Monday, March 31, 2008

Another Blah Day

Will Spring ever make it's true appearance here in Maine? I actually do feel somewhat fortunate in that we have less than 2 inches of snow left in our backyard. Mostly it's just frozen mud out there right now. Cary still has close to 3 feet & she's only 30 minutes inland from our house. Yuck! But today is just one of those gray & chilly days. I did hit the gym this morning, & of course, today is library day before dropping Jake off at Gramma & Pa's house so Emma can go to dance class. Other than that, I don't feel like doing much of anything around here. I am allowed a day like that every once in a while, right?


Oh, and I can finally post a pic of a star I made a few weeks back. It was something I sent in a scrapbooking package to one of my Scrappintologist friends on 2Peas. I really hope Britt likes it enough to hang it up!


And I think I'm going to start attempting to make my own clothes. I know, a little weird for me, but I found some gorgeous fabric at JoAnn's that would make a really cool skirt (again, weird for me since I'm not much of a skirt-wearer). I only bought a yard, so I need a little more than that, and a pattern to follow. But it will happen, I promise.

Friday, March 28, 2008

Additional Pics of Kids & Bags



This post is in addition to the one that I just wrote about the kids' Leapster bags. Of course they had to "model" with their bags when I was done, so here they are - my little muscle man & modeling princess. Boy, are we in trouble when they're teenagers!

Leapster Bags



Wednesday & yesterday I did a little playing around with some new sizes for my bags. The kids got Leapster game systems for Christmas & I've been planning on making bags to protect them since then. These bags both have frogs on the fabric (for the Leap Frog brand - corny, I know) and I used quilt batting along with the interfacing to make them sturdier & more padded. Jake's bag is a little bigger than necessary, but probably better for him that way. Emma's is little & oh so very cute! (And, yes, that's Emma's Leapster in Jake's bag. He was playing his when I took the pictures!) I have so many new ideas! I can't wait to keep sewing!
Oh, but I did just take some time out to read "Plum Lucky," the last book of the Stephanie Plum series before # 14 comes out in June. I picked it up today at the library, started it around 1:30, and with a few little interruptions I was done at 4pm. Another quick read, but very worthwhile. Another 2 thumbs up to Janet Evanovich! Can't wait til June!

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

What? No Easter Pictures?



I can't believe it. I did not take a single picture for Easter this year. What's wrong with me? The Easter Bunny came & left roller skates, a Matchbox showroom, Betty Spaghetty, new clothes, and, yes, even some candy. But did I take a picture? No. Why? I have absolutely no idea. That is so not like me. The camera sat right here by the computer while we enjoyed Easter, but we have no documentation of that joy. Hmmmm. What to do? I guess I have no pictures to scrapbook of Easter 2008 (not that I'm even caught up with Easters 2006 & 2007). So I just took 2 pictures of Emma & Jake in their oh-so-natural, loving-eachother poses (yeah, right). And this is what happens when I tell Jake to not be so "cheesy" & just smile (he loses his upper lip for some reason). So they may not be Easter pictures, but they're 2-days-after-Easter pictures, and I guess that's good enough for 2008.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Spring Purse


Last night I designed a new purse! I used a very colorful & springy fabric that I bought a while back at JoAnn's. It has one strap made from gros-grain ribbon & webbing, and a double pocket on the front. Also, instead of folding it over to close it, I made a button hole (for the first time, yay!), and also one on the front pocket. I am loving this!

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Goodies Up Close



Just For You, Kara! (Oops, I think I forgot to add the flower punch in there!)

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Search My Blog

I just added a new element to the right side column of my blog. You can now "Search My Blog" for pictures of my craft projects & the kids/family, as well as different topics that are important to me. Hope this helps those of you who are interested in just checking out a few things here & there.

MY Easter Goodies from Rhonda


I LOVE my Scrappintologist friends on 2Peas. We send each other cards on holidays & we do these awesome swaps. For Easter, Rhonda in GA had my name. She is the best! Here's a pic of my basket (minus the candy because, unfortunately, it's already gone!) that I received yesterday. I am in love with the Queen & Co. flowers (in the black containers), and there are so many stickers that you can't even see. Put it this way, Jake LOVES some of the stickers (dump trucks, tractors, spaceships) and Emma loves the girly flowery stickers. There are also a ton of Easter themed stickers & 2 stamps. I can finally get caught up on some Easter layouts!
Thank you so much, Rhonda!!! I LOVE IT ALL!!!!!!!!!!!

Monday, March 17, 2008

Horton Review

We loved "Horton Hears A Who!" The theatre was packed at the 12:00 showing, but the kids were so good. Jake got a little restless toward the end, but all in all they were great! The movie was adorable. Jim Carrey & Steve Carrell are 2 of my favorite comedic actors, so of course they were wonderful as the voices of Horton & the Mayor of Who-Ville. The kids' favorite character was Jo-Jo, the mayor's son, although I think Jake really liked Vlad Vlad-I-Koff, the vulture, even more. He was quite funny. It is definitely a movie worth seeing, whether you have kids or not!

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Off to the Movies!


Today we're doing something that we've never done as a family before. We're going to the movies!!! We've decided that "Horton Hears A Who" will be the perfect family movie for us to see. It will be Jake's first time at the movie theatre, so I'm a little nervous about how he'll be. He has a hard time sitting still these days. But Emma has been prepping him on how we have to sit still & can't use the bathroom every 5 minutes, and no loud talking. We borrowed the book from the library last week, so we've read it a few times & know what the movie should be about. Our neighbors went on Friday and loved it! So we can't wait. I'll be sure to post my review later this afternoon. (Thanks for the gift certificates, Jeremy! Without you we probably would never have thought to do this!)

Friday, March 14, 2008

Tag, I'm It!

Ok, so Kate (http://kbing.blogspot.com/) tagged me. Here are the rules:
Link to your tagger and post these 3 rules on your blog.
* Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
* Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
* Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Here goes:
1. I am a natural red-head.
2. Even though I'm a pretty good dancer, I quit being a dance major in college because I got better grades in my academic classes than in my dance classes.
3. I haven't spoken French in almost 9 years, even though it was my major.
4. Spiders terrify me, even if they're on TV.
5. I am the oldest of 3 kids. My little sister is almost 17 years younger than me.
6. My husband has 13 tattoos, but I have NONE!
7. Every day I look at my kids in disbelief of the fact that they are mine. I still can't believe I'm a mom of a 5 year old & 3 1/2 year old.

And now to tag some of you: Monica http://mblain.blogspot.com/
Mom Brann http://mombrann.blogspot.com/
Pam http://themigliores.com/
Kara http://www.kara-isms.blogspot.com/

Sorry I don't have 7 to link to right now, but I think it'll be just ok. Have a great day!

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

More Snow

Ugh. It's snowing yet again. When will spring actually make it's way to Maine? This is getting a little ridiculous. So needless to say, we're stying in yet again today. The kids have been pretty calm so far (knock on wood). We had a busy afternoon yesterday and, unfortunately, I forgot to take my allergy meds. All 3 houses we visited had cats and I was sneezy all afternoon. Yuck! I'm still paying for it today.
Oh, and Bobby got his CT Scan results today, which were negative. On to the next specialist (for infectious diseases). Then, well who knows what's next?
I think I'll work on some curtains this afternoon & maybe a tote bag. I made another star this morning so at least I've been doing something, even if it's not the laundry (sorry, Bobby!). I need to get off this computer but it's oh so addictive. Ok, here I go....

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Blogs I check out

On the righthand side of the screen I began a list of my friends' blogs. Check them out if you get a chance. Of course I'll be adding more soon.
Not a lot going on here today. Emma has a playdate with her oldest friend Margaret. They've known each other since Emma was about 4 days old, so Margaret would have been 10 days old. They love each other! So Jake & I will hang out here and clean the house (ok, so I'll do the cleaning). Life has been pretty uneventful here lately.
And I read 2 of Jennifer Crusie's novels, "Tell Me Lies" and "Welcome to Temptation." Two excellent reads! I'll start the next one, "Fast Women," either today or tomorrow. And thanks, Alison, for the recommendations. I'll need someone new to read within the next few weeks! Any other recommendations are greatly appreciated.

Saturday, March 8, 2008

A New Favorite???

In my downtime between Plum novels I have had to find other authors that live up to Janet Evanovich's witty style. So, this week I read Judy Blume's "Summer Sisters," Jennifer Crusie's "Tell Me Lies," oh, and a couple of JE's original romance novels. I have to say that Jennifer Crusie is definitely coming in a close second for my new favorite author award. Her style is very similar to JE's and the plots are exciting, funny, racy, & suspenseful (everything I look for in a good book these days). Although Judy Blume's "adult" novels are racy as well. "Wifey" was very good & I really enjoyed "Summer Sisters." Why did it take me so long to rediscover the library?

Sunday, March 2, 2008

New Favorite


I was inspired this morning & made a scrapbook page with the pictures I took of the kids last week. I also used the same paper that I used on my Mom's star. I really like this page

a lot! It's my new favorite layout!