Month: May 2010

These guys were such troopers during our shoot tonight.  The summer time is officially upon us here in Houston, and that means two things: heat and mosquitoes!  Luckily, I seemed to be getting the brunt of the mosquito attacks.  Unfortunately, we had to share the heat!

This is the family of one of Camryn’s sweet Mother’s Day Out teachers.  Cami sure loved Ms. Jodi!  It was so fun getting to see and meet Jodi’s family tonight.  And like I said, they were such troopers.  Jodi will be happy to know that we got lots of good smiles.  As you can probably guess, this whole photo shoot idea was hers.  I have yet to have a dad call me up and want to schedule a photo shoot!  Her guys were just along for the ride.  But they really did great, and I hope they had at least a little bit of fun along the way.  I know I did!  Hope y’all enjoy your sneak peek!

I love the little connections I see in this last one.  I love how Jodi is looking at her boys, and the easy way the boys are standing, and the sweet way Jodi and Brian are holding hands.  Families are the best.

He gets to bounce.

and bounce.

and bounce some more.

He literally  bounces the entire time he is there.  He bounces from  station to station.  He bounces in line. His favorite parts, not surprisingly are bouncing on the trampoline and jumping into the pit.

Gymnastics is perfect for my bouncy Logan!  He’s a video that really shows off his bounciness.

There is someone else who can’t wait until she gets to go to gymnastics.  Normally, we aren’t in the gym, but on the last day of the spring semester,  the parents get to go in and take pictures.  It wasn’t long before Camryn was right there with the big kids.

Waiting her big kid turn…

to do the big kid things.

Today is my day for the Paper Trunk Blog Rock!

So, first things first, how about a little sneak peek at the fabulous new line, Rockabilly!

For your chance to win a prize, all you have to do is answer the following question.  Or, even if you can’t answer the question, just leave a comment anyway and you’ll still be entered to win!

Which famous rockabilly artist wears blue suede shoes, rocks in the jailhouse, and ain’t nothing but a hound dog?

You have until Tuesday, June 1, to leave your comment and be entered in the random drawing.  This isn’t even your only chance to win!  We will be giving away 11 prizes.

To see the next sneak peek and for another chance to win a prize, check out Lisa’s blog this afternoon!

Rock on!

On Wednesday, Logan had his two best friends over for the day.  I love when Noah and Gabriel come over, even though the boys bicker like brothers!  That’s just because they are so close.  They are Alvin, Simon, and Theodore.  No, really.  They are.  Don’t try to argue with them about it.  They actually call each other by their chipmunk names as much as they use their real names.  And I think it was Noah who once tried to convince his mom that since they are Alvin, Simon, and Theodore that means they are brothers which means they should all live in the same house.  Sounds perfectly logical, right?

I can’t even think about how Logan won’t be in school with them next year.  We live a solid 15 minutes from each of them, so I also can’t think about how they will probably rarely see each other once everyone gets busy with school stuff in the fall.  We will just have to soak up the time this summer.

I kept the boys (plus the girl) busy with a trip to the library, lunch at McDonald’s, and a few minutes of playtime at the park before I wimped out with the heat and the mosquitoes.  While Camryn napped, I really wanted to boys to play outside.  Enter a pool that I have no memory of buying but I found in the shed.  Logan is convinced that Nonny or Mamaw bought it for him.  Who knows.  It doesn’t really matter where it came from.  I’m just glad we had it even if it is sort of small.   It didn’t stop the boys from having so much fun.

see what I mean about them being like brothers?  This is totally something my boys would do to each other.

what on earth is Logan doing here?  I cracked up when I saw this picture.

Then it was time to play the run-and-jump-in game.  Every time, I held my breath that they wouldn’t pop the pool.  It survived.

What a great way to spend a summer day.

Hi, my name is Megan, and I am a scrapbooker.

It might not be as huge a part of my life as it was a few years ago. But it’s still there. I don’t blog about it too much…my little home on the web has definitely morphed more into a mommy blog than a crafty blog. But, that part of me that loves to scrapbook is still in there.

I’ve loved being a part of the Paper Trunk design team for the past few years. I was so excited when Carrie invited me to stay on as a member of the new team. Carrie had a design team call, and in the end, there were 10 of us chosen to be a part of the Trunk Team.

I’ve spent that last few weeks getting to know these talented ladies (you can read about all of us too, over at the Paper Trunk blog).   Let me just say, there are big things ahead for Paper Trunk!  Carrie is getting ready to release some new stuff, and let me tell you, if you are a scrapbooker, you will want to see it!  It is so cool.

So, in celebration,  the Trunk Team is hosting a BLOG ROCK!

What’s a blog rock, you ask?  Well, you’ll need to check the Paper Trunk Blog on Friday to find out!  It’s going to be fun, there will be sneak peeks involved, and the best part of all…PRIZES!  Many, many chances for prizes.  Who doesn’t love free stuff?!

Get ready to rock with Paper Trunk!

I mean, really?   These kids are mine?  Sometimes I can hardly believe this is my life.  I love the kids so much it takes my breath away.

In some ways, today felt like the first day of summer.  Logan and Camryn are done with school.  It felt so weird to not take them to the preschool this morning.  Instead, we went to Sam’s and the grocery store.  I’ve gotten used to doing those kind of errands on my own, so it was definitely different to have 2/3 of my kids along for the ride.  By the time we got home from swim team practice at 6:30 p.m. and I was scrambling around to get dinner on the table and still get Connor to bed at a decent hour, I had that familiar “it’s summer” feeling.  It’s that tiredness that comes from being with kids all day.  It’s that feeling in my chest that feels like I might burst if I have to keep on with my “mommy” roll for much longer.  It’s the sheer exhaustion, the checking of the clock, and the nicely asking (okay, pleading) with Derek to please put the baby to bed so I can have just a moment alone at the kitchen table.

Lately, Camryn hasn’t been wanting to go to bed at night.  Who can blame her, really?  Usually her brothers, her most favorite people in the world, are still up and she knows it.  Derek and I both give her “nuddles” and sing her the bedtime song (you are my sunshine).  I lay my head down with her, and then sit for several minutes with my hand on the small of her back while she whispers toddler sweet nothings to me.  Tonight, it wasn’t working.  I had to leave to give Logan and Connor their tuck in time, and I was hopeful that she would just fuss for a moment before drifting off.  But, tonight, that was not the case.  As I was tucking in Logan, he heard her crying and wanted to go give her snuggles.  “but mom!”  he said, “I didn’t give her any hugs and kisses tonight!”  Who could resist that.  The next thing I knew, Connor had joined us and they were asking me to take a picture of them.

Be still my heart.

I love these guys so much.  And you know what?  After 10 minutes of snuggles and laughs and hugs and kisses, all three drifted off to dreamland.

Everyone needs to meet their daily quotient of snuggle time.  My thanks goes out to Logan for realizing what Camryn needed tonight was just a few more minutes loving on her brothers.

Today was Logan and Camryn’s last day of school.  It was Logan’s last day of preschool ever.  To say it’s bittersweet is an understatement!  I just can’t believe I will never walk through those doors to pick up Logan again.  He’s been there for 3 years, learning, playing, growing, and being loved on by some amazing teachers.

Look at my babies back on the first day of school in August…

And here they are today.

While the kids enjoyed their last day of school, I enjoyed my last day of mommy time.  First, I met some friends at Cracker Barrel for breakfast.  Those blueberry pancakes and hash brown casserole complete me.  The company was nice, too. 🙂  After breakfast, I headed to the mall.  I wanted to find a new dress that I could wear to my sister’s wedding and also wear in Hawaii.  During the hunt for the perfect summer sundress, I also found 5 new shirts.  Score!  I did find a dress, and I’ve been trying to find a picture of it to post, but I can’t find it.  I got it at Francesca’s, and I think it’s so cute.  Very sassy, very summery, and sort of un-Meganish.  But I like it.  It sort of makes me want to twirl.  I was hoping to post a picture of it because I really need some shoe advice!  I did take a picture of myself with my phone to get my bff’s opinion, so maybe I’ll just post that.  I’m rambling.  My point is, I found a dress and some other things and I had a great time shopping for what will probably be the last time until September.  Shopping with 3 kids?  Not so fun.

Okay, I’ve seriously been debating for the last 20 minutes about whether or not I should post these pictures, but I am just going to.  Should I just go with brown shoes?  Flats?  Heels?  Go with pink to match the pink the in dress?  I am NOT good at shoes.  Seriously, I wear my teva flip flops every single day.  Or my converse if it’s raining.  I need help!

Since I’m sharing what I bought, I’ll go ahead and show what else I picked up.  I got a few of these tanks from American Eagle:

I give up.  I can’t find pictures of the rest of the things.  Oh well.  The bottom line is, it was a fun shopping trip.  I feel like it’s been a long time since I really shopped for myself, and I’ve been having fun with it over the past few weeks!

And I guess that’s all I have to say today.  I have other topics floating around in my head, but I’ve gone on long enough for tonight. Good night.

We have another graduate in the family.  A preschool graduate, that is.

Along with the graduation ceremony is the requisite preschool program.  I love a good preschool program.  I love when they get so jumbled that I can’t even understand what they are saying.  I love watching to see who is going to be the most animated, who is going to yell “hi mom!” the loudest, or who will need a potty break in the middle of it all.   They are just so. darn. cute!

After all the festivities, it’s time to throw the hats off and party!  Which, in the preschool world means drinking some red punch that leaves a mustache and getting all sugared up on cake and cookies.  Good times, good times.  Don’t forget about acting all goofy with your friends!  Noah, Gabriel, and Logan are pros at that.  Man, we are going to miss these boys next year.  I can’t even think about it without getting sad.

I can’t believe that Logan is 5 and starting kindergarten in just a few months.  Do you realize I started this blog when I was still pregnant with him?  Crazy!  It’s flown by.  I love this kid so much.

For Mother’s Day, Connor wrote me a poem.  His teacher typed it up, and put it in a frame along with a picture of him holding a rose.  It’s so cute!  Probably one of my favorite presents ever.  Here is what he wrote:

Roses are red.  Violets are blue.
Sugar is sweet, and so are you.
You love me, and I love you.
Thank you for my brother.
You are such a good mother.
I can’t wait ’till you turn thirty-one.
I love you!
I really, really do.
I really do!

I don’t even know if I can pick my favorite part, but I definitely love the line about his brother.

I’d like to say that this is how they always are, but c’mon.  They are brothers and they are as different as night and day, and they fight with the best of them.  But they love each other, and I’m so thankful they have each other.  They are actually in a really good getting along phase right now.  It ebbs and flows with them…can we all just say a prayer right now that this good phase lasts through the summer?

It’s not too hot yet, not too humid yet, the days are a little longer, it’s almost summer, but not fully summer because the mosquitoes are not out in full force.  This is the time of year where we go out in the backyard after dinner and the kids play and eat ice cream and I take pictures until I force everyone inside for baths, stories, and bedtime.  Because, it’s not really summer yet and it’s a school night.  Everyone trudges inside with a chorus of awww, mom!  Just a few more minutes?  Please?  It’s not even dark yet!

I love this time of year.  It’s perfect.

My garden is growing!  Check out my little tomatoes and our first cucumber!

A few pictures from our evenings outside last week…

And a few of Camryn that are just so her.  Loud and sweet and sassy and fun.

On a completely different note, today is new carpet day!  Yay!  We’ve needed new carpet since, well, since we moved in 4 years ago.  The day has finally arrived!  It’s looking great, and I can’t get over how much I love the new carpet smell.  I also finished painting Connor’s room over the weekend, so I’ll try to get some pictures of those things soon!