Just an ordinary evening...

Val came over and I made one of my Dream Dinners.
Rosemary chicken with penne pasta. Totally fabulous - and the kids even ate all of it! Bonus!
We hung out, made brownies, and decided on the spur of the moment to go over to Kohl's so Val could get a couple tank tops she wanted.
We chatted and laughed about our silly husbands, joked at the kids' antics, and came home.
We ate brownies that we cooked a little too long, but still tasted fine.
Violet put on a show for us, complete with costume changes and a little brother dressed as a dinosaur.
Lots of singing and jumping and even lighting effects thrown in with the little $1 disco light ball I got at Target the other day.
The kids gave Val kisses and bug hugs and went to bed and Val and I went upstairs to talk of scrapping and crafting and different thoughts on how to decorate Violet's bedroom.
We dreamed of her room painted lavender and white with this totally cute bedroom set I found at Target the other day.
We talked of reupholstering my chairs that the dog Barabbas has ruined in a fabulous patterned fabric that Rick hates.
Val helped me think through a scrapping project I have been avoiding cause I wasn't motivated.
And next thing we knew, it was midnight.
Jim was coming to get Val.
We kept chatting, avoiding the inevitable.
And then it was time.
Too soon.
We hugged goodbye, and I fought back the tears.
It seemed like just an ordinary evening.
No drama, no crying, no craziness...
but it was time to say goodbye.
And I thought I was ready, but I wasn't.
How do I say goodbye to my friend?
I am thrilled for her. I am thrilled for Jim.
They are moving back to a city they love... to a job that's perfect for them.
Everything orchestrated by God in His perfect timing.
But not mine.
All of a sudden I wasn't ready. I wasn't ready to say goodbye.
I didn't want to let go, but Jim said something to make us laugh.
He was playing ball with Barabbas... Barabbas loves him so much.
Riley loves him, too.
Riley's gonna miss Jim.
We are all gonna miss them.
Valerie was my doula when Riley was born.
She's been one of my closest and dearest friends for over 4 years.
She's like my big sister. I never had a big sister before.
Her phone message always said "leave us a message but we won't call you back"
and she would always call me back anyway.
We've spent days scrapping, days at the spa, days just hanging out with each other.
We've traveled together and didn't end up hating each other.
She always has the words I need to hear when I need to hear them.
She's been such an important part of my life for the last few years.
I love her so much.
And even though we tried so hard to make tonight an ordinary evening, we both knew it wasn't.
And when it came time to say goodbye, I didn't hug her nearly long enough.
I don't know when I will see her again.
I miss her already.

The Pirate Party

we stopped at Starbucks first :)


Rick is so cute - he really surprised me!


look at my shirt - little skulls and crossbones!


Rick then took me to Garduno's where our friends were waiting with a table decorated in pirate gear and all of them dressed as pirates :)



we all got pirate temporary tattoos :)


... and eye patches! hee hee


next we went to the movies to see none other than Pirates of the Caribbean!

I had to stop and say hi to the poster ;)


My friends have officially crossed a nerd-dom threshold by dressing up to go see the movie! hahahahahahahahahaha
i love my friends :)

It was just so much fun - especially with all of them with us. Rick did a great job making my birthday special!

I know... I need to post my birthday photos...

but I just finished the last of my design team assignments for Technique Tuesday, so I thought I would post the layouts here...


This one used the "BackRounds Medium" set and some new Technique Tiles...



I used "Dogs We Love" and new Technique Tiles here too...



This is the brand new "Masterpieces of Paisley" set - you can mix and match all the different paisley components to create a truly unique design every time. I LOVE THESE!!! Also used some BaseBoards here. Oh and like a thousand brads! :p



This is the "Pieces of Paisley" mini set and new Technique Tiles BaseBoards...

WHEW! So fun!! Now it's off to bed for me... but I promise to post photos of the birthday fun tomorrow!

still another hour left

of my birthday :)

i'll be posting photos of the fun i had very soon! rick threw me a surprise pirate party!
today was a great day too... mom took me shopping!
not sure what i did to deserve all this attention, but i am sure enjoying it!

Sneak peek...

Some new scrapbook pages I did, featuring the Technique Tuesday stamps and chipboard shapes - all new releases for CHA summer in Chicago :)


Violet with AJ and Noah at her birthday party :)
using the new "Free Press" set (along the bottom)


My son being silly...
using the new "Main Street" set (all the letters)


Little Simone - can't wait to see her! :)
Using "Cosmopolitan" alphabet set


You guys *knew* I would scrap that story, right? :)
Using "Wayfarer" alphabet and "Back Rounds" shapes


A friend's daughter that is too cute for words :)
Using "Wayfarer" alphabet and "Whirlygigs" swirls

Reunion and the 4th

The kids were so excited to pick up their daddy!
Violet and Riley decorated a sign for him...



Then held it up high so he could see it when he arrived. Look at Riley - he just spotted his dad :)



The kids permanently fused themselves to Daddy's side for the rest of the night :)



So glad to have him home...



We spent the 4th at Papa & MamaLali's house swimming...



and bouncing on the trampoline. Oh and picking apples off their apple tree and eating them :)



after grilled hamburgers, we went out front to watch the Desert Breeze fireworks. They weren't as spectacular as they usually are, which was pretty sad. And even sadder for me was that I forgot my good lens to take pictures. These were halfway decent, but not at all what I had hoped... sigh...





Still, the holiday was fun and memorable! And we are so happy that Rick is home safe again :)

Rick comes home today!!

The house is clean!
The kids made a "welcome home" sign! :)
Laundry is (almost!) done!
We can't wait!