HE'S NO LONGER 16 :( SHE'S NO LONGER 14 :(

My babies are growing up...Joshua turned 17 on Monday and as I mentioned in a previous blog, Micah turned 15 on Easter. They celebrated their birthday together with family. It blows my mind how fast time has flown by...where did it go?

Joshua and Micah before blowing out the candles...

Joshua with best friend, Kyle...

Micah posing with Amber, Callie, Colby, and best bud Mallorye.

Here are a few cards that I made yesterday with my Sassy Suzie stamp set out of the Occasions Mini Collection 2008, page 20, Set of 9 for $26.95 ...let me know what you think.

I used black and white, since that seems to be the happin' thing right now, with be SU! Bold Brights for the ink. I have since changed the candles to three smaller ones that actually match the colors in the card, but I think you get the idea. The wording on the card is "did someone turn the heat up in here...or is it just the candles on your cake?". Cute huh?

Susie is showcasing the Berry Bliss designer paper for her clothing, and the Earth Elements for her clothing. A few rhinestones make it shimmer. The card reads, "we're such good friends because surprisingly, you're not intimidated by my beauty...Happy Birthday."

Now you have to remember that Susie is sassy...you could not send these cards to just anyone, they have to have somewhat of a sense of humor. Go on line to check out the other sayings with the stamp set... www.stampinup.com .

Squirrels galore

Yesterday our neighbor called the kids to come outside and check out the baby squirrels that lived in his tree...the next thing you know the squirrels are crawling over Andrew. They were letting Mike and Micah pet them. There were five squirrels, but three were very friendly...check out the pictures...

Isn't it cool how man and animal enjoy each other.

Thank you Lord for this blessing.

South Carolina-Myrtle Beach Spring Training

South Carolina was so much better than Florida for our family. We enjoyed Florida last year, but at Myrtle Beach there were less people on the beach, the Ripken field was beautiful and too, not very crowded.

This is the Myrtle Wood Villas that we stayed in. We were on the second floor and our unit was big. Two king size beds and a pull out sofa. Fully stocked kitchen, bathroom and utility room, and two full baths. It was great and only $95.00 a day.

Joshua and his team mates watching a pitcher from the other team warm up. They overall did very well, played 5 games with opponents being from the north of us, New York, New Jersey, Tennessee, and won 4 out of the 5.

Joshua is stealing second base and was successful. I remember a time when I cringed when the coach would make him steal...very slow runner.

Coach's final words after the game.

Now...beach pictures. The waves were high on most days. Surfers were out and that was fun to watch. I wish I would have got some pictures of them.

On Wednesday, Joshua was able to go to the beach with us. It was 70 degrees but very very windy and with it coming off the ocean it felt like 60 degrees, thus not many on the beach!

Family portrait...

We asked each child to take a few minutes and thank our Creator for the beauty that our eyes were blessed to see...

Who's that walking toward us? OMG, John and Lisa...
We were also blessed to have some special friends join us on this vacation. John and Lisa strolling the beach.

Joshua talked to Chasity, while I played in the sand and Michael, Lisa, and John watched Andrew play in the water...Micah took the picture.

After fun on the beach, Mike and I took Micah and Andrew to the Under water aquarium. It was really cool to see the fish from under neath them.

Mike head to head with great white.

Micah and Andrew were fascinated with the star fish in the above and below picture.

There are so many good pictures of the aquarium, I guess I will stop here and get the rest developed. ...

...and yes, they played around as well. Thanks for letting me share our vacation with you.

Waterfall Card

Okay, this is my first waterfall card. Debi Clark challenged me to make one...so here goes. I am not sure yet on the color combination so I may tweak it a bit. Let me know what you think. This card is going to be used for my appreciation get together coming soon.

I really enjoyed making this card. Let me know what you think.

Atlanta

Wow, it's been a while since I have been on the computer to update. Since my last entry a lot has happened...our Atlanta trip, South Carolina trip, minor surgery, and the list goes on. I have not had an opportunity to make cards in a while due to the reconstruction of our basement. Mike is setting it up where I can have my own studio section and wall dividing it from the theater...yeah, I can't wait.

I am downloading a few pictures to share with you of our trips...I hope that you enjoy.

This picture is from the balcony of our room at the Hyatt in Downtown Atlanta. We were on the 22nd story.

While sight seeing we stopped at the Coca-cola world to check out what was happening here. We got our picture made with the founder of Coke...Fred joined him in a toast.

We also visited Centennial Park...although not a lot happening there due to the tornado that touched down the weekend before we got there.

Michael prepares to do Bible study with the kids before going to the game...

Micah wanted her dad to fix her hair today...she loves the attention everyone is giving her.

With an hour wait between games the girls decided to do bonding games to pass the time. Here they are like a puzzle trying to get back to facing each other...

Making a friendship circle, sharing secrets that parents were not allowed to hear...

making a heart shape to show their love for mom and dads...
Yeah, the game finally started...I love this view for taking pictures. Micah is pushing the ball over the net.

Fred was the Easter bunny that shagged balls for the girls...cute in pink bunny ears.
The girls are celebrating Easter with each other...showering each girl with gifts to represent the ultimate gift given for all...Jesus. Oh, did I mention that it was also Micah's 15th birthday, she got double the gifts

Micah and I made these accordion scrapbook for each of the girls...they were a hit.

Micah celebrated playing a super terrific game by jumping on me. Now we leave Atlanta and join Joshua in South Carolina.

We stopped at Cracker Barrel for some good food and entertainment.

I will have more pictures on the next blog about South Carolina.