Hand Stamped By Lacey

Happy Birthday, Ryan!!

Hello stamping friends!!

Yesterday was my son's 10th birthday! I can't believe my baby is now in double-digits!! 

After his baseball game and my daughter's soccer game, we had about 14 kids over to play some dodge ball and watergun wars!! It was fun...but LOUD!! LOL

His new favorite super hero is Groot from "Guardians of the Galaxy". For his birthday card, I found a Groot "coloring page" online, resized it and printed it on watercolor paper...

I think it turned out ok. 

Here's Groot from the movie...

The image was colored with Twinkling H2Os...

I think he had a nice birthday!

Thanks for stopping by! Happy stamping!

~Lacey

ABC Christmas Challenge: G is for Glitter

Hello stamping friends!

I was gone the beginning of the week for a few days chaperoning my daughter's 6th grade field trip to Jekyll Island. It was a lot of fun. 

I got to hold a baby alligator...

 

 

My daughter at "Driftwood Beach"...

 

Shark dissection class (can you see how Ansley felt about it?)...

 

 

This was the only picture we took of both of us together. It was the last class "Maritime Forest" and Ansley was a "little" tired by this point...

 

 

 

*****

While I was away, I forgot to post the ABC Christmas Challenge card.

The new challenge is: G is for Glitter

Here's my card...

I created this card while I was away in TN on Spring Break last week. It was raining so the lighting was poor. But I think you can see the glitter. I also had no supplies so it's a simple design.

This is Noel Tilda from Magnolia. The papers are Lost & Found Record It from My Mind's Eye along with Spruce DooHickey and Stickles.

Make sure to check out the challenge post for sponsor details.

Thanks for stopping by! Happy stamping!

~Lacey

Facebook candy giveaway

Enter for a chance to win Fast Eddie from High Hopes Rubber Stamps

on the Stamp and Create Facebook Page...

A Mine-Craft Birthday

 

Hello stamping friends!

My sons is obsessed with Minecraft video game right now. Therefore, for his 9th birthday a little while ago, I created a Minecraft themed birthday card and cupcake toppers.

Ryan has this t-shirt...

Therefore I wanted to re-create this design using my Silhouette machine. This is what I came up with...

 

 

 

 

 

I couldn't find paper that was exact, but found this pixely in my stash.

If I make this card again, I will add a 2nd layer on the inside of the silver layer to give it more of a 3-D affect.

 

I also made these cupcake toppers...

It was a fun birthday party at Dave and Buster's restaurant.

Thanks for stopping by! Happy stamping!

~Lacey

Jacksonville Mom's Blog Book Club

Hello stamping friends!

I'm not sure if I mentioned it before, but one of the best friends Christie Pettus published her first fiction novel a few months ago called Sweetly Broken. It's a wonderful book full of love and emotion.

She is now starting a Book Club with one of the best local Mom's blogs in the Jacksonville, FL area. Although the blog is based in the Jacksonville area with tips on local kids activities and "date night" type information, the blog is also filled with fun and helpful tips for busy Moms which are great for women all over the world.

Earlier this week they announced the begining of the book club and allowed some readers to vote on which book they would like to read first.   

http://www.jaxmomsblog.com/bookclub/chapter-one-introducing-jmb-book-club/

But now the voting is over and the winner has been chosen...

http://www.jaxmomsblog.com/bookclub/bookclub-updates/winner/

The winner is: The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty.

If you like to read, come join in on the fun! I don't think you have to be in the area to participate since the conversations will take place over the internet on the blog. 

I can't wait to get started and hope to see some of you in the conversations!!

Ansley's 11th Birthday

Hello stamping friends!!

Edited: This card made the Top 3 at Pile it On!! :-)

I hope you had a lovely weekend. Ours was completely jammed packed! Such a busy weekend. 

Saturday morning Ansley had a soccer game. After the game, the kids went to a friend's house for the day while my husband and I went to the University of Florida/University of Tennessee football game...

On Sunday we had church, another soccer game, then a birthday party at the same time for both kids!! Man was I ready for bed!!

******

Today it's time for a new Weekly Candy at Stamp and Create...

 

Go enter the candy here.

******

The new Whimsy Stamps are now instock at Stamp and Create...

 

******

Last Sunday was Ansley's birthday party. Unfortunately I missed it because I had a stomach virus. But my husband took a few pictures (of course the lighting inside wasn't great so some of the pictures didn't turn out well)...

Her party was at a roller skating rink.

And they did a little rock climbing as well.

My friend made her awesome cake! The skate was made with rice crispy treats covered in fondant. It was HUGE!!

And here is the card I made her... 

This Bella image from Saturated Canary was perfect for her card!! I used some old paper from my stash along with Raggedy's Birthday Sentiment from High Hopes Rubber Stamps, Feathers, Flag Die from Magnolia, Head Pins, Frantage, and Pearls.  

The image was embossed in black onto watercolor paper and watercolored with a mix of Twinkling H2Os and Copics...

This is also for the following challenges:

Challenges for Everybody: Anything Goes

Come and Get it Challenges: Birthday

The Squirrel and the Fox: Happy Birthday

Pile it on: Warm or Cool colors - I used Cool Colors (Green, Blue, Purple)

Sweet Stampin': Glamour and Glitz

A Creative Romance:Dies or Punches

Saturated Canary: Shabby Chic

Thanks for stopping by! Happy stamping!

~Lacey

Working on stuff

Hello stamping friends!!

I'm still here! It seems like I haven't been around much. We are nearing the end of the Baseball and Soccer season so hopefully I will have more time to craft. Which is a good thing since I'm really behind with my Christmas cards this year!! 

I have been working on a few things, but can't share the final projects yet but here's quick peek...

Anyway, just wanted to peek in and say hi!! I hope you have a wonderful weekend!!

Thanks for stopping by! Happy stamping!

~Lacey

 

A Purple and Zebra themed birthday party

Hello stamping friends!!

Well, I survived my daughter's 10th birthday party this weekend!! 

We had originally had her party scheduled to start at 3pm. But then the soccer schedule came out. Ansley's first game was scheduled to start at 3:15!! We were going to go to the pool from 3-5pm then head to the house for dinner, cake, glitter tattoos, dancing, and sleep over. Therefore, we had to cancel the pool portion of the party. We had a tight schedule to get home and showered up by the time the guests arrived at 5pm. We made arrangements with her coach (who knew that we had the party planned before the schedule came out) for Ansley to leave at half time. 

On a good note, she scored a goal in the 1st quarter!! On another good note, it started thundering during the game so the pool was closed for most of the time as well. I guess it's a good thing we cancelled going to the pool otherwise we would have been disappointed that it was closed!!

We rushed to get home and almost didn't get everything ready before the guests arrived, but everything ended up working out. We had a great time! Two of my friends stayed to help and they were a HUGE help!! Hubby was locked in a room upstairs trying to watch the University of TN football game on pay-per-view...HE wasn't much of a help!! LOL Actually, I gave him "morning duty" so he was a big help in the morning. 

Ansley wanted a purple zebra theme for her party. I went online and looked for ideas for purple themed parties and didn't have a huge source of inspiration.

Here are some of pictures of the party...

Ansley asked for a "Candy Bar" for the goodie bags. You can see that in the back of the room. There were only 9 girls at the party so I didn't go crazy on the candy and only got a few options. 

The Candy Bar...

The last photo was taken yesterday morning - after all of the goodie bags were filled. Just a little left over.

Purple flowers from the grocery store.

I got the plates, napkins, and forks at Party City.

During the night, I had the girls fill their goodie bags with the candy. Then after they went to bed, I washed their cups from dinner, dried them, and put their goodie bags inside. 

I purchased the cups here. 

My friend made the cake. Oh my gosh...it was sooo huge! Two tall layers!! The pieces my husband cut filled the whole plate!!

One of the ideas I got from pinterest for the party was chocolate dipped strawberries with colored sprinkles to match the color theme. I went with white chocolate with milk chocolate strips to go with the "zebra" theme and added some colored sprinkles. 

Tip: We messed up a few strawberries before we got it right. First, we waited until the chocolate hardened, but then the sprinkles didn't stick. Then we dipped them straight from the chocolate into the sprinkles and it got globby. We finally figured out two things: 1. wait a few minutes after dipping the strawberries into the sprinkles - not "wet", but not hardened either. 2. With the chocolate a little soft, it's better to "drag" the strawberries into the sprinkles instead of "dipping" them - use a stroking motion to kind of drag the strawberries; it seams to look the best without making the chocolate clump up.

Another idea I found on Pinterest was this gumball machine. I added some purple glitter spraypaint so it's nice and glittery, too! It can be used as a bank after the party.

I found this awesome glittery-mirrored frame at Ross a few weeks ago and knew it would be perfect for the party! I displayed a Whiff of Joy stamp that I used for the party invitations backed with some glitter cardstock. Now that the party is over, I will use this frame in Ansley's room (she has a zebra room as well...pictures here) with a picture from her party in the frame. Then I will use the colored stamped image for the scrapbook page of her party.

I had some crafty items as well...

I created a name banner using my silhouette machine to cut the ruffled banner, nestability circles, and sizzix alphabet dies.

I created a "10" stick to put in one of the candy jars using nestability dies and sizzix numbers dies.

Ansley loves to cook so I made her an apron as one of her gifts. It was a surprise so I didn't have measurements. Therefore I had to guess. I made it a little wide for the top. I may have a few alterations that need to be done, but I was happy with the results (especially for doing it without a pattern). Lots of ruffles!!

She was so happy with her new apron.

And this is the card I made her. I added a pocket on the inside to hold some cash for her gift.

The image is Dancing Willow from Whiff of Joy. I also used the Starlight Lace DooHickey die from Magnolia. 

And to finish off the theme, Ansley and I had pedicures last weekend and got toenails to match!!

And how about a picture of mom and birthday girl?! Ok, so I cheated and had pink in my shirt. At least the rest of the colors worked together!

It was a great party and all of the girls were asleep by 11:15pm!! I might not do a sleep over next year (*wink*)!

Thanks for stopping by! Happy stamping!

~Lacey

High Hopes Challenge: Glitter or Shine/ Central Park Zoo Pictures

Hello stamping friends!

I'm back with the new High Hopes Challenge.

This challenge is: Glitter or Shine

One random participant will win 1 Free High Hopes Stamp.

But remember that you MUST use a High Hopes stamp to enter the challenge. 

Here is what I created for the challenge...

This was from the trip we took this Summer to NY City. 

Left side...

Right side...

I used the adorable South Pole Pals embossed in black and watercolored with Twinkling H2Os... 

Here are some close ups of the pictures in the layout...

The statue carousel (as seen in the kids cartoon "The Penguins of Madagascar". They go off every hour playing a tune and rotating around.

This is overlooking the upper deck of the Polar Bear exhibit. I love how it's a sea of green and wildlife in the middle of the big city surrounded by skyscrapers!

This polar bear was funny. The whole time we were there, he would swim up to this rock, fall on his back, swim on his back to the other wall, turn around, and swim on his tummy back to this rock. Back and forth, back and forth...I swear for hours!!

"You wanna move it, move it"! What's a trip to the Central Park Zoo without seeing King Julian and his crew! You need to love the Movie Madagascar or the Penguins of Madagascar to understand!!

Here's another picture of Central Park Zoo surrounded by skyscrapers - I love it! By the way, the guy in the orange shirt with the kid on his shoulders is my husband and Ryan.

The kids in the front watching the Sea Lion show - it was fun. Yes, they got yelled at for standing in the way after I took this shot. There were Summer Camps there for a field trip so it was quite busy.

Ryan and Scott watching the Sea Lion show.

These birds were all over the aviary.

We loved the penguins. We tried to pick out the penguins from "Mr Popper's Penguins" but then we remembered that they were brought back to the North pole! But this one was definitely named "scratchy" ...or maybe 'itchy", he kept scratching his tummy the whole time! And we think we saw "Nimrod", too!

For the launch of the new Spiderman, they were doing a "Spiderman" related scavenger hunt. The kids answered the questions on the hunt and received a fun toy at the end. 

It was a fun day. 

Thanks for stopping by! Happy stamping!

~Lacey

Vacation pictures - Lanier Water Park

Hello stamping friends!!

The new Little Christmas Collection 2012 from Magnolia is now available for Pre-order. They stamps are scheduled to arrive next week.

I'm sitting here watching the opening ceremony for the Olympics so I thought I would do a little post. 

We are currently in the Atlanta area visiting my sister and Mom. We arrived Wednesday night. On Thursday, we went to the Lanier Water Park at Lake Lanier outside of Atlanta. The kids had fun with their cousins...

 

Thanks for stopping by!!

~Lacey

New York Trip Day 2

Hello stamping friends!!

Things are still crazy for me with the kids home for Summer Break. I haven't had much time to do any crafting. Next week we are going to Orlando for a few days. And my Sales Taxes are due for the store. So basically that means that any crafting time is now going to be spent on taxes (boo, hiss).

So I thought it would be a good time to show you Day 2 of our trip to New York City a few weeks ago.

On Monday, it was a rainy day. We knew that it would be so we planned that day for a little shopping in the morning so we could stay indoors. It actually ended up being a mostly nice day.

Our first stop...the huge 3 story M&M Store in Times Square!!

Elvis is a little "blue"...Blue M&M that is!! 

The store was filled with EVERYTHING M&M: pillows, stuffed toys, candy dispensers in every shape and form (we purchased a Statue of Liberty Green M&M dispenser), office supplies, suit cases, and even a $3,000 jacket made with Swarovski crystals!! I didn't take a picture but I found one online here.

They also had a "Color scanner". You stand under it and it tells you what "color" M&M you are! Ryan was Silver and Ansley was Pink. 

Next up we went across the street to the Hershey's store where they had the "world's larger Hershey's Bar and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups!! I don't know the price of the Hershey's bar, but the Reese's cup was $14 and was VERY heavy!! I bought one for my friend who loves Peanut Butter (let's not mention that Scott didn't know I bought it for her so he opened it when we got home and ate one)!!! 

We also went back to Toys R Us and FAO Schwarz but I didn't take picture again. 

On our way back to the hotel to rest up for a little, we stopped into the St. Patrick's Cathedral (opened in 1959). 

It was under construction and there was a service going on so we didn't stay long. 

But the kids lit a candle for their Grandma and Papa. 

We had tickets to the Yankee Stadium for a baseball game so after we rested some, we hopped on the Subway and headed to the Bronx...

We got there very early so the gates wen't open yet. 

Once the gates were opened, we grabbed some dinner and threw a few balls...

Next we made the long trek to the 3rd level to find our seats...

It was raining so we hung out under cover for awhile.

Here Ryan is showing off his "I'm sexy and I know it" pose!!

We took these pictures before we headed to our seats. The field was covered during the rain. You can't even see our seats in this picture, but they were to the left way out in the outfield.

Here is a view of the field from our seats!! We were UP there!! But the funny thing is that we weren't even on the top level!! It is a huge and nice stadium.

Here are some more pre-game photos...

It was "Hat day" so we each for a free hat!! Scott is a Boston Red Sox fan and since they are arch rivals, he wouldn't wear his hat!! 

Ansley having some messy ice cream during the game.

I'll leave you with one of the funnies pictures of the day...

I swear I crack up every time I see this picture!! Ryan was trying to "show your guns" so he would be on the big screen. He was straining so hard that he scrunched his face all up and he looks scary!!

Thanks for stopping by!!

~Lacey

A Field Trip and Lady Antebellum Concert

Hello stamping friends!! 

Last week was Teacher Appreciation week. So I was busy getting little gifts together for the teachers. They do so much all year, they deserve a week filled with being pampered for all they do! 

We gave them 2 single flowers on Monday, a reusable plastic up with straw on Tuesday, chocolate covered oreos on Wednesday, on Thursday they got a set of cards (will share pictures of those soon), and Friday they will got a handmade card with a gift certificate to their favorite restaurant (well, one is getting a gift card to a book store since she said she loves to read).

Last Thursday we went to the Lady Antebellum in concert! The tickets were a Christmas gift from me to Scott. Apparently I purchased "floor -standing" tickets. Now, on one hand that's great because you are REALLY close! But on the other hand, it's "standing only" so after 3 1/2 hours of standing in my heal boots, I could barely walk to the car!!

Here are some pictures taken with my iphone (I have an older version so no flash and the quality is not great)...

My husband got this great shot of the stage. Those are the huge screens behind the stage (they must have been on the cat-walk when Scott took this shot). There was a group of people who were brought down from the upper-deck of the area and put in the "pit" in the center of the stage. You can see them near the bottom blue lights. We were about 10 feet back from the stage. We got there early enough to have been within inches of the stage but I don't like crowds so we hung back a little so we wouldn't get trampled.

Again, sorry for the poor quality. My phone does not take good pictures indoors!! Especially when the subject of the photo is moving!!

Here's a blurry picture of Scott and I before the concert. 

Thompson Square opened the concert

And Darius Rucker was there was well. OMG! He was so great! He played some Hootie and the Blowfish songs as well. Along with Prince's Purple Rain and Hank Williams Jr Family Tradition ("Hank, why do you drink?" - love that song)!

It was a great night!

Of course, we had a little "issue" with our plans that night, though...both kids were scheduled to have ball games that night!! Luckily they pushed Ryan's game back a day because of rain earlier in the week. A friend took Ansley to her game while Ryan stayed home with a babysitter. We almost decided not to go to the concert!! But luckily we got the plans worked out and found a babysitter who could work late on a school night. 

Anyway, with all of the crazy schedule of last week, I had also volunteered in Ryan's class to help chaperone a field trip to the movies to see Chimpanzee. It was a cute movie. 

Afterward, we had a picnic at the park...

I have some crafty stuff done, but haven't had the time to finish taking pictures. I will share those later. 

Thanks for stopping by! Happy Stamping!

~Lacey

I'm still alive

Just a quick note to say that I am still alive!!

I was hit with a nasty, nasty cold this week. It started with a fever Monday afternoon and took over the rest of the week. The final diagnosis was a bad sinus infection. But I felt like I was going to die! Massive head ache, ear ache, sore throat, sneezing (oh, the sneezing), nausea, aches, etc!! Tuesday I think I went through 2 boxes of tissues from the running nose and sneezing. Wednesday I went to the doctor in the morning and ended up in bed the rest of the day with nausea. I started to feel a little human on thursday and got a little work done Thursday afternoon.  

But I am now a few days out on my antibiotics so I am feeling much better. I actually managed to get all orders packaged up and taken to the post office today, too. 

Anyway, the bad news is that I have been too sick to even want to stamp...so no crafty inspiration from me! Maybe I'll have a little time on Sunday?!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Happy stamping!

Hello from East Tennessee!

Hello Stamping Friends!!

Just a quick hello from our Spring Break vacation. We are visiting my in-laws in East Tennessee. The kids are having a blast and the weather has been mostly beautiful.

There is a sale going on at Stamp and Create this week.

10% off your whole order when you use discount code spring (all lowercase) at check out.

The sale runs through Friday, March 23rd. Orders will ship out on the 23rd when I return. 

Here are some pictures from Saturday and Sunday. We have been hanging out in my in-law's community...

Having leaf races under the bridge...

Making silly faces with Nana and Papa (Daddy's in there, too)...

Making wishes...

And spreading seeds...

Getting lessons on skimming stones...

Posing for pictures...

And going for walks!

I hope you are all enjoying your Spring Break (or did, or will whenever you have yours)!

Thanks for stopping by! Happy Stamping!

~Lacey

Been Busy, but now sick!

Hello Stamping Friends!

Sorry I've been quiet this week. I've been a little busy. Over the past month, I have been working on sewing window treatments for the family room/breakfast area downstairs. This is what my room looked like for the past few weeks...

I brought in a 6' table to help with laying out the curtains.

I finally got them finished this week in time for me to host a Bunco party on Friday. But halfway through the party, I got a relapse of my head cold and haven't gotten off the couch since! I've been sick as a dog all weekend. I'm so glad tomorrow is a postal holiday so I don't have to worry about packing up customer orders! 

Anyway, here is the final results...

I had a hard time taking a good picture because of the back light from outside so I have a few closer shots that are more clear. But basically, I made 3 valances for the windows and curtains for the sliding glass doors. I've worked on this on and off for a few weeks - taking off Christmas and New Year. 

The family room...

The kitchen/Breakfast area... (please ignore the recycles on the counter in the kitchen!! hehe)...

Here's a little closer shot of the breakfast area...

I created 3 panels, added a brown border at the bottom and brown inside for the pleats. I promise, I will NEVER do window treatments with 2 toned pleats again!! Not fun!!

Here are the curtains for the doors open...

And closed...

None of the pictures show the colors well since the silky fabric made the flash bounce off it. But it's a tan'ish/Gold'ish silky fabric with embroidered diamonds (in ivory) and ivory and brown velour crosses.

It really helped finish off the decor in this area. We've been in this house for 9 months, so it's really time to make it feel like "home"! 

Next up: Craft Room decor (you can see some of it in the first picture on this post waiting to be hung), Game Room, Laundry Room organization, and finally finishing off Ryan's room - oh, and window treatments for the Master Bedroom! Whew!

Thanks for stopping by! Happy stamping!

~Lacey

Happy New Year!

Hello stamping friends!!

I just wanted to post a quick Happy New Year wish for you.

I don't have anything creative to share at the moment. I have been traveling and hosting family over the Holidays and haven't had any time to craft. But I do have a card for you tomorrow with the New Magical Monday Challenge. 

In the mean time, I hope you all have a very Happy New Year!! May God bless you all in 2012!

Thanks for stopping by! Happy Stamping!

~Lacey

Trip to Disney World

Hello Stamping Friends!!

We are back from our trip to Walt Disney World! I swear, it doesn't matter how many times we go, it's always fun! And this time, since Ansley is done with the Disney Princesses, we had a lot more time for doing things that we never had time to do before (since we didn't have to wait in line to meet the Princesses or go on kiddie rides for Ryan)! Ansley is now tall enough to ride everything at Disney! Ryan is almost tall enough. 

So this trip we gave them a "Roller Coaster Challenge"! To give them an additional incentive to ride the bigger roller coasters, we said they could have $20 if they completed the challenge! Plus I bought them a trading pin for each of the roller coasters that they haven't been on before. They love to trade pins at the park.

The first day we went to Hollywood Studios. We got there before the park opened so we were able to get fast passes and hop on some rides first thing! The lines were not crowded in the morning, but the afternoons were crazy!

Ryan isn't tall enough for Rockin' Roller Coaster so while Ansley rode that, he had to ride the Tower of Terror at Hollywood Studios. 

This is Ansley after she got off the Rockin' Roller Coaster. It was her first "upside down" roller coaster. I think she was in a little bit of shock, but she really liked it! I don't have a picture of Ryan on Tower of Terror since he was with Scott and I didn't think to take on with him when he got off.

We did a couple new rides at Hollywood studios (new to us). We did the Star Tours and Indiana Jones Stunt Show for the first time. Of course, we had a fast pass for Toy Story and the Cars Stunt show. We saw the Muppets show and saw the Osborne Spectacle of Lights...

The next day we went to Magic Kingdom. We arrived again before it opened so we got to see the Mickey and Minnie and some other characters arrive on the train to open the park! I've never gotten to the Magic Kingdom before it opened before. It was fun!

We went straight to Space Mountain! Ansley has been on Space Mountain before but this was Ryan's first time. And the first time the whole family was able to go on at one time! 

So, Ryan wasn't too thrilled with Space Mountain. He doesn't like the dark and - of course - Space Mountain is completely in the dark! You know how most Disney Thrill rides take a picture of you on the ride? Well, check out this shot they got of Ryan...

LOL...if he could have slouched any farther, he would have fallen out of the harness! Ansley still looks shocked even though she's been on this ride a few times already.

Ryan was all smiles after the ride!

Plus he got to see Stitch (one of his favorite characters)...

Ryan's holding up two of his Stitch Trading Pins (Tower of Terror and Space Mountain Pins)!

Since we got there so early, the lines were wonderful. The Dumbo ride was only 30 minutes (which is the quickest it ever gets)...

The kids tried their hands at being the future Queen and King of England...

Check out Ryan's face!! He's determined to get that Sword out of the Stone! Tries every time, but it hasn't budged yet! LOL

Even Santa was at the Magic Kingdom!

Another part of the "Roller Coaster Challenge" was Thunder Mountain Railroad. The kids have been on that ride a million times, but since it is a roller coaster, we added it to the challenge anyway.

Here Ansley and Scott are getting ready to ride Thunder Mountain!

Since we arrived so early, the lines were great! We were basically able to ride everything we wanted to by 2pm! We stayed until 6pm though so we could ride Thunder Mountain a 2nd time. Since we had time to spare, we went to Tom Sawyer's Island for the first time!

The last day went to Animal Kingdom. We didn't arrive when it opened, but got there shortly after. We made a bee-line to Expedition Everest to get a fast pass then went straight on to the Safari. The safari is best to go on in the morning when it's cooler and the animals are awake. 

Check out this giraffe...

This giraffe came do close to the jeep! It walked right behind us! We were in the 2nd-last row. The people in the last row just about jumped out of their seat when it looked it the giraffe was going to run into the back of the jeep!! LOL

After the Safari, we went on Expedition Everest - the last stop on the Roller Coaster Challenge.

This was before we went on - Ryan's a little stressed at the moment!

Ryan getting on the ride.

Ansley was a little anxious, too!

The ride took off before I could put the camera away - so I took some photos during the ride...

(going backwards!!)

The big drop!!! See all of the people at the bottom?

They did it! They finished the Stephen's Disney Roller Coaster Challenge!! Ryan cried most of Everest. He was still a little upset for this photo! But we're so proud of him for doing it. I'm pretty sure Ansley loved it! 

Ansley's Birthday Bedroom Makeover

Hello stamping friends!

Today was Ansley's birthday! I can't believe my baby is 9 years old! We had a wonderful birthday party. I will show pictures later. But since all of our friends got to see Ansley's new room makeover, I can now share it here. 

I forgot to take a picture of her room before we started painting. We only had the builder's off-white paint and she had a rainbow bedspread. 

Here's the room while my husband had just started on the painting...

And her room now... 

I still need to change the ceiling fan blades over so the fan will be all white. The rainbow went with her old bed.

This is the wall to the left... 

The door to the left is her bedroom door (opened). The door to the right is her closet door.

Here is her "reading nook"... 

And her bed...

Two of the craft project I did her for room include the banner at the top and her name...

The name are white wooden letters that I got at Jo Ann's. I punched glitter cardstock with circle punches and attached them to the letters.

Here's the other corner of her room with her chest and dresser...

I showed you the wall hanging I did for her chest here.

And the final wall of her room...

Ansley had some girlfriends stay overnight for a sleepover after her party...

Here they are in the upstair's "game room" watching a movie. Yes, there are two boys...The one on the right is my son Ryan and the shirtless one is his friend. His parents were out of town so I said I would watch him so that he could come to the party (otherwise he would have missed the party and Ryan would have been really upset).

And here are the girls trying to settle in for the night...

Ansley's room is big enough that we can fit a Queen size blowup mattress in her room! And, yes, I purchased a 2nd matching breadspread...just in case we need it...like for sleepovers!!

I hope you like Ansley's new room! She loves it...and so do I!

Thanks for stopping by! Happy stamping!

~Lacey

A Racing Good Time

Hello stamping friends!!

Don't forget to enter my candy here!!

I'm having a great time in Atlanta, Georgia visiting my sister and mom. Scott stayed behind so it's just me and the kids. The kids are having a great time with their cousins. 

Today we went to a go-cart/video game place to celebrate our Cousin's birthday. We rode go carts, played laser tag (OMG - so much fun), and play video games. Man am I exhausted!! 

Here are some pictures from the day (my camera didn't take any pictures well in the dark laser tag so I'll have to get copies of Papa's pictures). 

Cake time...

My kids are on the left (Ansley on the top left and Ryan on the bottom left). Cousin Zachary (the birthday boy) is in the middle with his sister Rileigh behind him. Rileigh's birthday was this week as well (she is 2 years and 1 day older than her brother), but her party was last weekend so we missed it.

Here is some of the go-cart fun...

Here's Ansley with Grammie (my mom) above.

Here I am with Ryan (above)

In the above picture, the car in the front is me and Ryan (winning), and my brother-in-law with Rileigh trying to catch us (they never did :-)

It was a great party. I'll be back tomorrow with the card I made for Rileigh. Zachary's card was already posted here.

Thanks for stopping by! Happy stamping!

~Lacey

 

Chocolate Camp?!!

Hello stamping friends!!

Well is seems that Ryan's stomach thing is gone - only lasted 1 hour on Monday and caused us to miss the beach. But so far the rest of us seem to be fine. Ansley has a little bit of a stomach ache yesterday, but nothing to keep her from tormenting her brother...or keep her home from Vacation Bible School. 

The kids are enjoying VBS again this year. Ryan says he doesn't want to go...until we pull into the parking lot...then he says "ok, I'll go"! And every time we pick him up, his "teacher" says he was "active"...you have no idea, lady!! LOL

Speaking of active, yesterday we had a busy day. We woke up, got ready, picked up two friends, then met other friends for bowling!! The kids earn free bowling based on their report cards!! We only had to pay for shoe rentals - and my kids' shoes are size 13 or under so they were free!! We only had to pay for our friend's shoes since they were bigger than 13. 

After bowling, we went out for pizza for lunch then on to another fun activity...chocolate camp!! Yep, Chocolate camp!! How awesome is that?!

For $25 each, they get to hand-dip their own treats: Pretzel sticks, oreos, rice crispy treats, lollipop mold, and graham crackers. Plus they get to lick their gloves after they dip each item (yes, they get new gloves and wash their hands in between) AND a cup of gelato ice cream!! 

You guessed, it, I have a ton of pictures and will be scrapping them at some point. But I wanted to quickly show some photos now...

Ryan and Ansley in their dipping get-up...

Check out Ryan's messy face!

And the final results of the dipping adventure...

Yes, Ryan still has chocolate all over his face!! I guess I got used to seeing it so I didn't notice it again until we were in a clothing store a little later!! Bad mom!!

Talk about being an "active kid"!! Ryan can control his activity level with 1 thing: Threats - when there is a strong consequence for his behavior, then he can control it. 

But when you add in ANY sugar and forget it!! I call him "Crazy boy on sugar". Do you remember those anti-drug commercials in the 80's...."This is your brain (show an egg), this is your brain on crack (show an egg cooking in a frying pan)". My version is: This is my son...they is my son on sugar...

Take a look at Ryan in the left side of this picture (under the arrow). He's a blurr!! He was literally jumping up and down and couldn't stand still...so much so that I couldn't get a clear picture of him!! LOL

Well, all is good. The dipped treats are home now and I am sure will be eaten or forgotten about soon. Ryan doesn't have much of a sweet tooth so he may only eat 1 or 2 pieces. Ansley, on the other hand, will eat everything within a few days!! 

I will be back in the next day or so with a gift I made my husband in honor of our 10th anniversary last week.

In the mean time...

Thanks for stopping by! Happy stamping!

~Lacey

Benefit Concert for Luke

Happy Memorial Day weekend!

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend. So far, we have had a great one. 

On Friday night we went to a Benefit Concert for Luke. The best part...

we got to see Luke!! 

I have seen Luke a few times when I visited him in the hospital while I was in town house hunting. But the kids hadn't seen him since we moved back. In fact, this was the first time they have seen him since his seizure on New Year's Eve. 

The concert was great. It was a night filled with Praise and Worship, a little sermon, and...the best part...we all prayed together for Luke. I got to sit next to Luke and place my hands on him while I prayed for him. Even Ryan went up to the stage to pray for Luke (he sat on my lap). Ansley has fallen asleep by that point. 

Anyway, it was so nice to see Luke and give Brandi (his mom) a huge hug! 

They may be coming to the movies with us on Sunday to see Kung Fu Panda - I sure hope they can make it!! 

On a quick update on Luke, as you can see in the picture above, his right hand is constantly moving (his hand is blurry in the photo since it was moving) whereas his left side "Lefty" is very tight. You can see a video on his blog of Luke moving "lefty"!! This is such wonderful news that he was able to move his left arm on his own. Praises!!

Thanks for stopping by today! I will be back tomorrow with the new Magical Monday Challenge and Stamp and Create Product Spotlight.

~Lacey

Happy Easter

Hello friends!! I hope you are having a lovely Easter!! 

Don't forget about the Easter Sale still going on at Stamp and Create.

10% off everything in the store using discount code easter (all lowercase) at check out.

By the time this posts, we will probably up and searching for what the Easter Bunny left behind! I bet we're tired, too after getting in late from our trip to Epcot. 

I wanted to share some pictures of the kids dying eggs earlier in the week...

We put out an old towel on top of the kitchen island and I kept a CLOSE eye on the dye so nothing would stain our new kitchen!!

Happy Easter from our family to yours!!

The backyard

Today is a new Wags 'n Whiskers Challenge. Unfortunately, I am still behind with DT work (and income tax preparation) so I don't have a project to share today. But I wanted to let you know the new challenge is:

Ribbons and Pearls.

Go check it out!

In the mean time, I promised to share some pictures of the house!!

Well, the inside is still a work in process and is still quite cluttered. So I will have to wait to share those at a later date.

Today I have a picture of the front of the house as well as one of my favorite places - the back yard!

The front...

This picture was taken actually the weekend before we moved in.

Now here are some pictures of the backyard...

 

The "woods" on the side of the house were cleared yesterday so they will be building a new house soon.

Princess decided to come and see what I was taking a picture of...

And the view from the backdoor...

And little nosey...

Hello from under the boxes!!

Just a quick note to say that I'm still alive!! But still buried under a ton of boxes!

We have actually unpacked most of the boxes, but not everything has been put away. It looks like a tornado hit the upstairs!! The internet was hooked up on Tuesday and the cable is being hooked up today. 

I have to take a break from unpacking today to get the kids registered in their new school and to pay my sales taxes for February. And tomorrow I hope to be able to work around the mess to start getting the store orders filled and shipped out. It will take me a few days to get caught up. 

I want to leave you today with a picture of my new craft room...

Nice, hun?!! ROFL. Actually, all of those boxes have been unpacked already so it does look more like a room now. 

Once I get it completely finished, I will have to post another picture. But right now it's a cluttered mess.

Thanks for stopping by! Happy stamping!

~Lacey

The New Year's Eve Kiss - Sarah Kay

Happy New Year!!!

I hope you have a Blessed and safe 2011!!

Merry Christmas

Well, I forgot to post post a few last Christmas cards over the past week while I've been on vacation!! I will try to schedule those for later this week. 

In the mean time, I wanted to send Christmas wishes out to you all! Thank you so much for coming by and seeing me every day. I love my blogger friends!!

We left last Sunday for Disney World for a few days. I have posted a few pictures on facebook. But here are a few highlights of our past week...

The family with Mickey and Minnie at Magic Kingdom...

A Nativity scene at the Gaylord Palm "Ice!"...

That is ALL ice!!!

Here's Santa and his reindeer...again completely out of ice...

Man it was COLD in there!! 9 degrees!!!

Santa and a helper came to our hotel...

The kids had their face painted at Disney that day....

Isn't Ryan's face awesome?!!

We also went to Medieval Times dinner show as well...

We had a great time rooting for our Knight (the Black and White Knight who defeated the bad Knight)!!

Then we drove up to Atlanta, Georgia to spend Christmas with my sister and mom and to look for a new house. Last night we went to my sister's church for a Christmas Eve children's puppet service and Ansley was asked to be in the play!! My niece was too scared and chose not to be in the play.

He's a picture of Ansley (that's my sister in the green shirt)...

Here is the backdrop for the scene. It was a very cute show. Ansley is the angel all the way to the left (looking up behind her at the puppets)...

After the kids went to bed, Santa stopped by and left lots of presents...

The other kids are my nephew Zachary and my niece Rileigh.

Here are my kids with my sister's family. Scott is to the left, but I couldn't get him in the shot.

It was a good Christmas!!!

It's supposed to snow later today!! :-) It would be nice to have a "white Christmas"...it would be my first! 

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!!

I'm still alive!!

Hey there stamping friends!!

I just wanted to quickly pop in to say that I'm still here!!

Currently the High Hopes and Wags 'n Whiskers Design Teams are taking time off for the Holidays. I will have my Magical Monday and ABC Christmas DT cards next week. 

The Stamp and Create DT will have a few samples over the Holiday, but I may not have a personal sample each week (I will be posting the DT samples on the store blog and will try to get some on here as well). The team will be having blog candy on their blogs throughout the Holiday Season!! So make sure to check them out each week to see who is giving something away!! (links to the DT in the side bar here)

This week's Product Spotlight is Wild Rose Studio on sale for 25% off. I have an order on the way to replenish them however, a few designs were out of stock and won't be restocked. Hopefully the order will arrive today or tomorrow. But they are coming from the UK, so the Holiday shipping and cold weather could delay the shipment. I will post on the store blog once they have arrived. I have a card sample to share, but didn't have access to download the photo. Hopefully I can get that today and post it tomorrow. I really need to figure out why my camera is not compatible with my mac!!

Sadly, I have decided to step down from the Scrap and Stamp Saturday Scrapbook challenge DT. Right now with getting ready for the move in the Spring, I just don't have the time it takes for each layout. But I hope to get back into scrapbooking a little after the New Year if nothing more than keeping up with my personal scrapbooks.

We have a realtor coming on Friday to put the house on the market. That means we have been purging closets, getting rid of clutter, and trying to get the house in order. Not to mention doing last minute Christmas shopping and getting ready to go out of town for 2 weeks! 

It's been chilly here in South Florida but the temperatures have been up and down from the 70's to the 30's so that means a head cold is just lurking waiting to strike at the worst moment!! LOL Then, of course, Ryan has outgrown all of his "winter" clothes so the cooler weather forced me to finally get him some warm clothes. Therefore, I've spent even more time shopping this week!!

And as I mentioned, we will be out of town for Christmas (again) this year. We are leaving on Jan 19th and returning on Dec 3rd. We are heading first to Orlando to go to Disney World and Universal Orlando parks, then head to Jacksonville to see friends, ending up in Atlanta for Christmas to see my mom and sister...and look for houses! For New Year's, we will head back to Jacksonville, then come home after the New Year! 

This is the 3rd year in a row that we will be out of town for Christmas!! Sigh!! I swore I was going to be home for Christmas this year, but the need to look for houses in Atlanta took priority! Oh well! It will be nice to spend Christmas with family at least.

Well, it's time to get back to the cleaning...

My kids "elf'ed"

My mom created one of those "Elf yourself" videos with my kids (looks like a little older pictures). 

Hopefully this works, but I don't think the website will work for too long so watch it while you can...

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/9srtbB1WnnMkikskIKcn

Please pray for Kate

I've had a link in my sidebar for a little girl named Kate who has an aggressive brain tumor for awhile now. She is having a MRI scan done today at 3:00 (I think Mountain time?) because of some new symptoms. 

Her scan was supposed to be on friday, but they bumped it up to today because of the new symptoms. There is a new spot that they are worried about. 

You can read her journal here...

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/mcraekate

Lord God, I lift up Kate and her family to you. Lord please be with Kate and her doctors. I pray that her new symptoms are just those of a silly virus and that they have nothing to do with her tumor. I pray that the new spot in question is miraculously gone. Lord, we know that you have the power to remove this cancer. And so we ask, we beg, that you take this cancer away from Kate. Restore her body 100% to the glory of which you created. 

I claim Psalms 139 over Kate today...

1 O LORD, you have searched (Kate) and you know (Kate). 2 You know when (she) sits and when (she) rises; you perceive (her) thoughts from afar. 3 You discern (her) going out and (her) lying down; you are familiar with all (her) ways. 4 Before a word is on (her) tongue you know it completely, O LORD. 5 You hem (Her) in--behind and before; you have laid your hand upon (her). 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. 7 Where can (she) go from your Spirit? Where can (she) flee from your presence? 8 If (she) goes up to the heavens, you are there; if (she) makes (her) bed in the depths, you are there. 9 If (she) rises on the wings of the dawn, if (she) settles on the far side of the sea, 10 even there your hand will guide (Kate), your right hand will hold (her) fast. 11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide (her) and the light become night around (her)," 12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. 13 For you created (her) inmost being; you knit (Kate) together in (her) mother's womb. 14 I praise you because (Kate) is fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 (Kate's) frame was not hidden from you when (she) was made in the secret place. When (she) was woven together in the depths of the earth, 16 your eyes saw (Kate's) unformed body. All the days ordained for (her) were written in your book before one of them came to be. 

Thank you, Lord God, for allowing us to come to you on Kate's behalf. Hear our prayers o' Lord and cast this disease away from Kate. We praise you because you are powerful and mighty and you have compassion for your children. Please have mercy on Kate and rid her body of this horrible disease. 

In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

Updated Wednesday night...

This was taken from Kate's caring pages...

"Words could not possibly express our joy and gratitude for today's scan. Stable! Never have those words sounded so sweet. We are still trying to let the news soak in. 

Kate's oncologist said the scan looked good.... there appeared no new growth from the one 2 months ago. And the enhancement and flair on the scan was actually somewhat less. We could not have been more excited!

We are grateful for the outpouring of prayers. We were in a very precarious situation knowing we could hear one of two drastically different reports today. We are rejoicing that the news was great, and we get more time with our precious daughter. Thank you Jesus." 

Card Drive

This is my 2nd post for the day. Please scroll down to see my Kraftin' Kimmie Challenge card...

Wow! I keep forgetting to post this!

I've received a few emails from people asking about the Card Drive for Margaret's 100th Birthday.

The drive went well. Although we didn't reach 100 cards, there were cards from all over the world! My card was late...I sent it to the wrong zipcode!! Duh!!

Here is a picture of Margaret with some of the cards and letters that were sent to her from family and friends...

And here she is with her cake...

Please keep her in your prayers. She fell a little while back and has been having a rough time recoving. I can imagine it must be hard to "bounce back" at 100 year old!! But doesn't she look fantastic?!

The winner of the card drive was Gloria Westerman of Tennessee! We have already been in contact. I just forgot to post it!!

Thank you all so much for send her a card!! What a wonderful milestone!

And I am so sorry it took me so long to post this!! I was waiting for pictures, then forgot to post it after I received them!!