week 2/12

The second week of the year really flew by before I realized what happened! There has been a lot going on.

I've been trying to keep up with Meli's book-it calendar. It was a little trying getting back into the groove after the holidays.


Found some fun little magnetic Valentine words + phrases at Target and thought the kids would get a kick out of playing with them. I thought they would be a cute little reading activity for Meli, but Riley has also found them fun.


Graham crackers with peanut butter, a staple snack around our home.



We received a letter from Meli's school telling us that she was named a Student-of-the-Month for December! So proud of her!


Came across some great deals at Target-- 70% off toys! Grabbed a cart-full for birthdays + Christmas for the coming year.


Over the weekend it was just me with both kiddos at the house. It reminded me of how it used to be before they headed off to school, when it was just the 3 of us each day. They ended up outside, which is the way it always seemed to be back then. But now Meli's imagination has grown.. she decided that she was on a safari watching lions and tigers. She "wrote observations" for me and "took a picture" of a lion in it's natural habitat.


At the end of the week Meli had a sleepover with her friend, Dylan. Lots of fun. Dress-up, running around, coloring, and baking cookies. Dylan and Riley even hung out quite a bit. It was a fun time and I'm sure that there will be more sleepovers in the future.

week 1/12

This year I am going back to posting once per week. In the past I really liked this format for my posts. It made it so much quicker and made the posts more interesting when I scrolled back through.

Now to jump into 2012!

I didn't end up taking any pictures on the 1st. To be honest, it seemed like just any other day. Well, any other except that Kathy, Rick and Emma were visiting from N.C. and we went over to visit with them before they headed back. It was a good visit. Other than that it was life as usual.


This picture is random b/c out of nowhere I decided I wanted a picture of Meli's Book-It Award. I'm surprised that they still hand these out, but I guess good things last. I loved receiving these as a kid and now I get to see Meli enjoying them, too.


Sibling Love. Riley wants nothing to do with taking pictures with Meli. In fact, he's just not very into having his picture taken right now. Meli tried and tried to get him to hug her for a picture and in the end they ended up wrestling on the floor..


Riley's still into the one sock/shoe look. I see more and more similarities between him and Brad with things like this. For myself, this would bother the heck out of me.


Meli being sweet.


It's a smile, even if only a half one.


Lastly, a recent scrapbook page. I love how this one came out. I wish that it was made with current products so I could submit it for possible publication. I want to submit, but I am constantly reminded that they are looking for pages with current products, 2-pagers with multiple photos. That's not how I tend to scrap. I keep telling myself that I will submit someday, but that right now I have to work through some of my old stash before I can justify new stuff. Then I will submit. There is a little voice that tells me that in that case, the day I submit will never come...

365-2011

Rang in the New Year with two of my favorite people, Brad and Meli... Riley was conked-out by 9:30.

364-2011

Lest I forget, I need to document the milestone of Meli's first lost tooth! It actually (finally!) fell out on Christmas Eve night as we were climbing out of the car at Brad's parents house. Christmas Eve! It was exciting. But the evening was so full of Christmas excitement that the tooth fairy didn't make it that night...oops! ;) The tooth fairy came the next morning while Meli was busy opening presents and she left a little note stating that she didn't want to get in Santa's way so she waited a little longer. :)

363-2011

Self-portrait. Wishing I had good pictures with Brad. Wishing we took more pictures as a family.

362-2011

It's always a bit sad the way Christmas rushes upon us and is over in a snap. It seems I'm no sooner pulling out the decorations than tucking them away again...

361-2011

Loving his new monster truck game!