HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!

Well I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving tomorrow! I'll be feasting with my awesome family. I can't wait!!! I don't see everyone often enough!
The layout above is from the November Creating Keepsakes. I love it. The title letters are embossed with a mixture of black and cinnamon spice. They smell just like autumn! Brodey's cute face will also be in the April Creating Keepsakes. Got that email yesterday!
Well I'm off to clean house! I can't stand to leave if my house isn't in order!
Happy Thanksgiving!!!
LUV APRIL

The Raccoon saga continues.....

My gosh. It's like a mini series. Today around 5 I was in the office....Eric just yelled at me and said "hey this girl on tv looks like a blonde cocker spaniel" he's so weird....and I heard something hit the door. I go to the living room door and there is the raccoon. Big surprise. It's been pretty windy here and the wind knocked over my fern and it's right in front of the back door.
Earlier today the cat was jumping around in it and I thought she was just playing around. Well the raccoon was doing the same thing and it occured to me that maybe there is a mouse in there! Wow! I didn't know the raccoon would actually be trying to pounce on a mouse! I thought only cats did that!
So she pounces and grabs and I'm cracking up. It's so funny to see a raccoon act like a cat! I had my camera in there so I snapped a pic and ran in to get my video camera. Well I come back and look out the door and....well...she caught the mouse. I'll just say she made short work of it and the rather large mouse was gone in about 5 seconds. Yes. She ate the whole thing. I couldn't believe it. No I didn't video it. LOL I was too in shock.
When I told Eric he says "I didn't want to know that." then he says "what did you THINK they ate?"
I'm like "I don't know! Cat food! Hahahaha!!!" I had no idea they ate whole mice. Who knew?
I'm dying to see Wall E. I got car sick the other night trying to watch it. Brodey had it on in the back and I have been wanting to see it SO bad!!!! I have a feeling I'm going to cry at the end. I know, but I'm a big baby when it comes to movies. I totally get into it and I get so emotional. We were going to sit and watch it tonight but that didn't happen. Maybe tomorrow night.
Well I'm going to go. Brodey wants me to lay on the couch with him. Soon he will be too big to do it! BOOHOO!!!!
GOODNIGHT!!!
LUV APRIL

I live in Nowhere Land with the Ferocious Beast...

Okay not really. Well some days I feel like it because that's all Brodey wants to watch. Thank goodness it's a cute show and it makes me laugh.
I also feel like I live in Nowhere Land because my internet is SO SLOW. I know I always gripe about it, but you just can't imagine just how slow it is. Here is how uploading a wedding to my site went:
Upload two photos.
Go do laundry.
50/50 change the photos uploaded OR my internet went out.
Upload the same photos.
Go do dishes.
Upload two more photos.
Take a shower.
I'm not even kidding. It took me more than 4 days of doing this ALL day to get them all uploaded. You are supposed to be able to upload 1000 photos at once. HA! HA! HA! Not here in Nowhere Land!
I finished editing this week's how-to video for J4K last night. I'm still trying to upload it. It gets to 62% and just stays there. Kill me now. I've been trying all day and will try one more time after I post. I'm sorry J4K girls! :(

Tonight has been the night of racoons. I'm in the kitchen tonight after dark waiting for Eric and Brodey to get back from Holdenville. I think I hear a frantic scratching sound. I mute the tv. I listen. There is is again. I instantly think of my sister who would be FREAKING OUT right about now. (No doubt she would be thinking of some stupid scary movie hahahaha) But not me. I'm too nosey. So I go into the foyer where it sounds like it's coming from and it is at the front door. That's weird. I go to the office where the camera moniter is and I can't see because of the glare from the porch light. So I crack the shades and it's a RACOON. Trying to get into my front door! NO! You can't come in! LOL She finally saunters away.
The mommy that I posted pics of eating the cat food on my back porch comes every single night now. Well sometimes even during the day. She isn't scared at all. She will even saunter up to the door and look in if she eats all the food. She knows I will come out and put more out there. She will come right back and eat it all!
Tonight I think her babies followed her. Eric and I were putting Brodey in bed and I hear a racket on the porch. I go over and look and it's THREE little babies! They were SO cute! There were frantically trying to get off the porch, but they couldn't figure out how! The mommy when she leaves always goes off at the end with the drop off. I think she probably took off that way and they were like what the heck! Mom! Where'd ya go!?! Finally they found the steps and off they went! So cute! I'm sure they will be back! As long as it isn't while I'm sleeping I'm okay with it! ;)
Well I'm off to bed now! I'm glad my boys are back! I missed them!
Goodnight!!!
LUV APRIL

Is it really almost Christmas?

Wow is it really almost Christmas or are people just putting u lights for the heck of it? Coming back from Tulsa tonight I saw so many! It was neat! I need to nag Eric to do it. We have never put them up. Nope. Never. Eric used to put up his neighbor's and it had to be perfect. I think it took the fun out of it for him. This year we have to, though. Brodey would SO notice and think it was so cool! Plus you could see them from highway 62!
Two of Ally's girls from the gym had a cheer competition today! They did pretty well considering it was their very first one! I went to help. It was fun!
This will be a quick post because I have to go do my video for J4K. I've started doing instructional videos for the Just 4 Keeps site. It's so much fun! I'm still really slow at it, but I've learned a lot.
If you happen to be in the bookstore (or wherever) check out Memory Maker's new idea pamphlet called "Get Organized." It's a cool little book about organizing your scrap supplies. It has some great tips in there PLUS I have a layout in there featuring my scrap room! LOL I'm on page 70! ;)
Okay I'm off to record my nasal self. (Yes my nose is still stuffy.)
Until tomorrow....it's good to be back!
LUV APRIL

Good Grief!

Well HELLO world! LOL I've been a busy little bee!
Even thought I don't have the studio anymore, I still get busy this time of year taking photos. It's nice, but Brodey always reminds me why I do it very part time! ;)
I've also been working on stuff for the March Creating Keepsakes. So look for me twice in there! Yeah!
Yesterday was Mady's (my sis-in-law) 19th birthday! I made her a red velvet cake. Someone please come to my house and take it away before I eat what's left!
We are going to start redoing our bathrooms soon. I dread it, but I can't wait. Thank goodness there is another bathroom right outside of our bedroom. We can use that, but it will still be rough for a while!
Well I know this is a short post, but I have promised myself to get back to posting!!
Have a good Friday!!!!
LUV APRIL

Checking in...

So I have strep. Fun times. This is the first time I have felt alive since Tuesday.
I am never sick so this is bad for Eric and Brodey. LOL Laundry piled up. Dishes in the sink. Toys everywhere. I guess it'll be there tomorrow. I don't get sick leave.
Off to lay back on the couch.
Night!
LUV APRIL

I'm still alive!!!!

I'm still alive! I promise! I might be treading water....but I AM alive! This is probably the most repeated phrase in history and I'm going to say it again. There are NOT enough hours in the day! By the time I get everything done I need to it's midnight and I'm too tired to blog. So sad. The end of the month is a killer for me. It's almost over! The boys are outside and I have things I need to be doing, but I wanted to just sit down and post. Last week was crazy. Funerals, parents visiting, puppy surgery, and so on.

When I had to take Gigi and Gunner to the vet for their last ear check up(they are cocker spaniels so you understand) Eric wanted the vet to check a lump Gunner had on his neck. He has skin issues, so we weren't too worried. The vet wanted to remove it for safety's sake so we did. It was fine. Nothing serious. It's just so much FUN to take dogs and a kid to the vet.

My black cat is still missing. I think he's down at the gate with the other kitty. I swear I saw him down there when we came home late last weekend. The gray cat is fine. She got over whatever was the matter. She is finally acting like her normal self. Since the black cat isn't around it makes me want to adopt another cat. :) Eric would KILL me. I would have to lie and say "oh it just showed up!" Haha!

I finally finished my redos for my classes next month. (the ones I made originally got picked up by Creating Keepsakes) If you are in Edmond next month you should take them! It will be SO much fun! We are playing around with alcohol inks and ultra thick embossing enamel. I'll post my class projects as soon as the newsletter goes out.

If you like to read, you need to check out Good Reads. My profile is HERE. It's so much fun! You can keep track of all your books. I love how you can add books that you are planning to read. It helps because I forget when someone suggests a good book. There are also groups that you can join that read the same books as you do. It's fun to actually chat with people who read what you do! Fun stuff! Thanks Trisha P for letting me know about it! ;)

So Brodey doesn't have a Halloween costume yet. You can tell I live FAR away from civilization. Usually I already have it by now! He is old enough to help me pick it out. That will be fun! Ha! We will see!

Brodric (Eric's brother) turned 21 this weekend! Pretty exciting stuff! It seems like I just turned 21! When I turned 21 he was 13! Oh my! We had fun this weekend, though. He came down and we went to the lake. Yes we went to the lake at the end of September. It was a little crazy being there when acorns are falling on the camper and ducks are landing on the water. I have to say, though, that the craziest thing was the sun setting at like 7:30. What? We would have at least an hour more of water time! So sad! I guess that will be the official last lake trip this summer. Seven sad, long months until we get to go back. Oh the heartbreak! So anyway we pretty much had the lake to ourselves. It was nice. Eric brought a tube that was in our shop when me moved in. You could tell it had been there for a long time and the boys were wanting a small one to do barrel rolls. (crazy I know) So we brought it, aired it up, and off they went. For about 10 minutes. The poor tube was having none of that. It started to rip and it finally gave way. It was so funny because Tyler (Ally's boyfriend) was riding it with the cover ripped off just holding it on. Then they just took the cover off and I told them to get on the tube and hold on to the ski rope. (I'm the one that comes up with the ideas for OTHER people and sit in the boat and laugh) I dubbed it Tube Skiing. It was so funny. I videotaped it on my camera. I tried to put it on YouTube to post here but the file is too big. I'm going to have to figure out how to make it smaller.

I got an email today from Scrapbook Trends asking if I was planning on sending them the layout they requested for the Oh Baby Idea Book. What? Huh? Did I read that right? I never even recieved an email! I guess I'll have one more thing to mail off at the post office tomorrow!

Okay I gotta go. I have stuff I need to finish before tomorrow. Fun! I just wanted to check in! I still have a ton of pics and no time. I really hope I can get back to posting every day! It's neat for me to go back and read what I can't even remember doing! Ha!
Have a good night!
LUV APRIL

Hello.....Onstar?

Yes I had to call Onstar today. Bro and I were going to run into town. I needed some ink from Hobby Lobby and some milk. We go out and get into the car. I get Bro all buckled in and I put the key in the ignition and it won't turn. I'm like "Wha?" I slowly figure out I have Eric's key to his truck. I quickly dig in my purse and no key. So I get out of the car, shut the door, and the car honks as I get to the house door. "Wha?" Did the car just lock on it's own? Surely not. I go in the house and tear up the place looking for a key. No luck. I go back and the door won't open. The car is locked and the only place there could be a key is in one of two purses in my car. CRAP! Bro is mad because he can't get his candy. I'm like tapping on the window "Bro! Wiggle your arms out of the carseat and open the door!."
"Okay mom!" He does this. No luck. The door won't open.
"Okay push that button!"
"Okay mom!" He does this. No luck. I can barely see in the window because they are tinted. He is trying everything to get the door opened so I try to tell him how to get OUT of the carseat. Ain't gonna happen. The kid is super strapped in. I'm like dang. I've had this car how long and I already have to call Onstar. I haven't even set it up!
I call Mom to get the number and the girl is so nice. I have no pin so I had to answer some quetions. She unlocks the doors and Brodey is so mad. She's like "Is he okay!?!?"
I'm like "yes he just wants his Smarties."
She laughs and I get them for him. Bro says "Thank you nice lady!"
She laughs harder and says "Thank you! Have a nice day!" You bet! LOL
Now if only that nice lady could find my black cat. The gray cat came back. Today she was acting no like herself so i decided to take her to the vet. She is on the back porch so I run in to call. They can't get her in until 2:30. Of course. So I go back out and she is gone again. Crap! I'm thinking hopefully she will show back up around 2! Nope. She didn't show back up until around 6pm. She is still acting tired. I ran into Ashley today at Hobby Lobby. (We bought thehouse from her and her husband.) She said that the cat is spayed and she just does that sometimes. But she has been here since May so I can tell she isn't acting right. Ashley didn't know how old she is. She said she came with the house! Haha! They bought it about 4 years ago. I HOPE she gets better this weekend! If she isn't better tomorrow I'm taking her to the vet. Or try to. They are open until noon on Saturdays.
I have been so busy editing pics and working on class stuff that I haven't had time to post. Once I get all that out of the way I will be back to normal posts. I miss it!
I'm going to try to edit some more pics now! Oh here someone! Better go!
LUV APRIL

Chocolate Chip Cookies are my Sworn Enemy

Why do I make them? Why? Any other cookie can sit there in the cookie jar until Eric eats them. They CALL my name. They say "pour a glass of milk and we will have a good 'ole time." I can't resist. At least the milk's healthy.
According to the Wii I'm overwieght. It even gave my Mii a muffin top. I don't have a muffin top in real life. But my Mii sure looks cute with one!
I have been editing pictures like a mad woman. I will share some tomorrow. I'm too lazy to go back and save them for web viewing right now. Usually when I sit down in this chair for more than 5 minutes my back starts to hurt. Not anymore! Thank you Wii! I have been doing Yoga with the Wii Fit and I can already tell a difference. I always hated Yoga in the past. I have tried it twice. I always give something a second shot if I don't like it the first time. (i.e. octopus and french toast) The second time I tried Yoga I had to go to the Chiropractor. With Wii it's different. You have to stay balanced and it KNOWS if you are doing it wrong. It's awesome.
Enough Wii talk. Eric came home with a prize for Brodey today. He wore underwear ALL day and went to potty all by himself. So maybe he peed in the shower. It's better than a diaper right? I blame Eric for that. But whatever works.
Eric brought him home a John Deere scooter. Bro calls it a cooter. Which makes Eric crack up. Boys never grow up. So Eric is just making his John Deere and camo obsession worse.
So Eric finally gets it put together (after several temper tantrums) and HE rides it all through the house. He was blazing down the halls and doing that Eric cackle (yes some of you know the one) and I'm sitting at the computer (editing pics of course) and he wizzes by me followed by Brodey. I hear a huge CRASH, something knock over, and Eric screaming about his foot. So I mozey on in there and the piano bench is in the middle of the floor and Eric is laying there holding his foot. Of course I die laughing and I offer to kiss it. He refused. I'm like "What the heck did you do?"
"The piano got in my way." he cries.
"Daddy fell on my cooter." Brodey says.
I am laughing so hard I am in the floor. Eric keeps whining about his toe, but starts to laugh after a minute. I just wish I had it on film to share.
Well it's 12:40 and I'm headed to bed. The bug spray man is coming tomorrow. I guess we will have to leave the fumed up house so Brodey doesn't grow an extra leg or something. Maybe I'll hit Ross or Wall's! :)
Have a good night! Fingers crossed the stupid raccoons don't wake me up again tonight!
LUV APRIL

P.S. The layout up there is one of my Just 4 Keeps Design Team Layouts for September. That was Bro when we cut his hair. It's alreayd grown out! He needs to get buzzed again! ;)

Wii Love the Wii

These are my Just 4 Keeps girls!!!! I LOVE THEM!!!!
Okay so oh my gosh Wii Fit is SO MUCH FUN!!! I am so stinkin' sore, but it was a blast! I got it today at Game Stop in Tahlequah! BARELY! I got the only one they will have for a while. I was so excited! It kicks my butt, but it is so cool! It's amazing what that thing can tell you! It's kind of freaky, really! I was doing the Tree pose in Yoga and I fell over. It said "You fell over. Try lengthening your spine." I was like OH MY! Then Eric came home and he couldn't even do any of the Yoga poses. I was laughing so hard! Brodey loves to "play" with me. I gave him the paper out of the box and told him it was his balance board. Haha! It worked!
My kitty cat still hasn't come back. I might never know what happened to it. That stinks so bad. I REALLY hope it is just eloped with a neighbor cat and will come back. :(
My knees are SO SO SO sore from taking pictures on Saturday! It was a blast, though! It is always worth the hard work. I was booked solid from 10:30am to 5 or so. I can't remember. I stayed afterwards and had a blast. No I didn't crop, haha, but I had fun anyway! I have over 600 photos to get ready to send. So you know what I'll be doing all week! ;) I'll post some highlights as I get them done.
I didn't leave the store until 11pm. I had to drive back and it poured on me. Once I got to about Stroud the wind was so bad I thougth I was going to get blown off the road. I had plenty of gas to get home, but the wind sucked it down. My gas light came on outside of Tulsa before I knew it. That means I only have less than 25 miles left. With the wind blowing like it was I wasn't sure how long it would last. My navigation asked if I wanted it to show me gas stations, but it didn't. So I got off the Turnpike twice where there was a gas sign. NO gas station. So I finally got off at the Supulpa exit. It was about 12:45am and that area was so sketchy. I called my dad and asked him if there was bad weather and he said no. I told him he had to stay on the phone with me because I only had probably 10 miles or less of gas left. I had to drive around looking for the stupid gas station. When I finally found it, it was all dark and some scary factory was across the street. I was like "STAY ON THE PHONE WITH ME DAD." I could tell he was asleep so I kept trying to talk to him. I hop out of the car into about 3 inches of water and soak the bottom 5 inches of my jeans. The wind is whipping rain in my face and I just want to get gas and get the hell out of there. Finally I get enough to get me home and I'm like "Dad. Dad." No answer. He fell asleep. So I hang up and head back home. Well AFTER I had to turn around twice. I am notorious for not being able to backtrack.
My Dad called me Sunday morning and was like "Hey did I talk to you last night."
I just laughed. "Yes Dad. I was getting gas in sketchytown and you fell asleep on the phone."
He as like "Oh no I'm sorry! I woke up this morning and I didn't know if it was a dream or what."
When my Mom got on the phone she said Dad had been up early this morning freaking out because he didn't know if he had actually talked to me or not. Mom had to keep him from calling because she thought I'd still be sleeping. Haha! I made it home, thank goodness!
Sunday was a lazy day. Eric was in Holdenville and after Rene went home it was just me, Mady, and Brodey. We watched I Love Money, Talladega Nights, and a bunch of other crap. I LOVE those two! Talladega Nights always cracks me up!
Today was busy. We took the dogs to the vet this morning to re-check their ears. They are MUCH better, but still a little infected. Cocker Spaniels are so hard. Their ears are totally cute, but big trouble. Gunner actually has to go back the 25th to have surgery. He has a cyst on his neck that has to be removed. They had to be there at 9:45 this morning. Brodey is so hard to wake up. Some day he will sleep until 9:30. I dread getting him up for school.
So I get us both out the door, get my photo stuff unloaded from Saturday, and get the dog cage in the back. I go in to get the dogs and Gigi comes in from outside. GREAT. I guess it was good that she peed, but BAD that her legs were SOAKING wet. She is small so I have to pick her up to put her in the car. FUN. I finally get them loaded up and we are on our way. We get there without a hitch. I remind Bro not to stick his finger in the cage again (if you don't read my blog last time the bird bit him on the finger). Gunner walks right in, hikes his leg, and pees ALL over the bottom of the counter. Great start and his pee STINKS. I'm like "I'm sorry Gunner just peed on your counter." As soon as I say that Brodey screams bloody murder and starts crying. I knew right then that STUPID bird bit him again. The dogs freak out.
"Did that bird bite you again?"
He says "Yes" through tears. The bird starts making a laughing sound.
"I told you not to stick your finger in there. Didn't you remember last time?"
"Yes. Now that bird's laughing at me."
I bust out laughing too. He was fine. It didn't even leave a red mark.
We finally get out of there with only Gigi trying to attack a lizard in a cage. I think "Oh man! It's only 10! That means McDonalds breakfast baby!"
We get into line and we are almost up and I hear Brodey say "No Gunner!"
I look back and Gunner is out of the cage! What? Am I going to have to change your name to Houdini? I didn't care, but I knew Eric would have a fit if dog hair and slobber were all over my new car. Oh and I would be toast if he decided to mark my leather seat as his territory!! I finally get my sausage egg cheese biscuit and Gunner wants to smell it. So I pull in and get him back in the cage. We survivied another trip to the vet.
Well I got Baby Momma at Wal-Mart today and I'm going to go try to convince Eric to watch it with me. If not Mady will! ;)
I have to start posting every day again. There are always funny stories I forget to tell.
Have a good night!
LUV APRIL

I'm Sad

I'm sad tonight. My little black kitty is missing. I HOPE that he found a girlfriend and will come back. He was in the garage last night and I had to open the door and let him out. In the morning he and the gray cat are at the back door. Every single morning. He wasn't there this morning. :( Brodey keeps asking where he is and I have to tell him "I don't know. Maybe he will come back." Hopefully this story will have a happy ending.
I had to take Bro to the doctor today. We don't have a pediatrician here yet so to the Urgent Care Center we went! LOL I walk into the door and I hear "Well April Moore!"
I look over and I say "Well Susan Boyd!" I went to high school with her and I have known her forever! She was two years ahead of me and she was in the same grade as my good friend Erin's sister. It was so weird to see her there! It's such a small world! And to top it off she's friends with Ashley. We bought our house from Ashley! SO WEIRD!
Anyway I had to take Bro to the doctor because he had a freaky bite on his forearm. He woke me up night before last rubbing his arm. I thought it was just a mosquito bite and told him to stop. He didn't say anything about it and I forgot about it until we took a bath yesterday. It was all swollen, red, and hot. I watched it all day and today it looked worse. Eric thought since it was Friday I should get in to have it checked out. The PA that looked at it didn't seem too concerned. She gave him a scrip for some antibiotics and some cream. Hopefully that will help! I won't be here tomorrow so Eric will have to keep an eye on it.
Bright and early tomorrow I am headed to Just 4 Keeps! I take pics all day long! It is always fun to do that! I am supposed to stay to crop, but I might not. Ally's gym opening is tomorrow and I really don't want to miss it.
Well I'm going to go. I have to leave the house in 7 hours for good 'ole Edmond!
Have an awesome Saturday!
LUV APRIL

Lowe's Knows.....How to Entertain My Son

Yes Brodey loves Lowe's. He always has. He actually asks to go to Lowe's. The first thing he has to do when we walk in is get on all the lawn mowers. He hops from one to the other. He loves that he doesn't have to get in the cart there. He is free to walk with me as long as he stays with me. If he doesn't he gets in trouble and has to ride in the cart. It works. Well at Lowe's anyway! LOL Eric was looking for a weed eater and Brodey thought he would try one out. Do you think they would give him a job? Hahaha!Yesterday was a good day. Bro and I didn't get home until after 12 so I was too tired to post. It's a 2 hour drive from here to Shawnee. YES I drive that far just to get my hair done! ;) I LOVE my hairdresser. Plus Ally lives there and that is where she is opening her cheer leading gym. I got to see Mom and Dad and I used my trusty Revolution to diecut letters to put above her mirrors. It turned out SO good! The battery went dead on my camera so I didn't get a pic. My Mom and Dad have been helping her get the building ready so Brodey stayed with them while I went to the hairdresser. It's right down the street. Brodey loved being able to ride his bicycle and play ball in a totally empty building.
When I got back he was kicking his soccer ball around and we were all watching him and it kind of went right outside the door. He came over to where we were and he started playing with something else and we all went back to work.
Then my Mom says "Hey Brodey's ball is going down Kickapoo."
We all jump up and run outside and there goes his ball right down the middle of the road. It was as if it was running away. It was so funny until we realized it might cause an accident! My Dad takes off after it and it is at the intersection by then! Her gym is on a hill so it had a pretty good head start! He runs all the way down there and walks back with Bro's ball. I snapped a pic as he was walking back. It was pretty funny.
Lately I have been feeling like there is NO time in the day. When I worked full time it seemed like the clock went SO SLOW. Now I look up and it's 1 in the afternoon! It has really been driving me nuts lately. I feel like I can't get anything done! Maybe it's because the days are getting shorter. Who knows. It's really going to stink when the time changes. I love it when Eric comes home and he and Bro go outside after we eat dinner. I get so much done! But now it will be almost dark by the time Eric gets home! YIKES!
Brodey is so obsessed with camo right now. Actually he is obsessed with clothes. He is 2 and a half and he changes clothes at least 4 times a day. It is really starting to get on my nerves. He has to have a shirt that is "bad to the bone" and he has to have shorts on "like Uncle Mike's." I blame Eric for the "bad to the bone," but I don't know where the obsession with Uncle Mike's shorts came from. He must be an observant little dude. He LIVES in his camo boots. Can you see his cool knee high socks? Well he has to wear them because he wears the boots so much they rub his legs red! I can't even take them off him when he is napping. Sometimes he wakes up in the middle of the night and asks where they are. I'm not kidding, by the way. I think he got the sleep talking from me. Haha!
The raccoon is still coming back. BUT the other night she brought a friend. I'm not sure if in the raccoon world the girl pays for the date, but that better be the only "friend" she brings back to the house! I'll try to get a pic and post it.
Okay I'm gonna have to wrap it up. I'm so tired. My allergies have been so out of whack today. I try to sneeze a dozen times and nothing comes out. I haven't had allergies like this since before I had Brodey. Does that mean it's time for another one? HAHAHAHA!!!! I can hear it now "Eric I think we need to have another baby because my allergies didn't exist when I was pregnant and after I had him." That would SO not fly! Ha!
Goodnight!
LUV APRIL

It's cold outside?

Well I haven't been on in a few days! This weekend was busy and last night Eric made me watch a movie with him! So I thought I would pop in this morning before I head to Shawnee. I get my hair did today! YEAH!
I finally got my Uppercase Living expression up in my laundry room. I wanted to wait because I was afraid the paint was too wet and it would peel it off. Knowing how difficult it was to paint that room you understand! haha! It turned out REALLY good! I couldn't get a good picture of it because of the cabinets that hang over my washer and dryer. You get that picture, though! It is white and looks so cool with the purple walls! I am placing an order tomorrow! If you would like anything just email me at massadmomma@yahoo.com!
I put up my fall wreath today. It is FREAKING cold here. We are talking there is no way it's above 65 degrees. My mom asked if it was cold here yet and I was like I have no idea. I just went outside to give the cats food and I was like OH CRAP! It is COLD! But anyway I think my wreath is so pretty. My mom and I argued about this all last year. I say argued, but it wasn't mean. She just KNEW I had a fall wreath. I sort of remembered buying one but I couldn't find it anywhere. I looked ALL over my house and couldn't find the dang thing. So all last fall I didn't have a wreath. I refused to go buy one when my mom said I had one. Of course when we moved I found it. Don't you hate when stuff like that happens? So annoying!
The little kitty isn't so little anymore! Now that I uploaded this pic it looks weird. LOL He is actually jumping on his hind legs. He bugs the crap out of the other cat. Sometimes I think it likes to play and other times the other kitty just goes and hides. Hey! Sounds like me and Eric! Haha! Just kidding! :)
I tried my hand at making some cabbage rolls last night. I had some pretty big shoes to fill. Eric's grandfather was from Lebanon and his grandmother knew how to make authentic cabbage rolls. When we lived in Edmond Eric worked for a doctor that was also from Lebanon. Nelly, his sister, would make authentic Lebanese food. So yes. I felt some pressure there to make some pretty darn good cabbage rolls! I knew mine wouldn't taste exactly like their's, but I did know that they would at least be good because they would taste like MY food. It took me about two hours in all to make them and it was so worth it! They were SO good! There are things I will change the next time I make them and it won't take as long because I will know what I'm doing. (It's hard to core a head of cabbage when you have no idea what you are doing LOL) But they were a hit with Eric! He was like "Oh these are SO good!" That's all it takes to make me happy! ;)
My sister came and stayed with me this weekend! SO happy! I have no pics to share, but we had a blast! She hasn't been here since we moved in. She stays busy! I wish she lived closer! :( Maybe some day!
I watched Transformers for the first time last night. It was SO good! I wanted to scrapbook and post on here, but I'm glad I didn't. The movie was good and Eric and I rarely get to do that anymore.
Well I have to go get ready now! No lake pics yet. Darnit. By the time that gets posted there will be snow on the ground! LOL
Have a good Tuesday!
LUV APRIL

Hello Brodey's Room!

Well if you don't get the Basic Grey newsletter, HERE is the link! YES that is Brodey's room! YES that article on the last page is by ME!!! I'm so excited! (Good thing I picked up before I took that photo! LOL I didn't know they were going to use it!) So I'm doing my little happy dance right now!
Mady just left. She came by here before she went out to do her Friday night college thing! ;) Rene brought her yearbook. We were looking at that and I happened to have the Holdenville HS 1972 yearbook and my yearbooks. Us girls had a little flashback party! It was fun! Fashions have certainly changed not only from 1972, but also 1997! It made me miss my friends! :( We need to get togther girls! You know who you are!
I've been having a ton of fun over at Janna Wilson and Valerie Salmon's Got Sketch 102 class! It's been so much fun to work on layouts without any pressure! I work on layouts for calls or DT and I forget how much fun it is to just SCRAP! Oh and I'll actually get to post the layouts! LOL I never get to post what I scrap unless I know for sure it isn't going to get picked up! If you need some scrapping inspritation, scrappy fun, or you need to learn some scrappy tips and tricks you should take the class! There are no deadlines and you can join in at any time! The layout above is from the second sketch in the class! SO FUN!!
Well I'm mad. I wanted to share more photos from the lake, but I got the wrong photo card. The photos were on Ally's camera and I thought I got the right one and I didn't. :( She is coming tomorrow and she promises to bring the right card!
Okay it's 12:30 and I'm off to bed! Rene is here and Bro is sleeping with her! YEAH!!! That means I get to sleep on my pillow BY MYSELF! Now the need to sleep with my little boy comes back tomorrow night. But for right now I'm very happy! Hehe!
NIGHT!!!
LUV APRIL

No Post

I'm sorry! No post tonight! I'm not feeling so hot so I'm headed to bed. Maybe I did too much scrapping today! HA! I'll post that tomorrow. ;)
Night!
LUV APRIL

Let's Play!

Okay! I played this on Susan's blog, now I have to post on mine! It was fun, so now it’s my turn to see what memories you have of me.
It’s game time! Here’s how to play…
1. As a comment on my blog leave a memory that you have of me. It doesn’t matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!
2. Now you have to re-post these instructions on your blog and see who leaves a memory about you!
Have fun and BE KIND!!!! ;)
I'll be back later!
LUV APRIL

It's Gonna Roll!!!

My sister has always said that if she were in a dangerous situation, that she would want to be with me. "April would be like OkAY! You do this! You do that! Everything will be a-okay!" I am LOL right now thinking about her saying that, but I kind of see the truth in it. When something goes wrong my mind gets totally clear and I just know what to do. Afterwards I'm a wreck, but I'm pretty good when things go wrong.
Take Saturday night for example. LOL Eric and I were out on the boat pulling Mady and Ally on the taco. We could tell some storms were moving in so we pulled them until we could feel the warmth from the cloud to ground lightning. They protested but we went back to the point. As soon as we got back the wind started to pick up so I was trying to secure stuff and telling them what to do. My Dad was gone to help my mom bring dinner out. He is usually the one to do that. As soon as we got everything secure, here it comes.
Me, Brodey, Ally, Mady, Danielle, and Mike are all in the camper. Eric is outside trying to make sure the rain doesn't get his radio wet in the Razor. He had the awning on the camper tied down to the Razor which was parked under the awning. Here comes the wind.
I'm looking down at the boat which is tied down by an anchor and also tied to the tree. It's rocking like crazy. The waverunner is also anchored down by a HEAVY wait and it's headed out to the weeds. I'm thinking man it's getting windy. All of a sudden Eric busts into the trailer and screams "IT'S GONNA ROLL!!!! It's gonna roll!"
I'm thinking okay what do to. What to do. There are how many people packed into here? The trailer is rocking and I'm thinking thank goodness my dad is smart enough to put plywood under the camper stablizers! We would be sinkin' if he wasn't!
The wind is whipping and the trailer is really rocking. Mike's telling Eric "Calm down! You are crazy!"
Eric's like "Well what the hell are you gonna do if it starts to roll?"
Mike says "I'm just gonna stablize myself and hold on for the ride!"
HAHAHAHA!!! I have Brodey in my hands so I'm actually being realistic. I'm thinking okay surely all of us are weighting this thing down!
Eric is still freaking a little. Danielle is chilling on the couch. My sister is crawling up the walls. Mady is trying to take pictures out the window with her IPhone! I'm trying to calculate in my head how much we all weigh in here against what one of the trucks weighs! I'm also eyeing matresses thinking they would be good to wrap up in.
I'm like "Eric chill! There isn't anywhere for us to go! The trailer weighs enough!"
All of this is happening, by the way, in about one minute's time. FINALLY the wind calms down. ERIC calms down. My dad calls to check on us. He says he heard on the scanner that a boat overturned. I'm like well I believe it!
We go outside and there are tree limbs everywhere. Big ones. We go around the camper and not 50 yards away a tree has been pulled out of the ground! WHAT! I'm like oh crap! We found out later that a camper had also overturned and a pop up was flipped over itself! Talk about a little mean wind storm! We were lucky because the storm came from the East and we are totally covered by trees from the East! MAN I feel sorry for the tent campers on the West side of the lake! Talk about SCARY!
I should do a post dedicated solely to my dad. I have THE coolest dad on the planet. It's not just me that thinks so! I promise! My dad turned 51 on August 13. (He was born on Friday the 13, by the way!) He is STILL the most badass skier on the lake! When he was young, my grandparents didn't have a boat. My dad would come out to the lake and sit on the dock with his ski and wait for someone to pull him. When I was little I would come out to the lake most of the summer with him and John Janes. I was their "spotter." I would ride in the boat and watch them ski all day and they would build sand castles with me in between.
My dad brings everything out to the lake so we can all have fun. He brings the tractor out to make the point perfect and to build Brodey a sandbox. He will pull us all day long on the tubes and only want someone to pull him to ski once in the evening. He will drive all the way into town and back just to make sure we have enough gas for the generator to keep us cool all night. He will stay up until 3am playing horseshoes or catfishing. Everyone knows him and everyone knows they can come to our point and have a good time. If it wasn't for him and my mom, we wouldn't have ANY fun! WE ALL LOVE YOU DAD!!!!
Well that's only part one of my weekend. I couldn't post yesterday because the remnants of Gustav were jacking with my internet connection.
I have more photos to post tomorrow and more stories to tell! I have to quit for tonight!
Have a good one!
LUV APRIL

Happy Labor Day!

Is that what you are supposed to say on Monday? It's a holiday, right? So I guess that will be my phrase for Monday! HAPPY LABOR DAY! I might even sing it to the tune of Happy Birthday! LOL I'm pretty darn excited! I'm headed to the lake!
Today I had to take the dogs to the vet. MAN it's hard taking two dogs and a 2.5 year old! Especially when the main ROAD is all of 6 feet away from the back of the car! I was like WHOA! Talk about dangerous! I was so nervous one of the dogs would get off the leash or Brodey would dart out in the road. They did pretty well. I also have to say that my dogs mind better than my son. Well I was lucky today. Brodey was pretty good. The vet has a ton of cool animals in there to look at. It's kind of like a pet store where nothing is for sale. He was pretty occupied! He did get a little bite from one of the parrots. I TOLD him now to stick his fingers in there. There was a sign on the cage saying "I BITE!" What do you think he does? Sticks his finger right in there!
"That bird bite me!" He says.
"Duh. I told you not to stick your finger in there!" He just laughed. It must not have hurt too bad.
Well I'm about to pack Bro's stuff and wait on Eric to come home! We will probably leave tonight. I WILL get to go by Just 4 Keeps tomorrow! We have to get our vehicles and don't even think I'm not stoppin' by! ;)
I probably won't post until Monday or Tuesday. :( If I just can't stand it or something happens I just have to share...I'll post at Eric's Mom's house. Otherwise tata 'til Monday! Have a HAPPY LABOR DAY!!!!
LUV APRIL

Yes Your Highness

That came out of Brodey's mouth today. Don't you even ask me where that came from. I have no idea. He had to have heard it on a cartoon...or maybe Eric said it under his breath. LOL It happened today when we were in the scrapbook room and Brodey wanted to watch a movie.
"Turn the power on. You know how to do that."
He sits there and pushes the power button over and over.
I'm like "Don't do that!!! You are going to break the tv!"
"Yes your highness." My mouth drops to the floor.
He says it all sweet is what makes me laugh my butt off. Now if he had said it smart like I would have....well it wouldn't have been pretty. I couldn't even believe that came out of his mouth.
Then I put his pillow down so he could watch his movie (secretly hoping he would fall asleep) and it's flat.
"It's too flat." He says. "I can't see the tv."
I go and get a little pillow off the chair and stick it underneath. "Is that better?"
"Perfect Mommy."
I would have walked to the end of the Earth to get that pillow just to hear that one!
Later on I was in here on the computer and I told him to go get his juice. He walks out the door and yells down the hall "What you doin' dragon?"
I starting CRACKING up! Then I felt bad because he came back in the office with that shy smile on his face. I said "What was that dragon doing?"
He says "I don't know I can't find him." Hahahaha!!!! Constant entertainment that boy! I didn't tell his Daddy about that last one. Bro likes to pretend to cook me stuff and let me eat it and Eric is worried about his "pretending." I'm like "Maybe if you pretended more as a child you would be more ENTERTAINING." Of course I'm kidding and he knows I'm kidding because he usually just laughs and jokes back.
He also laughs when I run into things. I seriously am afraid there is somthing wrong with my brain. I ran into three door frames today. A DOOR frame for crap's sake. How do you not see a door frame? I am always in awe at how I can run into the dumbest things. I either just don't pay attention or something is seriously wrong with my brain.
Oh I have to share my Uppercase Living design I did tonight! I have been wanting a monogram to go on one of Brodey's walls and I finally sat down and designed it today on the UL site. It's so easy and kind of fun! I took a pic of it with my camera. The expression I designed is two sets of letters in two colors and it's about 16x13 inches. The whole thing is only $9.95! If you want to design your own, go to my website in the upper lefthand corner of my blog under my profile. That links you to my site.
ALSO!!!! I will be placing an order next week. Probably on Wednesday. If you want anything LET ME KNOW!!! I won't have to charge you shipping if I can drop it off at Just 4 Keeps for you or if I can give it to you in person. If you live far away, I estimated someone's shipping at $4.50. Not bad! You can look at all the products on my site! E-mail me your order at massadmomma@yahoo.com!
Look at this terd! Can you believe this was taken in JANUARY? He looks little younger but not 8 months younger! Time sure flies, doesn't it?
Okay I'm getting off of here. I'm going to go pack so I don't have to do it tomorrow. We are going to the lake this weekend! YEEHA!!! Maybe I will get back some of that tan that is long gone! Wishful thinking. At least we get to ride the Taco!
Until tomorrow!
LUV APRIL

So Long Pizza....Sad to See You Go!

Well Eric finally threw the pizza away. I was sad to see it go. It was starting to get pretty fun! I'm not sure he totally grasped the meaning of the Pizza Saga, but it was fun while it lasted! I have to say that if he hadn't thrown it away the pizza's next stop was on his snooze button! Hahahaha!!!
I have been letting Brodey dress himself lately. Or at least have a say in what he wears. (I know I'm asking for it.) But honestly I really don't care what he wears as long as it's clean and ironed. Sometimes me wear his yellow and black rainboots. Sometimes it's the hoodie with the hood up in 90 degree weather. So what! I promise you what non-matching clothes he is wearing are cute! I mean he wouldn't make it on Project Runway, but I daresay he might make it on the cover of Field and Stream! LOL Here is a sampling of his ensembles this week.
<- "This 90 degree weather is so chilly a hood just isn't going to be enough!"


<- "Princess Jasmine meets super P.O.'d Bob the Builder."


<- "Be veeeewwwiiiee quiet. We aw hunting wabbits!" Can't you just hear me saying these things to his first girlfriend while I flip through the family album? HAHAHAHA!!!!
Now we don't go out in public without pants, mind you. BUT Brodey does try! His new favorite quote is "Daddy says I don't need pants."
"Yeah well do I look like Daddy?"
"No"
"Well put some pants on!" I say as I am laughing my butt off!

-> This is what he wore today to Lowe's. John Deere boots, camo pants and hat, and he started out wearing another shirt but we got this on in from Eskimo Joe's. He insisted on wearing it so I let him. He got some chuckles from the Lowe's workers and some flirts from the olders ladies! ;) Paint girl at Lowe's...you know who you are! Hahahaha!!!
Okay I will stop for tonight. I just love this blog! I think of things to talk about all day and I end up forgetting half of them by the time I post! I'm going to have to start writing them down!
It's midnight and I'm headed to bed!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!! Don't get too wasted on your 21st birthday! Oh wait that would mean I wouldn't exist. Okay have fun on your 31st! Hehe! ;)
LUV APRIL