Yes, the witch is in...

I hope you had a fun time this Halloween and you did not get spooked!

I made quite a few candy bar covers this year and some matchbook candy holders but I did not finish all the projects I started, crafting time was very elusive. I failed to get pictures made before I distributed any of the treat holders this year - not too smart on my part. Here are some cards from last year...I am sad to say that I never got any Halloween cards made this year. I hope these can inspire you (and me!) for next year. Since Amanda has aged out of trick or treating, we still get in some Halloween fun...we had a fun time at "Trunk or Treat" again this year.

Here is Amanda with her "little sister" that she has "adopted".Amanda helped out with the younger children along with some of the other girls. She also decorated our trunk and passed out the candy for me, sweet!

She had fun walking some of the younger girls around to all the decorated trunks, helping them to fill their bags full of candy and goodies.

Amanda always enjoys riding the hay ride too...but since they wait til dark, it is usually too cold and bumpy for me these days.

The best part of the evening to me, is when the bonfire is lit...it is always so nice to get warm by the fire.

Hope you have some toasty Halloween memories to keep you warm this year too.

Peachy heart hugs, Debbie

Finally...a New Post

Well, finally, here I am with an update. Whew, so much has happened since March. I surely broke my New Years' resolution to post artwork more often. But here I am now. Let me start with a family update.

Here is a recent picture of Amanda.

We were out having fun at Johnny G’s for Girl Scout kick off to the new school year. She was so happy with her ticket “haul”! She is working on a SB layout from this day; I will post it when she finishes. She just loves her new GS troop; I am so thankful to the wonderful ladies and girls that invited her

in...she is a Senior GS this year...gosh I can not believe how quickly these last 9 years have passed.

I can still remember those "good ole" days...here are a couple pics from the past.

Golly, where did the time go? Our daisy troop was learning to iron...haha, the skill did not stick with Amanda, I am very sad to say. But I still have my beautiful girl and she has lots of other great talents.

I do really need to organize my old photos and get scrapping on these. If you have not yet tried Studio J, you should. I plan to use Studio J to catch myself up...I did not think I would like digital scrapbooking, but with studio J, studio scrapbooking is easy, fast, economical and so fun!

If you would like more info about it, let me know.

Peachy heart hugs, Debbie

Amanda's 12.5 Birthday Party

Well, we missed Amanda's birthday in August, so I decided to plan her a SURPRISE 12 and a half birthday party. And boy was I succesful.

She did not believe it was for her. All the guests met beforehand at the Country Inn Suites and we were ready for her. She was so surprised!!

She had 8 guests spend the night...we made mini scrapbook albums, rag flip flops, had pedicures, went to Stevi B's for dinner and had a fabulous time.

Happy Birthday Amanda. We all love you! Peachy Heart Hugs, Momma

Missing In Action? No -- not...

MIA! Not really, just seems that way. Amanda and I were so busy with preparation for our cruise and the Lads to Leaders Convention that we seem to have been MIA...we were just buried under suitcases and shopping lists and puppets and speeches and scripts, and oh yeah, layouts too.

We had a fabulous time on our cruise. We went with two of my sisters and other extended family. We laughed, took pictures, ate, lounged around, took pictures, saw sites, ate, and did I say we ate? We had such a wonderful time and we came back in need of a vacation! Really!

This is one of my favorite pictures. We are in Progresso...it was not sunny that day, but still nice enough to enjoy the beach. Amanda loved playing in the sand and looking for shells. I loved WATCHING her do it! Yep, lazy ole me in a lounge chair enjoying her fun.

Believe it or not, there was TWO Scrappy events on our cruise - wahoo! You know who was the first to arrive for both sessions. This is my newest scrapping buddy, TJ, originally from South Africa. His Mom turned him on to scrapping - go Mom! He shared tips with us, cruise embellishments and some wonderful cruise LO ideas and we had a great time scrapping and sharing while on the cruise - no withdrawl pains for me -- thanks to TJ!!

Now here is my most favorite picture - not sure if you can tell it, but Amanda was so nervous. I was so proud of her though, she pushed off out into the water and by the time our session was

up, an hour and a half later, she was friends with Atlas. Unfortunately, I could not afford to buy all the pictures, only four of them...and hers was the best one. We enjoyed our time at Dolphinaris and would go again in a heart beat. If you ever get the chance to do an excursion with the Dolphins, take it...this is one excursion we will definitely do again.

We went straight from Mobile, our port, to the Lads to Leaders Convention, actually held in five different locations, but we attend the one in Atlanta. We had another wonderful year and all our kids did such an amazing job in preparing for convention. It is really humbling to see what great work and skills our children can develop for the Lord. I was very proud of the kids from our congregation and especially proud of Amanda's speech performance. I know how far she has come and she was totally awesome this year.

I was also very proud of Amanda and Ariana, who both competed in the L2L Individual Scrapbook event. Ariana competed in the 10-12th Grade Division. She earned third place for her cheerleading themed annual album.

Amanda competed with her "Hannah Montana" themed album in the 7-9th Grade Division of Winner's Circle, where she competes with other First Place (in the past) winners. She did not place this year, and she said, Mom, there were so many awesome books, I was just glad to compete with them. Makes a Mom proud. I was proud of both of my girls. Their albums were very well done and will hold memories of their year for them to always look back on.

I hope you enjoyed your spring break as much as we did and took lots of pictures. Now, I just need to scrap them, all nearly 700 of them, LOL. Peachy Heart Hugs, Debbie

Cute little men and ladies...

I know the holidays are past, but I just was given the best gingerbread cookie recipe. And come on, these little guys are cute enough (and tasty enough) to eat all year round. My daughter and I had fun making them but more fun decorating them. Let me know if you like this recipe too, or share, if you have a good one...especially holiday cookie recipes.

I also bake annually with my neices and nephews, and Amanda, just before Christmas. I have a blast with them, and their parents get a little free time on Christmas Eve day. Here you can see what fun we have...

Then this year, we added gingerbread houses to the list...I have to say the boys got into this activity. They made two houses and here is the winning (best to them) house. They had a blast and the finished houses, and cookies, looked wonderful. We missed you this year Cody and Rusty!! Look at the fun you missed.

I will post this recipe a little later today or tomorrow. And if you have a recipe to share back, I would love to try it out. We LOVE to eat!! Especially sweets, yummy! Peachy Heart Hugs, Debbie