Well I made it on the board again. Just when I was about to give up too. But since I'm there I'll give it another shot! Please click on the button & then click on my picture, it's the one with all of us in our Easter best. Kind of a bummer that I got this on Sunday when most people take a break from blogging but oh well. Thanks to leendaluu over at Wit's End for letting me know about it. {Funny that I didn't get an e-mail from Top Momma} She's busy scrapping away to finish a big project and not able to get to her computer often having to share the connection with businessmen. Don't they realize there are important things like blogs & clicking buttons to worry about?? :P I kid, sorta. Hope you are enjoying your day! 
5 Minutes For Mom is giving away a 37" Flat-Panel LCD HDTV! No joke! I don't know about you but I know my hubby wouldn't give me such a hard time about the blogging I do if it ended up winning us a new flat panel TV! Oh yeah, he'd be loving my blog and be excited about the new design it will be sporting. {Last night when I told him that I won a contest and that it was for a new header for my blog he was less than enthused, but I'm still excited - w00t!} So back to this fun & fancy giveaway. This TV is valued at $799.00 courtesy of Best Buy.Click the picture for more details on this awesome TV!
So it's been a few days since I posted and as much as I love seeing my scrappy pages it's time to get something new on here. Yesterday I had my Mary Kay party. I had two people show up and it was a lot of fun. I got some great practice on my presentation, got to know two more people and they both sounded interested in hostessing a party in the future. As a bonus my house was so clean! I've got another appointment set for Saturday so I'm excited. Another thing that I'm excited about is the HUGE ENORMOUS NOT SMALL AT ALL dog days of summer bloggy giveaway hosted by Rocks In My Dryer. Click on the cute button with the dog wearing the glasses to check it out. There are 448 people giving stuff away on their blogs, by the time I'm done writing this it will likely be closer to 600 as this is spreading like wildfire throughout the internet. It is just amazing. I haven't made it through them all - though I'm hoping by the time it's over I'll have entered all of the ones I'm interested in. There is something for everybody! Some things that I've seen range from home made items like bows, hair clips, gift tags, bags, totes, hats, blankets, jewelry and more that I can't remember right now. There were books of all kinds, cookbooks, inspiring books, fiction, non-fiction, marriage, pregnancy, children, etc. There were also a lot of pampering type items, lotions, body sprays, candles, bubble bath and other bath products. My favorite among the items of course are the scrappy ones. People are giving away how to books, kits, embellishments, papers and all kinds of fun stuff. Oh and there were also a lot of coffee & chocolate giveaways too. I was intrigued by a few giveaways that had mystery boxes or surprise gifts. Some blogs that I want to make note of are this one that's giving away a variety of items, this one giving away scrappy stuff, this one giving away a book & looks like a fun blog, this one giving away books & hinting to a big announcement, this one giving away scrappy stuff from her business, and this fun blog that is giving away a Scrapbooks etc Techniques Idea Book. Whew, that was a mouthful! Well I just about got that done before the kids got up from naps. Now I must go so I can get a few things done around here and start preparing for my party on Saturday. Plus Michael's room is still a MESS! I need to take some before photos so you'll understand why I will likely end up getting rid of half the toys in his room. I'm in need of a new organization plan in there and I think purging is the first step. More posts on that later. Thanks for stopping by!
While the kids are napping I often catch up on housework, browse around blogs, check e-mail and make phone calls. Once in a while - I try for at least once a week - I scrap while they nap. Sometimes I can do it while they are up but it's so much easier without getting up every two minutes to change a diaper, refill a sippy cup, get a snack, change the channel, get out a toy, kiss a boo boo etc. And much easier without Lydia digging around in my stuff - future scrapper? {I hope so!} Anyway, while I can get some done while they are up it's much more enjoyable & productive to scrap while they nap. It's even more fun when I'm able to talk with my friend Chriss{tine} while we scrap together. We drink coffee, snack, chat & scrap - just like when I was back home - except we've got our phones on speaker and/or using blue tooth and we can't borrow each other's stuff or ask the other if a paper should be placed vertically or horizontally on the page. {And sometimes it makes a big difference!} Okay, so maybe it's not just like being back home but it's as close as we can get. We've tried to web cam at the same time but I have to rearrange my furniture for that to work so we don't do that anymore.
Valentines 2007 {family album}
Friends with Children 2007 {family album}
Candid photos 2006 {family album}
Halfmoon Bay 2007 {family album}
Michael in his big boy bed 2006 {family album}
These pages I did a while back but I love them! Hot fat & whipped, Cold skinny & clean - 2006 {family album}
My Joe's Goals reflects a slow going roller coaster with a big climb at the end. I didn't have such a productive week. With Shawn having a lot of half days and trying to catch up from my mother in law visiting I've had trouble trying to follow my schedule. I did do pretty well at clearing the dishes at night, enjoying my time & drinking more water but everything else went down the tubes. This week I'm going to focus on that again & see where I need to make adjustments. I also want to start a new habit. I know, I know - I should get the others back in order first but it's been so long since I've added one and this is a small one so it's okay.
As promised an old wives' tale home remedy - {from my mother in law who learned it from her mother} - that actually works!
The long weekend is over and it's time to get back into our normal routine. Except it's not normal yet. Hubby is still having odd, short work hours & I'm recovering from sleep deprivation. Falling asleep around 11:00pm & waking up at 2:30am is never a good idea, but especially a poor choice when driving an hour each way to the airport. So forgive any randomness or incoherent thoughts, well more than the norm anyway.
e were in California - just a phase for her age. But I think she felt more comfortable since we were home. We celebrated Michael's 3rd birthday while she was here. I left the streamers up from the week before, we blew up balloons & baked a cake. He was so excited
and had a lot of fun. For his birthday grandma gave him his very first bike, with training wheels of course. She even thought of a little helmet, knee pads & elbow pads. He'll wear the helmet but doesn't like the pads. We tried them out on Lydia - elbow pads on her knees for when she's crawling around outside - good idea in theory not so much in reality. Sunday we drove into downtown Nashville. My mother in law wanted to see the Grand Ol' Opry and find some cowboy boots. We found our way to the Opry but she didn't find any cowboy boots that she liked. We did find a lot of other shops to check out while we were there though. I took some pictures of the old buildings, hubby in a cowboy hat {I'd post but he would none too happy about that}, horse & buggy, and street signs that looked like guitar picks. The most interesting thing I saw though was this mailbox that looks like R2D2. It was odd for two reasons, one - it looked like R2D2 and second it was in the middle of downtown Nashville. You've got to understand that most everything in the area was all about country music, cowboys & horses.
Well this week has been a crap shoot. I was very productive through Wednesday preparing for my mother in law to visit and the house looked great. Thursday I picked her up from the airport and we've been having fun with the kids and catching up. While I'm still trying to work on my basic habits like cleaning the dishes and brushing my teeth I've been slacking in most other areas, except enjoying 'me time', I'm right on track with that one! I'm not sure what we'll be doing today so I don't have much time but wanted to wish you all luck in your habits this week and hope you enjoy your weekend.a. I am 5'2". I'm sure my kids - at least my son, will outgrow me & I'm glad if they do. I have trouble buying pants because they are almost always too short. Sometimes capris are even challenging because they look like floods rather than short pants.
2. I always had really long hair and chopped it off the day before starting jr. high {7th grade for my district}. By chopping off I mean up to my shoulders, that was short for me. I grew it out long again by my senior year {my hair grows turtle slow} and then chopped it again two years later, this time up to my chin. {I met my hubby around this time}. I grew it out again and then chopped it off 2 months after we got married. I played around with shortish cuts & styles & then got an A-line haircut {my shortest ever!} when I was pregnant with Lydia. I don't recommend drastic hair change decisions when you are pregnant & hormonal, or just hormonal.
c. My eyes are blue. They are not contacts. I'm not on drugs. My pupils have been large since I can remember anyone asking me about them. That's not a bug in my eye. It's a freckle. If wearing eyeliner on the bottom of the inside of my eyelid didn't bug me you'd never see it. {I've really had these conversations with people}
4. {Halfway through & I'm struggling} I got my mom's feet. I used to hate my feet. They are bony and the second toe is almost longer than my big toe. It made me self conscious. I have funny pinkie toenails. They are tiny & thicker than the rest. They've always been that way. Sometimes I get funny looks when I'm getting a pedicure. I ♥ pedicures but am super ticklish & squirm when they start buffing. I should get pedicures more often.
d. I have freckles, lots. In the summer they multiply like rabbits & then hibernate come winter. They are on my face, arms, legs, back & stomach. I used to hate them. Now I don't mind so much.
6. I just turned 25 but probably look 18-21. When I got married I was 22, almost 23 and someone in my husband's family saw pictures and thought I was 16. :/ Growing up I've always been thought to be younger than my age and it's always bugged me. I know, I know "when I'm 30 or 40 or whatever age I'll appreciate it". And I'm sure all those people who have told me that are right, I'd just like to not get funny looks when I'm out with my kids and people are wondering just how young I started or questioning if I'm the older sister. The freckles on my face don't help the situation, neither do my breakouts. {Hello! Wasn't that supposed to stop after puberty?!?}
e. Referring to #6 my being confused for an older sibling to my kids isn't too far a stretch. I have siblings who are the same age & younger than my own kids. My parents were young {barely 15 and 17} when I was born. When I was 12 they divorced, 4 years later my dad remarried and a couple years after that they started having more kids. They just had their last, Elijah, 4 months ago, 5 months younger than my daughter. Chloe is 17 months & Hannah 3.
8. I like coming from a large family with many siblings but I don't want to have my own large family. Whatever God gives us we will be blessed and I would love all my children. However I just don't think that being a mother to 5+ children is my calling. I'm not so patient as I would need to be for that calling. If it turns out to be my calling God will work that out in me I suppose - he'd also have to work out a few things with my hubby who would be just fine getting snipped right now. I have the number 4 in mind but we'll see. I don't want to talk too much about it cuz as soon I start saying "oh we're gonna wait so long to have any more..." I'm pregnant.
Well I was going to write this whole post in a bright pink but I don't have a bright pink available in my options so this salmony pink will have to due. Anyway, so I was first given this pink badge of honor by my pal at wornoutwoman at the end of June. I was surprised when I saw what she wrote:
I realize I'm almost a week late in posting this but with all the vacation and birthday posting going on I haven't had a chance until now. Well I guess I could have yesterday but I spent my free time while the kids were napping scrapping - I finished 3 pages, plus the two from Saturday and that's 5 pages done in a weekend! Anyway, back to our Fourth of July, Independence Day celebrations.
There was a festival here at Fort Campbell and on the third they had $$ days, each ride cost 1 ticket to ride, each ticket was a dollar so you only paid $1 per ride rather than the 3-5 tickets {dollars} it would normally cost. We had so much fun, especially Michael. There was plenty of parking when we got there, it wasn't too crowded and Michael went on 7 rides in a little over an hour {three of them one of us had to go with him}. Shawn really had a lot of fun watching him and going on two of the rides - the fun ho
use & super slide. I enjoyed watching him but didn't like the ride I went on with him so much. I can't remember the name of it but it went around in circles much quicker than I anticipated and then when I thought it was done, went in reverse - I used to ♥ rides like gravitron & the zipper but now that kind of stuff gives me a headache.
On the fourth of July Shawn was off work so we hung out at the house. The boys wore red and the girls wore blue - I wanted to get a group photo but didn't want to risk it with my dieing battery and fussy kids. So we got some photos of each of us with the kids and the kids alone. We had planned on going back to the festival to watch the fireworks but realized it would be much easier to stay home and w
atch from the sidewalk. The show started 2 hours after Lydia's bedtime so I'd be struggling with her, the parking would be awful & we'd have to walk a long distance to the field, finding a spot on the field would be nearly impossible because of all the people who went to the festival that day...just a lot. So one year when the kids are a little older we'll brave the crowds and watch the show up close, until then it's a sidewalk show for us. I think this was better for Michael this year too. He covered his ears with as far away as we were I can just imagine how he would have been if we were up close. He really liked it though and was very upset we couldn't make them do more when it was all done. I hope all my fellow Americans enjoyed your fourth, I've already seen pictures that prove many of you did. Thanks for stopping by! 
I had their featured drink - a fresh fruit watermelon margarita. We both ordered dinner but I can't remember just what it was. The margarita was yummy. I was going to order the small, Shawn said - no get her the grande. Boy they weren't kidding when they named this thing a grande. On my 21st birthday my co-workers gave me a large glass the same size filled with jelly beans - they said I could fill it up later myself - I thought it was for decoration! Ha! I found out later from a friend that it's also called a fishbowl, which makes sense cuz I'm pretty sure you could keep a fish alive in one of those things. That actually could make a cute decoration, have a beta fish in one at a bar area - I'll keep file that idea away. After dinner we went over to our friends house for a while and talked. On our way back to my grandparents' house we talked about how much we missed our friends and wish we had spent more time with them before moving. We also agreed that we needed more date nights so I think we'll take advantage when my mother in law visits next week! I just know she would love to Powered by ScribeFire.
They Are Husband & Wife!
y and overwhelmed by the large crowd. Even with that it was a beautiful day! Here is all of us pretty bridesmaids. Have I told you about the trouble we had getting our dresses? I'll give you the short version. I was moving out of state, another bridesmaid already lived out of state & a third was out of the country doing missionary training in Brazil. So we had to g
uess on one of the dress sizes, get info faxed from another & I had to cross my fingers that I'd lose the rest of my baby weight. Chriss was local so she had it the easiest. Since we couldn't all shop together & Rachelle wanted all of the dresses to be the same color we got a style in hopes that everyone would look & feel great in them. And we did! Here's a photo of the abse
nt flower girl spreading flowers after the ceremony. My grandma made her dress, isn't it pretty? Similar to us girls but opposite - pink over brown rather than brown over pink. After the ceremony we took some family photos. Our large family was up first because of all the kids. This is the first photograph that has our whole family in it. For some reason at my wedding Shawn & Michael weren't in the large family photo. Plus since then I've added a baby, Carrie has added two and now Shell has added a husband. So from oldest to youngest I will list off the family. My dad Michael, stepmom Carrie, my hubby Shawn & myself, Rachelle & Jake {yes, she's a few months older than him}, Kevin, Christian, Caleb, Josiah, Hannah, 
my son Michael, Chloe, my daughter Lydia & Elijah. Wow! That's a mouthful. You can click on the photo for a larger view. I'm hoping the photographer caught one with more of them looking at the camera - that is quite the task! During the reception we toasted them, they cut the cake, danced & drove off to their honeymoon. Okay, there was a little more to that like the bouquet & garter toss and the constant going in & out of the reception to take more pictures, the whole bridal party got to participate in that. And the first time they only drove off in the car for photos as there were even more bridal party pictures to take after that. We
almost lost one bridesmaid in the confusion of it all & did lose two bouquets.
It was a great day of celebration. Only one thing was missing - my mom. There was a pretty memorial table set up in her honor with a photograph of her & Rachelle when Rachelle was trying on dresses. The
photographers edited out the other people, changed the background & made it look really nice. There was a beautiful flower arrangement of various shades of purple - her favorite color and pinks & a purple candle that Rachelle & Jake lit early in the reception. I had a bittersweet sort of feeling. Happy for my sister and sad that my mom couldn't be there to celebrate with her & watch her youngest daughter get married.
I'm sad to say I wasn't so SMART this week. I think part of it was recovering from vacation, summer hitting, hubby having more time off than usual, the fourth, my son's birthday...many things but bottom line is I was a SLACKER.
i've had fun reading your blog:) i just randomly found it. my brother in law was stationed at that same base when i was a teenager ... my sis had 1 baby and is a mama's girl sooo i stayed with her for the summers. that brought back memories:) i hope your new adventure is full of grace love and peace.
in Him, heather
I, too, know about driving in a strange place and looking for something that takes forever to find! I'm so glad you found the scrapbook store. Finding something you enjoy and are familiar with makes it feel a little more like home, doesn't it? Good luck exploring!