Graduation

Mark is an official Washington State University graduate. I am so proud of him!

The day started out a bit rocky as one of the apartments on the second floor of our building had a pipe burst and flooded the apartment below them (right next to us). Luckily we only had minor damage in our kitchen, and we were able to attend the ceremony as planned.

I want to thank everyone who attended Mark's graduation party yesterday. It was great to see everyone & spend time together before we leave for Ohio.

I will post some photos and details of the graduation later this week. Mark and I are wrapping Christmas gifts and cleaning up from the party... we sure made a mess yesterday!

Erin.

Pneumonia

Yes, our little Jack *probably* has Pneumonia. I feel so bad for him! His coughing has gotten worse last couple of days, so we took him to the doctor this afternoon & Dr. Adkins heard fluid in his lungs. He is now on antibiotics for the next five days. I hope he is feeling better by the time all our company comes on Friday... I know there are some grandparents, aunts, and uncles that can't wait to play with him!

Despite being sick he is still in a good mood during the day:

... right after nap. I love his bed head!

It has been cold here (it's 2 degrees right now), so we are stuck indoors most of the time. Evan loves doing play-doh and when he's in a super feisty mood it tends to help him focus.

7 months old.

Now that Jack is sitting up well on his own, the boys are taking some baths together. Evan is a very protective big brother!

My three boys. (Evan - 3.5. Jack - 7 months.)

I can tell Jack doesn't feel good in this photo. He still smiles a lot, but he's not quite himself. I really hope the medication kicks in soon so we get our super happy guy back.

This one was taken the week of Thanksgiving at my parent's house. Evan was outside driving his race car around & Mark was under orders to take a few photos. Thanks babe... they turned out great!!

And can I tell you how excited I am about Mark's graduation on Saturday?!?

-Erin.

Our Week in Photos.

Blogging comes in waves for me. Some days or weeks I am super excited about it... others, not so much. The last couple of weeks I haven't been in the mood, but I think the blogging bug has finally come back!

We've been busy the last couple of weeks with family in town, mid-terms (Mark), pre-school (Evan), snow, online classes (me), and growing like a weed (Jack):

On Saturday we hosted a mini family reunion with some of Mark's extended family. Thank you Tami, Danielle, Travis, Michelle, Alex, Zoe, Mandy, Aiden, and Tegan for spending your Saturday with us!

I don't think Jack likes his sock monkey hat very much...

Pullman got a nice dusting of snow Friday afternoon. It was about four, so it was getting dark really fast and I didn't get many great photos of Evan and Jack in the snow because it was so dark, but I like this one.

Another Evan-squeezing-the-crap-out-of-his-brother photo. Good thing Jack is a happy baby and doesn't mind being squished :-)

6 months old and sitting up on his own.

Evan and I went to a WSU men's basketball exhibition game last Monday with Cindy and Ray. Evan was so good and really got into clapping and cheering for the cougs during the second half. The skittles and juice I bought him during half time must have kicked in! At one point during the first half, LCSC had missed a bunch of shots in a row and Evan turned to me and said: "Mom, are they trying to miss?" It was super cute!

This little one got his fourth tooth yesterday (upper left). He now has three teeth on the left side of his mouth (one upper, two lower), and only one tooth on the right (lower).

Tomorrow we have a lunch date and I have a ton of laundry to finish before we take off Wednesday for the west side. Mark and I will be in Ohio Thursday through Sunday looking for houses and touring pre-schools. I think I've been in denial about this move up to this point, but the moment I step out of the plane and I am in Kentucky should be a reality check. I just hope I can survive being away from my kids for four days. My poor parents are going to get 500 phone calls during that time as I check to make sure my babies are okay!

Thanks mom and dad for taking our beautiful children for four days... we owe you :-)

Today I love...

Little boys who love each other:

Clean Laundry:

Big smiles from a cutie patootie:

Big blue eyes & bug pacifiers:

Evan's first day of soccer practice:

Little boys & big boys playing at the park:

Football games & spending our Saturday as a family:

(Doesn't Evan looked thrilled? He was happy for about 20 minutes, and spent the next 3+ hours kind of whining and being grumpy. I explained to him that we don't always get what we want, but I'm not sure I got through to him...)

(After the final WSU touchdown, to tie the game late in the 4th quarter, Evan was not happy with how loud the stadium got. He plugged one ear with one hand, and held up his other hand to "stop" the crowd from being loud.)

(Final score: WSU 30, SMU 27. Go Cougs!)

I hope everyone had an equally relaxing & enjoyable Saturday :-)

Work In Progress.

One of the things I love about doing digital pages is the sheer flexibility of digital templates. This template has room for 17 photos & allows me to include both close ups of Evan, his trains, and his cute little finger & toes. This template can be found at Designer Digitals.

The green spaces are areas that need to be filled with photos, journaling, or patterned paper.

I have been busy this evening sorting & organizing 1000+ photos that have been sitting in my office for the last five

months, waiting to be put into storage binders & eventually scrapbooked. It is a tedious process, but seeing Evan at

different stages over the last three years is fun. I haven't had any of Jack photos printed, which is now on my to-do list

for the upcoming week. I am really hoping to get some of his infant/newborn photos scrapped and put in his all too

empty album. I have a couple digital pages and one paper layout in there, but that's it! Considering Evan has almost

three full albums, with each album housing 40-60 pages, I really need to get moving on Jack's books.

Mark, Evan, Jack, & I will be attending Evan's pre-school open house tomorrow morning. Evan will get to meet some of his classmates & get to know his teacher a bit more. I am excited & anxious about Evan's first day on Monday. I am

anticipating many tears... most of them mine! But it will be good for both of us, I just need to get through the first few days and we should be fine. I hope :-)

I hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful weather & the last few weeks of summer. But I have to say, I am looking forward to fall & the changing leaves & Halloween & pumpkin pie. I am anxious to start planning our move & relocating 24 years of my life to a completely foreign state. Our life in Pullman has been some what of a fantasy... no crime, no traffic... having a husband who is a student and part-time employee for a local company & running into someone we know every time we go to the grocery store. Pullman is a mesh of a small town farming community with the benefits of an educated suburban town. We are absolutely going to miss being here, but we always knew it would be temporary. It's almost like we've been waiting for lives to really begin... to transition from college student to adult. Our kids of course helped shove us into adulthood, but having a "real job" will also solidify that role for both Mark & me.

I just hope we are both ready for reality. We have 16 weeks to figure it out!

Tomorrow I will post some more photos of the boys & a new project I'm working on. Peace.

Bonus Assignment No. 2

The second lesson of Jessica Sprague's "Up & Running with Photoshop" class included a bonus lesson with a couple of free downloads. Our assignment was to complete a page using the white paper included & a brush. Here is my take:

********************************************************************

A few notes about today:

• Mark, Roy, Evan, Jack, & I took a trip to the Moscow Farmer's Market today & picked up the best corn-on-the-cob I have ever had.
• Mark spent the afternoon cleaning & organizing his office. It looks so much better already! Next week I need to tackle my office as well. I haven't done anything in there in months & I want to put together a few layouts & cards in the next few weeks.
• Evan loves the photos I took at the beach & asked tonight to see them on my "puter." I showed him the layout I created and he asked to touch it, so I need to send it to the printer soon! He truly loved our vacation to Rockaway, and I cannot wait to take him back. Thank you mom & dad for making our vacation possible and making Evan so very happy.
• Jack is growing & changing everyday. Right now he loves to sit in his swing & play with his butterfly. He also likes to be talked to & he gives the biggest grin when someone smiles or laughs at him.

That's it for us... we are just doing our thing, trying to spend as much time together as possible before school starts. Plus we have to be thinking about our impending move & making that transition as stress-free as possible, for us & the kids. Any advice on moving across the country with two young kids would be appreciated!

Have a blessed Sunday, friends.

Day 12 - Creating a Storyboard

For Day 12 of Jessica Sprague's class we were to create a storyboard with three photos. I chose to use some photos of Mark & Evan on my parent's front steps:



I believe we only have two more days of class and I am really sad! I have learned so much in the past two weeks. Jessica Sprague has several more digi classes on her website (that aren't free of course) that I am seriously considering enrolling in after this class ends on Sunday. I don't know what I am going to do with all my spare time if I don't have a class to take. Renee Pearson's class also ends on Wednesday, so I need to find something to do!

Tomorrow we are participating in the neighborhood garage sale, which starts at 9am. Abby and I spent hours pricing everything tonight & getting ready. I have a feeling it is going to be a long couple of days in the heat. Mark, Dion, & Evan are going to Northwest Trek for the day so I don't have to worry about a three year old running around during the sale.

Jack is getting so big! He must weigh well over 17 pounds now. He is growing out of clothes like crazy and I am having to buy new things all the time! I didn't think he would be this big, so I didn't bring a lot of the 3-6 or 6-12 month clothes I have at home. Dion was nice enough to drop off a bunch of clothes last weekend when he visited, and I hope those last for the next three weeks.

We are back in Pullman in 3 weeks. I cannot believe we have been here for 10 weeks already. Where did all those weeks go?

Mark starts school in 5 weeks. His last "first day of school".... possibly ever. Crazy.

Evan starts pre-school in 6 weeks. Now that is crazy. My goal is to get him to a.) keep his pants on after he goes potty (he tends to completely undress then run out of the bathroom naked). b.) put on his own shirt and socks in the morning (he can do his underwear & pants/shorts). c.) drink a little better out of a cup without a lid. He does okay, but some still ends up on his clothes, which makes him mad & he won't drink anymore.

Tomorrow Mark and I celebrate our fifth wedding anniversary. That is another number I am astounded by. It seems like just yesterday I walked down the isle and said "I do" to the man of my dreams. Five years, four moves, three cars, two kids, and one (almost) college degree later, here we are. Happier than ever.

One of my favorite songs just came on the (web) radio I am listening to (It Happens by Sugarland). I love the Internet :-)

I am starting to think about everything I have to do before we leave in the winter, and my to-do list is already a page long. We have so much stuff to go through & decided if we are keeping it or tossing it. We have to get our apartment packed & moved across the country. I have to get my kids & hubby & myself moved across the country! All during the busiest time of the year: Christmas. Nice timing, huh? I just keep thinking that this company has moved many, many people and they should have it all figured out. I hope.

Happy, happy Saturday, friends. I do love the weekend.

Random Wednesday

Although technically it is in the wee hours of Thursday morning, I am calling this post "Random Wednesday." We have had a lazy, perfectly low-key day here. Mark was under the weather last night and this morning, and I didn't sleep well last night either, so we did pretty much nothing all day. Sometimes those are the best days. Evan also fully embraced our laziness and watched entirely too many cartoons this afternoon with Mark, and a movie with me in the morning. He was in heaven!

I did get around to creating a few cards this evening. Mark got me a couple of really cute Stampin' Up! stamp sets for my birthday, with a ton of accessories, and I hadn't gotten around to using them yet. I love the owl! And the bright summer colors. With our weather being just fantastic the last few days, I was in the mood for bright colors.



[Supplies: Stamps, paper, & accessories: Stampin' Up!. Embossing templates: Cuttlebug.]
The owl card is my own design. The other two cards were inspired by cards from Split Coast Stampers.

Evan and I went to another WSU baseball game on Saturday. The weather was beautiful, and even though I didn't see the end (the game went to 11 innings), the Cougs won! Evan had a great time, although you would never know it looking at this photo:


A couple of nights ago the baby had the hiccups, and Evan was very concerned. He could feel the hiccups and would say "It's okay baby" and rub my tummy :-)


A pre-nap smile... this one is for my dad's computer background at work. I love his grin!


Another trip to the park yesterday. Evan really wanted to be lifted to the top of the ladder so he could go down the big slide, but because I am so pregnant, that wasn't going to happen. This is the look I got when I said no... He can be "so 3" sometimes!


-E

Evan & Butch

It is finally Spring here in Pullman, so Evan and I headed to the WSU men's baseball game this afternoon. The last time Evan went to a game he was only a month old, so this was a totally new experience for him.

During the 7th inning, Butch, the Cougar's mascot, was in our section & Evan waved to him. Butch saw that Evan was playing with his cars on the bleachers & joined him! I'm glad I always have my camera with me! Evan didn't want to sit on his lap, or get his picture taken with him formally, but he was more than happy to share his firetruck & police car with the giant cougar sitting with him:







I'll post a couple of new layouts today or tomorrow. For now, I am going to enjoy our beautiful 60 degree weather & relax!