Need Scrapbooking Advice

So, I've renewed my interest in scrapbooking, but now its outside this box (the computer that is!) I want to dabble with traditional, and I think I could interest my 7 yr old in it too - while she plods through her school work, but have a few obstacles in my way that I need to wrap my head around.

I guess I'll start with the reasons I gave up traditional in the first place.

1. Lack of time. (Its amazing what happens when the kids grow a little!)

2. Glue - I think I hate gluing. now I know I'm still doing this wrong, but inevitably when you use glue - think school glue (yes I'm that clueless! LOL!) - the pages warp and loose their nice crispness, so I think I need different types of adhesives.... but what adhesives does a scrapper use and where do I find it?

• If I want to glue one background to another what do I use for adequate coverage?
• If I want to glue just a small thing to a page, what do I use for that?
• If I want to raise something - for dimension - what do I use?

3. Cutting photos??? - OMG isn't that akin to sacrilege! I still can't get past the notion of cutting pictures, its almost as bad as writing in a book! LOL!

4. Being Cheap and lack of storage - I look at my friend's scrapbooking supplies and tools and think - gah with sewing, knitting and kids already in our space where would I find that space for this and still keep my house organize (not that it currently is - but shhhhh let me dream!)

5. Where to find supplies? I don't know, I think dh would have a heart attack if I went supplies shopping to scrapbook! LOL! I mean I walked out of Joann's the other day with $100 worth of stuff (fabric, scrapbook papers, a specific scrapbook.) Joann's, Michaels and Walmart aren't the best places to get supplies either..... but all the online places make me want to hide my wallet!

So I'm thimking hybrid. No storage, except for tools, but printer ink gets expensive!

*********************
All this because FIL gave us this cool gift a while ago and lord knows dh and I won't ever use it - but in this months' Scrapbooks etc magazine, they had a cool way idea, and of course one idea leads to another and now I need advice on how to traditional in order to use it!

I really should just stop picking up magazines on a whim!

So who wants to teach me tradition scrapbooking??! LOL!

I'm a good talker!

Your Linguistic Profile:

40% General American English 25% Yankee 20% Dixie 5% Midwestern 5% Upper Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

A Snake!

We try walk about 1-3 times in a weekend. Well in our typical weekend walk yesterday, in one of our local National Recreation Areas, dh was running ahead to catch up to little S, and M and I were walking enjoying the views. M was on my right, and out of the side of my eye I caught a glimpse of a long black stick...something in my strange brain triggered me to yank M to the left of me and I stepped weirdly to the left as well, in some strange fluid dance like motion! I paused and looked back and yelled "Hey did you see the dead snake?" To which dh and S came running back to look. Its body was all lumpy and bumpy which suggested to me it was newly dead.



M and I began to study it from a distance, using the things we had learned from other "Caged" snake encounters, and her Brownie Try it book. I looked for a rattle, and note-able danger markings, keeping far enough away from it ... M noted that it had a tiny "NON SPADE" like head which suggested it was non-venomous. We had no idea what kind of snake it was - it looked all black with no note-able markings. So I assumed it was a Black Rat Snake.

We stood looking at this funky looking snake that looked dead as its body had shriveled up and it was all lumpy - but again my brain said, 'wait a sec, its head is up... and there is no rock for it to rest on.... its not dead - its playing dead.' So I said that aloud and dh curiously agreed. We watched it for a sec, dh moved in for a closer look, camera in hand of course.... and we watched. Sure enough in a split second it flicked its tongue. Slowly the lumpy-bumpy -ness of the body smoothed out and it slowly slithered away into the underbrush of leaves and ground debris.

You can't really see in the above picture the details but we did get a close look at. Its body had large spots when it stretched out, a light underside. It was about 2-2.5 ft long, so it was still quite young. As M says a teen.

I discovered that it was likely a Black Rat Snake in its juvenile state as it still had the markings of a Gray Rat Snake.

It was an interesting life science lesson - that we hadn't even planned to have! LOL!

Out of the Mouths of Babes

Littlest said the other day in the car:

"Daddy you're not a person, you're just a man!"

Which would lead one to believe that men are not people! hee hee!

Another Year Old

Another year older, though next year I'll be celebrating the 1st anniversary of my last birthday.

Dh and the girls took me out for my birthday dinner last night! We had Greek.
It was good. M suggested it, and since I was at a loss for ideas - it was a good suggestion.

We came home they gave me my cards - as always dh gave me his Sympathy Card! LOL!
M made a card for me with a Neopet's Scorchio on it. It was beautiful!

All it all it was a good birthday!

Toddler Ballet Bun!

The little one doesn't really have enough hair for a bun, but she insisted.

The Ballet Bun

Back about a month ago I posted about not knowing the first thing about Ballet or Ballet Buns! The photo to the right here was my first one and they have gotten better since, we've been doing them weekly!

Sadly our little ballet class has only 2 kids in. My dd and another. They're hoping for a bigger influx of kids in the Winter session, but so far its like private lessons and the other kid is moody and un-cooperative most of the time.

What bugs me is in spite of the notice that they must be dressed according to a certain style, and they must wear a bun, neither the teacher nor the other kid is dressed by the "required standards." So M says "Well I don't have to wear my hair up, no one else does and I could get a pretty leotard like the other kid's Leotards." (the other kid has many!) But I keep telling her that she looks fabulous and like a real dancer so she buys into it and runs with it.

Of course the little one has now gotten in on the bun thing too - and despite not having enough hair or time to do this stuff, we always make it on time and she is dressed for M's class too! LOL! Will post pics when I unload the camera again! LOL!

I am Japan

You Are Japan

You enjoy being part of a group. Having a good reputation is important to you. You get along well with others. You don't openly criticize or insult anyone. You like to co-operate, and conformity is fairly important to you. You love your culture and country. But when you're by yourself, you may have some very eccentric hobbies or interests!

What Country Are You?

Grumpy's Reading list.

Who me on Jedi kick as M would say.... NAH! LOL!

Actually yes, I scored an Ebay set of ALL the Jedi Apprentice books (which introduce Obi-Wan as a 12 yr old before he became Qui Gon Jinn's apprentice.) After reading 2 of the Jedi Quest books (which star the young Anakin) I was hooked.... sold hook line and sinker and poor dh had no choice but to give in! LOL!

Hence the sudden need to save some pennies on the grocery list and menu planning! Grin (I'm kidding of course!) But must do something to save money so that I look like I'm earing my keep!

Ridiculous - Gas Shortage.

Until now we've been relatively unaffected by the gas shortage. But now at 1/8 of a tank left, and a need to drive across town tomorrow for yet another class, I'm in a slow panic. I probably have enough to get there and back but what happens then?

I hate being confined to the house but if we have to we have to.

There are rumors out there that the gas shortages are nothing but a ploy on the part of politicians. I'm not sure what to think at this point.

Its rather amusing to me puny little mind that such things as the 1930's come to mind and the only thing I remember from grade 9 history class was the struggle buggies and great depressions. It kinda fits with the roaring 90's computer technology boom the subsequent stock market crash and now lay offs, mortgage crisis and other panics - and the gas shortages that come into play.

I'm not sure what my mind is driving at, as it runs on its own steam and tangents sometimes, but there is something in my mind (that I know.) And it keeps saying "This is Ridiculous!" But is it? Is it a political posturing manoeuvre? How could such political posturing really do the current government any good if it is hurting the economy more by making the people hurt more?

I remember my friend once talking about a book that suggested that the weather was controlled by the government... it sounded like a good book. Wouldn't it be a neat premise for yet another book, how the government kept the people down by stealing all the gas and making them think they were in crisis!? Hmmmmm

I'm rambling of course.... I'm just fed up with wondering when I'll get some gas... to the point that I want to buy a couple gas cans and store them in the garage in case we really do have a problem. I told the girls if it came down to it we'd siphon gas from daddy's little red car, using the frog's siphone tubes! LOL! The oldest was not impressed - "But mum won't that kill the frogs?" and "Oh mum that's disgusting - sucking gas from the tank... wouldn't it taste yucky!"

Menu Plans

I suck at Menu planning! LOL! But I grocery shopped yesterday and so the plan is set, now i just have to stick with it.

Dinners
1 – Lemon Basil Pork Chops w/Baked Sweet Potatoes
2 – Club Sandwich w Carrots and Dressing
3 – Pecan Crusted Flounder & Corn
4 – Mummy’s Birthday Choice!
5 – Chicken Pot Pie & Jello
6 – Greek Chicken & Pasta
7 – Stuffed French Toast & Pears

Lunches
1 - out just too much running (joys of last minuting)
2 - salad and fruit, and meat and cheese (Afternoon snack necessary)
3 - pita bits, with veggies and hummus dip
4 - left overs
5 - dinner leftovers from birthday night
6 - Club Sandwich fixings
7 - every person for themselves! LOL! (leftovers!)

I signed up with a meal planning service.... for a month trial - because I suddenly feel the need to be more frugal, more financially responsible, and less driving around so I'm more environmentally friendly too - plus less food will go to waste (and the waist. hee hee!)

I figure its time to teach the girls a little more about healthy eating and healthy living so we're going to try and walk more, eat out for lunch less, and simply spend less. I say this often but this time it is important. I feel like pooo and I need to fix that.

I'm not posting this on MPM, just because it isn't my own menu. But its here.... more for me than anything and so dh can look up dinner on line.

A Little Help??

If I were 7 yrs old. And I needed to do a small service project for Brownies. What should I do?

Something that will make the world a better place. (I might need to do 2 or 3 different things.)

Menu Plans

So I'm finding I have neither the time nor the patience to do menu planning and grocery shopping but my family and my health need me to. Over the years I have frequented different menu planning websites and am slowly collecting a list! :)

I've used
http://savingdinner.com/
http://menus4moms.com/

and have now signed up (however temporary) with
http://e-mealz.com/index.shtml

I will let you know over the coming weeks what I think of it.

My Goals are to reduce our budget some as the economy slows, tighten the belt a little, cinch it tighter so we eat less! LOL! are the old cliches that come to mind! Not that I'm worried right now but I figure teaching the kids something I don't remember from my childhood would be a useful skill - make them frugal (or cheap! hee hee!) One never knows what will happen with the local jobs and at least if we've managed to scale things down a bit we'll be in better shoes - should something bad happen.

I think I'm going to encourage / hire my 7 yr old to clip coupons, and she will get 50% of the savings, the other 50% will go towards the menu planning or fun stuff for school! Of that 50% that she earns 25% will go to savings.

Now lets see how it works! LOL!

Questing for Better Homemade Brownies

So I've decided to try my hand at better eating, or at least home-made eating when those chocolate cravings hit! Midnight Milky Ways, M&Ms and all those other dark chocolate candies can't be good for you, so I'm questing for a better option - and I'm starting with Brownies.

I've been craving brownies - especially the 2 bite brownies you get in the bakery at the Grocery store. Figuring there must be a ton of bad things for me in them, I decided to make my own. I'm sure over time we'll fine tune the recipe adding what we want and taking away the things that don't work for us or replacing the things that are bad for us... but here is the recipe I used! They just came out of the oven so the verdict isn't in yet! I'm also looking at a RAW brownie recipe, and working up the never to go for it! :)

Literally sick of it

Yet another Z-pak, yet another round of steroids.
All for Allergies that are bordering infected. CRUD! And a chest wheeze. GGGGRRR

Did I mention that during Fay we got a little wind, and that weekend we unsuspectingly walked through a Ragweed patch and again this weekend - before I identified it?

I think the Weed did us in - because it wasn't just me it was Little S, M and I, and good ole DH! But I'm the only one not getting better.

If y'all know of a better way to hold off allergies I'm all ears!

Star Halloween Wars

So the charming dh introduced the girls to Star Wars this summer and gah.... they have fallen madly deeply in love with all 6 videos - when your child asks for Dora - 100 times, mine are asking for Star Wars. They fell in love first with young Anakin, then Padme, then older Anakin, then Darth Maul (yes Maul) and on up through the works. Oddly neither girl likes Leia.

M is starting Ballet soon. Dh jokes that she will do a Ballet rendition of the Imperial March - heavens I can truly see it! S knows the tune - so I can just see her belting it out at the top of her lungs while M dances away - S will try to dance too and copy M's movements in a less graceful way - if grace is something to be had! - but they will be up there dancing away together and very happy!! LOL! (vivid images there!)

So technically it is September first and I should have started costumes months ago! When asked the girls are demanding to be Darth Maul... with M encouraging her little sister to be Vader or Anakin - so that she can be the only Maul. I want one of them to be Padme or Queen Amidala - but neither will have it. There will be a fight... a full drawn out fight if they both can't be it. This should be interesting. I have a couple months to practice the paint on the older one. Between that and the Ballet braids I'll be a make-up expert in no time!

Maybe I can convince the little one to be Sharp-Tooth from Land before time or Chomper.... we shall see, all I know is I've got my work cut out for me.

(yes I know there are Maul masks out ther but being claustrophobic, I have this thing about those rubber masks.... them give me the willies.... so I'd rather futz around with make-up than put my kids in one of those!)

Menu Plan Monday - Aug 25

Back to the drawing board with a little help from orgjunkie!! I'm getting organized again - everyone watch out! I'll put a check (✓) after each meal we eat at home this week!
I'm seriously getting in practice for next week, when we have about a million things happening after a nice relaxing summer, suddenly dd will be out doing stuff and I'mnot sure how our menus will fare, but if I figure if I've planned well, we'll be good and eating right!

So this week's Menu should shape up like this....

Blue is Lunch, Black is Dinner (yup both again!)

T26 - Mac Attack or Noodles, Tuscan Pork Chops in Portbello Mushroom Sauce
W27 - Veggies Dip, Deli Meat, Turkey Burgers (Veggie for me)
T28 - Out, homemade Burritos
F29 - Cheese, Veggies, Dip, Steak (Pork or Fish) w/Rice & Broc
S30 - ???, OUT
S31 - Sandwiches, Baked Ziti w/Grnd meat (or not!)
M1 - Fruit, Veggies, Dip, Leftovers, Homemade WW Linguine Alfredo

If this is something you'd like to try head on over and view more menus for this week here

Ballet - Tights or Sweats?

I'm so not a ballet mum! I lack everything in the area of being a girly girl mum! I buy simple shorts and ts for the girls, granny, babi and the aunties buy the dresses for them.

I'm hoping this will be a passing phase, that dd will NOT get serious about ballet, but alas I fear she will! Why not Hip Hop? Jazz ... I fear ballet, despite having wanted to try it out in my youth.

My poor IRL friend, I thinks she thinks I'm a lunatic! I emailed her a couple days ago asking where one could find a simple black leotard and tights, and heaven help me shoes that didn't costs an arm and 2 legs, and what do you mean they can't do ballet in sweats and gym shoes? She about died of laughter. Yes I was being funny but part of me was serious. For the new folks (if there are any!) my dd is 7, she is more girl than I was. She is taking a real ballet class for the first time, one that runs the year instead of a week! She has long hair, I don't even know how to do a bun! My IRL friend again, died of laughter when I told her that! She was telling me that most ballet folks take it very seriously - this is supposed to be fun for my dd - I can't abide seriousness at this stage. I hope they're ready for us, I seriously have no clue! If dd gets sent home because her hair is wrong or her clothes are wrong we're done for... I'm a simpleton, this is for fun. In all seriousness, I'm starting to stress over ballet - what has my life come to?

I want a ballet class done in sweats. This ballet business is expensive.

FWIW - if there is another out there as hopeless as me.... dd (7) found this for me so we could practice making a ballet bun!

Now all we need is some glue and scrunchies and a little time and practice to make it right!

Chores = Fight with 7 yr old ..... OR Do they?

Everyone has a different school of thought on rewarding kids for chores.

In our family we reward for chores... but only some chores. For the last couple years I've been paying M a quarter ($0.25) per task that I think of on the fly unless it was a difficult task and then it was rewarded accordingly! She'd fill her piggy bank, and when she had enough money to buy the item she wanted (+ at least 1/4 of the amount extra for the bank) - I'd convert the change into bills... and off to the store we'd go (and the bank to make a deposit!) A bit of a pain, but it taught concepts of money, earning, saving and portioning the money! The problem was if she wasn't in the mood to do the chores they didn't get done, and she didn't have a ready list of all the things she needed to do.

So in rolls the homeschool loops that I visit - recently one of them posted a link to a website called HandiPoints. You can set up a list of up to 35 chores for your child to do and a set of rewards that they might want to earn and how much they have to earn in order to get their reward. Our chores are still a quarter a piece (unless I say otherwise!)

Well, M has been working her little bootie off - saving for a new webkinz ('cause mean ole mummy isn't buying her anymore) , an American Girl Dolly (Mia, I think though she loves Felicity) and a Petting Zoo crab (which isn't available anymore though the babies are!)

So needless to say I'm putting in a little plug for this free website - which is helping me to help them to realize that the toys and things they like have a cost, that they have the freedom to earn what they want and help around the house too!! :)

For once my house is mostly guest ready for the guests arriving today! ..... now if I could just declutter a little at a time over the next little while and organize well... I'd be doing wonderfully!

Menu Plan Monday - 10 Day DO Challenge

On Cindy's Porch - she has posted a 10 day Challenge - to not spend money, and still "Do" stuff and shop at home first.

Like don't buy gas for the last 10 days of July! Don't buy food - instead use what you have in your cupboards, fridge and pantry instead. Will you take the challenge?

I won't make it to the end of the month - that's for sure.... as I'm in dire need of salads right now - and we'll be driving all around the town too because we need to get places but I will cut back!



Since it is Monday I guess a menu plan should be in order.

M21 - Chicken bits and salad (m's choice - so she could watch Star Wars)
T22 - Pasta with a noodles and veggies.
W23 - Tacos w/leftover turkey or pork - salad
T24 - Heading out so something quick
F25 - Homemade Pizza
S26 - Leftover meat and rice stirfry
S27 - Something concocted from the pantry!


If this is up your alley feel free to view more menus for this week here