An Update of Sorts....

I had decided to take the summer off from blogging because I need a little break. We have had a busy summer, but somehow I just haven't felt like writing about it!

Well now the summer is quickly coming to an end, and I've decided to go ahead and write. Not that anyone still reads my blog, but still. I don't want to give it up entirely!

We began the summer with Emma finishing up preschool. After that, we enjoyed a few quiet weeks of going to parks, water splash pads, and the zoo. At the end of June, we headed over to my Mom and Dad's neck of the woods for my brother Jonathan's wedding. It was a busy, but great weekend. It was the first time in quite a while that I'd been together with all of my siblings. The wedding was beautiful, and I was pretty happy with how the girls behaved throughout the ceremony and reception. Both girls had so much fun dancing, and Ella followed Laura (my new sister-in-law) around, wanting to dance with "the princess." It was so cute!

After the wedding, the festivities didn't stop. Laura's family held a brunch the next morning, where we enjoyed some more fellowship and watched them open gifts. After that, it was time to get ready for my sister, Julie's bridal shower. It was the only time she'd be in town before her wedding in September, so we held it the Monday following Jon's wedding. There is so much work that goes into throwing a shower, but it was so nice and definitely worth every effort! Todd had to return to work, but I stayed behind with the girls to have some extra time to visit with my sisters and a friend as well.

July was actually a fairly quiet month. I don't remember too much happening other than just trying to keep the girls busy! Todd started a new job, and we are just so thankful for it. Michigan's economy is not that great, but his new job is a wonderful step up for him. He's gotten his foot in the door, with a management position. It provides lots of overtime, which means we don't see him a lot, but the pay is so helpful.

And here we are in August, which has been a busy month so far. We took a much-needed trip down to Georgia to visit Todd's family. Todd's grandfather is turning 90 years old this month, and Todd's dad graciously flew us down for the party. We hadn't been down there in over 4 years, and we didn't realize how good it would be to finally see everyone again!

We flew into town on Friday night and enjoyed pizza with Todd's parents before heading over to see his grandparents. Todd's brother, our sister-in-law, and our nieces and nephews were there waiting to see us. I can't describe how wonderful it was to see all of them! My sister-in-law, Chanda, and I have spoken on the phone a few times a week for the past 4 years, but we haven't seen each other at all. And the cousins don't even remember the last time they were together! The kids hit it off right away. I was so thankful that my girls had this time to reconnect with family. The older I get, the more important family becomes to me.

Saturday morning, we had another exciting time. I tell you what, this weekend was non-stop excitement! My best friend Samantha just happens to live near Todd's parents, so we arranged to get together with them. I went to college with her husband Dave, so it is always good to see the whole family. We met at a diner for breakfast, then headed off to a park so the kids could run around while the adults talked. It was just too short of a time, but we made the most of it and treasured every second!Of course we had to take photos! Samantha and I have known each other for 14 years!! Man, have they gone by fast. We met at Teen Missions Boot Camp, when we were volunteering in the kitchen. We ended up both going to Moody, being roommates, and best friends. I'm so thankful that we have stayed in touch over the years.


We decided to pose for a family picture by the park. Such a beautiful setting!

Would you believe this is my in-law's backyard? The girls had so much fun walking on the paths and looking at Grandma's beautiful plants and flowers.

Yep, this is still her backyard! She loves her flowers and birds. She has so many neat bird-feeders, but everyone's favorite is the hummingbird feeder that hangs off of the deck. We saw quite a few birds over the weekend.

Saturday after our visit with my friends, we spent time relaxing with family until it was time for a surprise. We went with my brother and sister-in-law and their kids to go do something that I still can't even talk about! All I can say is, Todd's family will have to wait until Christmas to find out!

We spent Saturday night having a cookout with everyone at Todd's parents house. Then Sunday morning we took all the kids to the neighborhood pool before getting ready for Daddy George's birthday party. The party was very nice, with so many friends and family in attendance. Here is a nice family picture of us at the party!

Now we are back home and enjoying the last few lazy days of summer. Just a little over 2 weeks until Emma starts school and we begin our busy fall.

I'm not sure if my brain can handle it...

But this is the weekend that I get to escape! It really can't come soon enough. I love my family, I do. But sometimes Mom needs a break!
A few weeks ago, I got some money for Christmas from Todd's grandparents. The very 1st thing I thought of buying was a scrapbooking weekend. Now those of you who don't scrapbook will probably not understand the appeal of something like this. But let me tell you, it sounds like heaven!
I normally would not be able to afford a scrapbook retreat, as most of them run between $200-$300 for the weekend. But I received a $50 gift certificate towards a weekend at a local scrapbook store. Put that together with the fact that a local B&B was offering a $99 mini-weekend special, and voila! I'm able to go!
So here's how my weekend will go. Tomorrow morning a friend of mine is meeting me at my house around 9:30 am. We are going to hit a few area scrapbook stores before arriving at the scrapbook B&B. Check-in time is at 11am, and I assume that we'll just get settled into our room and get our supplies set up at our tables. Lunch is at 12:30. After that, it's uninterupted creativity for the rest of the day! There will only be 12 people in attendance, and we each get our own table and comfy chair. Drinks and snacks are provided all day and we also get dinner in the evening. The scrap room is open 24 hrs a day, so we can stay up as late as we want and sleep in in the morning. At least that's my plan! We have brunch on Sunday and then check-out is at noon.
I've taken the time to sketch out some of my layouts and put the sketches together with some paper, photos, and embellishments in 2-gallon plastic bags. Since we only have 24 hrs, I want to make the most of my time. Figuring out what to use would really slow me down, and this method helps me stay focused. My goal is to be caught up with my pictures through last summer (I'm currently on last spring). That way I will only have the fall and Christmas to scrapbook when I return.
Well, I've got a pot of White Chicken Chili on the stove and I'm ready to feed the family and get ready for tomorrow. I'll stop by and let you in on all the glorious details when I return!

Welcome to the party-This post is sticky and will remain on the top of my blog for days on end! Scroll down for new posts!

For those of you who are visiting from the party over at 5 Minutes for Mom, welcome to my blog! I am very excited to have you here and to get to know some more of you a little better!

My name is Melissa and I'm a SAHM of 2 girls, a 3.5 yr old and a 15-month old. I have been married to my DH for 5.5 yrs, and live in the blustery cold north! We haven't had much snow this year, but the cold and wind have been around far too long. I'm ready for spring!

Aside from being a SAHM, I am also an independant consultant with The Body Shop at Home. It's a lot of fun to offer pampering parties and I enjoy getting out of the house a bit. For more info on that, you can click here.

Let's see, what else can I tell you about myself. I graduated from Moody Bible Institute with a degree in Linguistics. I continue to be facinated by languages of all sorts. I studied French for a few years and even had to take a semester of spoken Japanese! Although I'm not really using my skills (other than deciphering baby chatter!) these days, I'm actively involved in the MOPS ministry at a local church.

Besides all of this, I still manage to find time to scrapbook and crochet, which are my main hobbies. Oh, and blogging, of course. I originally set up this blog to be able to post more of my scrapbook layouts, but that just hasn't happened. I find it a challenge to get them scanned, and taking pictures of them doesn't do them justice. So for now I mainly blog about my daily life and post pictures of the family/kiddos. I enjoy finding other blogs and meeting new friends that way!

Again, thanks for stopping by my blog. To visit other party guests, click here.