on the move, originally uploaded by jendera.

Ok, so I know its been some time since I’ve blogged. In my defense, it has been really crazy around here! Seriously. Denny has been working crazy hours. Between working at his actual job, and working on one particular customers car here at home, well he has become a stranger around here to say the least. All of this is in preparation for AutoRama. He has two cars going to the show and it is getting down to the wire. Hopefully next week life will get back to normal. Ethan actaully asked me last week “Is Daddy on vacation?” because he hadn’t seen him around the house. Poor Denny is beat, I’m beat, everyone is wearing down. The show starts on the 9th and runs through the 11th. Ahh, then I’m planning a day of rest!!

So let’s see what I have done since I last blogged… Hmmm, I’ve spent a considerable amount of time with my kids. I’ve played Legos, GeoTrax, Club Penguin, Dollhouse, read Froggy Goes to School about 75 times, and who knows what else. Frankly, it is all a blur. Denny came home from work around 3 or so on Saturday and told me to get the heck out of here and I went with Michelle to Little Scrapbox to crop. I think it is possible that I was the most unproductive person there, with Michelle running a close second. I got one page totally finished, which I left there for display. The second page I need to journal, and the third, well, uhh, it’s close to done I guess, but I working on it for a few minutes yesterday, so that’s cheating! The rest of the time I talked, to adults.

Speaking of Little Scrapbox, I’ve got a couple classes coming up, and if you can’t make it there (for you non-locals), a class kit is always available. Just contact either myself or Little Scrapbox and they can hook you up. Also for those of you that aren’t local, the Little Scrapbox website has a good sale going on now, so check it out.

I colored my hair back to its original color this morning, or womthing close to it. I needed a change. It is still wet now, so we’ll see how it came out when I get around to styling it.

I think that about covers it from my spot on the globe. Thanks to everyone for posting the comments, I love to see what people have to say. And Hello to you too Christie, I thought about you on your birthday. Don’t be such a stranger would ya. My drawing was a flop obviously, lol, so Donna, the one of two people that actually posted on the 26th… email me your snail mail addy and I’ll get something out to you. Jeannie, well I’ll get with you when I see you next!

Happy Monday!!

~j

    

   sledding, originally uploaded by jendera.

I did this layout the other day. The large snowflakes are cut with an ex-acto knife out of a KI Memories print. I’m not a big fan of ex-acto knives in general, one to many accidents that ended up with me bleeding I’m sure has a lot to do with that one. But, I thought it would look cool, and I think it does. On that note, I don’t plan to do it again at any point in the near future.

It’s Monday. I’m not a big fan of Monday, and any Monday that occurs during the winter, well I like those even less. LOL It is cold out today, and as of early this morning the roads were a mess I’m told. I’ll find out soon enough. I need to take Ethan to school and then I have an appointment with the eye doctor. Woo Hoo Speaking of Ethan, holy cow did he wake up in a mood today. Maybe the Monday this is heriditary.

Who watched the Oscars last night? I watched for maybe an hour. I saw the Al Gore “thing” where he hinted around about his “intentions.” Never knew the guy had an inner comic. I enjoyed the parts that I saw, and some of the gawd awful dresses that went along wtih it. For the most part the ladies seemed to make pretty good dress choices this year. Reese Witherspoon always looks fantastic, and this year was no different. On the opposite end of that spectrum, uhh, Jennifer Lopez. That kinda scared me.

Well I’m off, kids to dress, places to go. But before I go… In an effort to see WHO is reading this, and keeping up with posts I’ve decided to do a little RAK.  Post a comment here and add your name (first only please) and an email where I can contact you.  I’ll put all the emails in a bowl and let each one of my kids pick a winner.  Each once choosen will get a little goody from me in the mail.  I’ll email you for your snail mail addy.

Cheers to Monday. Ack

~j

    

   my girl, originally uploaded by jendera.

I got out last night with Michelle and went to crop. If you don’t know Michelle, well, you’re missing out. She is such a good friend. I mean a really good friend. The kind that is always there when you need them, the kind you tell anything and everything to. She humors me and makes me feel like I’m right, even when I’m probably not. She is the kind of friend that you laugh with until it hurts. We had a moment like that on the way home last night. I’d tell you what was so funny, but odds are you wouldn’t get the joke anyway. *wink* Frankly, some things are only funny when the other person laughs, and you really are only laughing cuz they are laughing and you just can’t stop. LOL, happens a lot with Michelle. Anyway, thanks for always being my friend Michelle! I love ya. If I were a “hugger” I’d give ya one.

So I’m excited for Denny today. If you’ve been reading this you know that he has been filming a lot lately for different shows at work. There is one in particular that airs little snippits online and they release a new one every couple weeks or something like that. They posted a new one the other day and Denny has a little interview in it. The kids and I watched it this morning and we were all sitting in front of the computer cheering him on. We are all very proud of him. He has come a long way since the first day I met him. He never really saw himself as anything special and certainly not talented at what he does. No matter what anyone told him, it just didn’t sink it. I think after the last couple years though, maybe somewhere deep down inside he knows he has a little something special about it. At least I hope that feeling is in there somewhere! Anyway, I wanted to share the clip with all of you. You can see it here http://www.lsxtv.com/. He is the first interview.

That’s all for today. Enjoy your Sunday!!

~j

    

   remember that movie?, originally uploaded by jendera.

I’ve been hearing that a lot lately. I went through some old boxes and found a bunch of photos I had either started scrapping or was meaning to get around to. Anyway, a lot of them were ones from when Ethan was little (2-3 years old). You know that age when they still have the baby pudge in the face, and that crease around the wrists. Then they get older and it all thins out. That baby pudge was in a lot of the photos I found. I miss the pudge!

The layout I’m posting today covers the first time Ethan went to the movies. My parents took him, and dispite the displeased look on his face, the kid really did enjoy himself. I bet you’re impressed that I still have all the ticket stubs from that day. Heck, I’m impressed myself!

I’ve got a headache today, but hopefully I can get out with Michelle later. We haven’t been able to hang out much lately. Seems like everything else we have to do gets in the way. Really she is probably more busy than I am, but my free time really revolves around Denny lately with him working so hard. He came home around 9 last night I think (the kids and I went to bed at 8). Keep in mind that his day starts at 4:30 in the morning so he gets to work around 5. I feel bad for him working so hard to get these cars done. It is hard on both of us really. Me here with the kids and him there with the cars, lol. I don’t think I’ve been able to talk to him since Wednesday when I really saw him last. He has an appointment with the eye doctor today at 2pm, so I should see him then. That’s pathetic isn’t it?

Happy Saturday!

~j

  

   swinger, originally uploaded by jendera.

So what is the big deal over Hobby Lobby?? I had several people on message boards I particpate on tell me how fantastic Hobby Lobby is. Anyway, I checke dout Hobby Lobby this morning and was dissapointed. I guess if you were a general crafter, they do have a lot that would interest you. Scrapbookers, well I think if you were going to a “big box” store, Hobby Lobby isn’t the one I’d suggest. JoAnns or Michaels really has a better selection in my opinion.

I cropped last night at Little Scrapbox, (yes, it is my new favorite place to be lately), and had a good time. I got a wonderful complement from Deb @ the Scrapbox, and whomever sent her my way, I thank you for your comments also. It is so nice to be recognized! Its been awhile since I taught on a regular basis, so the nice comments were something that really meant a lot to me. Somebody still thinks I have talent, lol, maybe I’m not all washed up. *grins* So Deb, if you’ll have me, I’d love to get on board, just say the word.

I finished four layouts last night. I have to be honest and tell you that I’m really only happy with two of them, maybe three (I’m on the fence). I just didn’t have my mojo last night. *wink* It may be that I’m just exhausted. Shelby has been up a lot over the last few nights and Denny has been working a lot both here on a customers car and one at work. Both cars have to be done for AutoRama which starts on March 8th. One of the cars is a tribute I guess to the 50th Anniversary of the ‘57 Chevy. Anyway, so a filming crew has been following Denny around for this documentary type show that is going to show the build. Denny was a bit freaked out the first few days, but he seems to be over it now, and really getting into his celeberity status, lol. I guess this one airs on ESPN2 on June 30th. So tune in if you can, I’m thinking Denny will be displaying a bit of his goofy side, so it should be entertaining for those of us not into the whole car scene. He has a couple other shows in the works, so I’ll keep you posted on that. You didn’t know I was married to a famous car guy did ya? lol

My plans for today… well I have a project I plan to work on and the usual stuff that has to be done. The dreaded laundry, which is really a daily activity and the hum of the dryer is something I’m so used to hearing that I think I might be lost without it. Other than that, uhh, what day is it, oh Friday… hmm no good TV for me on Friday night and I’d like to get to bed early, so maybe thats in the cards.

Happy Friday!!

~j

  

   ice cream, originally uploaded by jendera.

Well yesterday I went to Target to pick some stuff up and ended up buying myself a pack of new socks, and my feet are very happy! Yes, that may sound odd, but it isn’t too often I buy myself things, especially clothes, thus the excited feet. The only people around here that get new things usually are my kids and my hubby. Why? Well, I think that 7 years ago (when I had Ethan) I stopped being Jen and started being a mom, and then a wife. So that defines me now, mom and wife… That being said, those two roles come first for me instead of me, which is how I think it should be for the most part. I agree I need to go out more, alone, without kids in tow. A seat alone in a Starbucks someplace with a good book or magazine sounds wonderful actually, and I don’t know when I did that last.

Anyway, today is Thursday, and Grey’s is on. I don’t know whats going to happen. I can’t see them killing off Mer, but I guess anything is possible. There are a lot of spoliers posted all over the place, and who knows what the source of the info is, but none of them have an end for Mer in the cards.

I did hear yesterday that there is possibly something in the works to create a spin off with Addison. Spinoffs never seem to work out, so I hope she stays where she is. Plus, the show without her just wouldn’t have the same dynamic.

With Thursday comes cropping with Jeannie at Little Scrapbox. I’m excited about that. Jeannie is fun, she makes me laugh and I always have a good time with her. I have no clue what I’ll be working on, and I had planned to give her an idea so we could pack accordingly. We try to share tools and stuff so we don’t have to carry duplicates. But as usual, I’m clueless, and probably won’t know until I get there.

I spent a chunk of yesterday working on an album for a client. Thats going well and I hope to get it done next week. Wish me luck!

~j

  

   color me silly, originally uploaded by jendera.

Ok let me say, before you gat any ideas, Dylan has marshmallows shoved in his mouth. Yes, the kid is a little on the silly side, ok a lot on the silly side. I took these photos over the summer when we had a BBQ of sorts with friends. The kids were roasting marshmallows and having a good time. Turns out Dylan prefers his straight out of the bag, lol.

Now, to address the band aids before someone gets the wrong idea. Dylan had a bit of a scuffle with one of my friend Michelle’s boys shortly before I took these photos. The whole thing looked worse than it was, and poor Michelle was mortified. Mortified Michelle, thats pretty funny. Ok she didn’t think it was funny, and really neither did I at the time, but looking back, well, two boys outside playing leads to these types of things happening. All said and done and moving on…

It is Wednesday, and nothing special happens on Wednesday. It is an early release day from school. The school district changed over to a restructured day and Wednesday they get out a bit earlier while the rest of the days are a little later. Frankly, I find it difficult to keep track of being somedays I’m wandering around wondering what day it is in the first place. *wink*

Denny (for those of you that don’t - he is the hubby) got some new part for a car he is working on for autorama. This car has been about a two year project and really is a nice looking car, as cars go. So anyway, this part comes. It is the original bumper for this ‘57 Chevy. He had sent it out to be re-chromed and straightened. So it showed up yesterday and of course he had to bring it in the house, (thats where all of them seem to end up lately), and unwrap it. I hear him mutter to himself, “Wow, its beautiful!” Beautiful?? It’s steel! I just don’t see it, but he is apparently pleased with it so thats a good thing.

The weather is looking better here today, with each day it gets a little warmer and the snow is starting to melt off. It is pretty foggy out there now, which is ok with me. I tend to like the gloomy and rainy days as long as I get to stay inside to enjoy it.

Here is to the snow melting, and being one day closer to spring!

~j

  

   babe in suit, originally uploaded by jendera.

I did this layout last Saturday at the 12 hour I was at with Amy. Shelby has such a silly face in that center photo! I actually have that series of photos framed around here someplace. Anyway, I used glitter on this layout, and I think glitter might be one of my new favorite things.

I had been giving Amy a hard time about glitter. A few weeks ago I wanted these glitter brads. Well they only came in a big pack with a bunch of other stuff I wouldn’t use (cute packaging though). So Amy convinces me in the store that I need to buy glitter and make my own. Well I’m a gal hooked on instant gratification, and the idea of getting the brads done vs. making my own was not something that sounded real great to me, and glitter, well it makes a mess. Amy didn’t give up and before I knew it, I bought some.

So here I am at this crop, several weeks after my glitter purchase. I must admit that I’ve used the glitter now three times. This layout being the third. Here I took some Heidi Swapp Chipboard Letters (raw) and covered them with ColorBox Fluid Chalk (Blue Iris). I then put a coat of Diamond Glaze over the top and sprinkled silver glitter. After the Diamond Glaze dried I put another coat on to seal it all in. I really like the look, so much so that I repeated it on another layout that same day. So Amy, you were right about the glitter!

It is COLD here today, and I’m not leaving my house, at least I don’t plan to. Shelby and Dylan both have a cold, as usual the never ending cold has passed on to another member of my household. So I’ll be burind knee deep in Kleenex by mid afternoon I’m sure. I’ve been drinking that DanActive stuff like crazy as it is supposed to boost your immune system. I hope it works!

~j

  

   gettin wet, originally uploaded by jendera.

I went to a 12 hour crop on Saturday at Little Scrapbox with my friend Amy. It ran from 12-12, but I hit the road about 10:30 I think. I was beat and the creative juices had stopped flowing, so I thought I better stop while I was ahead. I finished 5 layouts, which is pretty good and about average for me. I had a good time and I’m glad I got to spend my afternoon with Amy, she makes me laugh, and if I had to stare across a table at someone, I’m glad it was her and no one under the age of 7 if you know what I mean. Best part of the day was that no one asked me to cut up their food, Amy does that all by herself.

Little Scrapbox has turned into my favorite scrapbook store in the area. The owners are nice, the accomodations are great, slection is pretty good as are the prices, and the paint scheme, well they are some of my favorite colors. *wink* I enjoyed a slushie while cropping, something I don’t think I’ve done in A VERY LONG time, so I if you stop by there, I highly recommend the Strawberry Kiwi. Anyway, so during the crop they raffled off five prizes, the biggest one being a Cricut. Do I need one? Probably not. Did I want one? Heck yeah! It was the last prize that they raffled off, and much to my delight, I won. When I came home I emailed Jeannie and Michelle, called my mom, and explained to the hubby with the heck it was. I don’t get real excited about anything really, not visibly, which bugs the heck out of most people, but I was pretty pleased that I won it. Ethan and I were playing with it yesterday morning and I hope to play with it a little today. Might have to get myself some more font cartridges. Ahh, new toys.

I have to say that being I haven’t cropped outside my house for so long, I’m pleasantly suprised how productive I’ve been. Using the Craft Lockers is by far the best way to travel with supplies. I don’t really “want” for anything. I didn’t bring along any printed paper, and I only spent $1.86, which got me my printed paper and ribbon. So after I showed hubby my Cricut, I held out my receipt proudly, and I think he almost passed out from the shock of it all. $1.86 spent in a whole day is a lot to take in.  I didn’t take ribbon with me, primas, or punches and I survived. I could have used the primas once, but I found soemthing else. I do have some flowers (Heidi Swapp, Bazzill, and BoBunny) that fit in a drawer in my Craft Locker, so I did have, and used those. I need to find a better way to store primas, I’ve broken those glass bottles a few times, and the buckets are just a pain to take out. I’m open to suggestions that travel well. Maybe a Craft Locker for flowers is in my future, lol.

I hope everyone had a good weekend. Ethan and Dylan are on break from school, so we are all hanging out today. No big plans really, just feels good to not really have anyplace to go. I did the grocery shopping yesterday, (I really don’t like doing that), so thats done. Ethan is on chore duty so he will be helping to wash the floors yesterday… he is making up for a “bad decison” he made last week, thus he will be the floor washing assistant today.

Have a great day!!

~j

  

   hog wild, originally uploaded by jendera.

Well it’s cold! Michigan in the winter can be awful, although this year I’ve been lucky and the snow and crazy cold temperatures held off until February. But now, well all I can say is YUCK! I don’t like the kids (hubby included, lol) coming in and making a mess wiht their wet/snowy/muddy shoes on the floor. (Seems like I’m forever washing the floor in the winter.) I don’t like walking through the snow to the mailbox and I don’t like getting everyone all wrapped up until they can hardly move any joint in thier body. I just keep telling myself, its almost over, and hope what I’m telling myself is true. So with that I’m posting a layout today that makes me remember summer time, green grass, and warm days. I hope you enjoy it.

So last night I went cropping with Jeannie, and as I promised an update on my what to take, what not to take problem. Well, as I suspected, I got busy and the packing was a last minute thing. We had a snow day here on Wednesday, so Ethan was home from school on the day that was supposed to be his Valentines Day party in class. Well I was helping out so I had planned to go. That would have worked out ok as it wasn’t a preschool day. But… snow day equals a moved party to Thursday, a preschool day for Dylan. I got all turned around with times, and where I had to be and when, and time just got away from me. Everything yesterday seemed to take a lot longer than I had planned and before I knew it 4 o’clock was upon me. So, what did I take? LOL, took the Craft Lockers off the wall, piled them in my car along with my trimmer and my Seat Tote filled with cardstock packs, photos, and some tools. Ta Da, Packed. I took a lot of stuff, but I was in each locker at least once during the night, so turns out I “needed” it all. I did take my QuicKutz and didn’t end up using those, so next time I’ll leave those home I think.

Next time you say… Yup, Jeannie and I reserved seats for next Thursday. Little Scrapbox is a nice place to crop really, and I needed/need some time out and what better way to spend that time right?

~j