I'm just going to post a layout for now. I'll update with pictures and more details about our weekend later :)

I was a busy little bee yesterday. I was able to create 6 layouts for the Scrap Your Stash challenges over at The Scrapping Spot. I used eyelets! Say it ain't so! Not only did I use eyelets, but I used over 60! I haven't used eyelets in years. It was kind of nice.

If you'd like a larger view of these, just double click on them.









Thanks for stopping by!

Shawn

Thanks to Lisa for this awesome "Valentine's Swap" over at The Scrapping Spot. I opened it up to find this really cute mailbox that she decorated with patterned paper, along with a coordinating card. It was filled with a mug, candle, chocolate/caramel covered pretzels (yum!), acrylic stamps (Basicgrey), rubons, Maya Road nake chipboard, stickers and bling! What a haul!

Ok. I've had enough snow already. I consider us lucky to have our electric. Also, we have a Bobcat, so Charlie can plow until his heart's content. He made a huge pile for the kids to play on. Nick decided to dig a tunnel, which we later deemed unsafe.

It's freezing here and doesn't look to be getting any warmer for over a week. I'm ready for Spring!

Take care! I'll be back soon to post anther layout.

Thanks for stopping by!

Shawn

Holy February! I can not believe how fast time goes. It stinks! The older I get the faster it goes. It's a good thing I take an unruly amount of photos, or I would forget what the kids look like from year to year.


We had our monthly Scrap Day at Charlene's church. I made buns for the awesome BBQ pulled pork sandwiches that Angelina made. And to top that off, Charlene made cheesey potaoes - MMMM! Alyssa and Vicki kicked it up another notch with to-die-for desserts. Alyssa made a Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheeseball served on graham crackers. I'm not sure that's the official name, but that's what I call it. Vicki chipped in with a Peanut Butter Cookie Apple Pizza drizzled with caramel. WOW!!! Everything was beyond delicious!!!


My 36th birthday came and went. I made a Chocolate Earthquake Cake for myself that was oh-so-delicious! Charlie helped me eat it over the course of a week. It is definitely one of my most favorite desserts. Charlie bought me some pretty flowers, which Kaila loves to display. She doesn't even want to remove them for dinner. They're still pretty after 19 days. I honestly don't feel much different than I did when I was 18. I just have more responsibilities :)


The biggest and saddest news I have in my little world is that our laptop of 6 years completely crashed last Thursday. I knew it was going, but I had hoped for the best. Now, I'm having a hard time getting the internet to work on the our new computer with the Windows 7 operating system. I have to call Dell Tech Support to see if can indeed be saved. At least we have internet.


The happiest news for me, because I'm so very easy to please is my new peel and stick tile floor. It is a temporary floor until we re-do the entire kitchen. I just couldn't stand the other floor any longer. My husband loves me, so he took to task and completed it this past Saturday. I love the outcome. Kaila was right in there working like a champ.






























Here are a couple of the two pagers I did at our Scrap Day last month. For those of you who attend, our next one is February 27th. Feel free to email me if you can make it.

I did the Lightning Bug Quest for a Scrap Your Stash at The Scrapping Spot. Their February Kits are up as well, so get over there before they're gone! They are GORGEOUS!











Thanks so much for stopping by!

Shawn

WARNING!!! There is a "before" picture of Blake's cut ear below. So, if you'll pass out by viewing it, I advise you to go no further. There is also an "after" picture of his ear and how beautiful it looks now. Blake fell on a toy tank on New Year's Eve Eve. He wants a scar. He couldn't wait for kids to ask him what happened. I have to say, he was quite the trooper! So very proud of my little patient.

See these delightfully delicious photos? Yes, that's what I spend every 2-3 days baking. We love our bread.

Again, baked goodies. You know...what I especially don't need :)

Sledding at Grandma Lahr's.

My darling sister and me at the Bargewell Family Reunion 2008 :)

If you want to see this one a little closer just double click on it.

There isn't much else going on here besides trudging through this nasty white stuff, a.k.a. snow! I'm ready for spring! Who's with me?

If you're a scrapper and looking for some great challenges to reduce your stash, by all means drop over at The Scrapping Spot to get your challenges and get started! There may a prize or two involved. Oh, you don't have "enough" stash to create anything? That is a shame! You're in luck...The Scrapping Spot can help you there as well :) Their store is filled with all kinds of goodies ready, willing and able to be shipped to your location as soon Jill can package it.

Thanks for stopping by!

Shawn

Well, we're almost one full week into 2010 and it's already going too fast. My schedule is filling up and Charlie already has plans for October.

This layout is regarding Nick's first encounter with the newly purchased go-kart. Um...who thinks letting an 8 year old drive a FAST go-kart is a good idea, raise your hand... Needless to say, it's amazing he survived and refused to drive again after this.


The kids are growing too fast as well. I keep having to purchase new jeans for these kids. Blake's only growing taller, because he's just a spit of a thing. Kaila is catching up to him. Let me tell you, it's not going to take much!

I have a lot to look forward to this month. First of all, volleyball starts back up tomorrow - wahooooo! I miss volleyball when I don't have it. It's been 20 days since our last match. Sheesh! I wonder what my body's going to tell me Friday morning.

I have a fabulous SCRAPDAY planned on the 16th, which I am itching for, my nieces' birthday party, my 36th birthday and that just takes us slightly past the middle of the month. Who knows what else is in store?!!

Awwww! Look at these lovelies. The Lahr children with their Grandma and Grandpa Stiles. How cute are they?

We always need to catch these heritage shots of Grandma Alexander.

That's right, People! Just do what I tell you and this will all be over soon :)

Here's to an awesome year of great memories and even more fantastic photos to remember them...

Thanks for stopping by!

Shawn

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!! I know...a little late!

We had a fabulous Christmas and New Year! How on earth could we possibly complain. We are seriously blessed.

These are the Lahr Great-Grandchildren. How precious. They are seldom together, so we took advantage of this rarety.

Who are these delightful people? That would be our little family PLUS Grandma Lahr :)

These are the Stiles Grandchildren. It's been 3-4 years since the last time they've been all together.

Wow! So much for filling you in on Monday, eh?


Well, Charlie brought the tree into the house on Friday night. Which was a good thing, because it snowed quite a bit that night. Later on Saturday, Charlie put the tree up on and Kaila and I decorated it while Blake observed for a while. Come to find out, the tree is actually crooked. Not just a little crooked either. There is only one angle where it looks half way decent. It is a blue spruce, which is my tree of choice. I love the short needles and tighter branches. It seems like you can put more ornaments on there and they can also be heavier. My whole family has informed me that next year they want colored lights. Oh, the groaning that came out of their mouths when they saw the clear lights!




Besides getting the tree decorated, I also made homemade bologna with deer meat, baked white bread and honey wheat breads, and made four pounds of deer jerky. It all turned out pretty well. The jerky is slightly sweet, but is yummy anyway. It's the way I like it. It seemed like I spent a lot of time in the kitchen.

Charlie worked on the basement. We have a little issue with the previous owners never removing the forms in the basement floor prior to pouring the next batch of concrete. The house is fairly old, so as you may imagine the wood (forms) rotted and water seeps into the basement. While he was working on the basement, we discussed our plans for it. It does have potential as soon as it's dry.


Charlie also installed a locking door on my scraproom. This will help for the Christmas season (wink! wink!) and also it will allow the heat from my space heater to remain in that enclosed area. I tested it last night and it works VERY well.


This week has been busy...big surprise! I helped with Kaila's Kindergarten Brunch on Monday, followed by shopping. Then, on Tuesday I received a shot in my elbow (tendanitis), which is always lovely. Hey! At least I didn't almost pass out this time. Again, I followed that up with shopping. I have never shopped so much for the Christmas season. It's very tiring. I don't recommend it. In fact, I normally purchase most of my gifts online. In hindsight, I find that to be the way to go. It's less stressful. I'm also fairly certain that I spend less money that way. The children are loaded up this year. I'm going to have to reevaluate my strategy next year. I have a ton of wrapping to do, not to mention I still have to take a trip to Wal-Mart tonight.


On today's list is the usual cleaning, cooking, laundry and maybe...maybe some packing.


I better get to gettin'!


Thanks for stopping by!


Shawn

Here are the Kraynak's photos that I promised you.

These first two photos are significant, because this was Nick's last year of having to endure the trip to Kraynak's. By this year, Nick was more than ready to head out into the woods to procure some much needed meat for the family. However, according to Lahr Law, he is not old enough for the trip to camp. Next year is his big year! He can not wait! In this first photo, I told Tyler and Nick to show me their, "I'd rather be hunting!" faces. In the second photo, the kids are showing me their, "I'm going hunting!" faces. Too hysterical!

2009 Lahr Christmas Photo - how cute are we? These types of photos are so few and far between - very rare for us, but nice.

I decided today would be an ideal day to eat lunch with Kaila. We had Christmas dinner, which consisted of pumpkin cake, mashed potatoes, gravy, turkey, green beans, peaches, bread/butter and chocolate milk. YUMMO! Quite impressive indeed. I always get a kick out of the little darlings.

I went and picked up the Christmas tree today. This is the first year that I have gone by myself and gotten the tree. I had to walk pretty far back into the fields to choose the tree, tag it and walk back. Luckily, a nice dog (owner's dog) came with me to keep me company. I can't wait to put it up tomorrow and decorate it. To me, it doesn't feel like Christmas until the tree is up.

Upon my return to our home, I proceeded to grind up our deer burger and made 4 pounds of jerky and 4 pounds of sandwich bologna. Once that was completed, I made homemade pizza while chatting with my dear friend, Charlene. I wasn't able to see her this week until today and frankly, I miss her when we don't get to chat a little. So, that was nice.

After dinner, Charlie and I discussed for hours the plans we have to remodel this house. I informed him of his priorities :) I think sometimes he forgets what needs to be done in which order. Communication is key. We're on the same page and it was nice to dream a little.

I have big plans for a productive weekend. I'll fill you in on my impending success on Monday.

Thanks for stopping by!

Shawn