Our dear, sweet, smiley daughter turned 30 months old yesterday.  She’s 2 1/2 and very much the typical toddler.  She is 35 inches tall and weighs 30 pounds, although I swear she weighs more than that!  Here are some of the things she is doing:

She is obsessed with Chinese lion/dragons and pretends that she is one by beating on a drum.  My parents entertain her on Skype by dangling a Chinese dragon that they bought in Chinatown.
There are three girls from her pre-preschool class that she loves to ‘talk’ about.  …

I need to add a photo of our 37 pound pumpkin and our collection of harvest holiday photos would be nearly complete.  I am totally loving the arts and crafts that Catherine comes home with.  There have been so many cute Halloween and autumnish crafts for us to adoringly display on our refrigerator.  So, I thought I would add some of her craft collection to our collection of harvest holiday photos- part 1.

Now aren’t these little pumpkin crafts just too cute for words?  Well, to me they just are!  I …

We did the ‘Trunk or Treat’ event at our church.  I think it’s way more fun than having to go door to door asking for candy.  The kids get to play games, jump on the jumpies, watch a movie, face painting, snacks, and more.  So, I thought this was a better alternative for us this year. Catherine seemed to enjoy herself.  We let her have some candy, but I think it ended up being too much and just had a tremendous sugar rush and then a big crash.  Not pretty …

I am not going to lie to you.  My life is not perfect.  My life is full of stressors, many I have chosen and some I have not.  Most days I like a packed schedule,  but I really enjoy my downtime as well.  I am driven, especially when it’s something I am passionate about, however, I have a lazy streak that can sometimes get the better of me.  I enjoy my family and friends more than anything but sometimes I let my work take precedence, although I try not to …

From this fire family, we would like to wish you all a happy, blessed and safe July 4th!  By the way, did you know that some of our founding fathers were firefighters?  A noble profession it is.  Too bad more of our politicians and the leaders of this country don’t come from a background of firefighting.  Things might be different.  Anyway, I digress….Happy July 4th!

Here’s a list of some of things I am loving right now:

Best You Magazine and their website

Body & Soul Magazine

Palm Beach at Moody Gardens in Galveston

Merona yoga pants

The Daily digi files

Our Garden

And this man for saving my sanity.

I’ve been to a lot of camps.  I grew up going to outdoor ed. camp, horse camp, church camp, and all kinds of in between camp.  I love, love, love camp!  In the summer of 2000 I had heard about a burn camp outside of San Antonio and I knew right away that I wanted to go and be a camp counselor.  I was so excited when I heard back from the camp that they wanted me also and they wanted me to be their camp chaplain.  So off I …

The grass is usually not greener on the other side of the fence…or in the forest that I have been dreaming about living near.  And while I wish I could craft my day away or pick flowers in the fields, I know my life is pretty darn awesome.  Suburbia does have its advantages.  We live near a Super-Target that I visit almost every day (just ask my husband), we live close to the beach and the big city.  Shopping, medical centers, museums, and really good restaurants are all close to …

A month ago I wrote about the tragic loss of Marcus Luttrell’s therapy dog Dasy.  This former Navy Seal who was the lone survivor after a fierce battle in Afghanastan, was given Dasy to help aid him in the recovery of his war wounds, both physical and psychological.  Dasy was brutally murdered by a group of thugs.  From the moment I heard the story, I just couldn’t get both Marcus or Dasy out of my mind.  I wonder how he is dealing with yet another brutal loss.  I think about …

This little munchkin is turning two tomorrow (Tuesday).  Where did the bouncing little 10 month old baby go?  They aren’t kidding when they say kids grow up so fast.  I will do an update post about her tomorrow but I just wanted to celebrate in the blog world this last day of being one year old and getting ready to launch into the ‘terrific’ twos.
I also wanted to share this super cute photo.  She got a tea set for her birthday and she insisted on serving tea to all of …

Yesterday was our great friend, Russ’s birthday.  He is the father of Sarah over at Ladybug’s Footsteps.  All of the kiddo’s had a great time playing together.  I just have to laugh though because Catherine just had to have that phone in her hand pretty much the whole time we were there.  She is such a techie.  I just know she is going to be some sort of engineer when she grows up.  Some kind of engineer working with dogs or cats.  I can feel it.
Catherine and I are heading …

I have been scrapbooking my memories since 2000.  During that time I have seen the industry cycle through many different trends, always coming back to the tried and true but sometimes with a little twist.  When I first started, there wasn’t much out there in terms of printed inspiration.  The gallery at Two Peas was pretty much the only place to get inspiration for design.  Creating Keepsakes and Paper Kuts magazine was about it. Now, inspiration for page design is all over print media and the web.  I love the …