A bittersweet day

We had Brendan's third birthday party today and while it was great to see family and friends, I kept thinking about how this is the last time we'll celebrate with everyone down here. Yes, I'm so happy about the move, but since we've lived here, I've gotten used to huge parties of 30+ family and friends. It just won't be the same. Plus I feel like I didn't get to visit with everyone as much as I'd wanted. I hope everyone knows how much we will miss them!

On a happy note, we're really getting things done around here. My sister's boyfriend, Mike, came from Vegas to help us get things done and boy did he. The two Mikes got 3 of the 4 bedrooms cleaned out, touched up and painted. Plus they cleaned the carpets on two of the rooms that didn't get new carpet. We are down to packing and cleaning out our master bedroom and the kitchen--woohoo! It's starting to look empty around here. I'm still not sure when it will actually sink in. Probably not until we get a new house. While we're staying with my mom it will probably just feel like and extended vacation :)

Anyway, I won't bore you with all 109 pics I took today, but here's a couple of my faves

Birthday Boy

Cake Time

One of his favorite new toys

Austin's last day-- they performed My Future's so Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades

Seven more days to go

I still don't think we'll get it all done, but I wanted to pop in with an update. I think things are getting to me. I have to tell this story. Last night I was making dinner and I asked Austin whether we should have corn or mixed veggies. He looked at me with a look that can only be described as pure teenager (even though he's six) and said, "Why don't we have the corn in the fridge that you bought last week" I said, "Thanks Austin, I forgot we had that corn on the cob--great idea." He then said, "Mommy, I don't think your brain is very big when it comes to remembering things." I about lost it. That's the funniest thing I've heard in a while. And yes, with this move, I'm sure I'm losing some brain power--LOL.

It's been a busy week. Starting last Saturday, we had a bust of a yard sale, but did get rid of a lot of stuff (mostly free--lol). While we were doing the sale, we had a load of rock delivered for the front yard. Here's the boys helping Daddy move the rock :)

Tuesday night we went to the Mavericks game (local minor league team). Austin was given an "Outstanding Student" award at the game. He was so cute. He got to go down on the field and say "I am Austin from Mesquite Trails". I was so proud of him.

Yesterday my BABY turned three! I can't believe he's getting so big. We spent all day running around ordering and buying stuff for Saturday's party. He had a hard time wrapping his mind around that. He kept telling me, "But today is my birthday". So he ended up with a balloon and cupcakes. As you can see, he thoroughly enjoyed the cupcake.

Now today is Austin's last day of kindergarten. Last night I let him paint this flower pot for his teacher. He's such a creative little guy--can't imagine where that comes from--LOL! He had fun with it. I also slipped in a gift card for her too.

Welcome

Here's the card I came up with to send to my new little nephew. I am just so in love with this stamp set. The animals are all so cute! It's CTMH's Life's a Jungle, July's stamp of the month. I used some retired papers and the "Welcome" came from my Sweet N Sassy Home Sweet Home set, which I'll be using soon for new address cards :)

Re-packed my scrap stuff up (probably not for the last time) and am ready for more today. We're having a garage sale tomorrow, so lots to do. I just found out that CTMH is going to do their Stampaganza sale again in June, so I'm going to need lots of extra money. Hmmm...what else can I sell?! LOL

Unpacked my first box...

No, we didn't move early. I knew I couldn't survive with my scrap stuff packed up. I had packed as much as I could without breaking the zipper into my big rolling bag. That's the stuff I can play with until we unpack. Well today I dug into it because I wanted to make my sister a card because I FINALLY got her baby gift ready to send. SO I pull out some paper and start going through the stamp sets in the bag and NOT ONE SENTIMENT set. What was I thinking?! There is no way I'm going to be able to make cards for the next few months with no sentiments. So I dug through and found the box with my stamps and snagged a few. Good thing I labeled the boxes well :)

Anyway, I decided I'd save the card-making for tv time tonight. The two hour finale of Grey's is on tonight--I can't wait! Speaking of finales, can I just say that I am so happy David Cook won last night! I've been rooting for him all along. This is only the third time out of the 7 seasons that I've agreed with the winner (I also like Kelly C and Carrie Underwood, although I did like Bo Bice too, so I was torn that year).

While waiting on artwork, I'll share a fun little laugh with you.

This is why I scrapbook

Life is crazy...

but I'm still plugging along. I know I haven't posted much lately, but that's probably the way it's going to be for a while. My scrap room is now packed up :( Very hard for me. Although, I am keeping out my extremely full rolling bag, which will go to my mom's with me, so I'm not completely without goodies to occupy my time. I also have my SEI kit and some Sweet N Sassy stamps waiting for me at her house, so yeah. Last night I actually got out some of my images that my wonderful SBS4 Secret Sis Kelly sent. I happily colored along to American Idol and Hell's Kitchen. I didn't get around to making any cards with them, but it was nice to play with my scrappy supplies for a little while.

We took an official day off from packing yesterday. Mike's work had a goodbye lunch for him yesterday at Claim Jumper, so the boys and I tagged along. His co-workers are so nice and I know it's going to be hard for Mike to leave such wonderful people. They even chipped in to buy us a gas card to help with the trip up. Very thoughtful and very appreciated!

After lunch, I took the boys over for one last trip to Victoria Gardens. For those not in CA, it's a huge outdoor mall that has a little bit of everything. We did all of the boys favorites: played on the playground, rode the train, had Ben & Jerry's and then I let the boys put on their swim suits and splash in the huge fountain area they have. They had a blast. Brendan didn't even make it out of the parking lot before he crashed. This was about 4 and he didn't wake up until almost 7--LOL!

Now today we'll be back to packing. I am taking the kids to play with some friends this afternoon though. I'm trying to break up all the packing with fun things for them to try and keep this move as stress free as possible for them. Not working for me though. I am completely stressed and look around not having a clue where to begin. I packed up the easy stuff: scrap room, crystal and china, decorations. Now I don't know where to go next. Plus we're having a garage sale Saturday and we still have to get carpet put in the hallway and scrap room and rock in the front yard. Not to mention patching and painting and all that good stuff. Thank goodness Mike's last day of work is tomorrow and he'll be home the rest of the time.

Since I have no new stuff to share, here's some cards I made as a gift for my mom a while back. They use the Floral Elements stamp set and were originally inspired by Kathi (stamp set/cards) and my friend Shawna (colors). Colors are Twilight, Blush and Chocolate. The template was a 10 from 1 I got from one of the CTMH consultants, I think Nanci H, but I'm not sure. It was a year, if not two years ago I made these, so my brain isn't that great--LOL. I can see now looking at them just how uneven my background stamping was, but that's ok, they look handmade :)

My friend Sarah is the BEST!!

She created the fabulous new header on my blog! Isn't it gorgeous?! She was bored and wanted to put her Photoshop skills to use, so she made this. She is so very talented and my Photoshop hero! She created all the little details--no purchased elements--I'm just in awe :) Ok, I'm through gushing, but Sarah, again I thank you for making my blog so purdy!

Back to regularly scheduled programming

How about some artwork? I should hold back and share these a little at a time since they might be the last ones for a while, but I won't--LOL! I am so happy, I managed to finish my Word Puzzle Club projects through July. Now I can relax and not have to worry about them until August. WooHoo!

Here's the last two May elements:

Page 2 of layout

Boom Di Ada card

June Pages using Rustic Trails paper:

June Cards:

I cased the blue floral one from Christine Adams and Lisa Stenz. The "dad" one I saw on the CTMH BB. Sorry, I don't remember the artist.

July pages:

Sorry--I could have angled and cropped that one better.

July Cards:

Now I'm off to get ready for a crop I'm hosting tonight, insane person I am. I can't wait though. I need a little time to relax and enjoy the company of my fellow scrappers one more time before I move. Have a great weekend!