i did it, i did it, i did it !!!

Yipee! :o) I am one happy girl.
Now I get to hang with the "cool girls". LOL.
Okay, okay enough silliness...
over a week ago I developed a case of "slideshow envy". ;o)
I noticed that most of the other blogs I read have a slide show, it's a nice way to show your LOs. I clicked the link to make your own & it was a snap (really even on dail up it wasn't hard at all).
The problem has been getting it added to the blog. I wanted it added to the side bar, but the add a slideshow button wouldn't let it show up- hump. :o(
If I added it from slide.com then it would be added as a post, which would mean as I add new post it would move down the page and eventually disappear.
I can't begin to tell you how many times I have fooled with this & how messed up I have gotten this blog in the process.
Last night I found a posting on the help board where a little bell went off. :o)
The person posting wasn't using the add a slideshow button, he used the add a html button (yeah, yeah I don't know what that crap means either- I just know it WORKED ) .
So now I have a "cool" slideshow over in the sidebar! :o)
Does this make me one of the "cool chicks" ?!? LOL. )
Now I need to figure out how to adjust the margins, 'cause it's all scrunched up over there. See..... it's not supposed to look like that. There's all that extra room to the right I want to use it so you can see a whole page at a time.
Well.... if it took me OVER a week just to figure out how to get it over there, how long do you think it will take me to figure out how to adjust margins??? (pssss.... if you want to see a page larger click on it, this will take you to my pics at slide.com and you can click on the pic to enlarge)

lots of rain, high humidity, soggy ground... it's beautiful :o)

I haven't lost my mind, lol.
When Jim got ready to go mow this afternoon I told him it was probably too wet. He poked his head out and confirmed that it was too soggy , humid, & hot. Poor baby :o(
I then pointed out that if he was really wanting to feel productive and to get something checked off his list that there was something he could take care of inside the house, without the heat & humidity.
Can you guess what it was ??? well....... of course I suggested that he change out the other light, he he. Of course he acted as if he had completely forgotten about the whole thing.
So drum roll please.......... here goes a little before & after action for your pleasure.

I

This is before - butt ugly light first thing when you came through the kitchen door. And after.....



my new reduced down from $34 to $5 light from Lowes! Wahoo! I'm not really sure what's into him, I must have really been a real b..... anyway I'm loving the new lights! :o)
I think I'll go make him a special burger as a reward.

bright light, bright light :o) !!!

gee, it sure is BRIGHT in here! LOL. Yep, you guessed it, the light is finally Up AND Working!! :o)
I have to tell you it was NOT an easy thing, & it got pretty ugly around here Thursday night.
I finally told him that when his paycheck came in I was calling our electician and having him fix the light (thanks Ruth).
That combined with acting like a complete ...... well you know, finally got it done.
He was even able to accomplish it on his LUNCH BREAK!!!!! I know the light itself is butt ugly (I tried for something else but NOTHING else in this town would work there) but the fact that I have a working light and I'm no longer cooking in a bat cave is a beautiful thing. :o)



Yesterday I took Devan to Jackson to pick up a couple of new things for this Gosh Awuful uniform/dress code they have installed this year. :o( (remember we start back to school Thursday)
We started the day at Old Navy, they have what we need for really Cheap, which is good when it is NOT what you want to be wearing.
When we finished the school clothes I headed over to .... you guessed it Hobby Lobby! I was sooo excited! I know exactly what pics I want to scrap next, what layout to do, what colors I need & .... I couldn't have been more dissapointed. :o(
Apparently they had a HUGE paper sale last week-the paper isle was HALF empty! Then there were some Jolees that I needed for another LO I want to lift from Lorrie, do you think they had a single one??? NO! they didn't.
I did get a couple of new goodies, but not the things that I was desperately needing to get some work done before school starts.



See the pink box??? Tammy had a box like this when she came, she said that Rhonda (the owner of Eclectica) uses this to keep her 12" platform for the QK revolution in. So when I saw it in Pink I had to go ahead and pick one up. :o)
It's a ruler box & the tag says stuff managment - cost $3.27 if you use a 40% coupon just $1.96! Can you see how perfect my platform fits in there???
Tammy even had her 12" border dies in there. (I used one of them on the "my guys" LO - the black vine)
Clear stamps were on sale so I couldn't resist this set.
They're by .... hmmm Marah Johnson. LOL. Didn't even notice that until just now (should have known) , how I LOVE her stuff!!! Thought they would be perfect on some "rock band" pages, a concert page, or even a page just about my kid.
They now carry "doodle genie" templates by Chatter Box. I love me some doodle genies. :o)
They had quite a few and it was a tough choice. This one won out because you know how I love birds & swirls.
Did you even notice that 2 of the birds are owls??? Remember I still have another Hooter's LO to go when I can figure out what to do.
They are just $4.99, with a 40% coupon just $2.99! (remember Dev was with me so I gave him the $ to pay for this one with a coupon)
Then we went to the mall.
Dev picked him up a few things at Spencer's and was thrilled that they were all marked down. LOL. gotta love it he's learning well. He also bought a "I love boobies" bracelet! LOL. The proceeds go to breast cancer so how can you say no. :o)
After that Books a Million.
He got a new biography, another Kurt Cobain - he's really into him lately.
I bought "Deceptively Delicious" by Jessica Seinfeld. Saw it on Oprah and thought I would give it a try.
Who am I trying to deceive you ask???
That would be Devan & ME!!!
I'm sorry I just can't stand the flavor and texture of most of that healthy crap, lol. But maybe if it's completely hidden I won't notice it, LOL.
When you start to zoom in on pics and edit them you really notice the eyes. I have noticed that quite a few of the people I have shot have a yellow tint to their eyes (I end up whitening them). That is a sign of poor nutrition, this is the reason I am trying to "decieve" us. Plus I was hoping to help lower our cholesterol. Anyway I need to go get a steamer basket and some of the healthy cra..... um I mean some fresh veggies! yeah that's it! :o)
Our last stop was a quick dash into Cinnabon (yeah I know I was just talking about healthy, lol, look I said I was going to try to eat healthier not that I had lost my mind) to grab some cinnamon rolls for a surprise for Jim (he hung the light you know). We had no sooner stepped into that building and it began a downpoour! After about 10 minutes we gave up and made a dash into the rain & left. We were drenched, it was really coming down-hard to even see the road until we got outside of Jackson then it was clear as a bell.
And you know what else??? They have changed the cinnamon rolls, they are not as good as I remember. The icing is different and the roll is sticky, you know I'm all about texture. So while it's a nice memory with my kid I don't know how many more times I'll be tempted to splurge the calories for them.
I'm not sure about today, I know Jim had mowing on his mind but it rained a lot here last night so I don't know if that will be possible. Do you think I'll be able to get him to change out that other light?!? LOL.

hoot, hoot....

First things first, I went to court today. The judge entered the court room informally without his robe & once again appolagized. A witness who was subpoenaed didn't show! He was not a happy man, when the case is reset she will be arrested and held as a material witness until trial.
All other cases set for this week settled! :o)
Turns out this was my LAST week soooo.... I'm FREE!!!!
Now the LO I did yesterday was another lift of dnksmommy (Lorrie). I lifted another one of her halloween LOs, this one was called carving pumpkins and you can find it here:
http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/pg.asp?cmd=display&layout_id=1312145
I used it for some of the pics I took when we took Devan to Hooters to celebrate his 17th birthday.
Even though this LO doesn't look typical Sheila I like it, it's funny. :o)
My only problem is I didn't get all the pics on the page so I need to come up with another one, got any ideas???? Let me know, here's what I have so far....






he he, don't you LOVE the pic on the second page?!? He actually made that face on the way home, the guys were being goofy!
I told them they had better stop or they were going to be cursed with kids who really looked like that.
Did you notice that I used both of my new sets of stamps? (you can click on the pic & it will enlarge if you want to see better detail) I used the stamps Ruth sent me for my b'day and I used my owl stamps that I bought last month in Murray, KY. I also used my new Martha Stewart paper that I picked up at wal-mart Sunday. I can't believe that I used soooo much new stuff, usually it sits around for at least a year or so before it gets used. LOL.
When we were at Hooter's I saw the "follow me to Hooter's" bumper sticker & bought it for the LO, then Zach saw the "Hooter's girls dig me" bumper sticker & thought I should get it to go with the pic of Dev & the girls. When he made this face on the way home all that changed.
Funny thing is I forgot and DEV reminded me!!!! I had already enlarged the pic with the girls when he told me, gotta love it when they are able to laugh at themselves.
We had a good time that day, the food was good, the girls were nice, Dev was... well Dev. LOL!When he was flapping his wings ( menus) he ended up smacking a complete stranger in the head that was walking by, he was laughing so hard he wasn't watching what he was doing (typical Dev). The guys thought for a minute that they might have to intervein, but the guy ended up walking on, guess he was thankful that he wasn't the one having to stand on a chair in front of everyone. LOL.
After lunch we went to the mall. The boys & I got run out of Spencers! Apparently they don't like it when you take pics in the um hum... "fun" section. LOL. The boys were being goofy and posing with things & I was snapping when the manager came up. He was nice about it but it put a damper on it. I have since found out that they don't have a leg to stand on when it comes to taking pics but it wouldn't be worth making a scene honestly.
Well that's it for now. Think I might "play" some more. Don't really have anything in mind for the rest of the Hooter's pic (I hate it when that happens) so I might move on....... easter, rock band (she had a pretty cool rock band) , gotta go see. :o)

busy, busy, busy.......

Whew! It was one busy weekend, so many new things to tell. :o)
Tammy & Bees got here Saturday morning around 11:00 & when she came through the door she was carrying this great big ole bag! :o)
Yep, she brought me a birthday present. Want to know what was in the bag ?????



Here's what was in the bag. A couple of peter rabbit tablets ( I love peter rabbit ) , a set of drama & tradgy face mask earings and pendant ( you know my kid is the drama major ) , a new Basic Grey Magnectice cutting matt!!!!!
Now I have one for each page when I work! Yipee!
Last but definitely not least my birthday card. Can you see it???
She always gets me one of these, she looks till she finds one that has the little blond girl & the brunette. They represent the two of us when we were little, well if we had actually known each other when we were little this is what we think we would have been like. :o)



Jim & the kids spent Saturday night playing a little rock band.



When Tammy came she told us that Sky ( her son ) had bought his girlfriend Mallory a ring! He was taking her to Memphis for their anniversary.
He's such a little romantic he had it all planned, he had already contacted the carriage company and told them what he was planning.
The driver was in on the whole thing. When she got to a certain area she stopped the carriage & told them that it was a good place to take pictures & asked if they wanted her to take their picture. After she took the first one Mallory was focusing on the camera so she didn't notice that Sky had gotten down on one knee until he started to talking.....



Of course she said yes! :o)



Here's a pic of Bees driving my car.
One of the kids in the youth group had a pool party on Sunday ( just a couple of houses down the highway from us ) so Devan & Bees went & hung out there for a while.
While the kids were at the party we ran to town to pick up some pics and check out the new Martha Stewart line at wal-mart ( that's the only place here to get scrapbook supplies ) .
When the kids left the party my niece Alex came home with them and we all spent the rest of the night watching "Across the Universe".
See one very busy weekend and No time to scrap until Monday, but I'm on a roll now! Believe it or not I actually finished another LO today.
I have to report for jury duty in the morning. :o( If I don't get picked and get to leave I'll get my LO uploaded, it's another lift from dnksmommy. Thanks for the inspiration Lorrie! :o)

I've been at it again.....

This past weekend my friend Tammy & her daughter Bees came for a visit, the house was super busy! Kids in & out all weekend.
Sometimes it felt like we were Never going to actually "play" because she was having to cut her trip short. She usually comes on Friday and stays till Tuesday (wahoo! lots of girl time!) But this time she didn't get to come till Saturday and she had to leave today.
I had a few ideas about what pics I wanted to work with & I had seen a few layouts lately that sparked my interst, but there was LOTS to do this weekend.
Finally this morning we were able to sit down at the tables and REALLY play! :o) I realized that I had never done a LO that features Jim.
On my birthday while in Paris (Tennessee not France, lol) I was shooting some pics and discovered beautiful lighting under one of the trees on the courthouse lawn and quickly grabbed the guys and started shooting. I LOVE the way they turned out and decided to do a LO about "my guys".
I ACTUALLY finished a LO in one day! Before 6pm even! LOL! This is a HUGE thing for me, I'm soooooo slow when I "play". I had lots of help though since I "lifted" this LO from dnksmommy. She's one of the blogs I read - over on the right (Ramblings from a slightly demented SAHM's mind) , go on give her a try if you haven't checked her out yet. :o)
She recently added a slide show to her blog that shows her work. I saw this LO & knew I had to try it. Here's a link in case you want to check it out:
http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/pg.asp?cmd=display&layout_id=1312139
and here's what I did with it......







I hope I did her design justice. I know I enjoyed working with it & I love the way mine turned out.
It was definately a first for me. In addition to not having done a LO about Jim before I've never done one with valentine supplies, although I have thought about it, planned for it, & bought for it for YEARS. :o) I decided that the pics I scrapped about "my valentines" didn't actually have to be taken on valentine's day they just had to pics of the ones I love.
Now why didn't I think of that before???? It sure was liberating & I think it made Jim feel good to finally have a page about him. :o)
There's sooo much More to "show & tell" about this past weekend but it's getting late & I'm very tired (we didn't go to bed till almost 5 Sunday morning!) so it'll have to wait till later.

my baby Loves me....

Sometimes he's just soooo sweet. :o)
We spent a week at the lake for vacation this year. While at the lake "my thing" was sunsets.
Every evening I would be home in time to go down to the water & shoot the sunset, they were soooo gorgeous!
Well last night while at photo-club I look down at my phone and it says that I have 3 messages.
When I start opening them this is what I find.......



My baby was sending me the sunset. :o)
I wish I could have been there to see it with him, but it's sure nice to know while he was looking at something so beautiful there was a moment that he stopped and thought of mom.
They are on there way home right now, can't wait to catch up when he gets home tonight & to find out why he bought 5 bucket of bracelets at camp?????
Okay, enough gushing, LOL. I've got a pretty busy day & weekend ahead.
need to go to walgreens and pick up pics, they weren't ready last night :o(
go to kroger and get groceries for the weekend, remember Tammy & maybe her daughter Bees are coming
then I need to finish laundry & working on the house
This weekend will be full of "girl time"! :o) Hoping to get something scrapped this weekend. Not sure what yet, it's been a while since I've pulled out supplies so it's hard to get an idea. Guess I need to go rummage.
Hope you have a Great Weekend! :o)

Thanks Ruth! :o)

So when Jim came through the kitchen door yesterday this is what he had in his hands.



When I asked him what he had he said "it's for you, from Ruth".
Ruth is one of my very best friends. :o)
During the last year she moved near Chattanooga, which I think makes her a little closer to me than she was this time last year. We thought that I would get to go visit her during summer vacation, but this jury duty thing has put a damper on all traveling for me.
She called Monday and said that she had mailed my birthday present (my birthday was last month) because she didn't know how much longer it would be till I got to visit. She said she had ordered it at Eclectica! That's our Favorite store! It's in Memphis, TN. If you're a scrapper and you're ever in Memphis you have got to go in! You will be In Love!
I had forgotten about the phone call when I saw the package in Jim's hand so it was totally a surprise. I Love Surprises! :o)
When I opened the package this is what I saw.......



oooooooo pretty :o)
.....and inside that.........



OMG! These are soooo cool! They are the "for the record2 by Katie Pertiet" for AL. They are sooo cool maybe I'll be able to use them this weekend! (my girlfriend Tammy is coming to "play")
There is a memory record, day record, checklist (oooo the posibilities), celebration record, photo record, travel record, and a blank one. They will be sooo cool for journaling or adding a little snippet to a LO.
It also gives me a reason to pick up a new ink pad next time I get the chance. I was reading the other day that AL has come out with a new line of ink just for clear stamps! Everyone who has used it says you get really crisp & clear images from your clear stamps. No beading up on the stamp when you ink it! That is definately worth a try cause I just LOVE my clear stamps. :o)
So again I have to say "Thanks Ruth, they are sooooo COOL!"
Love Ya!

So on my list today:
place walgreens order
(they sent a new coupon code yesterday - love me some discounted printing!) :o)
make something to take for snack at the photo club meeting tonight
(we are starting a photo club here - it resulted from the class I took)
pick the pics for club tonight - we're supposed to bring about 4 or so of our work
(I'm thinking about a couple of the sunsets I shot on vacation & some zoo pics, the flamingo for sure, maybe the aligator, gorilla, a giraffe shot? just not sure-kind of nerve wrecking)
fix dinner
pick up pics
meeting @ 6:30
stop @ wal-mart on way home-supplies for the weekend
whew, that's a lot for me! LOL

"Our Sweet Sierra" :o)

It will be 3 years ago come October that Devan had a bonfire during fall break. Sierra came to the bonfire and has been a part of "our family" every since. :o)



This is one of the pics I took of her this past spring, she's so easy to work with. :o)
Last week when she came over to "play" I told her that she would need to take pity on us this week since Devan was going to be out of town.
Wouldn't you know it, she didn't forget us. She came over last night & had dinner with us. She brought her "bag of games" with her & spent the evening with us. :o) We started out playing"In a Pickle" in the kitchen because Jim was working on a project in there & I felt that I NEEDED to be able to SEE him (I'll tell you more about the project later).



When Jim gave up on the project Sierra called him over for some help, yes they noticed that I had grabbed the camera and they didn't do very well "pretending" that they didn't know I was taking their picture, LOL.



When we finished "In a Pickle" we moved to the den and let Sierra teach us a new game "Pig Pile". This is a game she was pretty excited to show Jim because as she says "it's all about the strategy, so she just knew Jim would really like this game. :o)
Well.......... I'm not really sure about the strategy part, I guess there may be some. If there is Jim didn't seem to be able to find any! We played 5 rounds and he came in dead last 4 out of 5 rounds. :o) Needless to say there was much grumbeling coming from his area of the carpet, hehe.


See, this is a guy that's ALL about the strategy after a game that's supposed to be ALL about the strategy and he just couldn't find the strategy. He looks thrill doesn't he?
Anyway, our sweet girl came over and spent about 4 hours keeping us company :o). I wonder if there will be anyone left to keep us company when Devan is gone for good :o( .

Now about "the project" ughhhhhh! Why does even the simplest of things that you ask a guy to do have to turn into " a project"! Okay so Friday I told Jim that we needed a new bulb in the light over the sink, it's never been changed since we moved in so I figure that's the problem. Jim looks at it and declares "I think it's the balance" (sp?) . Ok, whatever I just want the light fixed where I can see in that area. So he goes to Lowes on Saturday and he calls me and says "for $6 more that the price of the part I can get a whole new light". So I told him that's fine, if we were replacing the light I would have preferred something different than the flourescent light that was up there but ok. So he starts sending me pics of light choices, we talk, I tell him what I kind of see in my mind. He finally sends a pic I like & it's on clearance! He brings it home and it doesn't fit the area right :o( . So we box it back up and Sunday we head to Lowes to see what I can find. Well I find a light that was $34 and it's clearanced down to $11! But..... we can't find it on the shelf, I ask Jeremy about it. He takes one look and says they don't have anymore but they'll sell us that one. He says the brace thing you know the things you attach to the box won't be there but that they have one we could buy. We talk it over and decided to go for it. He starts to take it down and when he squeezes the clamp in the display the clamp BREAKS! So he say's they have to get it down that night the display is being changed & say's if we want to come back Monday for it he'll have it waiting with our name on it AND he'll take ANOTHER $5 off the price! WOW! OMG! How could we pass that up! We're a couple that's all about the bargan! $34 light for $6! :o) So Jeremy calls @ 5 Monday and Jim goes to pick up the light. He spends OVER 30 minutes trying to find the missing parts to buy AND $5 on the missing parts! So much for $5 off.
After dinner he removes the old light and......... the only hole in the ceiling is just big enough for the wire to come through. Aparently this is a bad thing, "it's supposed to be bigger, it's supposed to be around "the box"". So he takes a screwdriver and starts feeling around in the hole and declares "there's NO *?!* Box!" Again, apparently this is a bad thing.
So we decided fine, the light is still a steal and we'll use it to replace another light that I can't stand. He'll simply go BACK to Lowes and get ANOTHER flourescent (sp?) light to replace that one.
So yesterday he goes BACK to Lowes and buy another light just like the one he just took down. After dinner last night he set about replacing the light (this is why I wanted to be in the kitchen, just incase something went wrong with the electricity). When he gets the light installed and turns the power back on, flips the switch and VIOLA we have light! :o) For 2 seconds! :o( and then it goes out! He checks everything 3 times and can't figure it out, this is when he abandoned "the Project".
Now my girlfriend Tammy (Hi Tammy!) is supposed to be coming this weekend, and as EVERY woman does I used that to my advantage to get him to fix the light in the first place. Now I'll just be happy if the thing isn't hanging from the ceiling on Friday, LOL.
Last but not least I had to report for jury duty this morning. When we arrived the courtroom was locked. When they finally let us in the judge said that he owed us an apology. Seems the lawyers had come to an agreement @ 4:30 yesterday. But the defendant had caused so many problems in bringing this case to trial that he couldn't be trusted to plea out this morning. The judge felt that our presence in the hallway was the reason that he went through with the plea. They didn't tell us what the case was about but they did tell us that it resulted in a 12 year prison sentence. Good news is that I'm now done with jury duty this week until time for call in Friday evening.

I'm in LOVE!

So for Christmas I got my New Super Cool Camera! So that meant that I needed a wonderful camera bag to protect my new baby. You know I'm a very patient girl when it comes to figuring out what it is that I need & where to get it. So in the mean time I stole the bag from the camcorder. :o)
I knew that I am only going to buy ONE bag so it has to be what I want & what I will be happy with, NO upgrades!
It needs to be large enough to hold all my STUFF (I'm a girl who's all about the stuff :o) & I like having it ALL with me - you never know what you're going to need) , to have ample padding to protect my baby, easy to use, and Last but not Least it has to be "Sheila" .
Well I found it!!!! It's a Tracy Renae Design and you can find them here:
http://shop.tracyrenaedesigns.com/main.sc
I asked for $ from Jim & my mom & dad for my birthday, and then I chipped in the rest.
Yes it is an investment but like I said I'm only going to buy ONE bag.
I ordered my bag on June 9th and it arrived on June 16th!
Wow! Super fast for a custom made bag. You pick your bag, you pick any extra features you want, & you pick your fabric.
It was supposed to take 2-3 weeks and it came in ONLY 1 week! Wahoo!
So I've had her for a month now. I've used it twice now for 2 ALL Day events and I'm in LOVE!
I chose the EX bag:



Isn't she pretty! :o) I really wanted pink & black, but she didn't have a pink & black choice.
I made a couple of flubbs with my choice in the beginning but Tracy was very patient & sweet working things out with me.
I ended up choosing this black & white, it's classic and will go with anything.
Best part is IF I get tired of this look I can order another flap (just $20) and change it out, they just velcro on. :o)



She is HUGE, but that's what I LOVE about her! She holds ALL my stuff including my reflector that Devan got me for Mother's Day (see there it is fits perfectly inside). I also put my car keys/wallet thing Cristi got me for my birthday here when I go out for the day.
See the little outside pocket on the front? It's great!
There is actually a zippered pocket inside it too. I have all my photo software and tutorials in the pocket, when I'm going to be gone for the day I tuck my lipstick case in here too.
The zipper pocket has Alex's chapstick that I bought her for shoots cause she doesn't want to keep up with it, LOL.



Okay, so this is without the reflector. There are two really good pads that cover the three padded compartments, you are also seeing my matching wallet I bought for my memory cards (it kind of blends in cause it matches).



This is below the top pads. The compartment on the left is where my baby lives when she's not in my hands. :o) The two padded middle compartments hold my extra lens & hood and all my filters. On the far right I have my cover thing that Jim got me for shooting in the rain or beach & my charger, I also tuck my brush & hair clamp here when I'm going to be gone all day.



The inside of the flap has a zippered mesh pocket! I have my lens cloth and extra battery in here.



Last but not least there is a HUGE pocket across the back. Great for manuals, glasses, gum, note book, whatever. :o)
I chose to add 3 features to my bag. As I mentioned earlier I got a matching memory card wallet & a ring to clip it to. I also added feet to the bottom of the bag that way I don't have to worry about setting in on the ground and wearing out the bottom or getting it dirty.
So she is big enough to hold everything I have for my camera & to tuck my essentials that I need for the day so that I don't have to carry a purse. :o)

I lifted the Fabulous Debbi T! :o)

"Who's Debbi T???" you ask.
She's one of my Favorite "peas" at http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/ . (sorry I'm really new to all this & I don't know how to do the cool link thingy)
I discovered her about 2 years ago when I noticed her scraproom in a post. She had the cutest sprice racks that she had used for storage and I just had to send her a peamail and ask where she had gotten them. She replied soooo quickly & even included a link! I thought "wow! she's really nice. :o) " and I started to notice her post more and more. Of course I checked out her gallery and fell in love with her work and her "life story" (it's really pretty cool). About a year ago I noticed that she had a blog and quickly bookmarked it and I've been lurking every since. LOL. (I even have her blog listed on the right over there, go ahead and look at it!)
This winter she posted a layout "Go elf yourself" and I knew Instantly that I had to do it!
She had gone online & "elfed" herself - I had too! But she had figured out a way to SAVE it, print it, & ultimately Scrap it! It was instantly a hit in her gallery and I wasn't the Only one who wanted to know "how did you save it?". Being the sweetie she is she quickly posted directions for saving & it was EASY.
"Elf" was such a Big part of our holiday season I just had to do it! We are such "Elf" dorks around here that Dev & I have "Elf" ringtones on our phones during Christmas & we've been known to quote lines from the movie at very random times! :o)
So I set out to "lift" Miss Debbi T, of course my biggest challenge is the same as always. She does a 1 page LO usually and I always do a 2 page LO. But I think I did ok. If you want to check her's out (and you should) it's here (I think)
http://debbitscraps.blogspot.com/2007/12/we-were-elfed.html







Sorry, I'm new to this photographing LO thing & I'm not very good at it. If you have any tips for doing it better please let me know.
The Christmas balls across the bottom are "our" favorite quotes from the movie "Elf".
There are 3 journaling cards in the library pocket - they read:

card # 1
subject: Buddy the elf our new tree topper!
date: 12/07
Our new tree is soooo Tall that we couldn't get our Santa on Top! When I was looking for a new toper I couldn't find one I liked. But I fell in LOVE with this little guy & had to bring him home. He was adorable sitting at the top of our tree! When it was time to name him, Buddy was Perfect! :)

card # 2
subject: "ELF"
date: 12/7
Last year we saw "Elf" for the 1st time! It instantly became our New Holiday Favorite! Below are some of my favorite lines from the movie! "I like smiling, it's my favorite!" :)

card # 3
subject: http://www.goelfyourself.com/ Hot online trend of the season
date: 12/7
Everyone was doing this! So much fun - load your pics & watch your Goofy Elf dance! (I lifted this layout from one of my favorite "peas" @ two peas in a bucket - Thanks DebbiT for the inspiration & instructions on how to save this fun trend for the future! :)

CHURCH CAMP UPDATE! Devan called just before 8:30 last night, they had made it to their destination safe & sound. :o) He sounded very excited and like he was having a GREAT time. He had already made it to his cabin and "claimed" his bed, he said "it's very square looking & it looks real comfy". They had a "meeting" scheduled so we didn't have long to talk. He's enjoying sending several photos from his phone, can't wait to see what he actually has on the camera when he gets back. Hopefully Alex is taking plenty of photos and is going to share with Aunt Sheila when they get home.

...... and they're off!

Bright and early this morning (7am) we dropped Devan off at the church.
The youth group left for church camp today, destination Panama City, Florida! Wahoo! :o)



It's been a few years since Dev's been off to camp anywhere.
This is the first time that neither Jim nor myself are one of
the chaperones. :o(



Look at them side by side. :o) I swear they are sooo much alike it's Scary!
They get BOTH Jacobis this week, I hope they are blessed with LOTS of patience.
NEITHER one of these kids are know for thinking ahead.



Okay, yes I am the dork mom who goes in for the pic when everyone is trying to be cool, lol.
In this pic: my sweet niece Alex, Jonathan, Devan - he looks sooo Cool,and in the back Taco.
They should be back Friday night. :o)
UPDATE!
He sent me a pic of his "seat buddy" - "the Koola" LOL!

Linda's 60! :o)

Well not quite yet, but she will be one Tuesday! (For those who don't know she's Jim's aunt - she's married to his Uncle Larry.)Her kids decided to pull together a small Surprise Party for her yesterday afternoon down at Mark's office.
We all gathered at his office shortly after 5 and waited for the Birthday Girl to show up.
The room was covered with ALL kinds of "over the hill" type signs & her daughter in law Becky got her a Wonderful "over the hill" walking cane!













A pic of Linda (far left), her sister Dinah (far right), and I'm not sure who the woman in the middle is.













In this pic you have Linda and her girlfriends (check out the crown it says 60 on it!) from left to right Joyce, Linda, ? not sure sorry, & Gloria.













YUM......... check out this georgous cake that Mark ordered for her! I can't remember who he said made it but I sure hope Jim does, I told him that's what I want for my B'day next year (minus the 60 candle). It is layered: bottom layer strawberry, middle layer devil's food, top layer strawberry again! Strawberry frosting, fudge decorations and chocolate dipped strawberries on top! :o)

Not sure who got Linda the Lovely glasses that go so well with the crown but she sure looks CUTE in them!













Yes! They are soooo COOL even Miss Jenna had to give them a try. Isn't she just the Cutest! :o)

Just before the party ended we had a couple of rounds of arm chair races with the kids. (Okay so I may have started the whole thing when I kind of challenged Devan, LOL). Anyway, it sure was fun, and the giggles were so sweet.
Oh yeah, Devan ended up drinking booze! LOL. He didn't realize that the punch had champagne in it! As soon as we got there he grabs a cup & downs a cup like he's about to die, then he finds out that it has champagne in it. I told him that it was ok he wasn't driving, but he said "it's against my beliefs". That's my kid! :o) (at least for the moment)
It was just a small party, but it was sweet and everyone had a nice time.

Small Blessings! I'll Take Them :o)

So about 3 weeks ago I had the privelage of going to visit my parents and actually getting to spend a couple of nights with them! :o) This is a big deal for me because I haven't been able to do this for years now.

My first stop was to go by Jason & Tonya's to wish Tonya a "Happy Birthday!"

Well when I first arrived it seemed that it was NOT going to be in my favor to be there. "She" pulled in right behind me and blocked ANY chances for escape!

I was immediately trapped by "her" presence. But I tried to remain calm, took a few advil for the instant head splitting head ache, and stayed in a different room until "she" left.

Wheh, so far so good, disaster averted. :o)

After quite a while had passed and I was SURE that "she" wasn't over there I ventured over to mom & dad's. I have to tell you it was quite nerve wracking waiting for "her" to come back & the drama to begin. But after a while it was becoming apparent that "she" wasn't returning that night! :o)

As a result I enjoyed spending the night with my parents! My nephews Logan & Austin spent the night too, and we all had a good time. We spent the evening playing Uno attack, watching movies, & just hanging out together. :o)

The next morning "she" came up to the house, but apparently changed her mind & never came in.

The kids all went with my parents bowling and shopping for the day, while Tonya & I headed to Murray, KY., to do a little shopping of our own.

We started our day shopping at The Peddler's Antique Mall,where I was able to find a few "treasures" for storing and organizing some of my goodies that I like to play with. :o)

Then we stopped of at Taco John's for lunch! Yumm.....I wish we had one here.

Last but not least I ran into their LLS "Remember When". I did splurge and buy just a few things in there (my resolution this last year was NO more buying it just because I like I. I need to have a plan to use it). I couldn't resist this cute set of stamps by sassafras lass, I thought they would be PERFECT for doing a layout with the pics I took when we took Devan to Hooter's for his birthday! :o)

That evening Austin asked me "are you going to stay again?" and when I told him yes he replied "then I am too!". He's so stinkin sweet sometimes- you just gotta LOVE him! :o)

That night we spent our time watching movies and playing Uno attack again (Austin LOVES Uno attack, he might only be 8 but watch out! He will beat your butt, LOL).

My last day there Tonya had to work. So I packed up a picnic lunch (mom & dad needed a break), loaded the boys & the lunch into my car, & put the top down!

We then headed into Paris to the park for a picnic (we've never been to the Paris park before and thought we would give it a try). When we got to the park we quickly discovered that this park was NOT up to our standards! LOL. I grabbed my camera and snapped a couple of pics of the boys in front of the Eiffel Tower, then we jumped BACK into the car & headed back to Paris Landing State Park! We like it much better there. :o)

There is an area away from the equipment, closer to the water that we like to get when we go. We quickly found "our spot" and no sooner had we unloaded our lunch and began eating when we were surrounded by visiting "creatures". :o) They were so cute, and the kids really enjoyed seeing & feeding them.

We were surrounded by blue jays, squirels, & wood peckers and the kids couldn't have been happier! I kept hearing "Aunt Sheila, look! Take a picture!" LOL! Can you tell they have been "conditioned" by being around me? :o)

After we had finished our lunch & cleaned up we headed over to the pier.

We always end up here! The boys start out picking up shells and then they end up under the pier usually talking quietly and SMASHING the shells! The first time they did this it kind of upset me, but I've gotten used to it. They are boys, they do NOT want to keep them, bring them home and put them in a pretty jar to look at, or make pretty things with them! THEY WANT TO SMASH THEM!!!!! LOL! There are plenty of them around so I guess a few smashed once or twice a year isn't really a big deal.

Well when we got to the pier we were surprised!

We are not sure what happened since we were here in October but the pier was demolished! Do you see that water just below where they boys are standing??? Well that's where they usually sit to smash their shells & it was ALL under water! It was sad and confusing, the wood on the pier didn't look to be that old so we couldn't figure out why it was tore up the way it was?!?

After we had explored & taken a few more pics we headed back to "our spot" and we were just "hanging out" and watching the squirels when this little guy fell from the tree above us. :o(

He was soooo cute and fuzzy, but the poor little guy couldn't even move. He just sat there "cheeping". We looked around for a ranger but we couldn't find one. It broke our hearts to leave him sitting there on the ground, but we knew that there wasn't anything we could do about it.

When I got the kids home it was time for me to pack my things back into the car and head home.

So I only spent two days and nights, but that's two more than I've had with them at their home in years. It was a small blessing and I made the most of every moment and enjoyed it very much! Will there be any more???? Who knows, that's the one thing I can tell you after a lifetime of dealing with "her", NEVER count on ANYTHING. But the time I had was definately a blessing, & I'll take them whenever I can get them. :o)