Gotta Share the Joy! March 29, 2007

Y’all, I just have to share my happy news!!!  And for those of you who know me, I can just hear what you’re saying.  “Oh Lord, she’s pregnant again?!”  lol  Nope!  Not pregnant and very happy to not be pregnant.  :)  No, this news is very different and just as exciting to me. 

 1.  I’ve been named Design Team Coordinator for Dragonflaire Studios, United States side!!!  Woohoo!!!!  The lovely & talented Francine will be heading up the European side.  I can’t begin to tell y’all how excited I am about this.  Maggie Lamarre is a very talented designer and a super lady…I’m honored to be a part of her team.  The new forum at Dragonflaire will be up soon.  We will also be offering some amazing classes soon.  So much in the works!  So exciting!

2.  Rodney got a job working for Coca-Cola as their warehouse manager!!!  Yay, Rodney!!!  I’m so proud of him!  He’s an excellent manager and his employees always love him and work very hard for him, so Coca-Cola will be very pleased.  And this is such a great company that we are just thrilled that he’ll be working for them.  The pay is great, the benefits are even better.  Woohoo!  The only problem is that the job is two hours away from our home and we definitely do not want to leave this area.  So we’ll move to the other side of our parish (Louisiana has parishes rather than counties).  That way the kids can still go to the same schools, we won’t have to move away from our family or our church family, & Rodney will be a little closer to his work.  So now we’re house hunting.  Fun!!!

Okay, that’s it.  Two very fun announcements about my life.  I’m so darned happy that I just have to share the love.  So now that I’m smiling really big, I’d like to see one of my friends out there smile really big too.  Leave a comment on this post and on Wednesday I’ll draw a winner for an RAK from me.  :)  But wait, let’s make a little bit interesting.  In your comment, tell me about something that made you smile really big this week.  It can be something simple like bubbles or something big like a new job.  Fun!  Can’t wait to hear what made you smile!  :)

How Much Is Too Much? March 29, 2007

I found a really fun, inspirational scrappy blog.  Of course, most of you have probably already seen it, but it’s new to me and I’m all happy about it.  lol  The site is called “How Much Is Too Much” and it’s all about using tons of yummy stuff on our pages.  What I especially love is that it encourages me to actually USE all these supplies that I have.  Up to this point, my trend has been to hang on to stuff until it’s no longer my style then purge and give it all away.  What a waste of money!  So I really love that this site encourages using my stuff rather than leaving it sit where it is. 

The challenge this week is to use 30 ribbons on a single page.  Sound impossible?  Surprisingly, it was very easy.  Let me go ahead and confess this now, so it’ll be out of the way:  I am a ribbon addict.  There I said it.  I can’t get enough of yummy ribbon.  I have rolls, spools, cards, bags, boxes, wads of ribbon.  Ribbon is all over the place in my scraproom.  When I go to a crop, three of my bags are nothing but ribbon.  I love ribbon!  So this challenge was right up my alley!  Here’s my page:

What’s truly amazing is that every single bit of the ribbon on here is from my scrap piles.  It feels so good to finally have it on a page!  For full credits, click on the thumbnail image in the right side menu.  Wanna join in the fun?  Check it out here:  http://hmitm.blogspot.com/ .  If you do join in the fun, would you post a link here so that I can see it too?  Thanks!

I still have a couple of big announcements to make, so please check back in later.  I’m so excited!!!

Sweetness…Pure Sweetness March 28, 2007

Ah, Spring!  It’s all around.  The flowers are blooming (well, mine aren’t…black thumb and all), the birds are singing, the weather is perfect.  I love Spring!  Around this time of year, I start getting all mushy and lovey-dovey.  My poor kids get smothered in kisses and everybody around me has to listen to “I love you…I really love you” over and over.  This is a very happy time of year for me. 

This morning, I’m thinking about love.  I’m probably going to be thinking about love quite a bit over the next couple of months, so if love ain’t your thing, you are probably going to get really sick of me.  lol  Last night, Rodney and I pulled out the Bible and reviewed “love” with the kids.  We talked about what love is, how we can show it, etc.  A couple of them got pretty nervous when we talked about honoring your father and mother and how that shows love.  They’ve been a bit disrespectful lately and they knew it.  lol

So anyway, while on the subject of love…I just gotta share this with you.  I told you about the wedding I went to Sunday afternoon, right?  They are just the sweetest couple and I couldn’t wait to scrap a page of them.  So here it is….

Not your typical wedding page, right?  Well, it wasn’t your typical wedding.  The title of this page, “All You Need is Love,” is the song that was played while she walked down the aisle.  Love that!!!  “love, love, love….love, love, love”  That song has been in my head all morning.  lol  For full credits on the page, just click on the thumbnail image in the right side toolbar.

Here’s another sweet kinda love.   My Daddy, one of the greatest men on the planet, loves kids.  He’s crazy about all kids.  He’s the kind of man that thinks every single baby is beautiful….and we all know that some babies are just plain ugly.  lol  He thinks all kids have a great potential inside them (well, I can’t argue with that one).  My Daddy really knows how to love.  Of course, he’s a wonderful PaPa to my kids, but he’s also great with other people’s kids.  In this pic, he was playing at the park with my friend Jackie’s dd.  Isn’t this just the sweetest?!?!?!

Yep.  This is a paper page.  lol  For full credits, click on the thumbnail image in the right side toolbar.  I had so much fun making this page!  I was thinking about how sweet my Daddy is and I was having a ton of fun playing with the textures on this page.  And LOOK!  I even sewed on the page!!!!  Those who know me know that this is a big deal for me.  I’ve been trying to learn how to sew and really struggle with it.  I’m really proud of me though.  I threaded my own bobbin and re-threaded the machine…and it only took 45 minutes!  I’m getting better!  rofl

 Okay, that’s enough rambling today.  I’ve got an exciting announcement tomorrow, though, so y’all check back if you can.  :)

Woohoo!!!! Something Happy for Me!!! March 26, 2007

Y’all, I’m so excited!!!  My second article at Everyday Digital Scrapbooking was posted today!  It’s about scraplifting.  If y’all wanna check it out, here’s the link:  http://everydaydigitalscrapbooking.blogspot.com/ .  Woohoo!

Here’s a little something fun.  I took this pic of Beau while we were visiting in Oklahoma.  His Daddy was picking on him and he came to me for support.  I was too busy laughing to offer much support to him, poor kid.  This is the look he gave me.  lol

These fun doodles are from Carrie Bombria at http://thebombrias.blogspot.com/index.html .  Y’all check her out.  She’s got a fun blog with a super sweet baby on there.  :)

Whew!  Two blog postings in one day.  What’s happening to me?  Could I really be becoming a blogger?  A real, live blogger?  lol

All You Need is Love…and Peeps March 26, 2007

Date night was a success!  Rodney and I went to Copeland’s, a really nice restaraunt in town.  Some friends had given us a gift certificate for there and we finally got to use it.  Funny thing…they put us way in the back corner.  We were laughing and saying that it was the “cheating corner” reserved just for people who are having affairs and don’t want anyone to know about it.  Then I realized that I didn’t have my wedding rings on.  I had taken them off while washing dishes earlier and forgot to put them back on.   So I guess maybe we were that “cheating” couple.  lol

 Yesterday was a great day too!  We had church all morning, which of course, I love.  Our church is doing a fun thing right now to get kids to bring their friends to church.  They’re giving them all a small box of peeps (you know, the Easter chickies) with a note that says “Bring Your Peeps.”  How cute is that?!  When I got in my car after church, I found this:

My oldest ds, Stephen, had left these in my car for me.  Totally made me smile!

After the 12:15 service at church, we all went over to the adult life center for a WEDDING!  One of our drummers, Grant, married his long-time fiance, Kim.  They’re such a super sweet couple and I am sooo happy for them!  The wedding was just perfect!  It was very small with only a few friends and family in attendance.  Most of the worship team was there, since we love them so much.  :)  I loved the song they played while Kim walked down the aisle.  It was “All You Need is Love” by the Beatles.  They played it again after the ceremony was over.  Kim and Grant are just the sweetest couple and I think they hugged every single person there.  lol  Of course, I gotta share a pic….

Doesn’t that just make you smile?!  Ah, love!  Nothing like it!

Oh Happy Day! March 24, 2007

Woohoo!!!!  I’m going on a date tonight!!!!  Rodney and I hardly ever get to go anywhere alone together.  With this many kids, it’s hard to find a sitter.  lol  But he just informed me that we’re going to dinner and a movie!!!!  Yay!!!!  I’m really excited.  Can you tell?  lol 

And we have a winner for the RAK!  I was going to get my 15yr old son to draw a name, but he’s really really really out of sorts this morning, so Rodney drew a name instead.  And the name he drew is Tammy!  So, Tammy, send me an email with your addy and I’ll get your RAK out to you right away.  :)  Thanks for playing along, y’all!  I had sooooo much fun reading about favorite childhood games.  It brought back so many happy childhood memories.  And I’m so glad to know for certain now that the game my brother and I used to fight over is called “Simon.”  I’m now on a mission to see if I can find one for my own kids.  :) 

Conversations with Josh March 24, 2007

Conversations with Josh are never dull.  In fact, they can be so interesting that they take up my whole night.  Take, for instance, the conversation we had tonight.

 Josh (crying): Mama, my ears hurt.
Me: Why do your ears hurt?
Josh: I don’t know. Maybe the beads make them hurt.
Me: Huh? What beads?
Josh: Oh you know, the ones I stuck in my ears.
Me: *sigh*

When I checked his ears, I could only see the very tip of one bead. So off we went to the ER where they sent us to Minor Care. There we were told that they didn’t have the proper equipment to remove the beads from his ears. So they scheduled an appointment with an ENT for Monday morning. In the meantime, we are to give Tylenol for pain and hope the beads don’t go too deep. Fun.

 Okay, now that you’ve all had a good laugh at my expense, maybe I can make you say “awwwwww!”  Check out this sweet pic:

How sweet is this?!?!  This is my youngest ds, Jack, going for a walk with his grandpa.  Love it!!!!  Everything on this page is from the “Dreamy Song” kit by Petra Losbichler.  You can find this kit at www.polkadotpotato.com . 

Wanna smile again?  Well, this makes me smile anyway…..

This is my oldest dd, Stefani, who is always amazing me with her fab dance skills.  lol  There were actually twelve other people in the room when I took this picture, so apparently she really does “dance like nobody’s watching.”  Just one of the many things I love about my Stef!  I used the wonderful “Bayle” kit by Denise Liemert on this page (the alpha is from Bad Candy’s “Blossom” kit.  Both are available at www.polkadotpotato.com . For full credits on either one of these pages, just click on the thumbnail image in the right side menu.

You still have a little time to get those comments in about childhood games (scroll down till you see the post titled “This Manual…”).  I’ll be drawing a name for the RAK later today, so be sure to check back!  Until then….lotsa love!

Fun Contest! March 23, 2007

Here’s some fun news….Dragonflaire is giving a freebie AND a great contest!!!  Check it out….

Wanna know more?  All you have to do is go to http://www.dragonflaire.com/ and read all about it.  To pick up the freebie, go to http://www.dragonflaire.com/ and click on the thumbnail image of the freebie.  You’ll find it on the right hand side of the page.  FUN!  I can’t wait to see what y’all create!

A Little Something About Me…In Twos March 22, 2007

Carrie at http://keepinglife.blogspot.com/ posted this fun challenge, so of course I had to take her up on it.  Just a little something about me…in twos.  Y’all play along too and let me know if you do.  I’d love to read your answers!

JUST TWO THINGS
Two Names You Go By:
1. Becky
2. Mamma
Two Things You Are Wearing Right Now:
1. jeans 2.  hair clip
Two Things You Would Want (or have) in a Relationship:
1. commitment
2. honesty

Two of Your Favorite Things to do:
1. sing    2. scrapbook

Two Things You Want Very Badly At The Moment:
1. chocolate
2. for the new season of Heroes to start
Two pets you had/have:
1. Chico (aka Taco Butt) my chihuahua (he’s gone now)  2. Patricia, the only cat I ever liked.  lol

Two people who will fill this out:
1. ummmmm….my dh    2. my friend Sarah, if I’m lucky  lol

Two things you did last night:
1. worked on some DT stuff for Dragonflaire 
2. sang at church

Two things you ate today:
1. a bite of my son’s Twix   2. diet coke (haven’t stopped to eat today.  sad, i know)
Two people you Last Talked To today:
1. my son, Josh    2. my daughter, Kyra
Two Things You’re doing tomorrow:
1. paying a traffic ticket *sigh*
2. scrubbing my kitchen floor

Two longest car rides:
1. visiting family in Oklahoma
2. visiting family in Dallas (I don’t get out much)

Two Favorite Holidays:
1. Christmas 2. Father’s Day (I’m not a dad, but I play one on tv  lol)

Two favorite beverages:
1. Diet Coke
2. strawberry/banana smoothie

 Hope y’all enjoyed this little peek into my life.  Here’s another one for you….

For full credits, click on the thumbnail image in the right side toolbar.  I’m posting a fun contest tomorrow, so y’all check back in when you can!  Have a wonderful Thursday!

A Fun Way to Use Photos March 21, 2007

First I want to say that the response to yesterday’s post has been unbelievable!  Keep those comments coming, y’all!  I won’t draw a name for the RAK until Saturday.  Fun!!!

Now on to other scrappy news….

In October we went to the Parish Fair.  That’s the same thing as a county fair, but here in Louisiana we don’t have counties, we have parishes.  So anyway, while at the fair, I took a ton of photos.  One whole set of photos was of my 3yr old Beau going through the Fun House.  Now how in the world do you scrap a whole series of photos like that?  Of course, the first idea that came to mind was a mini-album.  I thought about that for a while and then was struck with a super fun idea that I just had to share with y’all!

I’m using those pictures to make an 8.5×11 album for Beau.  But there’s a couple of cool things about this album.  For one, I’m only using three sheets of patterned paper and one set of Heidi Swapp florals.  All pages will have a very similar design, so it should go quick and easy.  But the second thing is my favorite….the album is going to be a “How To Get Through the Fun House” manual written from Beau’s perspective.  So far, it has been so much fun to work on!  I haven’t made the title page yet, but here are the first two pages.

I’m using the amazing Tinkering Ink “Perfectly Posh” papers to make this album.  I got the papers & flowers from Moments To Remember (find the link in the right side menu under My Design Teams).  For full credits, just click the thumbnail image in the right side menu.

I really think that this idea could be adapted for almost any subject.  I mentioned it on the forum at Moments To Remember and got some really funny responses.  For instance “How to Pretend You’re Enjoying Graduation” when ex hubby is in the photos.  lol  Can you think of any interesting variations on the theme?