WOW! Thank you to Okie!!! ...and reason for being MIA

I just realized that not only did I reach 200 followers on my blog today, but I also just became #40 on the Cricut Top 40 list!!!!  Now...I'm sure that I won't be able to hold my #40 spot for long, but it sure was nice to see that, even if it's only for a moment in time!   I have to thank Okie for posting about my Pink ATG giveaway on her blog which has been driving people to my blog in droves!  I cannot tell you how much I appreciate your support Okie!!!

I'm sorry for the lack of creating and posting lately.  It's been kind of a roller coaster couple weeks around our household.  I found out almost 2 weeks ago that we are expecting our third child.  To say we were a little surprised by this would be an extreme understatement (I am turning 41 in November and have an almost 6 year old and 10 year old).  Once we accepted this we started to get a little excited and started to anticipate reliving all of those wonderful pregnancy and newborn moments!   Well...this past Monday I started bleeding and it's continued quite heavily this entire week.  The good news is that I haven't been experiencing any pain or cramping.  We've been to the doctor and have had blood taken and need to go back tomorrow morning for them to draw some more blood so that they can compare the hormone levels.  So...until Saturday morning all I have to do is lay in bed and try to relax.  For those of you who know me well.....relaxing does not come easy to me not normally a part of my vocabulary.  I am trying to stay positive, but I have to admit that I'm scared.  I know that whatever is meant to be will be, but I would appeciate any extra prayers and pixie dust that you might be willing to send our way. 

Paula's Blog Candy!

Hey everyone!

Paula is celebrating 300 followers on her blog More than Favors by giving away a Mickey Font cartridge!  So be sure to stop by for a chance to win!  I told her I would be sending some Disney lovers her way!  Good luck! 

...and don't foget to scroll down on my blog for a chance to win a Pink ATG!  Tomorrow is the last day to enter for that drawing!

My Toy Story cartridge arrived!!!

Look what was in our mailbox when we got home today!!!  I have so many Toy Story related LO's that I need to work on from our last 3 WDW trips!  I'm so excited to finally have this cartridge!!!  I'm still really bummed about them messing up Buzz's catch phrase!!!  It is "To infinity and beyond!" ProvoCraft...NOT "Infinity or bust".  Never has Buzz said the phrase "infinity or bust".  Even my 5 year old knows better! 

Digital Delights Blog Candy!

I've been feeling a little under the weather and I still haven't unloaded my van from my weekend crop.  Yes...it's Tuesday.  Since I do not have a project to share with you I thought I would share a fellow blogger's candy today! 

Be sure to stop by Digital Delights Blog  for a chance to win a Cricut Nursery Rhyme cartridge and a set of accompanying digital stamps!

The blog candy is open until October 7th!  Good luck!

Don't forget to scroll down to my post yesterday to enter for your chance to win my blog candy... A PINK ATG!!!! 

Blog candy time!

**BLOG CANDY CLOSED WITH 244 COMMENTS**

I am so excited to be sharing this blog candy with all of you!  I was finally able to find one of these a few weeks back at Michael's.  They actually had two of them, so I grabbed them both!  One for me and one to share!  I just got to use mine this past weekend and I'm in love with it!  Hope the other one finds a happy home! 

All you need to do is leave a comment on this post and become a follower!  I would love to have you poke around and check out some of my other posts, but that isn't necessary. 

If you would like to spread the word about my blog candy and post about it with a picture and link to my blog I will give you an extra entry!  Please post a new comment here with a link back to your blog post if you choose to do that. 

This candy will be open until Friday, October 1, 2010 11:59 PM EST.  I will post the winner the morning of Saturday, October 2nd!  Winner will be chosen by Random Org and the winner will have 3 days to claim their prize or I will redraw for a new winner!  Because I am unsure of shipping costs, I need to limit this contest to US participants only please.  Good luck to all those who enter!

**BLOG CANDY CLOSED WITH 244 COMMENTS**

A Royal piece of blog candy!

Cindy at Royal Things blog is giving away a Give a Hoot Cricut cartridge!  Be sure to stop by and leave a comment for a chance to win!  Don't forget to tell her who sent you! 

Hall of Presidents

This is a LO from our 2008 WDW trip when they had the Hall of Presidents attraction closed for refurbishment.  A lot of people tend to skip over this attraction or use it as a napping location, but I absolutely love it.  I always have.  The nostalgia of this attraction always gets me.  They always temporarily close this attraction when a new President is elected to add the new President with his speaking part, but this closure lasted longer than the norm for this attraction.  Imagineers were busy updating the aging light, sound, mechanical, projection and show systems.  They also added a new Abe Lincoln scene and gave George Washington a speaking part.  It was well worth the wait!  If you haven't been by the Hall of Presidents in awhile, be sure to take some time to do so next time you are in the Magic Kingdom!

Simple facts of life

This is another one of those forwarded emails that I received today that made me lol on more than one occassion.  It's only 9:19 AM and I'm already having a day so I thought I would share this here with all of you in the hopes that it makes you lol or at least brings a smile to your face!  Have a great day!


1. I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history when you die.


2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.



3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.



4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.



5. How the heck are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?



6. Was learning cursive really necessary?



7. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on # 5. I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.



8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.



9. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.



10. Bad decisions make good stories.



11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day..



12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't want to have to restart my collection...again.



13. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I did not make any changes to.



14. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.



15. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.



16. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Bud Lite than Kay.



17. I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.



18. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.



19. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear or understand a word they said?



20. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and sisters!



21. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.



22. Sometimes I'll look down at my cell phone 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.



23. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I'd bet everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time!



24. The first testicular guard, the "Cup," was used in Hockey in 1874 and the first helmet was used in 1974. That means it only took 100 years for men to realize that their brain is also important.

Birthday Fairy Blog Candy!

Georgiana is celebrating her birthday with us by generously giving away a cartridge!  Which one will it be???  Well...that's a SURPRISE!  Be sure to stop by Georgiana's Blog  to check out her creations and sign up to win a great prize!

Boys are back to school!

Well the boys have been back to school officially for one week now!  Things are off to a great start!  It's kind of a new experience for us because for the first time we have male teachers!  Not just one of the boys, but both!  They have always had female teachers up to this point.  As a matter of fact...until this school year, our school has only had one male teacher.  I think it's going to be an exciting and cool experience for the boys, but Mommy is still having a tough time adjusting!  lol  I mean I am surrounded by testosterone at home!  The hubby, the two boys, the dog....even the lizard for goodness sake!!!!!! 

My new position as PTO President is off and running.  We hosted our first event last week which was a Welcome Back to School assembly for the kids which was fantastic!  My very first PTO meeting was last Thursday night which went better than I anticipated with my hubby in the audience for support.  When we went around the room to have attendees introduce themselves and give a brief snippet about themselves....my quick witted hubby introduced himself as "Jim, Melissa's first lady" ba dum chhh.  So clever that one is....of course he received the crowd laugh of the night.  This week is our ice cream social which takes place with the teacher curriculum night.

Here are some pictures of the boys with their Principal together and then Tanner with his teacher and Parker with his!  Looking forward to a wonderful school year full of great memories and great photos to scrap!



Spooky Blog Candy!

Go check out Kristal's blog for some awesome Halloween goodies!  These items would come in so handy for the Disney Halloween LO's I'm getting ready to work on from our 2009 trip!  Go check out Kristal's blog and sign up to become a follower and try your shot at winning this blog candy!  Be sure to tell Kristal that I sent you!  >>>>  Kristal's Blog Candy

Home address plaque

Here is an address plaque that I made for our friend Diane.  My hubby did a lot of painting around her house this summer and since she moved into her house 20 years ago she's only ever had the pre-existing, adhesive, reflective numbers....the kind that some people have on their mailboxes.  I wanted to make her something special to go better with her spruced up house!  Plus...it gave me an excuse to purchase the Cindy Loo cartridge because I LOVE the font!!  lol 

I found this slate type plaque at J's in the clearance section.  It was a pale blue with a patriotic scene on it from the 4th of July.  I simply removed the twine rope that was used as the hanger and painted the entire plaque  with a tan color spray paint and purchased a new piece of leather strap to use as the new hanger.  Both the numbers and flourishes were cut from the Cindy Loo cartridge.  I love how it turned out and more importantly...Diane was very surprised and loved how it turned out! 

Thanks for looking!  Have a wonderful Monday!

Never forget!

Where were you?  What were you doing?  I remember every single minute very clearly.  I was sitting on the floor of our livingroom with our oldest Son, Parker, who at the time was 14 months old.  He was playing with some toys while I was on the phone with my friend Diane with The Today Show on in the background.  When they came back from commercial with their breaking news that a plane had crashed into one of the towers of the World Trade Center there was a lot of confussion....a lot of uncertainty.  Then at that moment I watched live as the second plane plunged into the second tower.  I knew at that moment that something was terribly wrong.  I started shaking immediately and told Diane I had to get off the phone.  My husband had left early that morning (driving thankfully) for a meeting in Canada.  I called him to tell him what was happening.  He hadn't made it to his destination yet and as the breaking news continued revealing the plane hijakings I begged him to turn around and just come home.  I knew it wasn't going to be easy for him to get back into the states.  He had taken the Blue Water Bridge and that is where he spent a good portion of his time the rest of that day.  It took him over 8 and a half hours to get back across the bridge and back to our home.  I was blessed and lucky to be able to hug my husband and child that night.  My heart still breaks for all of those who lost loved ones that day that never got that chance again.

It was the next day that I found out that a friend of mine from Traverse City had lost his life that horrible day.  Brock Safranoff was an amazing young man who had lived so much in his very short time on this earth.  Brock worked for Marsh & McLennan located on the 96th floor of the North Tower.  He had just married his college sweetheart Tara, just a mere 40 days before his untimely death at the age of 26.  I think of Brock often, but always more so on this day.  Brock may you rest in peace and may your memory live on forever. 

Thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their families who lost their lives that September morning 9 years ago.  Thank you to those who risked and lost their lives that day to save and protect others and to the soldiers and their families who continue to do so today.  I will never forget. 

Imagination Layout

Our youngest loves the Journey Into Your Imagination ride with Figment at Epcot!  I must admit that I'm pretty fond of the little purple fellow myself!  Thanks for looking!  This is a 2 page LO, please click on photo if you would like to view it larger.  Have a fantastic weekend!

Blog candy alert at M-C's blog!

Look what you can win over M-C's Friendship Corner Blog!  Be sure to stop over and visit!