First Baseball Game

We took the boys to Boshamer Stadium this weekend to watch the Heels play the 3rd game in the series against No. 1 Virginia.  We had won the two previous games and needed this last win to complete the sweep. 

The sun was out in full force with very little cloud cover and practically no breeze.  I was prepared for this.  Strapless shirt and some SPF 8 oil for this pasty momma and a hat and some SPF 60+ for the babe. 

The hat was a total no-go.  I even brought 2 kinds to see which one he liked the best.  A bucket hat and a baseball cap.  He disagreed with both of them.  It was a fun game for him to take each hat off and throw it on the ground.  Over and over...and OVER again!  Okay, no more hat.

Without dumping the entire bottle of sunscreen on his head I was afraid that he would have some major scalp burn if I let him sit in our seats {with his natural mohawk & all...} so we stayed up in the concourse for most of the game.  Ed & I switched off every inning.  I had to make sure I spent some time in the sun!!  

Overall, I think he had a great time.  By about the 7th inning he was getting hot and cranky and was really tired from not having his afternoon nap.  I finally had to take him to a shaded corner of the stadium, by an exit that was closed off, to let him scream his lungs out for about 5 minutes while I held him down tight until he just gave up and passed out for the rest of the game.  We sat in the shaded corner for the last 3 innings.  The Heels won 3-2 and it was a great day!

DIY Planning Board

I've got a treat for you today from none other than....my sister Laura!

This is my sister.  She's pretty much the most awesomest sister/aunt ever.

She is here today to show you how to make a planning board for next to nothing!  You can customize it however you want - make a to-do list, a shopping list or a menu planner!

For this project, you will need...

(1) 10x13-inch frame

Scrapbooking papers in two patterns (make sure they are not dark pages that you cannot read through)

Cardstock: one color that coordinates with your patterned papers

Glue (I used an Elmer’s Kids Glue Stick)

Paper trimmer or Scissors

Letter stickers

Stickers, rub-ons and other embellishments

step 1 Trim your papers and cardstock according to the following dimensions 

(adjust if you have a different size frame):

From your first patterned paper: (4) strips cut to 1.25 x 11.75 inches

From your second patterned paper: (3) strips cut to 1.25 x 11.75 inches

From your colored cardstock: (1) strip cut to 1.25 x 11.75 inches and (1) strip cut to 1.25 x 10 inches

 step 2 Remove the cardboard backing from your frame. You will affix all of your pieces directly to this piece. Take your 1.25 x 10-inch strip of colored cardstock, and adhere it vertically along the left edge of your cardboard piece, so that the lower corners are perfectly aligned. Now, take your remaining colored cardstock strip and adhere it horizontally along the top edge, butting the edge of this piece just against the right-most edge of your first piece. (The entire left and top edges of your cardboard base piece should be covered now with your colored cardstock.)

step 3 Starting with a strip of your first patterned paper, adhere this piece horizontally so its left (short) edge butts directly against the first cardstock piece you adhered in step one and its top (long) edge is directly against the long edge of the second cardstock piece. Now, take a strip of your second patterned paper and adhere it in a similar fashion. Continue adhering your strips in this manner, alternating between your different patterns, taking care to ensure that the edges of each subsequent piece touch, but don't overlap. You shouldn't be able to see any of the cardboard backing between your strips.  I also added thin strips of my colored cardstock to break up the two patterned papers. This is optional.

step 4 Now, Place letter stickers on each of the horizontal rows to represent the days of the week: S, M, T, W, T, F, S.

step 5 If creating a menu/to-do board as I have done here, place those letters in your top cardstock row. (You can modify the wording of this board to suit the needs of your recipient.) Now, finish your board by embellishing as desired with additional stickers, rub-ons and other flat scrapbooking embellishments.

step 6 Now, slip your finished work into your frame (making sure the glass front is still in the frame when you do so). The glass makes this board 100% compatible for use with dry-erase markers, so your board is now ready to fill with your plans week after week!

Here is another board made for Mother's Day:

Thanks to my sis for this great tutorial!

Here is a shopping list board that I made for Annie for Mother's Day:

And here it is in her house on display!

{NOTE: I used the same size frame as the tutorial above but I rotated mine to a portrait layout to increase the number of lines.  Therefore the dimensions of my paper pieces were different.}