What A Guy!

While I was driving home from Fairfield last night, a song came up on my ipod that always makes me think of Michael. I just wanted to say a little bit about him today since I think he gets a little lost in the shuffle of my crazy home. Michael is an awesome young man. You may not know it from the outside but he is one of the strongest people I know. We will always have a special bond, even beyond the normal mother/son relationship, because of the hard times we went though four years ago. When Eric (my husband, Michael's dad) passed away, we were suddenly thrust into different rolls within our small family. Michael, fortunately and unfortunately, grew up very quickly that day. He was my rock and I was his. The night that his father died, I was laying in bed trying to sleep, but not having much success, and little Michael (8 at the time) came into my bed and told me that he thought I'd be lonely because Daddy wasn't there. He is such a special kid. He is the one that will do chores and homework without complaining. He has compassion for everyone and all animals. He has not once complained to me that he doesn't get the things he wants. He is grateful for what he has and I am grateful that he appreciates what he has. He is quick as a whip and gets jokes that would even fly over the heads of adults. I am so excited to see where his life leads him. I know that there are great blessings in store for him.

First Day Of School

Well, it has finally arrived! Time to PARTY! I sent my children off to their first day of school today. Their backpacks were packed with fresh school supplies and they were sporting their new school clothes. I can't believe that Michael is starting middle school today. I'm starting to feel old (don't laugh!). I felt so bad for him last night because he just couldn't get to sleep. We sent the kids to bed at 9:00 and he still wasn't asleep by midnight. He finally came in and slept on the floor in my room but I think he's going to be dragging today. Here are some pictures of Michael and Connor on the first day of school!

Fall Cleaning and Rock Band

So, you may be asking yourself "what does Fall cleaning and rock band have to do with each other'? Well, since Jeff and I got married three years ago, we have never gone completely through our stuff to clean out what we have duplicates of and what we don't need. My goal is to be able to fit the car in the garage this winter so I decided that we needed a little "Fall cleaning". We got rid of TONS of stuff and had three or four carloads of stuff that went to the Salvation Army. We decided to go through all of our cds and dvds to see what we had doubles of and ones that we didn't want anymore and take them to trade in at Hastings. I felt bad for the poor guy at Hastings because we had so many that it took him literally an hour to go through all of it. We actually ended up with $300 in credit!! The kids have been bugging me to purchase the game Rock Band, but I certainly wasn't going to dish out $170 for a game! So, since we had credit, I decided that it was ok to do that. It is sooooo funny to watch the kids play this game! It actually might even be $170 worth of funny! Even Parker wants to get in on the action. Here are some pictures of the kids (and when I say kids, I'm including my husband in that) playing Rock Band.

Our Dinner Discovery

Last weekend, we had to move our cat dishes inside from the garage because we are thinking that there is another cat in the neighborhood that has discovered the food. Well, this is the scene that I came across last night before I went to bed. It seems that Parker wanted to share his Apple Jacks with the cats! Needless to say, they didn't care for the apple flavored cereal. I think they would have preferred it chicken flavored!

Gotta Love A Mini Album!

I got this pattern from my new friend (and Convention roomie) Stacy. Thanks for sharing with me!

*products used for this album are Evensong paper packet, Olive cardstock (cs), Cranberry cs, New England Ivy cs, Sorbet cs, Colonial White cs, CTMH fonts cd volume 1, photo hangers, sparkles and ribbon.

Cookie Book 'Peez'

I'm a horrible mother. Ok, maybe horrible it too strong a word for this. I'm not one of those mothers that always has fresh baked cookies ready for her kids. In fact, I don't think I've baked cookies since December. For Christmas, my mother-in-law gave me a BIG cookie cookbook (was that a hint or what?) and told me all about how fun these recipes looked. Well, she was right, the recipes DO look fun and the pictures look delicious. My son, Parker, started pointing to the cookbook shelf and saying "peez" (his word for please). I finally figured out that he wanted to LOOK at the cookie cookbook. He loves to look at the pictures in the book and he takes his finger and puts it on the picture and then puts his finger in his mouth and says "mmm". I guess it's the next best thing to homemade cookies, right?

Treasure Life

Well, the creativity from Convention is still flowing. This is a card I made today using the September Stamp of the Month, Treasure Life. I'm sending these off for a swap with other consultants. The colors are Hollyhock, Crystal Blue, Desert Sand and Bamboo.

Operation Smile

While I was at the CTMH Convention, we found out that CTMH is now making Operation Smile our exclusive charity. We were privileged to meet and hear from the selfless founders of this wonderful charity. Dr. William Magee, a plastic surgeon and his wife Kathleen, a nurse and social worker, started back in 1982 traveling to the Phillipines on a volunteer basis to help children that were born with cleft lips and palates. They are amazing people who have helped change literally thousands of children's lives for the better. On average, it is only about $250 and a 45 minute operation to repair a deformity of this kind. I was so touched by what I saw and heard that I've made a commitment to help at least 2 children have this operation this year. I will now be offering a make-and-take at all of my gatherings and clubs that my customers can make for a small donation to Operation Smile. I made this little box to collect the donations. I hope you'll climb on board with me and help change a child's life.

Outside the Box

Ok, this totally wasn't my idea but I just LOVED it so I'm stealing it! haha! Who would have thought that these clear blocks that I've been using for years could also become these beautiful frames??!! I'm going to be offering this as a workshop but I'm still figuring out the details. I made this one for my BFF, Shauna. This is her daughter Charlee on her 1st birthday. I used one of CTMH's new paper packets (Perfect Day), rubons, clear buttons and liquid glass. These are going to make great Christmas presents for my family (ooohh, I hope none of them read this).

Thanks a Melon

You know what it's like going shopping on the day after Thanksgiving? You know the feeling of the eye daggers in your back when you've picked up the last Tickle Me Elmo and there was another lady reaching for the same thing? Well that's what it was like in my cyber store today. CTMH had a crazy good sale on stamp set, paper packet and embellishments. I had a few of my customer's having a hard time shopping and then not getting what they wanted but I think all in all they ended up happy. For those of you who maybe didn't get what you want....it's ok...just save your money for all the cool NEW stuff that's coming next month! For those of my customer's that were able to make a purchase online, I made these cute little cards to send them. I left them blank inside so that they could use them again but I just wanted to say to these special people...THANKS A MELON for your business!