vote for my hubby

Life is busy right now. Aaron is running for Kenosha County Supervisor for our district. The election is in 6 days. He has worked so hard and he really deserves to win!

Not much else is going on right now, as we are very focused on the Election. Kindermusik is in full swing. We're trying to get ready for Easter. Baby dolls, "kitchen", jumping on the bed and finding the perfect park consume our days. Not much time for scrapping...or cleaning, really. But that's ok. Life is busy. Life is fun. Life is wonderful.

just a blur

The past two years have been such a blur. I've said it before and I'll say it many more times...Ella is just growing way too fast! Here are some photos I came across, taken exactly 2 years ago and one year ago today. It's so cool to compare the same day from different years...it really shows how she's changed!

March 22, 2008 (at just 21 days old...1 day before her due date)


March 22, 2009 (these are some of my FAVORITE photos of Ella)

It was the first day we could get outside after the long, snowy winter...and Ella LOVED it! I can't believe it's already been a year!

And today, March 22, 2010

i made some cards

I made some cards last week. I haven't made cards in a really long time and I kinda liked it. You never know...you may end up being the proud recipient of one of these cards someday...so try to forget what they look like (he, he, he)Here's what I came up with:

ribbon ribbon everywhere

I have soooo much ribbon, so I've been trying to come up with fun ways to use it. Recently, I made a layout using some of the many pink and brown ribbons we used in our wedding. I am really pleased with how it came out. Here's the layout:

"Pinch Me"


























How to make the Ribbon Heart:
1. Weave ribbons the old fashioned way, securing to cardstock with tape as you go. I taped both ends of ribbons in rows all the way down the page, then in the opposite direction, taped at the top, did the weaving, and taped at the bottom.
2. Your large square of weaved ribbon should look like this:


























3. Trace a heart on the back of the cardstock you want to use for your layout and cut it out with an exacto knife.
4. Take the negative heart piece from your cardstock, trace onto patterned paper, and cut out with a decorative edge.
5. Secure cardstock with cut out on top of base cardstock and secure decorative heart frame on top of that. Your layout will look like this:


























Add some photos and goodies, and you're done! Here is the finished layout again:

birthday festivities

On Saturday we had Ella's 2nd Birthday party at our house. We had our family and about a dozen of her little friends over to celebrate (plus their parents). Ella really wanted a Barney party, so we rented a costume and had Aaron's brother dress up as Barney to sing songs and dance with the kids. I DON'T KNOW WHAT WE WERE THINKING! The kids were TERRIFIED of poor Barney. It was so chaotic...children screaming, crying and running everywhere. Fortunately, they DID have fun jumping in the bouncy house and eating lots of treats and cake! It most definitely was a day we will NEVER forget!

P.S. Thanks to our family for helping to make the party fabulous with their generosity, creativity and yummy food!

weekends

I live for weekends, as most of us probably do. I used to love Saturdays especially because I adore sleeping in. With a little one in the house, this is impossible...unless of course she sleeps over at her grandparents house (hint, hint...just kidding). NOW I love weekends because we get to be together as a family. Our Saturdays can get busy, but they are still great because we're together. Sundays are usually more relaxing...we go to church, eat a nice lunch and relax.

Ella in her Sunday Best (yes, those are chocolate chip cookies)

Last weekend we had an open house for Aaron's Campaign. He's running for County Supervisor. This weekend we have Ella's 2nd Birthday Party and our Young Marrieds Group from church is having a fondue night. Should be a fun-filled weekend!

Ella was born on a Saturday night. We actually went to the hospital right before midnight FRIDAY night and she wasn't born until 11:14pm Saturday. She came 3 weeks early (I still am sort of disappointed that we had to miss the musical we had tickets for) so we weren't really prepared. Here's a layout I made about the night she was born, using journaling her sweet Nana wrote in a book she gave Ella.
Have a great weekend!

layout to share

I made this layout a few days before Ella's birthday. I just always want to remember all the little things that she loves as this age.

Most of the elements on the layout are circles...I even made the flowers out of hand-cut paper circles (much like I did on her Birthday Invitations).

Almost Two

Close-up of the flowers

two years ago

two years ago we welcomed you into the world

two years ago we became mommy and daddy

two years ago so many people were waiting to meet you

two years ago so many people fell in love with you

two years ago we became a family of three

two years ago you took a long time to make your entrance into the world

two years ago you worried us a little bit

two years ago you took our breath away

two years ago we found out you were a girl

two years ago I couldn't wait to dress you in pink and put bows in your hair

two years ago you almost had a different name

two years ago our hearts couldn't contain the joy we felt

two years ago we knew we would do anything to give you a great life

two years ago we promised to love you and protect you

two years ago you were the most beautiful thing we'd ever seen

two years ago you became the most important person in this world to us

two years ago you made us so very happy
two years ago you changed our lives forever