First Christmas

Supplies Used: Doodle Flakes, Festive Borders, Gouache Painte Strokes, Seaglass Acrylic Alpha - Nancie Rowe Janitz; Baker's Twine, Wishy Washi Tape (Skies are Grey) - Splendid Fiins; Photocuts Overlays v.1 - Carina Gardner; These Moments At Christmas Journaling Cards - Elle's Studio; Beige Like Me Paper Pack - One Little Bird Design

Christmas 2010 wasn't exactly the best Christmas ever. It should have been - it was Carter's first Christmas ever, and we were all excited about surprising little David with his much-anticipated train table. We even had a gorgeous white blanket of snow fall over the holiday, something that rarely ever happens here. We forgot, however, to ask Santa for a germ-free Christmas. A few days before the family arrived Carter got really sick with the flu and some kind of stomach bug and spent days throwing up and subsisting on nothing but Pedialyte. On top of that my sister-in-law's boyfriend and I both got food poisoning on Christmas Eve and spent most of the evening hugging the toilet or laying prone on the bed. We managed to drag ourselves out of bed for Christmas morning, but ended up cancelling the traditional Christmas dinner with my family.  Not the greatest celebration, but after the year we had in 2010 it was sort of like....the (sour) icing on the cake. At least we all were together to share the "joy"!

Swimming Lessons

Supplies Used: Splash Kit - Echo Park; Photocuts Masks v.6 - Carina Gardner; Splatters Vol.3 - liv.Edesigns; Water Drops No.1 - Anna Aspnes; Digital Date Stamps No.21 - Katie Pertiet

David took swimming lessons at the Y this year. Each time he was a bit hesitant before the lesson but always ended up enjoying himself by the end. It's so entertaining to watch a group of young children who are thrown together for the first time. They are generally so quick to accept each other and ALWAYS happy to have new playmates!

Moments

Supplies Used: Still Life Kit - One Little Bird Design; Photocuts Overlays v.1 - Carina Gardner

Moments like this make me so happy to be a mother. These are the ones to cherish.

Wild

Supplies Used: Wild Life Paper Pack - Ki Memories; Printed Tickets Expressions - Jenni Bowlin; Framed: Postage Stamp Pack - Pink Paislee; Paint It Up Vol 1, Needs + Wants: Eyelets Galore #1 - livE.designs; Plentiful Kit - Shabby Princess; Between the Lines Messy Alpha - Katie Pertiet

We visited the Natural Science Center in March, along some of our family visiting from out of town. Honestly, if I had been there before I really didn't remember it - too bad considering we had a great time! We're so lucky to have such an awesome place so close by. The kids loved looking at the animals, and of course the giant Tyrannosaurus Rex was a big hit!

Boy to the Rescue

Supplies Used: A Boy's Life Kit, Little Boy Kit - Echo Park; Paint Swashes Vol. 3 - liv.Edesigns; Photo Masks 12 Inch Sets - Carina Gardner; Metro Kit - One Little Bird Design; Digital Date Stamps Vol. 21 - Katie Pertiet

The kids love going to the children's museum downtown. They have all sorts of exhibits set up that encourage imaginative role play. One of the exhibits is a real fire engine, firefighter equipment, and a "hose". David really got into it, pretending to drive, to spray the hose, and even giving his best "tough firefighter" face.

Sunflower

Supplies Used: Smudge It Up Vol.1, Nature's Canvas Paper Pack - liv.Edesigns; Watercolor Masks - Nancie Rowe Janitz; All Scratched Up Borders - One Little Bird Designs

This year my son brought a sunflower seedling home from school. As it happened, I had an empty spot in the garden, so we plopped it in. I've been amazed at watching what was actually TWO separate seedlings grow and grow and GROW and finally blossom into a cheerful cacophony of flowers. Sunflowers are truly a wonder to grow - the stems are very strong, in fact my sunflower supported a cucumber vine for a while until the vine produced its fruit, then died. The flowers are still coming and coming, as are the honeybees, who LOVE visiting these plants.If you've never grown sunflowers before I highly recommend it!

The photo technique used on this page came from this tutorial.