Summer's just begun.

I'm getting a feel for how this summer is going to go, and I like it. So far, we've been spending rainy/super hot days inside. The boys are playing wii, making tents, building with legos, playing board games, dressing up or watching movies. Popular movies so far are Madagascar, Harry Potter, Shark Boy and Lava Girl, and Pirates of the Carribbean. Their favorite wii games have been the dance ones, and Super Mario, which they have sucked dad into playing as well. Hunter sings the songs from the wii dance game all day, even when the tv has long since been turned off. Hunter was beside himself with joy over having 22 lives on Mario. They have made ships, guys, towns, and vehicles with the legos. They have also spent some time coloring, using colored pencils, and have been asking me to draw them outlines of various things so they can color them in. I have made sketches of their favorite stuffed animals, and a pirates treasure.

But when weather permits we are outside; they have already broken one pool. We picked up a slip and slide today. They have water gun fights. The boys made gnome gardens this week, too. Grandma sent them the gnomes. I made the arbors, and they picked out the other stuff, including the plants.
This one is Ben's.

 This one is Hunter's.

Ben is also growing carrots in addition to his cacti and succulents; Hunter is growing pumpkins.

When we are outside you can most likely find the boys have their sunglasses on. I can hardly get Hunter wear a shirt at all. Ben has been trying to fit reading time in, although Hunter barely lets him. Both boys are playing baseball, and doing really well.

Ben reading by the pond.

Happy Summer!

Today

I have been so moody the last couple years days! My poor kids. They haven't been angels, but even the slightest thing and I'm howling. Lately I've had to repeat myself 3-4 times for simple things like turning the TV off when they are done with a wii game, or not leaving their shoes in the middle of the walkway. Summer, and spending every waking minute with each other, is sinking in fast.
Dad comes home in a few shorts days, and I'm sure I'll have a smile on my face... and possibly the keys to the car in my hands.

The highights of my day did not include:
-stepping in dog poo in a flip flop
-dragging my hand through algae and sludge to stand up the pond fountain that keeps tipping over
-vacuuming a seemingly endless trail of dog hair that pervades every room of the house
-finding my freshly dried bed sheets on the line getting rained on
-learning that apparently cat vomit is irresistable to ants (who knew?)
-finding the dog chewing on the ant bait
-having a scheduled water shut off for neighborhood construction, so half the house smelled like excrement half the day
-learning Ben sticks his finger in the ceiling fan to make Hunter laugh
-avoiding a buzzing bug of some sort I poured chocolate banana smoothie down the back of my shirt and walked around with it on my back for a while thinking the cool sensation was my sweaty shirt
-Despite tracking every morsel and caloric sip I put into my mouth I gained 2 lbs. In the history of all the times I've done weight watchers I have never gained more than .2lbs when I'm honestly tracking. What gives?
Or, how about the other day when the blender exploded? Totally don't wanna talk about it...
Let's focus on the positive, shall we? Highlights of today did include, but are not limited to:
-that smoothie was delicious
-I had a delicious mango that only cost me $.68 @ Walmart
-I planted lettuce & zinnia seeds that were $.10 at Menards

-the kids and I cuddled and watched the new episode of Good Luck Charlie, laughing and happy
-I walked around my neighbors yard with her and admired her lilies and hostas
-I took a hot shower and the clean towels were still warm from the dryer
-Soon I'll be going to bed in those line dried clean sheets, my favorite
-I found an old barely used Lavender Yankee Candle and burned it all day
-I got to have an actual conversation with Theo, uninterupted by any of the people who need him constantly
-Despite temps in the upper 90's, the deep watering I did yesterday held up throughout the yard
-My blender did not explode
-One of my favorite dahlias, Arabian Night, opened up:

-I made this curtain for our side door for right around $2.

-I fancied myself the wife of the man in the Toby Keith song, and put up some 4th of July decorations. Nothing crazy. Well okay, this huge Uncle Sam wind sock is pretty crazy- so he's on the back porch. Gotta admit, when he blows in the wind and turns his face in the sliding glass door its a lotta creepy.

I seriously wrestled these "bunting" lights forEVER, and finally said, frick it, and twisted them into a garland of sorts. I put em' in the play room over the back door.

 Put one of these by the side door. I want more of these... but this was from another year.

The flag banner I made (possibly last year?) is in the dining room.

 And this old thing I painted a million year ago is on our garage door.

Happy Summer!

Let's just call this a scrap marathon.

Sometimes, when I get going, I can't stop. I'm like this with a lot of things. Cookies. Buying yarn. Gardening. Obviously this warrants further analysis... In this particular circumstance, its not so bad. I'm catching up on my scrapbooking, cranking out decent, presentable, fun little layouts that tell the stories I want to tell. And its making missing my husband a little less painful. Bonus.

Still sticking to the them of using up my supplies. If you scrapbook, and you have not started a scarp basket- do it now. I started mine years ago. I keep every shred of paper that doesn't get used in the basket and pull from it when I'm looking for a little flair. In these circumstances below I'm using mostly scraps. It feels like quilting.

 And how great is it that I'm actually remembering to take pictures of the layouts and share them with you?

Pat. On. The. Back.

Enjoy!

Happy scrapping.

I can still work a glue runner.

Seems like it has been ages since I scrapbooked. I know I had all the stuff our sometimes this winter, and maybe even for a week this spring, but I'm still scrapping pictures from 2010 if that tell you anything.

With Army borrowing my husband for a bit, I decided to completely cover the dining room table in paper scraps and glitter. It has been very rewarding thus far- there are few things I love more than telling my kids' and husbands' stories through scrapbooking.

The theme here is using my stash- I have too many sticker sheets with one or two stickers left; too many pieces of paper in the scrap basket; too many old unused products that need thinning.

Here's a little Ben lego layout love. Notice how none of the papers match at all? I think the black background and quirky colletion of stickers, paired with the colorful picture pull it all together. I hand cut the heart.

Pictures of Theo as the coach of the t-ball team! Using these sunshine yellow journaling cards and some old baseball papers.

The first rodeo the boys ever saw, using old rodeo papers and scraps:

I have had these cheesey red star brads forever, and I took a nail file to them to create a distressed look. Love how it turned out.

Perhaps my favorite layout of the week so far is this one with a single photo of my Theo and me. I used mostly scraps and some pastel paisley paper I was one step away from throwing out. I used an incredible layout from GlueStickGirl as inspiration for this scraplift. Again, none of the papers really match at all, but they are so random together it just works for me.

Happy scrapping!

Gotta Love a Parade! AND Smores!

Last year we didn't make it to the annual parade in our town; Theo was on crutches or wheelchair from major foot surgery, and we decided not to try and get into downtown. So, this year we were excited! Our old town had a nice parade, and we never missed it- I'm happy to report this parade was just as great. The kids were most excited to get the candy that literally tossed from every angle! Here the boys are sitting with their neighbors, Frederick and Elanore. So cute they all are!

 Ben's seriously goofy smile.

 Great old cars with wonky horns.

 Classics.

 Neat old firetruck.

 This marine on the bottom left made my day. He was tough as nails, and so serious. I'd send him to war right now.

Lots of neat band uniforms.

Cute lions!

More cute shots of the kids.,

 Oh, Ben. Gross.

And we finished the night with a bonfire and smores with the neighbors. Darn near perfect evening!

Happy Summer!

I decoupaged my weight watcher's journal.

I've been using this ugly plain canvas journal for tracking my weight watcher's points for the year- on /off of course. It was getting ugly; a little spilled coffee, pen smudges... Yesterday I decided to make it pretty. I'm still only have way through it, afterall. And I like pretty things.

I'm determined to stay as motivated as possible. I've been in this visious 2 weeks on track, 4 weeks off track cycle all year resulting in the gaining and losing the same 12 or so pounds over and over. Feeling like a hamster on a wheel, and I'm tired of it. So, I grabbed an inspirational quotation from an old stack of rub ons, some feminine paper, and some appropriate stickers and revitalized my tracking journal. I am so happy with how it turned out! Here is the front and back, laid flat:

This is the front. The sticker in top left hand corner says, "Worth it."

Here is the back:

I'm 15-point-something pounds down, and on track again. Now hopefully I'll have some great weight loss news to report soon.