A few more layouts

Here a few more layouts that I had done for my 52 week challenge and never got posted.

The first is for week 8 and is about Shanes's poptart obsession.

The second is for week 21 and is a layout of me and Abby at Mom and Dad's anniversary party.

The third one is for week 30 and it is a layout of my sweet Shane in the pool.

And this last one is a layout of Abby and Bailey. They are too cute! It was for week 42.

Baby Collin

Isn't he the sweetest little baby you've ever seen? This is the latest addition to our family - Collin Ray Dean, my great nephew. He arrived on Wednesday, November 24, weighing 6 lbs. 11 oz. and he was 19 inches long. He is just perfect in every way! This layout was made for one of the journaling classes over at Inspired to Scrap. The challenge was to journal using adjectives only. It wasn't too hard to come up with some words to describe him! I also made it for a challenge over at AWDML. This challenge was to use the same number of item types as there are letters in your last name. Since I have 6 letters in my last name I had to use 6 different items. My items were - cardstock, patterned paper, ribbon, brads, staples, and chipboard. I also used a sketch from Nuts about sketches.

December sketch challenge at Inspired to Scrap

Here is the layout I made for the December sketch challenge over at Inspired to Scrap. This is a layout of Abby's 20th birthday. The journaling reads: Abby - I love that you still want to have a big party with all of the family - that you still want presents from Mom and Dad - that your cake has to have the Disney Princess' on it - Don't ever change who you are!

She is definitely something special and I can't believe that she is 20!

This is also my layout for week 36 of my 52 week challenge.

Just a quick update

Time has really gotten away from me! I just can't seem to get it together lately. I am having a really hard time getting used to Scott's new job. This never knowing when he is going to have a day off until the Thursday before the new week is hard! When you're used to a Monday through Friday work week - knowing he has every weekend off and then changing to him working every weekend and a day or two during the week...it's hard to get used to. Especially when you're a family that needs to stick to a routine! Maybe before long it will all click.

Lots has happened over the past couple of months. Baby Collin (my great nephew) arrived the day before Thanksgiving. We decided to put off our Thanksgiving dinner at Mom's until Saturday when everyone could be there. This allowed us to have Thanksgiving day with Scott's side of the family. It has been years since all the aunts and cousins came down for Thanksgiving and it was so nice to see everyone again.

Next up was Shane's Christmas concert at school. He wasn't none too happy to get there, but by the time the classes came into the gym, he had settled down. Once again he didn't sing, but he did stand quietly and even got a little excited a time or two. It is always so nice to see him taking part with his classmates.

Abby's last final was on Dec. 16. She was really glad to get this semester over with. It had been a pretty stressful semester. She was dreading seeing what her final grades were because of the way her history professor did his grading. As it turns out, when she got her final grades she once again had all A's and maintained her 4.0! She was ecstatic to say the least.

Matthew had a big science project due at the end of the semester. He partnered up with Lane for it and it was called the Rube/Goldberg project - I think. Kind of a domino effect sort of thing. They had to make sure and have at least 6 steps in it, it had to last for at least 10 seconds, and it had to be video taped. It took them 2 weekends of working on it to get it done. When the teacher seen the video he was so pleased he asked if he could keep it to show as an example to future classes! They got a perfect 100 out of 100 on this project. Way to go, boys!

Christmas eve was spent at Mom and Dad's. We had lots of good food and a really fun white elephant sort of gift exchange. I had to open 3 presents before I finally got to keep what I opened. I came home with the softest and warmest throw along with a yummy smelling candle.

Christmas morning we got up early and opened presents before going to Scott's Mom and Dad's for breakfast and another gift exchange. I came home with another throw, a popcorn popper, and a dvd of The Goonies!

On the 29th, Abby was in the living room and hollered there's a deer in our front yard! Now this is not an uncommon site, it's just we usually see them in the bottom or in the neighbors orchard. To see a deer in the front yard, so close to the house, and not just one, but 7! That's a little unusual!

I'm not too sure what our plans for New Years eve is this year. Scott has to work 12 hours on New Years eve and 12 hours New Years day. I don't know if we'll still try to go in to Aunt Kay's for a little while, or if we'll just stay home. I know Scott will have to go to bed early since he has to get up at 3 a.m., but maybe the kids and I will try to stay up. We'll have to wait and see.

Totally Tubular TV Crop

The Totally Tubular TV Crop has officially begun over at A Walk Down Memory Lane. There are lots of awesome challenges already posted with games soon to follow! Be sure to check it out here:http://www.awalkdownmemorylane.net/forums/index.php?showforum=133. There's sure to be lots of fun and inspiration!

Scrap Pink Crop at SAS

Scrap Attack Scrapbooking is going to have a Scrap Pink crop on October 16 and 17. It's going to be a weekend filled with lots of games, challenges, prizes, and a Scrap Pink raffle basket with all the proceeds going to the Susan G. Komen foundation. Be sure to check it out. Here's a link for ya! http://scrapattackscrapbooking.com/messageboard/viewtopic.php?f=153&t=17863

I'm finally back

Wow! What a time we've had! So much has gone on in the last month, that I don't know if I'm coming or going. It all started with the school nurse calling me on Aug. 30 saying Shane was running a low grade fever, walking funny, and holding his side. Since he can't tell us what and where he is hurting, and afraid that it could be his appendix, I took him to the dr. He sent us straight to the er - thinking, like us I'm sure, that it was his appendix. After x ray's, blood tests, urine tests, every kind of test you can think of, an i.v., (I have no idea how Shane dealt with all of this so well and didn't fight us at all.) and 4 plus hours in the er, we found out it was strep throat. That was the only test that came back positive. So after a shot of penicillin we were on our way. It took like 3 days for Shane to get back to walking normal and not like he was hurting every step of the way. Never in the last 20 years of raising my kids have any of them had strep throat where it caused pain like this. The dr. and others I have talked to assures me it can happen.

So we get over that and the car quit us for like the 6th time in the last 2 months - with the same thing wrong that was supposed to have gotten fixed. We still don't know what is wrong with it. When it runs it runs like a dream, but you'll just be going down the road and it will die with no warning and won't start again. After dealing with that headache since June we finally went and got a new car. I hate having another payment, but there was just no other way. On top of all this going on, Scott got a call from Kraft for a job. Yay! More money and better benefits - you can't beat that. It took over 3 weeks from the time he had the interview until they finally called and told him when to be there. We were starting to wonder what was going on. But they did call, he has been to orientation since Monday and will start the new job next Monday. All we know is that he will be working days - just not sure yet what days. He's excited about the change and so am I. I'm just hoping now that things will start to settle down!

Week 23/ 52 week challenge

Okay, so I'm really skipping around in my 52 week challenge - definitely not doing it in any order at all. I have all of my pictures set aside for each week, so I just scrap what I feel like scrappin' at the time. It's just for me so it doesn't matter if I do it in order, right??!

I did this layout for one of the color challenges over at SAS. The challenge was to use red, blue, and yellow as the main colors on a layout. I bought this patterned paper at Michaels a while back and thought they would work perfect for this challenge. I used a sketch from The Scrappiest blog (I can't remember which one right now) and just some good old cardstock. I love these pictures of the boys getting along so well together. It's not too often that I walk in to them being so nice to each other. It's no secret that Shane likes to take his frustrations out on Matthew. It feels like I am constantly telling Shane to keep his hands to himself, or telling Matthew to quit pestering Shane. But every once in a while I see them like this. These are the moments I want to remember!

Week 11 of my 52 week challenge and...

one of the layouts I made for a challenge over at SAS's birthday crop last month. The challenge was we had to pick items we would bring to the party. The items represented a scrapbook item - but you didn't know what it was until after you picked it. I chose -for the theme to be a jungle theme -party decorations -making banners - games - scavenger hunt - supplies - napkins - cake - ice cream cake and a mandatory item . For the jungle theme - I had to use green as the main color of my layout, party decorations - I had to use computer journaling, game - I had to use 2 pictures, napkins - I had to use a square on my layout, and the ice cream cake - I had to use some bling. The mandatory item meant you had to use 1 item on the layout 5 times, which was my shamrocks. Since I used the pictures I had for my week 11 challenge, I was able to do double duty with this one!

No caffeine + the mention of school = a bad day!

Okay, I'll be the first to admit that Shane is addicted to soda. If Shane had his way he would drink soda from the time he gets up of a morning until he goes to bed at night.And he wants the real stuff! No diet or caffeine free for this guy. We have tried really hard this summer to cut back on his soda intake. His dentist has told us that he has a bit of acid reflux - (Yikes!) and he got to where he was belching and sounding like he was going to throw up in the process (I'm sure thanks to the acid reflux) so our mission this summer has been to cut down to only one a day and eventually none. Abby has done really well with flat out telling him no. And he has gotten to where he will ask for milk or water (that's definitely the last resort for him!) instead of soda. Well let me tell you, we found out late Sunday morning just how cranky this guy can be when he's not had his soda and you mention - heaven forbid - the word school. I have never seen such a sight! We gave him a little bit of soda, he headed to his room and came out a completely different, happy boy. It's always an adventure with Shane!

Scott's Birthday and the fair

We decided for Scott's birthday we would once again go to the Ozark Empire Fair. We went last year and had such a good time and we decided that may just become a tradition. Since Scott has been working so much overtime and finally had a Saturday off, we thought it would be a great time for a little getaway. Friday when he got home from work we packed up and headed to Springfield. We decided to stay in the night in Springfield since we wanted to do a little shopping and knew we wouldn't have time to get it all in in a night. We found a hotel, went out to eat, then headed over to the fairgrounds. It was the first night of the fair and it really wasn't as busy as what we expected. We headed right for the roller coaster - one of Shane's favorites - and the fun started. We all rode the roller coaster and the ferris wheel, but when it came to the spinning rides, Shawn and I had to opt out. This was the first year Shane rode on the Tilt-a-Whirl - he loved it -and he tried out the Himalayan - he liked this one at first, but as the ride got faster and kept going and going...well lets just say he won't be riding that one again! I think we were lucky he didn't throw up after (or during) that one! It was a very fun night and I hope we get to do it again next year.

After the fair we went back to the hotel and crashed. The room was a little hot and stuffy when we first got there, so we turned the air on full blast and went to bed. By morning we were all freezing! We all got tickled when Shawn said he thought he could shoot ice cubes out of his toes -that's how cold it felt in there! While I was getting ready, Scott and the kids headed out to the pool for a quick swim. After that it was off to breakfast and a day of shopping. Scott says it was the best birthday that he's had in awhile. I know we all had a lot of fun, made a lot of memories, and I can't wait to do it again next year!

5th Birthday crop at...

Scrap Attack Scrapbooking! It all starts Aug. 13 and goes through the 15th. I am sure it will be a weekend filled with great challenges and a lot of inspiration! Here's how you get there:http://www.scrapattackscrapbooking.com/messageboard.

ABC's of Summer Crop at MSW

Woohoo! Just what I need on these hot summer days! Starting August 1, My Sketch World is having their 2nd annual - ABC's of summer -month long crop. New challenges will be posted every day alternating between layout and cards, with a couple of catch up days thrown in. Here's where you can find out all the information.

http://www.mysketchworld.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=105&t=6098

Another Christmas layout

Here is another Christmas layout I made for the Christmas in July crop over at AWDML's design team blog. The challenge for this layout was to use the sketch provided by Lucy Chesna and it needed to be about a Christmas memory. Since Shawn proposing to Abby on Christmas morning this last Christmas morning was still somewhat fresh in the old memory bank, I decided to make a layout about it. I have had a lot of fun this last week going back and doing Christmas layouts. They have all been from this past Christmas and I'm glad to finally be getting them done!

I used MME - The Merry Days of Christmas papers and some brads from The Paper Studio.

It's Christmas in July

It's Christmas in July over at AWDML's design team blog. They had a crop going on July 12 - 16, with some really great challenges posted each day. They extended the deadline to get the challenges done to July 26, and I thought what better time to get some Christmas layouts done. This layout is for the first challenge - to make a layout about a holiday tradition. One of my favorite traditions is decorating the Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. Now that the kids are older, they do all the decorating themselves. I love being able to just sit back and watch them create a masterpiece. This past Christmas Shawn even came over and helped decorate. It makes me so happy to see the kids having fun.

For this layout I used MME Be Merry christmas papers, some Doodlebug alphabets, and the apron lace border punch and it is based on a sketch by Allison Davis.

Two of a kind

This was one of those happy surprises when I got my pictures back from going camping. I had taken this picture from quite a distance away of Scott and Shane as they were walking back to the playground from the bathroom. At the time I had no idea of what I had captured. Everybody keeps telling us that Shane looks more and more like his Daddy . This picture just proves that point. Here they are in the same color swim trunks, both in their sandals, both in step with each other, arms hanging down just alike, heads down as they walk along...Shane just looks like a mini version of his Daddy!

This layout was based on a sketch, thanks to Giselle, over at Papermice. I used American Crafts and Fancy Pants patterned paper, thickers and Doodlebug letters, buttons and brads from Making Memories.

Camping at Nemo Landing

What's gonna happen? Two posts in two days? We've had a lot going on and I am actually taking the time to get it down.

We went camping again at Pomme de Terre lake on the 5th and 6th. I know, it's not a long time camping, but with Shane it's about all we can manage. And really two days of being away from air conditioning, beds, and all the comforts of home is long enough. That and the rain didn't help matters any. We got down to the lake right after noon and the campsite was already empty. Scott and I decided to set up camp while Abby, Shawn, Matthew, and Shane headed to the lake to swim. I love our campsite being so close to the lake - just a short walk and you're there! The lake was pretty crowded when we first got there, but cleared out pretty quick.

We did get rained on Monday evening. It didn't last long, but it didn't take long for Shane to decide he was ready for home either. He is definitely not an outdoor person unless he is in the water. Shawn, Abby, and Matthew wanted to go swimming while it poured down rain. Since it wasn't lightning or thundering we let them go. They stayed down in the water the whole time it rained. Matthew thought it was really cool going underwater and listening to the rain hit the water. Turns out Abby spent most of the time under the shelter house roof!

That evening we enjoyed smores and playing cards. It didn't take Shane long to fall asleep. He had had a long day filled with swimming and playing on the playground. That along with boredom on his part made for a fairly early evening. The air mattress the kids slept on lost air during the night and by morning they were pretty much sleeping on the ground. I don't think any of them got a lot of sleep. Even Matthew, who can sleep through just about anything, wasn't happy when he got up! The birds woke me up about 4 a.m. with their singing. It sounded beautiful, but I could have used a couple more hours of sleep! We were all up and having breakfast by 6:30 and back down to the lake for an early morning swim soon thereafter. Once again we had the lake to ourselves that early. Well except for the geese. They were exploring the beach again.

Abby found a few more rocks to add to her collection from last year. Matthew stuck to Shawn like glue the whole time. I don't think he ever got far from him the whole time. The clouds started rolling in again and we decided it was time to head home. Just in time too. As we were pulling out of the campground it was starting to rain.

It was another fun camping trip and I'm sure we'll do it again next year. Maybe we'll push our luck and try for 3 days!

Fun on the 4th

This summer seems to be flying by! We're already into July and it always seems like after the 4th time really goes by fast! I noticed when I went to Wal-Mart today that the school supplies were front and center. I really don't know if I'm ready for that!

We had all the family out to our house for the 4th of July this year. Everybody was able to make it, so the night was filled with family, food, fireworks, and fun! We had bar-b-qued burgers (thanks to the Noyes'), hot dogs, chips, homemade ice cream (thanks to the Paulsen's), and the best homemade cookies (thanks to Abby and Aunt Kay)! I do believe that Aunt Kay makes the best chocolate chip cookies on the planet!

Shane usually loves the 4th and this year was no exception. Things were a little crazy for him with having everyone over and he chose to stay inside and watch the fireworks from the window. He did come out a time or two, but I think the reason he stayed in the house was so he could eat Aunt Kay's cookies. Everytime I checked on him he had a cookie in each hand!

Sarah and Katie enjoyed getting to spend time with Matthew, Abby enjoyed getting to talk with April and play with Bailey, and Bailey fell in love with Otis. She constantly wanted to pet, kiss, and try to ride him.

A lot of the kids - and some of the adults- played wiffle ball - turns out Kelsey is quite the hitter. They all had fun hitting the ball and running the bases.

Bailey really liked the sparklers. The only problem was she wanted the end with the fire on it instead of the right end to hold! We got a kick out of watching her stomp on the poppers. She can flat stomp! The fireworks display was non stop for about a half an hour. Scott, Shawn, Don, and Michael kept things moving on!

It was such a fun night and I hope we get the chance to do it all again next year!

4th of July card

Where has the time gone? Today is June 30... This summer is flying by faster than ever.

Kathi had posted a card challenge over at HSS for the month of June and I had such good intentions of getting lots of cards made, but that once again didn't happen. I did get a chance to make a card this morning - an invitation for the 4th of July party we're having Sunday. Nothing like waiting until the last minute! It's a good thing everyone lives close and these can be hand delivered! At least this has got me in the mood to make some more cards. Maybe I'll have some more to share, but right now the pool is calling my name!

Birthday card for PTT challenge #1

I came across a new challenge blog this week. It's called Party Time Tuesdays and they post a challenge every Tuesday for a birthday card. That's just what I need to get my supply up! The first challenge was an anything goes challenge - the only requirement is it needs to have a birthday sentiment on the card. I used paper from The Paper Studio, cardstock from DCWV, a Cuttlebug embossing folder, and the border punch is from Fiskars. I am looking forward to the next challenge and can't wait to see how many cards I can get done! If you haven't visited their blog yet, you need to stop by! http://partytimetuesdays.blogspot.com

Week 19/52 week challenge - Mother's Day

I am so glad that I'm just making up my own rules for this...who knows, by the end of the year maybe I'll have 52 layouts done...maybe I'll have ideas and pictures for 52 layouts!! At least I'm working on it. Oh well. This is the layout I made for week 19 of my 52 week challenge. I used my Mother's day pictures, a sketch from The Scrappiest, and the My Family collection of paper from Fancy Pants. The flowers on this was made thanks to Giselle over at Papermice. She had posted how to make them for a card and I fell in love with the way they looked and used them on this layout, too.

Matthew's trash robot FF-300

Matthew finally got to bring his trash robot home from school! I have been waiting so long for him to bring it home so I could get some pictures of it. They made these robots out of "trash" in art class way back before Christmas. The kids all had to bring in plastic bottles, old cd's , etc. to make them with. They only had two class periods to get them done in and Matthew was sick on the first day of it. He told me he had made his into a firefighter and it's name was FF-300. Before Christmas the teacher entered them into a contest with other schools where the top prize was a gift card from Radio Shack. Matthew's robot came in 5th. Then they went on display at an area restaurant and finally FF- 300 went to an area art show where 3 schools participated and he came home with the 3rd place ribbon. He spent the last month of the school year in the trophy case at school along with the other winners. Now FF-300 makes his home on the top shelf of the book case where we can admire Matthew's handy work!

The bean bag bounce

Last Sunday was one of those rare days when Shane was in the mood to play with Matthew. Scott and I got so tickled watching them play. They started out by taking turns falling on the bean bags each one trying to outdo the other. There was a time or two when Matthew would do something to make Shane mad - like move the bean bags before Shane could fall on them - but Shane never got mad enough to want to hit. (Shane not hauling off and hitting Matthew is a big improvement recently- thanks to Mrs. Metcalf!)He just made the famous fish face that we have all learned means to get the heck out of the way! Matthew started picking up the bean bags and running into Shane with them. Then they each got a bean bag and would take them and run into each other. I don't know how long they played like that! I think they finally had to quit because Shane was too tired to get back up off the floor. It was just one of those glimpses that we get once in a while of how things would be all the time if Shane didn't have autism. We'll take all these moments we can get! I am planning on these being the pictures for this weeks (week 17) 52 week challenge. Now I just need to get them printed and the layout made!

Just a quick card to share

Here is a quick card I got in and made today. Giselle over at Papermice had posted the instructions for this and another card and they were both so cute I just had to try them out. I got this one done today and the other one will have to wait til the weekend. I really like the way this turned out. The directions called for 8 - 2 inch circles, but I was too lazy to pull out the cricut, so I just used the biggest punch I could find. I think it was about an inch and a half. I used some really old Cosmo Cricket paper, Making Memories alphabet, and Fiskars apron lace border punch. The card went together really quick and I plan on using this flower idea again!

I got to meet...

Kathi and Sherry face to face on Friday, April 16! I had gotten acquainted with them online a couple of years ago on a scrapbooking message board. We decided we were all close enough we could meet up and do a little scrapbook shoppin' together in Springfield. Sherry is from Webb City and Kathi is from just across the state line in Kansas. I have got to say I have not laughed so much in one day in a long time! They are both so funny and easy to get along with. We went shopping at Scrap Nook first - the lady that was working that day was kind enough to take our picture for us, took a break for lunch at Cheddars (they were so sweet - they bought my lunch!) and then headed to Scrapbook Generation for more shopping. I ended the day by picking Abby up at MSU and we headed home. I'm looking forward to the next time we all have a chance to get together.

Week 9/52 week challenge

Oh my goodness, I just can't get my crap together when it comes to this blog. I do alright for a while, and then it gets totally neglected again. I finally got around to doing a layout for me today. I have been so busy trying to get Marilyn's albums of her grandson's birthdays done I haven't even looked at too many of my own pictures. I've been pretty good about taking my pictures during the week, it's just finding the time to make the layout about it. So, now I've skipped to week 9 (I still need to do week 6 and week 8 and I'll get there in time!) of my 52 week challenge. It's just a good thing I make up the rules as I go along! Week 9 is for the week of Feb. 26 - Mar 4. My crocus had finally started blooming and I was starting to see the robins make their way back and the weather was starting to get warm enough that the boys were going outside to play basketball and baseball and the neighborhood kids started coming over to join in on the fun. All sure signs that spring has arrived! I had originally planned on making this a 2 pager, but since I'm trying to keep my 52 week challenge layouts just single layouts I used 3x4 pictures instead of 4x6 and cut down the number I wanted to use. It's just a pretty plain and simple layout. I used white cardstock, ribbon and chipboard letters from Hobby Lobby, and a jewel flower from Kaiser Crafts. I embossed the green cardstock with the swiss dot embossing folder from Cuttlebug and then sanded the edges and the dots. It didn't turn out quite like what I wanted, but then they rarely do! Maybe I'll get caught up one of these days!

Some wonderful news & Week 12/52 week challenge

I got the best news last Thursday the 25th. I got a phone call about 1:20 in the afternoon. It was Mrs. Hawkins, the principal at the school. She told me she had Matthew in her office - which made my heart beat a little faster, wondering what in the world had happened. She went on to explain that they have started something new at school called the Star Student of the day and that Matthew had been picked for that day. She told me that Matthew's teacher had written a really nice note about Matthew and wanted to share it with me.

It said: Matthew Stroup tolerates all of his peers even those who other students can't get along with. He is very responsible and respectful... I know I can count on Matthew to do the right thing in academic and social situations. He leads instead of follows and takes himself out of situations when he doesn't feel they are right to be in. When other students are confused, Matthew is willing to help them and does it in a humble way. It is obvious that his parents are very involved with Matthew and taught him morals. Matthew is the type of kid you would be proud to have as a child - when I have children someday I like to think they will be like Matthew -HAHA- if I'm that lucky.

Now I've got to tell you - this brought tears to my eyes. I am always afraid that with everything we have going on with Shane that Matthew may feel like he gets overlooked. It is just so nice to see that other's recognize what an amazing boy he is. I am so proud of him!

A sweet surprise

I got the sweetest surprise on March 18. The kids were out of school for their one day of spring break and I got a phone call from Jenny. She told me that Katie had a present for me and wanted to bring it over. I thought that it was just so sweet of Katie to think of me. She brought over the cutest little chick that I have ever seen. Jenny said that they had gotten a Momma and baby chick and when they were in the checkout line Katie asked if she could get one for me. I think that Katie Beth is the best niece I could ever have!

Yard sale time at the Civic Center

This time of year is always busy because we're getting ready for the yard sale. Lebanon has a community wide yard sale at the Civic Center the third Saturday in March. We have been going to it for at least the last 5 years - maybe longer. This has become a yearly tradition for us. And every year I say that I don't know if I will do the next year because it is a pain getting everything around for it. But it's a great way to get rid of stuff we don't need anymore and to make a little money in the process. We try to move all our stuff in on Friday night so that leaves Saturday morning to set up and prepare. Scott goes by and picks up breakfast at McDonald's while Abby and I take the boys to spend the day with Grandpa. This year Matthew decided he wanted to stay at the yard sale and see what it was like.He was a great help - getting bags ready when people came by and bought things. He also enjoyed doing a little shopping of his own. He found some Sim's games for the computer that he and Abby didn't already have and couldn't wait to tell Abby about them. They ended up buying 6 of them for $1 a piece. They have definitely gotten their moneys worth! Abby also got a great deal on a mirror she had been wanting. It was at the booth directly across from us and she looked at it all day wanting it. Scott had asked the people the night before how much it was. We thought they said $15. The next morning when Abby and I looked at it the tag said $50! Abby said, "Well maybe if they knocked $40 off the price I would get it. Around noon the man came over and told her that they were dropping the price of the mirror to $10 if she was interested. She jumped at the chance and was very excited to get her mirror. We have a lot of people tell us they look for us first because they know we'll have the stuff they want/need and for a good price. It's a lot of fun seeing how many people come through that place. I'm glad it's over for this year and I'm going to try to be better about getting things around during the year so it's not so much work! We'll see how that works out.

It's a busy time of year!

So much has been going on - I cannot believe how fast time is flying! Next week is Easter. Easter! Boy, do I need to set aside at least one day a week and stay caught up on here! I have a lot of things to catch up on, so I will start from my last post and try to give a quick update. First of all, the boys made sure to wear their green for St. Patrick's day. Yes, Matthew's shirt does have green on it. I was really surprised when they both didn't pitch a fit when I wanted to take their pictures! And they both look so cute! Abby assured me that she remembered to wear her green, too. She was even a little surprised at how many other college kids wore green that day. I wish I could have gotten a picture of her, too.