Emerald's Corner

Long time no blog! Disney this one is for you!

2011-09-26T15:45:00.003-04:00

So it has been a really long time!!!! This blog is for disney though. I bought Ali a costume, Size 10 as it was the only the store had in hopes a 7/8 would come in.

Saw it online and ordered it.....It arrived the day before we are to go to Mickey's Not So Scary Party at Disney World (Yay!!) Then I opened the box:

First off it was 'wadded' in the bag, I can live with that, then

I open the bag ad right on top is a huge stain, marinara/gum/fingernail polish I dont know...1st off to whomever returned this shame on you...2nd off to the inspection process at disney store shame on you

I call Disney....they cannot do anything...they have a 2 day shipping process so i will not get it in time for the Halloween party at Disney, so I got an apology and now I have to explain to my 6 year old why our favorite company that I must say I have spent a LOT of money at over the years with 4 daughters, dropped the ball big time.....soooo disappointed in you Disney Store!!!!

Not sure what to do and overall just frustrated with a company I have loved.

*update* nana got the red stain out with water so leaning towards marinara? but a odd discoloration left behind...definitely going to be returning this one!

Ashley's 1st Birthday

2010-03-21T21:42:00.005-04:00

So I have failed at my blogging once per week but I will strive to at least aim for twice a month!! March has flown by and today we celebrated Ash's first Birthday!

What I have learned this day - Ashley hates to be set down outside, Alison had the aversion of being on grass as well so I am going to assume she will grow out of it soon...I also learned she has the same aversion to birthday cake Alison had. Dan somehow managed to get her interested in it though and by the time she was done she was a total mess!

This is my attempt to get a pic of the girls...you can see how much ash is enjoying the outdoors lol

so i moved the group inside and this is the best i could get!

Ash's favorite present was her own zoobie...awesome pillow/blanket/stuffed animal combo. Love these!

She was not enjoying her birthday hat but we managed to get a smile out of her!

Mom did a mommy and baby panda bear cakes.

Ashley and Ariel were both watching the cake closely lol

And she realized she does not like to get dirty

Dan intervened and we managed to get her interested in the cake

Overall I think she had a wonderful time!!!

Cards, Cards, Cards!

2010-02-26T22:23:00.004-05:00

So I am actually keeping 1 of my resolutions...I wanted to make 1 card a month at least for the entire year. I decided I need this much needed 'me' time and I have managed to keep it up!! I just have not kept my blog resolution which is why you are just now seeing the cards LOL Below are my recent cards:

This card was done for a challenge on our Meade Splitcoast Thread. Gloria challenged us with the "flip"card. I actually really enjoyed this one! It took 3 tries but I enjoyed it LOL

I used a Unity Stamps and Stampin Up Card Stock. I inked the edges and used stickles to put a little sparkle

Amanda hosted a shoebox swap in January and this was the card I did for it. I was looking for something valentiney (so not a word but it is on my blog LOL) and this unity stamp was perfect! I used Stampin Up CardStock some chalk pads for the background, brads, and dew drops to complete the card. I believe the patterned paper was basic grey.

At Amanda's Shoebox Swap, I won the auction for the stampin up set I used on this card. I dont know why but I love this set!!! This is the card I made for the Baltimore Shoe Box Swap hosted by Cindy!

This is another card I made for a challenge hosted by Gloria! I am also noticing a trend with my cards, I apparently like Purple and Pink LOL Could be the 4 girls in the house! Anyhoo this is a new MFT stamp set I HAD to have and I love it!!! I used my favorite Crate Paper and Stampin Up Cardstock. We actually used a sketch for this challenge and I used my copics to color.

I also cut out the wings partially...I was trying to keep somewhat true to the measurements in the sketch and my image was so large I was able to cut out a lot of my white space by cutting the wings out of the square.

So that catches me up creatively!!! Between my 4 cards above, I have made approximately 50 cards at swaps so I think I am well within my 1 card a month goal!!!

The Great Blizzard of 2010!!!

2010-02-07T22:12:00.006-05:00

Wow I keep postig the "great blizzard" but this one really was! We had the biggest snowstorm the area has seen in over 100 years, I am starting to see a trend. Everwhere we live seems to have the worst storm ever when we move to the area LOL

My poor car got buried!

I am worried about the overhanging snow! Happy to report it did not take out my satellite before the superbowl!

Hubby looks for any change to belly flop in snow apparently LOL btw the snow is up to your rear anytime you sink all the way down! You get lucky in some spots and not go all the way down!

This is during the storm still

Some snow on the trees

We are all now trying to figure out how long the kids are out of school! They are definitely out tomorrow and we are to get MORE snow this week!!! Should be interesting!

FYI:
I have moderated my comments due to some spam so that is why you may not see a comment appear immediately.

Cute Gift Idea!!

2010-02-05T15:52:00.003-05:00

So after watching the story of stuff, I realize we have soooo much and we had already been thinking of ways to cut back but not let the kids realize we are cutting back. One of my solutions is buying consumable goods like fruit bouquets/candy/cookies, doing activities like disney, or usable/necessity type of goods. The latter is not as much fun though, right? WRONG!!

One of My absolute favorite blogs is Hip2save.com. Well she is doing a giveaway for sockgrams! http://www.sockgrams.com/ How cute are these!!! Perfect as a "we are thinking about you" type of gift without adding to all the clutter/landfills! Everyone wears socks and from someone that has 4 kids they LOVE decorative socks!!

Anyways I thought this was a really cute idea!!

Other than that - the blizzard has begun....anywhere from 20-30+ inches!!!!!

The Story of Stuff

2010-02-03T22:27:00.002-05:00

So Hubby sent me this link and WOW! It really opens your eyes to what we are doing to ourselves!

I definitely recommend watching this video!

www.storyofstuff.com

Time for some sleep!

2010-01-27T23:58:00.003-05:00

so tonight was supposed to be my late night at work, and instead I chased kids down, checked on alison and tackled my tax return! I unfortunately cannot submit until i get my 1099 from Pampered Chef and Scentsy but I am ready other than that!!

Ali has been sick all week with a high fever but is doing much better, she now has a nasty cough but the fever is lower.

Work has been hectic as always, today my phone rang nonstop, which means one of those days you cannot get anything done because you are constantly getting diverted by the caller's new issue!

I foresee me working Sunday night since tomorrow night I have to finish my swap card for a baltimore card swap and get my 30 (yes 30) card kits cut up!!!

I leave you with a very intriquing blog....I am sure you saw or heard about the movie julie and julia where she cooked from julia child's cookbook every day of the year? Well this lady did a crockpot meal every day and boy do they look great! I think this is a cool idea and she even has a cookbook out now! Thanks DawnMarie for showing this to me!! I will be testing some of her recipe's over the next few weeks and I will let you know what I think! Be sure to check it out at crockpot365.blogspot.com

Uh oh!!!

2010-01-17T19:32:00.003-05:00

sooooo I have already shot my blog a week and it is only day 17 of January LOL.....I will make 2 posts this week to "hopefully" make up!

It has been crazy (as always!) I with 3 other ladies here joined a dump our plump team and I have been trying to work out for that and this week i was bad, too much going on so I am only praying I did not GAIN weight!!! Next week I am going to make sure we stay on track!

We got the wise idea to rearrange the house....My office/scrap room moved upstairs, all girls to one room, living room to my old office, all toys to old living room as a playroom. Yeah this was hubby's idea btw - I think it will be a good move when we are done but right now I think my hair is turning gray! And I will now have a door I can lock and CLOSE when I am working wooohoooo!!!

I am a new aunt!!! My sister in law Dixie gave birth to baby boy (yeah nice someone in the family can have boys LOL) Mason!!! He is a cutie and I hope Mommy and baby are doing well!

That is it for now - busy as always, not much new - oh Ashley is starting to take steps on her own so that is our big news for the week =0)

Until next time.....

My first 2010 Post!!!

2010-01-06T22:44:00.007-05:00

So far I am on track of blogging once a week LOL I know it is only day 6 of the year but hey, at least I am on track for now!

For my first post I have to share my latest triples trip wooohoooo! My fave grocery store has not been tripling lately but they brought it out to start the year right!

The total for all you see was $7.57 AND I got $10 Bonus bucks back to use on my next visit!

I got 3 bottles of mr. clean pourable cleaners, 3 spray cleaners, 2 dawn dish soap refills, 1 dawn dish soap, 2 magic erasers, 6 frozen pizzas, 4 no yolks, 2 yogurts, 2 season salts, 1 sour cream, 10 healthy choice dinners, overall very pleased with this shopping trip!

And on a humorous note - this is now how I humor myself, tormenting my cats with zhu zhu pets LOL I like to think of it as mouse catching training for if we ever move to the country!

Seriously though I am not sure who enjoys them more the cats or Amanda and Ashley!

Happy New Year!!!

2009-12-31T15:57:00.002-05:00

I hope you all have a wonderful New Year's Eve!!! I have high hopes for 2010 and I am hoping it lives up to it!!! I am going to enjoy a year not being pregnant LOL and enjoying time with my family!

Have a Safe Night and Cheers to a wonderful new year!!!

All Caught Up!!!

2009-12-28T00:41:00.003-05:00

Okay so I think everything is now up to date but I have to go hit the hay!!! I am unfortunately out of vacation days and I have to work tomorrow and there is TONS to do!!! I actually planned to work tonight and after running dan a snack at work, I was not in the work mode.

I have tons of resolutions for the new year and one of them is bringing everything into balance...I apparently need balance in my life to be "superwoman" and this year everything was not in balance. My constant trying to do everything at the last minute for everything is a sign of that!

I will list them out below and I hope to keep all of them!!!!

Blog at least once a week!
Start a game night with the girls
Clip and organize my coupons each week and get my stockpile back!!
Pay off some bills in 2010 and cut some cards!!! It is time for my "friends" to go!
Scrap a page and make a card at least 1 per month! This is vital "me" time that I have not had this year and I think I really need this!!!
Work "normal" hours....I worked some really crazy hours this year and still stayed behind 90% of the time...it is a horrid feeling and it definitely seeped into my home life as working so much threw me off my couponing and "me" time. I am trying to realize I am but one person and I can only do what I can do.....tough for someone like me to accept, but I am driving myself nuts stressing about not being on top of things!
Lose the baby weight!!! No more babies for us so it is time to get this weight off finally!! I apparently "live" by my taste buds per my hubby (he stated this as I was eating snow LOL) and it is true - I do love food!! I unfortunately at my age I have to ramp up the exercise though, a diet is not enough anymore!
Get back to my uber organized self and stay that way!!! Be Proactive and not Reactive!!! I hate realizing 2 days after someones birthday that I did not send a card or call....Please note I realized all of your birthdays, and I completely hate I did not get out Thank You notes for all the wonderful things people have done for me this year! If you get a random thank you note in 2010 it is possibly from something you did in 2009!

I think that is all for me for this year! I think it is enough to keep me busy and most are simple enough I "should" be able to keep them!!!

What are your resolutions for this year???

Christmas!!

2009-12-28T00:09:00.006-05:00

So Christmas with 4 kids is insane! I somehow managed to get everything wrapped and ready to go in time - still not sure how I managed it! I have learned to ignore my hubby's growling around this time of year LOL When we just had Autumn it was because I got her everything, then with 2 I cut back but with 2 there was the same amount, and while I have cut back even more when you have presents for 7 people, the tree is going to be full! Needless to say he growls this time of the year and I ignore it LOL

The highlights for the girls was Autumn got an Ipod and a Teacher set (she makes alison attend school daily, taught by her lol), Alison was happiest with Santa's gift of Zhu Zhu pets - oh yes I managed to score the elusive "hot toy" and accessories, Amanda loves the house mom got her, and little ashley likes to eat the bits of wrapping paper she can uncover LOL She has not yet realized not everything goes into her mouth!

Amanda on Christmas Eve:

Dan and the 2 youngest:

Autumn with her School Set

Ashley opening some presents

Ashley discovering she likes the wrapping paper and boxes more than the presents lol

All of my girls

the cat quickly fell in love with her bed...her name is belle which I am learning it is pointless to name a cat as they do not come when you call their name nor do they listen LOL

Ariel loved her bed, until Rosie found it:

btw they got their names Rosie and Belle from my oldest girls that for some reason name EVERYTHING Rosabella...every stuffed animal and toy has some form of rosabella for a name. Hence Rosie and Belle.

And if you ever wondered what kind of crazy people buys Snuggies for their dogs...mom answered that question - her poor dog LOL

The great blizzard of 2009!

2009-12-27T23:55:00.005-05:00

I have not seen this much snow since I was a kid in Oklahoma!!! We seriously got snowed in and I almost did not get off work in time to get supplies!!! I just managed to get salt but I was unable to get a second sled! We did manage to have a fun time with the one we had from last year though!

This is the night of the 2nd day of it snowing....dan had to go into work as many were snowed in, so we had to dig out my car!

The girls got some quality time in the snow

This is after it was all done...check out the snow on our porch!!!

Dan dug the girls a little snow fort, which they proceeded to trash later in the day....needless to say we were not happy since the younger ones never got a chance to check it out.

They were cute in it though before it met its demise

Overall it was a fun experience - I now however will take a LONG lunch break in the future snow days and get the supplies we need early!

We are ready for the next one!

Ali's Bday!!!

2009-12-27T23:36:00.005-05:00

Wow this is going to be a long update!!! Needless to say I am breaking it into 3 posts! One for Ali, One for the Blizzard and one for Christmas!

1st off I have not forgotten anyone - My christmas cards are still here with me, they will be on their way this week I promise!!!

2nd - I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!!! To family I wish we could have spent it with you guys, but I assure you - you probably had a quieter christmas without my crazy crew around!

Now with that done - time for updates!!!

Alison had the luck of being born a week before christmas! We had her party at chuck e. cheese with some friends from her pre-school class on a Wednesday night. 2 thoughts to this, 1 - middle of the week, hopefully less busy, and 2 - middle of the week maybe all 16 people I invited would not show LOL Sounds horrid I know but you have to invite the entire class, and I prefer to do more for less people then less for more people.

Mom out did herself on her cake

One of her favorite presents was her Princess and the Frog Prince and Princess dolls, she looks a wee bit excited LOL

She got some quality time with Chuck E Cheese at her party in her stylin' inflatable hat - which someone had the wise idea to create token spots so her sisters could chase her trying to steal her tokens, ahh having four girls is a joy every day LOL

One of "those" days

2009-12-17T20:36:00.002-05:00

Ever have one of those days you wonder why you bothered to get out of bed!!!

My day started off okay, but after I wrapped up from work that is when it started! I dropped my dish of spaghetti sauce (frozen in the serving containers I use) and busted that. I then dropped and broke my olive oil carafe while adding a touch to my pasta water. I then dumped the parmesan cheese in the floor!!! I took a break from my klutzy spell (ever read Megan the Klutz? My fave book when I was 12 LOL, for good reason apparently!), got the kids ready for bed, Ali realized she lost her stuffed Monkey she got for her birthday so I spent an hour unsuccessfully looking for him, sat at my desk and proceeded to somehow hook and dump my file organizer in the floor.

So here I sit with paper and documents everywhere posting a blog so I dont scream and wake up the kids!!!

I hope all is well with everyone! We are doing okay other than my uber super unlucky night! Nearly ready for christmas, just have to wrap the presents!

We may get some snow Saturday! I will try to log in tomorrow night and update you all on Ali's 5th Birthday party!

Quick Update

2009-11-30T22:48:00.002-05:00

So lots has been going on - tons to update but here is a quick recap to let you know how our past week has gone LOL (think in tune to 12 days of xmas to get in the christmas mood!)

12 days of work to catch up on
11 pounds of ham
10 lbs of potatoes
9 different dishes to try
8 months to lose weight gained
7 sick family members
6 long days a coughin
5 wonderful days with grandma
4 days of shopping
3 Strep Throats
2 ear infections
and 1 crazy mom

I will hopefully be recuperated (I am one of the ones with strep lol) and caught up at work at some point this week and I will post pics from Grandma Donna's visit and out "attempt" to get photos taken.....needless to say I will be going back LOL

Brag Time!!!

2009-11-08T16:29:00.002-05:00

So not the best deal I ever did but not bad at all!!!

10 bottles of Snuggle, 2 bags of choc. chips, 1 gallon of milk, 2 bags of marshmellows, 1 pack of bottle waters (24 count not in pic), 5 lb bag of sugar, and a tub of butter...grand total after coupons ----- $13.30 wooohooooo

Questions Answered

2009-11-05T00:31:00.003-05:00

I get so many random questions that are primarily due to the fact I have 4 kids!

Are you Catholic?
Are you mormon?
Do you know what causes it?
Are you Superwoman?
How do you do all you do?

answers - no, no, yes, no, no clue LOL

I love to sleep but apparently I can survive on tons of coffee and little sleep. I work normal hours 8-5, I work thru my lunch hour 95% of the time; during this time, mom and hubby watch the kids - except for those rare occasions when I am left with all 4 (like today) and everyone is calling and they are all screaming LOL. I stop at 5, feed them, run them to their activities like soccer and girl scouts and school events, and then strive to get them in bed by 8 or 8:30....typically back to work at 9 to keep on top of things and I usually head to bed at midnight.

What do you do on your time off?

Hmm, well I am not sure I have much of that LOL but I love to make cards/scrapbook but I do that one evening a month if I am lucky, it is more like one evening a quarter. I love to read, but again maybe one book every 6 months if I am lucky - or if I have a business trip I read about 5 while waiting on flights. I enjoy couponing and I am soooo behind, I am hoping I can get caught up with them soon so I can start saving money again!!! So really on the few minutes I get free, I surf the web, pay bills, balance my checkbook, try to scout out any good deals, and post to my blog (which we all know is not very often LOL)

The weekends are my catch up time...running errands I cant get to during the week, like grocery shopping, and cleaning. Laundry also can take a day --- who knew 7 people could generate sooooo much laundry!!!

Okay well that is it for the all about me segment =0) I am waiting on a report to drop so I figure I would post a random ramble for your reading pleasure LOL

Ali's Soccer Banquet

2009-11-03T23:26:00.003-05:00

Ali had her soccer banquet tonight, she is very proud of her trophy! Dan is coaching Autumn's team and they had a game tonght - so Nana, Amanda, Ashley, Alison and I went to her banquet. It was at Cici's and they all had a good time! Of course I came home to find poor Dan and Autumn waiting outside in his car since he apparently forgot to grab a house key LOL

In the couponing/savings news...Visa Print has some GREAT freebie deals! I got some adorable family return address labels with little custom caricatures (so misspelled that word) of the family!! I also got a free car magnet/Stamp/Business Cards for scentsy!! You do have to pay a small fee for ship and handling but for what you get - it is totally worth it!!! Deal ends soon though so go check it out!!!

Halloween Pics!!!

2009-11-02T19:48:00.003-05:00

So I am on a roll! A post a month LOL

Lets see what has happened in the past month! Lots of running the girls to soccer and school. Tons of work at my job so I have been very busy there. Dan's schedule has been all over the place so that has been fun! Ashley started crawling two weeks ago and a day later decided that was not good enough and is standing already at 7 months!!

We had a very busy halloween, Autumn was a vampire, Alison was Cinderella, Amanda was tinkerbell, and Ashley was the cutest flower ever. Daddy mentioned Ashleys' costume being cruel and unusual punishment LOL but she was adorable!!!!

Autumn trying to look scary!

Alison definitely let the Princess costume go to her head LOL she thinks she is now a princess!!

Amanda was perfect as Tinkerbell - very Mischevious!

Awwww!!!

while trick or treating amanda had to eat her candy as she went along LOL - she would only want to go to a house when she ran out!

Overall a super busy month...I have not even really worked with my coupons, have not made much with my scrap stuff...Mainly just worked and focused on the kids!

Hopefully next year I become a better blogger, hmmmm do I smell a new year's resolution?

Happy Birthday to Two!!!!

2009-10-05T21:05:00.007-04:00

Okay first let me start by saying I know I am the worst blogger and crafter/stamper ever LOL I promise when soccer season is over to get better, but with work, 2 in school, 2 in soccer, and physical therapy 3 times a week - I dont have free time anymore!!! With that said here is a long awaited update to my blog .... no new cards to show!!!

I somehow managed to have 2 of my children on the same exact day 6 years apart! So this past weekend we celebrated Autumns 8th birthday on Saturday and Amanda's 2nd birthday on Sunday! We had Autumns party at the base bowling alley and she wanted a skull theme (dont ask - its cool LOL) and Amanda got a Pet shop party cause she has to roll with what I pick (she does love those little animals though!) Below are some pics with some comments - enjoy and I will try to post more later!!!

Autumn waiting for her guests

So I have my very own live in cake boss. I designed the cakes and lo and behold nana actually was able to create them!!! Pretty cool - Autumn wanted a skull cake to match her party

She has been wanting a Moxie girl for awhile

She finally got a "real" camera, which means we now have to hide from her cause she is recording and snapping pics constantly (I honestly dont know where she gets it from LOL)

She is pretty happy with shoes - practical yet cute LOL

This is apparently her "fierce" model face LOL - we got several of these poses with every piece of clothing

Day 2: the house for Amanda's party and amanda playing with that birthday bear I got for my birthday - ultimate revenge he is being pulled out for every birthday until they are 40 LOL

Another cake Nana and I did - I drew it she did it! The tree is actually fondant! She did a great job!! We stole the pet shop animals from the girls room LOL

Daddy trying to help Amanda blow out her candles - she just wanted to eat the cake!

No problems smiling for the camera here - Ashley was having a blast!

The three stooges LOL kidding - they girls were great helping Amanda

All 4 of my girls!

Okay the final few pics are me trying to snap a pic of the birthday girls...I wish I could make a flip book - there are about 30 + on my camera but you can get the general idea with these few LOL

Here amanda got an idea...first she put the hat over her face, she then looked at me and got the ultimate idea

She walked to me and put the hat over the camera lense LOL this is one of my pics after I pulled it off...I think we are in trouble with this one LOL

I think I wore them out wooohooo!!!

Overall it was a fun but busy 2 days with a soccer game, birthday party, birthday dinner, cake, presents, birthday breakfast, playtime at chuckee cheese, another birthday dinner, cake and presents!!

Another Month Flown By!

2009-09-28T22:32:00.002-04:00

Wow so September Flew by!!! We have been very busy with two girls in soccer! Between work, soccer, and now Physical therapy for my back it has been nuts around here!

We are all doing great, Ashley is huge! Amanda is mellowing out some, Alison started preschool and is doing great, and Autumn as always is doing wonderful in school!

I will try to post some pics soon!! We have Autumn and Amanda's 8th and 2nd birthday this weekend and then it should calm down some!

Blog Candy WINNER!!!!!!

2009-09-01T21:10:00.003-04:00

I put everyone who posted into a drawing (an entry per post) since my inital post on 8/22 for my Blog Candy of the 3 Copic Markers and we have a Winner!!!!

Congratulations!! Loretta you are the winner!!! I will email you regarding pick up!

That was fun! I am going to have to try that again soon!!!

My Blog

2009-08-25T12:41:00.002-04:00

So I have a very eclectic blog....I set it up when I initially got back into stamping to a) show off my stuff (yeah that happens a lot huh) and b) let family and friends who are too stubborn to join facebook/myspace (you know who you are LOL) to see pics of the kids.....I have noticed though that many have multiple blogs...so I pose a question to you - is my blog fine the way it is or should I break it apart as follows:

1) Family Blog - Invite only have kid pics and updates
2) Crafting blog - show off my creations (obviously this one will not be updated often hahahaha
3) The rest, my rants, my savings, general musings LOL

Let me know your thoughts!!!

Dont forget blog candy!!!! For every post you make since the 23rd, I will be entering you into a drawing for 3 copic markers!!! E51, E53, and E55!!! If you are drawn and dont want copics we will work something out LOL

Until Later!!!

Judging a book by its cover

2009-08-24T15:48:00.005-04:00

Admit it - we have all done it! Made comments with the lady with 4 or 5 kids (this is me now btw...see what happens LOL) or commented on someone's makeup/hair or clothes. Guys you are not exempt either and I think you may be worse than us ladies LOL as you check out girls all the time (yes married guys we know you do it too LOL) and you are not kind when the girl is heavy or not blessed with good looks.

Judging a book by its cover, my recent experience - I left a bag of groceries at the commissary yesterday (see prior post)with 3 items in it - a whopping $5 worth, I called 5 minutes after closing and was told to come in anytime to get my items replaced....so i go in and went to the manager's office (apparently this was mistake #1)

Mr. Manager looked like a crotchety old man - and I apparently looked like a dumb thief LOL....unfortunately my experience with him did not change my initial view LOL....so he told me I needed to go to customer service to which I politely asked where it was - was it where they sold the medicines/razors and he then told me to hold on a sec and then he walked me over to gee the counter where they sold medicines/razors, on the way he asked how I could leave a bag, I told him I had one of my children with me and I apparently spun it and did not see it and the 5 minutes it took me to gather all my stuff and my child up at the front no good samaritan deemed it necessary to run it to me (as I have done many times (many, many times)for others, so I am assuming it is fairly common and did not really need to be asked.

He then told the girl behind the counter that I claimed to have left a bag and to check it - she pulled out a book and began looking - as she looked I told her I was in yesterday around 540ish. He then turns to me and says we are not liable for this and just because you say you left a bag behind that is your fault not ours so if we are not showing it we are not replacing it because we are not responsible nor liable. Many come in saying they left stuff when they did not - He then added "do you understand?" btw my blood was boiling a bit mind you at this point but the second "do you understand?" got me to a full boil...I am sure if I was a tea kettle my whistle would have been a blowin' LOL

I then turned to him and said first off I have a masters degree, I probably understand better than you, second, I am not trying to cheat the store, I just would like to get the items I left...he then said well most do not understand and they yell and try to come in and get free stuff....luckily by this point she found the entry with my stuff listed all 3 items - so he looked rather disappointed, said oh and told me to get my items. Luckily he was gone when I got back and the poor lady told me dont take it personally he is like that with everyone.

All I can say is wow!! Now I know why I have such a hard time using coupons in this store, and I feel sorry for all those poor people that probably did leave a bag and had a cashier that did not enter it in the log - so they then automatically became labeled as a thief.

This brings me back to my original topic - judging a book by its cover. I have been out and about in many different ways, skinny, fat, pregnant, with kids, without kids, with coupons, without coupons, dressed in business attire, and dressed comfy....I have to say you do truly get treated differently in different circumstances.

Coupons are frowned upon by many, why? I am not sure, it does take a few minutes more, but if my 2 minutes extra saves me $100 or more off my grocery bill - sorry you can cuss me out all you like LOL I will laugh all the way to my car as you pay full price and allow me to still get those good deals

Just because I have four kids does not mean I am on welfare....I work and I dress my kids nicely, although for some reason they will wear the clothes that look like I got them in a rummage bin over the nice gymbo or other items I have bought them, and if I look like I am dressed like I got out of a rummage bin, it is probably because I have been spit on at least once or twice that day and ran out of clothes LOL

So if nothing else to all the crotchety old men who think military wives are dumb, maybe you should stay home with 3 or 4 kids alone while any family or help is several states away while your spouse is gone for 6 months to a year. Let me know how dumb they are then. Hell you may want to give them a free bag of groceries then LOL

To the servers who think a family without kids will not tip - maybe you are getting bad tips because you are not giving them service because you judged them before even trying. Just a thought

To the skinny people who think fat people are gross - we were skinny too once so watch out LOL You will get that professional job and start sitting on your rear more, and get a few pounds here and there, marriage adds a few, and wow the baby weight. To the lucky ones who get the weight off kudos to you!! But if you have no baby and think you are in the clear - you better not drink cause guess what that can pack them on too!

overall we all do it - it sucks, we shouldnt, we will probably keep doing it, but next time you see someone, think for a moment - maybe that poor looking family at your table saved for months to eat in your fancy restaurant - they will be much more appreciative than the person there every week....The worn out lady in the grocery store dragging kids chewing thru packages (so have had this happen LOL) instead of making comments offer a smile....and finally if someone leaves a bag in a store dont be an ass just check the damn book and let her get her shit!!!

My real birthday!! Not so much fun LOL

2009-08-23T20:31:00.002-04:00

so today is my true birthday and it was not as much fun LOL....I started the day with back pain (this is pretty much every day but today was one of the more painful days!) and then I cooked breakfast and we began the great room transfer.

Currently #1 & #2 roomed together #3 was on her own and #4 was with us! Well we figure #3 is too young and would not make a good roomate for #4 so we moved #2 and #3 together and #1 and #4....#1 is LOVING this by the way LOL she thinks she has her own room and is reveling in it! The others seem to like it as well but OMG the toys...they are so not getting any toys this year from me hahahaha (I know I will cave but I can pretend)

In between all this I got autumns bag packed with her supplies tomorrow and started on the mountains (so not an exaggeration with a family of 7) of laundry!!

I then ran to the grocery store where I bought all the ingredients to make my yummy italian (turkey) sausage and pasta with sauteed bell peppers and got home, got the peppers sauteeing, water boiling, was about to pop the sausages on the grill and realized I left the sausages and my garlic bread at the grocery store that closed 5 minutes prior LOL sooooo it was a subway night hahahaha

Overall a busy but rewarding day, since we got tons done!!!

Now it is time to ready for a short week at work cause the deer lands on Thursday Wooohoooo

Happy Birthday to Me!!!!

2009-08-22T21:21:00.009-04:00

The big 32 on the 23rd!!! I have decided this year I am reversing my age (last time I can do this until 42 feasibly LOL) and I am 23 this year!!!! Ignore the 32 on the birthday cake that is just a joke (hahaha)

My birthday actually started Last weekend!!! The Meade girls were over for a Luau and card swap and the sneaky girls brought me some presents and balloons!!!

Amanda Altered this gorgeous can which she FILLED with chocolate (that helps with the diet btw LOL) and her card was gorgeous!!!

DM and Kathi Had the same Idea and got me gift certificates for my Fave Stamp store Hambo!!! Monica Here I Come!!!!

Tracy - all I can say is WOW! She made me a gorgeous clipboard and had tons of goodies for me!!!

Mary got me a Michaels Gift card and tons of cool goodies!!!

Kimme strayed from scrapping and got me some smelly good items from bath and body!!!

Cindy (not Cheryl LOL) got me the cute stamps below and paper pads and I LOVE the stamp she used for this card!!

Loretta got me this cute stamp set and Spellbinders dies

Jeaneen (sp. right I think LOL) got me some yummy pretzels and chocolate (yes they are eaten already LOL and a cool altered lunch box with samples from all the stampin up punches!!)

Overall a great day and Thank You Ladies!!!!! I hope they had as much fun at the swap as I did hosting it!!!

After they left - Hubby's present arrived, A brand new desktop computer in pink!!!! OMG the monitor is huge though It is so strange after being on a dark laptop for 6 years!!!!

Then we finally arrived to today!!! We started the day with the breakfast buffet, went and did a little shopping at the mall ($3 tees, and $1 socks at old navy and I had a 40% off for justice, and a $10 coupon for the new hannah montana move and scored $5 instant savings if I got the soundtrack too woohoooo Christmas presents are already coming in!), Then I got a great dinner at Maiwand and we came home to cake and more presents!!!

Mom made this gorgeous cake and it was YUMMY!!! No more commissary cakes for me as I believe they got rid of their excellent baker cause my last cake for Dan's birthday was very dry and had several flaws!!

Mom is also getting into card making and made this cute card for me!!

Here are my presents from the fam! Amanda Loved the singing bear and we had to listen to him sing the entire time we ate cake LOL (over and over and over and over - get the idea??)

Dan got me this awesome wooden figures, and the girls got me a singing bear, and mom got me my copics case and copics!!!!!

What a great birthday!!!! And to top it off I got the best card ever in the mail today from my best friend since I was 14! She is visiting me next week and I cant wait to see her!!! I miss you too Fawn or should I say Bambi LOL (long story sooo not going there)

Of course my "real" birthday tomorrow will not be so glamorous as I prepare Autumn for school Monday!! Lots of Laundry and school supply gathering (yes I stockpiled those too LOL)

So in honor of the big 32 or should I say 23 LOL I have some BLOG CANDY!!!!!! I found 3 duplicate copic markers E51, E53, and E55!!! Leave a post and I will choose a random winner on September 1st!!!! If you are a stranger or a strange person (yes this does apply to all my friends LOL) please leave your email so I can contact you!!

If you do not know what a copic is or do not care --- you can still post if you want...just put in you do not want in drawing!

until later!!!!

Kid Pic Update for Family and Friends from Afar!!

2009-08-22T21:05:00.005-04:00

So tomorrow is my birthday and I had all the kids and my camera handy so here are some pics I managed to snag!!

As you can see autumn is going thru a grumpy stage LOL

Not even a grumpy tween can resist a cute baby though!!!

There is a real smile!!!

Finally a smile from Ali!

Amanda apparently has to be in every pic LOL

Boy I can tell we are going to be in trouble with this one!!!

Poor Amanda was tired of the flashes LOL

Thursday Night at Old Navy!

2009-08-20T20:36:00.003-04:00

It is coupon reset night at old navy - be sure to keep an eye on the hidden coupon page to catch a great coupon which is VERY handy right now with school shopping!!! You will know it is reset when the dates at the bottom reflect tomorrow - next Thursday's date.

http://www.oldnavyweekly.com/

A picture can say so much!!

2009-08-20T08:41:00.002-04:00

Okay before you see the pic, let me just say this is exactly the face I have had in several photos lately LOL there is always one child acting out which creates this face....all I can say is I know how this poor cat feels!!! I got this thru one of those emails that flood our inboxes daily and whomever took it thank you - it gave me a great laugh!! So 4 must be the magical # to create this fact btw hahahaha

Bowling with the Family for daddy's bday!

2009-08-07T18:09:00.005-04:00

Our latest excursion with everyone was for Dan's 33rd Birthday last week! We went bowling for the first part of the day, the girls had a blast and amanda would even clap for herself LOL

There are also some pics of Ashley I took while she swung away as I worked!

My latest cards

2009-08-07T17:52:00.003-04:00

I had to make some cards this week for some Meade girls who were celebrating birthdays I waited til today to post since I had not given them to them yet LOL

For Michelle I parted with one of my faves my "if you've got it flaunt it" card using my Unity stamps and paper from one of my all time fave scrap companies October Afternoon

For Tracy's Card I used Hambo Stamps their cute hippo and saying (I love this company!) and some Stampin Up cardstock and Bo Bunny Paper

For Amanda's Card I used an adorable Penny Black Stamp and some Hambo Sayings....I used PP from Autumn Leaves and Stampin Up cardstock Inside her card it says Old LOL....anyhoo I love the way this one turned out...you cant tell from the pic but 2 flowers and 1 butterfly I cut out a second image and put it on pop dots.

I colored them all with colored pencils as my mother has my copics for my not so "surprise" birthday present LOL

Updating my blog

2009-08-07T17:43:00.002-04:00

okay I have been very bad at keeping up my blog but I have been uber busy!!! I am working most evenings and on the ones I am not working I am clipping coupons or running errands. I occasionally manage to make a card which I will post my latest ones in the next entry.

Not much going on here, I am planning a luau/card swap at my house next Saturday with the Meade Girls, and then I will be celebrating the big 32 the following weekend with my fam, and then My best bud will be visiting me the following weekend......In the midst of this I will be running to 4 soccer practices a week, Autumn is starting school, and Dan will start working so a very busy August!!!

I know my blog is very all over the place LOL I have thought about having 3, 1 for family, 1 for cards, and 1 for my saving but as you can see I barely update this one regular so I will keep it at 1 for now so bear with the crap you dont want to see for awhile longer LOL Maybe soon I will split it up =0)

Woohooo I made a card!!!

2009-07-17T22:51:00.003-04:00

I know it is a miracle. I used my hambo stamps and my clumsy attempt does not do these stamps justice LOL I absolutely love hambo's sayings and her stamps truly suit my sense of humor!!! Also their customer service rocks!

I used my colored pencils/copics to color, Patterned Paper is Fancy Pants, and I used Stampin Up cardstock, Not Quite Navy and a retired In Color. The ribbon is from my ribbon run at the ribbon outlet! A prima and a Karen Foster brad that looks like a screw is my finishing touch!

And for those who have not seen enough pics of Ashley - here is our newest sleeping beauty:

How do cook your hot dogs???

2009-06-30T16:42:00.002-04:00

When I cook hotdogs I think of the following:

grilling (mmmm I love them blackened)
indoor grill
nuking them in the microwave
frying them in a fry pan
boiling them

My mother came up with a new way yesterday - she tried to deep fry one or flambe one in this case LOL I smelled an odd smell and could not figure out what it was as i walked into the kitchen and saw the fry pan I had just gotten out the words "why do you have out the fry pan to cook those" and Whooooosh...mom had tossed in a hot dog and the flames shot straight up and filled my stove and up into the hood -pretty scary when you have a gas stove!! Turns out she had taken my small fry pan filled it with oil and got that hot and I guess was setting out to deep fry them. She fried it all right LOL Needless to say we got the indoor grill out and taught my mother how to cook a hot dog!!!

So I have to ask has anyone else ever deep fried a hot dog??

Ribbon Outlet Trip!!!

2009-06-29T15:47:00.002-04:00

I took last Thursday off just so I could go to the ribbon outlet finally!!!! The ladies here keep going and posting on their blogs all their goodies so I finally managed to go on an excursion!!! I took my little one Ashley and Tracy and Amanda picked me up and off we went!!! We got there early - we had our timing all messed up for when we were supposed to meet the other ladies and we browsed for quite awhile.

It is surprising we made it early with our search for a bathroom LOL we have decided the town the ribbon outlet is in, is very unfriendly. Every single restroom was for employees or locked!!! We finally found one and then we were able to go to the outlet and really enjoy ourselves! I came home with 3 HUGE bags full of bows, curling ribbon, and ribbon for the cards and pages I am going to make! Then we went for a yummy lunch at Cracker Barrel, which is a luxury since there are none close! Sometimes you just need a big ole plate of comfort food!!!

I then came home and worked hahahaha I apparently suck at taking vacation as I worked both days I took off!!! It is end of month and the close of a fiscal year so it is busy, busy!

We have had tons going on with Dans' Sister visiting, his cousin dropped by, Scentsy party, and just the general hectic life of working full time and juggling 4 kids and Nana!

Kids today!!

2009-06-23T22:26:00.004-04:00

The latest rant (aka bitch) is about kids on base!! I am amazed how these kids act! I thought the girl that just would walk in, ask 50 questions, nearly broke my tv with the wii mote, and I would have to beg her to go home was bad but now I am begging my daughter to go play with her LOL She was playing with a boy and girl tonight and they came in several times for water. Well on the 3rd water break the boy stayed in the house. So when I realized it was just him in the house (he was playing with my paper trimmer) I told him the other kids were outside and he should join them (this was apparently too nice) This kid then went over my kid gate to my living room and started walking around, next thing I know he goes up my stairs...so I promptly call dan to come down. He comes down and this kid actually tried to go up past him LOL Dan stopped that and the kid finally went out!

Well on the 4th water break he moved in again and would not leave....again he tried to go upstairs he ran around basically made himself at home and ignored my subtle hint to go join the other kids. I finally got him to go when i told him it was time for dinner and he asked if I wanted him to leave LOL I was Like YES!

So here is my question what the hell is going on for kids to be raised thinking it is okay to go into a stranger's house and go upstairs and all around when the kid they are playing with is not even in the house!!!! I was and still am in complete shock. Just when I think nothing can shock me something does. Turns out my eldest barely knows the kid and I laid down the law at dinner. I am going to have to get tougher, so much for being nice LOL The only thing I can think of is that a lot of the people around me do not turn on their Air cause we have to pay for electric based off a baseline (these same people are why I have to pay a bill cause they are lowering the baseline by not using air) so I can only assume us having the house cool is why he would not leave! Regardless I am in shock!

Wow My Ritz Camera Mistake!!!

2009-06-23T18:40:00.007-04:00

What was my mistake? Ordering from them! I saw that they had scrapbook items on sale and when I went to their site I saw $20 off $100 if you check out thru Paypal, a coupon code for 5% off, and you get Free ship over $100 and no tax!! This made an awesome deal for copic markers! So I picked out 22 markers which came to $107, got 5% off, which had me still over $100 so I qualified for free ship and no tax so when I checked out I got my $20 off so I paid $81 thru paypal, all is well and good right? WRONG!!!!

10 minutes later I get my order confirmation with a total of $99! So I call but of course on a Sunday evening nobody answers, so Monday morning at 8 am I call and speak to "john" who obviously read the name off of an index card LOL and he informs me that the $99 is right because once the $20 was taken off I was under $100 and therefore shipping charges were tacked back on. Here is the quirky thing the marker price was adjusted to $3.98 rather than the $4.75 I paid originally so they took the $20 and spread it out over the markers and adjusted each price down. So when I said that to him, he was like oh no Paypal takes off the $20 that is from them, so I came back with well then I was over the $100 threshold for free shipping because my total was $107. So he tries explaining all over again how $100-$20 is less than $100 so I tell him just cancel my order please which he does and says he will have a supervisor call me.

So Tuesday afternoon, no call from the supervisor btw, and my $81 is still out of my paypal account so I call again and "Brad" tries to do the $100-$20 ordeal and I am like look just explain to me why my money is still showing out and he is like well your order is out for shipment - I am like how is that possible when I Cancelled it yesterday morning.

So he assures me he will get it re-routed back to them and credit me, but this is after he tries to explain 15 more times $100-$20 is less than $100 - at this point I am like honestly I understand what you are trying to say but listen to what I AM SAYING...I checked out through your system and paid $81 and then get an email saying $99 I called to find out if the $81 was right or the $99 and get this whole run down. I still have not had my question answered as to why the difference but in case I did not know before $100 - $20 is $80, that is what I got out of the experience LOL Oh and in case you were wondering their site still says Spend $100 and get $20 and free ship and no tax, I guess it should say spend $120?? I may have been fine to let it go since technically I only paid $81 but I could just see them doing a COD or trying to charge my card for the difference which is what the guy alluded to, that when they shipped they would have charged me $99.

Needless to say not a good deal on copics and there are sites out there that sell them for $4.25, with free shipping and NO HASSLE.

If you gain anything from this rant NEVER EVER order from Ritz or if you do watch your statement carefully! I would not be shocked at all if they try to charge me for more

Ford's Folley

2009-06-20T02:15:00.003-04:00

So my hubby is out putting my spare on so we can take my car to the Ford dealership (2nd time this week) due to a valve stem issue!!! I had a flat a couple of months back had the valve stem fixed then, well Saturday at Baltimore another went flat (valve stem again) and got a letter that same day from Ford, apparently I am not the only one with this issue....so we take it to Ford who checks them (5 days ago btw) and they are all fine (did i mention 5 days ago) and tries HARD to sell me new tires - I should note here that my car has 28,000 miles on it. Apparently Ford put some crappy inferior tires on my car and of course the warranty does not cover them. So here I sit with another flat and another late night run to Ford to drop off my car so they can make yet another repair to a valve stem.

I actually emailed ford to let them know a) i was having the valve stem issues and b) the issue I was having with my tires wearing down too fast...the dealership thought I had used tires on my car. I got a letter back that said pretty much what do you want us to do about it. Well maybe put better parts on your car would be a great start. Anyhoo thats my vent....if you go to buy a ford check the tires out! I know after this experience I will most likely be checking Chevy/GM out.

Howdy Ya'll

2009-06-11T13:12:00.002-04:00

Sorry it has been a bit since my last post!!! Not much going on here, getting into the swing of things at work (maternity leave is over!), Soccer has wrapped up, School finished yesterday for Autumn, and I am still couponing and stamping (buying more than creating unfortunately LOL).

I found several stamp companies I love but if you have an off sense of humor you have to check out Hambo Stamps!! I should be getting my order in any day now to find out quality but they are hilarious!

I am still couponing! Triples week at my off base store and last night I managed to get $343.21 in groceries for 35.91!!!! 89% savings woohooo Another $2 coupon is coming out for A1 with bonus bucks again, I am seeing another 20 bottles in my future LOL (With 4 kids that stuff disappears fast!) I am getting used to the comments now LOL I was at food lion last week getting 12 bottles of Kraft dressing, 2 things of sugar and some chicken on sale and the guy behind me was like that is a lot of Ranch. I usually just say the large family thing but as I told mom later I should have said when it is less than 20 cents for a bottle I wonder how many he would have gotten LOL Nothing beats the checker tracy and I had once at the commissary who sounded like Napolean Dynamite and kept saying "thats a lot of hot dogs" what do you do with all those hot dogs hahahahaha note: we only got 6 packs each and they were 50 cents a pack, I should have gotten more but my freezer is truly bursting at the seams right now. I would love to have a second deep freeze - one for veggies and misc. and one for meat!

Anyhoo my sister in law is visiting but she is currently in New York City the lucky duck!! I cant wait to pop up there to see the sites. She will be back tonight so it may be a bit until my next update as I will be entertaining!!! Hope everyone is doing great!!!

June brings Liberty to Scentsy!!!

2009-06-01T10:45:00.005-04:00

Scentsy's warmer of the month is Liberty for June. I absolutely LOVE this warmer!!!

https://www.scentsy.com/forms/frm_shop_item_info.aspx?prod=DSW-LBTY

I am going to pair it with the patriotic set from Pampered Chef's outlet and I am ready to go for the 4th!

https://www.pamperedchef.com/ordering/prod_details.tpc?prodId=26456&catId=132&parentCatId=132&outletSubCat=1&viewAllOutlet=true

Card Swap Card

2009-05-29T15:11:00.002-04:00

Whew! I finally finished my card and card kits for the swap tomorrow! Tomorrow is going to be busy busy with soccer for Ali and Autumn, getting ready for card swap and coming home after being gone all day (always bad LOL)

Here is my card! I used the Unity Stamp Set Hey Chick and some Stampin Up Cardstock and October Afternoon Patterned paper. I colored using colored pencils and accented with some stickles and bling and my 1 lonely prima LOL I am now regretting offloading so many prima's in PIF's! Here is my finished card and the inside:

Anyhoo I am headed to bed!!

I made a card - It's a Miracle!!!!

2009-05-29T09:06:00.003-04:00

I have finally got a card made, amateurish at best but hey its a start LOL I figure if I can start doing these fairly regularly I might get to an acceptable level to keep up with the Meade ladies - and let me tell you I will NEVER be at their level, they are all awesome! I definitely have a wonderful group of ladies to try to learn from!

I actually like this card, even though it is simple, Iam finally happy with my coloring (my last 2 have been sad to say the least, can I say dirty pigeon and neon cupcakes LOL) and I love these stamps!

My supplies used were: Basic Grey Patterned Paper, Stampin Up Cardstock, Prima Flowers, Stamin up Heart & Home Stamp, Unity Kit of the Month Cottage Stamp, some ric-rac ribbon and voila. I used copics to color and pop glue dots for the saying.

I have to make a card this evening and do 10 card kits for tomorrow for a card swap (nothing like last minute LOL) so I will have a new card to post this weekend!!

Back to work I go!

2009-05-27T08:15:00.002-04:00

I started back to work this week, I am hoping this shakes off the lazy tater I was turning into and reverts me back to the person that can do 5 things at once and not blink an eye! I got quite a bit done but I have to say I did not accomplish near what I wanted to! The girls room is still not decorated and my pictures are still stacked under my scrap table LOL I did get to spend some quality time with all my girls though which is the whole point of maternity leave so I cannot count it as a total failure!!!

I started this blog to keep family updated and to show off some cards/scrapbook pages - I am going to try my best to start doing the latter!! I am going to a card swap Saturday and one in July so if nothing else that will motivate me to try to make a card monthly LOL I am actually waaaay behind, I have about 10 Thank You Cards to make so maybe I will feel the creative juices flowing and finally knock those out!!!

Other than that we all have the sniffles and sore throats so I have the Scentsy Eucalyptus going in nearly every room LOL Hope all is well with everyone and I will post some pics soon of the kids and hopefully a card finally!!!

Blog Update

2009-05-20T00:04:00.001-04:00

I have updated my blog for the past few weeks so be sure to read down several entries to catch up!!!

Also I am placing a pampered chef order this week - it is the last chance to grab those special pink items for "help whip cancer" month. If you are interested in anything, let me know!

Poker Night!

2009-05-19T23:48:00.003-04:00

We had some friends visit from VA and we had a poker night and went to the DC 101's Chili Cook Off and concert with Shinedown, Papa Roach, Offspring, 3rd eye blind, red jumpsuit, and I feel like I am forgetting somebody LOL We had a great weekend and it was great seeing them again!!

I had forgotten all my glasses and shot glasses got left in CA (thanks packers for forgetting that cabinet) so Gina found a new use for my Pampered Chef items - did you know you can drink a Jager bomb out of one of the simple additions mugs LOL Let me know if you want to order one!

Poker night was a blast I actually won some really good hands but Donald (our buddy from VA) ended up winning! I also got to see some people we knew from CA and meet some new people my hubby met here while he was handing out those towels at the gym LOL

I dont have any good pics from the concert they are on cell phones....I am probably going to end up posting what we do have on facebook though or stealing Gina's pics LOL Other than that the concert was definitely an experiencing with the rain, the crowd surfing, the flashing, the herbal remedies, the trash, and did I mention chili? I ended up with a lovely sunburn due to forgetting my sunscreen at home but Gina chased down an older couple and they hooked me up with some ancient sunscreen which I hope minimized some of the further damage. overall an interesting time and to you parents with teenagers at the concert kudos to you for taking your kids to something you probably hated - I can only hope I am that cool in a few years, although I fear my eldest will be one of the first to hop in for the crowd surfing!

Bamm Bamm's Shoes

2009-05-19T23:41:00.004-04:00

I took Amanda aka bamm-bamm shopping at the crocs store (only shoes that fit her hobbitt feet - I think we should have named her frodo LOL) at our awesome mall the other day and I found the perfect accessory LOL they are called Jibbitz but take a look hahahaha her hair is always like Pebbles and She acts Like Bamm-Bamm...It could not have been more perfect!!

Darrell's Visit

2009-05-19T23:27:00.004-04:00

My father-in-law Darrell visited us recently to see our new addition (Ashley). Here is some pics of his visit. It was great seeing him again and the girls really enjoyed his visit! He got to go to autumn's soccer game, spend some WoW time with the girls and Dan (I really should have took a pic of the girls watching them play - and they were enjoying it!), and just chill with our crazy crew! I think he fully understands why we call Amanda Bamm-Bamm now though LOL We miss you and cant wait for your next visit!!

Saving Money!!

2009-05-19T23:19:00.005-04:00

Okay I had to post this for all of the people that think I am nuts for clipping coupons like I do LOL First off here is the picture of what I bought tonight at the store in 2 transactions My first one I spent 20.32 and in my 2nd transaction I spent 4.48 - a grand total of 24.80. What is most impressive of my trip is the $30 in ONYO (on your next order) coupons I have - so basically I was paid 5.20 to take all this stuff home!!!! And yes this is stuff we use! The trick is pairing coupons with sales!! Needless to say I will be stockpiled on bbq sauce, mac & cheese, and A1 by the end of this sale!

I got 8 bottles of bbq sauce, 9 bottlesof A1, 6 boxes of Mac & Cheese, 4 bottles of salad dressing, 6 easy macs, 6 jello's, 2 tubs of butter, 2 packs of cheese slices, 2 boxes of wheat thins, and 2 crush cups packs (girls love these!!)

Pampered Chef Party!

2009-04-24T14:21:00.002-04:00

Today I am doing a cooking show at Tracy's - my 2nd since becoming a consultant (have mainly done catalog shows) and it has been about 9 months since the first LOL - no stress!!

It should actually be fun! I am looking forward to it and hoping I dont forget anything!!

I hope everyone is doing well - we are doing great, I am preparing for my father-in-law's visit and realizing I have about 3 more weeks til I am back at work!!!!

Ashley is 1 Month Old Today!!!

2009-04-21T17:53:00.003-04:00

Today Ashley is already a month old!! Wow the time flies by! Everyone is doing great with her and she fits in perfectly!

She spent the day sleeping and being tortured by me with the camera!

Everyone else is doing great, Dan is coaching Autumn's soccer team, and playing on a team on base, Alison starts soccer tomorrow night, and Amanda is continuing her reign of terror LOL she is affectionately known as Bamm-Bamm now.

I am more than halfway thru my maternity leave and finally getting into gear around here! I worked on my scrap area tonight and I may go searching one day this week for a stamp storage solution. Other than that I have a Pampered Chef show on Friday night, Scentsy is garnering a lot of interest and I need to prepare for a visit from my father in law! Busy Busy is the life around here!!

Happy Easter!!!!

2009-04-12T10:21:00.008-04:00

Happy Easter!!! We stayed up late last night dyeing easter eggs and then I was up til 2 am helping out the easter bunny!! The girls woke up to an easter egg hunt and their easter baskets which they are still happily digging through

Autumn got a PS3 karaoke disney singing game which she is going to love as she is now "Hannah Montana" since watching the Hannah Montana movie on Friday LOL

Alison is loving her stuffed bunny - she informed me on Friday that everyone has a stuffed bunny but her and she hoped the easter bunny would bring her one --- fyi the easter bunny said it is VERY hard to find a stuffed bunny the day before easter!!!

Amanda LOVED her candy LOL she got some tadoodle markers and coloring book

Ashley got a little seahorse that is similar to a glo worm that plays music and has a light up tummy

Here is Ashley in her little bunny sleeper I am torturing her or Dan with LOL It even has a pink tail on the back!! I am trying to locate a bunny hat I had for Amanda but Dan either hid it well or I have misplaced it!

I hope you all have a wonderful easter and I am going to go try to sneak a nap and watch my kids bounce off the walls from all the sugar!!!!

Introducing Ashley Danielle!!!!

2009-04-07T21:36:00.004-04:00

I have to apologize for the VERY late posting of this update!!! She is 2 weeks old nearly and I am finally getting around to posting some pics!!! Lets just say having 2 young ones will keep you busy! Not to mention the older 2 in soccer now!!

Ashley arrived on her due date 3/21 at 2:54 am! She is an excellent baby! Sleeps all the time and is not fussy at all and luckily does not wake to loud noises (with 3 older sisters our house is anything BUT quiet!!) She looks like her older sister Alison with a head full of dark hair and dark brown eyes. That gives us 2 blonde/blue eyed taking after Dan's family and 2 dark hair/dark eyed taking after me =0) We are very balanced LOL

Here she is on her first day...

Here is her cute foot!

Here she is in the accomodations provided for her in the hospital =0)

Here she is ready and waiting for them to let us leave!

Here she is after daddy got ahold of her LOL he is a pro at the baby burrito wrap!

Here she is at home with baby Amanda stalking her LOL - Amanda is actually doing very well with her - we just have to keep an eye on her as she loves the lively "baby doll"

Here she is with her eyes open finally!

I did it!!!!

2009-03-13T20:12:00.003-04:00

I discovered a company called Scentsy last year that I have been on the fence about joining. I finally did it!!! I could not resist their warmer this month for one and for two I absolutely love their scents.

I cannot light candles in the house because of mom getting headaches. The scented oils you can buy from other places just do not last very long and keep smoking.

Scentsy is perfect - no wicks, no smoke and if you spill the oil it truly does not burn (I inadvertently tested this on myself during one of my not thinking moments LOL) so it is safe around the kids!

If you are interested in finding out more let me know!!

Card Swap

2009-03-07T19:22:00.003-05:00

I attended my second Meade shoebox card swap today and it was a blast!!! I had a great time and learned some new techniques I would have never thought of!!!! Below is my card I did using a large bunny Unity stamp and stampin Up paper and October Afternoon Paper. I also altered a pail to make a little easter basket with goodies for the door prizes --- I was going to stick the gooodies into easter eggs but unfortunately everything was too big LOL!

All the girls are doing great and Alison took a huge step tonight parting ways with her birdy light show thing from when she was a baby (it has been her security blanket and she sits it on the shelf next to her bed LOL) She is letting amanda have it now - who is loving the light show on the ceiling. Of course she did ask for another birdy thing hahahaha or something that makes music so I am going to have brainstorm on that one!

Other than that we are all doing well!!!

Stamp Storage

2009-02-26T15:32:00.004-05:00

How do you store your stamps? A question posed by Amanda on Split Coast - well here is my crazy storage solutions =0)

Loose stamps - in plastic sterilite scrap storage case towers from target

Stampin up - in original boxes stacked

Unity - Wood mounts on a nifty difty shelf I revised a bit to include a wooden dowel and hooks to hang them on

Unmounted Unity and Clear stamps - in 3 ring binders in plastic inque boutique cases, organized by theme or brand.

so that is how mine are stored! I am thinking about revising my unmounted stamp storage - possibly a task for my maternity leave???

Its Coming!!!!!

2009-02-25T14:05:00.002-05:00

So I had a doctor's appointment and it looks like baby Ashley Danielle may be arriving sooner than planned!!! My due date is 3/21 but I am pretty much on my way to being in active labor. I will keep yall posted but expect baby # 4 to arrive within the next week or so!!!!

Playing Blog Catch Up!!!

2009-02-19T13:04:00.004-05:00

Thank you to all my friends and family for the emails on how behind I am on my blog hahahahahahaha

We had a bit of snow - Amanda was not impressed, but the girls loved the snowman Dan built! I used my scrap stash for the eyes and mouth LOL who knew Brads could make the perfect snowman hahaha

Here is the girls on Valentines (Alison was in a funk and would NOT smile!!) It is the curse of more than 2, you can never get more than 2 to smile at the same time LOL Can you tell who my two hams are? Must be something about them sharing a birthday =0)

This is a pic from my baby shower LOL the Meade Girls decided to torture me with a hat with every funky bow they could find and insisted on adding each bow from each present hahahaha I think it is kinda southern belleish. They surprised the heck out of me though - I thought I was going for a GNO and instead had a wonderful shower hosted by Tracy, and boy did they help me out in the diaper department!!! Thank You ladies Again!!!

Other than that I have been cutting coupons like a dang fool - I am actually saving tons of money - it is just a pain to clip the amount of coupons a family the size of mine needs =0) One cannot complain too much with all the free toothpaste and groceries I am getting for a fraction of what I used to pay =0) Only problem is I am sooooo out of room LOL My deep freezer is stuffed beyond belief and my shelves I set aside for my stockpile are full. Sad part is I do not feel fully stockpiled LOL

I am also working my rear off at work and working on my card for the Meade Card Swap in March...should be fun, I am using an adorable bunny stamp from Unity - I will post when it is complete!

I will be going on maternity towards the end of March so I will strive to keep my blog up, maybe even post some cards finally!!!! We will see LOL

I also received the New Pampered Chef catalogs in - let me know if you want one and I will get one sent out!!! Lots of cool new products, including a pineapple cutter and lots of cool bamboo items!!

I think that has been all the major excitement for the past month! Other than the mundane normal things like cars having to have repairs, and tax returns! Consider yourself caught up!!!

Pampered Chef - Item that I love!!!

2009-01-11T22:24:00.006-05:00

Since I am a pampered chef consultant I get asked a lot what my faves are and I have to say I love this little tool!

It is called the Skimmer and it is generally used to skim fat and oil out of what you are cooking - my mom also LOVES to use it to drain out all the yuckies out of oil we fried something with. Well my favorite use for this tool is to get the starch out when boiling potatoes!!!! I just run this thing along the top of the water and voila no starch! Easy Peasy and I love it!!! Keeps the water in the pot and the starch in the tool!

Email me if you are interested in ordering this tool or something else! 10% off your order thru the 15th of January!!

Happy New Year!!!!!

2008-12-31T22:01:00.002-05:00

Its that time again - another year has flown by!!! Have you made your resolutions yet for the upcoming year? Mine are pretty standard, pay off some debt, spend quality time with the family, and lose the baby weight quickly (yeah right LOL) after having a healthy and one hopes happy baby!!!

One way I am going to help our finances in this economy is I am trying something new with grocery shopping called the grocery game! I saw it on CNN while in Florida and I am loving it - it helps you combine your coupons you clip each week with store sales to build a stockpile of food at rock bottom prices that can last you through to the next cycle when that food is on sale again. I have already seen a huge savings at drug stores believe it or not!!! They all have some type of cash back, rebate type program in place and if you do it just right you see huge savings.

Be sure to put me down if you decide to try out their trial! I would definitely haunt their message board for a few weeks, and gather some coupons before signing up though. I signed up in Florida, went home and started accumulating coupons so 6 weeks in I am just now getting it going! Now if only I could find a scrap store that did cash back or rebates I would be all set LOL

As for my weight loss - I am loving the wii fit!!! I think I am going to combine that with the bike and go from there. I am no longer going to hoola hoop though until after i have the baby.....doctors dont tell you to hoola hoop because what idiot can hoola hoop preggo - well thanks to the wii fit - I rocked that hoola hoop LOL but I worked some muscles I think we will leave unworked til April LOL

Good luck to all of you setting your new years resolutions and I wish you all a very Safe and very Happy New Years!!!!

Recovery Time!!

2008-12-26T22:12:00.004-05:00

Whew who knew being pregnant over Christmas could be soooo exhausting!!! I usually have had the baby before this time so other than the year I had Alison I am well recovered by this time of year! We had a great day though! Santa came by and left us a wii and alllllll of the goodies to go with it so needless to say that has been getting a workout - today was 7 hours alone LOL Nana is already talking of wanting one for her room so she can get to it and play what she wants when she wants hahahahaha (nana is my mom who is actually kid #4 currently)!

Dan got me a camcorder and some winter wear and books - he still had to sneak in an electronic! Nana got me a huge ott lite for my office/scrap room (no longer can it be referred to as my cave!) and the new "your story" binder/laminator machine from provo craft. Dan got his motorcycle jacket, a bucs jersey from Nana, some ps3 games and stargate and firefly series on dvd (what every sci fi geek must have!). Nana got some shelves for her room and the bionic eye thing that records. The girls what can I say they were well taken care of LOL Autumn got her guitar and a bunch of craft stuff and clothes (she is getting sooooo hard to shop for!) Alison above all got her potty doll, a wowwee panda, some clothes and misc. other toys. Amanda got the bounce and spin zebra and a piano she loves and some misc. toys. Ariel and Alex got some squeaky toys and treats.

After opening the mountain of presents - I have thinned down what I spend on them but with the growing family it does not really reduce the amount of presents LOL I am afraid to see the tree next year with baby #4! - I then moved onward to christmas dinner! It turned out pretty yummy and we all proceeded to eat too much =0) But then it was on to wii fit time LOL we all did our wii fit ages which was hilarious!! Mom is 64 and her wii fit age was 47, I am 31 and my wii fit age is 51 talk about embarrassing LOL But in my defense I went first and we had no clue what we were doing! I went again later and besides gaining 3 lbs?? I probably should not have ate that turkey sandwich LOL I got my age down to 47 so at least I am not older than mom now LOL Autumn was 14 and Alison was 24 (she really has absolutely no balance) and I think Dan was in his 50's. Overall I have to really say I love the Wii and Wii fit. It is not only a blast to play and we can all enjoy it but it really does work you! I wish they had a preggo setting so my poor Mii character did not look like a butterball turkey though LOL Although that is probably pretty fitting for me right now =0)

Today was our lazy day and basically we played the wii and just vegged. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and I am going to concentrate on recovering from Christmas =)

Sorry posting this a day later - hubby fixed our net so we were offline for a whole evening *gasp*

What is that noise that my ears happen to hear?

2008-12-24T21:28:00.002-05:00

Why it is 3 fire truck sirens blaring through the neighborhood, our fire department drove through every neighborhood on base tonight shouting Merry Christmas with Santa waving happily from one of the truck - A very nice gesture unless one is tracking santa on Norad and sees he is currently in Iceland LOL I very quickly explained how the Santa in the fire truck is one of Santa's helpers there to spread Christmas cheer while he is busy delivering presents! Whew it was much easier when my eldest child was younger =)

We opened our 1 christmas eve present tonight and Autumn opened a Hannah Montana watch, Alison a pixos refill pack, Dan opened Mortal Combat vs. DC heros for the ps3 - we had a great time fighting it out in the game, and I opened (drumroll please) my very own camcorder wooohooo now with child #4 I can actually record those first steps!!!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful christmas eve, my little ones are tucked into bed with their christmas jammies on and christmas music playing, the cookies for santa and carrots for the reindeer are out on the table, and I am just waiting for them to actually go to sleep to begin operation christmas eve!

Merry Christmas to All and to all a good night!!!!

Twas the Night before Christmas....

2008-12-24T14:31:00.004-05:00

and all through the house, not a creature was stirring not even a mouse!!!

What a lovely thought, but not very accurate for a house with 3 kids, 2 dogs, and a nana LOL there is always something stirring in my house! Christmas eve in my house is ran like a military mission - Nana watches guard and sounds the alarm if someone has one of those midnight potty breaks or needs a drink -- btw why do kids insist on using the restroom furthest from them LOL --- My job is to follow through with the mission of getting all the presents and stocking set up as quickly and efficiently as possible without getting caught. We had a pretty close call last year but so far I have yet to have a failed mission (knock on wood)!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas Eve! I have spent mine running around to get donuts for tomorrow (krispy kreme has the cutest snowmen donuts), buying a few bratz at toys r us (btw NEVER go to Toys R Us on Christmas Eve!!!), Grocery Shopping (again NEVER do this on Christmas Eve), and now catching up my blog!

First let me touch on that grocery shopping trip - I asked my lovely (heavy sarcasm) husband what he wanted for Christmas dinner, I was told whatever, so I named a bunch of things and he said and I quote "dont go too fancy or time consuming so you can relax" hmmm so I planned on a christmas roast, pop it in the crock pot tonight tomorrow afternoon dinner is done! So this same man asked me about 3 hours ago "so you are doing a ham tomorrow right?" Needless to say I am now making a Ham, Turkey, Mashed Potatoes, Green Bean Casserole, Sweet Potatoes, Corn, Rolls, Cranberry Sauce, Stuffing, Gravy, Pumpkin Pie, and Cheesecake. Some items I am cheating on like the pie, cheesecake and stuffing but nevertheless he will have ham LOL.

This holiday season I have done many no-no's, normally I am way ahead and wrapping straggler presents - in fact we just did santa last night!!! What a great experience though! We got there at 4:50 and Santa was gone til 6...in reality he was still there but took a break at 5:30 but they had stopped the line. So the elf helper told us to get in line go grab food and picnic in line, otherwise at 6 we would be facing a 2 hour line. So we did just that - I grabbed chik fil a, and we had a fun picnic right there on the mall floor waiting for Santa, and boy was that elf right. That line was LONG at 6!!! Right at 6 line opened and we were about 4th back and we were done by 6:15. They had a cute set up with a naughty meter - where the kids put their hand on a button and it tells if they are naughty or nice - it lies though both of mine came up very nice LOL

Then they got to mail their letters to santa in this mailbox that shoots out snow!!

Finally Santa was perfect, best one I think I have seen and he was very nice, unfortunately Amanda was tired and did not like sitting in the jolly old stranger's lap LOL Overall though it was a positive experience =)

I Wish everyone a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holiday, or whatever you do or dont celebrate. Have a wonderful day tomorrow and stay warm and safe!!!

Love the Richarz Family

Starting to Feel Caught Up!!

2008-12-22T19:59:00.003-05:00

Woohoo Goodie bags are done - I cheated LOL today while in Wal-Mart I saw these cute gift tags so I bought those and let autumn right them out to her friends. I was going to be crafty and cut tags with the cricut and stamp but time was against us! If I had not had the cookies I may have been a bit more motivated =0) Check out the finished goodie bag and snowman cookies!

Also while I was running errands on my lunch break I came home to the cutest card and tin of cookies! Thanks Tracy!!!! My daughter carried around her "rudolph" gingerbread cookie for an hour showing me how he can fly....I think she may have problems eating him LOL

Anyhoo just a few more items to take care of to deal with wrapping...technically I am done but I need to help Santa with a few items! I need to buy mom's present, and we need to take the kids to see santa (I am sooo running late this year!) Whew stress is pretty much past and now I can actually relax and enjoy the holiday!!!

Sunday the day for relaxing?

2008-12-21T15:10:00.003-05:00

whew I am tired but I have got a LOT done today!!! I woke up made cinnamon rolls (canned of course LOL) then started on the reindeer - whoever came up with candy cane reindeer should be shot LOL Very cute - but when doing them for the entire class - very time consuming!

I then moved onto goodie bags,

and then some bead bracelet kits I had. We made these for us and a few of autumn's closest friends - very cute idea, I think after xmas I am going to stalk michael's/AC Moore for some charms on clearance and make them for her entire class next year.

I wrapped all of this up by organizing my pantry, cabinets, fixing some wall paper that was not sticking down right - thank you elmer's glue LOL, and wiping down the kitchen, and hanging some pictures (only 500 left to hang (slight exaggeration LOL)) WHEW!!!!

I then got to finish the goodie bags (we did the reindeer's noses last so I was waiting for them to dry!).

I will post the final bags when I get the tags made (probably tomorrow I need to go get kids ready for bed and wrap, wrap, wrap!!!)

Bratz gone for good???

2008-12-20T10:32:00.003-05:00

Wow so while sitting and chilling with the other parents today at chuckee cheese at a birthday party autumn attended - one of the other parents mentioned bratz going off the shelves after the christmas season!!!! I actually cannot believe how bummed I am ! I unlike some parents like Bratz - I think they have more personality and they have really branched out the line into the petz and pony'z. They also have REALLY tamed down the hoochie mama look they had when they first came out.

I buy barbie too but as I found out while in Florida I apparently only buy the ones tied to their movies LOL - My daughter received a barbie from her Grandma and asked me which movie it was in hahahahaha.

Overall I personally think they are different enough they should not have to be pulled and I am rather disappointed in Mattel that apparently cannot handle some strong competition, which I am sure they were feeling as Bratz diversified their line even more.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/12/11/bratz.vs.barbies/

Blog Catch up!!!

2008-12-19T08:03:00.007-05:00

Okay It is time to finally catch up my blog!!! It has been pretty much a month since I have done a "good" post so here it goes!!!

For Thanksgiving we went home to Florida to visit family - we stayed with my hubby's sister and the kids had a blast in her pool / hot tub....well autumn had a blast alison I dont think ever got more than her toes wet LOL she is definitely my cautious child!!

Of course when the child is not cautious she regrets it ---- Aunt Spring has a sliding glass door to the pool which we had open all day and the kids ran in and out all day...well that night we closed the door and poor alison running full force ran right into the door - unfortunately I witnessed it all and nearly fell over laughing while trying to console the poor thing - all she could say is why didnt we open the door.

We had our christmas with the family before we left and the kids got to open their presents from their aunts and grandparents early, then Dan got to go to a Bucs game, and Spring and I learned that we are not meant to take the kids anywhere LOL.

Attempt #1 - we took the kids to a downtown light set up where when we returned to the car the kids asked where the surprise was --- Failure LOL Attempt #2 - we took the kids to a pottery shop to paint ornaments, when we got there we discovered it had been closed down ---- Failure Attempt #3 - after all 3rd time is the charm, right? We decide to take the kids to Orlando to wonder works, but with my kids, spring's 2, and dixie's 1 - we all cannot fit in 1 car. Spring's ex hubby came along and drove with her 2 kids and we all rode with spring. Unfortunately we faced hurricane type rain driving to Orlando, and as we pulled off on the exit we get a call from her ex that he had an accident!!!!! A tire blew and he went into the guard rail spun, back to the guard rail, etc. --- Failure!! Luckily everyone was okay, and the kids were more worried about their broken DS's then anything. We have learned our lesson though!!

Even with all of this we had a great time! I went shopping with spring on black friday and actually had a great time - who knew you could have fun with your sister-in-law LOL

Needless to say upon returning home I needed some recouping time! and then it was onward to my christmas cards! I chose my Santa card for my card and I had enough supplies to make 40, unfortunately I sent out 96 cards LOL

Some were for Pampered Chef though with an adorable snowman cake recipe and I used store bought ones for my co-workers at work. So with my 40 cards I was only truly short 3, but I would have liked about 10 more to cover some I wanted to send a real card to and I discovered I forgot 2 people LOL However, after sending out 96 and so far receiving 6 back - I am good LOL What is up with the trend of Xmas cards? I have noticed each year they have been less and less - I thought it was due to our moves but from what I hear from others - I am not the only one that is getting less!

It was then onward to trimming the tree,

wrapping presents and working with Ali's birthday party!! Are you starting to see why I am behind on my blog yet LOL I work from 8 - 5 or 6, cook dinner, get kids bathed and in bed, then have me time, which means card, wrapping, birthday, or now goodie bags (more on that later LOL) Anyhoo Ali's party - she wanted a Dora Theme (again) and I talked my mom into making her a little army of dora cakes!

Daddy took her to breakfast where someone called her a princess so she became princess for the day as she informed us LOL I worked a half day so while I worked, Mom and her decorated her cakes and then after her nap and when autumn was home we went to chuckee cheese! On the way out the door she informed me this was the best day of her life - awwwwwww!!! We went and played, had pizza, I got them some loot from the counter, and then onward to home to presents and cake!! She still has to pull every piece of tape and paper from a present before passing it on LOL so it took forever!! Her absolute fave toy was her frog backpack, which is currently stuffed with anything she can cram into him! During the cakes she informed me I was to light the cake, singe her happy birthday, and then she would blow out her candle LOL so we followed her instructions......then it was bath and bed time and my time to collapse!!! life has calmed down since (tuesday)...now all I have to face is making goodie bags for autumns class and cookies for her last day on Tuesday!

The goodie bags! I ordered her some stuff from oriental trading because nobody has good trinkets for Christmas! You can find plenty at Halloween though! I will say I am impressed by Oriental Trading - My order was right but the items did not look like the pic so they sent me new items out free of charge, if the new items look okay I will definitely go back based upon their customer service!!! I should get those today and that just leaves us to make 30 candy cane reindeers LOL Why I do this to myself I will never know!!

On Wed. night I took Autumn to Her school store for her to do her christmas shopping - I gave her $5 to shop during class for her sisters to feel like a big girl, but whoever helped her was on something LOL - you wrote down who they were shopping for and ages, well she comes home with a teacher pen for her 4 year old sister and a #1 mom mug for her 1 year old sister LOL While very cute and thoughtful one wonders a) how my child can not read the item and b) how the helper did not catch it! Anyhoo I transferred those items to myself and her teacher and took her back to get daddy and her sisters and nana something. She had fun picking out presents and putting them in the bags and writing who they went to....so much fun next year I think she is helping me wrap LOL if only she was not my child that would tell everyone what they got - it would be on accident but it would happen.

Whew I think that brings us up to the present! I will strive to keep it updated from now on =0) I should have some pics from our goodie bag making and reindeer candy cane project coming soon!!

Bad Blogger

2008-12-11T10:09:00.002-05:00

So it has been nearly a month since my last blog!!!! Needless to say it has been crazy, with a trip home to Florida, Thanksgiving, Christmas Shopping, Christmas Crafts with the kids, Picking and decorating a tree, wrapping presents, getting ready for Ali's Birthday, and making christmas cards! So hectic to say the least!! It has been so nuts I have actually contemplated thinning down my scrap stuff *gasp*!

I am going to take a few minutes later today to update my blog, tell some funny stories and some not so funny stories from our vacation and general catch up!

Pampered Chef

2008-11-18T10:00:00.001-05:00

Just a reminder that Pampered Chef is throwing its stoneware sale this month!!!! All unglazed stones are 20% off!!! Email me at sricharz2077@yahoo.com for more information!

More Christmas Cards

2008-11-12T21:34:00.005-05:00

So I started yesterday evening working on cards - trying to catch up on a card challenge for LinneCards and what do I end up doing - cards that have nothing to do with the challenge LOL I am card making like I scrap - I let the supplies lead me rather than me leading them!! I used a huge Joy stamp from Unity on one card and their Christmas List stamp and I believe it is itty bitty christmas santa stamp on the other. Both cards have bazzill as the base and Basic grey as the patterned paper. I am not quite done with Joy but as soon as I get a light grey copic and a glitter pen I will take care of that =0)

Other than that not much is going on!

Ft Meade Card Swap

2008-11-08T23:03:00.003-05:00

Wow it has been awhile since I updated! It has been crazy around here with getting ready for the card swap and just general life with 3 kids! I finished my card, my finished product is below. I used Stampin up Green and Red cardstock and I embossed one layer with the snowflake die for the cuttlebug. I then used shimmerz on this layer to give it some sheen! Used a stampin up santa stamp and an inkadinkado stamp. I used copics to color in santa and accented him with stickles...overall i think he turned out pretty good!

The swap itself was awesome! It was hosted by Tracy and Amanda and they did a fab job! I had a blast trying out everyone's cards and for a newbie it was great to get some ideas and learn some new techniques!! I also unfortunately now want about 4-5 more stamps sets then I did when I went in LOL I have a pic of some of my completed cards below.

Also I won a fabulous prize from Rhonda - an adorable altered house she did! She is being pretty modest but it is adorable!!!! So overall a wonderful day away from home and I am uber motivated now to make some christmas cards!!! I think I will continue with Santa for now. But I foresee that Cardinal stamp set and the snowman stampin up set in my near future!

Our Weekend!

2008-11-03T09:52:00.002-05:00

We had a very busy weekend full of trick or treating and a trip to the Smithsonian National Zoo!! It was a very fun weekend though and I think the girls had a blast (ignore autumns scowl in the halloween pic hahaha)

shoebox swap card

2008-10-29T22:03:00.002-04:00

woohooo I think I am well on my way with my swap card!!! I have a great start and I ended up using the stampin up Santa stamp BUT I think I have a perfect spot for a new stamp on its way to me called Santa's List from Unity! I hope it comes soon I am about to die to post it LOL

Busy Busy Bee!!!

2008-10-29T20:27:00.007-04:00

Sorry I have not posted much!!! I have been busy working on my altered item for the swap I am going to in 2 weeks! I really need to work on my card! (its a card swap LOL). I have also been pretty busy with Autumn with school projects and halloween festivities! I have posted a pic of autumns "altered" pumpkin - their teacher gave them a pumpkin and she had to turn it into something else...so with some scrap supplies (paper, pen, black paint) and some cotton balls and pipe cleaners I think she did a good job!! I had to help her with the paint though because it was getting EVERYWHERE!!!

I have also posted a pic of my wagon - I dont think too many ladies from the swap will see this and after the pain and effort it took to get the darn thing papered I want to share it LOL It does not look like I did much but it took several nights LOL

Other than that tomorrow is hip hop thursday at my fave stamp company Unity - I am going to try to resist ordering this week but Angela makes it really hard to resist her specials and items!!!! So I will be trying to resist tomorrow and carving my pumpkins!!! Nothing like waiting til the last minute LOL

Boo at Bo Bunny!

2008-10-28T07:59:00.003-04:00

Bo Bunny is going to be boo'ing some lucky people that add Bo Bunny to their blog! Go check it out and good luck getting boo'd!! Their link is in my favorite places on the left.

Shimmerz Blog Candy!

2008-10-27T08:42:00.007-04:00

Shimmerz is giving away some blog candy! Be sure to check it out at http://shimmerzpaints.blogspot.com/2008/10/colors-and-candy.html

There are FIVE new colors... but they're MORE than just new color additions... these five new colors are a whole new product line!

Let me just say from personal experience - I bought my first jar over the weekend at a local stamp store and I absolutely fell in love with the samples the store had hanging using this product! It gives a great glittery look without having to deal with glue pads and glitter trays and glitter everywhere.

The weekend is nearly here!

2008-10-23T21:46:00.002-04:00

It has been a fairly quiet week with me not doing much since Tuesday! I did get my scrap area organized finally, now just to spruce up these white walls so it is not so blah!

Not much going on this weekend so maybe I will have an amazing card to post soon! I would be happy with a so-so one though LOL

Unity Sketch Challenge by Amber Dawn

2008-10-21T20:58:00.004-04:00

There was a sketch posted this week by Amber Dawn that I could not resist! How better to practice making cards then using sketches!!! I used an adorable set they have called Mix up of cuteness to create my purple creation below LOL - I have started to think of cards as mini layouts with stamps as my pics...it seems to be helping! I used Basic Grey Paper and some Glitter and Rhinestones to pep it up and yes my purple owl =0) You cannot tell in the pic but I used a pop up glue dot so he is raised a bit.

My Card

2008-10-20T21:52:00.003-04:00

So I took my card I worked on Saturday and revamped it! I did not have a lot of my stuff with me since I was not at home so with my supplies I think I was able to pretty the card up quite a bit! Here is what I came up with - you can scroll down to see the old version. I used Basic Grey and Bazzill for the Paper and I used Unity's Birds of a Feather stamp and a mystery scroll stamp I had and a doodlebug stamp for the happy holidays. I used red stickles on his bow and some pearls to accent. So simple but he took forever (still having issues staying in the lines LOL)

Its Monday Again

2008-10-20T08:57:00.002-04:00

Why is Monday the worst day of the week LOL - I always feel blah and just want to crawl back into bed every single one!!! Of course the frigid air outside is not helping!!!

I did not get much more done over the weekend but I did manage to get a staz on (still cannot find that memento pad anywhere!!!!) and some paper that will work until the paper trey paper I ordered comes in (really good paper!). Funny story with getting my staz on LOL I went to AC Moore about 530 but of course with traffic I got there right at 6 - I assume they are closed and run into office depot - where the manager was awesome actually pried the doors open and let me in to shop!!! I only took a moment and as I walked by ac moore and saw people still coming out I decided to see if I could get in - sure enough the door opened right up - I sprinted over to the scrap area (dragging alison behind me LOL) as I neared the stamp supplies I get blocked by a huge linebacker of a manager (seriously he blocked the entire aisle).

He was not very friendly to say the least hahaha He tried with his "can I help you" and so I played dumb LOL I was like "yes where is your stamp stuff?" so the "cheerful" manager curtly informed me "we are closed" to which I replied (playing dumb still) "oh really, your door was open", he gave up at this point and was like "its over here" so I said "oh thank you so much!" I then ran into the aisle grabbed a black staz on, which michaels cannot seem to stock and then frantically tried to see if they had a memento pad - apparently I looked like a shop lifter, because linebacker manager stayed and watched me - so I started bugging him LOL asking if they had memento pads. He obviously had no clue so I grabbed my staz on told him thanks and went to the register where I have to say my uber friendly cashier made up for the pretty rude manager!

Tonight I am going to play with my new pad, paper, and copics tonight to see what I can come up with...As I wait oh so patiently for my christmas set from Unity (cutest reindeer ever!!!) I think he is the stamp I will use for the swap - it is between him and santa now! Also with my amatuer effort for my card LOL I definitely need to practice with that! It is pretty different than a layout - a lot less space to come up with a wow factor!

2008-10-17T21:46:00.002-04:00

Tonight I went to Tracy's house, where she was holding a stamp night. I got to pick her and her friends brains for several hours and eat something uber yummy she makes called cake balls. I am soooo going to make those in the very near future!! So here is my first card in a really long time and I think only the 2nd I have ever attempted LOL It is definitely a beginners card but it was fun to make and hey its a start! I got to play with copics and my pencils AND I met a wonderful lady that is a copic expert and was a wealth of knowledge! I have to say I absolutely LOVE my Unity stamps...so far them and my stampin up's are stamping the best and are allowing the most creativity with coloring. Well off I go to watch a movie with hubby - we are seeing sex drive tonight which looks rather funny (yes we are over 30 going to a teeny bopper movie LOL)

TGIF

2008-10-17T08:51:00.002-04:00

Woohoooo It is Friday!!!! I am going to a Stamp Night tonight so tomorrow I may actually have something to post that I worked on LOL I did go last night and got some watercolor paper and prismacolor pencils - what a difference!!! Now my issue is I need to practice what I preach to my 7 year old (stay in the lines LOL) actually my issue seems to be my blender pens - they have big brush tips and they are not helping me stay in the line....I think I am going to try that gamosol (sp.?) and the wooden pens to see if that gives me more control in that area. Anyhoo it has been fun and so many ladies over at Unity and the Swap group have been extremely helpful - thank you so much!!!!

Totally off a crafty topic lol - my 3 year old has an addiction - kind of odd but when she was around 1 my husband bought some breakfast hot pockets at Sams, well one morning we were out of milk or something so I gave her one - my mistake LOL She has been addicted since!! Well we ran out last week and she kept asking me and I told her next time I went to the store I would get her some - well I had to run out the other day and I should have known when she was so adament about going. The whole trip she kept telling me how much she loved me, I am her mom, etc. Well we get to the PX and we are walking in and out it comes - "Is this where they sell hot pockets?" Ahhhhh now I know why you love me so much and wanted to come LOL So needless to say we went to the Commissary next. where she insisted on carrying them, placing them on the belt at the register, and sitting them next to her in the car - At least I know which child will be prone to obsessive behaviors LOL For the healthy minded readers she is a stick figure of a child and other than the fatty breakfast she eats a ton of fruit and milk so she is not obese from her addiction LOL

Stamping away!

2008-10-16T07:26:00.002-04:00

I got my new kit last night from Unity Stamp Co (love them!!!) and I had to play with it LOL I have come to the conclusion I have the wrong paper! One needs watercolor paper to get it to blend right (bazzill does not work in this case!). So I now have a shopping list - Paper, and I think I am going to start buying the copics, while pricey I think they will be worth it in the long run! Also on a side note Unity is having a sale today 25% off - you cant beat that!!!

Other than that I will spend my day today working and trying to figure out what I am making for a bunco night on Saturday...it is my first time playing so that should be interesting. My buddy Sheila jinxed me though so I will probably roll "snake eyes" all night - thanks She LOL

Well off I go to convince Autumn to move faster - she is going to be fun getting up as a teenager, since I am already having issues with her getting ready for school at 7!!!

Welcome to My Blog

2008-10-15T08:39:00.000-04:00

Everyone is doing it right? Well here I go jumping off the cliff! I will mainly use my blog to share my latest creations with scrapbooking - I may even have a recipe now and then, heck it may be a great place to vent LOL we will see!!

A bit about me - I am a 31 year old mother of 3 beautiful girls! I love to scrapbook and I am about to dabble in card making. My hobby has primarily consisted of me buying scrap stuff for the past year since I have had absolutely no time to actually scrap!

Well i am going to keep this one short and sweet (dont get used to it - I am quite wordy).