Everytime it gets a little longer...

In between posts, that is.  I keep thinking, I need to post, I need to post.  In fact, before December came along I had this bright idea that I was going to do an entire month's worth of pics - remembering 2010.  Well, December 1st came and went and now I think I'm going to do it for 2011.  Really?  Yeah, probably not, but atleast I can try to do better.  I just don't know what to blog about anymore.  I get so far behind I never know where to "pick-up" and start again.  I loved it when I could do "Fun Bits" every week.  I don't have much time to scrapbook anymore so that is my way of keeping track of everything.  Obviously, that's gone by the wayside for about a year now. 

2011, let's try to do better, let's try to do better, let's try to do better.  Maybe if I say it 21 times, it will happen, right?  21 times forms a habit, ha, I think that's what they say. ;)

Let's step into today, December 19th.  I went shopping today to try and finish my Christmas stuff.  I really didn't enjoy myself - I went over to Easton (pedestrian mall) and I could barely find a parking place.  It was busy, busy and I don't like shopping when it's busy, busy.  It probably doesn't help that I'm behind in my shopping and feel rushed. Aaahhhh!

I am excited for the girls for Christmas.  They're at a great age and we're having fun with the elves this year.  Here's a pic of the elves getting into trouble in the bathroom...

Ruh-roh.  One of these years I'll do a December Daily.  That would be fun to look back and see everything we attempt to do in December!

Another tradition started - the Jillibean Soup Christmas party.  This was the first year that we got everyone together for an oh-so-yummy dinner and an Elephant gift exhange.

It's kind of funny because Tim (my printer sales guy) and Ryan (Missey's hubby) were doing business (separate from Jillibean) during the middle of the picture.  Shame on them!  You can't see everyone, but they're there!  We had a great time, spouses and all! 

Ok, gotta get back to the presents and wrapping, cardmaking and printing off my Christmas card labels.

Until next time...hopefully sooner, than later. ;)

Jill

Card Bar at B&B this Saturday, November 13th!

Hope you can join us!  100% of the proceeds go to Toys for Tots!

Jill

Greetings from New York City!!!

Greetings from Laguardia airport anyhow...we're on our way out now.  What a great weekend!  This is my 2nd trip to NYC, however the first time I was in 7th grade!  I traveled with my church youth group - we did some work in Yonkers/Bronx and went downtown for a day.  Needless to say, I don't remember too much.

This time hubby and I decided to do a long weekend away to celebrate our 10 yr anniversary (which was back in August).  We've tried to see as much as we could while here.  3 days is not long enough for this busy city!  And the people....holy crap...so many people!  We stayed close to Times Square so we saw it at several different times during the day.  No matter what time, there's always a ton of people down there!  I can't even imagine what it's like at the New Year's Eve celebration. 

I've taken lots of pics, of course, here's a couple to share right now....

Rockefeller Center flags.  We were going to attempt to go down to the Today show on Saturday but didn't realize that it only runs from 7:00-8:30.  We were watching it on TV and realized we were too late.

Crazy Times Square at night.  BTW...didn't need my flash for this pic.

The view from Top of the Rock (same as 1st photo)...top of the 30 Rockefeller Center  looking at Central Park. 

That's all I have time for now...catching our flight to PA to get the girls.

Have a great week!

Jill

Ahhh, back to reality...

Really, I want to be back in Holland! 

No this isn't from the Netherlands.  It's taking me a long time to get acclimated to the time again.  I've fallen asleep at 8:00pm every night since returning.  I've been so tired - I think the last 2 weeks is catching up with me.  Anyhow, I started cooking again and made these yummy pulled pork sandwiches for dinner last night.  I'll have to share the recipe later.

I've been going through my pics and will have to do a week's full of sharing.  Some are too dark so I'll have to put some work into them before sharing.  Here's one that makes me giggle...

I had my fair share of Coke light (or Pepsi light) in the Netherlands.  Truike made fun of how much pop the Americans drink.  They, on the other hand, have coffee/espresso machines all over the place over there so you can always get your fix. ;)  Ice is a funny thing though - every time I asked for it, they looked at me funny.  Then, I usually ended up with only 3 small ice cubes.  Europeans like their drinks warm.  According to Kimber, they like their coffee HOT! 

More to come later. ;)

Jill

Doorn, Netherlands...

Greetings!!!!  I'm too exhausted to download my photos, but wanted to let you know that Kimber made it.  She ended up being re-routed through Chicago and flying to Amsterdam from there.  I was VERY happy to see her.  I boarded my plane still not knowing if she was coming or not. 

It's been great here!  Like I said, I'm exhausted.  Jet lag combined with 4 classes, a make n' take session and helping Kimber with her 2 classes has kept me oh so busy, but the people are soooo nice and this part of the Netherlands actually reminds me of the states.  It's very green with lots of trees, little shops downtown, funny-friendly people, good food and a scrapbooking store ;) 

I'm finished with my classes so we are headed to an older part of Holland tomorrow.  A place where they still wear wooden shoes.  Lots of pics, I'm sure. 

Thanks for your travel prayers.

Jill 

Ugh...

You know how I put up this really nice photo of the sky...

Well, it really doesn't look like that outside.  It looks more like this...



Kinda-sorta.  My trip to the Netherlands has not started off so good.  First off I got a call at 5:57am telling me that there was weather in Newark (where I'm flying through) and that they were offering me an earlier flight so I could get my connection.  The earlier flight meant I needed to be at the airport at 7:30am...yikes!  My original flight was at 1:30pm so I had left a few things to do in the morning before leaving for the airport.  Thank goodness I prepped more last night to try and give myself an easy morning.  This did not happen.  I didn't rush too much but I did forget my ipod, had to write out some checks for bills on the way to the airport and realized on the way out of the house that the phone charger was not plugged in leaving me with an uncharged phone (and headed overseas)!  Ugh.

Now, I'm sitting here in Newark and Kimber's flight has been delayed.  She may or may not get here which means she may or may not make her connection.  If she doesn't, she'll start all over tomorrow and get into the Netherlands at 7:00am on Saturday.  We teach on both Saturday and Sunday.  Ugh again.

Can you send some good vibes this way?

Hopefully better news tomorrow. 

Jill

I'm leavin' on a jet plane....

The day is here...Netherlands, here I come!  Can you tell I'm excited?  Excited, anxious, nervous I forgot something!  I'm also nervous that I'm not going to be able to find one of these...



Most of you know I LOVE my diet fountain drinks!!!!  They do have diet coke over there but seriously, they don't use ice.  I've asked...

Oh and hopefully I won't burn down the place with one of these...


I didn't realize I was going to need a physics review to understand which appliances do what and what I need to do so I don't end up without a hair dryer!!!!  Wish me luck.  I might be wearing hats the whole time if I can't dry my hair!

I'm sure I'll have lots of photos to share!  I'm taking my laptop so hopefully I can load some while I'm there. 

Have a great weekend everyone!

Jillibean

Fun Bits for the Week

Fun Bits for the Week of September 20th...

*I finally got to see Leah play soccer!  This was her 3rd game (we were out of town the first one and I was out of town for the 2nd).  She did great but seems to get tired faster.  She scored a goal and assisted on a second.  I'll have pics next week.  My laptop (with my pics on it) needs a new cord - the last one was smoking last week. ;)
*I've started designing my collections for the January CHA show.  It seems like we just finished shipping for this last release!  Think bikes, party hats and vegetables.
*Brooke attended her first Sunday School class.  I walked by the Nursery and realized I would no longer have children in there.  Made me sad. 
*Kami is in the 93 percentile for height.  She's going to be taller than all of us!
*Leah had a major meltdown today over pants and boots.  This chick is only 7..
*Brooke loves school and when asked what she did today just talked and talked and talked.  She loved learning about "wed" and "gween" apples. 
*Kami and Leah wanted to ear money the other day to spend at Justice.  I would totally pay them but neither one wants to do any hard labor to earn their money!  They spent about 10 minutes cleaning up walnuts in the backyard and then they were done.  I gotta whip these girls into shape!
*The new TV season caught me off guard!  I don't have my DVD set-up yet! 

Have a great week everyone!

Jilsy

CK Guest Blogger...

It's kind of amazing to me that I'm a guest blogger on the Creating Keepsakes blog today.  3.5 short years ago I was admiring the blog from my bed.  I was on bedrest with Brooke (our youngest) and I had plenty of time to keep up with TV shows and the internet.  I was following the CK blog and message boards because I had applied to the CK Scrapbooker of the Year that summer.  Here's a couple of layouts that I sent in...

Still love this layout.  I cut out all of the stamped flowers on the front.  Love the black/white with the pink/white accents.

I don't know how many times I changed that "Sour Strawberry" title in this layout.  Look at that face!  I thought I was pretty cool because I stamped on the very popular Heidi Swapp letters. 

One good way to use up all those "extra" letters.  Love that face too!  Cutie Kams!

There's that kraft paper!  Still love this photo. :)

I still like this one.  This looks like something I might still do today.

I was ahead of the times with this one. ;)  All those punched circles forming a border...that's a trend now, right? ;)  Ugh, I see how crooked everything is in these pics. 

I've certainly evolved since then but it's fun to look back.  I guess while I was on bedrest, I was inadvertenly researching my company too.  It was after getting on blogs, forums, applying to the Scrapbooker of the Year and not making it that prompted me to start a company.  The SOY contest was in July of 07' and the concept of Jillibean Soup started in the fall of 07'.  Imagine that...

Have a great weekend everyone!

Jilsy

Wooden Shoes?

One week and counting....


So excited!  My first trip to the Netherlands...in fact, my first trip to Europe!  Wish I had more time there!

Have a good one!

Jill

Couple of Cards to Share...

I posted these on the Bean Talk blog a couple of weeks ago but thought I would post them here - better pics.  These cards were used for my Celina class and an upcoming class at B&B.  Hope you can join me!

Love how simple this card was.  It's a 4x8 piece of olive colored cardstock folded in half to form the card.  I sanded the edges of the orange damask (yes, I still have problems saying that word) paper and tore it in 2 places to reveal the backside houndstooth print.  I punched a 2.5 inch circle and cut it in half to form the red half circles on the sides.  Then I added 3 stacked Jillibean canvas flowers and voila! 

Another simple (but cute) card!  Again, I used the orange damask and houndstooth paper (Shell Macaroni from the Pasta Fagioli line).  Overlap the red houndstooth with the orange damask.  Attach a 2.5 inch brown cardstock circle to the patterned paper base.  Hang it slightly over the edge and trim the excess off.  Ink the blue heart and adhere it with foam squares.  Add the button and sentiment.  Oh, and another little thing I've been doing alot lately...cutting the "v" in the sentiment so it looks like ribbon. 

Have a good one!

Jill

Fun Bits for the Week of 9/12/10....

Fun Bits for the week of 9/12....

*Lily celebrated her 8th birthday on 9/8.  She has the gray hairs to show it. ;)  She's our dog in case you didn't know. ;)
*Leah decided to carve her name in our kitchen table.  She received her first grounding.
*Brooke looks too little to be attending preschool.  Her teacher says she's the perfect little student.
*Both Kami and Leah are taking dance classes this year.  Tuesday evening after dance, Kami sat down at the table to eat and said "I still have my tard on". 
*While discussing being a Mom, Kami insisted she was having 3 kids and when they grow up, they would tell her that they were "bugging her".  Wonder where she heard that?
*Today, I heard Brooke singing Justin Bieber "Baby, Baby, Baby, whoaaa". 
*I just found a dollar bill in the bathroom garbage upstairs.  Who knows what else has been thrown away!
*Two weeks ago, I enjoyed a weekend with the girls - Stephanie Hunt of Bella Blvd and Nikki Sivils of Nikki Sivils Scrapbooker.  It was such a nice weekend!  We spend the weekend at a scrapbooking B&B in Illinois called Lets Get Croppin.  Steve and Susie are the owners and we enjoyed visiting with them.  I left feeling re-inspired.  Love those gals.  Here's a couple of pics...

We also had a little visitor that came with Nikki...his name is Alfred.  Alfred is the cuttest little Yorkie mix (I think) and he recently had a run-in with another dog.  Unfortunately, the other dog won and Alfred was left with a drainage tube, stitches in his neck and several other bruises and bites.  He slept most of the time he was there and didn't really want to socialize with the rest of us.  On the last day, he did let me pet him which made me smile.  Here's a pic of Alfred with Nikki.  He only has a couple of teeth, so I loved getting this pic with his snaggletooth sticking out!

Have a great week!  Thanks for stopping by!

Jill

Hangin' with the ladies in Celina...

It's Sunday and I'm hanging out on the couch...I've got a terrible head cold and it's knocked me down a notch today.

Yesterday, I really enjoyed the Power of Purple Crop (supporting the Mercer County Family Crisis Network - domestic violence) in Celina, Ohio. Jillibean was asked to attend and teach a class.   I have lots of stuff going on this month and next so I wasn't sure we would be able to attend at first.  I'm so glad we did.  Who knew it would be such an emotional afternoon! 

We had a great card class with ladies from all over Ohio...some who came just to meet me...awww, shucks.  Thank you for supporting Jillibean Soup and me! 

The guest speaker was Lisa Bearnson who is the founder of Creating Keepsakes magazine and a super sweet person.  She shared some photography secrets, a family album (that was created by having a photographer follow her family around for 24 hours), and inspired us to continue to keep preserving our family's memories.   I found myself missing my family and feeling sorry for the little things I've been missing out on. 

Chiara, the woman organizing the event shared some of her own personal experiences with domestic violence and had all of us do an exercise with different domestic violence incidents.  I found myself thanking God that I have such a wonderful husband and support system.  Chiara and her sister have amazing voices and sang the song "For Good" from the Broadway show "Wicked".  It was beautiful and I had to try really hard not to cry (it was right before my class). 

I had no idea that I would walk away from this event with so many new friends and a renewed faith in myself and a praise of thanks for my family.

Thank you Karen, Alecia and Patty for helping with my classes and booth! 

Have a great week everyone!

Jilsy

First Day of School Pics...

Thank you Karen for asking for these.  I'm so glad you're still checking the blog.  I know my posts have been few and far between - I just haven't had as much interest in posting (or time).  I'm going to make it a point to sit down on Sundays and try to get a few things in here...that way you can see what's going on with the girls every once in a while. ;)

Leah started the summer with two missing front teeth (which are now most of the way in)...

Leah and her best bud Emma. Ahhh, they both wore purple too!




Brooke and Kams started school in September. 

Look at that forced smile on Brooke!  Cracks me up!

Their school bags are bigger than they are! 

Have a great day!

Jill-o

My Monday...

It's Tuesday, right?  Well my Monday was - can I say - absolute MADNESS! 

Aaaahhhhhhhhh

To set the tone, I came home Sunday from an exhausting but awesome weekend with friends Stephanie Hunt and Nikki Sivils.  We had a great time creating and talking!  Talking into the wee hours of the morning, that is.  My 6 hour drive on Sunday was increased to 7.5 hours when I had to swing by the in-laws and pick up my children.  Hubby left Sat for work so the kids were with Grandma and Grandpa all weekend (thank you) :).  Soooooo, we were all tired.

Monday morning comes and it's time to get Leah to school at 8:50, Brooke and Kami to school at 9:15.  This is both Brooke and Kami's first full days of preschool (full meaning 2.5 hours).  I was late for both...how does that happen?  I had fifteen minutes to get Brooke and Kami to their school that is 2 minutes from Leah's school.  I decided I had time to go get my favorite morning diet Coke from McDonalds.  Love my fountain drinks.  Ooops, guess I didn't have enough time.  Last kids in both classes.  Oh well.

In my short 2.5 hours of time at home, I'm doing everything possible to stay ahead but it's MONDAY and this was just a CRAZY Monday for us.  Returned phone calls, e-mails, orders, orders with specific instructions and in the back of my mind I know I still need to get my kits done for my Netherlands classes so I can get them in the mail.  Oh yeah, somewhere in this crazy day, I need to make a 3 hour trip to my warehouse, I keep reminding myself.

11:20 comes and I go to pick up the girls...I'm early.  I didn't need to be there until 11:45.  Ah, crap...I had more time I could have been working on stuff.  15 minutes of quick e-mails from my phone. 

11:45 take Brooke and Kami to the babysitters.  Pick up some packaged product at M's house.  Thank you Missey! 

12:15 head off to my warehouse with the packaged product.  I made plans with a friend to pick up Leah just-in-case I would not be back in time.

12:45 I'm headed back home.  There seems to be a fire somewhere on the highway (can only see the black smoke) and cars are stopped.

1:15 phew, got a few minutes to myself.   Then, more e-mails, phone calls, think about designs for minute,  e-mails, answer questions, e-mails.

3:25 off to get Leah.

3:50 off to the bank.

4:00 stop at a store (it's a secret - something I'm working on)

4:55 pick up Brooke and Kami at the babysitters. 

5:30 cook dinner - which consists of mac n' cheese, grapes and carrots :)

6:30 hmmm, can I sit down for a minute.

8:00 everyone is in bed and it's time for me to answer more e-mails.  That's what I get for taking the weekend off.

Happy Anniversary to my Dear Hubby...

Wow, 10 long years with me. :)  12 years total!  I can't believe it! 

This man is such a blessing.  He's the best father, the best husband and he completes who I am. 

Happy Anniversary Hubby! 

Love you bunches!

They're Bathroom Books, Mom...

We're potty training Miss B.  As most of you know, she has a mind of her own.  We've been trying since the beginning of the summer but haven't pushed it.  When we got the tuition bill for Preschool, I realized we only have a couple of weeks get this done!  So, we started hitting it hard last week.  We went straight to Dora undies and it hasn't been so good.  I spent the other night searching the internet for tips about potty training.  Leah and Kami were done in a week...not Brooke!  Soooo, with the help of microwave timer, Nick Jr's Dora potty chart, lots of suckers and books...we're on our way! 

By the way...according to Brooke, those are her bathroom books. ;)

Have a good one!

Jill

These didn't make it on the Bean Talk blog...

We can't have ALL seriousness at CHA or we would got crazy!  Ahoy there matey!

The whole crew...we look thrilled, don't we. :)  Karen - what's up with that face?  Thank you chicas...appreciate everything that you do!!!!

Clean up....you think I'm happy?  Actually I was thrilled because our crates showed up right away!  Last time, it took 3+ hours for them to arrive and we sat around waiting and waiting.  Teardown went soooo quick in Chicago!  I had lots of help too - thanks girls!!!! 

Brown paper scarf?  Little loopie at the close of the show?  Check out Kimber in the background.  Peace!

And here are a couple of cards of mine that didn't make it into the booth.  Not a big deal.  I would rather use the team projects before mine.  I always make some to stick in here or there but we didn't need these. 

I really enjoyed the show this time.  It's always a TON of stress but I had more fun giggling with the girls this time.  Poor Kristen and Carson over at Lilybee had to put up with us during set-up.  During the second day, I burped out loud and I burped soooo loud that everyone was shocked.  I was even embarassed....so much so, that I bent down behind Jen to hide so that the Kristen and Carson wouldn't know how disgusting I am! 

If you looked at the Bean Talk blog then you saw this pic of Jarred...

I kinda feel bad for this guy.  We had SOOOO much fun harassing him!  It was our last night in Chicago....show was done...no stress...just good fun.  I decided we were celebating at Gibsons.  Mind you, Gibsons is a bit pricey - $42 for a steak.  Anyhow, this poor guy.  We (the crew) all decided we were going to guess how old he was, so everyone wrote a number on their hand.  The next time he came back to the booth we asked him how old he was.  He said "take out a sheet of paper and write down your guesses".  We all showed him our hands - I think he was beet red (low lighting - couldn't really tell).  Anyhow, we just had so much fun on that last night!

Thanks for visiting!

Jill

Is Anybody Out There?

Really?  June 15th was the last time I posted?  Oh my...didn't know it's been that long!  Sorry.  I just can't seem to keep up.  It's a good problem - right?  I also have this preconceived notion that I need a photo every time I post.  So, here's my photo...

This is a photo that Tracy Thompson took of the crew in our visit to Maine (back in late June/early July).  Quite a colorful family - aren't we?  We had a really nice visit with my in-laws in the York Harbor area.  Beautiful beaches, trolleys, birthday parties, lobsters, quaint little New England towns, vintage finds, family time...what more can you ask? 

I'll get more photos up of CHA later this week. 

Thank you to everyone that keeps checking in - I appreciate the support!

Jill

 

Fundraising Event...

Happy 40th Laura!!!!

Laura Vegas turns 40 today and her friends are celebrating with a card blog hop!  Here's my card for Laura...

Happy 40th Laura!  Many, many wishes for your Big day! 
Jen Harkin sent her love too...

Love all the butterflies Jen!!!

Sarah Hodgkinson is up next up!  Hop on over to Only in Hollywoodstock to see the next card!

Happy Big 40 Laura!!!!!

Jill

Summer Squash Soup...

Check out Jillibean's new collection on the Bean Talk blog!

Have a great weekend!

Summer, Summer...

Big Announcement coming on Friday...you won't want to miss it!  Check out the Bean Talk blog! 

Toodles,

Crazy Fad...

These things are popping up everywhere around here!  I got a phone call from a friend last week that they were on a search for the "silly bandz"...little did I know, these things are all the rage around here!

I'm not sure how I was able to purchase 2 packages at a local toy store that same day.  I was in Hallmark today and there's a waiting list for these things.  She said there's 200 people on the list!!!  What?  For some silly rubber bands?  Why didn't I invent these things!!!!  I was just googling the name to try and get a pic and I found a blog and FB page that's all about silly bandz.  Really? 

Today, Leah came home from school and said that her teacher banned them.  Probably a good thing...starting to see some caddy little girls because of it. 

Have a good one!

Fun Bits are Back!!!

Shall we continue where we left off so many weeks ago....

Fun Bits for the week of April 19th...

• Hubby and I enjoyed a date night this past weekend!  It's been quite some time and yes, it's sad that our date nights end at 10:00pm so we can come home and go to bed.  We really enjoyed the movie "Date Night" with Tina Fey and Steve Carrel even though we watched it from the 2nd row in the movie theater and my neck hurt afterwards. ;)
• Since Leah lost her 2 front teeth, she can now touch her tongue to her nose.  We are such proud parents!
• Brooke has started potty training.  Unfortunately, it's not going quite as fast as it did with Kami and Leah.  Everything is on "Brooke Time". 
• Leah has started soccer again this spring.  She's playing with the same team as in the fall and they've improved quite a bit.  Leah took the ball the whole way down the field on Sat and scored! 
• Kami has problems with pronunciation at times.  Yesterday she asked me if I liked peckles which sounded more like pecker...she meant pickles.  One of those moments that I just stop and think...what did she just say?
• Leah explained to me the other day that a certain bee hanging around on our deck was not a honey bee but a carpenter bee.  It looks like Dad (the entomologist) has been sharing some of those random facts spinning around in that brain of his. 
• "No" is Brooke's favorite word right now.  Go figure. 
• I had my first limo ride last weekend - in a Hummer limo no less!  I had a great time with the girls at Heather's bachelorette party!  
• I shared this pic on Facebook.  Lovin' Brooke's look...the diaper and snow boots!  It is cute how they're cuddling. 

Have a great week!

A couple of cards to share...

Yes, it's been a while.  I scheduled waaayyy to many classes, events and projects together!  That'll teach me!  Blogging's been on the brain again which is a good thing.  I like to blog but sometimes I just run out of things to blog about.  If you have any suggestions, pass them my way! 

On to the cards...if you check out the Cord Camera blog today, you'll see these cards and more.  They all use the Jillibean Core Impressions cardstock which I must say I LOVE! 

This card has the flour tortilla flower on it which was one of my very first designs.  It looks great on the green!  Oh, and I'm loving little mini tags like the Avery white ones.  Stampin' up now has a punch and mini stamps to stamp inside...so jealous I didn't think of that! 

Lots of scraps used for this card...loving that butterfly! 

Oooh, I snuck some Making Memories felt flowers on there!  Jillibean needs more felt, huh?  You can't see them but I used lots of 3L foam squares to pop out the Olive Sugar paper and the Sprout. 

BTW, I'm giving away 3 packs of Core Impressions cardstock...check out Bean Talk and the Cord Camera blogs!

Have a great weekend!

Jill