this time next month, she will be THIRTEEN!!!

i need your help!
she’s having a sleepover with at least 10 girls and even though they are at the age where they can take care of themselves.. she’d like to have ‘activities or games’. im so not a party planner. i can make some paper hats, bake a cake, yeah– but activities, no. and she didnt go for my idea to scrapbook, LOL.

anyone know of anything that will keep them entertained for the night? i’d be ever so grateful! 🙂

we had a gorgeous weekend here in so cal. the weather was delightful and we had 2 of our men come home to us! just thought this one was funny.. it’s so papparazzi.. her carrying her gear- trying to stay away from the lens.

with elsie (and many toddlers, i’m sure) there is always a period of reacquainting that needs to take place before full on cuddles are given. uncle’s been away at college…

but there were great cheers and a little welcome dance/trot when we picked up daddy at the airport 🙂

we’ve had some late nights at the baseball field. it’s been exciting and COLD. the weather is rather batty right now.

someone asked me how i get pictures of elsie.. i’d like to say that most of the time she’s camera ready. 🙂 this one above is a prime example of bribery. ‘snack stand? smile please.’ 🙂 but sometimes, as many bribes as i offer, she will not budge. i get this.

me: ‘please elsie? turn around, real quick.’  e: ‘no. i’m drawing.’
ok fine. i actually like the way this looks anyways 🙂

here are my layouts for the day!

(ohhh this makes me miss you, babe!)

ETA: chat went well. if you want to participate in the chat layout challenge today, you can go go here or here
i’ll be picking the winners after 9pm PST so you have lotsa time today!
here are my layouts for the chat 🙂 silly.. i love that show so much (brothers and sisters) 

LOL looking back, i did the first 2 on one day, i was apparently feeling very orange and green.. then i did the next 2 yesterday.. i was feeling very pink and purple, LOL
happy saturday!
was that just way too much scrapbooking talk than you can handle back to back in 2 blog posts?! 🙂

i still get a kick out of this hobby getting it’s own day. LOL
i wanted to give you a heads up that i will be at 2peas tomorrow, saturday- via chat at 9am PST which is 11am CST– i believe. 🙂 i hope. that’s what i’m planning on. LOL correct me if i am wrong 🙂
anyways.. lots of fun stuff and lotsa new layouts and classes. totally worth checking out. 🙂
here are my layouts for the may1 gallery. these were done during the rut spell….

happy friday and i hope to see you tomorrow at the chatty chat chat.
🙂

my growing girl needed a new pair of shoes today.

she measured a 7 1/2-8. i am a 7. she has passed me up. i canNOT believe it.

she has passed me in shoe size and is not more than an inch or 2 from passing me in height. all of my kids will be taller than me. it will be a very strange feeling looking up to them. 🙂

and els knows that daddy is gone and i’ve been sending him pics.. so all i say is, you wanna take pictures? and she says, YES and runs outside! oh i am so proud of her.. she knows where the best light is, LOL.

now if she was only always so cooperative! 🙂 ha!

AAAAAAAAAAAND fun fun fun!!!! i actually won something! my friend erica (who i now look to shop for my daughter) showed me this cute site- leila and ben. i fell in looove with this dress …. and the little skirts. perfect timing.. els needs some new spring clothes! 🙂 i never enter contests, i never win things.. so this was a nice little perk today 🙂

i love how spunky he looks in this next one.. he’s usually soo serious.

he hit, he pitched, i watched. i tried to tell chris a few play by plays via ichat which led to lots of confusion on his part.. he came back at me with.. if he did this, how did he do that? i was like, ummmmmmm. i dont know. chris is just too dang sport saavy to fall for my messy commentary. 🙂

and our little snack stand groupies. 🙂

the day i manage to get all 4 kids in one blog post will be a miracle. sorry no caleb today. he was among the snack stand groupies eating sunflower seeds and licorice. ahhh so many kids to keep track of. 🙂

crazy."
her: "thank you."

us: "elsie, you’re funny!"
her: "no not. mommy funny!"

us: "elsie, you’re weird!"
her: "no not. i HAAAPPPPPPY!"

and she is….a very happy girl!!!!! but she does miss you, daddy! 🙂

he’s flying across the globe right now to NZ again! bear with us while we post a plethora of pics and nonsense this week for him. 🙂 after hanging out with him near LAX today, i was greeted by a little girl who just got out of the bath and had her hair done by her big sister. 🙂

tonight’s prayer from cam was long and detailed but i made a mental note to remember to share this part about daddy: "it’s most likely he won’t crash but keep him safe anyways.. i love him.. i’m honored to be his son, he has the coolest movies and i respect him." 🙂 awwwwwww!

and just because i don’t want to forget this cute convo on the phone with els while i was taking chris to the airport…
Els: (enthusiastically) HI MOMMY!!!
Me: Hi Els!
Els: (sadly and very dramatically) Hold you.
Me: Did you have your cupcake? (C and I had a wedding last night and brought home cupcakes)
Els: (enthusiastically) What?!?! Cupcake? Yes!!!!! (then total switch back to sad, dramatic voice) Hold you.

that little phrase is repeated numerous times throughout the day. Hold you. Hold you. Hoooooooold  YOOOU. such a  big part of our day. lots of holding : )

last week was his first time pitching this season. he had fiddled with it a few times last season but really seemed to get the knack this year. so- he got the first 3 runners out in a row. i asked chris, is there a name for that?! what’s that called?! he said, 3 up 3 down. 🙂 i love that there’s a name for that.

anyways..not that today’s nearly 100 degree game wasn’t stressful enough… but in the middle of the –i’m not sure what inning it was but it was close to the end and we were down 3– inning, the coach pulled out the current pitcher and called cameron in to take over. just like that, in the middle of the inning. we didn’t know he was going to pitch and if you could see my stress level rise.. it would have been crazy. all the mommy requests from elsie faded away as i totally focused in on cameron. we neeeeeeeed him to get 3 outs quick. he gets 2. one walk. and then a 3rd out. just like that. holy cow we were proud. we didn’t end up winning but if he could withstand that little bit of pressure– it’s just a sign of good things to come.

we are SO proud. 🙂

i know i’ve been slacking on blogging but i am gonna do a week of daily blogging starting monday for someone who is going overseas again. wah. especially since we have 2 games.. 1 of the games i have snackstand duty, if cam pitches, i might just have to close up shop. 🙂

im not a big lunch person. when it’s just me (and els) i just nibble on her lunch, or make a PB&J.. i never want to take more than a minute to make something for me. but while making my list for the week from the new  everyday food i came across so many recipes that i knew i’d love but not the rest of the family. so thus began my new lunchtime– making little one serving meals that i love. this one is full of tomatoes, artichoke hearts, prosciutto and parsley. i have a soft spot for pasta.

this is for my cousins. 🙂 we finally made it to print! this layout is in the bhg may/june issue.. but for some reason, we are only about 2×2 inches big. LOL sorry girls. 🙂

and a self portrait of us today. me and my little buddy.