Poor Courtney.

Little Miss Courtney was up with a fever & cough last night, so I kept her home from school today. Later this afternoon, she came to me asking for a pen & paper. I just noticed she's taped this to her door:

Love is in the Air...

...or hanging above the window, at least! This is a little crafty project I did today. The minute I saw these QK banner shapes, I knew they were destined to adorn my window.
You can't see the detail very well, but I stitched the heck out of them & then glammed them up with some Valentine shapes, stickles, and of course, bling. I used my favorite font, {of the week} Mr. Giggles. Thanks, Miss K!

Merry & Bright

So... a daily layout? I guess not. I always think I have more time in a day than I really do. We'll see if I can get one paper-crafty posted per week. Had to use my new Fiskars scallop punch;) Last post I told you to "think spring" and now I'm posting a Christmas layout! Pics of our house in Maine.

Fleurs

I've had this empty wire basket sitting on top of my kitchen cabinets for over a year now. Tonight I finally got around to filling it with something. Think spring!

I Love a Good Sale!

My friend JoAnna told me about a great sale they are having @ Old Navy. In her words, she was "giddy" when she walked in the store. Um, yes! It was the BEST sale! 7 shirts, 2 sweaters, 1 dress, 6 pairs of pants and 3 pairs of shorts. The damage: $69.

Monster Jam '09

Darren & Alexander have been going to Monster Jam for the last 5-6 years. It's one of their manly traditions. This year they got a bunch of fathers & sons together and went as a group.

Darren had 1 extra ticket, so Courtney went along. Darren keeps trying to get me to come, insisting I'll LOVE it--how long have we been married? "Party in the Pit" just doesn't sound like a good time to me:)
When Alexander was 5 we lived in Maine and a driver asked him what his favorite truck was. Alexander responded, "Clam Digger!!" I am not sure if the driver of "Grave" Digger would have found that to be as funny as we did.
The guys {and gal} had a great time. Alexander's flag has been autographed at every Monster Jam he's been to--except this one! There were too many people.
They took a break from Party in the Pit to go out to eat. I was thinking they'd hit Peter Piper or McDonalds, but the Dads decided on Cooperstown...Alice Cooper's restaurant! Darren said the food is awesome, and Courtney said, "This place is very scary-- and it's not even Halloween!"
A great time was had by all. Xander's fave was "this car that jumped through an exploding school bus." What's not to love about that?!? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzVw7Awd3bs
Another good lesson on why we should wear seat belts: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzlvsc0oUY0 ................The Moms went for pedicures & shopped while the boys were out.

Slidin' Away

I found this video online about how to make these slider cards. It looked a little complicated, but it isn't! I just whipped up a little template for the slider on my Silhouette {fellow Silhouette users, I can email it to you} and it was so easy! The secret of this is pop dots and pennies! {Yes, I said pennies} I'm raiding my kids' piggy banks as we speak:)

Slide

Lame-O-demo

Skateland

Today you could skate @ the local rink for 99 cents. What a deal! Shout out to the Trimmers-- thanks! We just couldn't pass it up. Alexander had a great time skating. This lucky kid met several of his friends there. I was impressed that the Moms were all skating, too! {Except me--Hey, I've already been on a bike this year. We're taking these extreme sports one step at a time:} Off he goes!

Courtney was completely elated that she got to skate for the first time! As we were lacing up her skates, she said, "I can't believe I'm really, REALLY skating!" Her big brother took her hand and helped her along. What an awesome big brother-- such a gentleman.

Well, skating is much harder than it looks. She was getting very frustrated {can you tell?} She wanted to do it perfectly, just like the big kids.

I assured her that everyone falls down, and the important thing is that you get up, dust yourself off, and keep trying. After a little rest, some strawberry fanta {love the red moustache}, she was ready to try it again. Good for you, little roller babe!

Talking Toilets

Alexander had his 1st big oral report presentation at school last week. Since he is a mature 4th grader, of course he chose a deep and thought-provoking book.... WHATEVER! Captain Underpants and the Attack of the Talking Toilets. Highly intellectual. He did get 30 out of 20 points, though, so he did a great job. He gives all the credit to "stretchy, cottony, wedgie power."

{No more posts about underwear, I promise!}

Let's Go Celtics!

Xander Man is such a natural @ basketball, and is happy to have his best friend, Cole, on his team. They won their game last week, but the Lakers overpowered them today:( Alexander made the very 1st basket of the season!

Trustworthy

This morning @ flag ceremony, Courtney was recognized as the "Trustworthy" Student of the Month. This was a fitting award for her, since she is very honest and makes sure she completes all her work, every day.
She was grinning ear to ear! Way to go, Courtney! We are so proud of you.

Reflections

Every once in awhile, the Lord gives us an experience or two that causes us to pause and reflect on our lives. I feel like the past couple of weeks I've had that opportunity.

Heartache comes in many forms-- the passing of a sibling, the illness or loss of a spouse, child or parent, accidents, abuse. So many friends in my church family here have experienced such tragedy, and my heart aches for them.

Last night I was reading "Simple Abundance," and I came across something that was especially poignant to me. Elisabeth Ross said, "It's only when we truly know and understand that we have a limited time on earth--and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up--that we will begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it was the only one we had."

This past week, hugs to my kids have lasted a little longer than usual, the "I love you's" are more frequent, and I even ran out into the driveway in my PJs to give one last hug to my hubby before he went to work. I am more grateful each day to live and love and appreciate the many blessings in my life.

Love and prayers go out to all of you who have experienced sadness and grief. I pray that the Lord may give you comfort and strength to endure to the glorious eternities.

1st Layout of the Year

My friend Karen said her New Years Eve tradition is scrapping the night away. Well, I tried. Layout #1 of the new year is finished.

It is of Halloween 2004! {and you thought you were behind} Courtney was this darling little petite baby and I stuck this enormous blonde wig on her. Who would have thought down the road that she'd have the same lovely, golden locks? It must have given her good hair karma.

Later, Sk8r!

Xander Man is getting so speedy on his rollerblades. {obviously--my camera can't even keep up with him!} We're wearing out the asphalt in our cul-de-sac this winter.
Love this kiddo!

Jedi Biker Babe

Courtney took a break from biking and must have found this light saber in the process. She was being so crazy, I couldn't resist!

My Favorite Kitchen Gadget {For the Moment}

Ross, $3.99! I love my annoying-ly yellow lemon juicer. A trip to the backyard, a couple packets of Splenda, some ice, a squeeze, and I'm sippin' sunshine!

Show Me Your Sweet Moves, Pedro!

You got like... 3 feet of air that time!

New Year, New Rides

This week we've been getting quite a bit of use out of the girls' new bikes.

Let me rephrase that. Courtney loves her sparkly new pink bike but is scared to death of how tall it is. So... Darren revamped Alexander's old bike {completed it with a girly basket} and she's as happy as can be. It is still VERY slow going... I got to walk my bike on our first excursion to the park {which is less than a mile, but took us almost 3 hours!} XanderMan is our pro and such a good sport. He is always so kind to help Courtney and encourage us along.
Today we rode to the entrance of our neighborhood to let the kids play. I love it-- it feels like a tropical oasis in the middle of the desert.
Beautiful AZ in the wintertime
Yeah, yeah, I know... you can stop laughing at the weird lady on her pink cruiser. I must say, it is still an exhilarating rush to ride. The day was absolutely perfect and Alexander and I had a fun 4 miles around the loop!
Darren was the CSN-V {Courtney Support Non-Vehicle} on the way to the park today. He's the most accomplished biker of us all, and training to do another race {Tour de Cure} for Diabetes this year. fyi, if you want to make a donation to the Tour de Cure, you can at:
http://main.diabetes.org/goto/DarrenRoos