sarahg

Being a Mama | A mini-album

I am a scrapbooker. I love to make mini albums. I haven't done as many recently...but I did do this one a while back and wanted to share it with you. I made it for by best, D. She and I met about 5 years ago and have remained extremely close despite the fact she now lives in NY.  We manage to skype scrap often and that helps. The last time I saw her was April of 2010. She was a mama of a then 3 year old and an 18 month old. I wanted to make her something I knew she would like. I wanted to make her something that her kids would like to look at for years to come. And I wanted to make it about her FOR her. So...I decided to make an album about what it's like being a mom for her. So here's the album in a nutshell. Enjoy!

Products Used: Album: Prima, Paper: K & CO, Embellishments: Prima

Weekend Photobooth {Joyce Meyer Conference}

left to right: an antique/unusual toy store we visited on the way to st. louis * first glimpse of the arch * so glad i wore these shoes * a view from our hotel room * laura & i * the arena * visiting the arch * 630 up...yes i did it * the arch * old spaghetti factory for dinner * chandelier in the lobby * joyce meyer signs all over downtown *

Our Summer Catchup | July 4th

 July 4th for us was a 2 day extravaganza! It began with a concert and a firework show on July 3rd. It was Sophia's first time seeing fireworks...thankfully she didn't scream or cry but she did ask to hold our hands. She called them BOOMS. The next day we went to a parade in the little town of Wilmore with some awesome friends and ended the night in Versailles with a picnic dinner, music, and another show. It was such a blast! (hehe)

Our Summer Catch Up | The Beach part II

Here's part II of our beach vacation. I'm a photo-hog. I admit it. However, you get to enjoy all my pictures too! Happy Friday to you!

 

Well folks, that's about it...our Ocean Isle beach vacation in a nutshell. Here's to next year!

 

Our Summer Catch Up | The Beach

 

 It almost didn't happen (read here if you want to know more), this one week vacation to the sunny beaches of Ocean Isle. But it did. We traveled down with some awesome friends (like family). Imagine eighteen of us, one house, 4 bathrooms, a pool...and yes ocean front view. We had an absolute blast and made some awesome memories. We all needed a little bit of...

We all wish the beach wasn't just a "once a year thing". And yet, because it is what it is, I look on the bright side. Because there's something really magical about visiting a place just once a year. It becomes a most wonderful measure of time, family and growth.

Remember when Sophia touched the ocean for the first time? Remember when you wanted to jump off the balcony into the pool? Remember night walks on the beach? Remember the yummy coffee drinks made to order? Remember the Purple Onion? The pool? Crabbing? The Brentwood? Nerts? (yup).

We remember. I hope this is a family tradition that continues every summer.

We come home refreshed and rejuvinated from breathing the fresh air of salty beaches, sunshine and togetherness. Family and tradition. And we all look forward to the next time. Whenever that may be.

And yes, the last picture is all of our kids. Stay tuned for part II of the beach tomorrow.

Adios...I'm off to St. Louis!

It's 11:03pm and I am just now sitting down to blog. I'm exhausted ... but I am excited! Tomorrow I will be leaving in the morning to attend Joyce Meyer's three day conference in St. Louis, MO. I will be traveling with my dear friend Laura, her mom and sister.

I am expecting it to be great.

I am expecting it to be life-changing.

I am expecting to miss Sophia like crazy (it will be the first time we have been apart this long).

I am expecting to come home renewed and refreshed.

I am expecting to have a new perspective on everyday life.

It will be great! If you want to know more, click on the love life pic below. I've set up some posts for you for the next 3 days...enjoy! Hope you have a wonderful weekend.

 

Weekend Photobooth {Memorial Day}

{photos processed by this app}

 left to right: soph playing with her new water table * first stop friday night kroger for some last minute stuff for fajitas * jumping on the tramp for the first time with lucia * street art downtown lexington * went downtown lexington with the halbrook fam to eat dinner and walk around * bike exhibition downtown * i think this was the 33rd pair of sunglasses i tried on * anth putting together soph's kitchen * enjoying a drumstick * baking cookies * memorial day at the durhams...soph was checking out the water balloons * water balloon toss

Stick a fork in us: we are done. {a whirlwind Easter weekend}

Where do I begin. First...neglect. Yes, I have neglected this blog. Anth asked me last week when I was going to blog again and at first I just rolled my eyes. He didn't notice that the laundry was done or Sophia's hair smelled of lavender baby wash or even that the kitchen was mopped...he noticed that I hadn't been blogging. (thank you anth, sweet husband of mine!) so, without further delay....the laundry will have to wait till tomorrow and the kitchen too...cause I am writing to you about our Easter weekend! (come on you know you want to read and COMMENT)

Saturday morning dawns and it is rainy. (bleck!) Our church had a hunt planned...with 5,000 eggs, but sadly it was cancelled. So we went to plan B. A plan that was spur-of-the-moment-lets-have-some-easter-fun plan...decorating cookies! We invited some people over from our small group and got to work decorating.

I must say that the little girls (mine included) had more fun putting their fingers in the icing and licking it than decorating the cookies. What do you expect...right?! That was a short-lived memory making moment for me. I wasn't going to have Sophia saliva all over the lovely cookies.

The mom's finished the decorating...and what was starting off to be a gloomy Saturday morning turned out to be a blast of yumminess. That afternoon we napped because in the evening, an egg cracking tournament of gargantuan proportions would be taking place. Six o'clock comes and we head to our tournament. The moment we see the dining room table...we realize these people are serious. (hehe!)

Yes, your eyes don't deceive you. Not only did we have to register our egg but we had to decorate and give it a name. Some of the names included in our tourney was Eggbert, Toby, Huevo Ranchero, Pinkie, BOOM, and Flower power. We picked numbers to determine who we would be facing and there was a bracket filled out to determine the winner.

The rules were simple: point to point, round to round, and then un-cracked side to un-cracked side. If your egg was cracked twice you were out. The winner received a most awesome trophy that had it's own spot on the mantle: a 2011 Reese's Peanut Butter Egg. Sophia was my opponent...and her egg cracked mine twice. The egg known as BOOM...really didn't hold up at all.

The Annual Egg Cracking Tournament was so much fun. And next year BOOM (version2) will dominate! Oh yeah, and I am sure your wondering who won?  The egg known as Pinkie and it's owner: Elise! That night, after Anth and I put Sophia to bed we put her Easter Basket together. Emotions were running high for me that night and I cried. I remembered back to all the Easters I had growing up when my mom and dad would do this very thing and here I was doing it for my own daughter.

That night we decided to put Sophia's basket on the dresser so we could hear her reaction when she saw the basket for the first time. She surely did not disappoint. The first thing we heard was WOW...ohhh...wow. Then we heard her get up and she starts saying..duck, duck, mama, duck. It was so cool just to listen to her excitement...and yes, of course she experienced the ohhy-gooey deliciousness of her first Cadbury Egg.

After church, the traditional Easter lunch of ham and cheesy potatoes was consumed with my family. Then resting and naps for everyone.

We had a wonderful weekend.

Stick a fork in us. We are done.

Hope you guys had a wonderful and blessed Easter as well.

 

 

pumpkin carving tradition

last weekend was our annual pumpkin carving get together. it began 5 years ago, in 2006 by our friends the Rush's. The Rush family moved the following year and we continued to do it without them.  So, each year we gather at the Halbrooks for Chili and pumpkin carving. It's neat to go back and look at our families and our pumpkins.  Our families have gotten larger and for some of us our pumpkin designs have gotten fancier. It's always fun to hang out and watch our kids' eyes light up whenever we we put the tealights in the pumpkins. Here's some pics from this year and from the last 4 years.

cuba, ny

it had been too long since we had last seen our good friends, the rush's. so last weekend we took a trip to cuba, ny to visit the rush family. we spent 5 days there having a blast!  the weather was great and yep, it even snowed! so many memories and hilarious moments. good conversations and 20 minute drives in beautiful country just to get a malt. yes, i did see some amish people...made me so happy. we went to letchworth park was was absolutely breathtaking. unfortunately we arrived and got some pictures in and it started to rain.  but nonetheless, the "rockies of the north", did not disappoint. i would have to say one of the highlights for me was watching doralyn hold our daughter...it was so special for me. doralyn and i scrapped and i dare say that i completed 5 layouts...which was a record for me.  we tasted some of the best pizza ever and got to eat brandon's homemade burgers and fries.  all in all it was a great visit and can't wait to go back.

  while traveling home we stopped at lake erie. neither anth nor i had seen a great lake before. it was windy and it was cold...but the view was breathtaking. sophia loved the wind and she loved sticking her tongue out! it was so cute. when we got back to the car, we both looked at each other and said that it reminded us of the ocean.  blue as far as the eye could see.