First Day of School, New Product!

Ah, my girls are growing up so fast. Today was their first day of preschool 4. Now, they did go last year, but still, it's a milestone.

Heidi

Gretchen

Don't you just love those little skirts? Thank you Target! :-)

Random layouts:
This was for Digi Dare #49. Credits here.

I think I'm finally finished with my pages from CHA. Credits here.

This was for the RAKScraps sketch challenge. Thanks for the cool template Robin! Credits here.

I'll save some more for later.

I just released a new product at My Digital Muse: Encyclopedia Style 8.5x11 Templates. I made these to help people out with the Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life challenge going on right now at DST.



Grab this set today for just $2.00!

I've made a couple of pages for the challenge so far:




Okay I better sign off for today. Hope to be more regular on blogging, now that school has started.

Hot hot hot

Daily Something

I made a hybrid layout from my now infamous electronic speeding ticket. I printed the background paper on an 8.5x11 sheet of paper, then printed the elements on a separate sheet and cut them out. I need to add journaling to jazz it up, but it's my creative project for the day. I used Sherri Tierney's Rev It Up, available at OAKS, which I think is so cute. Never thought I'd have a use for it though! LOL Those ribbons look amazingly realistic when you print them out and attach them.

Chatter
It is sooooooooooooo hot and sticky here. Every time you walk outside, you can almost slice the air. Now it's nothing like St. Louis, but it's still uncomfortable and makes me want to stay inside. So that's what we've been doing today...playing with PlayDoh, coloring and now the girls are playing in the basement, pretending they have an animal house or something. :-)

My brother was in town Saturday - Wednesday, and we've been doing a lot of fun stuff with him. Sunday was COSI, Tuesday we went out to dinner and then to the Mud Hens (baseball) game and yesterday we went swimming. The girls love seeing him, as he's the "fun uncle" and loves to spoil them. Here is a layout from all the fun:

Credits: Traci Reed - Bubble Wands and bubbles from Blow Me a Bubble, Papers from Trendy Blendys (blue) and Neutrally Yours (gray and black), Stitching from Unbound, Blue ricrac from Ric Rac Bits, Mini Alpha; Glitter stroke by Sausan Designs; Template by Andrea Gold (modified)
Font: Mish

Not too much else going on. Tomorrow we have a preschool meeting, and Rob and I are going to try to go out tomorrow night. This weekend is the annual German American Festival, which we always enjoy. Our good friends/neighbors are German dancers, and we love to see the dances at the festival. Plus, the beer is good too! When the girls were little, they had German dirndel dresses but they have since outgrown them. I'd love to get them another set, since they look so cute.

Well, I'm off to try to stay entertained. It's almost Friday! :-)

Oh, before I go, remember that Fridays are now Featured Fridays at Plain Digital Wrapper. Every designer puts one product on sale for just $2.00...a great deal! Be sure to check out my store late tonight to see which product I chose!

Oh Fiddlesticks!

Daily Something: Don't speed...it's very expensive!!!

Rob is working tons of hours this week, so this afternoon he came home for lunch and stayed for a couple of hours, since he'll be working very late tonight. He entertained the girls for a while, which was a nice break since it has been raining all day here and I can't send them outside to play.

I thought he had left to go back to work, but he returned about two minutes to hand me a piece of paper. It had several photos of his car, speeding along a road close to here. One of the city's intersection cameras got lucky and caught me going 62 mph in a 50 mph zone. Drat!! Turns out it was last Tuesday night, while I was on my way to Barnes and Noble to enjoy my night out. I'm so mad at myself! I've gone 19 years without a speeding ticket, until now. Rob, being the kind-hearted man that he is, just couldn't stop laughing at me. At least he's not mad. But $95 for a trip to B & N is a bit pricey, don't you think? Good thing I've had a record month in digi sales this month! LOL

We survived the FFO on Saturday. The girls really enjoyed playing with their cousins, who are almost 3 and 16 months old. The day was relaxed and the weather was absolutely perfect. It couldn't have gone better.

Yesterday we met Uncle Brian (in from California), Mom and Dad at COSI. I think Brian enjoyed it almost as much as the girls did...it was cute. Afterward, we had leftovers at Mom and Dad's house (another night off from cooking, yay!). Brian gave the girls their belated birthday presents - LeapPad Reading and Writing and a globe. They are going to be complete brainiacs with all these educational toys!

Well, right now it's 4:56pm and I've almost run out of ways to entertain the girls inside. We had done the Leap Pads, colored, PlayDoh, computer games, they helped with laundry, and right now they are playing drums and a mini-keyboard. Don't know how much longer I can take that!

Later!

Water is fun

Daily Something: You can be free in the water. Size doesn't matter. Everyone floats.

We spent yesterday and today at Castaway Bay in Sandusky and had a great time! On our last water park trip, I felt so self-conscious running around in a swim suit, but for some reason this time it didn't matter. Getting in the water with Rob and the girls was a truly freeing experience this time. It was their first experience with a wave pool and they were just delighted. I can see they have potential to become strong swimmers, with a few more lessons and lots more water time.

I will post pictures soon, but for now I'm going to bed. It's been a long two days (albeit fun) and tomorrow we have another FFO (this one will be a Fun Family Outing, rather than a Forced one...). My grandma is turning 91 tomorrow and my brother is flying in from California to celebrate with us. We'll be joined by my aunt and uncle, and one cousin and his family. It should be a really fun day, and the weather is supposed to be great.

Before I go, I want to link you up to a really cool blog about art journals. I came across Life is the Art at KB and Friends, where Sally (cellomom) is hosting a really cool challenge. I just might give this art journaling a try. Sounds like fun.

Night!

Spinach Ravioli

Daily Something: The grocery store isn't such a bad place to go.

Normally, I HATE grocery shopping. But I had to go this afternoon as we were out of milk, peanut butter, bread...you know, the essentials.

LOL! If you know me IRL, you know that cooking isn't really my thing. I mean, I do it, but it's not some huge passion or anything. When I make a new recipe, it's an event. Tonight I made Spinach and Cheese Ravioli. Sounds impressive, right? Well it's not, really. I used wonton wrappers instead of pasta. Easy to put together, but they don't hold up very well during cooking...pretty flimsy. Anyway, they tasted good and the girls ACTUALLY ATE THEM!! Woohoo!

Tomorrow we are going to take off and spend the day at a water park, and spend the night there. It's one of those indoor parks. Should be fun. And of course I'll have lots of photos to share when we get back.

Sorry, no layouts today. I have a couple done that have to wait... ;-)

Happy Hump Day!

New goodies

Daily Something: Sometimes honesty isn't always the best policy.

Yeah, I know...it doesn't sound right, but it's true. I guess I can rephrase this by saying that sometimes, you have to do things you don't want to do in order to avoid hurting someone's feelings.

I have a friend who is just the sweetest person, but her son is pretty aggressive and when we get together for playdates, something usually happens. By something, I mean he ends up directing his aggression at one of my girls. Last time at the park, it was throwing small stones at them; today, it was pushing one of them down into the sandbox. It's getting to the point where I would rather not get together with her, because I don't think the girls need to deal with that. They will have to deal with him in their class at school this year, so why add to it?

Anyway, she is fairly persistent about wanting to get together. I think I will have to be very busy for the next several months. KWIM?

New Product
I have a new template/quick page set up at MDM - Second Spring 8x8 Template Set :



It will be on sale for just $2.00 all day Wednesday, 8/14/07, so don't miss it!

I've also added the Summer Groove collab kit I did at Digital Tag Team to my store at PDW:



Okay, my battery is about to die, and I'm at B & N enjoying my night off, so I'll catch you tomorrow!

Monday Musings

Monday is supposed to be my day to clean and do laundry. However...not much of that is happening today! It's so much more fun to scrap, blog and surf. LOL

Daily Something: When your house is cluttered, and a "born organized" person visits your home, they become visibly uncomfortable.

Yes, Mom came to visit this morning. She and Dad had to come over and look at the swingset for some reason. Don't ask me! She absolutely cannot sit still at my house. She felt compelled to pull weeks, wipe stuff off the outdoor table (sand??), and while walking through the porch, she ran into the same pop container three or four times...I believe it was on purpose. Sigh. I guess I better get to that housework.

Before I go, a couple of layots:

Credits: Template by the fabulous Tracy Blankenship, Urban Vintage kit by Traci Reed.

I made this one for my dear friend Jeanmarie, who rarely takes pictures. So when she actually sent me one, I HAD to scrap it!! :-) J, I emailed you the full resolution version of this...did you get it?

I've been trying to finish my pages from CHA - here's a funny one:

Credits: Papers, elements and template from Funky Train - SBG collab kit (available soon!), font is Mish

Robin and Audra met Holly and her pals one night to have drinks - it was a blast! I was so tickled that the background paper had "Chicago" on it (among many other cities) so it fit right in with my theme. This page is busier than my normal style, but somehow it seems appropriate for that evening...LOL And yes Jeanmarie, this was the night I called you... ;-)

Okay, off to wash now. Have a great one!

Migraines

Daily Something: migraine headaches are NO FUN (notfunatol)! I spend most of the bed in bed. Mine come with all the fixin's - sensitivity to light, sound, temperature, stomach issues...the whole shabang. Now that I feel human again, it's wonderful.

Daily Something: Bionic Cricket

Apparently, crickets can chirp continuously for an infinite amount of time. It just so happens we have one of these lovely creatures living right outside our house, which can be heard from the first or second floor.

A day off?

Yesterday we had a wonderful time at the art museum. First we walked around the galleries, which I haven't done with the girls before. Heidi took everything in, and of course asked about a million questions. That girl is such a thinker! Gretchen, on the other hand, glanced at things and then asked when we could go downstairs (to the family center). Sigh. I plan to take Heidi back there so she and I can just gaze at all the inspiration.

Which brings me to my Daily Something: in order to be inspired, you must leave the house once in a while! Sounds basic, I know, but since leaving the house takes effort, lots of times I choose not to. The art museum is literally about 12 minutes from my house, and is just full of amazing art, architecture, lighting, people...everything! I should be taking the kids there every week. AND IT'S FREE!

Today Rob will be home in the afternoon, giving me some "time off". This is a result of the meltdown I had on Wednesday. I hate that it takes having a fit to get his attention sometimes. It's never intentional though (hormones take care of that for me). I don't have anything planned yet, but I'm sure I think of something. :-)

The girls had their last swimming lesson of the session yesterday afternoon. I can't believe how far they have come! They got to put on life jackets and ride the "boat" into the deep end, where they jumped in and floated around. They even decided to jump off the starting block, which in the past they have been too scared to do! I'm so proud of them. I tried to take pictures, but the lighting is pretty bad in there and they didn't come out.

Rob has to work tomorrow morning, so it looks like it will be just me and the girls again.

TGIF (I think!)

Lost and Found

Daily Something
It is extremely annoying to lose electricity for four minutes during a thunderstorm. I am completely dependent on it! But, it is thrilling to find my calendar, after wondering where it has been for nine days (should have opened that drawer last week...)

Daily Something Layout from 8/8/07 (yeah, it's weird...)

Daily something brush by Ali Edwards
Paper by Carrie Stephens
Alpha by Krista Mettler
Tape and bubble wrap by Dana Fran
Paint drips by Jessica Bolton
Font: Childish Alpha, Eight Fifteen

Ramblings
We are going to the art museum today, since it is supposed to rain and storm all day. They have a really cool family center there, with one room full of toys like blocks, puzzles, pretending stuff, a water table, etc. The other room is the art room, where they have every kind of recycled material you'd ever want for the kids to make "masterpieces" (Heidi's name for her creations). Gretchen really enjoyed painting on the easel last time.

Rob is taking tomorrow off, so I can have some time to myself. I guess he figures he should, since I had a giant meltdown last night right before he left for hockey. He only plays once a week, and normally I don't care at all, but he was out of town Friday through late Monday night, and then Tuesday night we went to my parents' house for my birthday dinner. I feel bad for it now, but what can I say...it was day 27 of "the cycle" and I was psycho! LOL He has been gone a lot lately, and it just gets old.

My Daily Something

I just finished reading Ali Edwards' newsletter about doing something creative each day. She is so wonderfully practical, and down to earth, and a NON perfectionist, that I can totally relate to her. So, I've made it a mission to tell a daily story, of some kind, here on my blog. Some days may have more info, but at least I'll have one story from each day.

Today's Story
I've been in a rut lately. Lots of stress (about a certain huge family decision that probably won't be settled for another month or so) and insomnia. I've haven't been feeling my best. Plus, it's been really hot and humid here for the past week or so...the kind of weather where you either stay in the AC, or if you are outside, you are swimming.

Today is one of those hot, humid days, so I set up the pool for the girls and we initiated the slip and slide. They've never tried it before, so it was a bit challenging to explain to them how to slide without actually showing them (thank the Lord there is a 110 pound weight limit on the thing! LOL). The quote of the day came from Heidi..."Mommy, you are not the boss of this! I want to do it my own way!" Wow, did she tell me or what? So I sat back and watched them slide, incorrectly, but boy did they have fun.

What I learned: sometimes rules are meant to be broken, and directions don't always need to be followed, in order to have fun.

Other stuff
School is starting soon...yeeehah!!! The girls will start on Wednesday, August 29, and I'm almost counting the days. I am craving a regular schedule again, as we all function much better that way. I've already purchased the school supplies (gotta love Walmat for 17 cent glue sticks and 78 cent marker sets). As an aside, I love school supplies. Every August I go into school mode, even though I'm not in school, and decide I must purchase supplies. Maybe it's because I always liked school, and it's a sentimental thing. Hmmmm.
Random Scrapbook Pages
Did I mention that I am a scrapbooker? ROFL!!! It seems like forever since I'm posted any pages here.

Journaling: Rob surprised me this year and took me to dinner at Gianno’s on River Road in Maumee. He reserved the wine room for us, and we had our own waiter! The food was delcious and the atmosphere was wonderful. Our waiter was a real ham too. Right away, I noticed the “creepy window that leads to nowhere, and he took advantage of that. A few minutes later, I heard this knocking sound coming from the other side of the window and I jumped out of my seat! It turns out that our waiter had asked the bar tender to knock on the window, since her knew it scared me. Later on the bartender paid us a visit and poured us two glasses of free champagne. For dessert we shared a divine piece of cheesecake (als free). Once we were finished, both the bartender and waiter escorted us up to the third floor, which is supposed to be haunted. I didn’t even want to go up, since the stairway was so scary- looking. [That’s where a woman hung herself, so the story goes] It was pretty interesting but I didn’t want to hang around up there. One room is said to have so much ”energy” in it that no one will go in it (we didn’t either). They did their best to keep me very jumpy, bringing an odd looking doll with blood on it out of the bathroom. After the haunted restaurant experience, we went to Levis Commons and walked around (it was a gorgeous evening). We finished the night with Starbucks. Here’s to 13 years!

Credits: Template by Tracy Blankenship Date Beads by Kim Jensen Paper and red ribbon from Love Ahead by Nina Heart ribbon and background paper from Heartfelt by Krista Ring Blue paper from Boy Zone by Jeanne Button by Jessica Bolton Label tape alpha by Christina Renee Over the Rainbow alpha by Michelle Godin Font: Mish

Credits: Birthday Party kit by Gina Miller and Tiff Brady; photo cluter by Nancy Comelab

Credits: Sketch by Robina Cabana (for the RAKScraps sketch challenge), My Digital Muse Summer Breeze collab kit

Okay have a happy Wednesday!