"Starlight" delight...

It was love at first sight the first time I saw Pink Paislee's "Starlight" paper line. But, instead of thinking 4th of July, I thought about the boys and baseball. I emailed Kathy, the owner at Scrappin' {Sports} Stuff, and suggested the line for her store. I was thrilled to see it in stock so soon.I was even happier to see my design team package full of the papers on my doorstep the other day!Unfortunately, the coordinating stickers and alphas for the line weren't available in the store yet, but I paired the papers up with an arrow transparency from the Little Yellow Bicycle "Generation Z" line and Scrappin' Sports & More letterman alpha stickers.I pulled a couple chipboard alphas from my stash and covered them with patterned paper. The mini alphas are also from my stash.This was a fun layout to make. I really wanted to document the story of Kevin scoring the game winning run in one of our opening tournament games earlier this month. These papers were perfect!



You'll be seeing more of this line soon...

My "Playdate"...

I almost fell out of my chair a few weeks ago while checking my email after work. I had an email from Noel Mignon announcing the new "Playdate" kit. I couldn't click "order now" quick enough!
The colors in this kit are so "me"!!!

I was thrilled with the quick delivery time, too. The kit actually arrived one day when I was home from work sick. After sleeping most of the day away, the kit on my doorstep was a welcome surprise. I took some time to scrap before the boys got home and then finished up a few more layouts as I had time over the next few days and this weekend.

With this kit, I didn't really look too hard to find photos to match up with it. I just took my last photo order and decided to tell the stories that I wanted to tell now. The first is about Kevin and how he was our tour guide during a stop we made at Lincoln'd Boyhood Home over Spring Break. Since Kevin had toured their in the fall with a field trip, he knew everything there was to know. That kid is a sponge!I mixed up some Cosmo Cricket and Jillibean Soup for this one. LOVE the two alphas in the kit!

The weekend before I received the kit, Kevin had made out invitations for his First Communion. I was able to scrap his invitation with a photo of him working on them. I pulled papers and embellishments to match the invitations and his red shirt in the photo.

Reese's Baptism was in my "new photo pile." LOVED using a mixture of new October Afternoon and Sassafrass Lass to capture this memory. I just love her expression in the photo with Blake. He added to the special-ness of the day by being an altar server during the Mass.

I LOVED the yellow ribbon in this kit!

I've mentioned before how our church is growing and asked the kids to get involved and create an art project. I was able to document this for Blake's album using new Pink Paislee papers in the kit.

I fell in love with that Bazzill bling tree. I'm afraid I'll want to buy more of those now!

I also have another LO completed with this kit (so far!), but it's an 8.5x11 layout for my personal album. I'll post that one later with some others.

Personal Scrapper is having an online crop that started today. I have 15 challenges to keep me inspired. Luckily we are out of school tomorrow. I had planned to take the boys out for a day trip, but have one arguing with me trying to keep us home to just enjoy the day here. We've had a lot of rain lately and I think he's looking forward to a pretty day of just playing basketball in the driveway.

We'll see where we end up tomorrow...

Following in little bro's footsteps?

Last spring at the boys' annual eye exam, we found out Kevin needed glasses.

This year at our annual eye exam, we found out Blake needed the same prescription Kevin had LAST YEAR. Kevin's eyes changed a bit, so he needed a stronger prescription. Thanks to one hour service, the boys came home with their glasses last night. Blake is thrilled with his new glasses.

He picked out a cool pair for school:And a pair with 180 degree hinges on the sides for his sports and camping trips. Oh, and we purchased a warranty for both pairs!With Kevin's prescription changing also, he got to do a little shopping of his own, too. He picked out a cool pair of black frames (his favorites): And got a second pair in a bronze finish, too:

Although we had to make several trips to the eye doctor for minor repairs to Kevin's glasses (and one replacement for the pair that was split in half...boys!), Kevin has been very responsible with his glasses.

We hope Blake will be, too!

Blessings

Lately, I've really been reminded of all of my blessings.
We attend a wonderful church and although we are outgrowing our current location (we are landlocked), the parrish is making plans to build and move. The children are all getting involved. They were asked to make 12"x12" art projects that will made into tiles and used in the new school.

The boys were proud of their contributions. Blake made a paper collage representing the bread and wine in front of stained glass.

Kevin drew his vision of the new church.

I am proud to have two sons who are active in our Church.

Blake is showing maturity by serving at Mass.

Kevin recently helped make an announcement after Mass and also collected money for his class project/charity - Heifer International. (He did a great speaking very loud and clear!)

I am proud to have my niece, Reese, Baptized into our Church.

I am proud to call her my Goddaughter.

She brings such happiness to our lives.

This past Sunday, after months of preparations, Kevin made his First Communion. We were happy to share this special day with both sides of our family.

Both Reese's Baptism and Kevin's First Communion were extra special with Blake serving at both Masses.

I hope you all are feeling just as blessed as me right now. :)

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

No, it's not Christmas...It's baseball season!!!

April 16th kicked off opening ceremonies for our baseball league. As the boys say, "It's good to be back!"

This year, both of my nephews participated in the opening ceremonies, too. Dane plays on Kevin's team and Luke will start Weiner League in May.

After opening ceremonies, both of our guys played in the opening game for their leagues. Luckily they were on fields side by side so I could

catch both games. Tom is coaching Kevin's team this year.Friday night wasn't a good night for us - both boys' teams lost. Luckily it was a double-elimination tournament!

We were back on Saturday for games. Blake's team won their first one. This kid loves baseball!

It was fun seeing him interact with his teammates. I love this kid. And his smile. And his deep belly laughs.

Although Blake was playing really well, his team lost their second game on Saturday and were out of the tournament.

Kevin's team won on Saturday and continued play on Sunday. They were playing really well and won the first game on Sunday. Kevin scored the winning run! (Check out the slide in the photo!)This kid gets so excited about playing ball - it looks like he's literally "floating on air" in this shot (below)!

For the second game, they were behind, but came back and forced it into

an extra inning. It was close, but sadly we lost in the semi-finals. It's not bad to finish 3rd out of 7 teams though.

Even though the tournament was over, baseball isn't. We had two games on Monday night and two last Thursday. Kevin's team is 2-0, but Blake's is 0-2. Tonight's games were called for rain.

Take me out to the ballgame...

Tonight is Opening Night for baseball - WOO-HOO!!!

We look forward to tonight and this weekend's opening tournament for weeks (ok, months...). And TONIGHT is the NIGHT to get back out on the field and win some games!

And eat some nachos from the concession stand. We LOVE our ballpark food almost as much as the game!

I didn't want to do a post without a photo, so I pulled up this one from last year:

I love the "shots from the back" that show the boys' name and number on their shirts. Last year Kevin was a Rookie League Reds and Blake was a Minor League As player.

Then I thought it would be fun to add photos from the past couple of years...

2008 was Blake's first year on the As and Kevin's Rookie team (yes, he's played three years since we moved him up early) was then called the Cubs.

When I look back on 2007, I get a little weepy. Look how my boys have grown!Blake looks so little in his last year of Rookie league (as an Oriole). It's hard to believe he was the same age Kevin is now. And Kevin really was just a baby in his last year of teeball as an Astro.

I'm ready for tonight and looking forward to capturing some great memories for my guys.

Wrapping up spring break - Kentucky's Bourbon Country style...

Friday Tom took the day off work to spend with us on our last "school day" of spring break. We planned to tour Maker's Mark (yes, another Bourbon distillery). It's near Bardstown where we used to live and one of the places we always talked about going, but never did.

So, we set out on our way with directions in (my) hand.

After stopping at the bank, we headed toward New Haven and were well on our way. The next thing I knew we were passing Lincoln's Boyhood Home. I yelled for Tom to stop. It's another place I've driven past before, but had never visited. I was surprised to find it "on our way."

Kevin had visited the park before on a field trip, so he acted as our guide. He was a very good guide! This kid must really pay attention in school.

Here I am pictured with the boys in front of the valley where the Lincoln's farmed their crops.Tom posed with the boys in front of Knob Creek where Kevin explained young Abraham Lincoln once almost drowned.Shortly after leaving Lincoln's Boyhood Home, I started to notice things looking a bit familiar. I realized we were just outside of Hodgenville. Oops. About 10-12 miles back we missed a turn. So, backtracking we went. Finally we found the proper turn and were on our way. (I won't be surprised if I end up receiving a GPS system for a gift in the near future!)

And to Loretto, Kentucky we arrived. The tour was great and family friendly, too. We were NOT the only ones there with kids! I thought the coolest part of our tour was seeing the bourbon bottles dipped in their signature red wax.I was really impressed with how both boys asked questions and interacted with our guide. Blake was able to answer several questions she threw out, too. (In the photo below, we are standing beside a 12'x12' (yes, 12 FOOT) wooden bucket full of "mash." Kevin thought the smell was disgusting!The tour ended with the adults sampling the bourbon. I should probably note that I am so NOT the bourbon fan. I just like bourbon balls! Tom prefers his bourbon with Coke.

After the tour, we walked around the grounds a bit and followed a couple of trails. The setting there is beautiful. Tom said he wished he lived by this creek:I wished I lived in this house!Blake wished he owned Maker's Mark!

After a nice lunch out, we went to see "How to Train Your Dragon" in 3-D. Both boys thought it was AWESOME. It was the perfect ending to a fun-filled spring break.

Saturday we spent 5 hours at the ballpark. Today we'll be back for four more.

OPENING WEEKEND starts Friday. I'm not sure who in our house is most excited about that. It might be a four-way tie!

More spring break fun...!!!

Our good friend Laurie was in town from Boston this week and we took her out to a FUN Louisville landmark - Lynn's Paradise Cafe.

It was a treat for our boys, too since they'd never been there. Armed with my camera, I took advantage of some of the crazy-fun displays around and inside the restaurant's gift shop.

Going to Lynn's is quite the experience. The food is great, too! We recently caught the episode of "Throwdown with Bobby Flay" on Food Network where he challenged Lynn in a breakfast cookoff. Lynn won! (And yes, for those of you paying attention that means we ate at two places featured on the Food Network this week!)
Oh, and before I sign off I have to share my latest purchase.

I've mentioned before that I love the color GREEN. Now I'm sporting this on my fingers AND toes. Tom hates it, but I'm lovin' it. OPI's "Jade is the New Black" is my new happy color!