Terriffic Tuesday

Don't ya love my original titles for my blog posts? lol

Yesterday's yearbook meeting went well. Rob and I were starting to kind of freak out, since the book is due at the printer the second week of April. We had to crack the whip and really make the kids work, but they did a great job. We printed our first proofs and I think they are impressed with the work they are doing. Yay! We have a long way to go, but we can finally see some results. I'll post some of our pages here so you can cheer us along!

These kids have never seen Photoshop before, and I'm kind of teaching them on the fly. I wish I had the time to really do a whole Photoshop class for them, but they are all way too busy. One 7th grade boy told me that "I'll never know as much about computers as you do!" and I told him "no way...you'll be way past my by the time you get to high school!". But I must admit...I can always use a good ego boost. :-)

~ Funk It Up Bonus Challenge #3 ~
This time the challenge was based on a really cool sketch, and it was perfect for my recent pictures of our walk at the park...

Credits and journaling can be seen here

~ And Another Layout ~
I made this one with Toni Berman's fabulous Linky-Dos Metals...isn't this a fun product?

Congrats are in order for Toni too, since her Linky-Dos Two is being featured on Disc Talk Radio this week...woohoo!

Today it's going to be sunny and 70 degrees, so we'll be outside this afternoon. Yay! Have a great one!

Happy Monday

Today has been a great day so far. I managed to get the girls to ballet class, even though Gretchen protested angrily, and afterward we did a mega grocery shopping trip. They were such good shoppers, helping me fill the cart and actually stayed close to me as I asked! Woohoo! Of course, I bribed them by letting them pick out their own cup of yogurt, and with a ride on the one cent pony right at the checkout. :-)

I noticed something at the store today that just made me sad. On the way out we saw some new grocery carts that looked like cars. Upon closer inspection, I saw that these were no ordinary carts...for just one dollar, you can rent the cart so your child can ride inside at WATCH TV!! I was appalled! I guess no place is safe from the boob tube. I'm certainly not against TV, but in the store? Ugh!

~ Incensical ~
Yankee Candle tarts and tart warmers are all the rage right now, and I do have one (thanks to reading Gina Miller's blog LOL). However, after a bedroom cleaning spree over the weekend, Rob uncovered an incense bottle that has remained unused and dusty on the chest of drawers. He brought it down to the kitchen and we've been burning it all weekend. I love to watch the smoke float around and there's just something about the smell...it's so different. Isn't this a pretty bottle?


~ Perking Right Along ~
Here's another newer addition to the kitchen...a vintage coffee perculator! I accidentally broke the carafe for our automatic drip model, so we acquired my mother-in-law's old, unused perculator. It makes fantastic coffee...better than anything we've tried before.

I also ordered a cute little vintage coffee pot from Ebay, as I've decided to start collect old coffee stuff to decorate the kitchen (thanks to my friend Carrie for the idea!).

Well now we're off to school for another yearbook meeting, and tonight we are on our own since Rob has class. I think we'll make birthday cards for my brother, and play a couple of games.

:-)

Sunshine Day #2

Can you believe it? Two days of sunshine and blue skies in NW Ohio in March...woohoo! All the snow is melting and things are pretty wet and muddy, but I don't care. Just keep giving me that sunshine baby!!

Right now I'm trying to convince the girls to get dressed so we can go over the to park and take a walk. There is a beautiful fully paved trail, so we shouldn't get too muddy, and there is a creek involved too, which should intrigue most 4 year olds, wouldn't you think? They have both gotten a little too comfy lounging around the house, so it's time to change that! Especially after I ate an unnamed amount of Girl Scout cookies yesterday...oh well. Today is a new day!

Tonight we are going over to Mom and Dad's for one last dinner before they take off for Florida for a month. I'm sooooo jealous. But, I'm trying to figure out how I can have a girl's night out in their house while they are gone. They have about 4 times the amount of square footage in their house as we do, and all the luxuries (like a huge whirlpool tub), so I'm thinking spa night? We'll see if I can convince Mom to let me borrow the house.

~ New Products at Plain Digital Wrapper ~

One new one and one "reworked" item today...

Hand Painted Eggs

Hand Painted Hearts

Well, I have to go wrangle the chillins because I hear banging noises coming from upstairs. It could be bed jumping or just general mayhem. Swan Creek park, here we come!!

Have a great weekend...wishing you sunshine days!

Sunshine Day!

The sun is out the morning. The ground is covered with a fresh layer of powdery white snow. The sky is blue. It's only 19 degrees, but gosh darn it, this is one of my favorite kind of days! Sunshine is just so happy and cheerful. I cherish the days when we see it around here!!

~ Rectangle Scrapping Gallery ~
If you are a rectangle scrapper, I want you to check out my other blog, Rectangle Scrapping Gallery. I'm going to do my best to put up three new rectangle layouts every day, for inspiration. If you'd like to be included on my list of rectangle galleries, please email me at mish dot gasser at gmail dot com.

~ Layouts ~
I made this one with Toni Berman's cool stuff. The layout isn't wowing me right now, but at least I got the photos scrapped!

Journaling:
Who would have thought you could find a place that will have a toy train deliver your food? We have just such a place that just opened here. so one night after swimming lessons we checked it out. I guess is would have been more fun if there had been more people there, because we only got to see the train a couple of times. But still, it was fun, and something to do on a cold, thunderstorming, almost spring kind of night!

Credits:
Toni Berman's Mulberry Path paper, Date Ticket and Recycled
cardboard, packing tape and alpha, available at My Digital Muse
and Toni Berman Designs
Hallway Griffiti glitter paint by Meredith Fenwick
Special thanks to Atomic Cupcake
Font: Michelle Marker

The results have been posted for the Funk It Up challenge #2, so I can show you now. The theme was "Someday I'm going to..."

Credits:
Doodle frame by Ida Rudningen
Paper by Shannon Lee
Staples by Michelle Underwood
Notebook paper by Gina Huff
Flower by Shannon Lee designs
Stitching by Meredith Fenwick
Hand Stamped Alpha by Michelle Coleman
Font: Cathie's Hand

Now it's time to go do some laundry. Have a great day!

My Scrap Space

I finally finished a challenge that Jessica Bolton is having over on her blog...scrap your scrap space. Here's what I came up with:

Journaling:
I have an official scrap space, but you’ll rarely find me there. If I need to use my printer, scanner or external hard drive then yes, I’m there. But for the most part, I scrap any place there is a flat surface, like on the kitchen snack bar or while watching TV in the living room. I can’t imagine being limited to one place...I’d go crazy! I love being able to interact with my family while I scrap; it gives me inspiration. All I need now is a comfortable stool, and I’ll be set.

Credits:
Negative frame and background paper from Jessica Bolton's
Delight In Photographs
Doodle borders by Tracy Blankenship
Soda Pop paper and Hallway Graffiti glitter paint
by Meredith Fenwick
Painted flower by Michelle Coleman
Grunge frame by Nancy Comelab
Font: KGD Mozer Print

~ Infirmary, Part 2 ~
Today both of the girls were sick. Gretchen's fever was quite high all day and she did not tolerate it well. She had a huge explosion during the afternoon over some silly disagreement she and Heidi were having, and once I sent her up to her room, this is what I got to hear: "I don't like that stupid old Mommy...I'm not going to listen to her anymore! I don't want a new mommy but I want a new Heidi! I don't like that! etc..." This went on for about 15 minutes. It always amazes me how much material she has, and how long she can continue at such a high level of furry. Sheesh. I have NO idea where that comes from.... ROFL!!

I'm off to vote in the Funk It Up #2 challenge, and then hopefully get some sleep. Looks like we'll have sick day #3 tomorrow. Nite chicas!

New Products!

I finally got motivated to actually produce something...yay!!


Coffee Talk Alpha was supposed to be part of a whole coffee-themed kit, but I got stuck so I decided to just release this part. Hopefully there will be more to come soon. :-)


And this one...well, I'm not Irish, but I've had these glittery shamrocks in mind for a while and just had to do them! Check them out here.

~ Infirmary ~
Today my house is a sickie house. Heidi had a temp of 104.1 degrees last night (yikes) and is still feeling crummy today, but at least the temp is down to a reasonable number (like 101.2). She likes to sleep on the couch when she's sick, so guess where I sleep too? Good thing we have a sectional with room for several people. :-) Rob has class tonight (won't get home until around 8:30pm) and parent teacher conferences tomorrow night (same time frame), so I'm pretty much on my own. Gretchen has a slight fever right now too, but not enough to get excited about. Hmmm...school or no school tomorrow? Guess we will wait and see.

~ Layouts ~
I'm having so much fun with the Funk It Up contest at Scrap Forums. It's even better to be joining in with my awesome group of scrapping buddies...Melinda, Amy, Cassie and Tania. Since the entries are anonymous before the voting, we have to try to find each other's layouts. It's great learning more about each of these ladies every week.

I can show you my entry for the bonus round. We had to make a layout using the color green. No problem!

Credits: Doodle frame by Ida Rudningen, Paper by Shannon Lee, Staples by Michelle Underwood, Notebook paper by Gina Huff, Flower by Shannon Lee designs, Stitching by Meredith Fenwick, Hand Stamped Alpha by Michelle Coleman, Font: Cathie's Hand

Okay, Gretchen wants me to come and rest with her...how can I turn that down? Have a good Monday!

A Roller Coaster Week

I should have been in San Diego right now...but, instead I'm here in Toledo. I think the weather today was about as miserable as it gets...35 degrees, raining all day, melting snow, mud all over...yuck! It sure makes me appreciate every dry, sunny day we get here!

I can't complain though...today was a good day. I had lunch with my good friend and we laughed the whole time. It's great to have friends like that, isn't it? Then I took the girls to their first swimming lesson. I was worried they would freak out, but they both did great. Then we took them to this cute little place called 2Toots Steam Whistle Grill for dinner. It's a little diner where a train brings the food to you...very cute. They seemed to get a kick out of it.

After a very rough start to the week (I don't even want to write about it), every day since Tuesday has been good. I was able to meet with our school psychologist on Wednesday, and I think I'm finally going to be able to get somewhere with Gretchen. I'm supposed to keep a behavior journal for the next two weeks, and then we will meet again. Now just watch...she'll be perfect for two weeks and I'll have nothing to report!

I can finally show my Funk It Up layout. I'm a little disappointed that I didn't get even one vote, but the layout means a lot to me and that's what counts, I guess...

See it here

This week the challenge theme is "Someday I'm Going To...". I have one idea, but it's not materializing yet. Hopefully this weekend some inspiration will hit me.

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!