Scrapbooking at Grace Camp

A group of us from church have been getting together on a regular basis to scrapbook. We decided that it would be fun to have an overnight crop at the church's campgrounds. We had close to 30 people join us. Everyone had a great time and we can't wait to do it again.

getting to know me

I found this and thought that it would be a great addition to my blog. You are supposed to make everything that you have done bold. If you decide to do this, please leave a comment, so I can check out your list.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4.Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6.Given more than you had to a charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8.Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art form from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelos David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

I think that I live a boring life.

How cool is this

When I came home from school on Tuesday there was a message from a journalist with the Clinton Herald. This person was planning on doing a story about the Clinton River King Marching Band. She needed a picture and while searching on the web discovered my blog and wanted to know if she could use one of my pictures. Of course I called back and said yes. Today the article was in the paper with the picture that I took. If you check out my last post it is the very last picture of the band. I am so excited. Mrs Stevens my jounalist instructor from high school would be so proud to hear about this.

New Blog

I have decided to try and create a blog just for my crafting stuff. I have just started it so only have 3 posts at the moment. Planning on adding more in the next day or two. If you want to visit please head over to
Clean or Create
Thanks and let me know what you think.

1 down/179 to go.

Just a brief note to say, I survived my first day with students this year. My 9th grade class is looking good, and looks like I will also have a good group of alternative students this year. Hoping for a great year.

Kristen Flathers Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Free family tree - Dynasty

Sarah Flathers Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

5 min. layout.

I have had a few requests to post a picture of the layout that I created in 5 minutes for the Scrapoff contest at Scrapaganza's NSD crop. I must say that I love the paper that we were given to use. The paper made it so easy to be creative. I need to find more of these paper.

National Scrapbook Day

National Scrapbook Day (weekend)
As usual, I choose to spend the weekend with my favorite scrapbook store. They actually got the party rolling on Thursday evening, if you are a NYOBC member. They shut down the store to everyone but club members and had a fun announcement, autograph time, food, free gifts and everything on sale. The big announcement for those of you who are NYOBC members is that the May book was done completely by Scrapaganza instead of having many different contributors. Finally on Friday night the party got rocking. We started at 6:00 in a rented space in one of the many strip malls in Davenport. Friday night there were many fun door prizes, some serious scrapping going on, and of course yummy food to munch on. I worked on finishing up a couple of mini books. All that need to be done was put in the pictures. I finished the Meow book, the princess pirate book, and the pop up album from Rusty Pickle. Of course the Meow book is about my 2 fur children, Kitty and Sox, the princess Pirate book is on Kristen, she is such a little princess and a tomboy all mixed up and the pop up album is for Sarah. I then started working on a swap that I am doing for a Disney group. I was able to finish the swap the next day. How lucky can I be, I won a door prize, a memory makers tag punch kit. It looks like a neat tool, will need to take some time to play with it. I left around 11:00 that night. Normally I would stay until the very end, but with Sarah getting confirmed this weekend, I wanted to get some sleep and a little work done in the morning before I came back.
The next morning, I stopped at the store on my way down to pick up some more things including some adhesive. Boy did I go through a bunch this weekend. Today was favorite things day. When we walked in, we were given a store t-shirt. Several of us switched to that shirt for the day. They had huge muffins and juice waiting for us when we arrived. Yummy. We then received a store tote bag and throughout the day we were given different items that are the favorites of the different employees. Let’s see how many I can remember, cats eye liquid chalk, a blue dauber, rub on tool, black board mini book, an new kind of adhesive, a paper pack, Rusty Pickle layout, paper pack, a 12 x 12 album, a package of white flowers, a distresser, some rub on letters, a too cute purse mini book project, a mini stamp set (hearts) and acrylic block. While there I had a couple of visitors. Friends of ours who had moved to Davenport stopped in with her daughter to see me. That was a nice diversion.
One of the things that this store has started doing during NSD is a scrap off layout contest. They put a die cut sticker underneath 10-15 random chairs. The people who are chosen then have to grab their scissors, trimmer, and adhesive. You then come up to a table where you are given a paper kit, with some coordinating papers, stickers, ribbons, and a couple of other embellishments. You are given 5 minutes to create a layout. Everyone then votes on their favorite layout and the top three layouts win a prize. Last year I was one of the lucky 10 who got to do this and surprise I took 3rd place. Somehow I managed to sit in a chair again this year that had a die cut taped to the bottom. (Next year I am checking out the chairs before I sit down.) There were so many wonderful layouts this year that I have a hard time believing that I took 1st place. I won a Heidi Swapp tool tote bag. These bags are wonder I think that next year I should receive an automatic exemption to the contest.
I was able to finish up the Disney swap items that need to be done by the end of the month, and I completed Girlfriends Tag book. I think that this book will be for Kristen. I finally left around 9;00 that night as once again, I wanted to get home and get some rest before Sarah’s big day.
Too see pictures of this event check out Scrapaganza’s blog.

6 Random thoughts about Me

On some of my favorite LSS blogs they are writing about 6 random things about themselves and then tagging people. This sounds like fun, so I thought I would give it a try and then tag some people. So here goes
1. Even though I have only been to Disney once; I have become a Disney addict. Love that company, everytime I go to the mall, I have to check out the Disney Store looking for great deals. I have already started dreaming of the day I get to go back.
2. Right now I am really into reading books about the Amish. Beverly Lewis has some really great books along with Wanda E Brunstetter and Cindy Woodsmall. Another favorite author is Janette Oake.
3. We have been having a girls weekend. Dad is gone for a conference from Thursday until Sunday. We have watched girl movies, eaten some of our favorite foods that Dad doesn't like, went to a scrapbooking class, and did some shopping. Of course we have managed to clean a little also.
4. I have secret aspirations of running away to Disney World when I retire. I wonder if they will hire a former at-risk teacher?
5. I have two cats, but would love to have a black lab. However they are a rather large dog and we live in town with a tiny yard. That wouldn't be fair to the dog. So I will be happy with my two cats. Cuddly Kitty and Crazy Sox.
6. I wish I had learned to play the piano better. I was only allowed a year and a half of lessons. My piano teacher had cancer and wasn't able to teach anymore. Then it was time for me to join band and I was given a choice of band or piano. Maybe when I get some free time, I will try to teach myself.
I am tagging Jessica, Susan, and Lisa.

Found: My old monkey.

I recently saw the cutest new scrapbooking paper and embellishments. It had sock monkeys on it. I wanted to buy some, but knew that they only way I would probably be able to use it, would be if I could find my old sock monkey that my Grandma Steinhagen had made for me many years ago. I thought that the monkey was gone for ever. Well today, my mom wanted us to come down and help move things out of her basement so that she could have some work done and what did I find? Not only my monkey, but also my brother's and my sister's elephant. Mom couldn't understand at first why I grabbed them out of the toybox and took them upstairs. Thankfully I had my camera with me and was able to take a few pictures. Now, lets just hope that the store still has the paper in stock next weekend when I get down there. Of course I need to look for a picture of my Grandmother also. I so can't wait to tell the story of my sock monkey. I may even dig out my daughter's sock animals and take a picture showing the old and the new. The girls sock animals were to cute to play with much, but my old monkey was well loved and made with love not mass produced. Can't wait to get this early childhood memory recorded.

A Digital Layout

I took a digital scrapbooking class yesterday. Actually it was part two, I had taken the first part the week before. Even though the instructor used a different program than what I have, I was able to follow along and created my first digital page. It is not super elaborate but I am happy with the results. Now the only question is now that I have a digital layout what should I do with it?

luxery in a hotel

Yes, I know, how weird can I be. I took a picture of the shower head in the hotel I was staying at. I am sent to Des Moines for a conference held at the Embassy Suites. Since it was a two day conference I get to stay at the hotel in a room all to my self. Let me tell you the suites are luxery. Two rooms and a mini kitchen all for little old me. But the best part was the wonderful shower massage. I could so see having a shower massage at home, I could come home from a stressful day, jump into the shower and let the water pressure beat and relax my stiff and sore neck muscles away. The only problem is that I probably wouldn't get out until the water turned ice cold.

More white stuff

Today, April 3rd and Tomorrow April 4th, I am in Des Moines for the annual Alternative Educator's Conference. I left home this morning at 4:30 so that I would be here in plenty of time to register and check in before 8:00. No such luck, due to several minor issues I didn't get registered until 9:00 and missed the first part of the opening keynote address. The speaker was really good, so I wish I could have heard all of the speech. Any way after sitting in meetings all day, I came out around 4:00 to get the car and head for a scrapbooking store and am greeted with a not so pleasant site. Yep, it had turned white out again. This makes 6 months with snow. I just had to let everyone know that even though the calendar says April, the weather still says Winter. Please spring come soon.

This is a challenge on Two Peas in a Bucket by Sohpie. Here's a list of the AFI's Top 100 Films of all Time. The meme is to highlight the ones of the 100 you've seen and then add three more to the list at the bottom that you would include, then pass it on. I'm doing it here and saying to help yourself to try it on your own blog.

1. CITIZEN KANE(1942)
2. CASABLANCA (1941)
3. THE GODFATHER (1972)
4. GONE WITH THE WIND (1939)
5. LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (1962)
6. THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939)
7. THE GRADUATE (1967)
8. ON THE WATERFRONT (1954)
9. SCHINDLER'S LIST (1993)
10. SINGIN' IN THE RAIN (1952)
11. IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946)
12. SUNSET BOULEVARD (1950)
13. THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI (1957)
14. SOME LIKE IT HOT (1959)
15. STAR WARS (1977)
16. ALL ABOUT EVE (1950)
17. THE AFRICAN QUEEN (1951)
18. PSYCHO (1960)
19. CHINATOWN (1974)
20. ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST (1975)
21. THE GRAPES OF WRATH (1940)
22. 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968)
23. THE MALTESE FALCON (1941)
24. RAGING BULL (1980)
25. E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (1982)
26. DR. STRANGELOVE (1964)
27. BONNIE AND CLYDE (1967)
28. APOCALYPSE NOW (1979)
29. MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON (1939)
30. THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE (1948)
31. ANNIE HALL (1977)
32. THE GODFATHER PART II (1974)
33. HIGH NOON (1952)
34. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (1962)
35. IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (1934)
36. MIDNIGHT COWBOY (1969)
37. THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (1946)
38. DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944)
39. DOCTOR ZHIVAGO (1965)
40. NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959)
41. WEST SIDE STORY (1961)
42. REAR WINDOW (1954)
43. KING KONG (1933)
44. THE BIRTH OF A NATION (1915)
45. A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE (1951)
46. A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (1971)
47. TAXI DRIVER (1976)
48. JAWS (1975)
49. SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS (1937)
50. BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID (1969)
51. THE PHILADELPHIA STORY (1940)
52. FROM HERE TO ETERNITY (1953)
53. AMADEUS (1984)
54. ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT (1930)
55. THE SOUND OF MUSIC (1965)
56. M*A*S*H (1970)
57. THE THIRD MAN (1949)
58. FANTASIA (1940)
59. REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE (1955)
60. RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981)
61. VERTIGO (1958)
62. TOOTSIE (1982)
63. STAGECOACH (1939)
64. CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (1977)
65. THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (1991)
66. NETWORK (1976)
67. THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (1962)
68. AN AMERICAN IN PARIS (1951)
69. SHANE (1953)
70. THE FRENCH CONNECTION (1971)
71. FORREST GUMP (1994)
72. BEN-HUR (1959)
73. WUTHERING HEIGHTS (1939)
74. THE GOLD RUSH (1925)
75. DANCES WITH WOLVES (1990)
76. CITY LIGHTS (1931)
77. AMERICAN GRAFFITI (1973)
78. ROCKY (1976)
79. THE DEER HUNTER (1978)
80. THE WILD BUNCH (1969)
81. MODERN TIMES (1936)
82. GIANT (1956)
83. PLATOON (1986)
84. FARGO (1996)
85. DUCK SOUP (1933)
86. MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY (1935)
87. FRANKENSTEIN (1931)
88. EASY RIDER (1969)
89. PATTON (1970)
90. THE JAZZ SINGER (1927)
91. MY FAIR LADY (1964)
92. A PLACE IN THE SUN (1951)
93. THE APARTMENT (1960)
94. GOODFELLAS (1990)
95. PULP FICTION (1994)
96. THE SEARCHERS (1956)
97. BRINGING UP BABY (1938)
98. UNFORGIVEN (1992)
99. GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER (1967)
100. YANKEE DOODLE DANDY (1942)

I have only seen 11 of these movies. What does that say about me? I have read the book or play for some of the others.

Three more movies that I would add.
1. Lion King
2. The Chronicles of Narnia
3. Annie
I had a hard time coming up with 3 other movies. I don't get out to see to many movies, usually wait for them to come out in DVD.

Productive Monday

Since it is Spring Break I have a couple of goals for this week.
1. Is to get some work done around the house and declutter things.
2. To get some scrapbooking time and relaxing time in.

So today I was able to clean up a little in the kitchen and then sorted through about 4 boxes of clothes from the basement. This resulted in 2 large 33 gallon garbage bags of outgrown clothes for Salvation Army a huge stack of clothes for Kristen and one box full of clothes that she will grow into yet. Of course still more to do.
Also managed to rearrange Kristen's room to make it a tad easier for her to get into the room and open her closet. Her room is so small that there really isn't much you can do with it.

I also spent some time working on my puzzle swaps and finished group 1 and got 1/2 way through group 2's. Plan to finish the rest tomorrow afternoon and then put it in the mail.

I have promised the girls that if they help really well in the morning they can have the afternoon and evening to play.

It came in the mail

I received the coolest package in the mail yesterday. I had signed up for a one-one composition swap. You filled out a small questionaire with questions like favorite color, favorite disney character, scrapbooking style etc. We then received someone else's questionaire and were to design a composition book for that person. The person that I received loved Tinkerbell and pinks and purples so I made her a cute little tinkerbell book that Sarah fell in love with. I had said that I might use my journal to plan for our trip to St. Louis this summer. The person who had my name did an outstanding job on the journal. I just love it, she is so creative and included elements that I hadn't even thought of. It is so fun and easy to make these composition notebooks, I plan on creating several more.

Today's mail

Several weeks ago I found the Fiskateer's website. This web site is sponsered by Fiskars and is uplifting and positive. If you post a picture of any form of paper crafts you get all kinds of positive comments or advice. The message board for this site is also so positive and uplifting. I challenge any one that is into paper crafts to check out the site and join. They also sponser wonderful online crops. Anyway today in the mail was a box from Fiskars. Inside was the most awesome pair of scissors. with my membership number engraved. They are orange and lime green and cut like butter. They even came in a very cool burlap bag. I think I am in love.

New Year

Okay, I know this is kind of late, but for various reasons, I just haven't posted yet. I have decided that instead of making resolutions, I am going to make goals. So here is my list for 2008.
1. Make it to the Y at least 3 times a week to workout.
2. Complete the Scripture Challege Scrapbooking on time and not fall behind.
3. Start eating more fruits and vegetables.
4. Lose 5 pounds a month.
5. Finish Disney albums and get caught up on Sarah's albums.
6. Stay on top of cleaning the house. Of course for this one to work, I will need to enlist the help of the 3 other 2 legged walkers in the house, specifically the youngest two. The 4 legged family members aren't much help in this area, but they sure are cute.

Hopefully by putting this in print for others to see, I will work harder at making it happen.

Secret Pals

Since May I have been participating in a Secret Pal club. I have a pal for a year and each month get to choose and send my pal something super special just for them. I have also been emailing and sending snail mail letters to my pal. Of course someone else has my name and has been sending me the same thing. I have to say, I am really enjoying both the giving and receiving in this exchange and am considering signing the girls up also. Yesterday I received my December package and it was so much fun to open. My pals timing couldn't have been better.

She sent me Christmas towels and potholders. With the (snow) ice day the girls and I plan on baking lots of cookies. She also sent me a tin full of homemade cookies. Since all 4 of us are actually home today, I am sure that the cookies will be gone before the day is over. I hope my person loves her stuff as much as I love mine.