what i did last week

Last week... it was a busy one and totally awesome. However, some of it was pretty darn boring. I'll share the boring photos first and the fun ones later. Cuz that is how I roll!!

Monday morning I headed north on 95 to visit my twin in Bangor, Maine.

Definitely a picture that will have to be cropped to show the welcome to Maine sign better.

On Wednesday, I headed out of Maine on 95 South and snapped this sign. I wasn't in New Hampshire long enough to get a picture.

I'm still motoring along. Now I am on the NYS Thruway.

I hate this bridge. It's too high, too long and they are always doing some sort of repair on it. Makes you wonder.

Here we are in Massachusetts on Friday. Hey... look at the traffic. This is near Lowell where Route 3 joins 495 which means about seven lanes of traffic must merge into three. We ran into the same thing last year coming home from Syracuse! Plus there was a minor accident ahead which everyone had to stop and look at. Hate that.

oh look... more traffic! There was a car off the road up ahead. Gotta peek again!

So to summarize last week.... I drove... A LOT! But I got to visit my twin and go to her camp on Boyd Lake. And I got to pick up my kids and bring them back home. I guess that means all the driving was totally worth it.

happy fourth of july

Yup, I am a bit late but aren't these two just the cutest sparkler holders ever??? Thanks dad for taking these great pictures for me to have since I have left the kiddos in your care.

Today I finished Kira's room. The carpet was cleaned by my fantastical hubby tonight and I should be able to get everything off of her bed and the bedding back on tomorrow. It's gonna look so purty in her room. And boy are we going to have a serious conversation concerning its upkeep. :)

floating in nana's pool

What a great vacation the kids are having with my parents. Relaxing. Swimming. Playing. Ice cream before bed. Swimming. Stella's Diner on Fridays. It is all good. They are making some fantastic memories. And my dad is doing his duty to keep me in pictures of all their adventures!! Thought I would share a couple with you all.

Here is my little man. I think we could put a couple more kids in there with him! Such a little thing. Love my peanut.

And here is my little lady. Looking mighty fine hanging in the pool. Love my munchkin.

Today I began cleaning up Kira's room. oh my. I seriously think we have every single Littlest Pet Shop animal ever made. I had to pick up many... many little critters today. I wished them well and shoved them back into their storage bin. Then I had to tackle the enormous amount of accessories that come with these pets. oh my word!! I think we are good with LPS.... FOREVER! I know she won't think so, but I sure do.

The good news is that this year it is not a trash dump like last year. It is more of putting things back where they belong and giving her new storage spaces for some things. Half a closet done and all the storage bins are cleaned up. Under the bed storage is done too. Hoping to crank through the desk, dresser and other half of the closet tomorrow.

Hubby wants to shampoo the rugs in the kids rooms so I gotta get these rooms done. Plus the kiddos want to see pictures of their rooms and the new improved playroom. Right now there is a large pile of Goodwill donation items in the middle of the playroom so no pictures of that will be posted. Out of sight... out of mind. Works for me!!

syracuse birthday party

Just a couple of quick pictures from Kira's birthday celebration in Syracuse. After much deliberation, Kira and nana decided on a dog cake. Kira added 11 plastic dogs to the top to complete the look. Very cute and delicious!

My family before the party. Love them to pieces.

The playroom is coming along. Hoping to do some painting tomorrow so the hallway will finally be completed. Then off to tackle the kids rooms. I pulled a bunch of stuff to put into the playroom. Most of the toys that were in there, the kids had outgrown so they shall be donated off.

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!

the first of alex's turning 6 celebrations

Every year we head to Syracuse to celebrate Alex's birthday in February when everyone is on break. It makes his birthday stretch out for about a month. I don't think he minds much. Here's Kira, my father in law, Alex and hubby waiting for everyone to arrive so we can start the party!! As you can tell... Alex was beside himself waiting to open his gifts.

Here is a great shot of him opening a Pokemon figure. Cannot tell you which one of the 600+ there are, but he can and that's all that matters.

Another pretty exciting find from Grandpa.

Time for a big ole hug for Grandpa for such a great present. Can you say excited?? Love the smile on Grandpa's face.

Here's another happy smile for a Pokemon. Okay... so he can be a bit of a ham.

The AMAZING cake created by the wonderful bakers at Wegmans. I sent my parents into the store with a picture of a cake and they recreated it perfectly! We supplied the figures but they did the rest. I was so happy. I am writing a letter to the store for making my little guy so happy on his day.

Had to share this picture of Alex. Whenever he wears a shirt with buttons, that is where his hand usually rests. I love that I captured it for all time!!

Big wind there! Happy pre- 6th birthday big guy!!

It was a good but quick trip to Syracuse as we got snowed in on Thursday and had to leave on Friday instead. Hoping to go back at the end of May for the newest Foltz addition from brother and sister in law, but with these insane gas prices we'll have to see. Filling up caused major sticker shock to us. Seriously... we filled up in Syracuse after driving the entire trip and it cost us $71.55 for 18 gallons! Coming home it was $63.05 for 17 gallons. ouchie!

project life weeks 31-37

Here are the next group of weeks completed. I am very excited to have this years album done and start working on next years. I am thinking I shall be using the Cobalt kit. Then again, the Clementine kit is very pretty. 

In case you haven't looked before, this year may be the year that you might want to peek. Instead of having to purchase the entire kit (binder, core kit, plastics, dividers, extra papers) for one price, you now have the option of buying just what you want/ need/ can afford. Love this!! Click here to look at prices and options.

The plastics for this coming year are amazing!! I have ordered them and received them. I ordered some for my 2012 Project Life book as well as enough for two school years books. That is when Becky gets them out (hoping for early spring of 2012) It's a start on my journey to organize all that paperwork the kids generate from learning at school.

Anywho... here are a few more weeks of 2011....

project life weeks 25, 26 & 28

I had to print out one picture from each of the following three weeks to finish them up. Finally got around to doing that. Had a bit of help with a great deal from Snapfish... 300 prints for $3. Of course they get you with the shipping fees but it was still a good deal for me to catch up.

I am totally loving doing Project Life this year. When I did it in 2009, I got very far behind both in doing the journaling cards and printing pictures that I was discouraged. This year I am making an effort to keep up with things and it seems to be working well. I have gotten all the pictures printed and journaling done through October 31st. Pretty amazing!!


Gonna post some more weeks to share.