Do you know what today is?

It's FRIDAY! "'cause it's Fridayyyyy" (I love that movie lol)

I'm planning on a busy weekend, hopefully with some time for Scrapping and I want to get in a trip to see my Niece and Nephew since I missed her bday last weekend for CHA.

And really, how can you not want to see this smiley face?! He makes me want to have a baby and start all over again lol




I've got a great wreath for you today inspired by Chez.

I had a ton of this paper made by Glitz and it sat around for a year waiting for the right project to come along. What better way to use it than for a sweet Valentine's Day wreath?! I love coming home everyday and seeing it on my front porch. (Please excuse the dirty screen door in the shot, I was in a hurry and we never use the front door! lol)


Some detail shots...






Make sure you stop by Paper Issues and check out all the sweet Valentine themed cards, layouts and projects that have been linked up. You can also enter your own project for your chance to win some sweet SEI goodies!

Have a safe and fun weekend!!

Happy Groundhogs Day!

Yes, It's been too long. I know this!

I have been on hiatus from Scrapbooking. Sometimes you just need to take a step away so that you can gain a new perspective. Yep, I'm feeling better now.

My sweet, wonderful friends Jamie Dougherty and Chez aka Jenny Chesnick talked me into meeting them at CHA. I had a great time seeing them and working the booth doing make and takes for Julia over at Glue Arts. Most importantly it gave me the itch to start creating again.

With a little nudge from my biz Mandy Starner I whipped up a layout last night based on a Page Maps sketch. Our layouts turned out completely different, which is what I love about this hobby. Different people are inspired by different things to create fabulous works of art.

Here is a quick iPhone photo of the layout I created last night.....The crackle paint is still drying in this photo but hopefully I'll get a better one to share tonight!



I hope you are having a great Wednesday, the week is flying by here!!

PS...Caroyln..you're up!! I blogged, it's your turn lady!

Our Florida vacation.....according to iPhone :o)

We started out Friday around 12:00 PM on the road to Las Vegas. We chose to fly from there because we could get a direct flight and it's only about an hour and a half further than our usual airport.

The kids enjoyed the aquarium at The Silverton










































































I discovered that a few days before Wil decided to cut his hair because it was "puffy and ugly" It left him with a few bald spots on the back of his head that he swears aren't really there...the camera is lying.


We took a ride down to the Excalibur and let the kids run wild in the game area.





A quick dinner at the Excalibur food court.



Then a ride down the strip to see the lights and the action and it was back to the hotel. Rachel and I made a monster shirt for Wyatt and then we all watched Shrek 2 in my bed before it was sleepy time.

The next morning Wil had a huge meltdown at breakfast and Danny had to take him to the room to talk to him (yes, he's 13 not 3 lol)

I snapped a quick shot of this Marge Simpson Gelato at the Silverton Diner.

And no, I did not try it..ick!

After breakfast it was time to catch the shuttle to the airport. We had so many people and so much luggage it literally took a whole shuttle for us and a suburban for our luggage. Issues lol

Even though he had his DVD player, his game boy, his books, his magazines, etc. etc. Wil chose to sit like this for most of the plane ride.



Yes, he insisted on sitting in the window seat too.

We got to Florida in the evening about 6 PM and by the time we did the baggage, rental cars and drive to the Villas it was late and we were TIRED!! Did some quick grocery shopping so we would have breakfast food, grabbed some dinner and hit the hay.

The next morning I was up bright and early and enjoying a bagel and OJ on my porch. Yep, here's the view!!




The trip was filled with fun, sun, kayaking, fishing, relaxing, late nights and the kids coming through like locusts.





Danny loved kayaking with the dolphins, who just so happened to stop by our place every day morning and evening for our own personal dolphin show!! And All you can eat crab legs night at Cricketers. He ate 6 plates worth!!







(Wil had the ribs) We also tried deep fried oreos...I'm not so sure I loved them but I didn't hate them either.

Our villa had these flowers all over the place...not sure what they are but they smelled like Plumeria or something...



Thanksgiving dinner was spent at Kelly's...they had turducen...didn't care for it so I'm making my own turkey this week sometime! lol



Did lots of family pictures on Honeymoon island..more to come!



I'm going to miss the cuddle time with this lil guy (Who we called Hangover Baby all week since he spent so much time in the baby carrier)



And the saddest thing of all...flying home...boooo



All in all a great trip...minus the clothing meltdowns from Wil and Michelle...and David staying out all night and Mom being pissed off at him..it was fairly quite!

Looking forward to the next family trip!

Monday Morning Blues and a new *Issue*

It was a long weekend....and I think I'll leave it at that!

Yesterday I did however get my room somewhat picked up. I can walk in now!! I've got 3 huge boxes of new stuff I need to sort and put away yet, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and I don't plan on buying anything for awhile. (at least until next week, yanno lol)

There's a new issue up over at Paper Issues be sure to stop by and check it out. There's a FABULOUS prize and the challenge is super simple. All you have to do is use scallops. Link up your creation today!!

Here are some recent layouts I've created with scallops.







I can't wait to see what you come up with for this challenge!!

Have a great week!

The How I spent my Birthday Post (almost a month late lol!)

3 1/2 weeks ago it was Wil's Birthday, and then mine. One day apart. Yep.

I was up at 5 AM on Saturday Oct. 2nd making Wil's "Lemon Cookie Cake" (see bottom of post for recipe) I also needed to wrap presents, finish presents, etc. I made this fun pancake breakfast for him. He walked in and said "That's tight". Which translates roughly to "Thanks Mom, you're the best and I couldn't ask for a better birthday breakfast. I appreciate you being up at the butt crack of dawn to make this for me before my 8 AM game." (At least that's how *I* translated it...)



He then opened a couple new presents from us...Metal Cleats (Size 10 1/2, yeah) and new sandals to wear to the field. Got him ready to go and sent Danny to drop him off while I finished getting ready.

Loaded up snack (it was our snack day naturally)gatorade, hot cheetos, granola bars and cupcakes. We had a good game and the weather was gorgeous! Yankees won, of course and we ran home to change before the party.

Since we were also sharing our party with Michelle we were headed to my Brothers house...picked up Pizza and El Pollo Loco on the way there and had a fabulous party with the family.



Wil got a ton of clothes, hats, a remote control car, giftcards and a new phone. We got him a green Pantech Pursuit. He's beyond thrilled with it!

I got some giftcards to Barnes and Noble, the iPhone 4, clothes, candles and an awesome new cookie sheet and brownie pan.

The next day for my Birthday was spent relaxing, watching TV a little scrapping..mostly doing a whole lot of nothing!

Now for the recipe that's quickly becoming a family favorite.

1 box Lemon Cake Mix (With pudding if it's available)
1 8 oz tub of Cool Whip
1 Egg

Mix together in a large bowl and refrigerate for 30 minutes or longer. (I've left it overnight and it's fine) Fill a bowl with powdered sugar and powder your hands with the Sugar. Form small balls and roll them in the powdered sugar, coating well. Place them on a greased cookie sheet and bake 8-10 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Cookies are done when the edges are slightly browned. Let cool for 1 minute before removing them from the pan and then continue cooling on a wire rack.

For the cookie cake I placed the balls approx. 1/2 inch apart on a greased pizza pan and baked for 25 ish minutes. The recipe made one "pizza" and a dozen cookies.

Enjoy!