Happy Birthday Jerome & Harley

Today is my big brother's birthday ...

Happy Birthday Jerome ... I love you very much!

And yesterday was my niece Harley's 14th birthday ...

Happy belated (on the blog) birthday to you too Harley!!

Sick House ...

We have one big old sick house going on here.

Mike - cold symptoms
Griffin - cold symptoms and lots of coughing
Me - cold symptoms and diarrhea

We have to get better soon. Mike's mother is flying in on Saturday for Griffin's birthday and we can not have a sick house when she arrives.

We are going to get lots of rest, fluids and chicken soup.

Scrappin' For Friends ...

The other day my blogging friend Wendy placed an order with me. In the past she has suggested I make a Scrapbooking Tear Bear ... so ... I was packing her order on Thursday while Griffin was napping and realized I had a little extra time on my hands. I created this little Scrapbooking Tear Bear just for her. I literally put this together in about 30 minutes (a first for me!) ... but I really wanted to send a little surprise gift to her with her order.

I need some Mommy advice ...

On January 15th I took Griffin to the doctor and he was diagnosed with strep throat. They prescribed Amoxicillin. I took him back 10 days later on the 25th because of the cough he still has. The doctor I saw that day made me feel really funny about bringing him back ... she made me feel like I shouldn't have brought him back in. He tested negative this time for strep. She said "it's a cold" and will run it's course. Well ... our little guy is coughing, coughing, coughing. I'm really worried about this and do not know what to do. He has an icky, runny nose but no fever. Any suggestions?

Saturday ...

It's 6:15 and Griffin is still sleeping ... yeah!

Mike is deep sea fishing today off the coast of Virginia Beach with some friends. I think G and I will head to town. Our goal? Party favors! I think we will hit the Dollar Spot at Target, then Dollar Tree and finally Walmart. I really want to head out when he wakes up, so I may have to do the Walmart stop first. Maybe have breakfast at the McDonald's inside Walmart, print some pictures out at the Kodak machine and then pick up groceries. I have those nifty silver hot/cold bags to put my groceries in so I do not have to worry about my cold stuff thawing or getting warm while they are in the car. If you do not have one of these bags, I highly recommend them. They are awesome! Really ... I probably do not even need them as the temperature is in the 20s, but hey ... I have them and I use them all the time.

Yesterday we had a playdate at Short Pump Town Center ... again fun!! We met Heidi and the boys there ... let the kids play, ate lunch and played some more. We did not get home until after 3:00. Griffin never took a nap and he didn't even go down early for the evening as I had expected him too. Oh well ... maybe that's why he's sleeping in this morning. I am hoping to be home by noon today though ... that way G can have his normal nap and I can have a bit of time to do some house cleaning. Ever since he was a tiny baby we've had him on a pretty good schedule and it works out really well for us.

Anyway ... hope you all have a GREAT weekend!!

Just an ordinary day ...

Isn't this is couple of cuties? This is a picture of Griffin with his buddy Samuel, taken at Samuel's birthday party the other day. These two ... well ... I can say I think they will be future little heartbreakers.

I've lived in Virginia almost four years now ... hard to believe. Still, each time it snows, I am astounded that I live somewhere it actually snows. It just started snowing ... the flakes look like they are about dime size and they are dancing down from the sky ... what a spectacular sight! This is coming from a girl that lived her first 36 years in Central Florida ... it snowed only one time that I can remember when I lived there and I think I was about 9 years old. Anyone else from the Winter Haven area that remembers that?

I took Griffin back to the doctor this morning. We were there 10 days ago and he still has that deep cough. He tested negative for strep (thank God!) and the doctor said it was "just a cold". That's good to hear, but still ... the cough sounds horrible.

After the doctor I stopped by Michael's ... I had a gift card burning a hole in my pocket and wanted to spend it. I've always wanted one of those huge 3-D stars for my wall ... I love everything Americana and stars. They had one, so I got it. Once I get it hung up, I will take a picture of it. And I found a few things for Griffin's birthday party goodie bags.

Griffin is down for a nap ... so now it's time for a little island scrapbooking.

Fun ...

Griffin went to a birthday party today ... it was such fun. His friend Samuel turned 3 and we celebrated at Short Pump Town Center with playtime, lunch and cupcakes. Of course I forgot my camera, so I have no pictures to share. I'm going to borrow his mommy's idea and have Griffin's party at SP Town Center too ... it was easy, relaxed and the kids had somewhere to play. With a winter birthday it's so hard because it's freezing outside and the kids have no where here at home to run around. Great idea Carol!!

Snow & Blogger Stuff

Sunday we had a light snow ... I love when it snows like this. It's just enough to say "it snowed", but not really enough to cause any interuptions in our everyday life. Although I chose not to go out today due to a bit of ice on the ground. I didn't really need to go out anyway. Griffin has a birthday party to attend tomorrow, so I can make my normal Monday Post Office run on Tuesday instead.

I'm having some issues with Blogger. The first one ... I can not go to blogger.com and sign in. I have to go to the Blogger Help Page click on "write us" and then sign in that way. Then, I have to minimize that screen, type blogger.com into my browser and it brings me to the Blogger Dashboard ... now is that crazy or what?

And then ... leaving comments. I can leave comments only on a few blogs. Say for instance, Andi's, Sue's and Jen's ... I can leave comments. But then on Jolene's, Teresa's and Susie Q's ... I can't leave commetns. I just don't get it.

I'm still sick and honestly I don't even WANT to try to figure it out right now. Griffin is down for his nap ... so ... I'm going down for a nap myself. Bye for now.

Saturday

Mike is home from his business trip to Ohio ... yaaaaa ... we missed him so much!

Yesterday we had the first official playdate at our house. Heidi, Ryan and Evan came over. It really was alot of fun. The boys played well together, we had lunch and then they played some more. I was able to hold Evan for awhile ... you really forget how tiny babies are until you hold them again. Almost makes me want another one (that WAS an almost!).

We have no big plans for this weekend. We will be making a run to Sam's today and more than likely getting a load of firewood. The weather has turned cold and we may be getting a real snow on Sunday.

Hope everyone has a GREAT weekend!

Snow Flurries ... Finally!

I woke up this morning with a sore throat, headache, congestion and feeling pretty yucky. We are supposed to have friends over today for a playdate. (Update: I called Heidi and we are most definately still on for the playdate ... yaaaa!)

Yesterday we drove to the Party Store at Short Pump. I am planning Griffin's 2nd birthday party (February 7th) and needed to get some invitations. I've already pre-ordered his birthday cake ... Elmo of course. So, I went looking for Elmo invitations and party supplies. They really had a limited supply of Elmo stuff, so I started looking around and saw the Bob the Builder collection. Oh my gosh ... it's so cute. I could get little yellow hard hats and plastic hammers. MMMMMMM ... should I change the theme? I decided not to since I've already pre-ordered the cake. Maybe we'll use the Bob theme next year.

When we were getting in the car, the snow flurries began. I really want it to snow ... just a little bit. Not too much. The snow flurries were barely coming down, but you could definately tell it was snow and not just rain.

We then went to Short Pump to meet Cyndi and her boys for lunch ... it was her birthday. She decided on a Chopped Salad from Maggiano's, so I went by there first to pick it up and then we headed to the Food Court to meet up with them so the boys could play and then we could have lunch together. We had a nice time.

Short Pump Towne Center is an outdoor mall, and it was absolutely FREEZING outside!! As I was trying to find Maggiano's Griffin started to scream and I could not figure out why. He was in his stroller and as far as I could tell nothing was wrong. I had him all bundled up with a hat on. Then I saw him hands. I had forgotten his mittens ... and his hands were so red and cold. I stepped into the vestibule at Dillards to warm them up. I felt sooooo bad. I really think it was painful for him. I will now remember to put mittens in my purse for an emergency situation.

Anyway ... I hope this "whatever" I have goes away soon. I so do not like being sick.

This is Griffin's new trick ... climbing up on the kitchen chair and watching the microwave spin round and round when I have something inside heating up. Normally he isn't this close to it. Most times he is stretched as far as he can from the edge of the chair to the microwave stand ... teetering and tottering ... of course I am constantly telling him to get down ... he's yet to listen.

Anyway ... just thought I would share his latest trick.

Blogging Buddies ...

Teresa
Yesterday I had the absolute pleasure of talking to my blogging friend Teresa on the telephone for the first time. It's so nice to be able to put a voice to the face and words we see!

Wendy
And ... another of my blogging friends Wendy has some absolutely beautiful pages listed on her blog. They are available for purchase if you are interested. Please take a moment to check them out.

Griffin is feeling better this morning. The amoxicillin seems to be working it's magic.

Now, I'm a little worried about something else. Mike has had a headache since Saturday morning. He says it comes and goes, but is pretty much constant. He's not sure if it's due to the low/high weather pressures we've been having. I tried to get him to go to the doctor ... but he says no. I made him promise if it's still there in the next couple of days he will go to the doctor. I hope it's just atmospheric related.

Meet The Box Top Girl ...

I would like to introduce everyone to Kellie ... The Box Top Girl.

Kellie collects Box Tops for Education labels from participating food/grocery items. She then turns them into her school to help raise money for things to help her school be the best it can be. She is working with Scrapbook for Box Tops where you can send her and her grandma Cheri box tops and they will send you FREE scrapbooking supplies. So start collecting box tops and then go on over to Scrapbook for Box Tops and do some shopping!

Here's their direct links ...

Scrapbooks for Box Tops:
http://www.scrapbook-for-box-tops.blogspot.com/

Kellie The Box Top Girl:
http://the-box-top-girl.blogspot.com/

Coughing ...

Griffin has had a terribly deep, bronchial cough since Saturday morning. Today we will be going to the doctor to have it checked out. Mike suggested I take him in. He's usually the "wait and see" kind of parent, but when he said to take him in, I know he's worried too. Please say a little prayer that it's only a cold and nothing more serious.

***12:25 PM AFTER DOCTOR UPDATE***
We went to the doctor and Griffin has Strep Throat ... thank goodness it is nothing more serious. He's back on the amoxicillin and will be feeling better soon. Thank you for caring about my little guy.

A few new things ...

Saturday was most definately a stay in the house kind of day.
I had time to create a few more things ...

Our Week In Review ...

After blogging about destiny yesterday ... my friend Andi suggested I repost the picture of Mike and me from our Senior Prom ... way back in 1985? Can you believe this is us? Our Prom was held at Disney World ... oh the magic!

Our "boring" life got a little more active the past few days.

Wednesday found us at the gym in the morning. Afterwards we went out to lunch with our friends at the little Chinese restaurant in Goochland. Later that day I realized I was out of gold brads and asked Mike if we could go to Michael's after we ate dinner. So ... we did. We also went to Home Depot and Lowe's looking for a heat gun for Mike, but we never found one. I suggested we try Walmart thinking they might have one ... no luck finding a heat gun there, but I was able to get groceries while we were there. Mike hardly ever goes to the grocery store with me ... so it was nice he was able to help me choose some things I normally wouldn't get.

Thursday I found I was out of navy blue paper. So, after a trip to the post office we headed to Ben Franklin. They were having a paper sale, so I loaded up on cardstock. Mike called me around lunch time and asked if I wanted to head over Northern Tools to look for the much needed heat gun (he wants to use it this weekend). I said sure. Then he suggested we go to Outback for dinner. I wasn't going to say no to that suggestion. Well, they did not have the heat gun at Northern Tools, so we decided to try one more place, and honest to goodness I can not remember the name of the store ... but it's a tool store ... and they had it. Instead of going to Outback, we decided to have dinner at Carraba's ... it's a delicious Italian restaurant, much like Olive Garden. Our meal was wonderful!

Friday we had our first official playdate with friends ... and it was so much fun. Heidi invited Griffin over to play with Ryan and Evan. She has a beautiful home ... the kind of home where you feel welcome the minute you walk in the door. She was so at ease ... I was a little on edge at first, but I feel as though I finally did relax. Griffin has not been in too many homes other than ours and his Grandmas. I really did not want him to break anything, or get into anything he shouldn't. Heidi was great about letting Griffin explore ... and explore he did. Twice I could not find him, and he did not answer me when I went looking for him. Once he was found upstairs. The second time he had closed the door to the master bedroom and decided to turn on the water faucets in her huge bath tub. I was beside myself when he did that ... I can NOT believe he actually did that. We had a nice lunch, good conversation, and it was really nice to let the boys play together.

This weekend we have no set plans. Mike has a flying lesson this morning ... he hasn't been up in 3 weeks due to the holidays and weather. It's actually supposed to rain all weekend. I think Mike has plans to put siding on the front of the addition, however if it rains that will not be possible. I think it's going to be a stay-in-the-house and make chili kind of weekend.

Destiny ...

I have nothing to blog about today ... so I've decided to blog a little about destiny.

The other night when Mike and I were pumping gas in our vehicle a scene played out in front of me that made me think about destiny.

In front of us on one side was a very old man, in a very old Ford pick-up truck moving slow as molasses and double checking things to make sure he remembered to do everything. On the other side of the pump was a very young man, wearing low slung jeans and a hoodie, driving a brand new mustang. Destiny brought these two very different men to the gas pumps at the same time. Destiny brought us there at the same time too. Never once did these two men make eye contact ... never once did they utter a word to each other. How would their lives have changed if they had made eye contact and perhaps said a simple little hello to each other? Is the older man lonely? Perhaps the younger man is lonely? Maybe the little hello would have brought some happiness to their lives. Maybe they are both happy and do not need another person invading their space ... but who knows!

Destiny ...

That's what brought Mike and me together 22 years ago. We had gone to high school together for 3 years, yet we were not friends ... we didn't even know each other. I was friends with some of his friends and he was friends with some of my friends, but we did not know each other at all. Then, we both decided to take a Data Processing class our senior year. The 2nd day of class, Mike came into the room and told me I was in his chair (I wasn't) ... and we had a little argument (just a couple words). That was our first interaction together ... a disagreement.

What if that had never happened?

Some people believe in destiny ... others not so much. I do.

I honestly believe everything happens for a reason and we should pay attention to that. I think I've suggested this before ... a book titled "The Five People You Meet In Heaven" ... it's so good ... and to me, it's all about destiny.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

My Cricut ...

I totally can not believe I haven't shared this before ... I got a Cricut Die Cutting System for Christmas. Well, it really was kind of a Christmas present even though I got it in January. A few months ago we saw them in the local scrapbook store for $259. I really wanted one then, but that was alot of money to spend on a toy. Well, in December I couldn't believe they had them in Walmart for $169! Oh my gosh! When my family members asked me what I wanted for Christmas, I told them Walmart Gift Certificates so I could put it toward purchasing the Cricut. They were so sweet to do this for me.

I didn't need it ... I just wanted it. And I love it!

If you saw my "Be You Tear Bear" blog post the other day, I used the Cricut to cut out the letters. It is just sooooooooooo awesome!

I also wanted to say ... today I've visited all of my blogging friends blogs ... but Blogger will not allow me to leave comments. I just don't get it. I will most definately visit again tomorrow and try again. Please know ... I've been by, but just can't say hello.

Today ...

Our sweet smiling boy just makes me so happy ...

I woke up at 5:00 this morning when Mike went downstairs to put more firewood in the fireplace ... and I couldn't go back to sleep. So, here I am sitting in front of the computer with a little extra time this morning.

I took the time to switch over to the new version of Blogger ... I hope I like it. I tried to do it yesterday, but of course when I took time to do it then, Blogger.com was down. Oh well ... it's done now.

It's Wednesday ... as you might know ... it's gym day. We actually get to see and talk to people today. We went out to the Post Office yesterday and I realized we had not left the house since Friday. Gosh, we sure lead a boring life.

i've been busy ...

Creating ...


My friend (and wonderful customer!) Julie asked me to add some of my Annie's to my site. I created a new Annie with a tiny heart tag. I love when folks suggest ideas. It helps to spark a creative idea ... the possibilities are endless when others make suggestions!


And this is a new Tear Bear I just listed on Ebay.

The Addition ...

Mike continues to work on the addition ... this time adding a deck in the garage. I am so proud of all of the hard work he's doing.

Just thought I would share some before and after pictures of this particular project.

Popeyes ...

Growing up one of my favorite things was having a Popeye for breakfast. Yesterday I made Griffin one for the first time ... and he loved it! It's really easy and kids seem to really like them.


Take a piece of bread and cut a hole in the center using a biscuit cutter, or a small glass. Butter the bread on each side and place it in a pan ... then just drop the egg in the middle. I break the egg up ... who wants a runny Popeye, right? Then cook on both sides ...


Voila ... a Popeye ... serve with a little syrup and it's a delicious breakfast!

Let It Snow ...

We've had such a moderate winter so far this season.
It was in the 70's yesterday ... and it's January!!

Although we've had no snow ... I did manage to create a dozen snowmen yesterday.

For those of you that do not know what I "do" ... I'm a stay-at-home Mommy with a small online scrapbooking store called missymadeit.com. I've been in business online since 1997 ... so hard to believe it's been 10 years since I created and sold my first handmade paper piecing.

I've been blessed with this opportunity and I thank God each and everyday for it.

Thursday ...

Is this not one of the wackiest pictures you've ever seen?
LOL ... just thought it was funny and I would share.
You can click on it for a better view if you would like.

Yesterday after playtime at the gym, Griffin and I had lunch at Subway with our new friends Heidi, Ryan and Evan. Ryan is 26-months and Evan is 4-months old. Heidi is a great girl and we have alot in common. It's really nice making a new friend. I'm hoping we will all be able to get together again.

Today we are just staying home. I'm really hoping it gets warmer outside today ... I would love for G and me to be able to go for a walk and maybe play outside a bit today.

Then, I will work when he goes down for a nap ... I am having so much fun just making pre-made stuff. I'm working when I want to ... no pressure!

Pure Joy!

Driving ...

I realized something yesterday when I had to drive to downtown Richmond to pick Mike up from work. I do not enjoy driving ... yes, it gets me where I want to go ... but I still do not enjoy it.

I admit it ... I am not a good driver at all. I am not aggressive when I am behind the wheel, actually I'm a bit timid.

Mike on the other hand is a great driver (most of the time). He puts the car exactly where he wants it to be. Me ... I wait to see if the other drivers are going to let me in.

Anyway ... just thought I would share a little known fact about me today ...

I do not enjoy driving.

creative.

One of my New Year's resolutions ... be creative.


Just a little something I was inspired to make yesterday.

Happy New Year 2007 ...

Wow ... I can hardly believe 2006 is gone already ... a year that just zoomed by.

I really look forward to this new year ... it's a time of renewal ... a time for reflection ... a time to get motivated.

It's hard to believe I will be 40 years old this year ... I once thought 40 was sooo old ... yet here I am staring it in the face, and it doesn't seem nearly as old as it once was. I still have 9 months to be 39 ... I'll just wrap my happy thoughts around that!

I have thought of a few resolutions I would like to make ... so I will share them.

1. Achieve better health ... yes, I would most definately like to loose weight ... but better health is much more important to me right now.

2. I will strive to stay awake longer at night to spend more time with my husband. No more falling to sleep at 8:30 ... staying awake until 10:00 pm each night ... that's my goal.

3. Be more creative ... find that spark of creative energy I once had.

4. Be a better wife, mother, daughter-in-law, sister and friend ... listen more, spend more time with those I love, stay in touch.

5. Find the best balance in being a work-at-home Mommy and still devote the time to my son that he so deserves ... I'm working on this one daily.

6. Learn to use my left hand with the mouse on the computer. That way when Griffin wants to sit in my lap to watch Elmo, I can still read my emails.

Not that many resolutions ... and I'm sure I have more ... but there you have the things that I have on my mind.