NOTES FROM THE HOLLER

I hope you have enjoyed a wonderful Sunday with your family!  I am posting so late today and I am sorry for that but I am afraid I am sorely under the weather.  I have spent most all day piled up the couch with my roll of toilet paper close by (my replacement for a box of tissues).  The congestion part of my cold is getting better thanks to the Alka Seltzer Cold Plus but my throat, head and ears hurt terribly so I have done nothing but try to sleep.  DH did get something accomplished today...he and his BIL Rollie dug out the horseshoe pits and got them framed in nicely.  Due to the heavy rain we had last night, they are going to wait a day or two before they go down to the Green River and get a couple loads of sand to fill them with.   It has been years since I pitched horseshoes so I am looking forward to the kids coming down throughout the summer and playing with me. You know how I look forward to Sundays and all the wonderful New Releases at Scrapbook-Elements , so let me show you

My sickness this past week was some kind of bug passed on to me through the sweet generosity of Isaac and Ava, lol.  They have all had one form or the other of the same ailments amongst their family.  Friday I was feeling a little better so knowing Isaac was out of school on Fridays, I went up to their house and took Isaac and Ava, and their Mommie out for a burger and fries (yes, I went off my diet for that-don't tell Gary).  We stopped by the high school and bought some some plants from their ag class.  Isaac and Ava had a ball choosing their flowers!  Took them home and played with them for a while before I came home and worked in my flower garden.  It was 84 degrees here and I was sweating like a hog in my long sleeved shirt and blue jeans!  I spent several hours just relaxing in my porch swing and watching the turkeys come in for their evening stroll before I showered.  Some time during the night, I started coughing and sneezing and today I have a full-blown cold!.

My family continues to grow!  We have a new addition!  Miss Elizabeth Faith was born on Saturday, April 17th, 2010.  My hubby, who has always delighted in the fact that I am a little older than he is, does not really like the fact that he is getting old right along with me as he is a Great Great Uncle once again!  Congratulations to Elizabeth's family!  She is a lucky little girl for I know she will be your Precious Princess forever!! For the page below with my first new pics, Elizabeth's Great Grandmother (my SIL) sent me, I used the Soft Spring Awakening Kit from Pixelfairy at SDK.  Its is such a sweet kit and perfect for the precious photos! On that same Saturday afternoon, we went to a baby shower for another wee one we are expecting soon.  My nephew Dale and his lovely wife Kylie are expecting their first child, a son in just a few weeks!  Grandchildren Isaac and Ava went with Pap and I and they had such a wonderful time.  Afterward, we went out.to Captain D's f

Sunday is here again and you know what that means - new releases at Scrapbook-Elements !  I have been trying to think of a sort-of "schedule of events" for my blog and as I always look forward to see all the goodies at SBE each Sunday, I am not only goin' to show you Kimmi and Rina's new releases but I am also going to show you one or two of my other favorites! So this week, I will kick things off with a couple of products I am sure to add to my wish list! Mandy King says this kit was inspired by her sweet little guy who remembers each night to do just what the title says:  Thank You God For Dirt .  Now that in itself is cause to add this to your wish list but it is filled with some really cool elements! I love use the templates by Holley Berry Designs and she has decided to add Template Mega Packs to her shelves at SBE such as this, Template Mega pack #61-80 . Rina has added more beautiful packages for both her Tenderly and Beloved Collections today! Ki

While dealing with the terrible ordeal of shingles...really!  It is an ordeal that I hope never to suffer through again!  They are 100% better now, though.  Most of the "places" are scabbed over now and cause little occasional pain but I fear several of them will leave scars...that is of little consequence to this old Granny's body! Any-hoo, I just have not  been in the mood of scrappin a whole lot so I began to reorganize my external hard drive.  I have so many wonderful kits, etc. but I forget that I have them...or when I want to use them, I can not find where I put them.  I have most everything organized by designers but it is impossible for my pre-Alzheimer's mind to remember who did what!  So I have begun to put some of my things in files categorized by themes.  I just know this system will work better for me in the future!  The real treasure, I found while doing this was to be reacquainted with one of the forums I participated in the past - Scrappin Digi Kreati

For the month of April we will be exchanging recipes for Desserts at Scrapbook-Elements. We invite you to join with us in the fun!   Here are my submissions for the exchange this month. I used products by Kimberly Stewart for my cards: When I Think Of You , Today's Moment and Summer's Evening . In exchange for submitting your recipe, you will receive the entire month's collection! A great way to collect new recipes and these cards make great gifts! And for my recipe for you this month, I  have a recipe that I hope to try soon!  Candy Bar Cheesecake sounds sinfully delicious!  I used Kimmi's Today's Moment Kit for my recipe.  I hope you enjoy it!!! *NO LONGER AVAILABLE*

I love to participate in challenges!  They offer great mojo to get my scrapping done and recently I participated in a great little series "Operation Collecting Eggs" sponsored by Val c designs over at Digital Scrap Cafe .  I visited all seven blogs of Val's CT and got some real inspiration in getting more pages done.  (You can visit my DSC Gallery if you would like to check out some of the pages I completed.)  Anyway, for participating in at least 4 of the challenges I received the BE FUN EGG Z IT and I even won a couple of the challenges!  This morning I was awarded the MEMORIES kit from Val c designs and I look forward to playing with it soon!  Thank you so much to Val and her girls for the great fun, gifts and inspiration!  I hope to continue participating at DSC , and I encourage you to visit them soon!  They have an open gallery policy and everyone has been real friendly to me in the forums! I also wanted to say a very special thank you to Marzenka of sussieM

From time to time, I like to share with you software that I truly will not do without.  Glary Utilities is such a valued software.  It is an award winning system clean up which supports Windows 7, 2000, XP and Vista, and with its one-click maintenance it is truly easy-peasy!  There is a full version available which is currently on sale at 30% off but I use the Free Version as do many other users.  A member of the Geek-Squad first shared this secret with my husband, and as our resident pc-doctor,  he passes it on to every pc  he works on.  I personally use the one-click maintenance EVERY time I finish using my computer to keep my computer working at top performance.  To check the software out, read testimonials, and for the free download just click here ------> GLARY UTILITIES FREE .

Come check the SBE forum for some fun 6th Anniversary challenges with some great posting gifts and other goodies. Kabra has a wonderful posting bonus for her Mix and Match Challenge in which you are to use at least 3 different SBE products on your finished page.   For my submission to Kabra's Mix and Match Challenge , Fishin 4 Memories I used: These Days by CathyK Designs , Fish Tales by CathyK , Alpha Scraps by CathyK and the End of The Rainbow Alpha by Kimberly Stewart . Lisa aka scoobie81 is hosting the Shrink It Up Template Challenge .  The challenge is to take a template and "shrink" it, and Lorraine has provided a template that you may choose to use as well.  I used the provided template for one submission, Happiness and then I also made a second submission, Denim and Lace .  Both pages were created using Easter Chic by ShelleyRae Designs . Jeannie is hosting the "Why I Scrap" Challenge . perfect inspire for this page I had be