I Must Have Loved You Before Series - Closer to One Another

Hi all! So, how was your Halloween? We had a FABULOUS time! What could be better than dress up clothes and candy? I just LOVE Halloween :) I invited our friends, the Evans, to come with us to trick or treat. We went to Bay Street (the waterfront section of town) to trick or treat the businesses (some areas trick or treat in the mall, this is our version of it). We got a TON of candy, and the kids really had a good time there. We also swung by Papa Murphys (take and back pizza), and the kids got free mini pizzas.

Back to the house, cook the pizzas, then off to my Aunts neighborhood for door to door trick or treating. There weren't a lot of people home, but we got to trick or treat for a little while. The kids TOTALLY enjoyed themselves. I think my youngest, Jimmy, at more than he collected. And, I even got some chocolate. Wow, was it sugary! But it was SO tasty. I definitely got my fill of chocolate! I won't be tempted to go back and "sample" the kids' candy. I have to remember that that kind of thinking is what got me fat in the first place :) I like being skinnier, and I'm gonna make sure I stay that way this time :) hehehe.

And, for all of you out there who think that I'm all "on top of it all", and we're such a "happy, perfect family" (ha!), here's a story to let you know that we're still just human :) Jacob (the 11 year old), came home from school and had washed off all of his Halloween face paint costume. I asked him if he wanted me to put it back on (he was frankenstein), and he said no, that he wanted to be Darth Maul (35 minute paint job, at least). I said no, that we needed to get going. He threw a huge fit, and didn't want to be anything else. He was being disrespectful, and too rough with the little kids. I loaded all the kids up in the truck to leave for trick or treating, and he was being mouthy in the truck, and too rough with someone, so I made him get out of the truck, told him to go to his tent (room), and stay there until we got back from the first round of trick or treating. I know, I'm such a mean mom. Oh, he was mad.

He missed out on the pizzas (he had to have a ham sandwhich) and all the Bay Street trick or treating, but I gave him the chance to join us for the neighborhood trick or treating. He decided at the last minute to come with us. I'm SO glad that he finally got it all figured out. He decided to be a zombie, and we quickly painted up his face. He really had fun trick or treating, and was SUCH a big helper to his little brother, Jimmy. He stayed behind with Jimmy, and helped him go up to the doors and get his candy. What a nice big brother, he can be :)

So there you go. My family is FAR from perfect :) But we are cute! Here's a few pics from our evening :)


Halloween is too much fun to just wear one costume! I decided to go as a Hippie this time. My 7 year old, Eme, was so confused. She didn't have a clue what a hippie was - too cute!


Here's the gang, before we left. Tom, as Van Helsing, Joe as Frankenstein JR, Eme as a cheerleader, and Jimmy as a dinasour. He was SO enthralled with his own tail - hehehe.

Here's the kids, posing in front of Mos restaurant, in Florence Oregon.
And in front of ICM restaurant, on the big anchor. They were fascinated with that thing :)

I just LOVE this picture of Emeline - he's adorable!

Tom, as Van Helsing (the vampier hunter)

Here's Jimmy - we found this costume at a thrift shop. He knew at once that it was the costume for him!

And, I just had to show you this SUPER funny pumpkin from my Aunt's house. Too cute!!!

OK, enough Halloween fun :) I have a special treat for you all! I got this AWESOME new CD from my girls weekend a few weeks back, and found this FABULOUS new song that I just LOVE! It's from "The Nashville Tribute Band" and called "I Must Have Loved You Before". I decided to make WordArt from it, and am passing it on to you. My plan is to make a little "brag book" out of it, with pics of my hubby and me. It's a "love" song. But I haven't scrapped it up yet. I'll show ya when I get that done. In all my spare time - LMBO!!!

Anyway, I'm giving away one piece a day, until it's all done - I think there's about 8 pieces. Haven't counted yet :) BUT, I did make a little "video", using the WordArt. Click below to watch the movie. The beginning is blank, so don't panic. When the guy starts singing, the words will come up :)





So, click on the image below to go to my 4shared account to download the PNG file, and leave some love if you like my work.

Trick Or Treat Blog Train!!!

35% off your entire purchase at Scraporchard!!!

AND, we're having a lot of fun over at the Orchard on Digital Scrapbooking Day! Aren't you excited! So, sit back and have a BLAST this Saturday, scrapping with all of your digi friends!!!


We (Scraporchard and Sunshine Studio Scrap girls) are having Trick or Treating today! I didn't give you much warning, I know - sorry girls! But, it's not too late to play :) If you just discovered this blog train, click HERE to go to the 1st stop on the train, Sunshine Studio Scraps. But, if you're playing along already, see below :)

You should have got here via Allie's blog. She was stop #9 on the blog train.

Click on my door to go to my 4shared account to get a "goodie" from my 4shared account. Happy Halloween!!! I'm stop #10 on the blog train.

Wanna see what you're getting? Here it is!! (Ha! I designed something other than WordArt again!)

Then, go to Virginia Jen's blog for your next Trick or Treat! She's stop #11. Are you guys having a TON of fun!!!

Roses in December

Woohoo! Someone got it right!!! Angel Jet guessed that I was Martha Jones from Doctor Who!!! And I was! I'm so glad that SOMEONE out there is watching Doctor Who, my all time FAVORITEST show - hehehe. So Angel Jet, just email me (bnbharty@gmail.com), and I"ll get you your prize. Here's a link to read about Martha Jones :)


I have PICTURES!!! Our church Halloween (Autumn) party was SO much fun last night. It was a Carnival, with lots of candy, games, and fun. We had corn dogs (well, they did), chips, water, carmel corn, cupcakes - WOW! Jimmy at from the second he walked through the door at 5pm, till I dragged him from the building at 8:30pm. He was truly a candy monster - hehehe.

Here are the kids right before I loaded them up into the truck to head on over to the church. Joe and Jim are Army Men (not G.I. Joes - Joe was setting us all straight as we kept referring to him as GI Joe), Jacob is fat (hehehe, he was gonna be "army of one", but decided to be King of the UmpaLoompas), Eme is a ballerina, and Tom is Van Helsing (you know, the vampire hunter)

And me. Still can't figure out who I am?

This kid figured out who I was. I was SO excited that someone figured it out! If you watch the show, you'd TOTALLY know!


Here are my Mom and Dad. They went as Candy Dispencers. TOO funny :) They both had bags of candy that they were passing out to whoever asked what their costume was - hehehe.

My dad went missing about 20 mintues after the party started. He ditched out on the party, and went to get Shrip burritos. Then he enjoyed a nice peaceful night at home. Can't say I blame him on that one - hehehe.



And, my friend Maren, as a cat. Isn't she CUTE!!! LOVE the costume :)

Here's me and Maren. (and yes, I have "black" face paint on my face - ok, enough hints!)

And me and my Mom at the "photo booth". We decided it was like getting your picture taken at a school formal - hehehe.

And my kids and I - aren't we fun! That backdrop was ROCKIN'! LOVE that moon :)

The centerpieces were FANTASTIC!

And Jimmy, eating more candy - hehehe

OK, enough about me. Do you wanna go Trick or Treating 'digiscrap style' this year? I bet you do!!! Well, tomorrow, we're having our first Trick or Treat at Scraporchard/Sunshine Studio Scraps. Aren't you excited!!!

Our blog train Trick or Treating party starts TOMORROW

Here's how it works. Go HERE (tomorrow, remember) to go to Sunshine Studio Scraps for the first "door" on the train. Then, simply continue going from Door to Door, until you've collected all of our goodies - you won't be disappointed!


This WordArt request is from Deanne. What a great saying :) Click on the image below to go to my 4shared account to download the PNG file, and leave some love if you like my work.

FONTs:
Roses - Edwardian Script ITC
December - Elephant

Guess and WIN!!!

Woohoo! Someone got it right!!! Angel Jet guessed that I was Martha Jones from Doctor Who!!! And I was! I'm so glad that SOMEONE out there is watching Doctor Who, my all time FAVORITEST show - hehehe. So Angel Jet, just email me (bnbharty@gmail.com), and I"ll get you your prize. Here's a link to read about Martha Jones :)



OK girls! Here's a Halloween challenge for you! Be the first to correctly guess who I am for Halloween (I SO wanted to be a witch at the party, but they said no witches - how RUDE!!!), and you'll win a FREE WORDART pack of your choosing :) Just leave a comment on this post :)

So, any guesses?

OK, I'm back from the party - SO fun to look at all of your comments! I forgot to say, family members can't play (hehehe), so I had to delete my SIL's comment. So, none of the guesses still on this post (I think there's 25 as of right now) are right - but some VERY good ones.

Hmmmm, I think you may need a clue. I'm a character from one of my favorite shows. If you know me at all, or read my blog thoroughly, you should know which one it is :) Hehehe, I'm making you WORK for this one!

BUT, there were some VERY good guesses. Alice or Rosalie from Twilight were GOOD guesses! Never thought of that one. Angelina Jolie was flattering - she's gorgeous! And who doesn't LOVE Rachel Ray :) Sorry, girls, I had hard costumes - LOL!

Difference

OMGosh! I went to my friend, Maren's house yesterday, and we made the COOLEST carmel corn....ever! It was AMAZING. Let me see if I can remember the recipe: (you'll need a BIG mixing bowl to hold all that popcorn - just so you know)

Carmel Corn:

1 1/2 cups of popcorn kernals - popped in an air popper

combine in a sauce pan:

1 cup real butter
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup light caro syrup
1 tsp salt
(food coloring, if you want COOL colors)

heat to boiling, then cook for 4 minutes.

add 1 tsp vanilla, then 1 tsp of baking soda (watch out, they will bubble and rise quite a bit)

Pour carmel mixture over the popped corn, stiring to coat all of the corn. Place on baking trays, and bake in the oven at a very low temperature for an hour. It makes a nice, crispy carmel corn. AMAZING stuff!

We did a batch of Green, Purple, Black, and Orange corn. Then, Maren mixed the colors, and put it in baggies, to hand out at our Halloween Party on Wednesday (today). I'll take some pictures tonight at the party, to put with this post. SO good!

Well, it's Wednesday again! This WordArt request comes from Christina, and I thought it would be GREAT for TONS of layouts :) Kids sure grow up fast, but so do other things around us. Change is always happening :) Click HERE to go to scraporchard to download the PNG file. Remember, you need to be logged into the Gallery to download the zip file :)

Angel Eyes

First off, I wanted to show you where my 2 oldest boys have been sleeping for the past 91 days (give or take). Check out the sweet set up that my dad rigged up. The tents are raised on 4 palettes (each), then there's a heavy rope stretched between 2 trees, with a huge tarp staked down to help with rain protection. They each have a camping air mattress, and a heavy, cold weather rated sleeping bag. It's the best I can do for them right now. *sigh* This, too, shall pass, right?





AND, here's my dress for the ball! And no, I won't be wearing my camo bandana and no make-up - LMBO!!! I never in a million years would have even hoped to DREAM that I could fit into a size 8 dress like this! Yeah for my diet! And Yeah for thrift stores - not a bad ensamble for under $10, wouldn't you say! Dress and wrap both! My Aunt Sue does beaded jewelry, and said that she's make me some BLING, so that's taken care of. Now, I just need a good pair of black heels, and someone to teach me to walk/dance in them - LOL! Can you tell that I'm just a LITTLE bit excited - hehehe.




I decided to join a Book Club at church. I thought I'd give it a try. I'm not big for talking with groups of people, so this is a bit out of my comfort zone, but I thought it would be good for me :) We're reading the book "The Giver" by Lois Lowry. I got it from Amazon today, and am excited to start reading. I know that a lot of you probably read it in school, but this one wasn't on our required reading list, I guess. I'll let you know what I think of it :)

OK, now on to WordArt. Here's a really pretty one that I made up for you guys - Don't you like it! I thought it was very pretty :) Click on the image below to go to my 4shared account to download the PNG file, and leave some love if you like my work. :)

FONTs:
A - Beautiful Caps ES
ngel - Beautiful ES
All rest - Cataneo BT

Roll On

We had a family move out of the ward (congregation) yesterday, and we had a picnic/potluck to say goodbye to them. We had a great time! It was at a families home that has a little boy the same age as Joe. His name is Camp. And one of their little girls' name is Jane, and she's the same age as Jim. There were a ton of fun people to visit with, and lots of good food for my kids to eat (no cooking dinner - yes!). I'm really liking my ward! There are about 10 girls, all similar ages to me - gotta like having potential friends!

This WordArt request is from Rachel. She has a hubby who drives truck, and thought that this would be perfect for a layout that she's making. I have an uncle who drives truck, and I bet we could use this for him. But I also thought that I could use it for my boys. They always are riding on something. Anything can be at "truck". Ha! So, I hope that you guys can use this :) Click on the image below to go to my 4shared account to download the PNG file, and leave some love if you like my work.

FONTS:
Roll -Yippy Skippy Atl
On - Scriptorama Markdown JF

Do It Anyway

We had another busy Saturday, yesterday. Jogging at 8:30, kids at the park for football/cheerleading, back home, to the grocery store, lunch. Then, the big kids went to my Aunt and Uncles house for the afternoon (thanks SO much, you guys!), and the little kids came with my Mom and Dad and I to Coos Bay (1 hour away) for Stake (church) meetings. We went to the leadership meetings, dinner at the church, off to Wal-Mart for a few essentials (rice cakes and contact solutions - ha!), then back home, then pick up the big kids. Busy, but enjoyable :)

We spent the evening watching "Enchanted" (great movie!), and designing this WordArt for ya! Did you guys have a fabulous Saturday?

I saw this quote, and thought that it would be perfect for a WordArt :) I hope you guys like it! Click on the image below to go to my 4shared account to download the PNG file, and leave some love if you like my work.

FONTS:

Anyway - Rage Italic
All rest - Pussycat