November What???

Is Novemember really almost over? Did my daughter really turn 9 yesterday? Is Thanksgiving Thursday? Do I need to start Christmas shopping? OMG What happened to the month of November? I'll tell ya what happened. Asthma, swimming, asthma, more swimming, sinus infections, two birthday parties and Facebook. Yeah Facebook. I never knew I had Tony Soprano lurking inside of me. I can't tell you how much fun I've had whacking gangsters! It's been a great way to take some aggression out legally!
This month has been a series of highs and lows. Such as life I know...just tired of the lows. How often does my girl have to fight off asthma. She gets this cough that just grabs a hold of her and wont let go. We have been lucky enough to stave off H1N1though so that's a plus. She also got a long awaited H1N1 shot. That has been the only upside of asthma, it made her eligble for the shot.


On the crafting front I've started my Christmas cards, made a couple of pages and a card for Kelsey's Birthday. I also got all of my swaps and challenge prizes mailed out yesterday so if anyway has been waiting on something from me...I am so sorry for not getting everything out sooner!!

I hope you all have a Happy Happy Happy Thanksgiving!!

Halloween Pics

I just wanted to add an update to this post. Thanks for all of the love and comps on the kids. I must tell you. Kelsey is the only one who is my child. The boys "my nephews" belong to my bff Kerin. We have spent every Halloween together for the last 15+ years. It just so happens her boys look more like me than my own daughter! lol When Kelsey and Kyle (her son who is a year older than Kels)were young we would take them out and people always thought Kyle was mine and Kelsey was hers. So although they are not my boys by birth or even blood, they are my boys in the sense that I love them all to pieces!

Every year for the last 8 years we gather at my house for some Halloween fun. My parents, my in-laws, cousins, friends...it's one of my favorite holidays! Here's the run down.
Matthew-high school, won't dress up anymore, won't allow pictures.
Kyle-5th grade, will still dress up, will only allow pictures if he's trying to kill Kelsey. lol
Kelsey-4th grade, would dress up everyday, loves the camera (at least today anyway)
Sean-toddler, had a costume but got overheated, cute enough to go without, the camera loves him!







Oh the new blog header pic was taken at one of our local haunted houses. I thought it was ghoulishly funny!

Facebook

Facebook. I even have a farm. What was I thinking? Enough said. lol

Pink Paislee Friend Card

Just a quickie here. I was wanting to use my new owl stamp set (Hampton Art) and thought the tree scrap from my swim page would go nice with this stamp set. I am really loving this Pink Pailsee. Have a great day friends!

One Stroke At a Time

One stroke at a time, that's the way my girl rolls! I took this picture over the summer at an outdoor pool. I thought the Pink Paislee went great with her team colors. She had another meet yesterday and once again no pictures!

Yesterday she swam a 50 Free, 50 Back and a 100 Breast. She finished first in two heats and second in the other. We also had a phone call from her coach the other night. Now you have to understand getting a call from the coach at 9:30 pm would be like the teacher calling at 9:30. I was expecting bad news! Nope. Great news. My Mermaid Girl placed on the Metro Swimming top 10 list. Now according to the coach? This is amazing and not only did she place? She is number one on the list for 8 and under Breast strokers. I'm so proud of her and grateful for her good health!

I don't know if anyone else has followed the story of Shiloh Pepin, aka The Mermaid Girl? She is a little girl whose legs were fused together from the waist down. Hubby, Kelsey and I have followed her story for awhile now. We all admired her and were deeply saddened to hear of her passing.

Noel Mignon Kit

I just pre-ordered Noel's new kit, Mill Street. I love, love, love the colors in this one!! If you haven't purchased one of Noel's Kit's before, believe me they are worth every penny. She PACKS them full of the latest and greatest plus there are always some unique goodies. Usually some candy too. lol Anyway, check it out here. I can't wait to get mine.

On the swim front my daughter did as well as she could yesterday. The competition was STIFF!! There was a girl there that I swear will make it to the Olympics! I wish I had it on video. This little girls legs were like propellers. It was if she were on TOP of the water and not in it. Too cool. My girl still did great though! She came in 3rd place in both Freestyle and Butterfly but Breast Stroke was where she really shined! She won by a landslide. I'm so proud of her. It was too dark for pictures and since you already know my history with that....I didn't dare use my flash! She has another meet in 2 weeks and I think that pool has skylights so I'll try again for pictures.
Hope you all enjoyed your holiday weekend. I know I am glad to have today off! I'm working on birthday invitations. Sleepover invitations to be precise. Yes, I hate myself enough to have agreed to a Sleepover for 6. Should be fun. Snort.

Thank You Cards

The card binge continues! I loved this butterfly stamp so much that instead of making one, I made six! I also used of some more of my Basic Grey Porcelain and used my new EK Success punch. Those new compact border punches are a new favorite of mine.

On the home front the official swim season starts tomorrow. My girl will be swimming a 50 Freestyle, 25 Breast and a 25 Butterfly. I'll post the results and maybe some pics tomorrow. I have to be careful with my camera at the meets. The first meet ever I snapped about 50 pics and momentarily blinded a few swimmers. When they announced over the PA to please stop with the flash photography I was mid flash. Ooops. Couldn't even pretend that it wasn't me! Now I shut the flash off and just hope for a shot or two. Here is one of the pics I got at her first meet. What you don't see is the girl on the blocks ready to dive. You know, the girl I momentarily blinded with my flash. I never figured out who the swimmer was or I would have apologized. I'm sure I'm known as the lady who blinded so and so! Anyway, here is the pic. It's not the greatest but it does capture her nerves and her coaches encouragement. She ended up winning that race (backstroke) and placed second in Freestyle.