15th---big upload day

The 15th is always a big upload day. I've been working all month (and it's been a BUSY month with packing and signing contracts) today's releases:

A Peek Into Yesterday's theme was "Scrapper's Choice". It's a free for all!! This is always one of my favorite themes.



Daisy D's is quickly becoming one of my favorites, next to Sweetwater of course. ;) I also added a Christina Cole shaker box for a little added fun. The chippie swirls are Deluxe Designs Plain Jane chipboards.


Some older KI and some Heidi Swapp.



More Daisy D's, Blue Cardigan and some Basic Grey. Prima tissue flowers.

Down Memory Lane's theme was "Glitter and Gems".



More Basic Grey. I submitted this to the BasicGrey gallery. Thankfully, they accepted it. I always thought they took everything. I was surprised a couple months ago when they didn't take one of my submissions. :( The title for this was inspired by a Madonna song.



Life before kids....nothing else to say. ;)



My mother's crazy knife holder.


This was more of a focus on the journaling. I need to do that every once in a while.

Sweetwater's June release: Freedom:



Look at this! It's one of my first "altered" projects EVAH! It's a band-aid tin with a handle. I covered it with paper and added cinnamon candies to it. I didn't wait long enough for the Mod Podge to dry before I gave it to my mom as a gift. She said, "Ugh! It's sticky!!"

It's already been pointed out to me in my Alphabetica group that I need to wait a little bit longer for this stuff to dry. heehee




This is a ride at our local Community Center's playground. I always liked this picture. When Ashley saw this layout, she said, "no one is going to know what that picture is!" Did you know what it was when you saw it?



Simple, but I still like it. :D



This is Trent and Katrina's friend Dorian. Isn't he a cutie? He and his family just moved away to another city. :(


Thanks everyone for taking the time to look. I very much appreciate it. :D

Our house

This is the house we are buying. We had our inspection today, which is when I took these pictures.


I'm in the dining room, looking back at the entrance.



This is the dining room, looking into the living room/family room. There is a double sided gas fireplace dividing the rooms. To the right of the table, there is a HUGE sliding glass door. There is also another door in the living room/family room.


This is the living room/family room with that huge sliding glass door. Sorry the picture is so dark.



This is the kitchen. The windows are huge in here, too. Those vans in the background belong to the owner. In other words, they'll be gone shortly. ;) You know how I feel about large vehicles. :D



Nice size Master Bedroom.


My new scrappy room. It's at least twice the size of my current one. The room is off the garage/house and has it's own ac/heat unit. You have to go out the door of the laundry room, step down, walk 4 feet across the garage, step up and open another door to get here. We want to just fill it all in and make a new door that opens into the garage. It's kind of hard to explain I guess.

Uploads for the 30th

Upload at Peek. The theme was Red, White & Blue:



The journaling is about 5 pages long, so to sum it up: Trenton has gone through a couple of Cliffords. The first one was eaten by the stupid dog, Zoe. The second one we found at Goodwill, but it was kinda small. My friend, Kiersten, from Peek, heard about Trent's story and bought him one to replace the one he lost. He loves Clifford and sleeps with him every night.



GO U OF A WILDCATS!!


Ummmm, yeah....the kids were really NOT into having their pictures taken this day.



Here's a question for everyone. We're looking at another house. It's really cool looking, BUT, it's my ex-boyfriend's parent's house. The house has been completely remodeled and doesn't look anything like it did nearly 15 years ago. 15 years ago, I was never given a "tour" of the home. I never knew what the rest of it looked like, which one was his bedroom, etc. etc. Would YOU be able to live in your ex-boyfriend's parent's home? BTW...he was a total weirdo.

Scuffle at the Dog Park

Jumpy Dog.

That's what I call this dog. It's real name is P.J. I assume it's for "Pretty Jumpy". I know I'm wrong.

I know the dog is a puppy. I know it doesn't mean to scare Katrina, but the owner never, I mean, NEVER, corrects the dog when it jumps on Katrina (or any other small child). I always have taken the time to explain to Katrina that the dog is a puppy and doesn't want to hurt her, it just wants to play because they're both the same size. However, it doesn't always help and Katrina is always scared of this cute little dog.

As we we're driving into Dog Park this evening, I noticed that Jumpy Dog was there. I was by myself tonight so I explained to the kids that if the dog jumped on them, they were to say, "NO!! NO JUMP!!!" This is what I have to say to the dog nearly every time I see it as it either is jumping on me or my kids.

There are no rules that state that children are not allowed at the Dog Park. They are allowed with "strict supervision". I always supervise my children. Especially Katrina. I always read the rules. I always follow the rules. Always.

The first thing that happened this evening when we entered is that Zoe had to poop (why she doesn't do this at home is another story). Katrina and I went to pick it up and as I went to put it in the garbage can, I turned around and discovered Katrina on the ground with Jumpy Dog on top of her. Jumpy Dog's owner was not around. I believe she was watching from the sidelines as I was the one who had to pull her off of Katrina and tell the dog "NO!" Katrina was traumatized. I felt bad because I had made the mistake of thinking she was right behind me as I walked to the garbage can. When Jumpy Dog's owner finally came to retrieve her, she said nothing to either me or Katrina. I explained, once again, to Katrina that the dog was a puppy and wanted nothing more than to play with her. She didn't want to hurt her at all. She thought Katrina was her friend.

I kept Katrina within an arms length at that point. Jumpy Dog tried again to jump on Katrina when we picked up Gigi's poop (again, *sigh*). I grabbed Jumpy Dog at her harness and said, "NO JUMPING!" Her owner never said a word to me and never got her dog. The dog was distracted by another dog.

The third time Jumpy Dog tried to jump on Katrina, I was still an arms length away. I grabbed it by it's harness and told it "NO!" again. This time, Jumpy Dog's mom got pissed.

"Maaaaaaaaam", she said.

I turned around. I assumed she meant me. She's in her younger 20's and I must seem old to her.

"The rules state that there are no children allowed."

"No", I said. "The rules state they are allowed within strict supervision. "

"Well, your daughter is 10 feet away."

Wrong. She was within arms length, obviously since I was able to prevent her from jumping ONCE AGAIN on my daughter.

I stated to her, "It would probably do both you and your dog good to teach it not to jump on people. No one likes a jumpy dog."

Her reply: "Well, she's only 4 months old. I can't help it."

I said, "I can tell. You don't give a shit." The woman has NEVER said anything to her dog when she jumped on Katrina or other small children. I swear she has a chip on her shoulder.

"EXCUSE ME?!?!" She was so offended.

I repeated myself, "It would probably do both you and your dog good to teach it not to jump on people. No one likes a jumpy dog."

She left within 5 minutes.

I re-read the rules. In addition to "supervising your children", it also stated that the owner was responsible for controlling her dog's behavior.

She admitted to me that her dog was a puppy (4 months old) and that she "can't help it" if her dog jumps all over me and/or my children. Maybe she shouldn't come back until she can actually control her dog.

BTW, does a dog at 4 months old have all it's required shots for Dog Park? I could have sworn Zoe was 6 months old before she even had her rabies shot. I could be wrong.

I'm really looking forward to next time we see her. ;)

This is my social life? This is the first time I've been out since I don't know when.

P for Political

Here is my entry for Lainie Ehmann's topic, "What's Your Word?" We were to pick a word that describes us and I chose "Political".

As I've been getting older, I've been paying much more attention to the news. There was a time when I didn't really care about what was going on in the world around me. Now, "news" is my favorite tv show. I can't miss it. I've even been known to tape antenna wires to my walls and windows in a weak attempt to get the best reception for my favorite AM talk radio shows.

I have an opinion about everything and I'm not afraid to share it! I've become a political grump. Maybe even a grumpy old man. ;)

Many of you don't know this about me because I try oh so very hard to not write about it on the message boards. Sometimes though, a little bit sneaks out when I'm not watching my fingers type. ;)

May's Sweetwater

I had such fun with these papers. From their newest collection, "Bloom".

Catchlights

I love the catchlights I can get from my mom's back patio. The pool reflects so nicely in eyes. It's been a long time since I taken any pictures.

I can't believe I haven't blogged in nearly a month! It's been sooooo busy here. We've been working on getting the house up for sale and I am happy to say it is ON!!!! All I've been doing is packing, cleaning, painting, scrapping. I've only been scrapping for "work", too. I can't wait until my life slows down a bit.

Later.

Land of the Free, MotorHome of the Brave

Generation X, I demand you stand up and take action against the Baby Boomers of this country. The Baby Boomers are starting to retire and what are they doing? They are filling every nook and cranny of their property with obtrusive, obnoxious and ugly motor homes and boats.

Since I have recently been looking for a new home, I have noticed the invasion of the mini mansions on wheels sticking out from behind bushes, over block walls or just audaciously sitting out in plain view. Against their tires lie slabs of wood to protect them from rotting in the Arizona sun.

If the owners have any money left from their retirement fund after their $100,000+ splurge on one of these babies, some of these homes on wheels have been graced with special carports built just for them. They seem large enough to hold a small airplane. They stand taller than the homes their owners live in year round and their roofs are made with only the best corrugated aluminum found on this side of the country.

These are a new generation of eye-sore.

At what point would I pay nearly a half a million dollars for a home that has a perfect view of my neighbor's motor home? I ask myself this question at nearly every home I've looked at.

When I was looking for a home 10 years ago, I don't remember the real estate listing stating whether or not there was RV parking available. If it was there, maybe it was at the bottom of the listing, not near the top of the listing with the square footage and price of the home.

Nearly every open house my husband and I have been to, the first thing that comes out of the real estate agent's mouth, after shaking our hands and introducing himself is, "You got an RV? There's room for an RV here."

It takes everything I have not to just turn around and run. Instead I politely look around and when I get in the backyard, I see not only the owner's RV, but their neighbor's RV sticking up over the back wall.

Yeah, this is where I want to live. NOT!

Katrina in Time-Out

"Am I done?"

"No."

"Am I done?"

"No."

"Am I done?"

"No."

"Am I done?"

"No."

"Am I done?"

"No."

"Am I done?"

"No."

"Am I done?"

"No."

"Am I done?"

"No."

"Why?"

Sweetwater

Hello! Here are the layouts I did for Sweetwater. These are all from their Remember When collection.

SEI at 3SB

May's kit (geez, I can't believe it's May) for 3 Scrappy Boys was the new SEI.


When flowers bloom, Baby Kat always says that they're "On", not "Open".

Yeah, this is seriously becoming an issue in this house.

I got a new white pen. ;)

There was something in the air that night...

I have joined a circle journal/round robin started by Marilyn Healey. She was inspired by the Alphabetica book. Everyone in this project is so talented. As I was struggling to come up with a topic, as a joke I suggested, "Everything I know about life I learned from ABBA".

I was actually surprised by the positive response I received from it, even though it was a joke. After several more days of trying to come up with another theme (I was thinking of an "Eye Spy" kind of theme) I decided to keep the ABBA theme.

I had a vision in my head of a long, thin album. One weekend, I found a ledger journal at a yard sale. It was perfect. The exact thought I had in my head. I bought it for $1.00 and brought it home.

I have never altered much of anything before, especially nothing like this. I had a little issue with the cover. I soon discovered I needed some sort of binding tape. I made the cover design too big and had to cut down the tape. It's not as perfect as I want, but it will have to do. I have spent way toooooo much time on the cover. To re-do it, would take too much time and I didn't have anymore of that BasicGrey paper.

Here's the cover. It's gold, it's shiny, it's ABBA!!!!

...and more

More uploads from the 15th. These are from DML. The theme this month was Creative Photos. I printed a couple pictures on a transparency:



Kinda different for me, huh? I had fun with it, though. You have to experiment every once in awhile, right?




This one is all about Baby Kat's obsession with Hummus. She loves the stuff.




I just love Daisy D's. In addition to Sweetwater, they're one of my favorite manufacturers. Oh, and there's a little K&Co. mixed in there, too.

Check out the rest of them here.

More Uploads

It was upload day at several places. I'll just do one place today, another tomorrow and so on.

At Peek, we did layouts based on art pieces. Here are mine:

My handsome little dude

Baby Birds and Baby Kat

For the last 36 hours or so, we've been watching some birds that fell out of their nest. The other night, they had fallen out of the palm tree and rolled underneath the van in the driveway. Mama bird was mad when we got close, so we decided to leave them alone and go back inside. The birds were covered in feathers, so I was hoping they would be ok. They were a little young, but I was really hoping for the best.

The next morning, the first thing I did was check on the birds. They had rolled down to the end of the driveway and were stuck in a crack, on their backs, in the asphalt of the road. Both of them were still quite alive and trying to roll over.

At that point, since they were still alive, I put some paper towels in a box and picked each of them up with a piece of paper and set them in the box. I figured it was better than being on your back in the street.

I didn't think Mama bird would have anything to do with them after that, but she did. She watched them all day long. She'd hop in the box and feed them and scold any of us that went near the box. She was a good Mama.

Baby Kat was so concerned about these baby birds. Her catch phrase for the day was, "Baby birds ok." She told everyone about the Baby birds and how they were "ok".

This morning I checked on the birds right away. One was dead. The other one was still alive and Mama bird was scolding me for even being near. I thought I would wait a while before I removed the dead bird from the box. I went out an hour later and there was no Mama bird to scold me as I got near. I looked in the box and the 2nd bird was now dead.

I went inside and reported the news. Baby Kat was quite upset. I told her that it was ok. The baby birds were now in Heaven with Baby Jesus.

Without any hesitation or thought at all, Baby Kat replies, "BAD BABY JESUS!!! NOT NICE!"

I was a little surprised.

30th Upload

It was upload day again at Peek. We lifted each other. I had Linda, she had me.

Here's one of mine:

Mine is on top, Linda's is on the bottom. You can check out the others here.

Thanks. :) Have a great night.

Little Man in a Little Tux

We're home from Erik's sister's wedding. Here are some pictures:



I like Trent's suspenders. There were lots of chairs to play in, too. ;)



The bride's son. Is he like the proudest little dude ever??





These are Trent's cousins. These are some of my favorite's from the evening. I love the picture of Madison sitting on the curb.


Now, if you can get a picture of the flower girl picking her nose, be sure to do it! And if your GFIL in the front row catches you and giggles when he sees what you just did, that's even better.




Baby Kat and Daddy


Trent & his cousin at the rehearsal dinner. Erik helped me customize some settings on my camera for this picture. Without this setting, the picture looked just flat and gross.



The fountain at the entrance of the business park where the rehearsal dinner was held. Erik was so sweet and pulled over so I could play with exposure.



So, at the end of the evening, we went back to the changing rooms. We walked by the area where the wedding had just been. It was kind of eerily dark with the exception of the candles glowing. I thought it would make a good picture.



I have no pictures of the bride. I had such a hard time getting a correct exposure due to her white dress and the dark suits. I didn't know how to work around this. I will learn....I will!!

"Knock Knock

Who's there?
Lemur.
Lemur who?
Lemur out of this place, it's full of stupid poopy mommies."


Nice, huh? This is Trent's joke he said outloud to himself as I was putting away his freshly washed and folded clothes.

He was in bed, under the covers talking to himself. He knew I was there.

This was said even after he had been sent to time-out for his mouth, then had his Lincoln Logs taken away and when he still wouldn't stop I took away his new Operation game. However, none of these actions got him to stop singing, "Mommy is stupid. Stupid Mommy..." while in the time-out chair, which is why I sent him up to his room.

Yeah, we'll see who's laughing tomorrow.

A Little Confusion

So, check out this picture. My grandmother sent this to me yesterday. It's a picture of my mom and dad from when they were dating. I think they were going to the prom, not sure though.

Anyway, Baby Kat is sitting right next to me when I open the picture. She immediately points to my mother and says, "Gramma!"

I said, "Yes! That's right. You're so good. Who's next to Grandma?"

She looks at the picture again and without hesitation, says, "Mommy".

I thought perhaps I had misunderstood. I asked her again, "Who is that right next to Grandma?" This time I pointed and touched the screen to make sure she was really looking at the correct person.

"Mommy", she said again.

THIS is why when you "see" me on the message boards, my avatars are mostly monkeys.

"BAAAA EAT IT MOMMY!!"

This is what Katrina says to me when she's mad. She was mad because I wouldn't let nurse anymore. Yes, I'm still nursing her. Her "yiddle bit" turned into more and more and I told her she was done.

She was MAD!! She crawled over to Daddy (we were in bed) and said, "BAAAA EAT IT MOMMY!!" before she covered her head under the covers.

What is she really saying, you ask? Let me translate it for you:

BAD IDIOT MOMMY!!

Nice, huh? 2 1/2 years old and already has an incredible attitude. Her brother taught her that darling little phrase.

As I was saying...

Saturday was upload day for several places. At Peek, the theme was "Signs of Spring".

<----This is one of my favorites, which happens to have the same name of the theme. Check out the others here.



It was also upload day at Down Memory Lane.

And, here's my favorite from there.


In addition, I made some cards for a raffle. Please check this out and buy some raffle tickets. It's for a good cause. Thanks! :) There's some really, really cool stuff.

Manto Fev