Nice, relaxing day today. It started early w/ pancakes for breakfast - I love being at the in-laws and having breakfast made for me. So nice to have a break in that department. We took off to a swap meet where we got some random items. I got 2 scrapbooks, Frank and Angel got some winter knit caps, and Damian got a few Nintendo games. After lunch we stopped at a salvage place on the way home where we got more random finds - an easel, paint brushes, dry erase board, and some biodegradeable paint trays - oh, and organic toaster pastries. :) Back home, I took a nap, and woke to find that my MIL had started dinner and Angel had painted a pumpkin. How nice is that? After dinner, we'll get into our crashed-up car and head home.

We made it!

We're now safely arrived at my in-laws. Everything went fairly well today - although very rushed. Damian had several friends at his birthday party and got a lot of things that he's pretty excited about. I think all the kids had fun playing the arcade games. Some of them hadn't been there before. We were a little late to the soccer practice, but since we shared the cake and cookies from the party, I don't think they minded. :) We left straight from practice to go find a deer to hit. Well, obviously that wasn't REALLY our intention, but that's what happened anyway. Lucky for the deer, it didn't live to suffer, and lucky for us, the car still runs, and we were able to continue on our way. It was quite a surprise, though, to arrive at my in-laws and not be able to get out of my door! We thought the damage was mainly in the front, but apparently, something was jammed back enough to keep the passenger door from opening. We'll be able to drive around and get back home, but we will have to have it repaired soon.
Our family party is tomorrow evening. We're celebrating all Sept. and Oct. birthdays. There are 6 of them - 7 if we include my brother whose b-day is in Nov. We'll be attending a show choir performance that I have a brother and sis both performing in. I'm very excited to see them perform. They usually do very well, but I have not gotten to see a performance yet. I've watched them practice at home a few times, and that can be pretty entertaining! We're also going to try to fit in a visit to a pumpkin patch either tomorrow or Sunday. Should be a fun weekend. :) I'll post picks when I get home.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Damian! Today (barely - it's midnight) is my son's 8th birthday. It's kind of a milestone. In our church, you can get baptized at age 8, and he can also join the church's cub scouts troup. He would like to get baptized soon, and is very excited to start cub scouts - but may wait until next month after BMX season ends, because they would both be on the same night. Boy is tomorrow going to be busy. Here's the plan - I'll have to write again to see how it all went. I have to get the goodie bags ready for the party, pick up treats and drinks for his classroom, go straight from school to his party at a local 80's style arcade, straight from there to soccer practice, where we'll serve more treats, and straight from soccer to the grandparents for more weekend festivities. I better fit packing in there somewhere, huh? I have saved myself some stress, though by decorating the cake tonight. When I asked D what he wanted, his answer was "Mario Brothers...and Scooby Doo". WHAT?????? I was just going to try to convince him he wanted something else, then decided, No - this is what he wants, can I make it work? I was skeptical, but then hubby said he thought I could do ANYTHING!!!! - so I decided to try. With my bro's suggestion of using candies instead of drawing things out, I set to work. I spent about 30 min. in a candy store this morning w/ a 2 and 3 yr old (AAAAHHHHHH) - no, they really weren't too bad. Then to a grocery store to get everything I'd need. Here's what I came up with tonight:
This is the "front" - the Scooby Doo side.
(that mess around Shaggy is supposed to be food that they dropped cuz they're so scared. It's a gummi pizza and gummi sub sandwich)
Here's the back - or Mario Brothers side.
I hope he likes it! Wish me luck on my hectic day tomorrow! :)

A new layout!

Yay! I love when I get to scrapbook. I honestly don't know how I managed to fit it in today (it took 10 hours off and on) between doing all my normal mom and aunt stuff. Here's what I made:
I used my friend Christina's first kit - and it's great! She's very talented, and I can't wait to see what else she comes up with.
Today was a busy day - and is still going for me. I volunteered at the kid's school this morning, then went to the park w/ my bro and his kids. There was ample opportunity for great pictures, but I was too busy swinging! That was fun. I have never outgrown swinging - I love it! :) Then Hubby picked up our kids and took them both to the dentist, while I took care of the munchkins and bro went back to work. That's about when I started working on that layout! After school, hubby took our kids to get hair cuts before picture day tomorrow. They both look much less raggedy now. :) I made enough dinner tonight to feed our family about 4 times, but with 7 people now, there were barely any leftovers. I am just glad I am able to keep everyone fed and happy. Although, I think my bro may be withering away to nothing. I think he's concerned about eating all our food, and is holding back. He seems to always be hungry. It's ok, Sean - just EAT! I'll buy more! :) As for the munchkins (his kids that I care for), I think they're adjusting, and doing well. Not that they never get time-outs, but they're good kids, and we have fun. Here's what happened yesterday when I put my niece in time-out at nap time...
So cute! Her brother told me I should move her back to bed, but I said "No Way!!!" I am NOT waking her up for anything! So, she stayed in time-out for about 2 1/2 hours - but I think she felt much better when she woke up. :)
Well, since it is now TOMORROW - I think I'll head to bed. Good night.

Husband Tag

My cousin, Kenna tagged me. This is a new one I haven't seen. Looks fun, so here we go...
Husband Tag…..

1. Where did you meet? High school
2. How long did you date before you got married? 5 fun years

3. How long have you been married? Just over 12 years

4. What does he do that surprises you? He randomly surprises me with anything from ice cream sundaes, to doing dishes, to a new house or car. I love his surprises!
5. What is your favorite feature of his? It's hard to pick just one...I love his lips (when I can see them)
6. Does he have an annoying habit? Of course! Mainly not getting the things done that I'd like him to - not being time-efficient

7. What is your favorite quality of his? He's caring, and giving and funny.
8. Does he have a nickname for you? Babe
9. What is his favorite color? aqua blue
10. What is his favorite food? sloppy joes, hot wings, mexican, sushi, he just likes food. I don't know if he has an absolute fav.
11. What is his favorite sport? dirt bike riding

12. When and where was your first kiss? at the high school
13. What is your favorite thing to do as a couple? Going out to dinner and a movie, or the comedy club.

14. Do you have any children? Yes, 2

15. Does he have a hidden talent? He has many of them. He is a very talented man. My nephew says he can do everything! (but he's not a great actor or basketball player) ;)
16. How old is he? 33
17. Who said "I love you" first? He did. :)

18. What is his favorite type of music? Hard rock
19. What do you admire most about him? He loves to help people, and I love the way he plays with the kids, and can cheer them up when they're upset.
20. Do you think he will read this? Yes - I love that about him, too - that he reads my blog! Love ya, Babe!

Now I'm going to tag Eden, Christina, Hummie and Julie

Have fun!

Another busy week.

I feel so bad when I go a whole week without posting. I wanted to keep up with this better. Well, it was a pretty good week. I think I'll just post some pics, and let that tell the story of my week. We did all the story times, practices, school and games. Damian played well in his soccer game Sat. (that's him in green going for the ball)I got to go out for a friend's birthday and a girl's night out/bachelorette party.
We went to The Landing in Branson. A shopping/dining area. It's pretty new, and very nice. These guys did a percussion show after dinner. They were great! :) I don't get to go out much, so it was nice. :)
Friday, I got to spend some time w/ a friend who was watching some kids that we used to hang out with several times/week, but rarely get to see anymore. It was very nice to get the kids together again. They all had a great time, and I enjoyed spending time w/ my friend. Until I realized we had to run to soccer practice - aaaaahhhhhh!
Here's one last pic - my daughter, the rock star! (and her crazy cousin in the background) :)

My First Blog Award!!

I got this award from Lei at Fairydust Princess - Magicmaker-scraps. Thank you so much! This is my first blog award! I am so flattered - you made my day! Check out her blog - she's got some amazing kits and freebies. I just love her stuff. :)

1.The winner can put the logo on her blog.

2.Link the person you received your award from.

3.Nominate at least 7 other blogs.

4.Put links of those blogs on yours.

5.Leave a message on the blogs of the people you’ve nominated.

6.If the Blogger you nominate has already received this award they don’tneed to pass it on.

I'm not sure who has already gotten this, so I'm just going to try to pick my next 7 faves, and hope I don't hurt anyone's feelings if I don't send it to you. I have all my fave blogs listed on the side bar of this blog - and you can see how many there are! I love them all! (and many more not listed, too). I'm awarding this to:

Bethany of Elegant Wordart by Bethany. I absolutely LOVE her work, and her blog is fun to read, too. :)

Pamela of Digitreats - who has been working on the most amazing ABC freebie kits. They are HUGE, and I've been collecting all the pieces for a while now. She's another amazing designer.

KimB - who I know has recieved about a million blog awards - but she deserves it! And she makes me laugh, which I love!

my friend, and budding designer, Christina, who gets the credit for getting me started in digital scrapbooking. Thank you, and I miss you! One of us may have to move!

Andrea Dickenson - who seems to be such a sweet and talented lady. I have enjoyed her blog, her designs, and her comments that she has left me on my blog.

Kimberly of FishinmomDesigns - who was kind enough to give me my first "gig" on a CT. I've really enjoyed working with her kits. She's a fun, sweet, and amazing woman and designer. Thank you for having faith in me and for giving me a chance.

Cen of Cen's Loft - Another great designer who posts freebies and CU items on her blog. She also keeps me smiling.

Well, that's my 7 - but like I said, check out all the other great blogs on my sidebar. :)

I hope you're having a wonderful day!

Busy weekend

Well, since my last post was about Thurs., I'll start w/ Friday. First thing on Friday was that Angel got Student of the Month! Yay! I am so proud of her. The student of the month is awarded to 1 student from each class that has best represented the "character education" word of the month. For Sept. it was RESPECT. I went to the school to watch the assembly and to help out in the teacher's work room for a little while. Fri. evening, Damian had soccer practice. The kids love rolling down the hills next to the soccer fields.
Saturday, Damian had a soccer game, and team pictures. His team didn't win, but he played hard. Toward the end of the game, Damian got knocked flat by a ball kicked straight to his forehead. From where I was, I thought he'd gotten hit in the nose, but it was his forehead. It was a hard kick from pretty close, so he was really hurting. I felt so bad for him. He did get back up and go play the last few minutes of the game. Tough kid! After the game, we went to lunch w/ Aunt Denise. Mmmmmmm, I hadn't had Zio's in quite a while.
Frank got home from his race late last night. He crashed in the first hour, but wasn't hurt. It took a while to get the bike back into the race, though - so he was pretty disappointed. :( It's always nice to have him back, though. :)
I think today will be a nice, relaxing day of church, and being with the family. :) I hope yours is the same. :)

Another week

has gone by without me posting! Sorry! I've been pretty busy over the past week. For the weekend, we went to OK for the boys to do some dirt bike riding and foam pit jumping. Angel played in the dirt, and I took pictures. This week has been the normal, busy week of story times, dance class, BMX and soccer, and I think we're starting cheerleading soon, too. I have FINALLY started to work out again, after about a month off. I have made it to 2 pilates classes so far. ( Yay me!) It feels good to be excersizing again. I've done another couple scrapbook pages this week, too. Here's Sam. I used Fishinmom's Turtle Time, a frame by Andrea Boyer, and a sticker by Brenda Mascari. Fishinmom's running a sale this week - check it out! I entered this LO (layout) in two challenges: Designer Techniques Out of Bounds at Hummie's World, and the SAS-y Layout Design Challenge at SAS.
Here's one of me w/ my friend Miss Chris. It was made with HER kit, The Sun Also Rises. I used Elegant Wordart by Bethany, too. Two pages in one week is a lot for me - but I hope I can keep it up. I'm so behind on scrapping my photos.

A lot to catch up on!

Well, I've been back home since Tues., and trying to get back into a routine. My bro and his kids came back with me. He's planning on moving here. He's been working w/ Frank, and I've been taking care of the kids. It's been nice to have them here. The kids and I have had fun going to storytimes, etc.
We also went to the kid's school and had lunch with them.
I was so excited yesterday to hear that Julie is getting out of the hospital! Yay! I made a scrapbook page about her last couple weeks in the hospital. (I hope she doesn't mind me posting this).
I made this layout with Digitreats Skip ABC kit. I've been collecting the pieces on her blog since the beginning. I entered it in the layout design challenge at SAS, too.
Well, I'm off to OK for the weekend! Have fun!