Life, Love, and Layouts

Blogger give away...hurry ends tomorrow

2012-02-01T21:41:00.001-08:00

http://pinterest.com/pin/227431849901989284/

Awesome project from CHA

Christmas

2011-12-24T05:10:00.000-08:00

Growing up not celebrating the holidays I tend to see things differently. People see, Love, time with family, sharing. I see, Stress, arguing, spending money on things just because of the day.

Time with Family. Yes it is nice that people spend time with family but why put so much emphasis on one day. There is 365 days in the year. What is so special about December. Don't say it is the birth of Jesus. It isn't. If Jesus wanted us to celebrate his birth then it would be in the bible when he exactly was born. There is only 1 date in the bible (well not an exact number but a way to find out the exact date) and that is the day of his final supper. (This is my blood, this is my body, keep doing this in rememberance of me) Did you know that the wise men didn't show up to see Jesus until he was a toddler. So if you want to be true to the Nativity, Remove the wise men and put them on the other side of the house, cuz at the time they were still traveling. Also they were sent to kill Jesus.

The whole saying of Jesus is the Reason for the Season. it gets me every time. I hear news reports every year telling people the reason is cuz the Christians wanted to take emphasis off of the pagans and their worshipping of the false god Saturnella (sp) So the Christians chose December 25 (the day of the other god's birth) to make it Jesus' birthdate to take all the steam from the pagans. Did you also know that the holiday is now a mixture of Christian and Pagan religion. So in essence you are still celebrating that False god's birthday and in essence going against the bible in idol worship.

People rushing to spend money on people they normally wouldn't. Why? Tis the season of giving. I think i like it when you are out and about and you see something someone likes or been wanting and you buy it. Give it to them just because you thought of them. Seems more meaningful. Spending time with your family becuz it is your family rather than in Dec. because it is expected. My sister's and I get together once a year for scrapbooking. it is our time and it is so meaningful. Rather than, Who's family are we going to see this day and who's that. rushing from one aunts house to a grandparents to another grandparents. The STRESS, fitting in family time in a few days, and if you have kids, dragging them from one house to another, over tired children, stressed out parents. not enuf time with anyone and over indulging in food.

Keeping them out of presents until a specific day. Giving it to them anyway even though they really don't deserve it. Trust me, if i could i would take everyone of my son's presents back cuz he has been a terror.

Some of you may say "bahumbug, where is your christmas spirit" But remember, I am an outsider looking in. Though sometimes i think i would be easier if my kids believed in Santa but they don't. We could never do the Santa things cuz for the first few years of their lives we were never home on Christmas day.

My Cycle

2011-11-27T10:09:00.000-08:00

OK as most of you followers know I have been having issues with my cycle for YEARS. It started with uber heavy bleeding for 3 days. I thought an uterine ablation would be the answer and as far as bleeding went it did improve that but enter cramping. Serious mind blowing cramps that recently even pain killers wouldn't dull. So I made an appointment with my ob (a new one) and she said my options were partial hysterectomy or going on the pill. IUD option is out due to the scaring created by the ablation. So I decided to try the pill for a few months. WOW. My first cycle started with thick brown old blood for one day then my real period was about 3 days, mild cramps, the flow was so light also. I am not on cycle 2 on the pill. the cramping is a little more this time but still very very bearable. the flow is a little heavier but not bad.

Now on to the reason for my post. I was wondering if I should starting all the following cycles do continuous pills. meaning when my actual hormone pills end instead of continuing on with the placebo sugar pills. or should i just continue on with the next set of hormone pills in turn stopping my periods all together. or should i just let my periods come every month. the down side to the stopping period i heard is occasional spotting. If this was an option for you what would you do. You can respond to facebook comments or pm me on facebook. the reason for me posting on blogger is so that those interested in reading can and say the men on my blog can just not read.

thanks so much for your input

How do you decide your career path?

2011-10-22T17:59:00.000-07:00

How do you pick your career path? My husband is pushing me to work. Do I have to work? Not really, he makes 6 figures. But he would like me to work to help out. I know he get stressed a lot when it comes to money and I know others have it worse than us. We got in an argument because he asked me why don't I go back to school. And I asked him "to do what" He asked me "there is nothing you want to go back to school to do" and HONESTLY, No. He thinks that I just have no purpose, no goals.

When growing up, I loved animals. I wanted to be a vet. Yes, most little girls want to be vets. I then wanted to be a vet nurse. But now I think about it. No, I don't think I could do it. I don't think I could handle blood. And strange dogs scare me. I wonder if you could follow one of those around to see if that is something I could do. hmm. In high school I was really good with numbers. Got A's in math. I took accounting. thought i would want to do that. but yeah, now I don't think that would work. I don't think i want to do that with my life.

What am I good at? Crafts, scrapbooking. Where has that gotten me? I applied at Archivers. Yeah that didn't pan through which totally sucks becuz there was a new employee there and she knew squat. I applied at Target. Nope, they turned me down. I applied at Joanns and Big Lots...haven't heard from them either.

I don't know what other things are out there. If I could spend my life teaching people how to scrapbook that would be awesome. I thought about those home buisness like CTMH or Stamping up. but how do you get a client base to make money doing that. I live in a small town with a bunch of small towns surrounding. Really is it something to do.

I thought about teaching also but really, I waited for this year to come when all 3 of my kids were in school. do i really want to be in charge of a bunch of other kids.

So i go back to my original question...How do you choose a career path when there really isn't anything that makes you say "ooh i want to do that for the rest of my life"

My Monthly Cramping

2011-09-27T15:30:00.000-07:00

OK so a few years ago I had a uterine ablation in hopes to help cure me of the Gol Awful heavy Cycles. While some have no return of their periods. Some have lighter periods and some it don't work at all. My cycle when from uber Heavy and clotting to 1 day with no clotting. I was OK with that. As the year went on it went from 1 day to 2 days and again I am OK with that. The cramping though is insane. I have to take pain pills (600-800mg of Advil) and keep on it before it wears off. I am like this for a day - day and a half. It is awful. this last time the Advil only took the edge off. So before our insurance changes (for the worse) I wanted to get a lay off why I am cramping. My bleeding has also gone to one day flow, dry next day, one day flow to dry. Sometime there will be a pop and i know to run to the bathroom as I know a gush will happen. I am incapastitated those days I am broken. I did discuss my cramping with the OB who did my ablation and she told me nothing of the following. I wish I would have known this a year ago, I might have done this sooner and had more time to try other things. As it is now. I have 3 months. before our insurance changes for the worse. So here are my options. Option 1. try the NuvaRing. sometimes it helps with the bleeding and cramping. Sometimes it don't. But to know if it will work I will have to be on it for 3months. but if it don't work I am back to square one with a crappy insurance and I won't be able to do option 2. Option 2- Partial Hysterectomy. They will remove the offending uterus either vaginally, laparoscopicly or through my current c section scar. I am leaning for the first 2 as there is minimal recovery and with the last i will be restricted for 6 weeks. Though all 3 don't scare me as I have had three C sections. So it looks like I will be doing option 2. I am just kinda wishing she would have removed it during my last c/s. If i would have known all this a year ago when i talked to Dr. Ritter I would have tried the nuva ring FIRST and had more time to try things. :(

School and Job

2011-09-23T15:01:00.001-07:00

My husband says to me today 'why don't you go back to school'. I asked "why" He said "don't you have any ambition to do anything." And I think "No" Does that make me weird? There is nothing really I want to do with my life. When I was in school, I never really thought of a career. I use to want to be a Vet, but not now. I don't do well with blood, guts and such. I was really good in accounting but yeah not so much. Those are the only 2 things I can think of that I thought about in High School. Just finding a job I am good at and like and getting paid that is all I care about. I am good at crafts. I would love to take photography classes but other than that, there is really nothing. I am almost 40 years old. I have spent the last 13 years being a mom to 3 kids and I still have 13 more years to go before all my kid are adults. I so far have applied at Target and Archiver's and have only heard back from Target and not for the good. I am going to fill out applications for Big Lots and Joann's but honestly who wants someone who has only worked for a year before getting pregnant and been out of work for 13 years. Also working will totally mess up my fitness regimen

Scrapfest 2011

2011-09-20T04:26:00.001-07:00

This year I decided to attended Scrapfest at the Mall of America. I have lived up here since 2003 and never attended. Didn't know what to expect. It isn't like the expo's I have gone to before where there are make and takes at booths that sell the brand they are making and taking. They just had the make and takes and then if you wished to purchase that you had to go to the Archiver's store. (scrapfest is put on by Archiver's) There is also A LOT of standing while waiting in line. They had workshops but since it was my first year, I didn't attend any. Next year I am definatly going to try and get into Tim Holtz's class. One he is Tim Holtz and two I heard you get a lot of swag. His class was $65. He just has a lot of grand techniques that I just want to learn. The other class I was told was good that you get a lot of stuff was Fiskars.

I went with my 2 sister's and my cousin and it was fun even with all the waiting. Then we had plans to come home and scrapbook that night and the next day but we ended up going back Saturday. We did get a little scrapbooking done on Saturday. Next time we will get there at 8. Also next time i plan on having one of these totes. Bag with attached Chair

There are a couple of tools that I used this weekend worth mentioning. First one is by Prima. it is called the Prima Distressing Tool. It is AWESOME. It has what is like a dry skin remover for your heel on one side, it has razor blades on another, and a metal brush hidden on the end. this tool is the Bomb. it will definately be added to my arsenal

The next is the Cinch by We R Memory Keepers. It is similar to the Bind it all. I have never used the Bind it all so i don't know what the difference is. But basically it allows you to make your own ring binders. So if you wanted to make a calendar for family you can, cookbooks as gifts. it was fun fun fun

Another fun thing we used was ink pads that had a heart shape to them and they had these grips. so if you do a lot of edge inking these are wonderful. I don't remember the name of them though. I will have to get back to you on that one.

Smash Books--now I saw these before and just didn't think it would be for me but after seeing a book in my hand and talking with my sisters, I am thinking I may give it a go. Basically a smash book is how scrapbooking was. it is a book with everything, you go out to eat, put the napkin from the resturant in there, you go to the movies, ticket stubs. one page in the sample had a straw taped in it. the book ends up not laying flat and that is OK. Just things you want to remember but really don't want to scrapbook. it comes with a double pen, with one side pen and one side glue. Here is a video on SMASH BOOKING

OK now on to the make and takes. We didn't do all of them but there were 31 make and takes. well really 29 because 1 person didn't show due to flooding and Smash book really wasn't a make and take. Here are the pictures of what I did...

7 Gypsies - We did Tissue flowers and covered a book board circle with tissue. it has a pink Ribbon to hang, I chose the number 5 for my 5 members in my family.

American Craft - We made a Coupon book using a new paper cutter that has a blade housing where you can choose cut, score and perforated with a flick of the switch. we also used a 12inch stapler (awesome)

Authentique - Here we used the new Free Bird line. there is some GORGOUS Paper. and when I say NEW, it is new, the guy said the paper just came in that Wednesday.

Basic Grey- We used some of their paper and I learned how to stamp and image and you add water to give it the water color effect though i think i need more water for it. i wish the instructor would have told us that is the reason for the spritzing. i thought we were just re moistening the stamp. Also used this awesome silver leaf type stuff. I have to find that.

Bazzill - We used their new embossed paper with the white core, took some sandpaper and sanded it off. Nice 12x12 layout

BoBunny - We went to this one cuz we wanted the flower they were giving away with the layout. I guess it is the trend to get a flower every year as we saw some with quite of few different ones. if we had time i would have gone back to do another page to get a double layout. Next year

Graphic 45- this is my cousins favorite line. I am so so on it. The paper is Wizard of Oz. I am not sure what I am going to do with this tag.

Prima - this is my all time favorite. It is Gorgous. I am thinking of putting in a glassless 8x8 frame (the page is 6x6) and putting it on my daughter's wall. or it might be a gift for someone.

We R Memory Keepers- This is the project we used the Cinche on. made a cute little book. It was suppose to be Halloween but we don't celebrate that so I made a generic type book. I am not to keen on the bottom folded paper. I may replace that with some ribbon.

Smash Book - this is the mini smash book we got at the Smash book booth.

Well that is it. Scrapfest 2011 is a wrap. Next year we know what we should and shouldn't do. Even if my sister's can't make it. I will definatly be going back while the kids are in school. Gotta get another BoBunny flower for my bag. The price wasn't too bad for what we got ($22) Would have been nice to get more make and takes done but I feel we did the best of them. There was one that has a 2 HOUR wait. That is Crazy. I also wish we would have done Reminisce the first day. We planned to go back and do it Saturday but they changed the make and take and it went from a Fall layout to a Christmas one :( Some of the booths do that, BoBunny did but we never got time to do that one.

I hope this was helpful to you if you are on the fence on going to Scrapfest by Archivers.

Dancer

2011-09-04T07:46:00.001-07:00

Ah my girl. She is 12.5 years old. I notice she is slowing down some. Sure she has bouts of energy where she seems like a young dog but then there are times where she just don't want to move. She also isn't eating a lot. She eats it but it seems like such a chore for her. Yesterday my husband had to coax her up the stairs. She didn't follow me up when I went up for bed like she usually does. I am back to giving her pain meds for her aches. Part of me is gearing up for the worse. I just have a feeling that she won't be with us at the end of the year. She is a good dog. The best we had. Australian Shepherds are an awesome breed. And if we ever find ourselves down to one dog again, I think another aussie will be in the cards. But who knows she may prove me wrong and live another year or 2. The oldest Aussie on record lived to 16yrs.

Back to School time

2011-08-11T19:27:00.000-07:00

I love this time of year. It means supply shopping. I love supply shopping. it brings back such fond memories when i was growing up. They put limits on how many notepads and such you could get and i remember going in with my mom and sister and brother and she would hand us each $2-3 and we would each get the max allowed. so that we didnt have to go in and out. The smell of crayons, i love it. the joy of finding everything on the list. the new cloths for the kids. My boys don't care about that stuff. i get for them what i think they will wear and they are ok. i tried to show my oldest his new shirts and he just shrugged me off. he don't care about those things. Camden is a little better at it. But SAMANTHA omg she loves picking out shirts and pants and cloths. This years theme on her wardrobe and supplies is hello kitty. I am ok with that. i love hello kitty. There is 20 days left till the kids go back. i don'tknow what i am going to do with myself. i will have the whole day to ponder. i know tues, wed and thurs is water fitness day. I want to get my scrapbook room in order also. Then i guess i will have to see if i can get a job with mommy hours. Just something part time. but Not right away. i want to enjoy the full day of silence. also i am not sure if dh is going to be switching to days so it may put a damper on what days i could work.

My Mind is always racing

2011-07-10T05:42:00.000-07:00

So why does the man have to have the Attitude. The past few days this has been what i been thinking about

1. rummage sale
2. De toy'ing house
3. Sorting, tossing, donating, selling
4. Kids
5. Ording Medication
6. Cooking
7. Cleaning
8. groceries
9. Why hubby has 'tude
10. Making sure hubby's needs are Satisfied (not sure what is up with 9 as i have completed 10)

I never once get to bed before 11pm. Last night i worked up to practically 12am. But the front room is Spectacular. i just need to carry toys down stairs. (will do that soon before kids get up.

Then on to laundry and working on living room.

Boys room is DeToy'd, Sam's room has her stuff in order.

I don't think i am going to be able to get the garage sale going this week. i didn't realize i had so much stuff in the basement from the last g'sale. those need to be gone through, repriced if needed and stuff put for donation.

I am donating to Courage becuz 1. they help stroke victims (my sister had a stroke so i know how hard it can be) and 2. they pick up at your house.

on my list to do is go to half price books to take in 3 bags of books and some movies i found down stairs

So yeah, why does the man choose to have the attitude when all he thinks about is, work, eat, sleep, game. Sure he also pays the bills too. he also gets what he wants if he wants but I have to worry "if i get this will he complain" Even though he said if i need new cloths get it. in truth it really isn't so simple. Today i have to run to the store. Milk is almost depleted, butter is non exsistant. but it is already 8am and i have made myself breakfest (no one else is up but 2 waffles are waiting for kids) unloaded and loaded the dishwasher, and will go and do some laundry and take those toys down stairs.

I don't know when i am going to think about even remotely scrapbooking in the future. by the time the house is suitible and clean, i will be hopefully having a part time job and there goes any free time i might think about.

Silence isn't always Golden

2011-07-05T15:14:00.000-07:00

I woke up Sunday morning to Jim watching tv. I wasnt' up but for a few minutes when he mumbles under his breathe "i am so sick of this marriage" that is his way of telling me he is upset about something. He has said this a few times so really nothing new. But that is really the last words he pretty as much spoken to me. Day 3 of Silence. I am not sure what is wrong, what happened and how could it have happened over night while i was sleeping. If anyone should be upset it should be me. Since i was trying to sleep and he always watches tv. It can't be becuz of the house cuz I have been keeping it picked up. Laundry washed, dishes done, bathroom cleaned. I even started cleaning out the garage for a garage sale. It could be that I am planning my annual trip to the Jehovah Witness convention (if i can get money) This is my only trip out of town. the only time i get to see my family and my mom can spend the weekend with her grandkids whom she don't see. I was also planning on spending a week after and then attending my class reunion maybe. but i would also like to spend time with my Sister who is still in that Gosh aweful nursing home after suffering a stroke. I just wish he would speak to me. I can't fix anything if i don't know what is wrong. I am finding it hard to go about my day knowing he is upset about something. Today i took the car in for oil change, mowed the lawn, picked up the house. One thing i do know I am not an emotional eater. quite the opposite, when i am upset i have to force myself to eat. I know we will get through this we always do. But seriously, I hate that i have to be a mom to 4 children and one of them is 37 years old. He has got it good. all he does is work, which he would do whether we were married or not. on his off days he watches tv, plays computer games, if he wanted to go golfing he could do that too. He can do what he wants when he wants if he wants. This is my last summer. Next Sept Sam starts full day kindergarten, then i can look into getting a job. it will only be part time. I will apply at Michaels, Joann's and Archivers. those are jobs that i know i can do. after all it is Craft jobs.

The Past -- J I Case High school

2011-06-28T19:35:00.000-07:00

My friend had just mentioned in her blog that she just remembered that it has been 15 years since she graduated. Well i got you beat. This year is our 20 YEAR reunion. Wow has it been that long. We were Case Eagles and We will Soar up where we belong. Our school colors were Green and Gold. I tell everyone i was meant to live in Wisconsin cuz Green Bay packers colors are green and gold also so i was meant to bleed those colors. GREEN AND GOLD GREEN AND GOLD. don't mess with the best cuz the best don't mess, don't fool with the cool cuz the cool don't fool. Yes, my friend was on the cheer squad and I joined her on a few practices. High school is when i started dating. my first boyfriend was a douche. Ok at the time i didn't think he was, he was also my first ah hum. Sadly I will never forget him cuz of that. He was very abusive, a little bit physically and alot emotionally. We broke up and i remember that summer i kicked my ass into gear and came back skinny (in retrospect i was skinny but I looked good that following year. it was my best school picture too. Yes, said boyfriend was kicking himself. What clique was I in. ALL OF THEM. i had friends in every group. But i mostly hung out with the stoners/smokers. Jr. year i fell for a boy. Fred. I fell hard for him. i dated him for quite a long time. Yes this year I dabbled in drugs and drinking. only Pot. still to this day i think nothing wrong with it. I skipped school alot. i was actually a jr. for a year and a half and a senior for only a half a year. i had to bust my butt the first half of my senior year to graduate with my class cuz i skipped half of my jr year away. I was awesome at skipping though. I was also awesome at mixing vodka with squirt and drinking it in school. it is amazing how easy it was. There were a few fights with my "bff" frome elementary. i use that term loosely. I always felt i was fighting in her shadow and now that i think about it. She really wasn't anyone i wanted to be anyway. Still do this day she is pretty much the same. but high school was also when i met my bff. to this day i still call her so, even though we are 6hrs away and see each other maybe once a year. I don't remember how we exactly met. My Bff in this new town reminds me of Mystical in some ways. Things i regret about high school. not going to Prom. Being a follower instead of a leader. being a doormat to some. Things i don't regret, doing pot (still see nothing wrong with it) knowing my friends. Mystical and Joe are my two top and I still talk to though Joe i don't know where he went. i havne't spoke to him in a year and it makes me sad. after i graduated it was about 6-7 months when i met Jim. We ended up dating for a long time then got married and still are married with 3 kids. Jim was/is not they type of guy I am attracted too. i was always into the long hair, leather and jeans guys. and Jim is a computer guy in khaki pants and polo shirts. but it was following a heartbreak of Fred (he cheated on me with my elementary "bff") I miss high school though. i miss learning, taking notes (always loved that) i miss lunch time and gym. I miss it all. it was so easy back then. I am still pondering if i want to go to the reunion. I wish i could talk to Joe and see if he is going. I am thinking I will ask Mystical if she wants to go with me if i do go. even though she graduated 2 years after me. she still was friends with alot of the same people i was.

Some nicknames i have, Shorty, Fritolay, Midget. but mostly it was Shorty.

The Past--Middle school

2011-06-28T18:27:00.001-07:00

I went to Glimore Middle school growing up. It was when the first crushes came, though my bff growing up had hers in elementary school (turns out her crush became my brother in law). Nick Loomis was one crush, Brett Horner another (turns out he was the cousin of my bff in high school ((not same bff)) There was a girl in a couple of my classes named Tamara Palez. for some reason throughout the year people would call me Tamara. not sure why we looked nothing alike. she was a bit asian or philipin (sp) but we both wore glasses and hated it so we only put them on at times we needed them. Yes Middle school is when I got my glasses. YUCK they were the ugliest coke bottle plastic frame things. nothing like todays glasses. well i am sure they had cute ones but we were Po' folk and my mom got the cheapest ones. I also got my period this year and my chest filled out. I was always the largest chest of the class. I had one teacher Mrs Nemith. oh she was tough and mean. One time I did something and she kept me after school as punishment. my mom was pissed. I refused to take the activity bus home so Mrs. Nemith drove me home. I am proud to say, she never kept me after school again. :) Then there was that freaky teacher i can't remember her name but she loved parrots. she had big bug eyes too. There really isn't much to remember about Middle school. it kinda was a blip on my life. i only was there for 3 years and really don't remember much of it. i remember the graduation ceramony at the end of 8th grade. Sneaking to a dance (ooh got in trouble for that as my mom didn't allow after school stuff like that. of course she let the younger sibs go later) I remember trying freeze dried ice cream once. that was good. I remember seeing Never Ending Story at school (that was when we had the ice cream) I remember the school store where you bought supplies if you needed it and I can pretty much picture the office and what i looks like and the lunch room which was also where we had the dances. this was also the year that school gym cloths came into play YUCK. at least they didn't push showers. they were there but i don't think anyone used them. This was also the year when there were more races. in Elementary school there was a 1 probably in each class, it was a small country school. but Gilmore was in the city. Gilmore also was were we went on cool field trips. i learned to cross country ski Fun, We went canoeing, FUN. Museum of science and industry. i remember getting sick on that trip and that dreaded Mrs. Nemith. stayed with me the whole time.

Anyway that is pretty much it with Middle school.

next post High school.

The Past- Caddy Vista Elementary

2011-06-25T14:54:00.000-07:00

This year is our 20 year reunion. It has been 20 years since I graduated high school. This has stirred up alot of all fond memories from the past. I enjoyed school. I may not have got the best grades and i wasn't a popular girl and i was kinda considered the FAT friend. But we had a blast. I also joined a group on Facebook for my elementary school. Oh the times we had back then. Field Day on the last day of school where we had teams and did games and competed. It is sort of similar to my kids Sports Day but we competed as a team in relays and various other things. If i recall right we got ribbons at the end. I remember one field day and if i was back at the school i could show you exactly where it was that i was doing some game and I got a fish hook in my knee. We had a Tire climber made out of old car tires and it was the bomb. it was just 6 tires that made a cube and there was 3 cubes connected. then the monkey bars on ASPHALT. The Huge car innertube with a rope tied to it that we used in the Winter to pull kids along. Pizza day was AlWAYS on Wednesday. The little store that I would sneak off campus after i got off the bus to buy penny candy. The Teachers. My kindergarten teacher was Mrs. Sorenson, i think she left the year after. I remember getting in trouble and having to put my head down for most of the class (half day kindy) the blow up letter people. My 3rd grade teacher was Mrs. Ortel. she liked hippos. and i would go to the other 3rd grade class room for reading (i was in advance reading) Mardi Gras in the Spring. the games, the cake walk. we have a large family and the cake walk was musical chairs and when most of the people playing are your family. you are sure to win. I remember alot of stuff from elementary. It was like yesterday. i can remember the smell of the hall. the look of the floor. Santa's secret workshop where you could buy little gifts. The school has been shut down and now all the kids in the Caddy Vista district go to other school. It was bitter sweet as my whole family went there and once niece also. 7 kids. Some of the teachers taught all 7 of us too. Mrs Peterson was the secretary and she was there through all of us. I been wondering if my kids are going to have fond memories of school like I have. Are they going to sit and remember all they use to do. I don't know. it was a different time back then. Back when kids use to play and be outside all the time.

Some teachers i remember. Mrs. Hughes, Mrs. Goltz, Mr Sabaka (he was the only male teacher in our school) Mrs. Dresden (gym, ah the parachute and dodgeball) Mrs Booker, Mrs. Putnam

I will save Middle school and high school for another post

"I am staying home today. I don't feel good"

2011-06-15T14:35:00.000-07:00

that is what my husband just said to me. I wish as a mom i could say that. I wish when i don't feel good i could stay in bed and do nothing but sadly I can't. But i hate it when he stays home unexpected cuz there is things i do when he goes to work. Today i want to vacuum the loft and shampoo it. but he is sleeping in the other room. it is also bath day for the kids and i like to give a kid a bath in the big tub (master bath) and the boys bathroom to kill 2 kids with one stone. He is in the bedroom and he don't like the kids using the master bathroom. "man Flu" yeah we know how it is. they are such big babies. top of that i was watching Pretty Little Liars upstairs and would love to continue but i can't if he is in there taking over the room cuz you know he make comments throughout. not to mention he has been sleeping all day which means he is going to be up all night and that usually means him watching tv while i sleep. wouldn't be that much of an issue if he did it downstairs and not in the bedroom

Mother's Day what a F'in joke

2011-05-08T06:18:00.000-07:00

All i ask is a token, a little thought, don't have to be much. a cheap bouquet of flowers and inexpensive ring or even a simple card. some friggin thought. some of my daily chores done, a coupon for a massage, something simple cuz i know i don't need expensive as you already got me a tv, bluray player, my scrap crap, a car.

This morning you come in after working all night which i know is rough, and tell me i need to clean the toilets and the tile. i said it is my day off the one day that i should have the day off (even though we all know we still do housework) and so then what do i get "happy mother's day now go clean the bathroom" then i hear mumbling while i am going potty about how i always have off, i do nothing, i clean nothing. well if that were true then this house would have layers of dirt and food and yuck up to the ceiling. no I am not the cleanest person when it comes to house work but i am not messy either. you can see my floor, the dishes are washed daily. Laundry rarely gets out of control. I am picking up after 4 people who don't know how to pick up after themselves and 4 pets. i can't do the whites right now becuz i have to hunt down all the socks that everyone leaves everywhere.

Factor in that i am trying to eat right and work out and the working out kicks my ass that i am sore and tired. waiting for it to become easier, not alot just the soreness after.

So what do i get to be on mother's day. not a pampered princess that i know some of you get to be but a maid service. If it wasn't for my kids school, i wouldn't even get stuff from them

My ablation update...

2011-02-05T14:28:00.000-08:00

As you recall about 2 years ago I had a uterine ablation done. I had very heavy periods and while they didn't last very long (3-4 days tops) of those days 2 were spent house bound becuz i bled very heavy. The feeling of a gushing makes going out hard. I couldn't wear tampons becuz they gush was so strong and the clots so large they would push the tampon out. So here I am 2 years past my ablation and while my periods are only 2 days tops the cramps are aweful and this month I bled a one day pretty normal. then this am i woke up and there was nothing but i knew something probably would come. so i kept a pad on and it is a good thing cuz I was in the kitchen making the kids lunch when i felt a pop. similar to when you are pregnant and your baby kicks you in your cervix. that kind of pain. then cramps then i just felt warmth. i bled heavy and hard. i ran to the bathroom. if i hadn't i would have bled through my pad quickly. Took some mydol. laid down. then when i was trying to come up with something for dinner. i bled through another pad. It has since let up but MY GOODNESS. having your whole period in 1 day is crazy insane. I am thinking of making an appointment with my primary (don't have an ob anymore) discuss possibly having a mirena put in to stave off the bleeding. what i would love to do is have them remove my uterus but yeah don't see that happening so i guess this is the next best thing

Scrapbooking and babies

2011-01-10T07:09:00.000-08:00

I haven't done it in awhile. Last time was November. I have all this stuff around me but I just don't have the creative juices flowing like I use too. It use to be November crop i could do 22 pages for the weekend and now I am lucky if i get 5 done. I have to get scrapbooking before my kids get too old and the pictures i take I forget the story behind them.

and on to the baby portion. It has happened. Samantha told me yesterday that she wants another girl in the house. Poor thing. Momma can't have no more babies and all she wants is a sister. I don't think dh would even think about going the adoption route for her and I don't think my sanity could take another child. I hope she finds some really good girlfriends in school. or maybe that we can someday move closer to 'home' and she can bond with her cousins.

though in a few years she will be older and we can do scrapbooking together.

Been a long time dear blog oh mine

2011-01-08T16:54:00.000-08:00

I am in a creative slump. I did scrapbook back in November. Went to my crop and had a grand time. The man didn't call once while i was gone which was nice. Kids did good with grandparents. I think i got 10 pages done. but my creative juices weren't flowing. Now here i sit and my scrapbook room is a mess from me unpacking my totes but then not putting my stuff away. so i need to get this room in order. I have ATG adhesive on the floor from my darling little niece. It happened when the Men were on duty and us women were at the mall of america.

Winter is here and I am loosing touch with friends. Winter is a Social killer. I use to go to school park, walk over get Sam and chat with the mom's when i got back to wait for Camden. Now i go get Sam first cuz it is cold and then Hunter then Camden. So no chatting with the ladies. My text messages seems to have hit a slow spot too. Due to friends and family being busy and having other things going on it thier lives. but you can't help to question. "is it something I said" "something I did" and then when you do get that text you think "ah ha, they are alive and they do remember me" Winter is just a lonely time out in the Boonies. too cold to do anything but stay indoors. then Spring comes, the plants come out and then all the neighbors and friends come out and breath in the fresh air and you find out what happened while we were all in hibernation.

What am I doing this winter? I am reading Harry Potter for the first time. I am on Book 3 and my sister is also reading Potter but i think this is her second time. I am finding alot that i forgot when i watch the movies. Sometimes i think "did i even see the movies" but I know i did but i must not have been paying attention. What I am doing is reading the book then watching the movie. Except this current book i don't own the movie for so i am going to have to rent it

On the kid front. Hunter is now taking a low dose of concerta to help him in school ( I hope) cuz he is aweful at focusing and remembering certain things. I often would wonder if he slept through his schooling. I seem to see some improvement but we will see. Camden is Camden and still don't put the games away when he is done. schooling wise he is average. i still don't care for how they are doing the math this year. but what can ya do.

Today i washed my hair with some Bed Head Antidote and i have to say. i do like it. I think i may want to try level 3 as this was level 1.

Homeschooling I don't get it

2010-11-06T11:37:00.000-07:00

You when I had my kids there was one thing I counted down to happen. they went to school and i got some quiet time. I didn't think I am going to keep them home and teach them. no i don't have the patience for that. I love sending them to school and have them be the schools problem for 7 hrs. i love not to worry about cooking for them in the afternoon. fighting over something or walking around saying I am bored. I have tried helping the kids with their homework only to get so stressed i can't see straight. i couldn't picture me homeschooling all the time like that. and then what if they should fail. what if what i taught them wasn't enuf and they just became stupid. I would be to blame. I also often wonder if the down turn of the schools that people see, you know the ones who say "kids aren't learning in school" well maybe it also has a corrilation to homeschooling. I don't, it just seems like when i was in school I wasn't such a problem to teach. i did my homework. sure there was classes i just did enuf to skate by but i never gave my mom a hard time when it came to homework. I guess i don't get parents who want to be with their children ALL the time. i love my kids but I need my break. Right now i have 2 hrs of free me time, usually i end up watching tv or running errands but next year....oh glorious next year. all three will be in school. FULL DAY. i can think about getting a part time job with mommy hours. Yeah i don't get home schooling.

Thanksgiving

2010-10-30T20:24:00.000-07:00

Our plans are to go to the inlaws. Well today MiL had said something to me that made me feel like i really don't want to go. I asked her if she wanted me to bring Marble. She adored her when I brought her down. But she had said "not if she pee's in the house" WTH. Yes our dogs still have 'accidents from time to time" but not like before. they are pretty much trained but Bailey still will poop upstairs if I leave the door open. i don't know why she does this. And when you take your dogs to someone's house there may be an accident. just something that happens, why becuz they are not familar with the need to go outside and which door to go to. when they are in their house, they know what is and isn't expected. in a strangers house it is all new. Well when we go down to the inlaws we are going to have to bring ALL the dogs. yes, THREE. so on top of taking care of the kids I am going to have to watch for signs they have to go out. and just all that fun stuff. going to have to watch Marble to make sure she don't chew on things (she is after all still a puppy) just alot of watching (on top of watching the kids) yes, dh will be there. but like everything it all falls on me. and Truthfully, i rather he take the kids down and I stay home. I grew up without thanksgiving, it won't hurt me to miss it. I love my dogs but i hate having to go away and worry about these things. see usually we don't go away together. it is usually just me going, so dh would be home to watch the dogs. Can't afford to board them. this is what sucks about being away from family, if we were just an hour or two away then we could just go down for the day and leave the pups at home.

Parenting

2010-10-30T07:27:00.000-07:00

Recently my parenting has been called into question by someone who really don't cross my mind but it bothers me that they think that I seem to be the white trash side of the family. I am not saying I am a perfect parent, as we all know we strive to be this but all of us at sometime fall short. I am going to say this, I do from time to time call my kids idiots, but I also call them very smart. it is a balance. There are times when the children aren't smart. Is idiot the right term to use. Probably not. Should i attempt to correct myself. Sure. But you know that there are times in a heat of the moment you just let things slip, cuz you are upset or what have you. There are times when i have lost my temper but despite how I can be, my kids will still come up to me and say i love you. i will tout more kiss on them and affection then the bad. They love me and they know i love them, despite them being idiots from time to time. I am a free thinker and that if you use a swear word in the correct context i will say to them, "that is correct that is shit but could you use blah instead" Swear words in our house are very rarely said from me, my kids have pointed this out. but i am not one to put a bad on the words. becuz if you do that will make them more fun to say. we use alot of replacement words for bad words but i have come to find that don't fly in school either when my son said Fricken in school. My son's also would NEVER flip a person off. when i talked to H about this, he gave me a definate "NO" as if to ask me, "why would you ever aske me such a stupid question" Good boy. but this said person aboves child does flip people off and my thinking is "did the kid deserve" cuz you know while they really shouldn't do that, sometimes it is needed. but like anything if you do it too much you loose the power of it. So if you go around flipping people off it looses it's oomph. and school isn't the place but maybe if you taught your child they are only words and words don't hurt he wouldn't have had the need to flip a child off over something said. yes they hurt your feelings but if you know you aren't that word then it shouldn't matter what they think. They are only being Idiots.

I am not perfect but I am teaching my children and my children are very bright. despite being raised 75% by me. My son just recently came up to me and asked me how to spell things and usually if i can, i will help him sound it out. this word he asked was PIT. i asked him. how do you spell IT and he said "I - T" I said ok then how do you spell PIT. and he learned to spell it himself. some days i will use it as spelling day and then just spell things as i talk. teaches them spelling and i have to say, while they are crappy and penmanship, they rock at spelling, reading and others. So no my kids aren't Idiots....but there are times that they are and yes I am going to call them on it. cuz if you keep raising them up, they are going to think they are perfect and without fault when we all know, we all have faults, We aren't perfect. We do the best we can. and if certain people don't agree with it, stop worrying about me cuz there obviously is something going on in your family you need to work on.

Fighting the Clock

2010-10-22T19:21:00.001-07:00

It seems day in and day out I am just watching the clock for the next thing i have to do. I wish I could just spend a day and not watch the clock. not worry about my time and what i need to do or should have done. My day usually consists of 6am wake up where I get 30 min of me time, i usually spend that watching part of a tv show if it is an hour long one or a 30min show. then i get the kids up. where i spend my morning getting them going, making lunches. then at 7:20 yelling at them to get dressed and shoes on cuz they ignored the first bell that tells them that. then out the door about 7:30-40 take them to school. then Sam and I will run to the Gym, where she will play and I will workout. from there it is either to the store if i need to get something or home. where I will spend sometime on the computer, or cleaning or something while she watch tv. then make her lunch at 11:30, and when she is done brush her hair and then the bell goes off at 12, shoes on and out the door. drop her off at school, after that i will either use that time to run some errands or go home where i will spend time again cleaning, computer or catching up on some shows. but that time goes by fast cuz before I know it, the alarm goes off and it is time to run to the school to pick up the kids and then home where if it is a day that husband works i am rushing to get something made for his dinner. If i hadn't already started it during my precious kid free 2 hour when sam was in school. Getting the kids doing their homework. then feeding them after dh leaves for work. Once i get in the door I am already watching the clock for bedtime. then when the go to bed You would think that i could have some time but that is when the husband wants time. You have to also factor in the laundry that gets done. the baths, the dishes, the yard work, garbage day, dogs, kids, and all the running around. i don't get me time much. except for the time i spend on the computer. but no time to watch my dvr shows. no time to watch netflix movies, Right now I am counting down the time (yep again watching but this time the calendar. for when my weekend scrapbook crop is coming cuz i can't wait till i get 3 glorious days of ME. no kids, no husband and No dogs. Just me and my sisters and a few online friends scrapbooking away

Do you ever get something and then think do i really need that

2010-10-17T08:00:00.000-07:00

Well that is where i am at with the Gypsy? i found it to be really neat but now I am thinking short of being able to store all my cricut cartridges on it. is it really worth it.. i dont' really design things using my CDS so really the DS on the gypsy probably won't be used. i don't need to design while I am on the go so really do i really need it. with the zoom buttons not working. I am now thinking of returning it all together. i just don't really need it. and while it comes with 2 gypsy cartridges, i don't really think it is worth the cost. So I am leaning toward sending it back

HOLY HELL CAN THEY HURT ANYMORE

2010-10-05T17:56:00.000-07:00

My legs are absolutly killing me. they haven't had anytime to rest. Sunday i moved 3 couches, Monday i was on my feet all day cleaning. today (tuesday) i went with Camden to chaperone his class field trip. I have been on my feet from 8am to 3pm then with a few intervals of sitting down. OMG tomorrow i hope to just be able to sit and chill (as soon as i do a quick run through of the house, dishes, laundry, general pick up and maybe a swiffer of the floor) Then i hope to chill in my scrapbook room and accomplish something and watch a movie.

Camdens field trip was FUN. We went to a place called Gibb's Farm. you can learn more about it HERE I didn't know back in those days that families with alot of children, just borrow children from other families and they become their own. (like adoption) their beds were all so small. and it was neat explaining to the kids when we did the hands on thing what things are and what they are used for. We also saw and old school house. animals and a replica of a Sod house and how much room they had and lived in for 5 years before building the big house they had us tour. When we were in the Sod House the tour guide asked if we knew what the oil cloth around the inside kept out and i whispered in Camden's ear water and without me knowing he raised his hand and answered. He did it again but mumble the other answer about the basket. He told me as we were leaving that he wanted a sod house. (btw it was a log cabin built into the hill and called sod house cuz of the grass on the roof) they also dipped candles.

From there we went to the zoo. it was just a small zoo and i tried to tell the kids as much as i knew about the animals. and Camden loved it. he said he would like to go back and spend more time there (we only had 1.5hr most the time was at Gibbs) i told him we could as it was free and now that i knew where it was. maybe we will go back during butterfly time.

after school was Camden's teacher conference which as of right now he is doing well. his reading lexile number is good. considering that he really don't read much at home. but as far as behavoir he is doing great.

But me, i am ready for bed. i am beat.

So DRAINED

2010-10-04T17:55:00.000-07:00

who said that having kids would drain you so. never met my husband. I think dealing with him is worse than dealing with the kids some days. The problem with him is he won't talk to me, tell me what is bothering him. he just goes around huffing and phttting everytime he sees me. he talks to me but if i don't give him an answer he likes then he huffs off. Right now it is about Supper. well i been cleaning all day, why cuz i am upset. so now it is 8 the kids have all ate but he is hungry. well he won't tell me what he wants. so he huffs off

How many kids do I have again

2010-10-04T08:09:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it feels like i have 4 and not 3. Sometimes i feel like I am treated like a child when I am not.

Yesterday I woke up and took a long bath. went about my day and i knew that this would happen. When i get upstairs beat from moving 3 couches around alone, through doorways where a second person would come in hand. I wanted to lay down and cuddle with the man and watch tv. Right away i get upstairs and he says to me what he always says "go take a bath" WTF for, i took one in the am. But for some reason if he wants to have "relations" he wants me to bathe prior. But yet for him a quick wipe down is ok. or he can take a bath once a day and be ok. i don't tell him go take a bath. Yesterday I told him NO, i took one that morning. and so then he got huffy and pouting like a child. i went to lay on his shoulder and he said I am crowding him, making him hot blah blah. but you know damn well if i had taken a bath it would have been "come here lay next to me" Seriously i am so sick of being told to take a bath. it has been this way for a long time. Even my MiL sees it and lectures him on stop telling me to take a bath when i am a big girl. yesterday i was just tired, i just want to lay with him and watch tv. but instead I did lay on his chest but he didn't want me there and we watched tv which i fell asleep during but he pouted the whole time and then when the show was done told me to go to sleep. so i cried myself to sleep cuz i felt defeated cuz he was such a friggin baby cuz i didn't take a bath and I know I wasn't in the wrong but it felt like it. and now he is grumpy. but i am kinda wishing I would have took the bath cuz i am so tender from all the moving i did yesterday

I WANT

2010-10-03T16:35:00.000-07:00

oh how i am learning to despise these two words. I hear them everyday. "I want Ice cream" "i want a snack" "i want McDonald's" "I want to watch something else" "i want Hunter to play with me" "I want my DS" "I want ____ for supper"

so here are some of my I WANTS

* I want to stop being treated like a short order cook. I don't want to clean out the oil cuz you want tostadas for dinner. I am serving such and such for dinner. i don't want you to turn your nose up at it and say "eww i don't like that, i want something else" i cooked for you to eat this. how can you say you don't like it if you never try it.

* I want to stop having to constantly pick up after you. You do not live in a barn. You can not expect me to always walk behind you picking things up. This is written toward both large adult child and my small birth children. You do not have to leave your cloths where ever you took them off. We have a laundry sorter down stairs and a laundry shoot upstairs USE THEM

* I want to stop having to always pick up the dog crap. Exspecially if you are standing right next to it. why do i have to walk up the stairs to pick it up when you are fully capible to do it.

* I want to stop being treated as if cuz i don't work i have all the time in the world to do everything. I am not only doing the job of a mom but half the job of the dad. the repairs, the lawn care, the garbage, I am doing those too.

* I want to be able to sit down and watch my tv shows without worrying about "if i do this will it come and bite me in the house work" or hearing from a small child how "i want to watch something else" one can only take so much pbs, pokemon and scooby doo. i don't even get the luxury of watching phinus and ferb and more cuz stupid dish and their stupid dispute with disney.

* I want to be able to take a bath in the am and not have to repeat before bed just becuz the man says so. Why do i have to take 2 baths and you only have to take one.

*I want to stop hearing the words. "i don't need to" Well obviously if you want X then yes you NEED to do Y exspecially if i said so. it isn't too hard to clean your room every day if you do it every day but yeah if you wait 2 weeks it will become overwhelming.

* I WANT more me time. i haven't scrapped in a long time. i don't have the time. i think i would more if i had my DVR hooked up so that i can watch tv in here too. cuz then i could catch up on my shows and scrapbook. but i am trying to get the house in order so that eventually i can use the 2.50 hours that Sam is in school to scrapbook.
I am sure there are more I WANTS but i really dont' want to think about it anymore

10 things I did today

2010-10-03T16:21:00.001-07:00

taking a page from my Bff's blog. she got it from another friends blog.

1. Got to take a relaxing bath this A.M before the kids got up.

2. Got to actually watch a few shows on my DVR. Still so many to go. I did decide to toss two new shows that i just don't think i will ever get to watch. probably will get cancelled. if they don't and i hear buzz i will watch online or wait for the dvd

3. Went with my bff to shopko to get my new couch

4. Had lunch with said freind. would have been nice to have a sit down instead of fast food but beggers can't be choosers. it was still nice.

5. took out the old couch, moved the burgandy one to the front room, new couch to the living room, old couch to the porch for Sat to take to the recycling center

6. Front room carpet shampooed,

7. Kids fed and happy

8. (ok these next few will come in an hour but i don't want to leave this hanging) Kid bathed

9. Laundry done, kids cloths hung up while they are in the bath

10. Stories and tucking in

Samantha's first week of school complete

2010-10-01T09:09:00.000-07:00

I already see a change in her after one week. She loves going to school and practically runs to the door. start of day routine is going well. I still push her to the right order of things but i can do it from the door. Eventually i will wean off of that and maybe i will be able to just open the door and and watch her go in and do things she needs. though i think i may have to help come winter. right now we don't have boots and snow pants to worry about. Eventually i will let that go to. She will have to learn to do it on her own becuz in Kindergarten i won't be there to help her for recesses. Also she hasn't pooped in her pants in over a week. Again before bath she told me she had to poop. Sat on the toilet and went. so far it is only before bath (that is 2x a week) but that is better than pooping in her pants 1x a week. Potty chairs are gone (well one is still upstairs but that will be going out too) She uses big toilet and without those potty insert thing too. Next hurdle wiping her butt on her own ;) I told my dh when she was ready she would get it. she would stop. nagging, yelling, scolding and punishing don't help. She got it when she was ready and that is all you can do. Potty training goes smoother if you wait for the child to be ready then pushing it. less accidents and clean up. She was Pee trained in days. poop took longer but think if she went more often it would have been sooner.

Tomorrow is the big day!!!

2010-09-26T07:21:00.000-07:00

Sam's first day of Jr K. how exciting? i asked her if she was excited and she said NO. i said "just think in the am you get to go to Kids Kove and play with the kids. then come home for lunch then to school to play with the kids. a full day of playing with the kids. I haven't decided yet if i am going to try for Water Fitness again or not. the Pool is warmer. I will get out of the gym at about 9:45 if i stay just for the first class (with some hot tub time after) then home to make Sam some lunch about 11ish. She has to be to school by 12:15. I am going to take pictures but un sure how i will get them here. maybe i will get a reg SD card instead of a SDHC card

Friday

2010-09-24T09:19:00.000-07:00

today is friday why does this excite me. well I don't have to get up at 6am tomorrow. it also means one day closer to Monday. my little girl starts JrK and I am excited for her. she is going to grow up so much this year. I also will be getting her school pictures. I have already gotten Camden's, they were ok. no smile. and Hunter's better and a smile. i can't wait to see Sam's, her's has to be awesome.

Kids and homework

2010-09-23T18:27:00.000-07:00

Homework stresses me out. Part of me is of the thinking that it is their responsiblity to do their homework and get it done without me standing over them. the other part is to stand over them and get it done. But the older boy don't listen to me when I tell him that i don't care if he did it at school i want the homework to come home in the homework folder so i can see it and make sure it is done. I also don't understand the agenda. i don't know what is due what isn't due. I tell them no computer until it is done but then they say "it is done i did it at school" well yeah how am i suppose to know you didn't bring it home. then bam report card time. D's and F's. WTH Testing scores come back ADVANCED in reading and math. well then dude why are you getting D's and F's.

My problem is also that i don't stick with the punishment. Why cuz then i am punished as well.

I hate homework. I wish they would outlaw it.

Today Sam went to school for a little bit

2010-09-17T17:33:00.000-07:00

Today she went to school for 1.5 hrs without momma. She was a little scared at first. But i told her that she can take 1 dittie(blankie) and that is isn't any different than when we go to the Centre and she goes to Kids Kove while i work out. She will have fun and then before you know it, your day will be done. She did well. I don't think she even knew I was gone. I quietly walked away. No tears from either of us. On the 27th she will start JrK. her school is going to be done then. It was a little strange sitting on the chair watching tv with the house quiet of kids. The man was playing a game and I sat down and watched a show that i been putting off cuz it has a bit of adult theme to it (even though it is geared toward teenagers. yeah i know FYI it was Gossip Girl) I am a little anxious watching her grow and i know she will. this year she is going to have alot of growth. alot of indpendence and her speech and learning patience and how to write and walk in a line and listen to someone other than me. She is my baby and while i want her to stay my baby, i was kinda loving the silence of the afternoon. pick up may be a nightmare at first. I have to explain to C that he is going to have to be picked up last so not to worry if he don't see me but the way things are I am going to have to get S first then H to avoid crossing over the traffic to get to C. this way I am always turning Right. it isn't like he will wait long. i will get S at 2:55 then H after that (how ever long it takes him to get out) and then most likely C at 3:05. he will just have to wait for about 10m. i won't know the exact timing of it until i do it.

Cuttlebug storage

2010-08-23T16:17:00.000-07:00

finally i found a way to store my cuttlebug embossing folders. I got the idea initially from CK but decided to use it for my folders. i bought a bunch of those pencil pouches from target. they run about 70c a piece. i got the clear. then i sewed down the middle for the thinner boarders i sewed the width of a ruler i had. not all the way across. stopping about 1 inch from the zipper spot. this creates two pockets for the folders or if you are doing thin then it is 5 pockets. i also removed the zipper from it cuz i really didn't need it. as soon as i get some better pictures i will post them. sad thing is i have too many to fit in the cute 3 ring binder i have. going to have to get a larger 2 inch binder

Tension

2010-08-10T15:38:00.001-07:00

there is tension in the house. of course it is cuz of money. and the man takes it out on the person closest to him. ME. apparently i am a disappointment. cuz why, I am not skinny. Well buddy neither are you. but i don't let you know that everyday. do i sit and watch episode after episode of shows cuz there is a hot dude in there. Nope! Sure i admire the male form. but i keep it to myself. I don't ask you "why can't you look like him" nope. Also Marble isn't ugly. i tried to talk to you about my reason on having her. the things running through my head but you shot me down. How can i talk to you about things if that is the response i get? i know they payment is due for the dishwasher before the 0% is over. i understand there is alot on your plate. but Talk to me instead of scolding me as a child. i can't take this emotional moods and you taking it out on me. i am not a disappointment. I have one year till i can get a job. you can thank your lucky stars i am not a normal girl. who likes fancy cloths, shoes and jewlery.

Well working in my room today

2010-06-27T09:06:00.000-07:00

i know i haven't updated about scrappin in a bit. because i haven't been. i just wasn't feeling it in my room. If you recall i rearranged it back last year. MY ROOM Well i have since moved from there to the dining room. that means moving the playroom downstairs. The Den will now be the Man Cave. and then my scrapbook room i have full view of the back yard so i can see the kids if they are out there. As soon as i get it in order i will take some pictures. right now it is kinda a mess. i love the hardwood floor cuz i can wheel from place to place on my chair but also i hate the hardwood floor cuz of all the little dust bunnies. and with 4 animals in the house. it is alot. Also every time i get up Dancer freaks and gets up quickly and slides a bit and I am afriad she might hurt herself.

Been awhile since i updated. Sorry

2010-06-24T17:45:00.000-07:00

I started this blog mainly for my scrapbooking but then it turned into me talking about my dog dying and her last days. I haven't been scrapbooking much but my furbabies and kids are growing. I am hoping to start scrapping again more. becuz i am going to have a LOT to scrap about. First my youngest is starting school this year. I can't believe she is old enuf for school. It is only JrK and half days but that means that in one year she will be in Kindergarten Full days. OMG what am I going to do with my days. probably find a part time job with mommy hours. that would be ideal with dh cuz you know he wants me to have a REAL job. as if being a full time Mommy isn't. but one that brings in money that isn't his. Other news is a new addition to the family. I been wanting a puppy for a long time. Maybe it is cuz my Fertility has ended and my baby is going off to school and her independance is hard. expecially knowing that i won't have anymore children but yet I have IRL and Online friends all having babies. But i been looking at puppies since the day i saw that Cocker Spaniel puppy at ACE. so it is thing to make an excuse to go into Ace and look at the puppies romping around. but dh kept saying NO. But i know why I wasn't going to get puppy cuz they weren't the right ones. Flashforward to Friday June 18th when my bff txt'd me a question "a little girl who need a loving mom" not sure what she meant. maybe that her DD is on her nerves and she wanted me to take her. but that isn't what she meant. this is what she meant

This is Marble. She was why i didn't get those other Cockers I saw. cuz I was waiting for her. She is a Merle color with gorgous green eyes. She loves Samantha and playing with Bailey. Sorry the picture isn't the best it was in my car and with my phone which has a horrid lag for taking a picture of a quick moving puppy but as soon as i find my battery charger for my camera i will get better pictures.

BUT technically we are only suppose to have 2 dogs and now we have 3. but also according to the Bylaws we aren't suppose to have RV's, Boats, Trailers in the driveway or along side the house, we are suppose to mow up to the curb. And no one listens to that either. So dh says not to worry. plus Dancer probably only has one or two good years on her. And really Dancer isn't even outside much to be an issue. So ya know. No one would have known we had 3 dogs but it just so happens some Busy body old man came by to tell me one of my neighbors who is a pussy and can't come to me or Dh to talk about it. complained that MY dog is barking too much. Yes she has an annoying bark when she gets started on something like people coming to the house, walking by (getting better) and stray dogs that seemingly roam willy nilly around the neighborhood. but at that time is when the kids came around with Marble. he asked if i was babysitting. i said No. I told him she is going to replace Dancer when she goes cuz she is getting old. The old fart actually wanted to know when i was going to put her down. What the hell is it your buisness. So right now everytime i go to the mail box i wonder if there is going to be a letter saying we are going against the bylaws. my puppy isn't bringing down house values. Deal with the RVs first. Deal with the yards First. honestly i have 2 acres of land. why can't i have my dogs enjoy it. but that isn't the end cuz now i have to be cruel and stick a bark collar on bailey and stop her from doing what dogs do but only when she is outside. Everyone in this neighborhood pretty much owns a dog but yet mine is singled out and torchered. So you know you can go suck on a rock about my puppy since you are doing this to my Bailey. she is now a shell of the dog she was when outside. I am glad we have Marble to play with her and romp around and make her a little happier. cuz seeing her silenced outside hurts. cuz i sit out and pray she don't bark cuz she will get hurt when she does. So far she barely has. maybe it is cuz Marble keeps her too wore out to bother.

So yep i have to get back to scrappin to do my dd first day of school, scrap the new puppy, Scrap Dancer layouts cuz you never know when she will be gone. Exspecially when Lady got sick so quickly. and if my bff ever gets her baby (real not fur) i will have to do a baby book for her.

So that is sort up with me. Oh i am also looking into a sleep test for Apnea. Dh has it and wants me to get tested. it would be helpful to know how i sleep if anything. right now i sleep crappy but it is my own fault cuz i don't go to bed early and i wake up early

2010-03-31T16:58:00.000-07:00

Baby Girl not a baby anymore

2010-03-01T07:53:00.000-08:00

My last child, my little girl. This year is going to be emotional. In the last weekend, my baby decided to finally grow up and go potty on the toilet. She hasn't been in a diaper since Friday. She has been using her potty and staying dry. We haven't hit the pooping part yet. While this is something i have wanted for a long time. It does make me sad cuz she is my last child and she is growing up so fast. Also she is starting school in the Fall. I have Jr. Kindergarten registration this month. Also waiting to see if she is accepted in open enrollment. That way she can go to school with her brothers and it would make life easier. If she don't get open enrolled I will have to look into doing 4K through our actual district and hopefully get her into the Centre. And then try to do open enrollment again the next year. if she don't get accept then i don't know what i will do. I would probably have to move the boys to New Richmond. they won't like it though. So cross your fingers she gets in. Her brothers have been both accepted so that is working toward her but it isn't a guarantee. So what am i going to do with my time you ask. Well i am hoping to get her into the pm JrK at Somerset. that way we can go to the Centre in the AM and she can play with the kids while i work out and then afterward do lunch then go to JrK. i will use that time to run quick errands and maybe scrapbook on days i don't have anything errands. It is going to be shocking those first few trips to get the kids being alone. and then the next year she will be in all day Kindergarten. Where did the time go? When she start Kindergarten then i will look into a part time job with mommy hours.

I scrapped a little tonite.

2010-01-30T19:29:00.000-08:00

i will try to post soon. it wasn't much just 2 cards but i crafted and that is all that matters right. I have 10 more cards to complete and then i can ship these out. remind me never to do this again (voluteer card for an auction) unless i have the cards completed before hand. I am also making playfood to hopefully sell to earn money for a trip. if i can earn the money then maybe the man won't make a big deal of me going.

well i better get these kids to bed, kitchen picked up and then hop in the tub

How can everyone afford it?

2010-01-25T14:22:00.000-08:00

I beginning to feel resentful. WHY you say. while i live in a nice house and have 3 ok children. I see parents with better children than me. How do they do it? I have lost control some how some where. Also trips. i see people on my mommy boards or Facebook, going on trips, weekends at Disney, Weeks at Disney, Cruises and trip here and trips there. I will most likely never see Disney ever. i would love to go on a cruise or to disney. i think my kids would have a blast. I want to go to Lego Land but not going to happen. I can't even afford to go to Wisconsin Dells. and then i see some mommies spending $200 for a carseat, $400 for a stroller. WHAT THE HECK? why would you do that? I have a careseat for Sam, cost me $45, him what can i do with the $150 i saved. put it away for a trip to Disney. Yeah right don't i wish. Course this is coming from a person who is trying to come up with a way for me to get some more Copic Markers. those markers aren't cheap $5-$8 a pop for one marker but they are soo much fun. Shoot thinking about it, i paid $200 for my cricut expression and it does give me way more pleasure than a carseat any day. oh another splurg i would love is some Shape up Sketchers but that still isn't as much as a carseat or a trip to Disney. Oh and then you hear from those same mothers who dish out the dough on pricey strollers and carseats only to hear 'my child don't like to drive in the car" or "she hates the stroller" so much for your fancy baby gear huh?

Lost my scrappin chi.

2010-01-22T09:55:00.001-08:00

i don't know where it went but i just am having a hard time scrappin. i wonder if it is cuz this room is so closed in for me. i need more room. but won't be able to do that until i clean out the basment and move the playroom down there. who knows when that will be.

It also don't help that the kids are in here all the time. on the computer. they have thier own computer but it is now with out a keyboard cuz C ruined mine. also the one i stole is getting ruined. i don't know how they can go through so many keyboards. ok i know, cuz C don't listen to me when i say NO FOOD AND NO DRINK. Also H don't like the kids computer cuz it is too SLOW.

My plan is to move the playroom down stairs. my scrap stuff into the dining room (playroom) and then move H into the den. but dh's plan would be move me to playroom and him to den. and H and sleep with S. how long is that going to last. S is a girl and H is getting older. C can't sleep in a room with other people cuz he gets too riled up and S and H will laugh at him and C will continue. We need a 4 bedroom house. but other than the basment. there really is no where to expand to and no one to help expand it. or money to hire someone.

As for C. he is in need of an up in his meds. we have an appointment on Monday for that. H is doing better with homework. At least this is what he has been telling me. no tummy aches so i think he is telling the truth. S still isn't potty trained and i told her we are going pee on the potty when she turns 4. so she has a couple weeks

but that is pretty much it.

Little girls

2009-08-02T10:15:00.000-07:00

When i had my first child, I didn't care the sex. We had a boy. When i was pregnant with my second child since i had a boy, i wanted a girl to just make me complete with one of each. We had another boy. So when we (I) decided i wanted another child, I knew it was my last chance to have a little girl. I tried a bunch of different ways they say on the internet to sway your odds. Finally i just got frustrated and just was trying. and then finally i just said "screw it" and thought i will never get pregnant and gave up. BAM that is when i got pregnant. the most worst time too as we were building our house and moving. Morning sickness and moving don't go good together. So when i went in for the u/s and they said girl. i was over the moon. finally in the sea of blue i will have a pink bundle of joy. i got a pink carseat, pink bouncer, pink pink pink. Her room is a honey dew green though we didn't know the sex when we were painting it but it goes so well with pink. I thought of some cute girly names. Ahhh a Girl. well my husband veto'd my girly names and pouted until i gave in and said "fine you name her" what does he name her...Samantha. yes, while it is a girl name. What do i call her for short....SAM Ok, so i think girly stuff. pink cups and now that she is 3 and has started getting a mind of her own. what does she want to play with, swords, cars and what ever her brothers play with. What is her favorite color? GREEN Not pink, not purple. but Green. and when we went out shopping for cloths i asked her opinion on various things and what is the one shirt she decides she wants. Not the cute one with the butterflies. but a blue shirt from the boy department that has lightening McQueen. while i am glad she isn't a girly girl and will hold her own with the boys. She does let me dress her in girl cloths and isn't all that tomboyish. You need to learn that sometimes what you have pictured in your head, isn't what you will get in the end. Though i don't know what i would do with out my Sam.

Living with ADHD

2009-07-30T13:29:00.000-07:00

Well living with a child with ADHD isn't a walk in the park. Lately it has been a walk down a walk covered with tacks. We are off schedule and it is not working. tomorrow I will have to get C up when i get up. as much as i enjoy my quiet time while kids are sleeping, i enjoy my sanity more. i need to get him taking his pill at a normal time. Right now i am trying to find a cabinet lock that will work on my side by side frig. Why you may ask? Cuz of Camden. I would love to go to sleep without worrying is he going to go down stairs and take the milk out to make his own strawberry milk after i told him no more. only to either leave the milk out, leave the frig open or waste so much milk and strawberry mix to get the right flavor. Or how about sneaking in the frig (had to done a sneak as i was right there in the living room and didn't hear a thing) to take out FIFTEEN eggs and proceed to crack them all over the playroom, desk, keyboard and little hall. This just after replacing a keyboard on my main computer. The results is me having a breakdown and all kids loosing privliges to the computers. I am missing an H key becuz of camden and his eating crap by my computer which caused something to get stuck and me pulling it off wrong and breaking the plastic clip. I may let Hunter play the computer for an hour a day if he stays in my room with door locked and only after he does some chore first. i will get a new keyboard in a month for when the kids start school and Hunter will probably need it but not till then. The other day i went to water fitness only to come home to a loaf of bread eaten. a WHOLE LOAF. I just bought it the day before. Today i was going to run out and get some stuff from Sam's club but after the egg thing there was no way i could go out and leave them with their dad sleeping and there was no way i was taking Camden out. He just don't think before he acts. when he has his meds he is fine but in those dreaded hours of coming on or going off them. it is crazy. this morning it was just after he got his pill so it hadn't kicked in yet. I should have had a clue when i caught him at age 2 on the table with hot sauce spilled all over. at the time i thought scrapbook moment. but i think that was the beginning of the end for me. i also can't fill the dog continuous water dish cuz it never fails that after i do, someone comes and fills the bowl with dog food. LIFE sucks somedays. Oh and shortly after the egg thing Camden comes down stairs (sent him to his room) and says " i love you momma" as he gives me a hug. there are days i could throttle him and then he goes and pulls that. Sigh what can you do

The Swingset

2009-07-24T09:55:00.000-07:00

So after much going around and around with swingsets. what I wanted i couldn't get as my dh is not Bob the Builder and FiL is too far away to come help put it up. also despite my friends husband saying he would help. we went with a swingset that included assembly. While it is half of what i was looking at for the same price. i must say it is an ok swingset. (still want the one at Sam's club though woodridge i think it is called) We got this from Crown of MN. it is the same set as the neighbors. We originally were going with just swing and tower but dh said might as well get the monkey bars also. it came with also a larger rock wall and then the picnic table which we didn't install. The bottom will be a playhouse when FiL gets here to wall it in. (not sure when that will be)
This is Sam waiting and watching the swingset go up. it took the workmen 5 hours to put it up.

Finally the up. this is actually a few days later. i moved the sandbox over. i started to stain it only to find the stain wasn't matching. so i removed the seating on the sandbox(was cracked anyway) I stained the inside of the sand box so i at least could fill it and will do the outside later. the box was made by FiL. I wanted a wooden box that went on the end for sand toys but what FiL made was WAY too big. so that has been moved. the bottom of the set will eventually be floored and three walls added with a door to make the bottom a playhouse for Sam cuz right now she won't go up the stairs. Funny story is I went up there to see how it was and Bailey (seen in picture) followed me up. she climbed the stairs. it made me laugh so hard, i never saw a dog climb the stairs before. oh and the monkey bars. i thought, hell why do we need those the kids won't use them. oh i was wrong. camden is climbing on them all the time. also when it was going up, i thought man i should have done it on an angle but now that i have the sandbox there it is shaded by the building so it works great cuz Sam loves to play in the box.

2009-07-18T13:47:00.000-07:00

This is the stairway to HELL. It goes up the side of the mountain and I nearly died. This is the group waiting for my sister and I to catch up. they had to do this alot. I being over weight and out of shape and she carrying a 2 month old baby. (but also out of shape but not over weight)

Tasteless joke

2009-06-26T19:59:00.000-07:00

Farrah Fawcett arrived in heaven and God granted her one wish...she wished that all the children in the world was safe. So God killed Michael Jackson.

sorry I told you it was tasteless. but come on..some of you chuckled

just some meanderings

2009-06-06T08:46:00.000-07:00

Well i got the swaps done. Sorry i didn't take pictures of them to post. i was just cutting it so close. ALSO my camera is MIA. yeah i know how shocking that a scrapbooker is without a camera. i do love my camera but i could use a new one. I set the camera aside as the battery died and i couldn't find the charger. so a week or so later i found the charger but lost the camera. i did charge the extra battery so if I do find the camera i can charge that battery and put the charged one in. Maybe that is what i can do on this rainy day but am a little tired this am.

Sam had a fever yesterday, came on all of a sudden. 103.1 called the ped at urgent care. said to give her meds and watch her. if still feverish in am, bring her in to U.C. So i had her sleep with me which made Camden want to sleep with me and then he couldn't sleep, kept bouncing around, was going to knock sleeping Sam off the bed and kept bugging the dog who was also trying to sleep. finally got him in with his brother. So i am a bit tired. also don't help that it is cold and rainy out. i have to cover my veggies from the cold. Average high around these parts is in the 70's and it is a fridged 50*. tomorrow is suppose to be 60. Feels like fall outside and while we need the rain this cold isn't good for the gardens. thankfully i have a patio garden and can just cover it up. Found some clear plastic so they can get light but not the wind.

My sister isn't doing very well. I feel sad that i can't be there for my family but it is what it is. She is in the hospital after having several strokes. Still no end insight. You see on the news about getting to the hospital and people making recovery from these things and she isn't getting better. actually got worse. No one is telling the family anything and in turn I don't get any information. I believe her smoking has a direct cause in these strokes and so please if you smoke, stop. You may seem invincible at the moment and think you aren't doing any harm but you are. We never expected any of this to happen. She just started scrapbooking 2 years ago and now she can't even feed herself let alone scrapbook.

Well i think that is it from here. i better go clean or something. even though i really don't want to

Ablation Finally the bleeding has stopped

2009-05-23T08:10:00.000-07:00

for the first day in 24 days i feel normal. no bleeding no spotting. Now to see how successful the ablation went. this is going to be a long 29ish days to see what happens next cycle. the total for my ablation is abour $7000. my out of pocket is approx. $400. for those of you thinking about ablation you can get it done cheaper by doing it in the doctor's office but that also means that you will not be under general (something i couldn't do) Some say that it is a little more uncomforatable and some say that it isn't that bad. if you want to learn more there is a website you can go to for answers. http://endometrialablationboard.yuku.com/

21 days after ablation

2009-05-20T19:27:00.001-07:00

I want to say I have good news but sadly right now i don't. it isn't a failure, just have to wait I guess 4-6 months before we know if my ablation was a success. Here is what I do know. I haven't been intimate with my dh for 21 days. When we got to the 2 week mark that I was off of "rest" i ended up getting my PAP (for those of you who don't know what that means. Post Ablation Period) i got it a week early. Started with spotting for 2 days then light bleeding. now moderate bleeding and now it is 1 week and counting. I guess this is completly normal. One gal i talked to on the EA board says she had spotting for a week then PAP for 2 weeks. I will discuss this with my OB on the 28th. Needless to say dh is feeling a little neglected. I just want to get back to normal. I don't mind getting a period still. as long as it isn't heavy and normal length. i have gone through a package of light pads already. So this is where I am at right now. I am not enjoying this as I hate waiting. but i will have to wait for result. oh and the gal i mentioned above, she said after her PAP, she went 3 cycles with out AF and then now it is just a pantyliner period. oh i would love a pantyliner period

Day 2 after ablation

2009-05-01T04:46:00.001-07:00

Well yesterday i crashed at about 9pm. I started watching Bones and then was falling asleep so I started to read some and then was out. Slept till 1am when i started coughing again, went down got a throat drop and more advil. I didn't hurt but the nurse said to take it every 6 hours. I slept and woke up again at 2 from a disturbing dream and then finally was up for the day at 5:45.

This morning brought me some discomfort in my abodomen. It feels like I did a too many sit ups. my back is achy (like a gazillion). the inside of my thighs hurt like I walked too much (don't really want to know how far they had those puppies spread and what else they did while I was out), my throat by my chin area is a bit tender and the back of my neck is sore (like i was watching a tennis match from center court). My voice is still hoarse with some cough. All very very minor. I don't know what my discharge from my women bits are but i think it is very minimum. All i really would love to do is soak in a bath but no baths for 2 weeks, some kind of torture, they make you feel beat to hell but then tell you that you can soak the pain away. This sucks as I really don't like to take a shower. Showers it is hard not to get your hair wet and i dont like washing my hair everyday. and since the only time i get to shower/bathe is at night that means wet hair to bed and poofy hair in the am. i don't know where my hair dryer is either. i haven't used that is years.

tomorrow i plan to relax and do some scrappin. it is National Scrapbook Day after all

Ablation update

2009-04-30T14:51:00.000-07:00

I was done about 9:30-10. i could have gone home at 11 but they called my cell number to tell dh and well it was dead in my bag and I thought they called dh's and so by the time I tried dh it was already like 1 something.
Anyway it went ok, i am hoarse from the tube that was in my throat. i won't know the full result until 4 wks when i see my ob, but she said in her report (didn't speak to ob only what i learned from nurses via report) that my uterus was normal size inside, she did a d&c and then the ablation. no mention of polyps. I had some discharge in hospital that i felt when i coughed cuz of the tube, then mild cramping like AF cramping. those have since went away on advil. but my head. OUCH. i have a serious headache and am counting down the clock for bedtime. I been up since 4am. I only got like maybe 5.5hrs sleep. I seriously meant to get to bed early but the minute I started to sleep the dog barks at something. (i think it was camden)
I was nervous but mostly about the General i was going to be under. i haven't had that since my wisdome teeth at age 18. then when they mentioned tube, i freaked more. but i got to the OR, laid down, they put a warm blanket and that was all i remember. next thing I had a mask on and they were telling me that coughing is good cuz of the tube and how i was feeling.
I have had some light spotting. but all in all I am good. Praying that I am going to be one of the bloodless. but even if it is lighter i will be happy

Super tired right now and hoping bedtime is soon. feeling a bit warm but it could be cuz i was just out in the cool breeze to help my headache

Uterine Ablation

2009-04-25T09:40:00.000-07:00

Well after going back and forth with what to do with my heavy Monthly flo. Having a uterine biopsy and u/s. it is the week of the procedure. I was planning on doing the IUD not for birth control purposes but to deminish my monthly flo. The other choice is uterine ablation. This is where they cauterize the lining of your uterus. I wasn't sure i wanted to do that, it just scared me, so i thought IUD would be good and then i can decide about the ablation in 5 years. then I saw an episode of The Doctors. It had a lady on there that got the Novasure. I called my mother and asked her what she thought. she said go for it. So hopefully i am able to change my mind about the IUD to Novasure. I left a message with my OB but she hasn't got back to me yet. i hope she has gotten the message. Just let me know she got it and it is ok. But now that I am so close I am getting so scared. i will be put under for the procedure. I am having a hystroscope too, they think i have polyps. the last time i was put under was when i had my wisdom teeth removed when i was about 18-19 years old. According to the lady on The Doctors she was up and out to dinner with her friends that nite. and her bleeding is just mild spotting now. that would be AWESOME even normal bleeding would be great. but having to wear overnight pads during the day and changing those ever hour or so is insane. even though it only last that heavy for 2 days, it is debilitating not being able to move, change your cloths 3 times a day cuz you bled through, worry about sitting on a chair so you put a towel down.

so that is where I am at. i will let you know how it goes after the procedure

Cuttlebug Challenge Spa Days

2009-04-10T17:33:00.000-07:00

So I started a new blog to highlight my playfood shop

2009-04-10T13:12:00.000-07:00

Since blogging seems to get news and info around faster. i thought heck it is free, why not. So here is my blog

http://kraftykittykreations.blogspot.com/

i can update it as i make more things.

My child...UGG

2009-03-25T04:53:00.000-07:00

well i guess I am going to have to make an appointment to have Camden see his Shrink again. i kinda let it slide as we were having success with the sleeping but... My dh wants me to get him in again becuz he does things and i don't know why. like playing in the dirty kitty litter with poop in the toilet. i have told him DON"T do this. over and over and yet there will be a lull and then he will do it. I remember back one christmas he hit his head really hard on a table and dh thinks something might have happen and he wants me to get his brain checked too. So now I have to make an appointment for him and that means me driving around taking them to these. If there was a shrink at the Somerset clinic it wouldn't be so bad but there isn't. so that is going to be about 2 hours out of my day dragging him in. 30 min there, 1 hr waiting and what have you, and 30 min back.

More swaps

2009-03-24T16:14:00.000-07:00

Due to some members leaving our little happy group. A few of us have signed up for swaps that were now left (and unexpectedly) open. instead of having empty spot, Everyone signed up for the spots. (love that group) Anyway, I took three spots. Kindergarten and Elementary Handmade surprise and Middle school deco squares.

Here is Kindergarten handmade surprise. this used the cricut cartridges Tags, Bags, Boxes and more and Locker Talk. the Scissor blades are paper sprayed with spray adhesive then covered with aluminum foil, the glue is white glue pen with Diamond Glaze over the top to mimic the feel of glue. It isn't in this picture but i did finish the holes on top with eyelets

This next item is for the Elementary Handmade surprise. again used the Locker talk but here i cut the tag part myself. the one on the right is the original store bought that i copied for the one on the left. Again i used the same aluminum foil technique on the pencil silver part. This stitching is just white gel pen

This last item is for the Middle School Deco Squares. the pink cardstock is just what i temporarily mounted them too. i was stumped on this one as my child isn't in middle school and i wasn't sure what to do. so again i went to the Locker Talk cartridge and cut out the items. the Ipod i used embrodary floss and circles punched out to add headphones (not included with on the cartridge.)

Thank you for looking. if you are in this swap i hope you enjoy the items.

Pizza Hut Lasagna Thumbs down

2009-03-22T18:58:00.000-07:00

Ya know the commercial "where's the Beef" my question for Pizza Hut is where's the cheese. I barely see any cheese, and it definatly don't look like the picture. 3 lbs of nothing. My kids didn't even touch it. they loved the breadsticks though. their Mac and cheese is good though. i don't like any mac and cheese beside the Kraft Deluxe and the occassional blue box Kraft. So for me to say the Pizza hut one is good is saying something. I think I will stick with my Prego homemade (sort of) Lasagna that the kids like.

Why fear the MiniVan?

2009-03-17T11:35:00.001-07:00

I don't understand why there is such a fear of driving a mini van? Families who get larger have few choices when it comes to transportation. but when you ask some ladies they say "oh no we are going to have to get a van?" "oh i am pregnant but I don't want to think about having to get a van?" is there something wrong with a van. When we got pg with Camden we were driving cars. Yes, we were going from 3 to 4 in family size and it would have been ok to have a car and seat us just fine but we went with a van. Why? cuz we had 2 dogs also. When we went to pick out the van i was skeptical. i didn't drive it. it was so big. i was scared. the guy said "here borrow it for the night, let me know what you think?" so that weekend we had to take my husbands car back as the lease was up which meant....I HAD TO DRIVE THE VAN..... I was frightened. it wasn't a small trip. it was 45 min to Madison from Beloit. on the freeway. not something i wanted to do. but i had no choice. So off we went and you know what. it was a smooth nice ride. i had no problems. i loved seeing above everyone. it wasn't too bad. So that weekend we became owners of a mini van and i LOVED IT. i love the power doors, i loved the power lift gate. i loved it. now mind you this was back in 2001 when entertainment packages weren't the norm. and no fold and go seats or seats that turn backward and options for tables. We have since traded the Van in for an SUV. i miss my van. i wish i could have got another but the 2008 chrysler town and countrys were UGLY. i hated that boxy look to them. i miss my electronic doors and while the SUV still seats 7, it seems more tight inside. not as open and airy like the van was. it also seems like it has less cargo space inside. i don't know why but they are the same size on the outside just the inside is smaller. But we are stuck for awhile. unless in a couple years we trade in the wagon for a van. i am just going to have to deal with it.

for all you ladies who are freaking about the future and driving a van. They aren't something to fear. when you have a large family they are neccessary.

It's done

2009-03-05T18:05:00.000-08:00

It is done... the pictures don't really do it justice but it is much more open than it was before. i even have some wall space to put up a couple wooden shelves. It also needs some tweeking with putting things away and getting rid of things. below is a few from the door.

this picture is of the computer wall. those boxes above the computer still need to be sifted through and what ever don't belong either tossed or moved down in the basement. also around the printer needs to be cleaned out. i kinda just put stuf there temporarily.

this picture shows my chair and you can see the wooden shelf crooked. it will be straight I hope to put jars of flowers on it. i have been saving odd glass jars from spagetti sauces and pickles. there is also a few things I need to straighten. i would like to pack up anything not needed in the big drawers of the plastic drawer thing. and I want to cover the front with deco paper

this is the new spot for the tv. i love how i can scrap and look up and see the tv. before it was on the side of me. i would like to put another wooden shelf up above the tv to hold dvd's i watch most often and VHS tapes. first is to reclaim a VCR from somewhere in the house.

this is the view from me sitting at my desk now. i do have to figure out where to put my sunlight lamp and i need a clamp to clamp it to the table. I also have a shoe box that i plan on covering with paper and using for a scrap paper holder. Anyway, that is it. just a little more cleaning up and tweaking things and I am good to go. now don't ask about the rest of the house.

Well the room is almost done

2009-03-04T17:50:00.000-08:00

the first hard part is done. that is moving the furniture around. i got everything moved some things are in a temporary spot but over all I am LOVING the new layout. this is going to be a quick post as my battery is dying on the laptop.

second big task. putting everything in it's place. i was going to do some tonite but I am starting not to feel well. could it be from dropping the air compressor on my head. it didn't hit hard but i think my brain is making up pains from it. also i have a headache. had one all day. so the compressor hitting my head didn't help. actually it hit the back of my neck area. Anyway, i think i just need to lay down and relax. i got my paper put away and now it is just going through some things and putting them in their place. then I will take a picture of it. thinking maybe i will just move everything in there and go through it box by box. i did find that I won't be able to put my two meanards totes together but oh well. i will put the most used one next to me. well i better go before i loose power. nite

It has begun...

2009-03-03T17:21:00.000-08:00

i started on the room. first step was the table. I went through the boxes underneath the table. have two boxes to go down. one more started to go down. the whole table is cleared off with everything moved to the front room. I came to realize that the shoe shelf (long one) won't fit along the short end of the table like i envisioned. so i think I am going to have to use two of the smaller 12 inche shelves that i have. Funny thing is when i pulled the long shelf down and put it in the living room my son decided to play with it. he put it down and proclaimed this is my rummage sale. HA HA. think we go garage saling a bit too much hey. tomorrow i need to clean my house and then i will do a little bit more in here. i may miss the first few day of the VC but i can catch up. i think once i get everything out. it won't be too bad getting everything back in.

i will post pictures later. i have to wait till after the 6th when my txt messaging resets. i think i am at my limit right now. if anyone knows how to set up my photobucket so that it don't send me a txt everytime i send a picture to tell me my picture went through that would be GREAT. it wastes txt messages for useless things like that

Before the redo

2009-03-01T13:47:00.000-08:00

it was requested that I post pictures of the before shots of my room. now please excuse the cluttered mess. like i mentioned before, my room has become a catch all of sorts. when in doubt throw it in there. there is alot that will be taken out. like the boxes under my table. the boxes on top of the microwave shelving unit. the boxes above the computer desk. the computer desk will stay where it is but I may or may not redo the place where the printer sits.

This is the computer wall. I am really not on it much as it is slow cuz i need to delete a bunch of crap off it. maybe i will get dh to fix it up once he is done at circuit city.

This is the plastic etegere (for those who aren't familar with the word it means An étagère is a piece of light furniture very similar to the English what-not) Basically it is a 5 shelf plastic shelf that I can put together.

this is the microwave cabinet. and the corner of my table and the menards totes. the bin on the floor is full of legos, put in this room to hide it from the kids. they can't seem to keep them picked up. Yes it is FULL of legos. so imagine that spread on your floor

Here is my table. if you look below on the floor plan you will see where i have the bookcase. well on that bookcase i plan to put those metal cubes you see holding my paper and stamp boxes. and various other things from this area on my table. The long shelf with the tackle boxes will stay on my table but will be against the wall on the end of the table (you can see next to the book case) almost everything under my desk will go in storage in the basement or hall closet)

This wall you see the bookcase i mentioned before. as you see it is mostly empty so i will want to take advantage of the shelves. My cricut, P3, TV and such. i am thinking this wall may look the same except that the P3 may move and then the plastic drawer will be replaced by the shelves that are currently on my table now. so that the two sides will be similar in size without having to use my son's building blocks to hold the shelf even. Again sorry for the mess but this is why I am doing a whole over haul of my room

Wrinkle in the plan

2009-03-01T06:21:00.000-08:00

now i remembered why i didn't put my tv on the microwave shelf. the tv is too big. crap and i was really digging the new plan for the room cuz that would put the tv right up in front of my desk and I could watch. I could remove the bottom shelf but then i would be loosing a shelf huh. or i could put the tv stand over there and move the microwave stand some where else.

this is the planned floor plan. the room is 11ft 1 almost square. we have that chunk out of the one corner for the door. also there is a large window in the front and it is hard to put anything in front of it as it is maybe 2 feet off the floor. The computer corner has to stay there cuz the window glare don't hit it there and I really don't want curtins on the window.

i guess i could put the white plastic etege shelves in the corner where the microwave thing will go and figure something else for the microwave thing. or i could get a smaller tv which we can't afford. i will ask dh when he gets up if they have small tv's still at Circuit City.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

Trying to redo my space

2009-02-28T19:36:00.000-08:00

i decided after seeing a couple of OLF's scrapspaces, that mine is in need of a serious make over. so I am looking into possibly revamping my space. since it is winter here and who knows when or if it will warm up, time to think of doing something inside. SO!!!! I guess time to redo my scrap space, get rid of things NOT in use and put in the basement. then move the things i do use around in hopes to utilize it more. I have the plans drawn out, now just to put it in action. i do need to measure a few more things to make sure they will fit but i think it might work. tomorrow I will take pictures of my space before the vamp. then as i go on i will take more. So look for updates. who knows, it might work and it might not. but either way i will be getting things out of my space I am not using and be able to shampoo the rug in here that is in dire need of it. and get me some excercise moving stuff. (bookcases and more)

Lovely. SNOW

2009-02-26T16:43:00.000-08:00

ok so it is ok and pretty and all but not when 1. i have to get my kids in it 2. i have places to go tomorrow and 3. I have to snow blow the driveway and the wind is whipping.

The snow started about 1pm. I was watching it fall thinking, huh should i get my kids early. I decided not to. Mistake. You see my kids get out at 2:5o. i leave the house at 2:25ish. I was thinking how much snow can fall 1.5 hours. Apparently ALOT. i left the house a few min early due to the snow. There was 4 inches on the ground. what was falling was being blown around and no one plowed the roads yet. After all it had only be snowing for 1.5 hours right. Near whiteout condtions. at the stop sign i could only see maybe 5-6 car lengths away. Drove 20mph the whole way to school and back. thankfully they let the kids out a little early so i didn't have to wait 2o min for them to get out. Camden got in right away and Hunter 5 min later. I got home and my second mistake was not going out right away to snow blow. i waited and then when i did go out, it got dark mighty fast AND the wind is blowing so much that what i did blow just got drifted over again. I did try though. at least i got the deep spots done but it will probably be drifted over but nothing i can do about that now. My husband took the SUV to work but he best be home in time for me to take the kids to school as Hunter can't be late. he has a field trip and I have to take the dog in to get spayed. i hope they plow the roads. thankfully where I am going didn't get much snow, so i may only have a little problem the first half hour or so. but it looks like the snow will stop as soon (only light now) and they will have ALL night to get the roads in order.

Here we go again

2009-02-24T10:15:00.000-08:00

Dancer is now sick. i don't know exactly what is wrong with her but she is limping. I have a vet appointment at 3:30. i am hoping it is just arthyrtis (sp) and an easy fix of some anti inflamatories. i know it don't help with Bailey always wanting to play. then i went to chase after bailey cuz she peed on the floor and to toss her out on her butt which caused Dancer to get excited and wrenched something that was already sore. Anyway, I am looking at this with an open mind. And while i don't want to loose my Dancer, I don't want to go through what we did with Lady. Also it got me thinking that when she does eventually die on us, i don't want her ashes. i know my dh was attached to Lady and I am to Dancer but not so much that I want her on my mantle. I mean shoot. My cat went off to die and I didn't shed a tear. Some may think that heartless but i had him since 92. he was OLD. he spent the last 8 or so years by my mom. She told me he went off and didn't come back so he went off to die. Cats do that and while I am heart broken, it is just life. I would have liked him to go to sleep gently but i wasn't there and i told my mom to let me know and I will send her money to put him to sleep. But I don't think my dh can handle another death. so please pray it is something simple and easily fixed. I will update this post later. her appointment is at 3:30

UPDATE

she is ok, i got some meds to help her with her joints. a suppliment of sorts. then pain meds for her when she needs them. other than that she is healthy and has no signs of anything else. they said it could be lymes but i don't think so.

seasons of Wisconsin

2009-02-23T08:28:00.000-08:00

Living in Wisconsin you get the full effect of all the seasons. Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall. When you have one season you long for the next and so forth. So when you are braving the bitter cold of winter after so many days you start looking forward to Summer and so on. But the thing about Wisconsin (or any other state in the area) is the Tease. The weather teases you and then draws back. Back around Feb 7th, we had 40 degree weather. But apparently someone thought it would be a funny joke and sent snow the other day. I right now just want it to warm up. I am sick of the white stuff, i had my fill and now i am done. I am sick of the below zero wind chills. I am sick of being cooped up cuz it is just so cold. I want to go back to excercising at the Centre. I want to be able to take a walk if i want. I am feeling like a fat cow and it is disgusting me. If it was just me then i would just go but i just am sick of bundling up my 3 year old and go out. It is so much work, got to put on the winter coat, only to find it fell on the floor and the cat peed on it. then grab the other coat and that one you need a hat with, then the boots, oh wait she don't want boots, she wants shoes, or she want her brown fashion boots. while I am longing for the day when i can say "put your shoes on" and she will go put on her crocs herself. just seems like alot of work to drive to excercise, so i stay home. And i know there will be a time when Summer is in it's grips and I will be saying "man why is it so HOT...is it ever going to cool down." I think this is why there are 4 seasons, Spring and Fall are those transition seasons. of the seasons I think Spring is my favorite, the grass is growning and the birds come back. then comes Fall with the falling of the leaves. Anyway, right now I am in a winter funk. More snow looks like is expected on Thursday. You can't see it but I am so jumping for joy about that. oh and you may ask, why don't I move to a state that gets spring and fall like temps all year round or less summer and less winter. Truth be told. I LOVE WISCONSIN. I was born here and my family all live here. This is my state and I couldn't see us leaving. when my dh found a job in the Twin Cities. and we were looking at moving. i told him look at towns on the wisconsin side.

SWAPS ARE DONE

2009-02-21T19:11:00.000-08:00

They are done. now I just have to start working on the stuff due this summer but march swaps are done. i hope they ladies like them. So here they are. Some pictures were cut off but I will post direct links to those.

These first 5 are for the recipe swaps. I really love how the popcorn paper piecing came out and the stamped image on the cookie recipe. btw it is from close to my heart. oh and i love the cuttlekids monkey. i use him alot

These elephants are for the Zoo handmade surprise set. i saw him on ebay and printed out the picture and copied it. isn't he cute. sorry i don't know who i got it from. i should have wrote that down huh?

See whole picture HERE

This next set is for the Zoo photo mat or journaling box group. i of course chose photomat but I guess you could use it as journaling boxes too. I again saw this on a page that someone was selling on ebay. yep forgot to write the maker down. i did have to change it up as i couldn't find and giraff paper that wasn't HUGE. so we went with Zebra instead. See whole picture HERE

This set was again seen on ebay. it was on an already done page like the zoo one above. they had a pencil in place of the ABC but Michaels no longer sells the pencils or at least the one i was at didn't have them. i added a little binder paper. it isn't actual paper but punched to look like it. i found this could lined scrapbook paper at Hobby lobby. some i had to draw the red line on and then some i was able to use the red line already on the paper. Check the full picture HERE

Anyway, i hope you enjoy looking at my swap item. next post will be the layouts I have been working on. Yep, I actually got to scrap some this weekend.

I been tagged I guess

2009-02-03T18:42:00.000-08:00

I been tagged by Amanda.

Here is what I am suppose to do

Here's the directions : you are to go to your pictures and pick the 6th folder and then the 6th picture in that folder. Post it and explain what it is all about.

my Sixth folder in my picture file is Family photos and the 6th picture is my niece as a baby.

I am sorry for being a slacker

2009-02-03T18:06:00.000-08:00

i just haven't had time to scrapbook lately. the mood hasn't been in me. I will be working on some stuff this weekend. So hopefully when I get back I will have some things to share.

Life has been crazy. Health wise I am doing good with the PICA. i have some small slips but stuff I can handle. i can see paper and walk away when before it was taking over my life. Also i have some women buisness problems. Heavy Women Friend. I am going to be going in for a Uterine Ablation. I have already had an ultrasound and Biopsy. all came back ok but my ob thinks i have some polyps and while I was leaning toward an IUD to help the flow of the matter. she says it won't cure the polyps so it looks like ablation is the way to go. Good thing...I think there is a 41% chance that I will no longer have AF. and if I do have it it will be light. oh that would be HEAVEN. Right now I can leave the house for 2 days and go through 9 pads a day, can't even think about tampons. (sorry TMI)

The kids are good. we are getting ready for a trip to my home town. plan to do a little scrappin and see my sister. Mostly it is to bring her all this baby gear i have so that she is ready when my nephew arrives. I still can't believe she is having a boy. I asked my niece if she was excited and she said NO. I said why? she was "cuz boys are messy" LOL I told her well she is messy too so it won't be much difference.

Hunter got his report card back and he got all A's Camden also had alot of good marks. except one minus on the homework. He just won't do it. Well he does now cuz he knows if he don't he has to miss recess and do it with Mrs. Isaac. LOL

My hubby is loosing his second job. He works for Circuit City. So we are scrambling what to do. I am thinking I would like to go and try for Michaels or Archivers or something. working in something I know and love. I know i would buy a lot too but shoot, dh works in an electronic store...so much more expensive things there and that he loves

I never posted on here but we got a new puppy. Her name is Bailey. I think she is a Meagle (Minature Pincher and beagle) she is defiantly not pure Beagle. She has these awefully long legs and her bark is not a beagle bark. She gets along with both Dancer and Skitty. they romp around and play alot. The below picture was when we got her. she is considerably bigger now. I also think she is part rabbit as she hops so much.

Well I think that is it for me. I seriously need some canned air as my daughter likes to eat crackers on my keyboard. CRUMBS

Home-Style Chicken Dinner

2009-02-03T16:44:00.000-08:00

I was in the check out line at the store and saw this recipe book called Casserole Recipe cards by Betty Crocker. I was looking in the book and found that there seemed quite a few recipes I wouldn't mind trying. Tonite i did that. I am always making the Same ol' Same ol' chicken recipes. So tonite i did the home style chicken dinner. i must say it was delicious. though the chicken was a tad over cooked as i had put it in longer cuz the potatoes weren't done. I also didn't have the tomatoes (i wouldn't have cared for them anyway) or the sweet potatoes or the green bell pepper. And I added some onion and carrots to the mix instead. Oh and I didn't have the fryer chicken, i used boneless breast and thighs. so that could be also why they didn't finish at the same time. so next time I will put the potatoes in for 10min before the putting the chicken on. Also i think next time i will do a combo of melted butter and olive oil. but i must say it was DELICIOUS

so without further ado. here is the recipe (oh and can i say it was SUPER SIMPLE)

2 tsp dried basil

1 tsp seasoned salt

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp pepper

2 tbsp olive oil

3-3.5 lbs cut up broiler fryer chicken (skin removed opt.)

6 small unpeeled red potatoes, cut into 4ths

2 med dark orange sweet potatoes cut into 1 inch pieces

1 med, green bell pepper

3 Roma tomatoes cut into forths

Heat oven to 400* spray 13x9 baking dish with cooking spray. in large bowel mix basil seasoned salt, garlic, pepper and oil. Brush about half of the mixture on chicken. Add remaining ingredients to bowl and toss to coat

Place vegetables in baking dish and place chicken on top. brush with any remaining oil mixture

Bake 45-50 min or until vegetables are tender and juice of chicken is no longer pink when cut. Serve with pan juices.

Blogger: Life, Love, and Layouts - Manage Posts

2008-12-13T14:37:00.000-08:00

Blogger: Life, Love, and Layouts - Manage Posts: "Honestly what goes through his head
Honestly what goes through his head

Somedays I would love to see why my son does the things he does. Like why playing in dirty litter is good. or why thinking that dumping clean litter on the floor is a good idea. Or dumping litter in the toilet and sink could possibly work. (clumping litter that is). This morning I awoke to find that he had CRACKED all the eggs in the fridge. there was I think 8-9 eggs and he cracked all but one open and put them in the sink and the shells in the carton and the one egg was left out so obviously was no good. He did this sometime between 10 pm and the morning. I don't know when. I was in bed. and while I was awake at about 11 I didn't hear him go down. Seriously what runs through his head. Well I have house work to do, a dude is coming today to buy our old tv. Hopefully he shows, I have had this happen with another buyer for the tv. she was interested then our timing wasn't right, then we even lowered the price a little, she planned on coming out, only to not show. Drives me bonkers. but I need this money for my scrappin weekend. it sure will help."

Money Card

2008-12-13T09:16:00.000-08:00

I got this idea from Dawn's Stamping Studio I wanted to have a step by step look instead of a video as Dawn did. ok here is goes.

you will need

7 1/2" x 7 1/8" cardstock

2" x 7 1/4" cordinating cardstock

1" x 7" cordinating paper (belly band)

circle embellishment (this you can pre buy or make)

tools needed
circle punch

adhesive and pop dots

scoring tool

paper trimmer

Anything you may need to creat your embelly

1. cut your paper to 7 1/2 x 7 1/8

2. score on the 7 1/8 side at 2 3/4 and 5 3/4. Fold on these lines.

3. cut a half circle mid way between the smaller fold side and then apply adhesive along the sides (see where the white arrows are) and then fold adhereing the sides and creating the pocket for where you money will go.

4. take you 2"x 7 1/4" paper. Here is where you can decorated it with stamping or as I did with embossing in the cuttlebug. Then take your belly band paper and score and fold it at 1 3/4 x 4 3/4

5. You can if you so like use a scallop punch and punch the front flap of the card. adhere your 2 x 7 1/4 paper to the front of the card. Then fold the belly band around card and adhere the ends together. use pop dots and adhere your embelly for the card. This card I used a premade embelly. but the below one with the monkey I used the cuttle bug die and cricut to make the circles.

6. place money in the card and slide the belly band over the card. The skies the limit with this card. you can add a greeting on the outside paper. switch things up with embellies. have fun

Gift Card Card

2008-11-24T08:45:00.000-08:00

I know some have said not to give Gift cards this year but you could also use the slot to put cash in folded up or a check.

What you will need:

12 by 12 sheet piece of cardstock

paper trimmer

adhesive

punch (square or slot punch, I used square)

embellishment

1. First cut your 12x12 paper to the size of 5.5 x 12. reserve the other piece for another card later.

2. Make 3 score lines at 4", 6" and 8" and fold so that your paper resembles a W.

3. apply adhesive there. on the inner arch of the W. Look at my picture below, see were the white lines are. put the adhesive there. and then stick then fold so that it is looking like a regular folded card but with this flap in the center.

5. Now using a card you may have on hand mark where you want your slit to go. I put mine in the middle. you can have your card going long ways or short. (I took a poll and most like short)

Mark your paper and using your punch make a slit for your card. for long way your slit will be 3.5 " and for short it would be 2 1/4".

6. Now embellish like you wish. I embossed the front in my cuttlebug. added some embellies. I like to stick a embelly on the inside by the slit. you don't have to. I also stamp the back side but again. this part is up to you.

it has been awhile

2008-11-24T08:42:00.000-08:00

been busy. I made the yearly trip to madison to go scrappin. it was AWESOME! I met some online buddies and scrapped with my sister. Fun was had by all. tried Flock for the first time. AWESOME STUFF now i need to get white for the cards I am going to show you how to make in my other post. Lady is home and on the mantle. I did a few layouts for her book. I need to get an album for them so I can put them in a book and get it ready to give to dh. even though he already saw the layouts. i think having it in a book will be great. No snow here yet. my mom south got a couple inches but we got NOTHING. just brown grass and cold. I don't mind snow as long as it snows on the weekend or days I don't have to drive the kids to school. Anyway need to do my post for the cards I made.

Lady's coming home this week.

2008-10-21T10:22:00.001-07:00

her urn came today. and her remains are at the vet right now to be picked up. What timing. Dh told me that Dancer seemed sad. I said she needs a puppy. LOL Well you got to think that Dancer has never been without another dog. she went from the breeder (with dogs) to us with Lady. so to be the only dog, she is probably sad.

I am sorry

2008-10-17T19:19:00.000-07:00

I haven't really been scrappin lately. I think it has to do with the Pica. while I am doing so good about the paper thing. I am afraid to sit at my desk and scrap. I think I will do something tomorrow. If anything I need to get my scrap space in order and get things ready for my crop. go through the pics of Lady and figure out what I need to bring with me.

Speaking of Lady. I keep hearing noises. I went into the closet and heard the sound of her collar. I let the Dancer out and I hear Lady bark. Just little things. The other day I washed the blanket. I had to make sure it was dry before dh got home cuz while we have a back up blanket, it was also the one lady slept on in the closet the last few months of her life. I don't know if dh is ready to use that blanket.

Well I am going to go and watch some tv before I fall asleep.

just a little update

2008-10-16T10:45:00.000-07:00

ya know what I realized today. Paper I use to eat, don't seem to taste the same as it did. so the urg for certain things are no longer an issue. Isn't that odd.

Also today Sam has a speech appointment and i just realized the last time she had speech, Lady was alive and now she isn't. And I went to pick up the paper and it was the bill from the vet when dh had her put to sleep. Wow we spent alot on Lady that last month. $200 for first vet appointment, $50ish for the second and the last $168. And it was all for naught.

today I went to the Y but then dh called afterward and wanted me to bring something home to eat. so what was the point of me working out. huh? I wish subway had a drive through cuz really, I would have went there but I didn't want to unbuckle Sam drag her in and then buckle her back up. I think subway would get more buisness if they had a drive through and I know it can be done as most people that go to subway know what they want and how they want it. If they can do it at Cousins then they can do it for subway. If you don't know or want to see what is being made then you can still go in if you like.

FREEZING

2008-10-15T15:49:00.001-07:00

I don't know if winter is finally showing up but today is cold. it is about 55 degrees out but the wind has bite to it. I am chilled and just can't get warm, even with long sleeves and socks on. I am going to have to find a pair of warm slippers to wear. I have some but I just don't like them. I had a pair that i loved back when but they bit the dust.

Dh ordered Lady's Urn. I just find it a tad morbid to put her on the mantle like that. Everytime I will look at the mantle I will see her sitting up there. It will make me sad all over. It made me cry just looking at the darn thing on the screen.

My pica is better, I don't have that URG to eat paper like I did before. though I haven't really scrapbooked yet. It became such a habit to eat the scraps left over from cutting that I wonder if I will do it still. I think I will have to get some candy or something to chew on while I work so I don't run into that problem. I have had some slips but they are minor compared to what it was so I can't handle that. the little bit won't hurt me.

i thought this wouldn't be too hard

2008-10-12T13:58:00.000-07:00

I had 2 weeks to get use to this. Lady was just a ghost of a dog. I am finding little things throughout the day. yesterday it was a thunderstorm. Lady hated thunderstorms. I always knew a storm was coming before it arrived. I called her a walking barometer. She would follow you around (mostly me) and pant and fluff. crawl in your neck if you were sleeping. Today I heard a gun shot go off, hunting season is coming up next month and Lady hated that. She was a beagle and that is a breed used for hunting but she couldn't stand the sound of gun shots. I also wrapped up her tie out today. We got an underground fence in 2.5 months ago but the last weeks we found out she was sick we put her on the tie out so not to stress her. she hated getting shocked but learned not to go anywhere near the perimeter. actually she rarely ventured far from the house after getting a big jolt when she went to say hi to the garbage man. I think Dancer is feeling it too. She just seems mopey. Dh thinks that it won't be like this for Dancer since he isn't as attached but it will be. I find myself getting teary and just openly weeping (like now) I do put on a brave front in front of some and dh asks me how I feel but I can't tell him cuz
I can't talk about it without crying. It is just so quiet. I never thought that loosing her would leave the house so quiet. I guess I should have cuz she was always the barker. Dancer was quiet but Lady let people know when someone was out walking.

Lady * June 1998-Oct 2008 ~ Sleep well *

2008-10-11T10:54:00.000-07:00

i can't be strong no longer...

2008-10-11T09:12:00.000-07:00

i have always distanced myself from this whole Lady thing. I have always tried to be the rock and the word of reason. I think if we would have put her to sleep right away or with in the first week, but draggin this on and grasping is hard. Seeing her get worse is hard. Today I made the dreaded call to the vet for one final check up, I say final becuz I know the answer isn't good, I know that my husband is going to come home alone. He is going to leave with his beloved dog and come home without her. She isn't getting better. Refusing all food except hot dogs which are high in salt and bad for her heart. She has started doing this hacking thing and labor breathing when she is moving. I know this is the best but my heart breaks for my husband. I am openly weaping right now. Jim is not open to wanting another dog right now. I think it would be a good thing becuz I think that Lady would approve. So many pets out there need loving families and happy lives. It don't have to be another beagle. His thinking is he don't want to go through this again. I told him, he is going to have to..we have Dancer. He thinks that cuz he isn't as attached to Dancer it won't be as bad, but trust me it will be cuz I weep for Lady and I wasn't as attached to her either. It is 11:19 right now. the appointment is at 11:45. while I should go with him, I can't. I can't drag all three kids over to the vet and have them see their Daddy cry like that. So please hug your puppies tight.

Honestly what goes through his head

2008-10-11T07:45:00.000-07:00

Somedays I would love to see why my son does the things he does. Like why playing in dirty litter is good. or why thinking that dumping clean litter on the floor is a good idea. Or dumping litter in the toilet and sink could possibly work. (clumping litter that is). This morning I awoke to find that he had CRACKED all the eggs in the fridge. there was I think 8-9 eggs and he cracked all but one open and put them in the sink and the shells in the carton and the one egg was left out so obviously was no good. He did this sometime between 10 pm and the morning. I don't know when. I was in bed. and while I was awake at about 11 I didn't hear him go down. Seriously what runs through his head. Well I have house work to do, a dude is coming today to buy our old tv. Hopefully he shows, I have had this happen with another buyer for the tv. she was interested then our timing wasn't right, then we even lowered the price a little, she planned on coming out, only to not show. Drives me bonkers. but I need this money for my scrappin weekend. it sure will help.

Well I haven't been scrappin but I have been making sushi

2008-10-10T16:25:00.000-07:00

Fake sushi but I think it turned out cute. I make play food and I am trying to get some stock built up and try to sell it on etsy or other mom's who want hand made playfood. Each peice is hand stiched and take some take a little time and some take alot. it is hard on the hand at times so I can't work on it continuously but thanks to the dvr I can watch TV and work on it when I feel like it. You can see the food I have made (not all is in stock though) HERE I started this playfood awhile ago as a gift and then when I had a daughter I started again. though right now she isn't quite into it yet, but when she is I will be ready for her. there is still a ton of foods I haven't made yet that I have patterns for and a few ideas for other that I have in my head. Of the playfood I made the Sushi, food box, tuna can, egg carton and the soup/veggie cans I came up with the pattern for on my own.

It is so hard

2008-10-09T08:00:00.000-07:00

watching your pet die. you know they will eventually and i know it is the best thing to do but today was hard. I came home to dh wanting me to make another vet appointment. He is so optimistic but I think it is a loosing battle. this is his dog and seeing him cry just breaks my heart. I have seen him tear up during movies but to out right weep it the roughest part. I may seem heartless at times when it comes to this but this is my way of keeping myself back from it. I don't want to cry. this is the first time I am crying and it only cuz he is crying. I have a feeling on Tuesday we will be putting Lady to sleep. I guess her being sick has got me use to the idea of her being gone as she isn't begging, stealing or pleading for food, not gotten in the garbage or snuck out of the house. She is a ghost of what she was and really isn't Lady to me anymore.

Just some musing about today

2008-10-08T17:16:00.000-07:00

Lady will only eat things we make for her. she is boycotting all dog food. so I guess I will be making some homemade doggie food with chicken I just boiled for her. I don't care as long as she eats. though I honestly don't think she is getting better. my dh says give the meds time. but how can you make a heart start working. or if she has cancer. she still has labored breathing sometimes

On the pica front. I got my iron supplements and will start on those. today was a good day, only one slip. though I felt a little off. the walmart blood pressure thing said I had high bp...just the upper number. I wonder if it is coming off the whole paper thing. Can you have withdrawel from that?

Tomorrow I think I am going to go to the Y and do water fitness. I did do 30 min on the wii fit board today. it was cute cuz Sam was doing the yoga moves with me. no I didn't do all yoga. I did a combo of aerobic, balance and yoga.

I love the halloween time. only cuz they have packages of mini candies. I got some wonka assortment. they are perfect cuz when you have a need for sugar I grab one. I won't get the chocolate ones as I will eat those in a day. what is it with chocolate I will scarf down but sugary things I can take my time. I just finished off my mini nerds. If the kids don't find them I will have to bring them down scrappin.

CRAP the kids found my candy stash. aw heck

Today was a good day

2008-10-07T14:56:00.000-07:00

I had two slips with pica but that is alot better than what it was. i am working so hard to stay away. course I didn't do any scrappin today. I also picked up some suppliments to get me started. I know I need vit D as I don't drink milk. and potatsium good for the heart. I do feel better today, sleepy but better. I even was in the store and got the urge to make a meal so I bought some stuff to cook. I haven't decided on pork roast, beef roast or something else. hmmm. it will be something in the slow cooker. I love that thing. My MiL got me a new one. I love the three different size pots. though I stained the heck out of the biggest one with my refried beans. so i have to find the book for it and see if I can order another one. use the stained one for just beans. course I dont really entertain so I guess it don't matter.

Good news....my blood work came back and while I am severely anemic, everything else looked good. she said my percentage was 9 % and she likes to see things above 12...so she wants me to take 600 mg of iron a day WOW. I have to go get some supplements today...follow up in 3 weeks. I hope this helps me. I know I will always have pica, and as long as it is here or there I am fine but this last few weeks have been CRAZY!!!!

now to get my dh in cuz I have a feeling he is anemic too.

I don't think she is going to make it

2008-10-07T14:06:00.000-07:00

she was eating and now she is refusing. i even bought different food. i know what we should do but it is up to dh. Also we have to find a place that does cremation of pets. dh wants her cremated. i just want to cry but i know this is the best. I told dh that i don't want another beagle. while I love Lady, it is too much stress for me. Of course now we have the underground fence so i guess it wouldn't be too bad.

Pica and Lady update

2008-10-06T12:01:00.000-07:00

Pica is a medical disorder characterized by an appetite for largely
non-nutritive substances

I suffer from Pica. the worse kind to a scrapbooker though. I eat paper. I have always done this when I was a teenager. grew out of it. then did it from time to time. well it has gotten worse this past summer till now. it is hard as I know it is wrong, I know it is gross, I know it isn't healthy but i can't stop. I scrapbook, I have paper everywhere. somedays are ok. some aren't. I took the first step today though and went to the doctor. She gave me some ah ha moments. Here I had heavy monthly clotting during my womenly visits. turns out the pica and clotting could go together. I could be anemic. I could be lacking something. the pica isn't cuz I am hungry either. I could have just eaten but still have the urge to have paper. So the doctor is doing a blood work up. this could also explain the feeling I have of chaos. I stand in my kitchen, look around see clutter and just freak. I use to be good at keeping up with the house work and now I just don't want to. So right now we are going to work on it and I am going to fight the urge to eat paper. Today was a semi good day so far. I only had 3 episodes. I just want to feel like me. good note, my blood pressure was fine.

Lady, it don't look good. Dh of course has the egyptian flu (huh brenda sound familar) and is in Denile. He wants to try the meds longer. While I feel that I don't want to loose Lady, I just don't want her to suffer. while she is doing better. the improvment isn't much. But Lady is Jim's dog and he don't want to loose her. I probably would feel the same if it were Dancer. I don't like to loose a pet but I rather they go soundly to sleep for good then dying here. Part of it also is that I don't want to wake to find a dead animal. I don't my kids to see it either. a dead mouse or bug is one thing but not a pet. expecially for Hunter as they have all been raised together. While they don't care for Lady (she steals their food) I know that they do still love her.

Dancer

2008-10-05T07:41:00.000-07:00

here is a layout that I worked on yesterday. I figure I should get some layouts done of the dogs before they are no longer with us. I never realized they are both coming up on their maximum life expectency. I just thought they would live longer. Dancer is 11 years old. She is an Australian Shepherd. everytime someone asks what kinda of dog they think they should get, I always say an Aussie. they are very good listeners, quiet for the most part, they do need to be groomed though. I do it about once a month but taking her in for a wash and trim. She is also my shadow. She has followed me around since day one of getting her and usually can be found at my feet or laying in the doorway leading to my scrapbook room. The flowers on this layout use to be white but I colored them with water colors to match the layout. I love this technique as it gives you more options instead of buying a bunch of flowers in different colors. the bunch came from walmart for 75cents and I think I got over 20 flowers. the green ones are primas. The font is Opposites attract upright.

Cuttlebug challenge

2008-10-04T18:36:00.000-07:00

Well here is a card I did for the cuttlebug challenge http://cuttlebugchallenge.blogspot.com/ The challenge was to use 3 different embossing folder. this card I did used the swirls, swiss dot and the Happy birthday folder. funny thing is I cut out the happy birthday to put on the front of the card and then after the card was put together I noticed it didn't say happy birthday but Birthday Happy. LOL So I had to redo it by embossing the happy then the birthday below it as there was no Happy birthday on the folder I was using that was easy to cut out. I will give this card to my MiL for her stash. the glitter is stickles and cheap glitter glue from Michaels.

Silence is golden in a house with kids

2008-10-04T07:19:00.000-07:00

This morning I woke up at 8am. oh it was nice. would have been nicer if I would have went to bed early but I didn't. I fell asleep at 1:30am. the house was quiet. I took Dancer out (Lady was still sleeping) and then went up and took advantage of the silence and took a bath. It was nice. Even deep conditioned my hair.

Dh bought some special dog food for Lady and Dancer online. It is suppose to be good for them and no fillers, well...they don't like it. Lady ate some of the wet to take her pill then Jim mixed the wet with the dry and she refused to eat it. Even Dancer went over there and tried some, she ate some of the wet and spit out the dry. I am not sure what we are going to do with it now. I will probably have to mix the dry with the Iams and sneak it in. Good thing Jim only got one can of wet. I think we are going to stick with the pedigree wet. though we do need to get Lady to eat more than just wet.

Well today I am going to try and turn off the computer for most of the day. Saturdays are slow anyway. get some house work done and then watch some OTH and scrapbook. Tonite Dh and I will watch IRON MAN.

**OTH means One Tree Hill for those who don't know.***

Secret Body Mist

2008-10-03T17:30:00.000-07:00

So I picked up a can today. They only had on the shelf Jasmine orient and KuKu Cocobutter. So I smelled both (the other scent is apple) I must say the Jasmin orient is NICE. It is a nice fresh shower scent to it. I am so glad they came out with some body mists like they did with Axe for men. Cuz ya know there are times when you just need a freshening. oh and the cap is nice cuz you can close it up so you don't accendentally spray everything in your purse or bag.

Oh and on a side note I kinda got my sister in trouble with my posting of the Auntie thing. OOPS! I forgot that I sent my blog address to my sister who didn't know yet and she called the other sister and down the line it went. So, now everyone knows...Course no one called me after the fact and I have been trying to get a hold of said sister (Lori) all day. to discuss what we will do next year, CKC or November Crop again.

Lady's blood work back, good and bad

2008-10-03T13:43:00.000-07:00

Good--it is not blasto.
Bad -- it is probably tumors, not sure if cancerous or not.

I will discuss more options with the vet on Monday.

Going to be an Auntie again!!!!

2008-10-03T06:44:00.000-07:00

don't congrats me though as i am old hat at the auntie business. This will be grandchild number 13 for my side of the family and there are 7 on my dh's side. Now before you say WOW. 13 is spread out amongst 7 children. of course 7 is a big number and that is spread out amongst only 2. So i guess it is a good think I didnt get rid of all my baby stuff this summer. My sister is not very happy as it was unplanned but will get over it. So will it be a girl or boy. oooh I can't wait. she has two girls so it would be nice to have a boy in the mix.

oh I forgot to add. the boys school pictures are in...

2008-10-02T15:09:00.000-07:00

here they are...Camden wouldn't smile and Hunter never shows his teeth. Next time I think I will get the pictures done first instead of last. that is if they do the same set up they did this year. Can you see the spot on Camden's shirt. I don't know where that came from. I got them dressed just before we left for school and told them DONT GET DIRTY. But somehow Camden got a spot on his shirt.

Wow this is fun and update on Lady

2008-10-02T14:55:00.000-07:00

Well as you see I tweaked it a little. I don't know if I will keep this but I think the little kitty is fitting. I wish I knew how to make the journaling area wider though. that strip is so thin. if any of you know how to do this let me know. I just copied a code from someone.

Ok now for an update. Some of the blood work is back on Lady. though not the one on the Blasto. but we do know that 1. her internal organs, like kidney and such are fine. just her heart that is enlarged and her lungs. Her T4 count is fine also, though I didn't expect that to change with her being in thyroid meds. Her white cell count though is high, which is an indicator of an infection somewhere. So we start her on antibotics today. the Blasto results should be in tomorrow. The vet is hoping that comes back negative. I do to. I hope it is just some random infection in her lungs and these meds take care of that. So add one more pill to her regimin. that is 5 pills now she has to take. I am just a walking pharmacy, with Jim's acid reflux and colitis meds, Camden's ADHD meds and now the dogs meds. I am surprised that I can remember who gets what.

Sam is on her way speech wise

2008-10-02T11:29:00.000-07:00

I just got done with an eval for her speech therapy and she is right on target. They are beginning to wean her off therapy. starting this month every other week and next month 1 time and after that probably no more. Then for school year of 2009-2010 we will see about preschool. YEAH. first we have to work on potty training. OH and I need to get crackin and finish Erin's altered clipboard for her. I have the front done. I am not sure what I want to do with the back. I also would like to have an attached pen cuz a few times she has misplaced her pen. Here is the newest layout I did of Sam also.

It is kinda hard to see the BAD as it is done with Vellum but it is gorgous (I know tootin my own horn) in real life.