Monday, October 31, 2011

Happy Halloween!

From Wonder Woman, Sleeping Beauty, and a baby pirate.



SHE--LOVED her costume. And got a lot of compliments on it. She also did a great job with her manners while Trick or Treating, adding "Have a good evening" as she walked away from most houses. That always got a chuckle from the homeowner.

SHE--was just so excited to get to wear her long pink hair again. But Bibbity Bobbity Boutique I am not. She didn't care though. It was long and it swung when she twirled. She also had great manners, and started challenging her sister, "Race ya" as they approached the early houses.

And HE--discovered and totally worked the whole "hey I'm a cute pirate, gimme me some candy" act. Really. When we left him in the stroller, he twisted and turned and fussed until he got out. He KNEW they were giving away candy and that he was being left out. So he worked the cuteness. That boy's gonna be trouble.

Hope you had a Happy Halloween too!

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Disney favorites

Like I said in my previous post, we had a blast at Disney. If you can spare me just a moment, here are some of my favorite highlights.

Of course we met characters. We ended up meeting all of the Princesses, which as a big priority. The only one we didn't see and get an autograph from was Pocahontas. She's only at Animal Kingdom and we missed her the half day we were there. :(



Prince Eric was my favorite meet-n-greet. He actually walked up to us while we were in line because the little girls in front of us were afraid of him. Caroline just so happened to be eating some ice cream when he walked up and took the spoon from her. He pretended to eat the bite, but then fed it to her instead. And he didn't stop his antics there when it was our turn to meet him and Ariel. After signing her book and posing for the obligatory photo, he knelt down, pointed to the camera, and told her he had a secret. As he leaned in to whisper in her ear he actually gave her a kiss on the cheek instead and boy was she caught off guard! She turned SO BRIGHT RED! It was too cute really, and now she can say she's been kissed by a prince! :D Lucky for me, I have it all caught on camera. A layout will be coming soon to a blog near you.

There were character meals. This is all of us at Chef Mickeys for breakfast.

And there were plenty of rides!


And I declare NOW that her daddy will teach her how to drive! lol! We zigzagged all OVER that track! But we laughed so hard that my cheeks hurt by the end of it. Well worth the whiplash in my opinion.

And if it looks like I only rode with Caroline, it's because that's partly true. Sarah Kate insisted on riding with Daddy or Aunt Katie every. single. time. I gave her a hard time about it though. ;) Also, I'M in a lot of these pics because Josh doesn't "do" the rides. If it spins, twirls, or anything like that, he's a no go. He DID let his oldest talk him in to riding the Thunder Mountain Railroad roller coaster with her. And he survived. :) What a good Daddy!

There were posed, candid, and staged shots too.
At Animal Kingdom

I had to shoot quick to get this one.
That boy would NOT wear his ears!

Mr. Charming with his princesses

after the Nemo ride at Epcot

while waiting to enter the Magic Kingdom
I wish McClain hadn't been asleep. :(
But I didn't have the heart to wake him.

And of course the girls loved the Bippity Bobbity Boutique. They both chose the same hair style with hair extentions. SK's were pink that happened to glow-in-the-dark. Caroline's matched her own hair color so she really did resemble Belle a little bit.

Overall, a great trip full of wonderful memories!


Thanks for letting me share!


Friday, October 28, 2011

Cards a Bella

This past week while we were away I had several cards up on the Bella Blvd. blog. Here's a recap. The first 3 are from the adorable "Too Cute to Spook" line.

This first one was a quick one, I wish now I'd added more to it. BUT it's the one that will actually fit in an envelope, so I'm going to leave it as is and mail it. ;)

This one has a LOT of dimension on it. I used chipboard clouds and tombstone, and pop-dotted the mummy and more clouds. I had lots of fun making this one into a scene.

And my dear Frank may just be my favorite. I made him using the green journaling spot, some Sophisticates black zeros and negative spaces, then made the bow tie out of some purple pp. Last I added the sentiment. I summoned my inner Rhett Butler and really wanted to add the "m'dear" to it, but it just didn't fit. oh well. I still like him. ;)

And then these next 2 are from the new releases "Spring Flings and Easter Things" and "Winter Wonder". They're both sooo cute! I really love the colors in both. ;) These 2 new releases started shipping on Monday.



I made the origami leaves using a tutorial from Kelly Goree's blog, tucked them behind a popped up flower, and used strips of paper and stickers to make the rest. I really love the bright happy colors of this line. Soooo easy to use for any occasion really.

And then as a little play on words, I used the fun little XOXO sticker tag to add more hugs and kisses to the sweet sentiment.

Well, that's about it for me. Now on top of everything else, me and a couple of the kiddos are sick. :( Hoping we get better quickly!

Happy late Friday everyone!


Thursday, October 27, 2011

There's no place like home.

That's for sure! And I think my first "I'm thankful for" might just be that I'm thankful for my home--where I can wear sweatpants and house shoes in the middle of the day if I want--because I still am ;) I've been a bum today because we've just returned home from the "Happiest Place on Earth" aka Disney World. And while we had an incredible time, really we did, I'm exhausted. ;) I have SO many pictures and wonderful memories I want to share. But they'll have to wait another day or so. I'm still trying to recover.

Here's one I WILL share--I can't say it's my absolute favorite, but it's definitely up there at the top.

The girls had just been to the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique for some styling and hair extensions. I had to laugh when they both picked the same hair style and it included long hair. Sarah Kate was especially excited about it. She kept swinging it around and twirling around exclaiming, "Look at my LOOONG hair!" hee! She's too cute! I think she stayed in front of the mirror admiring her hair for at least 10 minutes. She really loved the makeover. ;)

Well, that's it for me today.

Happy whatever-day-it-is!


Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Good to the last drop!

This weekend I found myself alone with a quiet house and so I thought I'd try and eek out an extra project or two with the October kit from My Scrapbook Nook. And when I say eek out, I mean I'm talking remnants. One sheet of patterned paper and some strips were all I could salvage, but I used them to make this layout by following this month's My Mind's Eye sketch. (Too bad I forgot that it had to be Fall themed. poo!)

"My Boy"


And then I had just enough to
create a "Thank You" card too.

For the card I used Danni's sketch,
which you can see here.

As you might can tell this kit made me fall in love with brads all over again. I think I used 6 on the layout and 2 more on the card. Those plus the ones on my other projects, and I'm officially hooked on brads again! They're so easy to use! And the ones from MME that come with the kit are layered so it makes them doubly fun to use!

Anyway, I just wanted to have a quick share. I'm up to my eyeballs in laundry and packing for our big trip coming up. More on that later though . :)

Have a happy Tuesday!


Saturday, October 15, 2011

A Saturday sketch

Hey there everybody! I've got a quick card to share with you today because today's the first Saturday sketch that's is up on the Bella Blvd. blog.

Here's the card I made using the sketch.

I used the super cute new mid-season release, "Spring Flings and Easter Things" collection. I love all the bright colors and fun touches of whimsy in this line! To see the sketch and the full reveal check out this post on the Bella Blvd. blog.

Hope you're having a happy Saturday! It's so beautiful here today. Honestly, we've been lazy, which has been nice, and I've found myself engrossed in a book. I need to finish it so I can watch the football game a little later on tonight. Ahhh Saturdays in the Fall. Don'tcha just love them?
I certainly do! :)

Happy Saturday to you! :D


Thursday, October 13, 2011

Transforming

With the onset of Kindergarten this year, I've been noticing that Caroline's interests are changing. Actually it's hard NOT to notice. hehe! Lately she's decided that she's not into in princesses or fairies anymore, but instead it's superheroes. And all things pertaining to superheroes.

So of course when we went to the Autumn Children's Festival last Sunday she chose to have her face painted like Spiderman. And I was able to snap a few shots. What totally cracks me up is that she's in her Sunday dress, cute little bow to match, and then there's the bright red painted face. It TOTALLY cracked me up! And you should've heard some of the comments from the passersby. Too funny! But she loved it and was beaming most the afternoon until the paint dried and started to crack. Then she said it felt itchy and couldn't wait to get it off.

"Transforming into Spidey"
Products used: Fancy Pants patterned paper and transparency, My Mind's Eye brads, Making Memories glitter and mini alphas

For the journaling I went a tad bit deeper. It reads, "At first it was just the subtle change of your favorite color from pink to red. Then it was dinosaurs and now it's superheroes. You've changed in a lot of ways this year, transforming in to a little girl who's uniquely herself, transforming in to Spiderman."

And so things are transforming in to Spidey around here too. Although she insisted on NOT being SpiderGirl for Halloween, but is most currently obsessed with Diana Prince aka Wonder Woman. And she really IS cute in her costume. If only I could get her to slow down long enough to get a picture of her in it. She's too busy zooming around saving the world. LOL! :)

Happy Friday, y'all!
Thank goodness for Friday! :D


Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Wordless Wednesday: happenings lately edition







That would be a couple of "Goodbye Summer" pics, the Autumn Children's Festival, and the 3 Sisters Bluegrass Festival downtown.

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Sunday, October 9, 2011

How 'bout a little sunshine?

First of all, thank you so much for all of your sweet comments on my last post. It really means a lot to me that you all are so supportive. Thank you.

So on a happier note, this past week I received my October kit from My Scrapbook Nook and spent almost all weekend with some creative therapy. It was a nice way to think, reflect, and just dive in to some projects. One of the DT members even referred to this kit as "sunshine in a box" and it was just what I needed. A little sunshine. And I'd like to share some of what I made.

"Fond Memory"


"Adore Sisterhood"


"Our Fellas"

and one card,
"Oh happy day"

And so that's a little bit of how I spent my weekend. These came together really easily, and actually every time I tried to clean up my space I'd shift around items from the kit and I'd get another idea. ( I didn't neglect my family and hole away in my little space just so you know. ) But I do have 2 more cards that are in progress, and I have a TON of product leftover! I never knew how much really came in these kits, but it's A LOT! You may be seeing a little more "sunshine" from me!

Hope you had a fabulous weekend! And thank you again for your kind comments.