THE ICE.....

Camping out in the living room.....since it's on the upper floor (ya know...heat rises.....if you really want to call it that...since it was 56degrees in here!)
I just told them this was like Little House on the Prairie!!!!

The food I threw out from the refrigerator. Basically, if it said Refrigerate after Opening....it went in the trash. Because I have had food poisoning recently....and it's just not worth taking the chance. And I especially do not want my children to get it!!

Update......Thursday 12/13

Finally!

We have power.
Just want you to know we are fine.

No time to talk. Too much catch-up to do.
Piles of laundry. Piles of dishes.
Cleaning out the fridge and freezer.....
(we've lost all our food in the fridge/freezer.)
That really sucks because we had just finished the grocery shopping for all our meals for a 2 week period.

I had to go to the grocery store to get the basics, at least.
Milk. Eggs. Bread.

We are having sandwiches for dinner.
Because I have no time to cook a big, fancy dinner.

Remember, I still have a Design Team deadline!!
Holy Moly.....I am so stressed!!
~~~~~~~~~~~

Down in Tulsa (where my dad/stepmom live) things are really bad though. They haven't had electric all week and the electric company says that it won't be on till next weeks some time.

They also had 3 limbs that fell and came through the roof of their sunroom...and my dad is using a 2x4 to hold up part of their ceiling!! It's been raining and the water is just pouring in. And the sunroom builder company can't even estimate when they can get to them. It's bad. So, in the grand scheme of things.....we were very, very lucky.

Impending Disaster?!?! ***2nd UPDATE***

Well, the Governor of the state of Kansas has declared a "state of emergency."

And, they've already shut down the cities' schools for tomorrow and it's only 9:26pm.

Almost the entire state of Kansas is covered in a giant cloud of ice and
it's expected to come down from tonight for the next 24 hours straight.
We are expecting like 2 inches of ice.

This is the type of ice that breaks trees and brings down power lines.


One of our major things we didn't like about this house was it's lack of having a fireplace.
Most days it doesn't impact us. Today it could.

If the power goes out....we won't have heat.
Heat....that's one of those things we tend to take for granted, until it goes out!

When Big Daddy left for work at 7:45am, he knew it would be a long day. By 10am, he was telling me he'd be home at 7pm, but had to go back by Midnight. When he actually made it home at 7:15, he scarfed down dinner, took a shower, changed clothes and he was back to work by 8pm. His last words to me were....see you on Wednesday. (It's Monday.)


So...I guess we'll see. But, it doesn't look good.


So, if you don't hear from me for a day or two....this is why.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
***UPDATE***

So far, so good. (for us, so far....)

My lights keep flickering, but so far we still have power.

I feel like hell....I couldn't sleep with Big Daddy gone. I was laying in bed, awake, until 4am.

We have LOTS of ice....and more coming.

Thanks for worrying about us. You guys are the best friends ever!!!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
***Update ~ 12/11 11:48am***

We have no power.
We had it. Everything was great.

I was scrappin'. (got a deadline ~ you know me, procrastinator!)

Now...I am in the dark with 4 kids whining... "mom, what can we do?!?!?!"

Right now they are doing playdough.
Shoot...I can't even vacuum up the mess.
Pray for my carpet. LOL!!


I do have internet for about until the juice is gone....for emergencies, of course!!!!
(this is an emergency, right?!? I mean....I have to talk to my friends!!!)

(Ummm.....for those of you surprised I have internet....well, duh, I am married to Big Daddy the computer geek!!!! Of course I have emergency internet!!!!) :)

My Design Team *ROCKS*!!!!

So....imagine my surprise when the FedEx guy showed up at my house....
I wasn't expecting any packages......


But, I was filled with pure joy when I read this mailing label!!!!
It was from FISKARS!!! You see.....about a week ago my Design Team Coordinator asked us to make a "wish list" of things we'd like from Fiskars. (they are one of our partner companies)

Well, I didn't want to seem greedy, so I only asked for a new trimmer (mine was recently accidentally broken by kid#2) and some replacement blades. Not this this was anything to sneeze at......a very generous gift. Well, then she wrote me an email asking if that was really all I wanted.... So, I sent a list of 3 more punches that I'd like to have. Well....she said, ask for what you want, but you may or may not get it.

Well, I certainly didn't think I'd get it this soon.....but opening the box was like an early Christmas.....

What was inside???? EVERYTHING I ASKED FOR!!!!


How lucky am I?!?!?!

For Amber.....Gorilla's are your friends!

Ha ha ha ha!!!

Love....Yo GABBA GABBA at our house!

Wanna win some really cool WorldWin stuff!?!?!

Then, run and join in on the Scavenger Hunt
on the WorldWin Papers Blog!!

All you have to do is download the questions, then look around the WWP Blog and answer the questions and email it back in!!

EASY PEASY and you can learn more about the WorldWin products, my WorldWin Design Team and explore out WWP Blog and get some INSPIRATION!!!!

There are THREE prize packages and they totally *rock*!!!

(.......and they include our super secret new paper line!!! Meaning, win it before you can buy it!!! AWESOME!!!!!
And I have a super special secret about
this rocking new paper line.....can't tell you just yet.....
but hoping to tell you VERY SOON!!!!)

Christmas Vacation Montage....

Simply the BEST Christmas movie ever! Period.

Decorating the Tree.....

So, the tradition is that Big Daddy puts up the tree and puts the lights on and
then we decorate the tree......
(mommy and the kids, that is...)
(Jensen took this ^ picture! Good job for a first try....)

Marinne was overjoyed by it all.....

Logan, the pre-teen just puts up w/ his mother's photo obsessions so I won't fuss at him!

Griffin really enjoyed decorating this year! He took great care in hanging his!

Then, we went on to the other tradition when you are decorating the tree...
....Christmas Vacation!!!

Yes, we let Marinne watch it. I know, I know. Stop judging me!! Yes, there is some colorful language and adult humor......but, what can I say?!?! It's not like they haven't heard things before. And, it's a tradition. Well, crap, now I am judging me!! Oh, well!
At least she fell asleep after 20 minutes!

Jensen was still working hard on the tree during the movie!

The pre-teen was doing this ^!!!!

Griff snuggled next to mommy......


And, Big Daddy enjoying the movie.....he's seen it like 62 times!!!

A day late and a dollar short.....

This was the snow we got yesterday.....about 2 hours into it. It snowed a total of 7 hours.....and we got about 3 or 4 inches, I don't know for sure how much. (and yes, the wife of the News Director should know this.....but I don't!!)And, no....I didn't get my van in the garage before the snow....
....there are still about 13 boxes, still not unpacked from the move...... :-p

Can't you just tell she feels like crud?!?!

My poor sick baby girl......
...she wanted to cover up with my sweater!! Isn't that so sweet?!?!
And I gladly took it off and gave it to her.
Whatever makes you feel better, my Princess.....

So....whose coming to KS to go see it with me?!?!

I am so excited.....

IT'S MY BLOG~ANNIVERSARY!!!!!!

1 Year
365 days
285 posts
7,680 Visitors*
12,768 Page Views*
A bunch of new "blog" friends
A Zillion Laughs, Sorrows and Memories....


Thank you for everything!
You guys seriously ~rock~!!!

And, in case you missed it...you can read the very first
~the Real Roxann~ blog post .....right here! It's funny, NOW!
Does it say "sucker" on my forehead? a.k.a.
Who knew housekeepers could be so DIRTY!?!?!?


*these numbers actually only include Feb. 2007 - Dec. 2007

My Mother's Angel Tree.....

Beautiful Memories of a Beautiful Woman......
.....because she was and is an Angel!

So....Big Daddy seriously *rocks*!!!!!

This may look like an ordinary angel. But, it's not.
Big Daddy brought her home to me, in memory of my mother.
You see, my mother collected angels. Lots and lots of angels.
So, this being the 10th year that my mom has been gone, I have made a special angel Christmas tree and the only ornaments on it, are the angel ornaments that I've purchased in her memory. One per each year. It's beautiful....and pics of that to come soon.

Anyway, with all the sickies around here....Big Daddy had gone to the store and come home with her. Now, I know she looks kinda boring, but she's not. She really is beautiful. And then she has a light inside her that changes colors, sending light thru the prisms all over her and reflecting onto the ceiling and the walls. It is so beautiful.

So, he comes home w/ chicken noodle soup, 7-up, Saltine crackers, toilet paper, Tide and this angel. I was downstairs in the laundry room. (where else would I be?!?! ha ha!) Well, he set her up and turned her on. Then, he called me upstairs. He said, "I saw her and thought you'd like her and she'd remind you of your mom."

I couldn't even speak, I just had massive tears. And once I started, I couldn't stop.

But, this angel actually does have a deeper meaning to me. When my mother "knew" she was dying, she would tell me about these "dream" she would have. (Read my mother's story here and read about the diamond dress....but get a box of kleenex, because it's a tearjerker.) Because I believe my mother was seeing heaven and described to me her diamond dress. And this is exactly the type of dress I pictured when she told me the story.
This gift means so much to me.....


I told Big Daddy that this was probably one of my most favorite gifts he has ever given me.
And I mean it.

By Special Request......Instructions for Tammy :)

(Please excuse my photo's....some of them are not great. That's the thing....my camera rocks, but sometimes I can't figure out what I did to change the settings. Such as in this case. The flash was working/then not working/then working. FRUSTRATING! Perhaps, if I'd read my manual and actually learn how to use my camera.....
that would make it a little easier! But, who has time to do that?!?!?!)



On with the instructions for this card!! For this card, you need to choose 4 colors of cardstock. For mine, I wanted to use the traditional red/green Christmas combo, but with a twist! I wanted to throw in my pink and finally, the brown. So, I got sheets of WorldWin Papers
ColorMates Cardstock in these colors: I also used an additional sheet of white cardstock, but in retro-spect, next time I would use the darkest color of your color pallet. Because in the final card, there is one space where I can see the white cardstock and it makes me *crazy*!!!


Anyway.....the first thing I did was make a template out of WorldWin Crafty Board!
Man, I love this stuff!!!! Because, you know I love my chipboard!!! Now, the reason that I made the template was because I knew once I made one tree with the template I would want to make more!!! So, this was an easy way to make making more, easier. (what was that sentence? completely redundant! oh well, you get the point, right?!)

So, the template is made with these measurements.....
3 1/2" across the bottom from side to side &
4 1/2" from the top point to bottom base



Then, I took the template and traced it onto the white cardstock.


Then, I cut a strip of pink to make the point. I layed it over the outline and used a ruler to draw the lines to cut the point. Then, I cut it w/ my trimmer. Then, I cut a bunch of other cardstock strips w/ my trimmer. I did not measure any of these strips (that would take waaaaayyyy tooooo lonnnng!!) So, I just made sure to cut a variety of widths to make it interesting....and as I cut them, I would lay them on the "outline" and making sure to make them look random. Once the outline was full, it was time to apply adhesive to the back of the strips. In my opinon, the easiest way to do this is to use my Xyron X. (another thing I love!!) That way I can get adhesive evenly across the entire strip, including all the sides for good adherence. And because I hate waste (because I am money conscious) I make sure to load multiple strips at a time, to maximize the amount of adhesive I can effectively use and reduce waste of my adhesive.


This is what it looks like when it comes out of the X on the adhesive strip. (notice the others are all raw edges on one side, that's because I tore them rather than take the time to trim them, because I knew they'd be trimmed later.)
The only one perfect is the pink pointed one we cut earlier.


Next, we are gonna start peeling the strips off the adhesive strip, starting with the pink pointed one. Then, just work from the center, applying strips one by one. Make sure they are exactly side to side to make sure it looks neat and even.


Once all the strips are applied to the cardstock base, then you will take your trimmer and trim off all the excess cardstock strips to form the tree shape.


Once the tree shape is completed, cut a trunk for the tree. Then, take your Colorbox Fluid Chalk ink pad and ink the edges of your tree, the trunk and your card base. You do this by using a light had to "swipe" the edges with the ink pad. The "cat's eye" shape of this ink pad makes it easier to manage where you are putting the ink. When you are finished with that step.....you attach the trunk to the tree w/ adhesive. Then, apply adhesive and attach tree to card base.


Then, cut the red oval and stamp or print your sentiment on the oval. Use adhesive to attach the oval into the metal oval plate. I also add a pop-dot behind the red oval to help give it the 3-d effect and keep it securely in the metal plate.

Cut your ribbon to go around card. Knot it and feed it thru one side of the metal oval and then feed it thru the other side, but don't knot it yet. Apply the metal oval to the card, using the pop dot to stick it down. Then, knot the other half of the ribbon and trim ribbon ends. AND YOUR DONE!!!!!!

Off to the Pediatrician.....

Two Appointments 10:50am
Two Co-Payments $40.00
Two Cranky/Sick kids Fun! (not!)
One Cranky mom Tired.

Here's hoping this ends soon. I'm over it.

Check THIS out!!!!!

So....

...go to the WorldWin Papers Blog and check out the totally cool comments my DT boss wrote about my work, then check my work out!!!
Complete supply lists will be available there.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Here are some clickable pictures of the template and the 3 cards.(this one is actually a purse-size shopping list -- see the paper inside for your gift lists)

Let me know if you "scraplift" any of the designs....
and I'll post your versions on my blog!

December 1st...

...seriously?!?!?


Wow! It seems like this year was just getting started up yesterday.....


Where does the time go?!


Everyone is hustling and bustling around.
Making lists.
Checking them twice.
Gonna find out who's naughty or nice.
(sorry, got off track there....)
Shopping.
Decorating.
Baking.

All the things that make the season grand.


It's cold here. Mostly rain w/ a flake or two of snow falling. And I still have my ever present sick little girl laying on me and if I walk away following me with her sing-song "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy." Kinda sweet, kinda whiny and definitely getting old after a few days of it. Don't get me wrong, I feel bad for her. But, of course, I feel bad, too. And, I've been a constant kid magnet for 9 days now with one sick child or another.

No wonder I can't get a thing done....


But, either way, we are decorating our naked trees tonight.

We put them up last weekend and they are still sitting undecorated, since everyone has been sick. So, every day the children beg to decorate the tree and every day, we have to say, "No. Sorry. You know that (insert correct sibling here) is still sick....we have to wait till they feel better so they can do it, too!" But....I can no longer stand the naked trees. And everyone is well enough (and hopefully, germ free...) to be able to take part in the celebration.


Anyways....
I got the two littles to take a good nap, so hopefully they will both be feeling 100% very soon. Marinne now has a rash all over her. So, as annoying as that is and her blood shoot eye she has from vomiting so hard (poor baby) she really is on the upswing. And Griffin, well his congestion is really bad. But, I hope we are coming to the end of his illness, as well. That poor child has been sick now for 6 days.


I hope to get everyone down tonight and get some design team work caught up with. I hate that I'm running behind, but I could not help it. I have my ideas in my head....I just need time to execute, picture and upload. (and wouldn't you know...our wireless router is acting wonky....so the internet is off and on. Figures! So, Logan suggests I hook up the Lan line...ummm...what?!?! My MacBook loves being wireless and I have no idea what a lan line is.....)


Have a great Saturday!!