Happy Easter...

This year with Alex, we talked a lot about the reason we celebrate Easter, Jesus dying on the cross and His Resurrection.
Alex knew that we gave him an Easter basket, Andy stuffed the eggs and I hid them - he was good with it all:


Andy's "basket":

Love how happy he is! An hour later when we were getting ready for church, he was really feeling awful and asked to go lay down in my bed. I gave him some meds and we snuggled, reading his new issue of Highlights in bed. I hate that we missed church, it's the 1st time in his 8 years of life we haven't been at church on Easter Sunday, but he's was feeling so much better when he went to bed that night, so it was the right decision to stay home.

Oh and I have to tell you, before bed, he said for the hundredth time that day, "this is the best Easter ever!" I told Andy if he said that one more time, my heart might burst, he's made me SO happy!! It was a great day.

Love at 1st sight...

This is Gunner, our newest family member. He's a 7 week old Llewellin Setter and we're all in love:

Even Daisy's in love:

Alex couldn't be any happier:

Gunner's pretty happy too!

All Wrapped Up...

I've been wanting some baker's twine in cute colors and I hit the jackpot:

And yes, they came wrapped around those super cute die cuts that you WILL be seeing on cards/layouts soon. Swoon! If you're interested in getting some of this cuteness for yourself, pop over to TalkingTwineandTrim on Etsy. She ships super fast, has the best selection of colors that I've found, awesome customer service (if you don't see a mix that you want, just ask - she mixed the die cuts up for me when I asked!!) and prices that cannot be beat!
Now I just need to find some time to create with my new goodies. :)

Decorating Easter Eggs...

Alex was so excited to dye eggs this year, he picked out a cool kit at the store. He was off school for Good Friday, so we ate monkey bread for breakfast, decorated eggs and watched Horton Hears a Hoo. It was a perfect day!
Using the magic crayon:

I love how the bright blue egg turned out with the picture I drew of Alex - he LOVED it!

It's hard to tell, but this one he drew "I {heart} MOM" on it, so sweet:

The cool dinosaur kit that Alex chose:

Good Friday at our house was great!

Scrapbooking...

I haven't had a lot of time for scrapbooking lately, but I did get to go take a Box of Blossoms class at Archivers: We created a box and some cute cards to fill it. It was so fun! I've already sent one card away and I will try to use the rest, but it's so hard, because I love them and how they match the box. Do you have a hard time sending away your homemade goodies? I am lucky that my family enjoys the homemade cards, so I know that they go to a good home! Ha!

Off to School I go....

I've been blessed with an on-going sub job that could end at any time (our school district is having a horrible time with layoffs, cutbacks and school closings due to budget cuts), but until then, I go to school with my stylish lunch tote: Isn't it pretty? It's from Thirty-One and if you're interested in getting one, I have an awesome consultant, Allyson, who's a whiz at putting colors together. If you want her info, leave me a comment and I'll email it to you! The inside's insulated and there's a pocket on the front (I keep a pack of gum, lip gloss and some cash in there):

Oh and did I mention that Thirty-One's items are sturdy and the colors are gorgeous!!

disclosure- I am in no way getting anything from this post or am I affiliated with Thirty-One, just wanted to show off my cute lunch tote and maybe (hopefully) drum up a little business for Allyson!!

Honor Student...

Alex's Taekwondo School has a Honor's Program to promote honorable behaviors outside the school. The students earn red stripes on their belts for achieving weekly goals. At the last belt testing, Alex was one of the top 10 honor students and they received a pizza party that they invited friends to. I bought Alex a special shirt that he's been asking for from the ATA catalog to wear on his special day: Before pizza, the students and their friends took to the floor for some karate moves: I love this picture that I took of Alex's friend Matthew because it shows in the mirror the other friends that came to help Alex celebrate (Jack & Ryan - our old neighbors; Carson - Alex friend that he's been in school with since preschool; Jacob & Matthew - brothers, J is in Alex's reg class and M rides Alex's bus; Derek & Alex M. - brothers, D is in Alex's reg class):

Jack's on the far left (face partially hidden), Ryan's in the middle and of course Alex on the right:

Lil Ryan's behind Alex on the left, Alex, Jacob's the one to the right with his hands up and Carson's on the far right in red:

Ryan, Alex and Carson enjoying pizza:

It was a fun day and we're thankful for our friends that came!

Welcome....

Welcome to Springtime in Minnesota: Yes, that's my new green chair that I was sitting in earlier this week, while Daisy was sunning herself in the yard, Andy was helping Alex learn to ride his electric scooter and we were grilling some meat on the grill.

Good thing we didn't pack away our winter clothes yet!

Reading up a Storm...

Alex is reading everything he can get his hands on lately, his fave is the Lego Catalog:

He has read all the descriptions so many times that he can almost quote them! I love to hear him read, so I don't mind at all.

Hope you have a great week!

Hi...

Yep, I'm still alive, just working M-F and it's kicking my behind! No time for blogging or crafting, that's for sure. I did this layout a few weeks ago and forgot to share: It is based on a Let's Scrap sketch and for a Scrap your Stash challenge (use 3+ stamps, 3+ pattern papers & 5+ brads). The pictures are Alex and his dad back in July 2006 - makes me REALLY miss my house in Edmond, OK.

Birthday Party...

For Alex's party, we kept it small - booked a room at the Holiday Inn Waterpark, invited two friends, got a cake, ate pizza, watched a movie, swam and had a lil sleepover. It was a blast! Alex and Max waiting in line for the slide: He made a big splash:

Alex picked out his cake and requested the picture to go on it:

It was fun and relaxed, a perfect party! (plus it kicked off our Spring Break week!)

Happy 8th Birthday...

Alex turned 8 on March 16! It was an exciting day, so much so that we didn't get around to cake until the next day! (He had cookies at school on his birthday, then Mall of America that night, so we were "done" by time we got home - plus, it's so fun to stretch out birthday celebrations into multiple days!) Alex wanted an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen, which had no cake at all in it, it was just ice cream, oreos and fudge - YUM! Making a wish:

He got a motorized scooter:

He also got tons of Legos, some video games and some cool Bakugans. Cannot believe my baby's 8, but he's lovin it!