Smile

Although my nice long weekend has come to an end I am still smiling. I got a lot accomplished and I was actually able to give my brain a rest. It has seriously been on overload for weeks now and it was nice to just get off the computer and not stamp a single thing all weekend long.

My family appreciated me sitting on the deck, reading magazines and just being present. Then it hit me....I am working so much that I am not present I am just here. Not good. Things are about to change bright and early tomorrow morning.

Anyway, I have been scrapbooking a lot lately and that has just totally got my juices flowing. I literally dreamed a sketch last night and woke up thinking about it and wrote it down...color combo and all. Guess what....I do dream in color....SU colors.

Here is a super quick 8x8 layout of Maddie that I made last week and I will eventually turn it into a larger layout and add some journaling too....after CHA...shhhhh....it's a sneak peek {the oval smile sentiment}. I love this face and her sweet and innocent smile. Little do you know that this girl is one little "firecracker" and is constantly on the go. Yes, this is the one that just had two fractured wrists....if that tells you anything. So to catch her laying on the trampoline with this sweet face was definately worth snapping a pic.

Ok the clock just struck twelve and I am up one hour and thirty minutes past the time that I promised myself I would go to bed and I still have my last load of laundry to fold. Yes, laundry is still my real life.

See ya on the blog!

Happy Birthday America!

Happy 4th of July! Here is my 4th of July fact that I like to share because it's not something I learned in school....I learned it when I was homeschooling my kids. Thomas Jefferson died on the 4th of July 50 years to the day of the signing of the Declaration of Independance. John Adams who was his political rival and good friend Also dies on the same day. It is rumored that is last words were....Thomas Jefferson lives on...not knowing that Jefferson had died that morning. So there you have the history lesson of the day and what a GREAT day it is to be an American.

My goodness things are so busy around here and everything that I have been working on is all CHA stuff that I can't show you yet. However, starting on Monday I get to give sneek peaks so you won't have to wait too much longer. For now I am going to post my American Girl Scrapbook page that I made last year. You might have saw it already and if not well....here it is again.

Also, my dear sweet friend Amy lives in Guam and I have known her since I lived in Florida 8 years ago....time flies. We immediately clicked and used to stamp the nights away til 2:00 am. It's not often that you make a Navy friend that you keep in touch with and Amy is my one that I will always be in touch with....she's Bailey's God Mother.

Anyway, the last time I saw her son TJ he was around 12 years old and now as you will see in this video TJ is all grown up! {Amy stop reading this now cause you are just going to start crying....again.}

I love this video because Darrell, Amy's husband, is an active duty Gunner's Mate Cheif {which is what my husband retired as three years ago} and Darrell is doing the official swearing in of TJ as he joins the Navy! OMG....I cry like a baby every time I see this because it is such an honor for a Father to do this for his only son.

Amy made me laugh so hard the other night because Darrell told TJ that bootcamp will be a breeze because he has been living in Darrell's bootcamp for the last 18 years. TJ told Amy his greatest please in life so far is that Darrell had to salute TJ at the end of the ceremony. Tooooo funny! Anyway, TJ will be coming here to Chicago this fall for bootcamp and I am so excited because that means Amy will be here for graduation! Yeah....I miss her so much!

So when you watch this video be thankful for your freedom because it is people like TJ and Darrell that work and live to ensure that you have the right to be an American. Hope you have a wonderful day and safe celebrations too!



See ya on the blog!