Post 4th Update

I love holidays and the 4th of July is one of my favorites!! Not only do I get to visit with family, see fireworks (although not in recent years) and eat some yummy barbecue food, but I am reminded to be thankful. Thankful to have a roof over my head and food on my table, thankful for a loving husband and supportive family, thankful to God for blessing us with 2 beautiful boys. Thankful that I am able to make lemonade out of lemons and enjoy the time off from working. Thankful to live in a country where I am free to be me! I've said this before and I'll say it again...I know this country has its flaws, but there is nowhere else in the world I'd rather live than right here in the good old USA!!

Here's a banner that I created for Purple Cows in celebration of Independence Day. The teal paper photographed a little "greener" than it actually looks in real life, but you get the picture. To download full instructions for creating this project just head to Purple Cows blog.


Normally, I spend the holiday with my in-laws, but this year I took the boys to my cousin's house for a BBQ/pool party/graduation party. I haven't seen my extended family (on my mom's side) in so long and thought this was the perfect opportunity to do so. Everyone finally had a chance to meet Xander for the first time. I hate that I live so far and don't get a chance to see everyone as often as I'd like. I have to admit, I got a little sad when I saw all of my cousins' children...especially the little boys who were around my boys ages...thinking of all of the fun cousin stuff that they are missing out on by not etting together as often...

Donovan really enjoyed the pool!! Can you tell? He didn't even want to get out to eat which is saying a lot for a kid who asks for a snack every 10 minutes! He stayed in until it was dark outside. His fingers and toes were completely water logged!


Xander had a little taste of the water. He was upset because he thought he could go in like the big boys, but water was too deep for him.

I asked my nephew to take him for a ride on one of the boogie boards for a few minutes and he liked that a lot!

I think eventually, this cupcake won his attention and he forgot all about the pool!


Looking at the pictures of Donnie and Xan from the other day makes it hard to believe that they were once so tiny! I pulled out some photos of them as infants to use on this layout that I created for Creative Imaginations and Petaloo. Xander, on the left, was only 4 days old and Donovan was 3 weeks old.

For close-ups, directions and a supply list for creating this layout, click on Creative Imagination's blog.


Lastly, I'll leave you with a layout create for Helmar Adhesives. This is the first time that I've used Lily Bee Design papers...and I likey!!

I had a really hard time photographing this, but just imagine the background is mostly white...LOL! The photos are from Xander's 2nd birthday party. He cracks me up because he makes the most serious looking faces, even when playing, despite the fact that he's goofy as ever...when he wants to be.

To see close-ups and products used, click on Helmar's blog.


Hope all of my fellow Americans had a fabulous Independence Day!

Until next post...happy scrapping!