Beautiful Flowers

{All supplies are Karla Dudley Designs. Patterned Paper - Spring '10 Kit, Zander Play. Cardstock - Cardstock Essentials No. 1. Zig Zag Stitching - Digi Essentials No. 1. Tab Zig Zag Stitching - Digi Essentials No. 2. Tab - Digi Essentials No. 2. Scallop Brush - Spring '10 Kit. Flower Lace - Spring '10 Kit. White Tag - Spring '10 Kit. Brown Brad - Spring '10 Kit. Small Flower Brush - Freebie Stamped Numbers Kit. Fonts - Amelie & Skia.}

The kids and I have a couple of girls coming over tomorrow for most of the day. I think Evan is getting tired of boring-old mom, so a couple of new faces are welcome!

xoxo
Erin.

Birthday Boy

We started Evan's birthday weekend by taking the kids to Playhouse Disney Live! in downtown Cincinnati on Friday. The week leading up to the show Evan was pretty excited about it, but his attitude changed big time when we got there. He held his hands over his ears and said "I don't like this!" I was so disappointed! Toward the end of the show he started to enjoy it a bit more, but I don't think we are going to pay for any more Disney shows.


I love this "flash in the face" family photo of us... doesn't Evan look thrilled?!?


My not-very-beautiful-but-really-yummy EVAN cakes. He loved them!







And this is probably my favorite photo of the day:


One of Evan's presents from us was a bubble mower. He was outside for almost an hour mowing right behind his Daddy. He loves that thing!



And this little guy is going to be one in less than a month! My babies are getting so big...

Most of these photos were taken with Mark's Nikon point & shoot... my camera has been broken (but usable) for the last couple of weeks. Right before Evan started opening presents yesterday my lens stopped working all together. We only have a few boxes left to unpack, but I think my camera bag has to be in one of those boxes because we still haven't found it (or my additional lenses... grrr...).

Have a wonderful week!

Best Friends.

Evan - {almost} 4
Jack - {almost} 11 months.

New Ride.

We have a new addition in our garage as of Saturday.

Please meet Honda:







Mark took these photos with his iPhone on Saturday. He's pretty excited about his new bike (and using any excuse he can think of to ride it!).

I have a layout I need to finish & some cards to make, but I'll be back soon!

xoxo,
Erin.

Template & Layout

Hi friends!

Karla Dudley has updated the CT blog with a sketch, layout, and FREE digital template for all our blog readers... and it was inspired by yours truly! And that adorable photo at the top? That was taken by Terri Beloit last summer. Jack was only 8 weeks old and such a little guy! Now he is a grunting, crawling, chewing, yelling, smiling little ball of energy!

Here is the layout:


[ Kits Used: Cardstock Essentials, Itty Stickers Boy, Alpha Stickers 2, Digi Essentials (staples + stitches) ]

I adore the color photo of Jack on this page. It makes me smile every time I look at it. And his shirt says "made you smile"... too perfect!

Have a great night!

xoxo
Erin.

Because They Make Me Laugh.

I was sorting through my photos tonight & found these two pics of Mark & Evan. Evan put the tunnel from his tent over Mark's head & stuffed it full of toys... he thought he was pretty funny when Mark was trapped in there and couldn't move:





I love how they play together; Evan plays differently with Mark than he does with me. It's a little more rough, a little more hands-on (and I wouldn't let Evan stuff me into a tube), but they love to be together. And they make me laugh :-)

xoxo

Erin.

Kit Release Thursday!

Karla has a new brush kit available in her shop today!

I created this layout using her new kit, plus some of her other products:


[ All supplies are Karla Dudley Designs. Kits used: Patterned Paper - Sylvy. Cardstock - Cardstock Essentials No. 1 (Lake). Scalloped Borders - Fancy Borders No. 1. White Letters - Cardstock Essentials No. 1 Alpha. "by" Font - Everyday Font Karla Dudley. Journaling Font - Georgia. Stitching - Digi Essentials Kit. Staples - Digi Essentials Kit. Outline Floral Brush - Brush Bucket No. 1]

I am working on my 3rd load of laundry, so I better get back to folding. I have about an hour before Jack wakes up from his nap, and I also want to take Evan outside to enjoy the beautiful day we are having. It is sunny & 65 degrees here. It's about time we got some really nice weather! I took him out yesterday, but after running around for a bit he started coughing and couldn't stop. His cold is definitely lingering, and I don't want him to get worse so we are taking it easy.

Have a wonderful day!

Love You.

I finished my first layout for Karla Dudley Designs! It uses a lot of product from her Blakely collection, with a few other kits mixed in as well:


[Supplies: Gray background paper - Blakely Leaf brush - Blakely. Striped paper - Blakely. Layered template - Template Set #1. "You" stickers - Alpha Stickers #2.]

Have a great Tuesday!

Thoughts From the Week.

1. Thank goodness the weather improved & we were able to get out and play on Friday. I think we were all going batty sitting in our house all day. Evan was thrilled to play in the backyard with his beloved size 3 soccer ball (thanks Auntie Abby).









2. This little one seems to be feeling better & is as smiley as ever. I just can't get enough of those big blue eyes!







3. As Jack becomes more and more mobile, Evan is learning to adjust & is starting to play with Jack (and boss him around a bit, too). Evan says things like "come and play with me, Jack" and "Jack! Come into the play room right now!" We have had many conversations with Ev about asking nicely, giving Jack choices, and that Jack is little and might not want to play with the fire station or cars. It's tough for him to understand why Jack isn't a willing participant all the time. Luckily Evan will play with me when Jack would rather play with his blocks or during nap time.



4. The Karla Dudley CT blog is up and running! You can find it here.

Have a wonderful week, friends!

Four Generations

I have another Design Your Life layout to share. This is from week 1, I believe, but it took me forever to finish which is why I am posting it now. I can't believe this class is almost over... it's been a lot of fun. I am still a little behind on the assignments, but I will continue working on them until I have all 36 layouts finished.



My laptop is currently sitting on my new laptop table from Ikea that I picked up today (and I love it!). Probably the best $17.99 I have spent in a long time. Although I am regretting that I didn't get two. I have a feeling Mark and I will be fighting over this one every night.

The boys have been fighting colds for the past couple of days. Jack seems to be getting better, but I think Evan is getting worse. I don't want to rush my kids to the doctor every time they have a sniffle, but I also don't want them to suffer if they are really sick & can get an antibiotic for a virus. The "do I/don't I take my kid to the doctor" dilemma is probably my least favorite part about being a mom. Well, that and vomit. Anyway, I hate making that decision. When Jack had pneumonia a couple of weeks ago I took him to the emergency room in the middle of the night because he had a temperature of 105, and the doctor asked why we were there. They gave him some Motrin and sent us home, and now I have a bill for $800. Like my friend, Cindy, said: "That’s the most expensive Motrin in history." I am working on fighting the charge with the hospital because it's so outrageous, but I'm not holding my breath. Anyway, Evan is coughing and has a runny nose, but no fever, so I think it's just a cold. Jack is coughing (but not as much), and has a little wheeze, too. He doesn't have a fever, but has a runny nose. I just don't know if I should take them or now! I do know we aren't going to church tomorrow, just in case they are contagious. See? I can make decisions!

We had a delightfully lazy day here, and tomorrow should be more of the same.

Have a blessed Sunday, friends.

Karla Dudley Designs

I received some exciting news on Monday, but I wasn't allowed to say anything until today, and it's been killing me!

I have been a big fan of Karla Dudley, and her digital designs, for a couple of years now. She posted a CT call on her blog a few weeks ago, and I finally got over my fear of rejection and applied. Monday evening I got a great e-mail from Karla with CONGRATS!!!!!! as the title! She picked me! (Can you tell I really, really excited about this opportunity?!?). She chose 8 people total, and we will be working with her for 6 months.

This is one of the layouts I submitted:



The other layout I submitted was posted here.

Our CT will have a blog where all of our designs will be compiled. I will let you know when I have that web address.

This is Karla Dudley's personal blog.

This is where you can buy her digital kits.

Thank you for the well wishes (and birthday wishes!). I am really looking forward to to working with Karla and the other designers :-)

xoxo Erin.

Seriously Jack.

10 months old.

Loves to play with his Fisher-Price kitchen.

Babbles, coos, and squeals constantly.

Pulls hair.

Laughs when Evan tickles him.

Loves to cuddle (especially in the middle of the night when he should be sleeping).

We love you, Jack-Jack.

At the Park & Side by Side.

At the Park.

One of the cool things about moving to a new area is the opportunity to discover cool parks and museums you wouldn't find on a typical vacation. Mark was out shopping last week and drove past a great park he wanted to take Evan to, so they went off on their own on Saturday for a bit. Three hours later they returned, completely exhausted but really, really happy :-). The park was huge & included a science museum and three play structures. Mark was a good hubby and took some great photos for me. Thanks, babe!









Side by Side.

These two just make my heart happy.

They are learning how to share, which is such a tough concept for little ones. But they are working on it.

And I love walking into the playroom and seeing them play together.




Evan- 3 years 11 months. Jack- 10 months.

xo

'Design Your Life' Layout.

A few weeks ago I created this page for Cathy Z.'s Design Your Life class:


Christmas 2009

I have been busy working on layouts, taking photos of the munchkins (our playroom has great natural light in the afternoon), and making chocolate truffles for the bake sale at Mark's office. Evan helped by adding sprinkles to 72 truffles tonight; I think that was the highlight of his week!

Jack is a crawling all over the place, and has learned to pull himself up in his crib and pack 'n play. He is babbling and interacting with Evan a lot lately. After lunch today Evan ran into the living room and said: "Jack, will you come and play with me?" I was almost in tears I was so excited to hear Evan reach out to his baby brother.





One of Evan's favorite TV programs is Olivia on Nick Jr. I happen to like that show too, but Olivia calls her little brother "my little bother," so we've been limiting Evan's Olivia time lately... Jack was given the same nickname a few weeks ago & I don't want Evan calling him that. I am encouraging Evan to call him Jack-Jack, but he now prefers Jackaroo. As long as he isn't calling Jack "my little bother", I'm okay with it!

I'm off to bed. I have 72 truffles to wrap tomorrow morning before Mark goes to work :-)

xoxo Erin.

Snow.

The snow is finally melting here, but I wanted to share a few photos I took of Evan last week when we had 9 or 10 inches on the ground. We are all going a bit stir crazy due to the cold, snowy weather, so I bundled Evan up and sent him out to play. He had so much fun running in the snow, and even created a few snow angels. I have to admit, I have no idea where he learned about snow angels, but it was so cute to watch him wave his arms and legs in the snow.









Have a wonderful Monday :-)