Pictures of Altered Projects

Click the picture to see better details.



I have finally taken pictures. Now, can you see how much fun I've been having? I've been altering everything I can get my hands on! :) LOL

Top Row:

• Wooden Flower pot; this will hold bulky tools like my dymo labeler.
• Card Box; this was the box that a gift set from Bath & Body Works came in. Now I'll keep "blank" cards/env that will be used to make cards with later.
• Food Tin Cans; Pen, Scissor, ruller, etc... holders :)

Bottom Row:

• Wooden hinged box; I think I'll put cards that I've made and are ready to be sent, or either special cards that have been given to me in here.
• Bulletin Board; This was on clearance at Michaels for only $5!!! It's supposed to be used in the kitchen (I covered up the Italian guy holding food). This will hang by my workspace so I can pin up layout ideas, quotes, inspiration, etc..
  
• Wooden Tea Box; This has one big open spot and two small sections inside this. I think I might use this for my Paints and foam brushes.

This was so much fun! I'm going to post these over at 2Peas, where I'll add all the detail information. :) I found 3 of these containers at a yardsale for a total of 45 cents!!!!!
Edited to add: I added links to each item at 2peas.

Happy Memorial Day

I hope you all had a great Memorial Day.

We had plans to go over to our friends house, but it got cancelled Sunday afternoon because their daughter came down with chicken pox (her brother had it last week...so next week their other daughter might get it - I hope not though).

So, Bobby slow grilled a pork shoulder on the grill with mesquite (however that's supposed to be spelled!) :) LOL - Oh it was so good! :) We went to an Art Festival and had a good day. Since PA isn't where any of our family lives, we weren't able to go place flowers for loved ones that have passed away. I wasn't sure if that was just a southern thing or not, but I was happy to see lots of people at cemeteries around here with flowers.

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We were driving back home and saw a huge cloud of black smoke eerily close to the direction of our home. I got a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach as each road we turned off, the smoke still appeared as it was coming from our neighborhood. Thank God it wasn't our house or in our development...but later we drove around (once we knew we wouldn't be in the way of rescue crews) and found the house...it was a total loss - the fire started in the garage, according to the news the family got out of the house, they didn't hear the smoke detectors over the tv, but the dogs warned them. Thank God they were all safe.

My family lost our house to a fire when I was 8 - it's such a scary feeling & such a tragedy to loose everything you have, some things are just so irreplaceable! I say this from experience, as I only have a few pictures of me as a child. So, you'd think that I had a fireproof box or safe deposit box at the bank to hold pictures and things huh?! Well, I don't....I really need to do something about that!

BTW, the neighborhood helped out that family that lost their house - they have lots of support thankfully. (The fire was less than a mile away - too close for comfort)

The Friday Five for May 27, 2005

The Friday Five for May 27, 2005
Breakfast Anyone?

1. What was your favorite breakfast cereal when you were a kid? Cap'n Crunch w/berries

2. What is the best toy/prize you ever got in a box of cereal or because of sending in UPC’s? A divided bowl (from Nerds it was a short lived cereal - you know like the candies...it was great, there were two bags - one pink one blue (or whatever) and in the bowl you could put the pink cereal in one side, the blue in the other pour in the milk and have "two" bowls of cereal....or you could release the middle and they'd be all mixed up.) it was the coolest think my 7 year old eyes had ever seen! :) LOL

3. How do you take your eggs (scrambled, over easy, egg beaters)? Scrambled (although I haven't eatten eggs in over a year - darn Atkins diet!)

4. What is your favorite breakfast meat (bacon, ham, sausage)? Bacon :)

5. What is your favorite spot (local or chain restaurant) for breakfast and where is it located? Can I have 2? Bob Evans & Cracker Barrel (My husband prefers a little local restaraunt but I can't remember the name - you get a huge breakfast for little money!)

Altering Projects

Okay, so I've been altering my heart out!

I'll be sharing pictures soon! I turned some plain jane boxes from last weekends yard sale into some gorgeous finds! :) Every free minute I've had, I've been up at my table working away! :) LOL I'm loving it!

Cherishing the time we have now

Being a Mother to young girls is so wonderful!

• You get hugs all the time
• Your kiss can heal any boo-boo
• Often you're told that you're pretty
• You get to hear lots of secrets
• You receive beautiful crayon drawings
• They look up to you and think you know everything

I know all of this won't last long so I'm cherishing these and many other things while my girls are still young and I'm the center of their world!

I hope that they will always feel comfortable and close enough to me that they'll always come and share their life with me.

Hugs for all you moms with teenagers - I hope you all have a close relationship with your daughters (& sons too!) ;)

Grocery Store

Okay I'll admit it, I don't like going to the grocery store - not for a quick stop or for the big shopping. It just isn't fun, and I've never liked it you can ask my mom! :) LOL

1. All the "good for you food" is so expensive!
2. Over $4 for a box of cereal - I don't think so!
3. Isles are never wide enough (especially with those cardboard displays in the middle of the isle
4. I almost never remember to bring my list that I've carefully planned! LOL
5. Bagged groceries never fit back nicely in the cart (especially when using one of those race car hybrid shopping carts that the kids love riding in!

Now, if you ever saw my groceries lined up on the conveyer belt - you'd see that I'm making it easy on the person who has to bagging. I send forth all my heavy stuff (watermelon, soda, milk, etc) first, then all my canned goods, followed by my boxed goods, then my frozen goods, meats then cold items followed up by fresh produce & bread. Sounds organized right?

So all my canned goods should be together in the bags, and so on, right? Well you'd hope so anyways! But they never are! This erks me to no end, absolutely drives me crazy! Why oh why would anyone think it's okay to throw a bag of fruit on top of meat? Why? That is so gross it makes me angry!

Today was no different from any other trip. The bagger was new according to his "In Training" tag on his apron. I didn't say anything when he "threw" my graham cracker pie crust into a bag with other goods (I just removed it myself and put it in the bag with other "soft" baked goods like marshmallows & coconut) but I couldn't believe it when I had to request him to remove my bread from the bag he just bagged (in it was a few cans, a box of something and my bread. He removes the loaf of bread - I hold back the sigh I want to release at an audible level and politely ask him to remove the hot dog buns as well since they would get crushed too.

Hello - isn't this just common sense? I realize that this guy is new but hasn't he ever helped his mother bring groceries in from the car - with her reminder to not to crush the bread? My 2 year old knows this! It's exhausting is what it is!

Okay, I'm done ranting and raving now. Please tell me about your shopping experiences. Do you enjoy going? Is it a treat for you? Or do you dread it?

I hate complaining so now I'll share something good! :)

The one saving grace is that my two kids are close to perfect in the store. I really don't mind taking them. They are so well behaved. They throw out suggestions for the fruit to get, they ride along in the car portion of the car and wait so patiently. They always get to pick 1 snack each (with my approval of course) and this makes them happy so they don't beg for everything that they see. I'm really lucky or else just smart (LOL) because we started this little "tradition" at an early age!

What a Wonderful Weekend!

Yassou! That's Greek for Hello. We enjoyed ourselves at a Greek Festival this weekend. Their food is just so delicous! Gyro's, Baklava, etc... yummy!

Before engorging ourselves at the GF we went to a huge yardsale. I got several wood boxes to alter to hold my scrapbook supplies. I found an awesome white enamel tray/box thing with a lid (much like this one on ebay )

I'm thinking of using my MM foam stamps and stamping something on the side with my Staz On ink pad. The dish's lid is scratched up and the inside isn't perfect either. So it's not like I'm ever going to make anything off of the piece I found for $2 - so I might as well have fun with it right? The older pieces had words on them, for example the bread box said bread - Soap boxes said Soap, etc...

Last night I started altering them. I'm not done - but I've got a good start on them. :) I'm really pleased with how they're turning out so far. I'm "itching" to get back up and work on them some more! Yesterday afternnon Bobby went fishing with a friend so that's when I played! :) Catherine & Abby helped me paint and glue - they had fun helping me...it made me nervous - but sometimes you just have to let them! :) As a perfectionist I have a hard time letting them near my stuff. Isn't that terrible?

Oh, at the yardsale - I got a bag of Disney Dress up outfits & gowns. Abby is in and out of them every 30 minutes. She's having so much fun with them!

Now to switch subjects

I've really enjoyed the season finalle's on all the shows I've been watching. They were all really good this year! I can't wait for TV this fall! I wonder what I'll do without "new" tv to watch! LOL - Yes, I know I'm pathetic - but you already knew that! :)

Bobby and I have been really enjoying ourselves with our deck nights already. The weather's been great - still a little cool. Here it is the end of May - and we're still having to put on sweat shirts at night. This morning I had a bowl of Quaker Oats - I make mine with brown sugar and Grape Nuts - I like the crunch in there to mix up the texture a bit - yumm! :)

I hope you all had a great weekend!

Bird Rescue

So I've just finished cleaning the kitchen from lunch and start folding laundry when I let the girls go out to play. Soon they come in crying about a bird being hurt in the tree. I go out to investigate what the source of all the drama is. I find a robin hanging from the tree in what looks like a huge gob of spiders’ web attached to his ankle - a closer look reveals it's fishing line. His leg is tangled in a huge mess of this - and it's all in the tree. Looks like he got caught by the line that some fisherman had left outside (first hmppphhh) and flew around with it until he got caught in our tree.

So I try calling my husband - this man has 3 phone numbers (including 2 cell phones) and I can't reach him (second Hmmpppphhhhh) so I call a friend who suggest I call a local vet - they give me the human societys number and wildlife rescue number. The Human Society is closed on Wednesdays (go figure!) LOL and there is no answer at the Wildlife rescue. (hmmmmpppphhhh number 3) The whole time Catherine is telling me to call the fire dept - "they'll help, they can do anything!". I try to explain about emergencies and this just isn't one you call the FD for - she tells me a life is in danger and it is an emergency. How do you answer that?! :)

After an hour (or at least it felt that way) of contemplating my next move and mustering the courage to try and rescue this bird myself (it was high in the tree and I flinched every time he tried to fly away so I knew I wouldn't be much help to this poor bird).
The phone rings - it's my husband - my hero. He tells me to get the ladder, get a pillow case, get some scissors and rescue the bird myself. Ohh, doesn't he know that he married a wimp? He did say he'd rescue the bird himself if the bird could wait an hour or two - of course I couldn't let this bird - this robin suffer that long. So, I get our ladder, set it up, I get the pillowcase and heavy duty work gloves (my idea on that one =D ) and the scissors. I climb the ladder I start talking real calm trying to relax the bird - he's not amused. He starts flapping his wings and trying to free himself and I flinch (I told you didn't I?!). I can't do it. I just can't rescue this poor thing by myself. So now what? (sigh, hmppppphhhh at myself for being such a dork)

I look around at the neighborhood thinking which neighbor could help (I've lived here for 3 years and only know a few - how pathetic is that?!). While I had gone to the back to get the ladder a fire dept truck (you know the yellow kind - I wonder what the difference is) was parked across the street. You see, one of our neighbors is a grumpy old man that drives the Fire Rescue car (again a white and yellow one) I don't know if it's his son or what but on occasion these younger guys are there at his house. So, with no care of how I look (sloppy Old Navy Tee shirt and grey sweatpants - my hairs a mess, did I even comb it today?) I tell the girls to stay on our front porch while I cross the street and ask for help. He says he'll be right out to help after he puts his shoes on.

So out he comes with another younger guy - one climbs the ladder (the bird pecks him twice - see why I was scared to do it?!) and cuts him free - pulls the rest of the line out of the tree...then he releases the bird. The robin flies away safe at last (or lets just hope so - I hope his leg isn't broken - but I know it has to be sore)

So finally, someone brave enough to climb the ladder and rescue the bird! Whew! I didn't think that bird would ever be saved! :)

Now the girls are playing outside - I still have one more basket to fold and to make dinner. What an exciting afternoon! :)

Devotions/Exercise & Survivor

In my Ladies Bible Study last week - we decided we'd call each other each day for encouragement & accountability. We all have the same goals - trying to have a small devotional each morning before the day gets to busy and to try to get some exercise in too. I tend to put these two things off for later in the day - and then something happens and I don't always get them done. So I'm turning a new leaf, and I'm really going to try and be scheduled and organized in my daily routines. I've said this before and failed...so hopefully this time it will last longer than just 3 days! :)

Daily Devotional at Our Daily Bread today was in Ephesians 2:4-10. And the thought for the day is...

• Jesus gave His all for us; are we giving our all for Him?

Now, I can contemplate this more while I'm on the treadmill for the next 30 minutes! :)

Today I've already started 2 rounds of laundry, and got the dishwasher started (forgot to start it last night - so in went the breakfast dishes), did my devotional & picked up the living room.
I have to get the rest of the laundry done today so that I don't dissapoint DH - he wasn't thrilled with me this morning when he realized he didn't have any clean white undershirts! Oops!

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Talking about Survivor - if you haven't watched it yet then skip over this...
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So going into the final four, here is how I wanted the line up to be (Edited to say: With the 4 that made it, this is how I ranked them); #1 Tom, #2, Ian, #3 Katie, #4 Jen.

Watching all the banter about Survivor I think everyone was really hard on Ian & Katie. I wasn't a huge fan for Katie - I think she should have been voted off before Stephanie (I would have loved to have seen her in the final 4 with Bobby Jon, Ian & Tom!) but I felt really sorry for her and what everyone said to/about her. As for Ian - he was doing what he had to to survive in the game, you can't really fault him for that, can you? He really shocked me with what he did in the last challenge....I'm not sure I would have done that - but good for him! I'd love to hear what his family said about it. :)

As for Tom - who doesn't love that man? ;) I thought he played such an honest game! I don't recall him lying about anything. He may have misguided or let others think something else - but I don't think he ever said an outright lie. He played a respectable game - and I'm glad someone with integrity and honesty finally won the game - showing that you don't have to "lie, cheat, steal & claw" your way to the end. I wonder howthe jury would have voted if it did come down to Tom & Ian. Anyways, I wish all the best for them all.

Date Night!

Thursday, Bobby calls me from work and asks me to call our babysitter to come out Friday night and watch the girls. Luckily she could (so last minute!), and we had the night together just for us! I dressed up in my cute new red shirt and black slacs.

We went out to eat at a Tai Restaraunt (his choice, not mine), then we did some shopping around at a few stores...then we had drinks and appetizer at Dukes Bar & Grille on the river front - we sat out on the deck - it was so plesant! Afterwards, we went over to city island in Harrisburg - caught the fire works display (the ending to the Senators baseball game tonight) then we went to a coffee shop and had our latte & mocha! :) Yumm...what a wonderful evening! The best part though? Spending a very spontanious night (we just did things on a whim) with my best friend - my husband.

I've been feeling yucky with allergies (never really suffered from them before - but our pollen is out of control - our car is now YELLOW) and I haven't had the energy to really de-clutter the house this week - because we all know that if you don't stay on top of it clutter will take over the house! :) LOL So, having a sitter coming over was the kick in the behind that I needed to get the house picked back up! :) It's great having a clean house - it feels so nice!

The girls are getting older, and even though they're only 2 and 5 - they really are big helpers with cleaning! :) You have to teach them young - right?! :) Abby has to be directed with every step - but she's great at picking up crayons and getting them back in their container - picking up paper (she has learned to use scissors and cuts paper all the time - so small scraps of paper are always everywhere!), and getting toys up to her room. Catherine is great - I can ask her to go pick up in the living room and she does a great job. Oh, and she loves to dust, she'll even help use the hose attachment on the vaccumm to clean in one area (good for under the dining room table!). Anyways...the girls are very helpful and enjoy helping me - it's great and I'm enjoying it while it lasts! :) LOL

Oh, I got my prize package from 2Peas - the Chatterbox Gallery Page kit....I got papers, stickers, titles, ribbon/fibers, wood tags & frames - it's a great prize and can't wait to use it! It was fun to win something - I always feel like I never win anything - but during NSD I really felt like I was going to win something :) and I did! :) I'm still excited over it - can you tell?

Pamper Yourself!

If you can sneak away from your day - even if it's less than a half hour - pamper yourself. You'll feel better about yourself and you'll be in a better place to deal with your family!



Yesterday I could not shake a headache... so after dinner was done I told the family that I was slipping away for a few minutes to take a bath.

The tub was filled with luxurious bubbles, the music was playing, and I had my new copy of CK in hand to read and pass the time away. I was transported to another place and it was nice!
Afterwards, I gave myself a pedicure, I cleaned all my jewelry, and just felt completely pampered.

I felt so relaxed, comfortable and happy. It revitalized me, I vaccumed the floors, folded a load of laundry then snuggled with my hubby!

So, be a BUBBLE BATH DIVA today!

Another Day of projects :)

Well, today I cleaned off the deck with broom & power blower (love that thing!) so that Bobby could put a fresh coat of paint on. He also installed a new light fixture outside, and got us new rod-iron tiki torches.

I've sanded, cleaned and put a new coat of paint on our front door. It was a soft yellow (that shows shoe scuff marks like you wouldn't believe. Now it's Heritage Blue - which goes well with our grey (hue of blue) siding. It's looking good.

Bobby took Catherine and went looking at different stones/rocks for us to put in the side yard. So much foot traffic takes a toll on the grass, so we're planning on putting in a stepping stone path. We're thinking of flag stone, slate, or something like that. He didn't get the stones yet...we're still in the planning mode for that project.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day for all you Mom's!



I hope you all have a great Mother's Day today. Enjoy yourself and your family!
Tell me what you did today, I'd love to hear all about it!

Today we went to church then out to eat at Ruby Tuesdays (love that place). Afterwards we went to Home Depot - doesn't every Mom love shopping for lawn fertilizer & Deck sealer? :)
Next stop - Rita's Itailian ice & gelatis. Yum. I had cappuchino cream gelati of course! Passion Fruit, Blueberry & Cherry was the choices for the rest of the family.

Now, Dad's taking a nap, Abby just woke up from her Nap...Catherine & I are outside playing (well, I'm playing on the laptop!) ;)...Now both girls and I are off to go on a walk!

Have a great day!

What's Your Personality Type?

I checked out Maureen's blog tonight and linked to this........

I am....

Your #1 Match: ISFJ

The Nurturer You have a strong need to belong, and you very loyal. A good listener, you excell at helping others in practical ways. In your spare time, you enjoy engaging your senses through art, cooking, and music. You find it easy to be devoted to one person, who you do special things for. You would make a good interior designer, chef, or child psychologist.

Fun Scrapping Day today!!!!

I spent almost the entire day at 2Peas today. They hosted such a wonderful NSD with fun "crops" full of contests and games. The Garden Girls (Design Team for 2Peas) hosted the "crops" at different times. I made several pages, uploaded a few, and I actually won a Chatterbox page kit! :) I can't wait to get it! :) I love Chatterbox!


Here's the layout that was randomly chosen to win :)

I had a great day today. Tell me how your NSD went! Did you scrap anything?

Bobby & the girls came home this afternoon. It was great having them come back...just a little break does wonders. I was going crazy, short tempered and everything...then after being apart for less than 24 hours, makes you miss them! :) I was glad to hug the girls and play with them. Gave them baths, looked for ticks (camping you know), and they're all fresh and snuggled sound asleep in bed ready for church tomorrow morning.

Even if they didn't get me anything - I've already had a wonderful Mother's Day Weekend!
I love my husband - he's so good....he know's just when I need a break!
I love my girls - they are so sweet....they're so precious and I love them all!

I hope you're all feeling the love from your family and know just how blessed you are if you have children - after all they are a gift from God - you'll not have a better gift here on earth than the love from your child! :)

Good night!

National Scrapbook Day!!!!!!

Wohoo!!!!! And I'm Scrapbooking!!!!! :)

Here was a layout I did for a contest over at 2Peas.
Please forgive me for using your picture/not using your picture! I shamelessly swiped your photos to use on this layout...I couldn't find photos of everyone....sorry! :)



I have been scrapbooking the day away! I started last night - worked till 2am then crashed for awhile...I got my Mom's album done! :) I'll share pictures after I've scanned them.

Have fun - and Scrap something today!!!! :)

All ALONE....

& Loving every second! :)

Bobby took the girls out camping tonight! So what have I been up to?

Well, listening to music (loudly) and scrapbooking! :)
I even helped myself to a nice big bowl of my favorite ice cream! :) Bryers Coffee ice-cream! :) YUM!!!!

I've downloaded some new CG elements & things, I finished my Mom's mini scrapbook, and now I'm off to work on another project :)

Yeah what fun it is! :) I feel like a kid at home all alone without the parents or a sitter for the first time! :) LOL

National Day of Prayer

I'm praying for (among many other things)...

• Our troops that are overseas & their families
  
• Our President, George W. Bush

• My husband & my children
• My friends & their families
• Mothers everywhere
  

Girls Bedroom

November or December last year, we switched rooms with the girls. Here is their new room, all pink! There's still much more to do in their room to make it special as all little girls deserve. But, here is what it looks like right now.



The "A" and "C" came from TJ Max (love that store!)



Notice their toy comparts are practically empty? Well...there's a long story to that, which I'll share later. You can see some Strawberry Shortcake coloring sheets on the folding doors (we colored all day a few weeks ago). :)

This is where my Scrapbook stuff is hiding out right now! See how I'm blocking the doors with the little table? Hoping to keep little hands from it. It's been working so far! :) But if you look real close on the walls, Abby's drawn some artist creations with crayons, pencil & pens! :(



The bookshelf is looking rather shabby...most of their books are in a tub in the closet (that door opens up to their walk in/through closet and then into their bathroom). The cabinet that is holding the tv (for now...I'd like to get the tv up on a wall hinge thing like you see in the waiting rooms in dr's offices.) was one that I've had for years. When Catherine was born, my twin sister Sherri drew the bears on there, and I was painting them...but after I had the baby, I never finished paintint it - so there's another project only 1/2 finished! :) I'll just repaint over the whole thing sometime I'm sure!

Well, there's the tour of the girls room. Hoped you like it! :)

The Credenza revealed!

Here is what I started with...well after I started priming I realized I should take a picture! So, now you see what I've been talking about.
I salvaged this "beauty" LOL from the curb. I drove by a house it was on the curb (they just had a yardsale) and I asked if they were just throwing it out...so long story short - I got this for FREE!!! It has sat in my house for 3 years with this "blue" finish (it had a wash finish - that's not dirt in the creavaces!). It's been long overdue for a fresh coat of paint! :)

It was a huge pain in the butt to paint...but it came out quiet nicely if I do say so myself! What do you think? I'm loving it! I think it looks like something you'd find at the Pottery Barn or Peir 1! :)




Take a peek at the inside all bright & shiny! :)



I still have to put the hardware back on. But it's painted inside & out - I'll be able to store a lot of my scrapbook goodies in here (not all of course - but the most used stuff anyways). This will go up to my room this week! :) Yeah!


I'm hoping to have all my scrapbook stuff a little organized by NSD and get in some scrapbooking for myself! I haven't done a page for my albums in soo long!
So, this is what I've been up to off and on for the month of April! :) It was loaded down with tons of junk, unloading and putting things in new spots was half the battle! :)