my pair-a-dice

It has been a busy month here, but we had a big snow storm that has slowed everything down. Ben and Cassie were out playing in the snow today. I was able to get some really cute pictures. Hopefully I will be able to get some of Alexx with the dogs later. I am trying to figure out how to update my new gypsy. I was so happy to be able to get one for Christmas and I hope I use my cricut more now that I have the gypsy. For starters it won't load my George and Basic Shapes cartridge until it gets updated. I am hoping to have a lot of scrapbooking time now that the holidays are over and life has settled down. Be back soon...

Cassie: This dance costume was perfect with just a pitchfork and a pair of horns. I know I pay a ton of money for dance for a reason. She is too old to trick-or-treat, but all of the teens here go out anyway. Ben: This cute little monkey costume came from The Childrens Place. Cassie bought it in Sept. He wore it on Sunday night. He didn't really trick-or-treat, but he did go to a few of our friends and neighbors houses. Saturday night he was a cute little duck with striped legs. We picked that costume up at Ross just a few days before Halloween for only $9.99. I figured for that price he could have one for each night.

These are some of the pages for my December Daily. I used eight different shaped pages. Square with edge punched, pocket, tag, angled pocket, quarter circle, half oval, bracket,and square. The book will be put together with 2.5" binder rings so that I have a lot of room to add embellishments, photos, and cards or programs from any events that we go to. I know I will be adding any of the Christmas photo cards that people mail to us. I love those cards. I also have a few of those chipboard cut shapes that I want to add in. About the family: Cassie and I finally got all of Ben's furniture moved. His room looks great. He had two bookcase cubbies that didn't fit, so I will be using those in my scrapbook room, but we did manage to fit a toy box in there so his room should stay pretty clean. We also cleaned out the old room and I am going to be looking for a small futon so we can have a place to sit, and a place to sleep if we have a guest. Halloween was great. Ben was a duck on ...

This week has been busy. I painted Benjamin's room. We cleaned his carpet for the second time. Tonight we will move his furniture from his old room, which should be easy because the new room is right next to his old room. We will need to hang the decorations and buy curtains, but all of the hard work is done now. We finally got the Halloween decorations out, late as usual. I need to be better about decorating early. I always plan to decorate for every holiday early and I always decorate just days before. When the girls were little we always decorated early, I don't know when that changed. Tonight Fred and Cassie went to a haunted walk. I hate everything scary so I am home with Ben and Alexx. They have been gone for a while so I hope they are having fun. I haven't had a chance to do any scrapbooking, but I have a cute little scrapbook that I picked up at Michaels yesterday and some embellishments that I am going to work on tomorrow if I get a few hours. Then I hav...

I have been working on my December Daily. I have all of the pages cut out and put in order. That was the hardest part. I used a lot of different papers, but because the book has so many pages I was able to mix old and new papers, bright colors and aged prints and it still flows well. I have seven different shaped pages that are randomly arranged. Now I am working on picking my embellishments for each page. I am going to put any ribbons and things on the individual pages and then I am going to sew each page to the page behind it. Fred bought me large binder rings today so that I will be able to put it all together without it being too bulky for the rings I already had. I can make it as bulky as I want to now. My only concern is how I can make the paper stronger around the holes. I think it will be ok because each page is two papers, but I would hate to go through all of this work and have the pages get torn. Onto family life... We have had such nice weather here this weekend. Sa...

You can win a Cricut Gypsy on Pinky's blog. Here is the address http://blueyecicle.blogspot.com/ This is the second Gypsy she is giving away. And, if you already have a Gypsy you should still go look at her blog. She has a lot of great projects over there.

I haven't had much of a chance to be scrapbooking the last few days. This is another picture from Linvilla Orchards. This super sized pumpkin was in their garden market. Ben was showing off with his little "no hands" pose. Today Cassie and I finally got around to painting the primer in Ben's new room. It is already a huge difference. We are hoping that we will be able to paint on Saturday morning. We didn't buy the paint yet, but Cassie picked a nice aqua color called Cool Jazz. I think it will be adorable. Back to scrapbooking... I have decided to make a December Daily album. Ali Edwards has the greatest dailys. I was looking and I am so inspired. I am going to try to get all of the pages made this month. I think it will be so easy to just grab a page each day and add my photo and embellies. Each page will already have a journal spot with it. I am thinking about doing a few different size/shaped pages to give it added interest. As of right now this is...

Another layout made with my older scrapbook supplies. I made this layout for the Scrap that Baby blog prompt. It was all about itty bitty baby parts. Benjamin's wrists are one of my favorite baby parts. They are so cute and chubby. He looks like he has rubber bands around his wrists. I used old K&Co papers and BG chipboard. I really have other things that I should be doing instead of scrapbooking. I need to clean up my scrapbook room. It doesn't take much time for it to get messy and I should start cleaning between each project. It should be easy, but I always seem to wait until my desk is covered and I can't work on it anymore. I also need to help Cassie get Ben's new room primed and painted. He really needs to move into the new room so that he won't be disturbed by other people in the house. Cassie worked so hard to get his nursery ready when she was pregnant and it is such a cute little room. His new room is going to be the same size and use the same Precious...

This is my layout for the dt call at Scrapbookers Anonymous. It was fairly quick to do and I like the way it turned out. I used my smooch spritz on the palm trees and cardstock. The little flags are made from some old MS ribbon. You had to use three or more old papers from three different manufacturers. For something new I used one of the journal spots from BG. Today Benjamin and I slept a little late. We didn't go to story time at the library like we had planned to. When we picked up Cassie at school, we stopped at a few stores and then put a roast in the crock pot for dinner. That makes for a day without stress and too much rushing around. We will be able to sit around and enjoy our evening without having to do much of anything. Yup, this is the good life.

We just got home from our long day at Linvilla Orchard. Even though it is a little far we like to go every year. They have so much to do and they have the very best apple cider donuts I have ever had (and the only ones I have ever had). We had a great time once we got there. On the way we stopped for breakfast and the girls ran into the chocolate store for some candy. Then I got a little lost. I am not shocked at all by this. I have no sense of direction, so I get lost easily, but this time it wasn't my fault. My mapquest directions said to go left when I should have gone straight. But we eventually got there. We fed the animals, ate junk food, picked apples, and spent about five hours just wandering around. Alexx and Ben each had a pony ride. It was so funny because Alexx wanted to ride the pony and she didn't want to ask if she was allowed. The people there were so nice and said she could ride. I think the boy who had to walk the pony around with her was younger t...

I am finally feeling better. I spent part of today scrapbooking. I did two layouts for a new challenge blog that I stumbled across today. It is Scrapbookers Anonymous. It sounds like a group that I need to belong to. It is a blog for using up your supplies. I have been trying to do that and a blog to help me use the old stuff is perfect. My challenges today used six pieces of old paper. It may not be much, but imagine when I start using things like those old pin/buttons or bottle caps. I can just see the layouts now. Lol. They are looking for a design team so I sent them my entry today. I don't know if I have a chance, but I do know I can't be chosen if I don't even try. Tomorrow I am taking the girls and Benjamin to Linvilla Orchards. We are going to pick apples, eat apple cider donuts, and take Benj to pet the animals. He should be super excited because they have goats. Lol. This layout is from when we went to the zoo last month. It is totally not what I would normally d...

This has been a hectic week. First Fred and Cassie were sick. Then Fred's mom had surgery on Friday. Saturday Cassie and I went to the Ranger warehouse sale. We bought a five gallon bucket of goodies. Five gallons of stickles, dabbers, ink pads, embossing powders, pop dots, and re-inkers. Yes, we were happy with that. Oh, I can't forget the three display racks that we were given for free. They were slightly bent, but nothing that couldn't be easily fixed. We are going to watch for this sale again next year. After Ranger, we went to Philly to visit with Fred's mom, who was actually kept asleep for the weekend. She came home yesterday and will hopefully be doing better soon. She will have weeks of radiation, but hopefully no more surgery will be needed. Yesterday I started with a sore throat. Today I feel horrible, head cold, stomach ache, sore throat. Yuck. Hopefully I will get well as quickly as Fred and Cassie did earlier in the week. I haven't kept up with anythi...

Scrapbook inspiration for today: You can't win if you don't enter I have been working on entering more challenges and doing more sketches while also using up some of the product that I have been buying for the last 14 years. Yes, that is a lot of product. I did this layout for the Scrap that Baby challenge. The subject was grandparents. Easy for me because we are the grandparents. The papers and stickers are all from My Little Shoebox. I was going to enter this layout into their contest, but I was looking through the entries before I posted mine and there is one there that is similar. I don't want to start trouble so I just entered my other one. I also did a layout of Alexx and her dogs for the Fancy Pants challenge. So that is three challenges for this week. I am hoping that I will be able to do two more layouts tomorrow for the challenges at 2peas. We'll see. Alexx has a doctor appt., as does Benjamin in the morning, so that will take up part of the day. Fr...

Scrapbook inspiration for today: Reach for the stars OK, I know you have seen this layout before. Just a few days ago actually, but I am posting it again. This is the layout that I made for last weeks HMITM and I won. I am the weekly wow and my layout will go into the HAITA drawing for a prize at the end of the month. I am so happy. So my plan for tomorrow is to work on the HMITM for this week: Something old is new again. I have an idea for something, but I am not sure if it will work. And... today I found out that I won a prize from another scrapbooking site. They will be mailing me a prize. I have no idea what it is but I am excited about it. And... Fred bought me a Bind it All. It is used and it comes with some wires so I will be able to use it as soon as it gets here. I am so excited. He is so sweet. This has been a really good day. Thank you all for visiting, and I will be sure to post a new lo tomorrow. Outside of scrapbooking, this has been a great week. Wednesday Fred and I ce...

Scrapbook inspiration for today: A child is a curly, dimpled, lunatic Today Fred and I took the kids to Atlantic City. They have been wanting to go shopping and it was the only day that nobody had work. We went to a lot of stores, did some window shopping, and had dinner. Benjamin probably got more than anyone while we were out. He got a new Halloween bag and bib, Thanksgiving onesie and socks, and a few other clothes. Cassie picked him up a few birthday or Christmas presents also. Alexx got a few shirts and new sunglasses. Cassie was happy to find a Juicy Couture store and she got two new charms for her bracelet... We ate at Applebees. We have been trying to go out to dinner as a family one day a month. It hasn't been fancy dinners out, but we have enjoyed ourselves. Last month we went to Taco Bell and Maui's Dog House. The dog house was a ton of fun because they serve your food in large dog bowls. In July we went to the Texas Roadhouse. In June we went to Tuckers Pub and Scoo...

Scrapbook inspiration for today: If you want the rainbow, you have to put up with the rain I made this layout for the HMITM challenge that ends today. You had to use music note paper, number(s), song lyrics, and at least 40 items. It was fun and easy with such a long title. The pictures are the day Benj was born. One right after the surgery and one later in their room. I thought the title was perfect for pictures of the little Mommy with her baby. Yesterday Cassie and I went to a few yard sales in search of a walker. We have been hoping to find one at a yard sale since Ben is getting big and will not be able to use it for very long. We didn't find a walker, but Cassie bought the cutest baby table and chairs for him. It is a round picnic style table and it came with two chairs and a bench. It needs to be painted or stripped and painted, but it is so cute that it will be worth the work. It was only $10.

Scrapbook inspiration for today: Daddys Little Girl I love these pictures of Fred with Alexx the day she was born. It is so hard to believe that she is already 19. I have decided that I need to start using some of my scrapbook supplies. I have so much stuff in my scrapbook room that I never use. I am making a big effort to use some supplies on every layout. This one has a Heidi Swapp Bling Heart a few flowers and ribbon. It really is so easy to do a layout without embellishments and sometimes I just don't want to look through all of my stuff. But, it is a good feeling to use my supplies. Since they are organized well it doesn't take very long to find the right embellishments for any subject. I also feel a little less guilty buying supplies if I actually use them. Oh, I shopped at two peas today. I will be looking for a big box on Wednesday :)

Scrapbook inspiration for today: God gave us faces, we create our own expressions I have been scrapbooking a lot lately. I did seven single page lo this week. For me that is a ton because I tend to be a super slow scrapper. I have been on the internet checking out a lot of scrapbooking blogs and challenges. Talk about being inspired. I could spend hours looking around. I have joined a few sites and I hope that means more scrapping for me. This lo of Benjamin on our last day in Disney was done for a challenge at Scrap for Therapy. This week coming I will be doing a lo for Scrap that Baby because their prompt is Grandparents. Yup, perfect for pictures that I took of Fred and Benjamin at the park while Cassie was at school. I am going to try to take more pictures. It always seems that I go out and want to get a picture but I left my camera at home. Not a huge deal if I am with other people in the family because we all take a ton of pictures so I can always get some from them, bu...

Scrapbook inspiration for today: It's been a long day Today we went to the mall. We only went to exchage a charm from Cassie's charm bracelet, but since we were out anyway we went to Olive Garden. Cassie recently decided that she loves all things Juicy Couture. She has two of their purses, two hoodies, a tee shirt, earrings, and now charms. With her birthday money she had bought a cute Juicy Couture charm bracelet and a robot charm. The charm was $52 and lasted two weeks. Needless to say we did not get the same charm this time. She got a cute JC easy bake oven with a little cupcake inside. And the little oven door actually opens. Yes, for $58 the oven door should open, and you should be able to eat the little cupcake. The oven is joining the ice cream cone charm that she has. Next on her list is a kite charm. I am happy that she has a job with good pay since she seems to be getting more expensive taste lately.

Scrapbook inspiration for today: Happy people are the fizz in the soda of life I was happy to see it was raining this morning. My house was already clean, so I was able to spend the morning in my scrapbook room. I did two layouts. One was old pictures of Alexx in fifth grade, and one was this layout of our photo booth pictures. We got them at the boardwalk. It really cost next to nothing and it is fun. That is one of the good things about living near the beach and boardwalk. There is always something to do here. There are plenty of seasonal jobs for anyone looking. There are the free beaches. There are bad things too. Easy access to piercing and tattoos sticks in my mind today. Maybe because Cassie tried to explain to me today that she wants a tattoo and it is perfectly reasonable because she is 17 (in case I didn't know). Or maybe it is because I still haven't gotten used to the nose ring that Alexx got last week. I am not sure I will ever get used to that one. I just keep rem...

Scrapbook inspiration for today: Life holds a special magic for those who dare to dream This afternoon when I took Alexx to work she asked if we got a chance and were near her job later would we please drop her off a drink from Starbucks. I said sure. Later, Fred was in the area so he stopped to get her drink and dropped it off for her. A few minutes later I received a text message. Her co-workers had called her spoiled. She replied that no she wasn't spoiled, she just has parents who love her. And...that she prefers the word privileged to spoiled because it makes her sound more like royalty and less like a brat. Gotta love that she has my sense of humor and sarcasm. Most days. Sometimes it is the thing that drives me crazy about her.

Scrapbook inspiration for today: Joy+Laughter=You Today I spent just about the whole day in the car. I don't mind driving here or there but today it was never ending. I am glad Fred is off tomorrow so he can have some of the driving duty. This is how it went: One trip to the vet to drop off Travis for his surgery, and a stop at the library on the way home. One trip to the school to pick up Cassie, with a quick stop at the doctor to pick up Alexx on the way to lunch with Mom.And a round trip back to the diner for something we left there before we went home. One trip to the vet to pick Travis up after his surgery, and back home to drop him off. One trip to the hospital to pick Cassie up from work, with a side trip to Arbys for Alexx's dinner and a stop at Walmart before heading back home again. Tomorrow I will be spending the day at home. I will clean a little bit, and scrapbook a lot. Look for a new layout posted tomorrow :)

Scrapbook inspiration for today: It doesn't matter where you go in life, it's who you have beside you that makes it worthwhile. A sad and a happy day for me today. This is my younger daughters last first day of school. She is a senior and I will never again be rushing out to take the first day of school pictures or ask the questions about her new teachers or which of her friends are in her classes. I have always enjoyed the picture taking on the first day of school. I get the pictures of them and then a picture with their backpack or school bag. It is tradition. It is just sad that both of the girls have grown up... On a happy note, Benjamin and I had a good morning. Cassie is in school for such a short day that this may work out well for us. A few fun hours and then I get an afternoon break before we have a few hours together again at night. And a happy note from Fred, he found another silver ring today with his metal detector. That makes about ten. Yup, he is a happy man toda...

Scrapbook inspiration for today: Wisdom begins in wonder Tomorrow school starts for Cassie. She will be a senior this year and will be able to leave early on the work program. That means that I will be with Benjamin while she is at school and then we will have to pick her up around eleven. Then I will need to take her to work at four and pick her up at seven thirty. So I will be part time babysitter, and part time taxi. Not to mention taking Alexx back and forth from work, vet visits, and whatever else she needs a ride for. Then next week dance starts, so that will add a few more car rides and a little more babysitting. I am not complaining too much though, I am lucky that this is my only job right now. Being a Mom and a Nana is good. But still, this is the end of my summer vacation.

Scrapbook inspiration for today: Joy is not in things, it is in us Today was the first time in two weeks that I actually sat down and got something done in my scrapbook room. I was able to finish a lo of Benjamin on the plane on the way to Disney. I also started a lo with Mary Poppins and Bert. I hope to finish that tomorrow either before or after we go to the boardwalk. Cassie was scrapbooking with me and she made a cute two page lo of the day she came home from the hospital with Benjamin. Outside of scrapbooking, today we checked out the Spirit Halloween store, where I tried to get Cassie to buy a banana halloween costume to go with Benjamin's monkey costume. She refused. After looking for school shirts and buying a few pairs of pants and a halloween tee for the baby we met up with Alexx for dinner at the diner. We had a nice dinner and fun conversation. I love spending time with my girls.

Scrapbook inspiration for today: I hold my daughters hand and she holds my heart Yesterday Cassie and I took Benjamin to the zoo. He had a great time feeding the goats and one of them was so nice and just stood there while he pulled it's ears. We got a lot of cute pictures and survived the 100 degree heat.

I am starting this blog to share my family activities with my family and friends. I will be adding photos and scrapbook pages. If you stumbled upon my blog by accident, welcome. Stay for a bit and look around. There isn't much here right now, but I hope to add more every day if possible.