08.29.06

A big HAPPY BIRTHDAY goes out to my nephew Eric today!!! Hope it's the best. Congrats on the varsity football selection...I am so proud of you. Have a great 15th.

Wanted to post this digi layout that I did for the nest that John and Lily found in the yard a few weeks back. I just loved what she did with it. And, it just reiterates that there is no place like home.














And, I finished a layout that I did of Lily the other afternoon. She was picking up some shells from outside on our deck and she just looked so pretty to me. She is a good girl.














Finally, a layout about Shelly. She is getting sweeter, funnier, cuter, and better every day! I love these girls so very much.

08.28.06

So, today marks the first day of classes for my niece who just went off to college. Lily wore her ODU t-shirt to school today in Kaitlin's honor. Here she is with Shelly giving her a big Monarch cheer: And the digiscrapped version:

I am so proud of Lily and her school work. She has been a reading machine the past few days and really impressing me with her comprehension and retention. Those are two areas that I feel are so important to tackle early on in the reading process. I hope she will continue to excel in these areas.

Shelly has been a little jewel to be around the last couple of weeks. I think she is enjoying being able to chat uninterrupted since sissy is at school. Now she can actually get a word in edgewise between mommy and Lily.

Tomorrow is the first general PTA meeting. My official secretarial duties will come into play and I will be responsible for taking the minutes...wish me luck! LOL

On a happy note, tonight I prepared one of my all-time favorite meals as a kid...breakfast for dinner. We enjoyed pancakes, eggs, and bacon. Lily loved every minute of it and I decided it will be a fun new event for us at dinnertime.

08.28.06

For the record...it isn't all sunshine and happiness...sometimes it's dark skies and sadness...harsh words and disappointment...it's real life.

08.23.06

Today is Wednesday and we are motoring right through the week. Last week seemed to crawl while this week is blowing by! Lily has had trouble sleeping during the early morning hours. I wasn't very kind to her this morning and I immediatley regretted my reaction to her. Fortunately, I apologized and was able to comfort her. But, I hate the fact that I can snap at her so easily sometimes. I hope I don't scar her for life with my quick and firm reactions. Something I seriously need to work on.

In other news, I have purchased three Christmas gifts!!! I am so proud of myself. I hope to get the gift buying completed by November 1st for everyone but Lily and Shelly. I feel like I need to wait on them until closer to Christmas. Afraid that their wants will change over the next several months. Oh, and Christmas will be here in just four months!!! Wow.

Well, no pictures or layouts for you right now, but maybe soon. Have a super fabulous creative day!!!

08.22.06

All is well. Hope the day brings a sense of purpose to your life.

Here are some digi layouts to peruse.

08.21.06

Well, we are getting back into the groove of school and schedules. Lily is adjusting well to 1st grade. She seems very happy with her new teacher and loves the new school building. We are waiting to find out when her cheerleading practice will start. I switched from cheering at the Y to cheering with her school (new for 1st grade this year). She is excited.

This past weekend was a great time for our little family of four. We hit the Greensboro Grasshoppers baseball game on Friday night and ate all of the stadium food...pretzels, peanuts, cotton candy, chips, pizza, and hotdogs!!! After the game, we even made it to Carvel for a yummy ice cream treat! Good times. Saturday night, we went to the new Nissan dealership for a beach party. They even trucked in some sand for the event and Chairmen of the Board played. Lots of fun for the adults and the kids.

Yesterday, John finished up some yardwork and then took down the rickety swingset in our backyard. I was happy to see it go and thankful that John was able to do it. The girls never played on it much due to the lack of shade. So, I plan to take the girls to the park as a reward for letting the swingset go without any issues.

I'll finish with a digiscrap of Lily and her friend, Olivia, from the weekend. And, slowly but surely...I'm moving out of the funky fog I was in all of last week. Happy days!

08.20.06

Not quite ready to blog away yet, but wanted to share some new digi layouts. So here goes:

08.19.06

Busy week...lots of emotions...new schedules...meetings...responsibilities...changes...back to real blogging, soon.

08.14.06

She did so well this morning!! Lily bounced out of the house with a happy heart ready for her first day of 1st grade. She leaped out of the car at school and bounded off to her classroom. And once again, she never looked back! Wow. I am impressed with this child's resolve...so much different than my own at the same age. Shelly and I pick her up in just about an hour. It will be great to see her little face. For now, I leave you with these photos from this morning:

Silly Lily Face (she isn't into an open mouth smile because of the lack of teeth)

All her school gear!

Good Bye hugs between sisters!

Grandpa and Grandma saying goodbye to the 1st grader

Lily and Daddy ready for school
Lily and Mommy ready to head out the door for school

08.13.06

My parents have been here since Thursday. I love seeing them and being able share my life with them while they are in North Carolina. The girls adore them and love spending time playing and laughing while they are here. They head back to VB tomorrow morning.

Lily begins 1st grade tomorrow. I am sad, yet, eager to see her make her way in another grade with a different teacher and new friends. She is very fortunate that 3 of her neighborhood girlfriends are going to be in her class. So, I am hoping that will help to make the transition a bit easier for her this year.

I am struggling with her heading back to school. Shelly and I will be a bit lonely without our funny little girl here every morning and each day. I will miss watching their bond and I will miss relaxing during the day with them. It has been an incredible summer with my girls. They have both changed so much and grown as little girls. I adore the time I spend with them and am so thankful that I have this time. It is precious and unique. Forever, I will feel comfortable with the fact that we spent tons of quality time together when they were growing up.

So, I will definitely shed a tear or two after drop off tomorrow and think of many more separations to come as they both get older. But, they will always have “home” to come back to whenever they want.

08.09.06

So many things to discuss. Yesterday was the teacher breakfast and it went off without a hitch. I got 20 dozen doughnuts for 80 teachers and they only made it through about 1/3 of the boxes. So, we distributed the remaining ones to the teachers' lounges along with the juice that was left over. I guess I overplanned slightly.

The girls and I went to the Y and signed Lily up for cheerleading in the fall. She is so excited about it. Practice starts in September and games are played on Saturdays at the Y. It should be fun.

After the Y, we hit Target. Target has not been doing it for me, lately. Not too sure why but I am hoping for bigger and better things from them soon. I keep myself informed of all things Target through this site.

And after the big T, we went to Artquest. This place is all about ART! You can paint, draw, color, make clay objects...you name it. We spent a little over 2 hours playing with crafts! Shelly wasn't too wild about the mess on her hands and so we kept a wet paper towel with us to keep the girl clean. I'll post some pictures of the masterpieces created there.

And, in big news...Lily's Kindergarten teacher let us in on a secret...we know who her teacher is for 1st grade and I am absolutely thrilled. I think she will do well with her.

Tomorrow, my parents arrive in the afternoon and then we go to school for Open House night and to officially meet Lily's teacher. An exciting time of year for new things. Fun.

Here is a layout I did after snapping a photo of the girls' pedicures. This was Shelly's first toenail painting adventure.

08.07.06

8...7...6...blast off!!! Just noticing the countdown in today's date. So, we got back yesterday from our long weekend in Myrtle Beach. We were excited to find a new spot just south of MB, Murrell's Inlet. It was quaint, calm, and really picturesque. I hope we can go back and investigate it some more.

Lily begins school in one week. Unbelievable! It so early and I feel like we are just getting into the summer time groove. But, with school comes fall and all things orange and crisp. Love the fall.

So, I'll leave you with some photos of the weekend.

08.03.06

Wow, it is already August and I really just remember sitting at Lily's Kindergarten graduation in June. I guess it's true...the older you get the faster the time flies.

It has been a busy week for us. We checked out the brand new school that Lily will attend in just 11 days. It is beautiful with all of the fancy new amenities. They have done away with chalkboards and in their place are cool new whiteboards! How awesome is that...I would even consider going back to teaching to be able to play on a whiteboard all day!!!

I am thick into things with the PTA. My new title of secretary will keep me out of trouble, I think. I am planning the back-to-school breakfast for the teachers on Tuesday...complete with juice and KK doughnuts!!! Should be fun. Then we have the school Open House on Thursday. This is the day when Lily finds out who her 1st grade teacher will be. Exciting!

Here are some photos of the girls. These are a few of my favorites:

Have a great weekend. Enjoy the simple things: