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!

Sunday Ramblings

It has finally begun to cool off around here! I am soooo glad, but at the same time this change in the weather has caused me to have sinus infection. Therefore I am not out enjoying the wonderful weather. :(

My parents were over this weekend to watch the boys play soccer. It was so enjoyable having them here. The boys love it when they visit and I enjoy it too because mom always finds something to clean while she is here. This weekend she mopped the floors. LOVE her for that. I hate to mop!

I have been scrapping a little the past few weeks and planning my fall decorations. Picked up a few things on sale at Wal-Mart and I am planning to do some more decorating this week. Mom brought me a Winged Elm branch that is just screaming, "Paint me brown & hang fall goodies on me!" So I am going to!

Here are a few layouts done with July's Cocoa Daisy Kit- Carnival

The Grands: About the boys and how lucky they are to have such wonderful grandparents.

Not Happy: Ethan's unusually grumpy morning, brought on by the fact that he wanted a Pop Tart

rather than the homemade waffles and bacon Mommy made.

.

Celebrate the Everyday: A shot of Ethan captured at the park.

Easter 2008 mini: Cover of the mini. Pictures inside of Carter, Ethan, Brittany, and Ashlee hunting eggs. You can see the whole album here: Olivia

Weekend at Grandma and Pappaw's: Mosaic of shots taken at my parents in the Fall of 2009.

Speaking of fall decorating. I did complete this Halloween Countdown Calendar for the boys to use. It was inspired by the great Lisa Day and her countdown calendar that she posted here at Two Peas in a Bucket last fall. I can't wait for the boys to use this. Such a cute fall decoration!

Hope you are having a great fall afternoon!

Completely Random/Scrappiness

Sorry this is going to be a complete random post. I have lots of things running around in my brain and I need a place to get them down, so that I have a place that reminds me. And noooo a notepad isn't good enough. FYI: I get this way every year as summer vacation winds down and I get ready to go back to work. I always feel I didn't do enough during the summer and the last few weeks I kill myself trying to get it all done.

Couple of things I am thinking about for the house:

1. GARAGE SALE!!!- I have too much stuff cluttering up the place

2. Valances- I have material and patterns, just no desire...got get that sewing mojo going

3. Outdoor weeding

4. General pick up and put things away and dust, mop, yada yada yada.....

Couple of things I wanna get done scrappy:

1. December Daily from 2008- Yeah don't ask...I didn't do it daily.. life happened instead

2. Project 365- Catch up

3. Smoky Mountain Vacation album

4. Spain Vacation album- FROM 2006 Sheesh!!

5. Order pictures

Things I have to do:

1. Finish course work for grad class- not stressing on this one. I am caught up and even a little

ahead.

2. Register for Fall grad classes

3. Work in my classroom

4. Make a do-able schedule for us (me) to get on for fall. After Christmas I will redo this, because

it gets really nuts after Christmas.

All this needs to be done prior to August 19th. I am optimistic, but realistic also....

So now I have a little list going on and some goals set...we'll see what happens. The biggest thing for me is to feel like I can go back to school relaxed and happy. Plus enjoy the time I have left with my guys.

I'll leave you with a few Project 365 photos .

Last night I went shopping and when I came home the boys were in the pool. They love to swim in the dark...strange, but enjoyable.

I bought them some gummies at Candy Craze. So today after lunch Carter snagged a worm for dessert. They love gummies and they make for great bribery. So everyone wins when there are gummies in the house!

Hope you are having a great weekend!

Monday Randomness

Happy Monday! It's been a while since I posted...it's a busy, crazy world around here. We finished up Boys and Girls Club basketball last Tuesday, so there is one less thing on our busy weekly schedule. Soccer should start up again soon, so this is just a short break from sports for Carter.

The picture here is from our trip home this weekend to watch Jess' basketball team play Friday night and then spend the night with my parents. It was strange to be in my hometown and not be sporting the hometeam black and gold. It has taken a while to adjust to being a black and orange Leopard, rather than a black and gold one. At least we didn't change mascots. Anyway Jess' girls lost by one point, which was a heartbreaker, because he is hoping to get a good seed in the district tournament. He has two games left and those are important games that they need to win.

Jess had to ride back on the bus after the game, but the boys and I stayed at my parents house. I love coming home to stay with my parents, have I mentioned that my mama is the best cook in the world? My mama is my best friend and I love getting to visit with her face to face rather than on the phone each night. For the boys the best part of visiting the grandparents is that they get to see their cousins "B" and Ashlee. "B" is a year older than Carter and Ashlee is 6 months older than Ethan. "B" and Ashlee also have a little brother named Beau (1 year) and right now there isn't anyone for him to play with...poor guy. Hopefully Jess and I will add one more little one to our family so Beau Beau will have someone to play with.

Saturday morning we got up and ate homemade biscuits and gravy...Yum (thanks Mama)! Then Mama and I took all four big kiddos out for a nature walk, (Daddy had to go to work, it's tax season and he's a CPA, so this is his busy time of year). Carter and "B" were gungho for the nature walk, Ethan and Ashlee, not so much, actually Ethan, not so much. He kept saying, "But I no like the woods". We finally got him into the woods and he didn't complain much and I didn't have to carry him. SUCCESS!

I got a lot of cute shots of the kids on one of the hay meadows and these two pictures are two of my favorites. Ethan is wearing his "Eggo" glasses (Diego), because he thought it was too sunny to be out without them. He also needed his water bottle in case he got hot. He's such a mess.