A Decision - Finally

Well we finally made the decision last night about what schools the boys are going to go to in the Fall. Roland is going to ETS and Hayden will be going to Victory 3 days a week. I think all in all it's the best for everyone. This was such a tough decision for so many reasons but I'm glad it's finally over!!!

Today is Ro's last day with all of his friends at Riverfield. He will still be in the same class this summer but most of his buddies are moving up to the Kindergarden summer program next week. He will still have some of the same friends in his class but not his core group. I think it's going to be a transition but he'll get through it.

Well, it's been so long since I've posted that I have a ton of layouts to share.

You can find all the credits in my gallery at DST

Here's an old photo of Ro but it's still one of my faves.


I love this picture of Hayden and I'm really happy with how this one turned out.


Here's another sweet one of Hayden


and look at my little charmer...


and next we have Destructive Hayden


This picture is from last summer. I can't believe how much Ro has grown in the last year.


Well that's it for today!

Lots of Fun Stuff

wow! it's been awhile since I've updated here..... where does the time go????

Well, first I have to share some pictures of my new sweet niece Zoe. She was born on Monday. Justin and I and the boys made a quick trip to Kansas to visit and I'm so glad we did. She is such a doll and it was so good to see Wes and Robin again. We miss you guys terribly! Here are some of the photos we got.


finally a photo with all the grandkids. Yeah!

I don't think Hayden knows quite what to think about baby Zoe.




Isn't she sweet? I love the one of her "smiling".

Let's see... what else have we been up to...
Tonight we went to a surprise birthday party for one of my best friends, Erika. She turns 30 tomorrow! Wow - we're getting old. :)
The party was so much fun and I loved the look on her face when she got there.

Tomorrow we are headed to the bowling alley with a bunch of friends. Roland has become a "Master Bowler" in the Wii world and we think it's time to show him what real bowling is like. He completely cracks me up when he is using his Wii technique. I have no idea how he does it but he has been bowling around a 180 average. When I tried to mimic his "technique" I ended up throwing out my shoulder. It's been sore for 6 days now! I am so out of shape. :)

I've also got several layouts to share.

First I have a layout that I made using those fun park pictures from my last post.





Next is one of my favorite layouts ever. I finally got to scrap some of Roland's photography.




and lastly I did a fun page with some of the other park pictures.


don't you just love that Dr. Seuss quote. This is so perfect for Ro!
You can check out the full credits by clicking on my DST link to the right. I've updated it so it should be working again now.

Well, that's it for tonight.
~Angie

I'm never leaving home without my camera again.....

This afternoon the boys and I went to our neighborhood park. On the way out the door I thought

"hmmm... is it worth taking the camera? sure - why not!"

Boy am I glad I did. I got some of the best pictures of the boys today. The sky was so beautiful and the sun was perfect. The best part happened as we were about to leave. This little boy walked up to us and asked if we'd like to see his new baby ducks. Oh they were so cute! Hayden didn't know what to think at first but once he did he just started making his cute little quack sound over and over. Both boys got to pet them and it was just so fun. Of course - I had my camera so I got the whole thing on film. Yeah! Well that's my excitement for today. Wow - that's pretty bad when I get this excited about seeing a baby duck. LOL!

Roland is just amazing me all the time now. That boy is smart! I know I'm his momma and that I might be a little biased but he just blows me away with the things he comes up with. Yesterday on the way home from school he started talking about how it makes him sad that his friends and teachers at school don't talk about God. He said it made him really sad and that he wanted to go to a school that "Blesses God". Wow! My heart just fell. We've been contemplating schools for Kindergarten and I think this may have answered a lot of our questions. I have been praying that God would send me a "Clear" message as to what to do and I can't help but this this is that clear answer.

One other funny Roland thing - right before bed tonight he told Justin a new joke.


What do you call a frog with four wheels?


A Toad Truck!


We were cracking up - it's actually really funny! Maybe he got the pun gene from his grandad.

Well that's it for tonight. Hope you enjoy the pictures.

So Many Things

Wow - so many things are going on right now. I think we're finally back in the swing of things. Two weeks ago I was able to go to the Willow Creek Children's Ministry conference with two of my best friends. It was so inspirational. They have an amazing program and we were able to learn about so many things we could do in our own church. Mainly though I think it was good to just get refocused on what our mission is. To reach children and let them know that God loves them. The worship was so incredible too. Jon Klinepeter and his worship team from the church of Wrigleyville led our worship. It was amazing. It was so inspiring to hymns again!

Here's his myspace page if you want to hear some of their music. (my favorite is return)
Jon Klinepeter

On the home front...
Justin and I are recovering from some weird stomach bug. We were both feeling pretty yuck this weekend.
Ro and Hayden are doing great. Hayden is saying so many new words and I think he can truly understand everything we say to him. He is such a hoot and I think he is going to be our little ornery boy. I can't count how many times we have to get him down off the dining room table!

As for scrapbooking...
I've joined a couple of new creative teams. Yeah! Check out the new blinkies on the side!

I'm also super excited about being part of the new Scrapquick store!
It opens on April 2nd so I can't send out a link yet. Here's a little ad about the new store.



I've also got a couple of new layouts to share!

I still can't believe I actually posted this picture of my 80s self but Oh well!





I did a little "scrap therapy" with this one. I think it's important to scrap not only the good happy moments in our lives but also the real moments.





Love these pics of Hayden!





Here's a double layout of my "little spot"






Hayden has started signing! So cute.



Oh I love this picture that Ro drew!



Well that's it for today! Hope everyone has a good one.

Things have been a bit quiet around here and it is a welcome relief. We had a fun weekend catching up with our small group from church and spending some time at a family birthday party on Sunday. I also got to do some shopping at the annual JBF Sale. I love this sale and I consign and shop at it every year.
http://www.jbfsale.com

I got a ton of really nice clothes for Hayden and a few fun things for Roland too. The biggest hits were the Yoda T-shirt, Batman pjs, and 2 bionicles. I was so thrilled to find the Bionicles for $2 each. They are normally $10 at Walmart so this was a great find!

Roland seems to be in better spirits the past few days too. Yeah. He was full of funny and wise comments yesterday. Here's a little conversation we had driving home from school.

Roland: "Mommy when I grow up I want to fly"
Me: "Oh you mean like fly airplanes"
Roland: "No - I want to fly"
Me: "Oh - how are you going to do that? With a jetpack or just flap your arms real fast?"
Roland: "Mommy - I can't fly by myself - I'll have to use a jetpack - but it will be invisible - so it will look like I'm flying by myself"

There is no box for Roland to think in. I can't wait to see what he creates some day.

It was pretty funny at dinner last night too. We were in a hurry to eat so Justin just prayed very quickly and kind of silly like. Roland looks at him and says "Daddy that is not how we talk to God!". Oops! So we immediately bowed our heads and said a real prayer!

The chore chart is also working really well. He had earned 25 marbles since we started and he used them last night to "buy" one of the Bionicles I found for him at the JBF Sale. When he earns another 25 marbles he will get the next one. Oh I love that we have found a way to teach him to earn things!

On the scrapbooking front, I've done a couple of layouts sice my last post.

This was was made using the new Spring Collection kit at The Lily Pad. I absolutely love the little frogs.



I created this one using Dani's new Rainy Days Kit. Isn't Hayden adorable in these pictures. :)




Credits Here: http://www.digishoptalk.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=83217

That's it for today! Hope you have a wonderful day.

Yeah!!! it's March

Can I just say that I am so glad February is over!!

On top of the hospital visit for Hayden and the flu bug that attacked our house - we also got the HORRIBLE stomach bug that has been going around. Hayden had it first - up all night vomitting, then Justin came down with it a few days later. That night both me and Roland got it. Oh it was awful and I am so glad it's over. I have to give a shout out to Justin's parents for being such great grandparents. The night I got sick we asked if Roland could spend the night at their place because I knew we wouldn't be able to take care of him with Justin and I feeling so bad. At the time we thought he was healthy. :) Well the bug attacked him that night and they took care of him through the whole thing. I have to say that this was actually a God thing though becuase there is no way Justin or I could have helped him that night. Well I'm glad it's over and we are all finally starting to get back to normal.

On the scrapbooking front I've actually been able to get a few layouts done during all of this craziness. I hate to post this many at once but I've got to get caught up. LOL!

Here's one I did as an ode to my favorite indulgence - Chocolate!

Credits here http://http://www.digishoptalk.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=72256&cat=all&ppuser=1181

Next is a layout I did for Amy of sweet little Beth. I had to scrap something girly for one of my CTs and Amy was sweet enough to share one of her cute pictures. I love how this turned out.

Credits here http://http://www.digishoptalk.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=73053&cat=all&ppuser=1181

Then I did one using one of the awesome photos Justin took using our new camera.

Credits here http://http://www.digishoptalk.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=74860&cat=all&ppuser=1181

Let's see.... next is one of my favorite layouts ever - I just love these pictures of Hayden and this kit of Dani's was perfect for them.

Credits here http://www.digishoptalk.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=75709&cat=all&ppuser=1181

Then I did a layout about my good friend Erika. I LOVE this picture of us.

Credits here http://http://www.digishoptalk.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=76435&cat=all&ppuser=1181

Then I got to use this really fun kit of Jen's.

Credits here http://http://www.digishoptalk.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=80942&cat=all&ppuser=1181

Last but not least I want to share a little hybrid project I worked on today. I have been trying to find a Chore Chart system that would actually work for Roland. I found this idea on the Supernanny website and loved it. He gets to move the cards into the "I Did It" pocket as he does his chores throughout the day. At the end of the day we count up how many cards he did and he gets a marble for each one. Then he can "cash in" his marbles for either money or other reward (going to the movies, etc.) at the end of the week. This was really fun to put together and I am amazed at Roland's response. He is so excited about it and keeps asking if he can do more chores. Seriously - this is awesome.

Well that's it for today! Hopefully I'll be a little better at posting this month. :)

Welcome to the House of Flu

 Well, it has been quite a week , actually it's been quite the two weeks!  Let's see where to start...
Last Sunday Hayden found a piece of an Electrasol dishwasher tablet on the ground and thought it was a piece of candy.  Justin found half of it still in his mouth and immediately called poison control.  They recommened going to the ER who then recommended that he be observed overnight in the hospital because of the caustic level of the tablet.  It was an 11 on the PH scale.  He ended up having to have a GI scope done to rule out any damage to his tummy.  Everything was fine and we ended up getting to go home the next day.  

So the week goes on and we're starting to get back into the swing of things when Roland comes down with a fever on Friday.  Several of his friends at school have been sick with a virus so we don't really worry to much about it.  He runs a fever all weekend and finally things start to get really bad Monday night.  We hear him up in his room laughing hysterically at 1am.  Justin asks him whats going on and he tells us about all of the silly things he is seeing in his room.  We figure out that he is hallucinating and he feels really hot.  So I take his temp (104.2).  Hmmm.  We get him up and try to get him coherent and he can barely walk.  We decide it's best to take him to the ER because he is just acting so strangely.  Boy am I glad we did!  When we got there he had a fever of 106.2.  The triage nurse immediately gave him a bunch of tylenol and got him into a bed.  They did a flu test and lo and behold - he is positive.  We get his fever down and we come home.  Well, when we get home Hayden is now up and he is also running a fever.  His fever got up to 104 at one point, but we got him on Tamiflu early on so he is handling the flu much better than Roland.  

Wednesday I started feeling really crummy - body aches, nausea, etc. So I went to the urgent care clinic up the street and got tested.  Yep - now I've got the flu.  Ugh!  What's crazy is that we all got the flu shot!  I guess we are in that 10 - 20% that it doesn't work for.    

So, that's our crazy past two weeks.  Lots of doctors, prescriptions, Kleenex and TLC.  Here are a few pictures of the boys that I took- and no you may not see a picture of me with the flu. :)