My Scrap Corner: August 2006

Thursday, August 31, 2006

Tea Party LO

We celebrated Beth and Carissa's 8th birthday with a tea party for all of their friends. 8-19-06

credits: Vintage Vashon by Amy Knepper at DigiChick (coming Sept 1); lace by Traci Sims; hat pin by Kathryn Balint; LO sketch by Becky Higgins; fonts: TXT Delicate Script

I finally finished this up- at least I think it is done. I keep reciting to myself 'less is more, less is more.' I want to put all sorts of stuff on here, but then I try to add something (like more buttons or pearls) and it just looks too cluttered. I think maybe it is because the pics all make such a strong statement that anything else just adds too much visually. I don't know- what do you think? (other than how delicious everything looks!) - click on the picture to see a bigger version

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

some pics for you

So, I was a busy bee today- or at least I tried to be. As usual I didn't get near as much done as I would have liked, but I did get something accomplished and crossed off the list. That will have to suffice. So without further ado here is my latest offering to the nightowls for posting a LO on what makes them happy, in honor of Brenna and her purple fetish which now extends to a certain children's book involving purple crayons.

I've been working on the digicraft for September- a simple little fold up purse. I just need to get the instructions written up now and that will be accomplished. I used Dani Mogstad's Fancy Pants kit to make these. Here's your little sneak peek:

Oh, and we got a Postcard from Robin the other day! The girls love getting mail (and me too!) so it was fun to get this from the Bronx Zoo and remember having a blast hanging out with her there.

Isn't this shot gorgeous??

I took the kids out to the park one night last week to feed the ducks all of the bread crusts leftover from the tea party sandwhiches and I snapped some pics of the fountain when I was walking a few laps around the pond. I was very pleasantly surprised to see how the sunset played off the water and the mountains in the background.

Sarah has started venturing out across the room by herself the last couple of days. She can take 5-7 steps now before she either falls or sits down. It won't be long now. Here are some pics of her very proud of her new found ability.
Standing on her own:

Taking some steps- she's trying to get close enough to me to grab the camera

and she caught me!

and one last sweet shot of Sarah peeking out the side light window at me when I went out to check the mail (with my camera in tow of course LOL)

I'll probably be home all day tomorrow too. Carissa started running a fever about 5 tonight, so unless this is a really short-lived illness she won't be going to school tomorrow. Then, everyone has a 4 day weekend as Mark has his every other Friday off this week and the kids are out of school for some sort of teacher work day. We might try to head down to the Happy Apple Farm again to get some more apples and of course there is Balloon Classic activities in the mornings and evenings assuming the weather is pleasant. Monday my friend Kristen is hosting a BBQ for us all. It should be a busy weekend.

not much exciting today

I was supposed to go to my friend's house this morning for our weekly visit/scifi show watching time (I record all of the scifi shows we like to watch in case one of misses them and then we get together to watch them and visit), but she caught something nasty that one of her kids brought home from school and had to cancel. So, I will just be staying home as usual. Not that I don't have more than enough to keep me busy- laundry, LOs, digicraft, prize kits and RAKs newsletter contributions are all more than I can accomplish in one day still with the kids interrupting me every 10 minutes. I swear it takes me 5 times longer to do anything lately because the minute I sit down to try and work on something I have to get up again to change a diaper, feed someone, etc. The life of a mom, I guess. I haven't got anything new I can show you at the moment, but thought I would pop in and say 'I'm here and alive' since Tania wanted something new to read today ;)

Monday, August 28, 2006

I'm on AmyK's CT!!

I got an invite from AmyK this morning to join her CT- yeah!!! She always has fabulous designs and I am so glad she's at it again :)
So, my DL manager was chugging away this afternoon grabbing her newest kit coming to the Digichick later this week. It is perfect for the girls' tea party pics. I had to start with that great shot of Beth and Carissa loving on each other after the party though. I started putting this together before the last part of the kit was DLed, I just couldn't wait ;) It's fabulous Amy!!

credits: Vintage Vashon by Amy Knepper at DigiChick; lace from French Country by Traci Sims (recolored); hat pin from Eclectic Collage by shabby Princess at ShabbyShoppe; edge tear actions by Atomic Cupcake; fonts: TXT Delicate Script

Happiness is a Tail

I challenged the nightowls at last night's chat to make a LO with the theme "Happiness is ____"
I, of course, had to do a LO about Brenna proclaiming happiness came from having a tail a couple of weeks ago. So, here it is.

journaling: According to Brenna happiness comes from having a tail LOL! We got home from church this morning and she wanted to wear a sweater/skirt set in her closet that has the Teletubbies on it. I said no, as it was going to be too hot today. A small temper tantrum ensued, I told her to pick something else and I left the room to go nurse Sarah. She came into my bedroom about 10 minutes later and told me she wanted to wear Eeyore. We got a fleece pant/top set on clearance after last Halloween that is an Eeyore outfit- complete with tail with a pink ribbon and floppy ears on the hood. I gave in- no matter that it is going to be 80 degrees today (OK, so cool by the standard temps we have been subjected to lately, but it is still pretty warm) and that we are talking long pants, long sleeves and a hood, all in fleece. I told her she had to wear a shirt with it so that she could take the top off if she got hot. She agreed and we put the outfit on. After lunch she started singing "I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy, down in my heart.....because I have a tail".

credits: Fleece background and silver tack made by me; pink bow from A Little Country Chic by Tracy Blankenship at Digital Freebies and SkrappinDigiKreations; tassel from Bohemian kit by Maya at scrapbookgraphics (recolored); Eeyore image made from scan of Paper Pizazz Pooh cutout book
fonts: Tangerine, SF Happiness, and Times New Roman

Sunday, August 27, 2006

Happy Birthday Momma!

Today is my mother's birthday! Happy birthday Momma!

Saturday, August 26, 2006

Happy Birthday MommyPat!

Today's my grandmother's birthday!

credits: DigiScrapDivas September megakit contribution by Robin Cabana; gold gimp by Melissa Goerke, blog freebie; glitter action by Atomic Cupcake; font: CK Heritage

Friday, August 25, 2006

Digi-dare ya!

So, have you checked out the new digi-dareblog? have ya? huh???
I did this evening and after not feeling much like scrapping all day today, the first dare gave me some inspriration and I put this together after everyone went to bed.

journaling: Sarah enjoyed being in the bathtub at home, but I wasn’t sure how she would react to a large pool. I didn’t have to worry- she leved every minute of it and was splashing and enjoying the water after only a minute of getting in. Even floating and being out in the middle of the pool didn’t seem to scare her.
credits: Summer Whimsy by Scrapartist team; stick pin from Eclectic Collage by Shabby Princess; Flower Crystals by Gina Miller; fonts: CK elegant

Oh, and I didn't get around to mentioning last night cause I was so tired that I won a $10 GC on Ash's little blog contest a couple of days ago- pretty cool!

Mark made it home tonight just as I was sitting the kids down at the table for dinner- pretty good timing. It sounded like his week was packed full. I would say mine went well all in all.

It must be time to head to bed (past it actually...) I know beause the 80s music infomercial just came on LOL night everyone!

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

new scrap pages

I've been busy scrapping. Mark is out of town at a conference and class this whole week and I always try to spend a little bit of extra time scrapping while he is gone ;) I actaully got today's LOs done and posted to all of the sites before dinner tonight, so I thought I would be able to get this posted a bit earlier. But, here it is 12A once again and I am just getting to updating the ol blog.
Oh well, who needs sleep?

It's going to just be a quick rundown because I am fading faster than I can type at the moment. On with the show.

this LO done for Robin's nightowl chat Sunday night. She provided the template. I just love LO templates- so quick and easy to get a LO done!

journaling: I heard lots of giggling from the living room and had to go see what was going on. Sarah was looking towards the corner of the room where most of the giggling was coming from. A little face kept appearing from behind the rocking chair in the corner accompianed by a new set of giggles. Brenna was playing hide and seek with her sister, and Sarah had found her. It is always a joy to see them enjoying each others company.
credits: Olivia Collection by Shabby Princess; sketch template by Robin Cabana; fonts: TXT Longhand and Times and Times Again

credits: Beach House kit and Bonus by Tracy Blankenship at Digital Freebies and SkrappinDigiKreations; wood plank from Wood kit by Doris Castle; pebble alpha from YummyTummy kit by Tania Cordova at Scrapdish; This is a scraplift of Tania's (lunafaerie) "Beach Shelter" LO I saw on her blog.

fonts: TXT Brush Script and Times New Roman

description: journaling: Here’s our little Cowgirl in training. I heard a rythmic squeaking and looked over to find Sarah balanced on the rocking chair going back and forth waving a sock that she found on the floor around in the air. She reminded me of someone riding a bull with her motions. Things are never dull with this little person around!
credits: Cutest Cowgirl by Tracy Blankenship at Digital Freebies and SkrappinDigiKreations; Cord Crazy Shapes and Alpha by Kim Jensen at Scrapdish; LO based on sketch by Tracy Blankenship; fonts: CK Cosmopolitan

I turned a few of the many years of hot air balloon pictures I have from the yearly local Balloon Classic festival into this funky collage. It is a lift of Tania Cordova's "PacSun" LO at DigiShopTalk and SBB and on her blog.
http://www.digishoptalk.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=7780&cat=500&ppuser=55
http://www.scrapbook-bytes.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=181468
keywords: hot air balloon festival lift off collage
credits: Background and watercolor balloons made by me.
Rust paper from Thanks Dad, and green paper from Little Dude, both by Jeanine Baechtold at computerscrapbook.com
Sun made with parts from Cord Crazy lines and shapes by Kim Jensen at Scrapdish
RicRac by Gina Miller
Medium Paper Tear action by Atomic Cupcake
fonts: CK Cosmopolitan

Aren't the cord elements and alpha the coolest thing you've seen a while? You can check them out at Scrapdish HERE! Awesome work Kim!

Sunday, August 20, 2006

Tea Party Report

Here is the finished cake. I made it as a table, covered with a fondant lace tablecloth and, of course, a tea set. My good friend Becky rescued me when I couldn't find white fondant at the craft store and gave me some she had leftover from the last birthday cake she made. I took a large doily and laid it over the top of the rolled out fondant, trimmed around it to get the scalloped edge and then colored in all of the holes with a pink, edible ink marker leftover from a cookie decorating kit. then, I brushed the whole thing with pink Luster Dust to give it a light pink pearly sheen. It turned out pretty incredible, if I do say so myself ;)

and here is the table all spread out with the goodies.

I really love this picture- it so looks like a magazine spread. The china tea set we used Mark bought for me in Germany for my birthday before we were married. It used to sit out on a table in the corner of the living room until we had kids ;)
I have more closeup pics of the tea goodies, most taken by Becky for me (thanks!), but I'm not willing to resize and upload them all for you tonight. You'll just have to wait for a LO to see them I think. During the party I kept thinking to myself that I was forgetting something, but I couldn't figure out what it was. I finally realized while I was cleaning up the kitchen that I had forgot to get out the lemon poppyseed bread I had made. It actually worked out pretty well as I had also forgotten that there was a potluck after church today and so I had something ready to take with me.

Once the girls started arriving I set them to making purses from foam craft kits I found at JoAnn's. The instructions left something to be desired, but we figured it out.

Then, they got to decorate hats with flowers and ribbon and don white gloves. All of those were found by Becky for me during the after-Easter clearance at Target earlier this year. The flowers were mostly pulled out of my old craft stash.

A group pic, before the eating began with all of the girls dressed in their tea 'finery'.

I was impressed with all of the girls' willingness to at least try the tea. I'm sure most of them had never had hot tea before. A couple of them didn't like it much, but that is OK. They also seemed drawn to the cookies and breads rather than the sandwhiches, but that was OK too as us adults were more than willing to eat those!

Most of the girls sat together in the LR. Two of the guests grabbed spots at the tea table and had fun laughing and giggling together- it was cute to watch!

Then, Beth and Carissa opened their gifts. They got a few more $ to spend on something, two versions of Twister- the 'classic' and a new DVD Dance one- watches, a couple of Polly Pocket sets, some new American Girl books and black feather boas. Here they are hamming it up with the boas after all of the guests had left.

They have spent the most time playing with the little tea set I bought to go on the cake, and the classic Twister game.
Kari and Kaitlin and Brenna were having loads of fun right at the end of the party.

and a couple pics of them sharing tea with Brenna and Sarah on the living room floor.

Well, that is it for now. Mark has left to drive to Denver for the work conference he will be attending all week. It's time to get Brenna headed towards bed, and Sarah is screaming in my ear since she hasn't hardly napped all day.

a new LO

done with Robin's newest kit at SBB, called "Loca". The girls were being quite goofy this night and trying to stand on their heads in the middle of the family room floor. They finally got it after I suggested they try it next to the wall. Brenna started trying to imitate them and it was really comical to see her with her hind end sticking up in the air while she tried to get her feet up. Finally Beth and Carissa took pity on her and helped her along.

journaling: Beth and Carissa practice standing on their heads, with Brenna watching closley and trying to imitate them. August 6, 2006

credits: Loca Papers and Elements by Robin Cabana at SBB; circular stitching from Olivia kit by Shabby Princess; fonts: TXT Longhand and Times New Roman

Thursday, August 17, 2006

Tea Party Prep

Yes, the party preparations have begun. Invitations were sent out last Friday, with a couple being handed out Monday at school. We have 5 people coming so far. I wouldn't be surprised if we have a couple more call in the next two days as people seem to be notoriously bad about calling beforehand these days. I have to admit to procrastinating RSVPing a bit too long on occasion myself though, so it really doesn't bug me too much. We're prepared for 8 guests. If we have more than that I would be extrememly surprised based on past experience. If so, we will make do.

I did the shopping yesterday morning, and I did some baking this morning. So, I feel like we are pretty good shape as far as food prep goes. Here's what I've got planned for the menu:
cinnamon bread- made over the weekend and in the freezer
lemon poppy seed bread- baked this morning
orange cranberry scone-
Chicken salad sandwhiches
cucumber mint sandwhiches
date cream cheese sandwhiches
gingerbread cookies
Milano cookies -Pepperidge Farm
Raspberry Chantilly cookies- Pepperidge Farm
Constant Comment decaf tea for those who would like to try it
and cake, of course

I have the cake baked now, so I can decorate it at my leisure tomorrow. Beth and Carissa will do the gingerbread cookies tonight probably (the whole point of having that particular type is because Carissa got a cookie recipe book with cutters from her cousins and she wants to use them). I also have some mints we can mold and make all pretty if we have time, but I'm not sure there will be. We will just have to wait and see how it all turns out.

Now before you all go gasping at how much that seems like I am doing, I just want to say that I am a person who is not opposed to taking shortcuts when I can- thus, the Pepperidge Farm cookies on the list up there. The gingerbread cookies will come from a boxed mix I happen to have in the pantry, the cake is a boxed Pillsbury mix and can of prepared frosting dressed up a bit with bought ready-to-use fondant and plastic tea set to put on the 'table.' I could do it all by hand, but why when there are easier ways? the kids don't care if I make everything from scratch. It's the whole 'thought that counts' motto I have. I remember my mom making me cut-up cakes as a kid with the colored coconut as decoration- I got to choose the cake I wanted from the book and she made it for me. I only specifically remember the Snoopy cake I picked one year, but I know she made more and that is all that really matters. Thanks, Momma for making my birthdays special each year even if I can't remember all the details! :)

Oh let's see, what else have I been up to this week? Mark left yesterday morning for a short business trip to Albuquerque. He will be home this evening some time, probably around dinner. I took the kids to McDs last night for dinner and tried out their wireless connection for a fee. It was OK- faster than what I have at home, but not as fast as I would have liked it for having to pay for it. I won't do that on a regular basis, but it is nice to know that it works and what to expect. The kids got to run around and I got some digishopping done. I earned a GC to The Shabby Shoppe from a CT posting challenge at RAKscraps a couple of weeks ago and I enjoyed spending it. So, do you want to see what I picked out? Of course you do!
I was debating between the Eclectic Collage kit and another one and had actually decided to get the other one. But, I evidently deleted the wrong kit out of my shopping cart. Oh well, I was having a hard time choosing, so it must have been my subconscious at work LOL!

and of course I got another couple of LOs done. I've been very busy scrapping lately. It's always good to scrap when I have a bit of inspiration going!
My second LO with Jeanine's Dude kit- the kids and grandparents working a puzzle together during their visit last month.

journaling: I have always enjoyed working puzzles with my Dad and sister. Working a puzzle on Christmas Eve to pass the time was something we began doing many years ago. Now, my Dad is teaching my kids to love puzzles too. He brings them each a new one and a larger, harder one to work together each time he comes to visit. All of the kids love this and make short work of putting the puzzles together. This large circular puzzle only took about an hour and 15 minutes to work with so many hands and eyes around to help.

credits: Dude by Jeanine Baechtold at computerscrapbook.com, LO based on sketch by Misty Cato; fonts: LB Typewriter and TXT Longhand

The twins' birthday cake from last year, I figured I had better scrap those pics since I am going to have even more in just a couple of days, and Correen's new Belle Princess kit at Scrapdish is perfect.

journaling: Beth and Carissa’s 7th birthday was celebrated with a Princess themed slumber party. Mama made a princess doll cake with strawberry cake and frosting and a pink fondant dress.

credits: Belle Princess by Correen Silke at Scrapdish; pink and white flowers by Dani Mogstad; crown element made by me; Atomic Cupcake tear and glitter actions; fonts: CK Tea Party and TXT Longhand

Well, that's it for now. I've got to get the parent eval form filled out for Bryce's Dr appointment in about an hour and the kids will be coming home from school shortly. Sarah's down for a quick nap, so I had better get a move on! Talk to ya'll later!

Sunday, August 13, 2006

I'd better blog these things before I forget

- Sarah took her first steps on Friday, Aug 11. She stood up by herself in the middle of the kitchen floor and took about 2.5 steps towards me before she fell down. Ack! I'm not ready for her to be walking. She's not even 10 months old yet! Ack!! She can't stand by herself for long yet, so I don't think she is actually going to be walking everywhere in the next few days, but she is working hard at it.

- According to Brenna happiness comes from having a tail LOL! We got home from church this morning and she wanted to wear a sweater/skirt set in her closet that has the Teletubbies on it. I said no, as it was going to be too hot today. A small temper tantrum ensued, I told her to pick something else and I left the room to go nurse Sarah. She came into my bedroom about 10 minutes later and told me she wanted to wear Eeyore. We got a fleece pant/top set on clearance after last Halloween that is an Eeyore outfit- complete with tail with a pink ribbon and floppy ears on the hood. I gave in- no matter that it is going to be 80 degrees today (OK, so cool by the standard temps we have been subjected to lately, but it is still pretty warm) and that we are talking long pants, long sleeves and a hood, all in fleece. I told her she had to wear a shirt with it so that she could take the top off if she got hot. She agreed and we put the outfit on. After lunch she started singing "I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy, down in my heart.....because I have a tail". OMG, so cute!!

Mark took the big kids to the SkySox game this afternoon because the girls wanted to go (it is their birthday today afterall) and we still had 2 free tickets from the library reading program. It started raining a little while ago, so I'm kind of surprised they aren't home. I have the girls' presents waiting on the table for them. I did sign them up for dance lessons, so I can't wait to see how they react to the certificates I made telling them about it. I also found a new black leotard for each of them. I have 2 pairs of dance shoes each, tights and probably a second black loetard to buy for each of them still, but I figured I had better let them come shopping with me so I actually get the right sizes. Plus, maybe that will help keep them from driving us nuts over the next month while we wait for them to start?

Friday, August 11, 2006

Weekend happenings

MMMMMM- I wish I could share the delicious smell that is wafting from my kitchen at the moment. I just pulled 4 loaves of cinnamon bread from the oven and there is a loaf of sourdough in the bread machine that will be done in about 50 minutes. The cinnamon bread will be a nice breakfast treat for the girls' birthday tomorrow morning. I got some bread starter my neighbor Julie about a month ago and we've been enjoying having fresh bread on a regular basis. I've tried to make my own starter before and have never been successful, so I hope to keep this one around for a while.

So, the announcement is out and I can officially say that I am on Robin's CT! So cool! I've been waiting for her to have her own CT call for what seems like ages and I didn't wait long to apply once she finally announced it. ;) I scrapped the kids' Back to School picture with her Chase kit. The colors couldn't have been more perfect!

The Chase papers and Elements by Robin Cabana at Scrapbookbytes; LO based on 'Love of my Life' by Donna Downey, Simple Scrapbooks, Sept/Oct 2006, pg27; fonts: Times and Times Again

I'm also working with Jeanine's latest kit from scrapbook.com called "Dude"- what a wonderful boy kit! It was perfect for this pic of Bryce. I took the pic on vacation at the Philadelphia zoo. I came across a perfect picture spot and I grabbed him and made him hold still for me for a minute so that I could get a nice picture :)

credits: Dude by Jeanine Baechtold at computerscrapbook.com; fonts: TXT Abrasive

... and today I got a little quirky documenting Brenna's cute way of singing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. She always sings "like a dino in the sky" instead of diamond. I've given up trying to correct her now, so I had immortalize her version of the song in a LO with her own unique constellation. :) I had fun with the new kit EcZentric by Jeanine, Jen, Krista and Melissa. Of course I probably should have been folding laundry instead, but this was much more fun ;)

credits: EcZentric by Jeanine Baechtold, Krista Mettler, Jen Reed, and Melissa Goerke at Scrapdish and DigiScrapZ; flowers from Rainbow spirit by Carrie Stephens
fonts: Dinoso Type and Childish Alpha

Well, I've got to get something put together to present to the girls for their birthday tomorrow morning. we got a box with presents from their cousins yesterday and they can hardy stand the suspense of having to wait until tomorrow to open them. Hopefully I won't space the night owl chat at RAKs tomorrow night, especially since I'm hosting ;)

Thursday, August 10, 2006

Happy Birthday, Jeanine!

First off, Happy Birthday Jeanine! I hope and pray that the next year is so much better than the last one has been!

credits: Rainbow spirit by Carrie Stephens; Framed Alpha by Lisa Cohen at Scrapartist; font: TXT Monique

I've not been up to much the last couple of days- trying to get back into the groove of getting up at a regular, early hour to get the kids off to school. I walked with the kids to school Monday and Tuesday to take care of some things, like paying classroom fees and for school lunches. That was almost $200- who says public school is free? On Tuesday afternoon after they got home from school, Beth asked me if I needed to do anything else at school and when I said no, she informed me that I didn't need to walk with them any more LOL After Sarah was born last year I pretty much stopped walking them because I didn't want to over do it too quickly and it was so cold I didn't want to take her out unless I really needed to. They've done great walking by themselves and the crossing guards keep an eye out for them. So, I haven't gone to school with them the last two mornings. Things at school seem to be going pretty well; Bryce has had a couple of homework assignments each day- nothing big, but as I am trying to start him off the right foot for the year as far as expectations go we've had some minor issues over when the assignments are done correctly and well. He doesn't like being criticized and told to go back and do things again; 1 time he can handle pretty well, but when I keep pointing things out after that he tends to get upset. Things are only going to get harder as he gets older (he is in 5th grade this year), so best he learn how to handle things a bit better now. The girls have had it pretty easy this week and haven't had any homework. I'm sure assignments for all of the them will pick up starting next week.

Speaking of birthdays, Beth and Carissa's eighth birthday is coming up on Sunday. Because of all of the stress last weekend, I just didn't feel like working on birthday party stuff. So, I decided to put off their birthday party for a week. They weren't very happy about that, but accepted it. Especially after Mark asked them if they wanted to have a 'good' party or not- they agreed they did. It is hard to have a party the weekend after school starts- if you want to give people a week's notice, you really have to send out invites before school even starts. And with this area being a military community you never know who is going to have moved during the summer and there are always new kids they might want to invite too. So, I've been having them think about who all they want to invite and we will fill out the invitations tonight for them to take to school tomorrow.

I also did some looking into the dance lessons- boy, those are going to cost a boatload of money by the time we get the shoes, clothing, and monthly class fees paid for! But, considering the fact that they have spent the last two days listening to the music CD from VBS in the living room and praticing the choreography they learned to go with the songs over and over and over, I think it is an appropriate gift. We finally got a new coupon book in the mail yesterday that had a coupon for one month of free lessons from the dance studio that was recommended to me, so that will help a little. I just have to decide exactly what class to put them in and what time. I'm leaning towards the combo ballet/jazz class and Saturday mornings. I am going to try and get them signed up today or tomorrow so that I can at least present them with that gift on Sunday. The classes start at the beginning of September, so they won't have to wait (and drive us crazy talking about it) too long ;)

OK- back to unzipping, sorting and burning. I spent all day yesterday sorting out the files on my HD. I've got more to do, but at least I have some space freed up so that PSE will run again- boy was it sssssssslllllllllllloooooooooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwww. I hate having to burn stuff to DVD and not have it accessible on my HD all of the time, but there just isn't getting around it any more I may be messy when it comes to the house cleaning, but I can't stand to not have my files organized. Kind of a puzzling isn't it? LOL

Monday, August 07, 2006

I've been trying to get my newsletter article done all day and just haven't been able to get more than half done on it so far. between taking Brenna to the potty every 30 minutes or so (she's been dry all day!) and trying to keep Sarah fed and happy I just haven't been able to get much done. Now it is time to start making dinner after Sarah finished nursing and I get her settle in the swing for a short evening nap (I hope....). Since I can't show you the newsletter article, here's a pic of the kids on their way to school this morning. It's one of my little traditions to take their pic in front of the school sign every year.

When it rains

.... the inside of your van gets wet (because one of the kids didn't shut the door like they were reminded to and mom was evidently wrong to assume they would do what they were told). ::sigh:: It was just one of those weekends that can't end soon enough. When just about everything makes you feel inadequate.

To start with, my doorbell rings at 2:30 on Thursday afternoon; I answer the door to find 2 county sheriffs standing there (peering around the corners of the house no less in case I opened the door with a gun). One of my neighbors had called and accused me of letting my baby cry for 3.5 hours, which was totally untrue. Supposedly the crying started at 11:00, a time when we weren't even home because we were at school getting the kids' start of school testing done and dropping off all of the school supplies. Sarah cried for a few minutes around 12:30 when I took her upstairs for a nap, after she had fallen asleep in my arms. It lasted maybe 15 minutes before she fell asleep again. She fussed a little after she woke up and I didn't rush right upstairs to rescue her from the crib because I was busy at that particular moment helping one of the other kids with a craft project. I got the impression neither of the two sheriffs were convinced I was a horrible mom, but of course they had to take all of my info so that they could go run my name through the system and check me out. Yes, my kids cry and throw tantrums. No, I do not beat them or let them go on any longer than I think is necessary. What really upsets me is that the neighbor- I don't know who, but I have a guess- didn't even bother to come ring my doorbell to ask if there was something wrong, or if I needed help in any way. They just called the police. We are not the only family with children in the immediate vicinity of our block and other people's kids cry too. Most of us don't have A/C and have to leave our windows open during the summer, so the whole neighborhood hears everything and sounds bounce up and down the block. I stay at home a lot right now because I don't want to deal with Brenna's tantrums out in public (I basically have to put her in her room and let her kick and scream until she gets it out of her system), and now I don't even feel like I can be in my own home without worrying about the neighbors over-reacting to a totally wrong perception.

Because the sheriffs showed up at our door unannounced, that set Mark off on another of his cleaning bugs. I admit I am a pack rat by nature, and I find his obsession with cleaning stressful (and annoying), to say the least. I am working on it and we have gotten rid of a lot of stuff in the last 6 months, but I do not find it easy. What really annoys me though is when he starts throwing out my stuff without asking just because HE doesn't like it. I hate it when he says 'when I was single I didn't have anything and the house was always clean.' Hello?! you aren't single, you have a family of 7 now, and we have stuff that comes with us. That's not to say that the house couldn't be neater at times, but when every other sentence that comes out of his mouth for 4 days is a criticism of how messy things are or how we aren't picking up things fast enough to suit him, I tend to get a bit angry and less cooperative. Finally I blew up at him and it seemed to sink in that he had pushed me far enough for one weekend.

Oh, and Brenna's lack of cooperation with the potty useage and her temper tantrums thrown into all of that just compounded the other issues. I'm trying something new today with the potty training. I'm setting the timer and when it goes off it is time to go potty; no question of if she needs to go, she is just going to go sit on it. Hopefully that will help get her back into the mode of using the potty on a regular basis. So far, so good this morning. I feel like this is more training of mom than her, but if it will alleviate some of Mark's griping I'll do it.

Sorry for dumping all of that on you guys, but I think we get wrong impressions of other people's lives because we only talk about the good and happy things.

Well, now that I've gotten all of that off my chest, on to some LOs.
I finally got a couple of Sarah's 'months' LOs done; I figured I had better do it before another one came around ;) and a couple of Tracy's new kits were perfect.

journaling: Sarah at 8 months
* eats 1 or 2 solid meals a day- cereal and fruit or meat and vegetable
* takes one long nap in the middle of the day and a catnap in the evening
* crawls around the room in search of toys and Mama
* lifts crib bumper to look around the bedroom
* sits up by herself
* says ma-ma-ma-ma-ma
* shakes head no
* gives sloppy, wet kisses
* pulls herself to her feet on anything she can grab and lets go sometimes
* claps her hands
* waves

credits: Cherished by Tracy Blankenship at Digital Freebies and SkrappinDigiKreation; smootzy alpha stamps by Nancie Rowe Janitz; LO based on sketch by Gina Miller
fonts: TXT Abrasive and CK Invitation

journaling: Sarah at 9 months
*in constant motion when awake exploring her surroundings
*pulls to feet on everything
*crawls as main mode of transport
*cruises along the furniture
*lets go to stand briefly by herself
*climbs up the stairs very easily
*hasn't figured out how to go down the stairs safely
*will try to walk when hands are being held
*loves finger foods- especially Cheerios, and Gerber fruit and veggie puffs and crackers
*waves
*shakes head no and yes
*still doesn't really like to sleep in her crib, but will if parents insist (and we do)
*eats 2 meals a day, stage 3 baby foods
*gets excited when she hears Daddy come home
credits: Creative Expression kit by Tracy Blankenship at Digital Freebies and SkrappinDigiKreations and Creative Expression Alpha (blog freebie) by Tracy Blankenship
fonts: TXT Abrasive and CK Invitation

and finally one with new collaborative kit at Scrapdish, Wild Child by Robin, Jeanine, Rachel and Correen. I can see several zoo LOs (I always have zoo pics to scrap!) in the near future with this one too. It's awesome!

Bryce brought home this leapord print pillow from school at the end of May and it is his favorite pillow now.
credits: Wild child by Rachel Dickson, Correen Silke, Jeanine Baechtold, and Robin Cabana at Scrapdish; fonts: TXT Abrasive

I think the digital tears in the photo and papers speak to my large feelings of frustration this weekend, but I think they are an awesome addition to the LO and I am pretty darn pleased with myself for pulling them off so well ;)

I am off to run the vacuum over the carpet real quick since the kids are done with the cereal this morning, and then I have a newsletter article to write since it is due today.

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Late night ramblings

Ahhh... today the high was only 77. It was so nice not to sit and sweat for a change LOL We even had an evening rainstorm come through and there is a very pleasant cool breeze blowing in my family room window. The rest of the week is supposed to be in the 80s with afternoon/evening rainstorms. A very nice change from the upper 90s we had just a few days ago.

I think I am a pretty good cook. I enjoy cooking, well most of the time anyway. I certainly enjoy eating good food LOL! I hate the cleaning up part though, and these days that seems to influence a lot of what comes out of my kitchen. That and the fact that after slaving away cooking up something wonderful for my family, the kids won't eat it or obviously only just tolerate it for the promise of dessert later on in the evening. Sooo, tonight it got to be 6 and I still hadn't started dinner; I was out of ideas and planned meals so I started rummaging around and found some cans of Pork and Beans and hot dogs in the freezer. Voila! 30 minutes later we had an exciting meal of Beanie Weanies (as DH calls it LOL) and corn. Nothing exciting in my book, but quick, filling and I figured the kids would eat it. As I was finishing cleaning off the table a little while ago, Bryce came down to say goodnight and he told me that dinner was really good and he wanted to know if we could have it again tomorrow night. Music to a mom's ears, IF I hadn't served beans from a can with cut up hot dogs in it LOL.

The digicraft chat went well tonight. If you missed the chat but would still like to craft with me, then go check out the digicraft thread and grab the template. The thread at RAKs is HERE.

Oh, let's see.... what else did I have to talk about? Oh yeah!
Thanks to Sharon who left me a comment a couple of days ago, I have an 'unofficial' diagnosis for what was making Sarah sick last week- Roseola. I'm 99% positive that was it. The three day high fever with no other symptoms and then breaking out in a rash of red small red spots. I remember Bryce having this too, though he was a bit older. He had just had his first MMR vaccine a few days before, so we just attributed the high fever and rash to that. I remember thinking it was really strange at the time as I could have sworn those spots were morphing around his body while we weren't looking. I even have a picture of him covered with his spots and cuddling with his blanket in his scrapbook. Now that Sarah is feeling better and eating better, she is sleeping better at night which I really appreciate. She's slept the whole night in her bed without waking up the last couple of nights. Now getting her to sleep can still be a challenge, but it does seem like we have made some progress in that regard again too.

and I am in TV heaven again ;) SciFi channel has started their new season and my favorite programs are showing new shows again- SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis namely. Battlestar Galactica doesn't start again until October. I can't say that I was terribly found of BG the first season, but kept watching just because there was a lack of anything else to watch. I liked the second season much better, so I will keep watching the third once it starts up again. they have some new shows on during the week too- Eureka, Dead Like Me, and Who Wants to be a SuperHero? Eureka is a quirky show about a secret town of super geniuses working on top secret projects. Strange things are always happening because someone has a new device they made, and there is some larger plot going on in the background that they are just hinting around so far. I like quirky shows LOL Dead Like me is definately quirky too- a girl is killed and recruited as a 'grim reaper' who goes and releases people's souls before they die. I've seen one episode so far, and this one is definately a bit on the wierd side. I'm not sure where they are going to go with the whole thing; unless it starts taking a different turn from what I saw in that one episode I can see myself getting bored with it pretty quickly. And I caught the last half of the new 'reality' show Who Wants to be a SuperHero? tonight. Definately zany- totally offbeat people running around in cheesy costumes. They eliminated 2 people in the first show already. I'll probably keep watching just to get a good laugh! It will be in it's regular time slot on Thursdays from now on.
There's several new shows on the Food Network now too, which is nice as I was getting tired of seeing the same ones over and over.

Gee, I've certainly gotten long-winded tonight :)
Here's a couple of new LOs before I go. This one is done with one of Tracy's older kits that is just adorable!

Brenna's first really big snow. She couldn't go to the snow, so Carissa brought it to her!

credits: Frosty kit and Stitched Doodles by Tracy Blankenship at Digital Freebies and SkrappinDigiCreations fonts: Tweed

These pics come from the vacation photos file. They have a beautiful 2 tiered carousel in the Independance Mall in Independance, MO. I couldn't resist taking a few photos when I saw it- the lights were just dim enough to let the carousel lights give it a beautiful glow. The Quote reads: “And the seasons, they go round and round, And the painted ponies go up and down. We're captive on the carousel of time.” ~Joni Mitchell
credits: Essence by Jeanine Baechtold at computerscrapbook.com; staple from Softly Summer by Jeanine Baechtold at computerscrapbook.com; stitching by Maya at scrapbookgraphics.com; hanging mini tags by Michelle Coleman from Summer Whimsy at Scrapartist; fonts: Cezanne