take a peek

well it's almost been a month since i started my 365 blog
it's been fun finding the one shot for my day
some days i have lots to choose from, other days...well, not so many {ha ha}

after sarah and i started, she had the fun idea of putting it into a book
i think it will be fun for the kids to look at :)
{once ryan stops ripping books, of course!}

this is my first attempt at "digital scrapbooking"
and i'm loving it!!

here's the basics of how we are making them...

1. each week {7 pictures} will be on a 2 page layout
2. create layout and save as a picture (jpeg)
3. upload picture into shutterfly
4. create a photobook using our pictures*

*our pictures are actually 12"x12" files that we've created in either photoshop or illustrator
if you don't want to bother with making your own pictures, they have lots of templates you can just drop your pictures into.

you can take a peek at my book on my shutterfly site
i'll be adding pages as i go

i won't lie... it does take some time
BUT it's still way faster than regular scrapbooking!!!!
{and no large totes of supplies required}

25 random things...

if you're on facebook {seriously, who isn't??} you've seen the "25 random things"

i just posted mine the other day and i figured this would be a good place to post it too...

so basically it's just 25 random things about me
no particular order
just things i that came to mind

1. I wish I had more time to read

2. I love symmetry, things that either match or coordinate and even numbers

3. I love running, but wish I was a better runner

4. My goal is to complete at least 10 marathons - I've done 3 so far

5. One summer my running buddy and I did pretty much every major distance race in the Twin Cities - clearly this was before kids and when I had job to pay for it!!

6. I cannot sleep in an unmade bed. Yuck. I have to make my bed every day. I could care less about my kids' beds

7. I have my masters in biostatistics from the University of MN

8. I used to work as a biostat and used to teach statistics at a state college in MN

9. I like my boys to wear coordinating or matching clothes - even though I know it's dorky

10. In the car, I have to have my temperature settings on even numbers or multiples of 5

11. I love being a stay at home mom, but I'm getting the itch to go back to work - and I feel guilty about that sometimes

12. I VERY briefly sold Lia Sophia jewelry - I wanted all the freebies! I later sold it all on ebay for a nice profit :)

13. I love shopping - my favorite things to shop for are clothes for my kids and shoes & coats for me

14. I would wear Ann Taylor everyday if I had the money and the places to go. Right now casual Old Navy works just fine

15. I won tickets on the radio to a U2 concert.

16. I once spent a month biking across southern Australia - I had an awesome biking shorts tan!

17. I have 2 vicoden that I'm saving for a day when I need a really good nap

18. I hate the taste of wine - I wish I didn't.

19. I think Tivo is perhaps the best invention ever. I can't imagine TV without it!! I love to watch and show and look for the little discrepancies in each scene like hair tucked behind the ear in one shot but not the next. I'm always rewinding to check them out. Yes, I need a life.

20. My guilty pleasure... Real World on MTV, plus all the challenge shows - seriously when will those people get a real job? Yet I still watch...

21. I wish I could still play the piano like I used to. I want my kids to learn how to play the piano some day

22. I love watching my kids play sports...even though mid-season I start complaining about how busy I feel :)

23. I miss running around the Twin Cities with Jill - we were the perfect pair. She'd feel good when I would start to get whiny and want to walk and vice versa.

24. I love living back in Michigan - but I really miss my friends in MN

25. I can't wait to start taking cool vacations with my kids - I want them to have lots of fun memories from a wide variety of places

ok, there you go...
now make your own list :)

i'm just wondering...

just this past month, i can finally say that josie sleeps the whole night
if i'm lucky, when she wakes up around 6 to nurse she often falls back alseep
love it!!

i'm just wondering who told garrett & ryan?
just because we are used to getting up at night doesn't mean we now want to get up with you!!!
please, just sleep one entire night in your own bed.

i'm just wondering how bad it would be to lock their door from the outside...
kidding!!!

last night

last night i went out scrapbooking
the first time i've gone in over 2 years
i had a blast catching up with an old friend

since i take pictures off my camera on a daily basis for my 365 blog,
tim knew it wouldn't be long before i found these...
some fun pics of his night with the kiddos

and since they had so much fun, i think i need to go scrapbooking more often!
and maybe the next time i'll actually bring the pictures i printed off :)
{note to self: remember the paper cutter, too!!}

monkey see hear, monkey do

this morning i was driving olivia & her friend anthony to school.
anthony has been out sick for a few days - he's feeling better, but still kinda tired.

so as we're driving olivia is chatting away at full speed to anthony.
{she wanted to know if they were still best friends. ha ha, such a girl!}
anthony is very quiet - so i ask him if he's ok.
he says "yes, i'm fine. but i didn't sleep at ALLLL last night.
my sister woke me up.
so that's why i'm tired."
{clearly he didn't need olivia's girly chit chat.}

next thing you know olivia is super crabby and snapping at ryan & garrett.
{granted she's sitting in the middle of them, so it's an easy place to get frustrated!}
i asked her to stop being so crabby.
she says "mom, i was up ALLLL night. i'm so tired!!!!"

introducing elle

we've got a new baby cousin!!

ellington (elle) virginia white
born jan 20th
7 lbs 6oz
20 in

welcome to the family baby elle!!

congrats josh & emily :)



if you look closely you'll see that ryan is still wearing his superhero cap
click on the picture for a better look :)

wordless wednesday

{hey josie... i love you!}

dressing himself

when you're 2 it's hard to pick a "look"

summer hat
super hero mask & cape
go fish t-shirt
camo pjs

tim put ryan to bed this night
so i didn't see what all he actually wore to bed
when he wandered into our bedroom in the middle of the night...
he was wearing this entire ensemble :)

when one picture isn't enough

some nights it's easy to pick my favorite shot of the day for my 365 blog
other nights it's hard
tonight was one of those nights

they kids were supposed to be getting ready for bed
instead, they decided a game of leap frog would be more fun

oh, to be 4 & 6 again!!



but seriously kids, now it's time for bed.

having fun, tunnel style

normally i'm not a big fan of the play tunnel
you all know why...
someone always ends up crying

well this day was no exception...
but look at all the fun they had!!