4-2-2

Happy Almost Friday, Friends. Friends. What a great word. I can't tell you how blessed I feel when I think of my family & friends. I love all of them, but today I'm feeling particularly grateful for my military friends. They just get it, ya know?!? They get it & they don't judge you. Like today, one of my dear neighbors found me in my garage in tears and she hugged me and sat right down. I love that. They just know what you're going through and are always there to lend an ear. Or a husband. Shortly after, I answered my door to find more friends one of them with hubby in tow to loosen some bolts on my washer so I could take it apart yet AGAIN. Yet another reason I love living on base, I know there's always a hubby around when mine is not to lend a hand or a backdoor open to get some laundry done when my own washer is on the fritz. There's just something about the military lifestyle that just breeds this inner fire and independence in us. It's not an easy life, but it does have its moments.

Switching gears, the big boys both won their games on Saturday in the wet and muddy rain. So, much fun!! Love these pictures of the Bubba making the game ending tackle on 4th down to stop the Steelers from pulling ahead. Now THAT is what a lineman should look like!!!

Yep, that's him in the pile o mud being helped up...

love...

And here's my sweet baby running that ball...

Here's a sneaky of my project for Crop Suey's October challenge...

Did this one for another amazing challenge on Mojo Monday at Creative Soup. Wanna join the fun? They are doing a DT call!! I highly recommend it.

Enjoy your weekend. And enjoy your family & friends, too!

These are My Days

Phew. Here I am again trying to catch up here in blogland. The kids started back to school just after Labor Day and I'm just now getting some pictures up. School is great. The bigs are great. And even the twinnies have gotten into the groove. I was soo worried about the new school situation. I've spent so much time second guessing myself. Did we make ther right decision moving?. Would this new elementary school be a good fit for the brood? Phew. I did & it is.

Julia came home from the first day with a phone number of a new friend and P.J. picked up where he left off at Oakland and has already been selected for Safety Patrol. Gotta love a ten year old in a bright chartreuse belt! Reagan is excelling in 1st grade and is loving the challenges he encounters. Julia's entire curriculum is gifted based, not just during pull-in time. Love that she too will be challenged, I don't want them bored. She's such a smarty pants!

Football is chugging along and both boys won Saturday's games. If you want to see the pictures from the Mud Bowl check back soon. They are classic.

Using up some yummy Christmas scrappy stash...

Enjoy your Monday. See you on the football field!

Every Day I'm Shuffling

Not exactly sure what that means... Everyday I'm Shuffling. But, man, does THAT describe me to a T!! I keep going day after day. Busy, busy, but I keep going. Football practice got rained (stormed) out tonight. I should have been giddy, but R's team really needs that practice. They're young, this is most of the flag teams' first year and are just now getting it, ya know? Week 3 is this weekend and I'm totally looking forward to putting one (or 2) in the win column.

But, before I go there, I'll back up. The boys have been working so hard. Reagan is a happy little sponge just bouncing and sprinting and giggling along. P.J. on the other hand is hitting harder than I ever imagined and fitting right into this new organization and loving every little bit of his practices. Loving life being on 4 teams, starting O, second team O, starting D, and the return team. Sigh, seriously?!?

yellow pants, far left...

the girls at R's first game...

such a fun group of boys, I forgot just how adorable this age was (please don't tell them I said this, they are playing football, afterall)...

The Mustangs quickly fell behind, but kept coming back each time the opposition ran the ball back for a TD, this one ended in a tie. I'd call that a victory. Check out #44!

Shifting gears. Waiting for weigh-ins for Bubba's team...

And out of nowhere.

He did NOT make weight.

We were all blindsided by this. No one more so than he. My poor boy was so heartbroken & yet so strong remaining on the sidelines as his new team was destroyed before his very eyes. sniff sniff. That which doesn't kill us, only makes us stronger.

So did not want to teach him this lesson. He's smart enough already.

stonger. r we.

48 Slices of Bread

Yoohoo, yoohoo?!? Anyone still out there ?!? I'm thinking our Super De Duper Summer Survival craziness of ours MAY have gotten the better of me. There was a week in there where I actually thought I couldn't do it all. I've bounced back from that and have moved on to actually doing it all, maybe even next year.

I'm thinking I may venture back into the real world. What do ya think? Can I juggle 5 kids, a hubby deployed, and a classroom of eager-faced cherubs for the first time in a dozen years?!? I think so. I'm going to start looking into what I need to do to get all my ducks in a row (whatever the hell that means) and see where that takes me.

In the meantime, the Twinnies finally celebrated the big Four with friends. A good time was had by all. With the exception of the stormy weather it was perfect.

3 girls in tulle...

eeks... who gave that girl a bat?!?

the same dummy who gave this one one...

man did they love these cakes from Miss Beth!!

Somewhere along the way I did find some time to play along with Crop Suey's September prompt: Numbers..

Love how this one turned out...

Lots more to share. Tons of scrappy stuff to catch up with. Football kicked off AND the kids are Back to School. See you tomorrow.

Welcome to the Creative Soup Blog Hop, Crop, & Challenge!!

Welcome to the Creative Soup "Fun in the Sun" Crop and Blog Hop. We all decided to get together and have a blog hop with a fun twist! Each member will contribute a part of a recipe to make a layout. Go around to each of the blogs in the hop, and you'll have all the instructions for a great challenge! Put at least 6 of the recipe elements on a layout/project, and link it back to the challenge thread here.

My recipe element is lining things up on your layout. Take a look at Kim 's layout above, for a great example of this. This layout is from the 02.28 Mojo Monday.

Here is the list of participants in the hop and links to their blogs; up next is MARA.

And if you happen to get lost, remember you can always go back to the original challenge thread!

Tina: http://adogslife-thirteen.blogspot.com/

Jenifer: http://heldscraptive.blogspot.com/

Kim: http://randomsnippetsofasupermomintraining.blogspot.com/

Marsha: http://www.ordinarymoments-marsha.blogspot.com/

Katie: http://scissorsspatulasandsneakers.blogspot.com/

Dayna : http://daynahoward.typepad.com/blog

Jenny: http://www.scrappinjen-partyoffive.blogspot.com/ YOU ARE HERE.

Mara: http://studiolorange.blogspot.com/

The challenge is due 8/27 at midnight. Don't forget to check out the forum for a complete set of challenges from all fo us for the Crop. These challenges are due at the same time as well. Hope YOU win the prize!!

The Home Stretch

Just a real quick post to make sure you don't miss out on the fun starting tomorrow at Creative Soup. We're putting on a week-long crop. The challenges go up tomorrow and you have an ENTIRE week to complete them. The challenges look like soo much fun!

Catching up with the brood & I. This one is soo in love, he'll wear a Hello Kitty hat without even batting an eye.

He does this 5 nights a week... Thank goodness the days are starting to cool off. Cool off means temps NOT in the 100's. Woohoo!!

This one roams the fields and grows up before. my. eyes. gulp.

gasp.

Where's Daddy's gun?

Still in love with Studio Calico kits...

Be back tomorrow in between football scrimmages and party preparations to post my part of the Creative Soup Blog Hop!