A bunch of things to do today.

Jeremy just left for school, Zoie did wake up but went back to sleep and I'm debating on if I should get up and get ready or go back to bed for another hour or so.
Jeremy has a field trip down to the Merrimack Caverns and a dance tonight. (He's gonna be tired tomorrow) Zoie has her winter program tonight too. It will work out pretty good because Zoie's thing doesn't start until 6:30 for a hour. And the dance is from 6 to 8. We were going to go to the neighbor boys program last night but it was cancelled due to the weather. They rescheduled for tonight.
School was cancelled yesterday because we had freezing rain the night before. I couldn't go Christmas shopping either because Jeremy would have been with me. All I have to get is his stuff then I'm pretty much done with shopping. I'll have Zoie with me today though, so hopefully she'll keep her mouth shut and not tell him what he got again this year.
Well I guess I'll jump in the shower now that I'm awake. That will be good to get shopping done early so I can put Zoie down for a little nap I would hate for her to be crabby tonight.

Time to Check in

Santa came to town Friday night and we went to see him. Zoie wrote him a letter and told him she wanted Butterscotch. I hope she's not to disappointed when x-mas comes around and she doesn't get that horse. She was ok until we got up to Santa and she freaked out. Todd gave the letter to Santa while Zoie hides behind me. So no picture this year again... That's ok. I got to do all that stuff with Jeremy so I'm not missing out on anything. She doesn't even like the Easter Bunny.

Zoie has a Christmas program on the 11th with her playgroup and the Pre-K kids. Should be very interesting. The playgroup gets to be snowflakes with bells. These are kids from 2 to 5 yrs old. I hope I remember to pack the ear plugs. LOL, no I'm sure it will be really cute.

Jeremy doesn't have any holiday programs this year. I guess the older kids don't do them.

I got to use a great new collab that Jacque did with Rachal Young. It's coming out tomorrow @ Funky Playground Designs. Here's what I came up with:

I just love those pink and green colors together. And here's the LO I did last week with just Jacque's stuff:

Well I'm off to get the kids ready for bed. 'night!

Weird Weekend

Well it started Saturday when I found someones cell phone about 30 ft into my yard while I was backing up out of the driveway. I was on my way to Kohl's to get some shirts for the kids. I noticed that there was a Cingular store (phone brand) so I stopped by to see if they could find out who's phone it was. The phone was dead of course or I could of got that info myself but luckily there was a sim card so the guy put it in a working phone. Left a message on someones phone. He wouldn't give me any info because I could be a crazy person for all he knew. I got a call yesterday from the owner and she told me that she was out running about 2 weeks ago and heard her phone fall but couldn't find it. The weird thing you probably are wondering is that she lost it about 2 miles from me. She wasn't even close to being on my street. Someone, I guess, found it and while driving by my house threw it in my yard. She was really glad it was returned and offered me a little reward, but I refused it. Not like I couldn't of used it, but that wasn't the reason for trying to find the owner. I just hope that someone will return the favor if I should ever lose something important.

And on Sunday one of Todd's buddies stopped by to drop off something he borrowed. As he was leaving I noticed something curled in a ball behind on of my bushes in the front. It was pretty windy and cold. Well it was a CHICKEN. Where it came from I don't know. There's a few farms near by but the chicken would have had to walk a long way. Probably got lost in the extremely windy wind that night. I remember my neighbor saying the neighbor that lives in the house way behind us had tons of animals. So I boxed the chicken up and drive down their lane to see if they had chickens and if any were missing. Nope it wasn't theirs but he was willing to take it. I couldn't keep it and I didn't want to stress out the poor thing going door to door trying to find it's owner. They probably don't miss it because no one has come by asking about it. Haven't seen any lost posters put up either. LOL, just kidding. That would be funny though.

That was the most excitement me and the kids had in awhile. They enjoyed looking at the chicken. Zoie got upset that we couldn't keep it. Heck we let her talk us into taking in the stray cat the neighbors cat brought home. We keep her outside but Todd made her a box and I found an old blanket to put in there. Went to the store, bought some food and a toy. The kids call her Princess. She is a cutie and a really friendly cat. She's been hanging around for a few months already. She knows she's home now. Here's a pic of her.

Time for an update

Gosh it's been awhile since I blogged. Shocking isn't it!? Hee hee.

Halloween we went over to my Brothers, ate some pizza and we were off for Trick or Treating. The weather was perfect until the last few houses it got really cold. It was rainy the past 4 yrs.

All the kiddos lined up for pictures. Zoie is Wonder Woman and Jeremy is the skull at the end

The tractor ride back to the house.

Cute as a Bug

Just coming on here to share another layout I did with Jacque's stuff. I can't stay on long because I'm running to Kohls to get the kid some jeans. They both most of grew 2 inches. There jeans are all high waters now.

I'm Totally Excited...

I forgot to get on here and tell you my exciting news. I applied for Jacque Larsen's Creative Team. . . She picked me ! ! (along with 11 other girls) I had to read my e-mail over a few times to see if I was reading it right. This is my first non-guest gig. I was Heather Rosselli's July guest and I'm going to be Amanda Heiman's November guest. But I'm on Jacque's until she fires me.

Here's my first 3 layouts for Jacque:

Todd's Birthday . . .

. . . is on Sunday. I want to throw him a little party. So I better get on the ball and get him a cake and call some people. I got him a new tool box for work. His other one finally fell apart.

I also made him a card but I have yet to print it out. The printer is not connected to my laptop and is in the other room. It's a pain in the butt if ya ask me. That's pretty much why half my stuff never gets printed out. If I have an email to print out I send it to Todd on the desktop and print it out from there. I'm too lazy to pick the laptop up and carry it all over the house. I need to get the wireless printing set up but I don't even know where to start with that.

I need to get off of here and get in the shower. So I can straighten up the house. ttyl

World Cardmaking Day

Over at The Digi Chick we are doing a little card exchange and some challenges. I just had time to do a couple cards. I might try to make a few more tomorrow. I found out that the elements made by Jacque Larsen are really good for making cards. The elements on my banner are from her. She actually paints and makes these things. I thought she did it all on the computer. After she makes this cute little elements she scans them and turns them into digital. They're awesome. I have a coupon for anything she sells so I think I may go stock up and get some cards done.

Here's my cards I did:

Aren't they just cute?

Well I'm gonna go and get ready for bed. 'night!

I need some creative mojo

I'm working on a few layouts for my cousins baby. Usually when I can't find my mojo I scrap someone/thing other than my kids and it gets my creativity back. Here's what I got so far:

Cover PagePage 1Page 2

I'm still working on page 2, just have to put some of Kayla's journaling on it. I need to go through her pictures and see what one I need to do next. I'm pretty much sticking with the same colors and some of the elements. Each page I'll add a little something different. I love that alpha so I might just use that through the other pages.

Time to get back to work...

1st School Dance

Tonight is Jeremy's 1st ever dance. I asked him if he had a certain someone he was hoping would be there and he said "Maybe". I'm going to try and get pictures, but I'm not going to be there. Photos are available there for a buck, but I'm not sure what they will look like or even if Jeremy will have one done. Just having some hamburger helper for dinner. Fast and easy. I was going to make BLT's but Todd won't be home until late so I'll just save that for tomorrow.

I submitted this layout to a little contest Emily Merritt is having on her blog. The winner gets to be on her CT and she may give out a few guest spots also.

Well I have to go and make sure Jeremy gets all his homework done and start working on dinner. TTYL !

We'rrre Baaack

I am so tired. We walked, rode some rides, walked, watched some shows and walked some more. I never walked so much in my life. My legs feel as though they are going to fall off. We got in late last night and are just chillin' today. I have hundreds of e-mails, dozen of pages of threads to read thru and tons of picture to look at that I took. I unpacked and have some laundry already in the wash. I got spoiled eating out everyday for every meal and I need to figure out something for dinner tonight.Our room.Todd, Zoie and Jeremy sitting in front of the Muppets Fountain.Driving the race course. Jeremy in the yellow car and Todd and Zoie in the blue. I was the one taking the pictures and as you can see I was in front of everyone.Zoie getting her face painted as a Kitty Princess.Jeremy and Zoie swimming.
We had a great time but it's so nice to be home.

Time for an update

Wow, I got on here and noticed I haven't blogged in over a week. I've been busy trying to get things ready for our trip. Just a few more days and we are leaving for Disney World.
Last night was Open House. The teachers just wanted to meet up with the parents and explain how they run their classrooms with homework, tests, rules and what they expect from the kids. It was a hour and a half of heat. I talked to them to see about getting Jeremy's homework together so he can work on it when we get home. He was ticked off that he is going to miss the first field trip. They are going to Cahokia Mounds. But he's been there before and he'll be having more fun at Disney World !
We finally got some stairs on the deck. We moved them from the left side to the right. And the roof is all done. Todd got a covered roof put over the deck. It's really nice. Now we can sit outside out of the sun and I can stay dry when I bbq.
Well dinner is not going to cook itself. Just wanted to do a little update.
Take Care and I'll 'see' ya when I get back.

1st Day of School

I got this great kit @ the Digi Chick for all those school pictures. Here's a LO I did of Jeremy walking to the bus.

He didn't do too much that day since they were only there for 3 hrs. This week they are on the heat schdule. He has to be on the bus at 6:19 and gets home at 1:45. The only really bad thing about going in a hour early is he eats lunch at 9 a.m. so he's really hungry when he comes home. He hasn't been too tired but I bet by the weeks end it will catch up with him. He can always take a nap when he gets home too.

DNTS week 2

Here's this weeks LO:

THEME: Finish this sentance: "I wish I was/were ____" and use it as both the subject AND the title of your layout. You can be funny, serious, hopeful, regretful, anything you want! Maybe you wish you were taller, older, younger, more patient, less stressed...be creative with this one!
DESIGN CHALLENGE: Use the same photo at least 3 times. Every time you use it, it must be cropped differently. Get creative with your cropping! Use large parts, tiny pieces or do a conservative crop. Anything you can dream up!

Nephews Water Party

Got a few pictures to share that I got at my nephews water party last Sunday

My nephew going down the slip 'n slide

Zoie enjoying the shade with a cookie. Big Splash
Water balloon fight.
Jeremy pulling back the sling shot with a water balloon in it.
.

Met Jeremy's Teachers

School had an open house kind of thing. You can go in to find your classroom, your locker and bring in your supplies. We were told the teachers wouldn't be there but they were so that was kind of nice. He's homeroom teacher is Mr. Wendel. Which is totally weird because I had him back when I was in high school. For history back in '91. He was just out of collage then I believe. We practiced his combination for his locker. You have to be rough with it to get it open. Jeremy just didn't have the umph to get it. Hopefully it won't take him long.
It was a walk down memory lane for me. The school hadn't changed a whole lot. Except then it was the high school now it's the middle school. Housing the 6th, 7th and 8th graders. I've been out of school for 16 years. I even remembered where my old locker was.

Tomorrow the TV repair guy/girl is coming. Last Thursday I was watching TV and it just died. I thought the power went out but everything else was still on. So I'm hoping it's just something simple like the on/off button.

Wednesday school starts and Zoie has her pre-k screening. Today we worked on the questionnaire they want you to fill out. Asking questions like can she throw and catch a ball, dress herself, cut, count objects etc. so they can compare notes when they test her. She did excellent on most the stuff. She had troubles unbuttoning a button, but we really haven't worked on that before. I don't really think she needs to go to pre-k but I want her to get the just of going to school, following directions and listening. Which she has be getting alittle better at. She's the type who wants to do what she's wants when she wants to.

Zoie came and decided to fall asleep on me and my right side is about to fall asleep too. So 'night and have a good rest of the week.

I submitted my LO . . .

for Digitals Next Top Scrapper.

The first challenge is to scrap one thing that drives you nuts about someone you love. It can be your partner, your kids, your roommate or even your pet!

I can't stand it when someone smacks their lips when they eat. I'm always reminding the kids but Jeremy is one I have to remind a whole lot. I about died when his friend come over for dinner one night. That boy smacked his lips so much I could hardly eat.

Time to get the kids ready for bed. Trying to get Jeremy on a earlier bed time before school starts in a week. Zoie needs to try and get to bed earlier too especially if she gets accepted into Pre-K.

'night!

Vacation Here We Come

Soon we are going to Disney World. Todd has been talking about going somewhere for vacation this year. Today he came home, called the travel agent and booked us a trip. The kids are excited, us too. We're flying down. Jeremy and I haven't been on a plane in 9 yrs. It's been awhile for Todd too. This will be Zoie's 1st plane ride. Cross your fingers for me that is goes well for her. I don't believe she could handle the 17 hr. drive there. She didn't do good on a 5 hr car ride down to my sisters. She can't sit still for too long or she get's cranky.
Now the only problem I see is not having enough memory cards. I have a 2gb (512 photos), a 512mb (only 156 photos) and a 256mb (which is not going to give me a lot of photos). I'm thinking about getting another 2gb just in case. I think I seen a 1gb 2 pack at wal-mart for cheap. This is our 1st big vacation with the kids and I want to capture everything.
Oh and I have to go outfit shopping. I don't have a whole lot of good clothes.
Have A Good Day !
XO

Busy Day

I got Jeremy all registered for school. Even got his pictures for school done too. They did them right there. I was excited because every year he has to go back for retakes because either he smiled really weird or his hair was all messy. Usually they would take them right after recess. Then after that I took the kiddo's to McDonalds and let them go to the play area for about an hour. Jeremy went to his friends to spend the night. And Todd, Zoie and I are going to see my nephews last baseball game of the season. I'll bring my camera and see if I can get some good shots.
Today is also the last day of being on Heather's guest ct. Boo Hoo!

Well Zoie wants me to read her a book so I better get off of here.

Agenda for this weekend

I called Jenny to tell her I won't be able to watch the kids tomorrow. My arm went out of whack again. It wouldn't be so bad with the 2 yr old because I wouldn't need to pick her up. But I would be having to pick up the 11 month old up all the time. I only watch them on Fridays. Luckily her MIL didn't have any plans so she'll watch them.

If my arm is feeling better I'm taking the kids to the Troy homecoming parade on Saturday. The last 2 parades Zoie was in them. She got a little upset that she didn't get to catch her own candy and stuff. I also want to see the Vietnam Travelling wall that is displayed at Troy Park.
I have a baby shower on Sunday, that I still need to get a gift for.
Zoie's beta kicked the bucket over night. I didn't want to try and explain to a 4 yr death of the family pet. So I asked Todd to stop by Walmart and pick up a new fish before he came home.
I need to get everyone ready for bed. G'night. Have a safe weekend.

My LO's for the Guest CT Spot

Here's one of Zoie in the Marine Homecoming Parade riding in the buggy with Sandy, my Aunt's horse.

Todd picked this cruiser up so the kids can join along in the fun.

Here's mine and my brothers kids. My dad and his wife took them to Grant's Farm.

Happy 4th y'all

Didn't do a lot today. We drove over the river to Missouri to get some fireworks. Got home and took a nap. Didn't get much sleep lastnight so it was much needed. Here's a few photos I took tonight of the fireworks. There are still some kinks to work out with my camera. There wasn't enough light coming off some of the fireworks and the camera would freeze up on me.Hope everyone's 4th was fun and safe. G'night!

Check Out . . .

the new blinkie I'm gonna be sporting for the month of July in my signature.

Woooo Hoooo!

Remember I submitted a LO to Heather Roselli's Creative Team? Well... I got picked to be her July Guest CT! I'm so excited and can't wait to get started. She decided to pick 10 girls, 2 a month for 5 months. Here's the link to see all who made it, the month they have and their amazing LO's. http://heatherroselli.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/06/27/losplayground.jpg
I have never applied to an independent designer before. I have joined in the DET contest over at DSP twice. The 1st time I made it to rd. 2 and the 2nd time I made it to the final rd., but didn't make the final cut. It was really disappointing. I don't know if I can go through that again.
After this I feel a little more confident. I never think my stuff is good enough. But who knows this may be the start of something amazing for me!

New Do

Here's one of my latest layouts. Such an adorable photo of Zoie. She loves to pose like a model. She also has this cute little model walk. She puts her hands on her waist and sways her hips from side to side.
I'm so glad I got her hair cut. She got a bath today and it only took a few minutes to comb it. I asked her if she wanted to let it grow long again. She said she wants it to stay short. That shouldn't be a problem.
It's raining!!!! We haven't had rain in 2 weeks. The yard and the crops surely need it. I hope it rains all night with a light steady rain. Well I just looked outside and the rain has stopped (after about 10 minutes) and the sky is clear. Poop!

I did the unthinkable today.

I decided to get Zoie's haircut. The length hasn't be cut for 3 years. It was just too much to work with. It would take me forever to comb through it even with a ton of conditioner on it. She would cry everytime it had to be combed. So it was time to say good bye to all that baby hair and give her a big girl haircut. Doesn't she look so beautiful even though she's giving me that I don't want to take any pictures look. She was excited to get it cut too.

Another good thing about getting it cut is we were able to donate 10 inches to the Locks of Love Foundation.

I got a new Toy!

Well after talking if over with Todd, he gave me the ok to get a new camera. I got the Nikon d40x and I totally love it. It takes such amazing photos. Here's one of my favorite pics.I've got so much to learn though.

Jeremy left for his dad's for the summer. So for the last couple of days he had play dates with two of his friends. I showed him how to connect his Nintendo DS to the internet so he can talk over it with his friends while he is away. You have to have certain games in order for it to work. He does it through his Poke'mon game. Things will be a little quiet around here w/out all the fighting between him and Zoie. They fight all the time, well I can't say ALL the time. They do sleep... he he She just likes to be around him too much and he gets aggravated. It's just me and her during the day and when either Jeremy or Todd comes home she is all over them.

Time for Zoie's nap now. Maybe I might take one too.

Not a good start for the week

Monday night Jeremy got really sick, throwing up and all. Tuesday he threw up in the morning, was running a little fever and had some leg cramps. I thought that was really weird. I had to call my Aunt to talk to her about something and my Uncle answers the phone and tells me she's in bed really sick too. Well, Sunday was my cousins graduation party, so I thought Jeremy may have picked up something from there. He did, so did half the people there. Food Poisoning!!! I talked to my brother, him and his wife got sick. One of my cousins had to go to the hospital because he was having problems at both ends and the doctors suspected food poisoning, because it happened so fast and violently. It affected everyone differently, some just threw up, some had diarrhea and for the unfortunate ones they had both. After talking to a few people asking what they ate, some ate the same stuff, some ate different but what we all had in common was the sub sandwiches. I didn't throw up but my stomach was turning all day Monday. Todd was lucky enough to have other plans helping his friend with some things. And I'm so glad Zoie was being her stubborn self and wouldn't eat. Jeremy and I felt better yesterday but we took it easy and didn't go anywhere.

I put in my first submission for a Guest CT (creative team) call for July. Heather Roselli gave everyone a free kit, which was so cool. If you get picked you get free kits and have to create a "X" amount of lo's using her kits and posting them to a few different web sites to promote her work. It's like doing a little advertising. Here's my LO.

Nice Weather

The last few nights have really been nice. I've been sitting on the porch waiting for a hummingbird to come to our feeder. It was worth the wait. It seems they only come in the evenings. The female I think is a little camera shy because she never stays long enough for me to take a picture. Todd and the kids washed the truck. They thought it was more like play then work because they got to play with the hose. Todd got it a few times. After that was done they decided to have a water fight.

I got out of getting wet because I had the excuse of holding the camera. I told Todd "If you don't want to buy me a new camera you won't shoot at me." I was really wishing he would of got it wet and ruined it because I'm in the market for a new one. I'm leaning towards the Nikon d40x. I've been saving and now that I got a few babysitting jobs I can save a lot more faster. I can't wait.

Two New Layouts...

4 Girls and a Lil' Guy

Thursday Zoie and I went to Grants Farm with our friend Jenny and her two kids. I haven't been there since I was a little girl so it was nice to go again even if I couldn't remember anything. The first stop was to see the Budweiser Clydesdale's. Then we waited in line to ride the tram thru the park where the wild horses, elk, buffalo, cows from around the world and other larger animals are. When we got off the Tram we went to the goat feeding area.After we got done feeding the goats we scrubed our hands and headed out to see the other animals. They have Kangaroos, Bald Eagles, Ponies, Camels, Llamas, Elephants and many more.It was a pretty tiring day. After Todd got off work he picked up Jeremy and met us at Craig and Jenny's for dinner. I left the house at 8:30 in the morning and pulled into the driveway at 8:40 that night. I was pooped.

Then Saturday we went out to Craig and Jenny's property for a day of relaxation. The guys took the 4 wheelers and us girls sat under the shade of the trees and watched the girls and guys play. It was a great day until on our way home one of the trailers tires blew. We made it home safe after we got it changed.

This week I don't plan on going anywhere until I catch up on my sleep. It's nice today so Zoie and I are going for a little walk. Cya!