here's what's new

first swim in 2012 ...

Rob opened the pool a few days before Memorial Day, and just like most years, the pool water was pretty clear when the cover came off.  I think Rob must put some serious shock in there when we close it in the Fall.

I usually do not go into the pool unless the temperature is over 80 degrees, but this past weekend, I was daring and went in with the temperature only being around 76.  The air temperature was almost into the 90's, so I think that was the selling point.

Rebecca couldn't wait to get into the new boat we got her this year ... of course it is pink. 

Nicholas loves to go underwater, so his goggles are on a lot. 

Both of the kids are fish ... can't get them out of the water once they are in.

Rebecca was in the water for so long and didn't have a "little swimmer" diaper, so the diaper she had on must have weighed a ton ... it sure looked that way. 

Not sure if we will be in the pool this weekend.  It is only supposed to get into the 70's, so I could only imagine what the pool water temperature will be.

Enjoy your weekend everyone!

doing some catch up ...

I hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend.  Even though it rained quite a bit here in NJ, we enjoyed some quality family time together.  I was able to do some scrapbooking, along with other things that needed to get done.

I will share with you some pictures later this week that I took of our first day in the pool.  Today I thought I would post three layouts for LOAD that I completed over the past few days.  Tomorrow is the last day of LOAD 5.12, and I've enjoyed participating as much as I could.

This first layout is the layout I created for LOAD, but also for my April Take 12 Challenge.  I love taking pictures throughout the day and then doing a layout of the highlights. 

This layout is from Nicholas' first day of preschool - way back in 2008.  Boy has he grown up in the past four years ... no more baby face.

Be back later this week to share some pool pictures.

Thanks for stopping by!

spring book fair ...

The book fair started at Nicholas' school last night.  They have a book fair in the Fall and one in the Spring.  I LOVE the one in the Spring (and so does he), because it is buy one, get one free. 

Ever since I was little, I have loved going to the book fair.  I remember when the book mobile would come to the school and park in the school parking lot for us to visit.  I'm glad that Nicholas has a love for books and reading too.  I believe Rebecca is picking up the same traits.  She even got two books yesterday, one of which I had to read about five times before bed.

One of the teachers had set up a table outside the library, and she was handing out information for summer reading, and information about the summer reading challenge.  She also gave me a packet of information which included reading-related activities to do during the summer.  It lists a different activity to do every single day from June 1 through August 31.  Some that caught my eye ...

• Read a book with an author's name that begin's with the letter A, then B, and so on.
• Challenge everyone to learn a new word.  Use it at least three times that day.
• Read under the stars.  Take a blanket and book outside and read by flashlight.
• Plan a book swap party.  Admission is one book.  Each child arrives with one book to donate and leaves with another book to read.
• Choose a famous person.  Go to the library to find out more about him/her.
• Lie on the grass and look at the clouds.  Make up stories about the shapes.
• Spend the day asking only open-ended questions that begin with why or how.

And so many other fun ones.

Here is my layout for LOAD for one of the earlier prompts this month.  If it is supposed to rain on/off this weekend, so maybe I can catch up on creating my other layouts.

Thanks for stopping by!

she got a pink bike ...

For about two week's before Nanny and Poppy came to NJ for their visit for Nicholas' Communion, Rebecca would get on the phone with them and tell them that she wanted a pink bike.  That is ALL she talked about for weeks.  I'm not quite sure how it all started, but she was determined to get that pink bike.

So, after Nick's Communion, Nanny and Poppy took a trip to Walmart and brought home a pink bike for Rebecca.  She LOVES it!

Now all she needs is a pink helmet ... she just doesn't look "girlie" enough wearing a cross and skulls helmet.

And, below are two layouts I've created for LOAD.  I still have a bit to catch up on, but I'm not going to worry, because I'll get them created. 

Thanks for stopping by!

capturing mother's day ...

Nanny and Poppy were still here in NJ with us on Sunday, so we got to enjoy Mother's Day together.  I had the camera out for most of the day to have it on hand to take picures, and that is exactly what we did.

And with Nanny.

The kids are so sad that Nanny and Poppy are back in Ohio.

And, here is my layout from day 16 of LOAD. 

I had the picture above that Nicholas created since 2010.  I have been meaning to scrapbook it for quite some time now, but didn't.  When I got yesterday's LOAD prompt, I thought it was the perfect thing to finally get documented.  It will be fun to look back on in years to come.

may take twelve ...

I had the perfect day to take pictures for the Ella Publishing Take 12 challenge this month.  It was the day of Nicholas' Communion, so there were definitely lots of photo opportunities.  Here is the mosaic of the photos I will use for my May layout.

And, I'm getting back on track with LOAD.  My layouts for days 13 and 14 are below.  I still have to create layouts for days 11, 12, 15 and 16.   

  

Don't you just love that pouty face that Rebecca is making!

Thanks for stopping by.  I'll be back soon with more layouts.

a few busy days ...

It started off on Thursday ... Nicholas' school puts on a muffins with mom event at the local firehouse every year.  We went to the firehouse that morning before school and enjoyed some light breakfast and enjoyed time together before I had to bring him to school.

Later that morning, I went out with mom and Rebecca to pick up some last minute things for the weekend.

That night, Nanny and Poppy arrived and the kids could not have been more excited to see them.  Rebecca was over the moon.

On Friday, Nicholas and his second-grade class put on a Mother's Day Tea for all the mom's.  They made us beautiful projects and sang us songs.  It was not only special to spend the hour with him, but it was nice to catch up with the other moms too.

Saturday was Nicholas' Communion, and the weather could not have been any nicer.  We all got ready in time and headed out around 11am to the church.  All of the kids looked so grown up, and they didn't look nervous at all.

The kids did beautiful with the readings and carrying up the gifts.  It was a small class, so things weren't rushed.  It was nice to be able to get the pictures I wanted without having to wait for people to move out of the way to get good pictures.

After the ceremony, our family went out for a late lunch.  It was a special day for Nicholas and we are so very proud of him.

So, since my weekend was full of "events," I didn't get a chance to create layouts on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday for the LOAD challenge.  But, don't you worry, I will be getting those done.  I never participate in LOAD for the grand prize, I participate in LOAD to get scrapbooking done.

These two layouts below are from last Wednesday and Thursday. 

Thanks for stopping by!

a birthday celebration ...

Last night we celebrated Rob's birthday.  This week in May is always busy for us ... the things we celebrate this week in May every year ...

• My in-law's anniversary
• Rob's birthday
• My nephew Ryan's birthday
• Rob and my anniversary
• Mother's Day

And this year, we are also celebrating Nicholas' Communion this weekend.

I wasn't home yesterday, so I wasn't able to make a cake for Rob, but I stopped and picked one up on my way home. 

 And after we had cake, I made a layout for day 8 of LOAD.

 As always, thanks for stopping by.

silly things he does ...

I look at the below picture of Nicholas and see that little boy face that I miss.  The picture was taken in 2008, so he was only four years old.  Now that I say that, that means I'm four years behind in scrapbooking his life.  I better get on the ball.

He does such silly things; so many things to make Rebecca laugh.  He can make her laugh her "heartly" laugh that we all LOVE. 

The patterned paper I used was on my desk for about a year.  I knew that I had this picture, and was digging through my papers one day and came across this "orange" paper.  I knew immediately that I wanted to use it with this picture.  I knew that I wasn't going to work on the layout then, but I didn't want to put the paper back with my other "orange" patterned paper, because I knew that I would forget that I had it.  So glad that it was waiting for me on my desk.

I'm already thinking about what layout I'm going to create tonight.

still on track ...

Nicholas had Communion practice on Friday evening.  He makes his Communion next weekend.  He is doing part of a reading, and I was so proud of him when he was practicing.  I thought when he got to the podium that he would freeze and say he couldn't do it, but he did well.  He didn't even rush through when he spoke.  I just hope he stays as calm when the church is full of people next weekend.

And if you are wondering, yes, I am still on track with LOAD (layout a day).  Below are Friday, Saturday, and Sunday's layouts.

Loving the challenge .. loving the inspiration found on the LOAD boards ... loving that I'm actually scrapbooking.

christening layout ...

This is the third "two-page" layout I have created from the pictures taken at Rebecca's Christening in April 2010 (thank you TT for taking so many beautiful pictures).  I have one more "two-page" layout to create from the brunch after the Christening. 

I'm not a big fan of using purple on my pages, but I thought I could pull the colors from my scarf into the layout.  I've been  having fun digging through my scrapbook supplies ... something I haven't done in months.

And now, the questions for today's Fast Fact Friday.

1. If you could be a character in a TV show, who would you be?  (You would live, act, dress like them.)
2. What TV family best describes your family?
3. What was your favorite Saturday morning cartoon as a kid?
4. What reality TV show would you be in (even if you don't watch it)?
5. What was your favorite TV theme song as a kid?

And my answers:

1. Elizabeth Montgomery from Bewitched.  Would love to be able to perform "magic" by twitching my nose.
2. Our family has a lot of same mannerisms as the cast of Everybody Loves Raymond.
3. My favorite Saturday morning cartoon was the Smurfs.  I could sit there for hours and watch the episodes.
4. Big Brother - I watched it when it first came out (don't think it is even on anymore).  There definetely was a lot of drama, but seemed like it would be a fun show to be on.
5. It is definetely a toss up between the theme from the Golden Girls and the theme from Family Ties.

How would you answer the questions?

Enjoy your weekend everyone!

draw for me ...

I love finding things in my scrapbooking stash that I can put on a page.  I've had the "paint" embellishments for quite awhile now, and thought they would add some life to my layout for yesterday's LOAD challenge.

The layout is all about how Nicholas loves to be creative.  He drew the Wimpy Kid character below - it was perfect for my layout! 

I'm so loving getting back in the swing of scrapbooking and can't wait to get home later to create tonight's layout.

one layout complete ...

Just a quick post today to let you know that I completed my first layout for LOAD512 last night ... one layout done, and only 30 more to create. 

Enjoy your evening!

taking the challenge ...

For the past two LOAD (layout a day) challenges, LIFE got in the way and I wasn't able to participate in scrapbooking a layout a day.  It was sad for me knowing that ~60 layouts did not get completed.  I have really been slacking off on scrapbooking lately because the time to sneak away to create pages has been few and far between.

WELL, I signed up for LOAD for MAY and it starts tomorrow.  Why did I decide to particpate this month ... it is because I need to get layouts created for this chocolate-cookie faced girl's book.  

I don't even have the first six month's of her life recorded yet.  I have lots of pictures to scrapbook, but nothing on pages.

I think YOU need to sign up for LOAD too!  Just go here ...http://www.layoutaday.com/load512.

Leave me a message if you are already signed up, or will be signing up.  I would love to follow along with your progress along the way.

crib to bed ...

Earlier this week, I switched Rebecca's crib to a toddler bed.  Now we just have to get her to sleep and stay in it.  She likes to sit in it and play, but getting her to stay in there at night is something we need to work on. 

 

This week's Fast Friday Fact's theme is about numbers.

1. How many pairs of shoes do you own?
2. How many times did you have to take your driver's test before you passed?
3. How many schools did you attend?
4. How many siblings do you have?
5. How many states have you been to?

And my answers.

1. Without actually physically counting them, I would say about 40 pairs.
2. I only had to take my test once.
3. I attended seven schools (from kindergarten through college).
4. I have one brother.
5. I have visited 22 states.  My goal is to visit every state.

Thanks for stopping by ... have a fun-filled weekend!