Makeover

I took the girls to get haircuts yesterday, and what I intended to be a moderate change turned out to be a major makeover! Check it out...



Now, Heidi's hair was just about what I expected...but Gretchen basically got sheared!! I had to take Heidi to the bathroom during Gretchen's cut (and vice versa later on), so I wasn't right there watching. She reacted fine at first, but later on after we got home she threw a mega tantrum that lasted for two hours...."My hair looks ugly! I look like a boy now! I don't want Daddy to see me!!". It got really ugly. I didn't think that sort of talk happened until later...

Fortunately, things are better today and she seems to be embracing her new look. :-)

~Funk It Up~
I'm officially entered in the Funk It Up contest at Scrapforums. I finally finished my first LO, but I can't show you that. All the LOs are annonymous so the judging is fair. I can honestly say that I don't care how I do...I'm having so much fun trying out this "funky" style. I can show you the card I made for this bonus challenge...

oops, maybe not. Guess I have the Blogger limit of photos for the day.

Tonight we have the Winter Carnival at school. It's for PK - 2 and they have tons of games, snowcones, dress up with photos...should be fun. Right now, I have to go shower and then it's off to Nana and Papa's house. Mom needs more help with her computer. AACK!

Only 6 more sleeps until San Diego....aaaaaahhhhhh.

Another week

~ Drained ~
Here I am blogging again when I should be doing laundry or something. I'm so drained from taking the kids to school this morning that I'm rewarding myself my blogging. I know, I know...not something my mom would have done, and that's why her house is always in perfect order. Oh well.

Gretchen had a major hissy fit as soon as she got up today. Didn't want to go potty, brush her teeth, get dressed...nothing. Heidi of course got all ready and had breakfast before Gretchen came down, in her mismatched shirt and pants along with her robe and slippers. I actually had to carry her to the car, just like that. She even walked into the school building like that, before she realized that the other kids might laugh at her. She took off the robe, threw the slippers down the hallway and gave me the "evil cartoon character face". I so wish I could capture that on film, but everytime I try she covers her face. Anyway, I convinced her to put her tennis shoes on, but had to carry her into the classroom. She ran back out, crying, and I had to do it two more times (picture Super Nanny) before the teacher finally grabbed her.

I am at my wits end with her. She is just so angry all the time, saying nasty things, hitting Heidi, sassing off to me, getting frustrated. A little girl shouldn't have to feel like that. I need help but I don't know where to find it. Please pray that God will lead me to someone who can be helpful with this situation.

~ Valpo ~
At least we had a great weekend. Rob had meetings in Valporaiso, Indiana (about 4 hours away) so we tagged along. Some dear friends from Chicago drove down to meet us, and we all got to hang out in the hotel together. We ate at Culver's, this delightful place with "butter burgers" and homemade custard, went swimming, and got to catch up. They have 4 kids, so the 6 of them together was quite a site. Their kids are 8, 6 and 3 (twins). Here's a layout I did on the way home yesterday:

Credits: Paper, ribbons, heart, staples from Rebel Rock Add-On kit, Sequin strip from Rebel Rock, Embroidered Alpha, Stamp the Day
All by Toni Berman at [url=http://toniberman.com/shoppe]Toni Berman Designs[/url]; Get Reel by Manda Bean; KGD TaraF Script font

The highlight of my day today is that tonight I'm going to get my hair done. I think I'm changing the color and style again...I need a makeover!! I'll post a picture tomorrow of my new look.

Ciao!

A quick peek at my week

This layout pretty much sums up this past week:

See credits here

Tomorrow we are taking off to Valpo (in Indiana) for an overnight trip to see some friends while Rob has meetings on Monday. Should be fun, and you know I'll have lots of pictures!!

Names

I saw this on Gina Miller's blog and it cracked me up, so I thought I'd do it here too.

YOUR REAL NAME:

Mish

YOUR GANGSTA NAME (1st 4 letters plus izzle):

Mishizzle

YOUR DETECTIVE NAME (fave color + fave animal):
Red Kitty

YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME (middle name + childhood street):

Lynn Woodhurst

YOUR STAR WARS NAME (last 3 letters of your last name + first 2 letters of your first name + first 3 letters of Mom's maiden name):

Sermifah

YOUR SUPER HERO NAME (2nd fave color + fave drink):

Orange Capuccino

YOUR IRAQI NAME (2nd letter of your first name + 3rd letter of your last name + any letter of your middle name + 2nd letter of your Mom's maiden name + 3rd letter of your Dad's middle name + 1st letter of a sibling's first name + last letter of your Mom's middle name):

Isyarby

YOUR WITNESS PROTECTION PROGRAM NAME (Grandma/Grandpa's first name + Jones):

Virginia Jones

YOUR GOTH NAME (Black + name of one of your pets):
Black Gizmo

I'm tagging a few people to see what you all come up with - how about Dawn T, Audra, Melinda, Amy, Raji.

Well we've survived most of the day snowed in. We are at a Level 2 snow emergency right now, which means don't go out unless you really NEED to be out. Tomorrow am it will most likely be a level 3, which means you can be arrested if you drive. Crap! I have a hair color appt. that SO needs to happen. Drat!!

Off to have a pizza "picnic" in the living room, on a blanket, while watching a show. :-)

A Visit from Murphy

This is a record...the earliest I've ever blogged. Wanna know why? Because I'm AWAKE ANYWAY!!

It was inevitable. After last night's Valentine card fiasco (which came out fine, BTW), I was up until almost 2am getting the cards done. I couldn't have my girls without cards for their friends! Now, they've been predicting this big "winter blast" storm today, but it wasn't supposed to start until later. Looks like it came early. SCHOOLS ARE CLOSED TODAY!!! *Sigh*

So now I'm home ALL DAY with two disappointed little girls who want to have a Valentine party. I have some ideas for what we can do. I think we'll deliver the Valentine cards to the neighbors, and maybe make some kind of treat to go along with it.

We're supposed to have friends over this afternoon, but I doubt they will come now. And the chimney man is suppoed to come too, but I don't think he's going to want to climb up on the roof with several inches of snow up there.

Hope you have an entertaining day, no matter what you're weather is doing!

Valentine Mania!!!

Apparently there is some force in the universe tonight that doesn't want my girls to bring Valentine cards to their class party tomorrow.

Since I have a new HD, I tried to install my color printer. Nope. Not happening after 3 tries. Fine.

So then I install my little PictureMate printer...it prints 4x6 photos. I put two of my little cards on each page, so they are small and cute and just the perfect size for preschoolers. Install worked. Started printing. Great.

Not so fast. After studying the finished product, I notice the background of the card has MANY quality problems with it. Big chunks of the background color on top of the stickers. Ugh. I emailed the designer and will just see if I get a response.

And now...I'm out of ink! AACK! Looks like I need to put on some coffee and get my paper, glue and scissors out. And...I was actually going to go to bed at a reasonable time tonight. *Sigh*

Gotta go create, and stop blogging! I'll post what I came up with tomorrow. :-)

What kind of cookie are you?

You Are a Chocolate Chip Cookie

Traditional and conservative, most people find you comforting. You're friendly and easy to get to know. This makes you very popular - without even trying!

What Kind of Cookie Are You?

I just saw this on Robin's blog and thought it was so cute. Take the quiz here and tell me what kind of cookie you are!

California or Bust!!!

~ I finally get to go somewhere! ~

Yes, you heard it. For the first time since I was 16 years old, I'm going to fly on a plane ALL BY MYSELF and my destination is San Diego! Woooohooo! Our dear friends from church moved out there this past June, and I finally get to go out and visit. This is such a big deal for me. I get to spend 4 days out there, and hopefully visit the beach and have a really good seafood meal (which you just can't get in NW Ohio). I'm going to be counting the days until March 1!

~ Swimming at the Y ~

Yesterday we took the girls to swim at the newest Y in our area. It has the best kid pool around, with a zero entry area, fountains and a big waterslide. They had a blast, but are still leery of putting their faces in the water. Looks like we will be signing up for swimming lessons next session.

~ Funk It Up contest ~

I decided to enter the Funk It Up contest at Scrapforums, thanks to some urging from Tania. I don't usually scrap in this style, so it will be good for me to try this. I don't know how funky the above layout is, but at least I tried! You can view the credits here.

Okay, I need to get the house together before my parents come over for dinner. Later chicks!

Blue Hair?

Today is such a lovely day here in NW Ohio...bright sun, blue skies and...


15 degrees!! ROFL!!


No, really, it is lovely. I don't care what the temperature is, as long as the sun is out. It affects my mood in such a positive way. I love it!

Yesterday I took the girls over to Mom and Dad's for lunch and to spend the afternoon. While we were there, my dad looks at me and says, "What did you do to your hair now?" This is a fair question, because I'm know to change my hair color frequently. I've been brown, blonde and now I'm red. But that's not what he meant. He asked, "Did you put blue in it or something?" AACK!! He was seeing the completely GRAY roots growing out! He didn't realize how gray I am. Thanks a lot Dad! I have a hair appt. next week, but apparently that's not soon enough! LOL

~ 15 Minutes ~
This morning while the girls were at school, I did some crisis cleaning. I set my timer for 15 minutes and worked in one room at a time. Then the next 15 minutes I worked in a different room. It seems to work pretty well, as I don't get bored and distracted. Here's what I got done:

* Rearranged pots and pans drawer
* 1 load of laundry
* Vacuumed and picked up living room
* Cleaned off kitchen counters
* Organized computer area
* Scheduled dude to clean chimney
* Planned dinner

For me, this is a lot. :-)

Well the girls just finished watching Cinderella III, so it's time for me to go get them a snack and cube some pork for my yummy sounding Caribbean Pork dish I'm making tonight...using an Ugli fruit!

Happy Thursday!

Goodies for you!

I'm on my way out the door to take my girls to ballet...but I have just enough time to leave this fun little set of hearts for ya. Grab it here. Please leave me some love if you grab it...thanks!

If you like the pipe cleaners...check out my Pipe Cleaner Alpha at PDW.

Pricey tootin'!

No, it's not the tooting you are thinking of...it isn't about passing gas or tooting my own horn. I'm talking about the flute kind...ya know, tooting a flute? LOL

I was a music major in college (music education, to be exact) and after the first semester, my flute teacher said I would need a new flute. She had referred to my current flute as being good enough to use as a lamppost! So my parents graciously purchased a "professional" level instrument for me. It has served me well over the years, as I've never needed any work done. But I finally decided that it probably needs a good cleaning an adjustment.

Well guess what? It's going to cost a minimum of $260!! AACK!!! When did these kinds of things get soooooo expensive? Back when Rob and I were both working full time, that would have been nothing. But now? That's my utility bill for a month!! Guess my flute is going to have to go on tootin' in it's diminished capacity for a while.

~ CHA Chicago, July 2007 ~
Oh my word...I soooo want to go to this! After seeing the pictures of all the digi girls meeting each other in CA last week, I was wishing I could have gone too. It appears to be a bit of a process to even apply to get in, but it's worth a shot! Lots of people live within a reasonable drive of Chicago, and it would be fun to see everyone in person. Toni Berman thinks she might go, which would be so cool, since I'm on her CT!! And now that we have friends who recently moved to the Chicago area, I could see them too. :-)

~ New Alpha ~


I just put this in my store in PDW...isn't it fun? It took me forever to get this one right...tons of tweeking. It was pretty fun to make though. Grab it here!

~ Weekend Plans ~
Tonight I'm supposed to get together with some girlfriends to celebrate a birthday, tomorrow is brunch with the in-laws and then it's anything goes. It's supposed to be very cold (sub zero wind chills) so I'm thinking we'll be cuddled up reading books and watching shows.

I got it!

~ Mystery Solved! ~

Hi Carrie! I figured you out girl! Fo shizzle!!

LOL

My friend Carrie tried to fool me by posting annonymously...but I got it. Slow, yes, but I got it. Welcome to the blogging world Carrie!


~ Layouts ~


Now how pretty is this little girl?



I haven't finished Heidi's layout yet...but isn't this a gorgeous picture of her?

~ 60 Years ~
My MIL and FIL celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary today. Isn't that incredible? They are both 85 years old and still live in the house they built about 55 years ago. They didn't want to do anything special, since they had a big party for their 50th, so we're having them over for brunch Saturday. I hope Rob and I can make it at least half that long!

It's a Mystery...

Okay...come out, come out, whoever you are!!

Some mysterious person posted this comment for me today, on an older post:

hey, I remember those jammies! i almost bought some too.

very cute page.......can't wait for you to show me how to do this!

do you know who I am?

I probably SHOULD know who you are...but I don't! If you know me IRL, you know that I'm easily confused! LOL

I know it isn't Mom. She would never type in all lower-case letters. And it has to be someone local, who doesn't know how to blog. Hmmm...the plot thickens...

How do you remember my girls' jammies? Was I with you on Christmas? AACK! This is going to drive me crazy! (which I'm sure is your intent...right)

Fess up!

Let It Snow!

Finally, finally, finally...we have snow here in NW Ohio. It's been a long wait. I love snow! My friend Jeanmarie (hiya sis!!) tells me EVERYTIME we talk on the phone about how lovely the weather is out there in southern CA. So now it's my turn to brag...eat your heart out J!!!

Scraplifted from Sara Kratz's "Gorgeous Gabriella" at http://scrapbooklayouts.blogspot.com/
Audra Little's Baby It's Cold Outside, available at Digi Scrap Shak
Font: Michelle Marker, Leaf Queen Script

As you can see we took advantage of the weather and went sledding. This cute little sledding hill is right around the corner from our house. I used to go there as a kid so it was fun to see everything come full circle and go there with our kids. I realized that I need to just have more fun with the girls. So much of my days are filled with chores, errands, discipline, etc. that I forget how to just let loose and act like a kid again. Sigh. Seems so simple, yet it's so hard...

I'm feeling amazing uninspired to blog right now, so I'll end it here. Later chicas!

Jeanmarie!!

Hey girl...can you please email me at mish . gasser @ gmail dot com? My laptop is still down and I keep trying to email you, but I can't remember your address! Thanks!!

Shoe Shoppin'!

I must give a disclaimer here: I am not a shopper. I don't spend money on clothes, shoes, makeup, nails, jewelry...any of that stuff. But let me tell you...today I DID and it was so much fun!

Over the weekend Rob and I got away to Chicago to visit some dear friends. Ted is a pastor, and he was being installed at his new church (they just moved up there from Texas). In the Lutheran church Missouri Synod, being installed is a big deal. Pastors from all over the area, and personal pastor friends come for the occasion. All the church's musical groups played, and during the service all of the pastors gather around the pastor being installed and give their blessings, laying their hands on his head, one at a time. It's really something. We were so blessed to be a part of it.

I hadn't seen their family in about 5 years. We got to know them when Ted and Jacquie lived here, and he was a pastor at our church. It was the first time that I realized pastors are just people!! We have missed them so much, and it's so great they are now only about 4.5 hours away from us, rather than 24 hours!

Anyway, my friend Jacquie is one of those people who is just so classy...in her looks, her actions, her words...everything. Jacquie's friend Laura was there too, and she's just the same way. After being around the two of them, who always look so put together and nice, I knew it was time to do a little updating. Laura is a buyer for JC Penney, and she suggested that I shop there. I never think to shop there, as it's across town from me.

So here's what I found...

Worthington "Marie" boot - orig. $80.00, marked down to $23.99!

















Shucks...I can't find pictures of the other two pairs! They are both brown: one pair is casual...good with nice slacks, and the other pair is like a funky brown tennis shoe.

I'm going to have to learn to walk in heels again...those boots are not the most comfortable things in the world, but I don't care!! LOL

Now I better put my feet up and relax for a while...

New gallery: Rectangle Scrappin' layouts

I just created a new blog to function as a gallery for cool rectangle layouts that I see. I like Tenika's multi-photo gallery very much and I visit it often, but she very rarely has rectangle layouts. So...we need a place for inspiration too, right?

Check it out here!

We had a fantastic weekend! I'll be back later to share.

Princess purses

I just bought the most stinkin' cute purse ever! Wanna see?

The cute side:


The quirky side:



Want one? Go to www.paperprincess.com

We made it to church today and to breakfast afterward. It was there that I made a complete fool of myself. We've been going to this little place almost weekly for about 5-6 years now. We got to know the owners, who are just the nicest couple. They have two grown children, a daughter who lives in town and a son in the military. Mrs. Owner talks about them all the time and I feel like I know them.

Anyway, today she tells me that her daughter got a ring for Christmas. I was excited for her and Mrs. Owner says, "Well, she's over there finishing breakfast...I'll send her over when she's done". I say, "Oh, good. I don't think I've ever met her.". Mrs. Owner gives me a strange look and so does Rob. I insist that I haven't met her.

A gal walks up to the table and starts chatting. She's a waitress at the restaurant so I think nothing of it. As she is talking, I notice an engagement ring. It dawns on me. The waitress IS the daughter!!! So I say, "You are so and so?" and she's like "uh...yeah....". I felt like SUCH an idiot! After all these years, I never put two and two together. Ah well...at least I'm consistent. I saw this same girls while out shopping yesterday and didn't know where I knew her from. Sheesh!

Please tell me this has happened to you too! At least 10 or 12 times??? Please??

Hybrid Scrapping: The Next Generation

Ever heard of it? I'm so excited having just finished this layout...that I simply must show it!

Credits here

Isn't that cool? Yes, it took some work and I normally wouldn't spend this much time on a page, but my Christmas album is special so I put some extra effort into it.

I tried to give myself some more energy today. After dropping the girls off at school, I headed to the park to walk 1.5 miles through the woods. It was a lovely sunny day, about 45 degrees and just brisk enough to make you walk a little faster to keep warm. I didn't take my iPod or anything. I needed some quiet time with God to just pray and then to just...listen. It was a wonderful mind-clearing experience.

Tomorrow the girls go to gymnastics, so I'm planning to walk on the treadmill during their class. Wish me luck!

My get up and go...got up and left!

At least that's how it feels this week! I just can't seem to get back in the groove! I was all ready for school for the girls on Tuesday, so we get up and dressed, breakfasted and out the door, only to realize upon arriving that school didn't start until WEDNESDAY!!

Now, Rob kept telling me that school started Wednesday. I mean, he TEACHES at the darn place! But I kept telling him he was wrong. I managed to convince him too. Oh well! He was ready for his classes a day early and we all got a practice run for tomorrow. Oh, how I crave routine!!

Our Christmas extravaganza went very well. We actuall had four Christmasses (as Heidi will be glad to tell anyone who will listen!)...#1 on Christmas Eve at my parent's house, #2 at our house Christmas morning, #3 at BIL's house on Christmas day afternoon, and #4 with the fam damily at the "Christmas House" on Catawba Island (about 1 hour east of here). Hmmm...is it any wonder that I'm a little out of sorts?

Christmas #1: This pretty much sums up how each girl was feeling...

Christmas #2: Aren't the girls cute in their new PJs?


Christmas #3: Oma's getting a big hug from Heidi!


Christmas #4: The girls with cousin Rebecca watching some very interesting out on the playground! Thanks goodness for that playground!!! 24 hours in one house with 18 people (12 adults, 6 kids ages 9 months to 5) can get a little crazy!


I finished a couple of layouts too, but I better not push it...Blogger has at attitude, you know...