Because I love to shock people…

Emily Adams tagged me and then wrote in her blog: “Who would shock me if they do this??? Ashley & Debby”

So…just to shock her, I’m actually going to complete this tag. Here are the simple rules:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself: some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).
4. Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs

Here are my {not so shocking} random facts:

*I didn’t vote yesterday. (This is more of an admission of guilt)
*I love to bargain shop.
*I love mushrooms.
*I adore Rockport, TX
*I don’t own a dress.
*I desperately want to learn more about photography.
*I visit Target on a daily basis.

So, here’s who I’m going to tag: Amanda, Laura, Nicole, Tammy, Ben, Yvonne, and Melissa.

So, with Ben’s new job, I can’t help but listen every morning. They are in the middle of a contest…Hannah “Man” Tana…where dads have to dress up like Hannah Montana and lip sync to one of her songs. My 2 favs did not get into the finals – I’m so bummed. There is an excellent one in the running, so you’ll have to vote here for entry F: Hannah “Man”Tana Finalists

Here are my personal favorites:

And another chapter begins

Well, there’s been lots of crazy activity in my house. Big, huge, changes… exciting opportunities and some serious “must be God because they’re simply too unbelievable” things going on.

Ben is an incredible husband, a totally fun dad and has been super flexible for years as we’ve done one venture or another…mostly in the scrapbook arena which is hardly a man’s world. It all started in 2001 with 9/11, the internet crash, and subsequent loss of his job. He had spent years climbing the ladder as a software analyst and had finally landed just where he wanted to be. But things changed, the job market was tough and his mom was losing her battle with breast cancer so he required some flexibility in his life. I begged him to come help me launch Magic Scraps, which he graciously did. And we ran that company until the end of 2004 when it sold. I had just had Ella and became pregnant with Gracie shortly after so it just made the most sense for Ben to be a stay-at-home dad while I worked for the new company that purchased Magic Scraps. He sweetly embraced that role for the sake of our family. But again, things changed quickly. By March of ’06 it was clear that the purchase didn’t “take” and we found ourselves starting over again. We started Polka Dot Potato and our new journey began. Things have been tough…not knowing exactly where we were going with the company but we knew the direction was coming from God…just too many things falling perfectly into place. Ben started really learning the web from top to bottom. And he even started picking up web clients here and there for some extra money. It was clear that he had a gift. He jumped in with both feet and learned everything he needed to know to get our site to run smoothly.

A couple of weeks ago an opportunity presented itself and he just couldn’t pass it up. We’ve listened to Kidd Kraddick since we were kids. I remember lying on my gray carpet in my pink bedroom of the Inwood house, doing my homework to Kidd on KEGL. I remember listening when Ben and I were first married in the early 90’s…we went to school, both worked regular jobs and we threw papers for the Dallas Morning News. We looked so forward to 6 am rolling around so we could be entertained while doing such a grueling job. There’s so much history for me with the show…I remember Kellie’s first day, I remember laughing all through the OJ trial and I was listening when Kidd announced when the second plane hit the towers in NY.

Well, the opportunity that we couldn’t pass up has come alive for Ben. He is now the “webguy” for the Kidd Kraddick in the Morning radio show. Ben and I have never ever fit into the “box”. And this was about the most “out of the box” job he could ever get and it’s really perfect for him! I’m so excited for him. He so deserves this! He’s had to suffer for years doing what I wanted to do and now he gets to something he wants to do. We couldn’t be more thrilled!

Now it’s adjustment time. Last week it was completely normal for the girls to be up at midnight. Now it’s more like 8 pm. And Ben and I often stayed up until 3 am working on the site. That’s come to a screeching halt. We even actually made it to bed before 10 last night! I have to do a little more juggling with getting Nolen to school but they’re small prices for some big fun.

Ben’s life is officially way more exciting than mine. He saw Ashley Tisdale in the studio yesterday…He’s going to Disney World with the Kidd’s Kids trip in a couple of weeks…some seriously crazy stuff going on.

**Digital Scrapbooking Day**We have some really fun things going on for Digital Scrapbooking Day. Look for some really fun challenges all weekend, lots of random giveaways, new Creative Imaginations product and more! Stay tuned!

And another chapter begins

Well, there’s been lots of crazy activity in my house. Big, huge, changes… exciting opportunities and some serious “must be God because they’re simply too unbelievable” things going on.

Ben is an incredible husband, a totally fun dad and has been super flexible for years as we’ve done one venture or another…mostly in the scrapbook arena which is hardly a man’s world. It all started in 2001 with 9/11, the internet crash, and subsequent loss of his job. He had spent years climbing the ladder as a software analyst and had finally landed just where he wanted to be. But things changed, the job market was tough and his mom was losing her battle with breast cancer so he required some flexibility in his life. I begged him to come help me launch Magic Scraps, which he graciously did. And we ran that company until the end of 2004 when it sold. I had just had Ella and became pregnant with Gracie shortly after so it just made the most sense for Ben to be a stay-at-home dad while I worked for the new company that purchased Magic Scraps. He sweetly embraced that role for the sake of our family. But again, things changed quickly. By March of ’06 it was clear that the purchase didn’t “take” and we found ourselves starting over again. We started Polka Dot Potato and our new journey began. Things have been tough…not knowing exactly where we were going with the company but we knew the direction was coming from God…just too many things falling perfectly into place. Ben started really learning the web from top to bottom. And he even started picking up web clients here and there for some extra money. It was clear that he had a gift. He jumped in with both feet and learned everything he needed to know to get our site to run smoothly.

A couple of weeks ago an opportunity presented itself and he just couldn’t pass it up. We’ve listened to Kidd Kraddick since we were kids. I remember lying on my gray carpet in my pink bedroom of the Inwood house, doing my homework to Kidd on KEGL. I remember listening when Ben and I were first married in the early 90’s…we went to school, both worked regular jobs and we threw papers for the Dallas Morning News. We looked so forward to 6 am rolling around so we could be entertained while doing such a grueling job. There’s so much history for me with the show…I remember Kellie’s first day, I remember laughing all through the OJ trial and I was listening when Kidd announced when the second plane hit the towers in NY.

Well, the opportunity that we couldn’t pass up has come alive for Ben. He is now the “webguy” for the Kidd Kraddick in the Morning radio show. Ben and I have never ever fit into the “box”. And this was about the most “out of the box” job he could ever get and it’s really perfect for him! I’m so excited for him. He so deserves this! He’s had to suffer for years doing what I wanted to do and now he gets to something he wants to do. We couldn’t be more thrilled!

Now it’s adjustment time. Last week it was completely normal for the girls to be up at midnight. Now it’s more like 8 pm. And Ben and I often stayed up until 3 am working on the site. That’s come to a screeching halt. We even actually made it to bed before 10 last night! I have to do a little more juggling with getting Nolen to school but they’re small prices for some big fun.

Ben’s life is officially way more exciting than mine. He saw Ashley Tisdale in the studio yesterday…He’s going to Disney World with the Kidd’s Kids trip in a couple of weeks…some seriously crazy stuff going on.

**Digital Scrapbooking Day**We have some really fun things going on for Digital Scrapbooking Day. Look for some really fun challenges all weekend, lots of random giveaways, new Creative Imaginations product and more! Stay tuned!

A month of adventure

I’m finally updating my blog with Sept/Oct craziness! It’s been such a wild, non-stop month that blogging had to take a back seat. But I’m going to do my best to get back into a blogging routine so that this fun thing doesn’t become a chore. Here’s what we’ve been up to in no particular order:

**GRACIE’S BIRTHDAY!**

Gracie turned 2 September 19th, the day I returned from Las Vegas. I can’t believe my little baby is really 2! We couldn’t pull off the big party this year so we just had a cake for her. We’ll just put the money we saved toward her “3rd child therapy fund” that she’ll no doubt need seeing as we didn’t throw her a party.

**SOCCER SATURDAYS**

We’ve been spending Saturdays at the soccer field. Nolen has finally found his position! He’s been doing great as goalie. He is the perfect size for it and has really been going after the ball. Go Griffins!

***THE STATE FAIR***

We did the State Fair this year and it was a total blast! I’ve only missed two years of the State Fair in my whole life and last year was one of them. So it was essential that we made a day of it this year. It was perfect because Nolen had Tuesday off from school and that’s our favorite day to go…$3 entrance fee with a can of Dr. Pepper and the rides were all discounted. We got there around noon and totally gorged on Corny Dogs. We hit all the fun shows – dancing dogs, BMX bike show, the Human Cannonball (Ella’s very favorite), the starlight parade, etc., etc. We caught up with my dad who was also out there. The highlight of the day was when Ella rode the Pirate Ship! Me, Ella & Nolen got on…Nolen quickly got off and asked for his tickets back…but Ella stayed on and had a blast! She is a total daredevil. Her goal in life is now to be the human cannonball herself. She can’t wait to grow up so she too can be shot out of a cannon. I’m preparing myself now for some wild teenage years.

Here are some fun pics of the day:




**ARKANSAS CAMPING TRIP**

We went out of town for all of 47 hours in October. Ben’s cousin, Joel, married a very sweet girl from Argentina. It was a very small wedding near Eureka Springs, AR on a Friday afternoon which meant we had to be kind of creative about getting there. We decided to camp out because the weather was perfect and the camping was cheap. We left around 1:15 in the morning on Friday morning, arrived to our campsite and set up our tents around 7:30 am, headed over to home base (Ben’s other cousin’s house) until around noon and then we drove and hour to Eureka Springs for the wedding. After the wedding, we drove back to home base, had dinner, visited with family, went back to our campsite, roasted marshmallows and went to bed. Woke up Saturday, went back to home base for breakfast, played in a park, packed up our tent, went back to Eureka Springs for shopping and then headed home. We pulled in about 4 minutes after midnight. Ben’s sister went with us which was really fun and helpful. The kids haven’t spent a lot time with their Aunt Arides so that made it really fun for them too.


**OWEN’S FARM**

Desiree Chapman with Just One Year Photography met us out at Owen’s Farm to get some family photos! It was so much fun and I couldn’t be more pleased with the great shots she got. Here are my favs:





**NOLEN’S BIG BIRTHDAY PARTY**

Nolen’s 11th birthday was late as usual but we managed to pull it off. We started the party at Quiggly’s Clayhouse. Nolen invited a few boys for pottery painting and then it was back to our house for an all-nighter. They watched movies, ate junk food, and watched more movies. His last friend didn’t leave until late the next afternoon so it was 24 hours of fun.




**THE COUNTRY CARNIVAL**

Last night was the annual Country Carnival at our church. The girls were “Cowgirl Princesses” was was easy to pull together with $2 and a trip to the dollar store. Of course, shortly after we arrived, Ben became the hat and horse caretaker. Predictable. We stayed until after 10 because we were on cleanup duty. The girls crashed before we ever made it home.



So there it is. The last 30+ days in review. Now, I need to give my house about 2 hours of my attention even though it needs about 10 hours. My house is a pit with a capital P!

A month of adventure

I’m finally updating my blog with Sept/Oct craziness! It’s been such a wild, non-stop month that blogging had to take a back seat. But I’m going to do my best to get back into a blogging routine so that this fun thing doesn’t become a chore. Here’s what we’ve been up to in no particular order:

**GRACIE’S BIRTHDAY!**

Gracie turned 2 September 19th, the day I returned from Las Vegas. I can’t believe my little baby is really 2! We couldn’t pull off the big party this year so we just had a cake for her. We’ll just put the money we saved toward her “3rd child therapy fund” that she’ll no doubt need seeing as we didn’t throw her a party.

**SOCCER SATURDAYS**

We’ve been spending Saturdays at the soccer field. Nolen has finally found his position! He’s been doing great as goalie. He is the perfect size for it and has really been going after the ball. Go Griffins!

***THE STATE FAIR***

We did the State Fair this year and it was a total blast! I’ve only missed two years of the State Fair in my whole life and last year was one of them. So it was essential that we made a day of it this year. It was perfect because Nolen had Tuesday off from school and that’s our favorite day to go…$3 entrance fee with a can of Dr. Pepper and the rides were all discounted. We got there around noon and totally gorged on Corny Dogs. We hit all the fun shows – dancing dogs, BMX bike show, the Human Cannonball (Ella’s very favorite), the starlight parade, etc., etc. We caught up with my dad who was also out there. The highlight of the day was when Ella rode the Pirate Ship! Me, Ella & Nolen got on…Nolen quickly got off and asked for his tickets back…but Ella stayed on and had a blast! She is a total daredevil. Her goal in life is now to be the human cannonball herself. She can’t wait to grow up so she too can be shot out of a cannon. I’m preparing myself now for some wild teenage years.

Here are some fun pics of the day:




**ARKANSAS CAMPING TRIP**

We went out of town for all of 47 hours in October. Ben’s cousin, Joel, married a very sweet girl from Argentina. It was a very small wedding near Eureka Springs, AR on a Friday afternoon which meant we had to be kind of creative about getting there. We decided to camp out because the weather was perfect and the camping was cheap. We left around 1:15 in the morning on Friday morning, arrived to our campsite and set up our tents around 7:30 am, headed over to home base (Ben’s other cousin’s house) until around noon and then we drove and hour to Eureka Springs for the wedding. After the wedding, we drove back to home base, had dinner, visited with family, went back to our campsite, roasted marshmallows and went to bed. Woke up Saturday, went back to home base for breakfast, played in a park, packed up our tent, went back to Eureka Springs for shopping and then headed home. We pulled in about 4 minutes after midnight. Ben’s sister went with us which was really fun and helpful. The kids haven’t spent a lot time with their Aunt Arides so that made it really fun for them too.


**OWEN’S FARM**

Desiree Chapman with Just One Year Photography met us out at Owen’s Farm to get some family photos! It was so much fun and I couldn’t be more pleased with the great shots she got. Here are my favs:





**NOLEN’S BIG BIRTHDAY PARTY**

Nolen’s 11th birthday was late as usual but we managed to pull it off. We started the party at Quiggly’s Clayhouse. Nolen invited a few boys for pottery painting and then it was back to our house for an all-nighter. They watched movies, ate junk food, and watched more movies. His last friend didn’t leave until late the next afternoon so it was 24 hours of fun.




**THE COUNTRY CARNIVAL**

Last night was the annual Country Carnival at our church. The girls were “Cowgirl Princesses” was was easy to pull together with $2 and a trip to the dollar store. Of course, shortly after we arrived, Ben became the hat and horse caretaker. Predictable. We stayed until after 10 because we were on cleanup duty. The girls crashed before we ever made it home.



So there it is. The last 30+ days in review. Now, I need to give my house about 2 hours of my attention even though it needs about 10 hours. My house is a pit with a capital P!

FoxNews Alert – Ashley was in Vegas!

I met Greta in Vegas! Okay…call me a stalker…I don’t care. I totally get a kick out of this kind of stuff. I went to Vegas for Memory Trends and dragged my dad along for company. I taught a class on Sunday to store owners about making their stores “digital destinations” and then pretty much had Monday off. We woke up, turned on the news, and realized that Greta Van Susteren’s “On the Record” was going to be filming that evening from the jail where OJ Simpson was locked up. So, why the heck not, right? You have to understand my dad too. When I was a kid and we heard siren’s in the vicinity of our house, my dad would get us to all jump in the car we we’d follow the sirens! We were total ambulance chasers…so this little stalking adventure was totally in the norm for us. Greta seemed a little cranky that I wanted my picture taken with her. But Jim Hammer, one of the members of her legal panel, couldn’t have been any nicer.


Look how silly I look inching my way into the screen at the last second of the show…watch over to the left…good times 🙂

Back to the real reason I was in Vegas…the show. It was a bit of sobering reality that the traditional scrapbooking industry is changing and changing fast. There wasn’t a lot to see or do at the show but I did have some great meetings and it was definitely worth my time and money to go. I’m even more excited than ever about the direction we are going with PDP!

Speaking of PDP, we just got through our shopping cart switch. There’s still so much to do so back to work I go! We start recording our online classes on Monday and our retailer program launches next week too! Stay tuned for more details! 🙂

FoxNews Alert – Ashley was in Vegas!

I met Greta in Vegas! Okay…call me a stalker…I don’t care. I totally get a kick out of this kind of stuff. I went to Vegas for Memory Trends and dragged my dad along for company. I taught a class on Sunday to store owners about making their stores “digital destinations” and then pretty much had Monday off. We woke up, turned on the news, and realized that Greta Van Susteren’s “On the Record” was going to be filming that evening from the jail where OJ Simpson was locked up. So, why the heck not, right? You have to understand my dad too. When I was a kid and we heard siren’s in the vicinity of our house, my dad would get us to all jump in the car we we’d follow the sirens! We were total ambulance chasers…so this little stalking adventure was totally in the norm for us. Greta seemed a little cranky that I wanted my picture taken with her. But Jim Hammer, one of the members of her legal panel, couldn’t have been any nicer.


Look how silly I look inching my way into the screen at the last second of the show…watch over to the left…good times 🙂

Back to the real reason I was in Vegas…the show. It was a bit of sobering reality that the traditional scrapbooking industry is changing and changing fast. There wasn’t a lot to see or do at the show but I did have some great meetings and it was definitely worth my time and money to go. I’m even more excited than ever about the direction we are going with PDP!

Speaking of PDP, we just got through our shopping cart switch. There’s still so much to do so back to work I go! We start recording our online classes on Monday and our retailer program launches next week too! Stay tuned for more details! 🙂

Back to a routine

This week has been glorious so far! The girls started Mother’s Day Out on Tuesday. This is Ella’s third year but Gracie’s first. She seemed a little confused when we dropped her off but she did well. Here are some pics from the first day.




Having these few hours twice a week has given me new energy! Bible study also started yesterday. I’m so excited about having this time again and studying the Bible. We’re reading Isaiah which is very challenging but equally rewarding. I was so into my new weekly routine that I spontaneously became domestic! I made a new crock-pot chicken recipe which was good, but the very best part was this Greek Salsa that went on top. My friend Virginia came over and ate with us and the two of us ventured off to Ikea to grab some things for our home projects that we both are up to our ears in.

Back to the Greek Salsa. We decided that this would make the greatest dip with pita chips or just smear it on some bread and it’s delicious!

Here’s the recipe for the salsa:

Combine the following in a food processor or chopper and refrigerate.

1/2 cup chopped tomato
1/4 cup chopped cucumber
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup Kalamata olives, pitted & chopped
1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled.

It’s yummmmmmmmy.

Just 25 minutes of child-free silence left today and still a million things on the to-do list!

Back to a routine

This week has been glorious so far! The girls started Mother’s Day Out on Tuesday. This is Ella’s third year but Gracie’s first. She seemed a little confused when we dropped her off but she did well. Here are some pics from the first day.




Having these few hours twice a week has given me new energy! Bible study also started yesterday. I’m so excited about having this time again and studying the Bible. We’re reading Isaiah which is very challenging but equally rewarding. I was so into my new weekly routine that I spontaneously became domestic! I made a new crock-pot chicken recipe which was good, but the very best part was this Greek Salsa that went on top. My friend Virginia came over and ate with us and the two of us ventured off to Ikea to grab some things for our home projects that we both are up to our ears in.

Back to the Greek Salsa. We decided that this would make the greatest dip with pita chips or just smear it on some bread and it’s delicious!

Here’s the recipe for the salsa:

Combine the following in a food processor or chopper and refrigerate.

1/2 cup chopped tomato
1/4 cup chopped cucumber
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup Kalamata olives, pitted & chopped
1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled.

It’s yummmmmmmmy.

Just 25 minutes of child-free silence left today and still a million things on the to-do list!

Birthday Breakfast

 
11 years ago today, I was a 24 year old girl in a hospital bed. Now I’m the mom of the most precious 11 year old boy in the world. My sweet Nolen.

Last night Ben bought some Mrs. Baird’s Grab ‘n Go Donuts for Nolen’s breakfast this morning. We thought that would be a real treat for him. At about 2 am when we were both up and working on our Back to School Sale, we decided it would be fun to make a donut cake with candles and all. So, we that’s what we did. And he was serenaded by his paparazzi mom.

I hope he has a great day today. He didn’t realize that a packet was due today and 5th grade teachers are less than forgiving, even on your birthday, so he got out of the car with a great big tear in his eye. I’m praying for mercy.

In PDP news, today starts our Back to School, Back to Sanity Celebration! Be sure to check out the great deals on our Back to School items, pick up some freebies and spend $10 and get my word art kit free!