Birthday Celebration

Birthdays are a big deal with my in-laws. My mother-in-law always throws a big family birthday party for each person's birthday, complete with a special meal, cake, and presents. Even though it's more than a week after the fact, this was my day!

Steve and me on the front porch before we walked over to my mother-in-law's. He looks thrilled, doesn't he? :::grin:::

Morgan and me. She smiled a little nicer than Steve. Now, off for BBQ!

Cats and Dogs

Doing a little filing. What "cat-a-gory" should this be filed under? :::snort:::

Someone left the file drawer open just a teeny bit and Libby thought it would be a good place for a snooze. She scared me - I didn't know she was in there until I went to shut the drawer!

And a very shaggy Cosette was giving her toy quite a workout today. Cosette usually doesn't play with toys, but today was an exception.

She thought it was a pretty tasty toy! Love that tongue!

It's Time for Another Episode....

...of "Name That Bug."

What IS this weird thing? It was enormous, too! Probably at least 3-4"! And it was very aggressive. See it raising that.....whatsit.....and it had big pinching mouthparts!

Do YOU know what this is?

Scrappy Birthday to Janet!

My friend, Janet, turned 40 this year and decided to throw herself a big birthday bash! She set up a private crop at a local scrapbook store, invited her friends, and had it catered by La Madeline's. Yum!

Janet, Linda, me, Elen, Heather, and Cheryl

We had SO much fun, even though I didn't get the first page done in the entire 8 hours I was there. Yes, from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. I didn't do one single little page. Not even a card. Not even a bookmark! But I had a BLAST!

Arianna, Janet, and Angie check out Arianna's pages.


Elen and Heather are hard at work!

Laura and Connie, cutting up - in more ways than one!

What better way to celebrate 40 great years than with good friends, good food, and scrapbooking!

Diplomas and Recitals

My sister-in-law, Susie, graduated from college today. We were all so proud of her. Here she is with her parents.

The Two Connelly Girls. (Note the scrapbooking magazine under Connie's arm. She knew the speeches would be boring. We both read the scrapbook magazines she brought and I was quite glad for the diversion. Rude? Maybe a little. But definitely more polite than the people conversing loudly during the speeches.)

Then we ran to get a bite to eat, then went right to the place for Morgan's piano recital. No pictures from that (Steve was manning the camera), but we got some good ones afterwards. Here's Morgan and Susie.

A proud father and his daughter.

Three generations of Connelly women. (Brooke was manning the camera.)

It was a busy day, but a good one!

Lovin' My Scrapbook Room

Today was the first day I got to just to up into my scrapbook room and PLAY! No agenda, no class to plan for, just FUN, FUN, FUN!!!


First, I finished a birthday layout from my April Hostess Club. I didn't put pictures on it for my class because I wasn't sure if I had scrapbooked these photos before or not - and I didn't have time to look! (Actually I have, but only for Morgan's book. This layout will be for MY book!)

The layout incorporates a little flip book for more pictures and journaling. I will cut a window in my page protector so you can access the little book.




I made a Mother's Day card for my sweet mother-in-law. I loved how it turned out. The colors look bland and washed out in the photo, but it really was quite pretty.







I finished a camping layout I started, oh, three years ago or so.

Did this camping layout. My goal was to completely use up a very old camping themed Simply Scrappin' Kit. I did, plus have the beginnings of four cards that can be purposed for any occasion.

I also made copies of the pages for the kids' books. One page layouts for their books because I only scrapbook the pictures that they are in.

I had so much fun that I didn't realize the time! I looked up and realized it was DARK outside - it was 9 pm and I hadn't even thought of supper! Cereal for supper, anyone?


Yup, the scrapbook room is going to be GREATLY loved! I'll have to post pictures of the room itself next time! Who wants to come scrapbook with me?

You're So Vain...

You probably think this blog is about you....

Don't you?

Don't you?

(My "surprise photos" in my camera that I general refer to as "Brooke's Vanity Pics." Taken of Brooke, by Brooke. Tweaked by Mom.)

Talk DERBY to me!

We are big Kentucky Derby fans, even though we've never been to the "real" race. The week before, Steve and the girls generally check out the videos of the contenders and they pick their horse. My "pick" is generally just a whim - the name, the way the horse looks, where the owner or jockey is from, etc.

Last year, Steve decided that our first Big Event in the new house would be a Kentucky Derby Party! The planning started! In April, the hand-stamped and watercolored, printed invitations went out, lauding this event as our "First Annual."

The week before was very busy. I had a detailed list of what needed to be done each day. This was quickly thrown out the window bright and early Tuesday morning when the other daytime medical transcriptionist was transported to the hospital. In addition to all the party preparation, I had to work extra to boot! AND it meant I had to work the weekend. The weekend that I had invited a million people to my house for a party! (Okay, so it was more like 50.)

Last minute prep - in hat, dress, AND apron! The denim Pampered Chef apron did not go with the outfit. I need a frilly apron. (I looked. I couldn't find one.)

The food table. Well, one of them anyway.

The second, and most important, food table - the one with the desserts!!! The Mint Julep Brownies were AWESOME!

We had our own little impromptu "Red Carpet." Me and Elen.

She and her hubby look like they should be modeling, don't they? Such sweet friends. I went to school with Travis and lost touch for more than 15 years. We met again at a mutual friend's birthday party. Now our daughters are best friends!

Christina is not to sure about Brooke's hat!

Our neighbors, Cindy and Anthony. I went to school with Anthony, too! We had also lost touch over the years. I was so surprised when they bought a house on our street! They are great neighbors!

Isabelle and Joshua. Isabelle didn't have a hat, so she borrowed one from Joshua!

Everyone is gathered for the race. We had "high stakes betting" - everyone brought $1 and put it in a jar and wrote down their name and their horse. Earlier in the week, I wrote down my Top Three: Friesan Fire, Mine That Bird, and Chocolate Candy, in that order. When two men wrote down Friesan Fire, I decided to go for the long shot - Mine That Bird! Everyone teased me, especially when the horses walked in. "Look at yours, Ginger! He's asleep!" I told them he was just faking out the other horses and conserving his energy. They laughed at me.

Then he came from second to last place and won the race! No one was laughing then! And I won the enormous $16 purse! LOL!

After the race, we voted for the hat contest. Elen won Fanciest and Connie won Most Creative. Brooke won the prize for the Biggest Hat. Prizes were official commemorative glasses with all the past winners.

We had a ball and hope all our friends had fun, too. We're already making plans for our Second Annual! I can't wait!