Day 60 of 365

Grant is hard at work doing homework. It's still pretty easy this year!!!

Day 59 of 365

Since I started my diet on January 3rd, I have lost 18lbs. I can now fit into my size 14 jeans!!!

Day 58 of 365

This is Grant's birthday week. He will be turning 9 on Saturday. I snapped this quick pic of him sleeping. He is so peaceful looking!

Day 57 of 365

Today was the Cub Scouts Blue and Gold banquet.

Day 56 of 365

I have had this plant since my moms funeral 2 years ago. I have named it "Lazarus" because I forgot to water it and it dies -- but then it comes back to life again after I give it some water and sunlight. I don't have a green thumb at all. I'm pretty sure that Lazarus is close to death again!

Day 55 of 365

I started a new online class today -- "Picture Inspiration" from Big Pictures. I love the prompts that the instructor gives us, today's was "This is all about You." I needed to take a self-pic and this is what I came up with. Grant took this picture -- he is becoming quite the photographer!

Day 54 of 365

It rained today. It was nice to see this instead of snow -- which will be here again on Friday!

Day 53 of 365

I got today's potd prompt from Becky Higgins --take a picture of your street sign.

Day 52 of 365

Happy 47th Birthday Craig!!!!

We celebrated yesterday after church by eating at the local Chinese buffet. The boys and I got Craig a new Steelers clock and two shirts. It was as much as a surprise to the boys as it was to Craig. If Connor knows what the gift is, he always tells the birthday person. He doesn't like surprises too much!

Day 51 of 365

I'm still recovering from the fun weekend of scrapbooking! We got this cute little Cricut plush as a gift yesterday.

Day 50 of 365

I made my own t-shirt today. I loved the Yudo machine, but I don't think it's something that I need to have! LOL

Day 49 of 365

Here are my friends: Debbie, Lisa and Debbie.


I took a quick trip over to Indy for a scrapbooking getaway. We went to Archivers and I stocked up on Disney papers!!!!

Day 48 of 365

65 degrees outside and the snow from the "Blizzard of 2011" almost gone?!?!?!!??! It's time to jump of joy!!!! Woo-hoo!!!

Day 47 of 365

Spring has to get here soon! The boys are climbing the walls from being inside to much!

Day 46 of 365

Just adding to my addiction of collecting vintage cameras. This is a 1950 Rolleiflex -- still works and has film in it!

Day 45 of 365

Happy Valentine's Day!!! We celebrated as a family and stayed in. Craig fixed steaks out on the grill (after he shoveled the snow away from it!) and they were so good!

Day 44 of 365

Grant and Connor sat down today after church and signed their Valentines Cards. I always loved doing these! Both boys are going through the stage where they think girls are weird (that will change!!!!) and decided to give them all the "ugly" cards. LOL!!!

Day 43 of 365

My soon-to-be 9 year old son, Grant. When I was his age, I didn't know that a computer was!!!

Day 42 of 365

I've been reading a lot lately about vintage cameras. Film is making a come back and you can find some amazing cameras on ebay for dirt cheap. This is a Kodak Pleaser II camera -- an exact replica that I had in 1985. I took my camera to Washington DC and took tons of pics with it. Unfortunately, Polaroid sued Kodak because they were the first ones to make an instant picture. Kodak lost and had to destroy all of their inventory. This camera still has film in it. I just need to get a battery to see if it still works. If it doesn't, that's ok! It was $3.00 on it brings back a ton of memories for me!

Day 41 of 365

The I-74 bridge. I cross this atleast 4 times a day (sometimes more!) taking the boys to and from school.

Day 40 of 365

I got this idea from a friend -- thanks Aprile!!!! Here is the Spirt of Peoria on a 9 degree day.

Day 39 of 365

It's "Biggest Loser" night!!!!

Day 38 of 365

Oh happy day!!!! The Verizon iPhone came today!!!!! I had to give up my iPhone when we switched carriers two years ago and had to use a Blackberry.

Day 37 of 365

Superbowl Sunday!

Day 36 of 365

One of the advantages of being in central IL is that everything is Lincoln. Today we toured Lincoln's Tomb. This bust of Abe is out front and everyone rubs his nose.

Day 35 of 365

Yes, more pictures of the snow! Connor was outside shoveling and got tired and sat down. Now he knows I feel!

Day 34 of 365

After 3 days of no school, we were getting antsy and needed to get it. We went to the Chinese buffet and to Walmart. The boys got a new Lego set to play with. They were so good the whole time Craig was gone and during the storm!

Day 33 of 365

The snow has finally stopped and we got about 15 inches. I'm thankful for the neighbors who had a snow blower and plowed us out! Craig was out of state, so it was just me and the boys!

Day 32 of 365

The "Blizzard of 2011" has arrived. This picture was taken around 5:00 pm.

Day 31 of 365

I've been on my diet for 4 weeks. Today was weigh in day -- I lost 10 pounds since Jan. 3!

Day 30 of 365

Went to the grocery store today and stocked our frig full of food! Bring on the storm!

Day 29 of 365

Somebody posted this image on their facebook page today. We are in for a HUGE storm!!!

Day 28 of 365

Bailey has been carrying this tennis ball around everywhere! He drops it on the stairs and then he runs down to get it. He likes to play catch with himself. LOL

Day 27 of 365

We had a little warming today -- it was 33 degrees!!! The icicles were hanging from the gutters today.

Day 26 of 365

I didn't realize until last night who much I depended on Bastian to sleep. He's snoring, which my husband found annoying, was my noise to put me to sleep! Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep at all last night. The side of my bed is empty!

Day 25 of 365

Today was the day. The vet came to our house and Bastian went very peacefully in my arms.

Day 24 of 365

I took picture of the boys with Bastian tonight. I finally got Bassie to look at the camera, too! Thanks, buddy!!!

Day 23 of 365

Steeler football!!!! My husband is a HUGE fan!!!

Day 22 of 365

Today was pinewood derby day. The boys won their first race, but failed to get in the finals -- thus the sad look on Connor's face.

Day 21 of 365

This is my oldest -- Bastian -- and I have had him since he was 8 weeks old. He is now almost 15 years old. Yesterday I made the difficult decision to put him to sleep. Our wonderful vet will be coming to our house on Tuesday. I tried to get some really good pictures of him today, but he never looked at the camera. Everytime I put the camera up to my face, he looked down! He hates to have his picture taken! Tuesday is also the two year anniversary of my mom passing away. It's comforting to know that they will be together on Tuesday. I'm sure mom will be taking Bastian for very long walks!

Day 20 of 365

Over the weekend, I was cleaning out my scrapbooking room and found this project that I started FIVE years ago!!!! The background and Mickey was done, but nothing else. I made it my mission to finish it this week. Mission accomplished today!!!!

Day 19 of 365

The boys were able to finish up their pinewood derby cars tonight. Craig let the boys paint their cars whatever color they wanted -- they had fun doing it!

Day 18 of 365

Ever since we got the new van, the boys insist on watching movies all the time. They get to relax and I get some quiet time! No more fighting in the van!

Day 17 of 365

The boys didn't have school today and my husband took the day off, so we had a wonderful relaxing day. The boys worked on their pinewood derby cars. Grant didn't like the noise, so he put these on.

Day 16 of 365

On Sundays, I only cook one big meal after we get home from church. It's usually popcorn for dinner and the boys are pros at making it. Here is Grant cooking his Sunday evening meal -- please note, we have a "popcorn" button on the microwave (so all they have to do it press the button) and we are always there to supervise!!! :-)

Day 15 of 365

The little tree outside is starting to have some buds on it. With is very weird considering we are covered with snow and it's below freezing out!

Day 14 of 365

The boys got their report cards today. We are so very proud of them!!! All A's!!!

I took a picture of them with their report cards, but since their names and the name of the school is very visible on it -- I cropped it down so I have something to post.