Finalement Friday! Birthdays Galore... and MORE!!

And yes! It's Finally Friday!!! Not that it means much, as summer has started here... but... here goes!

 

I've decided to catch ya'll up on our goings-on... since it has been 6 months... It's a bit of jumping around, as it's hard to move things (I'm not familiar with a finger-type mouse) and I've just spent tons of time making these "simple" collages... lol! Supposed to be easy, right? Not...

 

Here... you'll see some of the cards I've created for various birthday parties.  Each of these were for kiddos, so... I have Marissa (she's now 8) color 2 "coloring pages" that I've whittled down, then cut them and mount with my fave... Silicon molding gel. I still believe this stuff is great. It's so much cheaper and easier to manage than pop-dots.

 

Some, I distress... others I simply embellish. All have a personalized message on the inside, whether it be poetry or just a cool comical sentiment. Each and every one of them has inked edges or features.

I had some issues recently... the hubs decided to tell me (after all these years...) that "nobody cares and it doesn't matter that I make or wrap things... homemade cards are just going to get thrown away... and nobody reads them anyway... it's time wasted..." Well, hmmmph!

 

These two beautiful productions were asked about right in front of him! The asking party did not know about the "issue".  My daughter came to me, asking for a custom card, which is here (on the right), and asked if I'd do one of my fancy wraps for the gift for a baby shower. Of course I would! I even wrote a custom insert in the card, specifically from my daughter to the new baby.

One MAJOR thing that has happened... my picky, picky daughter (yes... the 8-year-old) finally, FINALLY decided to start wearing denim. You have no clue how excited we all were. She previously would only wear t-shirt type knits (leggings, skorts, etc.), as she found "everything" else to be itchy and irritating.  Ugh... We all think she looks cuter than a button.

We still go to Sea World San Diego at least once or twice a month (gotta get the best use out of those passes, ya know?). And below... you'll see a bit of what we've been up to. Once of her favorite rides is Manta... Usually, it's so quick to finish and disembark, I can't whip out my camera phone.  But... on Easter weekend, it was a little behind, and so I did just that. And snap, snap... fun photos to share.

Baby Shamu (who still has yet to be named... btw... if you'd like to help name the latest edition to the Shamu family, there's a contest going on at: https://www.facebook.com/seaworldsandiego?v=app_317836181596979) is a HUGE attraction since he was born on Valentine's Day. Hurry! It closes today!

She also has gotten to pet the tail of a beaver (see photo), follow around a porcupine (not pictured... as it preferred to hide in the shrubbery), and visit with many other animals.

And of course... what theme-park visit wouldn't be complete without photo opps with "characters"? And so... Walking, talking Shamu... Where are YOU?

This weekend, we'll have some AWESOME pics and maybe even some video, as Miss Mo got straight A's, Perfect Attendance, and the Principal's Award so... she earned the reward of swimming with the dolphins at her favorite place. So back to Sea World we go... 10:45 am Saturday morning, with a high expected of 68 degrees F, there... Brrr... (and it's SUMMER-TIME!!!!).

Way back in January (yes... it's been that long ago...), our little 7-year-old and my last child turned 8.  I had stuff to do at my mom's and had her with me.  When we arrived back home, my oldest daughter (and her accomplices) had filled up Marissa's netted bedroom tent with 250 balloons. Some had confetti... some had glow sticks and looked AWESOME in the dark... some were clear... and there was LOTS of color.  She claimed it was, "the best birthday EVER!" and so...

almost 6 months later... some of those balloons are still in there... still blown up (although I have to admit the Leprechaun popped quite a bit of them when he made his appearance, but more on that later...). She's taken to popping a couple here and there, because... well... Mom's just sick of the mess.

 

There's so much more, but... I can't figure out how to access my dang external hard drive on the network where all the rest of the pics are. Oh well... another day.

 

So for now... enjoy your Friday. I'll enjoy mine!