Happy Birthday Nathan & Jared

We had the boys' birthday party with family and neighbors last Sunday. It was a fun time with loud conversation... that's typical of me and the women of my family. We're loud!! The boys received the model train set that they wanted, plus gift cards for bowling & Subway, a cool MarbleWorks set from Discovery Toys, 20 Questions games, and cash for spending!

McKinley Explorer by Bachmann

20q games

Trying to clean up my scrapbook area, so I have to go!

blessings, joie

SO BUMMED!

I'm UNHAPPY to report that Winkflash has changed their pricing. Prints are now .08 instead of .12. That sounds great, HOWEVER, the special .99 shipping (for 4x6 prints) is discontinued and regular shipping charges apply. I have 65 pictures in my "shopping cart" on Winkflash. With the new shipping rates, each photo averages out to .18/picture. I'm so sad; I really loved ordering from them! If I get my prints done at Walmart -- which I have before, and I liked the quality, it'll be cheaper! Going to pick up pictures is more of a hassle for me. I will be looking elsewhere and will let you know if I find any bargains on line for mail deliveries! I'm really bummed!

Yesterday was my birthday, and the boys made me a cake.

They managed to squeeze in over 30 candles (I'm 46, by the way)

love the Magic Splash coloring system!

me with Nathan (almost 11)

Yesterday, we went to the airport because it was so sunny and nice -- okay it was barely in the 40's but it was still nice compared to what it has been! We also stopped at JoAnn, and I bought DCWV's (Die Cuts With a View) The Stack 5. I LOVE the paper! It's 180 sheets (3 each of 60) for a sale price of $9.99 -- that's 50% off, which is a pretty regular sale. I need it like I need a root canal, but it was a birthday gift from me to ME! All papercrafting supplies are 40% off besides, so I bought a set of chipboard letters as well.

Today the boys were playing outside in t-shirts. The high is supposed to reach 47. You or I wouldn't go without a jacket, but THEY would! CRAZY! By Sunday, the boys' birthday party day, it'll be 29 for the high! So winter is NOT over yet!


Until next time...
blessings, joie

UPDATE: I just checked Walmart's photo website, and prints are now as low as $.09 each! I'm guessing that that's for pick up in-store, couple days. I guess that's the best way to go for me. Even with tax added, it's still a better value. If I pick them up while already out running errands, it won't cost me gas money!

2nd UPDATE: I was mistaken. If you order them to pick up in the Walmart store, the price is .15 each. The .09 price is for home delivery, and there's shipping added to that. No deals there. It still comes out cheaper than winkflash though...

BABY'S GOT BLUE EYES

I LOVE this! The blue eyes just make this a FABULOUS picture! It's such a cool thing! THIS is the picture that I wanted to do the Magic Splash kinda thing with since last May -- before I even knew about Magic Splash (which I learned about 2 days ago!! Check it out!

OWEN under santa hat

blessings, joie

This is SO COOL!

I stumbled across this website last night -- Magic Splash. You can change your photos from color to B&W with COLOR! I realize that my pictures aren't perfect, as I got a little sloppy with the mouse, and I don't know if I can erase my mistakes (takes practice!). It is SO COOL! It cost me only $14.95 to alter unlimited photos! The regular price is $19.95 -- don't know how long the $5 coupon is for. In the picture of Owen and the blue sock, -- Owen has one white sock on and one blue sock on. It was cute enough in color, but this makes the blue sock stand out even more!! Did I mention this is SO COOL?!



I have always wished I could do this, but the photo editing program I have is very limited. Now I won't need to spend a large amount of money on expensive PE programs! WOO-HOO!

blessings, joie

I found my song!

I have looked and looked on the internet to find the audio (or video) for this song! It is one of my absolute FAVORITE SONGS OF ALL, and it happens to be called Favorite Song of All! This should bring you directly to the audio of it.

A few scenes from life the last couple days...Jared on the chin-up bar they got for Christmas

Owen put on his underwear! Oops!

my little guy helping put dinner away

Larry the Cucumber (Veggie Tales) with Play-Doh hair
--kinda looks creepy!

I have to keep this post short (hah!), as I have not gotten the things done that I planned on doing today. My intentions are always noble and admirable, but then I end up checking on a blog or two and end up finding new blogs and the next thing you know, I'm calling myself a BLOG-AHOLIC! Yes, you read that right! "Oh, I'll just take a minute to check on so & so's blog"... then they have a link to another blog, and so it goes on and on! 99% of these people are scrapbookers, and I love to get inspiration and ideas from them.... It just takes up a lot of time! AND I never do anything with my inspiration. :o(

We've been house-bound so much lately. Either it's been cold, snowy, or ICY! Can't wait for SPRING!!

I have to start dinner. Aghh! Who needs dinner?!

blessings, joie

GLOBAL WARMING?

Good morning! It's beautiful outside but VERY cold! Now that we have a little snow for the boys to play in, it's too cold! But now my older two tell me they're going to brave the cold temps! (While Owen is napping, of course)

Got an order back from Winkflash, and again, I'm very happy! I ordered 8 x 10's for the first time, and the quality was great! They're only 1.99 each! I also ordered 5 x 7's for .29 each. I think shipping ended up being $1.88 or just a little over $2.00, I can't remember. That was with 90+ photos including 4 8 X 10's and 6 5 x 7's AND no tax. And I didn't have to go to a store to pick them up. It took a little longer than last time. I placed the order late Monday morning and got the order in Thursday's mail. It only took 1 day to get here, as I looked yesterday morning on the Winkflash website and it said "printing" and in the afternoon it said "shipped". I think last time, it was the next day or 2 days later from the day I ordered. NOT typical!

Thought I'd post a couple scrapbook pages for your viewing pleasure. On the first one, I love the Steelfish [stamps] font so much that I was willing to cut out my stamped image! Might not be worth all the work for more letters, however!

Owen DeFayette, Super Sleuth

new "big boy" underwear. It's been a long process!

Off to get Owen upstairs for naptime and then help Jared with his Social Studies before they go outside.

blessings, joie

p.s. comments are welcome!

POSITIVE AND ENCOURAGING MUSIC!

I prefer Southern Gospel, but the boys have been listening to a radio station for several months now that has FINALLY grown on me -- for the most part. It's called "Positive and Encouraging K-Love". K-Love is nationwide and has a place on their website where you can look up your local frequency. The frequency in this area is 94.5. Check out your area! If you are in need of prayer (and who isn't?), they also have a great feature on their website where you can ask for prayer. You fill out a form, PRIVATELY, and it goes to the pastors that are on staff. Another neat thing is they're COMMERCIAL FREE! You can listen on-line if you'd like to check it out! Many songs have blessed me and the boys. My favorite group is Phillips, Craig & Dean. I just love their harmony and their song writing! Check 'em out here!

blessings, joie