GO Colts!!!!!!!!!

Before leaving Cincinnati, we had Mark's dad take a picture of us in our Coltswear! On our way back from our Cincinnati Christmas Celebration we got to go straight to the COLTS Game. Mark and I had been to the tour, but this time the kids got to see the Stadium! Before the game we walked over to Hard Rock Cafe for Lunch! I always love going there to see all the Rock N' Roll Memorabilia!

When it was time to get to the game, we walked past the old RCA/Hoosier Dome that had recently been demolished. It's hard to believe this small stadium used to be our house when you see the massive Lucas Oil Stadium next to it. It's also kind of sad to see it be demolished, it could have been a great place to put a Pro Baseball Team or have concerts or something...but I guess that's how progress must go!

Here we are at the Colts game...Colts won the game against the TN Titans! We will both be in the playoffs... GO COLTS!!! I am posting more photos on my facebook page, here's the link to view more photos of our Lucas Oil Stadium Visit! You'll have to join facebook, but it's so much fun! Add me to your friend list & I will accept if you're nice :)

Christmas Travel To Cincinnati

We traveled to Cincinnati to see Mark's Family for Christmas for three days. Mark's mom always prepares such a beautiful dinner with steak and brocolli rice with all the fixins'. I crafted her Christmas Block by drilling a hole for some white lights with some rub-ons and ribbon as a gift shown in the photograph.

It was great that Laura could be there this year from Texas and we got her a really neat night light that had an equestrian rider on it. I found it on ebay!

The kids had a blast out on the deck playing with the marshmallow guns! Since they live on the golf course, we thought people would come to pick them up thinking the marshmallows are golf balls!!! HAAA!

Had A Happy Christmas!

Hoping all of you had a nice Christmas! We sure did as Santa came once again to visit our house. The kids must have been really good to both get guitars and just about everything on their list +++! The kids love how I wrap the doorway to get into the living room, they can run through it to get their glimpse of what santa brought.
They act like they really love each other as they hug after exchanging their own gifts to each other! :)
They are sporting their new robes that mom & dad got for them and staying very warm on this COLD winter's day!




We got to spend time with my side of the family the night before at Grandma Betty's and the kids exchange gifts and we do a white elephant that is always tons of fun! Here's a picture of all of Grandma Betty and her grandkids. They are all getting so big!!!

My dad invited us to a nice dinner at Murphy Steakhouse the Monday prior to Christmas. It was nice to get together and celebrate the season. Here he is with his wife Joanne.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Make a Smilebox postcard

With the hard economic times going on, we hope this finds you all healthy & happy! We are holding our own and trying to stay afloat and this year I will be emailing most of my cards in this format to save on postage! We are still living in Noblesville, IN and Mark is still with Rockwell Automation and going on 10 years now!

Tracey had a great year but it ended on a sad note that her local scrapbook store closed! Since being on the Design Team since the opening in 2004, she will surely miss the store, the people and all the crafting! She still plans to keep up with her paper arts & scrapbooking with some local designers. They have leased a space in Logan Village Mall in Noblesville to sell some of their paper arts! They call it “Our Creative Outlet”.
Check it out online to see what goodies are in store!

Our kids Zac & Rachel continue to keep amazing us with their growth! Zac is 13 now, but already 5-9 in 8th grade at NMS. Rachel is 11 & almost 5ft and in 5th grade at NIS. They participated in Baseball and Softball which kept us at the ball field a lot this Spring-Fall. We got to go to Chicago for Spring Break this year and had a great time sight-seeing!

Keep up to date with our family at http://traceyscreativecorner.blogspot.com/ to see photos & what we have done this past year & in the future. PEACE is our hope for all in the coming year!

– The Bish Family –
Mark, Tracey, Zac & Rachel (Oh, & Simon too...Ruff, Ruff!)

Samantha's Sound of Music

My neice, Samantha, was is a play and was a NUN in Their rendition of THE SOUND OF MUSIC! It was a great play because I just love that musical. Here, Rachel and Grandma get a pose with the star NUN!
Here we are enjoying the show with Aunt Bobbi :) Thanks!

Goodbye Scrapbook Corner...I will miss you so much!

My local scrpabook store is closing after 4 great years being on their design team and working there for some time. I will miss everyone and everything about Scrapbook Corner in Noblesville :( Here we are a couple weeks ago bidding farewell to the beautiful place...

In the next photo you will find me making my last purchase with a great discount! I have spent over $1600 at this store over the past 4 years! They looked up my account. Don't tell my husband :) HAAAA!

Biztown

I went to volunteer today at Biztown put on by Junior Achievement for Rachel's Omega 5th Grade Class! What fun...but hectic! Learning how to run a city in a day can be crazy, even thought they have been preparing for it for a while now in the classroom. I worked with a group in Peyton Mannings Wellness Center and Rachel was the CEO of the Recycle Center. We got to have lunch together even though we didn't work at the same locations and stop by each other's work whenever we could get away from the chaos! Here we are posing in front of Mr. Bones in my workplace. The kids liked him :)

DMB - Dave Matthews Concert

Here we are at the Dave Matthews concert VIP, Of course!

Avril & Jonas Brothers

I gave Rachel the option for her birthday to go to the Avril/Jonas Brothers concert and taking two friends. She chose to go and invite her friend Cassidy & take her cousin Kaitlyn. We had loads of fun meeting up with Amy & Tracie and her daughters in the lawn. There was lots of screaming -like "Beatles" SCREAMING for those Jonas Brothers! I had my earplugs ready!

CHA08 Chicago

My first time at a Craft & Hobby Show: CHA08 Chicago Vendors set up and camp out for three days to show off their new products. Some gave make & takes and some did not, but demos and ideas gallore graced this Donald E. Convention Center.

Lisa Fritz, my co-design team buddy, and I wanted to get a head start and maybe get some eduction in as well, so we started off on Thursday to Chicago. We got there and found a class called Innovative Meets Recycled which is put on by a new "family-owned" company out in Nevada called Piggy Tales. They were all so nice and had great new products! The name of their company is based on bringing back "nostalgia" and all their products are named after Fairy Tales! Our favorite things were the draw-bridge chipboard book, springs and barndoors which open up to envail a photo or journaling! Great Coordinating papers that are all double sided for larger print scrapbooking and smaller prints for card-makers!!!

More of my favorites were Basicgrey, and now for you quilter/sewers they are manufacturing fabric featuring their Urban Coulture paper line!!! They had two new paper lines featured. They had a beautiful quilt hanging up in their area and I did a fun make & take!

But the highlight of my trip was that my two favorite designers were there! Tim Holtz and Ali Edwards made a special appearance at the request of Tim. I was able to watch both of them show their fun sides and give tips and tricks on how they create their masterpieces!

Here is a photo of Tim creating with tags using his inks and paints! He has new clear stamps and MASKS available that he did demos on and they are magnificent! I am sure to buy these masks that are re-useable, just like stamps almost...but you place a thin piece of transparency where you want to mask your ink. It's like stampingin reverse! "It's ingenius"... like one of his many women-admirers said as he showed us how to use them! I wanted to get a sample, but the other ladies grabbed them so quickly...I couldn't get one :(

It was so cool to watch Tim do his thing! He also has new Grunge Alphabets and Cut Outs that look like they are chipboard, however when you get your hands on them they are pliable like leather almost. They take ink and paint, you can rough them up and heat them into dimension!!! I just stood there and watched for a long time.

Then as he was about to take a break, he said Ali Edwards would be standing in for him! People were asking him "how did you get her to come!"...he just stated "I asked her!" Here they are together as he goes to break and she comes to play! She just showed up to play with inks and acrylics as she showed us her mini book created using those items. She has a new book coming out! She says "don't be scared just to play around, you might discover something!!!"

My two favorite designers were there to inspire me so I was a happy camper! Oh, I forgot to mention...http://www.scrapblog.com/ has a contest that I am entering. You can tag your scrapblog as CHA08 and they are looking at them and giving away something. But you have to do layouts on their site...which is FUN and it is a COOL site dedicated to digital scrapping. They are adding lots of exclusive designers, new formats and ways to print at home and into soft & hardbound books! For the exclusive designers art and credits toward printing, you can buy gift cards. A lot of changes will come about in August08 for them!!!

John Mayer Rocks!

Well a long awaited concert came to pass and it was awsome! Mark and I went to see John Mayer w/Cobie Collant and enjoyed this concert VIP-which is the best way to see a concert! VIP at Verizon BABY!!! It was so awsome. Colbie Colliat opened for him and she was real good and sang Bubbly & Realize which I love, but her others were great too so I will have to get her other songs!

John really can play the blues on that guitar, he's cute in a geeky kind of way, and love his sound!...He must have sang the blues in his past life to be so good at it. We had great weather and great seats, VIP is the way to go!

Almost Champs TOO!

Rachel's Team "THE STORM" was one point away from the championship on Monday night! They played a rival team sponsored by the same sponsor as ZAC's Baseball Team!...But these girls played their heart out and just about pulled it off this time. Here they are sporting their medals for Babe Ruth Softball! Congrats girls...you are our champions!

Almost The Championship!

Well, it's hard to believe these boys almost made it to the Championship after only winning one game during the regular season near the end. Then going into the loser's bracket and winning TWO MORE GAMES...brought them close to the championship game last night -leading the game against Logan Street Signs & Banner TEAM then only loosing by two points was amazing season and something they can be very proud of!
Rock on LAW!!!

CYO Camp FUN!

Well, after a week of CYO Camp the kids are glad to be back home. Mark and I stayed home for "STAY"cation and pretended like we were in a hotel (but it was our house)...going out each night for dinner (Was NICE!)...but the maid was off duty :(

The kids once again had a blast and probably would have stayed another week if they could. The week was one less day with a 24 hour delay because of all the rain down in Southern Indiana. They did end up having pretty good weather Tuesday & Wednesday. They got all their activities in! Check out Rancho Framasa's CYO Camp.

Here's Rachel's Group:


Rachel was happy to be with the big girls who were 11yrs. old, not like last year she had to be with the little girls!

Here's Zac's Group:


When Zac got there they asked if he was "16 years old!" because of how tall he is. Here you can't tell his height because he is at the bottom of the pyramid! He's the one with the black hat and Ryan, his cousin is in the red hat! Zac is about 5-7 now and GROWING like crazy!!!

School's Out For Summer!

OMG! I can't believe the school year is almost finished! The kids will be home for summer and what will they be doing? Well, I read a great article on Dave Ramsey's newsletter and thought I would share it with you, it also talks about saving money if you need that money for Gas! The prices have gotten out of control, that's for sure! Read his Newsletter here to get ideas on what you can do to save money and help your kids this summer be more productive!

My kids will start out the Summer with CYO Camp, which is something that they love! I fall into the trap too of letting them do what they want...which could mean lazing around-thank goodness for our neighborhood pool that gets them out and gets them exercise! It opens this weekend! We will spend alot of time there for sure...Here's a photo of me and my kids a couple Summer's ago...Love Ya! XO

Yeah, I'm 42...but all together we are have over 183 years of Experience!!!

For my birthday I wanted to go to Red Lobster! Then Mary's Family came over and we did a log cake from Dairy Queen showcasing all of our birthdays'...so we totalled up how many years we got (I'm only 42, the youngest!!! HEE HEE)

I just love this pic Mary took of me and my honey at the Lobster :) we had a blast!

Baseball & Softball Opening Day Games!

Happy Birthday To My Mom!

Well it was opening day at Logan Field! Zac had his first game and he made a good hit...but the rain came in and the score ending in a 14-9 loss. I am sure their next game will be better tomorrow. I didn't get to see it, but saw that there had been many improvements to the field and I am anxious to go see the game, but drove up to see a nice new rod iron gate today, so I may have to skip out of my meeting early tomorrow and see him play!

Rachel's team "The Storm" won, something like 12-6! They played their former coaches team and Rachel kept razzing him that "they were going down!"...and they did! Rach got to play catcher, and third base for an inning, which was cool and she did a great job! They are a pretty good team!

Thanks Linda for the pics!

After the game we took a DQ cake over to my mom's and celebrated her 76th Birthday! It was a great day to be alive in America!!! There's nothing better than Baseball and ice cream cake!

Teen Parenting Insight

A couple blogs ago I mentioned that Zac is a teen now!!! So I thought I had to learn more about the teens now adays. I still remember when I was a teen, however times have changed! So my friend Linda and I venture out to meet my sister at Chatard Parents In Touch to see Dr. Sipes who was the speaker tonight to explain why our teens, called the Millennial Generation, are considered "The New Greatest Generation."

According to Dr. Sipes, this unique generation is characterized as having greater mobility, better and faster communication, and more money than any generation since World War I. Additionally, Millennials are upbeat, optimistic, well-educated, and comfortable with diversity. They typically care about family and friends, and they actually desire a long-term "friendship" relationship with parents.

Dr. Sipes addressed practical concerns we face with these teens, like alcohol and drug abuse, constant cell phone use, texting, inappropriate song lyrics, and when dating should start. Dr. Sipes' new and more powerful way of parenting, Soulful Parenting, promises that we can positively influence our teens in the here and now, as well as preserve a healthy relationship for the future.

Chicago Trip–Spring Break

Tuesday –
Rainy day in high 40s
We set off around 8:30am to head to Chicago. We got to check in early at Best Western River North Hotel. We all walked over to American Girl and Rachel and mom had lunch and shopped at American Girl.
Lunch was a very special experience with Cinnamon Roll Appetizer, Fruit Tic-Tack-Toe Pepperoni Pizza. There were probably about 10 girls celebrating their birthdays and we had to hear the staff sing many times. Dessert was fun getting a special sugar flower cookie, an angel food cake with icing and a flower pot of chocolate mouse and a cute daisy sticking out of the top of it. Marisol, Rachel’s doll got to have a seat with us and a cup & saucer as if she was part of our group!

Rachel decided upon the Hawaii Outfit for her and her doll. Mark and the kids went swimming at Best Western Hotel Pool-it was too cold for Mom! Our room was ok, except for the fitted sheets would not stay on the beds! HAAA We gave it a C. We took cab to Gino’s East, there was one around the corner from us but we went to another one. The pizza is awsome! It was not really the one that we wanted to go to, so we spent $13 each way to take a cab… but I guess you learn!

When we got back to the hotel we watched “I Am Legend Movie”…very good movie!

Wednesday –
Sunny day in the 50s
We ate lunch at The Rainforest Café – VERY COOL PLACE!
The Rainforest Café was right across from our hotel and just like the name says-it’s like a Rainforest! There was a shop, two-story waterfall and salt-water aquariums everywhere, along with Jungle Animals everywhere! Went to Shedd Aquarium and I think we saw every fish known to man. We all liked the saw mouth-looking shark! The very unique sea horses were so fancy; I have never seen anything like them! We checked into Essex Hotel that is right next to Grant Park. It was ok, except for the short beds!

Walked over to Sears Tower and went up to sky deck and we were glad we did we could see for miles-no fog! Ate at the restaurant at Essex Hotel called the Savoy and everyone had different types of food: Mark-Greek, Zac-Chicago-Style Footlong, Rachel-Italian Chicken Parmesan, Tracey-Mexican Chicken Fahita. Went back to our room and Tracey took the kids swimming while Mark went to sleep. The pool was neat with flags hanging from the window-top roof! It was already dark so we couldn’t really see a view. We watched a program on unique McDonald’s in North America on the Travel Channel before bed.

Thursday –
Rainy low 50s
Today we checked out of the hotel and went to the big McDonald’s next to Best Western River North. This McDonald’s is two stories and glass all around, next to the Hard Rock and The Rainforest Café. They had windows back into the past like 1950s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s… it was neat to look into the past. Went to the Museum of Science & Industry. This was a nice place to see how Industry has grown, automation, learned about refining petroleum, farming, electricity, the U505 German Submarine we captured in 1944 WWII. Our feet were so tired, so we left around 3:30 and went on the Skyway back to Indiana. We attempted to stop at a BP Gas station and get drinks but you could not even go into the store. You had to go to a window and ask for what you wanted. Of course there was a guy ordering all kind of snacks ahead of Mark so we just left. –He didn’t get the right Doritos that he asked for LOL HAAAA!
We headed “Back Home Again in Indiana!” - It’s good to be home. We like Chicago and it’s a great place to visit, but it’s expensive having to pay to park everywhere you go! We sure couldn’t live with so many people…we like our more relaxed home in the suburbs of Indiana!

Looking Forward to Chicago...

Google let's me create my map for our Chicago Trip-how cool, I can mark all the places we want to go! We are so looking forward to a couple days in the Windy City...I will followup here and let you know what fun stuff we did! Of course Rachel will be bringing Marisol along with us to the American Girl Place! She's already been to Kauai, Hawaii, now she gets to go to Chicago!!! What a lucky doll.

Puppy Mills

I cried when I saw the Investigations into Puppy Mills Show on Oprah. She had mentioned that her dog of 13 years Sophie had died. They had a special memorial video of her and it made me cry because I just lost Nipper. The next time I am looking for a dog I will definitely go to a shelter. If you want to rescue a dog here is a great RESOURCE! It is just not right and should be against the law for doing what these people do to these dogs at Puppy Mills. I am sad that Nipper is gone, however I have Simon to keep me company...and if we ever want to get another dog I will definitely adopt one from a Shelter that rescues them from these MEAN Puppy Mills. -Mean People SUCK!

Happy Easter!

Well, it's Easter time again...bringing promise of Spring! I love Spring because everything in nature becomes new again in it's bloom. Trees already have buds on them and the weather will be nice again. Time to take me out to the ballgames!!!

Zac is acting crazy with his Easter basket here. He loves to pose for photos for his mom! He got a can of peas too in his basket and couldn't wait to dig in! Rachel, however wasn't too happy to dig into her basket and find mixed-vegetables. But it was buried under a lot of chocolate. She is my Chocolate Girl!!! How about some Carrots??? No? Give me CHOCOLATE!!!

In Loving Memory of my "Nipper"

Nipper passed away today in my arms March 18, 2008 at 1:30pm after suffering arthritis for some time and then a stroke. She was the best dog I have ever known. She was very loyal and sweet to everyone she would meet. Everyone will remember her tail wagging and hitting everything like a drum, or the bark at the door to say hello, and never being able to wear black or you'd leave with white hair along! We will miss her soft fur that shed all over our house, but now we miss it. She will be missed by so many hearts she touched. Nipper could leap like a deer when she was a younger dog, as if she had spring in her legs. Now she will be in heaven with springs back in her legs greeting all of her doggie friends who have gone before her. She will have angel wings and will be our guardian angel forever XO -Your Loving Family
NIPPER SCOUT BISH 8/2/94-3/18/08
Visit: Nipper's Memorial Page on Adopt-A-Dal.org

I'm A Parent of a Teenager OMG!

Zac has officially turned 13 - OMG!

3/3/08 Zac turned 13

He is officially a teenager!
He chose to have a shopping spree
& buy clothes at Castleton Square.
Aeropostale, Hollister, American Eagle
Is the style now!
He is growing up so fast…
He is taller than his mom now @ 5-7
We then had Grandma Betty over
& she brought a Dairy Queen
Ice cream cake!
Rachel placed 13 candles on top!
He made a wish & blew them all out!

Rock-on Buddy!

Back in 1836

Pioneer Days at my daughter's school was too cool! But I am sure these kids are glad they go to school in 2008!

When they had a mock day at school they had to curtsie or bow to their teacher and call her mistress "name"...that's how they had to show respect to all adults. The teachers had pointers and rang a bell as the kids entered the classroom. I made Rachel's dress and hat with my friend Linda's help! She looked like "Little House On The Prarie's" Laura Ingalls and way too cute here:

On anther day the kids got to do activities such as making candles and ornaments out of tin, square dancing and I helped the fourth graders make funnel cakes. They loved those with all the sugar!!! Here is a photo of Rachel & I on that day:

You can view more photos on my Walgreen's Site.