Exhausted

I feel like this is the first time I have really just sat down and relaxed since like last Tues. night! Lot’s of fun stuff this weekend! Wed. nights are always consumed with church activities. Thursday night after work we did a quick pizza dinner and then it was busy with prep stuff for the party we threw Fri. night for my daughter Gracyn! Friday morning it was school for Braelyn and Selah, running a few errands, picking Selah back up, lunch out before a Dr. appt for Gracyn! Gracyn is doing well and the Dr. was impressed by her speaking at 2 years old! Gracie was at 50% for height and weight – right where she’s always been. While the two girls had their naps I was busy making Gracyn’s birthday cake. The party pony was fun to decorate. The quests all arrived and I was mostly ready. We had a taco bar, guacamole, and Spanish rice. Gracyn was surrounded by family to celebrate her 2nd year of life! She loved every minute I think! She received a lot of great new outfits and some cute little toys that she has been playing with today! Today we hit the morning running. Kyle took Braelyn and Selah all over town – doughnuts, visit to their Great Grandma, Home Depot’s kid project morning, and a few other places. I got my workout in with Gracyn, cleaned up a bit around the house, cut my nephew’s hair, showered, and then got lunch ready. After lunch we hung out for a bit, and then it was time to hit the Pumpkinfest parade in town! The girls scored LOTS of candy and they enjoyed the Critter Barn animals downtown as well! So tonight is finally just a home night. The kids were in bed by 8:00pm! Tomorrow is another fun day of church activities and then we are heading to the apple orchard! It’s been raining all weekend on and off, so we are hoping tomorrow’s rain holds off in the early afternoon! Here are some of my favorite pictures from the weekend so far!

Parade:

:::Scrapping Related:::

The October BYOC is here at The-Lilypad!!! I love BYOC time! And the October guest designer is Nathy – Cinnamon Designs! I was gifted with this kit recently by Nathy – she is the sweetest! I had answered a question in a forum about what kit you would buy if you could only buy 1. I answered that I would buy her Aquamarine kit.

Isn’t it so pretty?! I have used it for some LO’s in my vacation shutterfly book! So, welcome Nathy – can’t wait to play with more of your goodies!

I created a couple LO’s with the new BYOC:

Here’s to a good rest of your weekend everyone!

Happy 2nd Birthday Gracyn

I remember it all really well. I remember it better than my other two children's births for some reason. There is something very different about having a child naturally verses having a child with some drugs. I also think it's a whole different experience when you had not prepared to have the baby naturally! :) I don't know for sure, but if you know you are going to have a child naturally I think you can do a bit of preparing. I could not have prepared for what had happened two years ago this morning! I wouldn't change a thing about it either! The crazy thing is, I am glad I had a child naturally! I feel like I had accomplished a huge feat! Two years ago today was a Sunday morning. We had had a great night out with friends on Sat. night (the night before), and my cousin Lindsey had been babysitting so she had stayed the night. As I think back on all the details it really was a blessing how the whole thing played out! Anyway, I really was feeling okay all morning - knew I was having contractions, but really was nothing too unusual. Once I told Kyle that we maybe were going to have to think about heading to the hopital, he went into his usual "clean up" mode and get everything in the house done that he wanted to get done before we would be gone for 2 days! Well, I let him do that for a little too long! i was VERY uncomfortable the whole car ride to the hospital and when I got to the emergancy room where we have to check in I was in down right pain - like crying - it was rather embarrassing. Some really old gentleman had to wheelchair me up to the birthing floor and he was going so slow as to not make me more uncomfortable over bumps, but at that point I was wishing that he would run with me up the room so that I could get drugs! We got into the room at 10:15am. The Dr. came in at 10:35 and reported that I was a 7. They had ordered up the anesthesiologist, and a nurse had gone to get the stadol. At 10:45 I had told the nurse that I HAD to push. I was freaking out and saying I couldn't do it with out an epidural. The Dr. pretty much ran into the room and caught the baby! Not really really, but pretty close. Gracyn was born at 11:01. The anesthesiologist never made it, nor did the stadol ever make it to my IV - it was sitting on the counter across the room. It went fast. Kyle was great and I am pretty sure he gained a whole new respect for me that day! :) I felt great so quickly after the birth - I loved that part of it! So Gracyn gave me quite a memorable birth story - that's for sure! She is such a blessing in our lives. She is probably my most happy child up to this point - she just really doesn't fuss much unless she needs something. She smiles and giggles and loves to play with her sisters! I can't believe that my baby is two. By this time with the other girls I had a newborn already! Each girl was born 20 months apart! It's a little wierd to think that I don't have a baby again by now, but I am pretty okay with that! I am pretty okay with the fact that I am done having babies! I enjoy this age - ALOT! So her birthday party is on Friday night and we can't wait to celebrate with her!

This weekend in Zeeland is the annual Pumpkin Fest. There is a parade on Sat. that we get to go to with the girls and other activities to enjoy as well. It's finally feeling like fall here!

Lots of LO’s

Just wanted to pop in quick with some of my recent LO’s. So, without further ado…

Shabby Miss Jenn just put out her new Autumn Flea Market Vol. 2 kit – I love it! Might have become a new favorite of mine from Miss Jenn! Also, check out her freebie desktop HERE!

These two LO’s were made with a collab by Kaye Winiecki and FruitLoOp Sally – The Great Outdoors!

kit by Kaye Winiecki – Pat Me (a great petting zoo/farm kit!)

A kit by the September guest at The-Lilypad – K Studios! It has been so fun to play with Kristen’s goodies!

And Jacque Larson is releasing this doodled paper pack entitled All About Me Doodled Paper Pack. It is great! So many great little pages to document this stage in your child’s life – a family tree page, pet page, school page, neighborhood page – so fun!

That’s all for now folks!

MandaKay

Swirling and Whirling

Can't believe it's been a little over a week since my last post! Things have just been swirling and whirling around in my head lately! So much to think about, so much to plan, so much we want to do, so much we can't do, etc....! So far the start to fall has been great though! the girls are both settled into the fact that they are both in school I think! Braelyn seems to love it and I love when she gives me snippets of info about what she has been learning. She tells me more when I don't just come out and ask I notice. She will just randomly say things like "Mom, did you know that the k makes the "kkkk" sound?" and then she does this little thing she has learned that goes with the k sound! It's so fun! I told her that this year she gets to learn how to read, so she is pretty excited about that - as am I! I don't have any clue how to teach someone how to read, so I'm so thankful that there are teachers out there who have the patience and know how when it comes to that! Selah seems to like school and hasn't had any melt downs or anything there either! We have a GREAT teacher again this year (Braelyn had the same one for Threeschool), and so that helps! Selah has also been doing gymnastics at a local gym and she really likes that as well! It makes for a lot of running around for me on my days off, but I don't mind too much! Me and Gracyn get to have some time together now for 2 hours on Tue. and Fri. mornings while both girls are in school - so that is special too!

I want to learn how to make and decorate a great cake! Is that odd?! For some reason I am intrigued by cute cakes! And yummy cakes too! Gracyn's 2nd birthday is coming up and I am going to attempt to make this cake since she is having a My Little Pony birthday party! I hope it turns out! I am going to try to take the cake decorating course at Hobby Lobby next week to try to practice and learn a bit more! That's just one of the things whirling around in my head.

The other thing is - I want a Kitchenaid Mixer! Random and wierd bit of information, but I have been wanting one for a month or two now! I stalk sites like Pioneer Woman and I always sign up for her give-aways - especially when it is for a kitchenaid mixer, and I have not won one yet! ;) It might have to do with the fact that like 10,000 people enter her give-aways! Anyway, truth be told I never wanted one of these mixers up until recently. I am just starting to realize how often I would use one! I am not a huge cook or baker, but I do love to make cookies, cakes, and stuff like that! I ate at my sister Tammy's house not that long ago and she made the most amazing mashed potatoes - and she used her kitchenaid mixer to whip them up (and then she put them in the oven with butter and paprika and maybe something else - I am not sure). Made me want a mixer even more. The hand mixer I have is from when we got married and it seems to have no "low" speed setting, I swear. When a recipe tells me to beat on low speed, I simply can't - it beats it at high speed on setting 1. Grrrrr... So there you have it - I want a kitchenaid! Dan Seaborn has a really funny story about his wife wanting a kitchenaid and I wish for the life of me I could remember it all! I know I wouldn't do the story justice anyway, because part of it is so funny because of the way he tells it!

Busy. I have been thinking about that word lately. A lot of people are busy. Do we say we are busy to prove ourselves? It's become almost like a competition of sorts. Kind of like a braggin right. I think busy is relative. We are all busy in some form or another. I am no busier than you, or you, or you. Nor do I think you are any more busy than me. There, I said it! It's no competition for me! I am not a big competitor anyway really. Never liked competition much - which is partly why I hated Holland Christian truth be told - it was one big competition I feel like! Anyway - there you have it, my feelings on the word busy. And I am not saying that I don't sometimes fall into the busy trap myself, sometimes I have to try to defend my busyness as well, in a conversation unfortunately! Let's just all be happy and know that everyone in this life is busy! :)

Let see, what else is swirling and whirling around in this head of mine?!

Always scrapbooking stuff! I have done two shutterfly albums recently!!! They can be viewed here! They are of our 2 vacations this year - Punta Cana and North Carolina! I love how they turned out printed! It's so fun to get projects like this done! I actually applied to hold a shutterfly party at my house - in which the guests who attended would get some great freebies from the site and it would be for people who are interested in learning a few tips and techniques on how to create a photobook thru Shutterfly - kind of fun! The-Lilypad has announced their final new designer this past Fri. as well!!! Valorie Wibbens (Spotted Dog Designs)! Her designs are awesome, and I have had some fun playing with them! Check out her store HERE!

That's another thing that has my head spinning lately! There are now 13 permanent designers at TLP!!! That means sooooooooo many goodies are coming out weekly! I want to get my hands on ALL of it! I want to create something with everything there! I want more time to scrap! I have to juggle going to bed with my husband (because we generally try to go to bed together - have since we got married for the most part) and yet trying to get some stuff done after the kiddos are in bed. Hopefully this week I can play with some of the goodies at night! It truly does give me a calming feeling to scrapbook - kind of an outlet for me! Some have been known to call me crazy! ;)

Ok - signing out - sorry not many pics - Lord knows I do have some fun ones to post. I will have to work on an all photo post soon!!!

Remembering

Remembering Sept. 11, 2001.

 

The weeks going good!  Today was Braelyn’s second day of school and she seemed eager so I was thankful for that!  I had Selah’s three-school orientation last night, and I think we’re prepared for her to start that this coming week!  We don’t have any big big plans this weekend.  We were trying to get a sitter for Sat. night to go out on the boat for dinner, but haven’t found anyone yet.  My two sets of cousins that I asked weren’t able to do it.  I really should make work of trying a new sitter – I am just comfortable with the ones we occasionally use, but it wouldn’t be bad to have other options!  Anyway – so not much going on over here!

 

The-Lilypad::: Another New Designer:::Emily Merritt

Here is a LO I did with one of her new kits – Get Happy

Have a great weekend everyone!!!

School

On a scale of 1 – 10, with 10 being real emotional and 1 being not emotional at all, I normally would put myself at a 4. I am not stone cold, but I am not generally real emotional, I don’t get worked up easily. Until lately. Maybe it’s part of getting older?! We watched Braelyn go off to school today. Now, she has been in “school” for two years now – threeschool and preschool, but this is the big stuff – KINDERGARTEN. And really next year is even bigger stuff – 1st grade – all day everyday. This year Braelyn will be all day 2 or 3 days a week depending on the week. But this morning she got on the bus. That’s a big one for me. She started to cry at the bus stop while we were waiting for the bus. Well that got me right there. Watching my sweet little Braelyn crying because she was nervous and scared. Ugh – enough to make me cry all over again just writing this. But she got on the bus, and the sweet girl at her bus stop sat with her – that was so nice! She said she would help her find her bus. That made me feel good. Braelyn has to switch busses at our local school to take her on to her kindergarten building. I had to drive there to watch the exchange. I was getting a little nervous when all of her bus had gotten off and I hadn’t seen her get on her next bus, but finally her bus driver got off with a group of other kindergartners to walk them to the right bus! She gave me a wave to let me know she saw me, which made me cry again. She was fine I think by then – at least it looked like if from afar! I know she will do fine in school – she has had lots of exposure to those type of things between church stuff and her two years of preschool. Here are a few pictures of her first day of school!

See the nervousness setting in???!!!

losing it. I’m so proud of her though and I just told her that it is okay to be nervous and that I was going to pray for her all day, and that she can pray too that God give her some calm and confidence.

Here is the first bus she rides.

And here she is getting on the second bus – she is right outside waiting to get up in! I had front row seat to watch her and wave to her.

So, now I have just Selah and Gracyn today! Well, actually my nephew Josh is coming for a bit! Selah starts gymnastics today with some friends and then Braelyn is going to try out karate tonight as well, so we will have busy Tuesdays! And then Wed. night church activities start next week!!! Kyle and I are both teaching this year, so that will be a busy night as well!

I have another LO – one that I did for this weeks Lilypad challenge! Happy – it’s all about what makes you happy!

Ok – on with my day! Hope all of you with kiddos in school enjoy your day! I’m off to make cupcakes for Braelyn when she gets home from school!

My Little Dolls

I have three little dolls! Sometimes their cuteness just overwhelms me. Not only how cute they are outwardly, but also their cuteness from within. Their kid cuteness! There are times that we are so so frustrated with them, but somehow their cuteness gets us every time. Shabby Miss Jenn just released a new kit called Little Dolls too – so I figured I could tie the two together! ;) Here is the page I did with it! Selah being a little doll on the beach in NC. Go check out Jenn’s other new goodies as well! She has a free desktop calendar for your background of your computer as well!

The Sept BYOC (Build. Your. Own. Collab. as in digital collaboration kit) came out this weekend as well at the The-Lilypad. It’s the perfect combination of warm fall, but also easily can be used on some great summer pictures you still have screaming at you to scrap them!

Here are some pics of our last couple days here in life!

Braelyn was really into modeling for me – she strikes a pose lately no problem!!! These pictures were on the orientation night that we rode the bus with Braelyn and went to her school. I figured I’d take my pictures then because I wouldn’t have the time on the first day of school and like my sister Kim said – I may just have a tear or two blurring my camera eye. ;)

We did a few pictures of Selah too just because. Selah has another week before school starts and I get to be there with her on her first day so she will get better school pictures then, but I thought she was being too cute!

Gracyn apparently decided that her eyelashes needed a little extra help with some mascara. Or she just wanted to try and look like a clown – I am not sure which yet! She normally doesn’t really “get into” things so I was kind of suprised she got into mascara of all things!

We took the girls to the Home Depot Kids Workshop on Sat. morning. It was so much fun! They got to make Bean bag toss games! Kyle and I helped them make them, and there is a reason that Kyle is the builder and not I! It was a ton of fun to do as a family, and I am sure we will be going again – they do it monthly! I think because it’s labor day weekend they also had cotton candy, face paint, popcorn, games, etc…!!!

And it was so nice out yesterday that the girls even ran in the sprinkler! I was cleaning out the garage with Kyle and they had a great time running around getting wet!

We did get out on the boat on Fri. night as well – tried a little perch fishing. Caught about 5 , but none of them were keepers. I think we will try to get out on the boat again maybe tomorrow if it’s going to be nice! It’s been such a nice long weekend!

Hope you are all having fun family time too!