June Is A Busy Month!

June 10th was Mother's birthday, as well as Andy's 16th birthday! I'm glad I was able to get him a present he really wanted - a bigger hard drive for his XBox 360. We gave Mother money. After Mother and Andy opened their presents, we went to Bob Evans for dinner.

While Beth was outside, I decided to take pictures of Ethan and me. Here is one that I really like of the both of us. Look at the little devil posing!

On June 16th, the Toledo Zoo had an employee night. For this, the employees and their families got to see the new area that would be opening on the 19th. Ethan loved the goats, as you can tell by his face in the picture below.

On Father's Day, we set up Ethan's pool. Here he is sitting in it. He didn't even wait until he got his swimming trunks on! We had a cookout, and our menu was hot dogs, hamburgers, potato salad and chips. It wasn't much, but after all the work we did that day, it was good.

Did A Little More Scrapping

Last night I worked some more on Ethan's alphabet album. I have one letter, an "a", that I need to recut because when I ran it through the Xyron, it flipped over and the adhesive is on the wrong side. I'm excited to be in the finishing stages of this project. Hopefully I can finish it tonight and post some pictures.

I plan to also make Ethan albums on counting and colors.

Giveaway On a Cool Blog

I saw a post on the CKMB for a giveaway on the Picture to Paper blog. Here is the link: http://picturetopaper.blogspot.com/ Look at the post titled Favorite Friday.

I looked around the blog and they have some really great projects. I've added it to the Places I Like To Visit.

Just thought I'd share with you.

Did Some Scrapping Over the Weekend

On Saturday night and all day Sunday, I used my Cricut and cut out all the animals and letters I need to make Ethan's alphabet album. Now I just have to trim cardstock down to 8x8, laminate the animals and then start assembling. I can't wait to get it done! I'll make sure to post pictures of the album here. Hopefully tonight I can do some work on it as well, but who knows if I'll have time. If not, I'll definitely work on it tomorrow night.

I also have to make birthday cards for Mother and Andy, since their birthday is next week.

The Weekend Is Here

I'm so glad that the weekend is finally here. Tonight I watched Ethan while Beth was working. He was being silly and we played a lot. Then all of a sudden he got tired and was ready for bed.

My plan for tomorrow is to start cutting out the animals for Ethan's alphabet book. I'll have to start it when Ethan takes his nap, and once he wakes up, I'll have to wait until Beth is home from work to start cutting again. I'm excited to start working on his book. I'm going to laminate the animals and attach them with velcro on the outside of each page. That way he can take the animals off and put them back on.

This Seems Like the Longest Short Work Week!

I know this is a short work week, but it sure does seem like a long one! I wish the weekends would seem as long.

At least when I get home from work, Ethan comes running to me and gives me a kiss. It's so cute! He sure is developing quite a personality. He likes to play and giggle a lot. At the store he'll sit in the cart and just chatter away. Then when I answer him by saying "Is that right?", he'll start shaking his head no. Sometimes he shakes his head so fast that he gets dizzy.

Hopefully tomorrow when I get home from work I can start cutting out the animals on my Cricut for Ethan's alphabet book. I can't wait to work on it and see Ethan's face when I get it done. He loves books.

Summer Is Right Around the Corner

Today was so humid, that you couldn't help but know that summer is right around the corner. We had on and off thunderstorms today. I just hope that we don't have too hot of a summer.

On May 17th, Beth, Andy, Ethan and I went to Pearson Park. Here are some pictures:

Here is Ethan swinging

Here are Andy and Beth with Ethan on the slide. You can tell by Andy and Beth's face that they are enjoying the time with Ethan. It's nice to see Brother and Sister enjoying time together.

I love the next two pictures of Beth and Ethan. They didn't know I was snapping pictures, but you sure can tell the special bond that Mother and Son have in these photos.

Ethan sure was tired after we got home from the park. He went to bed early and slept pretty well.

In the following picture, Ethan is 19 months old! He's such a ham!

We had a nice Memorial Day. Our menu was hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill, corn on the cob, potato salad and chips. We went the easy route and clean up was a breeze since we used paper plates and plastic silverware. Here is a picture of Buster enjoying the sun.

I've Got To Start Blogging More!

I made myself a goal to update my blog more often. I started out fine, but have been really lax about it lately. I'm seriously going to try to get better about it.

This weekend I plan to upload pics from my camera to the computer. When I do that, I'll post a couple of the pics.

Well, I'll be leaving work shortly to start the Memorial Day weekend! I can't wait to have an extra day off!

First Day of May

Really? May already? The first half of the year is almost over. I'm not sad though, because now we are getting into warmer weather. Now if only we could get it to stop raining so much.

This is also Larry's birthday. We wish he was here to celebrate with us, but we'll have to make up for it when he's home in July.

Sunday is Mom's 85th birthday. We will be celebrating on Saturday though. Hopefully I'll be able to get a five generations picture with her. I'm going to bake and decorate a cake and we'll surprise her.

The Sun Is Shining

This sun is shining today and it's about 60 degrees out. Tomorrow and Saturday is supposed to be about 80 degrees. Time to get the screens in the windows and open the windows to get rid of all the stale air in the house. I love the nice weather and having windows open.

Now that it's getting nice, we can take Ethan outside so he can blow bubbles. He's got so many different wands to use. I also joined the zoo, so I'm sure we'll be making many trips therel

Spring Weather

I can really tell Spring is here. The past weekend was beautiful! Saturday (4/18) was about 70 degrees, so I took Ethan to the Toledo Zoo to see Beth. Sunday was a little cooler, but still nice. Then the rain hit today and is supposed to stay until Wednesday afternoon.

We had a nice Easter this year. The night before Easter, we colored eggs with Ethan. He did a really good job, and didn't throw a single egg. I think he's going to look forward to coloring eggs every year. Beth "hid" eggs for Ethan to find in the backyard, and Ethan really enjoyed it! Here are some pictures.

Secret Easter Bunny Swap

On the CKMB, I organized a Secret Easter Bunny Swap for the MITW group. I received my package yesterday from gotscrapz (Sarah). Here is a pic of the goodies she sent.

I can't wait to start using all of this!

Spring Is Here

I'm so glad Spring is finally here. Now I hope the weather warms up a little more too. I plan to start walking in the evening and will take Ethan with me if it's nice enough.

Speaking of Ethan, he is just on the go all the time. I think the only time he is still is when he's sleeping. He wears himself out walking all around the house. He's 17 months old now! How time flies. Here are a couple of pictures of him.

There's never a dull moment with Ethan around!

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!

My day started out taking Beth for a CAT scan this morning. After that, we picked up Brad and went to the Mud Hens stadium for Beth and Brad to put in applications. After that we dropped Brad off at work. After spending some time at home, Beth and I went to Hobby Lobby before picking Brad up at work. We went to China One for dinner and had to pick up Andy's dinner from Golden City. Andy didn't want to go out today.

Tonight I'm just trying to get caught up on some shows on the DVR.

MemoryWorks Independent Scrapbook Consultant

I decided to renew my agreement to be a MemoryWorks Independent Scrapbook Consultant. I figured if nothing else, I can support my habit at a discount on some supplies. Of course if anyone else is interested in having a gathering or buying supplies, I would love to help them out!

Got a Lot of Scrapping Done

Last weekend, I went to Sauders with Wendy for a scrapping weekend. I got so much done! I did 22 layouts and 7 Valentine's Day cards. It was so much fun, and I plan to go back in October for another weekend. Here are a couple of the cards I made that weekend, with the exception of the ribbon that I added tonight.

I don't know why the hears on the ribbon show up purple, they are actually light pink.

I still have some more Valentine's Day cards to make. Then I have a few birthday cards to make. Looks like tomorrow night is going to be a card making night!

Friday!!!

I'm so glad today is Friday! It seems like I've been on the go every night after work since Beth moved back home. This weekend I'm going to try to get the house more organized.

I can't wait for the weekend of February 6th! I'm going to a scrapbooking weekend with Wendy at Sauders. It'll be so nice to be able to devote time just to scrapping!

Ethan is doing very well since he came home from the hospital. I hope we won't have to go through that again. It was very scary to see him looking so bad.

A Lot Has Happened

Since my last post, a lot has happened around here.

Pat decided he didn't want to be married anymore and filed for divorce. Beth, while being upset at first, is actually relieved. She wasn't happy, especially since Pat was constantly trying to tell her what she could do, who she could hang out with and nagging her to go to his family's holiday gatherings while he was deployed. He also showed signs of violence when he was home the end of December, which she nor Ethan need. I also just found out that while Beth was trying to plan her wedding/renewal of vows for July, Pat's mom kept taking over things, so Beth wasn't even having fun with that. I told Beth that in the future when she decides to get married, she will get the wedding she wants.

Then, on January 7th, Ethan was admitted to the hospital for dehydration. He was very bad off. We took him to Toledo Hospital ER on January 6th because he had not been able to keep anything down since the 4th, and they sent us home. He got worse, so we took him to St. Anne's ER on January 7th. The nurse couldn't believe that Toledo Hospital sent us home because of how bad Ethan was. Luckily we got him to St. Anne's on the 7th, and then they transferred him to St. V's. He stayed in the hospital until the 11th. You wouldn't even know he was so sick. He's such a good little boy, and it's great to see him back to normal like nothing happened. Here are some pictures of him in the hospital. The last one was taken the day we got to bring him home.



Well, I'd better get off her so we can get some more stuff done around the house. It's been a total disaster since we had to move Beth's stuff in in one day and then spent time at the hospital with Ethan.

Over 2 Months Without a Post!

I have seriously neglected posting to my blog! I can't believe it's been over 2 months since I last posted.

Things have been pretty busy at work, and I'm usually so tired after getting home. I'm so glad that I am now on vacation until January 5th. YEAH!!!

Beth has been looking at wedding dresses and bridesmaid dresses, we've booked the dj and will be meeting with the photographer after the first of the year. The wedding will be here before we know it!

Ethan is growing like a weed. The end of November he started walking. He looks so cute cruising around! He had his picture taken with Santa - twice. The first time, he looks like he's about to cry in the picture, and the second time he was just fine. Here are the pictures:



Beth and I are supposed to make cookies today. We are going to do cut-out sugar cookies, chocolate chip cookies, oatmeal cookies and peanutbutter cookies. We'll probably have to do some of them tomorrow when she gets off work.

Ethan's 1st Birthday

Ethan's 1st Birthday was Sunday, October 12. We had the party at my house. There were 17 guests. I made and decorated the cake and cupcakes. I also made a little birthday cake for Ethan. They are shown in some of the pictures here. Ethan sure did get a lot of nice gifts! He had a big day. He fell asleep while finishing his dinner that Jane was feeding him. He really enjoyed his cake though! We had a beautiful day for the party! It was in the upper 70s and was perfect for being outside. Jane and Don brought over their canopy, which was perfect.

I've Got a Lot to Get Done

Tonight I've got to finish clearing everything out of what is supposed to be my scraproom so I can get my scraproom set up. This way I can move the computer out of the livingroom and into the scraproom. I need to have this done before Ethan's birthday party on October 12th.

I also need to make Ethan's birthday card and alphabet book before his party. I'd like to get all the housework done tonight and tomorrow and then work on his card and book the entire weekend.

I've also got to do Halloween cards and get started on my Christmas cards. Where has the year gone?

Finally Starting To Feel Better

I've been sick just about all week, but last night was the worst. I kept getting chills and had an awful headache. At least it seems like I was able to sleep it off. Today I've only got a stuffy nose. I can't wait until it is completely gone!

Ethan is 11 Months Old Today

I can't believe Ethan is 11 months old today. Just another month and he'll be a year old! I have taken his picture on the 12th of each month since his birth. I'm going to make a scrapbook of his first year, and plan to do a page that has his picture for each month from birth to a year old. It's going to be fun to put together. I'm also going to make him an alphabet book with animals he can take off the page.

Did a Little Scrapping Tonight

I had some time tonight, so I decided to do a little scrapping. I got a 2 page layout done of Beth & Pat's wedding. It is a very simple layout.

Magical Memories is Closing

I received an e-mail today that Magical Memories is closing their doors. It was sad to hear, especially since everyone there is so nice. I also was disappointed because Wendy and I were going to attend a Friday night and Saturday crop later this month. Those have now been cancelled. I guess we'll have to make trips to Archiver's. I won't be able to go to Magical Memories on Monday when she opens here doors with everything marked down, but Beth and Mother will be going and checking things out for me. I'm going to give them a list of things that I want if they have them there at a reduced price.

Cricut 201 Class at Magical Memories

Wendy and I went to the Cricut 201 class at Magical Memories tonight and it was a lot of fun. We learned how to cut things for layering, as well as making a cute card. I now understand the way to read the manuals and how to put together everything. I hope to do some scrapbooking this weekend and use the Cricut a lot.

Some Photos from Washington Trip

I finally downloaded photos from my trip to Washington. The top photo is Dad with Larry and his family; the second photo is of Larry, Evelyn, Lawrence & Christopher; the third photo is me with Larry and his family and the bottom two photos are Montana skies.

Back from Washington

Dad and I left for Washington on the 26th and returned on the 29th. We spent the afternoon with Larry and his family the afternoon of the 26th, and left very early in the morning of the 27th for the long drive home. On the 27th, we drove a total of 953 miles from Spokane, Washington, to Rapid City, South Dakota. It seemed like it took forever to get through Montana. We got up early on the 28th to start home again and made it home at 5:00 a.m. on the 29th. We drove over 1,200 miles that day. It sure is nice that Larry gave me his Plymouth Voyager. He really helped me out big time.

Cricut Class & Trip To Washington

Thursday I took a Cricut class at Magical Memories, and it was a lot of fun! I learned a lot about the Cricut that I didn't know. Also, I got to meet Wendy from the CKMB and we are taking the second Cricut class in September together too. I'm going to sign up for the September crop today and Wendy is too, so that will be a lot of fun.

A week from Tuesday, Dad and I are flying out to Washington to see Larry and his family. Also, Larry is giving me his minivan since he can't take it to Portugal with him and I need a car. It will probably be kind of a long trip back, but it will be nice.

Another Month

I can't believe it is August already! Where is the time going? Andy will be back in school at the end of the month.

Things have been busy around here with wedding plans. We've done cake tasting for two bakeries, and have one or two more to do. We are meeting with the florist tomorrow, and Beth is ordering her dress this week. We still have to get a photographer and DJ. At least we already have the church and hall. Beth just needs to call the church to let them know the change of time for her wedding. We are excited for Beth's wedding, especially since Russ and Kate will be home, as well and Larry, Evelyn and the boys!

I'm hoping to get some scrapbooking done today, but who knows. Usually when I plan to scrap, something comes up.

Being without a car stinks!

Well, my car has finally died. I can't really complain because it does have almost 270,000 miles, but I really wanted it to last a little longer. Now I get to start hunting for a car that's not too much. I'm waiting to hear back from Larry to see what he is going to do with two of his cars. At one point, he said he would give one to me if I would fly out to get it. Of course, I'm willing to do that, but I don't know if he's changed his mind or not. I really don't want to have car payments, but may not have a choice.

July Already!!!

It's so hard to believe that half the year is over already! That sure went by fast.

Beth has been working a lot lately, so I've been watching Ethan a lot more. He's fun to have around, but sure puts a damper on my scrapping and housework. Oh well, it'll all be waiting for me. It's so much more important to continue bonding with Ethan.

I have to start working on an alphabet book that I want to make for Ethan's first birthday. I'd better get started soon since his birthday is in October. After I complete that, I think I'll start my Christmas cards so I don't run out of time like I have the last two years.

I'm having a cook out at my house tomorrow for the 4th. Nothing special, just hamburgers, hot dogs, baked beans and au gratin potatoes. I want to get some pictures of Ethan's face tomorrow night when the neighbors shoot off their fireworks. They get the big ones like the city shoots off.

Sad Week

Well, this is a sad week because Jennifer's brother Butch passed away very early Wednesday morning. At least we know he is no longer in pain, but he will surely be missed. The showing is today from 2 - 9 p.m. and the funeral is tomorrow morning at 10:30.

On a lighter note, I do get to watch Ethan tomorrow after the funeral until about 8:30 that night. He's such a little devil! lol

Andy Had a Good Birthday Party

Well, the kids went go-carting yesterday and really enjoyed it. Andy is in the green car, Michael is in the solid red car, Brandon is in the neon yellow car and Beth is in the Budweiser car. Beth only drove in one race, and the boys did a total of three races.

While the boys were racing the other two times, Beth and I went inside with Ethan. As you can see in the picture, Ethan was enjoying himself. He even got to eat some Blue Moon ice cream, as well as some Rainbow Birthday Cake ice cream.

After go-carting, we picked up pizza. When the boys were done eating, they went outside and played dodge ball. Beth took Ethan home because he was getting tired.

Andy's Birthday Party Today

Since Andy's birthday was on Tuesday, I told him he could have a birthday party today. He invited Brandon and Michael to go go-carting. Beth will be coming as well. I hope to get some good pictures, so I have to remember to set my camera on the sports/fast action mode.

After they are done go-carting, I'll pick up some pizza on the way home. Andy didn't want cake or anything, so I guess we'll have birthday pizza instead of birthday cake.

Go to the Dentist Today

I go to the dentist this afternoon for my permanent crown. They said it would take only about 10 minutes, I hope they are right. After I get home, I plan to do some scrapping. Hopefully I can get some more layouts of Beth & Pat's wedding done. I also want to work on some layouts of Ethan.

It feels like it's going to be another warm one today, but I do have a nice breeze coming in my front windows. Hopefully the breeze continues throughout the day.

A Week Goes By So Fast

I can't believe it's been a week since I've posted here! It doesn't seem like it's been that long.

Last Saturday, Beth, Andy, Ethan and I went to the neighborhood parade. It was nice, especially since the them was Honor Our Troops. It also was fun because it was Ethan's first parade. He didn't like all the sirens from the fire trucks at first, but then he got used to them. Kroger had a float in the parade and they were throwing those little, soft, squisy balls to the kids. Andy got one and gave it to Ethan. Ethan really liked the ball and chewed on it the whole time he had it. It was soaking wet by the time we left the parade.

After leaving the parade, Mother and I took Andy to the bike shop and bought him a new bike as an early birthday gift. As soon as we got home, Andy took the bike out of the back of Mother's van and took off down the road. He didn't even go in the house first!

Sunday was just a day to relax. Andy played his video games and I got caught up on some of the shows that were on the DVR. Beth stayed home that day because Ethan was tired and kinda cranky.

Monday was just a day of work, but was my Friday because my vacation started Tuesday for the rest of the week.

Yesterday was Mother's and Andy's birthday. Andy didn't want a cake, but wanted cupcakes, so that's what I made. We had a cookout and then the cupcakes and ice cream. It was a simple, but enjoyable day.

I'm going with Beth today so she can get a computer desk. After that I'm going to try to get some scrapping done. Tonight is the season finale of Top Chef, so I'm looking forward to watching that.

8th Grade Graduation

Andy graduated from 8th grade Monday evening. The ceremony was held at the Maumee Indoor Theater. I was really surprised to see the concession stand open and selling things. The ceremony was nice. The three 8th grade classes each wrote a story, which one of the teachers read. The students' names were in the stories, and they had to stand up when their names were said. After the stories, there were some short speeches by a couple of teachers. After that the students were called one-by-one up on stage to get their middle school diploma. It was very hard to get pictures because it was very dark. After the ceremony, we took Andy to Bob Evans for dinner.

The past couple of days have been extremely busy at work. I can't wait until next Tuesday, because that is my first day of vacation. It will be nice to only have to work on Monday next week.

Tonight Happy Hour was on the CKMB. It was a lot of fun! I haven't been able to participate in a long time.

Tomorrow night is going to be fun because I'll be watching Ethan until Beth gets off work. He's such a little cutie! It's hard to believe that he is going to be 8 months old next week. He'll be a year old before we know it.

Completed another 2-page Layout

I was able to squeeze in a little scrapping time today. I worked on Beth and Pat's wedding album. I won't get much more done tonight since I'll be watching Ethan, and tomorrow I am going to Ruth's baby shower. Maybe I can do a little more scrapping tomorrow night.

Visit to the dentist

Well, I went to the dentist today for my tooth that had a piece break off while I was eating popcorn. As I thought, I have to get a crown. I did find out that the dental assistant is a scrapbooker. We talked about scrapbooking, well as much as I could with half my mouth numb, and hopefully we'll be able to get together soon to do some scrapping. At least something good came out of my visit to the dentist.

Memorial Day Weekend

It's been a busy weekend! Friday night I went to Beth's apartment and spent some time with her. Andy ended up staying the night there. When I got home, I went right to bed. I was exhausted after the busy week I had.

On Saturday I did a lot of running around getting everything I would need for the cookout on Memorial Day. Then Beth and Ethan came over and Beth ate dinner here. I did a lot of housework since I knew that I would be watching Ethan on Sunday.

Sunday afternoon, Beth brought Ethan over for me to watch while she was at work. We had fun playing, and Ethan did a lot of smiling. My Mom, Grandma, Ethan and I took a ride out to the cemetary to visit my Grandpa's grave. Ethan fell asleep on the way home from the cemetary. Beth came to pick Ethan up and go home, but my Dad had brought over some chicken over, so she stayed and had some for dinner. After Beth took Ethan home, I began the task of making potato salad . . . 10 pounds! I made so much because I knew three people would be taking some home. When I finished the potato salad, I laid down to rest and watch some tv. That's all it took, I fell asleep for the night.

Monday morning I made some cupcakes for dessert and then made homemade macaroni & cheese. My Mom, Dad, Grandma, Beth and Ethan came to have dinner with Andy and me. I grilled hamburgers and hot dogs. Everyone was full at the end of our meal. After everyone left, Andy went into his room and played video games and I relaxed and watched tv. Too bad I broke part of my tooth off while I was eating some popcorn. One of those unpopped kernels was hiding in the fully popped corn. At least it didn't really hurt. Guess I'll be making a trip to the dentist tomorrow. At least I'll be able to leave work early.

Been Busy Moving My Daughter

Boy, it's been busy since last Friday. We've been moving Beth into her apartment, and we still have more stuff to move. I haven't been able to do any scrapping, but soon I'll have my scrap room all set up and will be able to scrap as often as I want. It sure will be nice to not have to drag all my scrapping stuff out to the kitchen to scrap and then have to drag it back to storage.

I'm really looking forward to the long weekend. It will give me time to get everything done around the house that needs to be. Hopefully I can squeeze in some time to work on Beth's wedding scrapbook as well.

I get my scrap room, but it's kinda sad

I will finally have a room dedicated to scrapbooking. The sad part is that in order to have this, it means that Beth has decided to move out. She isn't moving far, so I'll still see a lot of her and Ethan, but it's still going to be a lot different. I knew this day would be coming, but wasn't looking forward to it.

Tonight she showed me the townhouse she is moving into for the next year while her husband is deployed to Iraq. It is nice. We went and bought her some pots and pans, cooking utensils and a toaster, as well as dishes, glasses and silverware. Beth will be getting Pat's furniture from his Mom's. Jane is also giving Beth a sleeper sofa. So she really doesn't have a lot more to buy.

After Beth has completely moved out, Andy is taking over her room. I will be taking over Andy's room as my scrap room. Luckily I already like the color on the walls, so I'll just have to move all my stuff in and then figure out how I'm going to decorate the room. It will be fun!

I probably won't get much scrapping done this weekend, but it will be well worth it because I will have a dedicated area for scrapping. I won't have any excuses then.

Relaxing Evening

Tonight was such a relaxing evening compared to yesterday. Yesterday I took my daughter to get her military ID. After that it just seemed like I had all kinds of errands to run. Well tonight, we didn't have anything we had to do. So I decided to do a little scrapbooking and here is the layout I got done.

Working towards my goals

I feel like I'm on my way to start reaching some of my goals. I had posted earlier that the word I picked for 2008 is ACHIEVE. One of my goals was to scrap more, which I have done since joining the 100 layout dash on the CKMB. I need to do a layout titled Achieve and list my goals. Hopefully I can complete that one soon.

I also have been sticking to my budget a lot better. We haven't been spending on frivolous things, only what we really need. This has also allowed us to spend even more quality time together as a family.

Hopefully soon I'll be able to post that I have met the goals I have set for myself for 2008.

More scrapping this weekend.

On Friday and Saturday, I did some more scrapping. I hope I'm able to keep going at least at this pace. It sure will help get me closer to being caught up.

Here are the layouts I did.

FINALLY did some scrapbooking!

I finally got a chance to do some scrapbooking tonight. I joined a challenge to do a 100 layout dash to use up supplies that I have before buying any more. Anyway, here is the first layout that I completed. Hopefully I'll be posting a lot more soon.