YES! I won the raffle at my lss today and Heidi Swapp scrapped my pictures!! So fun. I never win anything so that was killer! I had actually won a smaller prize earlier and they had told everyone that you could only win once. If your name got called again you could trade your prize. Well they called the name of someone to get their pictures scrapped and she wasn't there...so the next name they called was mine!! LUCKY! So she scrapped them right there in the store. and i got a pink album to put them in! I love these pics of Anna. I have done a few of these pics of Anna. the one on top is the one I did last night. Well, that was a lot of fun. Heidi told some stories of how she came up with some of her ideas for product and then demonstrated how to use a bunch of them. plus they gave away a ton of prizes!! But winning the pictures scrapped was the icing on the cake. that definitely took some of the edge off my PMS!!

on a side note--called Shanna to see how things were going with her Mississipi boy and also to tell her my pics were getting scrapped and she was on her way home from VEGAS! Hello??? I about had a heart attack. She did assure me that she wasn't married though!! Um, can you fall in love, meet that person and then tell your friend you are coming home from Vegas and not have said friend almost suffer a nervous breakdown? geez! Sounds like she is happy though. but you'll have to stalk her blog to get an update...L

well, I'm home. Good to be home but also sad to leave. We had a blast with Debbie and Dennis and I got some really good pictures to scrap. Ate a ton of yummy food too. I went and watered my plants tonight and was so happy. Some of them had been looking a little, well, dead. I asked our good neighbor Dan to water them while I was away and all of them look sooo much better. Have to find a way to keep Dan taking care of my plants! It's nice to have flowers during the summer here. in Mesa you could just forget anything flowering or growing practically except for some cactus. just too dang hot. but i planted some blackberry bushes here and have actually eaten a few berries off said plants. that was too cool. so i included some pics of my lovely berry bushes. Anna and Haley eat them with me but Haley refuses to call them anything but strawberries. if i correct her she tells me very forcibly that they are strawberries. well, back to normal life tomorrow. did i just say normal? you know what i mean...L

just in case anyone was wondering--I'm in Cali having some fun! will post later when i am home.

having a great weekend...L

what a week. a horrific cold has come upon me in all it's loveliness (thanks beth--for the word lovely, not the cold!) been dragging my arse out of bed everyday at about 10 or so. and you know what that means. you wake up from what seems a drunken stupor, literally force yourself to walk upright and by the time your eyes get adjusted to the light this is what you see; the remains of your once clean home. 4 little girls ranging in ages from 11 to 3 have been left to fend for themselves for roughly 2-3 hours. not a pretty sight. but instead of throwing yourself back in bed again, you eventually start to put everything back into a state of normal. ugggg. sickness is a double whammy for a mom.

speaking of normal. carson gave me a quiz today to see if I was "normal". Um, i could have saved you 5 minutes. the answer was no. she didn't even give me a percentage of how "un" normal I was. just a quick little look with a roll of her eyes to inform me that i wasn't normal. c'est la vie.

even with a day of nothing seemingly good. i did have some things to be grateful for today. 1)Jack-in-the-box. Thank you for putting a fast food restaurant not far from where I live. 2) The eagle. it's about the only radio station that comes in half-way decent here. While driving they played "canary in a coal mine". Just one of my all time favorite Police songs. ever. 3) Barnes and Noble. took the girls there this afternoon and bought some cool magazines and my girls some books. love bookstores. 4) David--yesterday when I was in sick/kids are home from school mode he told me to leave--I did and went and got a manicure and pedicure. pure heaven. 5) my girls--even though they technically create a lot of work for me--they pretty much let me sleep in, give me head rubs and even cleaned the kitchen for me. 6) this layout I did last week of anna. still loving it. 7) Haagen Dazs Mayan chocolate--sheer heaven! 8) talked on the phone today with a few friends. nice. 9) got an email from my son--he has been transferred to Monza--looks like it's not too far from Milan. 10) great weather here--breezy, 80 degrees. perfect.

thats all for now. hoping this cold will go away shortly. later...L

you know--my husband is a pretty sweet guy. not all of the time, but a lot of the time he is. sometimes I take it for granted. one thing he always does though is compliment me. ALL THE TIME. he always tells me I'm beautiful. he calls me his "trophy wife" even when i explain that a trophy wife should be 20 years old...not 43!! he makes me feel good about myself.

so today when i left for church he told me I looked like a guess model. and when i got home from church he told me he wanted to take a picture of me so he could have one. so i let him. now, I'm lookin' at the photo and i don't see a guess model in sight. i see all my flaws. i see a body that's given birth to a lot of children. wrinkles. laugh lines, you name it. but behind the camera there's a man who sees my beauty and who praises it and never lets a moment go by that he doesn't tell me how lucky he is. funny, i think i'm the lucky one...L

this is what an 11 year old girl looks like. cute, smart, no nonsense, tell it like it is. she's not much for having her picture taken though. when she came outside the other day I asked her if i could take her picture and promptly got a no. in my best pleading mom's voice I asked if i could just take ONE picture. this is what I got. when I started taking more i got what you see below. and now you know the rest of the story...L

note to Beth: this might be the reason that Haley is the one pictured all the time on my blog!!!

lisa out...

just a little fun i had yesterday with haley. enjoy...L

if at first you don't succeed...It dawned on me the other day that here i am in beautiful weather with beautiful girls and not taking near enough pictures. so on sunday I got haley and went out and took around 60 pictures. didn't realize until after i downloaded them that i had my camera set on the wrong setting. not one picture turned out. so the next day haley and i went back outside and this time took about 80 pictures. I think there were some good ones, but none that stood out and i was wowed over. today--we head out again. this time i put my 85mm lens on. I took over 100 pictures. i got some WOW ones. that is one beautiful child if i do say so myself...L

OK--I have been scrapping my head off since almost my entire family is gone. I just did this layout a few minutes ago. Most of the time I like my layouts--some of the time I hate them--but every so often on a rare occasion I am absolutely thrilled and excited and totally happy with a layout. This occurred with this layout above! Not exactly sure why I love it--maybe because that picture of haley is too darn cute. maybe it's because I had ONE blue flower that totally worked. maybe it's because i got to use the stamped-by-kerry flower in the center of that. who knows why--but I love it!

You know being a wife and mom is hard work. seriously hard. a lot of the time it is unappreciated and goes unnoticed. then the bad day, week, month hits and you just want to run away from it all. not all the time, but occasionally. my kids know when this is happening because they ask me if I'm running off to Mexico when i start to get cranky. cuz I always threaten it! I tell David--If I'm gone one day don't worry--I'll be back in a week. well, i miss my family. i started to miss them yesterday as a matter of fact. I have enjoyed my alone time with Haley (on a side note let's just say I am no polly pocket fan and would someone hit me if i buy more of them) but i can't wait for them to come home. don't know what it is with a family--the people that can drive you absolutely mad are the ones that you can't live without...L

so this was my day yesterday--got the laundry done, got the kitchen cleaned, got some shopping done, got some scrapping done. All in all a great day. Haley and I had lunch at wildflower bread company--yum! That layout above is of my wonderful husband whom let me have a few days off by taking the girls to Mesa with him. Thanks honey--I love you! I have to give him another shout out because he hung all my pictures up in the house that have been just sitting waiting to get on the walls--they look awesome!

Then I did these notebooks. The funny thing is that I thought about making them yesterday morning, went to target and bought those cheap comp books and then altered them ala Heidi Swapp. I am going to give them to Taylor, Carson and Anna and tell them that they are their summer journals--to draw, write, paste pictures, doodle and whatever. I plan on making them write in them at the very least every sunday. I also plan on making them write in them when they are bored, tired and cranky and fighting. So they will be writing in them 24/7! I can't wait to see what they do with them.

have a glorious Saturday...L

Well David took the 3 oldest girls to mesa for the weekend. Just today and Saturday but that is enough! Here is my agenda--shop, do laundry, get car washed, print out photos, scrap, organize my scrap area (almost done!) watch a movie, read, and whatever else the hell I want!

Schools out now and if anyone hears some screaming in the distance it might be me. This will be our first summer in Prescott--which on the one hand I am soooo looking forward to temps under 100 degrees. But we are in a smaller home and one that has no pool. And two pre-teen daughters that seem destined to annihilate each other. Please pray for me.

A-la Beth I added a weather pixie to my blog--it is way, way down at the bottom and shows the temperature in Italy where my son is! everyone have a great memorial day weekend--have lots of food, fun and scrapping opportunities...L

i survived. it's done. the pain is over and the healing process has begun. no I did not have surgery--i merely went bathing suit shopping. Bloody hell! I think I would have preferred surgery--specifically if it would have made the bathing suit shopping easier! I don't know a woman in my circle of friends whom enjoys this process. maybe there is one but if they are smart they will hold their tongue and not reveal themselves! Suffice it to say that I did acquire not one but two bathing suits. they are tolerable. they are somewhat cute. they will not make me look 10 pounds lighter or make men stop and ask if i was in the latest issue of sport's illustrated, but they will allow me to spend some time in the pool with my girlies! now someone get me some tylenol...L

well I think I have scrapped all of my easter pics. lovely. I loved how these pictures turned out. the girls were so cute. this last layout was super quick and easy--sometimes that is the best way...Lisa

well--just a little layout I did this afternoon. A challenge over on J4K. Anna doesn't have a smudge on her forehead--scanner needs to be cleaned! Got some basic grey ribbon in the mail today-yum! That is some beautiful ribbon! Brianne called me today--her boyfriend kissed her last night for the first time--so cool! She said it was very nice. Didn't ask for more details. I told David and he asked me not to tell him things like that! :) Men are weird! I thought it was too cute.

My MAS girls are scrapping tonight--sure wish I could be there. I think David and I are going out tonight--should be fun. Everyone have a great weekend...L

of course I'm not a photographer--I just play one on tv. ;) Something I played around with tonight. the funky borders, the bw conversion. my own little copyright logo. nifty. not anything earth shattering but I like it. I don't see where people get the time to do this to every photo though. I thought scrapbooking took a long time. oh well, just another hobby to sink my teeth into. I never should have let David talk me into a digital camera! I take my photoshop final tomorrow and then in the fall I start digital photography 101. Can't wait.

Brianne is leaving tomorrow to go back to Utah. I'm going to miss her. it was fun having her here. always sad when she leaves again. the girls are going to be sad too. they had a chauffer, manicurist, beauty advisor and a reason to play hooky from school. well, they all grow up eventually and move out. David says that is the only thing that keeps him going sometimes!LOL

back to reality tomorrow...L

so--got to talk to my son. ya know--the one in Italy. HEAVEN! He's doing so well. So weird and yet so comforting to hear his voice. still the same. but better. Brianne came up and surprised me Saturday as well. that was a great surprise! She leaves Thursday. David took her to Phoenix today and bought her a couple of bathing suits and some shoes. Tomorrow the girls are skipping school and we are hiking in the morning.

I pulled a Kerry today--well, she posted on her blog that she left some housework unattended too and scrapped. I was cleaning my scrap area today and saw an ad in a mag that begged to be scraplifted. so I did. cleaning will always be available. scrap mojo is a fragile thing...L

motherhood. this is what it's all about. those six people up above. the reason for my life, heart, insanity, goodness, frustration, happiness. a mother--it's the only thing I wanted to be in life. so far I have been pretty darn lucky cuz i ended up with great kids. Kids that choose the right and help others and keep me just on the edge of insanity but never push me off!

Brianne surprised me with coming home today!! WOW! Was not expecting to see her and that was a huge treat. I get her for 5 days. Dallas is supposed to call tomorrow and I cannot wait. Literally will have all my kids here with me for mother's day--I count Dallas because he will be on the phone. Not expecting that too many more years. Will enjoy it tomorrow.

So happy mother's day to all my women friends out there. rest, relax, do something fun with your children. enjoy it. I plan on taking it easy. I told Carson today--you know what I have planned for tomorrow? absolutely nothing...L

here is a layout I did last night. A scraplift of Cathy Z. Page 91 for anyone whom has her new book. Kind of liking the funky colors on this--plus I got to use my ribbon from the ribbon jarhttp://www.theribbonjar.com I actually downloaded some actions from http://www.babycakesphotography.net/actions/
and used the expresso on this pic of anna. Mmmm, loving photoshop right now...L

this is for all you mom's out there. my sister-in-law sent this to me today. pretty funny!


OOPS!! Here it is! How true!!!
"Why God made moms" - answers given by 2nd grade
school children to the
following questions.
Why did God make mothers?
1. She's the only one who knows where the scotch
tape is.
2. Mostly to clean the house.
3. To help us out of there when we were getting
born.
How did God make mothers?
1. He used dirt, just like for the rest of us.
2.
Magic plus super powers and a lot of stirring.
3. God made my Mom just the same like he made me. He
Just used bigger
parts.
What ingredients are mothers made of?
1. God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair
and everything nice in
the world and one dab of mean.
2. They had to get their start from men's bones.
Then they mostly use
string, I think.
Why did God give you your mother and not some other
mom?
1. We're related.
2. God knew she likes me a lot more than other
people's moms like
me.
What kind of little girl was your mom?
1. My mom has always been my mom and none of that
other stuff.
2. I don't know because I wasn't there, but my guess
would be pretty
bossy.
3. They say she used to be nice.
What did mom need to know about dad before she
married him?
1. His last name.
2. She had to know his background. Like is he a
crook? Does he get drunk
on beer?
3. Does he make at least $800 a year? Did he say NO
to drugs and YES to
chores?
Why did your Mom marry your dad?
1. My dad makes the best spaghetti in the world. And
my Mom eats alot.
2. She got too old to do anything else with him.
3. My grandma says that Mom didn't have her thinking
cap on.
Who's the boss at your house?
1. Mom doesn't want to be boss, but she has to
because dad's such a goof
ball.
2. Mom. You can tell by room inspection. She sees
the stuff under the
bed.
3. I guess Mom is, but only because she has a lot
more to do than dad.
What's the difference between moms and dads?
1. Moms work at work and work at home, & dads just
go to work at work.
2. Moms know how to talk to teachers without scaring
them.
3. Dads are taller & stronger, but moms have all the
real power
'cause that's who you got to ask if you want to
sleep over at your
friend's. Moms have magic, they make you feel better
without medicine.
What does your Mom do in her spare time?
1. Mothers don't do spare time.
2. To hear her tell it, she pays bills all day
long.
What would it take to make your Mom perfect?
1. On the inside she's already perfect. Outside, I
think some kind of
plastic surgery.
2. Diet. You know, her hair. I'd diet, maybe blue.
If you could change one thing about your Mom, what
would it be?
1. She has this weird thing about me keeping my room
clean. I'd get rid
of that.
2. I'd make my Mom smarter. Then she would know it
was my sister who did
it and not me.
3. I would like for her to get rid of those
invisible eyes on her back
of her head.



happy mother's day...L