Big Texas Album & a Big Turtle

Happy Fall! It seems like forever since I have posted but things have been hectic, and that is a good hectic. This is our new 9x10 Big Texas Album that we debuted at the Fall Show in Houston. It is a fun Texas flavor using Deatbeat Designs and Texanna Designs stamps! Thanks to Mike Lambert for allowing me to use his amazing photos!

We are still going to soccer games 2 times a week. Not a great season but for a new coach and new team, it is good.

On our way to soccer this afternoon, we spotted a big turtle motoring down the county road. Stopped and picked him up, believe me, he was not happy about being touched. He spent the next few hours in the back of the Avalanche and once we got him home, we cleaned up his shell and discovered he was a mud turtle. He needs to live down by the river so dh took him to a new home down by the creek....too bad, we thought Dodger might have a playmate.

Its a hard job

but someone has to do it. While I was teaching a class yesterday, our little Pom, Tiki, was taking life easy. She just snuggles down in the pillows and snoozes until we come back to the room and then isn't in a big hurry to get up!

Toadstool

The rain and thunder came this morning about 3 and the thunder scared all the non-Texans in this hotel! The rain came and went, all that is left is a lot of humidity and this little fellow growing in the grass at the hotel!

Highlanders bored with their sheep!

This is so awesome!

On our way

To the soccer game from hell we saw this hot air balloon just a few blocks from our house.You can tell Fall is here, it gets cool enough for the balloons to fly. On a different note, our worst loss ever 12 to zip. We played in Abilene, 4 hours away, and it was sad to watch for 2 hours. T is still injured and didn't play but I felt sorry for the other goalie.

Holy Smokes Batman!

I know I haven't been out much, work gets in the way, but alas I have spotted a relative or 3. Well, 2 weren't actually spotted by me, but by someone at your local WalMart. I think Batman is my nephew getting an early start on Halloween. Camo man is my beer drinking, shotgun toting uncle, that just loves dove season.The cute little Flower Power niece was grabbing a quick breakfast at Burger King, while Janet and I were next door grabbing a Starbucks Latte. Cute little thing isn't she, just needs a bow for her hood ornament:)

Big Texas Album and Birds

This is our new Big Texas album. I used the awesome Texanna Designs stamps throughout the album. Just love how it stamped on the leather piece on the front. I used Maya Road Mist, 10 Second Studio metal, and lots of other fun stuff!
These cute acrylic hanging birds are our make and take next weekend. Just love how they sparkle and turn in the light.

Haunted House

Here is a sneak peek of the Haunted House album we will be showing in Houston. Used BG paper and embellies. Fun and spooky album! Only a few hundred other things to get done before Oct 1.

2 more pages of Disney album

Stick a fork in this project! 25 albums are done, well almost, I still have to package the kits, but I will have help on that. These are 2 more of the 11 pages, one is a pull tab album that adds 5 more pictures to the album, the other a fun pocket page .

Why did I think

My life would be slower with the little bird left the nest? We have soccer games 2 days a week and they involve traveling and I guess work takes up the rest of the week. T is having fun at college, slept through her alarm today and missed her first class, ok, that's enough fun:)
I thought I would have time to clean my house, watch movies, eat bon-bons and enjoy the empty nest. Nope, we have a show in Houston in 2 weeks, lots of prep work involved in getting 25 albums ready for a class, plus 100 make and takes, plus filling orders...T needs to come back she could help with all of this!

Concordia University - Women's Soccer Battles MSOE to 1-1 Tie

Concordia University - Women's Soccer Battles MSOE to 1-1 Tie
A great afternoon for soccer! Hot but not miserable, unless you are from Wisconsin. The visiting parents thought it was unbearable! Great soccer game, the girls from Wisconsin are tough!

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A Little Peek

In a few weeks I am teaching a class to LSS owners at the Collins Fall show in Houston. I am working on getting the kits together plus a fun make and take.
Teaching a fun Disney 8x10 Album and here is a page in the album. All the paper is by Creative Imaginations,used the Cuttlebug to emboss, stickels, and glossy accents.

Coaches team intro

Why do goalkeepers always have to be at the end of the speech?

She did it!

This 5'1" person is the starting goalie for Concordia! Just proves that you can do anything with determination. Guess we will be back on the soccer fields 2-3 times a week biting our nails. We are so proud of you, freshman!!

The Nest is Empty

It has been a long time since we have had a totally empty nest! The last little chick flew today. She is officially a resident at college. Two of her friends came along for the ride and helped us carry "stuff" up two flights of stairs. We went back to the school for a BBQ that turned into pizza tonight and then left her to roost on her own! But hey, we both have webcams:)

Tuesday is the big day

Picking her up after Embark 2 weeks ago.

The dorms are only 1 year old, very nice!

One of the class room buildings,a walk through the woods to classes.

Climbing the stairs, her room for the Embark was on the 3rd floor. Whew!

From 10-12 am tomorrow T begins her college days. We move her in and then come back that night for a BBQ. Soccer practice starts the next day, practicing twice a day, both times in the heat of the day:) Bittersweet time in our life.

Day One with the Grand Boys

We picked them up in Waco, had lunch at McDonalds and then went to the Dr. Pepper Museum. It was interesting and we all enjoying seeing the processing equipment. Once we got home we rested for a while then headed to the pool. Of course it is never dull. There was a big black dog running around outside the pool and he headed straight to the busy highway in front of the pool. A few seconds later we heard a horn honk and heard a crash. I just knew the dog had been hit but he came running back around the corner. The car that slammed into the back of a trailer, trying to avoid hitting the dog was not so lucky. We just got settled and into the water and the "rain" came. No thunder so the kids stayed in the water. Of course the rain lasted 5 minutes and was gone. After swimming we ate supper, played Wii fit and then waited until it was really dark and drove to the haunted Hutto bridge. You can read about it here Once we found it, we had to turn around several times to wait for cars to pass. Turned the lights off, put the car in neutral and sure enough, away we roll. The boys were amazed and scared at the same time!

Stingray Smoochin'

When we were in the Cayman Island we swam with the stingrays. This was an unforgettable experience. They are big and intimidating but feel like velvet.

Everyone got a nice back rub from one of the stingrays. We fed them squid, with instructions on how to hold the piece of squid. If felt like a vacuum cleaner hose when the stingray sucked up the squid.

It is said that if you kiss a stingray you will have 7 years of good luck. So far so good:)

She is leaving for college

in 20 days, think my life will become dull!! Concordia you picked her!

I Found Them

We followed this relative, in our taxi that was not a relative, from downtown Cozumel back to the pier. He was a speedy little fellow. After I snapped the picture I noticed there was a really hot relative parked just in front.I am sad I missed getting to meet him but at least I got a fleeting glimpse.
My bug's relatives! I didn't see a single relative in Jamaica and didn't really care. At Cayman they must have all been at one of the many banks, making deposits or withdrawals,so missed them there too!

Cozumel, was a different story! They were everywhere! VW's are made in Mexico so I guess all these relatives have retired and have condos on the beach in Mexico.

I crossed some busy streets to have a short visit with my relatives and they were all very happy to see me:)

Arriving in Jamaica

We were so excited to pull into Jamaica. I have never been there before and was looking forward to it. The country was beautiful from the ship, beautiful water and lush, green mountains. If you click on the picture below, you will see a lady that must have been here before! We all had the same expression getting back on the ship. As soon as we left the boat, everyone was trying to sell us "Ganga". They would not leave us alone, begging for money and trying to sell drugs.
This was what we saw in "downtown" Jamaica. Nasty, dirty, and nothing pretty about it. We were on a bus and when they came to a spot in downtown, not one single person would get off the bus. This was one scary country. People from tours have been robbed, and some have just never been seen again.
We went to a private beach and the water was beautiful and the beach was clean. There was a "guard" that kept the natives off the beach and watched over everyone there. We did have a good time at this beach for about 2 hours.
Margaritaville, Jamaica. Not much better than the country. I think there were 2 waiters and the place was packed. This fire eater did put on a show, but I think he had a little help in numbing his mouth to do it.
We were all glad to get back on the ship and leave this country. There were about 100 people that were late getting back on the ship, their bus broke down. For entertainment there was a marching band that played for us for about 45 minutes. People threw coins from the ship and enjoyed the show. We sat on our balcony and enjoyed the show, once again glad to be safe and sound on the ship.

On Our Way

Chillin' on our balcony and checking out the ship. Loading our luggage on the ship...knew we should have packed less:)
There were 3,000 adults and 1200 children on this ship so getting onto the ship was an event! There were miles of the snake lines and I was wondering how R was going to hold up standing in line that long. No problem, the custom lady saw his cane and asked if we were together and we got to bypass the hundreds of people and were on board in about 20 minutes. Rule...always travel with a cane when there is a long line:) We ate lunch, checked out the ship and by 4 pm we were pulling out of port for 2 days at sea, heading for Jamaica.

Cross this off the Bucket List

We drove to Galveston for the 4th and did not dream the traffic would be so bad on the seawall! Everyone came to Galveston to see the fireworks and celebrate the 4th. We checked into our hotel and decided to eat at Joes Crabshack.We could still see a lot of damage from Hurricane Ike just 10 months ago but they have made a lot of progress.The fireworks were across the street from Joe's on a jetty. T celebrated her 18th birthday a little early at Joe's doing a Seagull dance through the restaurant. Us girls had to use the potty and the line at Joe's was really long so we thought we would just walk to a convenience store across the street, get some water and snacks for the fireworks and use their facilities. The line to the bathroom was not long and when T and I walked in and it was too late to turn back we noticed a different type of toilet paper.....newspaper! The girls were speechless and a little confused as to what to do. Sometimes you have no options! If using newspaper was on our bucket list, now it is marked off!

How to dance in Cozumel

We are home! Seven fun, sun filled days and tons of pictures. This is how 2 teenage girls have fun at Margaritaville in Cozumel, Mexico. We managed to stop at Margaritaville in Jamaica,Cayman Island, and Cozumel. They could have spent the entire time there but for us old folks a little goes a long way!

Getting on the big boat

We are leaving tomorrow for a wonderful 7 day cruise. Celebrating the 4th in Galveston,hopefully to see fireworks over the water. I want to see how Galveston looks after the hurricane last year. We set sail Sunday for Jamaica and we are so excited. Hopefully we will get to visit with our friends that have a home on the Cayman Islands on Thursday. Then is it on to Cozumel for more beach, sun, and fun. Hopefully no hurricanes will find us. We have had some hurricane effects on every cruise so far.
Happy Fourth of July!