Head first!!

That's right! Gabe is finally diving in head first! Yay! Here's a quick video of Gabe diving and swimming and of Drew diving and swimming. Enjoy!!

They have both done so well with their swim lessons, and with only one week this year instead of two. We are so proud of them!

A happy accident!

 Hello all! So back in May I won an awesome canvas project from Stephanie Ackerman's blog. I was so excited to win it. I love her work. The chipboard letters were unfinished when she decided to give it away so I played around with some paints and inks and even Distress Crackle Paints and I loved the way it turned out!

Click HERE to read about how Stephanie put it all together. But I couldn't just leave well enough alone. Oh no! I painted most of the chipboard letters not trying too hard to cover it completely. I wanted the distressed, old, worn look. On the word "life", I first inked the letters with Walnut Stain Distress Ink using a foam applicator. Then I wasn't very happy with how that turned out so I painted over that with Distress Crackle Paint in Picket Fence white. I just put a very thin layer on and let it dry. Almost right away I could see it change! The white paint changed to an old yellowish color. As it was drying, some of the edges of the chipboard began to curl up. Once it was dried, it looked old and distressed and antiqued. Love it!  

So I decided to try that trick again! Here are step by step pics so you can try it too!

Begin with a chipboard shape or letter. This one is from an old K&Company collection. It is already covered in a pattern paper.

Next, carefully remove the top layer of paper from the chipboard,

until it's all the way off and you are left with the raw chipboard.

Then ink the chipboard with Distress Ink in Walnut Stain so it looks like...

this!

Next, using Distress Crackle Paint in picket fence...

coat the chipboard in a thin layer of paint.

Right away you will see the difference in color.

This is what it will look like once it is dry.

I used a sanding tool to curl the edges up a bit in a few places. Then I went over it lightly with the blending foam and the Walnut Stain ink again to get some color down in the cracks.

I'll use this on a project soon and post pictures soon. I hope you enjoyed this little tutorial.

Try this out and let me know what you think!

Too busy!

Just a quick note today. It's been busy around here. Since we have been back from the New River trip we have been keeping a friend's dog, helping to prepare for our church's VBS which starts next week and all the normal house-keeping stuff. I've been able to play at my desk a little. Here's a sneak peak of what I've been working on.

More about that when it's finished.

The boys are keeping busy with toys and a few friends. Jeff is working hard, as usual. I did something a bit different Tuesday night. I went to a DanceOut exercise class. It was hard work but a totally fun rush! I can't wait to do it again next week. It's very affordable and held here in town, just minutes from home. It's put on by Queen City Dancing Queen. Check them out! They hold classes all over the Greater Charlotte area.

Tonight I am hosting a great group of women from my church to make cards for OWH as well as an outreach for the church. Should be fun!

All for now. Go create something today!

The Big July 4th Guided Fishing Trip!

Wendy's husband, David had a wonderful idea. Since we were going to be at their house on the New River the weekend of July 4th, he wanted to take Drew on a guided fishing tour. This is where you drive to Tangent Outfitters, get on one of their boats with a fishing guide, and he takes you out on the river so you can fish. They know the best places to fish and provide tips and assistance if needed. It's an all day adventure.

Drew was very excited about this idea. They left the house at 7:30am. Wendy and I didn't hear from them all day. And it about drove us crazy! We couldn't wait to find out how it went! Well, finally they returned at 6:30pm. Drew had so much fun! He caught 16 fish, the longest being around 15 inches. I asked David if he thought Drew got bored at any point. He said that Drew was casting his line until they pulled the boat out of the water. And he's ready to do it again!

Drew got to sit in the front of the boat so the guide could help him.

Casting his line out. David bought him a nice fishing pole and his own fishing hat.

Here is the "master fisherman" with one of his prized catches! (Notice he won't touch it!)

And here is his Uncle David with his own catch of the day. All total, they caught around 43 fish. A great day!

We finished out our day with a ride in the Man Buggy down to the neighbor's house. They were having a huge party with lots of family and friends. We stayed to watch the fireworks and the boys got to play with sparklers. Drew even got to set off several Roman Candles. That scared me just a bit! Everyone had fun and are now safely tucked into bed. I hope you had a fabulous 4th, too!

Oh yes I did!

I don't like fish. That's not news to most of you. I don't like to eat fish or even the smell of fish. But when your oldest is off on a special fishing trip with his Uncle David and your youngest wants to go fishing too, what are you supposed to do?

"Don't go out too far, Gabe."

 

"But I need to go out to those rocks! Mom, I got my line twisted!" So out I go to fix his line.

Just a few short minutes later: "Wow! Gabe, you caught a fish!"

(in my head: ewww! ewww! ewww!) 

"EWWW! ACK! I can't believe I just did that!"

Seriously we had so much fun! Gabe even showed me how to use his fishing rod and I tried it out for a while. I didn't catch anything but it was fun. Gabe is really enjoying fishing but he also had fun just climbing around on the rocks and playing with his boats. Drew and Uncle David are on their way home now. I can't wait to find out how their big trip went. I'll post (hopefully with pics) soon!

Happy 4th of July!!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful and Happy 4th of July! We started with the parade. It's a tradition that we join our close friends to watch the parade every year. This year we also had our new neighbors join us for the fun. There was the color guard at the beginning -

Then the horses!

The kids get tons of candy thrown by each float. (Even Michel was collecting some candy!)

And there is always the fun of watching Michel and Jeff pick on each other!

Love spending the 4th with my friends!

Hope your holiday was just as fun!

3 Fish!!

Happy 3rd of July! Today we went to the Harrisburg 4th of July Parade. We had a wonderful time. It's always a great parade. The kids came away with lots of candy and goodies. More pics to follow.

As soon as the parade was over we hit the road and came to Wendy's house at the New River. Almost right away the boys wanted to go fishing. David took them down to the river and had to remind them how to use their rods.

Then they headed out into the river. It was a little deeper in some places so David had to carry Gabe.

But Gabe caught 3 fish! And he was the only one to catch anything. The first one got away and they released the other two. He was so excited!

Drew is getting pretty good at casting. Tomorrow, David is taking him to Pembroke where they will take a guided fishing trip on the New River. He's so excited. He should catch lots of fish then.