Cosmo Cricket Entry

One of my most favoritest scrapbooking companies ~ COSMO CRICKET ~ is having an open call for their design team and all you have to do is post some of your favorite layouts/cards/altered items on your blog to enter.

SO, here I go....had a little trouble narrowing down my favorites and trying to decide if they truly showcased my style which tends to be pretty linear and simple. Cosmo Cricket has such wonderful designers, I'm just flattered that someone from their company will actually be looking at my stuff!!! Can you believe it?!? I can't either, but it's exciting stuff in my little world! :)

Pretty sure that there will be about a billion other people trying out for this, but what have I got to lose by throwing my hat in the ring? I would be honored to work for Cosmo Cricket. This would be a dream come true!!!!!

Anyway...those of you who are faithful bloggies have seen some of these projects already, so I apologize for the repeats, but there are some new things here, too. Wish me luck!

2 page layout w/hand stitching using CC journaling card:






















Mini album in a tin (3 pics):



1 page layout w/faux stitching using CC patterned paper:




Card w/stamping:



2 page layout using old Comstock Collection chipboard accents:

Mini flip-flop album (2 pics) using CC patterned paper & old Comstock Collection chipboard alphabet:

1 page layout using scraps from another project and CC patterned paper:


1 page layout w/ribbon:

Card w/buttons:

1 page layout w/hand stitching & using the throw-away strip from CC 12 x 12 paper sheet and CC chipboard journaling cards:


1 page layout using the throw-away strip and hole punch, and CC green pp:

Altered tin recipe box (2 pics) using old Comstock Collection paper:

1 page layout w/buttons & stamping:

2 page layout using CC's left over negative space from die-cut alphabet for title:

Anatomically Correct Chalk Drawings

R: I drew monkeys, mom. See the mommy monkey, the little boy monkey, the baby monkey, the sister monkey, and the daddy monkey.

M: Ryan, you did an awesome job! I love your monkeys!

R: [pointing to the circle with the line in the middle on the big monkey] See, mom, the mommy monkey even has a weiner.

M: Ryan, mommies don't have weiners [which, by the way, is not my choice of name ~ thank you, very much, Mark]

R: Oh, yeah....then that's her pa-china.

Lovely.

Rejection

rejection: the act of being rejected

reject: 1 a: to refuse to accept, consider, submit to, take for some purpose, or use b: to refuse to hear, receive, or admit : rebuff, repel c: to refuse as lover or spouse2obsolete : to cast off 3: throw back, repulse4: to spew out5: to subject to immunological rejection
synonyms see decline (from merriam-webster.com)


For those of you who may not know, Mark lost his job back in April. With the current state of our economy, we decided that maybe it was time for me to return to teaching [I've been home with the boys for the last 4 years]. After all, teaching is a relatively stable job ~ there will always be kids who need teachers.

So, I've been applying for teaching positions. Both elementary positions and reading specialist positions. Part time, full time, long term sub, and permanent positions. I've actually been surprised at the number of openings out there.

I was thrilled when I got an email over our vacation requesting an interview with the principal. Granted, this was my first interview in 8(!) years and I was a bit nervous. Even though I was not at all confident in how I interviewed, I was asked to come back and teach a demonstration lesson to a 2nd grade class two days later.

I thought I nailed the lesson.
I thought I nailed the second interview with the assistant principal and reading specialist.
I came out of there with my head held high and pretty confident I would be offered something ~ I mean they did have three reading positions open.

Today, I got my "Dear John" letter.
"....the final decision was not an easy one. yada. yada. yada....not selected at this time....we will continue to consider you for a teaching position."

Sure you will.

And as I sat here crying to Mark on the phone, it dawned on me that this is the first time in my 34 1/2 years that I've never gotten the job for which I interviewed.

Maybe that's why this is so difficult. Maybe that's why I feel so rejected. I know I'm a wonderful teacher and it's their loss.

I know there's a reason for this.
And I trust that God has a better plan ~ I just thought this was it.

Oh, well.
Let me wallow over my piece of leftover ice cream cake [go Dairy Queen!]
Yes, it's leftover from Ryan's birthday.
Last July.
But I can't lie....it's still yummy! :)

Fly Ry and Easy E

So yesterday I was able to take the older boys to the library in the afternoon while the little guys were napping [Mark was home, people ~ don't call Child & Youth Services yet...] The boys got in the car and while I tore apart the house looking for my flip flops, they dug out the headphones they've used to watch movies in the car when we take a road trip.

They were so funny ~ they insisted that they could hear the music through the headphones [they couldn't] and they bopped around in the back seat to the CARS soundtrack on the way to and from the library. They looked so cute sitting in the backseat with the headphones on, I had to take a picture. All they need now is their turntable....

Baby Teeth

Evan has had his first loose tooth for a few weeks now.

We've checked the wiggliness of it every day and

wondered when it was going to fall out.

I told him to wiggle it with his tongue.

Daddy told him we could tie a string to his tooth

and a doorknob and shut the door.

Luckily, neither one of those methods had to be utilized.

Tonight, while playing football with Daddy and his brothers, Evan lost his first tooth.

They all came running in the house to tell me the news and Evan was grinning from ear to ear. And because he's the first [and therefore, the first to lose a tooth in our house] and because I'm a scrapbooker, we had to document the momentous occassion with some photos.

Our baby is growing up!!

Snapshot Saturday

I don't know about where you live, but around here,
we've had n o t h i n g but rain. For two weeks. And counting.

Everything feels damp, my kids are going stir crazy, I'm going stir crazy, we all miss the sun.

We saw the sun briefly peek it's face out from behind all the rain clouds - ever so briefly - a few times this week and I snapped this photo of the front of our house.

Love my tiger lilies....plant the bulbs once and they multiply and come back every year. Can't ask for anything easier than that!

Hope it brightens your weekend :)

Summer dreams....

Summer, Summer, wherefore art thou, Summer?

Thursday Tip

I don't know where I learned this one, but so far, it's worked for me.

When picking out a pineapple, reach your fingers into the stem to find the innermost leaves [they're a little prickly, so beware].

Find the one closest to the center of the stem and try to pull it out.

If the pineapple is ripe and sweet, it will come out easily.

If you have to really pull, find another pineapple.

YUM!

Handy Manny

Saturday morning, this is what we awoke to find:

Ryan, in his new swim goggles,

sitting in the hallway,

surrounded by the yellow toolbox,

the play saw,

the play hammer,

the play drill that really works,

the water gun that blows bubbles,

and the children's illustrated Bible, open on the floor.

He was "working, mom."

And pointing to the Bible, he said,

"These are my instructions."

Yes, buddy, yes they are..... :)

Climb

I got some new scrapbooking paper about 2 weeks ago when I was getting some goodies for my giveaway. I had a chance to play a few nights last week and used a sketch from Pamela Young's blog. She typically posts a sketch every Monday, but this particular one was for Scrap and Stamp's first challenge. I haven't decided whether I'm going to post my page there, but I wanted
to share it here.

I LOVE these pictures my hubby took last summer of the boys climbing the tree in our front yard. And I couldn't wait to use the diecut tree from the Penny Lane collection from My Mind's Eye. When I went to place it on my page, I thought it was a rub-on and couldn't figure out why it wasn't transferring.....DUH! After I rubbed off part of the trunk, I read the label [why you should read the directions first....]

The challenge was to use the sketch, at least 2 stamps, and make a page with a summer theme. I used my Making Memories foam letter stamps to make the title and my new Hero Arts acrylic stamp for the date.

I sewed buttons on the tree and along the bottom left hand corner and stapled some old We R Memory Keepers string to frame the photos. I really like the way this turned out.

My supplies: Patterned paper ~ Green dots & Orange dots Crate Paper

& Green diamonds October Afternoon

Scalloped cardstock ~ Crate Paper

Orange cardstock ~ DCWV

Die Cut Tree ~ MME

Shoelace ~ We R Memory Keepers

Foam letter stamps ~ Making Memories

Date stamp ~ Hero Arts

Buttons, embroidery floss, and acrylic paint ~ other

Goodbye Kindergarten, Hello First Grade!

Friday marked the end of kindergarten for my Evan. He had a WONDERFUL year with some great teachers. He discovered he loves math and his reading is really taking off. Evan has always loved books, but now that he can read some of the words by himself, it's a whole new world! :)

I cannot believe my baby is officially a first grader and will be in school full day come September...where does the time go?

Today we're celebrating the fact that we don't have to trek all our butts up to the bus stop two times a day :) Although I will miss the excitement of waiting for the bus and Evan giving everyone hugs and kisses before he boarded. SO cute!

For know, we're going to savor the summer time we have together :)

Here's a shot of the teachers' gifts I made ~ the "flowers" in the pot are actually pens.

Thursday Tip

If you're planning a trip this summer to the beach, here are 2 of my "must-haves."

These must be packed even if it's at the expense of something else being left behind.

1. A fold-up drying rack ~ beach houses/hotels NEVER have enough hooks to hang wet beach towels, wet bathing suits, and wet bath towels, especially for a family of 5.....

2. A cheap bath mat ~ beach houses/hotels rarely have bath mats [and if they do, who knows the last time they were washed???] Less slipping on the wet floor might prevent a trip to the ER and we all know that's not where you want to spend your vacation.

:)

Party of 8

This past weekend, we finally had my friend, Teresa's 35th birthday celebration. Her actual birthday was in February, and the first planned dinner party had to be postponed due to lack of babysitting, so here we are in June.....

Anyway, it was my turn to host and can I just say how fun it was to plan a dinner party???? It's been eons since Mark and I hosted a dinner party sans kids. It was fun to decorate and light candles without worrying about someone getting burned or setting the house on fire. We got out the good china and glassware, served fun cosmopolitans for the ladies, enjoyed cocktails and appetizers on the deck, followed by dinner and desert in the dining room. Heck, we even got to use [for the first time] those fancy wine glass charms we bought in Napa Valley almost 7 years ago!! Dinner was set for 7:30, but half of the party didn't arrive until 8:00 so appetizers didn't happen until 8:30 and we didn't sit down to dinner until close to 10 p.m.

MENU: Salad
Chicken Marsala over pasta

Lemon Herb seasoned green beans

Italian bread

Individual Lemon pudding cakes for dessert

A good [too good] time was had by all.

For some reason, I'm always giving Teresa recipes [not because I'm a good cook or anything] so I decided to make her a recipe box as her birthday gift. I had these great recipe card stamps from Stampin' Up that I had wanted to use for a while [read: over a year] and I love how the recipe cards turned out. The dividers were decorated up with ribbon and I made a "5 star yummy" tag on a paper clip for each section so she could mark her favorite recipes.

Life is too short....

.....to get upset over little things
.....to stay mad at someone you love
.....to hold a grudge
.....to not pursue your dreams
.....to not share your intimate thoughts
.....to not tell your loved ones how special they are to you

This seems to be a recurrent thought in my mind lately. It's kind of been "in my face" over the past few months with my mom's cancer diagnosis and one thing after another keeps reiterating these themes.

First, it was Grey's season finale:
"Drink it in. Cause this is it. It might all be gone tommorow..."

Then, my mom went for a follow-up to her oncologist and my dad asked the dreaded question, "How much time do we have?" The doctor told my mom that people with the same kind of cancer she has [colon spread to lung & liver] live on average 22-24 months.

And yesterday, I found out that my college roommate's husband died in his sleep of an apparent heart attack on Friday night. He was a year younger than me and left behind his wife, a 4 year old son and a 2 year old daughter. Please keep Bethany and their family in your prayers as they mourn the loss of a husband, a father, a son, and a brother.

The point I'm trying to make here is this: none of us know when we will pass from this earth. Any one of us could die tomorrow, next week, next month....we never know when it will happen. So, I encourage you to live, laugh, and especially love while you have this precious time with the ones you love.

Enjoy it. Cherish it.
Don't go to bed angry. Forgive. Forget.
Encourage. Participate. Hug. Kiss. Smile.
Laugh at your mistakes. Make amends.
Love your family. Love your friends. Love your enemies.

Life is too short. Make the most of what you have...
How will you spend your time?

And the Winner is.....

#4....MEGAN!!

Thank you to everyone for their comments ~ I LOVE getting and reading comments on my blog :)

I did the random number generator thing, and yes, my sister won. :) I wanted to post the random number widget, but couldn't for the life of me figure it out. SO, to be fair [and so you know this drawing wasn't fixed ~ hahaha!] I generated another number for a second winner.....

drum roll please....

#6.....Momma of 5 [aka Amy :)]

Amy, please email me with your mailing address (amyg1974 at msn dot com)...
Megan, I'll see you soon :)

What a nice surprise....

We had a wonderful family vacation last week [I'll be sharing more about that on a later post].

When we came home, I was thrilled to get the bag of the week's mail from our neighbors. Yeah, I'm one of those people who gets excited about the prospect of getting something fun in the mail ~ you should have seen how many times I checked my mailbox everyday when I was in college...

I received the nicest collection of scrappy goodies from my blogger friend, Chrispea. I had the chance to meet Chris in person when a bunch of CKMB scrapbookers met in Lancaster last year and she is just one of the sweetest people. I had won a random drawing on her blog a while ago for leaving a comment and even though she had emailed me and told me she was getting things together to send me, I'd been so busy, I kind of forgot about it.

All these great goodies....I can't wait to get scrapping. She even made me a cute little card, too. I especially love the blank chipboard book....I haven't decided what I'm going to do with it yet, but it'll be fun to come up with something good. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Chrispea!! You are too generous!

Speaking of which, I see that I'm creeping up on 6000 blog hits. I wanted to do a random drawing for some scrapbooking goodies when I hit 5000, but I missed the opportunity.

SO, to celebrate 6000 hits, I will be drawing a random number from those who leave me a comment on this post.

Tell me what you are most looking forward to this summer. You have until this Friday [tomorrow] at midnight EST to leave a comment. I will use a random number generator over the weekend and announce the winner! Oh, I'm so excited!!! My first giveaway!!! :) Hurry up and leave a comment!!