Me, Myself and.....Them

Another Day

2010-05-21T14:42:00.003-05:00

Today has been great. I get the next two weeks off and I am excited. I really enjoy my job but I need to get my house in order, literally! I need to paint and clean closests and do some deep cleaning. I am looking forward to getting this task started and finished. Is it just me or do you feel better about everything when your house is clean?

Earlier this week I had my husband pose for a picture with me. We are two big goofballs. I want to enter some challenges in the near future and I wanted to take a few fun photos. These are my favorite goofball pics. We are good together. He helps me to be better.

My Sweet Angel

2010-05-18T20:11:00.003-05:00

Y'all my sweet little girl has finished the second grade and she has to be one of the sweetest little girls in the world. Her second grade class was tasked with writing the graduating Seniors some words of wisdom. This is what she had to say:

Seniors

I know Seniors leave their parents. But you can do it. All of you can do it. Don't be tempted. Don't be nervous. Never be nervous. Congratulations! Always have courage no matter what. College is wonderful. Always make good choices.

Your parents can't make you do your own homework. You have to do it by yourself. Don't be mean to others. Be nice to your teacher. Don't fight nobody. Never hate somebody you don't like. Love people, they want to be loved.

I love this kid. She makes me so proud. Have a great day and thanks for reading.

Where in the World...

2010-05-06T22:30:00.002-05:00

have I been? Nowhere. Just straight LAZY. No excuse. I have not scrapped a thing since Feb/March.

Lots going on and here's the skinny:
1. Finished our first round of P90X. It rocked.
2. Still working and enjoying that. I work with some wonderful women.
3. Had my B-day and that was over too fast.
4. Hubby gave me cash for my B-day and I spent it quick.
5. My teenager is still dramatic and working my last.
6. Son is in football and band and that has me running.
7. Oldest trying out for Volleyball and she is in night school due to moving from FL.
8. Getting ready for a Caribbean cruise.
9. I signed up to run my first 1/2 marathon...I think I must be crazy.
10. Started our second round of P90X.

That is life in a nutshell.

-toodles

Daddy/Daughter Dance

2010-02-14T16:38:00.004-06:00

Here is a pic of my husband and daughter before they left for the Daddy/Daughter Dance. Our church hosts this dance every year around Valentine's Day. There is also a Mother/Son event but it will be later this month.The Daddy/Daughter dance has dinner and dancing. They have crafts and games. But the sweetest part was that they were able to write each other love letters. She wrote her dad:

Dear Daddy,

I'll love you forever, even when I get a woupen (whooping) very baddly. And cry so maddly.

I love you because you care about me and treat me like a human bean. And teach me! So well I love you sooooooooooooooooooooooo much. You are my very and only dad.

Love Always,
Lizzy

I love you! Happy Valentines Day! Daddy!

*******************************************
They are so sweet at this age. I wish I could just keep her this innocent and sweet for a long time.

How we do it in Alabama

2010-02-13T16:44:00.004-06:00

Okay. It has snowed in Alabama for the second time this year. I am not a real fan of snow or cold weather but it nice for my children to experience the snow. I know it is only 2 inches worth, but that is a big deal to us.We actually got to play in the snow. They had a ball throwing snowballs. Okay, please make sure you check out the down south mittens my children are wearing. That would be socks on their hands and my son has on garden gloves. Yep. We don't buy gloves very often.You have to see my favorite picture though. Seeing as how we don't get much snow, my babies still wanted to make a snowman. Here it is.....The Bootleg Snowman.I gotta teach these babies how to build a snowman. They did the best they could in 2 inches of snow. See his hair and button eyes. He has a baby carrot nose, stick arms, and I was way to scared to ask what his mouth was made of. Gotta love it.

Have a good Sunday and thanks for reading.

My Grandma

2010-02-11T13:45:00.004-06:00

My sweet grandmother passed away a week ago today. She was a very sweet lady. She was funny and caring. She was a wonderful grandmother and because of her I am here. I am going to miss her. She was a beautiful lady that was tough as nails. She loved her family so much and we all knew that. I am so grateful for her. We have so much to be thankful for in having her.
Things I love about her are the memories. She used to keep me when my parents were at work. I remember throwing a tantrum at about age 3 or 4. I threw a whopper of a tantrum. I was laying face down on the floor kicking my legs and pounding my fists (I saw Wiley Coyote do that). My grandma was on the phone and kept stepping right over me like she didn't see me. After a few minutes I just got up on my own and I never did that again. She was the kind of lady that made you pick out your own switch, she could make you a meal out of anything, and could squint her eye in just the right way to let you know you were in big trouble. She was generous and giving to her family.

I love her so much. She was so beautiful in every way.

Photo Organizer

2010-01-26T20:24:00.004-06:00

Was I the only one who didn't know about Picaso. I have Photoshop Elements 4 and I am totally okay with that. I realize that there is now Photoshop 8, but I found out about Picaso. I realize that it is quite limited but it is FREE. You can organize and edit, and it's FREE. Picaso 3 is user friendly and....it's FREE. So, I downloaded it to my new computer and I am enjoying how easy it is. I like how the program organizes the photos and how quick you can edit and enhance the pics. It has all kinds of cool features. So if you don't have Picaso 3 you should look it up and read the reviews.

Here is something I did, just playin' around with it. Please note that I am an amateur and this is most definitely a regular people app.

Original Picture (Yes, I know the makeup is too light, I was playing with the wrong bronzer...yikes!)

Same picture, cropped to get a close up of the eyeshadow. I was experimenting with color.

Third picture, tried to mute the color a bit.
That's all for today people. Have a goodin'!

FYI

2010-01-25T10:43:00.002-06:00

Do not cross state lines with a child in high school. Poor Tyler (my oldest daughter, I call her MyGirl). She has started back in school today in AL and she has none of the "right" core classes. Bless her heart, she has to take night classes for 8 weeks and 2 sessions of summer school to get the "right" core classes. I feel so bad for her. You know what she said, "Well Mom, I won't be alone (her school is not the best)." She had a way better attitude than I did. I don't think she has considered the amount of time she will have to be in school. This is nuts!

Today, I am thankful for a journal. I am going to pitch a full fledged hissy-fit in that thing today. I mean I am going to let it all out on that poor piece of paper. I need to get these emotions out. I love to read blogs where people just say what they think and are so unapologetic about it. That's why I love my journal, I can say whatever, and no one knows but me and Jesus! I need a place to be honest. What about you? Where do you go to be perfectly honest?

It's that time

2010-01-22T15:55:00.002-06:00

I am saying goodbye to Florida. It is time to head back to Alabama. I am really sad about this. I am going to miss being here. I loved the weather, I loved the schools, I loved the community. Like everything else around here we have to change. Have I mentioned that I am not a fan of change. Some change is great like a new car, a new house, a new baby, a new pair of shoes, a fly new hair cut, a new outfit, a new job. Those are just dandy. Some change is just un-fun. However, what I have found is that every time we have had to move the Lord has provided me with the things I thought I'd miss...like new friends, new experiences, new church community, and a deeper relationship with my husband. When all you have is each other you have a tendency to cling a little tighter.

Have I mentioned I am going to be looking for a JOB!!!! Talk about change! I am hoping to get the most perfect job that fits my family. So if that means, "Welcome to McDonald's how may I take your order?" Then.... there it is...and...there it go. Whatever, Dude.

So anyway, Good-Bye FL. It's been real.

Blog Challenges

2010-01-17T23:54:00.002-06:00

Hey my Peeps!

Have any of you heard of this website: Scrapbook Calls

I keep checking it and it gives you lots of Design Team Calls, Challenge Contests, Teacher Calls, and Crops. Very cool website. Very current and well kept. Maybe you can get motivated...maybe I can get motivated. I think I am getting motivated.

Check it out. Let me know what you think.

Another hobby

2010-01-08T10:02:00.005-06:00

Hey y'all!

Maybe I will scrapbook again. Not sure when. I am gearing up for my transition back to Alabama the Beautiful. Florida has been really good. School was great for my kids! They have done well. I will miss this place. I am going to take pictures all over town to do a layout about our stay. I'll do another post about that later.

Things are good. I have no complaints. I have not bought a scrap item in months...I think. I did get a few goodies for Christmas as gifts. I am in the process of packing all my scrap stuff. I am really hoping the MOJO will bite me hard when we get back to AL. I look forward to visiting my local scrap store there.

Oh wait, I did buy something. Silhouette had a 50% off sale on all digital designs right before the New Year. I bought 27 of those. They really have some cute stuff out there and every week there are new designs. I love all the nesting designs. Everything is becoming more and more affordable...'bout time!

On a HIGH note, I had been having more and more trouble with my computer. I had virus after virus after stinking virus. I had to take it into the shop twice and that was not cheap. However, Christmas morning my husband surprised me with a new laptop and I was VERY surprised. I was not expecting a new computer at all! It was a very welcomed gift. I can start blog hopping again. Because of the viruses, I was really leery of surfing the net, so I just quit getting on all together except to check email and facebook.

My current project in lieu of scrapbooking has been makeup. I am still practicing techniques to find the right makeup foundation for my face and skin. I am wearing Mary Kay Bronze 607 and Bare Mineral's powder on top with Mac Fix+. Here's a picture:My husband says I don't need make up but I disagree. I can't tell if I am wearing it right or wrong, or if it is too much. So, I keep practicing to find what works for me. YouTube has amazing makeup tutorials. This chic is my favorite.

That's it people. Have a happy Friday.

Hey...

2009-12-08T00:05:00.000-06:00

it's late and I am tired. I've been doing a gig and it has been pretty cool. Life is going great. Kids are great. Gearing up to shop for Christmas. My computer has been to the shop...twice. I have been loaded with viruses on my laptop. That really makes me nervous to blog hop.

I have not touched anything scrapbooky in 2 months. I don't miss it yet.

That's that in a nut shell.

--fox

Just Dang!

2009-10-21T16:13:00.002-05:00

Hey Ladies,

I am in such a pickle. My computer has been JACKED for the last 2 weeks! I don't know what happened to it. All my pictures and my Photoshop Elements software are on that thing! Why...why didn't I back up all 2500 of my photos. It needs a professional to fix it. in the I think it can be fixed. I hope it can be fixed. You will know if it gets fixed. So int eh interim I am using my husbands computer. It is just not the same thing though. Its kind of like going to someone's house and going in their refrigerator. Its awkward and its just not mine, you know.

There is nothing exciting going on down here. It was freezing last week and now it is 78 degrees. Bought coats on Friday and Tuesday, now it's a heat wave. We are all going to get pneumonia. Remember when your mother used to say that? I am not going to complain because I'll take hot over cold any day. I am thinking my honey and I should retire in the tropics when we get old.

I have not scrapped in 25 days. Haven't touched a thing. I will get back in to it in a couple of weeks. Right now I have some bigger fish to fry. I am writing some talks for a Women's retreat that happens in November. It is consuming lots of my thought processes currently, this is very exciting and very scary. I wanted to try out for a design team but now is not the right time, I have got to get through this retreat and then the fun can return. However, I am going to do a LO for the PBP Challenge, I can't wait to see how it turns out. It is going to be a bit...dangerous. I will get that uploaded some how.

Anyway, just thought I'd check in.

Toodles.

It's happening!!!!!

2009-10-02T17:00:00.003-05:00

Okay Girls,

I know some of you can relate to this. Do you ever have one of those moments when you realize, OMGoodness...the thing that you thought would never happen has happened...you woke up one morning and everything became clear...

...I look like my MOTHER!!!! Not only do I look like her, but sometimes I swear I act like her... I move like her, I sound like her, I say the things she says and I have her ways! Ughhh!!!! Not that Mom is bad or anything, but she's Mom. I want to be me and not her! Don't get me wrong I LOVE my mother, she's a hoot, but dang. I am getting older...my youthfulness is giving way to my transformation into my mother...(sigh). Here is the picture that says it all. It's me and my daughter.I know I am not alone in this, somebody understands my pain. LOL!!!

Have a great weekend. My friend series continues tomorrow.

-FOX

Series of Layouts-Friends #3

2009-09-28T09:58:00.003-05:00

Hey y'all! (That is southern for Hello)

I love being from the south. Currently it is still in the upper 80's and I am loving it. We were watching a game on Saturday (Iowa vs Penn) that was being played in Pennsylvania and it was 53 degrees and raining. Poor Pennsylvanians. But at least you can tell season from season in the north.

Anyway, here is another LO I did of a wonderful woman in my life...y'all know her..it's my girl Brick. She told me once, "Girl, you know I'm from up north."
I had to stare at her for a minute and I said, "Girl, you from Tennessee!"
She said, "That's north of here!"
We both died laughing!!! She is so funny. I remember the first time I ever laughed with her...til I almost peed in my pants. We were at our small group's Bible Study (of all places). We were in the break room area where we would set up food and I remember she had me bent over from laughing. I cannot for the life of me remember what we were laughing about, but I knew at that moment she was going to be my friend forever. How neat is that?

Since then, we have become bible study partners. She sharpens me. This is my layout of her. I used Cosmo Cricket for the patterned paper and Sassafras for the chipboard clouds. The circle flowers are Scenic Route. I painted them with Tim Holtz paint and added some bling. The butterflies were puched using a Martha Stewart punch.

Thanks for looking. Have a wonderful glorious Monday!

Point Blank Period's 1st Challenge

2009-09-24T23:23:00.004-05:00

Hello Blog Buddies!

Okay, I am taking a break with my friend series to post my first Point Blank Period layout. Point Blank Period is a blog you can find by clicking here. The ladies over there are so stinkin' talented! I am loving the layouts that have been done. The blog challenge is only ONCE a month and very creative. My girl over here sent me the info and I am so glad she did. Here is my take on the Challenge prompts:

My son took the photo of me. Not bad for a 6th grader. I did quite a bit of embossing. I use the Zing by American Crafts for embossing powder.I used very fluorescent neon colors for the pink and green. I threw in a few Sassafras stickers and Basic Grey chip board. I like how this turned out. It's....different. Thanks for looking.

Series of Layouts-Friends #2

2009-09-22T21:08:00.003-05:00

Here is the layout I did of my girl, Renee. Renee has visited twice since we moved to FL. We have so much fun on her visits. On this last visit we scrapped, went to a rec football game, and we were supposed to go to the beach but that did not happen. It rained that weekend so we ended up going to the movies instead. We saw All About Steve with Sandra Bullock. The movie had terrible reviews, but we decided to see it anyway. We laughed so hard! I mean the kind of laugh that no sound comes out your mouth, you're stomping your foot, slappin' your thigh and tears start rolling down your cheeks. (sigh) Those are the fun times!

Everyday and every night we scrapbooked while we watched Tyler Perry plays and laughed even more. I love it when Renee and I can get together. We have way too much fun!

This page is dedicated to her. Please make note of how hard she is laughing in the bottom photo! I was having a "wardrobe malfunction" and she was crackin' up laughing about something while my "sweet" husband just kept snapping pictures!
LAYOUT DETAILS: I have been trying to incorporate circles (I see that on Sasha's LO's often, thought I'd give it a try). I used October Afternoon Cherry Hill. I also used a mist and a cherry mask from Heidi Swapp. I think the chipboard stickers are from Basic Grey Lemonade.

Thanks for stopping by have a wonderful Wednesday!

Series of Layouts-Friends #1

2009-09-17T20:09:00.003-05:00

Hello to All,

For the next 4 posts I will be featuring a layout of my friends. You know the kind of friends that get in the trenches with you. I have several ladies who are really good to me and I will be working in the future to add them...the problem is I don't have current pictures of them. I may have to dig through the stash of old pics and work some magic.

Anyway, here is the LO of me and my sister.

The journaling says:
My Sister Michelle is my BEST friend. She knows my every secret and she loves me anyway. She is one of the greatest gifts God has ever given me. She is kind, gentle, SMART, funny, beautiful, faithful, a great mother and godly.

On the back of the pages I right more personal stuff that talks about how they effect me, change me and make me better. True friendship and real love make you better.

Y'all, I LOVE my sister. She is amazing.

Hope you like the LO. Thanks for taking a look!

First Day of School LO's

2009-09-11T20:00:00.004-05:00

Hello Foxes! I had a ball last week when my girl Renee came for a visit. She and I scrapped for three days over the holiday weekend. We watched like 7 Tyler Perry plays and laughed. We caught a movie (All About Steve) and laughed our heads off. She also made Lemon Bars...my favorite. I found my husband eating the last Lemon Bar and I had to demand a brother give it back! He had eaten most of it but those last two bites were mine! I don't know what he was thinkin' eatin' the last one. Anyway here are my school LO's.

Thanks for stoppin' by.

Football and Layouts

2009-08-30T20:48:00.006-05:00

Hey you guys. I am posting a picture of my son in last week's game. My son's team took a butt whoopin' like you would not believe! Here he is playing safety. However, staying true to being a little boy he still had a blast because they played in the pouring rain.
Also, I am so excited to post these LOs . These are for Scrap Pink that Scraphappy is going to host at the end of September. These will go on the Pink wall during the month of September. These are stories of people who I know and love that have been affected by Breast Cancer.

You all have a lovely day and thanks for stopping by.

Change is.....(pic Heavy)

2009-08-15T13:03:00.008-05:00

In the last month, I have started a temporary job, cut off all my hair, visited my daddy in Ohio, took MyGirl to a photo shoot for a hair care magazine, and signed my children up for school. I have only scrapped 3 pages in a month. Do I sound pressed? Nope, 'cause I ain't. It is what it is. Here are two of the three LOs. I did these for Scraphappy back in July.

First things first, I like having a little job.I am making money for the first time in 7 years. Sweet wonderful paycheck....ahhh.

Next, I cut off all my hair and I swear I am a new women. My hair is fierce! I am FIERCE! Mr. Davis?....that is a whole 'nother subject. A brother was not too happy with my...change. He will be okay because I SWEAR I am ferocious! I am never going back to boring hair ever again...like NEVER! This chic in ATL cut my hair and she is FAB! Now I have to drive 5 hours to get my hair cut...what was I thinkin'? It is so worth it!!!! Check it out.

Next, I got to see my Daddy. I love my DADDY!!!!! (sigh) I don't know what it is, but I love him so much! I wish we didn't live 14 hours away. He is a wonderful Granddaddy. The kids look forward to playing UNO with him. It's one of the things they share with Granddaddy. He tells them he is going to burn their biscuits in UNO. Yeah, this year the seven year old beat him. Oh well.
Check out MyGirl. She is so grown up. I wish you all could have seen her in the photo shoot...she's a beast! She can take some pics. I loved her makeup and hair. These are the pics I took of her after the shoot.

Last but not least. Starting in a few weeks, my children will be in school. After 5 years I will no longer be a homeschool mom. I have mixed emotions about all of this. I am experiencing feelings of joy, happiness, elation, and excitement. Those are all emotions aren't they? My goodness, I am so excited. NO MORE PEOPLE AT HOME with ME!!!! YAY!!!! But for real, I really do have mixed emotions, the kind that will lead to dancing in the street and outbursts of random singing. August 24th is going to be a new page in the chapter of my life. In honor of back to school, how about a video (recommended by my friend Brick):

What's UP!

2009-07-13T21:33:00.004-05:00

Hey ALL!

I had a chance to go home last week to Birmingham (where I actually have a home). We went to check on our house because we got a call that we had no water in the house and that there was a bad smell through out the house. Ummmm....huh? My house isn't even three years old yet! That is not what you want to hear! The water problem was fixed easily, but we had to stay at a hotel the first night...bummer. But the funky smell was a WHOLE 'nother issue. I can't even begin to describe that mess. It was truly a mess. Let's just say I will be returning to B'ham in a few weeks to decide if a new fridge is in order. Even though my house is in B'ham, my home is where my family is. It felt foreign to be back in AL. We could not wait to get back to Florida.

I am taking my first scrapbooking/card making class EVER! I am taking a card making class at ScrapHappy on tomorrow night. I can't wait. This chick is doing the class and she is THE BOMB! She gets a ton of her stuff published and I want to know what she knows. I will post my cards tomorrow night after class.

I am about to become an Embossing Junkie. I want everything embossing. Make sure you check out the Thinking Inking videos by Two Peas In A Bucket. They are awesome. You can find them on YouTube.

Thanks for stopping by.

Recap

2009-07-02T07:55:00.002-05:00

I went to north Georgia last weekend and had a ball at the Scrapbook Cabin. The ladies that joined me had a ball. We scrapped, learned new techniques, and I finished my anniversary album from 2 years ago. I was so ready to finish the album that I nearly came unglued. Fortunately my friends stepped in and did my last 5 LOs. It changed my attitude completely. What I discovered on this trip was that I am never going to a FUN crop with goals! Never again. I want to use weekends like that to be creative and let my MOJO flow. Remember that, Girls. On weekend crops, allow yourself to enjoy being creative. Don't put pressure on yourself to do 100 LOs.

What I loved most about the weekend was that I spent time with my friends. We ate good and laughed all that weekend. The cabin was extremely nice. We put the Michael Jackson Tribute station on and danced brought back some of those 80's dances! (The cabin has Sirrus Radio and surround sound.) I am looking forward to next year. On our way home we stopped at Archiver's and I finally bought a Glimmer Mist and the new Basic Grey June Bug. I wanted to buy everything in that store. .....EVERYTHING!

Upon returning home I picked up MyGirl's best friend from Georgia. They have been best friend's for the last 4 years and I can see them hanging out the rest of their lives. Needless to say, I have been chauffeuring teenagers all week. Not to mention, MyGirl has Volleyball Camp at 7am every morning. We have been going to bed late and getting up REALLY early. No sleeping in this summer.

It's HOT!!!!

2009-06-20T16:08:00.003-05:00

Hey Foxes!

It is hot in Pensacola. But who am I to talk, it has to be hotter in South FL. My husband asked me did I want to go to the beach today and I had an immediate thought of me being baked. I opted not to go. Instead we went Father's Day shopping for my husband to no avail. I think we are just going to use the money and take him to lunch or dinner. My husband is hard to shop for. How do you shop for a person who doesn't want anything? Like nothing at all. Just sucks the fun right out doesn't it? I always have a list of things that I want. Anyway, I am going to make his favorite dessert. He loves Fruit Pizza. It is a wonderful summer dessert.

This week I did a few LO's for Scraphappy. Christy gave me a few assignments. She wanted me to do a Father's Day LO and a Graduation LO. Here they are:

Thanks for stopping by. Have a lovely weekend.
Holla' back,
FOX!

Summer is here

2009-06-17T08:58:00.004-05:00

Here is a page I completed yesterday. The pearls are from Opaline from Basic Grey and the butterflies are a Martha Stewart punch. I used my Fiskars punches for the the scalloped edges on the cream and teal paper. I like how clean and simple this layout is.

I plan on doing several pages this week. Next week I have to prepare to leave for my scrapbook weekend. I am going to finally finish the album I have been working on for 2 years. Looking forward to that.

Thanks for stopping by and taking a peek. Have a beautiful day.

Hey....

2009-06-14T20:50:00.004-05:00

School is finally over! We have been working so hard the last few weeks to get school done. I have been totally disciplined in not allowing my time to slip away. I usually can look at blogs and get totally swept up. But I am really going to enjoy the summer. I just had to get the schooling done! I am looking so forward to my weekend in the mountains with my girls in a few weeks. I need the break.

We had VBS this week at church. I was trying to avoid volunteering but it didn't work (not very Christian like was I?). I got roped in though. However, I had a blast. I was assigned to work with the Kindergarden and 1st grade. They were AWESOME! I enjoyed being there. We sang, we played, we had popscicles, we learned about Joseph and made some cool crafts!

Today is MyGirl's b-day. She is a whooping fourteen years old today, and look how goofy she can be. This is how she was entertaining us at dinner (don't tell her I put this pic out here). Is that not the most ridiculous thing you have ever seen? They want to be so grown and then do stuff like this. For her b-day she has had me cookin' all day. Her first favorite meal was chicken salad sandwiches. That was fine, but then for dinner I cooked fried chicken with barbecue glaze, hashbrown casserole and baked beans. It was all good, and I made them clean the kitchen.

Anyway, I will be scrapbookin' this week because I can...finally. Even though I have not scrapped in two weeks it did not keep me from shopping. I bought a new lace border punch, and picked up some supplies to work on LO's for Scraphappy. Plus, I have finally met two people at church who want to scrapbook or have just started the hobby. Yeah! I need some scrapbook buddies down here.

I have missed being out here in blogland. Thanks for stopping by!
-Fox

A layout

2009-05-30T14:43:00.002-05:00

Here is a LO I did for Scraphappy's Blog. Christy over at Scraphappy is allowing me to be on her Design Team. This is a big deal for me because I know I need to stretch more. Here is the LO that I included on that blog.

Have a good weekend.

My Weekend and some LO's

2009-05-25T08:37:00.005-05:00

Hey Everybody! Happy Memorial Day! We are about to drive over to Destin to the beach! YEAH! But I wanted to check in with you guys before we left.

My weekend was good. I had a surprise! My mom called last Monday and said they were coming in for the weekend. My mom, grandma and step-dad flew in on Friday and stayed until yesterday afternoon. My grandma will be 93 this year. She is so cute and funny! She likes to joke around and laugh. My mom is constantly moving. She was constantly sweeping or cleaning something, even the cobwebs on the OUTSIDE of the house! My step-dad has to be one of the most gentle and laid back men on the planet. We drove over to the beach but they just wanted to peak at the beach. They got out and walked to the end of the pier, looked at the water, turned around and got back in the car! That was enough for them! We had a good time with them here, and the kids loved their being here! My little one talked theirs heads off and just like grandparents do, they listened intently. My oldest tried to rat me out to my mother and it worked! Yeah, we are tough parents and I am NOT going to apologize for it. I do what I do 'cause I have to not because I want to. How is it that my mother used to take NO crap off me and then she became a grandmother and thinks I'm too hard? Grandparents! They are a trip! Gotta love 'em. Oh wait, I am know remembering my grandmother getting me out of a few tight spots with Mom......Grandparents rock!

Also, here are a few pics of some layouts I did for Scraphappy. The LOs are really simple and easy for anyone. I like how they turned out. My favorite part of this one is the pink tone in the photo. Yes, pink can work for guys!

On this one I really like the photo. It was taken in the "negative" format. It is my son jumping off my sofa onto my sofa cushions. He knows better, but he did it anyway! Then had the audacity to get his sisters to take pictures of him jumping off my sofa! But it made a cool layout (I was inspired by Haberdawoman). You can't tell from the photos but I used foil letters and foil paper.

Here are the other two LO's.

Can I get some help here please?

2009-05-20T21:39:00.004-05:00

Okay, my Peeps!

I am not one to air the dirty laundry ('cause mine is currently in the floor of my closet), but I told y'all I needed some advice. Here is my confession to blog land; my friends and family already know this about me:

I am a messy scrapbooker and I don't know how to stop! (see below) Most people have after pictures when they get it all clean....yeah....NO! There will be none of that here. Plea-a-a-s-s-se somebody help me! Did you notice the box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch on the table? I. Did. Not. Do. That! My kids are not helping me out here, but I can't blame this on them.

How do you keep it neat when you scrapbook? I can do one page and it look like a tornado came through. Do y'all have those friends who are neat scrapbookers? I do. I want to be like THEM! I can take up a table by myself at a crop. I look over at Renee who unfortunaetly is usually sharing said table with me (bless her heart), and the tiny spot that she has left is all orderly ....drives me nuts! She can't explain to me how she does it, she is just a neat person!

Come on NEAT scrapbookers, can you help a sister out with some PRACTICAL solutions? I need some Ex-Messy scrapbookers to let me know what their methods are to staying neat while scrapbooking.

See you later, Girls!

But Wait, There's More

2009-05-15T21:21:00.004-05:00

This is what I found on my door step today.
I saw the box and thought, "Chuck didn't tell me he ordered any books." (My husband loves to read.) I picked up the box and to my surprise, MY name was on the box. YEAH!!!! But who is it from? Where is it from? It said Scarlet Lime from Idaho on the return address. WHAT???

I tore the box open and look what was inside!
Yummy goodness!!! Yummy-wonderfulness!

Here area few of my favorite items from the kit.

Then I thought, but who would send me such a thoughtful, sweet gift? Who would send this to me while I am here in FL? I started calling and found out IT WAS FROM THE MOST WONDERFULEST SISTER LIKE EVER!!!!! My sister Michelle! (No, we really do have the same parents and everything.) She sent it too me! I was totally caught off guard. I asked her, "Why didn't you tell me?" She said, "I wanted to see how you would react if it was a surprise." How cool is that. (Sigh) Isn't she sweet. I am going to have to dedicate a blog entry to her, maybe next month because she has a birthday coming up. Maybe I'll include some photos of us from back in the day.

So, to my-most-wonderfulest sister-like-ever, I love you and thank you for my birthday gift. It was a true surprise and an amazing gift. You totally ROCK! Thanks for spoiling me!

Bye to all my blog-land friends. Thanks for reading, I'll see you guys tomorrow. I will be requesting some much needed scrapbooking advise from anybody willing to give it!

A Mini Album

2009-05-14T19:30:00.005-05:00

Hey Y'all!

Here is the mini album I was working on for Grandma Carolyn. She will be here Saturday, so my child will be able to give it to her in person. I think she is going to love it. I am not sure Grandma Carolyn knows too many people that scrapbook, so I think she is going to love it. There is one blank page that MyGirl is going to have to do the journaling. Mini albums are usually fun and I like to do them. It feels like you've accomplished something. The album and paper are gifts I received for my birthday last year (I told y'all I hold on to stuff). If you can tell, the paper coordinates with the album.

These are my favorite pages. I got this idea from an Elsie recipe card, and it works for me!

Okay, in this last picture I actually sewed that stitch on myself. If you know me you know I can't sew. But I ain't gon' lie, Y'all; I did the stitch, threaded the machine, and the bobbin by myself! It ain't perfect but I did it....I did. Maybe next time the stitch will actually make it on the cardstock, but WHATEVER! I sewed.

Thanks for stopping bye and have a wonderful evening and a beautiful day!

Holla'!

Hey, Hey, Hey!

2009-05-13T20:41:00.004-05:00

Okay, when was the last time y'all have seen What's Happening? Dude, I was telling my kids about ReRun and they looked at me and said, "Who?" How can you not know ReRun. So I had to take them out to You Tube to see a little bit of What's Happening? I am cracking up just thinking about it! That is when T.V. was good and parents didn't have to fear jail for handling their kids! Gotta love it.

Check it out:

The Party is Finally Over....

2009-05-12T13:34:00.003-05:00

...sort of! This weekend was a BAWL!!!! Y'all Renee came down to visit me and let's just say we enjoyed ourselves. It took me all of Sunday and Monday to recuperate from staying up late. She arrived Thursday evening around 7:30 and by 8:30 that evening we were off to Maurice's, TJ Maxx and Target! Renee got this AWESOME black dress, it is sooooo fly y'all. She looked amazing in it! She better take a pic in it and I'll post it. If they had it my size I would have gotten one and then acted senial when my husband saw the charges! It was that kind of dress! Anyway, we returned home and started scrapbooking and talking...that lasted 'til 4 am. Not to mention that Renee gave me my birthday gifts. Check it out.

That's right, she got me another Vera Bradley purse with matching wallet. (She got me a fly pink back pack by Vera Bradley at Christmas.)

She also got me these Tim Holtz Stamps that are so off the hook, and the best white opaque stamping ink that I have ever seen. Plus, she knows I am trying to amp-up my makeup game, so she got me a ULTA gift card, too. Renee is like the best gift giver on the planet...like EVER! She totally rocks all the way around. Too bad for you guys that you can't have her be your friend, too. She is so fun and funny. I love my friend lots and lots! I think my husband's gift-giving has come up since having her as my friend...I think he tries to "out gift" her (which is really a challenge). I just "hate" to be in the middle of such gift-giving competition. Poor me.... hee-hee-hee!

Friday morning after 2 hours of sleep I got my oldest up and off to school and then tried to rest...that was useless. By 11am Renee and I were off to ScrapHappy in Pensacola to pick up a few goodies.
I also swung by Hobby Lobby and picked up a set of Elsie stamps on clearance. I love clearance, don't you? We scrapbooked til midnight. By then I was literally sick from being so tired.

Saturday we were off to the beach by 11am and Renee and I laid on that beautiful beach until 4pm. It was wonderful. Just me, Renee, my iPod and the ocean (plus some snacks). It was nice to hang out with just my gal pal. No husbands, no kids. Plus, I actually did not have on a sweater this time. It was a warm 87 degrees with blue skies. I am sure I am 3 shades darker--gotta love that!

After the beach we came home, got dressed up and went to dinner and a movie. We saw Ghosts of Girlfriends Past...save your money on that one girls. Can you say LAME!? Ugh. Anyway, dinner was nice, we ate at Skopelos on the Bay. The stinky part is that I have no pictures of my weekend. What kind of scrapper am I? There was just too much fun to be had to fiddle with a camera!

Well ladies, my birthday party will be over for sure this weekend when I get a massage at the spa and go spend my ULTA gift card. Yep, the party will be over for sure. Yet, I still look forward to my scrapbook weekend at the end of June. We are going here for some fun.

Thanks for looking ladies and have a wonderful day. See ya' tomorrow! I promise that my blog slacking is over!

Sorry Y'all

2009-05-04T08:38:00.004-05:00

Hey everybody! I am so sorry I have not blogged in a while. See what had happened was....I have been celebrating my birthday for the past four days. This has been a wonderful b-day. My love language is gifts and my husband was speaking my language. I have a few pics to kind of give you a few ideas of how the last four days have gone. Thursday morning they surprised me with one of these:Plus a gift certificate to the SPA. Chuck had already made the appointment for me and everything.

That evening: Chuck and I went to a little restaurant. It was quaint and the food was good. Our picture is dorky but I love it. I forgot to widen the lens to get our entire faces.Friday, he came home early and took me shopping. Our whole family went and here are just a few of my goodies:

My first pair of skinny jeans, my 13 year old thought I should try them. I did. I love how they look on me. I gotta have a beach hat and this is my favorite kind.I made out like a bandit. I ended up with a dress, four pairs of pants, six shirts, 2 pairs of earrings, an itunes card and my hat. Love my hat.

Saturday, I was treated to the SPA, and I received a card from my DADDY with CASH!! Thanks Dad! We also took the kids to a roller skating birthday party for one of their friends. Yeah, my man tried to get on skates...that was funny.

Sunday after church we went to the beach for the afternoon. It was 80 degrees and I was still cold. It is so windy out there. I still enjoyed it though. The kids played and Chuck and I took turns dozing off. We came home, made dinner and then my son took me on a date to see Wolverine: X-Men Origins. It was good! I love action movies and I am such a MARVEL kind of girl anyway.

Needless to say my family really made me feel special. They were so sweet to me. What's crazy is that I got no scrapbook stuff. Nothing...nada, and I don't even care. I had such a wonderful time with my family. Here are the "cards" my babies made me.

But wait, there's more. This weekend coming up my sweet friend Renee is coming for a visit. We are going to have a ball. So for a total of 7 days it's all about me. Gotta love that.

See y'all later. Thanks for stopping by and sorry for being such a blog slacker!

A My Girl Layout

2009-04-24T10:24:00.005-05:00

Below is a LO of my oldest. She is so....her! I am NEVER at a loss to describe her. She is hilariously funny, and she thinks she's her own ruler....that is not a good thing yet...one day it will be...but not yet. Anyway, I wanted to do a LO of her, something simple and colorful.

My sister is the one who started calling her "Yo' Girl". My Girl is soooo much like me...a straight trip! Ugh, I love this kid! You just have to know her to get the fullness. She has this hold on my heart that I cannot explain. I can't wait to see what kind of woman she will be.

I took these pictures of her to do an album for Grandma Carolyn for Mother's Day. I used Sassafras paper which is one of my favorites, however, I have a tendency to hold the papers I really like and not use them up right away. You ladies in blog-land are inspiring me to want to do differently. You guys always create with the coolest stuff! Anyway, enough chit-chat, here is the layout. (click on it if you want to see it bigger)

Have an amazing weekend, and thanks for taking a look. Hopefully I will scrap this weekend and have something to post.
C-ya!

I took the BASB challenge

2009-04-22T11:53:00.004-05:00

Haberdawoman gave a shout out to a challenge on her blog the other day, so I went here and decided to give it a try. It sounded really fun! It will make you want to create!

Here is my layout:

Something Old: The yellow Felt Fusion by Queen & Co.

Something New: Cosmo Cricket Paper-Girl Friday; I also tried a new technique of tracing and painting (the little bumble bee) with an Exacto knife and Making memories paint that gave the bee a 3-D effect.

Something Borrowed: My baby girl's little fingers for finger print birds. (See below)

Something Blue: Blue ink for the flower and the finger print birds.

I like the way it turned out. The journaling says: Elizabeth decided to pick a flower and smell it. Little did she know that she would have pollen under her nose.

Thanks for looking. Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Three Things

2009-04-21T07:58:00.003-05:00

I wanted to share with you all three new things that I am doing.

#1. I joined Toastmasters recently at the prompting of my husband. He's been doing it for 2 years and I have had to listen to my share of speeches. However, last night was my first speech. We loaded up the kids and off we went. They watched me deliver my first speech and my husband said he was so proud of me. He was grinning at me the whole time, and I felt like he was proud of me.When it was over I received really good feedback. I felt like I did a good job. Here are some pics of me before my speech (I was not that nervous) and during. Can't you just imagine what I am saying! My speech was in Introductory/Ice breaker Speech.

#2. I ran my first 1.75 miles yesterday. You have to understand, I have never run 1.75 miles....like EVER! I've walked more but never ran. So this is a big deal to me. I have never understood people who run for fun, but I want to be one.

#3. My husband and I started the Love Dare. A guy he knows was raving about how wonderful it has been, so my Sweetie thought we should do it, too. It must be really good for guys to want to do it and encourage each other to try it out. We have a strong marriage and I love me some Chuck, but who couldn't go from great to GREATER? Don't you know the first day was on patience. They need to make a Love Dare for Parents!! That is definitely where I need some patience!

Anyway, thanks for stopping by. I will have some scrap stuff this week I promise. I am working on a mini album and I will post pics soon. Have a WONDERFUL day!

Our Layouts Revealed

2009-04-15T22:55:00.004-05:00

Okay! Here are the layouts to the "What I Say in a Day" challenge. We had a few ladies miss out this time, but that is what life is all about. We have these plans to scrapbook and it just ain't happenin'! We have LIVES to live, so that we have something to scrapbook. So if you missed this go around don't sweat it. Brick and I are holding it down until next time.

Let me tell y'all how much I love Brick's layout! As always, there is such rich color. I read her journaling and it was HILARIOUS!!!! Check it out. I think you can click on it to make it bigger. I love the title and how she used "start" and "end".

Now here is my layout. I like it. I used the Tim Holtz Fragments to make these squares and rectangles. The paper, chipboard and brads are from the Basic Grey Boxer line. I bought this line late last year but never used it. I like how it turned out. My journaling is small because I say some smart aleck stuff! On this LO I added the pics of me because when I say something I am usually making a facial expression as well. The two have to go together. My child could look at each of the pictures and tell me what I would say. Yep, I am a wee bit animated.

Sorry to be posting so late. Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful night.

Easter Layout and photos

2009-04-14T20:16:00.002-05:00

Quick reminder: If you want to join us for the challenge on tomorrow please see the older post from April 1st. The theme is "What do you say in a day?" Email me your layout and I will add it tomorrow.

Now, here are some Easter pictures of my family and an Easter layout. It is very simple.

See ya later. Check back tomorrow to see all the layouts from the challenge.

I did it!

2009-04-09T20:58:00.002-05:00

Hey everybody. I am back in FL! I had a good time at home. I got to see my girl Brick!!! While I was at home I was inspired by a friend of mine to start running.....again. I tried it last year and made it to a mile and got- shall we say- distracted. The truth is that I want to run. Deep down inside me is a runner. I just keep tripping her up and feeding her Reese Cups and Dr. Pepper. However, I am approaching the mid-30's and I need to do something. So my sweet friend printed me out a novice training schedule for a 5k, and handed it to me with 2 Runner's Magazines. AND tonight my man and I went to the track and I ran my first 1.5 miles. I made it and I did not die like I thought I would! Yeah Me! I'll be back out there on Saturday. In 8 weeks I will be able to run 3 miles. You guys need to hold me accountable.

Anyway, I will be scrappin' this weekend, let's see what I can come up with.

One more thing, have any of you heard of Copic Pens? Really cool. Word on the street is that these pens are professional grade for fashion designers, architects, etc. Supposedly they do not run, bleed or streak. Saw them at Scrapbook Mania in AL. Gotta get more info and then pick up a few of these babies. Copic even has certification for scrappers and stampers. Be sure to really look through their site. Very cool!!!!

Going home for a few days

2009-04-06T12:01:00.002-05:00

Hey Ladies! I just wanted to let you all know that I am going home to Alabama for a few days. I will not have access to the Internet until Thursday evening when I return to Florida. I will have to catch up on reading everyone's blogs then. No Internet for three days...yikes! The bright side is that I get to visit some of my friends back home, go to Wednesday Night service at Mountaintop, eat Milo's, and do a lot of reading.

Have a good week. Talk to you Thursday Night!

A Simple Layout

2009-04-05T13:45:00.003-05:00

Hey Y'all, here is a simple layout from the cruise. I wanted to do something quick that could encompass our vacation and not take up a lot of time or space. I printed these tiny pics on my Epson PictureMate Dash. It is a compact printer that can go to crops with me. I am loving this printer more and more. I used rub-ons to number each photo so that I could correspond them with the journaling. For "2009" I traced the numbers from chipboard numbers and then painted them in with a Making Memories paint. The cloud is from Sassafras cardstock stickers. But the foam stickers forming the title are from the $1 bin at Target. Hey, we all need to learn to scrap for LESS these days!

New Challenge and a few Layouts

2009-04-01T12:12:00.007-05:00

Hey everybody! Here is a new challenge for all us regular scrappers.

The Challenge: What do you say in a day?

We want you to take note of the things you catch yourself saying in a day and scrapbook it. You may look back on it in a few years and not believe some of the things you say. The deadline is April 15th (tax day). Just email me your layout and I will include it here!

****I am posting two layouts I did for a local scrapbook store called Scraphappy. The owner allowed me to do two layouts using Kimberly Poloson paper by Fiskars and an older Imaginisce paper called Now and Forever. I would not have chosen these papers for myself and I struggled to make a layout for both. I mean really struggled...frustrated struggled. I think I just really wanted to do a good job because this was the first time I ever did a layout for a store. I want to grow in this area. Anyway, I found some layouts online that I used to help me. Here are the results:

This layout I got from Sasha. She is awesome! I love her layouts so I used one. I used the Imaginisce paper on this one.

The layout I used here was featured on http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/ yesterday so I borrowed it, too.

2009-03-28T10:54:00.002-05:00

Good day! Brick here again. I noticed that our friend Chuxfox only has 4... look at the list...4 people following her blog. Now I'm pretty sure that there are more than 4 of us signed up to follow Me, Myself and.....Them (BTW my user name is Bean-Counter, Brick is what my husband refers to me as- short for Brick House...lol).

Most bloggers have blogs to communicate to anyone whose part of the blogging community, but in order for them to communicate more effectively to potential bloggers and blog readers, they've got to have Followers. So come on people!- sign up as a F0llower on Me, Myself and.....Them. If your Followers (provided you are blogging) see who you are following then that will drive more traffic to the followees blog and they will get more Followers. Dig it?!

I'M BACK!!!!!

2009-03-28T10:41:00.005-05:00

Hey everybody! I am back from my sail of the high seas. It was an adventure. But first I have to thank my girl Brick for blog-sitting for me. Thanks Girl!

Now on to business. I am home and tired. Who knew you could drive for 11 hours in the same state? Florida is too long in two directions. We drove to Miami from West Florida with our three kids. That was cool because they are so used to riding on long trips. But the drive home was rough. It rained for 270 miles of out trip! But that was the only low of our trip.

For spring break we took a short Western Caribbean cruise to Key West and Cozumel. We had a ball. We cruised Carnival and all slept in the same cabin. That's right, five people in one cabin, and an inside cabin at that. Whew! It was tight, but it was managed chaos! Kids had a ball in Camp Carnival and Circle C. We took a great excursion in Cozumel called, "Isla Pasion by Twister". This is where we took a speed boat out to a private beach and on the way the boat did 360's in the water. We were soaking wet and screaming our heads off! Way too much FUN!

Anyway, we love cruises because you get a lot for your money. Not to mention it is one place where you can meet people from all over the world. We loved our table mates, a beautiful Puerto Rican family that was so sweet and a perfect fit to our family. Not to mention they were devout Christians so there was no shinanigans at our table. The mom said she prayed to have good people at their table and the Lord answered her prayers. How sweet is that! Cruises are awesome, you see the beauty of all the different people and nationalities. We met a really neat couple from Canada that didn't know where Alabama was. I thought that was so neat because we didn't know exactly where Toronto was either! But I knew it was in Ontario! We asked them if they were considered African-Candians like we say African-American here in the states and she said yes. Who knew?

There was one down point but I won't mention the details here. It involved domestic violence, and it was a sad thing to witness. We were very glad to see security and passengers immediately step in and assist. As women we have got to get wise and make good healthy choices in regards to relationships.

Lisa Bearnson on QVC today!

2009-03-25T07:21:00.002-05:00

Good day creative scrapbooking and paper crafting friends! Brick here. Lisa Bearnson from Creative Keepsakes will be showcasing new and exciting items today from 1-3 ET on QVC. I so look forward to when Lisa is on QVC, but I have to admit, I rarely buy anything...I love to watch to see what's new on the market and to learn new techniques. Don't be bummed if you're not at home to catch it on TV because you can watch it live on QVC.com... No, I'm not condoning you to watch it while you're at work!

After while Crocodile!

Sailing the High Seas

2009-03-24T06:30:00.002-05:00

Good day ladies! My name is Brick and I am a guest blogger this week while our talented friend Chuxfox is cruising the Caribbean with her family during their Spring Break. Being the guest blogger this week reminds me of housesitting for your neighbor- you make sure that the house looks somewhat lived in while the family is away to deter others who may be interested in seeing what's in your home and taking it with them by way of a getaway car. My job this week is to make sure that you faithful followers of Me, Myself and.... Them are provided with blog posts so you won't get that neglected feeling... so I guess you can say that I am "blogsitting". Although there's nothing to physically to take from a blog, I'm sure that Chuxfox hopes you can always leave with the inspiration to be creative in your craft or with a chuckle of the things that she shares about her daily life or encouraged and challenged to go deeper in the Word of God.

Later alligator!

A little something

2009-03-17T15:10:00.002-05:00

I saw this challenge on If the Shoe fits...Scrap It. Here is my attempt at an Artistic Trading Card challenge. Check out their blog for some neat ideas.

It's Green!

2009-03-16T07:32:00.003-05:00

Hey everybody! Here are the layouts to our Green Challenge. I must say that these lady's have done a great job. I am getting so much inspiration from so many of you. I want to learn to do the layered looks and how to put all these funky colors together. Check this layout out, it is by Haberdawoman. Don't you love it! Check out her blog because she did not just do one layout but TWO! What is really neat is that the layouts look completely different. You are going to love her blog.

This is Brick's latest layout and I love the grid look. She used flowers, flair, felt, stamping, bling and beautiful photos. I am totally stealing the grid, because I am a scraplifter! Brick, when did you get them brown Thickers?

Here is my girl Renee's layout. I will be lifting the "How Silly are you Meter". Her photos are perfect. Look at all the shades of green she incorporated. Check out all the different stamps on this page.

Lastly, here is my layout. Um, my butterfly has a few issues. See what had happened was, I tried to get all fancy with the some white paint after I had dropped a big blob of it on my page on accident. Then I tried to make it all fancy (that did not work). So I tried to go over it with black paint. It's a mess, but it is what it is. Other than that I liked it. My family won't even notice but I knew y'all would. Scrapbookers!

Thank you ladies for participating! I hope you guys come back! I promise next time I will produce perfection. This was fun and we will do it again next month. Also, if you are into that layering thing, can you please school me? I am trying to get there.

Bye my peeps!

Challege Reveal on Monday Morning

2009-03-15T22:27:00.003-05:00

Hey everybody. I am going to post our layouts in the morning from our green challenge. I can't wait. I would do it tonight but I am blurry-eyed because I am sooo tired. We went to a wedding this weekend (in Georgia) and my husband was breaking his neck to be back in town for church this morning. A brother is not going to miss church for NOTHING!!! Blinding rain and a 5 hour drive was not stopping him. I love it though, a brother is faithful.

Anyway, my layout is done and I think it is cute; I have seen a few of my girls' layouts and they are ALL THAT! Come back and give it a look in the morning.

This is not right....

2009-03-13T22:37:00.003-05:00

My husband is the proud new owner of a Digital SLR. Yep, you heard me right. This puppy is not mine. Don't seem right does it? I have been well informed that this is "his new toy". This is kind of messed up because I have been wanting a Canon Rebel xsi for about two years. He bought the XS, but still. It is a great beginner camera. He told me I will be "allowed" to use it. I think this brother is going to be in for a huge surprise. I bet he'll share with me after he's been in charge of taking pictures of all my layouts for a few months. What husband wants to do that?! Hee-hee-hee, I'll see if my "evil" plan works! Either way.... some how...some way, his new toy is going to be my new toy.

I love you, Baby, but we have to share the camera. This is just not right!

Don't Forget

2009-03-12T15:38:00.004-05:00

Hey ladies. Don't forget that the 15th is when we are doing our green challenge. Do a layout using the color green in any shape, fashion or form. Doesn't matter how you chose to use green whether it be paper, embellishments or photos. Get a photo of your layout and send it to me via email. My email is in the sidebar. This is open for anybody and I know a lot of us are just regular scrappers who may like to share their work. Get it to me by Sunday the 15th and I will get it out here that night or Monday morning.

Take care.

I'm back

2009-03-11T09:51:00.003-05:00

I had a busy few days. I went to a baby shower that was really nice. My girl Renee hosted a fabulous shower. Have you ever attended a baby shower that instead of games you scrapbooked? That was a task because every body does not scrapbook, and do NOT like the idea of being "coerced" into it. All in all we had a good time and their layouts came out pretty nicely. However, it would be just like me not to take pics of the layouts, duh!

You could tell Renee spent hours and hours preparing and made some really neat items. She decorated everything so nicely. She is a scrapbooker and I swear she is an amateur chef. She had so many little things that were just the right touch. She made the banner below using the Cricut for the letters. She made party favors, and name tags..

She did an amazing job on all the extras. She made these flowers and vases. Some of them were made of folded paper or painted wood in shower colors. My photos aren't the best but you get the idea. Y'all should have seen me looking at how she did everything, I am totally going to steal her ideas.
I did not get pics of the food but WOW! Everything was so good. Everything tasted GOURMET, and I ain't lying either. Renee even made place cards for the food. The menu was ridiculously good!!! I was so un-classy by making sure I went home with some of the food goodies. I was classy enough not to pack a plate myself, Renee did it for me! What? She wasn't going to eat all of those left overs! Plus, nobody saw me. And that food was good on my 5 hour ride back home, for real.

DUDE, for real?

2009-03-05T00:05:00.002-06:00

That is the kind of day I had today. It is late, I am looking over some things and I needed to update blog land. I have so many thoughts going through my head I can't even articulate. I can imagine it would be so easy to fall into the trap of bearing my soul to the whole wide world on the web but I have discovered only about 5 people care anyway so why bother.

I am tired of gloom and doom in the news. We made this mess America, and like God told Job, "Brace yourself like a man." (totally out of context) It is time to man up people.

Heck, I need to man up. For real!

You know, we are all searching for answers to this, that, and the other, but I am beginning to think that there are very few answers. At least there are very few answers to raising teen age girls except one that goes like this, "Please Lord, help me so that I don't go to jail for knocking this kids block OFF!" Some of y'all know what I am talking about. Count to ten? Please. We need to teach our children to count to ten. Like, count ten steps away from yo' mama before you say something smart. Count to ten before you decide to pop your brother upside his head. Count to ten before you decide to roll your eyes at me. We need to teach them people to count to ten! Count to ten...please. 10 ain't enough. Who picked 10? Depending on what they have done I might need to count to 4 hundred and 10. If you want to help us parents, tell us to run some laps, do some push ups and chin-ups, or something! I swear I'd be the finest mama ever.

Yep, I think I have just invented the next exercise fad.

Anyway, I need to simmer down. I was about to get on a roll.

Good Night Girls. Y'all ponder that.

New Challenge - GREEN

2009-03-01T19:39:00.003-06:00

Okay, for all us regular scrapbookers here comes a small challenge if you would like to participate. Brick and I are doing a layout using the color green in recognition of St.Patrick's Day. Just use green in anyway you want on your layout and email it to me. You can make it all green, or use green embellishments. You can use any shade of green you want: lime, forrest, emerald, asparagus, jade, kelly, moss, olive, you get the point. Pick whatever you like. I think I saw this challenge in Creating Keepsakes March '09 issue and thought it would be fun to try. The deadline is Sunday, March 15th at 5pm. My email is listed in the side bar. I will post the layouts here so we can admire each others creativity. I have told you all before that I am totally a scrap-lifter, so if your layouts are fabulous I am going to want to try it out. If Brick and I are the only ones who participate that's fine, but if you want to share your work with us go right ahead.

That's it ladies. Hope the start of your week is great.

Flair Challenge

2009-02-27T17:52:00.003-06:00

Here are the pics from the Flair challenge between me and Brick. I love her page and her pic. It was lots of fun. Maybe next time we can get some friends to join us.

Shout out to My Girl, Brick

2009-02-26T13:13:00.003-06:00

My dear friend Brick and I have started a little challenge amongst ourselves using Flair. No, not the kind on facebook, but the kind by American Crafts for scrapbooking. I have been talking smack for a week and a half about my page being fly. How 'bout I forgot about the challenge and she had to remind me on yesterday morning. Anyway, I have laid out my page but have yet to adhere any of it. I love how it is turning out. Our challenge is over tomorrow at 5pm. I will post both of our pages so you guys can see how we sharpen one another.

Also about my dear friend, she is so classy and lady like. When we moved from GA to AL a few years ago, I cried like a baby for 4 months because I did not want to leave the safety of what and who I knew. God being His loving self heard my pitiful little prayers, "Please God send me a friend in Birmingham (by the way, who moves to Birmingham, AL)." Anyway, there she was at this wonderful church we found. She is the answer to prayer. I love her, she is one of my many role models. Did I mention she is fly, too? That sista' can rock some styles. She has that Proverbs 31 thing down. Plus, she loves me just the way I am, doesn't judge me, encourages me, and laughs at my jokes. What else can you ask for in a friend. I miss you, Girl!!!

Side Note: I ended up loving B'ham!

Hey, I think I am going to do this shout out thing more often. I love My Girls, and they better not get mad when they end up on my blog either! Don't forget to check back tomorrow and see our layouts. Holla' back!

The good things

2009-02-24T15:36:00.005-06:00

Okay, I can be spoiled, thanks to Mr.Davis who does a pretty good job at accommodating my Diva side (bless his heart). But there are little things in life that just make me smile. Friday, I went by my local scrap book store and found out she was going out of business. I was so sad, but the bright side is that I was able to get Technique Tuesday stamps for $10 and one for $4. Hello, I am saying three sets of alphabets for $24 dollars total! Dude! I am not sure how old these are but who cares. I checked out Big Lots today and I was able to get some rub-ons and chipboard for $2. Who doesn't love a bargain?

The other small thing is that we were able to meet my man for lunch today. Being a homeschool mom I must say it is such a treat to get OUT of the house for something other than grocery shopping. It was nice to just go to Arby's and have a Bacon Cheddar Melt meal. It was just nice. Plus, remember my mantra - "Everything is better with bacon." I didn't want to tell him bye when he went back to work. Pretty pitiful, huh?

Later girls!

Can you say BOGO?

2009-02-23T19:07:00.002-06:00

Okay, not sure I have shared with you all about my new fascination with makeup. I went 34 years with little to no makeup. I want to wear it, but sometimes I think what is the use? I slather my face with all that stuff and I still look like....well me. At some point aren't you suppose to look flawless. I am hoping to find the flawless look eventually. Who knew makeup was so very expensive? I am going to have to stick with the drug store brand until I can make a small fortune for the department store stuff. Who knew you had to have these fancy brushes to apply all that stuff. Who knew you needed to wash, clarify, moisturize, prime, apply foundation, apply eye shadow foundation, extend your eyebrows, add shadow, apply lip liner, lipstick and a gloss. No wonder I don't do this everyday. It is a whole lot of effort. However, considering age is not just a number....I am going to learn how to put this stuff on and wear it well.

Anyway, if anyone is interested, my favorite drug store makeup is HIP by L'oreal and it is on BOGO (buy one get one free) at Walgreens. Gotta love a BOGO. Issues........

Valentine's Day

2009-02-14T21:35:00.005-06:00

Okay, I was wondering what today would be like and it was really nice. My sweet babies gave me a homemade cards . Talk about cute. We had breakfast together. We made pancakes, sausage, eggs and hash browns. My husband gave me a card first thing this morning. No gifts, but I had a nice late lunch with him. We had lunch at Macaroni Grill and it was great. Just us, no kids. I tried to get all gussied up for him. Check out the pics of our date. Okay, how about I ate my dessert so fast I didn't remember to take a pic of it. It was Lemon Passion, a citrus cake soaked in something, with lemon icing and topped with whipped cream. Yep, that was good.

After we got home, I gave Miss America a photo book from shutterfly. It came out great! I'll put pics out later. Ladies, these make quick gifts if you don't have the time to do an album. She totally loved it. Also, I took Boy Wonder and Little Bit out for new tennis shoes. Everybody is happy.

I Really Do Scrapbook

2009-02-13T22:02:00.004-06:00

Ok ladies, I really do scrapbook. You can't tell by this blog. I am going to try and figure out how to add Slide on tomorrow. Anyway, in light of Valentine's Day I made some simple cards for Miss America (my oldest daughter) to take to school. I am sure I will get a card and after that who knows. Mr. Davis is getting better at pickin' out gifts for me. I'll post and let y'all know tomorrow. I am totally a gifts person. Nothing says lovin' like a PRESENT. Okay, that is one of my mantras. Another one is: Everything is better with bacon! Turkey bacon does not count. I think I am going to blog all my mantras one day. That would be fun.

Happy Valentine's Day everybody.

Dinner and a Show

2009-02-12T22:43:00.006-06:00

Tonight after dinner Little Bit and Boy Wonder (that would be my two youngest children) gave us a puppet show. They made these puppets at the library today and it was so much fun. We saw a puppet show there too. Who knew it would be that exciting? I'm thinking that making puppets could be right up my alley. I need to find a book to see what kinds we can make. The really cool part was when we came home, they went and wrote a play and practiced it. The play had a king, a princess, a prince, and a bad guy who kidnapped the princess. They performed it with a lot of "oh wait's" and "hold on's". Little Bit could not remember her lines, too funny. They set up using a comforter and the kitchen table. Their play turned out to be very imaginative. Check out these pretty sappy puppets.

Being a Mother....

2009-02-10T21:00:00.004-06:00

...means that you have to do the hard things. It wasn't hard for me to make the decision to defend my girl. (When y'all get to know me you will understand that I refer to my oldest as 'my girl', because she is very much like her mama. I also refer to her as Miss America 'cause she thinks she is so fly...she is.) Anyway, she gets into the car after school today and usually she says I had a great day. She is at a new school and I have heard only good things about this school. She is really enjoying it, but today she told me she cried in 5th period. HUH? Say What? She told me that some boys were making some inappropriate comments to her in relation to the color of her skin. Of course being the momma that I am, I was like okay, I bet it won't happen again. She was so upset at me because I made her come clean with the information. She is so much like me in that she doesn't want to rock the boat. However, sometimes you just have to call wrong wrong. As a mother, sometimes the hard thing is trying to convince your child that you are not betraying them but instead parenting them. If they still don't get it....SO! I still have to BE the parent. I am not going to lie, I hated to see her so upset at me for stepping in. I have watched all kinds of madness unfold around her, and watched her learn how to handle it. This time.....this time was enough.

I am getting on the random ramblings train

2009-02-09T16:31:00.004-06:00

I noticed some bloggers just ramble. I thought I'd try it.
Here goes:

I have not posted a thing in over a week.
I don't need to turn on the computer until our school work is done.
The computer can suck me in for hours!
I need to plan a vacation.
I am looking forward to spending time with friends in March.
I hate when we make bad choices, including me. Regret is not fun.
Reading is fundamental.
I love my daddy.
I am currently talking to my best friend, Tracy.
My youngest just gave me a Valentine's card.
She spelled Valentine's - vallen times. How cute is that!
I want to see Madea goes to Jail on the 20th. Not sure Mr. Davis will take me.
I found a girl from high school to do my hair in FL. We went to high school in Georgia.
I love facebook.

My stuff is here!

2009-01-23T21:09:00.003-06:00

Here are a few pics of my scrapping necessities. My sweet man brought my stuff last night but it was so late we did not feel like unpacking it all. I am glad to have it here. But I kind of neglected to tell the brother to pack my albums (just why?). So there will be no pics of my past work for a while longer. I am so eager to share. However, I am doing a little book for my sister in law. I hope to have it done and sent to her for Valentine's and I'll upload those pics. It is not Valentine's themed, it's just a little treat I thought she'd like.

Anyway, I have absolutely no storage for the stuff I brought. I need some tables and other little things to try and organize. I brought only the things that were essential and it is going to have to do.

Blogs, blogs and more blogs!

2009-01-22T22:10:00.004-06:00

I must be stopped. Have you guys been to Top Scrapbooking Blogs website? Can you say hours and hours of fun! Mr. Davis is on his way home with my scrap stuff....yea!!!!...and the kids are asleep....and the kitchen is tidy...and I am on the Internet reading Scrap Blogs. How fun!

I have no pics to add today because I have not charged any batteries and I have not bought any batteries for the three point and shoot cameras we have. That is a whole 'nother story right there! I am really wanting a DSLR. Ask me why? My answer: 'Cause everybody else has one. Now, if my kids said that to me they know they would have earned a first class ticket to this response, "If everybody else is jumping off a bridge, are you going to jump, too?" Y'all know all mothers pull that on their kids. Oh, and if you are one of those mothers who think you have it all together, I bet your kids are still at the age where you think they're cute. (I think my children are beautiful, but the cute factor has worn off). I am here to tell you: a real, live breathing child over the age of 2 months will break you off a little something, and usually it is your nerves and a piece of patience...just broke off! Are they still a blessing and a gift from the Lord? Absolutely. But they will still break you all the way down...to a crying, babbling idiot, hiding in your closet on the phone with your sister as she tries to console you to some level of normalcy...oh wait, maybe that is just me.

Anyway, check out the Top Scrapbooking Blogs site and see if you can learn something new. Let me know if you find something cool.

Wait, one more thing. You can now leave comments. Okay, a sister didn't know how to hook that up correctly until today.

A ride to the Gulf

2009-01-20T13:53:00.004-06:00

We took a ride to the Gulf. Just exploring the new territory we will call home for a while. SIDE NOTE: We stopped at Ulta and I used a Friends and Family coupon that saved me $7. Plus, they had a BOGO sale on L'oreal. I love Loreal's HIP products. I am getting older and I want to learn to use make-up. I am trying to be cute for as long as I can...okay! Anyway, we stopped at the beach. It was just wrong to have to wear a coat, but it was 47 degrees. Please checkout the sand "snowman" we found. Yep, it was cold. Too cold. And yes my son has on a girl coat. He and his big sister traded because she wanted his hood. He is always a gentlemen...sometimes gross...but a gentlemen no doubt.

The first pic is special. My oldest daughter and I have been taking a photo like this since she was 1. We are always facing the ocean. Now she is taller than me. One day I am going to put all of the photos we have taken like this together. They are truly special to me.

A Home Away From Home

2009-01-18T14:37:00.002-06:00

It's official. I am now a Floridian, at least for the next 12 months. I had to leave all of my scrap stuff behind for a whole 10 days. It would not fit in the van. My sweet husband is going to bring it to me, and then I will let the fun begin. It was a hard decision....bring my scrap stuff or our clothes. Okay, that was a joke, but it was still no fun to leave it all behind...especially my new Epson PictureMate (that I begged for like a toddler on the candy aisle).

I am so glad to all be back together again after 4 months of my hubby working out of town. However, I realized in this transition that change does not come easy for me. I don't like it that much. I am hoping that I will learn to trust God with the changes in my life. I am not going to lie, moving rocked my world. It took me a minute to "man-up". Actually I didn't "man-up" at all. I think the Lord dragged me until I listened to Him more than myself.

So we are here and my STUFF is not! I have 5 more days to go. I am putting up a picture of my scrap space away from home and my home away from home.

PageMaps

2009-01-05T19:22:00.003-06:00

Was I the only one who knew nothing about PageMaps? I told y'all I was a scraplifter so BAM! there they were all this time....PageMaps. Love them. I printed out both 2007 and 2008 layouts. I am going to use every single one. If you did not know about PageMaps, check out this link: www.pagemaps.com .

Well, I better get going. Got company coming and my house needs to get "company ready" if you know what I mean. Yeah, you know what I mean, don't act....

Happy New Year

2009-01-01T18:01:00.002-06:00

I had a ball last night and we brought in the new year with the best church small group ever! We had a good time, played a few games, but the dance off had to be my favorite part. The food was great, and the fellowship was amazing.

Today was a day to enjoy the family. We did nothing but relax. I didn't even cook. We are having leftovers. I think I will end the day with a little scrapbooking.

Happy New Year everybody, I am looking forward to a new year with lots of new adventures.

Three Days and One Layout

2008-12-30T21:53:00.002-06:00

I have no MOJO. I was supposed to spend a few days scrapping with my good friend over the holidays and I just could not do it. I drank a cup of Starbucks French Roast Extra Bold coffee...I then laid my head down on the table and went to sleep. Yep, my pal left me there while she scrapbooked. I had a crook in my neck needless to say. Can you say tired? However, I scraplifted a page from Elsie's Recipe Box by the end of the weekend and I love it. I will put a photo out here one day. I like the way it turned out.

Nevertheless, I did not waste my entire weekend because I went to a 40% off sale at my local scrapbook store. We bought some wonderful goodies. YEAH ME! I get too much of a thrill scrapbook shopping, I know y'all know what I mean. Not to mention I ordered the Epson PictureMate Dash....I did not know they existed until 3 weeks ago. I never knew I "NEEDED" one. Can't wait for it to get here!

I wanna be Hip...I'm not too old

2008-12-20T15:59:00.003-06:00

I have got to learn how to use this thing. Yesterday I received my latest Memory Makers Magazine and I can't wait to scraplift several of the layouts. I am going to just confess right now. I am a scraplifter to my heart. I LOVE IT! I really enjoy trying to duplicate layouts. This may not be a challenge for lots of people but I find it quite FUN!

Hopefully as I learn to get hip as a blogger I will reach a new creative level. I hope to get some great layouts out here and reach a new plateau. There is so much creativity on so many blogs that I want a piece of it. I recently joined facebook and I thought I was big time then. So why not try blogging...why not....

First Day

2008-12-19T14:09:00.001-06:00

I am very excited. I am going to learn to blog. Yee-Haw, 'cause i am not sure the world is ready for ME!