I'm Hideous Look Away!

P and E love commercials. Of course that's because they see all these new toys and want to hit WM immediately. They also like those mini infomercials. They always seem to think someone in the family needs it. Anything with scissors is for mommy and her scrappin. The other day they were watching one for a skin cream. Emma informed me that I should really get some of that because it will take away all the spots on my face and even the red ones (moles) on my neck. Was I going to order it?

Parker is really growing up and it makes me a little sad. He can now take a shower by himself. That includes turning the water on, soaping up and washing his own hair. I was totally clueless he could do this and Steve informed me he's been able to do it for awhile. When it my turn for bath night, I put them in the tub since they have such a great time in there. Of course they really don't fit anymore, but they will play in there for an hour if you let them. Of course most of there conversations anymore involved butts so it's probably time to split them up.

Both were home today with fevers. There must be something going around since a bunch of people at work were out too with sick kiddos. If they are sick tomorrow I'm on duty. They seemed pretty good tonight, but still very congested. Emma took a huge nap, but of course no sleeping out of Parker.

I'll be glad when February is here...new reality TV! There is nothing on right now. And of course my trip to the city that never sleeps is coming up!

Rah Rah Sis Boom Bah!

Emma has cheer camp after school this week and is uber excited. They are performing at the pep rally Friday and then at both games Friday night. Ahhh.... a sweaty, hot, crowded gym surrounded by people I don't know...this will rock! Tonight was a smidge busy, but nothing quite overlapped so everything went smoothly. After cheer, E went to baton and tumbling. I took P to TKD so he could practice for this test. (It's in a couple weeks for the yellow belt) and then he had his monthly Cub Scout pack meeting. Poor guy is getting a cold and with his pale skin he doesn't look the best with red eyes and stuffy nose.

Had fun at the crop Saturday. I was even a winner! Won a new cute set of Stampin Up animal stamps. They also do little giveaways all day so you end up with a bunch of smaller things too. There is a scrap store SW of here that has the best stuff and they were there...so I may have done a "little" purchasing... some new Fancy Pants playing card type thingies for cards and more Prima bling. Ok and some other things too :-) I was working on another mini album, but of course didn't get as far as I wanted, but should be able to finish up Saturday when I go to a crop at E's school. Not sure if I'll scrap this week or not. My room is a "touch" trashed and I don't feel like making a path to my desk.

G and G Blue house came for a visit yesterday. It's probably good it wasn't today or they would of had to deal with our horrible gravel road. When temps go from -10 plus to 50 plus, that creates a lot of mud! Try getting a kid in a stark white TKD robe in and out of a filthy van (can't remember the last time it was washed) and past pubbles. He miraculously got there clean. It's a Christmas miracle!

He's Got The Moves!

Parker seemed better Wednesday night and Thursday morning he was a little quieter than usual, but nothing seemed weird. I get to work and the school has just left a message. Parker yarfed on the bus. I remember when I was little and when someone puked they put that nasty powder stuff on it. I think it was worse than the actual deed. I was worried he'd be embarassed, but at that age things don't bother kids too much yet. Heck he probably thought it was cool. Steve went and got him and he was fine the rest of the day. He said that his tummy felt silly on bus 14 (the one that picks him up) but when he got off to get om "firteen" to ride to his school then he frew up. (He still has trouble saying "th" so it was kind of cute the way he said it). He was bummed since he missed sharing day again and was supposed to get his robe at TKD that night. Since he was totally fine since about 9 that morning we went ahead and let him go. I got there right at the end since I had to work late and just caught him breaking his board. He was loving the robe. Here are some pics of him doing some of the moves. I can never remember what they are, but he's got most of them memorized and loves reading the list they sent home. A lot of them involved leg motions, so the camera didn't catch that very well.

Tonight we are kick back and fancy free since Steve is at a band gig. The other pic is of them playing their Game Boys when they got home (notice E's tongue. It helps her concentrate) Emma said her stomach hurts a little but I'm hoping that's because she ate a ton of bologna and then had generic Oreos for dessert.... They are now kicking back watching Scooby and eating popcorn. I know - I rock as a parent! I need to pack for the crop tomorrow. I just hate packing, because I never have any idea what I'm going to want to use and way over bring. Then I also trash my room in the process. I love getting there though and the one we are going to tomorrow has pretty good door prizes! Plus Steph isn't going so that gives the rest of us a chance to win :-)

Will have to watch the last Miss America reality show tonight. The girl from E's baton place kind of got ripped last week, so we'll see what happens. I guess she won the talent portion of the contest this week. It doesn't suprise me, she's an awesome twirler. The rest of the pagent is on Saturday night.

Under the Weather

Stayed home with Parker today. He was running a slight fever and just wasn't himself. He didn't have an appetite either last night so we knew something was up. He laid around most of the day and caught up on his Ben 10 cartoons. He woke up quite a bit during the night so was really tired, but he still didn't nap. He's anti-nap like his dad! I am pro-nap! He probably would have been fine to go to school, but you never know. He didn't have any energy so I think it's good he got a chance to rest. He wanted to wrestle tonight with daddy so I think he's a go for school tomorrow. Plus tomorrow night we get the TKD robe!

More good scrappy news today. I will have an altered paper mache box in Paper Trends' June/July issue. That'll probably be all the "tooting" you'll hear out of me for awhile since most of the calls had similar deadlines this month. This blog will return to regularly scheduled programming!

You've Got Mail!

The day started a little rough. I woke with my neck killing me (My fault because I spent too much time last night on the 'puter trying to put a slide show on the side of my blog...never did figure it out!), then dumped a pitcher of juice all over the kitchen floor and then couldn't get the garage door to shut before I left this morning because of snow stuck to it. Standing out in zero degrees temps not fun!

Stalked my email today since some calls were to be going out. I did get an item picked up for a Paper Crafts Christmas special issue. Yeah! Then Steve brings home this ginormous box from work. I can't ship stuff home since the dog finds cardboard delicious.... Erin Clarkson (who works for Scrapbooks etc, Making Memories and others and does really nice work) drew my name for a RAK of scrap goodies. There was a little bit of everything and many of the things were my favorites including chipboard, flowers and acrylic stamps. Also lots of cool Heidi Grace papers and other cool stuff too many to mention. Yeah again!

Going to a crop Saturday and some of the stuff is definitely going along!

Fareway is Way Fare!

Stopped there tonight while P was at TKD. I just love no matter how much you dally in there you are always in and out in less than an hour. You can have a cart full of groceries and as long as you don't go too crazy at the meat counter you can keep in under $100. You always end up running into someone you know there. The meat guys are so nice though that when they get you something they say, "And what else can I get for you today." I feel like I'd better order something else! The kids have to make a comment about Fareway EVERYTIME we go by. Which can sometimes be 4 plus times a day. They think it's hysterical when the Y is burnt out so it's Fare-wah. And then P came up with Fareway being Way Fare. Each Sunday they also point out that it's closed. They still try to ride in the front of the red firetruck carts together... When their combined weight is over 100 lbs and they are each almost 4 feet tall...it doesn't work so well! I do feel guilty that someone pushes my cart out. I actually would prefer to do it myself, but it's a Fareway no no. If people do it's code red in there...cart out the door...cart out the door! over the speaker. I don't really like people waiting on me..with the exception of having someone come in and clean my house for me. This is a current "discussion" going on and I seem to be losing.

Parker has been doing pretty well at TKD and has been really wanting to get a "dobo" (robe) and test for his yellow belt. I think we will go ahead and let him. He broke a huge board tonight on one kick....ouch! TBall doesn't start till April so he'll have some time to do this for awhile. The "Master" also said he could just come when he was able during the summer. I think we're skipping spring soccer since it's at the same time as Little League and I already signed him up for that. This year they hit off a pitch, so we'll see how he likes it. He seems a lot better at soccer so now that he's getting older he can start picking what he likes. Everything has been pretty low key so far and it's been nice he can try things out (and pretty cheaply).

Sunday we pretty much just hiberated inside after church. We getting so many cardinals on our feeder I could just watch them all day. Saturday P and Daddy had a good time touring the firestation and movie theater for Cub Scouts and then seeing Alvin and the Chipmunks. E and I hit MHM after the shower and the $ spot at Target sucked me in again. There was a free inflatible slide there and it wasn't busy so E probably went down 20 times before I got her to leave without incident. Of course she skinned up the same eye that she had the tear duct problems with.

On the scrappy front, I haven't really made anything the last few days (I need to dig out my room again), but did get a card picked up for the Aug/Sept issue of Paper Crafts. It was one I had made awhile ago, but it fit the call. I didn't think it was that great, but submit everything, because you never know.

Off to tuck the kidlets in.

O M Double G!!!

-9 on the tempeture thingy in the van last night just isn't right! The sock hop was as usual...chaos! Going to things like this helps me to realize I'm not cut out for teaching or daycare. You take 6 grades at about 100 kids per grade, add some siblings, some parents and it is loud. Appparently a number of kids aren't taught manners. A lot of kids just run the entire time, running into you and never saying "excuse me." Lots of cool silent auction stuff, but most stuff goes for a few hundred $'s.

A little worried last night that E would have to stay home from the dance and today we'd have to miss the baby shower. Her eye had been bothering her at school and it was gooky by the time I got home. We worried it was pink eye (miraculously the Hansen house has never had before) so Steve ran her into the clinic. It actually turned out to be a plugged tear duct because of a sinus infection. She hadn't been acting like her sinuses had been bothering her, besides the fact that she's been taking naps at school. I'm sure last night people wondering why she was at the dance...I felt like taping a sign on her...not contagious!

Well better get everyone gussied up for our doings today.

36 Days...But I'm Not Counting....

Posting a few more things I've made lately and a couple of my faves from a couple months ago. (Can you tell I like pink?) I was in a creating frenzy the last couple weeks. I'm waiting to hear back if some of them got love or not. I was excited to get my goodie box from Paper Trends today. My first from them. I got some Scenic Route paper (one of my fave companies) and some really cute bday paper from Around the Block that will look great on cards. Also got some cute embellies. I don't need more supplies, but hey... I can't say no! I put together a huge scrap supply basket last year for Parker's Sock Hop fundraiser, but this year time got away from me. It's a great way to get rid of things. I need to take some of my partially used stuff to the kids' classrooms when I get into a purging mood.

Speaking of the Sock Hop, tomorrow night is the big dance. Each year Parker's school has it for a fundraiser. It's pretty cool and the kids (E gets to go too) dance into sweaty exhaustion for 2 hours while the adults bid on over 100 silent auction items. Saturday I'm taking E with me to a baby shower for a friend of mine who is expecting twins. Yikes! The double yikes is that her daycare is $190/week per kids! They are boys and the cute part is she's naming one of them Cooper. I told Cooper and he proceeded to bite me, so he was excited I could tell! P and Daddy are going on a Go See for Cub Scouts that day. Touring the fire station and behind the scenes at the movie theater and then watching Alvin and the Chipmunks. Our next few weekends are busy, but mostly with fun stuff at least. Tomorrow P is to take 100 items because it's their 100th day of school. I thought about sending buttons, but (Gasp!) what if they didn't make it back home. I might need them someday on a project.....

I think E could turn out to be a crafter. Tonight I came home and she was making her own cell phone. It was a flip and everything. She cut it out of paper, put #'s on it and decorated it. She then proceeded to take phone calls. She later cut out a diaper for her dolly and it totally looked like one...I don't think I could still do that! I did let her use some of my good stuff the other day to decorate a plastic container. I promise not to pimp her out to the scrap community yet.

P.S. Only 36 Days to Vegas!

Hope he's not on steroids...

Emma on the way to school yesterday: "Mom, if I built the biggest snowball in the whole world could you pick it up?" I said no I'm not that strong. She says, "I know that Jesus could." They have had quite the fascation lately with how strong Jesus must be.

I'm planning to probably set up a separate scrap blog with my creations, thoughts, etc on anything scrap related sometime. Steve informed me I'm probably boring most of you to death. But until then, I will post something I made Monday night. P had TKD and so I sat there and traced and cut the paper out for this. Of course I got some strange looks. (P also broke another board!) It actually went really fast. I decided to put flowers on the "A" because I apparently trimmed the paper on that one too small and needed to hide it...happy accident! I have some other wooden words too for other occasions I might actually tackle since this was easier than I thought. I love to get them at HL when they are on sale. I used the Basic Grey Figgy Pudding line (also got on sale at HL). I have a HL addiction....

Was suprised to find out another bracelet I made will be in Simply Beads in October (stuff also from HL...). They also want me to make another one to go with this one. I totally know nothing about making jewelry, but I'm thinking I'd better start reading up since I've only mastered bracelets so far. Percentage wise I'm doing way better submission wise in the jewelry department...who'd a thunk?

Stay warm and good luck with all the snow tomorrow!

Princess

Just realized I didn't Stickle (glue glitter) on the crown below...oops!

Had an awesome time scrapping yesterday at a friend's house. She fed us and even gave out goodie bags....better than some crops I've been to where I've paid money! I worked the entire time on this princess mini album I made about Emma. I forgot how long these can take. I was still putting on finishing touches tonight and then had to take pictures and write it up. Submitting it to a few things so we'll see if anyone gives it any love. I'm going to get a big jump ring to put thru the one crown point (no I didn't forget a gem there), although I think I used a whole box of glue dots in the process! Here is the journaling in case you can't read it.

Title: How to be a princess according to Emma
You have a prince charming
Eat what you want when you want
Wear makeup with everything
Wear fur
Dessert for dinner
You don't drink tap water. Only bottled
Be a daddy's girl
Always wear a crown
Have a sweet set of wheels
Your own pony
Toys Toys Toys
Always wear designer shades

Also included are some with stickers. They say:
Being a princess is a hard job but someone's gotta do it
Don't call me a princess, don't call me a queen, just call me the cutest Lil' Princess you've ever seen.
It's hard being the princess...but one day I'll be the queen.

Thanks again to Jill (http://www.jillcornell.blogspot.com/) for the yummy Rusty Pickle papers and stickers. I knew it'd be perfect for this!

Party Girls

** Tags removed for publication in Paper Crafts Christmas and More issue Winter 2008 and Paper Creations Winter 2008 issue.

**Ornament removed for publication in Cards December 2008 issue.

We are starting to hammer out our Vegas trip plans. We're staying at Planet Hollywood and planning to see a show and do some shopping. It'll be 5 crazy girls in a city that never sleeps! I'll have to be sure to take plenty of pictures of everything - without looking too touristy!

Did end up taking today off. Spent the morning doing a few craft things then I got tired and apparently drifted off on the couch for a bit. Luckily I woke up just in time to get E picked up from school, so I didn't appear to be the worst mother on earth. I didn't get as much crafting done as I wanted (I'm not suprised), but I need to get things packed up for a mega crop at a friends house tomorrow. I'm planning on doing a couple mini-albums...we'll see how far I get!

Here are a few things I made the other week. Haven't taken pics of the stuff from today yet. The Xmas stuff tin is made from the tin the KI Memories kit came in that I bought at Joann's. The tree is actually a paper mache box and the ornament is paper mache too. Sorry some pics are big and some are little, but I'm too lazy to go back and fix.

I'm A Cover Girl!

I checked my old email address and guess what? A frame I decorated that got picked up for Paper Crafts' "Gifts from the Heart" magazine a couple months ago, will be on the cover! It will be in out in a few months and I'll share once I'm able to. I guess when you don't stalk your email anymore good things happen :-) Hopefully that'll get my juices flowing since there is a bunch of stuff I want to get made by next week. Since I have a new bank of PTO days for the year, I'm planning to take a day off for me Friday. Hopefully I'll feel scrapping that day and not just napping and then Saturday a bunch of the crop gang are going to our friend Jan's house to crop most of the day.

Emma is showing her Danish Lutheran heritage. Sunday was a big day at church because they were installing our new pastor. Even the "bish" (the head bishop for our synod was there - Parker made sure he shook his hand - the peace is Parker's favorite part - very cute) was there. After church we of course had the church potluck. Although they don't do open faced sandwiches here - not enough Danes I guess! For some reason Emma was really pumped about the potluck. There isn't much at these things the kids will even eat. She was going around telling anyone (rather loudly) that would listen to her that "she loves a potluck!" and giving them a big grin.

I think I had mentioned before that Emma said instead of 20 boyfriends she now has 19 because Caleb pushes her and so he isn't one anymore. We got her class photo today and I didn't realize how many boys were in there and a lot of them are even cute. 16 boys and 7 girls. Great odds for Emma - especially since some of the girls are a little woofy. Ok that was mean :-)

Lots of stuff going on this week, but most of it is pretty regular so I won't bore you with the details. I did get Emma registered for Kindergarten tonight. Since P is already in year round, she's a shoo-in so not stressed about that like I was when I registered him. Plus uber excited she'll get full day Kindergarten!

Tale of Two Mittens

The most frustrating things about winter has been trying to keep track of the winter gear at school - snowpants, hats, gloves, boots...I don't dare send a scarf with..that'd be another thing to keep track off. We've also managed to loose a few things in the off season including a headband of Emma's that was our favorite for her hair. (Her hair is so thick and fine that it is VERY hard to find any that will stay in) Right now I'm trying to hunt down a brand new (sigh) pair of P's gloves that he left on the bus (I checked the lost and found box and didn't find them, but did find one of his hats I didn't even realize was missing) and Emma came home Friday missing a black glove. She also leaves her snowpants there about half the time. I take her to school every morning so I manage to eventually find most of her stuff either in lost and found or in her classroom. We are trying to get both of them to be more responsible for their stuff. Of course I need to work on that myself!

Steve is back home today and so after P's bball practice this morning we hit WM and BK. The fun land was VERY loud! We are now just vegging, but I really need to clean since it looks like a bomb went off in the family room (again). Hoping to do some cardmaking tonight.

Not sure if anyone watched the Miss America reality show that started last night but the girl from Norwalk (who was a twirler from Emma's studio) is on there. They showed her quite a bit and she's in a blue dress in a lot of the shots. She's uber smart and tatented from what I've seen and heard. There is an America's vote at www.tlc.com/missamerica so feel free to vote. They are having a send of party for her tomorrow so I might take Emma. Emma has met her before but of course I didn't have my camera then...sigh....

Well the princess is requesting some strawberry milky so I'd better get at it.

Even Care Bears Get Cold

Steve snapped these when they were outside sledding and playing the other day. Too cold for me so I hibernated inside...although now kicking myself because I would have taken more pics! Pretty quiet around here with no school or activities. They head back on Thursday and then the craziness with start up again. Not much else to share!