slip, sliding away!

3 different parks

3 different slides

1 happy little boy!

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the truth is written all over her face

On Friday morning soon after I woke up, I baked four dozen chocolate chip cookies for our local MOPS Rummage & Bake Sale that was happening the next day. While the cookies cooled on the cooling racks, and I had set up a video for the kiddos, I jumped in the shower. While putting on my makeup, Mikayla walked in and it was then that I noticed a tiny (but still noticeable) hint of chocolate on her face...


When I asked her if she had eaten a cookie, she stopped, grinned, tried to lick it off her face, said no, and ran away. Hmmm...seems a bit guilty to me.

Throughout the morning, I tried to get the real truth out of her, just for curiosity sake. I thought it was more comical than anything, but she continued to say that she hadn't eaten one, but every time I asked, she hid her face and said no.

Still a bit suspicious.

At nap time, after our usual routine of reading a book, singing our songs, and kisses, I decided to try one more time and I asked her if she had eaten a cookie. She looked at me with a little glimmer in her eye and said, "I don't think so?"

At least we're getting closer to the truth...

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And, speaking of chocolate...Austin decided to partake in some generic Cocoa Puffs the other morning after a trip to the Dollar Tree. (Mikayla insisted on choosing this for a snack and passed up on a princess coloring book. Seriously!?)

Note to self: Not a good idea. Way too much of a mess. You should have seen his hands.

teddy bear, teddy bear

Our new neighbors who moved in this last Spring just had their baby on July 5th. I wanted to give them a little something to say congratulations on their new arrival! We knew they were having a little girl, so I wanted to buy her a sweet little outfit. I love the chance when I get to shop for little babies, especially girls!! Since when did my own little baby girl get so big? How cute is this little summer dress!? (Shh...don't tell, but it was only $2.99 on Target Clearance!)


Of course the dress needed something else added with it to make it a complete baby gift, so I looked in my little gift container that I have on hand for just these occasions and I found this cute little {brand new, but stored away for awhile} teddy bear. Obviously, it instantly screams BOY with the blue bow around the teddy bear's neck. Nothing that can't be fixed, right?


I took the blue bow off and changed it up with a new one. I do wish that I had something that was PINK, but I had to make do with what I had. So, this was what I went with. I love the green and purple, but hopefully the blue doesn't overpower it.


Of course, to finish off the gift I had to make a card. And, how about a teddy bear to match!?

a splishin' and a splashin'

Our 4th of July ended up being very low-key and we spent time with just the four of us. At first, we were a bit sad not having any "fun" plans, but in the long run we were so thankful for that time with just us doing whatever we wanted since it will be one of the only Saturdays during the summer where I have nothing happening. So, in hindsight it really was a blessing and we really did have a FUN time!

In the afternoon, we decided to pull out the swimming pool we got 2 summers ago at Target on clearance, and had yet to pull out! Looking at the discount tag, it said it was on clearance at $3.74...score!!

Boy, was this the hit of the day...


Notice how Austin isn't in any of the above pictures? Well, if you remember the last time we tried to play in the water, he was, as usual a bit cautious in the beginning. But, once Daddy rigged up his famous makeshift water slide, he was all in, and they both were in water world heaven!

Gotta love cheap entertainment!

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Later in the evening, we played with fire, er I mean lit sparklers and then called it a night...I'll share a few highlights from that a little later. For now, I'm off to finish up baking some chocolate chip cookies for the MOPS Rummage & Bake Sale Fundraiser happening all day Saturday! I'll try not to lick the bowl. ;)

a boy with a hose

Seriously, no words can describe this first picture!!

Every time I see it, I bust out laughing!

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check out 5 Minutes for Mom.

where has all my creativity gone?

I'm feeling a little dejavu at the moment. I can't even count the number of times I've had to tackle my little creative space here, but in order for me to squeeze out more of my creative juices, I just had to get this MESS taken care of! I must say, I'm a bit embarrassed that I can't just keep this space clean and tidy all the time, but it just happens so fast!

BEFORE

AFTER
BEFORE
(a pile of who knows what!)
AFTER

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I feel that I have been at a lull this last month with my creativity! But then, after thinking about it a bit more, I realized that I'm still being creative, it's just all being put towards one form of creativity and that is creating Stampin' Up! greeting cards. I started this new adventure with Stampin' Up! as an independent demonstrator at the beginning of April 2009 and since then I have been enjoying the beginning phases of building this little business (and new hobby) of mine! If you're a card maker and want a place to go for some ideas, check out my new Stampin' Up! blog at stuckonstampin.blogspot.com. Not only will I be sharing my crafty creations on a regular basis, but I also have a blog list on my sidebar of other great places of inspiration for you to go and check out. All of that card making energy has turned into this...

close to 75 cards in the last 2 months!!

What about you? Do you feel like you go in and out of being creative or is there something specific that you put energy towards at various times? Some months I'm gung-ho on redecorating. Other months I'm all about organizing. I can switch easily between wanting to "reinvent" something I find at Goodwill or I can be crazy for scrapbooking. There are so many things I love to do...I just don't do them all at once!

So...I want to know. What is tickling your fancy these days? Hey, it can even be things like shopping, being out in the sun, reading, whatever! I just thought it would be fun to learn what kinds of things you are particularly giddy about at this time in your life. Do share!

there's always at least one in the bunch!

This last weekend, my sister and her family were in town for a visit and we attempted a cousins shot like we often do when my brother, sister, and I are all together.

One of the little guys didn't quite get the memo that he was supposed to cooperate. Certainly it wasn't our child.

I guess we'll just have to "photoshop" the little bugger in!

a little water doesn't hurt

First off, thank you for the encouragement many of you gave with me feeling a little down and out. I think I was just having a "moment". It truly does give me the courage to keep sharing a little more personally on this blog. I know I'm surrounded by friends.

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Now onto some cute photos of our fun time at the water park on Wednesday. It was a gorgeous day to celebrate one of my best friend's little girl turning 3 years old. It really made me wish one of my kids had a summer birthday. This was the PERFECT location for pure entertainment for 15 or so little kiddos. Mikayla was soaking it all in, but Austin? He still needs to get the concept that a little water doesn't hurt.

Austin, the cautious one...

Mikayla, the daring one...

Austin - "maybe just a little touch"

Mikayla - "I'm going all in!"

Austin - "I'm good right here"

Mikayla having all the fun!


Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

just not good enough

Here I am. Keeping it real.

I am having one of those days where I just don't feel like I'm good enough.

For those who know me well, you've learned by now that I have a tendency for being quite the perfectionist and on top of that I have a little (OK, a lot!) of insecurity in myself.

These two together are a deadly combination.

Some days I just feel like I'm treading water. Not making any progress.

I want to be able to "do it all" without the stress that comes with it.

I want to be the best mother, wife, sister, daughter, friend that I can be. But what do I do when I just don't feel good enough?

There's no one particular event that happened for me to be feeling this way.

I'm just exhausted from the responsibilities of life.

But, it's time to "brush it off" as I always tell my kids when they fall. Get up and keep doing what I do best...

Loving my life and living it to the best of my potential. Because I do know that God thinks that I AM GOOD ENOUGH...and maybe even better.

to match or not to match...

...that is the question!

Mikayla has really been wanting to dress herself these days and pick out her own outfits. Oh my, has that taken some patience. We usually compromise and I give her 2 choices in shirts and 2 choices in bottoms (or if it's a dress day, 2 choices with those, too). You know the drill.

Some days she just gives it her best shot...

On this particular day, I picked out the shirt and she wanted to pick out the bottoms.

Outfit #1 - Those leggings really only work under dresses or skirts. Plus, it cracks me up that they're all twisted sideways, but she still really wanted to wear them! And, do you notice the socks!? And the shoes are on the wrong feet? No, seriously click on the picture to enlarge it. Then you'll get the full affect!


Outfit #2 - Not quite the look I was going for with a striped skirt and flowered shirt. It's getting closer...


After some convincing we went with a pair of jean shorts, but I didn't get a picture as I just really wanted to get out the door!

She refuses to wear jeans...even when it's a bit chilly outside. In fact, most days if we're home she would prefer to run around in her panties. Tonight after coming in from playing outside, the first thing she did was take off her shirt and shorts...and started playing with her toys. Interesting. She definitely does NOT get this from her mother!

How about you? Do your kiddos love to dress themselves and do you just let them go with it?

stuck on stampin' - new blog!

Hi friends! Just popping in to share with you where I'll be posting all about my Stampin' Up! craziness! It's kind of skin and bones right now (really, there's not much), but I just wanted you to know I now have a place of my own to share all of my stampin' creations instead of overloading you here with all that talk. Head on over to take a peek at what's going on so far, but PLEASE come back to visit again in the near future because I'll have lots more I'll be adding to make it my own little Stampin' Up! home, like maybe some cards like these...

Stuck on Stampin'
stuckonstampin.blogspot.com

I've been on a stampin' binge the last few days and have probably made close to 20 cards! Like I've mentioned before, I usually make 2 of each design, so that might explain the high volume. I've had so much fun, but maybe that's why I haven't done much blogging or checking in with other blogs. In fact, I realized late tonight that I missed Xazmin's Mod Podge Mania today! There's always next month, right?

Hope you all are enjoying your summer and living life carefree for awhile. I think that is what's happening around here! We have birthday parties, playdates, and family fun all on the agenda for the next four days. Life is busy, but definitely full of fun!