Capture the Details

w o w

My schedule has been off the charts lately. My apologies for the lack of activity here on the blog.

I left off last Thursday with our anniversary.... Friday was an all-day field trip for Sarah. We went to Harrisburg to the Whitaker Center and then for a tour of the state capitol.

Here we are in a fun-house mirror at the Whitaker Science Center and also a shot of the inside dome of the capitol building (click on any of the pictures to enlarge). It was fun to see Sarah's reaction as she walked into the capitol (I've already been there). It is incredibly beautiful and intricate and as she walked in her head slowly went up and her jaw slowly dropped open. I think she was impressed......

 

So, that was Friday. Saturday was opening day for Spring sports at our township fields. We had to be there in the morning for the opening ceremony where they announced each team and recognized all the volunteer coaches. Sarah and Ben got to high-five FeFe from the Iron Pigs as they ran out to the field....

 

(Sarah is the third girl running in) Two of the Iron Pigs players came and they spoke to the kids for a minute and threw out the first pitch of the season....

 

I had to work the concession stand for a few hours in the afternoon. Then, back to the field again for Ben's game at 5:00 and Sarah's game at 6:00. Here's Ben at first base, after his first hit of the game, and then scoring his first run....

 

And Sarah at bat and scoring her first run....

 

She was upset because her team lost by two runs. It was her 10th birthday on Saturday and she wanted to win because of that.

Sunday, I had a few of Sarah's friends over in the afternoon for a Nancy Drew birthday party and then the family over after supper for another party....

 

And then, we had super hot weather ( in the low 90's) Saturday through Tuesday and without air conditioning I didn't feel like sitting at the computer because it's in the hottest room in our house. So, here I am, after almost a week, finally getting around to a post on my blog. :-)

15 years

....Squeaking this post in under the wire.... I was busy busy busy today and didn't get a chance to post this earlier.

Today is Todd and my 15 year anniversary. Or, as Todd says, 15 million years. LOL

Here are a few pictures from our wedding day....

•my stepdad, me and my dad. ... I can't begin to tell you how nervous I was here. I remember joking with my dads in the back before we came around the corner about putting me on roller skates and then they could just wheel me down the aisle...

 

•"you may kiss the bride"....

  

•...and outside the church after the ceremony...

 

My thoughts - look how young and how thin we were!!!!! LOL :-)

April 22

I felt like looking back through my life today , since it is my 41st birthday. happy birthday to me

So, I dug out some old photos, and some newer ones, and put this little montage together.....

•my mom bringing me home from the hospital on April 27, 1968, when I'm five days old...

 

•my baptism  in May 1968 (my mom and dad are on the left and my God-parents are on the right {my Uncle Larry and my Aunt MaryAnn} )...

 

•summer 1968....

 

•me and my brother, Doug, in our dog Button's pen (edited to add - does anyone see a resemblance between Ben now and his Uncle Doug in this picture??????)....

 

•me and Doug in Philadelphia seeing the Liberty Bell, mid 1970's....

 

•my eighth grade graduation from Catholic school, 1982....

 

•my 17th birthday, 1985....

 

•all dolled up for the Senior prom, 1986...

 

•at my high school graduation in June 1986, with Doug and my mom....

 

•my junior year of college, 1989....

•getting ready for a date with Todd (my mom took this while peeking through the bathroom door) 1989.....

 

•working at the greenhouses, Dec 1991......

 

****here is where I got married.... tomorrow is our anniversary, so I'll share pictures of that tomorrow****

•finishing the mural in Sarah's room, summer 1999 (she was born a week early and I didn't get it finished before her birth)....

 

•me and a young Sarah... I'm pregnant with Ben here and due in a few months, Jan 2002....

 

•mother's day 2002, with a tiny Ben and a cheesy Sarah....

 

•at Ben's three year old Halloween party for pre-school, 2005...

 

•last fall, 2008, at the pumpkin patch.....

 

•and finally, after a quick trip out to the dining room for better light and a self portrait: me, today, on my 41st birthday.....

 

:-)

would you like to come in?

On Tuesday's creative agenda - finish this project.....

 

...I'm hoping to get this completed today and take some pictures to share with you. ;-)

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On another creative front, my sister in law, Leann, has crocheted more beautiful items for her Etsy store. I am loving this shawl....

It is soooooo soft. And the color is so pretty.

And this shawl is gorgeous, too.....

We even got Sarah in on the modeling action with this youth scarf....

And this baby blanket is so soft and pretty....

Please stop by her store and check out her newest items! :-)

sneak peek

Here's a little peek at the beautiful new spring line from Marks Paper Company....

Stacy is aiming for this line to be available sometime in May 2009. Stay tuned for the release date! Yea! :-)

signs of spring + self challenge

Nothing says spring like little boys finding worms in the garden...

 

planting peas.....

 

and fistfuls of flowers plucked from their stems and given to momma to put in 'the vase'.....

 

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When I was outside this afternoon enjoying the beautiful weather I gave myself a creative photography challenge - how many patterns could I find as I walked around the yard? It all started with this picture.......

 

(It kind of reminded me of those puzzles you see in magazines: Can you guess what this is?)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, grab that camera. Give yourself a creative photography challenge... pick a color or shape (or whatever!) and see what you can find! :-)

MPCo. Challenge: grow a flower

 

Spring is my favorite time of the year. I love the warm days after a long, cold winter. I love opening the windows and letting the nice breeze blow through the house. But most of all, I love the flowers. So many pretty colors and smells – they make me happy! With that said, you can probably guess why I have chosen ‘Grow a Flower’ as the first challenge for the Marks Paper Company blog!

The Challenge: Using our paper, create a flower(s) on a scrapbook page, altered item, home décor item, mini album, you name it! How creative can you be? Put on those garden gloves and get growing!

 

I want to share the project that I did for this challenge and give some step-by-step instructions on how I made it:

•I started with a one inch Styrofoam ball and cut it in half. I had dew drops that coordinated perfectly with the paper I wanted to use....

 

 

•I applied dots of gel adhesive to the Styrofoam....

 

 

 

 

....and started to glue the dew drops in place....

 

 

 

•Once the Styrofoam was covered I set it aside to dry...

 

 

•I had the MPCo. papers selected that I wanted to use and I knew I wanted to cut out the large flower on the one pattern and use that as the base of my flower....

 

 

 

•With a coordinating pattern, I cut a long strip, about one inch or so wide, and then made tiny narrow snips along one of the long sides, not quite all the way across....

 

 

•I folded the solid uncut edge up and then stitched the piece in place with my sewing machine (remove the excess length)....

 

 

 

I wasn't too concerned about neatness because I planned on covering that part....

 

 

 

...which I did with freehand cut circular shapes that I distressed and inked....

 

 

 

•I poked a hole through the center and inserted florist wire, making a loop so there would be a more substantial piece of wire on the front to 'grab'...

 

 

 

....here's the back view....

 

 

 

•I used florist tape to secure a few silk leaves to the wire stem.....

 

 

 

•I added glitter glue to the curled petals on the flower....

 

 

....and then sprinkled on some white glitter....

 

 

 

•Last, but not least, I adhered the center Styrofoam piece with the dew drops...

 

 

 

TAH DAH! I grew a flower:

 

 

 

I have it in my living room, where the furniture is red, and it coordinates perfectly and looks so cute 'growing' out of a pot of grass on a shelf....

 

 

 

Check out the MPCo. blog for details on entering the challenge. Information will be available on Wednesday, April 15th. :-)

 

 

saddened

I am by no means a 'follower' in the truest sense of the word, but I do pay attention to how the Phillies season is going because Todd and most of the men in my family are fans. I was so sad to learn that Harry Kalas, broadcaster for the team since 1971,  passed away this afternoon.

His voice is one of my earliest memories. I can close my eyes when I listen to him and go back in time to the 1970's. I remember laying in bed on summer nights when I was about Sarah's age now and hearing his voice come down the hallway from the living room. My dad used to watch the Phillies games on TV. Harry has been 'the voice' of the team for so long it will be strange without him.

Rest in peace, Harry. You will be missed.

eggs, chocolate and kids

We had those in abundance yesterday!

So, for my nieces and nephews, who I know like to look and see if they 'made the blog':

Some pictures from throughout the day....

 

^There's Sarah, spotting an egg up in a tree.

I realized last night after we were home and settled in that I never took a picture of Ben and Sarah together in their Easter finery. It was very sunny, but bitter cold and windy--- it was more like hunting eggsicles --- so they had winter coats on for a lot of the pictures.

 

^Ben, checking out his eggs.

 

^Gabe, with some of his egg treasure.

 

^Ryan and Lily watching the egg hunt outside. They were inside where it was nice and toasty warm - very smart.

This one got cute...

 

...I'd like to see it from Amy's perspective.

 

^The girls, Sarah and Lily, at Nana and Pappy's house.

 

^The whole gang (glad I brought my tripod).

On to the next house (and another freezing cold egg hunt)......

 

^Todd helping Ben.

 

^Yea! Eva found an egg!

 

^Yea! Aubrie found an egg! My brother, Doug, her daddy, held the bucket and her mommy, Leann, helped just a bit, too.

 

^Elizabeth, on the lookout.

 

^Elliott and Evan

 

^Sarah and Emily

 

^Eli

I didn't get any shots of Eston outside, but I have one from inside....

(can't believe how you're growing up, bud)

And finally, the whole gang at Grammy and Poppop's house.....

 

(Glad I brought the tripod!)   :-)

hope the bunny is good to you

Have a happy and blessed Easter!

 

:-)