A Cluck, Cluck Here.......

Sorry for the bad picture, but it was the only place in the house light enough to get a good picture of the color. I got this new set, Rustic Rooster by Stampin' Up, and wanted to share a simple card I made. I may have to try one with more color, as I am loving this set..........

Tammy M

Christmas Mouse

I came across this digital image and had to purchase it and color it in. Not too thrilled with how the overall card turned out, but had fun with my Prisma colored pencils:).

Tammy

Just When You Think You Have Heard It All......

John was reading the paper tonight when he called me in to read this to me..........

Ala. teen found riding in box on van, mom charged.

Albertville, Ala. (AP) - An Alabama woman has been charged with endangering the welfare of a child after police say she let her daughter ride in a cardboard box on top of their van.

Alberville Police spokesman Sgt. Jamie Smith said the 37-year-old woman was arrested Sunday after police received a call about a minivan on a state highway with a child riding on top.

Smith said the woman told police the box was too big to go inside the van, and that her daughter was inside the box to hold it down.

Smith said the mother told officers it was safe because she had the box secured to the van with a clothes hanger.

The 13-year-old daughter wasn't harmed and was turned over to a relative. A jail worker said the mother was out on bond Monday.

Needless to say, my jaw dropped when he started reading the article to me, but I had to pick it up off the floor when I read, "secured with a clothes hanger". I was expecting him to say bungie cords, but a CLOTHES HANGER?!?!?!

Cute Painting Set

This is a cute set by Hannah Stamps. As soon as I seen the set, I knew I had to have it. In real life it does not look like she is painting on the hanging picture. I probably should have moved the wall hanging over more. Oh well, next time:).......

Tammy M

Happy Birthday!!!

Today our little one turns 3!! It has been an amazing 10 months and 14 days since we walked off the airplane in Lexington. To watch her grow and "blossom" (as my MIL put it) has been an experience John and I will never forget. In the short time she has been home, we have seen her personality come to light, to match that little glint that has always been in her eyes. She has amazed us with learning the English language at a pace we never expected. She can now put together 5 and 6 words. There are very few times she cannot express, in English, what she is trying to tell us. Considering English is one of the most difficult languages to learn, I find it amazing she has discovered the "slang" and puts it to use. For example, "oh man", "get back here", etc.

Needless to say, we are head over heels in love with this little girl. We have watched her siblings love and accept her the moment they set eyes on her. There is something about watching your "cool" 11.5 year old tell a 2 year old that he loves her and openly gives her hugs and kisses on the cheek. Then again, to see the same 11.5 year old tell his 2 and 3 year old sisters to come outside and play baseball with him just melts my heart. How did I get so lucky to be the mom to 3 angels and 4 great kids?

Tammy

Just A Swing'n..............

This is the perfect card for this week!! The other night I was talking to John when our 4 year old wanted her cup filled up. I walked over to the fridge to fill her cup up with water when I seen a shadow move by my foot. I automatically jumped back midstride and looked down to see what I had missed. There scampering across the floor was a MOUSE!!!!! It was slipping and scampering across the floor and headed to my stove. It was moving so fast it had to do a nose dive to keep from running head first into the stove. So it flattened itself and slid under the stove. All the while I was doing some scampering myself..........right behind John.

I HATE mice. Did I mention HATE, HATE, HATE, HATE, HATE, HATE them? I think it stems from growing up in an old farm house. We always had mice and they always seemed to not mind coming out whenever they liked, no matter how much noise was going on. So I was always jumping on chairs or table tops to get away from them. It just became a habit when I seen or heard one to jump and make my "I see/hear a mouse" noise. Anyway, I was making that noise and John went into his "calm down"mode and donned on his "let's fix this" face.

Where are the mouse traps? Ut oh............ It's 10:45 at night and we have no traps. Time to act sweet and beg for hubby to be my hero and make a run to the store......lol. I guess he knew he might as well go to the store or he would not get any sleep. Any noise that sounds like a mouse will wake me from a dead sleep. So while he went on his trap run, I got the cat in the house. I figured the mouse would smell the cat and cower under the stove until John got back.

When John came home, he set 4 traps, then we turned off the lights and TV. Off to the bedroom we went and sat on the bed to listen for the "click". It wasn't 4 minutes and we heard it. Of course, John was just smirking and said he was going to go see what bait it went for. Apparently he had put peanut butter on some and roast beef on the others. He figured it had went for the peanut butter. We were very surprised when it turned up in the roast beef trap. I did not know mice went for that type of food........ So needless to say, I was able to get some sleep that night.

I know some people will say a mouse trap is not the humane way to dispose of mice. I'm sorry, but I HATE them, always have and always will. I admire people who can catch and release a mouse. But my theory is, if you catch them and release them, they will head right back in!! John said the one we caught was a female and I have a feeling it was trying to come in and make a nest......ick.

Anyway, the traps are still set and I have my 2 ultrasonic boxes plugged in with 3 more on the way to me. I have read reports that the boxes do not work, but we have lived here almost 12 years and have only had 3 mice in the house. Each time one has gotten in the house, I have had the boxes unplugged. So I am a firm believer in them. I just need to remember to go back and plug them in whenever I remove them to use the outlet..........

Tammy

Back To School Card

I was in a "crafty mood" but was short on time (more like NO time), so I quickly threw this card together. I had my daughter give it to a teacher, who was heading back to school, she had helped keep an eye on her at the ball park. I like the set from Stampin' Up, but have not been able to sit down and put it to good use.......

Tammy

My All-Star

I thought I would share a picture of the reason for my absence. We have had a summer full of baseball games. Then much to my son's delight, he was chosen to play on the All-Star team. Of course, we were are so proud of him, as the players have to be nominated and voted onto the team. His dedication to practice his swing, catching and pitching have been paying off. Of course, his mom hitting him all those ground balls did NOT have anything to do with his short-stop skills............lol.

Wild Month

It has been a wild month here.... Can you believe we were ROBBED?!?!?! The guy got away with over $1000.00 worth of stuff. I had ran down to rent out a storage unit to a couple of guys. While I was down there, I drove along and wrote down the unit numbers and sizes to put into a computer program I had bought. When I pulled into my driveway, there was a guy putting John's weed eater into the back of his truck. I just happened to be talking to John on my cell phone, so I asked him if he had sent anyone from a job site to pick up the weed eater. The guy acted like he was suppose to be in my driveway picking up the weed eater. He just looked at me straight in the face, put the weed eater in the back of his pick-up truck, turned and casually opened his truck door, got in and put the truck in reverse. By this time, John had told me to hang up and call the "cops". When John had said he did not send anyone over, I had put my truck back in drive and moved back into my driveway closing in on the guy, to pin him in between my deck and my truck. But there was enough room between the front of his truck and the deck for him to squeeze through. When I seen he was going to go through my yard, I was going to follow him, but decided against it. The area he was heading, there was a good chance he would get stuck :). So I slammed my truck in reverse and flew out of the driveway backwards. I met him at the edge of my yard as he was hitting the road. I double checked the license plate number and he got a head start out of the subdivision as I was writing the number down and dialing 911. Then I was off on his tail seeing where the little weasel was heading. Our subdivision is off a highway and there is always traffic, so I just knew he would have to wait at the stop sign. Wrrroooonnnngggg................... I was the one who had to wait on traffic........grrrr. Needless to say, he got away:(.

When I was after the guy, I thought he had just taken stuff out of the garage, but after getting back to the house, I discovered he had been in the house. That is where he hit the jackpot. If I had not been going through magazines, tearing them apart, getting coupons, etc. he probably would have gotten my laptop. I had just happened to have placed some of the pages I was going to throw away on top of my laptop and that kept it from plain sight. Thankfully I returned home before he could get to the master bedroom where my engagement ring and gold bracelet were. People ask me if I feel violated that someone was in my house and the answer is "no". I'm use to people being in and out of my house. I'm just irritated I wasn't able to pin the little weasel in so I could get our belongings and his little butt be put in jail.

When the state trooper arrived, he said that the license plate was expired. It was not even registered to the vehicle it was on. They had tried other letter/number combinations and those resulted in tags appearing in towns all over the state, nowhere near hear. So they are certain (as am I) that the number I gave them was correct. He told me to keep an eye out and if I ever seen him around, to call 911, since I can identify him. Needless to say, every older, black Ford Ranger I see, I check out the driver to see if it is "the weasel"!! To date, I have not seen him yet.........

The next day, a F-3 tornado touched down 2 miles from our house. Thankfully all we experienced was heavy rain and some wind. We did not receive any damage. But some of the "landmarks" I am use to seeing are gone. There was an old concrete gas station that someone had turned into a car repair shop that was totally destroyed. Fox News mainly focused on the subdivision that was hit. This subdivision has homes on larger lots and the majority of the homes have some damage. I did not hear how wide the tornado was, but given the size of the subdivision it hit and the number of homes damaged, it must have been pretty wide:(. Thankfully we were spared, as here at home there were no warnings. Seth was upstairs and the rest of the kids were in the kitchen with me. Who knows what would have happened to us if it had hit..................

Enter To Win

My favorite author is having a give away on her blog. You can win a copy of her latest release, which I mention in a previous entry. The book is titled "Love Finds You At Last Chance California". The instructions on how to enter can be found at her blog:

http://miraleesdesk.blogspot.com/

Tammy

Strep Throat X 3

Yip, count them, not 1 or 2, but 3 kids with strep throat!! I keep waiting on the 4th (oldest) to come up and start complaining his throat hurts with a nice high temp. Not that it makes me feel any better, but apparently it has been going around the school and Zackery must have brought it home to "share". Now as long as they do NOT share it with me:).

Interesting Day......

This morning around 1 am, my 3 year old woke up wanting something to drink. So being the (hack, hack) awesome mom that I am (hahaha) I crawled out of bed to get her one. Walked into the kitchen to a floor full of water. Looked over to the counter and there was my Beta fish vase tipped on the side. You know there is a mess when a night-light shows this. So I flip on the light and there is my Beta laying on the floor. So I grabbed some towels and clear a path (hey, don't want to get my socks wet....lol) to the fish vase and flip it up. There is a little under 1/2 the water left in the vase....yeah. I don't have to stand and fill it up if he is still alive. So I go over and reach down to grab the Beta. It does a little jig so I know it is still alive. I grab it and go to pick it up and part of it's tail fin is stuck to the floor.....ack. Another little flip and it is loose and back in the vase.

What happened? Well......... a certain cat is in BIG trouble!! From what I can gather, he jumped upon the counter and decided to check out the Beta vase. In the process he tipped it over. He must have known he was in trouble, as he did not EAT the fish. How long did the fish lay there? I do not know. The only thing that saved him was a small amount of water under him. Talk about luck....lol. So needless to say, he isn't exerting much effort today to swim around and is just taking it easy. I expected to walk into the kitchen at any point during the day and find he had croaked. And to think, the only reason the cat was in the house was due to the cold weather. He is so old, I have been taking pity on him and letting him sleep in the house at night.

To add to the day, the girls went upstairs, a few hours ago, thinking my oldest son was up there. When they discovered he was not to be found, they decided to play on the bunk beds. The only problem is, our oldest had pulled the mattress off the top bunk (again) and took it into the rec room to sleep. The 3 year old decided to show the 2 year old how to climb up to the top bunk. All this was going on while I was helping the 7 year old with his homework. Next thing I know, the 3 year old is yelling for us to come and "help". So the 11 and 7 year old hit the steps first. No problem, they can get their little sister out of their "stuff", right? Nope, the 11 year old is yelling for Dad to come. Up the steps go my hubby. A few seconds later he is yelling for me to go up.......sigh. So up the steps I go thinking, "what could possibly be going on that a grown man cannot handle"....lol. I get to the top of the steps, walk into the bed room and there is the 2 year old. She has slipped down between the metal bars that hold the mattress!! The only thing that is on the "top" of the bars are her arms and head. My hubby was trying to get her to lower her arms and tell her to turn her head sideways to slip between the bars. For starters, her English comprehension is not far enough along to know what "turn your head" and "lower your arms" mean. All the poor girl knows is she can't go up or down....lol.

I walk over to the bed trying to figure out WHY he thinks her head will fit down between the bars. Between trying to give her instructions, he is asking the 3 year old "HOW she got UP between the bars". Taking pitty on her, I proceeded to tell my hubby that her head will NOT fit down between the bars. His reply? "Then how did she get it UP there?". HELLO!!!! She fell DOWN between the bars". His reply? "Then she will have to come up to get out" DUH!!! So I got on the bottom bunk, held her butt while we pushed her arms up through the bars. He was able to grab her arms and pull her up and out. Needless to say, she needed some TLC:).

I think I am going to round the girls up early and put them to bed. I figured after that bit of excitement, the best place to keep them out of trouble is in their beds sleeping.....lol. Thankfully they haven't had any episodes of sleep-walking.........yet........lol.

Ice, Snow & Wind

Wow, what a difference a few weeks make!! We were without full power for 4 days!!!!! We had to spend the first night without heat..........brrrrr. It was so cold our little one brought me her coat to put on her. I told my sister that you know it is cold when a 2 year old, from India, brings you her coat....lol. But my awesome hubby brought a company generator home and we were able to have heat and run a few lights. My BIL and his family had to bunk out here one night, as they had lost their power, but had it back within 24 hours.

No sooner did the ice melt, then we got a few inches of snow!! We rarely get snow that sticks around long. The kids loved it and so did mom:).

This past week we had strong winds along with a tornado warning. The boy's school let out, but the county schools held the kids until the warning expired. It was a fast moving storm and we were lucky we did not have damage to our house or property.

This picture was taken out my deck door. It shows the damage to my neighbor's trees in his back yard. Thankfully we do not have many trees in our yard, so we did not have to worry about clearing branches...........

Good Book To Read

Looking for a good book to read? The author is Miralee Ferrell and can be ordered from Amazon.com

Out To Lunch With Daddy

John had to be in town today, so he took Kambrielle and I to lunch. Since I had the camera with me, I snapped a picture of her before we left. She enjoys one-on-one time with us so she has our undivided attention:).

2 Year Old Gone Messy

I've decided there is something in the air here that has made my youngest go crazy. Yip, home a little over two months and she has caught a germ that has made her clean gene go messy!!

Last night I was in the kitchen loading the dishwasher. In she comes holding her hands out wanting them wiped off, along with a wet head. The "oh so intelligent mom in the house" starts asking questions in English. "Why are your hands wet?" "What have you been into?" Now granted, I"m 99.99% sure she understands quite a bit of what we are saying, but she just looks at me and doesn't say a word. Then my "Mommy knows something is up mode" kicks in and I see those little brown eyes start sneaking peeks toward the living room. Ahhhhh haaaaa my internal "this isn't good" alarm starts beeping and I head in the direction of those give-away glances.

What do I find? ALL of her apple juice from her sippy cup all over the flooring of their new play kitchen, all over the "counter" and in one of the play kitchen dishes. Thank goodness for cheap baby wipes!! So while I'm on my knees cleaning the mess, I revert to my Kannada/English combination of communication with her. So we will see how long it takes her to try something like that again. Yet I suppose we can look at the bright side...... She didn't roll her eyes at me when I was talking to her!! The little stinker started the eye rolling hours after I left the orphanage with her.

Tammy

Uggggg................

Ever have the "never-ending crud"? I got this nasty bug after Christmas and I've still not kicked it. John keeps telling me he is going to send me to the doctor, but I just laughed at him. Not much one can do about a virus!! Although, I should hack on him and share it, since he so lovingly left me with all 4 kids in a Phenergan induced haze. Venting here, but WHY do husbands think the Mom can do it all and be sick at the same time? When he gets sick, he crawls in bed, sleeps for a day or two, while I keep the kids away, and bing, bang, boom, he is back on his feet feeling fine....grrrr.

So, I have not disappeared, I'm just dragging along with my Ginger Ale in hand. No crafting inspiration has hit either, which is probably a good thing. I have 2 sets of little hands that have decided to get into EVERYTHING!! A certain 3 year old has decided she needs to show a certain 2 year old every naughty thing she can think of. In the past week we have had White Out painted on my hardwood floors to conditioner smeared into dry hair. So to be on the safe side, the craft room door is shut with all scissors locked up. I hate to begin to imagine what she would come up with those in hand...........sigh.

Tammy

Mumbai Bombings

Three years ago, my best friend and I convinced our husbands that we needed to spend 2 weeks in Mumbai. While there, we also got to make a side trip to the orphanage where our sons spent time before coming home. It was an awesome trip and one that I will remember forever.

But now those memories are haunting, as the hotel we stayed at was just blocks from the Taj Mahal Hotel. Almost everyday we would walk up to the Taj area. We walked through this hotel and visited all the stores. We said when we came back we would HAVE to stay at this hotel, due to the beauty of the decor and the private garden. Now when I think of us walking around the Gateway of India monument, I do not just think of the detailed architecture I seen, crowds of people trying to get close to see what details were inside the arch, or the boats leaving for a tour. I now think of the face of the terrorist, that was arrested, walking up to the area we walked around the monument. Did they bother to stop and see the beauty? Did they follow the same path we did to the Taj Mahal Hotel? Did they walk down the same street we did and cut across the street our hotel was on to reach their target away from the Taj? Were any people we seen/met among those killed? Are people visiting the monument today and looking at the steps I see in my mind? Is the area empty, like the beach in Chennai where the tsunami hit, due to fear? What about the women and children who sit around the monument selling flowers to help feed their family? More importantly, why all the hatred? Why did so many innocent lives have to be taken, due to a handful of men looking for individuals with passports from America and Great Britain or the lives taken at the Jewish center?

India is part of my children's heritage. They were born there and spent part of their life living there and I hope to take them back for a visit. Hopefully when my children are old enough, to deal with the poverty and emotions that come with returning to their birth land, that it will be safe for them to visit the unique and beautiful country they came from.

What I Have Been Up To :)

Introducing Kambrielle Porvi M. She is 2 years old and from Bangalore, India.
I traveled to India to pick her up from the orphanage she was staying at. We arrived back home on 11/6/08. She loves to be held, gives hugs and has started giving kisses. She is adjusting well and bonding with us. She only speaks and understands Kannada, so hopefully she will start to pick up English soon. I know "yes", "no", "hello" and "mother" in her language. We do a lot of pointing and head nodding.....lol.

Blog Candy For A Good Cause

Did everyone have a chance to check out Cammies (http://myblogbycammie.blogspot.com)awesome drawing for a cause?
I decided to send my uncle the last card I made. He also is affected with this awful disease, but he is still in the early stages and can enjoy some things. I figured he would get a kick out of it.

Tammy

Interesting Read

I was sitting in line today waiting to pick the boys up. While I was sitting there this truck rolls past me and stops to speak with the campus police. It had quite a bit of witting and design on it, so having nothing else to do, I started reading. The side of the truck had the statement "Kentucky's Finest Hookers". I was thinking.....OOOOKKKKKKaaaayyyyy. Then I proceeded to read the tailgate........

On the left side it stated, "Support Your Local Hookers" and then the right side read, "Give Them A Tow Job". I thought I was going to fall out of my truck laughing. Nothing like creative advertising:)

Tammy

Halloween Card

I made this card after receiving the set in the mail. It is a My Favorite Things stamp set.

A Different Creating Project

Wow, feels like forever since I posted!! Not by choice, mind you.....lol. I had 2, yes count them, 2 computers crash on me within a month!!! The first to go was my desktop. That one was old, so it really wasn't too much of a surprise, just irritating. Then, I had a laptop, that my hubby was letting me use and it up and died:(. I kind of blame my hubby on that one, as he made me download Quicken Books onto the laptop and a week after that, it was dead. Needless to say, I was NOT a happy camper...lol. But my BIL came to my rescue and gave me a key to their house so I could go in while they were at work and check my email.

Anyway, onto something more fun. My sister and I have started a new little adventure. We are making "Mother and Daughter" along with "Daddy and Me" matching aprons to sale. I pick out the fabric combo. and purchase it and she takes the time to sew them. We then send them to a consignment store for sale. The first set we sent, sold within the first 5 days the store was open!!!

The apron that sold was a "shabby chic" look with pastels. Come to find out, the HUSBAND of the lady that bought them wears it to BBQ/cook. I would give ANYTHING to see a picture of that one.....lol.

This apron set is my favorite so far. The picture does not do the set justice at all:(. It is a rich yellow golden color and reminds me of Fall. I wanted to find material that could be warn anytime, but had that "fall feel" to it. Hopefully I succeeded and it will fly off the hanger in the store:).

Tammy

A Little Surprise

I am excited to be able to say, I PASSED MY STATE BOARDS!!!! I was planning on studying for it right after I graduated, but our youngest little girl "dropped out of the sky" and I wanted to spend every moment I could enjoying her, as I knew the chance to adopt an infant again would be slim to none.

Anyway, only my husband and I knew I scheduled my test for Monday and I went in not knowing what to expect. I knew I would come out feeling like I failed, as anyone who has taken the test will tell you they felt the same way. The last 49 hours have been stressed filled waiting on the message stating I can pay $7.95 to see the results....PASS!!! I could pay the fee or wait 4 - 6 weeks to get the results in the mail......NO THANKS:)

Relieved in KY,
Tammy

Quick Birthday Card

I quick put together this birthday card for my mother-in-law. The picture does not do it justice, as there was a ton of coloring and shadowing done. I usually do the "spotlight technique" with this stamp, but decided to try something different. My mother-in-law loved it, so that is all that counts, right....lol.

What City Do I Belong In?

You Belong in Paris

Stylish and expressive, you were meant for Paris. The art, the fashion, the wine! Whether you're enjoying the cafe life or a beautiful park... You'll love living in the most chic place on earth.

What City Do You Belong In?

Marcail Mohar Marks 7/8/02 - 5/31/04

Our Loss

This week we lost a wonderful person in our lives. Emily is an unique and awesome person and our lives will forever be changed. Emily was also my rock these past 4 years after our daughter passed away. Now our daughter has someone to hold and kiss her for me until I can see her again. We love you Emily and will forever remember you and miss you soooo much!!!!

Interesting tid bit

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 71 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Interesting Month

It sure has been an interesting month around here, regarding cardstock and computers. The profile I made for my sister was a huge hit. Now their social worker wants me to make another one......ack. She called my sister and asked her "what it would take for me to make another one". Since I'm such a nice sister, I have agreed to do another one. Hmmmm.....let's see, what do I want.....hehehehe.

I was typing away the other day on my computer and it went totally dead!! I waited a few weeks to contact the service department, as I knew I would be on the phone forever. Sure enough, 2.5 hours later, I was informed that my "motherboard and power supply to the motherboard" was broke and I needed to have them replaced. Of course, the warranty went out about 8 months ago. Wouldn't mind it too much, but I have some info. on that computer I need. Hopefully my BIL can retrieve it for me. But I might try to remove the memory chips (again for the upteenth time) and put it in another tower and see if I can get it to work....... I think it might be easier and cheaper just to find a deal on another tower.

Tammy

Card For My Friend

The inside states "getting lucky means you found your car in the parking lot." Haven't decided if I like the paper combo. but it's done. Sorry it's blurry, I still haven't invested in a digital camera, as I haven't had the chance to research in depth (actually my hubby is buying it for work and I will just use it.....lol).



Tammy

MIA

So sorry for no new posts lately. I have been side-tracked helping my sister put together a profile, for a domestic adoption. They have a little boy, Eric, who is also adopted and are wanting a sibling for him. So being the nice sister, I agreed to help.....lol. Anyway, I thought the quiz below was quite fun, and it actually has somethings right about my personality:)

You Are a Dash

Your life is fast paced and varied. You are realistic, down to earth, and very honest. You're often busy doing something interesting, and what you do changes quickly. You have many facets to your personality, and you connect them together well. You have a ton of interests. While some of them are a bit offbeat, they all tie together well. You friends rely on you to bring novelty and excitement to their lives. (And while you're the most interesting person they know, they can't help feeling like they don't know you well.) You excel in: Anything to do with money You get along best with: the Exclamation Point

What Punctuation Mark Are You?

Cured?

A card I created today for John's aunt. She has been sick this week.
Thought she might get a chuckle out of this one.........

My Mind's Eye

This is a card I make for a SCS challenge.
Paper: My Mind's Eye, SU Chocolate Chip
Ink: SU Chocolate Chip
Stamp: Verve Visual "Wonderful Wishes" stamp set
Misc: SU Scallop Punch, Marvy Giga Square Scallop Punch, Hemp fiber, MM Distressing Tool, 1" circle punch