Quick Plug

When: August 1st at 10pm EST

Where: Chat room at Digi Shop Talk

What: Get ready for a literal "speed scrap"! You will be given one QuickPage to scrap with at the beginning of the chat. As soon as you finish/post that one, you'll receive another one. You can earn up to four free QuickPages, plus a bonus if you finish all four! This is a great way to get lots of scrapping done in a short amount of time.

Hope to see you there!

Here is the QuickPage I made that will be part of the bonus...it's called "Manly Man", since it has masculine colors.

You win some, you lose some...

I can't believe it's Friday already! The week has gone fast, which I'm thankful for. It's been pretty stressful around here lately.

The birthday party went very well. I'm grateful we just did the family party this time. The girls loved making their Hello Kitties at Build-A-Bear, and my parents, in-laws, grandma and all the rest got a kick out of watching the girls. None of them had ever seen this before so it was a first for them. I had ordered Subway sandwiches at the mall in advance, so we just brought pop and chips and called it dinner. The most important thing...it was cheap and easy!

We all came back to our house for cake and presents. The girls of course liked their cakes, and then the presents. We are now surrounded by Barbie Fairytopia, Hello Kitty, stickers, princesses, etc. I am up to my eyeballs in pink!!! LOL

~~The Aftermath~~
So for all you moms, you know...after a big event there tends to be general chaos for a couple of days. Unfortunately, in our house, it has lasted all week.

Monday: Stayed home to clean up and recover. Good thing. Lots of tantrums from Gretchen all day long.

Tuesday: Went to the fair. Girls did okay but it was SO hot and sticky (90 degree with about 90% humidity) that they got cranky. However...

My pictures won ribbons!! Yay! Blue ribbon for the Heidi photo, red ribbon for the Gretchen photo.

Wednesday: Took the girls to the free Curious George movie at the mall. Heidi decided she couldn't sit in her seat anymore and started crying (90 minutes in). So we left. Then Gretchen was mad that we missed the end of the movie. She became so irate that by the time we got to the car, I couldn't physically get her into the carset. When I finally was able to wrestle her in, she managed to get out!! I had to call DH to come help me. It was awful.

Thursday: Decent day, but we purposely stayed home. I managed to organize the girls' stuffed animals (read: put most of them away in a box!) and a bunch of my purses.

Which brings us to Friday. I have a bunch of errands to run today that I don't want to do, like buying a wedding gift (I'm just so bad at picking out gifts) and cleaning.

One more thing...I've been tagged by Audra!

1. Have you ever been searched by the cops?
Not searched, but pulled over.

2. Do you close your eyes on a roller coaster?
Nope. I scream and carry on like a maniac!

3. When's the last time you've been sledding?
About 5-6 years ago, in northern Michigan. DH were on a weekend trip up there.

4. Would you rather sleep with someone else, or alone?
I like my space, but I also like my hubby being there.

5. Do you believe in ghosts?
The jury is still out on this one. All I know is that I get shivers every time a pass a certain
restaurant near our house that is on the National Register of Haunted Places.

6. Do you consider yourself creative?
Yes

7. Do you think O.J. killed his wife?
Of course he did!

8. Jennifer Aniston or Angelina Jolie? (silly, I know ... but very "now")
Jennifer for sure. I can't stand Angelina. I mean...who goes to a remote, foreign country to give birth??

9. Can you honestly say you know ANYTHING about politics?
I know a fair share, but only from listening to Glenn Beck and Rush on the radio.

10. Do you know how to play poker?
Sort of, but I'm not very good.

11. Have you ever been awake for 48 hours straight?
Yup...in college. It wasn't pretty.

12. What's your favorite commercial?


13. Who was your first love?
You mean someone I actually dated, so just someone I WANTED to date!! LOL Probably Jon, my boyfriend in college. He ended up being gay. :-(

14. If you're driving in the middle of the night, and no one is around you, do you run a red light?
I have before.

15. Do you have a secret that no one knows but you?
Yes.

16. Boston Red Sox or New York Yankees?
Boston

17. Have you ever been Ice Skating?
Yes, lots of times. Even took an ice skating class in college.

18. How often do you remember your dreams?
All the time. I can even wake up, then go back to sleep and continue the dream.

19. What's the one thing on your mind?
Counting down the days until school starts.

20. Do you always wear your seat belt?
Yes, always.

21. What talent do you wish you had?
I wish I could dance.

22. Do you like Sushi?
I love california rolls and avocado rolls, but would be willing to try other kinds (tuna?).

23. What do you wear to bed?
a t-shirt and pj pants

24. Do you truly hate anyone?
No.

25. If you could sleep with one famous person, who would it be?
No one. DH is enough for me. :-)

26. Do you know anyone in jail?
No, but I know someone who works at a jail.

27. What food do you find disgusting?
Probably clams/oysters...yuck!!

28. Have you ever made fun of your friends behind their back?
I love to joke and tease, so yes, but all in fun (nothing mean....I hope).

29. Have you ever been punched in the face?
Yes, by my DD.

30. Do you believe in angels and demons? Yes.

Birthday Eve

What a great day we've had today! We went over to the fairgrounds to submit my artwork this afternoon. I should have a pretty good chance of at least getting some kind of ribbon, I think. There were only 9 entries in the scrapbooking class (I had two of them) and 7 entries in the photography/children class (I had two there as well). I'll find out Tuesday, the fair's opening day, how I did. Woohoo!

We drove around for a while, just crusing the city, the way we used to. I sure miss doing things like that. Then we stopped to have lunch at this cute little diner-type place...another treat.

I must pause here and applaud any of you amateur or professional cake decorators out there. I have spend my entire evening preparing the girls' birthday cakes.

Here I am attempting to frost the darn thing. How do people get it so smooth, and without crumbs in it? I put the cakes in the freezer for a couple hours first, which did help with cutting them. I also mixed a couple spoonfuls of corn syrup into the frosting to make it easier to spread, and dipped my spatula into warm water while frosting.




Heidi's cake









Gretchen's cake. Hmmm...can you tell which one I did first? LOL

I'm actually quite pleased with how they turned out, since I am generally baking-challenged. I used bubble gum tape to make the bow (above) and the flower (left), and then decorated with a little more frosting and some M&M's.

I found the template for this cake at DLTK's Kids Crafts site. Lots of cool stuff there...check it out!

I better get to bed...gonna need the energy for the party tomorrow. Later chicas!

Why Don't Old People Like Children?

Happy Friday! Despite my title, today was a pretty good day.

After doing a few chores this morning I took the girls to an outdoor, lunchtime, FREE concert at a nearby shopping center. Now this place is in a very affluent suburb of Toledo, and it's one of those "outdoor mall" concepts...with shopping, movie theaters, restaurants and apartments. It's very sophisticated, so clearly, so DO NOT fit in there! But I don't care! I knew they would enjoy the string quartet, and it gave me a chance to relive my music ed major college days. And did I mention it was FREE?

We packed our lunch and I purposely packed it in a recycled bread bag, just to see if I could get some looks. LOL It was a beautiful day and the girls really did enjoy the music. They recognized several songs from "Little Einsteins" (which have words on the show) so they were happily singing along. This is what caused all the dirty looks from the crowd, made up of mostly retired age folks. At what point do people forget that they ever had young children?

No matter. We indulged ourselves with some ice cream and then stopped by Yankee Candle. I finally bought an electric tart warmer, that I've been wanting since Christmas. Early birthday present. :-)

Tomorrow I'm taking two scrapbook pages and two photos over to our county fair. Wish me luck!

Splish Splash

Today has been one of those awesome summer days...the way every summer day should be. I was home with the girls this morning, updating Quicken while they played. We are doing a cash envelope budget now, so I like to stay on top of our spending. Did you know you can set up cash accounts in Quicken? Very cool!

I let the girls help me paint some artist canvases I got at Hobby Lobby with my birthday money. (My birthday isn't for another 2 weeks, so I'm a bit ahead of myself! LOL). Thanks to a great suggestion from my buddy Kelley McDonald over at RAKScraps, I'm going to make some wall art with the canvases by printing out some papers and photos and making a sort of collage. I hope they turn out well. I'll post photos when I'm finished.

This afternoon I was actually brave enough to take them to a little neighborhood public pool nearby. It's really quite nice...sloped entrance (like a beach), a big fountain, and the deepest point is only 4 feet. It is limited to children 12 and under. Why has it taken me 6 weeks to get them there? They had a blast! Gretchen even made a new friend (a 7-8 year old girl in a PINK swim suit...go figure!).

I grew up going to the pool just about every day, and I would love my girls to have that same experience. Makes me realize how much my Mom sacrificed her own plans so that we could do what we wanted to do.

Hope you are having a great summer day like I am!

Happy Monday!

Whew...the start of another week. Where did last week go??

I'm actually glad for a fresh start. Last week was a LONG week (at least while I was in the middle of it). Rob was gone from pretty much Monday am to Thursday pm, stopping in for an hour here and there a couple times. I did get to go scrapping with my bud Patrice on Thursday night, which was a treat. It's great since she lives right next door. :-)

We were supposed have a playdate Friday, but Gretchen had a hissy fit first thing and literally ripped a hole in her dress! So...playdate cancelled. I ended up having a babysitter come and stay with Gretchen, and I took Heidi to the pool and we met up with some friends there. I *hope* that was a correct parenting decision. I think both girls enjoyed the separate time.

Saturday I did my annual judging for some 4-H projects (family and consumer sciences category). I think 4-H is so valuable, as it teaches kids such practical, hands-on life skills. I'm a city girl, so I had had the chance to be in 4-H (I did girl scouts instead, which was great too), but I would love to start a 4-H chapter at my girls' school. Actually, they can be Cloverbuds starting at age 5...how cute is that??

We had Rob's parents over for dinner on Saturday night, then we to church Sunday am and over to my parent's house for dinner Sunday night. I love having both families in town, but sometimes it's overwhelming to have so many extended family commitments.

Today we had those friends over (who we had to cancel on Friday!) and it went splendidly. Heather has a 3 year old daughter and a 10 month old son, so the 3 girls played together so well and really the baby hung in there too. I love days like this!

So, the main agenda for the rest of the week is to get ready for the girls' birthday on Sunday. They will be 4 years old!! We are just having a family party this year...and probably next year they'll be begging to have friends come over. I figure I'll get away with just family for as long as I can! Every time I ask them each what kind of cake they'd like, I get different answers. I think tomorrow I'll be writing down their answers, and that will be the "final answer". LOL

Geez...this was quite a chatty post! Guess that's what happens when the kids are in bed, and I'm here watching Super Nanny by myself (yes, Rob is gone again tonight...back at work).

Garage Salein'

I'm not sure if "salein' " is a word, but I'm going with it anyway! LOL We just got back from a little tour around my end of town, crusing the garage sales. What fun! The girls are finally old enough (being two weeks short of 4) to actually listen, follow directions, not run into the street (usually) and sort of shop.

And what cheap entertainment! For a total of $7.00, I bought a magnetic zoo toy/set, a Little People book, a wooden puzzle with doors that open to reveal "suprises", a bag of glitter, a bag of ribbon, a bag of cross stitch thread and 3 glasses on pink lemonade!

Right now DH is over examining a bathroom sink vanity/base that we've been wanting to put in our bathroom. It's in great shape. The seller wants a pedastel sink, which we have and want to get rid of, so we might just switch. Isn't that fun? I love garage sales and stranger speak (a phrase coined by my husband and his brother, who are both experts in this area).

Now I know there are other blogs where the authors discuss great deals they find at Target, but my budget doesn't allow that, so I'll discuss garage sales instead, okay? LOL

It's almost TGIF...yay!

I feel like bloggin'...

Okay, I'm back. Jane, I'm glad I made you laugh! That is my general purpose in life...to make people laugh, so I guess I've accomplished my goal for the day.

I've been having trouble keeping up with this blog because I'm not exactly sure what it's main purpose should be. Ginger T seems to have cornered the market on rectangle scrapping (love ya Ginger!) so I'm not sure how useful this site is. And I'm certainly not a big designer-type person, and I don't seem to be getting any layouts published...so hmmmm...why exactly am I here?

There is something very therapeutic about blogging, as I'm sure all of you who blog on a regular basis know. I think it's because I feel so cut off from the rest of the world, being home with the girls every day. I know, I know...I should make more effort to get out and do stuff, but dealing with the constant fighting and screaming in the car is not a very big incentive to go!

So I guess I'll just use this blog to post some layouts, give my opinions on meaningless topics and other types of utter nonsense.

On that note, I am listening to the George Norrie show right now, on AM radio. If you haven't heard of him, go check him out...he's a complete nut job, but is very entertaining. Right now he's got some guy on who is predicting earthquakes and such. I guess I'm glad I don't live at the base of one of those!

I'm going to have to download a couple Gomez songs. I know AmyK is a big fan, and then Robin mentioned them too, so I felt compelled to check them out. They are pretty cool...an alternative, kind of funky sound. Right up my ally!

My iTunes fav right now: They Might Be Giants - Flood (the whole album). I loved them back in college, and it's fun to listen again now.

I better sign off now...gotta get some sleep. I am having a gal I know from church come over tomorrow with her kids (a preschooler and a baby) for a playdate. These social engagements always make me nervous, espeically when they are at my house. I have a bunch of cleaning to do!

Nite nite!

I Haven't Fallen Off the Planet!

Okay, so I know it appears as though I've fallen off the digital earth. But I haven't, really! May and June were completely crazy months for my family. DH was working like a maniac (the end of the school year is always tough), and we've been out of town a couple of times.

I'll be back later.