I shoulld be doing something else....

hey there....i stopped to check my e-mail and figured i should maybe throw in an entry to my blog...i have a zillion other things i should be doing....
well, i'm finally done decorating. seems like it took me forever this year. there is always something else a person would like to do or add but my budget only goes so far. being as i like blog entries w/ photos i thought i'd share a few from "around the house"....
and then the last two photos are of lauren's bedroom...the dollar store border :) the photos are dark but you get the idea....i'm just glad it's done. guess our bedroom will be next but not until after the holidays!
thanks for the appetizer recipes and web sites...i have found several that look yummy and i'll attempt to make.
so that's it for now. i had better get up and get some things done!

Bring On the HoliDays!!

happy thanksgiving! hope everyone enjoyed their day with family and friends....it was such a beautiful day here today. must have been in the mid 60's and sunny. i cooked the big ol' turkey meal w/ all the fixins' (ok, just a turkey breast but that still counts...darn thing cost as much as a whole bird!) everything tasted great....i have the darndest time with gravy...but it was good!
it's been a crazy week...lots going on and lots to do. i finally finished painting lauren's room. turned out pretty cute. 1/2 green 1/2 pink walls with a border in between w/ pink/green circles. found this at the dollar store of all places. i was a bit hesitant thinking there is no way this will stay on the wall....but so far so good. watch it will all be on the floor by tomorrow morning. ha ha
then on tuesday i started putting up the trees! i just couldn't wait anymore....what a fiasco that was....i had 1000 white lights on my tree....plugged it in, all looked great....5 min. later they all went out....ooops, i forgot i couldn't plug all of them into eachother....so i thought i had burned all of them out. took them off, unconnected them, plugged each in individually and they worked. uhg!! ok, this is good cuz at least i don't have to buy 10 more boxes of lights! so, i put them all back on the tree again, one of the strands is out. GEEEZ! luckily it was only the 2nd from the bottom....it took me like 6 hours to get this tree up....i'm still not done decorating the house but at least that is done.....
anyone have any fun/easy appetizer recipes they'd like to share. we're hosting 2 parties this month and i'm in search of some yummy fun appetizers....
anyone going shopping tomorrow? i have never had any desire to shop the day after thanksgiving! i am just not a crowd shopper....so good luck to those brave soles!
(being as i like posts with pictures...here is a card i made....supposed to be santa....)

Some Stuff....

morning....i just had this new entry almost done and i lost it. grrrrrrr..... well, at least you'll miss out on my ramblings....i won't go there again.
but here are a few things i thought i'd share with you....this 2 page layout i did for a class at Page Makers earlier this week. i was to use the theme thankful but i also wanted to use the scalloped paper and show them there are several ways to use the paper vs. just putting it in the center of your layout....

this next layout i used the Jenni Bowlin Nov. kit....i love this kit...the colors are so great. i really like how jenni customizes her kits. she creates something of her own and includes it in the kit. she's been making these journaling cards (not on this layout) that are so cute! i was getting 3 different kits a month but since being put on my budget i have cut back but just can't get rid of this one!

i have a few more classes lined up to teach in Dec. one of which will be this little paper bag album. lots of fun goodies on the inside....

well, i hope everyone has a great weekend. maybe i'll get my tree put up...we have 2 b-day parties to attend and i'm coming down with a cold so not sure how motivated i'll be....

have you ever noticed (my brother has) how i don't type with capital letters and a lot of times i use 3... in between sentences....so very frustrating to do spell check! ha ha ha have a good one!

morning...

good morning. i just have a few things to share today. the layout was just for fun. i had been busy doing layouts for assignments and wanted to play... the album is something i made to send to my sister. she has a group of friends who are scrapbookers....& every now and then i make up kits for them. in the box that i'm sending this week, i decided to make up some albums that they could give as gifts. (the word Joy is from Li'l Davis)
anyone else have the christmas bug already? i've been itchin' to put my tree up!
a few years ago i decided to go fake...we had always had a real tree but realized that each and every year i was taking it down by myself, hauling it out by myself and cleaning up a huge mess, by myself! it's a nice looking tree so i don't mind.
i'm forcing myself to wait until next week... it isn't even thanksgiving for pete sake! so i decided i could at least riffle through my decorations and test all of my white lights... i have a little 2" tree that lauren is putting in her room. she wanted it in there right "now"...so last night we put some lights on it and i told her we could make some ornaments for it... she was pretty excited. the martha stewart holiday issue has some pretty cute ideas.

A few to share....

well for some reason i am unable to load my pictures of my holiday paper bag album i did...i put 3 small lunch bags together, folded in 1/2, punched holes in the fold and tied the 3 together to make an album. some of you may have seen 2 of the layouts i posted today. but i haven't put them on my blog yet...
i've been busy working on assignments and enjoying our nice weather. it's been 75 these past few days. the girls and i just got back from spending almost 2 hours at the park! so nice.
had a photo shoot from hell yesterday. geez! first, i have to admit it was my fault. kati didn't get a nap...so before we even get to the park where the photographer is going to take their pictures, she is freaking out in the parking lot. (she is so not like lauren!) she wouldn't move. she just stood there and had a fit. i was able to take a few cute pictures before the photographer started but by this time they had dirt all over them, their hair was a mess as it was windy....uhg! so i'll be lucky if we get 5 good photos out of that batch. and here i thought if i were to hire someone to take their pictures they would cooperate for them. lauren was good, but i would hope so, she's 5. kati was ok for a while but she had several melt downs during the shoot. she definitely still needs a nap! i'd post some of the pictures i took but blogger won't let me for some reason.

Someone was watching over us!

i got a phone call yesterday from my mom....i had just talked to her the day before so whenever i hear her voice on the phone and i had just spoken with her, it scares me a little. i usually get this feeling that something is wrong. she wanted to let me know what had happened to my dad....(heart skips a beat)...he had been working in his garage/workshop as he usually does when out of no where a bullet comes flying through the wall just above his window. it made a hole through the wall and traveled through the garage knocking a bunch of stuff off of the refrigerator. he couldn't figure out what was going on as it made this huge cracking noise. he said his first reaction was to just hit the floor...he laid there for a few minutes and then got up and looked around to see what in the heck had just happened. he noticed the hole in the garage and figured it was a bullet. my dad makes guns as a hobby, repairs them for people etc...so he knows a lot about guns to say the least. he's been an outdoorsman all his life....BUT apparently the dipshits who were hunting across the road aren't aware of a few rules....1. ya don't shoot your friggin' gun towards HOMES, where people actually live. 2.just because you see a deer doesn't me you just shoot at it without thinking, "where will that bullet land if i happen to miss that deer? hmmm 3. when confronted about what had just happened ya don't laugh and make up excuses! this was a group of men (older), one of which is a neighbor of my dad and moms....the guy who actually shot the gun was very apologetic but his neighbor was the one who laughed it off. my dad told him he didn't think this was funny as he could have been going to his funeral this week! he stopped laughing. i can't stop thinking about this and the thought of what could have happened if my dad had been using his drill press or another saw that was in the path of that bullet. makes me sick. i have never had a problem with guns (when used for hunting or by the police)...but when a gun is put in the hands of someone who is careless& just down right stupid everything changes.... i can't help but to think someone was watching over my dad and our family that day.....

i'll post a project and some layouts a bit later....had to get this off my chest first :) have a great week!

Friday....

boy, i can come up with some catchy titles, huh! ha ha
how was halloween? we had so much fun. the girls dressed up like little geisha girls. kati who is only 2 1/2 had a blast. although, she pooped out after about 12 houses. she would open up her bag half was up the driveway and say, "trick-or-treat"....while all of the other kids had made it to the door and were on their way back to the street. she kind of got lost in the shuffle. it was too cute! they got more candy then they'll ever know what to do with....but the good thing is they have hardly even asked for it....so you know what that means. handfuls will disappear from their already hidden bags. seems wasteful but they just don't get much candy nor do they need it. not too long ago lauren threw up unexpectedly after she had eaten a ton of candy at a friends house....ya, so that was fun. guess their little tummy's just aren't used to it! so anyway, here is a picture of them all dressed up with the 2 neighbor girls....they even had the chopstick in their hair....(thanks grandma, they worked great)

well, i'm going to start teaching classes again! i've really missed it. i'll be teaching at a store called Page Makers, it's in chesterfield MO. i have to admit i was a little skeptical. just like with anything you never really know what to expect until you actually see for yourself. i have to say i LOVED the store. the space was great! very well merchandised (and having been a merchandise mgr. in the past this makes a huge difference in sales and the overall appearance of your store.... anyway.) she had a nice variety of product, a nice work area and just an overall neat store (of course i loved the cement floors!). the store owner, debbie was so sweet and easy going....so i think this will definitely be a good thing.

oh, remember when i entered the Making Memories Idol contest....well, for being one of the top 20 chosen Making Memories sent out one of their paper trimmers to each person. WOW! it arrived the other day....i love this thing! i've been using a fiskars for years and just never wanted to venture away from that....it was easy to use, light weight and didn't take up much room. well, move over fiskars....i'm lovin' this cutter. we'll see how much i love it when i have to change the blade.... but regardless, it's a nice tool....and what a great gift!
ok, i've rambled on enough....have a great weekend!