In the blink of an eye

September came and went. I haven't posted in almost a month! Gasp!!

We are well adjusted to the routine of school being in and we just finished Cross Country. Both of the kids ran and last weekend we participated in a 5K. That was alot of fun!~

We took Brenden in for his spinal Xrays on Thursday. The curve has progressed another 2-3 degrees. So surgery is inevitable but not immediately. What a blessing! We have yet to decide when we will do it but at least we can put it on the back burner for now and until the holidays are over. We do need to have an MRI completed though because our orthopaedic doctor is concerned that he may have a tethered spinal cord due to some of the symptoms he is having.

We are also planning our vacation! Monty is getting ready to do the Ironman. All the hard work and training will soon pay off. From there, it's on to DisneyWorld.We will be gone for 12 days and it is taking more planning than I could have imagined. I guess that's part of being so Type A. We are all so ready for a vacation.

Tonight we are headed to Ian and Brittany's home for a surprise birthday party. Ian will be 19 on Monday. Hard for me to believe!! Really, you just wake up one day and your kids are grown!

I am amazed that she has been able to pull this off without him finding out. Should be a great time.

I will leave you with one of my latest creations. Just found this new Sassafrass paper, isn't it the cutest? And so appropriate for a tween girl!



Hope you have a great weekend!!

Remember These?

I had mentioned that I was going to list some awhile back. The ones I was going to list in my shop sold very quickly to some friends. So I have some more now that I have put in my etsy shop. I am getting ready to be make a few more for the holidays for some friends. I will gladly accept custom requests.

Check them out...I am hoping to add some other creations in the near future, too.

Schools in...

and I can tell in a number of ways:

We are getting up ridiculously early in the morning so the kids can be at the bus stop at 7 a.m.

Cross Country practice everyday until 5.

They both battled a cold about a week ago.

Endless requests for help with homework.

Yesterday morning Alliyah woke up with Pink Eye.

Lots of checks written for school-related expenses.

Here is our little sweetie. These were taken yesterday. Hasn't she grown so much in the last month? It still amazes me. She is up to 9 Lbs., 4 Oz. She doesn't know she was a preemie. Ha! I cannot get over the fact that it has been almost two months since she made her arrival...

Did you know that today is Grandparent's Day? That is how I "guilted" Ian into bringing her to see us. He is such a good son and a great daddy too. It's so cool to watch your kids grow up and see their roles change. I am so proud of him!

Look who...

stopped by for a little visit today:

So it has been...

a whirlwind of a week! Last weekend on a perfect Sunday morning, on a reservoir in Boulder, at the crack of dawn:



The kids and I watched Monty participate in his very first triathlon.





It was really a proud moment for me to watch my husband cross the finish line! I totally admire his perseverance and his example to our kids and to me. He had set a personal goal of finishing in 6 hours and 30 minutes. He finished at 5 hours and 41 minutes. Amazing.

This is in preparation for The Ironman Florida which is happening 1 November. Just a few months away. The training has been really time consuming and I have to admit we have hit some rough patches. It isa little difficult to be supportive of something that takes up so much of our family time. Especially when your husband is a Locomotive Engineer and spends a good deal of time away anyway. So I am trying to work on it. But I am definitely a proud wife!!


Yesterday, the kids went back to school. Although I couldn't take photos because the weather was being unccoperative. 54 degrees and raining is not good picture weather. So hopefully Monday morning will be a little warmer and drier. Although after today I'm not holding my breath.Ha! Their first day seems to have gone pretty well. But they started on a Friday and so next week they will be back in full swing!

Yesterday, Monty and I also celebrated our 16th anniversary. Every year it is hard to believe that another one has gone by. We decided to celebrate in the Fall/Winter with a ski trip. Last year we were unable to go because Brenden had broken his leg. So we have high hopes for this year! We did however enjoy a nice dinner at Texas Roadhouse.

I know I can't sign off without some pictures of our little sweetheart. These are from earlier this week:






I am off to cook dinner. Hope you are having a great Saturday!!!

And today...

this perfect little girl in this perfect blue dress
came to visit her very excited grandma:

She is a whopping 24 days old!! Her due date is still a week from today and here she is! I am so incredibly thankful to God for her good health. What a tremendous blessing, I cannot imagine my life without her already!

She is making so many sweet facial expressions and little smiles. She makes the sweetest little squeaky sounds, too. I just absolutely adore her. I am loving being a grandma. I have such a new outlook it seems.

Another weekend...Gone

I am hanging on to the last moments of summer break which seem to be flying by. On August 15th, I will have a 7th and an 8th grader. (GASP!) Monty and I will also celebrate our 16th wedding anniversary. It is all hard to believe.

This weekend we visited the zoo. For awhile I remember actually dreading yet another visit to the zoo. For the majority of the kids' elementary school years, the end of the year field trip was always the zoo. So I would go at least 2 times each year and often we would go at Halloween time for Boo at the Zoo. This year, I was actually looking forward to going though. There were new exhibits and a new sky ride, too. Grandma Hinton's company picnic was there and it was in the evening. I had hoped the temperature would begin to drop before we arrived. That really didn't happen. When we left the zoo around 9 pm, it was still about 84 degrees. I hope the heat breaks soon! We are melting here!








And here is a couple week old photo of my little cuppy-cake. I will get some new photos tomorrow when she comes to visit us!

Baby Shower Goodness!!

Here is our little sweetie at 9 days old. She was almost back up to her birth weight. Such a good eater! The dress was WAY too big. Britt's mom took it in at several places so it wouldn't fall off of her. She looked so pretty for her party, wouldn't you agree?!!


Ian and Britt got lots of baby goodness!! I would guess around 35-40 people attended the shower. It was great to see all of the support that the kids have! Really what a tremendous blessing...

We had plenty of yummy food, too! We kept it simple with finger foods and sandwiches. Thanks Mom and Karm!! And we had yummy bubbly punch too!

I managed to sneak a photo of the proud parents too. Let me just say it wasn't easy with a houseful of guests. They were very popular!

The group gift that Mom, Karmyn and I gave the kids. Obviously she can't use it for awhile, but we thought (rightfully) that most people would provide things they need immediately.

She was one sleepy little girl after being passed around. But that's ok, she's just as gorgeous sleeping as she is awake. I could and do just sit and stare at her. She is beautiful!!

Amazing

I am so amazed by this little girl of ours. She is such a tremendous blessing to our family. So healthy and so alert. Ian and Britt came over for dinner tonight and I loved every minute of spending time with them! She is almost back up to her birth weight at 4 lbs 14 oz. She eats like a little champ! Here are some new photos of Baby Stephani at 5 days:




That's all I have for today. Off to get some rest! Good night!

We Have Been Blessed!!

Yesterday at 9:03am, our first grandchild made her arrival 5 weeks early. She is SO beautiful!!
Weighing in at 4 lbs, 15 oz. 18 inches long
Meet Stephani Alysandra:

Happy 4th!

I am looking forward to hanging out with family today and eating some yummy BBQ. I love summer for these reasons. Getting together, hanging out and eating.




















Saw Ian and Brittany last night. Amazing how fast her tummy has grown. Baby Stephani is sure to make her arrival before too long. I can't wait to meet our newest addition. I felt her moving in her mama's tummy last night. What an awesome reminder of God's miracles!

This was taken last week:




















Today also marks the end of Boy Scout camp for Brenden. I have missed him so much! I know he must have had a blast! The lake was so inviting and peaceful when I dropped him off on Sunday, I truly wanted to just stay there.I knew the kids were going to miss each other tremendously. They aren't use to being apart for so long. I will have just enough time to get everything washed and re-packed as Little Miss leaves for Girl Scout camp on Sunday.

I had decided to go ahead and make some of these frame books. I like how they are turning out. This one is for a lady at work. She wanted one for her granddaughter's photos and one for her grandson's photos as well. I will post the masculine version later. So much to load up! People who have seen these are really liking them, so I am going to list a few here :
http://www.letsgetartsy.etsy.com/

This one was made with lots of K & Co. They are definately one of my most favorite scrapbooking companies!

Trying to get back to writing this blog. Sometimes life gets so hectic and I forget what is going on around me. Then when it slows down a bit I find that I wish I had taken a breath and caught some of it. I know I need to live more in the moment. It is so true that we are always getting ready for something.


Lately my "something" is the granddaughter who is soon to join our family. I am eagerly anticipating the new little one. Isn't it great how a baby can create so much joy and so much to look forward to?


What I am not looking forward to is Brenden leaving for camp tomorrow for a week. Even though the kids aren't babies anymore, I still find it hard to let go even for a week. I know he is struggling with it a little too. So I am keeping my inner thoughts to myself. Because truly, I want him to go and have a blast. One he comes home Alliyah will leave for camp for a week. It is nice that they are getting a break from one another though. Lots of arguing and all around bickering happening around here lately.