Tim Holtz Inspired Tag-May 2015

Here I am again posting at the very last minute, even though I completed my tag the first week of May. Sheesh! Time has a way of getting by me, especially when I am chasing little baseball playing boys from field to field.

Here is Tim's tag for May:

I loved the burlap background, the layering of the ephemera, & the use of a picture. So I decided to try to include those elements in my tag.

Here is my take:

I did not have any self-adhesive burlap laying around, so I used an older Cocoa Daisy stamp to create a grid/burlap like appearance across the background of my Kraft tag. Burlap look- CHECK!

I used the Tim Holtz star stencil with colored embossing paste to add the stars. The ephemera bits are from older SEI tickets and 7 gypsies sticker sheets. Ephemera- CHECK!

Finally I added a picture of Carter from last summer's All-Star team. Picture- CHECK!

A little twine wrapped around the tag and stapled in place & crinkle ribbon inked/sprayed with Vintage Photo and Fired Brick ink and the tag was complete. 

I did try to add a few metal elements here & there, but I wasn't pleased with the arrangement, so I took them back off. 

I'm looking forward to Tim's tag for June, which will be up on the blog tomorrow.

12 things on the Twelfth- the New Year edition

I started doing this last year and fizzled out after February. I did actually complete it for a couple of other months, but didn't share it here. Hoping to do better this year.

I need to take a few better photos of the boys this week and then of course actually take a photo of me and one of Jess. I am terrible at making sure I get pictures of Jess and myself. It's really easy to get shots of the boys doing everyday things because they are so busy, but Jess and I tend to not be as exciting.

So this month I am just going to share twelve things each of the boys are doing & then I will add our twelve things later when I do the actual layout.

Disclaimer: After choosing photos of the boys, I realized I have GOT to do better with my phone photos & also use  my big camera more. These are not great at all... Ughhhh! But they will do for now to tell the story.


He (Carter, 11 years old):

1. ...Just made straight A's on his report card for the 2nd 9 weeks. His lowest grade was a 93 in math, which happens to be his best subject. He and I had a talk about the importance of checking over his work before he turns it in. That way he doesn't make careless mistakes. He is a "I like to finish my work first" kinda guy...
2. ...Is enjoying playing basketball at school this year. He seems much more confident in his abilities and is not trying to do it all himself. After watching him play this game I was impressed with how easily he adjusts on the court. He has remarkable ball sense playing both offense and defense. Sitting on the bench with Jess & the girls all these years has taught him a lot.
3. ...Is part of our after school book club, Wilson Page Turners. He has already finished the first book & is currently reading The Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer.It is over 400 pages long and is a Fantasy. I am very impressed with how well he is doing with the book and he is really enjoying it. In the last meeting he spoke up and talked about his thoughts on the book thus far.
4. ...loves playing on the Xbox. His favorite game right now is NBA 2K14. 
5. ...is planning to ask for a phone for his birthday. We are still on the fence about getting him one.
6. ...stayed home alone with Ethan for three hours when Jess & I had in-service at school. I left my phone with him & let the neighbor know they were here. He was a little nervous, but when I got home he was proud of himself.
7. ...asked his girlfriend to go to the school Valentine's Dance with him. She said yes, he is excited and nervous.
8. ...is getting more independent and likes to be by himself sometimes. Getting ready for the teen years, I guess. 
9. ...doesn't like doing chores, especially taking out the trash. He gets an attitude with us when we ask him to do something. The attitude doesn't work out well for him.
10. ...likes watching Minecraft videos on Stampy Long Nose's Youtube channel.
11. ...eats constantly. Our grocery bill is going to skyrocket the next few years with these boys.
12. ...likes snuggling with Miggy cat.    

He (Ethan, 8 years old):

1. ...played his first 3rd & 4th grade basketball game on Saturday. He played really well and scored 4 points. He is really quick on defense and can steal the ball easily. He is also good at bringing the ball up the court and tries pass it into kids in the paint to shoot. 
2. ...had 2 A's and a B on his report card this 9 weeks. He brought his reading grade up from an 83 to an 89. So proud of him!
3. ...plays well with Jude and Jude always wants him to play with him.
4. ...loves technology. He is the one I have to constantly tell to get off the computer or iPod. He is naturally quick at anything technological.
5. ...still can't pick out his clothes. If we don't lay them out the night before we struggle in the morning to get something picked out and get him dressed.
6. ...eats incredibly slow. Everyone finished before he does and many nights he is left sitting at the table alone trying to finish, while the rest of us are going about our bedtime routines. 
7. ...prefers to eat junk than to eat food that is good for him. That could be why it takes him so long to eat.
8. ...loves pestering Carter and is very good at making him angry. He enjoys making him mad.
9. ...still only weighs about 50 pounds. He is so bony so he hurts himself easily, because he lacks fat to protect his bones. 
10. ...still sleeps with his night-night every night. I love that he still needs it.
11. ...recently won 4 stuffed animals out of the Claw machine at Larry's Pizza, on three tries. Lucky guy!
12. ...loves playing on the XBox. His current favorite game is Madden 25.

He (Jude, 2 years old):

1. ...love watching Spongebob and asks to "Watch Bob pants" everyday.
2. ...has an ever expanding vocabulary. Sometimes what he says makes perfect sense, sometimes it makes no sense at all.
3. ...loves Thomas the train and can name all of the trains he currently has: Thomas, Charlie, Percy, Diesel, and Salty.
4. ...likes to "Call Ma" to talk to her. My mama loves hearing his sweet "Hey, Ma!"
5. ...says "Bless you!" anytime someone sneezes or coughs.
6. ...cries every time I drop him off at school. It makes me feel awful!
7. ...he loves to be at home with his family. He and I would make perfect hermits.
8. ...doesn't like to be told No...ever! It usually results in a fit.
9. ...is hard headed and likes to do things he wants. When he doesn't get his way he will lay down on the floor in a silent fit. He will do this anywhere. 
10. ...likes to take "Hot Showders" with Daddy.
11. ...drags around his night-night, baby night-night, Ooo-Ooo the monkey, and Dog-dog. He sleeps with them every night.
12. ...loves to read books. His current favorites are: Five Little Monkeys, Old MacDonald, and the Very Hungry Caterpillar.

I hope to be back later this week with my January Tim Holtz tag & my January Cocoa Daisy sketch challenge layout. 

Happy Creating!

Olivia

A Cocoa Daisy Layout--His Will is Strong

The pictures I hurriedly snapped this past rainy Monday (see this post), reminded me of a layout I had yet to post.

I am still amazed it rained on the first day of school. The rain plus the fact I was dropping all three boys off at three different schools made taking beginning of the year pictures difficult to take. To save time I decided to just use my phone to snap a couple before the boys got in the car.

Carter picked up Jude who was running around in the carport. Jude LOVES "side" as he call the outside. Anytime we go outside he is determined to get down and take off. So this time when Carter picked him up so I could get a shot of all three of them, Jude was not a happy camper. In both pictures he is wiggling, squirming, and protesting in an effort to get down.

His squirmy protests reminded me of a few months ago when the same thing happened on the last day of school. On that particular occasion, I was lucky enough to capture a few good shots with my big Canon camera. But then I tried to get a few pictures with my phone to share on Instagram and Facebook. The layout below shows the resulting chaos.

For this layout I used the May 2014 "Here I Am" Cocoa Daisy Kit . I also chose the title after considering Ronda Palazzari's One Little Word for May 2014 "Will".

This layout makes me laugh and is such a great snapshot of Jude at this age and how his brother's react to his new need for freedom. Jude loves to outwit the big boys and to wiggle and whine just enough to get his way with them. The big boys, as you can tell, find this behavior quite frustrating.

Oh how these boys keep me on my toes! Luckily, I usually have my phone close by to capture our everyday crazy.

Back to School

Towards the end of July the five of us begin to get tired of one another. By the time the middle of August arrives we are crazy tired of being together. Since Jess and I both teach, we spend all summer at home with the boys, which gives us so much time to make memories, but eventually the summer gets long and we are all ready to head into a more structured schedule.


 I am always amazed at how much my boys grow and change over the summer break. All three of them grew taller and after Carter's physical (he is going to play football for the first time) I realized he had also put on almost 7 pounds. No wonder my grocery bill has been going up! We have entered the "They will eat anything that doesn't eat them first" stage of boy raising.. Fabulous.


 Each year I take a beginning of the year shot of the boys and a last day of the year shot of them. It is always fun to look at the two most current photos and see how much they have changed. In this case the end of the 2013-2014 school year in May (daycare, 2nd, and 4th grades) compared to the beginning of the 2014-2015 school year this past Monday, August 18th (daycare, 3rd and 5th grades).

The first picture was taken on the last day of school and the second picture was taken Monday as we all headed back to school.

This year it rained on the first day of school, in August.. Weird. I can't remember a time when it has rained in all my years of attending or teaching school. So this years annual back to school photo was taken in the carport instead of by the dogwood tree in the front yard.

Taking these type of photos are a reminder of how quickly time passes. On one hand I want the school year to pass quickly so I can have a summer to spend with the boys. But on the other hand I hate feeling like I am wishing my days away. I treasure each and every moment with these three and the idea of them growing up and driving, having girlfriends, and then moving out and leaving makes me sad right now. It all seems to go by so fast.

It really is hard being a Mama with her heart walking around outside her body in these three.

Not a Wordless Wednesday

They say every summer has a story. Five weeks into our summer & this is our story...

Two baseball playing all-stars. One on a 7-8 Little League Pitching Machine team, the other on a 9-10 Little League Minor League (live arm) team. We have played in the morning, afternoon, & night (still playing at midnight...3 TIMES!). We have played in the blazing sun, the pouring rain, & wrapped up in blankets & jackets. All within the past five weeks. 

 Little brother has been happy to go along as there have been toys, snacks, his tennis ball & glove, and did I mention snacks? He has been up early, missed naps, been up past bedtime, & has done it all remarkably well.

The big boys have loved every minute of playing and still aren't done. There is one more State tournament to go.

I love watching my boys make memories, make friends, and become better ballplayers. I love watching little brother watch and imitate his big brothers & want to be out there in the middle of it all.

These are the moments I live for. The moments when my boys show me who they are & what they love.

I love them and the things they are passionate for. I'd follow them and their dreams to the ends of the Earth.

What I See

Earlier this week I downloaded our Christmas pictures in an attempt to finish my December Daily 2013 album. While looking at this year's photos I was struck by how much the boys have changed over the past year. I know, I know days pass quickly and children continue to grow...so maybe I notice it more because Jude is a baby and babies change so much the first year. Whatever the reason I really see differences in all three boys from Christmas 2012 to Christmas 2013.

Christmas 2012

Christmas 2013

Jude of course has grown so much in the past year, but Carter and Ethan have as well. Carter is still in a non teeth showing phase...wish he'd get over that. Ethan has now lost those front teeth and the new ones are continuing to grow in...those take forever! Man I love these boys! Some days I wish I could freeze time, but I know that is not really possible. So I will continue to snap pictures, take notes, and try to get it all recorded so that one day we can look back and remember all these fleeting moments. 

I also have GOT to work on my camera skills. That AV mode, which I love, is killing me! Especially in our dark house while trying to photograph fast moving little boys! Grrr

Wordless Wednesday...Almost :)

This is my current favorite of my three sweet boys.

I am so blessed. 

Week In the Life 2013- Sunday Recap

I am documenting a Week In the Life this week using the basic guidelines that Ali Edwards created. You can see her 2013 post with guidelines here. She started her week today, but I chose to start our week yesterday. For me it is easier to start this project on a weekend day, rather than a weekday, because there seems to be more flexibility for our family on the weekends. This allows for more photo capturing opportunities. Plus in my mind a new week does start on Sunday.

In the evenings this week, I will be posting my favorite photos from the previous day along with the photo count for that day. 

Sunday, September 8, 2013: 

Morning sippy cup with 1/2 apple juice 1/2 water.

Helpful Dishwashers. (One cleaning up his spill, the other climbing on the already broken door)

Morning nap time bottle.

Little boys playing outside with BB guns.

Hanging out with Mama. He loves this!

Bath time. A rare happy moment. He is not a big fan of baths. Ready for him to outgrow this feeling.

I realize this is a Jude heavy post. It is quite possible that this may be a Jude heavy week. But I think that is honestly where we are right now & I am o.k. with that. We aren't ignoring the big boys, it is just that at 9 months old Jude is a major focus around here. We are constantly trying to help him with this or that or keep him out of this or that. It is a total family effort to get his needs taken care of. He wears us all out in a good, exhausting kind of way & I wouldn't trade it for anything!

Number of Pictures Sunday: DSLR: 75, Point & Shoot: 15, Phone: 33= 123 Photos Total

Wordless Wednesday..Almost

I shot this picture Sunday afternoon as the boys were playing on the trampoline. Sometimes the trampoline sitting under a thirty year old oak tree is a blessing, sometimes all the leaves make them mad. Today it added to the fun as they made a huge leaf pile and took turns hiding a football in the pile. 

Wordless Wednesday (Almost)

My Favorite Nerd!

Homecoming Spirit Week
Nerd Day
This is possibly Carter's absolute favorite day of the year.

Right Now

Right Now:

They are:

Laughing together a lot over little boy secrets and jokes

Getting excited about football and basketball season

Playing together constantly

Arguing and hurting feelings occasionally

Playing ball in the yard with Dad

Helping with chores in the house and earning and allowance

Wanting baby Jude to arrive faster than he is supposed too

Loving to see all the baby clothes and supplies being put up in Jude’s room

Asking lots of questions about baby Jude and about themselves as babies

Watching and feeling baby Jude move

Smelling like wet dog all the time!!!

He is:

Working hard in third grade

Working on thinking first, then acting

Trying to make good decisions even when he is tired and grouchy

Reading the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, along with nonfiction sports and a few Magic Tree House books

Wearing athletic shorts and t-shirts (especially Under Armor…his current favorite)

Loving the Boston Red Sox

He is:

Loving first grade

Reading lots of different picture books to us

Sneaking in lots of DS and Wii play when he thinks we aren’t looking

Wearing athletic clothes like big brother, but preferring nice shorts and polo shirts

Asking lots of questions about baby Jude and probably worrying a bit about losing his baby of the family status, though he hasn’t mentioned it outright


He is:

 

Growing everyday even though it is not obvious to most

Kicking a lot anytime I am resting

Sitting on my bladder and causing me to have to make constant trips to the bathroom

Sitting much lower than either of his older brothers were at this point, which is an odd feeling

Very, very loved already and we are all eager to see who he is going to be

He is:

Preparing for basketball season which starts in November

Getting excited about all the college coaches who are interested in his players

Reading the Arkansas Democrat Gazette daily

Making deer and beef jerky nearly every night

Doing lots more around the house and trying to make things easier on me

Trying to get home earlier in the evening because he knows that when ball season starts and Jude arrives that things will be very busy and crazy

Spending more time grading papers and making lesson plans for his American History classes
Really, really needing a new cell phone...Geez

She is

Realizing that she will always be the only female in this household and wondering if that is a good or bad thing

Trying to get lots done before Jude arrives

Feeling a lot more tired because of the pregnancy and the anemia

Wanting all the house repairs to be completed, so tired of having to have things fixed

Smelling many things more strongly (especially sweaty, stinky boys) due to this pregnancy

Feeling Jude kick and reminding myself to remember this feeling since this is probably our last pregnancy

Creating more and wanting to get lots more memories recorded before Jude arrives, especially layouts about Carter and Ethan when they were little

Wanting/planning to complete a Week In the Life project before Jude arrives in December so that I can record our life as a family of four

Wanting to decorate for fall

Hoping cooler weather arrives soon

Wearing some of my regular clothes mixed with my maternity clothes, preferring my maternity nightgowns and proud that 6 ½ months into this pregnancy I have only gained 13 pounds

Going to bed earlier and trying to read Adult Fiction books as I relax, but falling asleep while reading quite a bit

Feeling anxious and a bit worried about the arrival of Jude and making plans so that the boys won’t feel left out or feel like everything has changed now that he has arrived

One Little Word Layout

My friend, Ronda has brought back her One Little Word challenge on a smaller scale and I have chosen to take part in its reintroduction. I hope to keep up with each new word she posts.

This month's word is UNLOCK. This word really spoke to me this month because it has been a difficult month for Carter. He is only 9, but he has not ever experienced the disappointment of not being able to do something he truly wanted to do until now. Last year he was nominated for the Gifted and Talented program at school and we found out a couple of weeks ago that he did not make it for this current school year. He was so very upset and as a parent it was difficult to watch him doubt himself and his intelligence. This past week he tried out for the 3rd and 4th grade select choir and did not make it either. Again I had to watch him doubt his abilities and himself. It was so painful to see him so hurt and so difficult to find the right words to encourage and lift his spirits.

For someone who thrives on competition not only athletically, but also academically, it is especially hard for him to feel like he has failed. I know that there are many disappointments that he will face in the future, but I sure hope we don't have to face any in the near future... It is so hard, this parenting thing. All I can do is try to support, encourage, and love him. At such a young age it is hard to explain to him that your self-worth comes from inside and not from what group you are part of. Hard, hard stuff for him and for us, too.

So I used that as my jumping off point for my layout. I also chose to combine Ronda's OLW challenge with Cocoa Daisy's September Sketch Challenge and here is my resulting layout entitled: Unlock Your Potential.

Thanks for stopping by! 

How about a little randomness..

So I have random stuff just bouncing around in my brain. Thought maybe a blog post would put it into better perspective and possibly shape it into a scrapbook layout or two.
BTW some of these photos were taken using my new smart phone...WooHoo upgrade, now if we can just upgrade the user. She is a bit slow with the touch screen and frustrates easily. She also now has a twitter account. You can follow her randomness there too @oliviasmartin
Here are just a few of my random thoughts and actions this week:

1. I am LOVING this cooler weather. The weather guy says it won't last, but for now I am enjoying every cool, breezy minute of it!

2. The boys played their first fall baseball game Tuesday night and they both hit the ball. Carter hit really well of course...but Ethan, who is 5 and is playing on his big brother's 7 & 8 year old team, hit for the first time...We were so super excited for him. He made it to first, stole second, and then Carter was up as our lead off batter and hit well enough for E to make it to third. The next batter got Ethan in on an RBI. It was so fun to see him score and to grin so big because he hit and scored. The look on his face was priceless. Carter said later that he was more excited when Ethan hit and scored than he was when he hit...Awww such compassionate little guys! I am so proud of both of them.

3. I made this Chocolate Sheet Cake for a family dinner Monday night. The recipe is my Mammaw's and it is incredible. I may or may not have eaten a big piece for supper Tuesday night. With a big glass of milk. But we aren't going to talk about that.

4. I have a weird fascination with VERY sharp pencil leads. This is a new thing and I'm not sure where it came from. In the past I have used mechanical pencils quite a bit, but now I have lots of regular pencils in the library and I always seem to have one in my hand or behind my ear. Weird... I know. My favorite #2 lead pencil is the Ticonderoga..You know just in case you are out shopping for me.

5. Carter wore socks to school Wednesday. This is nothing new he does wear socks everyday, but here lately socks have gone missing. Not just one or two, but lots!!!! I have no idea where they are at, but both boys are having a sock loss problem. Wednesday I know that one of Carter's socks was clean, but the cleanliness of the second sock is questionable. It didn't look dirty, it wasn't straight out of the dryer, and I refused to sniff it. I would have shared a picture, but...well... all the socks are missing. Grrr.

6. I have been playing with pretty paper lately. I came across some older pictures of Carter and my niece when they were babies (2004) and I knew that August's Cocoa Daisy kit would be perfect for this layout. It is completely sold out, but there is an add on left: Athena is a steal at $18.50 plus s/h. The banner was made using this exclusive banner stamp from Cocoa Daisy. It is still available in the store. I really love it, lots of versatile uses.

I hope your weekend is wonderful!

Thankful- Nov 3rd

I am so thankful that Carter is able to read so well. He doesn't necessarily love reading, not as much as he loves math anyway, but he is still a really good reader.

Tonight we sat down and read "Mr. Putter and Tabby Stir the Soup". It is a small "chapter" book with about 40 pages written by Cynthia Rylant. We had read it last night together with me reading a page and him reading the next page. Tonight he read the whole thing by himself. He had very little trouble with even the more difficult words such as "ingredients", 'macaroni", "neighbors", and "interesting". I find this amazing! He has come a long way with his reading. He is more confident and does not frustrate as easily as he has in the past. I am so very proud of how hard he is working to learn to read well and I am so thankful that he is learning the skills to decode those harder words. Way to go, Carter!!


Tomorrow I will let him take an Accelerated Reader test on the book. It is a 2.5 level book. Hopefully his comprehension skills will be as good as his reading skills!!

UPDATE 11/4/10: Carter took his AR test this morning before he walked down to his classroom. He made 100%....he has comprehension skills too. Woo Hoo!!

Ever Feel....

Ever feel completely worn out, yet wound up at the same time? That is how I feel right now.

I woke up around four o'clock this morning with a million things running through my head and I never really got back to sleep good. Instead I got up about 5:30 started laundry and ironed clothes for Carter and I. I took a quick shower and started breakfast for us. I wanted Carter to get a good breakfast this morning so he would be prepared to explain his Science Fair Project to the judges. He did a good job with his experiment and did well putting it all together on his board, considering that he is not a great gluer and at the time we were adhering everything to the board, Jess was watching a basketball game. Carter would have preferred the game over the glue, but he hung in pretty well.

I think he did a good job in his interview considering how nervous he gets talking to strangers.


He won second place in the kindergarten age division and will move onto the next science fair at out educational co-op May 14th. We are going to tweak a few pieces of his experiment and get him more confident with his explanation of Solar Evaporation.

I'll leave you with a couple of pictures of our determined little ball players. With Ethan in t-ball and Carter in baseball, we are constantly busy at a ball park. The boys are loving every minute of it. We love watching them learn more about ball and growing more confident with their skills.


Carter did well last night. He has moved into the infield and last night played short stop. He caught a line drive and fielded a couple of grounders. He also moved up in the batting order from next to last to sixth. Jess was at his game and was very proud of how well he played. Carter is gaining more confidence with every game.

Ethan has a practice t-ball game at a different field, so I took him. Going from 7 year old baseball to 4 year old t-ball is a BIG step. The attention span of everyone involved in t-ball is short...kids, coaches, and the parents too. Ethan is loving it and understands what he is supposed to do. They played three innings, which was in reality at least one inning too many. He hit really well and watching him run to base cracks me up, he has this big boy run in this little bitty body. He also has to slide when he reaches home plate EVERYTIME. The slide has greatly improved since he has been practicing. He now reaches the plate when he slides instead of sliding 3 feet before he gets there. As a fielder he does alright. This is where the short attention span kinda gets him. I have caught him conversing with runners and other teammates, kicking dirt, spinning in circles, wearing his glove on his head, and even leaving the field to come visit me in the stands.
Fun Stuff!


I keep hoping things will slow down. Fat chance! I will continue to roll with the punches and try to keep it all organized so I don't LOSE MY MIND!

Loving every minute of this crazy life!!!

December Daily 2009- Day 1

Thanks to Ali I am inspired to complete a December Daily album this year. I usually try to get the Album completed before December, but that just didn't happen this year. Wayyyy to busy to even get started on it. So I have decided to post each day here and then once I have time, I will put it into my scrapbook. I'll post completed pictures of that here too. My December Daily is just a special place to keep up with what we do during the month of December. So without further ado.. I give you:

December 1st : Carter Reading

Today I got the opportunity to sit in on Carter's kindergarten class as they were being observed by the other kindergarten teachers. With all the other teachers there I wasn't as much of a distraction to the kids. I was very excited to see what Carter is working on in Literacy, to see him interact with his peers and teachers, and see how much he is learning. Sitting in his class I was able to see a different side of Carter. Seeing him sit with his classmates, answering questions, and participating in the learning made me realize just how big he is getting. I am very proud of how hard he is working and I am glad that he enjoys learning. I also was able to see that as confident and hard headed as he is most of the time, he still lacks some confidence in his ability to read and write on his own. He is easily frustrated when he thinks that he may make a mistake, so therefore sometimes he lacks the confidence to try to read words he is unsure of or to write words he thinks he can't spell. This is something we are working on and I am hopeful that he will work his way out of it and be more confident in himself.

Couple of other things...just because:

Ethan came into the kitchen this evening and announced that he wiped his own hiney! This is a great day!! Considering that we try to get him to do this EVERYDAY we are finally seeing progress! Wiping our own hiney prompted a dance by the whole family and lots of whooping and hollering and high fives. Hopefully all the hiney-wiping hoop-la will encourage him to do it more often. Fingers crossed...here's hoping!

Besides the Daily December album, I am also inspired by Tim Holtz and his "12 Tags of Christmas". So here is my take on his tag for today.

Check back tomorrow for another tag and to see my next post for my Daily December album.

Hugs!! Olivia

Carterisms

Yesterday morning Carter woke up full of "Carterisms" as we like to call them. He said all three of these in an hours time and had me laughing and crying at the same time. I love when he tells it just like it is!

Carterism 1:

I got up early and took a shower and washed my hair before anyone else got up. When I went in to wake Carter up my hair was still wet. I laid down on the bed and was talking to him and this exchange happened.

Carter: "Mom you are beautiful, but your hair stinks."

Me: "Carter, I just washed it."

Carter: "Yeah, but it stinks."

Me: "It think it smells a little like flowers." (as I sniff my wet hair)

Carter: "Mom don't you know that boys dislike the smell of flowers."

What six year old uses the word dislike?? Good Grief!

Carterism 2:

Later on when I was helping him get ready, I got all sentimental on him, which usually drives him crazy. But this morning our conversation was really sweet and it made me tear up.

Me: "Carter, you are getting so big. Can you believe that you are going to be in kindergarten?"

Carter: "I know." (said excited and happy, rather than being put out that we were having this discussion again.)

Me: " You used to be my little boy, what happened?" (This is me getting all sentimental on him)

Carter: "Mom, even when I get big, I'll always be your little boy." (said as very sweetly)

Me: "I know Carter." (Right before he walked out and I began to cry)

Carterism 3:

Jess and I both had a workshop yesterday, so the boys were headed to play with a teenager from our church for the day. Carter thinks Colton is the coolest guy and has been so excited all week that he was getting to go to his house.
While I was trying to get Ethan's hair combed out Carter was standing at the bathroom door. Ethan was complaining about the me fixing his hair (this is a daily battle, if it weren't for the cute curls I would have his head shaved so I wouldn't have to deal with all the drama). This morning he was complaining that he didn't want a moohawk. Carter replied by saying this:

Carter: "Ethan we are going to someones house who is cool, you might want to wear the moohawk."

Ethan of course didn't buy it, but continued to complain until I had combed his hair "flat" as he likes to call it and had seen himself in the mirror to check to make sure I hadn't snuck a moohawk in on top of his head.

I added a few recent pictures of Carter to this post. Because I refuse a post without pictures!

The first picture I tool of him just a few days ago as we left kindergarten registration. He is getting so big!

The second is of him and I after a shopping trip for a few school clothes. I won't make a big school clothes shopping trip until mid-October or maybe even late October. We live in Arkansas and it doesn't get cold here till October/Novemberish.

The last picture is from May, during T-ball season. As I was working on this post this a.m. Carter came through and requested that I use a baseball picture. So I did and he approved.

Not a new picture necessarily, but it keeps the boy happy! Score one for Mom!

Why...

People ask me why I take time to scrapbook? My response is that I want to capture the emotions and feelings behind the pictures I take. There are a million stories out there to tell and a million more that I have already forgotten. Moments and memories happen everyday...every hour. They make us who we are. It is my goal to collect and write down the simple daily things so that my children can go back a re-experience them as they get older.


One of my projects for 2009 is called Project 365 where you take a daily photo and journal about it. I have done a pretty good job keeping up with it so far. Here is today's photo. I haven't written the journaling yet... but it is a shot of Carter riding his bike this morning. I walked along with him and we spent time looking for Killdeer. We were able to see fish in the creek and a SNAKE...ugh, and these really flitty birds that dive bomb us when we walk by. We think we may have spotted a nesting site for the Killdeer and we formulated a plan for our next walk to check it out.

Since school is out...hopefully I can start posting a daily picture here. They aren't anything that are photographically spectacular, but just simple snapshots of daily life. Love that!

Scrapbooking also give me a chance to be creative. I have always love to cut, paste and color..This hobby just takes that to a new level.

Here are some of my latest creative endeavors that I have posted here and also at http://www.cocoadaisy.com/ a kit company that I just love!! They are super inspiring and put out fantastic kits each month.