PANIC TIME!!!!

OK, this is me every single year around mid-October. Its time to begin making my Christmas goodies and gifts.

I think so far I will make my usual list of goodies and I try to add something new each year, but
for now my list consists of:

Fudge - 3-5 lbs
Peanut-butter Balls - 5 doz
Oreo Truffles - 5 doz
Ritz Kit-Kat Rounds - 5 doz
Christmas Bark - 2 pans

Chocolate Chip Cookies - 2 doz
Snicker-doodles - 2 doz

hmmm....so far that's what I'm going with. I need to get out my books and see what else intrigues me. lol

I am still working on a layette set for my newest Granddaughter due Nov 1st. My family just keeps growing and growing!

It's so crazy, when I was a little girl there were 6 years between my sister and I. We were very close growing up, but I remember when she moved out I felt so alone. I would beg my Mom and Dad to adopt so I would have more siblings. I always wanted a large family, because as I grew older the family got smaller & smaller as people passed on.

Now I have 3 wonderful grown children whom I am VERY proud of. Each of them has a significant other and I have 2 soon to be 3 Granddaughters, and now my oldest Niece and her Daughter are living up here! This Thanksgiving I am going to be very blessed with a table of 12 family members. Unfortunately my soon to be son in-law is in Afghanistan so he won't be able to join us. But I pray for his safe return so he will be able to next year! :)

I LOVE my family....God has certainly blessed me!!!

Soon I will need to start working on a Christmas list. :)

Wow...

Ok, I am fuming!

I love how Child Support cases just close automatically based upon ZERO facts! I called about mine just a few minutes ago because I hadn't received a payment in several weeks now. Well since they said my Daughter was of age now (18) that the case is closed. My reply "Ummm I hate to break it to you but my Daughter is still in school!" So she tells me to have the school send them a letter, she said "Oh they will know what to do, it happens all the time!!!". Now wouldn't that be a big red flag, if it happens all the time then why the hell don't you people VERIFY it before ASSuming they are out!

I don't know if that's just Florida or all States. But to be honest the man didn't pay child support for the first 5 years until I threatened to go to court. Of which time he knew they would raise it on him so he went down to have it taken out of his check monthly. And now what does Florida want to do?! They want to end it before the child is even out of school and on her own!

I apologize for venting publicly like this. I normally do not, but I am so ANGRY right now I just had to get this off my chest!

It's time for an update!

Wow its been months since I last updated.

Alot has happened since my last post. I had 2 more surgeries and am finally getting back to my old self again. Thank you God!!!

My oldest Daughter and I celebrated our birthday, we had a wonderful time with family. :) I can't believe she is 24 now. Time sure does fly....I never really took that saying to heart until I had children.

My youngest Daughter went to NY with her boyfriend. He took his 2 weeks from Afghanistan and they had a wonderful trip. She got to see NY before I did! lol One of these days though, I will make it up there. I would especially love to see a broadway play....I will someday soon. :) Her boyfriend is back in Afghanistan and doing well. We are praying for his safe return home.

Lets see....what else has been going on.

Oh I recently finished a small toddler afghan for my oldest Granddaughter. I used the Sugar n Cream yarn, and the Lion Brand Baby Block pattern. It was a really fun pattern, I might make another one using the same pattern!

I am still working on my youngest daughters afghan. Making one square at a time! lol I try to make squares using different patterns yet keeping the same color scheme and the same size squares. I am so anxious to get it finished so I can work on another one!

My husbands birthday is coming up. I know our race tickets were birthday gifts for one another but I still want to get him something nice and take him to a nice restaurant.

Business is also going really well for Edible Prints, I am having so much fun with it!!!

Welcome CFH Bloghoppers!!!

WOO HOO! I am so excited, this is my first year participating not only in the CFH Bloghop but with Cards For Heroes in general. I am so happy I found this group, it is one way I feel I can help the troops, I just wish I could do so much more!

Cardmakers from all over the world make and donate blank cards that are then shipped to our CFH shippers. From there they are sorted and repaired if necessary then shipped to our Armed Forces, which are then used by the Soldiers to send to their families back home.

We also send the Soldiers cards as gratitude and encouragement. As you can see, I am a beginner when it comes to cardmaking but that's OK. It doesn't matter if your experienced or have never made a card in your life! You can do it as well as your children, make it a family event or girlfriend get together time. Here is one I have made to send to them.


If at this point your confused and have no idea what I am talking about then chances are you did not come here through the CFH Bloghop! lol Let me explain a little bit of what is going on. Today, Saturday May 23 at noon Pacific time, a giant button will appear at the top of the beginning page linking to the first blog, and that blog will link to the next...and so on!

PLEASE start at the beginning by clicking on the button to your right, last count I heard there were over 130 bloggers joining in, so you don't want to miss this!!!

Now it's time to move on to the next CFH cardmaker, Donna. She is from the Philippines and has an example of her gorgeous card she is sending to the Soldiers.

Thank you for stopping by to visit and good luck on your CFH Bloghop journey. We would love to have you join us!
ScrappyDonna

Lets see...what have I been up to you ask?

First of all I want to say I hope all the Mom's had a beautiful Mothers Day. That is one day that is/will always be hard for me. As this makes the 10th Mothers Day without my Mama. She was my rock, my best friend and always had the answers I needed. I know you are here with me all the time, but I still miss you very much Mama.

Now as for myself, I had a wonderful relaxing Mothers Day. I spent time on the lake with my amazing husband, all 3 of my awesome kids and I got to see my 2 gorgeous Granddaughters! My family means the world to me, I just love each of them so much and I can't imagine life without them.

Also some more very cool news, so here I was just tweeting along on Twitter minding my own business when out of the blue I have this woman out of no where start following me around...tweet, tweet! I take a look to see just who this woman is and low and behold she is a member of an AMAZING group called "Cards For Heroes"...the mission behind it all : "To support our nation’s armed forces by sending blank greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them"

It's wonderful for anyone who loves to make cards, and even your children could get involved. I think it's a wonderful way of saying thank you to all the men and women out there serving our country. Its so minor compared to what they are out there doing for all of us! Anyway, I could go on and on, so I will just say this...please go check it out & help spread the word. While your there sign up for the Summer 25+2 Challenge. I got my CFH stamp in the mail today & am ready to use it. I have already started making cards, I am SO excited!!!

May 5th...its Cinco de Mayo!

Well I have had the surgery now, and many tests run...more then I'd like! I just hope we don't have to do anymore. I go back to the surgeon tomorrow for my post op visit. Something still isn't right though...I guess I will have to wait and see what she thinks is going on. blah!

On another note, we have a new addition to our family! Lil Bella Mae, a miniature schnauzer. She was 12 weeks old when we got her. She is an absolute sweetheart and so smart! We got her 2 days before my surgery and in that time (we've only had her 2 weeks now) she is potty trained to use her pad (sometimes she accidentally misjudges and misses it lol) and knows the command sit! Such a smart lil girl. She will get the last of her booster shots in 2 weeks then I can start taking her for walks and potty training outside.

Here is another one of her giving my youngest Daughter a kiss! lol




I have also gotten more involved in scrapping and card making and I am having a blast! I had never done any stamping or card making before, and oh my goodness...this could become a very quick addiction! LOL

I'm still crocheting, working on 2 different afghans. I'm hoping to have the largest one finished up here soon.


Oh and I came across an AWESOME tip that I'd like to share!!!

If you don't have a Cuttlebug and would like to emboss here is a neat little trick...use a ROLLING PIN! I would have never thought of that! I found that tip on a forum somewhere, sorry I can't remember where to give credit. I have bookmarked so many lately! lol

You will need-
Rolling Pin
Spray Bottle
Embossing Folder
Tape
Paper

1. Spritz your paper. This makes the paper more plyable, the paper will take the embossing easier.
2. Tape the Folder closed. Otherwise while you are trying to use the rolling pin the Folder will keep opening up and the paper will move.
3. Start rolling. I have found that if you use the edges of the rolling pin you will get deeper embossing marks. It will be trial and error getting use to how much pressure to use. And thats it!
   

Well back to looking for some of that good candy! ;)
Have a great day!

I was going to post an update...

But I think I will do it later today. I'm starting to get sleepy now...go figure its morning time now! *sigh*

Its Thursday March 26th...

My Niece is due to head up in 2 more days, I am SO excited!!! Its been 6 years since I have seen her and now she has a 5 yr old! I am very anxious to meet my Grand-Niece! I have a few things planned while she is here. I'm sure we will have a lot of fun!

Now on to something else rather important going on...I purchased a Cricut Expressions *SCREAMS*!!! OMG I LOVE LOVE LOVE this thing! LOL Of course that has encouraged me to get back into scrapping again. Something I hadn't touched in over 10 yrs. It was one of those passions I lost after my Mom passed away. Now I feel like I am finding myself all over again by picking up the things I always loved to play with. I feel like a child again playing with all the paper & glue! lol

It also helps to take my mind off of my latest medical findings. At the moment all I know is my spine is twisting and my liver is enlarged. I do have an appointment set up to go back to my spine Dr. again. I am still waiting to hear the results of my ultra sound I had Friday. I am hoping to hear something today.

Now off in search of some "Candy"!!!

**ATTENTION** Blog Candy Alert!!!

So here I am blog surfing when I come across this blog offering "Blog Candy". I go on to read and let me tell you I began to get goosebumps...I must have this candy!!!!

Stop by and check it out for your chance to win some "Blog Candy" trust me you wont be disappointed! LOL

Susie's Candy
Ends March 21st

TGIF!!!

Although Friday really has no bearing on my daily life other then it means my husband has a day off coming up. :) It truly is just another day of the week so to speak...but I still get excited when Friday comes. lol

I am very excited though that this weekend we turn our clocks forward YES!!! This is my FAVORITE time of the year, for me it means warmer days/nights to be outside and LONGER at that!!! Although I love the season changes, Winter starts to take a toll on me and my mood. So I am really excited about Spring being right around the corner! :)

I'm also very excited about my Niece coming to visit us at the end of the month. I haven't seen her in about 6+ yrs now. She is all grown up and has a little girl of her own. Time sure does fly when your not paying attention.

I'm currently still working on my Daughters granny square afghan, but I'm trying to figure out what pattern I want to go with for my Granddaughters "blankie" as she calls it. :) I was thinking maybe a v-stitch pattern but I'm just not sure. I have so many beautiful pastel colors for it so I'm really excited to get started on it! :)

Its Crafty Thursday!

At least thats what day it is in my calendar! ;)

I actually didn't get a whole lot done on my Daughters afghan yesterday. I spent the majority of the day working on my eBay store and taking care of my sick Granddaughter.

I'm hoping to get quite a few squares done today and I still need to get some pictures posted of the things I have recently completed.

Well I'm back at it again!

I just made this blog, in the hopes that I can share my tips/experiences with others. As well as share my addiction for crafts.

I am the wife of such a wonderful understanding PATIENT man! LOL A Mom of 3 awesome kids, that are all grown up now...my last Daughter (the 17 yr old baby) is the only one left at home. I have 2 gorgeous granddaughters that mean the world to me. I am also Mommy to two fur babies.

I am fairly content with my life, other then the fact that I know deep down the last child will be leaving soon. I can feel the "empty nest" syndrome wanting to show its ugly face. But I keep reminding myself I am very close to my children, not a day goes by that I don't hear from at least 2 of the 3 if not all 3. In addition the summers are the best time for all of us. We all get together for cookouts and outings etc, which is really fun!

It also will mean more time for my hobbies/crafts...hmmmm :)

I sometimes wonder if I have some sort of problem though. I mean I certainly can't be the only one out there that falls victim to getting hooked on one craft or hobby then dropping it right in the middle to take on another.....or am I?! LOL

It's kinda funny because all it takes is something to catch my eye and its "OHHHH I'd like to try that!!!" Of course my hubby gives me that look...you know the one, the look of OMG not ANOTHER craft! ROFL

I have an amazing husband though that I think has finally accepted how I am, I mean he must have or he wouldn't have given me a $120 gift card for AC Moore for Valentines Day right?! And boy did I have fun buying up some yarn! ROFL

I am currently back on the crocheting kick. It all started when we visited my Mother in-law over the holidays and she mentioned crocheting an afghan. I got to thinking I'd like to get back into that again. Right now my current project is making my youngest Daughter a granny square afghan with "funky" colors for a teenager. I just finished a V-pattern scarf the other day which she seems to really like. Of course the other 2 kids are disappointed that I haven't made them anything yet. LOL Gimmie time, I'll get to it I promise!

So for now, I guess I better get back to the crocheting if I'm going to get anything finished. Oh and I almost forgot, I'm also in the process of making my fur baby a sweater too! :) I am so hooked on crocheting I tell ya! LOL