Hybrid Scrapbooking

I was able to get away to a scrapbooking crop last month and spent one evening working on a hybrid album from our summer trip to Tybee Island. I love doing this!

I printed the photo book at MPix and then added in papers, journaling, stamping and embellishments. This process works out so great for me and costs A LOT less money - no need to purchase an album and then all of the individual prints and enlargements. What a great time saver and I get to personalize the book my own way. :)

Another reason to green up

Journey with me to a true commitment to our environment.
Journey with me to the serenity of leaving to our children a planet in equilibrium.
Paul Tsongas

When you stop, really stop and pause, and soak in the world around you, how can you not want to honor our earth? It is truly a gift to us all and one that should be preserved for eternity.

Our land is stunning. The variety of landscape in our great country alone is breathtaking. I know it is often a PITA to compost, recycle, reduce, search for chemical-free products, expensive to choose the organic over conventional, but man. Look at what we are blessed with! (Not to mention the health implications for ourselves and our children...)

Zen

The beauty of our world never ceases to amaze me. There is so much around us that simply captivates me. Mesa Arch definitely took my breath away and made me pause for a while while I soaked in the splendor of our great land. For me, this magnificent place is my zen.

She's a Spunky One!

"I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels. Life's a bitch. You've got to go out and kick ass."
— Maya Angelou

Man, this totally sums up my little girl! She is so full of life, confidence, freedom, Independence, joy, and just spunk. She is certainly a force to be reckoned with, and I love this about her. I will admit that it certainly makes life *challenging* at times, but damn she knows what she wants and that is SUCH a good thing!

She doesn't hold back and her spirit is incredible. She knows no limits and the world is definitely her stage. I do believe she is filled with greatness and will kick all the ass necessary to make sure her life is good. I will help her along the way to make sure my baby remains filled with confidence, joy, and certainly lots of spunk.

Transitions

I've been feeling somewhat idle lately. I've also been feeling a bit melancholy. I'm sure it has something to do with the fact that I'll soon be entering into a new decade of my life. For so long I've focused on the well-being of others and neglected myself. So now as I cross the bridge into the 4th decade of my life it is creeping up on me that I really need to broaden my focus and acknowledge my own needs. As a woman, as a mom, and as someone with, well, less than stellar self-esteem this is something that is incredibly hard for me to admit, let alone act on.

But I'm making an effort to be more authentic and more kind to myself. I won't lie; this requires constant effort and finding balance is so not my strong suit. It is much easier for me to be sarcastic and self depreciating. Yet this is something that I know is essential for my health so as I transition from my 30's into my 40's, I'm {slowly} transitioning my mindset.

Blink of an Eye

My baby turned 2 the other day. TWO! Where did the time go???

I can't believe how fast these two years have gone by and wish I could stop time. This little angel is so amazing, so happy, so sweet, and so much my everything. He has developed such a fantastic personality and I love watching him enjoy his world.

I hope the next two years, heck the next 10 or 20 years, don't go by in the blink of an eye.

Happy Birthday Beautiful Baby.

Majestic Wonder

In nature, nothing is perfect and everything is perfect. - Alice Walker



It isn't the showiest flower. It isn't the most beautiful. It doesn't have a fragrance. It certainly isn't long lived. But it is truly remarkable. It is regal and cheery, and it lights up children's eyes with wonder at it's majesty.

The sunflower is nature's perfection.

Bliss

When you look at your life, the greatest happinesses are family happinesses. ~Joyce Brothers

Cape Cod is our happiness. The sights, the sounds, the smells, the break from it all...our bliss. This year's trip did not disappoint.


Heading to the beach to enjoy the surf and sun. *splendid*


Wandering out into the bay in search of hermit crabs. *delight*


My heart, my soul, my pure love. *joy*


*serenity*


My sweet, amazing, incredible loves. *blessed*


Family happiness is enjoying the important things in life - togetherness. *euphoria*


An angel on earth. *love magnified*


Beach days are the best days. *heaven*


Bubbles on the beach powered by mother nature. *double heaven*


Ahhh, lobster roll and onion rings. *holy heaven*


Double ahhhh, fish tacos sooooo goooood. *rapture*


Shrek 4 at the drive in...a child's bliss *happy nostalgia*


Clamming in the cape. *magical*


First find. *enchantment*


Another day of clamming because it is so magical, especially through a child's eyes. *stupendous*


Riding the Cape Cod Rail Trail. *marvelous*


The cape. *peace*


Our family. *extraordinary*

ETA: wow, crappy photo upload - really noticeable since I changed the blogger photo size settings!!! I probably should go back and refind the images and change them here, but that is a project for another day.... I think my sentiment is still present here. :)

A Happy (?) Family Outing

I {heart} blueberries.
I {heart} Patriot blueberries.
I especially {heart} blueberry picking and even more so when it is for the Patriot blueberries!

Every year, this is one family tradition that I completely look forward to. I love the time together. I love the wide open orchard and sounds of nature. I love selecting and tasting the different varieties of berries. I love the plink-plink from berries dropping in the pails. So, come hell or high water, I want to go blueberry picking! Well this year proved to give us both - a bit of hell and some high water!

N was dealing with swimmer's ear and a middle ear infection, J also had swimmer's ear, and M just liked to play the role of little sister ("annoying", as her big brothers would say). However, this was the week that Patriots were ready for picking and the weatherman said that the rain would hold out until the afternoon. So I threw the ear drops and pain meds in my purse and we headed up to my favorite perfect orchard about 45 minutes away. Fingers crossed for a happy family outing.

We noticed that the closer we got to the orchard, the darker the sky became. Uh, not a good sign! We arrived, but...within 10 minutes it started sprinkling. Within 15 minutes it was a full out downpour! Excuse Me?! What happened to "no rain until this afternoon"??? *sigh* Fortunately, Ken packed a few umbrellas for the kids. Few = three. THREE umbrellas (we have 4 kids). Uh huh. Now I was REALLY crossing my fingers for a semi happy family outing.

No matter; we were there, already soaked, the bushes were filled with oodles of yummy berries begging to be picked...so I did. Fifteen pounds worth of berries - enough for us and some to share with the neighbors - not bad for a quick pick in pouring rain. :-) At least I was happy!

It's Relay for Life Time!!!

Next weekend my children and friends are going to walk all night to honor my husband, their dad, all of our loved ones battling cancer and to help find a cure. We are raising money to end cancer and let everyone have many, many more birthdays! If you are going to make a donation this year to the American Cancer Society, please consider doing it via my team.

Here is the link - please copy and paste as I can't seem to get blogger to insert a link!

http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR?pg=team&fr_id=23291&team_id=721859"

If you are so kind to make a donation, I'll send you a gift. I promise it won't be cheezy!



Here's to hoping for a great fundraiser and definitely a cure!!!

Hola!

Ken & I recently took a much needed get-a-away to the beautiful Riviera Maya. It was a short trip so we tried to squeeze in as much R&R as we could. The weather was amazing, the resort spectacular, and the sights incredible.


Got a bit too much sun while waiting to check into our room. Oops!


The gorgeous view from our balcony.


Infinity pool...bit chilly so we stuck with the beach and the larger heated pool.


Amazing stretch of beach along the peninsula.


We took a trip to the city of Tulum. Unfortunatey, so did the Mexican President (there to announce the building of a new international airport in the region). So the security was in full force....armed guards all over the place and most of Tulum was closed off. We only got to see about 1/5 of the ruins. I was bummed!


The ruins were absolutely fascinating.








This little guy's got the life!


Not a bad spot to build your city. I do believe the Mayan's knew a thing or two.




Ahh, a vacation in paradise. So sad to say adios.