News & Spring is almost here!

I’ll start with the shocking news…

For those of you who haven’t heard yet, my Dad met someone online, they met and immediately became engaged. They have recently set the date for May 20th to get married. It’s been kind of difficult dealing with this. My sister and I have been trying to be happy for our Dad but it’s still too fast for us. But it’s what he wants, so there’s no changing his mind. She will be visiting here March 18-26th, so that’s when we’ll get to meet her.

Good News…

I finally removed the hangers, bagged, and donated all of my Mom’s clothes. It was 2 huge trash bags plus a bag for her shoes.

Fun news…

I shopped for bunko prizes last week. Then I hosted bunko at my house on Friday. It was a blast! And I got a cute prize (I really wanted to keep all of them)!

On to sweeter news…

My darling Ashley had her 8th birthday over the weekend. I can’t believe how quickly she is growing and changing. She has been wanting secret journals, so she received a couple of those. You know the kind that has a mini key with it? She thinks they are so cool. She also got a Moxie doll (like a Barbie doll but with changeable heads) and an iCarly notebook, but I forgot to buy some batteries, so she hasn’t used it yet. I think you have to use a passcode to get it open, then you can write your notes in it. My sister also found a gift & card that my Mom had bought for Ashley before she died. So, Christy was able to give that to her. It’s a necklace with a charm and inside is a mustard seed with a quote attached that reads, “If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, nothing shall be impossible unto you.” Ashley was so excited!!! I love the one I got just like it when I was 8 from my Aunt Wendy. I still have it.

Enjoying breakfast (homemade Belgian waffles) with her BFF that spent the night. Playing a little xbox.Eating lunch after the makeover her sister gave her. her bday cake (rainbow chip with rainbow chip frosting) The whole gang! blowing out 8 candles. her Moxie doll. some wall scrapbook kits Ashley with Grandma and Grandpa Stradling              Ashley & me Ashley & Ben

And because Ashley turned 8, she will be getting baptized this Saturday. She is thrilled!

Decluttering news…

Ben & I helped the kids go thru their closets & dressers to gather all the clothes that don’t fit them. We filled 7 trash bags!!! {well 2 or 3 were already filled with baby/toddler clothes just waiting to be donated}. Ben dropped off ALL the clothing for donations yesterday! It really feels good to get all that stuff OUT of the house that we weren’t using. Now, if I can just get the computer room organized. Hmmmm. That’s for another day. LOL

* NEW * March Challenges are posted.

Head on over to the DSO Challenge Blog for some inspiration, plus you earn freebies!

Here's what you get FREE if you play along:

{remember my posting bonuses are coordinating}

FONT Challenge

QUOTE Challenge

HAPPY SPRING and HAPPY SCRAPPING!

Word of the day…

Tintinnabulation

is a long word that describes the sound of a bell ringing.

~you can hear the pronunciation HERE

I found this word on the kids’ lunch menu. I thought it was an interesting word & I had never heard it before.

Chugga Chugga CHOOO-choooo…

I’m so excited to be a part of my first HUGE Blog Train! YAY!!!

Just a little kick-off to SPRING! {my fave time of year}

Here’s what you have to look forward to {for FREE} if you hop around to all the participating blogs:

Ok, so you may have just hopped here from Sara Ellis’ blog.

Here’s my portion of this GORGEOUS Mega Kit Shine On:

You can grab it HERE.

Next Stop is LouCee Creations (my fellow DSO Designer)! Wooohoooo!

If you get lost along the way, don’t worry, head over to the Blog Train Blog for a list of all the participants!

Enjoy! And I would LOVE to see if you use my part to create something!

Thanks Trish for all your hard work organizing yet another fabulous blog train!!!

So, I decided to post the list here too:

1. Rustic Charm Creations - http://rusticcharmcreations.blogspot.com/
2. Inspiredbydominic Designs -http://www.inspiredbydominic.com/blog
3. Jeanne Marie Scraps - http://jeanne-maries-scraps.blogspot.com/
4. JayaPrem's Hangout - http://scraps-by-jayaprem.blogspot.com/
5. Pixie Mama Designs - http://pixiemamadesigns.blogspot.com
6. Wyld Web Designs - http://wyldwebdesigns.com/wordpress/
7. AnDi Designs - http://andreaditonno.blogspot.com
8. Graham Like The Cracker - http://gltcblog.wyldgrahamcrackers.com
9. Laura Marie Scraps - http://lauramariescraps.blogspot.com
10. Chris Greiser - http://sketchmeifyoucan.blogspot.com
11. Barb Speck - http://www.barbspeck.blogspot.com/
12. Kalo Designs - http://kalodesigns.com/wordpress/
13. Leslie G. Designs - http://lesliegdesigns.blogspot.com/
14. JennCk Designs - http://jennck.blogspot.com/
15. Color With Caryn - http://blog.colorwithcaryn.com
16. Shanmomto4designs - http://www.shanmomto4designs.com/
17. jennylyn Designs - http://www.jennilyndesigns.com/journal
18. DeliciousScraps - http://Deliciousscraps.com
19. My4PrincessesDesigns - http://www.my4princessesdesigns.blogspot.com
20. Trish H. Designs - http://trishhdesigns.blogspot.com/
21. TMA Designs - http://themathematiciansassistant.com
22. Designs by BubblyKori - http://bubblykori.blogspot.com/
23. GeniaBeana Scraps - http://geniabeanascraps.blogspot.com
24. JW-DigiScraps - http://www.jwdigiscraps.com
25. Mad Genius Designs - http://bothmadandgenius.blogspot.com/
26. mITSYBELLE Designs - http://mitsybelle.com/blog/
27. Chaos Lounge - http://jen-at-chaos-lounge.blogspot.com/
28. Bon Scrapatit Designs - http://bonscrapatitdesigns.blogspot.com
29. Starry Eyed Designs - http://starryeyeddesignsbyamy.blogspot.com/
30. HotFlashDesigns - http://p-u-s-h.typepad.com/
31. Scrapper's Delights - http://scrappersdelights.com/blog/
32. Lizard Dau Designs - http://liz-lizarddaudesigns.blogspot.com/
33. SandEz Creationz - http://sandezcreationz.blogspot.com
34. KimB Designs - http://kimbsdesigns.blogspot.com/
35. Wilma4ever - http://wilma4ever.blogspot.com/
36. FoxyDesigns - http://foxydesigns.biz
37. KimericKreations - http://kimerickreations.blogspot.com
38. ikscrap - http://www.ikscrap.nl
39. Charlize Creations - http://beautyframe.blogspot.com/
40. Christine Smith Digital Design - http://christinesmithdigital.blogspot.com
41. GET Designs - http://ginnytallent.blogspot.com
42. Robyn Pali Designs - http://robynpalidesigns.blogspot.com/
43. Trixie Scraps Designs - http://blog.trixiescraps.com
44. gabs-art - http://www.scraplantis.com/gabs-blog/
45. Willow Grace Designs - http://willowgracedesigns.blogspot.com/
46. Designs by Keira - http://designsbykeira.blogspot.com/
47. Little Red Scraps - http://littleredscraps.blogspot.com
48. Altered Sea - http://alteredsea.net
49. Wetfish Designs - http://wetfishdesigns.com/blog
50. A-liya - http://a-liya.blogspot.com/
51. Mel's World - http://mels-world1.blogspot.com/
52. Sweet Tomato Designs - http://sweettomatodesigns.blogspot.com
53. Kiss This Designs - http://littlebitofthisandalittlebitofscrap.blogspot.com/
54. AliSarah Digiscraps - http://scrappincuteness.blogspot.com
55. Flutter Expressions - http://www.flutterexpressions.blogspot.com
56. Major Scrapola - http://majorscrapola.blogspot.com/
57. Jennifer Fox Designs - http://jenniferfoxdesigns.blogspot.com/
58. Polka Dot Pixels - http://polkadotpixels.blogspot.com
59. Nikki Epperson - http://gonescrappindesigns.com/blog
60. Digital Artistry by Nicole - http://crop-a-holic.blogspot.com
61. Happy Scrap Girl - http://happyscrapgirl.blogspot.com/
62. Susan Robinson Designs - http://susanrobinsoncreative.blogspot.com/
63. LDrag Designs - http://ldragdesigns.blogspot.com/
64. Sherri Tierney - http://sherritierney.blogspot.com
65. Mikki Designs - http://mikkidesigns.blogspot.com/
66. Digilicious Designs - http://digilicious.typepad.com/digi_licious_designs/
67. BooLand Designs - http://boolanddesign.blogspot.com/
68. Photocowgirl - http://photocowgirl.blogspot.com/
69. Jewelscraps - http://jewelscraps.blogspot.com
70. Kathy Winters - http://wordartfun.blogspot.com
71. Late Night Scraps - http://latenightscraps/blogspot.com
72. Creations By Rachael - http://www.creationsbyrachaelb.com/wordpress/
73. Allison Pennington - http://allisonpennington.familyartspace.com
74. Sherry Ferguson - http://sherryfergusondesigns.blogspot.com/
75. Day Break Scraps - http://daybreakscraps.blogspot.com
76. Shel Belle Scraps - http://shelbellescraps.blogspot.com
77. eqrAveziur- http://eqraveziur.blogspot.com
78. Moonchylde Creations - http://www.moonchylde906.blogspot.com
79. Geek Chic Scraps - http://geekchicscraps.blogspot.com/
80. ScrapBug Designs - http://scrapbugdesigns.blogspot.com/
81. Sara Ellis - http://scrapsillysara.blogspot.com/
-->82. Andrea Dickinson - http://the-dickinsons.blogspot.com/
83. (had to backed out link to next person!)
84. LouCee Creations - http://louclark.blogspot.com/
85. Twin Mom Scraps - http://twinmomscraps.blogspot.com
86. DesignZ by DeDe - http://designzbydede.blogspot.com
87. Tahera - http://scrapbookartstudio.wordpress.com/
88. AmyEdwards -http://amyedwards.com
89. Lillyscrap - http://lilleyscrap.blogspot.com
90. Tricia Curtis - http://triciacurtis.com/blog
91. A+ Designs - http://www.aplusdesigns.blogspot.com/
92. KariQ Designs - http://kariqdesigns.blogspot.com/
93. Snips & Snails - http://snipsandsnailsscraps.blogspot.com/
94. Brandi Beaver - http://www.brandibeaver.blogspot.com
95. Scrapmuss Designs - http://scrapmuss.blogspot.com/
96. Kris Myers Designs - http://nwfotobug.blogspot.com
97. Project B Designs - http://www.projectbdesigns.com
98. Rebeccapsp Designs - http://rebeccasscrappingsilliness.blogspot.com/
99. Smooth Sailing Designs - http://myplaceintimelaura.blogspot.com/
100. Victoria Feemster - http://victoriafeemster.wordpress.com
101. Verena Designs - http://www.verena-online.info/blog/
102. Pixelfairy Designs - http://pixelfairydesign.blogspot.com/
103. BTA Designs - http://btaphotography.blogspot.com/
104. SgD DESIGNS - http://scrapbooksgonedigital.blogspot.com/
105. Maitri - www.maitriscraps.blogspot.com
106. Topsy Turvy Digital - http://blog.topsyturvydigital.com/
107. Designs By Sassy - http://sassyscrappin.typepad.com

P.S. Please remember that everyone is in different time zones, so if their part isn’t posted yet, check back in a little while because you don’t want to miss out. Thanks!