Butterfly LO

I created this lo for a challenge but I can't get it to load.  Oh well here it is anyway. LOL  I made this lo with pictures from our trip to the St Louis Zoo last year in between hockey games.  The zoo has a butterfly garden that you step into and the buttlerflys fly all around you.  They were so cool and there were so many different ones.  I got tons of pictures and thought I could use some to fit this lo perfectly.   I used K&Company paper for my main sheet.  The background paper if from Cosmo Crickets Earth Love collecton.  I stamped the butterflys on white cardstock with Hero Arts stamps and colored them in with copics.  I used a K&Company tag pad for the journaling box.  I used the Give A Hoot cartridge for the title.  Thanks for looking!

All American Boy Layout

I created this layout to meet a few different challenges. One is for the Scrappin n Chattin group I belong to and the other is for the Lasting Memories challenge. I used a tan sheet of cardstock for the base. I punched a lacy border in white cardstock and a bubbles border n dark blue cardstock. I used Thickers for the red glitter letters and they are hard to see but cut out the American with Lyrical Letters on the Cricut then ran them through the Xyron X and glittered them. I made them too dark though so they don't stand out very well on my starry paper background. The star paper is from Creative Imaginations. Finally I cut out stars with the Cricut George cartridge then pierced holes and stung thread through them. I saw a layout like this in the Scrapbook trends magazine this month and wanted to try it. The photo is a picture of Will wearing his Uncle Sam hat that he wears every year for the 4th of July parade. Thanks for looking.

Tarpon Springs layout

I created this lo from a sketch on the Sassy Lil Sketches site. I used pictures from our trip to Tarpon Springs this past February. Pictures are of Will with a model of a s, Will with the statue in front of the water and one with a huge turtle model and one of Will eating a huge Gyro at one of the restaurants we like to go to there.

Will and I and 2 million of our closest friends!

We had quite the adventure last weekend in Chicago! We headed out to Elmhurst around 5 last Friday with the plan to spend the night at Kathy's and then head downtown on the first train at 4:30 a.m. However on the way we were listening to the NHL channel on XM radio and started thinking that we might not get there early enough. I asked Will what he thought about staying up all night at the corner of Wacker & Michigan. He was all for it! So we got to Kathy's and asked her if it would be ok with her to take us to the train station at 10 she agreed so we got a backpack together with blankets, water, and power bars and headed out. We had a mishap and I forgot my phone in my car so we flagged down a cop who went over to Kathy's and got her to bring it back to us. Then we caught the last train for the night at 11:15 and got downtown around 11:45 grabbed a taxi and claimed our spot. Will was pretty nervous because no one else had shown up yet but shortly others were there. Around 2 a reporter came out and wanted to interview everyone and talked to Will for a little while. About 3 we moved to the curb to stake our spot and they came by around 4 to put up the barricades. At 5 it rained for about 30 minutes and we got soaked were freezing. We then stood in place for the next 6 hours patiently waiting. The crowd kept getting bigger and bigger but we had no idea how many were there till they turned the Jumbotron on and we could suddenly see masses of people all the way down Michigan Avenue. The parade was supposed to start at 10:30 and be to us around 11:15 and the rally was to start around 11:30 but of course it didn't start on time. The girl next to us told us at 11 that her brother said it had started finally. Around 11:15 they showed the procession on the Jumbotron, Will leaned over but couldn't see anything about 5 minutes later he looked again and turned with wide eyes and said I can see them! First came the pipe and drums, then the Clydesdale's and then the buses started. First with family and office people then there were the players! We all started screaming and jumping up and down and when the last bus came there was the CUP! I don't think I've ever been so excited! Then we watched the rally where Eddie O introduced everyone, when he got to Rocky Wirtz we all started chanting, Rocky, Rocky, Rocky. Then came the players and when they got to Toews we chanted MVP. It was so exciting and I loved every minute of it. We headed to the train station afterwards and finally got some food and it felt so good to sit down. After we bought our train tickets we went to catch the train only to find out they had left early because it was full. We sat down and waited for the next one which was still an hour away. We both kept falling asleep but finally it came and they packed it full again. We eventually got to Elmhurst where Kathy was waiting. After we both took showers we went to bed and slept for 15 hours! We went to breakfast on Saturday and read in the paper that they were expecting 300.000 fan and got 2 million! Wow! We then headed over to Dick's Sporting Goods and got stocked up on Stanley Cup gear before we headed out to Naperville to go to Penzeys and then Archivers. We started home after that and got caught in some huge storms but finally got home and after a birthday party and dinner went back to bed. LOL

Sparrows are evil!

We have had some trauma the last 2 days for our robins nest. Sparrows have been attacking the mom and dad and knocked one of the babies out of the nest today. We managed to scoop the baby up and put him back in the nest. I read online that it was ok to put him back. We went by our local Wild Birds Unlimited to see if we could do anything to keep the sparrows away but he said no. Apparently sparrows are just not nice birds and will try and take over the other birds nests rather than build thier own. They also take over the food supply and run other birds off. I always thought they were harmless boy was I wrong. LOL I got a video today of the mom feeding the babies that I will post.

Birthday card for Party Time Tuesday blog

I created this card for the Party Time Tuesday blog. The challenge was to create a birthday card. I used the same design I used for the Thanks a Latte card. I don't like how it turned out in the bigger format though. I used an Inkadinkadoo stamp for the cupcake from the set Birthday Cupcake and I'm not sure where the Happy Birthday stamp is from. I colored in with copics. The polka dot paper is The Paper Studio and I got it at Hobby Lobby. I also used textured yellow cardstock.

Golf tournament

Will played in a golf tournament on Thursday. He took second place in his division. (There were only two players in his division. LOL) He had a lot of fun and signed up to be in another tourney in a couple of weeks.

We could actually see the babies today. We think there are two of them and the mom and dad were taking turns to go get them some food.

Robin's Nest

We have been watching this bird's nest for the last few weeks. We noticed yesterday that the dad was showing up with worms so we knew the eggs had hatched. We got lucky and saw him hand off a worm to the mama and then saw her feed the babies. If you look close in the bigger picture you can see the little beak by her end where the white feathers are. We can't wait till she takes them out.

Memorial Day

We went over to my parents for dinner tonight. My dad cooked steaks on the grill and I made twice baked potatos and spicey corn relish. My mom made a strawberry cake but Will decided he just wanted whipped cream. We stayed and watched the first period of the Hawks game then headed home to watch the rest. I hope everyone had a great holiday.

Thanks a Latte Card

I got this card done last night. I am going to have Will write a message for his teacher in and give it to her tommorrow on his last day. We got her a Barnes & Noble card to put in it too.

I used a 5.5 x 5.5 white card then glued a 5.25x5.25 piece of green card stock on the front. I then punched out 4 2" circles out of the polka dot paper which is from October Afternoon's Road Trip collecion. I then stamped the images on white cardstock and colored them in with copics and then punched them out with the 2" punch. Using the polka dot paper as a guide I then glued down the images and then used foam squares to apply the top sheet. The stamps are Fiskars that I happened to find at JoAnns on clearance. I learned how to do the card here: http://prairiepaperandink.typepad.com/amyr/2008/06/a-muse-a-palooz.html?cid=118558264

and I lifted the card from here: http://stilwater.typepad.com/stilwaters_uncensored/amuseapalooza/

Nothing too exciting today. We went and got another hanging basket for the front porch and some Gerbera daisy's to put in a pot out front. I also got a planter to put a tomato plant in upside down and then a pepper plant and some flowers on top. The robins that built a nest by our gutter down spout have had their eggs hatch finally. We spotted them feeding the babies today but still can't see the babies. Terry had to work all day so Will and I got the grill ready and he got home in time to cook the burgers.

Work and Fun

This morning Terry cleaned out the gutter on the house and garage. While he did that I cleaned out my bookshelves and got almost 100 books together to give away. Afterwards we decided to go see Shrek Forever After and Will invited his friend to go too. It was a cute movie and we all had fun.

Afterwards we came home and Will and Terry played some wiffleball and then made dinner. We grilled out some pork steaks that were marinated in soy sauce, ginger and honey. I also made a broccoli salad (recipe below) and sauteed asparagus with green onions and garlic. I also made chocolate shortcakes to make strawberry shortcakes for dessert. After dinner we watched the Blackhawks beat the Flyers in game 1.

Crunchy Broccoli Salad

4 cups Broccoli, cut up

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

1.5 cups red grapes, halved

12 strips of bacon, cooked and crumbled

1 cup mayo

2 tablespoons cider vinegar

1/3 cup sugar

Mix together broccoli and grapes. Blend mayo, sugar and vinegar together, then pour over broccoli and grapes. Before serving stir in sunflower seeds and bacon.

Finally a 3 day weekend!

Not too bad of a day. Took Will for his last full day of school then worked till 2 when I picked him up. Work has been slow but I had a lot of customers to call so I got all that done and I decorated a cake for a friend. After school Will and I went and got hair cuts and I got mine colored. We went and ran some errands and then came home. Terry was working on the yard so he and Will finished that while I worked on dinner. We had Spicy Bloody Mary Burgers, corn on the cob and salad. I am just vegging out for the rest of the night. Not sure what is planned for tomorrow. Here is the recipe for the burgers:


Burgers
2 lbs. ground sirloin
2 TBS prepared horseradish
1 1/2 tsp. Celery salt
2 TBS Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp. hot sauce
1 TBS black pepper

form into patties

Drizzle extra virgin olive oil over the patties and place them on grill or into a hot skillet. Cook 5-6 minutes per side or until cooked through.

Celery-Tomato Topping

2 Celery Ribs (finely chopped)
1/2 pint grape tomatoes, halved
4 springs fresh dill, chopped
1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Juice of 1 lime
3 TBS Mayonnaise
~ Use the back of a fork to smash up the tomatoes while mixing them into the sauce.

Toast English Muffins.

Remove the burgers to the bottoms of the toasted English Muffins, add some celery-tomato topping, cover with muffin top and enjoy!!!!

Bowling night

We also went bowling tonight. Another hotel that is owned by Terry's company had a special fundraiser for Big Brother/Big Sister. We got to get our shoes and unlimited bowling from 6-8 for $5 a person. They ended up raising $125 and we all had fun. None of us did very good on our team but all together we had a perfect game! LOL