... consisted of not just 1 but 2 trips to the ER...
Steve was trip 1... He threw his back out/pinched his nerve at the base of his spine on Sunday evening but wasn't able to tolerate it past Monday night... so in he went about 8pm on Monday...
Annde was trip 2... After listening to her bark like a seal for 4 hours, I finally gave up at 3am and took her in for a breathing treatment/steroid for Croup.
Then I came back and attempted to sleep with her on my chest on the couch. After making breakfast, we decided to cancel our dinner plans - big sleet/snow storm coming - and move them to lunch plans. So, I'm off... Stay tuned for more developments...
... don't worry though! I love having a birthday and a smile on my face!
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
On my 2nd Day of Vacation, I...
... got together with Tracy again to scrapbook.It was an great opportunity to let Keegan and Annde play. They've started to get along so well... Keegan didn't have school and Annde wasn't supposed to go to school until afternoon so it seemed like a perfect time. We had a blast! I got several pages done and Annde actually started crying when it was time to leave for school (so we skipped this one day...) and then again when it was time to go home.
... determined that I have cold. I hate that every year, at this same time, I get a nasty cold. Steve has it too but Annde seems fine, which is great, because getting her to take medicine is PAINFUL! I know that there is a ton of gunk running around and I probably picked it up last week when I helped out at school. I feel like crap and it's now less than a week to my birthday/Xmas. I am going to load up on drugs and vitamin C so I can try and kick this thing REALLY fast!
... a dork and forgot to mention that 2 of my layouts have been picked by fellow scrappers as Layouts of the Week/Fabulous finds in the last couple of weeks. If you check 2 posts below you will see the Diva page (picked as Layout of the Week at Scrapdango) and Taco Girl (Fab Find at Coordinates Collections). It's nice to be recognized!
... looked outside the window and realized that day 3 is going to be cold and messy, with 2-3" already down by the time I put Annde to bed, it's going to be messy on the roads tomorrow. Maybe Annde and I can go build our first snowman of the year.... :)
... wrote my Christmas letter. The cards have been done for over a month. No letter though and the picture isn't printed. Dang it! I have got to get it together...
Well, off to do fun stuff on day 3!
... determined that I have cold. I hate that every year, at this same time, I get a nasty cold. Steve has it too but Annde seems fine, which is great, because getting her to take medicine is PAINFUL! I know that there is a ton of gunk running around and I probably picked it up last week when I helped out at school. I feel like crap and it's now less than a week to my birthday/Xmas. I am going to load up on drugs and vitamin C so I can try and kick this thing REALLY fast!
... a dork and forgot to mention that 2 of my layouts have been picked by fellow scrappers as Layouts of the Week/Fabulous finds in the last couple of weeks. If you check 2 posts below you will see the Diva page (picked as Layout of the Week at Scrapdango) and Taco Girl (Fab Find at Coordinates Collections). It's nice to be recognized!
... looked outside the window and realized that day 3 is going to be cold and messy, with 2-3" already down by the time I put Annde to bed, it's going to be messy on the roads tomorrow. Maybe Annde and I can go build our first snowman of the year.... :)
... wrote my Christmas letter. The cards have been done for over a month. No letter though and the picture isn't printed. Dang it! I have got to get it together...
Well, off to do fun stuff on day 3!
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
On my 1st Day of Vacation, I...
... spent the day scrapping with Tracy. For $21, Annde went to her "morning class" (Childcare) and I got to spent it immersed in paper and friendship! It was sooo good to get together with Tracy and scrap when we're not half asleep or doped up on caffeine! (even though she brought me a can of Mt. Dew, just in case...) I didn't need it - I got 4 layouts done as well as helped Tracy make a bunch of Christmas gifts during that time.
... got selected as a Sous Chef Design Team Member for Apron Strings Kit Company. This will be a great challenge for me because their kits are full of paper fun and I will not only get to do sketch interpretation but also prepare a step-by-step layout for each kit I design.
... got my kit from Jamie's Coordinates Collections. Fabulous!! I can't wait to scrap with all the goodies I got! I just love Christmas stuff!!
... tried Glitter Mist for the first time. What was I thinking waiting this long? I got a bottle from my Secret Santa on Scrapbook Doodle and all I can say is WOW! How much fun is this? Tracy and I are already plotting how to buy each color using our limited scrapbook budgets next year!
... gutted - there's no other word for it - my kitchen. I went through EVERYTHING and threw out a lot of expired food before realizing that my set up was not condusive to keeping everything in sight (so I don't just buy another can or bottle of something). So, I re-did the pantry shelves setup and reorganized the cabinents and refridgerator. I felt like I really accomplished something and I know the hubby will be happy because you can see everything. It will help with trimming down the shopping bill because I can really see what I have and don't have. I was blown away by the 10 packets of Taco mix... I can't believe, even though we eat them once per week, that I had bought and not used that many! I even cleaned out the tupperware/plasticware and got rid of stuff that is dying or just needed to be pitched. I could have sent some back for credit/new stuff with Tupperware but to be honest, it wasn't worth my effort to get it back to Robin for replacement.
... and actually took some pictures of layouts to post:
Here are some more of my DT layouts for the Zone:
I love this layout because the cardstock and snowflake matches the sweater Annde is wearing perfectly. The sweater was from my sister and the cupcake was from Tracy's Birthday party in February. I love how the layered corners from Memory Makers perfectly fit in the corners of my layout.
This layout was from this year's Holiday PTA celebration. Annde wasn't in a great mood so there weren't many pictures. Plus, her outfit CLASHED with the red and green so I had to get creative. I just love how well this Snowflake lace by KI and the velvet blue & brown paper matched Annde's outfit. Add some stickles and a doodle and it was finished. I purposely left off the journaling because other than the crafts, she just wasn't interested in ANYTHING at the holiday fair. (can we say, CRANKY?!?!?) So, I kept it simple. Plus, I am really loving using angles in my pages (if you couldn't tell from these last two...) :)
Well off for day 2 of my Vacation - more scrapbooking with Tracy (who needs to do chores!) and gutting Annde's room tonight...
Have fun y'all!!
... got selected as a Sous Chef Design Team Member for Apron Strings Kit Company. This will be a great challenge for me because their kits are full of paper fun and I will not only get to do sketch interpretation but also prepare a step-by-step layout for each kit I design.
... got my kit from Jamie's Coordinates Collections. Fabulous!! I can't wait to scrap with all the goodies I got! I just love Christmas stuff!!
... tried Glitter Mist for the first time. What was I thinking waiting this long? I got a bottle from my Secret Santa on Scrapbook Doodle and all I can say is WOW! How much fun is this? Tracy and I are already plotting how to buy each color using our limited scrapbook budgets next year!
... gutted - there's no other word for it - my kitchen. I went through EVERYTHING and threw out a lot of expired food before realizing that my set up was not condusive to keeping everything in sight (so I don't just buy another can or bottle of something). So, I re-did the pantry shelves setup and reorganized the cabinents and refridgerator. I felt like I really accomplished something and I know the hubby will be happy because you can see everything. It will help with trimming down the shopping bill because I can really see what I have and don't have. I was blown away by the 10 packets of Taco mix... I can't believe, even though we eat them once per week, that I had bought and not used that many! I even cleaned out the tupperware/plasticware and got rid of stuff that is dying or just needed to be pitched. I could have sent some back for credit/new stuff with Tupperware but to be honest, it wasn't worth my effort to get it back to Robin for replacement.
... and actually took some pictures of layouts to post:
Here are some more of my DT layouts for the Zone:
I love this layout because the cardstock and snowflake matches the sweater Annde is wearing perfectly. The sweater was from my sister and the cupcake was from Tracy's Birthday party in February. I love how the layered corners from Memory Makers perfectly fit in the corners of my layout.
This layout was from this year's Holiday PTA celebration. Annde wasn't in a great mood so there weren't many pictures. Plus, her outfit CLASHED with the red and green so I had to get creative. I just love how well this Snowflake lace by KI and the velvet blue & brown paper matched Annde's outfit. Add some stickles and a doodle and it was finished. I purposely left off the journaling because other than the crafts, she just wasn't interested in ANYTHING at the holiday fair. (can we say, CRANKY?!?!?) So, I kept it simple. Plus, I am really loving using angles in my pages (if you couldn't tell from these last two...) :)
Well off for day 2 of my Vacation - more scrapbooking with Tracy (who needs to do chores!) and gutting Annde's room tonight...Have fun y'all!!
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Some DT layouts and other fun
I've been having some fun with my layouts lately. How can I not? My kid is a freakin' riot!
Here's a few I've done within the last week or two...
The first two are part of my Zone DT work this month. I love the layering of this layout. It talks about how Annde wanted 4 ponytails one day recently. I am not the expert at putting together unique hairstyles so this was the best I could do. I just laughed because she kept staring at it in the mirror... more than enough time for me to grab the camera and take some pics!
This page was fun. It was about Annde's new bike and how her and Dad went out for the first ride together. I had fun painting the chipboard with stickles and using these unique flowers by Prima. I am not sure that I totally love them, but I do know how I like how it came out on this page.
This page was done with my Coordinate Collections kit. I love how it came out. There is so much layering and its kinda vintage-y. I love the fact that I used the packaging from the Prima flowers to create the photo corners. (brown with the cut out leave pattern on top left & right bottom)
My BFF gave me some really cool DCWV Glitter paper and who could resist. It goes so perfectly with all my stickles! AHAHAHA!! I incorporated a So Sketchy sketch from November into this page. Aren't the rubber button gingerbread men so cute? You can get them at Joann's...
Okay... that's all for now... more to follow. I am trying to catch up on my stack to be posted! :)
Here's a few I've done within the last week or two...
The first two are part of my Zone DT work this month. I love the layering of this layout. It talks about how Annde wanted 4 ponytails one day recently. I am not the expert at putting together unique hairstyles so this was the best I could do. I just laughed because she kept staring at it in the mirror... more than enough time for me to grab the camera and take some pics!
This page was fun. It was about Annde's new bike and how her and Dad went out for the first ride together. I had fun painting the chipboard with stickles and using these unique flowers by Prima. I am not sure that I totally love them, but I do know how I like how it came out on this page.
This page was done with my Coordinate Collections kit. I love how it came out. There is so much layering and its kinda vintage-y. I love the fact that I used the packaging from the Prima flowers to create the photo corners. (brown with the cut out leave pattern on top left & right bottom)
My BFF gave me some really cool DCWV Glitter paper and who could resist. It goes so perfectly with all my stickles! AHAHAHA!! I incorporated a So Sketchy sketch from November into this page. Aren't the rubber button gingerbread men so cute? You can get them at Joann's...
Okay... that's all for now... more to follow. I am trying to catch up on my stack to be posted! :)
Which Christmas Character are YOU?
I'm Santa!!
Ho ho ho! Merry Christmas! Like Father Christmas, you're a jovial, easygoing people-person which puts you first in line, should the man in the red suit ever retire. You're probably known for your generosity and good heart and even if you don't have your own magic workshop, we'd guess there's plenty you do to put smiles on people's faces — every day. Take the quiz for yourself at: http://www.quiztron.com/tests/christ...quiz_59838.htm
The Start of My Daily December book
So, I am just over one week into this fun little book and I am very happy with how it is coming out. I do need to go buy some more embellishments... gasp! I don't have any Xmas ones... I couldn't believe it! I really wanted to put some holly on the giving tree page(Dec 7) and just didn't have anything to use. I need to go turn in my stuff to the Zone for this month - 8 layouts out of my XL kit - so I can stock up then. :) I love to scrapbook shop!!
So, here it is...
I altered the front cover a bit - Annde brought me home a laminated tree to slide in between the acrylic cover and the background paper. I think it adds a cute touch. I might go back and add in some stickles to embellish the tree with lights and ornaments...
Here is page 1 (Dec1): My parents always had a tradition of decorating the house right after Thanksgiving. The whole family - all my brothers and sister -would do it together. I wanted to establish that same tradition with Annde. Last year, she did a few ornaments only. This year, she helped do the entire tree and then kept asking to do more "decoratin'" for the next 3 days. She was soooo into it.
Here's day 2 (Dec2): I am totally addicted to holiday music. My husband is so not. This creates conflict in that I am always putting it on (Love having XM on my TV!) and he's always changing the channel within about an hour. So, I listen to it on my IPOD at work or in my car most of the time... starting with the day after Turkey day and continuing thru part of January... I must own like 30 different CDs. (I just bought the Celtic Woman one and it is FABULOUS!!) So, here's a page to document my dedication to celebrating with my ears!
Here's day 3 (Dec3): I wanted to document the Advent Calendar thing... My parents did this with us as kids. I remember them being hung on the wall and getting to take out one per night. We decided to start it with Annde this year as she's learning about time and calendars in school. It's SOOOO hard to only do one day at a time for her. Especially since she has 2 - one is chocolate (her favorite food) and one is Little Pets (her favorite toy)... I can't believe how far Advent calendars have come in the last 10 years! Here she is opening her chocolate one.
This is day 4 (Dec4): My mom and her sisters set up a homemade ornament exchange in the family. The aunts would make ornaments for the nieces and nephews instead of buying gifts. I was really happy when I got my first tree because I already had over 50 ornaments to put on it that were unique. I guess you can say that I am not one of those people who puts up the Interior Design trees - the one with all the matching ornaments and garland and lights where everything is perfectly in place. I prefer to have a tree full of love and memories. So, I loved digging out these this year and telling Annde about them as she put them on the tree. Obviously, since I have over 50, these are just a few of them... Mostly made by Mom - she's so talented with a needle, isn't she?!?! Especially when she make 25+ per year! 
This is Day 5 (Dec5): Christmas cookies! My family really got into this when I was growing up.E Each kid would make one kind. Susan's was those addicting green corn flake wreaths, Jon & Jeff would make spritzer cookies, and I would make chocolate stain glass and just about any other kind my Mom needed help with. It's hard to make that many types but my Mom would make 10+ kinds each year to munch on. This year, my goal is to make at least 5 kinds. We've done the gingerbread ones and sugar cookies are tonight. I will probably also make mint fudge, peanut butter kisses, and chocolate stained glass as well as something more traditional. The recipes actually tuck into the envelope. I need an embellishment or some journaling on the right side to take up that white space. 
This is Day 6 (Dec6): My mom always collected Santas. They are ALL over her house during the season growing up. I've carried on that tradition in my house. I own a lot of them. These are just some of the ones upstairs. A lot of them have been gifts from my Mom but I still love the warm feeling he brings to the season. Plus Annde is really into him this year so it's cute to see her talking to him or watching the dancing Santa for a long period of time, just giggling to herself.
This is Day 7 (Dec7): Part of the fun of the holidays is exchanging presents. Its so easy to get greedy. So, one of the things we do as a family is pick ornaments of a Giving Tree. The last few years, it's been the one at my work. But, this year, Annde's school had one that directly benefitted kids in her school. So, I let her pick the ornaments and I bought the gifts and wrapped them for Annde to put under the tree at School. It's a good way to teach her about giving back to the community as well as helping some parents be able to give Christmas for their children when money in this state is so hard to find.
Stayed tuned for the rest of the book...
Hope y'all are having a great day!
So, here it is...
I altered the front cover a bit - Annde brought me home a laminated tree to slide in between the acrylic cover and the background paper. I think it adds a cute touch. I might go back and add in some stickles to embellish the tree with lights and ornaments...
Here is page 1 (Dec1): My parents always had a tradition of decorating the house right after Thanksgiving. The whole family - all my brothers and sister -would do it together. I wanted to establish that same tradition with Annde. Last year, she did a few ornaments only. This year, she helped do the entire tree and then kept asking to do more "decoratin'" for the next 3 days. She was soooo into it.
Here's day 2 (Dec2): I am totally addicted to holiday music. My husband is so not. This creates conflict in that I am always putting it on (Love having XM on my TV!) and he's always changing the channel within about an hour. So, I listen to it on my IPOD at work or in my car most of the time... starting with the day after Turkey day and continuing thru part of January... I must own like 30 different CDs. (I just bought the Celtic Woman one and it is FABULOUS!!) So, here's a page to document my dedication to celebrating with my ears!
Here's day 3 (Dec3): I wanted to document the Advent Calendar thing... My parents did this with us as kids. I remember them being hung on the wall and getting to take out one per night. We decided to start it with Annde this year as she's learning about time and calendars in school. It's SOOOO hard to only do one day at a time for her. Especially since she has 2 - one is chocolate (her favorite food) and one is Little Pets (her favorite toy)... I can't believe how far Advent calendars have come in the last 10 years! Here she is opening her chocolate one.
This is day 4 (Dec4): My mom and her sisters set up a homemade ornament exchange in the family. The aunts would make ornaments for the nieces and nephews instead of buying gifts. I was really happy when I got my first tree because I already had over 50 ornaments to put on it that were unique. I guess you can say that I am not one of those people who puts up the Interior Design trees - the one with all the matching ornaments and garland and lights where everything is perfectly in place. I prefer to have a tree full of love and memories. So, I loved digging out these this year and telling Annde about them as she put them on the tree. Obviously, since I have over 50, these are just a few of them... Mostly made by Mom - she's so talented with a needle, isn't she?!?! Especially when she make 25+ per year! 
This is Day 5 (Dec5): Christmas cookies! My family really got into this when I was growing up.E Each kid would make one kind. Susan's was those addicting green corn flake wreaths, Jon & Jeff would make spritzer cookies, and I would make chocolate stain glass and just about any other kind my Mom needed help with. It's hard to make that many types but my Mom would make 10+ kinds each year to munch on. This year, my goal is to make at least 5 kinds. We've done the gingerbread ones and sugar cookies are tonight. I will probably also make mint fudge, peanut butter kisses, and chocolate stained glass as well as something more traditional. The recipes actually tuck into the envelope. I need an embellishment or some journaling on the right side to take up that white space. 
This is Day 6 (Dec6): My mom always collected Santas. They are ALL over her house during the season growing up. I've carried on that tradition in my house. I own a lot of them. These are just some of the ones upstairs. A lot of them have been gifts from my Mom but I still love the warm feeling he brings to the season. Plus Annde is really into him this year so it's cute to see her talking to him or watching the dancing Santa for a long period of time, just giggling to herself.
This is Day 7 (Dec7): Part of the fun of the holidays is exchanging presents. Its so easy to get greedy. So, one of the things we do as a family is pick ornaments of a Giving Tree. The last few years, it's been the one at my work. But, this year, Annde's school had one that directly benefitted kids in her school. So, I let her pick the ornaments and I bought the gifts and wrapped them for Annde to put under the tree at School. It's a good way to teach her about giving back to the community as well as helping some parents be able to give Christmas for their children when money in this state is so hard to find.
Stayed tuned for the rest of the book...Hope y'all are having a great day!
Friday, December 5, 2008
Some Recent Scrappy Fun
Last night, I was checking out the various blogs and sites I read and came across a cute contest on the Simple Scrapbook site. The prize is a copy of Snippets which is a really great book about scrapbooking that Lain Ehmann (check the link on the side for direction to her Scrap Happy site) wrote. The contest: Scrapbook a list of things that make you laugh. I had just printed this picture of me from Thanksgiving, after playing around with it in terms of color and texture. I think it works very well with the paper & stickers leftovers that I had left over from my Zone DT kit last month (Basic Grey and 7 Gypsies) as well as those really fun paper strips (by Bazzill)....
While I was at the CSI event at the Zone, I did this page. I LOVE IT!!! The pictures are from last year when my Mom, Annde, and my nephew, Will did a Gingerbread house.
Here's my Pink Sketch for last week... I've had these pictures for months and was struggling to find a topic to use them for scrapbooking. She's just being silly and I've scrapped that character trait already. It was actually fun to do this one because I purposely didn't put any journaling on it - SOOOOO rare for me - but instead wrote "Photo Session (Date) with Annde" on the back. I love the contrast with my journaled pages...
As promised earlier this week (dang! Time flies when you are having fun!), here's my 25 days of Christmas book for Tracy... This tag book by CTMH is actually larger than mine so she can put larger pictures in her book. I love how it came out - very Tracy!
Tonight, I get to scrapbook with Tracy after we scrapbook with the kids - I am so excited!! I am caught up on my 25 day book so I will have to post days 1-7 this weekend. (I still have to do 6 & 7). I am having a ton of fun with it. Plus tomorrow is the Holiday Fair at Annde's school and she'll get to sit on Santa's lap. Can not wait to scrap that too!!
While I was at the CSI event at the Zone, I did this page. I LOVE IT!!! The pictures are from last year when my Mom, Annde, and my nephew, Will did a Gingerbread house.
Here's my Pink Sketch for last week... I've had these pictures for months and was struggling to find a topic to use them for scrapbooking. She's just being silly and I've scrapped that character trait already. It was actually fun to do this one because I purposely didn't put any journaling on it - SOOOOO rare for me - but instead wrote "Photo Session (Date) with Annde" on the back. I love the contrast with my journaled pages...
As promised earlier this week (dang! Time flies when you are having fun!), here's my 25 days of Christmas book for Tracy... This tag book by CTMH is actually larger than mine so she can put larger pictures in her book. I love how it came out - very Tracy! 
Tonight, I get to scrapbook with Tracy after we scrapbook with the kids - I am so excited!! I am caught up on my 25 day book so I will have to post days 1-7 this weekend. (I still have to do 6 & 7). I am having a ton of fun with it. Plus tomorrow is the Holiday Fair at Annde's school and she'll get to sit on Santa's lap. Can not wait to scrap that too!!Peace Out, people! (as Annde would say)
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
A Tribute to an Amazing Woman in my Life
My grandma, Vivian, is an amazing woman. The stuff she's lived through and succeeded from really blows my mind, making her one of my strongest mentors. She's such a wonderful woman and I am glad to call her family. My daughter is very blessed to know her and not just because she is the one grandparent I have left. Annde totally loves her Gigi. Lately, Gigi has been having some health issues. I admit that it might be normal for an 89 year old to have health issues but not my Gigi! Anyway, I decided to cheer her up with a little surprise mini book from her visit last month. I know how much she loves to show off her great-grandkids and this is her oldest one. I actually made 2 of these with Annde (I did the scrapbooking and she helped me write or add stickers) - one for Gigi and one for us. These 8 page 6x6 hard cover mini books were a $1 at Target and while they weren't the highest quality, I love how easy they were to do. And because they were so inexpensive, there wasn't any reason not to stock up!
This was the cover after a little bit of embellishment.
This is the page when you open the book...
Here's the page that starts the trip to the Apple Orchard.
More Apple Orchard. Annde helped me do the Bounce stickers...
More Apple Orchard - there was a pumpkin patch - Annde wrote "Goin' for a ride" and "I love lil punkins"
Still at the Orchard - some of the fun things to do, like a giant slide and a hay mountain to climb. Annde did the sticker letters again...
More Orchard - it was FREAKIN' cold that day - so here is Annde and Gigi enjoying the hot chocolate.
The last page is actually a picture of me and Annde at the Orchard. You can see where she wrote her name under mine. I also added some recent pics for Grandma to have too...
This was the cover after a little bit of embellishment.
This is the page when you open the book...
Here's the page that starts the trip to the Apple Orchard.
More Apple Orchard. Annde helped me do the Bounce stickers...
More Apple Orchard - there was a pumpkin patch - Annde wrote "Goin' for a ride" and "I love lil punkins"
Still at the Orchard - some of the fun things to do, like a giant slide and a hay mountain to climb. Annde did the sticker letters again...
More Orchard - it was FREAKIN' cold that day - so here is Annde and Gigi enjoying the hot chocolate.
On to other things from the weeknd - Gigi bought Annde a sticker workbook and they spent around 3 hours doing all 50 pages. Annde loved it and I know Gigi was so proud of her ability to identify the right stickers to use and how Annde would talk about what was on the page.
Annde is such a happy and loving child. These were just 2 of the great pics I got of the two of them together over the weekend... I just love the kissy page. Annde did the kiss kiss stickers as well as writing the I and Gigi - I helped with spelling the words and the heart.
The last page is actually a picture of me and Annde at the Orchard. You can see where she wrote her name under mine. I also added some recent pics for Grandma to have too... I just love how easy and quick this book was to do. I will definitely have to do this more often! I love the fact that Annde now has a book of her and her Gigi to 'read'... :) Enjoy the rest of your day and watch for Tracy's 25 book later!
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