My Football Players.....man they grow up too fast!

Here they are, my football players. I will have new pictures later this fall for this season, but the left is Lance at 13 years old, 8th grade. The right is LucasJon, 10 years old, 5th grade.

I am so incredibly proud of my boys and all that they accomplish in life. They both work hard to keep a great balance in their lives. They get very good grades in school (Lane and I enforce a 3.0 or higher average to STAY in whatever extra-curricular activity they want to be in), they excel in their sports, and are all around good kids.

What more can parents ask for? Okay, so it would be nice if they did their chores without me having to remind them, but what kid LIKES doing chores? Oh well, that's not so bad............it certainly could be worse!

Convention HERE I COME!

Yes!!! I am going to sunny (and probably muggy) Orlando, FL next week for our Close To My Heart Convention! This is the resort I will be staying in with some other ladies from our unit. I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I am. Convention is when they release new product, have wonderful business and creative classes, and the best part of all is the friendships that happen with fellow consultants. I am so excited!!! (Oh wait, I said that already) I will fly out on Wednesday morning and return Sunday afternoon. When I get back, I fully expect to be in full throttle mode (sorry, that's the auto repair shop owner in me coming out) to build my business and share my passions of scrapbooking, stamping, cardmaking and paper crafting!

Be sure to watch for updates and pictures from this awesome event!

Small Town Fireworks!

I absolutely LOVE that my camera has a fireworks setting, how else could I get these awesome shots? We go to the fireworks in Kewaskum, and they are absolutely awesome, especially considering the fact that it is just a small town. I would have to say that they are as good, if not better than the fireworks we watched when living in Milwaukee.

LucasJon and I went to watch them together, and were able to sit with some friends which made it all the better! Great fireworks and great company!

Sybaris!!!

Whew whoooooo! Lane and I FINALLY took some time off of work and headed for a short romantic getaway at Sybaris Pool Suites!! We had the Chalet, and what fun it was. It is beautiful there. So serene, and much needed time away from it all.

Of course, we like to "share", so we did have the kids come and play in the pool, go down the slide, etc before we checked out the following day! It was so much fun, and they got a chance to see where we escape to (not sure if this was a good idea or not, but we all enjoyed it!)

Graduation Card

This is my most recent creation! This is a graduation card for Lane's 2nd cousin. We had her party this last weekend. I was able to play with my new toy, The Cuttlebug. I used it to emboss the bottom of the card with the d-vine swirl Cuttlebug embossing folder. The top of the card is the CTMH Silhouette paper pack, the flower is CTMH Big Pinks (I used a white one), CTMH desert sand exclusive inks, black cardstock, and a clear button backed with the Silhouette paper to match! Hope you like it, I had a lot of fun designing it!

Anthony's First Haircut

Oh my goodness!!! Last night Lauriel decided that Anthony needed his first haircut. So, since "Grandma" gives all the guys in the family their haircuts, she decided that she would let Grandma do it! Well, I have the peanut buzzer and Anthony is so darn ticklish! He laughed so hard because it was tickling him every time it touched his head. Of course, he is handsome as can be, but he no longer looks so babyish!

The Party Was A GREAT Success!!

Okay, so we had the combined birthday party (see invitations below) for Anthony & LucasJon this past Saturday. It was a huge success! The pictures above are of LucasJon putting on a "show" after he learned how to inhale helium and talk funny, LucasJon after his big sisters "gave" him a piece of cake, Anthony's Backyardigans cake, Anthony and Mommy, LucasJon's WWE cake (will explain more below), LucasJon with his cake, and some of our guests.

We had quite the spread going: Hot ham, turkey in gravy, beef in gravy, and BBQ shredded pork, potato salad, cheesy potatoes, fruit salad, cheese & sausage tray, veggie tray with 3 kinds of dip, relish tray, chips (several kinds).............................oh yeah, NOBODY left hungry, I guarantee that! LOL

We all had such a great time, but honestly, before the party I decided I was not just cleaning, I was going to "declutter" also (thanks FlyLady)! So, after making 50 handmade invites I started cleaning and decluttering. Whew, I had a great time, it was WONDERFUL to see everyone, but I'm glad it's done with!

LucasJon wanted a WWE cake badly. So, I went to three different local stores to try to find it for him. NOTHING, nobody is licensed to do these cakes. Lucky for me I found a wonderful lady at Walmart who is also a WWE fan that offered to design the cake with a ring in the middle. I would just have to buy whatever I wanted on top to decorate it! Whew whoooo, she made me a hero in my 11 year olds eyes!

Now, if I can just keep up with my friendly FlyLady missions that are emailed to me Monday through Friday, I might KEEP my house looking this good! Enjoy the pictures!