They tease me..........

Ellis, "Mom, I hate the gray and white and brown and a horse on it shirt. I hate the tags on it, because they tease me."

Notice none of the colors he listed was "orange."

Little Monsters

These crazy little monsters were posing for me at Thanksgiving (I know its been a while since I've posted.) They were crawling along the floor, making growling sounds.

I asked them to act like sweet little boys for a picture and this is what they did..................

Do'n a Little Sew'n

What to do on a Wednesday off? Sew a little pink tote bag!

I know, I am a cruel woman who makes my son model a frilly apron for a picture. At least I cut his head off so you wouldn't know it was him. (Except for the fact that I told you!) I made this one from a tutorial from Modest Maven's website.

Fun with Photoshop

Sneak Peak

Just a peak at my 2009 Christmas cards...........

My Boys

Pumpkin' Paintin'

We had a wild and wacky morning at the FCCLA (Family Career and Community Leaders of America) annual pumpkin painting extravaganza.

My children were found perched on the rocks, right behind the sign that says "Do not climb on rocks," doing some sort of yoga meditation exercise. This is when I know it is time for the boys to go home.

Going Digital

This is my first digital scrapbook page for my 365 album. I haven't been doing very well at taking pictures everyday. I think I'll be able to cheat a little easier if I do it this way. Tell me what you think!

New Camera

I got a new camera!!! I just love the little click, click, click it makes as I take pictures. I feel so professional just carrying it around. I can take a picture as soon as I see it, I don't have to wait 10 seconds and miss it. Its a whole new world I tell ya.

Ellis posing at soccer practice.

Drew making a tackle. (He's low to the ground in the white.)

Drew's Campaign Poster

Drew is running for 5th grade Boy's Rep. He decided to do a Napoleon Dynamite inspired poster. Notice the frog on his head as well as the random leprechaun to the left. He plans to do some sort of magic trick during his speech. What more can I say? Wish him luck!

Fair Performers

I didn't realize how entertaining my youngsters were to other people until this evening at the Grant Count Fair. We decided to take in a show or two, and one of the acts was called "Brothers with Different Mothers."  They asked for a volunteer between the ages of 4 and 8 years old.  My youngest son proceeded to jump up and down with a red balloon tied to his wrist. Needless to say he was chosen, and they had to remove the balloon and a corn-dog stick from his tight grasp before he could help them out.

(I know the picture is blurry. I never claimed to be a photographer.) "What's your name," they asked, "Is that Ellis or Elvis?"  "Oh, like the island." The Brothers proceeded to put a metal spiked helmet on his head, and two lollipop sticks in his hands.  He then had to stand still while they spun three balls on his body. No small feat for a squirrely 5 year-old boy.

He did everything they asked and at the end his prize was a Ricky Martin trading card.  He is very fond of that card.  If you ask him if you can see it he says "Just look, don't touch." The Brothers then asked for another young volunteer, and chose Will because his t-shirt says "Save a tree, don't do homework." Willy did a quiz show with questions such as "What is your favorite number?" and "Who is the cutest on this stage?" 

Willy left the stage with a signed poster.  But if you ask Ellis, he got a waaaaay better prize.

Cute as a button cards!

I have been making these little 3X3 cards from a Mat Stack of 5X7 papers, they are so quick and so cute I just had to share! They even have little envelopes and a matching card holder to keep them in.

Creepy Cards

These are the two cards I received for my anniversary this year. 

The first is from PJ.  I'm not sure how to take this.  I don't 

believe this has ever happened in our relationship. 

The second is from my mother.  It says "Two people, when they have been married awhile, begin to look alike, which scientists believe may have something to do with sharing towels." Does she think PJ and I look like this?  Do we look alike? I chuckle every time I read it. Creepy.

Bread

I have been making quick breads for the last few days.  It started with zucchini, because I had a whole bunch in my refrigerator, then I decided I hadn't made pumpkin bread in a while. Then, I found some shredded coconut in my pantry, so of course I had to make coconut bread. (Which by the way is my favorite.)  But I can't just make bread and wrap it up in foil, now can I? It's all in the presentation..........

Happy Birthday Ellis! (His favorite is pumpkin.)

My little fisherman

My little Willy at 2 years old with his little tiny trout.  Don't you just want to squeeze his chubby little cheeks?!

................and this is Willy yesterday at 8 years old with a big giant salmon.  He's my little fisherman.

Thank You

Ellis helped me make these little thank you cards for his birthday party.  We made little cupcakes to look like the real cupcakes from his party. (see post below)

B.O.B. cupcakes.....

I could not bring myself to bake a cake on a 100 degree day, so I made cupcakes for Ellis' birthday instead.  The inspiration is below.  BOB from Monsters vs. Aliens. I can't believe my baby is already 5.

I will hug her, and squeeze her and call her.........

Molly!

My new baby girl......

Her name changes on an hourly basis. Jenny, Jada, Ronnie................ We need help.  Any suggestions? Please leave suggestions in the comments.  There might be a prize in it if we choose your suggestion........

Food Mode

My mom got a new camera last week and we were playing around with it.  We were surprised to find that it had a "food mode" for taking pictures of food.  My dad and PJ were confused as to why you would want to take a picture of food, and what difference a "food mode" would make.  I had to explain that Pioneer Woman takes pictures of food all the time for her blog, and she even has a tutorial on taking pictures of food. So we did an experiment, and took a picture of my mom's cake in regular mode and in food mode.  The results were amazing.  The "food mode" picture looked way more appetizing and less washed out.  Now, I was jealous, I wanted a "food mode" on my camera! We decided that the only difference was the way that the camera flashed.  So I improvised and put my finger on part of my flash.  FOOD MODE!!! The results are below. (Sorry Becky, I know you are not food.)

Doesn't she just look Delicious!

Love is a Battlefield

As most of you have read on Facebook, PJ took me to a Pat Benatar concert.  Before we went to the concert we went out to dinner at Red Lobster.  For some reason that I can't fully explain now, I ordered the shrimp jumbalaya.  PJ ordered the a crab alfredo which was good, but not great.  My dinner was horrible, so I took all of the shrimp out and put it in PJ's pasta and we shared it. (By the way, PJ for the first time in his life, ordered the 1/2 order of pasta instead of the full order.) The waitress came back and noticed that I had not eaten much of my meal.  She asked "How was it?" I said, "Not very good."  She said "Oh, I know. Nobody likes that."  This information would have been wonderful back when I ordered my meal. She goes on to say, "hopefully its not on the menu much longer, they always put these weird new things on that don't taste very good, and then they get rid of them." We left Red Lobster hungry and giggling.

My Ginormous Handbag

I fell in love with this fabric when PJ and I stopped at Craft Warehouse before the big Pat Benatar concert.   I had to have it, and I was determined to use it and not just add it to my "I had to have it" fabric pile.  I made this cute bag which turned out to be huge, and when I have a huge bag, somehow I end up filling it up, and when it is filled up, I can never find my wallet.  Anyway, I still love it, but I think I might have to make a smaller bag, so it doesn't take me a half hour to pay for my groceries.  

Love is a Battlefield.

Walmarch Butterflies

One of Will's favorite hobbies is the catching of various insects and other critters.  The other day we were at my mom's house where he has the good fortune of using a very large net (I believe it is meant for fishing).  As I gazed out the window I could see the net moving to and fro in the air.  He came in the house very excited shouting " I saw a Walmarch butterfly!!" I said, "A what?" He again said, "A Walmarch butterfly!!" "Oh, you mean a Monarch butterfly!" Without a second thought he ran back outside. "I'm gonna catch one of those Walmarch butterflies!"

Birthday Wishes....

Today I asked Ellis what he wanted for his birthday.  He proceeded to recite a long list of things that I'm not sure actually exist.  The following is just a snippet of his wishes....

1. A sand dollar that a crab comes out of 

2. A toy Hulk that is eating somebody

3. Jaws toy with a red button that you push and it sings and blood spurts out and there is a guy coming out of its mouth

4. A remote control spider with a guy getting eaten

5. A game with a star fish that attacks an octopus

6. Cool clothes that have fire on them and a dragon and cats being eaten by the dragon on them (our cat just walked by at that point)

7. A DVD that I could learn to hunt for everything when I grow up

8. A toy buff guy getting eaten by me

9. Remote control alien

10. A toy human that doesn't get attacked by Godzilla

Cards!!

These are my latest cards for my card club.  I spent all day working on them.  I just really like little cupcake prints.  I think I need to find some cupcake fabric and make a really frilly 50's style apron.......

Swimmin' Lessons

Today was Ellis' last day of swimming lessons.  He went from being terrified of putting his head underwater to jumping off of the diving board in 4 short days.  He was very excited to show his dad his report card and said "I'm in level 2 now!" The only thing he needed to work on is the following: Safe Entry/Exit- Sit, Listen, Wait. I could have told her that..... :)

Willy's Tooth

Will lost his tooth the other day, and the tooth fairy is very forgetful and has not gotten to his pillow yet.  While waiting for the tooth fairy to arrive, his tooth went missing.  He looked all over for it and came yelling up the stairs "Ellis put my tooth under his pillow!!"  I guess he thought he would have better luck.

Slip 'n'Slide

PJ is running a Wrestling Camp this week and decided to mix it up with some slip 'n slide fun. These are just a few of the 70 pictures I took yesterday.

California

Universal Studios- Terminator 2 motorcycle
On the ride over.
Waiting in line for the Toy Story ride.
Goofy!!!