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What a crazy weekend. The girls had their basketball game, and we do all of our errands on the weekend. We are super busy with our other business Phonechexx right now. That is good, but just means a lot of extra work (especially for my husband). We own a mystery shop business where we place phone calls to storage facilities (that hire us) pretending to be potential customers. We then grade the calls and send them to the facilities. It helps them with their customer service skills. We have expanded quite a bit, so it truly is a blessing. We are still waiting on the claims for our insurance regarding our flood. I am looking forward to getting new rugs and hopefully picking out a new couch and table and chairs. There were so many little things ruined in the flood like picture frames that they dropped and broke, and water stains on things they dropped and left there. Hopefully they will replace those things and I'll get some retail therapy in there! I have to take a break from subscribing to some of my scrapbook kit clubs. It is so addictive and unfortunately costly. There's just something about getting packages in the mail that makes my heart flutter. We are trying to rid ourselves of any debt and unfortunately that means sacrificing some things. Ugh! The inner turmoil! =(
Well - I can't go into any details now, but Sunday was a most difficult day. I have been stewing over what happened ever since. I decided to take a break from laundry and household duties to "craft". This always helps me calm my nerves. I accomplished this yesterday. . .

It was a Jenni Bowlin project from this month. I love her projects. They are vintage and always have a unique and fun way to display photos. I sprayed the metal with chalkboard paint and made all of the magnets. I even copied her quote because it holds great meaning to what I am going through now and even what I have been through these last few years. The lighting is poor, so you may not be able to see the pics, but I chose the one of my mom, because she is so strong in my oppinion - having survived cancer. The picture is of her holding my son for the first time (she had to wait six weeks while they ruled out the possibility of her cancer being tb). It was so therapeutic to make that yesterday. As I sanded each flower I worked out a lot of frustration and hurt! Lol. My sweet husband even took us to dinner last night so we could have a good family night. We had to call it an early night because a winter storm warning was in effect - which, by the way - we woke up to 8 inches of snow this morning!! Beautiful to look at - but soooooo ready for it to go away! Lol. Okay - I leave you with my new favorite pic. . .


and one more - just because I know my mom will see this and it will rip her heart out to see her grandson crying. I'll include a happy one too.

No more pictures. . .

You would never know that he was a fourth child. I have more pictures of him than probably the girls. Only because my love for photography has grown, and because he is our only boy. Yesterday he was growing tired of me taking pictures as you can see. He was ready for his bath.

I had a wonderful Valentine's Day. My husband and kids and I went to a Madants basketball game and watched with our extended family from a skybox. Not romantic? No way - but that came later. =) It was fun being with our kids, and eating bottomless buttery popcorn and drinking sodas and well - not really watching the game! My husband had reservations for us to eat at the Cork n Cleaver. A cozy and romantic local place for dining. They have their menus on cleavers. Our reservations were for late at night, so we virtually had the place to ourselves. The fireplace was on and we ate by candlelight. They are known for their prime rib and the best salad bar EVER - I mean - have you ever seen caviar at a salad bar? We had a wonderful time connecting.

My Friday has been pretty good so far too. I got together with a friend for coffee this morning while her daughter watched my kids. Two days in a row of getting out of the house without kids! =O I adore my kids, but every mommy needs some "mommy time"! =) Ah, back to reality. I am hoping to get to scrap a little tonight after the kiddos go to bed. For now, I leave you with my latest projects - and hopes for a happy weekend!!









The last few pics aren't posting, but you get the idea - Happy Friday!!

Back to normal

My husband is finally back from Las Vegas. Boy did we ever miss him. I had my kiddos sleep in bed with me - they were so excited to do so, but really it was for me too! I hate being alone. We had a super fun slumber party night on Wed, complete with Pizza and oreos and popcorn and even soda (I know, not exactly your healthful eating - but it was a special occasion!). We bought "The Gameplan" and I really loved it. Then they all sacked out in my room with sleepingbags. Even my little Xman slept in his pack n play in my room. We made such a great memory that night. Without Kyle home, I was able to get some scrapping done. I made this great little mini album about the Fall (my favorite time of year). Here are some pics (click on menu, then view sisters portfolio). . .



So excited about Valentines day. I love having another reason to eat cupcakes and buy presents for my kids and husband. Plus - vday always means date night! Yeah!! I am going to try to do some Valentine crafting today, but my laundry may suffer. =O More later! Have a wonderful Wednesday!