~Swimming & Scrapping~

We are really feeling the days of summer slipping by around here, only two weeks left until the first day of school. UGH! HOW CAN that be true!?!?
Middle school nerves have set BIG time in for my 6th grader to be. Denial has been firmly entrenched for weeks by my 4th grader to be...they all have their opinions about school starting back and well...we are hanging on tightly to summer.

Missing the lazy river...

Can y'all just SEE the scrappy page coming from this?!?!?!?

This guy is THE best BIG BROTHER!!!

The pool was really crowded this morning. Probably because it was kinda chilly, maybe only 95 today!

 Still working that big brother thing!!!
 

Okay, okay...time to head home;)

****************************************

On to some SCRAPPY!

Cookbookin' has some beautiful new papers coming out soon and Patty sent me few to play with. I made new tray decoration for my kitchen, perfect for my challenge over at Creative Cookbooking. You still have time to play but the challenge ends on August 1st so come on over and check it out.

The new Cookbookin' papers go perfectly with my kitchen's deep red walls. Don't you just love that chain link look!?!?

I also made a new recipe flip book to hold the ADORABLE new recipe cards!

Happy Scrapping,

~~Dance Recital~~

I have FINALLY sorted through all the thousands (yes, really, THOUSANDS) of pictures from the dance recital that the girls and Jason performed in at the end of June. We have a dear friend who loves to take pictures more than me (gasp, I know!!!) and he took over 4,000 pictures from the wings at the recital. Thanks Paul!!!

My oldest daughter performed in eight dances, my youngest daughter danced in two and Jason danced in two as well. Warning: VERY long picture heavy post. Scrappy stuff for this NOT EVEN STARTED~~~

First up, my youngest in THE cutest costume EVER!

She is second from the left with the big SMILE on her face

  She did a tap dance to Uptown Girl and was she ever CUTE!!! Not that I'm biased of course. At this tender age they mostly stand up on stage and look cute. Or they look at each other to see what they are supposed to be doing;)

*****************

My oldest dd led the ballet number onto the floor. I had NO IDEA she was doing this until I saw the dance in the recital. She was soooooooooo beautiful in this dance, I mean, I love all of her dances but this one...she just IS a ballerina.

 

 

 Jazz was REALLY fast! Is that really my little girl out there??? She is third from the right,

 She is three and a half from the right in this one. Look at that saucy little chin move!

She loves Lyrical, can you tell by the big smile on her face?

 

 

 *******************************

The oh so brave dads danced to Single Ladies. Anyone watch Glee???

Each recital there is a Father's Specialty Dance and a Mother's Specialty Dance and it is kind of a competition between the two. This year, the dad's won, hands down.

 Jason is number 42 and our friend Paul is OO. (Paul's wife occasionally has to man the camera...). I just cannot tell you how incredibly funny this dance was. The dads did a great job dancing very femininely in full football gear. 

Yesterday afternoon the dads and their families got together for a cook-out at Paul & Jennifer's house. It was really great to see everyone and the food was fabulous, especially the desserts. One of us indulged a bit too much and had a BIG tummy ache in the middle of the night. I won't say exactly who but she danced in eight dances at the recital...;)

 

We tried to get the guys to do their dance again yesterday but they said NO WAY!

Now for the big tearjerker...the Father-Daughter Dance. The sweet way all these girls look up at their daddys...

The Song and Dance Company performed The Little Mermaid. She is off to the right here looking like the angel that she is.

 

And finally, tap

She is waaaay back in the very center of this picture, the short one;)

That's a rap!

~Canoe Trip~

 Our very first FAMILY CANOE TRIP! It was so much fun!!! Beautiful, serene, peaceful...

Some of us had more confidence and excitement than others...

We saw several Blue Herons and chicks. Sooooo cute, okay, maybe cute is not exactly the right word but neat for sure!

We took about three hours to travel about 4 river miles, stopping a few times for a dip. The river was THE PERFECT temperature. 

We saw lots of damage from the floods and even managed to scavenge a raft that the kids took turns floating along the river on.

The river is only a few inches deep in some areas and in others I was up to my neck, like when Jason tipped over our canoe!!! No pictures of that, just a nice one of us~~~

***************************************************

And finally, on to some SCRAPPY! I've been busy with the kids home for summer but I have managed to squeak out just a few projects.

 Gave this one to Jason for Father's Day. I am so loving working with 7 Gypsies trays! I used lots of Webster's Pages, Tim Holtz metals and filmstrip, and Martha Stewart punches for this project. I also used TONS of Stickles but that is really hard to see in this photo. I added sparkle to the chandelier and to most of the butterflies. Tiny little things so I had to go really slowly. Really fun project to put together.

And another tray of our family. Some of these photos are recent and some are from YEARS ago. I used such a variety of products...October Afternoon papers, K & Co. ephemera, Tim tags, Hobby Lobby trims, Maya Road & Prima flowers, Tim metals...

And finally, an actual LAYOUT! The cover page to our Christmas Album. This has got to be one of my all time favorite shots of the kids. They all look happy and cute AT THE SAME TIME! Treasure!!!

Happy Scrapping,