I'm back (and burnt!) :-)

Got back from the beach, and we had such a great time! My only complaint is that the trip wasn't long enough ;-) Saturday was our only full day there, so the girls and I hit the beach and stayed the entire day. It was THE perfect beach day! The temp was in the 80's, the water was cold at first touch but warmed up, and the company was perfect :-) I wasn't planning to get my pregnant self all the way out past the breaking waves, but I couldn't resist... and i'm so glad I did! That night, the girls and I saw SITC2. I wasn't expecting a quality movie, and it definitely wasn't, but it was entertaining.

Here's a layout I made shortly before I left - just for fun! Haven't done one of those in awhile! The papers are mostly Crate Paper, the letters are Sass, Doodlebug and Heidi Swapp, and the frame is MM. I also had fun with my new Martha Stewart border punch.
Chloe started camp today at her dance school. It's princess camp every morning this week. Noah is going this week, Tues-Fri mornings, so we got to have a mommy/son date this morning, which was long overdue. We went bowling, and I have to say, I think I did better with my 7 month pregnant belly than I normally do lol. We then played some arcade games and hit the store before picking up Chloe.... great morning!

Oh, btw, we're having a blog hop this Friday morning at AMM - it should be lots of fun!

I'm pretty exhausted these days, so i'm going to go relax a bit before we start bedtime for the kids. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Two days in a row!

Wow, I can't believe i'm blogging two days in a row! I think that's a record... at least as of the last few months lol. It helps that i'm trying to compete with Doris's blogging momentum - keeps me motivated lol.

I did this layout with Fancy Pants' About a Girl line, and I printed the "Hello my name is" stickers off of the internet. I did this layout for a challenge over at the awesome Cartwheels blog to do a layout introducing yourself. I had SO much fun with this! It had been awhile since i'd done a "me" layout, and i'm really glad I did :-) The pictures were taken by Cheryl during our blinddate last week, so a big thanks to her for her awesome photography!

The (very long) journaling reads:

i am 35 years old. i still feel like i'm about 25. i am 28 weeks pregnant with my third child. i still can't believe i'm going to be a mommy to 3! i've been married for 8 years, and in two years, tony and i plan to renew our vows in vegas with elvis. i have a round dark birthmark on my inside right calf about the size of a large pea. i was in a baton twirling league as a kid, as well as cheerleading. i also played softball for years, basketball for one season, and i danced for 8 years. i'm still horribly un-athletic. i dropped out of a bowling league when i was a kid b/c it interfered with my saturday morning smurfs cartoon. i am horribly disorganized. i wanted to be a vet when i was little. although i loved swimming as a kid and was very good at it, i'm a very timid swimmer now. i always had the feeling that i would have twins. i used to write poetry when i was younger. i love chocolate, belly laughs, spring breezes, family bike rides, nursing my babies, sand in my toes, scrapbooking, playing rockband (especially the beatles version), and reading (to name a few). i worry more than i should. i love spending time with family. i am incredibly thankful that my parents and brother are nearby, and i am so very lucky to have them. being a wife and mother are the most important, difficult, fantastic and fulfilling roles i've ever had. my husband and my children make me blissfully happy.

Last up, I have another Fancy Pants layout using the new Like Father, Like son line. I handstitched the star and then misted around it. I probably will not blog again before I leave for the beach tomorrow, so don't get too used to this daily happening lol. I'll be back early next week, though!

Have a fantastic weekend, my friends!

Father's Day banner

The kids and I made this banner for Tony for father's day. I covered some of the chipboard stars in plain white paper so that they could decorate them and contribute :-) The full directions can be found here.
Not much else going on these days except for grooooowing. This was my 28 week picture taken last night. I'm definitely feeling humongous these days, and I still have almost 3 months left to grow - yikes!
It's been hot hot hot here, too. 95 degrees today, ugh! Tomorrow we are hitting the pool for a playdate, though... can't wait! And on Friday, i'm heading to the beach for a girls weekend for a few days. I am getting in these girls weekends while I can! I think this is the last of my trips, though - we have to buy a new, bigger car for me this summer, so no vacation for us, but I am hoping Tony and I can get away for a weekend before baby comes!

Anyway, hope you all are having a great week... happy hump day!

Happy Father's Day!

I want to wish a very happy father's day, not only to my amazing dad, but to the man who is on this parenthood journey with me. I couldn't have asked for a better father in Tony, and the kids and I are super lucky to have him!

We spent the morning at brunch with my parents, bro, SIL and niece and nephew, and then we went back to my parents house so the kids could wreak havoc ;-)
In my pregnancy brain related state lol, I realized I never posted the last layout I made with the fabulous June AMM kit. I just couldn't resist scrapping these photos right away!
Hope everyone is having a fabulous weekend. Be back soon :-)

My blind date...

So, my dear friend Doris set me up with Cheryl. Doris knew that Cheryl moved somewhere to the DC area within the last year, also "in between DC and Baltimore." Well, as these "small world" things go, it turns out that Cheryl lives in the very same town as me! And only about 5 minutes away lol!

So, after e-mailing for several weeks, Cheryl and I had our first date lol. I knew the second I saw her carrying the very same pink water bottle that I have, that we'd hit it off lol. We went to Hampden, which is a little section of Baltimore city full of antique stores, cafes, novelty shops, etc. and known for it's quirky and kitsch factor. We had a blast! Of course, we were there for almost 5 hours and didn't get very far into Hampden due to a long lunch, browsing at a select number of stores for a long time, and a 1, 3, and 5 year old slowing us down (but mainly the whiney, defiant 3 year old who I get to call mine! ;-)

Cheryl takes awesome photos, and she got way more than me, but here are some of my favs...

Cheryl hanging with one of the locals:
Cheryl's little guy London, who is so stinkin' cute!
The aforementioned whiney 3 year old ;-) with London (sorry about the wonky color, I tried fixing it, but to no avail!):
Ice cream - always the best part!

Cheryl in front of the cool store window at a cool store we stayed at for awhile:
LB wearing Noah's hat :-)
I love this one! The boys got along famously...
So sweet!
We take a lot of these types of photos in our house, and it was cool to catch it from a different persective ;-)
Ok, ok, so the mustache is upside down, but you get the point, lol!
It's been real... see you all later!
Speaking of Cheryl, she and a bunch of other awesome scrappy designers recently started an online art magazine, full of awesome inspiration and articles every single day. I love it, and I highly reccommend you check it out here.

So, a big thank you to Doris for playing matchmaker. And now, speaking of Doris, I have to emphasize the fact that I blogged about mine and Cheryl's date very quickly. Can you believe my dear friend doubted my ability to recap our day in a timely manner?! Such lack of faith, I tell you.... ;-)

How time flies...

It's hard to believe that it's been 3 years since this photo was taken of me and baby Chloe on our first trip to the beach as a family of four. Even crazier to think that next year if we go to the beach, we'll be a family of five! This is another layout I made with the very gorgeous AMM June kit. It feels so good to finally want to scrap again!! :-)



In other exciting news, Michelle made the DT announcement over at AMM. Carole Janson, Jennifer Longenecker, Kay Rogers and Zoe Nemburt have now joined our team. They all do gorgeous work, and I can't wait to see what they create with Michelle's kits! Congrats, ladies!!

We have a busy weekend ahead... hope you all have a great one!

ETA: Ginny asked me about the punch in my Summer Treat layout. It is a new Martha Stewart border punch that I bought at Michael's - it is called Rain Drop. Hope that helps! :-)

Have silly bandz hit your house yet?

So, who else is in the middle of the silly bandz craze? It cracks me up that this trend spans all ages, from the older kids all the way down to preschool! They surfaced in Noah's preschool class during his last week of school a couple of weeks ago, and my boy has been obsessed with them since lol. He loves trading them with all his n'hood friends, so, of course, i had to document this newest fad ;-)

I used the gorgeous AMM kit for this layout. I'm having so much fun with this kit - I finished another layout tonight which I will post soon, as well.

Hope everyone is having a great week! The weather has been fabulous here! We went berry picking today, which is always a great activity for the kids and me - who doesn't like getting to eat their reward for hard work? :-)

Summer treats....

Who doesn't like them? Especially yummy, cold, dripping ice cream.... I had so much fun watching Chloe destroy that ice cream cone last summer lol. The AMM June kit was perfect to help me document it :-) I used my favorite Tattered Angels color (Patina) to spray on the background, and I used one of the triangles from the banner to make a little ice cream cone.
So, how is everyone's weekend going? Lovely one here! Yesterday was busy with my nephew's 4th b-day party and a baby shower for one of my good friends. Today has been laaaazy combined with lots of loads of laundry and lots of giggles from the kids :-) And both Noah and Chloe felt the baby kick for the first time today - very exciting! Enjoy the rest of your weekend, friends!

AMM June kit and a photo update

Ok, you seriously do not want to miss out on AMM's gorgeous June kit! I loved it from the picture, but when I opened the box of goodies today, I was totally blown away! I love everything about this kit - great mix of manufacturers and goodies! I've already started to dig in :-) If you're interested, you can get one here.

Ok, I know my poor neglected blog is way behind on photos, so here goes...

Preschool graduation day - the kids sang a song to their parents about how much they loved us, and they brought us a rose... so sweet!
This photo cracks me up every.single.time.! This just screams preschool to me - after they got their diplomas, this was the first thing they did with them, LOL!
My handsome little man.
Chloe was showing Noah how proud of him she was ;-)
And, of course, little miss thang had to get in on the action.
Yep, silly bandz have hit the Taylor home!!
So, it's way hot here already, and being that i'm way big (and uncomfortable) already, we bought one of those cheesy inflatable backyard pools the other day. And it's even big enough for me to lay in it heheha. Chloe decided to dive in before we added water ;-) And yes, that is a bathing suit (Tony asked why I got her dressed in her leotard to go swimming...)!
The next day, after the water was added...
Well, friends, I will be back soon with some scrappies to share. Happy Friday!!