Blah Blah Blogging Along

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Happy Halloween!

To those of you that celebrate it! We have a Darth Vader and a Werewolf in the house today! Pic later since they didn't wear the actual costumes until they get to school! We finally carved our pumpkins last night! I can't believe we were too busy over the weekend to get it done. I ended up carving more of Josh's than he did, he picked one of those patterns that was a bit too hard for him! LOL Here are some photos of them:
Jake's it's a bit blurry because my stupidity forgot to put the camera on night settins! DOPE!

And here is mine/Josh's:

I was looking forward to staying home and giving out Candy this year for the first time. Every year since Jake was about 1 we both went out with the kids while my mom stayed home and handed out candy for us. This year I thought I'd stay home because they are getting older and it's not a big deal if both parents go. Well now Michael is working a job really far away and he's getting in very late so looks like I'm out in the cold again! :) Thank goodness they are predicting a mild night!
So I hope everyone has a great day and all your kiddos going out stay safe and have fun!

Saturday, October 28, 2006

Lucky Me!

So a couple of weeks ago, I won a Junkitz tee shirt for participating in one of their blog challenges. Me being a huge Junkitz fan was stoked. And happy since I never win anything! Then I get an email asking if they can use my layout in their newsletter this month! How cool! Of course they can! Who would ever say no to that!? Not me! Said newsletter came out in email yesterday and there it was! Yippee! It should be available on the www.junkitz.com site too.
Then last night I get an email from Wendy Reed of the Queen & Co. DT saying I won her RAK for Queen & Co that she was having on her blog! Woohoo! I am so excited! She asked me if there were anything new of the Q&K stuff I'd been eyeing (all of it of course) and I told her the Kissmas and Bootiful stuff so I can't wait to see what I get!
So I'm thinking I should play the lottery now! But that's where my luck will run out so I'm just gonna put on my Junkitz t-shirt and wait for the postman! ;)

Friday, October 27, 2006

Happy Friday

We had a great bday party last night. Josh said it was his best bday ever. I love those words! Now let's see how many days it takes him to say "I'm Bored"! We had yummy sushi for dinner, bday cake and lots of presents with just us and my mom. Very nice. Got some great shots of him opening his present and a big cheek one of him blowing out the candles. Oh and this one is my favorite from the bunch:So on to Jake's bday tomorrow. I have to make Chicken Parm for dinner! Josh made it nice and easy but not Jake! And man I was hoping for dinner out and a nice martini! ;)
Oh well, have a great weekend everyone!

Thursday, October 26, 2006

Happy Birthday Josh!


My baby is 8 years old today! Man where does the time go? I can't believe that he's 8! He wants Sushi at home for his bday dinner tonight. Poor kid can't even have his favorite bday cake with the whole dairy restriction thing but we'll make it fun anyway! He's got lots of presents to unwrap from his Daddy, Jake and I when we all get home tonight. I couldn't take a photo of him this morning since my DH had my camera! :( But here's a recent one of my cutie patootie!
Today he has cupcakes to bring to school and wanted his hair done in a "ramp". LOL! He meant 'jump', which I kindly obliged. He is too funny! I hope he has a good day!
Saturday one more bday in the house, then Sunday we'll have the joint bday party at a kids place. And then I can start thinking about Christmas! LOL!
Hope everyone has a terrific day!

Monday, October 23, 2006

Lots of New Things

I've been a busy bee! I did some digi and paper scrapping lately!

First off I got to beta test a very cool Quick Alpha action by Terry Maruca of www.scrapbook-bytes.com and it's so fun! You can basically take any font, any pattern paper and create your very own alpha in seconds! You pretty much can create shapes, numbers and symbols too for that matter! It's way cool! Here is a layout I did with the alpha I created:

Credits: Shawna Clingerman's Free Fall
Font is CBX Armyman
Alpha Quick Action by Terry Maruca

Now onto the paper stuff. Paper Crafts magazine had a very cute Xmas Wreath on pg. 69 of their November issue. I thought it would look very cute with Teresa Collin's Halloween papers too so I made one!


And one more fun Junkitz thing. Candice Cook's DH Curt was one of the Inspiration Challenges! Man this guy can scrap! He put up two fantastic pages on Candice's blog a while back and I finally got around to doing a page that I was inspired by.
So those are some of the fun things I've been working on. I've done lots more but you'll have to go and check out My Gallery at 123-Scrap if you want to see them! ;)

Sunday, October 22, 2006

Silent Sunday!

Its 8:33 am and it's silent in my house! That's right no one is home but me! The boys went to Nana's last night because Michael and I went to a cocktail party at a neighbor's. They just had their kitchen redone and wanted to show it off and now of course I want a new kitchen AND a new family room! ;) Michael is at the last race of the season to get in one final hurrah for him and the car. I would be very pleased with having the house all to myself and nothing to do but laundry if I didn't feel awful from drinking 4 martini's! Yep I said 4 and that was because Michael shut me off after that! ;) My limit is usually 2 and let me tell you I can't even drink a cup of coffee this morning which is not a good thing! I need my coffee! I'm paying the price now and I guess I deserve it. But we did have a very good time. We have a great bunch of neighbors and it was nice getting them all together.
I actually met one neighbor who has lived in the neighborhood as long as us (15 years) and had never met her before! Amazing but true, she worked 2 jobs for a very long time and they have no kids so there really was never a time for us to meet. She and her new husband were there last night, they are very nice and she owns a Ti-kwando (sp) studio! I may sign the boys up for some martial arts lessons very soon! Jake has wanted to take Karate for a long time anyway. I think it will be a fun thing for them to do.
Jake had a great baseball game yesterday, they won 11-9 and in the first inning they were down 4-0 so I thought they were going to menally check out early. The other team could hit and man did they like to steal but our team turned it around and did really well. Jake had one really good hit, made an awesome out at 1st (that seems to be his position this year) and he was pretty happy at the end of the game. When Jake is happy I am happy cause there is no attitude! ;)
So speaking of Jake, I ordered the IPOD and it just says his name. I wish I had gotten 2006 as one of the comments said but that one comment came in after I ordered it! :( That was a great idea Lucy! Oh well, I'll have to remember what year he got it or do a page on it right away so it doesn't get forgotten! ;) I can't wait to see it because it looks VERY green online! It arrived Friday when I was at work, of course you had to be here to sign for it so they sent it back, now it's going to a neighbor's on Monday!
So that's it for me, I'm going to go drink some more water and try to feel better so I can scrap today! Have a wonderful Sunday all!

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Hello 3 Blog Readers!

Since that's about the average amount of comments I get that's the amount of readers I'm saying hello to! ;) How's your week going? Mine's going damn slow! I can't believe it's only WEDNESDAY! I tell you the weeks are too long and the weekends are too short! I need a vacation! We have another busy weekend coming up too, baseball, a bday party, a cocktail party at a neighbors and Sunday I really need to tackle both boys rooms and get rid of all the clothes that don't fit them and put their fall/winter stuff in their drawers. I've been putting it off too long! It's really gotten much cooler and it's time! At least we don't have 2 feet of snow like Buffalo! I hear you can buy a house cheap there! Suddenly NH doesn't look so bad LOL!
So I'm ordering Jake's IPOD today, he wants a green one. My mom wants to pay for half of it and since it's going to cost $200 I don't mind but heres my dilemma. I wanted to get it engraved (because it's free) to say "Happy Birthday Jake" Love Mom, & Dad but now I'll have to add Nana too. So should I just leave it with Happy Birthday Jake or should I just have his name engraved on it? What would you suggest for a boy turning 11? 3 suggestions is better than non so speak up you 3 readers would ya? Thanks! :)
Well that's my boring stuff for today! Thanks for reading and have a great Wednesday!

Monday, October 16, 2006

Sad Day in Blogland!

Cathy Z has decided to stop blogging! Many devoted blog readers are going to be very sad to hear this decision. I know I am! I am one of her faithful blog readers! She is my birthday twin, we were born on the same day in the same year even! She's one of my favorite blog reads! Man it's not like I have a life of my own ya know! I depend on other people's blogs to keep me going all day! ;)

So Cindy's got a new Hanakkah kit coming out! It should be up at NDISB very soon! I don't have any Hanakkah photos but I was able to complete two layouts using the kit anyway! Very versatile if I do say so myself! And for all the Jewish scrappers out there I think they will also be very happy! I'll post my layouts as soon as Cindy say's I can! ;)

I got to scrap yesterday! Got 4 pages done! I also cut some rubber and put away some stuff in my room that had been piling up. I had ordered a few things online that came in over the last couple of weeks. So now my room is organized a bit again. I still think it needs a major overhaul though, it's really getting out of control as to not knowing what I've got anymore.
Jake got to pitch on Saturday, he did very well. He also hit a double! They lost the game due to some seriously bad plays made in the outfield but for the most part the kids played well. They would have tied if not for the 2 runs that came in due to the earlier said outfield plays! ;) But Jake did really well and I was very proud of him. Check out this shot Michael got of him swinging at the ball (I can't take credit because I was in the concession stand) :



That's gotta be the double he hit! Michael has a knack for stopping the ball in action! He also got a few others like that!
OK well that's it for me today! Hope everyone has an awesome day!




Friday, October 13, 2006

Hey Hey it's Finally Friday!

Man all day yesterday it felt like Friday! You can imagine how I felt to know it wasn't! :) I'm thankful today is!
Michael is off to NY to race today and I'm very nervous since he's racing for the first time with nitros in his car. I hope he does well as does the car! And hopefully he'll call me after his first run to let me know it went OK! Its funny, Buffalo got 20 inches of snow and here he is in another spot racing a car! NY really is a huge state!
I made the boys bday party invitation. I used Shawna Clingerman's Techno Grunge kit. I just love that kit! And got them all out today! I'm right on schedule for once! Tonight I hope to actually do some paper scrapping! I want to scrap some of the fun photos from the visit to the corn maze, pumpkin patch and apple picking from last weekend. Tomorrow is cleaning and a baseball game where I have Consession Stand duty. Mom and Michael are not going to be at the game either so that means no photos and Josh with limited supervision, OH BOY! LOL!
OK that's all I've got for today, I hope you all have a fabulous Friday!

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

My Boy Wants to Ski

Well snowboard actually. With the afterschool program. I'm thinking 11 is way too young but they start it in the Elementary school but I'm not ready for this yet. And it's $200 for 5 weeks of Lift/Lesson/Board not including the bus cost! YIKES! And what if he gets hurt, I won't be there! I can't handle that! How do parents do that? I guess I'll have to go to the info thing tonight to decide if I can do it or not but I'm thinking I've got to spread my wings someday! Not sure this is the someday though!
On a lighter note, LOST is on tonight! WOOHOO! My favorite night for TV! Can't wait! And that's all I have for today! Have a great day all!

Monday, October 9, 2006

Fabulous Weekend!!!

We had one of the nicest weekends we've had in a long time! We went to my cousin Kara's wedding on Sat. But first we sat in on an hour of Jake's baseball game. Our wonderful neighbors Joe and Lynn babysit the boys for us since my mom and only babysitter was also going to the wedding. Kara is my Godmother's daughter and one of my closest cousins. We spend every holiday that we aren't with Michael's family with them. It was a beautiful wedding and Kara and Dennis are so happy! They are off to the warm and exoctic Dominican Republic for a honeymoon and I'm jealous cause it's been freezing here in the mornings when it's time to get out of bed! BRRRR! Fall is here!
Which also means, beautiful colors! And apple picking and pumpkin picking and all that fun stuff. Which is what we did yesterday. And we went through a corn maze for our first time too. That was so fun! We made it out in 15 minutes! This was a 4 acre maze! They said some people have been in there for 2 hours! We were pretty proud of ourselves! LOL! Take a look at some of the great shots from this weekend and hopefully enjoy them as much as I do!



And that's just a few! ;) Have a great day!

Friday, October 6, 2006

Another Freebie Friday

This time I've got a sketch template for you! I'm sorry but I don't know if it will work in anything other than Photoshop because that's all I know! :) Here is a little preview of it:


Enjoy it!
Here is the YouSendIt Link: Sketch
So I am feeling a bit better, my headache is just a dull ache today, the pharmacy didn't have my meds yesterday or it would be gone altogether I bet and my nausea is finally gone. Man that was bad! I hope no one else gets this, especially my boys this weekend since they will be with a babysitter! ;) I hope you all have a fantastic weekend! Happy Friday!

Wednesday, October 4, 2006

Back and Forth!

Sorry about another switch but I don't like the fact that there are things I can't do in Typepad that I can in Blogger. I also can't put up my pretty banner which totally stinks so I'm back! I'll give this Beta thing one more try. Hopefully people can comment again because the Blogger people were none to helpful when I put in my help request about it!

So I finished Debbie from Junkitz's inspiration page! I just love it! She and Stacey did some fabulous pages that inspired me to do my own version of it and it's now one of my favorite pages. The tags pull out to reveal more photos. Jake likes it too! ;) Here it is:
Supply list can be found with the page in my gallery at 123-Scrap.
So I've got another bug. I got it from Michael who was sick all weekend and I feel like I've been hit by a truck! Everything aches, I have a sore throat, ear ache and head ache, plus my stomach has felt like I've been on a non-stop rollercoaster! ICK! I have a wedding to go to Saturday so it needs to be GONE by then! I stayed home and semi-worked and rested yesterday but today I don't feel much better. I am thinking the Airborne isn't working for me because it's not really a cold but more of something else. What I have no clue cause my symptoms are all over the place! So enough about the nasties. Just keep your fingers and toes crossed that the boys don't get it next!

OK I've got to get off here and get to work! Have a great day!

Sept 29th

DOODLES!!!
I have been doodling again! LOL! I have a doodle download for you on this dreary Friday. Here is the preview:

And here is the YouSendIt Link: Doodle Link Hope you enjoy them and get some use out of them. If you use them please send me a link I'd love to see what you do with them! :)
Have a great weekend all!

Sept 28th

One more work day until the weekend! The next couple of weekends are so full! Michael has his semi-annual New York trip tomorrow and Sat so I've got single parent duty. It's only fair since I was gone last weekend. :) Baseball game on Saturday. I'd like to go Apple/Pumpkin Picking or to the Deerfield Fair on Sunday. Next weekend we have a wedding to go to. Busy Busy! I was also supposed to go to a Lia Sophia Jewelry party tomorrow night but Jake's coach switch practice to tomorrow night! It's usually Thursday nights! What's up with that! I don't think baseball should encompass the WHOLE weekend! Jeesh! It starts at 5:30 and doesn't get over till 6:30 or 7:00 if doesn't get dark and then I'll have to feed the boys so that totally messes up my plans! Oh well, I guess that means I'll save some moolah! ;) I already had a necklace picked out too! LOL!

I'm having a great time designing for
Rachel. I've played with all of her kits that I have and am looking foward to seeing what she comes up with next.

Cindy says she's got a few things up her sleeve too so I think this CT thing is going to be fun again for awhile now! I guess it just took some fun stuff and less requirements to make it right for me. As a matter of fact, look for a new page from me using the "Page Bracelets 2" sometime later today!

So that's me in a nutshell today! I hope to do some paper scrapping this weekend as well. I've got to do
Debbie from Junkitz's challenge! Love her page!

Have a wonderful Thursday all!

Sept 26th

A TOOT and A PAGE!


So I'm finally able to toot! I got onto a Creative Team! I was invited to be on Rachel Solenberg's Digi Team! I'm pretty stoked! I have tried out for a few and the rejection was getting to me. After all the paper world rejections I had really decided I wasn't going to apply anymore but then saw Rachel's call and I really thought her stuff was fun so I figured what the hey, and then I got a yey! Woohoo! Rachel sells her very fun and vibrant kits at Plain Digital Wrapper. Go and check it out! I've been playing with her kits for the last few days and they are so fun! I've already done 4 layouts using them!

And everyone knows I am a Junkitz Blog Stalker. Well they are doing a little inspiration challenge over there. I just love all the stuff they put out and Staceywas inspired by Kendra who was inspired by Stacey K and they were all just scrapping away. So I sketched out the layout and did my own this weekend! Here is my version :





Thanks to all the wonderfully talented Junkitz ladies for the inspiration! I've got another one Debbie did waiting in the wings! Gotta love that when you are stumped for an idea!

So that's what I've got for you today. I've got tons of stuff to do around the house so I've got to get off this computer for the night! Cya Tomorrow! Have a good one!

Sept 25th

Back Home and Tagged!

So I'm home from a long weekend of cropping and teaching and I've been Tagged by Rachael!

So here are the rules: List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether or not they have words, or even if they’re not any good, but they must be songs you’re really enjoying now. Post these instructions in your LiveJournal/blog along with your seven songs. Then tag seven other people to see what they’re listening to.

"My seven songs (yes they are all country):1. My Best Friend - Tim McGraw2. Just to See You Smile - Tim McGraw3. When the Sun Goes Down - Kenny Chesney4. Boston - Kenny Chesney5. Dont Forget to Remember Me - Carrie Underwood6. Before He Cheats - Carrie Underwood7. When I Get Where I'm Going - Brad Paisley & Dolly Parton
People I'm tagging:
1. Mary E.
2. Jolene
3. September
4. Chris (cause you need to blog girl)
5. Andrea (early Bday present) :)
6. Jen Caputo
7. Cindy


So another Crop at the Cape is over. I taught 5 classes. 4 of them straight in a row with only 15 minute potty breaks in between them. That was tough! I had a very sore throat at the end of the night! Most of them went really well, one ran over and a few people were a bit unhappy because it was rushed at the end and I made a few errors but for the most part it was very well received and people were even making all my projects that night at the crop so that made me very happy. It hurt me that people weren't happy but I have to get past that and know I can't please everyone all the time. I only got 10 of my own pages done which is not very much for me but that's ok I went to teach this time so that wasn't my goal.


I was able to get home in time to see Jake play his first game in the new league of baseball. He moved up to the Bronco league this fall where they play on a bigger field. He did well, they were tied 2-2 when the rain came whipping in! Major wind and very heavy rain! We all went running for cover! The boys were lucky since they now have real dug-outs on the bigger fields but they thought they'd run around in the rain instead! LOL!

So that's my catch up for the days I was away! I hope you all have a great Monday!

Sept 21st

OFF TO THE CAPE
Andrea, Chris, Carol and Cindy, it just wont be the same without you! :(

Boy it's been another wild week! I have been busy at work again, trying to pack for the Cape Crop and get the house situated for the boys. Totally Crazy! I even had to go back home today because I forgot my cell charger and that would not have been a good thing! I have to be able to talk to my boys everyday! They may not care if I'm gone but I miss them like crazy. I've packed way too much (including my sewing machine)! I've got a class to teach on Friday and 4 or 5 on Saturday so I have no clue how much scrapping I'll actually get done. I do not have my camera! I left it home for Michael to take photos of Jake's first game in the new league of Baseball. He has moved up this year and was very hesitant to do it so I had to forgo the camera to get photos of that! I'm bummed I'll be missing the game. Jake's playing 1st base. I hope he'll also get to do some pitching as well.

So I'm signing off until Monday with hopes of maybe at least checking in to say hello on 123-Scrap since I did pack the laptop! Have a great weekend all!

Sept 18th

It was a good weekend! Very quite! Well until Saturday night when Rachael and Lesley got here and then there was loads of laughter going on in the house! Very fun times! Here is a layout I completed that night after getting out the tripod and taking a photo of the three of us!

I made homemade pizza and margarita's and there was plenty of chocolate to snack on so between the food and the great laughs it was a good time. I always have fun with these girls. It was too bad Melissa forgot to come! ;)
Friday night I cleaned the house and got to read my Scrapbooks Etc in bed with no TV on to distract me or anyone telling me to turn off the light cause it was bothering him! HEAVEN! Saturday during the day I did errands and didn't have to rush or anything! Man it was so nice! Then yesterday I scrapped all day until 6 when all my guys got home. It was a heavenly weekend! And yes I missed my guys but it was so peaceful and the house stayed clean for 3 whole days! NICE!!!

Reality sets back in today! LOL! So I'm off to work! Hope everyone has a great day!

Sept 15th

I've got the weekend to myself! I'm gonna exercise right when I get home and then get all the cleaning done tonight so I can be a scrapping fool for the rest of the weekend until the boys get home! They are leaving for Maine this afternoon before I even get home from work! Tomorrow night Rachael, Melissa, and Lesley are coming over for Girls Night and that will definitley be a good time knowing those girls! ;) Rachael is expecting Margarita's so I better hit the store on my way home tonight too!

I'm so glad it's Friday! This has been the week from H-E double hockey sticks at work! I worked 13 hours on Monday, 12 hours on Tuesday and about 10 hours on Wednesday, then it was Open House at Josh's school where we found out he is having trouble being quite in class! Yippee! So when I ask him how his day was and he says good I guess he "forgot" it wasn't so good afterall! ARRRRRRRGH! Well he's going to work on it. Yeah, we've heard that one before!

I have to figure out what I'm bringing to the Cape too! It's next weekend! man that time went by fast! I am pretty much all set for my classes, just have to get one more class kitted up that we are waiting for the supplies from American Traditional on. They donated almost EVERYTHING for my class! woohoo! It's going to be the cutest recipe box too!

So my gal
Cindy Simon released a new kit at NDISB yesterday. It's called Gently Falling and is a very non-traditional take on Fall. Love it! here are a couple of pages I did using the kit:
So that's about it for my ramblings today. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!