Happy Halloween~

Happy Halloween ya'll.. We are in the process of getting ready for the party tonight. Im really excited. We still have a few things to get and do, but its all coming together. Hope you have a great day/evening and are safe!

Say it ain't so~

nooooo... Joaquin Phoenix is retiring from acting??... what??...noooo. He is one of my all-time favorite actors.. he is ONLY 34!!! He is quitting to pursue a musical career, which I have no doubt he will do well with. My most favorite movie in which he stars... is the Johnny Cash lifestory *Walk The Line* and him and his voice...wooo boy!!! Well, even though you'll be missed... best wishes Mr. Phoenix!!! Here is a clip from the movie. I grew up listening to this song, so I was THRILLED when he and Reese Witherspoon sang it! Hope you like it too! Tell me what your favorite movie of Joaquin's was too!

oooo Witchy woman~

hehee.. I love that song. But, really it has nothing to do with this layout, other than my niece being dressed like a witch. hahaa. This is the layout I did tonight for the 1-hr contest over at Creative Scrappers. Once again it was a rush and I had fun with all the crazy girls over there. I love their sketches and company! Yay for scrapbooking!!! and yay for Daisy D's! ;)

Guess who's due in less than 2 months?~

..................not me...............

but yeah... the man in red... are you ready? Ive been listening to Christmas music the last several days... and it makes me so happy. Last night Hunter got a Hasbro toy catalog and a Toys R Us catalog and spent most of his evening circling the *I wants* hehee. He stopped mid circle once and asked "Just when is Santa coming again?" hahaa I soo remember those days and cherish the memories. I love it, but when it gets down to it.... lets get Halloween over with first. hahaa ;)

Wild Weekend~

It was a pretty cool weekend.. in so many ways~ Hunter and I drove back home over the weekend and spent our time watching Justice play his last games of soccer, meeting lil J.R. {my brothers newest addition} and visiting with Preston at his new pad! We had a great time. One that I wont soon forget! I have tons more photos that I will be using in upcoming layouts Im sure!!!

Preston and Hunter-2 Happy Brothers!Baby J.R. born 10/13/2008Justice and his 2nd place soccer division medal!

Is anybody out there?~

I tell ya.... I am so freakin' tired ya'll. Just tired of trying to keep up. But Im going to keep on pushing.. get through Halloween and it will get better. Ive definitely been a busy girl. I think once I get to work I can take a break, but then lo and behold work gets busy.. imagine that... hahaa At night we have been trying desperately to have family dinner time, clean up our messes and put things back in their place. Its rough, a new puppy a 3yr old. I sure do miss my stay-at-home-mom days. ;) I think we have a handle on the laundry finally and are about ready to get these dang carpets shampoo'd. Im preparing also for a small party on Halloween night. Mostly with the folks we work with and family. I cant wait. We got the place pretty spooked out and then we'll fix chili, hotdogs and have a fire in the pit. Im thinking of making jello shots as well. I just love parties but I do find myself stressing a bit. Its all good though. We'll make it and it will be a great time! ;)
Tomorrow Im off with Hunter to take a trip back home to surprise Justice at his last soccer game of the season. If he wins he will play a 2nd game for the Championship. Im so proud of him, I hear he is doing awesome this season. He did well last season and was on the Champion team so I have no doubt that he'll manage that once again. After we get done with the games Im taking him to lunch and then we'll go by my brothers to check out the newest addition to his family ...baby J.R. I cant wait to see him and take photos. I got Hunters closet gone through and have 5 boxes of clothes from 3 months to 3T to take to them. Once we have visited with the new baby we will go out to my Dads house where Preston is now living and spend the evening with Preston. He was so excited to know that we were coming. He had been grocery shopping and made a meal plan even. I think thats just the sweetest thing! He asked us to spend the night so Im sure we will and then head back Sunday. Todd is loving this time, he will be hanging out and deer hunting all weekend. Hopefully he will get the trim down in the kitchen. You know.. Ive been really thinking and praying lately... I just feel so blessed. I may not live in a mansion, I may not have the things others have.. but I have a loving family and a cozy HOME. Im very lucky!{Just had to share}
Anyway, this is why Ive been kinda on the down low lately. Just b-u-s-y!
What are you up to? Have a great weekend!!!

Insomnia~

......it does the creative mind good! hehee.. I couldnt sleep worth a darn last night, guess its the change in weather. I got up and watched tv while scrapping this gem of a layout of my brother and my son. The journaling reads: Hunter adores his Uncle Neal so much, and I have a feeling Uncle Neal feels the very same way. Summer 2008. I used some of my MME stash. I am just so thankful for the sketches at Creative Scrappers. I wouldnt be doing diddly if it werent for them. Thanks for stopping by!! Have a good rest of the week!

Busy, Productive, Accomplished!~

Before~After~Wow, was this weekend ever busy.. I so wish I had a jacuzzi so I could hop in tonight. It all started Friday night after work. We ran to Walmart and got groceries, grabbed some KFC and headed home. When we got home and ate we started clearing out the kitchen and preparing for the linolium to be layed the next day. We got a lot of the appliances out and then Todd started ripping up the old lino. We got that done and got to bed as we knew Saturday would be an early start. Get up Saturday, I took a shower and Todd and my brother-in-law Jim started in on the getting the floor prepared for the installation. At one point it looked like a knotted up mess, but they got it worked out and started the trimming out. It all went fairly smooth. After being on his stomach for a while though Todd started hurting {hernia we think} and so he sat out and let Jim do some of the trimming. They got it laid within 4 hours so that wasnt bad at all! While they were doing that I was scrubbing down the appliances.. and let me just say.. I will NEVER let them get that filthy again! Whew that took elbow grease. After they got finished and cleaned up the tool mess, we all loaded up with the kids and ran to Belleville and had lunch at our favorite Saturday afternoon spot for Mexican. We ate, headed back home so the guys could go out for an evening hunt. I tried really hard to be motivated and get some cleaning done but ended up in my scraproom working on an awesome sketch that just clicked with the photos of Hunter eating his beloved Dilly Bars hehee. I think it turned out real good... and satisfied my craving for the craft for a little while amidst the chaos in the rest of the house. The hunting trip turned out to be a good one for Todd, he got an 8pt buck.. a real nice one... so we took pics, Todd, Todd and Hunter and of course Todd had to let Ruby check the buck out too! They cleaned it up and we all cleaned up and fell into bed about midnight. I slept hard thankfully because today I was definitely on the go! I cleaned the kitchen thouroughly {going thru cabinets and drawers}.. I needed to clean out a BUNCH!.. I also came up with a different floor plan for our furniture so as soon as the carpet gets shampoo'd later this week we will be moving some things. Im still FAR from being done, but do feel somewhat accomplished in the fact that all the knucks and krannies have been vacuumned and dusted and went through. My next task is to downsize Hunters room and then flip it with my scraproom and get a computer into my scraproom. This will also allow the boys to have a bigger room and an extra bed for Justice when he is here. I cant wait. Im real happy with the lino, the clean house and the re-arranging.
How was your weekend? What did you do?

I dont like candy corn!~

I just love hearing this song in the fall. Im soooo excited about Halloween! I got the official ok to send out invites for our Halloween party!!! Im making little gift card holders with tag pull-outs that will have the party info on them. So far they are coming along wonderfully!
Do you like candy corn? I think its too sweet really, but I wouldnt rather eat my foot. hahaha Hunter calls candy corn-cotton candy. That boy is cooked! Last year he hated this lil diddy... this year he laughed his butt off. Crazy kid!
Have a great weekend!!!

Contests and Challenges OH MY~

Talk about a busy month ahead in the scrapping world! I cant wait for the 1 hour contest and since I missed out on the last DT challenge Im going to work real hard on getting this one done. Im still going to the last DT challenge as it was to use Rusty Pickle products and I have the Under the Stars line that I cant wait to work with. I just wish there was more time in the day! This weekend the hubster is going to put new lino in our kitchen so while he is doing that Im hoping to do a bunch of scrapbooking. I want to start an 8x8 album for my niece. We'll see though. I also have a recipe box that I want to fix up for her.
In other business... My brother Neal and his wife Karen came up last night to treat Todd and I to a movie for my birthday. The babysat Hunter after we all went out to dinner. It was soooo sweet of them to do that for me/us! We were thrilled, but wished we could have visited longer with them. My brother had raved about this movie Fireproof and said that it had made such an impact on him that he wanted me to go and see it right away. I have to say, it was a really good movie and I would highly suggest it for all couples! Especially those who have been through divorce or facing seperation/divorce.

Come sail away~

Happy Columbus Day.. to those of you who celebrate and are lucky enough to get the day off. To my surprise, Justice had school today. He told me it would be a fun day though because they were going to be studying all about Christopher Columbus! Then he asked me if I could name the 3 ships that Columbus sailed to America in. ..... uhhhh YES, of course I remembered... but goodeness let me tell you if you do not use it... you will lose brain cells!!! hahaa. I just think its cool. Sometimes I wish I could go back to school. This time though I think Id really listen better!
Update on Ruby: She is doing real well, trying to get adjusted to life with us and Kitty. haha. She loves to jump and play. Its so funny to see her jump in mid-air and turn completely around when she hears a noise that startles her. She has had a couple accidents, but thats to be expected I suppose. Soon she'll have it down. She is very loving and just lets Hunter lug her around and hug on her. Its so sweet. He also enjoys taking her outside... which Im sure will get old soon. haha. Lets hope not, I know he is an animal lover like his Daddy!
I hope to get some scrap time in this week. I so feel the need to create. Enjoy YOUR week!

Its my party~

and maybe... just maybe I can have my cake and eat it too! hehee. Yup today is the big day.. my 42nd birthday. ;) Good news is, I dont really feel it... oh well on occasion but not today so that rocks big time!!! ..... and so... This furry lil girl is my present from the family. Her name is Ruby {as in Ruby Slippers-Wizard of Oz} hehehee. We went and picked her up last night. She is indeed a Cairn Terrier, like Toto from Wizard of Oz.. although she is probably going to be more blonde. She is so very sweet and is going to be a great addition to our crew! Will let you know how the potty training goes in a couple days. hahaa
Onto other things... FINALLY I think Im out of my funk... took a good couple of days. Things are looking better on the work front, slowing down and Im catching up. We are also getting a new program so that will help immensely once its in place. At home I still have some catching up to do.. there are several layouts I want to get done for this weekend. And I have to gather prizes and mail them out for the girls that won over at Crazy 8's during the Card Making Day Crop. Busy-Busy I say. Justice is coming up tonight.. cant wait to see him!!!
What do you have going on this fabulous fall weekend? Whatever it is, I hope you have a good one!
Correction due to senility already settin' in... Im only 41 today! hahahaa

Its all about ME today~

Totally-Today was a ME day. I took control of the morning and decided that it was going to be about ME today... no one else! I took the day off, slept til noon.. hung out in my jammies... and curled up with a box of kleenex and watched this AWESOME movie. I am a huge fan and am soooo glad I waited until it came out on video to see it. I sobbed, I laughed.. wow. It was just good to have a good movie to watch on my ME day.. all alone. If Id been in the theatre, Im afraid Id have made a huge scene, blubbering and all... and then have to go out in the daylight after having bawled all my makeup off. hahaa. Thank the good Lord for a caring family to understand that sometimes a girl just needs a day. I hope that my boss will feel the same when I return to work tomorrow! hehee... Tonight, a sneak peek at my birthday present.. I can barely wait! Have a great week!

Holy Card Making Maddness~

Are you ready?... This weekend marks the celebration of card making around the world. What will YOU be doing?Im gearing up today preparing some sketches for Crazy 8's and will also be joining in the fun over at Creative Scrappers. I hope to get a LOT accomplished this weekend. I have several layouts Id like to do up as well. This week with the weather change Ive just been so exhausted. At night I come home, we do dinner and then by 9pm we are heading to sack out! hehe.

On to October happenings~
This weekend also starts the deer hunting season for my husband. Talk about a fanatic. He loves it and I have to admit his excitement is kind of contagious. Im however, a little worried about Hunter... he is such a Daddys boy. He wants to be with him. So Ive devised a little plan to help I hope and have him use his imagination as well so that he will miss Daddy just a bit less.. or at least distract him from the beginning.

This morning I talked to Preston.. Im so amazed with this kid and scared for him all the same. He is ready to and looking into renting his first place ever. I spoke with his Grandpa this morning and he is really wanting Preston to come there and live with him and take care of the farm while he is wintering in Arizona. I hope Preston will take this opportunity. He could use some peace and this would be perfect. Also with the gas prices he would decrease his drive to work in half. Who doesnt love that. It sure would do this Mommas heart good if he was near someone who I knew was looking after his best interest.

Im also gearing up for the birth of my new nephew.. he is set to arrive on the 19th, but I have a feeling he will be showing up sooner. I hope so.. because Im planning a trip back home to see Justices soccer game on the 18th, so with this fun day playing with a new nephew would rock too.
What are the kids going to be for Halloween? ... Well I think we finally have it all worked out... hahaa. Justice has decided on Ben 10.. but really I ask him.. he looks like a normal boy all techno-gadgeted out ahahaa... which is just like Justice. Hunter has decided not to be *Crazy Bones* and has instead decided that hed like to be Hunter-the Hunter. Wearing all camo and carry his bb gun {will be a toy}. Im excited for them. We are also planning a small party for afterwards. Love this season!
Whats new in your world-Whats on your agenda for October??
... Have a super FALL weekend! ;)

Happy Happy October~

Oooo there is a bit of a nip in the air!!! I LOVE IT!!! ... Today it was quite chilly.. We all dressed in jeans and long sleeve tshirts! Hunter still wore his flip flops though.. he sooo needs new shoes! hehe. Tonight that is on our agenda.. new tennis shoes for him and his reward for following his chore chart all week. He only got 2 bad marks for Monday and Tuesday, but since has worked real hard. We can tell a difference at least in attitude. Next week we are changing the behavior of saying Please/Thank you to Eating at the table/Eating veggies and meat. He does it at the sitter but refuses at our house unless its chicken nuggets or something like that. So he told me the other day he wanted to be tall, since he hadnt grown any since March. I told him.. eat your 4 food groups {explained what they were and how they were important} and he would get tall. Last night he declared that he'd just rather be the same size forever. hahahaaaa. I said well, I guess you wont ever want to ride a rollercoaster or ride a motorcycle.. hmmm I think he'll think on that one a while! hahaa Anyway, we asked him what he'd like for a reward for getting good marks all week and he said he wanted an Army Man... not like the little ones that he has TWO packages of now. He wants a tall one, like G.I. Joe. So last night we surfed the net and he found the one he wants. Commando Flint! So along with the shoe shopping will be on the hunt for Flint! I'll have to mention to him that Flint got so tall and strong by eating his veggies and all the other lil Army men didnt ... heheee
Enjoy October my friends and enjoy the change in weather and leaves ... and ultimately ourselves! ;)