Liz 2.0

Craft-a-thon

2009-12-04T09:06:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday mom and I planned a Handmade Holiday Workshop and we invited lots of our friends. Well it was just us two of my sisters and one of our friends who wanted to make some things for his parents. We were a little disappointed but not really most everyone was out of town for the holiday. I had a LONG list of craft projects I wanted to work on. I only got two 3 I think (out of 8).
We set out a bunch of craft supplies and projects to share:

And idea books for inspiration:

Mom got a Cricut on Black Friday so we were all excited to use it during our craft-a-thon.

Rosie is our family expert but we all quickly learned how to use the machine it is super easy.

After this day I was totally sold on the Cricut I want one soooo bad!! It’s easy to use and Ken made this card:

Here’s another project completed with the Cricut (the top part). Assembly and composition

This was my all cricut project it’s an ornament for the ornament exchange.

Jessie painted a wooden train to look like Thomas and Jack watched her very closely giving her instructions on what color to paint each part.

Jack painted a box for me:

Even the husband got into things he did this box all by himself.

I also made bath salts for all the ladies at work (and one for myself).

My main project I spent most of the day on was making cargo for Jack’s Thomas trains. If you’re not familiar with Thomas trains there are cranes and engines with magnetic arms to pick up cargo and move it around.

I took some blocks from the kiddo’s toy room and painted them:

I decided to make some into luggage and others into crates and barrels. For the luggage I googled images of luggage stickers and cut them out and decoupaged them onto the blocks.

I then took wood glue put a dot of glue on top and hammered a thumb tack into the top for the magnet to connect to and pick up the cargo.

I’m really pleased with how they turned out and I sure do hope the kiddo loves them just as much!

So over all a really fun crafting day! Are you doing any crafting this holiday season???

A December full of FUN!!

2009-12-01T07:48:00.000-05:00

My my have you checked out my favorite digital scrapbooking site? There is tons going on over at DSP come join the fun.

Come join the Countdown to Christmas at DSP! Open a new door every day to get a new freebie and find a fun event!

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December Club Digital is here!
With Club Digital, get your monthly fix of the best digital scrapbook products for an incredible price! Something to suit every style and level of digital scrapper.
Club Digital includes two page kits, one plopper or overlay, a quick click template, an alphabet, some wordart, a font, and png stamps.
As a Club member, you also receive an exclusive coupon for the DSP Shop and can enter an exclusive contest for members only.

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Have you seen the December Winter Whispers Megakit?
It's so cool (get it?)!
22 backgrounds
70 elements
2 alphabets
1 exclusive font
Check it out in the shop now!

OOOOH be sure to check out my door for your freebie on December 4th at noon EST. YAY hope your December is full of FUN!

Thanks God for making my day!

2009-11-24T11:34:00.000-05:00

The last few days of coming to the office I didn't make time to eat breakfast at home. Sticking to our budget I didn't stop and get anything instead I ate a granola bar I knew I had in my desk drawer. It was decent not too filling but it was soo much sweeter sticking to our budget. We used to never say no to ourselves when it came to dining out. It was quick and EASY and on the way home from a long day at work we pass probably 50 fast food restaurants. The main road we live off of from the interstate to our street probably has 20 in maybe a mile that we drive on it. So the temptation is ALWAYS there. And when we don't plan ahead and pack our lunches or prepare dinner it sure makes it easy to turn into the drive through and spend and get that instant gratification.

Anywho that brings me to how God blessed me. The last few days I come into the office go to the break room and believe to see donuts sitting on the counter (we have a dunkin donuts right next to the entrance of our office park). Each day there were no donuts. Oh well I have that granola bar. Today I spent time eating my breakfast, got to work a bit later than I would have liked but my belly was full of toaster waffles :D. I asked my assistant if there were donuts in the break room she said no. :( bummer. Well about 11am one of our vendors came by for a meeting and what was in her hands?? DONUTS & MUFFINS!!!! YAY I was just soooo excited :D I was doing a little dance in my office chair. So now my belly is super full and I've got a big smile on my face. Sticking to our budget has been challenging but it has also given God so many ways to BLESS us! And I enjoy so much REJOICING in those little things God does to bless me sooo abundantly and to make my day!!!

That's my blessing I wanted to share for today. How has God blessed you today???

Handmade Ornament Inspiration: Wood

2009-11-24T09:22:00.002-05:00

Well sorry I haven’t posted another inspiration until now but you can read
why here. Today’s ornament inspiration is all about WOOD! There are lots of
options in this area but I’m going to pick 9 and hopefully you’ll have some to
share too, just leave a comment on this post. Here we go:

1. Rudolph the Reindeer Clothespin Ornament, ChristmasCrafts.com
2. Clothespin Poinsettia, familycrafts.about.com 3. Popsicle
Stick Snowflake, thriftyfun.com

4. Sequin
Mushroom Ornament, poopscape.com 5. Recycled Starbucks Cup Ornament, Loopsdesigns.blogspot.com 6. Silhouette Ornaments, rootsandwingsco.blogspot.com
7. Hybrid Birds, alteredobsession.wordpress.com 8. Woodland Snowflakes, pretty-ditty.blogspot.com

Here's a great tutorial at my favorite digital scrapbooking site on making Decoupaged Christmas Ornaments using a wood cut out.

I had the hardest time finding wooden ornaments. Send me your ideas please!!!!

One Busy Week

2009-11-20T09:31:00.001-05:00

Well it has been quite the busy week in my household. You may or may not know that my husband’s job was terminated and his last day was Friday 11/13. So thankfully I’m still employed and I’ve gone back to a 40 hour work week. It has been quite a transition for me. Exhausting to say the least. I’m in bed usually by 7pm each night. Ken’s been home all week he now watches the kiddo full time.

I think both of us have a greater appreciation for the rolls we play as primary provider and support staff LOL. While we are grateful that this situation will meet our need we are eager to get Ken a job and me going back to part-time.

We have evaluated our finances and while we were doing good we still will be cutting back a good bit to make our new financial situation work the best at meeting our NEEDS. Wants definitely will be on the back burner for a while.

We are both very thankful for the theme that our church has for this year, Making God our Sufficiency. Every time we attend fellowship, hear a sunday teaching service, read the way magazine we see how God truly is our sufficiency. We are uplifted and renewed in our conviction that God WILL PROVIDE!

II Corinthians 3:5:
Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God.

So I have been away from the blog for the week just working hard at the day job.

Hey all my Atlanta peeps I’d love it if you know of any job opportunities in the Finance/Accounting area let me know please!! Email me elizabethLmccoy {at} gmail or just leave a comment.

HUGS!!!

Great Couponing Article on Internet P...

2009-11-18T10:56:00.001-05:00

Great Couponing Article on Internet Printables

Over the last few weeks when my sister and I have been out couponing we've seen lots of people shopping using coupons. Their carts seem to be emptier and their hands usually contain an shopping list and a fist full of coupons. They stand in the isle and weigh the cost of each item. If that's not a sign of these difficult times then I don't know what is.

We've also heard that coupon policies at stores in our area have started to change. Stores are getting more restrictive and more skeptical. One of the reasons for this is fraudulent coupon usage! Sometimes people are just uneducated when it comes to coupons and use them fraudulently without really knowing or reading the fine print.

An easy way to accidentally be fraudulent with coupons is with Internet Printables (IPs). Please if you are using coupons you print from the internet please take a moment to read this article by Michelle @ I Heart Publix (one of my favorite couponing blogs) called Internet Printable Coupons.

The use of coupons fraudulently really hurts all of us couponers who try to play by the rules and get the deals legitimately. There certainly is room for all of us to get great deals using coupons appropriately.

Have a great day!!

Handmade Ornament Inspiration: Paper

2009-11-11T14:06:00.001-05:00

Handmade Ornament Inspiration: Paper

Since Liz 2.0 is hosting the 2009 Ornament Exchange I wanted to do some posts to inspire those of you participating. The inspiration for today is PAPER. We all have it and it's affordable, it's readily available, and it is light weight and easy to ship. Most of all it is VERSATILE! You can use old scrapbook paper, holiday cards from past years, photographs, you could even print out digital scrapbooking papers. There are lots more ideas out there using paper to craft ornaments. If you find any inspiring paper ornament ideas share them in the comments please!

1. Toilet Paper Tubes (Family Fun) 2. Paper Bird Ornaments (Famiy Fun) 3. Paper Drops (Family Fun)
4. Origami Wreath (Domesticali shared by Crafty Crow) 5. Origami Stars (Zen Crafting shared by Crafty Crow) 6. Glitter Snowflakes (Martha Stewart)
7. Recycled Ornaments (Martha Stewart) 8. Festive Photo (Family Fun) 9. Holiday Card Ornaments (Martha Stewart)

Holiday Ornament Exchange

2009-11-10T07:30:00.000-05:00

Inspired one of my favorite blogs, Crafty Crow, I’ve decided to do my own handmade ornament exchange this year.

The Details:

Open to kids and kids at heart (adults).
Fill out the form below. Sign ups will close at midnight PST on Sunday, November 20th. An email with your recipients will go out on November 21st.
You and/or your kid(s) will make at least 1 ornament and probably more it depends on how many people sign up.
The ornaments do not have to be 100% home made they can be premade with added decorations. We’re looking to have some crafting happening but there are no big rules on what type or kind of ornament. Keep in mind you’re shipping them.
Participants in the United States only please.
Try to keep your ornaments religion neutral. We have many people who celebrate the holiday season differently. Try gingerbread, snow, winter, snowflakes, trees, birds, etc.
Ornaments have to be mailed on or before Monday, December 7th! That’s a two week window to make your ornaments. We definitely want to make sure all the recipients get their ornaments in time for the holiday.

Have fun. Please let me know if you have signed up and cannot participate. We would hate to have someone on your list miss out on getting an ornament. Also if you have questions post comments after this post.

If you have problems with the embedded form please click here to fill out the sign up form here.

If you want an image for your blog/website to promote the exchange here you go:

What a Blessing!

2009-11-10T07:00:00.000-05:00

I'm stopping to take notice of the little things in my life that bring me joy and put a smile on my face. The ways that God blesses me each day. I want to share these things on my blog and with you all. They will have the label Blessings. There is no particular order nor will there be any kind of theme. Ideally I'd like to see this post happen every day. Maybe it will but probably not but I'll post as often as I can. Sometimes they'll have pictures other times not. It will just be something that blessed me that day.

I'd love it if you left a comment sharing one of your blessings too!

Scrapping the Cabin Trip

2009-11-09T06:58:00.000-05:00

Well I’m believing to get all my pictures from our cabin trip scrapped and put into book format before the holidays. I think Mamaw would love to receive one as a keepsake. I can share this here and it will still be a surprise because Mamaw has no access to the internet and probably no clue about this blog or how to even get to it. So shhhhhh all of you who know Mamaw no telling.

I really want to take advantage of one of the great artscow.com deals they always offer so hopefully I get this done by the end of the month and it should arrive by xmas.

Oh and if you remember my goal of printing something from back in September? Well this will help me see part of that come to pass YAY for goals!

So far I’ve completed five pages:

The Cabin

Click here to see the layout larger and to see scrapbook supply credits.

Amazing Views (Page 1 & Page 2)

Click here to see the layout larger and to see scrapbook supply credits.

The Scenic Route (Page 1 & Page 2)

Click here to see the layout larger and to see scrapbook supply credits.

Well that’s what I’ve got so far and I’ve just covered the beginning of the first day LOL. Many more pages to come. I really want to see this thing through and get a whole book of this trip done.

Have anything you think could inspire me? I’d love to check it out. Leave me a link in the comments!

If you’re interested in digital scrapbooking be sure to check out this site.

A new addition to the playroom!

2009-11-08T15:37:00.000-05:00

Lookie at what we found at a garage sale yesterday. A wooden play fridge! We’re very excited because it only cost us $5 (I was reluctant to pay even $5 but my sister convinced me it was a good deal). I am glad we purchased it I cleaned it up this afternoon and Ken trimmed about 1 inch of the bottom to remove some water damage.

I do want to do some work to it like fix the gaps. I thought about painting it? Perhaps adding some metal sheets to the front to make it magnetic, also maybe some sheet paper for the shelves? Not sure exactly which improvements I’ll make but right now it will stay as is all cleaned up in the kitchen/house play section of the playroom.

Here it is next to it’s kitchen companion. The other piece is from my mom’s childhood and mine. We played with this as our kitchen for a long time. So cool to have this piece. Glad to add to the collection. I’m sure this will be passed around the family over the years.

Watch out for future posts on this DIY project.

He put it all together just for me

2009-11-04T07:34:00.000-05:00

Sights like this just remind me of Gods love for his children, and how thankful I am to be his daughter.
Starting my day with a thankful heart.
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Photo Editing Software Winner!!!

2009-11-02T07:23:00.000-05:00

YEAH!!!

iclickpix you’re a winner!! send me your mailing address to elizabethlmccoy{at}gmail.com and I’ll get it right out to you!!

And don’t forget all the great digital scrapbooking tutorials for Paint Shop Pro and other digital scrapbooking software at DSP.

Day Out with Thomas!

2009-10-31T22:30:00.000-04:00

Saturday we skipped the normal Halloween festivities and headed nearly four hours away to Cordele, GA to meet THOMAS!!

Our day started off pretty icky heavy rain up here and an accident on the highway not 10 miles from the house. We prayed about it and stayed peaceful got through the traffic and were soon back on our way. We had to stop in McDonough to pick up some Thomas trains and stuff I had purchased off craigslist.

Still raining.

Things were still moving slowly. We decided not to eat at the event but to stop at chick-fil-a for lunch instead. We had a good lunch stopped by Walmart to pick up a jacket for Jack. Found a pair of Thomas jammies too for the ride home.

There was certainly an opportunity to be discouraged and concerned that it would rain the whole time. I was convinced we’d have a great time and the weather would be great I prayed about it and gave it to God.

We were still an hour and forty-five minutes away. Finally we got there! YIPPIE!!!! Oh and it wasn’t raining!!! Looks like it hadn’t rained at all in Cordele!

Well we were in the town but we still had about a ten minute drive to Veterans Memorial Park where Thomas was waiting :D We were all SUPER excited!!! We found a parking spot around 1:45 and hopped on the trolley to ride back to where all the fun was happening.

Mom had looked down the track when we were driving in and saw Thomas so on the trolley we were all waiting to see Jack’s face when he saw Thomas for the first time.

WHAT A SMILE! I don’t think I’ve ever seen him smile soooo big!!! The whole time we were at disney we NEVER saw a smile like this one! We ALL were BEYOND excited by this point. We KNEW it was going to be a good time.

We picked up our tickets at the will call booth and started to check things out. We stopped first at the play area where Grandma and Jessie crafted a bag with Thomas stamps and Jack and I played on the play tables they had set up.

There are lots of pictures like this. A half smile and not quite looking at the camera. There was so much to look at and do that stopping to take a picture was not something he wanted to do.

Kenny and Grandpa B enjoying watching Jack in his element playing on the train tables.

After the train tables we all got tattoos! Jack was proud of his.

We got him to leave the upper level and head down the hill to check out what was going on and see what else was available. Walking down the hill they had banners of different trains. Jack did a great job posing for each one so mommy could take pictures.

First up we got in line to meet Sir Topham Hatt the wait? Nine minutes! Not bad! He is still shy with big headed characters and didn’t want to go up by himself, so I went with him. He warmed up a bit towards the end and put his arm around him.

Next up was the hay bale maze. I loved this thing! Sooo much fun and perfect size for the little ones. I soo want to figure out something like this for one of his parties. I followed behind him as he made the decisions on which way to go. Smiles all around!

Then Thomas arrived back from his latest trip and we saw him and his express coaches!! SOO EXCITING!

We decided that it was a good time to get in line to see Thomas. Hmm where does the line start? Where is the line? WHAT THERE IS NO LINE WE ARE THE LINE!! YIPPIE!!!

He was happy to see Thomas and he cheesed it up for the camera! YAY! We got some good shots too.

Aunt Jessie got in there too.

We still had time before our 3pm train ride. We played some putt-putt, daddy helped.

We met a Thomas driver!

Then we moved onto the bubbles.

Okay so I LOVE bubbles they’re so much fun!!

We stopped by the gift shop before our train ride and Jack got blessed with 2 new engines. Rocky and the golden diesel.

Next up our train ride!!!! YAY!! Here is the inside of an express coach.

We sat in the dining car at tables which was great for Jack to play with his new engines.

The train ride lasted 25 minutes at first Thomas pushed us then he pulled us. We traveled over water and saw some pretty scenery out the window. Well us adults did the kiddo focused mostly on the new engines. At this point it was three something and he hadn’t had a nap. The rocking of the train was quite relaxing but didn’t quite put him to sleep.

At the end of the ride Jack and Jessie received their certificates. They were now Jr. Engineers!

After the train ride Grandma, Daddy, Grandpa and Jack went back to see Thomas again to take some more pictures

Jessie and I took one more pass through the gift shop. I found one book I want to get but am believing to find it much cheaper some place else.

After revisiting with Thomas and thanking him for driving us. We could no longer keep Jack from the tent with the TV playing Thomas videos. Kenny and Jack watched some episodes. I chatted with some of the event volunteers. The lady I talked to shared how she has worked this event for the last three years. I asked if this is a typical turn out. She said normally Saturdays are about 2,000 people. WoW! I don’t think we had 500 ppl there the whole time we were there. God certainly blessed us! No wonder we could do so much without waiting in line and we could do things over and over and over!! YAY!!

This is how “crowded” it was.

We finally convinced Jack to leave the TV tent to go back up the hill to play with the tables a bit more. I got some shots of him and grandpa.

I crafted a bit with the stamps that was fun! Jack played more on the play tables. And grandma and Jessie got him a balloon sword from the balloon artist. He had a table all to himself. Yay God thanks for the small crowd it really made for a peaceful fun time.

It was time to go get some supper…this was the hard part. LEAVING! Removing a three year old no nap all day toddler from his personal heaven on earth was tough he cried a bit but calmed down once the trolley got moving.

I cannot say enough about this event. The volunteers/workers were amazing, so friendly and helpful. The coaches we rode on were air conditioned and comfortable. All the activities that were free with admission really gave something to do while you waited. The lack of crowds and rowdy kids really made for a SPECIAL day. It truly felt like everything was there just for us!

There was a bar & grill at the marina in the Veterans park so we ate there for dinner. It was VERY good food! We walked around the marina a bit enjoying the cool weather and looked at some of the boats. After almost falling asleep at the dinner table we went outside and Jack got his second wind and danced on the stage and ran around a bunch to get some energy out.

It was finally time to leave Cordele and get back home we had a long drive ahead of us. On the way home I was so pumped with how wonderful the day had been. Everything we wanted to do we got to do (and then some) we had a peaceful time and were not rushed or stressed. God blessed us greatly and answered our prayers beyond what we could imagine!

Thanks to my husband for driving us to and from the event. So glad that grandparents and aunt Jessie could come too. We all shared about our favorite part and I think for us adults it was seeing Jack light up and be so excited. And of course Jack loved all of it!

Good Morning

2009-10-22T09:19:00.000-04:00

How great it is to see blue skies!
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

FONT SALE!

2009-10-19T13:05:00.001-04:00

FONT SALE!

Who loves fonts??? ME ME ME!!! DSP has a big Font Sale going on right now!! Hop on over to http://shop.dsp.me and get on on these great deals.

Check out all the fonts on sale!

OOOOH LOOKIE!!! You can even get your own handwriting font for 41% OFF!!!!! That's a fantastic deal!!!

Get your personalized handwriting font right here!

Oh and look you can get my handwriting font too!

Mini Mountain Vacation: Day 3 (Part 2)

2009-10-11T15:28:00.000-04:00

After finishing our excursion out this day we headed back to the cabin. Papaw had told Kenny that it was a good ride going left at the flower pot and that it circled around. So Ken decided to go ahead and turn left at the flower pot. ACK!!! I thought going right at the flower pot was steep.

Maybe in Papaw’s big truck going left at the flower pot is a good idea and probably pretty easy. In our little minivan not so much! For a couple moments there I was a bit nervous…okay a lot nervous we were crawling up the road. EEEK that sure was an experience. Mamaw in the middle seat next to Jack and I was in the back seat we both were back there trying to be calm but also expressing our unhappiness of taking a left rather than a right at the flower pot.

There were more cabins along this stretch of road and wow look at those beautiful blue skies!

Once we were back at our cabin it was time to take family pictures. One of the goals for this family reunion was to get some pictures that we could all get up on our walls and in our wallets :D.

Well it’s needless to say I took a gaggle of pictures! Sadly the tripod never made it into the car when we were packing so the self timer was out. Thankfully Tracy was there to get the picture of the whole family.

So let’s do this.

While everyone was getting changed and ready I just took some fun shots of Ken and Jack. Ken doesn’t have a natural smile :P and now the kiddo’s picking that up too. Can’t say this is my favorite picture but it sure is a blessing to have a decent shot of the two of them.

Jack Cheesing it up for the camera.

Cooper striking a pose.

Papaw helping the big kids play tic tac toe but they just didn’t get it. That didn’t stop them from having fun though.

Cute shot of the big kids.

Took some pictures of Lisa and her kids.

And Tim and his kids. Look at Pman’s face :P he just was not into it.

Next up Mamaw and all the great grands

A silly one of the kids

The Papaw, Grandmacoy, and Mamaw with the grandkids.

The McCoys

Everyone! (Thanks Tracy for taking these shots.)

One of Mamaw and her grandkids

Grandmacoy and Jack-a-mo

I got a few of Jack and his bestest friend, Moosey Moo.

We got a picture of our family (thanks lisa) YAY!!

Phew…man it is hard taking pictures of so many adults with kids who just want to play :D we had the candy out and were bribing away. It worked pretty good. But by this point we were all pretty much done with the pictures. I just was believing God that we got some good ones.

Before dinner Papaw, Tracy, Mamaw, Ken, Jack, and Me all piled into papaw’s truck to go exploring in the new section of the neighborhood. I think Tim & Lisa were packing up their van to leave after dinner.

We drove up to where Ken and I hiked the day before. More steep roads

Pretty views taken out the window of the truck.

A little bit of nature.

There was a little park with a bridge over a mini creek, a shelter nestled in the woods. It was a pretty site. Jack cheesing it up a bit more for the camera.

I got a great picture with my kiddo (thanks dad!)

And we got a picture of the whole family together (thanks again Tracy)

A shot of the little picnic shelter.

And a shot down the creek. We would have walked further but because of all the rain the ground was very saturated and we could have sunk in.

On the way back we stopped by a neighboring cabin and walked on their wrap around porch to catch this amazing view! The best one the whole trip. They have to love having that view.

A picture of Jack snapped quickly on the way back to the truck. Just makes me smile looks like he’s got his hands on his heart to show LOVE.

Then a quick look and a smile at mom. I LOVE THIS KID!!!!

When we got back to the cabin there was still some time left before dinner was ready so I got out the bubble pack I had bought for the trip. The kids and I had lots of fun playing bubbles and making a big soapy mess!

Can I just say that bubble pipes ROCK!!! Absolutely way too much fun!

After the bubbling was done it was time for supper! Lisa made some yummy bbq pork we all ate outside and enjoyed the conversation.

After dinner the kids had fun on the porch swing. Boy did they have fun!! And Pman even put down his blanket to smile really big for us. They wanted to go faster and faster and higher and higher. Us adults really had fun watching them all giggling and having a blast.

It was time for Tim, Lisa and the kiddos headed home (boo). That meant it was our last night in the cabin, and we were headed home tomorrow too.

Once dinner was all cleaned up all of us adults wanted a rematch of Phase 10. OH MY HOW FUN! The game went on forEVER! We started up stairs in the loft and we kept Mamaw up for a while but she couldn’t stay up for the whole time.

I can’t remember what was said but I do remember that Mamaw said some HILARIOUS trash talk. Rick and Sandy were winning most of the time. Then we moved back down stairs where it was more comfortable and play really heated up. Guess who won? ME!!! but guess what our scores were? In the 600-800’s!!! That’s just CRAZY!!

And there you have it. Day 3 ended quite late but it sure was a great day!

Mini Mountain Vacation: Day 3 (Part 1)

2009-10-11T09:09:00.000-04:00

Well here we are our third day on vacation and our second full day at the cabin. Same schedule this morning. I think most everyone had pancakes I had coffee and a bagel for breakfast. I think I was showering during everyone’s breakfast.

Jack, Dad and I played a bit of peek-a-boo in the bedroom…”Jack-a-mo where are you???”

Papaw had been telling us of a nearby town called McCaysville and something about our ancestry. So we decided to head on over to the town to see what was up. This was also the end I believe of the scenic railway route. We didn’t want to miss out on family fun time so our family went too. It was a cool morning over cast but thankfully not raining as it did every night I think.

We snapped a couple pictures before we left of Jack and Abby. The cute ones-

The super hero shots:

Dad even jumped in there to get a shot with his son. What a bummer the sun was shining so bright on Jack’s face

This is sooo my kid right now, every question or statement is emphasized by putting his hands on his hips. LOL It’s just too funny to see.

We all piled into the 2 minivans and headed out to McCaysville. Our minivan had our family, Papaw & Mamaw. We had a great time fellowshipping in the car. I think it was nice for Jack to have a bit of one on one time with them. Both Ken and I mentioned it was one of our favorite parts of the trip.

So we arrived in McCaysville…Hmmm I cannot say I was remotely impressed. Don’t get me wrong small towns are awesome and I enjoy just walking around and seeing sites but this town was pretty boring. Not sure if it was the wrong time of year or if it just isn’t a touristy town. We opted for the driving tour. I snapped pictures from the back seat of the minivan.

We did stop by the Woodland Express Mini-Mall. An antique store filled with different seller’s booths. I like those kinds of stores. The Owner or worker was sooo friendly. If you find yourself in McCaysville be sure to stop. He definitely had some great personality and was willing to chat.

I found a vintage kids accordion for Jack and a Big Boy bobble head for our collection.

The guy at the mini mall suggested we eat at this diner at the end of the block. I definitely would not recommend this restaurant. Our service was great the food was much less than special and for the price definitely not worth it. We sat on the patio and wouldn’t you know it that is when the sun came out and it was HOT! I did like the location of the restaurant it had an outdoor patio right on the river that ran through town. the kids liked looking at the ducks and the water.

Not too many pictures again today I wanted to make sure we gave Jack lots of attention again today.

We did take a couple pictures while sitting at the table. There was this random totem pole next to our table.

The river.

A mini photoshoot of Jack on the bridge. Did you know it was difficult to give direction to a 3yo. Plus he definitely is growing into his dad’s goofy smile LOL.

I liked the bridge don’t think I really captured it how I wanted in these shots but here is one of Pman.

After lunch we took up the advice of the guy at the mini mall and headed over to Mercier’s Apple Orchard. WOW now we know where everyone in the area was they were here!! I highly recommend heading over to Mercier’s Apple Orchard if your traveling through or staying in the blue ridge area. Well worth the stop this time of year. This is not a pick your own kind of orchard it’s the store front. Of course there were apple tasting and apple juice and cider. YUM YUM. And OF COURSE fried pies and fritters and all kinds of baked goods.

A running joke/story this whole weekend was that Mamaw was nervous about bears. She’d look out the window at night and see a shadow and get a bit antsy. We didn’t see any bears the whole time well until we went to the apple orchard so I had to get a picture of Mamaw with her bear.

And while we were waiting for the rest to ring up their orders we got a shot of the 4 generations.

Oh and speaking of baked goods. OMG!!! The Apple Fritters WERE ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!! they were as big as a sheet of paper…and freakin awesome!!! I tried the fried pies but those just aren’t my thing. But my word those fritters MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM. My mouth is drooling right now!

They also have a cafe there at the orchard shop and turns out we could have eaten there. Personally I would have much rather spent more $$ eating at Mercier’s than the place we ate at for lunch (ICK!).

Oh and they had lots of great goodies to buy at Mercier’s one thing I really really really wanted to get but it was a bit too expensive for me was this game called Find It Game it was an ingenious design, the whole game is contained in one tube. It was like a Where’s Waldo, but ever changing.

Here is the description from their website:

A creative game that never needs to be put away. Find It is ideal to play anywhere: at home, in the office, in your car. People of all ages will enjoy the hunt for the hidden objects buried within the layer of recycled plastic pellets. Alone or with friends, everyone will enjoy spinning it, shaking it, and twisting it until all the objects are found. Can you find the hidden penny…?

It definitely looked like lots of fun!!!

This was our last stop out and about today, next up part 2 heading back to the cabin, family pictures, and dinner!

Mini Mountain Vacation: Day 2

2009-10-10T10:08:00.000-04:00

Our first morning in the cabin we woke up early. Ken's brother, Lisa, and the kids were already up. I got my coffee started and not more than a few minutes Jack was up and ready to go. The big kids and I decided that the loft area was going to be our clubhouse.

We decide to eat our eggs and biscuits in our club house too.

The TV turned onto FitTV so the kids had fun exercising to a hip hop aerobics routine.

The younger boys stayed down stairs and played trains here is one of the many configurations of the day:

I forgot to mention that last night Grandmacoy fell on the toys and hurt her wrist. After icing it last night her wrist look pretty bad this morning so Papaw and Tracy took her to a local emergency room to have it looked at.

After breakfast was all cleaned up we just hung out for a while. I saw Mamaw and P-man out on the deck and P-man had a huge smile on his face but as soon as I put up the camera the smile went away. He’s a toughie to capture but I still think this picture was really sweet.

Then Mamaw tried to help me get a smile…hehehe thanks Mamaw

The kids were getting restless so Tim, Lisa, & Mamaw took the kids into town. This is where a backyard probably would have come in handy.

We wanted to spend time with the extended family but we opted to stay at the cabin and take advantage of enjoy being together as a family.

Jack was already tired we had stayed up late catching up with everyone. After we got dressed we just chilled out for a while watching Thomas and Ken took a nap and I used the computer for a bit. Jack just was not his normal self. We both were a bit concerned so we just let everyone chill and relax. After a while of relaxing we wanted to get moving and decided to take that photowalk/hike up to the top of the mountain.

The cabin had some gorgeous flowers the roses were just soo pretty!

Another shot down the mountain road headed to our cabin.

Ken pushing the stroller up the mountain.

Resting for a moment. Look at the angle he’s standing -

A view of back down the road to our cabin.

Here comes the fun part-yikes! Look how steep!

Even I got in on the stroller pushing action. Thanks for this picture!

WHAT A CLIMB!! WAY TO GO HONEY!! Sure am glad Ken was there to really push that stroller up the hill…err MOUNTAIN! I think you can see how steep the driveway was from this shot of Ken pushing the stroller. Once we got up to the top we took another family photo with the timer and the tripod wrapped around a stake in the ground.

My boys!

YAY!! I sure love my family!

There were some gorgeous views. At the top of the mountain was someone else's cabin. Just imagine what it would be like to be up so high with these amazing views. Even with the overcast skies and low clouds we still felt like the views were a wonderful reward to the hike.

Jack fell asleep on the way back down the mountain. Oh my word I think it was more of a workout going down the mountain. Ken had to hold the hand brake on the jogging stroller to maintain control.

I found a little bit of nature on the road

It was a great hike though and a great time as a family and a great time for Ken and I to talk and enjoy our time away from the everyday. Once back at the cabin Jack was still sleeping and everyone else still in town we decided to take advantage of the hot tub and we got to fellowship more and talk about things that are going on and our goals for the next few months. It was a blessing to get to have that time together. After the hot tub Jack was still asleep in the stroller on the porch, we played a game of uninterrupted pool and then some wii! That was fun.

We learned during this time that Ken's mom was going to be fine and that her wrist was badly sprained but not broken. Both groups had meet up in town and were coming back to the cabin soon.

Jack woke up a little bit before everyone got home but as usual with an afternoon nap it takes more patience and cuddling time for him to get back to a happy boy. So I rockered him and sang to him on the porch rocker all wrapped up in a fuzzy blanket. Everyone got home but he still wasn’t ready to play so I took him up to our porch swing and swung a bit.

Turns out we had made a good decision not going into town with everyone as their dining experience was really a horrible one. Everyone was back at the cabin and dinner was soon made, hamburgers & hot dogs made on the grill. I rested before dinner with a terrible headache, also why there aren’t any pictures I just didn’t feel like taking any.

After I ate I felt much better, and it was time to play Phase 10 with Mamaw.

Let me share a little side story with you.

When Ken and I were dating/engaged over 6yrs ago we went down to West Palm Beach to vacation and stayed with Mamaw. She has a great community of friends her age and weekly they play Phase 10 for money. Well we got in on the game while we were there and Kenny won all the little old ladies’ money!! (It’s a nickel a round and a $1 for each player in the pot) And he took it!!! I always joke with him about this and found it funny.

We hadn’t had a chance to really play Phase 10 with Mamaw since then, but we knew this trip would be a perfect opportunity. Mamaw even brought a brand new game to play with. She wanted a rematch.

We didn’t have nickels for the round so each of us put a $1 in the pot.

We played for a while, phase 10 is not a quick game. It was late by the time we finished but guess who won??

ME!!!!! It was a good game lots of ups and downs and good competition all the way to the end. I was excited for the $4 I won I figured I could hit Starbucks on the way home :D

Well that’s the end of Day 2 of our mini mountain vacation.

Lastly I’d like to share with you the kind of tripod we used for our p&s I highly recommend it. I tried using it with my dslr but my camera was just too heavy. I think they do make ones that accommodate larger cameras. Mine is pink :D and I picked it up on clearance at Target the week before we left for like $5. It’s a Targus Digital Grypton Tripod. I’m not brand specific you can get many of these style of tripods at many stores. If you’re using a p&s get yourself one you’ll appreciate being able to steady your camera for those important shots and you’ll be able to bend those legs around almost anything!

Mini Mountain Vacation: Day 1 (part 2)

2009-10-09T19:00:00.000-04:00

So we left off and Papaw, Grandmacoy, Mamaw and Tracy had just arrived at the cabin. This is the second time that Jack has met Mamaw, Ken’s paternal grandmother. So it was great to see him so friendly and warm to her right off the bat. I was able to snap this shot which I plan to frame for Mamaw. Bonus that they kind of were color coordinated too!

Another shot of the view off the deck, sun was setting more here and the colors are prettier at this angle too.

We explored and unpacked and were excited to be there together. We were still waiting on Ken’s brother’s family to arrive. We were super excited they were able to make it Friday because our sister-in-law Lisa had not been feeling well at all. Later in the day we found out she was feeling good enough to make it that night. YIPPIE!

I had brought a gift for all the family and left them in their rooms. Pictures of Papaw and Grandmacoy and a family shot we took at Jack’s birthday party. They were framed and placed in each room. Grandmacoy got bigger pictures from our beach photo shoot framed for her birthday. I never shipped them so I brought them to the cabin. I’m glad I brought the pictures along I think it added something personal to the rooms and the cabin. I’m thinking this will be something I do for many of our vacations.

Yeah we’re all here!!! Look at all the smiles! (sorry for the blurry pict p&s)

Lisa & Tim had brought all the groceries and goodies so we helped them unpack and get the food put away. We had spaghetti for dinner and ate together and then Mamaw got all the kiddos little goodies and they were excited and blessed with the presents. After dinner the kids played with the trains and the Grandparents and the Great Grandma all enjoyed being with the kiddos and helping them play. I just love this picture of Mamaw and all the grands so precious definitely a picture to treasure.

Watching of the children happened for a while. Jack enjoyed getting to play with his cousins. Ages are from 4-2.

There were some goofy faces…

And a bit of wrestling…

okay maybe not wrestling it was more like Jack trying to help Cooper up but he really didn’t need help.

Thomas videos played nearly non stop all weekend.

Grandmacoy and Papaw took the kids downstairs to explore and check out the pool table. We all ended up down there watching the kiddos have fun rolling the balls across the table and into the pockets.

The night concluded (atleast with my picture taking) outside with papaw on the swing with all the grandkids having a great time :D.

Well almost ended…the last shot of the night was this goofball:

Day 2 coming up next!

Mini Mountain Vacation: Day 1

2009-10-09T16:00:00.000-04:00

Friday was our first day of our vacation. Ken had the whole day off and it was our goal to leave early around 9am and to take our time heading up to Blue Ridge, GA. We definitely took our time but we didn't make it out of town until mid day.
Our travel up to Blue Ridge was not bad at all only a couple hours away from home. I couldn't believe how many garage sales there were the whole way. GEEZ that was hard to drive by with out stopping. Although I did convince Ken to let me stop at one. (no Thomas Trains)
We made it up to Blue Ridge by 4pm and to the cabin rental office to get the keys and the directions to our cabin. We were given 2 sets of directions one was the scenic route and one took the faster highway. We had time so we took the scenic route it was WINDING and CURVY but definitely scenic. Here are some pictures I took along the scenic route.

We turned a bend and were greeted by a horse right at the side of the road his head stick out over the fence saying welcome McCoys!

We saw some cows grazing:

the road was sooooo curvy, we recommended the other travelers take the highway route. With papaw’s driving and poor Cooper’s car sickness it definitely would be a stomach turner for the other cars. Seriously though, why is there a curve in this part of the road??? LOL that’s how it was the whole time winding and curvy curvy curvy.

You’ve got to love driving down the road and finding a sign like this, we didn’t see any horses crossing the road but we did see some under shade and drinking water from a creek.

The cabin was middle way up a mountain, and boy oh boy I was not prepared for how steep the gravel road was to get up there. Little did I know the roads that led to our cabin were easy compared to the other roads going up the mountain. You just can’t see how steep it is from this picture just believe me.

We made it!!! The cabin was sooo pretty to drive up to, we were the first ones there so we got out and explored a bit.

We were excited to be away from the everyday and to enjoy ourselves.

We took some pictures and were going to go exploring the cabin. Here is the view from the back deck:

We had 8 adults and 4 kids coming on this trip so we need a cabin that would accommodate a large group with space for kids to play and for the rest of us not to feel like we were sitting on top of each other. The Azure Ridge Cabin was PERFECT! Each family had their own room with a king size bed and both single ladies had their own room too! The cabin was beautifully decorated!

The only downside was the lack of yard. From the photos online it seemed to have a bigger back yard and not so much of a hill. But it certainly wasn’t a deal breaker it did rain a lot while we were there so we definitely wouldn’t have used it. The kids did play a little bit in the front drive.

Here is a shot of the back of the cabin our room was the top deck we got out there once and I held Jack on the swing while he woke up from his nap. That was a sweet moment.

At this point we were still waiting for Papaw, Grandmacoy, Mamaw, & Tracy to show up so we decided to get things together for a photo walk as a family. I took a shot of my boys on the front porch swing. This was the only spot that Ken had cell phone reception. Of course my cell phone stopped working somewhere along the way to blue ridge. Which I was okay with it was nice not to be tethered to my phone the whole weekend.

Here are my boys taking some pictures:

And we managed to get a family shot with our p&s on one of those flexy tripods bent onto the stroller handle:

We were on our way to walk up the mountain when Papaw’s truck came driving up the road.

So we ended our photowalk and showed everyone around the house and they picked out their rooms.

This was a busy weekend there is lots to share so this will be continued in the next post.

Goodies in the Inbox!

2009-10-08T14:02:00.001-04:00

I absolutely LOVE getting an email from Barnes & Nobles with this inside!!

Why?? Because it means I get 25% off (15% with coupon + my 10% member discount!!) the only thing I buy at B&N and that's Thomas Trains. Have I mentioned that the kiddo is completely obsessed with Thomas & Friends?? To try and calm down his need for a new train every day we instituted Train Tuesdays in our house. So each Tuesday he gets a new Thomas & Friends Engine. I've become an expert on where the cheapest places is to buy them. He knows every trains name and which ones he has and doesn't have. Any gift or goodie he gets that not a train engine he could care less. The kid is in LOVE with Thomas Trains.

You also may or may not know that Thomas trains are EXPENSIVE!!! He collects the wooden railway series and they are some of the most expensive trains on the market. So when I can get a good deal on them I'm all over it. I became a member of B&N just for the discount on the trains LOL. Which by the way it has been totally worth it! HOwever we almost have every train that B&N sells right now so we haven't been going as much there. We know of 2 local train stores that we frequent, we also shop Target and ebay. (Used trains on ebay are EXPENSIVE TOO!!)

LOL isn't it sad what I get excited over? When I got the email this morning I totally had to share with my husband. Yes very sad what I get excited over these days.

Anywhoo....if you happen to see some Thomas Trains at a yard sale or thrift store let us know!!!

Watching a big truck

2009-10-07T16:23:00.000-04:00

Grandma's car had to be taken to the shop so we all watched the tow truck pick it up.
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GIVEAWAY: Want to start Digital Scrapbooking?

2009-10-06T08:26:00.001-04:00

Hey as you know I’m big into digital scrapbooking! Hey do you want to get started in digital scrapbooking?? I’m giving away a copy of Paint Shop Pro Photo XI!!

Once you win check out all these great tutorials for scrapping with Paint Shop Pro:

Completing Your First Paper-Style Page [PSP]
Completing Your First Graphic-Style Page [PSP] [PSP12]
Brushes Palette [PSP]
Blk & White Image with Selective Color [PSP]
Dramatic Photo Effect [PSP]
Enhancing photos [PSP]

Once you’ve played around with those tutorials check out all the Paint Shop Pro (PSP) tutorials available at The Digital Scrapbook Place, Inc.

HOW TO WIN!
So if you want to win just leave a comment sharing why you’d like to win this software and why you want to start digital scrapbooking. A winner will be picked by random selection using random.org on November 1st. Please share the give away with friends too! Tweet it and share it on facebook!

Please make sure I have a valid email address for you when you comment. I want to be sure to be able to contact you when you win!

Shoes for today

2009-09-21T09:20:00.000-04:00

We've got yet another day of rain. Last night it rained all night. The lake is as full as we've ever seen it! School is closed for our county due to flooding in some areas. I think this is like the 5th or 6th straight day of rain.
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