My Morning

I was woken up this morning at 6:30 (ugh) by a crying toddler. I walked into his room to check on him, saw his little hands reaching up for me, and heard "Me sleep you bed." How could I resist? Somehow our little Owen still manages to be cute at 6:30am! :) Of course I pulled him into bed with me! I tried desperately for another half-hour of sleep (contrary to my family's opinion, I don't sleep in!), but unfortunately he just wanted to play. I thought he said he wanted to SLEEP in my bed!

Memories

I am really enjoying my scrapbooking class. I'm been sorting through and organizing thousands (literally) of photos and look at this sweet jewel I stumbled upon today. Ah, yes....this is my sweet baby Owen at just 10 days old. Beautiful! And I'm leaving it big on my blog because I absolutely love it!

Happy Hearts Day!

Happy Valentine's Day to all my favorites - you know who you are! :) Brad, Riley, Quinn, & Owen, here are just a few reasons why I love you so much:

Brad
1. I love that you are silly and crazy around me.
2. I love that we can do nothing together and still be completely happy.
3. I love that you do all of the dishes for me. :)

Riley
1. I love the AWESOME back massages you give me (you rock!!).
2. I love that you are a hard worker and that you don't give up easily.
3. I love that you are so helpful to those in need.

Quinn
1. I love all the funny things you say - you crack me up!!
2. I love your laugh - it is completely contagious!
3. I love that you can be really serious at times.

Owen
1. I love your phrases right now ("Me do," "Love I you," and "phone ringing!").
2. I love that you still snuggle with me. :)
3. I love that you will always be my baby.

I hope you have a great day with all of your loves!!

Back to Class!

I've gone back to school! Well, sort of. I signed up for an online class (Library of Memories) in December about photo organization/scrapbooking and it started yesterday. I am already loving it! Yay!!

I'm enjoying doing something for myself and getting back into the groove of scrapbooking. I have years' worth of photos to get organized, but feel it will be well worth it in the end. I've already listened to my video lesson, watched my slide show presentation, and started on my homework - and it's only the first week! Why hasn't school always been this fun?!? :) I am finding time to work on it late at night when everyone else has gone to bed (my time to get things done!). I am enjoying my scrapbook room lots and am sure I will be in here even more now! It's a 16-week class, so I will have lots of time to get my scrappin' groove on!

The class is offered by Big Picture Scrapbooking and this is the first time I have taken a class with them. I have to say I am quite impressed! I received a welcome packet in the mail about a month ago, and the online class is set up extremely well (with a photo gallery, message board, lesson area, etc.). They also offer lots of other classes, so check it out if you are interested.

Now I just need to save up my money for a few more supplies I need (storage binders for my photos, category drawers for my photos, and library albums for photos)!

I Don't See It . . .

I love my cutie-pie boys! They are adorable and ornery and fun! Lots of laughter fills my house all the time as they run around chasing each other like crazy! Then they fall down and collapse giggling! And Owen says "Me fall!"

I am often told how much they look alike, but I don't really see it myself. (I think I'm in the minority!) When I look at Owen, I see Riley when she was Owen's age. They have the same coloring and I think they look a lot more alike than Quinn & Owen. The boys do have similar personalities, though!

Feeling Better!

Yay! I am finally feeling much better and we are getting back to a routine around our home after a hectic few weeks. It is good to get everything back to normal! We are trying to focus more on family time and not being on the go so much (though we love being on the go, too). As a family, we all like lots of different, fun(!) things, but we need to remember that we are a family first and that we need to focus on that!

We had a great day of school today and have a fun field trip planned for tomorrow. Other than that, it is a normal week leading up to a (thankfully!) fairly quiet weekend!

Sorry for missing a few days on my blog! (Photo from school this fall.)

Six!!!

The Steelers won their sixth-ever Super Bowl yesterday and we are thrilled!! Fourth quarter was rough - end of game play was AWESOME!!!!!!! We had a blast at our party - thank you to everyone who came! Here are a few photos for now - more to come later this week!!

Get your game face on!!

Celebrating with the kids!


Decked out in black & gold!!

My Blog Spot

My Blog Spot

This is where I usually blog from, though I can also occasionally be found in my bed or at the dining room table. :) But this was taken when we had the room decorated for our party, so please excuse the Steelers items; they are usually not there! :)

I found this "blog spot" idea from a blog I read called "What That Girl Wears." Where do you blog from? I'm tagging these people to find out - Kristy, Heather, Jenn, Beth/Susan, and Staci! Even if you aren't tagged, please feel free to do this on your blog, as well!

So here are the official rules:
(words in italics are theirs, not mine!)
Show Us Your Blog Spot!
1. Once you are tagged, post a picture of where you blog.
2. Feel free to tell us a little about your space, or explain certain items in more detail. Or not.
3. Link back to this post. (I want to see how far this goes!) (I have never visited the blog where this started until now - it is not one I read -Amy!)
4. Tag five other bloggers to show their blog spots.
5. If you are tagged and do not participate, you will become allergic to cabbage. :)

Sick Day

Just over 12 hours after the Steelers won the Super Bowl(!), we headed to Pittsburgh so we could attend the victory parade on Tuesday.
We decorated our van....











did school in the car....










and were on our way! We had a great time! Everyone in the city was excited, and there were over 350,000 people downtown for the parade. Brad regretted missing the parade after their last Super Bowl win, so this time we planned ahead and knew if they won, we were headed to Pittsburgh! We also enjoyed time with Brad's mom and she was kind enough to watch the boys while the rest of us went to the parade. Thanks, Addie!

Some pictures from the day...

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (yes, in the crazy hat!)


Troy Polamalu - right before he jumped into the crowd! :)















The hard-earned Lombardi trophy



















Unfortunately, standing outside all day in the 20-degree weather left me with a cold and now, strep throat. Ugh! I feel horrible and wish I felt better. Thankfully, my mom took the kids until Brad is off of work so I can rest and try to get healthy. Thanks, mom! So...I'm off to bed now!

I Think I'm Addicted . . .

I have a secret little obsession. I am addicted to vacuuming. Not sure how it started or why, but I'm sure it has to do with the lines because I also love to snow blow (not "blow snow," but snow blow with our snow blower!). I haven't vacuumed since Sunday because ours is broken (this is a long time for me!) and I think I am going through withdrawal! Fortunately, we are taking it in to be fixed this week.

So yes, even though I am not feeling well, I have been back on my feet this evening trying to get our house back in order and we are borrowing a vacuum from my mom (thanks, mom!) until ours is fixed. I think a little vacuuming will probably do my soul good. :)