Live from Tormville!

a sneak and a funny

The boys might have taken my extra six foot table with them this weekend, but that didn't stop me long. I pulled out the card table to dine on, and I'm using the kitchen table to play catch up. I've got a few layouts done, a few cards done, and next up I'll be making a few dozen graduation cards - the parties start full speed ahead next week. 

The layout above? A sneak peek of Technique Tuesday's June Studio AE.  Love this set - looks like the whole set is up on site already - take a look! 

And a funny. I was going to pass on these two folding chairs at a garage sale yesterday, simply because they are almost too little for my boys.  I went back for them, and I'm glad I did - for a buck a piece, they provided hours of entertainment yesterday from playing train, to stands for the dinosaurs, to playing short guys at the computer. 

Here Brian just said: I can put my foot behind my head
Mark responded: I can put my foot behind your head too.

 

Operation Write Home Memorial Day *Sketch* Blog Hop

 

 

I thought I'd take part in this year's Memorial Day Blog Hop using the new $2.99 USA Seal from Technique Tuesday, and a tipped sideways Sketch 57 from great selection of OWH card sketches. 

Last I heard, there were 142 creative card makers signed up for this holiday hop, so make sure to take some time this weekend to follow the link to the blog hop and check out at least a few! 

Remembering those who gave the ultimate sacrifice in service of our country. 

 

 

And they're off

Dresser, WI - watch out.  (These guys will be there by 7am, where they'll meet up with three of Greg's brothers, a brother-in-law, his dad and four family-owned Jeeps) 

Their goal this year is to make a bigger appearance in the annual video. Greg and Derek are in last year's official video at minute 1:05 - on the other side of the mud watching the action. (It's Greg and Derek's second year, and the first year for the other three) 

 

I just hope they don't get too much of that mud in my new van, or on my extra 6 foot table that they up and swiped. 

hmph. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch - we'll be eating pizza, staying up late, garage saling, heading down to Greenfield Village for the Memorial Day festivities and having fun. We don't let the grass grow long under our feet when we're left behind.  

All About Mark

Yesterday was very Mark focused. 

Does it get any better than splashing in the fire hydrant?  I think not.  I had been at my clothesline folding clothes and thinking - huh, that wind has really picked up, as my first thought was the noise I was hearing was the trees rustling. 

But then I looked and there was no wind. 

huh. 

And then it clicked. I threw down my laundry and went hauling into the house hollering for Mark, "Mark!!  Come Quick!!!" and we tore out the front door together, me grabbing my camera along the way. (My camera never goes in a bag - it's always ready to go) Him, having no clue where we were running to, but totally trusting....

Mark was all, "For real? I can play in that, for real?"  Mark will ask, "for real" even after he asks, if he can have a cookie and I say yes. "For real??"

For real! Even the city guy said so. 

The neighbor girl across the street saw him playing and came out to join his fun. They'll be walking up to kindergarten together next year and her mom and I are going to do this kind of stuff ourselves. It's already planned. 

The middle and high school kids made it home in time, but it was done just before the elementary kids were to come home. Brian was SOOOOOO mad. We had a little lesson in appreciating someone elses joy instead of drowning it with anger and self pity. 

As the high schooler came home, the preschooler went about trying to chase him down for an after school (soaking wet) hug. Lots of laughs

Dried off, a quick supper, it was then time to get ready for preschool graduation. I had been out here taking pictures of the spiffed up lad when I realized that his shoes were on the wrong feet. He usually doesn't care, but I suggested that he should care for graduation. 

Graduation was amazing. I had made suggestions all day long to Mark that he shouldn't yawn through the ceremony, that we would really love him to sing all the songs that we know he knows. He yawned at my suggestions. 

Then, about a half hour before we went out the door I also put essential oils on his feet.  Valor (for courage and confidence) and Joy (for nerves and, well, joy). And he blew us, his teachers, and the other parents who remember how he performed for the Mother's Day brunch just two weeks ago - Away. 

In the class recital of the Pledge of Allegiance, his voice carried the loudest. He sang all the songs, did all the hand movements and didn't even cry or fuss when his cap fell off half way through and landed under the bleachers. I wish I'd taken Wendy's video camera. We were stunned.  This was exactly one of the reasons we signed this kid up for preschool in the first place. 

We were blessed with two wonderful teachers. His yawning avoidance tactic came back before we got a picture of him with the other teacher. 

Way to go Mark, way to go!

Now to find some great boredom busters for him for the next couple weeks until the bigs are done with school. As for today - he'll be getting a cavity taken care of. 

Not quite as much fun as yesterday. 

be good! 

A few more pictures - as promised. I always scroll through the front page of my blog just to make sure I'm keeping things well-rounded and not too balloon heavy, kid heavy or layout heavy. This weekend I have hopes of bulking up the layout side. I have a few on my desk right now...

I forgot to mention with my boy's picture last night a little funny: On our way to Denny's house, which they'd never been to, I mentioned that Denny has a caboose in his yard. For the locals, his was one of the ones mentioned in the paper last fall when they did a feature on the area cabooses. 

They immediately asked - "And does he sell ice cream????" 

The caboose that sells ice cream was one of the other cabooses featured, and is a frequent summer hot spot for us. They were sorely disappointed to learn that Denny does not keep ice cream in his caboose.

I also went and got my tire fixed this morning. It took longer to get it fixed than it did to get four new ones put on yesterday. They asked if I had driven onto a construction sight. I said no. I didn't mention that I chase balloons. 

You can see my boys in the left corner of this one. I tell them they have to pick a spot and stay through until the balloon is in the sky. They are pretty good about it.  

hey - have you seen a balloon?

I mentioned that I hadn't planned to follow this night since they had enough people and I had my little boys, but we did end up following in our van. We lost the balloon several times - here they are asking if there were any open areas in the back of that sub where he might have landed, that aren't visible to the road. 

They must have radio'ed or called at this point, because Denny was already several miles south from where we'd been looking.  

At this point, near the boys bedtime, I decided to just head out on my own and see if I could track them without following the chase vehicle. It's sometimes easier to track in a vehicle that's not pulling a trailer because it's so much easier to turn around if you take a wrong turn. 

I did end up picking up the trail, but left my camera in the van for the rest of the evening so I could help keep the balloon out of the trees. 

_____

'bout it. 

Today we have volleyball, preschool graduation, an ice-cream social and dehydrating more fruit - and, of course, we've already completed the tire fix it and the Meijers run. 

It just stays busy. 

Thing One, Thing Two, Thing Three, Flat Tire.....

Thing 1: Brian lost another tooth today. So if you're keeping track - Brian lost a tooth on Sunday, Wendy lost a tooth on Monday, Brian lost another tooth on Tuesday and Mark has to get a cavity filled on Thursday. 

Thing 2: Brought these two yahoos with me to the balloon launch tonight. They were all wound up, but they still managed to mind the rules. I don't bring them often anymore.  I hadn't planned to chase tonight - intending to get these two home - but I did, and it was a good thing because the balloon went many miles tonight, and I managed to get there before the chase crew. He lost all of the chasers several times. 

Thing 3: The thing I was up until 2am working on last week was a Shutterfly album for Denny. I gave it to him tonight, so I can share now....let's see if I can figure out how to link it correctly:  Denny's album

I also made one for myself that is more my family focused and much more wordy - that one hasn't come yet, but you can see that one here: My album

I think I'm hooked. I was worried that the 8 x 8's might be too small, but they're not - they're cool. 

Flat Tire: So, I got four brand-spanking new tires this morning for the van. The guy at the tire shop was all, ooh - you have those tire pressure sensors on this vehicle, you like that/ever use it?  I was all - no, we've only had the vehicle a couple weeks. 

Then tonight driving home from ballooning, I was all - huh, I wonder what that yellow exclamation point light stands for. 

While driving through McDonalds to get the boys the promised if you be good I'll get hot fudge sundaes, I looked it up. Huh, it's the tire sensor that the guy mentioned. 

Back at home - the tire was hissing air so fast, that my husband - who literally walked in the door from Atlanta just minutes before me - is now out there putting the spare on. Crazy how things work, right?  I decided not to take a picture of the tire changing for my Project Life album. The changer seems a little, shall we say: tense.

It was meant that I waved the white flag on taking my dad to the hospital tomorrow and handed duties over to one of my brothers a couple days ago. 

Cuz boy - I'd be stressing about now trying to figure out how to do that on a flat. 

Things work out. 

*smile*

I'll post the rest of tonight's ballooning adventure tomorrow, cuz - truth is - I'm tired. 

be good

 

 

this, that, and the other thing

• It's hard to believe, but graduation parties are just around the corner. We have two on our calendar already. This card is already in an envelope with a name on it and ready to go. I created it with one of the new $2.99 Signed, Sealed and Delivered sets from Technique Tuesday.  Graduation cards can add up quickly, so for me - the $2.99 stamp to create multiple cards = a no brainer. 
• I'm all about trying to save a buck. I didn't feel like I was saving a buck when I got four new tires put on the van this morning though. Ouch. The $70 rebate that I got on them will be nice though and took away a little of the sting. 
• I spent most of yesterday researching money things as well, trying to figure out the best option for taking out a loan. We haven't taken a loan out in over ten years with the exception of our vehicles, so my research definitely needed updating. I started with our credit union and when I called and asked what the rate was on a personal loan - I was told that it begins at 11.49%. Ouch. 
  I then called back later and asked what my options were, because in my opinion - 11.49% was not an option. In just communicating  a bit and figuring out different ways to get the same result - we found an option for 4.25%. SO much better than 11.49%. 
  But in still doing further research (the research gene that my brother and dad have is coming out in me later in life) I found that we can most likely get an even better rate if we borrow against our retirement or life insurance. 
• I put those on my husband's to do list for tomorrow - the only one of two days that he's home this week.
• He flies home from Atlanta tonight. 
• As for today - I don't feel like I'm getting a lot done. I need sunshine. 
• But I'll confess, (but don't tell Denny), that occasionally I'm glad for icky days during ballooning season because I feel like I gain some time and don't have to say no to crewing. True story. 
• Tomorrow night I'll have to say no, as it's preschool graduation tomorrow night. Should be a hoot. 
• Mark's last day of school was yesterday - now I'm anxious for the other kids to be done because he is so.bored. 
• Something got into my basement recently - did I mention that here? Whatever it was was bigger than a mouse. Wendy might not have been dreaming when she said Tippy had been barking in the middle of the night once last week. While my husband and I never heard her - and she never barks - perhaps she heard the critter in the cellar. 
• Ish. 
• Before I dig down there any deeper, I sprinkled some flour about with my sifter last night just to see if there would be animal tracks through it in the morning.  There were not. Phew. 
• I'm pretty sure that whatever it was got in when we replaced the wires out to the garage because it left an exposed hole. 
• If my knees weren't so bad, I'd be down there cleaning up to get ride of any secret hiding spots. 
• I loathe crawl spaces. 
• Wendy lost a tooth yesterday. Because the tooth fairy had literally just been here for the other kid's tooth hours earlier, the return trip seems to take a bit longer. 
• that's 'bout it I guess

'til tomorrow.....

Project Life: Week 19 and 20

Week 19

Did I mention that I pulled out the extra six foot table this morning? I did. I've got so many things to work on, so much end of the year paperwork coming home with the kids, and other papers piling up - that I needed to pull out more space. My intention is to keep it up for the next 7 days and see what I can accomplish. 

This morning? I got two weeks done on my Project Life album. Off to a good start! 

On the left side of week 19 I've got Mark's preschool Mother's Day brunch, the cake I made for it, the Super Moon - three days later after the clouds cleared, our neighbor girl running her Mock 5K - we had gone to cheer her on, Greg working in the garage and Markie wiping his spilled milk off the floor. 

The weeks are busy and full. 

I can't remember if I even mentioned the Mother's Day brunch on the blog. If you look closely - Mark (the tall guy on the left) is using his favorite avoidance tactic. The five minute yawn.  Preschool graduation this week should be a hoot.

Week 19 - the right side. I had been thinking I had so many photos of this week that I'd have to include an extra insert - but it seems like it worked out without. I always long for more journaling spaces - but this worked. 

This was the week my sister was in town, and I like that I could include all three photos. I also went ballooning twice - and Greg went for his first time, so snippets from each of those, and then the annual Mother's Day photo of our four kids. 

A rare week that all six of us made the spread. *pumps fist* 

Week 20

Went ballooning three times this week and also included my new 'business' card on the journaling card. Wendy still has a couple weeks left of volleyball - but we realized that this would be the last game when all the players were in attendance so we took a quick team photo. 

On the right side - a photo from Wendy's 5th grade program, and I put in a mention in the journaling that there is also a video floating about so we'll remember for future reference. 

On Saturday morning the boys were thrilled to see dad was home, and engaged him in a unforgiving game of Go Fish. A kid on a bike, a new shirt and another lost tooth. Brian remains the most documented kid for 2012. 

you can always click the photo to see it larger/better read the journaling

Some close ups of the three journaling cards. 

The card in the middle includes a candy wrapper - and shares that one kid in this house still has Easter Candy and hasn't even cracked open his chocolate Easter Bunny yet. So him. He'll hold onto it until Sunday School picnic candy - and that candy he'll hoard until 4th of July parade candy - and then that candy he'll hoard until Halloween candy...and it goes on. He'll never finish the loot until the next one comes in. He's been like that for years. 

The journaling card on the right - I still had that stamp from the May Studio AE - Simple Joy by Ali Edwards set curved on a block, so I decided to utilize it here. Worked swell! 

Bring on Week 21! 

 

Happy Monday!

Guess who lost a tooth at our house yesterday! 

 

On Sunday Mornings...

....the neighbor's can hear my yell......"FIVE MINUTE WARNING!!! .... as I'm alerting everyone that everybody better have their teeth brushed, their bags packed, their hair combed, their shoes found and their Bibles and Catechisms at the ready.....