FRIDAY FRIDAY FRIDAY Where'd the week go?

Well, I can hardly believe it is Friday again.....man the week goes by fast sometimes. Different activities with the kids, all the awesome tv shows on this time of year, just everything going by so quickly.

This week was a wierd one too. Tiffany spent three days home sick from school, I did take her to the Dr on Tuesday and it is just an upper resp virus and a mild ear infection but man, she is coughing up a lung and it seems like she just starts to feel a bit better then bam! she is down again. I made her stay home one more day to just be sure she is getting better. Hope her makeup work at school isn't too bad. Poor kid, the one who LOVES school...

So HOLY COW I AM HOOKED ON TV this fall! There are so stinkin' many cool shows on right now! Survivor and ER are rockin' my world as is The Amazing Race, The Biggest Loser, Friday Night Lights (wayyyy awesome show!) , and Extreme Home Makeover. DH is into Lost, Jericho, Heros, CSI and some others too! Let me tell you, TV ADDICTS we are in this house!!! ack!

This weekend is sort of a DO NOTHING time around here... no big activities, just relax and hang out. I want to get the last of the yard cleaned up (hoses, leaves, ect) for winter and I'd also like to deep clean some parts of the house. We'll see what really happens though LOL! I honestly have about 10 pressing scrapbook related things to work on (isn't that nuts) so I will be spending a lot of time at my desk I think too. I need to catch up, but that is the story of my life!!

Guilty! I missed going to the Church Gym twice this week.....! HOWEVER, I did do two workouts at home so I don't feel too bad, I just had a hard time getting up and going in teh mornings and with dd Tiff home it just made it worse. Still, I should have gone. That's all.

Guess I am done rambling for now... not that I dont' have 1001 other things to be doing, just felt like journaling and catching everyone up on my crazies. LOLOL Hope you all have a great weekend and maybe I'll h ave some new fun things to show you on my next posts!

HAPPY FRIDAY! me

November leaves are falling...

Can't hardly believe it is actually NOVEMBER already! Yikes, where has this past year gone? So much crazy busy life going by with kids, family, school, dh work, and more. I cannot even fathom that the Holidays are upon us...heck, I am still recovering from the festivities in July! LOL

I do love fall though, one of my favorite times of the year. I made this cute lil' scrap page border for a contest, but it also would / could be put on a wooden base as a cute door hanger too... change up the AUTUMN to WELCOME and voila'!! I can't wait (shhhhh don't tell dh) to get the Halloween decorations down and put away and get out the fall decorations instead LOL! Shame one me, he enjoys that so much, but I am ready for some pretty fall things instead of screeching witches and stobe lights! Much more 'peaceful' to have a nice tablecloth out with a basket full of flowers and such, don't you think?

Well, all my scrappy buddies are headed up to the mountains tommorrow for a retreat. Sort of bummed I am not going, but I really cannot complain as I did take nearly a whole week this past spring to go play. Just wish I could have gone, going to be some great fun classes and tons of cropping time too. Bummer. I hope they have fun and TAKE LOTS OF PICTURES to show me (hint hint ROBIN!) .... fun stuff.

Lots to do on the scrappy circuit this weekend. Need to do some card kits for Church and also some scrap kits for prizes from a contest. Have a few challenges to work on and some circle journals that are needing to be passed on to Robin too... (oops!) I am sure I'll keep busy, always do!

Until later..... happy FALL ya' all! ( I have always LOVED that saying!! ) hee hee Darla

BOO!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!


Have safe and have fun! BOO!

BONUS MONKEY CHALLENGE

OMGosh this was a FUN challenge.........it was for a contest on the Monkey Chat message board, I sponsered the contest, so this LO is not 'eligible' for entry, but I wanted to join in on the fun anyway!! The three elements we had to use were to make our own flower, to make pocket journaling and to stamp on the page. The flower is cut up bits from my own patter, crinkled and sanded, with a awesome clear button in the middle. The pockets are put together with hand sewing and brads and then I stamped the names and 'sister' label for the photo. This is a pix of myself and my 2 sisters, we are very close, I journaled our similarities and differences! Thanks for looking!!!!!!! Darla

Finally, I am BACK!

Tiffany 1st day of school


Neice Mindy Blue Eyes


and Dani for fun...






This is what I have been up to the past few days... trying to catch up on my scrapping, my house, my kids, and life in general. We have been chasing the sickie germs out of here, but not fast enough obviously, as we spent the better part of the wee hours of the morning at the ER last night ... Dani had a cough that would not stop, long story short, we had to go in for breathing meds and so forth. LONG night coupled with the time change and well, I am all behind again. Oh well, I have all week ahead of me to get things in order and get into a better routine.

That is about it for me, just life and kids and house and scrapping. Yup, that is it. Hmmmmmmmmmm

long long long week

just a quickie note.... I did a great big long post with cool photos and all the other day and POOF! it was off into cyberspace somewhere.......sorry.

now I dont' have time for another long post but i was sure you were all sick of looking at the last one so a quick update that I most likely won't be on much till' Monday.

don't miss me too much!

Layout for today.....

Just a quickie note, I did this layout today of dd Dani... it was fun and fast and I LOVE how it came out. The photo is a sepia tone one from a mini photo shoot I did of Dani and her cousin a few weeks ago. I liked how the shadow crossed her face in this particular picture. The page itself is really simple, used up some scraps, inked everything, a few simple embellishments and a jotted down phrase journaled around the photo. LOVE this page wayyy much!

Darla

Want to share.......

My sister goes to Curves Woman's Fitness Centers and brought this home the other day. So touching in so many ways. Love the two sided way it hit me. HUGS for a good weekend! me







I'm Not Finished With Me Yet
------------------------------
When you take a look at me
If you don't like what you see
Just remember in my ways I am NOT set
And if you don't think that I'm
Always perfect all the time
There's no need for you to get upset
For I'm changing every day
In the things I do and say
And my attitude and thinking better get
So please be merciful and kind
And keep just one thing in mind
Just one truth: I'm not finished with me yet

When I take a look at you
And I don't like what you do
I'll remmeber in your ways your'e not set
And if I don't understand
Every little thing youv'e planned
It may not be my business
So why should I get upset?
For your'e changing every day
In the thinsg you do and say
And your attitude, like mine
I hope will better get
So I'll be merciful and kind
And I'll keep just one thing in mind
Just one truth: Your'e not finished with you yet.

WHY settle for less, when you can choose to experience so much MORE - BETTER - GREATER? - Dr Zonnya

Busy weekend!

First off, dd Dani IS A STAR!! Or at least for a day! Dani was in the Missoula Children's Theater production of "ROBINHOOD" yesterday. It is a traveling theater group that was sponsered by our school dist and the majority of the parts are done by local kids. Tryouts were all afternoon/evening on Monday, practices Tues-Fri afterschool/evening and then 2 performances on Saturday! LONG week for her! Dani had originally been casted as an assis director but on the first day of practice they moved her to a part as a Merry Man..... she was a 'bad actor' .....meaning that was her PART in the play. SHE did a fabulous job and has really found her nich'e in things...... she is a great singer and oh so dramatic anyway, Drama is definatly a good spot for her! We were very proud of her and she will surely be doing some future theater. (pictures to share later)

Bizzario weekend for me. Lots going on, but everyting sort of jumbled and out of sorts. Felt like I was going in circles with nothing really getting anywhere. Hmm. Just weird. Did a lot of running, taxing kids, all the normal things, just felt like I was not getting anything really done, everything is very incomplete to me right now. House is a mess, despite cleaning, planning is written out but I dont' know what I am doing. Hope I am just out of sorts for the moment. LOL

Layout at the top of the page was a creation from the other day. REALLY liking it a lot. Was not too sure the colors and elements would 'work' but I think they did in the end. I am really finding some satisfaction in my scrapbooking lately and need to get my nerve up and start doing the submissions I keep saying I am going to do. It is a lot of work, really it is, but I know it will be worth it. I wonder if the fear of rejection or lack of recognition is hindering me subconsiously... who knows. I just need to DO IT.....and soon. I made a promise to myself that I would do this when school started and yet here I am 2 months later. Ha ha! Kick it in gear Darla!!!

Well, I guess that is all in my wild and wacky life right now. Need to get moving, Church in a couple hours and have not even hit the shower yet. Oh and a lesson to plan too! oops!

Until next time. me

HOLY MOLY what a day! Yes, it was indeed a FRIDAY around here! I am sooooooo totally wiped out today, not sure exactly "why"?? but I am. Had a bad food day on my 'dieting' and now I am paying for it dearly, my belly feels like I have 101 lbs of wieghts sitting in there....ick! So, I did this LO of Micheal yesterday.......love the citrus like colors. Love the photo too, one that I actually took myself?! WOW! he hee. I really like how it came out, bright, fun, cheery, so fun.

Big weekend plans.......dh is work work working and will be very busy, also dd Dani will be doing her performance in the play ROBINHOOD two times on Saturday. SO exciting for her. I am proud of her too. Big time fun stuff!

Kitty kitty kittens are getting SO silly fun. They are a month old now, running ALL over teh place, pouncing, playing, rolling and tumbling! SO CUTE! I'll post some pix this weekend for you. Don't know how we are going to deal with getting rid of them....all the other cats (not mamma) are getting quite attatched to them! LOL

TOTALLY slacked off today. Did not do a lick of housework...lazy, I know, but somehow this day just flew by and suddenly I was cooking dinner in a dirty kitchen...ick! So tommorrow will be catch up day around here, hope to get some yardwork done as well... supposed to snow next week so I need to get this stuff DONE while I sill can! yikes! Feeling rather guilty too for slacking off all day when dh worked OT all day today. Just had no get up and go left after lunch time.....and after making crappy food pix on top of that, well, my mojo was gone. SAT is the day, HOP HOP HOP (Hour of Power) for DarlaLOU!!

Until next time....... Darla

A page to share...

I have been trying to get quite a bit of scrapping done lately... I am finding a new 'nitch' that I am really happy with. Sometimes I worry that all my pages will start to look the same, same design, same elements, blah blah boring. Last night I realized that even if I DO use alot of the same stuff, each page is unique even if only in the fact that each photo tells a story, shares a memory, leaves a legacy for my family. I recently discovered that I really love to use FABRIC on my layouts.... ohh yes, a whole new wide open world of colors, prints, designs....just like pattern paper only much more readily available and it is EVERYWHERE! Fortunatly I have a huge storage bin full of fabric and I have been taking swatches and bits from there..... but I see a new facination coming I fear! LOL

For some reason, the ding dong photo of my most recent 'creation' will not post here so I will link you to it..... http://s68.photobucket.com/albums/i21/DarlaLOU/?sc=5 It is the one titled "monkey challenge #17 " if you want to look. With this one I merely used the fabric as 'ties' on the edge of the page, just like we often do with ribbon. Other times I'll use it as a mat or do die cut shapes with the fabric. Just makes me giddy with excitement that there is just a huge palate of color and design out there for the taking!

Hope to be able to share more soon! Until then, enjoy the upcoming weekend! HUGS Darla

Lots of LITTLE stuff today.....

FALL is definatly in the air. Crisp, cool days, wind wind wind (right in Idaho fashion) and leaves changing colors. Love this time of year. So fresh to me, I enjoy it all. I can't wait for dh to get our Halloween goodies up outdoors! FUN time of year! We never let the neighbors down. :O) We'll miss our big old creepy house/porch for decorating this year for sure, but NOT the creepy old neighborhood! LOL

In other news, kids are all super busy, school, church, activiites and so on. Oldest dd tried out for a play yesterday, didn't get a part but DID get the Asst Director part.....going to be a busy week for her! Oldest ds will be trying out for the HS JV Basketball team soon too.... last year was a bummer as the coaches were MORE than biased in choices so I hope to see better luck for him this year. I really think he has the talent and potential if they will give him a chance. All body parts crossed for him.

Sunday we went to a family get together.....my cousin and her dh and family have been stationed in Equador for a few years now with the Air Force. We had never seen her children so we had a family 'mini' reunion for those who could come. SO nice to sit and visit and catch up. My Dad's side of the family are very close, it is special to be with them. So odd to see my aunts and uncles age.....and they remind me SO much of my Daddy. :O( My one aunt made comment that Dad had been gone nearly 6 years.......lol, I chuckled, no Aunt Dee, it will be 10 years THIS month. She looked so shocked. Rough stuff. All my aun'ts have lost their husbands and I have one Uncle left... he is the 2nd to youngest in the family and it is hard to bear to see him he looks so much and reminds me so much of Dad. On a happier note, our oldest ds had a fun time holding the new baby there at the party.....he sat right up on his lap and shared a story book! The little guy was grinnin' EAR TO EAR and giggling and just loving up the attention. We were all loving watching a 15 yr old boy interact with a little baby like that. So cool. :O)

Thinking I might need to pick up a PT job over the Holidays to get us through. Things have been so tight the past few months and with Christmas and the other Holidays coming I don't see an end in sight near. *sigh*

School is driving me NUTS right now. This past week they have been out more than they have been IN and it is nuts! They just started school and all this time off already? Last Th-Fri off, early release Mon and Tues this week... always something. Another 6 days off in Nov too!? Jeesh!

OK with that, I am done rambling. Just had lots to say LOL I am taking some scrapbook time for myself today before the kids get out early again and then I will clean house. Need a creative downtime. LOL Also have a soccer game this afternoon.....playoffs for my nephew, Ted's soccer team from Twin Falls.... can't wait to watch as they are playing OUR HS Soccer team again, last game was a GOOD one!!!

GO BIG BLUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GO SKYLINE GRIZZLIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GO GRIZZ! GO BIG BLUE! WE BLEED BLUE! OH YEAH!!!

Last night was the HUGE rivalry football game between SKYLINE HIGH SCHOOL and the (icky) IF Tigers
SKYLINE is my own High School and now my oldest ds is going there as a sophmore as well. I am a HUGE HUGE HUGE fan of the school and the town's rivalry against the tigers is one of the hugest HS rivalries in the nation. Affectionatly named "The Emotion Bowl" the big IF/SKYLINE football game has been going on for 41 years now and every year it seems to be getting bigger and better. Last night was one heck of a game with a tied score of 7/7 in the opening, then a jump right before half time to 7/21 ..........we missed most of the last half of the game but in the last 5-6 min or so SKYLINE came back with 2 AMAZING interceptions and scored and scored and scored BEATING IF with a final of 21/28!!!!!!!!!! The goalposts at the stadium are now BLUE! Whoo whooooo! ( the two teams share a stadium and the winner of the Emotion Bowl each year is given the honor of painting the posts either orange or BLUE and this year they are BLUE!) Very excting times..I look forward to my other 3 kids also attending SKYLINE and being able to do this victory dance for the next 12 years of my life!!!!!!!!!! LOL GO GRIZZ! BLUE AND WHITE FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Weirdness ? Oddities? Strangeness?

5 WEIRD THINGS ABOUT ME?

OK OK I got 'tagged' by another blogger so here goes:

1. I am freakishly afraid of pennies.....they gross me out BIG time.

2. I read the Obituaries before anything else in the newspaper.

3. I love spinach! Cold, canned, cooked, on pizza, in pasta.....all of it!

4. I was an 'orphan' at the age 25. Mom died when I was 5, step mom raised me, and Dad died when I was 5 mos preg with my 3rd child. I was only 25 yrs old.

5. Speaking of being preggo........my first baby was born 9mo and 5 days after my wedding. Hmmm I'll let you figure that out.

OK that was , um, weird? I tag, Karalyn/ArtsyK, Cynthia/RNJetta, Dolly/dolly scrapper and Holly/farmscraps

Enter! SUBMIT ? Join ! TRY ? CONFUSED!!!!!!!!!

HOLY COW I AM GOING CRAZY these days.........I promised myself that once the kids started school and I had some time "ha ha" to myself I would really focus on my scrapbooking as a more serious matter. I have been strongly involved in this hobby...ok, obsession, for nearly 10 years now and it is time to do something with my talents (ok, I think I have talents here) and get with the ball game. So, I have been scrapbooking A LOT the past month or two, well really, since CKU back in May, but more seriously since August. I have ideas and dreams and goals.......yet I am SO afraid of being rejected I just can't stand it! I entered ONE simple online contest and it broke my heart that I didn't make it through the first cut. Did I let that ONE instance shatter my whole plan? Or am I jsut being lazy or procrastinating??

So, the big problem now, is joining Design Teams and doing contests and challenges and new message boards and so forth. Getting out there.....gettting noticed......getting attention. SPENDING HOURS ON HOURS at the computer. I have been trying to spend LESS time at the computer so now I am really flustered and all of a sudden today I found out there are literally hundereds of possibilities out there in the cyber scrapping world......I just need to grab a fishing pole, bait up my layouts and designs and throw them in the pool! Tick tock tick tock.....MORE time at the computer. Sigh.....
So now the game begins.......what to do what to do? Guess I need to weigh my options and like any other important decision, see what is best for me, my family, our lives as a whole. MAN... and all this for SCRAPBOOKING?! OYE!

Eey' Matte'!!

AREN"T THEY CUTE??!! Hee hee gotta love em'............

Little things that make me happy!

MAKES ME HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I love to sit here at my desk and look
up and see that ..............................>
I have a bit of a "thing" about my ribbon stash for scrapping... it makes me very happy. And very broke. LOL
But aren't they all sooooo pretty?

I'M A SKINNY CHICKEN!!!!!

OK OK I am not a skinny chicken... YET! But I am working on it! (inside joke) Yes, I am still working on my "diet" which I'd rather call a lifestyle change and I am doing GREAT if I so say so myself! See HERE (to the left) this photo of me just as I was starting my new ME and I do not look very happy.... look at those CHINS hanging down there! ICK! ACK! yes, this new me is going to be awesome! What am I doing??

Well, on M-W-F at 9 am I got to our Church and do low impact aerobics, stretches and pilates with a group of Mom's..there are about 7-10 o f us, we take our kids, work out, stretch and talk and have fun while burning fat! Then I am walking 30 min every night with my honey Ed, who is also starting a new lifestyle change too. In between I am walking whenever I get the chance and also try to squeeze in one more 1/2 hr aerobics video a week. I am eating SUPER good right now, almost not sweets, no pop at ALL, tons of water and tons and tons of veggies and fruits! I can see a huge difference already and I FEEL SO GOOD! This is something I can do for a long time, I feel great and see such a difference ....... it is amazing I let myself go for all these years.
YEAH ME! (sorry, had to do it!)

What else? Kids are running me 101 mph these days with activities and freinds and school. Seems like there is hardly one day a week that I am not taxing someone around. All good though. Kids like school....getting adjusted and doing well. Have been babysitting for a friend, has been fun.....he is a good little boy and a great buddy to Micheal. That is about it. Just getting geared up for the Holidays to start rolling in...too fast, much much too fast.

Until next time. me

SOCCER Crazies Again!

Our BLUE BOYS OF SOCCER are coming again! Hee hee, thankfully this time they are not all coming to MY house to stay! My sisters' baby boy, Ted, is coming to town today with his HS Soccer team from Twin Falls HS to play against OUR home team Skyline! BIG GAME for both teams and a bit of a umphf! for us as we want to cheer for BOTH of them! Alas, we'll be kind and cheer for our dear nephew Teddy, he is a DANG good player (number 5 in the blue jersey in the photo above).... My sis family is soccer crazy, all three of their kids have played very seriously for years. We have enjoyed watching them progress too. They are kind of like my own 'first kids' before I had my own since I lived with them when they were all babies/toddlers! Teddy is a SENIOR in HS this year and I am just about lost over it all. Too too fast. Anyway, when their non school team came this spring for tournements we housed a bunch of them here and bathed and fed and 'babied' them for the weekend. (a couple of times) This time they are riding a bus over and back so I just get my sis, her dh and some friends over for dinner after the game... I'd love to get to visit with my nephew but I can't say that I am not thankful to know I will not be having 8 or 9 HS soccer players at my house. LOL GO TWIN FALLS! GO SKYLINE! yikes....

What a weekend! WOW!

SO.......this is part of what I did with my weekend!! We got a call Friday afternoon that Grandma 'Dude' and Pappa were coming for a visit from Boise... FUN! However, we had sort of made plans so we had to switch things up a bit, but nothing major. Dani and her
cousin had a sleepover Fri night and



were promised a "photo shoot" if they helped me out with the house and chores before the Grandparents came to visit. So we stayed up way to late on Friday, got up super early on Sat and hustled up on chores. (Dad took the other kids out yard sale shoppin' and big bro Chris went to a Battle of the Bands in SLC Utah for the day) So, we finally made our way out to get some photos done but it was a REALLY SUNNY day (not a bad thing unless you want to take photos!) and we had a rough time with shadows and squinty eyes and such! But, we all had a fun time and it went by way to fast! We will be going again soon before it gets too cold and snows. We hit a barn/spud cellar, an old Army Surplus Warehouse and a Park! These are just a couple of the pix we did, I have to go back through and pick savers, alter, crop, and print in b&w or sepia ect.... to our liking! But, it was FUN! We also had a GREAT visit with Gram /Gramp and the kids loved seeing them . Today we had a Childrens' program at Church which was long but cute. I am ready to curl up and watch some good relaxing Sun night TV with the family!!!!!

Me

The In Laws Are Coming...

Good Saturday to you all ! I am in a hustle bustle crazy mode today, the In Laws Are Coming, a Relative Nightmare.... he hee.. joking. Seriously, my MIL and FIL are headed over for a visit today and I am a bit stressed trying to get everything done. May not be many updates this weekend with that going on either.

Other than that? Things are good. Oldest is off to SLC Utah to a battle of the bands concert for the day, kids are helping me with the house and we MAY even squeeze in a photo shoot of dd and her cousin too. Sunday is the children's singing program at Church, not sure I am ready for it or the kids LOL but it will be cute, bc it IS kids.

Big stuff egh? Yuppers, should be a fun weekend! Hope I survive it all!!! Later.

Richard don't love me back.......

Maybe Ted D Bear will have to do? I can snuggle him while I cry my eyes out over Richard Simmons?! Hee hee! OK here is the deal. So, I went to doa workout today...so motivated, so pumped and so dissapointed in myself. YES, I AM so out of shape that 'Sweatin' to the Oldies' was going to do me in....so I switched off to Denise Austin (have done hers before) and it was ALL floor excersizes (bad deal for Darla) so I finally got mad and put it the Good Housekeeping video from like 1983? HA HA HA We are talking Jane Fonda style ladies, belted leotards, hightop Reebok's and the oh so cool head bands to match! whoo whoo let's "WORK IT LADIES" ....... funny enough, except THAT was the video I ended up sticking with on my workout! The video IS old, but the moves are well spelled out, good and I could FEEL them working (LORD !!! could I feel them) and it was not too fast paced, not too energetic and perky...you know? Nevertheless, I did SOMETHING which is better than NOTHING and I feel good. (My legs and abs won't feel good tommorrow I am sure, we can ask them, ok?!) At least I am motivate enough to do something on my own for once! So far I am down 8# and 12 inches for the past month! Can we say HAPPY?

LOVE THIS MAN!


Yup, you read that right, I DO in fact LOVE Richard Simmons, even back in HS I thought he was a wild and crazy femmie goofy guy with a HEART OF GOLD. I have loved to watch his shows, interviews and so forth over the years, I love the work he does and the committment he has. Such compassion and care for strangers and for sickly obese people. So, since I have begun this diet/excersize program I have been thinking about him a lot and how much he could motivate me. LUCKY for me someone let me borrow an old old copy of "Sweatin' to the Oldies 2 " and I can once again be moved by Richard Simmons! I can't wait to get the video in the VCR and rock out and have some fun and burn some butter baby! Darla

Prayers for "DOG" and his family

OK some people think we are weird-o for watching the show, let alone being fans of Duane Dog Chapman and his crew. Honestly, I think the show could do with a lot less shots of Beth's, uh hem, 'boosum' and A LOT less of the bleeped out profanities ... that being said, we LOVE the show "DOG The Bounty Hunter" and anyone who has watched can't help but fall in love with the family who is getting the bad guys off the streets, doing their work in the name of the Lord and being so family oriented and such good souls. We love them, all of them , Dog, Beth, Leland, Tim, the whole crazy crew!!!! And yes, I let my kids watch the show! ALL of them! They need to know that GOOD and GOD will prevail in the end. Do I wish there was less beeped out language, of course, but even with that in mind, I still think the show is ROCKIN' AWESOME! My dh and I and all 4 of our kids watch it, my good friends both in real life and online all watch it and my SISTER who is a "God fearing" devoted Baptist is totally HOOKED on the show.... there is just something amazing about them.

So, I know there is a long road ahead of them with the problems in Mexico and so on, but I also know that GOOD and GOD will prevail and you can't keep a good man (and his family) down! Blessings to the Champman Family!! Prayers for Dog, Beth, Leland and Tim!

Love My Family

Just some silly pix of my family. Gotta love em'! Great kids (most days) and a super fun loving dh who busts his butt for all of us. We have so much fun together. This summer we did a lot of fishing, backyard bbqs and playing basketball in our culd a sac.....just fun times. I love them each so much and I am so thankful for each of them and the blessing they are to me. What a great great dream come true for me. XOXO

YOU.

Be WHO you ARE
and SAY what you FEEL
because those who mind DON'T matter
and those who MATTER won't mind.

I don't remember where I found this quote....but I loved it and I love to read it over and over. It says so very much about how we are as people, always looking for acceptanct and approval of others........ who are we trying to impress? Are they important to you? In your life? Most often they aren't.......but you ARE important and your self esteem is key, don't let anyone beat you down, ever. A few weeks ago I did the above layout for a contest online. I was sorely sorely dissapointed that I didn't even make the first "cut". I was devastated and hurt and dissapointed and mad. But what it boiled down to was that I was trying to fit in with a 'crowd' that was not my own style, my own type. Amazing that I did this to myself. WHY? To fit in. And do those people MATTER to me? no. not in the least. Lesson well taken.

Some Fun Things.....

YUMMY Watermelon.... always a slice of fun! Dripping sweet juice down your chin, getting every last bit of pink flesh from the rind... savoring that sweet refreshing summertime treat! This was take at Chris' birthday party in June....just makes you want a slice doesn't it??

Ahhhhhhh Yellowstone Park! This was the end of the day, we were cooking chicken on the bbq pit and the boys were "gathering wood" for us?? They had a BLAST playing "see saw" on these old trees. FUN STUFF! We love our drives up to Yellowstone Park each summer... full long day of exciting sites, scenery, animals and wildlife and precious memories forever! Chris and Micheal boding ..... 10 yrs apart in age and the closest brothers you'd meet! Love these boys!

9-11

WE WILL NOT FORGET....

Now THIS Is Where I Should Live!!

SO... are these houses TOTALLY COOL or WHAT? I was thinking today of things that inpsire mre..........purple is a definate YES in that catagory. I love purple things, purple flowers, dishes, clothes, purses, ribbons, papers, if it is purple I am likely to love it. So, wouldn't it be SO COOL to live in one of these totally GRAPE-ALICIOUS houses? So cool...so cool!

Time Goes By Too Quickly!

Wow, would you look at this chubby lil' guy? Here is our 'baby' boy Micheal at just 4 months old.......seems like forever yet seems like yesterday. Crazyness! He was such a cutie pie too...super duper chubba legs and rolly poly belly. I tried to take these photos in b&w film, sort of a "mommy photo shoot" have you , but they didn't turn out too well. I was also using an old 35mm as well.......I'm sure if I'd had my digital cam I'd have done better. Or not?! But he sure was a little ball of joy.... where have 5 and a 1/2 years gone????? And WOW! Look at him now! 5 1/2 and starting school! Kindergarden is a huge milestone for kids.....esp Micheal since he didn't do preschool like our other kids did. He is doing great though and loving it all. Comes home everyday with his lil' backpack and a huge grin on his face! Nope, gone are those chubby leg days.....but now I get to have him run to my arms each afternoon for a big afterschool LOVE for Mommy! Guess I can deal with him growing up... for now.

Sometimes you just need...

CHOCOLATE! Mmmmmmmmmm. Yes, sometimes you just need CHOCOLATE! These cookies here, they are my dear wonderful hubby's very own special make of Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies.......absolute HEAVEN! I am not much of a cook or a baker, as a matter of fact, we joke that HE is Betty Crocker and I, well I am Chef Boyardee! No worries here though as long as I have him around I am guarenteed the finest chocolate chip cookies around! YUM!


Sometimes......................................... you just need chocolate. Yup!

Happy things.....

HAPPY SPACE! This is just one of my happy things... or places, I guess. This is my little corner of the world in our home where I sit and scrapbook and chat onine and email and design and create and talk on the phone........this is Mom's Space! I love all my pretty ribbons and flowers.....my stacks of beautifully textured cardstock.....yumm! I love love love my big flat screen monitor dh bought me....... and all the other goodies you can't see here, my awesome printer, hot pink computer case, my stash of pattern paper (more like warehouse), all my paints and embellishments and other goodies. Why is it that all these THINGS make me so giddy happy? Sometimes I just love to sit and LOOK at these goodies.........silly? no. I guess that just knowing that these are MY things that are all for ME and all about ME is very satisfying. I mean, being a Mom and doing everything for your family , which I love to do, it is sometimes hard to feel 'rewarded' for your work. I can do 3 sinks full of dishes, 7 loads of laundry, taxi kids all over kingdom come and no one so much as smiles and says 'thanks'.... you know? So, I think at the end of the day, when I have given and given of myself, my time, my 'talents', even though I love to do these things for my family, it is sort of a self reward to sit down in my own private lil' haven and enjoy the things that are just all about Mom.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!!

It *IS* the little things....

OK , so I am LOVING this posting photos thing! So cool! (it IS the little things in life you know!?)

So I worked on this layout today...it was a challenge page, again, but got my creative juices flowing to say the least. A little bit of everything on it. The photo is of our very closest freinds, this was taken on our cruise we went on in Sept 2004. Hardly seems like 2 yrs have passed!!

Busy day here, lots of kids activities, back to school night, and so on. Sometimes I think we have to stop and remind ourselves to breath.....

So ready for Friday to be here, missing my honey all week while he works....quiet around the house w/ kids in school. Got a phone call today that our nephew got his drivers permit, he is the same age as Chris.........scary things!!!

Until next time.... be good, be happy and enjoy those "little" things!

Fun Times...CKU Provo 2006

OK ......... So I just have to say that I LOVE this lady in green! http://margieromney-aslett.typepad.com/ Margie is THE BOMB and has got to be one of the funnest, happiest, wildest and silliest creatures on earth! I got to meet her at CKU Provo this year as well as 2 years ago and she BEYOND cracked me up every second. I have tried to keep up on reading her blog because she is just a laugh a minute... but SERIOUSLY (oh she loves that word) she is a woman from my own heart. LOVES PINK, and silly words like "Scrapalicous". I have never met anyone with more charisma and charm in my life!
Up on stage here with her is good ol' Donna Downey http://donnadowney.typepad.com/ who I also really like a lot. I took 2 of DD's classes at CKU this year and she is SO TOTALLY down to earth, she is so, just, REAL to be around. Donna is a way awesome person and just a good soul.......she believes in making your art about you and your style. Her motto "Perfect: just the way I create" is now plastered on my desk so I can look at it daily. Just love these ladies..... so cool what scrapbooking brings to your life. So much more than paper and adhesive. I could go on and on, but just wanted to put a SHOUT OUT about these neat gals and show you what fun they are! If you are in need of some good laughs go check out those blogs, totally!!

OK, back to reality .......... until next time- Darla

DID IT WORK? Did I actually GET A PHOTO on my blog all by myself????????????????

TOO much STUFF!

So totally odd, I have been thinking and making lists (this is what I do, make lists) and trying to figure out ways to 'de junk' our lives and our home. Since we moved back in Feb we have been slowly and steadily getting rid of "things" that we no longer need, junk and stuff that is crowding our home, our space and our comfort. It is amazing, as my husband and I were both raised with an almost unhealthy appriciation of "things".....we are finding that what is really importat is WHO is in your life, not WHAT. Now, what is funny about this whole story, is that I was just reading Ali Edwards Blog http://aliedwards.typepad.com/ this morning, she is an amazing scrapbooker/Mom/wife/artist who is wide known in the scrapbook industry. Ali has only one child, but he has special needs so she is more than busy. On top of this her husband is in Politics and is assuredly not sitting around on his butt all day. Ali travels A LOT for her work in the scrapbook industry and she has such awesome insight into Motherhood/Homemaking that makes me just smile. Thank you Ali !!

OK so Ali was talking about dejunking, decluttering her home and her life. GOOD STUFF!! I find that I am less stressed when I have less mess and THAT can come by getting rid of excess belongings. During the month of July I had made up a master LIST (remember, my "thing" to do) and had plotted out a plan of going room to room through the house each week and deep cleaning and dejunking. So far, it is now Aug 27th and I have done very little. Grrr me! So, this week I plan to start, and rather than go week to week, since I am at the end of the month, I am going to go day by day! Each day this week I am going to go through and dejunk and deep clean different areas of my home. Granted, we have only been in the house for 7 months, but I do not want to be overcome with "things" again. Keep it simple, keep it clean, keep it stress free.

So, if you are looking for some insperation to clean and unclutter your life, go check out Ali's blog........so much insperation there!

Until next time, keep your closets clean and stay stress free!! me

LOOK UP!!!!!

LOOK UP! Seriously.......LOOK UP on the top of my Blog page........see that super cool amazing banner? Even better, see that super super cool amazingly amazing photo?? Let me tell you about it!

Robin Gibbons.... my friend, my scrapping buddy, my shoulder, my artistic insperation and http://heartfelt.typepad.com/robingibbonsphotography/ my own personal photographer! Serious! This woman is the BOMB and I just wanted to be sure she gets the appropriate SHOUT OUT for her amazing talents!
For a couple of years now Robin has been working with me and my kids to get some great photos taken. I am so lucky to have her as a friend... she is very patient and giving and I think I am one of the most fortunate people in the world to have her so close to me. Robin and I are sort of kindred spirits in a sense... we eeeerily love many many of the same things from foods to colors to hobbies and music, we connect! It is awesome.

So, I just wanted to make sure to get out here and let you know that my COOLIO banner up top and the COOLIO photo up top are ALL ROBIN and her awesome talents! Please go check out her photo site....so many cool things to look at and she is just getting started, I think she is gonna WOW! the world with her skills!!

Until next time...... ROCK ON ROBIN!

Getting into routine??

Routine. How does one define that word? Ha ha! I am trying to get into a routine with the kids in school and so far, nadda! That is ok though, it is only the 3rd day since they started and realistically it will be another week or so I am sure! I just want to get my 'groove' going with things and I feel so chaotic right now. Need to mellow out or I'll end up all flustered for no reason!! (NOTE TO SELF: Chill out Darla!!!)

So, kids are liking school so far. Micheal is SO stinkin' cute with his lil' hair slicked back and his backpack on for school. Yesterday he lined up with his class and since we were "lost" he got into the back of the line.....he said "Look Mom, I am the CABOOSE!!" Love it! So cute! Dani is getting used to the faster pace of JHS although she still thinks SHE is personally picked on bc she only has 3 min between classes! RED ALERT DANI: alllll 900+ students have only 3 min between classes! LOL Goofy girl! Chris is Mr High School, loving it all!! Tiff is getting used to 4th grade although I may see some potential teacher/student issues, but I am remaining optimistic for now!!

OK off to get into that "routine" I am insisting upon! Until next time...........

School days, school days, beautiful, wonderful school days...

Well, the time has finally arrived. It is 8;40 am and I have 3 or 4 kids shipped of to a new school year. 2 of them to brand new schools and a 3rd will start school for the first time today! I am very content. My sister called bawling HER eyes out after seeing MY oldest son walking to the High School... I loved it! It is not that I am not somewhat emotional about it all... but part of me inside has been waiting for so long to have a little bit of freedom again. I started having babies at such an early point in my life, and prior to that I cared for my sisters kids most of the time, so I have really not been childless since I was a HS student myself. That is a LONG time taking care of kids. (how long? you don't relaly need to know that do you?) So, today is the start of a new "era" for me. Of course, won't be long before I am putting up a journal entry about "empty nest syndrom" either! Ha ha ha!

So, what do I intend to do with all my newfound freedom? Clean and organize my home to the "inth" degree... get some quality excersize time in with my slave driver sister (yea, the blubbering crybaby one), and some me time...to scrapbook (of course), window shop, and just do some things I have always wanted to do. Ahhhhh I can already hear the peace and quiet in the house!

Things are good. Money is tight. Everyone is healthy. I can't ask for too much more, really. Of course, the more money the more you spend the tighetr it gets so I will just leave that one alone.

Until next time........

My 'mantra'...

** FIRST I want to say WHAT A COOL BANNER UP THERE ON TOP OF MY PAGE isn't it?? Thank you Robin!! http://heartfelt.typepad.com/robingibbonsphotography/ **


So, since the first time I ever heard this quote, I have tried to make it a way of life for me...

FORCED OPTIMISM: Fake It Till' You Make It

What a great great quote I think and I just love it! So all the while I have been chanting this in my wee little noggin' I though to myself I should Google this and check out what I find!! Lo and behold, cool stuff! So first I found this site : http://www.thestarlitecafe.com/perl-bin/base/search.cgi which is a rather interesting poetry site... and on this site I found THIS poem FORCED OPTIMISM and dang!! it is cool!! ( Hope it is OK I posted it on here!!)


Forced Optimism

But when it starts to hurt
Just immerse,
And you'll be okay
And if it bleeds, that's fine
You'll heal with time
There is always something left unfound on the horizon.
It shouldn't have to be this way
Life should go on like in those old picture shows
Where there was always someone to save the day.
But I know,
Even though we're allalone in this,
It will be okay.

(Stupid, I know. As is most of what I write.)
By Arrant

Well dude, Mr Arrant, whoever you are....I personally think it is a way cool poem and love it!

And THAT is all SHE wrote. Until next time... behave and behappy!

WANNA SEE.......

WHAT I HAVE BEEN UP TO....?

OK as the norm, my 'non scrapper warning' to those of you who are not "into" scrapbooking I apologize, you may not get much enjoyment from this blog entry. Sorry. But, if you are interested in seeing pictures of our family, then cool, here you go.

Basically this is just my latest and (sometimes) greatest scrapbooking projects, thought I would share with you.

http://s68.photobucket.com/albums/i21/DarlaLOU/

Other than that...not much to tell. Just counting down days to SCHOOL and trying to catch up around the house and the laundry. Need to do some yard work as well but I have had no gumption to do any of it. Send me some MOJO if you have some!

Take care and God Bless....

ONE MORE WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not that I am counting days, or hours...or slowly ticking seconds of each minute.... but DANG! I wish Friday were here already! I am so ready for school to start already! This whole week is going to go especially S..L...O....W......... I hate it! Last week dragged, I was tired and crabby and this week is going to be worse by a long shot! ack!! I cannot wait for the busy noisy early morning fights for the shower and then the "ahhhhhhhhh" peace and quiet as they all shuffle out the door! YES! And afternoons all to ME ME ME myself! Will be so nice!! I keep promising myself I WILL NOT get hooked on Guiding Light all over again (it has been years) and Oprah and all those shows...nope, I will be productive, and active, and creative. I WILL BE SUPER MOMMY!!! (hee hee)
Monday :(almost done!)
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday: FUN DAY
Sunday: Final countdown........

MONDAY : BACK TO SCHOOL BABY!!!!!!!

Giving up...

Feeling blue today. Dissapointed. Frustrated. Feel like giving up. However, I am not a quitter and although today I want to cry and run away, I won't. I know sometimes things must go in a 'backwards' sort of order, but right now, I dont' want to play that game. I want to be the first one chosen for the team. I want to be on top of the mountain, not in the middle. I want to be the gold, not the silver, or bronze. Selfish. Yes. Realistic. No. Feeling better by moping and boobing over it, for the moment, yes, it does make me feel better. Tommorrow I will be fine. Tommorrow I will look forward, and make a new plan. Today, I will be blue... and that is OK.

"Giving up doesn't always mean you are weak; sometimes it means that you are strong enough to let go. ~Author Unknown"

Darla

12 DAYS TO GO....

BACK TO SCHOOL IS A FABULOUS THING! 12 Days and counting...

OK OK I guess this makes me a bad Mom, but I am SO ready for summer "break?" to be over! I am ready for the kids to go back to school, for my daytimes to quiet down a bit and for routine to come back. This year will be a landmark in my parenting 'career' as I will have ALL FOUR KIDS in school for at least part of the day! BIG year for our family, one going into High School, one to Jr High School and one starting Kindergarden (plus our 4th Grader too)!! I will have a grande time each afternoon as my "baby" boy is off to afternoon class for almost 3 full hours each day! Wheeeeeeeeeeee!! I love being a Mom and being home when my kiddos are little and growing and learning, and although it is a bit of a heart breaker to let them go off all on their own in this big wide world, I also see myself in a new "era" of my life.... curious what changes will come from this. In the time being, I will do a little "party dance" all to myself for a bit of Mom time each afternoon!! Wheeeeeeee!!

I love you my kids! You make me smile, make me happy, make me proud to be your MOM!!
XOXO

Scrappy Musings....

OK Sorry to all my 'non' scrappy friends and family and anyone else who does not understand 'scrap-eze' but I am just in a scrappy mood and I am going to talk scrap!

So, I am ALL about the new Daisy D stuff that is out, the cool Gypsy Harvest things, awesome autumn colors, antiqued looking and just plain cool! DD has really gotten out of the rut this past year and made some amazinly awesomely awesome new paper lines! LOVE IT!!!

Oh and can we say I LOVE MM ?! This co never ceases to amaze me and what do you know?? They are coming out with GIANT WALL MONOGRAM LETTERS that are self sticking and OH SO COOL! Love that whole concept, SO COOL!!!! I am still oogling over the BoHo Chic stuff I got at CKU and totally hoarding every little peice of ribbon and paper from them....so awesome!

I am also really getting "happy vibes" from Heidi Swapp. I never really thought that her stuff was all that amazing, alas, I am finding that I am using every little thing in my scrap stash from her! LOVING the big flowers, the chipboard alphabets (which are easily altered) and all the ghost letters and shapes. Even her super glittery lip gloss is AWESOME! Go HS!!

Good ol' Basic Grey is at it again too... all thier new papers are emerging and as always they are just to DIE for! Cool colors, deep and dreamy designs and things that just drawwwww you across the room just to drool over them! The new Cosmo Cricket looks to be a BG Wannabe but some awesome looking stuff nevertheless!!! Can't wait to get my grubby fingers on some of that paper!

BoBunny Press is doing the same thing as Daisy D's..... causing me to go broke! THEY have also come out with some of the cutest stuff ever this past year and are really making a comeback. So many fun prints and colors.....loving all teh YELLOW I am seeing in their lines right now! YEAH!

Other fun things I am seeing.... BIG BUTTONS with COOL PRINTS at WalMart fabric dept, three cool buttons for less than $2 bucks....way cool! LOVING the new and fun ribbons I am seeing around at fabric and craft stores and lss. I still am a sucker for fibers, they just scream texture and design to me. Twill too.... plain, colored, printed, all of that, so fun, so functional. Ric Rak and elastics........FUN to play with. Old but good!! FABRIC is opening up a whole new world in scrapping...and I have TONS of it! I knew there was a reason I have dutifully saved every teeny tiny scrap of 2x2 inch fabric I ever had. Denim, cottons, plaid, floral, flannel, seersucker, ALL OF IT is just fun and amazing to use...more design potential and more doors opened up in the world of scrapolicious living!

I guess I could go on all day.... REALLY, I COULD! but I will stop. Just loving my hobby, my obsession and love to talk about things that make me so happy. HAPPY HAPPY ME!

Hope YOU are feeling happy too!
Darla

Things.

Last night my hubby was showing me a website called 43Things http://www.43things.com/ and it is OH SO COOL. I love the thought of hooking up with people with the same goals and ambitions and dreams. There is sure some crazy stuff on there too, but overall, just average Joe's who have big ambitions in life, just like me! Check it out, very cool.

I want to be 5 again. http://s68.photobucket.com/albums/i21/DarlaLOU/?action=view&current=MICHEALAT51.jpg&refPage=&imgAnch=imgAnch2 Doing a scrapbook page about my son Micheal... he is 5, he is carefree, he is amazingly silly and smart and funny. He keeps us all laughing day in and out. He is like a cat, sleeps when he wants/needs to, eats when he wants/needs to and plays the rest of the day. That is his 'job'... love that. I want to be 5 again.

Ready for school to start. I have had a nice summer, the kids have been pretty good, no major bologna pulled and overall enjoyable. We have had swim camp, trip to cousins, visit to friends family reunion, sleepovers, swimming, camping, hiking, Yellowstone, fishing, sprinklers, and so on.......I am ready for backpacks, homework, afterschool snacks and reasonable bedtimes. Are the kids? Uhhh that remains to be seen.

DH has been sick. Poor guy. An illness whose symptoms flare up at wierd times... hope to get it under control. Had a long night with him last night and hope we can get him some relief soon. Sucks to be sick.

Scrapping. Feeling inspired these days. Doing lots of pages and projects and just having fun exploring and creating. Enjoying the goodies I have and putting them to use. Finding lots of ideas and inspiration from fellow scrappers, magazines, blogs and more. Love this hobby. Love this art.

Sick of chicken and hamburger. LOL Yes, it is true. I know my family too well to change up the menu too much, but I'd love to try some new fun funky recipes and meals and maybe throw out the frozen chicken breasts and hamburger for a few weeks.

Off to fold laundry... ahhhh womanhood. LOL Darla

Ignorance

This is one of my favorite BLOGS to read : http://froggymonkey.blogspot.com/ The gal, Aimee, is a fellow scrapbooker who I met chatting online a couple years ago. Neat lady! Sadly, she and her family were caught in the nasty storms last year and thier homes and lives were torn apart and total devastation has ensued. Aimee IS one of the lucky few...with A LOT OF HARD WORK and DETERMINATION they have started to rebuild and get some sort of 'normalcy' back into thier lives. Her BLOG is very enlightening and sure brings out some much needed awareness... that is why I am inviting you to read it and take it in. So many of us are 'blinded' to the fact that there was much much more devastation to the coast than just to the New Orleans area. Aimee's area being one of them. So, take a few minutes, go to her BLOG, read what she has shared..... it is VERY interesting and very much information we need to know. Blessings to Aimee XOXOXO

Darla

Let It Go...

Feeling a bit insightful this morning... got up and did the morning drive to take my son to work. It is a long drive, but gives me time to think, to talk to myself, listen to my head. LOL We need to do that don't we? Well, all the while I was listening to one of my fave fave favorite musicians on CD, Michael McLean. http://www.michaelmcleanmusic.com/ His music touches my heart in so many ways. Most of his songs have great meaning to me. Love his music and lyrics!! (He is SO in touch with his feminine side, he has to be!) Anyway, listening to songs, driving along, talking to my head, listening to the words of a song "Let It Go"..... I think this is something we all can learn from.... a bit of lyrics here:

"....all that is wrong in your life, let it go, all that is worth saving...........is love --
love will hold you tight. Love lifts the burden, and love shines the light,
Only love, nourshes us so; if it's not love, simply let it go......"

You know, we go through life, thinking everything has to be FAIR. We are taught by our parents to be FAIR to our siblings and we are taught in school to be FAIR to our classmates and friends. We go into the workforce and things must be FAIR amongst co-workers. FAIR is not always RIGHT and honestly, sometimes, we just need to let things go. Choose our battles? Whatever you want to call it, just pick something today, something that has been nagging at you, maybe you are mad at a neighbor or you got screwed on your taxes or your car broke down. Yea, sometimes things stink, they aren't FAIR but... is it worth holding on to the anger and frustration?? Is it filling your heart with love, and good feelings? If it is not, let it go. I have a lot to let go of right now.... I think we all do. So, today, and all this weekend I am going to pick one thing each day and say goodbye to it, get the burden off my shoulders, take the heavy weight off my heart.

LET IT GO. Blessings to my friends, Darla

Wasted Day

Tues are usually a good, strong, productive day for me. This day is wasted. It is already after noon and I am still doing nothing. Had a really rough day yesterday and still agonizing over it, not sure what to do, but it put me in a very blah mood today and threw in a headache just to piss me off. Grr! I guess I will just go with it though, I do not have the energy or drive to make up for what I have slacked on this a.m. Hope to make the afternoon a bit more productive and maybe I'll feel better then?
Some days I guess we just need an extra dose of Diet Mt Dew and a hug?

HOT HOT HOT!

I think we are all pretty much dealing with the "heat wave" so I wont' complain or say much more... but yes, we are HOT HOT HOT too...

Prayers for Mom...

No big stories to report, just needing to ask for prayers for my Mom. Having a rough time. Mom took a fall at the nursing home, tore herself up good. Will be going to have xrays and testing done this a.m. I am worried about her. Lots of prayers please. me

Wedding Photo Challenge...

So, one of the gals that I chat with online challenged us to show off our Wedding Photos. Uhhh ohhh kay?! First, I have to say, our wedding was VERY low budget, a lot of helpful family and friends and lots of improvising. (put nicely) So, we had no florist (aunt did flowers) , no photographer (bil took pix), no wedding dress (wore my mil's sundress) and I didn't make my Dad wear a tux, he walked me down the isle in his Wranglers (nice new ones) and cowboy boots! It was very very mellow, low budget, funky sorta fun. I have an assortment of photos, but I love this set the best...

http://s68.photobucket.com/albums/i21/DarlaLOU/?action=view&current=WEDDINGRECEPTIOIN1.jpg&refPage=&imgAnch=imgAnch1

... this is a series of photos of Ed opening the bottle of champagne which had been sitting out in 100+ degree temps for a while. The cork flew UP UP UP and into the patio covering ( a fiberglass style cover) which then caused a flood of dried up black walnuts to ROLL off the roof down into the yard, and the seats where our guests sat! During all this, the champagne was bubbling over the top of the bottle and we were laughing our heads off!!!!

One dissapointment/ hightlight of the wedding, the cake. As you can see in the photo, it WAS a pretty cake. However, it was PINK and LAVENDAR and I had wanted a cake with DARK PURPLE, LAVENDAR and SILVER on it! I WAS SO MAD! A lot of things went wrong, too numerous to mention here...but it was a wild day, we got married and are getting ready to celebrate our 16th anniversary in a couple months! YEAH!

Darla

How do you spell relief?? N * A * P !!

OK so this is just going to be one of THOSE weeks... you know, the one where each day drags on...and on...and on... one of the weeks when the kids fight nonstop, whine about chores and cannot be pleased. One of those weeks where a GOOD nights sleep is like 4 hours, where if the temp drops under 90 degrees outside you feel blessed and getting McDonalds' for dinner is like a blessing from the Good Lord above. Yea, one of those weeks when laundry never ends, the koolaid stuck to the floor is never mopped up enough and the phone rings non stop all day. Yup, along with 101 OTHER "minor" things this week... well, it IS just one of THOSE kind of weeks.
**oh, and it is only TUESDAY???????

Here a SNIFF there a SNIFF everywhere a SNIFF SNIFF

Ahh yes, the infamous summer cold. Well, actually, this is no cold. This is an allergy induced sinus "thing" from he**! Long story short, went to comdey night on Thurs and walked into a smoke filled room of party goers. We don't drink or smoke, so why WERE we there? Well, we were invited to the comdey night with some of Ed's co workers and it sounded fun. Yea, for 2.2 seconds. I walked it, got ID'd ( yes!!) and then immediatly felt my eyes burning and watering and my nose getting runny. So, here we are now on Sunday and I am still in full fledged misery. Sinus pressure, nonstop nose blowing, head, neck and shoulder aches, ear pain, ect ect... I feel like crud! I will admit, I am a total whiner, but dang, I feel like crud. I have taken cold meds, sinus meds, benadryl, tylenol, nose spray, and anything else I can get my hands on over the past 3 days and nothing has helped. I am praying that today will be the end of the worst part... I have a busy day on Monday and can't afford to feel like doodoo.

Other than that, we just had a really lazy like weekend. Kids with friends, chores, and so on. We did watch a movie here last night, that was nice. Today is Church (I am sluffing) and then back to routine on Monday.

Have a nice Sunday and stay away from the smoke!! me

Random thoughts...a bit of everything...

A bit of everything to share today, just some thoughts, ideas, wants... you know, utter ramblings.

Ready for school to start. So bad of me. I should relish the time with the kids over the summer, not like we are running to ball games and team practices for things, the kids are not involved in stuff like that. Just keep me busy with friends, house, meals, and playing taxi for other things. I miss the schedule and normalcy of school days. Plus Micheal starts Kind this year and that will be a nice time for a "mommy break" each day too. Aug 21... first day, not soon enough.

Needing to better organize my time. This sort of goes with the above scheduling issues. Being a SAHM now, I find I tend to procrastinate much worse, mostly because I know I have all the time in the world to do it ....later. I love to make lists and schedules and so on, and when I do, I follow them well. Think it is time to come up with some sort of system for me with set times and plans. Life planner?! Do they sell those?

CATS! Cats n kittens and kitty food and cat litter and scratches and meowing and pouncing and, pure, utter CUTENESS! We now have 2 females that are about 8 mos old and 2 males that are around 3-4 months old. We ARE CrAzY CaT PeOpLe!!!! They are so fun though!!

Water. I have been trying really hard to only drink one soda pop a day (Diet Mt Dew) and increase my water dramatically. For one, I need it. For two, I am having some major water retention in my feet and I know I need to drink more water to help. Being as hot as it has been I have done pretty well to keep a glass of ice water with me thoughout the day.

Stuffy nose. Went out last night with some of Ed's coworkers to a lounge to listen to a comedy show. GREAT FUN aside from the cigarette smoke and major stuffy nose I now have. ick!

OK I could just go on and on here but my eyes are heavy from the cold meds I took for my sinus... nap time. (I wish!) Darla

BLOG CHALLENGE!

So, my dear sweet online friend and fellow scrapper, Jules, posted a BLOG CHALLENGE to our group... had nothing else to post about so here goes!!


Post your favorite..
Top 5 Chick Flicks
- Terms of Endearment (get the tissues)
- Beaches (#1 of all time!)
- ToWongFoo Julie Numar (sp?)
- Steel Magnolias
- Stella and Louise
Top 5 Scary Movies
- Amityville Horrors
- Nightmare on Elm St
- Signs
- Phsyco
-Children of the Corn (aka "corn kids")
Top 5 Classics
- Gone with the Wind
- The Blue and the Grey
- Sound of Music
- Grease
- ANYthing with John Wayne (they are all classics!)
Top 5 Comedies
- Mrs Doubtfire
- In the Army Now (Pualie Shore)
- Blue Collar Comedy Tour
-Monty Python and the Holy Grail
- All of Me (Steve Martin / Lily Tomlin)
And a short list of others you love.
Favorites
- Footloose
- Dirty Dancing
- Mr Holland's Opus ***** (5 Star Movie!)
- Top Gun
- Disney's Little Mermaid and Mulan
- Pay it Forward
- Serendipity
- BIG and Splash! (Tom Hanks)

Oh this was fun! I could go on and on but I love so many good movies!

It is Monday again...

Well, here we are, it is Monday once again. They roll around much too fast if you ask me! I think the weekends should be much longer, just my thoughts.

My Monday will consist of housework, yardwork and megga loads of laundry. Yup. That is it! See, I was sort of a "slacker" this past week. What with having SIL and her family here, the holiday, the heat, I just did pretty much a whole lot of nothing. I am so behind on laundry it is sick. Ack! The dishes need doing, floors need mopped, toilee's need scrubbed. I should strip the beds and wash sheets too but with all the other laundry I need to catch up on we'd be sleeping on bare beds tonight! LOL So that will have to wait another day or so.

Yup, this is it, my exciting life. NOT! Guess I'll go start a load of wash and then make a list. Going to be a busy day......

until next time, me

4th Of July Celebration (sorry so late!)

OK So sometimes life just gets hectic. Can I blame it on that? OK good. Sorry to keep you all in GREAT SUSPENSE here..... ha ha ! So here it is, the big report of our 4th Of July activities in our home.

Mon night SIL and family traveled across state to arrive here for the 4th Of July celebration. At 2:15 am in the morning they pulled in! Eeeck! We got them all in, settled and asleep by 3:00am all was good. Wake up time: 7:00am! OH MY! Get up, get going, feed the kids, and prepped my daughter and neice for the Cheer Squad Float they were to be on (click to see photo)
http://s68.photobucket.com/albums/i21/DarlaLOU/?action=view&current=100_3445.jpg&refPage=&imgAnch=imgAnch15
So, we get the two dancing queens off to thier float and then pack up and head down to our premarked spot on the parade route. 8:30 am and it is already HOT HOT HOT outside... we were packin' lawn chairs, coolers, the whole bit! Get in and get settled and the parade starts, I LOVE my hometown parade, it is fun and homey and just very nostalgic for me. My old High School was a highlight amongst other things. (click to see photos)
http://s68.photobucket.com/albums/i21/DarlaLOU/?action=view&current=100_3450.jpg&refPage=&imgAnch=imgAnch6 Color Guard

http://s68.photobucket.com/albums/i21/DarlaLOU/?action=view&current=100_3463.jpg&refPage=&imgAnch=imgAnch4 Daughters Cheer Team

http://s68.photobucket.com/albums/i21/DarlaLOU/?action=view&current=100_3453.jpg&refPage=&imgAnch=imgAnch14 My previous employer float (and sponsor of the parade and fireworks)

The parade was fantastic, lots of music, candy thrown and so on... but the heat was killing us (90 degrees in straight sun) so we headed home soon after and then the IRON CHEF COOKOFF began. SIL and my DH had a cookoff witht the main ingredient being PINEAPPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(click for photos)
http://s68.photobucket.com/albums/i21/DarlaLOU/?action=view&current=100_3500.jpg&refPage=&imgAnch=imgAnch12 ( chicken/veggie kabobs)

http://s68.photobucket.com/albums/i21/DarlaLOU/?action=view&current=100_3484.jpg&refPage=&imgAnch=imgAnch3 (pineapple salad)

http://s68.photobucket.com/albums/i21/DarlaLOU/?action=view&current=100_3505.jpg&refPage=&imgAnch=imgAnch1 (the judges taste testing)

The Iron Chef was delicious and SIL won over my hubby by just 1.6 points!! We had quite the feast and guess WHO did the kitchen detail after?? Enuf said there.

So that evening with full bellies and temperatures cooled down, we headed off to the fireworks show. The Melaleuca Freedom Celebration is the BIGGEST and FINEST fireworks show this side of the Mississippi and it is just one of Idaho's great claims to fame. It is about 30-40 minutes of FANTASTIC FIREWORKS set to a beautfiul program of music and commentary. Very emotional and patriotic....love it. (more photos, click here:)
http://s68.photobucket.com/albums/i21/DarlaLOU/?action=view&current=100_3521.jpg&refPage=&imgAnch=imgAnch9 (my boys watching)

http://s68.photobucket.com/albums/i21/DarlaLOU/?action=view&current=100_3519.jpg&refPage=&imgAnch=imgAnch10 (blurry but there!)

So, after a very long, very HOT and fun day, we all got home and retired to our beds, floors, couches and wherever else we could crash. MUCH fun had by all and a great set of memories!

HAPPY INDEPENENCE DAY TO YOU ALL!!!!! (belated!)

Food GLORIOUS Food...

OK so I have not been able to give a great recap of our 4th of July but I did want to share this amazingly yummy-o photo of our "IRON CHEF COOKOFF" from the Holiday! My dear honey and his sister had the challenge of creating 3 dishes each with the secret ingredient : PINEAPPLE!

http://s68.photobucket.com/albums/i21/DarlaLOU/?action=view&current=100_3500.jpg&refPage=&imgAnch=imgAnch6


This is just one of the many dishes that were made and shared and devoured...mmmmm so good! Lots more to tell and share but for now that should make your tastebuds water...

I FINALLY get a "TOOT" to share...!!!!!

Can we say TOOT TOOT baby!?! I am one extrememly HAPPY girl today... and in the world of scrapbooking a "TOOT" means you get to pat your own back, shout out from the rooftops, whatever, self recognition.. it is a good thing.

I am VERY excited to share with you that I got a scrapbook layout put up on the MM (Making memories) Idea Gallery Website!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://www.makingmemories.com/ideas/image_gallery.cfm Now, this is a BIG deal because this co is probably the largest leading mftr of scrapbook products out there and they are simply amazing!!! I submitted this page to them totally with a needle in a haystacks chance of it getting chosen and somehow someone saw it and BOOM! it got in! HAPPY DAY HERE IN DARLA'S HOUSE!

I must thank my buddy Shar for this...she had a couple of pages put up there and it totally got me on the ball...so thank you Shar... thank you thank you!

OK back to your regularly scheduled 4th of July Celebration programming...

This is the week!

HAPPY 4th of JULY!!

HAPPY 4th of JULY!!

HAPPY 4th of JULY!!

HAPPY 4th of JULY!!

HAPPY 4th of JULY!!

HAVE A GREAT TIME AND LOTS OF FUN AND MEMORIES!!!!
(and don't forget to take pictures!!!!)

FLOWERS FLOWERS EVERYWHERE!!!!

Who??? does NOT love FLOWERS?! Really.... flowers are a symbol of fresh, bright sunshining days, symbols of love, friendship and so much more.... so I am tickled PINK to share with you a few pix of my flowers I have been working on this summer....

http://s68.photobucket.com/albums/i21/DarlaLOU/?action=view&current=MISCMAYJUNE2006Final137.jpg&refPage=&imgAnch=imgAnch2