Happy St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I scrap, do you?

Scrapbooking. You either love it or you don't. I started scrapbooking as a child. I remember buing the big wire-bound books with the grayish / brown paper and using scotch tape to attach newspaper articles, pictures, tickets, etc. into the books. As a child I was a horse lover and loved horse racing so any time there was an article in the paper about horses or racing, i cut it out and taped (or glued) it into my book.

Well times have certainly changed. I can still remember back in 1997, I was working at Gold's Gym in Decatur, Al (in the child watch) and I had brought a scrapbook with me to work on at the gym. Well a friend came in (Lu) and saw my book I was so proud of and thought I might be interested in going to this party a friend of hers (E) was having about scrapbooking.

Hello Heaven! I loved it. Creative Memories. Remember those days? Die-cuts, sticker, page protectors, oh my! I had never dreamed of something so fabulous. I was addicted. More parties, late nights with the girls. I am not sure what was best: the scrapping or the friends? Of course there was also lots of eating!

I have had many a wonderful girls night / weekend / trips based around scrapping. I really do love it. I used to be caught up at all times. Well until I had a child. Sofia is 5 and has about 12 scrapbooks so far and I am right now......about 1.5 years behind. YIKES.

I have a ton of stuff to work with, but since moving to AZ, unless I scrap with Jamie, I don't scrap at all. Well, yesterday I had a great time and spent the whole day with Jamie and her fam and we did not scrap (though I think we intended to) but she told me about...digital scrapbooking. Now I have known about it but never tried it because I though, oh it takes all the fun out of it because it would just be yourself and your computer. Well, I don't care. I thought it was awesome and since last night I have already done 2 pages and downloaded a ton of page kits and elements to work with . It is really easy!! My pages so far have been very simple, but I am learning!

Thanks Jamie! Now, what about you guys? Do you scrap? If so, what is your method? What is your favorite part about it?

HGTV Rate My Space

I know we all love looking at nurseries and kids room and thinking how cute those rooms are decorated...

Did you all get this email today? Super cute stuff! And more here.

I love HGTV!

Flashback Friday

Well Spring is here and Easter is not far away so thought I would share some pictures from Sofia's 1st Easter. Now those that know me know how crazy I am (well I was really crazy then) with Sofia's clothes. So for her 1st Easter, Sofia had 8 different smocked bishops that she wore off and on the whole month leading up to Easter. I went a little eBay crazy! Happy Spring everyone!

Where are my socks?

Where do my socks go? I only like realllllly thin no-show socks while I work out. I recently bought 2-3 pairs of Adidas thin running socks. Where do they go? I wear them to the gym, I come home, take them off wash them and then what? I can not find a single pair of them today.

Also if not gone completely, why do I always end up with just one? Do they get eaten in the washer or dryer? I don't understand....

Does anyone else have this problem?

If I were in the Circus.....

I would be the ringmaster and be in charge of all the animals. I want to put the animals in their cage.
--Sofia, 5 years

Tide's Loads of Hope

I received an email today about this program and just wanted to share with everyone. It really is a great way to help out!

Tide Loads of Hope helps in the aftermath of a natural disaster by providing clean clothes and a sense of comfort to families in need. Partnering with Feeding America, we travel to disaster affected neighborhoods with the Tide Loads of Hope truck or vans, our free mobile laundry service.

Tide Loads of Hope truck:
32 high-effiency washers and dryers stationed on the truck
Can do 300 wash and dry cycles a day -equal to one year's worth of laundry for a single family
Will wash about 9,000 loads of laundry over a four-week period
Leveraged during massive disasters where electricity is unavailable in the region

Tide Loads of Hope vans:
In partnership with a local laundromat, the Tide Loads of Hope vans provide free laundry service at the same load rate as the trucks
Leveraged during disasters where neighboring communities still have a source of electricity To date, Tide Loads of Hope has washed more than 35,000 loads of laundry for over 20,000 families. Most importantly, the Tide Loads of Hope program means we're equipped to take action whenever and wherever there is a need in our country.

Tide Loads of Hope Vintage Tees:Tide Loads of Hope can also be supported through the purchase of a Tide Vintage Tee. All profits go to support families affected by disaster.Where it all started In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the need for clean clothing became critical, and Tide found a way to help. Go check out the great Tees here.

So in November 2005, the Tide Loads of Hope truck headed to Camp Hope in the Metairie, LA area and cleaned over 10,000 loads of laundry.

The spirit of this first venture informs and inspires everything Tide Loads of Hope program does.

Random Happenings

So it is Spring Break and no plans for me. Sofia is in Texas with her Dad and Grandparents and I am just working. Fun! My plans for the week include dieting and working out--exciting right? Today I took a Cardio / kickboxing class and almost died. I am going to hike this afternoon because it is BEAUTIFUL in Arizona right now. Of course I also have to do my house cleaning ritual. I am getting rid of a bunch of clutter too. The more I get settled into this house the clearer it is how much smaller of a place it is so more "stuff" must go. I have a ton of stuff for ebay too that I have to get to work on.

Last night I went to see Confessions of a Shopaholic--LOVED it. I have read that entire series of books and the movie was really fun. I then left the movie and went shopping.....I wonder if that means I have a problem? Perhaps. But anywho, while shopping at none other than Ross, I found what could be my MOST FAVORITE JEANS IN THE WHOLE ENTIRE WORLD!! Here is my dilema with jeans:

• I am short, jeans are long
• I am cursed with being someone who carries their "extra pounds" in the stomach area therefore, I have to buy jeans that fit in waist and then they are huge everywhere else

BUT, last night I have (at Ross) some Buffalo Jeans by David Bitton and they are AWESOME!!!! They fit in the waist (and a smaller size I might add) and they fit in the legs too! Best part about it they are supposed to cost over $100 and I paid $19.99! Gotta love Ross for that and normally I do not like Ross because the store is normally trashed.

I also found 2 of these (but in a solid, pale pink) marked down to $1.99. They are awesome and the work! My hair right now is too short to stay back while I run or exercise and most headbands (even those that are non-slip) slip. Well, these stay in place! I used it this morning during the kickboxing and it stayed-put the entire class.

Aside from those awesome items, just some shirts for Spring / Summer.

So is it Spring Break in other parts of the country as well, or not yet? Did everyone "spring" their clock forward? Our clocks stay put in Arizona so I don't have to worry about that.

Have a great Sunday everyone!

Mrs. Obama Fashion Fun

I am sure many of you have seen this website, but I am loving it!

The Bachelor

WOW. That is all I can say...right now....

Fun pillows for Summer

I saw these pillows today at Tuesday Morning and could not pass them up! They will look great with my denim couch in the family room this summer! Love the beach feel--even out here in Arizona!

I chose the anchor and crab and they also have a lobster and sailboat. CUTE! They are feather-filled and very comfy.

Spring Swap

Semi-Slacker has a great Spring Swap going on right now! Be sure to go check out her great blog! This is one of my favorite times of year so I am super excited to participate!

Here are the rules:Sign up by leaving her comment with your blog address. If your email address is not listed on your blog, you MUST leave it in your comment. If you want to participate & don't have a blog, just leave her email!

Deadline to sign up will be midnight, Thursday, March 12!!!

Grab her cute button and add it to your blog to link back to her.

Partner assignments will be posted by Saturday, March 14th.

You should be prepared to spend between $20-$25, not to including shipping.

Feel free to bargain shop or "overspend" as much as your heart desires.

Your packages should be mailed by Saturday, April 4th!

What you include in your packages is completely up to you & your imagination! She just asks that everything be "SPRINGY"! This could include anything Easter, decorating items, monograms are always a favorite, pink, green & pastel goodies, outdoor items, garden stuff, yummies - anything that represents "Springtime" & FUN!

Email your partner & find out her style, likes & dislikes, favorite things & don't forget her shipping info.

HAVE FUN!

Go sign up now and tell her that I sent you!

Spring is Here

While much of the country is still cold and wet, in typical AZ fashion, it is already in the upper 80's and beautiful. Sofia and I went to the mountain across the street from us and snapped a few pictures today.

Saturday Fun

Today was "Transportation Day" at a local church and Sofia and I went for a little while. There were lots of things to see but of course her favorite site was the City of Phoenix Police Department. Because they brought their horses. She was very happy to see that!

There were many different modes of transportation: ice cream truck, fire truck, helicopter, horses, UPS van, USPS truck, garbage truck and more!

It was a beautiful day outside and a nice event.

More Out of Africa Pics

Is a Zebra black with black stripes or white with black stripes?

Correct answer: they are black with black and white stripes.

We did not touch the snakes. YUCK.

Out of Africa

This weekend Sofia and I went to Out of Africa Arizona and it was really great. It is about 2 hours north of where we live and we had never been. It really beats the zoo, hands down!

I mean, at the zoo I have never been kissed by a giraffe. Well, I did get kissed by a giraffe at this place. Kind of gross, but you hold the treat in your lips and the giraffe's big tongue will sort of snake over and just take it from you. We purchaed tickets to the safari that took us inside of the fences with the giraffes, zebras, ostrich and sables. You can get so close to all of the animals, really amazing!

Tons of pics to share!

Bird seed at the sensory table?

Not a good idea.

Bird seed, seems pretty simple, though messy I would say.

I found out this weekend at the birthday party that one day last week at school (during "nap") a child threw a piece of bird seed at Sofia so she then tossed it at another friend (the friend she says she is going to marry) and it bounced off of that friends cheek and rolled into his ear. So as the day goes on at school, apparently he shoved the seed down deep into his ear. His Mom took him to Urgent Care, they could not remove it. Took him to ENT doc, they could not get it out.
He had to have outpatient surgery for them to go deep into his ear and suck out the seed.

Yes, my child. The same child who asked me tonight if she was an Angel everyday or just somedays. Hmmm, that is questionable my dear.

Monkey Jammies

Sofia loves these new jammies and I have to admit,

so do I. She was also very happy to find this little pillow

(at the Goodwill of course) that she wanted on her door

that tells her visitors when they can enter her room or

when they have to stay out! Yes, she is getting to be that age!

By the way, you can also tell in these pictures that Sofia

will have a lot of eyebrow tweezing and/or waxing in her

future. I always tell her she got her eyebrows from her dad!