Anna....

Eleven months old and ready to take her first steps. Big blue eyes and not much hair. Here's our little Anna....

Not Too Bad For a Friday Night....

OK, I'm feeling pretty good about myself right now. Since I got off work at noon today, I've managed to....

1. Get my nails done.
2. Drop off a completed DT assignment at Pages in Time.
3. Unloaded the dishwasher.
4. Finished two more bridal bouquets and got them stored and sealed.
5. Went to the Health Club and did 2 miles on the treadmill and 2 miles on the bike.
6. Folded two loads of laundry AND
7. Completed a 2-page layout for my family album.

Of course, tomorrow I may be worthless, but as for today - not bad, if I do say so myself!!

Grace and Anna....

Grandaughters - I have two of them. They are the twinkling stars in the heaven that is my life!!!

Grace can't keep her hands off of Anna - and Anna is starting to get a mind of her own when it comes to Grace. They will both be flower girls in Chrissie's wedding next summer, and as Grace loves to tell everyone, "I'm in charge of Anna". Someday, Anna may just be "in charge" of Grace.

Baby Brother

You see this man? He's my baby brother. He's the only one I've got and I love him and miss him. He lives in Florida and it's too far away from northern Indiana. Seeing him once a year just isn't enough.

I tend to think about him most days - but especially today because...IT'S HIS BIRTHDAY!!!! I won't tell you how old he is, but suffice it to say he's a LOT younger than me.

He's always ready for fun - talks a mile a minute - loves his cigars and his beer - isn't anorexic, even though he looks like it - and is an awesome son, husband, dad, brother and friend.

I miss you little brother. I hope you have a great day!! You always manage to put a smile on my face - even if you're 1200 miles away.

PIT Design Team

A few weeks ago, the Design Team girls from Pages in Time got together for an all day crop and sadly, a going-away party for our Design Team Leader, Jamie Johnson. Now when all of us get together, it's a dangerous thing. First of all, we eat and usually there's some alcoholic beverages included. It's probably not "safe" to work on our layouts during these get-togethers, but we do and most of the time, they're pretty awesome!! We spend a lot of time talking, and laughing - which is the best part, next to eating and drinking.

Anyway, here's a photo of all of us. Can't wait to do it again girls!!!

OK - so some of you may ask what a Design Team is. First of all, Pages in Time is a premier scrapbooking store in northern Indiana. Our team designs all of the layouts that hang throughout the store, using the latest products. As soon as new product comes in, we're assigned specific product or a theme, and our goal is to get a layout completed and on the wall as soon as possible. Of course, the whole idea is that the customer will see the layout (and hopefully like it) and purchase the product. We have one layout due each month and then we also have extras we can pick up, if we have the time (and the energy). Our layouts usually hang in the store for six months, and then they come home to "live" in our own personal albums.

To give you an idea, here are a few of my most recent Design Team layouts.

Just a Little Rain...

We need rain so badly. Our yards are dry - my flowers look terrible.

Unfortunately, my Florida family got much more than they needed last week, thanks to Tropical Storm Fay. Here's some photos from my sister-in-law.

This is the street leading into their subdivision...






...and their friend Dave lives a couple of blocks away. Take a look at the front of his home and his back yard. SCAREY!!

52 Weeks.....

OK - so there's 52 weeks in a year. 52 weeks from today (a year from yesterday), Chrissie Knight will become Chrissie Doty. Do you all know how FAST that stinkin' year is gonna go???!!!!! All the big stuff is done, now let's sit back and "enjoy the ride".

"21" is the LUCKY Number

Kevin celebrated his 21st birthday, surrounded by 21 members of his family on the 21st day of August. It was a great time!!!

Then, it was on to the Linebacker with his siblings.

Today - he's recovering.

21 on the 21st

Today, our Kevin is 21. WOW - did those years FLY BY!!! Tonight, there are 19 of us celebrating at TGI Friday's. I'll post some photos tomorrow. But - for right now, "Happy Birthday Kevin - your mama loves you!!"

Hey Florida....

To all members of my "Dear Melbourne Family" - are you there?

From the looks of this radar photo from ten minutes ago, you're getting wet and blown around.

Hammered.....

My Florida family and friends are dealing with Tropical Storm Fay. Arlette said that Lance started school on Tuesday and then school was cancelled on Wednesday due to the storm.

I found this photo on their news website. This beach area is located between Melbourne (where my family lives) and Cocoa Beach - 20 miles north. According to the article, they will have to wait until high tide recedes to determine the amount of beach erosion.

Brothers.....

Looking at these sweet photos of Nolan and Jack, you'd never guess that a few weeks ago Jack hit Nolan in the mouth with a wiffle ball bat and gave him a fat lip - and then this past weekend, Jack punched Nolan in the mouth and knocked out his already loose front tooth. Please note that neither one of these incidents happened on "grandma watch".

My Other Passion.....

I've always enjoyed reading. Since I was a little girl, I loved curling up with a good book. I still remember my parents signing me up for a Nancy Drew book club when I was about 12 and each month I'd get two new books. Well, my Nancy Drew days are long gone. Today, I lean more towards Nora Roberts and Sandra Brown. A couple of days ago, I started reading Sandra Brown's ENVY.

I can't put it down!!! I scrapbooked all day on Saturday, and all I could think about was getting home and reading more of this book. Friday and Saturday nights, I watched the Olympics (waiting to watch Michael Phelps), had the sound turned down on the television so I could read ENVY (until he dove into the pool.)

If you haven't read this one, do it!!! I have a terrible habit of sometimes "peeking" at the ending. I won't do it - I won't do it!!!!! I'm going to spend my lunch hour today, sitting down by the river and reading. I've got to find out what in the world Parker is hiding and what his revenge is all about!!

Colleen is as hooked on these books as I am and she's waiting patiently for me to finish this one and pass it on to her. Give me 24 more hours kiddo!!

Do You Sketch?

If you're a scrapbooker, you probably know about "sketches". As for me, I'm addicted to them. I have a binder full of them. I live for the first of the month so that I can go to Becky Fleck's website - http://www.pagemaps.com/ - and print out the new sketches. You see, here's the thing....you get home after a long day of work. You have a stack of photos sitting in front of you and more product than you could ever use in 20 years and you don't know where to start. So, you grab your sketch binder - flip it open and there you have it - a multitude of ways to layout those photos, whether you have ONE or SIX (or more).

I'm scrapbooking tomorrow - all day. I have the photos and product pulled for 15 layouts. That and my sketch binder and I'm set. I'll spend the day laying out my pages and then all I have to do when I get home is add the embellishing and journaling and title and I'm done. It will also keep me from dragging everything I own to the crop.

Sketches - try one. Once you do, you won't know how you scrapbooked without them.

Benjamin...

This is Benjamin. He will be 3 in December. He is an only child - for 10 more weeks - and then his life will change forever. That's probably a good thing for Benjamin. He is getting a new bedroom and a new baby brother. Sounds like a good deal to me. I kind of doubt that Benjamin will agree at first. You see, Benjamin is a very smart little guy. He talks constantly and asks a multitude of questions. For three years, he's had the undying attention of his mommy and daddy and now, this new little person is going to move into HIS house and steal some of HIS thunder.

Hey Benjamin - welcome to the life of a big brother!!! You'll survive.

Bouquet Prototype

I've spent the past month buying flowers and ordering more and experimenting with color and returning excess and buying even more. Finally, she's set on exactly what she wants. Bridesmaid's dresses will be chosen this fall, but she knows the color she wants is a moss green. Her flowers are in shades of cream, pink and black cherry. This is ONE of the finished bridesmaid bouquets. I've already completed Chrissie's bouquet too, but I won't be showing it here. It is now safely sealed in plastic and hidden away. My friend Mary Lou came across the pearl bouquet wraps, which Chrissie loves. I have 8 more on order from Michael's. I think these really add a glamorous touch.

Back to School With a "New Do"

This morning, Kelli is off to her Junior year of high school. OMG - did I just say she's a Junior???? Didn't I just watch her kindergarten graduation at Corpus Christi?

OK, so last night was mad confusion at our house. She and her friend Katie both needed a new look before the first day of school. Here comes big sis Colleen to the rescue. The salon is closed on Mondays, so Colleen brought the salon to my kitchen. I arrived home at 5:30 with two bags of carryout food and this was the scene that met me.

We have color....




We have mixing containers....

We have celebrity ideas....



Kelli's highlights are done and the cut has begun....



...while Katie's highlights are processing.



...and then the finishing touches are added to Kelli.

In between all of this "beauty", her dad, the neighbor man and I also managed a haircut. My little kitchen chair was buzzing with business on Monday evening.