Coffee

Journaling reads:
I lead a very chaotic life. There are days I say, “I can’t take it any more”. Actually it’s a phrase I say quite often so much so that my children are now starting to say it when they can’t take the hectic things that are going on around them. There’s something about coffee that makes me feel calm. It’s always a pleasure when my husband surprises me with a cup. He’s the one who makes the coffee in our house. There can always be a gallop of whip cream on the top too, a special treat that comes from his heart. The only problem with being very calm is I need to be close to a bathroom. That’s right, a cup of coffee tends to clean me out. I know, a bit more information than you wanted to hear but it’s true. If I’m constipated which also happens very often it’s that one cup that will help. So bring on that coffee but be sure a bathroom is close by. I don’t know if this happens to everyone but it does to me.

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Lillie's Kitchen time by Jennifer Rassi
KPU_July08Week1 Template
Photo from hermann-uwe.de
Font: Offshore Banking and Comic Sans MS
July Template Challenge

20 Years Ago

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CT - 4th of July by Deb Ammerman

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Red, White & Blueberry Trifle

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Ham and Veggie Crescent Wreath

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CT - Lillie's Kitchen Time by Jennifer Rassi

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10 Favorites

Snap and Scrap is having a journaling challenge. Here are the questions:

Your favorites:
1. favorite TV program's?
2. favorite song/band?
3. favorite actor/s?
4. favorite movie?
5. Favorite place to eat out?
6. Favorite color?
7. Favorite type of Food?
8. Favorite season?
9. Favorite item of clothing?
10. Favorite past time?

Here's my layout


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June Round Up

What books and/or magazines did I read this month?

I am reading. Yes, you read that right. I am in the middle of a book. What am I reading? I am reading The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. I already renewed the book once from the library so I've been reading for 4 weeks now. This is the book they are reading in the MOMS Club bookclub. Last book they read I never finished. I'm determined to complete this one. I have by July 18 to complete it so I've been reading on the treadmill at the gym and biking as well. I just can't seem to find the time at home to read.

What movies and/or tv shows did I watch this month?

No time for movies this month. I almost saw Sex in the City last week but I became ill and never made it there. I'm actually going tomorrow so that will be a July post.

I did, however, go to see a play with the kids at the college. We saw "The Little Red Hen". The story was like my life. 3 friends (my children) who don't help out. Now, when they don't want to help out I remind them about the little red hen and tell them that they would be rewarded if they do it. The kids enjoyed the play so much that I got tickets for their birthday in August to see Winnie the Pooh's Birthday.

We continue to watch Samantha Who and The Big Bang Theory reruns.

What special days did I celebrate and how?

Our 13th Wedding Anniversary was on June 25. It was like every other day. Nothing special. We did go to Friendlies for dinner with the kids so at least I did not have to cook. He also gave me a card.

What gifts did I give and/or receive?

Cranium Hullabaloo Game. The triplets gave this to one of their friends for their birthday. We already own this game and play it quite often. It's a fun game for the kids.

What illnesses or health concerns did I have?

Naomi had an ear infection. She was on antibiotics for 10 days.

Justin had a fever when we went to the beach. He complained of ear pain too so off to the doctor's office we went. He did not have any infection.

What fun things did I do with my friends and/or family?

We did so much in the month of June. Lots of play dates, sprinkler events, beach, Cherry picking, Great Adventure, Puppet Show, Play, Blue Berry Bash, Spraygrounds.

What new foods, recipes or restaurants did I try this month?

Nothing really new this month.

What special or unusual purchases did I make?

After reading I'm an Organizing Junkie's entry on a beach cart I went and purchased one for myself. I searched Walmart and finally found one (last one) for $20. I already used it 2 times this month so it was well worth it.

After reading Katie the Scrapbook's entry on photography I went and purchased these digital filters for my Canon Rebel. I have them now but need to learn when to use them.

What were this month's disappointments?

June 22 we realized our cat Diamonds was missing. We have been searching everywhere for her. We looked both inside and out. We sent out flyers to neighbors, reported her missing to animal control and also left a flyer at our vet's office. I am really heartbroken. She was with us for 13 years. We actually got her the same week we got married 13 years ago. She has no claws and has never been outside. We recently lost my other cat Rocky back in October. So to have them both gone I'm so sad.

What were my accomplishments this month?

I actually cleaned and organized the play area and got that completed. Next month we will be working in our bathroom.

I also completed my first newsletter for the MOMS Club with lots of editing. Soon I will be working on my next one.

Anything else noteworthy to record?

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Backup your digital pictures to cd/dvd and upload them to an online site or two for an extra backup. Send the links to the online albums to friends and family.

Choose photos (or digital layouts) to be printed out and get that done while you are thinking about it.

Make sure your scrapbooking area is cleaned up and organized. Put away new purchases (or organize your hard drive if you are a digi scrapper)

Look over the calendar for the coming month and make note of upcoming events you will want to capture for your scrapbooks.

Sharing the Love Award

I’ve been tagged for the Sharing the Love award!!!

The rules of this award are to tag bloggers who make your day, make you laugh and/or smile as you read their blogs, and who leave uplifting comments on your own blog. You also include a link to this post, where the award originated, and ask the people you tag to do the same thing.

I am finding it very hard to read all my blogs lately so when I have a free moment these are the blogs that I read first. I have them in my google reader so I don’t miss anything.

The Life of Loonyhiker who I met at DSP. She tagged me with this award. She always leaves me encouraging comments especially when I'm feeling down. Thank you for this award.

I'm an Organizing Junkie. We have a lot in common. Not only do we have the same name but we also have this organizing thing going on. She has helped me in many ways to get my house in order and start meal planning. I look forward to every entry she makes because sometimes it's like she's reading my mind and she has the answer I was searching for. She's my angel.

Katie the Scrapbook Lady. I follow her monthly round up from her blog. She has inspirational photography tips and some scrapbooking as well.

Dreams of Nyssa. Stefani and I met through scrapals many years ago. She lives in the East Coast. I did meet her in California a couple years ago at a scrapals weekend crop before the triplets were born. Even though I don't comment all the time on her blog I do like reading her entries and seeing her photos. She takes photos every day.

Scrapping till the cows come home. I met Bonnie from DSP as well. She is a digital scrapbook designer. I am on her Creative Team. I enjoy reading her blog because she takes beautiful photography and enjoy looking at all her layouts.

My Favorite Author - I think?

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ABC's of Me

A] - AVAILABLE?
No.

B] - Birthday?
2/13

C] - Cartoon character reminds you of you?
Can't think of one but Snoopy reminds me of my husband

D]- Drink you had last?
Water

E]-Easiest person/s to talk to?
My friend Debbie

F] - FAVORITE COLORS ?
purple and green

G] - GUMMY BEARS OR GUMMY WORMS?
Both

H]- HOMETOWN?
East Windsor

I] -FAVORITE ICE CREAM?
Chocolate Chip

-J] -Just something you always say?
I can't take it any more!


K] -Ever flown a kite?
yes

L] -Limeaid or lemonade?
lemonade

M] -Money or love?
love

N) -Number of Siblings?
1

O] - ONE WISH?
Financial struggles to be over

P] -Person you last commented?
scrap-genie

Q] -Quiet?
Most of the time except when yelling at my kids

R] - Reason you smile?
To not go crazy

S] - Song you last heard?
SOS by Rihanna

T] -Time you woke up today?
8

U] - U like someone right now?
lots of people


V] - VEGETABLES?
string beans

W] - WORST Habit?
Staying up too late

X] - Xrays before?
yes

Y] - Your favorite food?
any type of pasta

Z] -ZODIAC SIGN?
Aquarius

Our Playroom

For the month of June we are in the playroom organizing and decluttering. Remember my post about the play area here? I certainly was frustrated when I posted that entry. That was what it looked like before. Well, with a lot of purging and rearranging we are looking 100% better. I had 2 big bags to donate and 2 big bags of garbage. I threw out all the cases of DVD's we had and put all the movies into a looseleaf type zipper binder. I also gave away some DVDs to my niece, the ones my kids no longer watch like the potty training ones. I took the bookshelf from the girls closet and moved it into their play area.

So this is what the play area now looks like:

Dora bag I got from Avon and in that is all their dolls and doll clothing. The bookshelf is to the left from the girls closet. I have containers of log cabin blocks, stitching, musical instruments, lego boxes on top. In front of the bookcase is another bag filled with balls. I was tempted to get rid of the kitchen that is now in the middle of the room. But since I kept the kitchen stuff I decided to keep the kitchen too. Hoping that the kids would play with it.

Here's a close up of the bins. I was going to hang tags from the handles but figured the kids probably would tear them off so I printed them on cardstock and taped them to the front of the bin. I printed up images from the interent and used photoshop elements to make the tags for the front. There are 3 bins for boy toys and 3 bins for girl toys. They are the following:
Red - Trains
Purple - Barbies
Green - Kitchen
Burgundy - dinosaurs
Blue - Cars/Trucks
Pink - jewelry/Phones

Legos are stored high up so they can't get them down and put them all over my house. They have to ask when they want to play with those.

I moved their dress up clothes to the toy box.

Don't forget I have triplets so everything has to be done in 3's. Here are their computer desks. They got them for Christmas. They are only allowed to use them if we are in the room with them.

2 big rubbermade boxes. Top one used to have their dress up clothes in it. But now it has hats and pocketbooks. Still dress up but at least it's sorted. Bottom box is filled with books. I really need to go through that box and get rid of most of it. It's books from when they were little really and most of them have torn out pages.

Last but not least is their craft desks. These used to be in our kitchen because they are still not left alone when doing crafts because they are not trusted quite yet to be on their own. Walls show for this. Magic eraser to the rescue numerous times in our house. My husband wanted to get rid of these desks but I'm assuming they will come in handy once they are able to draw on their own. They have chairs that go with the desks too but at the moment they are in our garage.


That's it. Our new improved toy room. Now, lets see if I can get the kids to keep it organized.

For other links to playrooms please visit here.

CT - Denim N Sunflowers by Sharon Craven

You can purchase this kit here.

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Missing Diamonds

My Cat is Missing

We have searched the entire house, looked in the garage and looked outside as well. I'm assuming she got out when the kids were playing in the yard. My back sliding door is broken and the kids tend to leave it open. Poor little kitty. She has no claws and has never been outside before. She's 13 years old.

When I asked Naomi if she has seen Diamonds she told me, "She went to the Rainbow Bridge." I'm heartbroken. Rocky my other cat went to the bridge on Halloween and now she's missing.

My wedding anniversary is this Wed. We will be celebrating 13 years. 13 is an unlucky number so my husband says even though I was born on the 13th.

June 08 Gallery Hunt Challenge

It's not to late to come join me at Deco-Pages for the Gallery Hunt Challenge. Here is the quick pages you will receive for participating in the challenge. They were designed by me using "Man of the House" by CAZ.

A Laundry MeMe

1. In your home, who does the laundry? who else, Me!
   
2. Do you sort your laundry? I used to sort by lights/darks and whites/sheets/towels but now I only sort by lights and darks.
   
3. If you sort, how many different color/fabric type groups do you sort it into? Lights/Darks/Bedding/Towels
   
4. Do you hand wash anything? No. Who has time?
   
5. Are there any articles of clothing that you send out to be cleaned professionally? Nope but I do need to get my bed spread washed it's a king size one and won't fit in my washing machine. Just don't have the time it's hard with the kids to drop off stuff at laundromat.
   
6. If you have any clothes cleaned professionally, is that drycleaning? Or regular laundering/pressing? N/A
   
7. At home, what detergent do you use? Any detergent additives that you regularly use? I use Purex.
8. What whiteners/brighteners do you use? OxiClean
9. Do you use any fabric softeners? No.
10. How do you handle stains? Shout.
    
11. Do you use different water temperatures for your different loads? No. Everything goes through a cold-wash.
    
12. Do you use a tumble dryer, or do you hang your clothes to dry? I use the dryer.
    
13. In your home, who folds the clothes? Me.
14. Where do you fold your clothes? (i.e., in the laundry room, at the kitchen table, etc.) Almost always in the laundry room.
    
15. Who puts the folded clothes away? The kids and me.
    
16. Do you have a certain day of the week you consider ”laundry day”? Every day is laundry day.
    
17. About how many laundry loads do you do per week? About 10-12.
18. Do you iron? No don't have the time.
    

Wanna share how you do your laundry? Consider yourself tagged!

Menu Plan update

What in the world was I thinking when I planned my menu this week! All the recipes take over 2 hours to cook. Talk about stressful when you only have one hour to actually prepare stuff to get it on the table by 5.

Tues - I did make the chicken rice casserole. I thought it was okay. Unfortunately, my family didn't eat it. Nor did my children even try to eat it. So that recipe will not go in my book.

Wed - I wound up skipping what I had planned and made something really quick. Dan's Meat Wraps. Oh my this was a big hit in my house. I only did the roast beef and cheese in the wrap in the microwave like described and then cut them in half for each kid. The kids I used American Cheese and in mine I put swiss cheese. On the side I gave them thousand island to dip. They loved it. Even my husband liked it. Plus it only took 45 seconds to make. Great idea to get rid of lunch meat before it goes bad.

Thurs - Baked Swiss Steak - It was okay. Husband ate it but didn't comment. The kids only ate really the noodles which had butter on them. The meat and the tomatoes were not a big hit.

That comes to today! I didn't have time to get the crock pot ready so tonight I am making french fries and Egg and Sausage Casserole I had chicken sausage in the freezer and crescent rolls so I did an ingredient search and this is what I came up with. Luckily I had the cheeses too since I went shopping on Tues. It's baking now so won't have a comment on it until later.

But I so need to get my meals planned better. Anyone have any good 20 minute type meals or websites that they frequent for this information. I so need help. This menu planning always stresses me out.

My MeMe

Over at Flickr they are doing this really cool thing with photos called My MeMe. You can find out more information here. I decided to do mine and here is what I came up with.


1. What is your first name? Laura
2. What is your favorite food? Twizzlers
3. What high school did you go to? Tottenville
4. What is your favorite color? Purple
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Peter Reckell
6. Favorite drink? Diet Coke
7. Dream vacation? Hawaii
8. Favorite dessert? Fudge Brownies
9. What you want to be when you grow up? Mother
10. What do you love most in life? Family
11. One Word to describe you. Creative
12. Triplets. (I added this one)

1. The amazing Laura., 2. licorice—sorta, 3. Tottenville Local, 4. Purple Euphoria, 5. Bo Brady, 6. Hi, I'm Lisa.......I'm Addicted to Diet Coke [Day 8/366], 7. Stand Still, 8. Chilled/Freezer Chocolate Fudge - Raw Vegan, 9. Cat smelling a fragrant Double Delight Rose, 10. Duck Family Portrait, 11. Mallorca 2007 -- Waiting for summer to come, 12. The Triplets

Letter to Younger Self 2008

I did this for a journaling challenge. You had to write a letter to your younger self and give advice. If you like to join in on the challenge the rules can be found here.

My page may be a bit small to read the journaling so the journaling reads:
Dear Self, You will learn many different crafts but you will only stick with one. The one that you will stay with will allow you to achieve a lot of satisfaction quickly. You will enjoy your craft and do it often. It will give you comfort when you are lonely and feeling down. Your first love will be tragically taken away by a car accident at age 17. But don’t worry because at the time of the accident you will be comforted by another boy in high school. You will fall in love with this boy and have a long engagement and will marry at age 25. However, your husband will be a workaholic so your craft will certainly be a comfort to you while married. You will want to start a family but it will take you many years before having children. You will be told that you will never be able to have children. God will have other plans for you. He will find you and you will study very hard to learn about him. Once he feels you have learned about him he will bless you with not one but a complete family. He knows how frightened you are of child birth so he will bless you with triplets so you won’t have to go through child birth again. You will have a difficult time being a mom raising the triplets partially alone. You will get help from your mom when they are babies. As they get older your husband will start helping. Hang in there you can do it. Love Laura

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June Quick Page Exchange

I made this 5 x 7 quick page for the June Quick Page Exchange located at Digital Candy. For more details or to participate in the exchange please go here.


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Nature on my Stoop

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Grounds for Sculpture

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Menu Plan Monday

I'm having a hard time trying to keep up with my every day stuff like menu planning.

Monday - Since I had a lot of leftovers from Sunday cold cuts I made the following dishes: Dan's Meat Wrap and Roast Beef Pasta Salad. The wraps were really good. We dipped them in thousand Island dressing. Even the kids ate them. The pasta salad. I made way too much so we will be having this again as a side dish some time later in the week.

Tues - Chicken Rice Casserole (Crock Pot)

Wed - (crock pot) - BBQ Meatloaf

Thurs - Baked Swiss Steak Will probably make egg noodles or rice.

Fri - (crock pot) Smothered Steak Strips with string beans

Sat - EASY ONIONY STEAK AND POTATOES

Sun - Leftovers or take out.

May 2008 Roundup

I don't know what's going on here but I can't add any pictures today. I don't know if my computer is acting up because I've filled up my hard drive with all the downloads I've been doing for the past couple of days. So need to back up again and remove stuff. Anyway, it's time for the monthly roundup. Where did May go?

What books and/or magazines did I read this month?

Books:
Well, I'm the slowest of slowest when it comes to reading. I have taken out from the library a book called Goodnight nobody / Weiner, Jennifer for the MOMS Club book club. What was I thinking? I'd have time to read? I have renewed the book 2 times already and have only read 100 pages. I think the problem is that this book jumps around a lot and I can't seem to follow it and it could be the lack of time in the day.

Magazines:
I received a free edition of "Every Day" by Rachel Ray. I actually read this magazine in one sitting sitting in the yard and getting sunburned. There were quite a few recipes in it that I tore out. I don't know if I will get a subscription because money is still tight.

I also finished a Family Fun Magazine. I had this in my bathroom so would read it while there. I know too much information! Well, it's the only time I really have free time to read it. Unfortunately, I'm I think 3 months behind! I did tear out some fun things to do with the kids and some really cool ads that I thought would be great as a scrapbook page. This is where I got the idea of starting a journal for each child. See my purchases this month entry.

I started to read my Organize Magazine. I actually got this magazine and flipped through it from cover to cover. I love looking at the photos. Then I actually sit down and read it from cover to cover when I have time that is. I'm only about 1/2 way through it. This is only my 2nd issue and I say I love this magazine.

What movies and/or tv shows did I watch this month?

My husband and I are watching the reruns of Samantha Who and the Big Bang Theory
and of course, LOST.

We rented Dan in Real Life. It was a good I enjoyed it. My husband said it was an average movie.

What special days did I celebrate and how?

My youngest daughter, Naomi did her dance recital. She did a tap dance to a song from Elvis Presley called Hound Dog. She looked adorable in her pink and orange dress. I didn't think she would dance on stage but she did and I got it on video which I need to edit.

We celebrated Memorial Day at my mother-in-laws.

A couple days before Mother's day we went out to dinner (Chinese) to Crown Palace. On mother's day my husband just cooked me dinner and gave me a card. Nothing really special.

What gifts did I give and/or receive?

I have been decluttering the kids rooms and I donated 10 bags of stuff that included clothing and toys to Vietnam Veterans.

My in-laws gave me a green shirt for mother's day.

I received a beautiful tag and button from my friend Bonnie from South Africa.

What illnesses or health concerns did I have?

My grandmother had surgery and found out that she has stage 3 cancer which went into her lymph nodes. She is undergoing Chemo and Radiology treatments. We are praying that by Thanksgiving she will be in remission.

What fun things did I do with my friends and/or family?

We went to Great Adventure safari and theme park by ourselves. That's right I went alone. I bought season passes. I had passes last year too but this year I had to pay for the kids. I guess it was well worth it too since last year they didn't go on any rides and this year they want to go on everything.

We went to Animal Kingdom with the MOMS Club.

We went to Grounds for Sculpture and Sayen Gardens to walk around.

What new foods, recipes or restaurants did I try this month?

I didn't do so well with the meal planning this month. I kind of got stressed out and it fell on the back burner. In conclusion we did a lot of take out because of this.

What special or unusual purchases did I make?

I took the plunge and bought a Zutter Bind it All. I wanted to start making my own scrapbooks and recipe books. So far I have only made one book which I'm sending to my grandmother as a cheer me up package in the mail this week. I will post pictures of it sometime this week.

While shopping yesterday I picked up 3 beautiful spiral bound journals. All are different. I plan on using these journals for each child noting anything special that happens in their lives or things that they have said or done. Now, if only I can remember to write in them on a daily basis.

What were this month's disappointments?

I didn't get to my son's closet or even the play room as much as I wanted to. Luckily, it's my goal for next month to tackle the play room.

What were my accomplishments this month?

I sold 20 photo tickets for the MOMS Club photo fund raiser which entitles me to many photos for free. The event was sold out. We sold over 120 tickets total as a group which raised $1,200 for Sandra's family who passed away from breast cancer at age 42.

I completed 49 scrapbook pages and didn't even include the last couple of days in that total.

I started to convert my laundry from folding to hanging. I managed to get my husband to add a new shelf in the girls closet. I got rid of a ton of toys and some clothing that they out grew.

Anything else noteworthy to record?


For more roundups go to Katie the Scrapbook Lady's Blog.

Grandma - Get Well Soon

My grandmother is home from the hospital. She's very weak and feeling nauseous from all the medicines. She can't see the children for a while because of her immune system being weak.

I'm Worried

My grandmother was rushed to the hospital this afternoon. She was diagnosed with cancer this month and started chemo therapy on Tuesday. Was released from the hospital on Wednesday. I tried calling her on Thurs for the phone to just ring and ring. Never got to talk to her. Today I called to let my kids talk to her as they love doing that and when they called my grandfather said that there was an emergency and that he couldn't talk. That was at 4 pm. I called my sister around 5 pm and she had no idea what was going on. My sister lives only 5 minutes away from my grandparents where I live an hour away. I call my parents. My dad tells me that they called 911 because my grandmother fainted. He said that her heart rate was low when the ambulance came. My mom went in the ambulance with my grandmother. When she got to the hospital her heart rate went back to normal. However, at 7 pm she was still waiting to see the doctor. At 10 pm I called my moms cell phone and got voice mail. She must still be at the hospital then. It's 11:30 and I'm so worried not hearing anything is awful. For those of you who pray please pray that my grandmother is okay.

Big Digital Sale

No I don't work for this designer. Just wanted to pass along a good sale. I just purchased 9 of her kits for $7.

Royanna says GOOD BYE...
to over 3 1/2 years of Digi Design products!!!!

Take advantage of her SPRING CLEANING MADNESS -
as she retires over 100 of her 485 products FOREVER
- to make room for several NEW & FRESH product lines!

All products priced from .25 to $2.00! Including New Releases
All commercial products priced under $1.50 each!
"Can you say GOOD BUY?"

SALE through Monday, June 2nd!

Check out my boutique here:
http://www.divinedigital.com/boutique/manufacturers.php?manufacturerid=37

A Tisket, A Tasket...It's a Carnival of Baskets!

Laura over at Organized Junkie is hosting a Basket Carnival today.

Here is my closet in my master bathroom. I started to purchase the dollar baskets to hold all my CVS and shopping purchases. Okay, I think I don't need any more toothpaste, shampoos or razors for a long time. Each basket holds a different item and they are all literally full.

Child's Play Room

Okay, I am sick and tired of picking up after them. Why is it that they just don't see the mess? They can make it in like 2 minutes flat but then refuse to clean it up. My husband and I got so fed up with all their crap that we took all their toys and chairs and placed them in their toy room and locked the door. Now, they have to earn each toy back when they are good. I started to clean out their room. I already threw about 2 bags of trash out and have 2 bags of toys ready to be donated.

Here's a great blog entry about making a "Lost and Found" basket. I think I may try this method.

Kit I made - Hope

With my grandmother on my mind I made this kit for SNL38 called HOPE. To read more about what SNL38 is go here.

I've Been Tagged!

I've been tagged by Michaele.

Here is what I have to do once tagged..

1. Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog

2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.

3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.

4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Let's see.....here are my 7 facts...

1. I love cats even though I am allergic to them. I used to have 2 cats but now only have one cat.

2. I pig out on twizzlers. No I don't like the regular kind. I crave the Pull-n-Peel kind. I purchase a bag once a week.

3. I've lived in New Jersey since 1996.

4. Other than digital scrapbooking.....blogging and reading blogs takes up most of my free time.

5. I so want to go on a cruise! I've been on many cruises and they are the best type of vacation. The last one I went on was back in 2005 for my 10 year anniversary. Yes, the kids were only about 6 months old. My in-laws and mom took turns watching them while I was away. That was the last vacation I had taken and so look forward to getting away again.

6. I so hate thongs even though my husband loves them. I wear high riser undies which my husband calls "Diapers". Ever since my c-section I haven't felt comfortable wearing bikini undies.

7. Finally...........most who frequent my blog know this already...but of course I have to mention it again - I watch Days of Our Lives faithfully every day. Been watching this show since I was in high school or maybe even earlier. I am such a fan I even entered the Sweep Away the Everyday contest that Libman is hosting. The contest is a trip to Hollywood plus a tour of the studio for 2 people. So if I won who would I take? I think I would take my best friend Debbie since she also has watched the show. She doesn't watch it as much now but she knows all the actresses and actors. We would have a blast. Here's wishful thinking.

...let's see, who can I tag now ->
Bonnie, Karla, Margie, Paris, Katie, Laura and Bonnie.

Now off I go to let them all know

Deco Pages CT Challenges

Here is a sneak peek of what you will receive if you participate in the June 08 Gallery Hunt Challenge located at Deco-Pages. There are 2 other challenges lyric and journaling that is also new that will continue in June.


It's not too late to participate in May's Challenges as they are going until the end of the month. You can find the journaling challenge here, the lyrics challenge here and the gallery hunt challenge here. Hope to see you there!

May 21 - Girls Closet

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CT Grunged Up

Bonnie Van Esch has a new paper pack called "Grunged Up" You can purchase it here.

Here is the page I made using the backgrounds. You can see the other credits here.

Menu Plan Monday

I haven't been menu planning. Bad Girl! Yes, my life has been hectic when no meals have been planned so this week I finally sat down and made a plan for the week. Hopefully it will relieve some stress. I got my Kraft Magazine so many of the recipes below are from this month's magazine.

Sunday - Kathy's Delicious Whole Slow Cooker Chicken

Mon - Beef Stir Fry. A very simple recipe. The recipe calls for chicken but I had beef on hand so I just made that.

Tues - Mozzarella Beef Burgers with french fries and corn on the cob

Wed - Sweet BBQ Chicken Kabobs and zucchini

Thurs - Fiesta Chicken Enchiladas

Fri - Grilled steak and vegetable salad

Sat - The simple stir fry (chicken) I actually marinated the chicken and put it in the freezer. Probably will bake it since I don't know how to use our grill

For more meals visit I'm an Organizing Junkie's Blog.

The Girls Closet

The month of May we are decluttering and organizing the children's rooms. I'm an Organizing Junkie is running a monthly decluttering where each month is a different room we focus on. I didn't do much so far but I did tackle the girls closet. They share it. This is the before photo.

I had my husband install another rack so now they can reach their clothes easily. I put their jackets on top. Their dresses, matching outfits, pants and tops are on the bottom. He removed the bookshelf that we had on the right and moved it into their toy room which still needs to be cleaned out. I moved the iris cart to where the book shelf was and added a laundry basket so now they can toss their dirty cloths into the basket. I need to get another basket for empty hangers.

Come join us this month in organizing our children's rooms here at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Which TV Mom Are You?

Which TV Mom Are You?

My Result: Lois

You are Lois from Malcolm in the Middle. From coming up with punishments to putting together interesting combinations of leftovers for dinner, there's never any doubt who's running the show at home: It's you. You're pragmatic and proficient, but keeping your kids in line, keeping them fed, and keeping within your budget probably leaves you feeling harried. Sometimes after shouting out orders or admonishments, you might feel more like a monster than a mother.
But there's never any doubt that you love your kids and are a mama bear when it comes to protecting them: just ask anyone who's ever tried to criticize them. You've got an extra sense for sniffing out trouble and are a genius when it comes to coming up with tricks for nipping it in the bud.

What are you?
http://web.tickle.com/jumpto?test=tvmomogt&c=50652

Family

Difficult Time

I have been dealing with some difficult times so haven't had a chance to post. Please say some prayers for me and my family.

Linen Closet Layout

Credits

Fortune Cookie Quote

There appear to be many clouds; but they quickly pass.

I received this quote in my fortune cookie this week when we went out for dinner. I'm dealing with some difficult times right now both financially and emotionally.

Tonight I found out that my grandmother has cancer. I've been having a difficult time dealing with this news. I so do not want to lose my grandma now. So for those who read my blog can you please say a prayer for my grandmother and me to help deal with this illness.

If I don't blog as much now this is the reason why.