My baby is growing up too fast!

Marissa has discovered her hair straightening iron that I bought her last Christmas.............
She looks so grown up!

Tonight's Layouts

I have managed to complete 3 layouts tonight. I should be ashamed to say that two of them are seriously scraplifted from other sources, but I figure it is all part of the plan so I'm not. :) Besides, imitation is the highest form of flattery, right?
This first layout is a BLATANT scraplift from the cover of Scrapbooks Etc. I even used their paper piecing pattern for the beach ball. First paper piecing I had done since, oh, about 1998. Seems it is making a comeback ladies!

I love that Lime Rickey paper from Basic Grey and it came together nicely for this page!
This next layout is done with some older paper by K & Company, Wild Saffron. I like how the colors in that paper matched with the sand and dune vegetation of these pictures. (Don't you love how I managed to work the term "dune vegetation" into a normal sentence? The signs on our beach always crack me up...."Disturbance of dune vegetation is strictly prohibited!!!!!!")This pattern too was scraplifted from an old issue of Scrapbook Trends, I believe.

This layout is an original. No sketch, just my idea. My sister took the picture from our cousin's backyard in Arkansas.....what a beautiful view!!!! It is meant to highlight a special relationship in my life, about my step-dad, who has always been a part of my life.

Here is a closeup of part of the page.

The journaling is hidden, because it is very personal, about how my step father has always been part of my life, although in recent years he has become a bigger part of my life. Sorry folks, but that part is personal and I prefer to keep it that way! :)

LADIES! PLEASE READ!

I follow a blog called Tripping Around The Sun, written by a pastor's wife. I urge each of you to go read wheat she posted today. It was a serious eye opener to me and gave me real encouragement in an area of my life that I am lacking so pitifully in!

I mean it! GO READ IT!

Just click on this link:

Cassandra's Blog

FREE FOOD!

As a special promotion, the Schwan's frozen food company is offering $10 in free food to the first 500,000 people who shop on their website. There are a couple of restrictions, such as they have to deliver to your area already and you can't have ordered in something like 14 week, and you pay the taxes. I just placed my order for a gallon of their rich chocolate ice cream, delivered to my door in a few days, and it is costing me 5 cents!!!!!

So what are you waiting for? It's free food people! GO SHOP NOW!!!!!!!!!!
Click this link and enjoy!

Baby Girl's Newest Blog

My daughter has created another fun blog, and this one features FOOD! Go check out what she is coming up with, and leave her a comment please! I really want some of that lemon sorbet stuff.....
Food Glorious Food!

Beach Trip

Last week we spent a few days on the beach. The beach here has three sections, known as North Beach, The Strand, and Back River. Back River (where the river runs into the ocean) is great for jet skiing and kite boarding. The sand is soft and full of small shells. There is a very narrow sandy beach part, and since it faces south you can watch the sunset here. Not bad for an East Coast beach huh? The Strand is the most popular part of the beach, with all of the shops, restaurants and hotels. There is a long pier with a pavilion and it is where most people head when they go to our beach. The North end is quiet, it is where the lighthouse is and has great views of the forts. You can catch sunset pictures here as well. Dolphins are plentiful off this end and you can watch all the shrimp boats pass by as well as the big cargo ships heading up to the ports upriver. (Keeping my husband in business)This is my favorite part of the beach. Here are some pictures I took this week.

Oatmeal Apple Cookie Bars

I made these yummy cookie bars last night. I found the recipe online but the printed recipe does not remind me of where exactly I found it, but it does say that the recipe was provided by the Washington State Apple Commission. (who knew???)

1/2 cup packed brown sugar (I used dark brown)
1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 large eggs
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup plain white flour (I used bread flour)
1 teas ground cinnamon
3/4 teas baking powder
3/4 teas baking soda
1/4 teas salt
2 Golden Delicious Apples, peeled, cored and diced (I used Granny Smith)
1 cup quick cooking rolled oats (I used the old fashioned kind)
1/2 cup chopped nuts, plus more for garnish if desired (left these out)
1 cup prepared vanilla icing (optional-I left it off)

Heat oven to 375. Grease a 9" square baking dish
Beat sugar and butter until creamy, add eggs and beat until light and fluffy.
Mix in flours, cinnamon, salt, baking powder and baking soda until blended.
Add apples, oats and nuts
Spread into prepared pan and bake 25-30 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely. If desired, top with icing and garnish with nuts before cutting into bars.

As you can see, I made several adjustments to the recipe. It is the week between paydays and I made do with what I had. The cookies were still very good!

Let me know if you try these and how they turn out. I think they would be wonderful with some dried cranberries or blueberries inside too :)

New Layouts

I might get a lot more done if I did not have all this help.........

But last night between midnight and two AM I did manage to get a couple of layouts done.

IT IS FINISHED!

Well, all except for setting up Marissa's craft area and hanging pictures frames.....and a really cool pegboard for her stuff like the phone charger, DS charger, etc. I figure some artsy stuff will get hung up there too.




So what do you think? It seems Julio likes it!

Where have I been?

Well, let's just say it has been a very busy week. Our church is having Bible school this week, so every night from 4:30-9:30 I am busy with that. I am working in registration, then I move to the kitchen once everyone gets there. My beloved hubby is working security detail, and our daughter is assisting in a classroom. She is excited because her class is ALL GIRLS!

On top of that, we are painting Marissa's playroom. Well, it used to be called a playroom, now she is insisting it be called her "Teen Hang Out Room". She picked out a color scheme, and I had this wonderful idea of painting it with stripes on one wall and vines and flowers on the other 3 walls.

My plan got changed however, and it was decided to do two walls in stripes and two in flowers.

We began by ceremoniously getting rid of the old Barbie theme.....


Next, Jamie taped off the wall into one foot sections for the stripes.

(Gotta love it when a Redneck works shirtless)
It would have gone a lot quicker if Julio had not discovered the joy of UN-taping...


Then I sketched out the vines on two walls and began painting them.


While I worked on the vines, Jamie did the first two color stripes.

We thought we were doing well, and Marissa was very happy with the finished wall. All that was left was to remove the painters tape, leaving a 1" stripe between each color.

Then we discovered that the tape was actually lifting the paint as we pulled it up. (GRRR!) Jamie had to run an Xacto knife along each side of each strip of tape so he could remove the tape without paint. (Think...two walls = about 22 strips of floor to ceiling tape)

We finally got it all un-taped, and I began on flowers today. I will have to post those when we are done!

We have been working our buttocks off on this project and I think it is going to be beautiful, but I am so tired from painting all day, then VBS, then painting again until 3:00 AM every night!

It is worth it though, just to see Marissa smile. :)

Is There Catnip in Olives?

Meet our cat Julio.

Julio has always been a little different, and has always LOVED Subway. He eats everything...meat, cheese, lettuce, tomato, even the olives. Yes, you got it. Olives.
Here he is enjoying his lunch.

Apparently, for maximum olive enjoyment, you have to stalk it and sneak up on it....

Then you roll around on the kitchen floor and maul the olive, taking a few nibbles here and there. Notice his teeth! And that cute little pink tongue :)



And when he is finally ready to devour it, he goes at it full force. Notice how his ears are back! Get that olive Jules, before it gets you!

I wish I could say no olives were harmed in these photos, but that is an obvious lie. Julio loves his olives, and he will eat about 6-8 every time we have Subway! We love our crazy cat!

Please pray!

If you would, please stop right where you are and say a prayer for my friend Stephanie. I cannot release any details at this point, other than to say she is in a very painful and difficult situation, but God knows it all. Please pray for her, for peace and comfort that only God can give.
Thank you!

Can you guess????

Any idea why Marissa is so excited in this photo?

I mean, she is just holding this ordinary birthday card right?

But it isn't the card that is so exciting young grasshopper....it is what is inside that has had her giggling for the past 2 days and floating on air! Look for yourself......

Yup, that is what you think it is. An official birthday wish and autograph from none other than Miley Cyrus herself. You can imagine how excited Marissa was! She was over the moon with happiness!
Happy birthday Rissa!