My Deere...

Whenever we go to the pumpkin patch Rainee always wants to drive the John Deere's... but they aren't always running... but this year... they were! And you can imagine how excited she was to drive her own John Deere... she didn't want to stop... it was adorable!!!

I had a few John Deere stickers left over, which were perfect for this page... and in my huge assortment of brads... I found these screw brads... they're too much fun... I love the added industrial touch they give... they're perfect!

Have a happy Thursday...

Welcome...

I wanted to say welcome to all the new ladies on the DT for TAAFOMFT.... so happy for you all!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!! This really is the best best best DT... you're going to love it!!! So welcome!!! The DT... new and old...

Julie http://thetuckerwolekclan.blogspot.com/ (best boss)
Amy http://amuffoletto.blogspot.com/

Andrea http://andreasmetta.blogspot.com/ ~ new~

Chris http://chrisaiton.blogspot.com/

Debbie http://lovelifeslittlepleasures.blogspot.com/ ~ new~
Diana http://www.designbydiana.blogspot.com/ ~ new~

Erica http://www.allthingscrafty-erica.blogspot.com/~ new~ 

Erika http://taylordconcepts.blogspot.com/ ~ new~

Irini http://thelimitationsofthought.blogspot.com/ ~ new~

Hanneke http://hanneke-rifi.blogspot.com/

Jana http://preprostobogastvo.blogspot.com/

Jeanet http://jeanetk.blogspot.com/

Jenneke http://jenneke-justwhoiam.blogspot.com/

Jolanda http://verderhebikniksmeegemaakt.blogspot.com/ ~ new~
Krista  http://redcarproductions.blogspot.com/ ~ new~
Leanne http://www.loveleanne.blogspot.com/~ new~

Michelle B http://everydayscrapbook.blogspot.com

MichelleLPR http://inspirationeverywhere.blogspot.com/

Melissa W http://brewerygirlmel.blogspot.com/ ~ new~
Melissa Z (Isay) http://isay-creativegenius.blogspot.com/ ~ new~
Misty http://mommyof5kidz.blogspot.com/ ~ new~
Sue http://justperspective.blogspot.com/ ~ new~
Valerie http://www.craftygolucky.blogspot.com/ ~ new~
Wendy http://wendyscrappings.blogspot.com/ ~ new~

Also don't forget you only have a couple days left to do your Favorite Quote... card, layout or project... 

226 Books...

Ever since Rainee was a baby... I've read books to her. So it's no wonder she loves to read. I love our time together reading... I love reading to her and I love love love listening to her read to me... it's so wonderful watching her get better and better every day!!! I love listening to her sound out the words or watching her excitement as she's realizes she mastered other words... it's wonderful to watch her grow in reading... it's amazing!!!  So when she received the Governor's Reading Award, I wasn't surprised.... because she works really hard at it and enjoys it sooooooo much!!! I am so very proud of her!!! Congratulations Rainee!!!

For this layout... I wanted to use some sort of type background...so I ripped up and old book and used it... I love the look and it goes so well with the subject of this layout... gotta love the old book look!!

Monday List....

What are your Monday's like??? After looking at my list of things to do today... I wonder how I did all this with a full-time job.... I am so happy and blessed to have the opportunity to be home... I just need to use my time my effectively... so I am going to try to make a daily list of things I need to do and things I want to do the night before... so I can see where I can fit in some scrapping/crafting, because I don't seem to have much time for the things I love to do... so here is Monday, and we'll see what I get done and where I can fit things in... I hope this helps me!

I can't do a post without a photo, so this photo is a favorite of mine... I still love watching her sleep!

1. Exercise
2. Make grocery list - put list in purse... I hate it when I make a list and forget it at home... I always seem to forget one or two things... and usually it's the important things... ugh!
3. Make coffee
4. Blog my Monday list of things to to!
5. Get ready for the day
6. Put a load of laundry in the washer
7. Feed Champy-boy
8. Make Rainee's lunch
9. Get breakfast ready for both Rainee & I...
10. Get Rainee up, ready and out the door for school (which if you know my daughter can be hard to do... she is NOT a morning person... well, except for Saturday & Sunday!!)
11. Work in Rainee's classroom
12. Drop off all my final paperwork for my new job... (BTW... that's my HAPPY NEWS... I will be working part-time at Rainee's school... very happy... very excited... I start Wednesday!!!)
13. Pick up photos to scrap
14. Go to lunch with 2 girlfriends from my old job... can't wait for this... it's always great to see them!! And we'll set up a scrap night for ALL of our former work friends to get together... & scrap!!!
15. Go grocery shopping and put away groceries
16. Put laundry in dryer
17. Scrap if I have time before I have to pick Rainee up
18. Fold laundry & put away... folding is the easy part... but I have been known to leave the folded laundry on the dryer for days... so... putting them away is a biggy for me... don't know why, but it is... lol!
19. Pick Rainee up from school
20. Let Rainee play for an hour while I vacuum the house
21. Start Rainee on homework - while I work on dinner
22. Finish making & eat dinner (tonight... fideo... Mexican spaghetti... yum!)
23. Clean kitchen & do dishes
24. Play with Rainee - usually board games or card games... sometimes both
25. Make list for Tuesday things to do... 
26. Get myself & Rainee ready for bed
27. Start watching the Bachelor with Steve... DVR the rest for tomorrow
28. Pick out books for Rainee & I to read - read books, talk, pray & sing lullaby's
29. Lights out... Monday is done and it will all start again tomorrow... 

Happy Monday... what's on your Monday??? Do you get everything done??? Any suggestions how to get more done... I'd love to know how you all do it??? Hoping you have a lovely week... 

Happy Day Card...

Happy Friday! Here's a little card for you today. It's a happy card... which goes along well with my terrific week... that I'll tell you more about another day...

So, here's hoping everyone is has a fab weekend and you find time to do what you love and be with those you love most!!! Thanks for buzzing by here today, it's always appreciated!!

P.S. The DT call for TAAFOMFT ends Sunday, January 23rd so if you'd like to enter and work with these amazing women... check it out and enter here.....  good luck!!!

52WeekProject...

After reading about the 52WeekProject from Bekka I thought it would be fun to do... but I haven't posted any of my photos..... Plus I wanted to have a few of my own rules... so for me and this project I'll be doing... photos of Me - once a week... photos of Rainee - once a week (yeah right... one photo a week are you kidding me??? lol!!!!)... Plus my goal was to do a photo of Rainee & I together each week... but I forgot to do them the first 2 weeks... I think because I'm so use to us not being a photo together, it didn't cross my mind when we were taking these first 2 weeks... so here is my own rule... take a photo together once a month... AND I'M NOT GOING TO FORGET.... THIS IS GOING TO HAPPEN!!! And my other rule is I can take the photo ANYTIME during the week... this took the stress off me to get it done on a specific day... so anyway here are the first 2 weeks of the my 52WeekProject.

Rainee Week1 ~ so this... is January 8th... 2 days before Steve's birthday... and the ToysRus balloon he received... which of course is really for Rainee!

Rainee Week2 ~ the before and after of her new hairdo... I love the new 'do' photo... she was pretending to be a model.... pursing her lips... hand on hip... you should have seen her... it was crazy-cute!!! Anyway... this one showed her 'do' the best... but you can bet I'll be scrapping the others of her striking a pose!!! 

Me Week1 ~ Rainee & I were playing board games... and I mentioned that I needed to take my photo... and she stopped everything and took this photo of me...

Me Week2 ~ I too have a before and after of hairdo photo... My hair had been bugging me... and I've been feeling a bit 'shaggy'... so I decided to cut it shoulder length... but the scissors kept going... I love how it turned out and Nikki did a great job... but it is shorter than I was thinking... at least it will grow, right??? Yeah for new hairdo's!!!

Now some of you may be wondering... What about Steve???? Well, I did try... but he didn't want to have anything to do with it... besides it's hard enough trying to get him to do the once a year family photo... that I decided to pass... it's not worth the struggle to get a photo... plus (I'm hoping) once the year is up he'll see how great it would be to do and do it next year with us... well, a girl can hope can't she???? 

Well, that's it for my first two weeks of the 52WeekProject I know I'm going to enjoy seeing all the photos at the end of the year... especially of the changes in Rainee. So... have a delightful Thursday... and I'll see you tomorrow!

First Time Ever...

When Rainee was invited to a last minute bowling birthday... we was over the top excited!!! She couldn't wait.... 'What time is the party, mommy?'.... 'How many more minutes, mommy?'.... 'When are we leaving, mommy?'... it was adorable!!! So when the time to leave arrived... she was over the moon excited!!!

For her first time ever... she did pretty good... usually getting 7-9 pins down... she never had a spare of a strike... I think she was robbed... but it didn't matter... she was having the best time with the birthday friends... Kalob & Makaylah... and all the other school friends friends... it was a blast!!! She's already decided she's going to have her next birthday party there... how fun!!!

Some times I forget about tabs... but when it came to this layout I knew I wanted to use them with brads... they remind me so much of all the colorful bowling balls...  love it!!

Hope your day is delightful!!!

Santa Visit...

I love watching Rainee and the enchanting excitement she gets when it's time to see Santa Claus every year... It's one of those delightful childhood things that makes the Holiday season special. Whenever she sees a Santa... she tells me he's not the 'real Santa'... and... When we go, we are going to see the 'real Santa' aren't we???  She knows which is which... and won't even think about tell anyone but the 'real Santa' all her Christmas wishes...

This year we had a difficult time getting to see Santa... with only one car... a motorcycle... and tons of rain... it meant Steve had the car most of the time to go to work... and every time we wanted to go... it always seemed to fall through... so when we were finally able to go... she was over the top excited... it was so fun to watch her... with every person that went inside, it meant we were that much closer... she was ready to explode... it was adorable!!! By the time we were able to go, she also had quite a list going... of course she'd wrote her letter with all her wishes... so when she saw him, I thought, she'd be asking for everything on it... but instead... all she asked for was a Wii... After, she told me she was too excited to say anything except that... cute!!!

I created this layout using the sketch from SketchyThursdays.... I did it a bit different... but I love how it turned out... such a great sketch....

What's Your Favorite...

Quote??? Is there a quote you read every day?? Inspires you? Motivates you? Whatever your favorite is... we'd love to know about it for our new challenge over at TAAFOMFT. I love to collect quotes.... when I find or hear a great one, I write it down... usually on a scrap piece of paper... which I then put a inside my quote book to be later transferred... So of all the quotes I have... and all of those which I love, this one is possibly  my most favorite...

"Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get."

I love that life is different to each of us.... and we never know what lies ahead. We never know what each year.... month... day... or moment will bring. Sometimes it's struggle... sorrow... joy... laughter... pure bliss... or love... but whatever life brings, it's different for each of us. And I love that although we may share the same experiences... our time for each experience can be different... with each moment and all the little bits... it makes them our own. I love that our lives can be new every morning.... and we never know what it will have brought us, until the sun has set. Life is beautiful and full of surprises!!!

I had such fun with this lo... I did some splattering... used my Copic markers to color my letter stickers the color I wanted... plus, I brought out some of my favorite stickers - the little bitty hearts - love love love them... and I finally used the chocolate stickers I've had for years.... on the chocolates I put a clear coat, so they now look good enough to eat... 

So what is your favorite??? We'd love you to share your favorite quote with us.... in a card, scrapbook layout or a creative project. Our DT have chosen some wonderful quotes... you have to hop over to TAAFOMFT and see each of their beauties.

Kitty Tickets...

About once a month, at Rainee school, the playground supervisors hand out Kitty-Tickets to children on the playground who are being good Bobcats... obeying the playground/lunch & snack time rules. Rainee's always good... and when they start handing them out... each day she'd be so excited to tells me how many she'd received.... then at the end of the week Kitty-Ticket winners are drawn from the box... and the first one for the year... was none other than Rainee!!! She had lots of things to choose from, but she chose the Tony-the-Tiger stuffed animal!!! She was so excited! She's won 2 more times since... but this one is special, because it was her first time as a Kitty-Ticket winner!!

On this layout I did A LOT of sewing!!! Whenever I sew on my layouts... it's usually just little bits here and there... but on this layout... I want crazy with the sewing... I felt like it needed it... and I love how it looks....

That's it for today... I hope you have a fab weekend!!! Enjoy every moment!!!

December Joy...

I have so many favorite holiday moments, but when we set up our Christmas tree and put the first ornament on... the Joy of Christmas starts to set in... it's the beginning of our holiday... our celebration of Christ's birth.... I love sharing this with Rainee... it's our time together... our beginning of Christmas.

This layout was done with the sketch from SketchyThursdays... I'm so happy to finally be able to get back to scrapping again such great sketches... thanks SketchyThursdays.... can't wait for the next one!!!

Pantie-Girl... To The Rescue....

I don't really know how or when this started... but somewhere along this last year Rainee came bounding out to save me from daddy's tickling as none other than... Pantie-Girl!!!! She doesn't come around all the time... but when she does... It's always when I really need help from big bad tickling daddy!  Pantie-Girl always arrives just in time to save me... it's such a relief when she comes to my rescue... Don't know what I'd do without Pantie-Girl to save the day!!! Thank you Pantie-Girl... You're my hero!!!