THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE

Want to win a Vagabond?

2012-01-19T08:15:00.001-08:00

Drew from card of my eye is giving away a vagabond once he reaches 5,000 subscribers to his you tube channel.
Check it out here and make a comment and you will be entered to win!
http://www.youtube.com/user/cardofmyeye
GOOD LUCK!

New Year

2012-01-07T15:36:00.000-08:00

Well, I have been missing for a while here... there has been so much going on.
Hubby had to have knee surgery (3rd time - but 1st on this knee) a few days before Christmas and 2 days before we left for Arkansas.
We went to my brothers in Arkansas for Christmas and had a great time with 15 people all under the same roof!
Came back home and had a quiet New Years Eve... In bed by 10:30pm since I wasnt feeling well and fighting a head cold.
But now I am feeling better and ready to start a new year.
I joined Move Move & Eat Well with Cathy Zielske on Big Picture Scrapbooking and set a few goals for myself:
1. Move More - exercise at least 3x a week
2. Drink More Water & Less Diet Coke - Drink at least 4-8 glasses of water before having a dc
3. Go to bed early - Attempting to go to bed by 10 - 10:30pm
4. Eat Well - Eat more Fruits and Veggies and less fast food
5. Get more organized with my whole life

So far so good but I have a retreat soming up next weekend, so I am not so sure how I am going to do there on the 4 items on my list!
Till next time...

Page Candy Class coming soon!!!!

2011-11-14T22:27:00.000-08:00

I am planning another class soon called PAGE CANDY!
It's all about learning different techniques and what you can do with all that pretty seam binding that the Scrappers Boutique just got in all those GoRGeOus colors!!! Here is a sneak peek...

Call the store for details on the when and how much and what it is all about! You wont want to miss it!!!

My FIRST class at the Scrappers Boutique!!!

2011-11-09T08:01:00.000-08:00

I am so excited because I am going to be teaching my first class at the Scrappers Boutique on November 29th and then again on December 10th. Both classes are from 10:30 am - 2:30 pm.
I will be teaching my Christmas "My Minds Eye" Mini Album. I love this line of paper. It is so classic and vintage looking, has lots of glitter here and there and tons of pretty embellishments like brads and trims and chipboard elements that I added on to it as well as tags and lots of space for good sized pictures.
If you want to sign up, just call the Scrappers Boutique. It is $45 with all the materials provided except for your basics and a couple of other items you need to bring. Here is the cover and a few other sneak peeks!

Pumpkin Patch Pics

2011-11-03T15:51:00.000-07:00

The whole family + Caleb enjoying the day at the Colleyville Pumpkin Patch

Becca

Ellie

Ethan

Kids on the tractor in front of the Corn Maze.
Last year it took Becca and Ethan 1 hour to get through the corn maze, this year it took them 5 MINUTES!!!!!!!

Jason and Claudia

Halloween 2011

2011-11-03T15:30:00.000-07:00

Christmas layout!

2011-10-16T18:54:00.000-07:00

So who's ready for Christmas???
I am NOT!!!!
I still need to get through Halloween, then Thanksgiving and THEN Christmas... but I did do a layout for the Boutique using the Fancy Pants St. Nick line.
The trees are cut from one of the papers. I cut them out, inked the edges, ran a line with my black copic multi liner, then pop dotted it up on the page with buttons on the tops! Strips of paper, one cut with a edge punch, add a 5x7 picture on it with a few other chipboard embellies and you are done! EASY!

Go check it out!!!

New Fall Layout!!!

2011-10-16T18:45:00.000-07:00

LOVE LOVE LOVE this new line by Little Yellow Bicycle called HELLO FALL!!!
It has THE most gorgeous colors and prints!!!
Plus, it has TONS of different embellishments to go with it
From felt flowers, to accordian flowers, chipboard stickers, paper embellishments, stick pins, pockets, journaling cards, bling, etc...
I could go on and on and on!!!! LOVE EVERYTHING that comes with this line!

I made a 2 page layout for the Boutique on Friday and plan on making a mini album as well. Cherie bought the long albums and paper that fits it (5.75 x 11.75) so I thought I would make a mini... maybe make it a class... I dont know yet!

LMK what you think!!!

New Halloween Mini!!!

2011-10-16T18:27:00.000-07:00

Here is a new Halloween Mini I made for the Boutique. I just love the way it came out! I used 6x6 chipboard, black Maya Road ribbon around the edges of the front and back covers and I used the 6x6 paper pad from the Fancy Pants Oct. 31 line which I just L-O-V-E!!! Used lots of embellishments from the same lines and I added some cricut images cut from my Happy Hauntings cartridge.
Go check it out at the Scrappers Boutique!!!

Front cover:

Inside cover and 1st page:

Inside pages:

Back cover:

Cinnamon Stick Candles

2011-10-12T08:33:00.000-07:00

Ok, I found this wonderful idea here: http://www.homestoriesatoz.com/
and I think I am going to try to make this sometime this week! LOVE the idea and SO simple! She says it only takes like 20 minutes!
Isnt is beautiful?!?!?!

All you need are cinnamon sticks, candles, a rubber band, and some ribbon/twine.

Place your rubber band around your candle and then place your sticks under the rubber band. To add interest, I varied the height and also varied whether the line on the cinnamon sticks faced outwards or toward the candle.

Once the entire candle is covered in sticks, wrap twine or ribbon around the rubber band in order to conceal it. Accessorize however you want and you’re done!

These candles will transition beautifully into winter with just the addition of some holly berries. Happy candle accessorizing!

I cant wait to try this! I am off to buy cinnamon sticks and look for some short fat candles!

New layout

2011-10-06T09:02:00.000-07:00

I made the facing page to the My Minds Eye Lost and Found Breeze layout I made a while back ago. I am a 2 page layout scrapbooker so even though I was asked to only make a 1 page layout for the store, I made the facing page for myself. I think it came out really nice. I just LOVE all the lines and all the colors in the new My Minds Eye Lost and Found 2 papers!!!

Steve Jobs died!

2011-10-05T18:41:00.000-07:00

Steve Jobs, the brilliant, mercurial co-founder of Apple Inc., who introduced simple, well-designed computers for people who were more interested in what technology could do rather than how it was done, died Wednesday at age 56.

An original thinker who helped create the Macintosh, one of the most influential computers in the world, Mr. Jobs also reinvented the portable music player with the iPod, launched the first successful legal method of selling music online with the creation of iTunes, and reordered the cellphone market with the iPhone. The introduction of the iPad also jump-started the electronic-tablet market and now dominates the field.

Here's to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes... the ones who see things differently -- they're not fond of rules... You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can't do is ignore them because they change things... they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.

– Steve Jobs, 1955-2011

RIP Steve!

SO SAD!

2011-10-05T08:03:00.000-07:00

Back in July, for our anniversary - Jason bought me tickets to go see Adele in concert on October 21st at Verizon Theatre. Well, I just learned today that she has been fighting some serious illnesses for a while now and has cancelled all of her tours through October! :(
I was really looking forward to that concert as I love Adele's music so much... but on the plus side, Jason can now go on his "man camp" trip and we can put the money he spent on the concert tickets towards our trip to Florida!!!

I WILL SEE ADELE IN CONCERT SOMEDAY!
And to Adele, I hope you get all the rest you need so we can enjoy your beautiful voice and music for many years to come!

Student Ambassador

2011-09-16T08:34:00.000-07:00

As Student Ambassadors of TVMS, Becca and 3 other students from Timberview Middle School were asked to go to the Keller ISD board meeting last night and lead the Pledge of Allegiance. Here she is with her fellow classmates and their Trustee's Merit Awards. SO proud of my Becca!!!

Collin, Rian, Becca and Ryan

1st broken object thanks to Zeva~

2011-09-13T12:32:00.000-07:00

Ugh - Puppies!!! She sure is cute but sometimes I just want to smack her! Today she was chewing on an electrical cord that was attached to my Scentsy warmer! All I hear is a CRASH and I scream out to Ellen, "What was that?" We go check it out and see my big Scentsy warmer on the ground in pieces! :(
Man, I really liked that warmer and those things arent cheap either :( :(
I guess I need to get a new one now...

We will NEVER forget!!!

2011-09-11T12:15:00.000-07:00

We will never forget

For the 2,977 people who perished September 11, 2001 after hijacked planes crashed in New York City, Arlington, Virginia and in Pennsylvania. The victims were mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, sons, daughters, husbands, wives, co-workers and friends - unsuspecting innocent men and women all who died working & living the American dream.

It's been ten years since that violent day which impacted so many people, in the US as well as in many other countries around the world. Today we pause to remember and join in tribute to those whose lives were taken and to those who have carried on so bravely in their absence. May comfort come to those who continue to mourn and guide the leaders of nations in the quest for justice and liberty.It's important to remember the many thousands of people who lost their lives ten years ago today on 9/11.

We must never forget the incredible sacrifices of the police, fireman and emergency services who were genuine heroes.

We have nothing but the deepest admiration for those that suffered so much but have dealt with it courageously and with much dignity.

Our thoughts today are with the families and friends who lost their loved ones.

1st day of school

2011-08-27T19:52:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I am a little late at posting 1st day of school pics... but I have a good excuse. Does having eye surgery on Thursday count? Either way - Here they are...
Ethan was SOOOOO super excited to start 4th grade. We went to meet his teacher which ended up being teacherS - plural. Mrs. Place, his 4th grade teacher was due to have her 3rd baby on Thursday so we also met Ms. Liakos - the sub. I hope he has a good year with all this happening. The last time his teacher was pregnant and was due early on in the school year- it ended up not being a good year!
Hope that is not the case here...
Anyway, here is my little man - looking so handsome for 4th grade!

Mrs. Place and Ethan

Ms. Liakos and Ethan

ETHAN READY FOR THE 1ST DAY!!!

Becca wasn't as excited for school to start - which was a first. Usually she is very excited to go back, but I think she had a fun summer and was not wanting it to end. She is an 8th grader this year, so this is her last year at Timberview before she heads to High School!

My Haul from the SB Garage Sale

2011-08-27T19:35:00.000-07:00

I went to the 1st ever Scrappers Boutique Garage Sale today and got a bunch of cute stuff!
I spent less than $25 and walked away with lots of goodies!!!
Here's a shot of all of it together...

In this next pic you can see a close up of my flowery stash. I got several packages of Prima flowers in bright pinks, blues, greens, yellows, etc... plus a package of prima flowers that have what looks like a grey pattern on them - Just beautiful. I got Prima bling, some really pretty satin ribbon teal and orange flowers, 2 big white butterflies, some blue, green and burgundy sprigs (blueberry looking things) and some Prima pebbles.

My next grouping is my mini albums and paper. I got one Basic Grey mini bracket album, a Prima mini 6x6 and a half circle shape mini. All for like $1-$2 each. Great deals! I also got a Golden Oldies stamp that I thought was right up Terri's alley, so I got that for her, plus 1 got 2 paper pads, both from Prima. One is a 6x6 Prima Space Boy pad - great for my little man and the other is a 5x7 Prima Rock on Love pad that will match all those beautiful bright colored prima flowers from the pic above.

The last thing I got is a chair pad for when I go to crop at the church and have to sit in those hard metal chairs. I have been wanting one of these for a while but refused to pay the price they wanted for them. This was the most expensive thing in my loot today. I paid $10 for it. I think I will love it because attached to the cushion on each side is pockets to hold my stuff close by! Cant wait to try it out!!!

Chris was nice enough to drive me since I just had my eye surgery 2 days ago. We got there at 9:40am and were the 2nd and 3rd people there. About 30 minutes after they opened the doors, it got packed and was VERY crowded. Everything was very well organized with like items together but there was soooo much to look through and there was a lot of people there. I do have to say many of the ladies there were very nice and would let you get through when you needed to, there was just a lot of stuff and I would have liked a little more room to move around and look at everything. All in all, It went very well and i am very pleased with my purchases.
Next time, I hope to participate as a seller and then I will be able to shop Friday night when it's not so crowded!!!

New Class: Technique Boutique

2011-08-25T06:29:00.000-07:00

We now have a new monthly class called Technique Boutique.

This class will be a recurring class on the first Saturday of the month. The class fee will be $25 or $10 if you choose to B.Y.O.S (Bring Your Own Supplies). We will have a list of supplies needed to create the project in the store. We will be focusing on adding different techniques on a 2 page layout every month. Different instructors will also be featured.

Technique Boutique: Distressing on your Pages

Instructor: Denise Cook
Saturday, September 3rd
10:30am to 2:30pm
Class Fee: $25 or $10 and B.Y.O.S

Call Scrappers Boutique to reserve your spot!!!
(817) 503.0777

Scrappers Boutique Garage Sale

2011-08-25T05:51:00.000-07:00

Come shop at our first ever Scrap Supply Garage Sale! We have over 30 Consignor's who have cleaned out their stash and are ready to pass it on to you at great prices!
When: Saturday, August 27 10am to 2pm
Please bring laundry baskets or shopping bags to carry all your treasures

http://scrappersboutique.blogspot.com/

More Layouts...

2011-08-23T14:41:00.000-07:00

More layouts like I promised using the beautiful My Minds Eye Lost and Found 2 line.
The first is a one page layout using the BREEZE collection. It is perfect for all those boy layouts you have!
This line is beautiful with lots of tealish blues, greens and browns... So Masculine!!!

The 2nd layout is a 2 page layout using the ROSY line. It has lots of corals and greens, and brown and yellows. I incorporated more of the greens and browns in this next layout with a little bit of the coral color but you can go so many ways with this beautiful line...

These new lines from MME are SO Much fun to play with! THere are SOOOO many embellishments to choose from, like LOTS of decorative brads, to chipboard stickers, to diecut shapes, ribbons and trims, bling, diecut phrases and tons of different pattern papers to choose from in each line!!!

If you havent seen it yet, go to the Scrappers Boutique to see them in real life... they are BEAUTIFUL!!!

Hope you like them!!!

New Layout!!!

2011-08-20T16:47:00.000-07:00

Here's one of the newest layouts I have made. I called it "You make the world better"
I used My Minds Eye's Lost and Found 2 BLUSH line.
You can see it in person at the Scrappers Boutique and if you would like to copy it, we have started a new thing at the Boutique where all the product we used on the store layouts are posted on the back, so it is easier now for you to pull all the product used and replicate the layout!
Hope you like it... leave me a comment if you do.
I also made 3 other layouts using other lines of the MME Lost and Found 2 line so be on the lookout for those soon!

ZIVA

2011-08-11T22:23:00.000-07:00

We adopted a new puppy... Ziva

The other day Ellen was coming home from work and stopped to get gas. She witnessed a truck drive by, then slow down next to the empty field by the gas station and toss something out. She saw it was moving and rushed over to see what it was and found it was a little puppy. Of course she brought it home, which I am glad she did because I would have felt awful if she hadn't and something happened to it... But at first I didn't want to keep it. A little puppy is a lot of responsibility!

Jason said It looked like a pit bull at first but now we are thinking maybe boxer because of the coloring???
It is the sweetest puppy ever, just wants to cuddle right up to you or nestle in your neck, Cute as can be and just calm!

After a day or so, we decided to keep it and as of now - it is being spoiled by the kids, but especially Becca!

The name became a family feud. Jason and I liked "Widget" but Ellen did not. We could not agree until Ethan came up with Ziva. We all liked it (although some still like Widget better), and so here is Ziva.
I will be taking her to the vet soon and find out how old they think she is and what breed!

All I can say is how cruel some people can be... Tossing a puppy out of a car and expect it to survive on its own!~
At least take it to a shelter or a vet!!! Don't be cruel! Karma will come around and bite you in the ass Someday!

How could you not love a face like that?

Homemade Laundry Soap

2011-08-09T11:29:00.000-07:00

Here's another recipe from the same blog http://beingcreativetokeepmysanity.blogspot.com/2010/11/homemade-laundry-soap.html?m=0
but it is Laundry soap!!!
I HATE spending money on laundry soap so I am excited to try this!

Here is the jist on this one:
Ingredients for Homemade Laundry Soap:
You should be able to find all of these items at your grocery store.

1 4 lb box Borax

1 4 lb box Arm & Hammer Baking Soda
1 4lb box Arm & Hammer Washing Soda
3 bars of Fels-naptha soap
2 small containers of oxyclean or store brand oxyclean
this is optional, I added it into mine because I have pretty messy kids and the cleaner the better
(you can also use pink Zote soap found at Home Depot instead of Fels-naptha.)

Start out by grating your Fels-naptha soap just like cheese. You can use a food processor or just use your hand held grater, what ever you have.

Toss all ingredients in a 5 gallon bucket lined with a garbage bag. This part makes your whole house smell great. Once everything is mixed store soap however you like.

I chose a jar that I keep above my washing machine, I also got a little scoop to keep inside. Wasn't that easy? Sure was! Enjoy your soap. Use 1-2 Tbsp per load to do the job!

Home Made Dishwasher Detergent

2011-08-09T11:13:00.000-07:00

OK, I know... this is so totally off topic of what I usually blog about, but I read this on Happy Happy Joy Joy's blog (http://www.obsessedwithscrapbooking.com/) and decided I might just want to try it out.
She got the recipe and the idea from here: http://beingcreativetokeepmysanity.blogspot.com/2011/01/dishwasher-detergent.html?m=1

Here is the jist of it: Here is what you need.

Dishwasher Detergent ingredients:

1 box Borax

1 box Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
24 packages of unsweetened lemonade drink mix, like kool-aid. (**Note: lemonade will stain soap dispenser yellow, another option would be to use citric acid instead of lemonade)
3 cups Epsom Salt

If you want you could cut this recipe in half or even smaller to just try it out. You will still have to buy large boxes of Borax and Washing Soda which you can store for later use.

If you need a rinsing aid use vinegar. I personally use Lemi Shine as my rinse aid and it works wonders. I just sprinkle about a tablespoon in the bottom of my dishwasher before I start it. This stuff is awesome!!

Mix Borax, washing soda, salt and lemonade together in a large, very large, bowl. When ingredients are mixed together well put soap in a container of your choice. I picked up a container at Walmart in the kitchen center with a pouring spout for $5.00 and it is big enough to hold an entire batch of dishwasher soap. The soap does harden up after a while so you may also want to store it in 2 different containers, one should be air tight to help if from hardening.

It even has a pouring spout to make things easy.

Use 1 tablespoon per wash cycle. It has no fillers so you do not have to use nearly as much to get the job done! This recipe is for hard water users, if you have soft water you may want to browse the internet for a better recipe for soft water.

It is BENIGN!

2011-08-01T22:29:00.000-07:00

I forgot to share the best news of the day!!!!
Nurse from the eye doctor called and said the 2 biopsy's they took from my right eye were benign! It is NOT cancer!!!!
Still have to have the surgery on my left eye to remove the pre-cancerous cells in there and so they dont continue growing, but that wont be till Aug. 25th.
Again, It is NOT cancer!!!! Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers!!! Keep them coming for the same results for my left eye!

I WON!!! I WON!!!

2011-08-01T15:19:00.000-07:00

I won an awesome blog giveaway over at For the First Time - Daniela Dobsons blog.
It consisted of a Maya Road mini album, heart pins and two mists, Impression Obsession Covar-a-Card Screen background stamp (5.75" x 5.75"), 15 Prima notecards, a fun mixture of Prima flowers and Say it in Crystals, brads and doilies.

I am SUPER excited... I have left comments numerous times and entered many, many times to try to win things but have never won until now! I am so excited because not only is it a bunch of cool scrapbooking stuff but because I won it from Daniela - a beautiful local fellow scrapbooker who I met through another friend and a beautiful designer. When I met her, she desgined for Prima and did absolutely stunning work...
I think she was the one who got me hooked on prima and started my obsession. She designs for other companies and mostly designs cards but on ocassion she does do a page here and there and they are stunning! Check out her blog when you get a chance!!! www.danieladobson.blogspot.com

Here is what I won... I CAN NOT wait to get it and start playing!!! WOO HOO!!!! I am super stoked!
THANKS DANIELA!!!!

Airbrushing is fun!

2011-07-25T16:29:00.000-07:00

Took the kids to learn airbrushing today at the Art Castle in Hurst. They had a blast and cant wait to go back. Becca did a beautiful wolf and then a paw within a paw... Beautiful work...

Ethan did 2 dragons... 2 very cool looking dragons:

Another great Groupon Coupon put to very good use...

Roller skating fun!

2011-07-20T17:48:00.000-07:00

I took Becca, her 2 friends Kaitlyn and Jordan and Ethan roller skating today at Rollerworld in Haltom City. It was fun! I didn't skate, but I enjoyed watching them and it brought back a lot of memories of when Gerri and I were that age and we went rollerskating every single weekend, both Friday and Saturday nights if we could and we loved it! Both Becca and Ethan participated in the races. Becca came in 2nd place and Ethan did the best he could!
I have a BIG feeling I will be taking them more often so they can get better and better. Practice makes perfect, but also because Becca caught the eye of a cute young man (13) there who also happens to volunteer there so he is there a lot. He invited her to go back Friday night when all the "teens" are there and he isn't "working"... so I think that is the plan for the girls at least.
My eye surgery is tomorrow so I wont be able to take her for at least a week or so, so hopefully Kaitlyn's mom can take them.
Here are a few pics from today!

Pretty soon, they will be able to go backwards, do jumps and flips!!!

Eye Surgeries

2011-07-16T11:18:00.000-07:00

I went to the optometrist to get my eyes checked and see if I needed a new prescription. He said I had what looked like blood vessels that were encroaching my pupils (on the top of my right eye and on the bottom of my left eye). Yes, both eyes!
He suggested I go see a corneal specialist to see what was going on and how to stop it since it will impair my vision if it continues to grow onto the pupil.
I went the following day to see the Specialist and it took him all of 5 minutes to say that I needed surgery to remove it.
Not to scare any of you which I am sure it will some, like Mom... It scared me at first and I am still a bit nervous but was reassured that it will all be ok.

He basically said it is a pre-cancerous mass. He kind of described it as a mole on your skin that would need to be removed and sent to get biopsy but it is in the eye.

It is called Corneal Intraepithelial Neoplasia. I know - a really long medical term I can hardly pronounce!
Everything I found online was more for the medical field, people who understand medical lingo but nothing just plain and simple.
He will be doing a procedure called Superficial Keratectomy with biopsy excision with mmc treatment. MMC being the chemo drops.
Basically he will take the mass out and send it for a biopsy and then treat my eye with the eye drop form of chemo to kill all the cells in case it is cancerous.
He wont know until the biopsy comes back but he is going to treat it like it is just in case. If it is, then he said the chemo drops will take care of everything and we are good, and if it is not, then the drops wont do any harm either... So either way, we are safe.

He said it is NOT common in women my age and he is totally stumped as to why I got it. Just another weird health issue that I always seem to get... If it's weird and uncommon and hardly ever heard of, I get it! All the weird ones.
He said it is most commonly seen in older men, like age 65 and older. Usually caused by wearing contacts too long and not allowing your eye to breathe which I have never done or by eye trauma which I have never had. He said it could also have been caused by never wearing sunglasses and being outside all the time since I was like 3 years old which is also something I have not done. I always wear my sunglasses and don't spend that much time outside anyway. He was stumped.

One good thing is that he said he has never had a patient who he treated this way come back with having cancer in the eye later since he always treats the eye with the chemo drops while he is in there removing the mass.

I will be having the 1st surgery (on my right eye) next Thursday (July 21st), then I go back in the next day for a check up and then in a week for my 2nd post op visit. He places a protective lens in my eye after the surgery which then will be removed during my 1 week post op visit. Then we wait 3 weeks and my 2nd (left eye) will be done Aug. 25th with my check up the following day and my 1 week post op a week later.

He didn't seem to be too overly concerned. I am not sure if it was to not make me a nervous wreck or if it really was no big deal. He said he has done hundreds of these surgeries and they only take about 5-10 minutes. He said I didn't need to worry and would be fine.
I called back later to ask a few more questions and they told me again to not worry so much... I am sure they tell everyone that but I am trying to not worry and get too upset about it... One good thing is that they did say I caught it early since it had not gone over my pupil yet. Most people get to where it is on their pupil and they have a hard time seeing then they go to the doctor. It looks like a white cloud or film over your pupil when it gets that bad.

Of course anyone cutting anywhere in or around your eyes is nerve wrecking and there are the usual risks... And they make you sign your life away promising you understand and are willing to accept all the risks involved - not holding them liable... So please, just pray for me that it is not cancerous and the surgery is successful and for the doctor to have a steady hand and the be the best he can be those days of my surgeries!

On the plus side, I asked Jason if he would still love me if I was blind, deaf and couldn't walk and he said "yes"! Hee Hee!
Always got to look on the plus side!!!

Anyway - Please pray for me and if you want to keep updated on my progress, I will try to get hubby to write updates on my FB page that you can check out. My FB name is Claudia Araneda Mitchell.

2 NEW BOY LAYOUTS!!!

2011-07-16T11:11:00.000-07:00

Just as I promised, Here are 2 new layouts I made for The Scrappers Boutique and they are boy layouts!!! I used October Afternoon's "Rocket Age" Paper Line and Embellishments.
The first one "YOU ARE OUTTA' THIS WORLD" is at the Boutique as the store display and the other "LOVE YOU TO THE MOON" will be a layout of the week as soon as Cherie can get all the product in and the directions written out.
Hope you like them!

These may be the last layouts I make for a little while because I am having to have eye surgery one my right eye next Thursday and my left eye Aug. 25th. I will write another blog post explaining better...
I appreciate all the prayers you can say for me and my doctor!!!

Happy 4th of July! LONG POST with Lots of Pics!

2011-07-10T18:28:00.000-07:00

OK, OK - I know I am a little late and it's been a while since I blogged but I have been busy. I just got back from being gone on a mini vacation for a week so I promise to blog a lot for the next few days to catch up.

First off is the 4th of July Layout of the Week I did for the Scrappers Boutique. I actually did it a long time ago but they have been waiting for the blue cardstock to come in since it was back ordered, so it finally came in and the layout was released last Friday at the Boutique! I am not sure if they have any left but if you are wanting one, I would call them asap and reserve yours over the phone!!!
Here it is: I used the My Minds Eye "American Made" line of paper and embellishments, added my journaling title with red alphabet letters by October Afternoon and framed it all out with some blue cardstock. This was our celebration of the 4th a couple of years ago. It was a lot of fun.

I also made a couple of kits you can go into the Boutique to buy right off the shelf (in other words they are not kits of the week) using the Bo Bunny "Olivia" line. I LOVE this line with all the beautiful teals and oranges and corals and greens... they just screamed GIRLY to me so I had to add lots of flowers, butterflies, and vines.
Again, I am not sure if Cherie has any left so I would call the store and ask about them, I know they will go fast once she does put them out which I think she already did (like I said, I have been on vacation!)

This first one is a little harder to put together because it involves a lot of paper cutting, the flowers and vines are cut out of a sheet of paper from the same line so it would be easier if you went into the store and pieced your layout together there with the actual layout in front of you... You know the real thing is better than a picture! I just love this layout and hope you love it too!
Here is the 1st layout, we called "Olivia"

Here are some close ups for details:

The 2nd layout was also made with Bo Bunny's "Olivia" line but I also added a sheet of pattern paper from a Basic Grey line that went perfectly with it. It is called "Capture the Moment." It also has flowers and butterflies but the flowers are not cut out from paper, they are mulberry flowers with brad and button centers. Also very girly and beautiful.
I know, I know... I promise to make a boy layout soon!!!

Close up of left sde:

Close up of right side:

Another kit I made recently (but have no idea if she has put it out on the shelf yet) is called "Best of Friends" and I made it using the Stella and Rose line from My Minds Eye. This could be boyish since there is alot of browns, yellows, blue and teal, but would work for girls too!
I promise I have a real boy layout coming soon! It is in the works!!!

Again, I dont know if this is out on the shelves for sale yet, but even if it is not, you can always call Cherie at the Boutique and request she hold one for you to pick up when it is ready.
Hope you like it:

The next 2 layouts are also kits for sale in the store right off the shelf but I am pretty sure she does not have these out quite yet. I just gave them to her right before leaving on my vacation and I know there is still some things missing from the kits and I dont know if she has gotten the instructions typed out for them yet. Again, if you are wanting one, all you have to do is call Cherie at the Boutique and request that she hold one for you to pick up when it is ready.

I used the Echo Park line called 'Little Girl' for both.
On the first one that I call "LOVING THIS MOMENT", I used the scalloped paper on top of the diaganolly striped paper, some yellow and teal that I punched with a scallop punch and then stitched it with teal glittery thread. The mats are the Purple Glittery POW paper that is OH SO Beautiful and of course flowers, brads, Maya Road hot pink ruffle trim, buttons and oh so girly!

The next one is also using the Echo Park "Little Girl" line but I used less pattern paper on it. I call it "Remember Who Loves You". I cut a cute little owl from my cricut, used lots of butterflies and a few flowers. Still used the scallop paper but added a really pretty lace border punch. I think it is is just adorable.

The next 2 layouts are birthday layouts I made as displays for the store. The 1st Birthday layout is using My Minds Eye "Hip Hooray" and I believe the whole paper line is already sold out... sorry! This one went fast! I plan on putting birthday pics of my 13 year old daughter who just celebrated her bd at the end of June.

The 2nd Birthday display layout is Pink Paislee's "Soiree" line... also a birthday layout for my 13 year old. This line is still available at the Boutique but I dont know for how much longer... so hurry in and get some of it if you like this layout! Perfect for the Birthday girl in your life!!!

OK, That is it for now...
I promise, I am working on a boy layout using the October Afternoon "Rocket Age" line. I will post it as soon as I get it all done!

I also have lots of vacation pics to show you but I will do those another day too!
LMK if you like my layouts and which ones and dont forget to call the Scrappers Boutique to reserve a kit if you want it!
Thanks for looking!!!

For my friend - Life is too short to be anything but happy!

2011-06-21T19:23:00.001-07:00

Another Page of the Week Layout

2011-06-07T07:51:00.000-07:00

Here is the Page of The Week Layout Scrappers Boutique had this past week. It was one I made using the Lush line in orange and I added brown cardstock and brown thickers are also included.

I have some smart cookies (kiddos)!!!

2011-06-07T07:47:00.000-07:00

I just have to brag about my kids and give a big shout out to them for doing so well in school this year!
First is my 9 year old son, who in 3rd grade had to take 2 TAKS tests for the first time ever... He got ZERO questions wrong and got a PERFECT score which makes him commended for Reading!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Math was almost as good, he only got 8 questions wrong which didnt get him commended but did get him over the standard scale score which is AWESOME too since he struggled in math this year! WAY TO GO ETHAN!

Now onto my 13 year old daughter who has been in the gifted and talented program for a couple years now and takes all AP classes. She had to take 3 TAKS tests this year and got commended scores on 2 of them: Reading and Writing. Math wasnt commended but almost - just 11 wrong! Woo Hoo! Becca has been commended on all her TAKES tests for the last 4-5 years - so that is something else to brag about!!! WAY TO GO BECCA!

I am SO proud of both of you! Keep up the great work!!!

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!

2011-05-30T15:20:00.000-07:00

Wow, I havent blogged ina little while! I have been busy. My middle DD celebrated her 13th birthday a little early with about 13 friends over the house. They played lots of different games, swam twice, ate cake and ice cream, opened presents, watched movies and talked til 6 am and slept in till almost noon!
She asked for candy, mechanical pencils, gum, crazy high socks, and money... Below is a picture of what she got (the money is not in the pic).
Now I am trying to get ready for GASC (Great American Scrapbook Convention) and the retreat I will be doing from this Wednesday - Sunday! I can not wait!
I have also been busy making layouts and kits for the Boutique... some you will get to see soon!
Yesterday I spent the whole day cleaning, and de-cluttering and was totally exhausted plus still have more to do but I am giving my feet a rest!

Today, I went to a page builders class and made 8 layouts, then hubby and I went to Target and Lowe's and bought a huge 11 1/2 foot over hanging umbrella and 6 new chairs for our outside patio and now he is cooking steaks and potatoes and lots of other yummies while I am icing my feet!! My darn arch and plantar fascitis is KILLING me!
Hope you all had a good Memorial day too!

More Scrappers Boutique Designs

2011-05-09T12:11:00.000-07:00

Here is a 2 page layout and a little mini album I made using Little Yellow Bicycle's Tiny Princess. You can see them and buy the product at the Scrappers Boutique. I just love all the purples, pinks, greens, blues and yellows.
This line was so much fun to work with - with all the pleated flowers, the little envelopes with the cutest little journaling cards and all the stickers and elements!!! Just perfect for your little girls and so beautiful!!!

On the left side of the layout I used the beautiful precut shaped paper and layered it on top of the purple striped paper. Added a bunch of the pleated flowers, some bling, a big 5x7 mat and a couple of word stickers. On the right side, I layered a stripe patterend paper on to the purple stripes paper, used a border punch to make the pretty green border on the left side of the page, added a few more pleated flowers, another 5x7 mat and more word stickers. Just so pretty!

The mini album was made using an acrylic album I picked up at the Boutique. I covered it with all the different papers from the Tiny Princess line and made it with the theme of

"5 things I Love about You"

I added a bunch of the pleated flowers on the cover, then added the rest through out all the inside pages. Each 2 page spread in the mini has a cute little numbered envelope with a small journaling card inside. I just fell in love with these little envelopes. They are just SO cute!

Look what I made!!!

2011-05-09T11:43:00.000-07:00

I have been busy...
First off I am going to show you what I made during National Scrapbook Day, along with some pics of some friends of mine who went with me on this crazy and fun 30 hour crop. We arrived at noon on Friday, dropped off our stuff and then went to eat lunch. We got back around 2pm and got busy getting settled in. Although I didnt get everything I wanted done, I was able to finish 3 projects and I am pretty proud of them.

First is the flower pot: I painted the pot green, then I used Prima paper to decorate the top rim with a technique I learned from watching Lollie. Then I added a twig and just started decorating with all sorts of prima flowers, leaves and butterflies. I love the way it came out!!! The big green flower with the pearl center in the bottom picture was hand made. I just LOVE IT!!!

The second project was the bird house: I bought the little bird house from HL. I painted it brown then made a box pleat from Prima paper for the roof and layered it on starting from the bottom towards the top.

I then covered all 4 sides with prima paper, added some butterflies, a prima bird and a few flowers and Whoala!!! A very pretty bird house that I love and cant wait to make more!

Thirdly, I decorated a bucket type basket I bought from Michaels. I first tried spraying it with Glimmer Mist, but that wasnt working so I just painted it with red acrylic paint. I then added a Prima twig with flowers, added a few other Prima flowers along with some butterflies and a few leaves and ended up with this: I think I am going to put loose flowers in it that are no longer packaged up. It looks great in my red SB room! I LOVE IT!!!

So here they are all together. It is just Prima Beautiliscious!!!

OK, here is the crop room with about 15-18 ladies but most importantly my friends: Chris, Terri and Jackie.

It was a fun 2 day event! Chris and I ended up being the last ones to go to bed. We thought we would turn in around 12:30pm but we both got our 2nd wind, and ended up staying up till 4am!!! After a just "ok" sleep on an air mattress, we got up around 9am to start it all over again! I was fine until about 4pm, when I started to feel v-e-r-y tired, so I packed it up and went home and took a nap for 1.5 hours! It felt good!!!

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!

2011-05-08T11:55:00.000-07:00

Happy Mothers Day to all the Super Moms out there!

I woke up to a wonderful breakfast, my most favorite candy in the world and some pretty cute and special cards. Now my hubby is out shopping for al the ingredients of my most favorite dinner in the whole world, His home made Chicken Marsala!!! YUM!
Hope you have a wondeful Mothers Day too!

Happy NSB Day!!!!

2011-05-06T07:05:00.000-07:00

Happy National Scrapbook Day WEEKEND!!!!
YEA!!! A day made to celebrate what I love to do! I am making a weekend out of it and heading out to a 30 hour crop at my church! Lots of fun, laughter, food, good times, cropping and a little sleep!
I have lots of things planned and by the looks of my truck, It looks like I packed everything but the kitchen sink! I didnt need that since they have several there. Tee hee hee!!!
What ever your plans are and where ever you happen to be, Hope you have a FANTABULOUS and SUPER FUN National Scrapbook Day!
If you didnt make it into a crop, there are LOTS of online places having virtual crops and TONS and TONS of sales!!!
If you are local, make sure to stop at The Scrappers Boutique in your pajamas and you will be entered into the fabulous drawing they have going on! PLUS, they have all sorts of new stuff! I am stopping there to pick me up that fabulous Bo Bunny Gabrielle and Time Piece!
WOO HOO!!!! Have fun everyone and next week I will show you everything I made in those 30 hours!!!!

Layout and Card of the Week...

2011-05-04T07:03:00.000-07:00

Here is the Mothers Day "Layout of the week" I made for the Scrappers Boutique. Love all the shades of purples and all the flowers and butterflies, and I love that flower "lace" paper!

Here is Susan's card of the week. SOOOOO CUTE!

Stop at the Scrappers Boutique today to get yours as quantities are limited!

God Bless America!

2011-05-01T21:55:00.000-07:00

This picture says it all!!! Justice has been done. Osama Bin Laden has been killed!!! Be happy but continue to be vigilant!

THE VOICE

2011-04-26T20:54:00.001-07:00

My New FAVORITE Show!!!!!!

Layout of the Week

2011-04-25T10:07:00.000-07:00

Here is the layout of the week that I made for the Scrappers Boutique. It is an Easter themed layout and I have pictures from previous Easters on it. I used the We R Memory Keepers Peep paper line which is so cute and perfect for those cute Easter layouts!

Happy Easter!!!

2011-04-24T08:12:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter everyone! Hope you have an enjoyable day surrounded by family and friends and lots of good food and candy! The kids did an egg hunt with a bunch of the neighborhood kids, so thats all the photos I have so far. Family Easter pics will follow soon.

A wise man once said...

2011-04-19T15:54:00.000-07:00

There comes a time in life, when you walk away from all the drama and people who create it. You surround yourself with people who make you laugh, forget the bad, and focus on the good. So love the people who treat you right, pray for the ones who don't. Life is too short to be anything but happy. Falling down is a part of life, getting back up is living.~

So those of you who have treated me right- You know who you are: I love you and thanks!
For all the others, and you know who you are too: I am praying for you and just know that I AM HAPPY!

Look what I brought home today...

2011-04-18T13:00:00.000-07:00

I found a bunch of different color peeps today at Walgreens, so I had to buy at least one of each and some I bought 2! Look how cute these are! I dont remember there beng so many colors when I was little, but now - oh so pretty purple, pink, yellow, green, orange, and teal blue bunnies and chicks!

I can't wait to make these with the kiddos! I bought all the stuff to make them today. Vanilla melts, Milk Chocolate melts, popsicle sticks and little baggies to wrap them in to give away to some neighbors, friends and family!

Is that Nina Dobrev from Vampire Diaries?

2011-04-17T14:35:00.000-07:00

I think I saw Elena, Stefan and Damon from the Vampire Diaries at The Scrappers Boutique!
They are such great friends and that Damon is such a goof ball. They let me take their pic and this is what I got:

I used the Twig Line from Little Yellow Bicycle to design this layout! If you want this paper line, there is still just a little left at The Scrappers Boutique. Get it before it is all gone!!!!

Prima Sweet Fairly Line

2011-04-17T14:28:00.000-07:00

Here is another layout I designed using the Sweet Fairy Line from Prima. This line is just so pretty and screams "Little Girl". It has a soft pallette of colors using pastelle purples, pinks, yellows, and greens. On this layout, I used one of the prima masks, which I just love and I sprayed the lower right hand corner of the page with Tattered Angels Chalk Ink in Grape Ape. The color is just perfect for this line!!! Then I used one of the purple lace and bling stickers to divide the page and put pictures of my sweet Gracie and surrounded those with all the gorgeous prima flowers from the same line. It came out so pretty!

Here is a close up of those gorgeous flowers and the mask image after spraying it with the tattered angels chalk ink:

And last but not least, I designed some layouts using the Twig Line by Little Yellow Bicycle. It has gorgoeus teal blues and greens and it has lots of embellishments geared towards friends but I can also see this being used for any outdoor type pictures or boy layouts!!!

Here is what I did...

My Newest Layouts

2011-04-17T14:08:00.000-07:00

This is a layout I made using the Moulin Rouge line from Prima. It has gorgeous deep rich colors and tones of purples, greys, plums, browns, greens and tans. I absolutely love the prima flowers and the grey prima lace with the bling down the center. The leaves were white originally and then I sprayed with with Tattered Angles glimmer mist in a dark green color. They came out beautiful.

Here is a closeup of the flowers - Dont you just love that deep purple and dark brown? I LOVE THEM!

And here is the display of the Moulin Rouge Line at The Scrappers Boutique. There's still some left but it's going fast, so hurry! The SB is the only store in the Fort Worth area that has this particular line!

PEEPS

2011-04-15T06:52:00.000-07:00

Arent these the cutest Peeps you've ever seen? They look like they are swimming in chocolate! YUM!

I found this great website YOUR HOME BASED MOM and she gave THE CUTEST ideas of things to do with Peeps. I'll tell you my mouth was watering just reading her post and looking at all the pics of her peeps and bunnies covered and dipped in chocolate! VERY cute... Check it out here:

http://www.yourhomebasedmom.com/chocolate-covered-peep-bouquet-and-peep-smores/

I cant wait to make these with the kids... Looks like FUN and YUM rolled into one!

Recent Layouts and projects

2011-04-14T18:06:00.000-07:00

Here are some layouts and projects I recently made:
On the first layout and the frame I used the Stella and Rose line.

On the other 2 layouts I used Anna Griffin's Isabelle line. I love the vibrant colors on those!

And last but not least is my 3D Easter Bunny Canvas project. I am sending this to my grand-daughter:

National Scrapbook Day at The Scrappers Boutique

2011-04-14T16:47:00.000-07:00

They just announced their plans for NSBD:

The Cat's Pajamas (TCP) will be our hostess with the mostest!!!

We will be having a trunk show for TCP products. There will be samples, make and takes, and products to purchase.

Also, you will be entered into a drawing (valued at over $100) for a grand prize when you come in your pajamas (this applys to croppers and shoppers)!

(no nighties, please!)

Okay so here are the details...

When: Saturday, May 7th, 2011

Time: 10am to 12 midnight

(that's 14 hours of fun-filled cropping!)

Cost: $30

What is in it for you...

14 hours of cropping

Croissant Sandwich lunch with chips, fruit and cheese tray

Catered dinner from Taco Cabana (Chicken and Beef fajitias)

Drinks

Yummy Cupcakes by Nita!

Door prizes and Make and Takes!

Plus... for only 5 dollars more- crop Friday night and leave your belongings in your space!

Please call the store at (817) 503-0777 to reserve your spot with payment.

Limited space available.

These are some of the prizes they are giving away! WOWZER!!! I want that purse!!!!

http://scrappersboutique.blogspot.com/

Blogging again!

2011-04-14T13:58:00.000-07:00

I decided to start blogging again. I figured I took enough time off - HA HA! Just kidding. Now that I am designing for the Scrappers Boutique in North Richland Hills and I want to keep up again with a monthly view of my life, I decided it was time to blog again! So much has happened since the last time I blogged!
I will start posting pics soon. I did a mini Easter acrylic album and 3 layouts recently for the Boutique but forgot to take pics, so as soon as I do that I will post them on here!

Water Aerobics

2009-09-10T07:51:00.000-07:00

Monday 8-31-09

Today I started taking water aerobics with my friend Chris. It is every Mon, Wed, and Fridays from 9-10am.

I have always heard how great it is and how much fun it is and I remember taking a class once upon a time, but I thought, this would be good to start getting back into an exercise routine and less jolting on the joints and it fits in my schedule perfectly!

First class was super fun! The instructor is great and fun and it goes by fast! She says we shouldnt feel sore muscles, but I did have some tired muscles!!!

Signs of Fall

2009-09-10T07:48:00.000-07:00

Sunday 8-30-09

Today I saw the first sign of Fall.

My neighbor that is about 2 houses down has a big tree in her front yard, as we all do - but hers was already turning all the different colors of Fall and was dropping leaves like crazy! My other neighbor next to her still had a green "summer" tree with no signs of Fall and our tree was the same. Our tree as a matter of fact is always THE LAST one ot change over and it seems to do it overnight every year! I love Fall and the crisp weather it brings! I am ready for that weather now!~

Becca's room

2009-09-10T07:45:00.000-07:00

Saturday 8-29-09

Just to be fair, this is Becca's room. Now she has never been a girly girl. In fact, she is a major tomboy and her room usually looks like a tornado went through it, but she doesnt care - I do!

To her, this room is clean! LOL! Well, you can see the carpet now - but most of the time, you cant see it because there is stuff all over the floor!

A teenagers room

2009-09-10T07:41:00.000-07:00

Friday 8-28-009

Ellen was always a girly girl to the max! When she was young she wouldnt wear anything but skirts or dresses and pantyhose. I dont think she even owned a pair of jeans until she was like 10. Now that she is a teenager, she is not so much the girly girl anymore. She wears jeans now all the time, but her room is more like a boys - MESSY! This is her room "cleaned up" as she says, and it has been worse, but I thought I would document this for future reference when she complains that her daughters dont clean up their rooms!

Baby Bunny

2009-09-10T07:32:00.000-07:00

Thursday August 27, 2009

Becca found a little bitty baby bunny in our yard today. She found it right under the fence in our back yard, and of course her immediate thought was that she wanted to keep it since she has always wanted a bunny for a pet.

She called me to tell me she found it, but before she got too far in - I told her we couldnt keep a wild bunny. Well, when I got home and saw how little it was, it worried me that it was still very young and needed it's mommy or it would die. I did some research and found out that bunny mommies leave their young in a nest during the day so no other predators can catch thier scent and find them and then they come to feed them at night which takes only about 5 minutes. It did say that bunnies are left by their mommies after a couple of weeks to fend for themselves so we didnt know if that was the case here. This bunny wouldnt jump around or move alot, It seemed very scared and I didnt know if it was hurt. So I called a wildlife rehabilitator who told me what to do and try to feed it and if it didnt eat after 1 hour or so, then I needed to bring the bunny to her. 1 hour later, in a major thunderstorm, we head to Fort Worth to take this bunny to this lady who basically said the bunny was probably already left to fend for himslef but he was dehydrated and needed help before being re-released into the wild again, and she was an expert at this! Had been doing this forover 30 years so we felt good about leaving little bunny with her!

Becca was sad of course that she couldnt keep it but she was glad to know that this lady would take care of it until it could be released and if we had kept it, it could have died.

Crazy about Dinosaurs!

2009-08-31T15:59:00.000-07:00

Wednesday 8-26-09

Ethan loves Dinosaurs! Today he decided to line up all his big ones on his dresser and he even put a gun in the mouth of one. He thought it was really cool and he couldnt wait to show me!

Becca loves to read

2009-08-31T15:56:00.000-07:00

Tuesday 8-25-09

Becca LOVES to read! Every time she gets, she is reading. She loves to read several books at a time! I am so happy she loves to read!

First day of School! YEA!!!

2009-08-31T15:54:00.001-07:00

Monday 8-24-09

It is the first day of school! Ethan starts 2nd, Becca starts 6th and Ellen is a senior this year!

Early to Bed!

2009-08-31T15:53:00.003-07:00

Sunday 8-23-09

All the kids went to bed early tonight since tomorrow is the first day of school! Ethan hated it, but he will hate it even more in the morning if he doesnt go to bed now!

Jason doing laundry

2009-08-31T15:51:00.000-07:00

Saturday 8-22-09

I caught Jason doing some laundry today and he was not very happy that I took his picture, Can you tell?

Back to School clothes shopping

2009-08-31T15:49:00.000-07:00

Friday 8-21-09

Today, the kids and I went to Kohl's and got a bunch of school clothes. Ethan had out grown ALL of his jeans, so he needed new clothes desperatly! Becca out grew all but one, so she needed new clothes as well! It took all day, but we did really good and got some great deals!

Ethan meets Mrs. Martinez

2009-08-31T15:47:00.000-07:00

Thursday 8-20-09

Ethan got to meet Mrs. Martinez - his 2nd grade teacher today.

She is pregnant, and due real soon - so he also met his substitute teacher Mrs. Cooley.

He is very excited and equally excited to see all his old friends again!

Ready for school?

2009-08-31T15:45:00.000-07:00

Wednesday 8-19-09

Today we got to run by the school to see who's Ethan's 2nd grade teacher is going to be. He got Mrs. Martinez! They got a new Kiosk with the name of the school, so Ethan stood there so I could get a picture.

Scentsy Warmer

2009-08-31T15:43:00.000-07:00

Tuesday 8-18-09

My scentsy warmers arrived today. I love the smell of them and they look cute too! Thanks Carrie!@

Cute Baby Book

2009-08-31T15:42:00.000-07:00

Monday 8-17-09

While on the retreat, we went to a couple of scrapbook stores and I saw this cute baby book. They didnt have any more of the albums, but I did buy some of the paper! Cant wait to see the end results of what I make with it!

leaving CBI

2009-08-31T15:40:00.001-07:00

Sunday 8-16-09

Today is the last day of our retreat. It was sad to leave, but it was fun! Cant wait for the next retreat!!!

Cropping Friends

2009-08-31T15:37:00.000-07:00

Saturday 8-15-09

While cropping, we did decide to take a break to go around the property and take a few pictures. This one is one of my favorites. It is out byt he front on the covered bridge you have to go through to get to the house. The girls here are from left to right: Carrie, Linda, Vickie, Terri, Me, and Chris

Retreat guard dog

2009-08-31T15:34:00.000-07:00

Friday 8-14-09

While on the retreat, we were being guarded by this dog - Gizmo!

He mostly just searched for food all the time and every where, even our garbage cans, but he was cute until he had something he shouldnt have and he growled at you showing you his teeth if you even thought about taking it away! Needless to say, I never took anything away! I let Pat, the owner take care of that!

Covered Bridge Inn Retreat - Here I come!

2009-08-31T15:31:00.000-07:00

Thursday 8-13-09

Today I arrived at this beautiful retreat house and I plan on staying till Sunday when they kick us out at 4pm. It is a beautiful house in Weatherford called the Covered Bridge Inn and it is a 4 day retreat of nothing but fun, scrapbooking, eating, fun, scrapbooking, talking, fun, laughing, and did I say scrapbooking?

Notice I didnt mention sleeping!!! That is kept to a bare minimum! LOL!

full fridge

2009-08-31T15:28:00.000-07:00

Wednesday 8-12-09

This is what our fridge looks like most of the time - FULL! Usually with 3 gallons of milk though! Yet, every time when the kids look in there, they say "there is nothing to wat - Can we go to ..."

Now can you believe that??? KIDS!

New "Beer Fridge"

2009-08-31T15:25:00.000-07:00

Tuesday 8-11-09

We are always having a problem of not having cold soda's in the fridge and we have to drink warm soda from the garage, so today I went and bought us a small fridge to keep inthe garage full of our soda's and Jason's beer. Well, it does such a good job of keeping them real cold, that Jason has deemed it HIS BEER FRIDGE! Every time he gets a beer out if it, he says "I just love that beer fridge!" Well, I have to say that I also love that new soda fridge!

Hospital visit

2009-08-31T15:22:00.000-07:00

Monday 8-10-09

Well, today I had to go to the hospital. I had a Miniere's attack right after Ellen left for work, so it was just Becca, Ethan and I. I felt it coming on, tried to take my meds, but before i knew it - I was throwing up everything and couldnt stop, so Becca called 911 for me and called Donald for them. The ambulance came and got me, took me to the hospital and I stayed there for about 5 hours until I got to feeling better! Love that phenegran per IV!!!

Full pantry

2009-08-31T15:21:00.000-07:00

Sunday 8-9-09

Every time I open up my pantry, this is what I see!!! It is always full!

Clean or Dirty?

2009-08-31T15:18:00.000-07:00

Saturday 8-8-09

How many times have you asked "are the dishes in the dish washer clean or dirty?"

Well, we have a million times, so I made these real quick signs that say CLEAN and DIRTY and everytime the dishwasher is being filled up with dirty dishes it says Dirty - once I set it to wash - I put the CLEAN sign on it, so everyone knows they are clean and the kids know it needs to be emptied out!

New Vampire Books I am reading

2009-08-31T15:13:00.000-07:00

Friday 8-7-09

Ellen turned me on to these new vampire books. The first is called Marked by P.C. Cast and her daughter Kristen Cast. They are somewhat like the Twilight series but more sexual and not so focused on the romance and relationship between the vamp and human as Twilight, but the difference and war between vamps and humans. So far there are 5 books out and the 6th is to be released in November. I am on book 3!!!

Let me tell you... if you havent read these - YOU NEED TO! They are awesome and I think even better than the Twilight series about keeping you in suspense and wanting to read more! I have stayed up way past my bed time because I just couldnt put them down!!!

Go get them now!!!

What a moon!

2009-08-31T15:12:00.001-07:00

Thursday 8-6-09

Tonight I stepped outside and saw this! What a beautiful moon! Sure - it doenst look like much to you in this picture - but it was beautiful in real life!!!

testing on campus

2009-08-31T15:10:00.000-07:00

Wednesday 8-5-09

Today I spent my day testing a potential student today on campus and waiting for another one who never showed up because they were on the wrong campus! UGH! Why dont people LISTEN???

Residency Verification

2009-08-31T15:09:00.000-07:00

Tuesday 8-4-09

I spent my morning running from Ethan's school to Becca's school to do our annual residency verification. Oh - what fun! Not!

Meeting at Barnes and Noble

2009-08-31T15:07:00.001-07:00

Monday 8-3-09

Today, I got together with Nancy and had a meeting with Jan at B&N to talk about getting paid 2 extra hours per day that we teach to make up for all the hours we put in at home un-paid working on lesson plans... We shall see what comes out of it!!!

My vaccuum

2009-08-31T15:05:00.000-07:00

Sunday 8-2-09

This thing - runs my life! At least it feels like it! I have to run it just about every other day, if not every day because of how much Kenzi sheds. But it especially runs extra long on Sundays - my cleaning day! I hate seeing dog hair on the carpets and floating along my tile, so although I hate running it, I sure do love it!

CM Showcase

2009-08-31T15:03:00.000-07:00

Saturday 8-1-09

Today I went to the very first CM Showcase that they have ever opened up to customers. Although it was crowded and a bit long and boring, I did get to hear all about the new products comeing out and had fun with my sis and friends!

Dinner at Trulucks - Yummy!

2009-08-31T15:01:00.000-07:00

Friday 7-31-09

We went to eat dinner at Trulucks tonight for our anniversary. We had never been, but my friend Chris works there and has said how good it is, so we thgouht we would try it out. Well, let me tell you - It is now my FAVORITE restaurant, but a bit pricey - so we wont be going there every weekend! HA!

Team Photo

2009-08-31T14:59:00.000-07:00

Thursday 7-30-09

Today the TKD school team took their team photo for the newspaper, so every one on the team posed and those who won a medal at the Nationals had thier medal on. Arent they cute?

Our 20th Anniversary

2009-08-31T14:57:00.000-07:00

Wednesday 7-29-09

Today is our 20th aniversary. Jason "had to go out for some business stuff" - so he said, but when he came back, he had this in his hand!!! 20 roses!!! Beautiful! Thanks Honey, I love them. I love you too!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JASON!

2009-08-31T14:54:00.000-07:00

Tuesday 7-28-09

Today is Jason's Birthday. Since it is in the middle of the week, Becca and I baked a cake, got some balloons and tried to get him with those fake re-light candles, but as soon as we lit them, he walked in the other room and by the time he came back in, I thought the house was going to burn down!!! It was kinda scary and funny at the same time! We ate cake and I think he enjoyed every bite!

Where to put my canvases?

2009-08-31T14:49:00.000-07:00

Monday 7-27-09

I bought these canvases from the auction when The Pad closed down and I never really could find a good place to put them. Well, one day I decided I wanted to lighten up our kitchen and living room area with our new table and all, so I hung them low on the wall that faces our living room which is where our kitchen sink is on the other side. I think I like them there!!!

Climbers

2009-08-31T14:48:00.001-07:00

Sunday 7-26-09

Rebecca and Ethan love to climb trees. This one at thier grandpa's house is their favorite. Every time we go there, they have to climb it.

Plants

2009-08-31T14:46:00.001-07:00

Saturday 7-25-09

I love plants, but I cant seem to keep them alive - All except for this kind! For some reason, these plants like me and I dont seem to kill them - so I have several of them all over the house.

RUb Ons

2009-08-31T14:44:00.000-07:00

Friday 7-24-09

I just love these Uppercase Living Rub ons. You can put them anywhere. Here is one I put on my favorite red mug that I use as a pen holder in my office. It says DREAM and on the other side it says LOVE.

Kenzi the Chicken Dog

2009-08-31T14:41:00.000-07:00

Thursday 7-23-09

Kenzi - My Chicken Dog! She has become such a chicken whenever some body she doesnt know comes over and so we have deemed her our Chicken Dog.

Dream vacation

2009-08-26T18:20:00.001-07:00

Wednesday 7-22-09

This is my dream vacation spot - Greece! I would love to go there before I die!

Love this Fall Book

2009-08-26T18:15:00.000-07:00

Tuesday 7-21-09

Saw this Fall Book and fell in love! What colors!

isters

2009-08-26T18:14:00.001-07:00

Monday 7-20-09

Ellen and Becca - Sisterly Love

Wooly Haircut

2009-08-26T18:13:00.001-07:00

Sunday 7-19-09

Jason gave Ethan a haircut in the bath tub! Look at all that wooly hair! I bet that was itchy!

Ethan playing guitar

2009-08-26T18:12:00.003-07:00

Saturday 7-18-09

Ethan decided he wants a guitar, so Becca let him borrow hers and here he is playing and singing me a song. He definitely needs lessons!

Playing in the Pool

2009-08-26T18:10:00.000-07:00

Friday 7-17-09

Becca and Ethan played catch in the pool with a water ball. It was HOT!