happy halloween

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i will catch up on this thing one of these days! too bad i can't plug my brain into my computer and download all my thoughts! anyways, we had a SUPER fun time trick or treating...heck, even getting ready to go was fun! all the makeup and costumes! very fun!





kids are tuckered out (but not from excessive candy! lol) they kept me moving!





poor little ella was so sad to have her makeup taken off...the tears just poured down!





here's a fun one of my crazy child...more to follow...got some really nice shots of the girls!





right now, i am headed to bed! i am WHOOPED i tell ya! later~

buried deep

well we got it good.... well over a foot of heavy, wet snow. my back is killing me. i haven't bought the snow blower yet. i paid for that mistake! lol! but thankfully i have been shoveling in shifts (every couple hours) and its been manageable.

and the driveway is clear at this time. which is a good thing.

the back deck might need to melt on its own. i can't even get out the door. and the snow drifts that piled up on it are almost as tall as me!

but we didn't lose power. and that is the most important thing!

and if that isn't enough excitement for one day...the rest of the basement carpet is being installed today (including the stairs) woohoo!! i am SO excited!! i can finally put things in their places and unpack some things and really move down there!

i have taken pics but will post later...abby is out of school today and with the workmen here too, its too much for me to try and do right now! be back later!!

the picture above was taken with the kitchen door open (see the nice wall of snow at the bottom)...this is looking at the grill on my back deck. more to come later!

it's coming...

today has been a good start to the week. had to start the day off with grocery shopping which is never fun, but it wasn't bad. until the hail started falling in the parking lot. shesh! crazy weather around here...and that seems to be the main topic! we are getting ready to have our 1st major snow "event" of the year (as they say on the weather channel). 6-12 inches by wed morning...

i am thinking i need to go get that snowblower now...

but more importantly...i need to dig thru the trashed basement and find the winter coats and boots! the girls are beside themselves!

i'm sure i will take pics...curious to see how much we end up with. the only thing i don't like is that its starting out as rain and then changing over...which means the potential for a major power outage!

not.good.

will keep you posted. i am treating myself to an early night of sleep tonight. will post some pics tomorrow!

the very long sunday...

my morning started before 6am, before the sun rose..much, much earlier than i would have cared to start it. it really stinks when you are the night owl parent of an early bird!

so i decided to give the girls a "sunrise surprise"...i made them grab their coats, throw on their boots and jump in the van. they were a little surprised to be in their pj's and going somewhere. we ended up at dunkin donuts (drive thru:) for some munchkins. they were just tickled.

i wish i could say the whole day was a bed of roses...but with 2 mischievious girls (who sometimes **gasp** BICKER) there are no guarantees.

we did manage to carve our pumpkins...that was a huge hit. not only that, but it was entertainment long after the carving was done. we went with basic jack's...so while i was busy cleaning up, the girls were using the carved pieces like puzzles...popping the eyes in and out...on and on. talk about cheap entertainment! they had so much fun. ella was actually upset that we had to leave them outside! lol!

here are some pics from today:

and here are some projects i finished this weekend. the layout is from my class. another one on balance. sketch provided. the halloween treat containers are for the girls parties at school. i didn't make the containers (thank god for micheals! lol)...but i did make the cute little spiders on top.

enjoy~

we now return...

to our previously scheduled program. sorry about that. sometimes i get blips in the emotional radar so to speak. am back up and running now.

been having a lot of nightmares. something new for me, since i don't usually dream or remember my dreams. and these nightmares are awful. so hopefully they just go away. makes me dread going to sleep at night.

ella is having a really rough go and as much as i am trying to hold it together...its breaking my heart to watch her choking sobs.

for the most part, our days are pretty uneventful and on auto pilot...but then when we have a quiet minute to think, it comes crashing down. the girls were able to talk to matt this morning, and that always seems to help...but nighttime is the hardest for all of us. just need a little more time.

matt has been fine. he has been doing lots of training, getting very little sleep. he is ready to move to his permanent place so that he can have the rest of his things and settle in. plus he won't have 300 other room mates to worry about making noise. most of our calls lately have had to do with me picking his brain for what i should do about this or that. questions about the basement, etc. this project was 90% him...so i am at a loss to finish it. no matter what, it will get done. one way or another.

well thats a quick wrap...hopefully more pics to post tomorrow...we should be carving pumpkins!
later~

falling off the planet...

be back shortly!

happy hump day!

this is another layout for cathy z's class. its actually from week 1 and its on balance. you had to follow the sketch, but all the other decisions like colors, embellishments...are your choice. i really love how this turned out and can't even believe i am already scrapping disney pics!

journaling reads:

we didn't know how you would handle meeting the characters. we thought you might be scared of them. well that was not the case. you were a little shy at first, but when you saw that Minnie Mouse had signed your book and dotted her I's with hearts...you were completely won over.

this next pic is a quick glimpse into the basement bedroom. the painting is done (except for priming the doors and window frame). the color is a little funky, but the lighting was bad, it was cloudy and the overhead lights threw a funny cast. but you get the idea. the blue is actually a very pale blue. the door to the right goes out to the main area and the straight ahead is the bathroom.

ok...thats all for now:) happy hump day!

motherhood

i love these~ i found her website and got some good chuckles! helps lift up my day since its so rainy, cold and dreary outside again.

but one thing is for sure...i am VERY glad i am done changing diapers:) i truly love being a mom, but now that my kids are growing up, i can't fathom going back to those baby days...all the sleepless night. heck, what am i talking about...my kids still come in my room and interupt my sleep. but i am thankful.

one day, they won't care about coming in my room anymore. and when that day comes, i will be sad. because it mean they are growing up even more.

right now i would like to keep them in their little time capsule of childhood.

just another manic monday...

happy, dreary monday!




its cold and dreary today and i just want to crawl back in bed! lol! we even have snow showers in the forecast...thankfully i cleaned the garage out yesterday and moved some things around so i can fit the van in there.




actually have had a productive weekend. finished this layout:




its another assignment for cathy z's class. it was a real world color challenge. you had to use muted blue, orange, yellow and brown. she also provided the sketch and journaling block.



and then started painting the rest of the bedroom walls in the basement. gonna put the 2nd coat on tonight and it should be done. also managed to install the toilet seat, so now the bathroom is completely functional. yeah!!





we had really nice weather yesterday, so i took the girls to ride on a bike path nearby. they had so much fun! there was a bridge that they pretended was a roller coaster and went up and down on quite a few times.



just another pic from disney...we were waiting for the spectromagic parade to start at magic kindgom and it had been raining of course. obviously ella was not happy for whatever reason...i just don't know what that reason is...lol! regardless, this picture makes me really laugh out loud.







well, i'm off to start my day...enjoy!

randomness

ok mom...this one is for you! haha! now you can't say i haven't sent you any family pictures:)

while we were at disney we went to go see the Festival of the Lion King at Animal Kingdom. i HIGHLY recommend it! it was amazing! it lasted about 30 min, so not too long for little ones...but very entertaining. lots of acrobatics! here is a pic of ella waiting for the show to start. what a sweet face.

here's a layout i made last night for cathy z's class. the theme for this was asymetry. we had to follow a sketch and use the journaling block she provided, but could pick our own colors and embelishments.

spitting image...

ella has never really drawn a face before. she has made many attempts, but it never really looked like an obvious face, with obvious features...until yesterday.

she drew a picture of daddy.

and i must say, it is the spitting image! lol!

completely switching topics, the main structural work in our basement is now complete. our main worker guy finished today. now i can work on moving things around, buying a toilet seat (priority) and of course setting up my scrappy area! haha! and in a few weeks i hope to have the carpet guy come and finish laying the carpet. then i will really feel like i can unpack.

i am also toying with doing some painting...but nothing definitive yet.

matt has been able to call and that seems to calm the girls. he also has internet, so is able to check email (in case you want to chat with him).

more wacky disney pics coming soon!!! (family ones too mom...you will be so happy:)

good night!

update

just an quick update...we received a call from matt last night and i got another brief call from him this afternoon. he has arrived to the port he needs to be at and is working on overcoming jetlag.

they have a lot of down time right now which is killing him i'm sure since the basement is a complete and utter mess.

he was surprised at how much things had changed since the last time he was there. he said it was hot during the day, but not too bad in the evening.

he was able to talk to both girls last night and they were very happy...esp. ella. she has been just lost without him. tonight she got mad at me cause i only handed her 3 napkins to set the table and she insisted on putting 4 down. i guess whatever helps us move thru the next year...


anyways, just posting this mainly for family...but wanted to let you know he has arrived.

why my oldest will NEVER get her license!

just kidding...

while we were at disney they have a race car track and of course abby couldn't wait to drive! she couldn't reach the pedal, so i managed the speed and she handled the whiplash department.

i was being silly and exaggerating how crazy she was driving and she was hysterically laughing. i can't remember the last time i have seen her laugh so hard...

since i was sitting next to her, i had to be creative about trying to take her picture while she was driving, so i just held the camera out to my side as far out as i could hold it and just started shooting.

I LOVE THESE PICTURES!

sometimes it pays off to not "try to get the shot"...

and the best part of all of this is we both had a blast!!

sending my heart away...

yesterday i had to say good bye to my dh and send him off to war. and it doesn't matter how many times you have to do something like that, it never gets easier!

the girls are not handling it well right now. i guess you could say we are all lost.

hopefully in a couple days, we will regroup and start moving forward so that we can hurry up this next year and all be together again.

all though we knew he was going to be leaving, we had been told his window for leaving was from the 15th -18th...so when we found out monday morning that he was leaving tuesday, it was salt in the wound. and the worst part is his unit never bothered to inform him. how awful is that? it was by accident that he found out to begin with! doesn't give me any faith for the support any of us will receive from his unit for the next year.

please continue to keep all of our military overseas and their families in your thoughts and prayers.

awww, what sweet memories...

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we had such a WONDERFUL time at disney world. the girls will talk about it for a long time. and for not really planning it out and making reservations 6 weeks out, it couldn't have been a better trip!

it was hot (which was foreign to us since we have already had frost and our trees are past their peak color, but that would be my ONLY complaint...and its not really even a complaint. it was a really great trip. and really great to get away from here...from the trashed house...from the stress that is about to hit my family head on. it was worth every single penny.

so of course, here are some pics:

enjoy...more to come!

seeing thru the dust...

well we have been buried in dry wall dust for awhile now...but there is finally a light at the end of the tunnel.

here is our basement (as of last night):

i am taking the picture from what will be the craft corner/scrapbooking domain:) the stairs go up to the main house (obviously)...to the right of the stairs are built in bookshelves (in progress); to the very left that you can't see will be our large tv and extra couch and chairs. the doorway you see in the distance goes to the bedroom and bathroom. you will have to wait for those pics though:)

here it is from another angle:

the door way you see to the right is actually storage under the stairs (also known as the kid hideaway); straight ahead on the other side of the room will be my craft area. there will be 2 countertops that meet at the corner, but obviously are not installed yet. and then you can see the bookcases to the right as well.

drywall should be done being primed today; ceiling sprayed on and tomorrow morning they come to prime all the walls and get the rest of their stuff. its gonna be a really great space! and we are very excited about this massive, overwhelming and expensive project! lol!

but i refuse to clean up until we return from our little getaway! see ya when we get back!

this is what life and love is really about...

i came across this blog a few weeks back and have been following it religously ever since. this family has pulled together under the worst of circumstances. if you have time, go to this blog and read about this family. pray for them, pray for their children.

and when you're done...go hug your own family!

oh my goodness!

so i love entering contests people have on their blogs or websites...but you and i both know the odds of winning something.

well today i found out i won a new papercrafts specialty magazine from melissa phillips blog.

how cool is that?

i adore melissa's work. she is a true, natural born artist! her work is phenomenal and she is just the sweetest person. she is retired from the CX design team, but i still stalk her blog to admire all her masterpieces. you should check it out too!

http://lilybeanpaperie.typepad.com/lilybeans_paperie/