just some random things...

* First, Thanksgiving was great. We had a really good time over at Pete's mom and dad's with all his sisters and the kids. We even played Pictionary after dinner...just like Thanksgivings I remember growing up. We always played games. Super fun. Missed mom though, and was really sad to hear Mike was sick and they didn't even have a real Thanksgiving. That just sucks.
* My neighbor, never, ever has dirty dishes in her sink. Never, ever. You know how I know? Her kitchen window faces my stairwell window. She never closes the blinds in her kitchen and we don't have blinds on that window in our house. Therefore, every time I walk up or down the stairs, I peek into her kitchen. How can you not when it's staring you right in the face? I'm serious here folks. I mean I know they eat...I've seen them do that. But there is never one dirty dish in that sink. How does she do it? Does she do it just to spite me?...cause she knows I'm looking? Maybe they only use paper products and throw everything away. Nah. It's a conspiracy. If you are reading this and you never have dirty dishes in your sink...you suck! Just like my neighbor.
*babysitting....I have no idea how in the world I worked in childcare for 5 years. Seriously. I watched 2 of my nieces, Hannah and Caitlin, (both 4 1/2) today...plus of course my 2 kids. Don't get me wrong..I love these girls. But they are c-r-a-z-y. All 5 of these cousins (not counting Megan because she's too little!) but all 5 of these kids are insane. Yes, even my little Jake. When they are together, something magical happens. I'm not talking "Glinda Good Witch of the North"magic.... They go nuts. I guess I must have missed out on this growing up since I'm an only child and I only have one 1st cousin that is 6 years older than me. It actually is a really good thing. I mean it's awesome that they all are so close in age and they are lucky enough to all live near each other and get to grow up together. But seriously, having them all in one spot at one time can be pure insanity. Running up and down the stairs...jumping off beds...fishing in the fish tank (that one about sent me over the edge!)...going outside...coming inside...tattle telling...Me: "No food on the carpet! Stay in the kitchen with that!" "No, you can not have a Popsicle at 9:30 in the morning!" I'm sure they think I'm the meanest Auntie. I need to just relax a little. So that's why I'm wondering...how in the world did I do this with 14 of these little crazies (yes, 14) for 8 hours a day? It is a gift I no longer posses!
*Ok, I'm off to bed....eyes are barley staying open! Hope everyone has a good weekend!

my new favorite

Isn't she so cute?! I just love this page! Only took me about 20 minutes to do. And only that long because I had to paint the letters and get those rinestones to stick. Just had to share this one. Not much else to report. Getting ready for Thanksgiving tomorrow...can't wait! Hope you all have a great day tomorrow!

Happy Thanksgiving!

So it's Friday night

and here I am blogging...Aren't most people my age out on Friday nights?? Well, maybe not. I'm just happy both my kids are sound asleep in thier beds! *ahhh* a little breathing room. It's been a whirlwind of a week...not really for me, but indirectly through Pete. He's got so much going on right now, it's just crazy. He's trying to get this pig ranch thing going..a high fenced hunting ranch, he's also hired a graphic designer to make a silk screen for his T-Shirt company idea AND we've got decals coming for his decal business thingy. Uggg. Could he just pick one thing and work on that??!! It's a little overwhelming to me. And he wants everything done now, now, now! I guess I really shouldn't complain because even though this is all stuff he's totally in to...he's doing all this for our family. Because even if one of these ideas takes off....I should be able to stay home and not have to go back to work. That would be awesome. Because I am seriously dreading January 2, 2007! That is my return to work date...and I'm affraid that it's coming wayyyyy too soon. I mean, HELLO...Thanksgiving is next week. Can you believe that? I really thought we at least had another week. I'm supposed to make the stuffing...never made it before! SO, taking advice from mom and I'll just be doctoring up good 'ol Stove Top. Shhhh...... don't tell ok? Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and I'm looking forward to spending it with Pete's big family...but I'm really gonna miss the deliciously delectible turkey Mike makes every year at moms.....Well, except for this year. They're going away for dinner too. Never had better turkey than at mom and Mikes! He smokes it on the BBQ and OMGosh...soooo good. Ok, I need to wipe the drool off the keyboard!

My dad came to visit today...here's a couple of pictures of him and Megan...So cute. She fell asleep in his arms. Love my dad. It was a good visit! :o) Mom is coming tomorrow! And she's bringing clothes for Megan from Kari...So good!

3 new scrapbook pages added to my slide show...take a look!
Will maybe write more tomorrow...it's late..I need to go night night!

Ok, if you have nothing better to do...

Check this out:

'What" will your obituary say?' at QuizGalaxy.com

This is a funny website I saw on someone elses blog. It's pretty fun if you're just sitting around doing nothing!

Got some scrapbooking done...will post pictures of my pages tomorrow or I'll add them to my slide show.

Not much to report

Just been doing the same old stuff. Had a bit of rain today. Nice to kind of freshen things up a bit, but before too long I'm going to start hating it. I get so sick of winter weather. I much prefer summer!
So lately I've been pondering this epidemic of blogging. It just seems like all of a sudden every one's got a blog. Have you ever looked at the Blogger tool bar at the top of this page and pushed "next blog"? I'm just absolutely amazed at the amount of people out there doing this very thing at this very moment in time. I think it's fascinating. What also amazes me is how many people in different countries write blogs and how many other people in other countries use English as they're primary language. A lot of Asian cultures seem to be writing their blogs in English. People just seem to be the same wherever you go. I stumbled upon a Malaysian college student living in Melbourne Australia, a native Floridian who went to Costa Rica, fell in love with the country and decided to make it her home, and a guy in Phoenix hating is life in a cubicle (I can relate for sure!). Blogging just seems to feed my nosey nature! It's like peeking in your neighbors window to see what's going on over there! (noooo, i don't really do that!....well, maybe sometimes!) Anyway, if you're ever board, push "next blog" up there and see what somebody else is up to. It's kind of fun.
P.S...did you see my slide show down there on the right? Cool huh?

Check it out!

Blogger finally got a clue! They made their blogging a lot easier to use and customizable. They got lucky cuz I was this close to moving my blog! You might see changes every time you come check out my blog...cuz, it's kinda fun to change it! Check out the right hand collum for links to some of my favorite sites/blogs. :o)

Babies, Country Music and Global Warming

This is a little mini-album I made for my friend Erin. She just had a baby boy last week. Ryan Michael. This is Erin's 3rd baby. She's the type that likes the surprise and chooses not to find out the sex of the baby durring her pregnancy. Well, she had herself convinced that this baby was a girl. So I think she was pretty surprised when they said "it's a boy!"Anyways, I thought this would be a nice gift for the mom who already has everything. There's places for pictures and notes throughout the book. I hope she likes it.

Did anyone see the CMA awards the other night? We cought the highlights online yesterday...did you see Faith Hill's big doo doo??!! She totally freaked out when they called Carrie Underwood's name and not hers for Female Vocalist of the Year. To me it looked obvious that she expected to win. It looked like she was thinking "yep, here comes my name". It seemed like she's about ready to jump out of her seat to go get her award and then was totally shocked to hear somone elses name. She let out this big "What??" and through her hands up in the air. If you didn't see it, Google it because it's all over the internet. It's worth seeing! Shame on you Faith! You're a professional, you're supposed to keep that stuff to yourself!

Weird weather...So yesterday we go out for a walk and I come back dripping with sweat...it was 77 degrees at 11 o'clock in the morning. It's November! Then today, I come downstairs at around 6:30 and there's sprinkles on my patio, then it full on rained for a while. Now the sky is perfectly blue, clouds are all gone. I'm convinced it's Global Warming! LOL!!

craving attention

Jake absolutley loves Megan...but he CAN NOT stand if someone is paying attention to her and not him. I can not tell you how frustrating the last couple of days have been. He will be perfectly content playing by himself as long as I am not paying attention to Megan. In other words, if she's sleeping. He'll be playing on the other side of the room and I'll have Megan on the floor just talking to her and all of a sudden he'll just start screaming. Well not screaming, but talking really, really loudly. He doesn't even realize he's doing it. Then he'll come right in between her and I and gets right in her face. He's just trying to play with her, but he doesn't understand that she doesn't want him in her face. I mean, he's like inches, centemeters maybe, from her little face. And of course he's squeeling loudly. I try and be nice and include him in my 'conversations' with her. But again, he doesn't understand that she doesn't know how to play "peek-a-boo". How do you explain that to a 3 year old? If I'm feeding her, he has to be sitting on any free part of my lap too. He climbs all over the chair or couch...wherever we're sitting. Again, right up in her face and mine. Like I said, I don't even think he knows he's doing it. And I feel bad because I'm constantly getting irritated and I end up kinda yelling at him. Then his feelings are hurt. Then I feel horrible. I feel like the meanest mommy sometimes. Am I the meanest mommy? Should I just be happy that he loves her so much and let it be? I guess I probably should. Sometimes I feel so spread thin. I just want Megan to feel loved. But I don't want Jake to forget we love him too. I think as they both get older, especially Megan, this will get easier and work itself out. I sure hope so.

Nothing exciting

Not a whole lot to report today. Just been doing the same old stuff. Pete left this morning to go up to Clear Lake for a pig hunt. Yipee. He'll be back Tuesday afternoon. We (me, Jake and Megan) went on a walk this morning. Jake likes this one house about a block up on the corner because there are always butterflies flying around the lavender bushes in the front. He's always trying to catch them...and he's been quite successfull at it! Anyways today the front door to the house was open and a big fluffy black and white kitty comes tip toeing out. Jake imediately goes up to it wanting to pet it. Well, because the door was open, I knew the people inside could probalby hear us, and I didn't want them to think I was letting my kid tromp all over their front yard. So I say loud enough for them to hear me, "Come on Jake, let's go. Leave the kitty alone". Well anyway the lady inside did hear me. She came flying outside. I thought, oh no she's going to be mad we're touching her cat! Turns out she was just worried about her kitty because he just had surgery. All of a sudden she starts talking to me like we're old friends and telling me all about her cat's "blockage" and issues with his urethra. *sigh* Dont' get me wrong, she was actually really, really nice and I think she just wanted to meet some people in the neighborhood. (I also just found out she just moved here) But anyways, do you really have to tell me about your cats' urethra the first time we meet?! LOL!
Another funny story from the walk today...about a block down from the Kitty Lady, Jake found a rolly polly. This kid is totally into bugs. Anyways, he carried the little pill bug for at least 1/2 a mile, talking to it all the while about how he was the bugs' best friend. I kept telling him he was going to have to let the rolly polly go so he could go back to his house. Well finally, about 2/3 of the way back home, he decided to let it go. Here was the conversation with the rolly polly:
Jake: Bye rolly polly. You go home to you mommy and daddy ok? I see you again next year! You mommy is calling you. She be really really mad. Go home I said!
But the bug didn't move. I actually think it was dead already!
He just cracks me up. A real funny kid.
Both of the kids are napping right now. It's wonderful! A little quite time. I think I'll take this time to read my book...maybe take a little nap myself!

as requested...

Here is a recent layout I did of Megan when she was 3 weeks old. I made my own photo studio by laying a big pink sheet on the floor. I think it worked out great. It's so fun having a girl now to scrapbook! I've been scrapping Jake for the past 3 years and everything has been blue, green, and red. Though pink and purple aren't necessarily my favorite colors, it's nice to have a little variety! Plus, flowers are just so cool. And how many flowers can you really have on a boy page?!
In response to a few comments to my last posting...Mom..I really don't have much talent. I just read a lot of magazines and get ideas. I rarely have my own design! Though, this one actually was my own idea! Anyways, I realize that yeah, I'm home right now so I do have some free time for scrapping. But no matter what, I just find time because it's what I like to do. It can be quite overwhelming though if you get behind. So Jami, I know what you mean about it all piling up. I've got at least 100 pictures in my Snapfish.com account waiting for the next payday so I can order my prints! 100 prints is a little scary because to me that may mean I get a little overwhelmed and then a little UNinspired. In which case I will choose not to scrap the pictures. But that brings up another good point. You don't have to scrap every picture. It's not necessary is it? I don't think so. As long as your getting your story told, what does it matter? And it doesn't matter if you don't think it looks good, because more than likely, everyone else will think it does! So just do it! If it makes you happy! Imbrace imperfection and just go with it!

Ta-da! I finnaly got it to work

After trying all day, I finnally got these pictures to upload! Whew!
I've decided that I really enjoy blogging. I've been reading a lot of blogs, so it's nice to have one of my own. This is becoming somewhat of my own digital scrapbook and hopefully, I'll be able to look back on my own blog entries for inspiration for my real scrapbooks.
I've been scrapbooking for maybe almost 10 years if I think about it. But now being a mom...of 2...I am just SO in to it. I've come to realize that scrapbooking isn't just about birthdays and holidays, but about remembering life as we live it day to day. I want to be able to sort of freeze time and be able to look back and remember what it was like when Jake was 3 and Megan was just born. You know, what I was feeling and thinking at the time. Wouldn't it be great to have something that told just exactly how your mother was feeling the day you were born? Something that will last beyond her life and yours? I have become adicted to taking pictures, I'm in the scrapbook store at least once a week, and I have a list a mile long of the pages I want to finish. I even think about it in my sleep! I've just been so inspired lately by the scrapbooking industry itself. I'm realizing that it isn't just a craft or a hobby. Yes, it is a creative outlet and that's probably why I enjoy it so much. But, it's also about telling your story and your kids stories. Wouldn't it be great if you could look back at all your grandma's pictures and know the stories behind them? My Grandmother has boxes and boxes and more boxes of old photographs. I remember we tried to go through them all and organize them when I was younger. There were so many pictures with no dates, no names, no places. Grandma sometimes had a hard time remembering even who was in the picture. I hope my kids can look back at their scrapbooks and get to know themselves, their families, and maybe most importantly, their mother. Because everytime I create something for them, I'm giving a little piece of myself in that layout.

technical difficulties....

Having issues with Blogger today. I can't upload any pictures for some reason. I'm actually thinking of moving my blog to a site where I may have more options for customizing and such. I'm finding Blogger to be a little non-user friendly....or maybe I just don't really know what I'm doing...probably the latter of the two!! I DO know how to upload pictures on here though, and that's what's not working today! If this problem persists, then I will definitly move my blog because that is my main reason for blogging is to share stories AND pictures. So, I'll give it another day or two and then I'm moving on to bigger and better blogs!
Last night was super fun. Wish I had pics to share. :O( We had a whole band of pirates, a tinkerbell, and a sleeping beauty. Oh yeah, a baby pumpkin too!
I'll get the pictures up as soon as I can!