BFFs 4 Ever...

So today I only got one LO done. I started on it at 10am and I didn't get done until about 2pm. I did take a break for lunch, but that's about it. There was a lot of cutting involved on this one. It's a pic of me and my best friend since middle school, Jess.

We have been BFFs since the 8th grade. I can't really remember how we met or how we started talking. I used to "go around" with a friend of his. Maybe that's how:) Anyway, we were tight all through high school. We even shared a locker. We spent countless hours on the phone...I mean LOTS...We'd watch TV on the phone. One of our faves was Three's Company. I still remember:)...LOL...Jess didn't have a color TV so it was harder for him when we played "RED" (a game we made up where you had to shout "red" everytime something red came out:) hee hee

After high school we went through our "party" phase. You know...eating too much birthday cake...wink, wink;) and Jess always looked out for me. He was the best. For a while there, we lost touch. He got married. I had my son. I saw him a couple of times after, but then lost touch again. It wasn't until about six years ago, I ran into him at NIOSA and we got back in touch and the rest is history:)

Sure, we don't spend countless hours on the phone now. Life and kids prevent that;), but we are still close. We've had our rough patches, but we've gotten through. I pray that he will always be a part of my life in some way or another. I am forever grateful that God brought him back into my life. He is my constant when all else fails, I know Jess has my back;)

So a tribute to my BFF...

This picture is from one of our recent class gatherings. I made it black and white to fit my color scheme. All the flowers, vines and little quotes are handcut from the Teresa Collins Friends line. I Stickled my two small black flowers and the large white HS one. I built this one black cardstock, then a light blue Rhonna Farrer that I inked the edges on. Also used a piece of KI lace cardstock, Prima bling flourishes and some ahesive pearls for the flower centers. Oh, also added a piece of lace trim to one of the quotes. The LO idea was from a LO I saw, I believe, on the Teresa Collins blog. I am absolutely in love with the way this turned out and I hope he likes it too:)

CKC, Picture Day and a Couple of More LOs...

So Saturday Steve took off work and we made the little road trip to San Marcos for CKC. I've been looking forward to this for pretty much a year. Ever since I saw the ad in a scrap mag a while back.

I got some feedback on the scrap boards about what to expect and was a little torn about whether or not it'd be worth it after all my expectations and waiting, but we went anyway.

We got there about 9:30. I was expecting to have to fight crowds, but that wasn't the case. Found parking fairly easy. Wasn't too much of a line to purchase tickets to get into the faire. We even got free admission for Steve; hubbies were free;) and I used a coupon and got in for $7 instead of $10:)

I must confess that the actual faire was NOT what I'd anticipated. It was a lot like the convention we did in Austin a couple of years back. It was still fun and I did get some things I wanted. Managed to spend about $80. We were there about 2 hours and then we left and hit up some stores around there before heading back home.

After doing these 2 events, I really don't think I'd go again...unless Lal came with me. Then maybe;) It's just not the same when you don't have another scrapper to keep you company:)

Here is a pic of my purchases along with some things I picked up at HL...

Today we actually got some rain again. Pretty much all day. It cleared up in the afternoon as was actually cool when I went to pick up V. Today was Picture Day. Got some shots of V out front...

I stayed home all day today and got some scrapping done. So did Lal. We had some what of a cyber crop. We are planning to get together on Friday and see what we can get done. No big expectations since it's kind of short notice. Probably just get a couple LOs done, get something to eat, do a little bit of shopping and hang out. It's been a while since we did that. We didn't get to do our Scrapapalooza Trilogy while Miguel was on vaca cause poor little Mikey got sick.

So here's what I got done today. This puts me at 106 LOs, I believe...
All Sass; Bungle Jungle and Anthem on kraft paper. Sass and Chatterbox chip "9"s and a Jillibean Sprout and Sass Happy Place alpha stickers.


Lift off 2Peas. The kids on the day we celebrated V's birthday. Cosmo Cricket Early Bird on kraft. STILL loving the kraft background. Cricut cut title using my Graphically Speaking cart. K&Co. diecut jouranling tag and a sticky note I got in M's $1 bins a while back.

Time for bed. Hoping to get a couple more LOs done tomorrow as I don't plan on leaving the house;) Night all:)

Birthday pics and LOs...

Sunday we celebrated V's birthday @ Peter Piper's. Unfortunately we didn't have a very good turnout of her classmates. Laney was the only one to show up and then Haley showed up about 15 minutes before the party ended:( Luckily though, my cousins made it, my aunt brought my cousin's two girls and Steve's mom brought V's little friend from across the street from their house.Here are the decorated goodie bags. I bought plain pink ones and made the kitties with my Sizzix die:)

Stevie also came over on Saturday and on Sunday his girlfriend, Amanda came over and she came to the party as well:) We had a really nice time and we laughed a lot towards the end;) Here's a few pics:

The kids Sunday morning before we headed out to breakfast...

V at Peter Piper's:)

The birthday cakes and singing Happy Birthday. I actually ended up making two cakes. V wanted a funfetti cake with strawberry frosting. I'm not crazy about that so I made a yellow cake with chocolate frosting too. We had very little of the chocolate cake left, but quite a bit of the pink one. Of course, the pink one was also bigger than the chocolate one though. I sent Stevie and Amanda home with some cake:)

In the pic above...Venus, Alexis, V, Laney and Brianna. In back...Nin, Mattie and Nick.

V with a couple of her birthday gifts from us; the Miley Cyrus book (she's been wanting this one for quite a while:) and a Disney video camera. She's been messing around with this DAILY. She walks around the house video taping everything and talking like she's talking to someone...LOL. She says she wants to do her own web show. I think she's been watching too much iCarly;)

I got a few LOs done this week too. I think this puts my count at 104 for the year:)
This one is a lift off Jenice on sb.com. I love that her LOs are very simple. I used kraft for my background again. I am really loving the look of that and doing it a lot as of late:) PP is Sass Skully, I believe. Some old Daisy D's punchouts, MM tiny alphas and AC Puffy Thicker number along with a Sass sticker flower:)
This was a lift off the Cosmo blog. Pics of V sleeping with her furry puppy friends. Steve says he didn't like the pics. That they were morbid looking...sigh...Whatever!!! Anywho...I think the names V gives her animals are funny. She never names them anything like Fluffy or Sparky. These three are named Lauren, Alicia and Biscuit.

I used kraft for my background again. PPs are AC and Cosmo Early Bird and Girl Friday. Doodlebug Paper Frill, MM tiny alphas, AC foam Thickers and some buttons.

This is another lift off Jenice. I used a Doodlebug paper I've had for quite some time, as my background. AC vinyl Thickers, HS block alpha stickers, Daisy D's rubon and some buttons.

This Saturday Steve is taking off from work and we are hitting CKC in San Marcos. I'm pretty excited. I've been waiting for this for about a year. I hope it's good. I wasn't too thrilled about the convention we did in Austin a couple of years back. Hoping this one is better. Thankfully, this one isn't as far a drive either. I'll update after. Hopefully with lots of awesome goodie deals:)

I did it!!!

With the two LOs I did today, I have reached my yearly goal and completed my 100 LOs. I actually went one over and I am at 101!!! Woo hoo!!! Let's see how many I can get done by the end of the year. I still have a little less than 4 months to go. I'll see if I can get another 25 done before the end of the year. That will be my mini challenge;)

I think Miguel is supposed to be going on vaca real soon and I had mentioned to Lal that it might be time for Scrapapalooza the Trilogy...LOL...Hopefully we can make that happen. I think I got like 10 LOs done at our last "event". That would really give me a good boost to reach my "mini goal":)

Yawn...I am super tired tonight and heading to bed ASAP. Just waiting on a load of laundry to come out of the wash so I can throw it in the dryer and I'm headed to bed. Nighty:)

Happy Birthday!!!

Yesterday on 9-9-09 my baby girl turned 9 years old!!!

We took her out to eat in the afternoon when Steve got home. Then we came home and had cupcakes. I usually make the kids a cake for their actual birthday too, but then we get stuck with a whole bunch of cake I feel compelled to eat;) So this year, I just got the little box of cupcakes...plus I don't like the frosting so that helps;)

V also took cupcakes to her class. She was super excited. Hers was the like third class birthday this week. There are lots of September birthdays she said:)

We'll be celebrating her birthday on Sunday with a little party at Peter Piper Pizza.

We've been getting quite a bit of rain these past few days. We REALLY need it so I'm not going to complain. The humidty afterwards has been just awful though:(

I've pretty much just been chillin' at home all week. It helps not to be out where the shopping temptation is more likely;) I've been trying to keep my sb shopping down to once a week and for the last week fews, I've been doing really well:)

This past week I went to M's and got the Sass packs they just got in. I got Vintage Yummy and Bungle Jungle as well as 3 packs of Whimsies flowers; Vintage Yummy, Bungle Jungle and Anthem. Last week I put in an order at Two Peas and got a whole bunch of Jillibean Sprouts @ 40% off. Can't remember what the previous week was, but it was a one day thing too:)

So here's some LOs I got done recently. The first two I got done today:) TFL

LOs to Share...

First Day of School

I'm finally able to update my blog. Blogger was NOT allowing me to upload my pics in the last few attempts I've made over the last week or so:( So these back to school pics are a little late;)

Mattie on his first day of high school.
V on her first day of 3rd grade. Both were very excited to go back.

They both had really good days and Mattie said he only got lost once:)

So the kids are back in school and I have gotten back into my routine. I got a lot accomplished the first week they were back, but still got a ways to go.

Every Friday they have a pep rally at Mattie's school so I have been driving him on those mornings so he doesn't miss out cause the bus picks them up later and the rally starts at 8am. Traffic is something going that way that early though:(

I will be updating in seperate posts until I am caught up:)

Last Day of Vaca...

Tomorrow is the first day of school. I am not looking forward to the early mornings, but I'm hoping to start a lot of cleaning and purging projects around the house.

So tomorrow V will start 3rd grade. We did Meet the Teacher last Thursday. She will be in Mr. V's class and she's really excited. Two of her former classmates will be joining her; Kassandra and Isabel as well as a former kinder classmate; Shelby. We've got our first day outfit all picked out and hanging for the morning already:)

Mattie will be starting high school. Boy am I nervous wreck!!! Mattie always makes me the most nervous:( I know he has more trouble adjusting to new changes and I know he's not very social. Not like my little chatterbox;) I'm just praying it will all be OK for him. He will be riding the bus this year too. He rode the bus in 6th grade, but after that they made some changes and our area wasn't eligible for bus pickup anymore:(

So he's got his outfit set out; a Nintendo shirt and some jeans, his backpack ready and his new schedule good to go.

Thursday we also had dr. appointment for Mattie to get a refill on his meds. Then I finished my grocery shopping I didn't get done last week.

Friday I spent the day at my mom's. Went to Skechers and got V's last two pairs of shoes and to T's for a couple other things we still needed. Took Mattie to Steve to get a hair cut.

Friday was also our 9 year wedding anniversary. 9 years!!! We didn't do anything since Steve worked both the office and the shop and be the time we got home, it was too late.

Saturday V spent the day at my MILs so I took it easy chillin' at home. Watched a movie, did some laundry, a little more shopping. When Steve got home we made another T run for socks for V and I found this patio swing I'd been wanting all summer long and it was half off!!! We snatched that right up as part of my anniversary gift:) I can't wait for Steve to put it together. Once the weather gets cooler I'm sure we'll get a lot of use out of it. Sitting out and watching the kids ride bikes or play out front:)

Today we went out to breakfast, dropped the kids off at my inlaws and went and caught a movie. We saw Post Grad. It was a good movie. We were going to go to lunch, but my inlaws wanted to catch a movie too so we had to go get the kids. So we all went to lunch at Logan's. ONE more T run then Steve took me by James Avery and bought me a chain/crucifix. I'd always wanted one from James Avery. The cross and chain I had before...well the chain actually...broke a week or so back so I wasn't wearing anything. I LOVE my new one:) That was the other part of my anniversary gift:)

Well, it's about one hour to bedtime routine. Let's see how quick and smooth that goes. Crossing fingers;) Will update tomorrow with some back to school pics:)

Ram Camp

This morning I woke up to a very nice little visitor. Ruby and Ariel came by. I hadn't seen Ariel in a while. With the kids being home and all and running around for back to school and since Ruby started watching Bella, we just don't have the time to hang out like we used to:(

Today Mattie had Ram Camp. I dropped him off. It was from 1-4pm. Basically they were showing him around; where everything is at. How things work. That kind of stuff.

V and I killed time while he was there. I went by M's...found nada...went to the Dollar Tree next door; we just got drinks and V got some Cheetos:) Went to Tuesday Morning. V found some little wooden doll house furniture so we bought a set; a little bedroom I think. I took her to eat at Whataburger, then we went to Hobby Lobby...didn't buy anything there either.

So we picked him up at 4 and then came back home. It is SO SUPER hot out:(

I got two LOs done yesterday. They are both the same LO. A lift off Ginger Williams. I had done both these pics on a 6x12 LO a long time ago and I never liked how it turned out. I always wanted to redo it. When I saw her LO, I knew I had to lift it for these pics. I had to reprint the pics though cause when I tore them off the other LO, they kind of "warped". Besides I needed larger pics since I did individual LOs instead of the ONE they were both on before. I am SO much happier with these LOs than the one I did before. LOVE it:)...them:)

The pics are from Valentine's Day a couple of years back. I used on both...Papers: kraft, Cosmo Cricket Early Bird and Girl Friday, AC and Paper Studio. JB journaling spot, Doodlebug Hopscotch alphas, MS fabric cupcakes, felt star trim from M's $ bins, bracket punch and MS large scallop punch and a couple of buttons:)

Right now I am reading The Time Traveler's Wife. I'm hoping to go see the movie this weekend so I want to finish the book before then. I SO love it and I SO LOOOVVVEEE the Lifehouse song Broken that plays on the soundtrack. I've had that on repeat on iTunes and my iPod for the last couple of days:)

LOTS of LOs...

Lots of recent LOs to share. Everything I've got done since our Scrapapalooza:) Not in any particular order though. I can't recall which went where:)

Mattie and his little sister, Mia @ his birthday celebration last month. I lifted this off the Sass blog. Kraft paper, Sass papers, Bazzill Edge, Bo Bunny alpha stickers, MM tiny alphas and some MM chip stars.
This was a lift off Kelly Goree. I used BG Urban Prairie, Scrapworks pp, black cardstock for the background, MME diecut, Urban Prairie rubon and some things cut out of the paper to embellish.

Lift off Ginger Williams. Another one of my fave artists right now. Pic of V when she was 5!!! asleep on the living room floor. Kraft pp, AC pp, Colorbok pp, MM chip shapes and Doodlebug cardstock alphas.
Can't recall where this one is from. Either sb.com or 2Peas. Pic of Mikey in the pool. Built on white cardstock. Used some Cosmo Snorkel, Doodlebug pp and alpha stickers, P. Etc. stickers I've had FOREVER and some foam alphas from T's $ Spot.

Inspired by a LO in the latest issue of MM. My second Twilight LO. SO in love with this one:) I used some Creative Imaginations paper I had in my stash from who knows when:). A little bit of Foofala pp and WRMK. Prima velvet border and bling flourish, MM Vintage Hip flower, AC chip Thickers, 7 Gypsies stickers. Also stamped an AL image in the top left hand corner. The pic is an image I got online of a movie poster. My pic I took at the theatre of the poster did not come out well AT ALL:(

Another mag lift; Scrapbooks Etc. this time. Pics of V when she was in kindergarten; 2 years ago. Pics taken throught the rearview mirror. White cardstock background, Scenic Route pp, Colorbok pp, vinyl and puffy Thickers, 7 Gypsies stickers.

K...this one I just did last night. This is a pic of me and Lal and a friend of ours from school that we have known since kindergarten. We just recently reconnected on Facebook. We saw each other again for the first time in a LONG time at the last class gathering we had in June, then a couple of weeks ago, we got together with another childhood friend of ours and had lunch...a very long lunch...a SIX hour lunch @ Sea Island. It was such a blast!!!

This pic was taken just last week @ our second class gathering we had @ Cha Cha's. We had a lot better turn out for this one and got to catch up with a lot of old friends we hadn't seen in about 10 years. We are starting to plan our 20 year reunion. 20 years!!! We are also trying to plan more gatherings for us to just get together and hang out. I am really enjoying these gatherings:)

K...that's all I got for now. I'll update more later and post some more of our recent gathering pics:)

Prep Day...

Seems I haven't updated my blog in forever. It's not that I haven't been on the computer. I guess I've just been lazy about updating:(

Today was Mattie's prep day @ school. He is going into high school!!! Yikes!!! So today Mark went w/ me. Thank God cause it was chaotic in there and I don't know what I would have done by myself...well, I guess I could have managed, but it was nice to have someone else along:)

So we went and had to get his schedule, locker, student ID, books...all sorts of stuff. I think we were there for about 2 hours. Whew!!! All I can say is, I'm glad it's not me. I feel so overwhelmed for him...though I'm sure he'll do fine. I always get all paranoid for nothing cause he seems to be very good at adapting:)

Today I met up with a lady this morning from Craigslist. I put up a listing for a bunch of clothes V outgrew and got a nice $45 for it all:) It's fairly easy to sell her stuff. I listed Mattie's school uniforms, but nothing on that though. Luckily the school accept gently used uniforms to offer those who can't afford them so I need to call the school about dropping them off. We have LOTS and they are all in very good condition so hopefully someone can benefit from them:)

I also went through all of our school supply stash and got it all packed up in V's new backpack for her. There are only a couple of things I am going to need to get. Sure am glad I stocked up with sales and clearance last year:)

V has her Meet the Teacher day next week on Thursday so we will find out who her teacher will be and we can drop off her supplies. I can't believe the start of school is just around the corner; the 24th here. V will be in the 3rd grade!!! I can't believe how fast these kids are growing:(

I've gotten a couple of LOs done. Not much since our Scrapapalooza. I'll upload those later. There's the lazy again:)

Gotta go get dinner finished and serve it up. Hope everyone is staying cool. It is SO hot here. Like CRAZY hot:( I can NOT wait for Fall or at least our version of it;)

Scrapapalooza Part Deux...

Saturday Lal and I had our Scrapapalooza Part Deux. I spent the better part of last week planning for it. I had 12 LO ideas put together, but only got to 10. The first two still need titles, so if anyone has any good suggestions, please share:)

I met up with Lal at Crossroads a little after 9am. We made a quick stop at HL for some Prima Pearls I needed then went to breakfast at Bill's. After breakfast we made another stop at Scrapbook Heaven and just picked up a few things I needed for the day.

We got back to the house a little after 10am, I think. So we scrapped from then until like 2:30 when we stopped for our lunch break. We made another quick trip; to Tuesday Morning, then went to eat at Whataburger. Stopped at BL on the way back and scrapped again until 6 when Miguel came to pick up Lal. It was a really fun, relaxing, kid free day;)

After Lal left and the kids and Steve got home, we had dinner. I cleaned up, got V to shower and get ready for bed and scrapped some more. I scrapped until midnight and got 4 more LOs done for a total of 10 all day:) I was on a roll!!! ;)

Since there are so many LOs I won't go into details on them all. I super lazy that way;) But if anyone has any questions about any of them, please feel free to leave me a comment here or message me on sb.com.

Thanks so much for looking. I've got a couple more updates and more pics, but I'll save those for another post. I gotta go workout which I am really procrastinating right now. More soon:)