Our Musical Stars

Yup, it was that time again. Time for the Kickstart Musical. I'm so thankful that Ms. LeeAnn takes this on. The musical was the "Amazing Jerusalem Makeover" The kids did a great job and we were all very proud of them and their hard work.
 

A 13th to remember...

Can't believe it was 13 years ago that my sweet first born came along. Where did the years go. I guess I blinked. We celebrated this monumentous occasion by a trip to Daytona Beach. It was a great time. Here she is in all her glory, the birthday girl.

Kendall enjoyed the cake. I'm sure she'll be 13 all too fast too.













What a way to enjoy the view.












Here's the gang doing a little shopping and eating at Johnny Rocket's.


It was a fabulous weekend that we will all remember and tresure. 

Invaded!

By Mumaws that is. These are relatives that we don't often get to see. How to explain? My grandma's (in the center) brother's children and grandchildren and spouses. Ohhh.... You got it now, right? It was great to see them and all the kids. It was a short, but fun visit. 

Bible Driller Extrordinaire!

That's our Parker. He went to the big Bible Drill and went all the way to Super Drill and made a perfect score. How great is he?! We are proud of all the hard work he has done.

 

Sniff.. Sniff...

They're getting so big and grown up. Here they are all polished and spit shined for Easter. Parker is complete with blue hair gel. What's not to love about these great kids? 

Baby from the hood...

See what happens when you let at 13yo, 11yo, and 6yo play with a 1yo? Please don't call the fashion police on me!
 

MIA....

I've been MIA from blogging. A lot going on and nothing going on at the same time.

On a sad note, my friend Donna passed away. There's a whole lot of good stuff I could say about Donna. Truth is, I'm missing her. In the past couple of years I didn't get to see her nearly enough. That bums me out. I will miss her laugh, smile and her stories. I'm thankful I had the chance to tell her I loved her before she died. I'm sure she knows how we all feel. My text in this post is purple in her memory.

So creatively I've expanded my repitoire a bit. Hooked up with some Creative Memories folks through Stampin' Up! and have been to some crops. I got all 3 kids' baby books done! It felt so good! Like a giant weight has been lifted. I can feel like a better mom, knowing they have baby books! Crazy, huh? I was seriously impressed with how the company has changed. No more boring Mrs. Grossman's stickers! So if you need to or are curious, I can hook you up. Going to another overnite crop at the end of April. Call me. You'll get a lot done. Really!

Next thing... I went with my friend Pam tonight to a knitting store and learned to knit. I loved it. I'm not gonna say what I'm making cuz it's for Easter. But I'm really diggin' it. Big shout out to Pammie for letting me hone in on her peeps! Just what I need, another addiction....

BTW, if you're ever in dire need of a slurpee... send Pam into 7-11. Here's what she'll come out with....


Well, darn it! I can't upload the pic for some reason, but it's a 64 oz Double Gulp size slurpee! The poor clerk didn't quite know what to do with her. He told her that they usually didn't do that. Pam just told him she doesn't usually buy the darn things! He let her go ahead and only charged her $1.39. Heheehehehehe. I had a great laugh over that one. I haven't even had half of it, but I bet I'll be up all night in the bathroom! hm..... Maybe that will be a good place to knit!!!

Gotta go take some Motrin for my sore knitting muscles. More later...

Something I Bet You Didn't Know About Me...

Okay. I'm gonna make a world wide web public confession. I am a PBR (no not Pabst Blue Ribbon-Professional Bull Riding) fan. Make that Fan (with a capital F). I am not a redneck. I don't listen to country music. I have all my teeth and don't smoke or chew. (have I broken down all the stereotypes yet? I used to think of all those stereotypes too!) I would like to own a pair of cowgirl boots and a hat. A girl's gotta accessorize you know.

So last night, my wonderful husband, and our youngest daughter and I drove to Daytona Beach for the Enterprise Invitational. This is the Minor Leagues in the PBR. The Built Ford Tough Series is the Major Leagues. I'm guessing that this is probably way more info than you wanted. Too bad! It's my Blog!!! 8)



Here are my pictures (or at least the best ones). The joy of riding and getting off safely and the agony of defeat. The poor cowboy sitting down hurt his knee and most definately had a hitch in his get-a-long! And last but not least me and my forever corrupted daughter who now knows how to cheer for the cowboys and stand up to look and make sure no one is hurt!

Some more info. Although the crowd was small, it was diverse. From the way older than me to the very young. All types of people. And they started with prayer. Nice to see all those cowboys on one knee with their hats off and heads bowed. Guess you feel pretty strongly about talking to God when you're about to get on a 1500-2000 lb bucking bull.

So there it is. I laid it out. Love me anyways and maybe next time you should join me!

(btw, PBR can be seen every Sat and Sun night at 8pm on the OLN (outdoor living network). It really is a sport and there's lots to learn about bull riding)

Where Have I Been?

That's a really good question. Truth be told, busy in the day to day grind of life. That's not necessarily a bad thing.

I have decided to step up my Stampin' Up! business. This too is a good thing. Unfortunately, blogging has suffered slightly. I'm feeling busy with classes and projects. Hanging with good people, enjoying it and making some money. Ah....

The kids are all doing well. Growing up. Being independent. This is a weird thing. I'm still adjusting to the changes. I think they'd like me to hurry up and get with the program!

Here are a few favorite things at the moment:

1. My crockpot. Did you know you could cook a meal in a crockpot every single night of the week! Fabulous! The less time in the kitchen for me, the better.

2. Scrap 2 It. My favorite local scrapbook store. Great things to look at, great people.

3. Soduku Puzzles. I'm addicted. Try it... you'll like it....

4. My new haircut. The stylist cut it with a razor and I love it. Nothing like a good razor cut.

5. Donna Downey's year long scrapbooking class at bigpicturescrapbooking.com. Worth every penny and heaps of fun projects. Hard to keep up with the weekly assignments, but I do my best.

That's about it for now. Hope your favorites list is long.

Girls Nite Out

Well, this year we got smart. The hens that is. Okay, I'll explain. First of all a group of 5 of us girls get together on Wednesdays for a Bible Study. One of the husbands jokingly referred to us as "the hens" and it stuck. We do a lot of clucking when we get together!

So about the smart part. We decided this year instead of buying each other a Christmas gift, we would spend that money on a girls nite out. It took a while to coordinate everyone's schedule, but we finally had our night out. We went to a Greek restaurant and I swear our waiter was the Soup Nazi from Seinfeld. He even said, "No Greek salad for you!". Then we went next door to Starbucks. It was such fun and such a success we decided to have girls nite out for each one of our birthdays.

I'll leave you with a few pictures!

No, Tia is not being holy in this one. Seriously, she is not praying!

A Croppin' Good Time

Got to go to a crop at my lss. Oh it was a great nite out! I spent most of my time making all sorts of books. If you know me at all, or have been in my house, you know that I love books. I have found I especially like making and/or altering them. Here are a few examples:



This is the Planner from Simple Scrapbooks. It is fabulous. A great value at $12.50. I am taking Donna Downey's year long class at Bigpicturescrapbooking.com. This was our first assignment: to alter our planner. Fun. And useful.



This is an address book for my mom. She has a poor pathetic one that I have teased her about for a long time. This came from Sarabinders. They are great and easy to do. Some acrylic paint and paper and bam! You've got something cute.



This is a notebook I got at Target and altered. It is 8.5 x 11 and I will use it for my handouts from Bigpicturescrapbooking.com classes.



This is a small notebook for me. Another Sarabinder. For whatever jotting down I want to do. Church notes, prayer journal, grocery lists, crafty ideas... you know, the stuff of every day life. This is Stampin' Up! paper and I really like it.



And last, but so not least. This is going to be a circle journal to share with my Sister sister (she's a nun) in Oklahoma. I had to sew and bind and everything. It really wasn't hard at all. I used Making Memories foam stamps and white MM acrylic paint for the flowers on the front and back covers. This one is gonna be hard to part with! At least it will come back to me on a regular basis.

Not bad for a night's work. I felt creative and productive. Something I rarely get to feel at the same time!

Oh yea, I also completed 15 baby shower invites for a friend.

Yup, feelin' pretty good.

z becky brown design

Got a chance to make panels for a Z Becky Brown for a lss with a Valentine's Day theme. Used the new Basic Grey Notch Tool for the "corset thingy" on the sides. I liked the tool. It did take a little getting used to though.




Also made a couple of Valentine's Day cards with the leftover "scraps". It was great fun to use different supplies.

Goodbye 2005...

It's been a good, solid year all in all. Maybe not the best, most terrific year ever, but far, far from the worst year. The new year is full of wonder for me. I anticipate what is to come.

Resolutions? Yea, I've got a few. Mostly I want to be me only better. I'll be sharing the specifics later.

As the year winds to a close I'll share a last picture with you.


That's Lilli and her very best bud Jamie at Libby Lu's for Lilli's all girl birthday. Sweet.

Happy New Year! May it be your best ever.

My Wonderful Christmas Eve Kids

I think that when you are a parent, every once in a while you should get a pass to brag. I'm taking mine right now.

They are growing up so fast. And they are really cool people. I enjoy them more and more every day. They looked so great tonight. I couldn't resist these shots at church as imperfect as they are.

The pink hair? For those of you who are Nick Jr. illiterate, that is in imitation of Stephanie on Lazytown. I love that Lilli has a sense of style and is not afraid to show it.

These 3 and my fabulous hubby... The best gifts I've ever gotten.

A boy and his pocket knife

Yup. If you have a son, I bet you know exactly where this story is going. We had Christmas at my mom's on Friday. We got home and the kids wanted to watch a dvd that Parker got. They did and it ended late. Not being one to miss a chance to stay up late, Parker went to his room to check out another present he had received that night. A really big bin of Legos. Now in this crazy world, for some reason the toy manufacturers see to it that each and every toy is packed to stay intact in case of a nuclear holocost. The dang thing was strapped shut. So doing what he'd seen his dad do at least a million times, Parker pulled out the pocket knife he received for his baptism. Instead of cutting away from himself, he cut toward himself. Cut through his brand new jeans and sliced his thigh. This happened about midnight.

Out of his room he comes, "Dad, I cut myself". I was in the bathroom before I realized I had even put my feet on the floor. I hemmed and hawed -- it was a good gap and would have a hard time healing on an active 11 yo boy. On the other hand, a scar wouldn't matter there and I could butterfly the heck out of the thing. Pete and I debated until 2 a.m. Off to the ER we went. After a wait until 5:30 am, we were seen, stitches were placed and we got home about 7 am. Not only could Parker brag that he had survived stitches, but he'd stayed up the whole night.

3 kids, 12 years and this is the first time anyone has had stitches. I feel very blessed.

Parker says, "This is a Christmas Eve I won't ever forget!" Yeah, me neither kiddo.

So am I a dealer?

It usually happens this time of year. I get called a "crack dealer" by a husband in desperate need of gift ideas. Confused yet? Okay, I'll explain.

I love my friend Kimberly. For a lot of reasons. A lot of the reasons are because she is so different from me. Ask her if she's into scrapbooking, card making, paper crafts in general. She'd probably give you a resounding "bahumbug!" . Not me, no way. Yuk. In fact, last year my Bible study group was making some gift bags and tags for a community service project. Kimberly barely agreed to participate. Crafting is just not her "thing". Can you believe I'm still her friend? Anyway, come to find out she likes coloring the little stamped images in. Who settles into the community service project looking like she could do it all day? Yup. Kimberly. But still she shows no sign of "addiction". Fast forward to this November. "I need some Christmas cards", she says to me. Well that's right up my alley, so I hook her up. Fun way to spend an afternoon, I think. It was fun. What's more... Kimberly thought it was fun. I saw a little glint of something in her eyes. Hmmm... what's that? Nah, can't be.

A few weeks ago, I get a stampin' windfall. Big time. Lots of fun stuff. Begging to be shared. So I do what any bonafide crack dealer, er, I mean stamper would do. I pass some to Kimberly. Basics. Stamps that beg to be colored (not my thing at all, I have the patience of a gnat when it comes to coloring in images). A paper cutter, a black ink pad. Stuff I'm ashamed to say that I have waaaay too much of. There it is! That spark! A stamper is born!!!!

So her husband calls me. "You're like a crack dealer. You give enough stuff for free to get my wife hooked. Now, what can I buy her? She was up late last night cutting out those stamps. I already had to clean and adjust the scissors." A grin spreads across my face. This is not the first time I've heard this one. Alas, I'm not a very good dealer though because I give him some suggestions, none of which requires money in my hands.

The funniest part? Not much later Kimberly calls me. "You know what? You're kind of like a crack dealer...." I bite my tongue trying not to laugh out loud! Yeah, I've heard that before I say...

Making Stuff...

I've been busy this Christmas. You should see my scrappin' place. Actually, I'm glad you can't. It looked better last year when the hurricane hit it! I've made glass ribbon ornaments, Making Memories frame ornaments, name frames, and cards. Still need to get the mess cleaned up! Here are some pictures of the frames and my Christmas card for the year.

Girl Time

What a treat. Me, my mom and my sister all got to go out last Saturday. It was so much fun! First we got manicures and pedicures. Do I need to say more? Scrumptious! Then we went out to lunch. The kind of place you wouldn't want to take the kids. Again... wonderful!

Here we are with our beautiful hands and happy at the restaurant.

It was a great Christmas treat. Thanks Mom!

Exercise

Let me start this by saying I detest exercise. Any and all forms. Always have. Even when I was young... er younger than I am now. But now I've settled in to middle age and all that accompanies it. I am learning to not take my reasonably good health for granted. So as a family we have all joined the local YMCA.

They have a super facility. A pool, the latest greatest equipment, all computerized and personalized. Tons of cool, fun activities for the kiddos. BUT, did I mention that I hate exercise? Oh yea, I thought I did.

I got myself all set up with the personal trainer who told me what to do to start out. The goal is to not kick my own butt. Slowly build up to the grown-up machines with time. So I had a little test run on Tuesday while they were showing me the ropes. Since for now 3 times a week is sufficient, I went back today. The thought of going loomed over my head all day and taunted me. I was filled with dread. But I have kids who were chomping at the bit to get back to the Y. It's new and all exciting to them. Not so much for me. But, I suck it up and go. Filled to the top with dread. But I got there, got the kids settled and started in. You know what? I kind of liked it. I doubled my time on the stationary bike. Actually did 2 miles. Not so impressive, but you gotta consider where I started! I'm feeling just a little tight this evening. My muscles are protesting just a little. They've become very used to the easy life.

Here's the question. Will I still dread heading off to the Y 3 days a week? I'm guessing so. Maybe just for a few weeks or so. The best part? Katelyn is working out with me. That pushes me in a good way. I'm really proud of her. She's doing great!

So if you see me or talk to me or email me.... ask me if I've been to the Y lately!!

Christmas in Florida

This is the palm tree in our front yard. It looks festive with the lights on it. I look forward to that lighted palm every year. That and the swag on my door. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas at our house.

The annual Christmas store at CCC was a whopping success. A great time was had by all. It is amazing to see how things come together just right every year.

It was a productive weekend for us. Pete and I had a nice dinner together Friday night. Then we hit the shops and actually finnished our Christmas shopping. I could tell you all about it, but certain almost teens in this family happen to read my blog. This is the first year that we've been done this early. Saturday we worked at the Christmas store and then Pete helped GG pick out a new tv. Today there was church and Pete has attacked the lights with gusto. Can't have Michael across the street make him look bad!

It's a new week and time to hit the ground running once again. Here's to a great one.