Rough Game?

Kevin got a black eye at his basketball game today. It happened in the first quarter about 5 minutes into the game. The thing of it is...he hadn't even played on the court, he was still sitting on the bench.

Out of the blue Ricky and I saw him from the other side of the gym holding his face with and icepack. We had been watching the game and couldn't recall any incidental contact from the players with the bench? What could have happened? Then we noticed that he was sitting right next to his very enthusiastic coach, Coach Jones, who would take his eyes off the game every so often to give Kevin a rub on the head to make sure he was ok. That was because Coach Jones, in one of his moments of jumping and flailing as he told his team to get down the court, spun his arm around and around right into Kevin's face. Opps! That's ok, all is forgiven, and we still love him as Kevin's coach. But lesson to Kevin, to be careful out there at the basketball games. Some of those team members can be pretty aggressive.

Bella Blvd on the Catwalk

This week I added the link to my gallery at ScrapInStyle TV on my sidebar. It must have been good luck because today when I went to check my gallery there were some unexpected comments congratulating me for being chosen for the "Catwalk". The Catwalk is the place where every Tuesday each of ScrapInStyle designers ("fashonistas") post their favorite LO of the week. And this week fashonista Andrea Wiebe chose one of the Bella Blvd pages I created for CHA as her favorite...

How about that? Bella Blvd is on the Catwalk...I'm flattered.

And the funny thing is that of all the LOs I created the week before CHA, this was the last one that I put together at about 5am during the final push to get things done...the all nighter. Then I ripped all the pieces off the black cardstock at about 8am the next morning and readheared them to a new page with new journaling because my original was too crooked. I have to say the whole process was quite painful. But now very fun in the end.

Oh, and Connor has reminded me that the photographer should get some credit. That being him.

Just Plain Crazy

Good morning from the McElvain house. We are dressed and ready for "crazy dress day" at school. And a special recognition to Connor who is sporting shorts that date back to 1992. I purchased them for Ricky, and a matching blue plaid pair for myself from the clearance rack at the gap to wear to a Jimmy Buffet concert. (I'll have to find that picture and post it later.) Anyway all the kids look swell, but I think Kelly out did herself....

The State of the Economy

What do these two pictures have in common?

A. They are signs of some of our favorite eating places.

B. They are both located on Greenfield Ave.

C. They are places we stop at to celebrate Kelly achieving her state cut swimming times.

C. They both have little white signs taped to the windows.

D. All of they above.

The correct answer is D.

And about those little white signs....

We were sad on Saturday when we went to celebrate Kelly's new state cut and found that Maggie Moo's doors were locked, and only this sign was there to greet us. A good reminder that our family is fortunate to be employed, and to continue to pray for those who are not.

Another thought for today on the state of the economy...Tonight is President Obama's fist State of the Union Address. So today on conservative talk radio it was the topic of conversation. At one point I found the question the host posed as curious, and somewhat funny, so I thought I would share. He asked "if we were able to see the TelePrompter for tonight's speech what would be the word that we would see the most (ruling our the & and)?"

Callers phoned in with their opinion..."change, hope, ahhhh, inherited, crisis, economy, jobs, fight, plan, let me be clear, unprecedented, previous administration"...all good guesses. But the conclusion at the end the debate was that the most popular word in tonight's speech would be "I". (Remember this is conservative talk radio, not fans of the current administration.) This was the opinion of the host using the Presidents last speech as his evidence. He pointing out that during that speech the President said "tax payers" 2xs, "small business" 2xs and "I" 132xs.

The host of the show also gave a little bit of info about the first Bush administration. Apparently with his first State of the Union Address, President Bush wanted his speech to have an "I-ectomy" meaning he wanted to use the word "I" as little as possible.

I will not watch the speech tonight, but I will be curious as to what word that wins the popularity contest. And today I am thinking about the I-ectomy and how it is good advice to apply to my own life. To realize my countless blessings and put others before myself when possible.

I most likely won't watch the speech tonight. but I will be interested to find out what word wins.

A Link to My Stuff

This week I have been tooting my likes about Bella Blvd and showing some of my stuff. I've been asked if I have a place where I post my work so I added a blinkie (by the way I am always proud of myself when I figure out how to add something new...YEAH for the nontechy) on the side bar that will link you to my gallery at ScrapInStyle TV. But be warned if you are a scrapbook inspiration seeker. You may spend hours exploring all the creative scrappers that post their layouts on that sight.

If you want to go directly to my gallery click on the "stop by for a peek" next to the ScrapInStyle blinkie. And thanks for looking.

More To See...

This is the full Bell Blvd booth ready for the opening of CHA as was posted on the Bell Blvd blog. I guess the booth does fit into a photo, but you need a fisheye lens to make it work. Everything looks great! I saw all the projects that fill the booth up close at the studio, and it was intimidating to see what my projects were going to be hanging with. I can't say enough about the talent that designs for Bella Blvd. It is so inspiring!

So today I am posting the rest of my layouts created for CHA...

My favorite part of the lines are all the little Bella pieces that can be clustered and scattered on a layout. I love to create titles with them. With the new release the pieces and phrases are not only found on the Bits of Bella paper and sticker sheets, but also new in chipboard!

A new LO created with an older line (Flirty). I never get tired of the products.

All created with Bella Blvd "Man Of The House".

Some of my favorite photos of time at White Lake in the summer. Boy it would be nice to have that weather now. This is all designed with Bella Blvd "All Inclusive".

This one I like best. The photo has to be one of my new favorites. And the paper complemented it perfectly. Also "Man Of The House".

Time to get off the computer and get some stuff done around the house, go grocery shopping, start working on taxes... boy, the scrapbook world is so much more fun!

Drum Roll Please...

This time of year is an exiting time in the scrapbook world. It is the time of year when all my favorite paper companies come out with new products. So the past week I have been spending more time than usual on the computer looking at all the sneak peeks for CHA in Anaheim. It is fun to see the build up to the big reveal day...TODAY.

The best part is that I am once again honored to be part of the Bella Blvd design team. Stephanie out did herself on the new products. I just LOVE them. It was very fun to complete my goodies for her booth at CHA. But until today I had to keep things under wraps. To celebrate the fist day of CHA here is a peek (not a great photo) at one of my layouts and a card I created with her new line "Estate Sale"....

I also want to share a peek at how Bella Blvd has grown from a baby of a company this past year. Not only has her product line bloomed into something bigger and better, but also her booth. This was the Bella Blvd display at her CHA depute last year....

And this year you can't even fit it all into one photo. Oh my! It looks spectacular.

Kelly saw the pictures of the booth and pleaded with me to have her bedroom decorated like Bella Blvd. I'm feeling some inspiration myself for my scrap space in the basement. That booth is so darn cute, yet classy at the same time. If you want to see more go to the Bella Blvd blog. And check back this week. I will share some more of my Bella Projects.

All Dressed Up and No Place to Go

Yesterday at recess a large majority of the 8th grade boys (who Connor was a part of) piled on top of each other while playing football. No big deal you say...well, they go to a Catholic school, and the rules are strict. So a pile up is grounds for punishment. The result was that today, all the 8th grade boys, no matter if they were in the pile or not, had to stay in and sit quietly during lunch.

I'm ok with the whole idea since today they also had to dress in shirts and ties for the academic fair. I did not want my son piling up on the playground in his good clothes.

So there they sit looking handsome and harmless, taking their punishment like a good Catholic grade school boy should.

All Dressed Up and No Place to Go-Part 2

So if you follow the blog you know I am motivated to record my life by taking daily pictures. I don't take a picture every day but get my camera out multiple times a week. Yesterday when Connor told me about the lunch room punishment I immediately thought what a great opportunity for a POTD (picture of the day). So today I decided to venture out on a day that I could have stayed in my jammies to go take my photo. But let me tell you it was not without consequences.

I arrived to the cafeteria just before the 8th grade class was finishing lunch, and the boys were being assigned seats though out the room so as to not to goof around with each other. I stood in the distance with my larger lens, and turned off my flash, so I could be discrete. All was well, I took about five photos and was timing the shots so as not to get the women in authority who were patrolling the group in the picture. As I put down my camera one of the lunch room guards approached me. She informed me that it was "inappropriate to be taking pictures", that the boys were being punished. I agreed that I knew they were being punished. She reiterated that then I should know it was inappropriate to be taking pictures.

Hmmmmm....a bunch of thoughts went through my mind in that moment, I even contemplated explaining my POTD disorder, but it was obviously she wouldn't understand. So what I let come out of my mouth was "Oh brother". I proceeded to put the cover on my lens, put my tail between my legs and left the building.

I can't believe I got scolded by the assistant principal of my child's grade school for taking a picture! It was like I was the paparazzi getting shooed away from someone's personal life, but without any monetary compensation. My only compensation is the memory and kids misbehaving and getting punished is a big part of my life. In fact of my four kids my 8th grader probably gets in trouble the most. Now I guess we know where he gets it... from his naughty inappropriate mom.

On Her Way Home

After four long months in the hospital, but way ahead of schedule, Ricky's mom is on her way home today!!!! This is one of many huge mile stones on her road to recovery.

I remember once she told me during a hard time in her life that she questioned praying for strength because she wondered if then, God gave you challenges where you would have to practice it. She thought that she did not want anymore events to challenge her in the category of strength. Well, no doubt she has been challenged again; and again she has been an example to me and my family of determination, strength, and faith. I am so proud of her!!!

Thanks to everyone who has kept her in your prayers. And shhhhh...don't tell her, but I continue to pray for strength in her life...I think it is working:)

Who Wears the Pants in the Family?

I guess I should say who wears the shorts?

That would be Kelly sporting her big brothers gym shorts as a dress. The two of them collaborated on the fashion design before she went to swim practice. Since the sun dress in not in season yet she had to change back into jeans and a t-shirt. But I think they are on the cutting edge of setting a new trend for hand me down fashion.

Not A Single Square of TP

So after the kids went to school this morning I find there is not a single square of toilet paper in the house. It has been incredibly busy around here. Besides the usual life with a family of six, life is extra busy with a capital P for projects...Bella Blvd CHA projects, academic fair projects for Catholic Schools week, my project 365 class, and not to mention Ricky's project at work that he could continue working on 24/7.

To explain further, I pulled my first all nighter since my college days, even though Ricky did all the laundry last weekend, there are four baskets of folded laundry sitting on the living room floor waiting to be put away, there are papers and computers scattered though out the house, dishes on the sink, and many more clues that indicate that I have fallen behind in my daily stay-at-home-mom duties. So today is catch up day...I am making apts., paying bills, peeking at the computer, putting away laundry, and cleaning up the house. But before I do any of that, I have to do the most important thing...run to the store to get me some TP!

Our Packer Party

While most Wisconsinites are watching the Packer Game on Sunday this is what my men were doing...designing a 3D model of a robot. It's Connor's recent facination (or should I say obsession), to build an "ant weight" robot for a Battlebot competition in the future. (Hope I got all the terms right) It has been quite a journey. I am having multiple conversations a day about torque, motors, timing belts, and transmitters. That is way out of my comfort zone.

Oh boy!

What Snow Looks Like

As I was driving home this morning after dropping the kids to school I was thinking that the fresh snow made for a beautiful day. I wanted to blog about the snow and how it plays on our senses. How it sounds quiet, it feels crisp, it looks..... well today this is how it looks....

It looks like I don't normally do the snow removal, and I am unaware that there are electrical cords under the blanket of white stuff. It feels like I will not be able to pry off the stubborn extension cord that is tightly intwined around the snow blower blade. And it sounds like after today, I am officially ending my snow removal career as quickly as I started it.

Ta-Da

"Twister Trip"

By Kevin

Inspired by Mark Kistler

"Spacey Cat"

By Connor

Inspired by Dr Seuss

Here are the final products signed and ready to be dropped of to school. I didn't trust the boys to carry them themselves this morning. From the breakfast table to the parking lot there are too many opportunities for wet and messy things to attack the papers!

Welcome Back to School?

The past week and half we have been in relaxation mode. But like most years, the first Monday after New Years we are all snapped into reality. Not only is waking up early to head back to school on these cold winter days a shocker, but we also received an email from the boys' achademic fair leader that their art projects are due tomorrow! Yikes!!!

So tonight we had some serious pencil power going on at our house. Both boys whipped out their sketches. Maybe I should call it procrastination power since they had over a month to do their project. But both worked well under the pressure. Kevin finished up his earlier in the evening and became Connor's official pencil sharpener. A much needed roll since Connor filled in the whole background his 15x20 piece of paper.

Good job boys, but let's not wait until the night before the project's written paper is due to finish it....I don't think your writing skills are as strong as your drawing talent!

Our Decade

I always think it is fun at the end of the year how different media groups give recaps of their top "whatever". This year was especially interesting because it was the end of a decade. A couple of weeks ago, a talk radio station was listing the top 10 events that changed our lives over the past 10 years. In that same spirit Ricky and I came up with our own list events that changed our lives the most, in our little our family, over the past decade.

Here they are on no particular order...

1. The birth of our first girl, our third child, the kids now out numbered the parents

2. Dogs...Adopting Mable, saying goodbye to Irma, saying hello to Emma

3. The discovery of White Lake, a new retreat every summer.

4. Becoming members of St Matthias School.

5. The birth of our second girl, our fourth child, now we are really out numbered

6. The death of my Grandma, we still miss her

7. Remodeling the kitchen

8. The boys coming of age to stay home by themselves and babysit

9. Kids participating in athletics

10. TiVO