Ready or not..here we go...

Can't help it...love me some cute happy chocolate bunnies....it just makes me want to gnaw away at one of their cute little ears...yum...

ATC Swap sign up is officially closed...if you missed it...don't worry I'm sure I'll have another one....There are 16 people signed up total so that means you make 15 if you want to exclude yourself, or make one for you too and make 16...make sense? Deadline is April 30th that is the date you need to have them to me, with a self addressed stamped envelope, just buy a stamp that is the same amount of postage as what it took to get them to me. I will be sending you all an email later tonight or tomorrow (I have mom stuff to get done tonight) with my address and any other info I come up with...I am so glad you all are joining and I can't wait to see what everyone does with these cards!!

Here is the final list of participants...

ME

Cassii

Robin

Deanna

Judy

Lisa

Kathryn

Christi

Kylie

Lesli

Pat

Carolyn

Dianna

Kelly

Rita

Bea

Rita and Bea, I don't have blog addresses for you if you have one...

Again ladies, Thank you so so much for participating!

I got a bunch more tags done today for the swap being hosted by a fellow Fiskateer

I'm having a really good time with these..it took me a little while to get them to flow...but they are a lot of fun!

That's it for tonight...I have a lot of blog reading to do, but I promised Landon I'd watch a movie with him...so I'll be back later...

Thanks for stopping by!

just look at those dimples....

This is what happens when they conspire to lie to me about something and get caught...

Last night I rented a movie "Things we lost in the Fire" with Halle Berry ..I didn't end up watching it because Rob came home not feeling well, took a 3hour nap and woke up ready to light up the town at 10pm..I however wasn't ready for anything but sleep...so tonight Landon went to a birthday party and while we were having dinner I say "hey, let's watch that movie tonight since we didn't get to last night..." Britain and Rob exchange a look and then kind of together say" uh..yeah...we watched it already, don't worry, you wouldn't like it..." and right away I see dimples and my spidey senses are tingling..."how do you know I wouldn't like it?" I ask....Britain " ok well this is what it's about..." and proceeds to give a general synopsis of the plot....and then Rob adds in " yeah , it was really depressing and the ending really sucked" Britain "yeah.. "...I'm looking at them and I know..."You didn't watch it..." I say..." I can't believe you're sitting here lying to me..." Rob turns to Britain and goes "Man! we almost had her!" and they both start cracking up....then I get the whole story.... these two little crapheads went to Family Video while I was innocently sleeping not to get a movie, or a game... but to READ THE BOX of the movie I rented to see if they wanted to watch it or not...(Family Video is like a block away) and because we're there so much we're on a first name basis with all the staff and the whole time those two were there laughing and making fun of yours truly the manager, apparently on to them let them know how "wrong" they were....but I hear she got a pretty big kick out of it too....

We also have been hula hooping at WalMart....

I had my minibook class today...and I only had 2 students, but I had a really great time and I think they did to. I have my first offical day at work tomorrow at The Scrapbook Factory...I'm so excited....

I've got to get to bed so will have to catch up on everyone's lives tomorrow....

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Gratitude:

1. hula hooping at WM

2. starting work at SBF tomorrow...:-)

3. Meeting some interesting women today at my class...thanks ladies!

4. my crazy family

5.Britain got 2nd place at the Science Fair today...(this was the one for the city and surrounding areas...such a proud mama :-) )

We are the champions....

I am such a proud mama...He won Best in 6th Grade...now he's off to the big leagues to compete with all the other schools in the area...

That's all I have tonight...Ricetta and hopefully some new layouts tomorrow...

Gratitude:

1. Britain's face when he saw that trophy...priceless

2. That we all went to the Science Fair and got to see it

3. Got my project done for the mini album class I'm teaching at Scrapbook Factory

4. nice day at work

5. Landon wanting to snuggle

MWAH!

Fuzzy Logic?

Britain and I returned around lunch time today from our trip...(I'll expand on that below)...I know I said we hardly ever go out to dinner, but ok I was being lazy, and there's no food in the house...and well ok I don't have any excuse for myself...so I thought it would be fun to pick Landon up after school and take them both to Applebee's... a sort of welcome back/let's do something fun since we missed each other thing...

First off, let me say please do not be offended by the following story...this is just our life....

Lately, Britain has made it a personal crusade to make sure we all hold hands and say Grace before every meal. This is a good thing...If anyone takes a bite before this happens he asks God to forgive the person who took a bite before they were supposed to. This is kind of in a joking way, but not in a disrespectful way... We're not really regular churchgo-ers. We have been in the past, but have had trouble finding a church we all feel comfortable with, with the difference in our backgrounds. Mine being Roman Catholic, Rob's being more Protestant. So we educate the boys when they have questions, sometimes they'll attend church with a friend and occasionally we go to different services. So anyway, back to the program...Landon being the little instigator that he is, will purposely eat a bite when Britain is trying to start saying Grace...so this afternoon at Applebee's, our food arrived to the table, Britain expectantly put his hands out, and Landon stuffed his mouth with about 10 french fries...understand that Landon does this in no disrespect to God, but to drive his brother crazy...this is just a typical day in Life with Landon...so Britain being the mature kid he is -ignores Landon and proceeds with Grace, a slightly mischievious gleam to his eye

"Dear God, Thank you for blessing us with this food. Please bless all of those less fortunate than us...A-..oh and please don't send Landon to Hell for eating his french fries before he thanked you for them...Amen.."

me: "Amen"

Landon: "Amen (but his mouth is still full), swallows "That is SOOO messed up Britain! THAT is why I hit you sometimes for no reason, because I know later you're going to say something I want to hit you for but I can't reach you!"

How can you not love that logic?

This is Leslie...Fiskateer #2184 and Demonstrator Trainer Extraordinaire...

It was worth every minute of the 3 hour drive up there...I learned so much about Fiskars tools I already have, Fiskars tools I've never seen, and Lots of Fiskars tools I need to have...It was a lot of fun, and Leslie did an awesome job! You can tell she really enjoys it, and she was so helpful with ideas for the demo I have coming up at The Scrapbook Factory...

It was a really nice bonding time for Britain and I to have some together time, and Rob and Landon also had a really great time together.

Here is Britain and I as the training was winding down...he sat and read Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkabahn during the training...what a trooper!

Gratitude:

1. wonderful night away with Britain

2. safe drive there and back

3. meeting Leslie

4. her really awesome training

5. Landonisms

Thanks for stopping by!

MWAH!!

T.G.I.W.!!!Ricetta #3

You'll have to bear with me, I had to take a picture of the Ricetta because my computer has decided to stop talking to my printer...I have no idea what they're arguing about, but it's just the way my day has gone...I've been having technical difficulties all over the place...and I'm really not good at drawing...so here's my layout

If you are inspired by this sketch, let me know by posting your work and linking me up in the comment section!

Ricetta #2

Robin

Sooo, at my meeting this morning with Ann from The Scrapbook Factory, we finalized our plans...I'm so excited!!

I'm going to be doing a Fiskars Demo on March 8th from 12-4!!! If you're in the area, please come by we'll be doing a free make and take and you'll get to play with some Fiskars tools!!!

Also on March 15th, I'll be teaching a Mini Album class by Bo Bunny titled "He Is"...this would be a great jump on your Father's Day , Graduation or Birthday gift!!! I hope you'll drop by, I'd love to see you there!

and we are finally putting the finishing touches on the Science Project...which is why this is going to be short, I've, err, I mean we've...LOL..got to finish it before tomorrow...because I have to work...

Got the first email from my MT (Medical Transcription) trainer today, but that's as far as I got, because my email and internet have been screwy all day...grrrr...but I'm looking forward to getting started!

I had to take Cocoa the terrorist to the vet today to get her shots...she hates the car...I learned how much she hates the car today when she both pooped and threw up on the less than 10 minute ride to the vets office...and she's a really small dog...and I hadn't fed her for like 4 hours before her vet apt...so how she managed to make a mess more than twice the size of her is beyond me...but of course now she's all cute and perfect and cuddled up on my lap...

and here is Landon, who specifically asked that I take this picture of him and his drawing of me on his dollar bill (how cute is that?) (his homework was to design a dollar bill) he wanted to make sure that I did not tell a funny story with this picture...it's just a picture of Landon...and his homework ...the dollar bill picture...

Thanks for stopping by!

Sending out an S.O.S. **EDITED

I am having email technical difficulties...I can recieve email but not send so if your commenting, I usually try to answer, so please bear with me and thanks in advance...:-(

I am trying very hard, but I fear my patience is begginning to wear thin...does this make me a bad mom?
This is what we have been doing since 3pm








This doesn't count of course our trip to Office Depot, WalMart and Dollar Tree for last minute supplies....H.E.L.P.
Britain would be in more of these pictures but I had him pounding away at the computer while I was putting his science project together....I will be so happy when we get through this week....I didn't end up going to work today, I have a nasty stomach bug that has been making me miserable all day(hopefully they don't fire me)

so I don't have any news yet from my LSS (which is The Scrapbook Factory), as she had an apt today anyway, so I'll be meeting with her tomorrow...

I did get very happy mail today from my bestest friend Stephanie in Japan...the kids were so excited to get candy from Japan and I am wearing my very comfy new jammies right now...see above pictures...Steph and I have a tradition of giving each other matching jammies for Christmas...Steph I soooo miss you!! Thanks so much!



I did it...I took the plunge...I signed up today for the medical transcription course/to eventually become a job ...it takes 24 hours for them to process your application and set up your website/trainer so I will let you know more about how it's going when I know more.

I have to go get back to work now...tomorrow I will have a new Ricetta up...oh and today at Christi's I saw her coolest project in the world, at which time I immediately went to Heart in Hand Scraps and purchased the online class for $3 so cheap...and wow this is the first time I've done this and I can tell already that I am going to totally be hooked...

Gratitude:
1. My happy mail from Japan
2. what I did get done today (which wasn't much)
3. signing up for the MT course...
4. the super cool site Heart in Hands
5. getting almost done with this science project fiasco

100 Posts?!?!

Have I really stuck with something long enough to make it to 100...? wow it's really kind of motivating and inspiring...and I have been so fortunate to "meet" so many really cool and wonderful people in this bloglandia...Thanks so much for always stopping by and for your wonderful comments!

Well, first off I am coming to you live from the lovely Rend Lake Resort...

we won a free night here back in November when Rob was awarded by the USO and we were itchy for a night away so here we are...it has been incredibly relaxing...First we stopped by the Southern Illinois Artisans Museum...a Museum that exibits art from artists all over Illinois. I so enjoyed walking around looking at everything from blown glass to quilts, handmade cards to pottery. It's so inspiring here are some pictures of my favorites from the gift shop...

The weather is well, pretty crappy...cold, wet, grey and windy and I think we might be the only people staying here this weekend...here is the view from our room...we are making plans to come back in the summer and rent a boat

We stopped at Genkota Winery in Mt Vernon and got a couple bottles of vino, and the kids got sparkling grape juice

What's nice about a night away...well there's plenty of relaxing time for this...
and this...
and this...

Tomorrow morning we'll get up, have a big breakfast and head back to the Real World, back home, where laundry, dirty dishes, homework and real life awaits us...but for now, we're enjoying a night in a hotel...

To celebrate my 100th post I will be sending out some blog candy to the first 2 people to post comments...you will know who you are so please go ahead and also email me your address.

I also was trying to think of some other way to commemorate with 100 of something...so here is a random stream of conciousness in 100 words :

1. blessed 2. spirit 3. love 4. coffee 5. Britain 6. chocolate 7. hope 8. laugh 9. linger 10. stay 11. rest 12. relax 13. wine 14. Landon 15. Mom 16. Rob 17. sister 18. friend 19. sassy 20. be 21. see 22. look 23. tree 24. water 25. truth 26. art 27. photograph 28. happy 29. sing 30. journey 31. drive 32. music 33. blue 34. vanilla 35. play 36. beautiful 37. heart 38. generosity 39. live 40. breathe 41. calm 42. delight 43. full 44. believe 45. know 46. hug 47. enjoy 48. nurture 49. learn 50. read 51. books 52. ride 53. blue 54. mountain 55. bloom 56. grow 57. flow 58. nature 59. laptop 60. blog 61. widget 62. cocoa 63. light 64. wings 65. fly 66. pray 67. library 68. scrapbook 69. paper 70. clouds 71. rain 72. sunshine 73. comfort 74. pillow 75. fun 76. time 77. sunrise 78. promise 79. faith 80. memories 81. family 82.children 83. splash 84. snuggle 84. puppies 85. boys 86. wild 87. dream 88. inspire 89. words 90. taste 91. ice cream 92. snow 93. swing 94. earth 95. create 96. design 97.sketch 98.cookies 99. brown 100. story

and that's it...thanks for stopping by and good luck!

A thank you note...

It might be a little hard to read but this is what I found waiting for me when I got home from work today...I leave in the morning before the kids get up so I left their Valentine's presents hanging on their doors, in the altered Crystal Light containers, (Countdown to Vday Project #3)

I stuffed them with their favorite candy and gift cards for Family Video...It was a resounding success!! Britain actually went to the trouble to type up a thank you note...LOL...

In honor of Valentine's Day, I found this "Couple's Quiz" so here we go...

1. What is his name? Robert Lee

2. How long have you been together? Married 13 years-together 14 years

3.Who eats more? This is a toss up...we both like food...

4. Who said I love you first? he did

5. Who is taller? he is, but how hard is that I'm 5' tall...lol

6. Who sings better? definitely me...and I can't sing

7. Who is smarter? He is...about most things...I am about some things

8. Who does the laundry? Me. but he usually puts it away...I hate folding...so I can't complain when my clothes end up in my 12 year olds room

9. Who does the dishes? me.

10. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do.

11. Who pays the bills? he does

12. Who mows the lawn? neither one of us...Britain does

13. Who cooks dinner? Me, but Rob is King of the Grill

14. Who drives when you are together? Always Rob

15. Who is more stubborn? we are both very bull headed

16. Who is the first to admit when they're wrong? Me.

17. Whose parents do you see the most? Mine, but neither set lives near us

18. Who kissed whom first? He kissed me, but I asked him to

19. Who proposed? there wasn't really a proposal...LOL..it was sort of a mutual agreement when we found out I was pregnant...

20. Who is more sensitive? Me.

22. Who has more siblings? Rob is the oldest of 3 brothers and I am the youngest of 3 sisters...

23. Who wears the pants in the family? We fight over the pants...LOL

24. Who is older? he is by 10 years....

Who else wants to play?

oh and for the first time since we've been married, I got exactly what I wanted for Vdaywithout having to go buy it myself....!!!...I haven't had time to play with it yet...but I can't wait!!!

Friday fun project up tomorrow...that's all I have tonight! Thanks so much for stopping by!

hope everyone has a wonderful night!

It's Ricetta Wednesday!!!

Ricetta #2

and here is my layout based on this Ricetta

I hope this inspired you in some way and if it does, please leave me a comment with a link and I'll post it here next Wednesday with the new Ricetta.

Ricetta #1:

Robin

Thanks for playing Robin could you email me your address again for a little scrappy love....

I also wanted to make a Thank you gift for my friend at work who sold me the new table/chair/hutch set because she gave me such an amazing deal, plus she even delivered it to my house while I was working....so I made her this...

She just moved so I thought it would be a nice housewarming gift plus it matches the table she got from another one of our co-workers...I have no idea why the photo looks kind of fuzzy but it was this or a glare from the glass...I had been wanting to try framed art like this and I'm really happy with how it turned out..you might be too if the photo wasn't fuzzy...

I also have a couple photos for Dianna...

This would be a 14 year old me...braces, bad perm and all...and holy caterpillars on your forehead...look at those eyebrows

and these

So...I pick up Landon from school today and on the way to get Britain (some of our most interesting conversations happen between the elementary and middle school...it's only about 2 minutes but you'd be surprised the amount of information that can be shared in such a small amount of time)

Landon: "Mom, today in class we were learning about animals, you know mammals and invertabraes and stuff"

Me: "mmm-hmmm"

Landon: "Well this girl raised her hand and asked how the mammal moms got milk for the babies"

Me:wondering where in the world this is going "yeah..."

Landon: "and Mrs H. said that the mom's bodies make the milk...and the girl said that when she was a baby her mom made the milk and she got it off her moms boobs" looking horrified

Right about now I'm picturing poor Mrs H and her class of 23 3rd graders...

Me: trying very hard to suppress a laugh "yes, that's right some babies get the milk from a store and some moms feed their babies with their breasts just like you see animal moms do"

Landon: "MOM Please tell me you DID NOT MILK ME with YOUR BOOBS!"

Me: Laughing out Loud now..."It's a perfectly natural thing to do, but no I didn't nurse you, that's what it's called "nursing"...probably a lot of your friends moms nursed them, Aunt Susie nursed your cousins it's just what some moms choose to do...neither way is right or wrong...understand....?"

Landon: looking very relieved but very confused "ok I guess, but when you "nurse" at work are you milking people? and did you milk, I mean nurse Britain?"

Me: getting out the shovel..." No, I, um...ok what I do at work is a completely different kind of nursing...like taking care of people who are sick, giving them medicine and stuff..."

Landon: "yeah, yeah I thought so ok so what about Britain?"

Me: "Well, I did start out nursing Britain but only for about a week, then I bought the milk from the store"

By this time we're pulling up to the Middle School and Britain is coming up to the car and getting in...

Landon: looking very happy with himself and very mischevious..."Brit, Hey Brit guess what?? you aren't going to believe this.." shaking his head

Britain: clueless as to all that has previously transpired kind of looks around .."huh?"

Landon:" When you were a baby..."starts laughing hysterically "when you were a baby...oh my gosh I can't believe I'm saying this....Mom used to feed you with her...her ...BOOBS!!!!" hunches over laughing...

Britain: obviously matured in his 12 years is not phased at all..."So, um, Mom ...what are we having for dinner?"

Gratititude:

1. crockpot dinner

2. day off work to create

3. talked to my nephew today

4. got the boys homework done early

5. I rented "No Reservations" and look forward to an early night with family movie

Thanks for stopping by!

Let's talk about glue...

Anyone who comes by knows about my obsession with adhesive...well let me say that I am in L.O.V.E. with this stuff

Beacon's 3 in 1 craft glue...it dries clear, it dries very fast and it will stick anything to anything else...except felt...for felt you need felt glue...but anything else this is your ticket...I 'm going to need a bucket of it, I use it on almost everything I do, the applicator is so precise for small things like buttons and googly eyes....and Mr. Beacon wherever you are, if you want to send me some free glue, I'd love some!!

speaking of googly eyes I completed my card for the Deck of Me for week #6...prompt for this week was what do you need to get rid of in your life...mine is guilt...here is my card

oh and we had to use junk mail on the card....and how did I get heart shape cards you ask??...well I got super happy mail today from Dianna, and I'm really surprised because she keeps threatening to kick my ass, but THANK YOU so much Dianna it was so nice to get a fun little surprise in the mail!! and Robin sent me a handmade thank you for her goodies she recieved for participating in one of the VDay countdown projects...so I got good mail today!! that almost never happens...so thanks again!!

I love my coffee themed magnetic pad it went right on the fridge...

you've probably noticed that my template has changed...I like it better but somehow in the process I lost my link list, so sometime this week I hope to get it back up along with our walking list and whatever else disappeared over there and ok I know I was going to start walking today but we're having an ice storm, really, so I'm really sucking at this whole motivate everyone else to walk thing...but I promise as soon as it gets better I will go walk please don't judge me..I would feel guilty about it but refer to the card above...it seems like I lost a whole bunch of stuff over there on the right so I've got to figure out what all of it was...and while you're reading this I hope your enjoying my new playlist...

I caught up on Christi's Creative Prompts today

#26

I used Worldwinn Cardstock, Pattern Paper by Scrapworks, letter stickers by Creative Imaginations

#27

Bazzill cardstock, Pattern Paper by Bo Bunny and My Mind's Eye, Buttons by Daisy D's, letter stickers by SEI

#28

Bazzill, Pattern Paper Memory Makers, tags stampin' up, and found items

Does anyone else's kid do this? I go to pick the boys up from school today in the "Ice Storm of 2008" and Britain informs me he needs dry ice for his science fair project...right now...oh and by the way mom, I also need magnets, a diorama board, push pins, safety pins and cardstock...do you know how hard it is to find dry ice? it's not easy...and when I did find a place they were closed so we got all the other stuff, Rob is going to pick up the dry ice tomorrow, we were able to do his project with everything but the dry ice and we'll finish when we get it...and then I caught him telling Landon, "mom's pretty cranky"... ya think...???

did you know that the colder a magnet gets the more safety pins it picks up? just a fun fact for you...

and before anyone asks me I did get a cinnamon crackalatte today...and I don't care how many points are in it.

Gratitiude:

1. getting caught up on my creating 2. I made the best banana bread ever today because I had bananas about to go bad, but I don't want someone to tell me how many points are in it or how much bigger my butt is going to be due to my short stature and "cylindricalness"

3. getting the house stuff done 4. getting most of Britain's science project done 5.my friend Tonia is going to watch the dogs Sunday/Monday so we can go spend the night at Rend Lake..( we have a free night there so we're so excited for a night out)