He’s patiently waited nearly a whole month since Analise started school.  He’d ask hopefully each morning as Analise got ready to head off, “Am I going to school today?”  This long weekend has been even longer with the anticipation of today.  This morning, he and Analise were awake at 6:10, and Analise was as excited for his first day as he was.  She insisted on helping him pack his backpack, and they both wanted to help me pack lunchboxes.

Josiah will be in Miss Debbie’s class, and Analise was in this class 2 years ago.  She is full of tidbits of information about things he’ll be doing this year.  It’s so cute to see her being such a sweet big sister!

Brian walked to school with Josiah in the backpack.  The kids have always loved this adventure with Daddy.  Josiah’s made it quite a workout for Brian, so the end of my kids’ backpack trips might be on the horizon… *sigh*  That will be a sentimental day for this mom!

This year he’s going Tuesday through Friday, from 9:30-1:30.  I’m going to miss my little buddy!  I’m already looking forward to our Mondays together.  I know the 4 hours with him in school will go quickly and my “to-do” list is endless.   We’ll see how quickly I figure out how to manage my time!

I sent my lovely mom home yesterday, after a week’s visit.  We always have some fun craft projects on our agenda, and this year was no exception.

With Analise’s first day of school on Wednesday, Mom had seen this link for a cute teacher gift.  We stocked up on supplies, and crafted several of them, including Analise to help design her teacher’s (not shown).

Then we used a cute “Princess” sticker (from UpperCase Living) on top of a scrapbook covered canvas.  Analise was excited to help out on this too…

Our last, and most in-depth project, were canvases with Family Rules.  These deserve their own post, so click on over…

I saw this project last fall, and knew I wanted to create one for our home.   I also knew I’d never get to it myself… perfect for doing with Mom!  We picked out our scrapbook papers, clicked through all the other canvases people had posted in the comments on the link above to pick our favorite rules, came up with 2 11×14 inch Family Rules canvases for me and 1 set with Rules to Live By for my mom to use at school.  Here are the final projects…

A few notes…

• The original from the link is very large, and I wish I could have done mine that big.  But it’s a good thing I couldn’t figure out how to do the lettering wider than 12×12 paper, because I really didn’t have a good place to display anything larger than the 11×14 canvases I made!
• We tried to choose not-quite-matching papers, but they couldn’t be too dark or have patterns that were too strong. And heavier paper works better with ModgePodge, but its not imperative.  We did my canvases with all scrapbook papers we had on hand.
• We cut 12×12 paper down to 8.5×11, typed our rules into a (landscape format) Word document, using fabulous fonts from this link (be careful… very easy to install and addicting once you start!).  We cut each rule into a strip, laid them out in order, and used Modge Podge to put them on the canvas.
• A couple Modge Podge tips we learned (after Mom’s first canvas bubbled/wrinkled badly) – Heavier papers are better, but the absolute key is to paint a layer on both the paper and the canvas.  This way they will bond together, with no bubbles.  Smooth with a credit card, for 30 seconds or so.  Let the Modge Podge dry, then seal the edges with another couple coats.
• I found a fun tip for “antiquing” the edges.  We had painted the sides and 1″ border of the canvases.  After we had Modge Podged as many times as we wanted and it was dry, I used sandpaper to blend the paper into the painted canvas.  It turned out well, looking like the edges were torn, but with black or grey paint, it would have looked much better.
• I embellished with a couple flowers, just to give them some dimension.
• Again, if you’re going to do this, click through the examples of the original project.  Such great ideas, and endless rules!
• My rules list:

Have fun, be kind, ask first, no fussing, no whining.

Treat others better than yourself.

Do your best with a joyful heart.

Husband – hug your wife daily. Wife – Always be on his side.

Sing silly, dance crazy, hug often, snuggle much, say “I love you”

Always tell the truth.

Look for opportunities to serve.

Love the Lord with all your heart.

There is no such thing as mine in this home. It’s all God.

Forgiveness is mandatory.

Obey your parents.

Use manners… “Yes, please”… “No, thank you”

Encourage your siblings. Share in their joy.

Too much TV is bad… too much reading is good.

Keep your promises.

Say your prayers.  Thank God for this family.

I’m so pleased with how these turned out!  If you send me your family rules, maybe I’d even make one for you 🙂

I tend to post a lot of updates on Twitter (and then they post to Facebook), and quite often I’ll include links to photos.  So here’s a glimpse of our busy busy weekend (2 bday parties, 1 meeting, dinner with 20 + kids, and 2 bike races).

Brian and Terry warming up before the Sunny King Pro/1 Criterium Saturday evening.

Yes, it is as fast as it looks!  The blur of the field with 1 lap to go. (Brian finished 27th, Terry finished 29th. Not bad for a National Racing Calendar race with a bunch of pros!)

My sweet gorgeous girl at a birthday tea party for her best friend, Ansley.

The dolls all lined up having their tea party.  Analise’s doll matched her, from the blue dress to the red hair bow.  Hopefully, picture of that coming later!

Josiah was playing on the raised hearth by the fireplace, and rolled off.  Don’t worry… it’s just 12 inches off the ground, or so.  He landed on his nose and forehead, which already have scrapes and lumps from falls 2 consecutive days last week.  It’s a hard-knock life when you’re a busy 3-year old boy!

Anyway, he sadly came over to me and said, “I hurt my head and my nose.”

“Is your nose broken?”

“Yes, and my heart is broken, too.”

Aw!  Poor guy!  Thankfully, some snuggling on the couch seems to have healed all wounds, and warmed this mama’s heart.

(A pic of my biking boys from a couple weeks ago.)

thanks to free babysitting from Grandma, Brian took me out for a belated birthday dinner at Brio. It was wonderful! Even after lots of time together on the road this weekend, it was so nice to have a quiet relaxed dinner as just the two of us. It’s been 8 years since we were madly in love and he proposed to me, and I still just love being with him. I’m a lucky girl 🙂

Turning 34 has been wonderful!  It’s been an all-around lovely day, filled with hugs, kisses, snuggles, texts, phone calls, emails, tweets and endless Facebook messages!  What more could a girl need?

My birthday started a bit early, as Brian promised to get up if either of the kids needed something during the night.  THAT is a treat!  A good night’s sleep makes any day look better! The kids greeted me in the kitchen with my gifts: a necklace/earring set, a new purse and wallet, and Mary Kay’s luxurious Satin Hands set. Yay!

I had ordered a new pair of sandals with some birthday money, and they arrived yesterday. Perfect timing! I’m sure I’ll be wearing them all summer, chasing kids and Brian on bikes, and they are super comfortable.

I met my sweet friend Allison for lunch at a favorite cafe.  We enjoyed the sunshine (she got sunburned!), while Josiah ran laps around the fountain and somehow ended up wet.  (This is as good as an iPhone self-portrait gets!)

It’s the little things… yesterday while grocery shopping, I had a quick thought to get both kids Lunchables. A real treat for them, AND I wouldn’t have to make lunch! We all won 🙂

Tonight was Life Group, the best evening of the week.  I was busy cleaning up the house, not my favorite thing to do, but always worth it for our friends. The bonus is that on this birthday evening I’ve got a clean house! For however long it will last… 🙂

I made homemade lasagna and homemade garlic herb bread for Life Group dinner.  Bekah brought one of my favorite cakes for dessert, AND she brought me the most perfect gift after my day in the kitchen…

Handmade and beautiful… I love it! I know I’ll put it to good and frequent use!

What a fabulous day!  If this is any indication, the rest of the year is going to be amazing! God has filled me to overflowing today!

What a lovely, lovely weekend!

The kids sang at Lakeside Baptist Church, so we enjoyed worshiping there with Brian’s mom (and dad, who was in the orchestra and hand bell choir).  Analise is in the 2nd row, on the left end, and Josiah is the bouncy boy in the front, 3rd from the right.

We had a great lunch at Toones, and amazingly, family photos were easier to take than in previous years!

Three weeks later, I’m still amazed at them! This makes for one happy mama!