What a surprise!

Lindsay,my online friend who I hope to meet SOON {hint hint} and DT member over at 52Sketches52weeks AND soon to be Guest DT at CoordinatesCollections has given me a sweet BLOG award!

You can check our her BLOG here

Sooo...... here are the rules of the Lemonade Stand award:

Comment on this blog. Cut and paste the award logo and use it in your own blog. Nominate 5 to 10 blogs you feel show great attitude and gratitude. Link to your nominees within your blog post. Comment on their blogs to let them know they've received the award. Link back to the person who gave you the award to show your appreciation. And here's a little about the Friends award:

These blogs are ones that inspire me, enlighten me and are just plain cool. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to five bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.

My awards are going to amazing scrapping friends of different styles and walks of life who are always inspiring, supporting and encouraging me even when they don't know it! I'm always stalking their blogs during my bouts of insomnia hehehee Click on their names to check out their BLOGS:

Wendy Sommers

Miss E

Sassy Sasha

Jenni

and 2 Deborah's:

Fiskateers Debby

Groovy Deborah

testing testing 1, 2, 3 -am trying to learn the hyperlink thingee with an online tutorial from this place tips for new bloggers

My George, I think I got it! Now on to give it a REAL try! BTW, went to PhotoScraps will have to post some pictures of some goodies I bought and about my field trip tomorrow!

A day to honor and to remember those who have served/ are serving our country ...I thank all of my family and friends in the Air Force and Army who are in Iraq and surrounding countries and pray for their safe return and a stop to this war soon. The toll that war takes on our soldiers and their families is tremendous and doesn't stop once the soldier returns home; trust me, their memories and the after effects stay with them FOREVER.

President Barack Obama avoided a racial controversy on his first Memorial Day in office by sending wreaths to separate memorials for Confederate soldiers and for blacks who fought against them during the Civil War. Obama laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery, a customary presidential undertaking on Memorial Day. He also had one sent to the Confederate Memorial there, a traditional practice but not well publicized. Obama also took the unprecedented step of sending a wreath to the African American Civil War Memorial in Washington's historically black U Street neighborhood.

Wreaths also were left Monday at memorials to the USS Maine and the Spanish American War.

In brief but solemn remarks after he laid the wreath and observed a moment of silence, President Obama saluted the men and women of America's fighting forces, both living and dead, as "the best of America." *********Can I just say, this President is amazing***that's all I can say! He's raising the bar for the rest that will follow that's for sure-previous presidents have been allowed to get away with mediocrity and I'm glad we are FINALLY seeing CHANGE & HOPE.

On the regular home front, it was just an easy breezy day; no special plans; swimming at the Y in the morning and it was raining hard in the afternoon & evening so no BBQ but we did have some really sweet corn...here are my "sous chefs" (Brandon & Mack the zebra) shucking the corn for me. For some reason, they were inseparable today so I grabbed my camera...Mack was the supervisor :)

about the charity crop-still 2 weeks out and we can never have too many scrappers !!!

Walmart Charity Crop-join me, Kathy (Kate) Blue and Walmart for a charity crop to raise money for the Children's Miracle Network and the Johns Hopkins Children's Center. Crop will be JUNE 13, 2009, at the Elkridge Fire Dept from
9am -4pm. Fee is $ 25 and all money will go to CMN. We will provide a great crop space, light breakfast, drinks, lunch and maybe some surprises!

Bring a friend (or two or three) and grab your space now! To register, please email Susan Miller at smiller@wal-mart.com and indicate "Charity crop" in the Subject line.

I heard a few rumors that a CRICUT will be up for silent auction and that there will be door prizes! TRUE OR FALSE??? Dontcha wanna know????

and seeing my first PAID publication!



I think it goes on the newstands on Tuesday (May 26) but they sent me 2 pre-issues on Friday ....I see where the glue dots I used didn't hold the embells on the left and they photographed the LO a bit "off" but hey, I'm published right!!!???? No worries !!

page 73 :)

recent layouts, no particular order..I loved the orange paper from Pink Paislee when I bought it, but those damn little punches keep falling off the edges...oh well..I did love that Creative Imaginations (red) paper with the cute star punchouts; will have to track down Ms. Eboni to see if she or LoLo have a star punch and do my own next time! I scraplifted the LO from Lisa Truesdell in the Nov 2008 issue of Scrapbook Trends. My Lo was nowhere near as good as hers but I may lift the concept again but with more PP and stitching IF/WHEN I get a little sewing machine. I loved how her journaling block was on the side and incorporated a cute little picture (may have been stickers or rubons) within the journaling.

Memories LO is a tribute to me & my twin sister Karla and that BAD ASS haircut my mother got for us back in the day - I figured that since I have scrapped an old skool picture of Lynne that she did not like, then Karla and Belinda (hers is coming) needed a turn too ****Sorry K1 !! Fair is fair!!

we are Divas!

These are the days
These are days you’ll remember
Never before and never since, I promise
Will the whole world be warm as this
And as you feel it,
You’ll know it’s true
That you are blessed and lucky
It’s true that you
Are touched by something
That will grow and bloom in you

had to write these down b4 I forgot...I smell a LO coming soon...great lyrics!

Thanks to the lovely new friend that I met at the Cozy Crop House also Ms. KB (again-cool!) that shared her scrapbooks that she's doing for her daughters that are more than just layouts; her journaling was such a BIG focus SO, I scraplifted an idea and tried to do the layout she had but got home and tore it apart since it was all the wrong colors. Redid one to start for BB's book and here's a look...BB thought it should've had a small picture of me on it but I'm having printer problems plus I couldn't find a picture of me & her that was recent so...

got this lovely RAK from Sherri!




Can't wait to use those awesome buttons {cool beans huh?} and the ribbon is screaming for me to do a Cinderella layout from my 1st Disney trip....made my day!

my friend Kate has a scrapbook house getaway in Lancaster COunty (I think) PA...made a quick trip to the Lititz house for a day crop and scrapbook yard sale and had a wonderful time!!! I felt the stress just wash away and can't wait to go back!
Met some wonderful new friends and just wanted to thank Kate, C & C and our wonderful chef Miss L for being such gracious hosts! Check them out here-I have a feeling that after the crowds yesterday, the calendar will be booked heavily so..


http://www.cozycrophouse.com/

4 rooms...can sleep 14

I forgot to take better pictures of Rut and Cheryl's sale areas but you get a few glances.....

and since hubby's not here-we ain't doing a thing!!
Can you say pizza night???

Scrapbookers come together from all walks of life and that's why I love it so much...I've been cyber pals with Ms Awesome Scrapper Kim Madrid for a bit now and her son Ryan has leukemia so I keep tabs on her a lot. Today her post has my heart very heavy and I just ask that everyone prays for her and her family as they continue this journey to find a cure. She already knows that if I lived in Texas, I'd be doing anything I could to assist. Ryan and Brandon are almost the same age and I couldn't imagine my life if I was in her shoes; she keeps getting the strength to keep putting one foot in front of the other every day and she still finds time to always think of others, never putting herself first..I hope it's ok with her that I post her words in the hope that prayer circles all over the world will give her some comfort. Please visit Ryan's caringbridge page and let her know KateB and friends are thinking of her and her sweet little guy and that we PRAY for a miracle. I'm a true believer that miracles happen everyday, always when you least expect them.

HER POST:
The four rounds of chemo we've done since the beginning of the year have had no effect on the cancer. It is spreading and has doubled since January. There is no chemo cure.

Several friends and family members have urged us in the past to go to St. Jude, but after talking with the Cook docs, I learned that aside from clinical trials, they don't offer anything different. Still, I have had a feeling that St. Jude may be the answer and have prayed a great deal about it, asking God to lead us there if they truly had something new to offer.

Well, about a week ago, St. Jude called me and said they'd heard about Ryan and thought he might qualify for one of their studies. Wow! Okay. So Monday, Ryan and I are flying to Memphis to meet with a doc and talk about this study. He would have to pass some minimum physical requirements to get in.

Also, we are not sure we want to do this. What if it makes him worse? Shortens his already short life expectancy? What if he dies in Memphis during the trial? So many questions. It would be great to know the answers.

Please pray for us, that we travel safely to and from Memphis, that the docs give us honest and complete answers to our questions, and that whatever direction God wants us to go, we hear his instructions and follow without hesitation.

Also, my apologies to friends, relatives and CB/CP pals. I have been overwhelmed with anxiety over all this and haven't been keeping in touch. Please know that I love you and pray for you all. May God be with you.

***this is one amazing woman***** with BIG hugs & LOVING prayers, Kat (KateB)

that never got posted for Challenge # 6 Good Witch/ Bad Witch...got so busy with family obligations that I didn't get to cybercrop {boohoo} but I finished this anyway.


BB has 3 years of Oz costumes behind her belt since granny made her all three Oz costumes (Glinda, Dorothy and the Wicked Witch) 3 years in a row... so here's more of year ONE with GLINDA :)

Walmart Charity Crop-join me, Kathy (Kate) Blue and Walmart for a charity crop to raise money for the Children's Miracle Network and the Johns Hopkins Children's Center. Crop will be JUNE 13, 2009, at the Elkridge Fire Dept from
9am -4pm. Fee is $ 25 and all money will go to CMN. We will provide a great crop space, light breakfast, drinks, lunch and maybe some surprises!

Bring a friend (or two or three) and grab your space now! To register, please email Susan Miller at smiller@wal-mart.com and indicate "Charity crop" in the Subject line.

This week, my mother is visiting and every"boddy" {private joke} knows that my parents are WORK so I haven't been on the web/FB/ in days....no scrapbooking done either. On top of that, one kid is home having hives again and the other is home too with terrible asthma out of control for some reason and a cold so....

anyway...that's my story...started layouts for the CC crop and never got them done....

but on a positive, my mother meticulously planted my small patch called a garden so I now have my tomatoes, spinach, basil (both green and purple), and cilantro all laid out nice and neatly.

had a GNO last night and look at the goodies I won! Longaberger yay!
Am trying to decide whether to keep them both or to give one to my mother...

Finally I can reveal a date with my first published Layout!
I am here.....



July/Aug issue...goes on sale on May 26th....run out and buy a copy !!!

BB picked out the papers, ribbons and embells -mostly Basic Grey Lime Rickey and I embellished with papers from my large stash (Pepples camp paper, Elsie paper and some other Basic Grey)...no photos in the book since I forgot to measure and had pictures printed too LARGE! Also, yes, some of the paper is the wrong way; sometimes you can't craft and talk at the same time, you forget to pay attention!! It's all good though, BB loved it!

I thought I was gonna be cropping today, but it was the day from hell (curve ball) ....but, rather than complain about stuff that got resolved, I shall say that all was not lost-I am the MAY scrap challenges host at Coordinates Collections.com and I actually have managed to JUST post the first challenge a few minutes ago...why not come by, register and join the fun ???? We'll be having contests and challenges to keep you busy scrapping week by week for the month of May.

Also,I will be working on this tomorrow....mini book for BB...

BEFORE shot: