The Girls' Blogs

The girls have both decided to start their own blogs. 

Lily's blog is called Boardwalk Chic and she plans to feature fashion and lifestyle posts. Check it out to see what she's up to these days.



Shelly's blog is Shelly's Life at the Beach. She posts about fashion, crafts, and her life.



If you have a chance, check out their blogs and leave them a message!!!

Writing and the Blog

I was thinking about how my blog might change once I move back to Virginia Beach. Will I still be as motivated to document all of our activities? Will I take as many photos? Will my stories be told in the same way?

And then I ran across this quote and I thought it really summed up how I feel about writing and chronicling our lives. 

Happy 6th Dear Ol' Blog

Hard for me to believe that I've been blogging for six years! I was never really sure where I was headed with this blog. It has evolved over time. 


I, originally, began blogging for my mom. I would tell her things about the girls on the phone and then later on my blog, post a photo of what we had talked about. She enjoyed seeing the pictures and many times printed them out at home. After her death, I questioned whether I would still need to keep a blog. But, I had a few faithful followers who nicely encouraged me to continue with the blog. And, I am happy that I did.


For me, blogging is a place to share my life, my thoughts, and my photos. I love having this forum and I'm so glad I embraced the idea of blogging. 


So, in honor of the 6th anniversary of my blog, I am holding a little giveaway. A fun little combo of items: 


1. an original ring made by me 
2. a Yankee Candle Country Kitchen pine scent tart
3. a Pampered Chef all-purpose spreader 
4.  a trial size bottle of Bath & Body Works Japanese Cherry Blossom body lotion





Be sure to enter with a comment to this post. The giveaway will end on Tuesday evening at 6:24 PM and the winner will be announced Wednesday morning. Join in the fun and thanks for reading the many random thoughts that I share.

A New Digi Spot

I was thinking the other day that I hadn't printed out many of my digital scrapbooking pages over the last couple of years. Then I thought maybe I need a dedicated blog just for my scrapbooking pages. It would become my new "photo album". I think documenting and saving images is always evolving----slides, polaroids, instamatic cameras, 35mm cameras, and now onto digital media. So, with the changes in technology I am hoping to evolve my process for saving these photos.


If you are interested in checking out the digi scrap blog, look here:  http://kdigiscraps.blogspot.com/.

Reflections

I enjoy skimming back through my blog. It's fun to see what the girls looked like two or three years ago. Or what were we doing on the same date four years ago. So, I felt compelled to take a trip down February lane. Here are some posts from the last several years. I selected one from each February that I have been blogging. Just a little random something---

2006 Observations

2007 Random

2008 Basketball & 52

2009 Weekend in Review

2010 Throw Down

Blogs I Enjoy

Every now and then I like to update others on the blogs I read. Thought a little list of the MANY blogs I frequent might be fun. So here are just a few of the many:

http://bunsinmyoven.com/ Great food blog



http://www.centsationalgirl.com/ Super house project blog


http://www.cheekykitchen.com/ Another great food blog


http://classicmomstyle.blogspot.com/ All about mom fashion---fun


http://memoriesoncloverlane.blogspot.com/ Straight- forward mom blog…sometimes I agree with her sometimes I disagree, but I always enjoy her insight


http://littlemissmomma.blogspot.com/ Cute girl/fun blog


http://georgeeliotclub.typepad.com/sarahbjones/ Funny, smart woman with a real life

An Award!

The super sweet Carmen gave me this terrific award and I feel so honored. Be sure to check out her crafty and inspiring blog. You'll love it.
The rules are:
~thank this person who nominated you for the award
~copy the logo and place it on your blog
~link to the person who nominated you
~name 7 things about yourself that people may not know
~nominate 7 creative bloggers
~post their links
~leave a comment on each


1. I do not care for most vegetables...not a fan of corn, peas, beans, carrots...the list keeps on going.

2. I love Yankee Candle tarts...the smells are so yummy.

3. I am adicted to my iPod and specifically my Bob and Sheri podcasts.

4. I miss miss miss my hometown of Virginia Beach.

5. I am a longtime Steelers fan!!!

6. I am about halfway done with my Christmas shopping...yippy. Oh, and John and I do not exchange gifts...best gift we've ever given one another.

7. My parents are my heroes.

My nominees:

1. Heather: this was one of the very first blogs I ever read...always entertaining.

2. Just a Girl: she's clever and funny. So fun!

3. Raven: she writes about real life and is creative. Great combination.

4. Sandy: a real mom who shows you how to entertain with grace and a loving heart.

5. Saucy: funny and so motivating! This blog will make you want to do more, more, more.

6. Whatever: her words are powerful and her pictures are amazing. She offers so much visual stimulation.

7. Five Things: just recently found this blog. It's short, simple, and informative. Love it.

Now, go check out these blogs and enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Inspirations

I have stolen (been inspired by) some fun ideas from around the blog world and wanted to share my versions and the originals with you.

First, I got busy with some of the teacher gifts for Lily's specialists (art, music, bus driver, etc.) and Shelly's teachers and the director of her school.

I saw the cute idea for gifts and the adorable digi kit at this site. I purchased the eye masks and nail files at Bath and Body Works and packaged it with the candy bar. For Shelly's teachers, I added a cute little gift set from B&BW, in addition to the other items. I still need to put something together for Lily's main teachers, but I have a couple of weeks to work on that.

Here is my version of the gift bags with the printed tags at Heidi's site. I also found this cute idea here for the gift bags and attempted to create the same look on mine.

Another stolen idea came from this site and this site. They created a little chalkboard using a silver tray. I have several silver trays that don't get much use and I thought I should try my hand at this fun little craft. So, I created my very own chalkboard with just a little chalkboard paint and a tray. Very easy to do and lots of cute factor once it's finished.

And to round out my idea stealing extravaganza, I saw this fun little cookie/cake for the holiday weekend and thought I'd give it a go. I didn't have the sugar cookie dough and didn't feel like driving the 20 minutes to the grocery store to purchase it, so I improvised with a double batch of the cookie-cake mix recipe. Then I completed the cookie/cake with the same items listed in her recipe. It was really cute and a big hit with kids and adults alike. It was a nice dessert for a crowd.

Scattered Thoughts Saturday

Here's a little of this and that:

My birthday was a great day. I received so many sweet cards, phone messages, and gifts from so many of my friends and family! I also got to enjoy some yummy Carvel's ice cream cake...bonus.

I love to read other people's blogs. Here are a few that I really enjoy:

http://www.reluctantentertainer.com/

http://audreycaroline.blogspot.com/

http://www.homegrownhospitality.typepad.com/

http://tarawhitney.com/justbeblogged/

http://thompsonfamily.typepad.com/thompson_familylife/

http://paperandink.typepad.com/thegoodlife/

http://donnadowney.typepad.com/simply_me/

There are many more, but that's all for now.

Is imitation the most sincere form of flattery or really annoying??? Just wondering.

Today we are heading out to look for an outfit for Lily for May Day. She was selected as the Lady for her class. Each class chooses a Lady and a Knight for the court for the May Day festivities.

I am so looking forward to watching Enchanted with the girls and John this weekend.

Yesterday, the concrete guys came and they smoothed out the dirt and placed the concrete forms for almost all of the concrete. They will return to put in wire and have it inspected and then finally the concrete will be poured on another day. Can't wait for this part to be complete.

We took some of the invitations to the neighbors for Lily's party. She is busy, busy making plans for their big sleepover.

May is going to be super busy...birthdays, parties, May Day, Mother's Day, PTA stuff, field trips, dance rehearsal and recital...lots happening.

Well, happy weekend...

image from this site

08.23.07

Wow, the other day I received this award from a blogging friend at Kuky Ideas. She was having a down day and I let her know that I could empathisize with her situation. So, she gave me this terrific award. At a time like this, I appreciated it so much. So much to say about life in general, but just thinking some of it may have to wait until later. Suffice it to say we have a lot on our minds. Back to the award, I am now instructed to award the Nice Matters Award to 7 other bloggers...so, here goes: Missi, Patti, Barbara, Erin, Lara, Nancy, and Amy. These are all ladies who have supported me in my blogging and shared such fun bits about themselves through their own blogs. I hope they will enjoy this award and go on to tag 7 more bloggers who know that Nice Matters.

Today is the day that we head to school for the Meet 'n Greet. Lily will meet her new 2nd grade teacher and I will work the PTA membership booth. It's an exciting evening for all of us. We found out yesterday that the school bus will finally come by our house to pick up Lily. We are thrilled about this. Previously, we had to drive about 2 miles to her bus stop. So, this will be a welcome change.

Haeve a super day!

07.20.07

It is a quiet and beautiful morning here in NC. The sun is rising and I am ready to go for my walk. That feels good. I have slacked on the walks this summer and I can tell it is effecting my mood.

I just read one of my favorite blogs this morning and found that my little blog was mentioned on her site. Oh my gosh! How cool is that??? So perhaps more than just my devoted mother and sisters will read these words. Guess I better say something profound...oops, probably no fear of that happening!

We did some reorganizing of bedrooms the other night. Shelly now has a single twin in her room and Lily has the full size bed in her room. I think it will work out well since both girls sleep in Lily's room and they will have more space for their nighttime rest. We found an adorable quilt and sham set at Marshall's for Shelly and hoping to get something for Lily. She is leaning toward the Hawaiian/surf inspired themes.

Ok, off to walk. But, of course I'll leave with a few photos and digi pages to peruse:

05.22.07

Just saw this on another blog and had to share. This is really worth watching and worth thinking about...please watch:

http://www.stservicemovie.com/

Make it a great day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!