I Completely Forgot!

I have a little funny for y'all. Everytime someone makes a referrence to my having a large family, my mind always goes blank for a witty comeback.. but not this time! Although it's really not that witty but it was funny!

The scene: Thanksgiving in a State Park with IL's and family friends.

Someone asks DH if we are Catholic. I overhear this from the appetizer table where I am talking to someone about Ebay and eating cheese n crackers. I say, "what's that about us being Catholic?"

DH says, "Oh so-n-so asked if we had so many kids b/c we were Catholic." I say, "Nope and we're not Irish, or Mormon either. We just don't have a tv."

More Creative Team Layouts!

I love my team, they the best!

By Laura-Full Credits

By Jackie- Full Credits

By Maga- Full Credits

Romance and Embarrassment

Ok, y'all it's time to have a little fun. I promise to keep it clean, mostly anyway!

Awhile back, during my Mom's move to town, I found a little package (unopened) of "Romance Dice". Yes, I did find this a little disturbing being my mom and all but hey, they were unopened!

I wasn't sure what to do with them at the time so I stuck them in my pocket and went on doing whatever it was that I was doing. Well, I don't think I have to say that I forgot about them.

I get home and I'm doing what I do best, just regular old mom stuff and I reach in my pocket and I'm thinking "What IS this in my pocket" so of course I pull it out. Once I realize what it is I'm turning 8 million shades of purple because my kids are around. I have two kids who understand what things like this are now because they have reached the age where they're going through "Maturation Education" at school. Oh. My. Gosh! Talk about embarrassing. So I shove them back in my pocket.

Ok, so fast forward to today. My 6 year old, who is off from school on his winter break, finds the dice and comes waltzing in the living room with them. Well, SOMEONE taught this child to read and he reads everything, and I do mean EVERYTHING! I think you are getting the picture here. I didn't think I could be more embarrassed considering what happened the last time, but boy was I wrong.

Now, on a slightly different subject, my birthday is coming up. I was lucky enough to be born in the month of love and romance. Yes, that is right, February! I wasn't however born on the most romantic day of the month, or even the entire year! My birthday is Groundhog's Day. Yup, you read that right.

I am sitting here wondering what kind of wonderfully romantic thing my lovely is going to do for me this year. He used to get me freeze dried flowers, I loved those. One thing my husband used to do for our anniversary was get me a bouquet of fresh flowers with one rose for every year we were married. I loved that. I wish he still did that. The last one I got was our 4 year anniversary, we've been married 11 lol. I think he stopped doing that because I might have said I didn't really like fresh flowers because they died so fast. I wouldn't mind pretty silk ones though.

Hey guys, what kind of sweet things do you do for your wife on her birthday? I know the man is reading, give him some ideas!

Something Cute For All my Online Junkies-

I came across this adorable and funny little poems about the internet.

ODE TO 'I'm just gettin' on for a Minute"
© 1996, K. Weston - RIP January 17, 2007

I got up this morning, but haven't yet dressed.
My dishes aren't done, and my house is a mess.
Have not done my work, have not fed the cat,
Just on for a second, and popped into "chat".
I used to watch TV, I used to cook Mex,
I think I remember I used to have SEX!
I used to walk upright, now roll on my chair,
Tho it causes the neighbors and children to STARE!
I wanted to travel around on the Net,
Been too busy chatting to get on there yet!
I wanted to spreadsheet, word process, or paint,
But gettin' on with 'em is just what I ain't!
So much to learn and I wanted to, but
I'm too busy chatting and splitting a gut,
"lisnin'" to people like NH and Cin,
Oh, gawd, what a fix I have got myself in!
Then up pops a name on my neat BuddyList,
Think I'll go out and give HIS tail a twist!
And in comes an IM from some weirdo-guy
I cuss 'im, insult 'im, and tell him 'bye 'bye.
Is there a 12-step support group, or such?
For those of us folks who just chat on too much?
If there was a group, I would like it just fine,
Except that it prob'ly would be here on line!
Are there therapists here? I think that I saw some.
It's got me, it's GOT me, it's power is AWESOME!
It's my new computer, I've had it one week,
Now I look in the mirror and I see a geek.
Or maybe a geekess, but I see the signs,
Please help me, please help me, please get me off line!
Or better, please e-mail a burger and fries,
'Cuz I'm staying ON here, at least 'til I DIES!!.

On the Weightloss Front

This is not going well at all. I have had the hardest time this go round and I'm not sure why. I used to be so motivated and now I'm just not. I think alot if it is that it's coming off very slowly no matter how well I stay on program. It's very discouraging actually. I think I got spoiled by how fast it came off the time before. But I will keep trying. I need to make some chocolate bran muffins to kick it into gear. These are THE best muffiins ever. You hear Bran and think "Eww woodchips" but seriously these are so full of chocolate, you'll never notice the bran. Well ok.. you'll notice the bran but you sure won't taste it! It's like having a colon cleanse, but it tastes good.

Here is the recipe.

Chocolate Bran Muffins- makes 20-24 muffins: 3 WW points.

• 3 cups All Bran cereal (generic flakes work well too)
• 2.5 cups water
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 box Betty Crocker Lowfat Brownie Mix, dry (No Pudge works too but makes less muffins)
• 6 oz chocolate chips
  

Directions:

Combine water, baking powder, and cereal in a large mixing bowl and let sit for 5-10 minutes. The mushier the better. Mix in brownie mix, stir til well mixed and fold in chocolate chips. Divide into muffin cups, about 1/4-1/3 cup of batter each. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

These also freeze and reheat really well. Just warn anyone about the bran before they eat and don't let he kids have them!

Enjoy!

Creative Team Layouts!

From time to time I like to show off the wonderful work my Creative Team does for me, they are awesome! Here's a few of my recent favorites.

By Diana-



Full Credits

By Bobbie-



Full Credits


By Myztic-



Full Credits

I'd post more but I don't want to overwhelm you all lol.

Who Doesn't Love Coupons?

I know I do! I'm not talking about digi-coupons today but rather online promotion codes for regular retail shops. I know everytime I shop online I look for promo codes to help with shipping or if I spend over a certain amount. I can usually find what I'm looking for too. There are so many coupon code site out there but I found one I really like and it's very easy to navigate. It's called Coupon Chief .

In fact, just the other day I was doing some shopping online and found some Old Navy coupon codes and also some Amazon coupons and I got some really great deals.

Clothes for the kids, a little Christmas shopping, a little something for myself even! I made myself a wish list at Amazon too which you can see in my sidebar if you need ideas for gifts. I know I mentioned the Amazon deals on the bamboo fun Wacom tablet the other day but I thought I'd mention it again. The Old Navy coupons I found were for free shipping on orders over $100, Famous $5 shipping, and 40% off outerwear. Actually, that outerwear coupon came in handy because my kids really needed new winter coats. I tried to get some last year but I looked too late and no one had any coats! It was crazy!

Anyway, I hope this little post about this site helps someone get some really great deals, just like it did for me.

New Fan Blinkie For Ya!

A sweet scrapper friend of mine made me a fan blinkie because she saw I didn't have one, Thanks Yvonne! You can find that blinkie over in the sidebar.

Today, I decided to make myself a new blog header and storefront banner, while I was at it I decided to make an additional fan blinkie and one for my CT as well. And they all match, so cute!

So if you're a fan of the butterfly, feel free to snag a blinkie-whichever one you want. Make sure you save to your own computer and upload to your own hosting site. You know the drill, right click>>save as.

This new one will also go into the sidebar :) Enjoy!

Over The Shoulder

Today is the 100th anniversary of the BRA!

Did you know that most women these days don't truely know what their breast size is? Now, if you regularly go in for fittings every time you bra shop, then this statement isn't for you but most women don't know.

I actually do know, but does that stop me from wearing the wrong size? Not really. Why? I don't know, I guess becuase I recently spent a large sum on brand new bras after losing a bunch of weight. I do however, have a select few that are the right size and I wear them religiously.

Just for the fun of it, I like to shop for things I want but can't nessecarily buy right this second. I fully intend to buy these things, just very slowly. So, today I was "window" shopping for bras.

Did you know, according to this article here, that all women should have "at a minimum three: One to wear, one in the wash and one on standby. Then add more so that you have seven to 10 bras that fit well and you can wear regularly." Very informative article by the way.

Back to the bra shopping, I don't really do my "shopping" in one specific store, I like to shop around. So today, I stumbled across a brand called Prima Donna Bras. Very interesting site. It has lots of information on the history of lingerie, anything and everything you ever wanted to know about underwear.

This bra in particular caught me eye, what can I say I like pretty things.

Isn't it pretty? I thought so too.I love that this site caters to plus size bra-wearers, not alot do so it's nice when you find really pretty and sexy undergarments in your size!I'm going to keep on perusing and maybe find some new stuff.

Have a great night!

Into The Night....

I scrapped one of the photos Dan took the other day. I know I shared this one in my post about Digital Cameras but I love how this layout turned out.

Click to Enlarge.



Full list of credits can be found HERE

Another for the list..

Of things I want for Christmas! I have actually been wanting one for quite sometime and I think they would make excellent gifts. What is it? A digital photo frame ! I know alot of digital scrappers have done this and have a nice little slideshow of their layouts to have on display. It's also great because you can update the photos whenever you need to.

I would really like to find a square frame if possible so that I don't have to redo my most favorite layouts.

Like this 8.4 inch digital photo frame for example:

This one has even got a built in speaker and you can get an additional memory card with it too.
My mom would really like something like this. She could display all 7 of her grandbabies in one frame. I think I know what she's getting for Christmas!

Lookie What I Got!

I am SO excited! I rarely ever buy anything for myself, let alone something pricey but I did it!

I bought myself the new Bamboo Fun graphics tablet by Wacom. Amazon is having a great deal on them right now too but because I didn't have funds in my bank account right then I couldn't get it on sale :( Oh well, that's ok.. I paid regular price on ebay and it's on it's way! The amazon sale price is $85, you can see it and go to it on my wish list over in the sidebar there. ------>

I got the silver one to match my laptop, it's too bad they didn't have purple because I would have been all over that! It's coming with Photoshop Elements 5 but I don't really need it since I use full version Photoshop but I'm thinking I might send it to my niece or my sister in law.

So don't be suprised if and when you see new doodled products from me LOL!

Cool Bedding!

I'm thinking about getting new bedding for the entire house, except for the two little boys because I just bought them new dinosaur bedding not too long ago. My boys are so hard to buy for and they never end up liking what I pick out, go figure they are teenagers!
So, I thought I wish there was a site where you could customize your very own bedding. Sure enough there is. Their teen girls bedding is pretty cool, I want this one for myself however I don't think my husband would like it very much but it sure looks cool!



I do have a teenage niece that would like it though. They have alot to choose from and great stuff for boys too. You can customize any of the designs and you can even use photos! That is pretty cool for us digital scrapbookers, we could even use our layouts and have them specially printed on to the bedding. How cool!
They have lots of other products too, photo throw pillows, photo dog beds, all sorts of fun goodies.
Well, I am off to drink my coffee and clean my house before I do too much damage shopping! Have a great morning.

Holy Breakfast Batman!

Oh. My. Gosh.

I can't even begin to tell you about my morning lol! Dh is rarely home on the weekends, so when he is he likes to make a big breakfast. The man goes ALL out, it's insane. Really, I feel sick just talking about it.

My mom came over too so he went overboard, more so than usual. We had 3 egg omlettes with ham, cheese, onion, and red bell peppers. Hashbrowns, sausage, waffles; blueberry and buttermilk, and cinnamon rolls with orange flavored icing. Oh and Mimosa's. I had 2 very large ones... so that would really be like 4 regular sized ones LOL!

My mom was going to take my bigger boys to her house to go do chores but ended up taking them all and I took a very long nap. It was kinda nice. I didn't even eat any dinner I was so full, the thought of food is really gross right now lol.

After my mom brought the boys back, I left and went over to her house to watch Knocked Up. Really cute movie, I liked the ending but gosh men can be obnoxious! LOL!

Anyway, that was my day hope yours was just as great!

Living in a Digital World

I just had to tell you all how much I love my new camera. It's funny that I am still calling it new, because I got it for my last birthday so it's almost a year old. I waited so long for it though, I still can't believe I got one!

I started out in digital photography with a little Canon Powershot point and shoot. It took pretty decent pictures until well it didn't anymore. I still have it but we use it just not as much anymore, but we used it for about 4 years. Now I have the Digital Rebel XT and I love it. I had been drooling over it for about 2 or 3 years back when they first came out and no one else had one.

We've always been fanatics about Canon cameras, heck just about Canon anything! If it's not a Canon, we're not buying it. We've had a really good experience owning Canon products.

I still have a nice 35 mm SLR but rarely use it since we've gone digital. It just makes sense for us with 5 active kids not to have to buy film and pray and hope we get a decent photo. That and I am a sucker for instant gratification, I love seeing my photos right after I take them and if they don't come out because someone blinked or is screaming at his brother for poking him, I can hit delete.

My husband is getting a kick out of playing with the different settings as well. The other day he took the camera into work so he could take some photos on his way home. Here is a sample of what he was up to in the dark.

I have a few favorites but this is one of them. He set the 30 second delay on the shutter and took pictures of the cards driving past. I love the trail of the lights and the sillouhette of the hills in the background.

This photo I took from the window of an airplane. It was right outside of the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, probably about 10-15 minutes after take off. I'm glad I was able to catch the sunset.

I would really love to get a nice zoom lens and a portrait lens for Christmas, hint hint Santa!

Blog Freebies

I am sorry to have to say that I will no longer be handing out freebies on my blog. All free items (if any) will be given out through my store, which will require registration and log in.

Cartridge Finder

I was looking online to see where I could get the best price on printer ink and I came across this site Cartridge Finder. They make it so easy to find the right type of ink for your specific printer.

The site itself is very easy to navigate, they have everything you need right there on the homepage. It was so easy and fast, just a few quick clicks and you are on your way! I will definately continue to buy my ink this way.

Weekend Plans

How is everyone doing so far this weekend?

It feels like it should be a Sunday because of the long weekend. All day yesterday I had to keep reminding myself it was only Friday. I went over to my mom's house last night to watch a movie and eat chocolate lol. We watched Georgia Rule with Lindsay Lohan and Jane Fonda. So not what I thought it was going ot be like, but it was pretty good.

We ate popcorn and ice cream and then during Ghost Whisperer we had hot chocolate.. are you ready to throw up yet?

Today Dh and I are just chillin', we got Burger King for lunch and I went to the store and picked up some more stuff for Sunday brunch tomorrow. Dan wants to make Mimosa's. He loves to make big Sunday breakfasts, this morning he made me breakfast in bed and let me sleep in til 9. He said he was surprised I slept as long as I did b/c the kids were NOT quiet.. I didn't let him know that they in fact DID wake me up lol.

Now, Im just sitting here wondering what I'm going to do next, not really sure.. I may just take a nap lol.

Friday Shirts

I ordered a shirt from a company called Friday Shirts for my son recently and it just arrived today. It's pretty nice, it is a sage green linen/cotton blend and it looks really nice on him. It is meant as beach wedding attire, called a Guayabera. It is a very popular shirt in Latin America, the Caribbean, southeast Asia, and the West Indies.

It took about 4 weeks to get to us. The reason it took so long is because they are custom made by hand. They even called me to confirm the order and to ask a few specific questions, like did I want the embroidery color to match the shirt. They were very nice and professional on the phone and when it did arrive it was in great shape and was just the way I wanted. And the detail on the embroidery is amazing!

It's very light weight and breathable too. I think my son will get alot of good use out of it.

Here is a picture of him in it so you all can see. Please excuse the hair, he needs to have it cut pretty badly and note the fake smile, apparently the child has lost his ability to smile on command.

Here is a nice close up shot of the embroidery, pretty nice huh?

Thumbs up to Friday Shirts from me!

Houses and Moving

I get email updates of local for sale listings in our area. I don't know why, I guess I just like to torture myself lol. Anyway, I saw this amazing home for sale and I want it! It was a 4 bed 3 bath two level home, completely redone inside with a fullyupgraded kitchen. \

That wasn't even the best part, the best part was the backyard. I kid you not, it was like the size of a small park. The house itself was 2550 sq. feet but the lot size was almost 7000, WOW!! The boys would have a "field" day playing soccer or something out there! it was ONLY 500K too.. I know right, only? Although,if you think about it, that is what my mom paid for her house and it's alot smaller, so it's really a good deal. As long as you have a spare 500K laying around. :)

That reminds me, I saw this advertisment for this mover NYC company, that just cracked me up. The name of the company just struck me as really cute and funny, so I began to read about them on their site. It's pretty cool, the woman who owns it sounds like a neat lady with a great sense of humor.

Houses and Such..

Hope y'all had a great holiday!! We had a blast. First, we went out to the Henry Cowell State Park for our annual Thanksgiving Day Potluck. had a great time. The kids ran around for hours on end, went on a hike, and watched the steam engine that they had running.

We had this whole huge conversation about real estate and how the market is so crazy right now. Tons of foreclossures everywhere, houses on the market forever because no one can afford to buy anything right now. Someone said that the Boulder real estate market is really bad also. Around here there are SO many for sale and bank owned signs, so I totally believe it.

I wish I could afford to buy one myself since everything is at pretty much an all-time low. There are quite a few houses in our area that are bank owned and I so want to snag one!

Ah, well maybe someday!!

Thankful for Life..

This post by my good friend Heather, reminded me that life is entirely short and we shouldn't take anyone or anything for granted.

Which got me thinking about long term plans like who will get my kids if god forbid something happened to both me and Dan at the same time. Morbid I know but you can't be too careful.

My brothers lost their father very suddenly, it was about 10 yrs ago now, so they were just 17 and 15 at the time. He died scuba diving. No accident or anything liek that, he had an air embulism and died pretty much instantly. But he only had a handwritten will, it was enough to suffice though but it would have been much easier for everyone if he had a legal one drafted and enforced by a lawyer.

Wills, led to me thinking about getting a term life insurance quote to see what kind of plan we can afford. Dan doesn't have anything through his job, only accidental insurance becuase he does manual labor. I think it's a good idea for everyone to have a little something planned just incase. You never know what is around the corner and you can't be too careful, especially when you have kids involved.

A little food for thought. Have a great thanksgiving!

OMG NO WAY!

http://www.oneofakindscrapz.com/store/product.php?productid=18267&cat=0&page=1

Feeling Kinda Blah

I am so tired all of a sudden! I got up around 7-ish, fed the kids, got some work done, cleaned house a bit, started some laundry, fed kids, had lunch and now I feel like I need a nap lol. I even tried to make a wish list for thing to get my kids for Xmas but then got a little depressed because there's a few really big items that I want to get for them but my credit limit is low and even though it's paid off, I could only get a few things. And I have no idea what 12-13 yrs olds even like, and they live with me!

I did manage to get my grab bag finished and ready for release. I SO wish I could show you but.. I can't lol. Some things are better left to the imagination!

Two of my kids tracked off school today, so they are on break for the next 7 weeks. Maybe that's what's making me tired lol.

I think Im going ot go lay down now. Have a good day y'all.

Extra Income

We all know that digital designers don't make a heck of alot just designing. Unless of course, you are well established and you have something completely unique to offer. I do okay and I am pleased with how far I have come in the last 18 months but right now, I need extra income. So the last few months, I have been getting paid for my blog posts. I know I have mentioned it in the past but I have been doing pretty well with it.

I had previously signed up with payperpost but I hadn't done anything with it but now that I've gotten the hang of it, I am up and running! It has been a great way to earn some extra income, whether I use it to help pay bills or just for fun money it's really come in handy!

One of my biggest goals is to eventually make enough money every month to be able to move into a larger place. I would love to own a house, but even if we have to rent one at first that would be better than a tiny cramped apartment with 7 people. I'd also like to get myself some nice little gadget goodies to further my design career, who wouldn't! Right now I really need an external hard drive for all my digi supplies and hard copies of my own products. The other day I was down to 32 gb left on my hard drive, Oops!

Anyway, I just wanted to let all my mommy friends know because when you have kids, every little bit helps!

Cool Printing Site!

I just found this cool online printing site and you can get 100 Free blogger cards! It is a great way to get new people to visit your blog. They even do square printing so it might be a really good way for Scrap For Hire Scrapbookers to show off their talents and give out their contact info at the same time.

I've found a really great way to get people to hang on to business cards too. Turn them into magnets! No one throws out magnets. It's really easy to do too. I just bought a sheet of magnetic paper at the craft store and placed my cards on them and then cut to fit. Works great! You can even take it a step further and have the cards laminated before you put the magnetic backing on.

Check it out!

What a weekend!

Wow, I had a relatively quiet weekend, well as long as the heathens children were sleeping :)

Hubby was off at the races working. They were further out this weekend so it makes sense for them to stay overnight. My two oldest had an overnighter with my mom, so it was just me and the little 3. We had fun, played some games, watched a movie or two or three.

I had some work to do to complete my grab bag for this month so while they were settling down I worked. I would LOVE to show you all what I accomplished.. however I cannot. You're just going to have to wait until Friday! I am cruel aren't?

The little ones went to bed very easily. I had them all asleep by 8:30, it was GREAT! I got so much work done. Too bad I was up and down all night with two little kids who aren't used to sleeping alone. I have a bunch of snugglebugs.

DH brought home some really cool prints they took a few weeks ago of our 16 yr old niece getting a ride in a racecar. I've been.. it is a life-flashing-before-your-eyes yet thrilling experience. We spun out on my ride. Anyway, they got an awesome profile picture of them going by really really fast. Even an awesome close up shot where you can see her face (eyes) through the window AND the helmet. I have them on disk so I will upload tomorrow and show them off.

DH brought them home in a rather large box, it was one of the ones that the 12x18 photo paper comes in. So I asked, why are you bringing home photo paper? That's when I found out they were photos, silly me! So I guess we are going to mail them to her, I'm just not sure that the box will fit in our tiny little apartment mailboxes! I know, I know! Go to the post office! Yuck.

Weightloss check in..

Well, I am still going at it. Although the weight is lingering longer than I'd like it to. It was so much easier to lose consistantly when I had someone sucking all the calories out of my body, literally! Hehe.

I did lose this week though, just a little. I've been thinking I might re-introduce some exercise into my routine to see if that helps. I can't seem to locate my old Walk Away The Pounds dvd's though. Kids have been using em as frisbees everytime I turn my back.

We do have a little gym here at the apartments. It's not much though. They have a couple of treadmills, a stairclimber, a bike, and some free weights. I can do the treadmill but not very fast and not for extended periods of time because of my knees. I have an old injury that flares up if I put too much pressure on it. I do what I can though.

I guess we'll see what happens next week. Wish me luck!

Suck It In!

This was actually pretty funny..

The other day after dinner, I sat down to do some design work and couldn't figure out why my jeans felt so tight. I hadn't eaten very much at dinner, my jeans were new so I knew I hadn't gained weight, so I wasn't sure what was going on. I got up out of my chair to go change into my house pants and be more comfortable. I took off my jeans and it was then that I realized I was still wearing my body slimmer. No wonder I felt bloated!

What's a body slimmer, you ask? Well.. they are somewhat similar to corsets, and they help smooth out those little buldges we get from having kids. I have had mine since my wedding.. probably the only thing I have left from my wedding! But I'd like to get a full torso one because mine tends to fold over the top of my jeans and well, it's just not very comfortable.

Ok, break's over, coffee is ready and I need to get back to work! I've still got alot to do for the November Grab Bag. Have a great day!