Another week has come to an end and a few more school days until Houston is out for summer. Reece finished his last day of Pre-K on thurs. Hard to believe he will be 4 in a week. May has been a month of celebration. Mothers day (which my husband forgot), anniversary, 13 years on the 21st (don't think he will forget this) and Reece bd on the 27th. It's all flying by but I'm trying to capture as much as I can in photos to remember the special moments we share . Got invited to my first Bunko game last night...can't remember that last time I was with a bunch of screaming women. Had fun and would go again. I was asked to go back to one of my old jobs doing Hippotherapy and so I volunteered today just to get some hands on and meet the kids who are currently riding on Sat morning. This was the first time I have been around any children with special needs since Reece was born and I have to say it was very emotional for me. I guess it takes having one of your own to see how deeply your life is changed and I so admire the parents of these children bc for some of these kids there life will always be altered by their needs and some are here only for a short time yet the parents have the same pride, dreams and aspirations for their kids as I do. The kids and their families are truly an inspiration and I'm gad they let me be a part of their journey. Hope I can rise up to the challenge.

Overlay Challenge

My scrap buddy Amanda and I worked on our challenge today. This has been a lot of fun and it's making me work outside of my normal comfort zone...love it! This challenge is from Jocie who manages to make weekly scrap-n-dash layouts forK2 as well as beautiful LO of her friends and family. I have had this overlay for a while but was not sure how to use it...I found out using overlays is quite simple once you work out your photo arrangement... so now I can add this to my toolbox of skills. Thanks Jocie

Get out of the box

Had a great time at my LSS for Natl Scrap Day. The time flies when your hanging out with friends doing something creative. Will do this again very soon. This weeks challenge is by Nikki and she wants us to think outside the box and get into circles. I did a lo on NSD but Amanda and I got together yesterday and did another challenge. I love this one more (thanks Amanda for the pointers) and I have to admit Amanda's looks amazing. This is fun and it's great to have someone give you the idea and then to see all the different takes. Love my circle cutter...could not have done this without it. Thanks Nikki for the great idea...I love everthing you do!

Paint something

Ok so after last weeks challenge when my Layout was picked I felt real inspired to try the next challenge...ok so I was picked by default..one entry was the owner of K2 the other was an incredible designer who makes notebook paper look great (Nikki) and the other was Jessi who posted the challenge but I figure somebody has to participate so I accept the credit and continue to play along. So here is my next submission...hope Kim likes it.

What I would give to be an Artist. This was my attempt to use paint on a scrapbook page. Of course I had the paint because K2 had a cute little sample pack that I had to have. So now I'm an artist...ok so a wannabe but what the heck I think it's looks pretty darn good for my first tree. I love the story of The Giving Tree and had these great shots of Reece from a trip to Gainesville... so this is my creation. Thanks Kim for unleashing my inner artist with your great idea. Ok Amanda where is yours?

Sometimes it takes a challenge

Ok...so I'm a slacker. It seems lately I have been doing a lot of stuff but nothing fun and for me. Thanks to my new friend Amanda I think there will be some new challenges ahead. She suggested we do the weekly challenge from our LSBS so here is my attempt....guess I should let her know I started. Thanks Jocie for the challenge this week.

"I miss myself"

While putting Reece to sleep a few night ago he was saying that he wished he could be bigger like me and daddy...I told him that I like him just the size he is now and that in fact I miss my little baby and he replied with "I miss myself too". I was amazed that a three year old could have such insight because there have been many instances when "I miss myself " too. Can you relate? Sometimes when we get busy or overwhelmed it seems we just want to reconnect to ourselves so we do things to get back in sync with friends, family and spouses. It's not that I don't love and appreciate what I am or have now it just it easy to forget about who we are and what our mission is. So the next time you are missing yourself take a few moments to rejuvenate and fine you again...I'll bet you smile.

Houston's 10 now

OK, so it's Monday again. Had a busy few weeks. Last weekend (3/10) we celebrated Houston's 10 th birthday...there was something about him turning 10. No more single digits for this guy. I shared with him the fact that I was sad to see him grow up but happy about the young man he is becoming he said "at least it's one with a zero (10) instead of nine with a zero (90)...so who get the smarty pants award?...love the way his brain works. Got lots of pics from the day and party so I will make him a special b-day album on Shutterfly when I get the chance. He loved the Jon boat Dad and I gave him so the idea of any Game boy was quickly forgotten. The best part was that he said it was the best gift ever. We had a few friends join in for a bonfire and cookout on Sat...it's so relaxing sitting around under the stars starring at the flames...reminds me so much of being a teenager with my friends. This weekend we took the boys to the fair...Reece as been seeing a carnival on his favorite show Dragon Tales so he was so excited about going. He loved all the rides and anything you could climb on. The fair brings back lots of memories too. I can remember saving my money for months just to have 10-15 dollars to spend at the fair. Then as I got older it was the highlight of the year. It was a guaranteed few days off school as I usually had some "official" duty with FFA or my animals. I was amazed when I would meet someone in high school that had never been to the fair..hello did they live on another planet or what? Guess it all in where you grow up...so glad I came from Fruitville.