A few layouts

but excuse the horrible pictures...

Here is Ava - she's an "adopted" niece - Is she not just beautiful? Someone asked me the other day why I scrapbook other people's children. Well, all I can say is - I love scrapbooking, and what's better than beautiful children? oh, and I know I need to add her name and age, but I haven't gotten to the Cricut yet...

Here's Morgan's 5th Birthday party. And thanks to an article in CK written by Elizabeth Kartchner - I am now adding more photos for an event between the two page layout in a six pocket page protector (see below).

This is my answer to an overwhelming # of photos from an event. In some boxes, I made mini-layouts.

Next - here's my Avery, my crazy bird! Here is a glimpse of her life at 4.

Lastly, our snow page...

I love the polar bear and the snowman!!! And this may be the ONLY time I get to use them!

"All About Me" Class for January 12th...

Hopefully you got Denise's email and have signed up for the year long adventure - creating a book all about YOU!! Using Basic Grey (my all time favorite!). Remember if you comment here on my blog, you have more chances at winning prizes during class - so feel free to comment and share your ideas for the layouts!

Everyone knows I'm a LiTtLe AnAl :) Soooo, the first layout titled "My Favorite Things" uses Basic Grey's "Ambrosia" line. The paper is red, orange, and grey. I plan to print my photos in black and white - unless they match the color scheme (analness). I would encourage you to live freely "outside of the box" and choose pictures in any colors that you like.

Picture suggestions:

For the left page - I will do a 5x7 of myself (with the 7" horizontal)- but if you are a picture "whore" (and I use the term nicely) - feel free to do more of yourself. I will struggle to find one, but I hope you have a million!

For the right page, I am going to print 2" by 3" photos of six of my favorite things. The 3" is horizontal. If I can't find six photos, then I will increase the photo to 4" or 6" and take up two spots, but I want to keep the grid shape. (Oh, and by printing 2x3 photos, I mean trimming to that size, because I have NO IDEA how to resize photos). Are you following me? I would need a picture, so maybe I'll draw one - hold please....




Now that I have dazzled and impressed you with my drawing ability - I hope that makes more sense (I am a ViSuAl learner - so I will try to use pics whenever possible).

We will number each box and my journaling will simply and very quickly describe the item in the box. Since I can't stand to take the time to go to the computer and print out my journaling (although still to this day I buy more fonts), I will handwrite my journaling.

So that's it! The foundation for the first "All About Me" class. I am so excited! I have never done an album (much less a page) just about me - and it's about time! I'm pretty cool and so are you - so let's make sure we let everyone know!!!

Hope to see you on January 12th. There are only 10 spots - so be sure to call Scrapbook and Co and sign up. Feel free to ask any questions through the comment section on the blog. I will answer there so that everyone can see. Now - go start making your list of FAVORITES!!!

UPDATE: Group 2 starts on February 5. We have only one spot left! See you then!

A Fantastic Christmas!

With 5 little ones to open gifts today - we had a blast. The excitement on the faces was too precious!

Go Eagles!!

Southern Miss beat Troy in the New Orleans Bowl and we were there to watch! Morgan and Avery's favorites (maybe Shane's too): the cheerleaders!!!

and dancin' on the sidelines...

Southern Miss pulled it out in OT - Go Eagles!

I had an epiphany this week...

ponytails everyday for six weeks is not a style - it's pathetic! So I searched the internet for round face hairstyles, looked in magazines, and discussed with Rebecca (the hair wizard).


So here it is....





When I picked Avery up from school - from across the classroom she yelled:
"Mommy, you look silly"
And Morgan's comment went like this:
"Why did you cut your hair. I liked it better before. You look like a jaguar now."

A jaguar? Really? Does she even know what a jaguar looks like???

Anyway, I like it, and at least my hair has a "style"...

The story of a tree...

When we lived in Metairie - we had a fake Christmas tree. I had convinced myself it was better for allergy-prone Morgan, and quite honestly, it was easy and I didn't care... So when we packed up and moved the 60 miles to Cowtown, I assumed the tree came with us. As it turns out, Shane had donated that fine artificial tree to Goodwill.

Somehow, moving 60 miles brought out Shane's inner Paul Bunyon, and now we not only have a REAL tree, we have to drive 20 more miles to cut it down. Last year we cut the tree down in shorts and t-shirts - talk about a real mood buster. But this year, it was cool enough for long sleeves and pants, which, I guess, made the event Magical...

Hilarious You Tube Video

I am not a You Tube fan. When people forward me You Tube videos, I usually delete them (sorry, but the truth). BUT, Ashley made me watch this one at work (as you can see, we are VERY busy). And I'm glad she did - it is truly hysterical!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMhuAtyFCrw

I hope you watch it and Laugh Out Loud (but I won't blame you if you don't open it!)

SnOw in BaTon RouGE - MomEnToUs OccAsIon!!

It doesn't snow in Louisiana - we are tropical - think jungle minus the exotic animals - but we awoke on December 11 to SNOW!!!!

Our Santa visit....

We left Parker and Hannah at home with a sitter and ventured to see Santa at the Shaw cafeteria. This was the first year the girls sat on Santa's lap without hysterics! Now THAT's progress!

Avery's birthday party

was a complete success! The girls had a great time dressing up - and doing a little chicken dance!
If you are experiencing deja vu - yes, Morgan did have her party at this same place "Pretty in Pink" in October...

Shane and I are surviving our weekend with four children better than I expected. It's 8:30 and Morgan, Avery, Hannah and Parker are asleep. Keep your fingers crossed that it stays that way! Don't tell Ashley - but Parker is sleeping in a dog bed on the floor - before you call Social Services - it's for our "stuffed puppies", has never seen a live dog, and is probably cleaner than most blankets in my house - plus he looks precious! Gotta get to bed - Shane is handling the three girls (all asleep in our bed) and I'm taking the night/early morning feeding with Parker. And don't worry, I took extra meds in preparation for this...

How did my baby girl get to be 4?

Here is a snapshot of Avery at four:

1. Loves EVERYTHING puppy!

2. Wants to be just like her big sister

3. Loves poptarts and oatmeal

4. Takes her stuffed puppy "Broccoli" everywhere

5. Throws a fit every night at bedtime

6. Sneaks into Mommy and Daddy's bed every night

7. Strikes a pose for every picture

Oh, there is so much more...

Now, on to me...(because I know you can't wait!) Saw the surgeon yesterday. Everything looks good and he casually mentioned that the swelling will all be gone in four months - FOUR MONTHS!!!! Are you kidding? Well, I can't wear yoga pants for that long - so I am heading out today to find a pair of pants and two tops. I will wear them everyday until they either fall apart or become too big (let's hope for the latter). And, yes, I cleared this "mental health day" with Ashley - just can't get back into the swing of things at work! I REALLY liked being at home for four weeks. I'm sure tax season will shock me back into the real world! Wish me luck - I will either be laughing in the fitting room or crying - knowing me I'll be laughing so hard I will be crying!

Thanks to Randi...

who is a super cute twenty-something year old friend of mine (even though she teases me about everything - but mostly how OLD I am), I made this layout of my girls in their Christmas dresses.


You see Randi decided the use the Jenni Bowlin flag chipboard as a Christmas tree - I know, pure genius - that's another reason I love her (even though she thinks I'm old).




All of the stuff (and that's a technical term) I used above is at Scrapbook & Co. I forgot to look at the brand of paper before I walked downstairs, and since it's almost 2 am, I don't feel like going back up - but if you really want to know, leave a comment and I'll answer. The Jenni Bowlin chipboard is a must and the tulle and Bazzill pom poms are awesome!


Then, for your viewing pleasure, I have my Halloween layout.






I like it enough - I guess. Both the spider web paper and the Laser Cut paper are from Little Yellow Bicycle. Don't kill me, but the Fancy Pants Tree on the first page is sold out at Scrapbook & Co. Hey, I'm only the messenger! I have to admit the orange paper and the stickers are from the $Spot at Target and I stickled the laser cut paper to add some orange.


Halloween layouts are always so hard for me because my girls are ALWAYS princesses! And pink and frilly just doesn't fit into the Halloween motif. But at least I snuck some orange in there. Oh - the letters are Thickers and you can't really tell, but the background paper on the right is the Reminisce Ghost paper.


That's it - that's all I got. Hope you have an awesome Thanksgiving. Remember to wear your stretchy pants, take extra meds if your family requires it, and PLEASE laugh your butt off!

Miss Angel's Happy Mail...

I sent "one of those chain letters" to Angel for a sticker swap. I hate them, but then I think of the sad faces that don't get mail compared to the happy faces that do - and then I play along. I hoped Angel would play for Kylie. Well she did, and the girls couldn't get their packages open soon enough! Morgan was excited - and then Avery, well, she was Avery... Thanks Miss Angel!


PS - Notice Morgan was already wearing her Hannah Montana t-shirt. And it was Morgan who suggested we make something for Miss Angel as a thank you - Avery, as you may understand hasn't had those thoughts yet...

Newest layout...

I so LOVE the Heidi Swapp World Traveler line (of course - available at Scrapbook and Co.). For this layout, I used Compass and Old Map (2 pieces) from the HS line along with reddish brown cardstock and black cardstock.

I added a few brads and inked the white parts of the paper (it was just too bright for my layout). I put my journaling on a tag and in the upper left hand corner, I used the Heidi Swapp Traveler tape - but if you don't have that, just use strips of left over paper to add a little extra something :)

I also inked the "Journey" letters with a little red brink ink. And the "celebrate" is from My Mind's Eye and Denise may have some at the shop. Voila - an easy layout!

Since I can't teach this month...

You get a free class on my blog! Well, not so much a class, but a layout idea with all the details...

Scrapbook and Co has the paper and then I'll list the other items that I used...

First this layout is done entirely with four sheets of Fancy Pants Paper. It's the Daily Grind line and the papers are: Chalkboard (the black on the left), Vacation (the red on the right), DG Strips (gives us the title, words and strips of different paper for embellishments), and Notebook Doodles (which I used for the swirl on the left page - cut from the middle of the page to save the outer doodle pattern for later).

Ok - so for the embellishments. We'll start with the left page. I channelled my friend Angel who is a wizard with an exacto knife. I hand drew the blue swirls and cut them out with an exacto knife - but there is nothing EXACT about the swirls. Don't worry, sand the edges and no one will notice the imperfections! Then doodle around them with a white pen and REALLY no one will notice the swirls!

The strip of "dot" paper is from the DG Strips Paper as well as the title "Every Day Moments". I used parts of the DG strips paper and the Notebook Doodle paper (front and back to cut out the circles and the little tab). Once I cut those out, I sanded the edges and added Diamond Glaze to the top (for a little extra texture). I used four red buttons and 6 red brads. Don't stress about that part - just use whatever you have that coordinates.

For the right page, the quote on the bottom is from the DG Strips page. Find any black and white ribbon for the bottom of the layout and add any brad or "buckle" for some extra detail. Once again, I cut the picture turns out of scraps from the DG Strips paper. And I cut the journaling circle out of the back of the DG strips paper. Once again - go through your stash and use whatever brads work with these colors.

If you have no desire to make your own embellishments, this Fancy Pants line has two embellishment sets. They are both at Scrapbook and Co and just choose one and add them wherever I have mine.

I bought the similar Fancy Pants line for Christmas - with the embellishment set, so I'll be using those soon.

E-mail me or post any questions. I just love this paper - and four sheets goes A LONG way! Hopefully this gets your creative juices flowing. I'm hoping to post a new layout every other day - since I've left you high and dry on the classes this month. Enjoy!

LittleMissMatched Sock model...

Typical Avery - these aren't kids knee high socks - they are adult ankle socks. But Avery took them from my drawer and is wearing them around the house. I laughed so hard when I saw it - and that was way too painful in itself!

Megan - thanks for getting these funny socks for our shopping tour in Nashville!

Enough post-op - here are the girls...

They make me laugh everyday - even when it hurts!

Things your plastic surgeon leaves out of the information booklet...

1. It will be weeks - even a month or two before your children can run up and hug you.

2. With lipo - you can actually weigh MORE post-op than pre-op due to the water they pump into your tissue. Luckily, I weighed 5 pounds less, but I talked to someone today who weighed 15 pounds MORE after surgery than before.

3. There is no lag time for the bruising - as the surgeon is sucking your fat - your tissue immediately bruises - you leave the Operating Room black and blue.

4. You quite possibly won't fit into your clothes for a month - due to all of the swelling and fluid -and I thought I was going to be sending those clothes to Goodwill - glad I held on to them.

5. Wherever you had lipo, your skin is numb, but underneath, there is an unreachable itch deep down in your tissue - it's enough to drive you insane.

6. Lipo is by far worse than the tummy tuck. And I thought it was the exact opposite. Wrong!

7. Your skin can be ghastly white from the blood loss and anemia for "awhile".

8. You can't make it through the day without a nap for up to four weeks due to the blood loss, anemia, and the healing.

Just a few REAL facts in case you are considering a visit to the plastic surgeon...

Warning - I just took my late morning pain meds...

and I have about 10 minutes before I take my daily nap. I have been GLUED to the computer watching the first12 episodes of Lipstick Jungle. Have you watched it? It is the most fabulous show on my computer (haha). The jewelry alone is enough reason to watch it - but the story - the three amazing women - juggling real life - plus all the b#*sh&^ that goes along with the high powered exec life. I love it! Seriously, how beautiful are they? Even after plastic surgery, I"ll never look as good as Nico or Wendy or Victory (although I think I may already have Lindsey Price beaten in age - so she doesn't count...).

Do you know what's truly unfair? - they drink alcohol all the time - they are always pigging out on cupcakes or Halloween candy - and in only ONE episode have they been in a gym - and I think it was a pilates gym at that! Now THAT is not real life!!! No one gets to drink champagne at lunch, munch on tootsie rolls and look that good! That's how you know it's TV and not real.

Anyway - I still think it's the best show on TV. I will continue to watch the episodes on hulu.com until I get to the current show. And I want every RING they wear in the show - that's my new Christmas wish list!!!!

The post-op report...

Note: For your convenience, there will be no pictures during this post...

6 days ago (Tuesday at 8am to be exact), I paid someone (a highly esteemed plastic surgeon) to cut me apart from hip to hip, pull my stomach as tight as can be, and sew it back together. I also paid him to pulverize the fat in my hips and thighs and suck it through some disgusting apparatus - leaving the entire middle of my body bludgeoned and bruised. And I remind you once again - I actually paid dearly for this treatment...

For the first two days I stayed religiously on pain medicine while unable to consume any food for fear or vomiting. On the third day, mom and husband played hardball and told me no more drugs until I had nourishment. So on the third day, I started to singlehandedly support the local Smoothie King. And the drugs were administered. Also, on the second day - against my will, I was forced to walk around - with the help of a walker to help diminish the excruciating pain ripping through my torso (remember - I asked for this).

I have made it to Saturday, day six of this glorious journey - I am happy to report, that I am walker free, I'm moving around pretty quickly, and both girls have actually cuddled on my lap. I dressed and went to a neighborhood birthday party today.

If you know me at all - you will understand the difference between my recovery timeline and the doctor's. My doctor told me that most patients are back to a normal schedule in three weeks. He said that some of his younger, more active patients are back in two weeks. I took that info and decided I would be back to normal after one week. The eternal optimist right?

As I get closer to the one week mark, I am more realistic about the recovery. I know that I won't be at the mall at the end of week two buying an entire new wardrobe, because I will still be swollen and bruised, but I probably will be back at work. And today, when I wanted to stick my head in the pillow and cry due to the pain, I didn't - because I asked for this - so I better save the tears for something out of my control. I have severe feelings of guilt for making my wonderful husband bear all of the responsibilities around here - all in the sake of vanity. When I glance in the mirror, I can see that the outcome will probably be awesome - but the jury is still out if the war was worth the battle. I'll keep you posted...

And for once - I'm trying NOT to laugh out loud - because it HURTS too much, so find something to laugh about for me!

Halloween - the unscary version...

or maybe it's scary if you are looking at Collin and Shane...

and, yes, Avery is heading to "hack" into someone with her "bloody" hatchet - thanks to Daddy...

Some things are better left unsaid...

I just got these photos of Morgan riding the Harley with Pops (Shane's Dad if you couldn't see the resemblance). Had I been there, I'm sure I would have needed extra meds. I'll end up scrapbooking these, but I'm still glad I wasn't there...

The blurriness of the photo implies movement - and Morgan is smiling! I'm panicking just looking at these...

Home safe - thanks for small miracles!

Sorry... No new pictures

Just some stream of consciousness thinking....

I voted yesterday - since I'll be sedated and sliced and diced on election day (of my own choosing). While in line, I read this delicious sounding recipe for acorn squash. Since my children only eat fruits and vegetables, I thought I could throw a new one into the mix. So I ran to the farmer's market and bought a bag full of stuff - including the acorn squash.

This morning, I tried to cut the damn thing open - no luck! Maybe it's not ripe? Or maybe it's b/c my knives were a wedding gift and are 11 years old... Not sure, so instead, I baked sweet potatoes. Then topped them with spray butter, cinnanmon and sugar free syrup (yes, these are the type of things stocked in our house - so why don't I weigh 100 pounds?). The girls won't usually eat pancakes or french toast, but they were all over the sweet potatoes. They were delicious! It's the same way I was going to make the acorn squash, but I'll have to wait until I can cut into that one... Now run out to the farmer's market and buy some stuff!

Mid-October...Still in bathing suits...

After Morgan's birthday party, Molly, Shelby, Sarah, Hannah and Parker came back to our house. That's 6 girls including Morgan and Avery! - we had to keep counting them to make sure we had them all - because of course they all went in separate directions. Here are the highlights...

Hope you find something to laugh about today...

Morgan's 5th birthday party - finally...

Poor Morgan had her 5th bday party cancelled because of the power outages after Gustav. We finally rescheduled this weekend and she had a blast. The party was at "Pretty in Pink" in Gonzales and I would suggest it to everyone! The girls chose dresses, shoes, jewelry, etc, had makeup, fancy hairdos and a dance party. They were precious!