{too tired to type}

We had a lot of fun at the butterfly garden, but I'm too tired to write much and too tired to look through all the pictures. I'll try to post tomorrow. G'night all!

{spring has sprung...}

...and we have the dirt to prove it!

The weather has been beautiful here the last few days (except for a few drops of rain yesterday) and Gerard has been having so much fun finally playing outside. Today they played outside at the end of preschool, and then several of us stayed later and let the kids play while we chatted. Darci and I stayed until 5:00 while Gerard and Luke got covered in mud. Boys will be boys! Needless to say, as soon as we got home we stripped him down and threw him into the bath. His white shirt is a lost cause, unfortunately, and is soaking in bleach as I type this (after being washed twice already).

I hope the nice weather continues, although our mean meteorologists claim it will snow again this weekend. Argh!!!!

And for all you 70's children, Debbie sent me this very funny e-mail that I thought I'd share here:

IF YOU WERE A LITTLE GIRL IN THE 70'S......

You had that Fisher Price Doctor's Kit with a stethoscope that actually worked.

You owned a bicycle with a banana seat and a plastic basket with flowers on it.

You learned to skate with actual skates (not roller blades) that had metal wheels.

You thought Gopher from Love Boat was cute (admit it!)

You had nightmares after watching Fantasy Island.

You had either a "bowl cut" or "pixie", not to mention the "Dorothy Hamill". People sometimes thought you were a boy.

You had rubber boots for rainy days and Moon boots for snowy days.

YEAH! You owned a "Slip-n-Slide", on which you injured yourself on a sprinkler head more than once.

You owned "Klick-Klacks" and smacked yourself in the face more than once!

Your Holly Hobbie sleeping bag was your most prized possession.

You wore a poncho, gauchos, and knickers.

You begged Santa for the electronic game, Simon.

You had the Donnie and Marie dolls with those pink and purple satiny shredded outfits, or the sunshine family

You spent hours in your backyard on your metal swing set with the trapeze. The swing set tipped over at least once.

You had homemade ribbon barrettes in every imaginable color. (Oh yeah!)

You had a pair of Doctor Scholl's sandals (the ones with hard sole & the buckle). You also had a pair of salt-water sandals.

You wanted to be Laura Ingalls Wilder really bad; you wore that Little House on the Prairie-inspired plaid, ruffle shirt with the high neck in at least one school picture; and you despised Nellie Oleson!

You wanted your first kiss to be at a roller rink!

PONG! ("video tennis" ) was the most remarkable futuristic game you've ever heard of !

Your hairstyle was described as having "wings" or "feathers" and you kept it "pretty" with the comb you kept in your back pocket. When you walked, the "wings" flapped up and down, looked like you were gonna "take off"

You know who Strawberry Shortcake is, as well as her friends, Blueberry Muffin and Huckleberry Pie.

You carried a Muppets lunch box to school and it was metal, not plastic.
With the thermos inside some were glass inside and broke the first time you dropped them.

You and your girlfriends would fight over which of the Dukes of Hazzard was your boyfriend.

YOU had Star Wars action figures, too!

It was a big event in your household each year when the "Wizard of Oz" would come on TV. Your mom would break out the popcorn and sleeping bags!

You often asked your Magic-8 ball the question: "Who will I marry. Shaun Cassidy, Leif Garrett, or David Cassidy?"

You completely wore out your Grease, Saturday Night Fever, and Fame soundtrack record album.

You tried to do lots of arts and crafts, like yarn and Popsicle-stick God's eyes, decoupage, or those weird potholders made on a plastic loom.

You made Shrinky-Dinks and put iron-on kittens on your t-shirts!

You used to tape record songs off the radio by holding your portable tape player up to the speaker.

You had subscriptions to Dynamite and Tiger Beat.

You learned everything you needed to know about girl issues from Judy Blume books. (Are you there God, It's me, Margaret.)

You thought Olivia Newton John's song "Physical" was about aerobics. (?? its not??)

You wore friendship pins on your tennis shoes, or shoelaces with heart or rainbow designs.

You wanted to be a Solid Gold dancer.

You drowned yourself in Love's Baby Soft - which was the first "real" perfume you ever owned.

You glopped your lips in Strawberry Roll-on lip-gloss till it almost dripped off.



Well, that about wraps things up here. Hopefully I'll have some butterfly pics to share tomorrow! G'night!

{nothing new}

I hope everyone had a nice weekend. Ours was pretty relaxing (if one can consider anything relaxing at 8 months pregnant). Saturday Gerard took Gerard to that train store they've been wanting to go to and they both had a blast. (You can read about their first attempt in this post).

The time change always screws us up a bit. Sunday Gerard went to bed at 9:30 (instead of his usual 8:00) and didn't wake up until 9:30 this morning. I can't complain about the sleeping in, but I hope we can get him to bed at a normal hour even though it's so light out! Gerard is upstairs reading to him now.

This week is going to be a little busier than usual (a welcome change!) Monday and Friday we'll go to the gym, Friday we're going to McDonald's Playland with our friends Joy and Kacie from the gym just to let the kids run around, Tuesday and Thursday Gerard has school, and on Wednesday Gerard and I are going to Grand Rapids with our friends Darci and Luke (his friend from preschool) to see a cool butterfly exhibit:

I hear the butterflies just come up and land on you. Gerard is very excited about that. I hope I get some good pictures!

And here's one more layout (I've been scrapping up a storm since there's no good TV on!)...

all papers by Nancie Rowe Janitz
folder tabs by Gina Miller
file label by Katie Pertiet
paper clip by Shabby Princess
flower swirl by Mickelle Coleman
fonts are Times New Roman and Pea Amy*Rica Script

{angel or devil?}

Yesterday was pretty exhausting. Gerard didn't have his best day yesterday, and he had to sit in time out a few too many times. Not listening, running at school, not listening, refusing to put his coat on after school, not listening, making a mess during dinner (on purpose), not listening. Did I mention not listening?

Today was much better, although I was doubtful when he woke up just before 7am. I figured I was in for another "fun" day. Not so! He was very good today, as he is most days, and I'm hoping yesterday was just a fluke. Nonetheless, I was inspired to make a scrapbook page about his not-so-angelic behavior. Big Gerard didn't love the idea of the little devil horns, but I thought it was cute and in good taste. Afterall, what 3 1/2 year old boy isn't a little devilish?
background paper by Rhonna Farrer from the Designing With Digital book
pin (recolored) by Michelle Coleman
heart by Michelle Coleman
devil horns by me
fonts are Nasty and Pea Amy

And another layout, on a less-serious note:
all background papers (recolored), frame, and staples by Michelle Coleman
torn paper action by Atomic Cupcake
stamped alpha by Michelle Coleman
painted swirls by Michelle Coleman
tag (recolored) by Gina Cabrera
font is Pea Jenny Script

That about wraps it up here. I hope everyone has a nice weekend and Ma and Dad I hope you have a safe flight home tomorrow.

The Gifts Just Keep On Coming!

Today was a pretty good day. This morning, I just wasn't sure I had enough energy to go to the gym, but Gerard INSISTED that we go. He loves it there. Thank goodness for that, otherwise I might never make it there!

* * * * * *

My birthday WEEK continues.... Lynn sent me my present today, and I love it! She made me a quilted wall hanging for Halloween. She knows how much I love Halloween, and I just LOVE homemade gifts. Here's a picture of it (the whole quilt is on the left, and the right side shows the close-ups). It's hard to tell from the picture, but there are little 3-dimensional elements on it -- the bats, the RIP tombstone and the spider. It's awesome!!! I can't wait until October! (Click on the picture for a larger view:)

Plus, Gerard brought home a little something for me too! I've been looking for a tart burner but haven't been able to find one that I liked. Well, he found me two! They're so cute (I'll take pictures tomorrow) and we already used one. Now the house smells like blueberry muffins. Mmmmm.

AND, our friends next door (Shauna and crew) got me a gift certificate to a beautiful spa in town. I can't wait to use it. Now I just have to figure out what I'm going to get -- manicure? pedicure? pre-natal massage? facial? Ah, such dilemmas!

* * * * * *

Tonight, Gerard did his usual bedtime dance routine. He likes to choose the various beats on his piano from Aunt Sada and yell "Everybody dance!" at which time everybody MUST dance. No exceptions. Tonight, however, I was able to video tape him a little instead of joining him on the dance floor. Enjoy this little montage...

Have a good night y'all!

Spring is in the Air!

You'll never guess what I heard this morning. Birds chirping! Yup. Spring must be on it's way! It's hard to imagine as it's only supposed to get up to 20 degrees today, but at least I know there IS hope.

Nothing too new to report here, but I thought I'd share some pictures of Gerard from yesterday...

Well, Gerard has preschool today and I have my 34 week OB appointment. Hope everyone has a nice day!

My Birthday Weekend

Saturday was my 29th birthday. OK, maybe not exactly 29, but close! We celebrated Friday night because Maddie's birthday party was Saturday. Trust me -- Gerard had MUCH more fun celebrating her birthday than mine! Afterall, she had cool presents and nice friends and lots of Thomas trains. Much more exciting than dinner out with Mommy and Daddy!

I had a nice time at the party, too, but I also enjoyed dinner out on Friday. We went out and then Gerard got me a delicious cake that I can only describe as death by chocolate. It was chocolate on top of chocolate on top of chocolate. Here it is:

Then I got to open presents from my boys -- a cool laser cordless mouse to make my scrapbooking easier and Trivial Pursuit 80's edition, which I've been wanting for a while. Let's just hope I can find the time to play it!

Friday and Saturday were very nice and Sunday was very relaxing. I even finished a couple of layouts:

one for the 2007 album:
green background paper and striped paper by Nancie Rowe Janitz
stitching by Nancie Rowe Janitz
file folder tab by Gina Miller
pin by Michelle Coleman
fonts are Nasty and Century Gothic

and one for my AAM album:
yellow background paper by Michelle Coleman
stars (recolored) by Shawna Clingerman
fonts are Marcelle and Arial

Thanks to everyone who called to wish me a happy birthday. It was nice talking to you all! Have a great week!