Busy packing..may be MIA for a little while

Well, I never did get to finish the other freebie I wanted to do for you all, but I will get back to it. I ended up staying up pretty late to get the denim dude elements online the other night because I just knew if I didn't, I wouldn't get them up before I moved... So now we are in the middle of the move - packers started today, and we were (and still aren't) so not ready! Eric and I have had practically no sleep and we are just dragging. We are about to just head to bed early, get up early and finish this last room. Then we'll drag everything out of Kyleigh's room in the morning and put everything that WE are taking in there so we can finish sorting and organizing it all. The driver wants to try and start loading the truck tomorrow, rather than wait till Wed, so we may be out of here a little sooner..some time on Wed rather than Thursday. We have to do so many other things though still before we can leave, we're hoping if they finish loading us early on Wed, we can use Wed to run around and finish things up before we head out.

I don't know how much more I'll get to really be on the computer in the next couple of days (I do have few things I've got to do on here before we pack up the computer), and I doubt I'll have much internet access once we leave until after the 4th of July. Even if I do get access, I certainly won't have access to my pictures and photoshop..so no designing or scrapping until after we get into the apartment. So..I may be MIA for most of the rest of this week. I'll catch everyone up later when we get settled in!

Have a great week and a wonderful 4th of July!

Denim Dude Elements Available!

FREE ONLY through July 4th at Sarah's Scraps (under elements in the Freebie section)...Comments appreciated. :-) Enjoy ***EDITED...this is no longer available FREE, it will soon be in the store at Sarah's Scraps***

Back to Designing!!!

{Designing}

Sorry for the delay in posting...I've been FINALLY working on the elements for the Denim Dude kit and I think I have a set of things I really like. All that's really left now is to rename everything and zip them up...make a preview I suppose, and get them posted for you all. **Teaser: the elements include a leather belt, stitching, leather patches, a sheriff badge, brass buckle and snap, a grungy overlay, double staple, and wooden slide mounts.** I hope you all will like it. I will put the elements up free for a week like the other parts have been done. I need to then repackage everything to put it up for sale. I may put for sale the whole kit and the individual parts for those that may have picked up some parts so don't need to purchase the entire kit. I hope I can get these up before I move, but if not, they should be available in July.

ALSO...other awesome design news...I will be selling at digiscrappin soon (in addition to my little store on Sarah's Scraps). I had hoped to ready to go by July 1, but with the move coming so quickly, and the little time I've had to sit at the computer the last couple of weeks, it may have to wait till after I get moved. I'll make the announcement here when I make my debut! :-)

I also learned how to make some new things today, so I'm planning a new little blog freebie as well for all my faithful readers that have stuck with me during this long down time.

{Kids}

I picked up Alyssa from camp on Wednesday afternoon. She said she had a great time, wasn't scared any and didn't miss home. I was thrilled to know she had a great time and wasn't scared at all. BUT... my other big concern about camp was her hair. She's old enough and mature enough to care for her hair, but it's so long that she just can't physically reach it to really wash and brush it herself. So I was sure when I checked her in on Sunday to talk to THREE people about her need for them to help her (plus I wrote it on the paperwork I filled out). I was assured by all of them they would help her and braid it after their showers each night. WELL...none of the counselors helped her at all, and a couple of the older girls attempted to help her brush her hair (which I think only made it worse). She came home with a HORRIBLE knot in her hair. It was like matting behind a dog's ear. It took me almost 2 hours to get her hair brushed out. I used just about everything to try and loosen the knots, and eventually ended up having to cut a small chunk out to get the rest of it to loosen. I was so heartbroken about an hour into it, certain I was going to have to cut her hair off. She's been begging me to cut her hair to her shoulders, but I'm just not ready to do it (I keep stalling), and when I do take her, I don't plan to cut it quite that short. I want it to still be long enough to braid and pull back out of her face. So anyway...I managed to save it, but I was absolutely irritated. I am planning to write a letter to them to complain - if they're not able to help these little kids, they shouldn't have them at camp!

here's her hair after about an hour of work on it already, before I cut.


this is the big knot...it's hard to really tell the magnitude of this in the pictures..there was a small core knot at the center of this that was so tight, I just couldn't get the rest of this to release.


here's a picture of the core knot that I ended up having to cut.

Since camp....Ky has been thrilled to have Alyssa home again, and Alyssa has loved being back in her own bed and in air conditioning. hehe Thursday was so peaceful around here, and I was able to actually sit in the computer room to get a few things cleaned up and work on some stuff. Kyleigh just wanted to be in Alyssa's room and hang out with her, and Alyssa was happy to let her. Today though, they needed there space from each other again already, and Kyleigh was unhappy again. sigh... Wasn't as bad though as when Alyssa's not here.

{house and move}

Well, we've had the house on the market about 3 weeks now, only had two showings, and well..nothing is happening still. :-( I hope something starts happening really soon. Eric will be home Saturday and the movers will be here to start packing us Monday - yikes! I can't wait till Eric is home again, three weeks on my own has been tough. I don't know how I did this for 6 months. I'd say in part it was because I only had one kid, but Alyssa's been gone about half the time Eric's been gone, so it's been similar to having just one home again. I think the difference though is that when he used to deploy, I worked full time. I wasn't home all day chasing a little busy body and trying to keep her out of every darn drawer in my house. I had help via her daycare giver. Oh well, whatever the reasoning...it's almost over.

Well, I've stayed up too late yet again and I have a ton of stuff to do in the morning before Eric gets home. I'm headed to bed... later! I'll try to get the denim dude elements up sometime during Saturday and maybe even another blog freebie sometime this weekend...Alyssa is having a little sleep over party with a few of her closest friends Saturday night, so I don't know how much time I will get to work on the computer before Sunday.

A slightly productive day

stayed up waay too late tonight because I wanted to finish this LO (and Kyleigh woke up for awhile about 12:30 or so). I've been in such a funk lately, so I was thrilled to be inspired and create something again that I love. This is Ky at 9 months. I need to do a second page to go with because I have a page and a half of typed journaling for her at 9 months, but that wouldn't fit on this page.

{9 Months}


Credits:
Misty Mareda at digishoppe "Madison" kit
labels (altered slightly) from Jen Wilson Layers Elements "Midnight Shadow"
staples on picture from Kim Christensen "Cabo" kit.

95 pounds.....

nope..not how much I've lost, but how much i've gained in the last 14 years! To think that 14 years ago I thought I was OVERWEIGHT! Yesterday I took Alyssa to GS camp and I was only there for about 1 1/2 hours checking her in and getting her settled in her cabin, but it was soooo hot and I thought I was going to die when I left. I came home knowing I have got to get back into shape! So today I made a real effort to pay attention to what I was eating and record the calories and try to get back on the diet I did a few years ago with the dietician. I happend to be flipping channels this afternoon and came across Opra and she was doing a show on total makeovers and weightloss. She made a comment that stuck with me... you have to DECIDE to lose the weight and make the changes, you can't just try. So I'm not sure how determined I really am just yet....I did OK on my calories today, and pretty good at avoiding most of the bads, but I am really hungry now...... I was thinking though about what I need to do for excercise again and everything I came up with I also came up with excuses... :-( I think I might be getting a little depressed or just so over stressed. I barely have any energy to do much other than chase Kyleigh around and constantly keep this house clean for the realtor to be able to come show the house any time. I think I starting to ramble.....

I think I'm really missing Eric and I REALLY miss Alyssa. After I left her at camp I came home with Kyleigh to cool off. I really woried if she was overheating yet, but I did remember I saw them going to the swimming pool just as I was leaving, so she was probably having a blast. Last night I cleaned out my van, vacuuming and shampooing the carpets....the girls have eaten in the van so much lately and have made the BIGGEST mess..not to mention the number of times Alyssa has spilled something...ugh.... then after Ky went to bed I cleaned the dining room chairs (yeah..don't have white fabric with kids! lol)...then finally I went and sat in the whirlpool tub (that I think I've now used MAYBE 4 times in the 3 1/2 years I've lived her) and read my book for about a half hour and then gave myself a pedicure and manicure. Then as I was painting my toes, I felt so guilty that I was pampering myself and Alyssa was probably sweating her little bottom off and maybe even scared on her first night away from home (she's stayed many times with family, but never anywhere else overnight) in a cabin! So I promised myself that when she comes home I'm letting her take a nice bath in the whirlpool and then I'll paint her toes and fingers too. She'll definitely need pampering after all the roughing it! It is soooo hard to not know how's she's doing and not be able to talk to her. I've never not been able to talk to her or the family she's with to know how she did for the day. I know she's probably have the time of her life, but I still worry just in case... :-( My baby!!!!

Well, I think I may turn in really early tonight, read my book some more and try to think more positively. Sorry about the down beat postings lately...I'll try to make up tomorrow!!!!

Bummed

wow...a little bummed tonight. My parents brought Alyssa back today and I made a nice big ham dinner for us (sorta late birthday dinner for me and early father's day dinner for dad), and then we had cheesecake for desert. mmmmm But as they left the reality that I'm moving in just over a week set in. I've really loved living close to my parents again and being able to see them most any time I want to (they are still 2 1/2 hours away, but that's not too far). I love that my girls have been able to be so close to them and develop such a great relationship with them, and now I don't know how long it will be before I see them again. :-( I'm so used to being able to see them often now (sometimes not more than a few weeks between visits), and now we will be so far again I'll only be able to come home again a couple times a year by plane. sigh...I should be getting Alyssa ready and packed up to leave for Girl Scout camp tomorrow, but now I'm so sad I just want to go lay in bed and read my book for a little bit. Get to sleep a little early and then get up in the morning to pack her things. man...it's not like I haven't lived far from my parents before (I used to live in FL for about 4 or 5 years) but I've gotten used to being near them again now the last 3 1/2 years. sighhhhhhhh night

sllllllllllllllllow day

So, it was my birthday today, so I SHOULD know what day of the month it is, and yet...I looked it up like 3 times today! How sad is that? I totally kept forgetting, even with my two best friends calling me, my husband calling, and my mom and Alyssa telling me on hello! In between each of those conversations, I'd forget! I did NOTHING for it! Well, I bummed around reading email, browsing some galleries, posting yesterday's LO, worked on my application to consolidate my student loans, changed a few poopy diapers, fed Ky several times, watched Ky maked tons of messes and haven't yet cleaned any of them up...... I did do a load of laundry, though I haven't taken it out of the dryer to fold and put it away yet. I didn't even make myself anything good for dinner - I ate chicken noodle soup for dinner! sad sad I know...I didn't think about it.... I kept forgetting. It was just a typical day, except I was extremely lazy.

This evening after Ky went to bed I tried to do something productive and do another LO of Alyssa. What I envisioned and what I made, yeah they're not the same. I'm most likely going to have to totally redo this. Oh well, here it is for now.

Credits: all from my Denim Darlings Kit

Last night I got some really exciting news! I am gonna keep it secret for right now until it's official, but I'll give you a hint "I'm finally going to be legit!" and NO, I'm NOT pregnant!!!

Eric sent me the pictures we took of the house when I was up there. The seller/builder has accepted our offer so now it's just a matter of waiting (hopefully not too long) for this house to sell.

front of the house:

big room in the basement (this will be the office/craft room/play room)


living room looking from the entry


entry standing in the living room (when you enter you go up 1/2 a flight of stairs to the main floor or 1/2 a flight down to the basment) The room there to the right is the formal dining.


standing in the kitchen/informal dining looking through the kitchen and to the formal dining


standing in the formal dining looking through the kitchen to the informal dining

Well, with that...I'm going to treat myself to some reading and an early bed time... Later gators!

a Happy Birthday to ME!!

Yep..today is my birthday (June 15). :-) Not that I'll be doing much today since DH is in Illinois and Alyssa is in San Antonio...it's just me and Kyleigh. Maybe I'll get a little cake or make some cookies for Kyleigh and I. hehe

Sonya and I were chatting and sharing pics on hello last night and she was showing me some LOs of her little boy with his stuffed doggie that he loves...reminded me of some recent pictures I took of Alyssa and her cat...and I just loved Sonya's LO. It was actually from an ad inspriation at DigiShoppe that Katy (PLucky) hosts, and I had also done it, but it was a bit different take than this. I really liked Sonya's so I created a pretty shameless lift of it! This was also my FIRST LO in PhotoShop...thus far I've only used PS for editing pictures and desgining papers. I couldn't have done this though without all of Sonya's help, and Kim C. as well! Kim and Sonya are always so kind, patient and helpful! I had also been looking through Fantacy's designs today to see what all she's been up too...I came across this kit, "Prettiful" that is just soooo girly and me and just had to have it. She is such a sweetie..she sent me the papers and I used them in this LO immediately! :-)

{a gal and her cat}

Credits: lifted from Sonya's "A Boy and his Dog", papers from "Prettiful" by Fantacy Dawn, heart from "Romantic" on the Express Yourself CD by Dawn Stocstill and Ashley Olson, word art from "Curiosity" by Dawn Stocstill.

Still Alive

Yep, I'm still alive...haven't posted in several days because I went up to Illinois to look at houses with Eric. Just getting home today. The internet connection there was HORRIBLE, I could barely check my email, and when I did it took forever!!!

Anyway..the short...Eric got an apartment for us to stay in until the house in Corpus Christi sells and we qualify for a new loan in Illinois. We will officially move the end of June. We did choose a house finally and put an offer down with a contingency to sell our current home. The seller verbally accepted yesterday, so we'll see how it all goes. We have our FIRST showing today in the house in Corpus - probably nothing to count the chickens over, but it's a start.

I've got to get unpacked and do a few other things today. Eric should be sending me all the pictures we took of the house, so when those come maybe I can post a few....till then...I've got to run.

Mini Tut on masks

So, finally...here is the mini tut I promised long ago about masks. Hopefully this is a decent example to show this.



Here is my original photo. The overall picture is dark (under exposed) and my husband's face is darker than my little girl's. Goal: lighten overall, and equalize exposure on both faces.


BEFORE


FINAL


Step one on this one: add an adjustment layer - levels. In PSCS2 this is under Layer: new adjustment layer: levels. I selected the white dropper and clicked on Kyleigh's white color then adjusted the levels until I had the overall brightness in the background that I wanted.



OK, now if you notice in the layer manager/window..there's a white box attached to the levels layer. This is the masking layer. since it's white, it's revealing everything below it (meaning the level changes are being aplied to all of the picture). If you select the brush tool, set it to black color (I used a soft round brush) you can't paint parts of the mask you want to not apply the levels too. If you change the opacity up in the menu bar, you can change the amount of paint applied. For step 2, I set the opacity to 50% and painted over Kyleigh to reduce her exposure (the amount of the effect from the levels). You can see how she is not as bright now as the picture above. Both of them though are still a little over exposed.



Step 3: I changed the opacity to 30% and painted over eric to reduce his exposure a little and set his coloring back to a little more normal for him, but Kyleigh was then a little brighter than him again.



Step 4: so finally, I painted over her again with the 30% opacity.



So you can do this on any type of layer you add to a picture. Black paint will reduce or eliminate the effect of the layer and white paint or the eraser will reveal an area again.

If you add a layer of color to something you can attach a masking layer as well -> Layer: layer mask: reveal all or hide all (choose depending on what you're trying to do).

Well, I hope this helps some for those of you that have wondered how to use masks. I know I coudn't believe how easy this was once I finally figured it out and I LOVE to experiment and play with masks all the time now. Go play and experiment on some of your pictures to get the hang of it. :-)

My name is Mud

So my name has been mud the last couple of days, and I had to create some GOOD consilation prizes for miss Alyssa to forgive me. One of the reasons we stayed behind in TX while Eric went ahead, was to allow Alyssa to take swimming lessons one last time here. She's taken the lessons from the same instructor the last 3 years, and she absolutely loves them. I love them too because they are only $35 for 2 weeks and they're the redcross lessons. I usually sign her up immediately when they open registration, but this year with Eric changing jobs, I had to wait till I had the new medical insurance information (you have to give that info in the registraion). So, the lessons started this Monday and Eric started his new job Monday too. They've never filled up, so I figured we'd be ok to register on Monday once Eric got the info for me. He called about lunch time to give me the info and then I called to register (I already had our bag and suits and all packed up, and Alyssa was counting down the hours till lessons). Well, the level Alyssa needs filled up THAT MORNING! We were just hours short! AGGGGHHH Alyssa was totally heartbroken and I felt sooo terribly. I wish I had just gone ahead and signed her up earlier with the old medical info and then just changed it later. ohhhhh man... I really feel terrible and am saddened too. She really looks forward to these lessons every year. They only do 2 sessions, one in June and one in July. The July session still has openings, but we won't be here any more. :-( Well, I finally smoothed it over a bit by teling her she might be able to go visit Nene and Papa (my parents) for a week and go to camp at Nene's work (my mom is the director for an afterschool/summer program that is awesome!). Alyssa was excited about this, so she's mildly forgiven me. My mom agreed to allow Alyssa to spend a week with them too, so that will give them some time with her too before we leave. I promised Alyssa we would find swimming lessons for her in IL too, so we'll have to get on that immediately.

I did took some more photos of Alyssa Tuesday because all but one on Monday were terrible - her glasses had a terrible glare in all of them. Then I promised when Ky woke up from nap we'd go to Toys R Us. Alyssa still had a gift card from my brother from her birthday, and Ky still had her Christmas and birthday one. So, when Ky woke...we loaded up and went for our shopping spree. The girls got all sorts of goodies and when we came home it was like Christmas in June! They were both so excited about all their new toys. I haven't bought any new toys for so long, and both only got a few things for their birthdays. One thing we got was a slip n slide - another consilation prize for the swimming lessons. We haven't set it up yet, but we'll need to do that soon since Alyssa will be gone for a week to my parents and then 4 days/ 3 nights to GS camp the next week.

On the way to the Toys R Us, a song came on the radio that made me think back to the very early days of when Eric and I started dating. I don't remember the name of it, but it's one that Eric gave me on a tape our first summer we were separated. You know those tapes of love songs? hehe Eric was (and still is) such a sweetie. We had started dating in February and he was on a Navy scholarship in college, so during the summers he would have to go on cruises. That first summer he was gone to Hawaii (such a hard summer! haha). It was early in the relationship, but my parents already loved Eric, and my mom actually bought a wedding dress pattern that summer for me! I was so freaked out! I was so not ready to think about marriage yet, though I really liked Eric and felt he was the one, but that was a way off sitll in my mind. I remember my mom saying, "don't tell Eric, it might scare him!" haha HIM? I WAS SCARED! lol After he came back from Hawaii that summer, he brought me a single solitar pearl ring as a promise ring and said (this was like our 6 month anniv) he wanted to marry me someday! Wow!! I too wanted to marry him SOME day, but neither of us were ready to be officially engaged. So...anyway...the story of us gets longer, but...the song reminded me of that summer.

So, today (well Wednesday..its now Thurs morning already) I had such an urge to do something productive - besides CLEAN! I feel like I've been cleaning for weeks! lol I actually had an urge to drag out my paper scrapping stuff, but I never did have time for that, and I just can't afford to make that mess right now with the house needing to be "showable" at any moment. So, I finally kicked my own butt and worked on editing Ky's 9, 10 and 11 month pictures so I can order the prints. I worked on the pics while she napped today and then again after the girls were in bed. I've finally finished all of those and now I need to do both girls' birthday ones. I'll have to load everything later - I'm on the laptop right now. I had planned to also work on some design once I finished editing, but it took me longer to work on the editing than I planned. So...I still have birthday ones and then maybe the design stuff. I also have some other stuff I need to work on, but I am just so tired by the time I finally get the girls to bed at night. Tonight I was supposed to clean the living room carpet, but it was so late already I'll just have to do it tomorrow.

Speaking of late...I need to get to sleep so I won't be dragging so much tomorrow (later today). :-)

Lata gatas...

Finally, I scrapped a page again!

So friday night I attended Lisa W's (Momy4him) last chat/crop at SBB as a DTM. She had us redo a page that we had done in the past and weren't happy with. I have SEVERAL pages in my "in progress" folder, but it took me a while to choose one to work on. It took me a while to work on this page too to do something with it that I finally like, but here is the original and redone page below. I'm up waaaay past my bedtime tonight, so I'll come back to get all the credits posted later today. later..

original 1/2 done lo

Credits: I can't remember (because it's been soooo long) where this paper in this LO is from...I'll have to go look and see if I can find it.


redone page

Credits: Beep Beep kit by Janel Krestshman from the digishoppe (I did recolor the blue to match the purple in the car), Fonts: Bernard MT Condensed, Arial Black and Baskerville Old Face. Atomic Cupcake chipboard and sponge actions used to make the title.

Sorry...couldn't resist posting this one too..hahahahahaha these kids crack me up. I need to look at pics like this when that little wakes up for 2 hours in the middle of the night. hehehe

More Beach time

Well, today is the jackpot for my blog readers that are still hanging around checking on me. :-) MORE pictures, and another quickie post. This evening after dinner I loaded the kiddos in the car again and we hit the beach by our house this time. This one is actually the ocean (earlier was the bay), thus the waves. I had to put the girls IN the water to avoid the ugly seaweed. Still need to try Alyssa again - tonight just wasn't much of a "photo shoot" kinda deal, but we did some cute shots of Ky playing in the water. She LOVED it. Cracked me up. I could barely get her to look back at me and I had to keep chasing her and bringing her back to more shallow water - she just kept walking out into it. lol At one point she sat in the sand in the low water and discovered the sand. She'd pick up handfulls and wait for the water to wash away and then look with such curiosity at the "mud" left in her hands. She was having the best time with it. I sat down to play with her too, and all of a sudden, one handful...she STUCK IT IN HER MOUTH! The face she made was just priceless - mud and seawater! EWWWW poor kid. I wanted to wash it out for her, but the only thing I had in reach to wash it out was MORE SEAWATER! ohhhh the joys of the beach. lol

Oh well, here are a few of my faves from tonight.

OH, I HAVE to share this too...today while I was working on some things on the computer and chatting with some friends online, Alyssa walks in, very serious and with a very sad face and says, "mom, the mirror keeps copying me!" ROTFL!!! What a goob... I cracked up and said "honey, that's what IT IS SUPPOSED TO DO!" lol Anyway..I had to run to her room and take some shots of her in the mirror and save this quote to do a LO..she's such a nut. I love these kids. :-) I think this picture will be the perfect one for the LO. hahaha

Well, with that..I think I'm heading off for a shower and bed. Maybe another episode of xfiles too. :-) We'll see how tired I am - it is late and I didn't take a nap today while Ky was naping.

1 year pictures

Finally, I took this kid to do a photo shoot for her birthday...yes, I realize she's almost 14 months now, but I just haven't been able to take her to the beach to do these with all the crazy stuff that's been going on since her birthday in April. So...I love these - they really show her little personality, but I kinda wish I had gone down closer to the water. hmm I may take the girls again to the beach this evening to play and to try again for Alyssa's pictures since it was "toooo bright" for her eyes when we were out this morning. lol Maybe I'll try a few more for Ky too closer to the water. We'll see how the evening goes.

OH..and last night after I tried to sit it out here in the computer room while little miss muffet cried it out and my heart was breaking...she finally stopped and went to sleep. I think it was 14 minutes. I sooo badly wanted to go in and check on her and give her a little kiss, but that kid sleeps like a feather, and can "sense" your presence in the room, so I KNEW I couldn't go in. I was so sad as I laid in my bed trying to go to sleep and hoping I hadn't just totally just destroyed the little baby's trust in mommy. Finally my body just gave in and I fell asleep - it was close to 2AM when all this ended and I fell asleep. This morning though, when I went to get her out of bed, she greeted me with her usual GREAT BIG SMILE! :-) I felt better since she didn't seem to be mad and destroyed over the whole thing. She's been doing well today, and was happy whiel I was taking her pics at the beach. She's been taking a nap since we came home, and sounds like she's just starting to wake again, so I guess I better get going.

Well, I PLANNED on an early night and catching up on some VERY MUCH needed sleep, but seems Ky doesn't have the same idea for me. She's been awake the past hour and a half and won't have anything to do with going back to sleep. There's NOTHING wrong other than she just refuses to want to be in her bed. I pick her up and she falls asleep in my arms, or wants to just sit there and be held. She's totally fine, until I set her back in her bed..then the big tantrum begins. This is actually about the 3rd time in a week this has gone on. The screaming is out of control. She wants to get up and PLAY at midnight! Is there something that happens at 13/14 months that causes this that I just don't remember with Alyssa? Why did my good sleeping baby become so difficult now? I have not had a good night of sleep in several days and I was sick all day the other day with a fever, and today I've been sick again all day, but I couldn't rest because Eric is gone and I had to finish getting the house ready for the realtor. I feel so aweful, and now I can't even get any sleep. My body just can't keep functioning on only a couple hours of sleep here and there. :-(

Oh I just feel like crying...I hate making her cry it out, and she is soooooo good at these tantrums, but geesh am I tired and feeling terribly..... I just don't know what else to do with her tonight...when I tried letting her lay down in bed with me, she just sat up and made silly noises and laughed. I sat in her room a while and she just stood in her crib looking around until the dog came in and she started laughing and making noises at him. Then I got up and left because it was obvious she just wanted to PLAY, and she started screaming bloody murder again...so I went in, got her out of bed and set her down, went and got her some water - she followed me to the kitchen and gulped down a bunch of it, then followed me to the living room. I sat on the couch and she just stood there again looking around, then came up and wanted to just sit in my lap....soooooo I held her a while while she sat there sucking her thumb, until she got up to play again! ugh!!! I am so NOT in the mood to PLAY at 1 :30 in the morning! I've been trying to let her cry it out and wear herself out now, and I think she's been going this time for about 10 min. Last time I let it go 5. I can't believe she is STILL screaming! I guess I'm going back to get her again and I'm just not going to bed tonight. Guess what else that means....I'll be getting nothing done again tomorrow because I'll be trying to get an hour or two of sleep any chance I can when she takes a nap.

Saturday night

Sitting here against my nice new comfy pillows, snuggled in my bed, watching Xfiles......that's what I'm doing tonight, and then a fairly early bedtime. So what are you doing for your Saturday night?

So I know it's been AGES since I've posted. I've been sick, Alyssa was sick, and we've been getting the house ready to put it on the market. I create a slideshow the other day with some of my favorite layouts and put that on the blog...but I didn't post anything about having added it. lol I just barely

So the realtor came today to take the pictures and then pounded in the "for sale" sign. We'll officially be on the market Monday morning, but the sign is there now in case any passers by come driving by tomorrow. Actually there is a new house across the street that is finally finished and they're havign an open house tomorrow, so that should bring a few people this way, and since the sign is in my yard already, maybe they'll write down my realtors phone number too to schedule a walk through. :-)

Eric should be in IL by now, getting unpacked into his extended stay hotel room. Tomorrow he may run around and take a look at some houses by builders and by going to some open houses. The realtor there sent us a list of probably about 40 houses, and we've narrowed that list to about 5 or 6. He'll be going with her on Monday to see those and send me some pictures if he can.

I have had so little time to sit at my computer lately, so very little scrapping and designing in a while...actually NO TIME. Now that most of the house stuff is done and ready for showing, I just have to "maintain" it. Maye I can find some time now again after the girls go to bed to scrap and desgin. I do have some serious work to do for OPA (a national service sorority I'm on the national board for and am an alumna of) so that will take some time too.

Well, I think the laptop has about 20 minutes of power left in the battery, so I best be going.