Looking forward to some peace and quiet!

After a crazy weekend we are going for a LAZY day :) This morning we were all in the scraproom (it really needs a new name since we use it for some much more than scrapping!) Jessi playing sudoku, Rick on the desktop, me on the laptop and Sean coming and going doing who-knows-what ;) The dogs were in there too until they thought it would be fun to playfight and bark and growl at each other...not conducive to our day of peace...so they got banished. They looked so pathetic sitting there at the invisible line they knew they couldn't cross, I HAD to snap a pic :)

OK...so much fun this weekend I couldn't choose which pics to blog...

But this one might be my fav...

Is this not just the cutest little witch EVER!!!?? I loved up that baby all afternoon :)

And here are the rest from Jessi's party and the Halloween party :)

As if we didn't have ENOUGH excitement around here...

We had a huge storm and the power went out last night.

Rick and I had already headed upstairs to watch TV as the girls had taken over the livingroom. We were right in the midst of 'The butterfly Effect' when the house house went black and 8 girls (and one boy) started screaming. Oh joy. So Rick went to sleep and I dragged my pillows and blankets down to the couch to protect the kids from the dark ;) We got some candles going, got out the flashlights (for ONCE I was actually PREPARED...I knew we were going to have a storm and bought a couple extra flashlights and candles and had them ready <---yeah....I rock...lol) and I prepared myself for the longest night of my life ;) Once I was down there the kids were able to enjoy the novelty of no power. They played with flashlights, did each others hair, and played those 'spook each other out' games. About an hour into thier fun the power came back and they were actually bummed out about it...lol! I took the opportunity to go back upstairs and to bed :) Thanks to daylight savings time, it is only 8am and I have been up for HOURS. It feels like it should be at LEAST 10am (the time when the parents start to arrive to take thier girlies...lol)! My day doesn't end then tho, we still have a halloween party to attend... a disaster of a 'post-party house to clean...and to rent the 'Butterfly Effect' because even though we have seen it before, neither of us remember the end and it's driving us crazy!

This is what happens when you let tweens take over

Turn your speakers up for the FULL effect ;)

WOO HOO!!!

Doin' the double digit dance for Disney!!!

99 days to go!!

Reunion of the crazies

...and yes...I am one of them...lol! A couple weeks ago a friend of mine that I hadn't chatted with in awhile called me to update me on her life and to invite me to a 'work reunion.' I used to work at a psych hospital on the children's unit and a bunch of us that all worked got together to catch up last night. Some are still there and made those of us that weren't there anymore VERY glad that our days at that place are long behind us!! Yikes! I can't even count how many times they lamented about how great it was when we were all there and how much it sucks now! We had so much fun working together! We all got caught up on the gossip of each others...and everyone elses (lol) lives. I can't believe how much has changed in the past 5 years!! Honestly, I was dreading going all day long and Nicole and I went back and forth about going all day long. Our kids have colds, I feel one starting, we haven't seen those people in ages (and there is a reason for that with some of them ;) ;) ), and worst of all it was at the Sea Dog. WHY must people choose that place to get together?? IT SUCKS!! The food is crappy, the drinks are small and also crappy and it's LOUD! At 530 we talked for the millionth time that day and since our kiddos were happy and content to be home with the men of the houses, we really had no good excuse not to go...plus we knew it would give us a good week of stuff to talk about ;) Within minutes I of arriving, I was glad I went! We had a blast and plans are already in the works to do it again...NOT at the Sea Dog!!

Ya GOTTA get summa these!!

Sean came home from Aunt Nancy's with a BIG bag of these foam letter stickers. I thought...'great...I'll be finding those all over the house until the day I die.' So I put them away in my craft cabinet to hopefully be forgotten about. Well yesterday we were all in the scraproom while Jessi was out with her granmother celebrating her birthday. I was scrapping, Rick was checking his e-mail and probably blogging again (I didn't even go check. Him blogging is....well...scary.), and Sean spotted the letters in the cabinet. I couldn't say "NO...no way you are playing with something that could help you learn!" So...he dumps them out and they go EVERYWHERE...just as I had expected them to ;) He asks if he can make some words on the cabinet door, I say ok...it's a good chance to see what letters he knows and which ones he needs help with. I am suprised to discover that not only does he know pretty much ALL of them...he also is starting to sound out the letters to make words! Pretty cool!! 

Happy Birthday Jessi!!!

Jessi is 11 years old today! 11 years ago on this day I had my labor induced because she was 2 weeks overdue...wanting to make a grand entrance I guess ;) I was induced at 6am and she was born at 1130pm. Needless to say it was a LOOOOOONG DAY! I was rewarded in the end with a beautiful, wonderful baby girl. I was instantly in love. After they brought me to my room and brought her to me, I never let her go the entire time I was in the hospital. Now life is starting to be all about letting go. The other day she told me that a boy 'asked her out' to go to a football game with him....I DON'T THINK SO!! So then she asks me when she CAN start to date. I evaded the question and told her 25. For real though...I have NO idea when I will allow her to date. But I know it won't be happening within the next few years!

Anyhoo...HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESSI!! I love you!!!

Preschool Today...Ugh

Sean is NOT doing well with the preschool thing. It's like Kiddie Kamp all over again. The first 2 days he was GREAT...I was able to leave with no major issues...the next week...not-so-much. The first day I wasn't even able to leave as he would throw a HUGE coniption fit even time I told him I was going to leave...so it was easier to just sit quietly in the corner. (which wasn't that bad because it was a short day ...only an hour) The next day I did finally leave after awhile...even though he was having a fit. The 3rd day I was about done with all this BS and talked to the teacher, Mrs. Batty, (the head teacher...not one of the high school kids...lol..that would be silly) and we agreed that from now on I am going to bring him in...kiss and hug and hand him off to Mrs. Batty and leave. Stick a fork in me cuz I AM DONE!!! I don't feel one bit bad about it either. He needs to learn sometime, and when I come to get him, he is happily playing. They say he only pitches a fit for a couple minutes and then is fine. I think a small part of the problem is that their enrollment was so low this year so there are few kids to play with and distract him. One of the little boys that has befriended him is none other than the CHEETO BUTT SPITTER...small world huh? Every day after class Mrs. Batty asks me if I can think of ANYONE else with little kids that could come....and every day I tell her that I already tried with the ones I know of. ;) Sadly, I think the program is doomed with all the school districts starting to have preschool programs. Seems that soon Pre-K will be the new Kindergarten.... which I think is wrong, but I will never have to deal with it so I guess I don't need to bitch about it ;)

Off we go...:::sigh:::

It's a BEEEE-EEEE-UUUUU-TIFUL Day!!

Yes it's pouring rain. Yes it's dark and dismal. But it's a PERFECT day to recover from a VERY busy weekend!! My ears are STILL ringing from the Dierks Bentley concert. They have GOT to build a new auditorium with decent acoustics!

Weekend in review....

Saturday--Up early to help kids get their Saturday chores done. I don't usually help them as the whole point of having chores is to learn responsibility, but Jessi had to be at a Bangor friend's house by 930 as she was going to a wedding with them that was 2 hours away. After Sean and I dropped Jessi off we headed back home to do some more housework. In between chores I mananged to scrap some scrapping in. Just HAD to play with all my great new stuff!! Before we knew it Rick was walking through the door and we had to get Sean over to Uncle Tim's for his sleepover. Then we went to dinner at a Chinese place we had never been to...we were EXTREMELY pleasantly suprised...it may be our new 2nd fav! (Our first will ALWAYS be Panda Garden :) ) I had a REALLY strong...REALLY nasty drink that had me REALLY buzzed when we headed over to the concert...It *looked* really pretty tho ;) The concert was GREAT! We had FANTASTIC seats right at eye level with the stage! AND...we didn't know this...but since we won the tickets on the radio...we also got to go backstage and meet all the preformers!! Rick hit it off right away with one of the guys from the opening band since they were both Vikings fans...so after the show we got to go to the after party and hang out with Dierks Bentley and crew!! Dierks is SO nice!! He said he wished we could all go on tour with him cuz we KNOW how to party :) ROFL....ok....forgot who I was for a second.... ignore the everything after the word 'stage.' ROFL....Actually...we just went home after the concert with intentions to have some drinks and fun...but were both exhausted an had 1 drink and went to bed...lol.

Sunday Tim and Kristie brought Sean home and hung out for the morning for some chit-chat and coffee. Then I had to quickly get dressed because Jessi called ready to be picked up and Nicole called right after that wanting to take Jessi and I out to lunch for Jessi's birthday and then do a little birthday shopping. Jessi had her heart set on a vest (the girl has a passion for fashion...lol) So we went to about 43 stores to find her the *perfect* one! She {hearts} her fairy godmother Nicole :) Of course we had to hit ACMoore too since we were right there ;) I didn't get much, just a couple ink pads for 88 cents and some shrink film for scrapping and projects with the kids. By the time we got home the day was gone!! Rick was still in football mode...so I finished up the layout I had started...then it was time for the Amazing Race! We just Y our reality tv!!  

Weekend snips and scraps

OK so I have said that digital scrapbooking is not 'my thing'...and it still isn't ;) But it IS my friend Mindy's thing!! She JUST started digital scrapping a week ago and is already designing for http://www.digitalscrapbooking.net/storefront.php !! WTG Mindy!!

I made this LO with one of the kits she created this week! Loves it!!

Tonight is the Dierks Bentley concert. Am I super excited...umm...no ;) But it should be fun. I am more excited that Jessi is gone for the night at a Bangor friends' house and Sean is having a sleepover at Uncle Tim's :) I stayed up late last night cleaning my sty of a scraproom. I want to play with my new scrap stuff sometime over the weekend and I can't scrap when it's a mess.

Tomorrow the big plan is to get started on cleaning out the basement!! We are SUPER EXCITED that we have decided to take the plunge and go ahead with finishing it. So the next week or so will be cleaning. Then we are going to stain the concrete floor and waterproof paint the walls. Then we are going to frame in around the furnace and boiler to make it a seperate room with room for storage. THEN we can start 'moving in' down there. Part of my insideous master plan is also to put our living room furniture down there so that we HAVE to get new livingroom furniture ;) I can't wait to have a rec room with a pool table and a dartboard...and AIR HOCKEY!!!!

I LOVE ME SOME AIR HOCKEY!!

Someone should have warned me...

That Joanns is having a HUMUNGO sale!! I went there with the kids today to get Jessi a 12x12 album since her 8.5x11 phase was shortlived and now she has a stack of layouts with no place to put them! Her birthday is on Wednesday and since today is yet another 'no school for Hampden' day, we celebrated with a birthday shopping trip and lunch at the Olive Garden (her choice...not mine...or Sean's ;) ) She got some stuff at Target and some really cute Mary Kate and Ashley boots at Walmart. Then after we ate we stopped at Joann's on the way home. HOLY SALE-O-LICIOUS!!! EVERYTHING scrapbook or papercrafting related is 40 or 50% off!! I got the KI kit (LOVES ME SOME KI!!) I was drooling over a couple weeks ago but didn't want to pay $20 for for $11 :) I got the new set of Glaze pens with all the colors I don't have 50% off. I got a whole bunch on ink pads 50% off. I also got a new white paint pen since I love them and I ruined mine by drawing through glue that hadn't dried yet :-P. Oh yeah...and we also got Jessi's album...lol...she actually got a really cute kit with paper, an album and embellies for the same price as just a plain album...LOVES IT!

So yeah...I was naughty today...get I won't be getting that razor phone for another couple weeks ;)

Scrapbooking SNL Parody

Cheap, quick, easy and FUN!!

No....I am not describing my best friend Nicole (LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL) I am describing the halloween project we did tonight!

You need cheesecloth, glow sticks, white balloons, sharpies and string (we used wrapping paper ribbon)
Put the glow stick into the balloon and blow up the balloon. Have the kids draw a face on the balloon with the tied end of the balloon facing up.
Cut a hole in the the middle of the cheesecloth, place the cheesecloth over and the balloon with the tied end sticking through the hole, tie the string on.
Hang up....after the kids run around with them outside in the dark like maniacs for a little while, of course. To add to the fun...let the dog out too so that he steals the balloon from the smallest child and runs off with it and the child screams and cries while the grown-ups chase the dog praying the balloon doesn't pop because that's the only one we have ;)

Good times, folks. Good times. 

Batman and Batdog

Still together
fighting crime
protecting us all from....fleas??


 
 
 
  

Yay me! :)

I am just TOO excited today and it's only 7am!! Waaaaay back in the beginning of September I entered a 'scrapbooking beauty pageant' at my favorite scrapbooking website. Every 2 weeks we were given a new task to scrap and at the end of each 2 weeks several scrappers were eliminated. When I entered....I was just going to be happy to make it to round 2...when I made it to round 2....I was would be shocked to make it to round 3....and so on.... WELL...I made it ALL the way to the END!! And in the end...I was the 1st RUNNER UP!!!!!

So now the contest is over...my Design Team projects are complete (can't post them yet ;) )....now what!?...lol!! I may just have to scrapbook my own stuff now!

Aunt Nancy

I just got an e-mail from Rick's Aunt Nancy (and our next door neighbor) that says...

Sean wants one of these for Christmas......

LOL!! Too cute!! The kids LOVE having Aunt Nancy (actually GREAT Aunt Nancy to be technical...since she is Rick's Dad's sister) right next door. They ask EVERY DAY if they can go see Aunt Nancy. Of course I only say yes every couple days to save her sanity ;) I don't know WHAT they do down there other than eat candy...maybe that's enough to make her their #1 Aunt :) Or maybe it's how they run over there, but often get home like this... Whatever the reason is...it's pretty cool for them to have such a cool aunt so nearby!!

PMS tearjerker of the day...

Rick just called from his Dad's and told me to download this song and call him back and tell him who it reminds me of.

Whoever wrote this song must have a hidden video camera in our house. For real! Too freakin' cute!!

I suck at darts

Seriously...really bad. And it's too bad because it's actually pretty fun!

Last night we went to a party at Jerry and Julie's house. We had some drinkies and snackies, played some darts and met some really fun people! Unfortunately Rick is on call so he kept gettting paged...and paged and paged. So we decided to call it a night early and go to our kid-free home and enjoy that instead. (<---it took me FOREVER to figure out how to structure that sentence without getting into TMI territory....rofl)

Today I was thinking about taking the kids to Fort Knox, but it looks like Rick is going to be helping his Dad work on the house, so I guess that's not happenin' Sean LOVES Fort Knox and I feel bad I haven't gotten him over there at all this summer! Rick is on vacation in a couple weeks (first week of deer season ya know), so maybe we'll get over there then.

I guess today I'll be scrappin.' I got my DT (Design Team for you non-scrappers out there ;) ) stuff in the mail friday. It's due by the 31st and it's kind of a big project. When I first got it in the mail I was like, "WTH am I gonna do with THIS!!?" (as I do whenever I have to do something 'new') But then I got a great idea and got to work right away (as I also do whenver I have to do something new ;) ) I'd like to get that mostly done today.

I can't believe I partied last night and am up at 7am....thanks a lot asshole trucker who paged my husband at 630 and didn't even leave your number for him to call you back. Dumbass.

Bye Bye Butterflies

We finally got to see some action! This morning we watched our last butterfly emerge and 'inflate' it's wings...it's kinda gross...yet really cool and beautiful all at the same time.

This afternoon was perfect weather to release them. The boy flew right away with the breeze, the girl (that just just emerged this morning) hung out with us for a bit.

This is where we left her out in our meadow...far enough out of the way that she won't be Cooper's afternoon snack ;)

So the Butterfly Project is over! It was very cool, Sean learned a lot and Jessi had a great time teaching us all that she has learned at school about butterflies. As cool as it was...I can't imagine always having all kinds of these projects going as I imagine homeschool moms do. I don't get paid NEARLY enough....lol!!