Showing posts with label Florida. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Florida. Show all posts

Friday, August 8, 2014

Traditional Layout | Spring Storm

Today I'm sharing a layout that features some really fun patterned paper, a new set of thin chipboard alphas, and a cool photo I took in early June. 

 Starting in May we can get some crazy thunder and lightning storms. And this year they have been almost daily. Usually it's beautiful (and hot!) in the morning and early afternoon, but around 3pm the dark gray clouds roll in and we get tons of rain, thunder, and lightning. I took this picture before running into the house... I didn't want to get completely soaked! 
(Supplies- Bottle Toss, Jubilee kits by Studio Calico.)

I think I need to reapply the "2014" stickers... they look slightly crooked now. That's what happens when I stay up until 2am working on a page! 

(The Pink Paislee Switchboard Alpha is even cuter in person & is the perfect shade of blue-green-gray.)

Thanks for stopping by! 
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Friday, February 15, 2013

Scotty Girl Designs & Karla Dudley Designs | Release Day

A couple of weeks ago I received an e-mail from Shannon (Scotty Girl Designs) asking me to join her creative team! Of course I accepted and I have been working hard to create a few layouts for her release (and Karla Dudley's new release). If you haven't checked out the Pixels and Co. website, I highly recommend it. The designers are fantastic and the gallery is very inspiring!

My first layout uses a new template set by Scotty Girl Designs.

My next layout uses several new Karla Dudley Designs kits: Life 365, Anyday Extras,  Everyday Life Templates, and Stamped Alphas. 

And my final layout features Hello Love, Card Love Set 1, and Anyday Extras Set 1. 

(8x8 Layout)

That is it for me today. Have a fantastic weekend!
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Monday, August 6, 2012

Pool Day

We are celebrating the last two days of summer vacation by sleeping in, playing games, enjoying our patio, and registering Evan for first grade. He has been getting up around 7:30/8:00am the last few weeks, and come Wednesday that is going to change! He will have to be up by 7:00am so he can eat breakfast and get ready for school.

The weather here has been hot, hot, hot, and to stay cool we've been enjoying the pool! Our neighborhood has a nice pool we can use, and we are lucky to have friends who also have a pool. We spent last Thursday cooling off in the Cate's pool, and the kids were in heaven! Evan is my little fish and is also an independent swimmer, which is great because Jack is a reluctant swimmer and takes some coaxing to get into the water. 








Evan can't swim without his swim goggles, but keeping track of his goggles has been a constant struggle this year. I finally told him that his two pairs of goggles are his responsibility, and I'm not buying another pair this year (we've gone through at least 4 pairs). He took my warning very seriously and has not lost a pair since. He has a special place for his goggles and he puts them back after each swim. Way to go, Evan! 

Jack was a little agitated when he first got in the pool. He isn't comfortable in the water and likes to spend 5-10 minutes in, then get out and walk around the pool (which I hate). Anna grabbed her pool seats and blew them up for the kids and Jack *loved* sitting in one! I don't think I've ever seen him so happy in the pool. He called it his "boat" and happily floated around the pool for a long time. 

Only two more days of summer for us! I am looking forward to the routine of having Evan and Jack in school, but I really do love having them home during the summer. 

Thanks for stopping by! 
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Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Lego Land, Florida

A few weeks ago we took a mini-vacation to Orlando and Lego Land with Mark's parents. The kids love amusement parks, and I had heard really good things about Florida's newest theme park. We had a wonderful time, and despite the heat, enjoyed our day at the park. Jack especially enjoyed going on rides. He just hit 36 inches (with shoes on), so he could go on a quite a few rides this trip... even some by himself! He looked so little compared to the bigger kids on the rides, but he loved it. 


Jack wanted a blue Angry Bird painted on his face.

And Evan wanted a red bird... he really liked it, so I'm not sure why he is so serious!









I am still taking care of a very sick 6-year-old, so I better run. Poor kid cannot get over a nasty cold/flu. We are off to the doctor tomorrow to make sure he doesn't have something more serious (Mark mentioned bronchitis...).

Have a great week!
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Sunday, April 8, 2012

Happy Easter!


Happy Easter! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. I'm exhausted so today's blog post is in bullet form:

* This picture was not taken today... my Easter pictures are still on my camera and I am too tired to export them onto my external hard drive. Maybe tomorrow! But it's a cute picture, isn't it? Evan's new basketball hoop is getting a lot of use & Mark even taught Evan how to play HORSE.

* Jack refers to my office as mommy's "worker room". Apparently Rocket took his hippo into my office and Jack was very upset. He called to me from his crib "Mommy! Hippo is in your worker room!".

* Easter morning was crazy. Completely crazy. Evan woke up super early to play the Easter Bunny in our living room, then he and Mark scattered the rest of the eggs outside. We got Jack up and the two boys ran around collecting eggs. We haven't told Ev or Jack about the Easter Bunny being real (or Santa Clause for that matter), so Evan took over that role. He *really* got into it! And Jack was a maniac, running around stuffing eggs into his basket as fast as he could.

* By 10:30am the boys were so hopped up on sugar they were running around the living room shouting "I LOVE YOU GRANDMA AND GRANDPA" while Mark and I each talked to our parents. They. Were. CRAZY! Too much sugar and too much energy = wild and crazy boys.

* By 1:00pm Jack was having a full on meltdown and Evan was pouting. Their sugar high turned into a sugar crash, and they were both cranky.

* I know I've said it before, but I am so grateful for the friends we have made here. We had company over last night and again tonight, and it reminded me of our revolving door of friends & neighbors in Pullman. So much laughter. And cupcakes. :-)

* Jack had his first swim lesson of the new session on Tuesday. This month he is swimming in the pre-school class and not in the mommy and me class. I want him to get used to taking directions from another adult, and interact with other kids his age. He loves swim & is really enjoying his twice-per-week class. His instructor made the comment "wow, he sure talks a lot!". Yes, yes he does.

* Evan has been working on mastering the first grade reading list recently. When I tested him on those words in December, he knew all but 24 of the words (the list has about 160 words on it). When I re-tested him last week he knew all but 3 words. When I told him that I am so proud of his improvement he shrugged his shoulders and said "Now I get to learn the 2nd grade word list!". The kid is a sponge! He loves to learn and is doing exceptionally well in school.

That's it for me tonight. Have a great week!
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Thursday, December 29, 2011

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. We had a wonderful low-key day, which was exactly what I wanted this year. On Christmas Eve Evan asked me how early he was allowed to get up Christmas morning, and I told him 7am. He was in our room at 7:14am then next morning, ready to open presents! Santa was really good to the kids this year and brought them each a tablet (one LeapPad & one Innotab), plus an adorable wheelbarrow for Jack & a gears set for Evan.



Mark and I purchased a dress-up box for Jack this year. The only disappointment is when he has to take his costume off for nap time. Jack-Jack has mastered the Pouty Face. :-)

Evan received quite a few board games this year, including Zingo, Twister, a Hopscotch mat, I Spy Quest, I Spy Flipster, and Operation.



We have played many, many rounds of Twister so far. Evan is pretty flexible and does a great job following directions, but half the fun for him is getting twisted up on the mat and purposely falling over.

And I had to post this picture of Rocket. I was working in my office when Mark took this picture, and it cracks me up. I'm not even sure how Rocket got in this position, let alone stayed there.


My three boys. This is my favorite picture of the week... all (mostly) smiling, happy, and thrilled to be spending some time together.

Jack and I spent most of the day in and out of doctor's offices, so I'm exhausted. Have a wonderful weekend!
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Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Fall Baseball 2011

I know I was supposed to post photos of Evan's Thanksgiving play and feast, but I thought I would post a few baseball photos first. Evan's season came to an end on Saturday, and he loved every minute of it. He was enthusiastic, energetic, and so happy to be out on the field every Saturday. When his coach, Jackie, announced the his award at the banquet, Evan was given the Best First Baseman Award. He was thrilled to receive a huge trophy for his efforts. I will need to retake some photos of Evan with his trophy, however. The awards banquet was crowded and dim, and I didn't do a very good job of getting photos of him with his trophy.

His first hit of the game.

Running to first base after a hit.

Another hit, later in the game.

Between innings I ran onto the field to get this picture of Mark and Evan. Mark helps direct traffic during the game, and I am so proud of him for donating him time to Evan's team.

Lining up to give high fives after the game. Our little team played great, but they were very anxious start the awards banquet. Our coach brought cupcakes!

Evan really enjoyed his first baseball experience and he has already asked me to sign him up for another season. We are so proud of him!

Goodnight!
Erin.
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Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Happy Halloween!

Evan decided a few weeks ago he wanted to be a robot, and I asked Mark to create an awesome robot costume for him. I would say Mark was successful. He received a ton of compliments & Evan loved it. The red LED lights were great, too!

Evan picked out the color for Mark to paint his robot:


How cute is that?!? We already had the silver basketball shorts & a gray t-shirt. Evan slipped the robot over his head and stuck his arms out the side. He was a bit of a hazard because he couldn't see where he was walking, but I helped guide him down the sidewalk.


My little monkey, Jack, thought Ev's costume was "very silly". Evan is sitting inside the robot... he could fit his whole body in there!



I love this picture b/c all that is visible of Evan is his left hand:



Before trick or treating around our neighborhood, we did a little trick or treating at Publix. I was expecting there to be a lot of kids, but we were the only ones.



The LED lights on Evan's costume were really bright at night. I still can't believe mark put this costume together... I am so proud of him! It looked awesome, and more than one parent said they would love to be able to create such an amazing costume.


I need to hide the candy before the kids find it in the morning... they both ate a ton of it tonight! Jack kept asking Daddy for "another treat?" and "another treat?". He is a big fan of Halloween!

Have a wonderful week!
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Monday, October 3, 2011

A few more baseball photos

Evan is completely in love with baseball. He looks forward to games, loves wearing his batting helmet, and shrieks "YES!!" when I tell him he gets to go to baseball after school. He is obsessed! And super enthusiastic. I must admit I'm pretty pleased that he inherited the Mitchel Sports Gene. :-)


Mark is one of the volunteer coaches and helps out on the field and when the kids are batting.


Look at that concentration! Or is he annoyed that his mama is pointing the camera at him (again)?


This little guy loves watching Evan play baseball, but keeping him happy during the game is a little tricky. I am not below bribing him... usually juice and teddy grahams does the trick!

Have a wonderful week, friends!
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Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Terri & Jayden

This past week has been so much fun for us because our friends, Terri and Jayden, flew from Washington to Florida. I have known Terri for 15 years, and her adorable granddaughter, Jayden is one of Evan's good friends. We had a ton of things planned during their stay, including a trip to Magic Kingdom, the beach, eating out, trips to the pool, a couple of photo sessions, and lots of squeals from the kids (and a few tears, too).

I have a ton of photos from the past week to share, but I am currently uninstalling Photoshop CS4, and reinstalling CS5 & Lightroom, so I can't edit any of them. My hard drive is also full, and I need to move a ton of photos off my MacBook and onto the server. For now I am going to post a few camera photos I took last week. Hopefully I will have all my computer issues figured out within the next couple of days & I can edit and post some better quality photos. I used the app Vignette for all the photo effects and borders.

Our first stop after picking them up at the airport: dinner @ TGI Fridays.

Walking into Magic Kingdom. I love that they are holding hands! So cute.

I took Evan and Jayden on Splash Mountain, and they wanted me to take pictures of everything... including the Slippin' Falls sign right before the 50 foot plunge.

At the bottom of Splash Mountain.

The kids were really well behaved despite the heat and humidity. And they didn't mind smiling for the camera. :-)

We had lunch at the Crystal Palace. It was a nice break from the heat, and the kids loved meeting Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, and Piglet.


This photo was taken right before we left the park. Jack was so exhausted because he didn't have a nap, but he did really well considering.


Evan was so hot and tired by the end of the day! But I know he had a great time at Magic Kingdom.


Ice cream @ the mall. Evan picked triple chocolate, and Jayden had a snickers ice cream cup.

It was a wonderful trip and the perfect way to end our summer vacation. Thanks for the visit, Terri and Jayden! We miss you already!

Only six more days until my little boy starts Kindergarten. I think I need to buy a few boxes of kleenex. :-)
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