Look! A Layout!

And a small ad lol.

But first the layout :) I struggled with the journaling on this one. I really wanted to leave it blank without journaling but I always feel like I should write something. For me this page isn't about a "memory" per se. See, that's because it's not really a memory of mine. DH took this photo one day when he took the kids out of the house so I could clean it uninterruptedly. So, I guess technically THAT part is MY memory lol. Anyway, I said screw it and used the lyrics of this old country song as my journaling. it was cute and sweet.

As for the teeny tiny pic at the bottom... well DH resized it for his desktop and I dont think he saved the original AND he erased it from the memory card. So this is what I've got.

Credits:

• Background Paper & staple from Micheline Martin's Colourful Wonderland Kit at TDS.
• Frame by Micheline Martin at TDS.
• Flowers and Stamped alpha- Karah Fredricks Pixie Dusted Posies at Blue Flombingo.
• Starlite Element pack by Blythe Evans (Sept Scrapz Sack at OAKS)
• Letter 'G'- Ashes to Ashes Alpha by me at OAKS.
• Fonts: CKLovenote & Century Gothic.
• Journaling: You Are My Flower by Flatt and Scruggs (song)

And now on to the advertisment.

I am having a 35% off sale on *most* personal items right now. The only personal items that are not on sale are the items I put into the "dollar bin" and my Scrapz Sack. Sack is only available until the 4th for $2 and then on friday it will be revealed at full price for each item. Sale ends Oct. 2nd.

Also, new this week is a set of commercial use overlays. Since there are only 2 overlays, they are only $3.oo

Thanks for reading!

Hotels that look cool....

I used to live in Reno, NV so I have this thing with cool looking hotels. I always loved how the Silver Legacy looked at night. A big giant glowing green dome in the night sky. Also, the Atlantis hotel/casino is really neat too. I saw that one go up in stages as it was being built when we lived there. There is a cool skywalk thing that goes from one side of the street to the other waaay up in the sky.

Another cool one is Paris Las Vegas. There is a huge Effiel Tower Structure in the front and the interior is all done up all elegent and french like.

The Reno Hilton isn't all that cool looking but they have one of those bungee things in the parking lot. I always loved watching people jump, I'd never have enough guts to do it myself though lol. I did watch this bride and groom do it in their wedding clothes though.. that was cool.

Anyway.. that is my little bit on travel and hotels for ya lol. Hope you were transported to another world.. but hopefully not another blog LOL!

Have a great night.

More on real estate...

Sorry to get all *adult*like on ya.. just something that's been on my mind alot recently... I really want a house. We have been renting for over 10 yrs and while apartment living was fine when we only had a few kids... now it's not all that great with 5 of them. Right now we are living in a 3 bed 2 ba, 2 level townhouse... 1200 sq feet with 5 kids. Not ideal but it's better than nothing.. it however is NOT better than a house with an extra bedroom.. or 2 lol.

Real estate is at an all-time (?) low right now.. tons of houses in our area are being foreclosed on or just being sold at insanely low prices. Not too long ago there was an open house down the street from our house. My mom and I were driving by and just stopped on our way home. OMG the house was amazing. It was HUGE and they wanted over 500,000 for it.. the way it looked, it was totally worth it. But was it realistic for the way the market is right now, probably not.

It was beautiful though and I was in love. It had a HUGE backyard.. 5 bedrooms PLUS 2 additional rooms, one was downstairs probably used as a guest room and the other was upstairs and HUGE. It was actually a home office, but I was IN LOVE. That was my fave room in the whole house LOL.

I'd just be happy right now to have an extra bedroom, an actual family room and a backyard in addition to what I have now. That would be a dream. Maybe someday :)

A Grab Bag and Happy Bday to my Love :)

Get it HERE

This bag was not supposed to be released until tomorrow (Friday) but I got a little excited and decided that releasing it on my DH's birthday was a good plan lol. Happy 33rd Birthday to my love!

So excited!!

I have mentioned it before in the past but I do alot of surveys and market research for cash and prizes. I prefer the sites that pay in cash, but I have done a few for prizes. You know things I wouldn't normally buy for myself but want anyway. So, I have been saving up my survey points between a couple of reputable sites in order to pay for the CS3 update and I am beyond thrilled to report that I am only a few surveys short of my goal! I am SO excited!!

It did take me awhile to save them up and I did it between 5 sites that pay out in cash so it is by no means a get rich quick scheme but I figure I didn't have to shell out anything and they are paying me for my opinion.. it's just fun money I wouldn't have otherwise. And the cool thing is that I am getting something for myself that I really want and couldn't justify actually spending that much money on something like software. A vacuum or food sure, but software?? Even if it will aid in a small profit for me.. it's alot of cash to spend.

Anyway, just wanted to share!

The Craziness that is Real Estate...

So I have a friend who lives in the Phoenix area.... she is originally from the area where I live. Currently I live in a town that is further away form the "metro" area so it is a little less expensive to live than in the larger cities. Our town is not really all that small.. we have according to the last census information.. about 88,000 people who reside here. I believe it. We have several schools, tons of houses, and parks.

Anyway, she was telling me how low the Phoenix real estate market is, so just out of curiousity I went online and did a search of listings with my dream criteria. Seriously contemplating moving to Arizona now lol. For a 2000+ sq home, 4 bed 3 bath, single family detatched home.. runs LESS than 200,000! You can barely get a small condo here for that price.

So tell me... where do I sign up??

Music and such

I was just on youtube creating a playlist for myself. I had no idea you could do that until a friend told me. Soo cool! I don't have any music on my computer and pitiful old me was just sitting here listening to my Myspace page music over and over again lol. I need to get myself an MP3 player.

I got one for free awhile back but it didn't hold much music. I want one that holds a good amount. DH has an iPod but it's full of his music and we don't share the same interest in music. I am a country girl (read hick) and he's a metal head. Opposites really DO attract!

He's also over 6 feet tall and I am 4'11 lol. I often feel like we are the Jolly Green Giant and his lil buddy sprout when we are out together lol. Which is another reason I wear higher heeled shoes alot.

Oh and I want it to be pretty. Pretty, girly, and sparkly.

Back on Track...

I didn't want to say anything right away because I wasn't sure that I would actually stick with it this time but it's been a few weeks and I am feeling more confident. I am back on Weight Watchers. There I said it.

This time I have my awesome buddy Bobbie to help keep me on track. This is our 3rd week OP (on program) and I am down 3 lbs so far. YAY! I made some 5 can soup today. I love this stuff, it's really filling and helps me get my water in.

I do have a challenge up ahead.. Dan's birthday is on Thursday.. which means cake. We'll be having chili and cornbread muffins for dinner. I am making him a lemon cake w/ cream cheese frosting. Hmmmmm. I am making the cake the lighter way.. applesauce in place of the oil and egg whites instead of whole eggs so it shouldn't be too bad. I did buy lemon pudding to do the filling with too.

Now on to business! I have some special stuff for y'all this week. I can't tell ya about it just yet, but believe you me.. it will be well worth the wait! I am so excited.. I'm nearly bursting at the seams. Here's a little hint... *Friday*

hoodia

Wow, It's quiet..

But I am so NOT complaining! I thought I'd take the time to post this before it got crazy here again.

My mom took 4 of my kids for an overnighter and my oldest went with his Aunt to the hockey game. He came home this morning, but my other 4 are still with my mom. I really expected them to be home by now but not yet! I'm sure as soonas I hit post, they will come walking in the door and unleash the crazy that is my life. But for now I will enjoy the quiet.

What I did yesterday....

I was able to clean my room and closet, the upstairs hallway, the downstairs common areas, and start some laundry. I even got the chance to dye my hair! I even got some new goodies made, woohoo!

Dan got home from the track around 7:30 and we watched Disturbia on On Demand. LOVED it!

Then Dan insisted on watching some way cheesey 80's horror flick b/c it was free and really funny to watch. Really it was just plain stupid LOL.

I slept in til after 11 am.... and it's only about 1 pm now, so I've been awake for 2 hrs LOL.

I think I am addicted to the quiet. I love it. I can't get enough of it. I must have it. I wonder if there is an addiction treatment program out there for mom's who are addicted to quiet time. I imagine not because really.. who in their right mind would want help getting over that??? :)

25% off Sale.. One Day only!

My Store is 25% off from now until Friday (9/21) at Midnight EST! **Commercial items excluded from sale**


Some of what you'll find in my store...

After Midnight

Sparkleberry Kit

One Day Down... 2 to Go

Well, I am alive.. .kids are alive. So I guess that's something lol. All those things I planned on doing tonight.. didn't get done. I'm still gray and hairy. I did pick up the house and do the dishes. I fully intended on folding the laundry, I got sidetracked. I still intend to do it.. I have to. Kids have to get dressed tomorrow, we have somewhere to go in the afternoon.

One of my awesome CT members, Laura, knocked out a gorgeous LO for me today:

She used my new After Midnight Paperpack, Foiled Hearts, and Sparkly Swirlygigs.

Oops, I did it again!

Ok, so anyone who really knows me knows that I am *less* than a fan of Britney Spears. I think that back, way back before the breast implants, she had alot going for her. Even when she was dating and living with Justin Timberlake, she was doing pretty well.

And then she met K-Fed, got married and had babies. You'd think that having babies might make a person slow down and grow up a bit. You'd think. I mean that's *usually* what happens, it did with me.. not that I'm anywhere near the perfect parent.. no one is. We all have faults.. but the majority of us all learn from our mistakes. Although I do have to say, that not many of us have cameras and the media up our butts 24/7, lol. Or any other places cameras may be hiding.

And now she's lost her kids (for the time being). I hope that this time she goes into drug rehabilitation and actually gets the help she so obviously needs.

This should be fun...

This morning Dan left on a road trip for 3 days. It was his *birthday present* from his friend. They are motorcycling down to LA and going to watch the Sharks season opener. I am essentially a "single" parent for a few days.

The plan for tonight... dye my hair, shave my legs, and pluck my eyebrows. WOOT! Maybe I'll scrap something.

Dh saw the blog about Short Chicks and Big Trucks... he laughed. He thinks I'm cute because I like my big truck because it goes vroom vroom. Back to truck accessories for a moment, when I was surfing for cargo nets I accidently clicked on something that brought up a page for a transfer tank. What is a transfer tank? And Why do I need one? I dunno, just thought I'd ask.

I think I also want a remote control for my CD player. I always forget I HAVE a CD player in the truck. We actually have a 5 disc changer but it is in the center console and not accessible while driving. Oh, and it's full of DH's CD's. This is why I forget and need a remote.

So, that's about it for right now. The kids are watching the Incredibles and I've got dinner going in the crockpot. I'll let ya know if I survive my first day on the "job".

Mondays are not my friend....

She says as she sits here sipping her coffee....

Mondays are not my friend. They never are.

I didn't get to bed as early as I had hoped lst night. I got kinda of sidetracked on my way upstairs by the stench in my downstairs bathroom. Even though I had cleaned the bathroom TWICE yesterday the stink was still...well, stinky! And I couldn't find where it was coming from.

Well, last night I found it.. it was the most foul thing ever in my history of being a mom to many boys. And boys do some foul things, but I think this one takes the cake.

**Disclaimer, do not read the information below if you are easily grossed out... or eating.**

They were peeing in the bathtub. With the drain plugged. Don't say I didn't warn ya.

EW!! Oh believe you me I was completely grossed out... and that is saying alot. So, instead of collapsing in my bed like I had wanted to.. I had to clean out the tub. Bleach, hot water, bleach, and more bleach. And Air freshener... lots of air freshener. It's better this morning. MUCH.

So, that's the reason I didn't get to bed on time. And now.. my 2 little ones have disappeared upstairs. I can still hear them.. but god only knows what they may be getting into. Hopefully, they are still dressed. We have to go back to the Dr's office and have their TB tests read and pick up some papers so that I can go apply for Liam to go to preschool.

Thanks for reading!

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My Son.... The Frog....

Today at lunch, Liam (4), informed me he wanted to be a frog so that he could eat all the flies. But he couldn't because he was not green.

Now, he is wearing half (the top half) of his brother's frog costume from last year. You know the ones from Old Navy? They are nice and puffy, so he has a "belly". He says his belly is full of flies.

He just pretended to throw up.

The end of another day...

My mom took the 2 older boys overnight last night and brought them home this afternoon. I spent the morning cleaning. It's funny how you can scrub a bathroom spotless and not 15 minutes later have it smell the same as when you started. I think it's actually my toilet seat, things getting trapped in the hinges that are impossible to get out. I think I should get a new toilet seat/lid.
I was supposed to take the little boys back to the Dr's office to have their TB tests read.. however, they were not open? They told me to come in on a day knowing they would not be there. Really. I don't know what they were thinking, so we have to go back on Monday.
I think I need to replace the batteries in my wireless notebook mouse again.. it's funny because the box said one battery should last an entire 6 months. I guess that's 6 months worth of normal human use lol. I've had the computer for about 2 months now. I have super-human computer using strengths!! Ok, that may not be something worth bragging about lol.
My mom took the older boys to the dinner making place this morning too. You know, the ones where you go and do all the prep work and make your entrees and come home and throw em in the fridge/freezer for later? Well, she brought me a bunch of meals so tonight we had Cheese Ravoli w/ Red Pepper Pesto sauce and broccoli mixed in. It was really very good, fatty but good. Actually, I ended up tweaking it a little so it wasn't all that bad for me points wise. I had to mix in some milk, but I used fat free instead of regular and I picked out all the nuts from the parmesan cheese that came with it. DH isn't a fan of nuts that aren't his own. We also had "Back to School Apple Crisp" for dessert. THAT I did not have any of. I couldn't justify the 450+ calories and 17 fat grams per serving. Did I mention I am back on WW? No? Well,there you go :)
I buddied up with one of my CT Members and we are doing it together, mailing each other what we ate the previous day. It's been a week and so far we have each lost a pound. YAY go us!
I am apparently in a design funk. I am trying to come up with something fabulous and well, it's not going very well. I keep tossing everything I try, nothing looks right. I think I might scrap. I started a layout yesterday that I haven't finished yet. I just have the title left to do. Alrighty, you talked me into it.. I'm going to go finish it.
Catch you all tomorrow, thanks for reading!

C'mon baby take me to the movies!

I've been watching alot of movies at home lately, I do love to go to the movie theater but because of the kids I am unable to go as much as I would like. I'm really only going for the popcorn lol. No matter how hard you try, you can never really recreate the taste of movie popcorn at home. There is just something about movie popcorn and butter topping.
Sometimes, I am even tempted to invest in some home theater popcorn machines !!
Anyway, enough of my rambling.. on to the movies!
Movies I wanted to see in the theater but missed out:
1. Pirates of the Caribbean 3- I am so bummed that I missed this but I have my name on it for when it is released in December.
2. Harry Potter (8 million? or was it 4? )
3. Knocked Up
4. Waitress
5. Georgia Rule
I am sure there are more.. those are the ones that came to mind immediatly.
Movies I've seen and loved (theater)
1. Premonition w/ Sandra Bullock. LOVED this. I saw it with my mom, dh hasn't seen it yet but I am willing to see it again just for him lol.
2. Peaceful Warrior w/ Nick Nolte and Scott Mechlowicz. Fabulous movie, I didn't think I would like it but it really makes you think. And it was easy for me to relate to because it took place in an area near where I live and it is based on a true story.
See I told ya I don't get out much lol.
Last night we watched Zodiac. What an amazing cast! I absolutely loved it! I really coulda used that popcorn machine, but I did have some micro pop in the house thankfully!
Thanks for reading!

Small Chicks Drive Big Trucks...

DH recently bought us an Ford F150... it's really funny because he originally bought it for work-related purposes. However, he's been driving my van to work and I have the truck. Which, by the way I love with a passion... now. I didn't before but that is a story for another time.
Reasons why I love the my truck: It's big & got a big engine lol. My son calls it a "monster truck". And I play my country music stations as loud as possible and sing to my heart's content.
My husband thinks its hot. Small Chicks in Big Trucks.. I'm 4'11".
So, anyway... now I'm looking at truck accessories I want to get one of those cargo nets that you can hold your groceries. Whenever I go to the store, my food slides all over the place and I end up having to crawl in the back and get it. It's not easy for someone my size to climb in the back of a pickup truck. It's hard enough climbing up into the cab! The ones I am looking at are reasonably priced too.
Anyway, I better get going.. the kids are "supposed" to be in bed and well.. they aren't!
Have a great night!

A little of this ALOT of that...

The kids had Dr appts yesterday, Liam needed his 4-5 yr checkup to get everything out of the way for school next year and so we can get him enrolled in a pre-K program. They had him do a hearing test which in itself was a hoot! He wasn't quite grasping the concept of pushing the little red button everytime he heard "the beep". Not to mention that the button was hard to push the way she wanted him to hold it. And I think her accent was hard for him to understand.

After I explained it to him (you know like a mom would to a 4 yr old), he seemed to do fine and passed his hearing test. There was no doubt the child could hear... listening on the other hand.. THAT is an entirely different subject.

Then was the vision test, how many 4 yr olds know that this + is called a plus sign or a cross? Not many that I know.. mine called it an X. I thought that was an appropriate answer for his age. I'm not entirely convinced that these types of tests are very accurate with young children.

Me on the otherhand, even wearing my glasses am blind as a bat.. AND they let me drive!

Then it happened....

I was handed 2 specimen sample cups. She says, I need them to pee. Ummmmm, 2 little boys, who haven't been potty trained for very long, don't have the best aim, and you want them to pee in THAT little cup? Uhh yeah ok. Well, too bad because you took over 35 minutes (PAST) my appointment time, they peed right before we came in. Sucks to be you!

I did, however, manage to squeeze a dribble or two out of Greyson since he pees like ever 5 minutes. But Liam.. um yeah nope.. the child has a bladder of steel. So, I had to take it home and I have to get a sample from him before I take them back on Saturday to have their TB tests read.

Immunizatons went pretty well.. Greyson got 1 in the leg + the TB test.. he cried during the shot. Liam got 1 in each leg and took it like a champ. He's so big.. I guess that scares me a little that his pain tolerance is pretty high. I see many (more) ER trips in my future.

In other news...

I was asked by Hummie to write a little blurb for her blog, so look for my Designer Technique on October 5th. I am very excited to just have been asked and a little intimidated being preceeded by Christina Renee and Faith True.

Safeway (food stores) are having a pretty cool promotion through Sept 25th. If you buy 20+ of selected items , you will get an instant $20 discount. That is on top of your club card savings. If you have coupons for said items, you save even more.

I went last night just to test it out.. bought lots of things I don't really need but when I thought about it, I actually do lol.

From the list I bought:

4 boxes cake mix (betty crocker)-I have 3 bdays coming up I need to make cakes for.
4 frostings (BC)
2 pkg hotdogs (BallPark)
2 pkg hot dog buns (BallPark)
2 family size bags of tostitos scoops (dh wanted)
3 boxes CapriSuns
1-24 pk diet coke
2-10 pk boxes of Orville Smart Pop

Things I bought not on the list:

Milk, Applesauce, and Store brand cooking spray, cottage cheese.

With my club card AND the 20.00 discount I saved 47.19

My out of pocket balance was 47.12

Not too bad.. I saved about 50% off my bill.

Our luck has been pretty good as of the last few weeks. Last week, we won the saftey bingo at Dan's work. Although, the pot went from $500 down to $100 about 10 days before because one of the mechanics had some sort of accident... I think it involved a forklift and some boxes.. i don't know. I went to have lunch with Dan to bring him the Bingo card so they could verify and we could get our check and I find out that the day before he had ANOTHER accident, same guy no less and the pot dropped BACK down to $100. So our payout was $103.


I said, "I think Matt needs to be fired." Dan said, "I think he owes me $400." We giggled.


Now fast forward to Tuesday afternoon. I walk in the door from picking up Braeden from school and the phone is ringing. The machine picked up before I could get to it so I couldn't see who it was on the caller ID, but I grabbed it and it was Dan and he sounded all happy. Earlier in the morning he was all pissy, so I knew something was up. That and he said I'd be happy lol.

Apparently, they had a Back to School raffle for those who had school age kids and guess who won??? Crazy huh? Now here's where it gets good... we won $200 PER school age kid! We have 3 in school full time, $600!!!!!

Can you say "Shopping Spree?" Because I sure can :o)

It doesn't matter who or what I am buying.. I'm just happy spending money LOL!

Anyway, bless you if you've made it all the way through today's rambling and thank you for reading!

Didn't you know? Pizza IS Flammable

Note to Self: Don't let 6 yr old use the microwave.

In my defense, I showed him which button to press. However, he did not listen to me and set it wo "Express" cook for 3 minutes. In a 1200 watt mondo microwave.

Took 10 minutes to clear the smoke. Luckily, I caught it before the smoke alarm had a chance to be annoyingly loud and embarrassing.

Doesn't that look appetizing?

Update on Weekend Alone...

When you have kids, (and friends with no kids) things rarely go off without a hitch.

Originally, we were supposed to go on a motorcycle ride with friends up to Yosemite. Well, turned out that DH's best friend's GF couldn't go until later in the day due to a prior engagement. It is a 2-3 hr drive one way so we would have had to leave really early in the am.

DH and I decided that we'd *let* my mom keep the kids anyway so we could have some us time. I was kinda bummed b/c I knew now that our plan had gone awry, we'd probably sit in the house and ignore each other. I really was looking forward to going out and doing *something*.

GOOD NEWS! We did not sit at home. Instead, DH's boss gave us tickets to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, where he has a membership. We also, went out to breakfast at IHOP before we left. Most of the day "out" was spent sitting in traffic, as it was a holiday weekend and apparently everyone in California was on this specific highway right at that moment lol.

We did have a nice time at the aquarium. They have a new white shark that got caught in a fishing net off the coast of Southern California. He's just a youngin', not really huge yet. We got some photos but they were hard to come by since the lighting was BAD and they asked that no one used flash photography when taking pics of the shark. Made for some blurry shots :(

Link to more info about the shark:

http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/whiteshark/

One thing I learned is that if you go there.. go during the week, when school is in session and no one is on a fieldtrip lol. If I had taken my kids on this trip, it would have been IMPOSSIBLE. I would have lost someone or spent the entire time doing head counts.

We ended the night with dinner at Red Lobster.. hmm yumm. I love lobster and rarely get it so it was a HUGE treat. Usually, I try to avoid eating things with eyes, lobster is the exception to the rule. DH put the claw shells on his fingers and "pinchered" me lol. Silly man.

The kids did not go to the beach on Monday as planned, I kinda figured this would happen. Upside... we still have these friends.

Kids are all finally back in school and no one is off track. YAY! Although now I have to leave 45 minutes early to pick up my 1st grader from school and we live less than 1 minute (drive time) from the school. But I have to get there at least 30 min early to get a good spot iin the pick up line.

Why don't I walk? Well, I'll tell ya. I have 2 little ones.. only one of which will make it both ways. The 3 yr old will be great one way and then refuse to walk home, so he ends up being dragged home kicking and screaming. Not exaggerating either, I'd much rather sit in the truck in the parking lot for a half an hour.. wouldn't you?