To the one who made this trip possible...

Dear Sweetie,

Thank you a million times over for making it your priority to see that I attend convention this year. You have always supported me in my extra

curricular endeavors for which I am so thankful.

You begin each day at the crack of dawn to study for physics boards, attend morning lecture then work up to 15 hours a day, study more for physics and drop into bed exhausted at night before the routine begins again. I am impressed and humbled by your positive attitude and continual desire to spend absolutely any moments of free time being a jungle gym for the kids and my biggest supporter and encourager. Even when you arrive home dead tired late at night after a very long day and I talk your ear off you are patient and loving.

SO...to the most wonderful man alive -

I wish you joy as you take time off to care for our little Avery who has 4 teeth coming in and this morning blessed our home with more temper tantrums then I can count and her big sister Brinley who this morning desired nothing more then to have space away from Avery and "finally start kindergarten," and who believes that her mission in life is to

continually mother her little sister with dominating forces.

Love always,

Your #1 fan

Off to CONVENTION!

My convention "SWAPS." I also made more baby onsie's not pictured here.

The colors look much more vibrant then they appear here.

This year I made 90ish card fronts to swap.


Tomorrow I will be heading off to SLC, Utah with 7 other ladies in my Stampin' Up group to participate in the annual Stampin' Up convention. Although Stampin' Up provides countless regional convention this 3 full day annual convention event is a HUGE highlight for any demonstrator who is able to attend. At the first convention I attended I remember hearing other demonstrators say that convention was one of the main reasons they were a part of the company...it IS that fun and amazing!

This year Stampin' Up will be celebrating it's 20Th anniversary, hence convention is sure to be over the top! I can't wait to spend time with my good friends and fellow demo's as we learn more about "Loving what we do and Sharing what we Love."

Go HERE to see Mary's swaps!

Nana & Poppy Come to Visit

We enjoyed such a great weekend introducing Nana and Poppy to our lives here in Ohio!

Fun things we did:

*Went swimming at Ross and Katie's.

* Jumped on the trampoline.

* Took an open air Safari tour at the Wilds animal park.

* Ate out at a local Mexican resturant.

* Showed Nana & Poppy around Daddy's hospital.

Fun food we ate:

Greek style spinach, veggie & cheese pasta salad.

Chicken & veggie stir fry.

Cafe Rio sweet pork salads.

Graeters ice cream.

Chocolate zuchini & banana bread.

Sweet potato pancakes.

Fun memories we will cherish:

* Listening to Brinley and Nana giggle in the back seat of the van

while playing games on our way to the Wild's.

* Evening chats in the living room.

*Watching Brinley roller skate for the first time.

* Singing songs with Nana at Brinley's bedside.

* Observing the girls show off for Nana & Poppy.

* Just being together.

Here & There

On Thursday Night I was HERE.

On Saturday I taught class HERE and then went HERE.

On Monday I was HERE.

And through it all we enjoyed a terrific visit with

Nana & Popie which I will blog about next!

Bound & Determined...

are two words that describe both of our girls perfectly.

We have come to find out in the last year that Avery is just as strong willed as her older sister.

The other night we went outside for a family walk to feed the ducks. The plan was to have Avery ride in the BOB jogger and let Brinley ride her bike.

This was apparently not Avery's plan that night, nor is it ever. She insisted on riding Brinley's bike as usual. Giving her the option to ride her own push along trike was unacceptable and out of the question. As her screaming tantrum slowly subsided and with temperatures reaching 12435464 zillion degrees 3452452 % humidity she insisted on wearing a helmet like her older sister during the entire walk.

So with tears and sweat dripping down her face we headed off into the sunset.

Nikki's Visit

What a wonderful time we had during Nikki's 6 day visit with us!

She was so incredible playing and caring for both of the girls.

Some of the things we did while Nikki was here:

-Swimming

-The Zoo

-Graters Ice cream

-Visiting Cody at work

-Two parks

-Going to a movie

-Eating tuns of gooey Carmel corn

-Lots of late night laughter with Cody and Nikki's humor




The day after Nikki arrived Avery began to request her presence beginning the moment she woke up. "Nikki look, Nikki come, where Nikki go, when Nikki wake up, Nikki hold me," these were some of her choice phrases from dawn till dusk. Brinley thoroughly enjoyed having a patient and willing Nikki play board games, hide and seek and outside games with her.
We love you Nikki and can't wait until your next visit!

Nursing Covers

Check THIS out!

My sister-in-law Jill has created the next best thing for a nursing Mom,

nursing covers and matching burp clothes.

Seriously, the covers are wonderful! I already have mine for baby #3.

A nursing cover is a "must-have" item for all nursing mothers. This nursing cover allows you to feed your baby comfortably, and fashionably, in public.

- made with lightweight cotton fabric material

- adjustable neck strap with D-rings

- boning in the neckline, making it easy to see baby, but still providing privacy

- folds up small

- machine washable

- edges on the backside are cut with pinking shears to eliminate fraying

- all covers are packaged beautifully before being shipped to you

Go HERE to order yours today!

Brinley's 5th Birthday

Yesterday our first born turned 5!

She had been counting down the days for quite some time.

Above: The Hello Kitty cupcakes & birthday hair-do she choose.

We held her party at a big indoor playground which had lots of tunnels, slides, a climbing wall, infant area and an air hockey table (Brinley loves air hockey).

After some playground time we rounded up the kids and went into the "party room"

for cupcakes, juice boxes, a game of hot potato and gifts.


Nikki Schemm (Yvette's daughter) has been here visiting from California. She has been a great playmate, helping hand and friend! This morning she patiently taught Brinley how to play one of her new birthday games "Guess who."

Brinley is thoroughly basking in the attention that Nikki has been giving her!

COSI

We have a great children's museum downtown called COSI.

While daddy was working the night call we took advantage of an afternoon together

and went to COSI with our friends the Christensen's.

The girls enjoyed pretending that their doctor dads were the patients.

Here is a prego picture for all those who have requested one.

I am officially in my 6Th month!

Our favorite COSI feature by far is the large little children's play area which is gated and guarded making it possible for the kiddos to run free for hours of fun!

July Stamp Club

Sorry about the blurry pictures this month.

I took them at 9pm last night during club and the lighting did not work well.

We have a great club with 3 brand new club members joining us for this upcoming series!

Ever so faithful club member Megann Smiley volunteered to do our "Technique Table" project this month. She demonstrated how to make these

darling strawberry favors. So CUTE, thanks Megann!

Oh, yesterday I forgot to add that Megann made the basket holding the strawberries using one piece of 12 x 12 card stock and weaving the narrow strips of paper together.

The theme for last night's club was "Retiring Stamp Sets," so we used only stamps that are retiring. You will recognize our first project which was the birthday card below similar to Brinley's birthday invitation. To go along with the B-day card we made these cute and very simple origami treat holders and put a brownie in our small cello bags for the filler.

I made Popsicle b-day cards for each member to take home along with their third project of the night which were the mini peek-a-boo treat holders

which matched the Popsicle cards.

PS- For the patterns click on large words in italic font.

SO EXCITED!

I am thrilled to announce that Stampin' Up is coming out with a new line called

Decor Elements!

This is vinyl lettering and image designs (like what many of you have already seen on my walls at home) that can easily be applied to create gorgeous professional looking

designs to any wall or project!

The lettering can also be taken off easily by just pealing it away like a sticker.

*The new line will be available beginning August 1st*

Click HERE for more information.

Arian & Jill's Anniversary

Arian, my brother, and his wife Jill lead exceptional lives together and their love and commitment to each other is exemplary. Jill presented Arian with this picture collage on their 4Th Anniversary earlier this month. The songs that accompany these pictures were written and sung for Jill by my brother!

Here is what JILL said on her blog:

We celebrated our 4Th wedding anniversary on Thursday, June 19Th. What a wonderful thing to celebrate! Words can’t begin to express how amazing the last 4 years have been for us. We have grown together, learned much, and have experienced happiness daily. We will forever be grateful for the beautiful summer day, 4 years ago, that marked the beginning of this incredible life we now share together. I LOVE YOU ARIAN!
Here is the video I made to celebrate our last 4 years. Try to overlook the blurry pictures toward the end. The first song is one that melted my heart the first time I heard it, which happened to be the day Arian proposed. The second was first performed at our wedding breakfast; yes, this one melted my heart too. Each song still melts my heart! Arian’s talented cousin, Ross Storey, is the one singing the harmony parts and playing the guitar.