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We're leaving for Maine in the morning and the kids are incredibly excited!!! Road trips are a huge treat for all of us - we have so much fun being together and finding adventures along the way.
I'll see you in two weeks! (((((((hugs)))))))) to everyone!!!!
And some food for thought - dh bought me these for the trip!!! Yep, you're reading that right! Over 3 POUNDS of M&M's! :)
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4 days until we leave for Maine!!!!!!!!!!! Yikes!!!!!!!!!
So much to do before we go and so little time to do it all in!
But, at the end of the road, here is what's waiting for us!
This is our backyard at the cabin - so incredibly relaxing and peaceful!
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Note to self: Do not try to get your 2 yo to leave blankie at home while you take him to Target. It won't work - it simply leads to meltdowns and tantrums. This is the very beginning of said meltdown and tantrum. I will not show you the rest of the pictures that I stood there and took during said meltdown and tantrum, lest you think I'm a bad mother.
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It's just hitting me that we leave for vacation in just 10 days. Ten days to do all the laundry, arrange for someone to watch the cat, water the plants. Ten days to make list after list of what all 5 of us need to take with us on a 17-day vacation. Ten days to come up with creative solutions for entertaining the kids for 4 days in the car - 2 there and 2 home. And, ten days until I reach Maine. Maine. Just saying it makes me take a deep breath and relax. I've spent half of my life in Maine and it truly is home to me. It is where I am all the way me. Truly me - if that makes sense. Breathing in the scent of the salt water mixed with the pine trees - it feels as though I haven't been able to breathe the rest of the year. Like all the other breaths I've taken have been simply to keep my body moving ahead, but these breaths of the Maine air and water are what truly make me feel alive and whole and me.
Maine - I simply cannot wait.
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So, we all know that Cathy Zielske's Clean and Simple Scrapbooking book has rocked our worlds! It is no secret! You can find it here at Simple Scrapbooks. And, we've been discussing design books this morning at 2peas, so I thought I'd just take a quick minute to post some links to my favorite design books at the moment. (And since Sherry also did it, you know it's {cool}!) They are my new obsession!!!
A Book of Colors - I bought this instead of the popular Color Index because I like the way it's organized just a bit better. A Book of Colors organizes its colors by mood, e.g., dreamy, alluring, earthy, bold - and I really like that. Plus, it also organizes by color in the back. It just fit me better.
Graphic Design Cookbook - love, love this one!!!
The Non-Designer's Design Book - don't have this one yet, but it's next on my list. Recommended by CZ.
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This day really does rock for me!!! Lisa (Lemonade Stand) made me Pubster of the Day today at 2 peas!!!! She is just the sweetest pea!!!! And, I'm having a ball finding other pubsters to praise. So, yeah, this day rocks!!!
And, it's also the title of the layout I made of the picture I posted a couple of days ago! I love this MOD paper - I simply can't stop using it. And, when I found that I had Prima flowers to match, well, I was thrilled.
Journaling reads: My kids and their cousins only get together a couple of times every year and when they do, it is utter heaven for all of them. They adore each other! This summer, we decided to get everyone together after school got out for the year and spend the weekend at Uncle Jason's and Auntie Lisa's house by Lake Michigan. We spent the entire day at the beach - from morning 'tll night. The kids swam, jumped the waves, built sand castles, buried each other in the sand, and dug all the way to China. (Okay, not really, but they got pretty close.) At the end of the day, as we were packing up to go, we announced to the kids that we were ending the day by stopping at the local ice cream shop. Through the screams of delight, we could hear Emily yell, "This day rocks!" I think she nailed it!
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Woohoo!!!! I got MORE new MOD paper!!!!
That's it!!! Just wanted to celebrate!!! (insert big goofy grin here)
Have a great day! :)
Journaling reads:
I’m guessing that I have to take about 100 pictures to get one truly great photo. This picture is a perfect example. All I wanted was a picture of Andrew in his new swimming trunks. But, at the last minute, he decided he didn’t want his picture taken, so he walked towards me saying, “No, Momma, no!” Sigh. And then when I printed the picture I see his older sister peeking out at me behind him. I have 98 others just like it.
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Emily is 7, just finished 1st grade and is often scared to try new things. Really, really scared. Swimming lessons started yesterday and she was a nervous wreck. We put her in Level I with kids aged 3-6 because she was so nervous. But, the coach immediately moved her to Level II after watching her for a bit. So, she started Level II today - even more nervous. But, what happened when she got in the pool???? She took a deep breath and literally plunged in!!! When the coach told her to float, she floated. When the coach told her to put her hands straight up in the air, hold her breath, and put her entire head under water, she did it!!! Brave she was - brave she was!!!
Now, for the Mommy lessons. Emily comes by her fear naturally. I was the kid who dropped out of swimming lessons because I was so scared. I was the kid who stayed in right field when we had to play softball because I was scared that the ball would hit me on the head in any other position. I think I've just been taught some lessons.
Oh - and proud, proud, proud I am!!!!
And, I better not forget to mention Elizabeth and her swimming lessons - you know that daughters have a way of noticing if there is not equal time. Elizabeth is four and a very brave girl. She loves swimming lessons and is doing a great job in Level I.
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What a lovely weekend!!!! It felt like a vacation, even though we were only 45 minutes away from home. I sometimes forget that we are so close to Lake Michigan and a beach. I'm so snobby about beaches - I'm from Maine and if it's not the ocean, it's not a beach. But, then I go to Lake Michigan and realize how wonderful it really can be. It felt like a vacation - even if just for the weekend.
Most of the cousins were able to make it. And they had such a wonderful day! As my 7-year-old daughter yelled at the end of the day, "This day rocks!!!"
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So, I did this layout a while ago, but thought it appropriate to post today. I have a 
million things that have to get done today, so maybe if I post a list here, I might get more of them done. These are the "absolutes" for today - there's a lot more, as well.
1. Pay bills
2. Clean the playroom ***not gonna happen today***
3. Call the bank
4. Do laundry
5. Fold and put away already finished laundry ***half-way done - does that count???***
6. Clean the kitchen
7. Organize things for Saturday's beach picnic.
8. Scrap!!!!! YEAH!!!!!!!
9. Have the girls clean their rooms
10. Dust the family room ***HaHa!!!***
11. Go to the post office ***tomorrow***
12. Water all of the outside flowers. **Yikes!!! Better do this one!***
***Journaling on this layout reads:
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