It has been one crazy weekend for us!  It hit me hard this year that Halloween is really the “holiday” we celebrate most in this house.  All during the month of October leading up to Halloween, we watch scary movies on the weekend.  Fear Fest on AMC actually had some good ones this year.  A lot of years finding horror movies is tough. We’ve always thought this was odd especially during October.

We usually go all out with the costumes hard too… Halloween is a budgeted expenditure because it can get expensive.  LOL!  The only thing that I don’t do really well is decorate the house.  Although in general I’m not a very good decorator - even for Christmas.  But with Christmas I always have the plan… decorations and the tree go up the day after Thanksgiving and come down the day after Christmas.  But after this weekend, I realized that for our family, Halloween really is THE holiday in this house.  So I think this year, I’ll scrounge the after Halloween sales and see if I can pick up some decent decorations at decent prices for next year.  :)

Our weekend started off on Friday.  Rick was home and Dan didn’t have school.  So we took Dan to IHOP to get a Scary Pancake.  IHOP was giving away one Scary Pancake on the 29th.  Dan was happy.  Then we went off to Michaels (because I still didn’t have an activity for the kids party) and found some frames and bags – and stickers… all at a decent price too.  The frames were only $1.00 each and most of the stickers were already reduced so they could get rid of them.  We made out very nicely.

So the girls came home at noon and I spent some time putting together a quick pasta shells recipe in the crock pot for an easy dinner.  By 1pm or so it was time for a dry-run on Jessica’s wig/make-up.  I think this was the first indication that maybe we do celebrate Halloween more than other families.  LOL!  Who does a dry run like that?!  I just wasn’t sure how I was going to handle her wig and I didn’t want to be scrambling right before we walked out the door.

Around 4:30ish, everyone got dressed up and we took some marvelous photos outside!  I love how they came out…

Then it was time to chase Dan…

And this brings us up to Fall Fest… The girls left around 6:00pm to head over to the school to work Fall Fest with the girl scouts.  They sold pizza and water and made some charity money.  I don’t have many photos of the night because Dan had some “momma issues” right off the bat so he pretty much stuck by me like glue for the night and didn’t want to play any of the games.  I did get some photos of him jumping with one of his friends at school in the moon jump.

So the night wrapped up and we went home to watch some scary movies…

On Saturday, we had two Halloween parties.  Dan’s was at noon with a few kids from class and the girls was later in the afternoon.  All the kids had a great time…. and I sure was tired by the end…

By this time, we needed a little time-out… so we watched The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown.  You’d think something like Snoopy would be safe… but at some point I had 5 little boys saying “He said stupid”, “stupid, stupid, stupid”, “he said the ‘S’ word”, “don’t say the ‘S’ word it isn’t nice.”  LOL!  Can’t win these days… but it was a good break for the boys – to rest and bring things down a notch.

We also made two crafts.  The boys decorated Halloween bags and Halloween frames.  They both came out great.  The frames took a whole 10 minutes to decorate – when I was planning on 20 minutes… lol!  oops!  But with the bags, I made them sit at the table awhile longer… two hours can seem like eternity with five 5 year old boys.

After chasing the girls around the yard a bit more, all the little goblins went home with these goodies!  I should have taken a photo of all the kids photo frames lined up but I completely forgot.  And I didn’t get any at the girls party – didn’t want to be an intrusive mom.

Okay… party 1 done… and it’s only 2pm on Saturday.  Tired yet?

The girls party went much easier… I didn’t have to be involved all that much.  The kids played spooky music and ran around most of the time.  They decorated frames too and had pizza and cupcakes.

Everyone went home at 6pm and we watched some more scary movies.  End of Saturday.  whew…

Sunday’s festivities started about 3pm…. getting costumes on again… the entire crew came over at 3:30pm and they all went trick-or-treating until 5pm.  Rick and I took Dan out for awhile and then he passed out candy.

After the kids were done trick-or-treating around our house, we took them to see the Grandmas… got home around 7:30pm… watched some Ghost Hunters LIVE…and went to bed…. it was a LOOONG weekend.  But the kids had a lot of fun… and so did Rick and I.

Blast from the Past…

This was the girls party when they were Dan’s age in 2005.

And Dan… well…wasn’t he a cutey?

He was even a hit at the party… probably the only time he’ll be the center of attention of 10 girls.  LOL!

Hope your Halloween was a great one too!

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It seems like forever since I’ve scrapped.  I did two layouts today… and printed them… and hung them on my wall!  WOW!!!

Walmart had some 12 x 12 shadow boxes and 12.5 x 12.5 record album frames for $10/$6 and I picked up a few.  I had to play around with the bigger record frames to get my 12 x 12 layouts to stay nice.  I’m very happy with how they all came out… and they printed beautifully (my photos don’t do them justice at all)!

I tend to texture my papers on the heavy side… but that’s because I want to see that texture when I print them out.  Let’s just say I’m not a subtle woman… subtle texture just looks like a color flood fill to me. (couldn’t resist… one of my favorite movies is The Mummy.  ”Honey you are not a subtle man.” .. “We don’t have time for subtle.” as he blows off the lock with his gun. )

I printed out some of my newest papers and hung them up as wall art. I’ll probably add more. Rick loves the lighthouse paper… it’s got nice texture and folds.  Looks like a worn painting without running a painting filter. Some of my newer papers look more frame-able than scrap-able. So they may just end up on my wall as is with no layout.

Also printed out 4 new layouts and framed them for my dining room.  When I first started digi scrapping I would print layouts (6 x 6) and hang them in an 8 x 10 glass frame.  They didn’t have 8 x 8 or 12 x 12 frames back then (unless you wanted to pay through the nose at Archivers for a 12 x 12). You can actually see one of these smaller layouts in the upper right corner below.  Over the years, I’ve lost a few of these layouts due to frames being knocked off the wall and broken.  :(  So my dining room wall is getting bare.  Needs some fresh digi up!  It would be great if I could get the entire wall covered with layouts…

Here are some close-ups.

Credit:  Spooky Fun by Jen Reed (not yet released)

I haven’t released the Spooky Fun kit officially… but you can pick up the papers for FREE if you play this month’s DSO Ad Challenge. Speaking of this month’s challenge… here is my challenge layout.  lol!

Credit : Nautical Nights by Jen Reed  (Nautical Scrapbook Papers – Nautical Scrapbook Elements)

The next two layouts were created for some challenges using those papers I hung on my wall. lol! The papers needed a few elements. It’s really nice to be designing and scrapping again.

Credit: Golden Vanity by Jen Reed (not yet released)

I’ve been wanting to re-scrap the layout below for a long time. I first scrapped this back in 2004. I believe I have come a long way since then. LOL! I don’t even know where I got those elements or paper. I know I didn’t design them. A bit scary? Hmmm… By the way, this one is NOT on my wall. LOL!

Here’s my new (and hopefully) improved 2010 layout. lol! Unfortunately that photo of me is blurry like that IRL.

Credit: Golden Vanity by Jen Reed (not yet released)

Lastly… if you haven’t been over to DSO to check out all the fabulous Nautical Nights goodies… go now. All the designers rocked it this month.

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My new Ad Challenge is up at DSO!  I’m so excited about this month’s posting bonus.  I’ve known for awhile that I wanted to do something Halloween related for my September posting bonus. I’ve never designed a Halloween style kit before…I had a lot of fun.  Hopefully you’ll like it too and come play!

RULES
Take a look at the ad I select and create a scrapbook page that is similar in layout or style to the ad. In the past months, I was a bit lax and said “just scrap however it inspires you”. However… some of the layouts that have been submitted for previous challenges did not look very “inspired by the ad”. Some I even wondered if they were playing the right challenge. LOL! So…. I’m going to have a few requirements this time.

Use the ad below as an inspirational starting point, your layout must include at least one of the following from the ad

* 4-6 photos going across (or down) the layout in a line.

* Everything is centered on the layout.

* Centered Large Title w/ Small Saying – must be arranged Bottom/Top or Top/Bottom (for instance the ad has the large title on the bottom (her name) and the small saying on the top (her slogan))

BONUS
To get the bonus, you’ll have to leave a comment at DSO on THIS POST before Sept 30th, 2010 and post your layout in the DSO gallery including a LINK to your DSO gallery posting so I can see your beautiful layout!

Here is the ad for September

I actually scrapped a layout to go with my challenge this month.  Last month I didn’t get a layout done… sad.  lol!  But this month the ad is much simpler and hopefully a little inspirational.

CREDITS :  Nautical Nights by Jen Reed

and… here is what you’ll be getting for playing along with me!

REMEMBER!! To get the bonus, you must leave a comment at DSO on THIS POST before Sept 30, 2010 and post your layout in the DSO gallery including a LINK to your DSO gallery posting.

I can’t wait to see your beautiful layouts!  Have fun and be inspired!!

Come play!

Related posts:

1. Joining DSO….
2. Weekly Goals: Week of 7/11/10
3. New Design Blog for Jen Reed Designs

It’s been awhile since I’ve blogged over here at LC.  I had been blogging my running workouts regularly and even my weekly goals…but that seems to have fallen by the wayside.  Not that I don’t still workout or have a weekly goals.  Just that I haven’t been motivated to blog them. I was using my blog to get into the routine of having them every week and then got busy doing them.

Kids went back to school on Monday.  YAY!!  Not that I don’t enjoy having my kids around for the summer. I do.  But… by the end of August they are wound up and the fighting was escalating.  The girls don’t fight with each other as much as they fight with Dan. Dan is becoming that “little brother pest” that young girls HATE.  lol!  I am not complaining too much though because the girls REALLY look out for Dan.  More so then most kids that age look out for a sibling.

First Day – Jess, Dan, Sam

Dan started Kindergarten this year.

It seems like yesterday when the girls were starting Kindergarten…

If you haven’t checked out DSO in awhile there’s some great BABY Kits up.

And I’m giving this new Nautical kit away on Sept 1 to 6 lucky facebook fans.

Become a Jen Reed Designs fan and automatically be entered to win!

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Total Mileage: 2.1 miles  (.9 mile jog / 1.2 mile walk)

Total Time: 33:03

Calories: 606

Workout : 5 m warm-up / .25 mile jog /.25 mile walk / .25 mile jog / .25 mile walk / .25 mile jog /.25 mile walk / .15 mile jog / .15 mile walk / walk til 2.1 miles

Walking Rate: 3.5   / Jogging Rate: 4.4

I upped my speed to 4.4 today.  I was aiming to run .25 mile in the last section but I couldn’t.  So I just went with .15.  I still ran .05 more than yesterday.  Decent workout although the back of my left heel is a bit sore today.  Going to ice it and hope it doesn’t develop into a problem.

Related posts:

1. Cool Running : W3D3
2. Cool Running : W3D1
3. Cool Running : W3D2

Total Mileage: 2.1 miles  (.85 mile jog / 1.25 mile walk)

Total Time: 33:40

Calories: 638

Workout : 5 m warm-up / .15 mile jog /.15 mile walk / .25 mile jog / .25 mile walk / .15 mile jog /.15 mile walk / .10 mile jog / .10 mile walk / .10 mile jog / .10 mile walk /.10 mile jog / .10 mile walk /walk til 2.1 miles

Walking Rate: 3.5   / Jogging Rate: 4.3

The humidity is high this morning.  I could not get that last .25 mile jog all in one piece so I did .10 three times instead.  Breathing hard and took cold shower to cool body down.  Was good workout and I sweat a lot.  I love sweating when I workout.  I don’t particularly like the sweat in the eyes but it feels like I’m actually doing something when I sweat.

On another note, the fat flush shakedown is going well.  Today is the start of day 4 and I’m already down 6 lbs.

Related posts:

1. Cool Running : W3D4
2. Cool Running : W3D1
3. Cool Running : W3D2

Total Mileage: 2.0 miles  (.8 mile jog / 1.2 mile walk)

Total Time: 32:14

Calories: 600

Workout : 5 m warm-up / .15 mile jog /.15 mile walk / .25 mile jog / .25 mile walk / .15 mile jog /.15 mile walk / .25 mile jog / .25 mile walk / walk til 2.0 miles

Walking Rate: 3.5   / Jogging Rate: 4.3

I’m going to try and workout every day instead of just M-W-F.  I might not be able to run every day and may have to change this to weights or something else.  But I’d really like to get back in the habit of working out every day.

Today was good even though I had an awful headache most of yesterday.  No side effects on the run it seems.  Running the distance instead of the time is pushing me and I may just keep this pattern and push the speed up to 4.5-4.7.  I figure at this point the object is to get a good workout not run straight out.  I think I put too much thought into running for 30 minutes straight.  I seem to be better at interval running and pushing myself in the interval rather than just plain running it out.  I’m still calling this Cool Running because I’m following their week 3 routine.

Related posts:

1. Cool Running : W3D4
2. Cool Running : W3D3
3. Cool Running : W3D1

Total Mileage: 2.0 miles  (.8 mile jog / 1.2 mile walk)

Total Time: 32:33

Calories: 597

Workout : 5 m warm-up / .15 mile jog /.15 mile walk / .25 mile jog / .25 mile walk / .15 mile jog /.15 mile walk / .25 mile jog / .25 mile walk / walk til 2.0 miles

Walking Rate: 3.5   / Jogging Rate: 4.2

I took a week off from workouts last week.  Decided to reboot.  I started the Fat Flush 2 week plan yesterday and am hoping to keep up enough energy during the next two weeks so I can continue my workouts again. This time I’m tracking distance and not time.  I’m going to try and get in at least 2 miles a day – walking the last part until I get to 2.0.   I decided to start back up again from Week 3 of the program instead of going back down to Week 1.  Week 3 starts with the option to run either time or distance.

Related posts:

1. Cool Running : W3D3
2. Cool Running : W3D2
3. Cool Running : W3D4

Day 21 : 5 m warm-up / 10 min jog /3 min walk / 5 min jog / 1 min walk / 2 min jog / 1 min walk / 3 min jog / 5 min walk

Total: 35 minutes - walking (15 min) / jogging (20 min)

I wanted to jog at least 20 minutes today even if it wasn’t 20 minutes straight.  So after the first 10 minutes (which I had a hard time with), I decided that I was going to run another 10 minutes – no matter how many times I had to walk in between.  My end workout time of 35 minutes wasn’t bad.  And I did run 20 minutes today – just not all together.

Funny how just a few weeks ago, I would have been thrilled with this workout.  sigh…. once you get a hit on something anything less than it becomes crap?!?  Hate when I do that to myself…

So I’ve decided that because of my sluggishness this week (and I think part of it is tied to the heat/humidity outside – I can’t open the door as I had been before), I’m going to stop the workouts for a few weeks and go through the Fat Flush plan again.  Then I’ll come back and try the Cool Running from the start but upping my jog speed a little – that way I’ll also have somewhere to go – drop – when I can’t run the full speed.

I did the Fat Flush plan back in May for two weeks and lost 10 pounds on it.  It really helped clear out the middle section of my body – my stomach wasn’t bloating and I felt better in general.  So I’ve prepared my shopping list today for getting myself back on the plan.

Related posts:

1. Week 6 : Monday : Cool Running
2. Week 6b : Wednesday : Cool Running
3. Cool Running : W3D1

Day 20 : 5 m warm-up / 10 min jog /2 min walk / 3 min jog / 2 min walk / 2 min jog / 4 min walk

Total: 28 minutes - walking (13 min) / jogging (15 min)

I’m not sure what is up with me this week.  I didn’t have a break in my weeks but this week kicking my ass.  I wasn’t even able to jog week’s 6 program today.  After I was done, I had a bright red face (like I do when I push myself that extra bit).  But I wasn’t “pushing” today.  I was just trying to survive today’s workout.  blah.

So… I think I’m going to keep a plateau for awhile here and try to push through this that way.  I’m not really ready to move on to week 7′s (running 25 min straight) and I’m not even doing week 6 this week.  So I think I’m just going to try and make sure I’m running 15 minutes. I thought I got in 20 but then when I went back and figured out my time, I realize that I only got in 15 running.  I’d like to be consistently running 20 minutes each workout.  So for now, I’m going to drop the Cool Running workout plan and try to get 20 minutes of running for the next two weeks.  Then I’ll come back to the Cool Running week 6 and try it again.

Hoping to running as  5m warm-up / 10 min jog / 5 min walk / 10 min jog / 5 min walk  but I might have to break that 2nd 10 minutes up into two 5′s. Not sure if it’s me or if it’s the heat or what the hell is going on.  Just not with it this week.

Related posts:

1. Week 4 : Wednesday : Cool Running
2. Week 6 : Wednesday : Cool Running
3. Week 5 : Wednesday : Cool Running