Go for the Gold!

 Nah, not really. But I've been a little tense lately, stressing out about a local race the girls had wanted to participate in. It finally took place this morning - a 5K run/walk (that's 3.1 miles, for those of you who never ran cross country). I wasn't worried about Mika (she can run, though she makes it look painful), but Marika (who I know can run, but she whines a lot). In addition, Marika ended up getting stung by a bee on the bottom of her foot yesterday afternoon!

My friend Kim and I had made plans to walk the course together (I'm not allowed to run for another couple of months) while her husband took their two kids plus ours. By the time the race started, her hubby had gained another 2 kids (we all entered through the kids' school, but there wasn't anybody to run with them, everybody had to take care of their own kids... unless you were comfortable letting them run on their own - but even I would worry about getting lost or meandering onto the wrong (and thus longer distance) course!

I needn't have worried, because the girls had a great time running with their friends. It was reported to me that Marika did NOT whine once (yay!) and finished the race with flying colors. It definitely helped, though, that there were a few water stations and afterwards, the girls got free snowcones (I opted for free orange juice). At their jogging club awards assembly, all participants will get a medal. I am glad they earned theirs, fair and square! I had been worried I'd have to carry Marika on my shoulders.

So here we are, at the end of the race. It wasn't too hot; in fact, I'd say the weather was perfect! It made me crazy not to run, though... so next year I want to run either the 10K or half-marathon. I'm also hoping to get DaddyDude to join us... :)

You Are Love

12x12 MME Happy Go Lucky patterned papers, Lush bling brads, diecuts (29th Street diecut pack), marker (AC precision pen),  rhinestones (Prima)

Time for another CC challenge! This week, it was easy - create a project using a homemade flower. It's been a long time since I crocheted anything, but I have a jar filled with finished flowers, so I found a Becky Fleck sketch I liked (from Page Maps 2) and paired it with a picture of my 3 favorite people in the world. Voila!

Am I the only one with this problem? When I crop sitting down, my view of what is "straight" is skewed (unless I am standing up - something I've gotten out of the habit of doing since my knee surgery). So, I don't realize that things are slanted until I'm viewing my stitched scans! What is up with that?!

I finally ran into one of my soccer teammates that competed in the Vegas tournament last weekend -you know, the one I participated in last year but had to bail out of this year, because of my blown ACL? The team made it all the way to the semi-finals this time... but just couldn't score. The only downside was hearing about how some of my friends were injured - somebody broke their arm (?!) and my goalie buddies (on other teams) were brutalized by one-on-one plays (and yes, that's a risk of playing goalie)... including one friend who texted me a picture of her chest raked with cleat marks (the girl only got a yellow card). Oh, the fun that I missed!!!

Home Run Layout

 Fancy Pants [Simplicity collection (patterned papers, transparency, rub-ons, diecuts)], Arctic Blue Glimmer Mist, Tim Holtz Ransom Mask Alphabet, staples

The weekly challenge at Cropchocolate.com was to follow a sketch and incorporate some masking into it. I'd never done any masking until this layout... but I was quite pleased with how it turned out.

Cupcake, anyone?

CC Materials: Fancy Pants Love Story (6x6 paper pad), Echo Park papers (Playground, Springtime and Splash). Cupcake - Quickutz die.

You know, I REALLY need to clean my scrapping room, but I just don't have enough time (really, it sa matter of priorities - knee rehab takes priority over most other things). It's getting pretty difficult to create projects for my Cropchocolate.com challenges... but I'm still scrapin' by! Today, I finished the one for the CC Focus Group - the challenge was to create something based on an official CC Design Team project. I chose Corrie's project but created a cupcake instead. Honestly, it was a lot more work than I had anticipated, but the results were even cuter than I had thought possible, so it was a good trade-off!

What "Happy" Looks Like

When softball season rolls around, it takes up a majority of our time and social life. Basically, for about 4 months, the kids are focused on schoolwork and softball. Hey, wanna see a happy kid?

This is what Mika looked like, after she hit her very first home run. Yessirree bob, she did it! She'd gotten a triple in each of the past two games, so we thought maybe, just maybe it was possible for her to hit a home run. Today, she proved herself, walloping the ball to centerfield and sprinting around the bases (without falling!).

And where did we go to celebrate? Here's a hint...

Truthfully, we were set to visit here anyway tonight, because it was the last day for Mika to get her 20 free birthday tokens (her birthday was a couple of weeks ago). The girls had worked really hard all week on schoolwork (not to mention performing really well in their softball games - Marika made 4 outs in her last game, including one amazing catch of a pop fly!), so they deserved the treat. Chuck E. Cheese really isn't all that bad... and it's hard to hate the place when the kids have so much fun there!

Marika's actually been doing double-duty for softball. For the two games before today's game, Mika's team has been playing short, due to injuries and spring break absences. Marika put on her old Bulldogs uniform and went to play right-field with the older girls. She got plenty of action out in the outfield (much to her dismay), but she did her job perfectly... snagging the balls and throwing it in to the midfield quickly. We enjoyed watching them play together, since they won't ever be on the same time together (being 2 years apart).

And last but not least, DaddyDude got a new toy. Yup, he had his midlife crisis! The "Mika Mobile" was traded in for a truck, which DaddyDude has been dreaming about for quite some time. He works hard for his money, so I thought he deserved it - and he is so happy now. Getting a truck is soooo much better than me being dumped for a younger model, right? I always joke with DaddyDude that the only things he doesn't try to upgrade are the girls and me!

My Girl{z}

CC materials - patterned paper (Stella & Rose - "Hazel" and MME Life Stories in red [kraft side]), AC Thickers, black twine (the Twinery), marker (AC precision pen). Non-CC tools: QK  label die, MM heart tag

Another CC challenge! We were supposed to be inspired by a song, so I chose "My Girl" with a rare picture of the girls and me (I hate to be photographed). The layout was based on a Becky Fleck sketch from Page Maps 2.
In other news, I was selected to be the April Guest Designer for Crop Chocolate! My job was to create an Easter- or spring-themed project. I made an Easter bouquet. We were also supposed to highlight a technique, so I chose iris-folding.

CC Materials:

EP Grab-bag (utilized Summer Days, Springtime, Splash, and Playground)

Eggcellent stamps by Jillibean

American Crafts buttons (pastel)

QK License Plate 4x8 alphabet

MME Lime Twist twine

Tools used: QK flower die, tissue paper, glass cup (Crate & Barrel), wooden bbq skewers, chocolate eggs (yum!), lots of glue dots

Here's a close-up... love those Jillibean Easter stamps! A video tutorial is on the blog post. And below... here is an example of Here's another example of an iris-folded card (another CC challenge of being inspired by a sunset).

CC materials used - patterned papers (EP Grab Bag (all from the Splash collection, though, I believe) and MME Lush collection (sun rays)), Liquid pearls (silver), and Tim Holtz Distress Ink (broken china)

{finally}

CC materials: Teresa Collins 12x12 Giving Thanks Stripes and Tags, 12x12 paper from Echo Park's Apothecary & Be Mine collections, MME Lush Orange ribbon, AC Black Precision Pen, AC Thickers, MM Clears (brackets)

The Cropchocolate.com challenge this week was to create a masculine layout using an element that was clear or transparent. I used some Making Memories brackets from their "Clears" collections. I hope it doesn't look too Halloween-y, but the Orioles do share the same colors.