Catching Up!

Hi! hope everyone had a great holiday weekend. we sure did! we spent 4 days @ truman lake. (the largest lake in missouri) we rented a little cabin at a resort not far from the lake. the weather couldn't have been any nicer...maybe it was a little warm but sunny skies all around! lauren caught her first fish! she was pretty excited....and there was NO way that fish was going back into the lake. terry also had some luck fishing. i, on the other hand don't have any desire to catch fish. as much as i like to eat fish i just don't feel the need....i feel sorry for the little guys. so here are a few pictures of our weekend and lauren's first catch!
the photo of several fish (carp) was taken at the marina. the girls were able to feed them....and then of course kati and lauren. kati wasn't diggin' the life jacket much. guess i can't much blame her...it was like 90 some degrees, no breeze and on the water that reflects the hot sun....go figure! and lauren giving me her sassy pose and fake "cheese"....we had a great time...(thanks melissa and dane for the invite!)
i think that's it for now....have a great week!

Sharing....

morning....i was trying to think of what i could post today being as it's already been a few days since i've blogged. so i thought i would share the two layouts that were recently in the Scrapbook Answers special may issue.... the step-by-step article i did was making your own foam stamps. using the sheets of foam you can buy in any craft store. the swirl stamp i hand cut and the flower stamp on the "our girls" page was cut using a sizzix machine. the only problem i saw in the magazine and on the disc was the letters shifted and no one fixed them before taking the photos for the magazine. i just used staples to attach the heidi swapp letters....i wish they had noticed that prior to taking the pict. but then again maybe that's just my OCD coming out again. ha ha ha
have a good day! ps...thanks for leaving me comments! i'm glad you figured it out tami! hee hee i have a meter on my blog so it tracks how many people visit and where they are from etc........not many leave comments though....so thanks!

Just being a GirL....

Oh my gosh, lauren is crackin' me up! she loves to play dress up! elton john, 80's madona and paris hilton all wrapped up into one! ha ha she told me that girls can wear more than just one earing in each ear. so she has 4! she's quite the character! one day she's body slammin' with the boys and the next day she's parading around in velvet dresses and dangling earings. it's good to be versitile! i'm all for it! well, i'm not all that keen on body slamming but at least i know she can hold her own. ha (michelle, do you recognize the dress? one of sage or maggie's hand-me-downs...she loves it!)

ok, here's the final picture of the living room with all 4 walls painted the chocolate brown. i should have closed the blinds a little but at least you get the idea....after i loaded the picture i realized i had a magazine on the ottoman and something else on the floor...you can't know how much that is bugging me. ha ha (something is out of order!) can you say OCD!!!! geez!

anyone else watch the 2 hour finale of grey's anatomy? i'm the biggest cry baby! my eyes were puffy this morning from crying so much. so glad terry is out of town. he thinks i'm crazy when i cry over tv shows. so it all started when "doc" the dog had to be put down. i love dogs so to have to watch that (ok,i know it's only tv!!!) got the tears rolling....then of course when denny died....had to see that one coming....but it was still devistating. ha ha....ok, i know there has to be someone else out there who cried....so don't be making fun of me!!! love that show....

Happy Mother's Day....

super quick post...just wanted to wish all of the mothers out there a happy mothers day! hope your day is all about YOU! wish i could be sharing my day with my mom, 2 mother-in-laws, sister and sister-in-laws but unfortunately too many miles seperate us....but they'll be in my heart! love you all!
i finished the living room! i do like it with all 4 of the walls painted. it's very warm and cozy. i'll take a photo soon and share the final outcome with you! better close er' up for now....hugs!

Results...

soooo? whatcha' think? it's only 1/2 done...terry wants me to paint the window wall and the small wall behind the staircase. we're planning on getting different furniture for this living room but haven't found any yet and who knows if it will really happen. it looks really good in real life. or i guess that's just my opinion. my neighbors like it but you never know if their just being nice? in the back of their mind their really thinking, "holy crap, what were they thinking?" ha i ran out of paint, which is fine with me. so until i get more we'll live with the 2 walls being painted. i have some big projects coming in the mail so i'll be busy with those for a while.
a few of us from the creative xpress team had assignments last month using the new Cricut machine...we were given the green light to post those layouts in our galleries. here are 2 of mine...EVERYTHING you see on the layouts were created using this handy dandy machine. their amazing! it's like having instant embellishments at the push of a button! i need one! my favorite features of the machine are...
* the ability to cut your shapes/letters from 1"-5.5"
* i love how it has different settings to cut silhouettes or solid shapes/letters. like the flowers you see on my layout of lauren or the circles i have cut on my dad's layout.
* the cricut is super easy to operate!
for the layout of my dad i cut the tags (2 different sizes), #1, Dad, &, Papa and the circles all from the cricut. the word "papa" i used the "charm" feature. that creates a small loop at the top of each letter giving you the ability to adhere the letter by using a brad. so cute!
how cute would it be to cut out 5.5" flowers and use them as wall decor in the girls rooms. the possibilities are endless and just having this nifty machine sitting here at my disposal has been a real treat! i'm going to hate to send it back! if you're thinking of getting one, don't hesitate! i've never been one to have a lot of fussy tools or gadgets but this machine is so versatile it makes all of those other gadgets obsolete!

Taking a Break....

from painting! terry and i finally agreed on a color for our living room and i started painting this morning. i LOVE the color! love love love it! it's called "artist brown" by ralph lauren....it looks like chocolate pudding. i started with the one wall and with terry's influence have started painting the second. i was thinking it might get to be too dark but i think it's going to be ok! it looks good with the cream colored fireplace surround and the cream baseboards....i'll snap a pict. when i'm all done. i have a few other photos to share with you also....just some random shots from yesterday and a layout of lauren...
notice the HUGE bruise on kati's forehead. not to mention there is a matching one on the opposite side. the pictures of kati are from saturday when the 4 of us went to the park and had a picnic. lauren was off playing with some other girls the entire time so i only snapped a few pict of kati.
the first picture is of a project i did about a month ago. i was hoping one of the magazines would want it but no luck so far....i used 2 wooden frames and lots of hardware. 2 hinges are holding the two together & it opens up....the layout of lauren is of her learning to ride her bike. the pictures aren't the best...with lots of distractions in the background but i had to create a page that showcased her riding her bike! ha ha that's kind of a mom thing isn't it! i should probably move on and get our day started. i woke up this morning feeling a little stiff. my shoulders are hurtin'. ha ha have a good day!
ps. i've been thinking about you michelle....she hasn't been around much to keep up with my blog...her mom is fighting cancer and not doing so well right now. so if you do get a chance to read this michelle...know that i'm thinking about you and your family and saying a prayer or two....hugs

Layouts & then some....

so i was able to get a few layouts done over the past few days and thought i would share them. i'm ready to give my scanner the boot! i guess it's probably me but i don't know what i'm doing to get my layouts to look all crooked and funky....but in real life their straight! really! i actually stayed up late... all by myself... in our basement... working on layouts! ha ha my MIL thought it was funny that i didn't like to be alone in our basement after dark. i guess it is pretty silly when you think about it! the development we live in is tucked away in it's own little world with only one way in and one way out. i just have to get window coverings...freaks me out to think someone can see me but i can't see them! now if we had our dog "fargo" here i would feel totally at peace with it! (he lives with grandma and grandpa now & loves it...)
looks like it's going to be 80 degrees here today! a good day to take the girls to the park and have a picnic. guess i don't have anything else to report....have a good day! k

Monday Already!

boy, the weekend just flew by! can't say that i accomplished all that much either! saturday was gloomy. lauren's soccer game was cancelled and we spent the day inside. terry arrived home from his week long trip away and we spent much of the evening catching up with dad. i did manage to whip up these 2 layouts. the one of terry and the girls isn't the best picture but terry is so "anti-pose for pictures" that i have to pretty much use whatever i can get! i love the background of the photo. we were in downtown st. louis and the buildings in the background are framed in by the arch. (you have to look close but there is an "r" in the word girls....it's hard to see w/ the brown)
speaking of brown....gonna buy me some brown chocolate paint today! yum! terry and i have been toying with the idea of painting our one wall (fireplace wall) in the living room a dark brown....i looked through my pile of swatches and found a brown we both liked and i'm just going to go for it. the fireplace surround is an off-white and it's a little chunky so i think the brown is either going to look great or we'll hate it. which would mean i would just have to paint over it, again! my other thought was a "burnt red"....not bright scarlet red and not maroon...something in between...so we'll see how the brown goes. it's just paint, right! the easiest way to make a huge difference in a room! i'll keep you posted!
not sure what's on the menu for the week. lauren has her last day of swimming on tues. she's pretty excited about it....they have a huge water slide and fountains etc...and i guess the last day of class they turn all of that on and let the kids play. i signed her up for more classes but they won't start until june. it's hard to believe this will be her last month of preschool too! april flew by! have a great week! hugs....