The Party of Five & Us is Complete

We went from this (the last brinner (breakfast for dinner) of the deployment)...

to this!!!!

Be back soon with all the fun details. Thanks for all the kind comments and support.

Must.Learn.To.Say.NO!!

My three regular readers know that very rarely do my blog titles have anything remotely to do with my ramblings. The titles usually have something do with what's going on around the zoo, I mean house and it's my way of reminding myself AND it's a cop out on my part, so I don't have to come up with some clever little title for my antics. With that said, I actually wanted to chat about a couple of these said titles before I forget. Take Wednesday's, for instance. "I Kill Em With Kindness". What the hell is that all about?!? Well, I got to thinking on one of my trips to WalMart the other day. Most of the people I/we encounter daily are pretty cool about the size of our family. That is, I usually get some fairly benign comments like "You've got your hands full" or something along those lines. It's typically said with a knowing smile on their face, I agree and head down yet another grocery aisle with the twins on their puppy dog backpack/tethers, a shopping cart, and 3 more kids in tow. But this time I look up at the couple checking out ahead of us in aisle 7 (yes, I shop there so frequently I have the aisle #'s memorized), and the woman locks eyes with me as she has just finished panning over each face of my brood. SHE WAS TERRIFIED. Before she could even compose herself she mutters, "Are they ALL yours?" Without skipping a beat I put on my fakest smile and retort "Yes, and aren't I the luckiest Momma ever?" She about fell down. The nice lady couldn't get out of there faster. Didn't anyone ever tell her if you can't say anything nice...

Switching gears, I really must learn to say no. Our days are just so jam packed with activities only a crazy person would think they could juggle it all, solo. But, I do. I really would like to say no, if only occassionally. Last weekend was filled with a doctor appointment, a trip to the er at midnight, a birthday party, and a Scouts get together at the skating rink. I should have just walked out when I ordered 5 small sodas for the kiddos at the snack bar at the rink when she tells me there are NO LIDS! After the wee-est ones spilled 2 sodas and after Julia ended up on the floor (in the gameroom, NOT skating) screaming bloody murder in pain, I decided to call it a day. And head home. Sigh. We really don't have to participate in every single activity. It's not like he'll lose a Scout badge or something. Plus, I don't ever get a badge for showing up. Rant over.

Donk is home on Tuesday. Stay close. Camp Paradise continues at Croppin Paradise. Here's Week #2's Arts & Crafts challenge. Come play with us...

p.s. peanut butter gets gum out of a hysterical 5 year old's hair. Good thing, wouldn't that look pretty in the photos from Daddy's homecoming?!?

p.p.s. last Brinner before Hubby's return tonight!!

I Kill Em With Kindness

I hope this Hump Day is treating you well. I'm up to my elbows in Hubby's homecoming (next week, yikes!) preparations, scrappy projects, and kids' activities. Standby for a completely random post to give you a taste of what we've been up to. Hold on.

First up, there's still time to get in on Week #1's Challenges at Camp Paradise. You really don't want to miss out on all the fun and the AMAZING GIVEAWAY!

Frick & Frack are growing up, and it was never more obvious then when they turned the
Big Three back on the 8th. There were lots of photos to document the big day.

It was go, go, go all day. Dropped off the Bigs at camp and then headed to the store. They enjoyed some yummy doughtnuts for breakfast

before we headed to the park in all our birthday finery...

Exhausted and HOT we returned home for a quick lunch and naptime. Then it was back to the Y for the kids before we let them attack the mound of presents.

Sassy was thrilled to death with her Bitty Baby (who even made an appearance on the soccer field later that day).

I love that P.J., Julia, & Reagan are almost as excited as the babies are during the opening...

2010 is definitely all about Toy Story 3 in our house. More to come on that when I recap the Chuck E. Cheese party experience! Gotta love them when they're this age. That love/hate relationship with all things big and large and in costume. Yikes!!

Presents were followed closely by cupcakes, soccer practice, and dinner & ice cream, in that order. Sullivan just didn't know what to make of the candles. He kept trying to put them out with his fingers. By the time the TS3 cake arrived at Chuck E. Cheese he did have it mastered though.

Phew. Where did the time go?!? It really does seem like yesterday when I was bringing them to the pediatrician's office weekly just for weight checks. Never thought they'd hit 6 pounds!! What a blessing they are in our lives.

Don't forget to check out all the great challenges at Croppin Paradise over the next 4 weeks. Here's my sample for my Camp Challenge this week. I'm pretty sure I will never tire of OA's 2 lines from Winter CHA. Sigh...

Less Than Two Weeks To Go

I swear I really am still here. AND, more than that, I'm still kicking. I'm just being pulled in 5 directions with the kids and their activities and I have scrappy deadlines up the wazoo. The Camp Paradise month-long crop kicked off yesterday. The first week's prompts are up and you have until Wednesday at midnight to get in on this week's fun. The crop continues through the middle of August. Come play!! Besides preparing my samples for that, I'm also preparing challenges and projects for my very own Scrap That Vacation Crop over at Simply Obsessed August 13-15. So, I can't share that much with you today. But know that once I get all of this completed, I'll have close to a dozen projects to share with you right here.

Lots to catchup with. We spent the Fourth with some dear friends. My little Justin Bieber lookalike enjoyed himself...



We're in full swing with soccer and getting ready to make the transition to football/cheerleading in just a couple of weeks, too. Ugh. I'm sweating just thinking of those nights!! I tell you, I just don't know where this young man came from. No baby here...

Been busy with lots of dressup. A new favorite picture of Sassy doing her new squinty smile.

Another layout for Simply Obsessed and Sketch Inspiration. Heather was generous enough to sponsor their site for this week. You could win July's sold out Lily Bee kit!

I hope to be back soon with the big third birthday update and Week #1's Challenge from Camp Paradise! Oh yea, there will be Fly In pictures coming soon!

p.s. I'm going to be pubbed in Scrapstreet!

Too Pooped to Care

Croppin Paradise is planning an unbelievable online crop starting on the 15th of July. You can find all the details and a link to the free registration here. I'm knee deep in preparing my projects for the crop, so stay tuned for those starting the middle of the month. The prizes being offered are unbelievably generous.

The Grand Prize includes a $30 gift certificate to the Croppin Paradise store, a BoBunny album kit, a Making Memories jewelry kit, and a "Scrap Queen" t-shirt.

Hope you can join us for conversation, a lot of laughs, and some serious scrapping.

In the meanwhile, here are my projects for Simply Obsessed's July kit featuring Lily Bee and My Mind's Eye So Sophie. Love the summery feel to this kit. Another home run from Heather, I tell ya.

This last one I did for my Layout Challenge at Simply Obsessed. Want a chance to win a gift certificate to Simply Obsessed? Join in on my challenge: YELLOW + OLD + NEW. Link your layout to my post.

I've definitely got plenty of stuff to fill my days until Donk comes home from Afganistan THIS MONTH.... soccer x's 3, gymnastics, camp x's 3, Camp Paradise, and MY crop over at Simply Obsessed the weekend of August 13th. Oh yea, add to all of that my usual scrappy deadlines and the cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping, refereeing, and wiping bums that can fill up any day without even trying.

I'll try to be back soon.