Wanna win a stamp?

Haven't blogged in a while, life has just been busy :) So I thought I'd offer up a little RAK! I have ONE Autumn Leaves journaling stamp that I would love to give to someone :D It is the stamp in the lower right hand corner of this picture. If you'd like a chance to get this puppy in the mail, it's simple! I have a number between 1-100. Get the closest to this number and it is yours :) I will close this September 22nd, a week from Friday!

Taylor's birthday is tomorrow, she is going to be 7. I still can't believe and she is just getting so BIG. She is in a special program at her school where they work with advanced students so she is coming home with lots of homework. I think it is great that they are challenging her. I'm so proud!

She has also started soccer so I can officially say I'm a "soccer mom", lol. I love watching her play, she is pretty darn good!

Got a request from PaperArt Magazine for a 3 Bugs card I made :) Maybe I should make cards...that makes 3 within 3 weeks :D

Some father daughter time

We had a family reunion in Ohio on Sunday and the girls had the opportunity to go fishing with daddy. Chad took the girls on Saturday to buy them their very own fishing poles :) They were so excited and spent the rest of the day out front practicing how to cast out their line. They had some special time together on the pond just relaxing and fishing. Taylor caught 4 fish and Hanna caught 2! I don't think I could have done better, lol. Here are some memorable pictures from that day.

Seems like there is a lot of buzz in the scrapbook world this week. Calls waiting to be received, announcements to be made, people's nerves shot...what are you waiting on this week??? I'm also SO very PROUD of my friend Beth Opel who is a finalist for the CK Scrapbooker Of the Year. She is amazing both as a scrapbooker and as a person. Got my fingers crossed for you girl!

And I've been busy in my scrapbook room :) Lots I can't share but here is some I can!


Have an awesome weekend!!!

Sometimes I don't know WHERE to start

With my house that is. Closets need cleaned out, stuff needs organized, the kids need to try on last year's clothes to see what fits and what doesn't, stuff needs hauled to the attic, to goodwill, school supplies need bought...SHEESH! So frustrating, ya know? So that is what has been occupying my time, that is why I have been slacking on my blog. And I'm not even half way done. Oh well!

I did cancel my surgery for next week though. I'm going to wait about a year, when Chloe will be a little bit more dependent. I just CAN'T go not lifting her for 4 weeks. I can't. Period. But I still look ok. I mean, I know the hernia is there and yes it feels gross but most people can't tell it's there. So that is ok :) I did squeeze out a layout I've been wanting to do for a while about my comfy silver jeans. Love them!

We've been super busy too. I played 4 softball games on Saturday...yes I said 4 AND I'm super sore to prove it. I also managed to catch the ball with the hand NOT wearing the mit so my hand is nice and swollen. Yeah, smart, I know! We had a family reunion for Chad's side of the family, went to Harlan Days, Shipshewana, and the lake. Love summer. Not ready for fall yet.

Is summer really almost over???

Where had time gone? It seems like the kids just got of school and we were preparing for our vacation to Colorado. Now we've been back 1 month already and the kids start school in 4 weeks! It just doesn't possible. There are so many things I wanted to do with the kids before summers end, so I better get crackin'.




I think I'm going to cancel my hernia surgery. I've been thinking a lot about the whole thing. I can't lift anything for 4-6 weeks afterwards...how can I get Chloe out of her crib? Into her car seat? High chair? Cart at the grocery store? It just isn't possible now. I think I will wait another year and I am ok with that. I wasn't exactly thrilled to have surgery in the first place, lol.

I've been scrapping like a fiend lately! I feel the urge to get some of that old stuff used up before I go crazy on the new stuff, KWIM? So I've been challenging myself and it feels good. I have also had the opportunity to work with Fancy Pants and KI Memories this month. Love it!

Hope you all are doing great!

One of those days

I am having one. You know, those days where everything that can go wrong DOES. I am so bugged at this point that I am just ready for bed. I'm afraid to do or say anything else in fear that another catasrophe will happen. *sigh*

Better news is, we've (I mean I) have been letting Chloe cry at night when she wakes up. Last night was night 3 and she slept all night, cried at 4:30 am, and woke up for good a little after 6:00 am. This is the first night I've slept almost the entire night in over a year :) Now that is happy news.

I have lots of ideas for some scrap projects just swirling in my head, but I've had no time to create. I really WANT to. Maybe I can forget about all 8 loads of laundry for one more day...

I love Lil' Davis!

Lil' Davis was a sponsor this month for Create My Keepsake, and let me tell you their stuff is awesome! Some of this stuff I would not have normally purchased. But now I think I need more, lol.




Life has been pretty boring lately, which can be ok sometimes! We did open our pool and have been swimming a lot. LOVE having a pool :) Anyone want to come over?

Whew, what a trip!

We had a great time in Colorado!!! It is almost surreal to be home. Now back to reality with housework and yardwork UGH.

I ventured to the top of Pike's Peak on a cog railway. This was a huge venture for me considering I am terrified of heights. And I have mitro-valve prolapse so I wasn't sure how the ticker would do at that altitude. But here I am, so I survived, lol!!! It was amazing, but I am afraid I gripped poor Chloe with white knuckles :) The view was out of this world. At one point we could see the state of New Mexico and Kansas at the same time. I glance really quickly just to say I did then buried my head back into Chloe, haha. She was standing up trying to climb out the window! At the base of the mountain the temp was 75 degrees. At the top it was 30 and snowing, yikes! We were 14,000 feet up. Man I love to experience new things.

The car ride wasn't TOO bad. The kids hardly fought on the way there but they made up for it on the ride back :) The condo was beautiful and had a gorgeous view of the mountains from the balcony.

Some more interesting tidbits:
Missouri has WAY TOO MANY adult stores off of I-70 :(
Tigers think babies are tiny treats :P
Babies holding objects out the window when you're 10,000 feet up is NOT a good idea
1 hour in Archiver's is not enough time...just a tease
Kansas is flat and more boring than corn fields in Indiana
DO NOT detour in downtown St. Louis just to see the arch...you'll sit there forever in traffic
DO NOT tell your husband when you and a friend get lost 5 miles from the condo trying to find a scrapbook store ;)
Colorado lightening storms are nothing to mess around with
Why is there never soap in rest stop bathrooms? Always carry hand sanatizer!
There are always those idiots at the zoo who, when the sign says please do not tap on glass, insist on doing so anyway. And who also make monkey sounds like an idiot...yeah dude, they really think you're communicating with them...

Can't wait to scrap some of these wonderful pictures I got and share them with you all!

Colorado, Here I Come!

Yeah! Can't wait to hit the road tomorrow! I've finished all my Design Team projects, I'm packed, and ready to take lots of pictures! But I will miss you, my friends out there in cyber world who care enough to check out my little ol' blog :D

I'll leave with some work I just finished up. Talk to you when I get back!

How do you deal with the let down?

Well, the big call for the CK Idea Annual book has come and gone. I had high hopes for some of my layouts. CK just doesn't like me for some reason, seriously! Just can't get my foot through the door darn it! But I just keep plugging away. Sometimes I think it is fun to have the suspense and see all the fun toots throughout the day. I'm truly happy for all my talented friends :) I think there needs to be more magazines in circulation so I can up my chances, haha!!! Oh well, what am I doing tonight? Probably submitting more work ;)

We're leaving for Colorado soon. I hate last minute details. I have high anxiety as it is and I'm always afraid I'm going to forget something and what not. I wish I could just CHILL OUT for a minute...but I know that won't happen! I know I will have some awesome pictures to post on my blog when I get back. So keep checkin'!

And I will end on a Chloe note :) Love this dear child SO much! But she has resorted to biting and pinching when she is a). tired b). sick of the girls being in her face and c). if she is not getting her way. The entire family has bite marks on their bodies. Not pretty!!!

Have a GREAT weekend everyone!

Not much new here

I've been pretty busy with LOTS of household stuff...yuck. I did get a page picked up by Memory Makers for their new idea book coming out in October...so that brightened my day!

I'm TRYING to get ahead, lol

It seems like my "to-do" list grows by leaps and bounds each day. I never seem to be able to get ahead, KWIM? I can't figure out a good system to keep things running smooth around here *sigh* I go to bed telling myself tomorrow will be a productive day but it never happens.

We went to the zoo today...Chloe's first trip there. It was a lot of fun!!! We did encounter some vicious ducks and I am saying MEAN ducks. They were pecking at our legs and would snap at our hands everytime we tried to get food from the machines to feed them. Chloe just kept saying, "duck, duck, duck"...it was too cute. Hanna flipped out over the man eating ducks and flinched everytime one even looked her way, hehe. She is my little "DQ" of drama queen as we call her. I will post some fun pics tomorrow!

I got some fun projects done for the CMK design team. This months sponsor is Imagination Projects. LOVE their stuff!!!

What a great weekend!!!

We had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. The girls, Chad, and I went to his aunt and uncle's for a cook out and water fight...the girls LOVED it!!! I got some awesome pictures too!

I also got an e-mail from Cards! requesting a card that is already being published with PaperCrafts. Anyway, I e-mailed Alisha back and asked if I could send some more cards with the same sentiment. She said to send them over and she would look over them! YAY!!! Now that makes me smile :) Wish me luck...here is my favorite one I submitted to them:

Cheap people suck!

OK, not the nicest title I realize. BUT-you would not believe this guy I had in my garage. So, he has a handful of items, MAYBE totaling $10. So he asks if I will take 25 cents for everything. I, thinking he is joking, laugh and say yeah right. Dead serious, no smile, he asks if I will take 50 cents. Again, thinking he is joking, laugh and say maybe tomorrow. Since at this time, he is not smiling nor laughing at his own joke I see he is completely serious...you've GOT to be kidding me! I told him that I paid $15 for the baby pj's alone and that I will not take less than $1.00 for those and certainly will not part with $10 worth of stuff for 50 cents. So then he says, alright, 75 cents for the whole lot...what is wrong with this man??? I tell him no, he gets ticked, says FINE and throws it all down. As he walks away he says, this was for a church donation anyway...he goes to church? What a christian like attitude!!! And his wife is still shopping like nothing is wrong. My mom and I looked at each other in disbelief. Then my mom blurts out, "ok Tina, now you can go mark everything down." That made me laugh. I am one to bargain for a deal but that man was CHEAP. Sheesh!



I did manage to squeeze out a page for Crop Addict. I'm hoping to work on stuff tonight.

Happy E-mail Day!

Wow! After a rough day of running a garage sale, keeping track of 3 kids, and feeling sick, I opened up my e-mail to find that Scrapbook Trends wants one of my back to school layouts for their September issue! I'm super excited...plus I'm kind of not "tooting" anymore...I just feel weird doing so. That is why I'm sharing on my blog!!!

My Luv2scrapbook update

Well, Karen, the current owner of Luv2scrapbook has decided to sell her business to another scrapbook "mini" chain. Sometimes you have to make difficult decisions in your life. I'm sure it was a very hard thing for her to do. This was her life, and she was so successful! I will miss her! I just hope Luv2 stays just the way it is. The employees are awesome, the store carries the best product, and I love my new DT buddies!!! So lets hope for a bright future. And yes, I will be taking this journey with some great friends :) Thank you girls!!!

Big Changes...

I'm not sure how much I can divulge in this post but lets just say there are big changes for a company I work for and love. Some of these changes may be good, some not so good. I'm not one to deal with change very well. But I am keeping positive in light of everything. If you tell yourself bad things are going to happen, they will. I will update soon on this topic...

Productive Day

I've been quite productive in my scrapping. I finished a double spread for a Heidi Swapp class I'm teaching next month, 2 Halloween layouts for a MM call, and one of my MMM submissions. I hope to get a lot more done tonight too :)

I love it. There is nothing like the smell of a brand new vehicle. I will be soaking it all in today as we pick up our new 2006 Chevy Trail Blazer!!! I talked the dealership from $34, 000 to $29,000!!!! I can't believe it! Totally stoked over this as I am not a bargainer by any means. My husband was so proud of me!

Just one more step in preparing for our trip to Colorado. Only about 4 weeks until we go. I am so excited! But lots of planning to do. That is the only not fun part, right?

I've Been Thinking

I heard about the Dr. Phil show yesterday and the out-of-control mom. It made me think about the kind of mother I am. You always wonder if your kids are happy and if you are doing a good job raising them. My children are the most important things in my life, besides God. I want nothing more than for them to grow up healthy, happy, and knowing how much they are loved. I've felt a greater responsibility towards being a mother after seeing bits and pieces of Dr. Phil. I just can't imagine how people can treat their children like that. It really is disgusting and sad.

In better news, the FMC Angels won their first game 12-3! I hit a homer! My legs feel like jello today :) I am feeling old, lol!!!

I scheduled my hernia surgery in August, I am so nervous about that. I've never had surgery. I will admit I am scared. If anyone out there in cyber world has any bit of helpful advice, or encouraging word, please leave a comment! God bless!

Almost forgot! Here is a list of questions my friend Chelsea came up with to enter into our blogs for today:

1. Kind of music-christian, 80's, classis rock
2. Decorating Style-contemporary
3. Hair Color-brown
4. Piece of CLothing-flip flops
5. Item to collect or hoard-flowers!
6. Favorite City to Visit-Gulf Shores
7. Favorite job you've had-sales for Accutemp Products
8. Favorite Animal-kitties
9. Favorite Food-fettucini alfredo, popcorn
10. Favorite room in your house-my scraproom!!!

Luv2scrapbook's Anniversary Crop

It was so much fun! My first "official" crop! I got to meet so many out of town friends who were able to come in for the festivities. It is so surreal meeting people you talk to all the time but have never really "met." We laughed a lot, talked a lot, ate a lot, and I managed to squeeze out 1 layout!!! Pretty proud of myself for that! I'm REALLY tired though. I will add some pictures later.

We are in the process of searching for a new vehicle. Ugh. I despise car shopping.

I'm doing fairly well on my new scrap budget. I have $6 left to spend for the month :) Lucky me got 3 complete lines of KI Memories new "Color Theory." It is for Luv2's DT projects for June and July. Can you say yummy???! I chose purple, blue, and green. The colors are wonderful!!!

My baby's growing up :(

Tonight is Hanna's "preschool graduation." It is so sad to see her growing so fast. Taylor will be in first grade next year. It all seems unbelievable and surreal to me!


Thank you to everyone who has commented on my blog. I was afraid the name was silly but it is growing on me! And can you believe it...two posts in two days! Yeah!!!!

I need to work on DT projects. Got 3 due for Luv2scrapbook this month, 3 for CMK, 3 for Memories From Scrap, and 3 for Crop Addict's June kit. It really sounds like a lot now that I have it down in front me, lol! I also have 2 classes to teach this month and am supposed to be getting my first shipment from 3 Bugs In A Rug :) I'd like to get a couple submissions ready for CK new idea book. Double spreads are REALLY hard for me. I have 2 done so far. I also have high hopes for Cantata Books...can't quit hitting refresh on my e-mail :)