We Wish You a Merry Christmas

Happy Sunday my friends.  We have had a weekend filled with tons of family to celebrate Thanksgiving together.  I'll admit that I'm happy to have had a quiet Sunday...we've gotten most of our Christmas decorations up but I'm sitting here staring at a half lift Christmas tree!  We have my mum's tree too and Pat is deciding whether or not to pull that out instead.  We'll keep you posted.

In the mean time, I got to catching up on a few blogs and saw the current challenge over at AAA Cards where the challenge is for Christmas. I made this card at my crafting weekend so it's the perfect time to share it.  I love those sweet little silhouette images from Catherine Pooler.  

And here's a sweet little picture of Marcel and Nick relaxing together.  Marcel was rubbing Nick's belly as he sat and watched videos.

Welcome Nick!

Happy Monday my friends.  Popping in with a post to introduce you to the newest member of our family, Nick (for St. Nicholas).  This sweet little guy arrived as a surprise to our family on Christmas Eve.  The boys are in love (especially Ryan and Marcel). He's a sweet Australian shepherd. Smart boy...but he's confined to our kitchen and family room for now until he's trained.  

Marcel loves him. This seems to be their multiple times per day ritual where Nick gives Marcel some serious puppy kisses.  

So this month's Frantic Stamper release which is focused on the animals we love was perfect to share today!  This one will likely go to Ryan at college since he is bummed knowing that when he next comes home Nick will likely be a lot bigger. This card is using three new dies from this month's release:  Dog Paw Print Set; Bobble Head Sweet Pea; Elementals #17.  All kinds of adorableness in this month's release for our furry friends!

Happy Birthday Marcel!

Popping in to wish my baby (whose really no longer at baby at the age of 11) a very, very happy birthday!  I wish I could sum up Marcel in a few sentences, but this little guy is hard to sum up!  He is one happy, happy guy.  He loves singing and acting...and has just started taking lessons in both. We quite often find him watching YouTube videos of songs he likes, hand writing the lyrics so he can remember them and then singing his heart out.  He has no fear of being on stage.  He has a heart that is a mile wide and it shows through in through in his kindness to others.  He also loves vocabulary.  Anytime he hears a word he doesn't know...he asks for the meaning and we'll be sure to hear it back from him later in perfect context.  Love, love, love him so and can't wait to see what the world holds for him.

This first card started as his birthday card...but then I decided it was too feminine...so I made the same card using more boy type colors.  Have to say I like the first one better!  But time is of the essence...so I'm rolling with it!  Had fun playing along with CAS(e) this Sketch for his card!

 

Happy Birthday Marcel!

 Popping in quickly before our family comes over to wish Marcel the happiest of birthdays.  No more single digits in our house!  He's celebrating the big 10 today!  Wish I could share with you how much this little guy (who really isn't that little but will always be my baby) lights up our life.  He always has a smile on his face, is hilarious (and doesn't quite realize it yet) and has a very kind loving soul. I kept his card simple....the smiley faces are in his favorite color.

Okay...off to get ready for our family coming over.

PS The card is being entered over at the One Layer Simplicity Challenge and Happy World Card Making Day!

To Be Nine Again...

Happy Tuesday ...I have a card (a baby card for a co-worker not tied to any challenge!)...and then I have a Marcel post for you.  People ask me all the time, did you keep trying to have a girl?  And my consistent answer is no.  I simply didn't feel done after Collin was born or maybe better stated, I didn't feel like our family was complete.  Sometimes I feel as though people don't understand that as a parent your heart can swell with love for the child you never had, the child you may have lost or all the children you do have.  My heart swells with love for my boys...each for their unique personalities.  Man oh man did I never realize how much love could be inside me for my children.

So...today I'm going to chat about Marcel. That little man (who really isn't that little, but will always be my little man) makes my heart swell and who has a personality that connects people to his heart. Here's a few of my favorites about Marcel at nine years old:

• Mom, "When I get older, I think I'm going to help people with heart problems. And I think Collin will be a cooker at a fast food restaurant."  So why does he talk about helping people with heart problems?  One of Marcel's best friends is Bobby.  Bobby was born with down syndrome. To Marcel, down syndrome doesn't mean a thing.  To him it means, Bobby has a heart problem. He loves Bobby with all his heart.  I would love to see Marcel grow up to "help people with heart problems". 
• He's in Peter Pan this week and next and he LOVES being on stage.  In his words, "I have lots of lyrics this year."  Comparing himself to last year in Oliver, he has about 10 to 12 lines versus one (love that he calls lines "lyrics").  Throughout the whole performance he smiles; even when Hook is yelling at the Lost Boys, Because he is so happy being on stage...he smiles through the whole thing. I wish I could learn that 9 year old lesson. Smile away...when you're happy smile, smile away!  
• He loves music.  He will write out the lyrics to his favorite songs one of which Ryan's show choir sang this year (Twenty One Guns by Green Day). Or he'll share with me, Mom, "Have you listed to the new Twenty One Pilots song?  My  number one wish is that I could get an autograph by Twenty One Pilots."  Of course, this made Ryan's day because Marcel is following his musical taste.
• Conversations with him are hilarious.  He loves vocabulary...now he wouldn't say that he loves vocabulary, but if he doesn't know what a word means, he will definitely ask, remember it and use it in proper contact. Here are a few recent examples:
• "Mom, I went to get Collin from Jake's, but he is slow as a sloth."  Asked him what a sloth was, "I don't know, but it makes sense, doesn't it?!"
• "Or...tomorrow night, the elderlies are coming to watch Peter Pan."  The folks from the local nurse home were coming to watch the show.  We are wondering when you go from being old to being an elderly and decided we might now want to know his answer.
• Pat and I are regularly trading texts about him.  The most recent was Marcel saying, "Screwing is not my thing."  That sounds really off color and Pat was dying laughing, but he was talking about unscrewing a bottle.  
• He may not want to hold my hand very often, but he still loves a kiss good bye or a kiss good night or a cuddle on the couch. Oh how I cherish those moments.

My little man simply makes my heart swell. Here's a picture of him in action at Peter Pan.

And yes..I realize I posted a baby card for a girl...subliminal...not sure!

Floral Thank You {and Marcel's Field Day}

It's the middle of the week!  Yahoo.  I'm off tomorrow to take Ryan on his second college visit. We'll be heading over to Ohio University to see the campus. Hard to believe that this time next year he'll have graduated (and yes...I will keep saying this for the next year!)

This card is the third card I made for the teacher gift sets.  Man was the MISTI awesome for lining up the double stamps on those tiny little leaves.  I never would have gotten it lined up without it.  I love the fun, bright vibrant colors.

Last week I popped out of work for a bit to catch Marcel's field day.  We weren't sure if it was going to rain that day but it turned out that it was beautiful.  His only request, "Could you bring me a cookie mom?"  I brought him a big M&M cookie.  His response, "Perfect. You know me so well." He cracks me up.  He was all smiles all day.

Hope your week is moving along well!

Happy Everything {and Marcel's First Communion}

Happy Monday my friends. Is it bad that I'm looking forward to the upcoming three day Memorial Day weekend?  Well, I am!  Hopefully the weather will be nice and we'l be able to sit outside and relax for most of it!  Lately my card making has been just in time card making.  This card was made on Saturday night right as we walked out the door to celebrate a friend's birthday.  My ink blending could have been smoother but I love the vibrant colors and the quick inspiration from the current CAS(E) this Sketch.

Yesterday we celebrated Marcel's First Communion. He was absolutely adorable, "I feel like a lawyer in this suit."  When I told him two of his uncles are lawyers he was very surprised, "They are?!"  Not sure what he thinks of lawyers but he was shocked that his Uncle Tim and Sean were lawyers. It was a beautiful day celebrating with our family. Here are a few pics (I'll have more later when I get caught up with Project Life!).  The sun was in his eyes for these sweet pictures!

Holiday Thanks

Last weekend, I realized that I was short several card sets for the boys teachers.  I had two new stamp sets to play with for this card:  a new Uniko set and a new Winnie & Walter set.  Love them both.  The sentiment is from W&W (where has this been all my life?!) and the detailed leaves, pinecones, etc. are from Uniko. Love the versatility of both the sets.  They'll be getting a lot of inky time from me in the future.  I love, love, love one layer cards.

Have a funny story about Marcel's letter for Santa. He asked for lottery tickets (we buy them every so often) and after he asked for them in his letter he said, "Just so you know, after I scratch them off, I give them to my dad and he gives me bucks for them."  Pat and I were cracking up.  Pretty bad that this implies that Marcel knows he has to be 18 to gamble :)

Congrats Grad!

This week I'm go to have a hodge podge of cards to share with you.  Today it is a graduation card for a co-worker of mine recently completed her under grad and I wanted to get her a little something.  I had originally made this for the Runway Inspired challenge, but waited too long to post it!

I'll leave you with a picture of Collin all dressed up for his band concert last week. He was really pleased with his tie and hair gel when I got home. Love that although he normally avoids his picture being taken he was proud to be "dressed handsome."  And of course, Marcel had to sneak in the picture too.

Thoughts & Prayers {and Marcel's Birthday Party}

It has been way too long since I played along with a Runway Inspired challenge.  I put my new Verve stamps to use.  Loved all the white space and the combination of gray/black and yellow.  I think the inspiration speaks for itself.

Mentioned on Monday that there is lots to share this week!  Below are pictures from Marcel's birthday party. I'm continuing to put the Project Life app to good use. These layouts have already been printed and are waiting to make it into Marcel's scrapbook.

Marcel wanted a pinata! Everyone had to clear out of the way so that they didn't get hit!

And cake time...the cake inspired by his birthdate (10-3) and his age of 9.  Love that he was clever enough to think of that when he and Pat ordered the cake.

And the home run derby in the backyard!

I Love You {and Marcel's Up Stander Award}

I hope if you had a long weekend that you're easing back into the work week.  Popping in to share a card for the The Cutting Edge challenge.  Loved the color combo on Amy's inspiration card.  I played along with some Verve die cut hearts and a Lil Inker cover die template.  This card is for my hubby since I left home on Sunday and won't see him until Friday afternoon.

Before I go I wanted to share a few pictures of Marcel. A couple of weeks ago he was recognized at halftime of the varsity football game for being recognized as an "Up Stander".  A friend at school that stands up for friends that need a little help. So proud of this little guy for being recognized as being a great friend along with about 10 other kids from the school across all grades.  His smile says it all and it was extra special that Nana and PopPop came along too to see him get his award.

Happy Birthday Marcel!

Today we're celebrating my little guy's 9th birthday. It's hard to believe that he's already nine years old.  We have a fun weekend planned starting with breakfast with daddy before school.  I'll pick him up from school, we'll head out to dinner and then the high school varsity football game.  Marcel is being recognized at half time for being a "good supporter of friends who need extra help at school."  Our school system has an anti-bullying program called "My Voice. My Choice."  Marcel is a very loving little guy; hates conflict and in his own words told us the other day, "I don't want to be a predator.  I want to be a peacemaker."  He was talking about not wanting to kill a cricket in the basement!...but this does sum up who he is. He is a very, very happy little guy and definitely shares his happiness with others. We're really proud of him for being recognized for being a good friend/classmate.  We'll be sure to snap a few pictures.

The birthday celebrations will continue with a baseball themed birthday party on Sunday with a few of his friends.  According to Marcel, here's the plan for the party:

• Normal birthday cake "like we always get"  from Kroger (baseball themed with a 10-3 score for his birthday month year and the player wearing a 9 since Marcel is 9). He doesn't miss a beat that one. 
• Wiffle ball game in the backyard.
• Water balloon toss
• Pinata (or a pina colada...as he calls them)
• Pizza with sausage and pepperoni

Marcel brightens up every day with his outgoing love for live.  We love you little man...and here's to another great year.  xoxo

Happy Birthday Darnell! {and Oliver previews}

Hello friends. I'm thrilled to be popping in to wish the amazing Darnell a fabulous birthday!  Ardyth is hosting a birthday party for Darnell (if you haven't already...pop on over and link up a birthday wish for Darnell). Darnell is one of the kindest bloggers in blog land.  Everytime I visit her blog I leave with a smile on my face.  She's a positive, fun loving soul and oh how I appreciate her.  Darnell, wishing you the very best of birthdays.  You brighten my days.

I played along with the Runway Inspired challenge for Darnell's birthday. The father's day card she made for her son with her grandson reminded me of the butterflies she used on her card.

I also thought I'd share a couple of pictures of Jonathon and Marcel. They are in Oliver next week and I snapped a few pictures at their dress rehearsal last night. Seriously...they are so cute and talented :)!

Marcelisms

Hello there....no card today from me, but I thought I'd pop in and share a couple of pictures of Marcel from this weekend.  His team had a great season.  I loved his stance when he was on base.  Normally his back hand is up too in a very serious ready pose.  The boys went to the local Whippy Dip after the game. They were definitely all smiles.

He is at a great age.  I love his outgoing personality.  Here are a few Marcelisms:

• When he has something important to tell you, which is about every 30 minutes, "Hey mommy, hey mommy, you know what..."  followed by whatever is on his mind :)
• He's my thirsty little guy, always mooching a sip of my water and when I don't have one for him to mooch, "Hey mommy, will you please pour me a big, big, big, big glass of water with lots of ice?
• And the hilarious conversations like this text I received from Pat yesterday, "At Skyline.  Marcel with his favorite waitress, "She's my favorite because has such nice hair.  I just love staring at it. It is so gorgeous."  Seriously, was cracking up laughing at work when I received that text.  What eight year old talks about gorgeous hair?  We're in trouble!

Seriously though, he is a very polite, loving little man...certainly fills our home with lots of love, kisses and laughter.

Thanks

I hope you are all enjoying the Memorial Day weekend.  It has been absolutely beautiful weather here and we're been spending time outside relaxing.  The little guys had the sprinkler out and then decided to have a lemonade stand.  Collin is the organizer:  making the lemonade, getting the table out, making the signs and Marcel is the salesman.  Not a shy bone in that little guy's body.  Their friend next door came out too and he has a snowcone maker which was quite the hit. At the end of the day they had made $20.  Needless to say they were pleased.  Unfortunately, we didn't break out the sunscreen and Collin is paying for it as I type up this post Pat just finished putting aloe on his sunburned back.  Yikes.

I hope you all get time to relax this weekend too. I had to play along with this gorgeous color combo for the current PaperTrey Ink Blog Hop.  I love it!  Kept it very, very simple using a much older PTI set for the circles and the Wet Paint set for the sentiment.

Thanks So Much {and Marcel pitching/family selfies!}

 Happy Monday friends. We had the most beautiful Easter weekend. The weather was perfect and we had a wonderful time with family all weekend long.  I'll be back tomorrow with Easter pictures, but today I wanted to share pictures from Marcel's baseball game.  He pitched for the first time on Saturday.  He was so excited.  He's been practicing with Pat a ton and to say he was thrilled when his coach told him he could pitch the last inning was an understatement!  He struck out two, walked one and the other two were outs on

And here he is batting.  He made it to base each time...two hits and two walks.  Could he look any cuter in his uniform?  I've loved watching all my boys play baseball.  Hard to believe he's our last one!

We also were having fun this weekend taking selfies!  Ryan and his two oldest cousins, Madeleine and Elizabeth are always goofing around taking them. This weekend we got the entire family in on them.  Thought these would make you smile...we certainly did!

Marcel's in this picture, but he got lost!

 Outside Neal and Cindy's house...celebrating Neal's 50th.

Jonathon's photo bombing and Madeleine doing I'm not sure what!

And one non-selfie of me with my mum and two older brothers celebrating Neal's 50th!  We didn't plan to match!

PS My card for today is for the current Viva La Verve sketch. I got inky yesterday and have four cards to share all using Verve Stamps this week.  Love their stamps!