Where did I leave off?

So, I took a little time off from my little blog. Like everyone else, my life is busy, at times crazy, yet simply extraordinary at its core. I enjoy writing on this blog, however, there are times when it just won't happen and I've come to realize...this is okay. I will come back to it eventually and it will be fun and make me happy. This little blog is not to be a source of stress in my life, i.e., no deadlines. Rather, it is my "don't worry, be happy" place...that place I can go to to share some of the wonderful things that make my life happy, albeit a Beautiful Mess! Let's rewind to see some of the highlights from the past few months, shall we?

• Grace's 1st Science Fair - she was very excited and diligent in her efforts. So proud of her!

• A Baby Shower -  for our daughter Anne and her husband Zac who are expecting their first baby, our first grandchild. The anticipation of this little one's arrival was a wonderful day of food, laughter, celebration and quality time with family and friends at our local Toffler's Pub & Grill!

Our proud parents-to-be!

Baby bottle drinking contest=much laughter!

Good food!

• Florida Vacation - soaking up the sun and sights. What more is there to say!? Life was good, actually GREAT, for one week.

Sea World was perfect in every way!

Grace made the most of her pool time.

Who wouldn't love a day at St. Pete Beach?

• Alexa's Junior Prom - a splendid, exciting day for her. Where have those 17 years gone??

Alexa and her date, Rustin.

• Summer arrives - finally! We start off summer vacation with a bang, boating on the Mississippi River with family. Summer lovin'...

Grace with her fabulous cousins.

Grace hath no fear!

Repeat... Grace hath no fear!!

• Joni Mae Walter makes her debut - right on her due date, July 11, 2012. What a spectacular, memorable day for our family. She is absolutely perfect and precious in every way! I believe the very proud grandparents have unlimited bragging rights...

Joni and Daddy sharing some special moments.

Joni and Aunt Eve!

Joni and Aunt Chelsea!

Joni and Grandpa Dan!

Joni and Grandma Beth!

Joni and Grandma Michelle!

A new life..a beautiful gift to our family.

• Grace turns 7 - our baby girl continues to grow up right before our very eyes. She is a lovable daughter, sweet (at times crazy) sister, and now a beloved aunt. What will the next 7 years be like??  No one knows. I just look forward to enjoying each and every day that she sprinkes with her smile! 

Grace turning 7!

Whew!! With that, my little blog is now up-to-date for just a few of the many good things that have touched my life in the past few months.  I told you it was crazy but I wouldn't want it any other way!

Until next time,

Michelle

Photography Cheat Sheet...Genius!

Finally, thanks to Pinterest, I think I have found something that can hopefully help me deviate from the "safe" automatic setting on my Nikon DSLR. Maybe it will help me, maybe it won't, but it's worth a try at this point. I plan to print it off and put it in my camera bag. Now I just have to remember that it is in there. Happy shooting!

Source: piccsy.com via Sarah on Pinterest

January Take 12

Twelve photos from January 2012 digi-scrapped ~ check!





Easy Morning Muffins

2012 Gratitude-Not Attitude #13

Jan. 26th - I don't know about you, but I LOVE muffins, especially in the morning, still warm, fresh out of the oven. My kids love them as well and it's nice to be able to change it up for them and give them a reason to detour from the cold cereal or frozen waffles that they seem to like so much. This morning I made blueberry muffins (out of a box...am I a bad mom?). Maybe someday I'll take a run at made-from-scratch muffins but for now this working mama is good with making muffins from a box.  Muffin mixes make great-tasting muffins, are super convenient, come in many flavors, and are way less risky for me. The worst I can do is overbake them right? I have been known to do that by the way. So, today I am grateful for EASY MORNING MUFFINS. Another bonus to buying muffin mixes is that certain brands offer the Box Tops For Education labels  (which we diligently collect). Can't get that with homeade!

Blueberry muffins fresh out of the oven!

2012 Take Twelve Photo Challenge

Once again it is the beginning of a new year and I need, yes NEED, some scrapbooking motivation, a project of some sort, a goal, a renewed purpose of why I scrapbook in the first place. I need to be held accountable for preserving all of the wonderful memories that I capture each year. Accountability is the catalyst to turning my "organized" stash of photos into beautiful scrapbook pages and put to good use the amass of product I have managed to acquire. What can I say?? I am a sucker for pretty pretty scrapbook paper.

As yet another package of a couple 100 developed pictures arrive from Snapfish, I am resolute in taking action and thus begin the search for my "motivation". I love Two Peas in a Bucket. Their website is my go-to for inspiration and motivation so I start (and end) there. I have found my motivation...the 2012 Take Twelve Photo Challenge hosted by Ella Publishing. What is Take Twelve you ask? Take 12 is both a photography and scrapbooking challenge. You take 12 photos on the 12th of each month in 2012 and scrapbook them. They even have a Take Twelve Inspiration Kit to guide and inspire you through the journey. How cool is that?! It is exactly what this girl needs. I am officially signed up and plan to dive in this weekend! While it does not necessarily help me with my backlog of unscrapped photos (still searching for that scrap-your-stash class...), it will certainly spark my creativity and provide me with a "project" that is very meaningful to me. I am also hoping to discover new ideas and become a more purposeful scrapbooker through the process. If you are looking for a great project to throw yourself into this year, you should check out the Take Twelve challenge. It may be just what you need, too!

Date Nights

2012 Gratitude-Not Attitude #12

Jan. 22nd - We did it! We finally  had a date night and it was wonderful. Grace had a birthday party sleepover so we got to hit the town, just Dan and I. We went to Madison and had a wonderful dinner at Johnny Delmonico's Steakhouse thanks to our wonderful kids who gave us a Food Fight gift card for our birthdays. Delicious food, fabulous waitress, awesome atmosphere, great conversation, and the best date ever! There was nothing not to love. We then took a stroll to the Argus Bar for an after dinner drink. Took me back to our days of actual dating...exactly what date nights are supposed to do! I am so thankful for our DATE NIGHTS and I look forward to many more!

Johnny Delmonico's - downtown Madison.

Weekends

2012 Gratitude-Not Attitude #11

Jan. 21st - Missed my posting yesterday...it was a TGIF day and what a day it was!! Our first real snowstorm and it was a blast. Even the dog had fun and got nice and tuckered out! I went into work for a little while and made it home before the big snow. Got to spend the day with Chelsea, Brandon, Grace and Sammy. My first run ever with our beast of a snowblower thanks to Brandon getting it started for me. Two hours later I had the driveway, sidewalks and our  neighbor's sidewalks done so Dan didn't have to do it when he got home. It was very cold which made the snow light and fluffy and sooo pretty falling from the sky. You can see the snow falling in a few of the pictures I took. I love taking pictures of my kids in falling snow!

I am so thankful for WEEKENDS and especially those when we have nothing going on. My favorite part of any weekend is waking up on a Saturday morning and not having to rush to get everyone ready and out the door to school or work. Today is Saturday...I got to wake up, enjoy my coffee, download some pictures, surf the net, and blog a little. Typical. It's going to be a good weekend and I am looking forward to our big "little things" for today...Grace has a basketball game and a sleepover birthday party and I hopefully have a date night with my hubby!! Here's to the weekend!!

Technology

2012 Gratitude-Not Attitude #10

Jan. 19th - I am thankful for all of the wonderful TECHNOLOGY that I can choose to use or not each and every day. What did we do before computers, cell phones, tablets, video games, copy machines, etc? Big picture, they really do make our daily life easier, more efficient and for the most part, more enjoyable. Yes, there are downsides to all of this techy dependency/bliss but I have to believe that the benefits we enjoy far outweigh the negatives. Balance is the key but not always achieved, even for me!I truly enjoy waking up each morning, coffee in hand, perusing the web, checking my e-mail, and my new fav, pinning on Pinterest. Have you checked out this site yet? If not, you must! It is fun, interesting, and inspiring. In fact, maybe you will become a little addicted like me. The best part of Pinterest is discovering all of these wonderful blogs and other places on the internet that you would not easily stumble upon. From yummy foods to raising kids to DIY crafts to inspiring words and beautiful pictures, it's pretty amazing all of the "pinning" you will do and great ideas you will discover!!

For example, today...I'm here, in Maldives sipping a pretty drink and enjoying the spectacular view from my own amazing villa...okay, not really, but because of technology I can picture myself here and that's good enough for me!! It's pinned on my Travel Destination board at Pinterest. Maybe someday, just someday I will go here. For now, I'm good with the beautiful picture...

Healthcare Providers

2012 Gratitude-Not Attitude #9

Jan. 16th - Today I had to take Grace to the doctor and as I was driving, and thinking of what I might find today to be grateful for, it occurred to me that we are very lucky to have some of the best healthcare providers just a phone call away. And, not just one or two, but literally hundreds of them. How easy it is for us to take these types of things for granted because we only go to them when we absolutely  have to and then we complain about having to go. I began to think about all of the other places in the world where that is not the case at all and, in fact, the exact opposite. How grateful they would be for even a portion of what we have at our disposal is beyond measure. So, today I am thankful for the knowledgable and caring HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS available to me and my family when we need them.

Coaches

2012 Gratitude-Not Attidue #8

Jan. 14th - Today Grace has her first "offical" basketball game with the Upwards Basketball program. I am extremely grateful for COACHES who dedicate their time and talents to our children and who help our children believe in themselves. She seems excited...but not as excited as her daddy who is the assistant coach and who has high hopes for her basketball career! When you ask her what her favorite sport is, she says volleyball, so we shall see. Daddy says she doesn't know what she likes yet:) She's got mad skills in both so who knows, maybe she will end up loving both! She just finished a basketball skills camp series at her school. She was pulled out of the group to demonstrate on more than one occasion. By the end, she finally realized that this was a good thing and came home beaming about it, together with proud papa. Thatta girl!! I'll post some game pics soon.