Laura Vegas

like i said … i had this all typed up last night. and "poof" … it was gone. i'm still mad about that. lol! last night i had this all in more detail … but now i'm just doing the condensed and to the point version. just to be able to look back on.

• girls gave me handmade cards when i woke up. alyssa also had my large glass of soda all ready for me when i came downstairs. they would have made me breakfast … but i don't eat breakfast.
• joe brought me starbucks and peanut butter cups when he got home from work in the morning.
• i only had nikolas … so it was nice and quiet. he was a little fussy … but took 2 excellent naps … so it evened out.
• had a few phone calls and emails from friends and family wishing me a happy birthday.
• all my daycare kids brought me little presents. i had been joking a few weeks ago that they better start preparing for my birthday … and that gift cards would be accepted. lol! i was kidding … but they still surprised me!
• one of my bestest friends, deneen, brought my lunch and stayed to chat for a bit. sandwiches, chips, deserts, and another starbucks!
• got some fun birthday cards in the mail. love the one that sara made me … and that she actually figured out when my birthday was from some random comment i had left on her blog.
• wendy gave me a nice little birthday shout-out on her blog … fun to come across!
• girls got home from school with amanda … and they were all pretty good for me. not too much fighting.
• went to dinner with joe and the girls. had some yummy comfort food … pot roast and mashed potatoes. i would NOT let them tell the server that it was my birthday … much to sarah's dismay.
• and loved that so many people guessed that i was turning 32 years old. because it sounds good. but reality is … i'm 38 now. crazy!

and i'm sending a huge "thank you" to my friend nichol … for making me my new blog banner! isn't it fun! i had made that last one with paper products … and while i loved it on paper, i didn't love the colors for my blog. nichol mentioned that she wouldn't mind making me a digital one … and i totally took her up on her offer. i gave her some colors i had in mind … and she did the rest. and she was even very patient with me when i asked her to make a few changes. lol! i really loved what she came up with … and i appreciate her helping me with it. thanks nichol!

i just spend over an hour typing up this huge post on my birthday … and as soon as i hit "save" … typepad ate it. i am so pissed right now. and the post was good. saying how good a birthday i had … thanking those that thought of me today … telling you how i spent my day … telling you my real age … and thanking someone for my new blog banner. and now it's all gone. what a way to end my birthday … to delete my written memories that took me forever to type up. guess i'll type it all again … but you'll have to wait because i'm certainly not doing it right now. lol!

consider this your personal "thank you" card … from me to you. for all the sweet comments you left for sarah and her photos … she loved them all!

i started this card with scraps from this layout a few weeks ago … and it just sat and sat. i finally decided to finish it up. these flowers are actually diecuts .. some super old my mind's eye diecuts from a card kit. not even sure how i found them … but they matched perfectly. the metal flower charm and fabric tag are older making memories products. nothing crazy … just a simple card.

keeping this one short and sweet. the super busy weekend … and a few busy days with kids … has left me feeling unbelievable tired and sore. or maybe it's the old age kicking in. that's right my friends … tomorrow i add another number to my age. that number is getting way too high … makes it sound like i should be a grownup by now! which i am certainly NOT. but i'm determined to have an excellent birthday … no matter what!

figured i'd share my blog with the daycare kids today … i know a few grandma's that check in to see their grandbabies pics and what they're up too. so today was tuesday … truly the roughest day of the week for me. never really a bad day … just a long, hard day. miranda has been joining haley and nikolas for the last few weeks … so it's been extra busy. 3 babies … 3 times the work. lol! so here you go … normal, everyday photos that aren't technically perfect … but are real life! and be forewarned … there are lots of photos … because i couldn't narrow them down any farther (we took 79 photos today)!

miss haley … actually posing and letting me take her picture! at 19 months … we are communicating and understanding each other. she helps me out … does things that i ask her to do. she can talk to me and tell me what she needs. she asks me lots of questions … and makes me laugh.

the babies my friends … it's all about the babies! she has a baby that she likes to bring from home … and then she takes out the 3 babies that we have here. and you can find these babies all scattered about the house. and each baby will have a beaded necklace and a bottle … always!

look at the boy! he's a full-blown walker now … walks laps around the house all day long. lol! turns corners, makes u-turns, goes around the toys … he's got it down. he's got about 2 weeks until his first birthday … can't believe he's going to be one years old! and he talks … all day long … and very dramatically!

this is what you'll find him carrying around while doing his laps … a diaper! he's obsessed with pulling out all the diapers from the basket under the table. he scatters them all over the place and waves them around.

another typical scene. for whatever reason, haley runs from nikolas all the time … like she's scared for her life. lol! he is seriously ALL she talks about … "niko, niko, niko" … all the time. in fact, i ran into her at the store over the weekend … and the first thing she said to me was "niko?". lol! and yet, when he heads in her direction … she runs as fast as she can for me. i'm not sure what she thinks he's going to do to her. lol! although he does look threatening waving that diaper around. lol!

miranda and nikolas play pretty well together. although she does like to hold toys out to him … with that "here you go, i share with you" look on her face. he'll think for a minute … and then will take the toy. then she gives him this look … like "sucker" … and then totally yanks it out of his hands. and then he cries. it's cute to watch though. lol!

next up … lunch! they all took naps at exactly the same time … for about an hour and a half each. i am very proud of the fact that i can always get the kids here to nap at the exact same time … always have, even when i had 7-8 kids. anyways. got smart and cooked lunch while they were sleeping … got everything ready, chopped up, and prepared. nothing like having 3 little ones wake up at the same time and all be starving … and then have to scramble to make lunch. believe me … that's the way is usually goes!

i graduated haley to the big table today! i have 3 of these booster seats … but only 2 trays. lol! i think one broke a while back. so the little ones were in the seats that are at the kitchen island … and haley got moved up to the big table. kind of funny to have her over there by herself … but ariana wasn't here today. and she did really good. especially since we had mac n' cheese … only 3 noodles on the floor, which is not bad at all!

miss miranda … she's a great eater! and she loved the olives … i even had to take some off niko's plate because she wanted more.

this photo cracks me up!!! i'm laughing so hard just posting it right now! lol! nikolas makes these faces sometimes … he'll look up, squint his eyes shut really tight, scrunch up his nose … and make these funny noises out his nose. it's hilarious. i'm always trying to get him to do it … and i was lucky enough to get this shot!

then he got serious and gave this look … while looking at the girls. that look of "what … what are you laughing at … did i miss something?". lol!

i finally got miranda dressed after lunch. i've been known to leave kids in their jammies all day … not on purpose … they just look so comfy cozy. but i saw this outfit in her bag … it was one that we gave her for her birthday and i had to put it on. isn't that little tank-top too cute! the shorts fell right off her little waist … and she spent about 10 minutes trying to figure out how to get them back on.

then she became obsessed with the tank-top … for another 10 minutes or so. pulling it here and there … she really wasn't sure about it.

 

eventually … she got it off. and broke the strap in the process. lol! sorry sierra!

then there was the hour or so this girl spent on my lap. the wind was pretty crazy here today … and one of the trees kept banging against the house. she thought someone was out there … and so decided that my lap was the safest place to be. in fact, all those pictures of miranda above … taken while sitting on the floor with miss haley in my lap. even this one of haley … i held up the camera above us as high as i could with one hand (external flash and everything) and made her look up at it. i thought that was pretty talented and came out pretty good.

 

but then i saw this one. AND I LOVE IT!!! haley and me sitting on the floor … her on my lap … me holding the camera above us as far as i can … her looking up at it. qeez … we did good missy!!!

so that was our day in photos! hope you enjoyed a peek into how i spend my days! lol! notice i left out the not-so-good parts … the diapers, the dishes, the bottles and sippy cups, the crying, the fights, the whining. but it's all worth it … these faces are worth every bit of it!

you remember a few weeks ago when i took some photos of miranda … and i mentioned that there was supposed to be a chair and a tutu involved? she didn't go for the idea. but her mom left the chair with me … i was thinking maybe i could do it one day while i was watching her. well, i had to try the chair out … just to get an idea of how it would look. and i have this huge tutu that i made. and i have a younger daughter that i can demand be my model when needed. keep in mind … these were just in my backyard … a backyard that is not meant for creative, full body shots. the fence, the half-dead vines, the tanbark … not great. but i just wanted a quick few shots … totally spur of the moment … and didn't want to leave the house to do it!

as always … click on the photo to see a better view of it. typepad still making the photos look wonky!

isn't that a fun chair? sierra found it for like $6.00 at a yard sale. i have a few places in mind that i think it would look really cool … just have to tredge out and see if the ideas in my head translate through the lens! and this last photo? that is sarah … throwing you lots of love for any sweet comments you leave for her! lol!

just wanted to let you know that my studio is being featured today on the MM blog! i hope you'll take a peek inside where i create and read a little more info on how i organize. here's one pic … but you have to go check it out to see more!

i know i said i'd do this friday morning … hope you don't mind i do this tonight instead?!?! my mornings have been rough this week (story for another day) … so figured i'd better just do it now. and wow … 100 guesses! so much fun. i loved seeing the comments every time they came though … to see all the numbers. and for a while … i started to second guess how many "thingies" of thread i really had shoved in that jar. but i have to say … that my own personal guess was pretty close to the actual number. i waited until tonight to do a count. dumped them all out and counted one by one.

and the final count was 193 skiens of thread!

and who was the closest to being right?

so today was kind of crazy. lost my internet connection late last night … and it still wasn't back up when i woke up. crazy that i feel so lost without it … but so much of what i do and how i stay connected is throught the computer. it finally came back up around 4:00pm this afternoon. and how fun was it to open up my email … and find all those great comments from you guys in my inbox! i appreciate them all.

now for the fun part! i thought i'd do a giveaway … it's been a while since i've done one, right? but i wanted to put a fun twist on it. instead of me printing out the comments and drawing a name … or pulling up the random number generator online and having it pick a number and then me counting down to find that winner … or scrolling my screen up and down while the girls close their eyes and then randomly pointing to a winner. so i started thinking we could do a guessing game … those are always fun and gets you thinking a bit. lol! but what could we guess? i thought about buttons … but that seemed a little tedious. then i saw my thread jar … loved the idea since i'm totally loving thread and string right now.

so here's the deal … post your guess with how many "things" of thread are in this jar! this is all embroidery floss. most of them are intact … but some have gotten bunched up since i'm no good at pulling the strands out neatly and usually end up with a tangled mess. but even my "bunches" of thread are still neatly put together. and if you're wondering why i have so much floss … i had gotten a good sized box ages ago from my mom with tons of floss that someone was getting rid of. and i also buy a lot of it … it's so cheap and you always need the color you don't have. lol! and just to help you out … this jar is about 8 inches tall (not counting the lid) and 7 inches wide. i have no more hints for you … because i honestly don't know how many are in there … havn't counted yet. i can tell you they're shoved in there pretty good. lol!

and what are you playing for?!?! the person whose guess comes the closest to the actual number of thread "thingies" in the jar … will win a layout made by me using a few of their favorite photos … along with some MM goodies. i thought that would tie in nicely with what i've been sharing these last few days. and i'll also send a few little goodies to the 2nd and 3rd closest guessers!

so start posting your guesses. i'll give you until thursday night .. and then i'll start counting. then i'll let you know friday morning what the lucky number was. which will work perfectly … because i have some other stuff to mail out this weekend too! good luck!!!

update: i'm closing out the comments as of now. figured 100 was a good spot to call "time"! lol! off to count!

sharing my last layout in my "inspired by photos" series tonight. this one is of megan's oldest daughter, raygan. megan has so many great shots of her … but i really wanted to scrap these photos. they were just fun and funky … just right for a girl her age. i mean, how cute is that jacket!

so just like her sister, sayler … no special story behind these photos that i knew of. so the envelope is there for mom to write her a note and tuck inside … for raygan to read down the road someday. once again, basic grey pattern papers … love the red, yellow, and blue together. and the envelope is from the april KOTM. when i printed the photos for this … they turned out a little larger than i planned. i know, i'm the one that entered the sizes … but sometimes i go bigger than i mean too. it left a little less room to play and embellish … but i think it worked out in the end. they were all such cute photos … i wanted to make them all as big as i could. lol! 

the border stickers, tab sticker, and label sticker are all creative cafe by creative imaginations. but all the other embellishments are making memories. and how fun are those puffy alpha letters? i love those things. i used some of the clear hearts again … and adhered them to yellow cardstock and then again to white cardstock. i added a rubon to each and then some star brads.

i really hope that raygan and megan like this! i tried to make it a really "cool" page … one that an almost 11 year old (was i right on the age … i'm trying to remember) would like. it's a tough age to please … i know my almost 12 year old keeps telling me that i'm NOT cool … which i know isn't true. lol! anyways … i had a blast playing with all these amazing photos. i want to thank megan once again for sharing her photos with me … and trusting me to do something good with them. it was so nice to feel so inspired  … and it really got my creative juices going. i can't even tell you how much other stuff i have gotten done in the last 2 weeks along with these. once i get in my "zone" … it helps with all the other stuff i have to get done too! i do question how i'll go back to scrapping my average photos after this though. lol!

and i appreciate all the great comments you guys have left me about these layouts! it always means a lot that you all take the time to stop and say "hi". so i came up with what i think is a cool giveaway. actually, i'll have a few … but one of them is a fun idea. anyways … that's all i'm saying for now. come back by tomorrow for the details! 

part 3 of my "inspired by photos" series … sounds so cool calling it a "series", don't you think? so you know by now that i was lucky enough to have the talented megan cristello share some photos with me. i honestly find great photos to be one of the things that inspires me the most. i had a hard time choosing which photos i wanted to use of her daughter sayler … so many great ones to choose from. she's the cutest thing … love all that long, curly hair! but i had to go with these photos here.

  

now, megan didn't have any special story behind these photos … at least, not that she posted on her blog. i think these were just photos that they took just for fun … and for megan to practice on them too, i'm sure. i know that's the majority of what my photos are lately now that my girls are older … i tend to do more "photo shoot" style then everyday snapshots. anyways … i just loved these photos and thought they'd be fun to play with. so my thoughts on this … was that megan could write sayler a letter or something and then stick it in the envelope. something that she could then read down the road.

once again, pattern papers are basic grey … and the envelope is from the april KOTM. the white scalloped borders are doodlebug paper frills … just added some rubons to them. the embellishments are all making memories. the glitter letter stickers and the glitter chipboard flowers turned out to work perfectly. they're a little more maroon … but really picked up the brown pattern paper.

i needed a bit more of the burnt orange color to match the envelope. so i took one of the large folders that came with the KOTM … and cut a large piece off to use. i then ran it through my cuttlebug using the swiss dot embossing folder. for the flowers … i layered some clear flower stickers with the glitter chipboard flowers … and then added a brad in the middle. i also used lots of pop dots on here for extra dimension … on some of the photos and also on the chipboard flowers.

sayler and megan … hope you like it as much as i do!