oh my god, I love, love, love these photos of Madison that I just took tonight. Look at how beautiful my little girl is! These are her waiting on the front steps for Tyler to come home. You'll read in the post below that we just figured out that TyTy was coming home tonight because he's going on a road trip to Chicago tomorrow.
This is the cutest photo of Ty and Maddie! I just love it. Madison is so shy around Tyler that I can't believe that she even sat by him. Look at how long Tyler's hair is. He says he is growing it out for a part that he hasn't yet auditioned for....in FEBUARY 2009! That's how long he's going to grow it! I tried to get him to straight iron it tonight so when he went to his mom's she would freak! I thought it would be funny. He/we didn't do it this time, but the next time he comes home I am going to have fun playing with his hair!

Don't these 2 photos look like they should be in an ad somewhere? I just love the high contrast look of them. Heeeee, that's so fun when I get some good pictures and I can play around with them. I'll have to do a black and white layout of them. Oh...kinda like the black and white layout I did of me and Steve the other night. That was for a little contest. Maybe I'll redo it using these photos. FUN. I love this stuff. But then the glow effect and cropped looks dreamy. I like them all. What can I say, I have a cute kid. Sometimes she is just so photogenic.
Well, I had best be getting on to bed. This has kinda been a long, long post all during the day/night. Guess I have lots to say today...read on to read this morning/afternoon's bloggin.

Sad...this is what my day consists of. Oh well...I enjoy it. I am sure I'll post more tomorrow.

Look at this awesome layout. I bought some new stuff at the digistore and am in love with this kit. Hate to say it but it's so much easier to buy than design. hee hee. I shouldn't be spending any money before Vegas but I *had* to make myself feel better from yesterday. And guess what? I do feel better now that I did a little retail therapy. Acutally am still feeling a tad bit sorry for myself cuz I am trying so hard with such little progress. In a bit I will go on my 4 mile walk around the lake. I guess it's Lake Hyland, not Lake Normandale. It's OFF Normandale. Do you know which one I am talking about? The one with the bandshell. We missed so many of the little concerts there this summer. I guess I am having a hard time believing that it is already mid August. I so am not ready for the cold to come. I am already dreading it. I'll *try* not to think about it. So far today has been boring. I dropped Madison off at daycare about 9 this morning and then I went to Walmart to do some grocery shopping. Can you say boring? Oh, I did buy a 4 pack of RockStar to drink as well as those little cans of diet pepsi.

Those were also little "I still feel sorry for me" treats. But guess what? I do feel better after that too! hee hee. Not sure what I am going to do the rest of the day. Lynnie is having a garage sale and maybe I'll stop over there this afternoon still. Me and Madison are going to go there tomorrow. Oh..shoot, I forgot that I (Steve too) need to bring Madison in to go get more blood work done. Not sure if I said this or not but her blood work came back with higher levels and we can decide if we just want to put her back on medication or test for a few more months as long as she isn't acting lathargic (trust me...this girl is not lathargic acting at all!). We obiviously are going to do more testing. It would be nice if she didn't need to take medication the rest of her life.

Oh, I forgot to say that on Grandma Gracie's birthday on Tuesday we (me, grandma gracie, madison, kylee, haley and Kayla) went to the Eagles nest in New Brighton. Here are some photos...

Grandma Gracie with Kylee...

Grandma Gracie with Haley. By the way, thanks to the viewing audience I know how to spell Haley's name now..jeepers....And then me and little Haley doing the "peace out" sign. That seems to be our signature move for photos lately. And then a cute one of Madison with Kayla. Poor Kayla, Madison has this "I don't want to play" mood around her sometimes and all we can do is laugh about it because it's some 3 year old deal. But it's only to Kayla. Maybe I'll try to scrap that one. I *try* not to scrap all these only Madison photos but it's hard because she's the main subject that I photograph. Oh, I ordered another one of those photobooks. I have a coupon for "shipping only" that cost 7.99. Can't beat that price. Their quality isn't as good as Shutterfly but you just can't beat the price. So much cheaper than scrapbooking on paper and trying to put those in albums. These will just last so much longer. I don't even paper scrap anylonger. Just too messy and I like digiscrapping so much more. I guess I like the end result with digiscrapping. I want to get rid of all of my paper supplies downstairs. I should have a huge garage sale. I am just too lazy to get a garage sale going. It's too much work. We don't have all that much to sell in a garage sale anyways. The one that I had last year got rid of most of the junk stuff that we have. I guess I have abit more that I could sell. I just asked Lynnie how her garage sale went and she said very slow. She has only made 20 bucks so far and averaged it out to 2 or 3 bucks an hour she has made.

Well, I guess I should probley go and do something productive pretty soon. I will *try* to have our house really clean by the time Steve gets home. I sure am doing alot of *trying* today. Maybe I'll do one more layout. I'll look through some older pictures. Talk to you all later. Don't forget to vote for Grandma Gracies Sunglass look over to your right hand side!

Guess I had to make one more. This is one of my all time favorite photos ever. What a awesome photo! Okay...NOW I HAVE to go walking. I don't feel like doing it at all, but I am going to make myself do it. Goodbye.

I am back from my 4 mile walk (about 2 hrs ago). Hey...guess what? I weighed myself a bit ago and I guess I did lose some weight. 1-2 lbs. Yeah for me. I was going to say maybe it's only water, but maybe that's why I didn't lose to start out with. Stupid water. Guess I don't have to feel sorry for myself anylonger. Yeah! I really need a new scale. Okay, I am going to quit talking about it because it's stupid that I let the number on the scale dictate my mood. Lesson proved for next time I weigh in and don't lose anything since that seems to be the trend with me. Allrighty, I'll shut up now.

Oh, suprise...Tyler is coming home tonight. Steve called about 2pm and told me that Ty is stopping by to say hi. He is going on a road trip to Chicago and is going to stay the night at his mom's house but is going to stop over here to say hi first! Yeah! I love it when Ty comes home. It's so rare. Oh cute...Madison is waiting for Tyler on the front steps. That's so cute. She has gotten so shy around him the last few times she's seen him. Maybe she won't be that shy since she just saw him 2 weeks ago. That's so sweet. I should go take a picture of her waiting. I'll be right back....

I made a couple of layouts today...today was SO boring. Madison even asked, "When is Daddy going to be home?" The only thing we did was run to Target about 3pm and picked up some stuff that we need around the house. I did just get back from my 4 mile walk. I walked twice around Normandale Lake. That's my new walking spot I guess. I am a little down...I didn't lose anything this week. I did perfect on it again. My body just will not let go of this weight. Makes me depressed. I can see if I wasn't following my food plan or working out or ANYTHING, but it's not the case. I am down. Depressed and down right now. Steve kinda forced me to go walking, which I am glad I did but it sure didn't make me feel any better. I just kept my head staring down at the pavement as I walked and didn't say hi to anyone, like you should. Steve just brought me dinner in the office but I told him I'd go out there and eat with him. We're having chicken and rice. He garnished it with parsley just like in a resturant. Cute guy. At least I have a nice guy. Fat chick with the nice guy.

I love this layout that I did. Madison looks so cute. Oh...she wanted to take model shots tonight so I put up a white sheet to use as a backdrop. I was sooo bummed out because all the photos turned out blurry so I had to improvise and use some different settings to make them useable. Guess I am not using them for anything other than my blog, but this is better than showing you a whole bunch of blurry objects.



Is she a model or what? I finally had to put away her fashion show thingie that Nana bought her because it was just sitting in our living room for about 2 months and all her toys started piling around it. I'll put it back up for her one of these days. She has fun with it.
Oh...HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA GRACIE! When you wake up you will be reading this! I hope you have a great birthday today!
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday dear grandma gracie...
Happy Birthday to you!
I am actually going with grandma gracie tomorrow to a play thing called the Eagles Nest in New Brighton. I'll bring Madison and then she'll bring Kayla and Hayile. Oh my gosh...am I spelling Haylie's name right even? Is it Haylee? I can't remember. How wierd that I can't remember! Haylie or Haylee or Hailey? Now I am really confusing myself. I think it's Hailey. I should call up Kim and ask her how to spell it. I'll just ask my mom tomorrow. Anyways, the whole point of the story I was just telling is that we are going to go to the indoor playground thingie! It should be fun. I love those parks. It's just a lot easier when her cousins go with because then I don't need to worry about going through all the tunnel stuff. I actually am chlosterphobic so I can't go through all the stuff and Steve usually needs to do it.
Well, Madison is going to put on a show for us in the middle of the living room right now so I gotta go.
Happy Birthday Mommy!

Hee hee, look at Madison having a meltdown on her trike. It was so funny. She was really tired and of course that's when she spazes out. She couldn't turn her wheel or something and she went into meltdown mode. I shouldn't laugh but it was funny.
Yesterday was really fun. We went walking around Lake hyland. I kept complaining that we were stopping too much and my heart rate was going down. But I got a couple cute shots in! Here's Maddie standing at the bridge. I had a scary dream last night that she fell into this river/pond. Very scary. I still feel shaken up about it and it was only a dream.
There's the pretty waterfall. I always think this is such a hidden paradise right in Bloomington. Looks like we are on vacation or something. This is the 2nd time we stopped and I had to get in a little more complaining. Couldn't help it...I NEEDED to get my walk in. To go around the lake is 1.9 miles. That's a whole mile short of what I am use to walking so I couldn't afford for my heart rate to slow down. But I got a few pictures in again so it was worth it. None of the other photos turned out.
Then at 2:00 we went to the jazz festival. It was pretty fun. Madison found a little friend right away and they would run up on stage and dance a little. Steve and I just sat back and watched.
Here we are, the lovely couple.
Not up to too much today. I decided that I am going to go back to Hyland park and get my walk in today. Except I'll go around the lake 2 times to make up for yesterday. Fun stuff. It's pretty nice out. I am trying to keep up my tan so the longer I stay outside the better. Got some errands I have to run also and that's about it. I will try to clean. I said TRY. That's about my whole day! Boring, huh?

Okay....so we went out on the boat today...me, Steve, Madison, Grandma Gracie and Auntie Lynnie and my mom had on her famous sunglasses. You, the reader get to vote on what looks best....
A. Her large sunglasses down on her face.....OR

B. Her large glasses sitting up high on her face (this is how she usually wears them)....ORC. My stylish, yet inexpensive sunglasses sitting regular on her face....OR

D. El Natural. No sunglasses at all.

You, reader get to vote on this! Look over to your right hand side and cast your vote!

We had a lot of fun out on the boat! Steve wins the prize for the biggest catch of the day...

Nice looking bass, eh? No, you know what? Actually the biggest catch of the day was the snapping turtle that refused to let go of my large minnow. That was fun. Steve casted it out and then reeled 1/2 of it in and let me finish reeling...we didn't know what it was until Steve was going to reach down to grab it. That was fun!Here's a layout I did of Lynnie and Madison. Today Madison whispered in Lynnie's ear that she was her best friend. I think she whispered it so I wouldn't hear it because she always tells me that I am her best friend. That was so cute!

We had a really fun day. Then we ended it with giving Grandma Gracie her birthday presents (her bday isn't until Tuesday) and Steve made steak and potatoes. Yum. It was good!

You know....I just don't have any pictures of Ty! It's so hard to scrap him because I just don't have the photos! Poor TyTy! Well, gotta go to bed-e-bye now. I finally got Madison to sleep about an hour ago. Night!

Aren't these cute layouts that I made? They are 2 of my favorites! Can't type much this morning because we are going out on the boat. I've been up since 6:30 this morning....had a really bad dream and then couldn't fall back asleep. But I am excited to go out on the boat this morning. Grandma Grace and Auntie Lynnie are coming with. I hope we catch some fish today. I still have hope that I am going to reel in the big one (again!). I'll blog later on and post some pictures if I remember to bring my camera.

There...this is more my style. I can't sleep so I did this layout. It's 5:07 am and I am going to go try and sleep. I have to drive Steve in to work today because he's working on the window still of the truck. Maybe I won't try to sleep...should I make some coffee? hmmmm. Not sure what to do with 1 - 2 hours to spare until I have to get up anyways.

Did you know that I am whittening my teeth? It's an old package that I 1/2 used up so I am not sure if it's going to get them their whittest. It makes my teeth very sensitive. I mean, my teeth are already sensititve but this is making it more. Next time you see me, look at my teeth and tell me if you notice a difference.

We finally got madison into her own bed tonight after having to try every tatic under the book. She screamed, pleaded, cried and the only way we got her in was for me to say that I wanted to watch "the little mermaid" in her room and Steve said he wanted to watch the twins out in the living room with her....the little mermaid won and off we went happily into her bed. I am sure we will be going through this every night for awhile.

I best be off and go get my teeth stuff ready!

Here's some layouts that I am doing for another designer (I am doing a creative team guest spot for the next month)...not really my style with her papers/elements but it's kinda cute and it's fun to get some free stuff.

This picture is so awesome of Madison suntanning out in the middle of the lawn. She was so cute out there. She's acutally eating some strawberries. That was this morning. She has since wanted to come in and watch cartoons. I on the other hand want to be outside because it is so nice out. I am MAKING her leave her cartoons in 1/2 hr so we can go on our walk.

Did I mention that our blower went out in the truck? They wanted about 500 bucks to fix it so Steve had a junkyard get the piece needed and then yesterday he and I (yes, I helped fix it!) went out after work and put in the piece. No wonder why they charge so much for it...it's in an impossible place and you need very small hands to get the screws off. That was my part! I am all impressed that we fixed it. Now he's working on getting the window fixed because it doesn't roll down. So, Madison and I have been stuck without a car for 2 days now. Which would be fine if my child wanted to play outside like every other child. I did a layout while Madison is watching her cartoons...

Oh..it's Wednesday so I weighed myself and lost 1 more lb. I am so excited. I guess I am so excited that I broke thorugh my plateau! Now I probley won't post anymore on this until I am down to my goal weight. God knows how long that will take. Actually hopefully not too long. I have to say that drinking my water seems to have helped. Oh who knows....I am sure the working out 2 times a day helped too. That's so excessive but I had to do what I had to do. I'm trying to only do one work out a day. You know...normal stuff. Anyways, I am excited because this has been so hard to lose this weight. Jeepers...you'd think that I was an unactive person who sat around and ate fastfood or something. Steve thinks it's age. I say it's the meds. My doctor thinks it was the meds too. Oh who cares why as long as I get it off me. The sooner the better, then I can quit bitching about it. And blogging about it.

Don't you just love this photo of Madison playing at the park today? We were there for hours playing! Gotta get to bed cuz I am super tired. Madison finally got her big girl bed and mattress now (thanks to Linda from Steve's work) and last night she slept in it until about 3 am. Tonight she is back in bed with us. Well, with Steve right now. I told her she could sleep in our bed tonight and then that's it! My famous last words. This is serious business though because she needs to sleep in her own bed. Actually Steve and I just sleep so crappy because she's in bed with us still. Bad, bad habits. I still swear that I went through all the pain to keep her in the crib and not once did I ever bring her into bed when she was a baby and NOW we created a monster. Yes, we are the parents that you just want to shake! Enough of our bad parenting skills cuz the rest of the stuff we rock on! hee hee. I'll leave you with a little layout that I did of her down at the park today. I think I took over 100 pictures and only got a few good ones. Oh well...I guess I use the good ones and just ignore the bad ones.

Just some photos and a layout for you. We are going to go have a picnic down at the park. Already went on our walk this morning. Very productive so far! Have a good day.

We had so much fun yesterday out on the boat. Jimmy and Steve both surfed behind the boat. Different times of course. I never knew you could actually take a real surfboard and surf. Here's a little layout of Steve surfing.

Oh, and then Steve and Madison TRIED to go on the innertube but they lost their balance and into the water they went. Poor little Madison. She cried so hard and was so scared. We even felt worse because she was being such a big girl waiting her turn. She wanted to go so bad on the innertube and then disaster struck. I felt really bad for her. Alexis went on the tube then and it was so funny watching her try to keep her balance. I was laughing my ass off! We are going to buy a new tube so Madison can go on it.

Here are so more photos of yesterday. We had a good time...

We hardly caught any fish. I didn't catch any. I was sooo bummed. I was going for the big guys again and was very bummed out that I didn't catch anything. Steve, Jimmy and Alexis caught some fish but nothing major. Of course I was going for the major ones. Hopefully we'll get back out on the boat the rest of the summer now. It just doesn't seem like we'll go much now. We are hopefully going to go down to their farm in the next few weekends if we can find a babysitter for overnight and then we'll bring down the boat and store it in one of the buildings on the farm and Steve will have to get it winterized then. Anyways, we need to get down their because their is only about 5 more weekends that Alexis will be here before she heads out to Iraq. I am so sad that she is going. She'll be gone for a year. That's a long time to be away. Poor Alexis:(

Well, I had best get going and go walking before it starts to rain. It looks so gloomy out and it's humid as hell. Maybe we'll have some big storms out! Scary but kinda fun at the same time if you know what I mean. We keep on missing the big storms that happen at our house because we've been away while they have hit. As long as nothing major happens to our house or neighborhood then the storms are kinda fun.