hmmmm....what to say?

Some of you may have noticed that I have gone two whole days without a blog post. Even when I was "on a break" I didn't go two days without posting at least SOMETHING. There's really no reason for the absence. I'm still here. Reading others' blogs and leaving comments when I can. I just can't figure out what to say.

Over the last week or so, I've been working on lots of little projects. However, I can't really show them to you because I don't want to ruin the surprise for those who will be receiving these things in the mail. What fun is that, right? Don't worry I'll hopefully share sometime at the end of the week or beginning of next.

Things I've been up to these days:

-Mikayla's family birthday party invitations - an idea I saw on Monday and whipped them out because I was so inspired and excited! They'll be in the mail today!

-Easter cards for our family - I don't do Easter cards every year, but after finding some adorable paper at The Paper Zone, I put together a simple little card. Of course, my plan was to include a picture of the kids all dressed up and Easter-y, but then Mikayla fell last Thursday and banged up her lip and scraped her face, so I decided to wait until her "face" healed a bit. Then she fell again on Saturday and scraped her nose. And, well, now it's too late, so I suppose a card with no picture is better than no card and no picture. The cards will be in the mail today!

here's my sweet girl before falling again on Saturday
(it looked worse in person...trust me)

-Mikayla's 3rd birthday photo collage - I started this tradition with Mikayla last year for her 2nd birthday. I can't show you this year's since {say it with me}...it will be in the mail today! But I will show you last year's. It's so surreal to look back and see how much she's grown!!


And just for fun and to make this post a little more exciting, here's Austin's 1st birthday collage...


-playing with my Stampin' Up! stuff - I made a sample card (and then reproduced two more while I was at it) using one of my new stamp sets called One of A Kind. I was inspired by something I saw on Splitcoast Stampers. I've been trying to get everything prepared for an open house and get the invites out. There's so much to think about!!


-lots of walks and enjoying the sun - the weather has been so beautiful this last weekend and on Monday. We were outside a lot and the kids and I took walks around the neighborhood. Mikayla is loving her tricycle, so she always wants to ride her bike any chance she can get! Little does she know she's getting a 3-wheeled scooter for her birthday!

On one of our walks, the kids stopped to pick weeds (or as Mikayla would call it...lettuce).

I like to call this picture "community service".
They would pick weeds and then put them in the
back of her tricycle to haul away.

oh! to be a kid again! Mikayla is using the steps as hopscotch

this is pretty much the only entertainment the kids have in the back yard
we do have a plastic house we bought last summer for $20,
but we really need some outside toys...time to get on Craigslist!!

-a Sunday afternoon trip to the Goodwill - I've been really inspired lately by so many crafty transformations that I thought I would try my luck at our local Goodwill, so while the kids napped and I left Ryan to play a little Wii, I took a quick trip to see if I could find any treasures. I did come away with a brand new in package pink plastic table cover for $.50 and some plastic dishware for Mikayla's tea party for $1.00 which is in the dishwasher as I type. They are cute flower shaped plates and bowls perfect for her little friends.

I also found this...


...for $1.99. You'll just have to wait and see what my plans are for it! I got started on it today, but let me just tell you that spray paint is NOT my friend!

Of course there's more that we've gotten accomplished, like planning my menu for the SECOND WEEK IN A ROW! These last two weeks, I have made this a priority and it has been making a huge difference in my normal headache of dinner preparations. I'm actually enjoying cooking. Gasp!

Hope everyone is having a
great start to your week!

And, don't forget you have until Thursday to get that button project of yours linked up. I'll be choosing a winner from the participants on Thursday night and will reveal the winner and next month's craft challenge on Friday!