Jewelry Projects

I was busy last night on jewelry orders and working ahead on a few Valentine's projects. Thank you to everyone that has placed an order or given a referral - I appreciate your business!!!!

Referral jewelry order:

Necklace I made for my jobshare partner's best friend.
Sadly, she lost her 7 month old son last week:

Valentine's Day gift for Daycare Mom, Jill, a keychain:

Valentine's Day gifts for Ryan's Preschool Teachers, bookmarks:

Full Moon

This being the first full moon of 2010, it is also known as the wolf moon. (little bit of trivia I picked up on while waiting for my DVDs to burn tonight). Check it out if you get a chance - it is amazingly bright!

Chuck E. Cheese's

Today I took the boys to Chuck E. Cheese's for lunch and to play games. It was my first time taking them by myself - I was a little nervous since I wouldn't be able to see them both at one time in the gaming area, but it went really well. I appreciate the fact that you have your hands stamped on the way in with your identifying code that matches your kids. They check your hands on the way out and you do not get out if your hands do not match. At least I knew that the kids would be safe inside! It worked out well - I just doled out the tokens a few at a time, so I kept close contact with Ryan. Carter stuck by my side and doesn't require coins to 'play' the games yet, so he is a cheap one to take!!!! :)

Deep concentration...

Happy Birthday, Evan!

We celebrated Evan's birthday last night. We had cake at home, and then headed to Brunswick Zone for dinner, games, and bowling. What a place - we had never been there before. The boys loved it - there is SO much to do! I know we'll be back... It was Ryan's and Carter's first time bowling - they had a blast. Ryan rolled a couple of strikes which was absolutely amazing considering how it got there! Check out the video at the end of this post - hilarious!!!!!

Dad and his boys:

The family "fun" shot as Kyle called it giving Evan the rabbit ears:

Evan getting his SpongeBob card from the boys:

Carter spitting/blowing out the candles:

Take that!

Birthday boy bowling:

Lining up:

Look at that form!

Ryan getting his ball:

Throwing one of two strikes...

It's going...

And it's...

A strike! Too bad Evan's hand flew up in front of my camera!!!!

Evan helping Carter with the ramp:

Carter pushing the ball:

Watching...

Cute little shoes:

Final score! Not too shabby for the little boys first time bowling!

Ryan's strike (listen to the guy behind us, "I wouldn't have believed that if I saw it with my own eyes")

Hard Goodbye

Today I experienced a tough blow at work. Pat, my boss of nearly 6.5 years, (middle below) left Target. I was in a state of disbelief and shock much of the morning. I couldn't organize my thoughts or be productive for the life of me. I lost my jobshare partner, Bethany, (also shown below) last July. This picture was taken last May - we had such a great team! I am thankful to have a new jobshare partner that started in December - Laura. Today was a tough day for her, too. We both felt quite lost. Quite honestly, I am not sure what lies ahead or what will be the next role, I guess I just ride the wave and see what happens. One thing I do know for sure - Pat was very good to me and he was someone I could count on. That is hard to find sometimes, and we had a great connection after all of these years. We'll see what the tomorrow's bring - I'm confident that everything happens for a reason and I pray Pat finds happiness in his next role, wherever that might be. Thank you for everything you've done for me, Pat!

Parenting Magazine Model Contest

I entered the boys in the Parenting Magazine model contest. You can click on the following 'I like this' buttons to vote for them! You can vote once every day! Thanks for your support!!


Carter


Ryan

Check

Do you remember the mountainous project I was facing last weekend? I am happy to report that it is complete! Every DVD and photo CD in this house is copied three times, one for each boy. I have put countless (mostly late-night) hours into this project, that I have been putting off for literally, years! I am so happy that I can check this project off my to-do list! Woohoo!

Lemons

I woke up this morning so disappointed - Evan was sick during the night with the stomach flu. We thought we were all done with it in our house after Mom, Dad, and the boys had it last weekend and early this week. We had booked a waterpark for this weekend to celebrate Evan's birthday. I cancelled the waterpark when I got up. We'll reschedule for next month, when everyone can make it. I won't kid you, I was bummed out. I thought to myself "I can either make this a miserable day or turn lemons into lemonade". I chose the latter. I took Carter to his tot model photo shoot and then brought the boys home, put warm clothes on, loaded up our hockey gear, and spent the rest of the morning at the local ice rink at our park. We had a total blast. The boys were in heaven and I actually enjoyed it as well! We haven't been there yet this year since it has either been too cold or we have been out of town on the weekends. We have to get back again - Ryan needs to practice on his skates. For being on them only once last season and then today, he did great. When he first would get frustrated and wanted to give up, I reminded him how he had to keep trying and trying to ride a bike and eventually he would catch on. I think a few more times on the ice and he would have much more confidence. Even by the end of the morning, he would look back at me and say "did you see that? I am doing it Mom, I'm skating!"

Ready...set...go!

Ryan running at full speed (I think that's his only speed!)

Carter chasing the hockey puck:

Ryan tries his hand at hockey:

Finally has the skates on - a little wobbly at first:

Getting his balance:

And he makes his way across the ice:

And down he goes!

Right back up and back around the rink:

"Did you see that? I'm doing it Mom, I'm skating!"

Carter-man:

He always has the cutest expressions:

I love that giggle:

Carter down for the count...

This hockey stuff is hard work!