scrappin again

I have many a Studio Calico kit sitting unused.

It was time to break them open.

My kits pretty much get combined with the previous month's kit and everything else on my desk.

I can't tell the difference in what came in September to what I received in November.

Then when I'm sick of playing with it, everything broken down and combined with regular old stash.

Love that new iPhone!  

I haven't used my camera in so long!

Well, I broke it out to take photos of these layouts,

but it's usually iPhone all the way, baby!

Last Friday, we had some snow while we were sightseeing at Letchworth State Park.

It made me happy because I LOVE snow!

I think it's great and living in western NY, we get LOTS!

Where has the month gone?

This month has flown by!

So I'm in the mood for a quick recap before I forget what we've done!

We're in full swing with red ribbon week at school.

Last week I took these photos because each girl had to send in a picture of then being "helpful".

Yes, Charlotte's photo is totally staged and Pinky was not a willing participant!

She was "helping" me feed the dog aka hold dog hostage with a bag of kibble while I took several unsatisfactory photos because they were holed up in a dark corner of my scrap room!

 Miss Nora's photo is totally genuine.

She did empty that dishwasher and put away every dish!

Bravo Nora!

 Playing with my new iPhone means taking "artsy" pumpkin pictures.

The composition here....I don't know!!!

I thought the pumpkin picture would look good in my scrapbook pages of fall!  ha!

 Halloween party at a friend's house included decorating spooky cut outs.

They look delightful and they must have tasted good because I never got one.

They were eaten up after this photo was taken by two little girls.  Hmmm.

Oh my gosh!

Fried cake doughnuts never tasted better!

My attempt to get scrappy.

Charlotte's attempt to hijack my scrappy.

And Nora's successful cookie decorating.

Both girls are going to be pirates this year and I can't wait to see them together in their costumes.

Last year, they were both witches.

I love that they have been coordinating their costumes the last couple of years!

Bravo ladies!

Come to me!

Finally!

You will be mine and I eagerly await your arrival!

And if you do not show up on Friday, I will cry.

A lot.

Bye Summer, Hello Fall

 Charlotte Jane is in first grade!

Say what!!!

Our fashion social diva has a full day of school, finally.

I worried about having some stinky mornings, because she is NOT a morning person,

but she has adjusted very well. I think it's because school is fun!  

She doesn't mind getting up and an earlier bedtime helps too.

Nora took the photo above.  I think she did a splendid job!

Next I'm going to scrap Nora's 1st day of 2nd grade.  Unfortunately, I don't have a photo of Nora with me and Craig.  I didn't feel confident about handing over my D90 to Charlotte, at least in the presence of Craig!  I mean the poor guy looks a little uncertain with Nora holding it!  Ha!

Sure sign that summer is over.  The tearing down of our little pool.

Farewell!

stop drop listen

 September has been too busy with the start of school and all its activities.

It's good to run outside and just play in the rain.

It's good to be a kid.

For a little dog....not so much!

A to Z list

This A to Z list has been popping up on several blogs I read.  I thought it looked fun and absolutely easy!  This month has been the busiest month that I can remember in a long long time.  Back to school, girl scouts, faith formation classes, travel, and the PTSA have been running me into the ground!  I haven't scrapped all month, so hopefully today is the day I make a comeback!


In the meantime, some blogger filler!


A. Age: 36, yikes!

B. Bed size: King


C. Chore that you hate: dishwasher

D. Dogs:  Pinky dog, just the best dog in the world!

E. Essential start to your day: getting girls on the bus.

F. Favorite color: green

G. Gold or Silver: white gold

I. Instruments you play: once upon a time, piano and flute.  Wished it were guitar!

J. Job title: mom

K. Kids: Two wonderful girls! :)

L. Live: Rochester, NY

M. Mother’s name: Sally

N. Nicknames: Annie

O. Overnight hospital stays:  four

P. Pet peeves:   rude people

Q. Quote from a movie:  "Bond, James Bond"

R. Right or left handed: right

S. Siblings: five brothers and one sister

U. Underwear: I still like to buy my underwear in packs of 5 or 6!  I do own nice underwear that I purchase piece by piece, but I still prefer cotton undies that come in bulk packages!  

V. Vegetable you hate: collards

W. What makes you run late: snooze button gets me all the time, even today as a matter of fact!

X. X-Rays you’ve had: kidneys & definitely teeth

Y. Yummy food that you make: pizza
Z. Zoo animal: bats

Remembering September 11th

10 years ago I was working in a bookstore in Newport, RI getting ready to open when my co worker came into work and told me about a commuter plane crashing into the World Trade Center.   News junkies that we were, we grabbed an old radio in the back office to listen to updates.   Disbelief and horror were the overriding emotions we felt listening to the morning unfold.

I got a call from Craig who was stationed at the naval base in Newport.   They were getting their information from the television like everyone else.

It was a surreal day. Tourists wandered in, not knowing what to do with themselves. We were all strangers united by grief and I cried with people I'll never see again. We kept our radio on all day to hear as much information as we could.

We closed early that day. I got the call from my district manager giving me permission to close around 3. There were two older women in the bookstore,  tourists,  I told them we were closing for the day and I'll never forget how annoyed they were with me.  They didn't understand the gravity of the situation.

The bridges leading to Newport were closed.  The naval base was on high alert.

I drove home, kissed my husband, called my family in Rochester, and called my friends who worked in Manhattan. We were all okay, but so many weren't. We met up with some Navy and Coast Guard friends at our favorite local dive bar and shared a couple pitchers of beer. There was no music blaring from the jukebox, no darts being thrown, and really no conversation. It was silent companionship and grief watching the world change on television.
Life changed that day. Military life changed  and American life would never be the same.

Irene...you can't keep us from having fun!

Guess who finally got a mini vacation in?!!?

We went to Cape Cod for the weekend and guess who else came?

Hurricane Irene!

Yes....that rotten, no good hurricane tried to spoil our fun.

I didn't let it, no way...no how!

Above is a photo of the Mass pike.

It's Friday, August 26, and everybody is leaving!

We went for our friend Seth's wedding.  It was super pretty and just a few raindrops, not enough to mar the festivities!

Nora enjoyed her first lobster.  Girl loves shellfish!

 The wedding was on Saturday and yes, we were under a tent.

No, we did not blow away.

It was very pretty!

Earlier that morning, we went down to the shore to check out the waves.

It's not an everyday occurrence, to hang out on the coast when a major hurricane is predicted!

It was gray, windy, and a little surreal.

The hurricane was battering the Carolinas, so our area was safe for the time being! 

 These horseshoe crabs were making toward the high grass off the shore.

They scared the pants off of Charlotte!  She walked up to them not realizing and started screaming!

We whisked her out of "harm's way", but she continued to whine whenever she caught eye of them!

Nora and I had to carry her across that part of the beach several times.

Turns out she's not a fan!

 Look how cute!

From the beach, we could see the preparation people were taking to protect their seafront homes.

Many boards across windows and a few homes had snazzy metal shades that pulled down.

It was something I've seen on television, but to see the preparation taking place is unreal.  

This is a photo taken from the car on our departure Sunday morning.

We left the cape about 7am to try and beat the hurricane.  

We made it off the cape and then halfway through driving through Massachusetts, the heavy rains came.

It rained so hard, it was ridiculous!

Thank goodness, Craig was driving.

I know I would've had to pull over and sit it out!

He drove like a champ, even through the Albany area.

Which was actually the worst of it!

When we got home, I saw on the news they closed the thruway after we went through.

All in all, it was a great time! 

We loved the little taste we got of Cape Cod!

The wedding was lovely and the girls were so excited to be there!

We were all so hungry for a little taste of vacation life after our stinky summer!

So it was a grand success and even Irene couldn't take it away from us!

And because I have to post a layout, here's my latest.

Hugs and Kisses to Lulu having her first week at Ithaca College right now!

We love you and are so proud of you!

xoxox

Signature Accent Challenge

This challenge stumped me at first because I couldn't think of what my signature accent could be!  I don't sew on all my layouts, or mist/paint, and I don't always use large embellishments.  What I do every time is I make layers of patterned paper.  A layout doesn't feel right to me unless I can shove paper under paper under paper!  Sometimes I throw tags, tickets, and assorted memorabilia under a photo!  I can't help it!  I like a good pile!  Hee!

I have been remiss in adding that all of these challenges have come from Shimelle's blog!  I'm guilty of not giving credit to Shimelle for all of these wonderful challenges in my previous posts.  Thank you for all the wonderful inspiration!  I think I can safely put away my August Studio Calico kit.  I used it well in creating layouts for these challenges!

Retro challenge

Red, white, & aqua color challenge

august blogust

I feel like such a Debbie downer!

I also have this stupid head cold that is making me wacky.

I'm not sure why I had big expectations of a fabulous summer, but it's really not in the cards!

I blame Facebook!

I think Facebook is depressing.

Anytime I log on, it seems like everyone under the sun is having this jet set lifestyle this summer!

Status updates from luxurious vacation spots, photos of smiling people enjoying themselves, and I'm

sitting home with a head cold, Charlotte has a cold, and Nora has a dog bite on her henie!

Ugh.

Am I the only one who feels pitiful after reading status updates?!

So instead of frowning, I'm going to try to be upbeat.

Things that make me happy!

My new Studio Calico kit.

It's full of beautiful blues, greens, and I'm almost afraid to cut into it!

grab bag 1

Scoring a grab bag at Studio Calico on reveal day.

Well my super hero sister scored it for me!

Not one, but two bags!

I went to see the last HP movie and I left her instructions on how to get it at exactly noon.

I never had a doubt she wouldn't get it, you see, I went shopping with her on Black Friday!

She's fierce!

grab bag 2

Another scrappy score of The Girls Paperie from Tuesday Morning.

I'm not a theme scrapper and I don't collect holiday theme papers, but this was too beautiful to pass up.

It was the stamps that pushed me over and I am not a stamper, but the silhouettes are too cool!

Another thing I am happy about?

The tile wall happening in my kitchen!

Craig's been working on it for the last two days and I'm almost gleeful!

The end of our kitchen remodel is near!

Our dining room lights make me happy!

We bought the glass shades at a store where they sell old house parts.

then after a stop at Home Depot for pipes, we were in business.

Craig built these and I love them!

And this girl makes me happy!

She's healing and has a great attitude about everything!

Of course, it might have something to do with apple TV.

She loves movies and there is an endless supply of them on here.

We've watched every talking dog movie ever made.

I actually watched a dog movie starring Valerie Bertinelli made in the 80s.

Not exactly a killer Facebook update!

summer bummer

I think I can finally write about this.

Nora was bitten by a dog.

My sister's year old German Shepherd bit Nora's bottom when she was jumping in a pool.

Because of the momentum of jumping in the pool and the dog's bite meant to keep her out of the pool,

it was a pretty aggressive bite.  :(

It was a terrible day for everybody.  There is no blame or any fault, it was one of things that just happens in a blink and there's no stopping it.   We're all adapting and changing up our summer and Nora has been a super duper brave girl and I'm so proud of her!

 New favorite summer activity.

Playing in tents in the backyard.  One tent is a store where all kinds of glamorous items are sold.

Another is a beautiful mansion where occasionally little dogs are held captive.

There is lots of make believe and I love listening to the girls spin their stories.

It's amazing how they can entertain each other.

Our half bathroom off the kitchen is finished!

Hallelujah!

As Nora would say, "It's a Christmas miracle!"

 Gratuitous donut picture.

We love sprinkle donuts!

And a few layouts, I have a working photo printer again.

Life is still good!

Thanks for stopping by!

Some layouts

Have a nice day.

July 1st!

I can't believe it's July already!
In four days, Nora & Charlotte start their swimming lessons at the
community pool.  When I signed them up back in May, it seemed so far away!  I'm going to enjoy our lazy unscheduled days before we have to start running around again!  Swimming is the only thing I signed them up for this summer.  Neither girl was interested in softball.  We were fortunate to figure out last summer, soccer was not for us! ;)  As far as camps go, we decided to hold off for another year.  No rush!

So the girls have been loving their sleepovers at their Grandma's house.  So have I, let's be honest! :)

Pinkydog is still not a fan of bath time.  Especially the mad fighting that ensues over who gets to hold her in her towel.

I'm still trying to clear off my desk in the scraproom.  I keep finding papers and embellies I forgot I owned.  So I'm trying to use them up before I lose them again!   Happy July 1st!