Instafriday

I totally forgot today was Friday! So guess what? You get to read two posts from me today!

Michael learned about rainbows at school this week and wore this cute rainbow hat out the rest of the night-even to dinner! I just love his spunky little 3 year old personality. 

We got to meet a new baby this week- welcome to the world, Baby Brooks! We have been praying for you and your safe arrival. We are glad you are here! Most importantly...thank you to your parents for letting us come over and get some tiny baby snuggles in. He is a little peanut and it was so fun.

Scott's hockey team won their league championship Wednesday night. It was a pretty heated game and dare I say it- I even had fun watching it! They are a great team and they have a great time with each other...proof that men will always be boys at heart. :o)

And lastly, we have been enjoying this nice weather this week. I hate that I am not home during the day to take Michael to all the fun places he likes to go so usually we will do an after school park playdate if it is nice. This week we were the only ones at the park and it was almost like a little wind down for Michael....sometimes I think it is important for kids to be able to chill a little after a big day just like adults. We had fun swinging, listening to the birds, and picking "roses" aka, dandelions.

Have a great weekend and Mother's Day! 

 

That time of year again....

 

It's that time of year again. Spring has finally arrived here and there is new life springing up all over the place. The flowers, the green grass, and the trees are all such lovely reminders of the hope that God has for us.

It is also that time of year again when no matter how beautiful things are outside, I start to feel a heavy, dark feeling inside of me. It started happening a few weeks ago when I just felt exhausted and spent. I could barely wake up in the morning and was beat by the time I got home from school. Even trying to convince myself to do the simplest thing was like trying to talk myself into running a marathon. My heart feels like it weighs a thousand pounds. I thought maybe I was just tired from the busy school year I've had but I know the real reason....it is because Trace's birthday is almost here. 

His birthday is a week from today. It is hard for me because all these feelings I have in the spring time like the warm weather and the excitement of wrapping up of school just remind me so much of right before he was born.  I felt so good right before he was born, trekking all over the place with Michael (like the zoo at 38 weeks pregnant!) and putting the final touches on my yard the day before we went in to the hospital. After my final concert at school was over, I was so excited because I would get to take the last week of school off to stay home the rest of the summer with my new little baby. And it was so much fun.

And so I think that is what is the hardest, being reminded of those happy moments. I feel like in my life every moment that is happy is also a little bit sad but those moments that are sad are also a little bit happy because we have those memories to keep us going. It is like I can only be both sad and happy- they are complicated emotions.

Every little flower I see reminds of sweet Trace's face and also reminds me that God hasn't given up on me. I know he is taking care of my baby and even though he took him away from me, I think he still has good plans for my life. My prayer for you is that you can see the same hopes in the simplest of things like the little spring flowers...even the ones that are weeds. :o)

Instafriday

 

Happy Friday!

Wow, this has been quite a week. It was beautiful Monday and Tuesday, then snowing Thursday and Friday. 

What a mood shifter. I was sooo grumpy yesterday. The snow, cold temperatures, WIND, and the worst commute all year was just too much for me to handle.  Luckily, things perked up at school and I've been having awesome, awesome days lately. I'm happy that the end of school is in sight but also feeling a little bit lucky that this weather does not make the kids feel too squirrel-y.

It has been an emotional week for me at school, celebrating a coworkers retirement with a fantastic concert. I am so worried that time is just going to keep chugging along and soon that will be me, directing my last concert. I'm having a hard time grasping the fact that after this year I've been teaching for longer than I was in high school and college combined. I feel like I am hitting my stride but still learning new things every day....and having a blast while doing it. 

I'm looking forward to a weekend full of rest and relaxation and I hope you are too!

Happy Friday! We made it!! 

 
        
        
            
            
        

Sunday Daffodils

 

"Hey Michael, lets go sit on this big rock by the pretty flowers!"

 

"What, these pretty flowers?" 

 

"That is boring to me. I would rather climb on this big rock!"

 

"I am naughty boy! Hear me roar!"

My silly, silly boy. What am I going to do with you?

A Spring Garden Preview

 

Yay for spring! This has been one great weekend. The weather is warm, the sun is out and we got to spend all of our Saturday outside in the yard. We are completely enamored with the budding life that is happening all around us. Michael even said, "Mom! There are....flowers!...on your tree!" in reference to my little crab apple trees. He is also excited for the tulips to bloom and says, "Just green stuff yet". 

Speaking of blooms....I checked my archives and last year my crab apple was blooming on April FOURTH. Can you believe it?? Wow. 

We tackled two huge lawn cleanup projects this weekend. The first was tying, cutting and burning all my tall grasses. Scott was a huge help to me this year and used his weed whacker on them. It went really fast! It is still a mess out there, but we'll get it taken care of over the next week or so.

We also completely cleaned out our front bed by raking up the mulch, and tilling it up. The dirt was getting really compacted and hard to dig in the annuals (which make up most of the bed) and I think this was a good move. I did have to take out my perennials and then replant them but I'm hope they won't mind as they put up with a lot of abuse. We also tilled in some compost and fertilizer so I hope this helps feed the soil as well. I realize it looks only like a blurry photo of dirt at this point in time but just you wait--I'll be back with more photos! 
:o) 

 

Trace's lilac is getting lots of buds on it and I'm excited for it to bloom. We still have some work to do in his little angel garden area because like everything- it is a work in progress. I'm waiting to see if the special hydrangea I bought comes back and if so, I want to add a few more around my yard. They are just absolutely my favorite. 

That's it for the spring tour! I hope you had a great weekend and got to enjoy the nice weather with your families also!

VEISHEA 2013

Our VEISHEA Saturday started out with a very fun birthday party for two of Michael's friends (they are twins) who turned 3! It was a great chance to celebrate and also watch the VEISHEA parade! They had a very cute Toy Story themed party which I loved....yay for all things Disney!



We saw lots of our favorites at the parade: Aunt Denise, the Cyclone bball tean (Haaaay Egim and Georges!!) and of course CY!!!!! Michael was so excited to see him the whole parade and when he finally came around it was like a celebrity sighting among the 3 year olds with screams for Cy!

 

Afterwards we did a quick tour of campus, enjoying the sunshine. The temperatures were in the 40s, hence the winter gear, but the sun felt good and it was a welcome change from the snow and rain we'd had earlier in the week. It was one of the nicest VEISHEA's I'd had in a long time. 

All the Cyclone spirit definitely got me excited for football season and also got me thinking I need to visit campus a little more often- maybe we'll plan a day trip this summer for some walking and photography. Stay tuned! 

My Shutterfly Disney Photo Books

Obviously, you all know I love taking photos. But I also love organizing my photos into photobooks or scrapbooks that can become family treasures. Did you know that looking back at old photos is a great way to de stress? I always feel warm and fuzzy inside after looking at old photos....and not just ones on the computer. I love having something tangible to hold in my hands and flip through. 

I usually do 12x12 individual pages for Michael's album (as seen here) but for trips or something special, I like to do a stand alone book. I will probably also do some layouts to pop into Michael's book later this summer when I update his album.

I ordered a 12x12 hardcover book from Shutterfly.com. I had 50 total pages with 5-12 photos on every page. It was a labor of love for sure and I spent a long time working on it. Shutterfly is constantly updating their online site, so this time seemed to go the smoothest of all.

While I was at it, I also made a version for Scott's parents and his sister's family. This was more of a family album as I collected photos from everyone on the trip. I ordered them a 8x11 hardcover with about 42 pages. Since it hard turned out so different than mine, I ordered a mini 5x7 version for myself with a soft cover. This is more of a flipbook that is just for fun but I still really like it!

I have them displayed in my living room and have picked them up several times just to browse through. I think it is fun and hopefully will help jog our memories of our awesome vacation!