yeah! it's not strep!

ok seriously people...i am so tired of dealing with sick kids! last week they double whammied me with bronchitis and pink eye...and i washed the sheets and everything else religiously to prevent it being spread. then abby starts to cough and sneeze...obviously she had acquired her sisters cold.

fast forward to last night, bedtime and the tears...her throat hurts really bad...ugh.

so back to the doctor we went this morning and the rapid strep test is negative (hallelujah!) they are still culturing it, but no news is good news...right now both kids are at school and i am off to plan some chicken noodle soup for dinner. man i need a nap!

what to do while your kids are sick...

make cards! lol! both kids have been home sick the last couple days, one with bronchitis and the other with pink eye...

its been well, not fun for me.

so in order to save my sanity (or whats left of it, i have finished up some online card challenges). now i am not wild about making cards. every now and then i can get into the groove, but for the most part they frustrate me to no end...so here they are:

make a card with an umbrella or rain drops:

make a kids birthday card:

make a shaped card:

make a card with a butterfly:

fingers crossed they go back to school tomorrow!!

frisky leprachauns

we have had some very mischievious leprachaun activity lately. we haven't managed to catch one yet, but so far we have had:

• green toilet water (YUCK)


• shamrock confetti sprinkled all over the floor


• shoes placed on the table


• books spread out all over the floor

• the leprachaun trap moved


• a leprachaun hat that we found (must have run off in a hurry)


• a stuffed animal dangling from the cabinet


• the baby stroller put in the kitchen sink


• dry erase marker drawn all over the bathroom mirror

its getting quite fun to wake up in the morning to see what we will encounter that day. it has been quiet the last couple of days so we are hoping they didn't leave...not much longer till the big green day!

have also been scrapping a little too...thanks for looking!

scrappy time

got a little scrappy time in this past weekend. i am working on some challenges online. anything to give me the extra push to get layouts done!

was also able to make some cards too!

free concert...

but you had to just happen to drive down our street yesterday to enjoy it. abby woke up yesterday morning and told me she wanted to be a rockstar and hold a concert outside for all of her fans. i said ok, so we got dressed and bribed little sister to play the guitar (ukelele) cause rockstars can't sing AND play at the same time.

we went outside and she sang her heart out for about 15 min. at that point she was very disappointed the "universe" had not shown up for her concert. so i said we should probably advertise. so with side walk chalk in hand, we made signs on the driveway. she was so excited. she started singing again...but to no avail.

ahh...next time we will have to notify our audience in advance. sorry if you missed the concert. it was entertainment at its finest. here are some highlights (because you KNOW i had to take pics)...

luck and a little good light...

i love this shot! dd fell asleep on the couch as the sun was setting the light was perfect and soft. my camera wouldn't focus on her, so i actually had to manually focus it. i have never done that on this camera before and i am so glad i did.

i really love this shot.

i love that you can see the little freckle on her lip too...

it is really almost march?

i don't know about you, but i have been in a time warp for the last month. we had a very nice visit with dh home...and it was very sad to take him back to the airport. and in a few days, the tears will be more infrequent and we will find ourselves back in a routine again.

here are some pics of some of our winter break activities...

we took the girls sledding several times...we all had a blast! of course after i busted my butt on a huge bump in the hill and it reminded me exactly how OLD i am!

then we took them bowling and ella did a victory dance everytime she threw the ball down the lane.

and finally i convinced dh to let me use him as my guinea pig to work on my low light photography. he was such a good sport. and it was so nice to have a subject actually sit still for a photo! lol!

today we are off to gather supplies to make leprechaun traps...the girls are SO excited to do this. if you are interested in getting ideas, pick up this months issue of Family Fun magazine. they have several cute ideas!