7 Years Old

My baby, Grant, turned 7 years old today.   We had a GREAT day.  Garrett went to a movie and Monroe all day with a friend who was celebrating his birthday.  So Grant and I got to spend some time together.  We straightened up the house, ran some errands for his party and then met Granny and Paw at Applebees for lunch. I asked Grant to show me how old he was and I snapped a photo real quick...

He is growing up fast but he still seems alot younger at 7 than my oldest did...  Here are some photos of him with Granny and Paw.....

When our waitress found out it was his birthday, she brought him a hot fudge Sundae which he devoured!!

When Paw and Granny asked him why he couldn't stop growing this was the adorable pic I got....

Our birthday party was at the Louisiana Tech University Natatorium....it is an indoor heated pool and it was the perfect place for a party....
Grant warmed up in the shallow end with a cannonball....

Then, with NO hesitation at all, he climbed up the high dive and jumped off....this was NOT Grant's first time off the high dive...he did it several times during the summer but it had been a while but there was no fear...

Grant's choice for a birthday theme this year was Ghostbusters....he loves these movies and says he is going to be a ghostbuster when he grows up...here is his adorable cake...

It was a fun party....they swam and swam and ate pizza and cake and now Grant has a friend sleeping over.  This is his first time to have someone spend the night and I am so exhausted I hope the kid doesn't start crying for his mom....
It was a fun 7th birthday and I know that before I'm ready, it will be seventeen.....

Snow Day

So we live in the South, right?  I mean we are all about humidity and warm temps....well, obviously I am not far enough South because it hasn't been above freezing in two days and the boys are out of school today on a snow day.  I think they use that term very liberally because I'll be honest...I haven't seen the first snowflake.  How about calling it what it is....its an ice day....

These are some small trees in my yard...they are starting to bend over under weight of the ice...

This is my mailbox....the boys keep going out and eating the icicles off it...luckily more keep forming :) .

So how are we entertaining ourselves on this nasty cold day?  Well, this morning when I knew we would be cooped up all day, we ventured out and went to one of our very favorite places...BLOCKBUSTER....
They each chose a game and a movie...

Here is Grant watching Toy Story 3...the end of this movie makes me cry EVERY single time I watch it...how cool is it to get to watch a tv at home where Woody is bigger than you?

Here is my big boy vegged out in front of his wii game....Lego Star Wars...I will say that he does not spend hours in front of video games...he gets tired of it after about 30 minutes and does something else...

And what am I doing?  Well, cleaning here and there....laundry....checking out my favorite scrappy sites...scrapbook.com and My Scrapbook Nook and doing a little scrapping....

This is what my space looks like right now...I am a very messy scrapper :)  .

Here are a few of my latest creations......

This is Grant when he was 10 months old....his first Christmas, his first introduction to Santa....I thought he would be scared but he wasn't....just very curious...look at that little face...
The journaling reads:    

Oh, Sweet Boy, this Christmas has been wondrous!!! Ive been able to see everything anew through your eyes. Everything has been fresh and amazing to you. The lights, the gifts, the music, and Santa. I have to tell you that seeing this photo of you brought tears to my eyes. No fear....no hesitation...just wonder, curiosity, and pure innocence are shining on your face. Enjoy this time my precious, and I want to thank you for bringing the wonder and joy of this blessed season back to me. I love you, my sweet Grant. Merry Christmas!

And here is one of Grant when he was about 7 or 8 months old....

Journaling:  My very precious, Grant, you are so beautiful, innocent, and amazing to me. I hope you are having the very sweetest dreams. You are such a blessing and so very loved...I pray you grow up knowing that Mom and Dad love you unconditionally. I hope that all of your dreams come true...I pray that you are willing to work toward those dreams and nver quit even when things seem impossible....DREAM!!

I love capturing these memories for myself and for my boys and I love knowing that they will have these letters from me and how I loved them even when I am gone.

So even though I hate this cold weather, we have had a fun "Snow" day...still, I'd rather be having a fun day with higher temps....oh well, Summer will be here before we know it...yay!!!! Until next time, stay warm and make lots of memories.

UPWARD BASKETBALL

This past weekend was busy but fun....

First thing Saturday morning both boys had basketball games....we love these games even if they do get us up and out before 8 on Saturday mornings...
Grant's game was first and he is not quite 7....

I think these were the only two times he touched the ball in the whole game...lol....and I got it both times.  I'm not saying that he doesn't enjoy playing the game....because he loves to go and he likes to try and shoot the basketball (when he can get to it), but he just lacks that drive and aggression that Garrett plays with...for example...the coach pulled him out of the game(they have to sit out some because there are more players than spots to play...) and was he watching the game or cheering for his teammates while they played?

NOPE!

I love this shot....his coach is all involved in whatever was happening on the court, and there's Grant...staring at something...not quite sure what...lol...that's my baby boy...gotta love him. 

Grant's game was over at 10 and we had to wait 2 hours for Garrett's game to start at 12...so we went to Waffle House and had some breakfast, and then made the obligatory Wal-Mart run...funny how in a small town if you have an hour or so to kill, you just go to Wal-Mart...

Watching Garrett's game is a little different for me...I love watching Grant play but with Garrett it gets a little more intense...I actually get into the game and I have to watch myself so that I'm not yelling at him, or the refs, or the other players the whole game...yes, I will admit I am quite competitive and have been known to yell during a little league game...yes...I am blushing while admitting that to you...

GO, GARRETT!!!!

That is my #33 making that basket...

Garrett is alot like his Dad....very aggressive, very driven, and determined to get the ball even if he breaks a bone (his or anyone else's who might be in his way) while he is doing it....

Defense?  Let me just say....Garrett takes his defense SERIOUSLY!!!

I think his motto is, "FOUL, SHMOUL"

Whatever it takes to keep his guy from making a basket, he'll do it...in a couple of years that will have him riding the bench when he fouls out...and trust me,....that will be in the first five minutes of the game....

I can only say that I LOVE LOVE LOVE being a boy mom and the more sports...the better!!!

More Scrappy Fun!!!

So I have been scrapbooking alot lately and I am loving how it gives me so much emotional and mental therapy while I just create to my heart's content....

I entered a challenge on scrapbook.com.  The challenge was to choose a single word that you wanted to scrap about and the word I chose was Happy.....so here is my creation

I also have some more pages for Garrett's baseball album....here is a layout about Uncle Matt taking him out for batting practice...

And this last one is one of my favorites....it is Garrett in his batting helmet and I wrote to him about how much he had improved this season...

The journaling reads:  G, this season I watched you transform into an amazing baseball player...In the field you played short stop...and man, did you play short stop...Every game my eyes would fill with tears as I watched you lead your team to victory after victory....and your batting?  WOW!!! We could count on you every single time to get a hit and get on base...You amaze me!!

I have some photos of the boys playing Upward basketball to show you...maybe I'll get that done tonight...but for now?  I'm gonna go scrap some more!!!

Baseball Mini Album

One of the scrap projects I am working on right now is a mini album for the baseball season that Garrett made All-Stars.  It was such a fun and wonderful season that I wanted to preserve those memories for him.

This is the cover page and gives the team name, Sterling Pharmacy, and gives the team roster with names and numbers.  This was such a fun team.  Garrett is third from the left on the front row....

The second page focuses on the two coaches, Ryan and Pat Hall and Coach Scot Simmons who worked with the boys in the dugout. They were a great team and really tried to teach the boys about baseball and life in general while still making it fun.  This combination must have worked because Sterling Pharmacy was the AA Dixie champs!!!
I will post more pages from the album as I complete them. I had so much fun with these pages....I LOVE the 8x8 format and can't wait to do more mini albums.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!

Today was my 3? birthday....ok, ok....I'll tell you.....

Here I am in all my 38 year old glory...no photoshopping or editing....It was a really great day...except for the cold and rain.  I went to Monroe to shop a little...here are a few of my fun goodies I got today....

These tops were from Maurice's...I LOVE that store....and I needed some new, pretty, girly tops....

I got two tanks and this really cool scarf at Old Navy....it is another of my favorite shops.  I also got some new workout wear there but didn't figure you were interested in yoga pants and sports bras :)

These were my Target goodies.  Yes, I know lots of shopping but really...you can't beat Old Navy and Target's prices so I really wasn't all that bad.  I got alot of stuff for not all that much money...

And of course I couldn't let the day go by without some fun scrappy stuff....these are my first Copic pens and thought I would see if I liked them since I journal so much on my layouts.  I went to lunch with Ryan at my very favorite restaurant, Ernestos. It is a fabulous mexican place in Monroe.  We ate and then I came back to Ruston and picked the boys up from school. 

Here is Garrett with the sweet card he gave me.  They all sang happy birthday to me this morning and gave me cards and a cool new scrappy tote that will be awesome when I travel.

Here is Grant with the two cards that he picked for me.  The one with the kid and the finger shoved up his nose does represent Grant's obsession with picking his nose (God, please let this one pass quickly.) 
Ryan has promised that I can buy something for our new house for my birthday present and I am trying to decide what I want.  We will be going to dinner...hopefully I will get a pic of the two of us tonight.  I feel very blessed and I did have a great day!!!

Scrappy Fun

So, up until this past weekend, I had not scrapbooked one single thing in over three years....that is really very sad.  I used scrapbooking as an emotional, spiritual, mental, and artistic release.  It helped me through an extremely difficult time in my life.  But, I let life, busyness, and sad to say, depression overtake me and I created no more.  I have wanted to for awhile now....but I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to do it anymore...that I had somehow lost my ability to create...some very good friends encouraged me to try....and I am so glad they did....here are a just a couple of layouts that I completed this past weekend.....

This one is about how I was in denial about his eyes and eyesight until he started having to tilt his head forward to keep from seeing double....I'm so sorry, my sweet boy.

And here is another....

This one is about the wonderful relationship that Grant and PawPaw have had since he was a little baby.  We love you, PawPaw. 

Creating these layouts was so much fun and reawakened in me the desire to create more and more..I do have more layouts that I created but no time to post  them now so we will leave those until tomorrow.

All I can say is WOO HOO....I GOT MY SCRAP BACK......