Genuine

More Than I Can Chew

Laurie14 Comments

Well, it has officially happened. I have bit off more than I can chew. Let’s be honest, it was only a matter of time. {{wink}}

With everything breaking around me – my camera, my taxes, my car, a leak in my roof, my sprinkler system, Drake’s head – of course it would be time for my phone.

My phone (a.k.a life line) has been on the fritz for some time. However, as of last Wednesday it would not even turn on when plugged in! This is my 3rd phone (same make & model) I have worn out. Geeze!

So, it’s time to make some changes and take control of my chaotic life. Another problem I’m having is the more Tip Junkie regulars I get – the more e-mails I get – the more requests & favors I get asked – the less time I have. It’s become a real problem.

I am not complaining. It’s a blessing that so many women share my passion and I am glad to help anyone that needs it. However, since it’s causing stress that I can no longer control – I have had to implement an auto responder to Tip Junkie e-mails and will no longer be able to answer every e-mail and request personally.

Honestly, I’m bummed about it. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know so many amazing women all the while feeling helpful and useful. But it’s consumed me and I’m no longer able to get the “Best” things in life done.

Leave it to my man to come to the rescue! He came home Monday morning with a huge grin and something behind his back. I was so delighted and thought it was donuts. 😉 Can you believe he surprised me with an iPhone. {{squeal with delight several times and scare the kids half to death}}

He got up early that morning and waited in line to get it! I can’t tell you how much I need this. I need the calendar with 30 minute alerts to remind me of appointments and commitments I’ve made. I need the GPS on it because I’m always lost. I need the camera on it because I don’t always lug around my big one. I need the To Do check list because I keep loosing all my scraps of paper I write on when with important info on it.

Jason you are my knight in shining armor this week, coming to my rescue! Thanks for my personal assistant (a.k.a. iPhone), setting up my auto-responder, and knowing what I need when I need it. You’re the best!

I haven’t owned anything so extravagant that I haven’t had to share. Nope, not boots or even a coat as nice as this. So this is a real treat for me. {{grinning from ear to ear}}

Hopefully, these new tools will help me stay on time, not overbook myself, and help me be more efficient. I need all the help I can get.

Home Decorator · Shopper

Super Saturday

Laurie15 Comments

I’ve been busy getting sign up sheets and schedules ready for our Saturday Spectacular a.k.a. Super Saturday. Here’s a taste of what we’re doing.


Placemat purses you can use as gift bags.


24 Christmas Story Album


Family Name Board


Trick or Treat Board


24×24 Magnet Board


Temple Block


Here’s the poster I made displaying all the fun crafts.


The sign up sheets.


The schedule.

It should be a fun day! Are you left for wanting more? Here’s 60 craft/DIY ideas.

Mother of Boys

Swim Team

Laurie3 Comments

Man, this summer is flying by! I’m finally posting the last pictures of Davis at swim team. He got a couple 3rd place ribbons for relays, a 2nd place in the backstroke, and a first place ribbon for the most improved.

Davis increased his strokes an average of 22 seconds from the beginning of the season to the end. Way to go Davis! Great job.

Small Talker

Indiana Jones Birthday Party

Laurie6 Comments

Dylan has asked for an Indiana Jones birthday party. Whoohoo!! You have no idea how excited I am.

The past couple years he’s wanted to do it at a bounce house or Chuck E. Cheese. My needs were pushed aside and I’ve had to endure subpar birthdays. {{drama queen}}

The point is that since I don’t have any girls, my creative outlets are minimized to home decor and birthday parties.

His birthday is in September and the past couple day’s I’ve been collecting all kinds of great ideas for it. I even did a post on it for Tip Junkie. YAY!!

What theme(s) are you doing this year?

Mother of Boys

Mrs. Bairds Factory Tour

Laurie3 Comments

Our excursions around the city have officially begun. Swim team is over and so now we have time to meet up with Rebecca and her kiddos for some adventures.

We took our brood to Mrs. Baird’s Bread factory for a tour. I wasn’t as prepared as I should have been and caused myself some unnecessary drama. With my motto, “Where there’s a will – and a cute smile – there’s a way” we were all granted top secret clearance and permitted into the building.

(Seriously – be sure to read all their documentation before embarking on a tour. Geeze!)

I really had a great time. I haven’t done things like this with my boys since Drake was born.

Yes, the boys are still playing with their hair nets.

Even Drake got it! Thanks Rebecca – we can’t wait for next week.

Moviegoer

Mama Mia

Laurie4 Comments

In 2005 Lisa, Melissa (below), and I were in NYC celebrating my 30th birthday and saw Mama Mia on Broadway. I was pregnant with Drake.

Not being a musical enthusiast, I was hoping it wouldn’t be a complete waste of money. Luckily, I was pleasantly surprised and I really enjoyed it. Of course, who doesn’t love Abba?

I’m convinced I could endure almost any play with great music in it. I can always just shut my eyes. {{ha!}}

So naturally we had to have a late night movie run to see the big screen version. Chanda brought her CD and we jammed to Abba tunes all the way there. We danced, laughed, and cheered all the way through the movie.

I hope the people sitting in front of us weren’t too annoyed. {{oops}}

Chanda summed it up perfectly…

Girly Girl

Girl Get Away

Laurie19 Comments

Chanda and I left our families behind and spent the weekend at the Covered Bridge Inn scrapbooking retreat.

It was such a cozy place to leave the summer stress behind.

Needless to say – we had a BLAST!

You might think this is just a door…

Oh no! It doubles as a book shelf!

Everyone there lugged in all their boxes and containers full of scrapbook supplies and embellishments.

Me? I brought my laptop and successfully completed 2 Shutterfly books – 200 pages and 444 pictures. Top that.

Here’s Chanda creating her pages which I call modern artwork. They’re beautiful!

We were fed 3 times a day with a 3:00 snack of homemade cookies and chips & salsa. The food was seriously so yummy! It was my kind of food – comfort.

It was so great not needing to leave the house to eat or filling up on junky fast food and feeling heavy later.

We even relaxed in the hot tub late one night, told stories, and laughed.

I fell in love with these chip board books. Aren’t they so cool.

This one says I Heart You. Fabulous!

This is a popsicle invitation. Seriously, so cute.

It was a fabulous weekend. Thanks Chanda for all the laughs and good times. It’s exactly what I needed to recharge!

Too bad I came home to this. {{grumble grumble roar!}}

I think it’s time my family realizes that, “If mama aint happy. Aint no one happy.”

Girly Girl

Girls Camp

Laurie1 Comment

Last week for Girl’s Camp, Wendy and I went shopping and I got soo much done. Including, purchasing outfits for all 3 boys for a group picture and the boys their backpacks for school.

Afterwards we ate at Cozymel’s for lunch.

They had an LCD screen right on our table to check out the specials, split our check, pay, and even check out the movie times at the mall. Crazy!!

It was a very productive and fun day. Thanks Wendy!

Mother of Boys · Small Talker

What’s Up?

Laurie9 Comments

The 4 of us at the movies. We saw Wall-e and the boys LOVED it. I really like what I saw. Drake had more fun running around in the hall.

I know I’ve been posting a lot about my kids lately, but right now that’s my focus. Swim team and swim lessons are finally over and so now we can do other activities and have fun playing with friends.

There’s no time or creative energy for projects. I’m putting all my down time into Tip Junkie. I’m currently interviewing fun people like Hostess with the Mostess and the Organizing Junkie for a new feature I’m really excited about caled Talk to me Tuesday.

I also just finished a Media Kit to start offering advertising on Tip Junkie. I’m collaborating with Kim from Today’s Creative Blog, Cindy from Skip to My Lou, as well as Heather & Tiffany the SITS girls. They are completely fabulous and I’m excited about our joint venture. There’s still a lot to do on my end.

I also finished organizing crafts, schedules, and sign ups for our Super Saturday – which we can’t call Super Saturday. So they changed the name to Saturday Spectacular. {{what ever!}} I’ll post all that info once it’s finalized.

We are now in our 5th week of our IRS audit with no end in sight. Geeze!

Jason’s in the middle of finals for his MBA.

I’m looking forward to painting my dining room and finally doing curtains for my breakfast nook. I’m not sure when that’s going to happen but those will probably be my next projects.

Small Talker

Putting Yourself Out There

Laurie10 Comments

I don’t know why, but I have been really resistant to put myself out there and make new friends. I know – you’re shocked! But it’s true, I’ve been hesitant to meet new people. (In every day life.)

I think it has a lot to do with blogging. I feel like I have all these amazing women at my fingertips that I don’t really feel the need to reach out in real life.

I have my favorite friends at church, long time friends, my favorite friends of friends I now call my friends, and of course my fabulous Book Club and Mavens friends. Totalling less than 25 people.

For me, it’s hard to keep up with that many people on a regular basis! I can’t deal with the stress of more.

However, lately I’ve been feeling guilty that I’m not more involved in my neighborhood. I really want my boys to have friends that I don’t have to drive them to play date. So in an effort to better the social life of my kiddos, I finally did it. I went to my neighborhood’s girl game night. They don’t play Bunco, they play LCR.

I was a little nervous about it. I only knew two other ladies there and wasn’t quite sure how things would go. However, I should have known better. Get some margarita’s in hand and life is all good. I announced a couple times that I’ll just have Dr. Pepper and that I don’t drink to lay down some ground rules and then struck up conversations and tried to be social.

However, I don’t think I made a good impression. You should know that I get a kick out of being the “devil’s advocate” at times. Yes, it’s true. {{This post is full of confessions.}} I love to call things out because I think it’s funny and quite entertaining. {{for me at least}}

Anyway, back to the story. In the game there were only 2 people left and one of the ladies asked the other if she wanted to split the pot. The chick said yes. They realized that the other ladies may not like that and so they made light of it and asked if anyone else minded if they split it. The shy person that I am, I peeped up and said, “I only mind if you’re sitting next to me!” {{boisterous laugh out loud}}

The ladies then realized that I was right – if your sitting next to the person who splits it – they could be taking the win from you. Can you say “awkward”. {{silence}}

I then tried to cover myself and say I was really only kidding and that I didn’t mind at all. I may have said something about the new girl messing up the game and luckily there was laughter and the game resumed. {{close one}}

Luckily, I scoped out 2 possible mom’s with kiddo’s my boys ages. Now the strategy is to see them at the pool and exchange phone numbers. Then maybe pop on by during a family walk to introduce our kids to each other. I’m on the prowl. We’ll see how it goes.

I think I just turned into a play date stalker. Man! Who ever coined the phrase, “Dog days of summer” had kids.