project 365

Wednesday:


















You all know how much I love receiving snail mail. It makes me happy. Once again, my Mom made my day. I received a very sweet note from her. She was doing a little spring cleaning herself & came across a talk I had written & had actually given @ church when I was 18 years old. The talks theme was all about ones talents. I wrote about how I knew that I couldn't sing very well like my friend Trina. I knew that although I played tennis, I wasn't as good as my friend Chris. My whole talk focused on the quiet talents that people posses. 16 years later, my Mom sends me this talk & a list of the talents she has watched me develop over the years. Her sweet note put a smile on my face & of course made me get all teary eyed. Thanks for making my day Mom!

Thursday:


















Tanner received this letter in the mail.
He was selected to try out for the All Star baseball team.
Two boys from each team were selected. Way to GO Tanner.



Friday:


















John worked from home on Friday so he could be there for the boys when they received their awards @ school. The boys love when Dad is home in the mornings. John took a 10
minute break so he could ride bikes with the boys to school. They love it! Nobody gets left behind...except for me so I can take the photos.

I am still on track for taking at least one picture each day. If anything, it is hard to narrow it down to one picture, to represent that day. It has been fun to capture/remember what was important to us each & every day of 2009. Now I just need to get started on the format of this album :-) & the printing of all of the pictures.

We are off to the pizza party for Carter's baseball team. I have a pretty good idea what today's photo will be!

Here is a look @ today's Kit of The Week that was released this morning at
Green Tangerines . We provide all of the supplies(cardstock, brads, pattern paper & Thickers)) & the idea, you add your super cute photos.




















I borrowed this sketch from Brandi(thanks Brandi). It's the perfect color scheme for summer photos. I was able to get 9 photos on this LO & I love that!


We enjoyed Carter's 2nd grade play, Life Cycles. Carter was a cute zoo keeper.






















I love that my children are not shy. They can easily get up in front of crowds & ham it up! My Mom said that when I was in kindergarten, we had a winter performance where we sang Christmas songs for all of the parents. I was on the front row(because I was one of the shortest) in my little, black velvet Christmas dress. She said I just stared out the door during the entire performance. I was too shy to sing the songs or to even make eye contact with anyone. While I still don't like to perform in front of others, I did lose the shyness years ago.
Carter did a great job! All of the practices & multiple performances today really paid off. Way to make us proud Carter!

another fabulous weekend...

it was, it really was. I kicked off the weekend by attending Scrappy Hour with good friends @ Green Tangerines. It is always fun to visit & get a little scrapbooking done. I got up to get a drink & when I returned to my seat, this little work of art was sitting on my chair.

































I know I have said it before & I will say it again...I have awesome friends who are so kind & thoughtful. My sweet friend Brandi made me this amazing little box(I love the polka dot gaffer tape around the lid) that houses about 80 photos/memories from our CHA Chicago trip last summer.


























She put a lot of love & time into this little mini album & I LOVE it. Thank you Brandi!

On Saturday, we decided to take sandwiches to the local water park & have a picnic dinner. It was a perfect summer evening. The boys had a blast running & playing. We were successful @ wearing them out. They hit their pillows and were out in no time.





























On Memorial Day, we enjoyed a BBQ & swimming with friends. Our friends, the Sugden's were the "hostess with the mostess". We enjoyed yummy grilled fajitas, homemade ice cream






























& lots of water :-). The kids jumped from the pool to the hot tub (& vice a versa) all day long. It was awesome! You know it was a BLAST when your kids are still talking about how much fun they had...a day later. Thanks Sugden family, we had a super time.









































What an awesome way to kick off our summer.

Garrett has asked me, just about every day for the last month if it is summer vacation yet. With preschool ending last week, he is all about summer starting. It is official...it is summertime for Garrett. He enjoyed his last day of speech today with Miss Erin. She has been a fabulous addition to Garrett's school career. He sure is going to miss her. I took these photos last week. This is where you could find Garrett on Tuesdays this past school year. We are so proud of the leaps & bounds he has made in regards to his speech.
{Garrett & Miss Erin}






















{we carpooled with his pal Timothy}





















We hope your week has gotten off to a great start & that your days are filled with sunshine.

Brody at two

Mr. Brody has been two for a week now. I am just getting around to recording his milestones. I took him to the mall while John & the older boys were camping last weekend. Brody was all smiles for the first 5 shots & then decided he wanted nothing to do with the photographer. He even started to cry. It was weird. Luckily, the 5 photos that the girl took, were all cute.





At two, Brody:
- is still a very happy boy.
- is a chatter box, loves to repeat everything we say.
- is always quick to say I Love YOU.
- is a baseball fan. He loves to put the catcher gear on & Yell "safe" & "Double".
- is still a "blankie" boy. He has 5 little pieces of his beloved "baby" left.
- is a good listener, our best by far :-).
- is down to one nap a day (if we are lucky).
- is very independent.
- is a smart boy. Loves to count with Mom & is learning his ABC's.
- is quite the dancer. We love to watch him shake it.
- is very tender. Loves to give us all hugs & kisses.
- is a cookie monster. He loves any kind of cookie.
- is still a big fan of Elmo.
- loves animals, esecially puppies. Doesn't matter what size they are, he calls them puppies.
- will say "knuckles". This is his way of giving you a high five. You put your knuckles out & he puts his knuckles to yours & then says "Knuckles". He laughs the entire time.
- if you sneeze or cough he will say "bless you". I pretend sneeze all the time just to hear him say it :-).
- can tell you that is name is "BroBy". It is so cute.
- can tell you that he is two.
- will say "Hi Grandma" anytime he picks up a phone, real or pretend.
- will say "love you Ma-MA, Da-Da!

Life at two has been fun so far. Not much has changed from age 1 to 2...except for his vocabulary. We are amazed at what he can say & express. Just today, he said Tinker Bell when he saw a commercial for the new TB movie. It was so cute. He has always been a mover & shaker & continues to keep us on our toes. We love him so much!

project 365-week in review style

So life is super crazy, busy right now. I also wish I had more time to blog right now. Too many school projects due, baseball games, birthday parties, preschool graduation, school parties, open house, etc... The list could seriously go on & on. I thought it would be fun to just highlight our week in pictures(actually one of my favorite ways to scrapbook our lives too). So here is our project 365...week in review style.

May 15, 2009 Father/Son Camp out. John took the three older boys camping overnight with friends from church. They had a blast & am I pretty sure between the 4 of them, they brought home all of the dirt from the campground.Brody stayed home with me! Next year John is gooing to take all four! Girls Night out anyone?























May 16, 2009 100 degree day. We set up Brody's fun pool that the Laprays gave him for his birthday. Garrett & Brody had so much fun splashing around in the cold water. They would get a running start from the neighbors driveway, run fast & splash right on into the pool.























May 17, 2009 I was a little behind in my Spring Cleaning. Finished the boys room a day late but it's done! Love the before & after shots. Before you all gasp & say to yourself "WOW, why does Raimi let their room get so bad"? LOL-I pick my battles & this is one of them my friends :-). There door stays shut so the younger boys don't mess up their room-HA! I think Tanner & Carter do a pretty good job messing it up, all on their own. What a huge improvement. Guess what? It is still clean. I will have to say that I found it quite amusing to see that their clothes were thrown all over the room. They can't hang their Sunday clothes back up after church to save their lives, but someone lovingly hung Garrett's swim trunks up in the closet. Tanner & Carter each have a shelf that we found @ Pottery Barn kids. These shelves are for their alarm clocks, books they are reading & a place to put a few special things. See photo # 3 to see what is special & placed on Tanner's shelf, right next to his beloved penguin-LOL!Life with boys!



























May 18, 2009 Carter was up @ 2 am & 5 am crying, saying that his ear hurt. I was able to get an appointment first thing in the morning for him. It is a good thing becasue he was in so much pain. Poor thing had a BAD ear infection. A little, medicine, a long nap, & some cartoons in the middle of the day did wonders for this boy.




















May 19, 2009 The boys were in heaven. Our friend Ken, came & picked the boys up for an afternoon of baseball at the ball fields. He has been working with Tanner & Carter on their swings & pitching. It sure has been fun for the boys to have a surrogate Grandpa around. Thanks Ken!




















I also hosted Bunko on Tuesday evening. Always a fun night with the girls. I won the Morty basket again. I kind of felt guilty because I won it last time. I have gotten over that guilt & am enjoying my summer themed items :-)!





















May 20, 2009 Garrett graduated from preschool this morning. He is officially ready to go to kindergarten...that is after we enjoy summer vacation.






























May 21, 2009 Garrett enjoyed a fun morning @ the park with all of the children from his preschool. We had doughnuts & juice. They laughed, played hard & had a great water fight towards the end. Garrett is sure going to miss all of his preschool pals & his fabulous teachers.


























Whew, what a week! It isn't even over yet -LOL!

birthday boy!

Our baby is two! Can you even believe that? Where has the time gone? I can hardly stand the thought of him not being a baby anymore! He is a full blown two year old...tantrums & all. Brody had a wonderful birthday! We started his day with a birthday doughnut. I know , I know...the breakfast of champions right?


He did a little of this (watching cartoons with Garrett).





















I love how they are snuggled up on the couch together. Then he had his favorite lunch...a toddler lunchable(turkey, cheese,crackers) & a banana.

Then he did a little birthday dance...


I was trying so hard not to laugh. He was cracking me up. So serious about his dance skills.

We usually let the kids pick where they want to eat on their special day. Instead of going to McDonald's for chicken nuggets -LOL, Carter helped Brody pick & we ended up @ Fresh Choice. Then we headed home to enjoy cake & presents.

I saw these cute Elmo cupcakes on Morgan's blog. I knew I had to make them! Thanks for the fun idea Morgan.




















We had a little fun with the google eyes off of the Elmo cupcakes.




















Of course the birthday boy needed to join in on the fun! I have always wanted a third eye...in the back of my head :-)!































He got to blow out his candle 4 times. As soon as John would light it, he would blow it out. Present Time:






















He totally caught on to the whole opening presents deal in no time. He knew to start @ the ends to get the tape off. He loved every single present. A big thank you to our friends & family who spoiled him rotten.

Whenever he would open a gift that had clothes in it, he would stop & put that new shirt on. I think by the time he was done opening presents, he had 4 new shirts on. I guess the layered look is back in,




































He loved all of the birthday phone calls.
When friends & family called to sing happy birthday to him, he would intently listen with a huge smile on his face. When they finished, he would say thank you & quickly run off. He wore and took his Diego watch & flash light to bed with him. Amber, your present was a hit. He was one happy boy today!























We are so thankful for his spunky little spirit that adds so much happiness to our home each & every day! Happy Birthday Brody boy. We love you!