Anticipating the Future?!?

O.k. - so I must be honest. The transition from 5 yrs old to 6 is very difficult for me. Somehow 5 is still "baby-ish" to me. Six somehow seems grown - instantly! I know that's not the case but it just seems that way to me. Braden turns 6 tomorrow and my heart is full of Mommy angst. He is my heart in so many ways - he is smart, cute, silly but so sweet at the same time. Last night on the way to church (after a while of making & addressing his birthday invitations) he said out of the blue "Mommy, I love you." I said (of course) I love you too. Then I asked what made him say that right now - he said: "Because you wrote all the names on my invitations. He actually realizes that things that take, that he needs to be grateful - no small wonder in this world.

Anyway, I am sad. Not because I really want the diapers, 2 am wake-up calls, or God knows I don't want to potty train again (this jewel ruined me on that one) but I love the cuddles, the reaching for my hand, and in a weird way, the needing. These pics from our vacation nearly two years ago surely didn't help either.



Could he be any more excited? NO!!! His face never hides a thing (he gets that honestly), happy or sad, mad or scared, it always shows.


He really makes the best expressions! Did you see, did you watch me, wasnt that cool!


Just love this little man and pray the Lord helps me enjoy the next phase as much as I have this one! Thanks for stopping by and "listening" to me blubber! Happy Thursday!

World Cup Recap!

plus a short bit of crafty! We had our final soccer saturday this past weekend (1st Annual World Cup) and I made this card (and a similar one) for Braden's coaches - quick, supplies on hand = good! All the parents were thrilled so that's what really counted. The kids signed their name and the inside read ... "with you as our coach!" Now onto the real action...



Corner kick by Abbi - glad to have put the red ribbon in - made it easier to find her with the camera. She totally loves this game (even skips the pool to practice in the yard & unbelievably run sprints!)


She ALWAYS wants the ball - HATES playing defence - but is somehow developing a love for GOALIE (of all positions) I hate when they play goalie because the stress is just more than I can handle - if they score - it looks bad on her/him - but she enjoys the challenge.


This is one of the RARE action shots - this guys is really not there yet.

A shady spot in the BLAZING heat between games (and with a snowcone no less!)

Still my favorite part of the game - shaking hands and "good game"

So why include this shot - those who were there will understand - for those who weren't - notice how Abbi's knee is tangled up with the other players? This shows her aggressive play - no fear - go get that ball attitude! LOVE it! No violence just great play.

The coolest trophy EVER!

The fake smile: I threatened him within an inch of his life for this. They were NOT HAPPY because they came in second but only because the other team cheated. I know this sounds like an excuse but when our coach (head of the league) says they cheated - pretty sure they cheated. However, we must lose with dignity and grace - and suck it up! As my mother once told me (actually a million+ times, Life's not fair!)

Never too old for bunny fingers!

Enjoy your day and thanks for looking - hope to do some scrapping later today - now that there is no soccer practice :)

Gotta Start Somewhere Right?

So this isn't how I pictured it in my mind (nor the way the inspiration layout pictured it) but I haven't scrapped in a LONG time and so I had to get started somewhere. Fortunately these aren't my fav. pics and I'm sure Hailey (Cummings) will hate me one day for these (maybe at her wedding - hee hee!) Anyway, gotta start somewhere right?


This paper is all GCD studios. Alpha's are Bo Bunny and American Crafts. All the other embellies are a mix. Enjoy your day!

Relatively Good Sports

Hope this will catch us up to date (at least in the pic world) since the last few days have been busy and difficult in more ways than this blog could ever hold. Recently I promised a complete Field Day post ... so here it is... quite a few to share.

Not sure if my mom ever came to field day but we really enjoy it. (Tug-O-War is my fave!)

Here is Mason getting ready for 50 yard dash.


Relay race - they were in 2nd until their last runner was a bit slow - a teaching moment hopefully.


He wore his cletes to help with this - too bad the other kids didn't :(


The face behind the muscle~

If this pic is big enough on your screen - check out that right calf muscle - amazing at 9!

First place girls relay race :)

No real commentary needed if you know her.

They came in third! They were pretty small compared to most of the other teams and had to "pull" back to back with no rest.

Most of you won't know this little girl (if you do let me know) but her name is Anastasia and she is in Braden's class. She is his "girlfriend" which I constantly tell him we don't have girlfriends but he insists she is. She's super quiet but sweet. He was in control of the camera at this point which is why she was included.

There goes that tongue!

Sack race (with what appears to be closed eyes?)

Field Day treat - SNOW CONES!!!

Hope you enjoyed the many Field Day Faces and hopefully I'll have some scrappy stuff to share soon - not a card - but the real kind - a layout!

My tribute to Mother's Day ~

So with Mother's Day come and gone it's alot easier to have perspective. With my own mother, a mother-in-law, two sister's in laws, and myself - it proves to be a busy day. This year we ate Sunday lunch with the in-laws at Outback (sorry for not having photos!) Then we ate dinner with my family at O'Charley's. Although it was late I think it was worth it not to give anybody "sloppy seconds" on such an important day.

Here is the card for my mother. I know that no matter how old a mother is she is never "just a mother". She is a friend, a guide, and even an occasional child-care giver! She deserves so much more than I could give her.


She wanted updated photos of the kids so I put together a cardstock bragbook ( I could say I threw it together because it came together ridiculously fast! - THANK GOODNESS!)



I stricly used Basic Grey's Lime Rickey line - love all that paper and with it being a kids album it worked out great - simple but great.


On the back I placed the time range the photos were in since I didn't want a pic there since it would be scratched up most likely.

Here are all the lovely ladies at dinner.

Here is another item I worked on this week (thus not much personal scrap time) I made these birthday invitations for a friend - shark themed party - kinda proud even though again - simple.

Here is a sneak of the Field Day post to come - her face tells so much about who she is - NEVER SAY QUIT!!!

Happy Thursday!

Love is in the Air

So the lovely Whitney is getting married in a few weeks and I wasn't able to make her shower and since the wedding is going to be "out of town" I won't be able to attend it either. However as I was perousing through my recent copy of Souther Living I saw an awesome gift by a company called http://www.framethedate.com but they were WAY TOO expensive! So I made my own with an added touch/phrase. Purchased the frame at Hobby Lobby (50% off) as well as the vinyl that I used my cricut to cut out the letters/phrases. I cut 4X6 pieces of decorative paper (which I believe should match her decor) and then placed the numbers on them. Not rocket science but I really like the sentiment of constantly being reminded of the big date.



Here's the card I made to go with it. Simple.


And for a child pic (for Teresa) Here is Braden who we later discovered was running fever - this should've been my FIRST clue! He still had his shoes on.


Have a happy weekend and to all you other mothers - make at least part of it about you! Happy Mother's Day:)

Teacher Appreciation - Mission Accomplished!

First a little pit stop to baby bird land - shot this today! Their feather's are coming in - their beaks are more solid - and clearly they were hungry! What was so cool was I could see mama up on the powerline watching me. She was even brave enough to stop by just after this even with me close by and feed them. I could see the worm in her mouth!



Final view of Teacher Appreciation gifts! You might be tired of these by now (cause I kinda am) however I am super, super proud that I actually got them all done in a timely fashion - began preparing early which did make a difference - might have to try that again in the future - the preparing early part.

Ms. Maddox isn't too girly so we kept hers simple.


This is my fav - love the pink/black/white combo!


This one didn't photograph so well but the ribbon is the same color as the ribbon on the "gift" bling. Worked out well.

Hopefully I'll have a layout to share (which also counts as photos Aunt Teresa) soon, like tomorrow! It's been sitting there since Sunday! Too much else to do with Teacher App., Mother's Day, Baby gifts and a wedding gift. Maybe life will slow down but then that might mean I was dead and not really ready for that. Sweet Dreams!

Teacher Appreciation Phase 4 (& sneek peek of 5)

Again Phase 4 is simple - HUGE chocolate (which shows appreciation to anyone if you ask me) and then wrap it in decorative cardstock. I used spare ribbon and punched the hole with my rectangle punch (my ribbon punch has two holes but i just used 1/2 of it) and then tied the tag on with a simple knot. So far these gifts are going over well - Braden said this am "Mrs. Childs says she owes me a Thank You note!" I love it:)


This is the "BIG" gift for Friday. A simple craft organizer filled all sorts of teacher requirements.


Thumb tacs, binder clips, magnets, hand sanitizer, and of course Nuggets of choc. to keep them sane throughout the day! I tried to color coordinate the items (office depot was great for this type stuff). This lid will be decorated with beautiful paper and their name in some creative way but that's the last part.


Hopefully you've gained a few ideas - maybe they won't be packaged the same but surely they will encourage your child's teacher of how appreciated they really are!

Teacher Appreciation Phase 2 & 3

Phase 2 - we missed photographing this one but it consisted of a small bottle of Bath & Body works hand lotion and the tag tied with a pretty ribbon read " You are SCENT-sational"

Phase 3 - is pictured here. Simply a package of Swedish Fish - wrapped with "spare" cardstock, label attached and ready to go for tomorrow. This doesn't take but a second and only a few dollars! Make your teacher feel appreciated with even the smallest things!


And on a personal note - there are days when we think we miss the mark entirely with our children and then there are Monday nights. Last night while trying to prepare the pool deck for the impending weather I commented I needed some kind of basket to put the roses in as I cut them before I brought them into the house for a container. This is where my daughter took that idea.

She guided me to the back porch and here's what I saw.. Rose petals guiding the way ....


To her "basket" for me to carry my flowers. She added the ribbon herself, filled it with water and a few roses and labeled it Happy Mother's Day ... maybe, just maybe, we are teaching thoughtfulness...and maybe, just maybe, they are getting it. So sweet, I cried!

And a quick shot of the bird nest progress, apprently one egg either isn't going to hatch or is just a bit slow - I wouldn't want to come out either in all this nasty weather.

Have a happy day!