Ok, Ok, I uploaded the pictures so here it is a picture H.E.A.V.Y. post!

I forgot to mention that I ran in a 5 mile race last weekend. The boys also did a kids 1K race. It was a lot of hard work, but I manged to finish in 55min 36sec. The boys had a blast doing their own race too, just like mom :) The day was pretty cold, took me awhile to warm up. I also learned that I cannot drink a cup of water while I'm running...I almost drowned twice, lol! Anyway, here are some pictures (I apologize, I look like a complete dork while running but I did it!).

Boys ready to run!

Kieran, a wee bit excited!

They had fun playing on the rocks waiting for the race to start. I'm just glad we didn't have to go get stitches! That may have put a damper on my run :)

Can you find them?

Heehee! He was pretty fast and was really tired :)

Kieran making his way to the finish.

Post race popsicles with their cute sister :) They were so excited to get medals but Riley actually gave his to a friend who didn't get one since they ran out! He was thanked with a big hug from her! So cute!

The running crew!

Woohoo!!! Almost done! Kieran actually started to run out into the road ahead of me. It was a good thing he got out of the way because I didn't have the energy to run around him!

So proud of us!

Shout out to my running girls! Don't they look amazing for just having run 8K?! We rock!

Ok, so here we go with first day of school take 2!

My cutie with his K'nex sword or blaster or whatever it was at the time :)

Two big boys!

All ready to go!

Got some cute pictures of Riley but he wasn't looking at the camera in any of them :)

Perfect pose!

So cute!!

Sneezin'!

Sneezes are funny!!!

Awww :)

And finally, the clipboards I altered for the preschool. I totally wanted to keep them ;) But was so happy to be asked to make them for note taking at the school! They'll be used to jot down quick stories about the kids during class. I thought the little boy and girl with the speech bubbles were just perfect!

Ok, now I'm really done :) My blizzard has been delivered by my oh-so-fabulous husband! It is much needed after my crazy day of knocking my daughter in the head with a car door, spilling coffee all over my car, almost being backed into by a truck (while walking to school) not to mention dealing with kids who cry, whine, throw rocks, hit each other and a pup who peed in my dining room. Sigh. Ice cream, here I come!

Stuck?! Sketches reveal and cute kid stories :)

You know what that means? Another Stuck?! Sketches reveal! I love looking at everyone's take on the sketch on reveal days. Lots of inspiration for sure! You can check it out here. This is the sketch we were working with:

And here is the layout I created with it. These pictures of Bridget crack me up :)

Kieran started preschool this week which made him a very happy boy and me a very happy mama to see him having so much fun and being down to 1 kid for a couple of hours. The first day was a hectic morning...we had to chase down Kevin's bus, take Riley to school, get groceries and then finally go to preschool. In all the chaos I forgot to take first day pictures!! Imagine, and a scrapbooker to boot! We recreated first day today and I also took some more pictures of Riley with his backpack this time and his new haircut (which he got gum in on the way home from the hairdressers I might add). I actually still have to put the pictures on my computer and I don't have my camera handy, but they are coming soon!

A couple of Riley stories :)

The other day I asked Riley if anyone had gotten in trouble in his class...if they had a time out or went to the principle's office. He said they don't have a bench to sit on this year, but they just have to sit at their desk if they aren't being quiet at circle time. I asked if anyone had to do that and if he did. He said that Noah did and he did. I asked if they were talking to each other. He said, " I was chatting more so I had to go sit at my desk first and then Noah did." I told him that in school he had to be good and follow the rules and not talk when the teacher was talking. He stops me and says, "It's in the past!" I said, "so..." He said, "So, we don't have to worry about it anymore, it's in the past!" Hmm...maybe he's seen that Lion King movie a few too many times :)

A couple of days ago he also declared that, "hummus is yummus!"

Yes, he makes me crazy sometimes, but ya gotta laugh at the kid! One more:

Kevin was feeding the kids breakfast this morning and told me that Kieran was saying that boys are tougher than girls. I think Kevin asked why he was saying it or something to that effect and Riley said that Sarah (his cousin) was tougher than him. Kevin said that someday he would probably be bigger than Sarah and would be tougher than her someday. Riley said, "yeah, when she's an old lady I'll be able to beat her down!" (Ok, I am literally laughing out loud while I type that!). He followed it up with, "but I wouldn't do that..."

I'll be back with pictures of my cuties, I promise. Funny how I think it's such a chore to upload them :) I also have pictures of some cool altered clipboards that I made for Kieran's preschool. I'm actually now in the process of making one for myself after having made 6 for other people. They are so fun to do!

Hope you all had a great Wednesday. Mine was not so great so I'm hoping for a better Thursday!! :)

Mish Mash Blog Post

I do a lot of blogging. I know you might not know it, doesn't seem like it here does it? But I do. In my head while going to get the kids, brushing my teeth, folding laundry. If only I could find away to plug my computer into my brain there would be a lot more blog posts here! Finding the time to sit down and do it is tough. Even as I type there are bathrooms to be cleaned, a playroom to be vacuumed and laundry to be folded. Sigh. But, the kids and pup are asleep so I decided to steal a few quick minutes to do this.

I realized I have yet to show you my projects that I did with the September Crop Addict kit! Yikes, I am so behind. This kit was so much fun to work with. It had a lot of the Bo Bunny Mama-razzi line in it, which is one I didn't buy any of. I just didn't think it was for me. Umm...guess I was wrong! It is perfect for getting some boy pages done which is good because they tend to get neglected! And I got a couple of birthday cards done which were needed for the month of August.

Fun stuff, eh? And I still have lots of this kit left over. You can do so many projects with it. You can get your very own kit here. All of the kits of filled with tons of goodies to work with every month. I'm sure I could easily do another 3 layouts with the stuff I have left and then of course some more cards with the scraps :)

During August I was also asked to guest design for Let's Capture Our Memories. Tanya asked different girls to design each month and kept it a secret until the reveal. What a great idea! It was fun to see who got picked each month. Here is what I created with her beautiful kit! Again, lots of this one left too and I hope to get some more done with it. Our life was just so hectic in August and I feel like things might just be starting to settle into a routine now. I also have some scrappy dates set up in the near future, yay!

Gorgeous girly papers! I was lucky to get a girly kit and and boyish kit in August!

Here's a layout that I LOVE that I did awhile back but don't think I ever posted. It's one of my faves!

Ok, on to my kids. I know you are all dying to hear about them :) Playing hide and seek with little kids is never boring! I love listening to Bridget now, it's just so cute. She was on the stairs counting the other day and I overhear, "1, you ready? 1, 2, 3, 4, 2. Here my not, here I come! Kieran, where are you? Are you under the bucket?" Which he was, of course, because they had been hiding under it all morning. He wouldn't think of hiding somewhere different, that would be crazy! :) Then he counted and she hid under the bucket. Ah, minutes of entertainment! Her counting is always different too (and she TOTALLY knows how to count up to about 13, but not when playing hide and seek, apparently). Once she counted, 1, 2, 3, 40, 9, 10 :)

Riley started school on Tuesday (that's his first day picture on my header). He has an awesome teacher and is loving every minute already. He even had homework the first day (those grade 1 teachers are slave drivers!). He has about 5-10 minutes of it Mon-Thur and then the weekends are free. It's good because in kindergarten he was always disappointed that he didn't have homework. I'll have to remind him of all of this in middle school!

Kieran is anxiously awaiting his first day of preschool which is Monday. I think it's hard for him to wait so long after Riley goes. He's been counting days until he is in the 'big 4' class :) I can't believe we'll be registering him for kindergarten next month! Wow!

Oz (ok, I guess he's my 4th kid) is doing well. Sleeping through the night now and pretty well trained. Well, as long as Kevin isn't home. I swear the only times that dog pees or poops on the floor is when he's with Kevin. Kevin claims he can look after 3 kids OR a dog, but not both :) He can sit on command but isn't a fan of walking on a leash yet. That's my next thing to conquer since we walk a lot to get Riley from school.

I have one more 'in my head' blog, but maybe I'll save it for a bit. Don't want to type so much that all my tens of readers bail on me :) Have a great Friday, everyone!!

Stuck?! Sketches Sept 1st reveal and a yogurt rant...

...cuz those 2 things TOTALLY go together :)

First for the scrappy fun. We're a bit early, but the September 1st reveal for Stuck?! is up for your viewing pleasure. I had a lot of fun with this sketch. It's really not the direction I meant to go with this picture. These papers just kind of fell into place...not what I had in mind when I first started, but sometimes that makes for the best layouts. Here is our sketch:

And my take on it:

And now for the yogurt. Every time I go to by yogurt I am struck by just how many kinds there are. I mean, I know, variety is the spice of life, but c'mon...it's just a little too spice-y in that aisle. Almost every time I'm there I stand there just staring going over each kind...omega-3, probiotics, prebiotics, fat free, low fat, blah, blah, blah. What kind do I want to pick today? I'm a simple girl, I like simple yogurt. Simple flavours...strawberry, peach. I know I like those flavours...do I like pineapple/kiwi/acai? Or pear/vanilla bean? Or pomegranate/mango? Who knows? I don't want to risk it and be disappointed and have all the yogurt go bad on me. Oh, and I like stirred, not fruit on the bottom. I hate when I buy that by accident. Trying to stir yogurt in that tiny little container and then getting to the bottom and finding out I didn't do a very good job. There are few things that have so many choices as the yogurt...shampoo is another one. I do that same long debate in that aisle and I still haven't found a favourite shampoo. I have, after much debate found a favourite yogurt. I like Astro BioBest with the 1% M.F. Nice simple yogurt...ok, I think it has omega-3s or prebiotics or something, but I pretty much ignored that in my search. The flavours are simple, the fat content is non-existent but isn't too high. I can buy just one kind for me and the kids. So, there you go, the results of my oh so scientific search. I hope you've found them helpful. I'll keep you posted on the shampoo :)

Vacation days #5, 6 and 7

Sorry, between insomnia and running places with the kids and getting a puppy I've been slack with the blogging. Rest assured that the last couple of days of vacation were pretty slow :)

Last Wednesday we spent the day at Story Land. We had a big debate over Story Land or Santa's Village but thought this would be better for our kids ages. We had a fantastic time. Seven and a half hours later we still didn't see everything! We did most of the rides, saw a circus show (the magician was a BIG hit!) ate an overpriced lunch (what are you gonna do when you're stuck there?), played in the sprayground and played in a room full of foam balls shooting out of every tube and gun imaginable. So, so much fun. We loved the roller coaster and the bamboo chutes...a water ride where you fall down a big hill and make a big splash! Bridget was *just* tall enough to ride on all the rides. They even checked her at 4 or 5 of them which made me feel like a slightly bad mother (you sure you want to take your 2 year old on this ride, lady??? ok...if you're sure...).

Now, I know you are going to be disappointed that you don't get to look at hundreds of pictures of our amazing day, but I didn't carry my bulky camera around all day. We were very much in the moment having fun. I also didn't want it to get wet. Now, when a scrapbooker leaves her camera behind on a very fun day and all of a sudden is offered the opportunity to buy a picture of her family falling down the bamboo chute ride of course she is going to take it. Even if it costs $12. It helps that the picture is hilarious! The joy on Riley's face, the terror on Bridget's, me with a death grip around my barely tall enough daughter...ah, so, so good. I know, you're dying to see it right. Ok, coming right up. Now before you get all upset about my scanning this picture and posting it, I actually checked with Story Land and they said to go ahead and post it. Yay!

I LOVE it! It makes me laugh each and every time i look at it. See, my death grip on Bridget, haha. She looks scared but she would have been all for doing it again!

After our very long day we needed some supper before the hour long drive back to our United States house. We decided (bravely) to eat at a place called Joseph's Spaghetti Shed. I mean who passes up the opportunity to eat at a spaghetti shed? Heehee. Well, the sauces were all home-made and fantastic. If we had had room for dessert I'm sure that would have been amazing too. Actually, the white sauce wasn't as good at the red so if you are ever at the Spaghetti Shed, go red! I made Kevin share (it's a husband's duty, right?).

Our drive home was through the mountains at sunset. We stopped to take a couple of pictures. I think that if we had waited until the next rest stop the pictures would have been more spectacular, but oh well. It was late and we really had to get those kids in bed. As it was, Bridget woke up part of the way home and just kept saying, "Mommy, I want you." over and over and over. I think this is also the same night that we called 911 because the driver in front of us was clearly impaired. It was a slow drive home since there was no way we were passing him and I hope they actually got to him. We told them what exit he took but had to keep going since we had no idea where that exit would have taken us. Anyway, to a few more pictures...

Riley wanted to get out of the van and have his picture taken with me. Kieran didn't want out and Bridget was asleep.

Riley took this picture of us. Not bad!

It was a late night so I think the kids actually slept in the next morning until 6...maybe a little after. What a treat, haha!

Thursday we just hung out some more. Played at the pool, I did a craft and so did the kids while Kevin played in a pool tournament (and actually won! haha! we got a free movie rental...oooh. We watched 2010. Meh. There are better rentals so don't feel bad passing this one up!). Then we did a bit of shopping, well, as much as 3 overtired kids would let us do. I got a few back to school items for Riley and a hoodie for me. Big spenders that we are.

Pool fun:

This puddle jumper was worth every penny! Kieran even took turns with it in the deep end :)

Riley practicing his diving :)

Kieran apparently doing his side glide. He hasn't even learned that yet. Guess it helps to watch big brother in the pool :)

Bridget and I chased a butterfly for quite awhile outside. He kept just touching the outdoor pool and making cool water rings, but that's tough to catch on camera!

Next are Kevin's water acrobatics. Please, kids, don't try this at home. I was pretty afraid my kids were going to and I think Riley was trying a few things. Sigh, no wonder they're crazy!

My camera actually got wet on that last splash :)

Phew, ok, I think that's the whole trip. Friday was just the drive home which was pretty uneventful (thankfully, even given all the police we saw in Maine who had pulled over speeders). We had lunch at the Olive Garden in Bangor which was the only place I really wanted to eat in the States. It was so yummy! We had to wait a little for the Friday lunch crowd to settle but it was worth it (to me anyway, Kevin claims he never wants to eat out with kids again, haha. Really, they were pretty good but no meal out is ever relaxing with kids. I tried to ignore them and get lost in my pasta yumminess :).

Ok, and now it's time for bed. Our first night with Oz, our new boxer puppy. Wish us luck. We've had a pretty successful evening...no accidents, slept a little, played a little. Hope we get some sleep tonight. Pictures of that cutie to come soon ;)

Vacation day #4

Last Tuesday we decided to go play mini golf at Pirate's Cove. Ambitious with 3 small kids but fun nonetheless. The kids didn't play every hole, but they had fun. Especially at the hole with the pirate ship wheel and bell....they liked that :) Riley even got a hole in one! Hard to believe since on most holes he hit the ball so hard it bounced out of the green. He didn't get the whole hitting it gently thing no matter how many times he said it or how many holes we made him sit out because of it!

Then we stopped for ice cream. It was almost lunch time so this was pretty much our lunch...that and some left over pizza at the 'United States house' :) Vacation lunch of champions!

In the afternoon we visited the pool and then had a quick supper and movie night. The kids watched The Secret of Nimh and after they went to bed Kevin and I watched Valentine's Day. Both were cute. Valentine's Day was kind of Love Actually knock off. Kind of a poor knock off, but entertaining all the same.

Pictures :)

Aarrgggh!!

Can I get one of these with 3 holes for those days when the kids are driving me crazy?? Hmm...might be a market there :)

Cuties!

Look out!

Bridget taking her turn at the wheel :)

Ok, now you really have to look out! Riley at the wheel...scary!

Cooling down in the shade. It was HOT that day!

Isn't she just the prettiest little pirate ever?

Mr. Hole-in-One :)

Anyone have a napkin? Or 3?

I manged to stay pretty clean at least :) This little place had all home-made ice cream. So yummy. The vanilla that Kevin and I had was apparently featured in Yankee Magazine. We couldn't resist trying it and it was pretty fantastic! The chocolate that Kieran and Bridget had was yummy too...really cocoa-y. I got to try it because I kept having to help Kieran lick around his cone...still didn't help much. Riley had the strawberry and managed to actually keep himself clean...guess that's why we didn't get a dirty face picture :)

See you all tomorrow!