Serendipity gift cards

I promised to have a gift bag ready for a MOPs auction today and I have procrastinated terribly. As I was, um, researching (ie checking out blogs) this am, I found this post and came up with a great idea!! I made a little set of gift cards in a bag with serendipity, a new paper pack from CTMH that is available from mid December through the end of January. Super paper...very versatile!! TFL!!

Parenting with PeeWee Herman...

OK, so you know I am having a bad day when I resort to using Pee Wee Herman as inspiration in my parenting (can I be arrested for that...). My five year old is very high energy. I had a sleepless night and on my way to pick her up had an incredible and sudden sneezing attack. Trying desperately to keep the car on the road, I made it to the pick up line. She got in and gave the Kindergarten attendant who helped her a sweet little smile, almost as nice as the one reserved for Santa (see attached photo). Once safely buckled in she spun her head around 360 degree and spewed forth vile words and demanded I take her home. I decided right then it wasn't going to be a good day. That was confirmed when the peace offering cheese stick I tentatively handed her became a missile, narrowly missing my head, sigh...And then things got difficult. I managed to feed her some lunch and got a movie on. My sneezing finally subsided (What was that!!) and I had a little relief when she got stuck in the Close to my Heart catalog boxes that she had just ripped through. I debated the consequences of letting her stay stuck while I perused my new catalog, but decided against it when she started crying she had to go to the bathroom. That is when the Pee Wee Herman inspiration came. She wanted me to dance. OK...I did Pee Wee Herman's Tequila. She loved it. We found it on You Tube and she is now practicing it. I have posted the original You Tube here for your nostalgic pleasure and hope to have the Tina version sometime in the future...if not, its back into the boxes for her!!

Birthday Blues :o(

I found this card challenge on a blog today and I loved it! Here is my take on it. It is a birthday card for my DD who officially became a teenager today :o( We can all have a little pity party for me. Why didn't it feel like this last year when my son turned 13...I guess its the same reason I feel I should send a blanket apology letter to the parents of all the girls in my son's school, sigh...but I digress.
All the pp, cardstock, stamps, ink, and die cuts are from a soon to be released paperpack from CTMH called Serendipity. I also used stickles and machine stitching. Serendipity is a special pack available beginning next month until January.

I INKED!!

Yes, I know it sounds bad, but its a good thing. I always feel better with ink on my fingers. It comes from having parents that ran a silkscreen business most of my life!! Just a few cards, but I hope to actually complete a layout prior to ringing in the new year! I want to document on our new home...YES! We should close this week sometime. We closed in PA last week (thanks sooooo much Jack and Cathy! We love you!!) I have attached a sneak peek photo of the house though--the sweeping prom staircase photo (home requirement #841). The layout will give you all a better idea of the new Murphy digs...we are living on the soccer field!
One of the cards is a BOO card we made when we BOOed our neighbors. I guess we do Halloween BIG here (you know what they say about Texas!!) The house down the street has an enormous spider on her lawn (not to confused with the big snake that was living on my balconey, but thats a story for another day!!) Right now we are just enjoying this cooled down to 50 Texas fall (or as Nathan says, "like a nice PA summer day ;o) Its Fall, Y'all!!

The Power of a Praying Parent

I am sooooo glad I found this site. This is one of my favorite parenting books...basically because she puts it right out there...we can't do it without Him. I love The Power of a Praying Wife and have given it to more than one new bride (hey, sometimes the Honeymoon ends a lot faster than we would like, but that doesn't mean the marriage should!!) So, I am going to blog a little about this journey...there is a link back to the site where the study is being hosted...A Frog in my Soup (I bet there is a story there...)
This weeks chapter is Chapter 8 - Attracting Godly Friends and Role Models
I always felt this to be an important chapter. I remember too clearly how important peers were in influencing my behavior, and see that tendency in at least a few of my children. I have been guilty of being one of those parents that think that by carefully monitoring the kids and all their interactions, I could minimize any damage. Allowing them to attend public school when we moved here to Texas has been an absolute leap of faith...I must let go. I cannot control who they will meet in their life. All I can do is pray that they are led to peers who will bless thier lives...Or at least that they will learn to listen to that inner voice that says, "this isn't what I believe or want to do." Better now than later...

Why I do it....

My Grandma didn't do it...I know my mom misses her every day. I remember her death, at an early age, which took so long in her otherwise healthy body. So much I would love to ask her now...why do you do it?

Click to play | Make your own Smilebox

Happy Tax Free Holiday...

and other strange things that go on in Texas.
This past two weeks or so have been a major blur...lost a house, found a house, lost a car (moment of silence for my dearly departed truck :o( found a new car...lost a house. Sigh...But it wasn't without its moments...
I got to scrap!! I went to a crop at the Scrapbook Pad in Colleyville for a crop with Donna Downey. What fun!! I had a great picture taken with Donna that I will post when Josiane sends it to me (forgot my camera of course!!) The look on her face is priceless. I was saying I was going to post it on my blog while I told the world that Donna Downey called me a fat pig!! What she said was that I have a heavy hand (noted when I had trouble with an exacto knife)--heavy hand, fat pig...whats the difference, right!! And everyone thinks she is so nice, LMBO!! Just kidding, Donna, I love you (we Catholic Yankees need to stick together!!)and the class was fantastic. As soon as I finish it I will post and then it will be going to work with Shawn as his anniversary gift. Yes...once again, poor Shawn gets a delayed gift :o( He did buy me the car though and we are buying a house, so even though it is our 20th anniversary (you may applaud now!!) we didn't do individual gifts...but he gets to bring our "bloomin' family" to work to remember what his kids look like...
And he will need it. Poor Shawn is working all the time, and the kids are growing so fast. We took them school shopping (even though we don't have a school...they WILL be going!!) during tax free holiday here in Texas. What a trip...It was like Black Friday with no heavy coats!! And we saved over $600...Shawn was not impressed!! He asked how much do you have to spend to save over $600...men just don't get it :o)
I took some pics here of the kids in new outfits in case they grow out of them before we find a school for them to attend. The first is with our new van. The second is in front of our new church...St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Keller.

I wasn't born in Texas, but I got here as quick as I could....

Finally getting around to posting. Things have been sooooo hectic!! But we finally did our first "Texas" thing this weekend. We had chicken at "Babe's" If you come visit, I promise to take you!! Next door there was a cute little old fashioned candy shop, and the nice woman who owned let me look through her books for sale. Shawn was with us so I didn't shop ;o) but I will be going back for "Learn to Speak Texan in 30 minutes or less." Anyone need me to pick them up a copy when I go back!!
Just going to post a quick picture or two of the kids so you can see that they really are still here and I haven't done anything to them (well, except Mariah. She had her adenoids out, AGAIN).
The first photo is a rare Texas sighting of two mermaids sitting by the pool. Quite amazing, don't you think....They are doing that classic mermaid look (its that or Bratz...can't figure it out!) The other is the rest of the kids cooling off with Popsicles...except Nathan. Darryl had her very pretty niece visiting and he was busy being cool :o) No popsicles necessary!!
Well, I will try to post more often...chronicles of a displaced northener...y'all take care now...

Holly's Close to My Heart Jumpstart Party

Welcome to my party...we will try to go all weekend!! In between packing since I am Texas-bound (Did you all know that Texas is the home of the frozen margarita? We will get to that part of the party as time permits, but I digress ;o)

Quick recap of party rules...orders must be emailed to me at smurphy@echoes.net or hmurphy@myctmh.com and you can paypal me once I send you your total with tax and shipping. Shipping is from the company...I will cover shipping to you as a thank-you for coming to my party!

All my CTMH specials are in my newsletter on this site and if you order and need the new spring catalog (IT is super, btw!!) just tell me. If you only want the catalog, just email me. It is free, but you would need to cover shipping.

Finally, I will try to finish my projects I promised the Bunkhouse buds and post them on the site, but I will also post here in case you are coming from somewhere else...

LETS PARTY!!

Spring is Here...

I cannot believe I haven't posted since March 1 and here it is May 1.

I have started a new business since I last posted! I am a consultant for Close to My Heart. Close to my Heart is an acrylic stamp company that sell, um, acrylic stamps, cardmaking, and scrapbook supplies. Actually, the best products in the business which is why, if any of you remember before Tina interrupted my career path, I used to have a website for them. My new website is www.hmurphy.myctmh.com

At Close to my Heart we are running some specials this month...and I am celebrating my business grand opening, appropriately, this weekend on National Scrapbook Day. I will post some projects here and on my website on friday if you are interested. The company is also offering a special incentive with purchase for the month of May only...this beautiful 9x9 accordian album. Details on my website.

Dreaming of Summer

Did a summer layout today...not only did it remind me of warm summer days, but it reminded me why I love my big kids. Once they were really adorable!! I know I don't tolerate the heat well, but I sure do miss it in the dead of winter. And with another ice storm expected tonight...well, this is as close as I will get for some time!

Cabin Fever

With no dome to run around in still and temps often too cold to play outside, seriously scary cabin fever has set upon the Murphy home...and the kids aren't doing too well either! Luckily I have been able to take some solace in scrap therapy...unfortunately my scrap therapy makes Shawn crazy!! He was supposed to be winging to TX right about now but his boss canceled and is on his way to Germany instead...Hey Bill, if you are reading this, I think you should take Shawn, too. I figure if he goes to Germany for business, there is the possibility I can go one day, too. He could work all day while I sample, the, er, local customs ;0)

Tina is the only one who is really thriving in the snowy weather! She is a never-ending bundle of energy. She even wears Matthew out and I didn't think that was possible. I suppose it will serve her later in life if I permit her to make it to adulthood, ahhhhhhh. Nate and Mariah have been taking advantage of some down time to start taking practice tests for high school. Right now they are both looking at Scranton Prep...I am looking at soccer and basketball scholarships, sigh...

Digging Out

Though in PA, it seems impossible that we would still be digging out from a storm so far after the fact, this was an unusual one. The large amounts of water mixed in with the snow in the form of freezing rain made this snowfall very heavy. Everyone is worried about roof collapse. We have been there and done that ;0) so we felt immune (how many time can it happen to one family, right?) But everyone from a local library to our parish church had worries. Our local sports dome, the Playing Field was one of the businesses that did suffer roof collapse. It is one of the inflatable buildings...like a giant bubble. The children are there so much for soccer that it is like a home away from home. I was very proud of my family when they spent their Saturday with others from the community at a shovel party helping the family Dig Out! Even Tina got a shovel and lent a hand. We hope to get back to soccer practice very soon and our prayers go out to this family and any others who sustained damage in this very horrible winter storm.

The Great Valentines Storm of 2007

Barbie dined on my flowers...

But not us...not on Valentines day...Something about severe snow makes Shawn want to go for drives...or maybe it was the lack of appetizing choices for our Valentines dinner. Whatever it is, he piled the entire family into the dodge and we went four wheeling :0) I cannot believe I didn't bring my camera. I just didn't want to be cold and was pouting. What would be open...nothing obviously. The Chinese restaurant but it was take out only and we wanted ambiance (yeah with four kids in tow!) Not even a McDonald's, which I believe is against its contractual obligation to remain open all days except Christmas. I didn't even think we would be able to turn around anywhere. Finally, we spotted a neon light...Amore's; how appropriate. We piled in and hung out as far from the bar area as possible...and there we dined on a sumptuous feast of mozzarella sticks, chicken nuggets, breaded shrimp and fries...a repast for kings! Then it was back in the sled, er, truck to slide home again. A valentines day to remember for sure....thanks, honey...you are my hero :0)
I guess the only one who really dined in style was Barbie!

Its Beginning to Look A lot Like Christmas...

So I gave up and I am back here...my old new permanent home :0) We are just dying here in the cold…I thought we had some global warming going on? The kids have had two hour delays every day so far this week and I think THAT is the trend we will continue seeing for the future! I try to keep Tina in during this weather, but she doesn’t appreciate my efforts. Had to make a layout about the latest time she tromped on my warm and fuzzy mommy feelings! Hope you all are having a sunny day :0)