Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

Congratulations Amanda!!! Random # generator kicked up numero 4 and that was YOU. Shoot me an email at thewinequeen@gmail.com with and I will let you know how to claim your prize!

My Memories Suite- Digital Scrapbook software giveaway!

I am so very excited to announce that I have been asked to do a review and a giveaway of an awesome digital scrapbook program called My Memories Suite

I have been a scrapbooker before I even knew that is what I was doing. I had always loved to put my pictures in albums with cute sayings or stickers and over the years my hobby developed into an actual craft.

When digital scrapbooking came into play I never thought I would get into it. I thought it was cheating actually. To me the point of scrapbooking was all of the awesome embellishments that went into it. I've learned my lesson this past week! My Memories Suite is the #1 rated digital scrapbook software. It is so easy to use that even a total novice to digital scrapbooking (ahem, ME) can use it and make awesome pages. You can make individual pages from scratch, or choose from TONS of different designer templates. There are so many different papers and embellishments to choose from that I was totally overwhelmed. In a good way

Once you create your masterpiece there are about a billion different ways to share it. You can print the pages. You can have them professionally printed and put into hardbound books. Turn it into a movie for a DVD or even your iPod. Add music, add video, seriously, add the kitchen sink.

I had SO much fun playing with this software that I finally had to just STOP and write this review.

Probably my favorite thing about using a digital program was how easy it was for me to throw some GOOD pages together. Over the years of having kids I have found that my hobby took a back burner because getting my stuff out, or packing it up to go somewhere just took too long. Playing with this program the past week......I did so while sitting on the couch, catching up on DVR and still spending time with the husband. I never had to worry about not having something that I needed because I was either using already put together kits, or just finding cute stuff on the website. The program itself is priced WAY less than it should be, and adding on extra stuff is only a few bucks. There is also TONS of free stuff to add into the program. I used a lot of those kits too. All that and no mess to clean up? Yes please.

So I'm going to share some of the pages I made...and THEN I'm going to tell you how to WIN a full copy of the software for yourself!! I like to share.

The first thing I tried was to make a few pages from scratch. Mallory at the beach last year, and then just one of my favorite pictures of her from a few years ago. Simple but still cute.

Then I tried a few coordinating pages. These ones took me like 2 minutes....added pics, added some text and that was all. The pages were already done, I just had to drag my pictures in.

Finally I decided to do a little album. They had tons of cute Christmas stuff so I decided to put something together with that.

Seriously.....so much fun.

OK, here is the part you are waiting for. HOW to enter to win. Go to My Memories Suite and look around. Come back and leave me a comment telling me which kit you like the best. Easy!

Want extra entries? Follow the My Memories Blog, Like their Facebook page or follow them on their Twitter. Post a link to THIS post on your blog for another entry. Just leave me a separate entry for each "extra"

One last thing! In addition to giving a full program to one of my readers, My Memories Suite has also given me a code to share with you for $10 off the purchase of the program, and $10 additional in store credit....hey, you cant ALL win the entire program. Should you not be the lucky winner, and you still want to buy the program just enter STMMMS1186 at checkout for $10 off and $10 in store credit

This giveaway will end on 11/20/11

I was provided with a free download of the MMS software to that I might be able to provide an honest review

The price of remodeling

Yeah, so I'm not talking about the monetary price although that was a bit rough too. I'm talking about the mental price! For the next 3 days my house will be in total chaos. More so than usual.

Joe and I spent the weekend moving our living room into the family room toy room. At first the kids thought it was cool to have random furniture piled up in their space but that did not last long. We also had to clean out 2 closets that have not seen the light of day since Betty White was a little girl.

The most fun though was watching poor Joe tear out the cabinet and sink in our downstairs bathroom. It cost him 2 trips to Lowes and almost a finger. Good times. I had the task of cleaning the dining room. See, we don't so much DINE in the dining room. We have a beautiful round table in there and we use it to store our STUFF. By stuff I mean anything we don't know what to do with. I cant even define STUFF because it was truly just a whole lot of random.

Most of the STUFF in the dining room was my scrapbook stuff. It was everywhere!! I was in dire need of some organization. So, I talked Joe into letting me claim a little corner of it for my "craft". It was SUPER pretty until we moved more crap into the dining room that overflowed from the toy room



The biggest crisis of the day though? No, it was not trying to throw random kid toys away while they were not looking (I was like a ninja), it was not finding missing neighborhood children under our couches(ew)....it was THIS

Look close class....do you see what that is? That is my wine rack and in front of it is a CHAIR and tons of other crap. Guess who forgot to pull out a bottle prior to it being blocked? Guess who sent her husband climbing through it all to pull me out a rescue bottle? NOW who's a ninja??

Come Wednesday though it will be all worth it. I will have beautiful new floors and will be able to spend my free time watching my dogs try to run on laminate hardwood. And when cats puke up smaller cats on my floor a quick wipe up will take care of it. Good times? Indeed

Please go visit my bloggy friend Jenny. She has opened up a new store (oh how I wish I could sew)and is having a give a way!

Not Me Monday

Monday again already??? I swear the weekends just keep getting shorter! You know the drill.....Not Me Monday was created by MckMama to tell the world about all of the things that you did NOT do over the past week. I find it to be rather therapeutic!!

This past week.....hmmmmm.......

I did NOT spend a lot of last week working on a project that I will talk about later this week. I was NOT AT ALL thrilled with the outcome and will NOT expect much attention from you all in regards to said project. What do you all think I am? An attention whore? Not Me.

I did NOT read Eclipse for the 3rd time. In fact I'm not even going to bother mentioning this since all of you already know that I do NOT have an infatuation with the Twilight series. That said, I do NOT plan on reading Breaking Dawn (for the 3rd time) this week as well.

I did NOT decide to start training for a 5K that I may or may not even run in. I was NOT AT ALL proud of myself for not only running on the treadmill, but living to tell about it. I am NOT AT ALL out of shape and I am NOT determined to do this and lose some weight in the process.

Friday I was NOT excited to put my kids to bed so that I could enjoy my Tivo'd Today Show with the New Kids on the Block....I did NOT stop and rewind a few parts more than once while wiping the drool from my chin.

At the same time I was NOT enjoying my New Kids porn Joe was NOT in the kitchen BAKING his daughter's birthday cake. When he told me that the New Kids were gay I did NOT point out to him that he was the one working on a 3 layer pink princess cake.



Saturday.......I did NOT celebrate my daughter's 3rd birthday (more on this on her actual bday which is this Friday) We did NOT have a wonderful day at the park with friends and family.

BFF Liz did NOT give me the biggest smile ever when revealing to me her gift for my daughter which was a t-shirt that read "The Future Griffin McIntyre" who is NOT the son of my beloved Joey McIntyre aka hottest New Kid ever.

I did NOT find that ironic seeing as just 3 weeks ago I did NOT get my friend's daughter a shirt that read "Lil Miss Cullen" for her birthday

I did NOT have a wonderful mother's day!! I did not come downstairs to be greeted with smiley kids wishing me a happy Mother's day! I also did NOT love finding a case of wine, Archivers gift card and 90210 Season 4 waiting for me! Yeah!!!

Hope all of you mommy's did NOT have a wonderful Mother's day as well!

I am an open book

Thanks for playing Q&A with me. I got some good questions out of you! So, without further ado.....it's time to play What do you want to know about Cammie.......

Kami wants to know---"How did you choose the names of your children?" Actually, we had BOTH of our children picked out before they were even conceived. I had Pierce's name in the back of my mind before I even met Joe. It is my mother's maiden name. Had he been a girl we were going with Anna after Joe's grandmother. Joe picked out Mallory's name from guess where......"what will we do baby....without us......sha na na na na" Had she been a boy her name would have been Jack.

JananaBee asks....."Are you going to have any more children?" Well Janna let me put it to you this way.....Joe is no longer capable of knocking me up. I on the other hand can have another baby anytime I want to also have a divorce.

Crazy girl BeeAndRose had a few questions for me...."how much wine does it take to get you seriously wasted these days" Well Ms BeeAndRose my answer might surprise you.....I actually can cap a nice buzz on 2 glasses of wine. Based on my antics of my Jersey Train Wreck weekend to get seriously wasted I need 2 xanax and a full bottle of wine. She also wanted to know "The weirdest thing you have ever done while drinking wine?" I stole a very large plant from BW3 once in college (this is a wings type eating place) Very large. Walked right out the door with it. "Are you a cheap wino or do you lean toward pricier wines????" For the most part I am an equal opportunity wine drinker. I stay away from the likes of Boone's Farm though. "red, white...which do you prefer...box or bottle?????" Ahhh the good old days of boxed wine....or as I liked to call it.....a party in a box. I'm mostly a red drinker but I also like white.

TheBookKitten asks...."...how would you react when you finally got some sleep in your house?" Since she is new to my blog I wont tell her that me getting some sleep would misalign the cosmos and thus make the world disappear like the island on Lost. Kitten....truth be told, I would probably implode.

Yaya wants to know What my favorite color is and how I met my husband. Well yaya....I can't tell you my favorite color.....that is WAY to personal. However I will tell you about meeting Joe....I had just gotten dumped by some asshole when my aunt decided to start nagging me to meet this guy she worked with. I kept telling her I did not need my AUNT to hook me up with a boy thankyouverymuch. Finally....to shut her up humor her I decided to meet her out with a bunch of other people including Joe. We were engaged 7 months later. Um, thanks Aunt Janice.

Jineen asks...."When did I get my Uggs and what kind do I have" Joe got them for me last Dec for my bday---I have the kind that give your feet orgasms when you put them on. I mean...I have THESE ones

She also wanted to know "Where is the craziest place I have ever done the deed" That would be the library that I worked at in college. oh the irony of the book loving girl getting busy in the library....WAIT.......this story is not true at all. I saved myself for marriage. uh huh. sure did. "Would you like to write a book? What kind?" I would like to. I would have NO idea how to do it. Believe it or not I would like to write a children's book. And why oh WHY could I have not been the person who thought up Brown Bear Brown Bear....that book is SO not rocket science. Jineen also asks if I enjoy celebrating the holidays and if they include wine...... Yes, I LOVE Christmas, Thanksgiving, ect. I love when my entire family gets together. And yeah, there is generally a bottle of wine in my purse somewhere.....

Bee and Rose is back.....this time with "Why did you choose your wedding date? Was it based on time of year? Time off work?" We knew we wanted to get married in the fall sometime. I picked Oct because it usually has the best fall weather.

TheWifeORiley throws in...."Describe the worst trip you have been on" Thankfully I have always had great vacations (knocking on wood here) However....back in 2000 I had to go to my companies corporate office for a week of training. This normally would not have been a bad thing...I had been the year before and had a decent time. This week however....sucked. I wound up with some random roommate from another branch....so I spent a week in a hotel room with someone I had never met (and it was not even scandalous....) PLUS we had a tornado one night....so we were ushered sans bra and makeup in the middle of the night with all of these co-workers into the hotel hallways. Good times that trip.

Francesca at 3BayBChicks wants to know how my parents came up with my name. There is no excitement behind this at all. My dad saw it in a book he was reading. My middle name is after my grandmother.

In keeping with the "Year of the Hula" Hula wants to know what I have done for ME lately. Well, I took a couple of girly trips in the last 6 months, plus some scrap booking here locally. Mostly I just try and get a little book time in every day

Alexis wants to know my most embarrassing moment. Well I actually have TWO. One that had the potential to really suck, and one that DID really suck. Before I started working where I do full time I spent 3 summers as an intern. My very first summer was back when we still had to wear panty hose.....one afternoon I came out of the bathroom with my hose stuck in the back of my dress. HAWT. Thankfully the ONLY person who saw me and thus came to my rescue (Jodi I know you read...do you remember this?) was my friend Jodi who YEARS later would become my roommate. Bless you Jodi. God forbid anyone random see my panties. Without having bought me a drink first. Fast forward a few years....I am late for class in one of the biggest lecture halls on campus. This classroom has steps that are far apart...you know....one step, walk a few feet, another step. Got the visual? Good. Now picture me falling down one of the steps. In the middle of the lecture. The professor actually had to control himself so that he did not laugh at me. Awesome.

Heather asks me...."How long have you been scrap booking? Who is your favorite scrapbooker (famous one, that is)? Have you ever gone on a scrappin' retreat? If yes, where?" I actually started scrap booking before I knew what it was. I'm talking slap some construction paper down in an album with sticky pages and cut some pictures out to add. I did not get serious about it until about 2001. I don't really know that many famous scrappers so I will have to go with YOU.....you Heather are my favorite famous scrapbooker....and you are famous because of the 86 followers that read my blog who know that you made me a kick ass book for my girls weekend. I have been on a few retreats.....here in Ohio in Amish country with some friends...we stayed in a beautiful hotel with about 4 wineries nearby....thus my fondness for "scrapdrinking"

And finally.....a new blog friend Tooj wants to know the funniest conversation that I have had with Pierce. Those of you who know me here in the real world know that this is an every day occurrence with him. One of my all time favorites though had to be regarding an old hat of his. Please take note of the following:

I have no clue what he is doing in this picture but it is the best example of him in his Gap hat. Please note that it is about a second away from popping right off his head. He is probably late 3 early 4 in this picture and he wore this hat EVERYWHERE for a good 2 years. One day I was trying to explain to him that it no longer fit. The conversation went something like this.

"Hey bud, come here...I want to show you something. points to the size tag inside his hat that says 18-24 months See this tag right here? This tag says that this hat fits you if you are TWO years old. You are not two years old are you??"

Pierce points to the OTHER tag inside his hat....the one I never cut out that says "please remove before wearing...I think it was the security tag "See this tag right here mommy? This tag says it fits" He then promptly put his hat on and walked away from me.

WHEW. That took a loooooong time. If you decide to play this on your blog, please let me know so I can come ask you some questions too!!

Two Big Old Shout Outs!!!

I need to shout out a few of my favorite bloggers that I just so happened to WIN give-a-ways from. Now if I can just win the lottery.....

anyways.....Jenny from Jenny and the Princess Peonies awarded me a Target gift card for playing a little trivia on her blog a few weeks back. Thank you much girlfriend....I see a new book or some scrapping stuff in my future.

A few months back I entered a contest that Heather from "This is the Day" held. It was for one of 3 handmade items....I remember one was a set of cards, I forget the 2nd....and then a scrapbook made by her. I won the scrapbook! Now, as a scrapper myself I had to think for a few about what kind of book I wanted her to make for me. I then remembered that I had an awesome Girlfriends Weekend coming up and that is just the sort of thing that I would not take the time to scrap myself since I am always so darn busy doing the kids stuff. So when Heather asked me what theme I would like my book to be I decided on a "girlfriend" theme.

Guys, this book was well worth the wait! Heather put SO much time and thought into this and I absolutely LOVE it (Heather I know you told me to lie if I did not like it but come on, you HAVE to know me better than that by now...I am nothing if not honest) I flipped through the pages and while reading some of the friendship quotes I actually teared up a little thinking about how perfect it was for my weekend away and how much I miss those darn girls. My favorite quote....."A friend is one who will bail you out of jail, a BEST friend will be sitting there next to you saying MAN that was fun" I might of butchered the quote but you get the idea. Thank you SO much Heather! I can't wait to put it all together and when I do I will get some pics posted here so you can see what I did with it! You are awesome!!

Once again....putting off Q&A until tomorrow.....I want to be sure these ladies get all the attention today!

100th post and I want 100 Comments!!

Wow. It seems like I just started blogging and was all concerned that no one would care to read it. 100 posts and 72 followers later here we are! Thank you all for feeding my obsession with myself, my kids, Edward Cullen, and putting up with my sarcastic sense of humor....or lack there of

For the big 100 I thought I would highlight 100 things that I love. In groups of 10.....

The Rambler gave me a great idea to try and get 100 comments on my 100th post so please go tell your friends to come and worship me.....attention whore that I am. Go give me some love on your blog!! If you are brand shiny new and want to fall in love with me at first sight..and who would'nt....then read THIS It is a tale of bravery in the face of loss......

Ready. Go.

My top 10 Favorite books (or series since Twilight would take up 4 books) in no particular order

1)The Twilight Series. Duh
2)The Harry Potter Series
3)The Great Gatsby
4)Flowers in the Attic
5)The Shopaholic Series
6)The Time Traveler's Wife
7) Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
8) My Sister's Keeper
9)A Million Little Pieces (yes even after the truth came out)
10)The Gossip Girl Series


10 favorite movies
1)Dirty Dancing--"Nobody puts baby in the corner"
2)Goonies-"Hey, you guys!"
3)Twilight---Duh....
4)The Breakfast Club (words to live by:Andrew: "Why do you have to insult everybody?"John Bender: "I'm being honest, asshole. I would expect you to know the difference.")
5)Titanic-"I'll never let go...."
6)Beaches-But enough about me, let's talk about you... what do YOU think of me?
7)Shag the Movie-"Y'all is the horniest bunch of white folks I ever seen!"
8)Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory-you cannot beat lickable wallpaper...wonder if it comes in Merlot?
9)The Parent Trap-(the original one) "I'm not saying a word. Not one single word."
10)Sixteen Candles "Oh sexy giiiiirrlllllfrieeeeeend"


10 Favorite TV Shows
1)Lost-even though I want to bang my head on a wall while watching it
2)House-yeah, um. Can he be my gynecologist. Yes I DID just go there
3)Bones-however if Booth and Bones don't get busy soon I may stop watching

4)America's Next Top Model--FIERCE

5)American Idol-after the auditions....those make me crazy

6)Beverly Hills 90210 Dyan and Kelly were SO soulmates

7)90210--trying to bring back the olden days but doesn't QUITE hit it....still love it through

8)Intervention--I love being reminded that some people are more jacked up than I am

9)Cold Case--this is my secret career choice--but I don't like dead people
10)Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (seriously.....makes me smile to watch my baby girl watch "her friends"

10 places that that I would love to travel to:

1)Italy-wine
2)France.....but not Paris....somewhere south---wine
3)Cabo San Lucas-beach
4)Napa Valley-duh
5)Hawaii-beach and wine....must be heaven
6)Maine....somewhere on the coast-seafood
7)England-get back to my roots
8)Los Angeles-because I'm a stalker and I would love to chase down a celebrity
9)Ireland-again with the roots....
10)Australia-wine


10 favorite places that I have been

1)Disney World--I love it even more as an adult then I did as a child.
2)Xcaret in the Rivera Maya--underground snorkeling and swimming with dolphins....so awesome
3)Boston--home of the New Kids and was a kick ass get together with my mommy friends
4)Holden Beach, NC-summer vacation every year!
5)Biltmore Estate in NC--they have a winery.....
6)New Orleans--very cool to see even if I did have a one year old with me at the time
7)Cancun---drunken spring break with my sorority sisters----crappy hotel though
8)The Dunns River Falls in Jamaica---I did not hurt myself and THAT was an accomplishment
9)Key West--an entire street to party on....this is a happy place
10)Chicago--only been one time....fun shopping!

10 favorite posts on my blog

10)You can read my fairy tale HERE Be warned...it is not for the faint of heart

9)My first venture into Dear Diary Thursday....I call my mom a garden tool HERE

8)Say my name right or I will cut you...... HERE

7) Read about how cool I USED to be HERE

6)My first Letter to my children

5)A letter written by Mallory

4) Pierce's response

3) Introducing you to myFIRST baby....way before kids....

2)The sarcastic things I was thankful for last Thanksgiving HERE

1)Yes this was very recent but I meant ever word of it HERE

10 Things I would take if I were stranded on an island (other then my kids)

1)My iPod--cannot live without it

2)My phone--I need it to facebook about being stuck on an island

3)My computer--for blogging

4)My Ugg Boots-they keep your feet at body temperature no matter WHERE you are

5)My makeup--to look pretty when I get saved

6)My Mary Jane Crocs-they are cute AND practical for being stranded on a beach

7)My Tiffany Tag bracelet....the first piece of jewelry Joe ever bought me--memories.....

8)My Wedding set-so that when I DO get rescued by a hot pirate (Johnny Depp) I can remind him and myself that I am spoken for

9)My book collection (okay, I cant just pick ONE)

10)My scrapbook stuff ---gotta scrapbook those memories of being stranded

10 Things You May Not Know About Me:

1)I hate the dentist. The thought of getting a filling makes me all anxiety-y

2)I no longer have a relationship with my father. I have not seen or spoken to him in over 10 years. I am okay with this.

3)My favorite years in school always hit every other year. 6th, 8th, 10th and 12th grade were my FAVORITES

4)I went to THE Ohio State University

5)While I was there I was an Alpha Omicron Pi sister

6)I am a video game nerd.....big time.

7)I once had...ahem....relations with my boyfriend in a library while in college

5)I do not like beer. I never have and will never "acquire the taste for it" like everyone always told me. I was the girl in school pouring a bottle of wine into a "to go cup" to take to parties where I knew there would only be beer

4)I have very strange taste in food....I like anchovies, raw oysters and could eat blue cheese by the pound

3)I have only had c-sections, never had to push (never dilated) and I think having babies the old fashioned way is kind of strange

2)Some of my best childhood memories are from spending summers in New Jersey with the father that I no longer have a relationship with. This has nothing really to do with him but more with the friends that I made there....2 of who I still keep in touch with.

1)My mom ran over my foot once with her car. It was my fault. I jumped out while it was still moving. It hurt.

10 Jobs that I have had:

1)Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken

2)Ponderosa Steakhouse.....the ONLY time I have been a waitress

3)The Library at Ohio State.....if you are smart you will make a connection here

4)The Office for Disability Services at Ohio State....very cool job....I got to put books onto tape for visually impaired students and also read and scribe tests for them.

5)Victoria's Secret---hello free bras!

6)Elder Beerman (also retail)

7)A Tanning Salon

8)The Traveling Vineyard.....In home Wine Consultant....THIS was a fun job

9)Fire Insurance Underwriter

10)Health Insurance Underwriter

10 Things That Rock About Being ME

10)I live in a great city that has tons of cool stuff to do. Both for adults AND kids. We have the best college football team and awesome shopping. I never want to move.

9)My husband is the best man I have ever met. He is a wonderful father and a wonderful husband. Some might say I take a special person to put up with me.....he is it. I am lucky to have him and I am happy to be spending my life with my soul mate.

8)My kids kick ass. yeah, they don't respect sleep and I pretty much live as a zombie most days but they are so funny, sweet, cuddly and lovable that I just cant bring myself to sell them on eBay

7)I have a cool mom. Granted she gives me opinions more then I would like but other then that she is like a BFF....she is fun, likes to have a good time and makes me laugh with her randomness

6)My friends rock. I have the best friends EVER. My college girlfriends and I are still close...I love spending time with them and love watching as we all "grow up" together. Those of us that have kids....I love watching THEM grow up together.....those of you that still have that coming down the line....I cannot WAIT to help you plan your weddings and teach you how to not break your kids. My mommy board friends.....you don't need me to tell you how much I love you all....we have something special that many people don't ever have in their lives, it has been unreal going on this journey with you all.

5)I scrapbook like a mad fool. Okay, so maybe not everyone will think this is something COOL....but I do. When God made me he seemed to forget to give me coordination (that went to my sister) or any sort of musical talent (brother)...no athletic ability (sister again) but he DID give me enough talent to take semi decent pics and put them all together in pretty little packages that I call scrapbooks. And like I tell Joe (usually when he is pissed at how much money my "talent" costs) Preserving our family memories is hard work.

4)Not only do I have a job....I have one that I like. I have been fortunate enough to work for the same company for 11 years. I have never had a supervisor that I did not like, I have made very close friends here that make the time go by fast, and my mom works one floor up.

3)I grew up in and still have a very close extended family. My mom is one of 7 kids....I have tons of cousins and my grandparents on this side are still alive. Holidays are chaotic but they are fun. I'm glad that my kids are growing up with all of these crazy people too.

2)I take pride in being a good person. If I love you I will do anything for you. I am honest to the point of being blunt, I will not lie to you (except when I shop at the scrapbook store) and if you need me to cut someone for you I will. Nothing pisses me off more then someone doing something shady to someone I love.

1)And the last thing that rocks about being me......I have the MAD capability to nap at any given time. Not in a narcolepsy kind of way but if I need a nap I can nap like it is my JOB. None of this half asleep on the couch with the TV on crap (JOE). I'm talking full on jammies in the bed with my curtains drawn. Now I'm tired.

I hope you enjoyed my 100th post. If you didn't....eh, never mind. I will be nice today.

RIP Dear Diary Thursday

I know I have been slacking on Dear Diary Thursday since the last few Thursdays have been holidays. So I just pulled it out and was all prepared to bust out some cute stories when I realized that once I hit about 1oth grade the stories got less cute and more personal. That being said....I'm putting a fork in Dear Diary Thursday. If you missed out on any of Dear Diary Thursday just hit the link over in the labels.

Guess what? I won a blog give away! I'm so flipping excited about it too! Heather celebrated her 300th post and did a give away for it. I originally just won her husband Joe and thankfully he is too busy with his honey do list for her to follow through with that which works out great because I have my OWN husband named Joe. Instead Heather will be making me a custom made scrapbook which if you are a scrapbooker you know this is an AWESOME gift because it means that I don't have to do it! Thanks so much Heather! I would have preferred Edward but I know you can only do so much and really....if you had the ability to give him to me you would really just keep him for yourself. Who wouldn't? Oh wait....that would be Gina and Kristina.

Carry on.

Respect Sleep

I have a secret to share. Okay, maybe not so much a secret as a confession. My favorite thing to do....it's not read, or scrapbook....it's not drinking wine or ever better scrapdrinking (do I need to define that?). No, none of these are my favorite pass time, although those are up there on the things I like list. My favorite hobby is sleeping. Yep. Sleeping. Do you see the irony in this as I do live in the House of No Sleep? Years ago....BK (before kids) I used to sleep like I was going for the gold medal in the sleeping Olympics. BK I used to sleep till at least 10-12 on days that I did not have to work. On weekdays I would come home and catch a quick cat nap on the couch. When I lived alone in my post college-pre Joe apartment I actually had a navy blue blanket nailed to my window so that I could sleep into the afternoon without knowing it was light outside. When Joe and I moved in together it would drive me crazy that for no reason whatsoever other then to annoy the hell out of me he would be up and ready to take on the word at 7AM on the weekends. Bugging me to go run errands with him. Pointing out to me how much we could get done before noon. AK (duh) I have even more respect for sleep then I did BK. To this day my son does not have much use for sleep. He did not sleep through the night until he was 18 months old. 18 long months of getting up with him in the middle of the night. For some reason the "ready to take on the world at 7am" man I married disappeared. He started to barter with me for Sleep in Days instead of being up and making coffee at 7am. I tried to tell him that it was WAY to late to start to respect sleep this late in the game....such a change in sleeping habits was just unacceptable to me. 2.5 years later along came another small person who did not respect sleep. She STILL does not sleep through the night. The only difference is her parents are so lazy that instead of fighting the battle (which she would indeed win) we just throw her in bed with us. Long gone are the days where sleeping in meant 10am....now sleeping in is 8am and we trade off days on the weekend. These past 3 days for some reason my kids slept till 730 and Joe and I thought we had died and gone to heaven. People let me tell you it is HARD to entertain your kids all day when all days starts most days at 5am. A friend asked me once if I was really playing with play-dough at 8am on a Sunday and I was like hell yes I am, we have already watched all the kid shows on the DVR. I have however learned of a new way to respect sleep. The nap. No no, not the power nap of my PK days...the loooooong naps I take on weekends with Mallory. Hey, they tell you to sleep when the baby sleeps....they did not specify how old that baby has to be. I nap with my daughter almost every weekend. I don't screw around with these naps either. I'm not talking about the half assed naps that Joe (non sleep respecter) takes on the couch with the TV on. I'm talking full on napping...jammies, in the bed, lots of pillow and covers. I think the only one in the house who respects sleep as much (if not more) then I do is Scarlet. Not because she is 300 years old...she has always been this way. Scarlet has been known to wait at the edge of the hall and stare at you around bedtime....as in "hey assholes, it's time...let's go" Scarlet gets so flipping excited for weekend naps with Mallory that she makes it up the stairs before we do. Scarlet has been known to take a snap at Joe in the mornings when he tries to get her to let her out to go potty. And as I told you here sleeping with Scarlet is at your own risk because you may lose a toe if you should dare touch her at the foot of the bed while she is sleeping....that is IF she is at the foot of the bed and not sharing your pillow.

Someday I will sleep in again. Maybe not till noon like I did PK but there will come a day in my future when the kids can make their own cereal and work the TV themselves. Until then....I will just have to settle for trading Sleep in Days of 8am with Joe and drinking a LOT of coffee.

Dear Joe, I mean....Santa

There are some things that I really want need this Christmas and I thought that if I took the time to spell it out here in plain sight that perhaps I would wake up on Christmas morning a happy girl. I know that most of my gift requests are a lot little on the pricey side but I have been a reallllllly good girl this year so I'm pulling out all the stops.

I'm going to start right at the top of the "I know there is no way in hell I will get this" list and work down.

This Christmas I would love my very own:

Santa, it appears that the husband and I have some issues sharing a laptop. Yes, I am aware that we have both a laptop AND a desktop...but we are both too lazy to go to the other room....really Santa...it would be good for our relationship to be TOGETHER while surfing the Internet and watching TV instead of doing this from separate rooms. I know we have thus far been a PC family Santa, but I have so many friends who enjoy the iChat and this HAS to be a reason to switch to a MAC.

Something else on my Christmas list this year....

Santa, I work my ass off preserving my kids memories in photos. This truly is a gift that would just keep on giving. It also would be nice to have a photography class to go along with that...again, just thinking of the family.

Speaking of memory preservation....you know I have a bit of a soft spot for all things scrapbooking...and it is possible that I have an addiction to embellishments of all kinds. In fact...it would be safe to say that I need a little organization to my scrapbook supplies. Fear not though, I have found the PERFECT solution to my disorganization...

This is the clip it up organizer Joe Santa. It comes in a two tiered version as well....and you can find it at Archivers at Easton....in case your elves could not make it.

I know that this list is a bit much....and possibly unrealistic so, in case you were looking for something that would NOT cause us to have to forclose on our home.....I always can be bribed into happiness with

and

and let's not forget.....


or if you can possibly swing it....

Thanks for taking the time to read my Christmas letter Joe Santa. I hope you have a safe trip around the world.

Scrapbook Camp.....or, Yes I'm a nerd...deal with it

3 of my girlfriends and I spent the weekend in Amish country drinking, sleeping Scrapbooking. This was our 2nd annual trip out there with a local scrapbook store here in town. We stayed at Carlisle Inn in Sugarcreek Ohio which is a really really nice hotel out in BFE that just HAPPENS to have 3 wineries within 5 minutes of it. As you can imagine, a combination of scrapbooking and wineries is enough to do me in. We did get a LOT done (27 pages thank you) but a lot of wine was also consumed. Unless you were Bree who is pregnant, in which case not a lot of wine was consumed. Jenn, Bree, Brandy and I all snuggled in together in a room for the weekend and it has been rumored that perhaps I snore. Loudly. Whatever. We also made some interesting new friends while we were there including a lady who has NINE children whom she home schools herself. Joe was extremely happy on Sunday when I got home because the Boy and the Princess did not get as much sleep as I did.

In other news....my birthday present came early and today are making my feet extremely happy. I'm wearing Ugg Boots and my feet are making out with them as I type.

Stay tuned for further ramblings of my life (and Joe's) including my Twilight movie countdown....yeah Team Edward!!