Disapointment....

This is not part of our weekend recap....

This is a major blow and a major disappointment....

After playing her heart out and finally being on a team of GREAT girls with GREAT coaches....

On the Final Day of All Star selections......BROKEN HAND!!!!

To say we are disappointed is an understatement.

To say that my beautiful Daughter is keeping a positive attitude and a smile on her face is an understatement.

Petite Inspirations...

!!!!!WARNING!!!!!
BIG GIANT SPOILER if you are my Swap Partner!!!

I am finished with my very first set of swap boxes!!!

Petite Inspiration Swap Boxes, Paris Edition

I had SO much fun putting these together!!!!


They are just jammed full of tiny treasures - At first they wouldn't shut, so I had to make sacrifices!! I had such a difficult time deciding what to take out!



I tried to gear the boxes towards my swap partners while keeping in mind what the "Inspiration" for the boxes were...


My Swap Partners were...

Connie

&

Pam

Decisions...Decisions...

This is the box I put together for Connie...

And for Pam...

My very Own Petite Inspiration enjoyed watching me and "helping" me work on these beautiful treasure boxes as well. For me that is one of the best parts of creating....watching my kids as they create right along side of me!!

See her back there??? She was peaking through on all the pictures...

Weekend Life in Reverse...Part 1

It is Monday, ALREADY, and I can't believe how much was packed into one little weekend!

Jacob and I waiting for the 2nd Championship Game of the Day!

This is going to be a 3 part series with one change-up thrown in...because I can't wait to show you a sneak peak at my Petite Inspiration boxes!!

Yesterday was a BIG day here!

*We had a Championship tournament game for our 12 year old son, Jacob.

*It was my now 10 year old son, Hayden's Birthday

*It was the day we were taking Hayden to "sleepover" camp, for the first time EVER...this was unbearable for me!

*It was my oldest daughter, Breeanna's Championship game for her team.

*It was Fathers Day!

Now That, is a lot to do in one day! I am starting with the one that ended last in the day...

Bree's Championship game! Which they WON!!!!! 7 very strong innings of great playing from all the girls, and my daughter made the final... game winning...play! We have taught our kids not to boast or brag about anything that they may have done out on the field so they don't make someone else feel bad...but tonight I am telling you that Bree made the game-ending, game-winning play!!!
I am her mother, I get to do that once and a while!! After all I labored for 3 very long day with her!!


She caught the line drive to short-stop and then threw the runner out at first! So exciting!!! She was on cloud 9 and so was her father....couldn't have been a better Father's Day gift!!!


Good Thing because I didn't exactly arrive to the party with a gift...Sorry Honey!

One VERY happy family...

missing one very well loved boy!! Hope your having fun at Camp, Hayden!

Baseball, Baseball...SOFTBALL

All three of my older kids play on "Select" teams...fancy word for drive more, practice more and sweat more....Warming up before the playoff game...having fun with her mustache..


However....my daughter's team won their Championship for the entire NCLL (North Calvert Little League) last week and will be playing for the Championship of the entire County tomorrow night. I love her coach, he is a wonderful, soft-spoken, supportive man who has taken these girls all the way to the very top! It is our first year with this team and I am so impressed with them...it brings tears to my eyes to see her out there. I get so choked up seeing her up there on the mound or out in the field and have to stop talking...NOT talking, that is a BIG accomplishment for me...

I see the power she possesses up there and I glow from the inside out. I have always worked towards my daughter being strong and powerful and independent...she is completely in her element when she is on the Softball field. (Her true love is baseball, but the "men" say she has to play softball...big bullies!!)

She is one of those players that just oozes the sport....she shares this with one of her brothers. One of the "Dad's" from another team was overheard saying...."That blonde girl over there is going to go places.." when she was in the batting tunnel the other day. He was there for his son's baseball game, but My Girl was working that batting cage over! She is impressive out there...and she should be, she has been on the softball field since she was 2 days old. Yes, 2 days old. When my husband brought me home from the hospital after having her we went straight to his softball game! We were sooooo young!

Warming up for the Championship Game

ME...wanting my son to put down the camera because I am already nervous enough!

When did I get sooooo OLD!!!

Throwing some heat in the game! NCLL Championship Game

Very proud of this girl....I am sure that her future is going to be very BRIGHT!!!!

No Sleep

Looks like we are NOT sleeping again these days...

Luckily I was able to join this swap and that kept me occupied for a bit...

I gathered and sifted through all my favorite bits! I am pretty excited about this!!

I also was working on this beauty....the pictures are HORRIBLE - but what do you expect at 4am!

This is going to be for my oldest daughter....it had beautiful golden hues and creamy white lace with millinery flowers edged in pink and green. The music sheets are from a love song....I scored TONS of sheet music at an auction a while back. No pun intended....

I am going to add a few embellishments from earrings and other broken jewelry bits. Hopefully I will be able to add them before 12am!

This NO sleep thing is getting a little tough!

Big Day!!

Friday my oldest turned 14!

I can't stand how fast time is flying by! I don't know where it has gone! I handled it better this year, last year I cried every time I said she was turning 13....was a turning point in my life as well I guess. She is growing up so quickly! She is about an inch taller than me now, not that this is a huge accomplishment..I am pretty short, and probably growing even taller!

She will be going into High School next year...something I am surely not ready for!



Friday was also the 8th Grade Formal....Big NIGHT!! It was so fun to help her do her hair and make-up. She looked beautiful!!





I had to stop myself from doing the math on how quickly other Big Nights would be here like Prom and leaving for College and a Wedding....it all happens so quickly!!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl....

Glitter and Pink Packaged food...

....makes it all better!

Not Really, but I am pretending. The grieving process was a little harder for me today. Guess I was a little worried about keeping everyone together yesterday.

It was the "dailies" that got me today...

came down to let him out in the morning and he wasn't there. Even though most days I was peeved to say the least that he always woke me up at 4:30 or 5AM...No one else...just me!

He wasn't there and I cried a bit...

Then I went to feed everyone this morning and there were too many bowls and not enough dogs...

So I cried a bit more and threw away his bowl, instantly.

After thinking about Lily's glitter send off last night I decided that we needed more, and that the world really is a better place with more glitter.

I decided that I would bring out the stash I had been hiding from her because you CAN NOT imagine all the Glitter-tastrophe's we have around here! I had to hide some of it...it was getting a bit crazy!

These were not just Glitter-tastrophe's...they were Sequins and Glitter and more Glitter!

We also call them "Lily-tastrophe's"

Off to the craft store we went and proceeded to purchase 34 bottles of Glitter..

Yes, you read correctly....34 Bottles

They were little...

But there was that Mega bottle that slipped into the basket...

And I cried a bit more at the craft store...

Then Lily said we needed more Glitter...

But I stopped her...

Trader Joe's provided us with a little more "bliss" with their selection of pink packaged foods...

The cutest Kettle Corn in pink bags,

Pink Lemonade

and of course we needed to buy some

Salt water taffy because the bags were so darn cute! All vintage inspired and just plain CUTE!

The grieving has ended but we are on our way.

The King and his Court

Henry
"The King"
July 1999 - June 2010

We tried and tried to get a "good" picture of everyone together...Kids and Dogs - what a mess!!

Tonight we said goodbye to a member of our family. Our very loyal, unbelievably gentle American Bulldog, Henry.

He greeted everyone that came to our home with a smile. I can't tell you how many times we heard the expression "...what a cool dog!!"





He was a King in our book. An amazing creature - not just an animal but part of our family that will be very missed.

He chose us, and we were the better for it. He protected us, played with us, kept my husband company on the fishing pier, always knew when I was going to have a baby (labor was immanent when Henry came to sleep by my side of the bed)..... even saved one of our sons lives - twice!


This past Friday he was diagnosed with Bone Cancer and we have been fighting with the emotions since then of losing him. We chose to have him put down at home, in our backyard with us by his side.

Lily - in true Lily manner - covered him in Glitter because she wanted The Sparkles to be able to find him when they came down from Heaven. Sparkles (the stars) are all the little Heaven Fairies (Angels) in her book and they needed something shiny to see where he was.





AS a PSA: Henry has not "passed" in this picture...she sprinkled him with Glitter right as the vet got here...don't want you to think I am morbid!!


There were a lot of emotions and many different ways that they were shown, my husband was a mess, my boys were stoic, my oldest daughter distraught and my youngest just wanted me.

For me, it hasn't sunk in yet. I am sure it will when I don't see him sitting in his favorite chair tomorrow....
Sleep peacefully my Henry Dog...you will be forever in our hearts!