Happy 4th Birthday ALEX!!

Wow! Has it really been 4 years since the little man was born? Time sure flies. That also means I've been a SAHM for almost 4 years. That is hard to believe.



Alex was born 4 years ago today at 2:35pm in the afternoon. I remember the sun shining through the window as he was born. He is such a happy boy - just like a ray of sunshine. :)

The first picture was taken this morning, and he's trying to get used to holding up "4" fingers instead of 3. That's a lot of hard work, and may take some time. lol.



The picture below was taken today at McDonald's. We went there for his "birthday lunch". It's his most favorite place. He has 1 standard order. Always. It never changes.


We have had a few days of birthday fun. This picture was from yesterday when our friends James & Mia came over to decorate cupcakes, play, and take a walk to the park.

Here's the whole gang:

On Sunday we had a little birthday party with part of the family. Alex chose a TRANSFORMERS cake. Isn't it beautiful???!? ha ha. They did a nice job, but boy cakes sure are dark and gloomy these days.

Here he is getting ready to tear into the presents. Good job on the "4" fingers! Woo hoo!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALEX CHARLES! I hope you enjoyed it all.

All this birthday fun has worn me out. I am totally unprepared for St. Patrick's Day tomorrow. Ugh. Any cool things I can do for kids?? I would love an idea or two. I can add food coloring to the milk to make it green..........after that I'm needing some help.

Have a great day!
Linda

Skate World - A Birthday Party & Flashback...all in One!

Yesterday we went to a birthday party for my good friends Kandi & Chico's boys. Mateo turned 10 and Jaxon turned 7. Here is a picture of Jaxon (on the right). That's my other good friend Cindy's daughter on the left. :) And here is a picture of the old friends I mentioned above (and parents of the Mateo, Jaxon & Mackenzie - pictured above). That's Kandi on the left, Chico in the middle, and Cindy on the right. We have been friends for 25-30 years. Chico, Cindy & I even worked together at Taco Time. Good times....

Back to the story. We had a fun time at Skate World celebrating the boys' birthdays. It was the first time Malia & Alex had roller skated. They loved it!! Malia thinks she has now mastered it. Gotta love a confident child. ;)

We spent the first half of the party doing this with Alex......

And practicing in the little mini-rink area.

Malia practicing her "stopping technique":

Whew. Got it!

I did not skate......I have been traumatized by roller skating ever since I broke my wrist here...at Skate World in 2nd grade. That was the end of my roller skating career. I apparently didn't learn the "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again" mantra. :) And I have to say, the Skate World decor hasn't changed much in the past 30 years. lol.

Have a great night.................

Linda

A Little Request

Hello Friends. This is our little neighbor boy Brayden. He's 4 and a half. This is his soccer picture from last summer. Isn't he a cutie?

Last month he was diagnosed with Ewings Sarcoma, a very rare form of cancer in children. It started out as leg pain that wouldn't go away a few months ago. In January doctors found a malignant tumor in his leg bone. Unfortunately the cancer has spread to his spine, jaw and nasal cavity. The last 6 weeks have been a total nightmare & roller coaster for him and his family. They are all amazingly strong and courageous. I don't know how they do it. They also have a younger son who turned 2 last month.

Please keep him in your thoughts, light a candle, say a prayer, anything......they could all really use it right now. They are just starting an aggressive 12 month plan involving, chemo, surgery, and radiation.

Here is another picture of him a couple of weeks ago, on a good day, after his 2nd round of chemo:

And, here is his little brother - painting with Ella. We have been helping watch him here and there during Brayden's hospital stays. We are just sick that this little boy (and his family) are going through something so awful. We are hoping for a miracle for him.

Thank you,
Linda

Spring Idea Book - Get Your's Today! :)

Hello and Happy Tuesday!

If you are a scrapbooker, cardmaker, or papercrafter -

then you should take a look at the

NEW Spring 2010 Idea Book from Close to My Heart.

It's full of beautiful artwork (as well as papers, stamps, etc. of course!)

You can click on the Picture link below to take a look, or I would be happy to give you a real live copy that you can thumb through. Just let me know-leave a comment on this post or email me!

And.........for the rest of this month, Close to my Heart is helping HAITI and customers all at the same time. When you buy 1 assorted pack of textured cardstock, YOU get another for **FREE**, and $2 will be donated to Haiti. A win-win for sure. I just heard that CTMH has sold 2 YEARS worth of inventory in the past 23 days! WOW! Get yours while you can. There are 3 choices still available: Autumn Harvest (Fall colors), Spring Harmony (pastels) and Summer Celebration (brights).

I hope to hear from you! You can never have too much paper or too many craft supplies.....can you??

;)

~Linda

Unforgettable - 3 Ways

I was in need of a sympathy card, and had none....so I whipped up these 3 cards all using Close to My Heart's "Unforgettable" papers. I didn't have a sympathy sentiment, so I used "Thinking of You".
This is the one I ended up sending:

These are the 2 I didn't send, but now have in my stash. I think they would be great for lots of occasions....or just to say hello.

Hope you have a great day!
~Linda

Supplies Used (almost all CTMH):

Unforgettable paper pack

Sorbet, Blush & Cocoa Inks

Treasures, Say in in Style, and Treasure Life stamp sets

Misc: ribbon, photo hanger

Meeting Baby Norah...and a Card :)

Well, it's been forever since I last posted. For some reason the past few weeks have been busy with daily life. Nothing too big - just stuff.

I do want to say "Happy Belated Birthday" to my brother Bryon who celebrated his big day on Feb 15th. Here he is 2nd from the left:

On Feb 1st we took a drive up to Ridgefield, WA to meet my Niece Kim and her husband Brandon's new baby girl Norah Marie. (This is my brother Bryon's oldest daughter).

Here are a few pictures of the kids meeting Norah for the first time.

That's Norah's big brother Carson on the far left:

It looks like Ella is ready to hit Norah (above) - but she wasn't. She was just mad that it wasn't her turn to hold her anymore. She didn't want to give her up to Alex. :)

Isn't Norah a cutie???

I asked the kids if they would like another baby right as I snapped this picture - can you see Malia's excited reaction here??? (Sorry kids, we are done!)

This is an aerial picture of me holding Norah, along with my own 3 kids. Yikes!! It stresses me out a little to imagine myself with 4 kids. I love kids - but just not sure I could do a good job raising 4 of them!! :) My kids **LOVED** seeing and holding Norah. They wanted another baby after that. Ella got mad if anyone else tried to hold her and just wanted to kiss her.Here is a picture of the ladies - That's Kim on the far left. Doesn't she look fabulous for having a baby 3 weeks old???? WOW!

And......here is the card I made to congratulate & welcome the baby's arrival. It's "Mamabella" from http://www.stampingbella.com/. I would love to own all of their stamps. A girl can dream.

Have a great weekend! Hopefully the weather will be nice wherever you are. I think it's suppose to be sunny here. Yippeee!

~Linda

A Cute Little Towel

Happy Wednesday!

I have become a delinquent blogger once again. For some reason my energy level has been dragging lately -now I have a cold - which explains this week.

But I have no explanation for the last 4 or so!

I made this little flour sack towel for my Sister Kathy's birthday in January. I really need to take the time to make one for myself someday.

I love all the pieces of fabric. I used some of my favorites - love those Matryoshkas. :)
Sometimes I hate to use fabric I really love - but this was okay, because the pieces were so little. I think I could be a "hoarder" in future years. yikes.

Have a great day!
~Linda

Double Diagonal Pocket Card

I thought I'd share the card Kandi and I made for last weekend's CTMH (Close to My Heart) get together with about 20 other consultants from the area.

We had a chance to teach the other gals how to make this "double diagonal pocket card":

It would be great to slip a little gift card into the front pocket, and add your message on the flat note in the back pocket.

It was a fun filled day of learning new tricks & techniques, fun things to make, great food and laughs. :) I came home with so many beautiful projects. Thanks everyone!

~Linda

CTMH Supplies:

X5806 Creative Basics – Emporium
Inks: Vineyard Berry
D1331 Dream Wishes Stamp Set
Z1146 Pewter Designer Brads
Z1300 White Daisy Just Blooms Variety Pack

Where Does the Time Go?

Can it be that my little girl is already 18 months old??? As in almost 2 years old??

Today was her 18 month birthday. :) So while the rain was away, we took a few pictures outside. (Try to ignore our fence that is being tied to our bush to keep it upright. That dang wind storm! )

I have to admit, I just love this age. When you can really start to see their personality, you can actually communicate - back and forth, no arguing, lots of hugs, lots of kisses, lots of silliness. I love to watch her try to put on her socks, put a clip in her hair, "read" a book (upside down)...too many things to list. All 3 of the kids are so different - in appearance & personality. Thank goodness! :) They are all wonderful.

Hope you had a beautiful day~
:) Linda

Turbie Towels --- Fun for Everyone!

We had some fun last night with my new "Turbie Towels" - a Christmas gift from YAYA. I had one one too, but didn't want to scare you all with that picture! :) Alex tried to improvise with a pair of underwear (that he took from the dirty clothes pile........ewwwwwwwwwww), so then I shared mine with him. It's the least I could do as a caring mother. lol.

The underwear.............

Happy Thursday!
Linda

SNOW!

Yes!! We have snow! Very unexpected....and a nice treat for us all. (except for Rourke - it took him 3 hours to get home from work.)

And yes, he did have a coat on for most of the time......but he needed one more run into the snow. :)

Hope you had a great day!

Thanksgiving Recap

Hello!

Before December rolls around, I thought I'd give Thanksgiving a little more attention - because it seems so overlooked between Halloween & Christmas!

We had a really low-key Thanksgiving this year, just us and my Mom. We didn't have any plans a few days before Thanksgiving - even for having a traditional dinner. It turned out nice, and MY FIRST PIE was pretty good (if I do say so myself! ha ha). Kids played some games, we chatted, ate, then ate some more. The kids were fairly wound up - it was almost like Christmas. Which I'm now dreading, after seeing the energy Thanksgiving had. Geesh. I need to double up on my vitamins for the next month or so.



Malia made special place cards for our table, and Alex contributed with his pumpkin centerpiece he made in preschool. Malia was also a big helper with setting the table. Too bad it isn't as exciting for her on every other regular day of the year.


This is how Thanksgiving ended for Ella:
She's getting more teeth.

Well, I hope you had a great Thanksgiving. I didn't do any Black Friday shopping -- but I did get my Christmas cards ordered. WOOP! That is early for me - I feel good. I do feel guilty for not making my own - which I do like to do, but not in huge quantities.
Oh well. Someday I'll get back to that.


Good night~
Linda

A THANKSGIVING GIVEAWAY

One more quick post for today.

Visit Donna Downey's Blog today for a chance to win this great basket of goodies!

You must leave a comment before 8pm PST today.

Go HERE to enter: Donna's Blog