PaperVine Give-a-Way!!

Hey Folks! Go check out PaperVine's fantastic Give-A-Way!!

Pamela's World of Scrap is hosting a wonderful card challenge and AWESOME give-a-way. Here is one card I made for the challenge.

Pamela's World of Scrap is hosting a wonderful card challenge and AWESOME give-a-way. Here is one card I made for the challenge.

Pamela's World of Scrap is hosting a wonderful card challenge and AWESOME give-a-way. Here is one card I made for the challenge.

Pamela's World of Scrap is hosting a wonderful card challenge and AWESOME give-a-way. Here is one card I made for the challenge.

Pamela's World of Scrap is hosting a wonderful card challenge and AWESOME give-a-way. Here is one card I made for the challenge. I will post several.

Pamela's World of Scrap is hosting a wonderful card challenge and AWESOME give-a-way. Here is one card I made for the challenge. I will post several.

Here is another card I made for Pamela's World of Scrap card challenge.

Card Making..........I love it! Pamela's World of Scrap is hosting a wonderful card challenge and AWESOME give-a-way. Here is one card I made for the challenge. I will post several.

World Card Making Day at Scrapadilly!! Hey folks...........tomorrow morning the fun starts. Come join in and win some fabulous prizes! If you haven't been to our site in a while you will need to register again but I am sure it will be worth it! Scrapadilly

I was able to finally scrap a layout of me with my sweetie Dave. I love this guy. He is so fun to be with and makes me smile every day. I love you Davey.

Mojo Monday #257

I actually had some time this weekend to make up a few cards. Here is one I made with some scraps from the Echo Park "For The Record" collection. This sketch is from Mojo Monday.

Week 1 of Sassy Lil Sketches

I am horrible in keeping up with dates but Sassy Lil Sketches really posts the most amazing sketches and THAT helps keep me on track with my scrapping. Go check them out.

Sassy Lil Sketches

Here is a layout I did of our daughter Erika.

Countdown to my birthday.

This layout is based upon a sketch from Sassy Lil'Sketches. I will be 44 next week and I decided to dye my hair back to it's natural color so this is the last set of pics of me with my RED hair. I also have wanted to do a layout showcasing my dragonfly tattoo.



This tattoo means so much to me because it was drawn by our daughter Talia.

For My Friend Chris Hertel

I only knew you for a short time. I am going to miss you. Anytime I hear this song from now on I am going to think of you.



I Can See Clearly Now

I can see clearly now, the rain is gone,
I can see all obstacles in my way
Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind
It’s gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright)
Sun-Shiny day.

I think I can make it now, the pain is gone
All of the bad feelings have disappeared
Here is the rainbow I’ve been prayin for
It’s gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright)
Sun-Shiny day.

Look all around, there’s nothin but blue skies
Look straight ahead, nothin but blue skies

I can see clearly now, the rain is gone,
I can see all obstacles in my way
Here is the rainbow I've been prayin for
It’s gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright)
Sun-Shiny day.

Here us a link to a video:

I can see clearly now

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

I haven't posted here in a long time. June has come and gone and so has most of July. I am about to melt this summer. So is half the nation with me. I have been busy scrapping and trying to just stay cool. Today my hubby did NOT go to work so we basically made a pact to lay around and read, watch TV or snuggle!

Here is a layout of the 2 of us I did last week.



This layout is of Dave giving the 3 youngest girls and my nephews a tractor ride.

Memorial Weekend

This weekend we were blessed to have our family home and just be able to sit back and relax.

Saturday my sister arrived with 3 of my favorite people............yep, Jackson, Booker and Satchel. She and I immediately jumped in my car and ran over to Ark City to pick up a few things before coming home to color our hair and do our nails. We of course enjoyed a few adult beverages while listening to Dave Matthews Band. Good times!!

Sunday morning we all rolled out of bed and got our chores done then Dave loaded kids and dogs onto the trailer and took them for a ride down the road. He is the best.
We grilled burgers and brauts and had lots of extras. Dave sister Alice and her family showed up and had yumminess to add to the meal. We all sat around and got caught up. Then Dave, Alice, Tony and I loaded up and headed to the cemetary.

The Wellington cemetary has a great tradition in hanging a flag for every veteran that interred. I snapped a shot of the flag of Dave and Alice's dad.



Here are Dave and Alice decorating their parent's grave.



On Monday, Dave and I basically goofed off with the kids and in the evening we went to see The Hangover 2 and then went to dinner. It was the perfect ending to an awesome weekend.

Mother's Day Weekend.

I know I have been off the grid for some time but I am now back and hope to keep a little bit MORE current on here.

Yesterday our second daughter graduated from college. We are so darn proud of her. We were talking about how we both worried about her so much when she started out but she took to college like a fish in water. She is transferring to Wichita State University where she will pursue her degree in illustration.

Here are a few pictures of the ceremony and her with us, her siblings and my parents and brother.

Countdown to Christmas.

It's 6:30 am on Christmas Eve morning. Coffee is brewing and I am sitting here thinking how wonderful it is to have all of our family home and asleep under our roof. Today we will have Amanda and her family here to spend the day with us. I will have to send poor Richie to the store since I forgot a few items yesterday. He doesn't mind. He loves that he is able to drive and run errands for me.

I came home to much cuteness yesterday.............it's always nice to have small children and puppies in your home. They don't require much in the way of anything but love and affection.....and some treats from time to time.





So, now the coffee is ready and I think I'll go take a nice long hot bath to start my LONG day. I wish for all of you a time well-spent with your family and lots of memories made.

Merry Christmas!

Never too late to be THANKFUL

Last weekend was Thanksgiving. We were so blessed to have all of our children home and my sister's family and my parents here to help us observe a day for thankfulness.

First off, I am thankful for my wonderful husband. He is the best thing that ever happened to me.

I love you Dave.



Next, I am thankful for my beautiful oldest daughter. She is pictured here with Jay (See Jay! I mentioned you) Because of her, I have become a better person. She made me slow down and turn my life around.



Next I am thankful for my MIRACLE family. Our children make me want to grow up and do GREAT things. They are selfless and love each other and us like CRAZY! I am so BLESSED to call them my own!



My sister is another blessing in my life. Her children are like my own, they love to be around their cousins and treat each other like they are siblings. Satchel is constantly a source of amusement for us all! Teddi and Dusty..............WE LOVE YOU!!



My parents were with us on this wonderful day. I am grateful they are so active in our lives and help us with our children. LOVE you Mom and Dad.

Fall Weddings

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE FALL WEDDINGS!

This last weekend Dave and I attended the wedding of a good friend's daughter's wedding. (That's a lot of apostrophes!) The venue was a GORGEOUS country club in Andover called The Terradyne.

Dave and I got all gussied up. Here is a picture of us before we walked out the door.



The wedding was outside on the balcony.............right as the sun was going down. The temperature we perfect. Not too hot or cold. Here is a picture of the lovely bride and groom during the ceremony.



After the ceremony it was time for cocktail hour. We enjoyed lovely fresh fruit and veggie platters with our choices of wine, beer, tea, coffee or water.

Here are some pictures of the tables (notice the Chinese laterns and all the leaves and lights in the background), the wedding cake (It had 2 different flavors: Pumpkin spice with cream cheese icing and vanilla with buttercream icing) the grooms cake was chocolate with truffles and since the groom LOVES pumpkin pie there was also whipped cream served on top of the pie........and last but not least the CANDY BAR!







For our supper there was a buffet: Prime rib, stuffed mushrooms with crab meat, spinach dip with fresh made corn chips, chicken strips, smoky BBQ meatballs, quesidillas and several kinds of dipping sauce.

After the meal there was TONS of dancing. They hired a DJ and he was awesome.......so much so I got his card for future weddings........we do have 5 daughters you know!

Here is a picture that our friend Pat took of us at the reception. Tons of fun!! Not to mention tons of ideas for when we have to plan one of these!!

A lovely get away..........

Last weekend Dave and I went to our favorite place to spend time alone. The 1874 Stonehouse B and B. We were sad because this would be our last time to visit this gorgeous hidden treasure.

We started our trip on Friday afternoon. We arrived at the Stonehouse and checked in then walked down to the Koi pond. Here is a picture I took of Dave when he wasn't expecting it.



Our friend Billie really has made this place such a little piece of heaven. We sat at the pond for a while then decided to go take a nap.

Here is the room we stayed in.





After we woke from our nap, the sun was going down. We walked down to the pond so I could snap a few shots of the landscape. This shot is of a meadow near the pond.



After all that walking we were famished. We decided to go eat at the Emma Chase Cafe. It was Fried Catfish night. I had the chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, buttermilk biscuit with homemade applebutter and greenbeans............It was heavenly!

Here is a picture of us in the gift shop.



After supper we walked up and down main street and went to the Friday night jam session at the municipal building. After about 20 minutes we decided to go get a bottle of wine and head back to the Stonehouse. We decided to play cards, which Dave won 2 hands to my one. Billie snapped this picture of us........my favorite of the entire weekend.



The next morning we woke up really early and decided we needed to walk off our supper from the previous evening not to mention all the wine!
The moon was still out and there was a fog........simply GORGEOUS!



Billie fixed the most delicious breakfast. Since we had stayed up so late but got up so early...........Yep, we took another nap! When we got up we decided we would head to Council Grove for supper but as soon as we were ready to go a wicked storm had kicked up so we had to wait it out. While we waited, we struck up a conversation with another couple who was staying at the B and B and we just CLICKED! In the end we went to the Grand Hotel and had supper with the Pattens. This couple was US in about 20 years!! We just loved them!



The next morning we had another delicious breakfast and hugged our dear friend Billie and then drove home. We were a little sad knowing this was our last time at such a special place. BUT we are excited to now find another special place for us to get away.