got there at 9:00 am), we drove around the NH Lakes Region and had to stop here. Kellerhaus is a beautiful gift shop and also has a great Ice Cream Smorgasbord. Dave used to go there as a kid.

We had a nice day but boy were we tired last night!

You're My Everything!

2008-07-09T15:40:00.001-03:00

Happy 4th of July!

2008-07-05T13:02:00.000-03:00

More Scrapbooking

2008-06-28T22:56:00.002-03:00

Here is my space as of recent. I am trying to use this table but it is way to small so I am going to have to figure something else out. I feel like I am trying to scrap at a tiny little crop space. I need room to spread my supplies out and make a mess. I work well with a mess somehow. But after a while I need to organize. It is a vicious cycle! David's first time at the dentist. This is from my Personal Scrapper May kit.

Baseball Layouts.
My little gymnist!

Some Recent Scrapbooking...

2008-06-25T13:28:00.000-03:00

I have to admit when I got these kits I wasn't too sure I would like them. But the more I work with them, they are perfect for the "boy" theme stuff. Very fun colors. I hope I get to do some more this weekend!

Our Vacation - Day 7 - Driving Home

2008-06-25T12:00:00.004-03:00

Home Sweet Home

Now we have to go back to reality! Driving home wasn't too bad. About 6 1/2 hours with stopping for the occassional break. Great Time! I can't wait to go on vacation again!

On 95:

View of NYC from the GW Bridge

Another Toll booth!
Snuggling with his new friend: Some little fury friend is very happy we are finally home!

Thanks for looking!