I had printed out the pictures to scrap this page yesterday, but never got around to working on it. They are some older pics I took of Mikey one day when we went to Crossroads and I took some pics of him around that fountain they have there. I really love the pictures, but I had forgotten I even had them! I do that alot...take pics...love them and make a "mental note" to scrap them and as time passes, I forget about them. Which is why I have been looking through my older pictures in my Kodak files to see what I can find. Anyway, it's a lift of an AWESOME LO by peainthepod...I think that was her username...have to double check and make sure! I just loved everything about it and thankfully, I had lots of the exact K& Co. embellishements she used. The rest I just improvised. I used the same "layout" of her page, but used different papers, but I LOVE the way it turned out...well, because it looks almost exactly like hers! This puts my LO count for the year at 19 I think...yay!

Elijah comes home today and I'm anxious to give him his Valentine's Day gift. I just know he's going to LOVE it!! Need to get some pics of him opening his gift and some "lollipop pics" of him with this BIG heart shaped pop my sister got him and Mikey. I took Mikey's yesterday while he was playing outside. I think I'm going to try to take Lij's indoors with a white backdrop...or maybe the black...maybe I'll do both and see which I like better! ;) I made chicken lasagna for dinner...Miguel's FAVORITE next to my chicken pot pie I think. Lij loves it too. And per Miguel's request, I put pepperoni in there too. It smelled DELICIOUS while it was in the oven cooking! Not much else going on. Don't know what we have planned for the weekend other than running our errands. And all of my men need to get their hair cut. Might try to make a trip to an M's to see if they have those new EK Success border punches. I know some people were posting that they had found them at their M's already. I don't know which others they have, but I do know that I really, REALLY want the binding edge one which is the one that gives that torn out of a notebook look. I need to get any shopping I want done out of the way because I have decided that for Lent, I am giving up buying scrapp stuff. GASP! Yes, it's true!! It won't be too hard...I hope! lol But it's something I really love doing aside from scrapbooking so I figured it would be appropriate to give that up. It's the least I can do...after everything my God has sacrificed for me...it's an oh, so small offering of my gratitude. Anyone want to join me?? Chon?? lol Hmm...think that's all for now :)

More Scrapping

I am trying to scrap some older pictures. I know I have alot of "good ones" that I like, but have forgotten about. These were some from last August...a trip to the zoo we took while Miguel was on vacation. I used a sketch from an sb.com neighbor, Begahunna, I think that's her name. She has lots of sketches in her gallery and I really liked this particular one. It made me think of the SEI Dill Blossom papers which I just got last week at the HL paper sale and I was wanting to use them. I used some old stuff...like the MME paper (the brown dotty one) and the title diecut and butterfly are newer K&Co. stuff.

A LO using Pencil Lines Sketch...

I never know what to title my blog posts! lol I love using sketches...especially ones from Pencil Lines. I was really excited and inspired to use this weeks sketch--Sketch 122 I think it is. And even more excited when I saw a particular design team members take on it. I just LOVED Tracie's LO using the sketch and HAD to lift it. I didn't copy it exactly meaning I didn't use the exact same papers, embellies, ect. I always wonder that the boundaries are for "lifting" LOs. Since I got the inspiration for it from someone else and the ideas were not totally my own, I always like to give credit where credit is due. But since we are on the subject of scraplifting, I'd like to hear everyone's views on what they consider "scraplifting". Anyway, so I did this page using a pic of me and Mikey that I took on Valentine's Day. I just totally, completely love everything about this page!! Just LOVE it!! I was counting up my pages to date since the new year started and this puts me at 18....yay! So, that's it for today :)

A Perfect Day

I did this page with a couple of pics I took of me and Miguel on Valentine's Day. It was such a great day. That morning, a guy came and picked up my treadmill...made $200 :) yay...spending money! My mom took Mikey with her and my aunt to go visit my grandmother at the nursing home, so me and Miguel had the whole day alone together (Lij decided to stay at his dad's). We started off with breakfast at Panchito's then we did some shopping. We had planned to go to a movie then dinner, but figured we really wouldn't be able to talk and just enjoy ourselves if we were sitting in a movie theater so we didn't go after all. We went to a couple of Tuesday Mornings, Scrapbook 911, and Target. I bought Miguel and Ipod for Valentine's Day because he'd been saying he wanted something to listen to when he goes to the gym. BTW, he got me some chocolate covered strawberries and a very nice card. Well, what he wrote in it was very nice so I didn't even care that there was no actual "gift". We also had dinner at Carino's. I'd never eaten there before...Miguel was always wanting to take me. I had some YUUUUMMY Italian Pot Roast....SOOO good!! Then we went and did our grocery shopping and then came home to finish the night off with Mikey. It was such a great day. We got to talk alot which we don't normally get the chance to do...alone that is. We laughed and talked and it was just really nice. I think we really needed that. So all in all, it was a very good day :)

A last minute gift

I had been looking for one of those photo cube things so I could decorate it and give it to Miguel for Valentine's Day so he could put on his desk at work, but I just couldn't find one! Yesterday, me and Mikey took a last minute trip to Hobby Lobby at Crossroads since I had finished all my "chores" by 11:00 and had nothing to do for the rest of the day. Anyway, I found this cute paper mache box...maybe like 4 1/2x 4 1/2 inches with a lid and thought that would be perfect. I took the lid off so that it would be "open" and just decorated the four sides. I filled the box with Hershey's kisses and other yummy chocolate candies that I'm sure I'll end up eating...lol :D I'm really loving the way it turned out! I used some old MM stickers and some new stuff too. I'm thinking that once the candy is gone, Miguel can use it to put his pencils and pens or whatever else in there. I'm also planning on buying Miguel an Ipod tomorrow after I sell my treadmill (cross your fingers). He has been saying he wants something to listen to when he goes to the gym so I'm going to get him one. I got the kids gifts too. For Mikey, the "Open Season" movie he's been wanting for a while now, a bag of candy, an M&M dispenser, and this cute little hedgehog toy I found at WM for only a buck! SO cute! It shakes when you bounce it! I just hope he's not afraid of it! lol For Lij, I got him the same hedgehog toy because I know they'd fight over it, an M&M dispenser in a different color, a bag of candy and this book we saw at M's the last time...it's for kids...has lots of neat "tricks" and stuff...not sure, but I know he wanted it. He's not coming home this weekend. He wanted to stay at his dad's. I'm going to see if we can still go take him his gift some time during the day tomorrow. Maybe I won't tell him...just ask his dad if they'll be home and surprise him :) Oh, at HL yesterday, paper was half off so I got the SEI Dill Blossom package which I'd been wanting for while. I know it's "old", but I like it. And also got this K&Co. Wild Saffron paper pad which I'd had a few sheets of before from 911 and really liked them, so I got the whole pad. Oh, and this AC clear backed sticker book...that I didn't know I ALREADY HAD! lol And then just a few sheets of random stickers. One for me and three for a little Easter giveaway I'll be having here soon so look out for that. Hmm..what else? Not much else going on. I'm going to try to scrap some today...if Mikey will permit. We have been playing that "fishing" game I got him yesterday ALOT and I have to say that my son is a cheater! LOL He will "wait, wait, wait" me so he can grab the fish before I do or use his other hand to "steady" his pole which makes it alot easier to pick up the fish! I don't know if he knows that I let him win anyway...hmmm...lol Okay, that's all for now :)

I need a vacation or some Aleve...

I have a headache...a big one...that keeps getting bigger. I'm sure Mikey has something to do with that. WHERE does this kid get all this energy I'd like to know. I wish I had half of it! He is all over the place...SO loud...won't do anything for more than ten minutes. I feel stressed...like I just need to get away for a while. Why is it that even if I get to go away for a few hours like say, last Friday, I come back and after a while, I feel like I need to leave again? LOL But seriously...anyone else feel like this? I mean I love Mikey...absolutely LOVE him, but sometimes I feel like I just want to sit and do nothing for anyone except myself or do something that doesn't involve cleaning up, or serving someone else. I was able to do this one page today...that I started around noon I think and was just now able to finish. I think that's what has been hindering my scrappy mojo. I "want" to scrap, but just knowing that I can't just sit uninterrupted. And then once I "do" get into my scrapping, having to stop every few minutes gets frustrating and then I guess, I just don't want to do anything! I don't know....just had to vent it out. Anyway, here's my page. Another "lift" from Scrappy Daisy's gallery on sb.com. I really love her style. And I love that I used all sorts of brands...just threw them all in there :) TFL :)

Right now...

I am:Reading: Have been "trying" to read The Bible...some chapters here and there. I really need to start reading it regularly again.

Listening to: I still can't get enough of Tenth Avenue Norths's "By Your Side" Love my Klove radio :)

Obsessed With: my "bad foot"...when it will get better? IF it will get better? It still hurts alot on some days and I'm not anxious to get back into a workout routine because I HATE it..lol..but I know I NEED to.

Thinking About: Alot of things lately. My mind is always so full of "stuff". Thinking about Lij, about me and Miguel...

Planning To: Reorganize my scrapbooking papers, but I need some more Cropper Hopper paper holders or some more of those Priority boxes to cut open and use as paper holders. I have way too much paper and even though they are alphabetized, alot of them go unnoticed so I need to find a more efficient way to organize them.

Enjoying: Still just taking it day by day. Just enjoying the days I'm given :)

Vowing To: Lose some weight and get in shape again :(

Working On: Getting my scrappy mojo back. This has been the case for a while even though I have done some pages...just not "feeling it" like before and I don't know why :(

Excited About: Valentine's Day and giving the kids their gifts. I just know they are both going to LOVE them! :)

The winner is....

STACEY who said:

Hi! I just found your blog off your CL posting! Anyway, I am new to scrapbooking/cardmaking, so I like this blog: http://www.thepinkstamper.blogspot.com/She does a good job teaching different things using her cricut.

So Stacey, please email me your address at laura6615@sbcglobal.net If I don't hear from you by tomorrow afternoon, I'm going to have to pick another winner since I want to mail out on Saturday. Thanks for everyone who played!

I should be scrapping right now...

that's what I told my sister earlier while were on the computer IMing each other like we can't just talk on the phone. But if we were on the phone, we'd have to hold the phone with one hand and can't type one handed. This way we can talk AND surf the web...pure genius! lol Might I add, last year or the year before I bought myself and my sis a head set for the phone for that very reason...to free up our hands when we are talking to each other. Now we are free to roam about our homes, doing whatever we choose and still communicate :D Okay, I got off track...anyway, so I DID happen to scrap today. I always feel like that's what I "should" be doing. Of course after I've done all my cleaning "chores" and what not...I always feel like I need to be scrapping and whipping out pages to put a dent in my scrapbook supply stash. Even so, me and Chon are planning yet ANOTHER scrappy, shopping day o' fun on Friday. Seriously, we have no business shopping for scrap stuff. I think between us both...her more than me (ha, ha...I did it again...inside joke), we probably have enough stuff to open a small LSS! But again, I am off the subject. I scrapped a page today. And it was pretty much just spur of the moment. I was browsing a neighbors gallery on sb.com -- a woman who goes by the username Scrappy Daisy. I just LOVE her work...so bright and fun. And I love that she uses all sorts of patterns and colors that you think wouldn't "go", but somehow, they just DO! And I was inspired to make this LO using another pic I just took of the kids this past weekend. I used some of the MM Chloe's Closet we got on our last shoppig excursion, and some BG Urban Prairie chip stickers, and some old MME paper. I really LOVE this page...REALLY :D

Oh, and I want to take note of this because I don't want to forget it. Earlier today, Mikey and I were sitting in the livingroom. I was at the computer and he was at the table behind me playing with his Play Doh. KLOVE was on the radio in the bathroom and we could both hear it. A song was just ending and at the end of the song, children are saying "God you reign". I forget what the song is called or who sings it. Anyway, so he asks me "Mommy, why are they saying "God, you reign? What does that mean?" And I said to him that they are saying it because God is King. And he says "King of all life and of my heart." And I said "That's right! How did you know that?" And he said, "Because Jesus told me." Okay, that just blew me away! Sap that I am, I wanted to start bawling! I am SO proud...I don't even know if proud is the word, but since I can't think of any other at the moment, I am so proud that at such a young age, my child is getting to know God. And I am humbled to think that I am playing a part in that. It is AMAZING!! :) Just had to record that for the future :)

Another 8x8

This one is for Miguel's book. I started an 8x8 book for him too and have done a few pages in it. Probably not as many as I should! So even though I'd already done a page about his 34th birthday, I thought I'd make one for his book. I used these cool Fany Pants Celebrate papers I got at the 911 yard sale. Also scored that cool tranparency I used on it too. I think it came out pretty cute! TFL :)