Pink for a Cure

My nails were pink this week because October is Breast Cancer awareness month and I wanted to kick it off right by showing my  support.

The polishes I used are Sally Hansen Flame Opal for the base pink. Then Wet N Wild Sparked for the pink sparkles. Then I drew on a white ribbon with an art pen. Then I added a butterfly to my thumb. Thanks for looking!

Challenge Card

The Kaboodle Doodles Challenge this week is a color challenge (reds/pinks/purple and neutral of your choice) and the winner will receive three awesome images from Stamp Insanity Store.

I made this little card with an image from The Stamping Botique.  I used some felt stuff and CTMH papers. The image is colored with colored pencils.

I am also entering this card into the following challenges:

Sugar Bowl #69

Crafts and ME-Use a digi

My Last "Normal" Mani for the year

My nails are really pretty right now, but I am very excited because soon they will be painted very festive.
I plan on doing Halloween nails the rest of the month and then Fall/Thanksgiving nails, then of course Christmas/Winter nails for December and a New Years Eve/My Anniversary mani that will be HUGE I tell ya!

So send me some festive ideas and if you see a NYE idea PLEASE let me see it! I will send a gift to the best idea sent to me. Contest closes NYE and you will get your gift in January!!! Put links in the comments for me!

Here is my lovely mani that will be replaced tomorrow by a Halloween mani.

I used Butter London Victoriana over a base coat of course...Then one coat of Sally Hansen Ice Queen, then for extra sparkle, I added one coat of China Glaze Fairy Dust. And topped with a coat of Seche Vite. It was pretty for a few days but I MUST do Halloween! I could barely wait for October to start. I almost did it in September but I made myself wait.

Giveaways!

I found some awesome giveaways to share with you all....if you win you have to split it with me LOL J/k!!

Valentine Kisses
This one has a ton of variety! There are polishes and makeup and even some BEADS! Sweet!

Spellbinding Nails-HUGE giveaway!!
This one is going to be GREAT for a beginning nail stamper like me to win. Sooo many stamping plates! I have NONE so far.

Hope you, or I win!!

ABCs of ME

Well I am now getting some followers so I wanted to do this post to let you get to know me a little better.
First, I want to give a BIG shout out to my sister Hannah who, is awesome like me, and also she fixed my problem I was having with the see thru pictures! YAY! You rock epically Hannah! Love you!

On to the good stuff:
I've seen a few people in the blogging community do a post like this recently and I wanted to jump on board...

A. Age: I turned 29 for the first time in May.

B. Bed Size: Queen. One day we will be grown up and get a King.

C. Chore I Hate: Cleaning the toilets! I have a separate bathroom for the boys to use since they frequently get stuff on the seat so they are in charge of cleaning that one.

D. Day:  Saturday is my fav because I always do something I enjoy on that day. Either scrapbook or spend some family time.

E. Essential Start of My Day: I always get a can of DrPepper. My day would completely suck without it.

F. Favorite Color: Purple. Everything would be purple if I could get away with it.

G. Gold or Silver: White gold or platinum :-)

H. Height: I'm 5'3"

I. Instruments:  I play a mad Karaoke machine. I'm not very musically talented I guess. My son can play drums. I just sing, badly.

J. Job Title: Chief Executive Mother/Wife. Sounds almost professional.

K. Kids: Yeah I have 2 awesome sons.

L. Live: Kansas City far from OZ

M. Mom's Name: Heidi

N. Nicknames: Honey. I bet you can't guess who calls me that ;-p

O. Overnight Stay at the Hospital: Several. Two for each of the kids being born. A few for Cancer surgery. Another for brain tumor-type stuff.

P. Pet Peeves: I hate when people have typos. I may occasionally have one, but I know how to use spell check. I also know how to use: to, too, your, you're, there, their, and they're. If you don't, you are dumb and I want to tell you but I'm too nice.

Q. Quote From a Movie: "Roads? Where we're  going we don't need roads." BTTF

R. Right or Left Handed: I'm right handed. I cannot use my left hand for much.

S. Siblings: I am lucky enough to be the oldest of 4 sisters. My 3 sisters are the best friends I could ever have. I also have ONE amazing SIL who I also LOVE!

T. Time I Wake Up: Whenever the heck I feel like it :-D

U. Underwear: I think they're essential ;-) And I don't think they should cost so dang much money!

V. Vegetable I Hate: I love pretty much all of them. I guess I don't really like squash much. But I will eat it. I also eat Brussel Sprouts and I love Onions.

W. What Makes Me Late: My hair usually. Or just sleeping too late.

X. X-Rays: I have had several. Dentist of course, thyroid stuff, never broken anything though *knock on wood*

Y. Yummy Foods I Can Make: I'm good in the kitchen. I can make just about anything if I have a recipe. I love to cook mexican foods and I am AWESOME at anything Italian.

Z. Zoo: I've been to so many. My favorite so far is StLouis but I am waiting to try Omaha. Haven't been there since I was little so I don't remember it.

Well there you have it. Fun post! Now I am going to go clean stuff before the boys get home from school. YAY!

Oh YEAH!!!

Well lots is going on in my world lately.  I got the new hair color, you saw. So I decided my blog needed a new look too for my fresh start. I like everything about this new blog look except the pictures are kinda see thru and I can't figure out how to fix it. Anyone knows how, please let me know! I'd appreciate some help! I also can't get my dumb Google Friend Connect to work. I can't see it on my blog, its just an empty square and I can only see it on very few other blogs. I want to be friends with everyone thru GFC I just can't get it to work right.

So I am so excited to announce that I am now finally on a Design Team!! Yay!! I am on The Stamping Boutique team and I am joining a lot of talented girls.  Here are my first two projects.

 These cards are made using  TSB images drawn by Tracey Malnofski. She is so talented and ALL the images are so amazing!!

I am entering Fall Froggy in the following challenges:

Crazy 4 Challenges-pumpkin  

Di's Digi Designs 

 Cute Card Thursday #182

 Digi Doodle Shop's Best #76

  I used Dazzle Fall Stickers on both of these cards. They are detailed and so pretty I wish I had more of these stickers! On my froggy card I put down two of the stickers and then sprayed some Tattered Angels shimmer spray and then removed the sticker for a cool masked effect. I love using the sprays so watch for more projects using them in the future!

 I am entering this card in the following challenges:

Kaboodle Doodles Challenge #85

I colored both of the images using some regular markers and some Copic markers that I borrowed from a friend. I love the way Copic's color so I'm going to need to start stocking up on some of them for myself.

Well thanks for checking out my creations. Stay tuned because I plan on doing a nail polish challenge and posting my pretty mani's in the next few days!

Prettys

I did my nails today. I used Antiqued Gold Crackle by Sally Hansen, over a beautiful burgundy called Carry On by Essie. I think it really compliments my new red hair color.

Many Lovely Returns

Its been a while since I blogged and i just want to pop in real quick to say that i am going to start posting my crafty stuff on here a lot more. So here is a sneak peek at a banner I made an I will post some close up pictures soon. I am also going to change the letter R on this banner cause it looks like an N or an H. Its going to go in my scrapbook room. Here you go!

Hoo are you?

Got these questions from a cute blog called The Life of Me

1. What is your favorite magazine?

I'm a mom so I like Parenting and Women's Day. Also Creating Keepsakes and Scrapbooks, Etc.

2. What color are your eyes?

I have green eyes. So does my husband and both our boys have blue. Whats up with that?

3. Do you go to the dentist on a regular 6 month schedule, or do you put it off?

I put it off as long as possible. I am NOT a fan of the dentist at all.

4. Do you use anything to make your house smell good? ex: candles, spray,etc...

I just came into possession of some Scentsy products. Love the warmers and the was bars smell so good. You won't go away from a Scentsy basket without finding one you like.

5. Do you have any pets?

We have some goldfish. They are pretty popular in our house.

I'm still here

I love to blog, I just don't think I am very good at it sometimes.
I have personal reasons for wanting to blog and I think I take it too personally when I have no comments or readers.
I need to just write what I want to write and get back into it fully for ME.

So....migraine stuff....I have a Brainstem Cavernous Angioma. It's not going to kill me or make me severely disabled, but I do get migraines. It also causes my heart to beat irregularly, my body temp hard to regulate, my pain sensations to be intensified, and my speech to be affected at times.

The hardest part of having migraines is the rollercoaster ride it takes my family on. I get very moody and tend to take it out on my husband.

It has been an interesting journey for me being a mom and a migraine sufferer. I know there are a lot of us out there. The statistics support it. But the need for support and understanding is great. People used to think that migraines were no big deal and that they were just an excuse to get out of something. Now a days, more and more doctors and employers are starting to realize that this is a real condition. It can be very serious and causes lots of people to miss work or just miss out on life.
I say this has been an interesting journey because being a parent and migraine sufferer is sometimes scary and definitely unpredictable. You never know when you wake up in the morning, if this will be the day that you get a migraine. And, not having family close by I have to try to figure out who to call to help with the kids if my husband can't leave work.
I've really learned to try to take it easy and not overdo it. Being at home all day, it is so easy to get caught up in the house work, then before I know it, I'm getting a headache. Luckily my husband realizes that the house isn't going to be perfect. Its better for me to be happy and do things I like to do when I am feeling good, than doing house work that could give me a headache.
We had a few very stressful things happen, so still recovering from my headache, trying to keep another from coming on and being worn down, made it very hard to handle to stress. Lets hope that we learn from this and try to make the effort to slow down a bit. Easier said than done.

I woke up Tuesday with a migraine. My Brother in law and sister in law had been staying with us a couple days, a grandma was in the hospital and I just had a lot on my mind and stress in my system. Then I ran out of my pain meds last night. So this morning I woke up and still felt miserable but I had to take a kid to school and run to the pharmacy obviously. So today was a long school day for Superman, so I got to lay down and relax in the quietness after I got home. Then when my husband came home for lunch, I was still asleep and I woke up a little later and was still throbbing and nauseaus. I have my own pain scale and I have been at an 8 since Tuesday morning. Then he went and picked up Superman for me and worked from home obviously, cause he didn't wake me up. I finally came around at 6:30pm and wasn't sure if it was AM or PM. Then I heard the kids downstairs so I figured it was night. Then I realized I should probably eat and just then hubby came in and said he was running to get some food. Thank goodness for him. So now I'm not tired at all.
I really wish meds like Tylenol or Aleve would work for me. I'm in the middle of trying new things with my neurologist and my general dr. is working on my thyroid levels and I have an mri next week. Hopefully I will get something that works soon. I feel like I have been saying that for 2 years now. But someday, something will work right?
I know sometimes the headaches are inevitable because they can be hormonal. So, I don't want to take things to extreme and become scared of doing things because I know I'll get a migraine. Before, I pushed myself too hard, now I am finding myself not doing good things because of the looming fear of a migraine.
I accept I have migraines, I take care of myself and do what I can to avoid triggers, but will not let these headaches control my life!
So the only plus side to getting migraines that I can think of is that I get to drink DrPepper all the time and that I get massages. Still I would give those things up for never having another migraine again.

New Years Resolutions

Speak my husband's "love language" more
Complete unfinished projects, like journaling empty spots in scrapbooks
Find time to eat breakfast every day
- Teach jewelry making classes and scrapbook techniques
- Clean out closets
- Crochet the rest of the afghan I started when pregnant with Aidan
Put videos of the kids onto DVDs
- Learn to use Photoshop better
- Have more amazing photoshoots
Put my hair in ponytails less.
Learn to use my creativity skills on painting
Drink more water. Eat more veggies.
Yell less.
Learn that watching home organizing shows, does not actually make my house organized.

Maybe we will start with that and see how much I can do.
And I have no idea why there are lines thru the words. I didnt put them there on purpose.

SUN

I remember the "sleep" I got when my kids were infants. In the morning, I would add up the bits and pieces of shut-eye I had managed to capture the night before, and it would equal something like 45 minutes. Then I would cry. Then I would get out of bed and start the day.

So believe me, I'm happy that my kids are a wee bit older now. But I ask you: WHY do kids have to get up so early in the morning? Maybe it's just my kids, but come 7:00 a.m. Superman (3 yrs old) appears at my bedside shouting, "The sun's AWAKE!"

I groan, open my eyes and I see his face, right up against my face. "I want NOGGIN!" he instructs. "The sun's AWAKE!" This is especially irksome on the weekend. "Mommy & Daddy aren't up yet, bud," I tell him. "Just stay in bed a little longer."

He ignores my pleas. "The sun WOKED UP!" he shouts again, pulling at my arm. And unfortunately it is light outside. (Darn you, sun.)

So I drag myself out of bed. You just can't argue with daylight. Or a chipper three year old, for that matter.

Growing

Its fall and it feels like this year has gone by too fast. As I am writing this, I have a mega headache coming on and I can't take my super squashing meds cause I have to drive to pick up Spiderman from school soon and Superman is here with me and requires supervision. So I apologize if this post is nonsensical.
I am going to a scrapbook convention tomorrow. I have been to several of these conventions, but this will be different because I am volunteering as a teacher assistant this time. I know it sounds selfish and moocher-ish, but I really hope I get some good rewards for being a great assistant. I am also hopeful that I get an inside track for a cool scrapbook job. I'd love to travel around and teach those classes.
(I think I made up a word-- moocher-ish oh yeah!)

Spiderman is a cub scout and a basketball player. He is keeping me busy. He wants to ride the bus. What's wrong with the mommy taxi?
My nephew and my niece and my puppy are all growing too fast. So adorable and huggable.
Scrappy is 4 months.

Parker is 3 months.Nevaeh is 2 months.
Aren't they just the cutest???

As if life wasn't already interesting enough....

We moved into our new duplex. Everything went fine there. Spiderman started his new school and loves first grade. He is still very gifted and is doing basketball and boy scouts. Superman is potty trained mostly. He was going to go to a preschool and be a peer in a special ed. class but he isn't compliant enough. He is just compliant for a normal three year old, not overly compliant which they need to put him in as a peer, so we will be home together another year.

I have started selling jewelry that I make. And I've been building up my portfolio of photography by taking senior pictures of my sister and family pictures of my other sister and baby pictures of my new nephew and niece.We got a puppy. His name is Scrappy. He is my little lovey. Such a sweetie. We should have gotten a girl dog so I could be less outnumbered, but oh well. He is my bud and cuddles with me more than the boys do.Ok now on to the not so good part. This past Saturday I had a busy day. I didn't get much sleep the night before. I got up early, went to some garage sales, loaded up my car for my plans out of town. I went to my little sister's volleyball tournament. Then I threw a bridal shower for my future sister in law. I didn't eat much with all my running around. After the shower, I loaded up my car to head home and picked up my little sister cause I was going to take her senior pictures Sunday morning. I had a little headache on the hour drive home but just figured I was needing some food. So we got home and I ate a PB sandwich and took 3 aleve. Well my headache escalated into a horrible migraine. So I woke up my sis who was exhausted from playing volleyball for 8 hours and told her that Batman was taking me to the hospital cause I was in too much pain. She would have to stay home cause the boys were sleeping as it was about midnight. So she just went back to sleep I think. Lucky.

So I get to the northland hospital and I have on pj pants and a tanktop and slipon shoes and a zip up hoodie. I had taken out my contacts and left my glasses so I couldn't see a thing. My hand is over my eyes cause the light hurts too much. They get me into a room and Batman turns off the lights as much as he can in the room. I wasn't really in the waiting room too long but it was agony when I was there. There was a crying baby and a loud lady. I was almost crying.

I get a nurse that puts in an IV but it takes her two tries. They never listen to me. My veins are small and roll. Don't give me a new nurse for the love of god. Then they send me for a CT cause its my first migraine that has sent me to the ER. So I don't really remember the CT. I think I was on a dose of meds that included something like morphine, nausea meds, and benedryl. So after the CT a frantic looking doc comes in my dark room and is muttering that there was something suspicious on the results and they have to immediately transfer me to the downtown hospital to get an MRI. I will have to go by ambulance.

Well Batman has to drive the car to the new hospital so I have to go in the ambulance alone. He stops at our house to get my glasses and some extra clothes. I am strapped down to a gurney and given more drugs to relax me. My nose itches so much from the morphine I think its going to fall off. They give me a thin white washcloth to cover my eyes to ease the pain of the lights. Obviously it serves little good other than to use to itch my nose.

I get my own private room at the new hospital and learn I am being admitted. Batman has been thru migraine routines before with his mom and never was admitted. He said she got a few shots and they sent her home and she slept for two days. I was not getting any sleep. And my head was spinning and still very painful. They were asking me which drugs I wanted to make the pain stop. Like I have a dictionary on what narcotics will help me. I've never had narcotics before, I don't know squat about them. I muttered something about tylenol 3 and they were like no you don't want that. Well don't ask me then. Obviously.

Soon I get taken to the MRI. There are 3 techs that put earplugs in me and strap my head down and try to make me comfortable. HAH! Then I am forced to lay perfectly still while listening to the loudest annoying noise ever with a migraine. Who is in charge of this crap??
They tell me that when its over the Dr may read it by 9am so I should know something by then. So I prepare myself to go up to my room and sleep til noon. Well at about 4am, a neuro surgeon comes in my room and asks me fifty questions like, close my eyes really tight, smile with teeth showing, follow his finger, lift my hands in the air, count backwards, touch my nose, lift my leg, lift the other leg, breathe in, breathe out, etc....

Then he says that the MRI showed that I have what's called a cavernous angioma. Basically a cluster of blood vessels that is packed in my brain stem. I was probably born with it and if it had been up in my brain lobes, I may never have noticed it was there, but since its in the brain stem, its causing symptoms. I will probably just get lots of bad migraines and could possibly have siezures. So I get out of the hospital finally on Monday evening. It was very scary and I don't remember much more than that.

I am feeling fine now. I have a couple prescriptions for pain meds as needed. Basically just super excedrin and nausea help. The most I need is to catch up on the sleep I missed those two days when nurses and drs came in every 30 minutes to ask me the same questions over and over. Have to get the kids less confused. They see the bruises from the IVs on my arms and they ask a hundred times a day if I am sick. So hard for them to understand. We just have to pray it goes away and doesn't bleed again. So for now I am just trying not to worry.

Randomness

Shh! I am sneaking in some writing time during packing/moving break. Enjoy!

-I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.

-More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can
think about is that I can't wait for them to finish so that I can tell my own story that's not only better, but also more directly involves me.

-Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you
realize you're wrong.

-I don't understand the purpose of the line, "I don't need to drink to have fun." Great, no one does. But why start a fire with flint and sticks when they've invented the lighter?

-Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you're
going in the complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to be going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the direction from which you came, you have to first do something like check your watch or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to yourself to ensure that no one in the surrounding area thinks you're crazy by randomly switching directions on the sidewalk.

-That's enough, Nickelback.

-I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

-Is it just me, or are 80% of the people in the "people you may know" feature on Facebook people that I do know, but I deliberately choose not to be friends with?

-Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn't work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically fix the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all know how to fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards or FAQ's. We just figured it out. Today's kids are soft.

-There is a great need for sarcasm font.

-Sometimes, I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and
suddenly realize I had no idea what the f was going on when I first
saw it.

-I think everyone has a movie that they love so much, it actually
becomes stressful to watch it with other people. I'll end up wasting
90 minutes shiftily glancing around to confirm that everyone's
laughing at the right parts, then making sure I laugh just a little
bit harder (and a millisecond earlier) to prove that I'm still the
only one who really, really gets it.

-How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

-I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

- I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear
your computer history if you die.

-The only time I look forward to a red light is when I’m trying to
finish a text.

- A recent study has shown that playing beer pong contributes to the
spread of mono and the flu. Yeah, if you suck at it.

- LOL has gone from meaning, "laugh out loud" to "I have nothing else to say".

- I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

- Whenever someone says "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart",
all I hear is "I'm not real smart, but I'm imaginary smart".

- How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear what they said?

- I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars teams up to prevent a dick from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers!

- Every time I have to spell a word over the phone using 'as in'
examples, I will undoubtedly draw a blank and sound like a complete
idiot. Today I had to spell my boss's last name to an attorney and
said "Yes that's G as in...(10 second lapse)..ummm...Goonies"

-What would happen if I hired two private investigators to follow each other?

- While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and
instinctively swerved to avoid it...thanks Mario Kart.

- MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

- Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

- I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the
shower first and THEN turn on the water.

-Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty,and you can wear them forever.

- I would like to officially coin the phrase 'catching the swine flu' to be used as a way to make fun of a friend for hooking up with an overweight woman. Example: "Dave caught the swine flu last night."

-I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

- Bad decisions make good stories

-Whenever I'm Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their
profile is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got the Red Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don't mind if I do!

- Is it just me or do high school girls get sluttier & sluttier every year?

-If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring
would probably just be completely invisible.

-Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go
around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I'm from, this shouldn't be a problem....

-You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you've made up your mind that you just aren't doing anything else productive for the rest of the day.

-Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don't
want to have to restart my collection.

-There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are
going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.

-I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.

- "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this ever.

-I hate being the one with the remote in a room full of people
watching TV. There's so much pressure. 'I love this show, but will
they judge me if I keep it on? I bet everyone is wishing we weren't
watching this. It's only a matter of time before they all get up and
leave the room. Will we still be friends after this?'

-I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello?
Dammit!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and
goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?

- I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not
seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

-When I meet a new girl, I'm terrified of mentioning something she
hasn't already told me but that I have learned from some light
internet stalking.

-I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it's on shuffle,
then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.

-Why is a school zone 20 mph? That seems like the optimal cruising
speed for pedophiles...

- As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.

-Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still
not know what time it is.

-It should probably be called Unplanned Parenthood.

-I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

-Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn't know what do to with it.

-Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car
keys in a pocket, hitting the G-spot, and Pinning the Tail on the
Donkey - but I’d bet my ass everyone can find and push the Snooze
button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time every time...

-My 6-year old son asked me in the car the other day "Mom what would
happen if you ran over a ninja?" How the hell do I respond to that?

-It really pisses me off when I want to read a story on CNN.com and
the link takes me to a video instead of text.

-I wonder if cops ever get pissed off at the fact that everyone they
drive behind obeys the speed limit.

-I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

-I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or
Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lites than Kay.

-The other night I ordered takeout, and when I looked in the bag, saw they had included four sets of plastic silverware. In other words,someone at the restaurant packed my order, took a second to think about it, and then estimated that there must be at least four people eating to require such a large amount of food. Too bad I was eating by myself. There's nothing like being made to feel like a fat bastard before dinner.

My Favorite things for Friday

Just thought I would share some things that I love looking at. Some of these things have gotten wheels turning in my head and I need to keep a reminder of them.

1. I love this name wall hanging I found on Sisters Stuff. I bet I could make it into the boys names for their wall in their new room.

2. This craft room peg board stuff! Found at Craftster. In our new place (that we are moving to this weekend) I will have a large dining room that I am splitting in half to make my craft area AND dining room. Great place to crop. So I need great wall hangings to add some color to the place since we are renting and can't paint the walls. So I think adding some cheap framed pegboards that are painted will not only add color, but also function quite well for holding my tools for beading AND scrapbooking.3. Along those lines, Michelle at Stamp and Smile used curtain rods on her pegboard to put her punches. GREAT idea! Gonna have to copy this one too!
4. So I'm getting a new doggie and I thought this little coat from k9outfitters on Etsy would be adorable for him.

5. And finally these adorable embroidered love notes by Katie.Now I must go pack some more. No more internet this weekend til probly Monday or Tuesday night. LOVE!

Sweetness!

I have been chosen as a creative blogger on A Blog to Behold! Look for me to be showing you a great new blog every week! I am very honored to get this position and I'm sure I will have a blast doing it!

I have been a busy bee lately. Spiderman is in swimming lessons and doing great. We have been potty training Superman cause he could start going to preschool for free if he just gets the hang of it finally. We are packing up this tiny apartment because be are moving to a cute duplex on the 23rd. I am so excited. Its bigger than what we have now and much nicer for barely any more money.

I also was blessed with a new nephew on 7-8-09 and a new niece on 8-6-09.Aren't they adorable?!?! Its going to be so great for them to grow up together.

I also just had a job interview at Archiver's scrapbooking store. Really hope I get the job there! Would be so fun to be a part-time teacher of what I love to do!

Mama's Cookin

I made some yummy "roasted corn salsa". I don't know if I should actually call it roasted because I didn't actually "roast" anything. I put stuff in a skillet and "browned" it, but that's about it. Good enough I say.
This will be my first recipe post on my lovely blog. Enjoy.
Here's the Scoop:
Ingredients:
3 tsp olive oil
1 can of mexican corn
1 can of whole kernal corn
4 scallions (white part only, chopped)
2 tblsp butter
2 minced garlic cloves
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 medium tomato- diced
1/2 jalapeno pepper- diced
1/2 each red and green peppers-diced

Heat olive oil in a skillet on high. Drain juice out of cans of corn. Pour corn into skillet and heat until slightly browned. Stirring occasionally. Transfer to a bowl.

Cook white part of scallions in butter with garlic, salt, cumin, chili powder, pepper, and jalapeno in skillet over medium heat until scallions are tender. Remove from heat and add to corn.
Stir in diced tomato and peppers.

I prefer to eat this with tortilla chips while it is still warm, but its also good cold. Also goes well with a tall glass of sweet iced tea.
Yum!

Hey! I'm still alive!

I think! Summer is so busy around here, but I have been outside a lot and also playing my new computer game...Sims 3. Terribly addicting. So I shall share some random pictures to update my life events for anyone who cares.
I took some adorable pictures of the boys. Here is one for you. Who needs a photographer?
Took Superman to a farm where he got to feed a baby goat a bottle and ride a pony.
I got this great shot of him playing by a little waterfall while we were there too. <3<3Hubby & I went on a romantic weekend to a B&B by a little lake. It was just what we needed.I have been making some pretty awesome jewelry.We got season passes to the local amusement parks so we are going every chance we get. The boys love it and it makes for very good naps and early bedtimes.And here are my Sims getting engaged. They are supposed to look like me and Batman. Our house rocks too. Sim-me is working on baby #2. We adopted baby#1. I am a family oriented painter and he is a computer whiz, scientist. We rock Sim world.

Showers, Oldness & Hangovers

Well this weekend is almost over, but it was pretty busy for me.

Friday night I had a baby shower for one of my sisters. I wasn't really in charge but I got nominated to do the public speaking part cause my other sister who was the host got chicken. Anyway, I rocked it and everyone had a great time.
I helped make this great cake and these adorable cupcakes for the shower too.


Saturday was my bday but we went around to see all our moms and grandmas. Then I got a bunch of girls together and went out and did karaoke! It was a blast but I drank too much. Its hard to not drink when people buy them for you. I sang Shoop, then Before He Cheats, then a duet If I Had A Million Dollars. Then we went to another bar where there was a band and since it was my birthday, somehow I ended up playing the cowbell on stage with the band.
Then I woke up with a hangover this morning and my hubby made eggs that smelled up the whole house and made me wanna barf. But I was very touched at his efforts. Then my youngest sister came over and we went to the amusement park and rode roller coasters. Thats really great for a hangover, let me tell you. I am glad she went so she could ride with my son on stuff I wasn't going near. But walking does help hangovers for me, that and DrPepper. It rained on us so we left early and now I am home in my robe all warm and relaxing.

I took some GREAT pics of the boys by the river Saturday. I have such cute kids.
I will hopefully share my favorite ones tomorrow after I get them edited. Now I have to go watch some DVR.

Vintage Plum

I found this new scrapbook networking/kit site, and they are awesome. Vintage Plum
They are having an online crop that I am going to make hubby hook up a laptop and run a cable all the way down the hall so I have internet connection for.
Anyway, if you are a scrapper, check it out.
I have to give props to their site designers cause they have some of the best graphics and little gadgets I have ever seen on a scrap site. I am joining them at pretty close to their beginning and my first kit will be next month hopefully if I can talk hubby into it and I hope to stick around for as long as humanly possible for both of us!

Elmo Be Elmo. Who Be You??

We Love Elmo. We Love Tina Fey Too.

Almost only a month later...a new post!

OK so, A BIG CONGRATS to my friend the Genderist to her new addition!

And Happy Spring everyone! I have been thinking of trying to get a picture of the boys in matching shirts I got them from the Children's Place. However I only got a few pictures of Superman and then my camera/computer ate the pictures on transfer. So for now I am waiting on a warm day when I can have the boys clean and dressed and outside on green grass cause Easter Day was not one of those days. Maybe tomorrow.

We had a pregnancy scare last week. Was kinda funny. Batman and I both agreed that this was NOT the time to add another SUPER to this family. But certain things were late that should have arrived and the Batman was freaking out. Then things arrived and we are still a family of four thankfully.

I am planning a baby shower for my sister who is due in July. She is having a boy and her theme is these adorable monkey faces. So I am making monkey invitations and thank you cards and diaper cake and diaper wreath and hopefully i can find someone to make an edible cake in the shape of a monkey face or a banana. Then we will have monkey tails for snacks and anything else baby/monkey themed that I can think of. Any suggestions are appreciated.
I've been busy busy being creative and trying to be organized and planning. Then I watched this:
Martha
I don't know if I can do it. I need to find some one who can. Better yet, someone who can do it twice.
I entertained the idea of buying a shaped cake pan from Amazon and making a monkey cake, but quickly decided I should just stick to paper creativity. Thats my niche. And maybe some beadwork, which I need to get working on now.

I helped my youngest sister find a junior prom dress for $37! Yes I typed that right. It was on clearance for $70 and then half off that. There were loose beads and ripped zipper seams and it needed the straps taken up and was missing a button. All fixable. And it looked great on her. So we went to JoAnns....My favorite craft store....(I wish I got free stuff for shameless advertising) and we got extra beads and new buttons that were better than the ones that were on there. Then when I got home I took the tags off and realized there was one of those little ziploc baggies that had extra beads and buttons in it. Oh well, the new buttons are prettier. Can't wait to take prom pics of her in a few weeks. So glad we found such a good buy. And then she got shiny silver shoes with a bow and a the next store found a purse that exactly matched the shoes. It was like a shopping miracle! I sware angels were singing that day for us!

Now for a less exciting part of my post. I've been visiting a doctor recently. Not my endocrinologist, although she has me up to 237mcgs of thyroid now, which is like whoa! She also checked me for gluten intolerance when I told her of my nausea and sudden visits to the ceramic throne immediately following meals. Negative.
Anyhow, my other doc thinks I have a nervous stomach so she likes to try me on anti-anxieties. I think she's nutzo. She gets me a colonoscopy and blood/stool tests and different meds. I have asked around my family histories and such and have gotten a sense that my symptoms may be from a gallbladder. I want it checked just to be safe. So two appointments ago I asked her to check and she kind of said okay and she wanted a physical. So I made the appointment for my physical/pap and got that yesterday. Then I mentioned the gallbladder thing and she was like didn't we check that already? Hello? I like when doctors listen to me. So then she orders the gallbladder sono. I get that today. I just want to find out what's causing the problems, cause I don't like to be treated for symptoms and no one finds out a diagnosis. I'm tired of being patient and seeing if medicine helps and it just goes away. If this shows nothing then I'm finding a doctor who will figure it out or at least pick the right meds. anti-anxieties don't help nausea moron. I'm not depressed, I'm gonna barf stupid, how did you get a degree??

Ohh I LOVE it!!

Whole lotta scrappin going on

I have gotten to scrap a bit recently. I went to a two night overnight crop 2 wekends ago, then a crop last friday, and this weekend I am doing a whole weekend crop again (but not staying over night cause its close).
So I want to finish Spiderman's third album before this weekend. And I am slowly doing Superman's second album. He is almost 3 and I haven't even scrapped to his first birthday yet. My goal is to finish that big 12x15 album before I go to IL at the end of April.
I am so excited to get to go see my IL "family" again. We're doing some cropping and celebrating my adopted mom & my birthdays.

Superman has started being interested in television. He has liked spongebob for a while, but now he's into Dora, and Diego, and WonderPets. Its so cute when he runs to the TV and points to the answers. Its good that he now likes the learning shows. Then maybe he'll stop saying, "Tarter sauce!"