We had a weekend full of wonderful weather here in the northeast part of the U.S. Not too hot, not too cold. Just pleasant. We are still having work done on our fence from damage we received during our freakish hail storm back in March and my husband wanted to take the hardware off and put a fresh coat of paint on that as well.

After he was done with that, we took the kids and the dog to a newly opened county park. It promised amazing views and breathtaking heights. I'm not sure it delivered. I personally thought it could use a playground, but alas, no one asked me.

Obviously, we did not take the 58 mile trail, although we had the kids believing we were headed that way for a short while.

• may you try to sell it to an undercover cop;
• may you break it within one week;
• may you rear end someone trying to program it;
• may it drain your car battery by leaving it plugged in
• may you try to download an update and flag my registered product
• may you feel guilty every time you look at it.

Because like it or not, you are a royal ass.

Sincerely,

me

I had an urge to make some birthday cards this morning. Here is what I came up with. Let me know what you think.



The little chick is a dollar stamp and so is the little birthday hat. I used a Cuttlebug folder to do the Happy Birthday embossing. I really like how they turned out. Inside they say. "Tweet, Tweet. You're Sweet. Happy Birthday."

It's Friday!

You know what that means. It's time for Friday High Five over at Angela's Adventures and Minor Mishaps. Are you playing along? Why not?

I'm burned up a little at A.C. Moore and I want to take this time to give five tips to the management of my local craft depot.

Dear Manager:

I am concerned that you are neglecting your real customers and feeding the frenzy of reselling sale items on Ebay to make a profit. Here are some tips I think you should implement, follow and adhere too.

1. If you put it in the flyer, order extra. You should not be sold out of anything in your sales flyer by Sunday afternoon. Your sale started five hours ago and lasts all week. Not acceptable.
2. Hire knowledgeable staff: Why is it that your staff quite often has no idea what a glue dot is; can't tell me where you keep the Prismacolor pencils; has no idea if there is any wizard themed paper in the entire store.
3. Limit product purchases: This goes back to my number one point. You shouldn't be sold out five hours into your sale. People are reselling your sale items and making a profit. That is wrong. Especially since my southern friends don't have A.C. Moores and can't buy the sale items. Do not let anyone buy more than three of the same cartridge at one time. I know they will come back and buy more later, but at least it will be more difficult for them.
4. Honor your rainchecks: If you are going to offer a raincheck, you should be required to honor it no matter when the item comes into the store.
5. Offer your sales items on your website: This seems like a no brainer.

Sincerely,

An irritate customer

My baby started kindergarten today.

Neither of us cried.

He rode the bus to and from school.

He brought home papers that he created.

He was animated and excited.

He was exhausted.

And he was surprised to learn that he had to do it again tomorrow.



Here he is with the sign I make everyone hold at the start of a new school year. I think, by the way he has his eyebrow cocked he finds the idea a little odd. That's okay, he's not the only one.

School has officially started (at least for my girls). Little G starts Kindergarten tomorrow. Here are pics of the girls all ready to go.


Dear Oldest,

As you head back to Intermediate school remember this.

1. Some friends come in our lives to stay. Some friends come for a short while. The real trick is to know when to let go.
2. Bullies want a reaction from you. Try not to give them one.
3. Girls mature a lot during their 5th grade year. Boys don't mature until after their 21st birthday and even then that's pushing it for some.
4. You can choose to have a great day.
5. No matter what happens, I will be waiting for you when you get home.

Dear Middle G;

Are you really in third grade already? Seriously? When did that happen. You have grown up so much over the summer. You've lost your little baby cheeks and you look quite mature. I think it's all those big teeth.

As you finish up your elementary adventure remember this.

1. You are not the only girl who loves Spiderman. That's why he is now on pink shirts.
2. Sometimes other girls may say they are no longer your friend. That's just because their feelings were hurt, but they still love you.
3. Math can be confusing, but try not to get frustrated. You can't learn when you are frustrated.
4. Smile a lot. It makes people wonder what you are up to.
5. No matter how things turn out, I will be waiting for you when you get off the bus.

Hugs to you both,

Mom

Hopefully I will get to post some pictures later for this post. We had a whirlwind of a Saturday traveling six hours round trip for a family reunion/picnic. It was a nice time and a celebration of my husband's grandmother's 95th birthday.

Almost all of her children, grand children and great grandchildren were there.

I think she had a really nice day.

The weather was good and the day turned out great.

On Sunday, the kids and I went to the pool and my hubby did some repair work on our fence. His drill slipped and the bit went into his thumb nail. To say it looks gross would be such an understatement.

He let me take a photo, but you really can't SEE it. Thankfully he had a tetanus shot last year.

What did you do this weekend?

Here's another board book I made this week. This one is for my niece. She love soccer as much as my daughter.

Of course, Middle G saw the book and now wants one for her soccer pictures too.

I used the sports mania cricut cartridge to make the soccer ball and the title. Lovin' this cart.

What did you make this weekend? Leave me a comment and I'll be sure to check out your project!

It's time for Friday High Five over at Angie's. Why aren't you playing along? Stop over and see what all the fun is about. My week has been filled with highs and lows; some worth discussing and some not.

Here are the five highlights of the week I've deemed worthy to make Friday High Five:

• Kindergarten Orientation: On Monday, my son and I got to meet his teacher. He also got to walk through a school bus. His response, "They are dangerous! There are no seat belts!"
• Reba's 1st solo album in 6 years "Keep on Loving You" released: Mock me if you must, but I have been a Reba fan for more than 20 years. I couldn't wait to get her new album. My favorite.. Consider Me Gone, which happens to be her upcoming single
  .

• Our library visit: My library is a double wide trailer. No, I'm not making that up. That being said, the librarians know us, love us, and go out of their way to get all the books my kids love and even books they think they'll love.
• Park play: We went to the school playground to play this week and the kids had a blast. It actually has some shade and we didn't melt. Plus, we got to meet up with some kids and some moms we haven't seen in awhile.
• A great play date: My son's little girlfriend invited us all over for a play date. I wasn't sure how it would go with my older girls as the other kids were 5 and 6; but surprisingly all of the kids played very nicely and we spent the better part of the day there.

Some of the lows of the week:

• Realizing that summer is ending: I've been feeling a little "empty" about the end of summer. Hoping that I find myself once I put all of my kids on that big school bus.
• Last swim lesson: I love my son's teachers and they only teach during the day. That being said, he will have a different teacher come the fall.
• Two pointless meetings: I worked three nights this week and two of those meetings were pretty pointless. I hate going to meetings that don't fruit any news!
• Thunder: This act of nature has been causing a lot of havoc at our pool. Get in; get out; stay in; stay out.
• Dumpster diving: Not by me, but by my dog. Seems he's has an uncanny ability to find the garbage and destroy the garbage in a matter of minutes. He's highly aggravating.

What were the highs and lows of your week? Don't forget to come back tomorrow for Let's Get Crafty Saturday.

One more week of summer.

One more week of kids fighting.


One more week of no alarm clock other than my son.


One more week of schedule free time.


One more week.


My kids are ready. For the most part. But am I?


When fellow mommies would ask me when all my kids would be in school, 2009 felt far away. A future date. Sometime in the distance.


It is now one week away.


Last week, my kids were at their grandmas and while I was able to get a lot accomplished I realized that, dare I say it, I may actually be a little bored when all my kids are gone for the entire day.


There is only so much laundry a person can do.


As of now, I'm going to volunteer a little here and a little there over at the school. I applied for some work over there, but haven't heard anything. Of course, Pennsylvania still doesn't have a state budget so schools may not be in a position to hire anyone right now.


I'm going to write some more and maybe be brave enough to submit some more.


I'm going to craft some more and possibly cook some more.


Things are going to be quite different.


In ONE MORE WEEK.

It's Saturday and that time of the week to show off some of your crafts. This week, while my children were away, I had an opportunity to play around a little bit more with the Cricut Sports Mania cartridge. I have to say that the more I play with it the more I enjoy it.

Here is a picture of the baseball board book I was able to make for my nephew.


A few weeks ago, at the CK Convention my sister saw a similar item for sale and I told her I thought I could make it.

For those interested here's how.

On the Expression cut the baseball mitt as a blackout on chipboard with the deep cut blade. Do this twice at fit to page, which should come up as 11.5 inches.

Next you want to cut the images for the front of your book. For mine that includes, one 11.5 blackout image in white, one ball glove in light brown and one layer in dark brown.

Then you want to make your baseball player. Mine is grey and blue because those were his team colors. He is cut at 9 inches.

For the back of the book you want to repeat what you did to make the layers for the front but you want to use your FLIP button so the images will cut in reverse. This allows for the book covers to line up.

After you have completed the covers you want to cut the inside pages. My book has 10 pages cut using the blackout feature. My book is bound with the Bind-it-all, but you could bind it many different ways.

What did you make this week? I'd love to see your creations, please link you post below.

Today we will be discussing strange things we have heard this week and odd conversations we have had. Here are my top five:

• I noticed I had a large amount of charges on my credit card this month and I thought, "That can't be right." Sure enough I was charge for a hotel reservation that I cancelled. Great. I called the hotel. They said, "Oh your name was spelled wrong." Seriously. You spelled my name wrong but still managed to bill my card for a room I never checked into. Incredulous. They are crediting it and it should appear within five business days. Unless they give the credit to the person's who name appears on the bill. Lesson learned: Check your credit card statement.
• After telling my doctor I couldn't sleep, he responded with "Are you depressed?" No. I'm. Tired. Isn't that what I just said? Lesson learned: Repeat everything you say to your doctor at least six times.
• Cashier at Walmart asked me: What are you going to make with those AV-E-ODD-Os? Are you serious? They are called avocados. I'm making guacamole. The oddest thing about this...I had this very conversation at a different Walmart a few months ago. Lesson Learned: Cashiers at Walmart don't eat avocados.
• On the phone with dog groomer: Dog Groomer: "Has he ever had his toenails clipped?" Me: "No"; Dog Groomer: "What did he do when you tried to cut them?"; me: "yelped." Dog Groomer: "I don't stop if he yelps. I just keep going. I have stuff here to stop the bleeding." Lesson learned: Find the a different groomer.
• Oddest conversation of the week: At the dog park some guy walks up to me and says "Are you interested in any bull dicks? I have them in extra large, large and small." Me: "What?" Odd guy: "Yeah I can get them in any size you want. Dogs really like them but they kind of smell. They're actual bull penises. I'd only let him have them outside." Me: "No thank you." Lesson learned: You just never know who might show up at the dog park.

What is the oddest conversation you had this week?

I can't sleep.

I fall asleep, but then I wake up.

I thought it was because my kids come into my room and can't sleep alone. I thought it was because I enjoy caffeine. I thought I would sleep like a hibernating bear this child free week.

Guess what? I didn't.

So I rushed to the ER. Just kidding. Who does that? I made a doctor's appointment for Tuesday and it went a little bit like this.

me: "I'm tired, I can't sleep. I'm irritable. I yell at my kids a lot about stupid stuff. I feel angry. I don't know if I'm irritable because I'm tired, or if I'm tired because I'm irritable.

doc: "Oh, sort of like the chicken and the egg. Do you think you are depressed?"

me: "No not really, just not sleeping. I haven't slept through the night in over six months."

doc: "What happened six months ago?"

me: "Nothing out of the ordinary. Like I said I'm not sure why I feel this way."

doc: "Have you considered talking to a therapist?"

me: "Does having mango margaritas with your girlfriends count as therapy?"

doc: "I can give you some medication to help with the mood swings, but that won't resolve the underlying issue as to WHY you are not sleeping. You should consider talking about it with someone?"

Does this mean that I'm officially crazy and that I'm going to have to have a shrink tell me that? I started the medicine he gave me and it is making my insomnia worse.

It is 1 a.m. here and I am typing a blog post. I fell asleep for two hours and woke up with dry mouth so annoying it felt like I'd recently downed a bottle of tequila. I checked the tequila and it is still here. LOL

I'm thinking about chucking this anti-depressants and trying some good old fashioned sleepy time tea.

If that doesn't work anyone want to volunteer to offer the same help Goofy received in the video above? It looks like it hurts initially, but then you at least get some rest.

Two weeks of summer left. Two weeks until I reach a milestone. All three of my kids will be in school all day. I have mixed feelings about this. I'm so excited for youngest to grow and reach his full potential. To experience time away from me. Time with new friends and new adventures.

I went to the ALS walk with my kids this weekend. It is an annual event for our family. My aunt passed away for the insidious disease in 2005 and we all raise funds and walk together in her honor.

It is usually an amazing time.

Visiting my home town gives me a chance to catch up with my oldest of friends. I've been friends for more than 20 years with the two women in this photo. We have laughed together, cried together, raised children together and been there for each other. I would do anything for them.


My friend, Bobbie (in the blue stripes) just had a little girl in May (she's in the middle); her husband and son are on the far right and her sister is in the middle.

No matter how long it's been since we've seen each other we always pick up right where we left off. There is never any awkwardness.

Gotta love that.




Here is a photo of my MIL and my son at the ALS walk. He was tickled because the clown made him a balloon sword. When you are five there are few things better than balloon swords.

Brothers and sisters are as close as hands and feet. ~Vietnamese Proverb

Welcome to Sunday Citar! This blog quote meme was created by http://www.freshmommyblog.com/. You can stop by her blog to see the quotes and photos that she and everyone else is loving right now.

I love the way this page turned out! These pics are from 2007 and from our visit to Virginia to see my mom and step-dad. I had all sorts of Jolee die cuts I needed to use and really like the way the look on this page.

For this week's Friday High Five, I thought I would share some of the things I learned at camp this week.


Taking time to stop and actually look a the sunset is refreshing and spirit renewing. Especially when it is not raining.




I love pictures where my husband is actually smiling. His sister and her kids came to camp for the day and we went on a little hike around the lake. It was so fun! We found these big boulders and took this awesome family photo.




No matter how old I get I just can't seem to get enough butterflies. They are so pretty and the fact that they get to morph from their old self and turn into something new shows us the promise of change.




Though I will admit to all of you, I don't enjoy sleeping in the woods, I still find the forest a wonderful place. As Disney would say...there's something enchanting about being in the words.

Other things I learned over the course of the week include:

• Geese wake up very early. They are louder than most alarm clocks.
• The harder I try not to have to pee in the middle of the night the more likely I will have to pee multiply times.
• I should sit by the fire with my family more often.
• It is true...I am a fair weather camper and my spirit is affected by the weather. Thankfully we only had one late night storm and the days were all pretty.

How was your week? To read more Friday High Five blog entries click on the button below.