Happy Monday

Fern and butterfly are Penny Black, newsprint background is from Hero arts. Images are colored with distressed markers.

Today has went pretty smoothly for a Monday, school is done, dinner is on the stove and Pixie is napping. I like when my days go like this, wish I had more of them! Still working on organizing, I watched the Kickstart video from Day 11 this a.m. and my goodness Kathy R. sure can color. She is amazing and so inspiring. I can't wait to start on an image "bank" for my cards. Hope your Monday was wonderful, thanks for stopping by.

Celebrate today

 

 

I am still loving these butterflies from Hero Arts, so much fun to color. I have been having a blast taking the new online class Kickstart. They have given me so many ideas on organization and kick starting your creativity. I haven't worked much on creating anything new, mainly just developing a better system for me to find my stuff. It is a work in progress but I feel good about the ideas and I think they will help me in the long run.

We have been keeping busy with school, work and play. The kids are crazy, and I love it. Listening to Wyatt and Pixie talk is the cutest thing ever. Pixie says "yes" to pretty much anything you ask her, but Wyatt really thinks she is answering him. He has the funniest conversations with her and I love listening to them. They are becoming such good friends, I am really enjoying their age difference. Not sure what we are going to get into this weekend. I am itching to go to Myrtle Beach, but there is also a Spot festival in town. We took the boys a few years ago and they had so much fun on all the slides. Both would be fun, so I guess we will just see what we feel like doing! Have a great weekend!

with Love

 

Stamps and folder from Stampin up. Die cut is spellbinders.

 

This is another card I made at when I was crafting at Debbie's, I was so productive there, and here not so much. I believe we now have the first cold of the season, Wyatt is the first victim and he is not a happy little boy. I figure he probably got it at Sunday School, which is good and bad. I hate when they get sick, I know it is better for them to build up their immune system. Especially with Owen not being in school now and bringing home every germ. If I could only limit the spread to one child it would be nice though!

Tres butterfly thanks

Stamp: Lawn fawn, dies: Simon says hexagon, and Memory box(thanks)

 

I recently purchased some new stuff and had a little time today to play while Pixie napped and DH took the boys out for the afternoon. I haven't practiced with my copics much lately and I miss coloring. I signed up for the new Online card class, starting next week and I am excited for it. I struggle with my creativity all the time, so I am looking forward to the inspiration. I have loved all of their classes. I miss having a local store to take classes and learn new techniques.

The weather has taken a turn for cooler temps. and I am looking forward to the bugs leaving us soon as well. Soon we will be able to take the kids outside to play and go for walks I am ready for that. Poor Pixie can't even go from the house to the car without being swarmed. We are plugging along at homeschooling, I will update that blog later this week with some new pictures and a weekly review. Thanks for stopping by.

 

Four butterflies

Saturday I spent the day with Debbie, I had so much fun. We had tons to catch up on, made quite a few cards, and enjoyed good food. She recently bought an ice cream maker and has been whipping up some creations. She made key lime ice cream and it was awesome, I am inspired to make some with my machine, I even bought the whipping cream. Now I just have to use it!

The butterfly stamps are from a hero arts set, that I love and now am anxiously awaiting mine from Ellen Hutson. They are colored with distressed markers, and die cut. The beautiful frame is from Memory box, which I also had to order. LOL!

This week I am praying for a better week of school. My other goal is to find a better way to plan my meals. I just started researching some of the free and paid meal planning sites today. My days go so much better when I have the meals figured out. Have a wonderful Monday!

Celebrate your day!

 

I have  been messing with this forever. The leaf and butterfly are from Hero Arts and the sentiment is from PTI. I had three butterflies to add, but then it seemed way too busy, so I placed one and decided it was finished!

 

I hope everyone had a great weekend, I had grand plans for my weekend. Although it did not turn out like I was hoping.  My DH and the boys were off in the mountains camping, so it was just Pixie and I. I had lost DVD remotes, a sad Pixie who would not sleep the first night. Then a DH who swears he despises drama but seems intent on driving me insane! Everything worked out well enough, but a relaxing weekend it was not!

Back to school

Stamp is from Lockart, impression plate is PTI.

I die cut a window and then die cut a frame with red paper. The image is colored with watercolor pencils and attached to the inside of the card. I am entering this into the CASology challenge with the keyword School.

Well we have now completed two entire weeks of school! We are still working out some kinks but for the most part it is going well. We have occasional breakdowns from everyone including me. Especially when Owen broke 4 of my dishes after I had repeatedly told him not to do what he was doing. After a brief freak out by me, we were all able to resume our schooling within a reasonable amount of time! I hope one day he will in fact listen to my instructions, but until then I try not to be attached to anything that isn't breathing.

Three little fish

Owen and I escaped to the office last night to do some crafting. I wanted to make a card for the CASology challenge. I am sure I have a frog somewhere, but he must be hiding somewhere really good. I did find quite a few different fish and decided this one would make a great card. The texture if from a spellbinder embossing folder, and when I will have to check the stamp maker.

We started homeschool this week at the The little grey schoolhouse, and it has been good. Monday we also picked up a few new chickens. These are called sizzles and are a cross between a silkie and a frizzle bantam. They are too cute. We have a rooster and 2 hen trio and another pair I am hoping are hens. The kids and I also put together a smaller chicken coop to keep these little chickens in. All in all it's been a very productive week. Which is surprising with all the rain we have had to deal with. We are hoping for sunny skies and a chance to maybe get to the beach this weekend! Have a great one, thanks for stopping by.

A little birdie told me...

Card: all dies are from Memory box, sentiment is PTI.

This card is for the CASology Bird Challenge. I had a little time today with the boys visiting my in-laws and Pixie napping to have some creative time. I have been busy while the boys have been gone cleaning their room, and preparing for school. I spent yesterday making list of books to get at the library. It is so nice to actually be able to look that kind of stuff up online at home! I am also hoping to have time to squeeze in a date with my DH. It has been far too long since the two of us have had time alone. We are planning to go to my favorite place called Freddies in Fort Fisher. It's quite a drive from where we are and we usually have to wait 1 hour or more, but it is totally worth it. They have the best seafood fettuccine and pork chops, I can't wait.  I am so looking forward to being able to actually eat a meal at the restaurant. The boys are great when we go out but Pixie not so much! I usually just get my meal boxed up since I have to keep her busy. The time goes so quick though, before I know it she will be as good as the boys. Have a wonderful weekend. Thanks for stopping by.

LIfe is beautiful

 Card is PB stamps and colored with copics, then used a white gel pen to make stitch marks as inspired by Kathy @ The Daily Marker, I love her work!

I can finally blog again thanks to Hughes Net. I had tried unsuccessfully a few months ago to get another Internet that was suppose to be super fast, but the technician was unwilling to even attempt setting it up. When I called and complained they didn't even try to set up another install, they tried to sell me some different more expensive version that was not even as fast. I gave up for awhile, but realized a few of my new goals really depended on being able to use the Internet.  They had no trouble setting us up and it is so nice to be back!

In the next few weeks I am beginning a journey with my three crazy kids. One that we have struggled with, researched and prayed about. We have chosen to homeschool them, while the primary focus will be on Owen who is 9, Wyatt (4) and Pixie are going to be included as much as possible. I want to make it fun and foster a life-long love for learning so I plan to start that with the littles! Owen is excited to not be going back to school, so that is the easy part of it. Overall he did well last year, but we had quite a few issues that raised some red flags. One was falling behind, not getting concepts just to be shuffled to the next ones. It began causing a lot of confidence issues. There were many other factors but I saw a glimpse of what would happen if he remained in Public School and that was not the picture I wanted for my him or my other two. We are having to step back quite a bit on lesson plans since he is severely lacking in many fundamental concepts. I think he will excel very quickly, but I will not be doing him any justice if I don't address these issues now. I am excited and nervous about this new adventure, but am confident that this is the right choice for our family. I won't be blogging much about it here, but will be keeping a blog just for homeschool adventures at http://thelittlegreyschoolhouse.blogspot.com/.  I have just starting working on it, but hope to be posting regularly to document my new job!

Hopefully later today I can work on my cards, I saw CASology has another great challenge: birds! Love this new challenge site! Thanks for stopping by have a wonderful day.

Pears

It has been a crazy summer, I feel like time has been going at warp speed since the beginning of June. We are in the process of changes, and I am wrapped up with getting the details completed. I have barely had a chance to do any crafting but have been beginning to feel restless and decided I need to take some time for myself.  So for two nights after I put Pixie to bed I headed outside to my office. The first night it took me forever to finally make this card. My inspiration is the challenge at CASology. After playing with many different stamps I finally settled on this one by Stamp in Hand, it is colored with Memento markers and stamped on a textured paper. The Thinking of you stamp is from Penny Black.  Thanks for stopping by.

Edited: Today I finally got a faster internet,  which means I can finally blog again! So today I am doing the happy dance!

Simple stamped flower

Stamp is from PB, it was colored with distressed markers and stamped on white cardstock.

It has gotten hot here in Eastern, NC. We have been very fortunate that the weather has been very nice, but that is over and it is officially SUMMER! The kids and I are settling into our new routine with not too much trouble. The boys are both early risers so they get up and play together, there are occasional scuffles but for the most part they are pretty good. Pixie sleeps in until 8:30-9:00 so I use this time to drink my coffee catch up on computers stuff and make notes for my day. We are tweaking Pixie’s new nap schedule trying to find the right time for her to nap. Now that I don’t have to pick open up from school we can let her nap in the afternoon.

Tomorrow the kids get to meet Chris’s Aunt, Uncle and Cousin, and I am so excited. They are coming to vacation in Myrtle Beach, SC and stopping by Chris’s parents house for dinner. Owen met her years ago, but they have never seen the two littles.  I am so looking forward to catching up with them. I hope DH will be able to come by. Quite a few things have created a huge workload for him and he has yet to dig out of it. I feel so bad that in after taking a little time off, he has had to work 15+ hour days including Sat. and Sunday.  But 10 house closing in 12 days will put anyone in a bind, and we just have to work through it.

Yesterday DH reminded me that today is our 19 year anniversary (of dating).  It was so sweet when I said Wow, who would have thought and he responded “me”. I am so incredible blessed to have this wonderful man as my Husband, father of my children and best friend.  Well enough rambling, enjoy your day, hope you have time to create!

Last day blues

We are sad to be leaving Boone today, we have had a wonderful time. I was afraid a week would be too long for everyone, but it went by so quick. We will miss the cabin, it was the nicest place I have ever been in! We will also miss the orange kitty that visited us everyday. It was particularly fond of Wyatt, and even came first thing this morning to say goodbye to him.

Yesterday we went to lunch in Blowing Rock, and the took the kids to Price Lake. They enjoyed playing in the water, and looking for fish. Then while Pixie took a nap we drove up to Grandfather Mountain, just to give her some time to sleep. We can't wait to come back and visit again. Wyatt is already planning where we will go next time.  Hope you have a great weekend. I am going to try to get back into my real life. Although it has been wonderful to take a break!

Grandfather Mountain

Just for my girl!

Our Cabin kitty, we will miss him!

She was trying to help Daddy

Looking for gems...

We have been having the best time, minus the frustrations with work for my DH. I feel so bad the aggravation he endures do to no fault of him. I know how it goes, and the only good or bad thing has been we don't have service at the cabin. We can tell someones called but hearing messages or talking to someone is not an option. The first day we were here, one of our machine operators quit or was fired. We don't really know the real story yet, but that has created a void on one of our jobs. Running a business is so stressful, and it's not something that you can ever leave at work. It is our lively hood, and consumes most of our lives, ultimately it's not the most important thing. However it does feed, cloth and shelter us, so we have to keep it going. I wish I could take the stress away from DH.

We tried a new place Gem mining, and it was great. We went to Foggy Mnt. Gem Mine, and they were wonderful. We found some beautiful rocks, some we are going to have cut and some we are saving for later. I plan on getting a rock tumbler when we get home, to smooth some of the non-valuable ones we found. I spent my time chasing after Pixie, who loved running up and down the rubber mat they had. She has enjoyed all the hills here, and loves going downhill. 

Later that day when it cleared up we took the kids to the park we found last year by accident. The kids enjoyed playing on the playground and in the river. This year I planned ahead and made sure I brought everyone a chance of clothes.

Our own modern day "Huck Finn"

It rained most of the morning we mined, but later it cleared up enough to take the kids back to Bass Lake. They caught quite a few fish, we watched the swans dive for food, and got some exercise around the loop.

I thought this was hysterical!

Pixie looks like she knows what she is doing!

Later that day we took the kids to Mast General Store, and the park behind the store. It has a beautiful playground, and a fun spot to play in the river. The kids had a great time getting wet and this time I planned ahead and brought a chance of clothes for everyone. Tomorrow will be my last post with some of last vacation pictures, next week I will have a crafty post for you.

Exploring

The last few days we have been exploring. Saturday we went to the local farmers Market. It was a very popular spot, DH almost canned the idea when we saw how many people were there. Luckily we found someone leaving and got a decent spot. They had all kinds of local foods, meats, breads, honey and jam. We got the best peach pound cake I have ever had, and a few mixes to take home to make sourdough bread. The kids got to see some bee hives up close (under glass) and taste the local wildflower honey. After exploring the market we went to Horn on the west, which is set up like a village some +250 years ago. They had actors portraying different characters and we learned how to cook a chicken like they did back then.

Later that day we went to Bass Lake, it was gorgeous. People were riding their horses on the trails, and other were relaxing or fishing by the lake.

Fishing paradise!

I love how sweet these two are to each other

We also went to Blowing Rock, and I have to say that was a huge disappointment. I guess I don't like when they make something into a tourist attraction and you leave feeling ripped off. The view was pretty, but not any nicer than the ones you can see for free from the Parkway. Last year we went to Grandfather Mountain, and while it was expensive there was tons to do there. If you wanted to hike you could spend all day doing that. At least we can say we have visited it, but we won't be going back.

Boone Vacation- Part 1

 

I am taking a break from craft posting for a few weeks, more on that on a later post.  We are on our family vacation in Boone, NC and I have high speed Internet! So exciting! So I am going to post our trip here for the next few days. I look forward to getting crafty soon, but for now here's what were up to...

Last year we stayed in a cabin that was nice, but had a few issues, one being the first night there was a mouse living in the shower. When I went to pull the curtain back he flew up to the wall and scarred me from ever wanting to take a shower in there. We never did see him again, so I am sure it was just as frightening for him! LOL! The place was located on a beautiful ridge, with a very steep drop, and no yard. With Pixie being so mobile, I feared for her falling straight down. I searched for weeks until I found this:

I want to live here forever!

The creek is right on the property, the boys are in heaven.

The Watuga river is right across our road.

 Wyatt has been beyond excited to go see Thomas, he has been asking how many sleeps for weeks. When we got to Tweetsie on Friday Wyatt had a breakdown, he was trembling and telling us he was scared. At tweetsie they work a cowboy and Indians skit into the ride. The Indians run onto the train and by the end even though they try to make it funny, a good bit of the little ones are crying. The first time Owen went before we had Wyatt he hid under the seats. Wyatt didn't seem fazed him at all before, but he must have been thinking about it for awhile. It broke my heart, because he was so excited, we came him lots of encouragement and reassured him he was safe, and he did great. After the ride he told me " it wasn't too scary".



9 year olds are not good photo subjects

Pixie and her daddy on the train ride

Pixie loves flowers.

Wyatt was a blast on all the rides!

We had a fantastic day, all three were so good. We took turns keeping Pixie entertained. Mostly she played with her angry bird, she is totally into them. She spent a good 15 minutes entertaining a group of people as she tried to sit on the bird. It was hysterical, Owen wore the big kid rides out, and Wyatt was a blast taking on the rides, he loved the ferris wheel and the spinning rides. It took me a few hours to not feel ill though! Wyatt is already planning next years trip: )