baby shower thank you's...

I've been thinking about what I could do for little thank you's for the baby shower. Since we are doing a "movie" theme shower I thought to myself...movie theatre candy! I went to Wal-Mart and they had them on sale for .88 a box so I got a BUNCH! I had no idea there were so many varieties. It was kind of embarrassing because kids were pointing at my cart saying "Mom, look at all that candy!" Then I went to Scrapbooks Etc and got cute red and black polka dot ribbon and a tag punch. I tied them up with black twine and attached a little thank you tag. I hope that between these and all the food I'm going to make, that the guest will know that we appreciate them coming. I got them all finished up over the weekend. As a bonus, Brittany can use the baskets for baby stuff after the shower. Now to work on cleaning my house before my proceedure on Wednesday.....uggggg!

A day of pampering...ahhhhh

Saturday I took Brittany and my sister Coleen to get pedicures. We were suppose to be scrapping, but the thought of sitting in a comfy spa chair with the massage buttons set to knead and roll kept entering my mind...who could resist that? NOT ME! I've been so tied up in knots that I felt I deserved to go. Coleen has NEVER had a pedicure so clearly she deserved to go. Brittany is pregnant in the Arizona summer so she obviously deserved to go too. Okay...enough justification. We just want to feel pretty! :o)
Also pictured with our freshly painted toes is the new carpet that Mark installed in Brek and Brittany's bedroom yesterday. It has been sitting in the garage for months and I asked him to please install it sometime before the baby shower and he DID! Plusalso, he paid for all of our cute pedicures! Gotta love that man!!!

Good baby!

We went this morning for Brittany's ultrasound and there hasn't been a noticable change to the intestines, so that is great news in my book. We go back next Thursday for another one. Hopefully I will be feeling well enough to go since my biopsy is Wednesday. I did fill my perscription for that and picked up my mammogram films to take with me to the hospital. After the ultrasound, I took Brek and Brittany to Bill Johnsons Big Apple for breakfast. We wanted to celebrate that the baby didn't get any worse. It was really good! I so love their hash browns. I ran a ton of errands during the day and COMPLETELY FINISHED the baby shower invitations, stamps, labels and all, so I'm taking it easy tonight in my comfy bed and the remote in hand. :o)

Doesn't Brittany look so darn pretty today?! I just love that girl!...and that boy of mine too!

P.S. See that wet stuff on the ground??? Dude...that's rain! IN Arizona! So loving that!!!

***note to Chris...you're going to be in town for the baby shower!!! I'm so excited!!!!

All mine!.....

My onery sister Coleen is trying to take my Sugar kitty away. That is NOT going to happen. I fully intend to keep her. She is my favorite and I love her. So, my dear sweet sister, you can't have her....don't make Kaden beg for her on the phone or in person. As cute as he is, I'll tell him NO too! Love you tons, but she's MINE!! :o) (((HUGS)))

Getting ready!

Do you remember that Staples back to school commercial where the dad is joyfully riding the shopping cart through the store filling it with school supplies while the the music is playing "it's the happiest time of the year"? Well that was me today...only in Wal-mart. :o) In my defense, my children are excited about school starting. After a few weeks of summer they get bored and want to go back. This year I only have 3 kids in school...one in elementary, one in junior high and one in high school. Yesterday I took them to the mall to get shoes, then to Target for clothes. I'm glad the two younger ones are still happy with cheaper clothes from Target. I also got the baby this cute little shirt. I like the word accommodating! hee...hee.. Kyle bought some "cool" shirts from the mall with his own money. While we were at the mall I dropped off 2 of my rings to get repaired. I had a teeny diamond fall out of my wedding ring and they made the back wider because it was so thin and bendy. I had to get the other one size up (don't ask how many sizes) Mark got me that one for my birthday. (way back in March) It's been sitting in my purse ever since. I'm so happy to have my rings fixed. They are so sparkly! Never mind the elephant skin. Perhaps the macro lens shouldn't be use when taking photos of skin...kind of scary, in an enlightening kind of way! :o)

What are you doing?

So what is everyone doing this weekend?
I have decided to do something I've put of for MANY MANY years! What, you ask? I am finally getting around to journaling all of the scrapbook pages that I've done through the years. I don't know why I've put it off for so long. I use to go to scrapbook retreats and would do 20-30 layouts, but never journaled them, because I wanted to do it on the computer when I got home. Well now I have all these books with theses lovely little spaces left for journaling. Last night I downloaded a few new fonts and I've been working hard on this. I still have 3 thick books to do, but my goal is to get them done today. I will not allow myself to scrapbook a new layout until I'm caught up on all of these old albums. My sister Coleen is coming over today too. She is going to re-create the family layout I just posted for her family album. Plus she is going to work on some of her son, Kaden's pages. It will be a fun day, I think. If I get my stuff done, I'm going to finish up these baby shower invitation too. I'm pretty sure I'm going to stay in pajamas all day. I don't have to go anywhere, so I might as well be comfortable, right?!
Mark took Cole to a bike rally up north today. I can't remember the name of it, but it's something like "I can't afford to go to Sturgis bike rally" I sent him with the little digital to take pictures. I hope they're having a great time together! Those pictures will be fun to scrap!
P.S. my dad is doing great! The stint is holding well. He had some blockage in a teeny artery in his heart that was causing his pain, but they can treat that with medication. To me his heart looks great compared to what it looked like a few years back when he had his heart attack. Just keep counting our blessings for good things!
Thanks everyone for your sweet comments. I sure love all of you girls!

**EDITED** As of last night I FINISHED all of the journaling in all of my albums! YAY ME!! I feel so accomplished! Now to finish those invitations...maybe after church today.
Mark and Cole had a very fun but long 500 mile ride. He said that he now has no desire to ever go to the real Sturgis (sp?) because the most of the bikers that showed up at this rally were pretty creepy! They only stayed for a few minutes before they decided they they were not "that kind" of bikers...LOL!

Baby update

Brittany had another ultrasound this morning. I'm sad to report that the small intestines have continued to dilate and the stomach is being "pulled" for lack of a better word. The first Tech did measurements and said everything was stable THEN the doctor came in to look and did more measurements and saw that it was noticeably larger and with the hole being small she is concerned about it getting pinched. She is to the point of worry now. She said if she was 35 weeks, she would have them take him out now, but since she's only 31 weeks, it's just to risky. We have another ultrasound scheduled for next week and were finally able to get an appointment with the high risk doctors on August 8th. It frustrates me that we can't get in until then when things are getting worse. His estimated weight right now is 3 pounds 10 ounces. It would be a little more but his tummy measures small since the intestines are on the outside. I think it's a pretty good weight at this point.
I'm getting ready to go over to the hospital. My dad is having surgery today. He had a stint put in a while back and they don't think it's doing it's job. So they will shoot dye in to see where the problems are and fix what's wrong while they have him in there. I think I'll take the baby shower invitations with me and work on them in the waiting room. I can't believe I'm STILL not done with these things.

I wish I had better news today. I feel terrible posting bad news yet again. Be glad I don't tell you ALL the bad things happening here. These past few days have been back to back non stop problems.
Thanks for listening to me ramble...

Family layout and MM....

Here is a layout I did today. It was from the pictures I took of my side of the family in April before Julie's family left for Tennessee. Of course my personal family picture is not good. I decided to use the one where I wasn't looking but everyone else looked good. My other options were crossed eyes, butt pinching, rolling on the ground or me yelling...so I went with the best of the worst.

Is it wrong to love how this layout turned out? because I do! I love the pictures, the curves, the sewing, the flowers, the Making Memory metal charms, the QK Emily font, the Basic Grey big book plate, the Sweetwater paper...okay I just love everything! :o)

Guess what??? Making Memories is suppose to be "spot lighting" me on their blog tomorrow...or today, depending on when you read this. (Tuesday) How cool is that??? This blogging world has been such a fun adventure for me. I started my blog as a journal of sorts to keep my friends and family in the loop of what's happening in the George house (because lots happen in this packed house) and to post pictures of things I'm working on. As a huge bonus, I have enjoyed making new friends, getting to know more about the lives of so many of the famous talented scrapbook girls out there and the amazing scrapbook companies too. I hope you go over to the MM blog and check it out. They are such a great company with fabulous designers, staff and wonderful products...what's not to love?

This and that....

Happy Sunday everyone...well probably by the time you read this it will be Monday, so happy Monday too. I took a picture of the kittens tonight. The are growing so much and beginning to open their eyes. They eat all the time and are getting to be little chubby kittens. The poor runt baby (named Boots) passed away the other night. She was still really small and wasn't eating....even with kitten formula and a teeny bottle. She just wasn't meant to live I guess. I miss her though. Brek and Brittany have named them all. The darker grey one is Patrick, the light grey is Ellie, and the white/cream one is Sugar. I sure love these babies and my eyes are doing better thanks to my good friend Paula hooking me up with some claritin.
Tonight I was in the mood to make chicken cordon bleu lasagna casserole, but it makes such a huge batch that I invited my family over for dinner...well at least the ones in town right now, so my parent and Coleen's family came over. Julie's family is still sticking it out in Tennessee. I keep hoping I can tempt her with food to come back home. You know you want some Julie...I know you LOVE it! :o) I wish it was that easy! Rene's family is still on vacation while we are so blessed to have her near death dog, Lacy. She better hurry home!
Anyways....Not only did I make the very delicious, but not calorie friendly chicken cordon bleu, but I also make spaghetti (because Mark doesn't like alfredo sauce), garlic bread, banana cream supreme and golden bars. It was all so good. Sorry that I took the pictures after everyone had gotten into everything. It's hard not to eat this stuff. Here is the recipe for the casserole. This is the dish I made for a church Christmas party and I had everyone asking me for the recipe. Even the people who did the dishes that night cleaned the pan with their fingers. They crack me up! I'm not great at everything, but cooking I CAN DO! If any of you want the other recipes, I will post them too.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Lasagna Casserole
Lasagna noodles or 2 boxes of bow tie noodles
(I prefer bow tie noodles-it's easier to make and serve)
2 cups cooked diced chicken
2 cups diced ham
2 jars of alfredo sauce or homemade
(I make homemade because jar is nasty)
2 eggs (beaten)
1 container of ricotta cheese
1 container of cottage cheese
1-6oz container of good shredded parmesan cheese (1 1/2 cup)
3 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese
2 cups of shredded swiss cheese
1/2 cup parsley (I don't use this)

I don't really measure the cheese. I just grate up a block of mozzarella and swiss and use it all.
Boil 4 boneless chicken breasts, dice up and put in a large bowl, season cooked chicken with salt pepper, lawreys seasoned salt, onion powder, garlic powder, dice up ham and add to the chicken.
In another bowl, beat 2 eggs, add ricotta cheese, cottage cheese, parmesan cheese, parsley. mix well.
If you are brave enough to use the yucky jar alfredo, put it in the chicken/ham mixture. If you want it to actually taste good than make my alfredo sauce. Start it when you start boiling the chicken.
Alfredo Sauce
1 quart heavy whipping cream
2 sticks butter
4 Tbsp. cream cheese
2 tsp. garlic powder
1-6 oz container of good parmesan cheese
(1 1/2 cup)
salt and pepper to taste
Simmer butter, heavy cream, cream cheese. Add parmesan cheese, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Stir until it's nice and creamy. Simmer 15 to 20 minutes.

NOTE* when making the alfredo sauce for this casserole I add a cup of milk to it to make sure it has enough moisture, but not if you are just making it for fettuchini.
Boil noodles until slightly tender because they will cook longer in the oven.
If you are doing lasagna noodles than just layer up the noodles, cheese mixtures, meat/sauce mixture, shredded mozzarella and swiss cheeses.
If you are doing bow ties then mix everything together in a large bow reserving some of the mozzarella and swiss cheese to sprinkle on top. Salt and pepper the top, cover with foil, bake at 350 for 1 hour. Remove foil half way through cooking. Cook until bubbly. Sooo good! Honest!

the ups and downs of feelings

When faced with trials you can't help but be on a rollercoaster of emotions. My mind has been going a hundred miles a minute, flooded with so many thoughts. I thought I was going to go crazy...then I decided it would help just to write some things down. So here is a list of the good and the bad to my crazy mixed up thoughts.
Bad- I am scared to death about my biopsy, the pain pills they will give me, and the chance of cancer being in my body.
Good- I'm touched by the outpouring of love and comfort from all of you. Some of you are family, some are old friends, some are new ones that I look forward to getting to know. I am truly grateful!
Bad- I'm so worried about my unborn grandson with his intestines showing damage already and the trials he will face in his very young life.
Good- He will have the best doctors taking care of him and the prayers of so many kind people. I have faith that Heavenly Father will be looking over him.
Bad- It's 112 degrees outside right now! Crazy HOT!
Good- My house is air conditioned and it works great!
Bad- Our new puppy Pumpkin chews on EVERYTHING and piddles in the house sometimes. She really gets on my nerves!
Good- She is so stinking CUTE! and we have a carpet cleaning business so her accidents are taken care of...thank heavens!
Bad- I stupidly agreed to watch my my sisters dog for 3 long weeks while she's on vacation. This dog is a disgusting nightmare...really gross!
Good- I have just over a week left...counting down the days!
Bad- Since it's been too hot to keep the naughty dogs outside, we've kept them in the laundry room. They have completely trashed it! That room totally stresses me out!
Good- Mark says HE will clean it all up! big WAHOO at that one!
Bad- the boys haven't been the best helpers around here this summer. It just kills me how messy they are.
Good- We are having a sit down family discussion to nip that one in the bud.
Bad- A girl that was my friend was horribly mean and hurtful. She was infuriated with some of my blog posts because she doesn't understand my life and she said I was making myself a victim and she thinks I take on too much. She's not happy unless you are talking about scrapping or shopping. Apparently I'm not suppose to share personal real life things??? She is very self absorbed and materialistic.
Good- I obviously didn't let her feelings stop me because here I am...writing about real stuff again. Although I LOVE to scrapbook and shop, there is just so much more to life...great things and not so great things. I do believe that this life is a test of love, service and kindness, so I do take on a lot because that is who I am. It makes me happy. Service is never the easy thing to do, but it is the right thing. She is no longer a part of my life so things are looking up already.
Bad-My bangs were so long and getting in my face all day. My hairdresser is out of town for the whole summer.
Good- I took my scrapbooking scissors and cut them myself. I'm sure she'll be wondering who did such an unprofessional job, but hey! I can see now!
Bad- My sister Coleen called and wanted me to go on an outing with her and the kids today. I've been so sad and grumpy lately that I told her no.
Good- Mark took me to breakfast then dropped me off with her anyways. I ended up having a good time. I'm glad they are so sneaky.
Bad- Mark is going on a motorcycle ride tonight with his friends and I will miss him.
Good- I get to lay in bed WITH the remote and watch whatever I want! :o)

When I'm on the downside of this rollercoaster ride of emotions I know I have good people to cheer me up! I really am a happy nice girl most of the time...honest!
Thanks for everything! I love and appreciate all of you!...yes...even the lurkers. Don't be afraid to talk to me. :o)

The good...the BAD...and the ugly!

The good...trying to find blessings in this mess...may need some help with this one. I'm trying to celebrate every happy moment I have...they are small things like a hug from a child, a call from a friend, a sweet message left on my blog, a funny joke, someone else doing the dishes...you name it, I'll take it if it's good.
The BAD!...Here's what's going on so far. I went to the surgeon consultation yesterday. She said I have a cluster of microcalcifications. They rate on a scale of 1-5 according to what they see as a level of concern, with mine being rated a 4. She said out of the people rated a 4 that 50% are non cancerous. I don't know about you, but I'm not liking those odds. Think about it...how often to you win a coin toss or pick the fast lane at the bank drive thru. I know I'm on the losing side of those most of the time. I also found out that they are doing a different type of biopsy called a mammotome. It's suppose to be less evasive, cheaper and better at getting a sample of microcalcifications. Apparently they only give you a vikiden (sp?) and a valium, lay you face down on a table with your breast through a hole and work from underneath. (kind of creepy to me) They will do more mammogram boob smashing during the procedure. I do not do well AT ALL on any strong pain medication so I'm very worried about the affect the pills will have on me. They will take a sample and I will find out 3 long days after that. They are checking the hospital schedule to see what's available, but it will be somewhere between July 31st and August 3rd. The cost will be in the neighborhood of $2,000 that I don't have. $650 has to be paid to the doctor 2 days prior to the surgery. The rest is hospital. Blessing #1 is that the other biopsy would have been in the $5,000 ballpark. Okay...enough about me.

Brittany had her ultrasound this morning and it wasn't good news there either. Now both the small and the large intestines are out and the small intestines are starting to show signs of damage from being in the amniotic fluid. The have begun to dilate. She had been getting ultrasounds done monthly, but now it will be weekly since there is change for the worse. She is 30 weeks along and will be watched closely to keep this baby in for as long as possible with the least amount of damage possible. Right now he is just over 3 pounds. I can't begin to tell you how emotionally overwhelmed I am with everything. My heart aches and I often times feel alone even though I know that I'm not. I really need to try to stay positive and look for the blessings, but it's awful hard when faced with so much bad.
and the ugly...As you know my cat had her babies...well apparently I'm allergic to them. Sunday morning I woke up to matted shut eyes and swollen up huge like golf balls. Even the whites of my eyes were puffy. (I know...totally gross, huh) Today they are still really itchy, watery, and very ugly, but not nearly as bad as they were. My friend just brought me over some claritin to help with the rest.

So there you have it...like my banner says...my life...the good...the bad...and the ugly! I'm praying that good news is right around the corner!

Fun day!

Today I went to a book signing at the cutest little scrapbook store called Mystic Papers in downtown Mesa. It's a real old building on Main Street that has so much charm. I took a picture of what I got from their. I know what you're thinking...more prima flowers! I just can't help myself. I love them. I got to meet Tena Sprenger and Carol Wingert. Such nice women! I really liked them so much. I blinked in the picture...dangit! For those of you that haven't gotten their book Artful Memories yet, let me tell you that it is wonderful! I love that it's not just scrapbook pages, it has beautiful art projects too, with instructions. How cool is that? Really great book!
Next door (actually connected) to Mystic Papers is a very cool antique store. I got some fun things there and plan to go back to both stores when I have more time to browse. I had to get the candy dispenser because my childhood best friend Jenny Reed had one in her house and it brought back so many memories.
If you want to check out Carol, Tena or Mystic papers click on the links on the right.
Back to work on my scrap mess! Trying to clean and de-clutter today. It's too messy to even scrap in here right now.

We have kittens

the little fighter with Brittany
momma before babies came
Momma with all 4 baby kittens

Brittany and I noticed that Blue was acting a little different this afternoon. A bit more lovey than normal. Soon after she started labor. Within 3 1/2 hours we had 4 cute new kittens. I have to be honest and say that it was a bit gross to watch. Kind of like a car accident...you have to look even if you really don't want to. I'm glad we were there for her. The little one that Brittany is holding was the last one born and it's feet and tail were sticking out for a good 10 minutes and the sack was already broken. We helped get her out. We were so scared that she wouldn't live because she just laid there. She had a hard time breathing and it was apparent that she had taken in fluid. We cleaned her up and massaged her to give her stimulation. After several minutes she was doing much better and now momma kitty is taking good care of her as well as her siblings. The 2 gray ones were born first, then the 2 lighter ones. I had a dream 2 weeks ago that she was going to have 4 babies. I so love to be right. I can't wait to see them get a bit bigger and develop their personalities. Kitties are so fun!

In other news, The power went out here for a few hours and I got to looking at my keyboard and saw how dirty it was, so I took advantage of the lack of power and gave it a good scrubbing. You'd be surprised how gross they can get. Stop reading and look down at yours...I bet it's dirty...unless you're the only one who uses it. I have 8 people touching mine....really gross, honest!

I took Brittany to the doctor for a check up. She is now 29 weeks and doing great. Her doctor has decided to refer her to a group of high risk doctors so that the baby has all he needs when he is born to get prepared for surgery. I think this is a good plan since that doctor has only delivered one baby with gastroschisis. I want my grandson to have the best chance possible. My consultation appointment with the surgeon for my breast biopsy is on Monday morning and Brittany's next ultrasound is Tuesday, so I will be updating as I know things, so stay tuned! :o)

Happy 4th of July!

Coleen and I got together today and spent the day scrapbooking. We sure didn't look great but we had fun! I started the day with a sugar rush of patriotic sprinkled Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. Really good for a special treat but very very sweet! I only got 2 layout done today...Coleen did 3 1/2. Plus we framed some pictures for our niece as an apartment warming gift. Just before 9:00 we drove over quick to watch the fireworks...got out even quicker and headed to Arby's because we were starving by that point. I only had 4 hours sleep last night due to many many loud interuptions. It was a crazy night at the George house....so dang tired!

fun stuff!

Been busy today running a bunch of errands....Post office, bank, grocery store, gas station, took Kyle to get his pay check at Taco Bell, took Cody and Cole to the public pool, then went to Scrapbooks Etc. They finally got in Ali Edwards new book this morning. It is so thick! I can't wait to curl up in a chair with it. Can you see the size of those bookplates??? They are from Basic Grey and they are HUGE! So love them! I also got a Gold Canyon sugar cookie candle. It's too darn hot to bake, but at least it can smell like cookies in the house. My house smells great right now! It puts me in my happy place! :o)
Guess what??? I won the Instant Interview book from Chatterbox today! The first 10 people that wrote what Independence Day means to them on the Chatterbox Blog won a copy of this book. It will be a great source of information in gathering family history. I'm so excited to get it!

I finally scrapped!

I spent most of yesterday working on baby shower invitations for Brittany. My sister Coleen came over and helped me. We didn't get them finished, but we made a huge dent in them. After all that boring assembly line work I decided that I would actually scrap a layout. This is from a kit that my local scrapbook store sells. (scrapbooks, etc) They have a new 12X12 kit every Monday and usually sell out by Wednesday. I will occasionally buy one, but not often since I scrap 8 1/2 X11. I just bought extra stuff to make this a 2 page layout. The greens are the same color, but scanned weird from the bulky stuff. The sewing on the turns looks terrible, but I'm okay with that. I know I cram a lot of pictures on a page, but I like it better that way. Scrapbooking is too expensive to only have one picture on a layout...unless it's a really special picture. :o) This is Cole, my 9 year old when he was little. He is so stinking cute! I just love that boy!