Feel Better

I love the Petal Promenade DSP but wasn't sure what to do with this particular piece....I think it turned out good though. 

Today was first day of school for my kiddos. Dalton never smiles nor poses for pictures but Ava loves getting her picture taken.  I think these photos reflect how different their personalities are.

He really knows how to smile, I have seen him do it but not for the camera, that silly boy!

Christmas Cheer

A clean and simple Christmas card for today.  I am a little behind on starting my Christmas cards, I usually start them in July but too much going on this year.  My Shelby came home for the weekend to visit with her grandparents from Alabama.  Although she spent most of her time with them, it was comforting knowing she was upstairs in her bed at night and Sadie was VERY happy to see her.  Sadie has missed her the most but she will start back to school tomorrow so that will help hopefully.  Thanks for stopping by!

Back to School!

School is back in session!  My Dalton is the first one in line in this photo, doesn't he look sad 🙁.
The girls were ready to go back but the big girls refused to take pictures and Ava does whatever they do so she wouldn't cooperate either. 

Still no smile after he got into his classroom. 

 

And, I do have a card to share today.  My stamping time has been very limited the past two weeks but I should have more time now.  I just finished up a large wedding order and have designed the next one and sent it to the bride for approval and the best part is that she isn't getting married until Summer 2018 so I can take my time on it.  Thanks for stopping by!

Roy and Martha

Today I have another card from the SAB stamp set Hey, Chick!  If you are wondering about the title of my post, there is a little story to go with it.  My mom had an aunt and uncle named Roy and Martha and they were quite the pair.  Roy was a drinker and Martha did not like it and she let him know it.  The more she complained, the more he drank and the funnier he got as far as us kids were concerned.  We loved him dearly because he played with us and always had a funny joke to tell.  He gave us two baby chickens once and of course we had to name them Roy and Martha.  They were so tame that they would allow us to carry them around and we would  put Roy in a sand bucket and he was so fat he couldn't get out.  But one day it started to rain and we ran in the house and left Roy in the sand bucket and he drowned.  A short time later a  fox got Martha.  I knew when I saw this stamp set that I had to put this story with it, just had to!

She's Here!!!!

Introducing Little Miss Riley Veruka Dixon born yesterday at 3:33 pm weighing in at 8 lbs 3 oz and 20 inches long.  I am over the moon in love with this tiny bundle.  Her mommy did great and her daddy did too, I was actually worried he might pass out but he didn't.  Did I mention how much I love her.  She is coming home today so you may not see much stamping here for a few days.  Thanks for stopping by!

For the Newlyweds

Today I have another wedding card to share, this one for a customer.  I love how easy it is to achieve an elegant card with this die.  I have seen it used in so many ways, even for boxes. 

Today is my Shelby's 18th birthday, I am so proud of her.  She is a busy girl for sure, maybe a little too busy.  She is involved in several clubs in school which require a lot of time during and after school.  This past weekend was Football Homecoming and she helped make the Senior Float, helped decorate for the Homecoming dance,  played in the band for the parade, cleaned up after the dance, and then the morning after the dance had to work in the Key Club Pancake day at 7:00 am.  When I woke her up this morning to tell her Happy birthday, she thought it was Sunday and asked if she could skip church.  Tomorrow is Sadie's birthday so I will have lots to say about her then.  They would have had the same birthday but the delivery room doctor let Shelby choose if she wanted to share her day or not, she was five at the time and said absolutely not.  So he slowed down the process until after midnight.  Love my girls!

Just a Note

 

 

Today I have a punch project which I  cased from Jackie Topa.  I didn't achieve a happy smile but didn't want to start over so just kept it.  I used Moroccan  DSP along with Dapper Denim, Cajun Craze, and Delightful Dijon.  My kiddos started back to school today and I am not sure who was more excited, them or me.



 Here is my Dalton boy.  I have pictures of the girls but forgot my camera at home, I took this one with my phone.  I will share the girls pictures tomorrow.  Thanks for stopping by.

 

 

Christmas Thoughtful Branches

Today I have a CAS Christmas card made with the tree from Thoughtful Branches collection.This is actually a case from the Holiday catalog changed up a little.  I have got all the kids registered for school which has not been easy, they were all on different days plus the fact that my husband has been out of town all week.  I guess I didn't realize how much he helps out with the kiddos especially with Ava and Dalton, I don't like to swim at all so if they are swimming I am sitting under the patio umbrella but still feeling the heat.  When he lets them swim, he actually gets in the water and plays with them.  Today I got Shelby registered....and of course had me a big cry....she is a Senior this year.  I don't know where time has gone, seems like only a few years ago, I was registering her for kindergarten.

Back Yard Fun

This is a photo of our Bean House, this is something we do for the kids as their garden.  I forgot to take a photo before we planted the beans.  My husband put posts in the ground in the shape of a little house and then put string from the ground over the top and sides leaving a space empty for the door.  Then the kids planted the beans and this year they wanted to plant pumpkins as well so we have three pumpkin plants.  As the beans grow we  train the vines  along the strings to cover the house.  The littles love it and it becomes their "hideout".  The big girls like it but aren't as thrilled by it as they were a few years ago.  We all like the green beans!

 They are almost ready to pick.

 And while I was taking pictures of the Bean House, I took one of Shelby's tree.  When she was in third grade, the Forestry department  did a presentation at her school and gave all the kids a tree to take home and plant.  By the time she got hers home she had broken the top out of it and it looked pitiful, but we let her pick a spot and plant it.  It was about four inches tall at that time.  That tree was meant to survive...my husband accidentally backed over it with the lawn mower and ran into it with his truck once and the wind blew it over several times and she would straighten it up after each incident.

I have a picture of her when she planted it somewhere, so I made her get one with it now so I can scrapbook it.

Since I am showing back yard pictures, here is one of my favorite pastime this Summer, watching humming birds.  I planted some flowers that attract humming birds and they love them but there are so many of them I added in a feeder which they fight over.  The most I have seen on the feeder at once is three but there must be at least fifteen around the yard at once feeding on the flowers.

I spend a lot of time outside keeping an eye on these two birds who would live in the pool if I let them.  They were changed into swim suits by 8:30 this morning but I held them off until 10:00.

Joy

 

Today I have a Christmas card to share using the Embellished Ornaments stamp set and the Delicate Ornament Thinlets plus some scraps left over from a kit.

On a personal note, the girls and I had an awesome weekend in Nashville.  I made it through the concert easy enough.  I had only slept 2 hours Friday night so I was really tired by the time we got to the concert so I put my ear plugs in and fell asleep.  The girls thought it was the funniest thing ever and even allowed people to take my picture while I was asleep.

 

We had really good seats, comfortable too although most of the people were standing the whole time.

 This was the view from our balcony at Opryland hotel.

You can see the waterway in this one, you can actually take a boat ride and it has some really large fish swimming around in it. 

We stayed in the Delta region but this photo was taken in the Cascades region.

another one in the Cascades.  If you have never stayed here, it is well worth the price and you won't be disappointed.  The flowers and the landscaping are amazing.  We are already planning another trip there at Christmas.  thanks for stopping by!

Jar of Love

Today I have another jar card to share, this one filled with flowers.  I have a large flower garden in my yard with a lot of perennials that bloom from early Spring through Fall.  When Sadie was about five she loved picking flowers and putting them in a vase for her room.  I would walk around the yard and help her pick one of each kind.  She caught me busy in the house and set out on her own once, she picked every single tulip and daffodil in the yard, even the ones not fully bloomed out.  She must of realized what she had done when they wouldn't all fit in her vase so she took her "leftovers" to the next door neighbor and gave them to her.  I couldn't get mad at her but did have a little talk about only picking a few and leaving some to enjoy later.  Thanks for stopping by!

Castle Rock Park

I went on a field trip today with this handsome guy and we had a blast.  We went to Castle Rock Park which is awesome park in our area. 

They have lots of rock and wood climbing areas as well as a lot of figures dressed as knights fighting dragons, wizards, ect. 

This giant dragon was Dalton's favorite, the kids could climb on it and jump at several different levels.  It was the favorite of most of the kids and was the busiest.

And all Kingdoms  have to have a Unicorn.

This was my favorite, there are two frightened  knights hovering in a tree while Dalton hangs out with the dragon totally unafraid!

 

And of course a picnic of PB&J and strawberries along side a lovely princess is what every knight dreams of.  The best part for me was just hanging out and listening to their pretend play, and trying not to get caught smiling at their cute conversations as knights and princesses.  I think I enjoyed it more than the kids did!

Botanical Gardens

I have had a little break and am ready to get geared up for 2016, I have been home enjoying my kiddos and all the fun that Christmas brings to our home.  We have had a blast this year, the littles (aka Ava and Dalton) have enjoyed the traditional things we do such as cookie baking, Christmas stories, decorating, Christmas Eve service at church, riding around to see the lights, writing Santa letters, the elf shenanigans, and many more.  I know they are going to "grow" out of a lot of these things soon and it makes me sad but at the same time I can't wait to see what this next year brings.

Anyway....this is a card that I made for a swap I participated in.  I love this Botanical Gardens product suite from  the the Occasions Catalog.  The DSP is gorgeous and die set has 14 dies!  I didn't send any catalogs by mail this year so if you want one, drop by and pick one up or if you don't live locally let me know and I will mail you one.

Christmas Cuties #2

I showed you Ava yesterday and today I have Dalton! Those two are so much fun, there is never a dull moment.  They get along and even play together most days but look out when they are at odds with each other.  Ava is five and Dalton is six and the other day I heard Dalton tell Ava that he was older so he always got to play first on the video games.  Just as I was about to correct him, I heard my husband say,  "You are older, but ladies go first"  I love it when he corrects them and I don't have to always do it!  Thanks for stopping by!

Pumpkin Patch Fun

I went on a field trip with Dalton's class today to the Pumpkin Patch, it was fun to see him with his school friends.  This photo was just before going on a hayride.

Here they are coming back, I didn't go because hayrides get my allergies going.

Dalton really enjoyed the corn pits.  They had large pits of corn kernels that would hold 5-6 kids and they all loved playing in it.

They got to pick out a pumpkin to take home and this took longer than any of the other activities, they had to find the perfect pumpkin.  I really enjoyed this special day with Dalton and I get to go back next week with Ava's class.

Santa's On His Way

I have been working on craft shows the past week and one thing that always sells good is tags.  I made several of each version.

The snowman in this one is retired but is one of my favorites.  The sentiments are from Snow Place.


We have had the best long weekend....the kids have gotten along for the most part!   We went to the Homecoming parade on Thursday and then Sadie was in another parade on Saturday.  I took the littles to a fair on Saturday as well.  They love fair food....string french fries, funnel cakes, lemon shake up, fried oreos....and they ate their little tummies full.  When we were on the way home Dalton asked,  "when do we get another unhealthy day?''.  When I asked what he meant,  he said a day when we get to eat unhealthy!  I had made an appointment to get their pictures made but the photographer didn't show up so I made a few myself.  Couldn't have been more fun except Shelby didn't get in the pictures,.

Miss Ava, being all serious.

Dalton finally cooperating.

Beautiful Sadie, always smiling!

Sadie is so good with the two littles, she can get them to do a lot more than I can.  Wish I had some of Shelby, maybe i will catch her in a better mood soon.  I guess now that she is 17, she doesn't want to hang out with us as much.  Love my kiddos!

Let it Snow

Love these little snowmen from the stamp set Snow Place especially the baby one.  We have lots going on this weekend since the kids are out of school and it is Football homecoming week.  Yesterday was the homecoming parade and was the first time Shelby and Sadie got to march in the same parade.  Shelby is in the high school band and Sadie is in the middle school band.  There are 107 kids in Sadie's band!

Shelby loves band, mostly for all the friends she has made.  They are a really close group of kids and the band has won every competition they have been in except for one second place in the past three years.

This was Sadie's first parade with the band and I have never seen her more excited.  She really looks up to Shelby and wants to do everything she does which irritates Shelby.  I love my girls!

Hey Girl

When I saw this little girl in the catalog, it reminded me of my Sadie when she was younger.  We used to call her Sassy Sadie because she loves clothes and putting outfits together.  She is growing up way too fast for me, going into Middle school next month.

She is taller than I am and almost as tall as her sister who is five years older than her.  Love you sweet sassy Sadie!