Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone has a fabulous day.

No Internet

I have been without the Internet/email/cable off and on since last Thursday night. OMG I have piles of email to go through, so if you have tried emailing me, I swear I am not ignoring you. I will get through my inbox and respond as quickly as I can.

Party Like a Rock Star

Lindsey decided on a Karaoke party this year and the girls came dressed like *diva rock stars*.



Lindsey in her *Diva Attire*:



I made backstage passes that Lindsey handed out as the girls arrived. They would have been laminated had my laminating machine not gone belly up on me. Anyway, I think they turned out pretty cute and Lindsey loved them and that is all that matters.




We also had sunglasses and inflatable microphones to hand out to complete their look.


Lindsey with BFF and fellow diva Lexi.

*Hey call me*

Her guitar cake: (Made by Rochelle at The Busy Bakery in Bartlett) edited: yes this is the lady that we used to have to meet in the Exxon parking lot to pick up our cakes/cookies.

The front door, complete with lights hanging from the front porch. (thanks Mom for helping with that :) )

The girls doing some karaoke:

and my friend Jessica showing them how it is done!! ROCK ON SISTER!

All in all we had a great time, even with all of the screaming no police officers showed up to shut us down. This group of girls know how to Rock the house down.

Oh and I can't forget my *diva in training*:

She wasn't sure what to think about the whole thing, she mostly hung out with grandmother. We surprised Big Sister and got a coordinating dress for Mally to wear. Too Cute.

Tap-Tap-Tap....

Is this thing on..... OK good, I know I am a blogging slacker so I apologize for that up front. It seems as soon as October hits all heck breaks loose. Busy busy busy. A lot of Lindsey's friends have birthdays beginning in October as well as family members and that is on top of all the other stuff like Halloween and Thanksgiving and just everyday stuff. My Mom went home on Sunday after here two week visit. I hated to see her leave, every time she does I get a little teary. The fact that I don't have family close by just makes me sad the older I get. Thank goodness for my friends though, they are my chosen family and I love them too.

We had a fun time at Lindsey's birthday party, *Karaoke* with 15 screaming 8-9 year olds. YIKES I must be crazy. I took lots of cute pics and will get them posted later today if time permits. You do know that I am the *lady in waiting* for a certain 17 month old right? One that does not nap a whole heck of a lot and one who likes to explore every cabinet and nook she can find.

I still have some monogramming orders to finish as well as some outfits I have cut out for Mally. I also want to get my December scrap journal started and finished this weekend, I am committed to a picture a day for December and I WILL journal, even if it is just a couple of thoughts jotted down. We are staying here for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Keeping it low key as usual. Off to get Lindsey's lunch made and get started on my day.

Birthday Week

Miss Lindsey turns *nine* tomorrow.

Holy crap, 9 YEARS OLD. Double digits next year. My sweetie is growing up so fast, I know this is the same teary rant I have every year at this time so I won't bore you. :) We are busy celebrating and enjoying time with my Mom while she is here. I was looking for a photo of Lindsey when she was a year old, but just realized I didn't go digital until 2001. I need to pull out my old photos and find one of her to scan and post tomorrow. Off to check on my Tomato Bisque.

Bye

Hangin' out

Just been hangin' out with my Mom the last couple of days. We are about to get into some serious crafting. Mally is napping and Lindsey is at school. We have a mental list of stuff to create, we will see how far we get over the next two weeks. I am all giddy inside just thinking about it. :)

t- 2 days

In two days my Mother will be here for a 2 week visit. I am so excited as are the girls and David too. Yes, he loves his Mother-in-law. :) Hopefully she and I can have some crafty time. We always manage to get ourselves into something. I found some really cute Santa redwork embroidery designs (I have never tried the redwork stuff) I think I will get them stitched up today and tomorrow and may have her help me piece them together for a little Christmas quilt. We'll see how time goes. Mally and I have some play time this morning and our walk, so if all goes well she will have a nice nap today and I can work on it then. We were all in bed way early last night. Lindsey at 6:45p, Mally feel asleep in my lap about 7:15P and I was asleep by 7:45P. The day seemed to drag on forever yesterday, it always does after we set our clocks back. It was a nice relaxing day though. Off to pack Lindsey's lunch for school and I think the coffee is finished brewing (the holiday flavored coffee creamer is out, so so happy about that, I love me some gingerbread creamer) Have a great day!

Trick or Treat

We had a fun time on Halloween, we had about 50 or so of our neighbors over for chili, then we all dispersed and went trick or treating. It is really hard to stick together when you have so many children going in all different directions. We had a lot of fun though and the girls scored some good treats. Our neighbor and friend always does it up nice, after we eat at our house she runs back to hers and sets up her treats, candy for the little ones and wine for the adults. Now that's what I'm talking about :) Lindsey was an Aqua Fairy again and Mallory was the cutest little ladybug you have ever seen.



Busted! eating M&Ms.


Lindsey and friends: we had an Aqua Fairy, Graveyard Fairy, Twin Rock Stars and a Vampire

Last night David and I had a dinner party to attend so the girls had a sitter. A night out, yeah for us! Today I am getting Halloween stuff put up and getting ready for my Mom's visit this week. Really excited she is coming, I have not seen her since August, and that sucks. Also getting Lindsey's birthday invites finished up today so I can get them in the mail tomorrow.

Does it ever end?

We are in the midst of a stomach bug now on top of ear infections. Good grief. Poor Mally!

Still here...

What have I been up to? Well, in no particular order:

• Mallory's hundredth ear infection/sinus infection (well not that many, but it sure feels like it)
• Volunteering at Lindsey's school
• Room Sponsor stuff (auction baskets, class journals etc)
• Monogramming orders are starting to pick up
• Sewing for the girls
• Planning Lindsey's birthday party
• Everyday Mommy stuff
• Trying to think about Christmas (it's hard until after Lindsey's birthday)
• Misc. *crap* that gets tossed in the mix (this is the stuff that really makes me crazy)

I really don't know how I did all this and worked too, I guess you just make it happen and not sleep to get it all done.


What is left to do?

1. Birthday parties (Lindsey has been invited to four, yes four this weekend)
2. A day trip planned for Saturday for the four of us (see above, hopefully it can still happen)
3. Deliveries to make (sorry Farrah and Lisa)
4. Some holiday stuff for the shop (and possibly for local pick up only :food stuff:. still working out the details on that one)
5. My calendar is full, just trust me on that and I won't bore you the the rest.
   

I have been in a real mood lately and I just can't figure out why, I am usually pretty laid back nothing gets me too upset, I just say what I think and move on, but somethings have hit me the wrong way lately. Oh well it will pass I am sure. I am also feeling a bit disconnected from old friends, but I have met some really amazing people since quiting work and volunteering at the new school. I feel more in my element now, but it still makes you wonder about the friendships that used to be. We all get busy I know, but at what point does that just become an excuse? Something else for me to ponder I guess. I have moved on, and we are all better for the changes that we made. Everyone is happy, MUCH HAPPIER. It's like a whole new world that I didn't know about.


OK, back to happier posts, I just needed to vent I guess.



This makes me VERY happy:


These are a few photos from our Urban Photo Shoot with my friend and neighbor Marci Lambert. I can't even begin to put into words how *happy* I am with the photos. She is so very talented. Every time she does our photos I think there is no way she can top this, but she ALWAYS does, ALWAYS! Thanks Marci!!!! Check out her website for info on a photo shoot of your very own. Check her blog out too, she always has something great to say!

OK, I have to go give Mally her meds.

Some new layouts

I have managed to scrap a couple of layouts in between this, that and the other thing.

I have been working on some scrap for hire stuff for a friend and it is pretty much finished (YIPPEE). I am putting some finishing touches on it and will deliver it to her this week. Now I need to start on some monogramming orders and planning Lindsey's upcoming birthday party. The older she gets the harder it is to come up with something. She actually wants to keep it low key this year, something small, which I am all for. We have a couple of ideas we are tossing around so hopefully we can get going with the planning real soon.

Mini-index album

I started this little index file mini-album over the summer as a way to document snippets of Lindsey's school year. I have an album (one of those fill in the blank ones) to add school photo, teachers name, friends names etc. But I wanted to specifically document her Third Grade year in a little more detail. Here it is so far:


I just used some graph index cards to add some additional pictures to. I am not sure what all the tabs will be labeled. I will add photos and journaling as things happen and go from there. I don't want to stress about it to much, just do it. I keep it close by on my desk so I can reach for it easily and add pictures as I print them. I am a couple of events behind but I am printing photos as I type.
Back of the first card:Future index tabs:
I found the little index file on clearance at Target last year and really wasn't sure what to do with it at the time, but it was like $0.25 so I really couldn't *not* get it ( well I got the last two they had) I will have to come up with something else for the other one, maybe a *Mallory's Funniest Moments" file. Although I think it would fill up rather quickly!

Little miss smarty pants

Lindsey got her first report card last week, straight A's and let me just say *You go girl*.





She has never had a bad report card and she is always excited to see how well she has done. This is the first year where her report card is A-B-C-D-F. In years past at her previous school it was a bit different. Anyway, not gonna go into all that. I am so proud of her, she is doing just fabulous in Third Grade and so much happier in her new school, and that of course makes me happy. :) She got to wear blue jeans to school today for having perfect attendance she thought was pretty cool, (I think she was just happy with the ribbon).

Fall break begins tomorrow, I am looking forward to hanging out with the girls tomorrow before Lindsey leaves to go out of town with a friend for the weekend.

Currently Reading...

A friend/exCo-worker of mine had told me about this book back before I quit work. I am just know getting to read it. I started it Sunday night and am more than half way through it.

Do you Boo?

If not you really should, it is a lot of fun. Go here (towards the bottom of the post) for details. We have been Boo'd twice this year, even with our ghost on our front door. Lindsey and I are going out tonight to Boo. She has her list of three people ready.

If you want the poem and the ghost that I use, email me and I will send you a copy. I am trying to figure out how to post it here as a download but my brain is just not working yet this morning.

Followers

I would love to meet some of you who visit and read your blogs too. On the right sidebar I have added a followers list, go ahead...don't be shy just click the link to follow this blog.

Well...

I really haven't had too much to say so therefore have not felt like blogging to much. My grandmother was in town this past week so I wanted to spend as much time with her as I could. She had gotten some bad news about her best friend's health and was feeling a little down so I went to pick her up and bring her here for a visit. We had a great time, the girls love her so much. I am *so very thankful* that she is such a big part of our lives. I am the oldest of her grandchildren and the one that lives the closest. She is just the best, it is hard for me to watch her grow old, most of my childhood memories are of her and my grandfather. They were always around growing up and when school was out in the summer I was at their house. It is truly a blessing to have her be a part of my girls lives. I so wish my grandfather was still with us, that is the one thing that I wish for my girls, is that they could have met him. He was so amazing. I miss him terribly. I am not sure why I am going into all of this, maybe because after spending time with Mama Nita this last week I started to reflect on how lucky I am to have her around. I have always felt lucky having her part of my life, but after watching her with the girls it just makes me even more grateful for the time we have with her. Even when you are 35 years old, it is still cool to say "my grandmother is coming for a visit" :) . It is even more awesome that she is now hanging out with my children.

I plan to be at my desk or not too far from it at my embroidery machine this week, during Mallory's naps and on MDO days. My *creative mojo* was lacking the last couple of weeks, but I woke up inspired today. Maybe it was the fresh air in the house from having had the windows open during the night who knows. I just know that I have not felt like sitting down to create in a couple of weeks, I guess there has been to much else to do, just life. I plan to post more this week and I am also working out the details of a new giveaway so stay tuned...

Halloween Set

I recently did this set for a customer. They turned out really cute I think.

I can't wait to get my stuff up. My grandmother will be here for a visit this weekend, I am hoping she will feel like making me a new fall wreath for my front door. She is the *queen* of floral arranging. I won't even go into the the amount of time my Mother and I have spent with her shopping for flowers. Right Mom? Anyway it is always fun! I did make this screen pumpkin thingy last weekend. I am still trying to decide if I like it or not. It was a total experiment. I will snap a picture this weekend and post it, OK I'm off to take Lindsey to cheer and grab a couple of things from the store for dinner that I forgot to get earlier in the week.

Hope everyone's weekend is fabulous!

Weddings

I stumbled upon this, well actually someone emailed me and asked if that was my stuff. Well *holy cow* it is.





The little scalloped place cards and the table numbers are mine. Diana was great to work with. This is the first I have seen my stuff in use and it makes me all giddy inside.

Baby Girl Mini-Album

Here are a few pictures of the mini-album I created for my new niece.





So now I am back tracking and want to make one for each of my girls :) It's on my long to do list for things I want to make for myself.