Scrapbook Irony

Last night, as I was putting the final touches on the scrapbook page you see here, I got a call from downstairs to go come and see something in our bathroom. I'm thinking, "What is there to see in the bathroom that would be better than finishing this layout?"

Our little man was 8 in this photo, isn't he just the cutest?

Flash forward 6 years to me finding Richard and Miles busy in the the bathroom, giving Miles his first shave.  We truly have a young man in our midst.

Here's the background story:  I had mentioned to Richard this weekend that Miles' face was looking kind of fuzzy.  With his light hair it was only noticeable in the right light, but I thought Miles was ready for the big step into manhood!  I honestly didn't think Richard would get to it this weekend.

Be still my heart. What a little man!  Well, okay, he's obviously not little, but I still see him as the little boy I scrapbooked last night!!

Full of Gratitude

So much to be thankful for this long weekend.  Lots of good, quality family time. I'm so blessed to have these wonderful people in my life!! Loved having this weekend to watch a movie, play Scrabble and just hang out together.

As I had hoped, the baking and delivery of homemade cinnamon rolls was a big success.  They were so delicious and our neighbors were very happy!!  We can thank Pioneer Woman for a wonderful and pretty easy recipe and Emily for encouraging me to start a new tradition.  Not sure about making them on Thanksgiving Day, but definitely will do it again and give plates away. They were totally worth the work!

We had such a great experience volunteering at the Salvation Army's Thanksgiving Meal.  We stayed pretty busy doing our assigned tasks.  I was happy to see so many people there to volunteer. I hope it helped the children see how blessed we truly are. They both are such good workers and I think they really learning the value in volunteerism and helping others.

We returned home around 1pm and had a light lunch. Then I got busy preparing our traditional Thanksgiving meal filled with only our absolute favorites.  It all turned out very good except the turkey.  It took longer to cook than I had planned and it was kind of tough. (Looks like Tucker would have been more than happy to take that bird off our hands.)  I think it was that cheap bird's fault, not mine.  He must have had a tough life. Oh well, live and learn and never blame the cook!

Thankful...

So much to be thankful for this year.  We are all happy and healthy.  (Especially thankful for this since I was rear ended on Monday. Only minor pain in my neck and back.  Feel confident it will get better soon with the help of Ibuprofen and my chiropractor.)

As of Wednesday night, I've got the pie crust made for my Crunchy Caramel Apple Pie and the dough for cinnamon rolls ala Pioneer Woman.  Plan to get up early and finish the rolls and deliver plates of these yummy rolls to my neighbors.  (We won't be able to do this at Christmas, so this is my chance to show my gratitude to my neighbors.)

I did finish this layout yesterday. These are such cute photos. Happy to have them scrapbooked. :)

It happens...

Life just happens and keeps coming.  I do have the excuse of being out of town for a couple days.  Then, of course, there is all the things you have to do to catch up because you were gone.  Obviously, the blog was not one of them.

Lots to share on this Monday. :)

My friend and I had a super, wonderful time in St. Louis.  What a great girlfriend getaway!!  Lots of shopping, good food and lots of laughs! 

The Pioneer Woman book signing blew my friend away. I think she had no idea how many people would be there. We waited quite a while, but it wasn't too bad because we got to sit in the pews of the most beautiful church and just chat away while we waited for our row to be called.

Going on a trip during the week is highly recommended, because when I got back the weekend was quickly approaching. 

Friday night we went to the most awesome pizza joint in town with a group of friends.  I love that the kids are old enough to set up at one table and the grown-ups at another table.  Everyone seems to like that plan.

Saturday, Emily and I went to Jefferson City with friends so she could go ice skating.  So funny that this little girl from Louisiana would love ice skating as much as she does. 

The boys went to the movies to see "The Blind Side". They really liked it and I was slightly jealous!  It does look like an awesome movie.

After church on Sunday, I finally made time to make one of my favorite soups, Pasta Ceci. (I just realized it's not on my recipe blog.  I'll do that soon.) So delicious!!  It took half the afternoon because I started with dried beans, but it was worth it!

I did finally start a scrapbook page last night. It's almost done. Hopefully, I can share it tomorrow.

Heading out!

So tomorrow I'm heading to the city for a girlfriend getaway! Going to do some shopping, can't wait to get into an Anthropologie store again!!  But the real reason for the trip is to meet Pioneer Woman at her cookbook signing!! I'm so excited. Not sure why I was compelled to do this, but I had a willing partner in crime and it should be fun to say the least!!

Trying not to leave the family unprepared. Got all the clothes washed yesterday. Did lots of cooking for my sweeties today.  Muffins for breakfast, their favorite pasta dish for dinner with plenty for leftovers and oatmeal chocolate chip cookies for dessert. At least they won't be hungry! And as long as they are fed, Emily said they'll be fine! That girl!!

I took this photo last night when I finished my Project 12 challenge for November.  I ended up rephotographing it this morning to post it at the Studio Calico Gallery, but actually it's a true representation of my mess. Although, this is just the cute little mess around the layout.  It's really a lot worse in real life!

I also completed this layout on Friday. I had to make up for the lack of scrapbooking last week. ;)

Well, I better go pack!! It's gotten colder here so careful consideration must be taken!

oh my!

I can't believe I went a whole week without blogging.  Testiment to the busy schedule last week, I guess.

If you'll endulge me with just a little recap, I'll have some creativeness to share. Last weekend I wanted us to have some "family time." It seems that as the children get older we all seem to do a lot of our "own things".  And while we have dinner together most nights, (we're not that overbooked!) I felt like we were do for some togetherness.  The weather was beautiful, so we headed to a local state park to go hiking.  We had such a lovely time.

We found a bench and had a picnic lunch along the way. On the second half of the hike we let Tucker off leash. He did so good following the trail and staying with us.

I captured this photo and came home and created this page! I can't remember ever scrapping a photo that I took that same day. It is based upon a sketch challenge from the Studio Calico blog. That's probably what prompted me to scrap that photo.

I had also finished this layout the night before. Love these photos from our trip to the Rockies!

happy, happy friday...random

Okay, so maybe this isn't really a happy photo, but it's neat, right?

It's been a good week. Not sure where it went to.  Been busy with this and that.

My box of Studio Calico goodness should arrrive today!!

Developing a new friendship and that is such fun. :)

Have an almost complete layout on my table. It has hand stitching, maybe that's why it is taking me so long to finish it? Hope to get it done before the box arrives.

Lots of errands to run today, after I go to the health club.

Not much on the agenda this weekend. Gotta love a weekend like that.  The weather should be beautiful.  Need to plan an outing.

Check out my cooking blog.  This is soo good!

good monday, restful tuesday

Monday was pretty good as Monday's go.  I didn't get to accomplish as much as I had hoped.  But isn't that often the case? I did get to run on the trail and it was glorious.  Well, the run wasn't really great, my foot was acting up, but the weather was stellar!

I had some errands to run for a new project I'm doing for a client.  Invitiations again!  Who knew I'd get requests for that?  Fun though.

Monday morning I finished this layout. Such a happy layout!  More photos of her birthday celebration and journaling inside.

Today, the kiddos are off for school for election day, but there doesn't seem to be anything to vote on here.  Thank goodness the streets have been void of signage and the like.  Got to sleep in and then headed to the healthclub. Made for a great start of a day. Especially the sleeping in part.

I should probably go outside and enjoy our beautiful weather.  Need to pull weeds. Or if I don't pull them will the just shrivel up and go away over the winter?

Good fun

I think I can say Halloween was good fun for all!  Miles dressed up to go with a friend to a church function. We pulled this hippie costume together Saturday afternoon.  Too funny!

Emily went trick-or-treating with her best friend Abby.  She is currently reading the Harry Potter series.  So much fun to hear her enjoy the series. Not sure you can tell from the photo but we used the wet hair braid technique to give her curly Hermione hair.

After collecting loads of candy, her friend came over and we kicked Richard off the front TV (He was watching baseball, I think.) We were ready to watch the first Harry Potter movie, Sorcerer's Stone.  Emily really enjoyed it, but like the rest of us she was hung up on all the things they left out of the movie. I actually found it to be better than I remembered. :)

Currently working on a new layout in between doing the laundry.  Have to mix the good with the bad. :)   Hope to share it tomorrow!