Lipstick and Hair Stuff

Holy Crap!! Who decided to call the summertime "vacation"?!?!?!?! EEKS!! There is absolutely nothing vacation-like about life around here. Day #1 with all the kids "home" went a little something like this...Took P.J. & his friend Ryan to Scout Camp. 55 minutes later we were out of there. Seriously? It took me that long to get them checked into camp and dropped off with each of their dens. Then the rest of us (5) headed out to do our errands. Within minutes of getting on the highway, Sullivan was screaming bloody murder about his tummy. Pulled a u-turn and then went to the ER. Long story short, we left before being seen, phew. ER visit #4 averted, phew. Back to the highway and then another u-turn when Julia claims she left her purse (with her report card money in it) at the darn ER. Okie dokie, she finds the purse and I make the last u-turn of the day and we're finally headed towards our errands. Only to find out upon our arrival that the shoestore that carries soccer cleats is going out of business. No cleats for 3 soccer practices the next day. YIKES!! The day improved from there, yea right. Let's just say I had to juggle a home warranty renewal and an a/c not working (and, coughcough an expired warranty coughcough) at our rental house. No, seriously.

Amongst the chaos, I do this....

More to share soon including my July reveal at Simply Obsessed... Lily Bee and MME!! So bright & summery. Stay tuned!

It's On

I ABSOLUTELY adore this photo. I know I say it a lot, but P.J. really is amazing. Here he is cuddling with Sophia while they watch a Pokemon movie. This girl just adores her Bubba.

So happy (and so was she) that Target finally got Fancy Nancy back in stock. Happy Belated Birthday, Julia!!

This one is either my little ham or running in terror the opposite direction when he sees me pull out my camera.

Well, it's Day #1 of Summer Vaca here. Reagan's been out for a couple of weeks now, but its the first day the whole crew is home. We bailed on Red Box Friday last night. I was really proud of myself. I told J & R that if they didn't get the playroom picked up, they would lose the privilege of RBF. They didn't get it cleaned in time, and I held my ground. Hopefully, they'll learn their lesson in time for next week. I love those together times.

Busy weekend. Errands today and hopefully Parents Night Out tonight. julia has a birthday party tomorrow and we're going to make Daddy a cake tomorrow in honor of Father's Day and send it off with crossed fingers.

Gearing up for next week where we begin our summer activites warmup. Scout Camp for P.J and Ryan, and Advanced Lions for Julia, and YMCA Soccer for all 3 Bigs. Phew. If I was smart, I'd go nap while I can, but I think I'lll go scrap. Bye.

A little ditty for Croppin Paradise...

No Faces Friday for The Last Day of School

A Glimpse of our life.

Julia's little cubby. She sleeps here next to Reagan, because she just can't sleep alone in her own room/bed.

Miss Sophia SITTING and watching big brother's awards assembly...

Sullivan's burn is healing. So much so, that he shared a bandaid with the baby...

Farmer Jesse is back!!

I'm back! To hanging out behind my lens. Ahh...

A nice diversion for Frick & Frack while I threw birthday presents in the cart without them seeing.

If you want to make the Twinnies day, just give them a box of flipflops. These are Bubba's shoes and Sullivan's feet...

(I know there's a face here, but it's not one of mine). She just loves this puppy. She must hug it one more time before we go... Look at her droopy little bum.

Blueberry pancake stained top, ZhuZhu Pets, and fruitsnacks. Ahh, this is the life.

Artwork after the sprinkler.

Be back soon with lots of scrappy inspiration. Hope you are enjoying this new day.

I Have a Laser, And I WILL Use It

My mom thinks I'm a glutton for punishment. She just may be right, but there's something about getting through another day and kicking back with the Bigs and enjoying one of our weekend rituals. I enjoy it. You'd think I'd be counting the minutes til I can get some well deserved quiet ME time. But, despite having one harried frenetic stressful day after another, we ALL love Red Box Friday and all the rest. Just tonight the four of us were in one big pile at the foot of the tv watching the end of the Toy Story double feature and giggling like classmates. Ahh, so nice. Just what I needed after the twins went postal at Julia's gymnastics expo this afternoon. I got more of a workout that J did running back and forth between the twins' holding cell, I mean my air conditioned Denali and the gym mats. Don't even get me started on that.

It was like some of the people there had never seen 2 toddlers lose their minds. They sat in the stands just staring at me as I dragged Frick & Frack out of the gym. It is what it is. I am the only caregiver for 5 children under 10. My mom doesn't live around the corner. She can't run a couple kids to a birthday party while I take another to gymnastics. It's just me. I do what I can. And somehow, it's working. Patrick and I have 5 well-adjusted happy little people who participate in more activities than most, and they are lucky enough to have a Momma who loves them more than breathing. EVEN when they they go postal.

Remind me to tell you about my Wednesday. It started with an ER trip for Sullivan and included a dentist appointment for me and me begging the doc to pull my tooth, and when that didn't happen I headed to an oral surgeon who did the deed. Oh yea, then I headed home to get the biggest 2 off the bus and finish just another ordinary day. Phew.

Happy to be shooting again...

My therapy...

Thanks for stopping. Check back for some more Croppin Paradise reveals and pictures of my little gymnast. Night.

Who's that Lady? AKA Ramona Quimby

Ok, I know I'm totally revealing my age here, but doesn't Sassy's new 'do totally remind you of Ramona Quimby's hair from those classic Beverly Cleary books of our youth?!? And you know what a mischievous little imp Ramona was, so this totally fits our Sassy. Blame it on massive doses of sleep deprivation, but I finally broke down and got Sophia's hair cut. We were all at the haircut place to get all the Bigs done and somehow she ended up in the big chair getting one too. I'm pretty sure I blacked out for a second when I first saw her. I have never seen someone's appearance change so much with just a simple snip of some bangs. Wow. It has grown on me, and I think it suits her. P.J., on the other hand, is even worse with change than his Momma and still doesn't dig it.

Update on my sick DSLR. I got a estimate for the repairs and it just didn't make sense for me to go through with it. Once I paid that and bought new kit lens to replace the one the twins busted last year, it'd almost be as much as a new newer model DSLR. So Donk just bought me my Birthday/Anniversary gift. It'll be here on Monday. Can. not. wait!! I think a brand new camera (fully functional, at that) will be just what I need to jump back into the photo world!!

A little scrappiness for you today. A super cute 2-pager I made for All About Scrapbook's Creative Team Challenge for June. I combined that with my Color Challenge at Simply Obsessed. Feel free to play along with either challenge. The links are on my right sidebar! Check out this amazing ad from Waverly I used for my inspirational springboard...

Here's tha ad I pulled from Traditional Home magazine...

And this is what I came up with. these are some of my all time favorite pictures of the twins. Prepare to see them often. And I'm ok with that.

That's all for now. Happy Weekend!!

Clawing My Way Back

So, I sat down with my laptop on Friday to try to catch up on a little blogging while enjoying the evening's Red Box Friday selection (the original Karate Kid: 4 thumbs up). And you know what I discovered? When I slip even a little down in the dumps, I don't pick up my camera. And, this makes me really bummed. I see these wee ones of mine 24/7, and I'm amazed at just how quickly they are changing right before my eyes. And if I don't pick up the camera, I'll just miss it. I think the fact that just that day I had boxed up my big camera to be sent off to be repaired, didn't help. It wasn't even out of the house yet, and I was feeling naked without it. Got a few photos before it went off to the repair center...

Do you think Sullivan is spending too much time at the grocery store?!? He picked the ZhuZhu pet right up and scanned away. Gulp.


Here's one from R's first day of school back in August. And one from his last. After his End of Year program I dropped to my knees to beg Mrs. Gray to teach JUST 2 more years, just long enough to see Sophia and Sullivan through the K-4 program at Calvary just as she had for our first three. After teaching Sassy, she'll REALLY deserve that retirement.

After the awards ceremonies at P.J. and Julia's school, the parents were invited back to the classrooms for a short visit. The kids had the short stories they were working on out on their desks. After looking over Julia's (about she and her BFF Tyler), I let my eyes wander to some of her classmates'. I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw one entitled "The Cats Who Loved Julia". Yep, you heard that right. I just can't make this stuff up. He was more than eager to request a picture (or several) of he and his story and his muse.

A few layouts I made for Croppin Paradise featuring 2 of Doodlebug's newest lines. Everything here is available in the CP Store. Tell me you're NOT ready for some Summertime scrappin?!?

Miss Sassy got her first haircut today. Check back tomorrow for the reveal. And I've also got some All About Scrapbook and Simply Obsessed Color Challenge stuff to share. Night.

A Belated Memorial Day Message

I know it's easy to get wrapped up in all the "fun" Memorial Day activities... the BBQ's, the friends, the beers, and the sales at the mall. But, I hope you all took the time to remember the true meaning for the day off. So many men and women made the ultimate sacrifice, they never came home. They never got to enjoy just one more day off in May to kick off the unofficial beginning of Summer. They lost their lives so that we may remain free and others may know freedom. For the families of those they left behind, the day will forever be changed for them, as well. I hope you all raised your glass once over the weekend and said thanks.


LT Steve Zilberman. The Hawkeye pilot we lost in the crash of 620 in the Arabian Sea. Please remember him and his wife and their two wee ones. This is what a hero looks like...