Just Me

Test post from phone

2011-05-14T22:42:00.001-04:00

Most recent phone pictures.

{sort of out of order}

2011-04-28T19:51:00.001-04:00

I posted about my weekend in Ft. Myers via phone pictures, but neglected to post some I took of the beautiful area.

edison and a cute little boy

shhh don't tell anyone

beautiful gardens

the views from the property were amazing

loved the look of this garden setting

i want to have a tea party here

just gorgeous

west coast sunsets nothing prettier

Had a wonderful relaxing weekend with my boys!

{Easter 2011}

2011-04-28T09:00:00.001-04:00

This was the first Easter without my Grandma and it was strange. Getting the family together is not always easy - everyone has busy lives; however when we get together it is NONSTOP laughing. Egg hunt, a lot of food, sweets, and fuzzy bunny contest.

and the hunt begins

dylan reaching for a hard one

I hide a hard one for blake

ty loved opening them and eating the candy

i took this pic when no one was looking
they look like they should be in an ad

snapped this one of my son and loved it

i love catching moments when people are not watching

have no idea what they were talking about, but it was so cute

family prayer time

south florida means swimming on Easter

fuzzy bunny competition freaking hilarious all these pics were blurry because we were laughing so hard

blake tried to squeeze the peeps out of papa's mouth

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter I know I sure did. Spending time with family is priceless.

{Weekend hike}

2011-04-27T21:58:00.000-04:00

Saturday I took my little one on a scout outting to a local Seminole Indian Reservation. This was an extremely awesome trip. We learned a lot and went on a beautiful hike. Well this reservation was over one and a half hours away and noticed about 45 minutes in that I left my camera at home! {insert me kicking myself in the butt} Well had to make the best of it with my cell phone. The sights were beautiful.

the walk along the boardwalk was beautiful

the sunlight through the trees was amazing

cool piece of wood for building canoes

a game of knee bone - game played by the Seminole people - Aaron won!

After this great day spent with my son we stopped by my parents house to see their new BBQ area.

Cannot believe how beautiful it turned out!

Well that was my busy Saturday.

{My weekend in phone pictures}

2011-03-21T16:33:00.000-04:00

The last weekend of spring break and we decided to hit the beach, Ft. Myers beach to be exact. The weather could not have been more beautiful! We even vistied the Edison/Ford Museum.

Of course you have to pick Thomas Edison's nose right? Classy kid - hey Mom take the picture now!

Hotel pools are the best for some reason - per a 10 year old!

The weather was like this ALL weekend

Low tide at the beach was perfect

Mom got to put her toes in the sand

And watch the 10 year capture hermit crabs

The water kept leaving us!

Which made for awesome finds - seacreatures - we put him in the ocean

baby star fish are so cute! Almost as cute a little wrinkled fingers

This is what we were waiting for - the most gorgeous sunset - NO CLOUDS

hear the sizzle??? So pretty

So that was our weekend in phone pictures. We had a great time and I will post "real" pictures soon!

{Camera Phone Pictures}

2011-02-05T08:00:00.004-05:00

I have to say I love taking random shots with my camera phone. Here are a few of my favorites since the beginning of the year or so.

Aaron the punk at Cracker Barrel

Spring Cleaned my linen closet

My cupcake wrapper obession

Made these for a new years eve party. LOL

They were super yummy

Got really cold in South FL so Hot Chocolate was needed

Date night with hubby at the Melting Pot

Let me out - poor kitty cat

Aaron made dinner from scratch all by himself

A scout is helpful

Helping out a scout for their Eagle Project

Out to dinner after a long day of helping others

Me and little man - yeah I can rock a braided pigtail. LOL

Bowling Lanes

Bowling Balls

Caboose Burgers

Cat high on catnip

Ah the last night of Carvel before they closed after 38 years! :(

So that is the beginning of my new year. So far a fun year!

{New Pictures - Practicing lots}

2011-02-04T15:29:00.000-05:00

Ok so I have found some ~~victims,~~ willing participants, for my photography. My friend Tammy allowed me to drag her around town and take some pictures. All in all I think they came out pretty good. Here are a few of my favorite.

I am trying really hard to get to ALL manual shooting without flash, but it is taking some time and practice. I refuse to use automatic though. :)
I also spent a wonderful Saturday afternoon just me a the lil guy. Took him around our town just exploring, went to the park and got some really nice shots of him. The track was his idea. Love his sense of humor what a cool kid! He cracks me up!

We even found this cute place that sells little mini bugers out of an old caboose! We did the drive through.

How cute it that. Well that was a fun weekend filled with , friends, beautiful weather, lots of laughing, and over all fun times. Until next time -
Keep Smiling,

Kim

{long time no post}

2010-12-16T11:14:00.000-05:00

I have been crazy busy with school, work, and family. Since I last posted I have sold my Canon Rebel and purchased the Canon T2i and LOVE IT!!!! I have begged all of my family members to let me take pictures of them to practice shooting in manual. So far so good I have had a few brave volunteers. I have also started a new blog, you can find it here....Newest Blog.... I love taking pictures whether with my big camera or with my phone. This blog is dedicated to taking a picture with my cell phone at least once and day and posting it. If you would like to join me please hop over and join and post pics I will put them into the blog post the following day. Please date your photos and offer a brief descritpion. Well here is what I have been snapping lately. Let me know what you think.

3D Ty

I really love this one!!!

Cute

Beautiful Family

Mommy and Daddy Love

Twins - wish this was in focus more - must keep practicing - but gives you the emotion i was looking for

Curious!

Again wish more in focus but actually is one of my favs! I call it Independence!

Love this one!

{Update}

2010-10-29T11:31:00.000-04:00

So I have been on this weight loss journey for 42 weeks and I am down 52lbs. On average I am losing 1.24 pounds a week. Not too shabby. I have found that I get more inspired everyday to maintain the loss. I NEVER want to be heavy again. It is way too hard to get rid of it as you get older. I have a couple of new pictures to remind myself of where I came from and never want to get back to and some newer ones of where I am. Though the newest is my NEW employee photo, therefore YUCK it does show the weight loss. Yeah! I have to say that I have the MOST supportive husband, son, and family/friends in general. They are constantly giving praises and encouragement. I have discovered that having the support of family and friends makes the fight a lot easier. My cousin asked me just yesterday what made me want to change. I had to sit and think about it really. I recall it was like a light switch, I think that my health, though not bad, was the main issue. I want to be around for my son for a very long time. You may get hit by a bus tomorrow and that you can not control, but your health and weight is very much all you. Getting it under control was something I had to do. Lets face it, NO ONE wants to be fat. Being healthy is major, major concern, but I am not going to lie, being able to fit into "normal" clothes is a huge plus!!!
I have a pair of jeans from high school and my goal is to fit into them again. Really I want to be less than that, but I will take that too. If anyone out there reading this is wanting to lose weight, is losing, or has lost, please share your story. Hearing how others have done it or are doing it will help those that want to, but are afraid! I have been overweight for so many years; even after losing the weight I still often see myself as FAT! Not that I am skinny, but I have come a very long way. I feel that overweight people are often judged without being heard. I understand that first, visual impressions, are what most people base everything on about a person. Though really first impressions should not be about looks, but about how a person is, acts, treats you and others etc. It saddens me that just because a person is heavier than what others think is acceptable they immediately turn the other way without getting to know them, like I said before, do you really think they WANT to be that way. I honestly can not remember a day when I woke-up and thought, oh great I did not lose an ounce, thank God I am still fat! Often there could be medical issues etc., that without getting to know them you would never know about. Sorry to be on my soap box, but with the recent news about a blogger stating that fat people make her uncomfortable, or something to that nature; it really made me angry. With new shows like Mike and Molly on the air or even the wonderful shows like Ruby and Too Fat for 15; at least these shows are showing the struggle to lose weight. The world have more people in that look like them, than "perfect" people. Again I know this is more a rant than a true blog post, but hey it is my blog post even if no one reads it, I feel much better getting it off my chest!
I would like to wish everyone a super safe Halloween. Until my next post, stay healthy and happy!

BEFORE

10/29/10

52LBS Lighter and 6 sizes down!

OK SO IT IS ALL ABOUT ANGLES! LOL

{My new obsession} .... well not so new

2010-08-27T11:31:00.001-04:00

I am really getting into taking more photos and love it. Trying to learn about my camera and the proper way to use it and then edit the photos. Wow who knew there was SO much to learn. I just hope my son does not tire too soon of the flash in his face! He is cute, but alas he is also a moving target. I am going to try and take a photo a day, though with a busy schedule this is NOT always possible. Some will be bad and that is ok, moving around the settings of the camera is important for learning. At least that is what I tell myself when there is motion or focus blur! LOL I hope to be able to post some edited photos here along with the original photo and maybe some of the readers out there will comment and let me know what they think? Even if you do NOT like something please let me now. Thanks in advance. Here are a few that are edited only. I will post the unedited photos at a later date.
On another note, we have been busy this summer, vacations, birthdays, and just some beach fun. Here are some random shots of Summer.

1. Church was just really neat looking, Front Royal, VA Main Street

2. Harbor in St. Augustine, FL
3. Light House in St. Augustine, FL
4. Cool Sign in VA taken for a super cute special scout i know.
5. Awesome Shot of a boat in James Town, VA
6. Entrance of the Shenandoah Park - hiked for EVER
7. Tower in Castillo de San Marcos - St. Augustine, FL
8. 10 year old awesome birthday - cupcakes for breakfast

9. What kind of birthday would it be without cupcakes and

10. Sparklers

11. Cool kid fishing in VA

12. The lake the cool kid fished on in VA

13. Blurry pic of the above mentioned cool kid in Colonial Williamsburg, VA - blurry, but love the pic

14. Deerfield Beach - August, 2010

15. Umbrella shot at Deerfield Beach, FL - my new desktop pic at work - so I can dream about it. :)

So leave a comment about what you like and do not like, please and thank you!

ps. The diet is going great. Had some surgery in the beginning of August for a bad gall bladder so that has set me back a little in the gym, but continuing to lose despite that. Can not wait to get back full time, full force to the gym. I am going to try and post some pics of before and now so I can really see the progress of ALL my hard work.

Thanks for visiting,

Kim

{The Journey Continues}

2010-07-09T09:01:00.002-04:00

So after 6 months of eating right and exercise 6 days a week, I am happy to say that I have reached my first goal. 40 by 40. I wanted to lose 40 pounds by my 40th birthday. I am so happy to say that I DID IT. Now not to let myself get too excited I still have more to go. I am really loving the daily exercising. I feel great though 5AM comes SUPER early. It is worth it. Andrew and I "workout" 6 days a week. Walking, biking etc. Learning to eat the right foods and exercising has really made a difference in my life. Hitting 40 and feeling better than I have in years is amazing. For vacation this year my son chose to go hiking. Now 40 pounds ago I would have vetoed that whole idea, but when he suggested it this year I was really excited. As the day approaches I am looking forward to it. Not only are we hiking, but we are going to be hiking in the Shenandoah Mountains of Virginia. Well since I have been REALLY bad at maintaining this blog, here are a few pics from along my weight loss journey. I lost 4 clothing sizes that feels REALLY good. Like I mentioned before there is still A LOT more to come off, but I am doing it the right way and feel great.

So the pictures are - December 2009, June 19th, 2010 - my 40th B day party - taking jello shots, and July 4th, 2010. Ok yes was playing beer pong on the 4th. Gotta show those young kids how it is done! Still working on eliminating the whole DOUBLE chin thing, but alas Rome was not built in a day. One more of me today!

Sorry not the best pic - was taken with my phone at work! LOL

So I have another recipe and it is great for all you working Mommy's out there.

Rotisserie Chicken, Garlic Spinach, and pasta

Take one rot. chicken - cube or slice the white meat

Cook Whole Wheat pasta - I used penne

Saute garlic in a small amount of olive oil

Saute Fresh Sliced Spinach with the garlic

Toss all ingredients along with Parmesan cheese.

Really quick and YUMMY! My son ate 2 bowls.

{Weight Loss Journey}

2010-04-12T13:52:00.002-04:00

So I began this journey, I will call it, on January 2nd. I call it a journey because the word diet means short lived. I have tried all sorts of diets and gimmicks, but alas my ASS is still way too big. Well I researched many new ways to eat and decided I would try the Sugar Busters method. Now this way of eating is really for people with diabetis, but the way of eating just made sense to me. My jump start was a New Years Day party at my parents' home. All of my family was there and at the end of a LONG week filled with FOOD, FOOD, and more FOOD, we were all feeling puffy! So it began, the family biggest loser contest. Well we all got weighed in. I honestly could not believe how much I was at! If my family was not around I would have cried. Now I would not allow anyone to see my number. I folded my paper up and put it in the bag with the rest. They were to be hidden until Easter Sunday when we would all meet again and see who had lost the biggest percentage. So began my journey and I was taking my husband and son along for the ride. No more special diet cooking for just me while they ate all the carbs and sweets they wanted. I needed full support and they were on board. Well this photo (bad one) was taken of hubby and I in November for our Anniversary. Now I am NOT one for loving my photo being taken, but this one really was GROSS!, but that did not jump start my journey as you can tell it took 2 more months.

Notice how I try to hide my double chins by leaning on hubby's shoulder. LOL did not work. Well I am happy to say that eating healthy and DAILY exercise, you mean you can't sit on your booty and lose weight, has really paid off. The weigh in went like this - I lost the %, but also lost 27lbs!

As of today's post I am down 30lbs and feel great. I want to lose MORE, but I am going the slow, 2 lbs. per week on average, boat. So this blog is going to be my outlet for dieting and crafting. Follow me along my journey. If you want to join me subscribe to the blog and leave a comment and we can go on the journey together. I will post recipes and photos along the way. My boys are doing great as well. Hubby is down over 20lbs. as well. I will post before and after of him as well. My son has slimmed out too, and is as cute as ever! Sorry for the poor pics, both from my phone. I will get better ones and post them.

Here is my first recipe post that my whole family enjoys.

Turkey Chili

1 lb. ground white meat turkey

1 can fire roasted tomatoes

1 onion - chopped

1 red pepper - chopped

1 can white northern beans

1 can tomato sauce (look for low sugar)

smoked paprika

cumin

salt

pepper

Sautee: onions and peppers in 1 tsp olive oil, season with spices

add turkey meat and brown - reseason without all spices, except salt

stir in tomatoes and sauce and simmer for 10 minutes

add beans and simmer for another 10 mins.

Serve over brown rice and add salad

I only eat rice or whole wheat pasta 2 times a week so this is a special meal in my house!! :) I hope you enjoy! Let me know if you try it.

{Sunday Paper Crafting}

2010-02-21T23:07:00.000-05:00

Today I just needed to get crafty. It has just been waaay to long. So I got out some canvases that I have had for some time and went to work. I have a thing for owls lately, incase you have not noticed. Well I have seen so many cute ones being made I just had to use the techniques I have seen out there. This guy was made using making memories paints on the canvas to create a sky scene. Came out better than I thought. I also used Hero Arts wood grain stamp to give the look of bark using clear embossing powder. I also made some of the paper flowers that are so popular right now. They are too stinkin cute. I filled the centers with dew drops and made the belly out of flowers. I had seen this technique used by Cindy Tobey in the CK Magazine and thought it was super cute. Well all in all I loved making it and can not wait to hang it up in my office tomorrow.

I have also been on a mission to get healthy and fit by 40! Which is coming up very quickly. I started on my journey, January 2, 2010 and so far have lost 19lbs as of today. If I get brave enough I will post some before and after pictures!

{You are looking at a new Ippity Rep}

2010-02-19T11:33:00.000-05:00

I am so excited that i am now signed up to be an Ippity Stamp rep for Unity stamps. My first order should arrive soon and when it does keep a look out for a gallery of ideas, classes, and stamps for purchase. Contact me if you have any questions. I have a separate blog for the Ippity Stamps, click here for the link. I am really looking forward to getting back into crafting and card making.

{My Christmas Card Fetish}

2009-12-06T21:30:00.001-05:00

So I am a nut this year about making Christmas cards. Between school, shopping for the holidays, decorating, and work, I try to fit in as much time as I can to make cards. It is keeping me sane! Here are some of my most current ones.

I am having so much fun making them. I am also in the process of making a family recipe book, well 8 of them for all the ladies in my family. I can not wait to get them in the works. Well I have had a super busy weekend so I am off to bed. Hope everyone has a great week!

{Christmas Cards and other misc. items}

2009-11-21T08:00:00.000-05:00

Well I have been making cards like crazy, but have not posted them. Here is a cute Halloween card I made with the Making Memories Dollar Stamp set. This was a total lift from K. Werner at Two Peas. She makes awesome cards!

This was so simple to make and super cute!

Here is another idea from K Werner. She used a Basic Grey Stamp for her card, but I love this Butterfly and just had to use it. Very simple stamp the card and then go in with a white gel pen.

For this card I embossed with clear powder I love the simple look of this card.

Well I will post more soon. Hope your weekend is going well!

{Unity FFF}

2009-11-20T08:00:00.002-05:00

I have been on a mission to get Christmas Cards done and forgot about my Grandfather's birthday. I am not great at making masculine cards and started to panic about what I was going to do. Well I went to my Unity stamps for inspiration. I used the ledger stamp for this card. I think it turned out pretty cute. Was super simple to make too. I love this stamp!

I also used PTI Card stock and Ribbon

Thanks for visiting! Have a great weekend.

{14year Anniversary and Christmas Card Sampling}

2009-11-19T21:49:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was our 14 year Wedding Anniversary. We have technically been together for 19 years. Yesterday was quite amusing. I called to make reservations for The Melting Pot for Friday when my son will be at his Grandparent's house, I picked balloons for the table and a card. I thought this was such a special treat since we used to go there when we were dating. Upon arriving home last night I was greeted with streamers and a cute sign, and flowers courtsey of my son, Aaron. Such an awe moment. Then I was told to get changed we were going out to dinner, all of us. When we arrived at the resturant I just has to laugh, my hubby had made reservations at The Melting Pot. It was so funny. The guy who took my reservation never said anything and when we arrived we were the talk of the night. There were flowers on the table and a card. Another awe moment for the night. He is such a sweet heart. He even wrote Love you in my Facebook Farmville Farm without me knowing. I mean is that a sign of the times or what? I love this man, my friend, husband, and father of my son! 14 years and going strong. Maybe next year I can surprise him with something nice and original.

I have been a super busy elf making all types of Christmas Cards. I am on a mission to get each person a Christmas Card this year, handmade. Here are some that I have been working on. I have used a ton of Paper Trey Ink and some cute $1 stamps from Joann's. I pulled out the embossing gun this year. I have not used that in a long time! I also found some super cute ribbon at Michael's and ribbon is my obsession.

I am going to try and post some new cards and gift card holders each day. Once again I am trying to be a busy elf! Wish me luck.

{Paper Trey Ink}

2009-11-17T21:42:00.002-05:00

I have a new addiction, stamps. I actually used to work at a stamp store in a local mall. Now I have come full circle. Paper Trey Ink and Unity Stamps have fueled the fire. I have been on a note pad making frenzy. Here are some that I made as gifts.

Cosmo Cricket DP, PTI Kraft and Ribbon, Take A Note Stamp Set

I have been hard at work making Christmas Cards too. I will post those through out the week. I am sorry for the crappy photos, I left my camera on the wrong setting.
This past weekend my sister-in-law had the great idea of taking pictures of the kids to give to my parents for the holidays. So all dressed in white t-shirts and jeans we set off to my parent's backyard to snap away. Well what do you get with 4 boys who really do not want to have their pictures taken.

Horsing around

Falls

Fingers in mouths

Jokes and giggles

Almost cute shots - even with a chair in the background

Just plain old cute kids! and two frustrated Moms.

{Poor Blogging Habits}

2009-10-28T12:36:00.001-04:00

Isn't it funny how life just seems to go so quickly? Kids growing at such a rapid rate that it seems like seconds from one year to the next. Before you know it they are almost as tall as you and wearing your socks! Yes that one is specific. I had to purchase PINK bottom socks to keep a certain little boy out of my drawer, but alas that failed. The other day he fell asleep at my parent's house and when I sent to wake him and removed the blanket I noticed MY pink bottom socks on his monster feet! I really did have to laugh though! I guess it is time for new socks. can you imagine how desparate he must have been to wear pink!

I have been busy creating new cards. Halloween goodie bags for my son's class. I just received my first order from Paper Trey ink and I can not wait to start creating with all the goodies. I loved their stuff so much that the day I got my order I placed another one, and one from Two Peas as well. I must be stopped!

The holidays are coming and I really want to make my own cards this year again. I feel I will have to start NOW! My classes start up again in November and I want to make the most of my time NOT in class. Once they start I am screwed for "me" time. Oh well it was a blast while it lasted.

My son was so excited to go to school today. The kids were going to have a web chat with R.L. Stine, the author today! AND his teacher said he could bring in his own "experiment" to do with the class. Mentos and Diet Coke. I really wish I was there to take pictures! I sure hope his teacher realizes what she is getting into. It was funny as we were walking out the door today he goes, "hey Daddy shouln't I have my safety glasses for this". I thought OH NO this is NOT going to be good! LOL

So living in South FL, the heat tends to kill the Fall mood, though it is my favorite holiday. I dream of living up North where there is an actual change of seasons. Halloween is supposed to be about 88 degrees, nice right? NOT. My son's scout pack had their annual Halloween event on Monday. All the kids came in costume and each Den had a carnival game for them to play. Well needless to say it was a normal SO FL night with humidity reaching 85%. All the kids with makeup were nice and shiney! LOL Here are some quick pics of the night.

Aaron and Daddy, yes my hubby wears his socks that high. It kills me! LOL

This was the end of the night and it was stinkin' hot!

Thing 2 had a family of Things - it was great! This is Aaron's Den minus 2 kids.

Cory, Chris, Twin 1, Aaron, Jeremy, "Pimp Daddy" Fred, and Twin 2

Well I hope to post pictures of my newest cards tomorrow. Tonight is laundry and card making. Oh and who can forget Glee, Modern Family, and Cougar Town. Thank God for Hulu. The freaking Cougar Town cracks me up! Modern Family is a hoot! Bought time comedies were funny again! Glee is my modern day Fame from back in the day. I used to watch that with my Mamaw and I am sure she would have loved Glee today!

Well I have to get back to my REAL job. Hope everyone is enjoying their week!

{World Card Making Day}

2009-10-04T17:51:00.000-04:00

Boy was I busy this weekend. I am totally addicted to making cards right now and I sat down today and made about 6 in just a few hours. I just had to break in my new goodies I bought last weekend. I found this Blog for Scrapbook and Cards Today and just loved the sketches they had posted for WCMD. It really got me inspired to create!

This simple card was made with

the new Crate paper line, water color pencils, and Nestablities Lables 8

I made this card for the Unity Friends with Flair, but thought it was FLAT

So I added a popped up flower and button

Cosmo Cricket PP, Paper Trey Ink kraft, Cuttle Bug Embossing, Basic Grey CB Letters,

Inkadinkado Butterfly stamp

American Crafts PP and Flair, and Basic Grey CB Letters.

Thought this would be cute for a new baby!

Again American Crafts PP and Flair

Cosmo Cricket PP, Dew Drops

Jillibean Soup PP, Jenni Bowlin CB Button, PTI Kraft

Crate paper PP and CB Flower and HI, Stick Pens Maya Road

I should have watched closer for the pattern paper to change, but came out cute none the less

Upside down birds are not too bad right! :)

Here is a card sketch book that I made from the Kristina Werner downloads.

Came out super cute! I am not a fan of my handwriting......

Well all in all I had a blast creating this weekend. As I make more I will post, but I thought this was a great start. I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend, heres to a great Monday!!! Hey I have to thank positive right.

{Friday Friends with Flair}

2009-10-02T09:00:00.009-04:00

Well I have really been crazy busy this week, but I had to get crafty. Here are some items I made last night. I am loving the fact that I now have the new Jillibean Soup and Cosmo Cricket papers. They are really just too cute and make creating so easy. Here are my entries for this Friday. I hope to have more up over the weekend since I will have a household void of boys on Saturday! yeah me! Off Camping they will be. I hope every has a wonderful weekend and enjoy your Friday! Thanks for stopping by.

On this one I used one of the trees from the Tiny Grove set from Unity to make the leaves

Jenni Bowlin ChipBoard Button

Jillibean Soup PP

I used the March09 KOM to stamp the sentiment

Cosmo Cricket PP

Spellbinders Die

This card was made using a Hero Arts Stamp for the Butterfly

water colored the wings

Technique Tuesday - Ali Edwards for the sentiment

{Busy Weekend, lots of shopping}

2009-09-28T10:25:00.001-04:00

Well my weekend started off with a nice night with my me and my hubby. My Mom and Dad took my son and my 3 nephews for the night and most of Saturday. AHHHHH relaxing at its finest. Saturday my friend Tammy and I decided to go and check out one of the LSS and wow was it wonderful. They had a ton of beautiful items, so much EYE CANDY!!!! Ribbon......Prima flowers and papers......American Crafts...... well let me just say a little too much money later and we were happy campers! After leaving the store in pouring down rain, yes did I mention we live in the sun shine state..... well off to get my son. Now mind you my parents have had 4 boys since Friday after school ranging in the ages from 3-9. Here is what I found,

One second without rain and they are in the pool using their otter spotters. The two oldest, both 9

The boys were over to decorate with my Mom for Fall/halloween. Though come to find out in South FL, where it is still 81 degrees at 7AM, the pumpkin patches are not open yet, so this was as far as they got.

Mom was only able to use the "fake" pumpkins so far. The boys all agreed it needed more "color" too much

This is a window they decorated with handmade decorations. Notice there is no Treat after the Trick O'. This is what you get with 4 boys and short attention spans. I had to laugh.

Here is the other half of the window

Mom and Dad have been doing an amazing job of remodeling the house and I am just loving it. This time of year the late afternoon sunlight is just beautiful coming in the back of the house. This is the dinning room.

I think the kitchen is my most favorite. My Mom has an amazing eye for details. My parents home is extremely warm and inviting and it still feels like home to me!

Well that was my Saturday and it was FUN!!! Sunday I got a surprise text from Tammy asking if I was up for another journey to more LSS. Really did she have to ask! LOL. So off we were again! More eye candy more money spent!!! Ugh we are NOT good together. :) All in all a GREAT weekend. Tammy already started creating. Her new cards are FANTABULOUS! Tonight after cleaning my scraproom I will start getting crafty. Can not wait.

Oh wait I know this is a photo heavy post, but I can not forget to show my son and his friends getting their scouting "Bling" as the Cubmaster calls it, for all the accomplishments they made this summer!

Sorry for the poor pictures throughout the entire post, they were taken with my point and shoot and UGH!!! Oh well you get the idea of what a great weekend we had! Hope yours was just a swell!!!

{Friends with Flair and Support our Troops}

2009-09-25T08:21:00.000-04:00

Happy Friday to all. It has been an extremely long week. Our kitty cat is still healing and we have been spoon/force feeding her for a week. Today is the first day she is acting semi-normal. I hope this is a good sign. Though only time will tell. We are praying that she makes a full recovery. Thanks for all your prayers and calls. Sasha is a true member of our family. On another note my son Aaron is a Webelo Scout this year and his Pack is selling Popcorn as a fund raiser. I really HATE fundraisers and normally have him hit up the close family for support, but this year the Popcorn company we are using has an option for making a Military Donation, this will send Popcorn to the troops overseas. It gives them a little bit of home and comfort. It is a nice treat for those men and women who are protecting our freedoms. So if anyone is interested in sending popcorn to the troops and helping Aaron's pack please follow this link and Aaron's scout number is 3067142 the name that comes up is Aaron R. We really appreciate your support.
Now on to my cards for the week.

Ok I did post this one on Sunday, but I ended up coloring in the heart. I did it with water color pencils and you can see it is still a little wet in the picture. :) I love this stamp. I used the Cosmo Cricket Earth Love for this one. This paper rawks.

No Stamping on this one, but used the Mojo Monday sketch for it. Basic grey paper and embellishments, White polka dot paper is from Making Memories

I love how simple this card is, but how cute it came out. This is what you get when you are super tired, but need that one card for the next day! Unity Stamps, Papertrey Kraft paper, misc. ribbon, Water colored with ink and a waterbrush pen.

This card uses the new Unity grainy background stamp and the mojo monday sketch.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope everyone has a great weekend. In South Florida we are still waiting for Fall to get here, but for those of you with fall in the air go out and enjoy it. My parents are taking all 4 grandkids this weekend - all boys - ranging from 3-9. Hubby and I get a night out and we still do not know what to do. Decisions Decisions. I am sure we will figure something out.

{Busy Crazy Weekend}

2009-09-20T18:47:00.000-04:00

Well this past week has been an emotional one. Our Kitty Sasha has been extremely ill. We had to make a decision about putting her to sleep or trying surgery and praying for the best. We have had her for 17 years and she is totally a member of our family. So after MANY tears we decided to try surgery. Well, we have her home since Friday night and there are times I am not sure we made the right decision, but force feeding for now and 6 meds a day is hopefully going to work. I really can not imagine putting her down. It would break our hearts.

Well to take my mind off things I got busy scrapping. Sasha was in the animal hospital for 2 nights and it was very hard coming home to an empty home. Here are the fruits of my labor.

I am really addicted to using up my scraps for butterflies

I got this pumpkin from Kristina Werner - I am still working on the Ghost and other adorable Halloween card using Cosmo Cricket Papers

This is my first EVA 8 1/2 x 11 Layout. I used Cosmo Cricket Earth Love papers. They are VERY cute!!!! This is me when I was 3 years old! Wow a very long time ago. :(

I bought the little pad of papers from the Earth Love collection and they are perfect for making cards. I used the Unity Stamp for the sentiment. This design is also from Kristina Werner. I have to say she is the Card Making QUEEN! Thanks to her I am back to using stamps and making cards. I really Love it. Well thanks for looking.

{Unity Friends with Flair}

2009-09-18T09:05:00.000-04:00

Hello all here are my entries for this weeks Unity Friends with Flair. I have to say having this blog hop has really gotten me into the scrapping/stamping mode and I am loving it. This card and LO are also for my DT kit at Cherry Blossom Studio.
For the card I used the Unity Stamp Floral Friends the sentiment from July KOM. I love them ALL. I used the sketch from Kristina Werner for this one.
For the Layout I used the Scrapbook Collage Le Chic Vintage, which was such a great kit it is sold out! Just goes to show how great the product is. Well I hope you enjoyed this weeks creations. It really is fun creating with Unity Stamps. I hope everyone has a GREAT weekend!

{New Layout}

2009-09-15T10:05:00.004-04:00

I was asked by my good friend Tammy to rejoin the DT for Cherry Blossom Studio. Thanks Tammy. This week I got my first kit and went right to work. I could not wait to use the papers in the kit. Cosmo Cricket Earth Love. This collection is just way too cute. Here is one of the Layouts I did for the store. The others will have to wait until Friday. I have also been working on some cards with this set. I am going to be using some of Kristina Werners sketches. She is the BOMB!!! Really got me back into card making.

I did this LO using the 52 Sketches 52 weeks #37 sketch. I think it turned out pretty darn cute. The journalling spot is from Unity Stamps and the paper used for it is from Cosmo Cricket - though the Girl Friday Line I believe. Matched very well. The card is one I lifted from Shannon Zickle.

Well I have taken this semester off from classes and I have to say I am using it wisely. I made a schedule for the week which includes scrapping time for Me! Being a working wife and mommy sometimes I seem to get into the rut of all housework and mom duties and NO me time. I can get cranky!!! Well I am hoping to try and balance all of that out. So far so good, though I did start off a little slow. Any working Mom's out there tend to feel guilty for sitting in your craft room? I am trying to work in time after the little one has gone to bed. It really is a stress reliever for me and I feel that when I am done and relaxed everyone is happier. The house is clean, dinner is done, laundry in the dryer, and me in my craft room. The thing I enjoy the most about it is that my hubby and I share the office space and he works in there with me and we laugh a lot, chit chat, and have some fun while both of us are working. I admit though when I wear my Zune and listen to music it drives him crazy because I SING!!!! lol He does not find this amusing, funny how I do.... Well to all you Mom's out there, I recommend getting a schedule going and pencil in some YOU time! Enjoy your Tuesday. I will be posting more layouts and cards this week! Check out Unity Friends with Flair on Friday. This is a very fun hop and you get GREAT ideas.

{Weekend Goodies}

2009-09-13T23:39:00.004-04:00

So I had a great time doing the Unity Friends with Flair. I hope to participate again this week too. It really gets me moving and using the stuff I buy. Well this weekend was a busy one. Besides being sick as a DAWG and losing my voice I got a lot done. I made some more cards, went to Michael's and picked up some new punches, went to my LSS, and even began working on a new LO. I will post it later in the week. I also made some YUMMY cupcakes on Saturday. They ended up looking so pretty I just had to take some photos.

See I mean really how could you not want to eat these? Coconut Cup Cakes dressed up girly. Being the only girl in the house I have to get my pink in anywhere I can. Hope everyone had a great weekend. It is officially now Monday here in South FL so I am off to bed to get ready for a FULL week at work. Thanks again to all of the loverly ladies who left praise for my Unity Friends with Flair Cards! The talent on that hop is amazing. For those who are reading this blog and do not know about Unity you must check them out.

{Unity Friends with Flair}

2009-09-11T09:30:00.004-04:00

September 11th a Day of Rememberance Hello all welcome to Unity's Friends with Flair. I am excited to be a part of it this week. This is my first time doing a blog hop of any kind. Here are some simple cards I made last night using Unity Stamps. I have to say I received the scrap kit, LeChic Vintage and LOVE IT. The ink and papers were perfect and the stamps, well they are perfect for both scrapping and card making. If you click here it is my post using the kit for a LO and here are the cards I made.

After you are done here click back to Unity Blog for the list of other Friends with Flair. Enjoy your day. Thanks for stopping by.

{FaceBook the Addiction}

2009-09-10T09:37:00.005-04:00

Ok so who else is addicted to FaceBook? I mean this darn Farmville has me on it all the time. Will I miss the blooming of my crops before they whither and die? Will I get enough neighbors to increase the size of my plot of land? Why do I find it necessary to check on the status of my "friends" every half hour? It seems that I just can not stop. It is so bad that most of us have it on our phones too. What makes it such an addicting "sport"? There are old people, young people, and those of us in between trying to rekindle the feeling of our wonderful high school days. Days that we remember as being the best, but only when compared to having to now work and pay bills. Awe if we could just go back to that time we would do so much better, right? WRONG! We would still go back and have FUN! Really that is why we look back on it with such fond memories right. Football games, pep rallies, dances, parties, drinking games etc. I mean really it was fun right?? Part time jobs paying just enough to make a used car payment, insurance, and gas with just enough left over to go to the movies and dinner with your friends on the weekends.

I LOVE Flair. It really gives you the chance to tell people all about you. LOL Well maybe not that deep, but they are cute and pretty. You can pick what you like and possibly what you believe in. There are flairs out there for everyone. Religions, Political, Rights, wrongs, LOL, Twilight, actors, food, coffee, and even hobbies the list goes on.....

FB is everywhere!While on vacation we were in Pittsburgh, PA and went into Houlihan's (see you can find anything) in Station Square for dinner. When the waitress brought our drinks she set them on coasters that I really did not give too much thought to until I took a sip of my tea. Well what did I see the coast was about FB. LOL It said even old people are on FB. Well I had this idea to go a whole scrapbook page about my addiction. I have even been collecting flair to print out and add to the whole addiction part of the LO. Who else is with me on the FB craze?

From my flair you now know that I love coffee, even in cool shapes, that i sometimes tell my child to go watch TV cuz Mommy is on FB seeing what other people are doing or farming, I believe in peace and monkeys, (or could that be the coffee in the shape of a monkey), I love owls, have a shoe fetish, and love my crafts, especially Unity Stamps. See you can learn a lot about a person in some flair. So yes I have decided to work through my FB Addiction with a scrapbook page. Maybe seeing my crazy obsession laid out for all the world to see will show me just how addicted I am? Maybe it will tell me I need a 12 step program to separate myself from it. Alas I think not, it will however, make a really cool scrapbook layout though. Another obsession of mine! LOL

Well I challenge all of you blog stalkers to do a FB LO or something you are obessed about and post a link to it in the comment section. This should be fun!!!! or atleast humorous!

{Unity Scrap Kit}

2009-09-04T21:19:00.004-04:00

Can I just say this kit is fantabulous. My friend Tammy told me that hers had already arrived and I had to run and see if mine had too. Well low and behold it had. I ripped open the box and just had to touch and feel it all. I love the ink it is yummy. The papers are just so pretty. I have been unable to get my hands on JilliBean Soup and have to say they are beautiful. I am never disappointed with Cosmo Cricket. If you have not tried any of the Unity Stamps you are really missing out. Here is the first LO that I did tonight with my new kit. I love how it came out the colors are wonderful.

I will post more items this weekend I am sure. I really LOVE this kit. I hope everyone enjoys their weekend.

Kim

{Waiting for the mailman} ok really stalking

2009-09-03T09:17:00.006-04:00

I received confirmation that my latest order from Unity has shipped. I pre-ordered their new scrapbook pack. This comes complete with stamps, paper, and ink! The papers are from Jilli-Bean Soup and Cosmo Cricket. I can not wait for it to get here.
I am off to Wal-Mart today to get my pictures from vacation, they finally arrived at the store. I tried to save a little $$ by having them not printed in the one hour mode. Though I am not usually able to wait and need that instant gratification; it did not take as long as I thought. LOL Well hopefully tonight I can sneak in some scrapping time between loads of laundry.
Well here it is the newest purchase.

How can you not love it. You have to see how people have already used it in their DT gallery. It really sold me. Go here and check them out. Their stamps are wonderful and I can only imagine what their inks will be like. They have a really cool blog too check it out.
Well I hope everyone enjoys their Thursday. Only one more full day of work then look out 3 day weekend. Though it is only the 2nd week of school here I think we are all looking forward to the 3 days off in a row. LOL I think we are all still on summer time.

{Happy Birthday to my Dad and Brother}

2009-09-02T22:17:00.004-04:00

I always tell my Dad(step) that the only reason my Mom married him was becuase he shared a birthday with my brother, Mike. LOL They are two of the coolest men I know. I love you both very much. Hope you have enjoyed your day! Saturday we will be celebrating with the family and I can not wait to hang out and have a great time.

These pictures show just what kind of guys they are. Both family men. Guess they are both cut from the same cloth. Great parents just tend to rub off! Well enough of the mushy stuff I can go on and on about my family I sure do love them lots. Welll here are some POOR pictures of some quick cards I made the other night. I will try and take some more tomorrow and repost. These were taken with my phone.

Wow they are reallllly bad. I will post them again tomorrow. Well today was just another day. Nothing fantabulous to report. I hope everyone had a wonder Wednesday and tomorrow I get to pick up my photos from our vacation and get scrapping. I can not wait to pick them up. I have so many ideas in my head. Hope I actually get them onto the paper.

{Point Blank Period and a Yummo Recipe}

2009-09-01T09:08:00.004-04:00

So today or should I say this morning Point Blank Period is LIVE. I can not wait to do the first challenge. This will so take me out of my comfort zone with the journalling etc. You know I just had to stop and check the spelling of the word "journalling" according to http://www.m-w.com/ it is not a word! So I guess any way I spell it will be right - LL or L guess you know what I mean. LOL Anyway this will also have me working on a project that is all about me! That might be the most challenging aspect for me. I scrap others and the events in my life, no so much ME. If you have not seen nor heard about Point Blank Period check it out HERE.

Well last night I made a great dinner that was so simple to make. I work full-time so meals that are quick, easy, and healthy are a must in our household. I made a Shrimp pasta with a white wine sauce. Here is the recipe if you are interested in making it.

3 Shallots - sliced

3 Cloves of Garlic - sliced

1/2 cup or less of Sun Dried Tomatoes - chopped

1 lb. of Spaghetti - i used whole wheat

1 1/2 lbs. of Shrimp - peeled and deveined

1 1/2 cups white wine

1/4 cup Olive Oil

2 cups Arugula

Cook the pasta

Sautee the onions and garlic on medium heat in the olive oil - about 3 minutes - do not brown

Then add the tomatoes and cook for another 3 minutes

Add the wine and shrimp - cook until shrimp is done

Add the pasta - Salt and Pepper mix well

Add the arugula, toss and enjoy - we added some parmesan cheese to it.

Easy peasey lemon squeezy and yummy too! Let me know if you try it. I am always looking for those types of recipes so post a link to one or add it to the comments! Thanks!

I will leave you with a random photo that I just love!

My son is hysterical and loves to ham it up for the camera. It just makes me laugh and that is what it is all about. I had a super nice chat with my friend LaVerne last night - about how we really need to not only take photos of our life, but learn to appreciate the life you are photographing. Spontaneity, randomness, and just general life moments mean more than the posed picture so remember that when photographing your life. Those moments just happen enjoy them

{Manic Monday}

2009-08-31T21:52:00.003-04:00

Well the weekend was way to short and though I got a lot done, laundry doesn't count as my idea of fun. My husband and I are clearing out the clutter in our lives. Old baby stuff, quilts, quilt rack etc. It makes my mind more clear. So my hubby is now addicted to Craigs List. So anyone in the local South FL area, check out his posts and take ALL of this stuff from my front door! I gave him one week then it is off to Goodwill with it all. Isn't it crazy how much your decorating style changes over the years. When we first moved in together, OMG 17 years ago! Oh my that was hard to say, well my style was South West. This evolved into Country, complete with dead flowers on my walls that would attract all of the dust in the house. I guess that added to the country Krap charm? LOL Well now I guess you can say I am going through my minimalist phase. I love it. So neat and clean. What styles have you gone through and where have you ended up?
Well Monday's always consist of work, dinner, laundry etc. So I look forward to the kiddos bed time. I get to blog stalk, bookmark items I want to scrap lift, that I never seem to get to. Well work was crazy today so I was really ready today for my Manic Monday ritual.
I have to say Monday nights are one of my favorite nights on TV. Two and a half men and The Big Bang Theory are freaking hilarious! I {heart} those nerds! on Big Bang. Also how can I not mention How I met your Mother! Barney cracks me up! I can not wait for the new season to start. I also have a secret, sshhh don't tell anyone LOL I secretly watch the Disney Channel and LOVE Hannah Montana and The Wizards of Waverly Place. I use my son as a way to watch it. LOL though I watch even when he is in bed.
Well the first week of school as come and gone. Now the homework as started. Aaron is really into writing this year and art all of the sudden. I love this part of the year when they are excited to learn new things. The creative juices are flowing.
I do however have a moody kid on my hands and not sure how to handle him. I mean really 9 and attitude. Thinks we owe him the world all the sudden. Well I guess it is really not all that bad, but wants to stay up late, watch TV, and then have reading time. Well come on... I know could be so much worse, but he is really a great kid and this is out of character for him. The attitude we get after we say no is unreal. Tonight he told me that if I wanted to continue to be his favorite I would read chapter 2 of the new book we started. LOL can you believe that. 9 year old bribery. Well that was my manic Monday. If you made it to the end of my rambling - thanks!

{Sassy Sunday Sketch}

2009-08-30T19:39:00.003-04:00

Here is my Sassy Sunday Sketch for Cherry Blossom Studio. I used a ton of Fancy Pants Felt. I have so much of it - was nice to put it to good use. It felt good to get back in my craft room. I hope to being doing more this week.

Well this first week of school is behind us and Aaron did much better by the end of the week. Thank God. I being separation anxiety was his issue. Being an only child and spending so much time with us is sometimes a really hard thing to let go. I am feeling better about the whole situation.

{I have been sucked in}

2009-08-28T21:36:00.002-04:00

To the vortex that is Twitter. Not really sure why, but it seems there are a ton of my friends on it and do I really want to be left out? Crazy I know. Who really wants to know what I am doing at a moments notice. Isn't that what FaceBook is for? LOL Oh well I will give it a try. If you have a twitter account let me know.

{LSS Re-Opening}

2009-08-27T09:53:00.002-04:00

Cherry Blossom Studio is re-open and I could not be more excited. I love this store and all they offer. The classes are wonderful, as is the staff. ALWAYS eager to help. Check out their blog here. I have been trying my hand at some challenges for card making and will be posting some later today. I need to get my rear in gear and print out my vaca photos and get to scrapping. I have taken this semester off from classes and I feel like I am wasting away prime scrapping time! Well the family has been a little on the busy side. Mom had some surgery on her foot, then the next day Gram is in the hospital for CHF! Ugh I know that when you get older people tend to leave your lives, but come on. I lost my Maternal Grandpa last July, and for me that is ENOUGH! Grandma is doing much better and hopefully will come home today!
Another sore point in my life right now is my son Aaron. He started 4th grade this year and is having a VERY hard time adjusting. He is an only child and we spent a great deal of time together as a family this summer! We have been having an extreme case of separation anxiety this year for some reason. This is his 5th year at the same school, and even has the SAME teachers as last year. Not sure what is going on, but this morning SUCKED for me. I had to be mean and literally peel him off me to leave. I got in my car and broke down! I HATE being mean, but he says there is NOTHING wrong at school, nor is he afraid of anyone etc. I am at wits end. My hubby made an appointment the with principal before we do the doctor thing. I just my baby to feel safe and enjoy school! Well sorry for the downer post. Anyone with ANY ideas please leave a comment! I am feeling lost in this situation and really hate that feeling. Until the next post! Thanks and have a wonderful day.

2009-08-22T20:05:00.004-04:00

A big thanks to Andrea for the award – Thanks to Andrea for the Award!

With this prestigious award comes the fine print: In order to accept this award you must:

1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award - Check

2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog. Check see Above

3. Link the person who nominated you for this award - Check

4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting - not so sure about this one, but

5. Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers - check see below

6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate - Check see below

7. Leave comments on all 7 blogs letting then know you nominated them - done

Here are my 7 Kreativ Bloggers:

LaVerne - Can layer like no ones business - taught me to scrap out of my comfort zone

Tammy Friedberg - got me addicted to Unity Stamps

Christine Middlecamp - Love her sense of color and texture

Kristina Werner - i am addicted to her cards

Stephanie Howell - love the simplicity of her designs and her story telling

Layle Koncar - Love her style - great inspiration

Katie Bee - She can alter anything and it is beautiful

Here are the 7 things people might find interesting:

This will be hard I am not that interesting at all.

1. I have a son with 9 toes

2. My father passed away when I was 8

3. Fractured my skull at age 7 - I know explains a lot. LOL

4. Was a CTMH Consultant

5. I am afraid of upside down roller coasters

6. Have been with my hubby for 20 years this year though married for 14 years.

7. See I said I was boring - Passed my driving test on the first try?

Sorry I got nothin'.

{Where does the time go}

2009-08-14T09:32:00.003-04:00

It seems like yesterday I went into the OB for my first weekly exam and I was sent to the hospital with contractions! Well, here we are 9 years later and I have the most wonderful little man in the world. He is kind and sweet, yet still a boy! He loves to make jokes and laugh. He loves being in Scouts, outdoors, and science of any kind. He is smart and inquisitive and just an over all a joy to have in my life. Not a day goes by that I am not TRULY grateful for my son. I guess if you are only going to have one, do it right! LOL not for lack of trying, but he seems destin to be an only child! Well today he woke up to his first present which was ripped open with sleepy eyes and bed head so he requested NO pictures Mom! Ugh also when did Mommy stop and Mom start!!! I really want to know why that bothers me so much! Well back to the present it was Aero Smith for the Guitar Hero Wii. He looks at Daddy and I with this huge grin and saying how did you know I REALLY wanted this. Now this is the kid that NEVER and I am not just saying that, he never asks for anything. Christmas and Birthdays are a nightmare for me and my HUGE extended family when it comes to shopping for him. Well finally something he really wanted! Wink Wink, Mom and Dad listen so ANYTIME he mentions even the littlest of things we take note. Well the morning went well so far and he gets to choose the dinner location tonight. He and Daddy are going to spend the day at home, while Mommy works. Oh well. This Saturday we get to spend the day with Family at Mom and Dad's the kids always have a blast with Memaw and Papa so everyone is excited. BBQ and pool what could be better! I will post pics of the merriment! So I want to wish Aaron Michael a wonderful 9th Birthday!

So how is it you go from this to this in the blink of an eye. It is all the tears, smiles, and laughter in between that makes the journey all worth while! Happy Birthday A, and remember Mommy loves you all the world and back again and even to the moon!

{Back from our trip}

2009-08-11T15:39:00.005-04:00

Well we are back and have returned to the average week of summer. Aaron will be 9! this Friday. I am excited for him, but ugh it makes me feel old. 4th grade starts in 2 weeks. I have finally downloaded all of my pictures from my camera and there were to other photographers on our trip and I have yet to see their photos. Here are a few of my favorites.

Kissing ducks on an Amish Farm, Rainbow over Horseshoe Falls, American and Canadian Falls in one shot, One Crazy Family, DT Pittsburgh as taken from a random camera stuck out of the window, DT Pitt from an 'artistic' view, Aaron driving the Duck Boat on the Just Ducky Tour of DT Pitt, Beautiful Black Eyed Susan's from a rest area (would make a great paper to scrap), My boys by a river in Ohio, Gondola over the whirlpools in Niagara. There are so many more that I love, but for now that is all I will post. Don't want to bore anyone. The trip was wonderful and I recommend taking a driving tour to Niagara and back. We had a blast. I have one more week of school left, then I am on a short leave of absence for 10 weeks. I can not wait to use my time to get creative!!!! So many nice pictures to scrap. Hopefully I will have some time this weekend, if all goes well with my mountain of laundry. Love vacation, but hate coming back to laundry. I hope everyone has a great week.

Photobucket src="http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa49/foamgirl/mesig.jpg" border=0>

{Vacation Blog} pic heavy

2009-08-06T21:15:00.012-04:00

We are still on our vacation, but I have not had the energy to blog. We have been non-stop since leaving. Our first stop was in Virginia for one night just to sleep. The following day we traveled to Ohio. Once we got into a hotel that was not housing a family reunion of about, oh I don't know, a billion people; we were great. In Ohio we saw many beautiful sights. The corn fields are just beautiful in the sunlight.

We actually visited an Amish home,

farm, and barn. Aaron loved holding the bunnies.

The three of us took a buggy ride. If any of you have been following along, Joe went along for the ride too.

In fact Joe has been across the border and back. Here are some pictures from our visit to OH.

The church was just very pretty I thought and snapped it from the car. The cheese factory was quaint and the kitten's outside in their beautiful gardens were too cute. We stopped along the way out of Ohio at a Vineyard named Ferrante Winery, just had to take a picture for the family! Sorry the not so wonderful pictures are taken with the blackberry so.... Driving through the wooden covered bridge was cool as was the lake on the other side. The weather has been just wonderful. Not sure if I am ready for the HOT Florida weather.

Most of these have been taken by me, but some by Aaron. He received a camera for his birthday and he is turning into quite the little photographer. I have been using my Point and Shoot on manual and I am learning quite a bit about white balance and iso. Keep in my that these photos have not been edited, so please bear with me. After Ohio we were on our way to Canada via New York to see Niagara Falls. I must say I have always heard that they are spectacular and that really is an understatement. The feeling you get after seeing them in person is indescribable.

Here are some pictures of our visit to Canada. First up is a bridge in New York and Joe at the border

These first few are of the whirlpools at the end of the falls. The water is such a beautiful green/blue.

The next ones are the ones of Aaron on the Maid of the Mist. This boat takes you as close to the Canadian Falls as possible. The mist and spray is so bad you can not take photos without a waterproof camera.

American falls on the Right and the Canadian Falls on the left.

A view from the top of the horseshoe falls.

Rainbow over the falls. The others are just random photos from Canada. This is all I can do tonight I am exhausted and must sleep! I will post more tomorrow. To all of our family we miss and love you. I will post more pictures tomorrow.

Our big trip

2009-07-30T10:25:00.000-04:00

So we are off and on our way to Canada via Ohio, then on to Pittsburgh. I am blogging from my blackberry for now, we will see how this works! It is a little hard with a boo-boo on my thumb! I am sad I missed CHA, but LaVerne was kind enough to take pictures and post them. We did nopt leave as early as we wanted, but traveling during the week is wonderful, no traffic. We are all excited. We are playing a game to see who can find the most out of state plates, I am losing since I am blogging. LOL. Well I will be posting pictures along the way; some from the blackberry and some from the camera so not all will be great! We are tracking Joe's trip on my Facebook page so check him out. I will add you as a friend if you would like to follow him along the way. I am going to get back to my game for now. Big A just got Kentucky! Will post some pics soon!

{My everyday view}

2009-07-17T13:55:00.005-04:00

Ok I just know that there must be a scrap page brewing in my head, because I got the wild idea to take pictures of what is around me in my office and what I see on a daily basis. I am at work more hours of my life, than I am at home. So here is what my day to day looks like.

Ok diet pepsi is usually sitting on my desk. It is either that or coffee. Staples in my day.

Here is a view of my computer - I usually have my Zune playing, helps me pass the day.

This is my informational wall. I look to it ALL day everyday! Look closely the funniest email I ever got is printed out - OK a pig laying next to a piece of bacon - telling it he should have worn sunscreen! Funny right?

Here is a view from my desk! Ok all the stuff on the book shelf is crap that needs to leave my office. People think I am a dumping ground! Oh well.

Here is the view walking into my office. I have to say I have tried to make it like home, since as I stated I am here so much more than home! Ok I know I live in South Florida and it is freaking hot, but it is meat locker here, hence the sweater on the back of my chair. You may also see the card board box above my window! LOL there is a small window up there that does NOT have blinds on it and at certain times during the year the sun BEATS down on me and the computer screen, so my handy dandy co-workers fashioned me a loverly UPS box shade. Well I guess I was really bored today and just thought I would take some pics and post them. Crazy! Well this weekend is going to be a busy one. Tomorrow Rocket Derby with the scouts and dinner guests too! So glad my hubby invited them over, but it will be about 1000 degrees out tomorrow and the event is in the total sun! From 7am-3pm! EEE gaads! So I will be wiped out. Take out anyone!? Another hour in the kitchen over the stove cooking does NOT sound appealing at all and I LOVE to cook. Well I hope to get some scrapping done at some point. I will post if I can - hope everyone has a great weekend!

{Home from a GREAT weekend crop}

2009-07-13T20:07:00.006-04:00

Well I had an extremely productive weekend at a 3 day crop. I sat with Pookie and Betsy, and an occassional visit from Cindy. Well here are some of my pages and cards.

I {heart} the Sassafras Bungle Jungle Line. It really fits this little kiddo to a tee!

Here is another one I did. I used some new techniques I learned by watching one the Jennifer McGuire Blog. I used the mist and masked off the circles. Then I used the sewing technique I learned by watching Davinie on her blog.

This one I used the new JuneBug paper from Basic Grey. This is the cutest paper. I also used Unity stamps. I totally lifted this LO from Layle Koncar check out her LO here.Here is one that I made for my Sister-n-law's birthday. 8x8 that I am going to frame. I used the Three Bugs in a Rug paper. I love it. The flourish is from BoBunny and I inked with with some distressed inks by Ranger.

Here is a card I did using some Unity Stamps, Making Memories Paper, and a Martha Stewart punch. I got the idea from Kristina Werner here.

I made more of these adorable gift card holders for upcoming birthdays. I really adore these.

I made these two cards for my Uncles' birthday's. They are fun papers to work with.

Well I had a blast, laughed, ate, shopped, and got lots done.

{Sometimes you just feel like this}

2009-07-09T20:00:00.003-04:00

I have had this kind of week. My kitter cat's face says it all. Sometimes you just want to give a raspberry to the world. LOL She is too funny. Well this has been a long week, and I am ready for the weekend. Going to a crop at Cherry Blossom Studios. I can not wait. Going to be making cards and finishing some LO's. I am really excited that CHA is around the corner and Michelle and Tammy will be going to pick out some new goodies. Check out the Cherry Blossom Blog for the new items they are planing to buy. You can even vote on what items you would like to see in the store! Well off to finish up some class work.
Oh one more thing. We are planning our family vacation to Niagara Falls, NY via Florida, Virginia, OH etc. If anyone knows of some great stores or things to do along I-77 please let me know. We are looking for fun things along the way. I know I have some readers from other states and would love to hear from you. Thanks for any ideas! I am working on my photograpy so if there are any sites or parks etc. that you think we should see please let me know.

{The 4th Weekend}

2009-07-03T22:00:00.002-04:00

Well I will start with my day off Eve. Last night Aaron made dinner completely on his own. Ground turkey with pasta and sauce. Let me tell you he did it from start to stop including setting the table! I am extremely proud of him. He is really growing up!
I got to spend the entire day with my little boy, who I am find out is VERY grown up. My 8 year old and I spent the day with friends. We met Tammy and Jake for breakfast and headed out to go bowling after.

In south Florida it is EXTREMELY hot and we spent our day indoors. Well for the most part, if you can running from our cars being outside. After bowling we went to Joanne's, then haircuts for the boys, then Target for the Mom's. That was great. Got lots of cute stuff for the 4th tomorrow. We got shirts to tye dye. Stuff to make 4th of July cupcakes. Some beer and Pomegranate Martini mix for the adults. Can not wait the day should be a blast. We plan to spend it at the pool and playing games with friends. Tonight Aaron made the cupcakes and I am making the cookie hamburgers. They are just too cute and simple not to make. Well here are some pictures from the day. We had a great time bowling. Can not wait to go back. Tomorrow morning we will be going to our annual parade and I will post some pictures tomorrow night. Have a safe and fun 4th!
Well here are the pictures of our 4th of July parade.

We always have a great time and Aaron loves to catch the candy. I was not able to take pictures of the shirts, but will post them at another time. I am sure we will wear them again! We had friend over, but had so much fun in the pool that I just did not take pictures. Once the pool and dinner were over off to watch the fire works we went. They were great as usual. I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th!

{In Search of....}

2009-06-26T14:04:00.004-04:00

Ok first of all I need to get rid of the white behind the signature and make my name larger. I am just learning about layers and loving it.

So now on to the real reason for the post. I am looking for a large butterfly handheld punch. Or one to use with the cuttle bug. Anyone have any recommendations? I want to use this on a layout and the only one I have is this one by Martha Stewart. While it is very cute it is too small for the 12x12 layout. Great for cards though. So anyone that has some ideas please let me know.

Also check out my favorite local stores updated blog ~

Cherry Blossom Studio make sure you say hello to Michelle, the owner. She is super sweet. If you are in the local area you must stop in her store is beautiful and she has GREAT weekend and day crops!

Well it is Friday and NOT sunny in my area of South Florida. I think that getting some cropping done tonight is in order. It seems like forever since I have made an actual LO. I have some wonderful pictures on my desk and really need to get them done.

Hey if any of you have a new paper lines that you just love can you post a comment of what they are? I am looking to branch out and try some new companies. I am looking at Jenni Bowlin and American Crafts I just can not find them locally. Well that is it for now I have to get back to my real job. Hope everyone has a great weekend. Enjoy!

{Today is a sad day}

2009-06-25T20:38:00.008-04:00

I am a child of the 70's and 80's, not to reveal my age, but today we lost two of the people I grew up watching and listening to. First Farrah Fawcett and now Michael Jackson! It is crazy. I can not believe it. I used to watch Charlie's Angels religiously and even had their dolls. As for Michael Jackson, I remember running home from school to watch the Thriller video on MTV. I am just

Very sad at the whole thing. RIP Michael and Farrah.

On a lighter note, I have done some shopping at Cherry Blossom Studio and I must say the Basic Grey is wayyyyyyy tooooo cute. I got quite a bit of it, but here are some samples of just how cute the stuff it. The colors are wonder. I am going to try and get some stuff made this weekend. I have a layout swimming around in my head, now just to get it out and the paper glued down.

Ok so as I am typing my little one comes up and sits down next to me and sees the picture of Michael Jackson and ask who he is. He said oh I have never seen him except in its a small world where he is painting the ceiling. Ok now that is funny. I have to stop my sadness and laugh and explain that he is Michael Angelo. After I stop giggling! So what is it they say, out of the mouths of babes. The only way he really knows MJ is from Guitar Hero and the Beat It song, just has never seen him.

Well my thoughts and prayers are with the families of Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett.

~Testing out a new siggie~

2009-06-24T10:38:00.001-04:00

{Update}

2009-06-23T13:43:00.006-04:00

I forgot to mention on the last post that the men in my life are wonderful. They bought me more charms for my Brighton Bracelet for my birthday and took me out to dinner at The Outback! How cute are they? It was a very nice night despite the fact that I had class! Don't they know that it is my birthday and that is reason to cancel class? :) Oh well. Here are the other 2 cards I made from the Twopeasinabucket class. I am off to catch up on the year in cards and I will post the ones I make. I feel terrible that I have not scrapped lately, but the card making is instant gratification and the cards can be completed relatively quickly.

Ok now these have to be the cutest ever and they fit a gift card perfectly. These were ones that I made for hubby, Father's day! I am itching to make many more. I mean really when was the last time you bought someone an actual present. I have been doing money and gift cards forever. The double sided paper is perfect for these cards/envelopes. Still need to find a tutorial on bow making! You know I think I even mentioned Father's Day last post except in the post and I did not take ONE photo the entire weekend! I was really BAD! We had a nice Sunday at my parent's house. We celebrated father's day with my dad and my father-in-law, my husband's birthday, and mine! Was a busy day - being that we are in SO FL it is HOT and we were in the pool for a good portion of the afternoon. My sister-in-law, {the best eva} and I supervised the kids. The water was VERY WARM - {think bath water} almost not refreshing, but we were in the pool and the kids had a blast! My dad recently had shoulder surgery so we just hung around their house and relaxed. It was really nice and I think that is why there are NO photos to document the day. I was relaxed for once, no all consumed with getting that perfect shot! Oh well next family gathering. I did make the cutest burgers for the guys. I have to post the pics of those. They are too freaking cute! And I still need to down load the scout event pictures. Until then, check out the twopeasinabucket educational classes!

Ok here are the cutest little hamburgers, without tops on them, that I made for Father's Day. They came out very cute and very pretty tastey I must say. Once the tops were on you really could not tell that they were NOT hamburgers!

{Birthday and Father's Day Weekend}

2009-06-22T01:00:00.008-04:00

Well this weekend was a crazy busy weekend. I got nothing done except playing and crafting and it was wonderful.

I found inspiration http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/, Kristina Werner, she is teaching great classes and her video's are the bomb. I am in love with her work! I am on a roll - making these little cuties for future occassions. They are too cute. I need some serious work on the bow making part of it. I used some of my new Unity Stamps for the cards - I freaking love these stamps - they stamp so clean and clear. The Basic Grey letters are wonderful for these little gift card holders. Well I will post more later I have to get back to work! LOL. I have 2 more craft items to post; as well as some pictures from a scout event. Have a great week!

Summer Time Fun! {Picture Heavy}

2009-06-17T22:41:00.006-04:00

Here in South Florida the heat has come on with a vengeance. We started the summer off with my son coming down with a terrible sinus infection complete with fever and all. Poor thing missed 3 days of scout camp and he was really upset. Well after a visit to the dr. and a ban from the pool for a week! We got to start our real summer. A trip to the zoo {freaking hot} I must really love my kid. We got some great pictures.

This little guy was so angry, another bird had thrown his nest into the water

Say hello to my little friend. :)

Ok, a trained chicken really could anything be funnier?

This peacock was so beautiful. As my friend Tammy pointed out I must scrap this picture!

This owl was just so pretty in real life. I love owls and with all the new stamps out I really must scrap this little fellow!

Well at the end of the day it was all about this little guy. He was feeling pretty puny after this and since his sinus infection was not gone yet the heat got the best of him and we left shortly after. Mom was pretty happy with his idea. It was over 90 degrees by this point. Well this is the start to our summer. This weekend is father's day and tomorrow is my 39th!, ugh that just about killed me to say it, Birthday! We will be going to my parent's house to celebrate both occasions with the family. I hope to get some great pictures and will post my father's day gifts and cards. Making something cute that I saw another person's blog while blog stalking. I will find it and post a link here tomorrow. Well off to bed, at 38.9 I really need my rest! :)

Sunny South Florida my fanny!

2009-05-30T20:52:00.006-04:00

Well we have had horrible weather for about 2 weeks and the rain just does not stop. I saw a duck using a puddle as a pond. No kidding. I even posted on face book asking if Noah is getting the ark ready! So I have almost completed this semester at school and only have one more final to go, Finance!!! ugh. I am taking my time on it, I want an A on the final to get my B+ in the class. It is stressing me out. At least I am done in Ethics and the professor posted our final grades! 99.20% with a perfect score on my Power Point final project!!! I was so excited . I worked so hard on that project. I have to say though I loved the professor he was GREAT! Here is a picture of a project I just completed.

Well today was no exception with the rain so I decided to create gift card sets for my son's teachers for an end of the year gift. So far I have one set down and one more to go. Here are some pictures of the cards. I figure I will wrap them with some pretty ribbon. These are for his science/writing teacher. She is young and sweet and my little one has a slight crush I do believe. He is too cute having to get to school early to go help her in class.

Well I am in {love} with this paper pack, I found it at Michael's, too cute and very versatile. The stamps are Unity, they are wonderful and stamp such nice, clear images. Their choices are really cute and sweet. I have placed a second order, just waiting for it to arrive. I am so excited to get my hands on more.

Oh yeah speaking of school Florida gives the kids the FCAT test to see if the move to the next grade or not and it becomes a tremendous source of stress for parents and kids alike. Well after freaking for a few months, wondering if the kids do what they are supposed to and not get lazy and fill in any answer, we got Aaron's scores, 4 in reading and 4 in math! That is wonderful considering the scale is 1-5. The kids need 2's to pass to the next grade. I was relieved and very pleased with the great scores. So as of next Thursday we will have a 4th grader on our hands! Whew I have to say that 3rd grade has been a whirl-wind. Lots of new things to learn. They are even still doing projects next week! Crazy!

Well I hope that we do not get rain tomorrow, but if we do I will be back in my craft room making another set of cards. I also want to go and see the movie "UP" it looks too cute. As I type my boys are assembling a huge Lego - VW Beetle Bug car that Santa brought my Hubby for Christmas. I know almost 6 months later, but it requires a lot of time to get it together. I will post some pics when they are done. Well here's to wishing everyone a wonderful rest of the weekend and if you are in FL stay dry.

Weekend Cards

2009-05-23T19:33:00.006-04:00

So I have been on a card making frenzy. I love it. A new paper pack from Michaels and I was set. Here is one that I made for SFYTT Challenge:

Now here are more that the challenge just got my mojo going.

Well I hope to get back in the craft room to make more this weekend. Maybe a couple pages too. Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend and remember the reason for your Monday off!

3AM Super Hero

2009-05-21T09:24:00.003-04:00

This is for all those Mommy's who have become "Mom, who feel that the little ones are just growing up way to fast. I have gone from Mommy to Mom in one blink of an eye. Good bye kisses are now a struggle and that is if they last from the car to classroom without being wiped off. The little boy I once held in my arms and fed a bottle to is now making his own breakfast. Play dates have turned into sleep-overs. Where oh where has my little boy gone. Only 8 and today's kids seem like they are 18. Well all that went away last night at 3AM. A TERRIBLE storm came through and I felt that familiar tap on the shoulder and a whisper in my ear, "Mommy can you come lay with me", well let me tell you I was more than happy to go and lay next to my little one and rub his back until he fell asleep again! Sorry it took some nasty thunder, but more than happy to do it. So I felt like the 3AM Super Hero, to tell you the truth being tired in the AM never felt so good! They grow up way too fast! I love this little one even though he is almost as tall as I am.

On a brighter note I have recently purchased these little cuties and can not wait to use them. If anyone has bought these and these and put them to use and not in their stash can you post them in the comment section or post your blog link here. I would love to see what you have done with them.

A wonderful Sunday

2009-05-17T21:39:00.004-04:00

We this weekend went very quick, but it was great. Aaron made Web on Saturday and we celebrated 8 birthdays on Sunday. I have a very large family and we have gotten to the point of celebrating birthdays by the quarter. Strange I know, but you would end up doing a different birthday every week. :) Well this year I decided to make all the cards. With inspiration from some older, 2007 Card Trend mags I was off and running. Here is what I ended up with. The photos are not too great, but was in a major hurry to get them done before we headed out the door this afternoon.

Well I have to say the party hat was my favorite and I love the Bungle Jungle paper! It is very cute and fun to work with. I {heart} Sassafras Lass. Well I think I will get to work on some Layouts next. I am feeling creative again. I hope I am out of the funk I was in. Two more weeks in class and I am a free woman for two weeks. YEAH! Well I am off to get ready for the week. Have a wonderful Monday everyone.

New Webelo Scout in the house

2009-05-16T23:21:00.003-04:00

Well tonight was a very special night in our house. We now have a Webelo Scout. Needless to say Mom and Den Leader Dad are VERY proud of our young man! Now tell me this is not a handsome kiddo. Yes I know we are very biased. LOL . Here are some before, during, and after. This was a sunset ceremony that ended in the dark. I can not wait to scrap these photos.

My two men in uniform are so handsome.

Well I spent the first part of the day making cards for the 8 birthdays we are celebrating tomorrow. Our family is so large that we celebrate birthdays by the quarter now. Crazy I know. Well I only got 4 out of 8 done. I will take some pics tomorrow and post them. They are coming out pretty good. Well just wanted to show some pictures of my little man. I am so proud. Now off to bed, it has been a LONG day.

Post Mother's Day Post

2009-05-12T22:02:00.008-04:00

So I was slightly crafty this past weekend. Saturday my son and I made cards. They came out pretty darn nice if I do say so myself. The Nana card was stitched by Aaron. Can you believe that. He did a wonderful job.

So as we were making cards there was a knock at the door and when we opened it there was the most beautiful, humongous flower arrangement. My first thought was oh honey they are beautiful, then I looked at him and his face said no way Jose. The card said they were from my parents. Again the best in the world. The card was so sweet and read, to an Inspiring Mom! Love Mom and Dad. Well let me tell you the smell from these flowers is just amazing. Now I know in the picture you can not tell how big they are, but they are almost the size of my kitchen table which seats 5 without the leaf!

Well now on Sunday we had breakfast with my Mother-in-law and my hubby's Aunt. Then back home, the boys let me nap, sweet! Then my parents came over for dinner. Hubby BBQ'ed and cleaned up! Then Aaron made brownie bites ALL BY HIMSELF. Ok he is 8 years old and did a GREAT job! Here is a photo shoot of the baking event. :) Now do NOT pay attention to my toaster oven that needs to be replaced!

He did an amazing job and they came out GREAT. We served them with vanilla ice cream! YUM-O! Well they were the end SWEET to the perfect Mother's Day. Oh yeah I almost forgot my boys got me my Brighton Charm bracelet and little boy charm. Very sweet. Leave enough hints and you really can get what you want!

Happy Mother's Day - early

2009-05-08T14:50:00.004-04:00

Hello all you Mother's out there. Here is to wishing you all a wonderful and relaxing weekend. I am not sure how relaxing mine will be this weekend, but last was WONDERFUL. My hubby, son, and I went and stayed on Vero Beach and it was BEAUTIFUL. We stayed RIGHT on the beach and took full advantage of the beautiful weather. We all came back home nice and tan. What a way to start off the summer, at least here in FL it feels like summer already.

Well this weekend starts off with house cleaning tonight since the rest of the weekend will be fun filled. Tomorrow night Aaron is off to Nana and Pop's for a sleepover while Mommy and Daddy go to a friends birthday party, which I am really looking forward too. It is a 70-80's theme and of course I had to shop right! Well I lived the 80's, but love the fashion from the 70's so this is my outfit for the night, sans shoes as I can not find the right ones! Even got a mani/pedi in this color to match the dress. Ok a lot different for me, but it will be cute tomorrow. It was really nice to hit the salon at lunch time and RELAX today!. I figure I can wear the dress again too, it is really cute in person.

And what is a Mother's day Weekend without spending some time with the Mom's. We are going to my in law's house Sunday AM to get Aaron and have lunch, then back to our house for dinner with my Mommy! I will be making cards for them and the birthday girl tonight or tomorrow AM, I hope to post them when I am done. So for now, Mommy's go relax and spoil yourselves this weekend.

Happy Birthday Mama!

2009-04-27T11:20:00.007-04:00

Well this weekend was a fun filled one. Saturday I spent the day doing ME stuff. I went shopping for clothes, found nothing! Why when you have money to burn you find nothing! Then went to my local Scrapbook Store, Cherry Blossom Studios, and of course was able to spend some money there. I had to get ready to celebrate my Mom's birthday on Sunday and my sister-in-law and I were responsible for making the sides and desserts. Well after going out to dinner with my boys I came back to the house to start cooking. Macaroni salad, green bean salad, and home made humus. All were very yummy! We also watched - Space Buddies - what a freaking cute movie! Well on Sunday morning, my son and I made homemade cards for Memaw! Here is the one I made, did not get a picture of his, but we used the new Scrapbook Trends card magazine for inspiration. Aaron made the card on the front and it came out GREAT!

Well everyone had a great time! We went swimming, ate too much BBQ, and then it was time for cake and presents. Well when I ordered the cake I spoke to a very nice gentleman with an accent. I ordered a carrot cake with "Happy Birthday Mom" to be written on the cake. Simple right? Well this is what I got. Not too far off, just humorous! But very good none the less!

Blake and Dad had a giggle or two, too! Mom of course had a great time with her Boys!

Well Happy Birthday Mama! You are the best! Glad you got all that you wanted!

Weekend Things

2009-04-20T13:03:00.003-04:00

Scouting and Fishing. My son had a lot to do this weekend. Scouting event for which he came

in second place!

He went swimming and fishing with his Pop.

The weather was just too beautiful to be inside this weekend. I was bad and did NOT get any scrapping done, nor was I able to visit the grand opening of Cherry Blossom Studios. Next Saturday I hope to be able to get over and purchase some new supplies. Though now LaVerne has posted a challenge on the BASB and I am going to try my hand at it over the next few days. Well now off to finish up some work for school! I am such a procrastinator all the sudden and that is driving me crazy! I need to work on that! I am too content reading my google reader and looking at other peoples work to get off my butt and scrap something or even too lazy to get a head start on my school work so I wont feel guilty about scrapping! Oh well! I will post the BASB LO as soon as I get it done! I think I will even bust out the old wedding photos and scrap one.

Wow long time no post

2009-04-17T10:39:00.010-04:00

I have not been in a creative mood! I went to the new Cherry Bloosom Studio two Saturdays ago and still have not taken the items I purchased out of the bag! Now that is bad cuz they are cute things. When I get into classes scrapping tends to slip off. I did however take some pictures recently. My hubby was out of town for 45 days doing a house remodel in GA; so it was just the little man and me. This is what happens when you are doing laundry and the house gets really quiet.

A little leftover Halloween makeup and some scissors and viola a Rock Star is born! I laughed my booty off then of course had to take some pics!

Well here is what my hubby was working on. What a difference! He did a GREAT! job.

Then Spring Break and Easter were upon us. We ended up getting together with the cousins at my parents house. As you can see the kids had a BLAST!

Complete with picnic under the tree, Pre-Easter Egg Hunt, Swimming, and sliding. They were worn out and it was GREAT!

When Hubby was on his way home Aaron and I made all of his favorites, which included these cupcakes and cookies!

We also went on a canoe ride in JD Park in Jupiter. It was a beautiful day with 20 MPH winds. I wanted to strangle my husband because a 6 mile canoe ride against the wind just about killed me! Though the sights were beautiful and we did it together.

Easter was wonderful this year. We spent the morning at home egg hunting, candy eating, and napping (me) until it was time to go spend the rest of the day with the family. Again another Easter Egg Hunt! And it was Tyler's first Easter!

Well maybe this weekend I will be able to get something done. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend enjoy!

Sunday.....

2009-03-29T13:45:00.007-04:00

Well this week has gone by extremely fast! Starting back with classes this week was a drag, I really enjoyed the 10 days between semesters. This semester I am taking Ethics and Finance. So far both very interesting. Aaron had us busy with scouts this week. The boys are making a very cool project to display tomorrow at the Pack Meeting I will post pictures of that some time next week. I have done ABSOLUTELY NO SCRAPPING in a few weeks! Not sure where my Mojo went! Here are the ones I did at the crop a few weeks ago.

The two sassafras LO's were inspired by Vicki Boutin and the cover of one of the Sassafras paper packs I got at Michael's. The Fancy Pants LO is my favorite. The papers are wonderful. The tree was made out of felt. The sheets are very nice a sturdy and I love the colors they offer. Once my hubby is available I will take better pictures with his camera. Well off to watch a movie with my little guy. Have a great Sunday!

My last free Monday

2009-03-23T15:18:00.007-04:00

and I have NOT taken advantage of not having classes, I have not scrapped or made any cards like I wanted to. Instead all I have done is Blog Stalked - gotten very good ideas. I never even posted the LO's I did at the last day crop I went to. Still working on that too. Well I was reading my good friend LaVerne's Blog, when I was cracking up at her concern and question of how people keep a clean house, scrap, blog, parent, and work. Well all I have to say in response to that is this.

This is my laundry chair and it was EXTREMELY full this weekend. I just keep doing loads upon loads of laundry - folding and waiting for someone to put them away. In fact I think this picture will soon become a LO. You can see the hanging items on another chair in the background! I am happy to say though the house did get cleaned this weekend. Bathrooms and all. Now just to put ALL of the laundry away. Hanging items are the only thing done so far.

Well my lil one - the scout - has had a project this week taking pictures that will soon be printed and shown at an "Art Show" at the next pack meeting. So far these are a few of my favorites that he has taken with a small point and shoot camera. Not too bad. These are not doctored up.

I was able to take Aaron bowling yesterday with a friend and we had a good time. A and I spent Friday night and Saturday at my Mom's house. She is house bond with an injured foot so we kept her company while my Dad was out of town. The weekend went way to quick! And for my honey who I hope reads this. This was our week in review! We love you miss you lots and love you more. Here is a crazy picture of your son! Look at that face. It is like pulling teeth to get that kid to be serious!

A wonderful weekend looks like this....

2009-03-15T22:23:00.013-04:00

This weekend started really on Friday when the sky looked like this. It was so beautiful that I just had to take a picture.

That afternoon I went to see my little president in action. Ladies and Gentlemen I would like to introduce you to James Madison our 4th president. He was too freaking cute. I made him a wig out of cotton balls and everyone just loved it!

Saturday I spent ALL day and into the night scrapping. I will post the LO's tomorrow after getting some good sun to photograph them in.

Aaron was spending the weekend at his Grandparents house and when I went to get him on Sunday morning I was greeted with this...

How pretty are they? He picked them in my Mom's wild flower garden.

I also took this picture leaving my parents home after dropping off the little one. I just stuck the camera out of the window and snapped the picture.

I want to do a LO and a lot of journaling about how you can look back, or you can always go home. Something like that. It will come to me. I truly have the BEST parents in the world and want to show that in a LO and give it to them as a gift.

Sunday was a very relaxing day, after a few short errands Aaron and I got on our bikes and rode to the pool in our community. It was just gorgeous out today in Sunny So. FL

Here is Aaron swimming and basking in the sun.

After we got home I washed our fresh grapes and we snacked on some and had a berry smoothie.

I took Aaron out for icecream tonight at Cold Stone. On our way there we saw the space shuttle take off. It was soooo clear out tonight that it was just amazing to see it in the setting sun! This picture was taken from my phone so the it is not the best, but what an cool sight with the sunset hitting the smoke!

All in All we had a great weekend. I hope yours was just as relaxing and wonderful as ours was.

Star Date - {Monday 030909} -

2009-03-09T11:27:00.011-04:00

The title is on honor of my hubby who LOVES Star Trek - yes I am married to a trekkie! And I {heart} him. Well I have not forgotten about the OPI, I have not found the right color yet. I will hopefully have it nailed down {pun intended}, by this week. Well I have been a crazy woman getting my last week of classes done with. One more paper to finish and I am free for 2 whole weeks! Yeah. I have a day crop this weekend and can not wait. I am going to be working on old pictures of my son from when we was a baby, since I looked back on all my pages from then and all I can say is, UGH! So I am going to print out some of the best photos and scrap away. I mean really look at this face how can I not!

He was too freaking cute and the scrapping needs to do it justice. We were watching videos of him when he was little and he could not believe it was him. His personality has NOT changed at all. And yes he wears clothes now. That kid hated clothes when he was little. As soon as he was in the house he striped down to the diaper and that was it. We worried that when he went to preschool he would want to strip to his diaper. LOL thank God that never happened.

I really want another baby! Watching these videos makes it worse. Of course my hubby thought my son would say hi at such a young age {3 Months}, but hey aren't all of our kids genius'? He really loved those rocking horses on the sheets.{smile} . Well this weekend I was at my favorite store and found these too cute coffee mugs, that match a bin that I have, the designer is Orla Keily, I believe, her stuff is too cute.

I got one in each color, the darker one is actually brown and very cute. They are pretty weighty too, nice mugs. I got a crate similar to the brown one. I use it to hold dish towels. They are really cute. The colors work great in the new kitchen.

Well I guess this is not too scrappy today, but I have been to busy to create much and nothing is finished. After this weekend I hope to have a ton to show. Have a great day! I will post as soon as I get the polish. Thanks again for all the color ideas.

Sunday.......

2009-03-01T11:18:00.006-05:00

Well I am supposed to be getting my house ready for In-laws and dinner, but here I am blogging! Oh well. I was up scrapping last night with the new line from Fancy Pants. Kraft Kuts. I LOVE it. The papers and cuts out are too cute. It works well with the Kraft paper from Bazzil. Here is a LO I did of my cousin's little boy. I hope to do many more of him with this paper line.

I also made some changes to the "Just Magic" LO. I did not like the wording in the journaling or the way the MAGIC did not really stand out on the page when photographed so I popped up some journaling and outlined the MAGIC in brown. I think it looks better now.

Well off to clean bathrooms and mop..... Then entertain the in-laws. Wish me luck! If I get a reprieve to make some cards with that cute line I will try and post later, if not have a GREAT Sunday and enjoy your family. If you live in South Florida try not to get blown away, it is windy out there!

Guess what I found today???

2009-02-27T22:22:00.009-05:00

Wow how amazed was I to go to Mike's and see 2 packs of SassaFras Lass papers. Too cute!

I went in to get this and ended up with this. I was feeling scrappy, so off I went to create. Only to discover my scrap area is a tremendous mess. So after a light cleaning (more to be done tomorrow) I was off to create. I made this with some more old Sassafras and some of the new kit. I think it came out pretty cute. The little boy is my son's best friend. They play together all the time and have a blast. I love seeing his friendships form. He is really starting to understand friendship and give and take.

Well I would also like to thank everyone for giving me such great advice on my strange question. I did not realize how many people like OPI. Very cool. I will be selecting a color next Friday, since I did not have time today to get it before my appt. Though she did have a very nice dark red for me to use, it is not as nice as those that you all selected. Once I pick a color I will let you all know and whoever selected the color that I end up with get one too. You have until next Thursday to post a color! You can enter more than once. Though this is not a give away for scrap supplies I thought it would be fun!

Well I have the In-Laws coming to dinner on Sunday so Saturday will be spent cleaning!!! I have to make some time to hit the local scrapbook store (Scrapbook Central) for some of the awesome new items they are getting in. I NEED those cute new buttons they have and some new dew drops! Hope to see some of you all there!

Question for you???

2009-02-26T21:05:00.009-05:00

So this is a strange question, but I am on the look out for a new nail polish. I like the OPI polishes, but need a new color. Any ideas? I sort of like these. If anyone has some other ideas please post a comment.

I have also been working on another LO and decided to use some old scraps. I like how it turned out.

I happen to love this photo for so many reasons. It shows how old my son it getting. It shows that soon he will be that teenager with an attitude, not just doing a funny pose for Mom. It shows that I need to get ready for ANYTHING! Well to start my last 2 weeks for this semester. I am really looking forward to my 2 weeks off to get some scrapping done. Happy scrapping!

The Scrap Review Site - Launch Party

2009-02-24T11:20:00.003-05:00

Come here and check it out. The Scrap review will tell you about products before you buy them. They are having a launch party the week of March 1-7. Make sure you go and check them out for chances to win some prizes.

Great Subject = Great Layouts

2009-02-21T22:34:00.003-05:00

My son is very photogenic. I literally have never seen a bad picture of him. Speaking of the little man, he had a biking accident today. His bike fell and he landed on the handle bars in a not so nice area. His groin is so bruised, I feel so bad for him. I don't think he will let me scrap that one. {smile}. I posted some photos of him and friend a while back and I am finally getting around to scrapping them. Today after laundry, cleaning, and general Saturday stuff, we went to dinner, picked up the pictures and back to my scrap room I went. Armed with new supplies I thought this was going to be a breeze. Well when I shop for some reason I am totally drawn to flower pattern papers! Well can you blame me they are just too darn cute. Well I pulled out some of the older October Afternoon papers, as well as some I just got from SBC. I must say I love how this LO came out.

The photo is just so Aaron. The OA papers went really well. Aaron had some input on this LO as well. After seeing the "Who Me?" LO of my nephew he requested the crumples as he put it. He thought that was a "cute" LO, so crumple away I did. Well my scraproom is a disaster and I really need to take the time to clean it before doing another LO. Sunday will be homework day for a few hours, then back to scrapping. I think I finally got my mojo back. Well goodnight - sleep tight - don't let the bed bugs bite.

Chaperoning and Layouts

2009-02-19T22:27:00.016-05:00

Well I have been working on a few new layouts. The first one is another of the collage photos. This has been pretty good for me getting more photos of an event on one page, since I am not a huge multi photo scrapper.

The next one is Sassafrass paper that I have had for a while, just have not been in the mood to scrap it. I love the way it came out. I have to give credit for inspiration to Christine Middlecamp, check out her blog for some great ideas.

Now onto the Reniassance Faire. I have a great group of kids at the Faire. The weather was beautiful and the kids had a great time. Three of the kids rode this huge horse. We watched an amazing show with acrobatics. Check out the pictures. We watched a josting show.

We all had a great time today. Well after the day at the Faire I treated myself to some new scrap supplies. I can not wait to work on some new LO's this weekend. I will post some new items real soon. I hope everyone has a great weekend with lots of crafting.

Blog set-up!

2009-02-19T11:06:00.011-05:00

So I am finally trying to get into the whole updating the blog everyday. I started this blog for mainly one reason, to post my crafts. Well there are just not enough hours in the day to scrap and card make something EVERYDAY. So on the days or weeks or months that I had not scrapped I did not post. Well I am going to try and change that. I am going to write about my day and post a picture of that day. No I am not doing the 365 challenge. I tried to do that and became so stressed that after getting all ready for bed, jammies and all, I would pop up and say to my hubby, "I forgot to take a picture, SMILE." Well needless to say he thought/thinks I am crazy. So for now I will attempt at a picture a day and journal about it.

I have learned to add people's blogs that I watch and stalk I guess you would say. The new DT at Cherry Blossom Studios, is my current add. I wish them all luck this year. I will miss my old DT mates. Enjoy ladies.

Well I guess I can start off this blogging everyday with a picture of my office. This is where I spend a majority of my time!

OK well lets analyse my space. Green sweater over the chair, though we LIVE in So. FL, I work in a MEAT LOCKER. The desk is pretty neat today, ALL of the pain in the botties are out of town today, hence the time to blog about my desk. I do have a can of REGULAR coke on my desk, because the diet is all gone and we are ALL to lazy to go to Sam's to get more. Pretty flower pens to brighten my day. Though for some reason they have been pushed behind my computer so I guess they are there to brighten the day of whoever sits in the chair. Then a picture of my screen, for proof that I really am blogging!
Well tomorrow I am chaperoning my son's class at the Renaissance Festival. The weather should be nice and what could be better than spending the day with 22 - 8 year olds? Oh I am not sure a hot poker in the eye??? I will post pics on Saturday or Monday, or if I have the energy Friday night. So I made it through a whole post without on crafty item being posted. Oh wait, I am on the lookout for these items,

so if you are reading this blog, which I am sure I am the only one who does, let me know if and where you have seen them. They are the American Crafts - Flair and Detail. Thanks!

New Obsession

2009-02-13T16:45:00.005-05:00

Ok I have a new costly obsession! Le Creuset items in the Caribbean Blue. I am on a mission to find this utensil crock.

Though I truly want the entire set of this cookware.

I mean can you blame me? The stuff is beautiful. So for now I have to settle for a spatula and spoon holder. Though I am working on the other items slowly. If you share my obsession let me know the best place to get stuff.

Kitchen Redo

2009-02-13T11:07:00.006-05:00

Well my hubby has been very busy painting my kitchen. He had to remove our pantry to make way for our new AC and when he did he was very nice and installed new cabinets for all my goodies. Well I finally picked a color and he went for it. Today - this weekend is my move in week. I have purchased all my new items, towels, table mats, paper towel holder, wall art etc. I have gone from a blue and white kitchen to a Behr's Smokey Topaz and white. We have maple cabinets and it looks GREAT! I have been purging and cleaning out cabinets and it feels great! I will post some before and after pics later this weekend. I wish we were able to get granite right now, but NEW bedroom furniture is higher on my list. Honey do not put away those paint brushes!!! :) Well once the room is DONE I will post the pics, but until then I hope everyone has a wonderful Valentines Day. Kiss and Hug your loved ones.
Ok Here are the before and partial after pictures. I will post more tomorrow or Sunday once the final decorations have been placed minus the wall decor. Hubby will be out of town and how dare I hang something on a wall that will actually take me weilding a hammer. Oh well, I let him think he is the only one that can do that stuff so perfectly. Keeps him happy! :) All you married ladies know what I mean, right?

New Layouts

2009-02-10T21:49:00.006-05:00

Here are a few LO's that I did of my trip to GA. I have more, but this is my first start. I just tried printing some pictures out in a collage format and scrapping them. I am finding it a little difficult, but not too bad I guess.

The "deep in thought" LO was done as part of my last LO's for the DT @ Scrapbook Central. Good Luck to all the new ladies.

January - WOW this has been a picture posting day!

2009-02-10T09:57:00.012-05:00

So living in Florida where else can you swim just a few days after Christmas?

My cousin's kids came in from Tampa to see their grandpa (my uncle) and the kids all went to Mom and Dad's for swimming and a BBQ. What a fun time to see all the kids together! That used to be us as kids playing now we have the kids! TOO MUCH. We spent New Year's Eve with Louis, Michele, Frederick, and Alexandre. We ate, played the Wii, and had a great time. Aaron and Frederick have become great friends through scouts and spend a lot of time together. They even let me do a photo shoot one day. What great kids right!

So do they think they are GQ or what. It was fun and they really enjoyed it. Even the cat thinks she is a superstar!

Same day another update - December 08

2009-02-10T09:38:00.012-05:00

So December was crazy too. Of course with holidays and shopping everyone's December is nuts. My parents were in the Christmas Pagent again this year and we took the kids to see it.The boys thought it was too cool seeing their Memaw in the play. Papa played percussion so he was there throughout the play. I went to my company Christmas Party in Texas paired along with a lovely HR meeting. All in All it was not a bad trip. I work with some great people. We celebrated Blakie 'B's Birthday with a bowling party.I had some minor surgery the day before, still working on having another baby, so I was not able to bowl. The kids had a great time though! We took a long weekend and went to Epcot. The weather was GREAT and we had a very nice time.yes my boys are crazy and that is why i {heart} them so much!Well Christmas was just around the corner and it was great to see family.

We got to celebrate Tyler's First Christmas. Too cute! Grandma and Grandpa are just as adorable as ever. The Holiday season was good too all of us. Aaron got Guitar Hero and a Wii, which Mommy and Daddy love. LOL. It was great to see family and though none of them like it, I love the picture of Mom and her sisters laughing! I hope everyone had a great holiday. Cherish this time with your families - memories last a lifetime!

Wow long time no blog!

2009-02-10T08:47:00.017-05:00

My life has been very busy this year and the end of last. Lets start off with our family trip to GA in November for the Thanksgiving holiday! We had beautiful weather, hiking, family, apple orchards, petting zoos, Rock City, Canoeing, BB Gun Shooting, waterfalls, and a GREAT THANKSGIVING - Mom and Stacy gathered beautiful items from the area and Mom designed a wonderful centerpiece for our feast!
Our family even has its very own cingular bar of kids! The trip was amazing and as you can see by the last picture the kids were exhausted everynight and fell asleep in strange positions! And of course being a scrapbooker I had to take a picture. Well this was our November. I will post another blog about the rest of the year later today.

New Sneakers!

2008-11-11T08:46:00.008-05:00

Well it has been a while since I have posted.... Classes are crazy! I am at Mid-Terms! Well I am getting ready for a 3 day crop this weekend and can not wait. There are projects I have to work. I am making travel books for my son and 2 of my nephews to document our Thanksgiving Family Trip. We can not wait! Mountains, Fresh Air, Family, FUN! What could be better! We will even get to wear our WARM clothes.... Coming from South FL we do not get to do that all that often. I have a very busy next two weeks, but thought I deserved a 3 day crop before I left. Hubby is taking the little one to a Scout camping event and Rain Gutter Regata. Missing it will be sad, but.....

I got some new shoes today courtsey of a great friend and her daughter. Tell me these are not too freaking cute. I love them! Well I will post the boys travel books when I am done on Sunday. Hopefully they come out really cute! Well the blog is messing up my photos so the one of my son comes first! He is cute so that is ok! Have a good one!

Well I will leave you with a few new pictures - One of my son in Dad's hat and giving his peace sign - he is in the stage of growing his hair long and I think I like it - though it makes him look to grown up! The other is my new phone that I {Heart}. Pink what could be better. Also I gave my husband my iPod and got this new Zune, but in PINK! I love it! Well have a great week and unless something amazing happens I will post the final product of the travel books on Monday!

Blog Stalking and Scraplifting

2008-10-19T00:06:00.004-04:00

So this weekend I have been blog stalking and came across Vicki Boutin and I love her style. I have to admit that I totally scraplifted one of her LO's. This one here....

Mine is on the right. Her choice of colors is great. I really need to learn the stitching. I love the final look . My pics are of a tree in my parents backyard. It is hard to tell, but there are two b/w pics and the middle on is color.

Well back to blog stalking for more great ideas!

More Halloween and DT kits

2008-10-16T23:15:00.007-04:00

Well I am offically back in school my 3rd Semester. Yeah Me. I am on the way to my degree. I am totally in the scrapping mode and should be reading about business law! Oh well here are some things I created tonight.

This first LO is greatly INSPIRED by Ms. Laverne. :)

here are some cute little tins I made tonight out of leftover papers and embellishments. They are going to be filled with halloween erasers, light sticks, halloween straws, and play doh for my son and nephews. I am going to shread some black paper for filler.

Well I hope everyone has a great weekend. I am working on another LO that I hope to be able to post it tomorrow. It is really cute can not wait to finish it.

I love the fall season

2008-10-04T20:36:00.011-04:00

Even in Florida - where it remains pretty warm you can feel a little change in the air. I love fall decorations and the warmth of the colors. We are starting to decorate this weekand and I am finally on time! I got my son's costume and made the cards I wanted to send out. They are addressed and just waiting for stamps. I use the MME Halloween kit and stamped the insides with stamps from Inque Boutique and CTMH. The design of the card was an inspiration from the "Cards" magazine.

Here are some items that I picked up at Joanne's last weekend, 40% off.

Well my next project that I will be working on is a Kate Album from Cosmo Cricket and I am making it into a halloween album for all of the pictures that will come from this season. Well have a great weekend.

Relief after a semester from H*LL

2008-10-01T23:15:00.009-04:00

Well this semester just about kicked my A$$, but it is over and I needed some ME time so I decided to dedicate this week to scrapping after the little one is in bed. I will start working on some Halloween cards this week too; hope to post them soon. Well here are 2 that I have done so far this week. I have to say I love the new Basic Grey letters! They are too cute. I also finally got the use the fancy pants glitter cuts. I think it came out pretty cute!

Well as soon as I get some Halloween cards done I will post them. Now I am just waiting for Business Law class and Accounting II, yeah me - two more classes closer to GRADUATION!

Have a great week!

Weekend is Almost over :(

2008-09-21T20:23:00.007-04:00

Well I only got one LO done this weekend, but that is OK, because I am caugth up with my Got Sketch LO's after today. I am really loving this class and if there is a 103 I am all over it.

Here is the latest LO. I used Fancy Pants, KI Memories, Basic Grey, and MME

This weekend was a busy one for me. Friday night my Mom and Sister-in-law went out for dinner. We had a very nice time. Ended up in a book store where I got a new book.....I LOVE IT.. What a great book! I need to join a book club so I can chat with others that like to read as much as I do.

My family went to my Papaw's house and cleaned it up and sorted items to donate. This was not the most fun thing, but there were a lot of memories there.

Well Sunday we a nice and relaxing day. I sat outside under a tree with my book and watched as my son washed both cars. I have to say he did a great job for being only 8. He even checked the oil and added washer fluid. Of course I had to take pictures! Can't wait to scrap them.

Well that was my weekend, here's to hoping the rest of the week goes by without a hitch.

Another LO from Got Sketch 102

2008-09-18T18:52:00.008-04:00

I am really loving the fact that I officially have my MOJO back. Here is my newest LO though today I am another one behind, which I hope to have done tonight. There are also close ups on embellishments that I made.

got to pick Aaron up from school today and we decided to take some pics. Here is a cute one.