Saturday, September 22, 2007

Crop today

I didn't expect to go to a crop today because I'm doing a weekend crop next week (yipppeeee!!) but my LSS that is going out of business had a "Farewell Crop" today and Jim didn't mind that I went so I decided to join in the fun. I only went from 3:00-9:30pm even though they were probably all going to be cropping till all hours of the night but I had fun! I finished up 3 pages, cut a bunch of Sizzix dies and I did all of my letters for a swap I'm doing. :) I did a page for Robert's deployment book and I'm really happy with the way that it turned out. I had fun doing a baby page for Jesse's book and mom...here's a little sneak peek for you...something for your book. :)

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Just needed to feel useful


I heard from Robert on tuesday and he said that they were getting eaten alive by bed bugs and he asked me for the strongest insect repellent I could find, he said, "Ma...send me 100% DEET!!". Now this kid never asks for anything for himself so of course I was just sick about this and I had to do something so yesterday I went out and bought up all that I could find and before I knew it I decided to make 12 packages, one for each of the Marines in Robert's squad. Today they will be going in the mail. I feel better knowing I'm doing something to help them out.


So to my son, Robert...and my adopted Marine sons Cailen, Riley, Derek, Detric, Jacob, Ronald, Ruben, Andrew, Luke, Justin and Salvatore...I love and support you all and help is on the way.

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Getting ready for another crop

I probably won't be doing anything this week since I have to prepare for my weekend crop that I have coming up so I wanted to get these done. :)

Friday, September 14, 2007

Some of my Scrapbook Expo goodies

I finally had a chance to upload the pictures and resize them. I found some really cool stuff that I'll be using for Robert's deployment book from his 1st tour of duty. I'm really feeling the pressure now that he's deployed again to work on his book and complete it before he comes back. I'm looking forward to getting started on the book.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

A day to remember



On this 6th anniversary of the attacks on our country I am mindful of my son serving in Iraq and the reason he is over there. I remember that he was going to join the Air Force for a long time and after the terrorist attacks he changed his goal and made the decision to join the Marine Corps because he 'had to be on the ground'. He told me that he is doing this so that his little brother doesn't have to grow up in fear of terrorism in our country. I pray for his entire unit and for all of those serving right now in harm's way and I pray for and remember all of those lost on that fateful day in 2001.

Saturday, September 08, 2007

My first time attending the Scrapbook Expo

I have an absolutely amazing day at the Scrapbook Expo!!

After a rocky start because we had to sort out some issues with who would watch Alex when Jim got a late night phone call to go into work today I left the house at 7am this morning to pick up my friend, Sue and we made our way over to Hofstra. Trying to find the place where they had the actual expo set up proved to be quite a chore...good thing we left early and got there with plenty of time to spare! At least now I know for next time where they hold this event, it's a pretty large campus and if you don't know where you're going you've got a problem. :)

We registered and got our tickets and I went to the Teacher's Pet table to sign in since I was 'working' as teacher's helper in two of the workshops today. I got all my instructions and we went inside to find the classroom area so we knew where we had to be since Sue was actually taking the 1st class that I was helping in and then we went down to hit the sales floor and check out all of the vendors!!

After we walked around a bit I found my way to the Time Flies booth.
Sue and I did a Make and Take there for $5 and it was a really cute page that I'm looking forward to using right away with some pictures from Alex's birthday.
While we were working on the page I was fascinated to hear about how the company got started by just creating a page and making kits for her LSS and it took off from there. I bought 4 kits and can't wait to get started on them.

The first class that I was scheduled to work in was at 10:30 and I was supposed to be there at 10:15 so I went upstairs and she was still cleaning up from the last class and there wasn't anyone else there so I helped her out with cleaning up and then we started to set up for the class. "A thing or two about Boys" which was sponsored by Quick Quotes. There were about 45 ladies taking the class and my job was to pass out the coupons they got for the class and also their survey sheet that they needed to fill out after the class. I had to then collect their tickets to prove they paid for the class and they put their names on the back for little prizes that the teacher called throughout the one hour class. The rest of the hour I just had to walk up and down the aisle and go over to each table to show them the sample up close and personal. I also helped a few of the ladies that looked like beginning scrappers...some of them were really struggling with keeping up in a fast paced workshop. After the class I collected all of the survey forms and helped the teacher tidy up the area and since the next 'helper' wasn't there I started to help her set up for the next class. She then gave me my free kit for the class that she had just finished teaching, she threw a bunch of "Quick Quotes" in my bag, an ink pad and then she gave me the full kit for the class that she had taught at 9:00am which is a canvas with all sorts of embellishments...I was shocked that she gave that to me but she said I was a big help to her. I later saw that same kit for sale in the booth for $29.99!! WOW!!!

More shopping after that and then some lunch with Sue. We decided that next year we'll bring our own lunch!! Pizza and hot dogs just does not work in the healthy eating plan!!

My next class was at 1:30 and I arrived back in the classroom at 1:15 ready to help out again. This one was called, "All about Heritage" and basically I had the same duties, passing out stuff and walking around the room with the sample and by now I saw the same faces and knew who needed some extra help so I went to them a little more. :) I got my kit for helping out and then Sue and I went back down to the floor to check out the rest of the booths and put a serious hurting on our wallets. We both decided that next year we need to bring MORE money!! HAHAHAHA!!! I spent about $20 at EZlazer Designs and that is because I found tons of great stuff that I will be using for Robert's deployment book. Eyelet outlet had a booth and of course I picked up a few goodies there like Leggo eyelets and some Marines stuff. There was a booth with mosaics and we stopped and got a great demo on how that all works and I picked up a few kits there, too and I'm looking forward to perusing the website and learning more since I have a bunch of the mosaic paper.

I'm exhausted but I had an amazing day and I can't wait to do it again next year!!! For now I have a ton of stuff....good thing I have a weekend crop coming up!!

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Back to School!!

Wow, I can't believe how fast the summer went and that it's time for back to school already!! The holidays will be here before you know it! Alex looked really nice in his brand new shoes and tee shirt from the museum trip last week...I couldn't resist taking a couple of shots for scrapbooking. :) He has the same bus driver from last year so she knew exactly where to pick him up, in our driveway :) :) Yay!!! Have a great year, my little man...5th grade already.

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

I haven't really done any scrapbooking to speak of in about a month, maybe...so last night I stayed up late and did these 3 pages. :)



Saturday, September 01, 2007

So busy since I got back from vacation

Wow, I haven't really had time to get caught up since I got home from my week in Florida. I got home on tuesday and had tons of laundry to get done (none of it mine or Alex's of course) and other stuff around the house that needed my attention. My desk is still a mess but I'm getting to it little by little. I'm still unpacking from my last crop and I have a weekend one coming up in a few weeks so I have to finish putting everything away so I can start prepping for that.

We had such a great time in Florida, this was a really stress free vacation for us. Alex and I just hung out and went to the pool, the beach, the arcade, out to eat a couple of times and of course lots of trips to Walmart. I managed to hit up all 3 scrapbook stores in the area that I wanted to and only spent $5 at one, $11 at another and the last store which was one of my favorites in previous trips I actually walked out of empty handed!! I think the fact that Jesse works at AC Moore now has ruined me...I kept saying in my head, "I can get that at AC Moore for cheaper with Jesse's discount and a coupon!" hahaha! Oh well, I saved my money.

One of the highlights for me and Alex was that FINALLY after all these years of us going to Florida 2 or maybe 3 times a year and never having the Shuttle take off or land while we are there we got lucky this time!! While we didn't actually see it with our own eyes we were outside standing in mom's driveway and we heard the twin sonic booms when the shuttle broke the sound barrier...it was so freaking awesome!! We then ran in the house and watched it land on TV!! Alex thought it was really cool!!
I mailed a package to Robert along with mom on monday while I was there and now the Marine says to slow down on the packages...but he did want his travel guitar so I put that in a box and mailed it out to him this morning, hopefully it makes it over to Iraq ok.