I cannot believe it, but my "baby" turns 8 this month....This is a make a wish kit (birthday theme, in soft pastels). Each birthday I try to make a list of the current "Favorites"...check out the pretty mask, which comes in a set of 4 called Joycepaul-prettymasks1 at the www.shabbypickledesigns.com Now that the kids are back in school, I feel like I can catch up on the computer things that I ignored all summer long!

New teeth and good grades

It's been an exciting week! The two new front teeth are coming in, Miss K got a new haircut for the summertime, and MaMa Kay took K and M to the Chuckie Cheese for an afternoon of fun (good grades).

The first signs of spring: My NEW rose bush is blooming! I've got a rock garden, that is slowly filling in after a few years of working on it. I'm trying to take a few photos every week of things as they fill out. Atlanta is absolutely picture perfect this time of year: 70s and no bugs!

Classic dandelion blowing photos! What would YOU wish for?!
I'm guessing she wished for another Webkinz!!!!

The Piano Recital

Miss K had her first piano recital, and she was sooo cute. They had the most BEAUTIFUL baby grand piano, and her teacher was so proud (not to mention Mom and Dad). She's playing with two hands now! The "pretend" photo of her playing the pretend keys was her in the driveway practicing as we hopped in the car to leave.

Today our family honors and celebrates the life of our "Grammy." Muriel Graap passed away after 97 good years, and we loved her dearly.

Easter 2009....nice, simple, and easy.

Shell Island, off the coast of St.Andrews State Park is a really COOL, natural place. We saw 3 Seaslugs, and lots of birds. If you are campers, I understand this park is fantastic (I like Grayton Beach, but this is similar). The little lagoons are protected from the wild waves of the ocean, so it is perfect for swimmers of all ages...what a beautiful place!

Meet "Beve" our Webkinz. He went to the beach with us, at Panama City, FLORIDA. Guess what, after we named him, we decided he was really an Otter. He ate shells at the dinner table wit us...Good thing he has fur, because it was COOOOLLLDDD on spring break!

Ken: this is what you do when the you need a little bit of good luck! my dear husband....

I have completed Kyra's lifebook. This is one of the digital pages that I have created: no paper! It says "Kyra, this is your special story. It tells of you life in China and how you came to live with your forever family. We've created this book for you so that you will know where you came from when you travel through this fantastic journey called LIFE." The group of adoptive parents at www.asialifebooks.org are just starting to write the books, so I may stick this page up for a sample. I've really enjoyed the digital scrapbooking, just wish I was better at it (and faster). I bought a charity kit called Tian Li to make it (ok, I scraplifted the idea from a very talented lady RuthAnn). Hurray! I've finished this page!

Are these silk tennis shoes the cutest? We found these at a consignment sale "just for fun!"

Kyra was exhausted from Easter shoe shopping. One little Beaver (Webkinz) kept her going though. Maybe she was just tired from all of the flips on the trampoline! Our mall has a jumpy thing that straps you in with a belt on rubber bands, and you can jump up two stories. The kids think it's a blast!

It's beginning to look a lot like EASTER! Hurray! The "egg-artist" was in full swing this weekend. Good thing Sam's has eggs CHEAP, because it seems that we drop every other egg. Our friends has a massive Easter Egg hunt (and for the first day in a long time it wasn't raining).

Can ONE little girl possibly eat a whole basket of candy in one afternoon?

Are we the cutest little bags filled with treats?

This was a fun page I recently put together for a class-it has all of the quirky things we "love" about Atlanta. The photo is of Ken and me downtown at the Centennial park, after we found the brick we bought during the Olympics. OK, this photo is from 1996. Add a few pounds for me, and little less hair for Ken and we might be up to 2009...The big round black circle is the road that goes around the city (we live by a place called "Spagetti Junction": Kyra just counted the ramps and we drive under (SEVEN of them) to pass under the twisted mess of roads at Spagetti Junction).

Our fantastic chior director Betty! These kids have a blast, and I'm pretty sure she does too! Anyone that can entertain (and teach music at the same time) to 40 7 and 8 year olds gets MY vote! The talent that this woman brings to the children's Wednesday nights is just amazing!

More of Atlanta in bloom!

Emory, in Atlanta, GA

The city is almost in full bloom, and I've got a serious lens back (happy, happy!)

March 17, Happy St. Patrick's Day

The day started out a little unusual. Ken turned off the alarm clock and we all overslept TWO hours! I guess we should not have stayed up and watched that movie last night. Kyra found a baby garden snake in her room, thanks to the "hunter" CandyCat. After Mom carried the little critter out to the trash, we emailed our friend Anthony, who lives in Ireland. We made a quick batch of cupcakes for the class, and off to school she went. This shamrock in the photo is really beautiful in real life...very sparkly, and brilliant. Miss Kyra was making some art this weekend in my artroom. I've got to finish up the stuff for the tax-man (very painful), but I'll survive. Have a great day! Did you see the green fountain on tv at the White House, in Washington DC?

Sunday, A wet, rainy day

Weather in Atlanta is just miserable, wet and cold. But the outside weather isn't the only thing WET around my house. My dh is replacing the plumbing for a new bathroom. All of the piping in
"this old house" is gross, so we are doing a new guest bath. Right now it's studs. I live in tools just outside of our kitchen (drives me nuts!)...but I have been through this rennovation thing before, so I'll survive. Last night at 10 pm, he was testing the new pipes, and water came SHOOTING up from one of them, inbetween the walls and onto a light...not a good scene, considering he had been working for 12 hours (under the house, in a muddy crawlspace, and on his knees). Hopefully we'll have the shower plumbing done today, and that will go a little better. I have a toilet and plumbing shower fixtures in my living room, tools in the kitchen, a sink in my guest bedroom (Ugghhhh)...Did I mention my mother in law is coming soon????( Just to make matters a little more stressful). I'll take a photo later today of the mess (oh, I mean "project."hahahha!).

I feel like I spend SO much time in my laundry room. What Mom doesn't? I got this rolling caddy, with 3 sections in it to keep sheets organized. it's got a pocket in the front for pillow cases, and I'm SOOO happy that I'm not totally disorganized in that room anymore. I've got a big plastic drawer for each family member on top of the dryer (a GREAT investment). I should have a piggy bank on there too! When I find money in pockets do you think I return it? hahhahahhahaa!

"We love Atlanta" layout with all of our favorite things to do, places to go...The big black circle is the 285 road that goes all around Atlanta (traffic is a problem, but it's just part of everyday planning around rush hours). I found the Peachtree Street artwork in some stashes of photos, and a photo of me and hubby at Centennial Park just after the Olympics (eeekkk! Was 1996 THAT long ago?! Ken looked at the photo and said "We were a lot skinnier back then." Sad, but true....

My "Favorites" layout: My hubby, child, and all of my favorite places and things to do. The butterfly is from my daughter's good wishes quilt. I have been quilting a little lately, so look for more sewing projects this spring.

Signs of spring

Darn! You would think I could get these photos straight....This is the collection of wonderful blooms that we see in late winter, here in Atlanta. These even survived our snowstorm! I actually ordered a new camera lense, so I won't have to take this poor quality anymore (I'm miserable with my Mom's point and shoot camera). So, look for more of the absolutely spectacular blossom photos soon!

sorting photos

I have been finding photos stuffed EVERYWHERE, and I'm trying to get really organized, so that I make the best use of my scrapbooking time. These are only the printed photos, there are thousands more digital on my laptop, discs, and backup drives. It IS fun to see old photos, but I'm ready to be DONE...I'm floating in a "sea of memories!"

Snow Fun! In Atlanta Georgia

A little (lopsided) collage of snow fun in Atlanta on March 1, 2009:

We had the biggest, wettest flakes. Ken and Kay grew up in snow so we had expert snowman-making skills (Hahahhaaa!). After we made a few snow people, snow angels, we had drinks and a warm fireplace at our wonderful neighbors' home. Morgan, the blond gal, is one of Kyra's best playpals. It was just a fun, wet, exciting day!

Our House: Is a WHITE house!

LOOK at our house! This is Atlanta GA after about 5 hours and 3 inches of the fluffiest flakes and a gigantic storm (with lightening and thunder along with the snow)....It all began Sunday morning while we were sitting in church and the children were singing...the BIGEST white flakes just came pounding down. It was all I could do not to stand up when the service was over and shout "SNOWBALL fight in the courtyard!" The first graders were sitting all together after singing and they could NOT keep thier eyes away from the windows of the church. VERY exciting! We lost our power all night, but it was OK, because we snuggled in bed and read JunieBJones "Dumb Bunny" book together. It was delightful....until we woke in the morning to a 48 degree temperature in the house!

The beginning of Lent

I'm giving up Wine and Ice Cream for 40 whole days (and that's not even counting Sundays) till Easter! My dear Hubby said he's giving up pickled herring (and he doesn't even LIKE pickled herring)...But I LOVE, love, love my glass of wine around dinnertime or when I get home from work and there is nobody up...I go into the bedroom of my daughter, kiss her, pet the cat and then say and "Ahhh..." Many times by the time I pour that glass of wine it's been and 18+ hour day...and I am a boring ice cream person ("Just vanilla, please") and this bowl in the photo was over the top, with nuts and chocolate sauce....I savored this last celebration with myself. Does ANYONE enjoy that quiet time, just peaceful, and not having to answer any questions or get anything for anyone? I love to page through a magazine or create a scrap page or read a book during that time....What do YOU like to do when the house is quiet?

It's Hunting Season

My cat is on the hunt! It's warm and he was out early this morning, hunting for yard 'critters.' Ugghhh...here we go AGAIN! I just stepped on a mouse head, in my bare feet...the rest of what was left was in my daughter's room....Nothing like a little wildlife to make the springtime more exciting (Not!). He looks so innocent, but Candycat is ferocious with the yard animals. Tune in later to see the most updated list of critters brought in by him...

A thousand photos...how DOES time pass quickly?!

One reason I haven't been posting too often is that I'm taking a scrapbooking class called Library of Memories...sorting, printing, backing up thousands of photos. Whew! Time passes quickly when you can fly through a whole year of photos in your digi files. But when I get done, I'll have a way to retreive any photo and have them backed up for safe storage...I'm getting a FEW layouts done, along the way....My four categories: people we love, places we go, things we do, and all about us (togetherness). Well, back to sorting 2005!

This is one of my winter layouts. Atlanta doesn't get too many snowstorms, so we have to really snap hundreds of photos when we DO get a storm! Usually we are lucky to get about 2 snow dustings a year. But since it's warm here, the kids are pretty good at making paper snowflakes!