condensed soup.

supplies: number brushes KD Brush Bucket; scalloped border KD Fancy Borders no. 1; ledger paper KD Spring10 Kit; white cardstock KD embossed cardstock kit; other dotted paper by Katie Pertiet, clip by ehernandez 2Ps.

I was so inspired by Anilu's use of the number brushes I thought I would use them on another page. I love how she used the solid brush and the outline. It's always interesting to see other artist's ideas on how to use the same products. Digital elements especially since you can re-size and recolor. This brush kit is by far one of my favorites!

Conversation overheard while writing the supplies....Trevor and Matthew are playing with Lego clone troopers. Matthew has one he named Bob. Poor Bob. Bob is always the clone getting in trouble. So Trevor names his George. I hear him introducing his clone to Matthew's clone. George CLONEy. Get it? Like George Clooney?? Gotta love that kid. That made me laugh.

Onto other news. Guess who is a workin' girl. Well....working as in having a job with an hourly wage. I still consider being a stay at home mom a pretty BIG job. However..... I got a call today after interviewing twice this week that I am an employee of .....ta da....

After catching up on a few things, I can pretty much guarantee that I will be trading paychecks directly for merchandise. LOL. I really should have found a nice auto parts store or someplace where it's not as tempting to use that employee discount! Momma needs shoes and purses. Housewares, linens, kids clothes, shoes, man shoes, man clothing, small electronics....it may be dangerous. ;) I tell you though, the process of interviews, background checks and all that has changed a lot since I was working before having children. It hit me that WOW more than a decade has gone by that I have been at home raising kids. Talk about smacking you right upside the head about how fast time has gone by.

Thursday

Supplies: Word art and numbers KD Brush Bucket no. 1; KD Embossed Cardstock clay (slightly recolored) and white; KD Fancy Borders no. 4; heart stamp - KD Say It With Love kit.

Oooo. I love numbers. When I got an email from Karla this past week with the new brush set I was thrilled!! I know I will be using these quite a bit. I already have another page in my gallery on the blog. Check out the CT blog to see what others did with them too.

******

This week has FLOWN by. I can't believe it is already Thursday. The sad thing is, because of March Madness, no Survivor to look forward to tonight. :( - I live and breathe Survivor.

Yesterday we went to the park near the house. There are great hills that the kids love to ride their Razors down. It's funny watching them, and I can't help but cringe knowing there is no way I could do it. Trevor didn't' have such a good time this time. He fell off of his and got one of those painful road rash wound on one of his arms. It looks like he fought a cheese grater. I know how much those things hurt. Those are the ones that you can't even breathe on or they sting. There were huge tears but he was trying pretty hard to shake it off.

We were trying to make him laugh while we walked home so he wouldn't be thinking about it too much. Mike told him, "You know what we call that with airplanes? A wheels up landing." It made Trevor laugh. He has the funniest laugh when he's trying not to. I have a feeling that will turn into one of those family jokes next time they are flying down the hills...."Wheels down! Wheels down!"

Wooohoooo!

I had to keep it quiet for a few days last week.... but see that cool little widget over there?? --->


I took a chance a couple of weeks ago and submitted some pages to one of my FAVORITE digital designers Karla Dudley, who was putting together a creative team and blog. She designs the most amazing digital scrapbooking products for the digichick, along with her beautiful artwork AND just finding out that she will be designing for the Silhouette!! I can't tell you how excited (and a little bit nervous! OMGOSH!) to be a part of this team of super talented women!


So there will definitely be more scrapbooking related posts on here as well.....I have a ton of motivation!


The link on the widget is to her personal blog right now but she is working on a creative team blog as well, where you'll be able to see the work of each artist. It is going to be amazing!


******



On a side note, there are more signs of Spring around here. This past week has been beautiful weather wise. We've spent a lot of time outdoors and enjoying the sun. - and NO snow! - However, this weekend has been cold and rainy again. LOL, just when I had planned on going out and getting a new crop of photos to work with!!!


There are some mystery leaves popping up from the bed in the front of our house. I love bulb flowers, but don't know a thing about them. So I was so happy and surprised to see these breaking through the mulch this week. I'm watching them to see what they turn into!


Happy weekend!

feeling nostalgic

*not my photo. Taken from a yahoo image search....since I can't find any orange blossoms around here to get a photo of! LOL!*

This past week I have been feeling nostalgic. It could be really really craving Mexican food, or the goodie box my mom sent that had See's candy in it, seeing the Cincinnati Reds on TV playing at a field in Goodyear with AZ sun and fans in shorts and tshirts already, or even maybe watching Policewomen of Maricopa County on TLC. (Yes, more reality TV. Don't judge me!) and recognizing the overhead shots of Phoenix or seeing the 101, etc and places I've been through a million times.

I mentioned this to my friend Lisa, who was talking about the rain that Phoenix had the other day. Oh that smell of the desert after a rain. It is almost tangible. It is a good smell. Then she was saying that the orange blossoms would be in bloom soon and that I'd REALLY be jealous then! (Enjoy that week of Spring Lisa because you know summer hits you in about two more! Haha! So there!) (I'm allowed to joke...I grew up there. 20 + years.)

I was telling her how the smell of orange blossoms brought back a FLOOD of memories. I remember when I was a kid and we lived in Ahwatukee. It used to be out in the middle of nowhere and we had to drive to Tempe to go grocery shopping. (Smitty's! That is a whole other post of memories and smells!) The best thing about it was that I can remember so many nights of driving (well...my mom was driving until I was old enough to myself) down Elliot or Warner road, 2 lanes, not a lot of streetlights....and driving by all of the groves of orange trees. I would stick my arm out the window and surf the air with my hand, almost to cup the smell of the orange blossoms in it to take home with me. That smell makes me feel like a kid again.



I loved that even during the hot summers, no matter how hot the day was if you were on those same roads coming back from a swim meet or something, as you passed all of the cotton or corn fields the temperature would drop to where it was almost chilly while you passed them. This sounds like we lived in the boonies, which we really didn't....but at the time there was still a lot of farm land around. I always enjoyed that. Which is probably part of my obsession with the farms here.


Anyway.....I just wanted to get this down while I was thinking of it. A good memory of growing up.

It's there. Little bitty signs of Spring. I dropped off the boys at school the other day and thought it was interesting how the - what was feet of snow that had been pushed to the side of the road only a little over a week ago - was now a little reminder of *hopefully* a season past. March can go either way here. I remember three years ago when Mike was here before we moved and it had snowed in March. But little signs are showing.... like the nursery by my old house is open again and has flats of flowers and new potted trees everywhere again. The grass already has turned a bit brighter green and you can see some new growth. I'm patiently waiting to see the signs on the trees. Trees are smart. Seasons changing don't fool them....they know when it's time.

It's good to see blue sky again, and to start seeing people spending more time outside or walking slower across parking lots enjoying the sun. Which has been hiding for the past couple of weeks.

I'm shocked at how fast this past week has gone. First of all..... believe it or not it is the first full week of school that all three of the kids have had in their new schools. We had so many snow days, or doctor/dentist appointments or tummy aches that somebody was always missing a few days. What a funky milestone to finally have a full week.

You know when your blog has turned into nothing but talking about the weather that things are pretty dull. haha.

Happy weekend!

weekend concert

I still find Matthew's Lego scenarios in weird places. Today this was on the kitchen table. I asked him what it was....it's a rock concert. You can't really see in the pictures, but I love how the guitar guy is leaning back and has one leg in the air. It cracks me up. And that drum set rocks.

If you click on the photo below you can see that he even made little drumsticks. The guy standing behind the white wall is selling tickets.

From left to right - Lego Megan, young Anakin Skywalker, me, Lego Mike, Luke Skywalker and Obi Wan. Lego Mike has been around forever. He has a pilot uniform and glasses. You never know where he shows up. I have pictures of him sitting on the dash in our Mazda. Sometimes he sits on a magnetic brick on the refrigerator holding a Lego mug or flowers, and not long ago I found him on his head doing a breakdance move. Complete with mug and some scattered Lego coins. I should take more pictures of where we find Lego Mike. It is pretty funny to find him doing random things.

The funniest thing is, I love that Lego Mike is standing on the wall with his arms in the air. It must be some song that inspired him to jump up on the barrier. LOL.

Boys are so funny. Today Mike and I went to Kroger to pick up a few things. We were joking about not having the boys with us and hearing, "Can I go look at the Legos?" We peeked down the aisle when we walked by and sure enough there was another boy standing there with his hands in his pockets staring upwards towards all of the Lego boxes. The universal language of Lego. I have to admit, I still love playing with them too.

A bit of my scenic commute

***click on photos to enlarge
In the morning when I take my boys to school (which is about 15 minutes away) I realized that the drive is like morning yoga and a great cup of coffee. It's relaxing, and invigorating. It's our time to talk about what is expected of the day in school and I like having the time with the boys before dropping them off.

I also just love the scenery of the drive. There are several huge horse farms that I pass. They look like perfect playgrounds to me with miles and miles of hills and black fences, and barns that just make me swoon.

So today I had my camera with me and stopped to take a couple of photos on my way back home. I think I'll take more when traffic allows. There's really not a lot of traffic, but it figures at some point when there is something I'd love to slow down and take a picture of, there is somebody behind me.


That yellow house. I don't know exactly why, but I love it. Maybe it's the contrast with the snow....which is the only way I've seen it so far. I'm looking forward to seeing it when the grass and trees turn green again. But I come around a corner and that house pops out at me each time.

There is also a place where every single morning I see these winter fuzzy horses out eating from a huge bale of hay. This morning though....we had an hour delay for school due to some icy rain and snow overnight. (Yay for the extra hour of sleep!) But also because I guess the horses were done with breakfast by the time I was coming back from school this time. I stopped to get a picture of them. They were pretty curious that somebody had stopped. Horses crack me up like that. Like, "Hey....what's up?" Maybe it breaks up the monotony of their day. LOL.

I gave them each some attention and enjoyed the feeling of hot horse breath from their noses on cold bare hands. (Something only a horsey person could appreciate!)

OK snow, I like you, but move along now.

Spring. I'm ready for Spring. Not that I'm not enjoying winter anymore but it is getting a little long at this point. I think mainly because today was a taste of what is to come. It was in the 40s and the sky was beautiful. The snow on the ground was blinding. It's funny how after a couple of weeks of close to zero temperatures, that a 40 degree day is worthy of a tshirt and feels warm.

We even grilled out some steaks last night and hamburgers tonight. Plus had the car washed. I came out of Kroger earlier and didn't remember that my car was shiny silver instead of white washed, salt covered dirty. It was nice to see through the windshield. It was nice not to step in slush when I got out. (Even though the parking lots are still crazy with huge piles of snow from where the plows pushed it all just a few days ago.) There is supposedly more snow to come, but today felt like Spring was trying.

It's like any season. You love when a new one starts. The good thing is, winter will be back again. So I just enjoy things about each season. I swear, I could never move away from a place that has seasons now.

Much has been accomplished this weekend. The kids all had thier dental checkups, the garage is cleared out of moving stuff and the car can now have a place of it's own. Bunco.....which actually wasn't even a game because not enough people were able to come so it was just visiting in the old neighborhood with old friends, with drinks and goodies. It reminds me how good it is to get out and laugh.

Mike and I plan on getting the kids to bed and enjoying a movie on the couch tonight. A well deserved break. Happy weekend!

A few more.... just because.

The snow finally stopped. Today was another day off from school. However we ventured out for some photos and to get out into the world to have some dinner. The roads all are clear so I'm sure tomorrow school will be open again. *applause!*



Mike is out shoveling yet again..... trying to free the garbage can from it's 4 foot snowdrift it is stuck in for pick up tomorrow. Piper was out helping and it was so funny to see her leap into the snow. I am not kidding that it went up past her back, and when she was doing her nose first plowing through it, all you could see was a yellow tail sticking straight up with snow coming out behind as she dug. It looked like a cartoon.


Here is a little series of my little girl. Who does not look very little in these photos. I'm always amazed at how grown up and pretty she looks.

Of course anymore, there's a few weird poses in between the good ones. Usually I get a peace sign or something like this:

Then she normals out again.

global warming

Mike may kill me for posting these pictures. Unlike me, he's not a fan of the snow. I can understand why.....I mean really I have a choice whether or not to go out in it. I get to enjoy it from the warmth of my living room and venture out occasionally. For him, this is what he came home to yesterday after work - a non existent driveway. It had literally snowed ALL day, nonstop since he had left for work at 5:30 in the morning. When he came home he had to dig a space to park the car.

I had even dug some out the day before, and it didn't help at all.

It continued snowing until around midnight last night, so even after these efforts of digging it looked like none had been done again this morning. Other than the fact that the snow drift areas are getting taller and taller. Pretty much the entire area is in what is considered a snow emergency level 2. Which means, don't go anywhere.

I know I'll enjoy looking back at the snow photos this summer when I am complaining about the humidity.

Monday. More snow. Day off from school number....hell, I've lost count.

More snow. You can't even tell by this photo, but it is coming down sideways in little tiny eye stinging flakes. All of that on the deck railing is new from overnight. More is on the way, and they are even saying into this coming weekend. Looks like there may be several more snow days this week....much happiness from the kids. I hope to get out later and take some photos. I love the way the area looks when it's covered in snow.

Supplies: 365 Inspiration sketch from Oscraps; PP from 3Paper Peonies; AE wordart from Designer Digitals; font Myriad Pro.

A quickie page from photos and journaling taken early in 09. This is what I hope to do during the snow day - more scrapping and getting stories down. I'm not motivated to do anything domestic today. LOL. Even though I'm sure I will get around to it in a bit. It waits for me and so far no amount of wishing makes it go away magically!

We were given some tickets a couple of weeks ago to go to a hockey game last night. I had forgotten how much I love hockey. Mike and I used to go to some games in Phoenix.....years and years ago. Tonight did not disappoint as there was a lot of slamming against the glass and even two fights. Usually I'm not a violent person, but something about hockey, you expect it. LOL. It's fun to be rowdy once in awhile!

The kids had a blast. All of the kids were given a tshirt when they came into the arena and it was also $1 City BBQ night. Pulled pork sandwiches for $1 each! Yum. They were really good. - and the Cyclones won. Perfect evening.

There seems to be some debate about whether or not tomorrow is a day off for the kids. Since we have had so many snow days lately, one of the websites says that there is school tomorrow. Lots of groans from the kids. But, there wasn't anything written that came home or any phone calls yet. So we're kind of confused. Add to that, I have a doctor's appointment for Matthew tomorrow anyway, which was purposely made because it was a day off from school! THEN on top of it all, another big snowstorm is supposed to start tonight and it may be another snowday afterall. LOL. Who knows.

I like when the make up snow days are tacked onto the end of the year because I am all about shorter summer vacations. They get so bored so quickly anyway. We'll see what happens tomorrow!

Happy valentines day AND AZ statehood day! LOL. I'll never forget that date even here in the big blue.

layouts

Supplies: Inspiration sketch 365 from Oscraps; Blakely papers (solid gray and PP) by Karla Dudley at digichick; (green PP) Noel by MMartin at Designer Digitals.

Supplies: template by me; PP by 3PP neutrals minikit freebie.
Just a quick posting of a couple of pages I've finished. I was so happy to finish the one from a cruise back in 2004. Those were photos I've always dreaded scrapping for some reason. I hadn't taken many pictures on that trip and it just didn't feel right. Thank you digital. Now they are done. (My kids all look so little!)

More boxes unloaded, more homeless stuff taken to the basement, more laundry and chores this weekend. Big family outing tonight. More later!

Happy weekend!

More snow!

Snow day number 2 around here, and the last I saw on the news there is another band that will be making it's way here on the weekend. Have I told you lately..... I love snow? haha.

Actually having the kids home the past couple of days has helped a bit too. It's nice when they are home and I can have a little help getting stuff finished around here. We're down to the last bits of stuff to get put away and are finally back on normal life schedule too. Laundry, cooking, etc. I know, we are incredibly and utterly boring right now aren't we?

Megan took this photo of me, and I had to show off my fabulous new coat. I love coats. And I love Kohl's too. Next year at this time when all the winter coats start going on clearance I am going to go crazy. I'll need a basement just for my coat collection. I loved them in Phoenix and hardly ever had the chance to wear the heavy ones.

Back to work...laundry calls and a certain little boy who is dying to use my computer so he can watch more lego star wars stuff on you tube is peeking at me from behind the stairs.

More snow photos later!

k

Want to see snow pictures?

I say it every time. I love snow. I love how peaceful it is. The world sounds different when it snows. It's pretty. - and I like it. There may be a day when I am sick of it, but I have to say that I have thoroughly enjoyed having the experience of it in my life and the good and bad that comes with it. - We woke up to the photo above. That's the view from our back window. I have to say, when there isn't snow on the trees I am looking forward to them being green. When it's just cold and dead looking, it's not the prettiest view.

Our garage is full of stuff and probably will be until spring at this point. It's too cold to go out and move anything around. So my car lives outside for the time being. It had about 5 inches of snow on the roof, hood and everything. Mike was dusting and scraping it off the windshield this morning before we did some errands. This big chunk of snow on the hood stayed on while we drove down the freeway. It's kind of a game to see how long it lasts.

Below is a chunk that flew up and stuck to the antenna. It just made us laugh especially with how long it stayed there, so I took a picture of it.

The park near our house:

Lots of bridge covered creeks that I can't wait to walk on when it warms up.

I don't think that our area got as much as was predicted from this storm. Most of it went north of us. We're supposed to get more this weekend. Of course the kids were all kind of bummed that this happened over the weekend making it to where there wasn't a chance of a snow day from school. Bummer.

Supplies: 365 Inspiration from Kitty Designs and Paislee Presslines no. 3 from Oscraps; AE wordart from designer digitals; Remember wordart no.1 Anna Aspnes from designer digitals; Sobe papers by Karla Dudley at digichick.

Still waiting for this storm to hit us. Nothing yet. Here is a layout I did last night while reminding the boys to stop talking and go to sleep. Who knows, at this rate I may actually get caught up on a year for once. - Just getting the story down about Jet. Flower's will be coming soon. Little stinker tortoises. They aren't enjoying the cold very much and I think miss having grass to roam around in. The first warm day we have they have a new huge park to go play in.

It makes me cold to see Trevor's bare legs in these photos right now too! Brrr! I have to say that I am looking a bit forward to some warmer weather at this point. I love snow, I love my big coats and all that.....but I really want to go for a long walk.

Stay warm.

That would be Trevor. We've always kind of joked about this, at least since 1st grade. He has a bunch of friends that are boys, but he seems to always have one female friend who he becomes inseparable with.

First it was Sophia in Phoenix. Who was from Boston originally. She was the cutest little tomboy with long curly dark hair. Even teachers at school commented on what good friends they were. Then, Emily K who was a pretty little blond girl who we actually saw her grab Trevor's hand in line at a school carnival in second grade. They were waiting in line for one of those inflatable obstacle course things where they were going to beat each other off a podium with big foam sticks. Then....moving here he found Olivia. A girl down the street with blond hair. They were inseparable when we lived in Union and spent HOURS playing in a creek behind her house. She was a perfect match for Trevor. He doesn't like bugs much, but she did. They'd go find bugs, make up stories about finding bones and even found a snake once. She of course would do all of the creepy animal holding, but they had a ton of fun together. Now....

Yesterday Trevor came home and said that he had a phone number of a new friend. This friend ended up showing up at the front door about an hour later.....Katie. An adorable little red head girl who just moved here from Iowa. She lives down the street. Braving the cold yesterday, she asked if T could play and Trevor went out for about an hour. I couldn't help but think that Olivia would be furious if she knew. Haha.

Yes, he has tons of friends who are boys, that he plays legos with, wii and wrestling in the front yard.... but this is one thing about him that I always thought was kind of funny. It was only a matter of time when he started school this week that the girls would be curious about him. Heaven help us when he actually starts to get phone calls.

****

I went to the store today totally forgetting that a big storm is on the way. I was checking out and the cashier mentioned that I was smart for getting there early before the rush later this afternoon. Aha...it is 'storm preparation' time. Which just happened to fall on a day when I needed a million things from the store anyway. The last time a storm like this was on the way, people had bought all the bread, milk and bananas. Now I'm prepared and didn't even think about it. Go me.

Easing back into normal.....

Supplies: 365 Inspiration sketch by Kitty Designs at Oscraps; Blakely paper and brush by Karla Dudley at the digichick; AE circle month text from Designer Digitals. Text for title and initals New Times Roman.

Last night's little bit of insomnia yielded a new layout today. I started it last night, and finished in between my chores today. One of my favorite things about the new place is that my computer is up on a landing at the top of the stairs. About five feet from an upstairs laundry room.....which is also maybe 10 feet away at the most, from the farthest bedroom. So I can multitask like crazy. While I wait for the last few minutes of a spin cycle, I can check email or work on a page. THEN there has been NO laundry clutter since unpacking since I can pull things out of the dryer, hang them, fold them and put them right away into drawers and on kid's beds! Saaaweeet! So in between making beds, laundry and cleaning bathrooms today....I finished up this page. (above)

I'm thinking that I have so many similar photos of the kids separately, that some times I might make pages about the same things but they will go to that child's album eventually instead of only the family one. That is one thing I love about digital is that if I decide I want two copies of a page, I order two. I don't have to really make two separate pages like before. So my kids are getting at the ages I decided to do family album and individual. So....each one will have a page about them carving pumpkins, etc.

Just like this Lego one. Legos are just a big part of our lives right now. LOL. I did a similar one of Matthew working on a set he was building after Christmas.

supplies: K Pertiet; AE The Story wordart; PP Adore by Three Paper Peonies

Ding. And there goes my laundry buzzer again.

Now where did THAT time go? Little update.

We picked a good weekend to move. Sarcastic at first, since it was raining and drizzling. Thankfully the rain held off while we were doing the outside stuff. We had the fastest movers in the world too. Thanks guys! But then my sarcasm also turns to real gratitude when the next few days we had snow! I much prefer the drizzle for going in and out, than snow.

Things went off without a hitch really. As usual, even after weeding through furniture and things that wouldn't fit in our new house we still have A LOT of stuff. I swear, next time I'm selling everything and starting all over. I say that every time.

So the week after has been spent trying to get things put away. It is starting to look more like a home, and things have found a place to stay and pictures have been put up on the walls. There are still those leftover boxes of the random "Oh my gosh what do I do with this stuff?" that I still have to sort through. Luckily, the basement is huge. I put most of it down there and will deal with it in the spring.

No pictures of our new house yet. I'll keep you guessing for awhile.

The kids had the first week off of school. I kept them home since it was chaotic trying to find all the stuff to get them registered at the new school. However, yesterday was their first day at the new schools. Megan had a great day. They all did. I took Megan to register first, and she had a buddy come and pick her up from the office and show her around. It was cute watching the two girls walk down the locker lined hallway. Megan didn't even turn around to wave. I know she would have.... but she was so excited. She always loves starting new schools. She sees it as a way to reinvent herself.

Trevor and Matthew were next. I took them to their school..... which is much farther considering. But it is a beautiful drive. There are at least three HUGE thoroughbred farms on the way. Winding roads through trees, old plantation homes and creeks. I can't wait to see it when the trees turn green again.

When the boys and I were standing up by the office with the admissions woman, a boy came up to Trevor and asked if his name was Trevor. (T was so nervous the whole time, Matthew just rolled along like he usually does.) Trevor answered the boy and the boy said, "Oh you are in my class! We have a cool teacher!" Trevor said, "Sweet." We got the tour of the school and Trevor got to go into his class first. The teacher said that somebody who works with Mike had a son in her class, and all the kids talked about that morning before announcements was that they were getting a new student. I think that made T feel pretty special.

Later that day, Trevor came home and said that he was asked by a bunch of kids to sit by him at lunch....and as usual.... most were girls. Apparently one even said Trevor was cute. LOL.

Matthew went to his class after that. The door opened, and the teacher came out to greet him. All the kids were supposed to be watching a film but instead all eyes were on Matthew. Normally you'd think that would be great cause for an anxiety attack. Not for Matthew. At least if he was nervous, he hides it well. The teacher talked to us for a minute and then showed him his desk. He was off without a problem.

Megan took this picture of me waiting by the door looking out the peep hole waiting for the boys to be dropped off from the bus. (Wow, I really have absolutely no butt at all.)



When everybody was home, I took Megan across the street to Kroger (It's beautiful....it reminds me of AJ's in Phoenix. AJ's and a mall. There is a FOOD COURT in the Kroger! A Fred Meyer jewelry store, furniture store and a huge Starbucks.) Megan had gotten a Starbucks giftcard for Christmas from a friend, so she asked if we could celebrate by going there after school. We picked up some things for dinner and then came home.

Of course Mike cooked a fabo dinner, and we heard stories about the day. About the crazy kid on the bus who yells all the time, about the good food the cafeteria has and that there is a smoothie machine. That Megan finally got a top locker, but is afraid she can't open the lock all the time, that classes are fun and stories about all of the new people they met. It looks like it will be a good year for them.

More later. I have a few more things I need to do before going to pick up Miss M at school. It feels good to be hooked up with a computer again.

fortune cookie says:

This was a fortune in Mike's cookie at dinner tonight. We laughed until we cried. That one will be saved....for sure. I love irony. We both needed a good laugh, and this totally fits US.


Speaking of.... this is life right now. Boxes. Lots and lots of boxes.

What a crazy week. Something was wonky with my computer, and I was without internet most of the week. Which may be just as well since I really didn't have time to be on it much anyway. Still packing....still getting things ready.

*****

So today was the kids' last day of school at the schools they have been going to since moving to Kentucky. Us moving again and switching schools, this was one thing that I hoped to avoid, but it didn't happen and we are moving forward. We're a good, strong family and we all know this is temporary. Megan is actually kind of excited, I know anxious as well, but she is used to switching schools since Arizona and moving here. She looks at it with a view of having fun being the new kid, the one that everybody wants to figure out and meet. She feels that she gets to reinvent herself each time. She also still keeps in touch with her friends in Phoenix on a daily basis with her cell phone so she just collects people and maintains friendships, and she has already collected phone numbers to keep in touch with friends from here. (Plus in reality, we're only moving 4 miles away.) So she sees this move as a good thing and being able to meet even more people. Plus there are a couple of girls that she already knows in her new school. They moved last year, so that will only help too.

Matthew.... that boy faces everything he does with gusto. He's more excited about not having to deal with the principal at his current school. Not that he's ever been to the office....but that seems to be giving him much joy lately being able to say SO LONG. (I'm not a fan of the principal either, so I kind of agree with the boy. In fact when the name was brought up at bunco a week ago, 12 people all rolled their eyes and sighed in unison. I'm guessing this principal is not a favorite to many.) He's the same way as Megan, he is loyal to his friends he has already but is looking forward to a change and meeting new people.

Trevor. Trevor has always been my cautious one. Let's just say that he likes routine, doesn't like going out on a limb and will probably never jump out of an airplane. He's cautious, but so easy going. It's a good mix, and what draws people to him. He's having a harder time dealing with this than the others. I expected it. Last night I was up with him as he was crying and realizing today was his last day.

I got a phone call from the woman at the office at school that Trevor was having a difficult day and was near tears all day. His best friend - a girl down the street - not to be called a girlfriend...but he wouldn't mind marrying her someday because she's cute - was by today and was crying. Those two were inseparable this summer, and play together all the time still. They were so excited to be in the same class this year. But we'll be able to keep in touch. Again, it's not that far away. Just not as easy and convenient as running down the street and disappearing for hours during the day.

So that's my day, my week. This weekend is the move. I'll be without internet for a few days. Until then..... I'm deciding whether or not to bring this (pictured below) with us. Bad girl ate a package of salami. No matter how far I put things back on the counter, she's quite the counter surfer. I swear I was only gone for a split second too. Who's a bad dog??? But.... she's still darn cute.

Bad dog.