Valentine's Day Crafting

Here are just a few of our Valentine's Day crafting projects ... I found some cute stamp sets at Papertrey Ink and I stamped the two cards featured here. The one above was just a test run for a card for my niece and nephew in Florida. All during Thanksgiving, my adorable 2 year old nephew would call Lexi "Foxy". I think it had to do with the fact that she kept singing the song "What Does the Fox Say" - over and over to my 1 year old niece. 

Pictured below is the card I stamped for my husband. With all the winter weather we have had plenty of time to work on crafting! And, I have really enjoyed stamping again.

Pictured below is the Valentine's Day "card" for Lexi's classmates at CC. Owls are so in right now and we found this adorable idea on Pinterest. It is just a cardboard toilet paper tube - covered in scrapbook paper and dressed up to look like an owl. We stuffed them with treats and sealed them up at the bottom with Washi tape. Unfortunately, school was called off due to inclement weather ... so we will look forward to distributing these next week at school.

Thanksgiving {2013}

This year we had what we could only call the Hallmark Thanksgiving ... my parent's invited us to join them in Asheville for Thanksgiving at their new home on top of a mountain. It was just the time away our family needed after a very rough few months.

We enjoyed spending time with family {6 out of 9 siblings were at Thanksgiving Dinner} and the kids loved playing with their cousins from Florida. My sister's little ones are just 1 and 2 years old and absolutely adorable.

Even Maggie, our golden retriever, came along for our family holiday ... she enjoyed countless hours outside being walking by many members of my family. She is now depressed after coming home to what she now must realize is a boring life.

And, what a blessing to be able to enjoy snow ... which arrived the day before Thanksgiving. {Pictured above, the kids with my mom and dad and below, my parent's new home}.

Easter {2013)

Easter 2013 will go down in the record books as the one where we were either recovering from or down with the stomach flu! After three years of virtually no illness other than a few sniffles here and there we succumb to this horrid norovirus strand going around. I was the last to end up with it on Easter Sunday - I thought I might actually get out without becoming infected but, alas that was not in the cards.

Thankfully, from Good Friday through Saturday we were all well enough to enjoy some of our Easter traditions. On Good Friday the kids made a cross and we added some of our sins to the cross - a symbol of what Jesus died for on the cross. On Saturday, we opened up the Easter Story eggs and the kids all did a great job helping to tell what each item stood for.

We colored Easter eggs using our very favorite method ... crayola crayons on very hot eggs. The colors melt so beautifully and give you a lot more decorating options.

I love the fact that there is no messy dye to deal with or the smelly vinegar!

Lexi made a beautiful egg for a sweet child who we love and miss so much!

And, no Easter would be complete without resurrection rolls ... which I don't know if I will be able to stomach seeing ever again. Maybe a year from now ...

Hope you had a wonderful Easter celebration - celebrating Jesus' glorious resurrection!

Valentine's Day {2013}

Valentine's Day 2013 ... my husband surprised our daughters and I with a dozen roses each on our seats in our car after church on Wednesday night. I put them all together in one big bouquet and we have enjoyed looking at them and they made for a nice centerpiece during our party.

Homemade cupcakes for our homeschool Valentine's Day party.

Goodie bags and a group shot ... 22 kids and 6 moms for a fun get together on Valentine's Day {Pizza, Valentine Card exchange, and lots of games of tag}.

Good Bye 2012!

2012 is coming to a close ... tonight at Midnight we will welcome 2013 with a celebration with friends! Just a quick look back at our year ... and what a year it has been. {pictured above - February week long vacation at Disney World}

{June - Lexi spends a month in summer dance intensive and Devin spends the month doing All-Star baseball}

{August brought a family vacation with our friends, The Hanback's, to the beach in Florida}

{Christmas this year was spent with an orphan from Latvia in our home}

God has blessed us in so many ways this year ... love seeing how He works in all of our hearts. Looking forward to 2013 ... my word for the year- PEACE. I will find peace in whatever plans God has for me and my family.

Trimming the Tree {2012}

Thanksgiving weekend is a time for us to trim the tree. It works out well as right after Thanksgiving we always get so busy with Christmas activities. 

The kids are at an age now where they are really helpful! I remember the days when we would decorate the tree together and then I would go around and redecorate after they were in bed. Now, they know the plan and need little direction.

Ava Mae had the honor this year of placing the first ornament on the Christmas Tree.  The ornament is normally a special one from one of our trips during the year. This year it was a silver Mickey head in honor of our trip to Disney World.

Thanksgiving {2012}

Just a few pictures ... a look into our Thanksgiving. We enjoyed our traditional breakfast {cinnamon rolls} along with watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Then, off to our friends' home, who we have enjoyed Thanksgiving with for the last few years. Yummy food and wonderful conversation.

Hope you had a beautiful Thanksgiving celebration too!

4th of July {2012}

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July! We had a great day, though having a holiday in the middle of the week always messes with my head. I know at least three times yesterday I thought it was Saturday and that I had a ton of things I needed to have done already ... including making sure we had enough parent volunteers for children's church on Sunday. So happy when I remembered it was just Wednesday.

We spent hours on our friends' new boat on a nearby lake having a blast -

{Tubing}

{Swinging on a Rope Swing}

{Swimming}

{and, just hanging out.}

After coming home and resting up ... time for bbq and a red, white and blue cake {I know the cake looks more like red, white and green - the blue needed to be a little darker}.

Followed by fireworks ... some of our own in the driveway waiting for the fireworks our neighborhood's country club put on each year. Lucky to be able to view these from our yard.

Can't believe it is already July! The summer is flying by. Hope you are enjoying your summer! Camp Crafty Girls next week and then Camp Winshape in a few weeks. Looking forward to a more relaxed summer month!

Easter {2012}

While we did not officially have Spring Break here at our home ... we did enjoy a week off of extra-curricular activities and lots of playdates with friends. Each day last week we either hosted friends or met up with friends. It made me begin to really look forward to summer!

One of our fun activities during the week was to color Easter Eggs ... we used our crayon technique on warm boiled eggs. This year we decided to draw pictures on the eggs and then dye them - they turned out really well. 

For the first time in several years we did not spend Easter at our club - instead we enjoyed a brunch at our home followed by an Easter Egg hunt. 

{Loved decorating the tables and making homemade white chocolate Easter bunnies and white chocolate covered Peeps.}

We ended our day with an Easter Egg hunt ... why is it that there is always one elusive egg that is never to be found at the end?

Blessed to have shared this Easter with a family who we consider some of our dearest friends!