Camping Crazed with a touch of Olympic Fever

Well, it's not much of a post, but it's something... with a few pictures... so deal with it. *giggle*
(I'm taking a break from house work at the moment, but if I don't get back to it soon, I'll scrap it altogether, which would be bad for the goal of getting the house clean)


So, we've been talking about taking the kids camping this summer. We talked to them about the idea, and they were all on board... rather excited about it, in fact. So when Luc's parents came for Sebastian's birthday party a few weekends ago, they brought us their tent to borrow. This is the same tent they got when Lucas was 2 years old. Yes, 2. Which makes this tent 32. OLD. Especially in tent years. 


Lucas decided to set it up in the back yard to do a test run before we took it out into the wild. Good thing. One of the stake loops tore, and we had to use a big rock out of our yard to hold down one corner of the tent. And the seams were pulling apart in places (but seeing as we haven't had rain for EVER, that wasn't much of a concern for the night.   

The kids were SO excited to sleep out in the tent... they hauled their pillows and sleeping bags and stuffed animals and legos (yes, legos) out with them. And they snuggled in, as much as you can snuggle into an 8-person tent. Let's just say they had plenty of room. 

By 11:00 they had pretty much quieted down. By the time Lucas went out to crawl in with them at midnight, they were all sawing logs. HOWEVER, the zipper on the door had totally let go, and the door was hanging wide open. Instead of crawling in to sleep in the tent with them, we ended up hauling everyone out of the tent and back into the house. I guess 32 years is the useful life of the tent. But even with the tent bust, the kids had a blast! 

Since we now knew that the kids liked the idea of tent camping, but now also had no tent, we decided to purchase a new one. I found a Coleman 8-person on Amazon for a great deal! We bought it, and Lucas set it up for another back yard test run this past weekend (while I was busy working 2 concerts - Dave Matthews and Lady Antebellum). It's HUGE. It's green...*love*  It works great. We are ready to camp!

(You can't see the door in this picture because Lucas set it up facing the house. But I wanted to get a shot of how big it is.)

Today I made reservations for us to camp at a state park nearby. We'll be going soon.  Today the kids helped me make a plan for what food they want to eat while we're there. They're super excited! And so am I!

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Besides the latest camping craze, Olympic fever is starting to set in around here. Olympic trials are this weekend for gymnastics, so of course the DVR is programmed and ready! Sebastian is stoked that there are 2 full hours of men's gymnastics scheduled to be televised. Seems to be quite a challenge to catch men's gymnastics on TV most of the time. And of course, Meagan is still Jordyn Wieber obsessed! I guess if she's going to idolize someone, Jordyn is a great girl to look up to and emulate.

We even got 'Olympic' cereal and pop tarts... two foods I would normally NOT buy for the kids - sugar cereal and pop tarts with sugar sprinkles (seriously??? I DOUBT the Olympians eat this crap). BUT... Jordyn's on the box. And the pop tarts are a treat. So we'll deal with it.

Look... the pop tarts are packaged in gold, and they're red, white & blue. Very fun.

So we will be watching this weekend, cheering for Jordyn, of course, and hoping the US can put together a strong gymnastics team. It would be so great to see them do well this year!!

Now, back to laundry and bathrooms... boo.
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Check-In

Hi kids!
This morning Sebastian has photos for the wall of champions at gymnastics... they take pictures of anyone who has won a gold at state, regionals, or nationals and hang it up on the wall at the gym. Pretty cool!

We're also going to run to the store and return a tent that we bought (because I found a better deal on Amazon).

But after the pictures and errands, MAYBE I'll have some time to come back and post some pics from the last week... Sebastian's birthday, Meagan's last softball game, yet another football camp. Here's hoping I can make the time!!  Chat with ya soon!!

Something Old Something New - 6/20

Wednesday means Something Old Something New sale at TLP, a mix of older products and new ones at 50% off for the day!!

I don't usually do a ton of advertising on my blog, but every now and then I share something I think is too good to pass up. This is one of those times. Allison Pennington has a new kit in her shop today that is 50% off. It's NOT a mini kit, but it's priced like one... and it's only $2.50 today! I LOVE love love Allison's style - her papers and bold patterns and colors are so much fun to scrap with! And even though this kit is technically a 'Dad' kit, I used it for a page about Meagan with some baby animals. I'm thinking I'm going to do a page of Sebastian's 11th birthday with it also. Super versatile...

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Here's my layout I did with it: 

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Also did another layout with SOSN sale products... This is one of my all-time favorite element packs. I pull bits & pieces from it quite often. It's definitely worth the $2.00 sale price!!

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And my layout (I also used a SOSN template pack, and an SOSN stitched pockets pack... if you want to see what products I used, click on the link in the layout caption): 

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And while I'm pimping TLP, I should probably mention they are having a HUGE Retirement Sale. Some of my favorites are in there, also 50% off... check them out and take advantage before they're gone!

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June so far...

Okay, I THINK I don't hate blogging anymore. I THINK that by resetting my template format I have solved my formatting issues. Keeping my fingers crossed!

So let's try this!

Since I've been avoiding my blog like the plague, I have some catching up to do! How about a glance back at our June so far? It's been full, for sure!

June 2: We were getting bored at the house, so we made an impromptu trip to the zoo. I got us mildly lost because I sort of went the wrong way on one of the interstates (which will surprise none of you who know me well), but we made it and had a few hours in the evening to spend. It was cool and overcast, and since it was about 5:00 in the evening when we got there, it was uncrowded as well. Perfect viewing! The animals were active, and we could actually SEE them! Loved it!

The zoo has a new aviary exhibit. You can go inside the aviary where the birds are flying around... to be honest, it a little bit freaked me out. I wasn't thrilled with the ever-looming threat of getting poo'd on. And the birds were definitely not skittish enough for my liking. I had to get out. It was not my most favorite experience. However, the kids loved it!

By the time we left the zoo, it was late, and we were HUNGRY! We decided to drive until we found someplace we had never tried before. We landed at an Irish restaurant / pub. They had a live band going, and a menu that I couldn't quite decipher. I had to ask what a "rasher" was... it's like ham, apparently.

Meagan got a rootbeer and "drank it like a pirate" (she's a hoot!).

June 3: We got the kids slushies from Speedway. 

Then Lucas took the boys out on the deck and buzzed their hair off! Summer do's were definitely in order! 

Later that evening, I took Isaac to his lacrosse post-season party. They had an inter-team scrimmage then a cook out. Then played some more. 

June 4 - The start of cello for Sebastian. He has been counting down the days until he could get his cello. 

Also the start of football camp #2. Both boys went. However, we did get some info from the football league that indicated Sebastian can't do both football and gymnastics. The schedules are way to conflicting. He had to choose, and given the choice, he went with gymnastics. Bummed for sure. But still had a good time at football camp.

And if cello and football camp weren't enough, Sebastian also had his gymnastics banquet. It was at a local place that has put put and arcade games. He and some of his good buddies on team opted for put put. They didn't get to finish their game before the pizza was ready, but they had a great time anyhow. 

June 6: During football camp, Meagan and I hit the grocery. I found a grocery list app for my Kindle, and Meagan LOVES it! As we put things in the cart, she checks it off the list. Keeps her occupied and engaged, and saves me from hearing "I'm bored!!" Win, win!

June 6: Meagan got her boot off!!!!  This is like some seriously BIG news at our house! She did an honest happy dance in the doctor's office when he gave her the news. Weird thing is, the bone is still as broken as it was when she got the boot on, so I'm not sure why she is clear. But he wasn't concerned about it at all, so I guess we'll go with it. Since it has been off, she hasn't been bothered by it in the least. She's back to full go at gymnastics and is running around the house like a maniac when she's home.

June 7: Between cello and football camp, we passed the time at a park near the school.

There's a new piece of spinny equipment that is SUPER FUN. I even got on it with them. :)

Also, this day a friend of mine came over and spent the afternoon with me. She helped me nail down a definite plan for paint colors in the house. Now I'm super excited to start painting! I can't wait to see something other than white!!

June 9 - Isaac got his football equipment (pads, helmet, and mouth guard). He's ready to go!

And Sebastian had his first 4 hour gymnastics practice. He will practice every Saturday from 10:30 - 2:30. I sent him with a pack of pop tarts. Next time, I will send a small lunch... maybe peanutbutter sandwich and a piece of fruit or something. He enjoyed it! But the first thing he said was, "I'm SORE."  *lol*

Between all the running around for football equipment and gymnastics practice, the other 2 found time for good ol' summer fun... sprinklers baby!!

This is summer! 

Later that evening, friends of ours came over and hung out until late into the night. They headed home around 10:30 or so, with Meagan in tow. She went home with them and spent the night with their daughter G who is on her gymnastics team. They are buds!! 

June 10 - We met up with G and her mom and sister (and Meagan, of course) at Conner Prairie. It was a lot of fun for a while... until we all started MELTING. Hot is one word I can think of to describe the experience. But fun. 

In the Native American village, Isaac learned how to shave long pieces of wood (think small trees) to make into tools and spears. Very cool hands-on gig!

Meagan had a baby animal OBSESSION in the animal barn. 

And crafts. This was about the very last thing they were able to handle. We left right after crafts were done. Sometimes enough is enough. 

At home, Sebastian practiced for about an hour, and taught his dad a bit. 

June 11: Today we did almost nothing. Sebastian had cello this morning. Other than that, we were lazy blobs. I worked on Project Life (week 19). Meagan kept herself entertained with stickers from my stash. And the boys created a Lego war in Isaac's room. Total wreckage. Huge mess. Lots of fun! 

Tonight they watched Mr. Popper's Penguins, and they will be getting in bed early(ish). Tomorrow is day one of gymnastics camp. It runs for 6-ish hours. Tuesday through Friday. Long days. Must get sleep. 

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Project Life 2012: week 19

Instead of doing something most would consider to be much more productive, today I decided to do another week of my Project Life 2012. Week 19!! Lots happened... Lucas' birthday, a lacrosse tournament, Meagan's Level 3 banquet at Sky Zone, softball photos, and an injured toe (that we would later discover to be quite broken). 

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and a few close-ups.  Again this week I went with creating the inserts digitally and then printing them out. This was all done 100% digitally in 4x6 or 3x4 sections. Then I just printed them out and slid them into the photo sleeves. SO much easier and quicker for me!

Project Life 2012: week 18

I'm on to week 18 here people! This is progress! *giggle*

29 - Isaac had a lacrosse game. Also, I found this cabinet on the side of the road. Perfect!
30 - Lucas had a dentist appointment. Also today he brought home a Kindle Fire for me for my bday / early Mother's Day gift.
1 - No screens... Blockus! Our plants are growing!!
2 - Allergy shots, early dismissal, softball practice. Culvers spirit night! Yum!
3 - Lucas took Isaac to his lacrosse game while I did the gymnastics car pool. Busy night of sports!
4 - Lucas took the day off for his birthday. The drywall guy didn't show again. The kids got their new practice schedule for gymnastics ---> Bas is in the 10 hour group.
5 - Meagan's 1st softball game. She batted great and ran like a rock star. Also, we took Lucas to Logan's for his birthday dinner.

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Little Chef

Continuing in my efforts to scrap my way through 2011. I would LOVE to actually have a 2011 album by the end of 2012. We'll see...
From January 2011: We were still living in Ohio... Meagan took all of the food out of our Lazy Susan cabinet and spread it all over the floor. She then got out pots and pans and strainers and spoons and other such cooking utensils, and she played Chef for hours. Fun. But messy. Worth it.

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Butterflies at the Zoo

I know this will seem like something totally obvious to most of you whose brains work like normal people's brains do, but I have this idea to go through a whole year of photos and finish scrapping that year so that I can actually make an album out of the layouts! Novel idea, right? I just don't ever really scrap like that. I don't go in order. I just scrap whatever I feel like... it could be from 2012 or from 2002. So for me, focusing on one specific year is actually quite a challenge. Yes, I'm still going to be scrapping 2012 because I like to scrap the stories while they're fresh in my mind. But other than that, I'll be trying to work my way through 2011 (although probably still not in much of a chronological order). 

These photos are from a zoo trip in July 2011. We met friends of ours there, and spent the day with them. I have about a zillion photos from that one zoo trip. These were just the ones from the butterfly section back in the back (actually, just SOME of the ones from that section of the zoo... *sigh*... I'm a photo-taking junkie, and I need help). 

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Summer Swing

We are in the summer swing of things around here... all the summer camps and such are just getting started... and the kids have gotten their first sunburns already.

Did I tell you that BOTH boys want to play football this year? That means we will be doing lots of schedule juggling between 2 football games, 2 sets of practices, plus gymnastics thrown in (because remember, football season coincides with the beginning of competitive gymnastics season... eeep). Should be fun! Last week was the first of 2 football camps this summer. It was 'transitional camp' for grades 3-6, which focuses on fundamentals of offense and defense. Fun! Both of the boys LOVED it! Sebastian came home after he first night of camp and said, "Mom, now I don't know WHAT to do - college gymnastics or college football!!" I told him he had plenty of time to figure that out. *giggle*

Both of the boys practiced with the receivers on offense nights, and defensive backs on defense nights. They were full of stories about catching passes and having to back up fast (which was 'really hard'). Fun stuff! This coming week is another football camp that will be a week of 5-on-5 scrimmages to teach them how to move the ball. Nice.

Also this week, Sebastian gets his cello for strings, and he starts a 2-week strings camp to learn about his instrument and start learning to play. He is beyond excited about getting his cello!! He had to get a 1/2 size instrument because it's so big, and he's so not.

Tomorrow we go back to the doctor for more x-rays on Meagan's foot to see if she gets her boot off.  Keeping my fingers crossed because she has that thing torn up!!

And then next week is gymnastics camp. (So let's hope the boot comes off!)

Tonight Isaac has his lacrosse end-of-season party. They're doing a cook-out and scrimmage at a nearby park. Should be fun!

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Eternal Summer

This is very  much not my typical style, but I've been super inspired by Amber R's layouts lately, and thought I'd try my hand at a bit of blending. It turned out to be quite fun! I most certainly have not mastered it like Amber has, but it was fun anyway, and I think I like how my layout turned out... I think. I did this layout with 98% all new goodies at One Story Down.  Go check it out... stuffs on sale!

These photos were all taken last June... sprinklers and popsicles. Love it!

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Friday Layout Dump

I've managed to do a handful of layouts in the past few weeks, but I've not so much managed to get them posted on my blog. To be honest, I'm still sort of avoiding my blog at the moment, and only giving it my attention when I have a large chunk of time available to give.... it really should not take as long as it has been to post a few pictures. *sigh*

Anyway, since mid-April I've done a few layouts that haven't made their way onto the blog... I figured this fine (somewhat cloudy and gloomy) Friday morning would be the perfect time to get caught up a bit. So brace yourself for quite a few layouts...

Using June BYOC goodies (BYOC just released today, and there's a great sale this weekend, so check it out!!). Meagan got 2 brand new boxes of sidewalk chalk for her birthday. We opened up one of the boxes and took a picture of the rainbow of fresh chalk just waiting to be put to creative use! Our driveway is now artfully covered in random drawings. :)

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I know I didn't tell you, but Meagan and I went to Chicago last weekend! We got tickets to go to the Secret Classic gymnastics meet, which means she got to see Jordyn Wieber in person!! AND she met Nastia Liukin and had a conversation with Marta Karolyi.  Are you kidding!! I think the whole time she was talking to Marta (about her boot), I was standing there trying not to let my jaw hang wide open. It was surreal!  Anyway, before the gates opened, we were standing around outside just waiting. We (well, mostly SHE) made silly faces and took pictures to keep ourselves entertained.

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On our way to one of Isaac's lacrosse games (remember the game where I went trash digging and got the cabinet for the kitchen?), we ate lunch in the van on the way to the game. Meagan wanted Burger King, and even though the boys wanted Taco Bell, they got their drinks at the BK drive through... Vanilla Sprite apparently was too big of a temptation to resist. Vanilla Sprite? Um, sounds gross to me. But they seemed to think it was fantastic! *shrug*

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Just a random layout to document life. I love that our kids are who they are, and that they give little regard to what others think. I love that they have the courage to do what they love. Sebastian, being a gymnast instead of a jock, is definitely the odd man out in his grade. I think sometimes it does get to him a bit, like in gym class when everyone else is better than him at basketball. I worry that he will eventually cave to what he thinks he SHOULD be instead of being who God has made him to be. I hope that never happens, but it is a daily struggle - not just for him, but for all of us I think. 

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2 Easter layouts that I THOUGHT I shared, but can't seem to find on the blog anywhere. If they're duplicates, sorry. 

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Of COURSE I have to document Meagan's first lost tooth! These are the major milestones of life, right?! 

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I've been meaning to scrap the pet caterpillars / butterflies for a while, but just haven't gotten around to it. I still may do another layout to capture a few other things about it. This one is all about setting them free! She was so happy that they flew out and moved into the field behind our house. 

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Some photos from last summer... on one of our trips home to Ohio, we all got together out in the back yard and played dominoes together. We laughed and had a great time until night fell and the bugs chased us away.

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And last but not least... my cake pops experiment. They were pretty, but SUPER sweet. The kids loved them, and at least I had a birthday cake!

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