Looked out this morning and there were 2 bunnies on the stone steps eating grass. David slowly threw out a piece of whole wheat bread and one of them came over and ate some of it! Yesterday he threw out some old, stale tortillas and a bunny ate almost a half one! The birds finished off the rest. I'm hoping by Easter there will be a bunny on every single step!
This is the machine David and I work on almost every night together. There are 206 bins and I sweep the mail into the trays as they fill up. It's a little more complicated than that, but too boring to put down in words. David is at the far end loading the machine with mail, but you can't see him in this picture. The machine is actually called a DBCS (which he says are his initials = David Brian Coker'S) but it really stands for Delivery Bar Code Sorter.
Stopped by the grocery store in the morning after work to pick up canned cat food and $46 later, we came home with cat food, groceries and these flowers. They just kinda winked at me and said "take me home". They were only $5, so I thought that was a lot of pretty for a little amount!
As usual, we cooked our corned beef, cabbage, potatoes & carrots. Sometimes we just make reubens, but we didn't want that this time. Cooked it in the crockpot and turned out great. We only have this once a year, but LOVE it!
She LOVES the sunshine. Stretches out as far as she can to soak up every ray and feels like she is on fire. Love how she squints her eyes!
These are the ingredients that I use to make homemade pasta sauce. Ever since I found this recipe online last year and made this, we cannot stand eating pasta sauce from a jar. It's like eating ketchup! So about every month or two, I spend a Sunday making several batches of this. It is soooo awesome and we really enjoy it. It's not one of those sweet sauces with sugar in it, but more like real pasta sauce. Doing this along with all my laundry and ironing today, that should keep me pretty busy.
This is my album pages for February. I got my pictures several days ago, but had not had a chance to scrapbook them. There were only 13 pictures this past month, so it was easy to fit it all on the pages. Sometimes there is much more going on and I have to "stack" the pictures (like a book) to get them all on the pages. Anyway, it's done.
Okay, my dining room table is finally clear of all photos! I got my mom's photos and mine mixed together and labeled. The years 1967-1998 are in this chest. The years of 1999-2009 are already in my scrapbook room and in albums just waiting to be scrapbooked, if I choose. But it's a big load getting these older pictures done. 
My "friend"!!! When I went to bed Wednesday afternoon, my shoulder hurt a little...and I mean a LITTLE. When I woke up around 3 in the afternoon, it hurt BAD. My neck hurt, my upper back and my arm. Finally called in sick at work around 6pm because I knew I wouldn't be able to lift all that mail the way I felt. Hopefully it will feel better tomorrow. (and besides I haven't called in for over a year!)
The colored picture is of my daughter, Kendra, at age 6 1/2. The black & white picture is of me at 6 1/2. The thing is I've been working on getting my older photos in order and intermingling them with the pictures my mother left me. We both have (had) pictures from the same years so they needed to be all put together. My mom was good about putting pictures in chronological order...except these 2 pictures. She had them side by side. And the thing is in the online class I'm taking about organizing photos, we were supposed to find some "connections" between photos, old and new. 
Okay after 2 months of this being ordered, it finally arrived! I ended up on the back-order list, so I knew it would be awhile before it arrived. Then they sent me a message stating that it was coming UPS, so I was expecting a phone call because I had only given my Post Office Box # and not my address. This is what usually happens....UPS just calls me and asks where to deliver it. I kept checking the UPS website with the tracking number I received but there was nothing. 
This is another layout that came as a kit. I ordered a whole set (18 in all) layouts from QVC that were "Hall of Fame" layouts. It's great because everything is there and they even give you directions for putting it all together. You just pick out the pictures you want to use. I've made 2 so far....
After spending the night, the girls and I went shopping at the mall. Trina got her hair cut at Penney's. Then it was off to Old Navy to exchange some flip-flops that were the wrong size. Then I dropped them off at Plato's Closet while I went to Target for some household supplies. She called just as I was checking out, so it worked out perfect. I asked them where they wanted to go for lunch and was up for anything. Their choice: TACO BELL! I guess I got off cheap! Kendra would never have gone for that if I'd have asked her. Guess us grownups have better taste than teenagers (or more expensive).
This is Trina and Rachel playing games on the computer. They are both here to stay all night so we can go mall shopping tomorrow. Trina is going to get her hair cut and exchange some shoes at Old Navy. They also want to just "shop". They both picked out outfits and painted their nails to match so they'll look good for walking the mall. Oh, the life of 16 year olds!!!!!
This morning when we got off work we went to Schnucks and did our BIG grocery shopping. Haven't been in awhile, as we like to empty the pantry and refrig to make sure we eat everything. Okay, so $291.58 later, we filled the pantry, refrig and the freezer in the garage. Should have plenty to eat for sometime. Although we will be back a few times in the next few weeks for perishables, like lettuce, fruits and bread.
I saw that CarolB on ShutterCal had taken a picture of her water bottle. I decided that since this bottle is such a HUGE part of my every day life it needed to be photographed in my Project 365. I bought this a few years back with a gift card I had received from someone. I needed a good, strong bottle for work. We have an ice machine and filtered water in our break room. Because the machines we work on produce sooooo much heat, it is pretty warm at work all the time, even in the dead of winter. I try to drink 2 of these bottles full every night, but sometimes only make 1 and a half. I'm also susceptible to kidney stones, so we keep them at bay by drinking water!!!
Made these 3 cards at "Stamp Camp" on February 28th (the one with the chocolate fountain). I gave the middle one to Al & Mindy for their anniversary. Just stamped some hearts on the pink scallop and a sentiment inside. The one on the right does not have a "saying"...Carrie had her sample card made as a "thank you" card, but I like to keep mine blank so I can use them for whatever I need. LOVE the coffee stamps she used. I'll scrapbook the layout we made later and post it.
I was in my scrapbook room and David was in the kitchen. He yelled "hon, come here quick" so I grabbed my camera (because usually when he says that there's a picture taking moment) and this is what we saw on our deck. He had thrown out corn for the squirrel we get and the bunny decided to help himself. Susie was going absolutely NUTS running from one patio door to the other. I crouched down real low and tried to get his photo without him seeing me and running off. I managed to get 2, but the other one is a little blurry. Soon he saw Susie and in one hop was off the deck and out to the garden.
This is what I spent some of this weekend on and will be a couple of more days going through. Went through the living room closet and several "old, old, old" photo albums that my mom had. I am putting names and dates (as best as I can remember) on photos from 1969 (my high school years) through 1988 (years when my children were growing up). Hopefully I can finish this up this week. Last week I worked on getting my early marriage years (before children) to the first husband in binders so the kids would at least be able to look at them and know a time-frame of some kind. 
Kendra called at 6:30am and asked what we were doing. First she talked to David for a bit and then me. They wanted to show us the new truck they had gotten and get the "hot dog cooker sticks" we had bought Bill for Christmas but forgot to give to him! They are going camping over Spring Break at Kentucky Lake and want to take them with.
Today was "Stamp Camp" in Washington. The theme was Valentine's Day, so Carrie got a chocolate fountain and asked everyone to bring something that could be dipped! I took pretzel rods, which were all gone by the end of the day. There were Nutter Butter cookies, pieces of angel food cake, marshmallows, graham crackers, banana pieces, strawberries and fresh pineapple. Since I'm trying to eat more healthy, I only ate the fruit and 1 pretzel rod. But the pineapple was fabulous!
This came in the mail today and I'm thrilled. It's Crate Paper die cuts and paper. Will definitely use all the stuff in this kit. Can't wait to play!!!
We stopped at Menards this morning after work to pick up a new inside works for my bathroom toilet (the 2nd I've broken in a month). David saw these rugs for $1 and bought 2 of them because he knows Susie likes rugs. Well, guess this was a hit because she claimed it right away! He also put one in the craft room and she lays on it, also......
This is an online class of a sort. We get prompts on the 24th of each month of pictures to take on the 25th and then are sent a layout idea to make. We take pictures of specific things and then scrapbook them once a month in this album. I have chosen to take pictures of:
My QVC order came today. It's a Tignanello Glove Leather Hobo purse. The colored is called "peridot" and I LOVE it. I have another Tignanello purse that is dark green that I got for Christmas over a year ago from my Aunt Georgia. Love their construction, the way they hold up and the styling. They always have a lot of compartments without being too big. This won't be my last one!
This is a page I made on Saturday while scrappin' with the girls. It's of the 2 granddaughters, Trina and Autumn back in 2006. I pretty much let the paper dictate what I was going to do. It's the We R Memory Keepers "White Out" collection. I have 2 more of these "4-block" papers that are a little different in design and I really like them. The girls are playing next door at our neighbors when they spent a weekend with us.
Today I spent ironing and doing laundry. I actually enjoy ironing, as I was brought up to iron and do it right. My father's first job when he married my mom was at a cleaners. He was very picky about his clothes and always ironed his own Post Office uniforms (he was a mail carrier). He's the one who taught me to iron. I now have a digital iron and love it. Tells me when it's the right temperature, tells me when it needs to be cleaned, shuts itself off if it isn't used in awhile....
Today was our monthly scrapbook day with my girls. I will admit none of us, except for Rachel got a lot done. Kendra and I both only did 4 pages and I'm not sure about Trina. I think even Autumn, the 5 year old, did as many pages as Kendra and I! But we did have a lot of fun and conversation. I had veggies and dip for snacks. Kendra brought 3 dips, Onion-Onion, Garlic-Garlic and Bacon-Bacon. They were great on crackers and I really liked the Onion one mixed with the Bacon.....nice treat. For lunch I made goulash and Mexican bread. There was a little left over but not much. We set our next scrappin day up for the first Saturday in April, because the girls have a camping trip coming up in March and will be gone 2 weekends, plus some other stuff to do.
I ordered this new mouse pad from Cafe Press because the old one I had was a freebie from the Post Office and extremely UGLY! Love this new one.....plus I also got 2 magnets.....
Stopped by the Post Office on the way home and was pleasantly surprised with these three magazines. There was also a Sports Illustrated for David plus 2 catalogs. The box was full, needless to say. I am really looking forward to seeing this "blue" kitchen, as that is my favorite color and I love the way these cabinets look!
I knew Lisa was going to be on QVC from 6-8pm so I got up a little early to watch. I always love it when she's on there with David because they are such good friends and funny together. The product I took a picture of is the only thing I ordered. There are 18 prepackaged pages to put together. It makes it so easy when you are just wanting to get some pictures down and move on. Everything you need to make these are in baggies and they give you an instruction booklet....how easy is that.
This is Susie sleeping in the craft room window. I have a drawers sitting on my table and them a small 2-shelf unit sitting on top of that. When the sun is shinning, she loves to get up here and get EXTRA warm! Notice how I've put towels down for her....wouldn't want her to be uncomfortable, now would we!!!
I had to run into Kroger today to pick up my "hormone patch" so I knew I could get more of Famous Dave's BBQ Sauce....the Sweet & Sassy kind. This is the ONLY BBQ sauce that I like. The others are cheaper, but you get what you pay for. Ever since going to Famous Dave's to eat, I haven't bought anything else and you can't get it where we usually shop. I bought 3 bottles to hold us over for awhile!
When David asked if I wanted chocolate for Valentine's Day, I already knew what my answer would be (I had been thinking about it for awhile). We have both been trying to eat healthier since the beginning of the year and I want to keep that up. I told him "I WANT chocolate, but I don't want you to buy me chocolate".....make sense?
A good scrapbooking friend of mine, Karin, sends out cards for almost every holiday. She doesn't stamp a lot, but is a fantastic scrapbooker and makes her cards. It's always nice to see that envelope in the mailbox knowing it will be something wonderful from her. Thanks, Karin!!!
Just another shot of my scrapbook/stamp room. I bought this "cassette holder" to store all my Stampin' Up ink pads in (knowing they would fit from a post on another stamping message board). I love how it works. All the little drawers house my Sizzix alphabet dies, bigger Sizzix dies, Coluzzle, labeler, mini-alphabet stickers sorted by color, blank cards, glue gun and glue, chalks, stamping wheel handles and inks. These are things I use a lot and want next to my table. The little pink buckets (bought at Target in the $1 bin) hold my glues, Coluzzle knife, box cutters, pens and other such things. I like to keep the stuff I need close at hand.
The "Library of Memories" class started today at BigPictureScrapbooking.com. I took this class last year and got a lot of it implemented, but stopped when they got to the memorabilia stuff. It was free to alumni this year, so I signed up again. I am trying to tweak my system a little and hoping to finish it all the way through. I'm updating some of the stuff with a few new ideas Stacy has and am looking forward to the next 4 months. Right now we are sorting photos and putting them in storage binders. I've got all my photos from 2002 through the present done and am thinking about doing older photos right now, but most them are sorted already and kept in the old chest in the living room. Nice to be caught up with this item!
Before leaving for work last night, I threw a roast, potatoes and carrots in the crock pot with some beef broth. When we got home this morning, it was ready for us!!! These are the leftovers. I shredded the beef and tomorrow we will have BBQ sandwiches. My friend, Carrie, is from Kentucky and says that's how they eat BBQ there. They just put the beef on the bread and pour on the sauce. We tried it and really like it this way. Already looking forward to tomorrow!
This was my Grandma Canady's china (my dad's mom). She was born in 1899 and lived well into her 90's. Right after I got this, I got online and found a few more pieces to it so I would have enough to use.....however after all these years, I've never used it. Guess I'm afraid I'll break it. When I got my mother's china cabinet in 2005, I was finally able to put this on display. I really like the look of it.....the rest of it is in a box in the basement. But I just LOVE old stuff....especially when it has belonged to someone I loved.
"This is where I store all my "coffee" and "chocolate" related stamps. I like to keep them out where I can see them.....because I love both and have an obsession, obviously! There are a few more, but they are with "sets" that I don't want to break up.
Back in the 90's, I took several basket weaving classes. These are just a few of the baskets I made, some were given away as gifts. And I have a few more around the house. 
Mom bought us 2 of these tubs to put in the back of the SUV so things won't slide around and to carry shopping items into the house. She ordered them from QVC and we always say they are the best present she ever bought us. They fold down and snap in place on both ends. They wear and wear, as we've had them for SEVERAL years and they are still like new. Anyway, anytime we bring them into the house with stuff in them, unload the stuff, Susie then takes over and marks them as her own. She loves that she can see out 2 sides, plus she likes to chase her tail in them because when she falls over she doesn't go far. Silly Cat!!!
Was looking around on etsy.com one day and saw they had charms. Found this place that makes them from Scrabble tiles. Thought this was a great idea and am always looking for new charms. This definitely turned out great. Might order one for my daughter's bracelet next. Glad I checked the mail box today! If you are interested in their stuff, their address is : 
I found this at the antique mall in ElPaso. I'd been looking but figured I'd never find an old one....this one was in perfect condition. Before I was storing these in a box, so they never got used because I would forget about them. I do use them more now. And I like the look of this sitting on my scrapbook table.
This is my storage for my punches, except the circle ones (which I keep right at my scrapbook table). I just love the hardware store for storage items, of which I have several. The 9 drawers on top of the small punch storage unit hold my "pigment inks" seperated by color. The books in the middle are idea books that I use often.
This is the page we made at "stamp camp" on Saturday. I just brought it home and added some pictures to it today. Easy, easy, easy! I did actually add the letter stickers, but the word "winter" was already there. I like pages like this because it helps me get more pages done quickly. Now it's off to "sleep all-day Tuesday"!!!!!
When the girls came over for our monthly scrapbooking session, Trina wrote the "YAY!! WOOO!! on our calendar. Can't believe she's 16 already. She got a new cell phone for her birthday, they are going out to eat tonight at Carlos O'Kelley's (Rachel, too). Plus they are making her favorite lunch at school today....one perk of having your mom being the baker at school!
