35 Years Ago Today and 21 years ago...

Two young people were bonded in marriage at in Atlanta, Georgia at a justice of peace at the county courthouse. Many years later after the ups and downs, the joys and sorrows, trials and tribulations, 5 children and 4 grandchildren we are still together and hope we have at least another 35 years together. Happy Anniversary, hun!

Our youngest turned 21 today. Happy Birthday, Mark!
I was told that I had a couple of dates to choose from because Mark was going to be a scheduled C-section. So Dennis told me that he hadn't taken me out many times on our anniversary so he would take me to the hospital to deliver Mark. LOL

Hope you all have a wonderful and Happy New Year and God Bless!

Merry Christmas, My Tree and Two Little Elves!

Here is our tree this year and our two little elves! The oldest elf hasn't even tried to get into the gifts under the tree. Well he got in trouble at home so he won't dare to do it over at Nana's and PaPa's. He is so into it this year. Wrote a letter to Santa and hand delivered to him also.

Final Challenge at Scrappy Giraffe

This is my take on the challenge at Scrappy Giraffe's final Scrap That Tune. I chose Wing Beneath My Wings by Bette Midler, the scrappy mission I chose was to follow the sketch and use song name or lyrics on layout. The requirement I chose was 3. Use everything from 1 & 2 and add eyelets. One and two were hand stitching and letter stickers and 2. was hide either your journaling or a photo. Bonus was 1. alumninum foil and 2. stamping. Credit goes to Leisha's page plans again this week. Thanks Theresa for my inspiration!

Week #6 at Scrappy Giraffe

This is my take on Week #6 Scrap That Tune over at Scrappy Giraffe. I choose Teddy Bear by Elvis for the song and went with the sketch from Leisha's Page Plans. Also went with the requirement of using all straight lines until I made the mistake with my flower stems. Oh well it was fun and I got another layout done. Take care and have a great week! God Bless!

Week #4 Challenge at Scrappy Giraffe

Week #4's challenge I used the sketch from Leisha's Page Plans. The challenge is called Scrap That Tune. I had 3 choices but I chose I Believe in Us by Amy Sky.
Next I chose 1. requirements which were staples, ribbon and rub-ons. The Scrappy Mission I chose to use the sketch and the title and/or the lyrics to the song. And I went with the bonus by using the notebook paper. I added painted and glossed Maya Road chipboard swirls, transparencies were used for the lyrics and the stamped butterfly. Here's my take. TFL!

A Couple of Drewisms!

Ok, I am spilling the beans as per Theresa's request. The other day when I had Drew, I asked him for some kisses. He flat out told me no. So Colleen asked him why he wouldn't give his Nana any kisses and he stated as he pointed to his mouth...these kisses are staying in my mouth. Out of the mouths of babes.

One more little funny from him...He came home the other day with a star student paper. His mommy asked him if he got that for his hair. And he replied I didn't get it for my hair I got it for my good(again pointing to himself). I don't know where he comes up with this stuff. He is truly my little rascal!
Take care and God Bless.

Happy Halloween

Here are my handsome little Captain Jack Sparrow and my teeny tiny Baby Elvis.

Take care and God Bless!

Rusty Pickle Lift Challenge

Here is my take on the sketch at Crop Addict We had to have at least 80 percent of Rusty Pickle on our layouts.
We also had a sketch we go by which I thought was sweet! Thanks to Theresa nudging me to do this I pulled another layout out of my head. Thanks, hun! Take care and God Bless.

I've Been Tagged

My friend Amy tagged me with 7 random things people don't know about me.
And I have to agree with another friend Liz that Amy's acrylic albums are really cool! Might have to make a trip to Lowe's this weekend. Thanks, Amy!
So here goes:
1. I have to get into a made up bed when hit the sack at nite.
2. My purse is usually a big mess (inside)
3. I can't eat shrimp anymore. :(
4. I am super sensitive.
5. I hate being cold.
6. I am a totally disorganized person but still seem to survive. hehe
7. I too am a BIG procastinator.
I don't know if I have 7 friends on the web that don't know Amy or that have blogs.
Amy named most of them on her blog. lol

"Logan Charles"

This is Logan's first official portrait studio sitting. We took Logan into BabiesRUs portrait studio and this is just one of the cute shots they took. Later I will post one of the boys together in their matching shirts. Logan did pretty well this time like he did for Theresa when she did his first photo shoot ever.

He's too Sexy for His HAIR!

Since Halloween is up and coming soon, things are being pulled out of closets, in anticipation of Jerrod's Major project for the 2nd Annual Haunted House. This wig was pulled out the other day and Mommy put it on Logan and Nana quick grabbed her camera to snap He's Too Sexy for His HAIR! Colleen and I went into hysterics after we looked at the pics again. I am going to have to do a layout on this for sure! Take care and God Bless!
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Vacation Is Over

We enjoyed our little mini vacation down in Branson. We did a little shopping, sightseeing, boating, relaxing and just enjoyed being together. The above picture is just one of many that I took of Tablerock Lake down there. I was inspired when I came back by my friend Amy's layout at BadGirlskits.com. The challenge was to embrace your white space. I turned this layout out yesterday in about 30 minutes. I am really happy the way it turned out. This view was from Jerrod's boat. I had a great time taking a spin on the lake one afternoon and then one evening with a full moon shining down on the lake. That would have been a terrific picture but that time I forgot my camera. It wasn't hanging from my neck that time. lol
It's late so its off to bed for me. Take care and God Bless!

Having Fun with Photshop Actions!

I spent the entire afternoon hooked on messing around with some new Photoshop Actions! I am definitely hooked for sure. The one I used on Drew's picture is lensblur a variation in the original called Lensbaby. I am totally amazed what you can do. Now I have to get busy and try some digital scrapbooking that I have wanted to do for months and months.
Well to bed I go because we are heading out early in the morning for 5 days in Branson. Yes, I did pack a ton of scrapbooking stuff and will let you know how much I accomplished while gone. Take care and God Bless!

Random

This was one of the experiements with my telephoto lens. It is much clearer and sharper on the original pic. This was taken on my back deck. We have as many as 8 hummingbirds now and one fiesty one that tries to chase all of the others away.
The other is more nature with a shot of my hibiscus when it had a open bloom on it.








And a friend of mine Liz Ness tagged me with this:




What is your:
YOUR ROCK STAR NAME:(first pet & current car) Laurie Escape
YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fav ice cream flavor, favorite cookie)Chocolate Almond Fudge, Chocolate Chip
YOUR "FLY Guy/Girl" NAME: (first initial of first name,first three letters of your last name) DMcC
YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal)Red Dog
YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born) Claudette St. Louis
YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letter of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name) McCDe
SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd favorite color, favorite drink put "The") The PurpleDietCodeRed
NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers) Claude Samuel
WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother's and father's middle names) Myrtle Frank
P. S. If you haven't done this one yet and would let to, please consider yourself tagged!

New Challenge-Color Theory

Here's the lastest challenge I am in called Color Theory in BadGirlsKits.com. This one came pretty easy to me. Thanks for peeking!

Refresh

I am taking Theresa up on her comment today on my blog. Refresh, refresh, refresh. I have been trying to go thru years of junk in my basement so I have been neglecting my blog. I finally sat down last nite and actually did a layout and since the challenges I haven't done one! Thought I better before I lose my mojo again. I am not going to post it here tonite but instead I am going to post a couple of pics of Drew's first day of school and a smiling Logan.


Since Dennis is retired now we can just up and go over to see Logan and/or Drew any time we want. And who couldn't love faces like that! Take care and God Bless!
Stay tuned for pics of retirement party after Saturday.

Final Challenge

This is the final challenge on the 8 week challenge at TSS. We had to D.I.Y. embellishment, so I drew and handcut out the flowers around the frame.

I want to congratulate Theresa on being picked for the Piggy Tales design team.
WTG! girlfriend.
Not much is going in my life right now except trying to keep a secret from my hubby.
The kids are giving him a surprise retirement party on the 8th of September. I have been pretty good but the girls almost slipped up a couple of times. He has no clue
to it and it should be a total blast!
Take care and God Bless!

Kids Say the Darnest Things

On Drew's second day of pre-school Colleen walked him into his class. She was stopped by a friend and neighbor, Kelly who is the aide for the preschool and told Colleen she had to tell her something Drew did yesterday in the hall. Colleen thought to herself oh MY! what did he do. Drew saw Father Dennis in the hallway and told Kelly he needed to talk to him (mind you Drew is 3-1/2). So Kelly let him go and Drew tapped Father on the leg. He looked up at him and said I didn't know you were going to be here. What a hoot! He sees him in church and I guess didn't expect to see him at school. I was hoping to post a pic but have to wait and get one off of Colleen's camera cause Drew wasn't cooperating with me yesterday. Much too excited I guess.
And tonite they were looking at pictures and he saw a pic of me. Beth told me he put it up to his cheek and then told her he wanted to call Nana. It brought me to tears. It's nice to know he misses me as much as I miss having him. I will only have him one day a week after Colleen goes back to work in late October. But I will
have my hands full with litle Logan. I enjoy having this time off but I miss him too. Take care and God Bless.

Sweet Music

This is my latest favorite. I just couldn't do a couple of pics I had to use most of them. The faces on these two are something else! The photo shoot was taken by Theresa at her house this past February. We had so much fun and had to bribe the boys with candy and surprises. I know Drew ended up with a harmonica but I am not sure what Connor ended of getting. These two have such a love/hate relationship that its too funny. I think its because they are so close in age that they try and compete with each other. Both of them come up with some of the darnest things! TFL!
Take care and God Bless.

Time For A RAK!

If you post your favorite summer movie you will have a chance at this! I will have dh draw a name from a hat on Friday at about this time. Good Luck!
Keep cool and stay safe. God Bless.

This was week #6 challenge at The Scrapbook Site. It was called the Power of Three. We had to have:
3 pictures
3 buttons
3 different patterned papers
3 different ribbons
3 word title
3 extra embellishments that weren't used already
Also some good journaling, more than just basics of names, date, location. Tell a story. I used new pattern paper called ScribbleScrabble and everything turned out like I envisioned it.
I am truly enjoying the challenges. It gets the creative juices flowing, uses my stash and get a layout done. I thought this one would be hard but it flowed right out of me which made me a happy girl! TFL! Take care, keep safe and God Bless.

A Mother's End of Summer Prayer by Debbie Farmer

I had this in my church bulletin this week and had to share it with all my
friends with kiddos. Have a Kleenex ready, cause I had tears in my eyes at the end! It goes like this:
Dear God,
Grant me the strength to last until Back to School Night.
Give me the energy to drive the swim team carpool, take knots out of wet shoelaces with my teeth and untangle the dog from the sprinkler hose one last week.
Grant me the wisdom to finally remember the name of the redheaded kid from down the street who hasn't left our house since early July.
Walk with me through the backyard over piles of wet bathing suits and empty ice cream cups, to rescue my good lipstick from the bottom of the wading pool.
Give me the courage to accept that everything in the refrigerator either has a bite out of it, had a finger stuck in it or is reproducing in the vegetable crisper underneath the expensive cheese.
Guide me down the hallway to the laundry room, where I can experience five minutes of peace and quiet by turning off the lights and climbing on the dryer so the kids can't see my feet under the door.
Help me accept the fact that even if I take the kids to the circus, install a pool in the backyard, go on a safari, and carve a redwood tree into a canoe and sail down the Congo, my children will end each day with "I'm bored."
Grand me the serenity to smil when my husband insists on tossing the Hamburger Helper on the gas grill because "everything tastes better barbecued."
In your infinite wisdom, show me how to disconnect the video game console that hasn't been turned off since June 22nd.
Comfort me when I realize the color of my earth-tone carpet has changed into a mixture of melted blue Popsicle and the remains of somebody's purple slushie.
And if I ask too much, God, just give me the foresight to know that one day-not too many years from now-the barbeque, television, and sprinkler hose will be off; the refrigerator, front door and garage will be closed, and I will wonder where my children-and the little redheaded boy with glasses-went!
Enjoy your day, take care and God Bless. And try to stay cool! Missouri is definitely HOT! It's going to be 100 today at least!

Thanks!

I wanted to share a layout from a swap that I did with a new friend from TSS. Amy Birch did this of Logan and its just awesome. Can't wait to put it on Logan's first page of his scrapbook. Thanks a million, Amy!

The other thing I am posting tonite is some of my photography that I have been experimenting with. These are purple cone flowers and they stand at least 3 feet high. They are in my front yard garden and I just love them.

This scrapbooking hobby has brought me so many wonderful friends that I truly enjoy seeing their work, chatting with them and hearing from them. Scrapbooking is definitely a sisterhood that beats all!

It Seems!

I have decided if I never get published it won't break my heart. Looking at these pictures and doing my pages is what truly makes me happy. It seems to me that a small dream might be impossible but look what I have...a perfect family (well almost)
to be loved, my faith, and a hobby that makes me happy. I might not have my 5 minutes of fame but I am truly thankful for what I do have. Here's a couple of recent ones of Drew.

Don't these pics scream "Layout"!

I Can't Believe It's August Already

This is week 5 of the challenges on The Scrapbook Site. We had to use at least 4 lines of a meaningful song,and 2 pictures. I came across this Bo Bunny paper at my LSS and knew it was perfect. This lo is in celebration of 35 years together with the love of my life. Luckily for me Theresa took these pics of us at Drew's birthday party this year. We don't have many pictures of us together. Thanks, Theresa!
Update: Logan and Mommy are doing well. Hope to post more pics of Drew and him together soon. Take care and God Bless.

First Photo Shoot

This was Logan's first official photo shoot. This one I happen to capture during the photo shoot that Theresa was doing.

Can't wait to see what Theresa comes up with.

It's A Boy!

Logan Charles Schlueter arrived on July 25th at 9:07 p.m. He weighed in at 7 pounds 10 ounces and was 21 inches long. I was lucky to arrive just in time to watch my little girl give birth for the second time. He looks like a carbon copy of Drew only with dark hair. Like a dummy I left my camera today up at the hospital. So I will have to post some pictures tomorrow evening. Can't wait until I have this little cutie pie full time. Take care and God Bless!

They Are Still Just 3!

Colleen went to the doctor today and is now 2 centimeters dilated and the doctor thinks it will be before the weekend. I will keep you all posted. I am off of here tonight so I can do Drew's I'm the Big Brother T-Shirt!

Thanks to Theresa for the awesome photos of baby Schlueter, Mom, Dad and Drew!

Here's THERESA!!!

Here's one lucky girl. She is getting to meet some of her scrapbook idols this weekend in Chicago at CHA! The above pic is Theresa with Erin Lincoln and C.D. Muckosky(SOY). Poor me has to miss out. I had to weigh staying home and maybe missing a grandchild's birth. So I elected to stay home. I knew the minute I was in Chicago that grandbaby would decide to make a appearance. haha I hope that she is having a blast...OH! I know she is having a BLAST! hehehe Well I am going to try for next year! Can't wait to hear all the exciting tibits of her trip. Miss you, Tree. See ya soon. Take care and God Bless.

Favorite Lunch

I got away for lunch today with Theresa and Connor. Of course I had my little monkey Drew. We met at one of our favorites which is Cracker Barrel. Last year
sometime I got a picture of Connor and Drew playing checkers but somehow it got lost in vastness of my computer, so today I took another pic and downloaded and labeled right after I got home. So this is them attempting to play their version of checkers. I got the perfect paper when Theresa and I went to CKC-St. Louis this April. Can't wait to try and put together a lo of them.

Tried Something New

Went on a friend's blog the other night and saw that she had done a 6 x 12 lo so I thought I would mess around and try to do one too. The above is what turned out. It's a picture of my family's summer cabin when I was much much younger. The journaling that came from the picture is childhood memories, hot days for swimming, late night card games, summer vacation, ghost stories and comic books. I still think it needs something but can't put my finger on what it is. I recall so many fond memories of a place long gone. I might decide to add more journaling on the back to tell my kids and their kids what the little cabin met to me. I showed Dennis(my dh) the picture while we sat on the couch during Drew's nap this afternoon and we both remembered special things from our childhood for close to an hour. It was so nice to have some quiet just for us.
Thanks for the inspiration, Detta!
Take care and God Bless!

Oh What A Week!

It started out ok but steadily grew worse. I started a 8 week challenge on The Scrapbooksite.com and the first challenge was a bit of a bummer me. The second was much easier. The layout on here is a mid-week challenge. It's not the best scan but will have to do. The week was busy as usual but it got a bit stressful with a a very headstrong grandson. I don't know if its his age or that I am getting older. We locked horns a couple time this past week. His newest saying when he isn't happy with you is that like me(he states your not my Nana any more! He told his Momma that she wasn't his Mommy any more and that he and Daddy were getting a new mommy and she wasn't invited to his birthday party. lol
Today we went over to his house because my dh was going to cut their grass. They have a alarm system. I accidently fat fingered it and set the alarm off and then push the code again. I forgot they would call and Drew and I headed to town. The police showed up and they questioned my poor dh. Everything turned out fine. But then my husband proceeded to break a side/rear quarter window in my car. The estimates started out at $600 and up to $1300. Luckily we finally found a used one for $275.
To end on a good note Drew is enjoying his swimming lessons and who could not love a face like that! Hope your week is better than mine was and God Bless!

A Pirate's Birthday

As most of you know Theresa's Connor turned 4. This past Sunday he had awesome Pirate theme birthday that Drew got to attend. Cake, ice cream, goodie bags and swimming to top it off. I wonder why it was a Pirate theme. lol JD
Included in the goodie bag was a toy airplane. This is what Drew and his Daddy came up with.

Summertime

This is summertime in Missouri. The weather has been fairly decent up to the last couple of days. It's now hot, hotter and even HOTTER! This was taken yesterday and it was ok out of the sun and a breeze was actually stirring.
I can't believe how big Drew has gotten. Almost all his baby ways are gone. Don't know where the time went since he was a little baby in our arms.

Shy Guy

This is my third grandbaby who is such cutey pie but a bit shy. I got these the other night at his sister's softball game. Here's another one that goes with the one above.

And I finally got a couple of good shots of Kiera on the field.

Early Retirement

Today was the first unofficial day of my husband's retirement. His real date is June 30th but yesterday they told him is was put in the job bank. That means until the 30th he can sit on his rear and draw a 40 hour a week paycheck!

We really put in a busy day today!
1. First we actually went to a weekday mass with Drew mind you!!!
2. Went to Walmart
3. Went out to breakfast at Hardee's.
4. Spent over an hour at the playground for Drew.
5. Ate supper on the go from Subway.
6. Went to a 6:00 o'clock softball for Kiera granddaughter. Took my telephoto lense with me and hopefully got some awesome shots of Kiera on the field. Also I think I got a really cute couple pics of J.D too!

Got to mention a funny little thing that Drew mentioned at Movie Gallery yesterday.
He love Pirates of the Caribean. He saw the movie and said look Nana, that's a pirate movie and that's Captain Jack Sparrow and it's called Pirates of the Care Bear. The cashier and I had a hoot over that one!

You Can Teach a Old Dog New Tricks

I happen to get Renee Pearson's new Digital Designs book and made it thru the first chapter(I guess you could call it that). Well I created my first background tonite.
It's got me psych to move on and work my way thru some big and better stuff in her book. It might not seem like much to anyone else but it gives me a sense of accomplishment.

Finally Posting Again

Theresa, my best friend keeps telling me I need to update my blog, so this one's for you, Tree! I went scrapping today with another one of my friends and finished two two page layouts and almost have another one page lo done tonight. I am on a ROLL!
I have tons of pictures to scrap but never enough time to get caught up. I used a transparency and stamped Happiness walks on busy feet on the left side and then in the bottom left hand corner I stamped TRIP on a transparency and put it on top of the ZOO word. Tomorrow I will try and get the one I just finished tonight which I tried to incorporated a bit of everything and go outside my comfort zone. It still looks pretty simple to me. I will have to get Theresa's opinion on it tomorrow.

And now for the soapbox...I want to say do the crime pay the time. I am sick of hearing again and again that someone like Paris Hilton getting out of jail time free and clear. Put your big girl panties on and buck up!!! IF it was one of the little peons we couldn't do anything about it because we don't have our hands in the politicans pockets. Enough ranting and raving. God Bless and take care.

Newest Pic of Newest Grandbaby

Gee I really feel good about posting so soon after the last one. This is Baby Schlueter that doesn't seem like he/she wants his/her picture taken. I am getting so excited and can hardly wait until the end of July. I have Friday and entire weekend Drewbie free. Isn't it silly when I don't have him I miss him so bad. I am in the process of tearing my scrapbook room apart to get ready to put a shelving unit with 11 drawers(Yipeeee!!!!) that I found at my lss that is going out of business. I really am sad to see the store close. I don't know what Theresa and I will do when we have no store left in Sullivan. Probably go thru withdrawls.

When I first saw the photo I immediately thought of Huck Finn. Drew is defintely going to be an adventurous, wild and stubborn boy just like Huck was in the book. With all of that mentioned he still brings such JOY! to me, that it sometimes overwhelms me with emotion.
With pictures like this I have finally gotten back into scrapbooking again after months of doing nothing major (except for a circle journal page). Yesterday I was able to do 4 pages of scrapbooking. I really was afraid I had lost something really important to me or at least something that I LOVE doing with a passion.
My next big challenge to myself is to get into digital scrapbooking. I hope it doesn't take me months to do that. Take care and God Bless.
I am going to try and keep my blog much more current than I have been.

I've Been Tagged, by Theresa

Seven random things you don't know about ME!

1. I want a tatoo but don't know if I could stand the PAIN.
2. I hate hairy backs on guys. Glad I didn't marry a guy with ONE.
3. I am basically a really shy person.
4. I wanted to be a nurse when I was a kid.
5. I am not a TRUE blonde.
6. I am the FLIP FLOP queen.
7. I need about 36 to 48 hours in a day so I can scrap MORE.

And P.S. Theresa you ain't movin' back to Texas. lol

Favorite Time of Year

Spring is my all time favorite season. I guess its because of my redbud tree which was the perfect Mother's Day gift from my kids several years ago. And because of my
tulips which are my favorite flower. Here is Drew smelling my tulips which when he
was done had pollen all over his face!

My RAK Arrived Today

The picture below is my name on the winning drawing of Liz Ness' RAK. Her little one, Duncan picked my name from the hat shown. I was so excited to win that I did a happy dance!

And this is what I received today in the mail. I am so excited because I am so clearly addicted to these kind of stamps. hehe Woohoo! Liz and Duncan. Can't wait to incorporate these into a layout. Will let you know when I do that. I have been thinking all day about ideas.

Glass in the Garden

This exhibit was in St. Louis at Missouri Botanical Garden formerly known as Shaw's Garden. One of my sons and I went into to see it. The artist is Dale Chilhuly. Glass in the garden was inspired by his mother's love of plants. Glass in the Garden took advantage of the unique vistas and vegetation of the Missouri Botanical Garden.
I took so many pictures that day. It was totally awesome. He permits and encourages photography of the artwork in the exhibition for education and non-commerical use only.