One Year Ago Today....

A year ago today, a good friend lost her first born son to a congential heart defect. He was a precious little boy who carried a big message while he was here on Earth and still today shares it with those of us whose lives he touched. He is still deeply missed and will be forever loved by his extended family. Today, like it has for the past 364 days, my heart and prayers go to the Carlson family. Your pain is shared by your friends and family on this day. Jack will be forever in our hearts.

Who's Your Mummy?

Can you tell who this is?

Want some help?

We had some fun last night at the KinderCare "Fall Festival"........

Happy Halloween!

Gearing Up....

By far, one of my favorite "holidays" is Halloween. Even before Tim and I had the boys or lived in a neighborhood, I'd carve a pumpkin or two for myself and just enjoy the day as it was. Now that I have children, I can relish in it that much more. I don't go all out on decorations and what not, it's just the "spirit" of the holiday and the building excitement of Trick Or Treating that I love.


Sunday, we headed out to Rombachs Pumpkin Patch for a birthday party AND to find our pumpkins that we will carve on Friday night. The boys had a tough decision to face picking out JUST THE RIGHT ONE for them but we think they did okay.

Now it will be a decision on what kind of face that each pumpkin gets? Will it be spooky? Happy? Scared? It's in debate right now......you'll have to come back and see what they choose later this week.

Until then........the excitement continues to build and the costumes hang safely in the closet waiting for that special night when the ghouls, goblins and SUPER HEROES come out!!!

Fall Is Here!

Yep - full force it's here! The colors are AMAZING and we were in the thick of it all this afternoon at Grandma Marilyn & Grandpa Rick's house. I couldn't help but take a few pics of the boys. This is by far my favorite!!!

Happy Birthday, Jack!

Happy 5th Birthday Jack Henry!

I can't believe that you are FIVE years old today! Where has the time gone? It seems like just yesterday that Daddy and I were at the hospital anxiously awaiting your arrival. We were scared to death to become parents, but once you were here, that all changed. You are such an amazing little boy! You delight us with your personality and everything that you have learned. You are a wonderful big brother and Mason looks up to you and wants to be JUST LIKE YOU! I can't wait to see what this next year brings for you! So many big changes lay ahead and will take you on SO MANY different adventures. I want only the best for you!!!

Happy Birthday Sweetpea!

Mommy & Daddy Love You more than you will ever know!
I hope you have a WONDERFUL day!
XOXOXO

Start Making Your List

The Holiday's are right around the corner! Have you even started to contemplate what you want for your Holiday Cards or even to give as gifts?

Check out Paperly's Holiday Catalog (available online now) for a great selection of PhotoCards, gift tags, enclosure cards, wine tags, placemats and self-inking stamps or even our Everyday Catalog or Special Occasions Catalog for some great gift ideas for just about everyone in your life. Teachers, Coaches, Teens, Aunts, Uncles & even the Babysitter!!!

Holiday orders are being taken through the end of November. In order to ensure that you have your cards or gifts in time order early. Shipping times will increase as we get closer to the deadline.

To place an order contact me at libby_riley@paperly.com.

This is HUGE!

There is no other word to describe the new sculpture that was just unveiled in Chesterfield, MO this weekend other than HUGE! Called "The Awakening" by J. Seward Johnson, the 70 foot long sculpture is a giant coming out of the ground and is rather daunting looking no matter what your vantage point is.

The boys and I went by yesterday to check it out and I took this picture with my cell phone. Next time we go back, I will take my regular camera and take some better pictures so you can see it's relative size. The arm, itself stands a mere 17" tall!!! HUGE!!!

Hit The Vendor Circut Today

Today I took my Paperly bag of tricks out and hit the Vendor circut for the first time. About 20 different vendors from knock off purses, to Partylite, Tastefully Simple, Pampered Chef and some local crafters all under the same roof sharing our goodies.

If I had to pick, there were two vendors who I'd have to lable as my favorites! The first,PJ's by Pinkie, is the business of a friend of mine who was affected by the downsizing in corporate america this year. Instead of dwelling on what had happened to her, she took advantage of the situation and made lemonade out of her lemons. Her PJ's are so cute! The other vendor is called Initial Outfitters. For anyone who loves monogrammed and/or personalized jewelry - this is the stuff for you! I am so excited that I'm going to be sporting one of their beautiful monogrammed necklaces as a birthday present from Tim and the boys!!! I can't wait to order it and get it!!!

Here's what it looks like -

All in all it was a good day. I came away with a future booking for a party, a catalog party that is going on from now until 10/23, some other possible buyers and some new connections of my own.

Soccer Star In The Making?

Jack has really started to show us that he is a soccer star in the making. He looks forward to his soccer practice/game every Saturday and has impressed not only his coach, but Tim and I as well, with his ability and how quickly he's caught on to the game in general.



This past weekend during his game, he even had TWO opportunities to score but unfortunately one ball missed the goal completely and the other hit the goal post {oof}! Talk about disappointing! But being the "Soccer Mom" that I have become, I was there standing on the sidelines cheering my heart out for him and he was beaming with pride.





Little brother on the other hand is happier on the sidelines cheering Jack on as well and is not quite as ready to participate.....maybe next year!

Take Me Out To The Ball Game!

One of my favorite memories as a child was going the baseball game with my Dad. We would sit RIGHT BEHIND the Cardinals Dugout. The view was amazing and to be so close to the action was indescribable. It was something that I truly came to take for granted as I grew older.

Now, going to the baseball game is almost a "luxury" or a treat for me. This year (actually just a month ago), thanks to my best friend, Betsy, I was able to go to my FIRST game at the new Busch Stadium (yes it opened in 2006, I know!) and it was such a treat!

Well, this past Friday, Tim and I had the opportunity to take the boys to the game and we jumped at the chance immediately! Having just clinched the Pennant for the NLC, we knew that the air would be humming with team spirit and the place just filled with Cardinal Red. Boy were we right! I think Jack almost had an anxiety attach he was SO EXCITED when we got to the Stadium! He was shaking from head to toe and his eyes were as big as saucers when he saw this!


Neither of the boys could believe their eyes! They wanted to know where Albert and Skip Schumacher were and when were they batting. They wanted to see the score board and figure out how to keep track of the count (Tim has taught them to do that when we watch the game on TV). As we watched the pregame festivities and got settled we were happily joined by this awesome group -



We all had such a great time. The boys did amazingly well and lasted until the end of the 7th inning (we had to let them sing "Take Me Out To The Ball Game") and then we headed out in order to beat the traffic and also because the game had just gone into the trash after Wainwright had taken us into a 6-0 lead before Tony pulled him {bad idea in my opinion}.





All in all.....a great night and hopefully something that they boys will remember!