Pictures of the Day...

Ashley says these first two pics are especially for Kaye.....How cute is this.....Ashley snapped this right as Bunny was licking his chops! Ha!
Jon & Jovi watching TV.....he's got his chin resting right on the arm of the couch so he doesn't miss a thing.

Just few random shots I took in town today. It was a pretty nasty day out! The roads were fine, but as you can see, there was ice hanging off of everything! Chris' classes were on a 2 hour delay which meant he only ended up having one class today. So, I let him skip.....he hasn't missed ANY so far & I figured with Amherst Co. & Nelson Co. schools both closed, the professor would know that the weather was yucky up this way. So, I ventured out on my own to get some groceries & go to Sam's. Sure was nice to finally get home where it was warm & dry!! We had tacos for supper tonight...easy-peasy. Supper was done & the kitchen all cleaned up by 6:35! All is fairly quiet around here right now. I really SHOULD hop over here to my scrap table & work on something...I also want to finish up crocheting my fingerless gloves AND reading my book. I came so close to finishing it last night, but I just couldn't keep my eyes open anymore. Will report back later with what I actually get done tonight.

Crazy Few Days!!

Jeepers....yesterday & today have been just crazy stressful! It all sarted last night when Michael, Ashley & I ran outside to stop Bootsie & Bunny from fighting (our two big male cats). Me, trying to wedge my mop in between the two......as Bunny ran under the van, Ashley stuck her hand down to hold Boots back & he lit into her! Scared the you-know-what outta me. Took her inside to wash her arm up & put some peroxide on it & I could just see how pale she was. Was so scared she was going to throw up or pass out on me. And of course Clay isn't home during all this...he's over at my uncle's house. Just about the time I go to help her sit down at the kitchen table, she just collapsed on me. Didn't totally black out, but she just crumpled to the floor in my arms. Laid her out on the kitchen floor....she said it felt good...nice & cool. Put a cold rag on her head & told Chris to sit with her while I ran next door to get Clay. She was OK after that....got her arm cleaned & put some neosporin on it & bandaged it. Gave her tylenol & all that good stuff. She seemed fine after a bit, but I was still just a wreck! Took her this morning & spent forever out at the health Dept. getting her a tetnus. She's doing fine now...says it hurts some, but it looks MUCH better today. And the tetnus shot hasn't seemed to phase her! PTLSeems like I just don't get the time to ever sit down & scrap during the week anymore. I've gotten all these new goodies for my BD & haven't really gotten a chance to 'play'. So I MADE myself sit down tonight & make at least ONE card. (I need to make some Valentine's anyway). This is what I came up with....copied an idea I saw in my new 'Take Ten' book. I love how it turned out!

WINDSday

And that it is.....I tell ya, the wind is just whipping out there this morning!! Yesterday was up & out EARLY for me. The girls wanted to do some shopping, so we all had to be out the door by 8am so we could drop Chris at class on time. Then we had til almost 2pm to shop. We went to Target & did some bra shopping & Alli used her BD money from Granny to buy some Barbie goodies (of course!). I also picked up the new Rascal Flatts cd for Chris' BD next week. Then we met Ella, Maw & Sarah at Subway for lunch. After that, we hit the mall. Found some REALLY good deals at Aeropostale. Ashley got a pile of stuff for about $16. Two camisole-type tops, one short sleeve, one long sleeve & some .99 ear rings. She also got a sweater jacket that had been $40 for only $3.99. She was thrilled!! I picked a couple of Ts for Chris there too & the cutest little brown purse for me.....all of which were just $3.99. WooHoo!

Clay & Jon are out checking traps already this morning. While the rest are reading/drawing, etc. Ashley is upstairs reading the beginning of our Valentine unit. I need to get a shower & fold about 4 baskets of clean laundry plus wash all Clay's hunting cover-alls for him. Then I need to get my chicken in the crockpot. Trying a new recipe tonight called Southwest Crockpot Chicken. You put about 2lbs. of chicken in the crock, a can of black beans, a can of corn & a jar of salsa.....I actually just picked up a big jar of Black bean salsa because it already has the beans & corn IN the salsa. Let that cook all day & then pull the chicken apart with a fork & serve in a soft tortilla with your favorite taco toppings. I'm going to make some rice to go with it too. Will report back later & let you know what everyone thinks about it. I think it sounds yummy!

WooHoo....

We finished up our Sled Dog unit today. Today we learned about their diet, paw care, types of sleds & equipment. I really enjoyed doing this unit with the kids, but I'm also excited to start on our Valentine unit!! We will start on that on Wed. & finish up with our Valentine's party at Maw's house.Alli & Michael's Lap Book....all finished!
Some of our library books that we read for our unit.
Today has been super busy! Finished our unit this morning, then I ran by Walmart on my way to get Chris....had to pick up some milk, yogurt & English muffins. Then, after I got Chris...dropped him off here while I took Ashley out to the library. Came home & mopped the kitchen floor, fixed fried chicken for supper, got Alli in the tub, came back downstairs to clean up the kitchen......Finally now, Michael & Alli are settled in for the night & I'm sitting here sipping a cup of coffee. Heading up to bed myself in a few.....gotta get up EARLY tomorrow.....Ashley is wanting to do some shopping so we will take Chris....which means getting up at 6:30am & having us all out the door by 8! Clay, Jon & Michael will have a fun 'Manly Day' of trapping & who-knows-what-else.

Sunday Happenings

Church this morning was so good. Susan Bailey shared her testimony....A young mom with two adorable little boys...Last July she got sick, was taken to Lynburg General...did exploratory surgery & could find nothing wrong...ended up being some type of Ecoli...they thought for sure she was going to die....She ended up losing BOTH her legs, but boy what a testimony she & her family have been!! Came home & fixed lunch. Read my book while I ate my sandwich. I finished up the 'Circle of Quilters' last night so now I'm trying to finish 'the Covenant'. Wrote a letter & a card for two friends, put a pot of chili on for supper, made brownies, watched Zoey 101 with the girls & finished up Ashley's new pair of fingerless gloves. Just waiting to see if Maw will get online to chat & then I'm going to head up to bed & try & finish my book.

Bits & Pieces of My Day

Made apple cinnamon muffins for breakfast this morning * washed two loads of clothes * scrapped some * worked on the Design Team challenge at ASF * fixed home-made pizzas for supper * Cut Michael's hair * cleaned up the kitchen * and now, here I sit.Ashley took this picture of Jovi to show Kaye.....said he was posing just like Zip! ;-)
This is what I did for Ken's challenge at ASF. A cute little Valentine decoration. It's cut from heavy cardboard & then painted. The quares were punched from my scraps & then I started plundering through my stash for buttons, stamps, felt, ribbon....anything to decorate the little squares & give them a Valentine theme. I LOVE how it turned out & I now having it sitting on the shelf in my scrapping room.

Just a fun layout I did of Ashley...'Yougurt Please!' LOVED this picture that Ella took of her & I also loved the little doodled note that she left me yesterday morning as I headed out grocery shopping. Thought the pic & note were the perfect combo for a 'Moment in Time' layout......ya know; fave pic, the cute little note (in HER handwriting) plus the little glimpse it gives into what her favorite snack is these days......My Ashley Girl at 14 years old! And if you can't quite tell.......at the bottom of the note is an eye, heart, U.........I love you, mom! Love you too, Ashley!!

Finally Friday

It's been a busy week & I am SO looking forward to a relaxing weekend! Took Chris to class today & did the groceries & Sams during that time. I just HAD to make a stop at Chickfila for a Cookies N Cream milkshake......it's all Kaye's fault. She had to go & plant the idea in my head.......she was going to meet me & we were going to do lunch together....but she bailed on me at the last minute. Don't know what the big deal is about driving down here from NY......she wouldn't have had to leave THAT early. Ha! ;-P Oh well......maybe some other time!
Don't you just love this picture that Ashley took of Daniel playing his new drums at Christmas time?! I ran across this cool paper that I had picked up from Michael's & thought it was just perfect for this picture. The little skull & a few of the stars were cut from scraps & layered onto the background with pop dots...just to give a little 'Pop' & depth.

More BD Goodies

Did some shopping today with my birthday GCs. I got some K & Co. paper, tags & matching chipboard letters, some blank cards for making Valentines, colored pencils, & some stamps...two cute little bird ones & a tiny coffee cup. Also got the 'Take Ten' card book with Ella's GC. Ashley is excited about that too.....she's been wanting some new card ideas & this book is really great!
I was so tickled to find a box on my back porch steps this afternoon from NY. Kaye made me this adorable Journal & pencil holder for my BD! She is just the sweetest friend....thanks Kaye!

Happy BD to me!

These are the cards that Alli & Ashley made me for my BD today. The boys drew me pictures instead of making cards!
Ashley made me these cute 'Artist Trading Cards'......they are so cute....I think the birdie is my favorite!
And then she also drew me this Tink which I just LOVE. She looked at one of her shirts & copied it. Very artsy!


I've had a really nice day & Clay took me out to eat tonight at the Texas Roadhouse. Yummy! Also gave me a GC to Michaels. WooHoo! I'm already plotting what I NEED to buy next time I go. ;-) Think I'm off to bed now....I've been elected to take Chris in the morning so Clay & Jon can get an early start checking all their traps.

Well, we did manage to get some school work done today. Ashley & Jon finished up reading the dog sled unit plus some of the library books we had. Michael & Alli worked on their lap books.....they learned about the Four main breeds: Alaskan Malamute,Siberean Husky, Inuit/Eskimo & Alaskan Husky. They also learned about the positions of the dogs when they race. The Lead Dog is, of course, the one out front. Point follows directly behind the Lead Dog. The Wheel Dog is directly in front of the sled & the Swing Dogs are the ones in between. Jon read 'Akiak A Tale From the Iditarod' by Robert J. Blake. I read 'Aunt Lulu' by Daniel Pinkwater with Alli & Michael. I'm pretty sure we will be able to finish this up this week & then we can start on our Valentine unit next week. I don't know why I'm so excited to start the Valentine unit.....I really did enjoy this one about sled dogs & learned alot.

Feeling lazy or rebellious

Just NOT in a mood to think about doing school this morning. What is my problem? It's one of those weeks......yesterday was MLK day & Chris had no classes, so the others didn't either. Tomorrow is MY birthday & in our family birthdays are 'holidays'....mine included....why shouldn't the teacher get a day off for her BD if the others do?! Then Friday is grocery day......so it's like we have Tues. & Thurs. that are actual school days this week & it's really hard to think about doing something, skipping a day & then doing some more. We did play 'Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader' last night.....that's VERY educational. Michael learned that the sun rises in the east & sets in the west. And everyone will always remember now that MOTOWN is Detroit, Michigan. That was my million dollar question & it was like my mind just went blank. Detroit was actually the first thing that popped into my mind, but then it's like you sit there & begin to contemplate too much & you talk yourself out of it.....I kept thinking that HAD to be wrong becasue Detroit=Cars.......then Clay goes, DUH.........Detroit=Motor Town=MOTOWN. Will never forget that now! Boy, for having nothing to say this morning, I sure have been rambling on...........................Ha!

Speaking of a day off yesterday...the girls & I had a day on the town. We met Danielle, Maw & Sarah at Applebees for my birthday lunch. That was really nice. Hadn't been there in ages...May to be exact...Ashley my date-keeper....told me precisely when it was. She said we sat around the table talking about Dr. Falwell dying & that it was the big Finale for American Idol that night!! Funny how we remember things like that. Anyways.......after lunch we ran by Steve & Barrys so Ashley could shop. Didn't buy anything there though. Then we hit Target...FINALLY got Jon's Avatar game exchanged. Then it was Michael's & AC Moore. I picked up some yarn that was on sale at AC Moore.....got some to make me a scarf to go with my new LL Bean coat Maw gave me for Christmas. And also picked up some bright colors to make Cori a blanket for her BD (in March) hope I can get it done! Alli said she told her Sat. when they were here that she REALLY liked Alli's blanket that I had made her for Christmas & would love to have one like it herself. Now who could turn down a request like that?! So, I have some projects to start working on now!!

Guess I will drag my lazy butt away from the puter now & see what I can get done. Need to straighten up the kitchen & then we will do some work on our sled dog unit. I really DO want to finish that up so we can start on our Valentine unit.

COLD Day today

The high was only about 20, I think! Brrrrrrrrrrr! Was so nice to just be able to stay in & cozy by the fire. Got the kero heater going right now too for here in the dining room. This is the challenge that I posted for this week over at ASF.......the 10 things 'I'm Not'. Finally getting around to putting my LO together. A couple different papers from BG, some ric-rac & frazzles from my stash & the tag is actually Wild Saffron...matched with the BG pretty good.

I started this one last night while Ellas was still here...couldn't decide if I was happy with it or not, so just left it on the table & finished it up this morning. The papers are Cosmo Cricket. I hand cut the little flowers & sewed buttons on them for the centers. The title letters & journaling strips show up much better IRL. The title says 'Burrito Boy'...Jovi was playing in the rolled up cursive alpha chart on the floor & having great fun. Someone made the comment that he looked like a 'burrito' all rolled up in there....thus my title.


Off to watch 'Mr. Bean's Holiday' with Alli & Michael now.

Birthday pics from yesterday

Alli with her yummy chocolate BD cake.
Her gift from Ashley...she burned her a copy of her Vanessa Hudgens cd & decorated the case for her. Too sweet!
Jovi just didn't know what to think of these 'singing Barbies'. Love that Ashley was able to capture the look of amazement on his face!

Ella & the kids DID come down today. Don't know what happened to our 60% chance of snow today, but we didn't get ANY & all my friends in MS DID! Can you believe that?! They were all so excited & sharing all their snow pics today!
We had a nice visit.....we gabbed & TRIED to scrap some while the kids played. I did manage to get my next DT layout done. Everyone will just have to wait a few more weeks & check it out in the Feb. newsletter at ASF. I have another LO almost done....sitting over here now...just needs to be glued down. Will post that one tomorrow for everyone to see along with some pictures from the day today. I'm too tired to fool with resizing & uploading now. Going to head up to my nice warm bed & read.

How Great is our God

How great is our God
Sing with me
How great is our God
And all will see
How great
How great is our God!

Got some of my favorites playing right now....Chris Tomlin.

Well, I think Alli had a pretty fun day. We had our traditional cinnamon buns & coffee for the birthday breakfast & she got to open her HSM barbies this morning. Then I had to run to Walmart & pick up a few things to tide us over the weekend. Was back home a little after 1pm. Finished straightening up around here & baked her cake. She had said she wanted fried chicken for her BD supper.....but I cheated a little bit...picked up Walmart chicken. I just knew I wasn't going to feel like frying chicken tonight after all I did. So, we had chicken with some seasoned fries & home-made ronis to go with it. I think everyone was happy...judging by the way they ate. ;-) Then after supper we had BD cake & ice cream.

-Lifesong-

May the words I say
And the things I do
Make my lifesong sing
Bring a smile to you
Chorus:
Let my lifesong sing to You
Let my lifesong sing to You
I want to sign your name to the end of this day
Knowing that my heart was true
Let my lifesong sing to You


Praise You With the Dance

Glory, Hallelujah
I lift your name on high
And I'll sing Holy, cuz you're worthy
Praise you with the dance.

Listening to Casting Crowns now & then I think I'm headed on up to bed. Ella & the kids are planning on coming tomorrow for a visit...weather permitting. They are calling for 60% chance of snow tomorrow, but Clay (my weather buff) seems to think we won't get anything. So, we are just kind of playing it by ear right now.

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

Happy 9th Birthday, Alli!! Hope you have an extra-'SPECIAL' day! Love ya big bunches!

Ok, I got a Wild Hair this morning after reading Kaye's blog. I started in the bathroom & cleaned out my little cabinet, drawers, make-up basket & all. I didn't take BEFORE pics, but did take a couple AFTER I finished.
After the bathroom, I cleaned off the top of my dresser(will tackle my drawers & closet later), my night stand (drawers & shelf included). Cleaned out from under Alli's bed....even cleaned out her toy box. Threw a pile away & had several bags of shoes & clothes to go to Good Will. Vacuumed ALL of upstairs. Came down here & cleaned out all the computer desk drawers & then started on my scrapping stuff. Have cleaned out two drawers of scrapping stuff PLUS gone thru my WHOLE stash of patterned paper. Boy, that feels good. Will get back at it again tomorrow. Off to watch movie with Ashley now.

Snow Day

Woke up to this this morning......we've probably got about 4" so far & it's still coming down. Thankfully they had already cancelled ALL schools anywhere around last night before we went to bed, so we got to sleep in this morning.

Hump Day Fun!

Saw this on Dana's blog this morning & thought it was fun. You use the first letter of your first name & then answer the questions accordingly. Give it a try!

1. Famous Singer: Allison Krauss
2. Four Letter Word: Army
3. Street: Asbury St.
4. Color: Apricot
5. Gift or present: Art supplies
6. Vehicle: Aerostar
7. Things found in a Souvenir shop: Antiques
8. Boy name: Andrew
9. Girl name: Amy, Ashley, Alli
10. Movie Title: Aquamarine
11. Drink: Apple Juice
12. Occupation: Artist
13. Celebrity: Alan Alda
14. Magazine: American Hunter
15. City: Atlanta
16. Sport: Archery
17. Fruit: Apple
18. Reason for being Late to work: Alarm didn't go off
19. Something you throw away: rotten Apples
20. Something you shout: Arrrggghhhhhh!!!

'I'm Not....'

Over at A Scrappin' Friendsy, the Design Team has to come up with challenges for each week or as we call them 'Design Team Dares'. This week was MY week to post a challenge & I had the perfect idea.......I stole it from Chris' first English assignment. He had to write a paper containing 15 sentences about himself & all the sentences had to start with 'I'm NOT...' I thought that would be a fun journal prompt for a scrapbook page. I modified it a bit & asked for just 10 sentences..........so how 'bout it......y'all give it a try! If you leave comments, leave me with a list of 10 sentences describing yourself beginning with the words 'I'm NOT'. Here's my list.....

I'm Not...
~a city girl
~skinny
~a good singer
~a leader-I do better working behind-the-scenes
~a big sports fan-unless it's watching my boys play Little League
~Fancy/high-maintainence-LL Bean is more my style
~a Starbuck's coffee kind of person-give me my good ole Maxwell House Master Blend
~a 'Green Thumb'-plants don't like living at my house
~lazy
~a winter/cold person-I'd rather be sitting outside enjoying the warm spring sunshine!


Michael cracked me up this morning when he came downstairs....grabs him a pop tart & heads in the living room to turn the TV on. Not to cartoons like you might imagine, but to channel 606.....to watch hunting shows! Speaking of hunting & trapping....Clay & Jon started in on their trapping adventures yesterday. Jon is SO serious about wanting to trap, so Clay is using this an opportunity for teaching some 'Business math'. He is in on ALL the buying/expenses, etc. this time. And he has a goal.....what he's 'shooting for' (I made a Punny...Ha!) is to make enough money trapping this year to buy himself a rifle to have for hunting season next Fall. I just think that is so cool that he has a purpose & a plan in what he wants to do!! You go, Jon! We had a good day of school yesterday. I sent Ashley & Jon off to read on their own some of the stuff I had printed off for the sled dog unit & to finish writing definitions for the vocab words. While they were doing that, Michael & Alli worked on their 'lap books' down here. Above is a picture I snapped of what Alli has done so far with hers. We have vocab words written on the little green thingies, the purple pocket has a little summary that they wrote about the story of Balto, the little red booklet in the top corner tells of the first uses of sled dogs....for work & transportation & to the left of the book pocket is a little flap-thingie that tells the first two breeds of sled dogs...Malamute & Siberian Husky. We are really having a good time with this unit so far & will end it up later this week by watching Balto & Snow Dogs. we continued our learning last night by playing two games of 'Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader'. I tell ya.....some of those questions are tough! We had a great time playing though & can't wait to play again. I'll just end by saying........................

'I'M NOT.........smarter than a fifth grader!!' Ha!Ha! ;-)

Layouts from yesterday

Here's a couple of layouts I did over the weekend. I'm sure Kaye will enjoy all my kitty pictures. ;-) The top one, Ashley took of Bunny sitting out on our front stoop. I tea-stained the background paper & then used Wild Saffron for all the rest. The alpha stickers are Basic Grey. The bottom layout is just several random snapshots I had......running out of clever cat titles too.....thus the title 'Just Bunny'. These papers are all Wild Saffron also. The title letters are chipboard letters that I picked up from the dollar bins at Target. Didn't have any of the right colors so I sanded & painted them, then added the little glitter glue bling as accents. OK, off for now to study some more about Sled Dogs. Will post some pics of what we get done later on.