We have wedding pictures - FINALLY!!!!! It has been an unbelievable pain in the..um.....PITA - yeah... to get these pictures. Bo finally had to drive to the Convention Center downtown where he was to call the guy and he'd come out and meet him with the CD. He called and got the guy's voicemail the first 5 times, finally, the 6th time Bo called in the half hour he waited on his last day of holiday before school starts back, FINALLY, he answered and came out with the CD. The pictures are great, however, I was saddened that once they got all our money, the service stopped...

I also have to say, his wife does a good job with the make-up, but they *own* the shop - and she kept ASKING my daughter for tips in such a way that Kari felt she had to tip her....

Good pictures, pitiful service...nuff said.

Focus on the good - focus on the good - focus on the good:
The pictures are really GREAT!

TWO DAYS!!!!!

Oh, my goodness! My baby is getting married in less than 48 hours!

Scary, isn't it?

We are all pretty much ready - I have scrapped 4 more pages - that makes 34 counting my 'cult' weekend and since then (Go, ME!!!).

I made 300 hot chocolate wedding favors...reserved signs for the bridal party's tables at the reception...Kari and I decorated the arch at church this evening...should have seen us stuff packing bubble thingies under the tulle to make it poofy, lol!

Printing a few pictures to display on the table at the reception...got my outfit, shoes, strapless bra (can you believe I didn't own one? can you believe they really make them in my size??? not that i am sharing what *that* is!)

Anyway - here is one of my favorite layouts of my darling daughter in her gown...no, wait - can't do that in case Garrett decides to check out my blog (why he'd wanna is beyond me, but you know, she'd kill me!)

OK - well, then here's another layout - enjoy! (Or not, just don't throw any rotting vegetation my way, ok?)

I didn't go to ONE mall today....


I went to *T*H*R*E*E* of them!


However, in case either of my daughters ever discovers that I blog and reads this - I have to be honest and say, it wasn't so bad....really! Quit laughing - it really wasn't !!! (Notice the lack of ominous music???)

Went to Dillard's at The Galleria - second dress Kate tried on - that was it! There *was* a moment when I was afraid it was going south fast in the shoe department, but we managed past that, and went on to the second place...to pick up Kari's wedding dress.(Of course we managed to stop and eat at Macaroni Grill before picking up the dress). Kari looks bee-yoo-teeeee-ful in it (the dress, I mean, not necessarily Macaroni Grill...)! And if you'd seen her you'd say so, too!

Actually, we went into the mall, Willowbrook Mall this time, between eating and getting the dress. Parked at the wrong end of the mall and walked all the way down to Victoria's Secret to get Kari a good bra, only to be unable to get anyone to wait on us [sigh - I really do not like Victoria's Secret]...so we took our disposable income elsewhere...

After lunch, second mall, wedding dress....we went over to Starbucks...then, hopped back on the Beltway so Kari and I could go the the third mall and Katie could head back to College Station by way of Bo's school. We also tried unsuccessfully to go to a school supply store for Bo to get him some calendar goodies, but alas, the one by the third mall had closed...so we went into Northwest Mall (the mall I went to as a teenager, back in the dark ages...and yes, we had electricity, gasoline powered automobiles and malls back then), and found the pink champagne glasses Kari has been wanting for she and Garrett - they have a set of 4 pink glasses and a tribute to breast cancer survivors on a lovely card inside - $25 bucks - awesome price, and a great cause (sez I - the daughter and grand-daughter of breast cancer survivors).

Finally, Kari and I ran by Garrett's work and got the receipt for the wedding bands they bought earlier this week....went to pick them up, and they talked me into getting my rings dipped (If Kari were reading this, she'd say HA - who talked who into what???)...anyway - my rings are now white gold, thank you - very sparkly and pretty!

Anyway - we all made it back home on the same day we left... the Astros won last night, and are ahead of St. Louis at the moment...I'm tired, but almost over my cold, Bo, Katie and Kari are all sick.... I guess you can't win them ALL! (Keep them in your prayers, would ya?)

Well, my WHOO HOO *did* wake Bo up, but that's OK....his whoo hoo when he was offered not one job...but two jobs was so faint I couldn't have heard it if I had been standing right by him and *not* been deaf, lol...he was in a state of shock for, well...I'm not sure he isn't still a little shocky! He is such a brilliant, competent, caring person - it amazes me that he is so surprised when other people recognize that! Of COURSE both principals wanted him - they'd be foolish not to! I think he will be an awesome special education teacher!

Glad we got that whoo hoo - not much Astros activity to whoo hoo about - although as I type they are tied with Milwaukee...won't help us any - we're firmly cellar dwellers...but it might open a door for, say, Chicago, to have a firmer grasp on first place in the NL Central Division...

In other news...well, tomorrow is the day - back to the dreaded....dare I even say it? Nah - you know where I am headed with my girls...keep me in your thoughts will ya? And just say a little prayer for me - NOT FOR PATIENCE - oh, no, PLEASE not that....but that my daughters would LIKE one another tomorrow, and that I would like both of them and they me, at the end of the day! And that maybe......just maybe - we will find the perfect dress for Kate, and get the rest of the errands done we need to!

Shopping at the Mall is like being pecked to death by ducks!

Showers of the Bridal sort

So yesterday was the church shower for Kari. Would have been just great, except that Kari, Katie and I were 15 minutes late.

Why? You may well ask. Since the three of us were together, we decided that it would be good to go find Katie a dress for the wedding (she's the Maid of Honor). So we hopped in my car and headed to The Mall (Ominous music here).

Katie is a dream to shop with for me - my kind of shopper - get in, find the item, and get out! Easy peasy, right????

WRONG!

Since we were in a bit of a hurry, of course we found nothing suitable... however, hope springs eternal, yes? There are more stores out there....more territory to cover, more dresses to browse and more gowns to try on....

I can hardly wait (lol)...another trip to...

aw, I can't say it again...

you know where!

I'm pooped! I mean it - really, REALLY tired!!!!!

My foot hurts! and I am cranky (!!!) - didn't even get to watch baseball tonight - Astros had a night off (not altogether a BAD thing after last night's game - poor 'Stros - but I am still and shall always be a Fan!)...

Did I tell you the foot story? About the same foot I broke 10 years ago (well - 3 out of 5 toes of it anyway, lol) racing Bo to his recliner on Easter Sunday when we still lived in Iola....I, um, won, I guess you could say, because I collapsed into it crying after we all heard an ominous cracking sound. The x-ray revealed two breaks and a probable crack in my 2-3-4 toes on my left foot. He told me to wear the surgical shoe for 6 weeks....then two more weeks.....then two more weeks.....close to 4 months in all....ugh! LOVELY SHOE!!!!!

Well, on Labor Day, I was a laboring...putting dishes away (trying to beat Bo to it, lol) - and once again - catastrophe strikes! The cutting board (acrylic, about 3/4 inch thick, 12x12, heavier than it looks) slipped out of my damp fingers to make a two point landing on my poor left foot. It looks like - - well - -bad!

SO, I have walked on it every day at school (and my choices are????) because we had preschoolers scheduled for evaluations, and I don't like changing people's schedules - when I say I'll do it, by gum, I *mean* it! Then, tonight, my beautiful getting-married daughter and I went to The Mall (insert ominous music here). I hate The Mall (insert ominous music here). Really - I know we aren't supposed to hate...but I choose to think that God didn't mean that about....The Mall (insert ominous music here).

Her first bridal shower is Saturday...{after which we need to go find a dress for Katie - my other beautiful daughter who will be the Maid of Honour at....The Mall (insert ominous music here)}. We have no Bridal Book in which to write gifts and for attendees to sign....so, we had to find one....at.....

The Mall (insert ominous music here).

It really wasn't too bad - managed to buy her a Christmas present (told her not to remember it - but really - with the wedding and all, that really won't be much of an issue, lol) AND a shower present, and, yes....a lovely Bridal book....at Hallmark (who told her on the phone they had none of those!).

And you know - the company was excellent, we even stopped at Starbucks after - probably because I behaved so well, lol - that trip really wasn't so bad...

even if it was to...

The Mall (insert ominous music here).

Garrett really seemed to like his card. Kari caught on real fast that I had bought that set just for the tractor...for Garrett. He's such a sweetie.

I promised some time back (I went back and read my own blog...) that I would share what we made at stamp club this month...I always try very hard to keep my promises. It used to drive Katie crazy (my youngest, almost 20 year old beautiful daughter - Maid of Honor in her sissy's wedding in 2 months 2 weeks and 1 day) because she'd ask me to *promise* to do something and if I was not sure I *could* promise that, I'd always tell her I didn't know if I could, but I would try... because, you see, if I promised her I would do something, she would NEVER forget that I had promised...

it's important to keep your promises....even if it's *just* to share art work.....

SO, here is what we made!



Scrapbook page is Garden Green, Summer Sun and Pumpkin pie...lots of punches and lots of fun...do you know how HARD it is to do a buggy page with my girls???????


This is one of my favorite cards ever....got the idea for the punch art bug from a couple of folks, but changed it to make it ALL punchart (yes - I *am* the punchart queen, lol - don't ask how many punches I own...you really do NOT wanna know!). We used the slit punch to make the border the ladybug is flying over. Another idea I used with the extra kits I made up to replenish my card supply - Curvy Verses and the StampAMaJig also work to make a lovely curvy trail....ink CV with the black Stampin Write, one phrase at a time, and use the SAMJ to place it - it turned out really cute!!!!!


I like this one a lot, too - one of my favorite color combos - Bashful Blue, So Saffron and Certainly Celery. The Priceless stamp set is so cute! We used the Cropadile to set those eyelets - way easy!


Kari found this design on SplitCoastStampers by a gal whose name eludes us...I'll be glad to give her credit when I find her name again! It uses Carte Postale and French Flair stamp sets...

We also used a very cool tool - the SCOR-PAL (http://www.scor-pal.com) - to score all these cards....we made over 200 invitations...it took a while, but the S-P made the scoring an accurate job since we didn't have to measure and remeasure to score the pieces... can you tell I really like this tool?

Here's the inside... no offense, but not knowing who may run across my little boring blog, I expunged the names and locations...

Whew - I'm tired...tomorrow's the first day with kids, and I've been fighting migraine all weekend, so I'm quitting for the night. Y'all have a wonderful, blessed week, and, as someone challenged me to do:

make a difference in someone's life this week, will ya?

on the road to a wedding...

So...hmmmm - never blogged before, so I am really winging it here, but then, I find myself doing that a lot these days. My baby is getting married. Yes, I am the dreaded MOB (Mother of the Bride, to the uninitiated). So the FOB and I decided that, since the Event is coming up in November, a scant 3 months from now, with all the stresses that go with, and I have to go back to work next week (I'm an educator IRL...an educational diagnostician, to be exact - sounds really FANCY doesn't it?)....to take a short vacation.

Very spur of the moment, this vacation...but that's OK. The nest is empty....the baby getting married (24, living on her own a couple of years now) and her baby sister (my other baby, known as bebe so as to not confuse, and also living on her own, going to college) are both - dear me, I'm being redundant - living on their own, going to college, working, etc... and since said nest is empty (except for the two dogs, one cat and one betta fish), we can do spur of the moment.

So, we packed our bags, snagged some sunscreen, and headed south to Galveston to see some friends, take some pictures, and just be with one another (and a cast of assorted tourists from across the world). So, be looking in a layout soon to come for some touristy photos of Galveston Island, Texas...as for me, I'm headed to bed, slightly creaky in my bones from all the walking and sun I've absorbed today (and God bless whoever came up with SPF 60), a tad depressed from watching my Astros play baseball (Bye-bye, Morgan Ensberg - do well in San Diego, I'll always be a fan! What on earth is wrong with Purpura and Garner??!??!!!?), and ready - yes, after just 2 nights - to be back home in my own bed, with the two dogs, one cat and the Betta fish, although they each sleep elsewhere, thank you, not in MY bed...and then, Thursday....I might think about scrapbooking something....maybe something touristy.....maybe something from the pictures of my sweet future SIL proposing to my baby....oh, dear....would you please pass the kleenex?