I am a Soccer Mom

Can I just take a moment and share this video of my Soccer Stud from his middle school soccer game last night? He is hard to miss...he is the goal keeper and the one dressed in bright orange!  Even just watching the video leaves me with my heart in my throat...especially the last play that you see where he is sliding in the middle of all these players coming right at him...it might be a little hard to see in the video but he indeed comes away with the ball.

I am so incredibly proud of him. He makes some truly amazing plays and I find myself in awe of the fact that he is mine. He works so hard to get better with each game and his goal is to play soccer in college. I feel so blessed to be the mother of this amazing kid.


**NOTE:  You will most likely have to click on the video twice...the second time so that you can view it through YouTube.

Thanks for letting me share.

A little more Valentine Love

Just thought I would share a little more of our Valentine decor.  Since we celebrate all month long with our Valentine Mailboxes I figure that means it is okay to show a few more pics...

This is our formal dining area.  I love the little conversation heart pillows -- picked those up from Target last year.  Bought every single color they had!

I love these candles...picked them up at an after Christmas sale at Joann's one year but I think the candy canes look a bit like hearts so I pull them back out for February and the plant is one that I picked up for Christmas and by some sheer miracle it is still alive, so I stuck a couple of hearts on sticks in it and now it is all set for the month of love...

Added a few more printables from around Blogland and more hearts on a stick ;)

Since we don't have a mantle I try to pretend that our family room entertainement center is like a mantle so it periodicaly gets changed out for the holidays...or whenever the spirit moves me.

More Christmas candles repurposed for Valentine's Day...

And then finally is my big mirror turned chalkboard.  The quote reads "Love doesn't make the world go round. Love makes the ride worthwhile"

Had to put out the Winnie the Pooh Hunk Hubby gave me years ago for Valentine's Day -- I think he actually gave me that before we were even married so he is at least 14 years old...still looking cute as ever!

Valentine's Day isn't over...

Valentine's Day isn't over...at least not in our house.  SO, I am using that as my justification for just now getting around to sharing my Valentines decor.  I have been struggling to find my creative mojo and in all honesty, I was just going to skip putting out any decor at all this year but the Hunky Hubby convinced me otherwise.

I never really used to be a fan of Valentine's Day but when my kiddos were younger I wanted to try and make it special for them.  So a few years ago we decided that rather than just celebrating our love for each other and our little family on February 14th, we would make it a month long event.  I put out mailboxes for each of us along with a box of valentine cards and the rule is that everyone has to put a "love note" in each box at least once a week...this has been especially nice as the kids have gotten older and we will periodically hear that someone wishes the other hadn't been born ;)  For now our mailboxes are simple white photo boxes and I made flags for each one.  The banner is a free printable I came across (need to find the link to share).

I have already been gifted 2 chocolate bars, an I {heart} Mickey t-shirt, and lots of sweet notes.  My little Diva made me a book filled with reasons why she loves me -- not gonna lie, brought tears to my eyes.  My favorite valentine this year so far though was the one I saw Little Diva put in her brother's mailbox..."Even though you are mean and annoying sometimes, you are still the best brother in the world"  LMAO!  Awesome!

I do have some wooden mailboxes along with pretty scrapbook paper to decorate them...I just haven't gotten around to actually doing it yet.  Did I mention I have had said wooden mailboxes for 2 years now?  However the pretty scrapbook paper is something I just picked up a couple of weeks ago ;)

Something else I whipped up for our month of love was a little specimen art...

I found a package of felt heart stickers at Joann's and then matted some scrapbook paper...easy peasy!  The blocks I picked up from Target last year and the little subway heart is one of the many found in Blogland.  Of course I had to add a little touch of Disney too.

Will share some more of our decor tomorrow...picked up some magnetic paint today in order to make a few gifts for my Little Diva's friend.  Will share those soon too...hopefully it all turns out as good in real life as it all looks in my head! ;)

Hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day. xoxo

a NEW {attitude}

So, I have been trying to write this post for about a week.  I start, then I stop...start, then stop.  I had this whole long post and when I went back to read it, it was more like a pity party.  UGH.  Suffice it to say, things have been really tough since just after Thanksgiving...I have been struggling with just trying to be thankful for my blessings, despite feeling like everything is falling down around me.  I am going to spare you all the sob story because when it comes down to it, I know there are others who are struggling even more than I am right now.

I wasn't going to bother with a WORD for 2012 but then one day, after crying to my BFF for a bit and then cruising Pinterest, my word just kind of found me and so my word for 2012 is {ATTITUDE}  And to help myself remember to focus on being positive I printed a couple of items I had pinned, framed them and put them on my bathroom counter to remind me every morning and every night...

I think my favorite is that stubborn looking little girl (art by Mary Engelbriet)...pretty sure if I asked my mom she would say that is exactly what I looked like growing up! ;)

I did manage to do a few Christmas projects...one being an EPIC fail and the others, well I somehow managed to lose all my "before" pictures and so I just never got around to posting anything.  Lame, I know.  Seems kind of late to post any Christmas stuff now though, don't ya think?

2012 is going hold a lot of changes for my family with my little sister having her first baby and my little brother getting married, plus my little family of 4 will be downsizing this summer.  I expect there will be lots of opportunity for being creative which will hopefully help me keep my sanity throughout all of it.

One of my creative projects this year is to participate in the 52 Photos challenge.  I confess, I started it last year but ended up only stickiing with it for a few weeks.  I am determined to complete the challenge this year though.  The first week's theme was NEW and so my picture is of my determination to have a NEW {attitude}.

Anyone else playing along with the 52 Photos...or do you have a WORD for 2012?  Would love see your pics or hear what YOUR word might be.