Scrapbooking and Me

With the ecomomy and my large family size scrapbooking has become my outlet. It is not always cheap but lots cheaper when you think about expensive vacations. I just recently was on my favorite stamper scrapper site "The Pink Stamper". I am so hooked on her because she is talented and she is real often times we hear her kids and I love it. I am going to start posting some of my crafting and scrapbooking especially because it is something that I can enjoy with the kids.

My version of Poochie Bells

Poochie Bells

   Went to the grand opening of Woof Gang Bakery in my area. Saw the most interesting thing "Poochie Bells," loved them!!!! What I did not like was the price point 20.00 each. Well I wondered do they work and if it would be worth buying. Well with the economy and my familly situation I decided it was not in my immediate budget.
So, being the persistent idvidual that I am and loving crafts. I decided I was going to make my own. and I did see them below. It was a really quick and easy fun project took less than 30 min and cost less than 10 and I can make 2 of them with what I bought. I hand sew the ribbon to hold the bells; poochie bells have the key ring through the bells. I just wanted to spend the least amount of money. Joann's is my favorite place so I found doggie ribbon in several widths and used that. The ribbon I chose was the most expensive part of the project. About 3 dollars for the thicker on and the thinner one was about 1.00 which is cool. The bells a little different from poochie bells I had three rows and only the bottom one is the larger bell. So, it is a little different  than the store bought poochie bells.
That aside what am I going to do with my poochie bells? Well the goal is to train my bassett Roxie to use these to go out. Now she is pretty good about this she usually barks. But as you may or may not know i have other dogs and then they start to bark. This is the idea to utilize the bells so that she does not have to bark and wake the kids or get the other dogs going.
Will keep everyone posted with our journey in training Roxie with the homemade version of poochie bells.

Lucy            

What Bassests do!!!

Roxie Roxie, we love her but she has a very strong genetic need to search and seek food. As much as we love her this is quite annoying especially when you are in the kitchen trying to feed 4 hyper hungry children. Need I say more? We are tyring to redirect her behavior on this matter as our table has become Roxie's favorite searching grounds. This is even when we have no food for her to find. Another behavior that I find quite interesting of my dear bassett Roxie is her need to dig into my area rugs. She does not really hurt them but digs into them with her paws then throws herself down. This lasts for about 20 minutes then she once again proceeds to do the same on a different spot on the carpet. Hmmm!!!! Wonder if this too can be broken. Stay tuned I will keep you posted if Roxie trains us or we train Roxie.

Upcoming changes coming

It has been a while since my last post. Alot of things have occured in my life. Many I really don't want to really publicaly share. But I do want to share the addition of a new family member our new Bassett hound Roxie. I think that I will start to blog about our lives with 4 kids and a bassett hound. So, starting on this Friday stay tuned because this blog is going to change. LOL maybe it will get alot crazier too life is with lots of kids and a bassett.

A new addition to our family

We recently adopted a new member of our family Roxie the bassett hound. She is actually my daughter Ava's dog. Ava and Roxie fell in love at first sight. Although, were very hesitant to add a dog of Roxie size she seemed to just fit right into the family. She has been with us a couple of weeks now and yesterday we took her to the dog park and dog beach at Fort DeSoto. I don't think bassett hounds like the water much. She was hilarous but she really enjoyed the dog park portion. I am sure I will be writing tons more about Roxie and Ava. As they are two of a kind.

In honor of my Mother

I can not even begin to say how much I still miss my mother. She died March 12, 2010 and my heart still aches everyday for her voice, touch and or just knowing I could pick up the phone and call her. I am a grown woman in her 30's and self sufficient; this thanks to my mother. Who showed me by example to always be self sufficient and independent. She taught me how to cook, clean and seek out the knowledge to do things I might not know how to. I miss her voice and her knowledge and advice. As a teen I fought with her and challenged her I guess most teens do that. I expect one days my kids will do that to me. Through it all I still had this undying respect and admiration for my Mother. She taught me unconditional love because through anything I could always go to my mother and tell her anything. I am who I am because of her and what she has taught me she loved her five girls more than life itself and she lived and breathed for her girls. This is how I live for my kids now because she taught me this. She would rather buy us new clothes than buy herself anything and often times she went without. My mom did not care just as long as her girls were happy and content. The memories never end and she continues to live in my heart. I moved back to Florida from New Jersey because I missed my mother so much and less then 8 months after coming back I lost her. I thank God for the time I got to spend with her and the time my kids to to spend with her. This Mother's Day I will remember my mother with honor and love------ She will always be missed....always

Love you Mom

Your Always Faithful Daughter

Lucy

Weekend Fun but then......

Well, I had a great weekend or so I thought. Saturday started early I went with a friend to help her out with a scrapbook sale at my favorite local scrapbook store Scraporium(see their blog). It was loads of fun and all girl time. Needed that so much to take my mind off all the family stuff that has been going on since the death of my Mom. Then Sunday was a hard day I was trying to get my home office set up for my new job. That was stressful with 4 young kids in the house just going stir crazy. It then started raining and I tried to make pizza with homemade dough. Usually my homemade dough is the "bomb" I hate to boast but it is really good. This time I don't know what I did but it was not good. I think the yeast was old and it did not rise. Anywhoo as I was trying to knead the dough my dear husband opened up the lower cabinet and a big bottle full of oil fell on my toe. Smashed it blood oozing and swelling of cousrse it was storming outside it's 7pm and urgent care centers close in an hour. We live so far out that a drive would take us an hour and by the time we would get everyone in the car. Anyway, I know there are some out there that totally see where I am going with this. Bottom line is I did not go suffered in pain throughout the night and of course I started my new job today.
    Guess it gets better get a call that my Aunt is dying in the hospital and she refuses to see me because of what happened between my sister's and me during my mother's funeral. Of course she has not heard the complete story and how my sister's lied to everyone. Oh well you know sometimes the best medicine is time and the truth comes out. My sister's unfortnately live a very self destructive lifestyle all of them and nothing will change it did not even with my mother's death.
       So, I am taking a deep breath saying prayers for God to give me strength and understanding what else can I do.

Official Tobymac Lose My Soul Video

I grew up with alot of faith in my family. My family always attended church wether it was the Catholic church or a christian church. It did not matter my mother believed that God should be the center of your life and faith was not based on religious institutional rules but on what your personal relationship with God was. I have read several versions of the Bible and even the Book of Mormons. Not to brag but by the time I was in 6th grade I could sit down with any preacher and have a discussion about the Bible. As I grew up ( okay corny) I stopped reading the bible and just went to church because I felt a personal need. My faith in God ruled my life but my connection to God was not the same. In the past year I have been through alot more than I have written in this blog and most recently with the passing of my Mother. I was all about my career and I struggled with the struggle between being a wife and mother and career. I have most recently started to pray everyday and read the bible not for anyone but me. As I listened to Toby one day and this song in particular it brought to my heart that I at some point in my life lost my soul. I am now on my personal journey to find it.
Have a Great Day

Taking the time to remember

With everything that has gone on in my life in the past 9 months I have decided that I going to take a concerted effort to record the daily or even month occurrances in our kids lives. So, I am starting my own version of project life. I am going to participate in Project 12 in which I chronicle monthly what my family has done. I am so excited and I also put together through my local scrapbook store a 365 day remember calendar to chronicle those little daily moments the kids might have. Keep checking for my progress I am going to starting today chronicle daily events on my blog.

Check out the sample of the calendar the store is Whimsodoodle and the link to their blog is listed.

My Altered Notebook and bookmark

In the hopes of distracting my mind and also to keep track of  my thoughts. I altered this notebook and created a bookmark. I have decided to attempt to read the bible this year. We will see if it actually happens. With crazy kids and two dogs life is never still around my house. My next project keep posted is to scrapbook my life in a month. I want to capture as much of what my kids life is now so that they can remember later. So, here is my altered scrapbook.

Easter was not the same

Well this Easter unlike others it was pretty much low key. It was not the same not having my mother here. I still made two Easter bunny cakes for the kids and the kids and my husband went to church. I could not manage to get out of bed that morning. I had been up most of the night crying. I pretty much keep it together for my kids but if it weren't for them I don't know what kind of mess I would be. So here is my bunny cakes.

The Weekend Has begun

Well, I am into scrapbooking recently it is way of destressing for me. That and playing around on my laptop. This week end was the all day crop by my local and absolute favorite scrapbooking store Scraporium. With everything going on I decided not to attend but check out their blog it is a great store and with great bargains for the bargain hunting moms. http://www.scraporium.com/  and they also have a blog it is: http://www.scraporium.blogspot.com/

Missing my Mother may she rest in peace loving Wife, mother and daughter

I am missing my mother horribly she passed away on March 12, 2010 and I still miss her more than every. She left me with alot of memories and most importantly the faith I have with my creator. I still miss calling her several times a day just to talk to her or hear her voice. Because even when I left for the first time in my life not being near here to NJ. I still called and cried often missing her. I love my father dearly but the bond I developed with my mother after my terrible teen years was strong. She was an amazing mother always there for her kids. Nothing could stop this woman not even a chronic disease like congestive heart failure. My mother struggled for years first with high blood pressure, diabetes then congestive heart failure. After a triple bypass she lost the function of her kidneys survived bilater knee replacement surgery.
There is not enough room on my blog to detail all the amazing things she did.She raised 5 girls a difficult task in itself especially when we are all head strong.  Our special bond was cooking I remember how amazing she was in the kitchen always making everything from scratch watching Julia Childs on TV. Making homemade bread and hamburger rolls. At 8 I began cooking with her and loved it ever since. As an adult we would compete on who could make something better or if one of us had a better reciepe for cheesecake. She loved the kitchen so much that even in the latter days of her life when she could not ambulate as well. In her wheelchair she would sit and cook even bake. The lost of her ability to ambulate was the worst for my mother as she was always an active women. She beat the odds there too when she fractured her femur bone and the doctors thought she would never walk again. Well my tenacious mother walked again maybe not as well as she wanted but she did. Her diabetes also depleted her eye sight and this too was a hard blow for her as her other love was reading. She fought hard in this area too undergoing eye laser treatments to stop the degenraton and she did not stop reading. She never complained about those little things she would often say "there are other out there that have more disabilities than I have and I have lived a long life." It was hard for me to understand her complaincancy in this. I would have been angry bitter and not as easily adjusting to my deficiets. My mother was the total opposite she accomadated and adjusted mopping the floor of the kitchen in her wheelchair refusing help. Cooking once a month over 60 dinners for the homeless in Orlando. Serving them herself with my father. She felt this was her giving back for all the good God had given to her.
As I right this I cry and with those tears memories arise of her. I know few people who had the faith and values my mother did. She did not just speak the talk she walked the walk everyday. She was loved by many she could relate to almost anyone. No one walked into my house and was not fed this was her greatest pleasure that and her children.  For now I can not continue for it still hurts alot but I will continue at a later time for she will never be far from my thoughts and heart.
Mother although no longer near you are always with me.