Babies in the Bush

Good morning, everyone!
A quick note to share some pics of my beagle, doing what she does best! lol!
She discovered some newly hatched baby birds in the bush by our deck; unfortunately, it means we can't trim the overgrown thing right now, but I am happy she is using her God-given hunting skills to act like a dog and not just a spoiled princess. lol!
Here are a couple shots I took this morning.

Click Each Image to Enlarge

He really gets into his work......

....ugh! Look at this grubby kid! lol!

Kyle started a job a few weeks ago as a farm hand, but the farm owner also owns a machine shop. Kyle works on the farm taking care of the horses in the morning, and then heads to the shop where the guys are teaching him how to weld. He comes home looking like this every day! Where did my cute, clean baby go?! Waaaahh! lol! ;0)
That's my trusty side-kick, Riley, on the couch. He was soaking up some grubby-pets from Kyle when I snapped this pic.

What's going on?

Hi, everyone! I hope you are all having a good week, so far! I know....it's only Tuesday, but I have been so busy this past weekend, that to me it feels like it should be Thursday or Friday! What's new with you? Did you work outside this weekend? Maybe you're traveling with the family for a summer vacation? Me? Oh......been super busy in the yard! Here's some pics of what my hubby and I accomplished this weekend:

Okay - this is not the "accomplishment" picture......this is actually a "before" photo of what the side of the house looked like prior to our shoveling! Lol! The point I am standing at for the photo is our parking pad. We now have a sidewalk from it to the front door, and another that goes to the corner of the back yard fence (the gate is just out of the picture to the right). The area that is grassy in this photo was dug up, and then we had to add some topsoil and we fertilize it this spring. It's been sitting as a mud hole since late April (I say "mud hole" because it has rained, at least a little, every day for the past three months!). Anyhow....on to this weekend! 

(Click on an image to enlarge it)

This is a view from the gate toward the front of the house. I think it is so funny that the plants look so tiny. Lol! The shrub in the center is 5' tall River Birch. The rhododendron behind it....up against the house.... is a monstrosity that will be cut back this fall. If it doesn't make it in the spring, it's beingpulled out and replaced. It has issues.......that's the short story! lol! I planted some Hosta, Black Eyed Susans and some Bee Balm. I'll be glad when they all fill in, which may take a couple years. In the meantime, I will be planting some tulip and lily bulbs this fall, to add some spring color to this stuff for next year. Here's a couple more photos.

 (Click on an image to Enlarge)

This is a view from the parking pad toward the back of the house. We have left the edges of the bed without mulch because we have to build a small retainer at the corner of the parking pad. The rains tend to wash away the dirt in the bed because it does slope quite a bit from the house to the parking area. 

(Click an Image to Enlarge)

This is srill from the parking pad, but gives you a picture of the front of the house. You can see the front sidewalk that was put in (not by us), and there are a couple mature hostas and a boxwood in the frout. These were already planted when we moved in last fall. I have to move one of them in the fall: it is too close to the house, and in the way of where they put in the hose spicket. I have some flagstone to make a walkway to the spicket from the sidewalk, but that will have to wait until i move the giant hosta. 

So, we've been super busy, as you can see. It took us 40 bags of mulch for this area, and we need more (it's spread a little too thin for my taste). To give you an idea, the distance from the fence to the front sidewalk is 32'. Yikes!

Well, that's what I've been up to, and why you haven't seen any cards from me much. I do have one in the works for tomorrow's post, and a freebie svg for you that is sure to make you think of a beach getaway! (I know I am longing for one! It's been so hot and humid here in the hills of West Virginia!).

Thanks for stopping by, and leave me a comment to let me know what you're up to! If you have a blog link you'd like to share, please do! I'd love to see your projects and summer adventures!

Taking a break.....

Hi, everyone! Just a real quick note today to let you know that I am not intentionally being a bad blogger (are any of us, really?! hahaha!), but I am in high-gear graduation mode, so posting and projects have been, and will be, on hold for a little while! Saturday is the "big" day for Kyle, and I am trying my best to finish up the last five pages of the last scrapbook for his party. It has to be done by tomorrow night so I can leave town to see him on Thursday! Eeeek!
Did I mention I also have to mow the grass, do the laundry, pack the bags?? I better get a move on.......
I'll see you soon! :0)

Frannie Farmer needs advice!

Hi, everyone!
I have a question for you all........when you use large stamps, like the one on this card, do you size your card larger than 5x5. or .....? What do you do with them? I had such a hard time with a card layout for this image! I love how her coloring turned out, but the card layout does not make me happy. So, I am looking for advise on my next one with her (and some other larger SU retired ladies I have - Nellie the Nest Lady, Betsy the Bee Keeper, Winter Wilma - love them ALL!).

I colored Frannie in with some watercolor pencils, and then I used my water brush on her. (Scroll down for a post about this pencil from yesterday). I'm not sure I'm digging (no pun intended here) the layout - what say you?

Rolling along....and still waiting for the furniture!

Not that thiry minutes would help bring my furniture here any quicker, but I'm counting down! hahaha! I finished up this card, too. Another beach trip image. I had her colored, was very happy with the shading on her, and then started putting the card together. I really did have a vision in my head, but it did not turn out like I was thinking. Hmm....oh well, right? I'm sure the furniture people aren't hurrying along, so I'll have more time to make something else in a minute! Hahahaha!

This is a Sassy Cheryl image, LOVE her style! Apparently, there are more than one of us - haha! Get it?! She's a Sassy Cheryl, and I'm a Cheryl that's been known to be sassy, too.....hehehe! I am amusing myself this morning!  I don't have many of her things, but she has a flair for the kid-things in life! The Prima flowers I had picked up specifically for this image, but now I am not sure I like them so much. Hmmmmm........I did add some Diamond Stickles to the edges of them, and it helped a little. What do you think??

Owl-ways friends!

Hi, everyone! This is my second post today - I also did a challenge card post (scroll down) this morning. I've been a very busy girl.......or maybe it is just my way of dealing with the anxiousness of waiting for my new craft furniture!! Yay! I FINALLY am going to have a "real" desk and table! I've been working on plastic folding tables that aren't even, have texture to them, and aren't very stable for a very long time! Anyhow, my dh took me shopping on Saturday, and I found something I love! It is scheduled to be delivered today. I will post some photos once it is set up! :0)
In the meantime, I'll keep busy with my cards today. Here's one I made (again, still using things I worked on at the beach!) that uses the SU Owl Punch. I do not have this punch, but my friend brought it along on the beach trip with her. I used some old, old, OLD Sizzix paper packs to punch three different colors of the owl, then I mixed up the pieces to put these together. The sentiment is something I made in PSE.  Hope you like! I love the owls so much, I'm going toplace an order for the punch today! :0)

Back from a great trip......

Hi, everyone! Sorry that I have been M.I.A., lately! I took a trip to Port Clinton, Ohio to watch my son shoot in the JROTC National Air Rifle Championships this past week! we had a great time, even though the weather was a freezing 22 degrees with whipping winds off the lake! :0) The sun was shining, and the team did well.
For those not familiar, the championships consist of the the top 12% of all JROTC shooters in the nation. The fact that the Howe Team made it is fantastic! They did well, ranking 19 out of 39 teams that weekend.
They competition ran as two half matches - 20 shots in each shooting position: prone, standing and kneeling, on Friday, and then again on Saturday. They were given 40 minutes for prone and standing positions, and 30 minutes for the kneeling position.
Kyle did well (they all did), but not his best shooting ever. He shot a combined score of 992, and had 10 bullseye shots. He ranks #120 in the US. (There were 198 shooters in the Sporter class). His team is ranked in the top 6% in the country at #19. There were 38 teams that shot Sporter class this weekend.
They are all happy. This was the first time any of them had made it to the Nationals! :0) Yay, team!
Here's a few shots I took. The lighting at the range is certainly not optimal - ;ight is focused at the targets, always behind the subject, and we were not allowed to use our flash.

Prone Position

Standing Position

Kneeling Position

They are supposed to be making a "thumbs up" sign here, but it didn't work out so well! hahaha! The back and fronts of their hoodies were embroidered - awesome work! We had several other team coaches compliment them. A generous alum of the school donated the money for these, and for the cost of the trip!

This is at the awards banquet on Saturday night. We have five shooters on the team, and then we brought an alternate and an observer. Kyle is the far left, in the front row.

News

Hi, everyone!
Tomorrow's the big day that I choose a winner of my blog candy! So, if you haven't already, make sure you complete the three requirements to qualify to win! :0)
In other news, it's "Proud Mama Time"! My son has been part of his school rifle team for the past four years. I recently was sent an article about the team, and his wonderful accomplishment! Here's the article (click it to enlarge it):

Kyle is the one I circled. :0) He is actually the team leader in points, but Austin beat him at the qualification match. They have a friendly competition amongst themselves, and are always trying to "one-up" each other. I wish the six-man team luck at Camp Perry! Go, Wildcats!

I'm flattered!

Dee, one of Meljen's Designs DT members, has featured my card today for the Tantalizing Toooosday post! :0) (it's the last one in the column - the blue and browns with the owl).
Now, I'll be honest - I'm not sure if she meant to, or if she mistook mine for her DT memeber, Cheryl. hehehe! Either way, I'm so flattered! Been beaming like a lighthouse all morning! :0)
If you aren't familiar, Melissa Jenkins is the hand behind the pencil at Meljen's Designs. Let me tell you.......she has amazing talent!! I love all her stuff! So, if you're not familiar with her work, and love whimsical digi's, check her out!

Long baking day!

Today was a long day on my feet - a lot of baking! Seven dozen cookies later, my back aches, my feet hurt and are swollen, and I look like I just came out of battle! hahaha! I suppose you could say I did, as I had a difficult time maneuvering around the kitchen. This is the first time I've spent in this house doing some baking since we've been here. The kitchen counter space is minimal, and the space I have is chopped up. I baked a banana bread this am, and it was a total disaster! I ended up filling one of my baking dishes too high. It spilled over the edge and burned on the bottom of the oven. It stunk horribly, but we aired the house out, so now that is better. The breads didn't make it - I'm not certain if the oven doesn't cook well, or if I just messed up somehow, but the two loaves I had in there have passed on to "Bread Heaven".
Anyhow, the cookies survived! Yay! I made three dozen white chocolate macadamia cookies and four dozen chocolate chip with walnut cookies. I wrapped up half of each in some bags (made by me!), placed a hand-painted cookie plate in a basket along with three handmade goat milk soaps I had purchased at Shipshewana on my last trip. This is all for my landlord, his wife and daughter. They're wonderful people, and we are blessed to have such great landlords, so I thought I'd show my appreciation this season in the form of yumminess! :)
The big cookie bags I made are from SVGCuts.com Big Boutique Boxes. Mary totally hit a home-run when she created this thing! It rocks! Super easy to put together!
The small bags that I wrapped my soaps in are my 2-5-7-10 Bag SVG.  I used some cute Debbie Mumm Papers for all of them.
Well, enough from me. It's past dinner time! :)
Happy Holidays, Everyone!!

Guess what?! I have super-exciting news to share!

Hi, everyone!
I know I have been M.I.A. for the past week (traveling, and without my own computer and crafty "stuff"!), but I have some great , GREAT news.....my super-cool friend, Stacie, from Hestia's Helper, has chosen me to carry on her torch on Amber Inkling's December 2010 Amber Ink (th)Ink Tank! I am so honored that she chose me as her predecessor, and will do my best to make her proud! :) For those of you unfamiliar with Amber Ink, be sure to check out the online site for some wonderful digi-stamps, digi-papers and clear stamps!

There may be a task I miss out on sharing a creation for early this week due to my crazy travel schedule, but I will be back in full crafty-force mode later in the week, definitely! :) So, please bear with me, and I'll keep the torch lit!

Please visit the other crafty gals on their journey as new Torchbearers, too! They all have wonderful talent to share with you! Feel free to send them some lovin' when you visit! :)

Alyssa

Jane

Laurel

Lindsey

Have a great Monday,everyone, and I'll see you back here later this week!
Happy Crafting!

The First Snow for us in WV

The other day, I had posted about the flooded basement we were cleaning up. The day we started doing the majority of the work, it began to snow here for the first time since we've been in WV. Now, being from MI, snow is certainly nothing new to me; however, as my wonderful friend, Cely, put it.....it was like "Christmas card snow" that was falling!  Large snowflakes were floating down, and they looked so soft. I know that sounds crazy, but it was really nice to see during such a messy day for us!
Next to the outside stairs that lead to the basement (there are so many ways in and out of this house, and we have stairs inside the house, plus a doorway from the basement that leads to the back porch area of the house), at the corner of the house, this beautiful sight caught my eye, so I went in to grab my camera.

(Click the picture for a larger view)

Anyhow, I just thought I would share. I abhor spiders, but think their webs are each a piece of artwork, much like all of our paper creations! :)

BIG Project I'm working on...Sneek Peak!

I know I was going gang-busters with posting almost daily freebies, but I'm working on a really BIG project for my son's school. I have the "base" of one part of the project completed so I can take it to the school tomorrow to talk details with the powers that be there. I will be gone for a couple days, visiting my son at school. He has an at-home soccer game tomorrow, and I'm dropping off a trailer full of donation goodies to the school while I'm there.
I'm happy I am going to be spending the night at my favorite bed & breakfast, and when I called for my room reservation, Karen, the wonderful 'hostess-with-the-mostest", said I am going to be the only guest tomorrow, so I will have complete peace and quiet! Yay!! :)
Anyhow, here is a sneek peak at my latest volunteer project. Come back soon for more details, and a BIG SVG File Download for Free, to create your own!

Can you guess what this is??

:)

Happy Crafting, everyone!

I'll be back Tuesday night to catch up on the latest and greatest with you all! 

Funny

Saw this on Facebook and it totally cracked me up!

"I'll be Burger King and you be McDonald's: I'll be doing it my way, and you'll be lovin' it!" hahahahaha!!

It's a knee-slapper for sure!

Spring

It is hard to believe that this time of the year would be tough for my rheumatoid, but it is: the Michigan weather changes quickly from warm and sunny to breezy, cold and rainy, and the changing barometric pressure really takes a toll on the inflammatory problems. A few nights ago, I suddenly had a hot spark of pain in my neck, right at the base of my skull, and a massive headache that made it hurt to move, or even talk. I immediately iced it, took some ibuprofen and laid down, but it was horrible. I could feel the swelling in my neck, and it seemed to travel down my spine and into my entire back. Awful. Thankfully, a nap helped the headache, but the inflammation did hang on for a few days , making it tough to have full range of motion.
Today is a day that I think could become another "matchstick headache" day. I call it that because it felt like a hot pain, like the flame when you strike a match, in my neck when it happened. The sky is overcast and it looks like it may rain at any given moment.
Why the rambling about the weather? Well, it was lunch time. I love food. Food loves me, too, because it seems to hang on tight in the form of fat! lol! Eating pierogies is not so smart, nor is it helpful for my health issues, and the weather effects my health like the food I eat effects my health. (Took the long way to make that point, didn't I?!)
I wanted pan-fried potato and cheese pierogies badly! With some red onion and olive oil, this is the tastiest! One of my all-time favorite dishes. I passed on that, though. I stared into my 'fridge for a few moments at the bag of baby spinach, and all the time I heard my doctors latest, "it takes planning and time in the kitchen to eat right. You really need to work on that to help yourself", and "The weight loss is good, but not unless you're eating right!".  So, the bag of spinach won. Here's what I ate for lunch today.

Ingredients

Baby Spinach

Red Onion

Button Mushrooms

Mandarin Oranges

Sliced Strawberries

Blue Cheese Crumbles

Croutons

T. Marzetti's Sesame Seed Dressing

It didn't take as long as cooling my pierogies would have, and it was delicious! I think doc would be proud!

On another note, my flower beds are definitely in need of some serious attention; however, my azalea bushes have bloomed beautifully this year, and we've managed to avoid the late spring night freeze that I usually lose them to! I snapped a quick photo from the deck.

Battalion Picture

Battalion Staff as a Junior! I'm so PROUD!
This is the annual Battalion Staff picture for HMS. Kyle, as a junior, was appointed the Command Sgt Major (unheard of for a junior to hold a Battalion Staff position!). He looks so handsome! (All of them do!). I couldn't be more proud!

(He is the one on the far right of the photo).

My first-ever blog award!

I got this Blog Award from Amy (aka Aimitup)!

Visit her on her blog Amy's SVGs and Other Scrap Stuff - she is an amazing talent!
Made me smile!Thank you, Amy! My first blog award, ever! 
I am passing this on to some of my favorite bloggers:

Annel at Annel's Place

Cely at Creating in Carolina

Angela at A Wee Blether

Paulo at SCAL E_FILES

Yolie at Just Yolie

Celeste at Paper, Cricut, Glue...Let's Scrap

This award has some rules:

• Pass it on to 6 bloggers
• Put a link to your nominees within your post
• Let your nominees know that you are passing this award along to them by leaving by leaving a comment on their blog
• Link to the blog of the person who nominated your for this award

I love numbers!

I love numbers! There's never a question as to how to pronounce them! In the english language, we have several phonetics for several letters..............but not numbers! A 9 is a 9, as a 5 is a 5, and so on and so forth.
So, when my son called me to say, "Guess what, mom?! I shot first in the State of Indiana!" (referring to his JROTC Air Rifle 2010 Postal), it made no sense for me to respond, "What??", did it?! lol!!
I am so proud of him. He has truely stepped up as far as his efforts are concerned. This is a child that, four years ago, I was concerned was doomed to a fate of menial minimum wage work. Seriously.............
A child that could not make eye contact, nor speak clearly to the gas station clerk in the checkout line is now winning air rifle titles! He has bumped his grades from a 1.6 gpa in the eighth grade to a 3.2 gpa as a junior. He has evolved from the boy that did whatever the neighbor kid said was "cool" to the young man that earned a Battalion Staff position (a senior position) as a junior in his JROTC program at school.
I am amazed, and extremely proud! :)
Keep up the good work, son!

Finally!

I have finally completed a complete demo scrapbook for the auction! Woohoo!
I am happy with the way it turned out, and think there is a good assortment of ideas and techniques that I use for people to look at.
Now I think I need to concentrate on going back to my card making. I want to start making cards to send to Operation Write Home - it's right up my alley for "causes", and what better excuse to spend time in the craft room?! lol!
Today marks the beginning of a loooong month ahead - Chris starts working midnights tomorrow night, so we will be like two passing ships for a long time. He'll be on his way to work before I am home from my work, so I will see him on Fridays when I'm off. He's working seven days, so it will only be for a few hours. :(
Today he is home, though, so we are going to see a movie together, and then do some grocery shopping. Not exactly exciting, but it's time together! :)