Happy St. Patrick's Day

Hope everyone had a nice day today. I spent the day doing my weekly house cleaning and catching up on some laundry.

The kids are off for Spring Break this week. Yesterday while shopping at Target and walking through the electronics aisles we stumbled across a Wii!!! There were only two and a couple of boys grabbed one first so we got the last one:) This was V's Christmas present. We had bought her the Xbox 360 which we all know was more of a gift for Steve than anything else. He had moved it into his room quite a while back and it's been there ever since. He was the only one playing it. I knew it wasn't going to be good for V since most of the games made for the system are rated M. Nintendo has tons of kid friendly games; lots more variety.

So the kids spent today playing the Wii Sports and Mattie's Mario and Sonic Olympic Games. V is loving the tennis on the Wii Sports and only since yesterday has gotten VERY good at it:)

I worked on a LO today after I took some pics of the kids in their St. Patrick's Day shirts:) It was a lift off of 2PeasI had to switch the pic out to a 4x6. I had printed out a 5x6, but while I was finishing it up, I dropped one of the chipboard alphas with glue on the back on top of the pic and it totally wrecked it:( Then I went to print another one and my printer went all wonky so I had to print offline and I can only print 4x6:( Don't know what's up with the printer. I haven't even had it for very long. I'll mess with it again tomorrow. I was just too frustrated to mess with it anymore tonight.

Anyway...the pp is Cosmo Cricket Halfway Cafe. I've had that paper forever. Jenni Bowlin bingo card, Heidi Swapp chipboard alphas, Lil' Davis chipboard alphas, chipboard #2, MM paints, Sizzix cut chipboard star and brackets, Tim Holtz Distress ink in Black Soot, Paper Studio adhesive gems and textured cardstock.

Yesterday we took V to the mall to see the Easter bunny. There was NO line at all. I guess it's not the same as Santa Claus..LOL...

Last night I saw the movie August Rush. It had been on my "watch" list. I had heard good things about it. All I can say is...OMG!!! That movie was AMAZING!!! Totally on my faves list now:)

Another fave of the moment. The new Leona Lewis song Bleeding Love...."heart" it!!!

Friday I dropped Mattie off at my mom's and V went to my inlaws so I had Saturday all to myself. Lal came over and we did some shopping. Went to HL and found some really cool new Cuttlebug embossing dies and an awesome cut/emboss die set AND they were 30% off:)

Got a really cute cotton summer dress and a cool canvas purse at Walmart. Had lunch. Went to M's and bought the Giga scalloped square Marvy punch I had been looking for...also 30% off:) It was a fun day:)

Metalheads...

My LO for this week's Sneaky Challenge. We had to use one of March's page maps and flip it on it's side. The theme was metal. Here's what I used...Heat embossed image metallic color-4 flourishes x 2pts= 8pts.

MM metallic specialty glaze (on butterflies)-1pt.

metallic scribbles paint on flowers and letters on title-1pt.

Stickles (on edge of butterflies)-1pt.

metal brads x4 small=4pts.

metal brads x2 large=4pts.

metal photo turn x2=4pts.

Total=23pts.

This was my first time embossing. I really liked it. I had gotten all this really cool embossing stuff in my Christmas stocking and hadn't gotten around to using it until yesterday:) The butterflies are Sizzix cut. I got that die at the 911 garage sale. SUCH a deal!!! I LOVE it!!! The bronze flowers are Sizzix cut too. It's the flower charms. My friend Ang sent me that one for Christmas. LOVING that one too. I've used that one to cut felt flowers already for a previous LO:)

I Got the Blues...

OK...Here's my LO for the Blues challenge on Sneaky. This was my first time doing machine stitching on a LO. I tried using this little Provo Craft sewing machine that Lal gave me, but it did NOT work:( I was just being lazy and didn't want to pull out my big machine, but I really should have instead of wasting so much time trying to get the little one to work. Once I got my big machine out, I finished in like two minutes...sigh...Anyway...here it is:

Our challenge was to use four different BLUE patterned papers by four different manufacturers. I used Basic Grey Periphery, MME Wild Asparagus, K&Co. Wild Saffron and Daisy D's. We also had to use embellishments to spell out the word "blues" and they could only be black, white, silver, gold or blue. I used a bloom, borders and a button, lace, undressed chipboard, epoxy alpha stickers and stickers and stitching. I really like how the butterfly and bloom look even though it's a boy LO. I'm really surprised at how much I like the way this came out:) And I'm really liking the look of the machine stitching. I'm pretty sure I'll be doing this again on other LOs:)

Today I spent the day with my mom. We did a little shopping. I went by M's, but didn't find the things I was looking for:( I picked up a little birthday gift for a Sneaky pal though. Went to the mall and bought the cutest little purse at Aeropostale and a new t. I LOVE that store. Me and my mom ate Chick fil A at the food court. Went to Hobby Lobby and picked up another birthday gift for another Sneaky pal. Went to Target, then Walmart, then picked up the kids and dropped my mom back off at home. It was a good day:)

And They Call it Puppy Love...

Ok...I've been wanting to work on this LO forever, but I knew I had to do it when I had time to finish it before Victoria got home from school. She'd be pretty upset if she saw it. Now I have to hide it for the next who knows how many years...LOL

I had seen this LO on scrapbook.com ages ago and had it saved to my faves cause I wanted to lift it someday. The perfect opportunity came up sometime last week when I walked into V's room and found this written on the easel in there.

Too cute. I could NOT pass up the photo op:) So I worked on the LO today. Got started as soon as I got back from the grocery store. I ran to the store as soon as I dropped off the kids so I'd have more time to do my stuff:)

This is the LO...

Justin was in Victoria's kindergarten class last year. He is just the cutest thing:) She mentioned to me several times last year that Justin had a crush on her and once she even told me SHE had a crush on him:) He's not in her class this year though, but she still talks about him now and then. I thought it was so funny that she drew that heart...Ah...young love;)

There is journaling behind the pic of a file folder. I painted the arrow and the hearts. The other letters are Lil' Davis that I'd had forever. And the "I" is from a box of All Dressed Up chipboard glitter alphas. Heidi Swapp ghost clock and bloom, ric rac and sheer polka dot ribbon. Paper is BG Two Scoops as well as the stamps I used on the pink background paper. TFL...off to hide this:)

Did Another One...

I got another one done today. This one's a lift off of 2 Peas.

The background paper is Bo Bunny. I traced the stamped edge onto the backside and then cut it out using my Cutterbees. I then stamped a border along the edge with some clear stamps I got at M's; Creative Imaginations borders. All other papers are MM Chelsea. I made my own journaling "tag" using my XL scalloped circle punch and my Whale of a Punch circle punch. Flowers are diffent Primas, buttons from the MM Love embellie container, Bazzill chipboard letters and Heidi Swapp chipboard heart. Used Tim Holtz walnut ink on the edges of two of the papers. I want to get some of those Chelsea clips to add to the top of the pic. Probably go by M's on Friday and pick some up:) Need to get a few things for a couple of friend's bday this month as well. That's all for today:)

Put To Use...

So here's a LO a crated using the papers from the Smitten pad my friend sent. I felt that I should put it to use right away:)

The background paper is Paper Studio. I used one of my Fiskars border punches to create the decorative edge:) All other papers are Smitten. I hand cut the flowers/vines and the butterfly. The flowers are Prima and the brads are MM shimmer. Also use some of my Miss Elizabeth's paper lace (much like the K&Co. paper lace:)

Saturday was the 911 Transplant Sale. We got there at about 9am and there was already a line about 30 ppl deep!!! I don't think it was as crowded as it was the last time which made it easier to browse and shop. I only spent $36 shopping the sale. Picked up like six Sizzix dies, lots of chipboard alphas and a couple of sheets of rubons.

We took in a movie. Went to go see Fool's Gold. Very funny/good movie. I LOVE Matthew McConaughey;) and Kate Hudson. I think they make such a cute couple:)

I sold pretty much all my stuff I put out at the sale. I made $129!!! Although I spent about $80 of that on all the new Teresa Collins and Jenni Bowlin stuff. Also got a couple of bottles of Glimmer Mist. Have been wanting to try those. I still have about $50 left on credit cause I hit my free $10 again:)

Sunday the kids were away from home so we took in another movie. We saw Vantage Point. Excellent movie.

Yesterday I spent cleaning up and trying to get caught up on my house chores, but I took a break to hit HL and stocked up on adhesive which is 1/2 off right now. Also used my 40% off coupons and picked up the two packs of the Creative Imaginations papers that HL is now carrying:) Can't wait to play with those:)

A HUGE "thanks" to my friend;)

I got the best surprise in the mail today...the entire K&Co. Smitten paper pad!!! I have been searching for this pad for quite some time. I wasn't able to find it at Michael's anymore. Anyway I had tried getting some sheets, but didn't work out...Long story short...a very good friend sent it to me today. I have the best online friends EVER!!! So thank you, thank you, thank you to (u know who you are). You're the best!!!

It's Been A Looong Week...

Well, it all started last Thursday. I got a call from the school nurse in the afternoon that Victoria had some kind of rash and needed to be picked up. So I rush over there and find her looking horribly. Red blotches and hives all over her neck, chest, back, lower scalp and the upper part of her arms. I couldn't imagine what it was.

I put her in the a bath off Aveeno as soon as we walked in the door and gave her some Benadryl. Ran to Walmart to get some Calamine lotion, more Benadryl and more Aveeno. Within about three to four hours the rash was cleared up almost completely and I noticed two bites on her shoulder. I was thinking the hives/rash was an allergic reaction to the bites so I dismissed it at that. Over night she began running a fever though and that worried me.

In the am I went to pick up my mom and we decided it was best to take her to the family doctor just for peace of mind. The area around the bites was still red and somewhat inflamed and warm to the touch.

Turns out the fever was because of a throat infection she had. The hives, the dr. said, were probably an allergic reaction and told me to get her some Zyrtec and just watch the bites to make sure they didn't get infected or something. She also got antibiotics for the infection.

So she ran a higher fever that night and we just gave her Motrin and Tylenol. Over the next couple of days it just kept getting worse. She ate less, layed around more and got chills on and off. She did not look good. Sunday her fever reached almost 105!!!

We called Ask a Nurse and were told that the antibiotics take at least 48 hours to take effect on the fever and that if she was still running it on Monday we should take her back to the dr. I guess it just needs to get really bad before it starts getting better because after that, the fever started to let up. She still ran, but not as high and it gradually started coming down.

Today was her last day at home. She ran no fever at all ALL day today and only a tiny low grade last night. She will be going back to school tomorrow. Unfortunately today was picture day and she missed out:( Hopefully there will be retakes.

I am glad that things are starting to get back to normal and we are out of the woods with that whole ordeal. It's so stressful when the kids are sick:( I'd much rather be sick myself.

So I got all my house chores done on time considering my sick patient. And I even got my LO done for this week's challenge on our private site.

This week's theme is alternative. We were given options to choose from. I chose 1 solid and 6 pp, all chipboard embellies and ribbon, 5x7 pic and song lyric/title. All my papers are Elsie from the HL pad. My title is chipboard Thickers in Prancer font. I painted the arrow and bracket using MM paint. I made my own heart "buttons" using chipboard hearts I made with my sis' Sizzix die, then made holes with my Silent Setter. Painted with MM paints and outlined with Zig pens and a Signo pen. The other chipboard arrow off to the side is covered in Elsie pp.

I have completed 15 LOs so far this year. Working towards my goal of 100 for the year. Only 85 more to go:)

Got Another One Done Today:)...

This is somewhat of an accomplishment for me. I usually have long spans of time between my scrappiness:) But I was just in the mood today and got one real quick one done. I think I have figured it out. Usually my LOs are more on the "complicated" side; lots of embellishments, intricate cutting, etc. etc. This simple style is fun and quick. I'm liking it. Maybe I'll get more done:)All papers I used are from the Elsie pad I got at HL; all Roxie line. The alpha stickers are Doodlebug Simply Sweet. I traced the antique shape onto my Elsie then cut with my Cutterbees. Then I traced around it and filled in some parts for the black and white border:)

The rest of my day was pretty routine. Did my grocery shopping as soon as I dropped the kids off at school. Got all my daily chores out of the way and made time to do my LO.

I've been going through stuff in the house and purging all sorts of stuff. We really have too much junk all over the place:(

Not sure what my plans are for tomorrow. Don't really have anything to do. Maybe I'll start pricing my LSS garage sale items and do the once over on my space/stuff.

Some LOs to Share...

I've gotten a few LOs done over the last week or so. Most are for challenges on our private site.

This one was for our first challenge week. The theme was "retro". We had to choose from certain items and certain techniques. Were were only allowed to use older paper lines as well. I used SEI Penelope's Potpourri. The items I chose to use were: die cuts (my antique journaling spot), decorative edge scissors (for my scalloped edge on the striped paper) and paper piecing (my poodle). My technique was paper tearing (on the photo mat).

This pic was of Victoria on the 50th day of school. This LO isn't quite my style, but it was something new to try out:)

This one was for our second week challenge which is this week. The theme was "classical". We had to keep it simple. Use "white space" and a surprise element. This is probably the simplest LO I have ever done. Didn't take me long at all:) My surprise element was the red polka dot paper for my photo mat and the little red "coaster" in my title. So the red against the black and white:)

This LO was just for fun:) It's a lift off of 2Peas. I used my Chelsea's Place paper from M's. I made my own felt embellie. Used my XL scalloped circle punch on some stiff back felt. The smaller piece of paper is Paper Studio. Ribbon:MM Anthology, chipboard word "sister":MM Chelsea's Place, flowers:Prima, buttons:French Twist, pin:Heidi Grace, definition sticker: MM Anthology Clearly Defined, tiny tag: P.Etc.

Long weekend. The kids were away from home the whole time. Victoria was at my inlaws. Mattie was at my mom's. I wasn't feeling well and got up in the wee hours on Saturday morning so I just stayed home all that day. Didn't do anything...outside of the house. Just some stuff around the house. Got around to going through my LSS garage sale box and made my list. Gotta go back and price everything probably give my sb area another once over to see if there's anything else I can bear to part with:)

Went and tried out Magnolia's Pancake Haus on Sunday. It was Steve's birthday and he'd been wanting to try that out. We meet his parent's and Victoria there. It was good and we got there super early so we got seated right away. By the time we left there which was maybe about 9:30 or so, there was a long line waiting outside.

We did a little shopping; went to M's and got the other Chelsea's paper pack. Used my 50% off coupon and bought the MM trimmer. Went to James Avery and finally got my new charm put on my bracelet.

We went to the movies and saw Jumper. Excellent movie. Lots of action. I LOVED it. Went to lunch at Red Robin's. Picked up Mattie and went to Steve's parents and had cake and ice cream then came home and chilled.

Sunday we got up early and went to breakfast. Then took Mattie to see the Spiderwick movie. V was still at the inlaws. Afterwards we took him to spend a gift card at Dave and Buster's that Mark's parents gave him for Christmas. We had lunch there as well. Went by HL and got my XL scalloped circle punch I'd been searching for for over a month!!!

We came home and Steve's parents dropped of V later that evening. I got to work on my LOs.

Didn't do much today, but catch up on house chores that had been neglected over the long weekend. Kids went back to school today and I got back on my routine. Gotta run to the groceries tomorrow.

Getting late and I still need to get through two loads of laundry; one in the dryer and one waiting to go in. Better get a move on.

Finally Scrapped It...

I'd been stumped on how to scrap this pic since we got them. I usually have trouble scrapping portrait/professional photos, but I really wanted to scrap this one. I finally saw something I liked in a Scrapbook Establishment newsletter. This is one of the pics we got of V at the Picture People to commemerate (sp???) her Kindergarten graduation:)

Products used: white textured cardstock, Tim Holtz Black Soot distress ink, Scenic Route pp, Paper Studio pp (hand cut flowers), Doodlebug Just My Type cardstock alpha stickers, MM Avenue journaling pad.

Happy Valentines Day to everyone. Hope that your day is filled with lots of LOVE:)

I'm Sick...AGAIN...

Gosh, it seems like I am always sick lately. I've got a cold...or maybe it's my allergies, but I've got a cough and sore throat now and I'm all stuffy:( I stayed in all day today and just rested and bummed around the house. Got quite a bit of laundry done though...that's never ending.

I've been working on some Vday cards. Lal was making her own so I thought I would too. I'm such a copycat;) Here's what I have so far:

I've still got a few more to work on. Just haven't been able to motivate myself these past couple of days with the cold and all. I did get a LO done yesterday though. A TOTAL lift from the February issue of Scrapbooks Etc.
For those of you who haven't had the chance to go by the Ingram's Michael's and check out those stamps, I made a trip out there tonight and there is still a good selection left. There was at least two baskets and there are alot mixed up in the others, so you gotta dig a bit, but for $3...WELL worth it:)

Run, run, run...

to Michael's at Ingram. Lookie what I found...

And there was lots more. Other sets and more of these as well. Too many to choose from. And the price is such a deal. These are towards the back of the store; back right side of the store in a left side aisle...if that makes any sense. They were in some large wicker laundry type baskets on a bottom shelf. There were three baskets FULL of these.

A Couple of New LOs...

Here's a few LOs I've gotten done lately...

I had been working on this one for a while. Just hadn't gotten around to finishing it off. This is a lift off of Kelly Goree. I love her style:) I used BG Infuse papers; handcut the flourish/flower from it and made the scalloped circle out of a solid sheet from the line. The title is MM alphas rubons, BG cardstock alpha stickers and HS chipboard letters. I used a white Doodlebug Paper Frill and inked it in two shades to match:)

This is Wild Saffron paper. I saw a LO Lal did using the little butterflies and I just HAD to have it:) The background is MME Bohemian (old stuff from my stash) and Miss Elizabeth's chipboard accents (the clock and the word "dream")...also had those for quite a while. I am liking that I am digging into my stash and using some of it up lately:) The brads which are MM decorative have also been in my stash for quite a bit. All the other paper elements are from one sheet of the Wild Saffron paper pad. I handcut the flourish and the butterflies and the strip is the opposite side of the same sheet. I cut smaller butterflies to mount on top of the larger ones to give them more dimension. I also added some Bohemian gold gems to the wings and Scribbles trails behind them. The flowers are Imaginisce Bazzill Bling blooms. TFL

Message for Monica...

Someone named Monica left me a message on a previous post about an interest in purchasing my smaller Cricut machine. Please send me a message with an email addy to reach you at. You can also find me over at sb.com under the neighbor name "shopgirlaudi". Thanks so much:)

New Layouts from Crop Night

Last night we cropped at 911...me and Lal, Melissa and Michelle and our surprise guest...Gina!!! :) Despite not feeling very well because of my allergies, I still had a great time and got three LOs done. The last one; the two pager, I did this evening. It was one of the ones I packed and didn't get around to. I also managed to spend $57...Don't know how that happend...hee hee.

Not much else going on at the moment. Just wanted to share my new creations. TFL

Today...

we took down our Christmas tree. I had been putting away some of the other indoor decorations little by little over the last few days, but the tree came down today. It didn't take long at all and went rather smoothly. It's SO much easier to do when you don't do it alone, so I am glad I waited until today when Steve was home.

After we got things done we went to M's at the Rim. They had Cricut carts on sale and I finally got the Tags, Bags, Boxes and More!!! I also got a Sizzix alpha set (lowercase Fun Serif) for only$19!!!

I hooked up my new Cricut today. I still have to watch the disc it came with to check things out. It looks like it works pretty much the same as the smaller bug. I can't wait to do something with it.

Kids go back to school tomorrow. I'm not really looking forward to the morning. I know it's going to be tough for the kids as well as myself. I had been sleeping in until like 8am over vaca. Those two hours really do make a world of a difference.

K...gotta do some dishes and get the kids ready for tomorrow. Hopefully watch the disc right after they get in bed and hopefully sketch a couple of LOs for Saturdays crop night.

More Organizing...

So I really wasn't liking the look of the black storage unit. It didn't match anything else. I mean, it was cute and all and I liked cute everything looked on it, but in the back of my mind it was irking me:(

So I was at Target this morning and found something more along the lines of what I had originally been looking for.

I'm liking this alot better. I am thinking though that I am going to get some canvas baskets for some of this stuff. Like maybe alternate diagonally with the baskets, you know what I mean. Like maybe baskets in the ones with the open backs. I want the bottles of flowers out cause they look so pretty:), but I'm thinking like the bags of buttons and the glazes should go in a baskets as well as the MM paints. I think they looked cuter on the other shelf for some reason, but anyway...what do you think??? Yay/Nay on the baskets???

So I ran a few errands today. Went by HL to get a punch that was 1/2 off, but didn't find it. I guess they ran out with the sale. I want the Paper Studio XL scalloped circle punch, but they only had the L. I got that one, but I am keeping my eye out for the other. I REALLY want it for some cards I want to make my friends and family for Vday:)

Also went to Walmart to do my grocery shopping and ran into something that I picked up...

Can't wait to play with this!!! So now I'm looking to sell my smaller Cricut. So if anyone is in the market...LMK:)

I did some purging yesterday also when I was organizing other areas of my space. I was thinking I wasn't going to have enough to do the 911 sale in March, but...I do:) I filled up a box...not a big box, but there's quite a bit in there.

Here's another area I got together yesterday...

I went by Target and found al sorts of Vday scrap goodies in the $ Spot; flower brads (these look like little Primas with a gem brad in the center, some mini heart brads, some heart and flower blings, and some clear flower brads. I also picked up these really cute little boxes with Prima type blooms the last time and some brads that look like those conversation heart candies. Picked up to little pails for my sb area and two little plastic mail boxes for Vday. REALLY cute. You gotta go check out the $1 spot. They also had some really cool 8 1/2 x 11 magazine cardboard boxes in some very pretty patterns. Very cool stuff in there right now. Go check it out:) I'll post a pic of the goodies later. I've been really lazy about taking pics of my finds that I want to share:(

Yesterday was the first day I worked out since like Thanksgiving or something. I did 15 minutes and it was not that fun:( I didn't work out today, but def will tomorrow. Come Monday it's back to my old routine. Gotta get that weight off and get back on track with the diet:)

I saw this quote on my friend Estee's blog and I loved it...

"Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels".

I should write that down and put it on my fridge:)

Oh, and I got a great Christmas gift in the mail today from my friend Ang. She sent me a few packs of the mini spools of Vday ribbon from Target and the Flower Charms Sizzix die!!! I was SO wanting that one. Thanks BUNCHES, Ang. I have the best friends EVER:)

Happy New Year!!!

I started to update my blog yesterday and then my dumb computer turned off on me...Ugh!!! So now I have to do overs:)

Yesterday was spent catching up on laundry and stuff. I had Elijah over for a few day and Stevie came over for a few, so lots of blankets and cases and stuff. Also some chores that didn't get done the day before cause we were out most of the day.

I took Lij back home and then stopped by Walmart. I found this media storage tower; not the color I wanted, but I'll paint it later. I put it together ALL by myself when we got home. That's a big deal for me cause I am not very good at that kind of thing especially doing it alone:) So I did a little more reorganizing in my sb area.This cleared up a little more space for me. I took the Cricut carts off my table and most of the flowers were in baskets on a shelf over my cubbies. My MM paints were in a small tote in my armoire and the buttons and Lil' Davis glazes were in the pocket thingie on my closet door:)

So after Walmart I took Stevie to Ingram. He needed to pick up his necklace from James Avery. I stopped by M's on the way there and picked up some cute things they had on clearance. Some Sanctuary jellies and Soft Spoken, some rubons, some bling birds...

On the way back from the mall...on the way to eat lunch...I'm waiting at a light to make a turn back onto Bandera and just as I am turning my van starts to stall on me!!! I barely made the turn; I could hardly turn the wheel, and the van dies:( I took a moment, turned it off and started it back up and then it went. That was scary and annoying. I told Steve about it, but he hasn't checked on it yet. Since he is not the one driving around with a messed up van, I guess it doesn't worry him much. I'm also driving around with an expired sticker cause he has yet to go and do that like I have constantly reminded him.

So I took the kids for lunch at Cici's and then I ran into Hobby Lobby real quick. I got some of those big MM chipboard shapes for next to nothing:)

New Year's Eve we spent at home. Just with the kids. I had picked up Elijah the day before. We took them to Target to buy party poppers and we made hotdogs and ice cream sundaes and they watched movies and played video games. Christmas we spent at my mom's with Lal the kids, a friend and my cousin:)

Finally able to get a decent pic of the four kids together. It's SO hard to get Mikey to sit still long enough, but I bribed him with candy, then he was more than willing. He actually kept running into all the pics after than and then asking me for another candy...LOL. Also just noticed Victoria has red eye in this one so I need to go and edit that out:)

Me and Lal hamming it up with the camera as always. Look...Lal has bunny ears...LOL

Our kissy faces...ha ha ha

Our sad faces. Lal looks REALLY sad. I think her puppy ran away or she's got a really bad tummy ache...LOLMore...literally this went on for quite a while. There are LOTS more. Then we went back and looked at them all and laughed so hard we made ourselves cry...it was hilarious. We're crazy like that...LOL..I know Lal's gonna be mad I put these up, but they are just too funny not to share. At least I didn't put them up on MySpace, Lal...LOL

Christmas morning was the usual greed fest. Mattie got the Wii..I think he likes it:) Got a bunch of games and movies and some of those wheelie shoes, some game cheat books...

Victoria got the Xbox 360 (cause we never found the second Wii)More games, videos, wheelie shoes and a BBratz doll, Hannah Montana stuff...

I got everything on my Christmas list; two Cricut carts; Tear Drop and Base Camp, an Ott-lite for my desk, an Ipod dock, a new hoodie from Old Nazy, some brown "fuzzy" boots, my camera charm from James Avery for my bracelet and some pretty heart dangly earrings (from Victoria). She also got me this stuffed monkey that I can plug my Ipod into to listen to my music. My stocking was stuffed full of goodies; Tim Holtz crackle paints and alcohol inks and lots of Inque Boutique stamps.Mattie and Victoria Christmas morning right before they opened their gifts:)

K...this pic is almost as good as the ones of me and Lal...LOL. Victoria posing with coal that was in Steve's stocking...LOL...She's pretty good. Someone was naughty:)

I think that pretty much sums up our holidays.

911 had big sale the other day, so I hit that and picked up some goodies. We are planning to crop next Saturday so I need to start getting my stuff together. I haven't scrapped in quite a while. I have two LOs I have been working on for quite a while, still sitting on my desk. Maybe I'll get those done today to help get me in the scrappy mood:)

K...gotta get my day going here and get some stuff accomplished. Last weekend before the kids go back to school on Monday, then it's back to the same early morning schedule:(

It's Beginning to Look Alot Like Christmas...

I am finally done with all my shopping. Hooray!!! I wrapped everything yesterday afternoon after I picked up the kiddies from school. Locked myself in my bedroom and got it all done in just a couple of hours. I got my goodies made (the pretzel recipe I got off Gina's blog:).

I am getting Victoria ready right now to make up her goodie bags for her class. They are having their class party on Friday so she is taking them then. Tomorrow is Polar Express Day. They get to wear their pjs to school and have activites all day long. She is SO excited:)

The only things I have left to get done are some tags I want to make to go along with the teacher gifts and some ornaments. Every year I make a set of ornaments for our tree and a set for my mom and MIL. I usually do something using the kids pics.

So most things are crossed of my list. It's not feeling as overwhelming anymore and I can relax a little more:)...Took a little break in the middle of writing and got the goodie bags for the class done:)

I hope to get a good pic of the kids in front of the tree. Maybe I'll do that later today...tomorrow for sure:)

Off to get a few more things done.

I Gave Up...

Looking for the darn Wii. We decided to just go with the Xbox 360. I know Steve really wanted it to, so it's kind of present for him also. We went to Target today and bought it. Steve says that he was informed that this morning they had 71 Wiis...sigh...Of course...Best Buy had them too, but not as many. Supposedly they were giving out numbers at like 5am for the systems and then you just had to be back by 9am to pick yours up...!!! If I had know I would have most definately waited in line and whatever hour to ensure I was going to get one as opposed to driving around town for weeks like a dummy hoping to find one. I don't know how everyone knew they were going to have them and the whole number thing though. I wonder if and when they were going to be doing this again. Possibly next Sunday cause I had a friend how lives in FL tell me about the Best Buy thing so it might work the same for Target. And I kept wondering why Target never had them and no one was there looking for them during the week...I see now.

Anyway, we bought the Xbox today and I got Victoria a game for it the other day and Steve bought her another one today. I bought Steve a game for it too.. last week. I know he's gonna be really surprised because he thought that all he was getting was the DS that he opened the day I bought it (Black Friday)...:)

So with the exception of my mom's gift which I already know what I'm getting her, I just need to go back and get it, I am all done with my shopping FINALLY:) Woo hoo. I still have to work on my gift for Lal. We are making our gifts to each other this year. I got all my envies mailed out with the gifts that needed to go out of town.

I bought the goodies for Victoria's goodie bags for class, bought what the kids need to take to school for their parties. All that's left to do is wrap. I have not wrapped a single thing. Luckily most of the gifts aren't too big or too hard to wrap; lots of games, DVD's...that sort of thing. I need to make the goodie bags and make these pretzels snacks that Gina posted the recipe for on her blog. I am making some baggies for Victoria to take to her teacher and her teacher from last year and some for Steve to take to some of his employees.

Every year I also make a set of homemade ornaments for myself, my mom and my MIL so I need to get that done this week too. Actually the more I think of it, the more it seems I still need to get done.

The kids go to school all this week so that's a good thing. I still have this whole week to get things done. They go on vaca Friday and won't go back until the beginning of January.

I have house cleaning to do tomorrow then I will spend the rest of the week doing all my last minute Xmas preparations. Will upate soon. And just in case...I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year.

Aaahhh!!!

Another day of searching for the Wii with no luck. So I am ready to go and drive to the GameStop since the woman working there told me the other day that they should be getting them in on Wednesday. I arrive at 9am and realize they don't open until 10, but I figure I've got the upper hand being there first.

A woman arrives a bit after and mouths to me through her closed window if I am also waiting for the store to open to get a Wii...I nod yes...At least I'm not the only crazy person still looking. I feel a little better. A man arrives right after...he's there for the same thing. We we start discussing how long we've been looking for this thing. The other woman has been searching every day for two weeks. I tell her I'm going on three. The man looks shocked at both of us.

A bit later one of the women who work there shows up and right after another. The second woman informs us that since we are the first three there we are guaranteed one. Yay!!! So she goes in and comes back and tells us we have to immediately go into the store as soon as they open so that we can get one if they come in. If we are not physically THERE when they arrive and someone else is, they get it. So we wait. She comes back out a few minutes later and informs us that they will NOT be coming in today. Come back tomorrow:( Sigh... Oh, and they only get three in a week, so we would have been the three.

So I will be there by 9:30 am tomorrow hoping. The other woman said she'd be there too.

So I head to the Walmart on Bandera. Several Walmarts got them in yesterday (Steve called around), but they had already sold out in minutes:( So I ask in electronics...Nope...not come in and didn't come in yesterday. So I hang around...for 3 hours!!! Steve said they had put them out at about noon yesterday so I am determined to stay until at least that. I walk around and keep checking back in. I am exhausted and hungry and SUPER bored. Afterall, I've been there everyday for the last three weeks. There isn't THAT much to look at:(

Finally about 12:30, I give up. I go and ask and nothing. The girl says it's not looking good for the day, but that they might come in over night. No one ever knows:(

I am catching a cold or something again:( My throat is hurting pretty bad. I came home and took something and then laid down after I got the kids from school. I slept on and off from about 4:30 until 7:30. I am not feeling good:(

Well, I've got dishes to do and a shower to take before I start over again tomorrow. Wish me luck...again:)

More To Share...

Well, I've got the tree up and our indoor decorations. Got my two wreaths done for my double doors and we got our lawn decorations out. All we need to do now is put up our outdoor lights which will probably go up tomorrow:I still have shopping to do and I am hoping that I will be able to find that damn Wii this week or I don't know what I'll do:(

I've got several gifts wrapped and a few packages ready to be mailed out. I'm still feeling like there is too much to be done and just not enough time:(

Today we went over to Lal's to celebrate Mikey's birthday. He turns 3 on Monday:) I can't believe how time has flown. It seems like only yesterday I went to the hospital and held this teeny tiny baby and now he's this rambuctious, non-stop, hilarious little boy:) I love my little Mooky Monkey:)

I went by HL with Lal and my mom while I was over on Lal's side of town. I bought me a heat embossing gun and one of those Tim Holtz felt ink blending thingies and two Christmas wood mounted rubber stamps.

I was looking at the amazing stuff Tim Holtz has put up on his blog lately and I am so in love with it all. He has some AWESOMELY AMAZING Christmas tags on there. They are simply gorgeous. I am slowing going to try to accumulate as many of his products as possible:) I really want some of his embossing powders and some of the alcohol inks. I need to add those to my Xmas wish list;) Oh, and the Grungeboard. GOTTA get some Grungeboard. I'm gonna go by 911 tomorrow and hope that they still have some. It's been 10 days since they got it in so I'm hoping (crossing my fingers).

So when I got home I went through the old totes Steve has with all his old stamping stuff...Yes...Steve used to do stamping...LOL...Anyway, I found quite a few embossing powders and stuff in there that I can play with until I start getting my Tim Holtz goodies:)

I got these pics of Victoria the other day afterschool. I need to go some of Mattie, but I'm not sure how happy he'll be about putting the Santa hat on. But first he REALLY needs a haircut which we are giving him tomorrow, so I'll get some pics on Monday:)

Even though it's still fairly early, I'm really tired. The kids NEVER sleep late on the weekends, but come Monday they can't get out of bed...Go figure. I'm off:)

Ooops, one more thing before I go. I did a quick LO the other day. Was a lift from a LO I saw hanging at 911. Loved that Urban Lily paper so I just had to copy the LO.The background paper is Urban Lily. I really didn't need to add much to it all. The paper is so pretty. I added a "silhoutte" heart I cut out of another Urban Lily Paper (black with white polka dots), some black Doodlebug Paper Posies (that I've had FOREVER), a couple of Doodlebug blooms and a Prima Esprit, some Foof A La and Paper Studio buttons, a stamped image using one of my Autumn Leaves stamp sets and another Autumn Leaves stamp for the "title"...Love. TFL:) I'm off to bed.

Seriously Frustrated...

Ok...I have been searching for this Wii for too long. I had been on Monday and on Tuesday of this week AGAIN, by 10 am both days, so I decide today to go a little later and wouldn't you know it... By the time I get there, they had come in and sold out!!! Grrr!!! They can't be serious!!! I just KNEW they'd be there today and despite my instinct, I waited and then I was too late:( Now I have to wait until next week and check in every day to make sure I don't miss the next shipment. This is SO extremely frustrating. If I don't find one soon. I am going to SCREAM!!!

And it seems they all got them in today. Both Walmarts and Game Stop. How do I know??? Because after I heard the first store had them, I ran around like a crazy person hitting all the closest stores trying to see if I could still manage to get one, but no luck:( Ugh!!!

I really hope I get one soon. We were debating the Xbox, but I think the older Xbox is on it's way out and the new one is just too pricey IMO. I also don't think the Xbox's are geared towards younger kids. It seems to me to be more of a serious gamer type system; for the older gaming crowd. Nintendo just seems have to have more of a selection of the younger kid games.

So next week, I start my searching adventure again. Wish me luck before I go nutty...