See What I Made?

Yes I know this is Christmas-y. Yes I know Christmas is over. Yes I have been on a roll altering things instead of scrapping. Yes it was fun. Now I get to pack it up for next Christmas....




I used MM jigsaw shapes & painted them with MM paint. Then I dug around in my stash with these cute button like embllies. I also used MM tiny type stickers (think that's what they're called) & Heidi Swapp chipboard heart.

Used some ric rac & diamond glaze on the red frame.

More MM goodies this time added some fun fetti words. Used some old acrylic letters from my stash to write "Joy" & coated it in diamond glaze.
Same here.
Used a few different size rhinestones stuck in diamond glaze (my favorite frame)
More button like embellies from my stash.

I'm thinking of altering this CUTE wreath I found at Target yesterday. Think I'll have it done for THIS Valentine's day?????

Edited to add: Thought these pics looked ok but looking at them today I see how crappy they are. The colors are so off. I swear it looks nicer in person! Sorry.

Wanna Laugh??

Yesterday Marissa brought home her report card & she did good. So I figured I'd treat her to a new Webkinz today after school. I took the girls to buy their new animals, Marissa brought home a little kitty she named "Rose" & Gianna picked a black horse she named "Horse" (very original, don'tcha think??). By the time we got home & did homework. It was dinnertime & my F-I-L came over like he does EVERY Thursday night. When he left I cleaned up & by this time it was bed time. I offered to Marissa to log in her new Webkinz so she could play tomorrow night after gymnastics & she said yes.

I signed on to her account & entered the new pet like normal. Then I got a little curious to see what other animals there were & long story short--I started playing "Solitare"!!! LOL! I can't tell you how long I was playing for!! But it was all for a good cause so now when Marissa signs on tomorrow she'll have points/$$ to buy things with. See?? It was all in the name of becoming Mother-Of-The-Year in Marissa's eyes! Lame I know.....but fun!!

My Secret's Out!!

I was checking my blogs this morning while drinking my coffee when Joe says Who's that? I was reading Stephanie Howell's blog & there are some CUTE pics of her little girl on there. So I said it's a blog I read no one I know. I somehow seem to mention how I post pics on my blog & he wanted to see it.

**GASP**

So after a feeble attempt to try & talk him out of it I pulled up my blog. I felt a little exposed!! He was smiling as he scanned it leisurely, chuckled at the name of my blog & learned a little blog terminology. Then he left for Costco to pick me up some supplies. Gotta love that man!!

Button Dilema

Thanks to my button tree obsession I am left with a multitude of MORE buttons than I started with. Last night I tried getting them put away so I could broaden my crafty horizons but I couldn't come up with something I was happy with.

I have them sorted right now per color & mfg but I also have older buttons that are similar colors but I don't know the mfg. I sort of want to throw them all in a HUGE jar a 'la Heather but my anal quirkiness is holding me back!! Yes I know I need help but therapy is expensive!!! What's your method????

Teenage Birthday

Today is my best friend Carolee's son's Matt's birthday. Got that?? He's 15 today! Which just blows my mind!! I've known this kid since he was 3. Since he liked to wear his mom's shoes & her underwear on his head! Sorry Matt-had to share!! As he approached the dreaded teen age years & his hormones raged he was the typical boy. Whenever he saw me he would come say Hi by giving me a big hug & smooshing his head in my boobs--no lie. I always made sure when I saw him coming that I'd be holding one of the girls or something just to avoid the situation. Now this guy is taller than me!! No more boob smooshing! Yeah I always swore I'd get him back by embarrassing him (insert evil laugh here)!!

Happy 15th Birthday Matt!!

Random Thursday-ness

I have a bunch of random thoughts rambling around my brain that I want to get out.

--I've been trying to create a photo header. Like everything else about blogging it's taking me awhile to mess with it until I realize what I'm doing wrong. So far I haven't had that "a-ha" moment where the light bulb goes on over my head. I came across some pretty good directions on Lindsey Teague's blog, but I just think my mind is on overload at the moment so I gave up for tonight.

--It's amazing that I still don't know how to play with Photoshop -- despite the How to for Dummies guide I asked for & got for Christmas -- but I guess you have to open the book & not leave it lying next to the computer as you read blog after blog after blog!! LOL!!!

--As you can tell I'm in a MUCH better frame of mind since my last rambling post. That woman needs to get something removed from her ass...which may someday be my foot!!

--I'm seriously annoyed that Grey's was a REPEAT tonight. Seriously. I'm just so DONE with this strike--Seriously!! Give them what they want already dammit!!

--I've got the scrapping bug!! I have a lot of creative juices flowing right now & hope to get them all out! I can't wait to play with all the stuff that I've gotten recently! I really need to organize it since it's lying in boxes on the floor....I'm not sure where to start. I should probably scrap the June Disney trip but I kind of want instand gratification so I'm leaning towards a mini album....Not sure

--I'm so happy tomorrow's FRIDAY!! I'm looking forward to not have to run around this weekend.

--I finished the last Harry Potter book last night. It was really good! As much as I couldn't wait to see what happened next I didn't want the book to end!! Can't wait to see the movie! Now I've got to find something else to read...

--I need to get my butt in gear & figure out what to get Joe for his birthday in a few weeks. If I don't do it now I'll turn around & it'll be the 12th!!

--I'm really excited about our upcoming trip to Disney World in April!! We're going the 1st week of April during the school's Spring Break. Some people like Cancun--we like Disney!! We haven't been there since June & really missed it over Christmas. We used to go there at least twice a year but since Marissa started school we hate for her to miss school for vacation.

--I'm shocked over Heath Ledger's death. I really think it was an accidental overdose. It just came out of the blue. There wasn't any prior stories of craziness like Britney Spears--now if I heard she died I wouldn't be surprised. I just really feel bad about his little girl growing up without her dad.

--My cousin Ciro from Italy (on my mother's side) is coming for a visit in March. It'll be his 1st time in the US, not sure how long he'll be staying either. I haven't seen him in FOREVER...I think it was actually 1984. My sister Marie & I were talking about places we could take him to while he's here. It should be interesting coming up with ideas other than the Statue of Liberty. Right now I'm drawing a blank.

--My Uncle John from Italy (on my father's side) is coming for a visit in April. He's arriving the day we get back from Disney. I haven't seen him since he was here in 2003 for my Grandma's funeral. He's my favorite uncle. He's the most like my Dad whom I miss so damn much since he died.....

--I see a weight struggle (more than I'm already struggling with) in my near future due to all the family dinners/get togethers we'll be having. **SIGH**

So there's my rambling for the night. If you read all the way to the end I owe you a large bottle of aspirin!! I warned you it was random!!

100th Post!!! And Some Venting...

WARNING: This is a long post.....
I want to start this post on a happy note.....this is my 100th post!! YEAH!!! Didn't think I'd get there as fast as I did. Especially with all the blogs I check constantly during the day. Which might be the reason why I don't get stuff done around here!! I also didn't think I'd ever have any readers either. My sisters & a few close friends know I have a blog but most of them would only say I have too much time on my hands. Joe knows I have a blog but hasn't asked to read it which I'm happy for. I share everything else with him but would feel weird if he read what I wrote here for some strange reason (although I tell him literally everything). So I just want to say THANKS for listening (that's assuming there's anyone out there reading my blog)...especially tonight because.....I need to vent.

Today Marissa had a Brownie Meeting which was like any other. It was my turn to be "Snack Mom"--no big deal. I asked Marissa what she wanted to bring & she said the sugar cookies from Pillsbury (or something like that) that has little hearts shaped in the dough. I can't call it slice & bake because you literally open the pkg & place the pre cut cookies on a sheet & bake. Voila! Cookies!! So I made those as well as brownies because I can & I did (I confess--it was a box mix--I'm not Super Woman!!).

I pick Marissa up from the meeting later on & asked her if she had fun & she said she did. Then she tells me she's hungry. I said to her you just had brownies & cookies for snack there!! She said "Oh yeah" like it had been hours ago instead of a mere few minutes. So I asked her if the kids liked the treats. She said yes & that most of the girls wanted seconds of the brownies & the troop leaders (we'll call them "1" & "2") had to cut some brownies in half so everyone would have enough. She then told me that "2" said when it's her turn to bring in snack she'd bring healthy snacks, like carrots & cucumbers & celery & broccoli with dip.

Now let me describe for you the person I'm dealing with....she's the sporty type, has 3 kids but you couldn't tell (yeah--my jealously is showing!!) I have never said much to her other than basic pleasantries. Our girls were in some activities together last year & our paths crossed but other than that I never had much to say to her really. Nor does she to me. That's all I really know about her.

The other troop leader "1" happens to live on my street & we've been to a few neighborhood parties together & talked a bit but are we friendly to the point of calling each other for no reason not really. She's a "local" & was raised here. She's a sporty type too & has 2 kids. So "1" is the one I usually deal with when it comes to "Brownie" stuff. She's just more approachable. I talked to her briefly when I picked Marissa up & she didn't say a word about the snack. In fact there were no leftovers that I saw except the extra water bottles that I sent in. See there was a healthy part to snack--water!!

My aggravation is strictly based on what I heard from my 6 year old. I'd like to be wrong & I'm sure I'm taking this way too personal. I don't know if I'm looking too deep into this but it just doesn't sit right with me. Especially since we're selling Girls Scout Cookies right now & that would make her a hypocrite!!! Now---who wants to buy some "Broccoli Bites with Icing"?? Anyone??

Edited heavily after initial vent.

Buttoned Up!

I've been on a mission to make more button trees. I had wanted them ready for Christmas but it just didn't happen but I'll be ready for Christmas 2008!! I had so much fun coming up with different color combinations & sizes!!

The topper says "Wish" but it's a little hard to see with the poof. Looks better IRL.

The topper says "Happy Jollydays"...I bought it as a pin but the clasp broke & I thought the colors matched so nice with the tree....

Had to make a green tree....this was a tall one & took a lot of time & buttons & pins
This was a tiny tree & thought it'd be cute in candy cane colors...

"Button Tree Forest"

The 2 matching trees together

This is a tiny tree. Marissa wanted to make a tree too so we came up with this....bought the ribbon in the $1 spot at M's & after showing her how to do it she finished it in no time (I made her the rose topper w/extra ribbon I had lying around)....She did a great job!!

I just wanted to share in my latest creativeness. It's kept me occupied since the new year in between taking down all the decorations that I've been procrastinating about! Now I'm gonna pack these babies up!!

Gone...

So the house is back to normal...Christmas is officially gone at our house...finally!! At the expense of my hip......yep I fell off the stepladder as I was reaching for the last 3 ornaments towards the top. Landed on the arm of the couch hurting my knee & hitting my hip. It's sore but the tree is all packed up! Oh and I broke the 3 ornaments PLUS the star on top!!! But all is not lost--Joe got out his trusty epoxy & fixed the ornaments & the star (you can't even tell they were broken)! Did I mention that I bent the trunk of the tree as I grabbed it on my fall down? Yeah when I fall I take everything down with me!! LOL!!!

PS--The tree trunk had to be hacked down by 4 inches & was salvaged for next year's fall!!!

Going....

Started on the tree last night....it's going...slow...Will be done at some point tonight...NO MATTER WHAT!!

Just a little randomness while I wait for Marissa to get ready for gymnastics...thought I'd share the boredom....

Guessed right!

I was right! Susan went into labor & now has a healthy baby boy to smother with love!

Congratulations Susan!!

Guessing....

Since checking her blog earlier & reading her post I have to guess that Susan is in labor. I just want to send some "Happy Thoughts" & LOTS of LUCK her way! Just thinking about her.....

GOOD LUCK SUSAN!!!

Let's play...

SCATERGORIES....

1. My Name is Sara
2. Famous singer/band: Shania Twain
3. four letter word: Sick
4. Street: South St.
5. Colour: Strawberry red
6. Gifts/presents: Sweater
7. Vehicle: Saturn
8. Things in a sovenir shop: Seashells
9. Boy Name: Steven
10. Girl Name: Sabrina (after my girlfriend's new baby)
11. Movie Title: Stardust
12. Drink: Strawberry Daquiri
13. Occupation: Scrapbook Instructer
14. Celebrity: Sienna Miller
15. Magazine: Scrapbooks Etc.
16. U.S. City: Seattle
17. Pro Sports Teams: Seattle Seahawks
18. Fruit: Strawberry
19. Reason for Being Late for Work: Scrapbook Sale
20. Something You Throw Away: Scraps
21. Things You Shout: S**T!!
22. Cartoon Character: Smurfs

Here are the rules: The game is SCATERGORIES....* Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the questions.* They MUST be real places, names, things ... NOTHING made up!* If you can't think of anything, skip it.* You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl name question.* If your name happens to start with the same letter as mine, sorry, but you can't use my answers!

This was fun! Feel free to play along but make sure you leave a link to your post so I can giggle at your answers....Did you notice the theme with Strawberries & Scrapbooking???

Random Info

So I've spent today doing some necessary things & some things very un-necessary. Let me share with you a peek into my day....

Got the girls to school & went to DMV to re-new my driver's liscense. Now I can hear the moan but we know of a not so well known DMV that's about 15 mins away & no matter when you go it's still a shorter wait than any other DMV I've ever been to. Seriously I was in & out in 10 minutes. I think the pic came out ok & the whole experience put me in a good mood.

That mood led me to shop!!

So off I went to Target. I've been wanting to go because it's an addiction of mine (among many) & I haven't been there since Christmas time. I was due. I was having some serious withdrawels!! I didn't have anything in mind that I had to get but you know you can always find things to buy once you're in! Boy did I find things to buy!! I bought the girls some cute Valentine shirts. I bought a few scrappy things. I bought some storage containers that I need to finish packing up the Christmas stuff. I bought a really cute Valentine chip & dip/ cake stand.

the top is pink but it's not showing up that great in the pic.

The inside is also pink but their was too much light to really see it.

I justified buying this because Joe's birthday is Feb 12th & I could use it for his cake. I think I might even keep it out for everyday though--it's that cute! Basically while I was there I just BOUGHT stuff! Don't tell Joe but I spent $300!! I was even shocked at myself!!

After I got home I spent a lot of time reading everyone's blogs & noticed that everyone had updated their blogs so I figured I needed to update mine as well. So what if the Christmas decorations are only 1/2 down!! LOL!!!

Happy Birthday Marie!

Just got back from my older sister Marie's house. It's her birthday today. We sang "Happy Birthday". We ate cake (& it was goooood!). We opened presents. We took pics. Good times.
My sister is older than me & always will be (insert evil laugh here)!!! So today I will keep this short & sweet.....

Happy Birthday Marie!

Love you! Mean it!!

Did I mention that she's older than me???

Pick-Me-Upper!!

I'm gonna share with everyone the secret to feeling a bit better! Is it going to bed last night by 8:30 that did it?? Maybe. Is it canceling my baby/friend visit? Not really. Is it dropping the girls off at school & coming home to sleep until 2pm? Could be. The best thing to do when you're feeling like downright crap is to open the box that arrived on your door Monday. You know the one that you were too sick to open? Yeah that one!

Remember when I told you about Heather's blog? How about Scrapbook Bakery? Well in December she had a RAK going on & I won! I never win anything so this was just pure happiness for me and boy did she go all out!! Let's open this "together" shall we??

I see PINK!

Can you just imagine all the yummy goodness in there??

Look how sweet!! So Valentine-ish!

More sugar....

Careful-don't want to get any frosting on my fingers.....hehe

Just the colors are sheer happiness!! Fits right in with my state of mind-spring is calling to ME!

Look at all this cool FUN stuff!!! Heather just knows what kind of things makes me happy! But wait! What's that on the bottom of the box?

More goodies!!

Heather was so super generous with all the fun cool products! Believe it or not I don't have any of this stuff already!! YEAH!!

So I would like to thank Heather very much for not only sending me all this wonderful stuff to play with but also for helping me in feeling a little better!

THANK YOU HEATHER!!!!

We're not getting there....

The Christmas decorations are STILL up. Why, you ask? Oh just because I want to be ready for NEXT year!! LOL!! No really I was waiting for Joe to pull the boxes out of the crawl space for me but his bad knee has been acting up so he hasn't been up to it. Why can't I do it myself you ask? Cause it's creepy!! Not really bad creepy but I just can't manage to crawl in there to do it myself....call me chicken--go ahead I don't mind! Believe me I would if I could but I just can't!

Monday night I called my mom to say hi & she tells me she's got a cold. We chat for a little bit, she asks me when I bring the girls to see her, blah, blah, blah. The minute I hung up the phone I started feeling my head fill up & my throat starts bothering me! Weird coincidence huh? I could blame her for getting me sick but I have to blame Marissa. She's the one. She did it!! I call her Typhoid Marissa!

I'm upset about this because I planned on visiting my girlfriend Patrizia's new baby on Wed. I have to cancel now because I couldn't chance getting that tiny little baby sick too. I have to stress how upset I am because I was really looking forward to holding a little baby again!!

I have felt like crap all day today but had too much to do to rest. I finally got my hair cut which I've needed since Thanksgiving. Gianna starts her dance class tomorrow at school so I needed to pick her up a leotard & tights at Kohl's. They were having all sorts of great sales which I would have loved to browse through but my head was pounding. I had to pick up Gianna from school early today because Marissa had a Brownies meeting today & the moms needed to stay so I couldn't drop her off there to go & pick Gianna up in time. Of all days I just want to do nothing & sleep I just can't!

So after Joe gets home & we have dinner this is my plan...

• give the girls a bath
• putting the girls to bed
• putting myself to bed

Let's just hope I don't crawl in bed next to the girls.....

We're getting there...

As I said yesterday I had lots of stuff I wanted to do. I procrastinate a lot but I made some progress. Yesterday I tackled some laundry & made a pot of sauce with meatballs. I started straightening up the house so I can take pics of the decorations which seems never-ending but we're getting there.

Today we got all the outside decorations down & put away. We were quite a team. I footed the ladder while Joe climbed up & took down the wreathes off the eaves of the house. Then while he pulled the reindeer off the frozen lawn I took down the lights & garlands off the porch. Where were the girls you ask? They played their part by happily riding their bikes & skooter all over the driveway!

After all that Joe & I agreed that we were hungry so we decided to go to Hooter's. Yes I said Hooter's. I was in the mood for some hot wings & what man will ever argue about going to Hooter's? We shared loaded cheesy gooey nachos....yummmmm. Then I had some hot strips which I like better than wings because it's easier to eat without all those messy bones to gnaw through. Double yummmmmmm....the only thing missing was the beer but that I could do without---who needs all those EXTRA calories??? LOL!!!!

When we got home I needed a nap. I didn't intend on laying down but the bed called to me & who am I to argue? I kept dozing in & out of sleep with the girls occasionally coming to check on me. Marissa covered me with a blanket & I felt so toasty warm -- it was easy to just lie there. Luckily Joe kept the girls happy & watched some movies with the girls downstairs. Gotta love that man...feeds me AND lets me nap...hmmmm....If I didn't know any better it almost sounds like I'm preggers or something....but I'm NOT!!

Tomorrow Marissa has a birthday party to go to in the morning & I'll come back home to de-Christmas the house more. Like I said we're getting there.

Back to normal

It's been an adjustment getting back on schedule with the girls going back to school. We had a threat of snow for Wed. which was the day they were due back in school & thanks to all the angry frustruated mothers cursing Mother Nature we were lucky to not get the snow. I was going to send the girls to school no matter what!! lol!! It's been so frickin' cold here!! Yesterday it was around 17 degrees here & now they say by the weekend it might reach the 50's--heat wave!! Crazy Mother Nature...maybe she's menopausal!!

I managed to get my posts on 2Peas thanks to Crystal & have the urge to start scrapping again. Unfortunately the urge to take down the Christmas decorations is a more desparete urge so I'm gonna start on that today. Because I'm so anal I take pics of all the decorations. This is not simply because I have nothing better to do like my older sister tends to say about me but that's a different story all-together & will have it's own dedicated post but I digress....The reason I take pics of all my decorations is :

1. My memory is shot & due to all the decorations that fill the main floor of my house I need to remember where to put everything next year (with a few minor tweaks here & there).

2. Every year I say I'm going to scrap about my favorite decorations/ornaments.

3. I try to improve my photography skills (or lack of). This will hopefully be the year I manage to take a good pic of the tree all lit up.

Now that I've put it in print I hope that will force me to make that scrap page that I've been meaning to do for the last 2 or 3 years! I'm not the type of person to make resolutions only because I never keep them...but I would like to get more caught up on my scrapping. There are days when I'm just so over whelmed & get nothing done. I'm off to attack the house, or the scrapping, or the laundry....nevermind I just know that I'm going to attack something!! lol!!!

Latest Projects...

As promised here are pics of my button trees. I plan on doing a few more but need to find more pins. Michaels keeps running out on me!! Think I'll have to place an order online through Joanne's.....

My 1st tree. Not too shabby I guess. I found the topper at Wal-Mart for $1.27(??). It says "Wish" not wash as Joe says it does!!

Of course since I had gone crazy ordering buttons I had a bunch of these lime green & thought they would look cute paired up with pink. The topper is from AC Moore that I found when I wasn't looking-don'tcha love that?!

This is one of the LO's that's been sitting on my desk since BEFORE Thanksgiving!! Not the greatest pic but I did it quick before we watched Harry Potter last night!

Here's the final LO of Gianna's birthday album. I had to include her actual birthday that we spent at Disney World. Finally stuck everything to the LO & Yes I realize that the princess over her name is crooked. Will have to see if I can fix that. I left the label empty but it will have the date before I slide it into her album.

I tried posting these to 2Pea's but it's not letting me because it's too big of a file. **SIGH** So I'll have to take the pics in a smaller size **SIGH** & manipulate it so the pixels are no bigger than 600x600. **SIGH** They kind of fixed the "BOS" problem --thanks Crystal for letting me know--now I have the LO's but not my favorite scrappers! They're getting really annoying changing things to make it better but end up making it more comfusing...but I'm loyal despite it all...or a sucker.

Happy New Year!

The start of a new year...don't you just love it when something is brand spanking new? I hope to have lots more fun with my family this year. I would like to finish more scrapbooks.
Wishing everyone a wonderful & healthy

Happy New Year!

Last night wasn't a crazy party filled night for us. We have kids. Joe worked all day so I made a nice end-of-the-year dinner of London Broil with potatoes & it was great (the meal was great too). After dinner we did our own thing for a little while then we settled in to watch "Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix". I figured since I finished that book we could now watch the movie I gave Joe for Christmas--well planned no??

The girls were doing their own thing for awhile. Marissa got a "Webkins" dog for Christmas (finally) & she likes to go online & take care of her dog. Gianna just likes playing on Nick Jr so she was occupied for awhile too. Joe fell asleep early on in the movie so I sat peacefully watching the movie until the girls got bored & snuggled with us on the couch. Marissa was still wide eyed & bushy tailed & was excited to be able to stay up & celebrate New Year's but I could tell Gianna would crash soon. I was right too--she finally settled down in my arms & went right out. She amazes me with her ability to fall asleep so fast, she's just like Joe when it comes to that. It's like turning out the lights.

About 10 minutes before the ball dropped Marissa woke Joe up & we paused Harry Potter. I explained to her about the ball dropping down & people counting down the last 10 seconds & she couldn't wait! Wish I had her energy! So with Gianna sleeping peacefully in my arms we rang in the new year, watched the last 5 minutes of Harry Potter....and went to bed. Exciting life we have huh??