More Digi

Another fun layout from a recent digital scrapbooking kit purchase (Michelle Underwood at SBB). Happy Friday!

Pretty Pretty

Just fooling around with some digital designs. Here's a layout of pics from Shelly's 4th birthday party!



John's family is coming for a visit tonight until Monday. We are all looking forward to seeing them. The girls are so thrilled that Kaden AND Sofia will be here!



Happy Weekend.

Remember

Christopher passed away on Saturday, February 23rd. We were in Virginia Beach and went to see him on Friday evening. I was so glad we did. We feel confident that he has moved on to a better place that is filled with peace and serenity. John and I discussed on our way home yesterday that Maurice was there waiting for Chris when he arrived. Knowing Maurice, he was showing him all around and making him feel comfortable. This picture was taken at our wedding rehearsal dinner. Pictured are: Rhonda, Mary Katherine, Maurice, John, Chris Riley, John King, Kim, Richard, and Christopher House.

Jenga & Fun Site

The girls wanted to play Jenga the other day, So, we pulled it out and I really wasn't sure they'd be any good at it. I knew I was never particularly talented when it came to the game. I was so surprised how well they both did. We had a good time and I even improved a bit.

My sister sent me a link to this absolutely adorable website from Amsterdam. Check it out when you have a minute. Shelly loved it!!

Also, here is a friendly reminder...upload your digital photos to a photo storage site (Snapfish, Winkflash, Shutterfly, etc.). This way you will always have access to the pictures even if you don't save them to a disk. Ok...now go forth and save your memories.

AI

Dude...I think this guy is awesome...for a variety of reasons. I even called and voted for him!

Basketball & 52 Years

Today is my parent's anniversary. They have been married for 52 years! Pretty amazing. Happy 52 years, mom and dad.

Lily finished her basketball season last night. They lost the playoff game 12-7. She had an interesting season. I was proud that she was always upbeat about the practice and the game. Her first question when we got in the car to come home..."when do we sign up for basketball again?" Thought that was a good sign. Here are some photos of the girls at the end of the evening:

Home & Scraps

Yah! John got home last night at about 9:30 and it was so good to see him walk in the door. We missed him so much. I did a few digiscraps today and here are the results:

Color

Color!!!! I am so inspired by the great colors in this picture of Shelly's Play-Doh caddy. Keeps the gray dull days interesting!

Digiscrap & Teaching

Today was Lily's Valentine's Day party. Shelly and I got there at about 1:15. The children were already working on their coupon books and really did a great job. Her class has so many kind and polite children. I was totally impressed with all of them. Mrs. Lee is a fantastic teacher and you can really see her effect on the class just through their behavior. They enjoyed a simple little snack of grapes, Doritos, heart shaped cookies, and juice. Then they headed out to recess.

When I find myself at Lily's school I am often reminded of the many fun days I enjoyed teaching school. I loved the bond I developed with my students. In some ways I miss it. And at times I remember that stifling feeling I would get being "trapped" in a building all day. Anyway, the party was sweet and fun.

I worked on some digiscrapping today. Here are a few I did:

Snuggle

A recent photo from our visit with my parents. The girls love to hang out with grandpa and grandma.

A Valentine Card

The girls were hidden in their playroom this morning creating something. Then they came downstairs and presented me with the sweetest handmade card. A completely solitary effort by them both. Here is just a portion of what they created. It even came on a sweet ribbon to hang.

Love story #4

The first time we kissed we were standing outside that bar on our way inside and I was beside his red Thunderbird. He came over to open the car door. We walked about three steps and then turned toward each other and kissed. At this point, a mere five hours had passed, but for some reason it felt like exactly the right thing to do. And, those strong arms were safely wrapped around me…just more validation that this felt right.

The next day (Friday) I thought about him a lot. His face passed through my mind a million times and I just couldn’t shake it. On a Friday night in Virginia Beach there is plenty for a single gal to do. For those of us who are social butterflies we tended to migrate to Duck-In and the beachfront party. For some reason this night, I wasn’t in the mood to go out and about and so I stayed home. At about 8:00 I was talking with my friend who had been the female part of the blind date set up. She was calling to find out about the evening after they had left. As we talked, the call waiting beep sounded and I hesitantly answered the call. It was him…Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome was on the other line. He asked if I had eaten dinner and I said…No!...of course, I had already downed my Healthy Choice frozen meal and wasn’t the least bit hungry. Then he said he’d be over and we could get some Mexican food at the restaurant up the street from my apartment. I was thrilled to hear his voice and I could hardly believe he was coming over.

He arrived looking equally as terrific as he had the night before. We spoke casually and easily and then headed to the Mexican restaurant. I ate a small amount and didn’t talk much. I was feeling a bit nervous and I knew why. I wanted to know if he had been to the Friday night social gathering at Duck-In. So, I bravely asked and his answer surprised me. “Yes, I went and was set up to meet a girl there, kind of a blind date thing. It didn’t work out and all I could think about was you.”

I thought, wow, what was the deal? Was he a serial blind dater????

Love & Snow

So today was my big day to go to both girls' schools and put on their Valentine's Day parties. Well, last night we got snow and by 4:30 this morning, school was cancelled. So, I guess we'll have Lily's party tomorrow and Shelly's on Tuesday. Here are some of the goodies we are sending into school for friends and teachers.

The new fallen snow meant that we would head outdoors and try to do a little something with it before the 55 degree weather melted it all away. So, we bundled up and made a small snowman (named him John Jr.) followed by a snowball fight, a trek through the yard to determine who's footprints we were tracking, a roll down the golf course hill, and finally snow angels. When we got back inside it was time for some hot chocolate and candy heart sweet tarts.

This afternoon, we are heading to the cafeteria for our annual Valentine's day meal...the place where the prices aren't over inflated. We wish daddy was here with us to enjoy this tradition.

Please say a prayer for John, his friend Christopher, and all of Christopher's family and friends. We hope that he is at peace and free of pain. God bless.

My Funny Valentine

In honor of my sweet husband, here's one of my favorite photos of the two of us. It was taken about a month and a half after we met. My friend, Bonnie, took the picture and turned it into a refrigerator magnet for us. I love this picture. He is my funny Valentine. This song was played at our wedding...I love it, too.

My two other little loves are, of course, the best!

Happy Heart Day!

Law of Attraction

I know this whole idea can be somewhat controversial, but to listen to others speak about being positive is just plain uplifting. I was and still am a big believer in The Power of Positive Thinking, so this all just seems natural to me. Check out the video!

Entrepeneur

Lily and I are working on an idea that will get us on this show. We can't say much, but here's a sneak peek of photos of bigger things to come (we hope)!I spotted this idea in a magazine recently and finally found it at CVS yesterday. I tried it and really loved it. Easy to use and super quick. Thinking this will work great on the girls' nails, also.

Great Grandpa D

My great grandfather lived to be 100. He was an interesting old guy with a sweet little black dog named Sally. On his 100th birthday, I played "Happy Birthday" for him on my flute. I think I was possibly the ultimate geek at 11 years old. There I am in the photo with Harry, my mom, and Aunt Sue. We were all at the cottage in Pennsylvania where we spent many, many summers.

In other news, I attempted to create my own version of the funky calendar posted below. I think it turned out pretty good and will save me some $$$ in the long run.

Nifty Nine

I haven't done a Nifty Nine in awhile and thought I'd share some with you today. (Be sure to click the image above to make it bigger)

1. This is a darling little keychain made using a Domino. Too cute.

2. I have been lusting after this calendar since late November. I am still trying to figure out how to create it myself, but I think it might just be easier to order it!

3. Love these little cards for journaling on a scrapbook page or just jotting a note for Lily's lunchbox.

4. This little dress is so sweet AND it's made from the same Amy Butler fabric that is on my purse. Super cute.

5. I think this ring is so beautiful and unique. Love it.

6. Really love this print. And, what a great statement...definitely need this printed, framed, and hung in my home as a reminder!!!

7. This necklace is so pretty...would make an awesome gift.

8. Such a fun calendar. May need to order this one!

9. Pretty and practical keychain idea. I think I may need to see if I can recreate something like this myself.

Prayer

Please take a minute to say a prayer for our friend, Christopher House. He was involved in a serious car accident this weekend. He is a lifelong friend of John's and was a groomsmen in our wedding. He needs lots of prayers.

Dog Sitting & Video Chat

Wow, didn't realize how long it had been since the last post!!! First, way to go Giants!!! That's my little (late) shout out for Eric and Ron (my nephew and BIL).

Next, this week (from Saturday night until Wednesday) we were dog sitting for a neighbor. The sweet little dog came to our home to stay. Lily was such a good care taker. I was very impressed with her. Shelly never really warmed up to Sadie, but we worked out a way for them to co-exist and all was fine. The dog sitting kept us all busy.

After Sadie moved on to her next home for a visit, I got down to hooking up our camera to the computer for video chats. I have owned the camera for about two years and just never really got around to figuring out the whole process. We got my mom and dad a camera at the same time and thought that it would be fun for all of us to see one another and talk! Well, I put it off and put it off. Finally, I hooked it up and tried it out with my SIL, Mary, and we had success! Then I walked my mom through the steps to get a Windows Live Messenger account and again SUCCESS!!! So, now we can chat and see one another. So glad I finally did this. Procrastination is a terrible thing.

My parents are on their way for a visit. They'll be here this afternoon and I just made this recipe for dinner tonight! YUM!!!

Have a wonderful weekend.

Super Sunday

I got out of the house for about 4 hours all by myself today. This is beyond monumental. John has been refereeing quite a bit lately and that makes me the non-stop adult in the house for the entire day. So, it was a nice change of pace to be alone. I came back refreshed and ready to do it all over again.

We are dog sitting until Wednesday. Lily is so thrilled and Shelly is so ready to have heart failure. We are working out ways to make everyone happy and safe. Lily has done such a good job with her responsibilities.

We went to a Super Bowl party for about 3 hours and the girls and I came back home at half time. The current score is 10 - 7 Giants. I made an old recipe for the party. Cheesy Bacon bites from Pampered Chef, circa 1996. I remember the year vividly...living in my cute little apartment ALONE and spending time with my sister and her family and baking appetizers non-stop!!! Fun times.

Moods, Moody, Moodalicious

I filled out this little mood alert sheet yesterday and thought I'd post it. So cute and silly. Hope you are in a good mood this Saturday!!!!!!!!

Youngster & Art Work

People have been commenting on the similarities between me and the girls since viewing the photos of me as a child. I had a request to post a picture of the young John. So, here he is: I am guessing this is in 2nd or 3rd grade (maybe 1972 or 1973...no date on the back so not sure). Isn't he a cutie???? And I can clearly see Lily in his eyes, eyebrows, nose, and mouth. I see hints of Shelly in his face shape and eyes.

I scanned some of the recent artwork from the girls. I plan to continue doing this in an attempt to streamline our art collection. The first piece is from Lily. I like the hats on the snowmen. Next, Shelly is working on the letters "L" and "M". Her Love picture makes me happy...love the colors and the backwards E. And, the monster picture is so clever. Love those teeth.

Shelly and I did a bit of organizing this morning. We took all of the DVDs out of their cases and assembled them into a notebook style CD/DVD holder. I removed the inside cover sheets from the DVD packaging and put them all in a ziploc bag for future reference. So, now ALL of our DVDs are in one place that is easy to transport from room to room or to the car. Very pleased with this.