It's A Sad Day!!

We lost our sweet dog Brody today. He has not been himself lately, and this afternoon I went outside with the kids and Brody was laying in his favorite spot in the dirt under some bushes. I didn't thing anything of it, I thought he was just sleeping, it's not unusual for him to just lay there where it's cool and watch the kids. About an hour later the kids told me Brody still hadn't moved, so I went to check on him. Well he wouldn't wake up and I could tell he wasn't breathing, so I tried to keep my composure (when really I was dying inside) and got the kids in the house and called hubby at work to come home. Rob is out in the back forty digging a spot for my boy to rest. I have to go out and put his americana bandana on and give him some loves. Brody has been the sweetest, best dog I have owned in my 35 years. He is going to be very missed!!

On that note, one of my day care kids, who happens to be my little cousin, is just the sweetest thing ever! He could tell I was very upset, he walked up to me with the biggest hug and told me he was sorry and that it would be ok!! Love that little guy, ok he's 8, but still he knew just what I needed!!

Help a Friend Out!!

A very good friend of mine has made it into the top 5 of the Paper Crafts Gallery Idol. Her work is amazing and she so deserves to win, so if you would help her out please go vote!

In their quest to become the next Gallery Idol, the Top 5 has incorporated a silhouette into the design of their cards. It’s now up to you, the Paper Crafts online community to decide who will become the next Gallery Idol. Please cast your vote for your favorite quote card. REMEMBER: YOU MAY ONLY VOTE ONCE, SO CHOOSE WISELY!

You’ll have until noon (MST) on Thursday, August 7th to cast your vote for your favorite designer. THE Gallery Idol will be announced Friday August 8th, so make sure to stay tuned for the big announcement. Good luck, Top 5!

Here is the link:
Gallery Idol
Go to the card that says You Rock My World by Shanna Vineyard

Here is the link to Shanna's Blog:
My Next Thirty Years

Thanks so much!!!

Look What I Just Got!!!

Absolutely beautiful!!! Not to mention my very favorite flower is in there-Stargazer Lily's
Seriously, how lucky am I??? Guess I'm gonna have to start celebrating from now till Monday!!

These flowers are from some of my very best friends in the world!! I'm so lucky to have the Alger family in my life!! We may not get to hang out like we used to, but I know they are always there for me. Sometimes for an ear, for a laugh, and sometimes even a kick in the pants if I need it!! Thanks for your friendship guys, it means the world to me!!! Love ya!!!

4 More Days!

4 more days till the big 35!! Hard to believe another year has flown by!! Seems like just yesterday I was meeting some friends to go to GR to celebrate at one of my favorite restaraunts, and SURPRISE, we weren't going out, they were having a surprise party for me! They really got me!! I had no idea!! Not a clue-damn they are good!! This year going out with the girls on Tuesday and I'm looking forward to good friends, good conversation and good melon margaritas!!!

It's almost Friday and that is ALWAYS a good thing! We don't have plans for the weekend, hopefully get caught up on some housework, and move a swing set to Papa and Grammy's. Their neighbors have a swing set that Lily just loves to play on and their boys are older now, so we are moving it. Thanks so much Sparks family!! We love ya!!

Not much going on this week here. Rob has been working late every night to get a project out, so it's just been Lily and I. I managed to get some scrappin' done, one lo for SYC and two ATC holders. I've actually managed to do 3 weeks in a row over at SYC, hard to believe I haven't fallen off the wagon!! I made the ATC holders for the "Hottie" swap I was in and also for the "Sister to Sister" swap I was in. I'm so hooked on ATC's!!! Since I have nothing going on, I'll leave you with photos of what I did last night. (Sorry about the bad photos!!)

Heading Out!

Just a quick post, Rob and I are heading out tonight on an adults only camping trip this weekend!! It's the annual canoe trip, that actually, nobody really canoes anymore, most of us have kayaks. Lots of fun to be had, lots of adult beverages, a bonfire, lots of Texas Hold Em and good friends. Side note to my girls: I'm gonna miss you all!! But rest assured I'll have drinks for ya!! Wish you were there with me!! You know who you are!!

Lily is spending the weekend with Grammy and Papa, and I'm sure she won't have any fun at all!!! Yay right!! She won't even want to come home!!

Not much as gone on since we've been back from vacation. Pretty mellow!!

I've have gotten lots of scrappin' done, I've even managed to get the challenges over at Scrap Your Crap done two weeks in a row!! Woo Hoo!! You should stop over and check them out, great ladies and great challenges!! Click over on that adorable pink skull blinkie to get there!
That is the great thing about being on a budget, I get lots of scrappin' done, and I'm using up the stash I have!!

Rob and I have made some decisions about Foster Parenting and I'll fill you in more about that next week!!

Have a great weekend everyone!!

xoxo

Just Photos!!

Just wanted to post some of the photos from our last night on vacation. I have not edited them yet, as you can see, they really need to be edited!!

Have a great weekend everyone!!

The family Rob Lily and I, Mom and Dad, Robynn and Wally

My Brother in Law and My Sister
Wally and Robynn

Me and Rob, Wally and Robynn

Dad Lily and Mom

Our Family

(the only photo I have edited)

Friday Fill In's and Kayaking Trip Details

1. Oh, I can't wait until I have all our debt paid off!!! (it's going to be a LONG 4 years!!!!!).

2. Milk is the first thing I see when I open my refrigerator. (You have to have a lot of gallons of milk when you do daycare!!)

3. I never leave home without my cell phone and yes I know it's bad, but my smokes.

4. If I were a condiment, Pickles I would be because I could be sweet or sour depending on my mood!!.

5. Back stabbing bitches, bitches who say they are your friend but talk shit behind your back is really high up on my list of pet peeves.

6. The last thing I thought of before I went to bed was the serial killer (read below for the details).

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to two more days of vacation, tomorrow my plans include lots of Malibu and Diet cause I haven't even had one yet and Sunday, I want to well really I don't want to, but we have to pack up and go home!

We had a great kayak trip yesterday, all 7 of us headed down the river. Rob and I have a big kayak that has room and a small seat for Lily (thanks Jod), we weren't sure how she would do, but I have to tell you, I have the BEST 2 year old EVER!!!! We were on the river for over 5 hours and she was AMAZING!!!!!! She had the best time, and was such a good girl!!! She sang, hung over the edge to splash in the water, helped her Daddy paddle, and I can't even begin to tell you how wonderful she was!!! I will have photos after the trip, cause we took disposable cameras with us.

Now on the the good part...... We had to park our truck with the trailer on it at the end so we could all get back, well guess what???? Dad locked the keys in the truck!!!! Mind you we are in the middle of BFE with 7 of us just standing around and it's 25 minutes driving 70 back to the other vehicles! So some dude pulls in and Dad talks him into driving him back to the other vehicle where the keys are. I'm here to tell you the dude looked like a serial killer!!! He said he was from Minnesota, driving a car with West Virginia license plates, and said he was here on business. Then he pulls up over by us and tells me how cute Lily is??? I was so paranoid that Dad wasn't coming back!!!!!!!! I chewed off all my nails, and was never so happy to see Dad pull back in, I ran up and gave him a big ol hug!!!

We did have a great time, and are sad we only have have 1 full day left!!! I'll check back in Sunday night after we are all settled in.

Vacation is Wonderful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, vacation is going wonderful!!! We are having good weather, and lots of rest and relaxation!! Lily is doing sooooooo good!!! She is having a ball!! Just a quick update, with photos in no particular order. Gotta love that we have internet this year! Hope you are all having a great week! We are heading home on Sunday and back to the grind! We are all heading out for a kayak trip tomorrow! This will be Lily's first REAL kayak trip, and it's about a 4 hour run, so keep your fingers crossed that all goes well!!

Here is a photo of Rob and Wally's excitement for today, emptying the shitter!!

I call this photo camping with the Clampets! We've got a lot of junk!!

Anna, these photos are just for you girl! Yes, we scrapped today!! Got six lo's done!! Lily hangin' out coloring while Mommy scraps!

More scrappin'

Water logged Princess

The first day here, she found the water and went right in, clothes and all!!

Say cheese!

Papa and Lily playing in the water

Daddy and Lily fishing

Lily's favorite thing to do here besides the water. Dirt, dirt, dirt!!! I have been calling her our little dirt troll!!

Lily dressed for the 4th of July

She was VERY unsure of the sparklers!

Auntie Robynn is scared of the sparklers!!! I finally got her to take one!!

Peace Out!!

We're on our way!!!

HAPPY VACATION TO US!!!

We are so ready for vacation!! We are leaving tomorrow sometime before noon!! It's now almost midnight, and I think we're almost done packing! We spent the evening make 3 stops to pick up enough kayaks so the whole family can go together instead of going in shifts, loaded up the camper, bank, groceries, and picked up the house all since about 7 pm. Not to mention we had some serious storms and did all of this is in the rain!! UGHH!!! Never fails!!!

Lots to do in the morning: Lily has to go to the Dr. at 9:30, then drop Lily off to my Mom so she can go have lunch with Grammy and some of her co workers, finish picking up house, load bathroom stuff, hook up the camper and GO!!! Mom and Dad are bringing up Lily with them so Rob and I can get the trailer set up and everything done and not chase Lily away from the water.

Seriously, it's been a day from HELL!!!! Crazy kids freaking out from the storm, inconsiderate daycare parents (don't even get me going on this one!!!!), a Princess that REALLY needed her beauty sleep so she would stop whining!! (Nothing I hate more than whining), all I can say is I NEED A COORS LIGHT!!!!!

I know I'm rambling, it's time for me to check out!!

Be back in a week and a half!!!

Much Love!!

Where did June Go??????

Seriously, time is flying by!!! I haven't posted any of our June happenings, so I'll give you a quick recap!!

Rob and I had our 11 year wedding anniversary on June 7th. Another, wow, where has all the time gone!!?? I'm so lucky to have Rob in my life! He is a great husband, a wonderful Daddy, and above all, he puts up with me!! LOL (just ask him, I'm not the easiest person to live with!!) Yes, sometimes he makes me crazy, but I can't imagine my life without him in it!!! I love you baby!! Here we are 11 years ago!! I would do that day all over again, and not change a thing!!! I had such a perfect day!! I have to tell you that I was really lazy getting this photo on here! This was the first photo that I came to and I took a picture of a picture!! Yep, pure laziness!!!
I got my hair cut again!! I get board so easily! I just want something fun and summery!! So I let her go at it and she cut it and gave me some caramel highlights to blend and hide some of my gray!! I know this is a bad photo, but ya know, I just can't take a good photo to save my life!!

Rob celebrated his 47th Birthday on June 22nd. We always go out to dinner with the family and the birthday person chooses where we eat. Well, Rob ALWAYS chooses the same place, cause I don't EVER go there. So we all headed to Red Lobster! Rob was a happy guy. Lily and I also took Rob to Red Robin for his free Birthday burger, now that's my kind of food, no seafood please!! Lily loved it when we embarrassed Rob and had the staff come over and do their Birthday thing!! She especially loved sharing a sundae with Daddy!!
Lily is doing great! Rob and I took last Friday off and took Lily to the zoo! She had so much fun, and it was great to spend some time with my two favorite people!! Lily was an angel!! She loved every second of checking out the animals. She got to pet sting rays, crabs, and a shark, she got to pet goats, sheep, cows, and chickens. She loved watching the crocodile. She liked the frog exhibit. She thought it was great that the bear was swimming in his pool, and the monkeys, she loved watching too!! We needed some quality family time, and it was wonderful!!

We are heading Up North on Thursday and will be gone on vacation for 10 days!!! Woo Hoo!!! We are camping at our favorite spot on the water!! We are going with Mom and Dad, Robynn and Wally and the three of us!! We are really looking forward to no work, no worries, just pure relaxation and fun!! (Yes, I am bringing my scrap stuff) We will be doing a kayaking trip, this will be Lily's first time in the Kayak for any length of time, should be interesting! I'm sure I'll have lots of photos upon my return!

I hope you are all having a great summer!! Take time and enjoy!!!