GREAT STRIDES

It's time for the GREAT STRIDES walk. Phew. i'm sooooo excited.
Please don't forget to donate money to support Cystic Fibrosis!!!
I will be posting tons of Pictures!!
I am going to be making T-shirts for us all!!!
Cystic fibrosis is the most prevalent genetic disease in the United States. Advances continue to be made in finding a cure, but your help is needed now - more than ever - to help keep up the momentum of this life-saving research. Too many young lives depend on this vital research to let it go unfunded!


GREAT STRIDES is the Cystic Fibrosis (CF) Foundation's largest and most successful national fundraising event. This year, I'm walking in the GREAT STRIDES event at the 2010 Huntsville - Bridge Street Mall site on 05/02/2010. Please help me meet my fundraising goal of $50.00 by sponsoring me. You'll feel confident in knowing that your generous gift is used efficiently and effectively: nearly 90 cents out of every dollar you contribute goes directly toward supporting research and specialized care that improves the quality of life for those with CF. And, it's tax-deductible.

Making a donation is easy and secure! Just click on the link below to make a donation to my fundraising page. Any amount you can donate is greatly appreciated!

Donating to GREAT STRIDES is such a simple and effective way for you to show your support for this important cause. Together, we can make a difference in the lives of those with CF! Once again, thank you for supporting the mission of the CF Foundation!

• View My Personal Invitation!

• Visit the CF Foundation Web Site

If you encounter a problem with a link, please visit my GREAT STRIDES Home Page at http://www.cff.org/Great_Strides/RachaelHardin! NOTE: If link looks broken, cut and paste ENTIRE link into address bar. If you are presented with a "Find A Walker" page, enter my first and last name and click on "Find Walker." Then click "View Walker" by my name in the results list to go to "My GREAT STRIDES Home Page."



Thank you,

Rachael

woohoo NEW FEATURES!!

Blogger has new Features that allow me to upload videos easily!!
I thought I'd share some favorite moments with you.

This Video is from the day we brought biggwrl home from the hospital and Middlest wanted to get to know her a little bit. This one ALWAYS makes me cry. Good Tears.

another layout display

So as we close things down at Wisescrappers we discover other layout's I've made to display certin papers.
When BigDaddy scheduled a couples Photo shoot with a Photographer friend for Valentines day. I knew I just HAD to do a Layout for him.
The pictures were soo great.
These are just a few:

So when we got a shipment of My Minds Eye Beloved I knew i had the right paper for this special layout.

I chose to add our girls because our LOVE for each other spills over on to them.. they are part of our love. This is my favorite of all the layouts I've ever done.

Auntie and Uncle Oregon come to visit

This is Biggwrl's favorite person next to and maybe even above her Pookieboo.

This is Aunt and Uncle Oregon. The girls counted the sleeps until they got back in Alabama and anxiously waited for Sunday. Finally it was here!!!

THEY were here!!!! The girls ran into Gwama's house screaming, tackleing everyone with hugs. Luckly the little girls had to go clean their bedroom,, so Eldest got to spend time alone with Aunt Or. Which would not happen once her sisters were free.

We did the girl thing and we all cooked together.

Even the little ones.. well after they cleaned thier room.

After we got the food prep-ed and the girls room cleaned up we went outside to play.

The girls got to play tag and get Piggy-Back rides.

Then Auntie needed a break.

Auntie is going to be a Physical Therepist. She wanted to show off her skills so she did movement and reflex stuff on Gwama and the girls.

We had such a great day. We really miss our Aunt and Uncle but thanks to the Internet it wont be that long until we see them again.

Arn't they cute together?

BTW... BigGwrl was so upset she wasnt going back to Or. with them that the only thing that made her feel better was a Chocolate Milkshake.. cause Ice Cweam make her Happy... this was before she poked a hole in her cut and spilled it all over the backseat of Gwamma's car.

Washington Scrapbook

My mother and I are working on a Scrapbook for her Washington D.C. trip. She does not like typical scrapbooks that only highlight one or two pictures, so we created Chapter pages so that she can have the best of both worlds.
   We started out with a Title Page

We wanted Cherry Blossoms to be the focal point, because they went during the higth of the Cherry Blossom season.

For this one we used a Breast Cancer awareness paper but we didnt want to repeat the same thing we did for the title page.

This is Hotel they stayed at and the Pub they frequented. I used travel paper and white fabric THICKERS.. I wanted more of a brown/tan but we did not have any so i took a brown ink pad and rubbed it over the letters then blotted them.

We used Stamping company (i think) paper and Rainboots THICKERS

For this one we used the same paper then cut the White House out of another piece of paper. I dont remember which kind of THICKERS we used sorry.

For this one I loved doing this one... I used my wavey paper cutter to cut red and white stripes that i pieced together. I used the CRICUT to cut white stars.

I used the Same THICKERS as the one above. This was also the Stamping Company At least i think it was.

For this page of thier Manassas Tour I was not sure what to do to reflect the Hictorical Impact.. so Eldest and I did a little research and came up with this cannon to embellish the page. We rubbed a little sliver ink to shine it up a bit.

For this one We LOVED this We the People paper. We wanted to bring out the diffrent colors of brown.. that the parchment print had.

This one was my sneaky one.. Mom did not pick out this paper. She picked out something more Church like. Not that its a bad thing it just didn't go with the NATIONAL CATHEDRAL so I looked around the shop and found this one. It's very stained glass looking. I thought it turned out PERFECT.

This one was another I had some issues with but I think it came together perfectly.

LOVED this one!!! I tried to draw a Mason's symbol but it just didnt work so I printed one off the net. Once again I used my brown ink pad and rubbed it over the cardstock to make it more antique and less WHITE. I LOVED how this one turned out.

Wading with Indiana

Today was such a beautiful afternoon AND Thursday which meant Big Daddy got of work early!! We had to wait for the AC repair guy to get here and fix our Air Conditioner. Then we were headed out to do some serious wading. That is what Pre-Summer means at our house. Wading and Subway... except well no Subway today. Today we took Indiana so she could get a little energy out. Poor baby. She is so tired now.

When she's gone with Babygwrl and myself she usually is content to sit on the shore and occasionaly lick the water. Today she decided if all the girls could do it.. so could she. She had soooo much fun. She LOVED the water!! Her first time in the creek!!

this was when she had started to get cold and decided it was time to get out. We knew she'd love it. Indie has to be locked up during bathtime because she jumps in the tub with babygwrl.

Anyways this was an area Big Daddy and Bigwrl found last week. The water is shallow for quite a ways but still moving so I didn't have to worry about some nasty stagnate water cooties. Only thing we might have a problem with is SNAKES. Ugh.... just the thought.....

She had to make sure the water wasn't to deep here.

New Layout pictures

Sorry about not posting in so long things have been really crazy and not so worth writing about...
I finally got pictures of some Layouts i've created for WiseScrappers I can not WAIT to show you... The fairy one gave me some issues.. first I could not quite figgure out what exactally I wanted to do.. I just could not find the right paper. Then I found the paper but could not figgure out how to lay out the pictures or anything else. I knew if I just kept up on it.. Inspiration would come eventually. I just knew it. Kinda.
Here were the FINAL results.

Is that not beautiful? Both BigGwrl and I were sooo happy with how it turned out.

The next is just a simple layout I made for the window of the shop with pictures of me and my "Dearest" Friends

Just as simple as can be but I still love it!

I hope youhave enjoyed this weeks broadcast of well whatever the heck this is.

Stay tuned tomorrow for Take you Child to work day.

Sounds of Sumatanga 2010

Friday was our GIRLS ONLY camping trip with friends to Camp Sumatanga's Sounds of Sumatanga.

We had a van full of all things Girls Love like Oreo's and Little Debbies. We all had new bantoonas (bandana's and sandals. We were so ready. We just had to wait for T. Once they finishished thier Dr.'s appt and we were on the road we cranked the tunes!!! Thanks to my trusty GPS we got there without incident.  Once there the GIRLS decided THEY should put up the tent. How awesome is that? They put the tent up all by themselves!

After we got both tents put up we decided to do a little hiking and a little Geocaching. We found one cache in our camping area and another near the lake. The one by the lake was a little tricky...it was tied to the roof by mono-fillimant and surrounded by bees, wasps, and inch worms, ALTHOUGH on the hike we did find a dinosaur egg!!! After we found the last cache and started hiking back Baby A and BigGwrl got just a little worn out and a little crabby,

 so we decided to take a drive to the Chapel on the Mountian. This is one of the most BEAUTIFUL places I have EVER seen.

It is peaceful and serene. I love being up there. It is truely my favorite place in Alabama.

The drive..wooo. not for the motion sick. hahaha.

There was a Cache there as well. Though I didn't look long for this one. The chapel overlooks a cliff so I babysat the Children by making sure they did not get close to the edge. Thats just what we dont need :). After T and Eldest located the cache we ate supper. We had hot dogs and chips overlooking the valley. It was just amazing.

It was starting to get late so we headed to the assembly that the camp was having for the early campers. It was a blast! We got there just in time for thier last song. :( But Just in time for the fun games and dancing!!! The girls had sooo much fun! We played games where you had to find someone that had ---- in common with you. The girls had trouble but they are little. They loved it though. OH MY GOODNESS they started doing fun dances and the girls got out there and were shaking some booty! By this time it was like 9pm and the kids were DEFINATLY ready for some quiet time.

We headed back to camp for a special treat and Jammie time. Eldest had started complaining of a headache. Since she is prone to get migranes we got her medicine as soon as we could and sent her to bed.

A volunteer that T knew started a fire for us so the girls were able to roast marshmellows!! And as you know you CANT go camping without Marshmellows. After the girls went to bed and I got some quiet time. I got back to the tent and Edlest was worse. She started throwing up LUCKLIY not in the tent!! So after a VERY quick coversation with T and a change of kiddos. Eldest and I loaded up to come home. Let me tell you what you know you have a good friend when she keeps your babies and takes down your tent so you can take your sick child back home. I LOVE T. She is the BEST FRIEND EVER. We made it home safely. And Eldest never broke Rule #1 !!! Rule num #1 is do not throw up in the car!!! We did pull off a few times. She was feeling better after sleeping.

So now Eldest and I are home and my little girls are camping with their best friends. With no cell signal so i knew i would not be able to get a hold of them. I was not worried though they were in good hands. I did miss them though. Eldest rested as a sicky should and we were able to spend time together. Which is a rareity and has helped us be a little closer. When the babies finally got home they were soooooo tired!! Poor kids they were so worn out. we got home bigGwrl was crashed out but Middlest aww this is the best. She climbed into my lap with her blankie and fell asleep in my arms. What really got me though was she had started difting to sleep when she whispered i love you mommy. I teared up. Even now i am tearing. It's been at least 4 years since i help her as she fell asleep and that she wanted her mommy that much wasjust..... *sniff*

So i am ending this with.....

is that not the most beautiful thing?

Here is the link to T's blog post of this weekend through her POV. Bumbs in the road

if she cant go to the boys....let the boys come to her.

ya'll we got a problem.
A big one.

Ever seen 10 things I hate about you?
The father?
That would be Big Daddy. And with good reason!! I am in no way saying that he is in the wrong.
He's just obcessed with boys being near his daughters. Even to the point he refused to discuss her playing with her friends.. because THE BOYS were over there too.
THE BOYS are 3 certin young men who have been coming by the house to see if Eldest can come over to play with them. Typically its two boys. One is always the same the "wing man" changes between two other boys.
Since Big Daddy REFUSED to discuss her playing with her friends saying she is just fine in our yard only playing with her little sisters. I called in the big dog. Ms. Ducky. Eldest's mommy. Tecnically Big Daddy can overrule any desicions made though when Ms. Ducky and I decided something together he seems to pay a little more attn than he would if we were seperate. So she and I decided Eldest OUGHT to be allowed to play OUTSIDE with her friends. Never allowed in thier houses AND she had to take my cell phone so anyone of the three of us can call to check on her. Good Compromise right?
We told him of our compromise HOPING against all hope that he might let our precious little girl venture out in the world.
He has decided that we must discuss our expectations with her and he must talk with the boys and thier parents. THESE POOR KIDS ARE 11 years old!!!!! They just want to play basketball together!!!
It's just basketball!! Apparently 11 year old boys only have one thing on thier minds and us girls just do not understand the temptation! So today I went ahead and gave her my phone and let her go play with THE BOYS and Eldest's dearest friend. She ended up having to go to the grocery store with us. but as soon as we got home  THE EVIL BASKETBALL PLAYING BOYS came back wanting her to come over again.. Seeing how it was almost time for Big Daddy to get home and I did not want him to have a heart attack because his daughter was consorting with BOYS I said no. Then they came back to see if they could play in the yard.. they even brought a little brother who is kindergarten to play with Middlest and Biggwrl. How sweet it's like a double date!!!
   About 5 min later Big Daddy drove up. hahah. I was right about the Heart Attack part. You should have seen his face when he saw THE BOYS were in HIS YARD with HIS GIRLS. It so totally went white! It was great! well for me. Being a good mommy and wanting to save poor Eldest from a lifetime of humilation and rejection I bribed him to come in the house. At least until he calmed down a little bit. So now I am sitting out here blogging and he is TRYING to BBQ hamburgers... Im trying to keep him from speaking.. it's a battle.
I think im going to hear ALL about it tonight. But its so worth it to see my girls having fun playing with friends. Even if they are EVIL BOYS.

btw. THE BOY thinks our dog Genesis is named after the Sega Genesis.. and his pants keep falling down. I might be forced to agree with Big Daddy about THE BOY.

I freaking ROCK

So if there is one thing we are born to do in this world mine is shopping. I LOVE to buy things for my husband and by kids. Even more I love to save money. So when faced with 80deg weather and 3 little girls who are wearing high water pants because they have all grown 3 sizes this year what does a shopaholic mom do? she goes shopping of course!! Unfortunaly due to summer plans and trying to put money back we have very little. I talked my way into a 50$ limit at least ir's something though. So I did my research, my price comparison and all that. It did not seem like I was going to be able to buy to much for the girls maybe a pair of shorts each.
As I drove down the road it hit me well i saw the big grand opening sign.  one of my favorite thrift stores moved closer to me!!! $4 walmart sacks of clothes. This is what I needed! I got in they had bumped up thier prices to 5$. Apparently people have had a problem with this. I am not one of them! So Biggwrl and I start stacking and grabbing every pair of shorts, t-shirts, and tank tops they have in sizes 4-14 I could barley see over it. Then as we were taking off the hangers I noticed an Eagle statue that looked like it was made of grey cement hmmm. the guy pulled it out of the case yep Mt. St. Helens ash 1$ did you hear me 1$ . We also bought a new purse for bigGwrl 1$ Total cost at the Hanger thrift store 13$. two walmart sacks FULL of clothes. and a Mt. St. Helens ash statue. So I decide to hit my #1 favorite.. it used to be a Hanger but now its called Sacs on 72. This one the guy and I have a good friendship. I pass my goods (outgrown stuff) on to him he crams my bags to the brim. Oh and did I hit pay dirt here!! I got an eagles Cheerleader outfit for Eldest to play dress up with her sisters, I got sundresses, church dresses, overalls, shorts man did i get shorts, shorts and more shorts. I had such a huge pile it took us 5 min to take off all the hangers, I couldnt even SEE over this pile!!! Total cost at sacs on 72 15$ for 3 bags of summer clothes.
So the total for today?
We started with 50$ to buy summer clothes for my growing girls
Hanger Thrift Store 13
Sacs on 72 15
Subway 10$
our grand total for the day 38.00$
38.00$ for 5 bulging walmart sacks of clothes, 1 statue, 1 purse and 1 nice relaxing lunch with my sweet girl.

Biggwrls stash lots of dresses

Middlest's lots of skorts and tshirts

Eldest's pile dontcha LOVE that uniform? she has the most so far.. once they get home and try stuff on things will change hands and well bodies

Speaking of Subway.. im all for these skinny minnie girls who want to watch what they eat but this one lady... she got the Turkey breast 6 inch no cheese, lots of veggies, then DOUBLE MAYO. WHAT? HUH?

My beautiful night

Our family is known for our crazy road trips. Since last years crazy.. hey umm we are going for a drive i'm not sure where we are going.. call you in the morning.. love ya trip we've been hesitant about going for a drive. Well tonight we just couldnt take it anymore. We ate supper and loaded up the kids (in their jammies) and took off. It wasn't SO far of a drive but enough for the little girls to fall asleep and us to enjoy the sunset and the stars coming out with Eldest. Let me tell you what.. that child is something else. She is a little smart mouthy.. hahah just like me. We had a blast. There was this one road we turned down.. no street lights.. trees on both sides of the road..then this really creepy haunted house sounding song came on.. not wanting to be the weenie of the trip I just bit my tongue until Eldest kinda whispered can we please change the station cause im getting a little creeped out. Then we both stated laughing and Big Daddy just shook his head and made fun of us. At least we were both weenies together.

CF Video

we have been getting a lot of questions about CF and what it is. Ms. Kitty found this for us. Please watch.

BUG!!!!

So im not sure who told BigGwrl that bugs were going to eat her but i'm about to KILL THEM! The above picture is what some down here our family included call Skeeter Eaters. It is a simple Crane Fly. HARMLESS Apparently one of the girls told BigGwrl is was a super Skeeto and It would suck out all of her blood and kill her. (Sounds like Eldest). So now my poor little girl is DEATHLY afraid of ANY KIND of bug. Including ants. She goes in to full blown panic attack. I am serious. Today she started screaming and crying and climbing over seats in the van yelling about the bugs. I quickly pulled off the road and climbed into the backseat to find a MOTH. A freaking moth!!!!! So of course i squished it (sorry guys) and consoled my baby. Then later on it was a ladybug. A LADYBUG got on her and was going to kill her. A LADYBUG!! So i had to brush that off and make sure it didnt posion her and try to kill her. Im not sure who told her or why she is going through this.. she has always been fearless about bugs but i promice you i will find out!! And they will pay.. oh yes they will pay.

The beautiful Mountians

One thing I love about Alabama is living in the FOOT HILLS in certin parts of Huntsville during a thunder storm the Thunder just rolls off the hills and sounds so completly different than anywhere else in the world. You may be wondering why I capitolized FOOT HILLS it's due to the fact that southerners think they are mountians.

Okay you Washingtonians can pull yourself off the floor. Take a deep breath.. find your center..ect.

I agree those are not Mountians. They are the speed bumbs of mountains.

Yet try telling anyone from Alabama that.

Anyways all the trees are in bloom and thier color right now is just so amazing. The pictures just dont do them justice. In my defence I had to pull off the road to kill a bug before it ate Biggwrl and I wanted to get a picture to show you.

I love the beauty of this part of our amazing county I just wish they would quit calling them Mountians.

Window Pane

When you make bread there is a trick to tell if it had been kneaded enough. You break off a small piece of dough rotating and gently stretching it into a thin translusant membrane.
Sometimes I am willing to bet we all feel like that small piece of dough. When we are feelin good and relaxed you can be gently stretched and become almost see through. When we are not relaxed and thoughly kneaded we tear easily and get huge holes. Not becomeing stretched and see through. I think Right now i am not mixed well hahah. I think I need more rest and kneading. Anyone wanna run away to the beach for a weekend with me? Of course im really not going. This weekend Tim and I have a date tomorrow and then dinner with some people on Sunday. *sigh* but for now i must help my naked child find some clothes

Spring in the South

Last week I raved about how beautiful Spring is and how I love sitting outside but hate Allergies.
You probably laughed. HOWEVER this is what Spring in the south really is about. POLLEN.
First you might notice that slightly diffrent color to your car. You get a little closer and you notice it has a slight yellow tinge. You notice you feel itchy and grainy. Your throat is scratchy, watery eyes, sneezing. Yep its that time of year. You love the fact you have doors on your van that open automatically so you dont have to actually touch the car and when you do it's with one finger. ugh. So We found out it was going to rain.. this is the best part because it washes away the pollen right?

This is where my Van was! See all that yellow? All of that was on my car. Every sidewalk and puddle looks like this. This is Spring in the south.

Just looking at it make me itchy. This is why I have to take Zyrtec, carry Benedryl, and wet wipes everywhere I go. I was Suprised though when I saw this...

I didn't realise the pollen was this bad, apparently the pollen levels are at historic levels. Ugh no wonder I hesitate to do anything outside.. or touch anything out there. I told you it was scary, but you didn't belive me!!!

I would like to share that right now the pollen level is astronomically high. How crazy is that it's like quadruple the normal HIGH amount.

PTA, Meetings, errands and Kids

I am so sorry dear friends that I have been neglecting you. It has been super crazy around here this week. I've had meetings, PTA stuff, Ms. Kitty went back in the hospital. Normal everyday errands and everything else a mommy gets to do. It's been hard to keep my head from spinning off. I would say I think its FINALLY under control but... it's not. I did not write on Saturday and Sunday due to the Holiday and spending time with family.
   We had a GREAT Easter filled with love and family. We spent Saturday with my family and Sunday with Big Daddy. We had soo many Easter Egg hunts. I of course took to many pictures.
We had all the staples Ham, Pork Roast, Potato Salad, Jello salad, hot rolls and of course no good southen meal is ever complete with out homemade Mac and Cheese. Ya'll just don't even know!
I think I gained 30 lbs. this weekend.
 Monday Ms. Kitty went back in the hospital. We had been expecting it but.. well its still difficult. We love her so much. The girls and I went and visited her later after they got home from school. Then Tues Middlest had her very FIRST school program. I have to say SHE was the bestest Kindergartner there. And the TALLEST, but I am not biased in anyway.  She was such a rock star! I am so proud!!
Today is Ms. Kitty day!! Im takin some lunch and we are going to hang out and color our hair.. in the hospital. Im not sure how it will work out but you never know.

Crop fest!!

Ms. Kitty and I had a shoppy day today to round out her scrapbook stuff today. We had soo much fun! We hit Michaels and Hancock fabrics. Then we went to five guy.. oh my gosh.. their hamburgers..uhhhhhhhhh sooooo good. I am drooling just thinking about them!
Then after getting the girls from school we went to Wisescrappers for some scrapping time! I made the MOST AWESOME cards ever! seriously! I am in love with these cards. I can't post the pictures though..sorry.. they are for a friend and well if he sees them he'll know they are his and i'd rather wait until he gets them before I post them. I hope everyone had an AMAZING Good Friday.

my wittle memers

This is MY baby. My MeMe. We call her Princess Memers. She is all mine!!

For those who are new and don't know. Meme belonged to a friend of ours in the Seniors group I help out with. When she moved into a retirement home she could not take both her cats and she asked if we would take Meme for her. We had not planned on having a cat but we could not turn her down. Meme is the best cat in the whole world. I have NEVER seen a more affectionate cat. She loves to lick you. It's gets kinda annoying when you are trying to sleep but.. She comes out of our room every once in a while  until the dog chase her. She has these adorable (to me NOT Big Daddy) habits. Mrs. Lavelle used to play with her in the bathroom all the time so potty time is play time to her. She comes up and puts one paw on your knee and stretches out to pat your cheek (FACE) with her other paw. I LOVE it!! How sweet is that?! The other is she LOVES to sleep with me. If i lay on my side she sleeps on my "bottom" or right next to me. If I lay on my back she sleeps between my legs. HOWEVER lately she has adopted this REALLY wierd thing of climbing into the covers. So that in the middle of the night when you can't sleep because SOMEONE is SNORING (VERY LOUDLY) and you are squirming around your feet will accidently brush up against something soft and furry and you almost scream until it licks you and you realize it's just the cat. Then you pray someone doesn't...okay well you nudge her so she survives the night :)

But seriously I LOVE my memers!

and no I am very very very sleepy not drunk :)