Lookie What I Won!!!

How cool is this? And here I thought that my Mom was the only one reading my blog LOL! A web-friend and one of the designers I CT for, Kathryn Estry, was so sweet and picked my 'lil blog to be one of her award recipients. Make sure to check out her blog HERE! Thank you again Kathryn, what a nice surprise!

For those of you receiving the Award, here are the rules:
1) You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also for contributing to the blogging community, no matter what language.
2) Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.
3) Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.
4) Award-winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of "Arte y Pico" blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award. http://arteypico.blogspot.com/ Make sure you visit this link. There are crafts of all kinds shown; you are bound to come away inspired!
5) Show these rules.

The artists that I am excited to give the award to are:

Sarah Meyer ~ She is one talented designer and friend that I have had the privilege of working with and CT'ing for. You can visit her blog here at Scraps of Fun

Michelle Swadling ~ Another amazingly talented designer :) And also an incredibly strong person...ya know she's running her first 1/2 marathon this weekend {{{good vibes coming your way Michelle}}} Best of Luck! You're an inspiration! Visit her blog here at Michelle Swadling Designs

Lynne Simmons ~ I have been working with Lynne's designs for about a year and a half now and she just gets better and better! She always comes up with something fun and fresh and she's such a sweet person too! Visit her blog at Lynne's Digi Digs

Silvia Romeo ~ I am always amazed at the realistic and intriguing elements she designs...a true artist! I adore her vintage style. Just a big fan :) Visit her gorgeous blog at Silvia Romeo Designs

Paula Yagisawa ~ I've "known" Paula for a while through Gotta Pixel and she brings a unique attribute to the digi-design world. I've had the pleasure of working with her kits that feature the best embroidery elements in the biz...you Rock Paula! Visit her blog at Designs by Dreamer Paula

Here's to YOU!

Jump!

Well it was another dancing weekend for us! Unfortunately it was during the most gorgeous weekend of the year so far! 87˚ and Kayla and I are cooped up in the Buffalo Convention Center...although Kayla didn't mind much :)

This was our first time at "Jump" and I must say that the format was thoroughly enjoyed. Kayla seemed to have a lot of fun as the teachers were bigger celebrities to her. Nick Lazzarini (season one winner from “So You Think You Can Dance?”) and Mandy Moore (choreographer for “American Idol” and guest choreographer for “So You Think You Can Dance?”) were two of her teachers this weekend.

Competition was held on Saturday night and both of Kayla's numbers won "Gold" for their categories. Tap won 1st for high score in their division and their hip-hop won 3rd place for high score...not too shabby! They give away license plates instead of trophies for high score, so that is what she is holding in the photo.

We're so proud of you, Kayla!

Some days, you just gotta laugh!

Ok...I don't even watch "Family Guy"...but this clip just cracked me up! You Mom's out there will understand :) Even though it's a foreign version, the language is universal...go ahead, you know you wanna watch! LOL!

Spread Your Wings

It's been a while since I posted a layout that I've done. This one just came together and the quote just describes pretty much how I've been feeling lately. Not too often when you're really, truly feeling good about yourself...so, I'm indulging! Thanks for looking!



The quote is from Mariah Carey's song "Butterfly"
"Spread your wings & prepare to fly
for you have become a Butterfly"

Image is clickable to my gallery to see a larger view.
This layout uses the gorgeous Butterfly Crystals by Kathryn Estry

Letchworth Hike :)

2 Posts in one day? We've been pretty busy!



The quote on the rock reads:
"God wrought for us this scene beyond compare, but one man's loving hand protected it and gave it to his fellow men to share."
~ Sarah Evans Letchworth

We had a glorious afternoon! The weather was absolutely perfect and we couldn't bear to waste the day inside or just putzing around the house. We traveled about an hour out to Castile, NY to go on a hike at Letchworth State Park. We hiked the Gorge Trail which is about a 7 mile hike...we did about 3 miles down to the lower falls, had lunch, then turned around and hiked 3 miles back to the car. The kids did great, and loved collecting rocks and pine cones along the way. Josh had enough in his pockets to literally weigh him down and he just didn't quite understand why he was having so much trouble towards the end. LOL

Here are some of the pics...pretty, eh?


The Upper Falls.


Tim and I at the Upper Falls, photo credit to Josh.


I think I can, I think I can...


Here you can see the Upper Falls, and Middle Falls...and a glimpse of why they call this the "Grand Canyon of the East"...surely it's a bit more magnificent when everything is green :)


The kids in front of a frozen fountain that sits in front of the Glen Iris Inn at Letchworth. The fountain never turns off, so in the winter it totally freezes over...cool, eh?

Spring Training

Ahhhh, Spring! Finally!!



"If we had no winter, the Spring would not be so pleasant."
~Anne Bradstreet

My crocuses have finally opened and the weather is warming up.
I have been able to get my 2 miles in the morning at the park and baseball is in the air :)

Tim had the Cardinals (of course) first practice on Saturday! The weather was gorgeous (even though there were a snow pile or two left around) and the boys were definitely itching to get out there and play some ball.





Josh moved up to the 7-8 pitching machine level so he is the youngest on the team still at 6. Even after the first practice we can tell that Coach Tim has a pretty great team of kids this year, the Cards will be a force for sure!



Goooooo Cardinals!