So much.......

I have so much to blog about... but no time at all.

This summer has been just an incredible whirl-wind so far---- a good one, but busy to say the least. I am not complaining, because I have had so much fun, got to hang with my closest buds on the beaches of Hilton Head, finally got to meet Heather at the lake, hung out with my mom, sis and Aunt Candy (or the Candy Girl as MJ calls her), and now on my way to Myrtle Beach!!!

WOW!

I have pictures upon pictures to post-- but for now I have to go pack and clean the house so I don't come home to craziness!

Maddie misses her Jo Jo

My aunt was in from Indiana for part of the week. Sadly it was to mourn a close member of her family that passed away (quite suddenly) -- but we did get to spend some time with her yesterday. Maddie Jo LOOOOVES her Jo Jo (hence the middle name Jo!) - and asks for her constantly. She doesn't yet understand the 'distance' factor between here and Indiana!

But anyway -- it was a short but sweet visit with Jo Jo-- and MJ misses her already!

Happy Birthday Madelyn!

Well, today was my girl's third birthday. I truly can not believe three years has past since I had her; it seems like just yesterday. I know that is very cliche, but it is so true. I will never forget what it was like to have her, and bringing her home for the first time. She is so grown now... so helpful with Lauren --- a wonderful sense of humor and her mommy's clumsiness --- her Daddy's eyes -- and oh, that curly hair!

I know I am so lucky to have Madelyn -- I don't remember too much of what life was like without her. I know I was a totally different person, and she has changed me for the better. Anyway, I know she was given to me for a number of reasons.

A little story, when we found out that my Gram had cancer... I prayed and prayed. I am typically not an overly religious person, but I do pray. I prayed that my Gram would live long enough to see me graduate and to have a baby. Now, at this time having babies was actually the furthest thing from my mind. I was in college, working a few jobs to get by and just really focused on 'my' future career.

A few months later, I got pregnant with Madelyn. It was unexpected, and I really didn't know how this would affect my schooling - yes, that was my first thought. Once it all sunk in, both Mike and I were super ecstatic and very eager to move on to this phase in our lives together.

Unbelieveably it fit in perfect time-wise with my schooling. I ended up having my last final on a Friday afternoon, and giving birth to Madelyn the following Wednesday. We had set up 'back up plans', but it ended up working out perfectly.

So, when I had Madelyn my Gram was undergoing treatments so she was unable to come to the hospital to see us. We left the hospital and drove directly to her house. She met little Madelyn, and I will never forget how she held her and just talked about how 'perfect' she was. She stared at her for a long time, and just fell in love with her instantly.

That was in May, and my Gram passed away in September.

She didn't get to see me graduate the following May -- a difference of a mere few months.

I didn't understand why I had made that wish; that prayer for my Gram to see me graduate. I mean, I was proud of myself and I knew she was proud of me. But this wasn't my first degree, and it was never really a topic of conversation other than in passing. So, why was it so important to me that my Gram be there.

Well, I didn't realize a few things until after they were over.

First, my prayers really WERE answered in a way. God knew my Gram wasn't going to make it to my graduation -- that is why I got pregnant. It was His way of saying, ok then -- we are going to have to mix things up here.

Secondly, it was important to me that my Gram see me graduate because I was selected to be the speaker, although I didn't know it yet when I made the wish/prayer.

So, she didn't make it to see me graduate but, see, I know she was there. I am sure of this, and only 'some' could see -- she was actually standing behind me with her hand on my shoulder the whole time. Otherwise, I am not sure I would have made it through my speech with how scared I really was.

So, Madelyn may not remember her Great Gram but BOY oh BOY do I have stories for her ;)

Wondering where I've been?

I have been like a chicken with it's head cut off! I now have an amazing Creative Team in the works, and my boutique at Divine Digital is up and running.

I have another store in the works - more information to follow on that :)

Other than that, the girls' had their appointments this morning. Still have the vaginal adhesions which make me want to jump off a cliff. We are going to be more proactive though about opening them now. We begin a topical antibiotic with an estrogen creat twice a day. Hopefully this will work because if there is no change, I have to take them both back in six weeks, and possibly to go a specialist :( Luckily, we have an AMAZING doctor whom I trust !

Both girls are in the 90th percentile for height and the 50th for weight- growing great !!

I have been subbing, and I just finished up the job corps orientation, which was amazing as usual. So, I have alot going on right now.

We are starting to gear up for Mike to NOT WORK MIDNIGHTS !!! I am so tired of midnights. But luckily, he is looking at a really great schedule as soon as the new guy is trained. He will FINALLY BE OFF FRIDAYS AND SATURDAYS! That means we can finally have a real life :) He can go to weddings, birthdays and we won't have to worry about his schedule interferring with our weekend plans anymore. I am SOOOOOO looking forward to this.

We also have a few vacations this summer that we are looking forward to. A friend is getting married in Hilton Head in a few short weeks, and we are SO STOKED!

That's about all for now... will check it later :)

Some cousins

My mom has a very large family. She has five sisters and four brothers - and so that leaves me with a lot of cousins. Some are closer than others, some I rarely see, some I never see! Some were more like sisters and friends while I was growing up, still are, and some I even babysat! But, here is a layout I did with some of the cousins. One of the cousins in the picture is my little sister! These pictures were taken on Easter ! What fun we have together!!!

Credits: Walking on Sunshine Mega by the Sunshine Girls (and guy)!!

Missing my hubby

Well, my hubby has been away at an EMSI conference since Wednesday and, man, do I miss him! He isn't far - just at a ski resort about an hour and a half East of us. The thing is that typically it is me and the kids who go away, and leave him home, like when we go to the cottage. Well, I know how he feels now.

So, last night he called to see how everyone was doing and it turned out that he hadn't made dinner plans with the guys. I decided to take a drive! So, I left the kiddos with my mom and I drove up to see him and have dinner on a whim. I decided all of this at like 3pm. Of course, he is at the resort that has the ALL YOU CAN EAT SEAFOOD BUFFET on Fridays. But to be honest, we could have sat in his hotel room and had pizza for all I cared.

Sidenote: we did have the buffet and it was kick a$$ as usual.

Here is a layout I did of Lauren and Mike while he was gone :(

Credits: Beckie Wallace Boy Meets Girl kit.

Impromptu Challenge - Unconditional

I don't know if I am just a sap lately, or if it is because Mike is away at a conference right now. But I couldn't help but do this impromptu challenge over at Stone Accents Studios. The challenge was to create a layout about what unconditional means to you, using the dictionary definition.

Now here is a testament to Beckie's kit - I am not a big fan of orange, but - honestly, check out the florals in this kit! The orange one is so unique in color and it just seems classy to me.

Well, anyway- here is what I came up with.

The foil hearts are kick a$$ too - hey, don't say a word - I said it was uncensored!

Snow Day !

So, we all get a snow day today!!!

WHOOOO HOOOOOOO!

Ok, I love snow days. No matter how old I get, I still get excited to wake up, turn on the news and watch for cancellations and delays. Now, today is different because I actually have somewhere fun and exciting to go !

THE LION KING IS TONITE!

Of course, the snow would come today! The only day I have plans; the plans I have been waiting for three months now. The snow comes today. I should have guessed this would happen. You all know my luck, right?

So anyway - thats my scoop for today.

We took MJ out to play in the snow, because who knows when we will see anymore. Don't tell me there is no such thing as global warming - we had a 65º day in the past ten days ! IT'S FREAKIN FEBRUARY! Then today we get snow - of course.

And when I was young there was a good chance we would get a blizzard on Halloween - this is our first REAL snow fall this year. We have had mild winters here for too long for it to be coincidence! Sorry, but I am with Al Gore on this one !!! Of course, when I was younger they would have never cancelled school for a day like today - we would have been out at the dang bus-stop shivering our tookus'es off waiting as slush was sprayed onto us by passing cars, I am just sayin!

I will post some pics of MJ playing in the snow in a bit!

New layout --- and an update

So I found out within the past few days that my cousin Deana is pregnant - I am so stinking excited I could pee my pants! I can't wait to find out all the scoop tomorrow. We are going to see her at her restaurant for dinner - the whole gang. With all the family disruption / parting of ways / basically written people off / dead to me stuff, we aren't taking the ones we have left for granted. We are all going to celebrate for Deana - and I just can't wait!

I made a layout tonite with Beckie Wallace's new Fairywings - which are beautiful. I just am not a master extractor yet - I am getting better, but I am still not great. Therefore, I am not sure if I really like how this turned out. I don't hate it, but I wish it were different. To be honest, I don't even know what I would change about it ! I guess I just wish I were better at extracting, but I will improve with time and practice!

Maddie is slowly getting better, she definitely is still on the mend - but is improving everyday. Thanks to all for your well wishes for her :)

Actions, actions, actions

The real title for this blog should be, "Why Rachel's a subborn idiot, PART ONE."

The best decision I could have made was taking Amy Leigh's PSE course at GoDigitalScrapbooking. I am not kidding! I had been scrapbooking with ScrapbookMax for a year and a half, and loving it, but I wanted more. You know what I mean? I just needed to know the how's and why's of what I was seeing in everyone else's layouts. Not that mine weren't ok, they were... but I wanted to know how to improve. I guess thats the teacher in me.. I have a very powerful urge to know as much as I can about certain things. OCD perhaps!

Anyway, I got PSE and installed it in the Fall of 2006... and there it sat. I signed up and took Amy's course in October of 2007 ((shame on me for waiting that long)). I swore when I was done with the class that I STILL wasn't going to use it. It just seemed so complicated, and I didn't get any 'a-ha' moments where anything really CLICKED for me or didn't feel confident with it. I was able to motor right along with the class, but just felt like it took too long to do anything. This is where me being a stubborn idiot comes in.

So then, you can just go ahead and color me a stubborn idiot because I am here to tell you that now (in JANUARY!) the more I work with it, the more I like it. Today, I experimented with some new actions and I am in love, LURVE with PSE! It only took a year and a half!

Here is tonites layout. I used Karla's Cupid's Crush kit for this one. I love the rich red's contrasting with the pretty pinks.

This picture was taken at Mike's Christmas party at Alcoa. Seriously, there were a bunch of these pictures to chose from, and this was the best one. If I wait for the perfect picture of us - where everyone is looking - I may never have a picture to scrap of all of us together. And so it was scrapped..........

Purse Party Part Deux

IT HAS BEEN SO SCHEDULED THAT ON SUNDAY, THE 17TH OF FEBRUARY AT 2PM, A PURSE PARTY WILL TAKE PLACE AT DAWN's.

I couldn't be more stoked, and it only took, what? THREE MONTHS! Well, I got caught up in Christmas, the holidays, the girls and all that jazz.

Anyway, this is really going to be nice because my sister in law will also be hosting a SPA party during that time too. So you can buy purses, eat, socialize, get a facial and all in one party. It would be a blast, and I couldn't be more excited!

Damn skippy

A new post to thank Cheryl for her incredible birthday gift in my pyzam widget at the top of my blog. She left me a lawn chair and referenced the best game ever! Now, you didn't think I was really NOT going to post this picture did you.

Catch up

Well, it has been awhile (by my standards) since I last posted a blog. There is a lot to catch up on, but I will try to keep my stories short and sweet.


Christmas was incredible, beyond my expectations. Madelyn was amazed, dumbfounded and overjoyed to find Santa had left her presents under our tree. Santa was pretty damn good to her this year, let me say!


I find, and this is just my opinion, that the earlier I start shopping for Christmas, the more I buy. So, since I started early, there was WAY too much stuff for her. And of course, she wanted to play with everything the second she opened it. So that made for a difficult time. I had to tell her no, and that we were going to open all the presents before we played with anything, and she didn't dig that at all. Understandably, and that is one thing I do hate, but we are so busy running around all day on all the holidays. It often makes for a very long, tiring day.


Lauren, poor little Lauren. She hadn't a clue what was going on. She was happy, as she usually is! It was thrilling to watch her just smiling away as Maddie opened all the presents.

Madelyn and Lauren both got alot of awesome toys and clothes from Santa! But they do have some favorites! Madelyn loves her Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Lucky Ducks Game, Baby dolls, Dress up trunk and Alice doll. Lauren loves her Jack in the box, and her gummy rattles that are finally light enough for her to hold and chew on (poor baby's gums!).

Maddie got a marching band set from her Cousin Allen! HOW KIND OF HIM (yes, I was shouting!). She does love it! She also got the Rose Petal Cottage from Mimi, but it hasn't been assembled yet, so she doesn't know really about it yet. From Cheryl she got a Care Bear which she sleeps with and a really cool Elephant game.

Cheryl also got Lauren little baby UGGS, and an outfit to match them! OMG, they are the cutest! Aunt Bee got Lauren little tiny stuffed Pooh characters that she can grasp. They are so soft, she just hugs them and loves them!

Overall, we had an incredible Christmas. The kids got so much stuff!

Oh, Mike got an XBOX, in case you missed that in an earlier post. I gave it to him early so he could play it during his vacation time in early December. He also got a blanket and a Steelers AFC Champions t-shirt from me. My parents got him Madden 08, and my sister and Brett got him Scrubs season 2 on DVD. That is just as much a gift for me as it is for him!

Here is an overview of what I got: beautiful diamond earrings, aromatherapy, slippers, jammies, season six of Scrubs on DVD, a CSI computer game, clothes and best of all A BELGIAN WAFFLE MAKER that flips! That is what I asked for, not sarcasm.

Mikes parents got us an awesome digital photo frame. It plays music, videos, slideshows of your pictures, IT IS SOOO NEAT!

Ok, that is the Christmas wrap up - hmm, no pun intended there!

A long two days.....

Wow, I don't have time to post really, but I had to come on and wish everyone
A VERY, VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!

From my little piece of Heaven on Earth to yours, I hope it was a good one.

Here is a picture of my best present this year!

So busy - well, what do you expect? It is Christmas!

I just love Christmas time. But I hate being so busy that I can't tell which end is up. I am desperately trying to keep the house clean, get all the cookies baked, presents bought and wrapped, keep the kids excited, and make sure all the t's are crossed and i's dotted!

All in all, it will be worth all the running, fussing, stressing and being busy. I don't mean to get all sappy on you guys here, but I can't wait for MJ to open her presents. She is excited, but I am even more excited for her. I can't wait to see her face when she sees the presents under our Christmas tree! It should be pretty spectacular to see! I just can't wait.

Tomorrow is my father in law's official birthday - so we will be them for dinner. Then to my moms for a little while.

Christmas day, Mike is off so we will do the run around like we always do!

I probably won't be on much in the next two days, although I may try to squeeze another cookie's post in tomorrow since we will be baking part of the day.

Here is a layout that I did with a kit from Karla's Kaleidoscope Designs called Christmas Cheer.

Merry Christmas to you and your family from mine here in Pittsburgh! Have a wonderful holiday!

Christmas to me

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
Both- i like to wrap for the girls, but for others mostly bags!

2. Real tree or Artificial?
Artificial...we had dogs and now its just easier.

3. When do you put up the tree?
I shoot for the day after Thanksgiving, and usually finish in the first week of December.

4. When do you take the tree down?
New Years Day or the day after.

5. Do you like egg nog?
As a child, a neighbors mom made us what she SAID was homemade EGG NOG, and I LOVED IT. Now I have tried egg nog and that was SOOOO not egg nog.

6. Favorite gift received as a child?
Barbies Townhouse - it had an elevator! Or Cabbage Patch kids, or colecovision

7. Do you have a nativity scene?
No, but I am looking for just the right one.

8. Hardest person to buy for?
My mother in law or my sister Becky.

9. Easiest person to buy for?
The girls!

10. Mail or email Christmas cards?
Mail them! I have 83 going out today!

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
I don't think I have ever gotten anything very bad. But last year Mike bought me crocs that were two sizes off!

12. Favorite Christmas movie?
A Christmas Story or ELF

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
I try to start the beginning of November!

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
Well, I think I am guilty of an occassional regift.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
Ham, dessert, and Sarris candy! Christmas cookies - especially the peanut butter ones with the hershey kisses in the middle :)

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree?
clear

17. Favorite Christmas song?
O holy night and Snoopy & the Red Baron

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?
Well, we stay in Pittsburgh, but visit a few places.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeers?
oh yea... but I am not going to.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star?Actually we have a bow up there.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?
Christmas morning.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year?
Psycho drivers who have no clue where they are going. Rude people at the malls and crowds.

23. Favorite ornament theme or color?
I love all of them.

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner?
Honey ham or deep fried turkey :)

25. What do you want for Christmas this year?
Diamond earrings, a belgian waffle maker, boots.

26. What was the one Christmas gift you wanted as a child but never received?
I think I got everything I wanted.

27. Who are you tagging?
Anyone !

Professional pictures of the family

I got our actual pictures back from JCP today, not the crappy online ones. I know they CAN use a higher resolution, they just choose not to, so rude! Anyway, so I can officially upload them to you and show you what they really look like instead of the blurred version you got a week ago.

Here they are... drumroll please!

Rachel jacks up sayings - Part One

I really am an intelligent person, not to toot my own horn, but it's true. Although sometimes words cross my lips that I am dumbfounded by. I have a tendency to, how shall I put this, jack up commonly used sayings pretty regularly.

Today, while riding to the mall with my mom we were in a conversation in which I tried to use a pretty commonly used verse......... but instead what came out of my mouth was, "Well Mom, you know, the squeaky nail gets the glue!".... I really mean the 'squeaky wheel gets the oil', but I jacked it all up.

I knew immediately that I had totally jacked the saying up, but just tried to cover with a, 'well, you know what I mean'.... but of course, my mom erupted into laughter at which point I did too.

If nothing else, I am QUITE able to laugh at myself, do so pretty regular and actually think I am kind of funny most of the time. This was just stupid though.

But always remember kids, when you want something and no one is listening to you... the squeaky nail gets the glue !

Drats... no camera?

Tonite Mike and I took the girls to Hartwood Acres which is a really cool drive through park with a beautiful Christmas light show. They put up probably sixty to seventy different scenes built with Christmas lights. The suggested price is $12.00 per car load and the proceeds go to Project Bundle Up which provides needy kids with warm winter coats each winter.

Talk about amazing. We have been to different light shows before, but this one really is beautiful. And, drats... I didnt take my camera. I was kicking myself the first five minutes through the park for not having it. It would have been worth it just to get Maddie Jo's reaction to some of the scenes.

I am working on our Christmas cards, and some layouts for Karla right now. It will be busy the next few days getting those done and out.

Mike has been off work all week on vacation, and he goes back to work on Saturday (BOO.. but it does pay the mortgage ). So, I know I have been scarce but we have doing the traditional family Christmas time stuff and it has me getting the warm and fuzzies about the holidays!

WOW - or should I say WAW!

W hat A W eekend !

The party went off without a hitch! I can now blab that for a few months now my sister in law and I have been planning a surprise 60th birthday party for my father in law! He was shocked, and everyone came and it was amazing. We had his senior picture from high school put on the cake (which was awesome - whipped cream icing kicks ass in a big time way). The food was great (and there was enough, which was a worry of ours). People came who haven't seen my father in law in years, and he was just tickled.

I spent the last three weeks or so making a scrapbook of his life. It ended up being two entire 20 page books (plus a refill kit for the book - so, about 50 pages or so!) Everyone loved it, and I was so happy. I worked SO freakin hard on this thing for ENTIRE DAYS and filled ENTIRE WEEKS! It is so nice to feel like they understood the hard work, and thoughtfullness that went into. Truly, there aren't too many people I would do that for, my father in law is just one of them. He is just a hell of a guy, and there aren't too many words in the English dictionary that can describe him. You just have to know him. He, my mother in law and my sister in law loved the scrapbook so much, they cried- which made me feel great! That was the reaction I was looking for.

Today was the Mike's work Christmas party which is mostly for kids (but it is INCREDIBLE!)... I should mention that my father in law works there as well, so we went to this party even before Mike started there. Santa Claus comes and there are jugglers, clowns, magicians, balloon animal makers, face painters, spin art, mimes, marionettes... just about everything a kid could want to do ! For adults, they have a free chair massage on each floor of the building, so there is never more than one person in front of you. They have handwriting analysis, a craft show, an amazing lunch and characture artists . I just can't begin to describe it!

So, Maddie gets her first shot at Santa Claus, who she finally understands this year. He came around the corner, and her face just lit up like a Christmas tree and she screams "Merry Christmas!" So adorable. She sat on his lap, and said, "nice a meet you!". He asked her what she wanted for Christmas, and even though she is able to rattle off a list to me, she goes, "toys!". He said, "Oh, ok, anything in particular?" ... she says, "no... just toys". I cracked up, poor thing just froze. I imagined in my head A CHRISTMAS STORY where the kid just nods and says 'Yea, a football" when he really wants the bb gun! Thank goodness there was no slide!

I will post some more pictures tomorrow. But here are a few of my favorites from the weekend!