Just love watching Noah and the boys.....

So full of energy and determination it's just incredible!!! They played AMAZING today! First game against Allegan1 they were ahead 31-0 at the half....so the score goes back to zero zero when that happens.....they played awesome! Such GREAT teamwork for 5/6 graders.....I will try to post pics of each of the 7 boys....I think I got them all! First....My little man

The team getting ready to head out on the court!


and Blake for a shot! I'll add more tomorrow after I go through them all!

MOre Saugatuck Basketball today!!!! This time YOUNG boys!

And they are sooooooo fun to watch!! Today 2 games against Allegan at home! GO INDIANS! Workout with Kiah later at the Rec Center and then hopefully some scrapbooking time in there. Probably make Mike his birthday dinner today since we didn't get time to do it this week between all the practices and stuff. We made him cupcakes on Monday but tonight we'll do Pork Stir-fry!! YUM!!!!

Post pictures later of the boys games!!! POTD! Basketball AGAIN~! JK....I'll throw in some other pics for good measure!

New Scrapbook goodies!!!!

My Minds Eye! I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE this company!! I could scrap with this stuff all day!!!! Take a look if your interested....Patterns are WAY FUN!

OOPS!!!!!!!! I can't believe I forgot to post this last night after kickboxing! Must have been that wiped out!! ;)

More to follow today but take a look at these new paper patterns from My Mind Eye in the meantime (non scrapbookers....They are FUN to look at!)

New manufacturer for the Scrapbook Industry!

Kiki Art!!
This stuff is adorable....you can check it out on her blog and even register to win some!!!

POTD....Trying to decide on..........

Taking some before/after pics of myself for my workout journal OR Noah playing his wii - MADDEN 10!! Maybe both!!!

Pretty uneventful Tuesday here....preparing for a quiet night at home. We opted not to go to the basketball games tonight...we just run and run all the time and I thought everyone could use a night home to just chill! Oh MOM....I know but the rest of the week/end is going to entail SOMETHING going on EVERYDAY so tonight....we CHILL!

Enjoy your evening everyone!
Oh and if you are scrapbookers like me....be sure to check out 2peas in a bucket They are posting LOTS AND LOTS of new scrapbook goodies just unveiled at the CHA (Craft and Hobby Association) show! I've been stalking it for DAYS!!!!! YUMMY stuff!

Sometimes I think it's about going back to our roots.....

I know the first thing you think of when you read to title is huh??? Or, this could be kinda hokey....Not at all. This week I found out that a store in Holland (where the teens LOVE to shop!) had closed quite abruptly! Kind of a shock to everyone and more so to the kids...it was one of the better places for them to go to "outfit themselves" and we ALL know how important that is when you are a teen.

Anyway.....I started thinking about it yesterday while I was on the treadmill (again...I do ALOT of great thinking on that thing!) and started reflecting back. When I was a teen and we didn't have all the fancy malls like we do now (we did have the Woodland Mall in GR but it was such a drive to get there....we rarely went). For us it was downtown Holland. The reason (stick with me here) it struck me so nostalgically is because I kept remembering more and more about what we did downtown when I was a kid.

I remember JCPenney being on the corner of River and 8th I think...2 stories. Kids/ youth stuff was up the stairs. I remember FREQUENTLY going to the Model Drug store / Apothecary store for the fun goodies they had....lip gloss, Mrs. Grossman's stickers, 5&dime candies, all that kinda stuff. We often hit Woolworth for the same stuff....
I remember also shopping at Steketees department store for the more trendy lines that we longed for....always a little more expensive so we didn't get them often but... I remember going into DuMez brothers (my Grandma VanLente's FAVORITE place to go!) where we could get some really cute stuff! I remember one time buying a pair of pants for Easter there....I was sooooooooo excited! Then we would grab lunch often at the Windmill restaurant (which by the way is still there!), we would often go get books at The Readers World (LOVED going in here to get the next sequel to my Sweet Valley High series! - Loved Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield!!!) there was also a bakery on River ave close to Readers World where we would pick up pig in a blankets....and then there was one of my favorite clothing stores there called "Threadz"....

As years went on we were allowed to be dropped off downtown to walk around by ourselves for a few hours on Saturdays (have a hard time doing that nowdays), we would go get pops at BK and the we often would go into the Depot for our dream of owning Guess and Gasoline jeans - Or Hutchinsons for our Calvin Kleins. Loved Hutchinsons to cuz they had the BEST display of HELLO KITTY stuff!!! and once we got into High School we would go into AR Daanes and admire those Nautica jackets!....I think EVERYONE admired those!



Anyway....just thought it was neat that I kept remembering more and more..... maybe just maybe things always lead back to your roots! OR maybe you have to create your own "roots" so to speak. I think everyone should have places that they can remember like that!
I wanna look and see if there are any pics I can pull up for you and post....they ahd some COOL places down there! Thanks for reading along!

So much fun at the Scrapbook Day yesterday!!!!

Stacey....thanks again for inviting us!!! We had such a great time....I managed to get 12 pages done! COMPLETELY done, journaled and everything! 1 started that still needs some love but I am soooooo excited for having done that many!!!!!

Here's a sneak peak....this is the only peak that I can show cuz this album is a gift for my niece for graduation!! I love you Nicole! ;)




I used My Minds Eye Kaleidascope papers....some Heidi Swapp flowers, Making Memories ribbon, big letters are 3bugs in a rug.... and some buttons....I really LOVE it....so FUN!!!

Great to see April and Sam as always...got to reconnect with them since it's been gosh....3 weeks!!! LOL.....just kidding SAM! Got to chat with a few others....very nice lady Val that owns the Scrapbook Hut in Cadillac was gracious enough to come around with demonstrations so we didn't all have to get up and interrupt our scrap time...THANKS VAL! Loved all your demos...I think my fav was the crete paper flowers! SUPER SUPER cute! And what a nice selection of stuff she had on site! Wish I could have picked up some more things but I'll never get my Cricut if I indulge too much.......Great papers from BG (Basic Grey) and October Afternoon....Some cool felt flowers (Makiah really loved those)....

Check out her site if your a Northerner for store coupons and for everyone else check out the scrapbook retreat info that she has....Sounds like fun to me!!

Hard to believe we only spent.........76cents! I know!!!!!!! I couldn't believe it either....but I went there with my pages all ready to go (to be assembled), sketches in had along with some important info and since I'm doing this book for Nicole I really need to get some work done on it while April was there! She's a walking calendar I swear! I'd be like "Hey April....any idea when this was?" She would respond "Yah that had to be.....blah blah blah!" Just BAM....Know what year it was... me....I have to think about those things but I can usually figure it out...!

There was also a Close to My Heart demonstrator that was very nice...let us look over things on her table and check out some of the goodies...without being too pushy..(Boy do I hate that!!).....I thought about picking up a CTMH idea book/catalog super cute stuff in there....they are only $3.95 and have GREAT ideas in it but again....saving for the cricut! ;) Anyway, if you're interested in check out the CTMH catalog you can can....you can even purchase online.

Anyway friends...had a great time yesterday hop you all enjoyed your day as well... please pass on the address of our blog to friends so they too can follow along! I am thoroughly enjoying it!!

My shoulders are sooooooooooooo tired!!

Ok, so this is what a week looks like for me at the gym:

Monday; CARDIO (try for 3 miles on the treadmill or 30 minutes), then I do legs and glutes
Tuesday; Back and Lats....
Wednesday; no lifting in the gym in the a.m., cardiokickboxing at night that requires lots and lots of energy!
Thursday; my fav....Bi's and Tri's! and let me tell you.....they are burning once we are done!
Friday; CARDIO (again trying for 3 miles) and Shoulders and Lats

Now, mind you I try to mix it up as much as I can....keep those muscles guessing!!

So today..............holy moly, I stepped it up and increased my weight. My shoulders are sooooooooooooooooooo tired! Reaching for things in the kitchen and even shredding cheese for lunch was a challenge! LOL I love it though! I owe Mac and Kris a ton for letting me tag along with them!
They both told me this week that they could see a HUGE difference in my strength and appearance! YES!!!!!!!!! Thanks goodness! All this hardwork is starting to pay off! Believe me when I say, alot of sweat and tears...a little tiny bit of blood from punching the bags without my gloves on!

My punching gloves and weight training gloves are very close friends to me now!! LOL...
It HARD to start a habit of going to the gym or working out faithfully and to keep it interesting enough that you WANT to do it! I am a HUGE believer in a workout partner if you can find one and times etc. work out....I am also a HUGE believer in making HUGE changes right away! It worked for me/us...some like to go gradual and implement small changes slowly...I decided what MAJOR things needed to change and DID and didn't look back! It has made ALL the difference for me!!!! I still have to work at it but it has really made a difference in our family!

Got pulled over last night for..............

A burned out headlight! Crazy thing is, it just went out that morning....didn't make it to the store to get a new bulb yet! (We have it now though!).....He didn't give me a ticket but he said that he did make "note" of it that he spoke with me about it and to get it fixed right away! Drive safe! hmpf!

He did tell me too that they will not be so lenient anymore on stuff....headlights etc. My guess is that they are cracking down to issue more tickets so we have to pay the state more!!!

Anyway, that was the excitement for last night. Today my day was kinda outta wack.... went to town after the gym to get some pages for a scrapbook album I'm doing and then on the way home Makiah texted me and said she needed pump supplies so I quick went home, got those together, grabbed a snack (hadn't eaten since the gym!), brought her supplies to school and back home...it was like 11:45 then but still my system was messed up and I just couldn't get into the groove at all after that. Sounds silly I know but it's a fact.

Been trying to correspond with some friends I haven't seen in a long time so I made some cards and sent them out. Kinda wierd putting "stamps" on things again! I don't mail ANYTHING! Really.....So we'll see if I hear back from them....

Jean, Linda, Ron and Marge....hoping to reconnect with you and a few others!
Off to the JV basketball game. Back to school we go. Be nice when we live a little closer!

Ta-Ta!

So cool to watch young boys.....

as "THEY" watch their local (high school) idols! Last night at the Saugatuck Varsity Basketball game I would look at Noah occassionally and see the amazement in his eyes with some of the shots those guys were making and the fancy footwork and ball handling they do.....This being Noah's first year playing bball I could just see the "someday I wanna be able to do that" look in his eye. Pretty cool stuff!

Not much going on here today friends....just cleaning up, getting ready for a scrapbook day that I am TOTALLY geeked for!!! Can't wait to see April and Sam and scrapbook til my hearts content (ok at least until the event is done!)!!! GOOD STUFF THERE! There's just something about that creative outlet....EVERYONE need that outlet! It is soooooooooooooo good for the soul! Makes you feel so good inside! You, yes you created this whatever it may be....scrapbook page, calendar, mini-book, clock, cards, knit booties (just for you Cin!), etc...etc...etc...Ok...Ok, off my soapbox now. :)


Kickboxing tonight! Can't wait....! Make it a great hump day everyone! Chat later on!
Oh....POTD........hmmmmmmm haven't done it yet....out the door in a hurry this a.m. (cuz I have one child that insists on being to school almost before the teachers get there!!! LOL) and forgot my camera...Driving home I saw the most beautiful sky.... Pretty pink shades and then the way I was heading was a beautiful horizon of trees and of course they were "black" cuz it was still darkish out. STUNNING and wished I had my camera....Don't worry. I'll find "SOMETHING"!!

POTD.....Today it's my lunch! ;) No I'm not running out of ideas!

Yes....Today my POTD is my lunch! Once I get it all made, set on the plate and make sure I have my fruits and vegetable accounted for...my grain etc. I thought it was soooooooo pretty! TADA!!!!!!!! POTD!


And then this pic is our fruits and vegetables for 2 weeks....there are a few things that weren't in the picture but purchased.....Lettuce, Spinach etc.

Happy Monday!!!!!

Mondays have a way don't they.....sometimes it's a good way and other times it's we'll say a "trying" way....not necessarily a bad way but definitely can try your patience!

So my Monday started out pretty good....ran 2 miles on the treadmill at the gym, did some legs and glutes and then had a good ole' stretch session! LOVE those!!! I wish I could get one of those stretch machines for HOME! Kris and I decided it would be great to use while watching your favorite show or something! Thoughts! Or DREAMS! ;)

Today's picture of the day (potd) will be Makiah at the orthodontist office.... It has definitely become a big part of our lives...Goes a little something like this for Makiah..."Makiah did you check and see where you are at (Blood Sugar), did you take your pill (cholesterol pill), did you bolus (insulin from insulin pump) for dinner? did you brush your teeth?, do you have rubberbands on???? EVERY SINGLE DAY/NIGHT!! No rest at all! So yes....today will be the ortho office.

Tonight Noah has basketball practice - hopefully!!! Granted we get gym time....which is another post ALL together....
TONIGHT - channel 13 @ 8.....The BACHELOR!!! For those followers....looks like it gets a little "heated" again tonight!

Chat soon friends! Thanks for following!!!

So....Let's talk a little about some of our dreams ....

And by that I mean dreams that you have of things to do....not crazy wild and wacky dreams that you have after eating a bunch of spicy mexican food!! LOL.............

I'll start.....I have had a few and of course as the years go on they have a tendancy to change a bit. After college I wanted to move to Chicago and be a big Interior DEsigner and would have my own studio/store!! Well.....that all changed after college and I ended up an Interior Designer in Holland. Once we started our family I wasn't able to keep up with the hours required by many Interior Designers so I gave that up but never lost the dream of having my own studio/store.

NOW.....and for the last several years it's always been a dream of mine to have my own scrapbooking/crafting/photography studio/place! Some place where everyone can be CREATIVE in their own way! With photography I capture precious and incredible moments, with scrapbooking I preserve those precious and incredible moments for generations to follow along and the crating is just a unique outlet for those times when we need to "release".....everyone has those moments when we need a release of some sort.........I'm not giving up on my dream! How about all of you???

I'd LOVE to hear some of your dreams before and after is good too! Did your first dreams become reality? Have your dreams changed??

I know both my kids have dreams....Makiah wants to go to ASU (Arizona State University) or MSU for either journalism or Dietician....Noah wants to play MLB! Mike has a dream of someday moving out west say Colorado, Wyoming....something like that. Who knows....Maybe someday!

Today's POTD....Our fresh fruits and vegetables! It's important to me!!!

Pages promised.....last night. OOPS!

So.....very sorry about not posting those layouts cuz I know there are sooooo many of my 7 followers sitting n the edge of their seats WAITING TO SEE! LOL hahahaha... we got wrapped up in the COLTS game last night and then after that we got involved in an episode of Without a Trace (go figure! never watch that show any other time!) and that went until 2am!

So I did 2 layouts on Friday....one of Makiah and Sam "Cousins & Friends" and then one of Noah...."He's SO worth the wait"....Now looking at the one of Noah yesterday I need to add something to it yet so it's not entirely finished.

Here ya go:

Makiah and Sam... "Cousins&Friends" I used some new to me Basic Grey paper and some making memories ribbon and american crafts ribbon, HUGE & stamp is StampinUp... Other stickers are Mary Englebriet (YES OLD!) and American Crafts and some clear acrylic letters from 7gypsies!

and Noah....


"He's SO worth the wait" For this I used VERY old Basic Grey paper, American Crafts stickers, Makin Memories foam stamps and some unknown rub-ons!

I was trying really hard to do the "use your stash" challenge on this....I did pretty well! Aside from the one sheet of Basic Grey paper(pink) I didn't buy a thing!

WE WIN!!!!!!!

Saugatuck 6th grade boys basketball pulled off a win today against Hamilton 22-18. My first thought its to post all the adorable pics of the boys but since there are well over 100 (yes I'm a bit excessive at times) I'll just post a few and then really get into editing them later on tonight or tomorrow...



Noah dribbles down court

The big defender!

Noah's #5! Isn't he the cutest!!!!!
I'll post the layouts I did last night a little bit later tonight. Kiah's going to see AVATAR with Nikki and the girls and Noah is at Parkers....

Mike and I are going to have a nice dinner home and get ready for some COLTS FOOTBALL!!!!!

Good Saturday Morning everyone!!!!
We are off this a.m. too Hamilton HS for Noah's first basketball game! (6th graders) My POTD (picture of the day).....HIS game! I'm a little excessive when it comes to taking pics of events that the kids are in....It will take me so me time to weed through the images when I get home but I will post some pics later in the p.m.

Indianapolis Football later today!! GO COLTS!!!!!!!!!ttfn!

not sure why......links aren't working!

After all that....I got an error about the links that I had posted to the blog but if you really want to see any of the stuff you can check out their respective websites!

Missd you yesterday BUT.....................

Mom, Jen and I had so much fun at Scrap Scribble and Stick!! What a great store and great staff! We were in there for almost 2 hours! ;) Of course we were a little overwhelmed at first but we managed to CONQUER it at least for the day! HOPING to be able to go back in a few weeks but we all got some goodies for new projects and am having SOOOOOOOOOOo much fun with the stuff!
For all you paper crafters out there I found the most amazing albums for scrapbooking - American Crafts "D" ring albums - you can see them here...VERY cool and really pretty patterns. You could potentially fit soooooooo many pages in here!~ AWesome...awesome! These aren't new to the market I don't think but they sure are pretty!!!

I got some cool new papers from BoBunny Press
from their "Persuasion" line



and also I grabbed a few of Pebbles




from their Little Miss collection Just adorable!!! And the cool thing with the Pebbles papers, the little tab with the barcode on it is now patterned on the other side so it's actually USEFUL! You can totally use it for a border on that page or a card....ANYTHING! WAY TO BE GREEN!



I'm sooo excited to be able to be creative again! It's such a GREAT feeling! We ALL have our own way of being CREATIVE and we need to embrace it and LOVE it! Hoping to be able to show you some Creative Goodness that I come up with this weekend! Noah has his first EVER (yes EVER!) 6th grade basketball game tomorrow at 10:30a.m. so everyone send some good vibes to Hamilton HS where they will be playing! It's been fun today sharing some of my goodies with you! Make it a great day!!!!

ps...Mom and Jen, I say we do it!
pss...Coffee???? Nope not today!



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We caved!! ;) But only once!

Ok so Makiah and I caved! We gave in a made a pot of coffee this afternoon...Kind of a treat for us so to speak! We had done really well this week with what we chose to eat and so we figured we could have a treat. Funny thing....I don't think either one of us missed it as much as we thought we did!!!!! LOL:)

Project 365 POTD - Gonna be our boxing gloves that we use for kickboxing and I'll try to get a picture tonight at class but there's not much downtime for any of us so we'll see!

Tomorrow, off to Scrap Scribble and Stick....cute scrapbook store in Grand Rapids
with a great selection. I am determined to stick to my list and just get stuff that I am in NEED of....some adhesives and some items for Nicoles album...we are also in the market for a new clock and they have one of the Heidi Swapp "Memory clocks" there...SUPER cute! I think it sells for $21 so it's not outrageous but every $1 I spend doesn't get me closer to getting a CRICUT!!!!

Projec 365 - POTD (Picture Of The Day)

So.....in regards to my Project 365 I decided today to take pictures of our kitties. One we have had for a LONG time (I'd say 8+ years) and the other we rescued over the summer. And guess what....They really DON'T like each other much or at least that's sure the way they act! :) Been trying to get a picture of them at odds but they are for the most part steering clear of each other right now.




I'll try to post pictures of them together if it works out!!! :) Here's a pic of the one that we rescued - LOVE HER!

Save the Date....Date book!

Cover.................



Page 2.......................


Month of Jan..........


Noah photo page.........

December........
Remember....I didn't photo ALL the pages....Just wanted to give you an idea. I do have a "notes pages" for each month.


last page has a Making Memories clip that I thought would be useful for receipts and things I need to keep track of! ;)

Happy Monday......

So the day didn't start out as I had expected or planned...got the kids to school and realize that Noah forgot his coat (side step- 6th grade boys do not like to wear winter coats!!!) for their outdoor adventure (snowshoeing) today! Back home I go (15 minutes) get back to school....Guess What....Have NO EARTHLY idea which locker is his...I can't interrupt class cuz they JUST got started so....I set it down on the floor where I "thought" his locker was...Hopefully he found it! Man alive!

Got to the gym....All the treadmills were taken so I started out on the bike...don't mind the bike but I had prepared menatlly for the treadmill! :) Biked for about 5 minutes and someone hoped off so away I went!... Did my 3 miles there and then some abs...headed for home. Making Apple Butter in the slow cooker today! (crossing fingers!) I'll let you know on that...........YESTERDAY.....I did.............................NOT have any coffee! It sounded really good yesterday but I held out. Got some peppermint tea today for a different taste.

Adding photos of the Save the Date book as we speak!

still no coffee!

Forgot to mention earlier that today makes 1 full week with no coffee...it is however starting to sound really good! I have been fighting a cough for the last 2 days and a nice warm coffee w/ french vanilla creamer.........Mmmmmmmmmmmm!
Let you know tomorrow!

Well...Can't do too much with the blog right now, we are at the library so Makiah can finish a powerpoint for school tomorrow. LONG story short....she was using a "trial" version of PP at home and was accidentally logged off the PC...Couldn't open it back up! So here we are!!! ;)
Thought we were going to Open Gym for softball today but....OOPS nobody was there! Darn it.....she really wanted to get in some pitching...First actual practice for softball is like March 15th or something! WOW!!! It could definitely still be FREEZING!! HELLO!!!

Can't post any pictures today, at least not until I get home if time allows and I get my "turn" on the PC (we might have to thinka bout adding another computer to our family at some point this year)....wanted to show you all (hahaha all 5 of you that are currently following!!! and I love ya thanks!!) the Save the Date book (calendar/date book) that I just finished! It's SUPER SUPER cute! All scrapboking things used of course!
So, I'll post that later on and I'm also trying to get some fun blinkies on the sidebar of our blog....have a little difficulty with that as well! :)

Chat later.

AFter playing with this blog and the goodies that go with it this is what I've decided on for design. HARD CHOICES! Now I'm trying to add some more things...eeekkk!!!!!!! Learned more this afternoon than I have in a LOOOOONNNNGGG time! :) It's all good!

testing new signature! HOw cool is that! ;)

Project 365!! Photo of the day.....BLUE SKY!!!

Project 365 photo of the day...today I chose - believe it or not - BLU SKY!
Here in Michigan we don't see many blue skies this time of year....at least not this blue! It was incredible....we were on our way home from Meaghan and Missy's and all of a sudden I noticed this "BLUE" ....Take a look! Beautiful!


So the farther we drove we saw a definite "split" in the sky.....Cloudy sky vs. BRIGHT BLUE SKY.....guess which "team" won that one!


;)Enjoy the day, hoping to move our PC to a different room if our satellite internet will "relocate". We'll see! Catch ya all later on!

Smiles!