Stamped Summer Library Bags

Every year, the kids sign up for the library summer reading club. The problem is that with three kids, we end up getting about 30 books each week and they end up everywhere. So last year, I made Kylie this bag and never got around to finishing the bags for Carter and Makenna. We took our first summer trip to the library last week and I quickly remembered why we needed the bags.

The bags come from Michael's and come in a three pack for $9.99, but if you use the coupon they're cheaper. They come in both the tan color and white.

Makenna wanted a zoo bag and Carter wanted an Elvis bag. I stamped the names with the Big Deal Alphabet (page 155). Makenna's is stamped with Wild About You (page 70). I think I'm going to go back and sew some ribbon along the top edge and "glam" it up a bit. I stamp the image, but because of the rough surface of the bag, I go back over and colored it with Sharpies. I used the Elvis line from Cornish Heritage Farms for Carter's bag.

White Sox Game

I do not know what is up with the formatting of this post, but I can't get it fixed. Sorry about the wonky fomatting!




We had a great opportunity on Saturday to go to the White Sox game and sit in the Jim Beam Club. It is the most exclusive seating area and we absolutely loved it! Here is Carter, Kylie and Frank.
















Here I am with Kylie. Makenna got to stay with Grandma and Grandpa for the night.









On the way to the game, it absolutely down poured and we worried the game wouldn't even happen. In fact, there were tornado watches everywhere. When we got to U.S. Cellular Stadium, the rain tarp was on the field and it was just barely raining. There was a rain delay in the bottom of the first inning, but it was all good after that.









We were sitting in the Jim Beam section and got to enjoy the free buffet and open bar before and during the game. You can sit outside in the big, cushy padded seats.












Or you can sit inside where all the food is! There was a cheese platter, pasta, chicken, mashed potatoes, taco bar, a carving station with roast beef or turkey, plus a ton of other stuff. My favorite were the pretzel rolls. Mmmm.....
















Kylie opted for the chopped salad and some mashed potatoes. Carter had crackers and mashed potatoes.








We found out that there is a different menu when you go to the outdoor seats that is traditional baseball food. The menu included hot dogs, hamburgers, nachos, tater tots, loaded french fries, soft pretzels, boneless wings, popcorn, rueben sandwiches, BBQ pork sandwiches or beef tenderloin skewers. And of course, anything you wanted to drink.

You sit in your seats and the servers come take your order and bring it to you! You never have to leave the game to go get food! And, it's all free!








About in the third inning, they put out the dessert buffet. Kylie got ice cream with sprinkles, candy and gummy bears. There was also cheesecake, brownies, cookies, etc. I opted for loaded nachos!







The game was so exciting. The Sox scored home run after home run! Crede was awesome! The final score was 11-2!

We had an unbelievable time!









At the end of the game, there were fireworks!

















The whole baseball field experience was so exciting for everyone! There's loud music, lots of cheering, fun games during innings, plus the roar of the crowd when you hear the ball smack the bat and go flying into the outfield. We can't wait to go back and do it all again.

Grandma's Peonies

Before my grandma died, we dug up the peonies in her yard and split them up between myself, my brother and my parents. The first few years, nothing really happened and they barely bloomed. This year, I got some huge blooms and decided to cut some of them for a vase. This year, I counted 19 blooms all together. I cut off about 7 of them for the vase and left the rest on the two plants. I hope one day, they will get huge so I can split them and be able to line a big area with them. Every year they get bigger!

Our first Cubs game...(plus a Sox disclaimer)

We took Carter and Kylie to their very first Major League Baseball game last Saturday. Cubs played the Pirates. It was an awesome game, the weather was super and it was a great day all around! Except for the part where I went to the bathroom and security came over and told Frank and the kids that we couldn't hold up our sign during the innings. Funny thing is, they waited until the bottom of the 8th inning to say something. Ironically, the poster says, "It's our 1st Cubs game!" Oh, well. I now find myself however, yelling out "Fukudome" at random times throughout the day, such as today at Giordano's Pizza.
DISCLAIMER: And for all you Sox fans out there...if it makes you feel any better, my husband and son are MAJOR Sox fans. Carter wouldn't even wear a Cubs shirt last year and made his grandma return it. And even better yet, these tickets were free. :)


And, although I did not intentionally take the photo below, I decided to keep it because they show off my comfy new cute shoes. They're Sketchers from QVC. And yes, I need a pedicure.

Elvis has left the building...

Our son, Carter, who is six is infatuated with Elvis. He heard one song on my husband's iPod and fell in love. Now, a couple months later, he has every Elvis song ever made (not to mention knowing all the words), owns two Elvis full-length movies and has the DVR set to record *anything* with Elvis. He has several Elvis books and watches concert clips on YouTube and Elvis.com.

He bought himself a guitar, I bought him the glasses and he made his grandma buy him the white shirt and tie. He already had the black Harley jacket. He wanted me to dye his hair black...um, no....you are six years old. He also bought a wig but it now resembles Don King a little more than Elvis, so we vetoed it. He wanted to take the Harley letters off of the leather jacket and replace them with a big Elvis patch, but we vetoed that as well.

Tonight was the practice for his school's Idol contest in preparation for the real deal on Friday. He's going to sing "Don't Be Cruel" and he has some "moves". Here's the conversation that transpired last night:
Me: Carter, tomorrow is your rehearsal, you should practice your dance.
Carter: Mom! It's not a dance!
Me: Huh?
Carter: Boys don't dance. They have "moves".
Me: Okay. Whatever.

These are some photos. He did three go-rounds. As soon as I can get it working correctly, I'll upload the video. I can't stand how adorable it is. In the meantime, here are a few photos that my mom took....

Pregnancy Congratulations with A Little Birdie

My niece and nephew announced this week that they are pregnant and due on September 15th! We are so excited, we can hardly contain ourselves. Kylie is eagerly anticipating, because she wants to babysit already. :)

More card details later...

Happy Birthday, Captain Carter!

(Click the photo for a close-up)

Today is our son Carter's 6th birthday. We had full-blown pirate parties on Saturday, with a pirate ship cake, pin-the-eyepatch on Captain Jack Sparrow, gold digging and walking the plank. This is the card I made for the thank you's. I got the idea from the A Muse card I made last week.
Ingredients:
Stamps: "Captain Jack" (A Muse), Simply Circles (Stampin' Up!), Outlined for Fun (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: VersaMark, Basic Black (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Real Red, Basic Black, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Scallop Circle Punch, 1 3/8 circle punch (Stampin' Up!)

And, here's a picture of the Captain, himself.... Happy Birthday Carter!

My Beautiful Kids

Summertime brings hot weather and moans of "Mooooommmmmmm, I'm hot! Moooommmm, I'm bored!" And we're less than a week into it.

So, with my foresight, I bought pool passes last month. These are the photos that I took today of the kids. I love my new camera!

Father's Day

I always struggle to make "man cards". Here's the card I'll be giving my dad and my father-in-law for Father's Day. All stamps are from Stampin' Up!, of course!

The calendar image and words on the round tab punch are from Office Accoutrements. The letters DAD are from the SU! Headline Alphabet set. The SU! cardstock is So Saffron and Close to Cocoa. I used a SU! Close to Cocoa marker to fill in the dots and circle the date!

I also made an extra one of these cards, but instead of stamping DAD, I used the Happy Birthday stamp from SU!'s Sincere Salutations set. Now, I have an extra "masculine" card on hand for the next "man" birthday!