Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Another Family Reunion!

July is family month for us!!! Here are some photos from the Manley-Goodman-Corbin family reunion. This reunion is pretty much all about the kids. My cousins are all pretty much in the same age group and we are all poppin' out little ones left and right. Which is a good thing because Little Man most likely isn't getting any more first cousins! So, I'm glad he will have a ton of second cousins his age! :D

Here he is getting into trouble. Pretty campsite, huh? We've been going here for about 25 years now.

I couldn't get enough of this little guy and his adorable eyes! He's my cousin's friend's soon-to-be adopted son. In the first two months of his life he'd been through so much but the system worked for him and now he is so loved and adored it's ridiculous! I loved him!
Here's my aunt Linda. I love her smile! :D

This is my cousin Joe's wife, Shari. They brought their six-week old baby girl, Sage. I loved her, too. I didn't hold her though, I was just at the tail end of a cold and so I just took pictures of her every time I saw her! LOL!

My aunt Shawnie. I love her so much!!!

My cousin Lizzie and her little man, Cole. They are so stinkin' cute!!! Juicy lips abound for that part of the family!

Mickey, rockin' a faux-hawk!!! (Andrew hated it! Hee!)

Payton marshalling her troops!


An evening visitor!

The moon reflecting over the swimming area.

The whole gang!!! (Thanks to my tripod and remote!!)

Nick!!! He's three months younger than Mickey and he wasn't feeling very well. But, he's still as cute as all get out with that hair and that grin!!! Love him!!!

Here she is!! Baby Sage! She's got her daddy wrapped around her finger like nobodies business!!!
Payton, again! Love this kid! Alot!!!
Keilei and Marnie sharing some secrets! Keilei hadn't made an appearance at the reunion for six years so it was pretty cool to have her there. They are flippin' gorgeous aren't they!!!
Marnie's middle daughter, Skye. She found a dead catfish and in proper Manley family tradition, brought it up for everyone to see! :D

Hope you enjoyed our reunion! I know I did. Even with the park ranger coming by to tell us that we were singing too loud it was a great time. I start looking forward to this reunion on the drive home. :D

Thursday, July 17, 2008

A Few Photos from Last Weekend

My Uncle Bob and Aunt LeeAnne. These two are the neatest! Promise! :D
Little Man getting some "help" from his cousin. :D She's a cutie, ain't she? (I'm from Canby, I can say ain't!!!)
Little Man showing that he doesn't need any help! (What is it with men and wheelies? I totally thought I had a few more years before he started doing them!)
The gang hanging out in the kitchen.
Doing a quilting puzzle in honor of the Quilt Show in Sisters! I didn't go with, I went shopping in Bend. :D Yummy scrap stores there!
This is my cousin Kelley and her husband Dreas. She is Bob and LeeAnne's daughter. And...she's pregnant!!! Squeal!!! Whoo-hooo!! I'm majorly excited and just minor-ly jealous!

Aunt Linda and Uncle Jeff. Don't you love her shirt? It's even cooler in person! I so want scrapbook paper like that shirt!
Uncle David and Aunt Cindy. We were celebrating their birthdays. They are 100!!! :D


Well, that's the highlights. We had a nice time in SunRiver reconnecting with family. I'm looking forward to this weekend and some more family time! And, camping!!! :D

Erica
:D

Monday, July 14, 2008

And, the winner is...

...Jingle!!! :D

E-mail me your mailing address at melegs@hotmail.com and I'll get those stamps out to you!

Thanks everyone for all of your great links and suggestions!!! :D

Laundry room update...it was textured while we were gone, we primed it last night, I painted it today and Andrew is installing the new flooring right now!!! Depending on how hard it is to install, I may get hot water tonight!!! Oh, yeah, baby!!!

Erica
:D

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Some Cool News and a RAK!!

First up, the good news! I applied to be on the design team for Work In Progress. I really love their kits and their site. You have to check them out! I actually have them bookmarked under Inspiration and not Kit Clubs!! LOL! Anyway, I didn't make the team but they did give me an honorable mention. Pretty cool, huh? :D
Also, my laundry room looked like this last night.





It now looks like this!!! :D



Dry wall, baby! They are coming to appply another coat of goop(technical term) and then hopefully sanding tomorrow afternoon and applying texture. That means we can paint when we get back from SunRiver on Sunday and then move the water heater back in. Yep, I am without hot water at the moment. Fortunately, mom's house is empty and nearby!

My other good news is that I've got my first wedding gig! My husband's best friend is getting married 8-8-08 and the bride to be, Karen, didn't want to hire some stranger to boss everyone around while taking pictures. So, I told her that I'd be sure to take lots of pictures since she didn't have an official photographer. Jackie (our hostess for the Fourth) suggested she "hire" me for the job. Karen was all over it and I think it's pretty cool, too. I'm just going to take a ton of candids and any formal shots that she or the families want. It will be kind of like my cousin's wedding when the pro couldn't make the reception because of an emergency.

So, now for the RAK. I really want to do a good, no make that GREAT job for Ron and Karen. I need your help! Please give me your best outdoor wedding photography tips. Or, if you don't have any link to your favorite wedding photographers site. If you don't have one just tell me what you think of "Candidly, Erica" as the name for my not-quite-a-business name. I'll pick a name from the comments on Sunday and send that person this!


Erica

:D

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

First, the Scrap Room!

As promised, here is my scrap room! I'm hoping that this detailed list will help me get situated in a new place once we move...whenever that may be! :D This room actually used to be Andrew's office but since he never used it, I appropriated it for my goodies!


This is the view from the door. My desk is a computer desk so it doesn't have any drawers, just a pull out for a keyboard. I've got my cutting mats stored there now. Hanging on the wall to the left of the shelves is a magazine rack with some of the books/magazines that get my mojo going!


I have my laptop set up on a wooden TV stand to the left of my desk. Not real classy, but it's functional!


On my desktop from left to right I've got my tool caddy from JetMax. I put floral foam in the bottom of the compartments so that my tools will stand upright. My most used writing utensils are in one drawer of it and replacement blades are in the other. My go-to tools are on the side of it stuck in the little elastic bands.

Next is a little plastic container I got at Target, it has my journaling tags/books and 6x6 and 8x8 paper packs. Then my little garbage can. Yes, it has a label on it and yes, I know that makes me a dork! Hee! Next is a little tin container I got at IKEA that has some bits and pieces and stuff I'd like to use next in it. And, finally my OTT lite.

To the right of my desk, I have four Jet-Max cubes. The ones facing out have adhesive, patterned paper scraps, cardstock scraps and paint in them. The open area has a large white box that I got from WalMart for $5.00 in it!! $5.00!!! You can bet I'll be getting more of those bad boys!!! Inside it is my Kodak 4x6" printer and all it's accessories. Sitting on top of that box is my trimmer and my wax paper. This kid just can't scrap without wax paper any more! :D One of the two cubes that face the door has cardmaking, shaped mini albums, mini albums that need pics and some mini album kits that need assembling. The bottom cube has storage stuff and 8 1/2"x 11" chipboard. On top of those cubes, I have two containers with my bulkier alphas in them. I also tend to put "stuff" there. Right now it's some photos and a cute note pad from Joscie!



This area is just to the right as you walk in. It's pretty tall but, so am I! The little brown cupboard has idea books/magazines and my camera stuff in it. The aqua containers on top are from Martha Stewart. One has photo enlargements in it and the other is currently awaiting an assignment. On top of my cubes I've got extra adhesives in the aqua container on the left. The two white boxes have stamping accessories (blocks/cleaners) and some misc. clear stamps and a few wooden ones. Above them is my SU ink pads and to the right my Quickutz Magpie storage. I have seriously used my dies a lot more since I got that! I can't recommend it enough!

OK, on to my cubes. The four on the right are all paper storage. The top one is cardstock, with a little spill over into the second one. The other three have all my patterned paper in vertical organizers, labeled and in alphabetical order by manufacturer. (Yes, I know this makes me a dork...again!)

The far left cubes are all three-drawer ones. They have buttons, brads/eyelets, metal embellies, misc embellies (x2), flowers/centers, flowers (x2), Heidi Swapp, Making Memories (x2) and Christmas.

The six square drawers have my ribbons in them. Felt in one and then the rest are sorted by color. Each ribbon is in a small plastic bag, labeled if I know who made it and each color is in it's own gallon sized bag. I have one drawer each for green and blue...huge suprise there! LOL! Pink and purple share a drawer as do red, yellow and orange. The last drawer has my neutrals: white, cream, black, brown and metallics. The other cubes have kits, layouts in progress, etc. Oh, and some 12x12 chipboard and felt.


These are the shelves above my desk. The top shelf has gingerbread jars from my wedding, three are filled with foam stamps the other has chipboard shapes.

The next shelf has my altered IKEA drawers (not quite finished) with all my pens in it. The little black container has all my scrapbook related CD's (fonts, digi, pics). The four clear shoeboxes have paper lace, embossing stuff, coloring stuff(sponges, etc) and the last is my miscellaneous box. Hmmm, only halfway through my room and I've already got three miscellaneous areas!

The bottom shelf has my most recent flower purchases, some buttons from a garage sale, wire, a few altered items and my bling in another gingerbread jar. We had a lot of those bad boys at our wedding!

Oh, and just under the shelves I have my doodling stencils hanging.


Last area, I promise! This is my new baby! The top two drawers are my Bind-it-All and coils. The next two house my Quickutz Squeeze and adhesive backed paper. The next two have Basic Grey/Scenic Route and 7 Gypsies/My Minds Eye. Then, two drawers of mini books, ones to make and ones to fill with pictures. The next two drawers have glitter/shimmer powder and a bunch of ribbon I just got from my mom. The final four drawers house my punches. Top left is shapes that I don't use that often, top right is shapes I use all the time. Bottom right is circles, bottom left is squares.

Under my new baby I have another Martha Stewart container that has stuff for a zoo mini book I want to make. Oh, and empty bags for ribbon and/or future garage sales.
This little top area has a completed mini book, some yummy fabric, another gingerbread jar with goodies for making mini books with my Bind-it-all and my binders of acrylic stamps. Two are naked and two are decorated but not labeled.
Whoops! I almost forgot about under my desk! It houses my Revolution, some 8 1/2 x 11 paper in a file box a container of stuff to be altered and a basket of larger mini albums.


Well, I hoped you enjoyed your tour of my scrap room and if you have any questions please let me know!

Our Fourth (Part II) ~The Scotts Mills Edition~

After the parade, we headed home to get ready to go to Scotts Mills and hang out with a group of Andrew's high school buddies.

I had to finish making this cake.

And, pack up these goodies for the kids.
Jason and Jackie (our hosts) have the coolest, kid-friendliest house ever!
They also have a creek in their backyard that Mickey fell in love with.

Well, he fell in love with throwing rocks in it! :D
Speaking of love...
...Mickey loved this trike! He didn't want to stop riding on it all evening! I've been checking out Craig's List and garage sales looking for one for him. :D
Nope, this isn't the goofiest picture I have of my hubby but, it's close!
It finally started to get dark and the kids got to play with sparklers. (Mickey is actually playing with a light-up toy phone, I wasn't about to let him near a sparkler!) Little man went to bed shortly after the sparklers were handed out!
One of the girls lighting a sparkler.
Another cool sparkler shot.
A shot of our legal fireworks.

And, the best shot I got of our illegal fireworks.


My next post will have news of two pretty cool things and some pictures of my scraproom with my new chest in it. It may also just have info about a RAK!!! Tell your friends! LOL!
Erica
:D


Monday, July 7, 2008

Our Fourth (Part I)

We spent the first half of our Fourth of July in Canby. My little hometown celebrates it's namesake on the Fourth with a big General Canby Days celebration. Lots of booths and firetrucks and such in the middle of town. Followed by the Fourth of July/General Canby Days parade.

Lots of cool old cars on display and in the parade. This car had the coolest paint job I've ever seen!I bought the coolest chest ever at a garage sale right across the street from the event. $25.00 was all that this lovely number cost me!
The drawers are 5"x7"x14"!!! Perfect for my scrapbooking goodies!!!

After walking around the booths, we spent quite a bit of time hanging out in Wait Park in the middle of it all. Little man is a huge fan of the slides! He kept wanting to walk up the slides though. I think he's got it figured out now, though. He loves steps, too!
He also enjoyed the parade. Check out his mad clappin' skills!! :D

All the boys (young and old) loved this entry!
This was my favorite float. So flippin' cool! :D

Kickin' back, relaxin'.
Her dress made me think about scrapbooking! LOL!
I loved this tractor!!!

Mickey "moo-ed" when he saw the horses. "Moo" is his word for any animal that isn't a dog, cat or bird. He's a big fan of moo-horses.

A much bigger fan than these guys! LOL!

Hope you all had a great Fourth! I'll get the rest of our day up later.