We're getting so big!

Millie is really getting so big! (and no...not just weight wise...I think she's finally starting to slim down a bit!) I mean...she's just acting "bigger" each day. She loves to play with Mason's cars and push them around while making "vroom" type noises. She also says "Mama, Dada, Ni-Ni (night, night), chips (yep...chips...she's never even really had them!), and choo choo! She also is starting to point at lots of stuff while jabbering about them. And...when you tell her no, she'll frown at you, scrunch her eyebrows, get serious, and tell you off! (which of course, we end up cracking up!) We're still not even close to walking. She won't pull herself up, but she'll stand and hold onto stuff if I place her there. As long as she walks before Kindergarten, we're good! :)

I went to some garage sales today and bought Mason some tractors and hotwheels...and when I came home, you would've thought it was Christmas! He was so excited and has been playing non-stop. (and they are all in his bed napping with him right now!)

I scrapped a picture from Nationals (you were right, Sarah...I made it a scrapbook page!)



Sarah...I am so thankful to have you as a friend!!!! You truly mean so much to me and I am so glad that God has given you to me as a friend! I love you bunches!

I totally forgot...

that Andrea Burns "tagged" me (like a month ago! LOL!)

So...here we go! :)

Four of my favorite jobs (I've worked a lot of places!):
1. Being a Mommy
2. Kindergarten Teacher
3. Working at a bridal salon
4. Working at Express

Four of my favorite local places
1. Lake Decatur
2. Children's Museum
3. The mall! (that's a no-brainer!)
4. Triple Dog Dare Ya (world's yummiest hot dogs!)

Four of my favourite foods
1. Grilled Shrimp
2. Roma's Pizza (makes me miss Bethalto!)
3. Garlic Smashed Potatoes
4. Mom's Lasagna Recipe (seriously...it's the BEST!)

Four of my favorite international places (Well...I've not travelled much...so let's just dream here!)
1. Paris
2. Australia
3. Italy
4. Greece

Four names of people I am tagging
1. Jessica Hollis
2. Michelle Filo
3. Melissa Lewis
4. Emily Bold

For the first time in 2 and 1/2 years....

Mason and I washed the van. Yep...you read that right...that was the first time we washed our van since we owned it...crazy, huh? Mason had so much fun with his little sponge...he was very serious about scrubbing! After we finished, we washed his little Tykes car (and then Mason was soaked so we can inside for a bath.) Can you believe that this scrapbooking mom has no pics to prove it? I know...shame, shame!

We had yummy BLT's last night with fresh corn on the cob and tomatoes and cucumbers from Lee's garden...yummo! Then, we met up with Tyler's parents and went out on their pontoon boat last night. THe kids love getting to ride around and Tyler and Mason caught a fish! (I did too...somehow I managed to snag a fish on it's side...I didn't even get the hook in it's mouth. Some fisherman, huh?)

I have worked out twice this week...world record! I ran/walked on Monday night and decided running really isn't my thing. I don't enjoy feeling like my heart is going to pound out of my chest and I'm sure I look like a moron running and trying to catch my breath! haha! So...I think I'm going to do more of the power walking thing. This morning we got up and Tyler pulled the kids in the wagon and I walked with hand weights. I'm also trying really hard to make smarter choices with our food and really work on portion control. Not easy for this girl who loves to eat!

I have a layout done with some pics from CHA...thanks Jen Caputo & Robin Cabana for sending me these pics! :)


You can see the credits here

And the blog slacker award goes to....

me!! So sorry I've been neglecting this blog. We've been so busy this summer. Let's see...what all have we done since my last blog post? (which was well over a month ago...yikes!)

We spent a week in June with Johnny & Jessica Hollis...so much fun! I got to take some pics of Millie using Jessica's studio...definitely makes me want my own!

Abbie spent the first week of July with us...Mason still asks every day "Where Abbie?" They loved having her around! We were able to see my family for a few hours when we dropped her off...and I did some shopping at The Grapevine! (Love that store!)

We've been having VBS each Wednesday night & I'm teaching the Bible story. Tyler's working with the teens, and Mason & Millie are having fun in class with Grandma!

Last week was our denomination's national convention in Little Rock, Arkansas. It was quite an adventure getting there. We were about two miles out of our town when the air conditioning went out...we just new it was going to be an adventure at that point. Then...when we were a couple hours down the road, our tire sounded like it went flat on the interstate. We pulled over, but everything looked ok. When we pulled back on the interstate, it did it again...so we drove very slowly to the nearest exit only to discover we had only two lugnuts on our wheel. We called Johnny & Jessica and they came to our rescue! Between Sesser Auto Body & Garrett Payne, we were able to get a different car and head on down the road the next morning while our van stayed behind to get fixed. Packing everything from the van into a car was a challenge, but it all worked out! :) I had so much fun seeing lots of friends and family at the nationals...definitely something I look forward to each year! (I really do have some pics...they just aren't off of my camera yet...will add those later!) We took the kids to the zoo while we were there...and Mason asks daily to "Go see animals!" He loved it!

We got home on Thursday evening and then I left Friday morning for Chicago for the craft and hobby association convention. I've never seen so much scrapping stuff in all of my life! It *almost* makes me want to scrap with paper...but then I think where would I put it? And...it is so much cheaper to scrap digitally! I was able to meet some of my scrapping buddies...they are just as sweet in real life as they are online! Janet Phillips and Hollie took me downtown on Friday night...it's hard to believe I"ve lived in Illinois my whole life but had never seen downtown Chicago! It was so much fun walking around downtown, navigating the L, and bus hopping. We spent the evening eating yummy food and walking around the navy pier. I'm a huge fan of Chicago now...but not enough to switch from my love of the St. Louis Cardinals!

I came home on Saturday and was greeted with lots of hugs from my kids...They are the sweetest! It feels good to be home! I've been trying to get caught up on laundry and scrapping before we head out of town again next week so Tyler can work at church camp & the kids and I are going to hang out with the family in Dexter.

I've still been going strong with scrapping...I've been a guest this month for Traci Murphy and Amy Wolff...and I'm a guest for Gina Miller next month! (seriously...somebody pinch me!) Also...Anne DeJong and Rachel Young asked me to be on their creative teams...I'm one lucky girl!

So...wanna see some layouts? (that's the reason you visit, right?)