Braiden's 6th Birthday!

Hello, sorry it's been so long since I've posted. I wanted to share some photo's from Braiden's 6th Birthday Party with you today. He wanted his party at our local bowling alley. This was his first "friends" party. I was a little nervous, I must say, but the party went really well. It ended up running a little late, but I guess we'll know better next time! Here's some pictures from his party...

Front Row: Lily, Sadie, Mason

Back Row: Jace, Mitchell, Braiden, Kaleb, Zachary, Braedy

Braiden's Friends from Kindergarten

Ok... When I bought Braiden's birthday present, I was sure we had wrapping paper at home. Well when I got home I discovered that we didn't, so I decided to cut apart some brown paper bags from the grocery store and wrap it with that. (My Grandma used to wrap presents with the funnies from the newspaper.) I let the kids draw pictures and put stickers on it, they loved it. In fact, Braiden didn't want to throw it away. 

And here's the card that I made Braiden:

 Supply List: Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned Paper: BasicGrey; Embroidery Floss: We R Memory Keepers; Buttons: BasicGrey; Adhesive: Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L, Glue Dots; Border Punch: Fiskars; Sketch: Allison Davis for Sketch Support

Thanks for looking! I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Halloween Pictures!

Hello, I hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween. The kids had a great time last night trick-or-treating. I have some Halloween pictures to share with you from this past weekend, we went to our local nursery and snapped these photos. Braiden wanted to be a firefighter, but when we went to the store, they were out of his size, so he decided to be a police officer instead. Lily saw this monarch butterfly costume in a catalog and knew the whole time that was what she wanted to be.

That's it for now. Thanks for looking!

Love Notes!

I'm super behind in posting the kids' Lunch Box Love Notes. I have three weeks worth of them to share with you today. The first ones I'll share are from bird themed week.

Supply List: Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned Paper: Scenic Route, My Mind's Eye; Gems: Mark Richards; Punch: Fiskars; Adhesive: Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L, Pop Dots by EK Success

The next weeks theme was bugs.

Supply List: Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned Paper: BasicGrey, Scenic Route; Gems: Mark Richards, Kaiser: Pearls: Kaiser; Border Punch: EK Success; Butterfly Punch: Martha Stewart Crafts; Adhesive: Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L

And finally last weeks theme was fall.

Supply List: Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned Paper: BasicGrey; Element Sticker: BasicGrey; Paper Leaf: Bazzill; Gems: Mark Richards; Adhesive: Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L, Pop Dots by EK Success 



Thanks for taking the time to look today!

Ghost Cookies

Hello, it seems like it's been a long time since I've posted anything, so I thought I would share with you the Ghost Cookies the kids made today. While I was visiting the Sketch Support Blog this morning, I saw a layout that Allison Davis made that had these adorable ghost cookies on it. I thought they would be a nice and easy project for the kids to do, so we ran to the store and bought the ingredients... NutterButter Cookies, Vanilla Candy Coating and Mini Chocolate Chips. They were so easy to make, the kids made them all by themselves and I have to say that I think they did a wonderful job!

Microwave the Vanilla Candy Coating until completely melted. Dip the Nutter Butter Cookies in the candy coating until covered, letting the excess candy coating dip off.

Place on waxed paper.

Immediately add 3 mini chocolate chips, two for the eyes and one for the mouth. Place the completed cookies in the refrigerator until the candy coating is set.

The next step is very important... make sure to eat the remaining vanilla candy coating, as you don't want any to go to waist!! :-)

And finally you have your completed Ghost Cookies.



Thank you for stopping by! I hope everyone has a Happy Halloween!!!

Fall Photos!

This past weekend we drove up to Father Hennepin State Park on Mille Lacs Lake to take our annual Fall photos. The kids love walking on the trails through the woods. While walking on the trail we came across this...

The kids were so excited to see it. It was the biggest frog I have ever seen. It's kind of hard to tell by the picture though.

Well on to the Fall photos of Braiden and Lily. Braiden wasn't really in the mood for pictures. But Lily on the other hand, was ready and willing to pose. On the way up to the lake, we came across this old abandoned church. So we stopped and snapped a few pictures there.

                                               

                                                

 

Here's the rest of the pictures from Father Hennepin State Park.

                                               

That's it for today. Sorry the pictures aren't centered, the formatting isn't working for me today for some reason. Thanks for looking!

First Day of School

So, last week was the start of school. This post is jam packed with photos from both Braiden and Lily's first days. First up is Braiden... he started kindergarten on Wednesday, September 7th. I was pretty much a nervous wreck to leave him there the first day. I've been at home with him ever since he was born and although I thought I was ready for him to start, it turns out that I really wasn't. Everything went really well for him. I'll be dropping him off at school in the morning, but he rides the bus home after school. He was a little scared of this. He said he cried a little getting on the school bus because he missed his Mom and Dad, how sweet. Our neighbor boys were there and helped him feel better, which I'm so thankful for. He said, "School was a lot of fun, but tiring."



OK, next up is Lily. She started Pre-K on Friday, September 9th. She was so excited to go. Her best friend Ava is in her class again this year, so she couldn't wait to see her again. She attends school for 2 1/2 hours on Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays. Lily just absolutely loves school and I'm so glad she does. I think she just really loves learning new things. She is starting to read already, at 4 years old, and I couldn't be more proud of her. It's really hard to believe that both of my children will be in Elementary School next year. It will definitely be a huge change for me.

  



















I'll be posting some cards I made tomorrow. Thanks for looking!

Splash Park

We just returned from the Splash Park. It was my first time taking the kids there. We met Braiden's friend Mitchell, his Mom Mary and his brother Mason there. The boys really loved being in the water, they were in the water constantly from the moment we got there until it was time to go home. Lily on the other hand wasn't real fond of it at first, but really started to enjoy it. She doesn't like getting water on her face, so she was a little hesitant to go under the spraying fountains. But toward the end of the day she started going under the fountains, her hair was even wet when we left.

I think we'll have to take another trip to the Splash Park this summer.

Wild West Days

This weekend was filled with lots of fun activities for Wild West Days. Saturday we were in the parade with my Mom and Dad. They pulled the kids in their Soap Box Derby Cars. I was a little worried, I wasn't sure if the kids would sit in their cars for that long. But they did a wonderful job. Lily was so cute. She waived to the crowd the whole way through the parade.

Sunday was Race Day, the Soap Box Derby! The kids were so excited. My Dad built the Soap Box Cars for them. Braiden requested a black car with "old school flames" and Lily requested a pink and purple car. Braiden raced first and did a great job. Then Lily raced, the other driver was ahead of her, but as the got closer to the bottom of the hill, Lily picked up speed and passed him. My niece Sadie also raced. She used my other niece Jenna's car. Jenna wasn't able to race it, so they asked if Sadie wanted to race it.

It was then time for the trophies. Braiden got 3rd Place and won $25. Lily got 1st Place and won $50. Braiden asked "Why is Lily's trophy bigger than mine?" I'm not sure how he felt at first losing to a girl, and not just any girl, but his little sister. But he ended up taking it pretty well, making sure to tell everyone that he won last years derby.

After the race, we went down to the carnival so the kids could go on some rides. They went on all of their favorites... helicopters, boats, cars, dizzy dragons and the roller coaster. Braiden and Sadie went down the giant slide, but Lily chickened out when she got to the top. Maybe next year she will give that one a try.