Our little guy is 2 years old

Hi friends. I'm breaking away from the scrappy shares to post some of my favorite pictures from my photo session with our little Mason. He turned two last Thursday and being that his mama is a photographer, it was just natural that he got his special photo shoot. I am actually beyond grateful that I have this skill and also that I did this on the morning of his birthday. His birthday gift was a trike and on Friday morning, he decided to ride it down a small flight of stairs and made some big damage with his face. (insert sad face here). Oh the joys of being a parent to a busy toddler!

Anyways, here are some of my faves....

 This boy loves to read so it was just natural to have some shots with his fave books.

 I love that he was excited in this shot. I'm not sure if it's pure excitement for his birthday or due to the fact that I was sugaring him up (giving him little jelly beans) throughout our session. If you have ever had a kid session with me, then you know that that's my secret weapon to connect with a child. ;)

I think I'll blow up this one. It's so him right now. That little happy smile with eyes sparkling as he discovers more about the world around him. I also love how in this photo, he was actually looking at me. That's a rarity these days.

So that's it from me today. Our little guy looks so grown up and my heart is aching a bit. How do you mamas take it all in and not let time pass you by? I feel like time is moving at a lightning speed with this guy.

Thanks for stopping by.

Till next time,
Grace

Family Update

Hello family and friends. I'm starting off  this week with a family update blog post. If you've come here for a "crafty" post, sorry there won't be any of that today. But I do hope you come back soon. 

I have noticed that in my scrapbook documentation, blogging had been an integral part of my journaling. As you might have noticed, I don't scrapbook in order and are a few years behind, so having the stories already journaled here has helped me when I am ready to scrapbook the story. 

That being said, there has been some stories meant preserving in my family. Here they are in no specific order...

At the end of April, Maddie's school choir culminated their Spring season with a performance at the Pikes Peak Center. Maddie participated in it last year and she had such a great experience that she wanted to do it again this year. It was a commitment on her part (and us too) as she had to wake up early two times a week to attend the practice and a couple more practice sessions just before the performance. On the day of the show, she was out of the house from 7:45 am - 9:15 pm. That was because of school, then practice right after and then the show at 7 pm. But it all paid off cause she did wonderful. Here are some pictures....

This festival is composed of many school choirs within the county. Hence that's why the picture above showcases many, many kids.

This little guy has been keeping us on our toes (as always) and he has improved in his speech this month. If you haven't heard it from me, he is going through speech therapy because he wasn't saying anything, not even mama, after turning a year old. We have been working with a therapist that comes to our home every month and gives us tools to help him communicate. As of the end of May, we counted that he can say, sign and/or sound about 43 words. That was a tremendous jump since we only started the therapy in January. Our goal is to get him to about 50-75 words by two years old, and that is in about two months. We have our work cut out for us but I am optimistic because of his achievements thus far.

In other news, Marcus participated in a big history fair at school. As part of their social studies class, they spent a lot of time researching and putting together a presentation, of their own choice, about something in history, Marcus decided to do his presentation on Samurai and Ninjas. Specifically asking the question who won win the battle between a Samurai and Ninja. Here he is with his presentation board and his made up sword and Ninja stars. 

In the month of May, Mitch finally got glasses. He has been using some reading glasses for years but the computer time at work made the need for glasses even stronger.

Also in May, I attended the scrapbook expo in Denver. It's a fun event for shopping, learning and just getting together with other crafty minded people. If you are a crafter and want to know my thoughts on the expo plus see what I purchased, you can view that in my YouTube channel and the link is on the right side of this blog.

Another thing we celebrated in the month of May was our wedding anniversary. We didn't get to do anything on our official day (the 18th) because it was in the middle of the work week but we did get to go out the week after. Mitch heard about this yummy Mexican place in Downtown and we had lunch there. It was yummy. Happy 14th anniversary to us. 

On that same date, Mitch and I took a little detour to our local Habitat for Humanity ReStore shop and scored a great deal on this dining room set. We've had a mismatched set since being married and it only took us 14 years to upgrade. This set which has a leaf and six chairs only set us back $100. Yeah can't beat that! Oh and the wood is high quality and made in Canada. Score!

Maddie participated at her school's talent show. She sang alongside her bestie Keira. It was fun seeing her enjoy singing and having more courage to go up in front of people. We are definitely proud of her. 

One last story to tell....
So our dear Marcus has been on an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) in school for three years now. It was due to his ADHD and High Functioning Autism diagnosis. It has helped him with his social skills and has given him accommodations to allow for the specific way he learns things.
Anyways at the end of the school year we had our annual IEP evaluation meeting. The good news is that he has made such great strides this past year that he no longer qualifies for the IEP. Basically it is deemed that he can get the necessary education that he needs through the regular school program without the IEP in place. This was a good news to him because he didn't like to be taken out of his exploratory classes to go to social group meetings. This would also mean that he can take a language class next year (which would be Spanish)
If you ask me, I'm not sure what to feel about the change. We've worked so hard to make sure that there are things in place for him in school so he can be the best he can be. I believe that one of the main reasons that he's done so well these past three years is because of the IEP in place. That being said, I do acknowledge that this kid has done some major maturing as well and he has taken on the responsibility of learning (the way he knows how) and we've seen that in his grades. I also want him to learn to succeed on his own without any extra help as the "help" won't always be there in his life.
So I am cautiously optimistic that we are on the right track for him. 8th grade would be a transition year for him and I'm prayerful that he will continue on his success and not regress.

Speaking of success, this kid got a silver medal (again) this year for grades. He got it from making major improvements on his grade from past quarters and having a GPA over 3.5. We are definitely proud of our Marcus.

So that's it. Thank you for stopping by and catching up on our lives.

Till next time,
Grace

Sand Dunes *Family Adventure*

Hello friends. I'm going to break up all of the crafty posts with a recap of a recent camping trip that my family and I took over Memorial Day weekend. It was a bit last minute but with a three day weekend plus having a free pass to national parks this year because of our fourth grader, we couldn't pass it up.

We started our adventure on Saturday morning. We got a little bit delayed because we got caught in a long traffic through a certain part of the canyon right after passing Canyon City. Apparently there was a head on collision in one of the bends between two vehicles and a FedEx truck. We were in a stand still for about 45 minutes. Luckily the wait didn't seem too long, we had a good amount of Starburst in the car to keep everyone happy and the view was beautiful all around.

After the accident was cleared, we got back on the road and headed to our camp site. The weekend before, Marcus' scout troop went on a camping trip to Sand Dunes and Mitch found out that the guys camped at a free site an hour away from the dunes. We tried it and found our camping spot just in a nick of time. It was somewhat packed with fellow weekend campers/trailer users. The area where we camped is also used for ATVs so we had some of that noise going around. We didn't care much though as it wasn't too obnoxious.

After setting up the tent, eating our lunch and securing other camping items, we took the truck and did some 4x4 driving through the trails. Exploring in the truck is definitely an easier way than hiking. :)

After our exploration we went back to camp, started the fire and placed our foil dinner on top of the campfire. We had high hopes for the dinner but it took forever and we almost lost some hamburger meat in the fire because we were trying to flip it on the grill. The family made a decision that foil dinners won't be part of our camping menu next time.

After dinner, we roasted some marshmallow and had some smores. This one is a staple of our camping trips and everyone looks forward to it.

This was the first time that our little guy had smores and you can tell with his smile above that this is going to be a part of his fave camping traditions too.

The two older kids decided to explore a bit near our campsite. Our site was near a very steep part of the hill and they decided to climb that up. Well on the way back down, Maddie tripped on some rocks and did some tumbling all the way to a big bush. She ended up getting some gashes on her face, wrists and hip. Definitely her least favorite part of the trip.

It was a cold night but we endured it. The following morning, Mitch and I got up early and started our breakfast. After eating, we got on the road and headed south to the Sand Dunes National Park. I heard from a friend that it was best to get their early so that you can have a good parking spot. We ended up not getting a spot in the parking lot but we managed to get a spot in the nearby picnic area.

Our plan was to hike the dunes first, play in the water a bit, have lunch and then explore the rest of the park.

Not soon after we started our hike did we realize that there were a lot of people in this area too. I guess that's what you get when you visit this park during a holiday weekend. We all hiked up to the second tallest peak and then we let the boys go on the highest peak.

The photo above shows Marcus on the top peak. It's amazing for me to know that these giant hills of sand are surrounded by mountains. See the peak of that mountain behind Marcus? It is still snow capped!

And here's another view from the top. Mitch took the pictures.

When they got back to where the rest of us were, we took some quick photos and then headed back down to the water.

One fun part of the hike is having to go through the water. There was no other way to go around, so we had to take our shoes off. The water was actually very refreshing after doing the climb up the dunes.

The weather in the morning was beautiful. There was some wind, but not so bad that it ruined our time. But we were all getting hungry from the hike so we went back to our car and had lunch.

When we got back to the water, the wind started to pick up again and we could see the dark clouds looming over us.

The kids enjoyed the water, mostly to play in the mud and Mason was so enthralled with everything that he didn't even mind shaking because of the cold wind and water.

After a few big blows of the wind, we decided to pack up and soon after we left, the rain came. It took us a long time just to get out of the parking lot because of the amount of people trying to leave as well. It was so bad that we decided to just leave the park all together. We didn't even get to go see the falls on the other side of the park.

When we got back to our campsite, we had dinner, played some card games, had some more smores and then went to bed.

The following day, we got up, had breakfast, got warmed up with another campfire and then started getting everything packed up.

One thing that we did have to deal with was ticks. It was no fun for everyone. We were vigilant enough that it didn't stick to anyone but Mason. Thankfully we got it before it did any major damage. This was definitely one of the "low" parts of our trip.

Other than that, we had fun! We just wished we had more time (and less crowd) at the Sand Dunes. But since it's not that far from us (about three hour drive) then we will try to get back there sometime soon.

If you've read all the way through, thanks for being here.

I hope to do a family update post sometime soon too. There's been lots of stories to tell and not enough time to document them.

Till next time,
Grace

Halloween fun 2015

Hi there friends. I'm taking a bit of a break from the crafty posts to share with my family some of our Halloween fun this year. 

As part of our tradition, we carved our pumpkins on Monday for Family Home Evening. We got three (one for each kid) and since Mason can't really do his, dad stepped in to help. 

Here's Marcus' wide mouthed creation.

And the results....from left to right...Mason and Dad's, Marcus, and Madelyn. Maddie was trying to create one with a winked eye but she ended up making the eyes to close together. In her attempt to make them even, she had accidentally made the eyes have a bit more of a "shocked" look than a wink.

Mason woke up from his evening nap just in time to get in him the photos....

Our Jack-o-lanterns all lit up....

The day before Halloween was our ward's Fall festival and trunk or treat activity. I decided to take a picture of the costumes before we headed to the party. I like dressing up and wearing costumes but I don't like the idea of paying $30 or more for an outfit that my kids are only going to wear once. So it's been kind of a tradition for us, during this time, to go through our clothes and then to the thrift store for some creative ways to dress up for Halloween.

Mason was a minion this year because he already had denim suspenders in his drawer. We just got the yellow top and beanie at Arc. I made him the "googles" and cut out the Gru sign from vinyl. Oh and my favorite part of this costume was that it was warm enough for him to go trick or treating in. Double points for that. :)

Mitch and I got into the spirit too by dressing up as Agent Lucy Wilde and Gru from Despicable Me. Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of all three of us because Mitch was still at work when we left for the party.

 I got my dress from Arc and then I had some polka dot fabric from my stash that I sewn into a scarf.

Maddie wanted to be one of her favorite Ever After High doll character but after trying to find clothes to match at the thrift store, we were getting no where. Finally she thought of being a "goddess" instead. Luckily we found this white dress which I think is some kind of a night gown. I trimmed the bottom a little to fit her and then we added my white scarf with sequins. I think her favorite part was being able to wear liquid eye liner.

On Halloween night we had some "mummy" hot dogs for dinner and then we went trick or treating with our dear friends, the Smiths. Mason didn't take his afternoon nap so he didn't last for very long. Him and I went home early while the kids and Mitch walked for about 1 1/2 hour more.

I gave out some candy while Mason slept but I had a feeling that all the ringing of the doorbell and knocking on the door would wake him up. Sure enough, after about an hour, he woke up. :(

At least he got to see the kids dump their loot on the floor. He kept on trying to snatch their candy so we dumped his candy on the floor too, only for him to throw it everywhere.

Sorry for the long post. There are just some memories about this year's festivities that I don't want to forget.

Thanks for stopping by.

Till next time,
Grace