Grateful for Today...

OK, the day did not start out that awesome. I am stressed about work and the scale was TOTALLY not my friend. But, it ended up being one of those days you actually take a minute to thank God you got to live. As Kaya and I were leaving school, it was pouring rain in Crown Point. I called Matt to tell him we were on our way and he said Kal was so excited for Kaya to come home so they could play outside. I was surprised because it was POURING by my school. By the time we got home, it was raining at home, too. Instead of making them stay inside, I let them play and PLAY THEY DID. I took about 100 pictures of them just loving each other and really loving playing in the rain.

And, right before they came in for baths and dinner, the rain slowed and the sky above our house opened to show us a beautiful double rainbow. If I had not let them play outside...  we totally would have missed it. I have always been sure that rainbows were a sign from heaven, and we got to see one tonight. And, I cannot WAIT to scrap these pictures. I felt lucky to be their mom and to be here watching them.

Library of Memories

I am taking a class with Stacy Julian (who I love) and I finally ordered binders for my Library of Memories albums (I have used this system for years, but stored my pages in temporary binders.) They came today and I LOVE THEM! I got a lot extra and put them in the attic because I would just cry if they discontinued Sky Blue and I needed another Sky Blue album. I cannot wait to move my pages into them sometime this weekend. I love scrapbooking this way.

I wanted to end with a picture I love so much it almost makes me cry...  this is a picture I get of Kaya because I am lucky enough to be her teacher this year in Pre-k. 

Never seen snow....

My children cannot imagine never having seen snow... but Cole (the son of my very best friend Shannon) had never seen it. So, they flew in this weekend to come to Kaya's party and for Cole to see snow. He loved it (well, he did not love the sledding, but that is a another story...). My girls loved seeing him see snow for the first time, and they helped him build a snowman. How I wished we lived where we never had to see snow.... I was so grateful they were here and I am so sad now that they are gone. It stinks living across the country from your best friend.

Happy 5th Birthday Kaya

I have no clue how my baby turned 5. How that little bug who was only 10 months old when my Mom died could have turned 5 already. I think I tend to notice the little things and appreciate the day to day. I did project 365 last year and took over 14,000 photos. So, there cannot be much I missed, right? WRONG. She grew up right before my eyes. I just hope Mom can see her from Heaven. She would have loved this little one to pieces.

Kaya picked a jumping party (not my first choice) but it was a lot of fun. And I took a lot of pictures. Shannon was here and taught me to use actions on pictures....  which rocks. Here are just a few....

They sure love BARBIE

My Mom hated Barbie. Kalli kept saying how she wishes my Mom was here to come to this with them "Because she would totally hate it and it would be sooooo fun to tease her!" I love that my kid knew how to tease my Mom so early in life. In fact, just a few days before my Mom died, Kalli decided that she had to get her a Barbie in a Blue dress for Christmas. (It is NOT easy to find the lover of all things pink - BARBIE - in a blue dress two days before Christmas, but we did, and it was the last gift Nana opened that day. She actually was buried with the doll in her casket because Kalli told me that it would make her crazy forever holding a Barbie doll!!) Anyway, they both LOVED the exhibit. I really wish my Mom could have been there with them. From walking the Barbie Catwalk to answering the phones... they enjoyed it all so much.

I love Children's Museums....

There are soooo many incredible photo opportunities!
Here are just a few of the amazing photos I took:
Photos from the Barbie Exhibit coming soon...

Rock Climbing ROCKS!

The girls and I had a great weekend visit with our Friends in Indy. We went to a fun children's museum, played laser tag AND went rock climbing.  I took so many pictures...  here are just a few of the climbing.  More to follow later in the week....

I cannot even believe how high Kaya got!

 Kalli made it all the way to the top! Both of them were incredible. I loved this place so much I wanted to open one locally! It was such a fun, healthy way to spend the day with family and friends. There is nothing like this close to us. I could not believe how BRAVE both of my little girls were. Kaya even flipped UPSIDE down on a release, and she got right back up and tried again. It was amazing to watch them.

My baby is turning 5

How did that happen anyway? She is sooooo excited about her party. I wanted to do a funky art party at home, but she wanted to do a JUMPING party (not my favorite) so that is where we are going. Here is the picture I took this morning for her invitations. I love them. I cannot believe she is almost 5.

Our new art journals...

Kalli had an amazing report card. In the spirit of trying to Eat Clean and stay healthy, I have tried to NOT give dinners out and ice cream as rewards...  so, I offered her a chance to get an art supply of her choice. Happily she picked an Art Journal. We picked it out today and devoted some time to getting both of our Art Journals started. (I have had mine for a while...  and never made time to start it). We made a HUGE mess in the kitchen while listening to great music and having a wonderful time.

 I also got her a GREAT idea book called 1000 Artist Journal Pages....  she loved it. It was so much more fun than fattening old ice cream! :)

She is so artistic in her style. She has WAY more artistic courage than I do for sure. She painted RIGHT over this picture she had me take of her:

And on this one, she painted over her hair. Man, I was impressed by what she did. Hers were better than mine! She traced and cut out her hand for this one and used her ONE WORD of the year - she thought up her word all by herself. I cannot imagine this kid when she is 13. She amazes me daily at 7.
Here are my pages I did so far - I am learning about watercolor because I have never used it before. It is fun to use, and all of it is a bit messier than I like to be, but fun, too!!

I have a big learning curve when it comes to all the new mediums we have picked up lately...  watercolors in tubes, pastels, watercolor pencils, and charcol pencils. All of it seems so much fun. And, it is WAYYYYY more fun having an art buddy to experiement with. While we were cleaning up for dinner, she said "Wow - that was so much fun. Good thing I got good grades, huh?"