First Job Application

I am so proud of Hope!  Tonight she applied for her first "job".  She is interested in being on the Creative Production Crew next school year and she had to apply for the position she was interested in.  The first week of March she will have to interview for the position.  They have given them the questions they will be asked, so we will need to practice so she has an idea of what she will want to say.  We have also talked about trying our best, but not to get down if she doesn't get the spot that she is hoping for.  We will see how that goes.  Wish her/me luck through this journey.

Tonight was also observation night at dance.  Hope has improved since the last time I was in the studio to tape her dances.  There is still a lot of work to do there too, but hopefully we will get there.

Hope has also shown a recent interest in playing chess.  So Joe stopped and bought a real chess/checkers board so they wouldn't have to play on the iPad anymore.

So while she was waiting for us to finish eating supper she set up the board AND started naming all her players random names.  It was cracking me up.

This morning she took a few selfies with Taylor too that I found on my phone tonight.  LOL!

Too cute!

Well now onto the diet update.  I FINALLY hit the half way mark by losing 15 pounds.  I don't know if I have it in me to make it to 30.  We will see how far I make it, but I can definitely tell you I am tired of being on this diet.  UGH!

I am ready to add fruit, but for the bad things I am craving I still would LOVE to have a bowl of popcorn and a chocolate donut!  I can't even believe that wine is not at the top of my list, but I wouldn't turn down a glass if someone had one poured for me right now.  :)  I will have to settle for watching last night's episode of The Bachelor.

Well, here are a few more layouts I have created lately.  All of these layouts were from pictures from several years ago, but really wanted to get scrapbooked.  Enjoy!

Each year I put together a double page layout with the highlights from the school year, instead of making a layout of each event.  So I know I will have an album ready to go when she graduates (if I can keep up with the scrapbooking).  LOL!

Here is the journaling from the layout above...

Keep praying for me...to stay strong with my diet and keep a good attitude...to be the best parent I can be...and be the best wife I can be.  

Until next time!

Darla

The BEST Macaroni

Today I went to a funeral for my aunt Lois.  It was a very nice service.  One of her granddaughters wrote a beautiful tribute.  My memories of aunt Lois include her cooking.  She made the BEST macaroni and cheese and everyone in the family always looked forward to her bringing it to family dinners.  I think I heard almost everyone mention it today as well as some of her awesome desserts, which I didn't get to eat any.  I think funeral calories shouldn't count, but just in case I stayed on track for the diet.  Dawn did too, we even took our own salads...

but our sister Dee on the other hand...

...cheated!  Oh the shame!  LOL!  I practically thought she was going to steal a potato chip off a kids plate.  :)  She did pass on dessert though, so way to be strong Dee!  Heeheehee!  Love ya!

I have been hungry for a pasta dish, so I decided to try this tonight...

It is zucchini noodles, ground turkey and marinara sauce.  It turned out as good as it looks on the plate.  It was so pretty I had to take a picture.  LOL!

It was very cold out today out at the graveside service (like negative 19 wind chill) and I am ready to snuggle up the rest of the night and read a book.

So in honor of aunt Lois, here are a few sympathy cards to share with you tonight.  Rest in Peace...

Darla

Paper Hearts

This year for Valentine's Day I decided to do something different.  I got the idea from a promotional video I saw for this book, which is called Paper Hearts by Courtney Walsh.  I haven't read the book yet, but it is on my wish list when I get the chance.  I have read her Sweethaven series and really liked it.

Anyway, I decided to make paper hearts for both Joe and Hope and hide them in places they would find throughout the day.  Joe found his first one in the dog food.  I had to giggle when I heard him get the box out to feed Taylor (as I was laying in bed) and knew he would find it.  :)

Hope found one of hers in the freezer, since I knew eventually she would get in there to get some sherbet.

Although I have a difficult time getting her to brush her hair some days, this was an easy one to find out in the open.

I think they both thought it was fun, so maybe I will do it again next year.

On Sunday, Hope found her Halloween costume from her first Halloween.  She was a lion.  It was the perfect size for Taylor, so of course Hope had to dress her up.  Sometimes I can't believe how tolerant that dog is.  LOL!

Well, I am late for my first ever chess lesson with Hope.  So I better get going.

Here are a few recent layouts I have created...

Obviously, some of the photos are from several years ago, but I am finally caught up on layouts through the end of 2012.  

Everyone have a great night.

Darla

 

Donut Distractions

Well, the diet continues.  I weigh in again tomorrow, so think big loss this week.  I need the boost to keep going to get to my goal.  This weekend was tough and I knew today was going to be tougher.  It was a co-workers birthday and when I arrived there was a large box of donuts on his desk.  I LOVE donuts.  I somehow managed to not even take a tiny nibble, but it is getting harder and harder.  Why does there have to be so many birthdays in February.  LOL!

Just watching last night's Bachelor, who is from Iowa.  And he took his date to a Friday night football game.  Of course they share the home town band playing and LOVED it that some of the band members were also wearing football jerseys.  Cracked me up and reminded me of Russell.  The one time I took Joe to a football game he thought it was hilarious that the football players also played in the band.  LOL!  That is small town Iowa for you.

Not much else going on, so will just share some cards.

Well, until next time...

Darla

Be MINE!

I am late in sharing this, but better late than never.

This is my project that appeared in the LAST issue of Paper Crafts and Scrapbooking Magazine.  I am sad that it is no longer publishing.  Thanks for all the great inspiration!

They didn't show the back of the card...

I had more cards that were going to be in future issues that were sent back to me.

This was to be in the March Issue.

This was going to be in the May issue...

I had previously shared one card from my December published projects.  Here is what the page looked like.  I wasn't allowed to share more than one project per issue, but since it is not longer publishing I felt I could share it with you now.

Here are the cards up close...

So if you made it through all the pictures, here is a recent funny from Hope.  She was telling me about gymnastics and the girls were talking about bad words.  Hope proudly exclaimed she knows them all because her mommy uses them.  OY...parent of the year award there.  Luckily, when I use them I always tell her those are mommy/daddy words and not for kids.  So she tells me that she can't wait until she is an adult to use bad words, but that she is NOT going to have kids because it it TOO much work.  However, after she graduates college she is planning on moving back in with Joe and me.  I was cracking up most of the time while she is jabbering on and on about all of this. 

Maybe my resolution for the year should have been not to use so many bad words.  Really I rarely use them except when I am really MAD (&/or on a diet).  LOL!

Since we are talking about LOVE, here is a recent layout I created in honor of my niece Abbey's wedding, which was last May.

I bought this line of papers before the wedding knowing I wanted to use it for her wedding pictures.

I tucked the journaling on the tag behind the dance floor picture.  If you haven't done the alligator at a wedding recently, you really should!  It is fun, but the older we all get, the harder it is getting.  LOL!

I hope you all had a great Valentine's Day.  I will be back to share what I had up my sleeve for my loves in my life.  Speaking of loves, here is a layout all about the smaller one.  :)

Here is another one...

Joe and Hope...love you so much!

Darla

The sweet sound of music

Last week was a crazy blur, plus just trying to survive a diet is enough to keep a person busy.  I feel like I am constantly cleaning fresh veggies for us to eat.  More on that later...

Anyway, Hope's 4th grade class had their music concert last Friday.  I can't believe I didn't get a picture of her in her outfit.  Oh well.  She was thrilled that she wasn't on the front row this year, although it is much easier to see her when she is.  LOL!  Good thing she put that flower in her hair or we would have had troubles seeing her at first.  Eventually they all shifted throughout the program and we could see her better toward the end.

This was the first year they played their recorders.  Oh bless the music teachers that didn't let them take their recorders home except over Thanksgiving and Winter break.  They did a great job!

Hope had a few special guests to come see her program.  Her birth mom Jessica and her kids came to visit before the program.  It was a quick and chaotic visit, but lots of fun!  We exchanged Christmas and birthday gifts for all the kids.

Luke loved his Hot Wheels set.  We got Hanna a dog doctor kit with a kennel for the puppy.

and Ethan love his Lego set.

THEN...we tried to get them all to sit together for a picture.  This was the best we could get, but honestly, I LOVE this picture.

This is the present I made for Jessica.  It was a small 7x7 printer box.

Hope got a birthday gift from Jessica and the kids.  She loved everything, but has been wearing the sunglasses everywhere.  Even Taylor's future is so bright she's gotta wear shade!  LOL!

This week was my birthday.  I took the day and just had some quiet time at home to scrapbook.  I also DID NOT cheat.  Boy did I want to have some wine while I was scrapbooking, but I was good.  The next day at work, my manager made my favorite treats.  So I had a half inch square bar and ate it in about 20 tiny bites over an hour time frame.  I was trying to savor every morsel.  LOL!

I did finally reach that magic 10 lbs mark and actually this week hit 13 lbs total.  Yeah me, but this is REALLY hard.  I am hoping to hold out until the end of March.  So in honor of that journey and all the friends and family that have encouraged me to get this far...Thanks!

This one is just funny.  Not that I have hit "hot" status, but I definitely feel better about myself.

Alright, until next time!

Darla