So the other day my mp3 player and Kyra’s both died at almost the same time. Since we are in the process of buying a house right now (yes, we’re still in the process, don’t get me started), we don’t really want to replace both mp3 players. I found a pretty inexpensive one on Amazon, and since I had some gift cards saved up, I only had to pay half price for it. So who do you think is getting the new mp3 player? If you guessed Kyra, you’re right. Of course, since I’m the mom, I can do without a new mp3 player for a while so my darling daughter can enjoy Taylor Swift or whoever she listens to on that thing.

That’s pretty nice of me, right? So wouldn’t it be fitting for me to win my own iPod Touch? I deserve it, right? Or better yet, how about an iPad? What, you want your own iPad? Well, I guess you’d better hurry over to Scrap Orchard and get involved in their Iron Scrapper contest like I did! Check it out here.

My favorite site is down for the next few days! Scrap Orchard is moving servers, so here I am, wondering what to do with myself. I don’t spend all that much time on their site, but I do like to check it out while I drink my coffee in the mornings, so I figured I’d blog today instead.

It’s been a looooong time since I posted last, hasn’t it? Since then, we put in an offer on a new house! We’re upside down on our current house, so we plan on renting it out after we move. It might be a gamble, but we just couldn’t let this market go without taking advantage of the low prices. Plus Andy’s office is supposed to move further east next month, so we want to be closer to their new location. Plus the kids are getting older and we need more space. Plus I’m beginning to become less thrilled with the school in this neighborhood. I could go on and on. The simple fact is that we only planned on being in this house for 3 years, and we’re still here 9 years later. It’s time to move on.

So anyway, I don’t want to get my hopes up about the new house because it’s a short sale with 2…yes, TWO…mortgages.  We put in the offer 8 weeks ago and still haven’t heard from the 1st mortgage holder. Our realtor (Doug Nystrom, we highly recommend him, honest guy, not to mention Andy’s best friend) says that there’s a good chance we’ll eventually get the house, it’s just a matter of playing the waiting game. I don’t wait well. I keep thinking that Kyra goes back to school in August, which means we’d like to start moving into the house by the end of July, which means we’d like approval by the end of June, which only gives us about 7 more weeks! Yikes! And the kicker is, there’s nothing we can do to hurry it up.

But let me tell you about the house. It’s an older house, so nothing fancy, but we like it. Four bedrooms, one of which will be Andy’s office. If he has a private area for an office, he’s allowed to work from home up to 3 days a week (I think), so that would be really nice. Gigantic closet in the master bedroom, with mirrored sliding closet doors which will be the first things to go. Fireplace in the living room, which will be pretty much useless except to hang our stocking on at Christmastime. Huge kitchen with tons of cabinet space. Seriously, we’ve been drooling over the cabinet space while constantly talking about all of the kitchen gadgets we want but can’t fit into our current kitchen. The counter tops in the kitchen are wood (what were they thinking?) so they’ll be the second things to go. Separate dining room and breakfast room, but the breakfast room will probably become a sort of craft/kid art/work room. Plus a family room that will become the kids’ tv/toy room. Oh, and an actual, honest-to-goodness laundry room! It’s not much of a laundry room, just space for the washer and dryer, but much better than having them in the kitchen where they’ve been for the past 9 years!

Then there’s the back yard….aaaahhhhh!  There’s a huge patio, a big, grassy area on one side of the yard, then a spa against a low wall, then a pool on the other side of the wall. Andy doesn’t care too much about the pool, but the kids and I have been getting way too excited about it. Just thinking about it makes summer in Phoenix seem bearable. If you’ve been in our current house, you’ll know that it’s pretty cramped and the back yard is downright depressing. It’s all I can do not to start packing right away, but I know if I do I’ll end up going overboard and we’ll be living out of boxes while still waiting for the approval.

Okay, I’ve been trying not to make this post too scrapbook heavy, but I will share a few layouts. I know we’re supposed to include credits, but this is my blog and I’m going to play by my rules! Plus I’m just too lazy to go hunt down the credits for all of these. If you see something you like, ask me and I’ll find it for you. It’s probably from Scrap Orchard, since that’s the only site I ‘work’ for anymore. I gave up all of my other creative gigs because I just didn’t have the time to keep up with all of them.

Nope, we won’t be watching the Superbowl today. One of Kyra’s friends is having a Superbowl party at her house, and we said Kyra could go. Then we found out that the game wouldn’t even start until after 4:00. We were tempted to change our minds and say no, since tomorrow is a school day and we want her home earlier than 9:00, but instead we just said she could go from noon-4. She’s not happy about missing the game festivities, but at least she’ll get to play with her friend. The rest of us are just having a regular Sunday, since we couldn’t care less about football. So I got some scrapping done! As usual, all of my digital scrapbooking supplies came from Scrap Orchard, so if you see something you like that’s where to find it!

Using Dream With Me kit and Land Of Nod Word Art by Irene Alexeeva.

Yet again I haven’t posted in a while, but this time it’s not because I’ve been too busy! In fact, after the holidays, birthdays, and being sick, I’ve just been enjoying the boredom for the past couple of weeks. I’ve been dieting and working out to try and get back into my skinny clothes before we go to Disneyland next month. We also bought some new (to us) dining room furniture that was just delivered yesterday. Wanna see?

I also have a bunch of new layouts. All of my digital scrapbooking stuff lately comes from Scrap Orchard, so if you see something you like, that’s where to go!

Using Birthday Girl by Julie Bullock and Let’s Have a Talk template by Fizzy Pop Designs.

Using Photog Pretties Pack No. 1 by Fizzy Pop Designs and Burst Into Spring by Julie Bullock.

Using Heart Templates IV by Scrapping With Liz and Sweet Love o’ Mine by Jady Day Studio.

 Using Heart Templates IV by Scrapping With Liz and My Punny Valentine by Wild Dandelion and Sir Scrapalot.

Using Winter’s Kiss by Amy Stoffel and a challenge template freebie (check out the Scrap Orchard challenges for lots of freebie templates!).

 Using Everyday You by DeCrow Designs and another challenge freebie template.

Using Winter In Hooville by Jady Day Studio and Scatterguides template by Fizzy Pop Designs.

I actually didn’t forget about my blog this time, I was just too sick to update it. I have a condition called erythema multiforme, and it’s extremely unpleasant.

I’m feeling much better now though, and even got some scrapping done today. I used a kit called Snow Day by Amy Stoffel at Scrap Orchard, plus the little squares are templates by Tracie Stroud called Back to Basics Squares.

So I guess I’m down to updating my blog every other month. I really will try to do better, but I have to admit that I’m only updating now because I got a friendly reminder from Erin, lol!

Let’s see, what’s been going on? Since the last time I blogged, Andy and I took a trip to Prescott for a couple of days while my mom watched the kids. It was great! I stayed in the room at the Bed & Breakfast and read for three days straight. Andy went hiking without me. It was so relaxing and just what I needed. My right eye had been twitching for a few months and I assumed it was because of stress. Well, it hasn’t twitched since our trip, so I guess I just needed some kid-free relaxation!

We had a really nice Thanksgiving at our house with both sides of the family. It was great to see my sister Nicole, who just moved back from Texas!

Sophie got to be in her first school play just before Thanksgiving. She told us that her teacher told the kids they had to wear pineapple dresses and rock star t-shirts. Since I wasn’t in the mood to choose that battle, we let her wear the outfit. Well, needless to say, she was the only kid there in a pineapple dress and rock star t-shirt! Little stinker. Here’s a picture of her and her cousin during the show.

Then in December we took a trip to Flagstaff with the kids so we could play in the snow. We rented a house outside of the city and had a great time getting really wet and cold. The only downside was that when we got there, the driveway had a huge snowdrift at the bottom of it! It took Andy about an hour to dig through it and wrestle the minivan up the driveway, and we have a dent on the passenger side to show for it. Here’s a picture of one of his unsuccessful attempts to get the van through the space he dug out. You can’t tell in the pic, but that was a really steep driveway!

The kids had a great time sledding and playing in the snow. The rest of us got a great workout trudging our way through the deep snow, but Sophie is so little that she just walked along on the thin frozen layer on top of the snow. She reminded me of a bird, it was really funny.

Both kids were in Christmas plays at school. Kyra had a part singing in a trio. Sophie got to play a reindeer and an angel. They were both adorable, of course!

Then we had Christmas. It was a lot of fun. Kyra got a desk that she had been asking for and Sophie got a huge doll house. Plus they both got a bunch of Wii games, DS games, and Sophie got some toys. We went over to Andy’s parents’ house for Christmas dinner and more gifts. All 4 cousins got a load of zhu zhu pets and accessories from Gramee! They had an awesome time playing together with their zhu zhus.

Kyra’s birthday is just a few days after Christmas, of course. She wanted a sleepover party, so that’s what we did. 7 girls altogether, counting our two, spent the night and nobody got hurt. Well, maybe some feelings got hurt, but that didn’t require a trip to the ER. It was fun for the kids, but we’re not planning on doing another one any time soon.

Then on to New Year’s Eve! Wanna see what my kids were doing at midnight?

(That’s Sophie’s list of rules taped to her wall, lol!)

(And Kyra’s head barely poking out of her comforter. Not sure why the blue top bunk sheet is hanging down.)

Yep, the girls were asleep well before midnight, since they stayed up so late for Kyra’s party the night before. So Andy and I had a quiet NYE together. It was nice.

Since then it’s just been back-to-school craziness. The kids are both home today, though. Kyra has a fever and feels icky, but no other symptoms. I didn’t want to drag her outside to take Sophie to preschool (plus I was feeling lazy) so Sophie is home with us too.

And now for some layouts! I quit the creative team at Pickleberrypop in December. It was a hard decision, but I just didn’t have time to keep up with it like I needed to. Since Sine is retiring this month (check Scrap Orchard starting on the 15th for a great sale on her stuff!), I’m down to just one creative team, Scrap Orchard. I’m their head CT member, so I do organizational stuff, which is just fine for me since my scrapping mojo is hit or miss lately. Anyway, if you see something you like, it’s probably at Scrap Orchard. If you really like something and I didn’t give enough info to find it, just ask me and I’ll send you a link to it.

 Here’s our family picture from Christmas 2008. I used a Pickleberrypop site collab for this one.

 And the 2009 family Christmas picture. I used the kit Comfort and Joy by Miss Tiina, she’s a guest a Scrap Orchard this month!

 And old pic of Kyra from Halloween 2008. The kit is a Scrap Orchard collab.

 This kit is Indigo Sky by Joyce Paul and Vera Lim.

 Sundays by Amy Stoffel.

 Jailbird by Kristin Aagard.

 Found Treasures by Tracie Stroud and Flergs. Template freebie by Sine.

 Merry Merry by Irene Alexeeva.

 Merry and Bright by Kristin Aagard.

 Angel Song by Amy Stoffel.

 Mama’s Kitchen by Designs by Julie Bullock at Scrap Orchard, template by Dani Alencar.

 Chill Out by Ziggle Designs at Scrap Orchard.

 Love Notes by Megan Turnidge and Multi Photo Template by Scrapping With Liz, both at Scrap Orchard.

 This is a new kit by Julie Bullock coming to Scrap Orchard this Friday. Shhhhh, don’t tell anyone that I showed it to you! Also using Back to Basics: Squares by Tracie Stroud.

 This is Autumn Thoughts by Megan Turnidge, although I’m not sure where that little owl and the journaling mat came from. If you like it, let me know and I’ll find it

 Americana by Ziggle Designs and Tracie Stroud.

 Pic Attack Templates #1 by SuzieQ Designs and Jingle Baby by Wild Dandelion Designs.

 Wonderland Kit and Add On by FruitLoOp Sally at Pickleberrypop

 Template Pack No 27 by Kristin’s Scrap Design at Pickleberrypop

 Everything available at Scrap Orchard
SO Clustered template by Designs by Sine
Sugar Cookie Kit and Add-On by Megan Turnidge
Scalloped Mats Templates by Irene Alexeeva
Journaling note card from Mama’s Kitchen by Julie Bullock

 So…Pink Collection by Carolyn Rose Kite at Pickleberrypop

 Sweet Harvest by Tracie Stroud and Kristin Aagard.

Cozy Christmas by Megan Turnidge

circle paper from Rustic Christmas by Tracie Stroud

template freebie by J Jorgensen

Everything available at Scrap Orchard

SO Clustered templates and SO Useful Frame Clusters by Designs by Sine

Turning Leaves by Julie Bullock

Lolli by Julie Bullock at Scrap Orchard

template freebie from the Sweet Shoppe

Fresh Delice and Marshmallow Alpha by Irene Alexeeva and Blocking Templates Set 3 by Dani Alencar.

 Joyous Christmas by Lyndsay Riches at Scrap Orchard

Template freebie at Pickleberrypop, Santa and Friends by Amanda Heimann and Ziggle Designs.

I think I got this template freebie at Sweet Shoppe Designs. Kit is Sweet Sugar Holiday by Lyndsay Riches and Wild Dandelion Designs.

Yesterday was not so great. I made an appointment to see my doctor so I could get a few prescriptions renewed, not even realizing what a bad idea it is to have an appointment on a Saturday. When I made the appointment, I totally forgot that Andy was going camping for the weekend, so I had to take the girls with me. We got there at 10:05 for a 10:15 appt, but I didn’t even see the doctor until noon! The girls were soooo good in the waiting room, though, so they got Wendys for lunch. Anyway, I’ve never had a flu shot before, but I decided to get one yesterday. Big mistake! When we got home I felt horrible! All I could do was lie on the couch and wait for the kids’ bedtime. Luckily Gramee took the girls shopping for a couple of hours, because I was totally useless to them. I was way too wiped out to make dinner, so we ended up having pizza even though we had Wendy’s for lunch and donuts for breakfast. Yep, CPS can just come get my kids now, that diet is obviously too unhealthy for them.

I feel much better today, thank goodness! I even managed to scrap a page because the girls are playing so nicely together.

Aquamarine by Laitha at Pickleberrypop, Alpha Sketch by katef at Pickleberrypop, and  It’s A Date by Tracie Stroud at Scrap Orchard

If you scroll down a bit, you’ll see that I’ve already posted once today! Twice in one week is pretty impressive for me, not to mention twice in one day!

I just have a few more layouts that I haven’t posted, then I’ll be all caught up. Like I’ve said before, almost everything I use can be found at either Scrap Orchard or Pickleberrypop. I did pick up some shadow styles from K-Studio at After Five today, they’re very cool. You can see them in this layout.

 The kit is  Beautiful Life by Amy Stoffel and the template can be picked up as a freebie if you check out this weekend’s DSD challenges at Scrap Orchard.

 This layout was named as a Gallery Standout at DST! I used Autumn Breeze by Carolyn Rose Kite.

 This one also got Gallery Standout at DST! I used  Daydreamer by FruitLoOp Sally.

 Celebration by Olga Unger.

 Girly Christmas by Dawn Inskip and Joyce Paul. SO Minimal template by Designs by Sine.

 Sweet Treats by Armina Designs, A Little Wiggly templates by Danielle Corbitt, and template challenge freebie available in the challenge forum at Pickleberrypop.

 Little Scholar by Jady Day Studio and Blueprint no. 6 by DeCrow Designs.

Wild Child, Funky Love (Refunkified) and Template Set 2 by Megan Turnidge.

It’s Digital Scrapbooking Day! What, you didn’t know that? I thought everybody would be celebrating today!

There are tons of games, prizes, and sales going on at both Scrap Orchard and Pickleberrypop. Be sure to check them out!

I really just checked in today to post some of my recent layouts. This isn’t all of them, just the ones that happen to be in my flickr account. Everything I use can be found at Scrap Orchard or Pickleberrypop.

 Using  Spooky Hour by Irene Alexeeva at Scrap Orchard, plus a WordArt blog freebie by Bethany.

 Using Under the Big Top by mleCard and a template freebie from Scrap Orchard (check out the challenges section).

 Using Girls R Us by Lindsay Jane and a newsletter template freebie by Sine

 Using The Good Earth collab by the designers at Scrap Orchard and Sweet Shoppe Designs (it was free with purchase, not sure if it’s still available).

Hi! Steph here with your next stop on the Honeybee Blog Train…yippee! You should have just come from Cheryl’s blog, so if you missed it, hurry back and see what she has for you!

Before I get to the quickpage, I’d love to show off one of my layouts using Scrap Orchard goodies. I made this layout for the Fall Madness competition at DigiScrapAddicts. Layout and kit preview are clickable.

I used this fabulous kit by Ziggle Designs and Tracie Stroud, called Lovey Dovey. Isn’t it adorable?

Don’t forget that the Scrap Orchard designers will have a blog train next weekend with free’bees’, so don’t miss it!

Okay, on to my quickpage. I used the Mega kit Spooktacular, so if you like what you see, be sure to check out the kit.

Click on the preview to download.

And now you’re off to Bec’s blog! Have fun!