Mapping Happiness

I have a scrap crush on Christine Middlecamp and love how she layers on loveliness, so when she announced her new tutorial, Mapping Happiness, I knew my scrapping hiatus was over! 

First I got a frame from Goodwill and took it apart. I added some Jenni Bowlen paint around the center (had a scratch/gash to cover, plus needed to take away from the stark white of the frame), then added an adorable piece of paper and some green ribbon from Hobby Lobby (oh how I miss HL!).  The result makes me happy:

I completed my first card of happiness:

I have my 2nd picture ready, I cannot wait to see what Christine has for us!

Playing Ball...

Up to bat:

 Cutest catcher:

He's still having fun and THAT's what counts!

Crazy...

It was crazy clothes and crazy hat day at school:

Alex had a pair pants that were too short, so we made them crazy/raggedy looking.  He LOVED them (actually wore them another day - he was NOT with me!).   Thanks Nanee for the crazy hair/UT visor, it completed the outfit!

I LOVE my job...

I have an awesome job - I LOVE the people that I work with and the kids that I get to help are the sweetest.  AND, they pay me to go to places like this:

This is the flower garden at the Como Zoo and when you open the doors, the sweet scent of flowers is amazing!

I was lucky enough to go the the Zoo with my 1st grade class.  We had fun looking at zebras, polar bears, tigers, lions, flamingos, giraffes, puffins, a stork, seals, penguins and had some chipmunks run around our feet during our picnic lunch!

One of the gardens that we toured housed spice plants (so cool!) and this cute lil pineapple:

It was such a fun day!  So thankful for my job!

Okra Please ...

Okra is hard to find in these parts, so I bought a seed packet and am growing my own!  They're ready to go in the ground:

I have 1 more pack of seeds, so I'll start them after these get planted.  At least when we go to the Farmer's Market, Alex won't ask EVERY vendor if they have okra (and of course they have NO idea what he's asking for!).

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

WWII Re-enactment ...

We went to the Dakota County Fairgrounds for the World War II Re-enactment and this boy was over-the-moon excited:

Alex LOVES guns and this bazooka immediately caught his eye:

I don't know if you can see the excitement on his face, he said, "OH MY, this is cool":

Time for the battle to begin:

And they surrender:

The excitement on his face was due to them letting him put on a helmet (he LOVES hats of all kinds!) and play shoot a gun:

He decided we should get one of these motorcycles with a side-car for him to ride in:

He explored all of the tents and declared he WOULD be a soldier in the re-enactment when he's an adult:

It was such a fun day - for me the best part was seeing his excitement over all of it!

Play Ball...

My little ball player had another game, it was VERY exciting!  They were down 3-13 and came back in the last 2 innings for a tie game.

Love this picture of the boys lined up waiting to bat!

Another reason it was an exciting game, on the field next to us was Alex's friend Max: 

 Max and Alex are both 9 year olds in the 3rd grade (quite a size difference though!):

 They wanted to take a funny photo:

Alex continues to enjoy playing and his coaches are so patient and kind!

Love to read...

I love seeing Alex sitting outside reading!  Nothing beats a good book!

Special visitors...

We had a couple cute ducks in our backyard this week, they didn't stay long, but we enjoyed their visit!

School Nurses ROCK....

After working in an elementary school, I truly see how wonderfully patient school nurses are!  They are patient, kind, good listeners, empathetic, busy, patient and always seem to have a smile on their faces.  Did I mention that they're patient?!

We had nurse appreciation day and I saw a cute idea on Pinterest that I tried out:

I loved how they turned out!

Game Day...

Alex had his 1st game with the cubs:

The pitcher accidentally hit Alex in the head with the ball, so once he got to 1st, the coaches went to check on him:  

He was fine, thanks to his awesome helmet from his Uncle Stevie, Aunt Jen, Logan and Connor! 

They didn't win, but Alex had a good time and that's what counts!

Scrapbooking....

Scrapbooking, somewhat!  The only scrapbooking I've done lately is making cards.  Here are a few that I did for Secretary's Day:

I REALLY need to scrapbook again, like do REAL scrapbook pages for Alex & Haley, that's my goal!

Let me introduce you to the Cub's newest player, #13, Alex Buhl:

Yes, not only is he cute but he can hit the ball OUT of the park!!