Friday, April 24, 2009
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
The trick is to make the envelope first and then the card, as I made each envelope I wrote on it how large I could go. I believe for some of the cards you could actually do the card and envelope on the same paper.
This is just a handful of the cards you can make. I have written out cards that I would like to really make and the steps to create that card int the colors and extra touches that I would like.
Last night was Kelly's last troop meeting for the summer. This fall she will join a new troop and bridge to Brownies. I'm told that leader is super fun and that Kelly will have a blast.
The meeting was filled with making butterflies, writing a courageous and strong list and decorating cookies!
I really wish I could read her mind so that I could understand her better. Yes I could ask her, and I do, but she gets frustrated with me so fast that I don't push because it makes everything worse.
Just another thing we will muddle through on.
On Sunday before and after church I walked around taking photos. The cactus were blooming everywhere and I was on a hunt. Rob is very cool about it too. We have worked out that
This photo was taken in a neighbors yard, I love pink cactus flowers.
This was taken out in Rita ranch, I was circling this group of cactus trying different angles when I heard a rustle. I jumped and squealed. I got spooked by a darn bunny.
Rob was laughing at me when he saw the bunny dart out and into a clump of bushes
That's the update for the week so far.
The kids' slide came yesterday and Rob is also going to get our cooler running tonight. It's going to be 96 degrees today. Crap, give me back the 70's
Happy Tuesday
Biggest Loser night!
Friday, April 17, 2009
My mother-in-law takes Kelly to school almost every day. Yesterday they were in an accident. My worst fear. Thankfully nobody was hurt. Kelly has seatbelt rash and a small bruise and Inez has bruises and is sore today.
Inez gets the ticket for failing to yield to oncoming traffic, she says she never saw him coming. By looking at the road there are no tire marks from either car. The Durango has a broken front axle and all this side damage. This is the other car. The man driving
wasn't hurt at all, but I believe both cars are totalled
See Kelly sits in her booster seat in the front which isn't recommended but not illegal. Sitting up front allows her and grandma to talk and what not.
Anyway the emt's checked Kelly over and gave her a stuffed bear to name and hold. This bear has been her constant companion since yesterday morning. She named him Tiny.
Our plan is to go buy some more stuffed animals to give back to the station house to say thank you. Every officer at the scene was very nice and I appreciate everything that they did.
Happier news, Kelly was awarded High Honor roll at school on Wednesday. This was the group photo, I haven't rotated the others.
I also got photos of Kelly and Wyatt sitting together and of the boy Elijah that Kelly plays with.
See aren't these the ugliest eggs?
All we did was dye them, no funky decorating dye, nothing.
These eggs are no de shelled, yes peeled and ready to make egg salad. That sounds good for lunch today, and my stomach is growling.
Kiss your kids and have a good weekend.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
This strap is calling my name

I really like, no I want this camera strap. Maybe I can ask Rob for it as a Mothers day present. Maybe if someone in my family is interested in getting me a birthday gift, you can go here to etsy.
You know in some ways I am pretty computer savvy and in others I'm just plain ignorant. Drives me crazy. I have spent the last 20 minutes trying to figure out how to post a link to Natalies etsy shop. I love all her camera straps but this one has been calling my name for a couple of months. http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=23711055 just highlight the link and it will take you to her etsy store. Who knows maybe I'll just buy it myself on of these days.
In other boring news I have succumbed to the ebay addiction again. Sad, I know. I have no will power. Why do I even bring it up on my screen?? Seriously, I hesitate on buying a camera strap, which i would use every frickin day but I can buy a cricut cartridge?? Where the heck is the logic in this??
So what did I end up ordering?? A little back story first
So I'm looking at the May/June issue of Paper Crafts Magazine. I see this cute baby card and it shows that it was made with the cricut. Okay, so i search my carts and see that I have the baby stroller but I can't find what cart makes the card. So I head to 2Peas and ask them. Well it's on this cart called Wild Cards. Come to find out and like Rob said I should have gotten this long ago if I had known how much was actually on there. So I call Rob and ask if he would be willing to stop by Joanns to see if they have it because I thought it was on sale(sale ended Sunday) Rob comes home and I start looking online for sales now knowing that I wouldn't be able to make this exact card for the baby shower and baby gift I'm giving to two people this weekend. So last resort I head to ebay.
Oh my doom, my failure. I look up wild cards and make a bid, but I'm smart(so I think :)) I have a limit to my bidding amount. I lose out on two tries. While I'm looking I see a couple carts ending soon that have low amounts. Like the Disney friends cart of characters, the cheapest I have ever found it was $30 on sale. So that is how much i would spend, well I lost out on it. no big it wasn't a necessity. The Storybook cart, every one raves about this cart well it has never gone below$40 yet. Oh forget trying to explain. The addict that I am ending up buying flat out Wild cards for $45 because I kept losing in bidding for higher than this amount. Then thinking I would be outbid but ended up winning Storybook for $40 and then I got a second chance offer for Disney friends for $25. Aw hell, Rob's cool with it all but I'm freaking. I now have over 20 carts. Not to reason it out but I've read of women who have EVERY cart out there, that's over 60 carts. I will not get to that point. I have been researching some cool projects to try and make and I'm going to ask mom if I can borrow her fiskars plates for embossing the papers for added texture.
I got the email this morning that Wild cards has shipped so maybe if I'm lucky I'll have it by Friday and make the baby card. If not I can do something else. See I'm very literal minded. I see it, like it, copy or scraplift it. I like to see how things are used before I will jump on the bandwagon.
Kelly has an awards ceremony this afternoon that I will try not to forget this time and hopefully get a couple of pictures of.
Last night was funny. We took apart Wyatts bed for his new captains bed, he is/was so excited, We start to bring in the bed from the carport, it barely fits in the door, we head down the hallway, it won't make the turn into Wyatt's room. Rob and I back it up to the living room stand it up and have to measure all the openings to make sure it fits through, barely, we drag it down the hall and squeak it through his door, now we have to lay it down. But wait, we have the ceiling fan in the way. I'm talking rubbing against, squeaking by, wiggling here and there to get his darn bed into place. Of course Wyatt really has no concept of what a captains bed really is but to him it sounds cool to him and he likes it so who cares right? I'll get a picture later.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Since we all were looking good we took a quick photo before we headed back out the door.
I rotated but have not cropped it yet.
Oh wait before I forget...
Chelsea said MAMA!!!!!!!
She started saying it Thursday night while I was saying the closing prayer for our homegroup. She just kept saying it over and over. Can you just see my grin??
During this week Chelsea's top front tooth broke through and I noticed this morning that the second top tooth is barely breaking through. Also, Chelsea now wants to stand all the time, if you make her sit she cries, if you put her in her walker she cries. I think I'll almost be happy when she starts to walk. She is just so fussy all the time and I'm not sure if it is the cold or not.
Oh by the way, happy 12th anniversary to us. That's how low key we are. Rob said to me sunday morning that he could have gotten me a card. I started laughing really hard, when Rob asked what's up I told him I never even thought about a card, it's just a day.
When we recapped the story for our mom's Inez said that Rob was bad and that his dad never forgot their anniversary and always got her a card and flowers.
I think for us it's always about everyone else, the church and the egg hunt, the kids, family dinner. We both don't put our day above everything else. After typing this out I'll have to talk to Rob about how he feels and see if this is actually a problem. hmmm......
So today I have a grumpy sick baby, kids having fun playing with their new stuff and I'm just relaxing (as much as I can with said baby)
Thursday, April 09, 2009
Oh what a week so far.
I really have no idea where to begin. Well I guess the fact that I'm typing this at a quarter to 5 in the morning could be a good start.
Couldn't sleep, having some asthma issues and kept coughing, then I start to think about all the stuff that I want to get done, gets my mind racing, combined with a fussy baby, I might as well get up and do something.
I took photos at Pop's wedding on Saturday, it took me till yesterday to upload them because I was afraid to find out that most of them would be blurry.
My prayers were answered and I got some really good shots. Oh Lord thank you! I have worried for weeks about doing Pop's wedding and having all those special moments blurry. All the photos are in RAW and still need to be post processed so I can't post them on here but I am very relieved.
Since I had rented that 24-105 camera lens I also did a quick photo shoot of our friends Alonzo and Julie and their daughter Aliyah before Julie went in yesterday to have her 2nd daughter by c-section. Still haven't found out how it went. but oh well. I still need to process those shots too.
Now that I have returned the lens and looked at my photos I must say that I could of liked it. Granted it's a $1200 lens but it came through for me. Would I like to own it? I would like to check out the 24-70 lens and then compare the two.
I also have pictures of the new finished play set for the kids. It is way too cool because even I can play on it but alas, they are also in RAW and I haven't had the time to process them. It's on my list though.
You know all day long the thought wanders my head to blog about this or that but then I finally get on here and all the stuff that wanders doesn't seem like really much to talk about. I can say that I do not like being this busy, I feel like I'm missing something or not giving my best at one particular thing.
Today is somewhat free for me to do whatever, I need to make signs with Mr. Cricut for the Easter egg hunt (that might get rained out) and tidy up the house just a bit for homegroup tonight. Tomorrow I'm helping Rob with his landscape job because of his arm (yeah), then we have to load up the stuff for the hunt. Saturday I will be there at the hunt for a little while then I will bring back 3 extra children at my place while their parents continue to work. Sunday of course is the big day when the bunny comes to visit and ~cough~cough~ it's our 12th anniversary on the 12th. Kelly has school off Monday so as of Tuesday I'm pretty much back to my normal boring, but I like it, routine.
I have some things I want to try out with the cricut and I'm looking forward to doing that next week and also we are moving the craproom around again. Robs drums will go back up by the window and I'll have the front half. Maybe I can try and get rid of some junk. I would like to actually be able to work at my table and right now that is a horrific joke.
Happy Easter weekend.
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
This is mostly scrappin' related
I would so love to go crazy in IKEA but I will behave myself and just pick up a few things. I wish they had one of these in Tucson I think I would be a frequent visitor. sigh.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
For the first time we were all wearing green on St. Patrick's day. I set up my tripod and snapped a few shots. We had corned beef and cabbage with crash potatoes. Oh so yum.
these two items. The kids have outgrown (sort of) the one they have and this is what we really always wanted. The monkey bar thing well it's just something extra to have more fun on. Monday, March 09, 2009
Phoenix Zoo
The Phoenix zoo is pretty darn cool. It was so much bigger than I remembered. The kids had a great time and they did fantastic.
We arrived at 9:30 and people were pouring in, but it never felt crowded. We had been expecting all week to have a chance of showers but the skies were clear and the weather was perfect.
What is so cool is that you can bring in your own coolers and anything else you want, they have several picnic areas and plenty of rest benches.
Okay so I can't say enough good
things about this zoo.
We went into Monkey village, and there were all these cinnamon squirrel monkey's free to roam. You are asked not to pet them and to try and stay at least 3 feet away. There were times when that was hard to do as the little guys would cross right in front of you.
My other favorite was of the Orangutan exhibit. It is still in it's early stages but the zoo has two females and big male and a juevenile that was too darn cute. I have better pictures of him but I haven't edited
yet so this is the one you get.
The zoo had so many varieties of monkeys that it was cool because the guys were scattered all over the place.
I really wish we could have spent two days there because by the time you get through all of it the bigger boys were taking their naps or we should have went to that side first. Oh well live and learn and there is always next time.
Chelsea had a great time and was a great baby, this kid loves being outside and seeing all the cool stuff.
I was of course on camera duty and after getting home and uploading all 300 photos I must say I suck.
(Sidenote) Rob says I'm too hard on myself but I say the truth is the truth.
Lots and I mean LOTS of the photos were blurry. I was bitterly disappointed. There were so many that I thought turned out and I was excited about to come home and find out they were blurry, well dang it it
sucked hardcore.
Funny story- I see this guy taking pictures with gear. By this I mean good camera and pro lenses. I strike up and conversation with him and he gives me a couple of tips to get photos through the wire and he showed me the results. This guy was super nice and I asked if that was the 100-400 lens and he said yes and I said oh a 5D his reply was yeah the new Mark II. So we talk for another minute and I head back to the family.
So fancy running into the same stranger about four months later and he was just as friendly as before.
We left at 4:30 that afternoon and went over to Hobby Lobby, grabbed some In-N-Out for dinner and got
back to Tucson at 9:30!!
Woke up Sunday and we skipped church to just relax and now, today life is back to normal doing laundry and cleaning up.
Rob and I have been told by a couple of people that we need to go to some wild animal safari that is also in Phoenix. I'm going to check it out.
I better
and get busy. Have a great day.
Friday, March 06, 2009
Lord, provide this family with your strength and wisdom in this hard time. please Father help this mother do what is best for her baby. That raising a child is not all sunshine and rainbows and that it is hard work and she will need lots of support. Know matter what the outcome Father please be with Kristie in staying in touch with this young mother to be the support she needs. May Your will be in the decision. Amen
My goals for the year- I refuse to say resolutions- have dipped here and there. I have two and a half that I'm faltering on. One I haven't made my photo idea calendar or finished my two peas photo class, I haven't been posting to the challenge every week, but I have taken the photo to post. I believe that is it.
I have been thinking about my blogging the last few weeks and I started this just journal our every day life. I use this blog to put down things I would other wise forget. To be honest I forget lots of things lately. So I tend to get very hard on myself when I don't blog on a regular occurrence.
When it comes to scrapping I use this blog to fill in any holes of my memory and match memory with pictures.
A re commitment is due.
Photo #1- The African daisies are blooming in my mother in laws neighborhood and this one shot was taken in her back 40 area.
Photo #2- Our family went Thursday the 26th to the Sonoran Desert Museum. I switched camera bags and forgot my extra battery so I only got a few photos before it died. We had a very nice time and are now members so we can visit any time for free with our pass. Yeah more photo ops! Wyatt loved walking the trails and was on a constant move while Kelly grouched and complained most of the trip. Rob and I agree that we need to do this more often so that the kids will one day appreciate it.
Photo #3- I heard about this coupler ring that you can put two lenses together and make a super macro. The ring is only eight dollars and it has been fun to use. Granted you have to be able to get within a half inch and there is a very narrow focus but you can do some cool things.
Photo #4- I was in a hurry this last Sunday, Rob was preaching and had left early so I was trying to get everything done. Now that Chelsea sits up so well I gave her a quick bath in the sink. I must say she liked it but I don't believe as much as she does splashing in the bathtub.
Can you believe Chelsea is now 8 months old? I need to do her Mr. Bear picture.
Last Saturday I hung with the girls to chat and scrap. I think we did more chatting than anything else. I even brought my camera but I spaced out having Julie's daughter take our photo around the table. Well next time they are hanging here and I will get another chance for a group shot.
What's up this weekend. Tomorrow we are heading up to Phoenix to visit their zoo. I was talking to the kids today and they are soooo excited. Nina is coming along too. I didn't realize how much mom and I missed when we did the walk last year. This time I am coming fully loaded. It's not like I can just go any ol time I want. Plus I LOVE animal pictures. I'm thinking about doing a small wall of my favorite zoo shots. ooh maybe I'll do a mini album.
I must say I have felt extremely busy the last few weeks. I have spent one day just backing up photos onto dvd's for myself and my mom. Just doing that to a weight off. Granted it should have been done a while ago. My new neighbor was burglarized and the theives took their external hard drive with all the pictures of their young son on it a couple of weeks ago. It broke my heart and spurred me into action.
Coming soon...... kids first dental visits
Monday, February 16, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Be prepared this post has lots of photos.
This of course is our finished product for Kelly's class today. Granted I did most of the work but Kelly stamped the from and wrote her name plus put her classmates name on the back. Her and Wyatt took turns putting the candy in. In class today her teacher is giving each kid a brown paper bag that they can decorate. All Mrs. Watt had was markers so Kelly and I used the Cricut to cut out tons of hearts to be glued on the bags.
Mom Ross came over for lunch yesterday and she got Chelsea to giggle over this stuffed puppy. Chelsea has been hell on wheels lately. She is driving us completely nuts. Wants to be held ALL the darn time, otherwise she screams her head off. Less than two weeks ago if I turned on the vacuum she would laugh now she cries. Thankfully we are starting to see a tooth pop through. I can't take a picture because A) Chels moves too much B) it's just a tiny speck.
Here are the Mr. Bear photos. Look at those blue eyes! I finally got them! I learned that my flash can actually face backward, who knew? Now I'm playing with it more to get more flattering results. It's been hard to get the midget in a good mood and even when I did this I could barely get a smile of of her. I did happily get a picture of her and Wyatt together. That boy is getting some long legs(finally), and is looking so grown up next to his baby sister.
This last Sunday I took my 40 simple hand made cards to church and stood before the congregation and told them about Random Acts of Kindness week. After I was finished several people came up to me and told me RAK things they like to do, some thanked me and everyone raved over the cards. By the end of service all 40 were gone. I'm touched, I was so not expecting that all of them would go. I'm thinking that I will make a few here and there and take them in to give away.
Here are my finished v-day cards. Did I post this already? I'm sad to say that I have not mailed any of these out. Who knows, maybe I'll send them out randomly throughout the year. I think that would mean more anyway.
