Streaked

The girls have been talking for some time about getting colored hair extensions. Marissa's had a blue streak in her hair before & I told her next time she could get 2. Gianna, well she was a bit young so we had told her she had to wait awhile.

Talk about getting extensions flared up again after the girls got their Halloween costumes. Marissa wanted red to match her costume & Gianna wanted purple to match hers. After talking it over with Joe we decided Gianna could get one after all, but only one.

The girls were thrilled with the results & the best part was the smiles on their faces & the big "Thank Yous" we got. Now they are ready to get their treat on!

Decided

Yes it's early to be thinking about Halloween...unless you're a kid. The girls begged me to take them to look for costumes & when we got the chance we did. They decided pretty quickly too, though I had to talk Gianna our of her costume of choice since I didn't think Joe would like to see his baby girl as Lady Gaga.

So it was settled on Marissa being Red Riding Hood & Gianna as a witch. I can't keep that hat away from Gianna either....she wears it every chance she gets! Doing homework, setting the table, watching TV, you name it she wears it!

Both girls are excited about their costumes, I'm excited that they can wear layers easily underneath to keep warm. That's the mother in me. Can't help it. ;)

Bella Blvd Mid Release Stickers

Here are the newest stickers from Bella Blvd. So perfect for cards as well as a LO. I really like how they match the Sophisticates line!

Go see all the new mid-releases from Bella Blvd HERE.

Bella Blvd Mid Release #2

Here's another crazy CUTE new release from Bella Blvd, it's called:

This makes me want to rush through the cold months straight into Spring!! Love it!

To see the rest of this collection check it out HERE!

Bella Blvd Mid Season Release #1

Have you seen the 3 new releases from Bella Blvd? The first one is called:

It's too stinking CUTE!! Love love LOVE the snowmen!!

To see the full collection check it out HERE....but remember to leave some for me!! ;)

September at a Glance

I downloaded this app in August & gave it a try while we were at Disney, but since I didn't start at the beginning of the month I never shared it. This month I manged to take a pic everyday of the everyday. It's got a spot for a little journaling as well--gotta love that. If I managed to do this for a year I could totally see this as a mini album....something to think about. ;)

Upset

It's been a rough, crazy September around here. We've had plans for every weekend since coming back from vacation & it was crazy but we made it through, you know why? Because it was all good stuff (mostly).

The bad stuff had nothing to do with the weekends, really. The bad stuff has been going on with my kids.

Yes they bicker & fight with each other. I'm used to that, though it makes me nuts. That's not the bad stuff. Oh no. The bad stuff is that this has nothing to do with them at home. The bad stuff is that my kids are getting bullied at school.

It's happened to both my kids but not at the same time. Though recently I'm having more trouble with one more than the other. I won't go into details, but I will say that as a Mother, I am hurt, I am devastated, and extrememly ANGRY.

I have taken measures as any parent would, but unfortuanetly it doesn't seem to be isolated with just 1 kid. This is not acceptable, especially that it's happening so early in the school year. I don't want my daughter to end up not wanting to go to school because of this.

I don't run from things, usually I react....LOUDLY. However I can't do that since it involves my kids & they will suffer for it...meaning I'd like to tell off the parents of the kids that are making my daughter's life a misery, but have to be diplomatic about the situation. Besides, I would be stooping to their level. Two wrongs don't make a right, you know?



I've told Joe that I want to move, preferrably to a desserted island, but I know you can't run from your problems, nor can I isolate my kids. I just don't want them hurt from kids that are just plain MEAN that they thought were their friends.

Just needed to vent.

Four Words Can Change Your Life

Fourteen years ago today, while on vacation at Disney World, the greatest guy I know, changed my world forever just by asking....

"Will you marry me?"

I'd still say yes.

The flowers he sent me today for our anniversary, because he's that kind of guy.

It's sometimes hard to believe 14 years have gone by so fast. He means so much more to me than I can put into words....but I can say that I just love him!

Just Read: The Septimus Heap Series Books 1-6

Awhile back someone suggested this book series to me or rather to Marissa for reading. I had nothing better to read so I started the series.

It's a kids collection for sure but not bad. It does NOT hold a candle to Harry Potter by far. It's not even comparable. The only similarity is magic.

Being the type of person that I am, once I read one I had to download the next book to see what happened. Like I said, it's a kids collection and I'll read almost anything. Apparently there's a seventh book in the works....

Book #1 Book #2

Book #3

Book #4 Book#5 Book #6

Fall Cleaning

I don't know what's come over me, but lately I have had the overwhelming need to de-clutter my house. Of course since I am the ultimate procrastinator, I tend to put things off since they might take too long, though when I finally come around to it, I find it doesn't take long at all.

Story of my life.

So, of course, I have a gazillion things to do on my to do list & I need a bunch done before Saturday.

Why? Oh, because I'm having a "fence party".

"What's a "fence party"?" You ask?

Technically it started out as a get together with some friends...back in July, but we had to keep re-scheduling the date due to various reasons. We ended up changing locations too & now it's at my house. Since we got our new fence installed at the end of the summer I was so excited about it I kept telling Joe we were having a "fence party" to celebrate my annoying neighbors not being able to spy on our house.

Yes they really did spy on the inside my house & were stupid enough to tell us they did!!

So back to my reality....I am in the midst of de-cluttering my house. I swear it's groaning from all the crap that we have around here. When I say crap I mean kids toys & old clothes. Well some clothes aren't old exactly but they sure don't fit so they are getting kicked to the curb so to speak. The girls' school is having a clothing drive that raises money for the school & of course as my luck would have it, it's on Saturday. So I am going around cleaning, purging, & tearing out my hair.

Be back next week with something crafty!

Just Read: A Discovery of Witches

I've had this book on my ipad for awhile just waiting for me to read it. I don't remember exactly why I downloaded it. Possibly due to the high ratings it got? Not sure. So I finally read it.

It's about witches.
And vampires.
And demons.

The vampires aren't sparkly at all.

It's mostly about a witch that refuses to use her powers. Ummmm, if I were a witch (ok a REAL witch) I'd definately use any powers I had! Like making sure the light that's always red when I take the girls to school in the morning stays green long enough for me to get through...just saying. ;)

It took me a while to get into it. Not saying that it's bad but it didn't hook me in until 3/4 into it. Supposedly there's a sequel....

What are you reading?

Dressed Myself

Finally sharing another LO that was just about done before we left for vacation. This started out so easy & I had ideas of how it was going to look but between getting packed for our trip & everyday stuff I didn't get to finish. Then when I had the time the mojo was lost & it took me awhile to finish. Can't win. **sigh**

I swear the colors look better IRL. I was trying to match the colors from her dress & the flower pp from Pebbles matched well.
Something I really need to use more of on my LO's are brads & ribbons. Nevermind all the little embellies I have stashed. I could easily not buy any new product for a year & not run out of supplies, not counting cardstock & adhesive....well the cardstock is debatable.... ;)

Used my cricut for the title & cut it twice in 2 colors & layered them to make them stand out more. The little scallop underneath the pics are the scraps left over from the border punch I used on the side & thought it looked good.


Like I said I have a ton of embellies. That bling-y "G" is old, so are the heart & "beautiful" saying. Had 'em forever!


I love when I get to use my stash. Makes me think that I should de-connect from the computer & just scrap, instead of trying to follow the trends.

Not that it's going to happen.
I'm just sayin'!

Back to School 2011

Wednesday was the girls' first day of school.

They were excited about going back...so was I!

My only disappointment was the chilly, rainy day. I didn't think I'd be able to take our annual pics. Luckily before we left for school the rain slowed down to a slight drizzle & I had the girls stand in front of the house for the annual pics. Marissa is now in 5th grade & was so excited to get the teacher she wanted. It's also her last year in this school before going to middle school....I hope the year goes nice & slow...I don't want to even think about her in middle school!! I don't know what happened to Marissa's hair but I swear this is not how she wears her hair.Gianna is now in second grade. Hard to believe my baby is growing up. Unfortunately I didn't get the annual pic in front of the school because of the rain, but that's ok....I guess. :( I did quickly snap these pics of the girls before going into the gym to line up. Figured it was better than nothing.

They both had a great first day. Marissa loves her class & sits across from her best friend in class. Gianna doesn't like school but knows she has to make the best of it. I think it's just the classwork/homework she doesn't like but she just lumps it all together.

It rained all day that day AND night. The next morning at 5:45am we got a phone call from school telling us school was closed due to area flooding & the highway being closed. Areas of our town got hit bad by Hurricane Irene but luckily our street was fine. So this second flood in such a short period of time was hard for our town to take. I was a little shocked that we already had a school closure but if you saw all the rain we got hit with you'd understand. Today the school's had a 2 hour delayed opening. The girls were actually upset that they missed school yesterday & were happy to go today. Go figure.

I have a busy weekend ahead with a wedding tomorrow & a birthday party for my neice & nephew on Sunday. I hope to find some time soon to post pics from our trip. I swear they are not all Disney! Shocking I know!!

Garden Girl

Back with another LO that I didn't have time to share before our trip. And no it has nothing to do with the "garden girls" over at 2Peas. ;)

This LO came together pretty quick. The pics have been sitting in my "to-scrap" pile for awhile. When I was looking to break away from the school LO's I came across these & went to it.

The pics aren't the best. I kept waiting for some good lighting but finally just went ahead & took these. The papers are old but look prettier IRL. I've been trying to be better about using older product, I mean, I liked it enough to buy it right? And for some reason I have the hardest time matching green cardstock to my LO's, and red, and blue....maybe it's me. ;)

I wasn't sure how I wanted to lay out my title but I finally cut out these semi circles & "pretend stitched" around the edges. Why pretend stitch? Because I don't own a sewing machine....wouldn't know how to thread one if I owned one. Need to fix that.
I ruffled the ribbons to add some interest.
I hope you are enjoying Labor Day, whatever you're doing. We are handling some last minute errands before school starts on Wed. Keeping it very low key since Joe has been handling the mess at his shop from the flood. He got about 18" of water inside his building & it's ruined lots of games & equipment, nevermind papers & such. Lots of trash, & we are supposed to get more rain towards the end of the week. He is taking it pretty well since there's not much we can do about it, but clean up. Luckily, our house didn't get any water damage but other parts of our town did. Just thankful it wasn't worse.

Now to get the girls haircuts & some new sneakers!

Things To-Do ***and a WINNER***

Sorry I didn't get to post the winner of my blog-o-versary giveaway yesterday. I've been running around with errands that took too much time yesterday. ANY-WHOO...

The winner is #4 Sutty!! Please Peamail me your address HERE & I'll get your box of goodies out to you.
(I used the random search website but have no skillz when it comes to taking a picture of the computer screen-sorry)

Thanks to everyone that left a comment...I really appreciate the feedback!!

Now for something scrappy.

Obviously this LO was from last month. Most of the things have been done with just a few that have moved onto my new list. I was in a sherbert-y sort of mood when I made this so these are the colors I chose.

ETA: I have to mention that this LO is something I've been lifting from the great LAURA VEGAS. I just make a new one every once in awhile & forget that it might be taken as my original idea--IT IS NOT.

I like making these sort of LO's once in awhile. It's interesting to see how many things were on my plate at the time, but if you saw my list now, your head might spin!!