I have a cold.

And laryngitis.

A sore throat.

And it ain't pretty.

GRRRR!!!!

I had the most amazing time in NJ

Staying with my favorite DSSD and DSIL. They opened their home and gave me their kidlets. I had the best time bonding with Annie and Owen, they are smart, they are personable, and they are totally adorable. I had a great time choo-chooing with Owen. He has a wonderful imagination, a great vocabulary and can charm the socks off of each foot on a catipillar - simultaneously. He is totally game. Annie is sooo sweet and snuggly and is always down for a good hug, chomping down on a book and just sitting back as she watches all the chaos. I didn't get many pictures as I was in on the action. And that to me was da bomb. As a scrapbooker I can always do a story and slap a photo on it, because when you get down to it; its all about the story. 

I felt bad that sweet Annie girl didn't feel well. She'll be sporting a new tooth I'm thinking for all the sniffles she was going through, and I'm glad she felt well enough to bond with me for a little while in time. Owen was all good, like we weren't separated by 1200 miles. It was a good feeling, and makes me all emotional, which I'm not apologizing for. You peeps just have to deal with it. And tomorrow when I have to say goodbye, well, I'm a grandmother and I can do what I want and you'll just have to deal with the fallout. Which won't be pretty. You have been warned upfront. Because while I want to stay, I have to go. I'm soooo glad I had this experience and hopefully I wasn't too dorky that they'll be okay with inviting me again. And in being in full disclosure, when you invite me, know full well that I'll so accept.  I'll try NOT to be a PIA. Grandparents, however, can claim that option with no repercussions. I heard that somewhere so it must be true. I'm so going with it. 

April showers will bring a Murphy baby.....

Beautiful owl cake that was chocolate and so sweet.

 Favors and card for your hopes for the baby.

 Raking in the loot.

 My sister-in-laws and nieces.

 The grandma and mama to bes.

 Mama-to-be and her adorablel helper.

Mama-to-be opening my present - mini album.

 And my baby blanket.

Thankfully she loved both.

Travel day....

Winging my way to family and friends.

Can't wait.

Normal everyday things....

Such as laundry, cleaning, cooking.

Being sympathetic to an ailing spouse.

Preparing for travel.

Getting lodging settled.

Packing.

Getting upgraded to first class.

Anticipation.

As weekends go.....

This one wasn't so bad.

It would've been lovely if DH wasn't 

battling a sinus infection and feeling puny. 

All things told though, I got together with

friends for a pizza and massage party.

I was a wet noodle after.

Monday starts laundry and anticipation

in traveling north for a baby shower.

Can't wait to see family and friends.

Flamingoes

Are beautiful, funny, and odd.

You gotta love them.

Anyway, nothing scrappy happening yesterday

however, I was building the activity points

by bike riding, rug scrubbing and tile cleaning.

And boy do they sparkle. 

AND I lost 3.4 lbs this week.

Go me!

You are my everything.

This is the color challenge from the beginning of

the month. All shades of pink and white.

Cosmo Cricket totally rocks this.

New challenges are up at Moments for you to check out!

It's challenge time over at Moments

And the heritage challenge is about heroes!

And I found one in our family. 

Which doesn't surprise me.

Uncle George the adreneline junkie who passed that

on to my kidlets.

I'm going to just proceed onto the journaling

because it just says it all.

Journaling: Uncle George enlisted in the Army right oout of high school and became part of the 17th Airborne division because it paid $75 more a month. His division entered the Aredennes Campaign from January 4-9 at the Battle of Dead Man's Ridge (WWII Battle of the Bulge). On January 7th he sustained wounds in his shoulder and back and was sent to England to recover, where he re-enlisted. He served a total of 8 years.

Maniacal Monday strikes again

It was more maniacal because it was a long

drawn out process.

Picking the pix to go with the perfect challenge.

Well alas, love me some Amelia 

and no matter what, the pix of her makes me smile.

 Coincindentally, the One Little word of the day - was Smile.

And then April's journaling challenges. 

It was 10 things I love about _______.

Of course its my awesome husband. Of course I hate

these 10 things about whatever, because

my brain always goes dead after the first 3.

 Sadly.

It's not that I don't love lists. 

My brain just fizzles.
However, a 10 things I love about YOU - perfect
for Valentines Day. Hopefully you love
what I love about you. Snort.

Maniacally, is the key. Sometimes it works.

Sometimes it don't.
HAPPY ST. VALENTINE'S DAY!

Hoooooo loves you baby.....

Another baby album done for a soon to be grandbaby.

Gender unknown.

Except I think its a boy.

 Even so flowers are allowed.

 And critters.

 I picked DCWV because it had ALL the colors.

 The Hambly transparency protects that beautiful

flower from the sticker for vice versa.

 And because mom is a librarian, I used a library stamp

and Tim Holtz's definitions on the heart.

And because dad is a musician I used my guitar die cut

and Tim Hotz's musical notes tissue paper.

And couldn't resist the stamp!

 Gotta have pockets and tags for the extra goodies,

 photos and hopefully journaling.

 And the back I kept simple.

 Got the fingers going on a crocheted blanket.

They live in the northern tundra and

hopefully will keep baby snuggy and warm.

It was fun and exhausting to do, as it kept 

kicking my butt on the flow.

And of course I dithered around about colors both

on the blanket and book. 

Sea World Part 2

The dolphin were still hopping and bopping the next day.

They run in pods and within the pods they had pals

they hung out with. It was kind of neat to see.

They were just like kids. Splashing,

having fun together and being outrageous.

 I just love this one of Shamu. 

Not a great one, but fun...

 This is the view 300 feet in the air. 

Any of you know I'm height challenged.

However, I braved this ride below, that twirled about

10 minutes in a 360 turn that rose like a 

corkscrew and then reversed.

It was fun, and as long as I kept my eyes on the horizon,

I was good to go.

And I had to be brave for the little kids riding.

lmao......

 Found the sea lions and seals playing king of the rock.

They were fun and noisy. And because

you can feed them, total beggars and posers.

 They had these parrots posing in the "critter" encounter

area, and they were just beautiful.

 I loved the dolphin and whale show and in the midst 

of the show they let parrots fly and  they do buzz

your head. And then they turn loose this guy

A CONDOR.

I love birds of prey, they have such attitude and I was so surprised the first

day he flew over my head, I wasn't fast enough to get the pix.

So I went back to the show. 

This was the only good pix I caught. Sadly.

Which shows I need more practice. 

And that's ok- But there are times that even

auto isn't good enough.

Sea World Part 1

Found these guys playing around in dolphin cove.

You can pay to feed them and get up

close and personal with them.

 I tried to stay up close and out of the splash zone.

Tricky!!! They are beautiful creatures.

 The Shamu show was great.
No one swims with him anymore.

I was annoyed with latecomers who ruin the

show and shots by getting in the way.

All late comers should be made to sit in the

splash zone. And man can they splash!!

 It's amazing to see how fluid they are because

the whales are huge critters.

Of course you have to have a shark encounter.

Bwahahahahaha!!!

I will be returning today!!

Another road trip....

Can't wait. Heading to Orlando, and I'll be

hanging with Shamu, hopefully.

We'll see how it shakes out.

 Love the moodiness of the above photo.

And what it doesn't show....

you'll see below,

 the tree tops blowing in the wind.

Extreme wind.

Stay tuned for more fun times.

I know you're waiting breathlessly.

I'm really loving the hipstamatic.....

It's just the coolest. 

This is the view from our 4th floor room

at the inn.

Actually its the Wyndham Resort.

All redone and pretty.

At Deerfield Beach.

It's been really windy and cloudy.

And there's surfers. The water has to be really cold.

Doesn't seem to bother them.

The waves were rockin' and rollin' from the wind.

Which all that matters to a surfer.

I admired it from afar.

There's a Juliet balcony from which I looked out from the room

in order to snap the pix all the

while klinging to the sliding glass door.

Because I'm brave that way.

My foray into the world of ATC cards

Was not a good experience.

I was such a klutz yesterday. And it wasn't pretty.

I managed to fling gesso all over mini-me's keyboard.

Which caused wide spread panic and fear.

Then misting....normally I love misting.

I even practiced misting.

And then I squeezed and blasted my arm, my new nails

and the poor card. OMG! I wanted a light mist!! What I got was this.

I decided to post it as a this is not what to do.

So here's my first and possibly last attempt.

I *heart* her face

This one got the mojo going on...

It got left behind because I was waiting for paint to dry.

I picked the photo, and slapped some paint on white c/s.

Then added orange because of the paper I chose (There is pink behind the photo).

Basic Grey can never steer you wrong.

And those puffy butterflies - yum!!!

Anyway, I've been loving the white c/s as a base.

Who knew what fun, bright and clean it could be.

Of course others knew, here I am on the bandwagon.

Finally, LOL!!!

The new challenges are up at Moments...

Of which these are none of....

LOL!!!

Love this one with Kevin and Owen playing Tball.

Kevin doesn't get in many pix as 

he is the photographer

extraordinaire!

 Love this one with Amelia and Cavin.

It's just too adorable and her laugh just says it all.

 

 And this photo makes me swoon. Quintin

is the perfect poser, with the perfect composition

and the perfect saturation? I can't 

figure out the word I want here. Sigh!

I love getting a barrage of pix from the kidlets. 

At times it can be overwhelming because it's about

choosing and flowing mojo.

Keep 'm coming!

These are all 8x8 to go in the parent's albums

and blanks are for the parent's to do the journaling.

We'll see how that plan works out.

LOL!