Turning 5

We celebrated Evan's fifth birthday on Sunday with a mini celebration at home. We will be having his birthday party in Orlando next week, but Mark and I thought it would be fun for Evan to open his big present at home. I also managed to get a couple of photos with my oldest son:



Jack was not so cooperative:



Look at that face! He was so, so mad that I wanted him to sit on my lap for a photo :-)

Evan's new bike was a huge hit... he loved riding it up up and down the block. And yes, I do realize he is riding a bike without shoes & without a helmet. I let him ride for a couple minutes before sending him in the house for his safety gear. The weather has been lovely & we run around without shoes more often than not.



I'm off to watch my Wednesday night guilty pleasure: Off the Map. And maybe drink some wine. It's been one of those days.

-E

Simply Adore You

Karla Dudley has several new kits coming out Thursday, and I had some time last night to create a layout using 4 of her new designs:


(All supplies are Karla Dudley Designs. Pink Cardstock: Cardstock Essentials No. 1. Patterned Paper: Just Thinking. Photo Frame: Digi Essentials No. 11. "I Adore You" brush: Everyday Sentiments. Clear butterfly: Clear Essentials No. 1. Jeweled brad: Clear Essentials No. 1. Stitching: Cardstock Essentials No. 1. Staples: Digi Essentials . Font: Georgia)

I'll be back tomorrow with photos of Evan's big birthday present from us (a lime green bike), and some cute pics Mark took of Ev and me.

xoxo,

Erin.

(Almost) 5 & (Almost) 2

These two have birthdays coming up and I am running around like a mad woman trying to get everything ready. We will celebrate both the boys' birthdays in early April when my parents and Uncle visit from Washington. Evan wants a pirate cake, and I am taking on the task of making one from scratch. I have no idea what I'm doing so I've been e-mailing a good friend of mine who makes the most amazing cakes (hi Cass!), and she's been nice enough to put up will all my crazy questions & offer useful tips to this homemade cake newbie.

After dinner yesterday we went out to our driveway and played with chalk and bubbles until it was time for baths & bed. Both boys loved drawing on the cement and chasing bubbles around the yard.



Jack was way too busy having fun to sit and smile for me. Little stinker!







Happy Wednesday everyone!

xoxo,

Erin.

Love You - a layout

Karla Dudley has two new kits releasing tomorrow, Remarkable and Digi Essentials No. 10.


(Supplies: Patterned paper - Remarkable. Stitching - Remarkable. "Love You" tag - Remarkable
Staples - Digi Essentials. "mar" brush - Digi Essentials No. 10 Brush Pack. Flower brush - Modern Marvel)

Isn't the background paper awesome? I love it! It's perfect for photos of Evan and Jack. I love the stitches and "love you" tag from this kit, too. Karla has another sneak peek on her blog, and her kits will be available through Design House Digital in the morning.

I have been home with a sick baby and a sick hubby all day, so I better get some sleep.

My silly Jack-Jack (22 months):

Covered in baby powder (after he found an open container in his bedroom closet and decided to cover himself, and the floor, with it).

Wearing Mardi Gras beads that Mark brought home from work.



Covered in stickers.

Sideways baseball cap.



Race car tattoo on his cheek.


I adore this little boy.

Lately.

(All supplies are Karla Dudley Designs. Supplies: Letters- Vintage Alphas. Staples- Digi Essentials.)

Our days are filled with walks, driving Evan to and from school, playing outside, creating art, riding bikes, and exploring the newly finished playroom.

We take trips to the grocery store, naps on the couch, and walks to the community playground.

My time at home with these two boys is full of laughter, squeals, tears, and joy.

I am so, so happy in our new home with my sweet boys.

Exciting News!

I received an e-mail from Paper Crafts magazine on Friday and one of the cards I submitted has been accepted for publication! This is my first publication and I can't wait to see my card in the magazine in August! It will be in Go-To Sketches for Cards.

(I am still doing my little happy dance :-)

Thanks for letting me share my news. It's the perfect way to start my birthday week!

New Karla Dudley Designs Kits!

Karla has two new kits coming out tomorrow: Cypris and Template .001

These kits are super easy to work with. The colors are beautiful, and the tags can work with a variety of projects. I will post a link when the kits become available in the morning.

(You can click on the layout to make it bigger.)


{Supplies: Template- Template .001. Patterned Papers- Cypris Collection."Today" tags- Cypris. Staple- Digi Essentials. Butterfly- Felis. Brad- Friends. Stitches- Be You. Fonts- Georgia and 1942 Report}

Karla is also doing a give-away on her blog. If you want to win one of these kits, you can enter here.

Valentine's Day Layout

Karla Dudley released two fantastic new kits last week called Dotty Alphas and Just Thinking. The colors are perfect for the Valentine's Day photos I took of Evan a couple of weeks ago:


{All supplies are Karla Dudley Designs}

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Jack and I took a trip to Goodwill today for some thrift store shopping. We didn't have a lot of time, but I did score some awesome deals. I found a pair of Gymboree shorts for $.75 and a Charokee shirt for Evan for $1.50. Both are in great condition. Jack picked out a pink Barbie bike that he adores (thankfully it was only $.99!). I also found a Leapfrog Clickstart keyboard to replace ours that has a defective button. I have been trying to decide if I should spend the $15 or $20 to replace our keyboard, so getting one for a $1.99 was a great deal. My last find was a Leapfrog My First Leapad that I'm giving to my Uncle. He will take to one of the orphanages in Mexico that he visits frequently. That, too, was only $1.99. After all that I spent less than $8.00. I was happy :-)

Tomorrow I can share a layout I created for Karla Dudley's Thursday release. She has two more kits coming out and they are great!