I Made It!!!

I managed to get everything done for Brooke's preschool Christmas party AND I wasn't even late! LOL I got her Christmas tree sugar cookie "suckers" made last night & decorated this morning. I also finished packaging up the teachers gifts & a hostess gift for the mother that was hosting the party in her home. I gathered all the stuff together for the cute little snowman goody bags for each student, thank goodness there's only 6 all together in her class! Oh! And Brooke drew Ella's name, the little girl who was hosting the party, for the gift exchange. She got her a cute little blue satin butterfly purse with blue sequins stitched on it & we filled it with a Hello Kitty notepad & pen & a few pieces of play jewelry. I guess Ella really liked it, because she carried it everywhere with her. That's always a good sign! Kaylee drew Brooke's name for the drawing & she got her a cute, sparkly, beach Barbie Doll! Brooke liked it very much & she doesn't even have a Barbie yet. I was thinking about getting her one, but just haven't yet. She's not a huge doll fan, but she keeps asking for the Bratz dolls (which I think are the ugliest things out there!). The children had a very nice time at the party & Ella's parents have a BEAUTIFUL, old, victorian style home.

Brooke's little Christmas program went well in the sanctuary today too. She didn't know the words quite as well this time, but that's because they missed a day due to the weather, plus it's a very short month for them to begin with, since they start their Christmas break now. They would normally have one or two more weeks to practice before their monthly program. When I get it downloaded, I'll try to remember to post some pictures and/or the video.

Can't Catch up Fast Enough!

Oh my!! I am really needing to get my butt in gear here! I am making progress, even though it doesn't look like it or feel like it! I made up some simple little pockets for Hot Chocolate packets today for Brooke to give to her preschool teachers/helpers along with a mug/plate & a simple ornament. The packets turned out cute for being quite simple! I could have gone all out on them, but I need to have them finished for Thursday morning. I also need to make the snack for her class party. I've decided to make Sugar Cookie Christmas Tree Suckers. I'll post those when I get them done. My husband told me I was an over-achiever because I can't just make round cookies with frosting. LOL!!



I have more errands to run today & more gifts to buy still. I have a few returns already to make, since I found nicer stuff for a better deal on a few things.

Jordan, my son, told on me to Alan that I knew what Alan had gotten me for Christmas! Can you believe that?! I didn't even tell Jordan that I knew, but he overheard me on a phone conversation to a friend that I figured it out & simply by the OBVIOUS comments DH had mentioned. It's not like I went snooping, like he's doing now. I'm pretty ticked at Jordan for telling him that. I just may have to take back a gift as a payback. Alan feels cheated about the surprise part of it, but I told him about his comments that gave it away. I didn't even ask him about the gift. I wonder if I'll even get it now?

2007 Christmas Projects

These are projects & cards that I made this season.

Starbuck's bottles

These are Starbuck's bottles that I altered along with the carton that holds them.

One Week until Christmas...

I have lots of catching up to do on here, since I'm still learning this whole Blogger thing. I figured out how some of it works today, but that just may change by next week & I'll have to start all over again! My stuff is a little out of order since I was trying to fix the slide show portions, but had to just recreate them. Anywho, the picture below is the other word sign I made using the Autumn Leaves - Foofala papers. I did sell this one at the craft show that I participated in back in Nov.

2007 Blueberry Festival Fireworks

This year I finally got to see a little of the lighted balloon show & the entire fireworks show at the Marshall County Blueberry Festival. We typically see a few of the hot air balloons in flight when we return home from Kenton, but that's the extent of what I have seen. Here are some of the pictures I took that night: These are the lighted hot air balloons just before the fireworks show. We were sitting right in front of a tall fence, so you might see some fencing in a photo or two.

2007 - Brooke as a Fairy Princess

This is Brooke's Fairy Princess costume that she HAD to have! Luckily, the weather was decent for me to take this picture, because it turned considerably windy & colder by the time for Trick or Treating. I put on a pretty lavendar velvet shirt under the dress, even though she still wore her pretty lavendar feathery sandals. But she refused to wear her coat, or put on her tennis shoes, until we were down to the last 2 houses & she could not bear it any longer. I guess it's true when they say "Beauty know no pain!"

Home decor & more...

I had originally seen a sign very similar to this on KTCrafts.com, made by bjc. I thought it was so stunning that I had to make one too. Mine is only slightly different from hers, but I'm still pleased with how it turned out. I'm in the process of making another one, using the same papers, for the word "PRAY." I'm participating in a craft show in Nov. & hope to get a few of these altered words done for that.

I was going to give this one as a gift, but I like it so much that I'm thinking of keeping it.

************************************************

Altered Art

Here is a layout I did based on a sketch that Rose1 did as a challenge for the Design Team on the KTCrafts( http://ktcrafts.8.forumer.com/forum). I'm not on that design team, but I was really inspired to use these Bo Bunny papers for that sketch! I have switched the middle & last flower around at the top of the page after realizing that it looked off balance.

**************************************************

This is an altered iron shaped picture clip. The wooden iron shaped clip was one of two that came in a boxful of unfinished wooden items, such as a plate, a box with a hinged lid, plaques, etc., that I got at an auction in Wisconsin 15 years ago. The auction was the aunt of my mother-in-law at that time. Her aunt use to do what she called Rose Mahling (sp?), which must be like tole painting. This one was already painted a teal blue. It had some sketches on it, so it must have been getting ready for painting. I decided to crackle over the teal paint instead. Then I attached a piece of battenburg lace that I picked up at a garage sale & tea stained. Finally, I glued on some antique buttons that I also got at a garage sale. I thought adding a picture printed in a sepia tone would be the right compliment to this in a vintage style setting. The picture is of my daughter last fall when she was playing in the leaves.

Brooke's first week of Preschool

The week after Labor Day was Brooke's first week of Preschool. She was so excited to go!

Here she is standing outside the preschool after her first day on Tuesday. She just HAD to wear her "packpack", holding it with her hand was not an option.

************************************

Here she is in her classroom heading to pick out a book. The lady in red, on the left, is her teacher. There are only 6 children in her class for the afternoon and only 1 is a boy! We haven't decided if he's lucky or unlucky. LOL

*******************************************

Brooke had her first altercation on her first day. The teacher didn't say anything to me about it, but Brooke did on the way home. She told me that she "poked a girl in her little belly button & made her cry." I asked her why she did that & she said the other girl was trying to take her little hammer away from her. I asked her what the teacher said & the teacher made her tell the girl that she was sorry. So, I explained to her that she needs to keep her hands to herself (for the umpteenth time), even if someone is trying to take something away from her. I told her to tell them that if they want what she has, they have to ask for it nicely, if they can't ask for it nicely, then she doesn't have to give it to them, but she is not to touch them & she is to do the same if she wants something that someone else has (but more in 3 yr. old terms). You wonder if they understand all that stuff, ya know?

Kenton - here & gone

Well, we made it to Kenton, OH with no problems, considering we looked like a train going down the road! Boy, we sure did get lots of long looks from people. I'm sure many were wondering if it was legal for us to pull a camper AND a trailer with a golf cart. Yes folks, it is - as long as it's not over 65 ft. long. This is in our driveway right before we left.

This is a saloon in a tiny place before we got to Kenton. I thought it was kind of simple looking for being called a saloon.

Here is Brooke after she woke up from a nap she took on the way there. It's a long trip for a 3 yr. old. (It's feels like a long trip for a 42 yr. old too)

But, she was ready for the scene once we got there & all set up! Since she loves to go garage saling with her Mom, we just told her that this was just like a great big garage sale & she was all for it.

Kenton Nationals is a huge fleamarket & you'll find just about anything imaginable there. I "affectionately" call it the Hillbilly Festival. I can call it that because I am 1/2 hillbilly anyway, so I don't need any comebacks from people who are offended by my right to free speech.

Anywho - I thought this made a pretty picture with all these flags blowing with some sun rays peaking through the clouds behind them.

Here was a really cool parrot some vendor had behind his booth. I don't know if it talked, but it sure was pretty!

This was one suped up golf cart! Jacked up, flames & lots chrome!

Not the colors I would have chosen to paint MY camper, but it sure did get my attention. LOL

This was the view from the walk-through entrance of the flea market on the first day we were there (2nd day of opening though). It wasn't so busy at this point.

Here is the General Linda Lee golf cart. I never saw this cart in action, it was always sitting whenever I seen it.

Here's Brooke trying on hats while her daddy was looking for a Camouflage shirt (in the background). The shirts were $2, the hats were $1. Yes, she came home with the hat.

I thought this was an unusual looking fellow carting around antlers in his basket and in hand.

Here is a comical sign someone had at their tent. At least, I hope it's meant to be comical!

One of a few vendors selling specialty meat jerky & sausage. We haven't tried any in the years we've gone there.

This is what I call a voodoo head on a stick, I guess for a lack of the correct name - and I don't wanna know either! Yes, people were buying them ,as I had seen 2 women walking around with some & a few others had some too.

This is another example of a voodoo head. He was going for $65.00.

Here's a conversation piece you can amaze your friends with! Imagine seeing this thing in your hallway in the middle of a bad night!!

This was an adorable Pomeranian puppy that was there for sale.

Brooke was wanting to pet every puppy dog she saw in the place and this is the place for the Coon dog Nationals, if that tells you how many dogs we stopped & petted! Here she's admiring some Jack Russell Terriers.

These were the cutest little Chihuahua puppies. The black one wanted Brookes attention badly!

All 3 of these little Chihuahua pups could fit in this beer box.

A bunch of coon dogs together.

No, the coffee pot isn't small, the cups are just huge! One will hold 3-4 regular cups of liquid.

This little girl was in the camp setup next to us & while we were waiting for the real concert to start with Country group Shenandoah & Country Legend Ronnie Milsap, she was giving us a pre-show review of her little dance routine. She has no idea that I took pictures. tee hee

Now, usually we camp with another couple & his big thing is to have chili on Sat. night because "IT'S TRADITION." This year THEY decided to break tradition & not go with us, but we STILL made chili on Sat. night. We took the picture of the chili so they could see that we still believe in traditions. Seriously though, there's no hard feelings that they didn't make it this year. They've been pretty good sports about hanging out with us all the other years.

Since I didn't want to have any legal problems with pictures of the actual concert, the only thing I will show you is one of the two display screens they had there. They did make it nice to actually see the entertainers, even though we weren't that far away to begin with.

Here is Brooke sitting on her daddy's lap during the concert. I have another picture of her when she fell asleep during the concert, but it was accidentally deleted. I'll have to post it when I have more time.

Here is our camp setup. We had a black pirate flag hanging earlier, but it was pulled off by this time. We are nearing the end of the trip at this point.

I don't know what kind of tree this is, but I seen several of them along the fences of flea market area & they look WICKED!! I don't know if you can see the giant thorns on this baby or not, but it is solid thorns that are several inches long!!

Well, here's to another Labor Day weekend spent in Kenton, OH. This was a great year to go, maybe next year it will be even better because of it.

look for my next posting when I show off some of my lighted hot air balloon & fireworks pictures from the Marshall County Blueberry Festival, also held over Labor Day weekend. We made it home in time to catch it.

Have a great day!

Getting ready for Kenton, Ohio!! (aka Hillbilly Festival)

Well, we're finally all ready for our annual trip to the Coondog Nationals in Kenton, Ohio. It's a 4 hour trip from here, but I think we're prepared. There is a free concert again this year with Shanendoah & Ronnie Milsap! Shanendoah was great last year & I really like Ronnie Milsap from my childhood.

You'd think we'd be heading to the local Blueberry Festival since it's one of the largest open festivals in the Midwest, but not so far. We do get back home before it's over though. We get to see the Blueberry Stomp runners go by our driveway on Labor Day. I am wanting to see the fireworks this year, but I hear it's supposed to rain. I hope it doesn't, I've never gotten to see them in the 40 years I've lived up here.

We're taking our 3 year old daughter, Brooke with us this year to Kenton, & a golf cart with mudder tires on it. We're anticipating muddy conditions since they just had severe floods there last week that made national news.

We're hauling our 23 ft. travel trailer and a 12 ft. trailer for the golf cart. We checked to make sure that we'd be road legal. According the Indiana & Ohio State Police, as long as we're not over 65 ft., we're good. I'll get some pic posted of the "train" when we come back.

Well, here's to a wonderful & safe Labor Day for all! Take care & God Bless!!

Some catching up to do...

Above is some of my work on scrapbook pages and/or altering projects recently.

I must say that I'm not good at this blog thing, so forgive me, if you're reading this & don't see anything current. I'll try to do better.

In the meantime, I'm still trying to figure out to do this blog & the blog site has changed since I've last been here. This will slow things down as well. I imagine that the only ones that might read this are friends in the scrapbook community & family.

I don't have that much exciting going on in my life to "write home about", but will try to make the best of it.

One thing that might be of interest to some is that my son, Jordan, will be playing in his first JV game this Thursday (8/23/07). I wouldn't mind going, but it's an away game at a place I've not been to & it's over an hour away. I wouldn't mind it so much if it were a Friday night, but on a weeknight is a little different. I worry for his safety playing this sport, especially since he broke his wrist earlier this spring during a wrestling competition. I hope to post pictures later for the games that are closer to home. Maybe this blog will help to motivate me in getting more scrapbook pages done so that I can show them off. That is, if I can remember how to do all that stuff on here again. LOL

Have a great day & God Bless & keep you safe!

Beth