Crazy Little Thing Called Life

happy halloween!!

Hopefully, if there's no rain, the kids & I are taking Halloween pictures this afternoon.  We'll see.  Belle has basketball practice.
They had their first indoor soccer game last night.  The girls won...woohoo!  And Belle had a hat trick.  So fun to see her play other positions too.  

My random winner (picked by Miss Belle, the old-fashioned, pick-a-number way)...

"Elise Vaske said...

Love your blog Julie! My fave Halloween candy is candy corn. Happy Halloween from north central Iowa!"

Congrats Elise...email me at iznjulie@gmail.com with your address, and I will get this:

in the mail to you! :)  Thanks everyone, for playing!

Missing stamp update:

Still no new stamps found since the ones by the dryer.  (Iz found them.)
Next I will put the furry little thieving beasts under the lights to get them to talk.

Luke's first game didn't have the outcome we wanted.  (They lost...bummer.)
We watched most of the game on the computer:

Luke got his first college points!  yay!
Unfortunately, taking pictures of your kid playing basketball on the computer is really hard.  And the best one of him is where he's standing on the line while his teammate shoots a free throw. :P  (He's number 30).  
Good job Luke...love you!

Ok, off to spray paint Ian's hair orange.
(It's orange & black day.  Points for wearing the appropriate colors...Bonus for orange or black hair and face.)

And I couldn't post this yesterday...because posting them togther would just be wrong.
But this version of Ode To Joy makes me cry too. From laughing so hard.  :)

 

Happy Wednesday!
Ice your knee & ankle Luke.  Loved your block and the steal!
And I love that you called after the game.  :) 

 

a thief among us. (possibly two.) ***update at the bottom...

Yesterday I made stamps.
Can I just say that I LOVE making stamps.  I'm a texty vs. imagey kind of girl...and these reflect that.  I wanted to make some for Christmas...and some with Project Life (next year) in mind.  This is what I ended up with:

And here's my stamps:

A couple of them I smudged.  And I didn't get any ink on the t on the 'a little of that' stamp in the middle, lol.  
The 'I'm busy busy busy busy' stamp is in honor of the lady our whole family makes fun of on the Angie's List commercial.  The one who is busy busy busy busy.  (Because she says it like no one else is busy but her, after all.)
And we mock her every time, poor thing.  So I made a stamp.

BUT.
If you look closely, there are discrepancies between the stamps I MADE, and the stamps that made it onto the paper.
After I make the stamps, I put re-sticky stuff on the back of them (so they will stick on my clear blocks).  This takes a little time to dry.
I had all my stamps (with sticky stuff) on my desk.

I am missing:

Details from today:
Today we...
This week...
AND SUNDAY, MONDAY, TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY, & THURSDAY.
Upon investigation, Shelby said she found Friday & Saturday on the floor of my room, so she picked them up.  Friday had cat hair on it.  And I think my desk was a little askew.

SO.
Somewhere in this house (courtesy of the kittens) are a whole lot of missing stamps.
And I am making it my mission to find them.
Thieving little balls of fur.

I will probably just have to make them over again.  I don't think my odds are good for finding them.  Sigh.  And if they're in the litter box, quite frankly...I don't want to find them.

To cheer me (and you, after my sad, sad story):

 

I watched this about 5 times yesterday.  And it brought me to tears every time.
I love music.  I love flash mobs.  I love Ode to Joy.
Oh Mr. Beethoven, I hope you know we are still playing, and loving, and feeling your music.
Hope you do too.

Happy Tuesday...
Good luck on your first game Luke...love you!

 

***UPDATE:
Sunday, Wednesday & Thursday have been found.  On the floor by the dryer.
The rest...still missing.
Don't forget to comment with what your favorite Halloween candy is on this post...for a chance to win the new 6x6 paper pad from Teresa's new collection.  I'll post a winner winner chicken dinner tomorrow! :)

from the weekend...

1.  another great weekend of soccer!
There was a little rain on Saturday (ok, it dumped all the way to Seattle)...but once there it wasn't so bad.  And yesterday was gorgeous.  We have been soooo lucky with amazing soccer weather.  
The girls won both their games this weekend! :)

Belle loves to head the ball.  Here's hoping she continues to hit the ball...and not someone else's head.  I see that happen on tv, and I just cringe.

Belle was POG (Player of the Game) yesterday!  Woohoo...way to go B!!

2.  Today...

---I need to work on Ian's costume.  He has gone back & forth with whether or not he will dress up and take pictures with Belle & me.  He's back to saying he will. :P

---Housekeeping stuff...blog things, design team things...life things.  The usual.

---Should be nice and routine.  (hoping.)

3.  I am excited for...

Next Iron Chef...Redemption.  They're back!  Starts November 4. 

Top Chef Seattle...premiers November 7.

Skyfall.  Love me some new James Bond.  Opens here November 9.

Oh Black Friday.  Can't wait.  I'll be going to Bath & Body Works in the hope of getting one of these babies.  LOVE the VIP bags.

What are you excited for? :)

Have a great Monday!
Game tomorrow Luke....we're excited to watch! :) 

along came a spider...

A little (scary) mini book I did for Photocentric last month.  I used one of Teresa's 8x8 Haunted Hallows book covers, and cut it in half.

The stamp was from the September free download, designed by Miss Cheri Piles. 

Pictures from Halloween last year.  Ian was a most ferocious pirate.

Only to be out-ferocioused by his sister.  I think she's found her calling.





It's a little hard to see...but I love the bling skull & cross bones on the right page. :)

In other random news...

1.  The concert last night was amazing.  Inspiring.  Kleenex inducing.  
Our whole family went, as well as Grandma & Uncle Phil.  Such a wonderful night.


 Shelby's flute solo was beautiful...and the evening raised over $1500 for the Wounded Warrior project.  :)

2.  A fun email from Starbucks.  
(Since they did away with their free drink postcards.  boo.)  My next one is free...woohoo!
Dear Starbucks,
Free drinks are nice.  But postcards are waaaaaaaaay more special than emails. :( 

3.  Project Life inspiration.
Holy cow, Pinterest is chock full of it!  Lots of ideas as to how people do their layouts, as well as tons of free printable journaling cards.  Fun ones to buy too:

I am slowly accumulating goodies in my Project Life drawer for next year.  Getting very excited...

4.  For those who asked (thanks)...
Luke got hit (or something) in the knee at basketball practice.  Made it all puffy and fluidy.  Don't you love my official terminology?  You would never guess I was a real-life, bonafide nurse just 13 short years ago. :P  Anyhow...it's getting better slowly.  He should be good for the first game.

5.  Halloween.
I asked what your favorite candy was yesterday...I feel like I should confess I've almost eaten all the Tootsie Roll Midgies.  
Like a whole bag.
Not a $14.99 bag or anything.  But still. 

Ok...have a wonderful weekend!
We are off to Seattle tomorrow & Sunday for soccer.
Stay warm Luke!  (I guess it snowed there yesterday.) 

wanna win???

one of these little cuties...

Teresa's Now & Then line is available now. :)  I know 2 Peas and Blue Moon have it.  
I'm so excited to get to give away one of the 6x6 paper pads.  24 sheets of 12 designs.  So pretty!  Just leave a comment on this post...tell me what your favorite Halloween candy is...and I'll have a winner next Wednesday, October 31. :)  Sound good?

Ok...time for boos (not booze) and yays.

1.  Boo.
It's early release today.  And it's an hour earlier than last year.  Double Boo.

2.  Yay.

The America Concert is tonight!  SO excited. :)

3.  Yay.
I found a cute carpet scratchy post for the kittens.  AND a jingle mousie.  Ziva likes mousies that make noise...and most don't.  So score! 

4.  Boo.
Spent $20, and the dumb things would rather play with the paper bag the stuff came in.

5.  Boo.
It's early release today.
Oh yeah, already covered that.

6.  Yay!
Found a very cool series on the History Channel...The Men who Built America.

I learned so much.  I have to go back and watch the episodes I missed.

7.  Boo.
Have to do laundry today.  Like a lot. :(

8.  Yay!
Working on a Now & Then mini book...glitter is everywhere!  woohoo!
And my little card is on Teresa's blog today:

Have a great Thursday...
How's your knee doing Luke?  Only 5 more days til your first game..... 

Don't forget to leave a comment with your favorite Halloween candy!! :)
You could be a winner winner chicken dinner! 

 

back. whew.

That was one nasty headache.  Goodbye.  So long.  Farewell.
Will. Not. Miss. You.

1.  3's.
You know the saying how things always happen in 3's?
Dishwasher.
Treadmill.
FURNACE.

ugh.  We had no heat yesterday morning.  So we called the good folks at Lynden Sheet Metal.  They sent out a super nice guy who fixed the problem and did our (LONG overdue) maintainence.  And VIOLA!  There was heat.
I had visions (VERY scary visions) of needing a new bazmillion dollar furnace.  SO happy that wasn't the case.
And now I'm warm again. :)

2.  A Week in the Life...
Last Thursday:

And somewhere along the line I lost my ability to take an in-focus picture of a page.
Bleah.  I will blame the headache.  Or my camera.  Or Peru.

Friday:  (Big day...3 pages)

All about our trip to the Antique Show (bust, but still fun)...and the family trip out to Stoney Ridge Farm (in the rain.)

Again with the wonky picture.  Sorry.

Saturday:

I had so much fun with this project.  My binder has tons of room for next year...and the next. :)

3.  Randomly...

After the Antique show, Alissa & I visited Grandiflora.  
You can't even tell which one is the real camera...can you?  Can you???
Isn't it stinkin' cute?  Made of felt.  A camera camera holder.  It has a little flap on the back.  Love it. 

4.  A couple of layouts to share...

With Teresa's new Now & Then line.  LOVE IT! :)  And I journaled!  Go me!

This one was for Photocentric...the I'm Thankful for...is a stamp I made with the Stampmaker.

Working on more goodies today.....
It's only a week until Halloween.  Do you know what you're going to be?

Happy Wednesday...
Hope your knee feels better Luke! 

blogging for today is cancelled.

Due to a particularly nasty headache. :(
Bleah.

Be back tomorrow. 

it is monday. i am tired.

1.  weekend of soccer.
Go Rangers!  They won both their games in Olympia & Snohomish this weekend!
Holy driving.  We have 2 games in Seattle this weekend...and then we are HOME for a long time...yay! :)

I SO love watching these girls play.  
And Belle got her first goal as a Ranger!  She was so happy.  As a defender, she doesn't have a lot of opportunity to score...so when the coach said she could take the penalty kick, she was thrilled!

The ball is in the air here (the other ball is behind the net)...and it's GOOD! :)

Happy girl.  The rain and the cold weren't so bad after all. :)

2.  My personal achievement this weekend.
The girls may have won both their games...and Belle scored her first goal...

BUT I DROVE ACROSS THE FLOATING BRIDGE IN SEATTLE.

You cannot possibly know what this means unless you know that I have this weird, irrational, crazy fear of going over water...like driving on bridges over water.  I don't know if it's watching too much tv where the car goes off the pier...and then fills up with water...or if it's just me.  Like with snakes.  It's not normal.
I admit it.  

Seriously.  I have Garmin.  And while driving over the stupid bridge it was just the pink line completely surrounded by blue.  I wanted to throw up.

In case you don't know what the floating bridges look like:

Yeah.  I need a barf bag just looking at the picture.  And it feels like it's 12 miles long.
There were a few white caps when I drove...little ones...but it looked like this in my head:

Sweet. Fancy. Moses.
I am scarred for life.

3.  AWITL...
Is over. :(  And I have catching up to do.  Because somehow I got absolutely nothing accomplished on Friday...and then I was gone all Saturday & Sunday.  
So today.  Today I will get caught up, and hope to have pictures of the rest of the week tomorrow.

Have a fabulous Monday.
Luke...so glad you had fun this weekend!  (Great visit, FOOD, & the Iowa game!)  Lucky boy.  Your haircut looks great.  And you can't tell you broke your nose.  But please stop breaking stuff, ok?

happy friday to you.....

1.  more rain?
It's supposed to dump today.  So much for our trip to Stoney Ridge Farm. :(  Maybe there will be a little window of non-dumpage, so we can sneak over there...get some pumpkins & eat some apple pie.  Here's hoping....

2.  Fun morning today.
I'm meeting Alissa & Sandy at Starbucks...and then we're heading to the Antique Show at the Fairgrounds. :)  There's always some fun booths...and the scone people are there every year.  I need a new scone mix.  And they have samples!  

3.  AWITL Wednesday...

Just a one pager.  I am loving how the week is coming together...

4.  Scenes from yesterday...

My super comfy slippers that I drove Ian to school while wearing.
(They're fuzzy inside.) 

My burning bushes.  Or whatever they're really called.  I'm not so savvy with the flora and the fauna.  Soon, they will be ALL red, and soooo pretty.
Here's one with the flag in front:

I keep thinking those fold lines will blow/rain out.  And they don't.

 I finally put out Mr. Pumpkin.  About two weeks late.
Please ignore my near-dead mum in the background.  Apparently they like water.
You'd think I would remember such details.

My Tom Turkey warmer came from Scentsy yesterday. :)  And the Apple Press bar smells soooooo good.

Miss Sandy came over with treats...and to see my Simple Stories scrapping goodies.
(She's a looker and a toucher when it comes to paper.  I confess to being a bit of a smeller.)   

Have a great Friday/weekend!
Belle & I are off to Olympia and Snohomish tomorrow and Sunday for soccer.
Have fun at the Iowa football game Luke!!  Lucky dog. 

a stay at home and make stuff day......woohoo!

Which won't make for a very exciting picture day...AWITL wise.  But that's ok.
LOVE days like today. :)  Even with a little laundry thrown in.

Scenes from yesterday:

Here's my daughter tripping and falling onto home plate. :)
I can tease her because she's actually a pretty good slider.  But she opened up a big spot on her knee...that keeps re-opening when she slides.  So she was trying REALLY hard not to slide yesterday.  
Good win at Ferndale girls!

Another fun package was delivered yesterday...my Blue Moon order. :)

Simple Stories Snap!  Love it...it will be great for Project Life next year.

This gives you a better idea:

The service at Blue Moon is awesome.  And it looks like they have the new My Mind's Eye Lost & Found 3 too....

My AWITL pages from yesterday:



Super easy.
I had lots of pictures, so I did a third page...


Ok...off to get stuff done!
Happy Thursday....Ian loved playing Halo with you yesterday Luke :)