Happy Monday morning...

(actually, it's Sunday night while I'm writing this... )

And that's because today (MOnday) is my LAST day of having all the kids at school before Summer starts!!  You know what that's like right ladies?  Come on, be honest...  We all LOVE Summer, but the kids are all home, every day, all day, with nothing to do...  You have to make breakfast, make lunch, make snacks and make dinner AND try to think of things to keep them busy with all Summer...

SO, today I'm taking a ME day!  Well sort of...  I'm going to a nice outdoor mall, going to enjoy the nice San Diego weather, look for graduation presents for Isabella and Victoria, a birthday present for Victoria (2 more days until she's 15!!) and maybe look for a dress or skirt for me for our trip this Summer!  I may even sneak by Paper Tales if I have enough time!!  LOVE that store!! 

I almost didn't think I was going to get a "me" day with the crazy weekend I've had..  My ankle has been REALLY fragile since Friday night when it got twisted pretty bad but  I think it's going to be fine now.  I stayed off of it most of the day yesterday and even SAT on the COUCH!!  (you probably figure I don't do that much with my busy life and you'd be right ;)-  But, I sat on the couch while Lance and the girls made dinner!!  That was a comedy act I must say...  I think they had to ask me a million questions just to make "little pizza's"!!  And they were fighting over who could grate the cheese! (Isabella won that one, sort of...)  But today my ankle is doing MUCH better and hopefully I'll be back to normal in the morning. 

I thank all of you who sent your well wishes to Deb!  You are all such wonderful ladies and I am so thankful I have all of you visiting my blog and making this a "family".  I'm definately going to have to have a message board for us on the website because I want all of you to get to know eachother even more!  Speaking of website, I'll try to get the Gallery up for this month tomorrow so you can see all the designs in one place.

I have taken most of the day today (Sunday) to get all the kits finished and to see what I had left over.  I know a LOT of you wanted to be on the Irene Tan list and a lot of you wanted to know if I have any more Summer kits left!  the answer is YES to both of them and I will email all of you by tonight (Monday) that wanted a kit and let you know if you got one! 

And, since I had such a GREAT day of organizing the Guest Bedroom (partly to get it cleaned up for when my brother's family comes to visit us soon!!  yeah!!!) I thought it would be a GREAT idea to do another GIVEAWAY!!!

I came up with 5 prizes so you have a GREAT chance of winning one this week!!

Just leave a comment on this post and I'll announce the winners on Friday!  Why don't you tell me one of your FAVORITE Summer memories!!  We'll have FUN reading all the posts and you might get a PRIZE out of it too!!

Have a GREAT Monday,

Laura

Comments

[sandy]

My happiest summer memories are out in our boat with the boys....
It was heaven!

[Linda Gothard]

My greatest summer memory was the year I took my three children to visit my sister in Michigan. I had planned and saved all year and as soon as they got out of school, we flew to Michigan. It was their first flight. A few days after we arrived in Michigan, we piled up in her car and drove to Canada to take the kids to see Niagra Falls. Fast forward 15+ years and I took two of my grandchildren on the same trip. When we returned, I made an album of the two trips comparing the children and grandchildren.

[Kathi (Irish Catholic Good Lass from the Midwest who loves Donna Downey too!)]

It's hard to have just one...I grew up on a farm, the only girl and oldest with four brothes (I deserve a prize for that alone..!). But summers were idyllic...we had a pool (really a brand new horse trough) in the backyard, and watermelon and rhubarb growing in the backyard and a sandbox and we ran and played and swam all summer long...no worries or jobs or commitments...ah bliss!

[Heather T.]

I loved our vacation to the Black Hills in S. Dakota in 2007. We had a cabin in the Black Hills on a working cattle ranch. It was so peaceful and wonderful. We just hiked and sat outside and grilled great food. It was wonderful.

[christy]

Our vacation we drove all the way to lake tahoe,camped along the way,went tubing on the river,and my 10 year old tells me that she wants to go to lake tahoe again and that was 3 years ago..

[tia shields]

I love summer. It not only means the kids are home but so am I! :) My favorite summer memories are late days at the beach. I love to spend all day at the beach and BBQ in the fire pits at night. I love to roast s'mores and hotdogs on the fire while the kids are running around carefree as the sunsets. This is a tradition i carried on from my childhood and I hope my kids do the same.

[Jennifer B.]

One of my favorite summer memories would have to be the cruise my husband and I took in 2004. Our first port of call was Key West, FL, and he proposed to me at the southern most point of the US! It was so sweet....we were standing in line to have our picture taken at the point, and I walked ahead of him. When I turned around, he was down on one knee! He had given my camera to the couple behind us in line, so they were able to capture some great shots of us as the proposal happened. All the people in line and tourists passing by cheered and clapped as I said yes and we kissed. It was so romantic!

[Theresa from Virginia]

My best summers were spent hanging around with my best friend as teens in a town of less than 500 people. We walked up to "town", about a mile away, at least 3 times every day to get a soda or snack from the little country store that is no longer there or from the "Big Orange", which is a building that actually looks (still) like a giant pumpkin. We read my oldest sister's romance novels, listened to the Osmonds on our record player, watched Star Trek, Petticoat Junction, and Gilligan's Island on TV (back when there were only 3 channels), rode our bikes to the river, visited my grandma, and generally made life-long friends and memories. That all started when we were 11 years old - we are now 47, and just this morning she emailed me a photo of us taken back then. She lives in Texas and I live in Virginia, but we still remain best friends after all these years. Vacations and special destinations are wonderful, and I have traveled the world and back, but the love of a true friend, with memories of laughter, tears, and years, is priceless!

[Tiffany H]

My favorite summer memories have to be going to the county fair as a kid with my family. We got to ride all the carnival rides, eat goodies 'til we got sick, and just have fun as a family. I looked forward to going every year. A close second memory is all of the water fights we had in the yard. We always started out using water guns or balloons and always ended up using the hoses! LOL.

[Sophia Allison]

My favourite SUMMER holiday, had to be when I saved up my money from my part time job after school and bought me an airline ticket to go visit my grandparents for the first time in Mauritius (it's a little coastal beach island). I spent the best time with them at the beach and catching up on the past...

[Renee]

One of the best summers I ever spent was the 2 months I spent in Europe with one of my girlfriends during college.

We hit 9 countries in the 2 months...it was fantastic!!

[Wendy Antenucci]

My favorite summertime memory is actually being made this summer as we build our house. The most incredible thing is people from everywhere are just showing up to help my husband - what an incredible blessing! And while we wait for the house to be finished the Lord provided a wonderful house to rent on the property where my husband works so we can see him a little before he rushes off to the house. What a wonderful summer this is turning out to be!

[2amscrapper]

Most of my DH's immediate family has a reunion at the lake here in our town every July 4th weekend. Reminds me, I need to start gearing up for that. But how can I? Cuz TODAY I got in the mail the super fantastic Summer kit! WOWZA! I don't know how you do it, Laura! Each kit I get from you is bigger and better than the previous one. I'm trying to figure out how I can scrap ON BOTH SIDES of the Webster pages. hehe And the embellies are stupendous. My mom would have loved those crocheted cherries! Ladies, if you didn't order the Summer kit, you better get your order in fast for one of the remaining ones. You won't be sorry.

[sandyb]

My favorite summer memory was our whole family being at the lake and dad surprising us with the new boat he bought and teaching us to water-ski. Turned out the one thing we had in common with him was the love of camping & water-skiing. He is deceased now but I will always remember those trips to the lake with that boat. I wish we had pictures of that day so I could have scrapped them!!

[Andi M]

My favorite summer memories are all associated with my family's trips to the Outer Banks in North Carolina. I love the relaxed family time. The beach means sun, surf, ice cream, barbecues, crabbing, boogie boards, board games at night -- just a whole lot of fun and togetherness.

[Cathy]

Some of my favourite summer memories are just hanging around in our own backyard, yardwork done for the day....nothing specific up for that evening....a little trampolining, some roasting marshmallows, lying around watching the stars come out - but with the family. Those are the nights my kids thank God for in their prayers so it has to be good, right?

[Brianna T.]

I remember every year taking a vacation up to my Grandparents cottage on Lake Charlevoix! Love that place, I don't get there enough these days!

[Louise #3903]

favorite summer memories.........hmmm........right now that would be the special time we get to spend with our granddaughter Allayah when she comes up here and spends a week or two. Swimming, bike riding, scrapping and working in the garden are so special when you have a little girl with you. Oh did I forget shopping? she loves garage sales & Goodwill just as much as I do and it probably won't shock anyone to say she is just a tad spoiled!!

[Theresa from Virginia]

Laura - I got my kits in the mail today - as 2amscrapper says, "WOWZA!"

[Stacey Hansen]

My favorite summer memory is of Summer Camp. The pool, the camp songs, the smores, my favorite memories for sure.

[Angie Tieman]

First, my kit arrived today and it is fantabulous!! It's even way better in person!

Favorite summer memory is definitely going to the swimming pool with my friends, playing so hard in the water, lying on the hot concrete, going to the concession for Pepsi and Hot Fries, yummm! Good kid times! Thanks for the giveaway!

[Alexandre Muriel]

Bonjour,
Je me présente Muriel
J'habite en Belgique et je suis FAN de tout ce que vous faite.....

Tout est magnifique, vos kit, vos créations...

Merci beaucoup pour votre enthousiasme et votre énergie à faire vivre votre blog.
Amicalement
Muriel

[dina k]

Glad your leg is better! Hope you had a wonderful me day, those are the best!! Gotta have them every now and then!! :)

My favorite summer memory is a 6-week trip we took in 2005. We drove from TX to the east coast (prety much all over). Some of the highlights were: Graceland; Charlotte, NC; Blue Ridge Mountains; Shenandoah National Park; Philadelphia; Washington DC; Williamsburg, VA; Charleston, SC; Savannah, GA, Hilton Head, NC; Mrytle Beach, SC; Orlando - Disneyworld; and Destin, FL. Yes - we stayed in all those places! It was amazing, the trip of a lifetime. Our daughter was 5 at the time, it was just the best trip ever! So many wonderful memories from that trip!!

[Lisa Martinez]

One of my favorite summers was the time we spent at Anna Maria Island in Florida... In the morning, the tide was really high and we could float in 8 inches of water on an inner tube down the beach. Then in the afternoon, we would dig for seashells on the beach and watch the shorebirds while my son played on his skim board... Soooo beautiful and relaxing!!

[Beth W]

Fire flies! It breaks my heart I can't take my grandchildren to catch fireflies-it was part of the magic of childhood. But pollution and subdivisions have taken their toll. Some of that innocence you were talking about that seems to be gone forever.