my boy...

This is my boy. He's eight and loves mini golf so we celebrated with his classmates and friends by playing a round of mini golf. It was a beautiful day... the sky was much bluer than it looks in this photo :)

Happy birthday bud :)

i have an amazing sister...

Did you know that? I have three actually, but my sister Joanne has been home from work the last few days and I stopped by one day to keep her company. Not only did she make all these yummy flowers for me, but she taught me how to make them too! Some are five petal and some are six petal... I just might go all out and make some seven petal! Rebel! I still need practice. Mine aren't nearly as beautimus as these delights but they are usable.

Thanks Jo <3

how quickly they grow...

It's hard to believe the cute pup we got just a few months ago has already grown into this monster! I had him at the vet this morning and he weighs 27.5 pounds already! Someone send him a memo... he thinks he's a lapdog. We expect him to grow to be about 80-100 lbs. WHAT was I thinking???

Bowzer has been going to puppy training classes and he's usually a pretty good pup. We've "bell trained" him so he rings a cow bell when he needs to go out, which is actually a lot less annoying than it sounds. He wasn't signaling us to take him out but this seemed to work great for him. That in itself is less annoying!

a pup named bowzer....

I know, I am crazy, right? Yup... I am. Meet Bowzer. He's two months old now and he's been around for about a week. He's a really good pup, but that could change by tomorrow. Today he started nipping at feet. But look at those eyes... who could stay mad?

our nation's history...

This weekend we spent some time at Historical Valley Forge National Park for some reenactment shows. If you're ever in the area, check out the park. It has amazingly beautiful views not to mention wonderful American History.

Here's some of the great performances we saw today:

Firing the muskets

marching in formation

preparing the cannon to fire (boy was that thing LOUD!)

still making notebooks...

Can you tell I am having a ball making these notebooks? Love 'em!

I inked up Branch Out from SU for this one. I originally made this as a teachers gift, but I think it's going to my brother because we had a tire swing when we were kids and this book just makes me think of him... and that one time he fell on the picnic table swinging from it *snort*. I hope he likes it :)

supplies
stamps: su branch out
ink: pti dark chocolate, su garden green, sahara sand and basic black
paper: su whisper white, garden green, and basic black
accessories: another one of those great notebooks from borders!

cozy kids....

My husband bought me a *slanket* for Christmas. The kids love it so today I am making one for each of them. If you don't know what a slanket is, it's similar to a *snuggli*. Pretty much, it's a blanket with sleeves. I used some SU purely pomegranate satin ribbon to edge it. I will add my son's tomorrow... I am still sewing that one!

the monkeys are coming...

My beautiful daughter just had her fifth birthday a few days ago and she wanted a sock monkey theme... so I made about 20 of these invites for her friends. The inside was printed on my 'puter and stamped with SU Sprinkles and the banana from Sock Monkey.

I have a bear Wilton's cake pan and I decorated it like the sock monkey on the invite. The pink is a whole lot darker than I wanted it to be but Abby didn't mind, so I went with it. It's been a long time since I did a cake like this and I forgot how fun it is.

supplies:

paper: pink pirouette, chocolate chip dsp, cheap textured vanilla from AC Moore

ink: basic brown, pti dark chocolate, summer sun, pretty in pink

stamps: sock monkey and accessories, sprinkles, i forget what set the *you're invited* sentiment is from, sorry

accessories: copic markers, stickles

hawk mountain

Yesterday we took a trip to Hawk Mountain Sanctuary. We have a membership there and we all really enjoy the hike. Parts of the trail are dirt and other parts are solid rock... then there are the parts that fall somewhere in between. TJ and I like to take the Escarpment trail on the way back down, while Tom and Abby choose to take the shortcut back down. Yesterday it was particularly hot and humid here at home. Not sure what part of that sounded like hiking would be a good time, but I am glad we did. The temperature and humidity on the mountain were must less than here at home. As always, the view was spectacular. Next time I will try to get a panoramic shot from the north lookout. I hope you all enjoy these shots though, and if you live near Kempton, PA check it out!

Here's some of the fun we had: