Don't Worry...

Be Happy!! Yep that is me as a little Jamaican Man! It was fun to dress up and have a little fun. I made alot of people laugh. It was great to laugh and enjoy the holiday.
This is Josh and his buddy Max.... We spent a great evening having dinner and enjoying the fun of the holiday in Max's neighborhood.
The Great Candy Exchange....that was fun to watch as the boys traded candy. It was funny because Josh is not a big chocolate fan so he was willing to trade the chocolate for better things.

So it is the end of October, on to the Holiday season. I do love to watch Josh enjoy this Halloween, with great buddies and a night of running around and dressing up. Happy Halloween everyone!!

Happy Halloween!!

Mom, I want to be scary this year.

Tis the season....

For love in your cup! It is Peppermint Mocha Season!!!
It was like finding treasure as I found the creamer in the dairy case.....they
don't put it with all the other creamers, it is in its on special case!!

Ok now working from home, I am drinking way too much coffee!!!
Just wanted to get that out there.

Very busy weekend, did some deliveries for the Corner store, saw some friends
that I missed dearly. Glad I got to meet up with them!

Very exhausted, it has been a long week. Kate is recovering from surgery and today
had a bit of a set back. Being on blood thinners, she got a nose bleed that wouldn't stop
today, so it was back to the doctors....hopefully it is under control now. It is going to be
a long 6 weeks being non weight barring on her foot. You don't know how much another
person does till they can't do it anymore. I love her so much, we will get thru this too.

GOOD NEWS!!! The contractor starts on Friday to finish the last two rooms in the house that need drywall. They will do the dining room /computer room. It is going to be so nice to have things finally finished! It has been 10 years and Kate and I have been doing our house room by room. We have done 90% of the work ourselves and it is a long process. Now it is just a matter of time, time we just don't have to spend on doing the house. So we decided to have it done by a contractor and get it done. So by Thanksgiving we should be about done and it will be a great feeling to have people over and not have things in construction as usual! Look out for the Holiday party this year folks....it will be fun!!

So I have a lot to do over the next few days, packing up things so they can start demolition on Friday.

Where in the world is Rollie.......

Oh I feel like that too!! I miss my blog time!
But I have been buried by boxes, the UPS man leaves treats for the dogs, how sweet is that!

I have been CREATING again!!! Oh how I missed that!!!

I have been spending WONDERFUL time with my family, and friends!!!

I have been just drinking in all the great things in life, and loving it!!!

Lunches, starbucks meetings, talks on the phone, and lots of hugs!

Ok so that is all the GOOD stuff!!!

The crazy stuff is home remodeling....4 new windows installed, now there is caulking and painting and patching of drywall. The floor is fixed so I can now Pergo it in the living room. Lots of heavy furniture to move so I can do that.
Contractor coming Sunday to give estimate on the other two rooms, I can not wait till these rooms are done!!! We have been working so hard for 10 years in this house, doing it all ourselves. Now I am actually going to hire someone to finish the last two rooms! It will be nice to get it done.
Next onto S.A.V.E.
Oh where to begin. This little dream that started 4 years ago is about to grow in leaps and bounds!!! It was a weekend retreat company, originally doing about 4 times a year, then it went to 3 times, then to 2 times....mostly because of taking on the business of a retail store, and time just didn't let me do everything.
NOW since I have time to put all my efforts into S.A.V.E., I am expanding this little dream. Along with some GREAT Ladies, we are brainstorming this into a great network of Empowering woman, Inspiring woman and Breathing life back into this wonderful hobby we call Scrapbooking.
I can't tell you everything just yet.
But if you would like to come and visit us at our NEW messageboard , please do.
All announcements will be there first. The first part is well underway already. Our NEW Corner Store!!! Soon to be the best little corner store on the Internet. Right now you can order thru the message board by email or private message to me.
I have been really excited by the response!
Orders are piling up in my studio.
Soon we will unveil our Online Store, it might be a few weeks as my web designers are talking HTML and codes and things I just nod my head at. I trust in them to make it look beautiful and they are going to make it so easy to shop your days and nights away! I will keep you up to date on everything going on! I am so excited I am giddy about this.

I want to give a BIG shout out to all that have just surrounded me the past month, either thru your emails, your phonecalls, or our face to face meetings, your hugs, well wishes and support thru a very hard time in my life has been ......just so amazing to me. You have listened to me, you have held me and you have let me cry , laugh or joke with you. I hope I have expressed to each of you how much that has meant to me. Please know that with you and your support, I was able to look forward, find the positive and hopefully do it all justice in the very near future.
I have a little quote,a friend gave me one time, that at the time....I didn't really want to look at.....but now it is one that I hold dear to me.

“Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened.”

Thanks everyone that comes and reads my words. I don't always know who is here, but that doesn't matter. It only matters that you want to come here.

So here is a little something I did the other day. It is a card kit from Basicgrey with their new Figgy Pudding line. A great item we sell at the corner store!

Sadly it is the end.

T O U C H D O W N !!!!

Of our wonderful football season!

This has been a truly amazing journey.

Seems silly to some of you I would imagine, that you can get so caught up in 7 year old boys running around with a ball. But it is so much more then that.

Just to be apart of great people, to be a part of watching wonderful men taking a silly game and turning it into life lessons. To watch these roll models be a part of your sons life. That is what is amazing.

We had an undefeated season...9-0-1 tie. Yesterday's game was 12-12 and it was nothing but thrilling the whole time. Our warriors fought the good fight and should know how proud we were of them.

Josh made some amazing Tackles...he got his 9th touchdown and I know it is a season he will never forget, partly because I will scrapbook the moments.

Today Kate has her 3rd foot surgery, heading out to the hospital soon, she is in Philly this time and I hope this one works. It is no fun watching your partner in pain daily.

Great things going on in the building of the new online store for S.A.V.E. I am so blessed to have a core of great woman helping me get that going...I hear them talking html's and I just tune out!

Ok time for a starbucks and more Iphone!

In Life

In Life,
only one thing is certain,
apart from death and taxes.
No matter how hard you try,
No matter how good your intentions
You are going to make mistakes
You are going to hurt people
you are going to get hurt
and if you ever want to recover,
there is really only one thing you can say

"I forgive you"



Opening lines of Grey's Anatomy last night. I replayed it many times. They have great writers on this show. No matter how much you hate Merideth, or you can't stand how some of the show is not real. This show hits the core of human relationships sometimes.



Last night was one of those. The opening monologue was very true, raw and hit home. Reminds me once again that we are all human. It is hard to believe but everyone needs that reminder once in a while, some more then others.



It has been a life redirecting month for me. I had to say goodbye to alot. But in the same time I am saying hello to a great life again. You don't realize things till you can step back and look it all over, life is really good, and forgiving is one of the main keys to being able to enjoy life. Some seem to think they need to hear "I am sorry" to forgive, but in reality, you just need to forgive.

Speaking of good....

It felt good to spoil myself! I have been saving for this and got it yesterday!! I am having fun learning all about it.

Grandpa should be here today, Josh is one very excited little boy.

I have a clean scrap room, and am going to get paint all up in my manicure today, as Kristi would say!
We have had a Paint challenge up on my new message board all week and today I am going to get my project done!

baby's make the world better.

Pics for Auntie Kate!!!

I was so blessed today to meet this wonderful little girl.

A little girl that I will love and cherish.....just a miracle.

I have never seen such a beautiful baby girl!

See for yourself!

Welcome to the world!

Merideth Ann

I have a beautiful little neice!

My dear friends/our chosen family Mar and Jen gave birth to a beautiful little girl yesterday at 5:42 pm

It was a long labor, and after 3 hours of pushing Merideth Ann decided to come and meet her moms!

I am over excited, and Kate and I can't wait to meet her!

Oh how heaven sent is this.

Sunday, Sunday ....Sunday

Yep that's what my calendar says.

Another thrilling football game today! 36-30.........and we WON!!!!

Oh these boys again did it. They just don't cease to amaze us. The score went back and forth and back and forth the whole game.

Then we had 8 secs left and our wonderful Coach Rick calls a play that we only ran ONCE in practice last week. Trainwreck right !!!!

It all seemed to play in slow motion and then you just hear the crowd cheering YEAH!!!! It was just so wonderful. 9-0 !!!

One more to go...next week we will play the most physical team all year. Abington Raiders!

Josh is so excited because his Grandpa is coming up from Texas this week to watch him play on Sunday too...he said he is saving the best for last , for grandpa.

Josh scored another touchdown today, and he read his blocks so well and cut it up the middle. It is just something you can't teach at 7 !

On other news, I think I over did it a bit this weekend with all the volunteer work, I am not feeling so great right now. I have those ache, feverish yucks! But I am going to try and get some sleep and rest tomorrow. I have pushing myself alot lately and just need to relax a bit.

This is going to be a tough week , and a great week. Life re directional week. I am very excited for what is ahead, and very glad to put some things very far behind me.

TGIF!

and boy am I saying that today!
First friday I have had off with nothing planned in almost 2 years!
It felt so good to just be able to do what I wanted to do and not what I had to do.
I met my friend Lisa for Starbucks and a target shopping spree this morning....oy that was dangerous! But delicious at the same time. Oh Lisa did you find the turtleneck?
Then it was hope to use my new fax machine....well it might have not been all play today, but it is also stuff I am excited to be doing!
As we move along it was time to tackle the scrap studio! Oh boy is that a job, but I know I have to take it a little at a time. Today I spent that putting together my brand new Scrap cubes. I am loving how this is turning out. It must be all that experience with IKEA furniture, I actually put these together with no problems. I have to move around a bunch of things, but it is going to be great by mid week...I have faith.

Tonight it is football night for Josh and I. I love going to the field and watch the older kids play. Josh and I have a little dinner and cheer on our teams! It is a special time we share and it is ending in a few weeks. So as much as I could use more time working on my room, I know that this is what I should be doing. Besides those cheese fries are calling my name!!!

So hope everyone is having a great friday.....I am embracing my life redirection.

hanging with my little man

Life doesn't get any better then that.

I am going to do more and more of this every day!

I was talking to my friend Julie and she was having the same thoughts yesterday, as I called and she was getting her play car filled up with gas from her daughter Sydney. I admire Julie as a mom, she loves her two little girls so much, and she knows how important every precious minute you get with them is. It isn't always easy to make those choices, and sometimes you catch yourself saying "Mommy is busy", those are the times I realize that other things can wait. Playing with them is so important. I often think of that song that has the line in it "your boy, he is just like you " It is such a sad song....yep "Cats in the Cradle" but so true.

I am going through some life redirection, as my dear friend Ali would say. I love the direction it is going. It is never too late to change direction. I am just glad I had the courage to do this. To admit to myself that I needed to change. That is a hard one. We are all so quick to tell others what to do, it is not the easiest thing to tell oneself what you need to do.

So right now I need to tell myself to get off the computer and get to Target!! Ok self lets go!

Fun layout

This layout was so fun! 5 of my good friends worked on it. We did a type of round robin scrapping where each of us got 10 minutes on each other's layouts. Then 1 hour later we all had finished layouts.
Of course they all went all out with the BLING for me, knowing how much I scrap with bling!!
This layout makes me smile.

Thank you!

I am humbled.
Thank you my friends.
You are amazing people.

my blue baby!

My new blue baby! Well it will be when it gets here next week. I just can't wait and am all giddy about it. What do you think Kim?? Pretty huh?

WOW what a weekend! I so loved all the girlfriend time I had this weekend. The laughter and the memories are priceless! Thanks GIRLS!! I hope you know how wonderful and important you are to me. Can't wait for Chantilly!! Wahoooooooooooooooooooooooooo! I can even forgive you for the "crown"!

All this capped off with a another great football game!! Josh again amazed me today by catching an interception and running it about 60 yards for a TD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! oh yeah baby I just used all those "!'s" I think that will look good on the page too!

Ok tired, exhausted and in need of a good nights rest.

Just what the doctor ordered!

A weekend away with great friends, scrapbook supplies and everything that goes with that!
Have a great weekend...I know I will!!!

picture day

Yep picture day at school.

I am so lucky in that Josh lets me pick out what he is going to wear.

I don't put many rules on his clothes that he wears to school.

He has been dressing himself since he was about 3 years old, and does well.

Things usually match and if they don't we can discuss it and come to an agreement.

He actually matches his clothes better then me at times!

So of course he was looking so cute this morning I had to snap a few of my own.

And the conversation:

Mom: You look so CUTE!

Josh: well you dressed me to look cute, so of course I look cute!

(Heart melts)

Then he started to show me how he would smile in the picture.

Damn I am so LUCKY!!! This kid is just amazing.

Jump on...theres room!

Ok how can you not root for the home team today!!! Josh and I put on our red today and even tho we are not big basefall fans, football is more our sport. We will be in high hopes with everyone else in town that the Phillies can win today! Kim and Steph this ones for you!!

GOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo PHILLIES!!!

Love me a great quote!

I was over reading Stacy's blog tonight and of course she had a another great quote on her blog.

I am so excited that I am going to be taking a class from this lady, I can hardly contain myself. When I read "The Big Picture" from cover to cover and back again, I just knew that I wanted to meet this lady. I did get to do that last January, but now I am going to get to actually get time to listen to her and learn from her!! It is something to look forward to and I love having that!

So the quote that I loved today:

The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it."
Henry David Thoreau

WOW!
Now that is one great quote. It is amazing to me some days, when I am thinking about things...and then not really looking for anything you find your answers.
WOW!

The Dust bowl

We need some rain!
The boys couldn't walk, let alone run without stirring up dust. The field was so dry that they couldn't help it. I think Josh had 2 lbs of dirt on him by half time!

Now onto the fun stuff....Josh had an MVP day!!!
2 TD's and some amazing Tackles, that will only be in our memories because there are times you just can't watch it through the camera lens because you are screaming, yelling and cheering for him.

Josh had a tackle where he ran across the field and stopped the kid about 5 yards from scoring a touchdown. He threw his body and grabbed the kids ankles, it was amazing!!

He had another tackle where he caught them in the backfield for about a 10 yard loss.
Our team is now 6-0 with 3 games to go. This week will be a tough one , the toughest one yet with North Hampton. I know our boys can do it, they just have to continue to play hard and have fun.

On to Monday.... Kate has surgery today...so if you are so inclined please keep her and the surgeons in your thoughts. It will give me a chance to start my new book. More about that at another date.