summer swimming

hey there :)

lately we've been really busy with work...(Thank You Lord). I'm not sure if we're looking fwd to getting the kids back into school mode...I keep getting that question here at work. I always answer yes...& no....

my uncle went to visit our family in florida and came back wanting to fix up his place a bit...installing molding, painting, all that good stuff. We've been there the past 2 evenings because DH has been helping (he & my uncle made the moldings) and we've tagged along. (my family's a riot!)

yesterday the kids went prepared...and so did I.









needless to say...they had loads of fun at my uncle's pool. :D and they slept really good, too. LOL

You make my heart sing.....

Hi bloggy Peeps!

How was your weekend? Mine was busy, but great. I even had a camera along with me...but still forgot to snap photos...crazy, right?

It started with a little shopping...my hubby got me a new phone...I guess he saw how left out I felt when he got his....what a sweetie.

then he did some baking. YUMMY in the tummy, but not so great for the waist! :P

Then we went to Church and afterward decided to head down to the boogie down...AKA the Bronx in NYC for you non locals...to surprise Mama!!! (my MIL) she had no idea we were on our way and we got her good, Thanks, Sir!!! (He was the look out).

And now I'm back to work...

wanna see some closeups from this blog?


yeah, I'm working on my card making abilities....and will be doing so big time...but that's a surprise I can't share just yet.....


I Just Wanna Say THANK YOU x











Thank you for supporting me, thank you for following my blog, thank you for supporting this business that i love and thank you for being you. God bless you x


Annie xx


when things fall apart....

Hello, all.

I can truly tell you that this summer will be a memorable one. With so many things jumping up at us all of a sudden, so many sad, bittersweet, good...busy things. My mojo leaving me...and it looks like she never wants to come back....

Today a beloved friend's going to Germany. :( It looks like her family will be moving out there, and we're really sad (I sucked those tears in really hard as we said our goodbye's), we're not trying to give a guilt trip & add to what other feelings our friends may be experiencing. Instead, we've set up a skype account so the girls can keep in touch, we still have that wonderful invention called Facebook and emails....along with some snail mail in between for some little handmade surprises. Because of our faith, we know that this goodbye feels like forever, but is only temporary...if our friends make the move, we'll see them again in that big party in the sky, if things don't work out & they come back, we'll be here with open arms.

I've been so bad about taking pictures! Our Bathroom is inching towards being called complete. Our home is s-l-o-w-l-y going back to normal...the disorganization caused mainly by the construction has been cleared out....and we're slowly purging the things that we don't need. We got our fridge yesterday! yay for us! it feels great to have a fridge that's the perfect size for us. translate: humongous enough to fit food for a family of 6.

Mostly every morning I have been waking up early to get on the treadmill....and it feels great! well...not the waking up early part. I'm paying for that because last night I didn't sleep well...but the working out part has been awesome....now if I can only start scrapping again....

My daughter, Alexis, is showing so much improvement with her walking! As we take our little walk to the library, she walks ahead and I just fall behind to watch her gait get less wobbly. It makes me want to cry, to shout, thank the Lord, insert any emotion you can add here________________!!! My kids drive me nuts...but always give me a reason to be grateful....when I see the changes, the growth...it really makes my heart swell....and then they do something to make me want to rip my hair out all over again., LOL.

I wanted to share this with you...it's an excerpt from a daily devo I get in my inbox...this part stood out to me, like jumped right off the screen and screamed:

"You can’t see why God allows what he allows in your life, and God doesn’t owe you an explanation, because he’s God and you aren’t. But someday, and it might not be until you get to heaven, you’ll be able to look back and see the big plan. Until that day comes, keep taking your concerns to God."

You can see the full devotional here:

Purpose Driven Life: When Things Fall Apart

and how about a little music?

http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/RbDuM-f36Hs?version=3&hl=en_US">name="allowFullScreen" value="true">http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/RbDuM-f36Hs?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="349" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true">

IDK why blogger isn't letting me post videos.....here's a link. hope this works.
http://youtu.be/RbDuM-f36Hs

a little bit of precious &&& specials to catch!

Hi all!!! :)

I'm trying to get back to blogging...inching my way slowly...I haven't been hitting the scrap table like I wanted to lately and well...maybe blogging will inspire me to do so. right?

SO...I wanted to fill you in on something!

Creative Charms has an awesome specials going on right now...

 The first is all the basic Vintage Jewels together in one set for only $6.99 (Reg $22.50). The second is all the Gradient Gem and Gradient Pearl Stickers for only $7.99 (Reg $30.00).


I'm not saying this because I design for them, but these jewels are awesome to work with. you get all the color you could possibly need, the jewels easily remove from the packaging...I really get annoyed when I try to peel bling off and the glue stays behind...

There is also a giveaway this week. One winner will receive the Gem/Pearl set. Just go to the BLOG to see all the details on how you can be a lucky winner!!!


Yesterday (yep, after I blogged) we got a surprise visit from our friend, Precious!
Do you want to meet her?



Her daddy is the plumber across the street from us. Every time the teenyterrors see him, they ask for Precious...& ask him to bring her over for a visit. All we heard was the door chime, and saw a chocolate brown blur run by us to hop on the sofa and sit next to the girls...then she started to lick them. :D



Precious is sooo funny. They'd try to get her to sit in the empty chair, but she kept hopping on Lexi's lap. It seems as though she prefers her seating to be of the human variety....

Nani was very sad to have missed the visit. She was at camp. Precious always has the most fun with her...they run  in circles together, she knocks Nani down to then lick her to death...and if Nani hides her face from her...she burroughs her nose to try and find her face. She even takes apart Nani's hair do....by gently pulling the hair clips out of her hair. I guess Precious wishes she had all of that glossy hair all for herself. LOL!!!


styrofoam peeps

what does a teenyterror do when she's bored?

terrorize the place? drive her mommy crazy?

nope. well...not today. today she made a family out of styrofoam peanuts.



she made us! even the dog!


she set up shop at the back counter!!! look at her concentrate hard. LOL.



I guess she takes after her parents....we need to stay busy or go nuts.

take a look over at the Creative Charms blog...I have a post up :) here are some sneaks.


I have some happy news, too. You'll be seeing a layout made by yours truly in the Jan. 2012 issue of ScrapBook Trends! Guess what else? My bathroom is 95% done. Yay! it's looking really nice.

Have you all been keeping busy? Any kids back in school yet? Mine don't start classes until September, but we've been busy shopping...got them almost taken care of. :)

Take care...have a great day!