A Bit of Everything

We're gearing up for the dance recital this weekend. It's the last week of classes, we're making sure we have the costumes ready (I still need to sew a couple things) and I'm cleaning house for Mary's visit (mother in law). Add the fact that Jess has a horse show on Sunday and you've got another busy week for us.

But I guess you've heard that from me before.

School's almost out. Not sure who's more excited; the kids or me. No more packing lunches. No more driving to Georgetown every day. Lots of time at the pool. I do know one thing though....I will be the only one excited about the FIRST day of school in September.

Still need to lose weight. Not going up, but not going down either. Haven't managed to do the treadmill thing more than twice a week. What will it take for me to get off my butt and JUST DO THIS?!?

I'm super excited about the October Scrapbook Getaway that Pat/Peg/Dar (and others I guess) put on (through TwoPeas). With no scrap buddies and no LSS for crops, I never get to do scrappy things with other people. It's going to be a blast!

I'm also excited about getting the first monthly layout contest up and running at AllyScraps. I had it listed on the Pub Calls Blog (thank you PCP) so I'm hoping it draws a bunch of people to the site.

Got a great big headache today. Must be a low pressure system sitting right on top of my house. Wish it would go away.

I'm off...have a good one!

The Unofficial Start of Summer

That's right it's Memorial Day Weekend! And when you live at the beach, the tourists and traffic make it feel all that much more summery. Fortunately, this year the weather makes it feel like summer too. In fact, we're off to the beach in a few.

I hope you're enjoying your weekend!

Live chat tonight with Lisa from Crate Paper!

Stop by the message board at The Scrapbook Stand and check it out. It starts at 8:00 pm Central time. Hope to see you there!

A Great Prize and a New Page

This is the awesome prize you could win just for completing a few challenge pages with us at AllyScraps.

That's an entire SEI album kit!

Check out this thread and see how easy and fun it is for a chance to win!

And this is my latest page completed for AllyScraps.

Some of my favorite new products are on this page...those to die for Lil Davis chipboard letters, the yummy Fancy Pants paper and my new Primas!

You like?

Claire's party was a success!!

All the kids, and even the parents, had a great time. They loved the moon bounce - I was a little worried they would get tired of it. Seems 6+ is the perfect age for jumping. The food was good and the ice cream sundae bar was wildly popular. I'm so glad she had a memorable party.

This photo was almost impossible to get. No one wanted to sit still, sit close or look at the camera. This is the best one I got and I took about 10 shots. But what's important is the picture...I'm so happy to have a group shot from her party. (and for those that don't know her, Claire is second from the left with the heart on her cheek)

Back to the grind today...Claire has dance and Hannah has her choir concert tonight. Luckily, Jessica's lesson was cancelled otherwise I'd have to clone myself to get it all done.

Looking forward to Memorial weekend. We have NO plans. That's a first in MONTHS!

Happy Monday, have a good one.

Did I mention that I won a prize?

Because I did!

Karen Russell did a fabulous thing and put together a fundraiser for Women for Women through her blog with prizes donated by famous scrappers and Scrapbook Companies. Long story short, I made a donation and won a page by Rhonna Farrer!!

Can you believe it?!? This rivals the trip to the Olympics for "Coolest Prize I've Ever Won". Seriously. And Rhonna is on top of it. I got my email from her a few days after the drawing, sent her my photos (which I labored over choosing) and she's done the page already. Already.

And have I mentioned how completely gorgeous it is? Holy smoke it's fabulous. I'm still giddy every time I look at it. I can't wait to actually have it in my hands. It's going on the wall. I've thought about framing layouts and hanging them up but never done it. This will be the first.

Do you want to see this marvelous creation? I've posted it in my gallery at The Scrapbook Stand. Check it out! And while you're there...have a look around. It's a great site with super kits and a fun message board.

Thank you Rhonna. I'm totally in love with it!

ps - I tried to make all those links pretty but I just don't have the skills. If anyone cares to enlighten me it would be much appreciated. :D

*edited to fix links! Wheeeeee! Thanks so much for the help!*

ME on the treadmill?

You've got to be kidding!

But I did it. Finally. I've had this plan in my head for weeks, maybe months, to turn myself into a runner. Don't laugh. It's true.

I'm not the gym type. At least not now. Too fat. Silly I know, you don't have to be fit to go to the gym. But I'm not going, if ever, until I'm not embarrasing in work out clothes. So that leaves exercising at home. And luckily we have a treadmill.

So my plan has been this: start slow. I'm in the worst shape I've ever been in. Really. I think I would enjoy being a runner but when I go outside and try I get about 3 houses before my lungs are burning. So I came up with a plan (or did I read it somewhere) to walk for 2 minutes, run for 30 seconds, repeat. For 10 minutes. Doesn't sound like much but when you've done nothing for as long as I have it's a start.

And today I finally did it. It's only 3 bursts of running but I made the last one a full minute. And I enjoyed it. I'm going to do this for a week or so and when my lungs feel better I'll add 5 minutes. Then another 5. Then make the running parts all a minute. And just keep going and going until maybe I can run a full 10 minutes. The last part is vague I know. I'll work it out (no pun intended) as I go.

So anyway. I'm proud of myself. It was only 10 minutes but it's a start.

More of the same

So this weekend is Claire's birthday party. Doing the whole moon bounce in the yard party and cooking out. I messed up the invitations and put March instead of May so I'm not really sure anyone is going to show up. I need to make some calls today. I realized my mistake (thanks Julie) on the way to school that morning and wrote the correction on the envelopes (while driving) but it seems most of the kids opened them at school and only took home the card. Ugh. I feel like such an idiot. And it's my own fault for being behind schedule and not having time to mail them. Ah well, next year I'll get it right.

So anyway, that makes for another busy week. Party prep. I am together on the important things though. The moon bounce is booked and the gifts are bought. The rest will fall together easily enough.

Jessica's band concert is tonight. She hasn't mentioned anything about a solo but after the Christmas concert I told her to ask for one when Mr. Bennett was looking for volunteers. We'll see.

Got the weekly challenges started at http://www.allyscraps.com/ . There's going to be a fun prize every 4 weeks for one lucky participant. Check it out...you never know, YOU could be the winner. More about the prize later. Must get busy!

Have a good one.

more photos...

The Prom Report

She was GORGEOUS!

Definate model material.

She had a blast and I managed to get some decent pictures. I did learn a few things about my camera and lenses, my skills (or lack of) and photo shoots in general. Luckily, I didn't screw it up so bad that it's a total loss. And I wish I could get more than 2 photos to post at a time....can't seem to get them to load.

I'll try to post more...

Prom Picture Pressure

It's all I can think about today. I've been to the nail salon, the barn, the florist and through it all, in the back of my mind, are thoughts about taking pictures tonight.

You don't have to be a scrapbooker to want fabulous photos of your daughter's first prom. Just a Mom. But combine the two and you've got a great NEED for the perfect artitistic photographs.

Most of my problem lies in the fact that we have no good spots to take photos in the house or yard. There are no cool columns, no picturesque benches, no shimmering ponds. Inside is white walls or unattractive (for photo backgrounds) furniture. The rest lies in my lack of confidence to use my camera properly.

It's too much pressure.

But I'm going to do the only thing I can...take a BUNCH and hope for the best.

Wish me luck!

I scrapped again!

I've been sick all week and just now able to actually do some projects. Started and finished a page today for http://www.allyscraps.com . Love these papers from Fancy Pants!

Playing Bunco tonight.

Tomorrow is the Prom, among other keep us busy things.

And then Mother's Day.

Not a bad weekend ahead.

Hope you enjoy yours!

it's Monday again

another week zipped by. There were a few different things in there....

Let's Dish. http://www.letsdish.com/ If you haven't tried it and there's one near you. GO! After a fun (honest) 2 hour session I left with 12 yummy meals ready to freeze. Now when I'm pressed for time or let's face it, just don't feel like planning dinner, I just defrost and follow the simple instructions. Sound like a commercial? I'd do one for free...this is brilliant. No Let's Dish near you? Do a search using "prepare meal session" and you'll find LOTS of options.

FIL. For those of you not familiar with net speak that's Father-in-Law. Jonathan's Dad and his wife Mae were here for the weekend. Had a good visit despite my allergy induced chest cold.

Little League. Jessica's boyfriend (still can't get over this one) plays and the whole family went to his game. Jess must have really wanted to go to tolerate all of us there with her. ;)

But the BEST NEWS (do you hear the bells and whistles) I had was when I found out I made the design team at The Scrapbook Stand http://www.thescrapbookstand.com/ !!! I was really shocked to see my name on the list. I'm surrounded by some amazing talent and so honored to be included. Their kits are fantastic and I can't wait to get started! Stop by, check it out.

And now I have to play catch up. Claire's birthday party invitations should have gone in the mail Saturday. Probably I should start them. The mother's day gifts I had (and still do) planned to make should be almost done by now and in the mail tomorrow. Probably I should start them. And I haven't scrapped a page in DAYS. Not only am I going through withdrawals but I've gotten some awesome new products from AllyScraps http://www.allyscraps.com/index.asp to play with and I want to get started. And then there's the laundry...but for today...I'm not going there!

Much to do, much to do....I'm off. Have a good one!

I survived!

It was a crazy, busy weekend but we made it through. Here's the recap:

• dropped Jess & Brooke off at Trey's (Jessica's boyfriend!) baseball game Friday night. They had a blast. Trey's team won (he's the catcher) 10-2. Brooke spent the night.
• recital ticket sales - waited in line Saturday morning for just over 3 hours. I was 3rd in line...got 30 great seats! I played fair (didn't hog all the best seats) too.
• took Brooke and Jess (and Claire) to the barn for their ratings exam. Jess passed - she's now a D3 Pony Clubber. Heard she exceeded the standard on every question!
• raced home, showered & loaded everyone up (including 2 of Hannah's friends) for the drive to New Castle. Met Dad & Vicky, Doris and John & Suzanne and their kids at Casablanca for dinner. What a blast! Awesome food (7 courses), fabulous belly dancing and great company. I think Hannah really enjoyed having everyone together for her birthday celebration. Jonathan left from there for a hotel at the airport. He's now in Orlando at a CIMA conference.
• up early Sunday and got the grocery shopping done. Whew! Hannah went to work (she is really liking her new job at Azafran) and we cleaned house.
• Claire's dance pics were at 1:50. I was late (forgot the dance bag) but it went smoothly.
• Jessica's dance pics were at 5:20. We were on time, they were not. Didn't get out until almost 7:00. Picked up Chinese on the way home.
• Hannah's pics were at 7:45. I was going to leave Jess with Claire (after she was in bed) so I could go take pics myself but was too creeped out leaving them home alone in the dark.

At that's that! Weekends like that make me appreciate Mondays so much. And since I'm pretty caught up on laundry, the house in clean and dinner is already in the crockpot, I'm going to try to get some scrapping done. I'm behind on my list of projects.

Before I go...a little blog challenge from http://www.allyscraps.com/index.asp :

1. If you go back and change anything in your teen years, what would it be and why?

I was awful to my Mom. Not always, but there was chuck of time (when I was 17th) that I was rude and disprectful. It was the last thing she needed being a single mom. I'm so glad we have such a good relationship now.

2. If you could go to heaven for an hour to see a loved one, who would you pick and why?

My maternal grandmother. She died when I was 8 (cancer). I don't have too many specific memories but I feel wrapped in love just thinking of her.

3. What is one thing you can NOT do without besides your family?

My car. I pretty much live in it.

4. What your dream day consist of?

A clean house, my (non-bickering) kids and husband around me and lots of laughter.

5. How much time do you spend on the computer per day? and you can't say "too much" really try and figure it out.

So we really have to answer this one?? I'm going to go with 5 hours (not all at once) and then I'm going to try to cut down. Really I am.

That's all for now.....have a good one!

Not sure why....

the insanity of this time of year always surprises me, but it does. Spring and early summer around here are a flurry of activity. It passes in a whirl wind. With birthdays in March, April & May, Easter, Prom and dances, horse season starting, extra dance rehearsals, ticket sales and pictures and the rest of the regular goings on, we never stop. And right about now every year I think to myself....I really should know by now to better prepare myself for this...at least mentally.

But here I sit this morning thinking, Wow, it's Friday. Where has the week gone? And with everything on our schedule this weekend I'll be thinking the same thing on Monday.

It's all good though. We lead full, happy lives. I just need to remember we have to schedule time to eat!

I'm busy (see above) so I'm out. Have a good one!

Third Place Baby!!

That's right...in Jessica's first show of the year, first recognized show EVER, she got 3rd place. And there were 17 in her class! Not a bad way to start the season. And had she been a USEA member this show would have qualified her for Regional Championships. Next year she'll have to join, especially if she's going to keep doing reconginzed events.

This photo is the only half way decent one I got. It was rainy and I didn't have enough light for the SPEED she was traveling. It's still fun to look at though! That pony will jump anything you point him toward without even thinking about it. And obviously can clear a much bigger jump. Good thing too, since Jess will go Novice by the end of the season.

Today is recovery and reassemble. School starts tomorrow and we get to get things back in order around this house. The truck needs to be unpacked. The house needs to be straightened. The grocery shopping needs to be done. And so on and so on and so on. It's been a busy week and it shows. But we're all tired so we're going to go at it with a relaxed pace. We have all day.

Jonathan and Hannah get home tonight from St. John. We've heard from them about once a day and it seems like they've had a great trip. Sad at times but that's to be expected. I'll just be happy to have everyone home and together again.

I'm off. I'd like to squeeze some time for scrapping in today. Haven't gotten much done in that area lately.

Have a good one!

Life at the Beach

Gotta take the good with the bad I guess. Claire and I geared up and headed down to Rehoboth to hit the boards for a while. I had visions of arcade games, boardwalk fries and toes in the sand. And then the traffic. Part poorly planned construction, part tourists, part too many people have moved here lately. So it was a quick U-turn and plan B for us.

We played miniature golf instead. There's a place behind the movie theater that we've never tried. There was hardly anyone there and we had so much fun. Just the two of us. And if you're curious; Claire picked a pink ball and mine was orange. We didn't keep score but I'm pretty sure she won ;).

It was still early so we ran home to get some beach stuff (and the camera) and headed to Lewes Beach (via Dairy Queen). What a gorgeous day! Claire played in the sand and collected rocks and I took pictures and soaked up some sun. By the time the bugs started biting we were ready to go.

Tomorrow is busy....picking up Jess at her Dad's for her follow up scoliosis visit. Crossing my fingers on that one. I'm so worried that it will have gotten worse. Then straight to the barn and home by dark. Going to stop in and see my grandfather while we're up there too. Yesterday was his 85th birthday!

Time to put Claire to bed. Until next time...

Yes, I'm still here!

Reading this blog must have been like that movie Groundhog Day. Same crappy post over and over again. I think part of my problem is that when I miss a day or two I feel like I have to catch up on everything that's been going on. And usually when I miss it's because I've been busy. So catching up seems like a HUGE chore. But no more.

If I fall behind, I'll just post whatever moves me. No more feeling obligated to rehash every little thing that goes on in my life. Hopefully, that will make blogging fun again and not such a JOB!

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The kids are on Spring Break this week. Hannah left for St John this morning. Her mom's friends are there and will pick her up at the airport. Jonathan is going down on Wednesday. Hannah and her mom went to St John almost every year so they are carrying on per usual. This year they have some of Chris's ashes to spread. I hope that she doesn't let the sadness spoil St John for her. I know it's one of her favorites places to be.

Claire, Jess and I are just doing our thing this week. Jess is riding a lot to get ready for her show next weekend. She's also going with Beth (her dad's fiance) and Nolan to NYC for the day Wednesday. I'm so glad she's getting to New York. I just know she's going to love the city like we do. They're going to see a show if they can get tickets.

We went to Bush Gardens yesterday. Decided at the last minute to just GO. We didn't get to ride many rides though. Got there kind of late and were a bit disorganized at first trying to get lunch and such. But we've got our season passes now and hopeufully will get to go back often this summer.

Jess is on the phone. Needs a ride home from the barn. See you tomorrow.

I promise!

Having a good day!

Despite being a bit under the weather still. Why oh why can't I kick this head cold thing??

Not only do I have my new car. And not only did I get a good haircut this morning. (please don't anyone eer let me cut my hair ALL off again.) But I found out last night that I made the design team at http://www.allyscraps.com/ . This is my first design team EVAH and I'm like a kid at Christmas. I just can't believe they picked me. I've been working hard lately on my scrapping. Submitting more, trying to do really GOOD work. Sending in a few design team applications. And it's starting to pay off. I really want to do a good job for this site. I'm excited to get started.

Busy day here...we leave tomorrow for Claire's field trip to the National Zoo then go straight from there to my Mom's in Virginia. I haven't been to a good zoo in so long I actually can't wait. Though I'm not sure if I'm more excited about seeing the animals, being with Claire and sharing her excitement of this awesome field trip or all the fabulous photo opportunities. Not going analyze it too carefully....I'd hate to suffer from self induced Mommy guilt.

Back to busy. Thursday is already a crazy day for me. I'm gone from 2 to 6 driving carpool and doing the gymnastic thing. But today I have to finish the laundry and pack for our trip AND go to the DMV. Seems my driver's license expired at the beginning of November. AAaaack! I never use it so I didn't even notice until we went to buy this car. Had to give him my license to copy before we went on a test drive. He didn't notice (good thing too they might not have let me take the car) but I did. Not much fun going to motor vehicle but at least I just came from getting my hair done and have a slight chance of taking a good dl photo!

I'm looking forward to the weekend at my Mom's. My sister, bil and niece will be there too. We're seeing Dora live on Saturday and otherwise just hanging out. Jonathan is going to fly down Saturday morning if the weather's good but Hannah has Saturday school and a job interview on Sunday so she can't come. Seems odd leaving her home...especially considering my memories of what I did when my Mom left me home alone at that age. Let's not even go THERE!

Must scoot. Laundry and groceries and the crock pot are calling. Til Monday....

Have a good one!

Taaa Daaaaa!

Thanks for the luck...it worked. I got my dream car. Didn't get exactly the price I was looking for but darned close. It really is a fabulous automobile. It's giving my camera a run for it's money in the "Karlyn's Favorite Possesions" department. And that's saying something.

In other news, there is no other news. I think we're finally all starting to get over this nasty illness and feel human again. I'm catching up on laundry and the never ending job of cleaning up animal hair. Claire is actually able to stay awake all day and the bags under Hannah's eyes have disappeared. Not a moment too soon either with our trip to the National Zoo on Friday and a weekend at my Mom's in Virginia. More on that later....

Have a good one!