{Spirit Week 2011}

Homecoming week at Trinity Academy of Raleigh is such a fun week! When you have to wear a uniform everyday, getting 4 days out of five where you can wear "something else" is quite a treat!! Pajama Day is always a fun one---Joshua wasn't much in the mood for pictures, so I took pictures of the wonderful teachers in Building B---almost all of us dressed in our pajamas! What a great way to celebrate a MONDAY!!! I love the coffee in the hands of the teachers----such a typical morning picture....er, without the pjs---I mean!

I love these women! I'm so blessed to work with such great women~

Favorite team day was fun---no pictures. Crazy sock day was a great one, too. Everyone wore their uniform with crazy socks---there were some cRaaaAAzy socks! My favorite day was Thursday---Dress like your favorite movie or TV character. Joshua has been thinking about this for weeks! We are currently reading thru the Harry Potter series---he's on book 5 right now, so it was a no-brainer what he would be. He wanted to be Harry, but has lost the glasses. I told him he could be Harry without the glasses---NOPE! So he's a Griffindor---"probably Neville". He definitely has the hair right now to be Harry, but he's a perfectionist about things like this and couldn't make it happen without the glasses!

Here he is with a great friend---Harry Potter....a.k.a. Justin Hofer~

Mrs. Walker---the Latin teacher went into Building A and found Hermione---yes, this is her real name (and she has a twin brother named Harrison--yes, really!) She had dressed up as Hedwig--Harry's owl.

The week culminated with a pep rally (complete with our Headmaster in a  kilt! Pictures coming, I hope!) and a great Homecoming game---Our boys won---what fun! It has been so long since we've won at Homecoming---what a great end to a fun week! I'm so grateful for this community---a sweet place to work and learn!

I've been busy varnishing the woodwork in my den----my 17x28' den---LOTS of sanding, cleaning, taping...oh, and varnishing, too---I can't believe I forgot to take a picture the other day of everything moved to the middle of the room with tarps and tape all over the place---ugh! Oh, yes, and the other night at 12:30 when I set off the alarm moving the ladder and banging it to the floor---setting off the glass break alarm....at least we know it works.....right? Oh well, the varnishing is done even though I didn't take a picture---BUT, this is one reason I haven't blogged this past week---So good to take a few minutes to post today! REALLY, Project Life pics are coming soon----I've been keeping up with it---I can't believe it's about to be FEBRUARY---crazy! My grandbaby will likely be born this month!!! I have a feeling I'll have many great posts to come!! Enjoy your weekend~

{Baby Things}

Have I mentioned that my baby is pregnant? I can't believe my CHILD will have a baby in just 6 weeks.

He friends had a shower for her last Saturday---it was so sweet.

Here are a few pics from the day~

My sister, Shannon was in town and got to come to the shower---it was really cool, because it wasn't her plan to come to the shower---she was in town for business and it just happened to be this weekend!

CUPCAKES!!! and other yummies~

Sweet Decorations~

Alison made Martha Stewart pom poms for the affair---so cute!

Sweet friends~

Sweet gifts---

My sister, Caitlin, me and my mama~

Here's the card I made for her....her nursery is these colors---mostly.

The details of the card are below~

CRaZy----two posts in two days!!! Project Life post coming up soon, I hope! Oh, click on that link---Becky Higgins is giving away TWO Project Life Scrapbook kits---I am LOVING mine---go try to win one!

Cute as a button card: 
~all products Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted
Stamps: Baby Button Bits
Paper: Aqua Mist, Sweet Blush, Going Gray (Stampin' Up!), Vintage book
Ink: Versamark, Tuxedo Black Memento (Tsukineko), Smokey Shadow
Tools: Cuttlebug (Provocraft), Labels Two (Spellbinders), Double Ended Banners
Accessories: Sweet Blush grosgrain ribbon, Sweet Blush Vintage button, DMC thread

Finally, I have some crafty items to share today. I have so many things I've made, but no time to share everything---and until recently I didn't have a camera to take many pictures. I made these little treats for Hannah's TBB friends for Valentine's Day.....yes, I KNOW they are not kids, but Hannah has always given Valentine's and I thought they might like a little candy from the states! I filled them with candy that Hannah likes, so hopefully they will like it, too! (If not, maybe they will give it to her!!)

I used the Tiny Treats: Valentines from Papertrey Ink. I love this series of stamps. They are a set of little drawings that you can color (or not) and there's a little sentiment for each picture. Here are a few that I used:

the dog

the cupcake

the boat

the bunny

There are 16 litttle images in this set and 19 sentiments to go with them. This is a great set to use to make Valentine's with your kids---your children can color the images so they have a part in the process---so fun. I used Copic markers to color these images...I'm getting more comfortable using them, of course, these images are only an inch high!! Larger spaces still scare me!! I put the candy in glassine bags I bought for the wedding---there's a story here, but, suffice it to say, I have LOTS of glassine bags in this size, so I use them for EVERYTHING!!! I used the Mat Stack 1 die to cut Pure Poppy cardstock and then I stamped them in Versamark using a stamp from the Mat Stack 1 Collection stamp set or the Tiny Treats: Christmas set. Then I punched out the colored image and glued it down. These were really quick and simple to do. I'm making some for Joshua's classmates, too---and probably my choir students at school....like I said....LOTS of bags...

ANYWAY, I'm mailing a package to Hannah anyway, so I decided to add these little treats to the box. Here's the box all covered in Valentine goodies!!!

It's been so fun to have a little time to spend being crafty! Thanks for stopping by---I'm hoping to update the blog on several happenings! There's lots going on at the Nelson house these days! Enjoy your weekend!

{Project Life}

PROJECT LIFE!!!! I'm DOING it! I have been "crafty" *smile* most of my life---and "paper crafty" for a long time, but my scrapbooking began to overwhelm me about the time that Joshua was born. I was chasing two other kids to away games and lessons and doing homework and cooking meals and then working and still doing all of the above. NOW, I know that many women do all that I have done and STILL have beautiful, beautiful scrapbook pages---and entire books for each child, but I'm not one of them. I have been so sad that I haven't recorded the memories of my children's lives because, honestly, now I have forgotten much of the "story" of our lives. SO, when I began to see Project Life 2011 advertised and talked about on some of my favorite blogs---namely, Ali Edwards, on that post and this one, and Michelle Wooderson, on that post and this one, I decided THIS was the year. (I bought it for myself for Christmas!-shhhhhh!) I don't usually do that--OK, I never do, but I did it this year. This is a gift that I will treasure for many years to come and it was only $53!!!

It has EVERYTHING I need for this scrapbook except the pictures and my words. It's in a three ring binder, so I can also add other pages to it and I will certainly do that. I HAVE A GRANDBABY COMING IN THE NEXT TWO MONTHS!!!! eeeek!! I'm really excited about the joy of that sweet baby and watching Caitlin and Carson parent her!

SOOOOO---I'm sure I'll occasionally share a page or two with you. If you're interested in this sort of "get it done" scrapbooking, go check out Becky Higgins' Blog and Product page. She has a video that tells you all about Project Life and it SOLD me! There's also a free forum and gallery to get ideas on Big Picture Classes.

You know I'm not one to put pictures of myself on my blog, but Becky asked me to (and yes, we're on a first name basis now)----so HERE IT IS!!! I'm excited to record my family's story in 2011! It will be a great year, I'm sure!

I've chosen "my word" for the year, but I haven't shared it yet. I'm not sure why? Perhaps I need a new one---waiting until it's right to share! I hope you enjoy your weekend---what's left of it~