To people who do not scrapbook, this won't seem like much of a big deal, but it is to me. I submitted a page to Creating Keepsakes magazine. For years and years I have wanted to do it, but I feared the rejection. I finally took the plunge. I know it will be rejected, but I'm still proud of myself for doing it. Plus, I just love this photo and I love how the page turned out too.
I did a layout today and I love it. It didn't turn out at all like I had originally planned and I'm glad. I was picturing something more "schoolish" with abc's and chalkboards. This is soooo much more Parker. In fact, I layed out 3 paper selections and he picked this one. He has an artistic eye I guess. You sure wouldn't know it from his interest in art. He NEVER wants to color or draw. This is a big disappointment for me because I love to do those things. Oh well. Maybe Jack will like to. (VERY DOUBTFUL!!!)
I have been coloring my hair on some level for about 20 years. It started out with some "Sun In" (you know--that stuff that you spray on your hair and then sit in the sun and it bleaches it) and progressed from there. When I was in college, it was pretty much white and it has been every shade of blonde, yellow and orange ever since. Including a shade that my friends lovingly call "butter". One thing has always remained the same though--the black strip running down the middle of my head because I am always fighting my roots. So, I have decided to have a trial run of something closer to my natural shade. I feel like I am wearing a wig but I am willing to try this out. I will probably get some blonde highlights soon, but I think this might be the direction I should be going. At least until I start turning gray then I will have to lighten it back up! Anyone want to bet how long I will last with dark hair? I haven't decided if I like it or not! Parker keeps saying, "Your hair sure is different." I don't think he means it as a compliment!
The lessons are over. According to his teacher, Parker needs to gain confidence. No surprise for a kid who just doesn't get to the pool very often. I feel strongly that he will be more confident as he get's older. He's just like me--he overthinks things and then talks himself out of trying new things. We both need to work on that!
We got back yesterday from St. Louis. We were there for six days which appears to be about the maximum that any of us can stand. I think the boys just get a little out-of-sorts after a while and I know it's stressful for Tracy and Ryan to have their normally orderly and quiet home disrupted by us--at least for that length of time. We did manage to hit all the stores I wanted to and Parker had a great time swimming. I always say that I don't want a pool, but I just love that he could put on his trunks and swim for a half hour and it was no big deal. Maybe someday we'll do it, but I highly doubt it. The week definitely didn't turn out to be the "baseball" trip I had planned. We only went to one game because Travis had to keep coming home to work. Since we really only go to the games to be with him, it didn't seem worth it to drive all the way there if we weren't even going to see him. And now that we are back home, Travis headed back to St. Louis. How's that for irony?
Parker is just wild about Stella. He is so sweet with her. It's like he feels some kind of responsibility for her. Even Jack is very quiet and gentle when he plays with her. It's funny to see how rowdy and rough they are and then they sit down with her and their voices get that high-pitched baby tone and they touch her gently. I love it. Parker made Tracy and I get teary-eyed when we were leaving because he was sobbing and told me to tell Tracy to give Stella hugs and kisses from us. It was so heartfelt and sweet. He is such a gentle soul. I'm always worried that he is going to get his feelings hurt because he's so sensitive. I guess he will have to learn to deal with it. I wouldn't want him to be an uncaring child so I guess I should be happy that he shows great concern for other people's feelings.
My parent's are watching the boys for a little while today while I try to recover from so much time with them. Moms need a little break too!
Tracy e-mailed a few pictures of Stella from the 4th of July and this title immediately popped into my mind. I love it when that happens. Anyway, I couldn't wait to scrapbook it. Not my best work, but not terrible either. I should have been packing and preparing for our St. Louis trip but sometimes creativity wins over everything else!
You know, I get really annoyed when the blogs I visit don't have new entries for days at a time and here I am going weeks without blogging. Talk about a hypocryte. My parents and I have been working so hard on painting our house that I have had little time for anything else. I even went almost 2 weeks without stepping foot in Walmart. That is just unheard of! The highlight of my week so far has been that Hobby Lobby had it's 6 for $1 paper sale which is just an unbelievably good deal if you are a scrapbooker. Of course, I am a paper hoarder so I can never have too much. We are going to St. Louis for the better part of next week for the World Series for the 13U team Travis is coaching. I'm a little bit excited and a little bit concerned about expecting Parker and Jack to cooperate for that long. Luckily we have a really nice and helpful group of parents that lend a hand when I need one, which, if you know Jack, is often--VERY often. So far this year parents have prevented him from inserting a stick in an outlet, bandaged a bloody knee, prevented falls off bleachers, made stops from running into busy parking lots, etc. Where was I during all these death-defying incidents? Looking away for 2 seconds which is how long it takes him to get into trouble. People who have toddlers think that their child is active, but out of the 12 boys on Travis' team, all of the parents say they have never seen anything like Jack. They just shake their heads. Me too. Like we always say, thank God he's so cute because he sure is rotten! We also LOVE him like crazy (and his big brother too!)
You know, I get really annoyed when the blogs I visit don't have new entries for days at a time and here I am going weeks without blogging. Talk about a hypocryte. My parents and I have been working so hard on painting our house that I have had little time for anything else. I even went almost 2 weeks without stepping foot in Walmart. That is just unheard of! The highlight of my week so far has been that Hobby Lobby had it's 6 for $1 paper sale which is just an unbelievably good deal if you are a scrapbooker. Of course, I am a paper hoarder so I can never have too much. We are going to St. Louis for the better part of next week for the World Series for the 13U team Travis is coaching. I'm a little bit excited and a little bit concerned about expecting Parker and Jack to cooperate for that long. Luckily we have a really nice and helpful group of parents that lend a hand when I need one, which, if you know Jack, is often--VERY often. So far this year parents have prevented him from inserting a stick in an outlet, bandaged a bloody knee, prevented falls off bleachers, made stops from running into busy parking lots, etc. Where was I during all these death-defying incidents? Looking away for 2 seconds which is how long it takes him to get into trouble. People who have toddlers think that their child is active, but out of the 12 boys on Travis' team, all of the parents say they have never seen anything like Jack. They just shake their heads. Me too. Like we always say, thank God he's so cute because he sure is rotten! We also LOVE him like crazy (and his big brother too!)
