I've been tagged - RaNdOm HeATheR Facts...

Can you handle all of the excitement???

1. My two guilty TV pleasures are "What Not To Wear" and "Ellen". I TiVo them everyday (except it's not TiVo - we have the cable record thing, but TiVo sounds cooler).

2. When Morgan was 6 months old I was pregnant again with Avery - and I planned that - NOT A GREAT IDEA IN HINDSIGHT!

3. My husband has completed an Ironman and my idea of exercise is looking at the Bowflex.

4. I am terrified of the mall. I only go to bring the girls to the carousel.

5. I am completely addicted to Coke Zero and Sonic ice.

You can thank Megan for asking me to share these completely useless and random facts about myself.

The mind of a 5 year old...

Yesterday Morgan was eating strawberries for breakfast. And all of a sudden she says:
"Mom - some strawberries are sweet and some are sour, but you have to eat the sour ones because it makes the sweet ones even better."
I'm writing to those fortune cookie people - this should be on the little paper inside the cookie. Because really, doesn't this apply to life? Some days stink - really stink, but if you get through the bad days, the good days seem even better.
Maybe I should call Hallmark too - she could be an inspirational genius!!!

A fabulous holiday shopping opportunity...

I am participating in a Holiday Bazzar this Sunday (October 12) from 1-4 at the ReMax Center at 4750 Sherwood Commons Blvd.

We have vendors showcasing (do I sound like The Price is Right?) things like:

Greetings from the Yard with holiday and other yard signs

Popsqually & Co. creates custom stationary and cards

Debbie's gifts will have LSU coasters and Cypress paintings

Thread is a monogramming company with plenty of fleur de lis items and TONS of other goodies

Sincerely Sweet for your candy and baked goods needs

Mary Kay's fabulous makeup

Beverly's Gifts will be making personalized luggage tags, checkbook holders and business card holders

and then ME! I'll have completed layouts (for just $10), small scrapbooks, card sets, teacher clipboards, decorative picture frames, wait, I have to look at my list...just a ton of stuff - see below for a peek!

Hope to see you there!

So I tried a new approach to scrapbooking...

The simple approach - turns out - I hate it! Here are the layouts adopting this new style...

blah, blah, blah - where's the fun? the cute "stuff"?

To paraphrase my sister, "What's wrong with those layouts? They don't look like yours - I could have done those." Which is pretty much how I felt - like a Simple Scrapbook Imposter. So halfway through the scrapbooking weekend, I went back to the "Heather" style for these layouts:

And I felt a lot better. It all stems from this design class I'm taking, where we are learning about the elements of design, eliminating white space, balancing our layouts, making sure there is a focal point, yadda, yadda...

I was trying to focus on those lessons rather than just scrapbooking. Oh well, it's good to try new things, I'm just a "more is more" kind of girl when it comes to scrapbooking....

The Facebook Abyss...

A friend Megan prodded me into joining Facebook. To humor her, I did it. Now for four days I have been searching for every grammar school, high school and college friend I have "lost". OMG - It's so cool! People you weren't even friends with in school (ok - maybe b/c I was - and still am - a big nerd) actually talk to you on Facebook. Wierd, huh?

I took today off - just because... I am going to a weekend scrapbooking retreat and it starts at 2 o'clock today. I'm having lunch with Shane and then will head to the hotel for the crop. I'll post pics of my layouts next week.

Oh, and I've taking an online class with Jeannette Herdman from Scrapinstyle.com and I realize I SUCK!! I know nothing about graphic design principles. I kind of don't want to create anymore l/o's until I finish the class, but I figure I'll just follow pag sketches from the professionals and I should be fine. Post again soon - hope your weekend is filled with laughs!

It's always summer in Louisiana...

Sure in other parts of the country, people are taking pumpkin patch pictures with children dressed in corduroy jumpers, the foliage changing colors, and a slight breeze in the air... NOT HERE! Instead, we are still playing in bathing suits at the Spray Park - but we had fun!

5 little ones versus 4 adults

Good news - the adults survived. I wouldn't say we won, but we all made it out alive! Last night Jen and Dominick had a party (apparently they still HAVE a life), so we watched Nick. Since misery loves company, Ashley, Collin, Parker and Hannah came over too. The boys are SO mellow, happy and calm - the girls on the other hand are INSANE! Ashley and I thought it would be so cute if we could get all five cousins on the sofa for a group shot - clearly we had taken too many "happy pills" when we thought this was possible. Instead, we managed to make everyone lay on the bed as I stood over them and kept clicking. Clearly GiGi will NOT be framing this for her house (she prefers matching smocked outfits, settings filled with beautiful furniture, and children who are actually LOOKING at the camera). But hey, it's a start!