I have giving sisters...

Hi friends,

So this time it's my little sister doing a giveaway, and you NEED to check it out! Our friend Tricia makes the most amazing headbands. I have a small collected started and LOVE them. I was worried at first that the metal headband would hurt the head, but NOPE they are a dream on the head! Go over to my sister's blog and check it out. This little beauty could be yours!

http://lovelaurabeth.blogspot.com/2011/04/giveaway.html

Kathy's Blog Giveaway....

Hey friends...

another great giveaway to tell you about. My sister is doing a giveaway on her blog for a fantastic baby product. Check it out and enter to win!!

http://jknelson.blogspot.com/2011/04/simply-on-board-baby-strap-giveaway.html

Becca is doing a giveaway...

So my friend Becca is doing a giveaway on her blog... this busy mom of almost three has still found time to give to those who check out her blog. I don't always get to comment on her blog but I always check it out. She's a total sweetie, and I hope to meet her in real life some day soon!! Check it out, say hello and enter this fun giveaway!

http://4redchairs.blogspot.com/2011/04/sarah-taylor-design-giveaway.html

Memories... thumbprint people

So I have been trying to de-clutter my craft room. My sweet husband likes to tell me often that I am a bit of a pack rat and that I hold onto everything. I don't agree with him, I keep things that are important to me and that have memory. Lately though I've been trying to figure out a way to hold onto the memory but reduce the amount of physical space that things take up. So that lead to the idea of photographing special memories to post on my blog. Then when I turn my blog into a book, they are all there. I was excited to start the process but it does take time, so I plan to do a little bit every week hopefully!

This artwork was made by my awesome nieces and nephew one night when they came for a visit I usually like to do some sort of hands on craft activity when they come over, even if it's just drawing or coloring, they seem to look forward to it. This particular week we decided to make thumbprint people, the kids had a blast and they turned out super cute. I would recommend clicking on the images so that you can see the detail some of the pictures have, the kids were quite creative. I love Georgia's little people, it's neat to see how kids start to draw people, with arms and legs coming right out of their heads, it's fantastically cute!

Jessica Age:9

Georgia Age:3

Sarah Age:8

Jacob Age:6

This especially made me smile, this was an example given in the craft book we got this idea from, and Sarah re-created it as me and her uncle Brandon, what a creative kid!

A little Australian LOVE...

Yesterday was an AWESOME day because I got mail from AUSTRALIA!!! For anyone who doesn't remember my past blogs about my friend Kerry, she recently moved down under to be with her boyfriend Stewart. We miss her terribly but are trying our best to all stay in touch with her. I love having someone to send mail to, and recently sent her a Valentines package... she sent this back, which made my day. I love getting real mail! It's exciting to open my little mail box and see a package or an envelope that's not expected. It totally brightens my day, and this did just that. I rushed upstairs to show Brandon and open it up. It came with a sweet note from both Kerry and Stewart, which I really appreciated. I knew I liked Stewart when I met him. It's a note that will be tucked away so that it can be re-read again. Inside my surprise were some fun Australian goods!! Two little Koala Bears for Brandon and I holding the Australian flag, a fantastic Australia pen which I plan to take with me to school, and then a re-usable Kangaroo shopping bag, which will be tucked in my purse as well. I was so pumped that I of course had to photograph them for the blog... check it out!

Kerry and Stewart, I don't know if you check my blog too often, but if you do I wanted to make sure that I sent a BIG THANK YOU your way. This was such an exciting surprise and it totally made my day, we are lucky to have friends like you, who think to send us something so fun and thoughtful. They will make us think of you daily (which we already do) even more! We cannot wait to see you guys again. Hope you are doing fantastic and having a blast finally living in the same place together!

Monday was also a great day for me as a teacher. I was teaching at one of my old practicum schools in a class that I do enjoy being with, although some of the boys were a bit too chatty for my liking... but anyway, that afternoon we were heading up to another school for a play on restorative justice which was super interesting. What I was even more excited about was that this school that we were going to is where my old practicum kids go to school now. They are in 8th grade and I was thrilled with the chance to see them again and I wasn't disappointed at all. There were quite a few that I only got to see from afar, they were so grown up looking now. There was another student who I just loved to was sitting diagonally from me, he spotted the kids I was with and then saw me and just had a big grin and started to wave... as a teacher those moments melt my heart. Further behind him I thought I'd spotted two other girls I had taught , I knew one was for sure, but wasn't sure about the other... well as we were leaving they ran over to me and gave me BIG hugs, it again made me smile so much. They both have grown up so much, but I was thankful that I was able to chat with them and get hugs. I loved that class so it was great to see them grown up and surviving junior high!

Then to top it all off Brandon took me out for dinner, we wore sweats and hit up our local Applebee's and it was great to not have to make dinner. We both left dinner feeling comfortably full with no complaints!

When you have days like this you just have to share those good moments. Thanks to all who helped make this a fantastic day for me... I really appreciate it, more then you probably will ever know!

Valentines Recap...

After seeing my mom and sister's blog books, I have been wanting to blog even more, it's such a great memory to have. What's been stopping me is exhaustion, but also the task of catching myself up on 2011, it's only April so there is not too much time to catch up, I just have to do it. So hopefully over the next few posts I will completely catch myself up!

February 2011

Valentines month has come and go, and it wasn't an overly eventful Valentines day for the Bing's, I worked an over night the day before and Brandon had worked all weekend, so we were pretty exhausted. We used the first day of school break and Valentines day to catch up on sleep and just relax. I believe our romantic dinner was some yummy McDonald's, which actually hit the spot! Brandon gave me a sweet card which is always the only requirement of a special day and we did have our time at White Point which was fantastic.

There were some other highlights of the Valentine's holiday this year. At the beginning of the month Julia came over and had a little lesson on card making as we made some Valentines for some friends of hers. She brought some YUMMY peanut butter cookies, and we just chatted and created. I don't think Julia and I have ever hung out one on one, so this was a really nice night to just catch up and chat about life. Thanks Julia for reaching out for some crafty fun!

Finley and Emmy with help from their mommy sent some love our way on Valentines Day with some cute festive pictures. I love our little babies sleeping next to the work LOVE, because we sure do love these little girls! But I also love them awake showing off their baby blues... don't these girls look beautiful in pink.

I also had some fun sending some love out this Valentines Day... I always like to do something for Kathy's kids when I have the chance, they are special little munchkins and I love them to bits. So as I made treats to take to school, I also made them these cute little Valentines... I think they enjoyed the surprise! I also ended up teaching on the last school day before Valentine's Day which was so exciting for me, so I brought them Valentines with candies and pink cupcakes which were a huge success. I felt a little bad, the student teacher had brought these healthy muffins for the kids, which I am sure were delicious, but they just didn't compare to my cupcakes. It's a special day you have to bring a special treat! After making cards with Julia, I was inspired to make my own owl themed Valentines for family and a few friends. I had to make quite a few of them, but I was pretty excited with how they turned out!

Brandon and I received some Valentines, and were so appreciative of everyone thinking about us. Brandon's parents always give us something special on holidays. For this day of love we got a FUN talking card and some yummy chocolates... delicious! I carried my owl theme onto Brandon's Valentines card which I was pleased with, I liked introducing the grey into the Valentines color scheme. I also gave him a cute board book that a friend at Chapters recommended to me, it's called "Love is You and Me" and it's adorable and I totally recommend to give to anyone you love!

The last Valentines memory to share are the special Valentines we got in the mail from my little sister. It was super exciting to get mail, and then when I read the Valentines it brought a smile to my face and lots of laughter. I want you all to look closely at this Valentine. It's Buzz Lightyear, and remember he's a space ranger... now scroll down and see what she wrote on it...

Isn't she just a sweet sister, no subtle hints here, she wants a new niece or nephew... well in this case she thinks a nephew. I do enjoy though that she was not suggesting that I'm already expecting, but that she is waiting for that to happen, because the baby is still out of this world... what a sister I have. hahha gotta love her craziness... and hopefully she'll get that new baby soon... but I am saying right here... I AM NOT PREGNANT... so don't see this and think oh goody. I wish I were but there is nothing yet to tell!

So that was our Valentines Day, a quiet relaxing day but still filled with lots of festive cheer!