simply | put

if only i lived in utah....

then i could be going to this  this weekend!!  i'd be like a kid in a candy store, literally!  make sure you check out the most recent post from rebecca....how cool that they're offering it virtually, so all can be involved.  and if you're local, have fun there & think of me ;)

other than that, not much going on here.  we've been outside enjoying every second of the *finally* hot, summer weather here.  been going to the lake & the town pool, but mostly just hhanging in the backyard swimming in our pool.  the day generally starts with me & the kids, or just the kids swimming and expands little by little, till there's 6 or 7 kids in there...it's crazy!  i think they're crawling out from underneath rocks to be here, lol!

i always remember dying for a pool growing up & walking down the block to swim in my friends pool almost everday....now i know exactly what it's like.  i really like the fact that our house is the "hang out house" and i always know where the kids are & what they're doing....although there's times i wish everyone would just disappear (still working on my patience levels)...but overall, it's so much fun seeing all those kids having a great time...true summer memories :-)

 

 

 

oh, and one more thing.....

GO!!!!!

sharin some hambly

just thought i'd share the projects i did this month for hambly.....i'm really having a blast working with this stuff.  i'm SO happy i got over my irrational fear of transparencies, teehee!

and lookie here at all the new hambly goodness!

  

 

 

cape cod: photo recap

just got finished using making a mosiac of some of the photos from cape cod.  it was too hard to pick just a few, so i chose some of my faves.  there's something about taking pictures at the beach that's just magical...i love it!

this was our fifth year going to the cape with the kids...amazing that jerry was not even TWO the first time we went.  he wouldn't even touch the sand with his feet back then, had to wear socks, shoes & everything, and forget about touching it with his hands...teehee!!  and look at him now, you'd never know that we how he started.  ciera's always been a little fish, loves the water...this year she got really brave & actually swam in the ocean (pretty far out too), such a great swimmer she is :)

we rented the same house as the previous years.  it works so well for us & it's so quaint & cape cod-ish....brings me back to when i used to go with my parents...not much has changed there, which is exactly why i LOVE it.  old-fashioned, relaxed FUN.

we returned to a week of skateboarding camp, where jerry literally scared the heck out of my with all the new tricks he learned.  amazing what he can do in only 5 short days.  he's going down ramps i wouldn't even WALK down, LOL!  didn't get any good shots of camp though, forgot the camera :(

anyway, we're in the final stretch before school starts...four weeks & counting.  i'm acutally sad this year.  i'm usually beyond ready to get the kids back at  school, but the weather's been so crummy, i feel like we missed out on all our fun summer stuff.  i'm sure it'll be 90 degrees & sunny in september & october, UGH!

we're back

and we wish we weren't!!  cape cod was fabulous, as always...the weather really cooperated and we came home to more vermont rain, ugh!!

i pretty much used up the memory card in my camera by the third day, so i have lots of pics to go through.  i love taking pics at the beach, it's such a great backdrop.

but in the meantime, here's a little catch-up on some pics from ciera's birthday weekend at the american girl store and a rare sunny day we enjoyed at the lake with friends :)

 

feelin kinda sassy today ;)

first off, you MUST go check out all the new goodness sassfras is coming out with for CHA.  i mean, seriously.....could it not be cuter and cooler, and those felties [faint!]  lookie here

and i've been very busy creating with all this new goodness.  there is just nothing like getting new stuff and loving every single thing!

p.s. - i think the new format of my blog is cutting off some of the images (trying to figure it out).  in the meantime, you can click on the image & see it bigger.

   

surpriiiiiise....

or maybe it'll be a suprise to me since i haven't posted in two months & nobody will even be reading this anymore!!

anyway, my credit card on my typepad account expired and i was just too lazy & not feeling the blogging itch AT ALL to bother updating it.  so two months flew past & here i am...taking a stab at this thing again. 

since we lasted chatted:
1.  ciera ran the 5K (and so did laz & jerry with her)  so proud!
2.  school ended, therefore i have soon-to-be 1st & 4th graders :=(
3.  summer arrived on the calendar, but not in person.  the weather has sucked the big one (pardon me!) lately.  i don't think we've had a day over 80 and i feel like i should start building an ark, it's raining so much.
4.  the kids have been enjoying the pool (regardless) even though the water is a chilling 70 degrees!
5.  we made it to the beach ONE DAY, that's it....but i did get some good pics.
6.  ciera turned nine...WAAAAH!
7.  we had a girl's weekend to boston (for ciera's and her friend's birthdays).  went to the american girl store (first time..wow!) and did lots of sightseeing downtown...thanks for tawyna for driving us there....those MA drivers are insane!
8.  been doing a teeny little bit of gardening & i'm proud to say i have teeny little string beans growing...yay.
9.  5-day countdown to our vacation to cape cod....i'm having a daily talk w/mother nature about giving us lots & lots of sun.
10.  been scrapping here & there.  mostly for DT stuff, not really at all for myself, probably b/c of the lack of photos i've been taking lately.

i guess that's a good start for getting caught up with stuff around here.  so as not to bore what/if any readers i may have left....here's some pics & stuff.

 

gigantic post

since i don't really feel like blogging lately, i figured i'd do one really huge post and it will hold me over for a couple weeks (or maybe a month!)  and maybe if i don't blog for a while, it'll be like the old saying goes "absence makes the heart grow{blog} fonder"

so here's a recap of life lately:
1)  not much time left till school's over, then i'll have a soon-to-be 4th grader & 1st grader!

2) ciera finishing 3rd grade means she'll be going to a new school next year for 4th & 5th and merging into that school with any elementary school....very nervous about that (me, not her!)

3) works been going well.  people are nice, flexibility is nice...good all around :)

4)  haven't taken many pics lately.  the last time my camera saw daylight was may 2nd, and that was the first time in a month before that, ugh!

5)  been scrapping lots.  it ebbs & flows for me.  either i got nothin or i can't stop, very weird?!

6)  check here tomorrow for more projects i did for my ggg gig for the mid-month garden ;)

7)  check here for some really cute & inspiring projects.  the sass team rocks!!  and i just got a package filled with those yummy brads & felties....heavenly.

8)  we're in full t-ball mode with jerry (pics below).  he's really lovin it, except for the fact that in t-ball nobody is considered "out" and everyone swings till they hit.  he couldn't quite wrap his brain around that after he tagged someone out during the last game, teehee.

9)  the 5K girls on the run is coming up in a few weeks.  trying to decide between me, laz or some really athletic person to actually run w/ciera.  in case you didn't know....i DO NOT run.  i will walk though, so hopefully that will work!

10)  went to NJ this past weekend for my neice's confirmation and had a complete & total  freak-out when first, the bishop doing the ceremony was the same one who married laz & i.....and second, ran into my very first best friend (from when i was 4 years old) at the church.  you should have seen her face, her parent's faces & my face.....what a cool, awesome thing & amazing that we both recognized each other immediately.

11) apparently when you don't check your husband's pockets for change each & everytime before putting his clothes in the washer, the coins will eventually get lodged in the hose, causing a flood in your basement & a subsequent call to sears for service....UGH!

that's about all i got for now.  i think that'll hold this blog over for a bit.
hugs to everyone....hope everyone is well :-)

     

i can finally use that

k&co brownies patterned paper i bought years ago, LOL!   sad but true, i bought it sooooo long ago, the store i bought it at is not even in business anymore...geesh!

and this is why:  (for those who don't know, ciera has been doing brownies the past 3 years & this is the year she "crosses over" aka actually walked over a little wooden bridge to become a girl scout)  it was the cutest thing ever, btw ;-)

              

wowzers!!!

you guys made me so happy.  i loved reading all the comments, i can say for sure i've never had *that* many comments on my blog ever....how fun!!  i think i may do giveaways more often ;-)

anyway, thanks for all your kind words....and now for the big announcement......

the winner of the hambly gift certificate is:  lea lawson
congrats LEA!!!  make sure to email me or leave me a comment on here with your email address, so we can get you the gift certificate :-)

p.s.  my very scientific way of choosing the winner was to have ciera hit the page up & page down buttons, then point her finger at the screen (with her eyes closed).  she wanted to do it over & over again, but there can only be one winner!

it's NSD and it's time....

for a cool giveaway from the awesome hambly screen prints!

basically they're doing a blog hop.  so you go from one hambly girls blog to the next, checking out all the cool projects & enter for a chance to win a $15 gift certificate to the online hambly store.  now how cool is that??!!

so you have 10 chances to win (only one gift certificate per person), so start blog-hopping and make sure leave a comment here on my blog before you go.  i'll leave it open until sun night at midnight, and will announce the winner shortly after that :)

so here's the links to the other hambly girls blogs:
hambly 
kerry lynn 
ania 
sasha 
denise 
mandi 
dina 
celine 
kara 

so have fun & good luck!

i'm off for the weekend to see my parents....be back tomorrow.