Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Happy Easter
(the page ...)


Not my most favorite page ever, but I enjoyed playing and creating and experimenting. Sometimes I see the page in my head before I start cutting and pasting. Not so much this time. Instead I just started and kept going until it was finished. It's fun to see where it ends up.

Note: I'm really enjoying my new stamp. I had a gift certificate to the scrapbooking store here, and I wanted to use it on something other than paper or small embellishments. I wanted something I might hesitate to spend my own money on. So I got this stamp. So far it's been good when the pictures tell the story and I just want to add a short explanation.

taking pleasure in the details


Today was the kind of day I've been waiting to have. Full of simple pleasures.

The day started with my dad arriving four hours earlier than I expected for lunch. Yes, he came from Indianapolis (where he works most of the school year) to Murray for lunch. Turns out he came into town last night instead of driving down this morning, so he called me at 7:41 a.m. to inform me he was running some errands then coming over. It was nice to spend the morning with him. And Cate apparently thought so, because, man, was she entertaining. We had lunch at Applebee's and then he headed back to Indy.

So while at Applebee's, Cate feel asleep, like head-falling-forward asleep, while Greg was holding her. She even drooled on his arm. It was sweet, and I had the feeling it meant I was in for a long nap time. Indeed. She transitioned from his lap into the car seat and then into her bed. And I didn't hear from her for 2 1/2 hours. You other moms know that when the child goes from two naps to one, that one is greatly valued and is slightly unpredictable in the beginning.

You can see that I enjoyed her nap time.

So then we went on a walk with Jaclyn, Luke and Norah. The weather was perfect. I seriously could live in a place that is 75 degrees and sunny with a slight breeze 365 days a year. I decided it was a good day to get out the sunglasses that Mom sent Cate in her Easter basket, well, rather, over-sized box that arrived courtesy the U.S. Postal Service. I hoped I could keep them on her long enough for a picture. Turns out she likes the sunglasses, at least today she did. She left them on for the 2-mile car ride over to Jaclyn's house and through most of our walk. (See photo above!) And when she took them off, she acted like she wanted them back on. After the walk, Cate used the infant swing that as of today is attached to Luke's new swing set.


Apparently she needed her sunglasses some more.

Good gift, Grandma!

So then, (yes, the day gets better ...) I talked to Katie on the phone. I've really been missing her lately. I think it's because she's going to have a baby in August and I'm really excited for her and I know she wants to talk baby pretty much all the time and I'd love to talk baby with her pretty much all of the time. Anyway, talking is full of some of the most comfortable, familiar, entertaining moments I've ever known.

By this time it was nearly 5, and I decided I wasn't cooking dinner because I knew we had small group at 6. Messing up the kitchen to cook a meal that we'd have to eat quickly might have ruined my day. So we went to Culver's. It's new in Murray. And I wanted French fries, for what I believe is the second, maybe third time, since February. Well, the French fries were OK, but the burger was quite tasty.

We made it to small group at our friends' house about 6:05, and everyone else was running late too. We pretty just hung out and chatted about our lives while our children (combined there are five kids under 3 1/2; only one isn't mobile) feed off each other's hyper energy.

Now I'm getting ready to go scrapbook some more.

scrappin' while nappin'

This is what I accomplished during Cate's 2 1/2-hour nap today. I'm thankful for the long nap for more my benefit and hers!



Yes, I'm into making those flowers. But, hey, they seem to work with both of these pages because of the paper I used.

Sunday, April 27, 2008

30 years and 5 days

We celebrated Greg's 30th birthday with a party this afternoon.

The rain held off long enough for some corn hole ...




There also was croquet ...


... and hanging out by those of all ages.


(That's 2 1/2-year-old Ethne, 2-year-old Achazia, and 3 1/2-year-old Tuvia.)

... and, of course, a cake. A Dairy Queen ice cream cake.

Take me out to the ballgame ...


We went to the first of three Cardinals games we have tickets for this summer. We couldn't have scripted a better baseball afternoon: The weather was ideal, even chilly in our shaded seats. The Cardinals won in exciting fashion in the ninth inning. And Adam Wainwright pitched a beauty, even earning me a complete-game win for my fantasy team, which is struggling. But that's another post for you sports fans.



We also ate delicious coconut shrimp at Landry's, in honor of our birthdays. (Our whole family celebrates in a two-week span. And we figured that since we were in the middle, we'd splurge a little on a good meal.)

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Shiny, happy baby

I'm loving this sunshine ... and apparently so is Cate!



She'd giggle as I pushed her. Then that would make me laugh. Then my laughing would cause her to laugh some more. It was really entertaining.


I can't get enough of her blowing kisses!

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Greg is 30!

This was ready to post Tuesday, but Blogger was giving me trouble posting pictures. Better late than never ...


Happy birthday to my husband, who is one year and 11 days older than me. In addition to buying him an assortment of grilling tools, I made him this for his birthday: 30 Reasons I Love You.

Pardon the few blurry pictures. My mind wasn't on making sure all my images were crisp. Rather I wanted to finish the album by today. I actually finished last week when Greg was at a meeting one night. But, anyway, I didn't forget about sharing it with you, fellow scrappers and blog readers, which is my point.