Year in Review-May

Celebrating the anniversary of William's birth 14 years ago. Happy May!

Celebrating Family

There is no way that I can think of to spend a long holiday weekend than spending it with family. I had a great time this weekend and can't wait to do it again! I loved playing washers and hanging out. It was very relaxing and a great time to take some photos of family and puppies!

Congratulations!

Congratulations, Patricia on your outstanding achievement! We are all so proud of you. Thanks so much for inviting us all over to join in the celebration! Love you guys!

At the end of the day...

This is what makes it all worthwhile. I shot this on the way home on Sunday night. There is nothing that makes me more thankful for a weekend of fun and relaxation with family than a beautiful Iowa sunset.

Well-except maybe enjoying Mom's garden. The irises and chives are beautiful!

I absolutely love this color!

I'm trying to put another post together-hopefully for Thursday and Friday of our family gatherings over the weekend.

Happy Birthday, William!

Happy 14th William! We love you and are so proud of you. I can't believe you are going to be in high school already! You are growing so fast. Don't forget your old Mom and Dad okay? Congratulations!

Love, Mom and Dad.

Happy Friday!

I have been totally swamped with stuff going on this week, so I will leave you with these. First, is my album for the "Everyone Can Write a Little" class with Cathy Zielske. And second is how I put my Mom's spice jars to use. Yes, Mom-I used every single one of them:) Happy Friday and see you soon!!!

William-almost 14

William. I can't believe he is almost 14. He loves video games. And he is VERY good at them. He is also a little too smart for his own good. I am so proud of him. He is growing up. I know that the years ahead won't always be easy and they will most certainly be challenging. And I hope you stick with your plan to go into one of the branches of Engineering. You are smart enough to do it. Love you. Happy almost Birthday!

Random Weekend Events

#1. Saw Star Trek-it was, quite possibly, the best movie I have ever seen! Seriously, it was that good. Now-keep in mind...I am a bit of a trekkie and I watch the old ones all the time, so I got all of the little inside jokes. It was still awesome. Definitely replaced First Contact as my favorite Star Trek movie. Having a hot Kirk didn't hurt any either...

#2. William is making his Birthday List-so be ready. Complete with hyperlinks that say, "Click here for the magic."

#3. Ralph is looking on. Such a cute puppy....

#4. Bryan is laying on the floor with Tigger.

#5. Playing with Dimensional paint.

#6. Playing with regular paint.

#7. Stock photo of Elizabeth. She was hanging out with friends all weekend. She was supposed to take pictures, but the camera's memory card conveniently died.

Random Stuff

So a few weeks ago I posted about my body-less painting here. I did finally give her some color and a bit of a shape, although she looks like she should work out at the gym to get some muscle on those arms. I still haven't finished the painting-still need to do something with the other side. But there is no rush to finish it. I'm sure something will come to me eventually! Happy Sunday!

Prima {donna downey} Canvas Album Page

I am really proud of this page, so I had to post it as soon as I uploaded the photos. I LOVE this photo of my husband! (taken earlier this week in the back yard and printed on my Epson Stylus Photo 280). The canvas was painted with red paint, then the heart was collaged onto the page (the heart was cut out of an old book that my Mom was going to throw out!)

Then I used a "B" stamp with white paint onto the page with a Making Memories foam alpha stamp. I used my sewing machine to sew some zigzag stitches onto the photo.

I wanted an acrylic heart, but I was out of those, so I found my last large acrylic flower. The button was part of a random set of buttons that I ordered from jenni bowlin's retail site.

Finally-the purple and pink outlining around the heart was done using Portfolio oil pastels. I love the way the page turned out! Happy Saturday!

8th Grade Concert

We have had a child at Roosevelt Middle School for the last 5 years. This will be the last year. Bryan will be going to a different middle school. 8th grade graduation will probably be the last time that we step into RMS for a long time.

On the way home after the concert. Funny story-William actually had a low grade in vocal music last term. It seems that he got kicked off the stage on rehearsal day because he had gum in his mouth. (Imagine that....our William...) Long story short-if you get kicked off the stage on rehearsal day-you don't perform...No one would give him any gum in class after that-he he...

William and his friends are really funny-they sound a LOT alike. William said that everyone was making fun of them because they both dressed up.

I am so proud of you, William. When you aren't shoving your hands in my face you are a lot of fun to be around..

Love,

Mom

P.S. I can't believe that you are graduating from the 8th grade already! I remember the day I held you in my arms for the first time...

Photoshoot

Lesson learned: If you don't want your photo taken constantly, it's probably not a good idea to buy your wife a new camera.

P.S. The camera was an awesome Christmas present. I love it!

Ralph has perfect concentration. His eyes never leave the soccer ball.

Happy Thursday!

Monday-8 Minutes

I had almost an hour from the time I got home from work until the time that I had to leave for a PTA meeting. I was making some pizza rolls for the kids and I glanced out the window to see this beautiful cardinal sitting on the birdbath through the kitchen window. I ran into the living room to grab the camera. I had to take the photo through the window screen, but I was able to take all of these shots in the next 8 minutes.

I was following the cardinal with the camera when he flew down to the ground. That's when I realized that Mrs. Cardinal was eating at the bird feeder. (Amazing since the sparrow family that lives nearby tends to try to chase the cardinals away.)

While I was snapping photos of Mrs. Cardinal, I realized that my iris bloomed while I was at work! So after the birds flew away from the feeder, I ran outside and took photos of the iris.

So Beautiful! That one little flower....

And that was 8 minutes of my Monday. Probably the best 8 minutes....Happy Wednesday!

How I spent My Mother's Day

The view from my bed with the sun streaming in the East window.

My mother's day started on Friday night (because my husband had to work all weekend). I gave him the grocery list and he did my grocery shopping for me during the afternoon. Yay! (P.S. Don't tell him this, but that REALLY would have been enough :) Then he made call ahead seating reservations for 7:00 pm at the Outback Steakhouse. Okay-that really could have gone a lot better-Daughter's exboyfriend (a huge thing when you are 15) was a busboy and kept walking past our table....she was very unhappy...But anyway-I had planned for this great post with a family photo taken in front of the lilac bushes. But you know what? I was tired. I was tired all weekend. And you know what? I'm okay with that. I did take a few shots of Bryan and I laying in bed with Ralph on Sunday morning. It's not exactly what I had in mind...but that's okay.


On Saturday Elizabeth had a State band competition at one of the high schools. I took her and her friend to that, then we did some shopping. Then I came home and slept for 4 hours. (So, so needed this weekend...) And Bryan played me an awesome song on his guitar! It made me cry! I made him play it a second time so I could get a video of it with my camera. I will post that as soon as I figure out how to post videos on Youtube! On Sunday, I did a little work on my Project 365 calendar for May, and I uploaded some photos, and Bryan made me coffee, and a poptart, and bacon and served it to me in bed. Then we watched Scooby Doo on Zombie Island. Then I called Mom and wished her a happy Mother's day! I am so looking forward to spending family time in a couple weeks. A little while later, the kids and I watched my 3rd viewing of Twilight. I LOVE the movie and thought it was very well done. Sarah called and wished me a happy Mother's Day! So happy you are coming home soon, Sari! I spent some time reading some new books that I bought and playing around with some new color combinations for painting. It was a fantastic day and I am so blessed to have my children with me to spend Mother's Day with. And to have a wonderful Mom to call on Mother's Day. Thanks so much for all you put up with when I was a teenager. Wow, Mom! I don't know what to say.... I love you...and I am so sorry....for being a teenager...