happily random

The Case of the Missing Erasers

Pencils are made for making mistakes, right? You mess up while you're writing, spell a word wrong & you just flip the pencil over & erase it. Not in this house. For some reason each newly sharpened pencil has no eraser. Don't get me wrong, they all started out with them. But sometime in their early lives they lost them somehow. Telltale bite marks give evidence to their undoing.

First I thought it was Rebekah doing it, as she is the one who uses the pencils for homework. I even caught her the act of nipping one off. There, problem solved.

But then I caught Tyler doing it too! I watched in horror as he stuck the pencil in his mouth and bit the eraser right off! Ahhh, so there were two culprits.

But no! One day I gave Lucas a freshly sharpened pencil & shortly thereafter the eraser from that one was gone too (although I didn't actually see him do it, I believe circumstantially he was the only one who had that particular pencil at the time). Then there was THREE!

And then there is my sweet baby Samantha. Just this morning she was drawing on the floor (literally) & right by her side was the discarded piece of eraser & the offended pencil in her little hand. Not Sammy too!

No pencil is safe in my home. Despite my pleadings to the contrary, my children take great pleasure in biting the erasers off. Where did this compulsion come from? What did the pencils ever do to them? I just don't know.

What I do know is this: my own stash of pencils is off limits lest they become victim to the teeth of my kids!

A Layout!

I don't post new layouts very often, I know. This one was just for fun, something I don't do nearly enough, just a cute picture of Samantha and the baby doll that Grandmother gave her for Christmas that she loves so much. I just got this paper (I just love orange if you could tell from the colors of my blog) on sale no less at my LSS. I actually got 3 sheet of it since it was on sale & it has my 2 favorite things: orange & polka dots! :) Anyway, what makes this layout most impressive as far as my design goes is that I did it without the aid of my computer! Yes, Sheila Doherty did not use her computer at all at anytime during this layout. Anyone see that coming back in after all the "hybrid" hubbub wears off? ;) Fully traditional scrapbooking. I'm a trendsetter, what can I say! LOL.

Supplies: Patterned Paper (My Mind's Eye), Giant Photo Corner, Lined Post-Its & Chipboard Arrows (Heidi Swapp), buttons (Making Memories, American Crafts), Cursive Alphabet & Metal Plaques (American Crafts), Patterned Chipboard Letters (Cosmo Cricket), Ribbons (KI Memories & Offray), Pink Metal Frame (Making Memories), Stamps (Fontwerks, Autumn Leaves), Zig Writers (EK Success), Scrapper's Floss (Karen Foster Design), Coluzzle Wavy Cutter (Provo Craft), Stamp Ink (Stampin' Up!), "Joy" Button (Junkitz)

Happy thoughts

Just thought I would post a few happy images my kids have made in the last couple of days for me. The top one is by Rebekah. She says that the picture is Easter & that is me, her daddy & herself. The bottom two are Luke's; I'm pretty sure you can tell what those are. ;)

My kids are quite the little artists. Both Rebekah & Lucas love to draw pictures. They're not really into coloring books, but prefer to draw there own pictures. They're very colorful & creative, usually picture of the things that they're into right now. Honestly, I don't know what to do with the enormous amount artwork they generate. I must admit, I throw quite a bit of it away. Horrors! I know. But what am I supposed to do with the reams of paper they draw on? Anyway, I do keep my most favorites. And I try to be sure to not let them see me throw away anything or find it in the trash.

So, I'm over about my HOF not-win. I decided that I'm not going to call it a loss, because I didn't lose. I just didn't win. ;) My layouts for it were awesome (even if I do say so myself) & I guess it just wasn't what they were looking for this time around. I do beautiful work & it makes me happy. That's really what's important, isn't it? Besides, I'm going to rock there socks with my Scrapbooker of the Year entry. No procrastinating! I'm so bad about doing things last minute, mostly because I usually get away with it. Not this year! I've already started. :)

BTW, for those of you who feared in my last post that I was drowning my sorrows with booze, no need to worry. Joel & I had a lovely evening making margaritas for the first time in years. I'm not a regular drinker. I'm not even an irregular drinker. LOL. In the past year, the margarita was my second alcoholic beverage total. When it really comes down to it, I don't like alcohol. It has to be so disguised in a very fruity mixed drink that it really isn't worth the huge effort it takes to make. I'm really a Dr. Pepper addict at heart. ;) And God is the one I take my sorrows to. The margaritas were more a way to make a special evening with my husband out of an otherwise mopey day. No worries.

Rather early for a day out on a Saturday morning, but I'm headed out in about 45 minutes. I am attending a surprise spa day for one of my friend's birthday. She doesn't even know about it right now. I guess her neighbor will be kidnapping her with a shopping excuse. Her husband & my husband will be hanging out together with all the kids (they're 3 boys with our 4 kids is very loud). So this morning I'll be getting pampered at the local spa with my friends. Too fun!

I just had to mention that I am a true believer in the power of prayer. I believe that God listens to our every word and thought, and as His child, longs to make us happy & help us like our earthly parents do. Here's an example. Samantha came down with yet another cold Thursday night, running 102 fever, snotty nose & cough. Yesterday afternoon at 1:30 she started crying & crying and wouldn't stop. I decided that it warrented a trip to the doctor to have her checked out. Before I left, her fever was still high, but I prayed for her, that God would touch her little body & take away her pain. When we got to the doctor, she ran around & played with her brothers like nothing was wrong. When we were called back & they took her temp, not only was it normal (no fever!), her ears & lungs were perfectly clear! Praise God! Today she is still oozing, but in good spirits, still with no fever. It's wonderful to have a God that not only hears our prays, but helps us too.

Time to get ready for my spa day! Have a great weekend!

They're writing songs of love...

....but not for me. The lucky stars above, but not for me...."

Feelin' a little mopey this evening. HOF calls have gone out. Honorable Mention calls have gone out. 3 days of waiting & torture, & for the 4th year in a row, my phone has stayed silent. So I think I deserve to feel a bit mopey. Joel & I have been passing the evening with a couple of my favorite strawberry margaritas. A nice way to end a mopey day. ; Yes, I know, there's always next year, I have a wonderful supportive family, yadda-yadda-yadda.... let me wallow for a bit, k? ;)

But, on a positive, unselfish note, my best friend Shannon DID get the CK lovin' with an Honorable Mention call today! I'm so happy for her. See, Shan, I'm not the only one who likes your layouts! ;) Shout out to Shannon! I'm very happy for YOU, babe, even if I am a bit mopey for myself. Wo-is-me....

I'll be better tomorrow.

Sweepstakes & other good mail

Just the other day I posed the question on a message board, "Does anyone ever win those sweepstakes that the scrapbook magazines have?" They have all kinds of contests but I never hear who wins them. Well, today I got a definite answer "YES!" as I won one. LOL. I got a letter today from Meredith Corporation, the publisher of Scrapbooks Etc., to tell me that I won a one-month subscription to Poppy Ink Scrapbook Kits. Very cool!

But that's not all, although that was a nice little surprise. On top of that, I got an email for more scrapbook assignment work for 2 publications. Gotta love that! Assignment work is great, because it's a sure thing. :)

Also in the mail I got $100 in rebates from the 2 cell phones we just bought. Just getting our own money back, but still. As my husband likes to say, "It's better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick."

Lots of good things today. Our sitter is watching the kids this afternoon, which means I can SCRAPBOOK. Ya-HOO! ;) Then this evening, we have MOPS, which means fun, friends & good food. I'm ordering from Noodle Express for the group tonight & have a very yummy Oreo cheesecake from CostCo for dessert.

It's shaping up to be a very pleasant day. :)

And so it begins...

...the Great Thaw of 2007. The two feet of snow that we got last week is on it's way out. It's supposed to be up to 40 today & 49 (!!!) tomorrow. We might be surfing down the driveway tomorrow. :) What is it they say about March? In like a lion, out like a lamb? So far that's true. Who knows if this is it for winter or if we'll have more storms this month. It isn't unheard of. I'm sad to see it go. I'm one of those rare people whose favorite season is winter. I love the cold, the snow, wearing sweaters, short days.

But then, I'm ready for spring. I'm ready for flowers & warmth & not trudging through the snow to the woodpile for more logs for stove. I'm ready to let my kids go outside to play without taking 20 minutes to get them suited up in snowsuits, boots gloves & hats, only to have them spend 10 minutes outside & come back in dripping snow all over & needing to be un-suited. :)

I know my husband is ready for spring. Building houses in snow drifts is hard, cold work. Of course it's about to be really muddy work. But it'll get easier with the coming warmth. Easier is good. He works so hard, my sweet husband.

Speaking of my husband, he's sawing some logs late this morning. Tomorrow will be my turn. The women's ministry at our church is having a PJ party that I'll be attending tonight. It'll be a late night, so I'm sure I'll need some sleep in the morning. It's so nice going to a church with an 11:30 a.m. service. :)

Snow & Scrap-A-Faire

Over the last several days we have just been slammed with snow. Just getting from my house to my studio, a mere 50 feet from the house, I had to put on snow boots & wade through 2 feet of fresh powder. I love the snow, but my satellite internet doesn't. It gets buried in snow & Joel has to climb up on the roof to clear it off so we can have internet access again. I tried doing it once... never again. It's super scary. I don't know how my husband does it. Every year we say that once things thaw we'll move the satellite under cover, but then it's nice out & we have plenty of time & of course we forget. Then it snows & we're out for another year.

Which brings me to Scrap-A-Faire. It's an online scrapbook convention put together by Scrapbooks Etc. It's an interesting idea: online classes, chats & shopping for 5 days from the comfort of your own computer. A great idea for those of us that don't have a scrapbook convention locally. The only problem is the snow. I've only been able to log on here & there as a signal breaks through our nearly constant dustings of snow. It's now 2:30 in the afternoon & this is the first time I've been able to get online all day. Ho-hum. So far I've finished one class: Brushes & Beyond by Rhonna Farrer. I did learn a couple of things that I didn't already know, mostly shortcuts, and those little things made it worth the cost right there. I just love shortcuts. :) The class was very fast-paced & she definitely assumed you knew what you were doing already when it comes to Photoshop, as she left simple steps out here & there. Like she said, definitely not a beginner class.

I have 3 other classes left to do in the next three days, so I'd better be off. Who knows if we'll get hit with more snow & then I'll be internet-less again. And next week it's supposed to be 45+ degrees. Talk about slush-city!