I am ADD....

I started to sort thru and purge scrapbook stuff....
found this piece of paper.....
and it inspired.....

....this!

I get off task easily.
Love Melle

Just a little somthin'....

Postscript....

I can't go back to work tomorrow after Fall Break without documenting The Seminole win over the Gators last night 21 - 7!! woopwoop

Just wanted to share what I made this week....

This is the only "note" card I finished, but I have 7 more almost done :o)

I finished this angel, but I think it looks more like a fairy....not sure what to do w/ it yet, but I liked it :o)

and played with this too; not sure if I'll go w/ the butterflies or

if I'll go with the flower....time will tell :o)

Night Night

Melle

Blogging is similar to scrapbooking....

Similar to scrapbooking, I'm so far behind I'm not sure where to start and discouraged 'cuz there is so much to share.

Excuses, I mean explainations?
Why yes!
-I've been laptop-less off and on for a few weeks. Not that I can't blog from what I call, our family PC, but cuddled up in the covers just before bedtime is by far my favorite time to work on the computer.
-And, when I have worked on the blog, I'm sad to share, but Blogger (the website I create my blog on) has not been cooperating, especially while wanting to include photos.

Anyway, all that out of the way, let's get started!

How about this photo? It's festive!

1. If Facebook has done anything good for our society today, it has provided thousands of people with chances to re-connect with old friends. A few weeks ago, thankfully, I reconnected with yet another good friend from my past....I mean way in my past, but she had proof I did use to work at Disney - it's my only proof! See, take picuters now, we can sort them out later! Yep, that's me on the left, my friend Barb is in the middle and our friend Gina is on the right.

2. Embarking on the traditional 4th grade field trip to St. Augustine, McKenna says she had a wonderful time! Here she is pictured with some friends Savannah and Kylee. It's about 5 in the morning....yep, which means we left our house about 4:15, and yep, that means I was up about 3:30....not our first time having to do this and probably not our last.....

3. Getting ready for Halloween around here includes Book-o-ween costumes for school. Actually, this is McKenna's last one, so I wanted to make sure I helped "make" it extra special. One of her favorite book characters is Felicity who is an American Girl from 1776 and I actually made her dress....I couldn't believe it!

4. I also love that Book-o-ween has evolved into each team of teachers at work chosing a book to do together. So tickled that I could influence their decision! A cute book called Mouse Paint about three mice who find 3 jars of paint (and what happens to the colors when they are mixed together...one my students know very well!).

5. I love that we spent the first weekend of our Fall break putting up the Christmas tree together complete with Disney's monorail.

6. Thanksgiving Day was exactly the way I love it, time with family and lots of yummy food.

Learning the recipe secrets, McKenna helped Grandma with the sweet pototo casserole.

What a feast! So glad my mom and Bruce could share it with us all.

Black Friday has long been a tradition before it was called "Black Friday". We meet my friend Pam and her family (something we've done since we were 14) at the Avenues Mall this year just outside of Jacksonville for an entire day of shopping. The girls and I hit our favorite stores as fast as we could which included The Disney Store and Build-a-Bear!

Okay, well, thanks still to Blogger giving me a hard time while trying to move photos around ( and all the extra spaces, sorry!), this post has taken hours to complete, but these little beauties are waiting for some "note" cards out in the studio....let's hope I get to go work on them, the weather is PERFECT for it.

(I'm also working on invitations for McKenna's 10th birthday party - let's hope I can get those done too!!)

Thanks for not giving up on me!

Best wishes,

Melle

It's been one of THOSE weeks....

This past week:
grades were due,
yearbook cover art was due,
not one, but two swim meets were scheduled,
luckily we only had one.
(by the by, kicked butt; girls and boys team UNDEFEATED this year - woopwoop).

This week:
included Special Area Parent Night,
a date night with my sweetie,
and somewhere in there.....somewhere in all of this, my first born celebrated her 17th birthday.

And this weekend....well, THIS week will end with our annual Book-o-ween Parade which means making costume this weekend.....

(sorry book is sideways - Blogger will not load correctly tonight)
McKenna's book is American Girl Doll Felicity.

Costume, check.
Bedtime, check.

What's up?

You know I don't like to post with out photos to accompany my babble, but tonight that just might not happen. Urgh.
I've spent the afternoon updating the classroom blog with a variety of photos and two slideshows. None of these tasks are difficult, just time consuming, especially when technology is not cooperating. Urgh.

So what's up?
1. It's been a slow steady cool rain all weekend. It's been nice, but a reminder that summer is over.
2. I had hoped to work on McKenna's Book-o-ween and Halloween costumes, only to experience set backs this weekend.
3. We've sold a record number of yearbooks this year which took me several hours yesterday to tally that info (and that was after someone else had already completed 2/3 of that info).
4. I haven't downloaded any photos to the yearbook website yet.
5. I haven't created the yearbook cover yet. It's in my imagination, but hasn't come to fruition yet.
6. I'm one whole day caught up on my grades at school.
7. My honey's birthday is this week - woopwoop!
8. My nephew's birthday is this week too - woopwoop!
9. Andrea's 17th birthday is a week away - OMG!
10. And I missed the Grand Opening of one my most favorite stores on the planet today. SHE Scrapbooks has a new location. I can't wait to see it!

Now you know why there's no photo with this post.
It's been a nice average week. And I am grateful.

Peace :o)
Melle

tonight....

if I can only stay awake to post one photo, it needs to be this one

This is how my beautiful daughter looks right after she just swam her personal best in the girls 100m butterfly this weekend at the Mid FL conference in Orlando. Out of 17 schools, the girls swim team placed 5th and the boys took FIRST!!

So proud.


Love,
Sleepy Momma

.....and in September

September 10th McKenna attended her first FSU game;
Andrea attended her second;
and Melle attended her third.
September 10th was the first time we went with the Danleys - Michele, Kurt, Kaden and Mikayla and it was soooooo much fun!!!!!!!!

"F-L-O-R-I-D-A S-T-A-T-E, Florida State, Florida State, Whoo!"
Seminoles won on September 10th; Charleston Southern 10 - FSU 62




September 11th, we especially remembered those of 9-11




We used to celebrate the day of my birth on September 11th, but 10 years ago, that day changed forever. If there is anything good that came out of those attacks, I'm glad now, that we honor those who have fallen in the line of duty.
On this September 11th, I couldn't have been more proud to be married to a firefighter/ paramedic and on this day, I couldn't have been more proud of Scott, my husband who was the lone bagpipe player.


September 15th, was our annual Reading Celebration at school. This year the students made pinwheels....sort of pinwheel flowers if you will to go w/ the Rainforest theme....well, okay, it was a stretch, but I wanted PINWHEELS!

the results: better than I imagined!
The students painted the paper with watercolor and a wonderful parent volunteer put together all 400 of them, but when the kids carried them and then used them in their Rainforest song during the play.....Priceless.

September 16th - "The King has returned"
If you can't name what movie that line is from, then I know we can't be close friends.....
The Lion King is my all time favorite movie and when Disney was re-releasing the Lion King in theaters for two weeks, 3D or not, I was thrilled!!
I announced to my students that I'd be there at the theater in The Villages and some actually met me there! Okay, two families with 5 kids between them (and a few of their tag-a-longs), but some kids really did come and it too was a lot of fun!!
and tonight, September 18th, we finally celebrate my and my mom's birthday with our traditional dinner at Kotobuki Japanese Steakhouse.....in fact, I'm running late now, but so wanted to get this posted.

If you see this, check back again, cuz I'm sure it needs editing and I home to add a video from the students singing....

Peace!
Melle

Top 10 Reasons Why I Love September

1. There is just a hint of Fall in the air.
2. The warm colors are my favorite.
3. My dear friends Sue and David were married 20 years ago this month :o).
4. My mommy was born this month.
5. Me too!
6. So was that dear friend Sue
7. and Tomie dePaola
8. McKenna will attend her first FSU game; Andrea will attend her second.
9. We'll get to attend that FSU game with another dear friend who is the biggest FSU fan I know :o).
10. And Lion King is being re-released in theaters in 3-D.

It is a month chock full of things to do including a Magic School Bus prop for a play at school for The Reading Celebration and a school yearbook to get started. But I am grateful for it all and I can't wait!!

Love to you!
Melle

Saturday R and R

"R and R" means "Really, Really tired" which is why I needed some Rest and Relaxation!
Yesterday, as I told my mom, we 3 girls were hermits.

Hermit - as defined by:
1. A person who has withdrawn from society and lives a solitary existence; a recluse.

Not to be confused with Herman's Hermits the British rock band from the 60's, of which who have a website for their adoring fans. You can click here to visit it.

Also not to be confused with Kermit the frog....it was not a typo....click here if you'd like to see the trailer for their newest movie set to come out in December.

By Friday I was so exhausted that I even canceled hair appointments for McKenna and I. All I wanted to do was order pizza and tackle the stack of Netflix videos that had piled up on my dresser. Of course the ripple effects of canceling hair appointments will be felt for weeks.

So Saturday, we did nothing.
So, if you called me.....
If you emailed me.....
If you knocked at my door....
I am so very sorry that I didn't respond.

Today, we started to assimilate into society again, so by tomorrow we'll be ready to hit the road in full speed. None too soon either as it promises to be another long week with late nights. McKenna's Open House is Monday, Tuesday is mine and Andrea's swim team has their first meet on Thursday. However, the 3 day weekend is on the horizon....and Friday is jeans day.....that makes it all worth while :o).

Just two more things to mention before I close and finish those grades I need to enter....
Procrastinate?
Who me?
Nope.
You know me better.
No, you don't need to bring up the post I wrote a few months ago (okay, it was exactly a year ago...that's weird).....are you sure I wrote something about being a Master Procrastinator?
No, you really don't need to go HERE to remind me!

On Saturday, I did do lots, I means loads and loads of laundry and I did finally get to play in the studio. It had been FOUR weeks since I sat in there. I was going through withdrawal!
(I didn't actually draw the flowers....plz! Those are stamps, but I did paint w/ watercolor and acrylic. It is extremely relaxing for me.)

These will eventually look something like this:

And most of you know, but I am so psyched that The Lion King is being re-released in theaters for two weeks in September!!!! It'll be in 3D....that's cool, but not as cool as getting to see The Lion King on the big screen again.


I can't wait!

Have a great week ya'll.
Love,
Melle

Bustin' a button!

This momma is so stinkin' proud, I can hardly take it!
Today, August 15, 2011.....first day of school.

Did ya see it?
Andrea sportin' her new Fine Arts Academy uniform shirt and McKenna sportin' a Safety Patrol Belt (on the first day of school.....hmm, hmm).
Andrea has only one more "first day of school";
McKenna still has 8 more.
Thank you, God. ;o)

I don't know why I do this to myself every year....but let's reflect together, shall we?
Ready?
This was Andrea's first year at The Villages Charter School:

It was the year 2003 and she was in the 3rd grade.

This was McKenna's first day at The Villages Charter School:

It was the year 2005; McKenna was starting PreK - 3 and Andrea was starting 5th grade.

If you squint your eyes and blink 3 times like me, you can almost still see those sweet little girls inside of these two lovely young ladies. Go ahead - squint! Pleeze, for my sake. Tell me my sweet little girls are still in there somewhere.

And this was just last year......

MOMENTS before Andrea's new backpack strap broke and McKenna's giant bottle of hand sanitizer's pump nozzle shattered into pieces.....

Yes, indeedie.....this year was off to a much better start.
Amen.

Last Night

Lookie what I finished....

and

My dear friend Kendra had all the confidence in me that I could take pictures at the beach.
Whoa!
It was lots, lots harder than I thought!
I even had 5 very patient subjects and it was still a lot harder than I thought it would be.

It was windy.
It was sandy.
The sun was extremely bright. (dah)
It was hard to see the review screen on the camera, yes, because of the glare, but mostly because of my own impaired vision! I needed my sunglasses on because of the glare, but needed my reading glasses on to see the settings on my camera.

Kendra said, "lesson learned", and boy was she right!

Well, thank goodness for Photoshop.
Photoshop and I have a love/hate relationship. I love what it can do, but I hate trying to learn how.

Kendra, you are a sweetie to believe in me and I love you for it!
Melle

today...

blogging.....I wonder if I remember how.....

Let's start with TODAY and I'll work backwards from there....

Today, right now, I find myself with a rare 40 minutes to "kill" while waiting for my first day of my first ever yearbook conference (unless of course you count my 3 year's worth of journalism conferences when I was in high school and my one FAME conference when I was in collage....but since it has been....well....a very long time since I've attended those.....we'll count this as my "very first ever" yearbook conference) in Orlando. I'm working from the complimentary computer in the hotel lobby, so no photos right now, but I'm workin' on it ;o).

Let's catch up on movie reviews since I last posted:

Had a chance to catch up with the Special Area team of gals from work and we had a chance to see LARRY CROWNE starring Tom Hanks. Love spending time with good friends and I like Tom Hanks, so I'll say the movie was okay, but I won't be adding it to my collection.

Then had the chance to meet up with some more wonderful friends from work and we went to see BAD TEACHER. Let's just say, meeting up with wonderful friends made this awful movie worthwhile. Hated it and will NOT be adding it to my collection.

Grandma Gail discovered one of our local theaters offers "Ladies Day" where all girls, young and old, get into the movies on Wednesdays for only $6 and even get a free popcorn and drink.....so totally worth it and it has helped us catch up on some summer flicks.

First, we went to see, CARS 2. Of course seldom is a sequel as good as the first, but this one was still cute. I don't anticipate adding it to our collection, but only 'cuz we don't have Littles in the house anymore.

(sorry. please excuse my absence there for a moment. We don't have "littles in the house anymore" was a comment that affected me more than I thought it would. {sniff, sniff})

Then, we also saw ZOOKEEPER. Also a cute movie. A really predictable plot for us grown-ups and the middle lagged on.....and on.....but cute. I don't anticipate adding this one to our collection, but only 'cuz we don't have littles in the house any................{sniff}

And of course, being Harry Potter fans, Scott and I wanted to be apart of HP history and we were at the Old Mill Playhouse in The Villages for their double feature. Part 1 of the Deathly Hallows played at 9pm on July 14th and we were in our seats at midnight for the final Harry Potter movie, Part 2 on July 15th. It was AWESOME. This coming from a fan who admittedly hasn't cared for all of the movies that have been based on J.K. Rowling's amazing books. This movie Scott and I both liked and we WILL be adding it to our collection.

And finally, just yesterday, while Scott and Andrea went to see some Monday night wrestling garbage.....I mean show, during our "vacation" at Universal, McKenna and I chilled at the theater in front of the latest WINNIE THE POOH movie. It was sweet and brought back many.....many a memory. It also made me grateful that one of my "Littles" is still little enough to go to a kids movie with me. {sniff}

It's later now.....

I gave up my computer to a gentleman with an English accent.....apparently British (and Scottish and Irish and Aussie and South African) accents make me melt.....don't tell me
husband.....or then again, maybe you should.....awww......oh, but I digress....sorry.

It's later now and I just wanted to finish this post. I also had to give up my computer to the nice gentleman, because the other 8 computers were being played on by kids while their parents checked in on their vacation packages. This was NOT one of those room key only computer rooms.....uurrgh! Parents keep your kids with you! I can say that now. I am a parent and I do keep my kids with me or they sit in silence behaving themselves.

Sorry!!I digress again.

Anyway, where was I, oh, and Scott and the girls are planning to see CAPTAIN AMERICA today while cooling down from the summer heat at Universal. I will let you know if they liked it....I am a bit disappointed that I might not see it....you know how I love popcorn and a movie.

(just added: Scott and Andrea said, "thumbs up", but McKenna said "thumbs down" but only because she didn't want to see the movie in the first place......)

Emotionally yours,
Melle

Past my bedtime

Yep, up past my bedtime last night....but look what I finished!

And why you might ask? Well, I'm glad you did.

I have this wonderful friend named Kendra,

and she helped to "inspire" McKenna's first American Girl doll

and you might remember I bought a new sewing machine this summer

and you may recall McKenna has shown interest in this machine as well. In fact, she made these yesterday; big one for her, little one for Andrea.

But McKenna asked me to make this

and I was going along okay, but this collar, it was a bear!

almost there

but I got it done


and here is "Amanda" in her new robe!

Holy-Toledo Batman!
Can you believe it?

I'm not sure if I'm amazed because I actually made it, or because......
I started and finished something in the same day!

More to come (soon I hope)
Melle

On America's birthday....

We celebrate!

We celebrate that we live in the land of the free and the brave.

We are so grateful to the men and women and their families who make so many unimaginable sacrifices everyday so my family and loved ones can enjoy the bounties of this beautiful country.


We also celebrate Grandma's birthday!

We bake cakes.


We bake cupcakes.

And we swim, drink, and play Cornhole. Apparently we (meaning "I") also relax so much that we don't even take very many pictures either.

Oh woe is me.
I am in such a photographic slump.
Allow me to explain.
You may recall, I ordered a new camera.
I love my old Kodak Easy Share Camera, but 6 years of almost daily use has worn out the "selection dial" on the back of the camera. Sooo, I spoke with Kodak for over an hour last week and I ordered a new Kodak Easy Share Camera, hoping for the equivalent.
It's a 14 mega-pixel camera, my old one was 6.1.
This is what I got. (no editing)

Blurry. Yuck!
But it also took this. (w/a little editing)

I love my old Kodak EasyShare camera.
It took my all time favorite 4th of July photo, see (w/NO editing)
(Warning: this photo might age you 10 years - circa 2006)

Of course, I also still have my digital SLR, which I've had pretty good luck with.
It's taken this:
(2008)

And this:
(2009)
And this is what I took yesterday.

I attended a photo class where we were taught how to take our cameras off of "AUTO" and to use the manual settings. What keeps ringing in my ears is the very talented instructor, Karen Russell said, "it will get worse before it gets better, but don't go back to auto"....boy was she right! I like the photo above. I like that it seems more casual than posed. But it still doesn't have that "wow" factor I strive for.

What to do? What to do?

Let's just change the subject shall we (meaning I).
I also bought some new stamps recently.
They inspired some more of these:

And with a few loved ones having birthdays lately {wink} ......I was inspired to create these:


And still in the works, but almost done, are these:

And so, on the day after America's birthday, I am blessed to be loafing around the house until around 3 today. I hope to play with some photos and finish some cards.

Oops, gotta go.
McKenna just made me this most amazing looking turkey and provolone sandwich.
May your days be filled with loafing, amazing sandwiches and people who love you!
Melle