Spring Break Fun

We had all three kids for the first half of spring break, so I made sure we had plenty o' fun packed and ready to go.  The very first thing we did was put up a big fort, naturally. This is always a hit with the kids as they love dragging as much stuff as they can fit inside and making their own designated sleeping areas. And I can't even count how many bowls of popcorn they went through for movie night.

 

 

We also had casino night, a/k/a work on your math night without you knowing you're working on your math. ;) Sneaky mom move. Hi-five!  Now that the kids are fully versed on the game of 21, it's a nightly request.

 

 

Kendall finished out her last lesson of this session. She really progressed this session, and always with a big smile on her face.

 

 

Spring in Idaho is wildly unpredictable, so one day we woke up to snow, and the next we were at the park playing.

 

 

I finally had a solid block of time to finish out another year's full scrapbook album. Whew! On to the next.

 

And while I was doing that, the kids did some Easter crafting of their own.

 

 

Over break, it was also my mom's birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!!) I put together three different meats for street tacos (because who doesn't love street tacos??) and we had a great dinner/celebration for my mom.

 

 

 

 

We also discovered that night that a pair of ducks is using one of our front flower beds as a nesting spot for their unborn child. The cat and dog are mostly uninterested in the ducks and egg, so I'm fairly confident we will be able to monitor and watch this baby chick come into the world.

 

The second half of spring break was spent without kiddos, so we did a lot of "retail therapy", finalizing everything we need for our upcoming trip.

 

 

And then my Easter goobers returned home. :)

 

Project 52: Week Twenty-Seven {addicted}

My current addiction (though it has been for some time, just intensified lately) is scrapbooking. I'm trying, quite desperately, to get caught up. I've become more selective in the photos I choose for making pages. If I scrap every single moment, I will need a house just to store all of my albums. Currently, I'm about to scrap Kendall's birth. Yes, over a year ago. As I said......working madly to get caught up!

80

Friday was my grandmother's 80th birthday.  Today, we got together to celebrate her big day.  My aunt Taunya put together some fantastic food (she and my mom are getting into the catering business if anyone needs an event catered!!!) and we all sat around, shootin' the breeze.  It was a gorgeous day, and the sun coming in the windows definitely put everyone in a great mood.  It was nice to sit around and catch up with everyone.  I didn't snag nearly as many pictures as I wanted - I was wanting some with gma and the grandkids, and her kids, and the entire family - but there was just too much going on, too many people coming and going, and a few people that weren't able to make it.  So I snapped what I could, when I could.

Here is the card I made for her today while Carter was napping.  I desperately miss scrapbooking.  I have so many pictures I need to print out and many albums that need filled.  I keep saying "soon" or "next weekend", but anyone with kids knows that their stuff always comes first and your own projects kind of take the backseat to anything else going on.  So, I still say "soon" and "maybe on maternity leave", but it'll just happen when it happens.

 Here is Carter playing with his cousin, Hannah.  Actually, she's my cousin, so that makes her his.....second cousin?  Either way, these two are inseperable.

 Carter with his great-grandma....or Grandma Vern as he calls her.  Her name is LaVerne, but she decided when he could speak that she was to be known as Grandma Vern.  It's cute and he sure loves her!

 After most of the crowd went home, Carter discovered the piano.  My cousin Brian took 6 or 7 years of piano lessons, and now my Aunt Taunya is taking her own lessons.  Carter made everyone that was left at the house sit down and play with him.  Here is my cousin Matt teaching Carter some tunes.

Matt actually doesn't even play the piano, so the music they were playing left a little to be desired. ;)  Matt is actually just like Eric - they both taught themselves to play the guitar, and they are both phenomenal guitar players.  It's pretty amazing to watch them both sit down with their own guitars and "jam out".  As someone who has no musical talent whatsoever, I always find it captivating to watch them play.

Project Time

So yesterday, I attended a class at Eric's mom's house (her blog here: http://michellescreativetreasures.blogspot.com/) with Jacque (her blog here: http://3charmedones.blogspot.com/). We learned how to make paper bag albums. These are really fun, super cheap, and quite easy to make.

The first thing you do is get 4-8 paper bags. Fold them in half and punch holes along the seams. You can sew the seams for extra reinforcement, but really, once you add all the ribbons at the end, there is no need for super-duper-over-the-top reinforcements.

Then you need to cut out 4 4x4 or 5x5 pieces of cardstock. (it all depends on what size paper bags you use.....the ones Michelle had were 5x5, but the ones I had at home were a little smaller)

Then use a circle punch (or whatever shape you want, I used a different shape for the one I made at home) and punch out 4 circles. Glue these to the cardstock pieces. These pieces are going to be the inserts in the paper bags.

Then cut out 12 (or more, depending on how many bags you use....this is based on 4) 4x4 or 5x5 regular paper (patterned or textured).


Then cut out 4 5x3 or 4x3 pieces from the same regular paper. These are going to go on the smaller pages.

And 4 5x3 or 4x3 pages from the cardstock. These are also going to be insert pages.

{the girls, hard at work}

Then go through and glue down all individual pieces to the pages - in whatever order you want. Go ahead and put all the insert pages in, too.

Then cut up a bunch of ribbon.

And thread these through the holes, and tie them in knots. Then you can go through and add your pictures and embellishments!!

Have fun!

Organization Turns on the Nerd in Me

Do you see the mess below?

It's my scrapbooking mess. MESS being the operative word. I wasn't able to get the BIG table that I wanted, so I am quite cramped with my small table. And the small table would be sufficient IF I could get all the stuff off of it.

So I asked the hubby if he could build me some shelves. But that would require actually going to pick out wood, sanding, painting, installing, etc. And I was wanting some immediate results. And I remembered some white, metal shelving that came with the house. So I marched out to the garage and found my treasure. And then set the hubby to work.

Then I took all the stuff off my table and gave it a new, more organized, spiffy home. And I LOVE it.

It's so neat and orderly......and that makes me a happy gal.....who is now off to scrapbook!