trying this again

I tried to post this morning, but blogger wouldn't upload my pics. So, I finally just got back around to trying to post again. On with the show!

I got this finished up over the weekend, and after a few days finally got it posted to RAKscraps. I am really pleased with how it turned out- it's good to know my templates work like they are supposed to ;) I had a blister on my left thumb from setting so many eyelets at one time- I use a set of spring-tools instead of the regular hammer and it can be hard on the fingers holding the tool steady when you use them a lot. The neighbors were probably glad to have me finish too because I have to go out on the front porch to set eyelets and Sarah was sitting there next to me in her little chair screaming her head off at me the whole time. It takes a long time to punch the holes and set 16 eyelets the right way.

Look at Sarah now! my goodness she is getting big. She started sitting up by herself for brief periods last week, and every day she lasts a little longer. She was having a blast tonight sitting on the floor with her little basket of toys next to her and being able to reach in and explore and grab the one she wanted. I have a pic or 2 on my camera, of course, but I haven't off-loaded them yet.

Brenna insisted that I take her picture too when I was snapping pics of Sarah sitting. She is such a ham! No progess on the potty-training. She isn't ready to give up her 'baby status' yet and is very forthright in telling you so. It will come eventually.

Journaling: Once again, because of the weather (it was really windy this year) our church's easter egg hunt was held inside the building. There weren't that many kids there this year, so everyone got to fill their basket and then some! Brenna found a sparkly egg, and that gave her one of the special baskets filled with goodies such as a stuffed floppy-eared bunny and a magnetic doodle board.

credits: Hide and Seek by Dani Mogstad; LO design from Scrapbooks, Etc magazine brochure; fonts: tweed and xerography

And a LO from the easter egg hunt on Saturday morning. I just love the sparkly accents people are coming out with lately!

My friend Kristen has been taking belly-dancing lessons for a while now, but this last weekend was the first time she has invited us to one of her dance recitals. I ended up taking all of the girls with me because Mark was exhausted from hauling bricks all day. We all enjoyed it. After all of the performers have finished their routines, they do one last song where audience members are encouraged to join them. It didn't take much encouragement to get Beth and Carissa up there trying the moves out. We have been talking about maybe giving the girls a couple of months of dance lessons for their birthday present in August. The dance school closest to us, which I have heard good things about, always has a BOGO coupon in one of the local coupon books that come in the mail. I think that will be a good way to try it out and see how it goes. I know they will enjoy it, but always the question is: will they practice? Summer would be a good time to try it out, but I think the vacation plans will interfere with getting them started before August.

Speaking of vacation plans, ours are up in the air all of a sudden. Mark had things mostly figured out, and then he found out on Thursday last week that a class he was planning on attending was cancelled and now he has to find something new to go to. There are 4 possibilities, 3 of which are in WADC during the month of June. If he goes to DC when the kids aren't in school we are all tagging along! Another advantage is that some of the travel expenses would be covered by the government as part of the class expense, so we could actually stay in hotels a good portion of the time (YEAH!!!) There are quite a few things in DC I want to see that weren't there when we visited last not too long after the twins were born- the WWII memorial, the International Spy museum, and the Native American museum- to name 3. Will keep everyone posted on how that is all shaping up.

I spent most of my computer time today working on Secret Agent papers. I got 3 done and I have to say that I LOVE how 2 of them came out. They are looking pretty cool, if I do say so myself. I also got some ideas for the next mini-album project I am working on with Tania put down in my notes program.

It doesn't look like we are going to get any eggs in our bird nest this year. The finch pair seem to have disappeared. Maybe I confused them when I moved the Christmas wreath off of the door and onto the side of the house next to it, and put my grapevine wreath up on the door. Brenna keeps asking to see the eggs and I have to say that there aren't any. I'm pretty sure the eggs last year hatched right around Bryce's birthday, so I don't think we will be getting any this year. I have to say it is nice not to be dive-bombed by the birds leaving the next everytime we walk onto the front porch though.

I've got to go do my 'homework' before I head to bed. Carissa brought home a paper that I need to fill out with dates of when she did certain things- walk, lost first tooth, etc. I dont' remember a lot of these thing specifically- geez louise. I am going to have to spend I don't know how many minutes digging through the scrapbooks looking for them and also my HD because some of the events in question have not been scrapped. It is due tomorrow too. The worst part of it all was the glee in Carissa's voice when she brought me the paper and told me that she had brought me some homework. Bryce has another field trip to Denver tomorrow for his SOAR class (the gifted program in our district), so he has to be at school at 6:30- UGH!!! and double-UGH!!! They are going to Golden to visit the mining museum there. Iguess I had better get busy so I can go catch a few winks before I have to get up again.

Night everyone!