just when i thought

Collin was growing up, changing so much, he brings me back to the reality that he is only a 9 year old boy.  Collin has changed ALOT over this school year, seems to have gained more confidence in himself & his abilities & more able to stand his ground.  Well, yesterday, evidently, was not a good day for him at school.  I think he started out tired & one of his friends at school yelled at him for something that really didn't matter & then he had to come home to study for 2 tests.  It didn't help that yesterday just was a gloomy day outside!  I'm always in a much better mood when the sun shines right away in the morning.  Unfortunately, the boys bedtime has not been very stable, with the days getting longer, they definitely don't want to go to bed when it's still light out.  I try my best to listen to his troubles & encourage him, but sometimes, they just need to go to sleep & have a do-over.  When he's had a bad day & nothing seems to be going his way, I just tell him to go to sleep & start over tomorrow.  {I could tell this morning, today has already started out a better day}.  Love you Collin... some days are better than others.  That's LIFE! 

Mother's Day

this boy

and this boy

and this girl

are my GREATEST GIFTS.  I'm so thankful everyday for my time with them & being given the chance to be their mom.  I also think about my own mom when I'm feeling overwhelmed & think HOW did she do this {5 kids, really}?  LOVE YOU MOM!  Being a mom is truly the craziest up & down roller coaster ride I've ever been on.  I'm doing my best & love these kids like crazy.  

Mother's Day was a relaxed day hangin' out around the house, I received some awesome, tear jerker cards from the boys, a plant from Evan & later in the day, we went to DQ {yum}.  Saturday I was able to do a little shopping for myself while Dan played mr mom & took the kids with him around the mall.  We had lunch w/ my sis & niece, got hair cuts, did a quick Menard's run & then home to relax.  Just a nice, relaxing weekend enjoying the lovely weather.  

bike ride

Dan had been promising the boys that they'd take a bike ride Friday after work {Evan wouldn't let him forget!}.  Here's Lydia in the seat before they left.  We didn't even get the seat out last year, so this was her first time.  She LOVED it!  Unfortunately, rain set in & cut the ride short.

Yep, I'm hooked.

Over the last few weeks I've been exploring the world of digital scrapbooking.  While not completely foreign to me {since I am a designer & worked in photoshop a fair amount over the last several years}, I was never really sold on the whole idea of digital & would always much rather work with the real stuff.  Being an art major, I'll always probably prefer being able to create with all the great products available on the market {especially Reminisce, of course}.  But it seems that this is a really great option for me right now to make me feel like I'm getting something done creatively {plus working on my photoshop skills}.  So I thought I'd share some of my pretties from the last week or so {yes, most revolve around our pink princess}.

Patterned papers: theshabbyshoppe.com {big dots & stripes},

Miss Mint {small dot}

Stitching: Anna Aspes, Designer Digitals

Fonts: Black Widow & Mascara, My Fonts

Template: Ali Edwards, Songbird Avenue, April 09 kit

Patterned Papers: theshabbyshoppe.com {stripe},

Songbird Avenue, Feb 09 kit {brown bkg}

Journal spot: theshabbyshoppe.com 

Fonts: Hodgepodge & Black Widow, My Fonts

Template: Ali Edwards, Songbird Avenue, Apr 09 kit

Patterned Papers: Miss Mint {blue damask & pink diamonds}

Songbird Avenue, Feb 09 kit

Today brush: Ali Edwards, Designer Digitals

Font: CG Gothic No 2

Template: Ali Edwards, Songbird Avenue, Apr 09 kit

Patterned Paper: Miss Mint {green dot},

Songbird Avenue {background paper}

Template: Katie Pertiet, Designer Digitals

Patterned Paper: Songbird Avenue, April 09 kit

Barefoot stamp: theshabbyshoppe.com

Font: Black Widow, My Fonts

How did I ever do without it?

I've finally got my internet back up & running at home after over a week with a dead modem.  I could've kissed the Fed Ex guy when he walked up on my porch with a Hughes Net box in his hand!  I have to be thankful for my sister Kim's internet that I've been able to mooch off of while mine's been down.  It's sort of crazy when you think about having to do without some of the things we've come so accustomed to using everyday {internet, computer, cell phones}.  It panics me a little when I can't carry on with my normal routine.  Hopefully I didn't complain too much about having to leave the house everyday to get my work done {geez I love having a job where I work from home}.