HAPPY SATURDAY

It's a rainy, dreary day here in the Tampa Bay. I would so love to stay in my jammies and just piddle around the house. Unfortunately, have 2 teens and 1 pre teen and that "ain't going to happen". I have a "to do" list that I could probably make a dent in but I have to spend my day running kids all over. Elizabeth is an editor on her High School newspaper. They all have to sell ads to businesses to pay for the printing of the paper. So, I have to drive her around to "try" and sell ads. That's a hard job because they are constantly being rejected. So, she called ahead and spoke to the owner of a business she sold to last year and she agreed to purchase another one. So, she was able to sell two for the next issue which saves on my having to write that "donation" check. Steve took the boys to work with him to help me out so I don't have to drag Mark out. Emily made all these plans as well. Yikes. Having teenagers is hard work!!!!

So, last night after dinner, I shut myself in my scrapbook room and scrapped another page. I have been so over whelmed by all the "pages" that are in the magazines these day. I felt that my pages are not even close to those. I keep going to scrapbook stores and buying all the "trendy" stuff and they just sit there. So, I decided to go back to "my style" of scrapbooking. I am just not one to use one picture per page. I take too many pictures. So, I did a page "my style" and afterward I felt such a feeling of accomplishment. It was just what I needed to get out of my slump. I can't wait until tonight to do another page. Here's the page that I did. It was Elizabeth's first day of school (11th grade). I used the tag as my inspiriation. I got it in a secret pal swap. I would love to give credit to the person who did it but I can't remember. I do know that she is no longer on AOL or I would probably remember her name. So, if you are reading this blog and recognize your work, contact me and I will tive you credit where credit is due. This person made me 4 tags, one for each year in high school. I love the picture of her and Greg. I even put that picture in Greg's high school album. I am still trying to figure out this blog and the picture was supposed to go into this paragraph. However, it keeps dumping it at the top. Hopefully someday I will figure out this blog. I really want to make it cute like other peoples with the banners and stuff but I can't figure it out. I am so computer illiterate.

Well, I guess I should get off the computer and start getting my stuff done for the day. Have a wonderful Saturday..................

Happy Birthday, Elizabeth!!

Wow, I have a 16 year old! Today Elizabeth turned her sweet 16. Where has the time gone? Seems like just yesterday she was our baby girl. The time has just flown by. To celebrate, we grilled out some fish and shrimp. We also had angel hair pasta and green beans (her choice). For her cake we had an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen. Those are our favorite cakes since Mark gets to eat them too and we don't have to worry about the eggs and peanut warnings. The one thing about the kids getting older is that they get less gifts. I used to love shopping for all their clothes and toys when they were little. Now, they don't play with toys and it's not cool for mom to pick out their clothes. So, her gifts were small in number but kind of pricey. She got an IPOD and a Vera Bradley purse. She also wanted a "nice" copy of Little Women. That's always been her favorite book so her dad went to the book store and got her a nice copy that she will always have. She is already talking about the things she is going to take with her when she goes away to college in two years. I will probably have to go into counseling when that happens. I am just not ready for my kids to start leaving home. I am too young!!!

Everyone is settling back into their school routine. This mom is loving her quiet time. I am slowly getting the house organized and I have been going through closets and getting rid of stuff. It is such a great feeling to be somewhat better organized without all the kids under my feet.

I am also finding time to spend on my scrapbooks. I have forgotton how much I really enjoy doing them. I keep buying all kinds of supplies, but I never sit down and actually spend time working on them.

Well, not much else to share. It's not even 10 pm and the kids are in their beds. They are finally realizing that sleep is good. So, this tired mom is going to crawl into her bed and watch her Northern Exposure DVD. That is one of my all time favorite TV shows. I found season one on DVD and I can't get enough of it. So, good night all..............................

Well, I can't believe how long I have gone without updating this blog. That just gives an idea of how my summer was. It was crazy. I finally today was able to get a haircut since April!!!

The kids have gone back to school. I sent Greg off to high school, Emily started a brand new middle school that was just built and Mark started first grade at a different school. Liz is a junior this year so not much new for her except harder courses. We just got a postcard in the mail that it's time to order her class ring! Yikes. In addition, she will be 16 next weekend. I can't believe my little girl is 16. WOW. The time sure has gone by fast.

Our summer consisted of baseball, baseball and more baseball. Greg played Legion Ball for his High School. OUCH. They only won a couple of games. He played 3 games per week all over Tampa. I was so happy when it was over. I just hope the team will get better before Fall ball. He also went to baseball camp in St. Pete for week. He was so thrilled. Baseball from the time he got up at 7 till he went to bed at 10. This was the last year he will be able to attend. They only take them up to 14!

We were able to take a very quick trip to the Kennedy Space Center. We stayed in Melbourne which was absolutely breathtaking. The boys loved it but the girls and I kind of got bored. Mark was bored. I think he was expecting more rides. But, if you are into space, then you would love it.

I signed up to become a Stampin Up demonstrator. I thought I would give it a try and see if I can pull it off. Who knows. I have been playing with making cards and having a blast at it.

We finally got our bathroom done. We had to have the shower tile and tub replaced. The tiles were ready to fall off the wall. I guess when the house was built, they were some things they did wrong which allowed water to get back in the wall. Luckily we caught it before we had to deal with all the mold issues. Oh yeah, in the middle of that, my engine light in my van came on so $1,000 later it runs a lot better. Finally, this morning we woke up to the air conditioning not cooling. It has been running non stop with the heat. We shut it off for awhile and now it seems to be fine. Yikes. Hopefully our bad luck is behind us.

I finally got my hair cut this morning. I had a lot of it taken off so it's much shorter. Mark said the funniest thing. He followed me into my room and was watching me play with my hair and he says "you cut your hair off" I said, "Yep, it needed it. Do you like it?" His reply, "Yes. Now you look like a mom". Still trying to figure out what he me meant by that but it was funny.

Well, off to play with my stamps.............................