Monday...

Welp, I have a lot of stuff planned for today. I have to clean my entire house, since it looks like a tornado passed through every room and did the hokey pokey. Sigh.

Tonight Cora and I are going to Mother/Daughter Game night at school. We'll eat dinner there and play games for a while. Should be fun!

My niece Miranda got top 10 in the Pageant she was in on Friday night! Go Miranda!!! Cant' wait to see the photos.

Digi Chick Blog Prompt: Talk about first signs of spring.

Don't see much yet. The temp is rising a bit, but we won't see buds or flowers for a while yet. It could easily still snow! Last year we had a huge snow storm on the 23rd of April!

Ho Hum...

Not much going on today. I have a test I should be studying for, but I'm sitting here dinking around on the puter. I got my kitchen and living room clean, so that's my wifely accomplishment for today.

I turned in the papework to get Sarah enrolled for Kindergarten. Oh man...I dread the first day of school this fall. I'm going to be a complete blubbering mess. Both my girls in school...sigh...

Not much planned for the weekend. I'm sure we'll spend some time at the bow club, and I have to teach Sunday School this week. Other than that, I plan on doing a lot of being lazy.

Just a Little Giftie

I wanted some notebook paper, so I made some...here it is if ya can use it!


Download Here

Uncommon Valor

We watched this movie last night on AMC. I had never heard of it before, but it had Gene Hackman and Patrick Swayze in it. Gene Hackman had a son who was MIA in Vietnam and got all his old Army buddies together to go in and get him out. Took 10 years to do it, but he finally went in. Won't spoil the ending in case anyone ever wants to see it. Pretty good movie. I want to rent it and watch it commercial-free. I love Gene Hackman.

I bought Dreamer yesterday for the girls. We haven't watched it yet since the girls haven't finished cleaning up the tornado that is their room. Hopefully tonight though.

Winter depresses me. I HATE being cold and not being able to get outside. I want to go for walks, but it's just too darn cold.

*The Blog Challenge over at The Digi Chick is to post your favorite recent layout and explain how the page came about.

Here's mine:
2 Peas In a Pod
Picture of my husband and his sister Theresa. Andrew's about 9 and Tweet's 7. I love the picture because they're happy. Truly happy. Gotta love that.
The kit I used is Valerie Fowler's A Tiny Seed found at The Digi Chick. It's a charity kit from which all money goes to a mission trip her church is planning.

The Dentist

The girls and I went to the dentist this morning for our cleanings and exams. What fun! The girls' teeth are healthy and they have no cavities. Cora had some Xrays done and we found out that she's missing the same permanent teeh that I am, so we're praying those baby teeth old out for a LONG time!

Sarah was a bit freaked out, but she got her teeth cleaned. The part she hates is the sucker (which sucks the water out of your mouth after you rinse). I told the lady she doesn't like it, but she tried to use it anyway. No Go. Told ya so. Eventually she just let Sarah spit into a cup. Gotta always try to do it the hard way. She's FOUR; give her a break!

I shot a 347/450 last night!!!! I was WAY excited! Next week is the last week. I've had so much fun! If I can keep improving every time I shoot, I'm happy.

Here's another sketch if anyone is needin' inspiration.

Sketch Challenge

Here's a quick sketch I came up with today for the fun of it. I'd love to see what you come up with!!

First Day Of Spring???

Not around here! We're currently at 32 degrees. Yeah, I'm sick of it.

We went to Walmart and got Sarah a new bike. The one she has is too small, and is technically not supposed to be ridden without the training wheels. She needed a real bike since she doesn't need training wheels any more. I wanted to go for a walk while she rode, but it's just too darn cold.

Digi chick Blog challenge: Write about why you scrap.

I scrap because I want to have our life documented for the girls and their children. I want them to be able to know the stories of their lives and their family's lives. I wish I had more information about my dad's family. Now I'll never know a lot of it. I want my girls to have records of things after I'm gone.

Another reason I do it is because it's just so darn fun! I REALLY love the creative process of designing a page. I've learned to do things MY way and if people like my work, GREAT. If not, oh well. Don't get me wrong. I LOVE getting comments on my pages, and I love to make pages that other people can be inspired by. But I don't design my pages to fit what magazines are looking for (except Becky's sketch! :) ). They seem to be a lot more receptive to my pages now then they did when I was a paper scrapper and trying way too hard to impress people.

Anyway...

Holy Dirty House, Batman!

My house is a total disaster. Anyone wanna come on over and clean it for me? I've been really lazy the past few days. Gotta get it cleaned tomorrow.

Andrew and I went to an Irish Pub on Friday night. Bad idea. We actually had to wait in line to get in. We only went because Andrew's mom called and told him that some of his grade school classmates were there. We ended up staying about an hour. It was too smoky and CROWDED. Couple of fuddy duddies we are.

Tonight we're going to watch "Big" on AMC. I love this movie, and anything with Tom Hanks in it is ok by me. He's one of my fave actors.

Has anyone tried the Black Cherry Vanilla Diet Coke? I have been drinking it lately. I usually don't like Diet Coke at all, but I have been trying to cut down on my sugar intake. The BCV is actually tolerable. Who knows? Maybe in 20 year they'll come out and say that the artificial sweeteners are more harmful than the sugar. Sigh. Wouldn't surprise me a bit. I'm still gonna use real sugar in my tea, though. Can't give that up.

I've gotten a couple pages done this weekend. I have GOT to stay off the Photoshop this next week and write an essay and study for a test. Photoshop and Digi Scrappin' is the DEBIL!



*Twill Flowers are by Kim Christensen; Stems by Shawna Clingerman


*Papers from Manda Bean's Solids Collection on her Bean Bag CD. Frame made by me.

It's Friday!

Ahhh...sleeping late tomorrow! It's funny how that can be something to look forward to.

Not much else going on today. I shot my bow for a few hours. I finally got my new sight so I had to get it sighted in. Lots O fun! :)

I'm trying to decide if I want to go to Blockbuster for a few movies. I know I want to watch The Passion of The Christ tonight. I like to watch it when I need reminding of stuff. Lent is a perfect time for that.
Dreamer comes out on DVD on Tuesday and Cora is VERY excited. If you haven't seen it, it's a great flick. Narnia's out on April 4th I believe.

Ok...I posted a blog challenge on The Digi Chick. What was your favorite childhood toy?

Harry. I don't really remember how I got him, but he's an old teddy bear. That bear has been with me since I was 6. I slept with him EVERY night. He was there through every move, school change, and any other upheaval our family went through, even a house fire. (He was the first thing I grabbed) I still have him, and he's known to "take away bad dreams". The girls get to sleep with him occasionally, whenever they feel a bad dream coming. I love Harry.

I SO need a back massage

I thought my back muscles were getting used to shooting my bow. NOPE. I shot in my league last night. There are 15 ends (rounds) where we shoot 3 arrows. By the 8th end, I was really struggling. I know all it takes is practice, so I'll just keep chugging along. I did shoot my personal best, which was 332/450. I was pretty excited. But today I need a massage...

C'mon over to The Digi Chick and participate in my Photo Challenge! We're doing COLOR this time. I want to see some color. I'm SO tired of drab winter! SHOW ME THE COLOR! :)

Andrew's going to Pennsylvania for the weekend. His sister is getting married in July, and her fiance's family is having a shower for her. She wanted some family with her, so Andrew and their brother Rick are going to hang out with her.

I posted that I wanted to have a chat at The Digi Chick Friday night to hang out because Andrew will be gone Friday night. Who wants to join me? 9:30 PM EST in TDC's Chat Room. Hope to see you there! You never know what will happen in a TDC chat! We had a BLAST last time!

A Challenge at 2Peas! List 10 things you recommend.

Hmmm....

1. Read The Cider House Rules Great book!
2. Thank a Vet
3. Talk to God
4. Have FUN!!!!
5. Scrap a layout today!
6. Have FUN!!!! :)
7. Watch all SIX Star Wars movies (Yes, even Episode I)
8. Believe in Magic
9. Hug your kiddies
10. Enjoy Life. It's WAY too short

Ok...those are my high and mighty recommendations! :)

Geesh...the weather is PSYCHO!

Ok, so yesterday was 63. It's in the 20s at the moment. I think I need to become a snowbird! This is definitely for the birds! The wind has been atrocious the past couple days. What goober moves to Michigan from Mississippi, where it's nice and warm? Me, I guess! :)

Andrew and I went to see Failure To Launch Saturday afternoon. We were disappointed. Terry Bradshaw and Kathy Bates were the best parts of the show, but unfortunately weren't in it enough to make it worthwhile. Bummer.

A little bit of excitement in the Spangler household last night. Cora lost her first tooth! It's been loose for a few months, and Andrew felt it last night and gave it a good tug. Cora was not pleased about that, but after that she started working it loose and eventually, with a little help from mom and dad, pulled it out herself. She was extremely proud. She even went to bed early so that tooth fairy would come sooner! The tooth fairy left her four quarters.

Spring????

Could Spring actually be on her way??? It was above freezing this morning, and it's supposed to get up to 52 today. Ahhh....52 degrees. That feels balmy when you've been subjected to frigid temps for 3 months. I can't tell you how much I'm ready for Spring and Summer. 99 degrees??? Bring it. I'll take sweat over frozen toes any day of the week, and twice on Sunday! :)

Not much going on today I guess. Just Sarah and me chillin'.. I should ge the clothes hung up. Yuck. Maybe the laundry fairy will come in and do it while I'm on the puter??? A gal can wish, can't she?

Sarah was sick Tuesday. She woke up around 1 AM Tuesday morning, and threw up every half hour until about 7. She laid like a lump all day Tuesday, and felt better by yesterday. I kept her home from preschool just to be sure. Luckily no one else has gotten it. Ugh.

I went up to the bow club Tuesday night for my league, but lo and behold, the power was out! So, a few of us just sat around in the dark club and shot the breeze. It was pretty fun to talk with some of the older members of the club. The electricity did finally come back on, and I stayed to practice for a while. I have to remember that I'm still very new to archery, and if I don't get the stinkin' X every time, it's OK! I'm so hard on myself. We made some changes to my bow last weekend so I'm still getting those kinks ironed out. Lots of fun, but LOTS of work! It's definitely not as easy as it may seem.

Hmmm...what else? The Digi Chick Re-Opening Celebration was a HUGE success! There were so many people logged on that it was almost impossible to get on the site! How exciting!!!

A quick layout I did yesterday.


Papers and elements from Fee Jardine's Chocolate Cupcake Kit at The Digi Chick.

TGIF!!!!

Ahhh...the end of another week. Tonight is the Daddy Daughter Dance. Cora's pretty excited, but Andrew is afraid the same thing will happen this year: Cora will run off with her girl friends and leave him sitting all alone. Although the guys have planned on bringing Euchre cards tonight! They learned from last year. I had a talk with Cora about spending some of the time with her daddy, because daddies aren't around forever. She should take advantage of the time she has with him. Hopefully she understood. Andrew's sister Lara is coming over to do Cora's hair. Lara sometimes does her own hair for dances and stuff, and Cora's very excited for her to come do hers.

We had another snow day yesterday.I can't wait for Spring to finally get here. A few more weeks, and Spring will be official. Not sure the snow will get the memo, though.

Oh yeah!!! Huge day for The Digi Chick! They're kicking off their two-day Re-Opening Celebration today! Go on over and see what's going on! The site got a face lift, and everything is beautiful! Lots of prizes and contests to read about! GO!

Here's a couple layouts I did recently.

Long Weekend

Man I was tired! I spent all day Saturday at the bow club. There was a tournament there over the weekend, and I helped out in the kitchen. It was really fun to watch how a tournament is run. I learned a lot. I also participated in the tournament on Sunday morning. It was my first one! I've only had my bow for a week, so I didn't expect to do really well. It was a lot of fun to give it a shot though. After I was done, I stayed and helped in the kitchen again for a while. I'm really enjoying learning Archery.

It's Kindergarten Info Night! I can't believe Sarah's going to Kindergarten next year! After that I have to go and finish pictures for the theater group. There are only a few pictures left to take, and I'll be done for a while.

What a bummer!

For those of you who frequent Scrapbook Graphics, you might notice the site is gone. Apparently a tech made a HUGE error and deleted the ENTIRE server where the site was hosted. So, Maya's site is GONE. It's going to take a bit of time to get the site back up and running, but Maya is definitely working on it!

[Tuesday Morning]

School started back up today. We had a nice 4 day weekend because of the snow day. It was hard to get up this morning! Must...have...coffee!

I got some good practice in with my bow yesterday. We decided to take the clicker off because it was giving me more problems than helping me. It's suppose to ensure that I get to the same anchor point every time, but since I hadn't FOUND my anchor point yet, it was giving me fits. I'm shooting much better now that it's off. Once I find a steady anchor point that I reach every time, then we'll reinstall the stinkin' clicker. :) My back muscles are SO sore from shooting for 3 hours yesterday. This bow is considerably heavier than what I'm used to, so the muscles are hurting. I had fun though. Tonight I shoot in my ladies league. Hopefully I can shoot ok. I know I won't do really great, but that's ok. I know that it will take a LONG time for me to get used to this bow.

I've got to get my backdrop stand all in one place today. Thursday I'm doing the cast pictures for Fenton Village Players. Since I rarely use it, I think the pieces are scattered to and fro! I WILL need a background for these shots though, since I don't think brick walls are that attractive for these types of shots.

Yup. I'm OFFICIALLy ready for spring. I'm SO over winter. There's not much snow, but it's BUTT TICKLING cold!

Scrapbook Trends emailed me yesterday requesting a layout. That makes 5 layouts requested since I started digi scrapping in December. I'm really excited! Of course, I have MANY layouts that have not been requested, and that's ok. I REALLY love the layouts I've been creating lately, and that's all that matters. Scrappin' rocks! Can I get an amen????

Star Wars Movie Marathon!!!

My nephew has acquired all six Star Wars movies. He invited a couple of his friends over to watch the first three today. He also invited me. They're supposed to watch the next three tomorrow.

History of the movie marathon:

A couple years ago, James was sleeping over at our house. He and I decided to watch all the Star Wars movies (there were 5 at that time). We stayed in the house for two days and got through them all. Then in May of 2005, when Episode III came out, he wanted to see it with me. He and I went to the movies to see it. We've been co-geeks ever since. I was really flattered that he invited me to his marathon today. His friends weren't as enthused about it as we were, but that's ok. We still had a good time.

Scraplift of Shabby Miss Jen

Her layouts ROCK.

This was a challenge at Sweet Shoppe Designs. I had a lot of fun putting this together. Here's the layout I lifted .



I used Bella Gypsy Design's Lollipop Kit found at A Cherry On Top. Nice and bright!

Snow Day

We finally got the snow day.

Watched Men's Figure Skating last night and have come to the conclusion that Johnny Weir is a big ol' baby. He says his "aura" was off because he missed the bus to the rink and it threw off his focus. Whatever. Suck it up and drive on. Big weenie.

Anyway...I LOVED watching Snowboard Cross. That was a very interesting event. Someone remind me to STAY OFF www.olympics.com!!!!!! I DO NOT WANT to see who wins the events before I see them on TV!!!!! MAKE ME STOP!!!!!!!

I'm hoping my arrows come in today. If so, I can get my bow set up. I'm excited to start working with it.

Snow, Sleet, and School, Oh My!

It was NASTY this morning when we woke up. I checked the news to see if school was closed. No such luck. Cora has a field trip today to an international concert. Luckily the roads outside of our neighborhood aren't bad. The snow is perfect snowball/snowman snow, but it's TOO cold to go out and enjoy it. Now it's raining a bit. Geesh. Spring, anyone???? Guess I can't complain, I DID move to Michigan of my own free will. I must have been nuts! :) Nah, I love it here, except for the snow.

Andrew's been home the past couple days. He hurt his back pretty badly last week, and as you can imagine he's in pain.

Tonight's the Men's Long Program in Figure Skating. Go Johnny Weir! Looks like he's our best hope for a medal. Evgeni Plushenko is going to be TOUGH to beat. It's never over until the fat lady sings, though. I've seen awesome upsets many times in the Olympics. Congrats to Toby Dawson for his bronze in the Moguls last night. That was fun to watch! I love the Olympic spirit. The fact that Lindsay Kildow could ski the downhill after her scary crash on Monday shows true Olympic spirit.

Anyway...enough gushing from me. Ok...a bit more...GO APOLO!!!!!

Pink Chucks

Page I made about Sarah's Pink Chucks. She totally loves these shoes!!!!

I'm totally bummed...

Michelle Kwan announced she was withdrawing from the Olympics because of injury. I was SO rooting for her to take gold this time. I just love her tenacity. I know she's disappointed, but I'm glad she knew when it was time to pack it in. Much admiration for her. My bet's on Sasha Cohen now...she's a bad ass enough to take the gold. GO USA!!!

Not much else going on today...taught Sunday School this morning, and am now in my jammies once again. I've got an exam next Saturday, so I should be getting my study guide together.

We got most of our taxes done, just need a few tidbits of info to finish.

Anything else to report? Nope. I'm just gonna scrap a page or two, then get my ad done for the program for The Good Doctor. I'm the photographer this year for the group, so I get free advertising. Gonna be fun!

COLD Saturday

We're about to go to Andrew's mom's so she can help us with our taxes. WOO HOO! Hee hee....


Ok...Anyone have some duct tape??? My children are driving me crazy. Cabin fever is rampant around here!

Layout Blueprints updated their site with the cover of the new idea book coming out in June. Guess whose layout is on the cover??? I'm SOOOOOOO excited. I literally screamed when I saw it. Of course, things can change and nothing's solid until it's in print. Still, it's cool nonetheless.

Here's a preview of a little kit a made that was inspired by a page I did of my friend Leila's son Devin. His nickname is D-bug, and I made this kit to scrap some photos of him.



Here's a link for anyone who would like to have it. Lemme know if you take it and use it!

Meet The New Designers!

This Friday! Head on over there and check out the details. Hope to see everyone there!!!!
Here's a layout I created with the gorgeous kit that you receive FREE for attending the chat!

Woah! I've been tagged!

Heather tagged me!

WHAT WERE YOU DOING 10 YEARS AGO? I was 19 and working at Howard Industries making ballasts for flourescent lights. Fun! I was also in the National Guard.

WHAT WERE YOU DOING 1 YEAR AGO? One year ago I was waiting impatiently for my new camera to arrive!

5 FAVORITE SNACKS: Peanut Butter Cups, Butterfinger, Coffee Ice Cream, Oreos, Anything chocolate!

5 SONGS TO WHICH YOU KNOW ALL THE LYRICS: All Nick Jr. songs, Ice Ice Baby (hee), The Humpty Dance (hee hee), Can't Touch This

5 BAD HABITS: Too much computer, sweet tea, twirling my hair

5 THINGS YOU LIKE DOING: photography, reading, digi scrapping, watching movies, hanging with my girlies.

5 THINGS YOU WOULD NEVER BUY, WEAR OR GET AGAIN: platform shoes, huge dangly earrings, huge bellbottoms, pants from Old Navy, Maternity clothes

5 FAVORITE TOYS: Canon 20D, computer, my bow, digi scrappin' stuff

2 TAGS:


Justine H.

Nancy

Welp

The snow is here. It came down pretty hard last night while we were at the bow club. It took a LONG time to drive home. The electricity went out this morning for about an hour and a half. It got pretty chilly! We were about to have to find somewhere warm to hang out! Luckily it came back on, and all is right with the world.

Andrew and Sarah are at his dad's house for the Superbowl. Cora and I stayed home and I've been scrappin' a little. Cora's been vegging out on Dr. Mario and Super Mario Brothers.

Here's a layout I did yesterday.



LAYOUT REMOVED FOR PUBLICATION!!! CHECK IT OUT IN THE JUNE ISSUE OF SCRAPBOOK TRENDS!



Papers, ribbon and Alpha from Maya's "Love Life" Kit. Font is Secretarial Pool.

Less than a week until the Olympics!!! I'm stoked! GO USA!

Friday again...

Sigh. I got hooked into watching Survivor last night. Now I'll have to watch EVERY single episode or I'll not be able to go on. I hate it when I get hooked to a show like that. It happened with the first season of Survivor. I saw the third episode, and from then on my dad and I had to see how it played out. Poor ol' Hatch! :)

The girls' room is clean. Phew! That was a CHORE! I don't know how they do it, but they can destroy that room in no time. Then it gets too overwhelming for them to clean it by themselves. It's done now, thankfully.

Superbowl this Sunday. Yay. I am so excited I can hardly contain myself (Don't step in the dripping sarcasm) . I think Andrew and the girls are going over to his dad's to watch the game, but I SO don't wanna go. Not sure what I'm going to do here all by my lonesome! Guess I'll have to muddle through. Maybe I'll rent a movie. Any good suggestions?

I'm really craving some Hickory Cheddar Cream Cheese from Big Apple Bagels . I go there about once a week for a Caramel Latte and sometimes a Breakfast BLT. The cream cheese is the DEBIL! Going there makes me feel like a grown up. Cup of coffee and a breakfast sandwich in a cafe with NO kids is such a treat. It's the little things...

Hundreds Day

Today was Cora's 100th day of school. They had a bunch of activities with 100 of a lot of different things. Cora brought 100 rubber bands. She came home with a cool Crown that had 100 little stickers on it.

I played a little Super Mario Brothers tonight. Cora was playing and couldn't get past a part, so I came in and kinda commandeered the controller from her. It was a blast. I hadn't played in a LONG time! It felt good to play like a kid again.

Phew!

So, I got my first quiz in Bioethics out of the way. Did pretty well on it, and even caught a mistake in an answer. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Thank goodness. Now, to get my other two classes' work done for this week. I just read a short story called "The German Refugee" for my American Ethnic Lit class.

I'm shooting again tonight at the bow club. I haven't practiced all week, so hopefully I don't tank too badly.

Cora's teacher called this morning because Cora forgot her lunch. She said that Cora didn't know what to do, so I told her to tell Cora to just eat at school. Cute kid.

I watched the European Figure Skating Championships the other night. All I could think of was how I missed my dad. He and I used to watch figure skating together all the time, and Olympics time was an exciting time for us. We'd argue over if the Americans would win Gold. We'd speculate on who would pull off a quad.
I'm still watching this year, but his presence is definitely missed.

Ok....

Ok...maybe I'm completely deluded. I created a poker themed digital kit tonight. It's not much, but I had fun playing around.

Here's a preview.


You can download it here if you want to give it a try. Please let me know if you encounter any problems with it; I'm pretty new to this. Also, please leave a comment if you take it; I would like to know if anyone likes it.

Thanks!