what were you doing...

...2 years ago!

That's what my friend Tammy asked when she decided to start a tag on her blog - What were you doing 2 years ago to this very day? (or at least as close as you can get)

Well, I don't know about me personally, but I know my sweet little Mikayla was taking her first steps at just about 13 months. After looking at these pictures taken on June 3, 2007, the memory of that day came flooding back. She had just taken her first few steps the day before, so she was very new to this walking thing. I remember we had just come home from church and decided that we would let her try out her new trick outside. It was a gorgeous day, so I grabbed the camera and just started snapping. It was so fun to capture this new feat on camera and watch her try to master this new skill.

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Now, it's my turn to tag FIVE of my blog readers asking them this same question - What were you doing 2 years ago to this very day? (or at least as close as you can get) Share some photos and your memories of that day 2 years ago. Add it to your blog so all of us can see your answer and then tag FIVE more people to keep the ball rolling.

Mimi @ He & Me + 3
Kelli @ Random Thoughts of a Super Mom
Jen @ Tator Tots & Jello
Xazmin @ This is the Year
Emily @ Powell Power

Can't wait to see what you all were up to!
And, of course whoever else wants to play along, please do! Let me know and I'll come visit to see what you have to share. It's actually kind of fun to look back a little and reminisce. Thanks, Tammy, for stirring up the fun memory!

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My friend Kim and I went to the Zoo yesterday...I can't wait to share some of the pictures of our morning out, but here's one to whet your appetite!

Oh, if only they were always this sweet. *wink*

craft it forward

Awhile back I participated in a game called "Pay It Forward" that Heidi at Tayterjaq's Rebels was playing on her blog. A month or so ago (I'm a bit behind...sorry!), I received these goodies in the mail!


And now it is my turn to pay it forward...

There are many different versions of this that I have seen lately, but I'm going to stick with the version I "signed up" for, but I'm going to bend the rules just a bit and instead of just paying it forward, I'm going to CRAFT it forward.

Here are the rules:
1) Be one of the first THREE bloggers to comment on this post.
2) You then agree to share your snail mail address with ME (leave me your e-mail in the comment and I'll contact you) so I can send you a small gift handmade by ME (lucky you!)
3) When you receive your gift, you then blog about this game & link back to my blog in that post.
4) And most importantly, you ALSO AGREE to "craft it forward" (or just pay it forward if you'd rather) and send a small gift to the 3 people who comment on your blog post...

Make sense?

So, let's play!!

Who's it gonna be??

**Remember NOT to post about this game until AFTER you have received your gift (but you might want to do it a little sooner than I did!)...

reliving the good old days!

I ALWAYS come through on a challenge...even if it takes me two weeks to do it! Reason? I had to hunt down the picture to fulfill this challenge and it was at my parents' house that I don't visit often since they are not currently living there right now while they are in Alaska. OK...enough of the excuses!

Xazmin at This is the Year tagged me to participate in the "PROM TAG". Really she just wanted to get back at me for the last tag I made her do. But, it's all in fun, so I'm on board. To make a long story short (and in an effort to avoid the emotional distress of my high school dating years)...I didn't even go to my prom! But, being the good sport that I am, I am still playing along and dug up the ONE dance I did go to in high school!

So the rules of the tag are this:

1) Leave me a comment guessing which year this photo was taken...(yes the wrong guess might hurt our friendship...kidding, of course...I can't be that old!) I will post the correct year in a few days after guesses come in...so guess away!

2) If I TAG you...DIG up your old Prom picture (or any dance will do as is what I did), post it and let us guess the date, too.

~If you are married to your Prom date let us know!

~If you are not...try to post a Prom picture of your Prom & a second picture of your husband's prom too...let us know where each of your dates are now...and their relationship status!! (and of course YOU are way cuter than his Prom date!)

~If you are single...let us know where your Prom date is now!

3) I am gonna TAG five people...and then those taggers need to keep it going by tagging 5 other people.

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Like I said before, I didn't go to my prom (I was never asked! Can you believe that? We won't get into that.) This picture was taken the night of our high school's Valentine's Day dance. Is there really such a thing? Maybe that's why I'm not all dressed up in formal attire.


Obviously my date (we'll call him K.V.) and I were not dating as you can tell by the great distance in between us. We went to the same youth group together and were pretty good friends, so it wasn't too uncomfortable when he asked me to go as "friends". I worked for his parents all through high school. I was told quite often that I would make a great daughter-in-law...but it never happened. He is now married with 2 kids living with his wife and family in Japan. I still run into his mom every now and then and get an occasional update on what he is up to.

I asked hubby where HIS prom picture was...and he has no idea, so I will spare him the agony of plastering his high school picture on my blog and not make him call up his parents to try to find it. We'll let that one slide...

I guess that wasn't too bad. Now it's your turn! I never know if tagging people makes them roll their eyes or if they're all for it! Playing tag isn't for everybody and that's OK! All the ladies that I KNOW would play along have already been tagged, so...I'm going to take a stab at it and tag:

Katie at A Listmaker's Life
Katie at Katie's Nesting Spot
Hillary at A Beautiful Life
Shelby at Schweri Stories
Kelli at Random Thoughts of a Supermom

And one more tag for good measure:
Kim at Caldwell Cuties

No hurt feelings if you don't do it...promise!

And, no, mom...you aren't allowed to guess! You either, sis!

eight is enough

My new blogging buddy, Tanielle (who, I'm surprised still likes me after making her "keep it real" the other day) tagged me to play along in sharing a little bit about me. I don't know if there is a name for this tag, but I'll call it Eight is Enough.

8 Things I Am Looking Forward To:

1. Easter egg hunt this Saturday
2. Mikayla's birthday parties - one for family & one for her little girlfriends
3. seeing one of my best friends (who currently lives in Maine) at the end of April
4. my first ever Stampin' Up! open house
5. beautiful weather so the kids can play outside
6. my DVR'd shows (I'm way behind!!)
7. all day scrapbooking
8. having my parents around again (unfortunately not until December!)

8 Things I Did Yesterday:

1. made stuffed french toast for dinner and my husband loved it!
2. put together an Easter treat for the neighbors
3. worked on MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) stuff for Monday
4. fell asleep mid-day with Austin laying on my chest because he got up way too early from his nap
5. put together a birthday gift for a friend
6. laundry (boring)
7. read books to the kids
8. mopped the floor

8 Things I Wish I Could Do:

1. go shopping and find clothes that actually look good on me
2. lose weight without trying
3. figure out why my son won't eat certain All-American foods (like a PB & J sandwich or a good old fashioned slice of cheese!)
4. get motivated to get exercising
5. sleep in
6. make my kids take longer naps
7. go on vacation somewhere warm and relax
8. enjoy running

8 Shows I Watch:

**Sidenote: I DVR all of the shows and watch them when I can.
We do this rather than rent movies. There is many more I could add to this list!
1. The Biggest Loser
2. 24 (my husband got me hooked!)
3. Grey's Anatomy
4. all 3 CSI's
5. The Mentalist
6. Ugly Betty
7. Criminal Minds
8. Amazing Race


8 People I Tag:

1. Hillary @ A Beautiful Life
2. Katie @ Katie's Nesting Spot
3. Rachel @ Memories & Mayhem
4. Lynz @ The Miles Family (gotta give something for you to do to pass the time while you're waiting for the baby to come!)
5. Shelley @ Through A Mother's Eye
6. Sarah @ Our Pumpkin & Sweet Pea
7. It Feels Like Chaos
8. Tanya @ Miller Racing Family

And, of course...anyone else who wants to play along!

I'll be back tomorrow to reveal the random winner for the button projects! Stay tuned...

bed head and all

Katie from A Listmaker's Life tagged me in this
random game I like to call "keeping it real".

Here are the rules:
Take a picture of yourself right now.
No primping or preparing. Just snap a picture.
Load the picture onto your blog.
Tag some people to play.

I wanted to cheat so badly since at the moment of reading her post, I was sitting here in my pajamas, no makeup, and bed head. Actually, I think I almost groaned when I read that she had tagged me! But, since I don't have an ounce of cheater in me, I did as told...but I did drag along my daugther to help distract you! (FYI on my daughter's face...she fell TWICE in the last three days and has a scraped nose and banged up lip, not to mention a scraped knee and elbow!
My face, however, I have no excuse.)

Now, this is the part that you go run and get ready for the day before reading the list of people I tag. See, I don't cheat, but I'll give ways for others to do so...kidding, of course!

I tag the following lovely ladies
(please don't hate me for this):
Kim @ Caldwell Cuties
Tammy @ Raising Angels
Amanda @ My Fragrant Life
Shawn @ SERIOUSLY
Lauren @ Snellings Stories
Heidi @ Sacred & Profane
Tanielle @ The Polka Dot Daisy
Xazmin @ This is the Year
My sister, Kim @ The Wonderful World of Wirfs
(because maybe this will make her post something...
feel free to include Hailey in the picture, sis!)

HAPPY SUNDAY EVERYONE!