On the Catwalk...

yeah on the catwalk, yeah I do my little turn on the catwalk! Sorry - just had to sing that classic 80's song. I know I know - two posts in one night - don't forget the one right below this, but I had to share this! I just made my debut on the THE CATWALK. The fashionistas at Scrapinstyletv.com pick their favorite LO's each week. Well, my house for sale LO got chosen by Kayla (cool name!). I am SHOCKED. That LO was by NO means a favorite of mine so to see someone - a great scrapping someone pick it - is just amazing to me. I know you don't read my blog Kayla - but THANKS! That just made my night!

Two long days

So I am just going to say that the last two days have been tiring! A lot of fun, and two good days off, but tiring! Physically tiring - like last night after salon night I could barely stand, luckily when I woke up this morning and got ready for our trip to Shipshewana I felt none of the soreness from the night before. Tonight - kind of sore again due to just a long hot day shopping and traveling. We had a great day though and it was good to get out. We left at 8:00 this morning and stopped and had breakfast at a great place in Kalamazoo off the highway - kind of became a tradition for the drive to Shipsee. Then back on the road for the rest of the trip. We hit a TON of construction so the drive up there took about 3 hours - with breakfast. Hope mom didn't hate my driving too much - I know i stressed her out a bit b/c I like to just GO - don't get in my way - LOL! We shopped at the flea market for about 2 hours - that was enough. It was HOT! I got my nippers, cheap sunglasses, two watches, looked for a quilt and didn't find one for the right price. The girls got a few things too - some little cheap plates/bowls, and $1 toys. After the market we ALWAYS head to Das Essenhaus. I LOVE this place. Great family style dining - with a TON of good food. Mom tried to talk me into eating on the regular restaurant side since it was just us two and the girls. I would have nothing of it - LOL. I looked at the price of a roast beef dinner on that side and it was $10 - not including drinks and desserts and only 2 side choices. The family style is $15/pp, but you get a little salad, bread (with amish peanut butter - YUM), chicken, roast beef, corn, potatos, stuffing, amish noodles, a drink and a dessert (uh - yes - we took that to go b/c we were STUFFED). So for $15 - you get all of that that you want! Good deal I would say. So we enjoyed that food - although would have enjoyed it more without Selah, but nonetheless we enjoyed it. It was good to be in the air with an ice water and a fountain pop!!! And we couldn't head home without my mom getting the girls new horse stuffed animals and a ride on the amish horse and buggy around the grounds. I stayed back and went in two shops and then got the car ready for the ride home. It was thundering off in the background so the ride was just a shorter one and we just beat the rain while we scurried into the car! Off we were on the way home! Again - more road construction and oddly enough - we got stopped on the road just by the Michigan border for a TREE that lay across the whole road. There was some amazing lightning and we assume that some hit the tree and made it fall. Luckily no cars were under it - kind of scary. If we had left 5 minutes before, that could have been scary. Some guys had gotten out of there cars to somehow manhandle the whole tree to get it off the road so cars could continue on. Just bizarre stuff on our travels - kind of thanking God right now for protecting us b/c it was crazy! So we had a great time - home by 6:00 to my mom and I came home with the girls here by 7:00. We took a shower together (so much easier for me to have them in the shower with me than to lean over the tub with my big belly!). Girls were in bed sleeping by 8:00!!! So two great busy days off! It will kind of be nice to be at work tomorrow - b/c work is actually relaxing to me - a break. Kyle is gone again tonight helping his brother move some last things from their sold cottage!

Have I told you I feel like a single mom? Well I do - still haven't gotten over it - sorry for bringing it up again. I am not complaining - just saying I am kind of sick of it already. The girls miss their dad like crazy. Everyday when we are heading home from somewhere they ask "will Daddy be home?" I am sure they just expect me to say no. And basically that is the fact - he's not home. I don't blame him either. He is just working hard - doing his best. He aims to please - everyone. Just right now it seems like he's aiming to please everyone but his family. Work is VERY demanding for him right now and then he needs his time too - so it's not like I can blame him for needing to get away either - just feels like it's a lot! This too shall pass!

OH yeah - had my 34 week appt. yesterday! Wow - like next appt they will start "checking" my "progress" (if you know what I mean LOL). I had lost a pound in 2 weeks - kind of odd at this point and I cannot believe. I EAT! I eat a TON! I love my ice cream and sweets. I think it can only be b/c I have been busy chasing the girls! We haven't had time to do our bike rides or walks so it's not from that. Who knows - I am sure it is no concern - next appt I will probably have gained 5 - LOL! The babe is definitely growing b/c she is so right there. Just still shoving my insides around like mad! I totally know I will miss that feelingin a little over a month. :(

OK - this ended up being a longer post than I thought - LOL! That's what you get when Kyle is gone - you get me talking to you b/c I can't tell you the last conversation we had together. Oh wait - it was the night we got to go out together just us two - two weekends ago! So you get my blabbermouth instead of him - LOL! This will probably be my last post until next Mon./Tue. We are off on Fri. morning to the cottage! Hope you all have an awesome Labor Day weekend!

My scrapbooks

So, Monday I had seen on numerous forums out there the questions about 8 x 8 scrapbooks. One of the forums was a question by Lynette. She was looking for a good 8 x 8. It got me thinking - I should tell people what I like to do for my scrapbooks. I buy these albums in 8 x 8 for my girls main albums. Then to dress them up I wrap a ribbon of choice around the cover and tie in the front. I also attach these little metal self-adhesive letters for the monogram. This personalizes the book and keeps it nice and classy I think. These albums are only $14.99 too - which I think is a pretty good page. I guess by time I doll them up I have $20 into them. Still not bad. I have never been into the opening on the front for a picture personally so when I found these books I went with them. They work great for me. Braelyn is on her second and Selah still on first book. The girls have other albums too (like the Baby Daze Album), and also our family album - which leads me to the second forum question. There was a gal looking for an 8 x 8 three ring bound album. I happen to have a two ring bound album in 8 x 8 that I thought she might be interested in. It has a family theme on the outside. It is made by Leisure Arts and it is called the Memories in the Making collection. I cannot find it online though unfortunately. For those that are local I buy them at our LSS in Jenison - Pages in Time. They have such an array of books! Here are a few pictures of my albums just for those who want to see what my LO's go into. I currently have 50+ LO's to print - I am waiting for another sale thru ScrapbookPictures. Last time they had a .99 8 x 8 printed LO deal I think I had like 100+ printed. I need one of those sales again b/c I have found that they are the best at printing my LO's!

(BTW - I just bought the next babies album b/c I do up a page for visitors to sign right at the hospital, and I even picked out the initials that I think we will go with!!! How daring is that?! It's almost like my mind is made up!!!)

So tonight I am doing family salon night and then tomorrow morning we leave bright and early to head down to Indiana for Shipshewana - a flea market! I love going once a summer at least. I hope tomorrow is not sweltering hot or it might be a quick shopping day. I will be packing lots of water and ice cold wash clothes! I am going with the two girls and my mom!

Talk at you later folks!

MandaKay

Short One Today

Hubby got home safe yesterday and we were all glad to see him! He called me this morning from work and said "I hope you can have this baby on a weekend", and of course I ask why. He said he was just given two more projects to run and they are two hours away - so travel time alone in a day is 4 hours. So late nights and early mornings - busy busy for him. I have so much anxiety over it b/c I feel like a single mother - LOL. Add on the fact that I work part time - our poor girls. All is good though - we get to spend all next weekend together up at a cottage with friends - good family time.

Just wanted to spotlight a couple blogs just in case you haven't scoped them out yet. Very inspirational!

Shabby Miss Jenn Designs Blog - fabulous LO's spotlighting her designs!

The-Lilypad Blog - Monday morning challenges and Fri. morning new product spotlights!

Back to work for me, hope you all have a phenomenal day!

I found it...

My scrapping mojo that is. I finished up the two LO's I was working on and even went on to do another. They are NOTHING spectacular, but they are done. They say what they need to say and that is what matters in life and in my scrapping theory. So hopefully I can keep it up, although this coming week will be busy again with work and a salon night at home, and then getting ready for Labor Day weekend! So without further ado...here are the LO's I had such a hard time with.

And here is the LO that I started and finished on Sat. I had to get everything done that I wanted to on Sat. b/c Kyle is back and I just don't get as much guilt free scrap time!

Well, Selah is snug in the babies room crib, and Braelyn WAS tucked into her bed and called me and asked to sleep with me - we'll see how that goes. She seems to have something against her new bed. I hope it will be fine once Kyle gets back. I have been falling asleep here at my computer so I am heading to bed. Happy Sunday everyone!

Where did it go?

My scrapping mojo? Where did it run off to. I have two LO's half done and I cannot for the life of me finish them. Why do things like that happen when I have all the time in the world to scrap with no hubby around. And believe me - it is NOT for lack of GREAT supplies - I mean honestly - I have FABULOUS stuff to work with. I think that may be part of my problem - I am a bit intimidated by some of the great stuff I have. The other thing is, is that the two LO's require a fair amount of journaling - to tell a story so that is rough for me - I am not a good writer. So today (last day without hubby) I will make myself finish up those LO's so that I can move on to others!

Last night's girls night was great! I got NOTHING done, but it was so nice to hang out with some great girls and chat and laugh and have yummy food. The night always goes so quickly. I think around 12:30am we wrapped it up. So - the girls went to bed great last night and then NOT good in the middle of the night. I am not sure what is going on. I was so irate and crabby. It started around 3:15am when Braelyn came into my room. No big deal at that point. I figured I would let her sleep with me since I didn't really mind the company. Problem is she did not fall back asleep, therefore keeping me awake. I brought her back to her room after making her go potty. Just when I start falling back asleep I hear both girls crying. Ugh. Up I get again and calm them down - warning Braelyn not to wake Selah up when she is awake. Repeat that last step - I hear crying again when I njust start falling back to sleep. Braelyn is in the bathroom (which I am sure was just to pass time for her b/c I just had her go at 3:30am), and Selah is awake. Now it is 4:15am and Selah is chatting away - this carried on until at least 5:00am - when I stopped looking at the clock. So that is not the worst of it. I have a monitor in their room so this morning at 7:11am I hear Braelyn say "wake up Selah, Wake up". Now I am ready to lose it. I am the roll of mother and father and it is wearing on me - and to make matters worse now I am working on lack of sleep. I probably got 4 hours last night. Not enough for a crabby pregnant woman. So my morning started with a LONG time out for Braelyn and an early start. Selah is about ready to go back down for her morning nap and I am half tempted to put Braelyn down to. Problem is then I don't think she will take much of an afternoon nap. She is "grounded" from cartoons this morning too. I am probably being a bit harsh, but at minimum she could have just come out of the room and let Selah keep sleeping. So needless to say today and tonight the girls will NOT be sharing a room. They will sleep seperately for MY sanity. So I thought the sleeping together was going good, but I am getting ever more frustrated. We will see how it goes with Kyle back home I guess.

Today I have NOTHING planned. A load of laundry, some more cleaning here and there, and just hanging out. It is pretty wet and dreary out this morning yet and I am sure I will be taking a nap when the kids do. A good day for that I think. I spent too much money already this weekend so I figure I have to stay in b/c doing anything outside of the home will require money.

So there is my re-cap and my day plans. If anyone has an urge to scrap or finish a LO for me feel free to email me - LOL! J/K!

Have a great Sat.!

Mama went a shopping!

So what happens when the hubby goes away??? Mama goes a shopping. I am NOT a shopper. I don't really enjoy it unless I have a TON of extra money floating around. It actually generally stresses me out, but I had a coupon to Old Navy for $10 off a $75 purchase. It expired today and I had a whole virtual shopping cart filled at work - just over $75. Problem is I get cheap and I think "why pay $5 for shipping when I can go to the store, see and feel the clothes, and save the $5. So that is what I did. Instant gratification too. Problem with that, is that when you shop online you can see a running tab and I think I had like $90 total by time I used the coupon and it added the shipping and tax, and at the store you are just tossing things into the cart - paying NO attention to proces. Needles to say I spent quite a bit more b/c I decided to buy it at the store.

First picture is an outfit that Braelyn and Selah each got - matching. Next outfit is Braelyn's - something for church and school. Third picture is Selah's skirt - church. And the fourth pic is Braelyn's camo pants and Selah got the matching green. So I ended up with 4 pairs of pants, two skirts, two tights, two little tees and the little sweater vest for Braelyn. I think that is pretty good for under $150. Good fall wardrobe. Kyle will be happy with the camo pants so that is how I will justify it all to him. :)

TGIF - thank goodness it is Fri. tomorrow. I say it every Fri. - but truly mean it. I LOVE Fri. because I have Fri., Sat., and Sunday off! No real schedule to follow - other than the usuals. Tomorrow I am taking the girls after Selah's morning nap to Jenison to our local scrapbook store to get some paper and embellies. What for - you may ask??? Well since we redid the rooms I need to get the girls' names done for the wall. We have had Braelyn's - so hers will just get moved. Her's hang on the wall by ribbons on pegs - in the CurlyMT font so we just need to move hers over to the new room. For Selah I got the wooden letters from Oriental Trading Company (can't find them now online - sorry). Anyway - they are basic white letters and I am going to paste paper on and add ribbons and embellies. I hope they turn out. So hers will set on a shelf in the room. Then I need to just order the new babies once we are for sure set on the name. I totally am set on what I want it to be - and I THINK Kyle is too - we just don't really talk about it much. But I would like to get them ordered soon anyway. So I have a list of things to get from the scrapbook store - including the new baby's album b/c I make a scrapbook page for people that come to visit can sign - so I need to have that all ready to go. Then I am going to lunch at FAZOLI's!!! So excited about that - I LOVE fazoli's as do the girls. If anyone wants to join me - call me in AM!

Hope you all have a great weekend planned and I am sure I will check back in this weekend!