Wise Owl Giveaway & Learning Curve

I just love checking out my girlfriends blog. I am just GREEN with ENVY for her crafty-ness!! :) she is such a fun girl too so I love following her blog and getting updates on what she is doing in my inbox every few days. And she always has great music on her blog so I always can't wait to see what pops up! Ha ha!

I talk about Amanda because she makes some awesome stationary and some really fun "felties" that you can use if you make cards or you scrapbook. I just used my third feltie (and last - boo!) that I bought from her etsy shop this last week when I went scrapbooking. I put a cute bird she made on the layout I did for Riley showing how she learned to ride her bike! Very cute and fun layout to make! I was remembering her decision to finally learn how to ride and her big brother helping her. Sweet time.

Amanda is doing a "Give Away" of some great stationary she hand made and a hand made Wise Owl feltie. I REALLY WANT TO WIN IT!!!! But I also need to tell my followers about it and the friends that get my Blog by email so you can sign up for a chance too. Here is the post about the giveaway but if you click on the Title of her Blog you can go and see some other posts she has made. Some are really funny and the latest one was kind of sad because she had an "Alexander" kind of day today!! So go check her out and send her good vibes for GOOD DAYS AHEAD!!! :)

http://craftypapergirl.blogspot.com/2009/10/giveaway-day.html

Hoe-Down Birthday!

It has been way too long since my last post and I fear this may be a trend through out this school year! I have three kids in school and I, myself, am taking classes to become a NURSE! I am very excited about this but whew is it WORK!! I never feel like I have enough time for anything! I badly miss my nephew and neice and many friends that I just don't have time to hang out with. I am not trying to avoid anyone but if I don't buckle down and study, I will never pass my tests and I won't get that RN I am working so hard for! BUT, last night I was able to attend my friend Emily's birthday party which was held on a farm in southeast Jefferson county. It was a DREAM birthday party!! (Her dream and definately one of my long held dreams!) I have always wanted to go to a party like the one I went to last night. I had so much fun and everything was so beautiful and bright that Emily said to me, "Don't you feel like you are on a real movie set?!!" Yes!! It was like what you would see in a movie, a barn, lights strung up, a big tree house with a swing underneath, hay bales and a wagon. We even had a girl who taught us dances and "called" the dances for us. Just like in a movie!! I would have loved to have been thrown that birthday party - it was perfect!!! And I know Emily enjoyed every minute of it! As a matter of fact she was so giddy and happy by the end of the party that something silly I said made her laugh water out of her nose! Now really, there is no better way to end your birthday party than by laughing so hard that water comes out your nose!! (And no, there was no alcohol which made the party all the better! (Didn't have to worry about anyone getting stupid!))

So, I had a great night with Keith and with Emily and other friends and now I must return to the books!

Prince Pasta Bowl Restaurant

Well, the girls finished the new restaurant and opened for business. They even made a menu which was very cute! (With everything spelled phonetically of course.) They then enlisted the help of The Man to cook spaghetti and came and delivered an invitation to Emma's mom an me to come to dinner!

We had spaghetti with bacon bits and red sauce. They also found the stashed bottle of favorite white wine in the downstairs fridge and served that! Yum! I am kinda wondering if Riley has secretly been hanging out at Amanda's house because she has been so crafty lately! She tied the silverware up inside the paper napkins with some of my ribbon :) ! Lovely dinner and all before the rain came pouring down again!

Now those are Two Happy Mommas!!!!

Sorry Sweetie!!

So, apparently I think I am funny but I am really not . I published a post about my sweet hubby being a "tornado" because he moves so fast and I was embelishing quite a bit. I hurt his feelings because he thought I made him out to look like a "slob". NOT what I meant to do!! So I am retracting my post and issuing an appology because in reality, he is an awesome husband! (And really cute too!!)

Sorry sweet man!!

Play Time Takes Lots of Time!!

Why does it take 3 hours to set kids up to play for 20 minutes? The girls decided to "build" a restaurant and in order to not have my house torn apart, I figured I should help them find what they needed and to keep them from interupting me every 3 minutes, I figured I would just get them all "set up" before going to study.

Whatever. So in REAL LIFE TIME, it went more like this:

Find the "perfect" box. Find some kind of storage for the contents that are currently housed inside the "perfect" box. Empty the box & pack it into the new box. Find some paint that is of acceptable color to both girls. Get the superglued paint cans open (20 minutes, one paint can opener - which I had to go find as it was not anywhere NEAR said paint!, two screwdrivers and some paper towels), find brushes that will be ok to be thrown away cause god knows they are not going to be cleaned, haul box upstairs (twice since I tried to carry it up the stairs in the "too wide to make it through the basement door manner" the first time), search for box cutter (razor blade thingie that retracts) while girls decide where to put door and how to put a "service counter" onto the box, go sharpen a knife since I couldn't find a box cutter, cut door in box, go find new paint can to pour 3/4 can of blue paint into since I ruined the top of old paint can trying to pry it off ...

And yeah, it keeps going like that for a while. Anyway, they got to have a creative outlet on a rainy day and that is the important part. Right?? Ha ha ha!! They were very cute and if they fight over at which house the "Prince Pasta Bowl" restaurant will reside... there will be a sudden cooking fire so I hope they purchased insurance. Just kidding : )

Crafty Paper Girl Give Away

I just Love the Crafty Paper Girl felties! She makes birds, flowers, and button felt embelishments that I am dying to own all of!! I can buy them on Etsy (I just purchased two!) Here is her link: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7562388 I just made a super scrapbook layout using one of her felt and fabric birds today too. I love it! I promise, as soon as I find my card for my camera (that I took out of my camera in order to print some photos), I will take a picture and post it! Please go check out her shop in the mean time because it is super cute. Also, check out 62 Cards - that is a really fun blog and run by a Southern Girl to boot! Lots of great blogs to see! Here is the link to 62 Cards: http://www.62cards.blogspot.com/ OK, what are you waiting for?? Go! Found the card!! Here is a picture of how I used one of Crafty Girl's Felt Birds!

Sweetie's Treats: 07-08-09 10:11:12am#links

Sweetie's Treats: 07-08-09 10:11:12am#links

07-08-09 10:11:12am

So what were you doing on 07-08-09 at 10:11:12???

Quinn and I enjoyed yummy bagels brought over my my girlie q Shawnna who works at Panera!! Yum!!

Happy Anniversary!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY BABY!!

Keith and I have been married for quite some time now and it amazes me that it still feels NEW! He is the joy of my life and I thank God for him every day! (Yes, even the bad ones! ha ha ha!) I love that our anniversary is on Independence Day - it is my favorite holiday. This day holds the best memories of my childhood, my early 20's and my "todays"!

Riley and I got up and went to the farmer's market today and then we ran home for the neighborhood parade only guess what?! Everyone was still sleeping!! We had to wake up Keith and Casi and light a fire under them. Keith and the kids rode their bikes over to the next neighborhood where the parade was being held but Casi and I drove. (not enough bikes) We had "Bomb pops" and the North Oldham Fire truck and firefighters led the parade around the circle. When we got back they hooked the truck up to the hydrant and "showered" us all!!! I love this tradition - it is so fun!! The kids goal is to pull daddy into the water and get him wet. This year they decided it was my turn too so I played along. They get such a big laugh out of it still!! After we were all drenched and right before Keith could carry Casi into the water, the fire dept. shut the water off and it was time to go home. Lucky Casi! We will hang out together today and be thankful for this great country we live in and the wonderful family we have built!!

Happy Independence Day and Happy Anniversary to Keith and me! :)

Friend Love!!

I am so excited!! I am so feelin' the love from my girl Amanda!!! I got a letter from her the other day and inside I found a felt birdie and flower!! I saw that she was making them on her blog and I told her how much I loved them and totally coveted them. Next thing I know, I get one of each!!!!! I feel sooooo loved!!!! I almost don't want to use them on a layout because once they are down, I won't be able to use them again! I just love them, they are so cute!!! I am such a lucky girl to have such a nice friend like her!!! Amanda, you rock!!!

Junior Prom

Wow! So my beautiful first-born had her Junior Prom this weekend and she was absolutely stunning!! She had gotten her hair and nails done and had found an amazing dress. Her beau rented a white tux and I was thinking, "huh?? White tux?!!" but he actually pulled it off! They looked great together. (Of course, who wouldn't look great next to this beauty!!!) (And Zach is pretty cute himself - poor kid, I give him so much grief I have to make sure he knows that I do like him!) They had a great time and once the stress of getting it all together was over, they relaxed and had FUN! Way to go kids! I love that you are two very responsible young adults. Thank you for not making me worry because I can trust you to make good choices (which you showed me AGAIN this weekend)!!

Memorial Day!

We have had such a fun weekend!! Keith and I got to go out to dinner with my old friends Friday night as the lovely little ones slept over at Memol and Beepol's house. We started dinner at 7pm and ended at 11pm! There is just nothing better to me than laughing and catching up with your friends lives and hearing their new "stories" and not having to worry about time or babysitters!! Yesterday, we got to see lots of our old friends at the same time at Chris and Lori's Memorial Day Party!! I love, love, love that Keith has a whole batch of wonderful guys that have married amazing women and have brought us all together into one big happy "brotherhood"!!!! I love these families - yes, we are all families now and that just reminds me how long we have all been friends. (I am saying nothing about age here people!) The kids all had fun too - squirting eachother with spring water and mud, jumping on the trampoline, sliding down the big blow up slide, and coming for periodic hugs. I got lots of gorgeous pictures of my friends and their families - I love that!

Tonight we were going to another party but it was canceled until next weekend - oh darn, another weekend party (!!) Then we decided to cook out and invite friends over but both of us were at a loss as to whom to invite since I just got to spend lots of time with one of my best friends and Keith and I got to hang out with our old crowd last night! I said, "Everyone that I want to see, I got to see and I couldn't be happier!" Keith just laughed and said, "Let's go to W.W. Cousins then!" Of course, this is Riley and Quinn's Favorite place and they call it WWW. Cousins - very cute! So, off we go for burgers and I don't have to cook - Again!! What a great weekend!

Sweetie's Lollypops

Whew!! What a day. My youngest is a massive ball of energy, always asking me to help her do something. (I am now wondering if she learned that by watching me always ask her father to help me do something??) I am glad she asks me though and doesn't just set about doing something on her own because many times it involves some kind of danger. (again wondering where she learned that...)

Today she asked if we could make lollypops. I had bought everything to do this a few days ago but got side tracked by my buddy Rebecca who, besides being able to do everything else in the world, is a fire hooper. HUH?? Well, she hula-hoops and lights the hoop on fire!!! How cool!! She is such an amazing person! So she called me Friday night and said she and her daughter were going hula-hooping in the park and did we want to come. Uh... YEAH!!! And just for the record, I have never been able to hula-hoop. Seriously. Never could keep that hoop going around and around my tummy. So Becky taught me Friday night and it is now my new obsession. Yes, I will be having a party and paying Rebecca to come and teach my girlfriends!! Needless to say, when someone calls and asks if I want to do something new, I am all in and I knew the lollys would wait a few days. So here we are on Sunday afternoon and Riley remembers we were going to make lollys on Friday so of course we need to start NOW!!! (Never mind I have a paper due tomorrow and a take home test to turn in!!!)

Sweet Keith decided to get it all going while I finished my spreadsheet and paper (love that guy!!) and then I joined them and took some pics. (Of course if I had remembered to put my flipin' card back in my camera, I would have had great pics of us hula-hooping on Fri. night! DUH!!) We had fun making the candy. You have to boil the sugar and corn syrup until it reaches 305 degrees! and then put it in an ice bath for 10 seconds. Only Sweet Keith counts in Mississippi-Mississippi's for his seconds so I think it was a little too long. Anyway, then you add the flavoring (we used orange extract) and the coloring. They came out too thick because we decided to jam ourselves into a corner of the kitchen instead of using an open counter and so we were all on top of eachother trying to work too fast because the candy was cooling too quickly and getting hard fast. It is ok, because we can try it again another day!! And you have to be really careful not to touch your skin and stir slow when adding the water based stuff cause it boils immediately! Here are some fun shots! Enjoy!

This Boy!!

I adore this boy!! He has the biggest heart of any boy I know!! He has such love and compassion for others - mostly babies, kids and any "under-dog"! He gets really mad when he sees that there is no JUSTICE in a situation. He plays hard, and almost never realizes when another kid is playing "mean" or teasing him - he just has an innocent heart. This boy gives the BEST hugs (and has actually been told that by several quite attractive "princesses" at Disney World. Seriously, Cinderella hugged him and then went and got her friends and came back to have them all hugged AND get another hug!! (He was 5 for that trip!) He actually made me cry this morning too. He said they were starting shark dissection in school today and he didn't want to do it. Being a boy, I thought this would be VERY cool to him so I was confused. I asked him Why he didn't want to do it (he really seemed to be looking forward to it last week). He said that the teacher talked to them about the dissection process yesterday and told them that they may end up with a shark "mommy" that has a baby or babies in her belly. Well, that was it for Quinn!! He wanted NOTHING to do with dead babies! He said he was sure he would throw-up if he ended up with a momma shark and then he would pass out, and of course, that would be embarassing to him. No wonder he did not want to go to school and do the dissection! Oh - poor kid! I tried to make him feel better and told him to ask the teacher for a boy shark. (How do you tell a shark apart???) I just hugged him and told him to do as much of the dissection as he felt comfortable with. Can't wait til he gets home from school and I can find out what happened. (But I didn't get a call from the school nurse, so that is a good sign!) Well, we can cross out anything in the health care field for him. :)

New Clothes!

Oh I just love new clothes!!! I love yellow and green!! They are my favorite colors and i love when i find them in the right shade to wear!! I am so excited to get new clothes! I just wanted a couple of new t-shirts because mine are 2 and 3 years old. (yes, really) I hate to shop. As a matter of fact, I started trying things on and the first few items were Waaaayyyyy wrong for me so I got frustrated. (yes, I do that quite quickly when it comes to shopping) I almost just said, "Forget it!!" and left the store but I thought, "So, what do I have to go home to? The same tshirts I have been wearing the heck out of for the past two years??!! Just get it over with!" So I stuck it out and I am so glad I did because then things started fitting right and being the right color! yea!! And, I found 2 yellow shirts I love and a green one. (I love green but with the red tint to my hair and skin, it doesn't always agree with me :() I am set for spring, summer and fall!! So excited and comfy! Here is a pix of me in my new yellow shirt and camo capris.

Free Spirit

Ok, I just had to post this! My girlfriend Amanda (who IS the craftiest girl I know) has inspired me to get some layouts done and try to post them on my blog. I am not sure how she got her layouts posted so wonderfully but I will find out!! Anyway, the point being, I love her work and she always has such fun doing it so I figured... get to it Kel!!! So here is the layout I worked on last Friday night at Amanda's house. (Thanks Amanda for the smaller letters and I found a sheet at JoAnn crafts in St. Matthews to get the final "r"!!) (yes, it is just like me to start a layout and not pay attention to whether I have all the letters I need to finish it!! I just finished it this morning after picking up a sheet of letter stickers.)

You should go check out Amanda's "Crafty Girl" page. It is sweet! Her link is: http://craftypapergirl.blogspot.com/

She always has something interesting going on!

By the way, I love this bird paper from Basic Grey!! (Check out Dee's crafts in St. Matthews!)

My mom took the picture of Riley last summer at the Melwood Arts Center. They had a mini golf art exhibit! Riley loved it and wanted her picture taken in the "clouds" so she laid on the ground and had memol take the picture like she was "floating"! I love this girl! She is my Funny girl with the FREE SPIRIT!!!

The Reader

This kid has had his nose in a book since he was 7. He loves to read!! I am so happy all of my kids love reading!! I love that Quinn can read history, politics, fiction, science-fiction, etc. and never get bored! He is 10 now and I am wondering when To Kill a Mockingbird (my favorite book) would be appropriate for him. ??? He read Bridge To Terebithia at 9 and it made him cry. (don't tell anyone!!) I don't know about boy minds but I want to give it to him when he will LOVE the book. Maybe I will wait a little longer. :)

I am personally reading the book, "A Prayer for Owen Meany". It is my cousins favorite book and told me I should read it. It is definately a boy book and i am nearing the end and still wondering WHERE it is going. (Quinn will have to wait for at least his 12th year for this one). I will let you know what I think of it once I find out how it ends...

I BELONG in Greece.

In case anyone was wondering, I am pretty sure the stork got his direction wrong when he was dropping me off. I think I belong in Greece. I think maybe my parents belong there too. Isn't Partiniokos what our name used to be??? Of course, it is just across the Mediterranean from Lebanon (but with less fighting for eternity I hope) so they are quite similar right?? Well, at least the food is about the same. YUM!!! I am thinking when I am done with nursing school, I may be going to Lebanon AND Greece!! Oh Boy!!

Happy Daisy

Wow, I wait waaayyy too long to post on my blog! I am always ready to say something but usually get totally side tracked! What' new right?

Anyway, I am so ready for the cold and rain to end and the summer to get here! I miss the flowers and in particular, the daisies!! They are the happiest, most care free flower there is and I love them. Now, if we are talkin' smell, I gotta go with the carnations. NO, they are NOT a funeral flower. They have a BIG SMELL and they come in soooo many colors!!!! I LOVE the colors!!!!!!!! Ironically, I hate the food coloring colored daisies! So here's to looking ahead to smiling flowers and sunny days!

Ben is after me.

We had an ice/snow storm this week and lots of houses/schools/businesses are without power. I think it has something to do with Ben. I think turning the wheel really messed up the normal world's weather patterns. Not happy with him right now and wondering what it would take to go looking for him. Oh yea, probably lots of money. By the way, where in the hell does Ben get all his money? too creepy. Maybe I will stay away from Ben and maybe Mr. Widmore will get a hold of him. Anywhoo, somebody go down there in that green house basement and turn the wheel back please so we can all have power. That or give me a BUNCH of money so I can buy a second house in FLORIDA!!!

It is all because of Ben!

Yup. I just gonna blame it on Ben. I think he is nuts any way. The weird stuff in my life, the way LOST didn't record last night, the difficult time consuming job Keith had last night. It is all Ben's fault. (Plus now I want a little wheelie thing to turn and make time go backwards by more than three years! - WHAT was that ???) Sorry Ben but you are the bad guy anyway. (And I am still banking on the Casimir Effect on the island of LOST!)

Lose My Soul

Yep. I came pretty close to that today. It was just not a very good day. sometimes I just question WHY God allows things to happen. I just don't get it. As if I am not stressed enough he throws a curve ball. No, it was not as bad as someone in my family getting hurt. It was an EMOTIONAL curve ball. And it just made me a wreck. This day was pretty much just a day that could be wiped from the books forever. I still don't get it God, but I am sure you have your reasons. so just take a few minutes and listen to the two songs that are first on my play list. Toby Mac's "Loose My Soul" and Kanye West's "Stronger". Cause both have words of truth. Too bad I couldn't find the Beatles, "Help".