The Eyes Have It...

I saw this post over on my friend, Kari's, blog [and you should check it out because her photo is WAY cooler than ours] and I thought I'd post the pics we took of all our eyes back in January.

It's so generic to say our eyes are brown, blue, green, or hazel when there are SO many variations of those colors ~ I love looking at people's eyes ~ they're like fingerprints, each unique with different patterns. Unfortunately, you can't really stare at people's eyes for very long without them wondering what's wrong with you [unless you're family, of course!]

So, can you guess who's eyes are whose? Mine are brown. I always wanted blue, but I've grown to like my eye color. I'm glad Mark has the blue eyes and they were passed down to at least one of our children :) Funny how the whole genetic thing works, isn't it??

My mom is the only cousin on one side of her family out of over 20 cousins with brown eyes ~ the rest of them have blue. Cue music: One of these kids is doing his own thing....

What color are your eyes? And how does that make you feel?

My First Album

This is one of the more interesting and humorous tags I've seen in a while. Even if you don't have a blog, you should try it. Funny how all the parts seem to work together, even though they're completely random....and if you do it again in a day or so, it will be completely different again.

Here's my first album....


You are making your first album.

Follow these instructions:

1 - BAND NAME Go to "wikipedia." Hit “random article”or click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first random wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.

2 - ALBUM TITLE Go to "Random quotations"or click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.

3 - COVER ART Go to flickr and click on “explore the last seven days”or click http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days
Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

4 - Use Photoshop or similar software to put it all together. (Mine is pretty basic - I had NO idea how to use the layers or change the font - so I just went with it...)


Check out this album and this one, too. Aren't they great??

If you're reading this, you've been tagged and you need to create your own first album. Leave me a comment ~ I'd love to see your album!

This is why....

.....I love where we live...

Entertainment at its finest....

This is at 7:45 this morning....one of the Amish horses on our side of the fence....

10:00 am "How do I get back to the other side???"

11:30 "I guess I'll just wait here..."

90 Minutes...

....is all it takes for:

* 6 lunches to be made
* 5 children to start eating
* 1 child to sit in time out
* same child sent upstairs for a spanking
* 2 children screaming at each other while mom is dealing with child upstairs
* peanut butter and jelly smeared on the wall in the foyer while mom is upstairs shepherding a child's heart
* lunch cleaned up and treats dolled out
* 5 children bundled up to trek to the bus stop
* 1 child off to school
* 4 children unbundled and "playing"
* 1 other child spanked for hurting someone
* 1 poopy diaper changed while freshly spanked child pulls chair over to the kitchen counter
* 1 brand new bag of pretzels spilled all over the kitchen floor after child is told 3 times to get down off chair
* 1 child is spanked [again] for being disobedient
* 1 mom calls dad at work to vent frustration and is put on hold
* 1 child pushes another child down for trying to get his Legos while mom is on hold
* pushed child hits floor and splits cheek open and probably needs stitches
* 1 hung up phone
* 1 butterfly band-aid and super glue
* 4 children sent upstairs for naps
* 1 worn-out frustrated mommy

The only thing that would have topped this would have been a spilled drink on my just-mopped-this-morning kitchen floor. Thank God for small mercies...

Birthdays & Cards

My three closest high school friends and I are all turning 35 [I know! Shut-UP! hahaha!] this year and we decided to celebrate with a dinner party for each birthday. Each one of us will host one of the birthday girls and all the spouses, too, at a REAL dinner party [read: NO KIDS] ~ that way we're guaranteed a celebration and we will SCHEDULE a couples only night 4 times in one year [unheard of!]

Saturday night was the kick-off with Valerie's birthday celebration dinner at Maureen's house. Maureen was the hostess with the mostest ~ even had champagne with raspberries!! We didn't sit down for dinner until almost 8:30 and then between the eight of us, we talked and talked, and laughed until I looked at my watch and almost had a heart attack because it was midnight already and we still had a 45 minute drive home!

It was so much fun and I can't wait to host Teresa's birthday sometime in the spring (her birthday is actually already passed, but we wanted to spread the dinners out - Maureen's is July and mine is October ~ yes, I'm the young'un of the group) It's going to be hard to top Maureen's lovely dinner, but I'm already thinking about a menu ~ SO fun!!

Anyway, in light of the economy, instead of buying Val a gift, I used my plethora of scrapbooking supplies and made her 10 notecards that she could use throughout the year. I was inspired by Jennifer McGuire's CK magazine column in which she makes the cutest tags. I had a lot of fun creating each unique card and want to do it again soon.

Here's a little sample of my favorites:

Fun Stuff

Last weekend we had our little Valentine party. The kids had a great time hanging out with their cousins, getting in their jammies, and watching a movie together.

The adults had a great time playing Balderdash ~ lots of laughs and funny stuff ~ if you've never played, you have to try!!

My mom and dad gave each of the boys a Valentine's day treat: Lightning McQueen sippy cups, Cars stickers, and these cu-ute felt Valentine cookies for their play kitchen [YES, my boys have a play kitchen! And it's one of the best toys we've ever gotten them!]


But, enough with the Valentine stuff.

I can never say I never win anything anymore.

I received a package of bloggy goodness in the mail this week from one of my scrapbooking friends, Kristin. We met through the Creating Keepsakes message board, have scrapped together twice, and met up at the CKC in Valley Forge last summer. She has a fun blog and I won some scrapbooking goodies just for posting a comment.

She sent me the NEW Jenni Bowlin Farmer's Wife 4 x 4 paper pack along with some adorable Jenni Bowlin Trendy journaling cards. I cannot wait to play around with this stuff. I'll post some pics once I break into them. Thank you again, Kristin!!!!!

Little Gem

Wasn't sure what I was going to blog about today and then I caught this...

Pretty sure we're signing him up for drama camp when he gets older.

Game Amnesia

I come from a long-line of gamers. My family always played games growing up. Scrabble, Monopoly, Life, Trouble, and Sorry were some favorites that we still enjoy.

Every Christmas morning, we'd find a new wrapped game at the top of the steps waiting for us. We thought it was a fun tradition to get a new game every year, but we've come to learn that our parents were just trying to buy some extra sleep-in time while we read the directions and tried to play the new game.

I've tried to uphold this tradition and hunt for a fun game every year ~ even before we had the boys. Some new favorites include Trivial Pursuit, Cranium, Mexican Train, and Pictionary.

Two years ago, I was on a hunt for the game Balderdash - a favorite bluffing game we had played with friends on a ski trip. I couldn't find it anywhere ~ and I looked everywhere I could imagine. I even had my family looking for it, too. None of us could find it. I was quite disappointed. Christmas came and went without Balderdash under the tree.

Not long after, I found the game - in my own closet...

Yeah, I had had the game all along.

After spending all that time hunting it down in every store I could find.

This year, I found a nostalgic edition of Sorry packaged in a metal tin. I knew we had my hubby's old cardboard boxed version of the game already, but it was worn pretty thin and I didn't want to completely destroy it.

And I'm sold on anything packaged as "nostalgic."

Or in a metal tin for that matter.

Needless to say, this game found its way under our tree this year. It was opened, it was played, it was enjoyed by all [especially Ryan, who seems to be the Sorry Champion in our house lately].

And then, when it was time for all the Christmas gifts to find a new home, I found that we have yet ANOTHER Sorry game that I'd forgotten my brother got us last year for Christmas. It, too, is the "nostalgic" version, but it is in a really cool wooden box with a sliding lid.

Alas, we now have 3 Sorry games. Maybe we should have a tournament.

I have game amnesia. {Note to self: Check the game closet, make a list, check it twice}

Anyone want to play Sorry?

I am a Performer

Check this out....

Typelizer will analyze your blog to see what type of personality it reveals.

Mine is ESFP - The Performers

The entertaining and friendly type. They are especially attuned to pleasure and beauty and like to fill their surroundings with soft fabrics, bright colors and sweet smells. They live in the present moment and don´t like to plan ahead - they are always in risk of exhausting themselves. The enjoy work that makes them able to help other people in a concrete and visible way. They tend to avoid conflicts and rarely initiate confrontation - qualities that can make it hard for them in management positions.

I would say this is a pretty fair description of me...especially the avoiding conflict and confrontation part.

So, what's your blog say about you??

Shake it like a Polaroid Picture

This is why I love, love, love blog-hopping.....you end up finding really, cool sites like this.

You download the application and then all you have to do is drag and drop your digital photos to get them to look like this:

The coolest part is watching your photo "develop" just like a real Polaroid! Super cool site!

Some Valentine Advice...

....from my 3 year old:

"only kiss on the cheek, not on the wips."

I just hope he's saying the same thing in 12 years! :)

Valentine Goodies

We decided to throw an impromptu Valentine Party tonight and invite the cousins over for "dinner & a movie." So, the boys and I spent all morning making decorations.



I pulled out all the pink and purple scrapbooking paper out of my stacks [not much need for those colors around here, so we've got plenty of that!]



It was so much fun ~ 2 hours flew by before we knew it [and then, of course, there was the mad dash to eat lunch, get Evan dressed for school, and drive to the bus stop with the rest of us still in our p.j.'s just to make it in time!]




Our house looks so cheery now....just walking into the kitchen makes me smile. Might have to keep them up for a while [read: until I get a spurt of energy to take them down :)]

And while I'm sharing....

thought I'd share the treats I made for Evan's Valentine Party at school...

They are heart banana cupcake lollipops with chocolate icing. And they are SO yummy!! I only had one though....weigh-in is tomorrow morning.

Evan and I also made each one of his classmates a heart-shaped crayon using all the little bits and pieces of crayons I've collected. It was super easy!! I used a Wilton silicone heart mold for both the cupcakes and the crayons [don't worry, Mark ate the cupcakes that had a little bit of leftover coloring on them from the crayon project - HA! ;)]

Evan broke the crayons up and put them in each mold (which we sprayed with Pam cooking spray first) We popped it in the oven at 250 for 10-15 minutes and then let them cool completely.

I cannot take any credit for either of these projects ~ my sister, Jill, made them for Ava's birthday and they were a hit. I'm just a copycat! :)

I'll have to post some pics of the Valentine Party next week.

Hope you have a wonderful Valentine's Day with the ones you love...

Love is in the Air

In case you haven't noticed, Valentine's Day is quickly approaching.



This weekend.



But I don't want to talk about mushy, romantic love.



I've been thinking about the blessings I have in my life
{besides the obvious - wonderful hubby and three beautiful kids :)}



I started to list in my head all the things about my life that I love right now and I thought I'd share them with you. Might have to turn this into a scrapbook page eventually....



1. I LOVE that I am able to stay home with my children instead of working outside the home.



2. I LOVE that my house backs up to an Amish farm and we get to enjoy their animals at the fence.



3. I LOVE that we have beautiful clear views of both the sunrise and sunset from the back of our house.



4. I LOVE that my boys have a sense of humor.



5. I LOVE that we live on a cul-de-sac and my kids can play in the street.



6. I LOVE writing articles for and putting together my MOPS newsletter.



7. I LOVE that other people love my newsletter ~ it makes me feel good.



8. I LOVE being able to be creative.



9. I LOVE the smell of a fresh box of crayons.



10. I LOVE that my husband polishes my shoes for me without me asking.



11. I LOVE spending time with our families.



12. I LOVE reading other people's blogs.



13. I LOVE finding the humor in my crazy everyday life.



14. I LOVE that Evan loves to draw.



15. I LOVE that Ryan loves school stuff.



16. I LOVE that Nathan loves reading books.



17. I LOVE how God uses verses that seem like they're speaking directly to me. 1 Peter 4:11 is a current favorite...



18. I LOVE how fresh flowers can brighten a room.



19. I LOVE having the windows open and getting fresh air in the house {like right now - in the middle of February!!}



20. I LOVE blogging and getting comments on my blog....so why don't you leave one? :)



I'd love to know what you LOVE about your life right now....what comes to mind? Leave me a comment :)

Why?

Why do I even bother asking these rhetorical questions?

"Ryan, why are you attempting to sit and spin ON TOP of the table???????"

And then, I looked at the rest of the room.

My children are very resourceful...

Aunt Cindi Strikes Again!

Aunt Cinci got our family the BESTEST Christmas gift this year - an annual pass to the Philadelphia Zoo. And believe it or not, we actually have had a chance to use it already! We had a day between Christmas and New Year's with temps in the 60s!!! My sister, Megan, and her family also have an annual pass, so we met up with them....

The kids had a blast. Evan had been to the Philly Zoo only once when he was 2 and this was Ryan and Nathan's first visit. Nathan LOVED the turtles...

Everyone loved the polar bears, but we wish they'd been in the water.

LOOK AT THE MONKEYS!!!!!



It was so warm [at least in the kids' perspectives] that Abby kept pulling her pants up to make shorts. Here she is as we were leaving...don't you just love the pose??? Hysterical!

And here's our motley crew [minus Mark, the photographer] as we were leaving. What a fun day - with promises of many more to come!!!!! :) Thanks, Aunt Cindi! :)

I've Been Tagged!

I've been tagged by my friend, Cassie. You're supposed to go to the 6th folder of photos in your computer, pick the 6th photo, post it on your blog, and then tag 6 friends to do the same thing. Here's mine from last spring:

Evan with a pull-up on his head.

Apparently my family has a weird obsession with wearing things on our heads! :)

Now, it's your turn....

I'm tagging

1. Amy - because I'm sure she has some funny pics to share :)

2. Megan - because she's my wonderful sister

3. Jill - because she's my other wonderful sister

4. Lisa - because she was my grade partner when I was still teaching and we had our babies 1 day apart

5. Emilie - because she makes me laugh

6. Kari - because she faithfully leaves comments on my blog

Have fun!

Blast off....

So, I'm pretty sure we've got our money's worth out of the

Cranium Space Helmet that Ryan got for Christmas...