Friday, August 31, 2007

Time Flies....

so i figured i should probably submit a post as it's already been 8 days since the last post. the days just go by too fast! let's see...school is going great for lauren, she really loves it. next week on tues and fridays she'll start riding the bus...which is such a huge deal! she is so excited to ride the bus. funny how i know that will change in a few years! kati will start preschool 2 days a week, which are tuesdays and fridays. she'll go from 9am until 3. seems like a long day for a little girl but she too is very excited and can't wait to go to school. i took her to her open house earlier this week, we met with her 2 teachers and met a few other kids. one of which lives in our neighborhood so that will be fun for the two of them. i've already been trying to prepare myself for that day...you know the big drop off! i know it isn't kindergarten but i know i'm going to feel a sense of loss with out my little kati at home. so now the big question from everyone is...."what are you going to do with yourself for 6 hours, 2 days a week?" other stay at home moms are all excited for me and know that that time will be used to benefit everyone! but those who work outside of the home are a bit bitter! i'm not sure what they think i'll be doing but i'm pretty sure my ass won't be plopped on the couch watching soaps, smokin' and drinking diet cokes and poppin bon-bons! so rest assured....my free 12 hours a week will be filled with plenty of things to do. (can you tell i'm tired of defending my title as a stay at home mom!!!!!)
so what else....finished up an assignment for creative xpress....i had to create 2 cards and a layout....here are the cards....
lets see what else....oh, our weekend trip to the bed and breakfast and the wineries. wow! very fun. the bed and breakfast was so nice....i think when we go into something blind folded we tend to think the worst. but this place was so cute! it was an old home that had been converted into a b&b years ago but of course had been run down. the new owners had to do some work to get it up and running again. the 3 sleeping units were all separate with our own bathrooms! our room was upstairs with a little kitchen, sitting area w/a stone fireplace, bathroom and separate bedroom. it was all decorated in early american decor. the rustic look with plaids/florals.....some of the interior walls were still the old stone, big fat original wood floor planks and the breakfast was amazing! it would have been better had terry and i been feeling a better! i was at least able to get most of my food down, poor terry just sat and picked at his food! ha ha we drank way too much! way too much! we probably would have been fine until we ended up at a little bar and connie (my friend/neighbor) who was once a bartender started telling the bartender how to make some sort of shot w/ like 6-7 different liquors in it! hello! thank god i only had 2! of course at the time none of us knew just how much liquor was in that shot! but we had a great time and hopefully will do it again next year. i would love for terry and i to go back in the fall and stay a night...the girls might even think it's pretty cool
here is a photo of the outside of the b&b (apple gate inn).

this is pat and kim....

and danny and connie....

and terry and i.... these pictures we taken after about our 3rd bottle of wine (or was it our 4th?) and we were sitting out on this huge patio in about 100 degree weather. but we had a great time!
i hear the girls waking up so i had better close up....have a good wk. end...

Thursday, August 23, 2007

good morning....

just quickly poppin' in to say hi....and to share a quick link. a good friend of mine laura vegas created a layout for the making memories blog using the photos i took when terry and i were in california. she did such a great job on the layout. she sent me the actual layout (like what else would she do with it, right..... ha ha) but every time i look at the layout it makes me smile! it reminds me of how good our relationship can be.... this is why people scrapbook!!! have a good day! :)

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Sharing my pain...

i can't even believe i did this.....last night i was playing with my camera trying different shutter speeds etc.... my shutter locked up on me or so it seemed, it was just taking forever to open again because of the setting i had it on and the room was too dark....so i shut my camera off....in the process (and i don't know how this happened) i DELETED my ENTIRE cf card.....losing all of my photos i had on my card. good gravy!!!! i have all of my pictures on my computer so it's not like i really lost them all....i just wasn't ready to delete them from my card yet. i was in tears last night. and of course to add salt to the wound....lauren kept saying, "mom, i can't believe you did that!" gee, thanks! and then terry says, "why did you do that?" nice....my family is so sympathetic....
i have my photo shoot tomorrow....fingers crossed. no rain and a happy baby! :)
no new photos to share or projects. i did finish up my creative xpress assignments. i'm hoping to get some stuff done just for fun but we'll see....
this weekend terry and i and 2 other couples are going to a bed and breakfast and visiting several wineries. it's just for one night but i'm looking forward to it. we'll have a good time. better run for now.....

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Stuff....

so i thought i was going to be better about posting more often. ha!
we had a nice weekend....the last one before school starts. it's hard to believe tomorrow is the day! lauren is so excited. she picked out her outfit, got her lunch box ready, her backpack is by the door...she is set! oh, and my camera battery is charged!
speaking of my camera.....i wanted to take a few new pictures of the girls today. i thought being it was early in the day it wouldn't be so hot.....as it got later into our morning both girls, including myself were beading up! but i did get a few fun shots. i've also been playing around with photo editing, which i still have so much to learn. i use elements 4....which is all new to me. (well, all editing software is new to me...ha ha) here are a few pictures from today...






i love the last 2 photos of lauren. that look she gave me was full of attitude, don't you think!
i have my first photo shoot this week! i've never really taken anyone elses pictures but i would love to start! i need to get my feet sometime, huh. so i'm taking pictures of a little neighbor girl. she is turning one. so, i'm thinking the shoot will either be really easy or really difficult. ha ha i think i'm doing all of the photos outdoors. if i had some indoor lighting i would maybe attempt indoor or if there was a ton of natural light but just to play it safe i think we'll stay outdoors. that can even be tricky! wish me luck....
have a great week!

Monday, August 13, 2007

Back in the Saddle again....

or so i'm trying....it's been a crazy busy month for us and i'm relieved to say september is just around the corner. i never thought that i would say i was anxious to see summer come to an end. i guess the 105 degree temps. might have something to do with it. we got a break from the heat by going to chicago and lake geneva this past weekend for a family retreat hosted by the company my husband works for. we had a great time. it was nice to finally meet some of the people i have been hearing about for a few years now. the resort we stayed at was amazing...evidently it used to be the old playboy mansion. this was the view from our room. it was so pretty and peaceful.


i'm getting ahead of myself with events....after getting off of the plane we headed to downtown chicago, on a friday afternoon mind-you. i'm so thankful terry is a good driver and knows his way around chicago. he had promised the girls we would take them to the american girls store before heading to the resort. i wasn't quite sure what we were getting ourselves into but we only lasted 45 minutes. 3 floors of elbow to elbow girls and parents and a few "brothers" who were less than enthused to be there! the girls each got to pick out a doll and an extra outfit and a t-shirt. everyone is equiped and happy!
i'm looking forward to getting back to our everyday normal lives. albeit sometimes hectic but nothing like the travel and running we've done this past month. my mom and sister came down to pick up my niece the week prior to our chicago trip. this was my mom's first time to st. louis. (my dad stayed back home as their selling their house) i think she had a good time although she doesn't do well in the humidity. but then again, who does?

i had promised in an earlier post that i would share the center piece i had made for the baby shower we (my bunco group) had for a friend of ours.... it ended up being several pieces instead of just the one. i had 3 white buckets already so i used one for the main center piece and the other 2 for little goodies. i hand painted the buckets with polkadots. the tray was a plain wood tray from michaels that i painted. i thought that would make for a cute piece on a little girls dresser along with the topiary i made. so here is a picture....


i just used a styrafoam ball and added the flowers using brads or pins. the butterflies are either my own or i also traced a few from a pattern of marth stewarts. the topiary has several butterflies on it. and no i did not make the cake. a lady in the area who has been making cakes for several years made it. it was delicious!
one more thing before i go....i have a friend in alaska who i have been meaning to mention because i think she does amazing work....she has a etsy shop and is selling some of the items that she makes. she's been sewing purses and aprons and recently little cute handbags. love these.... check her out....i'm going to have her make the girls and myself matching aprons! lauren has an apron and loves to wear it when she cooks with me but kati still needs one. so i thought matching ones would be cute! here is her link: michelle baker's etsy shop
well, it's back to the gym tomorrow! yahoo. thank goodness! i'm not looking forward to being sore all over again but the signs of not working out for a month is starting to show!
i've probably rambled enough....i'm just glad to be back!

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

photos from our vacation...

i promised some of our relatives some pictures from our vacation...so here ya go! these are some of my favorites... i haven't picked up my photos from costco yet but when i do i'll get some sent out as well.