One more time for today!

So I have totally been "Ms Blogger of the Year" today... sorry to keep posting. Hope you can keep up! hee hee!

This is a LO kit I put together for the crop a week or so ago. I never got it done so decided to throw it together tonight. The print paper is Cosmo Cricket and the title card is MME. VERY simply LO but a fun one! This is a photo Robin took of our dd Dani.....so pretty! Loved it!

Thanks for looking!
Darla

One more time....... thirds a charm , right?

OK this is getting old.....yes? Well, this is the last one for a while, I promise. LOL So, again the one of the three sisters (me in green) is the old one from back in Sept of last year. The one of me playing model (ha ha!) is today. 5 months of work. I can DEFINATLY see it in these photos.

Yeah! Darla

Let's try this again.....

OK those last pictures were just simpy "evil" and I have to take them off here. ICK! So, I staged some photos today with my dd Dani and hopefully the comparison will be more effective AND more flattering to moi'!

So, teh closer up one is from last Aug... one day after I started dieting/excersizing. The one that is a bit further back (with parted hair) is from today. hmmmmm not much of a difference in my opinion other than I LOOK a heck of a lot happier?? LOL

OK I'll do one more "set" of comparisons.......

Workouts Headaches Snow

So much going on these days. Seems like I never slow down. I did have to take a moment and post though.....

Workouts are going great. Have a new goal set for working up to the 5K walk/run in May. Feeling good. (and looking better)

Have had a headache ongoing now for over 24 hours. Thinking it is sinus related maybe, plus my eyes are bothering me like the kids were last week when they had pink eye.... ick! Taking it easy today and trying to kick this crud. I have not had a pounding headache like this since I don't know when AND one that does not react to Motrin is very unusual for me too.

Well, after a beautiful and sunny warm week here, today we are getting light snow........dangit all! I was hoping spring would poke out it's happy little sunny face soon. Bummer.

Funny note, one of our very close friends was on a radio show this a.m. Talking about thier business. Funny to listen to him, he is such an easy going guy but you could sure hear the nervousness in his voice this a.m. The show was pretty funny, the hosts are a couple of dorky guys who rambled on about utter silliness... cracked me up. Always good to spread the free advertising on any business though! Way to go Blake!

OK well, the headache is ruling over me, so I am going to go take a nice hot bath and maybe even lay down for a bit. wow!

Until later,
Darla

Another LO and Uplifting Night

Kindergarden Boy.....

This LO is one I did at the crop last Fri night, love how it came out. Pretty simple really, but fun colors and stuff. The large photo on the bottom is actually a photo "pocket" so I can put his little first day of school memorbilia in there .... so fun! Also had fun putting the cute little safety pins in there too!!

So tonight was a fun one. My sister goes to a Baptist Church here in town, they are so good to her, and I am thankful for that. Even though we are totally different/opposite religions we both can deal with the differences. So, her Pastors wife called me this last week and invited me to a "love" party for her. OK let me explain. LOL My sister has been through a rough year, lots of ups and downs, so they decided she needed to be lifted up a bit. They called it her "happy nursing" party as she graduated to her RN Nursing degree last year and she never really celebrated it. She also just had a birthday and again, with all the crazies in her life she just needed some uplifting. The party was fun, it was a Bible Study group and then we did the party........really enjoyed it all. VERY nice gals. So thankful she has such good loving women in her life.

Workouts are still going great. Have been getting up at 5 a.m. and going to the YMCA... like getting it done early and feeling accomplished by 6:30 a.m.!! Also has kick started my mornings for chores and things.....so cool. Building up my endurance and stamina, feels awesome but still have A LONG way to go!! LONG LONG LONG way to go. My good friend Lisa will be sending me a cool goal sheet "From couch to 5K in 9 weeks" and I hope that will encourage me too.

Guess that is about it. OH, we did get a COOL treat last night........dh found an awesome deal on Wolfgang Puck pots and pans at Sam's Club.... we went ahead and picked them up, so so so nice to have good pans!!

:O) Keep Smiling!
Darla

BUSY Weekend FUN Times CRAZY Goings On

Well, as you can see, I have been scrapbooking! YEAHHHH!! This is just one of a few LO's I did this last weekend, it was crazy!!

Thurs night my dh took me and bought me a new Cricut cartridge (Jasmine) just for the heck of it, I so love that guy! Also, I went to a stamping party, that was fun to get out, visit, enjoy the company of other crafters. OH and Heather had the YUMM YUMM YUMMIEST celery on her veggie tray! Good times...good times... (hee hee)

Friday night, I got to go to a crop at the lss, The Scrap Coop, here in Idaho Falls. We spent the evening visiting, being ultra silly, creating and just having a great time. I SO LOVE going to those crops.... totally rocks. I did get 3 whole LO's done and one started in the works. So cool.

(This layout is of my honey, Ed. I just rarely get a photo of him smiling.... he has a handsome smile... I had to scrap him, I love him so much!)

So, believe it or not, the weekend got even BETTER!! Sat we just sort of hung out, I did get some housework done, and then after running some errands, I went and got a hair cut, nothing major, just a bit off the back (growing bangs out for real this time). Then we met up with a friend and went to dinner, a great mexican food place, so yummy. After that we went shopping!!!!! Oh yea, 2 guys and one girl shopping, yup....they went to the electronics store and I went to the clothing store! (I LIKE that a lot!) I bought myself a few new peices of clothes to fit my slowly slimming body (2 sizes smaller to be precise!) and then we went to WalMart and they wandered about while I dug through 1001 clearance racks looking for a great deal...which I did find! Pants for $7 is a great deal in my humble opinion! So Sat was a total success!

but it still was even more fun.....

Sunday after Church (that was not the fun part) we cooked up some goodies for the big Superbowl game. Hot wings, bbq beef, chips n salsa, veggie dip and tray.... lots of yummy o stuff. The 'guys' watched the game while we all sort of hung out. Later in the evening I went to our friends and sat in the hot tub.... soooooo cool to be outside in 20 degree weather with the tub set at 101 degrees! AWESOME stuff. Such a good way to end such a great weekend. :O)

AND

Monday was a good one too! (winding down now) Got up early, did my workout, did my weigh in (down again!! yeahh!) and got the hosue tidy, went out to lunch with my honey and our bf's, did more housework, laundry, dinner, and then dh bought us a new cooking pan set.....Wolfgang Puck! SO COOL! Hope my run of good days keeps going and going and going...

Be good.
Be nice.
Stay out of trouble.

D

BRA ALERT! Thank You Shar

THIS is what I call pertinant information ladies and gentelmen. Thank you Shar for sharing.

"Research at the University of Portsmouth in England shows that when a woman runs without a bra, her breasts bounce up and down 3.5 inches for each step she takes. "After a mile, that's about the equivalent of your breasts bouncing 472 feet, which puts huge amounts of stress on the outer skin and connective tissue," says study author Joanna Scurr, PhD.
Wearing a sports bra reduced bounce by 74 percent. Just be sure to choose the right fit. "I recommend that you try on at least three sizes and jump up and down in them," says Julia Alleyne, MD, medical director of Sport Care Women's College Hospital in Toronto. Replace sports bras every six to nine months when they lose elasticity and support.
You can revitalize sag-prone breasts with chest exercises, which help sculpt muscles and make your bust appear higher and firmer, says LaJean Lawson, PhD, an adjunct professor in exercise and sports science at Oregon State University. Bench presses and push-ups are good options; do at least three sets of 8 to 12 three times a week."

FRIDAY FUNDAY

Totally check out these crazy women!!! This was our group at CKU PROVO from past May 2006. We had SO freaking much fun there together, playing, scrapping, and doing all sorts of ODD things! This phoeo has Lisa B in it with us, she was "admiring" our CLUE CKU taable set up!

...and WHY am I bringing all this up today??

I GET TO CROP WITH MY GIRLS TONIGHT!

Tonight Robin, Heather, Cindy, Cynthia and myself a long with a few other gals I don't know "too well" are going to THE SCRAP COOP (our lss here in Idaho Falls) http://www.sherellechristensen.typepad.com/the_scrap_coop/ We are VERY fortunate to have an awesome LSS here in town. The store is owned and operated by Sherelle Christensen, a CK HOFer and designer for several sb manufacture's. She is VERY talented and she runs one heck of a store. Her Mom, Sherry, is the SWEETEST thing that ever walked the streets of Idaho. I love her, she is so helpful, so chatty, friendly, really makes you feel comfortable at the store. I don't get to go in shopping nearly enough, but when I do always look forward to visiting with Sherry. So, I am just over the top excited about going to CROP there toinght!! (the last time I went was back in Sept) I have several pages planned out to work on and hope to be able to really make some progress on them. I have been so busy and since I have been going to the gym I seem to have lost a lot of sb time. Need to catch up on it!!

In other news... the wind chill here in IF has dropped down like crazy, getting REALLY COLD (I should be at gym now but I am NOT going out in that cold) We had temps as low as -26 degrees last night with the wind chill... so far so good, no school closures, but who knows, the last time they waited till' 15 min before bus to announce it! (shaking head) Maybe some snow this weekend too. Winter is DEFINATLY NOT OVER here yet. (Did the lil' guy see his shadow yet this a.m.??) I keep telling our youngest boy Micheal about GROUNDHOG DAY and he does not "get" it. HOPE they cover it in school today. LOL

Guess that is it. Have a GREAT FRIDAY and keep warm!

Darla

FRIDAY FUNDAY

Totally check out these crazy women!!! This was our group at CKU PROVO from past May 2006. We had SO freaking much fun there together, playing, scrapping, and doing all sorts of ODD things! This phoeo has Lisa B in it with us, she was "admiring" our CLUE CKU taable set up!

...and WHY am I bringing all this up today??

I GET TO CROP WITH MY GIRLS TONIGHT!

Tonight Robin, Heather, Cindy, Cynthia and myself a long with a few other gals I don't know "too well" are going to THE SCRAP COOP (our lss here in Idaho Falls) http://www.sherellechristensen.typepad.com/the_scrap_coop/ We are VERY fortunate to have an awesome LSS here in town. The store is owned and operated by Sherelle Christensen, a CK HOFer and designer for several sb manufacture's. She is VERY talented and she runs one heck of a store. Her Mom, Sherry, is the SWEETEST thing that ever walked the streets of Idaho. I love her, she is so helpful, so chatty, friendly, really makes you feel comfortable at the store. I don't get to go in shopping nearly enough, but when I do always look forward to visiting with Sherry. So, I am just over the top excited about going to CROP there toinght!! (the last time I went was back in Sept) I have several pages planned out to work on and hope to be able to really make some progress on them. I have been so busy and since I have been going to the gym I seem to have lost a lot of sb time. Need to catch up on it!!

In other news... the wind chill here in IF has dropped down like crazy, getting REALLY COLD (I should be at gym now but I am NOT going out in that cold) We had temps as low as -26 degrees last night with the wind chill... so far so good, no school closures, but who knows, the last time they waited till' 15 min before bus to announce it! (shaking head) Maybe some snow this weekend too. Winter is DEFINATLY NOT OVER here yet. (Did the lil' guy see his shadow yet this a.m.??) I keep telling our youngest boy Micheal about GROUNDHOG DAY and he does not "get" it. HOPE they cover it in school today. LOL

Guess that is it. Have a GREAT FRIDAY and keep warm!

Darla

This- my friends, is 30 pounds gone!

CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT??????????????????
Now, this dress, it was a loose fit anyway, but when I put it on yesterday for Church I about drown in it!!! LOOK AT THAT! I could fit a whole leg in there! Crazy egh? Talk about feeling good! And you know what? I WORE it to Church anyway and showed my "workout" gals how huge it was too!!!!!!!! hee hee!

5 months, 30 lbs, 2 sizes..........not bad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BOOKS BABIES BIKES and Trucks?

So, here we have more photos, as promised, of all my kids and their crazies. I have my two "book worms" (Chris 15 and Tiffany 9) reading away and being dorks ... Tiff in her super cute purple glasses and Chris in MY driving glasses! Goofs! Then we have lil' Micheal and Tiffany with all her "babies" Colleen, Christy, Emily, Ashley, Xavier, Ganeese....... aren't they cute? And of course, Micheal on his new Birthday Bike (and helmet!) and then him with his coolio remote cars and trucks. Big brother bought Micheal a HUMMER for Christmas and that was the big hit of the season for us all....

LOVE being a Mom to these crazies....

Promised pictures...

OK IS THIS FUNNY OR WHAT???????

So I have been a "boring blogger" (according to my dh Ed) so I will punish myself by totally humiliating myself with the big green machine lady photo! Go ahead, laugh, it IS funny.

I downloaded like 151 photos tonight so I will at least have some things to share with you all.

I also included a Christmas photo..... yes, I am so behind! Anyway, this is a photo that SANTA took after he dropped everything off on Christmas eve... doesn't look like tons, but believe me those kids got spoiled! (young and old)

And then there is the photo of our newest family addition........"HERSHEY" (as in the chocolate) We adopted him from a family on Free Cycle a little over a week ago, pure bred cocker spaniel and so far so good. (He is ED'S DOG) He is dang cute though..

OK until later, me

SEE MOM SCREAM

SEE MOM.
SEE MOM SORT LAUNDRY.
SEE THE BIG BIG LAUNDRY PILE?
SEE THE MONSTEROUS PILE OF DIRTY LAUNDRY?
SEE MOM SIGH....HEAR MOM MOAN?
SEE MOM.
MOM LOOKS FUNNY.
MOM LOOKS FUNNY BENT OVER LIKE THAT.
MOM LOOKS ANGRY BENT OVER LIKE THAT.
HEAR MOM SIGH AGAIN?
MOM HATES THE LAUNDRY MONSTER.
MOM WANTS TO SLAY THE LAUNDRY MONSTER.
SEE MOM.
MOM SIGHS AGAIN.
MOM FINDS CLEAN LAUNDRY IN THE PILE.
MOM MOANS AGAIN.
MOM WANTS TO SLAY THE CHILDREN WHO FEED THE LAUNDRY MONSTER CLEAN CLOTHES.
SILLY SILLY MOM.

**Edited: Ahhhhhhh see mom be all done. Clothes are sorted. Laundry can wash it's own self!**

Catching Up is Hard to Do....

OK I have SO much to talk about, SO much to share.....don't even know where to start! Geesh! I will just give a re-cap of the last week or so I guess and then I will get some photos on here later today too. Thanks for waiting around....just crazy life these days.

So. last Sat we had Micheal's 6th Bday party, went to a local pizza/kids play place, had immediate family and a couple of family friends join us. Kids played, we all gorged ourselves on tator tots and pizza and then cake and ice cream. It was a nice, fun evening and the kids all wore themselves out. Wow! Can't believe my "baby" is 6 years old! *sniff sniff*

Sunday we had Church and basically hung out, not a lot going on but I did babysit the majorty of the afternoon and then all evening for my sister's 3 kids..... they played with ours and basically got along pretty well. Later in the evening I took the kids to their house and put them to bed, did some housework for my sis as she is burried with "life" these days (more on that coming) and what else was I going to do for 2 hours? LOL

Monday was a Holiday/ teachers work day at school so the kiddies were home, sort of hung around, played with friends and stuff. Nothing too major. After being out the prev Friday too for a snow day, Mom was SO OVER the long weekend and ready for them to be back in classes on Tuesday. Tuesday was more of the same ol' same ol' going on, kids, house, school, oh, and playing taxi with dh and ds as we are still down to just the one car. Also older dd had a Church activity that night which turned out to be a scrappy night so I went and hung out with her there.

WED morning (aka Tues night) all heck broke loose!!!! At about 3 am my honey woke me up telling me he was super sick and in a lot of pain...after a short wait and other factors I loaded him up and took him to the E.R. Ahhhhhhh the culprit?? KIDNEY STONES! ick! (been there done that myself a few times so sympathy was at an all time high for him) So, after a VERY long morning in the E.R we were shipped upstairs to the floor where he was admitted for meds to control things...... all day Wed and Thurs we kept at it....... talk about LONG days!! Finally late Thurs night he passed that sucker and then was able to come home Friday about noon. All the while Wed-Friday I had things going on with the kids, church, and other family members (one of which whom is also in the hospital) and FRANTIC - STRESSED - and EMOTIONAL were the three key words for my life. I only had one major meltdown (not bad imo) and then got tough.
I had a few wonderful people to give me tlc and helped out, big thanks to them, you know who you are. So, Fri we got dh home and so far so good.......

Wanted to mention, Wed evening I did get to go to the card class at Church I'd been preparing for, my good buddy Robin helped out and did a card technique and the gals loved it! Although we were few in numbers and my mind was 10000000 miles away, I still had fun and think that break was what kept me from going totally "postal" later in the week. LOL

Sat was a good day, got some housework done, kids got to hang with friends, we even rearranged some furniture (to make way for dh's new BIG freakin' TV). Sat night we went out to a nice dinner with our friends, so good to get out, and then came home to hang out. OH and other big news... the kids got dirt bikes and are excited to get this snow melted and get out on them to play!!

In other news.......I am forgetting lots of stuff here........ we got a new dog this week, in the midst of all this chaos the ding dong thing ran away the first day we had him OYE that was fun...NOT! He is a black cocker spaniel, "Hershey" is his name, and he is NOT my dog... dh's and our oldest son... not mine. I will not (refuse to) bond in any way shape or form with this mutt and have 101 reasons why although I won't go into that now. LOL Also got a way cool pkg in the mail yest from an online scrappy buddy, Nichole, she totally treated me and I am LOVING the stuff she sent, a giant organizational binder, two super COOL looking storage boxes, a mini scrap kit 'grad' themed, and a ton of fun embellies too! LOVE having that come to me! Felt so special all afternoon!!!

Gosh, not much else, of course you are all sick of reading by now... LOL I am sure I missed a few things, but I think I got most of it. I did have a long night last night (Sat/Sun) as my sis was sick too and I ended up taking HER to the ER as well.......but she is fine, just overwhelmed and overstressed with things. So, I will end it here , for now, and then I'll add some pix and also update anything else I remember that I forgot ROTFLMBO!

SMILES :O) Darla

LOTS going on

OK so the last 3 days have been, um, "eventful" to say the least. I have lots to report on, good adn bad, but right now I have a family who is thinking they are hungry for dinner! (THE NERVE!) So, stay tuned, I promise I'll be back with stories galore.......

Darla

PS Sherelle!! Glad you "found" me! :O)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR MICHEAL!

WOW! Today is our baby boy Micheal's 6th Birthday Party! He acutally celebrated his birthday on Monday the 8th........but being the first of the week it was not ideal for a party soooo.... we are having the party tonight. A few people , cousins, friends, family, at a big pizza place with toys and games, should be fun....did I just say that? OK it should be crazy, loud, and yes, fun. Big boy is getting a new bike (he rode his other one near to death) and is having a "Cars" themed cake, I'll be sure to post pix asap.

Other than that, busy day, had to be up early, took oldest ds to work in the wee hours.......then to the gym to workout, now cleaning house like a crazy woman....then a shower, and if time allows ?? IF time allows.....always an "IF" in there.....maybe some scrappy therapy for Mom???

We'll see.

HAPPY SATURDAY EVERYONE!

SNOW DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, OK, not really a "snow day" .......more of a FROZEN DAY?? We have had crazy weather here in SE Idaho. We went from 30-40 degree temps to a sudden major snowstorm Wed/Thurs this week and then plummeted down to -0 temps today. We were -10 degrees this a.m. and had wind chill as low as -35 degrees! YIKES! So, they closed all the schools ....... about 100 miles each direction of us.........and the kids are home, cozy, warm and helping Mom with chores!!!! Hee hee!

Happy weekend to you, hope you are cozy and warm too!

Darla

Card Idea

Working on cards for a class at Church.... really stumped as to what I am doing. Want to involve the gals, keep them busy, challenge them a bit and still have fun. This is the first one I did (scan is terrible) and I love the colors and everything but thinking I need "Funner" ribbons and to do something with the cupcake....ideas? please share............. Darla


BTW.......the colors look clashing on here, bad scan, but they are all from the same paper kit and match perfectly to a tee!!

EDITED: I went back, did some pen stitching on the cupcake and border around it also took the tag off and put it inside the card.....looks much "cleaner" and cute!! I got them 'mass produced' into zip lock baggies for the class! One set down, one or two more to go!!

EDITED AGAIN: just added the 2nd card, big flower.....again, colors scanned wonky, but I love this simple lil' card!

I guess I got tagged??

A little birdie told me I got tagged, well, there are a couple of 'tags' going around and I was not sure which was it so I just picked one! Here goes........

Here are are the rules to play:1. List 5 weird things about yourself or your pets2. Tag 5 friends and list them.3. Those people need to write on their blogs about 5 weird things, and state the rules, and tag 5 more people.4. Don't forget to let the people you tag know by posting a comment on their blog!

-5 Weird Things About Me and My Pets-
1. I hate pennies, they totally freak me out, gross, dirty, ick!
2. I love spinach and I love mushrooms, canned, fresh, cooked, whatever, I love them both.
3. I hate black and orange together..... my HS rivalry team's colors, hate them to this day.
4. My cats are all phsyco, but one of them has a thing with going in/out the sliding glass doors in the kitchen and will more or less "knock" to get in or out ... so weird!
5. I like to salt my melons! LOL Watermelon, honeydew, cantaloup.......gotta have salt.

-Tagging 5 Friends-
Robin Karalyn Dolly Ruth Nichole

Long time no chat

Well.......what is going on? Hmm nothing. Not much really. Just running with kids, house, and so on. Not much to report. Been a hectic week but I couldn't say why. I have been good, going to the Y to workout, eating healthy, staying busy. And that is about it.

Planning a scrappy night with my good buddy Robin and her 2 boys soon....can't wait for that!! Also have a card class to prep for coming up on the 17th.....hope that it is a success too! Fun stuff.

Ok sorry nothing exciting, just the normal boring "life" things. Maybe I'll have something fun to post tonight. (hope to scrap a bit!!)

Chow.

Oh how I love a challenge!!

I have been doing these "challenges" on a couple of my scrapbook chatty sites for a while now. They are a lot of fun but I am so bad and doing them myself sometimes....especially the past few weeks over the Holidays I got WAY behind. So, I am trying to catch up, but starting with the most current challenges as to not get further behind.

This page is for the Monkey board challenge..... week #30 it was, we were to use a chipboard coaster, a die cut(s) and some eyelettes. Did I really put this challenge together? Geeeeesh!! Well, luckily I had the perfect photo to use and got to play around with a new "toy" (chipboard coaster from my dear friend Robin/ribinscraps) and I also got to do some really FUN spring-ish colors that brightened my day up! I used some fun products too... Bazzill cardstock (and NO pattern paper which is crazy unheard of for me!)... I used the RobNBob coaster, some GinX die cut flowers, some MM stickers, BG rub ons and my new Cricuit for the big lettering. Enjoy. (oh and click on the image for a larger view if you want)

Super quick hello........

Just wrapping up the end of a VERY BUSY and VERY PRODUCTIVE day! It is after 11:00pm here in Idaho.... I ran ran ran today, got my gym time in (felt great!) and then came home and did not ONE....not TWO.....but THREE HOPS (hour of power) on the house, got the whole upstairs clean and super tidy including dusting for webs on the ceilings and vac-ing closets and nooks and crannies. Even helped youngest ds clean his VERY messy bedroom YEAHHH!!!!!! After all that, my dear and loving dh went and picked up take n bake pizza and cooked it for us all....so nice of him. Tonight I helped dye 3 teenagers hair CHICKEN YELLOW (dont' ask) and then came down and hid at my scrappy haven and did a page. OH.....and all the while long today I was pumping out loads of laundry... neverending job.

HAPPY WEEKEND!
Darla

New Years "INTENTIONS"

Well, last year my dear online buddy Jules challenged us to do a scrapbook page about INTENTIONS rather than resolutions.....such a cool idea. I did in fact do a page and I took it out this year and was pleasantly suprized to see I had done EVERYTHING I had listed and it felt so great!
This year I am back so resolutions.....hee hee but the same old stuff, just want to keep improving my life and my families too!

So, as most of you know, and if you don't WHERE have you been??.... I have been working on getting more healthy and fit over the past few months. I started back in August 2006 and with much encouragement from my sister and friends and family I have dropped some weight and feel so much better. I still have a VERY long path to my ideal weight and fitness goals, but at least I have not given up and I am still looking forward, not trecking back. Right now I am just a hair under my 30# weight loss and I am struggling to get there.......it is SO frustrating to be so close!!!! I am really pushing myself extra hard both at they gym and at home and of course food is the everlingering evil in my life. I got this great book "YOU On A Diet" by Dr Oz and it has so much helpful info in it too. I think as I begin to better understand my body, the way my brain connects to my stomach and my will power connects to my mouth.....well, I think educating myself is the best thing I can do.

Basically, just wanted to catch some of you up on where I am and what I am doing. Feeling really good....sleeping better, feel better overall. Just lots of good things coming with taking better care of my body. AND I wanted to thank all those who have been SO supportive and helped me along... I still have a way to go (a LONG way) but I know with the extra shove and pat on the back I will and can do it! THANK YOU!

OK off to clean house....does that count as cardio??? :O)

Darla

It takes all kinds my Dad used to say....

So..... I was a good girl, I got up and go my butt down to the YMCA for my workout today, so proud of myself. First time I have gone without the hubby and or kids.... all alone, free to let my mind wander and just have some "me" time ... me and the weights, me and the treadmill, me and the WEIRDOS!!!!!!! yes, the weirdos were out and where did they go? THE YMCA OF COURSE!!

Ok so I get there and do my mini warm up on the recumbant bike, have my headphones on, rockin' out to The Eagles Greatest Hits....Desperado... yadda yadda... and just above the sound of my tunes I hear some sort of chanting or something?? OK turn the music up, keep going... nope, there it is again, "Peace to all... may we all have peace..." hmmmm um, OK? Turn up the music some more, blast my lil' eardrums... "Peace to all, may we all have peace ".... OK DUDE A PIECE OF WHAT?????????????????????? Yee gads! Shush up already, I am trying to relax!! I dont' want no peice or peace or whatever. HUSH IT UP! So, I get off the warmup and start into the weight resistance training... and I get a picture of this dude... tall, skinny guy, bright Barney purple sweats (too short), yellow ball cap, glasses as thick as pop bottle bottoms.... reading a book on Budism and walking the treadmill. Ahhh yes, and the STENCH of odor coming from him, not a good thing. No wonder he was calling out peace signs to all. So, I go about my weight training and all the while he is chanting and meditating (very loudly) and I hear a few comments.... apparently he is a regular , ahhh great. I get to the end of my weights and he finishes up his treadmill.... proceeds to walk through the entire fitness facility and bow to each and every peice of excersize equipment (as if to thank it) and to each and every person, ME TWICE... and then goes off to talk to someone at the desk. Ummmmmmmm OK?! Yes, it takes all kinds.

Oh no, I am not done yet. Ohhh no no no...

OK so I then go get on the treadmills (so thankful that Mr Barney is done) and here comes Jack Black himself. This dude is all dressed in black boots, jeans and button up shirt, dark shaggy hair and beard/mustach... NOT quite the dress code for working out, but hey, better than ol' Barney right? Maybe not. He proceeds to lean in my direction on the neighboring treadmill and look at my screen.... I am at 2.8 so he moves his up to 2.8....... a few minutes pass, I turn mine up to 3.0 and he does too... I go up to 3.2 and so does he.... get the idea? So....I just cranked up the ol' ACDC music (Back in Black .... go figure??) and march away. Well, my 30 minutes are up and I move back over to the recumbant bike.... oh and here comes my friend Jack Black!!!! GEESH!!!
Now, maybe it was my fault, I was not wearing my wedding rings and I may have been looking unusually attractive in my cut off sweats and too tight white teeshirt with hair up in a sweaty pony tail........but um, yea, he freaked me out.

So, after I finished up my time on that machine I left. (and made sure neither of them followed me out the door!) EECK!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2007 IS HERE!!!!

Wow, what a crazy year 2006 has been, lots of good stuff happening in our lives, busy times, fun times, lots of great memories. So fun to move into a new year now, I look forward to all the adventures we'll have.

Wanted to mention.... here is another LO I did with my new Cricuit I got for Christmas from dh and Liz. I used the letters with shadows on the title SMILES ... it is a photo of my 2 neices who I think are 2 of the prettiest girls in the world!! LOVE them both so much XOXO

So, New Years Eve was a fun night, went out with friends to play games (got my butt kicked in Monopoly) and visited, hung out and enjoyed one another... they are the coolest people, so comfortable to be around, more like family than friends. Very thankful for them in our lives. :O) New Years Day (today) we slept in, took down the Christmas decorations (very early for me but I was feeling very cramped and overwhelmed with "stuff" in the house) and then went over to our friends again.... same ones.... and visited some more. Quick dinner then the BIG Fiesta Bowl College game in which Boise State University played Oklahoma and what WOWZER that game turned out to be... but after much upset and crazies, Boise pulled it off and won!!!!! SO cool!

Well, the New Year is here, with it I will be working even harder on my fitness goals, and we plan to incorperate teh whole family in our quest for better health. Exciting times. I think we will be a great support system to one another. Good stuff. Also working hard on some goals personally as far as home, family, spirituality, and of course my favorite hobby (which is becoming neglected due to treadmill time...hmmm??). LOL Can't wait to see what the year ahead brings me to.

Blessing to you all my friends and family for a wonderful year in front of you.....may it bring all the best to you and yours!

Darla

CHARMING LITTLE GIRL

(click on image for larger view)

So, this is our darling, charming daughter Tiffany. I love this photo

(courtesy of Robin Gibbons Photography http://heartfelt.typepad.com/robingibbonsphotography/)

OK, little miss Tiff, she is our people pleaser, our little humanitarian and yes, our charmer. Tiff could charm the socks off an Eskimo in a -40 below snow storm!! That is why I had to do this layout of her. Such a sweetheart!

OH! And lookie what I used on this LO too!! MY NEW CRICUIT TOOL!! Used it for the lettering and the tag! LOVE IT! (Thank you Ed and Liz, made me a happy girl!)

For your humoring pleasure.....

So, I am certain that you all are ever so anxious to hear about our YMCA workout adventures.... I know you will be. Hey free laughs at my expense, why not? So, here I give you part one AND part two of the crazy workout adventures of DarlaLOU.

Thursday Dec 28, 2006 PART 1

OK, this 'out of shape monkey' had quite the experience tonight.... wanna good laugh, yea, go on and read it all.

So, one of my BIG excitements about joining the YMCA was being able to get involved in the Spinning classes....(if you don't know, this is a stationary bike with a heavy weighted wheel type system). I have always loved to bike, and this would be a huge goal for me to get into this spinning and really excel. So, the past 2 days I have been trying to sneak into the spinning room when no one was there to give it a feel. Try out the bike, just kind of test myself, see if I can even hoist my big ol' bootie up there.
Tonight I did just that. (there was one guy in there stretching out on the floor, no biggie) This is where it gets funny.
So, I shift one foot into the pedal strap, swing my other leg up and over and secrue it into the other strap and OYE! up the middle of my butt crack the pointed, skinny, hard seat goes.......help! I hollar at dh who is standing there looking rather humored, he comes over and proceeds to LOWER the seat while I am still all strapped into these pedal contraptions. Ahhhhh much better, lower seat, still hard, still pointed and still poking up my cheeks, but without the force as abovementioned. OK that is better. So, I sit my (scratch that) I b a l a n c e my butt up there on that hard, pointed, skinny thing they call a seat, and start to pedal.....no problem. Feels good. (aside from the seat situation which at this point is getting REALLY uncomfy ) . So, then I decided to see what happens when you move to the standing position (like they do in classes) so I stand up, pedal some more, get that heavy weighted wheel a spinning hard and fast and then I proceed to sit back down. BAD MOVE DARLA. When you get the wheel going, it REALLLLY gets going, and the gravity of it keeps the pedals a pumpin' at a pretty rapid rate...........so when you sit down and TRY to slow your pedaling, well, it don't work simply because the wheel just keeps on a going at the same speed. What does that do? Well, that YANKS one of yer' feet OUT of the foot strap thing and then basically throws the other leg/foot (that is still strapped in) into that hyperspeed the wheel is still going. You can stop laughing now.
So, I finally get the still strapped in foot to come to a halt and all but fall off the (*&^% bike and very HUMBLED I walk out of the spinning room. Yes girls, I more or less crashed and burned on a STATIONARY BIKE tonight.

BUT now I know how it works (sorta) and I WILL BE BACK and I will try it again and this time I will make sure that no one is watching........especially NOT dh!

Darla

Friday Dec 29, 2006 PART 2

I DID IT! I endured the nasty seat on the spinning bike today and managed to pull off a WHOLE 10 MINUTES on that sucker! Yes, I am sore, and yes, the godforsaken thing wedged it's honory self right up there into my unmentionables but I toughed it out and did a good steady 10 minutes on that SOB! HA who is the chump now?! hee hee (ok, yes, it is me still...)

EmOtiOnS running wild

Feeling a variety of emotions today, not sure what or why. (PMS? maybe - maybe not) Whatever the reason, I am. Some good, some bad, some wierd and wishy washy. So strange.

EXCITEMENT
I know, everyone is sick of hearing about this, but I am sooo totally excited about the new changes coming into our lives. GOOD HEALTH is somthing we take for granted so often, and so even though I have been working pretty consistantly for the past few months, I am really really excited to start on new things. Our membership to the YMCA is going to be a HUGE step in the reality of weight loss and fitness and good health. Also the 'keys' I got as gifts will be a big boost as well, books, videos, equipment........all things to keep me going , keep US going. So excited about it all.

WORRY
I would not be Darla if I didn't find something to worry about. I am a natural worrier....don't know if it is just a woman thing, or mom thing.......? I worry. Right now, I worry about Christmas expenses...I worry about failing at the above mentioned portion of my life... I worry about my kids fitting in, and fulfilling my duties at home and church and with family. I really worry a lot about my Mom right now. I worry our time with her is running out and we are missing out on having chances to see her. We should go more often, we should take every chance we have right now. I dont' want to regret these last chances like I have with other family members in teh past.

GRATEFUL
I am so grateful right now. This Season of Giving has opened my heart in ways I never could have emagined. The sequence of events, the pure and simple coincidences that occured, they were for a reason. I am certain of that. So, my heart is full of gratitude for all the blessings we have and all that we take for granted. Home, family, health, jobs, food, vehicles, friends, all this and so much more. So thankful. So blessed.

WISHFUL
I love that word. Since I am somewhat of a dreamer, an optimist and not really too much of a downer person, I am always wishful of things. I have million and one dreams for my family and my self. I have visions of bigger, better things, always more. Not necessarily physical things, posessions per say, but just 'better' lives. Living better, being better. Being more and taking advantage of the gifts God has given us. That type of thing. Using the blessings we have to be better people and live the way God woudl want us to. THAT type of better is what I mean. I am wishful that we can utilize our talents and blessings to the fullest.

I suppose I could rattle on, but I won't. Just feeling very emotional, good and bad, happy and sad, but it all balances itself out.

Blessings. Darla

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

What a beautiful, fun, happy day we have had. We are so blessed. We have a nice, warm home, healthy children and plenty of goodness and love to go around. So thankful today and all the year through for all the gifts God has given us.

BIG happy fun morning at our home. Started early too... 5:00 A.M.! to be exact!! Had our oldest daughter jumping on our bed at this wee hour and told her to go back to bed for 1/2 hr and then come back. 5:30 A.M. on the nose we had ALL 4 KIDS jumping in our bed ready to open gifts and see what treasures Santa had brought! So fun!

Santa.........what a guy!! He sure knows us kids well, doesn't he?? Clothes and music for the older kids, paint ball guns for the 'boys', baby dolls and train sets.....and for Momma??? A CRICUIT!!
http://www.provocraft.com/products/index.products.php?cl=cricut So many other cool things too, but those were the "highlights" of our morning. Tons of gifts and hugs and "thank yous" going around the tree in those wee dark hours of the morning.

After we got our gifts all opened and the kids setteled down a bit, dear hubby Ed and I headed back to bed for a mid morning nap! Hee hee! MUCH NEEDED NAP that is. Then we played and visited with our kids, watched some TV, did some cleaning up, got the pies baked and the turkey roast and stuffing in the oven. The kids even ventured out to go sledding for a bit (didn't last long at all) .

The rest of the night will consist of our family dinner (minus 2 kids who left to go to friends houses :O( bummer ) and some family friends coming to visit for a bit. Totally lazy evening I hope! hee hee!! Going to have to clear a spot for MY new toy down here on my desk!! WHEE! I can't wait to play some more!

MERRIEST OF CHRISTMAS to each of you my friends, blessings to those in need and hugs to those who need them most. Remember to be thankful for all we have and to pray for those who don't have this time of year.

Darla

DaZed aNd ConFuZeD!!

MERRY MERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU!!

So, don't ask me why, but dh and I got this wild and crazy idea to hold off on our Holiday shopping this year. WHY? So, we did buy a couple things in anticipation of the Season, but only really 2 gifts. WHY? We saw and dreamed of what we wanted to get the kids, all four of them, but we hesitated and did not pick them up at the time. WHY? We talked about what they wanted, took thier Santa lists with us to the mall to see Santa, then dropped them into the Santa mailbox down town. WHY?

OKOK I guess that will be enough of the beating us up for not shopping in advance! Yes, we did the obviously STUPID by not shopping until now. Yes, our weekend is now a whirlwind of shopping, lines, noise and chaos. (not to mention picked over toys BIG TIME) But, in the end, we are still having fun shopping and the kids will be thrilled with their gifts and toys. I am sure of it. However, lesson learned. I will NEVER wait until the weekend or 2 days before Christmas to do ALL of my shopping EVER EVER EVER again.

Merriest of Holiday Wishes to You and Your Families and Loved Ones. XOXOXO
Darla

Making Christmas Cards....

*click on images for larger view*

OK well on to happier things now.... (flu bug is subsiding finally).

I had taken these pictures a few weeks back as I was mass producing these cute lil' tree Christmas cards to send out...
I had "lifted" the idea 100% from Cynthia (aka rnjetta) from one of my chat groups and she was even so kind as to send me out stencils of the cute tree so I could cut them out for my own cards!! I was tickled pink I tell ya! So, I made 45 cards total.......3 trees per card, hand traced, cut, then chalked and glued to the card...plus the three little buttons on top of each tree... and cutting and folding my actual cards, and then the filling out of each card and then stuffing into envies and actually getting them mailed and handed out. NOW THAT is work. I had a blast making them, really I did! I am so glad another year of cards is over. LOL But well worth it.

Darla

24 Hour Flu Hits Home

Happy freakin' Holidays, right? Yes, my poor household is flu-struck! What a perfectly IMPERFECT time of year for this dang bug to hit us. This past weekend our older daughter had gotten it, Sat night all day Sunday and then lazy recoup time on Monday....... and last night I started to feel icky too, by 9:00pm I was full blown sick. Up and down all night, miserable. Well, then first thing this morning our youngest lil' guy came wandering into my "sick bed" and told me HE had a tummy ache too, and soon after began the course of cramping, pukies and the like. So, my little man and I snuggled in bed all day long, sipping slurpees (courtesy of Aunt Lisa) and Sprite little bits at a time. I just have to say, if I HAD to be sick, at least I had a little buddy to snuggle with.......misery loves company? Ha ha. Well, I am finally feeling a tad better, but lil' guy is still miserable. I feel so bad. Now just praying that the OTHER 1/2 of our household does not get sick too!!!

Off to Lysol and Bleach everything... HEALTHY wishes to you and yours!

Homeless. Homeless, like the Christchild was.....

OK I know I have made reference before of this talented singer/songwriter, but once again, I need to give a big kudo's to my FAVORITE musician out there. http://www.michaelmcleanmusic.com/ This man is SO talented and his music touches my heart in so many ways.
This time of year I have to listen to his CD's over and over.....especially THE FORGOTTON CAROLS which is a story / musical about the people who were all in attendance of Christ's birth and their words and feelings from the outside looking in. VERY touching music. One of the songs is entitled "HOMELESS" ....

" homeless, homeless, like the Christchild was, we are not homeless, homeless, there is hope because, he lived his whole life to lead us, we know he'll never leave us, homeless, homeless, for in his heart there is a home......."

Just incredible music, really touches your heart and mind. I think especially of this song today because of an incident that happened to me yesterday.

Late afternoon yesterday I was headed to take my son to work after school.......yesterday was our coldest day (yet) of the year here in Eastern Idaho...below 0 temps. As I stopped at the gas station to put my last few dollars in the gas tank and then climbed back into the warm van, a scruffy looking man wandered up to the trash can by my van. At first, I immediatly locked my doors. Then as I watched, I saw that he was rummaging through the trash.......I assumed he was looking for aluminum pop cans..to recycle (common occurance around here). Sadly, he was not looking for cans. Instead, the man began pulling out bits of food from the trash, finally setteling on a partially eaten sandwich , which he carefully placed on a paper plate that had also been pulled from the cold, dirty trash can. My jaw dropped, my heart pounded in my chest and I immediatly teared up. Broke my heart, right there in the drive through gas station I watched a grown man, freezing cold eating trash in front of my warm, cozy car. Mind you, I had just put my last $7 in the gas tank and aside from some pennies and nickles in my wallet, I had nothing. Not a check, not a credit card. I was so guilt ridden I wanted to just die.
I drove away, there was nothing I could do and it about killed me. I spent the next 40 minutes between conversation with my son and on the phone with my sisters reliving the whole event, trying to figure out what I could have or should have done. In the end, I did make some phone calls to try to help, my sister even drove by looking for him to see if she could drop him some warm food, but she could not find him. Honestly , the bottom line was that I felt like I needed to do something, but it was too late.
So, I am sure the feelings of hurt that I had yesterday will show themselves in other ways, the bell ringers outside of the WalMart stores, extra friendly hellos to strangers as I go about my days. I just wish I could have done something for that one man. Was he a showman? Is he a professional panhandler who really has a lot of money? or was he someone who was mentally ill or maybe unable to work for some reason? For all I know, he had lost his job, his home and his family and was totally desolate. I don't know. I probably never will. But, this all brings the song I mentioned above to heart. I just hope that if that man has nothing else in his life right now, no home, no warm place to stay and no food.....I hope and pray that he has Christ in his life and that love and spirit will warm him until he can get back into a good place in life.

Blessings to all my friends and family and loved ones this Christmas.
Darla

Dieters Check In

Well, since the monkey mb is not working right now....? (dang msn!) I figured I had to be 'accountable' somewhere for my weekly check in. Here goes.

Really mad and frustrated with myself and the lack of self control with food. Totally went off teh deepend with cookies this weekend.....also went out for Chinese food one night and then made stinkin' taco's for dinner the next. And could I eat just ONE silly taco? Ohhhhhhh no. Totally mad at myself. Need to be more consistant with good food choices and portions. My biggest downfall is always the food.

Now to pat my own back. I have been VERY good about my workouts. I worked out all 6 days last week leaving just Sunday as my day "off" and felt like I deserved it. I did the treadmill each and every day, including my arm excerisizes, some resistance band workouts and leg, arm and abs too. Increased my intensity on the treadmill as well as the time length.......felt great! Go me.

So..... with my workouts cancelling out my food and my food cancelling out my workouts... my wiegh in this morning was to be as expected. I was up .06 oz from last Mon wiegh in, more or less the same. I am bummed, I really wanted to be down a couple pounds, just didn't happen. I so need to get a grip on the food. Makes me so frustrated.

Darla

Getting in the SPIRIT of Christmas

Well, I must admit, with everything going so haywire this year, I have not been in much of a Christmas mood. On top of the things going on with family, health and busy schedules, housework, chores and taxi-ing everyone... we have NO SNOW here in Idaho Falls! UNREAL? yes. it is. Here we are just a week or so away from good ol' Santee' Clause comin' and NO SNOW?! ick!

Well, rather than be a nasty ol' scrooge of it all, (which I think I have been - just ask my kids)... I figured I needed to find something to brighten my Holiday spirits. Little did I know it would be tonight.

This evening I went with a friend to pick up "Secret Santa" gifts for some local families. This gal works both at a pre school and a large retail chain and some years ago they started a small Secret Santa deal between the two and now it is HUGE! They put out tags in the retail store for employees and customers to take, they then buy the gifts and return them to the store and they are put together in pkgs for each family of the preschool and then given to them. We got to go pick up the pkgs tonight and sort them and tag them for each family........SO MUCH COOL STUFF these people are getting! Makes your heart swell to know there are so many great, loving, giving people out there who are willing to sacrafice to make another families Christmas brighter. Talk about putting you in the Christmas Spirit? Ohhh yes. Absolutely. So no more bah humbug for me.....I am sending the ol' Grinch back up the hill and pulling out my bestest Cindy Lou Hoo voice to start singing Holiday cheer!!

Happy Holidays to you too!
Darla

Funny Mommy

OK So it is no big secret or suprize that I LOVE Stacy Julian (SS Magazine). The woman is totally incredible, creative, inspiring, heartfelt and just COOL! Well, amongst my other BLOG reading adventures each day, I always visit her BLOG too. http://stacysbigpicture.typepad.com/
Well, she is just a hoot........and yesterday she posted this GREAT Holiday "funny" on us Mom's...
thanks Stacy.

Funny, Funny Mother!
See Mother.See Mother laugh.Mother is happy.Mother is happy about Christmas.
Mother has many plans.Mother has many plans for Christmas.
Mother is organized.Mother smiles all the time.Funny, funny Mother!
See Mother.See Mother smile.Mother is happy.The shopping is all done.
See the children watch TV.Watch children, watch.See the children change their minds.
See them ask Santa for different toys.Look! Look!Mother is not smiling.
Funny, funny Mother!
See Mother.See Mother sew.Mother will make dresses.Mother will make robes.
Mother will make shirts.See Mother put the zipper in wrong.
See Mother sew the dress on the wrong side.See Mother cut the skirt too short.
See Mother Put the materials away until January.
Look! Look!See Mother take a tranquilizer.
Funny, funny Mother!
See Mother.See Mother buy raisins and nuts.
See Mother buy candied pineappleAnd powdered sugar.See Mother buy flour, dates, pecans, Brown sugar, bananas and spices.
Look! Look!Mother is mixing everything together.See the children press out cookies.
See the flour on their elbows.See the cookies burn.See the cake fall.
See the children pull taffy.See Mother pull her hair.
See Mother clean the kitchenWith the garden hose.
Funny, funny Mother!See Mother.See Mother wrap presents.
See Mother look for the end On the Scotch tape roll.See Mother bite her fingernails.
See Mother go.See Mother go to the store Ten times in one hour.
Go Mother, go.
See Mother go faster.Run, Mother, run!See Mother trim the tree.
See Mother have a party.See Mother make popcorn.See Mother wash the walls.
See Mother scrub the rug.See Mother tear up organized plan.
See Mother forget gift for Uncle Harold.See Mother get hives.
Go, Mother, go!
See the faraway look in Mother's eyes.Mother has become disorganized.
Mother has become disoriented.
Funny, funny Mother!
It is finally Christmas morning.See the happy family.See Father smile.Father is happy.
Smile, Father, smile.
Father loves fruitcake.Father loves Christmas pudding.Father loves all his new neckties.
Look! Look!See the happy children.See the children's new toys.
Santa was very good to the children.The children will remember this Christmas.
See Mother.Mother is slumped in a chair.Mother is crying uncontrollably.
Mother does not look well.Mother has ugly dark circles Under her bloodshot eyes.
Everyone helps Mother to her bed.See Mother sleep quietly Under heavy sedation.
See Mother smile.
Funny, funny Mother!
Ha!

To all of us Mother's out there..............MERRY CHRISTMAS!

WOW! Lots of exciting things to share!

*Click on photos to enlarge*

First off, I have to share my Holiday Cyber Crop creations from Wed with you. On my post yesterady I told about our online ladies having a "cyber crop" and what fun it all is. I was SO happy as I got THREE layouts done! So cool. The one I posted on yest post.....it is all about me and my scrappy obsession. Then there were these 2 challenges..... so fun! The green one was to use 3 different pattern papers but no cardstock, also you could use any premade emblessishments and you had to title it "I Believe"... and you had to have hidden journaling on the page too! ( Mine is under the tag with the star) The second challenge was to pull out three photos from this past year, then do the who/what/where on them and then you could use one pattern paper and one cardstock and all the ribbon you wanted. This one was hard for me, I like to mat my photos and with only 2 papers that was difficult to do. I love how they both came out though. THANKS JULES for the push!

In other news, Ed and I went to his followup and "first breakfast" at the New U clinic this a.m. Things are good, we are both losing weight pretty well and we got lots of instructions to keep us on our toes. One REALLY EXCITING thing was that the excersize physiologist (who is a hottie I must say) gave us each an excersize band (stretchey tube thing with handles) and a sheet full of moves to do with them for strength training!!!!!!!!! I am SO happy about this! He is such a nice guy and so willing to talk to me about my goals even though I am not in the program with them all. I can't wait to get the bands out and use them! SO COOL!

Today I am going to get lazy. No where to go, not much to do and no car so I am going to do a quick HOUSE HOP and then a nap! (I have avg'd about 4 hrs a sleep per night for over a week straight now) I did get up early again today and did the treadmill........feels SO good to get it done and it also get's me going in the mornings!!

OK that's all for now. More later...........

me

Cyber CROPPIN' Oh Yeahhhhh!

OK see all this STUFF I have???? Yup, I am a scrappin' nightmare..... LOL all the goods, all the fun toys, and no time to scrap lately. Well TODAY is changing all that! Today is my happiest day for a long time bc I get to sit down and SCRAPBOOK!

My online buddies are holding a fun filled day of CYBER CROPPING for all of us to scrap and chat together... challenges, games, prizes, just like a real crop but long distance !! How much more fun can things get?!

So, I am up and at em' early today, got kids and dh gone to school and work, got my treadmill time in (go me!) and even have had a good healthy breakfast. I am set up and ready to create!

Merriest of days to you, I know mine will be!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Darla

** I just added the first Layout I did today.... it is a page about ME and my scrappy obsession!! I used the new Rob N Bob superblab papers and stickers and lots of fun deco scissors!! The journaling is in a tag behind the bottom photo. **

We WISH You a Merry Christmas .... We WISH You a Merry Christmas...

We WISH You a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!

What a FUN evening we just had! Middle dd Tiffany and I just went on a wagon ride with horses in bells and all in the snow and rain to carol through our neighborhood for Church! It was SO MUCH STINKING FUN!! We had two wagons, BIG ones, each held about 30 people....... we rode around for about an hour singing all along. SO FUN! Really put me in the Holiday spirit!!!

Hon'.....do these make me look FAT?

OH MY GOSH!!!

So, I decided after all the nice comments today that I needed to look and 'compare' for myself. Here is what I found.....


The photo in the sepia tones is back in May 2006 at CKU Provo, the one in color is from in late August 2006 and then the one in black and white is just last weekend. The group photos at the top were from back in Sept (the outdoors one) and then just last night with my family. HOLY COW!!! I do look a TON different, even just in my face! If nothing else, my complexion is 1000000000 times better and I actually do have a chin!! Imagine that! My eyes look brighter, my smile is more genuine and I just look healthier! Wow..if those pixtures are not incentive to keep going I don't know what is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am down ALMOST 25 # now since August..... I will be at 4 months on Dec 23, 2006. I cannot believe it!

Holiday Mahem!

*Click on photos for larger images*





WOW! HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO YOU ALL!
I can say that NOW I can really feel like the spirit of the season is here. Last night we hosted my side of the families annual "Brother and Sisters" dinner. I am the 'baby' of 12 kids in our family, being that there are 101 different marriages there are really only small "batches" of siblings with the same parents, but since we were all raised up together, we are family 100% if you ask us! (lots of 1/2's, steps, ect) So, a few years ago we decided that it was fitting to start having this sibling pot luck to see everyone, the new kids, the growing ones, all that fun stuff. We ended up with 36 people in our house (if I counted right) and it was FUN!!!!! The photos tell it all.........lol (thank you Liz for taking pix all night for me). I don't know how these will show up in the final format, so here is a descriptive listing for you ! Ha ha!

-Red sweatshirt with the three kids in navy blue is my sister Lisa and her 3 kids
-Family of 5 all dressed in browns, with the 2 GORGEOUS girls and the "surfer boy" is my sister Carlee and her family (these are the soccer crazies I talk about all the time)
**Carlee and Lisa are my two FULL sisters**
-Big group photo of all the adults, siblings, some of their kids, anyone over 18 was in this shot
-Big group photo of all the kids, everyone under 18 was in this shot.....TONS of my neices and nephews and GREAT neices and nephews
- Group shot of the 6 siblings that were there, across the back, Lisa, Carlee, Sandy, Darla and in the front were Gordon and Linda (they are the 2 oldest siblings)
-And the shot of my sis Lisa, in the red, chatting with our brother Gordon in front of the fireplace.........lots of these photos going on all night, but liked this one best! :O)

We were missing 6 siblings last night, and their families for various reasons. My older brother Bobby who passed away several years ago, missing him a lot. Sherann, who lives in WVirg who obviously couldn't be here. Then our Step Moms' 4 kids, Don, Joyce, Mig and Linda.... they have never come to this gathering, but doesn't seem to hurt anyone's feelings?

Hope this whole thing comes out....... and I hope that you can define who is who in the photos.
I LOVE MY FAMILY!!

Merrry Christmas!
Darla

(God Bless Robin who says I look skinnier in these pictures!!!!!!!!!! Ohhhh thank you!)

A few more photos.....

A few more Holiday photos to share too...

The kids at thier 'progressive dinner' with the fancy table settings..... they loved the folded napkins, were'nt quite sure WHERE they went obviously? (Funny thing was, after dinner, they were all still folded up and they set them on top of their wine glasses! LOL) Also a fun photo of Chris figuring out the lights on our Christmas tree......love that shot! And last but not least, a pix of my stack of homemade Christmas cards as they were in assembly line fashion. Happy Holidays Everyone!

First Dance....

Tonight was our local area "Mall Ball" aka all area Christmas dance. My oldest ds Chris' first "real" dance!!! He went with is good friend Merilee and another couple, Erin and Jason. (Chris is in the striped tie) They all looked so sweet all decked out and ready to go! We had dinner at our house (more pix to come) and then then headed out after that. I'll tell more later, but wanted to share these pix with all my friends asap! Isn't he handsome!!??

Darla

BIG Holiday Weekend Here

STRESSED OUT.
Oh yes, and Happy Holidays to you too. hee hee. OK seriously, this weekend is a megga stress for me, lots going on, but IF and WHEN I make it through I can sit back and pretty much relax up till' the actual Christmas Day celebration. Ok...yea, right, whatever.
TODAY is a megga super duper house cleaning extravaganza around our home. We have bedrooms to clean, laundry to catch up, floors to mop, dusting and organizing to be done. TOTAL house cleaning makeover going on here. Kids are pitching in to help out (thank goodness) and I hope that we will have everything in order quickly! (and it stays that way for 24 hours!!)
TONIGHT I get to play "chef" ala' Darla/Mom. Our oldest ds Chris is going to his first formal dance with a DATE and they will be having a nice 'fancy' dinner HERE at our house......... on me. There are 2 couples coming, they will be feasting on chicken teryaki , fruit/veg kabobs and fried rice. They are doing a 'progressive' dinner date before the dance and I volunteered myself for the main course. FUN! I even bought a new satin tablecloth and got out my Christmas dishes for the occasion!
TOMMORROW our oldest dd Dani will be speaking in Church....... that is an exciting thing for her and for us since we are pretty new to this Ward. I am proud of her!
TOMMORROW EVENING we will be hosting my family Christmas get together. :O) JOY! No, seriously, it will be really nice, crowded in my little house, but nice. We will have all my brothers and sisters and thier families (kids, grandkids) at our home for a quick get celebration and pot luck dinner. Looks like we'll have about 40 people all together. OYE! Ham, turkey, stuffing, potatos, salads, all kinds of goodies galore I am sure. We all exchange goodie plates and cards and get to visit and catch up on life. It will be a nice time for everyone I hope. My main concern is 19 KIDS in my house.....eeey gads! Scary!

Then Monday we will be back to the normal 'grind' of things........work , school, etc. DH won't be able to drive for a few more days so I will get to taxi him to/from work, but that is ok. Just can't wait to loose all this added stress of the weekend.

Until then..... Happy Holidays?

Ed came through with flying colors

WHAT A LONG DAY!!!!!!!!

Dh went in this morning at 6:30 am to our hospital for his surgery on his stomach. I , of course, had to be with him, (that sounds wrong, I WANTED to be with him), and so I also was up and going in the wee hours too. So, we get there, sign in, get all checked out and he goes to the surgical suite about 8:00 am. At 10:00 am -ish, the Dr comes and reports to me all is well, dh is in recovery for about an hour. At 11:00 am I went up and got to be with him in his room. We were there until after 5:00pm tonight!!! It was a very very very long day. Finally got him home and then had to run and pick up Rx' from WalMart.....then home to fix kids dinner..... after dinner I lost ALL my mojo/energy/oompfh! and now here it is only 8:30 pm and I am so ready for bed. ack!! But, dh is ok, he is feeling pretty good and that is what matters most, I am so glad he is OK and starting to heal and get on his way to a healthier life. XOXOXO to Ed!!

Terrible No Good Rotten Very Bad Day !

<<>

OK you know they say when it rains it pours, right? Yea, well today is getting to be "one of those days" really quickly. Morning started off great, no biggies, no stress... no worries. Then the little things all started in on me...and basically now I just want to run away to a beach somewhere. Danggit! I hate days like these. Hate them. BUT being the optimist that I am (99.9% of the time) I am certain all will be well and everyone will have a happy smile on their faces by dinner again.

BTW anyone want a hunk of junk piece of crap minivan that is a non stop money pit? Yea, I don't know how much I want it anymore either.....

me

Finally got ONE gift done for Christmas!

Well, you can't see them all that well...but here is the 'set' I made for one of my sisters for Christmas. There is a clipboard (large photo) and then a mini notebook, some family recipes and then a small photo album with photos of us three sisters in it (that I bought at Michaels dollar section). I love how they came out, I'd like to have done a whole recipe box that coordinated with it, but time did not allow it so I at least got in the family recipes for her. I hope she will like it..... love that paper (the Daisy D's red barn/sunflower) so much, it was quite the quest to find it...had to go to Utah!! to get it! LOL

Hope you like.
Darla

PS Yes, the tree and decor' pictures are still coming.

Coming soon to a blog near you ...

THE TREE.
(and all it's trimmings)

Photos
Story
Humor