What a Great Weekend!!!

I just love getting together with friends!! We had such a great time talking, laughing, and oh yeah, scrapboking! I have to say, I was also enlightened and a bit educated thanks to Angie, Donna and Stephanie...I learned more than I needed to about triangles and "Q" words, and saw some pretty wierd videos... but I think that's all I can say about that.

Anyway, here's a few layouts that I managed to get done; Daycare kids, of course...

Nicholas and Dylan

Johanna

Nicholas and Dylan

Pretty Coraline

And here are some projects I did for Bella Blvd. recently;

My very special Grandma, whom I miss soooooo much!
Cute little guy, Dylan!

My Sweet Gracie!

and a wreath using the flowered paper from the Honey, I'm Home line.

"C" is for Cookie!

So...every once in a while we have a special day here at my daycare. This week we focused on learning the letter "C". In honor of that, I decided to have a cookie exchange, where each child brought in different kinds of cookies to pass out to their friends. All the cookies were great and might I say, extremely Delicious, and most were homemade which made them extra special. I just had to share these unbelievable, extra yummy goodies that Dylan brought in. Let me tell you, these were a frosting lovers' dream! Thanks Dylan!!

Alyssa and I kicked off this past weekend getting pedicures Friday night. Normally I love to do this and it usually takes about an hour, but wouldn't you know on a night where we had other plans the place would be empty so we got extra special treatment. Two hours later we walked out of there, almost making us late for a movie. We picked up Jose and went on to see Toy Story 1 and 2 in 3D. These are two of my favorite Disney movies (I have many), so I just had to see them. They did a pretty good job of converting the movies into 3D.

Saturday morning I went to see Matthews soccer team beat the pants off the other team!! These kids are so cute, playing their little hearts out. But of course Matthew was by far the cutest!

Saturday night we went out to dinner and drinks with Bob and Carole, and then back to our house to play some cards. I love spending fun times with good friends!

Then Sunday it was off to Oconomowoc for Rebecca's 7th (golden) birthday. It was an American Girl birthday if I ever saw one. I can't believe my little niece is already 7 years old. Where does the time go??

Some New Bella Layouts!

I've been working on some new layouts for Bella. Below are three layouts using the Flirty, Plastino, and Super Stud paper lines.

This first layout is of Alyssa's friend, Monica (her boyfriends sister). As you can see, she is very photogenic. The Flirty line is so much fun to work with and of course, I had to Stickle the flowers because I am the sparkle queen!

This layout is of Cute little Hailey. Remember her from one of my older posts? She's so much fun to take care of. She smiles all the time, except when I'm aiming a camera at her! Go figure!
She loves to pick my flowers. I used the Plastino line for this layout since it's all about summer!

Lastly, this is Dylan. I just love him! He's such a sweet boy. If I had a son, I'd want him to be just like Dylan. He's one of the few boys I have here at the daycare at the moment. The Super Stud line was perfect for this layout.

If I Were Alone...

This morning, while sitting in the bathroom starring at the empty toilet paper roll hanging from the wall and getting progressively angrier and angrier after realizing that the cupboard where the extra stash was kept was empty too, I began to ponder...

If I were alone, I would never run out of necessities since I would be the one realizing the product is nearing the end, therefore, replenishing as needed.

If I were alone, My house would always be tidy and clean because no one but I would be there to mess things up and I consider myself a fairly organized and neat person.

If I were alone, I could watch "whatever" and "whenever" I wanted, the big screen with surround sound and high def, and never be interrupted. Imagine that, full control over the remote control!

If I were alone, my utilities, especially those generated by the television and hot water (due to 20 minute showers sometimes twice a day by the same person), would decrease drastically.

If I were alone...I could decorate my gazebo any way I'd like, with all the frilly side panels and not have to worry about them being taken down the second I step out the door.

If I were alone, I would no longer feel like I just entered the aftermath of hurricane Katrina while stepping into the bathroom after a certain person finishes HIS shower.

If I were alone, there would be no more worries about "what's for dinner", since a rotisserie chicken could last me a week, thereby cutting down on my least favorite thing in the world to do known as grocery shopping.

Yes, the list goes on and on in my mind, until it is interrupted by a man walking in the door after working overtime on a Saturday morning. I begin to think as he says, "Hey, let's go out, just the two of us tonight", if I were alone...

If I were alone, I would never be waiting for someone to come through that door anymore.

If I were alone, I might just miss the sounds of the screaming crowds coming from the living room during any sporting event, from football to billiards to badminton and anything in between.

I have to interrupt this post to let you know that he just came in to inform me that we are out of toilet paper...anyway...

If I were alone, no one would be there to dart out of the house to help me unload my car of the groceries from the dreaded grocery store visit and car load of goodies from Target.

If I were alone, I would have to wait in those long, long, painful lines at the DMV which I despise and refuse to do.

If I were alone, I would absolutely, unequivocally, with no doubt in my mind, have not a single house plant. They don't like me.

If I were alone, no one would be here to put out those lame Halloween decorations claiming that the only reason he does it is because all of the daycare children love it.

If I were alone, I might miss when he gets my blankets all ready for me and my pillow fluffed after coming home from a late night of scrapbooking.

If I were alone, I would have to cut the grass and shovel snow, both of which I am not a fan and can count on one hand how many times I've done either.

So, after giving it much consideration, I've decided that I guess I am kind of lucky and blessed that things are quite balanced in my life and are much more favorable than not. After all, I really think it may get quite boring eating rotisserie chicken every night.

OMG...Penny's Obsessed!!!

As scrapbookers, we all know the over abundance of "stuff" we accumulate over time. I often wonder how much money is spent on what becomes "unwanted" in the future. Tens, hundreds, thousands (hopefully not thousands) of dollars possibly? I myself, have become recently aware of this (it only took me 13 years) and have pretty much decided to only buy what is needed for a specific layout. At least that's what I tell myself. Anyway, I like to think I've gotten much better with my purchases. I know I've dropped down considerably from being the 3rd top ranked customer as far as sales at the Scrapbook Store about 4 years ago.

So, I've de-cluttered my scrapbook room and recently spent time purging items I haven't used in the past 2 years (plus a bunch of other stuff). I've donated some of it and plan on trying to sell the rest in an up coming rummage sale at the Scrapbook Store.

I really thought I had a lot of stuff. At least I've always been told I have waaaay too much stuff by my scrapbook sisters, but let me tell you something. If I have a lot, I don't even have words to describe the amount of product my good pal, Penny has.

I guess I've inspired her to do the same, and unload all unused, unwanted items. I spent a few hours at her house last night organizing her room and we got through the paper. Yep, patterned paper that is. Can I just say, she is going to make a killing at the rummage sale. We haven't gotten through embellishments yet, but from what I can see, she only has maybe 4 or 5 bins of those. So, one more night to rummage through that and another to package up and price her stuff, and we should be done.

Here's a little peek into her obsesssion...yes...this is ALL cardstock. ONLY cardstock. 12x12, 8x8, and even some cardstock border strips thrown in. I banned her from buying cardstock in the future. The question is, will she obey??

I think even Penny was surprised to see all this paper when we stacked it up!

Busy, Busy, Busy...

The past few weeks have been crazy! I thought I would post a few layouts I did for Bella Blvd. using the new releases. I just love all the paper lines along with the new Blooms a Bella flowers!

This is a layout using Super Stud". This little cutie, Nolan, is the son of Kelly's friend.

Next is a layout of one of my favorite little daycare girls, Alexis, using the "Plastino"line.
Another daycare cutie, Hunter and his dad. I love the "Camped Out" line!

Lastly, again using "Camped Out" Hunter, Callie and Alexis at one of the daycare campouts!

We spent a week in Door County scrapbooking, shopping and relaxing! I took a ton of photos of Alyssa and Jose'. These are just a few of the many. They had a hard time getting the hang of riding this bike, but eventually did it. We had a fantastic time!