"Game On".......Close to My Heart Swap

Hello!

I thought I'd share what I made for the "Close to My Heart" swap I am participating in. I finished these up last week........44 to be exact. Evertime a new catalog comes out, you can sign up to make 44 of one thing, featuring the new paper packs. This time I chose a "title", which isn't very creative, it's just a way to show the basic colors in the paper pack (GAME ON is the paper kit I was assigned). Other people do cards, layouts, etc. The fun part is I will get 43 different things back (cards, layouts, etc. plus one of my own).

The new catalog comes out May 1st!! It has some really pretty new papers and fun stamps.

Take a look at the cute card Kandi made on her blog: http://teojax.blogspot.com/. It's with the new Sasparilla papers.

Have a great Monday~
Linda

My New Purse

Okay, not that this is big news.......but I thought I'd share my new purse. It's not something I would normally buy.....but figured now that I'm a SAHM, and not in the "corporate" world I could get away with it!













It's a little flashy & maybe has too much "bling"....but it's fun! (It looks pink, but is technically "Lilac"). Malia loves it and thinks it looks like a "princess purse"....which may be my first clue that I'm too old for this. OH WELL! :) She could barely wait for Alex to wake up so he could see the purse (he's 2).......and raced to show it to Rourke as soon as he walked in the door tonight. Such excitement here today......I had no idea anyone else would be so thrilled.



AND.......it came with a little coordinating make up bag.














Tell me......would you be embarrassed to carry this??

Curious George!

Happy Sunday!

I had read in the newspaper that Curious George was going to be at Barnes & Noble yesterday, so we made a trip to meet him and take some pictures. Malia was into it, but Alex was happy just waving at him from afar. :) Afterwards, the kids each got to pick out a new book! Yippee!

Malia had been wanting to go to a pet store for quite awhile (big treat I know), so there was one close by and we walked over there after the Curious George "event". This pet store didn't have dogs or cats, but there were birds, bunnies, ferrets, fish, hermit crabs, lizards, mice and snakes. It was VERY exciting for the kids, especially Alex. We picked out a few new toys for Coco and some catnip............so everyone was happy. Malia really wanted to buy a ball of string for Coco, but we didn't find one. I haven't told her that I could quickly make one....................bad mom!

Here are a couple of pictures from meeting Curious George.

I'm adding a picture of one of our squirrel friends eating the bagel covered with peanut butter & birdseed that Malia made at school.

Have a great day~~~~
~L

A Trip to OMSI

On Tuesday (TAX DAY!!) the kids & I took a trip to OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science & Industry) with Mindi, Mia & James. Malia & Alex had never been there before, and I hadn't been there in at least 10 years, maybe more. Right now they have a big dinosaur exhibit up, which was great for the kids to see. Both Malia & Mia have recently been learning about dinosaurs in preschool. It was fun for all the kids.....so many different things to do and explore. Here are some pictures I took along the way. Alex espeically loved anything that involved playing in water.

The art center was a nice break, where the kids could sit, unwind and "create" a little bit. Here are Malia & Mia stamping, and Malia's masterpiece. Alex wanted a picture of his work too......but this isn't actually "his" artwork........he snagged it off the table when he saw me taking a picture of Malia. Someone left this behind, so Alex claimed it as his own. :)

I love this picture of the boys playing with "flubber". They were so engrossed in it!

Here the kids are taking a break.

Checking out the huge T-Rex. He (?) moved and growled. Too cool!

The girls as dinosaurs:

Overall, we had a great day! The kids were exhausted by the end of the day.......so was I!

I think we're due for a zoo trip soon. Just waiting for the weather to warm up a little. :)

Is This Really Spring Break???

Believe it or not, these are pictures from the last weekend in March, when we went to visit YaYa Peggy in Nehalem (she had just had a knee replacement! Ouch!).

We woke up to snow like this every morning we were there. It was more snow than we had in the winter! It was a nice relaxing weekend for us...Peggy who was on the mend, Rourke who was quite sick, and me who was getting over the cold and is generally slow moving & tired in this phase of the pregnancy........the kids had fun in the snow & hot tub. :) One day the snow did melt in the afternoon and we visited the Tillamook Cheese Factory. The best part was getting the ice cream cone at the end. I chose "cookies & cream" in a waffle cone. Malia wanted anything PINK.....so she had strawberry. Alex shared with us........Rourke snuck a few licks too.

Of course I forgot my camera, so these are courtesy of Peggy. (THANK YOU!)....she managed to snap these early one morning when Rourke and I caught an extra half hour of sleep. :)

Easter Pics

Better late than never.......as usual!

I thought I'd share a few pictues we took on Easter morning here at home. They aren't the greatest photos.....Rourke and I weren't feeling our best, still fighting that cold that seemed to last forever. This was the first year that Alex really understood what was going on. He *LOVED* hunting for eggs and almost beat out Malia on the hunt. Of course it was rainy and wet outside, so the egg hunt was inside. We went to Dad & Jan's in the afternoon for a nice Easter dinner and another egg hunt for the kids. LOTS OF CANDY!! :) (I forgot to take pictures there).

I like the last picture where Alex is dipping into Malia's basket.....and she has no clue! ;)

Hope everyone had a great EASTER!

~Linda