What I Did Over Christmas Vacation

How can I explain the total awesomeness that was this week at a Smoky Mountain luxury cabin? Sharing time with family, roasting hot dogs and S'mores over the fire pit on the back deck, go-karts and mini golf in town, playing games, soaking in the hot tub, taking in a few movies on the big projection screen in the home theater room, playing games, cooking together, shopping and lunch with the ladies, enjoying morning coffee outdoors on the porch swing, playing games, ringing in the New Year with champagne and fruity Sierra Mist, spying a "wolf" (which may have been a big dog) right outside our front door on our last night there, playing games....do you begin to see the awesomeness?

It's hard to explain in words, so here are some pictures!










Thanks, Mom & Dad, for an amazing vacation!!

8 More Days...

...til I'm on a plane headed for Texas! I can't believe the time for the Tally Rally is almost here! I've been looking forward to this for months...and it totally snuck up on me. Seriously, eight DAYS?? What on earth have I been doing with my preparation time? Oh yeah, now I remember...

hanging out at the pool with Shyla and our kids. Every. Freaking. Day.

It's a blast. We just can't get enough of it, and I have the best tan I've had in years from basking in the sun for endless hours. Also got the best sunBURN I've had in years, but it's gone now and I really don't like to think of it. Because of the nightmares, you understand.

Let's see, what else have we done this summer? A TON of stuff....guess I'll do a bullet-list.

• I convinced Alex to cut his shaggy mop of hair, and he loves his fresh new 'do.
• Jack made a new best friend, named Aaron, whose back yard is behind ours. Jack is over at Aaron's more than he's at home. They're like peas and carrots.

• We've made several trips to the library, and I finished the "Twilight" series. Loved it. Can't wait for the "New Moon" movie...November 20, baby!
  
• Alex turned 11...we had a pool party for him, of course. And ice cream cake, which was my favorite part.

• Been to several BBQs.
• Got to meet my 3-year-old nephew, Tobias, for the first time. He totally loved me, even gave me a slobbery kiss before they left to attend a wedding, then head home to Wisconsin.

• Visited my Grandma Jo and saw my dad, sister Kim and brother David there.
• Watched all of Season 4 of "The Office"...the DVD set was my Mother's Day gift, and I freaking LOVED it. Can't even tell you my favorite episode, since they were all so super fab.
  
• Finished another folk art doll (Flora Bloom) and listed her in my etsy shoppe, along with Aurora Fawn.

• Took Jack in for his Kindergarten physical...poor guy got 4 shots and didn't even cry. My big boy.
• Rick's taught me a few cornhole pointers and I've done a bit of practicing for the big tournament at the Tally Rally. Hopefully Rachel and I (or "Team Chowder" as we've dubbed ourselves) will be able to win at least one game. Keeping my fingers crossed.
  
• We've been to the pool every day...did I mention that already?

That's all I can think of for now! I've got a LOT of cleaning to do before the week is done...laundry, dishes, vacuuming...not to mention organizing the schtuff I need to take and packing for my trip. Busy, busy, busy....wonder how long I can put off the packing before it's officially considered "procrastinating?" Better not try to find out. Off to pack!

Or at least work on the list of what I need to remember to pack. That counts, right?

I'm Back....

....from the TallyRally in South Carolina and the longest road trip EVAH!! lol Looking back, I'd make the trip again in a heartbeat, but it was a LOT longer than I expected. For some reason, I thought the total trip would be about 9 or 10 hours. Instead, the ride down (for me) was 15 hours....coming home took 13. Add those two numbers, I dare you! Betcha come up with more hours than there are in a day, just like I did when I added them. Good thing the four of us got along so well!

We had a radio show hosted by Rachel on Saturday night, and there may have been some drinking involved....you can listen to that HERE. Anything said about me was most likely a blatant lie, I'll just tell you that up front. Heehee! Here's a random shot of our scrap area....the store was really nice and the cottage was beautiful, thanks so much to Jan for organizing this for us!!

We got to meet TallyNerd, the co-creator of Tally and our official tech support....he's such a great guy! And, as evidenced by this photo, a really good sport about letting a bunch of deranged and slightly drunk women have their way with him. Thanks, Nerd! :)

You can see more pictures HERE in our Flickr group!

All right, I've gotta get going....got lots of projects that need done TODAY and I haven't even started yet. Next post I'll show you some of the layouts I got done at the Rally....all three of them, lol!

Some reminders before I go:
The new prompt is up over at GutterGirlz today, so be sure to check that out! We did a swap with the Dream Girls this time, so if you want to see what WE did, make sure you stop by their site, too. :)
The October kit at Tally is available for sale today! It's been designed by the uber-talented Staci Compher and it totally ROCKS!! I can't place an order until tomorrow, so if there's not one available for me, I'm pretty sure I'll cry. So, on second thought, just ignore this particular reminder. You wouldn't want to see me cry, would you?

Insert Beach-Related Title HERE

Our kids are finally old enough to go to the beach!! I can't believe it had been three years since the last time we went to Weko Dunes, and I didn't realize until yesterday how much I had missed it! It was a little nerve-wracking trying to keep Jacob from running off and drowning himself in the fifth largest lake in the world, but he was mostly content to play in the sand. And the day was pretty windy, causing waves that kept the little ones close to shore when they did decide to try swimming.

Some pics of our day:(ETA: This is my fabulously beautiful SIL Nikki. Notice her look of resigned annoyance....she has had years to hone this expression to perfection by growing up with my husband as her little brother. She's my hero.)

We lost one water shoe and two pairs of googles, but we got about ten pounds of sand in return, so I'd say that's a fair trade. After the beach, we went to Brian and Katie's to say goodbye to Brandie and Andy who are moving to Minnesota! They'll be close enough to Canada to hear them play their anthem at hockey games. It kinda sucks that they're moving so far away, but I know they'll keep in touch. (Brandie, you better keep in touch!!)


In other news, I got Rachel's Jar of Whimsy boxed up and ready to mail the other day, then had to take it out of the box to photograph it and its contents. *sigh* Here it is....I'll share pics of the contents after she receives it so I don't spoil the surprise! :) I'm also mailing her a few other things that don't fit in the jar, like a couple vintage round mirrors that I know she collects. I think she'll be pretty pleased!

And I have a few new creations to add to my etsy shop! These number tags:
....and this little owl and some of his friends will be making an appearance soon:

PLUS, I'm working on a custom tag to include in September's kit over at TallyScrapper that I'M DESIGNING!! Wow, I'm SO frikkin' excited about that! I'd like to name the kit "Vintage Brew," but of course I'll have to clear the name with Christine first. Right now I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of the August kit so I can start creating layouts again! I've been so busy cleaning the house and organizing the kids' rooms lately that I haven't done much scrapping. Except for a card and two digi layouts, all I've been crafting has been stuff for my store!


Here's the digi I made for the third round of Robin's layout tag game:
The other digi can be seen over at Gutter Girlz since I made it for the July 30th prompt. You should definitely check out the new challenge if you haven't already! Hope you've all had a great weekend!