Meet Lilly!!!

We got a dog!!! Her name is Lilly and she's 13 weeks old and she's a black Great Doodle. A Standard Poodle, Great Dane cross. We adore her!!!

We'd been talking about getting another dog for a while now and first we looked into Greyhounds but then we realized that they don't get along so well with cats. Andrew really likes the shorter haired dogs and I really wanted a larger dog so the next logical choice...a Great Dane!

We researched them for a couple months (okay, I did) and they are fabulous with kids and get along with with other animals including cats! The only downside, a tendency towards bad hips and a short lifespan. I really wanted a 1-2 year old dog so we wouldn't have to deal with the whole puppy issue.

Well, our nephew called us Tuesday night and said that he was off to get a Great Dane puppy. What?!?!?! It turned out that there were two left and they were actually Great Dane, Poodle crosses.

I wasn't sure about the Poodle aspect nor about getting a puppy, but the kids and I headed out to see. Well, when we went inside, I sat down on the couch and one of the puppies laid down right under my legs and stayed there for like ten minutes. Um, yeah, sold!!!

So, we took her home and named her Lilly. Since it was such a last minute thing, we didn't have anything prepared. And, since we got home about 9:30, we didn't have time to run to the store so I slept on the couch that night and Lilly slept on the floor next to me.

The next day, I called the vet first thing and squeezed her in for an afternoon appointment. My dad came by in the morning and gave us a crate and then we ran to Costco and PetSmart to get her some other goodies.

At the vet, we got her updated on shots, found out that she has both a yeast and bacterial infection in her ears and worms. Totally typical puppy stuff. She weighs 22 pounds and handled the trip to the vet amazingly.

She lets us handle her ears, feet and teeth without reaction and is just such a sweetie. I'm working on getting her house broken, leash trained and crate trained. Then, we'll move on to other basic commands. I'm having a harder time with potty training her because the recommendation of tethering her to me indoors kind of freaks me out after Mickey's accident.

The upside to the hard work of having a puppy is that I'm sleeping better than I have in weeks and I don't have those awful flashbacks anymore! Yay!!!

Once we get calmed down around here, I'll have more Lilly pictures to share!

We love our new girl! <3

Punky Sprouts & Paper Trunk!!!

Hey guys! Punky Sprouts is having a fun product swap with Paper Trunk! Each day starting on the 19th and ending on the 28th, visit the Punky Sprouts blog. Each day you'll see a new project featuring Punky Sprouts and Paper Trunk goodies! Along with the projects, there will be a word posted each day. Keep track of those words! At the end of the week, you need to unscramble the words which make a back to school quote. Be sure to note that there are double words in the quote! Once you have figured out the quote, email it to Lynn, the Punky Sprouts DT Coordinator (lynn.reaney@comcast.net) and a winner will be drawn from all the correct entries. Want another chance to win? Visit the Paper Trunk blog and see their design teams' creations all week as well!

Here's my project for the swap! I took one of the newest additions to the Punky Sprouts line up, the Teenie-Beanie Sprout album and Paper Trunk’s Socialite collection and made an inspirational banner for my scrap room.

I’ve been collecting quite a few inspirational quotes in my Pinterest account and decided it was about time to use them.

I read through them and chose a word or two from each one to use on my banner.

I covered the three chipboard pieces with the large floral patterned paper and then sanded down the edges to get a nice white border.

I sprayed designs in coordinating colors on the canvas pieces using a 6x6 Crafter’s Workshop template called Circus Banners.

On the two corrugated pieces, I randomly tore off pieces from the top layer to expose the corrugated core.

I then embellished each piece with Paper Trunk’s Carson letters in white (that I colored black with a Sharpie), die cut elements from the Paper Trunk’s Socialite Collection, Rockabilly Flair and chipboard.

I backed the chipboard flower with patterned paper and trimmed around it before adhering it to the canvas piece. (Tip~Fabri Tac adhesive works wonderfully with canvas!)

I also punched out butterflies, leaves and rolled flowers out of the Socialite Collection and used them as embellishments.

When it came time to decide the order of my banner pieces I was stumped!

I ended up asking Andrew's opinion and he flippantly responded with alphabetical! Well, I tried it and loved it!

Thanks for checking out my album and don’t forget to stop by the Punky Sprouts and Paper Trunk blogs each day!

A Strip Challenge and a Dirty Girl!

Okay, now it's not what it sounds like. LOL!!! A strip challenge is what I've got going on over at the AWDML blog. And, a Dirty Girl is Miss Thing here. I'll post the journaling so you understand what I mean about her being a Girly, Dirty Girl!

Your favorite color is pink, you call your dresses "princess", and you are totally obsessed with shoes. All the makings of a girly girl, yes? Well, you also love wearing your brother's cowboy boots, run around like a maniac, and adore getting dirty. For example, while camping you laid down on your belly, made a dirt angel, and then kissed the dirt! So much for keeping you clean! I love you, my sweet, crazy, dirt-lovin', girly girl!

All you have to do is create a layout using at least five different strips of patterned paper, add it to their gallery and link to this blog post over at AWDML and you'll be entered to win a $5 gift card.

I hope you join in! :)

Right now...

~Mickey has homework in preschool, and he calls it his paperwork. Too funny!

~Audrey says I miss new instead of I miss you. So sweet!
~I'm getting over a two week funk. No motivation for anything. Not sleeping until after 2:00 in the morning kind of does that to a person. I'm doing better now but I'm a bit overwhelmed by the hot mess my house has become. Yikes! Hopefully, my brain will let go of some bad images and let me sleep normally again. I've got to get back to a normal schedule.

~My mom's out of town for two weeks. I dislike this very much. Not only is she one of my closest friends, she's also the babysitter I trust the most. Especially now. She and Larry are going to have a lot of fun and see lots of family so I'm glad they are going.

~Andrew's bowling league has started up again. I'm thinking I need to crash it sometime so I can get some pics and actually scrap something about my husband!

~The kids get along about 80% of the time. 15% of the time they just kind of have little spats and 5% is WWIII. All in all, pretty good percentages, I think!

~I've found a discipline technique that works for us right now and I love it. First offense earns them a time out (# of min = # of years old) and then each offense after that earns them an extra minute added on. So, Mickey starts out with four and then the next time he gets five minutes. So far, the most we've hit in one day is seven minutes. Oh, and when he argues it I calmly ask him if he'd like me to double it or if he'd like to stick with his original amount. This stops him arguing and he heads straight for his room. He even sets the timer himself. LOL!

~Devo's walking is painful to look at. I even had to help him get up once. He'll be 15 years old on the first and I'm quite honestly hoping he goes peacefully in the night and doesn't have another seizure like he did last year. We've had enough trauma around here.

~I'm really happy with my design teams. The gals are amazing and the work is so fun! I love this hobby of mine!

The Greeting Farm

Hey guys! I wanted to share AWDML's second Featured Manufacturer for the month with you. It's the stamp company The Greeting Farm.

I picked up this cute stamp...

because Miss Thing calls all her dresses and girl dolls "princess!". I was torn between that one and this cute sweetie because I knew I'd get a lot of use out of her too.

But, in the end, the princess won out so I could make this cute little book for Audrey.

And, this sweet little birthday card for one of Audrey's little friends.

If you'd like to get your hands on some cute Greeting Farm stamps, head on over to A Walk Down Memory Lane before the end of the month and you can pick them up for 25% off!!! (American Crafts is 25% off, too!)

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

A Walk Down Memory Lane - Love Card!

Hop on over to the AWDML blog to check out my post on this super cute card!

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Remember...

Sending peace to those who lost a loved one ten years ago today.

Back to School!

Mickey's first day back to school is today! It's his second year of preschool so he goes three days a week, for two and a half hours. He's super excited to be back! He adores his preschool, his teachers and his classmates. He pretty much picks out his own clothes all the time now and chose this outfit for his first day back. It's the same shirt he wore last year on his first day!

When we did our quick back to school shoot this morning, Little Man wasn't super thrilled about it so I told him he could make some funny faces too. This one makes him look totally like a couple of his boy Hettwer cousins. (They make this face all the time!)

I got a ton of this one! (He gets that ginormous tongue from his mom, we must be related to Gene Simmons!)

This one, he was just being silly and looking at it now, I'm struck by how old he looks in it. Kind of drives home the fact that in a few years, both of my kids will be in school for six hours a day. I have to admit, I'm not looking forward to it. I enjoy having all this time with my kids. They are wonderful and I'm going to miss being there for them whenever they need me.

We got Audrey into the act too. A bunch of pics of the two of them together but very few with both of them looking at the camera. Aud's really hard to get looking at the camera. At least when I'm behind it. It's such a novelty when someone else is taking her picture that she looks at them the whole time! Hah! (Note that she's standing up on her tiptoes to be taller!)

Finally, this picture of Miss Thing is one of my new favorites of her. She busted out the over-the-shoulder pose all on her own. Love that two year old 'tude!

When I dropped him off, he was totally fine. Last year, he had a bit of a hesitation in the parking lot but this year, he was off and running from the start!

Today I...

Today I went nowhere.  Unless you count taking out the trash and walking across the street to get the mail, I didn't leave the house!

Today I hoped that I could get everything on my to-do list done.  \

Today I dreamed of a happy future for both my kids.

Today I forgot to work out.  Okay, I didn't forget but I didn't get it fit in. 

Today I heard my my kiddos giggling and laughing and playing so wonderfully together.

Today I read the last few pages of a trilogy that I started yesterday.

Today I watched Project Runway!

Today I broke nothing!  Go, clumsy me!  (Seriously, I'm pretty clumsy!)

Today I said Mickey, let's interview you!

Today I believed that I might be able to run a half marathon this year.
Today I felt tired this morning and so I slept in.

Today I wondered if I'd ever reach my weight loss goal.
Today I bought two Cars posters off Amazon for Little Man's upcoming birthday.
Today I cleaned the kitchen after cooking 20lbs of ground beef.

Today I was me.

Today We... (9/2)

~went for a walk/run. Mickey kept up the whole way and even encouraged me when I had to stop and walk.

~Papa Maow came over for a hair cut and to take the kids down to the "cricket". They love going down to the creek with him and I love that I got them to wear their boots this time. Mickey got one of his stuck in the mud and had to take it off to get it out!

~I'm procrastinating doing my Pilates, still a little sore from yesterday's re-introduction to Jillian and her 30 Day Shred.

~I'm not allowing myself to play with my new 10-24 lens and Lightroom until I do it. It's what I bought with my garage sale/Coach purse sale/wedding shoot money. I agonized over what lens to get and ultimately decided to round out my focal range instead of upgrading my long zoom or getting a macro lens or even getting a flash. Hoping I made the right choice. I'm feeling pretty good about my Lightroom purchase as the time involved in processing lots of photos is what stops me from processing them most of the time. Can't wait to get it on my computer!


~I'm planning out a visual reminder for this month's goal...90 miles and 10 lbs!!!


~I've got to get my to do lists all together and accessible. Yesterday, I felt like I had a bunch of stuff I should be doing and couldn't remember what. I need a central location for my to do list.


~The kids are having a pretty good day together. Only one time out so far. I'm really proud of Audrey, I told her to go into her room for time out...and she went! (Kind of proud of my parenting lately, too. A lot less yelling!)
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~Got my Pilates in!

~Went to pizza with my SIL and our families and found out that my niece got engaged!!! <3

~Made a THREE PAGE to-do list! Yikes!

~Played a little with my new lens. Oh, I like it! It's definitely not an everyday lens but I can see lots of times when it will be awesome... eg, you'll be seeing a lot more landscapes from me!

~Going to bed by 11 tonight so I can get my walk in before it gets too hot. It's going to be a hot one tomorrow. :)

Dixie Pieces September Kit!!!

The September Dixie Pieces kit, called "A Bird's Life" transitions us from summer into fall with bits of summer sky blues, oranges and yellows which flow into the greens and golds of fall. "A Bird's Life" flies away from the conventional and into the whimsical; it's perfect for capturing your summer or fall memories. You'll find your favorite manufacturers here -- American Crafts, Bazzill, Basic Grey, Lily Bee, and Maya Road; plus a new one for Dixie Pieces, Harmonie from Montreal. We can't wait to see what you create with this kit!_________________________________________________________________

This was another fun kit! I pretty much used those super cute felt trees on every single project. I think only one card and one layout escaped the trees. :)

I used an orange felt tree on this card as a focal point along with that super cute orange woodgrain paper. Yay, orange!!! (Go Beavs!!!!)

This next card was a true labor of love. I made it for Andrew's birthday and it took forever to glue those cute little tiles onto it. I adore how it turned out though. Masculine cards all tend to look alike after a while and I love how different this one is.

This layout was just fun. I love white space layouts even though I don't do them very often. Mickey's preschool teacher saved this art project for him while he was in the hospital and I just thought that was so sweet of her. He loved getting to do it at home.

On this layout, I used the burlap pennant as a tent and turned one of the chipboard clouds into rocks.

I made this final layout simply to showcase one of my more recent favorite photos. The water was truly like glass our first morning of the campout and I wanted to showcase that.

So, there we have it! My projects for the Dixie Pieces September kit, A Bird's Life! I hope you liked them and thanks for stoppin' by! :)