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Playing catch up after a very busy, but wonderful weekend. Graduation was amazing. Parties were amazing. So proud of my little brother and all his friends. They are all such great and amazing kids. Can't wait to follow their journey into college.

My thoughts and prayers are with all of those affected by the tornadoes that hit Joplin, MO on Sunday.

You always think a hospital can withstand whatever comes its way, but I guess everything is fair game when it's Mother Nature.

Back later with lots of graduation stuff and getting excited about some new ideas and things on my plate.

A new found love

While working like crazy on a million things for my mom for the party this weekend I discovered a new love. Restoring pictures. Granted the one I discovered this on wasn't horrible it's still so much fun to watch it go from Ugh! to WOW!!

I was working on a picture from my brother's pre-school graduation. My mom had scanned it and her scanner bed must be dirty because there were spots all over the picture. It had also been bent at one point because there was a line all the way across it.

Before:

After:

If you click on each picture it is easier to see the difference in them. It is hard working with scanned photos, I think I need to do a little research on working with them. It seems like it pixelated it some once I started working on it. I wonder if there is a market for restoring pictures? Might have to look into that as well.

10 on Tuesday

Well on Wednesday really.

1.Working like crazy to get banners, cupcake toppers, card box and whatever else my mom wants done for the weekend.

2. Have decided that I hate shopping for clothes. It is not fun for me. Went to find something to wear to my brother's graduation and it's just not fun.

3. A piece of advice for all of you with younger kiddos; start a folder now for pictures you might want to use for graduation slide shows. I am starting one for both of mine. My mom is going crazy trying to go through all her pictures to get them together. Thankfully for all but about 6 months of Dart's life I have been completely digital. Should make things easier.

4. Can't believe my baby girl is almost done with Kindergarten. Seems crazy. She has been doing so good lately at reading much harder books. It's so fun listening to her read me a story.

5. Any Castle fans out there? I cannot believe how they ended the season. I'm still mad. Yes, I know it's a tv show, but OMG!!!

6. Excited for the Celebrity Apprentice and Biggest Loser Finales. I really hope John Rich wins CA. I like Marlee, but am a huge JR fan. As for Biggest Loser, I can't wait to see how some of the bigger people look at the finale.

7. I'm still waiting on spring to show up and stay. We had the heat on this week. I'm DONE with the cold.

8. I scored 2 free light bulbs today. Was paying our electric bill and asked about the exchange program they have. Usually you have to take in the old bulbs and they will give you new ones. Got 2 today even though I had no old ones to take in.

9. I'm really excited to show Audrey the new water bottle I found her. The kids recently started taking water bottles to school instead of Capri Sun or other juice. Audrey's was a little too big for her lunch box. Today while I was at Old Navy I found a smaller one, with monkey's on it. She is a major monkey freak, so this will be better. Now I can have her old one too.

10. Speaking of Audrey, she is wearing a dress today that was mine when I was little. Looks so cute on her. Must remember to get a picture of her in it before she changes after school.

Gifts for the Grad

In honor of my brother's graduation later this week most of my posts this week will be about him or graduation. I can't believe he's graduating. I'm sure I will be a crying fool. Since my son says I cry at every commercial that comes on, I know I will be crying at this.

Today lets talk gifts for the grads. I'm sure the most common and easiest gift is cold hard cash!!! Or gift cards. What grad wouldn't love money. Works perfect for high school or college grads. However, if you are wanting a little something extra to add to their gift or want something other than money I have a few suggestions for you.

In my family it is custom for the grad to receive the Dr. Suess book Oh, the Places You'll Go! It is a great book for the grad. I still have my copy that my grandma gave me. I believe I was the start of this tradition and plan to continue it for a long time.

I remember when I went to college computers were not something most of us had in our rooms, we used the lab. Today I would be surprised to walk into a dorm room that didn't have at least 1 computer in it already. Most likely that computer will be a laptop. Great gift idea would be a nice case/bag for their laptop. Etsy has some amazing bags/covers in all price ranges too. One of my favs for either a boy or girl, high school or college grad is this case. Don't forget there are also tons of cases for e-readers and ipads as well.

Other ideas:
This adorable necklace featuring the words dream big would be great for a girl.
For the grad getting ready to hit the real world, these pens would look great in that new cubicle!
Another idea for the grad getting ready to join the corporate world, an amazing looking business card holder.
Don't forget things like towels and bedding always work great for both high school and college grads.
Other home items are great for the college grad getting ready to move into their first place.

Etsy is full of amazing things that would make the perfect personalized gift for your grad. If all else fails find a cute card to put that cash in.

Quote Me on that

I am a HUGE quote collector. I have a rolodex file almost full of quotes. And with the discovery of Pinterest I am collecting even more. I love adding them to pictures, scrapbook pages, little notes for people, and whatever else I can think of. I'm working on making some quote prints to add to the etsy shop and hope to have them ready to go soon. I'm thinking they will be printable things, not physical products. Reduces shipping costs and makes it more customizable.

I'm hoping to start a wordy Wednesday type thing for the blog. Some weeks it will be just the quote, others it might be a print with the quote and others there may be a picture with the quote. It will just depend on what quote speaks to me the most that week.

For today it's what may be a printable item. Still working on how I like them to look. However, this quote is truly speaking to me this week.

I am:

• working on senior picture stuff for my brother and a couple of his friends. Love seeing these kids all grown up, but also makes me sad. 
• working on baseball pictures. Trying like crazy to get them caught up.
• very tired. Did leave the baseball fields until 9:50 last night. Dart FINALLY got his hit. He is so happy!
• dealing with crazy allergies. This year has been worse than I have ever experienced, my eyes and nose usually are what's effected most, with a little bit of a headache. This year it has also bee scratchy throat and ears. 
• happy with the final four in Celebrity Apprentice. I would love to see John Rich or Meatloaf win, but now that Star is gone, I don't care who wins!
• getting excited to see who makes it to the final four in Biggest Loser. 
• loving The Voice. Anxious to see how the show goes on now. 
• looking forward to a night at home with nothing to do. Last week we were not home before 8:30 any night and I'm looking forward to coming home after Audrey gets done with Art Club tonight and being done!!

 One of my favs of my brother's Senior Pictures. So excited he's coming to Mizzou next year and will be in town. Audrey is beyond excited that she will have Uncle so close. I'm sure she will think she needs to see him daily. Those 2 are so cute together. I love the relationship they have.

Happy Mother's Day

Getting to be mom to these 2 crazy kids is the best job in the world. They are loving, sweet, crazy and fun. Yes they have their moments, but even in those moments, they are great kids. Without them I wouldn't be mom! Love both of you most.

Getting to be mommy to this angel reminds me daily that I have someone special watching over me all the time. Love and miss you Kota!

Happy Mother's Day to my Mom, who is the best Moo Moo kids could ever have. Thank you for being a great mom and an even better grandma!

To all you other mom's out there, hope you are having a great day. To all you women who may not be mom's but have influence on young people in anyway, thank you! It may mean more to them than you can imagine.