The One Where She Thinks She Has it all Under The Troll

Five more hours of racing five ounce blocks of wood and we are still not finished. A couple of weeks ago Reagan's Cub Scout pack had its Pinewood Derby. He did well. He finished first for the wolves and the entire pack. Fast forward to today's district event. Let me back up a minute. today was a bit over scheduled. A, I has to get help getting Julia to her game since Pinewood was at the same time. The plan was for the rest of us go to derby and then head over for Reagan's game/and pick up Julia from her game at the same time. No problem, right? Reagan's race was at 9:15 and basketball wasn't until 11. Ha, right.

Long story short, Julia had to be rescued from her game because we never made it. BUT, Reagan finished third for the Wolves and even advanced to the finals for the district AND will compete in the Council derby. Ugh. Insert eye roll here. I mean I'm thrilled. No, really I am. Just next time I'll clear the rest of our schedule. And pack snacks.


A little paper and glue. The Studio Calico kits always put a smile on my face...

Our days these days... Cheer, new Legos, sickies, and spending Geega and Dumpa's money.

And, of course, this happens mid-derby madness...

The One Where She Finally Finished Something

A little bright and fun miniBook for your scrappy enjoyment today. A year or two ago I found these 12x 12 felt sheets from Creative Imaginations in my scrappy room. I pondered what to do with them. They were so pretty I didn't want to cut them up and hide them in a scrapbook on a page. So, I got to thinking... Why don't I make them into an album. I cut them in half and sewed two back to back until I had 3-6x12 panels. I folded them in half to make 6 pages including both covers. I added a couple grommets to fit two binder rings. And, voila. A super cute miniBook for my daughter.

And it sat and gathered dust. With the coming of a new year and a mission to get some stuff done. I pulled this miniBook back out and in a couple of afternoons got the pictures printed and completed the album.

Here's a few peeks...

How about a giveaway?!? I picked up two of these Mara Mi desk calendars at Target. They were on clearance and thought they would make a fun GIVEAWAY to celebrate me getting something done AND getting back to my dear old bog. Just leave a comment about something you've finished recently and I'll draw a name on Sunday.

Getting back in the swing of things means more scrapping. I've been printing some older photos in an ongoing effort to get my books caught up. I see my Bubba at the age of 7 just starting his second year of football. All gap toothed and round chubby cheeks. And then flash forward to the traumatic shopping experience (for Momma) last week of buying skinny jeans for the now 12 year old P.J. for the middle school dance, gasp. What the what?!? He's old enough for that?!?

But, he's still his Momma's boy. Thank goodness. A Valentine gift for his Momma...

Things Really DO come in Threes

So... Patrick is still up to his ears in workups in preparation for this year's deployment. What does that mean?!? That means Momma here is smack dab in the middle of the crazy chaos that is our life with 5 kiddos and a hubby who spends more time away than at home. So, with this latest "I'm a Single Momma" (said in my best Beyonce voice) escapade, I did my darndest to knock out the 3 bad things as quick as possible. I don't know about you, but when my hubby is away Murphy's Law really kicks into high gear. On day numero uno of this most recent workup, I had my check card compromised. So as to avoid any MORE unauthorized purchases on it, I promptly arranged the card to be turned off and began waiting patiently for a new card (and the ability to get $) to arrive. But wait, on Day # 2 I got a flat tire. In the rain. With all the kids. With no check card!! Well, that was fun. Nearly six hours later, we were all home safe & sound thanks to some great friends and two towing services!!

So, we go about our days filled with school & homework, cheer practice twice a week, bball practice once, 2 games on Saturdays, and scouts for the 3 on 2 days. We plug along counting down the days til Daddy gets back. Incident # 3?!?... Well, let's just say tiny preschool parking lot + way too chatty four year olds + someone else's brand spankin new car= the most teeniest tiniest scratch. And there we have Mr Murphy.

The kids are making sure our days go quickly and the Momma sleeps well at night...

The bball player...


The cheerleader...

The sickie. At least Mr. Murphy waited a good 24 hours after Donk returned for this one... It's the little things.

Scouts, scouts, scouts.

Look out Boy Scouts... here comes Bubba.

I have a ton of scrappiness to share. Here's a peek at my December Daily. I really do love this project. This is the second year I took it on, and I'm so happy I did. I used Studio Calico/Ali Edward's kit as the guts of my mini and added in a lot of my own stash. I enjoyed following along with Ali as she shared her ideas on this fun project. If you haven't made one before, I STRONGLY encourage you to do it. It is, without a doubt, my favorite project of of all time. Ever. If you have questions about the premise of December Dailys, I'd be happy to help.

Enjoy your week, Friends!!

It's The Most Wondeful time of the Year

Trying to get back to the things I love, spending quality time with the brood (read not losing my freaking mind), playing with paper & glue, and staying sane as we amp up this HUGE workup cycle. In reclaiming my scraproom from what was last month's Crafting Central for the gifting holiday, I found a stack of never before shared layouts. Here's a peek at some of the stuff that makes me happy.

This one is using the October kit from Studio Calico...


it has Sassafras papers, nuff said...

Did this one for a journaling prompt at Creative Soup. All of our addresses over the years...

Another fun prompt at Creative Soup (masking, any which way but loose)...

Using up some older Studio Calico to make room for this winter's Take Note!

Another fun prompt from Creative Soup. This one was about traditions. Used last years Christmas line from Basic Grey. This line is so yummy I actually bought it twice...

Sassafras + Studio Calico + Amy Tan, sigh...

************* I read an AMAZINGLY inspiring post today from over at the Huffington Post. I could not have said it better. Please take the time to read. You. will. not. regret. it.

Don't Carpe Diem.

I Love My Cool, I Love My Cool, I Love My...

Hello All! Thought I would pop in with a quick update. Have lots of scrappiness to share. I've been slamming through some older photos recently. Been using up some stash too. Gotta make room for ALL the new AC Amy Tangerine and the new Studio Calico retail lines. Love, love, love these! The above photo is the Twinnies on their first day of school. You'd never know from the picture, but Sullivan had an absolutely dreadful time the first couple of weeks of school. As soon as he figured out he could learn new stuff every time he stepped through the school doors, he was ready to go. A big change in his attitude from those first days of having to be pried off of Momma and being a "bit" rough with his sweet teacher. The twins really enjoy schoo now and love to request photo shoots as we head out the door...

this is ALL them, no prompting from Momma...

Can you believe these babies are them?!?

man, I'm gonna miss Sassafras if they stop making scrappy papers...

and this last one is my very sweet Middle, always Momma's baby...

Enjoy your day, Friends.