The Dare Devil in Full Force

The thing with being a dare devil, living on the edge or being a drifter is that once you do it, it's so hard not to want to do it again and again...

It's like once you steal one cookie from the jar you just can't help but take another. After posting my adorable hello friend card and seeing it all cute up on my blog I couldn't help but dash to my "art room" and divulge in more elusive behavior. In the end I was able to make 10 cards and decided I would share my two favorites. So what makes these my favorites? Well, the Bella is a Bella and seriously who can resist those? The second is all about the color combo. It has all my favorite colors in it, especially the yellow and the pink. On a side note the kids start school tomorrow!

Sometimes scrapbooking just isn't enough

There are times in my life when I just feel like mixing it up. Actually, although I am not sure I should admit this, I often get restless. I love being out in the world meeting new people and doing new things. I hate being in one place for too long and have a constant yearning to explore. If it weren’t for my adoring husband and beautiful children I may have ended up being a little of a drifter. Moving here and there and never being able to make up my mind about which place really feels like home or which job really feels like me. As the years pass me by I have gained a bit more focus but that nomad spirit ignites in me every so often. Since the excitement in my life is often coupled with a 5 year olds soccer goal or my 8 year olds newest art project you can see where frustration with the normal eats at me. Making it absolutely imperative for a bit more excitement and can drive me into the craziness of card making. On the plus side it is very helpful in using up those scraps left behind from my “normal” activities. I know I am such a dare devil…

Dirt is My Favorite Color

It wouldn't surprise me if dirt was his favorite color. He wears it all the time.

Soccer Season!

As school inches closer so does another favorite fall activity: Soccer Season! Of all the joys I get from my darling middle child watching him play soccer is by far on the top of my list. Last spring because of my classes and Mikayla’s ice skating I had to miss out on almost all of his games. During the season I didn’t really mind because my head was filled with figure skating and economics. It wasn’t until mid summer that I longed to see his joy filled smile after he scored a goal or the intense concentration as he tried to keep control over the ball as he kicked it down the field. With his registration done and the fall season approaching I think I am anticipating it as much as he is!

Cooler Than Me

Gavin has this innate ability to fall asleep anywhere. I already can see him as an old man sleeping on the couch with all his family over after a Sunday dinner or in the lawn chair after spending a hot afternoon in the pool. So it shouldn't surprise me that he can fall asleep while his sunglasses are still on. Honestly knowing Gavin there could have been more thought put into it. He could actually be trying to keep the sun out of his eyes while he took his afternoon rest; I wasn't keen enough to ask him this at the time. I long for his talent of sleep instead of my own tossing and turning restless nights. He is so much like his father it makes me smile.

It's the climb

The joys of little boys. Entertainment at a glance.

Stunning

Stunning. Mikayla amazes me. She stuns me all the time. I wish I could say we were so much a like that I naturally understood her all the time. Unfortunately we aren't and I don't understand her. Which is why she often leaves me stunned. Stunned that she is so much better at all things school related than I ever was. Stunned that she is so beyond talented artistically that I have had her draw pictures for me so I could paint them. I am in complete awe that she can shake off the negative so easily sometimes, I even get angry that a punishment doesn't bother her more. She has no time to dwell though she just looks for the silver lining. That is what can be so wonderful about parenting watching in wonder, stunned sometimes, at the amazing experience that growing up is.

The One in the Middle

Gavin is 100% the middle child. He know how to push everyone's buttons. He knows how to be the center of attention and how to be forgotten. He is the best at getting away with things or having something go unnoticed. He is also my sweet lovable one who has an enduring personality that makes a lot of m friends say he is their "favorite." His easiness and laid back spirit encircles his little life with all the joys it one comes to expect. Unlike most middle children he is never forgotten...unless he wants to be.

100 days

What I found most freeing about scrapbooking is that I do not have to do it in order. It doesn't matter that Mikalya is entering the 3rd grade this year and that I now just finished her 100 day of kindergarten page. It doesn't matter that Gavin's most likely will not get done until he is in 3rd grade just that I finally felt like doing it and I can now place it in a book and call it good!

New Friends

After that dreadful thought of winter I decided to find something that wouldn't make me miss summer but also would bring on the gloom and doom of the grey, snowy months either. In my opinion the only thing that makes winter bearable is that fall comes right before it. Fall is by far my favorite season. If I could find a place in the world wear it was fall (with the colorful leaves and giant orange pumpkins) all year round I would force my darling husband to move me immediately. Fall brings hay rides; apple picking and cinder mills all which makes me want to do a happy dance with the crunchy leaves beneath my feet. The semi cool breezes, the school buses slowly plowing down the streets and the sight of kids in brand new back packs has the same effect on me as the brightly colored Popsicles. Last fall brought on a bit of a challenge for my family since the kids were beginning a new school. As any parent would do I stayed awake at night wondering if my daughter would adjust well. For the last four years she had been with the same group of kids and as much as we needed the change it broke my heart thinking she would be lonely until she found her grove. I didn’t have to lay awake long, which of course was good for everyone, she blended in with the girls seamlessly all the drama included. I was lucky enough to go on the first field trip and meet her new friends at one of my favorite fall places…the cider mill! So much for all my worrying.

Oh Summer, How I Love You!

As I stare at the calendar trying to squeeze in all the things I wanted to get done this summer I quickly realized that the kids have less than three weeks left. I only have two before my classes start. Looking back over the last two months I am trying to decide why summer fills my heart with butterflies. Is it the carefree unstructured days that make my kids go bonkers; is it the hot summer sun that kisses my skin all pink? How about the baseball games or the smell of BBQ’s as I jog through the neighborhood? The Bike rides to the park or the music from the ice cream truck all linger in my thoughts even as the dreadful chill whips through the air. Yet, none of those can quite compare to the 100 pack of cheap popsicles that decorate nearly every store come the first heat wave of the year. The cheap colorful flavored water is a timeless treasure of summer. Through the years the excitement and joy they create in children seems to be unchanged generation to generation. It’s these timeless joys that bring on those butterflies just as mid November brings on the woeful dread of winter. Sigh. I think I will push off those thoughts and grab another Popsicle for the kids so I can relax and devour the last restful days of my butterfly happiness.