Capture the Details

field of dreams

Benny had his field of dreams night at Coca Cola Park this evening. His team and other teams from our local athletic association got to go out on the field, meet mascots Ferrus and FeFe, have their group picture taken and then stand with the Iron Pigs for the national anthem.....

 

 

My little Yankee...

 

And I took this one of Todd and Sarah while Ben was out on the field... I see the resemblance for sure here!....

 

:-)

the top's still good

Benny had a play date with one of his buddies this morning and I picked him up after lunch. Driving up the hill from his friend's house I clipped the edge of a pothole along the side of the road and it made a loud bang. The kids asked what the noise was and I told them, and I didn't think anything more of it. About twenty seconds later Sarah is insisting that the tire is making noise and I'm thinking maybe a rock got jammed in the treads. So I pulled over to take a look. It had been about a minute total since I hit the pothole. The back tire was completely flat.

I shut off the engine and opened the doors and the questions start flying.... why are we stopping? what's wrong? why did you turn off the car?

I told them we had a flat tire and, of course, they had to get out and look at the tire. Benjamin, in all sincerity, said to me, "The top's still good." I got a good chuckle out of that one, let me tell you!!!! LOL

So what's a momma with two kids in tow to do? I put a call in to Nana and Pappy and while I was waiting for them I figured I would see what I could do. I have never changed a tire in my life. I got out the car manual and the jack and spread everything out on the pavement behind the car and started reading. I was off the side of the road, in a parking lot, and thankfully a nice man named Norm saw me and the kids and pulled over to help.

It took me, Norm and eventually Pappy, an hour and a quarter to change the dang tire. The first half hour was me and Norm trying to figure out how to get the spare tire out from under the car (and Norm was no dummy.... he pulled up in a tractor trailer and even said to me that he drives all kinds of equipment and that he was man enough to admit that he was flabbergasted about following the directions in the manual to change the tire on my car. LOL).  I think they should put red dots where everything should go.... we had to put the crank through a hole in my back bumper and try to find the knob inside that would turn and lower the spare tire to the ground. Riiiiiiiiiiight.

I must say though, that now I know exactly where everything goes and how it works and I am pretty confident that if I got a flat tire again (in this vehicle anyway!) I would know what to do.

So, thanks to Norm for all his help and time, and thanks to Pappy for coming to the rescue and to Nana for keeping the kids in her air conditioned car until we got the spare tire on. You guys rock!!!! :-)

 

I love the internet

If you don't know something, look it up on-line. What did we do before computers?

It's like trying to remember how you reheated things before the microwave.

;-)

I downloaded a few actions for Photoshop and I had no idea how to use them, so, I looked for tutorials on-line and now I'm good to go!

Playing around with a picture......

The one on the left is the original, the one on the right is edited using the fresh and colorful action from Pioneer Woman Set 1....

 

Soooooo cool. The colors just pop and it looks so rich. Actions are definitely worth looking into if you have Photoshop (this set does not work with Photoshop Elements) and you enjoy photography. :-)

father's day

I hope all you dads out there had a nice day. :-)

Here are a few family pictures that I took today....

The kids made new art work for Todd's office wall and I want to give him a nice, recent photo of the kids to hang there as well, so I took a few this afternoon and this is the one I'll have enlarged for him....

 

My brother Doug and his little girl, Aubrie....

 

Todd and Ben....

 

My little girl, that isn't so little anymore...

 

My nephew, Gabe....

 

....and his sister, Lily, who is very excited to explore the back yard....

 

:-)

in stock

Just listed in my store.....

(click to see bigger)

 

 

....girl and boy 'snippets' journaling tags and accessories in both kraft and white styles.

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Coming soon to Leann's store......

 

(I love this next one.... she used all the scraps of yarn from all her projects so far)

 

It's so colorful and creative! She'll be loading them in her store very soon.

:-)

they get it

There are so many things to worry about and stress over when you're an adult. We should take a lesson or two from our kids and just have fun once in a while....

 

 

:-)

on the drawing board

I'm designing journaling tags around this cute little puppy that I illustrated using oil pastels. These tags will be geared towards young children and I'll have a set for boys and a set for girls. I'm thinking there will be some coordinating scalloped punch tags and tabs with each set. Can't wait to see how it all comes together!

 Back to work!

:-)

in the whole scheme of things

Any other moms out there that get frazzled?

My day started off with Benjamin having a nosebleed.

After lunch Ben asked me if I could help him clean off the counter in the bathroom (I figured he must have made a mess with the water) and I go in there and see him scrubbing with my brand new towel. He lifts it up and there is blue ink all over the towel and brand new sink counter top. argghhhhhhhhhh! He was trying to make a quill (Harry Potter style) using a feather and a pen that he took apart, but the ink spilled out from the pen and stained the counter (thank goodness for BonAmi cleanser).

Sophie disappeared when we let her out only to come back panting (she must have been chasing a bunny or groundhog). When I let her in I noticed her limping. I checked out her paw, since that where she was licking, and she had a huge thorn stuck in the pad of her paw. I had to get tweezers and operate on that.

Right before bed the kids were goofing around and Ben punched Sarah in the nose and gave her a bloody nose. (I have had enough bloody noses around here between those two for many lifetimes ).

I know in the whole scheme of things these are minor, teeny weeny bumps in the road. But, man, when you're a mom sometimes those little things add up and make for an evening of hanging out in the bathroom with a bottle of hair-coloring!

;-)

two words

Sweet. Sassy. That's Sarah!

No journaling on this, just the title - but it sure gets the point across!

 

I fell in love with this bead trim at the fabric store and knew I could use it for something......

 

I gave the patterned paper a coat of clear glitter glaze....

 

Those stamp letter stickers are like five years old, and so is the butterfly sticker that I cut apart to use as Sarah's wings.....

 

supplies: floral and stripe patterned paper from Basic Gray's Wisteria line, text paper is unknown (was a scrap); chipboard flower shape from Fancy Pants Designs; clear glitter glaze, purple glitter letter stickers and diecut journaling spot from Making Memories; butterly wings sticker from K & Company; stamp letter stickers from EK Success; bead trim from Joann's Fabric and Crafts; Ranger Distress Ink in Dusty Concord

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Later this evening I'll be adding some new journaling tags to my shop. They were previously available only in a limited edition kit.....

 

 

:-)

stroll through the garden

Grab a cup of coffee and enjoy a quick stroll through my garden. (It's always good to stop and smell and observe the beauty in your garden!)

My favorite color, purple, and they smell so good too!!!  .....sweet alyssum....

 

After a severe thunder storm early this morning there are droplets of water on a lot of leaves....these are the fleshy leaves of an autumn joy sedum....

 

These teeny petunias are like little suns, with the flares of orange....calibrachoa, or 'callie' petunias....

 

Speaking of orange, you can't get much more orange than this! And look how huge the bloom is - I put my hand next to it for comparison.....oriental poppy......

 

I love foliage, it gives beautiful color to the garden. The flowers are rather insignificant, but the leaves are gorgeous!....houttuynia....

 

Now, go stick your nose in a flower - just watch out for bees!!!!! :-)