books and cards and crops oh my!

well I read Twilight. wow. it didn't take long. I would say total hours was maybe 8. one day I read for about 3 hours, the other day only an hour, then the next day I finished it! I'm super excited for New Moon. the odd thing is I am SO not into vampires - but the book was so different. I've seen the previews for the movie that's due to come out in November and I think it's geared in the "normal" vampire direction - I hope I'm wrong.

I think I finally have my Christmas cards all planned out. I've made about 15 or so cards and today I put one together using a Technique Tuesday stamp along with an Autumn Leaves stamp, ribbon, and patterned paper. ta-da! so now I just need a ribbon sale so I can stock up and get these puppies on the assembly line! yay! I'm so super ready for Christmas I can hardly stand it.

but - I must first get a list together for the kids' fall/winter clothing needs. It's almost time to do the shopping - we're hoping for cooler weather here in the next couple weeks. I found a coat I like at Target for Hailee so that's one thing that will be easy - Braden should still fit in his Carhartt from last year - so cute.

let's see - oh - world cardmaking day. October 4th. Check the {Use Your Stash} blog for some card prompts to challenge you. Also, there will be a sort of "card crop" at the {Playground} - so check in there, too!

then you can also check in at the {Playground} on October 17th for a crop hosted by the Bullies!!!

I think that's all folks.

see you next time!

September at the Playground

We had 2 super AWESOME sponsors at the playground this month! Cosmo Cricket and Paper Trunk. wow. lucky us!

here are a few things I made with the awesome Cosmo Hello Sunshine and Trunk Wrangler goodies!!!

Hello Sunshine. oh the colors are SO fun in this collection. I loved it. and using black cardstock just made those yummy colors pop even more!

Wrangler. It's not just for boys. I had to prove that when Hailee asked why there were lots of "bubby pages" laying around and none of her! lol

me & Munch

Here are the pics of me and Hailee - then of course Braden wanted to see so I got a couple of all of us - not sure what that kid was on! lol

Self Portraits!

ha! okay - I hate pictures of myself - but with the sudden death of a fellow scrapbooker I realize I should take nothing for granted and I need to make memories for my children. Not just scrapbook their childhood memories - but their LIVES. and I am a big part of their little lives - so I need to get in front of the camera more.

today - it's just me and Braden. We had a day of shopping so before we left I snatched him for some pictures! (no laughing folks!)

just LOVE that kissy photo!

and while we were at the mall I found new glasses! yay! I was really hoping the search for the perfect pair wouldn't take forever - it didn't. LensCrafters has a GREAT selection and they were having a special on the lenses so I got a pretty good deal! the color is sort of cranberry-ish. what do ya think?

okay - so I started getting goofy - but what can you do when you're in need of a major caffiene fix????

there you have it. pictures of me. wow, that's a lot for one day. Hailee and I will have to wait until Friday - I'll get them before we go out to dinner with Jenn & Damon!

later gators!

I'm done with the DIET.

No, I'm not going to run out and get Big Mac's or chocolate bars. What I am done with is the "oh, how much have you lost" and the "what are you doing to lose weight?" inquiries.

I'm going to eat healthy. Be more active. Take care of myself. If the pounds come off that's great. If not, then I guess this is the size I was meant to be. I don't like it - but I'll live with it.

When I started "dieting" in March my stress level went up. I'm taking motrin for headaches almost daily, and Maxalt for migraines almost weekly. That's more expensive than the food I was eating! I am going to continue with a healthier lifestyle and that's all that matters. No more weekly scale checks. No more calorie counting. No more explaining myself to friends and family about what goes into my mouth. I'm not a shallow person and do not judge people by what they look like on the outside. I would hope that people don't judge me that way either.

I'm a good person; a great mother; a wonderful wife. No, I don't look like a model. But is that what really matters?

Please know I still plan on teaching my kids what it takes to be healthy and showing them how it's done - yes, I 'd like to look better - but by following a diet I was not better. I'm not going to stock my cabinets with chips and cookies for the kids (Darren yes - kids no) but with pretzels and nuts. My fridge won't be crammed with fattening things like pre-made smoothies or ice creams but with fruit, veggies, yogurt and cheese. (and this is nothing new - ask my mom..I really limit the junk my kids are allowed to eat!) We will eat the healthy fats and work at being a happier family. So don't take this as a plan to eat anything I see - that's not what it is....just don't ask me what size I wear or what the scale shows - because I won't tell you! I do know what I weigh now and plan on checking it - just not often.

on to new things that are happier! lol

1 - there's still time to get your chipboard layouts done for the UYS challenge.

2 - there's even more time to get your stuff in for the 2 contests over at the playground

3 - you have until Tuesday to get some challenges done for the YMBD crop!

and here are some more pictures of the kids - taken when Darren's dad was here!

and our newest venture that is SLOW going and so far UNSUCCESSFUL!!!! lol

Keeping busy

Darren's dad, my father-in-law, is here. and my kids are sure keeping him busy! they are wearing him out - so much so that he had to find a nice, cool, quiet place to take a nap.










but he was soon found by one little girl who can't go 10 minutes without her grandpa.







so did he ever get that nap? nope - she drew pictures and made sure he looked. she climbed a tree and made sure he saw. she offered to be his pillow but wouldn't hold still. so he gave up. or should I say gave in....to Hailee! lol

more pictures to come after I look at them in photoshop!

how we spent our summer vacation!

Heather at YMBD wants to know if I accomplished anything this summer - well, it's not an exciting list - but here it goes!

*spent 2 weeks in Seattle with my family (just me and the kids)
*spent days in the little pool in the backyard
*spent 2 weeks with mom when she came to visit
*had our annual 4th of July bash
*created many, many cards to use this year
*kept up with all my dt work
*took lots of photos of the kids
*enjoyed quality time with dh in the evenings
*bought new living room furniture
*re-organized my bitty scrap space
*spent an evening with the Collin's family
*got a new roof on the house
*got new gutters on the house, too

I'm sure there's more but I doubt it's anything you want to hear about! Hope ya'll had a great summer - ours is pretty much over now that Hailee is back to school - but Darren's dad will be here in about a week so that's the next thing we're looking forward to!

here are the rest of my projects using the fun My Favorite Things stamps!

you can see more from the entire design team by going {here}!!!

can you say SERIOUS???

I crack up! Darren has recently been SUCKED in to the world of "Call of Duty 4" by a friend of his. He doesn't play very often, thank goodness, but when he does I just crack up! He yells at the game (like that'll help), makes such intense faces, moves with the controller (because we all know that DOES help! lol), and it's just hilarious. Then when he's done he lets out a sigh - like he's all worn out from the hard work!


don't you just love how he moves the chair to get a better view? LOL

Thank you Jennifer!

{Jennifer} has given me this award, or tagged me I suppose, so I am doing my duty! First, I have to thank her - she gave me another award a week or so ago and though I did go and thank her I didn't follow through - so this time I am!

okay - here goes:

*If you are tagged, you must first post the rules:

* Write 7 strange characteristics about yourself. They interest us all!

* Tag 6 other people at the end of your Post.

* Visit everyone that you have tagged and leave a comment on their blog to let them know that they have been tagged.

So here are my seven strange characteristics:

1. I now have 2 tattoos.

2. I am ADDICTED to latte's.

3. I am originally from Washington and will NOT eat any seafood.

4. I constantly tap or shake one of my feet.

5. if one of my fingers touches another, I then have to make that finger touch the other 8.

6. While having a phone conversation I can also follow along with what the people in the room with me are doing/talking about. that's my multi-tasking skill!

7. I chew the sides of my fingers but never bite my nails.

I'm going to tag:

Kimmie http://kimmie-kimmievw.blogspot.com/

Marti http://lovemylife-marti.blogspot.com/

Mel http://mel-melplace.blogspot.com/

Kimmarie http://kimmarieskorner.blogspot.com/

Nicole http://www.napsscraps.blogspot.com/

Erika http://erika-personallyme.blogspot.com/

Kristy http://jkjjhuddle.blogspot.com/

at the local park

Yesterday Braden and I headed to the little park downtown for a little bit of play time. As much as he enjoyed the swings (that's where the best smiles came from!) he really enjoyed climbing - he was determined to do it. He scares me. Way more than Hailee did. Boys are supposed to be tough but I can't get that into my head. He's my baby. I've seen the lumps on his head before. He scares me. But he's so darn cute I tried to let him go so I could get pictures. Here are my favorites.

a big 1st grader in the house!!!!

Can you believe it's back to school time already? sheesh! Well, Hailee was super excited to get back - she plans on learning to read....THIS week! lol

I took the traditional pictures in front of the gate - I really hoped to get a picture without her squinting but hey, what can you do? at least it's only the one! lol The picture I really wanted was her sitting in her desk, but there was too much chaos - so I have a picture of her next to it...while tugging her tights! lol and I was doing just fine with the whole situation of leaving my baby at a school with a new teacher that I don't know and didn't find overly friendly until she asked "aren't you leaving?". that hurt.

I forgot to share!

The Playground is sponsored by My Favorite Things Stamp Co. this month and I had fun! I was sent the back to school stamp set so I made a card for Hailee's first grade teacher along with a layout using her kindergarten class photo. Then, to spice things up a bit (cuz we're SO spicy!) some of us (the design team) sent each other images of our stamps so we could all play with different themes. Kimmie sent me some images from the winter set and Beth sent me some from a shower set - I used what I could (still have some Mother's Day images from Marti to play with, too). Anyway - here are the 3 I uploaded in the gallery on the 5th - more to come on the 20th!!


and the August challenge over at Use Your Stash!! blog was posted on the 5th - it's to use patterned paper - the more the better!!! you have until the 20th for that. and hang on to scraps because you know we'll want you to make a card with those around the 12th :)


what else - OH - I recieved my box from Wendi (playground) for our September and October projects and WOW - we are SO lucky...great sponsors and I can't tell you yet - but watch out - because there's always a challenge to go along with it!

and I just got an email from Jen at RSC and my dt box is going to be delayed but good things will come of it - she's going to send more of my stuff so I get it all at once! it will be a scrappy overload and I can't wait!!! The October/November issue will knock your socks off - Jen rocked the sponsors for sure this time!!!!!


and UYS has a fun sponsor for September too - so much to look forward to - good thing all the "little people" will be back in school so ya'll can play along!

that's all I've got for now - have fun and go scrap!!

My cute little space

well - I used to have all my scrap stuff in our spare room-turned kids room- that I shared with Darren. I had half the room to spread all my yummy scrappy goodness throughout. When we finally had to give it up and move my stuff to our bedroom I had a mild panic attack. But it's working, and I'm able to see what I have and really use it better, so it's a good thing. Yes, I'm crammed on one wall, but it's working. Here are a few pictures (still some organizing to do but Darren and I are still in debate on what would be best) so you can see where it is I create.

Braden's big boy bed!

Well we got the toddler bed tonight! Braden kept getting his feet stuck in the crib rails so we decided it was time! AND walmart had Spidey sheets for it with a blanket so he JUST HAD TO HAVE IT! he was so excited! lol He THOUGHT he was ready for bed, but he tried to change his mind once he was actually in it - but we only had to put him back in bed a few times before he fell asleep - he's pretty good when it comes to bed routines - he likes sleep :)

New contest at the Playground

For August we want to see your layout using stamps in a creative way - so dust off those old stamps you have stored away and have some fun with them!!!!

NOW - for the RULES!!!!! lol
*8.5x11 or 12x12 layouts only - no mini's, no cards.
*one entry per person
*you can not win back to back challenges - but don't let that stop you from entering because we love to see what everyone can create!
*you have until 8-31-08 to get your entries in the correct gallery HERE
*all work must be yours - no scraplifts or sketches, please

if you have any questions - visit the Contest Forum over at the playground!

Have you seen the latest issue of Ready, Set, Create?

if not - here's my contribution - and if you want to see more get over there and get yourself a subscription! so many amazing ideas and talent just ooozing off the pages!!

there's more - but I won't bore you any longer! thanks for looking this far!

a lot of these were made with digital kits that either I printed at home, or Jen from RSC printed and sent to me - so don't be afraid of digital - just go hybrid!