Project 365: Weeks 21 & 22

Fall Project #1

Every fall I get the urge to craft up a storm. This is my first project of the year and I love how it turned out!! It's hard to capture the sparkeliness of it with a picture but everything is VERY glittery. My only regret is that I did not use black glitter on the cat and witch instead of the clear. It is also quite a bit larger than you would expect. The tallest letter is 15 inches tall. It's going to look spectacular displayed this October! {Ahem, despite having a great camera, good natural light and some basic photoshop skills, this pic still looks like crap. I cannot get to my photography workshop in a couple weeks soon enough. Colors are wonky and the entire thing looks TONS better in real life}

Speaking of fall, I have a new favorite scent. It is called Leaves and is from Bath & Body Works. It smells out of this world. I have been burning the scented oil for a couple weeks now and cannot get enough. Check it out!

First Day(s) of School

The school year has commenced! Carter's first day was last Thursday. He was very excited to start school again and seems to be adjusting very well. Our original plan was to send him on the bus but after talking to several moms in the area, I decided just to drive him every day. It works out fine because I have to be in the car to take Makenna to preschool anyway.

Carter's first day:





After school we had a little visit from the Back to School Fairy, which they loved, of course:




And our traditional caramel apples after school snack:




After the first day, I asked Carter how he liked school. He said, "I love it mom! First grade is the BEST! I can't wait to go back." I guess that means he likes it

Today was Makenna's first day of Preschool. She has been very excited to start. I have her at a religious based preschool and have heard really good things about it. I've been very impressed with them so far. She hardly batted an eye when I said goodbye to her, even though half of the kids were crying.







Next week we start all of our extra curricular activities. The summer has been fun and relaxing but I am really excited about the fall and for more of a schedule!

Back in the saddle: 365 weeks 19 & 20

I'm so so so far behind on my Project 365 layouts. Luckily, I have been taking my pictures every day but I am going to have to work hard to get them all scrapped. My goal is to do three weeks per week for the next month and get caught up.

Week 19:

Week 20:

I am also very behind on my blogging. I haven't even finished up our Denver trip, let alone our week in California. Sheesh. School starts in 1 week and until then, I fear I won't be playing catch up at all! Anyway, layouts are clickable and thanks for looking!

In Numbers (winners included)

0 - number of chemo treatments my mom has left! Woohoo! Today was her last treatment. Huge congrats to my mom. She has endured hair loss, extreme water retention in her feet and ankles and subsequent pain, loss of appetite, insomnia, fatigue and several other side effects. She has been a trooper and come through with very little complaint. We are so proud of how well she's handled it. Love you mama!

1 - dead chest freezer. It's nearly brand new so I'm guessing it's a casualty of our move. Ugh. Luckily the moving company will replace it but it's such a pain.

2- Blocks of Stilton cheese with apricots I've eaten this week. Oh.My.Yum. Grab some next time you're at Trader Joe's. It is soooooo good.

3- Winners!!

Jenni - gift certificate to Etsy
Alison - GC to Hobby Lobby (so glad someone won who lives near one!)
Marie - GC to Target (of course)

(Alison please email me your address, Jenni please send me an email from the acct. where you want your GC sent -theirs are electronic. Email me at qballf (at) gmail (dot)come)

Everyone else, thanks so much for playing along and for making blogging fun for me. Great to see some new commenters as well!

4 - Number of immediate family members who contracted the stomach flu on our family vacation. And almost every single member of Al's extended family got it too. It was still SO much fun. Pics to come!

5- Pounds I've gained since I left AZ. 2 weeks in a hotel eating out every meal plus 4 weeks of vacation = bad. I'm ready to hit it hard again and the only reason I'm excited for school to start is to get into some kind of gym routine.

6- Pairs of shoes I purchased today for the kids. Everyone needed shoes badly to get ready for school so I did it in one fell swoop today. Whew.

7 - Harry Potter book I'm rereading for the (blushing) 4th time. I had to read book 6 again after I saw the movie and of course I have to read 7 again as well.

16 - days until school starts (boo!!) where did this summer go?

326 - number of unread emails in Allen's work inbox. (not even remotely jealous)