I'm a closet scrapper.

Well, not really. I will scrap anywhere, but for now my beloved paper hobby has been shoved into my massive too-large-for-all-my-clothes walk-in closet.

I remember the glory days when I had an entire room with a window and everything. That sure was nice. Then it was limited to half the room. I should have realized then what was going to happen soon. The toys took over. Oh the toys toys toys! So, my prized scrapbook room became a toy room. But, my wonderful, thoughtful husband found a little table that would fit into my closet. At first I was mortified. I can't scrap in a closet. There is no one to talk to. Nothing to look at. No inspiration. But I finally came to realize that if I wanted a space that was all my own where little two year old hands couldn't reach in and destroy adhesives, glimmer mist, thickers, and chip board I would have to learn to scrap in a closet.

So here it is people. It's very modest. Don't laugh or you might hurt it's feelings. It's my scrap space. I love it and it loves me :)

Not Me...

I wanted to brag to the blog world about what I, a fantastic mom, have NOT been doing lately.

I did NOT let Gabriel lay on the floor with no clothes or diaper on while I was sitting on the computer, only to look over and see him laying in a puddle of his own potty.

I also did NOT put in ear plugs today while my husband was cooking dinner because my precious little children were NOT screaming at the top of their lungs.

I have NOT neglected my motherly duty of providing a balanced home-cooked meal to my family every day for the past two weeks. And I did NOT leave to have dinner with a girlfriend after the last home-cooked meal I tried to prepare (which was NOT over a week ago) got burned. No, I also did NOT leave my husband and children to eat the burned dinner.

I hope you moms out there don't feel discouraged because I AM getting the Mom Of The Year Award. For sure!

Friday at the Zoo

I took the boys to the zoo this morning. What a great (and hot) day for it! We didn't see all the animals because I was flying solo, but the double sit 'n stand stroller was mighty handy today! We saw the monkeys, birds, elephants, and a few more interesting creatures.

Trying to get both boys to look at the camera is impossible. This is the best I could do, even with whistles and snaps. People were starting to look at me funny.

Mom look hippo!

Feeding the giraffe. A must for the Dickerson Park Zoo!

Gabriel was in heaven...he got to eat string cheese and applesauce for lunch. I forgot to bring babyfood so no veggies...thanks mom!

Farm Day

I took the boys to the farm last week. Christopher loves to go to the farm! As a matter of fact, every time we pass by the farm to go home he tells the animals night night...even when it's 2:00 in the afternoon!

These cows were butting heads with each other. I told Christopher they were probably brothers!
He got really excited when he saw this mule. He called it a tractor and had to climb in to "drive" it. Just wait til you see what tractors really look like when we go to Wisconsin!

Taking a peek in the chicken coop.

Great friends, food, & bananagrams!

So I'm really behind on my blogging, but a couple of weeks ago I made a delicious pizza from scratch and we had Teresa, our usual houseguest, over.

After we put the boys to bed, we broke out the bananagrams! I love this game :)

We have a joke about Chris being a diva. It was so funny that one of our Dove Promises said to be a dark chocolate diva!
I can't think of anything better to do on a Friday night than eat good food, play a great game, and eat dark chocolate with friends!

A few good pages...

Two weeks ago I went to Scrap-a-palooza 2, which is an all day scrappers paradise! I got Chris' father's day gift done while I was there, and I also did 3 layouts. I'm pretty happy with all of them. The pictures didn't turn out very clear, but you get the idea.

I stitched the snowflakes falling on the left side of this page. I also used foam stamps, brads, & die cut snowflakes.
I really like this page! I used a technique that I've never used before, called "masking" to do the title-love it!

This page turned out really cute. You can't see what the word blocks say so I have to tell you because I think it's pretty clever. It says "big P little p; what begins with p? Poopy peepee potty and a picture if you please!" Took a little influence from the dr. suess book.

When I showed christopher this page his response was "both in the bath!" That's why I titled it that...because he loves to point out "both" all the time! No, he can't read yet...he is just that cool.

I have been really slacking on the blog lately. I will try to post some new pictures of our activities this weekend. Things have been so busy lately! We are getting ready for the big drive to Wisconsin next weekend.

Out on the town!

Do you see this people...dressed, make-up, and out on a friday night with NO kids! My husband is so wonderful-he put the boys to bed and cleaned the house so I could go out with some friends for Artwalk. It has been years since I've done Artwalk without kids. When Christopher was a baby we would take him in the stroller or carrier, but that just doesn't happen anymore.

So, I got myself looking presentable and stopped by Teresa's apartment to pick her up and we met a group of friends from church. What you can't see is that Teresa is practically on her knees while I still have to stretch to be in the picture with her! The first place we stopped was a rock sculpture exhibit-we saw some fantastic pieces, but unfortunately I didn't think to take pictures of the art. Then we made our way to Mudhouse, a staple for a trip downtown. Then we headed to the square where the Springfield Farmer's Market was set up. The square is a great place to people watch, if you are into that-and I am! We saw these girls who were wearing newspaper dresses. And they say news print is going out of style! We saw our friend Denise, who was taking up her usual post under her jewelry tent...makin a living! We also saw lots of people, some would call them hippies, who were advertising for the legalization of "you know what". Lots of "interesting people"!

Then, as we made our way south, towards Walnut, I was the victim of a drive-by drink out the window. Yes...people actually throw their drinks out the window to try and hit pedestrians! It wasn't my favorite part of the night, but it gets better!

We stopped to listen to this group of kids singing some great Christian music. Look to the right of the picture...see the girl standing there. Well, we thought she was with these people, but we soon found out otherwise. She started wandering around talking to different people. Well, not so much talking, but more moving her lips and gestering things. She went up to our friend, Amber, and started putting her hand up the bottom of Amber's pant leg. We think she "saw" something crawl up her leg. Anyway, she did several weird and dangerous things until there was a growing group of people who were concerned/mesmerized by this girl, who, by the way, couldn't have been older than 16.

So, needless to say, the Police arrived, as well as an ambulance who took this girl to the hospital. I'm sure the rest of her night did not go so well. I would hate to be her parents getting that phone call!

So, after all that drama, the studios were closing for the night. We only made it to maybe 5 or 6 places, but most of the group decided to call it a night. Me and Teresa walked across the street and got some late night subs at Jimmy Johns. It had been ages since I had a sandwich from there!

After Jimmy Johns, I was so tired and ready for bed! We couldn't let the night end without a game of Bananagrams, so we headed to Barnes & Noble for some Starbucks and a quick game. I pretty much quit thinking after I made the word "captain"...I was pretty proud of myself! Teresa definately won that one. After they kicked us out of the store (they were closing) we finally called it a night. I dropped Teresa off at her place then headed back home to give Chris a big kiss for letting me get out of the house...then I crashed! This staying out late thing kicked my butt!

Sunny Days!

Last weekend I took Gabriel to Willard to spend some time with his "Auntie Cammi & Uncle Jason" at the pool. It was his first time in the water, other than the bath tub of course! He was pretty nervous for about 30 minutes...he held on for dear life and fussed for a bit, but after that he turned into a little fish! He was kicking his feet and giggling-so cute!

I had to take a picture...even though I have no business being in a bathing suit yet!
Then this weekend, we met up with some friends who also have two little boys-Tristan and Zane. We played at the park for a bit. Zane and Christopher had a blast swinging for ever and making "manly" grunting sounds. Then we kicked our feet in the wading pool. The water was a bit chilli, but running around kept us warm. Then we all sat under a shade tree for a picnic. What more can you ask for on a sunny Saturday morning?