Katies Challenge #5

Blog a letter. It can be to yourself or someone you know or perhaps to someone you don't know. It can be about any topic you like it should just read like a letter. Can't wait to see what you write.

Dear Blog,

I just wanted you to know how much I enjoy leaving you pictures and comments several times a week.

Its nice to have a place for my friends and family to come and see whats been going on in my life.

Its always a pleasure to have you to write down my daily thoughts, share my Scrapbooking and just write about life in general.

Thanks for always being here for me to come and hang out and leave you stuff.

Hugs and prayers,
Stephanie

I'm about finished shopping for BTS for the boys. I took Mckay out yesterday and found some things for him. Of course He cost a little more than Seth. But we did find some great deals for him too. He found this great pair of Union Bay jeans for $15 and they fit him great. He is so skinny.. its hard to find jeans that fit right.

I can finish up their supplies at school both schools sale bundles of supplies for the kids and the funds helps school organizations. Gotta do that next week..

Next week will be busy busy busy.. BTS stuff, meetings,XC practice, Holiday World is planned for Tuesday. Can you believe that Michael is taken off work to go. Should be nicer to go during the week maybe there will be less ppl.

Last night we went to the drive in and watched Harry Potter.. I wasn't as impressed with this one as the others. And we saw Licence to Wed.. not as funny as I thought it was going to be.. it was OK.

Today I think we are go to see some Go-cart racing at one of the local campgrounds.

Michael is still sleeping this is so odd for him. This guy gets up early everyday. Usually by 7 on his days off. Its 9:30 now.. wow!!

Maybe if I have time later I will play with my new goodies that Pam sent me in the swap.

Have a great Sunday!

Lunch pail swap

OMgosh!!! is all I have to say.. I love it all!!

Check it out..


My secret lunch pail swap was from Pammmy!!

Here is what I got!
The box is so cute.. with the huge "S" and my name on the front!!Love the flower paper too!!

2 paint dabbers.. eggplant and denim.. yay cant get these here yet.
Technigue Tuesday stamps WhirlyGigs.. I so wanted these forever!!
Kurio Red chipboard letters
Chip chatter Purple chipboard letters.
2 things of adhesive
Bon Jovi on Tape.. Amercian Idol I missed.. wohoo!!!
And the Best part was the Card.. JBJ himself..

Pam thanks!! I know it was hard to let JBJ go!! hehe!!

Love it all!!! cant wait to see the video and use my new goodies..

If it didnt have LPS on the return addy I would have opened it sooner!!!

I Scrapbooked last week..

Check it out.



Now when I can find that camera software I will get it loaded in the gallery at PG.

I havent been able to resize it correctly to get it to fit into the gallery..

Oh well!

Wow its been busy around here.

Mckay is off to camp, he will be home Friday afternoon.

We have been doing some fun stuff without him. We all went to Kids Zone in New Burg on Tuesday night.. took Seth for pizza and games. That was fun. even though I wasn't feeling the best after my Dr visit.

My Dr visit went fine by the way nothing to worry about just a check and a small procedure in the office.

I took Seth shopping for school clothes yesterday. We hit Target got almost everything he needed clothes wise. Needs shoes yet though. It was much easier than trying to take both boys at once. He really didn't want to go. But we came to an agreement. If he went shopping and picked out clothes. I would take him to Olive Garden for lunch. That was a good deal. It worked.

I got some great deals.
We got 2 pair of Levis 3.98 for each, 5 shirts for 3.99 or 4.99, 2 pair of cargo pants/shorts, underwear, socks and a backpack.. all for $85 bucks!! yay!!

So Seth just needs shoes and school supplies at least those I can get at school the PTO packs up a kit for each class..

I worked on embroidery yesterday got some things finished. I still have some of those pink tote bags I need to finish for the girls at church.

I have a friend that might come over to scrapbook tonight. The bug has hit again. I need to get some stuff finished.

As you see I did Katie's Blog challenge. It was a challenge for me not to post any captions with my pictures.. wow.. but I did it..

The pool isn't looking to bad. It still is rather clear. Not perfect but lots better.

We went bowling last night with the children at church K-5 grades. We almost always chaperon at these things. I think there was about 15 kids several adults too..We all had fun!

Our garden is growing like crazy now. The pumpkins are getting huge, the beans are overflowing, the tomatoes are starting to ripen and the corn should be ready soon.

We have cucumbers and squash too.. yummy!!!

I thinking salsa making is in our near future... love that stuff!!

I talked to my Best Friend Beth last night and she is coming this fall sometimes to visit me.. its been several years since we have seen each other. Wow I can wait!!

I haven't run this much this week I need to get out and do that. I just hate leaving Seth alone in the morning even if he is sleeping to run here by the house.

I'm hoping to get a LO finished about running soon!! its been running through my head for awhile now. I should get it down on paper soon!!

Hey if your reading this and are interested in coming here to scrapbook let me know. I could set something up. Depending on home many people are willing to travel. I could host something.

I heard my Favorite Aunt was in town. They are going to the big air show in Osh Kosh.. they go almost every year.. Their son lives here still so they picked him up. Maybe I will get to see her and uncle on their way back.

Wow if you got this far thanks for reading my blog!!

Challenge #4 "The BFF's"

That was hard to do..

Mckay is gone to camp now. I got Michael to drop him off at the church. He was packed and ready before XC practice this morning.

This is his first camp. He has been away from home many of times, that doesn't worry me.

I tried to keep myself busy.. loaded the dishwasher, mowed grass(ran out of gas), went to the post office, got stuff at WM for Mckay's adventure.

Michael I think finally got the exhaust fixed on his truck like it should have been the first time. This is the third time he took it to the shop. that's a long story.

So now I need to figure out what to have for dinner. Maybe Seth and I can persuade dad to go out to eat. hmm. wish me luck.

I need to work on Katie's Blog Challenge. I have an idea.. so it shouldn't be a big deal.

I have been running bit by bit again.. finally that blister is gone. seems like the new shoes aren't the problem..

Have a great day!

Anniversary and more stuff..

Yep yesterday was our Anniversary. 16 years.

Mom keep the boys over night. We went to the movies, saw Now I pronounce you Chuck and Larry. It was so funny.. we enjoyed it..

Then Michael picked the place to go out to eat it was a surprise.. We went to Red Lobster. yummy.. I had fire roasted lobster and shrimp. Michael had shrimp, lobster, and crab with veggies..

Then we did a little shopping..

This morning we worked on the pool some more.. Clear water..yahoo!! It took awhile but it is beautiful now.. We had to add some water after vacuuming a bunch of junk out. Thanks to Linda and Don for the key ingredient to fix it.

Michael and I then spent the morning weeding the flower beds. Then he went and picked up the boys from moms and got mulch why he was out.

So then we spread all the mulch.. had some lunch..

Now we are waiting for some friends to come over we are going to grill and hang out..

I might make some home made ice cream too!!

Have a great weekend!!

Friday...

Good morning!!

We had a huge thuderstorm last night with lots of rain..

Our garden really needed the rain..The pool didnt though..

Michael got some stuff to help the pool yesterday we added it before the rain. Hopefully it will still work.. I havent been out to check it yet..

The weather is cooler today at least.. Great day for a run.

Mckay ran 6 miles yesterday at XC practice. he ran extra everyone else ran 4 miles.

I think I might go run with the girls today. It is super outside.

Today is my anniversary 16 years. Not sure what we are going to do to celebrate.

I have embroidery to finish.

I need to go shop for a Scrapbook swap too.. So I can get that in the mail soon.
Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Katies Blog challenge # 3

Here it is..

Blog about 15 things that you LOVE right now. They don't have to be things you have always loved (but that's not to say they can't) but try and include things that reflect where you are in your life right now and what you are truly enjoying and passionate about. If you need an additional challenge try taking one or two things, or perhaps the whole list and scrapbook them.

I love running.
I love my kids and husband.
I love roses.
I love Scrapbooking (its really an obsession) wish I could do it more.
I love purple.
I love Adidas running clothes.
I love my new running shoes. ( so comfy)
I love my computer.
I love my Scrappin buddys.
I love my new camera.
I love my IPOD and NikePlus.
I love coffee in the morning.
I love summer.
I love it when my boys play nice together.
I love the smell after it rains.
I love DaisyD paper too.

There is my 15 plus.. you can see what I'm into these days..

Everyone have a great day.. Hope you enjoy reading my list

Monday again

Mckay started XC practice today.. He will be glad when he gets to know someone. Just two new 6th graders. The boys and girls practice together.. He did know some of the girls though. He did fine today.

Seth and I will have to find something to do while he is at practice though. At least the park where they practice is only 5 minutes away.

So from now till School starts on Aug 8th.. they practice everyday.

Katie has posted a new blog challenge I gotta think on it a bit and then post it later.

We have a friend coming over this evening with her two boys to grill and swim.. I hope they don't cancel. She could use some getting away time. She is in the process of a divorce.

besides those things nothing special going on today.

Oh I did get out for a run yesterday it was nice. My blister is lots better. I just went for a short run to get back on track. I might run at the park while Mckay is practicing this summer. Seth can ride his bike maybe while I run.

Tomorrow we have a pool party.. that should be fun.

Then I need to think about back to school shopping for the boys!

Have a great Monday everyone!!

Lots of pictures!

Yesterday we ran some errands with mom. after we were finished Mckay went home with mom to help dad with his truck this weekend.

We had this quick rain shower then this beautiful rainbow came out. It was over my whole house.





Check it out isn't it cool!!

So Friday evening we watched tv, played the PS2 and hung out.

Today Michael and Seth took a trip to Bowling Green to get a part for Michael's truck. He has got a lot finished on that truck. I would guess soon he will be getting it painted. He got a new muffler system put on it this week.. So its not so loud.

I went to Kim's house near Indy today. To scrapbook with some friends..Yep I drove up there and back all by myself you should be proud of me. I had a great time.

Katie and Jeanne were there too. they got lots more finished than I did but that's ok. I went to socialize. Oh I forgot to add it was a surprise for Katie and Jeanne they didn't know I was coming... that was fun!!



here is our pic.. Plus Sammie.. isn't she the cutest.. she jumped in the pic too!

Kim Thanks for letting me come.. Next time I hope I get to stay longer.. and get more done..

We made some paper dolls.. post that later hopefully... I stamped out several sets. Jeanne, Katie and Kim are doing one too!

Oh I need to post firework pictures too!!
We had a little get together here at home grilled some burgers and dogs. It rained while Michael was grilling but it let up for our fireworks..



This is a picture of one of our fireworks here at home.. they werent too bad.




Boys did their own firecrackers this year.



Seth


Mckay



Plus I have pictures of the ones they did on the river. They ended up doing these on Friday night becuase of the rain on Wed. I took loads of pictures and I have lots that turned out great.. I was very happy with my new camera.. I didnt use a tripod so I was a little concerned they would be blurry.



Picture of the bridge.. not sure if this is the best one.. but I like it..



This is just of one of the many many pictures I have.. Its going to be hard to decide which ones to choose to scrapbook..

Swim lessons

Swim lessons are over. The boys can swim. Now I can feel less anxiety with they swimming.. yay!

Its been busy around here.. gone everyday this week so far.

Got stuff planned already for the weekend too.

I got some different shock for the pool I hope this clears it up. I'm going to wait and put in the pool this evening cause you cant swim in it for 12 hours after you put it in the pool.

Seth went with his friend to see a magic show and Mckay is hanging out here playing guitar hero on the PS2.

Seth and his friend (girl) found out today they have the same teacher again.. this is the 4th year in a row.. wow.. they were so excited..

Michael should be home soon.

Not sure what the evening has planned for us yet.

Katie's week #2 blog challenge..

The challege was......

"Take a self potrait of yourself, scrap it and then blog that page. You can blog the photo by itself it you like but I wanted to make it scrapping related this week for Glenna. The photo must be taken by you and taken this week."

It took me I bet an hour or so to get some pictures I liked.

I changed twice hehe!!

I finally figured it out.. I know how to use my timer now too!!

Thanks for the challenge Katie.. you didn't say I couldn't use a digital LO..hehe

Here are the LO's I couldn't decide on one..







Sorry for the text on the bottom of these.. I'm trying out a trial version of some digital scrapbook software. If I purchase the software they will remove that.. whatever huh..

Hi Ya'll

I know I haven't posted a lot lately. its been busy. The kids have swim lessons at 9:30 it takes away from my computer time. Then the by the time we get back its their turn for the computer.

Katie's week 2 blog challenge is to post a self portrait. I gotta figure out how to work the timer on my camera to do this one. Hopefully I can get this challenge finished.

I finished my Scrapbook Playground 30 day challenge at the last minute. I was loading them to the computer at 10:00pm.

Here are a few of my favorite pages.









The boys swim lessons are going great. They didn't want to go at first but they are seeming to enjoy them now.

We got a nice pouring rain last night. Super for the garden. Of course Seth and Michael had spent time watering the garden yesterday afternoon.

I hope the rain didn't mess with the pool water its almost clear again. at least the pool was covered this time.

Michael put some coolant in the a/c on the car he said it is super cool now. I will have to try it out today its been mid 90's here for the last week.

I hope you enjoy reading..

I gotta catch up my other comptuer stuff before we have to leave for swim lessons..

Have a great day!!

Hot Sunday!

Wow its hot!!

We got up and went to church this morning.. Then had Mexican for lunch. Hit Walmart then we came home.

Michael is working on the yard its 96 or so.. I worked on the pool I vacumed it and put chemicals in it.. Its getting better.. at least we can swim in the pool now.

I got my 30 day challenge finished at the last minute..

Not much else going on today.

Is it Friday? sure doesnt seem like it..

The holiday in the middle of the week is weird. Although, Michael worked on the 4th.. He didn't get home till after 6:00 a little over 12 hour day. We got the cookout in while it rained. Michael stood outside under the umbrella. It quit raining so we did out fireworks.. I got some decent shots of them. It took a bit to get the camera adjusted. I will post those later if I have time.

The boys swim lessons are going well I'm very pleased. Just the two of them with one instructor. Seth got to be by himself yesterday. Mckay had a youth trip so I let him skip. And he said he his mom isn't cool.

They are here working on the culvert this morning. They said it would take an hour and it seems that they are about finished. I sat in my window taking picture.. now Michael can see what they did to fix the culvert. It nice having super zoom on my camera..

The boys watched for awhile too. Nothing like being stuck at home and not being able to get out of the drive.

Today I want to finish my 30-challenge album.. I hope I have enough pages.. I got some more.. But I think I'm going to need one page. So I might have to beg someone for one. I hate to buy a pack for one and never use the others.

I haven't been out for a run in a week. Still letting a blister heal.. its not too pretty. Hopefully soon I can get out and run!

Laters!!

Everyone have a great weekend!!!

Sunday pictures..

Sunday we got up a little later and decided to take another little trip. So we went west this time. Up a lot of interstate with construction. ick!

We made it finally to Metropolis,IL to see Superman. It was raining a tiny bit, but not enough to miss out on pictures..













There is a state park there too. Home of Fort Massac.. A replica of a 1802 American Fort. They had a reenactment that day.. We were to late to see that though.. But got to walk thur the buildings at the fort.. We watched a short video of the history of the fort it was interesting. Lewis and Clark stopped here on their travels.


This is a picture from the front.. this is what you would see if you landed on the river.. like the pioneers would see..



This is the lookout tower..


Barracks were the troops or vistors would stay.. depending on the era..




Michael climbed to the top of the lookout tower. This is a picture of him at the middle window..

We got to see the Ohio river.. It is much wider at Metropolis than it is at home.




We then stopped in Paducah, KY across the river basically on the way home and had dinner at Olive Garden..Then we altered the route home. So not as much construction. Hit several back roads.. then picked up the kiddos from my parents..

Pictures from Saturday..

We left here Saturday morning about 9:00am..

We drove up 231 and around all the back roads to get to Nashville, IN.. hence the scenic route. It was a beautiful day. The last part of the road winded in and out of the State Park. Tiny roads and large cliffs. beautiful scenery.
Michael got several phones calls from work while we were traveling.. and a lot of times no signal for his phone. He finally got enough signal to take care of business.







We got to see the covered bridges in the area.. I thought about Jeanne and her bridge phobia..



Here is a nature rock bridge we saw while hiking near the lake. Jeanne would you cross this?

We finally got there and went to the State park first. paid $7 to get in to the park. We checked out the campgrounds. Looks like a great place to take the kids to camp. We got out of the car and did a little bit of hiking around this lake.








Can you see the dragon fly in this picture?


Rocks by the lake make great/funny pictures..


Then we went to Nashville downtown and did alot of walking and shopping. Had Dinner/ Lunch at a great restaurant. We got to eat outside on the patio. It wasn't a super hot day so it was really nice.


This is a picture of one of the shops..



I liked this pciture of the flags.. this was outside near the place we had dinner


This is a church downtown.



We had ice cream then walked some more, We didn't do the carriage ride though.
I did find a scrap/stamp store and got some things. I saw bunch of things in person that I have only seen online.
We went home the interstate. Saw some great fireworks in the sky..

Got home about 11:00pm..

Tuesday teasers..

Ok Katie and others asking.. weekend details to come later.. I want to post the pic to go with the stories.. It will be much better.

The boys started their swim lessons today.. I paid a lot.. Mckay jumped right in.. Seth sat on the side of the pool for the first 10 minutes or so.. They didn't want to take these lessons.. they already know how to swim they tell me..

They moved them up a group so they were excited about that.. Plus they got to jump in at the deeper end.. maybe 8ft.. they have never repeat never been in water that deep. The boys tell me I need to take lessons too.. Mckay will miss Thursday cause of a youth trip..

One things is great its just the 2 of them in their group.. and its a guy teaching them.. Glad they enjoyed themselves.

Weekend stuff. Michael and I ended up going to Nashville, IN on Saturday then drove home and then went to Metropolis. IL on Sunday. I have lots of pic to share.

I did find a scrap/stamp store in Nashville and got some goodies.

We checked out the state park in Nashville too.. Will be a great place to camp. Maybe some of the Indy gals would like to go too!! hehe

I have lots of pictures.. I need to get those loaded. But I have been waiting for the computer.. Summer time I have to share.

good thing Mckay has a laptop now and Internet access.. so I only have to share with Seth.. hehe

So I promise to get those pictures loaded and share this week..

Katies Challenge for bloggers

Katie has started a challenge for bloggers..

The first challenge is to blog about your life.

Easy enough one for me that is what I usually do.

Michael and I made a view short trips this weekend. I will post about that later and post some pictures If I have time. The laundry is piling way up cause I didn't do much housework while the boys where gone last week.

We picked the boys up last night and they spent the evening telling us about their trip.

Just got a call from my friend April she is coming over Thursday.. yay!! should be fun!

I know this is a short post.. I will add more later!

Enough for today.. I gotta get Laundry started.. ugh!