Legoland Florida!

We had an amazing trip to Florida during Thanksgiving week.

A highlight was visiting Legoland which happened to open in our hometown of Winter Haven.



I have lots and lots {did I say LOTS?} of pictures to share. I just have to get them resized and uploaded.

In the meantime you can see from this picture the bright, bold and absolute FUN we had while there!!

Chrismas Is On The Way ...

We enjoyed a delightful Thanksgiving day with our family.

Now Thanksgiving is over we look forward to Christmas!


I wonder how long it will be before it looks like this again?

Merry Christmas Paper Embellishments.

With Thanksgiving just a few days away we will all soon be thinking about decking our halls and other creations.

So today I am sharing my brand new Merry Christmas Kids ...



I've created both a girl and boy ... and I will customize it to your liking.


You can find these in the Christmas section of my Etsy shop!

Shop Now!
for these and other super cute handmade paper embellishments!!

Winter Butterflies

Though it's getting a bit cold outside ... butterflies still make me happy.


I've added some super cute new butterfly whimsies to my shop!

I have a rainbow of colors available including those you see above!

Shop Now!
to see all the pretty paper embellishments I have available

Boys Will Be Boys.

Our boys Jasper and Oliver have been full of energy today ...


When I went outside to check on them I could hardly believe they were on TOP of the wood pile.

OMG!

Needless to say ... I called them down and keeping an eye on them so they do not get back up there!

Custom Handmade Banner.

This is a custom banner I made for Sandra of Surreal Treasures.

This is the first time I've made a banner for someone other than my family.


Sandra is having a jewelry open house on Saturday and wanted something to welcome her guests.

Since it's a jewelry party she wanted it a little "blingy" but not too over the top. Its' hard to see the glittery paper I used as the colored accent on each piece.


This is a closer look so you can see the detail.

I really enjoyed making this for her. I'm considering adding these to my Etsy Shop after Thanksgiving. What do you think?

I voted!

Today I exercised my right ...


The right to vote!

Why My Family Likes Me ...

I was looking through Griffin's school journal the other day and discovered this very sweet picture he drew of our family. There's Mommy in pink, Daddy in yellow and Griffin in the middle. I asked him about the red and yellow circles over our heads and he said they were fall leaves.

It also included a written assignment of why his family likes him ...


He writes ...

My family like me bee kuz they luve me

Yes, Buddy we do!

We love you with all of our hearts and I'm so happy you know that!

My How He's Grown ...

When I was looking at the pictures I took of our trip to the Blueridge Parkway to look at the leaves I came across this picture.


It seemed familiar to me so I went looking at older pictures.

And then I found this picture!


This picture was taken in October 2006. Griffin was one-year-old.

I managed to capture the sweet love of my wonderful husband and son again exactly five years later.

Jasper & Oliver ~ Six Months Old

Jasper joined our family in May 2011 and Oliver joined us in July 2011.

Jasper was only four weeks old when he came to us. Several weeks later we welcomed Oliver. They are brothers and we made the best decision ever when we decided to bring Oliver into our home as well.


Our boys just celebrated their six month birthday.

My mother-in-law was visiting and she was laughing at me when I told the boys to sit, stay and SMILE! She thought it was funny. If you look closely, Oliver is indeed smiling in this picture.

Our family went from a family of three ... to a fabulous family of five.

We are lucky, indeed!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween is such a fun holiday ... we love decorating with pumpkins, mums and S-C-A-R-Y decorations.

This is a picture of our house all decorated for Halloween.


Our newest addition this year is the scary ghoul on the front door. Griffin decided our house needed a little more "scary" added to it this year.

Also ... can you see the skeleton holding the pumpkin in the little green chair?


Didn't Griffin do a great job on his jack-o-lantern?

He wanted it to be super scary ... so he drew the face and together we carved it. Then he wanted to add toothpicks to it to make it even scarier!

The second pumpkin is mine ... I wanted to do a personalized pumpkin with Griffin's name on it. It was pretty easy to do. I just cut out letters using my die cut machine and traced around them and then carefully cut them out. Griffin was very surprised when I turned my pumpkin around and he saw his name.

We wish you a very happy and safe Halloween!!

Fire Pit Dining.

We were lucky to have Bett (Grandma) and Tony visit us for a few days last week.

On Friday we decided to dine by the fire pit ... grilling hot dogs over the open flame. I told Griffin we were going to have a "weiney roast" and he had no idea what I was talking about. When I explained it was the same thing as grilling hotdogs he understood.

Did anyone else call hotdogs, weinies growing up or it that a southern thing?


I love grilled hotdogs ... I actually like them a little on the burned side. I like one hotdog in a bun and the second one without a bun. Of course the macoroni salad and bold beans were delicious too!


What weiney roast would be complete without s'mores?

The boys were roasting the marshmallows over the fire as the graham crackers and Hershey bars waiting patiently for them.


Just look at all the gooey yumminess ...


This is actually the second time we have grilled hotdogs over the fire pit this season and we are sure to do it again very soon!

Cub Scout ~ Go See It ~ Teamwork & Sportsmanship

The leaders of Griffin's Cub Scout Den scheduled a fun "Go See It" last Friday night at the local high school foot ball game.


The "Go See It" focused on teamwork and sportmanship.


The boys met with two referees before the game. They discussed teamwork and sportsmanship with them as well as their jobs when on the field.

The boys were delighted when the referees presented them with their very own official gold coin.


It was so much fun to sit in the stands with scouts, enjoy stadium food and watch the game.


It happened to be homecoming as well ...it was fun to see the Homecoming King & Queen crowned and the floats the kids had made parade around the track.


Our team won that night ... gooooooooo Bulldogs!!

Watching Griffin grow and learn as a Cub Scout is such great fun ... we look foward to many, many years of scouting!

Fun Class Project.

Griffin's first grade class has been studying different famous people over the past couple of months. One day I was blog hopping and came upon this post and thought it was a great idea. I contacted his teacher and asked if she wanted to do something similar.

She was going to be reviewing the famous people they had learned about and she invited me into the classroom to do a similar fun project.

{I have to say ... I LOVE being room mom this year!}

So this is what I came up with. I created "Paper People" for the famous people they were studying. Here you will see Eleanor Roosevelt, George Washington Carver, Christopher Columbus and Benjamin Franklin.

These are the sample pages I made so the children could refer to them when they were putting their paper people together.


Earlier in the day Mrs. S asked the students to choose one of these famous people to write about. When I got to their classroom the children were given a kit with their famous person's paper person inside it.

The plan included allowing the students to use the Cricut die cutting machine to cut out the accessory that went with their famous person. I really think the kids enjoyed doing this.

This is a picture of the kits I created for each of the famous people.


I made 16 of each (yes 64!!). The children will receive one of each of the kits, however there was only time for them to create the one they had written about earlier in the day.

Mrs. S gave each of the students a piece of paper they were to decorate with their famous person and then attach their written assignment to it as well.

They turned out SO cute!

I was able to get a few pictures of the completed projects.

This is Griffin's ... he chose Benjamin Franklin.


This is Annabelle's ... she chose Christopher Columbus.


This is Ava's ... she chose Eleanor Roosevelt.



The children were very creative and it was a super fun project!

With that in mind I thought I would share examples of the finished paper people and how you can make your own.

I used my Cricut Die Cutting Machine with the two paper doll cartridges. Paper Doll Dress Up (PDDU) is the one I used most often. I also used the Everyday Paper Doll (EDPD) cartridge as well.

A helpful hint ... tiny pieces cut a couple of each for each kit. For instance the necklace I probably included at least ten "pearls" cut from a single whole punch.


ELEANOR ROOSEVELT
Page 38 PDDU Dress
Page 38 PDDU Hat
Page 38 PDDU Shoes
Page 67 EDPD Hair
Page 30 PDDU Suitcase
Necklace is just single whole punches


GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER
Page 32 PDDU Jacket
Page 32 PDDU Pants
Page 32 PDDU Shoes
Page 32 PDDU Shirt
Page 46 PDDU Hair
Page 44 PDDU Mustache


On the Benjamin Franklin I have to give a great big THANK YOU to my Facebook friend Katya for sharing the creative idea of how to create him. With her help it was very easy to figure out how to make him.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
Page 59 PDDU Jacket
Page 40 PDDU Shirt
Page 41 PDDU Tights/Slim Pants
Page 62 PDDU Pants
Page 62 PDDU Shoes
Page 47 PDDU Hair (just the back part)
Buttons are made using a single hole punch


I was in a time crunch when it was time to create the final paper person so I did a Google search for Cricut Christopher Columbus and I was *delighted* to find this blog post with a creative idea for Christopher Columbus!!

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS
Page 46 PDDU Shirt
Page 46 PDDU Tights/Slim Pants
Page 46 PDDU Shoes
Page 46 PDDU Belt
Page 44 PDDU Hair
Page 44 PDDU Hat
Page 44 PDDU Ship

Happy Creating ...

Look What $2.50 Can Do ...

Okay ya'll ... I have to share this really fun, easy and CHEAP decorating project you can accomplish at only $2.48!


The truth is I love having colorful mums, whole pumpkins, gourds and jack-o-lanterns on my front porch for fall.

The reality is we have two six-month-old puppies (Jasper and Oliver) and they seem to enjoy eating and destroying everything I have out there.

Anyone remember this post?

Anyway ... I really wanted to buy some mums but I just know they will not last long.

So ... Walmart had these on clearance for only $1.49.



I thought I might plant them in the clay pots the dogs have already destroyed ... but then I saw these for only $.99 ...


I put them together and VOILA ... instant cuteness!!


I've accomplished a sweet fall decoration and did not spend alot of money ... they were so affordable to make I made two of them.

Now ... here's hoping the dogs do not eat them!!

He Loves To Read.

Reading has always been a big part of my life. I remember as a little girl my Daddy would take me to the used book store on Central Avenue in Winter Haven and I would stock up on books and Tiger Beat magazines.

I still enjoy reading ... Debbie Macomber, Nora Roberts and Catherine Coulter are a few of my favorites.


That's why it means so much to mean that Griffin likes to read. Doesn't matter how many books we read he always wants "just one more Mommy".

When we were in town this past weekend I saw this copy of "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" and I knew he had to have it. We sat down last night and read it together.

I hope his love of reading continues forever.

Things That Make You Go ... Yummmm!

Healthy eating is high on our priority list ... we eat lots of fresh vegetables and fruit.

But on occasion we totally indulge in something like this ...


A yummy fried egg and bacon breakfast sandwich on whole wheat bread with a little mayo.

Yummmmmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fall Is Here.

It's no secret ... fall is my favorite season of all!

I love everything about it ... the colors that blossom, the cool weather, the wonderful aromas, the pumpkins and apples, the changing leaves, the beautifully colored mums, getting my crock pot busy and making soup and the utter feeling of bliss when you step outside and see scenes like this ...


This is a picture of my backyard from a couple of years ago. In just a few short weeks it will look like this again. I can't wait!


This is Griffin last year ... it's amazing to see how much he has grown in just one year. I love fall because most days it's still warm enough to run around in shorts, yet cool enough to know fall is here.


Gorgeous ... gorgeous ... fall leaves!


This is another picture of our backyard ... it just explodes in color. The trees are still about 90% green right now. Slowly they will turn into this bold, bright yellowish orange color. I.can't.wait!


I think this is my all time favorite picture during fall. It was taken in November 2008 when he was three. He was blowing bubbles and I managed to capture that sweet innocence of watching bubbles float away on his face. I love this picture.


With fall ... it also brings fall inspiration. I love making fall inspired paper embellishments ... sunflowers, leaves, pumpkins ... they are just my favorite to make! If interested you can visit my Etsy Shop By Clicking Here to see what I have available.

I hope you enjoy your beautiful fall days as much as we do.