Spread the word to end the word

Taken from Parker's website:

It is time to “Spread the Word to End the Word,” and on Tuesday, 31 March, events throughout the United States and around the world will make people stop and think about their hurtful and disparaging use of the word “retard.”

It’s time for a NEW R Word. Respect.
***************************
Based on his "special Olympics" comment, maybe our new president should see this video, too.

I'm in a rock band!

Saturday we went to a party at our neighbor's house. Their daughter (and also my kids' occasional babysitter) was celebrating her Confirmation. Which *so* got me thinking of Olivia's First Communion next year...but that's a discussion for another time...

Anyway, after we ate and hung out they put on Rock Bank on Xbox. My kids had a BALL!!! And I think I may have a future drummer in the family. My son, who's only 5 mind you, did awesome!!! We were cracking up at how good he did. He rocked on "Eye of the Tiger". I think he scored an 84 on that one. Oh yeah!! I guess it shouldn't surprise me since he's the same kid that yells "turn it up mommy!" from the back seat whenever I have Three Doors Down in the cd player (or any other music like that) Olivia, of course, wanted to be the singer. Again, not a surprise. She bolted out "That's What You Get" by Paramore.

I don't know where they get it from ;) Yea...look back at the post of my last birthday and my 80s hairdo's and that might explain a bit...lol

Yesterday I double dosed on Benadryl and got outside to do some weeding. They were taking over my yard, and I mean taking over!! See, the bad thing about living in the south is that it doesn't stay super cold for very long. So the weeds have a lot of time to take root in your yard. Unless, of course, you want to be out weeding in the winter (which I don't do) Normally we'll spray weed killer in the winter to keep them under control but just hadn't gotten around to it this year. Too many other things going on. Anyway, last night my allergies went totally haywire and today I've got some sore muscles. I think I just figured out a way to get squats into my day without realizing it!!

I'll leave you with something that I totally forgot to do. Virginia tagged me a while back to do this: Choose the 6th image out of your 6th picture folder from your computer and blog it. Then tag 6 more people to do the same.

So here goes. This was a little more difficult cause my pics are organized by folders inside of folders inside of folders. (My pics are organized by year, then by month) But here's what I came up with:

Olivia swimming in the pool last summer. Here's another one from that day:

I love how green our trees look in the summer!! Makes for great a great backdrop for pics.

And here's who I tag: Elizabeth, Carol, Tami, (I would tag Virginia but she already tagged me!), and anyone else that wants to play along! If you do, be sure and comment so I know to go see your picture :)

Happy Monday everyone!!

my love of thickers...

yes, I admit it, I'm in love with thickers! Anyone who's scrapped with me *knows* that I have a bunch of them. And I love them all!! And when they go on sale at Hobby Lobby?? Well, let's just say I get a bit excited :)

There's a challenge over at the American Crafts blog to use 3 different kinds of thickers.

No problem.

Actually, I used 4 in mine. Why stop at 3??

American crafts thickers used: Rockabye~leaf (green), Sprinkles vinyl (red), Giggles foam (white), Gift box (black)
papers: American Crafts

oh sweet rain!!!

I know, most people aren't happy when it rains right?? Well, when you have spring allergies as bad as I do, the rain is music to your ears. It means that the pollen will go away, even if just for a little while. We have so much pollen flying around that it coats everything. You see it all over your car, on the sidewalks, on ledges, patio furniture, everywhere. It's awful. I've never lived anywhere where the pollen was so awful. I'm really trying to get through this spring without getting a dose of steroids but so far it's not looking too good. Yesterday afternoon and evening I was miserable. I sneezed so much I felt like I was short of breath.

It reminded me of when I was younger and worked in my first "real" office job. There was an older man 2 cubicles down from me. He was the kind of guy that *always* said "Bless you" when you sneezed. But when my allergies would kick in, and I would literally sneeze 20 times in a matter of minutes, he'd say "ok, bless you for the day!". And that was always our joke. After my first sneeze of the day I'd hear "Bless you for the day" because no one could keep up with my sneezing!! Between that and my bloodshot eyes and runny nose, well, I'm just a mess!! hehe

Anyway, the spring is getting me thinking of my garden and what I want to plant this year. Last year my hubby made me some raised bed planters for my tomato plants and herbs. But this year I want to plant more. I made a batch of homemade tomato sauce that had me hooked!!! So I decided to make a garden journal. Actually, I made 2. One for me and one for ebay.

I divided it into 4 sections for each season. I know, you don't really "garden" in winter, but I figured that spot could be for planting indoor seeds, etc.

I added lined paper with "notes", "location" and "notes/observations" and also graph paper for drawings of the garden.

And it's all held together thanks to my Bind-it-all!

Now all I need to do is take a trip to Lowes to get my plants and get gardening!!

For more pics, you can click here.

playing catch up

It seems like I'm spending this week (or what's left of it) playing catch up. With having company at our house and 2 kids sick I've gotten behind on some things. Plus, my allergies have been horrendous the last 2 weeks thanks to the thick layer of pollen. I've had to resort to using Benadryl since nothing else works. Bad thing about that is that it makes me spacey and super tired. I just might have to take a trip to my allergist cause I'm about to go nuts!! I can't take the itchies anymore!!!

I mentioned that we had company in town for a few days. My friend Elizabeth and her boys were here and we had lots of fun :) Friday night we did a bonfire in the backyard and made smores

(honest, there was a fire there!)

Saturday night I had a Twilight movie night on Saturday with a few friends. It was a lot of fun :)

Then at 12:30am that night/morning my son started getting sick (literally) with the flu. Thankfully with this round of sickies I had buckets nearby at all times and was not cleaning stuff out of my carpets. yuck :(

So this was the scene at my house for several days
Hopefully now everyone is on the mend (fingers crossed!!) Here's a couple things I've worked on. Another Disney layout...almost done with my album!!!

And a few more cards made from scraps. Now that I'm a card angel I have to keep my cards stocked!! And I have to say that it feels really good to use up some of my scraps.

long time no post...and a rant on the prez

I can't believe it's been almost a week since I've really posted anything! Lots happening over the weekend. My good friend Elizabeth came to visit and her and her kids stayed with us. Good fun!! All the while Olivia was fighting some kind of illness, not sure if it was the flu, a virus, or what. Then Saturday Ben starting coming down with the flu and is still sick. Saturday night I had my Twilight movie night with the girls :) Then Sunday I took a trip to the pediatric after hours with Ben. Monday we all stayed home with the sickies. Today we're on the mend, Olivia went back to school, Ben's still sick but somewhat getting better, and I'm just tired from lack of sleep and fighting allergies. Dang that stupid pollen!!! Go away already!!

So I'll be back later with photos and scrappy stuff (hopefully later today!)

I'll leave you with a post that I had started before but hadn't posted yet. Yes, another rant. You love me for it, you know you do!!! Hey, if people don't talk about this stuff, how is it going to get out there??
*****************************************
Once again Mr. President you have managed to screw the average, hard working American in your effort to make the rich pay even more (even though they already pay 95% of the ENTIRE taxes in this country). Now, I imagine they'll donate less to charitable and non-profit organizations. Is that what you really want?? Then again, who knows what you really want. By the way prez, are you aware that this small percentage of rich individuals in America make up the majority of charitable contributions in this country?? Now, far be it for me to defend the rich (cause I'm certainly not anywhere near being one of them) but when it affects me I'm gonna say something.

Just one step backwards in finding a cure for Crohns, Colitis, and all other diseases. Cause you know, you can't find a cure without money.

I'm dumbfounded (as I am about most of your choices).

Thanks Mr. President. {insert sarcasm here}

****************************************************************************************

On February 26th, President Obama sent his first budget proposal to Congress. The Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America applauds the President's commitment to reviving the economy and reforming our health care system. However, the budget also contains a proposal that would send the wrong message at the wrong time to those who support nonprofit organizations like CCFA.

The Administration is proposing to limit the federal tax deduction that individuals earning more than $250,000 may claim for charitable contributions. Currently, individuals making over $250,000 receive either a 33 percent deduction or a 35 percent deduction depending on their individual tax bracket. The President's proposal would limit all charitable deductions for individuals earning over $250,000 to 28 percent. This tax policy change would effectively devalue charitable gifts made by the very people who are in a position to make substantial donations, at a time when they are desperately needed. Given the potentially devastating impact of this budget provision on charitable giving, CCFA joins with other nonprofit organizations in strongly opposing the President's proposal.

Everyone Against Abortion Please Raise Your Hand

AMEN

pet peeve #47

People who merge onto the freeway doing 35mph. Enough said...

kiss me I'm Irish

well, only part Irish. Does that count?? I wish I would've thought ahead and made some green food. I suppose I still could but I just have too much stuff to do today. Cleaning, shopping, picking up kids from school, cleaning...blah, blah, blah. Don't you wish you had my life?? Actually, that probably sounds like most of you moms out there, doesn't it?!

So since I probably won't be doing anything creative today, or if I do it'll be into the wee hours of the night, I figured I'd share a quick card that we did at stamp club on Sunday. Kellie ~ still mad at you for standing us up AGAIN!! just kidding...kind of!! heehee

We made this cute slider card. The little apple slides back and forth in the "track". I found a video on how to make these cute cards on Chic n Scratch so you can head there to find out how to make it. I just modified the measurements a little.

Stamp sets: Tart & Tangy, Birthday Whimsy
Summer picnic DS paper
Colors: old olive, real red, whisper white

cards from scraps

So I had some scraps leftover from a monthly kit that I was going to throw into my scrap bin and then I decided to whip up a few quick cards. The strips of patterned paper gave me instant inspiration for some simple (yet cute!) cards. You'll notice they all seem similar but yet each is a bit different. It always feels good to use up scraps, doesn't it??

Excuse the lighting in the photos. It's been rainy, rainy, rainy here which means gloomy photos! I tried to brighten them up a bit. Click on the image to make larger.

This one has a little window to see through to the birdie on the inside.

birds on both cards are from the Cheep Talk stamp set

Happy Monday everyone!

BTW, someone had left me a comment about getting in touch with me. My email is under my profile. Feel free to contact me :)

some people should not have a license...

Need I say more??

Twlight ~ not just for girls

So my husband, in an attempt to "understand my wife more" decided to grab my Twilight book to take on his trip this week. I found the idea of him sitting with a bunch of testosterone-filled males reading Twilight quite amusing to say the least. Those of you that know my husband, well you know his job isn't exactly for wusses.

But back to the book.

He calls me the other night and says "now why in the world would Bella go out at night, walking around a strange city, knowing that she always gets into trouble?" Um, for Edward to rescue her of course! But then I get a text message last night that reads "This book is getting a little too mushy. I'm tired of hearing how gorgeous Edward is" Hey honey, facts are facts. Then I get "if it doesn't pick up with some gratuitous.... and violence soon I might not finish this one"

Just wait the 4th book honey...that's what you get for reading my chic book ;)

(BTW, he's now on the baseball scene so he's a little more into it now, or in his words "James just caught Bella's scent and now they're all freaking out) I think he might like New Moon a bit better with the werewolves and all...although I'm sure he'd get tired of Bella going on and on about missing Edward.

Hey honey, thanks for the effort!

a quick post

I just had a sec so I thought I'd do a quick post. I'm in the middle of cleaning the house. It seems as though there are piles *everywhere* which drives me nuts!! I was in the middle of spring cleaning when the snow hit a week and a half ago. Then I had the carpet cleaners out the next week so everything had to be moved out of the rooms. So it has left my house in disarray.

So anyway, I thought I'd just share a few random things with you since I have nothing too "scrappy" to share at the moment (I'm hoping to remedy that tomorrow!)

First of all, look at the sky we had last night

love it. It *so* made me forget how crazy my kids were driving me...if only for a minute or 2 :)

And check out the little piggies...
can't get enough of 'em!!

And I don't know if you remember but back in January Two Peas had a thing where if you uploaded 20 layouts you got $20 to spend? Well, I took my time trying to decide what I wanted (we had til the end of Feb). Hey, how often does someone give you $20 to just go spend on scrap stuff?? So anyway, I finally decided on the Ali Edwards stamps

I've been wanting these since before Christmas but didn't want to spend the money. Cause those who know me know I don't exactly need anymore stamps!! I haven't had a chance to play with these yet, but again I'm hoping to tomorrow. I also bought a few papers from October Afternoon.

I finally had a chance to finish up some overdue thank you cards

Cheep Talk stamp set, Pacific Point & Old Olive stamp pads

And today I got these out in the mail

yep, having some friends over to watch the Twilight movie when it comes out on DVD next Sat. What can I say, we're obsessed!!!

That's it for now. TGIF!!!

here's the SCOOP...

Need a blog makeover? I sure feel like mine does. I just found out about a blog makeover giveaway over at Blog designs by Beth. So head on over there and put your name down! And even if you don't win, her prices are way lower than a lot of other ones I've checked out. So you may be seeing a new facelift on my blog soon :)

What a difference a week can make, DWTS and a video

Ok, first off, Dancing With The Stars. I missed part of the beginning putting the kiddos to bed. But I was SO excited to see Melissa!!!! (from The Bachelor) Definitely a good choice for a fill-in. Jason eat your heart out! Makes you believe that some things really do happen for a reason. Had The Bachelor not ended the way it did, do you think she would've been picked for DWTS?? Probably not. But I'm so glad she was!

And, Ty (the cowboy), how cute was he?? I mean, you could tell he was SO nervous to dance and even though he wasn't technically that good, it was still fun to watch him cause you could tell he had fun. And Julianne and her boyfriend, could they be any cuter? Steve (the Apple guy), oh that was just painful to watch...And Gilles, what can you say about him. He's just yummy ;)

****************************************************************************************
And what is up with the weather??

In just 1 week we went from this

to this
From 30s/40s to 70s/80s. So strange. But I'll take the flip-flops weather any day! Now I just need to repaint my toenails :)

And I'll leave you with a quick video I took of my daughter's hip hop class last night. Not sure how I feel about the music but I'm just not gonna think about it. Now, keep in mind, she's only been in this class a few weeks. And this particular routine they had just learned yesterday. So, well, they're still workin' on it. But clearly my daughter has spunk and energy and is really into the class!! (she's the one with the yellow shirt & black skort) Enjoy ;)

girls' weekend in Atlanta

Saturday Olivia and I took a girls trip to Atlanta for the day. She was invited to her friend Abby's birthday dinner at American Girl. And since we were driving all the way up there, we decided to just make a day of it. So, of course, I couldn't go to Atlanta without stopping here

Then we headed over to North Point Mall where the American Girl store was. We peeked in for a few minutes cause Olivia was dying to check it out. She was just a wee bit excited!



After that we went and got our nails done. Then we checked out a few more stores including the Disney Store :) Good fun! Then it was time for the birthday dinner at American Girl.

How cute is all this pink??


And the girls that didn't have their own American Girl doll (like Olivia) got to borrow one for dinner

Yep, I already can tell what Olivia's going to want for next Christmas! Oh, and check out the Kit Kittredge treehouse.
Is that cute or WHAT?? Oh, and did I mention the price tag? $250. Mmm hmm. Don't think that'll be under our tree next Christmas!

*************************************************************************************
A few weeks back I mentioned a giveaway and I haven't forgotten. Life just got me a bit sidetracked! I'll be back with that this week I promise!

And is anyone else addicted to border punches?? I can't seem to get enough of 'em. I want to punch everything!

All contents from Studio Calico Februrary kit.

ugh, would they just go away already!!

I was in Target today...because we literally ran out of toilet paper

Sorry kids, no more going potty today! Just hold it!

...anyway, as I was checking out I saw the latest People magazine and our favorite Bachelor is on the cover. Honestly, do we really want to reward him?? And then there was the Octomom a few weeks back. Don't even get me started on that one. Now I'm sure People pays for their interviews.

Yeah, I didn't buy it...just out of spite ;)

By the way, I have pics from my trip to Atlanta and some other stuff that I'll share in a separate post,

prayers

Some of you may have noticed that I periodically change/add links on the right-hand side. You'll see them if you scroll down. I've also added a prayer list ~ those who are in need of your prayers. Please take a sec and click on the links, read the stories, and pray for the families in need. I believe prayer is very powerful. We may not always understand why we must take the road we're on. But I believe that not matter what our journey, God is always there each step of the way.

And if you find a blog/site that is in need of prayers, please forward it to me or comment so that I can add it to the list. I'm not stingy with my prayers...there's room for everyone :)

locks of love

Well, yesterday Olivia finally did it. She had 10" of her beautiful mane chopped off for locks of love. She decided to do this about 6 mos ago. She needed a haircut and I suggested that wouldn't it be great to donate her hair. At first she was a bit reluctant cause I think she thought she would have to cut ALL of her hair off! But then I showed her the website and explained to her why these children need wigs, why these particular wigs are so special and she was all for it from then on. And even her pediatrician told her that she had 2 patients that had wigs from LOL. But we had to wait til her hair was long enough so that cutting 10" off wouldn't make her have a crew cut!

Here's some pics from the big day... (it was so hard to watch her cut that much hair off!)

Say bye-bye to the long hair!

Can you tell she was a good sport about the whole thing?? Actually, she was very excited!

And here's the big before & after (thanks Tami for putting this pic together for me :) )

Whew, that's a lot of hair gone!! And, of course, we had to get a cute pink headband to go with the new hairdo! But I hope some little girl will love Olivia's curls!

oh the funny things they say...

When I took my daughter to school this morning, her teacher handed me her journal (they write in a journal everyday about a topic given by the teacher) with a smile on her face that let me know Olivia wrote about something funny and most likely embarrassing.

(by the way, my daughter is in 1st grade)

The journal topic was about our snow day earlier this week.

Olivia wrote about how daddy hit her in the face with a snowball.

Ok, not too bad I guess.

Then she wrote about the big snowman daddy made.

Good, good.

Then she wrote about how daddy made the snowman a "girl" snowman and, in her words, "then he took it a little too far".

Ugh.

No secret is safe in this house. Yep, they tell ALL. It was funny, though. At least she didn't say (or write ~ eek!) "my daddy gave the snowman boobs" Yep, that would've been bad. Thankfully her brain has some sort of filter.

It was joke between me and my husband and I guess I was laughing too hard and that's when Olivia came over to see what I was laughing about. Unfortunately daddy couldn't knock the evidence off the snowman before she saw! Hopefully ya'll don't think us horrible parents :)

Back to the G-rated stuff...

why did I stay up for that?

Yep, I stayed up for the ATFR part 2. Why? I don't know. Glutton for punishment I suppose. They didn't say anything new, no new revelations. I already pretty much knew what they were going to show from Reality Steve. They spent half the hour showing clips. Clips, by the way, that we just saw the night before. BORing. I get it that he screwed up. But for once it would be nice to hear him say that. Rather than "I hate that I had to hurt her BUT I had to follow my heart"

Yeah, whatever.

And whether or not Jason or Molly were in on the whole "shocking end" we'll never know.

And even though Jillian, who I really like, is going to be the next Bachelorette, I probably won't watch. This whole scam, I mean show, has really just lost the appeal for me. So I'll stick to Supernatural, and Smallville, and maybe that new Castle show next week. I still love Survivor but that's more for the challenges. Those are always fun to watch.

On to better stuff...

what a letdown...

4 words...


The Bachelor finale sucked


Sorry, but there's just no better words for it. I mean, the actual finale was good. Melissa's reaction was just priceless. I loved it!!! Oh, and the whole Deanna thing, can you say "set up"??? I mean, come on. It takes like a whole day to fly to New Zealand. And I'm sure she didn't get there on her own dime. The show couldn't have given him a heads up?? And then her half-hearted attempt to get him back?? So lame.

But the whole "After the final rose" part was just awful to watch. First of all, you don't break up with someone on national tv. He couldn't have given her a heads up ahead of time?? And for him to say he fell in love with 2 people, quite honestly, I think is kind of a crock. I'm not saying that it's not possible, but I mean, if he truly loved both of them, he wouldn't want to let Melissa go so easily. And if he loved Molly that much, then why didn't he propose to her?? Melissa has to be feeling quite humiliated at this point. Wouldn't you?? Yep, not a fan of Jason anymore. There's nothing more unattractive than a guy who's so wishy-washy and doesn't know what he wants. And it makes you wonder if part of this was set up. I couldn't quite tell. I know there's been rumors that the show put him up to this. And if he did that then he's an even bigger shmuck.

And there's another "After the final rose" tonight?

Part 2??

What else could have happened??

Didn't that one just happen?

Maybe Molly and Jason are engaged. Who knows.

Even my husband was disgusted the last hour. Even he was surprised that that happened. I don't think I'm gonna watch this show anymore. I've kinda lost interest.

Boy what a letdown.

I think I'll stick with my fantasy world. Edward would never do that :)

SNOW!

The spring cleaning that I started on Saturday had to be put on hold because today it snowed!!

in southern Georgia

and I'm talking "real" snow, not just flurries!

They said it would snow on the news. But to be quite honest I didn't believe them. But then as we were getting ready for church the rain started to turn to snow. And as we drove to church the snow got a little thicker. And as we sat in church we saw big snowflakes coming down. And it stayed like that for a good part of the afternoon.

The kids were SOOOO excited!!! We immediately went out to play in it when we got home from church (cause you never know how long it's gonna last). Then we came in, had hot chocolate and some lunch, then went back out in it and there was even more snow. So we made a big snowman. And of course, my husband being the goofball that he is made the snowman a girl. Ahem...the kids are around honey!!

Olivia made snow angels. Ben threw snowballs at everyone. Daddy threw a snowball right at my face and nearly blinded me!! Jesse (the dog) kept catching snowballs that were thrown at her. It was great fun. We don't take the snow for granted cause you just don't see it like this in the south. And tomorrow it'll be gone. And I think by Saturday it's supposed to be 74. Yep, that's the south for ya...I mean ya'll!!

Here's some more pictures of our fun day :)

This is when it first started...

Jesse getting ready to catch a snowball

(notice the snowball in her mouth!)

And after it had snowed for a couple hours...

And, of course, our pitiful looking snowmen! Olivia and Ben helped with the first one :)

By the time we got all the snow on him our hands were too cold to finish! He was a decent size snowman, almost as tall as me. But that's what happens when you're not prepared for snow in the south!

And....school has already been canceled for tomorrow which means we get to sleep in {{big smile}} I always crack up at how easily school/businesses are canceled in the south due to snow/ice/bad weather. I mean, I know we don't have the resources to deal with ice and snow. And it's supposed to get near freezing tonight making for icy conditions in the morning. But it's still funny. School would never get canceled for this little bit of snow in Michigan! But hey, I'll take the extra day off any day!!