My organized CHAOS...

I'm officially on Summer Vacation

Yea!!!  I am finally able to scrapbook again. Here are a few pages from a clear album that I did for Scrapbook Central.   I must warn you...This post is really funky.  I cannot get rid of the spaces between the photos and nothing will line up properly!!!!  GRRRRR!!!!!!






































 




















I did it as a Father's Day album.  The rest of the album is here: Scrapbook Central gallery at the bottom of the page.

Today I took a class with TIM HOLTZ!!!!
GENERATION GRUNGE.

What an awesome class!  It was at Scrapbook Central from 9-12.  I live an hour away which meant I had to leave my house at 7:30 to get there by 8:30 to get in line by 8:45 so I could be on time at 9 am.  So what did that mean to me?  It meant that my little booty had to wake up at 6 AM!!!!!!  Why?

I had to wash my HAIR...and then TAME MY CURLY MESS OF AN AFRO!!!!!...which roughly takes me about an hour!!! 

Anyway, I got there ON TIME and made this:


What is it?

It's a grungebook...basically a book full of GRUNGE

                                                                         techniques.
Here's the inside:
















 































I know it doesn't seem like 3 hours of work, but seriously, we did A LOT in class!  I really learned a lot about using grungeboard.  So, will I ever make another grungebook?

                                  Of course not.  And what do I do with this one????                                   

                                                No clue what-so-ever.

I will tuck it away in my box of "Beautiful, but useless projects that I spent a fortune making but will never use"

Well, until tomorrow.  I have another class with Tim in the morning. 

Oops, I almost forgot, here are a couple of pictures from today:



I'm sitting next to my friend Terrie.

Poor Terrie.

I really should have taken this photo again.

Her eyeballs are closed.

She is going to kill me when she sees this

because

she really IS very pretty

and this photo makes her look like she's ready to take a nap.   I'll let her kill me tomorrow.  We're sitting together again for tomorrow's class...

unless she sees this photo before then.

In that case, I'm sure I'll be sitting on the floor, hee hee.


And here I am with Tim, holding my little project.  He really does give an awesome class.  Wow, my forehead is REALLY shiny...

My thoughts on Mother's Day...

Okay, once a year I get a day off.  Now mind you, I work as a 3-day Preschool Teacher, so in theory, I should have Mondays and Fridays off, but the sad reality of it all is that as a mom, you never really get a day off.  On Mondays and Fridays, I still have housework, which I've discovered, I'm not very good at anymore...and I still have to get my boys to school.  I know getting two boys to school sounds like an easy task, but there is 1 chore that I seriously hate...

MAKING THEIR LUNCH

I don't know what my hangup is.  I'm not much of a chef, so it's not like I'm actually preparing a meal...

I am making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, for goodness sakes! 

And I even cheat at making those...the peanut butter  and jelly comes in one jar!  So I'm not really making a peanut butter AND jelly sandwich (two steps).  I'm making peanutbutterjelly sandwiches (one step).  But the mere fact that I am having to prepare a meal on my days off really seems to annoy me.  Seriously, do you guys enjoy making lunch?...Not lunch for yourselves, because I really enjoy doing that because I love, love, love to eat...I'm talking about making a lunch for someone else to eat?...

A lunch that they will somehow forget to eat (says my 9 year old)...a lunch that will come back  mangled, but uneaten, in that same stupid lunch box that you painstakingly packed that very morning.  So why do you even bother to pack a lunch?  One that doesn't even get eaten...aside from the chips?  Because if you don't, DCF will come to your house, proclaim you an unfit mother, and take your children away!  Grrrrr....

Anyway, back to my point.  The only day I can truly count on to actually have a day off is Mother's Day.  My husband was great.  I truly didn't have to do any housework on Sunday.  I didn't vacuum, dust, wash clothes, do dishes, clean the kitchen, go grocery shopping, fold laundry, clean the bathrooms, change the sheets, do yard work, pick up toys, cook (not that I do that regularly), and the list of chores goes on and on....

So I truly did No HOUSEWORK on Mother's Day!  Yippee!

But you know what?

NO ONE ELSE DID HOUSEWORK ON MOTHER'S DAY EITHER!

So now it's Monday, the Day After Mother's Day...perhaps the worst day of the year...


I have dishes to wash and put away


Toys to clean up

(Yes, those are a million Pokemon cards...)

Empty toilet paper rods to refill

Laundry to hang and put away

I have to give a class on how this stinky stuff

goes INSIDE HERE

And what is this you ask?

A picture of the "broken" light fixture (says my husband).  The one I'm going to "fix" by going to the grocery store and buying a new 60 watt light bulb to replace the one that burned out in the "broken" light fixture. 

And finally, the thing that really makes me ANGRY....

This little guy is back!

And he brought his friends!

So honestly, if you came to my blog hoping to see one of my "cluttered" layouts, I'm so sorry. 

I only have pictures of my cluttered, dirty house to show you!

I'll be pretty busy the next two weeks.  As you can see, I have to get my house back in order.  And then, my last day of school is May 22nd.  I have a lot to do before then...so sadly, I will not be doing any scrapbooking...and possibly any blogging until after that day. 

I hope you guys have a good day, and if you're a mommy, I hope you were smart enough to request Maid Service for your Mother's Day present.  I was dumb and only asked for Mother's Day cards.  Don't get me wrong.  I love my cards.  My boys made them.  But alas...they, too, are on my list of things to do today.  Can I ever win?.....

 Of course not,

I'm a MOM.  It's not in the job description...

       

Some Mother's Day Fun

Okay,  our Mother's Day needed a little excitement, so we busted out the Slip-n-slide!

And a picture of my son using the skimboard...We bought the Skimboard Surfer model.  Totally saved us a trip to the beach!

Cool, huh?  And no, I was NOT slip-n-slide girl, so there are no photos of me.  Now had it been a trampoline, I would have sooooo been  trampoline girl!

Happy Mother's Day

I'm spending a nice, quiet day at home.  I just had breakfast in bed...a Dunkin Donuts coffee roll and coffee...yum. 

My boys bought me chocolate, a balloon, and pretty flowers:

and made me these lovely cards:

I truly love being a mom and I hope you're enjoying a restful day at home too...

Wow, what a weekend...

I spent National Scrapbooking Day at Scrapbook Central with my scrappy chics Nichol, Kendra, Diane, and Cathy.  I'm the scary one on the end.

Aside from getting zero sleep, I had the chance to meet Kitty Foster, the author of the book, FIND YOUR GROOVE.  Here are a few pictures of us hanging:

Andrea took this one

and these came from Kitty's  camera

Hanging out with Kitty was such a blast!  She is super-sweet and so much fun!  I'm pictured here also, with Tammy Friedberg, the Design Team Coordinator for Scrapbook Central.    If there's anything I learned from taking pictures this weekend, it's that I NEED TO START WEARING MAKE-UP ON A REGULAR BASIS.  Try to imagine me here with eyeliner and an even skin tone!  I have to admit, I'm just waaaaaay too lazy to wear it all the time.  I only wear make-up when I know I'm going to be taking pictures.  As you can see, I didn't know I'd be taking pictures....I'm such a sweaty freak all the time here in hot Miami.  Wearing make-up is just so uncomfortable!  And then having to take it all off....blah!

Now the big question...in 3 days did I create any layouts?

                        Of course not!  I am such a BIG MOUTH.  I spent most of the time walking around, being a blabber-mouth.  Now, did I have fun?  Yup!  I LOVE TO TALK!  I did manage to get a "rough draft" done.  Now be prepared...It's quite rough, hee hee:
I basically chose some of the supplies I want to work with...told ya it was "rough".

I  got home on Sunday, before noon and LOOK:

My family room was clean!!!!  Well, almost clean.  I'm not quite sure what those boxers and piece of popcorn were doing on our bookshelf But still, the house looked better than it normally does!


I was so excited, I decided to unpack my scapping stuff,  and clean my area!  

That gave me the chance to spend some quality time here:
on my comfy couch (with my eyeballs closed).
Then I took my boys to the "Japanese store" and bought this:

Japanese candy and this

Dried Mango balls?  Yes, dried mango balls.
What exactly are mango balls, anyhow?  I'm not quite sure, but I couldn't resist buying them.  I love mango and I'm from the Philippines, so I decided to take a chance.

Meet mango-ball
Yummy?

Okay, I tasted one.  Not so bad.  Of course, I AM Filipina and my tastebuds are a little warped, so I am known to label things "yummy" that are actually a little yucky.  But honestly this little mango ball tasted like a glob of sweet sugar...kinda like a giant raisin.

Well, that's all I have for now.  I did mange to take a few pictures yesterday of my boys hanging out in the yard after biking:
Alexander and Christopher.  I didn't do any photo editing, so poor Christopher looks quite ghostly.   Oh, I almost forgot.  Alexander chose Isabel's name.  She gets the Doodlebug flower kit as well as the Heidi Swapp ghost flowers.  See everyone tomorrow!

Free Studio Calico membership!!!!

Okay,  Studio Calico is having a contest in honor of National Scrapbooking Day.  For those of you that don't know, Studio Calico is one of my favorite scrapbooking kit clubs.  I'm a subscriber and look forward to their kits every month.  Go check out their website and then enter the contest!  Here are the details taken from the thread:

This thread is officially open and will close at 11:59pm on National Scrapbook Day: Saturday May 3.

Between now and then, you and your friends have an opportunity to win a 6 month subscription to Studio Calico!!!! 

Here’s how it works. 

1. Tell a friend (or as many as you wish) to come to this thread and tell us that you sent them here.
2. Each post should contain a friend’s name and the name/username of the person who referred them to this thread.

You may refer as many people as you like, but they have to post before 11:59pm on NSD.

From that list, we will be drawing for a 6 month sub, for both of the "friends."  The more friends you bring, the more likely you are to have your name drawn….get the drift.

The drawing will be at 12:00am and will be announced immediately and the free sub will begin with the May kit. 

If either already has a paid sub, that’s fine, we’ll refund your payment for May and you will get the May kit plus the following 5 months free.

One more thing, you need to refer someone who has never signed up for a username.

Thanks and have fun!!!!!

Okay, do you see how it works?  Go to the Studio Calico website, go to the Message board, then look for the thread called : Bring a friend and win a sub in honor of NSD.  (this link  goes directly to the thread)

My user name is lboese, just like on the Scrapbook Central forum.  Who knows, we could win!  Free scrapbooking supplies are awesome, right?  Don't forget, you have to post to that thread before midnight on Saturday, May 3rd.