Life With Kids

Catie's 7th Birthday

2010-03-21T06:20:00.003-04:00

I used Sweet Treats to create the cupcakes. Even read the cartridge directions! Never would have figured it out if I did not!

Sam's 3rd Birthday

2010-03-20T14:45:00.001-04:00

Sam's Drawings

2010-02-16T21:21:00.004-05:00

Sam has started drawing faces, all on his own. A few weeks ago, I asked him to draw a NOSE on the face. He replied, "I don't know how to draw noses!". Today, I asked him who each 'face' is. The one on the bottom left is an alien. The one in the middle is a boy. Maybe the top left is the cupcake. He lost interest after that! I should compare them to the ones Catie and Max drew at his age. I'm sure they look very similar!

2010-02-16T21:15:00.002-05:00

Materials used to create the AUTUMN banner:

1. Creative Memories Ovals.

2. Zig glue pen for glitter affect.

3. Martha Stewart glitter.

4. Ribbon.

5. Crop-a-dile (love it!) to add eyelets. I couldn't find the color I wanted.

6. Paper came from Michaels.

7. Cricut Expression to create the letters.

It took a long time to finish this, possibly close to 18 months. I'm not entirely sure! I will definitely put it up next fall!

Sam Likes Gourmet Dog Treats

2010-02-02T18:13:00.002-05:00

I listed 2 Cricut cartridges on Craigslist, never having luck on this site! Late Saturday night, I received an email inquiry on one of them, asking me to meet her 1/2 way between Leonard and Rochester. I told her that I'd be happy to meet her downtown, gets me out of the house and near retail shopping!! We decided to meet on Sunday afternoon. Being the POLITE person I am, I decided to ask Aaron and the kids to join me, secretly crossing my fingers that they would decline. I also wanted to hit Rochester Village Mall. It's never a good idea to take THREE kids with you, as I have learned in the past. To my surprise, Aaron said YES!! We met SHARI in the parking lot of the RAC (Rochester Athletic Center) parking lot. She was super nice and about my age. I told Aaron that is someone I would be friends with!! Anyway, we went to Rochester Village Mall. I went to ATL (Ann Taylor Loft), my one and only store I can shop at. I had $20 bonus cash, $15 birthday card money from ATL, 20% off coupon and two HUGE giftcards to spend. I usually buy on sale, unless I absolutely LOVE it and can't live without it. Sunday, I found THREE things I could NOT live without, so I paid full TAG price, but it didn't cost ME personally. I got the BOYFRIEND JEANS, never appealed to me in the past, but had a change of heart when I saw them again. They didn't have my size, disappointed, until one of the employees told me she bought the size 4 the day before, but they did NOT fit her - YIPPPEEE...that's the pair I needed! In the meantime, Catie was FREAKING out on Aaron because she was starving to death....I did NOT get to go to Victorias Secret for a MUCH need new bra or Children's Place, just because I love to look there too! I was totall satisfied with my ATL purchase, I didn't mind missing the other stores I intended to HIT while I was supposed to be ALONE!! On the way home, we stopped at URBAN DOG, a dog store in the newer plaza at the corner of Teinken & Rochester Rd....We bought 3 gourmet treats for Dottie - pink bones, like chocolate for dogs...They are made out of things that can be consumed by humans. Sam was holding the bag on the way home. He opened it and started EATING the bones...I tried one, it was OK but I wouldn't have eaten more than a NIBBLE! Sam was memerized by TOY STORY (playing on the DVD player) and ate 2 of the bones (I had the 3rd on in my coat pocket - keeping it safe). I asked Sam, "What are we going to give Dottie now?" He said, "NUFFIN"....

Puppy Obedience Class

2010-01-19T20:00:00.002-05:00

Fantasy: puppy obedience class would be a SINCH. Stressfree. Not much work. The kids will get along. I will be calm and happy. The MINUTE I let Dottie out of the car she went crazy! Sam went crazy! He wanted to WALK her thru the parking lot and into the store! I could barely control the dog let a lone a near 3 year old. Dottie continued to pull us through the store making my life MISERABLE. Sam was yelling at me that he is MAD AT ME for not letting him walk the dog. I was HOPING that we'd be the only ones in the class, sure would have made the hour much easier. NOPE. Another couple and their grown daughter brought in their german sheppard/coon hound. It was excited, but listed better than my dog. All my dog wanted to do was jump on top of it. I spent the hour fighting the dog and the kids who wanted to hold the leash. The couple with us, well, that was interesting. They were probably in their 60s. They sat their large ASSES on little tiny circular chairs while the daughter worked with the dog. I bet they both sit at home in worn out Lazy Boy chairs, eating and watching TV all day long. The only excercise they get is walking to and from the fridge and the bathroom. It's mind boggling that two sedintary people would get a dog that needs energetic people. Then, they started chewing up the hour with their stupid questions on how to get the dog NOT to jump their fenced in yard. The trainer goes off on little tangents about her 4 dogs. COME ON!! She told Sam to sit on a chair in the corner by himself and if he didn't get up, she'd give him a sucker. WELL, he sat their picking his nose like a good little boy. I felt bad for him, so I told him to go look at the cats with Catie. He asked her for his sucker (which she didn't have any to beging with), she said NOPE, you got up....He doesn't forget!! Home now, it's only 8:11pm and I have 2 more days as a single parent. I am going to LOSE MY MIND.

Baby Tag

2009-04-11T09:26:00.002-04:00

A work in progress. These are going to be used to tie our hand dipped pretzel rods for my sister's baby shower.

Spring Banners

2009-04-11T09:04:00.003-04:00

Catie and I made SPRING banners last night. Originally, wanted to cut ovals to create 6 flowers, however, the ovals are too round. The 'flowers' looked more like EGGS piled on top of each other. I used the CM Ovals, 2 sizes. I actually USED my Cricut to cut the letters. It took a few tries to get the right font size. I actually LIKED it!! It makes me want to get more font cartridges. I only have 2, but they are very exciting!!! Catie used the first letters we made with the Cricut. I think they were too big and didn't stand out on my ovals. We recut in brown. I thought the "I" did not print, so we cut a piece of scrap to make the 'I' and used the flowers to DOT it. I used Martha Stewart glitter on the edges of the circles. I bought on of those fancy glue pens, which made glittering SOOOO much easier!!! Eyelets and ribbon to string them.

Aaron's comment, after 4 hours of work, "Oh no, more banners??" It's been a long time since my last banner kick!!!!

New Punches

2009-03-31T18:58:00.003-04:00

I like the checker board punch - Martha Stewart. I had NO idea until now that Martha's punches are made by EK Success!! The other punch is EK Success. The picture shows a small cut out or embossed cirlce that follows the zig zag. I was hoping for PUNCH OUT, but it's embossed and BARELY comes out!! I might return this one....???

New Lattice Punch - Martha Stewart

2009-03-26T09:34:00.003-04:00

LOVE IT!!!!! Check it out. EK Success (Michael's) had some cool punches too, a few of them were miniture sizes....I'm addicted!!

Challenge 7

2009-03-10T20:35:00.003-04:00

I am a little behind, but doing the challenges as I can. I just noticed that I made a few spelling mistakes. My handwriting is not very good either. I will go back and REDO the journaling circles in a few days. I added some popsicle facts to the page. I'm also going to try to draw/cut out some popsicles for the 2nd page. Again, I am a two page layout girl!! I have a 3rd set of pictures where Sam is enjoying cheese puffs. I'll probably do that page too!!

I bought FUN FLOCK from LLL yesterday. It is a fiberous material that gives a 3D look. Kind of like puffy paint???!!! I'm going to practice using it too. The owner of LLL said it's LOTS of fun.

I have decided to just post my layout with the mistakes and omitted embellishments, incase it takes a few more weeks to complete!!

BLOG PICTURE

2009-03-08T09:34:00.002-04:00

How do I enlarge my profile picture? How do I make the page fancier?? It's so boring!

Sam Summer of 2008

2009-03-06T12:05:00.003-05:00

I like doing POOL layouts for the kids. We spend about 85% of our waking hours at my parent's house, in the POOL!! Sam is a total water rat, as my dad would say. He is the LAST one out!! I finally finished this today. It's not part of the SCRAPSISTAS challenge, it's part of MY challenge to be CAUGHT up. I am about 6-9 months behind for 2008. Otherwise, I'm good to go!!

Challenge 5

2009-03-03T16:24:00.003-05:00

Boy, I am behind!! HOWEVER, I did a much better job at duplicating the Challenge. Heather was nice enough to tell me how to print my pictures in order to do the 12 or 6 per page. Never thought to print them wallet size!! AND, I figured out how to do that today!! Better yet, Aaron surprised me by restoring 7 years worth of pictures from the DELL PC. I haven't checked the external hard drive yet, BUT I am confident it worked this time. I'll get 6,7,8 done soon enough!

I am still a double layout girl, so the 2nd page follows my typical GET IT DONE QUICKLY motto!

Catie is always bored....

2009-02-20T20:05:00.002-05:00

It's a shame that Oxford did not start full day full week kindergarten this year. Poor Catie missed the start date by 3 days. She's bored out of her mind here. There's NO ONE to play with on our street. I just don't know what to do for her. I am not satisfying her need for company her own age. Maybe we need to move to a LARGE subdivison packed full of kids!!

Scrap Challenge 6...

2009-02-20T15:15:00.003-05:00

Again, I stuck to my old style. It's just easier for me! I'd have to print a 12x12 collage page in order to get 12 perfect squares on it! I'm going to make every effort to follow the challenge. If I can't, I'll at least try to do a page! I have a hard time pulling everything out and working at home due to so many interruptions. It just frustrates me and I hate being frustrated!! Is it cocktail time yet??

Last Year Layouts

2009-02-11T14:45:00.002-05:00

These layouts have been sitting in my plastic 12x12 storage box since LAST May, when I unofficially gave up scrapping! I didn't do ONE page until the ScRaPsIsTaS started up! Anyway, I have a few FAVORITE tools that I use often!! One - the flexible ruler, which you will see often in my work! Two - my Martha Stewart flowery border punch, mostly used on my sister's Bridal Shower Thank You notes from last April. THREE - my Sizzix flower die cut, which was the inspiration to make my sister's Bridal Shower Invites (which I am VERY proud of still!). A few years ago, my husband bought me the Xyron sticker maker. I think it sat in the box untouched for over a year until I started the layout with the flowers. I was obsessed with running each one thru the sticker maker!! I can't say it's a FAVORITE tool to use, but it was FUN at the moment!! One day, I will BUY the refill pages I need to get the pages INTO Catie's book!!!

Scrap Challenge

2009-02-11T14:38:00.002-05:00

Ok...I believe I completed 4a - the one using circles. Had I figure out that using the printer is actaully REALLY fun, I would have printed my copy then cut the circle around it. However, I did the page at a Friday night crop, so it's a moot point!! Here's my version of 4a....I did not do Challenge 3 because I couldn't bring up the images before I left that night. I DID, however, do THREE 2 page layouts that night. I hope it counts for something!

Scrapping

2009-02-09T18:26:00.002-05:00

I've been TRYING to scrap with the ScRaPsIsTaS, but like most things, I get distracted. When I scrap, I want to have TOTAL Traci time. That never happens here!! I went to Maggie's on Friday night with my friend Sarah, who I have not seen in almost 2 years!! She brought 2 teachers from Holly Elem and a sister-in-law of one of them. Unfortunately, my husband didn't get home from work until 6:36pm - using up almost 1 1/2 hours of my scrap/talking time. He doesn't understand that every MINUTE counts! It starts at 6pm, I want to be there at 5:59pm ready to go!!! He was 10 minutes from home, when some dumb ass had to hit a deer on Rochester Rd, leaving it half alive. No one would move a muscle, per Aaron. I'm going to post the 2 of 3 layouts that I finished. I would like them to count for at least challenge 4. I was unable to bring up the picture of #3, but I know I failed b/c I didn't use masks or the Cricut!!

Things are getting better

2009-01-27T16:23:00.002-05:00

Ok...I finally got on the treadmill. I ran 4 miles in 45 minutes, which is pretty good if you ask me! I got some of my agression out. I am taking some ME time. Now, it's time to shower and put the kind size comforter back in the duvet cover - the most hated part of having to wash bedding. Catie peed on it last night, so it's been a day process of washing and drying both pieces. I am CRAVING a big bowl of peanut butter cup ice cream w/ chocolate sauce. I will have it by 9pm!!!! I made chicken veggie soup, so the ice cream can off-set my healthy meal!!

Today Sucks!

2009-01-27T12:34:00.003-05:00

I was planning on having a GOOD day today, however, it was interrupted by having to clean up after slobs. I am sick of being the ONLY one willing to CLEAN this shithole of a house. We are having a little Super Bowl party on Sunday, so I really need to get things in order. The more I clean the angrier I get. I know all will be undone in minutes. The clutter is KILLING me. My mother-in-law is constantly givins us FREE books that her library does NOT want. Why do I want them!!! The cat is shitting in my plant. It's driving me crazy. The cat is digging up the other plant, again, driving me crazy. My hands smell like celery from making soup. Catie keeps destroying the office - paint and shit everywhere. I am in a mood that I could take everything in this house to the Salvation Army and not give a shit about it. The basement is full of CLUTTER and unused/wanted shit. What I would give to have a NORMAL house to live in!!!!!! Everywhere I look is a project UNDONE because I CAN'T DO IT ALONE!!!!!!!!!! I have a great husband who supports every thing I want to do - EXPECT FOR HELPING TO KEEP THIS HOUSE CLEAN!!!!! I wonder why I am crabby all the time!!!!

Scrap Challenge 2

2009-01-25T17:54:00.003-05:00

I tried to duplicate the challenge this week! I was not able to size my pictures down perfectly, which was MY challenge! I am also PC/Printer illiterate. I just got MS Office Suite and don't know a darn thing about it! Sam is having a tempertantrum on the floor. Aaron is on the treadmill. I am still recovering my energy so I have no patience for children today. Needless to say, I wish this day would END!! Here's my layout, Christmas 2007 is DONE!! I'm taking a break on Christmas...2008 will have to wait until next year!! :)

Why drink to much??!!

2009-01-24T13:42:00.002-05:00

Last night, Katie came over around 5:30pm to pick Katrina up. Aaron walked in right behind her. He sat down in his 'crispy' work outfit, opened a bottle of wine and a beer for me. A few hours later, Michael called telling his mom to COME home he is HUNGRY!! Max hung up on him, how rude! We called back, told Aaron to pack up and come over for pizza here. Next thing you know, there are beer cans everywhere, kids running crazy and adults falling off of bar stools!! Needless to say, I didn't get my 9 hours of sleep thanks to the alcohol burning out of my system. I got up at 6:15a.m., it's going to be a LONG day! My skin is hot and feverish feeling still. I forced myself to get on the treadmill, but I don't think it did much to improve how I feel! The unplanned get togethers are the most fun!!

If you cook should you clean?

2009-01-22T20:39:00.002-05:00

I am a SAHM, I do a lot around here. I am beginning to rethink the idea of cooking and cleaning up just is NOT fair! Am I wrong? I was watching Oprah today while running on the treadmill. It talked about horomone replacement therpay. Robin McGraw said you should start monitoring your horomone levels in your 20's...I am about to turn 37 and this is the first time i have HEARD this. My question is maybe my horomones are out of wack and I am being irrational about cooking and cleaning up!! I might just check out her book and the book written by a female doctor that Oprah is IN LOVE WITH. I already feel myself slipping, but I have been blaming it on battling my kids. Maybe it is all ME!!

SCRAPPER IN TRAINING!

2009-01-17T08:26:00.003-05:00

Catie made a scrapbook page with me. Here is her work!

Another 2007 Christmas layout

2009-01-16T20:26:00.002-05:00

Thanks to the ScRaP SiStaz for kick starting my scrapbooking!

I need to watch my child!

2009-01-16T18:58:00.003-05:00

I tend to walk away from Sam so I can check email, Facebook, whatever else is nagging away at me. This time, it's finishing the 2 page Christmas layout from LAST year. Aaron walked into the kitchen and yells to me to come and LOOK. Apparently, Sam, almost 23 months old, decided to climb onto the counter tops, across it and behind the sink. He wanted to BLOW OUT THE CANDLE that Aaron lit! I had to get a picture of it!

Putting Kids to Bed

2009-01-15T21:31:00.002-05:00

Why is it so hard for a child to go to bed? I didn't train myself to put them to bed AWAKE as infants, so I have no one to blame but myself. Sam was put to bed asleep, about 10 minutes later, I can hearing whimpering. Aaron convinces me the light sounds of crying is background noise from the surround sound. As soon as the mysterious noise cries louder, "MOMMY OUT", I know it's not the TV! I reminded myself of the last time I got him out of bed and tried to rock him back to sleep - he was raring to go at 11:48pm, well past MY bedtime. As soon as I felt the urge to SWEAR, I threw him in bed, shut my door and that was it. I will NOT go thru it again! As for the other 2, they are old enough to know going to bed is a good thing. Max, 8, was playing PS2 and would NOT quit. Aaron gave him an ultimatum, finish your game and go to bed immediately, or turn it off now and watch some TV. He chose the first option. When it came time to GO TO BED IMMEDIATELY, he acted dumb founded - he said, "It's not my fault..." Are you joking??!! MY mother-in-law and 5 month old dog are here (their furnace died), so it's been quite the show going on with Rebus (dog) and Rosie (cat)....TIME FOR BED!

Headache!

2009-01-15T19:56:00.002-05:00

Boy, this house is noisy! It's 7:56pm and no one seems to be settling down. My mother-in-law and the puppy Rebus are on their way over. The furnace finally quit working on one of the coldest days we've had in a long time! My father-in-law and Lucy, the very old dog, are going to tough it out in the COLD house. Good thing they have power and space heaters!! If this happened to me, I'd be heading to a cozy hotel w/ a pool for the night!!

2009-01-15T12:35:00.000-05:00

DS bring so much happiness! These 3 people are what I live for!

Individual Scrapbook or Family Scrapbook

2009-01-15T12:27:00.002-05:00

My question to all scrappers: ONE family book or stick to individual books? I have 3 kids to keep up on. I worry that I will run out of space to keep all of the books. Right now I have at least 9 between them. I am about 6-9 months behind for each child. If I cop out on the individual books, I can always make 12x12 copies and create more books in the future!!

FirstScrapChallenge

2009-01-15T11:49:00.001-05:00

Scrap Challege 1

2009-01-15T11:39:00.002-05:00

Ok. So I didn't completely follow the rules. I am 'stuck' in what I know and feel comfortable doing. I will try harder the next time to do something different. It's very hard for me to scrap at home with the kids and husband, I feel like I am being neglectful. HOWEVER, I do know that it's OK to have ME TIME. What I would like EVEN more than SCRAPPING is to figure out this website!!!

Creating a Blog Name

2009-01-05T08:32:00.001-05:00

I really wish I had a better imagination! I never come with cool names! Oh well!