2. Last week we went and picked strawberries.

3. Derek took the job pretty seriously.

4. While Lucas had fun attempting to do somersaults down the rows.

5. Either way, I think they both had a good time.

6.  And I was happy because I got a new favorite picture of my two boys.  This was not posed at all.  I was just trying to get a picture of them walking through the patch and this is what I got.

7. We had a busy weekend.  I was gone 3 nights in a row and didn’t get to put the boys to bed.   As usual, they handled it better than I did.

8. Friday night we went to dinner to celebrate my friend Mandi’s birthday.  We had a wonderful dinner at David’s Bistro. I had my all time favorite meal, Chilean Sea Bass.  So good!  Here’s a picture of Dan (my husband), Mandi and me.

9. Saturday night we attended a beautiful wedding.  The boys slept over at Auntie Kim’s house and had lots of fun.

10. Sunday I went to see Sheryl Crow and Colbie Caillat. Despite the rain we had a great time!

2. I have a new job….catering! Well, not really.   I did help out a friend though.  She is a Realtor and wanted to serve something different than the typical sandwiches for a open house she was having.  We went with won ton wrappers formed into cups and filled with chicken salad.  Also, cute little fruit kabobs.  It was fun!

3.  Here’s a custom design I did for a friends little girl.  I love how it turned out.  I will be adding it to my shop soon.

4. Here’s another custom design for a train themed party.  Gotta add this to the shop too!

5.  It was a rainy day so we spent time coloring and painting….and glittering the house.  Seriously, how does glitter end up EVERYWHERE? I think it’s going to take years to get it all cleaned up.

6. I’m hoping the weather  cooperates for our Sheryl Crow concert on Sunday at Ravinia.

7. I wish there was some way to keep Play-Doh colors seperate.  I drive myself crazy trying to keep the kids from mixing the colors. I usually end up giving up, then the mixed up colors drive me nuts! Here’s Derek making trains.

8. Summer just started and we have just about every weekend planned.  That means the summer is going to fly by.

9.   I am determined to post something before next Tuesday rolls around again.

10.  Finally 10!  Gotta run…I have two little boys that need to go get haircuts!

2. The only downside to the weekend, our refrigerator went out Sunday morning.  Not good when you are supposed to be hosting a cookout the next day!  We managed though.

3. Last week was the week for custom designs.  They kept me BUSY!

4.  Here’s a poster and front and back card design I did for one of my favorite customers.

Graphics were supplied by customer.

5. Here’s a new design I added to my shop.  This was created by request of a previous customer. It’s a combination of two designs I already had.

6. I created this little girls birthday invitations last year.  I was thrilled to have the opportunity to create a custom design for her this year.  Her only requirement was that the party have mermaids and castles. 

7. Princess and the Frog theme parties seem to be very popular this year.

8.  And the last custom design of the week…. This is perfect for a 4th of July wedding!

10. In case you are tired of the design talk…. I bought this sink for the boys over the weekend.  So far they love it!  Hopefully the novelty doesn’t wear off too soon!

]]> http://nounces.com/2010/06/01/10-on-tuesday-12/feed/ 0 http://nounces.com/2010/05/25/10-on-tuesday-11/ http://nounces.com/2010/05/25/10-on-tuesday-11/#comments Wed, 26 May 2010 04:47:59 +0000 admin http://nounces.com/?p=1549 1. I am beat.

2.  Derek is 3 and still isn’t talking much. Following the advice of Derek’s peditrician, we had him evaluated.  It’s been a very long process.  Although it was painless, it’s been exhausting.  Today we had our IEP meeting with the school district.  Long story short, Derek will be going to school ( therapy) 5, yes FIVE, days a week starting this fall.  It will  be for 3 hours a day.

3. I know it’s best for him, I am just not ready for it.  I can’t even think about it without crying.

4. I feel bad for being so upset. It’s nothing serious.  I have nothing to be upset about, it could be a whole lot worse.

5.  I was hold back tears during the entire meeting today.  It’s hard to listen to 6 complete strangers analyze his very move.

6. To make matters worse, as soon as we sat down, one of the women that did the screening gave me a picture of Derek that had been taken during one of the first meetings.  So, I had that sweet little face staring up at me the entire time.  Dan later said he almost turned it over cause he knew that it was making things harder for me.

7. The school he will be going to is only about 4 blocks from our house.  But, he does have the option of riding the bus.  Don’t even get me started on that though!

8. He has been so clingy lately.  Hopefully that changes in the next 3 months.

9. I know that this is going to help him tremendously.  I have to just keep telling myself that.

10. I am going to try and move on now.

]]> http://nounces.com/2010/05/25/10-on-tuesday-11/feed/ 0 http://nounces.com/2010/05/11/10-on-tuesday-10/ http://nounces.com/2010/05/11/10-on-tuesday-10/#comments Wed, 12 May 2010 05:51:01 +0000 admin http://nounces.com/?p=1355 1. I guess the title should technically be 10 on Wednesday.  It’s 12:45am as I type this…and past my bedtime.  These late nights are really starting to catch up with me.

2. Staying  up this late is not good. It’s been so long since I had dinner that I am starving!

3. Saturday is the big party!  I am up to my eyeballs in party stuff.  I hope I can get everything put together in time!

4. There is nothing like just colored and cut hair!  I got mine done tonight…it feels great!

5.  Maybe I should have gone grocery shopping instead.  Seriously.

6. Look at my poor starving kids looking for something to eat.

7.  Here’s a custom design I created for one my repeat customers.  I love how simple it is. You can find it in my shop!

8.  Here’s another custom design created for a repeat customer. The guest of honor is a huge fan of  the Italian soccer team, Juventus. So, it was designed with their colors and logo as an inspiration.

9. Yet another custom design for another repeat customers.

10.  I obviously don’t have too much to share tonight.  I think I just need to go to sleep!  Hopefully next week’s post will be more interesting.

2. Here’s a custom design I created for a new customer.  I love it so my much, I just added it to my shop!

3. Here’s a custom design I created for one of my best customers! Her daughter want a swim/cheer party.  The inspiration came from plates that she found that are identical to the pattern on the bottom of the invitation.

4.I hope I haven’t mentioned this before, sorry if I have!  Anyways, a few weeks ago, we went to have dinner at my sister’s house.  After dinner, she entertained the boys while we watched The Blind Side…from start to finish, with no interruptions! I can’t tell you the last time we watched a movie. It was so nice! If you haven’t see The Blind Side yet, you need to!

5. With the party being less than 4 weeks away, I am in full party planning mode!  Here are a few of my purchases from tonight.  Actually,  the plates that are in the picture, I picked up several weeks ago.  Then tonight, I found the pots that match perfectly!  I love when that happens!

6. I think the wheat grass may prove to be my biggest challenge.  I hope what I have in mind will work.

7. I have been looking at buying a Cricut for a while now.  I finally broke down and bought one.  I am hoping this will allow me to be able to offer banners and other party items in my shop.

8.  I think the next thing on my list is the Xyron Sticker Maker.   My husband wonders if all these things are necessary.  Of course they are!

9.  As I type this, I am watching Deadliest Catch.  They are rescuing  a crew from a boat that capsized.  Which reminded me, my dad did the same thing over the weekend.  He was fishing on Lake Michigan when a boat near him capsized.  Luckily there were several boats nearby that were able to help.  The water temperature was 44 degrees.  My dad came to lunch,  and acted like it was just another day.  How can he not be my hero?? In case you’re wondering, they rescued everyone on Deadliest Catch.

10. Another late night. UGH!  I keep telling myself I am going to make it to bed early.  Why doesn’t that ever happen?

2.  Tomorrow is going to be close to 80 degrees.  I can’t wait!

3. My mom gave the boys each a gift certificate for classes at Gymboree.
I finally got them enrolled in a Play & Learn Class, and a music class. They really love the classes. I don’t know if I will keep them in both classes though. It’s about 35 minutes from home, plus the classes are both right around nap time. We’ll see though!

4. I had a customer contact me about doing a golf themed baby shower. Surprisingly, she couldn’t find any invitations that fit the with that theme. Here is a draft, we haven’t finalized the design yet. I will be adding the design to my shop soon. If you happen to be interested before then, just contact me.

5. I also designed matching favor tags/cupcake toppers. Cute!

6. The boys have had a cough that will not go away.  It seriously has been like 5 weeks.  Just this last week, Dan and I both noticed that Derek was not hearing well.  So, I took him to the doctor today and he has an infection in both ears.  Poor guy!  Hopefully these meds kick in quick and he starts to feel better soon! Because he has been B.A.D.

7. My mom always said she could tell when my brother was getting sick (who was rarely sick).  He would always be unusually naughty.  Well….I think the same thing is true with Derek.  He has worn me out!  In order for him to hear anything, I have to practically scream.  Then, he wants to blast the TV because he can’t hear it.  All of it put together is just too much!

8. Friday we going to see Jerry Seinfeld at Genesee Theatre.

9.  The birthday party planning isn’t making much progress.  I am really having trouble pulling things together.  I am kinda regretting going with the bug theme.  The monkey  and airplane party went together so much easier.

10.  Time for bed!  I don’t know when I made it to bed before midnight last.  It’s really catching up with me.

2.I had the pleasure of creating this rack card for a repeat customer.  I’ve been thinking I need some Botox.  I think Honolulu is the perfect place for that!

3. The weather last week was amazing!  We took advantage of the warm weather and got out to play as much as we could.  This week has started off rainy and gloomy.  Which is really okay, because the house has been so neglected.  Maybe the rain will force me to get something accomplished in the house!
4. We had a great Easter with family.  You would think it was Christmas…they got so much stuff from the grandparents.  Here they are opening their baskets at home before church.

5. YAY! We finally got our taxes done today.  Always a good feeling…especially when you get a good chunk of money back.
6.  We went to the city on Thursday.  It was the first time the boys had been on a train.

7.  They were very excited, but the novelty wore off pretty quick.

8. We spent a couple of hours at the Shedd Aquarium.  Then we had lunch by the lake.

9. We had so much fun that we went back Friday and stayed the night!  I love Chicago.  I hope we will be able to take several trips this summer.
10. Time to go get some work done!

2. Derek wasn’t too sure about this part of the playground equipment. He was so scared the first few times he went up. But, he kept going back to it.

3. Here you and see how nervous he was.

4. So proud of himself, he had to give Daddy a high five!

5. Lucas is one funny little boy. He loves to see what kind of reaction he is going to get for doing things he thinks he shouldn’t be doing. He was running away from the playground. He turned around long enough to see if anyone was going to chase him.

6. Here is Lucas before he got bored and tried running away.

7. Of course Lucas has no fear. He is practically running Derek over trying to get to the top.

8.Always on a mission. ALWAYS!

9. I would be so happy if I could get him to look at the camera. Just once.

10. Even the big kids had fun at the park! Here are niece and sister.

2. New design I added to my shop this week!

3. I’ve had the opportunity to do a few custom designs for various businesses…with several in the works.  Here are the ones I did this week.  Hopefully I can show you the other designs next week.

4.  Still trying to figure out what direction I want to go with the boys’ birthday party.  Here are a couple of CUTE cupcakes I might make.

5.  I also came across these butterfly cookies.  Aren’t they awesome?!

6. I know I have mentioned this before, but I am in desperate need of a  vacation!  It seems that everyone I know is on vacation….in some nice, warm, sunny location.

7.  As I sit here trying to think of things to say, I can’t help but to keep looking at these cupcakes and cookies.  I have a definite sweet tooth.  UGH,they look so good! Luckily, we don’t have any cookies or cupcakes in the house right now, otherwise I would be eating one (and it’s almost midnight).  Pretty ironic, Jamie Oliver is on Letterman right now talking about healthy eating.

8. I have a new pair of favorite jeans….and they were cheap!  I have been looking for a pair of jeans that I can were without 4″ heels.  I finally found these.

9. One of my goals this week is to get the kids on video more.  I have thousands of photos of them.  But, for some reason, I never think to get them on video.

10. I had a couple of pictures of the boys that I wanted include, but I am too lazy to get up.  Maybe next week.

]]> http://nounces.com/2010/03/23/10-on-tuesday-5/feed/ 0