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!!!!!!!!!!

Testimony

I, Andrea Chrupcala, of sound mind and judgement, do hereby testify under oath before all that read my blog for enjoyment purposes (or because I basically force you to), that on the date of Saturday, 27 September 2008, at the establishment of Jay Lanes which is located in Douglassville, Pennsylvania, at approximately 2:57 PM, I would like to declare that I royally kicked Ron's BUTT at bowling.

If it pleases the court, I would now like to enter into evidence the following photograph. Please note that the letter "M" denotes "Mommy" and that the letter "D" denotes "Daddy".



Also please note that I not only kicked his butt....but that I totally wiped the floor with it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am sure that this is a one time occurance and that it may never happen again, which is why I must preserve it here for all to see and bear witness to.

As a side bar, please take note that "J" (Jennifer) seemed to have beat "S" (Stephanie) at bowling even though her ball consistently made a complete and utter stop half way down the lane. I have no idea how this happened, except that I am sure that "D" was somehow involved.

I rest my case.

And I leave you with a few other pictures from the day in question.

Scrapbook News and Review Presents...

WCD Winter Wonderland Card Crop OCT 4th

Scrapbook News and Review is ringing in the holiday card making season in a grand way! World Card Making Day is Oct 4th, and we at Scrapbook News and Review are inviting you to join us for a full day of cardmaking fun! There will be tons of games, challenges, and fun banter in the forums. Our galleries will be open for inspiration, including a new gallery filled with tons of holiday cheer. We will be showing a complete look at all the major holiday releases this year. There will also be fun guest sponsors and hosts, and fun prizes, too...definitely not to be missed!

Ready to get your holiday cardmaking started? Want to see the fun Winter Lines the major manufacturers are debuting this season? Want to make some new friends, and maybe win a few prizes? Make plans to join Scrapbook News and Review (www.scrapbooknewsandreview.com) on Oct 4th for an all day Card Crop.

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!!!

I think I have mentioned on this blog before that I don't have a very green thumb. Actually, the color is more like puce..........and I tend to have an issue growing things that will stay alive. Luckily, Ronnie has some success at it so we have green-ish grass 3 months out of the year.

So the fact that I grew this is just, well, downright amazing!



Ron thinks it is ugly, but having cared for it for the past few months I have grown to love it's bumpy exterior and uneven shape. I think he is kinda cute. And I grew him. So there.

P.S. As soon as I can get Jen to sit still for 14 seconds I will try and get a pic of her earrings and post it.

P.S.S. Tonight, as I was tucking the little bugger in, she told me a story about a mommy who likes milla (vanilla) ice cream and how that mommy shared it with Stephanie. She ended the story by saying "Happy Family"....which means Happily Ever After in Jennifer-land. She must not know me very well. I like chocolate ice cream and there is NO WAY I am sharing it with anyone!!!!!

:)

"stuff"

I have been so busy lately that I completely forgot that I even HAD a blog until my friend Susan reminded me today and told me how bad I was that I hadn't posted since the 3rd of September. Oops.

Right now school is taking up a ton of my time (like always) and the weekends go by so fast that I feel like someone is playing a cruel joke on me!!!!

Some recent updates that I may have not shared:

1. Jennifer got her ears pierced (on a whim) a few weeks ago. We were all at the mall and we were passing one of those jewelry booths and Ron said to Jen, "Wanna get your ears pierced?" and before I know it, my little baby is in a chair with blue dots on her ears and two completely irresponsible teenagers are about to simultaneously mutilate her...I mean....give her pierced ears. I don’t think I was prepared because I almost lost it when I heard the “One, Two, Three”……*CLICK* and saw Jen’s face turn from complete and utter happiness to shear torture. She cried for maybe 5 seconds, they showed her a mirror with her new earrings, gave her a lollipop, and we were on our way. As soon as it happened she told Ron that the girls “pinched her”. That made me laugh, so all was right in the world.

2. I am teaching the "Family" Bo-Bunny board book class below at Memory Lane on October 19th. This is an awesome project that holds tons of pictures (and would make a fantastic gift for someone!!) If you are local and interested, call the store to see if there are any spots left (last I heard it was nearly sold out)! 215-529-9194




3. Homegrown tomatoes and cucumbers straight out of your own garden are 100 million times better than any other tomato or cucumber I have ever eaten. I’m just sayin’.

4. Possible trip to Dorney Park (a local amusement park for all you non-PA people out there) with the girls this weekend. If we go you KNOW I will have tons of photos to share. Maybe I will actually be in one. Maybe not. It will totally depend on my mood.

5. Stephanie’s birthday is in a few weeks (October 11th). She will be 7 years old (I can’t believe that I have an almost 7 year old). She wants a beta fish for her room and scrapbooking supplies. Ahhhhhhh. A girl after my own heart!

6. We are going out on our final camping trip of 2008 in a few weekends with my friend Rachael and her family (who have totally ditched their lovely pop-up camper for what we have dubbed the new “Sweetest ride”). I’m thinking that I can’t let Ron even go within 10 feet of this thing unless I want to add new camper to the list of big purchases that we want to make. I can’t wait for this trip!!! Time spent with the Chamberlain’s is always a good time!!!!

Other than that……I will leave you with a few pics of the girls.

I was tagged.....

Life always gets in the way of fun! I completely forgot that my buddy Marlene tagged me a few days ago and that I was supposed to tag 6 other people and write 6 random facts about myself. Oops. Sorry Marlooney!!!!

Well......since I don't think 6 people even read my blog (a big HELLO to the 2 of you out there who do frequent me here), I figured I would just make this an open tag for anyone interested and ask whomever stumbles upon this to post 6 random facts about themselves in my comments section. I would *love* to learn more about all of you!!!!

So....here goes my 6 random facts:

1. I was once paralyzed from the waist down for an entire day.
2. I joined the Air Force when I was 17 years old and I made marksman on the machine gun while in basic training. (And I have a ribbon on my uniform to proove it!)
3. I cannot eat throat lozenges. They make me gag and want to throw up. If I smell a throat lozenge that someone else is eating, I turn and run the opposite direction.
4. I am hypoglycemic (bad) and am considered 10% disabled by the military because of it.
5. When I was in high school I got MVP of the girls swim team the first (and only) year that I swam.
6. I have a crazy strong pinky toe that I have complete control over. I can pick things up with it and pinch people with it if they get on my nerves.

So...there you have it. My 6 random facts. I will leave you with a couple of recent pics of my 2 crazy kiddo's......