Happy Father's Day Pat!

Good morning, for my My Time Made Easy post, please click here.http://themangoboysandme.blogspot.com/2011/06/my-time-made-easy-pretty-palette_19.html

I wanted to pop in to wish my wonderful husband a Happy Father's Day.  I am so very blessed to have him as the father to my boys.  Many week nights and weekends around this time of year, you'll see him sitting just like he is in this picture from Ryan's game yesterday.  This was about mid game, Ryan had played catcher for the first three innings, was sitting out the fourth and then went in for pitcher for the fifth through seventh innings (came home with a 4-3 win too :)!).  Not only is Pat a wonderful coach to his own children, there are so many boys that he has coached through the years on whom I know he has made a positive influence. He loves our boys so much, challenges them to work hard, love, have faith and be a high integrity boy/young man.  I love him so much and am thrilled that we get to learn to be good parents together.

Happy Father's Day Pat!

Today's card was inspired by the Stampin' 411 Sketch.

The Taj Mahal

After our sorting had started...Collin's blanket in the bottom left hand corner is proof that he was there helping...and of course, a bag of M&Ms brought the whole family to help with sorting.

Hi there, before I get to my card today, I had to share what is happening at our house.   A huge and I mean, HUGE, package arrived at our house last week.  To say the boys were excited was an understatement.  My nana sent the boys a Lego set to build the Taj Mahal!  So...we start by sorting.  Collin and I had the job of sorting some of the pieces.  Throughout the sorting process Collin kept saying, "Aren't I a good sorter Mommy?  I'm a really good sorter."  Makes for an exciting Friday night of sorting when you are building the Taj Mahal. 

A view of the Taj Mahal after Pat's work on it late into Monday night.

Then Jonathon and Pat got started on the building process.  I should say that the biggest boy (aka Pat) has done the majority of building.  And as of late Tuesday night, he is almost complete.  Along the way, Marcel has been stopping by, "Daddy, you are doing a great job building.  I'm serious, Daddy, you are doing a really great job."  I think the little man is just interested in playing with his "Lego guys" in the Taj Mahal! 

 Tuesday night...we're (or should I say, Pat)...is getting close to finishing.

Ingredients:  All Stampin' Up

And now...onto some crafting.  Here is a cheery card for this week's Stampin' 411 Challenge.  I popped this in with a set of cards for Collin's teachers.  Perfect for a variety of occasions.

Put Your Sunglasses On!

This is a very bright and cheery card for this week's Stampin' 411 Challenge!  Due to looking at all the gorgeous stitching on Maureen's cards, I decided it was time for me to change the thread in my sewing machine from white to a color...so look out for some fun red stitching.  Yes, I am very lazy and rarely change the thread.  In fact, I rarely change the settings on my sewing machine, so last week when the stitching was all garbled I abandoned it for several days.  Then, when I finally looked again, I realized that it had been moved to the button whole setting.  I think some little fingers got to the machine :)

Hope you like today's card!  Happy hump day!

Phone Calls

Okay, so I don’t really like to talk on the phone. I think sometimes I get talked out at work and when I come home, I really don’t want to sit on the phone with anyone. I want to relax, talk with Pat and the boys about their day. Help with homework. Hide in my craft room. Create. Watch the Reds game. Kiss all my boys. Tease them all. Give them piggy back rides to bed. Read blogs. Read books to the boys. All of these items come before talking on the phone in my list of want to do when I get home from work.

But, you know with that lead in that I have something else to say. I’ve received two precious phone calls in the last couple of weeks. My college roommate, Michelle called me two weeks ago. Let me preface this by saying that Michelle is more than just my college roommate. In a way, we are twins. We both married our high school sweethearts, had the same major, were in the same sorority, have four boys and like Pat, her husband, Pete stays home with her four boys. We laugh about so much and share our hearts with one another. Even if we haven’t talked for a while, we pick up right where we left off. She wanted to call me because “you are one of the few people that would really understand how excited I am.” Michelle took a big risk last year. She took a new job after being with the same company for 17 years. She moved her family four hours away and started fresh. And the new start is paying off. Her boys are adjusting well and she got a promotion. She knew I would get her excitement and pride. She is a lead IT executive at a huge company. And she was right, I am thrilled for her. She genuinely made my heart happy that she wanted to share her news with me.

And then, yesterday morning as I’m driving to work my cell phone rings at 7:13. Honestly, it scared me a bit that maybe something was wrong. Generally, I don’t get calls early in the morning. It was my friend, Leah. Leah and I worked together for many years and were more than co-workers. Leah and I never worked in the same location and have only met a few times in person. Even though we didn’t sit next to each other, we shared our hearts and our families. And, we challenged each other to always improve. She called to say, “I was thinking of you Lynn and thanking God for you and then I thought, I need to call you and tell you.” What a way to start my day. Life doesn’t get much better than that. Like Michelle, Leah has taken a next step in her career and has started her own business. And it is going well. She wanted to share that with me. How awesome to be able to share with those that we love?

So, that got me thinking? Who haven’t I called in a while that I should call? Who haven’t you called that you should call? There is nothing better than dear friends and family that really know you. I’m going to call my Auntie Joan. We haven’t talked in a really long time.

Even when I don’t want to, I’ll start thinking about my phone calls, being intentional to stay in touch and reach out to those I love.

And...for those of you that have stayed with me...here is a fun little card for this week's Stampin' 411 Challenge!

Ingredients:  Stampin' Up Pear Pizzazz; Whisper White Paper; The Twinery; So Happy For You Stamps; Stampin' Up DSP

Joe Chatter Box

This sweet little guy is our chatter box.  Non-stop chatter box.  Very adorable...but non stop chatter.  

• So...he has learned to say, "'Cuse Me..." but then keeps on talking when we're in mid conversation :)
• Wants to know when everything is happening, "today, tomorrow, yesterday...and show me how many on your fingers?"
• Has a great vocabulary...especially when he's describing his "Star Wars Guys" as agile.
• Results in us still calling him his first nickname of "Quackers" to which he replies, "My name is NOT Quackers...it is Marcel Paul Mangan."
• Lots of adults friends saying...he is so sweet...he comes right up sits by me and has a great conversation.  Not a shy bone in this little guys body.
• Keep on chatting sweet boy...we love you. 

 Ingredients: Real Red, Old Olive Paper/Ink; Tart  & Tangy Stamps; So Happy for You Stamps; Basic Black Ink; Old Olive Ribbon

And here's a fun teacher thank you card which will probably be for one of this little chatter box's teachers.  Thanks to the 411 challenge for another awesome sketch.  This Tart & Tangy Stampin' Up set is one of my all time favorites!

Clean & Simple

Ingredients:  Stampin' Up Sahara Sand, Whisper White and Tangerine Tango Cardstock; Ink: Old Olive, Red Riding Hood Red and Sunshine Ink; Stamps:  All Stampin' Up

A quick post today for this week's Stampin' 411 Challenge.  I turned the sketch on the side and decided to go very clean & simple.  I love the rainbow of colors on the flowers.  The little bit of twine makes it look like a bouquet of flowers.  Hope your week is going well.

Spring is Here!

We had a gorgeous weekend.  A little windy, but lots of outside play time for the whole family.  Collin and Marcel were outside for almost the entire day on Sunday and have sun kissed little cheeks.  Spring break is over and they were not really happy to go to bed a little bit earlier to get ready for school tomorrow.  They were exhaustion.  Exhaustion meant:  Collin calling Jonathon the "b word" (so his night ended even earlier)  and Marcel crying that he doesn't like school.  Marcel then showed me on his fingers how many more days of break he would like to have.  All is well though...they'll get back to their routine quickly.

Now...onto my card inspiration.  I was looking for a new spring wreath for my front door.  I didn't see anything I liked so I decided to make one.  I found the container and all the flowers at Michael's yesterday.  It's a bit heavier on the left side, but I love hydrangeas!

I decided to use this as inspiration for my Stampin' 411 card for this week. 

Ingredients:  All Stampin' Up except PTI Sentiment Stamp from Beyond Background Basics

Here's the fun sketch from this week's challenge.

Hope your week gets off to a great start!

Dance Party!

Hello, I thought you might want to see a card before I get to some more pictures from our "spring break" in Pittsburgh.  I played along with the Stampin' 411 Sketch last night.  Loved this sketch and had a variety of ideas on how to use it.  I haven't used this floral set in a long time, so I decided to stamp it in white ink and then do a little coloring...don't fall over and don't look too closely as I rarely color!  I think the soft colors are perfect for a sympathy card.

Ingredients:  PTI Kraft Paper; SU Whisper White and DSP, White Craft Ink; Old Olive Ribbon; Fast and Fabulous Stamps; PTI Daily Design Sentiments Stamps

Also, did you hear? There's a new challenge blog in town with articles, swaps, interviews, videos, challenges, great prizes and MORE! Check out Lily Pad Cards! This looks like a lot of fun! Check it out!

Now...onto our Wii Just Dance II  Party...this was an official tournament managed by the two oldest boys cousins, Ryan and Connor.  First up, were Uncle Tim and Erin....both are very good dancers...Uncle Tim is never too far from the dance floor and he gave Erin a run for her money...round one to Uncle Tim.

 Next up were Pat and Laura...Pat is also a great dancer, but was no match for Laura's experience!

 Pat's a little behind on his moves here.... :)

Up next was a mother/daughter competition between Molly and Mary/Nana.  Nana was in the lead for almost the whole song and Molly came back at the end and won the round!

 Next up was the brother duo...Ryan was very serious about this competition and knocked out his younger brother!

 None of us were really sure what dance move Ryan was trying here...!

 Or here!

We took a little break in between rounds for the little ones to show us their stuff..dancing the night away with Marcel and Ally.

And then came the final round...true to form, Ryan had to show up with a little something extra.  His Cincinnati Reds hat and sunglasses.

 Unfortunately, the accessories did nothing to help scare the competition...Laura crushed Ryan in the finals despite his smooth dance moves...

While all this was going on...this little guy danced for a bit...and then was happy watching his Dora videos before bedtime...the youngest little man in the Mangan clan...our sweet Jakey Joe.

That puts a wrap on this year's "spring break" in Pittsburgh... happy times!

Celebrate

My dear friend, Jackie, who I worked with for about 15 years and I've known for about 20, just got engaged.  She lost her husband, Joe, to cancer about five years ago after a hard fought battle.  You always knew when Joe entered the room.  He certainly wasn't shy and had a love for life that was an example for all of us.  Joe is dearly missed; yet at the same time, I am sure that he is thrilled Jackie has found love again! 

This card is inspired by the Stampin' 411 sketch this week.  I put some of my SU Sale-a-Bration papers and stickers to good use.  Added a few little gems and ribbon and we were in business! 

Celebrate Jackie...I am so happy for you!

With Sympathy

Sometimes we make cards and we're much happier with them in real life than we are from the camera!  These two cards would fall into that category...but I love soft subtle colors for sympathy cards.  The Verve sentiment on the second one continues to be ibe of my favorites.  These two are also going in the set for my mum's friend.  The first one was inspired by this weeks Stampin' 411 Sketch.

Ingredients:  Stamps: Hero Arts and PTI; Inks:  Crumb Cake;  Paper:  SU Crumb Cake and Very Vanilla; Ribbon:  SU Very Vanilla

Ingredients:  Stamps:  Verve & Stampin' Up; All other ingredients same as prior card.

In other news around the house, we've been busy.  Collin had his school concert on Tuesday night.  He was so adorable...thrilled to wear his "handsome" clothes.  He laid them out on Monday night and Pat said he ran off the bus and put them on two hours before his concert. I love, love, love to hear children sing and he smiled so big and blushed when he saw us from stage...my little shy boy.  Here are a couple of pictures of my handsome guy.

Blurry...but a little smile for us from the stage...

 Showing us the full "handsome" look...complete with a belt that he loves!

 And a close up of my cute little man...check out those freckles (no blur on this one!)

Jonathon had his basketball tournament this week too. His team had a very fun season, won quite a few games and went to the semi-finals before losing.  A great season...and time for the next season...baseball practice starts this weekend!

PS  Jill W...nice to see you back!  Thanks for the comment yesterday.  I added the ingredients to my cards from yesterday :)

A New Season

Hi there...as I type this card, Pat is out at the Little League Baseball draft and this weekend he'll be handing out uniforms and equipment for about 60 teams.  It's kind of hard to believe that basketball season is almost over, baseball is just starting...and we received an email this weekend for football registration.  Sports non-stop!

Watching Pat prepare for the baseball season makes me thankful for all the volunteers that make each sports season a success.  There is a ton of work that goes into everything. From registration, sponsors, uniforms, coaching, to something not fun like insurance protection, it is amazing the amount of hours that are devoted to each season/sport.  I am so thankful Pat is able to volunteer.  Without volunteers none of the sports would happen. 

So my Stampin' 411 card for this week is a thank you to the thousands of volunteers devoted to our community's children.  Next time your child is participating in an activity...be sure to thank those involved in organizing and coaching!

Ingredients:  all stampin' up!

Off to England...

Well, I really wish it was my family going off to England, but it's not me!  It's my mum and niece, Madeleine.  Madeline graduates in May and for her graduation present my mum is treating her to a trip to England to visit our family.  How fabulous is that graduation present?  We are so blessed to have family in England and I certainly don't think any of us will be topping this gift! 

On Sunday, my mum took Madeleine out to lunch to let her know.  I made this fun little card for my mum to give her inspired by this week's Stampin' 411 Challenge!

Ingredients:  Studio Calico Documentary DSP; Stampin' Up Tangerine Tango and Marina Mist Cardstock

Lately...

I've been:
- tired
- grumpy
- emotional
- distracted
Doing ten things at once and doing nothing very well at all.

So rather than continuing on this path, I decided it was time to focus on what I am thankful for.  I'm thankful for:
 - Little boys who still want to cuddle and say I love you even after I have a crazy mom moment and send them all to their rooms.  Note to self:  four boys trapped in the house because of snow is not good for little boys who love to be outside and a mommy who loves for them to be able to play outside.
- Teenage boys who have their best friend over when mom has her crazy moment and say, "Mom, it's okay...their mom's do that too...and sometimes they are worse."  I'll take the back handed compliment.
- My husband who knows how to read my stress signals and gives me a hug at the right time or reminds me not to stress too much about a conversation with a school teacher. 
- My mum who tried to help me escape on Sunday by running out for a quick shopping trip (even when I was still really grumpy with the little guys who went with us.)
- For longer days and leaving work when it was still light out a couple times this week.
- For my scrapbooking friends this past weekend, they knew I was tired...and let me just chill and not talk too much.
- For my co-workers...who work really hard too and do a fantastic job.
- For good health, amazing family and wonderful friends both here and in blogland.

And...to be able to have time to create!  Here is a quick card for this week's Stampin' 411 challenge. Sneaking it in before the deadline!

A Few Links...and a Thank You!

Jen W was so nice and awarded me the Stylish Blogger award and I am very belated in thanking her! 

So...I'm going to break the rules a bit on the award a bit and share some of my favorite links/blogs:

• First, I'm going to point you to Jen's blog!  She's in her first month of bloggin and wow!  Check her out!
• Look at these quick and adorable cards by Susan.  I totally cased these.  Thanks for the great idea Susan.  And, if you want a good laugh, read this post by Susan.  Susan has a non stamping blog too...I enjoy reading her perspectives here.
• I love this card by Debby.  The design is fabulous.
• This was very appropriate for me last week.  I appreciated Becky's reminder her and love her blog!
• I love Barb's blog and she always leaves the kindest comments.  Congrats on being a Hero Hostess this week Barb!
• Here is a fun design blog for you too.

I have two cards to share with you today.  First up is one inspired by the ring in the photo that I gave to my niece for her birthday yesterday.  It goes perfectly with the Play Date Cafe colors this week (just added a touch of green).  I also followed along with my favorite sketch challenge, Stampin' 411.  I was inspired by Laurie's card and Maile's card.  Thanks for the reminder Laurie!

Ingredients: Bazzill Basics Card Stock; Stampin' Up Marina Mist Paper/Ink; Whisper White Paper; PTI Stamps Damask Designs and Mat Stack 2; PTI Twine

And my second card is a case of Susan's card that I linked to above....love the fun simplicity of this card!

Ingredients:  PTI Beautiful Blossoms; Hero Arts Sentiment Stamp; BG DSP

Peace and Quiet

Rarely am I home alone...and as I type this I am home alone.   It's nice sometimes to have complete quiet (and peace :)).  Given that I had about an hour to myself, I decided to quickly create a couple of sympathy cards.  Unfortunately, I need to send one of them immediately.  I can never seem to keep enough sympathy cards on hand.

My first card will go to my nana.  My great uncle passed away from a massive heart attack over the weekend.  My nana's heart is broken.  She comes from a very large family and has lost several siblings, but her brother, Peter, has been absolutely wonderful to her.   My nana is 91 years old and truly amazing.

Ingredients:  Stamps:  Verve; Ribbon:  Stampin' Up Whisper White; Stampin' Up Crumb Cake Ink/Paper

I played along with the Stampin' 411 sketch for this card.

Sticking with my monochromatic sketch, I made a second card following Lucy's Sketch #5.

Ingredients:  PTI Kraft; PTI Damask Design Stamps and Beautiful Blssoms Dies; Stampin' Up Soft Suede Ink; Ranger Distress Inks Antique Linen

And now my boys have reentered the house...so I much finish typing my post!  Catch you later!

Happy New Year!

Ingredients:  Stampin' Up Basic Black and Whisper White Paper; The Paper Company Red Cardstock; Martha Stewart Glitter; Score Tape; PTI Fillable Frames Die Cut; Stampin' Up Cherry Cobbler Ink; Hero Arts Gems; PaperTrey Ink Signature Greetings; Ranger Distress Ink Pumice Stone

Happy New Year!  I'm popping in at the last minute for Moxie Fab's Glitter is Glam Challenge along with this week's Stampin' 411 Sketch Challenge.   I simplified the sketch a bit...because this card has a lot going on with the glitter!  This card is for my niece, Madeleine, who I mentioned in an earlier post got into the University of Cincinnati's DAAP program.  I am still beaming for her.  I wanted to send her a congratulatory note in UC's school colors red and black.

Also...wanted to chat about scrapbooking for a minute.  Anyone out there doing or have done Project Life?  I'm going to give it a try this year. I love, love, love making cards and am finding that I don't enjoy scrapbooking quite as much.  But....I have two other things I love:  capturing everyday happenings in our families life and picture taking.  My blog helps me do both and I'm thinking Project Life will help me do even more without feeling like I have to pull everything out of my craft room to scrapbook our memories. This video by Laura Vegas was what set me in motion to try Project Life this year.  So, I'm leaving you with my first picture for my Project Life album.  This is a picture of a typical morning at our house...my two early birds:  Marcel and Jonathon snuggled up on the couch watching cartoons before they request their favorite breakfast:  cinnamon and sugar toast! 

Happy New Year to you all...hope it is getting off to a great start!

Big Birthday Wishes

Hello, popping in to share a quick card!  My niece, Ella, celebrated her birthday last week...so I got to have some fun creating a girly card for one very sweet little seven year old.  The layout is from this week's Stampin' 411 challenge.

Ingredients:   So Saffron and Riding Hood Red Paper; K&CO DSP; PTI Stamps and Basic Black Ink

Happy Birthday

This card is using the exact same papers from last week's Stampin' 411 card...and I'm using them again for this week's sketch. I turned the sketch upside down to make the card.  This card is actually for Ryan's girlfriend.  First time making a birthday card for a girlfriend.  Also the first time buying a gift for a girl too...bit of a double whammy buying a gift for her birthday (on Christmas day) and Christmas!  He did very well thought and I liked his choice of papers for her birthday card!

Ingredients:  Basic Grey DSP: PTI Stamps; Stampin' Up Baja Breeze Paper and Whisper Whtie Ribbon; Kaiser Kraft Gems

Hope all your holiday preparations are going well.  I spent the better part of four hours baking yesterday.  Two things about me:  I really don't like to bake...and I don't have a green thumb.  I was chuckling at myself as I was working on making cookies.  I burnt chocolate for a very simple recipe and then looked over at the poinsettas I bought from a boy in our neighborhood who was selling them for a fundraiser.  They were almost dead due to lack of water!  So...I'm self aware!  I shouldn't own plants and I'm not the best at baking!