Welcome Monday

I made this for a friend out of re purposed junk mail that I got on saturday. She wants Mr. Obama in a way that is not political, if you know what I mean. :) I got this chipboard piece the same day the flyer for the Obama campaign arrived and I knew right away that I would try something I saw on Amy Rysavy's blog. Amy made a frame from light weight coasters that she sent through her die cut machine, so I tried to achieve a similar effect. Her frame has an opening so you can change this photo, but my photo of Barack is glued in place.

And this card is made with the Hanna Stamps set "Passport" and is good for me this week as I am going to Toronto over the weekend to visit a friend who lives in that area. Okay, I don't really think I'll see Palm Trees in Toronto, but we had an earthquake in Indiana, so who knows what could happen. The paper is from Stampin Up but I cannot remember the name of the pack it came in.

We had a quiet weekend full of soccer games and kids playing in the backyard. I am hoping the expected rain holds off so the kids can play out back as much as they want. Actually, I'd rather they played in someone else's back yard, but at least this way I can yell at my kids and embarrass them in front of their friends when they act bad.

Hanna and I Hit the Road

This Hanna set comes out tonight at midnight. It's called Passport and it is a very good set for today. Hanna is packed for her trip and I am packing for Spring Break. Hanna's card has a little Australia stamp in the scalloped square, my way of saying hello to StampOwl who is a Hanna Design Team member in Australia.

I have the laundry done and the piles of clothing are ready to be packed into suitcases. Several trips ago we got the boys each a small rolling suitcase and it has been a great thing for them to be able to be responsible for their own carrying of stuff. I use the word responsible very loosely here, but at least we are trying to make them independent. I won't be able to blog for another 10 days or so.

We'll be a couple of days on the road and then be in Florida for a week, then drive a couple days home. I have the kennel arranged, the house helper, etc... I am sure I will return tired and ready to send the kids to school.

Whirlwind Day

Today is another marathon day. Noah has pink eye so all the laundry in the house has to be done, per my instructions. This means all towels and bed linens, too. I don't want it to spread and take hold of us as we ready for vacation. I am putting in load after load of laundry and even sent some to a neighbor who has a beautiful front load machine. That means she can easily wash humongous comforters that don't fit in my top load machine because of the spinner thing in the niddle.

I made cake for Seth's birthday but he would not leave it alone yesterday so we ended up cutting in to it last night. I was afraid the whole thing would fall apart if we did not cut off the side of it that was sliding. Noah somehow got some plastic carrot toys. Seth took them and "planted" them in his chocolate cake. This made Noah angry as his toys had been taken away from him and were now dirty. the carrots were plucked for harvest, but had disturbed the cake and left holes and rifts in it. The carrots must have been left over from someones Easter as they had that sugar candy stuff inside them and Noah wanted to eat it.

Here is the Birthday Boy with his Dairy Queen cake that we had at his party Saturday. My kids don't know how good they have it. I never once had a party as a kid. Ask my mom, she confirms it. She says she just didn't do it. End of story. Even as an adult she will not come to kids' parties. Not even for her grandkids. She says there are too many kids at a party. It's true. My brother had one party in the backyard, once. Me? never. So my kids get a party with friends and a special meal on their birthdays at home, and cake and ice cream and presents. My parents also take the kids around the time of their birthday and do something special with them.

Today's menu is spaghetti and meatballs with breadsticks. Then more chocolate cake and ice cream.

The card on top shows how I fell today. Run Over. The Hanna is from the "Tis the Season" set. The taxi and sunglasses are from the new "Passport" set which comes out Friday. I couldn't resist running Hanna down in the road with the sarcastic sentiment. We all have those days don't we?