Laura Vegas

last week i mentioned haley had a birthday. the girlie turned 1! she’s at that super fun age where she’s more toddler than baby … and her personality is growing so much. i wanted to share a recent picture of her … and realized the most recent picture i have is the one i used for a layout last week. so i’ll just share that.

i used some fun paper and sticker from SEI on here that i got in a goodie box from scrapbook trends last month. and some other stickers and brads from making memories, and plastic letters from heidi swapp.

trying to catch up a little today. i came down with a major head cold yesterday after our soccer games … and it pretty much wiped me out all night. so needless to say … i got nothing done. i’m still feeling kind of out of it … real woozy. so we’ll see what i can get done!

about a month ago i was asked to host a month long challenge over on the making memories blog! we're creating a "what i'm thankful for" mini album. want a peek?

go check out the mm blog for all the details. and then come back by each thursday in november (and there are 5 of them) for another challenge and another page to add to your album. hope you'll all play along!

just wanted to share a few photos from our halloween. i know they’re not your typical spooky, dark halloween shots. why didn’t i ever think to take pics during the daylight hours before? they’re so much better than trying to get a few shots right before heading out the door to trick-or-treat. i actually took these right about 6:00 … so it was only about 30 minutes or so before it got dark. gotta love my fast lens to make it look so light!

we’ve got alyssa, the soccer player.

and sarah, the little devil.

then we had a little "bad kitty cat" stop by … amanda.

i think she was more "good kitty" than "bad kitty" … but that’s what she insisted she was. lol! the 3 girls all headed out trick-or-treating together as soon as it got dark. about 1/3 of the way, amanda’s parents met up with us and we all chugged along street by street for about an hour and a half. the girls had so much fun and got way too much candy. we ran into so many other kids we knew. one of the funniest houses was one that gave them each a choice … a tootsie pop … or a package of microwave popcorn. they were smart and took the popcorn! i think our favorite house was our neighbor’s ziek and ayana … they gave us an entire pizza! which was much needed since we hadn’t had any dinner before we left.

and this cracked me up. sarah decided to clean up some of our leaves by the front walkway. my poor child doesn’t even know a broom from a rake! lol! i thought it was funny the other day. alyssa and sarah were telling me that all the leaves in our front yard made it look like we had an abandoned house. not sure where they got that from! i love my leaves … although they are starting to make quite the mess.

all in all … a good halloween! hope everyone had a safe and fun night!

thank you all for your kind comments on yesterday’s post. i know you all have no idea what i was talking about … and yet you were all nice enough to give me some uplifting words to make me feel better. and you know what … i do. i totally owe you all.

 

first up a layout. i got some fun product from dude designs about a week or so ago … they asked if i wanted to play with some of their stuff and see what i could do with it. such fun, colorful product. and when i read the quote "dude. it starts with color" on their website? what could be more true. i love color … it’s what inspires me. i’m all about bright colors too. this is the first layout i did … love that journaling block with the little dude on it. i actually have about 5 more layouts started with their product … but i didn’t want to wait to long to share this.

other random stuff:

• speaking of "dude". one of my closest friends … otherwise known as "my email BFF" (love ya barb) … you should hear us talk. that’s how we refer to each other. "dude". i don’t think we do it in our emails too much. and admittedly we don’t see each other all that much even though we live so close. but right now it’s soccer season … so we see so much more of each other. and i swear we both use the "dude" so much. with each other … and with all the kids. love it.
• we had an earthquake tonight about 8:30. i totally thought the girls were jumping around behind me or something and started yelling at them. we were upstairs … so it felt pretty crazy. the girls were a little freaked … i think this was one of their first earthquakes. i checked around and found out it was centered more towards the bay area (about an hour away) and registered a 5.6 … so it was a pretty good one. and is it bad that the first thing i worried about was the idea that all my embellishment jars where going to come crashing off my shelves?!?!
• we never made it to the pumpkin patch. and i was feeling really bad about that. then i talked to quite a few other friends that never made it out either. so i don’t feel so bad now. i never carve the pumpkins anyways. lol!
• why is it every time i buy a half gallon of milk … we run out super quick? but when i buy the gallon jug i end up throwing out half of it because we don’t use it?  same thing with cheese. i buy the smaller blocks of cheese and then we don’t have enough and use it for everything. but i buy the larger block and it sits in there and never gets used and then i have to toss the moldy thing. i know … this was a totally out there random fact. not sure where i plucked that one from!
• has anyone gotten into that new show pushing daisies? i had about 4 of them all on my dvr that i hadn’t gotten to watch yet. there was so much hype with this show and i read all these great reviews on it. and i have to admit … i’m somewhat intriqued and yet totally lost when i’m watching it. i got through 2 of the episodes … but was completely lost on the episode with all the giant daises and the daisy car. since i’m so behind on all my regular shows … i deleted the others without watching. you know what will happen if i stop watching it … it will be a huge hit and become immensily popular. and then i’ll feel left out because i’m not watching it.
• do you not love my ability to babble on and on about totally useless stuff? i can probably talk endlessly about all the shows i watch and do not watch.
• time change this coming weekend … looking forward to it. usually that signals the end of soccer practice. not the end of the season … just practice, since it’s too dark to do anything. i always have to adjust some with it getting dark out earlier. when it’s dark and there are still daycare kids here … and i’m wondering why they’re still here when it’s dark. i feel like they’ve stayed too long. and then when spring comes and it stays lighter out … i start feeling like i’m getting off work early because the kids leave and it’s still light out. lol!
• i lost my focus the last 2 days and what free time i did have was spend over-analyzing and worrying. so now i have to get some photos finished up … i did a little headshot mini session with a friend of my mom’s neighbor (got that?) and i promised them a few days ago. i also have an assignment that i need to finish. i actually dug out my mod-podge for it … that was messy. although it’s only half-way done … and my girls were amazed at how i had changed something totally plain into something that is already pretty … and i havn’t even added the fun stuff yet.
• our little miss haley is having a birthday this week. she’s turning one. how crazy … they grow so fast. she is so much more a toddler. she’s still extremely attatched to me and likes to be right next to me and held a lot. but secretly i love that. although not so much when everyone else is demanding stuff of me. lol! but i do love that girlie. and she is taking about 5-7 steps now. i bet by next week she’ll be chasing me around the house! she was taking some steps this afternoon and all the older kids were whizzing by her and she was so intent on keeping her balance. i got everyone to slow down and watch … and then you hear everyone in unison … "ahhhhhh"! it was so funny. i kept saying "our little haley girl is all grown up". good thing baby nikolas is here to fullfill our baby needs. lol! i have some recent photos of haley … so i’ll have to share those … they’re not on my harddrive right now.

guess that’s enough for one night. hate to overwhelm you with all my randomness all at once! will save some for later!

maybe i shouldn’t be here posting. but i am. maybe i shouldn’t share some of the stuff on this blog about how i’m feeling. but i do. maybe i should censor what i say. but i don’t. in fact … this blog may be the exact thing that helped bring about this day.

all i know is, it’s been a bad day (totally insert that song from the end of american idol right here). a rough day. an emotional day. sometimes you feel like things are changing … maybe when you’re not ready for them to change. and when they do change … it’s not for the reasons you thought it would be. sometimes you understand the reasons … and sometimes you don’t. this was one of those things that i don’t understand. i mean … i get parts of it and i see where it may be coming from. but i don’t "get it" … and i won’t pretend to understand it.

it’s something that will take some dealing with. and it won’t come easily. it will effect us in many ways … my girls included. i’m taking it very personal … so i know i won’t just let it go and be willing to readily accept it. there are some things that you can’t just overlook and get past. and while i do truely hope i can get past it … i’m not so sure. to me, it questions who i am and what i do … and i hate that. because i know who i am and what i do … and i know it’s all good. not perfect … but good.

and i’m truely sorry to anyone that that has felt the need to question that.

i actually have about 5 completed layouts sitting here that i have to share. but i’m holding onto a few since i submitted them for current calls … thinking maybe i jinx myself when i share to quickly. lol! so i’ll share this one since i decided not to use it.

not a bad layout … just not one of my favorites. i have those layouts every once in a while that just don’t come as easily to me … that just don’t have that "something" that makes me love them. and this was one of them … but it’s done and that’s what counts. and the fact that i did something with alyssa’s birthday pictures from her 10th birthday … over a year ago? i don’t know what it was with those pictures … they just took me forever to do. the poor girl was asking me for almost a full year to get her party pictures printed. lol!

so the others will have to wait a few days. i’m also playing around with some product from dude designs … i have one layout done and 5 more started … so look for those later too.of course i say this going into a new work week … so not sure where i’ll find time to finish all these things. lol! and this week is halloween … that takes up a night! and i can’t wait until thursday … i have a big share on thursday!

ok … off to try and squeeze a few shows in before bed. i really should start watching tv on the weekend … because i’m really falling far behind. "brothers & sisters" just started recording at this very moment … and i still have the last 2 episodes of that to watch! if i get off the computer now … i can get 3 whole shows watched before bed! it’s all about time management people!!! lol!

i found this on erika’s blog tonight … a randomly fun little question and answer thing. these things are great for when you have nothing else to blog about. lol! and i love the total randomness of it.

1. are you taller than your best friend? no, about the same average height as most of my friends

2. do you have a favorite type of pen? pentel r.s.v.p. in black … no particular reason i like this pen … but i hate when anyone takes it

3. look at your planner for october 28, what are you doing?  absolutely nothing … good since we did way too much today (the 27th). although come to think of it … me and the girls may have to brave the pumpkin patch with the other kazillion people out there

4. what color are your toenails usually? during the summer they’re  a dark mauve color (i’ve used the same color for years) … during the winter they’re bare

5. what was the last thing you highlighted? i don’t think i highlight anything

6. what color are the curtains in your bedroom? dark red

7. what color are the seats in your car? green … a dark teal-ish green

8. have you ever had a black and white cat? i’m NOT a cat person

9. what is the last thing you put a stamp on? the newspaper renewal payment … since i couldn’t pay it online

10. do you know anyone who lives in wyoming?  no

11. why did you withdraw cash from the ATM the last time? we never use the atm … does the debit thing at the register count … we use that when there is no cash left in our pockets. lol!

12. who is the last baby that you held?  nikolas … our newest daycare baby

13. can you spell well? no … and my family is always letting me know. and no … i don’t care if i spell wrong!

14. do you like cinnamon toothpaste?  yes

15. what kind of car were you driving 2 years ago? chevy venture mini-van … the same one i’ve been driving for 8 years

16. pick one: miami hurricanes or florida gators? is this some sort of sports thing … i have no idea

17. last time you went to Six Flags? 2 months ago … i had the most hilarious blog post about it that i’m determined to print out to scrap with the pics

18. which show currently making new episodes should be cancelled?  "spongebob squarepants" on nickelodeon … i can’t tell you how much i detest that show. and it’s so sad that my mind goes straight to kids shows! lol!

19. closest thing to you that is yellow? i’m in my studio … so i’d have to say cardstock

20. last person you gave a business card?  i actually do have some business cards my dad had printed up for me with all my scrapping info … i sometimes give them to people when they ask for my blog address

21. who is the last person you wrote a check to? my brother … to pay for joe’s spot in the next golf tournament

22. closest framed picture to you? i’m upstairs in my studio … and am realizing that i have no framed pictures in this huge loft area at all … just pictures laying around on layouts

23. last time you had someone cook for you? this morning … joe made bacon, sausage, and tator tots

24. have you ever applied for welfare? no … and is it bad that when i worked in grocery i hated dealing with wic coupons and food stamps? sounds mean since some people deserve help … but we got all the people in our store that took advantage of it

25. how many emails do you get in your inbox daily (excluding spam)? on average, maybe 10-15 … although some days are quiet and i’ll get maybe 2-4. lol!

26. last time you received flowers? i think it was my birthday back in june … my neighbor’s 3 yr old daugher, ayana, brought me some daisies that she picked out for me

27. what is the weather like?  right now (at 11:30pm) it’s 62 degrees out … we had about 75 degree weather this afternoon

28. do you play air guitar?  no … but i play a mean air drum

29. has anyone ever proposed to you?  yes

30. do you take anything in your coffee? i’ve never even tried coffee … hate hot drinks … but love the frappacinos

31. do you have any Willow Tree figurines? i don’t know what these are … so i have to say "no"

32. what is/was your high school’s mascot? we were the "warriors" … some sort of warrior dude with the helmet on

33. last person you spoke to from high school? i don’t think i’ve spoken to anyone from high school since the day i graduated … 19 years ago … how sad is that

34. how often do you use hand sanitizer? never … but i do wash my hands all the time. lol!

35. would you like to learn to play the drums? no thanks … my air drums are much quieter

36. what color are the blinds in your living room? white … although i don’t really have a living room … our living room/dining room is known as the "playroom" … and they are covered with about 2 inches of dust right now!

37. is you furniture cloth or leather? cloth

38. last thing you read in the newspaper? i only read the ads, comics, and horoscope

39. what was the last pageant you attended? have never attended one

40. what is the last place you bought pizza from? papa murphy’s

41. have you ever worn a crown? maybe one of the dress-up crowns from the girls

42. what is the last thing you stapled?  some ribbon on a layout

43. did you ever drink clear pepsi?  never tried it

44. are you ticklish? yes

45. last time you saw fireworks?  last time i saw them was the 4th of july … but i hear them from our rude neighbors all the time

46. last time you had a Krispy Kreme doughnut? few years ago … they closed the one out here

47. who is the last person that left you a message & you actually returned it? i’d have to say deneen

48. has your mailbox ever been full? not often … but it does happen every once in a while … then again our mailbox really isn’t that big

49. do you have a black dog? no dogs … alyssa is highly allergic

50. can you give one reason why David Caruso is allowed to keep acting? no … he’s terrible though … never liked him since nypd blue

51. are you an aunt or uncle? unfortunatly, no … which means sarah has no cousins (alyssa has tons on her dad’s side though … so they’ve become sarah’s cousins in a way)

52. who has the prettiest eyes that you know of? besides my own girls … i’m going to say alison and michaela … they have the most gorgeous blue eyes ever!

53. last time you saw a semi truck? funny … 2 of them drove down our street a few hours ago … i think they were lost

54. do you think people lie on these surveys? i don’t think so … i know i’m pretty honest

55. what is something you know you need to do, but you keep making excuses? i have about 10 things in my pile on the kitchen counter that i "need" to do … but i don’t really make excuses … i just plain forget to do them

geez … that took me forever to do! this isn’t really a tag thing (at least i don’t think it is) … but feel free to play along if you want!

havn’t done this in a while. here are some totally random thoughts spewed from my mind.

• last week i was walking to school to get the girls. and another mom stopped me and told me "there you are again with another cute hat. you are always such the stylish mom around here" … and then she told me that it really takes a lot of confidence to wear hats. i mumbled some sort of embarrased "thank you so much". what i really wanted to say is that it would take a lot more confidence for me to go without the hat. lol! i always wondered if people thought i was just trying to be "cool" with the hats every day. i want to tell people it’s a necessity!
• i got about 20 photos ready to print today. i’ve been pulling out a lot of 4×6’s lately from my orders through winkflash … which is easier. but i still love choosing all different sizes and printing them myself with pages in mind. i sized them up, put borders on them, collaged a few, and have them all arranged neatly on 3 pages that are ready to print … which is actually enough photos for 6 different layouts i have all sketched up. and it only took me about 2 hours today (during a good nap day) to do all that. just have to plug in my printer and hit "print".
• watched the movie griffin & phoenix last night … talk about a tear jerker! i don’t usually cry much … except when i watch makeover shows. lol! but this movie had me the entire time. total chick flick.
• we still havn’t hit the pumpkin patch … and i’m really trying to think of when we can fit it in. i usually take the girls to a smaller patch … less people and fun photo taking spots (without the kazillion people running in front of you). but i though maybe this year we’d go to the big one with all the stuff that older kids like. but the place is crazy busy. and i refuse to go there on the weekend … there are probably over 1000 people there easy. not my thing. still trying to find a time.
• had to go get some birthday gift tonight … and remembered to get some more knobs for all our cabinets upstairs. i ended up at target and found they were all on sale. all the downstairs ones are the more polished silver … the cheapest knob i could find to be honest. but i got 3 different kinds for upstairs. shiny, chunky silver for our bathroom … matches all the faucets. a fun, more glass like knob for the girls bathrooms … cost a little bit more, but they only have 4 knobs in their bathroom. and for the hall cabinets and bookshelf doors … a brownish, bronzed oval knob. which looks good since all the darker studio furniture is right next to them … and yet they sort of remind me of footballs the more i look at them. lol!
• now that all the knobs are switched out … i’m mailing off all the chunky, gold knobs to a good home! i just knew when i said i didn’t like those old knobs … that someone else out there would love them. cyndi commented that they were her dream knobs. so guess what … she gets them all (she did send me $$$ for shipping because 75 or so of those suckers are heavy!).
• i have this obsession with my dvr. i love going through the dvr several times a day … even though i only watch tv at night after the girls are in bed. no one else in the family deletes anything from the dvr … that is my job. actually the girls just keep all their show on there … that way if we’re taping stuff and can’t actually watch regular tv (not sure why we shouldn’t be able to record and watch at the same time) … they have shows that they can turn on and watch. but i keep my eye on it … and anytime a new episodes of one of their shows is on … i delete the older episode. and joe doesn’t delete. so i always have to figure out which of his shows he’s watched … and then i delete them. we record a ton since he works nights … and watches shows in the morning when he gets home. the dvr records 100 hours of tv … and yet i panic when i have 30 hours used up. lol!
• i know i was behind last week on my tv watching. i have watched a ton of the shows i had recorded … and yet i’m still behind. i actually realized that just between wednesday and thursday nights i have 7 hours of shows … gossip girl, private practice, dirty sexy money, ugly betty, greys anatomy, hot shots … can’t remember the other one. luckily those are my busy nights. and sundays … desperate housewifes, and brothers & sisters. most other nights are just a few misc shows.
• yes, that’s probably too many shows!
• the kids are all off school tomorrow. they told me the teachers have meetings. what the heck … do your meetings on your own time! lol! next week is normal. the following week is conference week … meaning half-days all week. then they have a monday off the next week. and the next week (thanksgiving week) they all go off-track on wednesday (another half-day). meaning they’re all home with me for almost 6 weeks! i almost feel like i need to take a vacation day to myself to mentally prepare for this … and yet i can’t find a day to take off in the next few weeks. sure i could just pick a day and let everyone deal with it. but i like to plan it so i inconvenience as few kids as possible. which isn’t working out. lol!
• i really want to turn my blog into a book. there’s a spot that will literally "slurp" up your blog and then make in a hardcover book … photos and all. i started working on mine last january. but then realized that i might need to switch out all my photos on my blog to the original full-sized versions (all my photos on here are resized). which sounded like a ton of work. but i really would love to have this all in print … i think it’d be awesome to look back on and read. will have to find some time for this.

guess that’s enough randomness for one day. i swear i think of these random things all day … and i always think to myself "i have to blog about that". and then when it comes time to sit and blog … i forget all of it.

don’t you hate it when you waste time? i lost 25 minutes of my life tonight that i’ll never get back.

the first 15 minutes was wasted trying to kill a moth. seriously! the sad part is that i’ve been in more pain today than any other day in months. and no, it wasn’t a "i’m sore from the 10 minutes i spent working out last night" kind of pain. it was more of a "i’m going to curl up in the corner and cry because i hurt so much" kind of pain. i can take a lot of pain these days … it’s normal for me. but today though was nothing but normal. just another thing i wish i could bottle up to share with people sometimes. i hate to complain because i’m sure my friends are sick of hearing it … but i can’t even explain how much i hurt.

but that being said … put a flying, freaky moth in my house … and you’ll be sure to see me really move! pain or no pain … i’m not going to rest until the thing is dead. that sucker was huge too. i picked up a baby blanket that was laying there and just started swinging at it. at one point i thought i had it … but then i moved a few toys around and it came flying back out. my mom was here dropping off the girls after awana’s at the church … and she tried to get it too. we spent a good 5 minutes trying. but then it disappeared again … so she left and told us that it really wouldn’t hurt anyone. so NOT the point! i get the heebie-geebie’s just thinking about something flying around me. i started moving things around again … and sure enough, it came flying out from behind the girls backpacks. i eventually did smack the heck out of when it finally landed on the wall. i can sit and watch tv tonight in peace … and without fear.

the other 10 minutes that i wasted was trying to find a layout on my blog. i got a call from scrapbook trends today asking for one of my layouts for the march issue. as always, i needed to remove the requested layout from my gallery and my blog. i know i shared it on here. and i know i took the photo in the first part of june … so the layout had to be after that. but after searching through the months over and over … i’m giving up because i just can’t find it. so if you see a layout on here called "pretty" with a picture of alyssa … let me know! lol!

as i was searching through my blog though … i did start skimming through some of my posts. i had some funny ones! i really need to start using my blog as the basis for some of my layouts … some funny stuff about the girls and things they did or said that would make for good layouts!

i was tagged by erin a few days ago … and am just getting around to it. i’m so bad at these things. and i’m totally breaking the rules … because honestly i’m too lazy and tired right now to tag 7 people and to go let those 7 people know that i tagged them. lol! so if you want to play … tag, you’re it! so i’m supposed to list 7 wierd and/or random things about me. one would think this would be easy. in fact … i’ve gone this numerous times in my blogging life! i’m going to put my own twist on this and list 7 wierd and/or random things about my day today.

1. i had a better day today than i had yesterday … which is wierd because today i had 9 kids total in my house and yesterday i only had 5 kids. usually more kids does not equal an easier day.
2. today ariana asked me if alyssa had a mom. how long has she been coming here … she knows sarah and alyssa live here. i told her "yes, alyssa does have a mom" … and she asked me what her name was! lol!
3. i’m still not understanding the stink factor with soccer socks, shin guards, and cleats. the bedroom closet just reaks with the smell of it … since we keep their bags in there. i stuck an air freshener in there … but it’s not helping too much. and i wash the stuff. and it is still the most horrid, knock you off your feet stink. i want to bottle it up and send it to everyone just so they understand how serious this is!
4. i got my poster prints yesterday in the mail. i actually put a photo in the empty frame that has been on my family room wall for over a year now. and i have 3 brand new 18×24 framed photos to hang in the playroom … 3 larger than life photos of my girls. they look awesome leaning up on the shelves. they’ll look even more awesome once my mom comes and hangs them on the walls (hint, hint)!
5. i worked out for about 10 minutes tonight on our excersise thingie in the bedroom … while waiting for the girls to get home from soccer. it nearly killed me! chronic pain disease and exercise (i seriously can’t figure out how to spell that!) just don’t mix … i don’t care what they experts say!
6. speaking of soccer … only a month left! whoohoo! so looking forward to having our tues/thurs nights back to normal … and saturdays!
7. as of today … i cannot accept any more party invitations. lol! my poor fridge is covered with party stuff. we have invites for 4 just this weekend … along with a couple of soccer games and i’m not sure where the "relaxing" part of the weekend is supposed to fit in.

did i do ok? was that wierd and random enough? probably more random than wierd. actually that was sort of like my random postings that i’ve been slacking on. lol!