My Very First Blog Entry - and Happy Birthday Clay!

Okay, here we go! I've been thinking about blogging for several months now, and even started setting things up weeks ago, but that's as far as it got. Until this morning. I woke up thinking about how it's my son Clay's birthday (he's 15 years old today), and that it would be fitting for me to give birth to my blog on this special day. So, I've been at it all morning, creating my blog banner, rearranging things, adding things, etc. I'm pretty tired of sitting in front of the computer at this point, so I'm going to call it good for now! No doubt I will tweak and add more features as I go, so stay tuned.

In honor of Clay's birthday, I made this card. Clay LOVES penguins... always has. So when I saw this stamp set, I had to grab it just for him.

The image is by Memory Box, although the greeting is by Stampin Up! (It's Your Birthday). I stamped the penguin on Whisper White CS and then stamped the balloon into his hand. I stamped the party hat and shorts separately, colored them with my Copic markers, cut them out and adhered them in place. I made the brads using SU's Build-A-Brad (love them!). The card base is SU Soft Sky CS, and the designer paper is Basic Grey's Cupcake, including the mat behind the penguin. I put a Dew Drop on the top of his party hat, just for good measure!

The sketch is Taylor's Cupcake Challenge #17 .

Clay is my current teenager (my two older boys are 23 and 20, and my youngest is 11). I used to think that potty training was the worst part of child rearing (LOL), but it's really the teenage years. Here's the thing: you just have to put your seatbelt on and stay in the ride all the way. They do come back around eventually. What really cracks me up is the way the older two will scold Clay. I love to point out that I remember saying those exact things to them! I've also figured out that God gives us the teenage years so that we can eventually let go of our kids. When they are young and sweet and compliant (generally), you think you could never let them go in a million years. Then comes the teenage years, and you start to realize that growing up and away is a good thing! Except my husband and I have figured out that we're going to have to be the ones to move out because none of them are budging. Yep, the older ones still live at home. It's all good, though. I'm not complaining... much!

So, Happy Birthday, Clay! You were my best pregnancy and delivery and a beautiful baby. You are such a funny kid, full of life, with a great sense of humor and an incredible memory. I still say you should become a sports announcer someday.

Okay, it's off to PF Changs to celebrate! Thanks for stopping by.