Dairy Queen with Stacey and her boys

Trial by fire. That is all I can say about the other night's introduction of Kayla to Stacey and her family. Maybe I could also say "poor Kayla". We met them for dessert at our favorite place, Dairy Queen. I was sure it would be a great night when I finally convinced the almighty-Blizzard-maker to make me a Strawberry Shortcake Blizzard (just like the cheesecake version, but yellow sponge cake instead-super yummy!) Anyway, I digress... Having never met, Henry finds Kayla in line and hands her a pink flowered lei and says, "Here, for you." So cute. Then we get to the table and after quick introductions the boys are fighting over who gets to sit beside Kayla. Henry scooted close and started chatting right away while Nico was pouting because we were not moving his food to Kayla's other side fast enough! The whole time they were acting like classic "O Boys"-loud, sweet and totally goofy! It was all going great until...until Nic wants to leave and while running back to the table looses his drawers. I mean the suckers just drop right to the floor in the middle of DQ! That does not stop our boy-he just keeps walking back to the table with his shorts and undies down around his ankles like it was an ordinary thing! My eyes pop and my jaw drops and Kayla turns around to see what I saw! We all lost it! It was so hysterical, and Nico thinking it was a good thing, dropped trou a few more times before we were given some serious squink-eye from our booth neighbors and we hustled out the door! Trial by fire....poor Kayla!

I planned for it and it happened!

It took me awhile to settle on just how I wanted my scrapbook room organized. I had it all done and then would find something that needed to be tweaked or rearranged. But now, for me, it is perfectly organized. One of the things I debated on was weather or not to keep my scrap papers. For so long I was a hold out, throwing all the cut pieces away or paying them forward to a "saving" kind of friend. I finally decided to get the 12x12 Cropper Hopper scrap storage pockets and have one for each of the colors and ones marked "themes", "holidays" and "multi patterns". I decided not to keep anything smaller than 5x7 or I would drown in scraps. In fact, keeping to that rule, I am on a second "green" folder-just 'cause I love that color so much and use it all the time. What finally made me decide if I wanted to keep those scraps or not was adoption. I reasoned with myself that if we got a girl, she would be happy to use up those scraps just playing around. Guess what? It turned out that I was right! Last night after Kayla finished another page in her scrapbook, she asked if she could make some cards. (Insert inner giggle here!) "Of course," I answered, "let me show you what papers you can use."

Thought I'd share this...

Kayla told me that her status has changed on the Heart Gallery from "available". Check out her new status! How cool is that?!!

Project 365-Day 89

This is what I found on my bed this morning. Nico and Ginger sleeping together. Really cute, huh?

Shopping with Kayla

Kayla and I spent yesterday shopping for a few items and doing a lot of "recon" shopping for future purchases and the "Kayla shower". I had a great time clicking items to add to the 'Target List'. I got a whole education in what 14 year old girls like and don't like. I was amazed that her DVD tastes ran from Bride of Chucky to The Princess Diaries. But very pleased that she choose just as many books as she did DVDs. We then went to the mall to figure out what stores/kinds of clothes she likes. This is gonna be so much fun-there are so many cute outfits out there. When we were in this store called The Body Shop Kayla pointed to two t-shirts with Obama on them and said, "I want both of those shirts!" That's my girl!

Project 365 Days 80something...

Last night Kim, Laura and I went to see the divine Kathy Griffin! Like Kim said before we went into the show, "She had better have a lot of good scoop for us, 'cause it's been too long since her show has been on." She did! She can really dish the dirt on celebs and celeb wanna-be's. Since we were the late show she said that she was going to keep talking until she was escorted off the stage! We all laughed ourselves silly. I love her and if given the opportunity, won't miss a show of hers.

Dang you Stacey!!

A few weeks ago Stacey and I were out doing our weekly shopping tour-JoAnn's, Michaels, Big Lots, Wal-Mart...whatever we can fit in before H is done at school. This day we were at Big Lots just poking around and Stacey comes around the corner with a HUGH orange bag in her hand. Now here is the bad thing about BFFs, they know almost everything about you! Stacey knows I have a weakness for Cheesy Poufs-can't get enough of them! She says, "Look! It's only $2 for this big bag. AND they look good. Do you want 'em?" At first I am skeptical 'cause food at BL is sometimes too off-brand, made in Mexico or expired, so I check it all out and find out that yes, they do look good and for $2 I walked out with a bag of Cheese Pops by brand K that was almost as big as my car! The tag line on these bad boys is, "Signs you're becoming a Munch Monster: Cheesy Grin, Fingertips always orange and Cheesy taste on the brain". All of those are true. I have eaten a few of those Cheese Puffs every night for almost two weeks and there are still some left in the bag! I am in Cheesy Pouf heaven!!! Dang you Stacey...

Here you go, sweet girl!

Happy St. Patricks' Day

From my friend Dianne. She gives the funniest cards!

Macaroni & Cheese

This is a request from Barbara, a faithful WSD cropper. Enjoy! If you are feeling a bit exotic, try adding in about 1 tsp. curry powder. Yummy!!

Macaroni and Cheese:

1 (8 oz.) package dried elbow macaroni
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups (8oz.) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese or American cheese
Paprika
Hot Sauce

Cook macaroni according to package directions, omitting salt. Drain and set aside.
Melt butter in heavy saucepan over low heat; add flour, stirring until smooth. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Gradually add milk; cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened and bubbly. Stir in salt and cheese, stirring until cheese melts.
Stir in macaroni into cheese sauce, and pour into a lightly greased 2-quart baking dish. Sprinkle with paprika, if desired. Bake, uncovered at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until bubbly. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Serves 6

Project 365-Day 79

Kayla and I spent the day at the Sarasota fair. We rode some fun rides but I really felt like a pretty old person, 'cause I had to keep begging off going on the crazier rides. I did a couple of the tamer rides, then I broke down and tried another which put me down for the count. I felt dizzy and nauseous afterward and sat the rest of them out. Kayla was fearless-there wasn't a ride she wouldn't go on. She even went on one called Ring of Fire that I just stood on the ground with my mouth open in shock! That was one scary ride!
Today was our first and only day-only unsupervised visit. Next weekend I get to pick her up from school and keep her the whole weekend. Cannot wait.

Treasure Hunt

Every year Whim So Doodle gets together with all the other scrapbooking and rubber stamping stores in the TB area to put on a "Treasure Hunt". This year it was a total of 12 stores that participated. We sell totes to our customers and they have 10 days to run around and visit all the stores to win some fantastic prizes! This year the grand prize is a $100 GC to each store-which totals up to $1,200 in scrapbooking booty! Each store provides a small craft project for each person, a special treat and they usually have a photo-op spot set up in a pirate theme. This year we hired a painter to create our backdrop and it was perfect. This is a photo of one of my favorite groups of people-The Bradenton Girls! They are a hoot-an-a-half when they come in! They were all dressed in pink and looked super cute! Some of them went on our train trip last year and I have been really sad knowing that they couldn't be there this year for that! Really gonna miss them and their special brand of fun...
Today is the last day of the hunt. All the stores together sold 1,000 totes and as of last Sunday we had already seen over half visit our store-all those in just the first three days! Needless to say we Doodle Divas are tired puppys! I want to spend the whole day sleeping. Not gonna happen-errands and chores are calling my name!

SNL

Last night Dwyane Johnson hosted and was SO funny! I was lauging so hard at this sketch! If you want a good "show" check out his monolog, too! Get a tissure 'cause you might start drooling...

Video Recaps | Full Episodes | Webisodes

Our first home visit with Kayla!

Today was a great day 'cause we had our first home visit with Kayla! It was so cool to

introduce her to all the critters, show her around the house and especially her bedroom. That bedroom has a huge closet and Kayla was really excited about that-typical girl! I made lunch for the three of us (Kayla and our caseworker) and we looked at her photos and some of my albums! When she saw my scrapbook room she said, "She said she was into scrapbooking. She wasn't playing!" I promised that I would put together her own scrapbooking kit that she could travel with! I cannot wait to create another crazy scrapbooker-we are gonna have so much fun crafting together! We went to Wally World to get Kayla a temporary phone so she could call us whenever she wants. Kayla got a phone, a case and some bling to make it fun. We also picked her up a day planner and when we got back home we sat down and scheduled all the weekends she was going to get to come and spend them with me/us. June is just a blink away...

Project 365-Days 63

Spent the day with Stacey and Nico. We started off with breakfast at a new place (for us, anyway) called Nicki's. Very good. Off for a shopping marathon at JoAnn's, PetSmart and Staples. We all loved checking out the fish, mice, rats, cats and other critters there. Nico especially loved the two kittens he found in the kitty area. After shopping Nico and I told Stacey to leave us at the plaza while she went to pick up Henry. We both wanted to get massages! Sadly, Massage Envy didn't have any walk-in appointments and I had to disappoint the little guy and not get massages. He was so sad... I didn't have the heart to tell him that I made and appointment for myself later. It was wonderful, but I missed Nic.