Mother's Day Stamp Camp!

Well, amidst Earthquakes, hailstorms, and floods, I have finally managed to get my template done for the stamp camp! Well, actually it's not completely done yet - but enough that you can get the gist of it and decide if you want to attend.

This card / scrapbook would make a perfect gift for any special occasion where you wanted to include memories as part of your sentiment - weddings, baby gift, birthdays, etc....Mine is going to be made into a mother's day card - hopefully my mom won't see it here prior to Mother's Day! This one is made for myself - I love doing that, treating myself to a card.
As you can see, when closed up the card resembles a darling purse. You could decorate it more if you wanted, but I prefer simplicity. Inside it has two pockets where I've included the carousel notes as photo pages that pull out. You could also journal them, or put mementos inside. Be creative!
If you are interested in attending the camp, please call me asap. The date for afternoon session is Weds. May 7, and evening session is Thursday, May 8. There is a $15 fee for attending that covers cost of materials and camp fee. Colors may vary from sample. If you are a club member, you only pay for materials at $8.00! Space is limited so call today! We'll have a great time having some girly creative fun that you can share with your loved ones!

If you absolutely can't make it, call me and we'll arrange another daytime date, OR I do offer Kits at $10 for you to make yourself!

Well, this post is dedicated to my kids so they can see their new cousin in all his cuteness! I'm not sure this is going to stream very well, but at least it's something!He is really making eye contact now and smiles at you responsively....all the things he should do at this age because, of course, he's perfect! I'm enjoying my baby fix and all the memories of baby time....sounds, smells (most of them good). Funny how things just come back to you! Amy and Dan are naturally great parents and love him even during the "crying hour" that he has recently developed....the rest of the day he's an angel!

Today we went for a 4 mile walk through Belmont Shore and Naples. It's a beautiful area with ocean views, marinas, intercoastal canals with multi-million $ homes along them. We went past Vicki Lawrence's house (of Carol Burnett fame) - gorgeous! The flowers out here are enormous. They have daisy TREES! And everything is in full bloom now, which is stunning, but not always great for the allergies. Amy is on a strict diet to lose baby weight in time for her trip to Jamaica. They just found out that the concert at the convention this year is John Legend! Too bad. They are taking Tyler with them and we had to go have his passport picture taken the night I arrived! Hilarious that it will be good for 5 years when practically by the time they actually go it won't look anything like him! It was funny watching them try to take a picture of a baby where both ears could be seen, which is apparently required for passport photos. He was not cooperating, and wouldn't sit up straight! So, the joke here is that they aren't feeding me because Amy hardly eats anything at all, and Dan eats like a bachelor. I guess I'm on a strict diet too for my stay!

Easter Cookies

One of the things that we didn't do this year that I missed was our cookie decorating party. We've done them for 2 years in a row now - the first year was at Christmas when our wonderfully talented friend Amy taught us all the wonders of cookie decorating. (Her website is linked under my creative blogs list - she's the creator of all my special occasion cakes, including the baby cake shown in an earlier posting for my sister's baby shower) Last year I had purchased a special 3-D cookie kit that I was anxious to try, so we all got together and decorated cookies to use as the centerpieces at the church. Since I wasn't blogging back then, I thought I would re-visit our special day and show off our work! I haven't figured out how to caption photos yet, so hopefully in order these are my friends Amy, Kathy and Jane. Despite the fact that I love decorating them, one of the reasons I ran out of time to make cookies this year is the temptation of eating them! They are really GOOD!

So, today was the last day of Spring Break and we spent it working on a
report that Jason has to complete by Thursday on the poet T. S. Eliot! I swear-what they think these kids can handle these days in 6th grade. I wonder sometimes if these teachers are realistic - I mean really, who does she think is typing this when he only started taking typing in January? And despite the fact that we have to include 4-6 poems in the report itself, he only gets 5 points toward the grade -for all that typing!!!! Fortunately, you can find many of them online to copy and paste.

So, compared to last years trip to CA during Spring Break, this year's combination of weather, poetry, mom's surgery, Dave's trip to Cleveland (oh did I mention he was GONE for the first 3 days!) and funerals has been somewhat of a downer! That's why I was looking at last years pictures~! Hope they make you smile too!

I'm dreaming of a White Easter?

Yes, that's right. Despite the fact that it was almost 70 two days ago, we've had snow flurries off and on all day today, which made it seem more like Christmas than Easter! No spring flowers yet, and all egg hunting had to be done indoors. Lauren was freezing in her pretty dress, and I had to find something pastel, but warm!

But we refused to be kept from celebrating in spring fashion! We had a wonderful breakfast at the church this morning, complete with Jello eggs - and the service was lovely. I played in the Bell choir today and we sang all the traditional Easter Hymns with the fabulous high descants that I love. Mom and Dad didn't make it due to her hand surgery. She is getting better, but still can't do things like her hair! Jason was a crucifer today - they had two, one for the cross and he carried the Bible.

Then we came home and looked for eggs. The Easter Bunny must know that our kids are getting older - less candy this year, and more money in the eggs! Lauren got the Enchanted video that she wanted, and Jason got a book in the series he likes, and some Crest Whitestrips that he wanted! I guess he's wanting to start impressing the girls with his smile!

We did get to see my parents this afternoon for ham dinner. We talked about Amy and Tyler and her struggle to find a nanny. The kids got to hear Tyler on the phone for the first time. He was one month old yesterday! He told them how much he's looking forward to his Aunt Susan coming to visit soon! He seemed very upset that I hadn't come yet.

My friend Jane took this photo of the kids and I in front of the altar and I thought it was really good! Rare to get us all smiling at once!

Blitzen spent the day trying to make sense of all the silly nonsense. He couldn't seem to understand why the kids were looking for eggs, but got really excited hoping it eventually had something to do with playing with him!

I have some other Easter / Spring things that I've been working on, but these are the candies I made for the baskets on the dining room table. I put one at each place. I covered the candies with address labels that I had stamped. They were really pretty. The bunny is a template using the Round Tab punch from Stampin UP! I used an old retired, but much loved set called Funny Bunny for the face.

Hope you all had a happy Easter with those you love!

Lauren's First Communion

Today was a very big day concluding a very big week for Miss Lauren! On Tuesday, she sang a solo part in "Tomorrow" from Annie in the Spring Concert! She did a fantastic job and we are all really impressed with how lovely her voice has become. When I told her that she had a God given gift, she made me laugh by saying, "No it's a MOM-given gift!" I had planned to put the video out on YouTube and link it here, but on Wednesday Dave called me from work sounding terrible and said he had something awful to tell me, and it turns out he had recorded OVER her solo when they went out for ice cream after the show! He was so upset about it! I am hopefully getting a copy from one of my friends whose daughter also had a solo in that song, but it hasn't come yet! So all is not lost yet!

Today was a proud day for us as parents - except for the face Lauren made when she drank the wine! She did really well, and has really taken this commitment very seriously. I think she was a little surprised at what a big deal people thought it was. Her godmother and Aunt Laura (and family) sent her a wonderful care package of goodies, people from the church gave her money, and her fellow communicants all exchanged gifts! And my Aunt Nanu, who was in town for her sister in laws funeral came to the ceremony. My cousin and her family were supposed to come, but had a sick child this morning so they headed home. My uncle joined us at our house for a brunch before rejoining his sister's family prior to heading home. So, we had a family filled day! It's amazing how quickly they grow up and today was a reminder that she is fast becoming a young lady!