It's My Mom's Birthday...

And she looks better than ever! She has aged gracefully (and beautifully) and continues with all her hobbies, talents and activities. Mom is never bored, nor does she have enough hours in the day to complete all she wants to! I always joke (but not really) that she has more dates and things to do than I.

We are fabulous, aren't we? This was at my cousins wedding in February, 2009, and we had a ball!

Mom is a person that a stranger could meet, and five minutes later they will be best friends. She is welcoming, open, helpful, giving, positive and has a heart of gold. She loves her children and grandchildren (all 11 and a half of them!) more than anything in the world... and it shows. She has already been assigned a fabulous spot in heaven!

The entire crew: my 3 brothers and their families, and mine, including the big Wrig, gathered around mom and dad this past Sunday.

All the grandchildren with Mimi and Pops.

Mom is my best friend. I would rather hang out with her than anyone. She is a rock, so strong, spiritual and wise. She guides me and gives great advice. She gives me breaks with the kiddos and, well, she sews. She makes me the most divine clothing you will ever see... but not in a store! Mom is so super creative! She keeps up a phenomenal garden, and has even taken up oil painting in the last year- and she's really good!

Mom, happy birthday! You are so wonderful! I want to be just like YOU when I grow up!

Love you so much always,

XOXO

Family!

We are fam-i-ly! I've got all my "brothers" with me! This is our most recent family picture. I believe the last one taken was in the nineties. Anyway, I used my tripod to take it and it didn't turn out half bad. I HAD to scrap it since I didn't have a picture of my entire family in my book yet! My three bothers and I are very close and I adore their wives and children, I am very lucky!

I am tired, so this is gonna be a shorty short post tonight... I left the house this morning at 8:30 a.m. and didn't return until 5:30 p.m. It was a busy day, to say the least, but I wanted to share this LO with you guys before I turned in for the night. I love how it turned out!

More shares tomorrow! Night!

Bright Eyes Full of Wonder!

My three children love to play outside. They love animals, bugs (especially Anna), flowers and grow and tend to their very own tomato plants. Well, this summer, our backyard has been a breeding ground for natures finest...

We have a lovely rabbit couple who lives under our deck. How they manage to have any "alone time" with Wrigley always on their tail, I will never know. He barks and scratches at the deck daily. They are on their third litter since just this spring! That mama has got to be tired! The kids love to see the mommy and daddy bunnies hopping together, and those babies are so cute!

Then we have Jennifer, the boy caterpillar. Anna found him Saturday and played with him and then put him in her bug catcher with twigs, leaves, and some damp parsley. Jennifer, well he was as happy as can be... so happy, and fat with food and good care that he spun his cocoon yesterday. We will have a butterfly or moth in about 10 days.

Finally, we have our mama bird, Back-n-Forth. Anna named her this because she goes back and forth a lot. Back-n-Forth built her nest in the garage in my garden tool bag. She laid 2 or 3 eggs and has carefully watched over them. If the garage is closed, she tweets loudly on my kitchen window sill until I open it for her. We checked on her today and she looked at us, poked her nose down, (and you will not believe this part...) pulled out one of the hatched babies as if she was showing it to us. I was startled and excited all at the same time! So, now Back-n-Forth has her babies to tend to.

All of this is so good for Mac, Anna and Elan to see. They look with bright eyes and they are filled with amazement and excitement! They want to learn about all the things they see and aren't afraid to dig in and get their hands dirty! I love that about them and I hope it sticks with them as they get older. We may have a born Zoologist or Veterinarian in our family! Time will tell...

And speaking of bright eyes, these are some big, bright ones! Elan in Harbour Town in Hilton Head this past June. I used papers from the Studio Calico June kit and mom stitched around the edges for me. Stephen took this pic, isn't it awesome?! It's by far, one of my favorites! Here's a close up of some stitching and embellies:

Enjoy, and have a lovely night!

Family Fun

I love coffee. It's 8:15 on Sunday morning and I've already enjoyed 3 cups. Stephen's Uncle Scott and Aunt Cindy were in town this past week for a visit from Minnesota. Cindy is a barrista and roasts coffee. She gave me a pound of fresh roasted coffee and let me tell you, it is wonderful! It has a peanut butter aroma and flavor. Yum! Thanks, Aunt Cindy!

While they were in town, we all got together a few times to hang out. It was so much fun. We grilled out at Uncle Rick and Aunt Vicky's on Thursday night. They have a creek that runs behind their home and the kids played in it and had a blast! Anna "fell in" 3 times while trying to catch shells, minnows, crawdads, rocks, etc.

This is her first outfit, but by the end of the night, she had borrowed 3 t-shirts from Uncle Rick!

This is Uncle Scotty. Elan is named after Uncle Scott because we all think he is so great! Elan adores him, and they hung out together playing and acting silly. These pictures will be in his scrapbook soon!

And lastly, Uncle George brought the kids Navy t-shirts from his trip. Uncle George is the kindest, gentlest, and most dapper dresser I know. He was in the Navy and Mac really loves talking to him about it. Here they are in their new shirts:

GO NAVY!

And for today, I am busy crafting and blogger is being a booger... it has taken me all morning just to finish this entry! I will post all my creations in the morning!