Holy stars and busy!

Wow, I can't get over how JAM PACKED this Fall is turning out to be! This week I had to reschedule my Guest Reader spot in Dylan's classroom so I could chaperone Dane's field trip to Odiorne Point State Park. Now THAT is crazy! I love that I have such great opportunities to interact with my children rather than have business trips any day of the week! :)

Today Sherri came by for coffee (glad she forced it because I have been terrible about making time for my friends rather than just trying to perpectually cross things off the to do list that never ends). This afternoon Megan has cross country, all 3 kids have soccer, Megan has basketball and Dane has Cub Scouts. The homework/dinner scene won't even start till 8:30pm! YIKES! Thank goodness tomorrow is a Teacher Workshop Day so the kids don't have school. We would like to go apple picking but we will have to wait and see how heavy the rain is. I am in desparate need of some fall pics so I can use all the amazing fall digi kits coming on the market! I did use the new Fall Crush kit from Dani Mogstad on this layout with a photo from last year. What a gorgeous kit, huh?

So, as you all know, I was planning to go into "early retirement"- LOL- but interestingly enough, I have a meeting with Kim at Oak Designs next week. It sounds like an interesting opportunity and I am not one to close any doors without at least giving it a fair chance. Opportunity doesn't knock twice, ya know! ;) Wish me luck making the right decision!

Hope your Thursday is great!

Totally random!

So, I found this site the other day from a thread on DST. I checked out and added my friend Lesley's picture and then sent it over to her with a note that said "I didn't know you made a video!" I thought I was hysterical! Take a look and tell me if I am right: Lesley's Dance

I did 3 layouts last night but into the "holding tank" they go because the kits from those designers will not release until later this week. Friday should be a pretty hopping day in my gallery. Just wait till you see the kits from Mari K, Val, Kathy and Heather!

I watched the Pats lose to the Broncos last night. That was tough.:( Brady really needs to pull it together and make it work with this new team. I hate that players are always moving around. I still miss Bledsoe.

Well, it's after 6am, so I am outta here! I need a shower and some coffee with caffiene! Have an awesome day!

DRAT! I've been tagged twice!

I've been tagged twice...first by Christine and then by Heather, so here we go...

From Christine...
These are the rules to play blogtag:
List 5 weird things about yourself or your pets.
Tag 5 friends and list them.
Those people need to write on their blogs about 5 weird things, and state the rules, and tag 5 more people.
Don't forget to let the people you tag know by posting a comment on their blog! Here are my weird things-
1. When I sneeze, it is VERY loud and usually sounds like "Chewy"!
2. I always rub my foot on the sheets as I am falling asleep.
3. If I say "Is that the bus?", my dog runs to the window and barks like a maniac, even if the kids are already here.
4. I look TERRIBLE in a Cub Scout shirt!
5. Come on, I simply can't think of anything else. I'm not that weird, what can I say? ;)

On this one, I'm tagging:
Barbara Doyle
Kathy Moore
Laurie Singelyn
Theresa Hernandez
Anita Stergiou

and from Heather...

"So here are the rules: List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether or not they have words, or even if they’re not any good, but they must be songs you’re really enjoying now. Post these instructions in your LiveJournal/blog along with your seven songs. Then tag seven other people to see what they’re listening to."

My seven songs:
1. Buddy Holly - Weezer
2. By The Way -Hinder
3. Graduation -Vitamin C
4. Save Me -Shinedown
5. Bliss -Hinder
6. Dirty Little Secret -All American Rejects
7. I Hate Everything About You -Three Days Grace

The 7 people I am tagging:
Pam Bumbaca
Lesley Coughlin
Melissa Reynolds
Jennifer Pettengill
Robin Carlton (who needs to blog about ANYTHING at this point just to get restarted)
Christy Lyle
Angela Barton

This weekend has pretty much been a wash. We were up early yesterday to get ready for soccer. I called every 15 minutes from 8am on and the recording said soccer was "on as scheduled" despite the rain. Just as we were getting ready to leave (the kids all in full gear), I called again and it was cancelled. Off with the gear and with lots of grumbling, we sat around for a couple hours. Then we needed to head to the (new school land) site walk - in the rain- to sell Cub Scout Popcorn. We sold 3 items... one was to us! Ugh! While there we found out baseball was cancelled for the afternoon even though the rain had stopped. Dane was simply crushed. My heart broke for him that it was such a crappy day. We ended up home at 3pm and watched Monsters Inc and ate 4 bags of popcorn.

Today Scott decided to work the 2nd half of the day so he could attend church with us this morning. Megan altar served and Dylan started CCD. We came home around 12:30pm and again, just a chillin' kind of day. We need some excitement around here! LOL

Work for me tomorrow. Just 2 long days and 1 short day left! It's funny because now that there is an end in sight, it doesn't seem like it was so bad. It was, though, so I need to keep reminding myself of that and stay strong. LOL

Hope your weekend was more action packed than ours! Have a great night!

Announcing a new Duplicates collection!

The Growth Spurt kit from Heather Roselli has been a favorite of mine since its release, so of course I had a blast creating this new Duplicates 12x12 layout collection! I present to you the next Duplicates series now available at The Digi Chick:





They are all available right here at The Digi Chick!

One gripe and one miracle...

Gripe: Fundraisers. Ugh, ugh, ugh. I understand that non-profit agencies need these to support their cause but do they have to be ALL AT THE SAME TIME? Right now we are selling Girl Scout Nuts (1 child), Boy Scouts Popcorn (2 children), PTA Schtuff (3 children) and Magazines (1 child). Can you say MAXED OUT? There is no way that we can continue to ask the same family members over and over for these fundraisers. As a result of all of them running at the same time, all of them lose out. I thought I was going to rip my hair out tonight as I tried to get all the paperwork filled out for 4 of the 7 forms due tomorrow.

Miracle: I went to the basement and looked over to the laundry table. (We have an 8 foot banquet table by the laundry area. I fold right out of the dryer and sort into piles for each person. Each person is responsible to take their own clothes up to their rooms and put them away.) EVERYONE brought their laundry up tonight- all 4 kids and the husband! I asked once earlier today, but usually that means nothing. Today they ALL listened without any reminder or nagging. All on the same day. How can that be? I am totally floored and shocked. I couldnt stop smiling as I walked back up the stairs! :) It really is the little things! Maybe they felt bad because of the fundraisers and the hair pulling, LOL

Gotta scoot to bed! See ya tomorrow! XO

Thursday Things

I so love Thursdays because it means I don't have to work again until Monday! :) Of course I don't have many days left now anyway, but still... lol The weather is BEAUTIFUL today... cool and crisp... perfect weather for a sweatshirt and jeans, my favorites! :)

I got the kids off to school this morning, started some laundry and now I am settling in for a busy day of creating! Ahhhhh! This is the life! :) I have to grab Victoria from school at 3pm, then be back here for the bus. The boys have soccer 4-6pm and Megan has a Cross Country meet in Hooksett after school. Dinner, homework, maybe a few good shows in tv and then bedtime! Sounds like a good day to me!

Random digi things you must know:
*The Digi Chick Blog has previews for what is coming to the boutique this week including a new set of Duplicates!
*The Bargain Basement Sale at The Digi Chick ends tomorrow, so hurry over and save some money! :)
* The download links for the layered templates for Sketch Challenges 4 & 5 at The Digi Chick have been renewed so if you have not downloaded them head over there and grab them now! I can't wait to see what you create!
*Toddler Time Layout Contest: Check out all the details on Heather's blog!
*Bohemian Mommy Album Contest: Check out all the details on Christy's blog!

That's all the news fit to print today! Make it a great one!

Wednesday things...

I have some great news... yesterday Mari K asked me to join her Creative Team! I know, I know, there are some of you that think I am crazy for being on so many teams (and a tiny part of me does feel a little greedy, LOL) but you know I can easily meet the requirements and I *love* to scrap, so how can I turn down such an amazing offer from such a talented designer? I used her My PJ's kit twice yesterday! The layouts can be found here! I also created this layout with her Dotty Alpha:


So here it is not quite 6am, my coffee is tasting awful and my head is pounding. I am hoping the Tylenol will kick in soon so I can get through this day.

And speaking of layouts, I scanned the 4 I did at Pam's this weekend and they are up in my gallery if you'd like to take a look. Nothing special really, but it's good to try to "keep up that skill", right? LOL

Today looks like this- 7am Leave for work, Work 8-2, Leave at 2pm to pick up Victoria at 3pm (she will be at her Dad's since they have early release), home to meet the bus, homework, dinner, basketball practice for Megan 6-8pm, home again and bedtime. Not too busy today, LOL Hope our day is filled with good things too! :)

Big Bad Blog Update

Wow, how did 6 days go by without my blogging? I kept thinking that I should blog but I always had more to say than I had time to write so I kept putting off! This could definitely end up being a post to rival one of Gina Miller's! LOL

So, in top blogging news, Duplicates have officially released at The Digi Chick! Heather & I are offering Layouts/Templates, Quickbooks and Sentiments. All come with a full color PNG layout ready for your photos as well as the sketch in PSD and TIF formats! Come check them out! If you use them, I would LOVE to see what you create, so come back and leave me a link to your layout! :)

Yesterday was my first day at work since I gave my notice. I was literally ready to puke as I went in. I had chest pains from the stress. All in all, though, it turned out to be an okay day. No one punched me or threw me down the stairs like I feared might happen, LOL... they were all fairly understanding all things considered. My boss suggested maybe I stay on as a designer and I think that could be something I would like to pursue. That type of work is exactly what I signed up for a year and a half ago and it would be nice to work in the capacity as well as keep the connection with the company. Nothing is ever 100% bad or all black & white. KWIM?

Random: You should never hint on your blog that you might make cookies for your husband if you don't have chocolate chips since your husband might be a blog reader and might email you about said cookies! (Hi honey!) LOL


Saturday night was "Girls Night Out" at Pam's house! We enjoyed some veggie pizza on whole wheat crust, some Margaritas and did some scrapping among many laughs. I completed 4 pages, which I have yet to scan. We should definitely do this more often! Thanks for having us, Pam!

Sunday was the "family" party with many of the Giallongo's! Unfortunately it didn't solve the ongoing family feud as the feuding ones didn't come, but we had a great time just the same! Nicole came over with her new boyfriend, Nick. They humored me as I took several pictures. Aren't they the cutest??


Ok, ok, my short attention span says I should just end this now. So much for a post to rival Gina Miller's, LOL :) I have several layouts to scrap so check my gallery if you need more updates about what we have been up to! :)

Have a super Tuesday! XO

The cat is out of the bag!

The previews... all 11 of them... are now up on the Chick Blog!!!! Want to take a closer look? Check them out in the new Duplicates Category in my gallery! I will add store links to the descriptions as soon as they are in the store! :)

So, guess what else! I emailed my resignation to my boss tonight after work. This morning before work Scott said to me "You don't have to there anymore if you don't want to". I guess he knew I was holding on because I felt he wanted me to. He is such a hard worker (yesterday he worked 15 hours and that was a short day) and I really felt like I should be doing my part to be a good employee. He knows me, though, and saw the stress I was under, getting headaches and being miserable all the time. I *will* still do my part to bring additional income for our family, I am just going to do it in another way. Aren't I lucky to have such a wonderful husband who is willing to work so hard so I can be home with our children? I think I might bake him some cookies tomorrow as a thank you! :)

Well, thats enough for this 2nd post of the day! Please check out the Duplicates and let me know whatcha think! :) Have a great night! HUGS! XO

Wednesday morning ramblings....

Elections were held yesterday... thank goodness! Hopefully that means all the political calls will stop! As I wasted MY time listening through voicemail messages for the various candidates, I made myself a promise that would definitely let the calls influence my vote. I will *not* vote for anyone who calls my house with a prerecorded message, ultimately spamming me on my phone line. Geesh, people... do you really think your canned message is going to get me to vote for you? The more messages I listened to, the more irritated I got. I have half a maind to email these spammers and tell them that there first priority in office (should they actually get elected) is to make political calls follow the same "Do not call" laws as everyone else!

So, yes, here it the crack of dawn... the sun isn't even up yet... and I am online avoiding showering and getting ready for work. My job has become such a chore. Monday is the first time in months I have actually done what I was hired to do and even that was not all that enjoyable. Things have changed so much there is the past year. I am just left shaking my head. That's all I am going to say about that for now because I know my boss has my blog address and who knows if she reads this thing. ;) Gotta love a spy, eh?

Tomorrow is the big release of DUPLICATES and I am SO excited! I am SO hoping they will be well received! Heather's amazing CT has been working with the line and I am so exscited for them to share their work! What an awesome group of girls! I am not sure when the previews go up on TDC Blog, so this could very well be the last hint before the ultimate release! Hmmmmmmm, what can I share for hint #4? How about the tag line? XXXXXXX + XXXXXXX = Quick and easy layouts! Come on, you didn't think I was going to let the WHOLE cat out of the bag, did you? Just a paw for now, LOL :)

That's it for today! :) Have a fabulous Wednesday! :) XO

Tuesday Check In

Wow, here we go again with the busy week... as if soccer, baseball, cross country and scouts weren't enough, we have 2 open houses this week! Yikes!

The new sketch is up at The Digi Chick! This week's challenge includes the layered template in both TIF and PSD. Check it out! :)

Hint #3 for Duplicates... Julie Howard asked if I will be doing layered templates.... the answer is YES...... but wait, there's more........ but I can't share that just yet! ;)

Speaking of Julie, I had 2 very exciting invites yesterday! Julie asked me to join her Creative Team and I accepted! I have had a great time using her designs as a Guest CT Member for September so I just couldn't turn down the official spot! And then I received a PM from Katie The Scrapbook Lady asking me if I would be interested in joining her team! Wow, what a day! I love Katie's "An Amazing Month of memories" concept and her new photo stickers so I just couldn't resist working with her! :)

I created 7 new layouts last night, but 4 are currently in what I like to call the "holding tank" since they feature kits not yet available! Look for a flood in my gallery by the end of the week! :)

Hope your Tuesday is awesome! :)

My eyes are burning...

My eyes are burning and my body aches, I am SO tired. The last thing I want to do is be awake right now and get myself ready for work. *sigh* Sherri's Mom commented yesterday that work is rightfully a 4 letter word and I couldn't agree more.

So, the Baptism yesterday was wonderful. I have yet to download the photos but I am hopeful Sherri will be pleased with them. We got home around 5pm and I was right back online working with Heather to get everything ready for the Duplicates release on Thursday! I am pretty stumped as to what to give you for hint #2... how about this? 11 products will be going into the store including 2 "combo packs"! I promised Heather I wouldn't be so OCD in the future about getting so much out in one week and she promised to give me Prozac if I did, lol :)

I want to pause a moment to send my prayers those affected by the actions of the terrorists 5 years ago today. I think often of their great loss and all that has taken place since then and my heart breaks. I couldn't process what I was seeing on the news that fateful day and I think even 5 years later, I can not truly comprehend what took pace in NYC, DC and PA.

Holy long week, Batman!

Wow, my head is spinning from how long this week was! Back to school means "back to everything else", too. Our week looked like this:
Tuesday: Soccer 4-6, Basketball 6-8, Dinner, Homework
Wednesday: Work 8-2, Pick up Victoria at school, Dinner, Homework, Cub Scout Registration Night 6:30- 8, Girl Scouts for Megan
Thursday: Drive Victoria to school, work on "secret project" (see post below), pick up car (finally), trip to the Scout store for new uniforms, Pick up Victoria at school, Soccer 4-6, Grocery shopping, Dinner, Homework
Friday: Drive Victoria to school, more secret project stuff, kids home, Megan's friend dropped off for a sleepover, dinner, Pack Meeting 7-9
Saturday: Soccer 10-12:30pm, Lunch, Shopping at WalMart, Baseball for Dane 3-5:30, Laundry, Dinner... right now!
Tomorrow: Church, Brady's Baptism, Austin's Birthday Party

I broke down and bought myself 2007 Planner Pages today because there is just so much going on and I know I am going to forget something if I don't write everything down as soon as I know about!

Duplicates will be releasing at The Digi Chick on Thursday! I can hardly wait! I know I am awful to torture you so how about I give you a hint each day I blog until then? Hint #1: I am collaborating on this project with Heather Roselli! :)

OK, time to close this for tonight. I need to finish up a couple layouts with some of the new goodies by Christy Lyle and Robin Carlton at Sweet Shoppe Designs! Look for them in my gallery later tonight! :) Have a good one!

Coming soon...

Back to life, back to reality!

Tuesday morning... ahhhhhhhh! A school day for the kids, a day off for me and summer behind us. I couldn't ask for much more!

A little toot for me today...Allyson Bright Meyer has chosen me to be the Featured Artist on her new site for the month of September! You can check it out right here! Talk about the warm fuzzies... thanks for such a great write up, Allyson! :)

I am hoping that today will be my lucky day and after 21 days without my car, that it might actually be ready! Keep your fingers crossed for me, okay?

This afternoon the kids have soccer 4-6pm and then Megan has basketball practice 6-8. Sure doesn't leave much time for dinner and homework, lol. I am excited about getting back into the fall routine, though!

Sketch Challenge #3 has been posted at The Digi Chick! Come check it out and play along! This sketch allows for 1-5 photos... something to please everyone! :)

That's all the news fit to print from my neck of the woods! Have a super Tuesday! :) XO

Megan has a boyfriend and other Labor Day weekend things!

I took 211 pictures this weekend but this one is probably Megan's favorite! She never actually told me, but I think one of her summer goals was to have her first real boyfriend. So, here he is... meet Tyler! We had a blast embarassing the heck out of Megan this weekend. When she introduced me to him that night at the bonfire I said "Hi, I'm Rachael. So you like Megan? We do, too!" lol :) Needless to say, Tyler is a boy that Megan met at camp this summer. We went back up this weekend for the long holiday weekend. Other than the terrible rain on Sunday, we had a great time. Tina and Brian as well as Nicole were there, too! A little cramped sleeping, but always more fun with more people! :)

On Sunday, we headed to North Conway to catch a movie. The girls saw Step Up and the boys saw Barnyard. I opted to go with the boys which gave me the chance to grab a few Zzzz's. Scott tells me I was even snoring but I dont know if thats true! LOL After the movie, we stopped to do a little Outlet shopping! The boys both got Heelys as their new school shoes. They are beside themselves with excitement. I would have liked something a little cheaper personally, but sometimes you just gotta work the extra hours for things that are important to the kids.

I was shocked to hear this morning that Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter, had been killed. I don't know why this shocked me considering his chosen profession yet I simply couldn't believe it. He cheated death on numerous other occassions and yet one freak twist of fate has taken his life. My heart breaks for his wife and family. :(

Well, I need to scoot off to bed... have a wonderful night!

Happy Friday!

Wow, September first already! Where the heck did the time go? 2/3 of the year gone already! Anyway, 9/1 is marking several big events in the digi community!

First of all Digi Scrap Divas has scheduled many events to celebrate their grand reopening! Hint: Kathy Moore has some awesome new kits that you will want to check out for sure!

The Digi Shoppe is also reopening... I have already been over there and grabbed the newest sketches by my very favorite sketch artist, Jen Caputo (just waiting for the download keys from the store now)!

Don't forget to check out Your Favorite Pair. Dani & Shawna are both amazing designers and I am sure this new combo site is going to provide lots of inspiration!

So, in non-digi news (you know, the boring stuff)... I STILL don't have my car back. Every day is some new excuse for why it's not done. They have had it for 17 days!!! Doesn't that seem like long enough to rebuild a transmission?? *sigh*

The kiddos are adjusting to school quite nicely. All of them seem to like their teachers and are looking forward to an exciting year! I worked yesterday but am enjoying my second day of peace & quiet right now. Pure heaven, I tell you!

I have been scrapping like crazy lately. I have oodles of new layouts in the gallery so if you have a few moments, check them out! :)

Gotta get this day moving along! We will most likely be away for the weekend (depending on how much rain we get) so I will check in next week! :) Be safe! XO