Dresses, Messes and Miscellaneous Stuff

This week has just flown by! I spent Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday working and shopping at a local bi-annual consignment sale called Kids Market. I shopped for the first time at this event this time last year for maternity clothes. This time, I now have a child to shop for. I decided to work the event so I could go to the workers sale before it opens to the public. Let me just say it's crazy! Put 200 women in a store full of great deals and what else do you expect? I ended up with quite a few items and I won't bore you with pics of clothes and toys but I had to share this one dress.

Yes..someone smocked Roll Tide and no, Natalie won't be wearing this for Easter..that would just be too redneck..;) It's a 12 month size so she'll be able to wear it in the heart of football season this year. ROLL TIDE!! Let's hope the new coach can give us a winning season.



Telah, Amy and I all scheduled our worker hours together..I know what you're thinking..another parking lot picture..but this time its ok, because we are in the parking lot of the store (and there's no dog poop.) But don't you just love that blue car in the background? I think it's for sale if anyone's interested. LOL
Last weekend, as I mentioned before, I participated in an online crop. I had such a mess that at one point I was cropping my pictures with my trimmer in my lap. Just look at this mess.. this is where I scrap now, in my foyer. I will just say that I will be so glad when my table/desk is complete and I can move into my scraproom.

Also just had to share these pictures from this past weekend. Daddy (also known as John) has so much fun with his little girl. We eat at a local Mexican restaurant every Sunday night.Here she is doing the salsa dance. And look at that.. she's playing WoW! Actually she really was banging on the keyboard and watching the screen as John was playing but the camera was more interesting when I came over.

Photography 101

I have a lot to share from the weekend, but I don't have a lot of time to invest in that post right now. Got too much other stuff I'm trying to accomplish tonight before I hit the sack.. however, just had to share this..

I'm in the process of uploading photos as I type. Did a lot of scrapping this past week and needed to get another big order in so I have a good supply of pics. I was browsing through some older photos that I never got around to scrapping and ran across a couple of funny things. Let me just say that I am in no way, shape or form the greatest photographer. I've always enjoyed taking pictures, but sometimes the standard rules elude me. One of the main things I'm trying to work on is making sure I have a suitable background. Last summer John and I went to the beach with some friends of ours.. this is one of the pictures from that week.
Now, my good friend Jeff is an uber cool photographer. I've mentioned this before and there are some pics of John and I that he took back in my September archives if you're so inclined to go look. When he saw this picture he had quite a bit to say about it. Ok..ok.. so parking lots don't make the best back drop for fabulous beach pics. But here's the even funnier part.. take a look just to the right of John's feet and tell me what you see? I'm thinking some tenant forgot the handy pooper scooper when he took Fido out for a walk. Tell me how we didn't notice that? I mean, John almost stepped in it!

Scenerio number 2. My sweet cousin Katie got married a couple of years ago. I'd like to scrap a few pages of this occasion, so I was taking a look at the pics I had from that weekend. I found this great one that I think her mother took of us.

I have a hanger coming out of my head. Now take an even closer look. Can you tell what's on that shelf? One kids pair of blue jean shorts and.... some whitey tighteys. Yep.. a pair of underwear. Right on top of our heads. Lovely.

Online Crops and AppleSauce.

A big thanks to Jessi for mentioning an Online Crop this weekend at PickofThePatch. Basically what they do is post challenges on a message board and you complete layouts, post them to their gallery, play games and win prizes. I participated in three challenges for tonight.

First one was to break out the ole' decorative edged scissors.. I could only find one pair and they said straight edge could count, so I had to improvise on the third and cut wavy..:)

Second challenge was a sketch they posted.. you just had to use the sketch as your guide.

And the third was to use stamping. The title and ric rac are stamped. This one was my favorite.. that picture just cracks me up. She's got such personality.

This last one I did yesterday.. it took forever to put those brads in to make the swirl, but I like the way it turned out.

Next up is my 90 something Christmas pictures. I think they deserve an album of their own.

We fed the gal Applesauce for the first time today. She didn't seem to care for it. Just look at that face. I guess after eating rice cereal which basically has no taste, this was quite a shock. Not exactly what she was expecting.



For all those watching the NCAA tourney.. all I can say is GO FLORIDA and GO NC! They are the only teams left on my bracket. I'm dead last in my group!

Cutie Pie, Road Trips, and Layouts

I can't believe it's been 5 days since I blogged. The days just fly by and I'm still trying to figure out a way to slow them down. First things first.. a couple of pictures of Natalie. I hope yall don't get tired of me telling you how cute she is! :) We put her exersaucer together this past weekend, and she loves it. She's really beginning to take an interest in her toys and anything else she can get her hands on.

I also tried to take a few more pictures of her with her cute little hat. She wasn't as fussy about it being on her head this time, but she still wasn't crazy about it. I got a lot of shots of her looking the other direction, but here's the one where she did look straight at me. Look at those eyes!

So in other news... yesterday was such a fun day! I already had planned to go get my haircut with my friend Elizabeth. Our hairdresser is about 40 minutes away, so we usually go together and make a mini-trip out of it. Then right around lunch time, me and April, and our friend Amy decided to go on a road trip to Birmingham to pay a visit to Scrap, Etc. The store was just a little under 2 hours away but we had a good time and it was worth the trip. Great little store they have with LOTS of the newest product. Amy has a 21 month old and Natalie was with us too, so a big "GOOD JOB" to the kiddos. They were so good. They handled riding in the car all afternoon like pros. I got myself a small little stash of new stuff to play with. You'll also notice my happy mail I got today. Creating Keepsakes and Paper Crafts, so I've got some good reading ahead of me.

Now a post just wouldn't be a post without some layouts. These are some I've worked on the last few days. Sorry they are a little blurry.The first four were inspired by some things I saw in the March issue of CK. The last one is a scraplift of one of Telah's pages.

You may be thinking you've seen those sleeping pictures of Natalie before. John got a little click happy that day, so I had quite a few of these sleeping shots. I just had to scrap them all. Ok, I think I'm caught up! I'll try not to let 5 days go by before posting again!

Scrapjacked #5

Just a quick post to share the latest scrapjacked challenge. We are lifting Adrienne Looman this time. You can see the original target page on their site. Here's my take.

The journaling reads:

Tonight as I held you, just before putting you to bed, I felt as if in a blink of an eye I could see you growing up. I saw you as a teenager and then a young adult getting married and having a life of your own. It has only been 5 months and it is already going way too fast. May I cherish every moment that I have with you. Every laugh. Every smile. Every cry. May I be a good teacher to you. May I be the best example and live the kind of life that you can learn from and be proud of. May I be the mother that you need to grow up and be a strong Christian girl. May I have the patience I need to be the best mother. I love you so much and look forward to every moment with you. ~March 15

Have a great weekend everyone!

My Gal

I had a specific idea for todays post, but didn't get my projects complete, so I'll have to share what I had planned another day. Just thought I'd post a couple more pictures of girly girl, mainly for the family. They get a little ancy if I don't keep the new pictures coming. :)

Had a relaxing day today. John was home, so we went to Babies R Us this morning and picked up a couple of shower gifts. Made a quick run to Wal-Mart for a few groceries and then did much of nothing the rest of the afternoon. I'm still having trouble getting Natalie to nap during the day, so I ended up taking her to our bedroom, (our curtains keep out a LOT more light than the blinds in her room) and we both ended up taking a two hour nap! I'm thinking I may need to get a black out shade for her room. Light means there's something to look at, and sleep is not on her agenda and Natalie napping = much less fussy afternoon and evening. LOL

Switching gears completely.. here's my two cents about tonight's AI. Sanjaya did the worst. Not impressed at all. Melinda is my favorite right now. That girl can sing. I also really like Haley. I felt really bad for her when she messed up her words. But she wasn't alone in that department tonight. Several of them struggled with that. Gina needs to get rid of the tongue piercing.. no wonder she had problems with enunciation. Who could talk much less sing with that in their mouth?? I like Blake a lot too. And the Fro Patrol signs for Chris were cute!

Scrapjacked #4, My scrap space and a top 10

I haven't done much scrapping this week. I know.. what is wrong with me? :) The crazy thing is that I just haven't been in much of a mood to. I'm so anxious to have my scrap space done and set up that I feel like I can't scrap until that space is ready to go. I have so much stuff piled up on my foyer table and the extra card table I set up, that I just don't really want to mess with it. So that's all the more motivation to get the room done quick! We are finishing up the declutter and purge tomorrow, so that will be a huge step in the right direction. I did finish up my scrapjacked page.

I stamped the "sweet girl" with a new set of foam stamps I got at Hobby Lobby for $4. Wasn't sure how I would like them but I really do!

Browsing around the internet tonight and Jamie sent me a link to look at another gal's scrap space and she had this list on her site. Some of these are just too funny because they are so true.

Top 10 Reasons You might be a scrapbooker...

10. Your baby's first word is "Cheese".

9. You've ever staged a photograph just so you can use that cute new embellishment you just got.

8. You see your family more through the pictures you scrap than in real life.

7. You've never sewn a piece of clothing in your life, but you buy a mini sewing machine just to sew on your scrapbook pages.

6. You're disappointed when you get gift certificates to your favorite clothing store instead of the scrapbook store.

5. You buy your child a new outfit just to match the new patterned paper you just bought.

4. Your family can't find a place to eat because the table is full of scrapbooking supplies.

3. Your 4-year-old knows the difference between a brad and an eyelet.

2. You evaluate how good a family outing is by the number of scrapbook pages you can create from it.

1. Your husband asks you in the morning "Who is Bazzill? You were talking in your sleep last night ... Is it another man?"

Number four is really making me laugh because didn't I just tell yall about stuff being piled up in there? You can barely see the surface of our table!


I entered Natalie in the cutest baby contest. Found out from Laura that there are over 600 entries. If by some chance she makes the top 10 I will let you guys know so you can go vote for her. Hope you're having a great weekend!

Woooooo!

Will share more later, but just wanted to get this picture up. I wasn't close enough to take this great pic, but a friend of mine was. Of course it also helps that he has some photography skills. Great Concert..

Happy Birthday John and Alan

Today is my sweetie's birthday! He's turning the big 33. He is a twin, so that also means his brother Alan is celebrating today too. Their dad cooked us a big dinner last night and it was so good. Thanks Pa-Pa for the great home cooked meal. The picture above is of Alan, our nephew Taylor and Natalie and John.

John's working a 12 hour shift today and wasn't real interested in going to the Taylor Hicks concert tonight, so I told him he didn't have to go..Happy Birthday to him. :) So instead my best friend Telah will be going with me. Just a few more hours til showtime!

Weekend Recap

So it's Sunday night and we're all in our usual spots. Natalie's in the bed, John's playing WoW, and I'm hanging out on the couch. I've got a lot to share tonight, so grab a coke and get comfortable.

We had a bit of Deja vu' going on this weekend. Friday morning we had another visit from the plumber. Seems we didn't completely get the problem fixed. All is well now. (I hope) We had our monthly craft night that evening and for whatever reason I just couldn't get in gear. I got all of 2 pages done. One of them I'm not happy with and probably will re-do it. The other one I completed had been brewing around in my head. I used a pencil lines sketch for it. Here's the result of that. I started the latest scrapjacked page, but didn't get it finished, so I'll share that one later.

I was one of the last four to leave that night. I get all my junk loaded into my Jeep, hop in and it won't crank. Now if you remember just a week ago we went through this. I had a brand new battery in that car. So I jump out of the car and ask the other gals to hang on because the car won't start. Luckily I had jumper cables and luckily at least one of us knew how to jump a car off (thanks April!). But let me paint a picture for you. First off it was about 12:20 am by this time and the area we were in is not the best place to be hanging out in the parking lot in the middle of the night. Secondly, my lift springs on the hood don't work. So we had 2 people holding up the hood while the other two were cranking the cars. We got the thing started but it would die every time I let off the gas. Thanks to my sweet friend Alissa for taking me home. The back hatch wouldn't lock because the door paneling and relay are not connected right now due to the window issue I still have. The window's rigged up until the part comes in. I was wondering if when we went to pick it up Saturday if it might be up on blocks.

Well, Saturday morning I had planned to attend a Ladies Day at another area church and then realized this conflicted with some plans I had made with my brother. Throw in the fact that I also needed to take care of my car on blocks. As luck would have it my brother is Mr. Fixit. I don't care if we're talking cars, computers, sinks, roofs.. whatever.. he always knows what to do. So I knew he could go with me to take care of the car after we went to the estate auction we had planned to attend. Why are we attending an estate auction you ask? Because my loving brother has agreed to help me get my extra bedroom aka junk room, cleaned out and turned into a scrapbook room. AND he's building me a work space. So we were looking for a piece of furniture that could be used to construct what we have in mind. We didn't find anything that would work at the auction, so we then went to Target to look at their organization stuff. After listening to me describe what I wanted, looking at some of the stuff at Target, he sketched what he is going to build. This is my new table: If we don't find an old desk to modify, looks like we'll just be making a trip to Home Depot for the lumber. Ok.. I realize this is getting long and if you're still reading you deserve a medal. But let me just say I am so excited about my scrap space. I will post some before and after pics when the project is complete. And I have plans to do a RAK to celebrate the Grand Opening of my space.

Saturday evening we celebrated my Grandad's 81st Birthday. Happy Birthday PawPaw! There's nothing like some good home fried fish and hushpuppies. We then surprised him with a cake and ice cream party this afternoon. A busy weekend for sure. And if you're wondering what became of the car.. it cranked right up when we went to get it. Seems there is a bad connection on the battery. Thank goodness it's just a $3 fix for whatever the part is that's got to be replaced. And I'm so glad my brother.......>................ is such a handy man..

Edited to add.. I just found out my local radio station is having a cutest baby contest. Well of course mine is the cutest. LOL I'm thinking I may submit a picture of her but I have so many I need your help. Of the pictures I've posted of her over the last few weeks which is your favorite? All right all you family and friends that read my blog.. time to come out of hiding and help me pick a picture! :) Let me know which is your favorite in the comments. Thanks!!

I've been tagged!

This is the face that greets me every morning. Who could ask for anything more? We're slowly transitioning into a more pleasant morning awakening. You know, instead of the screaming, crying come feed me NOW. It's more of just a fussy cry saying, "please come get me out of this bed, I've been in here too long and I see light coming in the window." The great thing is that even though she's waking around 6am I can feed her and usually put her back to bed for another hour to hour and a half. It's almost 7:30 now, so little miss sunshine will be awake to take on the day here shortly.

I've been tagged by Telah, and it's a fun, different kind of tag so here we go..
1. Find the nearest book. First let me say that I really enjoy reading. I used to travel a lot with my job, and the airport and plane time provided me with plenty of time to pick up a good book. Now that I don't travel or work outside the home anymore I just haven't really made time to read anything other than baby books. If I grab the nearest one, it will be one of John's. He loves to read and is usually reading several different things at once. The book I can see right now next to his recliner is Darwin's Black Box. While this is interesting reading (it's a book that scientifically challenges the theory of evolution), it's too early in the morning for that. So let me get something else.
2. Name the book and the author. I went and got the book on my bedside table which is "Baby 411" by Denise Fields and Ari Brown
3. Turn to page 123. That's no problem, this book has 500 pages!
4. Go to the 5th sentence on the page and copy the next three lines onto your blog.
After trying this at home however, I can tell you that formula gets clumpy and it requires minor surgery on the rubber nipple to get it out of the bottle. No fun.
5. Tag 3 more people. OK, how about Heather, Cheryl, and Kim. Can't wait to see your answers.

I leave you with a layout I did last night. This is my favorite pic of Natalie and I. I started to try to use this as the layout for the HMITM challenge. This week you're supposed to use 20 different brands of product. After making it to about 14 I just couldn't think of what else to add. Have a great Thursday everyone!