3.3.08

They did it again. Elizabeth got home late last night and of course was running really behind this morning so I only got a little of the information. Remember she has been in S. Carolina that last 4 days at a journalism convention. All I got as she was quickly running out the front door was that their newspaper RevolutionNewspaper.com - Home got number one in state again. She also got an award for one of her layouts she did. Woo Hoo. I will post more later when she gets home and can tell all about her trip. Later...............................................

3.1.08

I got to do something really fun today for a change. Usually my Saturday's are spent at the baseball fields.

My dear hubby decided to make an appointment at 8:00 to take Elizabeth's car to the dealership for some work. On a Saturday morning??? What was he thinking? It's the first Saturday that we didn't have a baseball game. So up and out I went.

Then Emily and I made the drive down to Westshore Blvd. to meet my friends daughter and her boyfriend for brunch. They flew in to Tampa to take a cruise. So I picked them up at their hotel and then we went to IHOP. It really made me homesick for my friend Patti. We've been very good friends for the last 18 years. Her girls were practically babies when we met--okay, 10 & 5 isn't babies but now that they are grown women it seems like they were just that when we met. Krissy asked if I minded taking them to the port. No problem. However, I have no idea how to even get there. The boyfriend (whom I totally liked) had a GPS system on his phone. So, no problem. Off we go. Oh man. It was so cool. That ship was huge. Just going down to the terminals got me all excited. I've never been on a cruise. I wanna go!!!! After I got home and we were in the car on the way to pick up the other car, I "hinted" how nice a cruise would be. See, we've NEVER taken a pleasure trip in the almost 21 years of marriage. House hunting doesn't count! It was way to stressful to be relaxing. Even before we had kids, we never had the finances because we were very fortunate to buy our first house within six months of getting married. Not bad for a 20 & 23 year old. I'm not complaining. I just really want to go away with my hubby. So, now I am going to work on getting hubby to go away. Unfortunately all our family is back in Ohio. That will be the tough part.

After leaving the Port of Tampa, Emily and I ventured back to Westshore Mall and did some shopping. It was very nice. I don't get to spend much "alone" time with her. It's always about Liz or Greg's baseball. So, we shopped. She got some much needed clothes and she had a blast being the center of attention. She actually even liked some of the clothes I picked out. I never thought I would see that day again. I never thought I would be buying her clothes at Victoria Secret. Yes, I got her some T-Shirts there. We even got a yummy cookie and soda. It was a fun day. It's interesting to "people watch" at the malls. WOW. Some of the outfits people wear.

Dinner tonight is pizza. Quick, easy and I don't have to do the dishes. After that, I am off to work on some scrapbooking and listen to my new Dierks Bently CD that I purchased yesterday. There is also a bottle of wine chilling in the fridge. I'll be lucky to make it until 10 pm. Well pizza's here as I type this.........................

Have a good evening.

For the next four days, I am going to get a "little taste" of what it will be like to only have 3 kids in the house. Elizabeth left for a journalism convention in South Carolina called SIPA. She is not only going on behalf of her school's newspaper RevolutionNewspaper.com - Home she also was Vice President and helped organize and plan it. So, hopefully the newspaper will do very well this year again. The only down side to her being gone is that her car is in the driveway. When I leave to take Mark to school, I just back out! Well, guess what I did this morning?? Yep. I "tapped" her car. I cannot even tell if I left those scratches or if they were left over from the last time I "tapped" it. So, because I felt so bad, off to the Autoparts store I went and got some good "buffing stuff" and "wax". Could I be any more dumb?

The weather here is finally cold! I'm even tempted to turn on my furnace but I am trying to save a few $. I just got an email that Greg's game was cancelled for tonight due to the wet field conditions from the other nights rain. I had absolutely NO plans to go sit in the cold and watch that game.

I finally got my Canon Rebel last week. I just haven't had a chance to play with it yet. So, hopefully I can get some shots next week at Greg's game when it warms up. His game last Saturday was in the rain so I dared not bring it out.

Anyone watching American Idol? This season is okay. There's a few I like but I haven't narrowed it down to just one favorite yet. How about Big Brother?? I watched the first show and that's it. It's horrible. I was flipping the other night between that and Idol and I had to just not watch anymore. It's just all fighting and bickering (and lots of boobs) this season. AND not meant for anyone over 25! Maybe someday they should have a "senior" Big Brother for us older "more mature" adults. hehe.

Well, time to tackle Mt. Washmore (as Jolene calls it). Pretty soon I'm going to need climbing gear to walk through that room. Why my kids can't put their laundry in their hampers instead of my floor I will never know.

Happy Thursday................................Make it a great one.

I was tagged today by Benita. This is the first time I have ever been tagged. :)

A: The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.

B: Each player answers the questions about themselves.

C: At the end of the post, the player then tags 3 people and posts their names, then go to their blogs and leave them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

10 years ago: I was settling in to our first Winter in West Jordan, Utah. I was overwhelmed by all the snow. I was a "Cincinnati" gal. If it snows an inch, you stay inside and most of the time the schools were closed or delayed. Not in Utah. The kids went to school across the valley in Sandy and I remember driving them up the bench to school. The kids were 7, 5 & 3. Mark wasn't even a thought! I had just celebrated my 30th birthday earlier. I had met a mom at the school who sold Creative Memories and invited me to a crop. I had not idea what a crop was. So, I went with another mom I had just met and the rest is history. Once a month on a Friday night I made the trip to Draper and scrapped, scrapped, and scrapped.

Things on my to-do list today: Well, since it's almost 8:30 at night, I plan to spend the rest of my night doing what else? Scrapbooking. Tomorrow on my agenda is to make a run to BJ's and get laundry caught up. Then the NASCAR race is on and I will watch it.

What I would do if I were suddenly made a billionaire: Pay off all my debts. Then I would make sure that my kids are all set up for college and not have to worry whether we qualify for financial aid. I definately would make some charitable donations. I also would trade in my mini van and get my dream car--a BMW. I could go on and on.

3 of my bad habits: When I get extremely stressed, I bite off my nails. I am the biggest procrastinator. I put things off until the last minute. I am also horrible about writing things down. I also have a nice new treadmill in my bedroom that is collecting dust. But, I swear I'm going to use it!

3 places I have lived: Cincinnati, Ohio; West Jordan/Sandy (we moved after two years WJ), Utah; Tampa, Florida.

5 jobs that I have had: My first job was at McDonalds (it's where I met hubby). I worked as an Administrative Assistant at a Steel Company. I worked in the traffic department tracking drug shipments at a pharmaceutical company (my favorite job). I was a Client Services Manager for an Estate Planning Company. I had to leave that great paying job because I was having baby #2 and was able to go part time. I left there and went to work for a large insurance company in their Marketing Department. But, the most important job I've had is being able to stay at home for the last 14 years with my kiddoes.

5 things people don't know about me: I HATE SNAKES. I am terrified of them. Unfortunately, Florida is full of them. I hate tomatoes--they make me gag. I would love to go back to school. But, with the kids all in high school, they get to go first. I'm awesome with directions. I think I inherited that from my dad. Who needs a map? I love to read Harlequin Romances. I have tons of them and every time I hit Target or Walmart, I have to pick one up. The library here doesn't have a section like all the other libraries I've been to. So I have to buy them! I especially love ones with cowboys (this was even before I found Pioneer Woman's blog). My dream is to go to New York City at Christmas time. I dream of riding through Central Park and taking in a Broadway show. Someday!

Okay, that's it. So, I tag:

Cindi
Liane
Sue.

Have a wonderful Saturday evening.

Wow. What a week it has been. After having a horrible week the week before, it was such a nice change to have a lot of good happen. First, Mark passed his Hillsborough writes. What does that mean? He can advance onto 3rd grade. He is an excellent student but struggles when it comes to "putting it down onto paper". He was diagnosed with Auditory Processing Disorder last summer. Basically, he processes information at a slower rate. He is as smart as the next kid but moves a little slower to absorb the information and write it down. We got word that he passed. Yeah. Then, Elizabeth getting into her first choice college was the icing on the cake. What a whirlwind of a week. A lot of stress has just been released. Now we can enjoy the rest of the school year.......................

Today is a clean, clean, clean day. The weather is absolutely beautiful. It's a little cool right now but is supposed to get into the mid 70's. I have all the windows open airing out the house. I have a few Yankee Candles burning so hopefully the house will smell yummy.

I finally ordered my Canon Rebel. They were out of the one I wanted at Circuit City so they had to order. They even gave me the online sale price. Life is good right now. I can't wait to get my hands on it. My camera is several years old and doesn't have all the bells and whistles that the new smaller ones have now. It has served it's purpose and I probably will keep it. But it has never taken good "action" shots. All of Greg's baseball pictures aren't very good. So, I am looking forward to getting some great action shots and having a telephoto lens.

Well, I better get a move on. I confiscated the TV remote and told the kids that I didn't want to listen to the TV on all day. So, I have my satellite radio on listening to some Country tunes (much to the eye rolls of the kids).

Have a great Saturday.........................

It's official. We are officially a "Gator Family". We got word that Elizabeth got accepted. Woo Hoo. It's finally hit me that she's going off to college this Fall.

Here you go, Liane. My stash from QVC. I am usually not into a lot of embellishments on my scrapbook pages. When the kids were younger scrapbooking wasn't that big. I just had an "average" 35 mm camera. By the time I had Emily, I was "tired". I didn't take that many pictures anymore (she will be the first one to tell you that there aren't many pictures of her). So, for her album, I use more embellishments to make up for the lack of pictures. I am so into the Heidi Swapp bling. They really ad some pizazz to any page. I've uses Prima flowers before but some of these flowers are huge and will fill in a page nicely. :)

{2.13.08}

It's "hump day". Yeah. Not only that, but we yet another three day weekend ahead of us.

I finally got out all my QVC goodies and took a picture. Guess what? Blogger must be having some problems and the image won't upload. So stay tuned...........I'll try and post it later.

Woke up this morning to sunshine. Is that a bad thing you ask? Well, when you went to bed under a tornado watch until 7 am. and the threat of 2 inches of rain and severe thunderstorms possible and the weather guessers telling you that the morning commute is going to be treacherous, it's a good thing. I was actually looking forward to a much needed rainy day though. My plan was to lounge in my "fat pants" and bum around the house. Not going to happen now. Nope. Gotta get out there and do my errands and knock off some of that "to do" list. They really, really blew the forecast yet again.

Today's errands consist of finding a picture frame for MIL. When they were here for Xmas it was the first time the whole family had been together since Mark was one. I took a picture of all the grandkids for her and was going to frame it and send it to her for Valentines Day. There are six grandkids total--my four and Steve's sisters two boys. Jeff is now 23 and an engineer and Ryan is 22 and is finishing up college at the University of Dayton. Right now he is applying to medical schools. So, who knows when "the kids" will be together again. I know MIL will cherish this photo. She is an awesome Grandma. I think they get the "Best Grandparents" award. Even though they live in Cincy and we are down here in Tampa, we see them quite often. Even when we lived in Utah, we saw them at least 4 times a year.

Well, off to tackle that "to do" list. With tomorrow being Valentines Day, I need to grab my kiddos some goodies. Oh and Liane, as soon as blogger fixes it's problem, I promise to upload my QVC goodies!

{2.12.08}

Has it really been a week since my last post? This week is definately starting off better. Even Mark staying home from school yesterday sick didn't even bother me.

My car is all fixed and "running great". My friend Barb's hubby owns a shop and he took good care of us. If you ever have car trouble in Tampa, give Glen a call. RUNNING GREAT AUTOMOTIVE SERVICES OF TAMPA FLORIDA

My computer is back up and running as well. It was a bad CD drive. We got all our taxes done. Yeah.

I got my first of two orders from QVC yesterday. I can't wait until the "Build a Flowers" come. I got all my Heidi Swapp bling. Now if I would just take the time to actually sit down and scrapbook. I will post a picture of my new "goodies" when they all get here.

Today my day consists of running, running, running. I get to spend my afternoon on my favorite road--the dreaded BBD. One trip to the Elementary school for afternoon pick up, then on to the High School for a pick up, back home to drop off, up to Huntington and back to the High School for another pick up. Breath. Pick up from Huntington. Maybe get a quick bite of a dinner which I have no clue what it will be and then drop off to another High School and pick up after game. ACK. Keep in mind that tonight Idol is in Hollywood. It makes me really appreciate the small town that I grew up in where you walked everywhere. Rain or shine, cold or hot..........Speaking of where I grew up, they are getting hammered with snow and ice. They even closed the schools. It must be bad. They rarely closed the schools since we were a "walking district".

We are supposed to get some much needed rain. Maybe even some thunderstorms later tonight. I can live with the rain but not the thunder and lightening. If it rains, I can cross off baseball practice and a game. Less running. So, I have some errands to run this morning so I can stay home tomorrow. That being said, I really should get off the computer and get out of here.

Happy Tuesday................................

I really should watch what I post. Remember my last post how I said nothing was happening in our house? Well, duh on me for saying that. I should have known it would blow up in my face.

First, my computer. We tried installing Turbo Tax on it and it would not load. We tried other things and the CD drive wouldn't read anything. No problem. Sounds like a need a new CD drive. I wake up Monday morning get the kids off and take the computer to the "computer store". I make yet another trip up the BBD. Guess what. The computer store is closed, gone, out of business. Out of desperation (because we are on some serious college application deadlines and I NEED that computer), I take it to Circuit City. I swore I would never use them again (a whole other post). They were so extremely nice. He said they could get to the computer ASAP because they had openings. Turns out, it wasn't the CD drive but some programming issues. By 1:00 I already had the computer back and hooked up. I do my usual car pool runs. I have a small window to install some software before I head back out. Guess what? The computer not's fixed. I called Circuit City and the guy tells me to bring it in. It's on my way so I drop it back off on the way to taking Greg to baseball. As I was getting back into my car to leave, my battery is dead. Car doesn't start. I call Steve and throw a "40 year old temper tantrum" and he leaves work to come rescue me. Luckily, Elizabeth is home so she packs up Mark and comes to get us. We drop Greg off. By the time Steve comes home (now in a mood) we go to "jump" the van. Don't need to. The darn thing started right up. So, I refuse to drive it at this point (another tantrum). We drop it off yesterday and sure enough the battery was bad and a few other things were going on. I must say, I really enjoy driving a new car (I confiscated Steve's). I really could get used to it. "Out of the question" I am informed by my hubby. Can't take on another car payment at this time. So, today is my last day to drive his nice car and tomorrow it's back to the mini van. My computer is also back and running. After all it DID need a new CD drive. At least they didn't charge me any additional labor.

Today I'm back off to the dentist. Two weeks ago, I got a crown put on a cracked tooth. It still hurts. I still can't chew on that side of my mouth. If I do, the pain shoots up into my jaw. I've been living on Aleve and I finally found time for me to go and get it looked at.

Man, I really didn't mean to rant on an on. Hopefully, the worst is behind me for awhile. Today is a beautiful sunny day and going to be in the low 80s. So, I'm out of here for awhile.

On a happy note, I spent Monday at home watching QVC. I got a few things and I can't wait to get them. I also snuck off yesterday to my local scrapbook store The Scrapbook Shoppe - Home I had to take Steve to work yesterday so since I was that close, I stopped by. I can't wait to actually use the stuff. Maybe tonight I will close myself in my room and work. I haven't even missed all the TV shows not being on due to the strike. I've gotton a lot done and the TV in our house is off more.

Well, off to finish getting ready to see the dentist. Keep your fingers crossed it's something simple. I have this nagging feeling he's going to tell me I need a root canal.

One more thing....................11 more days until the Daytona 500. Woo Hoo.

BE BACK SOON

I will be offline for a few days (hopefully not that long). My poor computer needs to go "to the computer doctor". Hopefully, when I get it back I will have something to post. It's been kind of slow and boring here in our house.

See you soon.................

GO AWAY

I live in a deed restricted community (it has it good points and it's bad). On the sign into our neighborhood there is a nice yellow sign that says NO SOLICITING. So, why won't the men who are going door to door trying to sell meat/food leave? They have come around twice now and knocked and rang the door bell. They know I am home because they saw me pull in. Can't they take a hint? Not interested. GO AWAY. Okay, done venting...........................................

Is it Monday already? Where did the weekend go. Mostly spent the weekend at home. Saturday was kind of a dreary day. Sunday was perfect.

Mark came home from school on Friday and was "Star Student". Woo Hoo. He was so excited. He had a great week at school last week. Hopefully the trend continues. We celebrated by all of us going to lunch on Saturday to Steak and Shake. It's very rare that the kids are all home at the same time. I can't tell you the last time we went out as a family. We figured going out to lunch would be better than trying to go out on a Saturday night. There aren't many restaurants to choose from so you can wait forever to get a table. So we chose Steak and Shake. That way everyone would be happy.

We finally got a date nailed down for Mark's First Communion. Yeah. So, Mark will make his First Communion on Sunday, May 4, Greg will get Confirmed on May 8th and Elizabeth graduates May 28th. Busy May ahead. It's just going to be hard to celebrate all these special events with our families since they all live so far away. How do they choose which one to attend? I dunno. I guess I will leave it all up to them.

We are anxiously couting down to February 15th. That is the day the University of Florida announces who gets in. Please keep your fingers (and toes) crossed that Liz gets accepted. I think she will be so devastated if she doesn't get in to her first choice.

Well, I better get a move on. Mt. Washmore needs to be tackled and before I know it, it will be time to head out for my afternoon runs. All I have tonight is to pick up Mark and Greg from school, come home, turn around and take Greg back to school for baseball and then get Emily to and from Church for her CCD class. By 7:30 my running should be over and then I can just wait for the call from Greg to pick him up. Unfortunately, he has no set time when practice is over. They are done when the coaches are.

Have a great Monday. Make it a good one......................

Hmmmn

Last night at approximately 12:14 am, I came to a realization. I'm not "mommy" anymore. I am just mom. Let me explain--bear with me.

I grew up in the Midwest (Cincinnati, Ohio). I was used to cold (very cold) winters and hot, humid summers (we had no air conditioning so I would appreciate a good rain to cool things down). In 1997, we packed up our kids and moved to Salt Lake City. I remember how dry it was. No more humidity. My hair would actually hold a curl. Then when our first winter rolled around, I remember it snowing 11 inches. Snow day! Nope. It's business as usual. An inch of snow in the Cincinnati area would pretty much cripple the commute and schools were closed or delayed. The summers are hot and dry, but bearable. It would rain, but nothing like what we were used to in Ohio. Then in 2003, we packed up our family and moved to Tampa--the lightening capital of the world. Afternoon thunderstorms are pretty common. The lightening is incredible. But, what amazed me the most was how it could pour over our house, and be sunny just down the road. The kids would come running to me in a storm because they were scared. Hurricanes became my biggest fear. Our second summer here, there was Hurricanes Charlie, Jeanne, and others. I began to loathe the weather here. I began to be afraid of storms. Something which I never was. But, I can't show fear in front of the kids. I am their protector!

So, last night at 12:14, a thunderstorm rolled in. It was so loud. I jumped out of bed. It was pouring rain and the lightening was right above us. As I lay there wondering if the pool was going to overflow (yep, it's done it before), if the lightening was going to fry my computer router (which it did twice recently) or if the basketball hoop would fall over onto one of the cars (which it has). I kept waiting to hear the pitter patter of feet running across the tile floor and feeling a seven year old jump into our bed and say "he was scared". That moment never came. It was a first. I laid there forcing myself to stay awake just in case. Still no sign or sound of Mark. As I lay there, it dawned on me. He's not coming. He doesn't need mommy to assure him that the storm is outside. That it will just blow over. He's not my "baby" anymore but a boy. Now, I'm just "mom" Mom who will drive you where you need to go, mom who will give you a few dollars to go out, or mom who will make sure you are fed, your clothes are clean. I miss being "mommy". My little man is Mr. Independent. Someone forgot to tell me that when the kids get older, the feeling that overwhelms you when you aren't "mommy". I'm not ready to give up that title yet. I have four months until Elizabeth graduates high school. Pretty soon, she will go off to college and I will experience the feeling of only have 3 children. I'm not ready. How does one prepare for that?

So, tonight, when Greg and Emily kiss me goodnight and give me a hug (yes, they still do that), I will appreciate it. I will hug a little longer and squeeze a little tighter. When I tuck Mark into bed and turn on his music, I will appreciate it. I will stand there and maybe listen to one of the songs with him, maybe even sing one or two just like the old days.

Anyone who has read this post, I thank you for sticking it out. I didn't mean to ramble on and on. Some of you with older children may know what I am feeling. For those whose kids are still young, keep those hugs coming. For us with older kids, hug them. Hug them tight. They are never too old for hugs and kisses (except in public of course).

Have a great Wednesday. Make it a good one.

Hugs,
Kim

As promised, here are the pictures of Mark learning to ride his bike. Only in Florida can you be learning to ride your bike in shorts in January. The reason he is wearing the long sleeve shirt is that he was trying to be like his older brother and wearing Under Armour. My camera is old so I was thrilled that the pictures turned out clear and not blurry with him moving. Can't wait to get these pictures in my scrapbook. They are the first pictures of 2008!

Woo Hoo

I thought I had uploaded the pictures onto the computer but I didn't and I've already started typing up this post. Anyway, Mark finally learned how to ride his bike without his training wheels. Yippee. He loves, loves, loves to ride his bike. So, when his birthday rolls around in June, we can upgrade him to a bigger bike. We want him to get used to it first. Oh happy day! I will post the pictures as soon as I get them off my camera. Best of all, I get to scrap a new theme. I wasn't into scrapping when the older kids learned how to ride their bikes. I didn't even take pictures.

I FOUND THEM

I went into "panic mode" earlier. Mark got $75 in Target gift cards for Xmas and I had put them up so he wouldn't lose them--plus one of them was a "musical" card and he kept playing it over and over. Talk about getting on someone's nerves. So, I put them up. I couldn't for the life of me remember where I put them! I finally found them. DUH. But, guess what I am going to do today? Clean off the top of my fridge. When I was looking for the gift cards up there----YUCK.

CAN YOU HEAR IT????

The silence that is.........................Today after 2 weeks and 1 day, my kiddos went back to school. As much as I enjoyed sleeping in and not doing carpools, I was ready for them to go back. The background noises of SpongeBob, Playstation 2 and Taylor Swift all at the same time were just grating on my nerves. They day is mine again. At least until 1:45 when my day kicks into full gear and it's time to start rounding them up. Of course, I don't get to slowly ease back into it, I get to jump in at full speed.

Every town has one of those roads where you just cringe having to drive on it. It seems like the whole entire town is on it at the same time all day long. Well that road is Bruce B. Downs to me. No matter what time of day it is, it's jam packed. Basically, it's rush hour traffic ALL DAY LONG. I spend many hours a week on that road. All three of our schools are off that road. Two of the schools are right next to each other and the High School is several miles down the road. What normally would take 10 minutes to get to the high school from the elementary school can take 20-30 minutes. I thought that having Elizabeth driving would help me out and save on my trips to the high school. NOPE. She and Greg are on different schedules so 4/5 days I still have to make the high school run. Today, Elizabeth has to rush home to go to the dentist. So, I have to drive up the "BBD" and get Mark, rush home, wait for Liz and then cross over the BBD (a whole 'nother adventure) and go to our new dentist. Luckily, the dentist is right next to Huntington where Mark has to be at 4. Then I have to rush up to the high school and get Greg after baseball. Drop him off at home and then head back out to get Mark. So, my afternoon consists of driving, wait no crawling, through traffic. Tomorrow after school, I get to do it all over again--Greg has an orthodontist appointment. Sadly, my poor car is paying the price. It's been making this weird noise when I turn the wheel. I knew that it was "seriously ill". I finally dropped her off at the mechanic and the poor thing needed $1,400 worth of work. I had some serious issues with the steering and two tires that needed replaced. I guess the fine citizens of New Tampa are happy that it didn't break down on the "BBD". Boy, that would really back it up.

Well, with a new year comes new resolutions. I stopped making resolutions. I can't keep them. I took Ali Edwards challenge . My word for 2008 is to "focus". Focus on the here and now and what's in front of me. Don't worry about what needs to get done or what I didn't get done but to "focus" on the task in front of me here and now.

I've also decided to really be a better blogger. Some people's blogs have become part of my morning routine with my cup of coffee. Even know I've never met some of these people, I feel like I have known them for years. I also love reading blogs that involve scrapbooking and card making. Some people are just so inspiring and I love seeing their work.

Well, it's time to tackle my "to do" list for the day. Before I know, it will be time to start rounding up the "gang". Have a wonderful Tuesday.

"If you want to go somewhere fast, go alone. If you want to go somewhere far, go together."

Author unknown

Feeling Creative

I've been trying to get my creativity and scrapbooking mojo back. The other night, I shut myself into my scrapbook room and put these little composition notebooks together. They are the little mini notebooks. I made one for my niece, Avery, who is seven and for my niece, Lyric, who is 10. I'm trying to use up "my stash" of stuff. The sassy notebook I just put together and will probably give it to one of my girls to give as a Xmas gift. My favorite colors together are hot pink and orange. So, I really had a blast creating these. The circles and rub ons are Heidi Swapp. I love her "bling". I went back to Wally world today and of course I can't find the mini composition notebooks. I also checked Walgreens and Target. No luck. So I have a few big composition notebooks I can alter too. I finally broke out my crop-o-dile and used it to set the eyelets. I bought the girls lipgloss too and will put them in a caboodle box that I got from Target. To finish it off, I will put in a glitter, gel pen. I'm so pleased with how they turned out.


It finally cooled down here in the Sunshine state. I finally got to turn off the A/C. I'm kind of jealous of all the snow that the north and midwest got. I really miss a good snowstorm--that's only if I don't have to shovel it or drive in it, of course.


Christmas decorations and shopping are coming along. We still don't have the outside lights out. I gave hubby until this weekend to put them up or don't bother. By the time he gets home at night it's dark and he worked last Saturday and then on Sunday he took the girls to the Nutcracker. This upcoming weekend is our only weekend off. The following weekend we go see the Rockettes---love them. I highly recommend the show. We saw them several years ago. They are awesome.


Well, time to start rounding the kids up. Only two more to have to pick up then I can "jamify" and go back to "being creative".