Monday Bloggin'

hi! hope everyone had a great weekend. we had a busy one. terry has been out of town so i'm pulling double duty, again! the weather was absolutely beautiful. which lead to several outdoor chores and activities! one of which called for the use of a really sharp shovel! so i'm at a neighbors house picking up the girls from an afternoon of playing. kati had left her shoes by the sandbox. so we walked over and started putting her shoes on when i kept hearing this hissing and spitting sound and finally saw something more. here, not 12" away from us was a snake!!!! ya, holy crap is right! i hate snakes and spiders of any kind. so i can about imagine if anyone was looking out their window at the time they must have gotten a good laugh! melissa went to the garage and found a shovel and ended up killing it. she hates snakes too, which i could tell by the force she was putting behind the shovel! i was just thinking we could scoop it up and throw it in the pond across the road. i'm sure it wasn't poisonous but the fact that it kept striking at me and hissing was enough to scare the crap out of me. poor kati was just trying to figure out what i was screaming about. ha ha
so i just got an e-mail from Layle Koncar with Scenic Route....remember the duck watching layout i did (a few posts down) i entered into their kraft pattern paper contest and won! yah!!!! so i'm getting another set of their newest papers, stickers etc.... their one of my favorite manufactures, so i'm excited to be getting another set...(i chose the metropolis set this time!)
so by now i'm sure everyone has been to michaels and seen the new martha stewart line! wow! i was so impressed! it's very clean and classic. but she really thought of everything. there are kits for kids, kits for wedding stuff, kits for b-day parties....you name it. the packaging is very clean and simple. it's just very well done! i used to be a merchandise manager so i tend to analyze stores when i shop them.
well, only one more week! i think i mentioned it a while back, but terry is taking me to california! the napa area....we plan on visiting a few wineries, having dinner w/ a colleague of his and some other site seeing i'm sure. we're even flying first class! so i've never flown first class before so i had to get that in. ha ha i'm so looking forward to our little getaway! terry's mom is coming to watch the kids. they are so excited for grandma to come! i'm not sure how i feel about grandma spoiling them for 4 days and coming home to, "well, grandma let me do it, or grandma let me have candy!!" ha ha they'll all have a great time! we've never been away from the girls together so i can imagine after 4 days we'll be ready to get back home!
in my earlier post i had mentioned jen and her son joey. joey passed away over the wk. end. jen said it was rather fast and peaceful. he's in gods hands now.
stories like this are just so heart wrenching. and you know their are families and children that go through this every day. reality just sets in when it's someone you know.... god works in mysterious ways....but i bet he has a plan for joey!
sorry no photo today!
have a good week!

Saturday...

just popping in to say hi. it's a beautiful day here so i'll make this short. my car needs washing, the garage needs a sweeping, my car needs to be vacuumed...possibly mow and plant some flowers in my pots! but yet i could also think of a zillion things i could get done inside as well. the list never ends!

i played around yesterday while kati took a nap. i actually finished up one layout that i submitted and then this layout of lauren on the monkey bars. i used pop dots behind the chipboard stars so my scanner didn't like that much! the picture makes the photos look really dark, but they aren't...

changing directions a bit....those of you who are scrapbookers will know who jen gallacher is.... i don't personally know jen but i wish i did... she has a 13 year old boy named joey who is dying. i'm not quite sure the history of his illness or when it all began. but he is in the hospital now and is just hanging on. i guess they brought him in the other night to find out his kidneys are now failing. jen posted a thread on 2 peas the other night that brought me to tears and i haven't stopped thinking about them. i can't imagine watching my child dye and having an ounce of strength in me to keep it together. i'm sure she is falling apart inside but trying to keep herself composed for the sake of joey and his siblings. it just breaks my heart to even think about what their going through. she had talked about "letting go" and joey finding peace and comfort.... ah, i just can't even begin to imagine.... my heart goes out to them...go HUG your kids!

well, my "to-do" list seems pretty insignificant now.... but i guess i should get moving.... the day is a-wastin'. have a great weekend....hugs...

totally random...

hi there....so it's been a few days since i've posted so i thought i had better at least check in. i can't say i have anything exciting to report...

i did this layout earlier today...my scanner turned the little bird a funky puke color. it's green in real life. not sure why it did that but i couldn't fix it...i'm not really into the "bird" thing but these cute little felt birds came in jenni bowlin's april kit and it went so well with the scenic route paper i just had to use it. the black swirly stems are li'l davis as is the chipboard scalloped circle and the letters "us".

so i had a dentist apt. today. had 2 cavities filled. i have to say this dentist is by far the best i've ever been to. she is probably about my age and sweet as can be. i dread going to the dentist (as you may know from previous entries). but i barely even felt her give me the novocaine, it was amazing. i even had to bring my i-pod along just because i hate the sound of the drills on my teeth. not that the music made it feel any better or made it vibrate less...

well, the girls are in the tub (usually the best time to try and post...until they start throwing water or fighting!) so i had better wash hair and get some books read and get them to bed....

Productive...

don't you just love a productive week! by the time the end of the week rolls around you're exhausted but it feels good to get so many things done!
so i went to "once upon a child" yesterday to drop off some clothes that i had in tubs from our garage sale last summer. i'm not sure why i hadn't gotten rid of them yet...i think i was hanging on to them because i just wasn't ready to let them go! lots of baby clothes and maternity clothes. anyway, i had never really shopped at a second hand store before. i have been there looking for junky furniture that i could spruce up but never looking for clothes. i had a few minutes to waste while they looked through my stuff so i thought i'd look down the isle that had lauren's size.... i was totally shocked! they had tons of cute shorts and skirts that looked brand new. i even found an old navy skirt w/ the tag still on.... i ended up buying 2 pairs of shorts and 2 denim skirts for $15. and it all looks like new! i couldn't believe it! i was so excited! now, don't get me wrong, there was plenty of stuff in there that wasn't so great! i love a good deal!
i finally finished up an assignment that had been hanging over my head. i had actually done it once but apparently didn't understand the assignment and i needed to go back and finish it up. with that being done i thought i could play around a bit since i had a huge mess going anyway....i did these 2 layouts....of course my scanner cut off a 1/4" off the right side of my pages. hate that thing.... the "silly girls" layout i used the jenni bowlin kit from april. i added the MM letter stickers. and the "duck watching" layout is one i did for the scenic route monthly challenge. the challenge was to use their kraft pattern paper.... i've been meaning to scrap these photos for a long time and the paper seemed to be a pretty good fit....

tomorrow i'm painting! we picked up some paint to touch up some of the rooms that haven't been painted a different color. when we moved in to our house the builder had painted every room a nice khaki color, but had used flat paint! so rooms like my laundry room and 1/2 bath off of my kitchen really need a new coat of paint! shouldn't take me too long. it's the prep work that takes forever....
i've been trying to type this entry all day...so i had better spell check and get it posted before i lose it....

MIA

hey there! it's been a crazy few weeks around these parts! let's see....we went to omaha for easter. we met my family there for the weekend. it's a half way point for all of us, which makes the drive much easier. 6 hours vs. 11. the girls had so much fun playing with their cousins and spending time with nana and papa and of course their aunts and uncles! then we came home from that trip and had a few days of down time but were preparing for the arrival of my in-laws. they flew in on wed. night and just left today. we had such a nice time with them also. we celebrated kati's 3rd birthday while they were here. (april 13th) it's hard to believe she's already 3! (the photo of us was taken on her b-day)

life should get back to normal now this week. although, we still have lots of running around and things to do to keep us busy! lauren will go back to school tomorrow. she was on spring break all last week. we started outdoor soccer today! (i wish grandpa and grandma could have watched lauren play). their only 6 but so much fun to watch! it's amazing how much the girls learn and how their skill levels improve over just a few months!

and i just thought i'd share a few layouts i did for creative xpress....our assignments were to use the title "i believe" and to create a masculine layout.

so anyway....i had better start cleaning up my house and finishing up the laundry! have a great week!

My MM Idol jouney ends....

hi! thought i'd pop in here and say THANKS to all who may have voted for me again this round...and for supporting me through this entire contest. i did not make it into the top 5. it's definitely been a fun contest and a great experience getting to know so many nice girls.... as much as i wanted to make it to the very end and be a part of the MM team, it was almost a blessing in disguise. we're heading out of town this week and i was wondering when on earth i would be able to squeeze in another project. i'm relieved that i'll be able to spend time with my family without being worried about the contest. so in a way, i think it was meant to be... so again, thank you....