I scrapped. Finally.

I don't know what has been wrong with me. Usually I am doing something scrap related every night. I can't put my finger on it, but I hope this layout gets me out of that yucky groove.

I love these photos of Megan. She got a new bike a couple of months ago. It has been a busy season with bikes this year! - At first she was a little afraid of it and kept insisting that it was too big for her, but it didn't take her long (five minutes!) to head down the street.

It seems so funny to see her on something that doesn't have white tires and streamers coming from the handlebars! At least she still stuck to the true Megan and picked one that had pink and purple on it. Plus a headlight...you know, for all those late night bike rides that 7 year olds take. Ha ha!

Here is the journaling: "Who would have thought that the teary eyed little girl (that thought she would never learn how to ride a bike) would ever move up to a big bike. Not only get a bigger bike, but be so confident riding it that she challenges the neighborhood boys to see who can get to the end of the street the fastest! - You go Megan!"

Just had to share some pictures.

Where is Matthew? Has anybody seen Matthew????

(and why can't I ever get my pictures to load in order!?!?!?)

I took these last night of Matthew when I was tucking him into bed. As frustrating as the little guy can be sometimes, I have to admit that I just want to eat him up when he is fresh from a bath, in jammies and ready for bed!

Perhaps feeling a tad nostalgic for the 80's or really wishing we could get some rain since we have to deal with this yucky humidity. (No comment from Lisa and how 'cool' it is in Prescott!!!) ;)

Check out my new song. I have always loved this song. I remember when I was in high school, and I was driving home from somewhere... I had a 65 Mustang, so the windows had to be down in order to have any sort of air circulating in the car, and it was RAINING. I remember this song came on and it was just one of those moments where I can remember every detail. Rain is such a treat here, and anybody from AZ knows the only reason we put up with the crappy hot summers is so we can enjoy the awesome monsoon storms!

**********

I promise to get better about changing that once a week.

I was up late last night. Mike ended up staying overnight in Yuma because of the storms. The storms that seemed to hit everywhere else except here! At least we could have had some action if I had to be here by myself!

I stayed up way too late last night. I had found this photo in a shoebox and it just gave me the warm fuzzies. Add to that, this cool new Scenic Route paper, and now my favorite new Chatterbox with the yellow and green circles! I just had to scrap it. Even though it is totally simple, it still seemed to take forever. You know me though, I'm sure I will add some more to it today as it is sitting on my desk.

My kids look SO little in this picture! It is hard to believe.

Here is the journaling: I found this photo in a shoebox. I don't know what I was trying to capture when I took it, or what was going through my mind at the time. But years later (5 to be exact!) I see this photo and I just feel so happy.

It takes me back to such a simple time. I wasn't even pregnant with Matthew yet, and this is just a glimpse of a typical day back in 2001.

This room that we used as a playroom was in the front of the house. Instead of what would probably be a living room in most houses, we have a slide! This room was full of toys - the dollhouse, Trevor's favorite farm, a tricycle...

Trevor was still the baby of the family, and Megan still wasn't saying much. Her little voice finally came out in theis room because this was where the speech therapist would work with her twice a week.

This room was the heart of the house.

I absolutely adore the huge smiles on the kid's faces. This photo reminds me of those simple days.

******

The kids both had a great day at school yesterday. They were exhausted by the time they got home. It is funny how Megan was so concerned about having a male teacher this year, but she is convinced that he is the coolest teacher in the world. She said that he made them laugh all day yesterday.

Trevor said that he had a good day, but didn't meet any new friends yet. I told him by the end of next week he will know some names, and that the other kids are just as shy and nervous as he is. He really likes his teacher too. That is so important.

I think I am going to put on a movie for Matthew and go keep him company on the couch. A.K.A. a little nap. It is overcast today, on top of two horrible nights in a row. Is it bad that it is only 9:30 and I am exhausted??

First day of school!

Do these kids look like they are just a little excited about going back to school today? Man, seeing these pictures compared to last year just reminds me of how fast they are growing. I plan on taking their pictures by that gate every year so I can see how much they change from year to year.

This morning went by really smooth. I was grateful. Last night we had a huge storm that ended up with all three kids in our bed because the thunder was so loud. So I don't think anybody really got a good night's sleep.

Now Matthew and I are trying to decide what to do with our day. I have some errands I need to get done, plus I am trying to keep my mind off the fact that Mike is doing a cross country flight today. He is flying to San Diego for lunch. Luckyyyyyyy. <---- insert Napoleon Dynamite voice.

It seems eeriely quiet right now. :)

Adios summer!

School starts tomorrow! You would think that I would be happy since it has gotten harder and harder to keep the kids entertained as the weeks went by, and the constant arguing has driven me crazy. But for some reason I am feeling somewhere between sad and anxious. Sad that two of my kids are going to be gone all day, and anxious I suppose because I want everything to be awesome for them this year.

Today we went out and did some errands together. Megan has been working for the past few weeks towards a denim cropped short sleeve jacket thing that she really wanted for school. So we went to the store to get it. Then we went to Target. (yay!) I found a blow up pool on clearance for $2. I just couldn't pass that up. I mean, for $2 they can use it once and I could throw it away if I wanted to.

The kids ended up spending a couple of hours out on the patio playing in this little pool. Heck, it is even worth the $2 for the cute pool pictures I got of them! - But at least to them, the summer ended on a pretty high note.

Tomorrow it is going to be just Matthew and I. I'm not even sure what I am going to do! I think it is going to feel like I am missing my right arm or something.

Well, here is to a brand new school year. I think I'll even feel better when I hear how the first day went tomorrow afternoon. You just know I'll be at the bus stop 20 minutes early, waiting!

It is hard to believe that summer vacation is over! As much as it seemed to drag, looking back it went by really quick. All those times I was wishing school would start so my kids wouldn't be bored, (or they were just driving me plain crazy!) and now I am starting to feel a little sad that two of them will be gone all day.

We went to 'meet the teacher' night last night. Both kids have awesome teachers! I am so relieved about that.

We went to Trevor's classroom first. He had to find his name and put it on whatever desk he wanted to sit at. He looked around, and all of a sudden started doing that little squeaky noise he makes when he is happy.... he found a friend from last year to sit by. I noticed the little grouping of desks was all boys. That is good, he'll probably be able to make some friends pretty quickly on the first day of school.

When we left I asked him if he liked his new room and what he thought of his teacher. He looked at me, with a huge smile and said, "My teacher is pretty!" I can tell that he feels very comfortable about starting school.

Megan's teacher knew who she was from last year. He talked to her for a little bit, and then she had to pick out her desk. Unfortunately, since we spent so much time in Trevor's room, most of the desks had already been picked. Would you believe who she is sitting next to? Evil girl. Yes, out of so many 3rd grade classes.... and so many desks in one room....she is with evil girl this year. I am hoping that it will be a good thing and they will have to work out whatever problem seemed to be going on during the summer. My only concern is that the other little girl who is the go between is in this class too.

So...as of tomorrow, it will be just Matthew and I.

Is there anybody out there?

Alright. Where is everybody lately? You know how much I worry when I don't hear from anybody.

Do I need to send out my EMT boys to look for you all?

Summer sucks.

Start them young

Ahhh, could there be any bigger of a proud mommy moment? Yes, those are my kids, sitting in front of the TV watching my man Edge. *swoon*

This rates right up there when Trevor was tiny and was in the backseat of the car singing every word to "Stuck in a moment."

I'm so lucky. ;)

I have had it with the animated TV shows today. Matthew finally moved off of the couch for awhile and I had to start making dinner. I needed some therapy. I needed to listen to some U2 and better yet watch my DVD that Mike gave me for Christmas. It always puts me in a good mood!

Megan actually knows who is who in the band too. How awesome is that? She is definitely MY daughter!

Just had to share!

You guys crack me up. I was reading Michelle's post on my last entry where she said, "I'm glad things are OK. By OK I mean not at the hospital."

We really had a track record going there for awhile didn't we? I kind of miss my friendly neighborhood firefighters and EMTs. After all, we were on a first name basis for awhile!

Last night was a really rough night with Matthew. Poor guy couldn't breathe at all, and probably slept for 3 hours all together.

I know part of his problem is that he needs to cough out the junk that is stuck in his lungs right now. Remember how you would watch A Baby Story or something like that and after having your own kids you catch yourself actually holding your breath and 'pushing' while the person on TV is doing it? That is what I am like with Matthew. I don't have anything in my lungs, but I am constantly 'trying' to cough for him.

We have an appointment for the doctor tomorrow. Usually they get me in right away on the same day, but it sounds like a lot of people are sick right now. I love the drill though :

"If he gets worse before his appointment, take him to the E.R."

Mmm...okay, thanks. Maybe if I take him down to the hospital right now, being 10:00 in the a.m. on Tuesday, we could be seen by triage by 9:00 Wednesday morning (his dr. appointment time) You gotta love the E.R. waiting rooms around here.

So that is our day. The other two kids are doing better. They are still coughing, but they are at least up and doing things. Matthew and I are going to spend the day snuggling on the couch and probably watching a lot of animated tv.

Stay well!! :)

Man, I have no idea where the past couple of weeks have gone. I know there was some back to school clothes shopping in there somewhere, and that is about it.

Since last week our house has been passing the crud around again. Megan wasn't feeling too well the night of her cheer thing. She ended up with a fever, and a cough that sounded like a seal. The fever has been gone since Friday, but a week later she still isn't feeling well. Man I don't want to take them all to the doctor and risk getting a new strain of crud right before school starts.

Matthew and Trevor are both barking, and Matthew had a fever. Infact, with Matthew being so hoarse, the house has been kind of quiet! LOL! I never really think about how LOUD that little boy is until he is quiet for a long time.

Now I am lucky enough to have a sore throat.

I don't get it. It is hot enough here that you would think that anytime you went outdoors it was hot enough to knock out any living virus!

So I suppose Beth started out the summer with a bang, and now we are ending it with a bang.

*******

The kids start school again in less than 2 weeks. I'm getting excited about that. Infact, a small update on evil girl. Megan called her today! It was short, and small talk..... but Megan said that she felt much better about starting school now. I told her that she just has to keep being nice but stand up for yourself. In other words, don't lower yourself to the name calling like the other girl is doing. It will all figure itself out in the end.

I hope you are all doing well. I promise to get better about updating once everybody is feeling better and school starts again. I miss everybody!

Love you all!

Cheer

Today was the last day of cheer camp. It seems like it went by so quickly! The girls had a little program that they put together so the parents could see what they have been working on. It was so cute!

Unfortunately where we were sitting, I didn't have a good view of Megan for pictures, so this is one of the best ones that I have of her. Just like me...so tall that she always ends up in the back of every group thing. Sorry sweetie.

Mike was able to arrange his school schedule to be there too. So afterwards we all went out for lunch. I was telling Megan and Trevor that they will be starting the self defense classes that I signed them up for next month.

I reminded Megan that what she was going to learn in self defense she couldn't use on anybody at home. She says, "I know not to use what I learn in that class on Trevor, since he'll be in it with me he'll know how to hurt me back!"

That's a good enough reason.

And Matthew can pretty much hold his own. LOL!

Thank you

Ack. You guys are NO help at all. haha! I knew you were going to tell me to let her handle it, but my mommy instincts are still to kick this girl's ass.

Would it really be that bad if she had an unfortunate incident on her bicycle or something? Or I hired some 6th graders to break her knees? Saprano style.

I just can't believe this is happening. I guess it happened to me and I figured that it would skip a generation or something. (I still hope that Jenny Rogers is out there somewhere living in a trailer, and is leading a totally miserable life. Yeah, I'm still a little bitter. Haha!)

Fortunately, every movie I ever see where there is a mean girl, she always gets it in the end. So that is what I am hoping for. The perfect Disney channel ending.

Plus Megan is taking self defense classes next month. She might be able to kick evil girl's ass on her own if she needs to. ;)

Seriously, thanks for the replies girls. I really do appreciate it. Man, I know some really smart people. This girl stuff is something else I tell you. And June, somehow knowing how calm you are, I can totally 'hear' you in mommy mode. You make things make sense. Now, do you want to come over and have a 'talk' with evil girl? ;)

Jen, I remember a layout where you had mentioned something like this with Alex. Poor girl, she is so cool too, I can't understand who mean girls think they are. Since time has passed, have things gotten better? Did the other girl ever come around? I wonder what it is that just makes them think like that??? It is so strange that there doesn't even have to be a reason.

Laura, keep Sarah small as long as you can. At least she has a big brother to watch over her. I think that will help out a lot. And Beth.... you can help me with some evil plan.

Well, you have made me feel somewhat better. I'm so anxious about school starting now. This is one of the reasons that I really hate that they can't let us know what teachers the kids will be getting in the beginning of the summer. I remember always being so anxious about wondering who was going to be in my class all summer long, and now I see Megan going through it because of this whole ordeal. A few more weeks. I'll make it. Breathe in..... breathe out......

Thanks mom!

I got a nice surprise in the mail today from my mom! This is a magnet that she sent me!

LOL!

Isn't it the truth???

Thank you mom! You know I love it, and now I'm trying to decide whether or not to put it in my scraproom or the kitchen.

Little girl politics

I have been MIA again for a few days. Just stuff that has kept me busy, and then I spent all day yesterday out with my little girl.

My MIL took the boys all day and overnight for me while Mike was out of town. So Megan and I started our day yesterday after cheer. We went out for lunch, went to Justice and found a ton of cute clothes for back to school. I would say that 85% of what we found was on clearance too. That is the one really good thing about AZ. For some reason, they put out these adorable fall clothes for the next season coming up, but it is still pretty hot for many more months. So all of the shorts and short sleeve things are on clearance so they can put out all of the long sleeve things, and wool skirts!!! LOL.

So we spent probably 3 hours in ONE store trying on clothes. Then we went on over to the Chandler Mall. We were there for a long time and found a few more things for school and had dinner.

We came home and scrapped until 11:00 last night and then finally went to bed. It was a blast.

Anyway....I don't know how I got off on that rant.

Today we stopped at a friend's house to drop off some Polly Pocket stuff that she had left last week. Her mom asked if Megan wanted to stay for awhile and go swimming and then she would bring her back by when they had to leave for an appointment.

A little background: There is another girl at Megan' school that has that queen bee mentality. She is obnoxious, has rich parents so she buys everything for popularity, and for some reason has decided that she doesn't like Megan. I personally think it is because Megan was the last new girl in the class last year, and Megan might have stolen some of this little girl's thunder.

Then two weeks after school ended, there was a slumber party that Megan came home from crying. She said evil girl was there and was mean to her. Apparently evil girl said that Megan stepped on her and didn't say she was sorry, and rallied the rest of the little girls to shun Megan for the rest of the party. Even the birthday girl told Megan that she would never invite her over to her house again. So she has been thinking about that all summer.

Fortunately evil girl has been away ALL summer until last week, so we haven't had to deal with her.

OK, there really is a point to all this, so stay with me. Today Megan comes home from nice girl's house and is upset. She said that nice girl told Megan that evil girl was at her house last week and said that Megan is retarded. I asked Megan what nice girl said to evil girl, and she said she didn't say anything. I asked her if they talked about it anymore after nice girl said that to Megan and she said no. I'm really surprised that nice girl brought it up to Megan to be honest. They really have similar personalities so I don't know why she said that to her. She is usually very compassionate.

I think evil girl found out that nice girl has spent a lot of time with her this summer, and she might be a little jealous of that. Who knows.

But why is this starting so early? I just want to go over and punch evil girl in the face. There is absolutely nothing that Megan has done to evil girl other than exist. Have any of you had anything like this happen with your older girls? Lisa? Beth? Jen? June? What do I do? These little girl politics are going to drive me crazy.

Megan makes friends easily, but evil girl seems to have some sort of hypnotic thing over the entire female part of the class. (Hmmm, buying friendship???) I just don't know what to do about this and it totally breaks my heart.

So, what can I do? Mike and I think that we should wait until school starts, give it a few weeks, and see what happens. If we should talk to evil girl's mom. Who we actually know, so it isn't like we would back her into a corner and point fingers at evil girl. Just try to say, "They are so young, what can we do about this?"

I would never consider doing this if they were older. I know that they need to duke it out and learn on their own like we all did. But 7,8,9 is just so young and they might not know how to handle it themselves.

Crap. I don't know. I still want to go over and punch her in her evil little face. ;)

Whoa, Monster House

Today we took the kids to see Monster House. (Thank goodness for some issue with the plane before Mike had to go flying, so he got to come home early!)

It was fun to have a day to do this. The kids were really excited.

I didn't think that it would be as scary as it was!!! It was a good movie, but I thought it would be more along the lines of "Scooby Doo" scary. My fault for not doing my research on the movie or finding out what other people had to say about it first. I spent the entire movie with two boys firmly squished to my sides. Matthew would bury his head in my arm most of the time, and would only come up for a little air and an occasional bite of popcorn.

Megan loved it. She is the perfect age for it. I thought it was a great movie and really enjoyed it. There were only a couple of things that I wasn't too thrilled with. One of the kids takes some cough medicine from his dad's pharmacy and talks about it later in the movie as "I stole drugs."
Here I have been telling my kids how bad drugs are, blah blah blah. And they kind of lump cough medicine (which my kids have to take) into the 'drug' catagory. So now my kids are either going to think that drugs are no big deal, or that mommy makes them take drugs when they are sick. Megan even stresses out when I say 'drug store' to her. She corrects me and says, "It is a pharm-a-cy mom. A pharmacy is where you get medicine that makes you feel better when you are sick. Drugs are baaaaaad."

Then another time the babysitter's boyfriend is leaving the house, and he says, "prude." Whhhhyy is that neccessary in a kid's movie? Oh and he was drinking a beer and was obviously drunk when he left the house. OK, I'm not trying to be prudish myself here....but it is a kid's movie and it really didn't have anything to make the story any better.

My favorite part without giving anything away is the end. It is Halloween. Ahhh....Beth will totally understand me on this one.....the kids are trick or treating up and down a tree lined street with leaves blowing everywhere. You know Beth and I live for Halloween! I could almost smell pumpkins!!!

Anyway...that has been our day. I am so full of popcorn I think I am going to explode. Ugh.

thank you!

Thank you everybody for answering my question! Mike said something about I needed to delete some cookies. Whatever the heck that means in computer/technical talk. LOL!

I wish there was a way to delete the cookies from my middle and rear end. That would be AWESOME!

I think I'm going to change my song today.... so stay tuned! ;)

Quick question

Other than the the fact that most of the song is missing now for some reason.....is my page harder for anybody to open up since I put music on here?

I have to keep clicking on something when I visit my own page, and then it freezes for a minute. Kind of a pain in the butt.

Is this happening to anybody else?

My computer/technical question/ go to guy is out of town until later tonight. His works fine on his blog.

Computers hate me.

The big bike

I was up too late last night. Ugh, and feeling it this morning. But I did get some scrapping done!

Here is the page from Trevor's bike lesson. Another reason I love to blog... I just took the journaling from my entry. *poof* done.

I know it probably seems kind of mean to have that photo of him crying, but the page I did years ago of Megan learning to ride her bike, I have a picture of her like that too. I think it must be a family tradition now. Poor Matthew. He's next!

I am really thinking that I need to come up with something other than green combinations! Man, I am in a rut! But I love green with little boy pages! Green and blue...green and brown....green and orange....

I might just have to throw in a pink boy page for fun! Ha ha!

Turn it up loud captain!!!!

Thank you Mike! *mwah!*

OK, I promise to be a good blogger and change my songs every now and then.

I also take requests!!! Except NO Fleetwood Mac.

*testing*

*testing*

Neat thing

I'm just trying to kill some time before we take Megan to cheer camp today.

I forgot about this really cool program that Lisa gave me a long time ago. It is called The Journaler's Sidekick, from CK. It has literally hundreds and hundreds of topics and journaling prompts for when you get in a rut.

If you actually keep up with it, it will ask you a question everyday. Or you can pick a random question. Then it saves it all for you in one spot so you can go back and read them like a journal.

I read some of my older entries from a few years ago. This is what is so cool about writing about things that seem so ordinary or mundane. You just keep going on in life, sometimes forgetting some of the things that were part of who you were not too long ago.

One I read in particular was: It is 2:00 in the afternoon, what are you usually doing?

I wrote about this topic not too long after Matthew was born. I was talking about how he usually takes a nap around that time, and how much Trevor was starting to talk! Wow! Plus I was saying how usually around 2:00 we were picking Megan up from KINDERGARTEN! Man, that seems almost like a lifetime ago, now that I have a third and a first grader... and my youngest is 3! Life really does happen in the blink of an eye.

This program is pretty cool too because it will ask you questions to write about like:

What has been your greatest sorrow?
What has been your greatest joy?
What did your grandfather do for a living?
Describe a sound from your childhood.
Did you have a bicycle? What was it like?

Some are obviously more thought provoking than others, and some are just neat things. I have fond memories of my pink bike with the glittery banana seat. I used to cut up straws to put on the spokes so it made a cool noise when I rode it. See? Some goofy things, but I hadn't thought about that bike in YEARS. - Or other things that I like to remember and put down somewhere. Whether it is in a journal, a scrapbook page or maybe this blog. If anybody wants some of the questions, I can email them to you. :)

And it did its purpose today. It helped me kill some time, and I think I might use some of the journaling on a page to do later.

I plan on doing some scrapping later since I placed a big order at Costco last night! Woohoo!!! Later!

Sunday

Sunday morning. Bright and early! Mike took Megan and I flying this morning.

I have to admit...I get it now. Flying is fun. This is my first time in the front of a small plane. I really had a blast!

It is so cool to see the areas that you drive around everyday from up above. We flew over our house, and my favorite Target. We also flew to another airport to have breakfast. That was kind of neat. I think I could get used to this!

I did learn however, that I will probably never be flying by myself. Man, listening to Mike communicating with the towers just confused me.

The weather was great. It is hard to believe that there actually IS some cool air in Arizona right now. Unfortunately it is way up there. LOL!

Hope everybody is having a great weekend!

It's still hot

Today we met my sister and her two sons at Peter Piper Pizza. We haven't seen each other in a long time, and that seemed like a good kid friendly place to meet and be able to talk a little bit. Her boys have gotten so big! One is going into 8th grade, and the other is going to be a sophomore next year! Holy cow.

My kids were THRILLED to hang out with their big cousins. Plus Steven and Jonathan won a ton of tickets that they gave to my kids. I lost track of how many we had, somewhere around 600! So my kids got to do a little shopping. Funny how that much money in tokens bought two slinkys, 3 yo yo's, a couple of lollipops and about 30 little plastic dogs that Megan wanted so badly. (She was hoping for 99 of them!) We still have some tickets left over, but we'll take them back again soon.

Of course you would think one purpose of going to a pizza place would be to eat. My kids were so excited that between the three of them, one piece was eaten. I was hoping to get out of making dinner tonight, but of course once we got home they were telling me how starving they were!!

It was nice to get out of the house though. This time of year you just have to look for indoor things to do. I can't wait until the fall when I renew my membership to the zoo. I'll have two kids in all day school, so Matthew and I plan on spending a lot of time there this year. It is hard to believe that will be in a few months! Yay!

Nothing exciting here. :) - but sometimes that is a good thing!

another one

I know, every now and then I go crazy ordering the 8 x 12 size at Costco. It is such a cool size to play with, plus makes pages super easy!

I did this one today while the kids were playing together nicely. (I owe them for that!)

For once my totally bare, builder white colored stairwell came in handy. There are some windows on a little landing up there that have awesome light during the day. This angle is pretty much how I talk to the kids when they are upstairs and I am downstairs. Ha ha! But I swear, this kid is always smiling, so I had to take some pictures one time.

The journaling says:

* brings a certain vivacity to the most ordinary day

* is so gentle when he climbs up on your lap to snuggle or tell you about his day

* will hurl himself across a room at super sonic speeds just to offer mommy a hug

* loves to play video games with daddy

I'm also trying to use some of the older stuff that I have in my scraproom. Like those rub ons. You know, I kept holding on to them waiting for the perfect layout. I don't really know what I had in my mind as being the perfect layout though. But they finally got used.

I can't be a hoarder anymore. I swear, last month I spent the same amount on scrap supplies as two car payments. NOT a good thing at all. So I am trying really hard to keep using the stuff that I already have. It is kind of a challenge to myself.

Off to get some boys out of the shower and play a game with them before bed. :)

I'm meeelting!

Good GRIEF. It is HOT HOT HOT.

See, this is what happens when it is too hot to do anything. I sit around, and I blog. Look forward to many more entries about nothing since we are in the midst of summer right now. Even the hot bugs are out. You know those annoying bugs that buzz in the trees and automatically make it feel even 20 degrees HOTTER?

We just picked up Megan from Cheer Camp. Of course the boys wouldn't believe me that it really is too hot to play on the really super cool playground in front of the rec center, but we played for about 30 minutes anyway. It is covered, so at least the equiptment isn't burning with huge flames.

I found a really cool spot to take some great family pictures this fall though, so at least I feel like I accomplished something other than sweating.

I swear, this is our last summer without a pool. :p

mojo

Don't you love those weeks where it just seems like pages come together really easily? I have been busy doing some scrapping this week. :)

The one of Megan running is a horrible, out of focus photo, but I love it. It is one of those that just seemed to catch exactly who she is, and her personality. Just a goofy kid who runs like a girl!

Which actually, that was the paper that I was going to use for my ad challenge, but I accidentally ordered the photo bigger than I meant to...so there is absolutely no white space like from the ad. Oh well, there is more of the paper left, so I plan on still doing my page for that. I think I am just working backwards! LOL!

The one of Trevor has a bad word on it. I promise he doesn't talk like that all the time. It was just funny. He knew he wasn't supposed to say it because he looked at us like he thought he was going to get in trouble. But, the timing of it was hysterical. I think you can click on it to read the journaling.

So that is somewhat of what I have been doing.

Jen - you need to tell me your trick for your pages looking like they are scanned right out of a magazine. They are always so clear. These honestly look better in real life!

I hope everybody is happy and healthy out there!!! Love you all!

New bike!

Well, technically the bike is new, but it hasn't been used since Santa brought it for Christmas last year. For some reason Trevor was terrified of it, so it sat unloved in the garage all these months. He was so sure that it was too big for him. He was really hanging on to his little boy bike, that looked like something from a circus. His little knees would almost hit his chin while he was peddling. I used to watch him riding up and down the street picturing a little monkey riding on top of his shoulders. Really, it was time to retire the little green bike.

So yesterday we went out front after dinner to learn to ride the big bike. He did great. He only fell a couple of times (once into a tree) but really, he did great. I don't know why he is so afraid of it. His feet touch the ground when he stands. Who knows, maybe he is like me...he doesn't get real excited about the next step up when it comes to growing up. He has always been comfy where he is at. (Unlike Megan who is ready to be 17 right now.)

This photo is the closest thing to a smile that I could get. Mike would send him down from one end of the street, and Trevor would just be yelling, "mommy! mommy!" over and over. Every time he made a turn Megan and I would cheer for him.

So far he says that he will go out tonight and try it again. I have also bribed him with taking him to go get some ice cream afterwards. No matter what...I think he looks like a pretty cool, big kid on that bike!

Who knew teaching kids to ride a bike would be so much work. Actually, Mike gets more of a workout than I do. He is always the runner. Probably because I am the one who would say, "OK sweetie, you don't have to do this now." I admit it, I'm a sucker once those tears start. - I can't believe that we still have ONE more to go after this one. Hopefully since Matthew will have seen his brother and sister ride bikes, he will actually WANT to.

Whew. This kid stuff. It isn't for sissies that is for sure.

Cheer camp! RAH RAH RAH!

GIL


BERT


IS


HERE


TO


GO,


FIGHT,


WIN!!!


Megan's cheer camp started today. We are doing it through the parks and rec center. How did I not know about this before?? Oh my gosh, they have the coolest center, and so many things for kids to do!! I feel like I have missed out on so many summers, and activities for the kids to do. How is it that some moms just know this stuff, then there are moms like me that just learn by hearing from other moms?? But always a day late and a dollar short, ya know? I must be missing that supermom gene.

Megan has been a bit obsessed with cheerleaders since she started watching Kim Possible. So when we found out about this beginner class, we were so happy to get her in it. She was patiently waiting all summer for July to get here for the classes to start. It is only an hour, two days a week. Plus a huge bonus is the teacher was a TA in her second grade class! So she felt so comfortable right away.

It is adorable seeing her out in the living room practicing what she learned today.

The boys were so excited when we were looking through a catalog and noticed how many fun things there are for their age groups. Lots of cool art classes, some sports and a creepy crawly cooking class. I'll definitely be more on the ball when registration comes this fall!

I'll definitely get some pictures later this week of my new little cheerleader! GO! FIGHT! WIN!

Sunday

Little update from the week:

both kids are feeling much better, off the couch and back to normal! Yay!

Today we decided to ditch church since Mike hasn't been around much lately because of school and work. So we had a family day.

We started out with a trip to Target. I promised Matthew a new set of playdoh colors since he spent the entire day before at the table playing with his playdoh stuff. He sat so still for a haircut, I used it as a bribe too.

Trevor got some too, just for being a good boy, and Megan picked out some paints.

So while the kids are happy and content with the new art stuff from Target, I cleaned up my scrap area. Look! There really is a table under there! I am such a messy scrapper. This probably had 2 inches of paper, ribbon and junk on it.

I'm pretty good about keeping my cabinet that holds my paper, stamps and all that clean and organized...but this feels good to have gotten done today.

Then we went out for dinner with Mike's parents since today is his dad's birthday. I worked on an album of his truck that he just had restored. A 1948 Ford truck that used to be his father's truck. It is really pretty cool. It used to haul vegetable from their farm in Taylor, AZ. His dad loved the album. That always is such a good feeling when you work on something for somebody else and they really look happy.

The rest of the day, I guess we will just try to hide inside from the heat. Usually we would go outside when the sun is going down and ride bikes or something, but since the kids have been sick I don't want them to do too much yet. We'll probably end up watching a Disney Channel movie. What would we do without those during the summer??

So that is the weekend. Nothing overly exciting, but nice. Please oooh and ahhhh over my clean scrap table. *wink*

ding ding ding! Round 2!

Last week Trevor was sick, and is still getting better. He is having a hard time kicking this virus that seems to be going around our house right now.

This is Matthew. One of 2 that are sick right now. Poor guy finally fell asleep about 15 minutes ago.

Last night Matthew came into our room around midnight. He was burning up and said that his tummy hurt. I went and got him some Tylenol and Gatorade, and went back to his bed with him. I was rubbing his tummy until he fell asleep.

A little bit later, Megan comes in and she is hot and saying that her tummy hurt too.

Oh boy.

So I wonder. Is this the same thing that Trevor had? He actually started out with pink eye and then the next day had the high fever. OR is this some wonderful crud that we picked up at the doctor's office last week? Ay yi yi.

I have to admit though, with two of them sick...it is really quiet around here today. Megan and Matthew have been watching TV, and I have been sitting with them on the couch. Except for awhile after I went to Target and brought them some 'sick day' goodies. Megan got a book, and the boys got small playdoh sets. Plus little cans of Sprite. Poor guys.

So that is what is going on in our house today. Wish me luck!

scrapping time!

Whew. I finally got several projects finished that were due for Devine Memories, plus an album that my mother in law asked me to put together for my father in law's birthday coming up. I finally got to do a little somthing for myself. I don't mind the challenge of having to do stuff for other people...I don't think I can ever get tired of scrapping! It is too much fun getting to play with paper and fun, fun stuff!

This page has roots from CKU last year. Every teacher who had an album track would come in and design a 8x8 page, then we were supposed to put them in an album and *tada* have a complete album with pages from each teacher.

The thing is, by the time everybody had come in and given us all of the supplies to do the pages, they didn't seem to all look good together. Not a big deal, some designers you like better than others. So I decided I was just going to take that time to relax for the first time the whole weekend (you CKU alumni know that is a rarity!! LOL!) then I just put all of the goodies aside.

This was somewhat from Heidi's class. Cute page that she did. All of the letters were on some sort of envalope so you could tuck reciepts in them. I don't save reciepts. Who needs the evidence laying around anyway! ;)

So still having my painted letters, and using scraps that were laying on my table tonight (plus one sheet of new Cactus Pink that I couldn't wait to use!) Lately I am ALL ABOUT getting rid of all of the stuff that I seem to have accumulated. Use it or pitch it, right? So I did this version instead. Just a fun one for the night because I felt like scrapping but wasn't up to a hard core page. This one is going in my album that is all about me. I'm doing it in 81/2 x 11 just for fun.

The journaling says: It isn't a secret. In fact, it is probably safe to say that most women love shopping. It must have something to do with our primitive selves that used to go out and gather. That is what I am doing. Gathering. Gathering stuff from Target, the mall, scrapbook stores, etc.

Even more fun than shopping in itself is the thrill of the hunt. Looking for those awesome little orange price tags at Target that only mean one thing - clearance. I stalk the end caps like a lioness hunting for prey. Mike teases me that half of our home is decorated with things that once came to the house with an orange tag on it. He's probably right. I admit it, I love to shop.

****

BTW, if I owe anybody an email or a phone call...I promise I haven't forgotten about you! Trevor was sick for awhile and then we have been catching up the past couple of days. :)

Later chicas! And nighty night!

little girls are funky

Megan had a friend over today. They were playing dress up with Megan's clothes.

This is what happens when your daughter watches too much Hanna Montana. Thanks again Disney Channel. I have a feeling this show is going to end up costing me a lot of money.

What happened to my little girl? At the beginning of summer you had to beg her to get dressed. She announced during the first week of summer that she was not going to brush her hair AT ALL because she hated to do it so much.

What happened? Now she won't stay away from the front of the mirror. She is constatly re-applying her Bonnie Bell strawberry lipgloss.....and pretty much if we go to the store....she dresses like this. Plus she saved up her allowance and what did she want to buy? Not Polly, but a purse! Which she now carries with her whenever we go out. It is hysterical. She IS a rock star.

Slow news day around here, can you tell? Ha ha!

Whoopie! Today was a good day!

And the whole day was topped off with THIS!
OK, I LOVE VWs. I have ever since I was little. I still remember being about 4 years old and my mom took me to Safeway in Palos Verdes, CA where we lived at the time. I got to pick out a toy. There was this little plastic orange and yellow VW beetle that probably cost 5 cents. I still have this thing today!!

Long story short, we went to this awful chinese restaurant for dinner. I wasn't even hungry, and couldn't eat after seeing a cooked shrimp on the floor by the restroom...complete with eyes. Barf.
So I just got super hungry and went to McDonald's to get something. I bought a happy meal thinking I was going to give the toy to one of the kids.

Uh uh. No way. This baby is MINE. Mine mine mine.

I got the VW bus!!!! I did take off his hippie stickers though. Now he sits on my computer desk. I may have to find my orange beetle to keep him company.

I still remember crying as I traded in my beautiful Passat for a minivan because Matthew was on his way. I loved the days when Mike and I had a two Volkswagen garage. Me and my Passat, and him and his Golf or Jetta.

Since VW doesn't make anything big enough for my family (without making kids sit next to each other...no way, not happening for my sanity's sake.) next year I plan on getting my beloved beetle. Just for Target runs and whenever I don't have all the kids.

Until then...I have my cute little VW bus from my happy meal. A HAPPY meal it was. ;)

w.o.n.d.e.r.f.u.l

Well, knowing my friends the way that I do (you all are a bunch of freaks! But I still love ya!) This little update will probably make you laugh and confirm any suspicions you had about me all along. ;)

I went to the doctor.

Yep...it is vertigo! But the best part...you want to know why? I have rocks loose in my head. Yep, that is the non technical diagnosis I got.

Apparently we all have rocks in our head. In the ear canal. These little rocks move when you do, and touch little hairs in there letting your brain know that you are moving so your equilibrium stays balanced, your legs and arms know what to do, etc. These rocks are attached in normal people. I have some sort of swelling that knocked the rocks loose and they are flipping around in my inner ear. Touching those little hairs and constantly telling my brain I am moving even when I'm not.

Why do I get these weird things? :p

Now I'm right up there with Maddy and the plastic bottle sound in her ear. Ha ha!

Hmmm. Vertigo. Who'da thunk??

OK, I have said before that part of my loving U2 so much is because ever since 1982 is that their music has always seemed to run parallel to things going on in my life. Every album, there was always at least a song or two that hit me. Lyrics that just were what was going on in my life at the time. This has always been a cool thing, and kind of makes up a soundtrack to my life. Can't beat that with the best bad ever now huh??? ;)

So...I haven't been around as much because I haven't really been feeling well for the past week. I couldn't explain it, but just all around yucky. Dizzy, always feeling like I was going to puke, not sleeping well, etc. I was about to make an appointment with the doctor again today. Trust me, the U2 similarity will come back in a minute.

I called my dad to see how he was feeling today. I told him how I have been feeling. He started to tell me that his mom, my aunt on his side, and him have VERTIGO??? Apparently it is an inner ear thing that he has been seen for. Vertigo? Sure enough, I looked it up on the net. It is exactly what I have been feeling. I am constantly dizzy, but it is more intense like I am moving or the room is moving when neither of us are. Especially the me part. Sometimes I would just get hit with this feeling that I was spinning, and would run into a wall going down the hallway. Hmmm.

So my dad told me to take a dramamine. I have SCADS (thanks Maddy!) of those left over from cruise days. After a couple, sure enough I felt better. I still need to go to a doctor though to have my ears checked.

But vertigo?? Hmmm. Why is it as crappy as IT makes me feel, I can't get the song out of my head now! Hello hello....I'm at a place called vertigo!!!

Now, of course, that song is stuck in my head, so I'm going to go listen to How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb.

Happy me!! Wooohooo!

Next mother's day, ask for these

Mike got some fancy shmancy headphones for his birthday. Some sort of pilot ones. He was showing me how they worked when we were standing out in the garage with my car engine on. I guess I would say they are like the Bose ones that a lot of frequent flyer people have, but this is like the super duper pilot version. (Like my technical talk?) It pretty much cuts out the engine noise, so if you were flying a plane you could hear other people talking to you through the headphones and microphones, but not the loud plane noise.

OK, so after a long day of hearing, "Mooooom....he hit me. Mooooooom I'm hungry. Moooooom we are out of toilet paper in the bathroom again....." you know the usual.

I try on these headphones, flip the little switch on them and the noise is gone. Mute. Quiet. Niiiiice.

I could see if my kids were fighting, but I don't have to listen to it. I'm just there in my own little quiet world.

So why don't they market these in the parent magazines??????????

***

Megan had some sort of huge growth spurt this past month. I just had bought her a few pair of shorts last month, and after trying on clothes in her room today, NONE of them fit. We have ONE denim skirt that fits perfectly right now, and I remember it was big when I bought it. Yikes. These kids grow too fast.

So we were out shopping tonight for some shorts. Fun stuff. I had so much fun with Megan. She is so fun right now, trying to be trendy, but not really knowing too much about it.

One of our stops was at Target. (surprised??) On our way back out to the car there was a bra on the ground. How does something like that happen?? I dont' think it was new. It was newer looking than mine...but that doesn't say too much. LOL. This was missing its tags if it was just purchased and fell out of a bag.

I don't know why, but I said, "Oh no somebody lost their bra." Megan started laughing so hard she was actually snorting. I love when kids think that undergarment humor is funny. She laughed about that bra all the way home, and it was the first thing she told mike when we got in the house.

So tonight she is in bed and I am talking to her. She hugs me and tells me that she had so much fun with me tonight. That she is lucky to have me as a mom. I actually think that *I* am the lucky one to have her as my little girl. It is times like this that I just love. I was telling my mom not too long ago that as moms you try to come up with all of these great things like trips to Disneyland in hopes of making some fun memories with your kids. But sometimes the little things that you don't even realize are a big deal end up being what you remember years from now.

Like my mom and I eating rice krispy treats right out of the pot one day. I remember we giggled and ate the whole thing. I mean the marshmallow was still HOT. But I doubt she knew at that moment, that THAT would be something I'll always remember about her for the rest of my life.

I know, for me anyway, that tonight will be one of those nights that I'll always remember spending with Megan. It was awesome.

Off to bed! Night night!

summertime blahs? Try D.I.

I know, a few posts ago I mentioned how this was going to be the best summer ever. Megan was going to be so busy, blah blah blah.

We have hit a brick wall. So many people have gone on vacation, or kids are signed up for summer camps. So after going through the class phone book, there aren't any little girls to come over and play. The kids have read every single book they own and it is too hot to go out and play during the day.

Which of course means the only form of entertainment for the kids is to watch Tv or fight with each other.

Time for some redirection.

I have had a box of stuff to take to DI. I thought we would go for a ride and take our donation stuff. At least then I am accomplishing something and don't have to trip everytime I go out into the garage.

A long time ago, we went inside the store and the kids found some books. So of course they think that they are always going to have a bunch of books to choose from. They really wanted to go inside. Oh heck, why not. It isn't like we have anything else to do.

So they were right after all. We ended up with several books! Magic Tree House books, and two Goosebumps books for 25cents each. Can't beat that...and now Megan and Trevor are upstairs reading.

They also have this huge bin that I call "Happy Meal Heaven." it is where all the lost and thrown out happy meal toys go when they get 'relocated' when moms just can't take the piles of them in your house anymore. It is their last chance of adoption before taking a trip to the big landfill. - The funny thing is, there are always adults digging through this bin instead of kids. Probably looking for some rare happy meal toy to sell on ebay.

Of course in the middle of this madness...Matthew (who of all people would) spots this little Percy train. Being such a good mom (ha ha!) I dive in between a few collector type guys and get the train for my son. 10 cents. He has been playing with it for hours now, and he'll sleep with it tonight for sure. Priceless. (And yes, Percy has already had a bath in the sink.)

I also found a couple pair of Land's End shorts for Trevor. $3 each. Can't beat that.

So, our little trip has earned me a few hours of peace and quiet, and happy children. Yay for DI!

scrappin' tonight

I got a chance to do a little scrapping tonight. Mike is upstairs playing with some new electronic thingie that he got for his birthday. (Thank you mom and dad!) So I have some quiet time.

This is a photo taken by the FABULOUS Michelle from the other morning. It was a bit of an impromptu photo shoot. - How she got all three of my kids to sit still, smile and look basically in the same direction is a miracle in itself. All without bribing with candy!! Thanks again M!

Super simple page. You can't get any easier than making more than half of the page a big photo! The quote was on the cover of CK, and I have had it on a sticky note by my computer just waiting for the right layout to use it on. It says:

Because of you I try harder, forgive sooner
give further, live simpler, thank easier,
hope longer, love deeper, laugh louder.

***

I hope everybody had a great weekend! I have no idea where this one went. Saturday was Mike's birthday, and today was Father's Day.

My poor dad is really sick today too. I called him and he had spent some time the other night in urgent care. Urgent cracks me up....my experience with them isn't always that 'urgent' so I hope that he had better luck getting in. It sounds like he has the crud that Beth's family just went through. Some sort of awful virus that has a very high fever along with it. So my dad isn't having one of the best days ever. Happy Father's day dad...and we will have a celebratory lunch very soon! Love you!

Night all! :)

BOOYA!

OK guys, don't laugh at me....but yes, I am a geek. (ha, like that was a big secret!) Anyway, there is a secret side to me. A side that has, yes, lurked at some of the Kim Possible boards for the past year since the show was supposed to come to an end.

I admit it. I am shamefully a KP addict. That poster I bought for Megan's room? Yeah... that was for me, but she gets to keep it on her wall. ;)

You know you have it bad when you actually sit down to watch an episode of Lilo and Stitch with the kids because KP made a 'guest appearance' on it. Hey, it was quality time with the kids no matter how you look at it!

Anyway... good news for me. (err...I mean us, since ya know, it is for the kids too.) I found this on one of the boards that I have been watching. Hoping to hear this:



Walt Disney Co. announced that it will produce a fourth season of its animated series Kim Possible, following a passionate campaign by viewers to reverse a long-standing company policy that limits the lifespan of an animated property to 65 episodes, or three seasons.The “Save Kim Possible” movement, which included petitions to former Disney chairman and CEO Michael Eisner and an online write-in campaign, may have been enough to have helped nudge the Mouse to decide to re-up the series for another 22 new episodes.

summer visitor

This is Mickey the hamster. She is from Megan's classroom last year. She came to stay with us one weekend before school was over.

Megan's teacher asked if we would like to take Mickey for a week during the summer, and then if somebody else wanted her....we just switched houses all summer.

Alas...nobody has called about wanting to open their house to poor Mickey. Which, shhh, don't tell....is totally fine with us!

She is so cool. I had hamsters when I was growing up. I loved them! This little girl is one of the most social ones I have ever seen. She is awake most of the day, and ended up living in the desk area near our kitchen because she likes it when people are around.

Even Mike, who started out calling her a nasty rodent has gotten to where he is the only one allowed to give her the little yogurt chips that she likes for treats. He likes her now. :)

I'm going to miss this little thing when school starts again. Yep, I'm officially attached! :) So that is the story about Mickey. I thought she was worthy of a blog entry since she is so cute!!

Plus things are terribly boring around here right now. LOL!

Is summer over yet?

Strike a pose!

I'm just getting in! What a fun night!

Mike was out of town again last night, and I wasn't planning on seeing him until late tonight. I figured it was another night by myself with the kids.

He called this afternoon and said that he was able to come home early and we were going out. He even got a sitter for the kids. He wouldn't tell me where we were going either. Hmmm. So I had NO CLUE.

Anyway....so I just got back from seeing MADONNA!

How cool is that?

I love pottery barn!

One more for the night! I have been hanging on to this Pottery Barn tag that came from my quilt forever!

I was joking with Lisa tonight that the only way I get organized in my scrap area anymore, is to just use whatever is on the top of the table. Like this tag. (and look! I made my bed! LOL! - Actually because I do love my quilt, I am happy to make my bed everyday! It makes me wish Pottery Barn made toilets. That is one job I LOATHE doing.)

So here it is... my love for all things Pottery Barn.

Journaling says: "I LOVE Pottery Barn. I always envisioned my house looking like the inside of one of the catalogs...simple, straight lines and clean looking. LOVE it!

I tear out pages and save them for future reference, and now that I am in a house that is ALL MINE, I am going to put all of those loose pages to good use. I have a couple pieces from there, but my favorite is a red Sabrina quilt that is on my bed. It just makes me happy when I walk into my room and see it!"

I'm putting this in my All About Me album, which is 8 1/2 x 11. It has been a fun size to work with lately!

happiness

Rain

Well, yes...normally I would be THRILLED that we were finally getting some rain.

But...all you Arizona gals can thank ME for this wonderful weather right now.

Why you ask?

Because I got my windows cleaned today.

Yep, there ya go. Murphy's law.

On the bright side.... the kids are happily watching something since we can 't go outside right now and I am scrapping!

Stay tuned...a new layout posting tonight! Ta da!

Temple Square

Random

I was at Devine Memories yesterday to pick up adhesive. Which of course turned into picking up some other goodies. ;)

They had these cool letters from Making Memories. They are big, like the wood ones from Pottery Barn, but these are made on a really heavy white chipboard. Perfect for altering or covering with paper. Plus they were only 99 cents each! I didn't buy any, since I couldn't really think of a word that I would like to spell in my scraproom.

I was thinking of the more popular words that people use in their scraprooms like:

CREATE

ART

SCRAPBOOK

HOPE

INSPIRE

etc.

As cool as any of those would be....they just arent' really me. So I was thinking...what word is 'me.'

You know, I started to think of words and one that I like just how it looks when it is spelled, how it sounds and rolls out of your mouth because it is 'fun' to say is RANDOM. How would that look as an inspirational word sprawled across the wall in my scrapbook room? Plus it seems to define how things are in life right now. Random. It also isn't a word that means things are particularly good, or bad....just random.

I know...the hot summer sun must really be getting to me for me to put so much thought into something like this. And I'm sure any of you who are reading this are hanging on my every word because this is so exciting. ;)

Try this one: drawer. Now that is one funny word too. Fun to say, fun to spell. Drawer.

Yeah, I promise a more exciting update soon. Hee hee!

It should have had DISASTER written all over it.

OK, Trevor has been asking if we can go to the Rainforest Cafe this summer for months. Like he can't say that he had a good summer vacation if we didn't go there, right?

Today it worked out that Mike was home after an early flight, and had to take some tickets into downtown Phoenix. So he took us all out to lunch with him before taking care of the tickets.

I'll preface this by saying that we have been to the Rainforest Cafe before so the kids knew what to expect. Even Matthew was totally excited about going.

As we are being seated, the hostess is telling us the usual blah blah blah...and then all I heard was, "And the lightning and rain start every 8 minutes." I didn't think anything about it. My kids loooove this place!

We sit down, order drinks, commit to eating there, and Matthew freaks out. Poor guy spends the entire meal with his hands over his ears and yelling, "I want peace and quiet! I want peace and quiet!" (I wonder where he got that from? Ha ha!) I even had to feed him because he wouldn't take his hands off of his ears to pick up food. Poor guy. He was actually scared to death, but even a trip out to the gift shop didn't help as soon as the talking tree started up. He started screaming again. Grrr.

The thing that just struck me as funny after we sat down again, was that I would just get him calm and tears wiped away from his face, and the stupid lightning would start up again. I just started laughing. Mike asked me what was so funny since I was so frustrated and couldn't eat my own food....but my thoughts went back to what the hostess said.

"The lightning and rain start again every 8 minutes."

Lightning.

Rain.

and Matthew.

Bored???

Uh oh. I got my first one of the summer today. The first whiney.... Moooom, I'm bored."

Wonderful. We are what... 5 days into summer vacation already, technically two for Megan since she is the one who went for an overnight at the waterpark for two days after school. Then a busy weekend. Hmmm. This is looking to be an awful long summer then.

It didn't take her long to find something to do. Actually she started helping me with some laundry and putting things away. It is amazing when you throw the word 'allowance' around.

Any other mom's getting the 'I'm bored' yet?

Growing at the speed of LIFE.

Sunday.

Happy Sunday. Finally a super quiet one around here. I just got all of the stuff done that I have been wanting to accomplish. Including cleaning up my scrap area. I have been scrapping a lot lately, but not cleaning up afterwards. It is a pretty bad habit that I have. ;)

Finally some time to sit down on the computer. Although not much going on anywhere. I haven't been to 2Peas in awhile since life just got busy, but I noticed some of the new changes tonight. It will take some time to get used to I suppose. I noticed that the gallery was very small tonight. (Around 11 pages!) I hope it is just because it is a holiday weekend. But I did see a page by Lisa in there!

Off to go finish watching the Suns game with my kids. For some reason they are really into watching the playoffs this season. Ha, maybe it is the popcorn and a reason to eat it on the couch.

Hopefully tomorrow will be more exciting. ;)

waterlogged

Wow! The past couple of days were a total BLAST! You Phoenix girls...I have to suggest you take a few days vacation at The Point South Mountain. We are going to go again in a couple of months. The room rates during the weekdays are cheap, and you can spend all day at the waterpark for what it would cost you to get your family into the other water parks here. Plus you have a place to crash.

Megan and her friends had so much fun. We really didn't see too much of the girls because they were always off doing their own thing. Mike and I had a great time by ourselves. We hung out with the girls and the moms that put this whole event together when we first got there. We played in the pool for a long time. Then it was time for the girls to all go get cleaned up and ready for their dinner. (12 girls and 3 moms in adjoining rooms.) They all got cleaned up, and one of the moms poofed up all of the girl's hair for dinner. They went to Rustler's Roost for dinner, where their teacher showed up! (It was planned, but the girls didn't know.)

Mike and I ducked out after the pool and had dinner by ourselves at Aunt Chilada's. Yum. Then we went out and did a little shopping, and came back to the room to go to bed.

Today we all went to the water park as soon as it opened. Megan and some of her friends went down the huge 100 foot slide with Mike. All of these girls really liked Mike, it was funny how they would follow him around all yelling, "Megan's dad! Megan's dad!"

We floated around the lazy river at least 100 times. That thing is awesome. - Part of me really wished that I would have brought the camera with me to take pictures of all of this fun, but I have to admit that it was somewhat liberating to be able to just HAVE the fun without having to worry about getting pictures. I'm sure some of you understand that one! Usually I am the designated photographer.

So here we are, at home. A bit waterlogged and burned. But what fun. I definitely plan on going back sometime in July with the boys. They will love it too!

Kindergarten graduate

Look at this kid. Today was his last day of kindergarten. I know that we are all amazed at how quickly our kids grow, but I saw this photo that I took of him today and I was just stunned.

It seems like yesterday that I dropped him off on his first day of kindergarten. The backpack seemed bigger than he was. He didn't know how to read or write yet. And he didn't look this grown up.

Now he can write, and he loves to read Magic Treehouse books. Chapter books! I mean, he reads more than I do!! It is amazing what a child can learn in one year. Absolutely amazing.

I can't tell you how proud I am of this kid.

Next year....first grade!

Boys live here.

OK seriously. How does something like this happen? Nevermind, I don't think I want to really know.

I'm just shaking my head.

Some things are just better off when you don't know a thing about it.

Tonight was a busy night. Mike is out of town, all three kids are clean, in bed, the house is picked up....and I am ready for some computer time. This bathroom is right off of my scraproom where my computer is at. I walk around the corner and for some reason out of the corner of my eye I see something kind of 'growing' out of the toilet, along with that little faint noise of tiny sud bubbles popping. I back up. This is what I see. Hmmm.

Not much else to say....but I thought this was kind of funny. Hey, at least it is soap. My bathroom smells like a lavendar field, and I'm trying NOT to think that one of the boys was actually playing in that water. I'll find out who the culprit is tomorrow morning.

BEST SUMMER evah!

"Parenting. It is hard. But when you have a good day you think you just might be catching on."

I can't remember what movie that is from, but for some reason it is stuck in my mind. I think of that quote all the time.

Especially today. With the end of another school year coming to a close, and one where we had some drastic changes moving the kids during the middle of the school year.... I know that we did something right. Without a doubt.

Have you ever just been SO happy for your child that you almost think you are more excited then they are? That you are so happy and so proud it feels like your heart is going to leap out of your chest??

What a difference this next summer is going to be. See, the reason for moving Megan to a new school was because she was going to a school far from our neighborhood. She had friends at school, but then when she came home or during summer vacations, she didn't have any friends from the neighborhood. She was always asking me why she never got invited over to anybody's houses to play.

This summer is going to be so freakin' AWESOME! Today she was invited over to a friend's house to go swimming and play. She was there for five hours!! She had a total blast. THEN we got a call from another friend from her classroom...

the mom put together a party for her daughter which includes going to a local hotel that has a water park. The girls will get to swim all day, and then they are going out for dinner that night! Then a slumber party in a big room at the hotel. (Same room we all hung out in in November - girls!) So they will get to watch movies and have fun. It is a small group, but I am just totally GIDDY with excitement for Megan! What a difference from last summer. She is so happy, and feels so good about herself. And she feels like a normal 8 year old. (Well, 7 and a half.) ;) You know how important those half years are when you are a kid.

Mike and I are going to have another room, which some of the other parents are doing too. So we will be close by, yet able to have an overnight for ourselves. Yay!

Plus there are already a couple of summer birthdays that she has been invited to. This is going to be the best summer for her so far. It makes me so happy. :)

Just for Laura... ;)

Well pfhoo. Laura said she wouldn't come back to my blog until I stopped talking about reality TV. So I'll go with my next favorite thing. My new obsession....

Orange creamsicles!

Whhhhy have I gone so long without one of these? I seriously think the last time I ate one was about 15 years ago. Mike brought some home from the store last night after Trevor talked him into some. OH * MY * GOSH is it bad that I have eaten THREE within the past half hour?

I knew I sunk to an all time low when I finished Matthew's after he announced that he was done with his. Yeah, the stick was sticky from a toddler who doesn't know the fine art of popsicle or ice cream eating (You have to lick fast! He kind of carries them around like they will last forever) But he left the BEST PART! So, technically, I have had 3 1/4 orangesicles today.

I'm not very proud of myself.

YEEEEESSSSS!

All is right in the world! BJ and Tyler!! Woohooooo! My faith is restored in reality TV!

Now I can go to bed with a smile.

Heeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Amazing Race

I got myself hooked on another reality TV show. The Amazing Race. What a cool show!!!

Although my other favorite shows have ticked me off this week. Survivor and American Idol. Aras???? What was Danielle thinking??? Terry was totally robbed. He is still the ultimate Survivor to me, and at least he got a cool truck out of the game.

American Idol. *sigh* what can I even say about that. Chris went home last week. It just isn't the same without him.

So I am waiting in anticipation for the finale to the Amazing Race tonight....but I am seriously stressing out that my team isn't going to win. Trevor and I are crossing our fingers for BJ and Tyler. GO GUYS!!!! They are so funny. Yeah, kind of annoying at times, but they have been so fun to watch throughout the show. I love that they are always nice to the local people in whatever country they are in, and they really seem to be enjoying life. They always seem to stop and take something in from each place they visit. It doesn't seem like it has just been a 'race' to them.

So GO BJ and Tyler. Don't let me down. I swear, if they don't win I am OFF of reality TV forever!! (ok, maybe not forever....) at least until next season. ;)

Thankful

You know, I don't know what is worse....my scanner or trying to take a photo of my pages. This one isn't as wonkey and dull in real life.

I love it though, when inspiration hits in the middle of the day. I put off some housework and sat down and did this today while the boys were playing.

I consider this one of my mother's day presents because I asked my kids if all three of them would let me get a picture of them together, which is no easy feat. Granted, Trevor is kind of off on the side, and isn't really smiling, but getting one of Matthew not looking up at the sky is HARD. So, I think this is a pretty good picture of the three of them. (Megan could use a haircut too, poor thing)

The BEST is, I used ALL scraps! Woohoo! I love when that happens. The journaling is similar to something I saw in an issue of CK. I wish I knew who originally did it, but I usually tear my issues apart when the next issue comes in the mail. Bad habit.

Well now I feel better that I got a page done for myself today, and it is time to get back to the classroom scrapbook that I am working on for Megan's class.

AZ gals...do you notice something in the sky right now???? It looks monsoon-ish out there!! I'm keeping my fingers crossed. If it does rain, you can bet I'll be out playing right along side the kids in the rain! *come on rain. Come on rain.*

Megan page

For Lisa's viewing pleasure.

This page was actually so fun to make, I scraplifted myself with one of Megan's toddler pictures. It was so strange to see the two pages together and see how much she has grown. My baby girl is almost 8!!!!

I'm hoping to scrap a little tonight and do the CZ page 91 challenge. :)

Mother's day with Thomas

This is what a three year old in total childhood bliss looks like. Matthew had the GREATEST time seeing Thomas this weekend. He absolutely loved the train ride. It was short ride through the forest, but he was telling me how we were going through Henry's forest in the books, complete with a tunnel that we went through. He must really believe the Thomas stories because he knew that was the tunnel that Henry got stuck in with an elephant. There was a ditch next to the tracks that was where Gordon fell into the mud, and he just knew the extra passenger cars on a siding were Gordon's express coaches. It made me so happy to see him and his imagination going wild. This guy truly believed that we had driven to Sodor.

Trevor was funny. He was trying to be so cool the whole drive up, telling us that he was too big to think that Thomas was cool. When he first saw him (in the first picture) we got stopped as Thomas was rolling across the intersection....Trevor started yelling, "THERE HE IS!!" You would have thought Thomas was a rock star. It was cool as the crossing arms came down and were dinging, and Thomas' whistles were going, "peep peep!"

We spent all day up in Williams. The weather was perfect, and probably because it was Mother's day, the crowd was pretty small. So we were really able to enjoy all of the other attractions that they had going on. I got a ton of photos, and honestly this was one of the best mother's days ever. Nothing beats seeing how happy the kids were.

I hope that you all had a great day too!

Happy mother's day!

Happy Mother's Day to all of my mom friends!!

We are headed out for the weekend to take the kids to see Thomas up in Williams. Matthew is totally beside himself. This is the 3 year old boy equivalent to me getting to hang out with Edge and Bono for the day! ;) I seriously can't wait to see the look on his face when we get there. Those of you who know him, know that he has a 'little' obsession with Thomas. Ha ha!

I'll post some pictures when we get back.

Love you all and happy mother's day!!!

Happy Friday night!

So I'm driving home from Target tonight.....with our new Disney Move It CD. Trevor is in the backseat totally hip hopping out with his popcorn combo, and I'm thinking to myself: "You finally get to a point in life where you can get the car with the killer stereo system, and what are you using it for??? Kim Possible, and other assorted Radio Disney CD's.

It was totally worth it though. At the moment there are a couple of little girls from Megan's class over. They are all out in the family room dancing to this CD, doing the cha cha slide. Matthew is running around all of them yelling C&C Music Factory's "Everybody Dance Now!" He doesn't realize that song was over a few songs ago. An Elementary school rave is going on out there. It really is hysterical. This is a glimpse of things to come. A house full of giggly girls and brothers who are totally trying to crash the party.

And for you Maddy, I forgot to tell you that they had the second grade program the other night. You won't believe this, but the song they got to dance to was this funny choreographed dance to Dancing Queen!!!! They even all got a standing ovation. The girls had crowns on and their hair all in updos. They were dancing around the boys. It was funny. Totally Maddy. I can't help but wonder if it is a program that Maddy put together for her class when she was teaching, and somehow it is still making the elementary school rounds. I'll have to check out that fine print on the program. ;)

Wish me luck. I'm going back out there. I can't have Mike out there by himself for long. We are double teaming kids tonight.

Rotten boys!

Hmmm. This looks absolutely terrible in this scan. :p The colors are kind of weird.

Actually the paper is embossed and the letters are fuzzy, so there is a lot of cool texture on the page.

But I can't fight it anymore. My style is simple and linear. I try to do something different, but this is what I always end up with. But then again, how fancy can you get when you are telling a story about two boys and a bathroom full of water?

Here is the journaling: " - And now I remember why I prefer that you boys take showers. After a little begging to take a bath, I caved and filled up the tub instead of getting the shower ready for you two. WITH one promise. No splashing, no standing up and jumping to a sit down position so the water swooshes out of the bathtub. In unison these cute boys both said, "Yes mommy, we promise."

I was in your room putting new sheets on the beds. I could hear you both laughing. Apparently I couldn't hear the splashing! I was gone for 10 minutes at the very most...peek around the corner and there was water everywhere! I grabbed my camera that was sitting on the side table and looked around the corner to catch you both in the act. It was suddenly quiet, and THIS is the photo I got. I think you both knew that you were in trouble. ;) "

what makes me happy

I just got home after a trip out to Scrapbook Barn and Scrapbooks Etc. I absolutely LOVE shopping for scrapbook stuff.

The thing is, I just spent most of last week reorganizing all of my stuff and getting rid of a lot of stuff that I knew I wouldn't use.

So today, since I am such a slacker, I had to go out and get some stuff for a card swap. I found stuff for the cards, but of course I ended up with even more cute junk to bring home.

Like this in the photo. It was calling my name. I love tabs, I love tins, and here they are in one adorable little package!!!! Look at all of those! They come in so many different patterned papers, and there are even tags with letters on them in there. Did I need this? No, maybe....who knows. But dang, I am giddy with joy!

Among my booty is some new cardstock, patterned papers, rub ons....and these AWESOME new Chatterbox rub ons called Grafik rub ons. They have swirls, dots and cool things. *sigh* I am in heaven.

Now I need to go work on those cards that were due.... uh..... last week.

Top Gun

Guess who completed their first solo this past weekend??

I'm proud of you Mike!

summer

Well, maybe not according to the school calendar or official word from the weatherman, but around here the beginning of summer is marked by the boys wanting popsicles.

They have always loved to have picnics on top of the playset, but I thought they looked cute sitting up there eating their popsicles. Matthew has finally gotten bigger and able to eat the whole thing without making a mess. (Much happiness from mom.) Last year he would always be a drippy mess.

It is hard to believe that there are only a few weeks of school left this year. Wow, it went by fast!

akeela and the bee

Thank you to my good friend June and her daughter Chelsea!! I knew they would be my Starbuck's hook up!

That cool bright green thing is from a set of cool coasters from Starbuck's. They are so cool and come with a bunch of long, weird words. I guess it is a promotion for a movie coming out called "Akeela and the bee."

I had these photos of Mike and his car for another project, but when I saw the word on this particular coaster I knew it deserved a whole page instead. It all started with the word:

meticulosity. noun. 1. extreme care and precision 2. attention to detail.

Journaling says: " Mike has loved cars since before I knew him. In fact, it was because of a car that we first met. Me with a '65 Mustang, and him with a '64 1/2 Mustang. I parked next to him on our first day of our senior year in high school. I always thought it was funny how that car that originally gave us a reason to talk to each other, ended up being sold by the time he finally asked me out on our first date. It was a sign of things to come...Mike doesn't hold on to cars for very long.

The current baby - a 2006 Audi A3, 2.0T. Mike spends so much time in his car because of his work, I am glad that he has something that he really enjoys. (And I have to admit...fun to drive too!) "

I am so torn.

Ugh. I am so torn. I knew this day would come. Megan came home from school today and asked me about the Easter Bunny. I asked her what she thought, and what kids at school were saying. She said that kids at school were saying that it is really your parents. :( But then she quickly added that she still knew that Santa Claus was real because she saw his footprints coming out from the chimney this year.

So right now I am really torn as to whether or not I should be honest and tell her. Or she could know in her heart already and just not want to let me know it yet. My only concern about not telling her is that I don't want kids to laugh at her when she goes back to school on Monday. But then again, I love the innocence that she still enjoys because of believing. She is the kind of girl that would believe until she had children of her own.

I need to think about this awhile and see how things go the next couple of days. No matter what, if we had7 years of the magic, I would never trade the surpirised looks of pure joy that I enjoyed so much, for anything.

Wow, I've been MIA for awhile.

I have been going through a dry spell with everything lately. Just not feeling too good in general, and even scrapping hasn't been fun for me. I finally did this page the other night. Lisa wanted to see it. Nothing spectacular....but done. And Maddy! Look! One last remaining piece of the beloved blue KI with big loopy flowers!!

Sorry these always scan so bad and are hard to read.... but the journaling says: "You have learned so much in kindergarten this year! My favorite, is watching you read. I caught you on top of the play set this day. you looked so cute, totally absorbed in a book and ignoring everything else around you. You've been doing this a lot more lately. You pile yourself up with books, get comfortable and then just read to your heart's content. Your little finger sometimes follows along with the words, and sometimes I hear you as you try to work through a particularly hard word. You always seem to work it out on your own because you are so smart. I am so proud of you!!!"

*****

So pretty much the only news here is that Mike started flight school. He goes to the Regional Airline Academy at Williams/Gateway. It is the big first step for when he has a career change coming up in January of next year. He is going to be a pilot. I'm proud of him. He has talked about flying since we were dating.

I'll have to post a picture of him with his uniform on. I know he is flying tomorrow, so I'll ask him to get a picture.

So it has been an adjustment on all of us since he started this. I have been so spoiled with his present job, where he was able to do some work out of the house, and was always very flexible if he was out visiting clients. It won't take us long to get the hang of things, and it will all be worth it.

Other than that....everybody is doing well! :)

Mmmmm

I didn't think it was possible for them to get any better. Reese's peanut butter eggs. I always eagerly anticipated Easter because of these. Something about the peanut butter to chocolate ratio, is so much better than a regular peanut butter cup. (Although I am not dissing those either!)

Today at Target I found a package of Reese's peanut butter eggs in WHITE CHOCOLATE! Oh my gosh....pure heaven.

My little guy Matthew is allergic to peanuts, and he is at school right now. So I am enjoying eating one of these with nobody to have to keep them from. Then I'll have to go upstairs, wash my hands, brush my teeth and do the whole surgical cleanup so there is no trace of peanut butter on me. Kind of sad.

But for the moment, I am loving life. Dang, these are good.