Long time no see

Wow, it has been a long time since I've posted. Stacey Sent me a couple "hints" to update my blog so I thought I had better get on over here before she sent out a search party...heehee....You know I love ya Girl!!

So what's been going on with Monica lately. Well being the glutton for punishment that I am, I have signed 3 of my 4 monkeys for Fall Baseball and T-Ball. And if that weren't busy enough for me I was elected to the Secretary position on our Elementary PTO.

Right now we are in the process of planning our Annual Fall Festival scheduled for Oct, 17Th. My niece is the Activities Coordinator for the PTO and she is planning what looks to be our school's best Fall Festival in years. We are making calls every day to area businesses for donations to help out with auctions, game prizes and theme baskets. If you would like to help out too just shoot me an email. On top of the games and activities we are also putting together theme baskets for auction. We have just about every theme possible...Scrapbooking, Art, Day Spa, Boys, Girls, etc...

If you happen to be in the area October 17Th between 4-7pm..Stop on by. We'd love to see ya.

I will be in the photo booth taking pictures. Which leads me to announcing my new baby. Trent was so sweet about a week and a half ago. He took me to Circut City to buy me the Canon Rebel XSi that I have been drooling over for some time now. Isn't he sweet? I am in LOVE with my new camera. I'm still learning all of its features. I took over 400 shots in just the first week I had the camera....is that too much??

I tried to upload a few of my favorite shots of the boys but the uploader isn't working well today. So I will try again later.

Well that's about all the time I have. I will try not to be gone so long this time.

Until next time...

Monica

Hug me

I found this fun little quiz on my sweet friend, Tracey's Blog "Running With Scissors"

My results ended up being the same as Traceys heehee.

Your Candy Heart Says "Hug Me"

A total sweetheart, you always have a lot of love to give out. Your heart is open to where ever love takes you! Your ideal Valentine's Day date: a surprise romantic evening that you've planned out Your flirting style: lots of listening and talking What turns you off: fighting and conflict Why you're hot: you're fearless about falling in love

What Does Your Candy Heart Say?

Until next time.....

They make dirt look good!!

That's a great title for a page don't ya think??

I walked out the back door the other night to call the boys in for supper and this is what I found. Rex and Lathan laying in the dirt with their cars. Oh two happy boys they are. I almost hated to make them stop playing to come in. But BOY were they filthy. Of Course I had to grab my camera........



They love to pose. Check out the dirt on Rex's upper lip and their clothes... Too funny.




This is Rex's favorite place in the world..

But MOM I don't wanna come in.....

Until next time....

CHA time..

Its that time of year again. CHA-Summer. I have to admit the past couple days I have been blog hopping to see all the cool new exciting products being released. Oh what I wouldn't give to have a chance to go. I know several people who are there now and I read their comments just to feel like I'm there too. I'm curious as to who else is with me on the blog hopping.

Are you searching for the new goodies?? What are your faves so far??

I am loving anything Cosmo Cricket, that's a given. But I think I have fallen in love with the Making Memories Spell bound collection too.

Share with me what you like.

Just for Laughs

Ok so here I am searching the net looking for some funny quotes for a mini book I am making for a friend and ran across this. Some of these really made me giggle so I just had to share. Hope you get a laugh.

A Woman's Dictionary

Argument (ar*gyou*ment) n. A discussion that occurs when you're right, but he just hasn't realized it yet.

Airhead (er*hed) n. What a woman intentionally becomes when pulled over by a policeman.

Bar-be-que (bar*bi*q) n. You bought the groceries, washed the lettuce, chopped the tomatoes, diced the onions, marinated the meat and cleaned everything up, but, he, "made the dinner."

Blonde jokes (blond joks) n. Jokes that are short so men can understand them.

Clothes dryer (kloze dri*yer) n. An appliance designed to eat socks.

Diet Soda (dy*it so*da) n. A drink you buy at a convenience store to go with a half pound bag of peanut M&Ms.

Eternity (e*ter*ni*tee) n. The last two minutes of a football game.

Exercise (ex*er*siz) v. To walk up and down a mall, occasionally resting to make a purchase.

Grocery List (grow*ser*ee list) n. What you spend half an hour writing, then forget to take with you to the store.

Hair Dresser (hare dres*er) n. Someone who is able to create a style you will never be able to duplicate again. See "Magician."

Hardware Store (hard*war stor) n. Similar to a black hole in space-if he goes in, he isn't coming out anytime soon.

Childbirth (child*brth) n. You get to go through 36 hours of contractions; he gets to hold your hand and say "focus... breath... push"

Lipstick (lip*stik) n. On your lips, coloring to enhance the beauty of your mouth. On his collar, coloring only a tramp would wear!

Park (park) v./n. Before children, a verb meaning, "to go somewhere and neck." After children, a noun meaning a place with a swing set and slide.

Patience (pa*shens) n. The most important ingredient for dating, marriage and children. See also "tranquilizers."

Waterproof Mascara (wah*tr*pruf mas*kar*ah) n. Comes off if you cry, shower, or swim, but will not come off if you try to remove it.

Valentine's Day (val*en*tinez dae) n. A day when you have dreams of a candlelight dinner, diamonds, and romance, but consider yourself lucky to get a card.


Do you have a funny quote you would like to share?

Until Next time....
XO~Monica~OX

Subscription Linking Troubles---Fixed

It has came to my attention the subscription link to the blog wasn't working correctly. I am so sorry for any trouble. I do believe I have if fixed now. Unfortunately you will need to subscribe again. If you have any more trouble please let me know. You can either comment here or email me directly at monicajo4@mchsi.com. Thanks for understanding and again I am very sorry for the trouble.

Until next time

XO~Monica~OX

The 4th at home with family

We celebrated the 4th of July at home with family. Trent's parents, brother, sister-in-law and their boys came by to spend the holiday with us. We bought our own fireworks and several sparklers for the kids. It was nice to be at home and not fight the traffic and crowds of the large public displays.

Some of my dear friends from the MemoryWorks message board gave us some tips on photographing fireworks. So with camera, tripod and crossed fingers I attempted to get some good shots of our display and of the kids playing with the sparklers.

This is a pic of part of the fireworks we bought.

Here is Trent and his brother getting all the wicks ready before it got too dark to see them.

These are some of the fountain type.

This one is my favorite.

These are the ones that went up in the sky. I had my camera on a tripod and set on a 2 second timer. I got lucky to get some good shots, but I like what I got. I am actually pretty proud of these considering this is the first time I've tried to get pictures of fireworks. Thanks so much to the girls as MWMB for the tips.

And here are some of the boys playing with sparklers.

I hope everyone had a fun safe 4th.

Until next time,

XO~Monica~OX

Water Logged

I made this page using some of the pics I took when we went swimming at my parent's house. I've also entered it into a couple challenges. This is one of those designs that I had in my head and drew a rough sketch. The photo sizes didn't quite match up the way I was wanting but in the end I actually liked the difference in the sizes. Just another example of a page making itself. I always follow a rough plan then just let it tell me what to do.



Some of the letters I cut using my Cricut and some odd chipboard. The chipboard was thinner than I was wanting for the page so I cut two of each letter and glued them together to make them thicker. Then I sanded the edges and painted them. I did this with the letters "W,e,L,g,e". The other letters used are from some odds and ends chipboard letters and Cosmo Cricket sticker letters.

To add a "water drop" feel to the page I added some Ranger Glossy Accents in dots on the letters and papers. No particular pattern here. Just dabbed away.

For the journaling circle I used a circle acrylic stamp Autumn Leaves I think then punched it out using my large circle punch. Then used my Making Memories tag maker to put in in a tag. The journaling reads: "You boys had so much fun at Granny & Papaw's swimming. I hope it's a day you never forget!! June 26,2008" Sorry for the fuzzy pic.



Other products used:
Bazzill
Fancy Pants
Apple Barrel Craft paints
Heidi Swapp
Zig Writers markers


I hope everyone had a fun safe 4th of July. I will be uploading some pics I took of our fireworks soon. We had a fun time. I just love watching the kids "Oooo and Ahhhh". But I'm a big kid too so I did my fair share of "ooooing and Ahhhing" too. heehee

Until next time,
Keep those creative juices flowin'

XO~Monica~OX

Lathan is 4!!

Sunday, June 29Th was my youngest son Lathan's 4th birthday. Oh did he ever have a BIG BIG time. Here are a few pics of the big day. (Don't mind the wet spot on his jeans. That is chocolate milk)

We let the boys choose what they want for the food and our little McDonald's addict chose just that. So 25 cheeseburgers, 15 large fries and 5 nugget happy meals it is. We also let them pick out the cake they want. This year he wanted his Granny to make him a Transformer cake. She did a great job and he LOVED it. Thanks again Pam.

Happy Happy Birthday boy!!

Until next time...Keep the creative juices flowing.

XO~Monica~OX

Summer Fun

The boys and I went swimming at my parents house Thrusday and Friday. This was the first we've been so far this summer. Now the older I get the less I seem to be interested in swimming myself. I had every intention of just sitting on the deck, taking pictures and enjoying the sun. After all four boys and my parents...... for lack of a better term....pestering me about getting in the pool...(not to mention my dad threating to throw me in anyway) I decided to bite to bullet and just do it. The water wasn't cold at all, which was a relief to this big baby and I actually had a pretty good time.

Before I was guilted into getting into the pool on Thrusday I took these pictures.


Steven is quite the swimmer these days. I believe he is under water more than hes on top of it. I did get lucky enough to get these two shots of him while he was up for some air. Don't ya just love the goggles?? Shhh, don't tell him I posted these of him...heehee

Charlie can't swim just yet so he started the day off with some water wings.





As the day went on he started to get more comfortable in the water and braver so off came the wings...but he grabbed a water noodle...



Niether Rex nor Lathan can swim yet either, but Rex has always loved the water. He's the hardest one to get out of it. He's a happy little man just floating around.





Now Lathan is a different story when it comes to the water. He's still not too sure if he likes being in the pool. He was in and out most of the day Friday.

Then he took over Granny's float and was a happy little man himself. He loves being in the pool....just not in the water. Note Rex still floating along....

Rex saw how much fun Lathan was having on Granny's float, or maybe his little legs were getting tired..either way he hopped on the float with Lathan for a bit.

Then out came the water guns...





Here's a couple pics of my mom and dad enjoying the pool.











Then it was time to eat....my dad grilled some burgers and hot dogs. MMMmmm. I like mine almost burnt please...

Rex & Charlie.....

Steven & Lathan

Lathan

Steven

Rex

Charlie

Boy were we tired when we got home.
They were up early Friday Morning to go back to Granny and Papaw's.
We stopped off at Wal-Mart on the way to pick up a float for Lathan. Here Steven is trying to blow it up until Papaw said he'd use the air compresser...

Charlie, Rex, Lathan & Papaw taking a ride before we got in the pool.

Lathan likes his new float.

What a grin..Happy water baby now.

So that was our two days of swimming. We plan to go back next week. I sure hope the water is still warm..heehee

Until then Its time to finish up Lathan's Birthday prep for Tomorrow. Happy 4th birthday Lathan.

XO~Monica~OX