Preschool

My oldest started Preschool yesterday and it was wonderful and awful all at the same time. He ran up to the building saying goodbye to me before we even got to the door and sounded a little miffed when I told him I had to go inside with him everyday. Once inside he waved at me and screamed goodbye as he ran to play with the other kids. Didn't even take off his backpack -- had to call him back for that too. His teacher told me that it was good that he was like that and that I did a good job with him and gave me a hug but that didn't stop the tears. I can't believe me little man is growing up and ready to be without me. :(

Will post pictures soon.

Challenge = Paint

I have tons of little bottles of paint, they are like candy to me. I love to buy all the pretty little colors and I love seeing them all lined up like little colorful soldiers on my shelf but....

... I never use them. Ok maybe not NEVER but I rarely use them. The clean-up is so time consuming and it is like calling wild dogs to dinner with my kids when I pull them out. They KNOW it is messy and won't leave me alone.

So I did a layout with paint, not just brushing it on a foam stamp but getting down and dirty and just slopping it on my cardstock. I chose gold cause the cardstock I chose had this cool silvery kind of fleck in it. Don't ask me the brand or when I got it, I think it just arrived or maybe the blacks and grey are multiplying now in the cubby.



I also used my paint pens too, I bought these cool Zig Opaque pens a long time ago cause I thought I would love the white one but it was too thick but it really did a good job at outlining my little boxes.

Another thing I did here was I used double sided paper without abandon. I have a hard time with it, I was telling my friend this the other day and she so laughed at me but really there are 2 beautiful pieces of paper all in one and I really have a hard time figuring out which one to use. On the other side of the graph paper (by Scenic Route) is this awesome flowery print with like textbook paper as the petals.

So what do you think, are the colors too much to be put together? Too much distressing on the photos? Not my normal style but I think you can see me in there! :)

Not exactly what you want to do at 10PM.

Last night my oldest just couldn't get to sleep. He has a little summer cold and the stuff running down the back of this throat is making him cough. So last night he was sitting on the couch between us coughing and all of a sudden he gets up and says "my tummy is sick". So I told him if he was going to be sick to go to the bathroom, well he tried -- that's all I can say. He turned around and BLECH!!

So at 10PM last night hubby and I were shampooing the carpet upstairs in the toy room.

How did you spend your evening?

Funny Scrapbooking Poem

My LSS sends out an email newsletter once a week and normally they they titles and quotes at the end of it but this week they had this poem.

Ode to My Wife, the Scrapbook Cropper
by Valerie Consolo
She learned to crop on Monday,
Her shapes were going fine.
She forgot to thaw our dinner,
So we went out to dine...

She added die-cuts on Tuesday,
She says they really are a must.
They actually were quite lovely,
But she forgot to dust...

On Wednesday it was stickers,
She says the designs are fun.
What highlights, what shadows!!
But the laundry wasn't done...

Her journaling was on Thursday,
With Pigma pens, including red.
I quess she really was engrossed,
She never made the bed...

It was more acid-free paper on Friday,
In colors that she adores.
It never bothered her at all,
The crumbs on the floor...

I found a maid on Saturday,
My week is now complete.
My wife can crop the hours away,
The house will still be neat...

Well, it's already Sunday,
But don't call me a great Pop.
I cursed!@#$, I raved*#@, I ranted!!!
The maid has learned to CROP!!!!!!

Hot Mama

Another video cause I know some people who have never heard this song and I wanted to share it with them. :)



I used the lyrics to this song for another All About Me challenge that I posted at Have Your Way With Paper. The challenge was to use song lyrics to describe yourself.

Here is my layout. (everything is Shabby Princess)

What an AWESOME little pick me up!!

I was reading the comments on my last blog and Erin said that it was too cool that I was on the ME blog. I was like "what?" so I went to check it out and SURE ENOUGH -- there I was!!! How totally cool is that, they picked my layout to post on their blog for the challenge!!

Thank you ME blog writers!!

the ME blog challenge

I know I have been going out on a lot of new limbs this month and here I am doing it again. Hopefully the drop won't be too far.

This is for challenge #8 - Scrap a confession at the ME blog.



The journaling says....

OK maybe I should say REFORMING... three and a half years ago this would have given me a heart attack. But I am working on letting go. I still love my kitchen clean & I try to keep the living room picked up just in case someone would "drop by". But looking at all this STUFF in the toy room makes me smile cause I know my boys ar happy and healthy and loved. AND I just keep telling myself in a couple of years...

... I can teach them to clean up after themselves! Right?

Trying something new!! Hopefully it won't blow up on me.

I absolutely love this video by OK GO called Here it Goes Again. I just think about how much time went into chrorographing (sp? blogger doesn't know either) it. I just love it and well heck the song is pretty good too.



Thank you to Lacey for showing me where to find this and thank you to YouTube.com for having such great stuff to look at. Now I have another place to hang out online. ;)

Just another layout.

To post. These are the first pictures of DHubby meeting little man after flying for like 48 hours straight to get home to see us.



Aren't those little cut outs on the layout to DIE for!! I made them on my wishblade. The circle one is from the free fonts that you get from the Elsie's 52 challenges book and I love how it turned out -- my wishblade it SWEET and I have been using it a lot lately!!

That last post was...

MY 200th POST!!

So I didn't make it to Round 3...

of the Effer Dare's challenge. Not that I thought I would be it would have been cool. My heart did drop a little when I didn't see my name today.

Well here is my layout for Round 2. The challenge was to use 13 photos. It was tough!!


Close up of the left side and right side.

I have been a bad blogger.

Just been so busy with stuff lately. Head is swimming with all the things that I have committed to this month. I should be committed is what should happen. I just need to learn to say NO!

Created a couple of ATCs with my scraps and extras.

By popular demand..

Here is my layout from the Last Scrapper Standing by the Effer Dares for the first challenge.



Here is a close up so you may actually be able to read the writing.


Still can't believe I made it to the next round -- I got some great pictures this week while visiting the actual Bridges of Madison County and I am thinking about using them for the next challenge.

I made it to round 2!!

I made it through the first round of cuts on the Effer Dares Last Scrapper Standing contest!! I am so excited!!

Real Live Crop & a Cyber Crop

at the ScrapSpotOnline.com.

Friday night I was invited to join the Ames Area Croppers. They meet up the first friday of every month. I got 3 layouts done there.






And then the rest of these I finished over the weekend.














Even made 3 cards.

Things to do -- what a busy month this is turning out to be!!

I feel like I am at a buffet and I put too much on my plate but I can't put it back and I don't want to waste it.

My friend from NC flies in tomorrow and we are picking her up in MN. And then staying up there overnight so we can take her to the Mall of America. E. has a recheck of his ears and I. needs his preschool forms filled out (I just got them in the mail yesterday and they are due the 15th). Going to the State Fair on Saturday and lets not even get into all the commitments that I have for scrapbooking. I think I am going to have to make a list, check it twice and figure what can get left behind. There will always be another contest, another DT call but my kids will only be this age once.

Man can you imagine how much scrapping I am going to get done once they are both in school!! :)

A Tisket A Tasket, I Made a Basket

This is what it started out looking like -- it is the peach basket that we got at the orchard to pick peaches.


I just couldn't throw the thing away -- it just screamed to me to be altered so it ended up like this after a whole lot of ModPodge.



Fits all the excess scrapbooking stuff that floats around on my table all the time and my MM garbage can fits in it perfectly!!

Here are some pictures from the orchard too from 2 weeks ago. I think the boys had more fun picking blackberries because they were both covered in blackberry juice when we left. Luckily MIL is in good with the owners cause otherwise next time we go they may want to weigh my kids before they let us in again. :)


Look at the size of those things!!


JUICY!!

Been Meaning to Change Things.

But I just having gotten in the mood to play with all that code stuff lately but I finally did it!! I have added a couple of new friends to my list of daily go sees and I have also added a brand new places I shop online list!! Like I need to have easier access to that, right?

So check them out and let me know what you think!! And yes someday I will figure out how to make a banner but until now you just get to look at my mug on the sidebar. :)

Still Hot and Humid

I know August in Iowa is hot and humid but I hate it when it is so hot and humid outside that your underwear stick to you when you walk outside. You all know what I mean!! You don't have to do anything but walk out the door and you are already sweaty!!

So here is my Top 10 Ways that I would like to keep cool today!

1. Sit at the computer in the air conditioner.
2. Sit in front of the TV in the air conditioner.
3. Lie in bed under the ceiling fan in the air conditioner. (are you noticing the trend?)
4. Lie in a pool while hubby chases the boys around.
5. Shop for ice (aka diamonds) in a nice air conditioned mall. (yeah like that is going to happen)
6. Go to the movie theater. (this is a great idea for when it is hot but A. I have the kids and no sitter and B. I would have to go outside to get there)
7. Eat popsicles. (inside not outside)
8. Take a warm shower -- ever notice that if you take a cold shower then it feels hot when you get out?
9. Read a book in the air conditioner (probably going to do this one while the boys nap)

And the #10 way to stay cool when it is hot and humid and really sticky in Iowa is....

10. Move to Iceland!

:)