Laughing and Crying...

Wish I could make this photo bigger, but you get the gist. I don't know whether to laugh at the joke, or cry because it's practically true. The price of a gallon of gas is expected to hit $4.00 today, and the thought just makes me sick. Already I have adjusted my life to accomodate this insane expense; I no longer visit my friends in Indiana and Kentucky, I work a 16-hour shift so I can squeeze more hours in with less driving down to Cincinnati, I have to budget my money well to afford to fill up my van in order to get to work and around town...it's great to be a little conservative, but this is just too much. What on earth can we do? I can't ride my bike 30 miles one way to Cincinnati, and I love Christ Hospital too much to work anywhere else. We're not even planning anymore vacations this year, mainly because it will just cost too much to get anywhere! I hate that!

Can you hear this cheerful Beatles song, "Drive my Car", which was released in 1966, when the price of gas was $0.32 per gallon? I think I'm going to PARK my car for awhile, and figure out a way to harness Gabe's energy and transform it into a source of fuel :) Wouldn't that be a great invention?!

Off to bed I go...clearly I am very tired and cranky. Happy Freakin' High Priced-Gas Friday!

Tiny Dancer

Well, maybe not so tiny after all. How does the time go so slow when you're a kid, but then you have kids of your own, and bam! time is flying by like a freight train?! I can distinctly remember the day Isabel was born, watching her take her first steps (at 9 months old!), taking her to preschool and watching her run away from me over to her teacher, without so much as a glance backward. Now here she is, at the end of second grade, and so beautiful she takes my breath away. I think that's why I take so many pictures...how else will I really be able to hold onto all those little moments that disappear before you even blink?

Isabel started taking Jazz dance lessons in kindergarten, at our local dance studio "Dancekids". She took last year off to do gymnastics, then decided to return to dance this school year. Her instructor, Miss Denise, is wonderful, and Isabel adores her. They have been working hard since September, learning their recital number. They will be doing a "lyrical" dance to this song from "Pocahontas", Vanessa Williams' "Colors of the Wind". The recital is in June, and I can't wait to see Isabel up on stage. No stage fright at all in this girl...she just gets up there and does what she has practiced for the past 9 months. She has such poise and maturity for her 8 years; I think God has big plans for her life. She is compassionate, kind, funny, extremely intelligent...can you tell I'm her mother? Just a little biased. If I can figure out how to post a video, I'll try to post one of her dance later next month. Have a great day, and if you can figure out how to slow down the time train, please let me know!

Birthplace of a scrapbook

My center of creativity has moved to Joe's old office, and is finally complete. I was so excited to move into a new scrapbook room, especially this one, with all these built-in shelves and countertops. Now everything I need is at my fingertips, and I love it! I used some ideas that I found on the internet (google "scrapbook room organization"), and the one I like the most is the pegboard. When Gabe walked in to check it out, he gasped in delight at all the stickers hanging from the pegs. Now the challenge will be to keep him out of all this stuff! For all you fellow Stamp Campers, no worries...I still have plenty of space for making cards in the gameroom area. Can't wait for you guys to see it!





Looking at these last few empty cubbies, I feel like that storage container commercial: "I need more stuff!" Actually, I plan on putting some of my favorite framed photos in those. Sure have come a long way from my one plastic totebox and the kitchen table, huh?

Gabe's favorite part: the sticker "store"!

So many supplies, so little time...

Playin' around...

On the evening we went to Isabel's school for "Young Author's Night", I was in the mood to play with my camera. I got a couple of good shots, but none that really stood out to me as being "great". This was last month, and I still hadn't posted the pics, I guess 'cause I thought they weren't "good" enough. But when I came across this folder and looked at the photos again, it made me happy just remembering the great evening we had together. And that's really what it's all about, isn't it?

Isabel, her girlfriends and her teacher, Mrs. Coleman. She is going to miss this little group of BFF's horribly next year!

Gabe cannot wait to be old enough to go to this school! The playground alone has enough stuff to keep him busy for hours; the only hard part will be to get him off of the equipment and into the classroom :) Thank God he's got a few years before he'll be at that point.

Joe took this pic; he does a great job with my camera.

Hope you have a blessed and joyful day today!

Girl's Day Out

Becky and I have been looking forward to seeing this movie since seeing the trailers on the TV at the Y, while we were sweating our buns off on those torture devices known as ellipticals. Today is finally the day...pedicures, dinner and drinks, and then the show. It has been way too long since I have had a girls night out, and I am so freakin' excited. I am so taking my camera, even if I look like a crazed tourist :)

Becky, I consider myself so blessed to be your friend. It's hard to believe we haven't even known each other a year yet; I feel like I know you so well. Very eerie how much we have in common, right down to our vicious poison ivy allergies. Working out has never been so much fun, and having a true BFF to confide in and commiserate with is priceless. You are the best!

I won!

For those of you who know me, you know that I am very unlucky when it comes to winning anything. I don't buy lottery tickets, not even scratch-offs; I have never won any contest where you drop your name in and hope to be picked. So...imagine my surprise when I saw my name on Becky Higgin's blog under the "winners" section! I won this new book by Lisa Bearnson, and I am so excited! I called my big sis, Michelle, right away (I knew she would appreciate my joy). Anyone who knows me knows I am a Becky Higgins addict; buying anything she publishes, checking her blog for ideas/recipes/just for fun. I just really admire her scrapbooking style, and I love her idea books "Creative Sketches". Although this book isn't by Becky, I also love Lisa B. She is the founder of Creating Keepsakes magazine, and though her style is different than mine, I still enjoy seeing her layouts and reading her ideas.

So, yay, I finally won! And since my new scrappin' room is almost complete, I will be ready to make some beautiful pages and cards when I receive my book. More pictures to come later.

Have a great weekend. Baseball games are canceled due to rain, so now I can lounge around with the kiddos until it's time for work. Sometimes I am happy to see the rain :)

Happy May!

I am so happy that May is finally here...one of my very favorite months, along with June and October. My "Apple Blossom" tulips have done so well this year; last year they were damaged by a late ice storm, and the year before that they were brand new. Isabel and I planted them together in the fall of 2005, and each year we add a few more bulbs to the landscaping. If you have never shopped with Breck's bulbs (a mail-order flower company), I strongly recommend them. They guarantee every bulb, and have even sent me replacement bulbs when a couple of mine didn't bloom. How's that for customer service?

Short post today...I have had a busy, exhausting day and am ready to put these kiddos to bed, read "Prince Caspian" to the older two, then lay on the couch, snuggle with my puppy (or husband, hmmm...hard to choose) and watch Gray's Anatomy and Lost. Finally, some new episodes! Have a great night.