All moved in!

We're almost all moved in! Except for hanging some pictures and curtain rods, and setting up the last of the VCR's, DVD's, Wii's and all the other electronic junk that I'm no good with, we are officially apartment dwellers. DH says we're "scrubs" now, whatever that means : )

Trying to fit our stuff into this widdlebiddy apartment has been interesting. But it will be fun to see how much we can survive with (or without). I may not need 2 tons of Tupperware and most of the scrapbooking stuff I never used anyway! By the end of our 8 months here, we may just have a huge "moving in" sale and sell half of what's been in storage.

The best thing about this place is DH is a mile from work. It takes him 7 minutes to get to work and 5 minutes to get home. He said something yesterday about missing the "down time" he got during his former 15-20 minute drive home. I looked at him like he was crazy. I love having him home at 6:08 instead of 6:24. Hey, sixteen minutes makes a big difference in whether or not your pasta is past its prime, y'know?

All in all, we're looking forward to a VERY happy new year, and hope you are, too!

On The Move...

Guess what? Our house sold! It's been on the market for a little over 3 months and the right people finally came along. Guess what else? They want to close on December 29th. OMG....

We looked at some houses this morning, while two showed potential, they weren't "perfect". We've been so spoiled with this house, finding anything that comes anywhere near acceptable is going to be quite difficult. We'll continue to look, and may end up renting until we can find the perfect home, or decide to build something of our very own.

Meghan's having a hard time with it. She doesn't like looking at houses. Trying to explain to her that someone is going to buy our house and we can't live there anymore is going to be hard. I'm hoping the transition will go smoothly, but that's a lot of change for an almost-4-year-old.

I'm praying for strength, patience and understanding, and peace. Strength for all the boxes I'll be packing, patience and understanding for helping Meghan get through this, and peace for my mind and heart.

I LOVE this time of year!

I love fall, Thanksgiving, getting ready for Christmas, the crisp air, the aroma of cinnamon and spices...this is MY time of year! I look forward to days spent with family and friends, indulging myself in foods of the season, and polishing my toes in festive hues for Holiday parties.

It's hard keeping my inner-Martha Stewart in check, though...Magazines team with crafty ideas that {OMG} I can do myself! So today I plan to mix up some Russian Spiced Tea and fill these altered Prima jars (left) for Meghan's teachers' gifts. I mean, what's better than a little homemade goodness? I feel like I give a little bit of myself with each homemade goodie.

I love the crafts I can do with Meghan! On Monday, we made a wreath out of construction paper handprints and a paper plate, and wrote something Meghan was thankful for on each hand. Of course, there were the obvious things, like Mommy and Daddy, and some of her toys, but then she'd say "making hot cocoa with Grammy" and it would make my heart smile : ) You can't buy memories.

So here's to Homemade Holidays...go make yours great!

Meghan's First Dentist Visit!!!

Miss Meghan surprised the pants off me today by being the model patient while having her teeth cleaned. In fact, she's such an expert now that as soon as it was my turn, she told me, "Now you have to sit real still, Mommy"...hehehe! Anyway, the big dork that I am, I brought my camera. What? I HAD to...

A good cleaning by Miss Judy


Dr. Cranford double checking...


Showing off those pearly whites


Did you see those awesome sunglasses in the first picture? ; )
Meghan chose a racecar themed toothbrush instead of the predictable princess brush. She got a whole goodie bag full of fun stuff, and two stickers for her shirt. What did we do to celebrate? Went to get ice cream...here's to job security, Dr. Cranford!

Happy Halloween!!!

Happy Halloween everybody! I can't wait to get Meghan into her homemade Sleeping Beauty costume tonight (THANKS MOM!!!!!) so I can get a pic of her for November's contest at Memory Book Inspirations! This is such an easy challenge, and what an awesome prize!

http://memorybookinspirations.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=94&t=5368

I love looking at all the costumes people come up with. Our Halloween costumes were always homemade; I remember being a jar of jelly beans, a princess (of course, don't all girls have to be a princess at least once?), a ghoul, a country gal (that one was fun), and the Pink Panther. To me, it's way more fun to think up a costume and see it come to fruition, than just go to WalMart and buy the same plastic and nylon get-up as everyone else. Now if you do that, that's fine, it's just not as fun for me.

Meghan's Halloween history includes being a cheerleader (1st year), Cinderella (ok, I bought this one but there's not a lot of selection for girls ages 12-18 months...), and last year she was a strawberry (proudly handmade) for which she received many compliments!

I think people like seeing homemade things. Life has become all too "easy" and it's dumbing us down. We no longer have to put on our thinking caps, because someone's already thought of everything for us. Let's take a stand in 2009 to think for ourselves a little bit more, not only at Halloween, but every day!!!

Have a SAFE and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

It's all about the gourds...

Wow, what a day!

We decided to pick out a pumpkin while Grammy was visiting and give it a paint job. After Meghan told us what she wanted on her pumpkin (two triangle eyes, a triangle nose and a big smile), I drew it on with a Sharpie and gave her free reign with the black paint. Except that she didn't fill in the shapes, she painted around them. So we have a reverse Jack 'O Lantern. Wanna bet it's the only one? ; )

Click on the play button:


So after we got done painting on Jack's face, I got the wild idea to turn some decorative waxed gourds into votive holders. My mom was SO thrilled with this idea (yeah right). But, I think they came out nicely! Here's my Martha Stewart project for the day:

My latest creation

I've spent what free time I have during the last 2 days making this beaded bracelet. It's certainly not for everyone, but I love the colors I used: browns, oranges, greens and dark purples. It reminds me of harvest colors.



I think I'm about jewelry'd out. The upcoming craft fair at my mom's church has had me making enough jewelry, altered items, and handmade cards to last me a LONG time! Of course, there's still a lot more I'd like to do, but a trip to the craft store is imperative...I'm running out of necessities! *gasp!*

CyberCrop Time!

This weekend is the quarterly CyberCrop at Memory Book Inspirations! I'm planning to get a lot done, I have tons of pictures to scrap! The theme is Fabulous '50s, so it should be lots of fun! Hope to see y'all there!

www.memorybookinspirations.com

Timing is everything...

Y'know how when you see an ad for Coca Cola, it makes you want a Coca Cola. And if you don't have one in the house, you want it even more. A very good example of very bad timing.

So, anybody have a clue what's going on with our country? Good timing for this whole economic crisis, isn't it? Gas prices shoot up, Wall Street doesn't know their head from a hole in the ground, thousands of people's jobs are in jeopardy and we just listed our house. All in the midst of one of the most passionate elections in history. Good timing, huh? DH says that selling our house is the least of our worries...all those poor folks who got evicted from their McMansions are going to be looking for a new place real soon ; )

Meghan's 1st Day of Preschool!!!

It's finally arrived...Meghan's first day at preschool! The "prep work" started last week, and this morning when I reminded her that today was her big day, she was pretty excited.

As I was driving her to school, my hands were shaking and my stomach was in knots. I literally thought I would be sick. Why am I so nervous about this? SHE'S the one going to school, not me! So I walk her in and see all the other parents with their kids, most are dressed to the nines...then here comes Meghan in her pink shirt, denim shorts, and her infamous green, blue, and silver "rocket shoes". Oh Lordy.

After she was settled in her class, bookbag stowed under her cubby and toys doled out, I managed a quick hug and kiss before the teachers politely ushered all of us parents out the door. "They'll be fine, don't worry! It's ok, really!" For 2 hours and 45 minutes I worried that she was unhappy, or that the kids were being mean to her, or that she missed me and I wasn't there...was I even doing the right thing?

So at 11:45 (more like 11:55) I picked her up from preschool and she seemed very happy to see me. She talked non-stop all the way home about what she did, what they read, who she met, what they ate for snack (water, long pretzels and circle cookies with spots) and anything else she could think of. It was the first time I felt "out of the loop" with my own child. Finally, she asked me what I did while she was in school. She asked it with a note of concern in her voice, like what I was doing might have been more fun than what she was doing (not a chance, honey). I reassured her that all I did was run errands and do laundry and she seemed quite content with that.

I'm sure drop-offs will get easier as the days go by. I'm slowly losing pieces of her, a little bit here, a little bit there. I guess it takes me losing the pieces for her to eventually find herself : )

So many things I want to do...

...while Meghan is in preschool. While I'd like to think that I'll spend my time cleaning, grocery shopping, working on the website, etc., I have a feeling I'll find myself perusing Tuesday Morning, sipping coffee at the local cafe (uninterupted, thank you very much), or thinking up new projects to work on, like making some of those super cute hair bows that Meghan won't wear...

I have a feeling that two mornings a week won't afford me the time that I think I might need. Is it bad to say I wish I'd signed her up for 3 days a week?

In all honesty, I'm having a hard time believing that it's really almost September. Which means that Thanksgiving is just around the corner, Christmas will be here before I can blink, then Meghan's birthday, Spring Break, another beach trip...oh my head is spinning.

Like those insurance commercials say, Life Comes At You Fast. Catch it and enjoy the ride!!!

Yes, I've been MIA...

Well, not really. I've been here, there, and everywhere! This summer has been chocked full of fun stuff. We went to the beach in June, Carowinds, Chimney Rock, and a Knights baseball game in July, and so far, a family reunion this month. Whew!

In this picture, Meghan, Tim and cousin JT are building castles in the sand!


And these pictures are from our Carowinds/Chimney Rock adventure!






I'm looking forward to my friend visiting later this month. I haven't seen her in about a year, and we're going to the CK Convention together! It's going to be so much fun!

Meghan starts preschool on September 2nd! It's only 2 days a week, from 9 to 12. She's really looking forward to going to school, and I think the interaction will be good for her. Not to mention that mommy is looking forward to some quiet time!

Memory Book Inspirations is participating in Dalton's Crop for Autism on September 6th. For more information, visit www.daltonhelpfoundation.org or click the link to the right.

We're really not doing much else this month...just trying to stay cool in this 100 degree weather. Hope you had a superfun, supercool summer, too!!!

These Are Heroes?

"These are heros?" is what my daughter asked me out of the blue today as we stood in the Armory parking lot and helped to welcome the 218th Infantry Brigade back to Rock Hill from Afghanistan. I didn't know she knew that word. I didn't know she knew in what context it should be used.

As we walked around the hall, looking at the posters, coloring pages, and "Welcome Home" banners, I have to admit, I felt a little out of place. We didn't know anyone, didn't have any family members to greet like a lot of other attendees, but I felt like it was important to show Meghan what a true hero is. It's not someone who's dressed in blue and red and wears a cape or throws cobwebs. It's someone sporting combat boots and fatigues. Someone who's been missing their family for 18 months. Someone who's never met their daughter. Someone who prayed over a wounded friend. Someone who lost that friend. I realized right then that I take a lot for granted.

So as we listened to Toby Keith sing "American Soldier", reading the sentiments on the banners, waiting for the soldiers to come in, I could hardly hold my emotions in. Why? I didn't KNOW anyone! It wasn't MY husband coming home. But they were someone's. As they marched in, I held Meghan and whispered "those are heroes". We stood during the National Anthem, and closed our eyes during the prayer, and left. I felt strange staying there. I don't know why, we just had to go.

"These are heroes?" Yes baby, these are heroes.

June's Challenge at MBI

Easy and fun, and totally worth the $25 Gift Certificate!!!
http://memorybookinspirations.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=94&t=4615

I want to see what YOU can do!

Celebrate National Scrapbooking Day with me!

Join me at Memory Book Inspirations on Saturday, May 3rd for an all-day cybercrop to celebrate National Scrapbooking Day! Should be tons of fun, with challenges, games, prizes and a super store sale! Hope to scrap with you soon!

Click here for more info: http://memorybookinspirations.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=121&t=4565

Crop Time at MBI!

It's time for another CYBERCROP at Memory Book Inspirations! Got pictures? Come on over and scrap with us!!!!

http://memorybookinspirations.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=4398&hilit=

Need a little Tim Holtz fix?

Hey all you scrapbookers...if you're a Tim Holtz fan, check out the exclusive interview we snagged with him at Memory Book Inspirations!

http://memorybookinspirations.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=4051&hilit=