Teacher gifts

This year I almost forgot Teacher Gifts! So the day before the boys had their class parties, I made 3 altered books with matching cards. These are so simple to make but so much fun. Here is a picture of the one I made for Gabe's teacher. I think this paper is from an old MME paper pad.

Schooooools out for Summer!

Well, it's official. I have a 6th grader. YIKES! I have a SIXTH GRADER! I can't believe it. But it's true. Drew graduated 5th grade today. There was a ceremony this morning with a guest speaker, diplomas, awards and lots of tears. He was so excited to graduate and he's already nervous about starting middle school. I've told him we have lots planned this summer so it's too early to even start thinking about school starting back. Actually, I think I'm the one who isn't ready to think about it. But I know he will do well. He's a good, smart child and he will be just fine.

I'll just keep telling my self that.

Here is Drew with Mrs. Gouveia (left) and Mrs. Reid (right). Mrs. G. left a few months ago on maternity leave and Mrs. R. has been filling in. It was so nice to see Mrs. G. again!

Here is Drew and his best buddy Cole during the 5th grade "walk thru". This is a very special tradition. Kindergarten thru 4th grade lines the school hallways and cheers and claps as all the 5th grade classes walk thru the school to the graduation ceremony held in the gym. It was so special. I was standing in the front hallway as they made their way toward us. There was a group of teacher and parents and administrators standing around me in tears!  And here are Drew and Cole as they entered the gym. It looks like they are ready to party!!

 
 
 
 
 
 

And of course we can't forget Gabe! He's a rising 2nd grader! Here he is with his teacher Mrs. Rodgers. She was wonderful! Gabe received an award for Most Logical Thinker!

Schools almost out!

And the boys are super excited! They are having all kinds of fun activities at school, like Field Day and Fun in the Sun Day. The 5th grade is even taking a trip to the skating rink for the day on Monday. That should be fun. Also wrapping up the school year was the Drama Clubs performance of "The Emperor's New Clothes". Drew was Huey Kazooie, part of the orchestra.

Then, on May 25th I had a birthday. Let's just say I turned 29 - again! (wink, wink!) We had a small party at my sister's house with wonderful food, family and my best friend. She made me the cutest gift - an "Everything 40" gift basket!

There was $40, 40 ounces of chocolate, 40 reasons to NOT start my diet, 40 brads for scrapbooking and a cute little treasure chest of 40 hopes, dreams and wishes. It was perfect! We all had a wonderful night.

Thanks for stopping by!

Welcome back!

Hi!! I'm glad you found me here! I have had 2 blogs for a while and have been thinking of consolidating them in to one brand-spankin' new one. So here it is! I named it "This Busy Girl" because, well I am one heck of a busy girl! The boys are about to get out of school and our summer is already all planned out! Yikes! And with them being home all day, every day, with me, every hour, all. summer. long. I'm going to have even LESS time to get things done!

So, here is where you can come by and see what we have been up to - both family adventures and my own personal adventures in papercrafting. And please, bear with me as this blog is an ever-changing work-in-progress.

Enjoy!

A favorite - revisited!

Just came across this layout I did in 2008. (I've learned how to take better pictures of my layouts since then! Ha! Ha!) Anyway, this is one of my favorite pictures of Drew so I thought I would share this with you all again. Enjoy!

Most. Amazing. Birthday. Ever!

And technically it's not even my birthday until the 25th! Seriously, this has been the best weekend. I got to attend 3 mini classes at Inspired, Donna Downey's big creative weekend. And get this - it was right around the corner from me! Love that!

Anyway, I got to go shopping at the vendor fair and take 3 classes. All of which were so amazing! Someone asked "What was your favorite class?" and I really have a hard time answering that because they were all great in different ways. The first was on Thursday night with Stephanie Ackerman. It was a 5x7 bound chipboard book using Teresa Collins papers. So cute! We made paper roses for the cover. Loved it! She even had home-made chocolate chip cookies for everyone! They were delish! A few of the girls that sat at my table were a bit rowdy so it was tough to hear Stephanie but she included a CD with instructions. Smart! I can't wait to finish that book!

Then, on Friday night I met up with Pam and her sister Sandy and we took Margie Romney-Aslett 's mini book class. I was looking forward to meeting Margie the most and she didn't disappoint! She is so nice and funny and sassy! I wanted her class to last all night because she was so fun! Her paper line and embellishments are too cute and the project was great! It's made from a single file folder and tags. Lots of her great product included in the kit. And she showed us how to make super-cute flowers from tissue paper and even crepe paper! I can't wait to finish this project!

The last class was from the Glitz Design girls, Laura and Ginger - aka: the Glitz Girlz! This was one of the last classes of the night. It had been pushed back about 30 minutes because the dinner earlier in the evening ran long. Stacey Julian was the key-note speaker so everyone waited to start their classes until it was over. Anyway, when Pam, Sandy and I showed up (about 10:00pm) we were the only ones in the class! Everyone else came and got their kits and left. Most of them had been there all weekend and were exhausted. Finally 2 other ladies showed up so it was just 5 of us at a table with the Glitz Girlz having our own private class! It was awesome! The project was altering an old book using Glitz Design papers and embellishments. Again, lots of product and technique. About half way thru, Margie Romney-Aslett showed up and sat at the table with us and we chatted like old friends! At one point, Margie walked over to a box that was sitting on a back table. She asked if it was pack up and ready to be shipped home. The Glitz Girlz said no, that it was trash. I looked in it and it was full of old books and even some cool old tins! Margie gave them to me! Score!! Of course, I shared with Pam and Sandy and the other lady who was still there.

Stacey Julian took Stephanie's class with us! Such a surprise to get to meet her!

There was a raffle for 6 or 8 Prima camera bags that had been altered by some of the big names in papercrafting. I took pictures of just a few. The bag on the left was done by Tim Holtz; the bag on the right was done by Margie Romney-Aslett; the pink bag done by Heidi Swapp. All the bags were amazing and the money raised went to Hope For Haiti.
Such an amazing time, filled with so much creativity and fun and laughter. I think my head is going to expode from all the inspiration and ideas! I can't wait to share them all with you!

Create something today!

Baa Moo Farm!

Today I spent the day with the Gabe's first grade class at the Baa Moo Farm! In case you haven't been it's a wonderful farm near Statesville that has lots of things to see and do. The kids got to milk a cow, gather eggs, go on a wagon ride, and pet lots of animals. Here are a few pictures from our adventure!

There were lots of baby animals, including brand new kittens. All the kids loved the kittens! There was even a Peacock who displayed his feathers for us. Okay, maybe he was displaying them for the peahen who was in the pin with him.

When it was time to milk the cow, the lady helping told all the kids to sit a certain way on the stool and be prepared to jump up and run if the cow kicks. I think that talked several kids out of milking the cow! And she had to jerk several kids out of the way of the cow's back hoof. Anyway, Gabe wanted nothing to do with any of it. His teacher finally talked him into just sitting on the stool - and of course the cow kicked! The lady got him out of the way and I'm not even sure he knew what happened but he just wanted away from that cow.

Gabe didn't mind feeding the baby calves their bottle. They could be a little pushy but they were so cute.

Everyone had a wonderful time.

Thank you Baa Moo Farms!