here it goes

Percy Jackson Party

2011-12-30T22:14:00.000-06:00

This party was over a year ago for J's 9th birthday. The party was based on the book The Lightening Thief. The book is about a 12 year old boy who discovers he is half human half god and goes to a camp for demi-gods for training. So, this party was a day at Camp Half-blood.

I borrowed the columns from a friend and draped them with white sheer curtains to give them a more Greek look. The blue trident on the right was a devil's pitch from the halloween section of Joann's that I painted blue. The dangling thing on the right is a minotaur's horn that I made from styrofoam and painted to represent Percy's trophy from slaying the minotaur.

The first part of the party was dinner. We had a standard Camp Half-blood dinner consisting of beef brisket, grapes, apples, strawberries, cheese and rolls. To drink they had several beverages to choose from because at camp their cups fill with whatever drink they desire.

For a craft they painted their own shields. I bought pizza pans from the dollar tree and had some metallic paints in my stash. I didn't have enough pans for the birthday boy's brothers to make shields so I cut out some round foam core for them to participate. When they were dry I added a strap to the back so they could wear them as shields when they battled with their plastic swords.

This is the birthday boy the next morning, the party was a sleepover. The battling was quickly sentenced to the basement.

In the book Percy has a thing for blue foods, so for dessert the boys had blue cupcakes, blue cookies and blue taffy.

After a summer at Camp Half-blood the campers are given a bead for their necklaces. The bead for Percy's first summer was a blue trident. So, I made necklaces out of wooden beads I painted and strung on leather cord. They also took home their sword and shield.

Door County

2011-08-23T14:59:00.001-05:00

As a reward for making goal at work a couple months in a row Dave and I were able to take a 5 day / 4 night vacation to Door County. It was very relaxing and wonderful all around. It was just the 2 of us. The kids had a great time themselves at Papa and Grandma Cheryl's house where they were spoiled rotten with a trip to the local zoo, going to the Smurfs movie, out to eat, the farmer's market, and multiple trips to the "awesome" library just down the street.

On the drive up Dave and I realized it had been 8 years since we had had a getaway alone for longer than 2 nights. Way too long! I had waited to the last minute to make reservations, that's how we roll, and was only able to find one possible location. We stayed in a 2 story cabin belonging to the motel we've stayed at in the past. It was little expensive but not terribly so, compared to other spaces, because it was not new. A little bit old fashioned, needing a coat of paint, but as the man on the phone said, it was clean. And it turned out the bed was a new queen instead of the double in the website photo. We didn't spend tons of time there anyway. We drove up the peninsula, walked through tons of shops, took walks (Dave mostly), watched cable tv (mostly me), ate lots of great food and on Monday we took the ferry to Washington Island and rented mopeds for the day. Neither of us had ridden them before, and they were a blast. We drove from one tourist attraction to the other and then drove the perimeter of the island.

It was a great way to end the trip. I just hope it's not another 8 years before we get away again!

"Created to Care" ladies retreat

2010-10-19T20:47:00.000-05:00

I am so very excited for the weekend of February 4-6! I signed up today for the "Created to Care" retreat in Atlanta! It is for woman who have a heart for adoption. There will be women who have adopted, are in the process of adopting or just like the idea. It sounds wonderful to spend time with women who feel as strongly as I do about adoption and following God's plan for their lives. I'm sure I will meet so many amazing women!

I found out about the retreat on Andrea's blog. She is one of the women putting the whole thing together. When I read about it I immediately wanted to go. But, it's in Georgia, getting there would involve flying or driving for 14 hours, expensive or time consuming! Plus, there's the hotel cost. Being in the middle of this adoption and planning fundraisers, I didn't know if I should spend the money. It feels so important to my soul to go, so I mentioned it to Dave. Right away, he said it would be perfect for me. So, we decided to just do it. I registered today and won't have to pay airfare and hotel costs until later. I plan to spread it out. It's almost 4 months away, but I can't wait!

Harry Potter Birthday Party

2010-09-19T14:17:00.002-05:00

Last year about this time I was planning a birthday party for our two youngest boys. They were turning 6 and 4. They both loved all things Harry Potter and asked for a HP themed party. It sounded fun to me so we went for it.

Last fall was even crazier than normal for us. Besides 4 birthdays in less than 6 weeks and halloween we were also in the process of moving and getting the new house ready to move into. Crazy busy people. Not my best hour, but it was my babies birthdays and I was determined to make it special. In the end I went overboard like always but it was fun work in the midst of a bunch of not fun work. I did a lot of research on the internet and found tons of great ideas, most of these ideas are not mine. A bunch of the links I saved no longer work, but here's two that do.
sewhooked had a couple posts worth of ideas
more ideas

We ran the party like the first day at Hogwarts for new students. Our new house was empty as we worked on it and there was plenty of space for the party, so we held it there. We met the party guests in the front yard. Of course there wasn't any snow yet in the beginning of november, but I don't have any photos from that day outside, imagine fall leaves on the ground. My oldest son dressed as harry potter and led them into the house (carrying a lantern) through the basement door and up the stairs as our entrance to Diagon Alley.

The first stop was Madam Milken's robes for all occasions, where each student was fitted for a robe if they weren't already wearing one and made their own house crest for attaching to the robe. The crests were made out of felt and pre cut by my step mom. The kids just chose one and glued it together. Next we proceeded to Ollivanders wand shop for their wands. I made the wands from dowels and added some wooded beads and drawings to some for added detail. My dad had given me an heirloom desk just before the move and we used that as a prop for Ollivander portrayed by Daddy. He went to great theatrics to find the proper wizard for each wand.

I'm not sure on the order, but I think we next went into the kitchen which was set up as Honeydukes sweet shop, of course honeydukes is not in diagon alley, it's in hogsmeade, but for the pretend party we pretended it was in diagon alley :) In Honeydukes each guest made their own goodie bag with goodies I had prepackaged with labels I made on the computer and printed onto striped scrapbook paper. There were chocolate frogs (home made from a candy mold), lemon drops, spindels spiders (gummies), jelly slugs and worms, acid pops (rewrapped suckers), drubels best blowing gum (covered bubble gum), and atomic fire balls. We put the kids name on the back of the honeydukes tag that was on the baggie closure. I don't have any photos of the set up, but I had glass containers i'd gotten from the good will that i filled with candies. I described each candy to the kids and then my helpers passed around the container and each guest took one and put it in their baggie.

After honeydukes we began the classes. We had care of magical creatures class. Daddy had spray painted some large plastic easter eggs grey. We squished up some plastic lizards and closed them inside the eggs, place them in a $1 store cauldron and set them by the fireplace to keep warm. I told the kids they were dragon eggs and that we had gotten special permission from the ministry of magic to raise these baby dragons.

There was defense against the dark arts class. My dad, Papa, dressed all in black with a black fabric over his head and i told them he was a Boggart. He came into the room and they were to use the spell "Ridikulus" and think of something funny weaken the boggart. They did very well and sent him running several times. Papa made some crazy noises and was very funny.

We also had a potions class where they made slime. The kids each got a bowl and mixed their own batch with supervision. Our kitchen remodel wasn't finished yet as you can see, but it worked for our purposes. There was supposed to be more decor here, but as with a lot of things, I ran out of time. That's me dressed as the evil professor Umbridge.

And of course no Hogwarts celebration would be complete without a feast in the Great Hall. While we were working on classes my mom set up this table with all the food I had prepared. We had cauldron cakes, pumpkin pasties, treacle fudge, licorice wands, candy covered marshmallows, butter beer, pumpkin juice and Hagrid even made cakes for the boys. Professor McGonnegal (my mom) was even on hand to help out. I found the recipes for the drinks online, but now that link is gone and I don't remember how I did it.

and one more picture of the aftermath and the ceiling. We used blue tablecloths taped to the ceiling and covered with stars to simulate a night sky like the magical ceiling of the great hall.

It was great fun, and I'm so glad I took the time to do it. Now I've got to plan a Percy Jackson party, a dress up halloween bday party and a avatar the last airbender party (or maybe toy story). Look out internet, I've got some ideas to borrow!

My Crazy Adoption

2010-08-10T20:36:00.000-05:00

My Crazy Adoption is a blog I read on a regular basis. Several weeks ago the writer, Kari, asked for readers to write guest posts for her because she was going on a mission trip to Ghana and Ethiopia. She was going to be gone for 2-3 weeks and wanted others to fill the days for her. Before I could change my mind I emailed her. She gave me the details and I sent her my essay just before the due date, I'm a procrastinator like that. Today was the my day to share. I emailed the link to friends and family and even shared it on facebook. There were many warm and fuzzy comments from friends and family. I am so glad I did it. If you go here you'll find it.

The Sandwich

2010-07-29T13:54:00.001-05:00

My first thought when I saw the man standing on the corner with the "homeless, every little bit helps" sign was "yeah, right. there's no way you're homeless, you're young and healthy looking." Then as I sat at the stoplight trying to look straight out the windshield and not at the man standing outside my car I realized it didn't matter. He looked sad and hopeless and whether or not he really needed help it was my place as a christian to help him if I was able. I looked around the front of the van. It has been my policy in the past to give food to people who ask for money on street corners, but never money. I didn't have any food. I had forgotten to pack N's lunch and had no snacks either. So, I figured I was in the clear. I didn't have to help him, because I didn't have any thing to give him. As I drove away to go get food for N's lunch, for him to eat on the ride from one day camp to another (long story) an idea popped into my head. Get him a sandwich too, and bring it back to him. I wasn't sure I'd have time for that and not be late for N, but I decided to play it by ear. If I forgot about it, or didn't have time I'd let myself off the hook. But, guess what? The lights were in my favor and no one else was in line at the drive through. So, I ordered the extra sandwich and headed back. I sat at the light waiting to turn onto the street he stood on and took a closer look at him while I waited for another green light. He was wearing tennis shoes, khaki shorts, a white tshirt, and a hat, like a newspaper boy would have worn. He had a water bottle and a stuffed red backpack at his feet. I began to judge him again. I think I may have been had. This guy doesn't look homeless to me. But, what do I know about homeslessness? I turned the corner and saw his face again, eyes downcast and shoulders sloped. I turned into the parking lot and turned that car around so I would be on his side of the road again. When I got back to the intersection the light was red and I pulled up next to him and rolled the window down.
"Are you hungry?" I asked.
His eyebrows raised and he nodded his head. "yeah."
I reached my hand towards him and handed him the sandwich. "Here you go."
"Thank you, I really appreciate it." He said looking in my eyes as he reached for the sandwich. His fingers touched mine as he took the package from me.
I mumbled something like "your welcome" as I pulled away and rolled up the window. I saw him fold up his sign, pick up his bag and water bottle and head away from the traffic to eat.
While I drove to pick up N, perfectly on time, I might add, I felt so spiritually full. I thought I was going to help this man, but he helped me.

Great America

2010-07-24T12:06:00.000-05:00

Thursday morning 6:30, the alarm goes off. Dave and I contemplate our plans for the day while listening to the rain outside. The kids are beyond excited about a trip to Great America and we hate to disappoint them, but it doesn't look like a good idea. A couple of them are awake and so we ask them their opinions. How about we wait a day? We discuss pros and cons. While it is not raining in Gurnee yet, there is a 60% it will and a 40% chance for Friday. By the time we are done talking and it is time for a vote all the kids are awake and they unanimously vote to go for it. I am less than enthused. But, it is their trip, and they are okay with being wet and possibly not getting as much time there, they just don't want to wait anymore after having to wait for 8 months for this promised trip. So, we get ready and head out. Before we leave the driveway Dave hops out to grab some sunglasses and asks if I want some. I look at the grey sky and shake my head. I'm not going to need them, grumble grumble. On the way it pours for awhile and then we seem to get ahead of it. I obsessively check my phone for weather.com updates. We stop for a big breakfast in Wauconda and run into Dave's aunt and cousin. Weird. A happy coincidence and they sit with us and chat while we order and eat. While we are there it pours rain. Apparently the rain has caught up with us. Blech. By the time we leave it has stopped and the sky is brightening. We cross our fingers and get back in the van for the last 25 minutes of the ride. I start organizing my stuff, pulling money out of my purse and into my pockets and find a pair of sunglasses. "I better put these on, I'm gonna need them later". Dave wants to know where my optimism comes from. I have no idea. We get close enough to see the coasters and get a couple more drips on the windshield. Please, no more rain. Please. I don't want to be a cranky wet momma. We park in the cheap parking and walk the distance to the park gates. The kids are more bouncing than walking. My socks are wet before we get through the gate from all the puddles. But, do you know what? It didn't rain one more drop the rest of the day. We had a cloudy sky for the first hour or two and then the sun came out and I did need those sunglasses after all. There was time for all the rides and junk food and we all had a blast. We just won't talk about the tornado warning that occurred as we were waiting for the light parade to start which caused them to close the park early and kick us out and how it rained so hard on the way home that we were going 20 on the highway.

Not Enough Time

2010-07-18T08:46:00.003-05:00

This is a project I made after my Walk to Emmaus in August of 2008. I'm pretty sure I never posted it. It seems appropriate for this post because keeping priorities in line was a big part of what I learned that weekend.

I don't suppose there's any way to slow time down, is there? I need a couple more hours in each day. I can't ever seem to get caught up. I'm talking about everyday things caught up. If the house is in order, the bills need paid. If my desk is organized with bills paid, and no paperwork to fill out then I've forgotten to take on of the kids somewhere. It seems impossible to get everything right all the time. Something has to suffer. And I'm not really complaining, my problems are all blessings. we have a house to clean, money to pay our bills and children to shuttle. When there are lots of people who don't have some or all of those. It's just that the perfectionist in me wants to get it all right. So, I just pray that I'm getting the right stuff done when it needs to be done.

More Creatively Yours Layouts

2010-03-16T17:36:00.004-05:00

Right now I am very impressed with myself for figuring out how to add the sketch to my layout easily. :) This sketch is the current sketch over at Creatively Yours. The following layout and card are what I made using it.

I took this photo of J last summer. I was practicing in manual mode with my camera and I was pretty happy with the result. The image is SOTC, so I'm sure if I had photoshop I could adjust it and like it even more. It's kinda funny though, because J is almost never that serious. The blue ruffle here and on the following card is crepe paper streamer, and the brown ruffle is cup cake wrappers with a basket weave pattern. I'm really liking the Sassafrass Lass papers lately.

The card I whipped up for a 1st birthday party we attended. I rarely use stamps even though I have a binder full. The papers are Bazzill cardstock and scraps from my scrap folder.

There is a design team call going on over at Creatively Yours, go check it out!

First

2010-02-20T15:42:00.003-06:00

This layout is based on a Creatively Yours sketch by Monica Martinson. The papers are designed by Gudrun and were given to me for a layout when I was a member of the Scrapping Across the Universe team. She gave us so many papers that I still have leftovers. And they are great patterns. For this sktech I simplified it quite a bit, the doily i used was white until I sprayed it with glimmer mist. The base of the butterfly is Grungeboard. There is a whole lot more to say to E about this layout. She mentioned the other day that when our adoption is final I won't be able to call her my best girl anymore. She's right, but she'll always be my first, the one who taught me how to be a mom and love unconditionally.

a little scrappin'

2010-01-18T13:51:00.003-06:00

I've been taking a little time to scrapbook lately between running kids around and settling in the new house. I wonder how long it will be the "new house"?

This is the layout I did for my first assignment this month for Creatively Yours. I rotated the sketch and changed things just a bit. That's the great part about sketches, they're a starting off point, a way to jumpstart your creativity. Head on over to Creatively Yours to check out the sketch and see the other designers layouts.

. . . and a happy new year!

2010-01-04T15:09:00.004-06:00

I set a pile of christmas cards aside planning to write a lovely christmas letter about our year. The pile were people we don't see and therefore probably didn't know how crazy our year had been. Unfortunately the pile was put aside and forgotten. After all I did mail a pile of cards and therefore crossed it off my mental to do list. I had already put stamps on them so there was no way i was going to NOT mail them and waste the stamp, not to mention the cost of the custom made cards with my kiddos pictures on them. So, I took the advice of a facebook friend and added "... and a happy new year" to them and tossed them in the mail without the letter. At least I sent them, right?

Thankful

2009-11-26T09:29:00.002-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving! There are so many things to be thankful for, I am blessed beyond measure. So very grateful that the home sale and move are complete and we are getting settled in our new home. I am very much looking forward to this Christmas season and all the joy it brings. We are traveling to my Aunt's home today for our big meal with about 20 family members. She has said this is her last year hosting, maybe we will take over hosting next year, our house is big enough to hold everyone now!

I'll leave with a photo of my craft room. It's an in process photo, I'll have a completed one after I've set it up. It's a good photo for today, after all, I am very thankful to have a room of my own again!

Hello Blogosphere!!

2009-11-20T09:47:00.004-06:00

Is blogospere a word? I guess not, but I like it. It has been so long since i've posted an entry that I wasn't sure I could remember my password. Good thing I always use the same one! But, if a bad guy is reading this pretend I didn't just say that. What I meant was I have totally different passwords for all of my important internet memberships. And I do really have a special password for my internet banking that's totally random, and that's the only sensitive one really. So, I'm not worried about it. If someone's gonna hack my blog, have at it, it could be interesting!

This year has definitely been a year of changes. We have been making big decisions that led to big hugely time consuming activities. We are at the very beginning of our adoption journey to find our Caroline. That takes lots of money so we decided to sell our busting at the seams home for a larger model. We found a house we love for a great price that left us with some equity money to get started on the adoption. Only problem was we didn't sell our first house in time for the closing on the second, so we had to get a bridge loan. Let me tell you, it is highly stressful taking care of 2 houses and planning 4 bday parties and 4 halloween costumes in there too. oct was almost the end of me. But, most thankfully the first house has sold and we close next wednesday the 25th. hurrah!! We moved into the second house (at least the most important stuff) last weekend and I'm surrounded by piles of boxes. I haven't been able to keep up with the laundry so this past monday, my birthday, i took all the dirty clothes to the laundrymat and did the equivalent of 10 loads. It took forever to fold but at least it was done! In the midst of all this I joined a design team from a great sketch blog, called creatively yours. It's a wonderfully creative team, with a couple good friends on team and my good friend Ali leading us. I'm very much looking forward to joining in!

That's all for now, as things calm down I'll definitely be around more often. I'll leave you with a photo of my kids on halloween.

all in a days work

2009-03-19T11:53:00.002-05:00

this post is from another blog that we are turning into our adoption blog, it was originally posted sept 25, 2008. i'm deleting in from over there and didn't want to loose it alltogether.

today I:
took care of one sickie
got 2 littles ready for the day
clipped 20 fingernails
unloaded the dishwasher
loaded the dishwasher
cut and added a cardboard divider into the dog food bin - 2 kinds of food
vacuumed the first floor
put 1 little down for a nap
steamed cleaned the basement carpet
caught a cricket to feed to ds's praying mantis
baked a batch of cookies
ran to the store for a couple things with 3 kids in tow
picked up ds from school
took dd to ballet
cooked a frozen pizza for dinner
took the puppy outside for countless potty breaks
cleaned up several potty "accidents" from puppy anyway
walked/ran a mile on the treadmill
hosted small group at our house

and very few of these things were on my actual list. the list that keeps growing. there are always calls to make and cleaning to get done. but, ds might actually remember that his momma took a couple minutes to go outside and catch him a cricket. i doubt he'll care if i ever get around to making an appointment to get my hair cut and colored. a girl's gotta have priorities.

scrapping across the universe #11

2009-03-18T16:32:00.002-05:00

is that right? i think so, #11. the one about BFFs. only i wanted to scrap this pic of e and well, she's not even friends with this girl anymore! at the time they were super close though, so it fits, right? anyway the background paper already had the doodling on it and it worked out so well, easy peasy lemon squeezy!

Hallelujah!

2009-03-10T14:33:00.001-05:00

the robins are back! it's official, spring is just around the corner!!
remind me i like robins when they start singing at dawn, okay?

challenge #9 is up at SATU

2009-02-21T16:18:00.003-06:00

challenge #9 is supposed to take you back to high school. a high school crush, or who were you in high school. i was a dorky kid that always desperately wanted to be a cool kid. and i still do! i am now a dorky momma who wants to be the cool mom! some things never change! come play at scrapping across the universe!

adventures in parenting

2009-02-15T20:11:00.005-06:00

i just wrote out a long post about the stomach bug we've got going through our house and lots of details that were totally to much information.

let's just say that nl got sick in the living room today. it took us by surprise, we thought he was past that part of the sickness. dave tried to get him out of the room and covered nl's mouth as he ran. i got back with a pot before they made it out of the room. but, the mess was huge. the bad news is it took both dave and I 2 1/2 hours to completely clean up. the good news is that dave, nl and joe (the dog) had baths and the area rug and hard wood floors, and coffee table were all cleaned. it even got into the valentine goodie bags that were sitting in bags on the floor. it's one of those stories that we'll laugh about when nl has kids of his own, but right now i can't laugh because i keep thinking i smell more of it!

we're praying e and j don't get it, but at least if they do, they're really good about hitting the bucket. ;)

well, well, well

2009-01-26T09:46:00.002-06:00

ok, so i remember i have a blog it's just that life got in the way again. december kicked my butt. having a late thanksgiving plus losing a week to the Nutcracker made the time left to prepare for christmas much too short. i've spent the last month recovering! well, recovering and doing the reorganizing of the house that comes from having to incorporate the contents of a whole toy store. the kids get so many gifts it's really quite ridiculous. i'm still in the process of moving all of the toys we had stored in the shelves in the dining room to the boys room upstairs. they're all old enough to go upstairs to play and bring down a few things to play with if they want to be downstairs. i need some type of storage cabinet/bench for games in the living room. they have a ton of games they don't play with because they're out of sight. i'd rather have the games down here and they can play with them at the table and not lose as may pieces.

prompt #7 is up at scrapping across the universe! it's all about scrapping a family photo! check it out!

POTD Dec 2

2008-12-03T09:58:00.007-06:00

this is rehearsal for the nutcracker. E and NL are both in it. it was only a part dress, as their hair isn't done. we'll do the hair mostly (without curls for the girls) for the first rehearsal on thursday at the show site and full dress at the site on friday. the show is 2 performances on saturday. the kids are very excited that it is so close to the show. the closer it gets the more stressed i get! E has 3 roles, 3 costumes and 3 hairstyles!! NL will be easy with just 1 role.

POTD Dec 1

2008-12-03T09:28:00.003-06:00

E got the stomach bug last night, she was the last of the kids to get it. she wasn't feeling well enough for school, so we kept her and J home, J mostly so he wouldn't spread the germs we were sure were floating around. so, the kids and i did a craft. the kids colored up some christmas shrinky dinks tom and dawn had given them a couple christmas's ago. i shrunk them and attached them to a pretty red fiber and now we have a cute little decoration. i'll have to get a photo of the finished project. the above photo is the boys watching the magic shrinky dinks in action.

out of the mouths of babes

2008-11-20T15:25:00.003-06:00

NL and NT just came upstairs from watching a veggie tales movie called minnesota cuke, it's about bullies. NL walks up to me and says "momma, did you know that God makes it so you can love your enemies?" his eyes were bright with new knowledge. i said isn't that amazing and asked him if he has any enemies. he didn't think he did, but maybe his sister because she wouldn't play with him last night. :)

the other day i heard J and NL talking in the back of the van. J said "God knows everything about you." NL responded with "yeah, and santa too." the holidays are coming, guess he's been thinking about it!

Across the Universe #3

2008-11-19T14:28:00.006-06:00

here is my layout for the third challenge. the topic was first love or first kiss. well for NL his first love outside of family has got to be B. she is his favorite friend and he looks forward to seeing her at church and choir each week. the tractor cut out may seem out of place, but the day the pictures were taken we were on a farm, and the colors matched so well. ;)

they rock

2008-11-19T14:07:00.003-06:00

e and j's school had an awards ceremony last week for honors from the first quarter. each teacher awards a citizenship award to a boy and a girl in their class each quarter. e and j both got the citizenship awards in their classes! i was very proud! e's class has been together for 2 full years already and she just joined them this year for 3rd grade. so, it was especially sweet in her case. after the 3rd and 4th grade ceremony i told her teacher that j had gotten the citizenship for his class and said "isn't that funny" or something to that effect. she replied "no, that's good parenting!". love her!! actually, i'm sure it's a good portion cool kid and some parenting mixed in.

e also got awards for having straight A's and reading 250,000 words during the quarter.
j also got perfect attendance. there are less awards for the younger kids and they don't get letter grades until 3rd grade in our district. if they did he would have gotten all a's as well as his marks were all o's (the highest mark for k-2nd). i wasn't at his ceremony, but dave was, so the pic of j is on his phone!

a boy and his puppy

2008-11-17T18:07:00.003-06:00

NT and Lily snuggling on the heat register last week. I love how Lily is using him as a pillow.

Third Day on the 3rd

2008-11-03T14:17:00.006-06:00

My favorite band in the whole world, and the only one I listen to on a regular basis, Third Day. On the 3rd day of the month the have a blog carnival on the bands blog. I thought it would be fun to play along. They are a christian rock band. Their current CD, Revelation, fits my life perfectly right now, I listen to it daily. I wish I could meet Mac Powell who is the front man for the band and writes most of the lyrics. I would like to tell him how powerful his songs are. How so many of the songs are prayers for me. That revelation was exactly what I needed, and that God has given it to me and that his songs helped me realize what I needed and that my priorities were out of whack. Thank You Mac, Mark, Tai and David for your music ministry.

Blog fun

2008-10-30T14:09:00.003-05:00

i love going from blog to blog, link by link. it's so fun to discover new people. it's even more fun when a give away is involved! today i found this blog and she has a fun scrappy giveaway. i signed up, good luck to anyone else who does.

High School Musical 3

2008-10-29T21:25:00.005-05:00

my kids are all crazy for HSM. they watch the movies over and over and were quite excited to see the third movie in a theater. dave didn't want to go on opening day so the 6 of us waited for our sunday night family movie night to go. we usually watch a dvd at home together, so this was a special treat. there were very few people in the theater and we had great seats. the kids loved it, although it got a little too long for the youngest. i think the music of the first 2 was better and e said the second one is still her favorite. the super cute red and black wildcats jacket that n.l. is wearing was altered by me last halloween. he wanted to be troy bolton so i bought him a running suit and added a hand made felt wildcat on the front and bolton and 14 on the back. pretty crafty if i do say so myself!

it was pretty funny when within the first 3 seconds of the movie the teen aged girls in front of us were gasping at the sight of a sweaty zac efron. i laughed outloud at their reaction. i'm so glad e doesn't pay any attention to boys yet. she is 9 and has girlfriends that are already boy crazy at the same age, yikes!

this man

2008-10-20T14:37:00.005-05:00

lately i've been thinking a lot about how blessed i am to be married to my best friend. how fortunate i am to have found someone who makes me happy just by being together. the other night we were on an escape weekend, just the 2 of us. we were watching part of "Almost Famous". there was a quote in the movie that was just perfect for the way i feel about Dave.

"I'm never as good as when I'm with you, when I see myself the way you see me."

yep, that sums it up, he makes me a better person. so very thankful he is mine.
now, i just wish he'd let me take his picture. i got this one on the playground when he was playing with the kids.

Across the Universe!

2008-10-19T21:42:00.005-05:00

my big secret has been revealed! one of my SISters Bree has started a challenge blog based on the movie Across the Universe. i was so excited when she asked me to be a member of the design team! our first challenge is up! this is my version. i have wanted to be a part of a challenge blog for soo long! thanks Bree!

I have a secret!

2008-10-09T13:46:00.003-05:00

It's always so fun to read on a fellow scrapper's blog that they have some news, but it's not quite time to share it. It usually means they have designed a scrapbooking product, been published or made a design team. I'm so excited to be able to say that i have news that I can't share yet! But, it won't be long. The cat will be out of the bag sometime next week.

Walking the Catwalk!

2008-09-23T22:41:00.004-05:00

yay!! double yay!! i love it when one of the fashionista's picks one of my layouts for their weekly favorite. today was my third time to be picked. and each time it makes my day! this layout titled "manifest destiny" was chosen by kim brimall. thanks kim!! i did the layout in response to a challenge by another fashionista, Amy Tan, to use mags and scrap supplies to manifest your own destiny. fun stuff.

Kenner Road

2008-09-14T22:19:00.003-05:00

A very sweet lady that i met through an online site is opening her very own kit club called Kenner Road. Kerry Lynn is the kind of person who is just genuinely nice and caring and creative. i wish her the best of luck with this new endeavor. I think she's gonna ROCK IT!

Kenner Road is the name of the street KL grew up on. I can't imagine naming anything after the street i lived on for 7 years of my childhood, it was Tamara Drive. Great house, funny street name. Into my 20's it was my favorite house i'd ever been in. It had 4 bedrooms and a bonus room next to the garage. Even with 3 siblings i always had my own room. i loved that. the best part was that there were 4 girls in the same grade as me on our block, emily, jenny, joey and becky. good times!

Mr. Lincoln, I presume?

2008-09-04T10:04:00.004-05:00

Over the labor day weekend our town had a celebration marking the 150th year reunion of the Lincoln-Douglas debates. before Lincoln was president he ran against Douglas for a state race and lost. these debates precluded that election. the big deal about them was that Lincoln talked about abolishing slavery. so, our town had a weekend full of events included a parade with several period entries including both a lincoln and a douglas impersonator from our town. they were both riding in horse drawn carriages and were followed by supporters on foot wearing period costumes.

Back to School

2008-09-04T09:33:00.005-05:00

i go back and forth between "yay, they're back in school" and "man, i can't believe summer is over!" it did go fast and that means that winter is just around the corner and i really don't like winter. i need to live somewhere where it doesn't get cold. but anyway, i digress. the first day of school was last monday a week and 2 days ago. e and j were both ready to get back to it. and excited about their new school. the first time they've attended school together. they are both in the HAPP program now. it is an accelerated learning program in our district. i think it will be really good for them. i think i have blogged about it before.

j has never even seen the speed racer movie and only seen a couple of the cartoons on dvd, but loves the merchandise and begged for a speed racer t-shirt. he also was desperate (he is usually full of drama!) for an ironman backpack. he never saw that movie either, but loves the idea of that superhero who can fly and made his own suit.

e is very preteen these days and she's only 8! she'll be 9 at the end of the month, but already exhibits preteen behavior! there is lots of hands on the hips and she's already into fashion. we shopped the end of summer sales for some of her back to school stuff and she adored this sparkly turqoise shirt. she is carrying the same bag as last year, so she could use her back pack money for another shirt. :)

don't let this photo fool you. j wanted to love on e for the photo, but e was none too pleased. as soon as i was done taking a couple shots she pushed him away. very preteen!!

Walk to Emmaus

2008-08-14T14:39:00.004-05:00

wow. what an event. before i went i talked to a few people who'd already attended a weekend and no one could really explain what it was like. i thought they were being secretive but i realize now that it is unexplainable. there are a few surprises throughout the weekend that help to define God's love for you and it's best to keep them as a surprise. to enjoy them as they come and not to anticipate. for me that is very hard to do. my table leaders thought i knew too much about the event, but i think they were wrong. i only knew a few things about the make up of the event. i knew that there were attendees that had been there before, people who were there to serve the "pilgrims" during the weekend. i knew that there were talks each day that helped you to understand God a little better and to help you figure out where you are on your walk with God. and i knew a little bit about Agape. but, the outpouring of huge acts of Agape, the surprises, i had no idea about. they were huge. i felt God's love all around me. and i am positive that my experience wouldn't have been any different or less powerful, if i hadn't known those things. dave did a very good job of telling me enough to give my inquisitive self an idea of what i was getting into, but not ruining the surprises.
i decided to go on the weekend because i wanted to be closer to God. i wanted to make sure i was on the right track. i prayed a lot for revelation, for clarity, and i got it. i have found in my spiritual life that God will totally meet you where you are and give you what you need as you need it. He gently reminded me that my priorities were out of wack. that i was spending way to much time on things of little importance. so, i vowed to limit the time spent on those things, and to spend more time on christian study and taking care of my children, husband and home. not because i am their servant, but because that is how i serve God. by taking care of the blessings he has given me. i have also been struggling with feelings of being led by God to adopt a child. He keeps pulling me in that direction, it is strongly in my heart, but i keep questioning it. i try to reason with Him, we don't have enough space, or enough time, or enough money. but, still He pulls me. i know he will provide, but in my human-ness i worry about my abilities. during the weekend on sunday i was feeling homesick and missing my family very much. during one of the talks i found my mind wandering. i didn't want that to happen, i wanted to get as much out of the weekend as possible so i began to pray. i asked God what i could possible get out of that talk. what it was he had left to tell me that weekend. the idea of adoption came to me and my thoughts of doubt. i heard God in my mind say "Find Her". what? i questioned, really? i don't think you really mean it. how can i possibly? "FIND HER" i heard it again. there was no doubt. He really meant it. i don't know where she is. i don't know if she's born yet. but, i do know i need to find her. i need to give the problems to God and let him find the answers.
on sunday evening i wanted desperately for dave to be there to pick me up. i wanted so much to see him and talk to him about my experience and to hug him. but, they encouraged us to not use our phones, so i didn't call and ask him to come. although it was really hard not to. so imagine my delight when he was there waiting for me.

kung fu panda

2008-06-09T18:12:00.004-05:00

great movie!!
the kids loved it and dh and i laughed and laughed.
jack black voiced the panda perfectly!
but, look out, you'll have the "kung fu fighting" song from the 70's in your head for days!

going on a trip!

2008-06-09T15:56:00.002-05:00

alone!!
this will be my very first trip alone, without dh or kiddos ever! i am driving down to tennessee with my friend dawn to a scrapbook event this weekend! i am so completely stoked! use exclamation points much? HA!

the event is friday night and saturday with some shopping on sunday. i have been in planning stage forever! can't wait to hit the road. i am a little nervous about meeting all of these ladies i know only on the computer, but the ones i have already met are so nice and fun to be with. i expect the rest will be too. it's a lot of money to spend on little old me. i have been wanting to go to a scrapbook weekend since forever.

i will surely post about the weekend!

another digi

2008-05-31T16:53:00.001-05:00

my first digital page!

2008-05-31T12:16:00.001-05:00

random goings on

2008-05-24T10:25:00.003-05:00

lots of stuff going on lately.

the kids spring activities are wrapping up. E's class had a field trip to the discovery center in rockford. it's a hands on childrens museum. great fun. the photo is her climbing down the mouse hole under the stairs between floors.

J's class had a mom's day at school. i went and enjoyed some time with him, one on one.

we've been going to garage sales and rummage sales when we see them. i love church rummage sales. they are great for finding treasures old ladies have tossed. i found a great wallet, key and comb set for 75 cents at one a couple weeks ago. it's vintage, made of pig skin and was never used! J is always on the lookout for bionicle pieces. and NL wants to get his hands on polly pockets.

my in laws just got home from springing in arizona. they don't go out until late february, so they don't really winter there, they spring there. we're glad to have them back. i get used to not having them around and doing all the kid schlepping with some help from dh. but, now that they're back i don't have to take the kids on all my errands. mil takes them for home school pre-school 2 hours 3 days a week. plus, she keeps them for lunch one day too. it's heaven! i can get twice as much done without littles taging along.

there's more, but i need to load some photos, so i'll be back.

Where in the US?

2008-05-23T14:11:00.001-05:00

which states have you been to?

create your own visited states map

Happy National Scrapbook Day!

2008-05-03T08:33:00.003-05:00

yes, scrapbooking really has it's own day. mostly scrapbookers use it as an exuse to play with paper and lots of online store give away lots of goodies! fun, fun stuff. i'm gonna scrap this am and then head over to my niece's bday party this afternoon. here's a layout that is an ode to my favorite cheeseburger.

j and e

2008-04-22T08:46:00.000-05:00

Amazing

2008-04-18T15:11:00.003-05:00

wow. my kids are rocking the whole school thing lately. i think it's due to grandma's home school preschool. at least that has given them a boost.

e has participated in the school districts young author contest for 3 years. the first year she didn't get an award. but, last year she won at her school and went to the district level (with students from at least 4 grade schools) and won an honorable mention for her story. we are very proud of her. this year she again won at her school! her stories are so fun and i am so glad she enjoys writing.

i've been stressing and praying lately about where e and j were going to go to school next year. e's teacher this year is brand new and i feel he has not taught her to her potential. i was concerned that she would get another "just ok" teacher. at their school they don't take parents requests for teachers. so, with j going there next year i was also concerned about which teacher he would get. there are 4 1st grade teachers at their school and i only think one is really good teacher. i've spent time with them on field trips and such.

well, my prayers were answered for j yesterday when we got a letter in the mail from the district saying he had high academic potential and was invited to participate in the happ program. this is the program that e's kindergarten teacher was sure e would get into for 1st grade. but, because of demographics (the classroom has to be made up of the same percentage of each nationality as the district)she didn't make it. we were concerned that she'd end up with a "just ok" teacher. but, she had mrs. nott who was a great teacher. i was so glad that j was invited to be in the happ program as they do a lot of extra things. the kids are all interested in learning and the teacher doesn't have to teach to such a wide group of skill levels.

and then today the phone rang and it was the director of the happ program. he said he doesn't usually make phone calls to parents, but this was a special instance. he was calling because e had tested into the happ program. and sometimes having children at the same school makes a difference whether the parents send them to there or not. (at the end of 2nd and 4th grades the children are tested again and rearranged based on scores. it's harder to get in though because the kids in happ have a more detailed education). e made it in too!! wow, answered prayers. she won't be too thrilled about leaving her friends, but i think she'll like it once school starts.

i hope i didn't offend anyone with the way i talk about teachers. education for our children is so important. it's so hard to make sure all kids get what they need. revamped somehow.

J's 1st day of Kindergarten

2008-04-12T11:43:00.004-05:00

i was really happy with the way this layout turned out. it was fun to find a drawing by J to add. i'm going to submit this one. if you click on it it will show a larger version.

Bedtime

2008-04-09T22:16:00.002-05:00

a couple bedtime memories to remember.

E - she loves a quick back rub at bedtime. i started it as a way to stay close as she gets older. hopefully even when she's a teen she'll like a back rub and it will help keep us close. she is afraid of lightening and thunder and will stay awake waiting for the next boom if there's a storm.

J - likes a back rub too. he moans and groans while i do it. he also mumbles to himself, or sighs as he falls asleep.

NL - likes to me to sing a song. he calls it a sing along. last night when i finished "a bushel and a peck" he said "that was beautiful". love him!

NT - he always wants a pacifier and something to snuggle. then he wants to put his hand up my shirt on the same spot on my stomach. he likes it best if i stay until he falls asleep, but lately i'm trying to leave him to fall asleep on his own.

AZ

2008-04-05T16:31:00.003-05:00

we had another amazing vacation in AZ. two weeks of warm weather and lazy days. perfect. between dave and i we took over 300 photos. there will be tons of scrapbook pages to come!

just like you

2008-04-05T16:25:00.004-05:00

we went over to the building where dave's office is after dinner last night to look at the new office space that is being built for him on the third floor. it is much bigger than their "official" space now and dave will have his own office. on the way home J told dave he wanted to do just what dave does and work with him there when he grows up. it was so sweet and dave told him he'd love it if J came to work with him.

62

2008-04-05T16:22:00.002-05:00

that was the temperature today here in northern illinois. a balmy 62! it was so nice after the cold days since we've been home. the kids played outside in tshirts. perfect weather for a saturday!

weirded out

2008-03-10T11:38:00.000-05:00

so, my sister emails me today with some family history questions. she found an online site with some of our paternal grandmothers family history and she's emailed the guy whose site it is and he has some questions regarding our husbands names and kids names. i told her i was uncomfortable with my kids middles names floating around cyber space. She then gave me the site addy and i went to check out the site. the page she gave me is my dad's page. it has his name, birth year and my mom's name and birth year, when they were married and when the divorced. it goes on to list me and my sisters full names and our birth years. it gave me the chills. totally weirded me out. i'm not sure why, but i'm uncomfortable with someone knowing these things when they don't know us at all.

Layout for Pam's Contest

2008-02-29T20:47:00.003-06:00

my buddy Pam posted a sketch challenge on her blog. here is my version.

patterned paper - KI Memories (from my first T2T box)
felt flowers - Jolees, EK Success
paper behind chipboard heart negative - knock, knock
chipboard - Heidi Swapp (i think, it was gifted to me, thanks Tina!)
cupcake wrapper - grocery store (thanks for the idea traci!)
letter stickers - doodlebug

Chelsea's Place Review

2008-02-27T12:16:00.014-06:00

I picked up some of the Chelsea's Place collection from Michaels recently. The retail price was $12.99, but I used a 40% off coupon for mine. The above photo, that I took from Michaels sight, shows the line minus the shaped papers. There were 2 packs of paper. I bought the one of specialty papers. The color scheme is fun and I love that the papers all have something special about them. Each sheet is either die cut, glittered or flocked. They are heavy weight patterned papers. So, the papers definitely get a thumbs up.

I also brought home the die cut chipboard letters. They have cute patterns spread randomly through the alphabet. One of the reasons I got them was because I thought they were going to be self adhesive. There is a light adhesive on them that didn't work at all. I placed them on the page and they fell off as soon as I picked up the layout. I ended up using a little liquid adhesive on them to make them stick. The package isn't labeled as self adhesive, but looks like other chipboard letters that are, so I assumed. The fonts are cute though, so I give them a thumbs up as well.

The first layout and the card show the green scalloped paper that is in the paper kit. The second layout uses the scalloped round paper and the embossed red and blue paper.

edited

2008-02-25T16:19:00.001-06:00

i edited my faith story below. i will read it wednesday evening at the midweek church service.

the good life

2008-02-25T15:56:00.002-06:00

i did this layout with my SIStv sushi collection. i really like the way it turned out. it was one of those layouts that just kinda happened. most things are from the kit, with the exception of: the silver sticker at the corner of the photo is from Marliese, a SISter who sent it to me in a pay it forward package. the red flowers and the brads are queen and company. the felt heart was part of a garland i got from the dollar tree at christmas time.

i love this photo, can't wait to get to arizona again. only 3 more weeks!

Winter CHA

2008-02-12T10:16:00.000-06:00

if you want to see tons of pictures of new product and read reviews of the latest and greatest you should go to Craft Critique. there is definitely some cool stuff coming out.

my faith story

2008-02-08T14:09:00.002-06:00

i'm writing this here to share with anyone who cares to read it. i am writing it down because i am going to be sharing it at church and i'm planning to read it. this is a rough draft.

we didn't go to church often untill i was in junior high. and then we went every weekend. my parents were helping to found a episcopal church in our town. there weren't many people yet, and i was one of the few acolytes. i was baptized and confirmed in that church. i did those things because my parents wanted me to. i didn't believe in God really. i had a lot of doubt and a lot of questions. after high school my family moved back to illinois and I met dave. he had a firm faith and was able to answer a lot of my questions.
dave and i were married in Grace Episcopal church here in freeport. i still wasn't sure what i believed, but I wanted to be married in the church. i liked the idea of God and Jesus but i didn't feel it.
after living in chicago for a couple years dave and i decided to move to austin, texas. we had visited some friends there on our honeymoon and really enjoyed it. the music industry was booming, so for dave it was a business move. our friends attended a modern seeker based church, so for me it was a spiritual move.
the church was the kind with contemporary music played by a band, they had dramas and multi media presentations. the pastor spoke about things i needed to hear, like why the bible was real and what it meant to me.
after we'd lived in austin for several weeks a friend asked me to come to a bapist revival weekend with her. i was on a search for God, and what other place could be more perfect to find him?
i don't remember much about the weekend. it was full of bible study, prayer and song. i do remember the sunday morning church service very clearly. at the end of the service the pastor asked us to come up and get the communion sacrement and go wherever we wanted to to take it. he told us pray to God silently and tell God what we needed or wanted help with. i went to the back of the church and got down on one knee and leaned on the pew. i took the sacrement and closed my eyes. i prayed to God and told him i wanted Jesus in my heart. i wanted to believe. i wanted to feel his love daily. and then i paused. i kept my eyes shut but i could see and feel Jesus beside me. he was kneeling on my left with his arm around me. he was wearing a white robe with a bright blue sash just like in the photo on my grandma's bedroom wall. and then i knew. he had been beside me the whole time. i had been blind to his presence, but when i asked for clarity he was shown to me.
i decided to be baptized again. It was important to me that I have a do-over. I wanted to mean it. Baptism to me means believeing in and loving Jesus and proclaiming yourself a christian. on a summer weekend i was baptized with several other adults. we stood in the colorado river. the same river that runs through the Grand Canyon and took turns as the pastor introduced us to the gathered church members. when it was my turn i told a little of my story and introduced the people i had brought with me, people that helped me in my faith journey, who were also standing in the water. the pastor stood with his hands on my back and my head. he prayed for my baptism and then gently bent me back until the water covered my face. and it felt so right to claim jesus as he had claimed me.

i got cut

2008-02-05T14:41:00.001-06:00

well, i didn't make it past the second round. it really sucks. i was hoping to make it, even after i saw some of the others submissions. i really thought mine rocked.

so now what? i saw that label tulip has a design team call going on. i'm thinking about trying for that one, they have great kits. if nothing else, making the first cut for the fashionistas did help my self esteem about my scrapping skills. so, i'll keep trying for another team. being on one was so fun! i miss it.

i'm not sure

2008-01-29T10:38:00.000-06:00

i'm not sure i can handle continuing in this fashionista competition. it is quickly becoming important to me to make the team. i tried to make a layout that would get picked for the catwalk this week. and didn't make it. the catwalk is a selection of layouts that the current fashionista's pick each week. this week they are all layouts with the sushi collection. i have never been on the catwalk before and so i was very hopeful this week especially after one of the fashionistas left me a comment on one of my layouts. how am i gonna make the team if i can't even make the catwalk. part of me would like to give up now. so that it's my decision not to make it. i don't want to face the rejection. when i sent the email submitting my name for the team i never thought i'd make it past the first round. kept telling myself there was no way. but, now that i have made it, now that i know there's a chance, and JJ likes my stuff, well i get more invested each day.

i will keep doing the challenges. the reward of winning is worth it.

a couple kiddo goodies

2008-01-18T09:00:00.000-06:00

E - she is very excited because she won a contest at school. there is a reading program called accelerated reader that they use at her school. they read books and take tests to earn points. the better your reading comprehension the more points they get. the student with the most points in each class wins as well as the student in each grade with the most points. well, she won for her class and for the second grade!! i am very proud of her, as she wanted to win this and worked hard for it. do you wanna know what she won? for her class prize she gets to pick any teacher in the school and throw a whipped cream pie in their face! she chose her first grade teacher, whom we all loved. and as second grade winner she gets to throw a pie in the principals face!! it's today and she wants me to come. should be some good photos!

J - he always has creative ways of describing things and often uses big words. words way to big for a kindergarten student. he says "actually" and "technically" things like that. the other night we were talking about how school had been when i remembered i had snuck a note in his lunch box. i asked him how lunch went.
he said "good"
"did you find anything interesting in your bag?"
he started naming the food that i had packed.
"wasn't there anything that wasn't food?"
he puts on his thinking face, rolls his eyes up to look at the ceiling and says "i can't find it. oh, yeah. there was a note."
me feining shock "there was?" "did you like it?"
"it was embarrassing"
me shocked for real "what? why?"
"you wrote momma on it."
"what would you rather i write?"
"mommy (pause)or just mom. yeah, just mom"

i wonder if he was looking through his bag in his head when he said he couldn't find it or if he couldn't find the memory. funny boy. he often calls me momma at home, but i guess he doesn't want to appear babyish in front of "the guys". i would rather they call me momma forever. i prefer it over mommy. but, i guess i don't get to choose.

sushi anyone?

2008-01-15T20:15:00.000-06:00

here's the first thing i made with ashley's kit. the calender came in the kit. i added a Heidi swapp journal spot, some punchinella, a button and a star i made to look (hopefully) like the shapes on the papers. i'm gonna use the calender to record the little happinesses in our everyday lives together.

Mail!!

2008-01-15T20:10:00.000-06:00

i love a good mail day. look what the fedex man brought me! it's the rainbow sushi collection from SIStv by Ashley Wren. i had to have it because i've known Ashley for awhile in the online community and met her last year at CHA. i feel a kindship with her and wanted to support her design work.

off and running

2008-01-15T09:15:00.000-06:00

today is gonna be one of those momma taxi days.
- pick E up from school and take her to the eye doctor for a check up
- take E back to school, so she doesn't miss a special lunch in the class room
- pick up J from school
- pick up E from school (a 3 hour day)
- home for lunch for the other 2 boys
- drop boys at in laws for ballet time
- drop E at ballet
- maybe stay at ballet and talk with other moms, or home for a couple chores or maybe some scrappin
- pick up E from ballet
- run to store for a couple dinner things
- pick up boys and home for dinner

guess i better get going!

Monday

2008-01-14T09:32:00.000-06:00

mondays are simple days for me. i have a little free time (without kids) during the day and then mil takes the kids for dinner and playtime at mcdonalds. the big 2 are at school, J has a full day. NL and NT go to grandmas for homeschool preschool for 2 hours this am. i plan to take a treadmill walk and use the new shelf D built for my laptop to sit on so i can watch tv shows while i walk. i also need to catch up on a few dishes, rotate laundry and drop off a couple movies.

speaking of movies, we watched stardust last night. it was really good. i didn't like it at first because i didn't get it. but, as it went along things were explained and i ended up enjoying it. michelle phiffer is an old witch, loved her. her makeup was awesome. Robert Deniro is a flamboyant pirate captain and is hilarious. it is a great fairy tale. definitely worth a rent.

for our family movie this weekend we watch Zoom. it's a couple years old, but we hadn't seen it, because it got horrible reviews. i decided to get it because i thought the kids would like it. they did. i liked it too. it was so funny it lots of places. exactly my kind of humor, i lol several times.

a new favorite layout

2008-01-14T09:29:00.000-06:00

i almost didn't post this one anywhere. i was thinking about submitting it. but, changed my mind. what do you think?

jumping on the bandwagon

2008-01-14T08:51:00.000-06:00

well, i've had a private blog for awhile, but now i'm going public! we'll see how it goes. i'm sure i won't be a regular poster, but i'll try.