I totally forgot to post the picture of the V-day bags I made for the kids' classes. I made a total of 44 of them and each bag had several mini candy bars or suckers and a pencil. I had almost forgotten to take a photo of them. So this is my last second, get it done picture.

Not every one had stamping on them but those were my favorites.
My plan was to color the stamped valentines but I just ran out of time.
I was telling Rob that maybe I should start this stuff like six months in advance.
My kids liked them and they did get to help a little. I think next year we will go easier.
Another little project I started last year was to take a picture of all the seasonal M&M's.
This accomplishes two goals, I love m&m's and its part of my holiday decorating, at least for a few days anyway :)

 I missed a few last year so I'm trying to remember to buy and photograph them this year. Then I want to do a scrapbook page about it.
I believe next up are the Easter/Spring colors.

*Carrie*

oh my goodness, I really don't like when my kiddos are sick. I feel bad that they don't feel well but I can also be a bit oh a hypocondriac too. I'm feeling a bit nauseous right now.
Today Wyatt isn't feeling well and for Wyatt to wake up in the morning not feeling well is very rare. So as I type this he is chillin on the couch watching Sid the Science Kid. He sure isn't acting sick right this second.

The kids got some new buddies this weekend. On Friday we stopped by Petco to price bird cages. I have been saying for a year that I would like for Squeakers our Finch to have more room and some buddies. Well we walked into Petco and they had this cage on clearance from $90 to $45. Umm yeah, I'll buy it. Then the cashier suggest another pet store since they no longer carry birds at Petco.
Now Rob said I could only get one bird right now, but when I was being rung up it was cheaper to get two (1 for $14.99 or 2 for $23.99). So as Rob was putting Chelsea in the car I got another bird.
So we are home setting up the new cage and we ask the kids what they want to name their new friends.
Two names came up, John and Sally. hunh??
We offered names like Diamond and Fossil. The kids loved that so we welcomed Diamond and Fossil to our menagerie.
I love to hear the little chrips that Finches make and I realy want a total of six finches someday. Sooooo...
when Rob came home from landscaping on Saturday he suggested we go ahead and get two more birds. I immediately loaded up the kids and we went back to the pet store for two more birds.
Hey, you don't have to ask me twice!
I picked out another white and another brown zebra finch. The kids wanted to name them Shiny and John.  Okay shiny and John it is.
Looking at the picture above the birds names in order are: Diamond, Fossil, John and Shiny.

Squeakers didn't know what to make of this invasion so he pretty much stayed by himself the first couple of days.
Now he's hanging with the group and chirping right along with them.
I do have one teeny tiney complaint though, this new cage we bought while very good sized, is called a clean living cage. Cool, no more or very little bird seed will be making a mess around their cage.
Yeah right, little pigs. I'm going to have to get one of those wraps to cut down on the amount of bird seed that is flung around.
Clean living cage my fat fanny.
*Carrie*

I'm sitting here this morning thinking about how much I like Valentines Day.

Not because I have a sweetheart but really because my favorite colors are red and pink and I like hearts. Oh yeah and I loooove chocolate.

So as I sit here drinking a cherry Pepsi and munching on valentines m&m's and looking at the different projects women have made for V-day. Banners, cards, mailboxes, etc.

For the past week I have been working on the kids' valentines bags for their classes.The project has become somewhat of a monster. Instead of making one prototype and being consistent I went a bit cricut cut out heart crazy, and things have gotten a bit choatic. Now I'm trying to reign everything in and get the job finished up.

Besides all of that project mess I have once again forgotten to put up any Valentines decorations. I do have some, they are in a small box somewhere in the shed. I have also misplaced the fabric I bought years ago for that tablecloth/table runner I was going to make. I really know where the fabric is but I put it in the wrong fabric box and its a pain to dig it back out. Sigh, guess I will try to have it completed before Valentines next year.

Once upon a time I said I was going to be one of those moms that decorated for every holiday. I'm failing miserably. I'm finding that time seems to go sooooo fast and if I don't have/make an appointment to do this kind of stuff it slips my mind.

These are my rambling thoughts on this lovely Tuesday morning. Maybe I'll go dig that box out of the shed. I still have a few days right?!

*Carrie*

Good beautiful Friday to you!
This weekend looks to be a productive one for our family, Rob and I are planning on going for a bike ride on Saturday afternoon. I'm excited because this will be the second time we have been able to ride together.Where are the kids? The rugrats are going to my moms house, bless her heart.
Sunday, besides watching the Colts beat the Saints in the Superbowl, Kelly and I will be manning a cookie booth for her troop. Now it's possible we might be rained out, cause the trusty weatherman said rain is headed for us, but we are optimistic.

Is it sad, disgusting and annoying that I'm uber excited about getting my tax return back??
Besides getting my new lens Sigma 24-70 I'm also planning on getting a Cricut Gypsy !
Go ahead and call me names, I understand completely.

I was talking to Rob and said that I have felt shopping deprived and that being able to shop for scrapbook and camera stuff that I have been dreaming about for months is like being in a candy store. I have been shopping around trying to find the absolute best deals. I have been reading reviews and watching videos.
**Bonus** after talking to my mom she is going to let me upload all her cartridges onto the Gypsy.
Yes we know that if she were to buy a G then she couldn't use her cartridges to upload. But my loving mother has owned an expression for about a year, has finally taken it out of it's box but hasn't really used it yet!!! The horror!! So I'm not really worried about her getting a Gypsy. Plus she gets all my carts now!
So anyway Rob gets a new road bicycle and I get about the equivalent to buy whatever I want. Not bad.

I missed this great sale last weekend on Cricut carts so I have been scouring the web stores and ebay trying to get carts at prices of $25-$30.
My cart list of wants and I'm not buying them all mind you;
From my Kitchen ( won on Ebay for 28.00) , Hannah Montana (just won on Ebay for 29.99), Designers Calendar (Oh my crafts 24.95), Animal Kingdom ( tried to buy for $25 but was sold out so I won on Ebay for 29.00), Sweet Treats, Paisley, Sweethearts, Forever Young, Tie the Knot.
I have created a list of all the items that I have been wanting since last spring and I'm hoping to get most of them this spring. How sad is that.
I'm also very excited and very nervous, I have shown Rob some plans that I have drawn up for a custom made media cabinet for our living room.
The idea came to me about two weeks ago and then I stumbled on this blog, Knock off wood, by way of this cool blog, shanty2chic. Now I feel empowered to build this myself or having my friend Julie come help me.
Back to the plans, Rob is all for me building this cabinet! He even put it on our tax spending budget! How cool and supportive! Now I just need to get with Jules once we have the money and plan a day to put this puppy together.
So many plans so little time! I love being creative!
*Carrie*

Welcome to February!
Let's recap January shall we?

I re read my goals just before I started this post. I pretty much failed in the first month.
Lets see, number one was to be more creative.
I feel that I have been and I've learned new things too.
I was supposed to make 5-10 christmas and all occasion cards. I made 3 cards total. Yep and those were on Saturday the 30th.
Number two was be more active.
I did so-so. I rode my bike once for 6 miles and I did do a downtown photo walk around, which I would like to do again.
Also on my list was for me to "make a want to do" list. Yeah I still need to do that. I also feel it will inspire me to do it.
The photo above was taken during my downtwon photo walk. There is this band shell right next to the catholic church, it's very interesting. I especially like all the colorful metal flowers. It is very unique.
Before I begin random blabbering I'll stop here.
I have nothing planned for tonight, I guess I should work on my to do list.
*Carrie*