birthday cake....

Hi everyone! Just popping in quickly to give sneak peeks of a blog post that went live on the Creative Charms Blog.

Yours truly created a layout and here are a couple of views for you...




If you'd like to see the full layout, go ahead to the blog. :D

It's based on a tradition started by a dear friend of ours, Astrid. For each of our birthdays, she'd bake us a yummy birthday cake. (For those of you who don't know her...OHMYSTARS, can she bake!)

She has inspired DH to whip out his baking stuff to keep on with the tradition and even put his own twist on things like homemade cream cheese frosting. YUM!

Hope you all are having a great summer. This summer has been blah for us...I can't wait for when we can actually take a vacation....hey, a girl can hope!


you take the good, you take the bad...

you take them both and there you have!

The facts of life! (yeah, I do realize that I am showing my age here a bit...to my defense,that show aired while I was still a little girl...but that didn't stop us from watching!)

This past Thursday Lexi got the OK to start walking with a cane! That's the good part. :)

You just don't know how happy we are right now. Well...truthfully...happy, and scared! The DR gave her a stern warning about following his directions. He's had patients not listen, fall, and break the pin inside the hip, making for another totally complicated procedure. We've waited for so long to hear this, and I know how hard it has been for my daughter to totally depend on us (well, she really enjoyed being pampered by gma and I) for everything and missing out on so many fun things she was going to take a part of. She was starting to get moody, frustrated, and crying these last 2 weeks. It was really hard seeing her like this.

Anyways, I'm ready to share some pictures of her...from where it all started:


This is DH and Lexi while we were waiting for her to get prepped for surgery. She was so nervous because she knew that the cool nurse was going to get the stuff to get the IV in. SO leave it to dad to entertain her by getting pix of her....


I think she caught me like this. She kept asking me why I was so worried...and I couldn't answer her, because I was afraid I'd start to cry.  I know, bad mommy.


Lex all capped out and ready to go. This girl was a riot during the process it took to do the IV...she was obviously really scared...trying to negotiate her way out of one...BUT when they started it, she kept her eyes glued to what the nurse was doing, asking questions...her daddy tried getting her attention and she shushed him....eek! The Doc allowed her to take her pillow pet into the OR with her. I thought that was sooo nice of him.


Auntie Belinda came for a vist with the awesomely huge monkey for Lex...and daddy trailing behind her with the little brown monkey with a cute bandaid. Just in time...because Lexi was just started feeling disheartened that no one had came to see her.


This is the view from outside her room. See the pretty mountain view?


and this is Lex with her little sisters and her edible arrangements....one of her requests. :D they were so happy to have her back home.

On Thursday we also realized our fridge decided to go Kaput. So not cool...because hello! we're in the middle of a heat wave! Holy stink, batman! As if you couldn't guess it: That's the BAD part!

So...while the kids were in VBS we had to run to look at a replacement. DH fell in love with the idea of getting one of these babies:



we got it at a great price.....but it's on back order...so we're using a teeny tiny fridge in the meantime.

But look: there's paint now....and the woodwork's put up!

Yay...progress!



That corner wall: there was a huge ugly sewer pipe sticking out...so DH framed it and it looks nice now. you can get a peek at the color...(it's lighter IRL) the woodwork, and the flooring. I am starting to see how it's going to end up! YAY! I can't wait til we can get the bottom paineted, the floor grouted, toilet & vanity installed....still seems like we have so much more to do...but we're getting sooo much closer. Hence that saying: so close but still so far away...

It's OK when you're feeling blue....



So....my mommy's back in Florida. &&& I miss her very much. We're hoping that she can take of things that she needs to so that way she can move back to NY...and be closer to us.

This song I looked up after I posted a photo on facebook of my teeniest terror, Nani...she had a single tear rolling down her face. It reminded my BIL of it...and wow, is this song so beautiful.

Picture perfect!

Hi everyone! I trust everyone's having a fun summer so far. By me, the humidity hit! It makes it a little hard to breathe, but can I say I am very grateful for central A/C!!! and for the hubby who loves to freeze us with it at work and at home. LOL

My daughter is getting closer and closer to being able to walk unassisted. She's already given us some huge scares! My poor mom (she sleeps with her) gets woken up at night by getting a leg swung on her. Yes, you read that right: she swings her bum leg over on her grandma. I'd be scared, too.

My mom will be leaving us soon. she has to go back to florida....to take care of business. I'm trying not to think about it...you know, push it to the back of my mind

The bathroom: Oh, the bathroom. it's progressing s-l-o-w-l-y. I'm being patient...but next time the DH gets a bright idea in his head to start a project while dealing with an injury...I may hit him over the head with a frying pan. :D Yes, dear....that is a threat. So far: the floor has been put down. he isntalled the radient heat underneath...no grout though. then DH had the bright idea to add making his own wainscot for the wallls. After all, he spent so much money on these tools so he wants to put them to good use. GREAT. It's coming out beautifully! it's about 85% done...and took all of Saturday to cut down, make the fancy edges, install...and lots of dust! OhMyStars, the dust! I just want to see paint on the walls, the toilet installed, and my brand new mirror up. yep, we got it! Patience sure is a virtue...

Oh...my whole purpose of posting! A layout is up at Creative Charms! I'll post the close ups, but can you pretty please go and check out the layout...and comment. LOL. yeah...I'm an AW.


The layout was created using their July Deal of the Month. It's a kit full of pretty summery embellies and the kicker: it's at such a great price!

so...hoping you're all enjoying the summer...heat and all...LOL.

Be breezy! :D

Creative Charms Kits revealed!

Hi All. If you're here for the blog hop, look down at the post below. :D You have until tomorrow at 5 to win, so leave comments!


Creative Charms has July's Kit of the Month and Deal of the Month up on the blog and website for all of the details!


 There is also a blog candy giveaway, a new wedding mini kit and bringing back the vintage brad kit from last weekend. Also, CHECK OUT the Simplicity line! It's 70% off until the end of July or when it is gone.You don't want to miss out on it.

Blog Hopping with SFTIO!

Hi Everyone!

I hope that you all have enjoyed Independence Day and are ready to hop along in a fabulous blog hop! You should've come here from Laura's blog, make sure you don't miss a stop!

Scrapbooking From The Inside Out is celebrating an Anniversary & Independence Day by hosting a hop and offering fabulous prizes! The current DT and various Alumni are participating (hence my participation! YAY! I have to say that this place is one of my fave places. Rachel was a dream to work with and everyone there's so sweet. I CRIED when my time...a whole year with them...came to an end!) <------ I know, what a big wimp.

Now I'm going to post one of my fave layouts created:

March to the beat of your own drum



Taking these series of photos was awesome fun, my kids had a blast making tons of noise as they marched.LOL.There's hidden journaling with a love-felt message to my teeny terrors, and I love the color combo. I think it's perfect for celebrating!

The Details:

SFTIO will be giving away 3 kits  - each winner will get to choose from Independence, Optimism or Friendship, including subscriber Bonus. And for a grand prize, they are giving a $50 gift cert toward the CRAFT retreat.

The hop will be from 7:00 a.m. -Thurs 5:00 p.m. PST.

so make sure to leave a comment on each stop because that will increase your chances of winning one of the awesome prizes! SFTIO kits are EXTREMELY generous, filled with the latest, coolest products. Trust me, you will want to win! :D

Next on the hop is Jamie. Happy Hopping!

Annie Blackberry Spring 2011!










Love,


Annie :) xxxxx