I promised a photo

So here it is, spread out on a 5'X8' rug. The GT bag is stuffed full too. I had a little accident after taking the pic and am now sporting an ace bandage on my wrist. I guess it goes without saying that I'm not typing much tonight. Nor am I actually putting all this away, lol. Tomorrow I have an interview with the state, so I'm headed to bed. Wish me luck!

G'nite!

Whoa! What a weekend! Scrapbook Expo '09!

I had such a fun weekend! I went with my mom and Gayle (mom's co-worker) to Scrapbook Expo in Sacramento this past weekend. OMG! It was so much fun!!! We shopped at Green Tangerines, took lots o' classes and shopped the Expo until our credit cards melted.

Thursday was drive day and stopping by Green Tangerines. They were having a 40% off sale, so we did our shopping warm up there, lol. We got a ton of stuff. Seriously. And no, they are NOT closing, despite the rumors. They are actually still going very strong and resetting the store. I cannot wait to see what they do, although it will most likely be spring before we get there again. :(

Friday morning, we started off with Basic Grey's Eerie class. So much fun! Kelly G. is a riot y'all! :) My mom had to feed her addiction and cut class. I stayed until I got interrupted by family business and had to go find her. Ugh. Hopefully, we made up for being such bad students by taking Kelly to GT and The Cheesecake Factory. I'm pretty sure she believes we're crazy. Of course, she's right, but it's all good. ;) Kelly told the waiter it was our birthdays so our red velvet cheesecake was delivered with a candle in it. That's Kelly's arm. I took a pic with her, but I think it's on my mom's phone, so that will come later.

We took SEI's Clearly Fabulous, Quick Quotes This Boy Canvas class, Travel by Land, Sea & Air SEI class and Helix's All Mixed Up album. I didn't finish any of them but will have pics to share soon. :) Between these classes, we shopped, shopped, shopped. It was a whole lotta fun!

Saturday was more classes and more shopping. We took SEI's Expand It, Jacob's Ladder and Stamp & Page Expansion classes. I liked some of the techniques but wasn't thrilled by the paper lines used. I guess I'm just a butthead like that. We also took the Quick Quotes Dutch Door Album class. That was pretty cool, but I was bummed because I couldn't buy the paper pack to finish it. But I made up for that, lol. We bought more stuff. After the Expo, we went for margaritas. Our bartender was a scrapbooker too! And she made some really strong drinks:

And Sunday, we headed home. Of course we stopped at GT again before heading over the mountains. Anyway, here's the car packed to the gills:

What I got to see in the rear view mirrow:

And I know what you're probably thinking....Where are the pics of what you bought, woman? Well, I haven't unpacked yet. Tomorrow I'll get to that. Promise.

For now, I have to go make 24 invites for a Halloween party. By 8am. Wish me luck!

G'nite!

I've been a bad blogger, lol

But I'm back now to beg forgiveness. :) It's been busy busy with me lately. We are taking a much needed vacation to North Carolina. We left on Sept. 30th. I haven't been out there in 15 years. Things sure have changed. I'm going to post my adventures over the next couple of days. :)

We arrived around 11pm on Wednesday night. So of course, we didn't do too much except grab a quick bite at Wendy's and crash. Thursday, we were left to our own devices (as we were for most of the trip), so we borrowed my dad's BMW and checked out Knightdale. The only really odd thing was a lack of Starbucks. We did have breakfast at Hardee's, which now features such delectible menu items like fried bologna biscuits and pork chop and gravy biscuits. I opted for a steak biscuit and my son was enthralled with the idea that they served bacon biscuits. Sadly, spawn #1 was sick to her stomach and didn't get to eat anything. Spawn #2 stuck her nose in the air over what I dared to call food, lol.

Friday was when it really picked up. We rented a car and drove to my hometown. Aahhhhh..... Bliss. :) I drove by my old elementary school and stopped by my old house. It's for sale by the way...more on that later!

We went to my BFF Moment's house and then headed to Tweetsie Railroad. The spawn got to experience the opening night of "Ghost Train". Isn't that like the coolest thing ever? Okay, so I might be a little lame, but my son agrees with me. So we rode the train, we ate junk food, we played carnival games, we rode rides and had just an all around good time. Of course, spawn #3 got a tinsy bit scared by all the commotion aboard the train, but he came around in the end. We bought great little conductors hats and stayed out until midnight. That was a blast!

So that was a fun start to our vacation. :) I'll be posting more about our adventures over the next couple of days.

Flu Bug - BE GONE!!!

It has been a LONG couple of weeks in my lemon cupcakey world. We officially caught a nasty flu bug that has been going around the school for quite some time. It has run through the entire family, taking us out one by one and making me crazy. I still have the sniffles, but I think the worst has passed. So I haven't been doing much scrappy stuff.

I made some quick cards when I had a break from nurse duty. Some are my first experiment with heat embossing. Anyway, they were a nice break from the sicky-poos.

Alrighty, I'm gonna curl up on the couch and close my eyes. That or watch Bride Wars. :)

I spent the day in the scraproom

I have several projects in various stages of completion. I decided to get in a halloween kind of mood for two reasons. First, I saw Basic Grey's new Halloween line, Eerie. Oh.My.Goodness. They outdid themselves. I cannot wait to get my grubbies on this line!

Secondly, my mommy got this for me:

It's already hanging up outside my door, along with the skeleton above my scraproom window who's been hanging out since last year, lol. I'm so getting into Halloween this year.

Anyway, I have a long day tomorrow. More baby daddy drama. Oh well, I'm used to it by now.

G'nite!

Those two weeks just flew by.....

The kids have started back to school and I'm busily emailing every single job I see that I am even remotely qualified for. I haven't gotten any bites yet, but it's only a matter of time right? So anyway, we had a great 4th of July. We were able to watch fireworks from directly below the Nugget. :) And we saw the kids' cousins for a while. They really enjoyed that. :)

They started school on the 7th. It seems like the kiddos have some really good teachers this year too. And they're in classes with all their friends again, so that makes 'em happy. I'm letting them walk to school (despite the snakes, lol) and they seem to be enjoying it. I've been walking with them to get a little exercise in. It's about 2 miles a day, so it helps, right?

Poor Nate has missed 2 days of school already. :( He woke up early Thursday morning with incredible abdomen pain. We went to the doctor and found out he has/had an obstruction in his intestine. So he was given some medicine and we thought he'd just pass it. But Saturday, he had to go to the ER. He had a fever and was in pain like I've never seen. He had to be given fluids via IV, as well as pain meds. He was very good for his CT scan and other tests. Mama was a wreck however. (My mother says I need to sit all my kids down and tell them that they are not allowed to have any more hospital visits because Mom cannot handle it.) He's finally getting better and starting to act like his normal mischievous self again.

I'm going to go grab some popcorn and watch my DVR'd shows I need to catch up on. "Royal Pains", "Burn Notice", and "In Plain Sight" are just three of them. OOHH, I almost forgot "Ghost Hunters"! What a great way to kill some time tonight. :)

G'nite!

I picked up the scraproom today

And you cannot see the tabletop. However everything is out of the bags and off the floor. That in itself is an accomplishment. And tomorrow, I am going with my mother to Sacramento to go shopping. *sigh* At least I'm making a stop at Green Tangerines. :) And Chick fil a....mmm.....chicken nuggets. he he..... I am going to Joanns and Toys R Us and perhaps a side jaunt to the outlets in Folsom. I dunno. After cleaning up I am not feeling a shopping trip. I think this will definately be my last until mid -October when we go to the Scrapbook Expo. It's all good though.

Nothing to big and bad has been going on in my world as of late. Just hanging with the kids and cleaning house. I am reading "The Breathern" by John Grisham. I'm halfway through it, and so far, so good. I'll probably finish it this weekend.

Next monday the spawn go back to school. They all passed and have moved on to the next grade and I have earned another 3 dozen grey hairs. And now we get to start it all over. The plus side is my days will be free to job search. I'm really hoping that I don't have to do a whole lot more temp work. Seriously. I just don't like it. Sure it pays the bills, but just when I'm getting good at it, I'm gone, lol.

Alrighty, I'm going to bed. Tomorrow is Spawn #1's birthday. And we have to get up early to make that drive over the hill. I guess I better figure out something to do for cake tomorrow. Hmmm....Hostess cupcakes from 7-11? That'll work. :)

G'nite all!

Whew! That's over!

Last week was hectic. I got laid off again on Friday, but I knew that was coming. Saturday was Lizzie's birthday party and two parties from classmates of Nate & Allies. I had 3 kids' parties from 10 am to 5pm. That was exhausting!

Yesterday was kid's last day of school. They had a great time at the BBQ. Of course, they go back in two weeks, lol. (Gotta love track schools!) So we got the traditional pictures with the teachers.

So now, we're spending two weeks just hanging out at home with a little stuff thrown in. Movies, Wild Island, maybe even a trip to the Monterey Aquarium and the beach. Shh, don't tell them though. :) I'd take them camping, but I don't have a tent. Maybe I'll get one of my friends to let me borrow theirs. I should look into geocaching. I bet they'd like that. :)

So in my last post I was jonesing for my newest kit from MyGreenTangerines.com. Guess what finally came last week? he he....

Doesn't this just look like summer? I cannot wait to print out the pictures from Lizzie's birthday party. That or use pics from the upcoming two weeks.

Alrighty, I'm gonna park the laptop and get busy in my room. I have a ton of stuff to put away and I have some stuff I want to sell on 2Peas. Until next time....

Well, there goes the weekend....

I spent the weekend at home, not doing too much, except trying to clean during the hurricane. Why oh why do I continuously torture myself by thinking that while my kids live here I can somehow have a clean home? Yesterday it was rainy icky again, so we didn't do much. Although, the little kids' room is MOMMY CLEAN. Yup. I spent hours in there directing traffic so to speak, but they cleaned it. Today was laundry, dishes etc.... with a little bit of babysitting thrown in.

I did manage to finish my book, The Lace Reader, this afternoon. It was really good. I read it pretty fast and it held my attention. I'd recommend it if you want a good summer read. Now I need to find something new to read. Any thoughts? Hopefully I will have some time to read this week.

I'm still anxiously awaiting my May kit from Green Tangerines. *sigh*..... I really, really want it. I thought they were going out two weeks ago, but I haven't gotten anything. They haven't charged my bank account either so, I guess I'm just waiting. {insert the sound of my fingers tapping my desk} While I'm waiting I'm going to go through my scrap stash and selling some stuff on 2Peas. I've got wwaaaayyyyyy more than I'll ever use in this lifetime. It's a sickness I think because even though I have entirely too much I have stuff in carts on about 3 different online stores. And I'm planning a trip to Sactown for GT and a bigger, badder Joann's. I think a straight jacket might be in order.

Anyway, I'm gonna get to bed. I have to work tomorrow and the girls have their class fieldtrips to the waterpark. That'll be fun for them. I don't remember doing such cool things when I was in school. I wish they could take a camera with them. I'd love to see those pictures. Maybe I can get pics from the teachers. Gotta put that on my list o' things to do. That and buy milk and bread.

G'nite!! :)

Bizzee, Bizzee, Bizzee.....

That's my mantra for today, lol. And yesterday. And last week. I'm not sure where the time has gone, but it's *poofed* away. I've been working, we've had illness in the castle, and I'm trying to get my Stampin' Up business off the ground.

Tonight, we finished Liz's birthday party invites. She is having a Beach Monkey Luau, can you tell?

She loved putting these together. Big props to Judy for the die cuts. She's on eBay, but temporarily closing her store. I'll let you know when she's back. :)

So I've been reading the Lace Reader. It's pretty good and I'm enjoying it. I'm just getting to the "meat" of the story, so I'm anxious for the weekend so I can read without interruption. I finished The Host, another story by Twilight author Stephanie Meyer. It was, um..... long. I'm gonna go with long. The concept was interesting, but it was wordy. It never takes me long to read a book but I was reading that one for.ev.er.

Now, I have to confess my girl crush. My heart goes pitter patter over Tori. Yup. Tori Spelling. I've probably already admitted my little crush, but with the new season of Tori & Dean, I'm smitten again. Not in a wanna tear her pants of kind of way, but in a we could TOTALLY be friends kinda way. I could totally see myself scrappin' with her, just hanging out talking babies. Yesterday, I listened to her new book "Mommywood" while I was at work. She's so stinkin' cute and funny. There is just *something* about her.

Alright, so tomorrow is Thursday, then comes Friday. Whoo-hoo! The kids want to go see UP on Saturday, so I might indulge them. Maybe. ;) I want to do something special, but I haven't decided on exactly what. Movies, ice cream and who knows what. We were supposed to go to Wild Island, but the weather is iffy, so we'll wait on that.

Alrighty, I'm gonna go read a little and hit the hay. G'nite for now.

I scrapped!!

I spent yesterday out at County Purr Farm using all the tools and stamps to create some cool goodies. It was a lot of fun. Just me, my mom, Lizzie and the owner, Donna Jean. Very cool!

So I continued on in that groove and came home and did a little scrappin'. It's not much, but ....

I used the Feb kit from My Green Tangerines. I challenged myself to use just the product included with the kit. Check it out:

And here is what I put together:

So I had to go outside my "box" and use color combos that I've never really used, but I think they came out okay. The 6x12 layouts are going to be part of an album I'm going to cut out of chipboard. (LOVE my new guillotine paper cutter!) So, I'm in a scrappin' mood this Memorial Day weekend, and I'm going to work on some more cool stuff once I'm done babysitting and picking up my chitlin's. We're gonna have to rent a couple of movies and find something fun for dinner first though. I'm going to add stuff from my stash and use more of this cool kit. I promise to post more pictures! :)

Alright, the baby's momma will be here shortly so I'm gonna get all her stuff together while she's still napping. *sigh* I miss naptime, lol. Why do they have to grow up?

Just a pic.....

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

This would be my cat. My ribbon would eat him, lol.

Friday Fill Ins

And...here we go!

1. Moving is good for the soul. And the packrat.

2. The best things in life are free.

3. My best quality is my patience. I tolerate a lot.

4.It's all about the details.

5. In nearly 10 years, I still haven't gotten it right, but I'm learning.

6. The feeling of being loved is what I need right now!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to reading my book, tomorrow my plans include hanging with my mom, scrapbooking and eating taco salads and Sunday, I want to just take a breath and take it all in!

Can I share something cute?

Well, even if you didn't want to see it, here it is.....

Sing along if you know the words "Give me the beat boys and free my soul, I wanna get lost in your rock n roll and drift away....."

Alright, I'm gonna go finish getting ready for tomorrow. Stampin', scrapin' and a jolly good time.

G'nite!

Monday, monday......

Okay, so it's technically Sunday, but I wanted to do a quick post and share another great website I discovered. Of course it's scrapbook shopping related... :)

www.dollarscrapbooking.net

Look at all the loot I got for just under $45.00:

My favorite was that Caution! Girl line with the pink skulls. Most of this was $1 or less. If you're a scrapbooker, you know that those packs of brads can run $3.99 or more. The most expensive was $4.50 and that was a book of rub-ons for caution girl. :) Oh yeah, I'm stoked.

So school is out, I've cleaned the house so now my weeknights and weekends are ALL MINE. Well, aside from cooking dinner and hanging with the chitlin's. I think I'm gonna get a bicycle so I can learn to ride again and take bike rides with the kiddos.

Here is my first recipe post. It's easy-peasy and everyone in my house loves it. :)

3lbs Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast

1 Bottle Lawry's Tequila Lime 30 Minute Marinade (I use a store brand when I can't find this one)

Throw everything into the crockpot for 6 hours on high. If needed, put some water or chicken broth in the crock pot with the chicken to keep it moist. We eat this in tortillas with cheese, on salads, on top of rice...... It's very flexible.

Alrighty, I'm headed to bed. Have a great Monday!!

G'nite!

Happy Mothers Day!!!

Today was a good day. No really, it was. I got up late, got the kiddos all fancied up, and we went to the park and took pictures. We got my mother a gift (went halfsies with my brother) and we had dinner. I managed to have a little reminder of why I don't go out in the sunlight, but after a little rest I'm back to good.

Here are some pics from our photo outing.

The kids and I:

All of us:

All the kiddos:

And a baby picture:

On a side note, while I was out enjoying the sunshine with my family, I was also winning a contest at Green Tangerines. :) Whoot-whoot!!! Oh, snap! Check out who won! I can't wait to get my prize. And while you're at it, check out their April Kit. My heart is all a flutter. Tomorrow after write another essay and make my Econ cheat sheet, I am hoping to get into my scraproom and play around. I've got some pretty good pictures to scrap.

G'nite!