Pumpkin patch

One of my favorite things to do in the Fall is to find a great pumpkin patch that has a corn maze and all kinds of activities to do with the kids. It's a tradition of ours and I look forward to it every year. Luckily where we live there are plenty of great ones around to choose from!

A few weekends ago, on a hazy but beautiful Fall afternoon, Ron and I took the girls for our fun filled day at the patch.

Steph and Jen got to do their first corn maze - - which they LOVED. Well, Steph loved it and wanted to do more.......Jen just wanted to be held and not have to walk. Walking is hard work and Jen isn't a big fan.

They had all-you-can-carry pumpkins for $14.00 and I loaded Ron up with way too many (as usual). He's so big it looks like he can EASILY handle at least 20.....25.....even 30 pumpkins. Guess not.

There was also a zip line, a bouncy-ball maze, hayride, climbers and a hay pit. We did them all........and then some.

It was a great family day and I already can't wait to do it again next year!!!!!

Here are some pics of our day:

Obsess much?

Anyone who knows me even a *tiny* little bit knows that I am basically obsessed with a few things:

1. Donna Downey (I want to come back as her in another life. Or at least come back as her dog so I can watch her work all day).
2. Scrapbooking. Duh....that one is a no-brainer.
3. My camera. Now if I only knew how to use the darn thing..........
4. Snickers and/or Turtles. Nuff said.

Well....I now have a new obsession.

Her name is Margie Romney-Aslett and she is a HOOT!!!!! She is one of the creative geniuses over at Making Memories (for all you non-scrapbookers out there, MM is a company that makes scrapbooking supplies that are completely drool-worthy). Thanks to our fearless leader Sarah at MLPA, Margie recently came to PA and we had the opportunity to meet her, crop with her, and take a few of her (man were they great) classes. Sadly I was busy that weekend and missed the classes (believe me....I was depressed for DAYS because of it), but I did get to go to the crop on Friday night.

And the obsession began.

She is one of those people that you meet and you feel like you have known forever. Only you just met. She cracked me up with her stories and blew me away with her talent......then she really threw me for a loop when she said she has 4 kids!!! Whoa!!!!

Anyways, I regularly stalk her on her blog now (I think she is trying to find a way to block me from it). I just wanted to share my newest obsession with all 3 of you who read my blog. Oh.....and here is a pic of us together. Yep. Just me and my bestest friend in the whole wide world. Love ya Margie! CALL ME!!! LOL

To all the ladies who took my class at MLPA last weekend.......

THANK YOU!!!!

I had such a great time spending a few hours with all of you lovely ladies and especially enjoyed the laughs that we shared!! I loved seeing all the creating, cutting, adhering, chatting, giggling, and general happiness that was going on. All of your projects were looking so great.....I would love to see what they look like when they are all finished.



A special shout out to the one and only Kristol. You are so beautiful and you always bring a smile to my face. As Margie would say.....B.A.A.F.F!!!!!! **laughing**



As promised so that you can see the finished project.....here are pics of each page of my "Family" book for you all to reference if needed. Take a look.....then FINISH THAT BOOK!!!! *smile*

Stephanie's birthday party............

was last weekend and I am JUST NOW posting pics. No excuses....really I am just lazy.

Of course the party was tons of fun. We had about 9 or 10 (or what seemed like 50 at times) of Steph's friends over for a bunch of games, a pinata, some cupcakes, and a little fun out in the backyard. On a side note.....I kept overhearing one of the girls calling the backyard the playground. I guess it's time to get rid of either the playhouse, or the trampoline, or the swingset, or the four-wheeler, or the hula-hoops............

Anyhoo, the day before the party I finally took Steph to the PetSmart to pick out her new fishy friend. She was so excited to bring him home and put him in his new tank. No word on a name yet..........





And last but not least.......a few shots from the "rockin'" party":







Love you my sweet little 7 year old!! Hope you had a great day!!!!!

:)

Donna Downey's campaign for creativity

I have joined Donna's campaign for creativity because......well......she totally rocks.....and because she inspires me to try to learn more about all of the different ways I can express my creativity. Paper and scissors are cool....but there really is so much more.

Thanks for the push Donna!!!!!!!!!!!

:)

Dorney Park - 2008

A few weekends ago we got to take the kids to Dorney Park (a big shout out to my sister-in-law Mischele for hooking us up with free tickets every year. Love ya biznitch).

We met up with my brother-in-law Chris, Mischele's 2 youngest children (Lexi and Karyssa), Steve and Tina. The weather that day could not have been more PERFECT for a day at an amuzement park.......cool but not cold, sunny but not hot, overcast but not raining.

The funniest part of the whole day for me was when Jennifer saw Linus (the Peanuts character who carries around a blue blanket.) She ran up to him and showed him HER blanket that she carries around all the time, and they switched blankies for a minute. I could tell that she was a bit concerned that she wouldn't get hers back.....so she quickly snatched it back from him. It was too cute.

Steph still gets a little bit nervous about going on some rides and flat out refuses to go on anything that she deems the least bit scary or too fast (although she has been on them before, she actually shed a tear on the swings this time). If you don't believe me....check out this shot I got of Steph riding the kiddie roller coaster that day. Totally mortified is what I would use to describe her expression.



Jen on the other hand is game for anything. She was pretty annoyed at us when we told her she was too small to go on the huge roller coasters. Talk about no fear........I bet she would sky dive if we gave her the chance. I think this shot was taken just after I said "No upside down rides for you young lady"........then she threw out the "loser" sign at me. She's only 3. I'm in big trouble.



Of course all the kids had a great time on the rides and eating all the associated junk food. Here are some pics from our fun day!

Just "stuff"

Fall is here.....my most FAVORITE time of the year! I love the cooler weather, the changing leaves, buying sweaters and new jeans, and picking pumpkins. But my most favorite thing about fall is HALLOWEEN!!!

The girls and I decorated the house a little bit a week or so ago, but there is still much to do. I just love opening up the totes that I store my Halloween decorations in.....I always forget what fun decoration I have in there! Ron and I will go this weekend to get a few hay bales and corn stalks and decorate the front porch...a tradition that we have had every year in this house. We also hope to go pumpkin picking, do a corn maze, and maybe a fun hayride if the weather holds out. However.....there is another big event going on this weekend that we have to prepare for.................Stephanie's 7th birthday!!!!!

She is so excited! I can't believe how fast she is growing up......I wish I could slow it down just a tiny bit.

We are having her party at our house this year, and we let her invite 10 friends to come play games and have cake with us. She decided to have a Hello Kitty themed party and picked out a butterfly pinata (which we filled to the brim with candy tonight) along with party bags to hold all the loot that they get when it rains sugar!!!

One of the things that she asked for as a gift for her birthday was a beta fish. We have purchased the bowl, the rocks, the food, and some fake plants....now all we need is the fish! Hopefully we can make a pet store run this weekend and bring him home to his new family (and hopefully we can keep Jennifer away from the poor unsuspecting little guy).

Speaking of Stephanie, she lost another tooth at school last week!!! She came home with it in a little yellow envalope straight from the nurses office. What an honor it is to bleed in front of your friends in first grade.......I remember that feeling well (except mine were from bloody knees, not teeth. I was always falling down and busting up my poor pitiful knees!!!!)



Also, I promised a pic of Jennifer's new "big girl" earrings.....here she is modeling them for all to see.....




And lastly, a layout and a card that I did for the September issue of Scrapbook News and Review:




Here's wishing everyone a fantastic fall!!!! Thank you for stopping by!

:)

Farking

When Jennifer was just a little thing, maybe 2 years old or so, she had a problem pronouncing her B's. Specifically, she had a problem saying the word "barking".

At the time, Daisy was just a puppy and did a lot more barking than she does now. Jennifer took it upon herself to try and correct Daisy everytime she heard her barking, and liked to come tell us when the barking was occurring.

Only......it didn't sound like she was saying barking.

She pronounced it farking.

Only it didn't sound like she was saying farking, either.

It sounded more like...........well............dare I type it...........F*CKING.

The first time she ran over to us exclaiming that "Daisy is outside F*CKING", we nearly lots our marbles. As good parents, we tried over and over to get her to pronounce her "B".....

Me: "Jennifer.....say B."
Jen: "B."
Me: "Say b, b, b, BARKING."
Jen: "b, b, b, FARKING."
Me: (laughing on the inside while trying to hold my composure outside)

Anyways, this went on for weeks and the longer it went on, the funnier it became.

After awhile, we decided to make the best of it and get Jennifer to say FARKING as often as possible.

When friends and family would come over, we would proudly say..."Hey, watch this"........ then we would ask Jen what Daisy was doing outside and she would say "Daisy is farking". Hysterics ensued and 5 minutes later we would have her say it again. And again.

Listen, I'm not proud of the fact that we skirted our parental responsibility in order to have a good laugh every now and then....but I am telling you that this was HILARIOUS!

Here are some pictures of Jen right around that age.........can't you just imagine her yelling at the top of her lungs: STOP FARKING DAISY!!!!!!!!!!