Ladystamper

I had a great weekend in Az with my sisters. They are the cutest, craziest gals you will ever meet. They got all the good looks in the family. sigh...oh well. At least I'm the oldest so I can boss them around. Ha! (yeah, I'm the one on the far left...such a flattering position...thanks mom)I took Thor with me and we had a good time just he and I. It was interesting traveling with him...I travel so much by myself that I forget how nice it is to have someone to talk to. He is a boy of few words most of the time. In fact, on the plane, he would wake me up every time I dozed off "so he wouldn't be bored" but he didn't say much. He just wanted me awake. We did have some nice talks tho. Mostly he used the time to do a big time sales pitch for a new video game he wants. This trip was the first time I got to meet my newest niece. She has to be the most beautiful baby, not born to me, that I have ever seen. She has her moms big blue eyes and these perfect lips

I love to read. I read books of all kind. History, fiction, self help, biographies, decorating, and even books on organizing. I look to look at pictures of organized homes and see all the creative things people come up with. One of the best organizing books I have read was given to me by my mother. I'm SURE she wasn't hinting or anything when she gave this to me......It is called Organizing From the Inside Out by Julie Morgenstern. Her method to organizing is to keep things where you use them. Not a mindboggling idea, but still...makes you think, no? In her book, she talks about the different kinds of people and how they 'organize' or take care of things. One of the titles she gives is Conquistador of Chaos. This is someone that waits til things get way out of control and then they come riding in on their great white horse to charge through the mess and set everything in order. Today, as I was running all over town, finishing a placque that had been ordered three months

It is pouring outside today! I mean, buckets of rain are falling. It is awesome! I love this time of year. I know, there is the whole 'hurricane' thing, but...the storms are awesome here! Since I grew up in the southwest and we had little to no rain for most of my life, the rain still facinates me. I love the rolling thunder and splashing in puddles! I drove my kids to the bus this morning because we were running late, and well, because it was pouring. Yes, I am a nice mom now and then. The kids were so cute running from the car to the bus with their little backpacks over their heads. Trying so hard to stay dry. Ben cracked me up tho when he darted through the rain only to purposely jump right in a puddle before he got on the bus. Yeah, his teacher is going to love me for that one! I can just hear his little shoe squeaking all day. Good think I am going in to the school today, I will take him some new socks. Silly boy! I had some time....no, let me rephrase that. I MADE some t

It seems the holiday season starts a little earlier every year. It always amazes every year when the Halloween stuff is out right after school starts. This year, I notice the Halloween stuff has Christmas decorations at the edges. Are we in sucha hurry? Well, if you plan to make your own Christmas cards, it is never too early! I haven't actually started mine, but I have been thinking about them. Here is one I came up with Saturday. What do you think? I'm also looking for a wow idea to share at the Orlando Regional, so I won't tell you how I did it. Leave me a comment so I know if it is a'wow' or not. It is super easy. Well, okay, semi super easy. ;o) In family news, we are enjoying a day off of school today. Why? It is listed as a teach prep day/hurricane day. I'm thinking they were pretty darn confident to 'plan' a hurricane and wanted a loophole so they could still have a day off. After a whole month of school, the teachers do probably need a day to re

When my parents came for Labor day and birthdays a couple weeks ago, we had a ball! It is always a treat to have family around. Since I have been married I have only lived close to family for a couple of years. I feel like we miss out on so much! At the same time, if we didn't live all over...my parents probably wouldn't have been to as many states as they have. I think we have broadened their horizons. ;o) We decided to spent Labor Day at Blue Springs. The boys had gone camping there, but the rest of us had never been. We hooked up with some other families from church and headed out early. We are not usually big on long days at the beach. The sun really gets to us. Okay, the sun really get to my husband! I just get worn out in general. We figured we would st ay a couple of hours. We stayed for about four hours! It was just wonderful! The water is beautifully clear and cool. It was great for all the kids. They swam, ate, rode in canoes, looked at the alligators...yes, there wer

My nose is running, my eyes are burning,...my hands are pruney...what? No, I'm not sick, I'm canning again! I ran out of my homemade salsa this weekend. Horrors!! I tell ya, after making my own....I don't want that store bought stuff any more! I just happened to be passing my favorite veggie stand and they had tomatoes! So, I decided to fix my "no salsa" problem today. Of course, they didn't have any Jalepenos...so I ended up getting those at the grocery store. These are not exactly a high ticket item so I didn't mind. I got two boxes of tomatos, a mere 50 pounds, but I only managed to finish one box today. I guess I know what I'm doing tonight! Last night I stayed up and stamped a bit. It is so nice to be able to sta mp AT my desk! I didn't even have stuff on my lap! Amazing! I have everything I need within arms reach. Well, except all my stamps, but...I can lean over really far and reach a lot of them. I am still attempting to slog my way through

We have had several dogs over our families history and I swore I would never have another one. But recently, I have been really thinking it would be a good idea. My kids are all getting older, no more babies, and I am home alone alot. Just last week I had a couple days when I was really jumpy. Every little noise was making me nervous. I hate that feeling! I started thinking that having a dog around might ease my nerves a bit. My kids have been begging for a dog for years! It is pretty easy to say no to them, but when my dear hubby started hinting that a dog would be the perfect gift for his 40th birthday....I knew I was going to have to give in. We found this sweet boxer mix at the SPCA here locally. We had picked out a shepherd the day before, but when we saw both dogs in action with Ben,....it was pretty clear she was the one for us. She is totally calm yet playful, house trained, quiet, and just loves all the kids! The first day she was home she was a bit ner vouse I think because

I have been having a great month! School is back in session, the kids are happier with the schedule (and so am I!), we had a couple birthdays this month, my parents and nephew came to visit, and I did some more canning! Whew! No wonder I haven't had time to post on here! ;o) I have actually been spending quite a bit of time cleaning my office. Something I do pretty frequently. It all started with the patterned paper. I am embarrassed to say that I think I am a paper hoarder. Anybody out there have this disorder? I love the patterned paper that is available today. I (apparently) buy quite a bit. But, I don't use it because, if I do...I won't have it anymore! So, I buy more so I can use it and still have it, but...let's just say, I have LOADS of paper! I organized all my patterned paper into two groups. SU and Non-SU. Just to keep it simple. I have about the same amount of both of those categories. I had no idea! I also organized all my scraps of cardstock. Holy cow! I am