we got a boat!

isnt she a beauty!
yup... this is about as close we'll ever get to owning a boat.

lilly makes a pretty good driver though... hehhee.















p.s. if i ever do own a boat...
its name is "ghetto boat-ay"

the winners are in!

Thanks to all of you who signed up for the drawing...
and helped spread the word :)
I am shocked that almost 50 people signed up!! WOW!! ((HUGS))
Lilly thought she'd draw a few names since so many people signed up :)

The 1st and 2nd people drawn will receive...

FREE Mandarin Pixie stamps .

The 3rd, 4th, and 5th people drawn will receive...

FREE shipping on any one order.

Don't foget to check out The MP Blog for monthly Design Team work, and updates on everything happening at Mandarin Pixie (sales, drawings, contests, new stamps, etc...) and if you want even more of a heads up... join the MP mailing list, by clicking here.

And now that I am done rambling....
...the winners are....























1st: chelsea
2nd: hillary
(you've both won FREE MP stamps!!)

3rd: jaci
4th: netty
5th: judyq
(the 3 of you have won some FREE shipping!)

Congratulations ladies :)
If the 5 of you would please email me... jennifer@mandarinpixie.com
I will fill you in on more details, once I have your email addresses!!


Again, thank you everyone!
Now, get stamping!
(and if you are MP stamping... send your work here... gallery@mandarinpixie.com)

Have a super weekend everyone :)

vacation pics

a few quick pics from our mini vacation... to lakeside, ohio



marblehead


miniature golf... lilly style (she would hit the ball backwards through her legs, then search for the ball)


kenton row... this is where we stay. i think this is the 4th consecutive year we've stayed here. all 15 of us :)


...and wow! thanks to those who commented on my last post. ill let it run a few more days to see if anyone else signs up for the 'drawing'... (see previous post)

ill draw on friday, so make sure to check back to see if you won :)

avatar and a drawing :)

a new avatar...

miss lillian...
boobalicious...
little dave...
diddy honah...
the boobah...

a pic by her daddy :)



so sweet, she makes me smile :)



and, i always wonder...are there any lurkers reading this blog?

i'm curious... maybe a little drawing for free stamp stuff will pull some people out???

anyone (a lurker or a regular) who comments on this post will be put into a drawing for some Mandarin Pixie love :) ...spread the word.

happy day :)

LOs and stuff...

a few 'new' LOs...
easter


hunt


'diddy honah'


plus... new dt work is up at MP and the MP blog

whos dis?

i found my little photo album of high school senior pics...
this picture was the first one :)

on the back it says:
me (12th) & Dave Hoening (11th)
1996-97



after finding the album this morning...
lilly says... "whos dis?" (who is this?)
me: who do you think?
lilly : mama!! daddy!

hehhe, so glad she could tell it was us :)
hahahaha... i just keep cracking up every time i glance at this picture!

and look what those 2 crazy highschoolers put together... this darling little lady :)
showing off some goodies from our garden, which made our dinner last night.




and here are my kiddos... together again.
in the freezing water :)
love them so much!



lilly isnt too keen on that suit...
usually protests wearing it, saying...
"i don ike my benny suit" (i dont like my belly suit)
then she grabs either side of the hole and holds it together to cover her belly. teeheeee.
funny girl. makes me smile :)

have a great weekend :)

answers, LO, and MP

here are some answers to an 'all about me' email that i sent out about, um... 10 years ago :) i still had them all in my email, and i needed to do some cleaning!

Take a stab at my middle name: Kaye (most of you got this… either you know me well, or you just know lilly’s middle name, and you remembered that she has my middle name!)

Do I believe in God: yes

Color of my eyes: blue

Do I have any siblings: 1 sister

What's one of my favorite things to do: scrapbook, stamp, cook and eat (although the eating isn’t so much fun these days…) rollarblade (when its not a sauna outside)

What's my favorite type of music: you were all right on this one! …Because i really do like everything :)

Am I shy or outgoing: hmmm… I think im a good mixture of the two

Am I a rebel or do I follow the rules: I ‘m pretty much a rule follower…



and a new LO...



lilly translation- "oh oh. where'd my glasses go?"


and one last thing... some exciting stuff happening in the MP world... i can't wait to share :)

i scrapped...

this page has been a work in progress for at least a week...

not because its fancy or difficult... just because ive had limited time to purely scrap.

this is a scraplift of one of rorie's LOs.

i used the MP pupcat alphabet... using the exclamation points upside down for i's... that idea i stole from jen :)








and....

I just FOUND MY EYELET TIPS AND SETTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

yeah!!!

i KNEW i wasnt crazy :)
well, i am just a little.

(now, to find the rest of the stuff...)

happy weekend everyone :)

randoms...

i am now a much more organized blog reader.
thanks to bloglines and missy who told me about it a looooong time ago.
i just now got it set up and started using it... and it is awesome.
i currectly have 33 or so feeds hooked up, and im still working on adding more.


hmmm... the braces. day 3.
very very annoying is a good way to say it.
bread, soup, cheese, yogurt.
yep, thats about it.
if i dont lose at least 5 pounds from this 'diet' i will be highly upset.
im very sad that one of my favorite things to do has been robbed of me for the sake of my teeth. hehe. its true.


a picture.... havent done one of these in a while.



yep. thats the face i normally get whenever the camera comes out :)

i need to scrap.
i should now.
but the frozen yogurt is calling my sad little sore mouth.

titles are back!

yahoooeee. so i fixed one thing. got my title bar back :)
funny how i broke out the html... and compared and searched over and over...
and all it was was a little click of a 'yes/no' button... arg.

now if only i could find those darned MIA items...

got my top braces on this afternoon.
fun stuff. im looking hotter than ever. ha.
at least i got those stinkin spacer rubber bands out.
man, i was itching to pull those things out myself.

i did however get new glasses over the weekend...
and if i do say so, i am feeling a bit trendy.
i havent had my 'own' pair of glasses for about 10 years.

anywho...

thought id answer a few questions from my faithful blog readers, or better yet i should call you my faitful blog commenters (((HUGS ladies)))

(if anyone is still reading this lengthy post)


Denise asks... How did you make that banner? Seriously?!

well, i made the banner in photoshop... that part is fun for me, but i didnt get to crazy like some do. then you have to add it to a photo host and put it into your html template. here is the blog post where i got the best direction from... **i am sure i could be easily talked into making and adding VERY simple banners to blogs of people who ask nicely :)**


Rorie said... I don't even know how to add pictures to my blog.

heheh... you are so funny! if you can post at IDOS, you can surely post here!! see that little picture of the mountains(?) and blue sky above the text box?? click and wallah.. you will know what to do :) and i expect to see some little joey pics on your blog soon!!


Missy said... let me know if you need ANYTHING :) and lilly has another boyfriend??

yes, please eat some M&Ms for me. i havent had one in a whole week!! that is a world record for me :)

and yes, to be honest, lilly has several boyfriends. josh and her have the longest relationship though... they are utero buddies. fetal friends... lol. theyve been together since the VERY beginning :)

ali asks...I love the pictures! Can you send us some? and Where did Lilly meet this lion?

yes, i will send you some... soon? i dont know... lol. its on my never ending list of things to do... and the lion, from darby dan farms. cool cool place.


erin asks... I am wondering what the grey box looking thing is in your picture of new sb goodies (on the right). ???

those are chipboard letters :) i used them on a LO, but i am waiting to share it for a while

Karen says... Good luck with the braces. Did they ever suggest just a retainer?

no, never mentioned it. my overbite is too bad... and mean, its beating up my lower teeth. i did actually have a retainer for fixing my overbite when i was in grade school. i guess it wasnt a permanent fix :(


ok.... to all who have made it this far... grab a tissue and check this out.
i found it on a blog i was stalking the other day, and now its starting to pop up everywhere. awesome awesome awesome.

somehow... when i added my banner...
i managed to delete the place where i can write a title to each post.

bummmer.

(i did it on the MP blog too.)

i guess that leaves one less thing out... figuring out a title for my posts.
(although know ill be trying to figure out how to get that back... cause i like having titles)

this post would have been called MIA... (missing in action)

im not the most tidy person, but i am organized.
im am an organized mess.

i cannot stand it when something is misplaced.

so... here is the list of things that are currently and temporarily misplaced, and in turn, driving me a bit crazy.


Missing:
1. eyelet tips (2)
2. eyelet setter
3. cord to hook camcorder up to TV
4. my hair brush
5. zoo membership passes

*reward if found*

woohooo

i feel so...

technical

made a little banner...
nothing fancy,
but more exciting than the last :)

i've been getting some complaints that my profile picture doesn't look a thing like me.
so. there you go.
a 'real' picture of me :)

and dave.
and lilly :)

diet

im starting a new diet...
it's called...

the "spend a lot of money and get braces" diet

i got rubber bands stuck between my teeth yesterday to 'make room' for the metal brackets on the back of my teeth. only, the rubber bands arent the right size, so i go back tomorrow to get the bigger ones swaped in.

you all know i love to eat.
and i dont like to take medicine...

well, right now...
it hurts to eat goldfish... and cereal.

so, advil is my new friend.

amazing what a broken tooth will talk you into :)

trip

here are some pics from our trip to visit friends who just moved to cinci... (and one of the 4th too!)


ice cream (and frozen yogurt) from the cone... YUM




the Cincinnati Children's Museum... the big boys enjoyed themselves even more than the 'real' children. the museum is in the old train station, along with a few other museums... isnt this building gorgeous???!!



a trip to jungle jims... very very cool place. wish i had pictures, but we weren't allowed. we know. dave tried :)

josh and lilly... they are in love.
if there is such a thing as toddler love... they are head over heals.



(hi josh!! we miss you!!)


and lastly, lilly's 1st fireworks...




as soon as the fireworks started, miss lilly said...

"uh oh!! my glasses!! dare(where) glasses go?!?"

heehee


have a wonderful week everyone... hope you are enjoying your summer!

ahhhhh :)

new goodies :)



on the left, stuff from NYC that i got with a bday gift card from my sister... (thanks miss!! hey, i never did write you a thank you note for that... arg)

on the right, stuff from cord that i got with a bday gift card from a friend (thanks ali!)

it is SOOOOO much fun to treat myself to new things that i wouldn't buy because i am so entirely cheap!! (although i did use a 25% off coupon and got one thing 50% off at cord... cant help myself!)

and here is the basement in progress... doing better... (but sorry for the bleached out pic...) if you look real close, you can even see some actual scrapping in progress on the coffee table... (and the bucket i sit on just got cropped out of the pic...teehee)


you'd think some new supplies...
and a semi organized sb station....
would be some great scrapping motivation??
we shall see...

happy weekend everyone :)

yeah missy!!

this girl rocks....

check the MP blog

or, go straight to the action....

here

home

home after a busy weekend...
a trip to cincinnati,
a little trip to findlay,

will post more soon :)
or as soon as soon can be for me...

more conversations

we are trying to teach lilly to stay within eyesight of us.
it's more or less a reminder type thing...
even though it is really hard for her not to run straight to the backyard as soon as we open the garage door.

tonight we were trying to organize the garage a bit.
i look up...
lilly is out of site...
i quickly head to see if she is in the backyard. dave follows...

she is half way there, stops, turns towards me and puts her hands behind her back... and here is the conversation that follows.

me: lilly. did you ask mommy or daddy if you could go in the backyard?
lilly: uh uh
me: are you supposed to ask mommy or daddy if you can go in the backyard?
lilly: uh huh
me: what do you say to mommy and daddy?
lilly: soddy, guys (sorry, guys)

oh. my.
she cracks us up.
every. single. day.

woman

i am woman.
hear me roar.



funny how we didn't even tell her to do her lion impression.


later in the evening, she took the lion's tongue right of of its mouth.
oh, you little lion tamer you.
you are a beast, that is for sure.


(please. click on the picture to see it in full size. you must see the eyes.)

another weekend gone by

the weekend is almost over...
it was a busy one.
with plenty more to come.

cleaning the house
making yummy food
summer work party
eating lots of good food
after party at our house
eating more good food
3rd birthday party for miss abby
more yummy food there
got my MP computer moved back to its home :)

(i can almost feel some scrapping going on...)

and speaking of MP... only a few days left of the sale....
(all stamps on sale through the end of june!)

have a good week everyone :)