Let it Sneaux!!

It was a very rare occurance in southern Louisiana - four inches of snow! I have never seen so much snow here in my life, so it was a real treat for my kids to experience it at such a young age. We were definitely unprepared. We don't have waterproof pants or boots, so we got wet and cold, but we still had a blast.

Christmas Crunch!

I'm so behind the eight ball this year! I usually have all my Christmas presents bought/made and wrapped by this time. So far, I only have ONE GIFT! I made this for my dh's grandmother. I plan on giving it to her before Christmas so she can actually use them on her gifts.

Oh, and here's a little sneak peek at my October CreativeXpress project :-)

The photo shoot

I had my second photography gig today. The first was my sister's wedding; today was my sister's Christmas card pictures. I need all the practice I can get because I learn a little more each time. I took over 100 pictures today, here are just a few:

My first Design Team projects

The September DT projects are up at CreativeXpress, so I can officially show them off now. My first month was quite hectic since I had to learn the Expression machine AND learn Design Studio for my assignment. Next month should be a lot less stressful.

For these projects, I had to use Basic Grey Granola papers, and the layout had to use the new Cricut Blackletter cartridge:

Whooooo's ready for Halloween?

I am! Halloween is my favorite holiday. The weather, the costumes, the decorations, and especially the goodies!

I've never minded cooking, in fact I even like it most of the time, but I've never cared for baking until recently. I've been on a baking spree lately, usually making something every week. Now, it's Halloween cookies. I just couldn't resist making these cute little critters. Owls and black cats are the signs of the season around here this week!

PS: for those who were wondering, the homemade poptarts were AWESOME!

Lovin' from the Oven

Since Kellogg's poptarts are a no-no in this household, and Whole Foods is so far away, I decided to make my own poptarts today. I got the idea from the Chez Pim blog. (GREAT foodie blog, btw). These are strawberry filled with raw sugar sprinkled on top. They definitely look like they would taste better than the store-bought variety. The proof will come at breakfast tomorrow!

National Card Making Day!

In honor of the day (and a challenge on Meg's blog), a made this little diddy.

Now you go get busy and make something too! :-)

Back to Scrapping

I'm finished with my first CX design team assignment! Well, the creating part is finished. I still have all the paperwork and uploading to do. But, now I am able to scrapbook what I want, without rules. (at least until the next dt assignment). Don't get me wrong, I LOVE being on the DT, and I'm absolutely honored and a little shocked that I'm even on it. It just feels good to scrap without having to make sure I included everything I was supposed to include.

Pagemaps is having another blog challenge, and it was just what I needed to get me jump started on this page. The map was for a landscape 8.5" x 11" page, but I adjusted it to meet my needs.

Now, I'm off to create something else!

Images of Gustav

Here's a link to some video Derek took from our back porch:

http://s474.photobucket.com/albums/rr102/Zeek_70726/Hurricane%20Gustav/?action=view&current=Gustav_Sep_01_2008_1340.flv

We made it!

Gustav was nasty. I've been through a few hurricanes, but I've never seen anything as bad as that. We were very lucky though. There were lots of trees down everywhere, but our one tree is still standing. Almost every house around us lost shingles and even some tar paper, but our roof looks unscathed (from what we can tell from the ground). We did lose power for 58 hours though. We crammed as much stuff from our refrigerator and freezer that we could fit into my mom's freezer, but the rest of it was lost. And it got very hot and humid in here. I also lost some of my precious scrapbook paper. You know how paper looks wavy after you spill water on it? Well, the high humidity in the house caused my paper to get wavy like that. :-(
Our internet and cable just came up a few minutes ago, so of course, I had to jump right on the computer.
I actually ventured to one of the few grocery stores that is open today. The parking lot was full, the shelves were pretty bare, and the check out lines were long, but at least I was able to replace a few essential things that we lost out of the refrigerator.
I have some pictures and even some video from the storm, but that will have to wait til later to be uploaded.
Thanks to everyone for the thoughts and prayers, it is greatly appreciated!!

the waiting game

Gustav is on his way. We're spending the day getting ready for him, gathering up everything that's outside, bracing the chimney, collecting all the flashlights and candles and putting them in a spot where we can find them when the power goes out.
As far as supplies, I think we're OK. I went to the store tuesday before the shelves were wiped clean, and stocked up on bread, crackers, peanut butter, squeeze cheese, water, beef jerkey, and cans of fruit cocktail. Oh, and the mysterious disappearing toilet paper. (You can never find any after a hurricane!)
Now, we just wait.

Shouting from the rooftops!

I made it onto the Creative Express design team! After 4 years of applying, and 3 years of rejection, I finally made it. I'm so excited to be a part of such a great team and I can't wait to get started!

Fun with food

I haven't been feeling up to par lately (found out today I have strep), so my husband went and picked up Burger King for Turner and I, and made supper for Cooper (he doesn't like BK). Well, this is what he made:

It's blueberry pancakes with banana eyes and mouth, strawberry jelly for the nose, and drizzled with maple syrup. Who knew I was married to a food artist??

"We don't need no education"

Pink floyd has been in my head. School has been in for a week and a half, and I'm already looking forward to summer break again. I think I hate school worse now than I did when I was actually a student. I have to get up and get moving WAY too early for this non-morning person. And between getting the kids up, dressed, fed, hair fixed, faces washed and fixing lunches, I'm almost ready to go back to bed before 9:00. But, I suppose I have to be a semi-productive member of society and stay up to get things done. Only 9 months to go!

Baby's got Bass (again)

First of all, PLEASE excuse my wretched appearance, I had just got finished working out.

I was just complaining to Derek last night about how I haven't caught a decent size bass in a couple of months. Well, I guess somebody heard me because I hooked one today that got off, and then a few casts later, caught this beauty. My faith is restored! I caught it on a 3" swim shad, and it weighed 3 pounds.

Page Maps blog challenge

Page Maps is having a sketch challenge on their blog, so I decided to enter. I just love this sketch since it uses horizontal 4x6 pictures (which is what most of mine are). It felt good to get these pictures scrapped because I've been putting them off to the side over and over again. This sketch is just what I needed!

Finally, a new reel

I've been through 3 old Shakespeare and Zebco reels in the past couple of months. We finally sprang for a decent reel. I know, the green reel totally clashes with my blue rod, but when cost is a factor, you get what you get. This is my first experience with a baitcast reel, and there's definitely a learning curve. I created a birdnest of epic proportions this morning. It was such a mess, it took about 20 minutes for me to get it untangled. But, I'm learning and I'm casting it a little further each time. So... here fishy fishy!

Me? A blogger??

I've always said "no way", but alas, I have succumbed. Who would want to read about the daily humdrum of my life? Probably nobody, but if you're here, I guess somebody must be interested enough! I probably won't post everyday because my days are all pretty much the same, but if anything new happens, you'll see it here.