rainbows, big girl and day old balloons

Fun title for a fun post! We went home to Syracuse this past weekend to celebrate Kira's eleventh birthday with family and friends. We had a good time and even got to catch a few pictures of this great double rainbow at my parents house. The second one to the right (check down by the tree line) is the reversed image of the brighter one. The colors are backwards. Alex noticed right away. Such a smarty pants.

I grabbed Kira for a few outdoor pictures to remember her on this big birthday. I can't believe she is 11. I mean seriously... where has that time gone? This is my mom's Charlie Brown tree. At least it was until it grew up. Poor thing was decorated on its first year for Christmas and looked so sad and pathetic. Looking much better now.

The day after all the fun of the party and there sits the balloons. The mylar one is still hanging at the ceiling but the fun color ones are relegated to the floor.

The kids are in Syracuse spending some quality time with Nana and Papa. I'm sure they'll also get some time hanging with Grandpa too. This of course means that hubby and I are foot loose and fancy kid free adults. I love the kids vacation time!

first day of school for kira

All ready to go! Fifth grade here she comes.

Got her laughing. Love that smile.

Loving her new messenger bag instead of a backpack this year. Very grown up. Where did my baby girl go??

Feeling a little weepy today. Where is my baby who I dropped off at kindergarten all those years ago?? Seriously. How did this 10 year get into my house? And we are NOT talking about dropping Alex off tomorrow. Nope... not gonna do it.

photo shoot 8.3.11

I took Kira out yesterday in her daddy daughter dance dress for some pictures. I had been putting it off and putting it off since Picture People's quality has slipped a ton and I hate to give my money to places without receiving great service/ product. In fact I had put it off so long (the dance was in February) that Kira had outgrown her shoes!! We had to pick up a new pair at Target. They were perfect and had Hello Kitty on them.

Took me a bit of time to narrow down which ones I wanted then mom got to pick hers as well. Figured I'd order all the enlargements at once to save time and shipping. Love Winkflash for enlargements. They do a great job. Also good for 4X6's too!

This first shot is the one my mom picked out for her own collection.

Alex also wanted his picture taken. Don't want him to feel left out so he got in on the action. The following two pictures of him are ones I had enlarged. We need to change out a bunch of pictures around here. The kids are growing up!!

The tide was out yesterday when we went to the park by the Lamprey River which both kids thought was pretty neat. Love taking pictures down at Prescott Park.

Here he is in his usual state of movement! We were down at the library. I love the bricks and the granite on this building and in the morning the sun is shining but not into the kids eyes making them squint.

More of Kira in her dress. This one I edited into a landscape 8X10 for enlargement.

This one just rocks!! Such a pretty little lady. The dress is a bit shorter than when Nana made it. The girl has grown an inch since June!!

The true test of any dress for Kira is the spin factor. Always has and probably always will be. This one passed with flying colors!! Can you see those blinged out shoes? They are covered with bling and match the dress perfectly!! And yes... have Hello Kitty on them near the strap. PERFECT!!

Here is my ham. She loves holding the dress out like that. She did the bow all by herself. So happy she is so willing to have her picture taken and since we have been going to Picture People since before she was born (I have the pictures to prove it) she knows exactly how to pose and look and such. It was not easy coming up with just a few pictures to have enlarged. Of course I'll have more printed to scrap... but for now they will be on display.

Off to post the pictures I picked out from the birthday and kids together photo shoot last week.

last day of school and some gifts

Been slacking in posting some gifts I have made. Time to catch up... I made these two gift card holders for Kira's Girl Scout troop leaders. Love these ladies. And the papers and flowers were so wonderfully fun. I tried to use green since Kira is a Junior and wears a green vest. Had fun with these and they were appreciated.

This was a gift card holder for my Alien friend. If you look closely you can see one of her cousins right below the flower/ belt. Yummy greens on this one. Very happy with how this turned out.

Here is the card I sent to the above mentioned Alien. The paper is from the All About Boys DCWV stack. So perfect for all those extra terrestrials in our lives. Okay... I only have one, but she is pretty darn special. Love the purple and green on this. Used my Nesties for the pop dotted circle and the alien guy was just begging to be cut out of the paper to travel.

Yesterday was the last day of school for Kira! No more fourth grade for us... we are headed into 5th. Mr. Jones will be her teacher. I am very happy with this. And I think it will be great for her to have a male teacher before heading off to middle school.

Took the kids to McDonald's to celebrate the end of school. Plus it worked out since they have Pokemon toys and cards. We had a play date with Kira's friend Maggie which was great. They had a fun time since the rain came tumbling down shortly after we got home from lunch.

Here comes our summer. Hoping to be able to post some more creations shortly. Busy weekend coming up for us so if you don't hear from me... I'll be back soon!! Enjoy!

tuesday...i'm here!

That is a good sign. I said I would be back and I made it. whew... Now if I could get scrapping things would be even better. Oh well... at least the family has clean clothes to wear. That too is important for some people. *giggle*

The picture below was my POTD for my Project Life yesterday. Alex had a small accident and wet his bed so I got the fun of remaking his bed with clean sheets. As you can see, he sleeps with a 'few' animals and it is a captains bed with the storage below and pushed against the wall... not the easiest thing to make. But I did it. whew...

And this is a close up of the main group that has to be there. I have been shifting a few of them out at a time as he keeps finding new ones to join the group. Eventually he'll have to get them all out of his bed but for now there is plenty of room for him and the gang.

And this was the fun project I was working on yesterday with the stickles. Man does she sparkle now!! So darn purty. I got the Hello Kitty Sizzix die at Joanns' on clearance. I do believe it was 50% off the ticketed price of $8. I know it was a steal and it feels good to get her out and use her. I'm sure she'll like her new home. Not telling where that home is... the lucky person will just have to wait for the snail mail. :)

Off to fold more laundry. I get it all washed and dried and then it has to be folded too! Man... so not fair. If I ever find those laundry fairies, I'm tying them to my machines so they can't leave. They have been very lax in their duties at my place. If they are with you, can you send them along to my house... I need them. Thanks!!