{A LEGOxtravaganza}

Early in the summer a friend asked me if Joshua and I wanted to go to a Brick Fair in the Washington DC area with her and her son in August. I was THRILLED to go hang out with my son AND my friend, thrilled for Joshua to get to go to a 'LEGO convention' and hang out with his friend. AND, my sweet sister Shannon lives in DC, so we got to see her, too. THIS was the "EPIC weekend of the summer" (according to Joshua) but I've already used the word "epic" in a recent post title, so I decided not to go there again.

The simple way to do this post is to just DO IT---this has been sitting here for WEEKS, so I'll just put up the pictures and tell you what was up. It was truly a fabulous weekend!

 

We got to the brick fair about 10 minutes before the door opened and there were HUNDREDS of people already there. Fortunately when the doors opened we moved pretty quickly.

One of the reasons the boys were so excited about this was the opportunity to buy

BrickArms products. BrickArms  is a company that creates cool weapons to fit LEGO brand products. The line was INSANE~

Here the boys are looking through little cups of tiny little guns and helmets for their mini figures---did I mention they were tiny?

Here's Astronaut Josh! 

Astronaut Justin

I LOVE this idea. It looks like they are in the newspaper.

Here are some of the creations we were able to see at the Brick Fair. Some of them were so creative. My favorite of the day was the Apocalego area.

 WOW---

Look at this---if you've never built a lego set, you may not appreciate this---I REALLY appreciate it---;D I've helped build a few and I can't imagine doing this---it's really cool.

We also went to a couple museums while we were in town---I'll put that post up tomorrow! This trip was so fun---really, it was one of the most enjoyable weekends I've had in a long time! I'd love to make it an annual affair---

{Epic Year}

Noooooooooo, this isn't a recap of my last year---just a card! HA! I know a few of you were QUITE interested in THAT post, but you can just go somewhere else! It's a card post~

Joshua had another friend with a birthday last week, so I put this card together. I used that same $5 stamp set I've shown before---Boy Basics: Game On. I think this was a good purchase---

Anyway, not much talk today. I did use this card as a template for mine---I like hers better, but I didn't have time to redo it, so there it is! 11 year old boys really don't care about the cards!  I also stamped the inside of the card.

The details are below if you're interested---I do have some amazing pictures of Joshua's Lego extravaganza weekend to share. Hopefully this week---we'll see if I can get it together---school is looming and I'm trying to get my room ready for students.....oh, and get Hannah ready for school---have I mentioned that she's leaving me on Wednesday the 17th--yeah, she is. Happy for her.....not for me!

Epic Year~
Stamps: Boy Basics: Game On, Grunge Me
Paper: Enchanted Evening, SS White, New Leaf
Ink: New Leaf, Pure Poppy, Summer Sunrise
Accessories/Tools: Mat Stack 5, Limitless Labels dies, 1 3/4" Circle Punch, Cuttlebug, Corner punch

{A Summer Wedding}

Last Saturday I had the privilege of attending a wedding of a sweet girl our family has known for years. I have a few pictures to share. The wedding was so sweet! What a blessing to see two kids who love each other and love the Lord get married! They had a beautiful, personal wedding--I LOVED it!

Not a great picture, but I had to show it. The mother of the bride with her son. This family has a similar age spread in their children (two older girls, one son eight years later) as our family. It's been so fun to watch them grow up! 

Sister of the bride! So beautiful~

Ring bearer---the birthday boy from this post

Here comes the bride!!! (corny, I know!)

Prayer time---this was so sweet and encouraging!

 

  sweet~

 YEA!!! Mr. & Mrs!!

PARTY TIME!!

The reception was at the home of the groom's family in a tent---yes, that's Justin and Joshua marching into the reception----they have their dancing shoes on....what a pair! 

(of kids---not shoes!)

First Dance

I'm a sucker for the father/daughter dance---LOVE!

Here are some pictures of people at the reception!

Ring bearer & Dad---who also performed the ceremony! BUT, this is really just a set up for this next one---

WHAT IS A FOUR YEAR OLD DOING LOOKING LIKE A GROWN MAN? sorry for the screaming--- but this just cracked me up---except for the fact that he's on his dad's shoulders, he looks like a grown up with his glasses in his mouth.....too funny!

I was so disappointed in this picture---the other one I took that was SO GREAT of both of them wasn't focused----ugh! BUT, aren't these two amazing looking 5th graders? Good friends!

The Cupid Shuffle---before Joshua saw me taking pictures....things changed after that! Joshua also caught the garter----AGAIN....but I wasn't there to capture the picture. I didn't make him wear it like a headband like last time! 

Mothers and sons----I was far away and using my long lens......need that external flash, no?

Amy & Donnas---LOVE these women! Cheerwine---it's the drink of choice apparently!

When the bride and groom left they had a balloon release----it reminded me of another wedding reception from not too long ago!

Annetta & Mitch after the festivities!

Thanks for coming by---I have big plans this weekend---a road trip with those two 5th graders and a Lego convention.....now THAT'S FUN! You can BET I'll have the camera out for this one!

I don't remember when I had to make so many cards for boys---I'll tell you, it's tough to make a card for a 10 or 11 year old boy. BUT, I just refuse to buy cards when I have so much "stuff" to make one. I did buy a couple sets in the spring to make some "boy" cards and they have certainly come in handy lately. Joshua is at a birthday party sleepover tonight for a good friend. This is a friend who loves Legos so Joshua typically wants to give him a gift card to the Lego store---it's the perfect gift to Joshua, so he figures his friend would like it, too! I was going to make a separate giftcard holder, but I decided to just put it in the card---

I used the library Pocket die to make the pocket for the gift card--

Joshua and I attended a beautiful wedding this past Saturday and I'll have a post up about that soon---I love a wedding! And I have yet ANOTHER card for a boy, too---three in two weeks? CrAZy!!!

Thanks for stopping by today---

Happy 10th~
Stamps: Big Birthday Wishes
Paper: Kraft, Pure Poppy, Enchanted Evening, Stamper's Select White cardstock, & Bitty Dots patterned paper
Ink: Memento-Tuxedo Black
Dies: Library Pocket, Wonderful Words, Mat Stack 4, By the Numbers
Tools/Accessories: By the Numbers impression plate, Cuttlebug

{A quick tag for a dear friend}

I had a gift for a friend, but of course, I hadn't wrapped it up until the last minute. I love wrapping things in bags and adding a tag, so I put together this quick tag combo from pieces I had already die cut. I just keep these extra pieces in an envelope for times like these! I love what dies have done for my craft time.....I can do things so much more quickly now---and since I never seem to have enough time, "quick" is good!

Well, Hannah is on a service trip with Davidson, Caitlin and Carson have a wedding here in Raleigh and I'm headed to a wedding in Greensboro with Joshua---the Dancing King. ;D You can check out two of his dancing debuts here and here! I'm hoping for some more dancing pictures for you soon~Thanks for the visit! Happy Saturday!

4you: (all products Papertrey Ink)
Paper: Pure Poppy, Orange Zest, Stamper's Select White, & Kraft cardstock
Dies: Mat Stack 4 , Limitless Labels, By the Numbers, Wonderful Words
Accessories/Tools: Orange Zest twill, Cuttlebug (Provocraft), 1 3/4"circle punch (EK Success)

{A Birthday party}

Sunday night we went to a party for a favorite four year old boy we know. His mom made this cake---isn't it amazing? I LOVE it! It's Mater from Cars fame.  I have some pictures from the party and of the gift/card we gave.....but I have NO pictures of the birthday boy. HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN? Oh my---I have a few pictures of his parents but none of them are any good---bad photography---it had nothing to do with the subjects! ANYWAY, there is nothing like a child's birthday party to make someone happy! I have had a tough weekend and it was so great to laugh and enjoy the kids at the party.

Hannah with a balloon head---and of course, the thumbs up sign---she has NO idea what this does to a Longhorn. I have failed her..... I must explain it to her......

 Kristin, Sarah Beth, Mary Grace & Hannah--LOVE these girls

We got Ian some Legos---and so did everyone else! Oh well, Legos are amazing and he can build all sorts of things with them long after he takes the original thing apart...trust me---I KNOW this personally.

I made a card and tag to match....I must confess, I used orange and green because I have TONS of orange and green tissue paper left over from the wedding and I really need to use it. I may use it on every gift for the next two years and still have some left---yes, I have that much!

Here's Ian's card. He loves to play video games, so I thought this Boy Basics: Game On set was perfect for his card. This set is so cute and it's only $5! You have to love that! I must say, I totally CASED this card (Copy And Steal Everything) from this post on Nichole Heady's blog. I didn't have much creative energy, so I used her layout almost exactly and just changed up the colors to match my huge supply of tissue paper! 

If you have any questions about the card or tag I'd be happy to answer them, I'm not going to do a detailed list tonight---I'm going to sleep. Joshua isn't feeling well and I may have a long night in front of me. He's already been in my room three times. Thanks for the visit---I have been working on my dining room and will have some posts on that soon---well, I hope I will.

{I heart Harry Potter}

It's here---the end. I saw the final Harry Potter movie today and was thrilled and sad---all at once. This movie and the book it portrays are in the top five on my entertainment list. I am not a reader---there, I said it. I have always admired them, readers that is. I read to my children often when they were young---picture books, chapter books, read alouds---everything. I wanted to produce reading children, but I just never was encouraged to read much as a child. My daughters DEVOUR books and so does their dad---but I have never been a good reader. I have actually learned to love reading through my children---my girl's would talk about a great classic they had read and I would open it up and read it for the first time.

I actually started reading the Harry Potter series when Caitlin was young and she needed some more reading material. Caitlin and I went to a little independent book store that was in Wake Forest at the time and talked to the owner about the books. Some people had said they were "bad" because they were about witchcraft and David and I didn't really see the big deal. Our children had read the Narnia series and as far as we knew they hadn't ended up hiding in wardrobes and playing with Prince Caspian. So we decided we would read the first one and make sure it was appropriate for her before we let her read it---as usual, Caitlin finished the first one before I did....and then, so did Hannah! BUT, I did finish it and I LOVED IT! I was totally hooked after the first book. We went to our first midnight release party when the third book was released---our girls NEVER got to stay up that late---they were in 6th grade and 3rd grade and we just didn't stay out that late WITH our kids! I remember there was a girl dressed as Moaning Myrtle with a toilet cover around her head---it was hysterical! WE WERE HOOKED! The girls would fight over the books when they first got them and thus the tradition began to purchase TWO of each book at the midnight release---they would stay up all night reading and then I would have one to read during the daytime! It worked out beautifully! And so the fun began every book release! My most memorable was the last book release---David and Caitlin were in Thailand and Caitlin bought a copy there. Joshua went to spend the night with my parents and Hannah and I left and headed to Barnes & Noble for the midnight release......we got there at 2:00pm---yes, we are losers! BUT, we were out of there by 12:03 with our TWO books in hand! Hannah had read the book in 7 hours and then slept awhile.....and then started it again!

This past school year, Joshua began reading through the series. I read a lot of it to him--which was SO fun! I was able to read back through the entire series right along with Joshua. We were able to share these characters together and I had yet another bonding experience with my child over a great piece of literature. I'm no literature expert, BUT, any book that gets kids THIS excited about reading is a special book---and J.K.Rowling wrote 7 of them!

SOOOOOOO, enough about that---the last 24 hours we have had a bit of a  Harry Potter fest! We made some Butterbeer. This is a drink in the books and we have made it a few times---There are all sorts of recipes online. We found a few we liked here and adapted them. Here's the recipe we used last night---warning---it's REALLY sweet, so next time we won't use as much cream soda! We doubled this recipe. This makes about 4 -6 servings.

Butterbeer

2- 12oz. bottles IBC Cream Soda

2 T butter

1/3 c. butterscotch chips

10-12 Werther's caramel filled candies

2 c. whipping cream

(1/2 c. whipping cream for recipe

1&1/2 c. whipping cream--whipped up for topping)

dash cinnamon (and nutmeg if you like it)

 Over medium heat, melt butter, butterscotch chips, and candies in a saucepan with whipping cream. When fully combined, add cream soda. Be careful to only cook soda long enough to warm it---you want it to still have some fizz. After warming, pour into a coffee mug and top with whipped cream. Sprinkle with cinnamon & nutmeg-Serve. YUMMMMY!

Then we watched the Deathly Hallows part one together. Hannah went to the midnight showing last night with some friends. This picture was taken with her iPhone and used her Instagram app. SO.WANT.ONE.OF.THOSE!! She took the picture at the very top of this post as well. Joshua had set up the Harry Potter stuff last night and we took pictures of it---it looks pretty cool, don't you think?

Joshua really wanted to dress up today---so he and I did. Hannah wore her time turner, but that's about it. Joshua was full blown Harry Potter and I dressed like Professor Umbridge---everyone HATES Umbridge, but I didn't really have clothes for other characters. All you have to do to dress like Umbridge is wear pink---LOTS of pink and a bow in your hair. I could do that! So, I purchased a horcrux locket at Barnes and Noble and put together lots of pink and I was set!

We had fun----one of Joshua's best friends and his mom came , too.

I'm sorry the glare is so bad on the glasses---I'm sure I could take that off, but I haven't mastered that in my editing software. 

Caitlin and Carson joined us, too--but they had to get home to Eve before we got a picture of them. It was sweet to get to share this with everyone---such a great way to end this fun series in our lives. I was looking at the book series at Barnes and Noble yesterday and thinking it wouldn't be long before I purchased them for my grandbabies and I get to start this all over again! That's the beauty of a good book!