heritage festival weekend

It was that time of year again... Heritage Festival weekend in Newmarket. There are vendors and foods and demonstrations and freebies and lots of fun. Unfortunately, for the past two years it has rained and we didn't feel like dragging the kids through all this outdoor stuff in the rain. I know we are very silly parents. This year... no rain. Super humid but no rain.

Every year Kira has performed with the elementary school chorus. Last year and this year she has played her saxophone. Afterward we went looking for the fire truck that was supposed to be down by the waterfront. So after a bit of a walk, we made it and no fire truck. Talk about a bummed little guy! But we did happen upon an adorable llama who looks just like little llama from the Llama Llama books. Alex and I LOVE little llama. This picture is so adorable!! My little llama....

Before the concert, Alex and daddy went down to the Lamprey Health's Teddy Bear clinic where they were giving away Clifford and his pals that were donated by the local Kohl's. Alex was so excited to get Clifford. Kira had a bit of a meltdown when she thought they didn't have any more Cliffords. Amazing that at age 10 she still loves the big red guy.

Concert pictures!! There's my sweetie doing the motions for one of her songs. She loves songs that they can move around to. The lovely lady to her left is her BFF Michaela. Sweet girls.

Finally!! I was able to get pictures of Kira playing her sax during a concert!! So darn cool. Love the action.

About the fire truck... as we were heading back to pick up our magnets that the kids painted, there it was! At the end of the festival. Alex was so excited. Especially when the firemen asked if he wanted a hat and a tour of the truck! He was on cloud nine.


Kira got a feather in her hair... it's pink. Perfect for her. I need to snap a picture of it. Of course tomorrow is picture day so it will live on forever in her fifth grade picture. Great memory! I get to work at picture day too. Always a fun day to see all the kids dressed up... and some that are not.


Mom and dad are here for a couple days. They went to the Loudon NASCAR race on Sunday. Fun hanging out with them. I spent the day Sunday trying to find the house. Somehow tons of dirt and stuff has found its way into this place. I must have turned my back for a minute. I was sore that day, but the house is back together and in order. I'd like to say the same for the laundry. Seems to be taking forever to get through the zillion piles I have. Little at a time and it will be done... sorta.


Kira is the Student of the Week in her classroom this week. We found out on Friday and then promptly forgot. She reminded me as we were heading out to her Girl Scout series program meeting (at 6:30pm on Sunday) that we needed to print her pictures for her. oh yeah... knew I forgot something. I hadn't eaten all day since I was cleaning, so I made me something to eat and my parents came home. My dinner was at 9:30pm and then I started printing her pictures at around 10:15pm or so. Finally got eighteen lovely pictures of Kira, her family, interests and friends printed by 12:30am. I cheated on the last two and used two Disney pictures that were on my desk. shhhhh.... it's our secret.


I had the fun of volunteering in Alex's class today. I am loving having this standing volunteering going on. So wonderful to get into the classroom and help out and meet Alex's friends. Doesn't hurt that Alex simply LOVES his teacher. I'm pretty fond of her myself. He was telling everyone who would listen today that I was coming in. So sweet. I went out to the playground to meet up with his class and he saw me and came running. His one shoe did not though! He was almost to me when he realized his one shoe was missing. Adorable!!


Need to get back to scanning school work. Maybe tomorrow. Tonight this momma llama is taking it easy and heading to bed early. Me tired.

slacker me again

Geez, I have been away for a bit of time. I'd love to say I have been cleaning the house and scrapping like a mad woman, but that is not true. I have been scanning and scanning and taking pictures and doing more scanning of my kids school work. It's not too bad for Alex as this is his second year. Kira on the other hand... I had only done preschool, kindergarten and first grade. I had stacks of papers and artwork that needed to be preserved. 

Normally this wouldn't have been a big deal but those stacks were in my laundry room. Which was fine and dandy during the winter as they blocked the window and any cold drafts that may have wanted to visit. However, during the spring and summer when I wanted the window open, the stacks of papers were a bit of a problem. I moved them but the new location did nothing to help with getting into our deep freeze or if I wanted to do any laundry!

So began my adventure last week with trying to get everything that I wanted saved either scanned or photographed. The big piles are now gone. I have a large collection of papers that are going to be recycled and I am feeling okay with this. I will have the copy. Releasing is a good thing. 

Left to do... I have a couple bags in my office from fourth grade and a couple in my closet from third grade. As well as her art folders from first grade to fourth grade. Oh yeah... they are starting to bring home more paper from this school year so I am attempting to keep up with it.

Not sure what I will do with all of this once it is done (or shall I say- caught up?) I do feel better having copies of these things. It is fun to see how much Kira's handwriting and drawings have evolved as she has gotten older. I will be burning discs of this information so I don't lose it if my computer decides to go belly up. That would be the worst!!

So that is what I have been doing with my time. (in addition to the other fun things I do around here) I also managed to get my hair cut and colored. Feeling good. I also had my stylist add in two purple colored hair extensions!! I love it. I wanted feathers but I like the purple so much more. Here's the new me... there is no way I am ever going to act my age!! ;)

apple picking and a party

We had a great weekend. It was the perfect fall weekend (in my opinion) Cool at night and in the 70's during the day with lots of sun! We took the kids to DeMeritt Hill Farm to pick some apples. Last year we didn't get to go because of a very late May frost that killed off the blossoms. So the kids were super excited to go this year. Me too!!

Kira took this great picture of me and my hubby. She did very well.

Another fun tradition... finding out how tall you are each fall. I need to dig out the first year we took pictures of Kira by this sign. She was MUCH smaller then. This girl has gone on a serious growth spurt. She has grown about 3 inches this summer and her foot has gone from a size 1 to a size 4!! We totally skipped size 2 and lingered at a size 3 for about a month.

Here's my little man. He is also growing on me. All his shorts that fit just fine at the beginning of the summer have had to be adjusted since he has grown up and lost some of his tummy in the process. Sign me up for that weight loss option. I would love to be a bit taller. LOL

Heading up the hill to pick us some apples. We didn't have far to go as they were just a couple rows past that white sign at the top of the hill!

Coming back down the hill. As you can see... Kira had a special apple she carried down.

It really was a great day. The apples were plentiful. In fact I have never seen more. And the best part, they all survived Hurricane Irene!


Yesterday we went to a birthday party for Kira's BFF Michaela. It was at a new bounce house in Portsmouth called Jump On In. Totally great time. The kids had a blast. I will say so did the adults. We all went in the bouncers and had a great time. I haven't laughed that hard in awhile. 


So grateful for my family and the fun we can have. Now if I could just bottle that fun... we'd be golden!

older projects i have done

It's been a bit since I have been here with you all. Sorry for that. Been busy. Who knew the beginning of school would be so crazy. I think by the end of next week, the kids and I will be in a good morning routine. Crossing fingers on that!

Anywho... I made these gift cards for my twin Tania and her girls this summer when I went to visit her. They each included a little something since I have been terrible with keeping up with birthdays and Christmas. I know.... for shame.

This is the altered paint can I created for the gift cards to travel in. They just couldn't arrive in Maine all by themselves. And Tania did mention she would like one of my paint cans. But please don't tell my mom as I have not made her one yet ;)  I used lots and lots of ribbon on the handle. Can you tell she likes purple? Just like me!!

This is the top of the can. Loving all the bling I got to use on this can. All around the center and then on top. Bling Bling Bling!!

You need a way to open the can to get to the goodies. And here's your key!! I used one of my nesties for the tag. The border was punched with an EK Success border punch.

Peeking inside the can before the lid went on. I also included some Lindt truffles and a hand soap from Bath and Body Works. It all fit in so nicely.

And this is my first attempt at an easel card. I made it for a friend of Tania's (who I know through Tania) who had a new baby a week before I went to visit Tania. I had to try this out and I really like how it came out. I think I may have to make more of these cards. I used DCWV pattern paper from a Spring Stack (can't remember which year) and DCWV cardstock for the base. 

This is the top. I did heat emboss the congrats but it didn't photograph too well. The word circles are from Making Memories and I have had them forever. They were perfect for this card. I did a lot of stitching and was quite happy with it. So was Julia!! :)

I made an altered paint can for the PTA to use for donations. I think I took pictures of it but I can't seem to locate them at the moment. I'll keep looking. Or take more pictures!! LOL Enjoy your weekend. I know I am going to!

back to school pot luck

The PTA pot luck was amazing! It all came together and flowed so smoothly. I was quite happy with it. My sweetie Kira wrote the message to all who came. Such a big helper.

This was our free raffle table. We also had our membership forms out as well as a handout telling all the stuff we did last year.

Here was our drink station. On the table next to it was a donation paint can I altered. Just in case anyone wanted to contribute. Not a requirement but some people did. Very nice. And the tub of free Build a Bear backpacks. The good news, most of them are now gone and not living in my garage. But I still have some left. I'm sure I can come up with more ways to hand them out through the year. ;)

FYI... The backpacks- we have them due to hubby's job. They were sent for a promotion a couple years back and they were leftovers that corporate told him to donate to a worthy cause. NES PTA seems like a very worthy cause!! They were a huge hit. I also put a copy of our events calendar on the inside so parents will know what the PTA is up to during the year!!

This was our arts and crafts station. The little guy in the picture I know personally and I am pretty sure his momma won't mind me sharing his adorableness with everyone! We had model magic clay, markers, crayons, coloring pages, white cardstock shapes, google eyes, glitter glue, foam shapes and chalk. This was also a very popular attraction last night. So happy we did it this year for the kids. It kept down the number of kids aimlessly running around and was pretty entertaining. Thanks to my friend Nicole for manning it and keeping things under control. It's her little man in the picture!

Food!! Let me tell you we had some amazing foods last night. The different salads were sooo good. We had chips and veggies and desserts and pastas. Everything you could want. One very smart parent even brought a HUGE container of Easy Mac!! Talk about knowing what kids will eat. There wasn't much left by the end of the event. There were six tables of food starting at the doors in the back to the front by the flower planter.

Everyone was on either side of the entrance on blankets and lawn chairs. So much fun to see so many people out and about. We also had the local ice cream truck there as a treat. They were generous enough to give us 10% of the sales that they did. I think that is pretty cool.

I think this year was a much better turn out with having it after school has started. That rain last week was a good thing. Going to put that in my notes for next years PTA President. The best part of the whole night was everything was cleaned up and put away before 7:30! Oh yeah... let's not forget the no cooking of dinner either! ;)

first day of school for alex

Was yesterday. But being as I had a zillion things going on, I didn't get to write up a post here for my little man. Oh the shame!!

The night before he was excited. The morning of... not so much. Then as he woke up a bit more and got ready, he was getting excited. By the time we walked into school he was giddy with joy. At pick up he was telling me he couldn't wait to go back tomorrow. whew... that hurdle past us.

Here he is before we headed out the door.

My simply adorable little man. He's wearing one of Kira's old school t shirts. He has been wearing it a lot this summer and was excited to wear it the first day of school. Love him!

And the new backpack. Little big on him. LOL But it is Pokemon which is our latest love. Especially Pikachu. His lunchbox is also Pokemon so it's gonna be a good year!

We stopped in the main office and said hi to Mrs. Charette and she gave him a high five for his first day. He has been hanging in the office since he was a little guy with me. The office ladies have watched him grow up and he is so comfortable with them. Then we were off to the art room where the kindergartners go in the mornings to wait for the bell. He was confident and told the teachers his name and was shown where his backpack would go while they waited for the bell. Very quick hug and kiss and he was good to go. The box of legos on the floor were also drawing his attention.

No tears in the school for mommy. But we are not mentioning the car ride to Walmart. What happens in the van stays in the van ;)