Getting Creative

Thank you to our cousins for the goodies they sent to the kids. Sorry we missed the birthday boy's party. We were in NYC!

I couldn't resist covering another notebook with the paper from my BFF Ruth.

I made this for Manga Dork. I love how it says Tomboy Princess. That is SO her.

My Stampin' Up consultant taught me how to add paper to the inside of an ink pen to make a coordinating pen. Then I added some ribbon. Too cute!

I had to make 2 more cards to take to my Lil Sis's house in a couple weeks. Mom and I each made 10 cards and then gathered the supplies to make 3 more of each card. We are going to have a cardmaking party one evening during our visit.

This is the other card I made to take to her house. I got the idea from http://www.chicnscratch.typepad.com/! She has so many great ideas. There is even a tutorial to help make this card. So summery!

Happy Thursday!

Dedicated to Lil Sis

Last night Manga Dork was checking her blog. She had 16 comments where she had been gone for a week. I was so excited for her. We share our deep love (addiction) of blogging.

Then I hear a "HAHAHA....Hey Mom guess what!? Aunt B commented on my blog!" Ok, I know Lil Sis checks out our blogs and I love that she gets to hear about our daily life since she lives 12 hours away.

BUT because she commented for the first time on Manga Dork's blog and NEVER on mine I was subjected to "Aunt B. commented on my blog and not yours." AND "She likes me better." AND EVEN "My blog is better." GASP! AS IF!

So Lil Sis I decided to dedicate an entire post to you. Hmmmm......AND I learned how to enlarge photos on my blog JUST IN TIME!

Love ya!

A Little Bit of This...And A Little Bit of That...

This is what it looks like when Dr. Hubby tries to leave for work. We see him for such a little amount of time during the week that I feel like grabbing his other leg by Friday.

I just had to share this great find with you. I have been looking for a clock to put in my scraproom. I found this one at Walmart the other day. I can't wait to add my photos and embellishments to it! Plus it was only $15.

My BFF Ruth bought me this girly paper pack by Miss Elizabeth's at the Dollar Tree. I LOVED it. She SO knows me and what I like! Now what shall I make...

My Mom is coming today to visit. We are going to rubber stamp some cards. Fun!

Happy Hump Day!

Hey Melonscraps...I Did It!

The answer to "What in the World is That?" is a Longhorn bull's "ball sack" purse. Merrianne I am using your word for it. Hee!Hee! You were very close, just the wrong animal. Dr. Hubby bought it at a Longhorn Ranch. Their gift shop is called "Longhorns Head to Tail." They pride themselves on using every part of the bull. Dr. Hubby actually paid $28 for it. He also owns a walking cane made from the "you know what." Men!

A few days ago a bloggy friend reminded me that my name is Scrappy Girl and I was doing ZERO scrappin'. Her blog has made me really want to create so today I got some of my stuff back out of the boxes. I decided to work with K&Company's Urban Rhapsody products.

Walmart has Composition books 2/$1 so I had picked some up this weekend. This is the first one I have covered. I love it!

I sat on the ground to photograph my little creation and was attacked by fur babies. Sebastian the Golden Lab was on one leg. My inlaws belong to him. He comes up the hill to visit.

Bandit claimed my other leg. Of course, I burst into giggles as usual. Funny pups.

What In The World Is That?

Thank you again to everyone for your sweet words on yesterday's posts. It felt good to write about it and hear what others thought. I will update you as things go on.

I loved reading these "man inspired" posts by Jan and McEwens. They inspired me to post about that special little "flavor" my dear sweet Dr. Hubby has added to our home decor.

This lovely deer skull was found on our farm. A family friend took it home, painted it, mounted it to wood, and brought it back. Well, of course Dr. Hubby wanted it to hang next to his gun cabinet (which is unfortunately in our dining room). So among my cheerful colors, Mary Engelbreit art, and cherries is this ugly thing. But here's what my quiz is for you...

Can you guess what this is?! I will give the answer tonight at 9 PM eastern time! First person who gets it correct will receive a handmade card from me with some "vintage" Creative Memories goodies tucked inside! Tell your friends...

Not Prepared...Not Prepared At All!

I published today's first post while Foster Son was at therapy with his social worker. Thank you to everyone for your comments.


When Foster Son got home I had him go make his bed and I stopped his social worker from going out the door. I asked her how things were going on their side of this. She said they have a family in mind (And they really sound great) and that when Dr. Therapist told Foster Son he was a little sad...WHAT!? I was so shocked! I had no clue that she was going to tell him today. I thought we were waiting til Aug. 5th when I took him to therapy. OMGoodness, I freaked out. She was actually going to walk out that door without telling me that they told him.


I wasn't prepared to deal with this yet. I expected to be there to go through it with him. I wanted to support him and explain things to him. Argh. I haven't even thought through what I want to say to him. I want to spare his feelings as much as possible.



So after she left I went and talked to Foster Son. He was being strong and was getting choked up a little. I explained that Dr. Hubby and I love him alot, but that we had decided to not foster parent anymore. We talked about the possible new adventures he would be experiencing. I had him smiling. It is still going to be hard, but I think he will be ok. The new family they are looking at sounds great. He has come SO far and I think he will continue to blossom in a better matched home. The hardest is yet to come though...(moving out)

Welcome home...Let the stress resume!

When we got home from NYC we stopped and checked our mailbox. Inside was a letter from the foster parent agency that said Monday morning (It was already Saturday evening) we would need to attend a meeting and have our decision about adopting Foster Son. Argh. My stress level went from 0 to 60 in 5.2! I had been able to let go of this while on vacation. Now here it is punching me in the nose!

We have had him for 1 year and 8 months. He is an interesting little guy. He will do any chore I ask of him. He washes his hands before eating EVERY time. He plays well with the babies. He keeps his room clean. He is a straight A student. He is a pretty good kid compared to most foster children situations.

However, he lies "if his lips are moving." He chooses to pee the bed. He has proven this several times. He wants good things to happen to him "magically" without doing any work. You can not use a reward system for anything because it just isn't worth it to him. If punished (grounding or an extra yucky chore) he goes into survival mode and "survives" what you give him. This means it doesn't work because he is "not there" for the whole thing. He also "survives" therapy so he comes home and does his "homework" for the first day and then forgets it for the rest. He uses affection and love for manipulation. I feel like a detective trying to figure out the truth. He will not tell you if he likes or dislikes something. Example: He ate barbecue sandwiches twice a month for 8 months and he hates them. I had to figure it out for myself. He is smart enough to figure out "what I want to hear" most of the time.

The main issue for us was that Manga Dork wants him to leave. She cries if we talk about adopting him. We have been working on the brother/sister relationship in therapy but it isn't working at all. Manga Dork is the one who wanted a brother. She gave up her room (she shares with 2 babies) for him to come to our home. It was her idea!

Dr. Hubby would have been fine with the adoption.

Me?!....I was so torn. I have not bonded with him. He does not feel like mine. After so much time you would think he would feel like part of the family. It just feels like something is missing. He stresses me out completely. I am grouchy and constantly having to deal with the "little" things he does. He resents his mom and older sister and I believe he resents me and Manga Dork because of this. It is going to tear him apart to leave here. He says he wants to stay. I think he wants to stay because it is easier than moving to another family. We are so mismatched. I just think that if it was meant to be then I wouldn't be torn and I would fight to adopt him...

I went to the meeting that Monday and told them we did not want to adopt him. Now I have to go through what is probably the hardest thing I have ever been through. Now I just want what is best for Foster Son. I am pushing for a family that is a better fit. He wants no older sister, a brother about his age, younger sibling is ok. He is afraid of most animals (the farm freaked him out!). We are going to tell him in therapy on August 5th and then slowly transfer him to what is hopefully a pre-adoptive placement.

Thank you for listening to this long post. I needed to get some of this out.

NYC Day #7 Saturday

We checked out of the hotel, caught a taxi to the airport, flew to Charlotte NC, then flew home...
Home Sweet Home! We were greeted with HUGE hugs and giggles. The 2 grandmas had cleaned my porch and home. Everything looked great! Thank you Mama C. and Nan! We couldn't wait to give everyone their souveniers...

We gave Wild Child a Teddyursa Pokemon and a I *Heart* NY tshirt.

We gave Cutie Patootie a stuffed Buneary Pokemon and a I *heart* NY tshirt.

Manga Dork got chinese treats and a tshirt.

Nan was given a tin of chocolates from the Times Square Hersheys store and a pic of the 4 of us at Tavern on the Green in a special folder. Lil Sis gave her the tin of M&Ms from the Times Square M&Ms store. Nan is a chocoholic and has the cutest collection of tins.

Here is my FIL with his Rolex or "Fauxlex." LOL!

We bought MIL (Mama C.) diamond earrings in the Diamond District.

We gave J. (our neighbor who helps out with farm chores) a tshirt too.

Not pictured:

Foster Son: A Jirachi Pokemon and I *heart* NY tshirt.

Papa G.: A Jay Leno's Garage hat from us and the matching tshirt from Lil Sis and BIL.

My BFF Ruth: A photo album of NY pics and postcards.

My BFFs Sis: Playing cards from the NY M&Ms store.

It was fun picking out treasures for everyone.

NY SHOPPING TIP: Do not pay $15 for a I *heart* NY tshirt. It is WAY more fun to annoy the little chinese man looking for good ones in his 6 for $10 stacks. They are imperfect, but there are ALOT of good ones. They want you to take the top ones still folded. I held each one up and inspected them. He grew very impatient and annoyed. Oh well! I got great shirts!

NYC Day #6 Friday

*For those of you following our trip...be sure you caught day #4. I posted it on Thursday but for some reason it labeled it under Wednesday. It includes our trip to the wax museum. So much fun!

This was our last full day in NYC. I was kinda bummed thinking about that, but quickly put it out of my thoughts so I could enjoy the day.

We started the day at Grand Central Station. We didn't have alot of time to look around at the shops, but we did stop to do something very romantic...

In the book "Weird New York" I read about how in a certain area of the hallways you can whisper in the corner and the person diagonal from you in the other corner can hear it. I wanted to tell Dr. Hubby "I Love You" for our 14th anniversary.

He heard me. When he said, "I Love You Too" I heard him just as if he was standing next to me! That was so cool! I was also surprised to see that we weren't the only ones "in the know." Others showed up to whisper after us.


My children were on my mind ALOT here. I found two Pokemon figures for Wild Child and Foster Son. Lil Sis and BIL were hoping for a Wii fit. No luck!


Lil Sis had found a store called "Props for Today" listed in one of her books. Turns out it is a rental store for designers putting together photo shoots, TV and movie sets, commercials, and celebrity parties. How cool! They have EVERYTHING! This furniture was returned from being used in Morgan Freeman's office in the movie "Wanted" in theatres now. The guy said that Madonna had a few things out. Cool.


This is the front of Macy's. We saw Bloomingdale's, the St. Regis Hotel, Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, and the Four Seasons Hotel while walking today.


Onto the subway and out at Southside Seaport. It was really interesting to see these big "pirate-like" boats with the buildings in the background. We had Nathan's Famous HotDogs for lunch. BUT I had chicken tenders.


Our view while eating was awesome. This is the Brooklyn Bridge. They have set up 4 of those waterfall things. Not sure why, but they look cool.


We ended our day at Yankee Stadium. It was so HOT! We were up so high it took my breath away, and it took me a while to not be light headed. LOL! I ate another hotdog. Still not great. This is when I decided I didn't want anymore hot dogs for awhile.


We left at the top of the 8th. We weren't the only ones with this idea. Standing on the platform was an adventure. We were all squashed together. This lady started yelling "I can't believe you are pushing me...you got to be kidding...I can't believe this." while we were loading onto the subway. When the doors opened people poured in like water. You were no longer in charge of where you were walking. We were packed in there like sardines. Dr. Hubby and I were standing facing each other. One of his arms got stuck in the air, and my purse got stuck on top of my chest between us. And of course this gave me the giggles. This is also when Dr. Hubby said that woman was yelling at me. Huh?! How ridiculous to yell at one person in a situation like that. We were ALL being pushed. I was oblivious. The sweat was running down the back of my legs and down my face. And the smell of everyone...

We had to part from Lil Sis and BIL. We managed to "pound" fists at our stop. They were traveling on to BIL's Mom's home. Boo Hoo!

Time to pack...

NYC Day #5 Thursday

Let the Central Park Day fun begin...


Ok, we quickly became addicted to this cafe. The one food from NYC that I miss is the granola/yogurt/fruit parfait from here! Yummo! Unfortunately, it is also the home of the $5 small cup of OJ.

We began our Central Park adventure with a carriage ride. This was awesome! It cost $40 for a 15 minute ride, but it was worth every penny.

Central Park was a great escape from the city. At certain points in the park you can forget where you are.

These little buggies are everywhere in NYC, but especially near the park. We did not ride in one and I kinda regret it. This is where my weight held me back. I just could not bear the little man joking with his friends about the heifer he had to peddle through the park.

FAO Schwartz had some really neat toys. The stuffed animals range from tiny to HUGE! I could just see the kid's eyes if we brought that biggest horse home with us. I think he was too big to qualify as carry-on though.

Next it was off to the Central Park Zoo. It was small, but the Polar Bears were worth the admission ($8) all by themselves. They were swimming and standing up to the glass. So many Kodak moments.

Our tummies were rumbling so we hunted down the vender carts and some cool shade.

I ate my first NYC hot dog and pretzel. They were both ok. I was expecting fantastic, but it wasn't even close. Loved having the experience though!


After lunch we took the subway to the Museum of Natural History. This was the first time I have ever seen dinosaur fossils. Wow!


My feet started hurting alot while walking in this HUGE museum. I felt like someone had sucked all the energy right out of me. I was miserable. We ended the museum tour with the planetarium show. Honestly, I may have dozed a little. HeeHee!

We decided to head back to the hotel and take a quick nap before getting ready for our night out. I showered and then watched TV (and ate Mike and Ikes) while everyone napped. It felt good to stop and just hang out.


We all got dressed up for dinner out at Tavern on the Green. I had to wear flats because of my toe and Lil Sis decided to wear Jessica Simpson shoes with 5 inch heels. We all looked like midgets next to her. In this pic her shoes are off and I am standing on my tip toes. She's so beautiful. I loved all the time we got to spend together.


Dr. Hubby looked so handsome all dressed up. At the end of the night he went back to hotel with his tie undone. For some reason I found this extremely hot. Anyway...the food at Tavern was gross! The bread was so hard that I could have knocked out our waitress with it. I had Sage and Parmesan crusted chicken breast with vanilla whipped sweet potatoes and french beans. The chicken is the only thing I ate. Our bill was $184 plus tip! Yikes. It was a nice experience, but I don't think I will ever voluntarily go back.

NYC Day #4 Wednesday

Today we woke up and were ready for another exciting day! I was loving every minute of everything we were doing. We headed to Soho first for some shopping...nothing opened until 11AM. Soooo...we headed to ChinaTown. Louis V. was calling my name...

When we arrived in ChinaTown, one of the little chinese women came up to us and said the magic words..."You want purse...Chanel...Coach...Gucci...Louis Vuitton?" We followed her and she took us several blocks over...to a van. Like 3 very stupid little girls we climbed into the back. That is when the worry set in. What if a driver jumped in and took off with us? What if this woman pulled out a knife? What if we suffocate in this stuffy van? After politely looking at her stuff (and not finding my Louis) we jumped out. Dr. Hubby and BIL had been outside watching. We decided not to EVER do that again. I did buy my LV down a dark alley and the chinese woman ran to who knows where and brought it back.

In my quest to bring Manga Dork back some chinese candies and cookies we ran into a fish market. Let's just say I am glad I had not just eaten. Clean up on Aisle....sidewalk!

We left ChinaTown and went shopping in the chic and trendy Soho. I was keeping my eyes open for celebs! I saw a homeless man brushing his teeth on the steps of Micheal Kors. First stop...the Mont Blanc store for Dr. Hubby. He bought a gorgeous pen with a ruby in it. Then off to Betsey Johnson. Ok...I am a huge Betseyville fan. Her colors and over the top patterns call to me.

I bought this cute bag. I wanted about 3 or 4, but I behaved myself. I would love to be thin so I could wear her clothes. Her designs are too cute!

We went to the matinee showing of Wicked. Let me just say...I loved every minute of it. I loathe The Wizard of Oz. This story puts it into a whole new perspective. I loved the idea behind it. So cool. I am going to read the novel. I would definitely recommend seeing it. It is on a national tour now so look for it in your town!

After the show we went to Times Square to really look around. We saw LOTS of signs, the M&Ms store, Hersheys, Virgin mega store, where they drop the ball, MTV, etc.

We wanted to eat dinner some where we couldn't find at home. When we ran upon Bubba Gump's restaurant we couldn't resist. This is a great place to eat AND lots of fun. After dinner Lil Sis and BIL went to a comedy show. Dr. Hubby and I went to Madame Toussand's wax museum. It is a little pricey to get in, but well worth it. We had so much fun interacting with the wax celebs.

Here I am hanging out with Julia Roberts. I just had to ask her the one question that has been haunting me for years, "Why Lyle Lovett?" I promised her I wouldn't share her answer. Sorry! You can see Hugh Grant waiting to speak to me in the background. Gosh he is so pushy. "Hugh, I told you to wait your turn."

Dr. Hubby and Steven Speilberg stopped talking for a minute to let me take their pics. I think they were discussing baseball caps. Boring!

I LOVE Oprah! No wonder she is on the front of her own magazine every month. She LOVES to pose for pictures. She invited me to her and Stedman's wedding. Sorry...I can't tell ya the date.

This is me hanging with the Osbournes. Seriously, you can't understand Ozzy in person any better than you can on TV.

Dr. Hubby and I were ready for our big breaks when we saw American Idol! I sang "I'm Every Woman" by Whitney Houston. Let's see what the judges had to say...

It's a thumbs up! Well, ladies and gentlemen this proves it. Simon Cowell CAN be bribed!

After the wax museum Dr. Hubby and I hopped on the subway for the first time by ourselves. He was cool and calm....I was....NOT! We heard a lady singing karaoke on one of the platforms. She was fantastic. I loved all the musicians and singers that perform for money in their hats. Too cool. So very NYC!