Studio Calico September...and how i became THAT soccer mom.

first off...my layouts for the September Studio Calico gallery...

as mentioned before, i apologize for all of the white i used, lol...but the navy looked so right with it that i couldn't help myself haha. this ended up being an awesome kit to work with...but what else should we expect from April & Scarlet, owners of the best ever scrapbook kit club?!

now...onto a confession.

Allie has played soccer for 5 years now.

Mike has been her coach for 4 of those 5 years.

so suffice it to say that soccer is a big part of our family life. other than about 8 weeks in the summer, we play some form of soccer pretty much year 'round. travel league, indoor, practices, tournaments...you get the idea.

and while we've all heard stories about 'soccer moms'...i've never been one of them.

until this past Tuesday.

we were playing against Amherst...and winning. the 18-year old referee is the root of my flip to the dark side, lol. he acted like it was beneath him to be officiating a game between 2 teams of 10-year old girls. maybe he knows the coach over at Amherst. maybe his little sister is BFFs with one of their players. who knows.

but to say he was obviously carrying a bias against our team would be understatement of the week.

we were getting called for EVERY. THING. including things we clearly were not even doing. but whatever, it's a game...and he's the ref so you just play your hardest and carry on. the most irritating issue was that we were constantly getting called for pushing...which we just weren't doing. don't get me wrong, it isn't that our girls don't EVER push, lol...they do. (they played on a co-ed team with boys until last year...they can handle themselves if the game gets physical) but soccer is a physical game, and they honestly weren't pushing this time around...unless you call brushing shoulders with the opposing team player who currently has possession of the ball pushing, which is a farce.

but we were winning despite his favoritism, so what the heck. we'll show him. we'll beat this team despite his attempts at thwarting our victory.

until the second half.

10 minutes into the half, one of their defenders sees one of our forwards break away at midfield and break for the goal. said defender slips into a stance that can only be compared to that of a defensive end in pro football and waits.

patiently.

and then our forward gets within 4 feet of her and said defender pounces.

she rushes the forward with hands out, places one hand on either side of her chest near the clavicles and thrusts her arms upward in a motion that sends our girl AIRBORN...then flat on her back on the ground.

no whistle.

WHAT?!

he didn't call her for PUSHING??!!

oh H$!! no.

it was then that crazed soccer mom erupts from her folding chair on the sideline and proceeds to shout at the smarmy 18-year old ref.

'WHOA! ARE YOU JUST GOING TO WAIT UNTIL SOMEONE REALLY GETS HURT REF...OR ARE YOU GOING TO CALL THEM FOR PUSHING?! IT'S BEEN GOING ON THE ENTIRE GAME, YOU HAVEN'T CALLED THEM ON IT ONCE AND YOU KEEP CALLING US FOR PETTY STUFF...WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?!'

(it was then that i noticed the older brother of one of our girls trying to get my attention to let me know i may be earning a yellow card/penalty against our team...so i should chill)

but dude just stood there...silent.

maybe he didn't hear me?

'HONESTLY...ARE YOU JUST WAITING FOR ONE OF OUR GIRLS TO GET HURT BEFORE YOU FEEL LIKE YOU'RE FORCED TO CALL A PENALTY?? BECAUSE THAT'S WHERE THIS IS HEADED. BUT I GUESS THAT'S OK...IT'S YOUR NAME ON THE OFFICIAL SCORE CARD.'

he simply turned and walked away.

which was the right thing to do...he knew he was wrong.

it was then that the realization hit that i had lost my ever-lovin' mind.

and i sat down, lol.

we are a tight-knit team...our girls have played together for quite awhile, so all of the parents are friends and we do lots together outside of the sport. but none of them had EVER seen me like that.

shock & awe might be an appropriate term to describe their reactions, lol?

but they agreed...and 10 minutes later when said defender from the other team did THE SAME THING...only THIS time, the smarmy ref CALLED HER ON IT...THEY were the ones to jump out of their chairs.

and sarcastically applaud him for actually doing his job, lol.

my people...lol.

real friends back you up in a heartbeat.

even when you snap and become THAT crazy soccer mom.

:)

the image i had hoped i'd never have to see again.

would be this one.

just got home from the ENT office...Allie needs surgery on her ear again. this time to REMOVE the tube though. apparently, she is the 1 in 300 whose ear likes to hang on to that tube...even though it should fall out after about 1 year.

uh...it's been 4. why hasn't her pediatrician mentioned it?!!

so she tried to do the whole brave/valiant/stoic/tough girl thing...she allowed him to put some drops in to numb her ear so that he could try to remove it in the office.

uh...not so much.

and rightfully so, i mean...i'm sure some scar tissue has built up around it. so now we get to have surgery to remove the stinkin' tube AND place a patch over the hole that has now formed because the dang tube never fell out.

grrrrrr.

this pic is from the first time, when she had the tubes placed. she was a trooper, man...just shed one big tear and that was the end of that. this time? she's a bit more knowledgeable/aware of the process...and while theoretically that SHOULD make her more at ease, she's full of anxiety and tears this morning.

which makes me tear up.

but only when she isn't looking, lol.

because she doesn't quite understand that i'm not tearful because i'm worried about her surgery...i trust the team 100% to take the absolute best care of her. (and in truth, it IS a minor procedure...in the surgical world)

nope.

i'm teary because as her mama, i hate to see her scared and nervous.

so i just answer every question she has pretty directly...no surprises necessary.

and she seems to calm down a bit.

until the next round of questions pops up, lol.

and i'll be ok.

i just wished she had gotten Mike's ears, instead of mine, lol.

i've always wanted to attend a Cotillion.

and do the Foxtrot...and the Waltz...and the Tango.

heehee.

here are a few sneaks of Studio Calico's September kit...Cotillion. the add-ons are all named after classic dances, and i have to say-this kit just screams classic to me. i am in love with the navy and green...throw in a touch of pink, red and yellow and my heart's on fire, lol!

having fun using the Karen Foster Scrapper's Floss that will be available in the shop...it adds just a touch of color and i am so happy that i picked up several colors.

on a side note, i want to wish my BFF Jenn the happiest of days today...it's her birthday, and i couldn't ask for a better friend to share my ups and downs with.

love you, Jenn!

Collage Press Giveaways Galore.

just in time for the mid-month DT gallery over at the Collage Press blog...here are my layouts.

being that i rarely do a layout with a label on it somewhere, these die-cut labels from CP rock. added bonus? you can cut out the leftover to use another time (see 2nd layout) !! i am having fun filling in frames of any kind lately...didn't habe any handy, so i made my own, lol. i simply cut a piece of paper to 4x6 (any size will do), then punched around the edges with my fave border punch. then i grabbed my ruler and exacto knife and cut the inside out of it to make the frame...i just eyeballed it. then i filled it here and there with fun pieces...that blue label frame was leftover from the die-cut sheets...i just cut around the remnant, lol.

did someone mention giveaways??

oh wait, that was me!

head on over to the Collage Press Blog and leave a comment...Miriam is giving away FOUR paper kits this time around!! Added bonus...you can take a peek at the projects the other DT members were busy with this month...and they are all as awesome as ever!!

Allie is heading to a sleepover tonight and Mike is going with his buddies to the Speedway to see a few races (when he got 'into' car racing is beyond me...he used to make fun of it and now he's hooked, lol). me??? I'm heading to Jenn's for a night of scrapping...enjoy your weekend!!

=)

updates.

where does the time go??

one minute it's June and the school year is ending...next thing you know, you're spending the day at the mall shopping for back-to-school gear. (did that last Tuesday...had a blast) so just a few quicky updates for the scrap-lover in you...

so Studio Calico is now selling these AWESOME Crop Bags. they are available at the Shop here...and at $8.95 for a set of 6, quite the deal. they are a nice thick plastic with a great zipper to keep all of your goodies together from your favorite kits. i plan on getting quite a few...they should help with organizing just about everything in my scrap area!! also shown in this pic are 2 pairs of great earrings that i received my fave Etsy seller FOR FREE!! check out EliWill's shop here...she is still running a summer special involving free earrings with purchase of another item!! i pretty much wear something she's made every single day, lol...i am in love with her classic designs and pretty combos. besides that, she sends your items on these cute little scallop punched vintage ledger papers...uh, which will be added to my scrap stash. if you haven't checked out the two new Lily Bee lines, make sure you do...Vintage Poppy and Audrey are sure to be big hits again, and each line has their own set of new rub-ons!! can't wait to get those (they weren't quite ready when we received our other goodies)...and i am simply loving the color palettes here. this one is using Vintage Poppy...an old pic, but a fave of mine...

and this one uses Audrey. i used the Laugh rub-ons on my photo...heehee.

and as for Collage Press...this blog post has me VERY excited. look at that teal...i mean, come on!! more images to come...can't wait!!

oh...and did i mention that Studio Calico will be stocking a fave supply of mine (introduced to me by Davinie and Nicole) soon?? it comes in many colors, is handy for several uses and is actually pretty hard to find...what COULD it be??

you know me...always leaving you hanging, lol.