Waiting HAS to be the HARDEST part!!!

So after a CRAZY Friday and Saturday morning I FINALLY made it up to Hannah's to vote for myself, use my coupons and get a couple things I needed. And let's just say I was MORTIFIED after my trip!!! ***Background info Friday morning we were in the car from 7:30 a.m.-12:00 noon, and then had lunch got dressed and were out the door by 12:45 to go to T-Ball and then we were going to go up to Hannah's, but had to pick dh up from work, and I was NOT going to be late for that!! So at 4:40 I had to wake them up from their nap to spend from 4:50-8:00 p.m. out and about again, but mostly sitting in the car!! Saturday morning was woken up early again to spend time in the car again, go sit in the DMV for over an hour, and then sit in the car for a ride up to Hannah's! Joseph was finally smart enough and fell asleep in the car, and Nicholas refused to!*** Back to being mortified! I had to wake Joseph up to bring him into Hannah's and he was NOT thrilled about that! We walk into Hannah's and him waking up and realizing where he was SCREAMS LOUDLY "I don't want to go in this store!! Its yucky!!" And proceeds to run away from me! Well EVERYONE in the ENTIRE store is now looking at me! I say to him "I know you're tired and didn't want to be woken up. I'm sorry, but mommy has to do a couple things her and then we will go home. Would you like a snack and juice?" "NO I WANT TO GO HOME!!" So as I pick him up and put him in the shopping cart seat Nicholas now begins to scream because he wanted to sit in the seat, and now Joseph screams again saying he wants juice and a snack now! I wanted to just crawl under a rock at this point! So juice and snacks for all and I hurry and grab my "Page Maps" book and then go on a mission for what I need in the store. Well we were doing OK the usual stuff, and then they needed to go potty, so we go to the back of the store get out and go do our business. Well when we go to get back in the shopping cart I suggest they switch since Nick started complaining about it. BIG MISTAKE Joseph now begins screaming the LOUDEST he could, and began hitting me!! One of the girls who works there and remembered them from last time came over and started talking to him, he quieted down and I was able to go vote, get a couple things-forget an item I wanted to get! I forgot I wanted to take a picture of the display with my entry! We get into the check out line and the melt down begins AGAIN!! I was SO distracted by this whole event, the cashier seemed urked by it and she wouldn't punch my punch card for me saying I already got a discount once. I didn't think nor did I argue as I wanted out as badly as she wanted me out! But the ride home I thought about it and I bought things NOT on sale I should have got punches for! ARGH!!

So on to the waiting! Today was the last day for voting at Hannah's, so now its a waiting game to hear the results! There were a couple layouts that were REALLY good and 1 that I would have chosen over mine! So we shall see! My mom cracks me up as she was TOTALLY critiquing mine compared to others and she is SOOO new to this!! It is what it is with this and you just don't know what people are going to pick! I hope I hear something tomorrow, but I'm not sure. Stayed tuned for more details!

Exciting news!! My last LO I posted below was picked on the Dixie Pieces website as LO of the week!!! That was VERY EXCITING!! Oh speaking of Dixie Pieces it was just announced that the weekend of August 1st they will be having another online crop ALL weekend LONG!!! SO mark your calendars that was SOOOO MUCH FUN!!! Make sure you come over and play along!

I have a couple new LO's to post, but I can't find the pics at this moment, so I have to post again either tomorrow or Tuesday with the pics!

Well I am falling asleep here!
TFL!
Valerie

How to make a bad day!!

So my decision was made for me yesterday about my going scrapping by myself. As I finally decided I had a bunch of things I wanted to get done, and doing it at the LSS would be the best place to do it as I don't know what I'm gonna need. I called and guess what??? The crop was cancelled as not enough people signed up!!! :( I am SOOOO bummed as I was really looking forward to some uninterrupted scrappy time! So to make things worse I was going to buy this AWESOME warehouse sale box that Maya Road was selling today as I wouldn't be spending the money I thought I would, and guess what after 1 1/2 days it is SOLD OUT!! The even worse part was I was going to buy it just minutes after the e-mail came out announcing the sale, but I did the right thing and now I am SOOOO sorry I did!! This was for a box filled with $115.00 of merchandise-sheers, chipboard, books, ribbon, embellies, ect... for the little price of $40.00!! I instead used the money in my scrappy account to pay a lady off the Cricut message board for a cartridge I am buying from her instead! DUMB! DUMB! DUMB! She still hasn't accepted the paypal payment, so I could have bought my box and then paid her today! I had the box in my cart!! I was entering my info!!! And then I thought well I told her I would pay her today, do the right thing! NEVER AGAIN!!! I am SOOOO SAD right now!!! :(

Well on a happier note I got the last of my scrappy mail I was waiting for! I got my NSD prize from back Porch Memories!! Its a cute little 7 gypsies rubber band book kit. I got a book, flower, brad, chipboard, ribbon and 12 pre-cut sheets of Scrapworks, Magpie double sided pattern paper. I think I already know what I am going to do with the book too! Here's my pretty little kit!

Well I need to go referee the monkey children. I think a trip to Joann's to use my last 50% off coupon is in order to make me feel better over my loss! ;)

TFL!

Valerie

I swear it comes FASTER EVERY year!

I was in Michael's on Tuesday and they were already putting Fall/Halloween stuff out!!! EEEEEEKK!!! And then I went into Target and ALL the summer stuff was on clearance!!! Some as much as 90% off!!! YIKES!!! We just finally started to get some warm weather and be able to enjoy all the fun summer things we love and here they are getting rid of everything and what are they putting out??? Fall, Halloween, Back to school (poor kids are just finishing!), and Christmas!!! (Yes I got a Hallmark e-mail of the keepsake ornaments coming out NEXT MONTH!!!) It use to be the end of July before they started shoving this stuff down your throat and well now June 17th it appears!

Well enough of my rant as it will do no good! : (

I finally got back into the creative mode and did a LO last night! It was fun! It all just kind of came together for me! I love when that happens! I played with one of my new toys I bought at Hannah's a while back-Metallic rub-ons! It was a pick of the week and then I saw some ideas using it, so I HAD TO HAVE IT! ;) I used it on the word wild to make it stand out a little. I wanted to ink the edges and my chalk ink made it look too messy and my brown ink couldn't get into the little corners!

So I am SOOO bummed Hannah's is having a 12 hour crop on Saturday and I have NO ONE to go with me!!! :( One scrappin' buddy is working, another has been put on bed rest, another is writing wedding invites, one is celebrating a 5 year wedding anniversary that day, and another doesn't want to spend a summer day inside! I am contemplating whether or not to go by myself or not go at all???? Dilemmas!!! I love Hannah's crops and the sales they have are awesome, but 12 hours is a LONG time to crop by yourself!! On the other hand I could get a LOT done if I was by myself! I just don't know what to do!! ARGH!!!

TFL!
Valerie

June is half over already???!!!!

Can you believe it???? It blows my mind away to think that 4th of July is just around the corner now and then before you know it summer will be over!!! WOW!!

Well anyhow the boys started a beginner t-ball class on Friday with 2 of their best friends from the neighborhood! It was SOOO cute the class is for 3 and 4 year olds and it is taught by 2 teenage boys. The boys have been SOOO excited to start t-ball and then the fact that 2 of their best friends would be with them sealed the deal! The night before t-ball the boys wanted to practice in the back and well we still had their pool out and well they decided to dunk their mitts into the pool when I wasn't looking! So Nicholas' expensive all leather mitt NEVER dried in time for t-ball and he cried because of that! So his first t-ball class was not as good for him as he couldn't get past the wet mitt! Joseph enjoyed the class, but was bored by having to wait so long in between turns that he found mischief to get into! At one point it was pretty cute he saw a ball laying in the field and went over picked it up and brought it to his coach saying "here's a ball to throw to me!" Here are a couple pics of my babies playing.

I got awesome scrappy mail this week! :) I received my AWESOME prize from Sherry at Dixie Pieces- a house shaped acrylic album! I am SOOO excited to get started on this! I think I am going to use the few pictures I have form our move to make the album! I just have to find the pictures now! Ha! That should be fun as my mom took the pics and gave me copies-now where on earth did I put them???? On that same day I also got the latest copy of Creating Keepsakes magazine and the next day I got my cards from the card swap at Dixie Pieces! The ladies there did a FABULOUS job on their cards! That was fun!

So I was a "bad" girl and I used that AWESOME 50% off coupon for Michael's and bought a cuttlebug! ;) I can't wait to play with it!! I was at Joann's and wanted to get it there, but it was more money there, but I did get a bunch of dies and embossing things on clearance! I am hoping to go play with it later, but I am just SO exhausted these days I don't know! I now plan to go back to Joann's and get some more stuff as they have all that stuff on sale this week! I was planning to go this morning, but the boys are not feeling good, so maybe tomorrow!

I hope everyone had a good Father's Day, ours was quiet. My grandfather is still recovering and didn't want to do anything and my mom and step dad were up at their condo in Fox Lake, and I tried calling my dad and he didn't answer, so who knows what he was doing! Dh's family didn't have anything and his dad is no longer with us, so we just hung out at home. The boys did work hard on picture frames again for Father's Day gifts, they REALLY love making them! Here is a pictures of the one they made for their dad I will post the other ones later. We customized each frame to that person's interests.

Well I better go get some lunch ready for us and maybe I will feel like scrapping during nap time! I haven't scrapped since the last crop I went to on the 6th!! Life has been busy and with the boys wanting to play outside every night I'm exhausted when we get in and can't get my butt off the couch! Oh yeah the contest is over now so I can show you my last creation from my last scrappy adventure! The picture is bad as it was taken at night, I should try and do a new one-add that to the growing list! LOL!

OK this is REALLY bad I will change it later!

TFL!

Valerie

Happy Scrappy Weekend!!!

So I had fun on Friday I went to the LSS Hannah's for their monthly Friday late nite crop and had a blast! I went with 2 other friends and I really didn't have any expectations other than to get 1 LO done, and I ended up getting almost 2 done and I did LOTS of shopping! :) Hubby gave me money for Mother's Day that I could spend there, so I was able to go to town!! :) One of the best parts of going to Hannah's crops are the FABULOUS sales all night long! And this one was NO exception, in fact the BEST one yet as EVERYTHING was on sale!!! They were having their bag sale, so we got 25% off EVERYTHING stamp or scrappy that was not on sale! I went to town stocking up on Stickles, Glimmer Mist, Diamond Glaze, Crackle paint, Grungeboard, journaling stickers, pp, and I got my Threading Water border punch!!!! :) We had such a GREAT time hanging out together and getting our creative scrappy groove going!! Stacey and I were going back to my parent's condo down the street to stay overnight and well we ended up staying up scrappin' till 5:15 AM where I made 1 more LO!!! Yes I looked up and said "what is that blue glow outside the patio doors?" Yes dummy that's the sun rising!! YIKES!!! The boys would be waking up in 3 hours!!! Well luckily my mom was nice enough to let me sleep in!!!

So I found a new place to get pictures developed on a message board and its a new company and as a promo they are giving 400 FREE pictures and a 8x8 personalized book!! The pictures are 200 4x6 and 200 5x7!!!! YES FREE 5x7's!!! I placed and received my first order and the shipping for 100 pictures was $9.98 and the quality of the pictures is FANTASTIC!!!! I am VERY happy with the way the pictures turned out I will continue to order more from them! I can give you the link to the promo for them if you leave me your e-mail. They are only running this promo till they hit 20,000,000 FREE print credit and they are a little over half way there!

In other happy scrappy news I found out I won the May Challenge at Dixie Pieces and I will be getting an acrylic album!! I am SOOO EXCITED!!!! I wanted to get one when I was at Hannah's on Friday and totally forgot!! Guess it was a good thing! LOL!! I can't wait to get it and start playing with it!! You should really check out Dixie Pieces if you haven't yet- the kits are AWESOME and the girl there are FABULOUS!!

Well here are a couple of my LO's form this weekend- 1 is for the July guest designer over at Back Porch Memories, so I can't show it to you till after the winner is picked. But you can always go over to back Porch Memories and look in the July guest designer folder and find mine. ;)

I had fun with Crackle paint and several colors of Glimmer Mist on Grungeboard with this LO!

And for this LO I had fun just laying different colors of Glimmer Mist on the Grungeboard! I also sprayed the cardstock with some Pearl Glimmer Mist to give it a little sparkle!

While I was at Hannah's I turned in my LO in Design team, so my fingers are crossed! The voting will be June 15-29th and after that the winner will be announced, so stayed tuned...

TFL!

Valerie

And the Winner Is.......

Thank you SOOOO much for all your input for my entry! I appreciate you taking the time to vote and share your thoughts!! So the winners are.......

Here's all the names...

They're in the bowl now...

The boys are picking a name....

Joseph picked.... MARCEE- leave me a comment on how to get in touch with you for your RAK

Nicholas picked....

SHERRY- I will contact you Sunday

CONGRATS ladies!!! And Thank you for all your input!!! The winning Lay out by 1 vote is Curious, so that is what I'm gonna sumbit!! I will keep you posted on how I do!

THANKS AGAIN!!

Valerie

I need YOUR help!!

My LSS is having a contest to become a member of their Design team! I have been wanting to be a part of the Design Team there and I'm SO excited to hear about this opportunity! You have to submit your best 12x12 LO and the customers will vote between June 15-29 on their favorite! I can't decide on which LO to submit, so I decided to do a vote on my blog of the ones I like best and get a feel for what others like the best to help me decide! And for your help I will put all the names into a drawing for 2 RAKS!!! (2 because I will let my sons draw the names and how can you only let 1 pick a name!) I have some AWESOME stuff to give away too! So leave a comment on which one you like the best by noon central time this FRIDAY JUNE 6th to be entered into the drawing! I am turning my LO in Friday night so the voting will close at noon!


Here we go!

#1 Dino Sized fun

#2 Hide & Seek

#3 Brother Love

#4 Fun in A New Sled

#5 Little Boy

#6 Innocence of a Child

#7 Curious (Joe)

Thanks SOOO much for your help and good luck in the drawing!!! If you live in the Northern Illinois area be sure to stop by Hannah's place your vote, and buy LOTS of goodies!! They have things that you can ONLY find there!!! The BEST selection of all the LSS I have been to! There is a link to Hannah's on the left side be sure to check them out!

THANKS SO MUCH for your help!!

Valerie

I HATE Lilacs!!!!

Well that MISERABLE time of the year is here for me-the Lilacs bloomed!!! It started this weekend and yesterday I woke up with a SORE and SWOLLEN throat! My head was all funky feeling and I felt HORRIBLE!! I am now taking my best friend Claritin-D, but I still have a sore throat, runny nose and I'm sneezing like nuts! To add to my drama they started ripping up driveways, sidewalks and curbs throughout my subdivision today so now there is dust in the air and LOUD noise to make my head pound some more!! I don't understand how a 3 year old subdivision needs to be ripped apart already, but they are! As a result of this nightmare we can't park in our garage for the next 7 days!!! Almost every single house has something being done and that means MORE cars that need to be parked on the street than there is a capacity for!!! I am afraid to go anywhere in fear of losing my good spot by my house! They should have done this intelligently and only done a section at a time! I don't know where all these cars will park tonight!

So I am behind in my Lilac pictures so I will post the missing pics now, its unbelievable how BIG that bush has gotten!! I can't wait for the landscapers to come and trim it, it is out of control right now!!

May 20, 2008

June 3, 2008

I guess on a positive note I can say there aren't as many blooms this year as there were last year! Last year the ENTIRE bush was covered with blooms!

Update on my grandfather he may be coming home today, they had to give him 2 units of blood yesterday because he lost too much blood in the surgery. The kidney issue is a cyst that is not cancer, so they are leaving it alone, and the mass in his testicle is a hydro seal that will go away on its own-they will check it in a month. SO hopefully he is on the road to recovery and will be home and his good old self again soon!

Well Thanks For Looking!

Valerie