The Days of my Life

Today's Trip to Acme!

2010-10-21T14:01:00.001-07:00

I don't usually shop at Acme, but I heard about a deal they have going on this week where if you buy $25 worth of specific General Mills products, you get $10 in catalinas (register reward coupons) back. The thing is - EVERYTHING included in this deal was on sale, but they were counting the shelf price toward the $25. So it was VERY easy to get to $25 in qualifying merchandise. The deal ended today, so I had to act quickly! You can read all about it HERE!

I did seven transactions in all and I just kept rolling those register rewards!

Transaction #1
Bought: 10 Hamburger Helpers (shelf $2.69, sale $1.00 each)
Used: (3) $1/3 Hamburger helper coupons
Paid: $5.50 out of pocket (remember - the coupons doubled!)
Received: (2) $5 catalinas

Transaction #2
Bought: 10 Totino's Pizza Rolls (shelf $2.60, sale $1.25 each) and 2 Betty Crocker instant mashed potato pouches ($1.00 knock down price)
Used: (2) $1/3 Totino's, (2) $1/2 Totino's, $10 catalinas from previous transaction
Paid: $.50 out of pocket
Received: $10.00 Catalinas

Transaction #3 - I actually ran into a little trouble with this one
Bought: (5) Betty Crocker Cake Mix and (5) Betty Crocker frosting
Used: (3) .75 off when you buy both cake mix and frosting and $5 catalina from previous trans.
Paid: $3.00 out of pocket
Received: $3.00 catalina (for buying 4 or more frostings)

**I didn't realize that the price of the frostings in my store was different than had been posted online. So I didn't hit the $25 mark on this transaction. Plus, this is when I realized that Acme doubles coupons, so I couldn't use both $5 catalinas, as I had planned. It all worked out in the end, though. But this deal could have been sweeter if I had been more on top of things! **

Transaction #4
Bought: (6) Chex Mix (4) Progresso Bread Crumbs and (1) Gold Medal Flour
Used: (4) .50/1 Progresso, (4) .50/1 Chex Mix, (1) .50/2 Chex Mix, and $8.00 in catalinas
Paid: $1.14 out of pocket
Received: $10.00 catalinas

Transaction #5
Bought: (3) Cinnamon Toast Crunch (3) Golden Grahams and (1) Betty Crocker instant mashed potatoes
Used: (3) .65/1 Cinnamon Toast Crunch, (1) $1/3 Any GM Cereal, $10.00 catalinas
Paid: $.50 out of pocket
Received: $10.00 catalinas AND $3.75 off a gallon of milk (surprise!)

Transaction #6
Bought: (4) Yoplait Splitz yogurts, (3) Betty Crocker Box Muffin Mix, (3) pouches of instant mashed potatoes, and a box of Cheerios
Used: (4) .50/1 Yoplait, (3) .50/1 Betty Crocker Muffin mix, (1) .75/1 Cheerios, and $10 catalinas
Paid: $.50 out of pocket
Received: $10.00 catalinas

Transaction #7 - I wanted to use up my catalinas since I don't regularly shop at Acme and I didn't want them to go to waste. I was all set with a gallon of milk and some other things, but then I got that coupon for the free milk, so I had to go back and get a few more things. Fun!!

Bought: 1 bag of Gold Medal Flour, 1 packet of Betty Crocker cookie mix, a gallon of milk, a loaf of bread, a tub of margarine, and a pint of sour cream
Used: $10 catalinas and $3.75 off milk catalina
Paid: $.76 out of pocket
Received: NOTHING! I'm done!

Totals for the whole trip!
Shelf Price = $183.00
My out of pocket cost = $11.86!

I practically RAN out of that store and loaded it all into my car! I was afraid they were going to chase me away! Actually, I'm kind of surprised no one working there was watching over me while I was doing all this. I had, literally, TAKEN OVER half the self check-out area. Luckily, the store was completely dead at this hour. The folks working there just hung out around the customer service desk and only bothered with me when I beckoned them to help me because a coupon wouldn't scan or something. I tell ya - if I HAD been trying to get away with anything, it would have been EASY! I must look like an honest person! :)

But now my pantry is GOOD and stocked for the fall and winter. I even got some great baking supplies that I'll hold onto for Thanksgiving and Christmas!

Special thanks to Living Rich with Coupons who posted all the deals!

Today's Drugstore Deals! Cost: +$10.02 Money Maker!

2010-10-08T09:17:00.000-07:00

I headed out this morning shortly after Jack got on the bus. It's the end of the week and I figured I'd make one last go around to the drug stores. Boy, did I ever score!

First up, I hit Rite Aid. I read last night on Hip2Save that there was a good unadvertized deal on candy - and with Halloween at the end of this month and Jack's birthday party next month, I thought it would be a good idea to stock up. Here's how the transactions went down.

Transaction #1

Purchased:

(4) Crest toothpastes ($2.69 each)

(4) Oral B toothbrushes ($2.69 each)

= $21.52

Used:

$4/20 Rite Aid Video Values Coupon

(2) $1/2 Crest Toothpaste coupons (9/26 P&G insert)

$1 Oral Care Wellness coupon

$13.34 +UP rewards (from earlier this week)

= $20.34

Paid $1.18 Out of Pocket, Received $21.52 in +UP Rewards on my receipt! A $7.00 Money Maker!

They didn't have a very good selection of the candy I was looking for, so I pocketed my UP rewards and headed to the Rite Aid up the road. (We seem to have them on every corner here!)

At that store, I purchased:

(6) bags of Jolly Ranchers 2/$5

(4) bags of Star Bursts 2/$5

(2) bags of Skittles2/$5

= $30.00

Used:

$5/25 Rite Aid Coupon (this PDF expires on October 31 and can be printed as many times as you want.)

$21.52 UP rewards from my last transaction

$2.69 UP rewards from earlier in the week

= $29.21

Paid: $.79 out of pocket and received $30 in UP rewards on my receipt! This transaction was a $5 money-maker!

Basically, I spent $1.97 in cash today and Rite Aid paid me $12 in UP rewards for taking this merchandise off their hands. And it's all stuff my family will use and enjoy - especially the candy, which is so expensive! I will use a bag or two for Halloween and the rest will be saved for Jack's birthday party goody bags.

K. Werner Color Inspiration #56

2009-07-16T09:47:00.000-07:00

Love the colors in this week's Color Inspiration challenge and thought they'd look great paired up with some kraft paper. I haven't done much card-making in a while - so these fun colors really helped me get out of my slump!
I have been crocheting some dishcloths recently for our kitchen (to replace some pretty shabby ones that I bought at the Dollar Store, like, a year ago). So when Nichole Heady gave a pattern for and demonstrated how to make these adorable crocheted flowers out of embroidery floss, I knew they were right up my alley! I had TONS of beautiful embroidery floss already, but I did have to pick up a tiny crochet hook at Walmart, since none of mine were small enough to work with the embroidery floss.

Thanks for looking! And OH, I just noticed that I need to change my blog banner in a bad way. It's definitely not winter here any longer! I'm sitting here, sweating! I'll add that to the list!

Independence Day Weekend

2009-07-03T16:32:00.000-07:00

Hope everyone has a fun and safe Independence Day weekend. John and Jack are heading to a parade tomorrow morning, leaving me with some independence of my own. My craft supplies are calling me.

Enjoy the weekend!

For Aunt Kay

2009-05-07T20:31:00.000-07:00

Really, this is for anyone who has kids and is looking for something fun and free to do this summer. I signed Jack up at www.kidsbowlfree.com and got coupons for Jack to go bowling for free - up to two games a day, every day, all summer. I told my friend, Nakia, about it and she signed all four of her kids up. We're going to the Conchester Lanes tomorrow to do a little bowling. Well, the kids will do the bowling. Nakia and I will sit at the sides and pretend to be the babysitters.

KWerner Designs Color Inspiration #51

2009-05-06T11:03:00.000-07:00

Whoa. I haven't blogged in a very long time. Heck - I haven't stamped in a very long time! When I saw the new Color Inspiration challenge on Kristina Werner's blog, I was inspired to get out a stamp set that I haven't used in a while! Boards and Beams by Papertrey Ink. I love, love this stamp set, but just don't use it that often.

I'm kind of disappointed with the way this photo came out. You can hardly see all the coloring I did on the house or the tree - I guess because I used such a light pink for the tree leaves and most of the house. And the orange in real life is a little more yellow-ish. Well, I guess I have to brush up on my photography skills!

Thanks for looking!

Getting settled in.

2009-03-18T06:28:00.000-07:00

We're back home from our trip. The drive down to Florida was fun (we made lots of stops) and Lauren's wedding was beautiful. Just getting settled in here - doing laundry, cleaning, and getting back into our usual routines. I'll be back to some crafting soon, I hope.

OH! And I got my Project 365 Kit - FINALLY! Thanks to my dear mom, who ordered them for us on January 1st! I've been so busy getting the house back in order after our trip, I haven't even taken it out of the box yet! But I can't wait to dig into it, get my pictures printed, and start putting it together!

On our way to Florida!

2009-03-11T09:43:00.000-07:00

So... I haven't blogged in a long time! I have been so swamped with getting the Conference registration materials out that I haven't had time for anything crafty! Good news, though - the booklets are at the printer and it's out of my hands!

We are on our way to Florida - leaving in about an hour. We have a wedding to go to this weekend and we're driving - so that's why we're leaving so many days ahead of time! We'll be stopping in Jack's favorite place in the world - South of the Border. It's right at the border of North and South Carolina. It's pretty run down and a little bit (okay, a LOT) cheesy. But Jack loooooooooves it. It's kind of his thing. So we'll be spending a day hanging out in Pedro's pool and shopping in Pedro's Mexico shop. And eating at Pedro's diner. :)

I have nothing new to share, so here's a layout that I did a while ago, but I don't think I ever posted it. I can't wait until it's warm enough to play in the sprinklers again!

February Blog Hop at Papertrey Ink

2009-02-25T10:10:00.000-08:00

Here's this month's challenge:

Easter and other spring celebrations will be here before you know it! And besides, there's nothing better to beat the winter doldrums than to turn our minds towards those first spring flowers bursting through the ground and the birds returning with their sweet songs. Your challenge this month is to put a little "spring" into your step, by incorporating the flowers, familiar sights and colors of spring into a project. Think birds nests containing newly laid eggs, flowers in pretty pastels, new green leaves, baby chicks and anything else that speaks to your creative soul! We look forward to seeing all of your interpretations of this fun challenge!

I used my favorite Papertrey color - Aqua Mist. It's actually one of the first colors that Papertrey ever came out with in cardstock, ribbon, and ink. And I still use it more than any other in my papercrafting. I paired it with three stamp sets from Papertrey Ink - Birds of a Feather, Out on a Limb, and one of the new sets, Beyond Basic Borders.

It seems that lately, my friends are popping up pregnant all the time! So now I have this card all made and ready to send off the next time I know someone who makes that special announcement!

Caardvarks "kraft" challenge

2009-02-25T10:05:00.000-08:00

The newest challenge over at Caardvarks is to create a card using kraft paper. Here's my card! It's all krafty!

This was definitely not a stretch for me, as I use kraft paper on many of my projects. The stamps here are from a new set by Papertrey Ink - Beyond Basic Borders. The paper, ribbon, buttons, and ink are from Papertrey, too!

Card Positioning Systems Sketch 104

2009-02-22T13:50:00.000-08:00

Two posts in one day! Phew! Here's my take on sketch 104 on the Card Positioning Systems blog! It's a really pretty sketch - go check it out!

K Werner Color Inspiration #42

2009-02-22T11:41:00.001-08:00

So... it's been a whole week since I've updated my blog! It's been a BUSY week - mostly busy with Conference stuff. I'm putting the finishing touches on the registration booklets so I can get them to the printer. My goal is to have them out at the very beginning of March. (My original goal was the end of February - so much for that!)

So the color inspiration challenge uses colors that I am not all that familiar with and don't use very often. It was good in that it was somewhat of a stretch for me. And I love the simple card that came of it.

My card this week is HEAVILY influenced (that is, practically copied!) from this card by Heather Nichols, one of my very favorite crafters. She is on the design team and is also a stamp designer for Papertrey Ink and this card uses one of her new stamp sets. I only allow myself to purchase one Papertrey set per month from their new releases - and whenever Heather designs a set, I know that's the one I'll be buying. I just love her style!

This card is all ready to send out to my friend, Kia, who REALLY deserves more than just a card from me. I feel like I should be taking her dinner for a week or throwing her a party or something. You see, my little five-year old, Jack, ate too much junk during Sunday School and threw up on the floor of the church sanctuary after church today. It was a horrible, disgusting mess. And my hero and new best friend, Kia, took charge and helped me clean it all up. She has four kids, so she's no stranger to vomit. She told Jack that's how he can tell how much she loves him. I don't know if I love anyone else's kids that much. (I'm sure I would manage, though!) ;)

Dawn's Favorites Color Challenge

2009-02-14T16:43:00.000-08:00

*sigh* It's the last day of anniversary festivities at Papertrey Ink. And the card above is my interpretation of the last challenge! We were to create a card using a color scheme from one of the recent cards on Dawn McVey's blog. Dawn is AWESOME with putting together fabulous color combinations.

I decided to go with the yellow, turquoise, and brown color scheme. As you can see, I'm still big on the hearts. Even though Valentine's Day is almost over, I think I'm going to continue to make heart cards to my heart's content. :) First of all, because I love the Heart Prints stamp set. And secondly because I just love hearts. And thirdly, because if I keep making heart cards, I won't need to make any next Valentine's Day! See? I'm thinking ahead! :)

We went to one of our favorite pizza places tonight for a romantic dinner - just Me, my hubby, our five-year old Jack, and Jack's friend, Joey. Needless to say, we were the noisiest table in the place. And the messiest. Maybe NOT the most romantic dinner, but as I type this, John is in the process of putting Jack to bed. Now THAT'S chivalry! (I can hear Jack jumping up and down - and John saying, "Not my stomach! Not my stomach!")

Well, whatever you did and whoever you did it with, I hope everyone had a lovely day!

K Werner Color Inspiration #41

2009-02-13T05:57:00.000-08:00

I wasn't able to do last week's color inspiration challenge because I was just overwhelmed with other things around here that needed to be done. So this week I was sure to do it!

The card I created is super simple, using the leaf image from Papertrey Ink's Beautiful Blooms set and a sentiment from Simple Little Things.

Finally caught up!

2009-02-11T13:53:00.000-08:00

As I've said on here before, I participate in a monthly card swap with my aunt, cousin, and my mom. We do cards based on the sketches in The Joy of Cardmaking. This is December's sketch, number 21. So now that I have December's card out of the way, I am officially caught up with this swap! Yay! Now I have three cards to mail to my cousin in California and deliver to my mom and aunt out here. And I vow to never fall behind again! (we'll see how that goes)

Papertrey Ink - Friends 'til the End Challenge

2009-02-09T14:10:00.000-08:00

Not only did Nichole Heady reveal another product that they will be carrying at Papertrey Ink this year, but she also issued a challenge to create a card for your best friend!

I made this card with the Simple Little Things stamp set (last year's anniversary set) and some Papertrey cardstock. Very simple, but I love it. I'll be sending it off to my very best girlfriend tomorrow. :)

Papertrey Ink Bitty Dot Sketch Challenge

2009-02-07T20:27:00.000-08:00

Another day - another challenge on Nichole Heady's blog. I'm telling you, if not for this challenge, the kids would be receiving pretty pathetic valentines at our family Valentine's party tomorrow afternoon! Jack stayed with my mom today and John and I took a bus trip to Atlantic City for the day. We had SO much fun! We went down with some friends and just had a really great day on the boardwalk and in the casino (ate at a great buffet!).

So the challenge today was to connect the dots to form a sketch and then create a card based on the sketch. FUN! I still had the kids' cards to make and VERY little time (it's already way past my bedtime!) So this is what I came up with - I must say, it's not my favorite card of all time. I definitely could have done a thing or two to make it more fancy and polished, but I know that the kids will love them. Especially my Jack, who sort of has a thing for bees. *buzz, buzz*
All of the supplies are Papertrey Ink, including the stamp sets, which are Honey Bees and Polka Dot Basics.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Papertrey Ink Over the Rainbow Challenge

2009-02-06T09:40:00.000-08:00

Another fun challenge on Nichole Heady's blog today! I love that she's had us doing projects the past few days. Today's challenge was kind of difficult for me, but I love the results! I have seen a lot of crafters doing cards and scrapbook layouts lately with a "rainbow" color scheme. I never thought I could pull it off, so I never even tried! I'm so glad I finally gave it a shot because I really love this card. It's so bright and cheerful!

I used another sketch from The Joy of Cardmaking for this card. I'm trying to get caught up on a swap that I participate in with my aunt, cousin, and mom. This is the sketch that was chosen for January's card. So... uhmm... I'm a little late here, obviously. *blush*

Here are the colors for the challenge:

And here's my card:

The stamps are from the Simple Little Things set, which was the anniversary set at Papertrey Ink last year.
Everything here is from Papertrey Ink. The cardstock, stamps, ink, and ribbon.

Jack and I are off to Sam's Club to pick up some dog food and a few other things. Poor Rocky had his last scoop of food this morning for breakfast! So I have to get more before dinnertime.

Have a great day!

It's in the Bag Challenge

2009-02-05T08:14:00.000-08:00

Papertrey Ink is celebrating their second anniversary with 15 days of announcements, contests, and sneak peeks. It's pretty exciting to see what they have in store for their customers in 2009!

For today's contest, Nichole required us to actually DO something other than simply replying to a blog post! It was definitely the kick in the pants that I needed to do something creative!

I made this little purse card based on sketch #50 in The Joy of Cardmaking. I changed it up just a tiny bit in order to make it more "purse-ish".

Supplies:

Stamp, ink, cardstock, patterned paper, ribbon - Papertrey Ink

Sheer flower and velvet flower - Maya Road

Polka Dot Brad - Making Memories

Simple & Inexpensive Valentines

2009-02-04T14:26:00.000-08:00

Jack's teacher sent home a list of all the kids in their class with their first names spelled out to make it easier for the kids to make out valentine cards for their party, which is next week. She also gave the instructions that the children should write out each child's name on their cards.

I was thinking that this would take FOR-EVER and I would have to stay on top of Jack the whole time, but I was so impressed with how well he did! I don't know how, but I didn't notice (or maybe it just never hit me) until now how much he has improved in his writing skills since he's been in pre-K.

He picked out Kung Fu Panda valentines with little temporary tattoos that must be cut apart and placed on the cards in these little notches. That was my job. Then Jack wrote his friends' names on the cards and signed them.

And I placed them in these clear pillow boxes with some candy - either a fun size bag of M&Ms or a fun size kit kat. I DID write the kids' names on the outside of the clear box with a Sharpie. There is no way I'm letting Jack use a Sharpie in this house. Maybe in my mom's house, but not MY house. ;)

So the valentines are all put together and just waiting for the party next week. I am SHOCKED that I'm so on top of this. Typically, this is something that I would be working on the morning of the party. Here's to being on time, for once!

This post brought to you by the letter Q.

2009-02-03T14:57:00.000-08:00

It's hard for me to believe that Jack has been in school for so many weeks that they are already onto the letter Q! They study a new letter each week in Jack's pre-K class and each week one of the kids signs up to bring in the letter box. Jack did the letter D many weeks ago and I also signed him up for the letter Q. WHY I did such a thing, I do not know. I guess it's better than X, though. Or Z.

Inside Jack's Q Box:
Quilt
Queen (of Spades)
Q-tip
Quarter
Question mark (on the Riddler's outfit, from Jack's favorite movie, Batman)

Alright, so I have finally finished the rest of the Thank You cards in lots of different color schemes. I have fifty cards now to be used after Conference in June. How good it is to know that they are all done and just waiting for me!

In addition to that project, Jack and I made up his valentines for his classmates the other day. It was a lot of work for Jack to handwrite all of their names on his Kung Fu Panda cards, but he did it all by himself and I'm so proud of him! I'll post some pictures of that tomorrow, as well as pictures of the finished product. We turned regular, inexpensive, store-bought child's valentines into cute candy treats for his classmates! Until tomorrow!

Thank You cards

2009-01-31T10:13:00.001-08:00

I liked my polka dot card for the Caardvarks challenge the other day SO much that I decided to make a batch of them in "thank you" format to have on hand after Conference this year. Last year, I meant to make thank you notes to send out to all the speakers and stuff - but I went on vacation afterwards and ran out of time... and ended up just buying a pack of cards. So THIS year, I decided I was going to be ahead of the game!

So I made a big batch of orange and blue cards for all the speakers at conference. And then I got to thinking...

I'm sure the workshop leaders would like handmade cards as well! But I was kind of burnt out on the orange and blue cards. So I decided to pick out a new color combination.

Since purple is the "official" color of American Baptist Women's Ministries, I thought purple cards would be most appropriate. Besides that, I have a TON of purple paper and embellishments and, honestly, purple is not my favorite color. So it was a good way to use a bunch of it up!

And then I got sick of purple and decided to move on to something else. (Clearly, I should have scored the top before I folded this card. MESSY!)

Messy folding aside, I love how the card turned out. I decided to use just a touch of patterned paper on one of the flowers to give it a little more interest. That, AND I couldn't find any cardstock in just the right color.

I need about 30 (yes, THIRTY) more thank you cards on hand for Conference. So I have chosen some other color combinations. I'll do ten of each. This is one of my favorites. Aren't those colors just HAPPY!?

These colors are similar to the first set of cards I made, but the ribbon is TOTALLY different. And I will orient them differently, too, so it won't look the same.

And this... is kind of patriotic. Which isn't a bad thing! But... well, I bought this ribbon a while ago and I'm not sure why. I don't love it. But I am excited to see how it looks on this card! I'm also excited to use it up and be done with it.

Orange and blue card supplies:

Cardstock and ink - Papertrey Ink

Stamps - Papertrey ink (Around & About Sentiments)

Ribbon - May Arts

Die-cuts- Sizzix (Flower Charms #1)

Buttons - American Crafts

Pink and green card supplies:

Cardstock and ink - Papertrey Ink

Stamps - Papertrey Ink (Around & About Sentiments)

Patterned Paper - Sassafras Lass

Ribbon - May Arts

Die cuts - Sizzix (Flower Charms #1)

Small brad - Making Memories

Large Brad - Heidi Swapp

Purple card supplies:

Cardstock, ink, and ribbon - Papertrey Ink

Stamps - Papertrey Ink (Around & About Sentiments)

Die cuts - Sizzix (Flower Charms #1)

Brad - Making Memories

Button - Buttons Galore and More (Sherbet assortment)

Fabulous!

2009-01-26T13:22:00.000-08:00

My friend, Laura (who lives five minutes from me and I haven't had any contact with except online in the past two years, which is inexcusable on my part!), nominated me for a fabulous blog award! Thanks, Laura!

So with this honorable award, I must list my top 5 current addictions. Hmmm...

1. Peanut Butter Balls. I made a batch yesterday and can't stay away from them. They are soooooo good. And bad, at the same time.

2. Challenge blogs. I have been looking for as many challenge blogs as I can find lately because that's really the only way I can motivate myself to do something crafty every day. So if you know of any that I'm not already doing, link me up!

3. Downy Simple Pleasures Vanilla and Lavendar Fabric Softener.

4. Big Love on HBO. I'm with Laura on this one. It's a very guilty pleasure.

5. My crocs. Yes, I know they are ugly. But they are soooooo comfy and keep my toes nice and warm in the winter. I love them and I will not stop wearing them even though they make my feet look fat.

And now I get to pass this award on to five fabulous bloggers!

1. My mom! She's gonna hate me :)

2. Who is Tracy

3. Becky Oehlers

4. Elisabeth (in an effort to get her blogging again!)

5. Cherie (my cousin, whose blog WILL be fabulous once she learns how to upload photos!)

Caardvarks Polka Dot challenge

2009-01-26T13:02:00.000-08:00

The current challenge over at Caardvarks is POLKA DOTS! I happen to be a big fan of polka dots, so I couldn't resist joining in.

The foundation of this card is very similar to the one I did last night for the Papertrey Ink blog hop. I already had the stamps and tools out (bad me, for not cleaning up immediately!) so it was easy to just re-create the bottom part of the card, only in different colors.

The fun flowers are more leftovers from past projects. I have this bowl that I keep on my desk and any time I have leftover punches or die cuts from a project, I throw them in there. It's been fun digging through the bowl and challenging myself to use the leftovers, instead of cutting into new sheets of paper or fabric - or opening new packages of embellishments.

Supplies used:

Stamps - Papertrey Ink (Polkadot Basics, Mixed Messages, Around & About Sentiments)

Cardstock and Ink - Papertrey Ink

Ribbon - May Arts

Flowers - Sizzix Flower Charms #1

Buttons - American Crafts

Brad - Heidi Swapp

January Blog Hop at Papertrey Ink

2009-01-25T16:50:00.001-08:00

I'm so excited to actually be participating in this month's blog hop at Papertrey Ink! I usually just go from blog to blog, oohing and aahing at what everyone else does. And this month I decided to jump in and participate!

This month's blog hop "challenge" was to create a birthday card. It was that simple! I had this little owl leftover from a project I was working on yesterday - some Valentine gifts for Jack's teachers. So I decided to use her on a card rather than let her go to waste.

Lots of stamp sets here - Wise Owl, Polka Dot Basics, and Around & About Sentiments, all from Papertrey.

Thanks for peeking! I can't wait to see what everyone else has done for the blog hop!

Color Inspiration #39

2009-01-22T08:22:00.000-08:00

I'm feeling MUCH better since my last post. The stomach flu has officially been BANNED from this house! Jack is back to school, as of yesterday, and I am back to feeling like a human. I'm still not back to being crafty, though. For so many days, I only had the energy to do the bare minimum around here, which included cleaning out puke pans, doing laundry (LOTS of laundry), and cleaning the toilets. So now the rest of the house is a disaster. Gotta get that situation under control before I can justify spending any time on crafting!

I did whip up a quick card for Kristina Werner's Color Inspiration challenge, though. I consider that the bare minimum! ;)

The colors this week are really fun - and great for creating cozy winter cards. All the flowers used on this card were actually leftovers from other projects! So I was glad to use those up.

Thanks for taking a peek!

So sick

2009-01-18T06:49:00.000-08:00

We've all been hit with a stomach virus here. So no new posts from me.

I was in the process of taking photos of my craft room to post when I was overcome with a wave of sickness the other day.

I'll post those when I'm feeling better. Hopefully within a few days.

K Werner Color Inspiration #38

2009-01-15T10:45:00.000-08:00

Love the colors for this week's Color Inspiration challenge on Kristina Werner's blog. I chose to make a Valentine card since... I'm just kinda in the mood for that stuff. :)

I used the Heart Prints Papertrey set that I was so fortunate to have won last month. It's a very simple card, but I felt like the colors and the designs of the hearts really stood out and it didn't need anything else. Simple and classic. :)

I'm afraid this will be the extent of my crafting today. Jack came down with this stomach bug that, evidently, EVERYONE is getting around here. So I've been dealing with that since 4:00 this morning. If I'm not working on laundry, then I'm cleaning out a puke pan, or spraying Lysol on something. NOT FUN. On the bright side, this is supposed to be a 24-hour thing. Hopefully, Jack will be back to himself by morning. But he's so pitiful right now. It's nearly 2:00 and he hasn't been out of bed yet. He sleeps in between sick spells. And he asked me to put pull ups on him so he doesn't have to get out of bed to go to the bathroom because it makes him feel sick to get up and walk (he's five). I'm just hoping I'm not making a big mommy mistake here, letting him pee in a pull up all day! Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Oh, and by the way - GO WASH YOUR HANDS! Right now!

That is all.

Just one of my obsessions

2009-01-12T12:39:00.000-08:00

I gave John this travel Yahtzee game for Christmas a few years ago and immediately stole it away from him, hid it in my night table, and played it non-stop for about a year. I play it a little bit less now than I did when we first got it, but I think I still manage to get in at least one game a day.

Forced Creativity

2009-01-11T18:59:00.000-08:00

So, I haven't been feeling very crafty the past few days. I've been working my tail off on Conference stuff (hoping to get the registration booklet to the printer in about three weeks) and just generally not feeling creative.

Well, I was uploading some photos to Snapfish to use for my first week of Project 365. I downloaded the digital elements of the kit from Becky Higgins' blog, added my journaling in Photoshop, and uploaded those to Snapfish as well. Anyway, for my first week I decided that the pictures would all be things that represented goals that I set for myself in the new year. I'll share the page later - but one of the goals was to do something crafty every day.

It's been a few days since I did something crafty. *blush* So just as I was getting ready to shut down the computer and head to bed, I decided to whip out some papers and stamps that looked promising and FORCE myself to make something pretty.

I ended up using a Prima flower instead of the stamps that I pulled out. And I didn't include a sentiment on this card because I'm not sure what I want to use it for. But I'm pretty happy with it (not happy with the PHOTO of it, but that's to be expected at 10:00 at night with poor lighting).

No more excuses for un-craftiness! Good night!

K. Werner Design Color Inspiration #37

2009-01-08T09:10:00.000-08:00

I was very excited when I saw the colors in this Color Inspiration challenge on Kristina Werner's blog. I usually don't actually DO the challenges. I just click on all the links and oooh and aaah over what other people do. But I was so inspired by this color combination - I decided to have a go at it, myself!

I used the Wise Owl stamp set from Papertrey Ink. The colors are kind of a mish-mash of different manufacturers - some Papertrey, some Bazzill, I think the ribbon might be Chatterbox.

Thanks for peeking!

In an effort to be more productive this year.

2009-01-05T12:23:00.000-08:00

I heard about Motivated Moms through my friend, Stephanie, on Facebook. It's a system that works for her and it looks like something that will work for me, too. So I downloaded the spreadsheets (they were $8 for the whole year), cut them to fit the small notebook that I already had, and (of course!) had to make a cover for it. I hope having a pretty cover on it will force me to actually USE it! Ha!

I was also SUPER excited to use the Honey Bees stamp set by Papertrey Ink. I purchased this set when it came out over the summer. And I LOVE it, but never actually USED it! *blush* While cleaning and organizing my craft supplies recently, I discovered that there are actually several stamp sets that have never been used. Shameful! I always tend to gravitate toward the sets that I am already familiar with and ignore the ones that require a lot of CREATIVITY to use. So it feels good to be using a "new" set.

I was really excited that they have the option to buy the chore lists with a "read through the bible in a year" plan. With it only being the 5th of January, it shouldn't be too hard to catch up!

Alright, now I'm off to complete today's tasks! I'm not going to worry about the Sunday tasks - if I try to play catch-up, then I'm bound to not do it at all! No need to overwhelm myself! *wink*

Scrapbooking

2009-01-04T12:09:00.000-08:00

I have a few layouts to share. This is a BIG DEAL. I haven't done any scrapbooking since last July. This is serious.

So I have one new page to share:

And one page that I started YEARS ago, but never finished.

I have several pages like this - partially done, no journaling, don't like them for one reason or another. So one of my goals for the next few weeks is to dig out these layouts, finish them up (or tear them apart and re-do them), and get them into my albums.

Finally, A Sunny Day!

2009-01-03T11:08:00.001-08:00

Poor Jack has been stuck inside the house for what seems like weeks! Actually, it kind of HAS been for weeks! It's been either icy, snowy, windy, or rainy every day for the past three or four weeks - almost since the beginning of December! So we were both excited for a sunny, although rather cold, day and the chance to get outside with the fresh air and sunshine.

We had some errands to run and on the way home, I asked if he would like to play at the playground for a little while. Of COURSE, he said that he wanted to. We were already all bundled up, so I figured it couldn't hurt to stop for a little while.
I was not surprised to find the playground completely deserted - and it was kind of fun to have it all to ourselves. We both ran around, burning off a little steam, and played "King and Queen" in the playground "castle".

After a while, another family arrived with kids Jack's age and he totally dissed me! (I can't say that I blame him) By the time we left, we had been there for an hour and a half and were both completely wind-blown, with rosy cheeks and everything. It was definitely what I needed to help get out of my post-Christmas funk.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-02T07:56:00.000-08:00

I meant to post yesterday, but spent most of the day in bed. Something I ate or drank on New Year's eve didn't agree with me and I was quite sick yesterday. But I am feeling much better now (after John and Jack brought me breakfast in bed this morning - that always makes me feel better about things).

I created some simple 'Thank You' cards this morning to send out for the Christmas gifts we received this year from friends. I used the "Out on a Limb" set from Papertrey Ink (AGAIN!). I have been using this set on EVERYTHING this season, but it is one of my absolute favorites and it just works for everything!

These cards are all written in, sealed in envelopes, stamped and addressed, and waiting to be picked up. I'm glad to have that done. I don't like to wait too long after Christmas to send my thank you cards.

There are two very important "to do" items on my list today - take down the Christmas decorations and LAUNDRY. Ugh. Neither of the two are sounding very appealing right now. I love having the Christmas decorations up and it makes me sad when they come down and the house looks so empty. And laundry - well, it's one of my least favorite things to do (besides scrubbing toilets!)

Whoever's reading - I hope you enjoyed a fun-filled New Year's celebration. Here's to health and happiness (and craftiness!) in 2009!

Triangle Box instructions and demo

2008-12-30T10:29:00.000-08:00

I was absolutely thrilled to have my Triangle Box (because I don't know what else to call it) chosen for the Papertrey Ink Guest Star Stamper contest on Nichole Heady's blog in December for the "Best Teacher Gift" category. Someone asked if I would share the instructions in her comments section so here they are!

The idea for the box came from a free sample I received in the mail a while back for a Kashi granola bar (it was delicious, by the way). The box that the granola bar arrived in had a flap that folded over and was held down with a sticker. I decided to cut off the flap and create a sleeve instead. I thought it would give the box more substance and also make it easier to decorate! Let's get started!

Supplies you'll need:

Two sheets of cardstock (preferably in two different colors)

Paper scoring system (a score-it is not in the budget for me, so I use my paper trimmer and an embossing tool. You can use whatever scoring system you have on hand and are comfortable with)

1. Cut a piece of cardstock to 10 1/2" x 6 5/8". Score the SHORT sides of the paper 2" in on each side.

2. Turn your paper 90 degrees and create score lines 2 1/4" in from each side. But only score in between the first two score lines you created (refer to the photo, as I am horrible at explaining this!)

3. On the short sides of the paper, make small marks 1" in from each side and also in the center of the paper, at 3 5/16". (Do this on both sides)

4. More scoring! Make score lines from the pencil marks at the top of the page to the ends of the vertical score marks, as shown in the photo. (I marked the lines with a pencil so they would be easier to see, but you don't need to mark them with a pencil)

5. Do these zig-zag score lines on each side of your paper and they should look like the photo above, minus the pencil lines.

6. Fold all the score lines - it's shaping up into a box! :)

7. Fold the box up...

8. like so! Now, let's create the sleeve!

9. Start with a sheet of 6x8" cardstock. Start on one side and score it every 2 1/2 inches.

10. I like to snip off the corners of the short section to give it a more polished look when it's all adhered together.

11. Decorate the sleeve any way you like. I started with the basic branch from the "Out on a Limb" set from Papertrey Ink.

12. Then I added some flowers from the same set in Sweet Blush.

13. Finishing touches - Sweet Blush ribbon, and a bird and sentiment from the "Birds of a Feather" stamp set, also from Papertrey Ink.

14. I folded it up and used adhesive on the tab. Then simply slid my box inside.

This is a fairly quick and easy project that anyone would appreciate receiving. It can be filled with store-bought candy or homemade treats. I also think it would make a lovely box for some handmade jewelry or even a gift card.

I hope these directions were easy enough to follow! Please feel free to create your own box and link me to it in the comments section! I'd love to see some different takes on the same "template".

Thanks!

Looking forward to 2009

2008-12-29T16:15:00.000-08:00

Wow. So... obviously I have kind of been ignoring my blog for a while now. I just realized it's not been since March that I posted - and now it's two days before New Year's Eve. Pathetic.

Anyway - there's never been a better time to start updating again! With 2009 just around the corner, I'll take this opportunity to make a fresh start on my blogging! And I'll start with a few goals for the new year!

Now, I'm not a big fan of "New Year's Resolutions". Resolutions are for breaking - and I hate setting myself up for failure! But this is a good time of year to set a few goals, break a few bad habits, and start some good ones. Here's a short list of goals I would like to work toward in the new year:

1. Creat one scrapbook page or card per day.
I made this goal for myself last year and completely fell off the wagon sometime around April. But this year, I'm gonna go really easy on myself. If I miss a day - no big deal. But I'd like to be more creative and also practice being a more simple crafter - *attempting* to create one piece a day will definitely help me with that habit!

2. Make sure the house is neat and clean before going to bed each night.
This is one pretty self-explanatory. I have been a little bit lazy lately about making sure Jack's toys are picked up and things are put away.

And the big one.
3. Give 10% of my time to God each day.
I've been giving to our church (financially) ever since I became an adult and had money of my own. Then the other day I was having a conversation with someone about the gifts I had made for my family and friends for Christmas. I was talking about how I was giving handmade gifts and how much I appreciate receiving handmade gifts - because in this day and age, our time is so much more valuable than our money. And suddently something like a lightbulb went off in my head. I have been contributing financially to our church for years and years and thinking that I was covered. But God wants more than just my money. He wants a piece of what is most precious to me. And for me, that is my time.

So my most difficult and, I would imagine, most rewarding challenge this year is to "tithe" my most precious possession - my time - to the Lord. It can be spent in prayer, bible study, serving others, etc. I will devote a minimum of 2.4 hours each day to God.

And finally...
4. Update my blog every day!
Well, at least every few days! Hopefully I will get lots of cards and scrapbook pages done that I can share. ;)

Alright - I'm hitting PUBLISH. There's no turning back now!

Blogging from my phone

2008-03-05T10:25:00.000-08:00

Just playing with my new Blackberry Curve. I think I'm in love.

Christmas Project

2008-02-26T09:29:00.000-08:00

I finished my Christmas album this weekend. It feels good to have it done! It's really nothing fancy, but the photos were looming over me - and once Christmas was over, I just wasn't in the mood to do anything with them! So I made them into a very simple album that fits into a decorated Maya Road lunchbox tin.

The cardstock, ribbon, stamping ink, and snowflake stamps are from Papertrey Ink. The Papertrey cardstock takes the Cuttlebug embossing so nicely. And the rub-ons are American Crafts.

All I did to create this album was cut the photos down to 4 3/4" x 4" and round the corners. I adhered them to pieces of white cardstock for added stability and punched a hole in the corner of each one. Then I cut several pieces of green cardstock with one of the smaller Scalloped Circle Nestabilities dies, stamped a snowflake on each one, and did a tiny bit of journaling on each circle. I strung everything together on a little chain and that was it. It fits inside the tin perfectly and, best of all, it includes ALL of my Christmas photos from this year. Yeehaw!

Just a layout

2008-02-19T17:38:00.000-08:00

Paper - Scenic Route & Cherry Arte

Chipboard letters - Heidi Swapp

Cupcake stamp - Michael's Dollar section

Good Monday Morning

2008-02-18T08:17:00.000-08:00

Alright - so it's barely Monday morning. But after feeding breakfast, cleaning up after breakfast, taking care of the dog, building a train layout, cleaning up in the bathroom, answering the phone about 5000 times... I'm just getting some down time to take a few quiet minutes to myself.

So... it's President's Day. Which messes me all up because I need to go to the post office, of course. So if you placed an order over the weekend and got an email from me saying it would go out on Monday - then I guess that was a lie. It will go out on Tuesday.

Jack is destroying the family room as I type this, so I'll make it short. I have a few layouts to share. The first is another one that I'm, like, not totally in love with. But it's something I wanted to do - and it's done. Paper - Chatterbox and Basic Grey. Chipboard letters - Heidi Swapp.

And this is one that I loooooooooove. Man, the picture is not exactly flattering. But look at that baby! Only a few hours old. And now he's downstairs building a fort out of couch cushions. I just love him. Paper - Crate Paper and Basic Grey. Letter stickers - Target dollar spot. And the scalloped circle is a Nestability die.

Game day

2008-02-17T15:06:00.000-08:00

Today after church we had some friends over for a game day. Jack was thrilled to have two friends his age to play with all afternoon - and play they did. The family room was trashed, but it was worth it to us grown ups to have some quiet time to play a fun game of Taboo!

Here's a layout for today. This four-block layout is one I use quite often when I have four photos to scrapbook and am not feeling particularly creative. The paper and letter stickers are Scenic Route. Felt frame is Fancy Pants. Ribbon brads are Imaginisce.

And since this is honestly not my favorite layout in the world, I'll share another one today.
This is a scraplift of my "unimpressed" layout. I liked the photo and paper placement on that one so much, I wanted to do another one. I love how I was able to use one 4x6 photo on this page, but by keeping it simple, the photo doesn't get "lost" on the page.

Paper - Crate Paper. Photo corners and chipboard letters - Heidi Swapp.

"Stay at Home Saturday"

2008-02-16T07:33:00.001-08:00

A lazy day around here. Jack and I spent some time after breakfast water coloring.

Now Jack is watching cartoons while I get caught up on email. We're having friends over after church tomorrow for a game day - so I have some cleaning to do. And we're going out for pizza tonight! I LOVE Saturdays :)

Here's a layout to share. These photos are from the the fall after I graduated from high school - so during my first semester in college. Poor photos, but I kind of like the story behind them.

Paper - October Afternoon

Chipboard letters - Heidi Swapp

Chipboard flowers - Maya Road

Papertrey Projects

2008-02-15T10:58:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to share these projects I made recently with my newest Papertrey Ink stamps!

ShadowboxI created this shadowbox using the Out on a Limb stamp set and a little Martha Stewart shadowbox I found on clearance at Michael's.

LayoutI used the Out on a Limb set again for this Christmas layout. The chipboard letters are Heidi Swapp and the scalloped circle is a Nestabilities die. I added a bit of Stickles glitter to the berries on the branches to give it a little bit of dimension and sparkle.

Card

I love this card - probably because I just love bright colors. And they don't get much brighter or more cheerful than this! The stamps are from the Mixed Messages set. The patterned paper is Scenic Route. Ribbon - Ofray. Tag - Cuttlebug die. And the tiny flourish stamp is from the Faux Ribbon stamp set.

Another cold day

2008-02-15T10:45:00.000-08:00

It's been so bitterly cold and windy lately - I haven't felt like getting out of the house much. It doesn't make for a happy 4-year old. Really, I shouldn't complain all that much. It doesn't get nearly as cold here as it does in other parts of the country. But I'm a wimp when it comes to the cold. The good news is that Spring truly is just around the corner. Only about a month of Winter left. I really look forward to spending some time in the yard with Jack, playing on the swingset and taking lots of outdoor photos.

Jack got a Valentine's gift in the mail yesterday from John's cousin, Linda. It was the game, Chutes and Ladders. We have played it several times already and Jack's getting the hang of it. It came just in time, too - I just couldn't take any more Candy Land.

Here's a layout for today. The patterned paper is Chatterbox and the chipboard button embellishments are Making Memories. Still going through this big pile of old photos.

Valentine's Day

2008-02-14T12:17:00.000-08:00

Today is Valentine's Day - one of my very favorite days of the year (after Christmas and my birthday!) and John is away :( He's on his way home from Las Vegas right now and isn't due to get in until late tonight.

So to make the day a little bit special, Jack and I are taking pizza over to Pam's house for dinner. Her boyfriend has class tonight so we'll be alone together... with Jack. :)

Alrighty - here's my layout for today. Still getting caught up with some "layout a day challenge" layouts from the beginning of January!

Patterned paper and chipboard photo corners - Imagination Project. Chipboard letters - Basic Grey. Rub-on letters - American Crafts. Plastic tab embellishment - Heidi Swapp.

Ice Storm

2008-02-13T11:53:00.000-08:00

We had a nasty ice storm yesterday afternoon and evening. Jack had spent the night with my mom the night before and I was unable to get him so he had to spend an extra night. I did actually TRY to get him, but I was halfway there and the road was closed so I had to turn around and I almost had an accident TWICE so I didn't even bother trying to find another route. So Jack got to spend an extra night and he didn't complain at all :) And now he's home with me watching Max and Ruby. It's been raining all morning so that will hopefully melt all the ice on the driveway.

On to some crafty things. Here's another Layout a Day challenge layout from 2peas.

These photos are from Jack's fourth birthday party this past November. It had a train theme - hence the nametags with trains on them. He wanted everyone to be a different train :)

The patterned paper is American Crafts (circles) and Chatterbox (stripes). And the letter stickers are from Scenic Route. Very clean and simple layout. I've been working on scrapbooking my big pile of pictures - and that means they have to be simple :)

Really, really bad

2008-02-12T10:53:00.000-08:00

I'm a really bad blogger. I just logged onto Blogspot for the first time since December 24th and had several comments to approve. If you left me a comment and I never responded to it, I apologize!!

Anyway, lots of changes here the past few months. One of the biggest is the closing of Cool Blue Scrapbook Store. Here's what's on the homepage right now, which should pretty much explain it all:

"This past January, I was asked to be the Sunday School Superintendent at our church. At the time, I was teaching the Jr. High Sunday school class and although it was a big added responsibility, I was still managing to get everything done, including taking care of Jack and the house, etc.

In June, I was offered the position of Coordinator of Conference on the executive board of American Baptist Women of Pennsylvania and Delaware. I struggled with the decision of whether to accept it or not because I knew that I couldn't do that on top of my local church responsibilities, Cool Blue, and taking care of my family.

I prayed about it and discussed it with my husband and I did accept the position, deciding to give it a few months and see how Cool Blue fit in. The past several months have been very stressful, as I have worried myself sick over how to balance these four responsibilities - Family, Church, Conference, Cool Blue.

After MUCH prayerful consideration, I have decided to let go of Cool Blue effective January and focus on the work that I can feel God leading me to do. December was my last kit.

It's a huge disappointment because I have really enjoyed watching Cool Blue grow and become successful. But at the same time, as soon as I made the decision to shut down, a huge burden was removed from my shoulders and I feel like I can actually make it through to bring it to a close.

I have to say that I have enjoyed the past year and a half immensely - getting to know my design team so personally has been so fulfilling. As has been getting to know so many of you, my customers."

So that pretty much sums it up. Cool Blue is in its final clearance phase and I am going crazy between that and church and Conference and this family. But it's kind of crazy in a good way :)

I've also been setting aside a little bit of time each day for crafting. Mostly scrapbooking, but also a bit of card-making, sewing, and crocheting. I picked up an afghan I began crocheting when I was pregnant with Jack - ALMOST FIVE YEARS AGO. Yeah.

I'll start sharing my projects here more regularly. Here's a layout I created for the "Layout a Day" challenge on 2peas, which I haven't been participating in lately because I've been too busy with getting the registration materials together for Conference.

Patterned paper - October Afternoon. Letter stickers - SEI. Scalloped circle die - Spellbinders Nestabilities (I'm addicted).

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-24T08:21:00.001-08:00

October Cool Blue Project

2007-10-23T09:02:00.000-07:00

Wow - this is late! I have been a very bad blogger - sorry! The instructions can be found HERE. The October kit is sold out, but bits and pieces are for sale separately on the site and can be found here.

September Cool Blue Project

2007-09-03T07:17:00.000-07:00

September Project

Caardvarks Challenge - Fibers

2007-08-29T06:20:00.000-07:00

Here's my card for the current Caardvarks challenge.

A belated birthday surprise

2007-08-23T11:25:00.000-07:00

My friend, Pam, sent me these flowers the other day as a belated birthday present. They are SO gorgeous and make me smile every time I walk in the room.

Thanks, Pam! You really didn't have to send them, but I certainly do love them! :)

Caardvarks 1-2-3 Challenge

2007-08-06T10:36:00.001-07:00

The Caardvarks challenge was to create a card using:

1 embellishment (birdy punch out)
2 patterned papers (both from Paper Salon)
3 flowers (Maya Road velvet blossoms)

I made a tiny 3x3 card with the stuff required in the challenge and a few stamps. It is so cute - I love how it turned out. But I need to find myself an envelope to fit!

Cool Blue August Monthly Project

2007-08-02T11:13:00.001-07:00

CLICK HERE for more photos and detailed instructions.

Country Fair

2007-07-30T19:09:00.001-07:00

Tonight was the first night of the Goshen Country Fair. It's walking distance from our house, but we drove over and parked because the skies looked like rain all day and I didn't want to get stuck and have to walk home in the rain. Lucky for us, the thunder storms held off all evening - there was just a slight breeze and it was a PERFECT night for the fair :)

The bandstand had a local polka band playing tonight. They were very fun. We didn't get to listen for very long because Jack wanted to do the rides ALL NIGHT, but I easily could have hung around and enjoyed the polka music for a while.

The highlight of the fair for Jack every year is the livestock. Starting around January, Jack starts asking to go see the cows whenever we drive past the fair grounds (which, like I said earlier, are right by our house - so Jack asks about the cows A LOT!). And tonight was the night when he FINALLY got to visit with them again!

John and Jack are leaving for a little road trip to Florida to visit some friends tomorrow after lunch. So tonight was our only opportunity to go to the fair as a family. I may go again with some friends another night this week - since I'll have so much time on my hands ;)

Jack loves carnival games, but he was only allowed to play one. He picked the fishing game and he won a big beach ball :)

Of course, he rode on TONS of rides. The fire truck was the first one he rode on. He begged us to let him do a ride before we ate dinner. I totally gave in - and I actually let him ride two before dinner! I mean, the fair only comes to town once a year - and it was pretty much "all about Jack" all night long.

Last year Jack wasn't really into the ferris wheel. It went to high for his taste. But this year he was eager to get on it. John took him and he yelled and waved down to us (my parents came, too) the whole time. He wasn't even scared when they were stopped all the way at the top to let other passengers on.

And this was Jack's favorite "ride" of the entire fair. He must have gone on it half a dozen times! It was just a little sort of "kiddie" fun house. They went over rolling things, up steps, over a see-saw thing, up a rope climb, across a swinging bridge, and down a long sliding board. I didn't think my sensitive little Jack would like it and I actually discouraged him from going in, but he begged and said he really wanted to, so I gave in. I'm SO glad I did - because he showed me that he's not a little baby anymore. He's a more grown-up kid who can do more independent things. *sigh*

There's "Bubba" (my dad) waiting for him at the bottom of the slide.

Jack was a BEAR when we got home this evening. He didn't want to say goodbye to my parents (he hates saying goodbye to anyone lately - except me). He didn't want to take a bath. And he did NOT want to go to bed. Of course, it took him all of about thirty seconds to fall asleep once his head hit the pillow. It was a big night for him :)

By the way - John sent me this link a few days ago of the 100 best places to live, according to Money Magazine. I was very happy, though not surprised, to see West Goshen, PA at number 12! Here's a link.

New Camera

2007-07-28T19:48:00.000-07:00

I asked John for a new camera for my birthday, which is coming up in a few weeks. (I won't say the number, but let's just put it this way - I've got a few weeks left in my twenties) Anyway, I wanted something a little nicer than the tiny point and shoot I have now. It's nice in that I can put it in my pocket and stuff, but it doesn't take the greatest pictures. However, I'm not a super photographer or anything so I didn't want to spend a thousand dollars.

So today we went down to Circuit City in Delaware (I love living so close to the Delaware border - tax-free shopping!) and bought this really cool Panasonic camera. It has everything I wanted - 7.1 megapixels, good zoom, rechargeable batteries, takes an SD card. GET THIS - two Christmases ago I asked for a 1gig SD card for my camera. They were around $100. That was my BIG present that year so I didn't want to get a new camera that wouldn't take that card. WELL - I was looking at cards in Circuit City today and saw a 2gig SD card for twenty-five bucks! Unbelievable!

Anyway, I took around 300 pictures this afternoon and evening - pretty much of all nonsense stuff! :) Here are a few random shots - a little slice of my life, if you will :) Enjoy!

Caardvarks Ribbon Challenge

2007-07-25T18:43:00.000-07:00

The current Caardvarks challenge is to create a card using ribbon. Easy for me - I LOVE ribbon! (and I have a ton of it!) Here's my card:

It's a pretty simple card. I did a little weaving (I don't think I've woven since elementary school art class!) with some Basic Grey Urban Couture ribbon. The stamps are from Cherry Arte (frame) and Paper Salon (thank you).

CHA - A Whirlwind Trip!

2007-07-22T15:13:00.000-07:00

My mom and I decided, kind of at the last minute, to attend CHA in Chicago this year. We left on Wednesday evening and drove from West Chester to Warren, Ohio, where we spent the night. Then we arrived in Chicago on Thursday - we actually got into the Chicago area around 3:00, but didn't make it to our hotel until 5:30! There was CRAZY traffic! But we made it alive and even managed to find a Giordano's Chicago pizza restaurant only a few blocks from our hotel. We took a cab there, but when we realized how close it was decided to walk back - good thing because we had some serious pizza to walk off!

The CHA show was AMAZING!! I didn't take a single picture to share because I was too busy oohing and aahing over everything, placing orders, and creating make-n-takes! But I CAN tell you that I placed several orders for upcoming kits and am SO excited for what I have planned! Scenic Route, October Afternoon, Fontwerks, and Maya Road, to name a few! :)

Just got home a little while ago. I promised I'd get Jack a present while I was away (me thinking like, a t-shirt or something). He said he wanted a computer. Yeah, a computer. I managed to get myself to a Target and get this toy for him. He loves it - hasn't put it down since I got home. I'll be sure to get plenty of pictures once I'm done loving on him :)

Hope everyone had a great weekend! I'm gonna go work on getting back into the swing of things! First job - cleaning the bathroom. EWW!

The Wedding

2007-07-14T18:12:00.001-07:00

My friend, Rachel, got married to her high school sweetheart, Mike, today. The ceremony was really nice (nice and short! Ha!)

Here's a picture of Jack as we were leaving the house this afternoon. He was SO PROUD to be wearing his new tie! He has been talking about it and asking when he would be able to wear it ever since we picked it out and bought it!

And here's a picture of Jack with the bride. He stayed in the church nursery with the other kids during the ceremony so the first time he saw Rachel was at the reception. He took one look at her and said, "Mommy! Rachel turned into a princess! How'd she do that!?" That is FOR SURE going to turn up on a scrapbook page!

Phew! I must admit, I'm a little bit relieved that the wedding is over. I was the soloist and spent a lot of hours practicing this week! I didn't want to let Rachel down! But everything went very smoothly. Well, there was one little glitch. My dad played the piano for me and while Rachel and Mike were saying their vows (right before I was to sing one of my songs), my dad whispers over the piano to me that he can't find his music. **PANIC** Then I hear a bunch of shuffling and he smiles and whispers that he found it. So, yeah, I just had a TINY heart attack! But thankfully it all worked out.

Now I am on my way out of this dress and ESPECIALLY these shoes! And heading to bed. Goodnight!

Caardvarks 10-Day Challenge - Day 10

2007-07-14T06:50:00.000-07:00

Last day of the Caardvarks 10-Day Challenge! I have really enjoyed these challenges - they've forced me to do something creative every day AND I have a nice stack of cards, too!

Today's challenge is to scraplift a card by Jenyfur from the Club Scrap gallery (they are the sponsors of this 10-Day challenge). Here's my card - it's for the wedding I'm going to this afternoon. Nothing like the last minute, right!?

The paper is Basic Grey Urban Couture. The letter stickers are Basic Grey LilyKate. The branch stamp is Paper Salon Wedding Essentials Tailored Tin. The bird is a McGill punch. And the jewels are Heidi Swapp. :)

Caardvarks 10-Day Challenge - Day 9

2007-07-13T06:40:00.000-07:00

Today's Caardvarks challenge was to create a card with a clock face on the front. Here's my card:

The paper and flower punch outs are from the upcoming Cool Blue September kit. The ribbon is Basic Grey from the Urban Couture pack. And the stamp is Technique Tuesday.

Caardvarks 10-Day Challenge - Day 8

2007-07-12T19:53:00.000-07:00

Today's challenge was to use 2 patterned papers, 2 ribbons, 2 stamps, and 2 circles. Ya know - 2+2+2+2=8? Yup! Here's my card!

Sort of a mish-mash of supplies here. The patterned papers are Basic Grey blush and Cosmo Cricket... something. The circles in the center of the flowers are from a sheet of Blush. The ribbons are both Basic Grey - one from the Hang 10 pack, one from the Urban Couture pack. And the stamps are Paper Salon and Technique Tuesday.

Caardvarks 10-Day Challenge - Day 7

2007-07-11T14:59:00.001-07:00

Lucky #7! Today's challenge is to create a "Good Luck" card.

All stuff from my stash!! Sassafras Lass paper, Making Memories chipboard circle, Paper Salon Tailored Tins stamps - the circle is from the Monogram Builder set and the Good Luck in the middle is from the Small Talk set.

Caardvarks 10-Day Challenge - Day 6

2007-07-10T15:14:00.000-07:00

Today's Caardvarks challenge is to create a 6x6-inch card. Here's my card:

The paper is from my stash - Scenic Route. The stamp is from the Paper Salon Small Talk Tailored Tin. And the felt telephone is a Sizzix die cut :)

Caardvark 10-Day Challenge - Day 5

2007-07-09T06:42:00.001-07:00

Today's Caardvarks challenge is to create a card with five embellishments on the front. Here's my card:

The five embellishments are:

1. Ribbon 2. Letter stickers 3. Heidi Swapp Ghost arrow 4. Felt flowers 5. Brads

This is also a little sneak peek of the August Cool Blue kit! Almost everything used to make the card will be in the kit (with the exception of the brads). :)

Caardvarks 10-Day Challenge - Day 4

2007-07-08T19:08:00.001-07:00

Today's challenge was to create a card with four squares on the front. Here's my take :)

Caardvarks 10-Day Challenge - Day 3

2007-07-07T17:29:00.000-07:00

Today's Caardvarks challenge was to create a tri-fold card. Here's mine:

I had a hard time getting a decent picture because it was almost dark outside once I finally got a free minute to do this challenge. But in real life, the pink is really, really soft and the inking isn't quite as overwhelming.

I used some of my scraps from the April Cool Blue kit and the Paper Salon Wedding Essentials Tailored Tin stamp set.

Caardvarks 10-Day Challenge - Day 2

2007-07-06T06:55:00.000-07:00

Today's Caardvarks challenge was to create two cards using the same materials. Here are my cards:

I used some of my scraps from the May Cool Blue Kit. And the stamps are from the Paper Salon Wedding Essentials Tailored Tin - they're in the add-ons section on the site.

Caardvark 10-Day Challenge #1

2007-07-05T07:32:00.000-07:00

The first Caardvarks 10-Day challenge was to make a card using one stamp on the front. Here's mine.

I used the Cool Blue July kit and the stamp is from Peachy Kiki. It's an acrylic stamp and I actually had to cut the flowers from the stems to stamp them because I was just making a big mess trying to ink everything separately!

This card will be going out to my friend, Linda, who made the cutest patriotic soaps and left them hanging on my door the other day. How sweet is that!?

A Pleasant Surprise!

2007-07-04T07:18:00.000-07:00

I was surprised and excited to receive a package in the mailbox from Japan the other day! It contained a sweet note and a gift from my new friend, Takako.

Thank you, Takako!

July Cool Blue Project

2007-06-28T16:17:00.000-07:00

The July Project is up at Cool Blue. I love it this month - it's a great way to get a bunch of cards done in no time. Check it out!

July Cool Blue Project

Caardvarks Micro Challenge - NUMBERS

2007-06-28T08:05:00.000-07:00

Here's a card I did for the Caardvarks micro challenge.

The paper is American Crafts and Scenic Route. The chipboard letters are Heidi Swapp. The rub-ons are Lil Davis and American Crafts. And the button is Imaginisce!

:)

BTW - the reason is on the inside - and I'm not sharing! ;)

Caardvarks Challenge - Circles

2007-06-26T17:36:00.000-07:00

Here's the most recent Caardvarks card challenge! I haven't done one in a while because things have been so busy, but I needed to make a thank you card tonight for John to give to his seller at settlement on Friday. I hope it's not too girly! I happen to love it!

The paper is Heidi Grace "Oh So Moody". It came in the June Mosh Posh kit and at first I wasn't too thrilled with it, but now that I've worked with it, I LOVE LOVE LOVE it!

The card is super simple and was pretty quick to put together (except for cutting out all those little squares to put in my circle!).

In other news (in case anybody still reads this poor, neglected blog of mine), Jack is completely and 100% potty trained - AT LAST! He just needed to be ready - and once he was, it was so easy! To celebrate, I got him the Mack play set (from the movie CARS) that he had been wanting. I'm so proud of him!

June Cool Blue Project

2007-06-06T13:24:00.001-07:00

Here's a link for photos and instructions:

http://www.coolbluescrapbookstore.com/june_project_1.html

And YIKES! I just realized the last time I posted when to post a link to the MAY project! Tsk, tsk. Bad blogger girl.

May Project

2007-05-02T12:36:00.000-07:00

Here's a fun project for May. Perfect for Mother's Day and Father's Day cards. CLICK HERE for instructions. Enjoy!

Fun with Felt!

2007-04-20T12:03:00.000-07:00

The fourth Caardvark's challenge is to create a card using FELT! So I thought it was a good time to break out the Queen & Co. felt trim that's included in the Queen & Co. Embellishment kits at Cool Blue! Let me tell you - this stuff is SO FUN! And it really goes a long way! Here's my card for the challenge:

To make this card, I simply cut a few flowers from the pink felt trim and a few leaves from the green felt trim. I used ribbon for the stems and knotted it through the holes in the flowers. Everything is adhered with glue dots. Simple :) I also used up more letter stickers and a tiny scrap of paper from the April kit.

While I was at it, I did the following layout with the pink and red felt trim. I didn't really get any great photos this past Valentine's Day - but I still wanted to make a page to preserve the memories! :)

Thomas Live!

2007-04-15T17:06:00.000-07:00

We took Jack to see Thomas and Friends Live on Stage this afternoon at the Tweeter Center in Camden, New Jersey. Oh, man. I've never seen so many kids all together in one place in my life! Mostly little boys wearing Thomas shirts. And all of them carrying a Thomas light up wand, like what Jack is holding in the picture above. I think he enjoyed waving that stick around almost as much as the show, itself!

We were tempted to not even go today because of the horrible rain. By the time we got to our seats at the show, we were all soaked from head to toe! Seriously, dripping wet. Like, down to our underwear! But I snapped the following picture when I was about a mile from home this evening. It proves that someone actually had a more miserable rain day than we did!

Yeesh! And they probably won't have a very good tomorrow either!!

Queen & Co. Embellishment Kits!

2007-04-11T10:20:00.000-07:00

NEW Limited Edition Kits at COOL BLUE! These kits are a great value and are sure to sell out fast! So be sure to grab them before they're gone! :)

Queen & Co. Embellishment Kits

April Kit is up at Cool Blue

2007-04-02T16:02:00.000-07:00

The April kit is up on the site and the idea gallery will be up tonight!

I only have six of these kits left - so if you love it, go get it! :)

Busy, busy, busy time

2007-03-30T08:12:00.000-07:00

Lots of deadlines for things coming up. It's such a busy time for me right now - and that doesn't even include the everyday things like being a wife and mother.

So blogger will have to wait a while for an update from me.

An afternoon out

2007-03-23T17:36:00.000-07:00

Had a ladies' lunch with my mom, cousin, and aunt this afternoon. My aunt's birthday is on Sunday so we were celebrating that. We went to P.F. Chang's and it was awesome, as usual!

Jack is spending the night with my mom tonight so I asked John to meet us at the restaurant to drop off Jack. He arrived with a sippy cup full of cherry coke! I think that's one of the reasons Jack loves spending time with his dad so much - he lets him have things like cherry coke!

John took a few pictures during their Dad/Jack time and this one is too cute not to post! Looks like they definitely had a fun afternoon!

So now I'm doing a little scrapbooking, enjoying a quiet evening by myself - no little boy to bathe, dress, read books to, lay down with (sniff, sniff!) Okay, I do miss him a bit!

Caardvarks Challenge #2

2007-03-20T13:43:00.000-07:00

The second challenge on the Caardvarks blog was to create a card using buttons. Here's my take on it :)

It's for a bridal shower I'm going to this Sunday. So, yeah, I went a little bit overboard on the buttons... But I *didn't* go overboard on the gift, so the buttons are to compensate! ;)

Check it out!

2007-03-19T08:05:00.000-07:00

http://caardvarks.blogspot.com/

I'm so excited! Thanks Jen and Sarah! :)

Ice Storm

2007-03-17T12:15:00.000-07:00

OK - seriously. It was 79 degrees less than a week ago. I was wearing shorts, for goodness sake! And NOW we have seven inches ICE on the ground! Our driveway is totally hopeless. John and I were out there for about an hour and a half this morning and managed to get the cars cleared and the 3-foot entrance shoveled so we could open the side door. As for the rest of the driveway... well, it's supposed to be in the sixties come Friday - so it will have to melt then!

I didn't take any pictures. I couldn't possibly scrapbook this event without using bad language!

One good thing about this storm - I invented a new drink and I call it the "Ice Storm" (it involved mixing together whatever I could find in the liquor cabinet - and it was actually REALLY delicious!)

Here's the recipe:

1 shot of Absolut Citron
1 shot of Creme de Cacao
1 shot of Triple Sec
and a teensy splash of vanilla

Shake it up with ice and strain it into a martini glass (cause everything tastes better out of a martini glass!)

I thought the vanilla and citrus together would be nasty, but they really compliment each other!

It's 3:30 in the afternoon right now. I wonder if it's too early to start drinking...

Saturday Scrappin'

2007-03-11T15:32:00.000-07:00

I was set to go to an all-day crop yesterday, but when I got there with my mom and Aunt Kay, there was no one there! So I called my friend, Laura, who was going to meet us there and told her that we were scrapping at my house. The four of us had a fun afternoon and I got a lot done! (three pages is a LOT for me - the slowest scrapper on the planet!)

The first page is a TOTAL scraplift from a layout on page 30 of the March CK. All of the pages were done using the Cool Blue April kit. This kit is going to be SO much fun! I'm loving those Basic Grey papers!

New header

2007-03-09T10:41:00.000-08:00

The new header is a bit of a sneak peek for April's Cool Blue kit ;)

Blogger misfit

2007-03-07T09:40:00.000-08:00

I just realized that I need to approve comments for them to show up. Duh!

Alright - so if you have left a comment in the past three months, it's there now!

Smile!

2007-03-07T06:45:00.000-08:00

I made this card for the Caardvarks card challenge - which was to create a card with a photograph on it. It was HARD to find a picture that I wanted to use on a card! And now that it's made - even though I really like the card - I'm not sure if I'll ever work up the nerve to send it to anyone! Tee hee!

I used some scraps from the Cool Blue September Kit. There's one September kit left! I have been wanting to post it as sold out for a LONG time now! But that one last kit is hanging on!

Whack-a-Mole

2007-01-11T13:20:00.000-08:00

John's cousin sent this fun game to Jack for Christmas and we finally got it out of the box and played with it last night. The craziness from Christmas is finally just starting to calm down a bit - and our house is starting to look less like a toy store. So we're having fun enjoying the new stuff and getting ready to weed out some of the things that Jack has outgrown.

Last night's family time included a game a Yahtzee (John and I played our own game while Jack just played with a cup of his own dice. Fun for all of us) and several games of Whack-a-Mole. Jack loved whacking the moles :) and was extremely satisfied every time he got one when it was actually lit up!

My undergarments are famous

2007-01-08T19:45:00.000-08:00

I was just checking the link tracker on my blog for the first time in FOREVER - and you know where I get my most hits from? Google image searches for UNDERWEAR from this post about my organized underwear drawer. Who knew!?

Football and stuff

2007-01-08T07:48:00.000-08:00

We had two other families over last night to watch the Eagles game. They brought all the food. WOW. Lots of food. It was so good. Jack really enjoyed playing with the kids. And the Eagles won. For what more can I ask? It was a good time :)

Today is Monday. I love Mondays. It's just about the only day where we never have anything on the schedule. So it's a day to get caught up from the weekend, stay in our jammies, do laundry, cleaning, filing, etc. And it's raining today - such a perfect day to stay home. We do need to go grocery shopping, though, in a big way. I might put it off until tomorrow.

I hope to do a little scrapbooking today, too. I have these amazing pictures from over the summer of Jack his cousins and I am itching to do something with them. And some cards, too. I was looking at Tammy's (from the Scrap Spot) YouTube videos "Tips and Techniques" and she had this great idea to cut your cardstock scraps into 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" after working on a project and then you have all these pieces of cardstock ready to turn into cards. It's genius. So I want to go through my scraps today and cut the big ones to that size. Then I can just go to it to pull cardstock for cards when I want to make a card. Fun :)

So there's a big of my to-do list for today. I know I won't get it all done. I never do. For instance, it's 11 AM and I haven't done anything yet - except make a to-do list *eyeroll* But making the list is fun for me :) Getting stuff done is the icing.

A New Year - A New Blogger

2007-01-06T18:47:00.000-08:00

Oh, I've been a BAD blogger. I admit it. So, ok... it's a new year and I vow to start blogging again. Actually, one of my goals for the new year was to start keeping a journal. Then I thought - "Duh! You have a blog and can't even keep up with that!" So instead of writing it down, I will type it here. There. Done.

So... a little update (for my devoted fans - HA!)

Jack turned three in November. He is poopie trained, but not pee pee. (It's my biggest struggle with him) And he got a train table for Christmas, which is as good for ME as it is for him. Because I can actually get some stuff done while he spends a pretty good portion of his day at that table. He loves it.

My business is doing well. I've been selling out pretty quickly the past few months and have added a new design team to the site. Very exciting stuff going on at Cool Blue.

Heading out to California at the end of this month to visit my cousin, Cindee, and to attend Winter CHA. So while things are supposed to slow down after the Christmas season is over, it just keeps getting busier and busier for me. I can't complain, though. Although, portions of my house are not fit for human habitation. But that's another new year goal *eyeroll*

OK - off to check on the laundry.

Home

2006-10-07T08:15:00.000-07:00

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh... We're home! And it feels so good!

We spent a week in Florida - doing Disney and visiting family. It was a great trip. My parents went with us and we loved having them along. Jack really loved sharing a bedroom with Grammy. And I enjoyed having my dad to be navigator while John drove - so I was off the hook :)

We went to Epcot on Saturday and met some friends who live in Jacksonville and spent the day with them. It was a great day.

Sunday we went to Downtown Disney and did some shopping. There was a little choo choo train ride that Jack loved. And we bought him a pair of Mickey ears that he wore for the rest of the trip. SO CUTE!

Monday we went to the Magic Kingdom and Jack got to meet Mickey Mouse. He was so good - smiled for all the pictures, gave Mickey a hug, and said goodbye and didn't complain when we said it was time to go. Just the perfect little Mousecateer :)

Tuesday we went to Tarpon Springs to visit John's aunt, mom and I got to do some scrapbook shopping in Rubon Rouge, and then we headed to the Sponge Docks for lunch, the aquarium, and some sight-seeing. Fun day.

Wednesday we met my friend, Elisabeth, and her family at Disney/MGM. Jack and Catie got along so well. They are great friends now ;) I think they're totally in love.

Thursday was our relaxing day - FINALLY! We visited a scrapbook store in the morning and then headed back to the hotel for a day of swimming in the lazy river. It was lovely. Jack had a blast - we all did... except my poor mom. She stayed in the room because she had a cold and wasn't feeling well.

And yesterday we came home! Busy week. Fun week. I'm swamped now with work. Sent John and Jack to the post office and to John's office to pick up all his mail while I get caught up a bit.

No substitution for Gingerale

2006-09-24T18:57:00.000-07:00

I have a sick tummy. After a full month of low-fat small portion meals, tonight's two and a half slices of cheesy pizza did NOT agree with me one bit. And we have no gingerale in the house. What's that about!? The closest thing to gingerale I could find was a dented can of Fresca and it's seriously NOT doing the trick.

On a positive note - I weighed again today and am down almost ten pounds so far. 9.4 to be exact. My goal was 10 pounds in a month... so I didn't quite reach it, but I'm still pretty happy. I mean, my clothes aren't falling off me or anything, but it feels good to get on a scale and see (at least in the numbers) the result of my last month of misery. I miss food.

Choo Choo!

2006-09-23T18:21:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday we went to A Day Out with Thomas at the Strasburg Railroad. I do believe that it was seriously the best day of Jack's life. He got to meet Sir Topum Hat (however it's spelled) and ride on a train pulled by Thomas! Plus ALL the other fun stuff at the Strasburg Railroad!

Words cannot express the emotions that I felt watching Jack seeing Thomas for the first time. OK, it's nauseatingly sappy, but I actually CRIED when Thomas pulled up for the first time because Jack was so happy and excited. OY - I can't believe I just admitted that. I'm one sick puppy.

Anyway, it's been a week and Jack STILL talks about Thomas every day. I've had a difficult time getting that hat away from him. And he's been sleeping with the whistle. He's a Thomas fanatic, for sure :)

New Basic Grey LilyKate kit!

2006-09-15T17:15:00.000-07:00

I was finally able to get some decent pictures of the LilyKate kit (no thanks to the cruddy weather we've had here lately!) and get the site updated. This is a great kit - it includes ALL of the paper, letter stickers, tags, 8 spools of ribbon, and a big bag of coordinating buttons - all for only $25.99! The retail value is around $32 so it really is a great deal!

I've been tagged!

2006-09-15T08:59:00.000-07:00

Got tagged by Flenner. OK - here goes. Luckily, it's a short one ;)

Word Association:

Travel - Airplane
Weather - Rain
Suitcase - Rolling
Car - Drive
Sweater - Itchy

And I'm tagging... Elisabeth and my MOM! That's right, Mom, I KNOW you have a blog and now you have a reason to post on it! :P

Word association - here are my words!

1. Letter
2. Paper
3. Time
4. Grass
5. Gold

Have fun!

September kit is FINALLY up!

2006-09-13T15:09:00.000-07:00

September's Basic Grey Romani Kit is FINALLY up! I got the last of my Basic Grey shipment this afternoon and have been FEVERISHLY working on getting the site updated!

Cool Blue Scrapbook Store

Weekend Activities

2006-09-11T06:32:00.000-07:00

We had a lot going on this past weekend. Saturday was not too busy. Jack and John did a lot together. I just did some grocery shopping, laundry, and other house stuff.

Then yesterday, after church, was the annual Battle of the Brandywine re-enactment in the Brandywine Battlefield Park, which is adjacent to our church. Our church choir was asked to sing during the ceremony before the battle, which was to commemorate both 9/11/1777 and 9/11/2001. John had work to do in the afternoon, so I had Jack with me. It was kind of a hike from the church, through the park (which had been turned into a Revolutionary tent camp) to the location where the ceremony was to be held. And, of course, Jack pooped his pants just as the ceremony was beginning. So for the whole half hour ceremony, he was telling me to change his diaper. Not so easy when the nearest clean diaper is about half a mile away and you're on foot! We've been having some trouble with toilet training - I think it's time to kick it up a notch!

Anyway, the diaper situation was taken care of as soon as we got back to the church. And I did manage to snap just a few decent pictures.

And here's the tent camp. These guys slept in these tents all weekend. They don't look too comfortable to me!