I have been going through my Studio Calico kits, trying to get atleast one layout per kit done, so that I don't have so many kits sitting here untouched. A few aren't but I added them in as well. So without further ado....
What can you do to help your community? Watch this video and leave a comment about your ideas and what we can do to help our community and in turn help our country as well.
(Info below was taken from www.Whitehouse.gov)
Posted by Cammie Croft
Since his Inauguration, the President has called on all Americans to serve our communities and be a part of building a better future for our country. And given this unique moment in our history with the unprecedented challenges we are facing, there isn't a more important time than now for us to get involved. That is why today the President is announcing United We Serve -- a call to action for all Americans to volunteer this summer and be part of building a new foundation for America, one community at a time. We know that ordinary people can accomplish extraordinary things when empowered with the proper tools. The Corporation for National Service, the federal agency dedicated to fostering service in communities across the country, is providing those tools on their website, Serve.gov. They make it easy to not only find volunteer opportunities in our neighborhoods, but also to create and promote our own projects. It's time to roll-up our sleeves and get to work. Watch the President's announcement below and get started at Serve.gov.
But not before a few things happened. First being that Logan is officially going to Jr. High in August. He passed with straight A's, and Miss Morgan is going to be a Sophomore passing with 4 A's and 2 B's. The 2 B's being in Enriched English and Algebra. I have to say, she did an amazing job! As did Logan. He also graduated from the D.A.R.E. program. :) I learned a lot as well. :) Probably more than I wanted to know about drugs and what people do with them these days...YUCK! I also realized that the Officer that taught the program was a person I went to high school with...who would have known? LOL! His name is Bill Virtue. He graduated with my sister in 1988. I thought it was pretty cool!
Then we have the Th grade awards and farewell barbecue. Lots of awards, kids, parents, friends, and of course food~
That same day we were supposed to be packing to go on vacation the next day. BUT, just 1 day before,I had taken all 4 dogs up to the local animal shelter to get their shots and licenses updated...Pablo was on his way to being the one who didn't fair so well this time. He had a reaction, thus ending us up at the animal hospital for the afternoon and wondering if we were going to lose a pet.
He doesn't look too bad in the photos, but he couldn't walk and was very lethargic for about 36 hours. Poor little guy.. Anyway, that night we had decided that we weren't going to go to Hawaii, because the dog was sick and we weren't sure if he would come out of it. The next morning M woke us up at 5 to tell us he was fine. Jumping around like his happy little self. I had 45 minutes to pack and be out the door so we could make our flight. We made it!
We went to Kona again and stayed at The Fairmont again... LOVE that resort!!! The best trip ever happened this time. All three kids for the most part got along famously! And to top it off they had more fun together in the car of all places than anywhere we went as a family. It was just plain great!
Right after we got back a week later, Logan and I went to Strawberry for the week. We had so much fun, just the two of us. We made cupcakes, went to dinner and the movies, played with water guns in the yard, went to the park and fed the ducks, went to the cemetery to place flowers on family members plots, (I know kind of not fun, but it was. He asked lots of questions about them and knows alittle more about his great-grandparents.) went to the river to catch crayfish, rototilled our garden, rode the go cart, and played in the hammock.
Now we are home for the next couple of weeks, and I am kind of happy about it, because I can create some with school being out and having a little more time to do the things I like to do. :)
Have good night~
So, Logan turned 11 on the 4Th. That night he asks me if I would be completely honest with him and tell the truth about a question he wanted to ask me.
Logan: Mom, will you be honest with me about something...tell me the truth. I can take it.
mom: What's the question?
Logan: Is there really such thing as the Tooth Fairy? Or is it really you that has been putting money under my pillow?
(Mind you, he's only lost a total of 8 teeth. I think he still has quite a few left.)
Mom: No there isn't. It was me.
Logan: Okay. Thank you for being honest.
The reason he asked was because he has another loose tooth finally. Then on Tuesday I took Morgan and Logan to Chili's for dinner and while we are waiting for our food, he asked another question that would lead to more questions, that would lead to tears. My tears of course....
Logan: Mom, can ask you another question? And you have to tell the truth. Okay?
Mom: What's the question...?
Logan: Is there really such thing as the Easter Bunny? Be honest.
Mom: No baby, that's me too. (knowing the BIG question is trailing behind somewhere....)
Logan: I didn't think that a giant bunny really came into our house! (all of us laughing at the thought.)
Logan: What about Santa Claus? Is there really a Santa? Are you Santa? Tell the truth Mom.
Mom: Of course there is a Santa. Along time ago....(interrupted by Logan)
Logan: Mom... tell me the truth. Are you?
Mom: (tears welling up in my eyes, knowing there is no turning back time at this point.) No baby. I did it.
Logan: The scooter from Santa?
Mom: Me.
Logan: The letter?!?!
Mom: Nana...
(as tears are streaming down my face and the waiter is asking if we need anything) ((GREAT TIMING DUDE!!))
Logan: It's okay mom. That just means you get more hugs.
Now by that time I am just sniveling like a little kid. I am looking forward to all the hugs but man that's tough when you have to be honset about something like that to a child. He wasn't angry or hurt about being lied to. He was very mature about it and just gave me a hug and said he knew we did it to make him happy.
I have finally come to the point where all three of my children are no longer little kids. He won't believe in magic anymore. He has hit a point in life where fantasy and dreams and make-believe are no longer something that just comes natural in his mind. From now on, he will have to work at believing in things and make believe will be kind of silly now. My baby is a baby no more. This makes me sad.
It's not that I don't have anything to say or to report. It's just that I don't make time to do it. Here is is the 1st of May and I haven't updated in over a month. I never did get around to posting pictures from our Spring break vacation, nor did I post any photos from Easter. So, here are a couple from vacation.
Those were from Legoland. The next two are from Disneyland... Like said way back in March, we did not enjoy Disneyland. It was way too busy.
Then was Seaworld! We had the best time of all our vacation here.
Logan and I seem to be the only ones that enjoy coloring eggs anymore...but that didn't stop us from taking pictures and having fun anyway! :):):)
Easter was a very casual, relaxing day. We had dinner at my Aunt's house and just enjoyed family.
Off to make dinner, but I will try to update more than once this month. :)
Did not celebrate Valentine's Day. If my memory serves me correctly, we were in Tucson for one of Morgan's tournaments, in which we got up at 4 in the morning to travel 2 1/2 hours to, then got our rears kicked all over. I think they placed RD. After the tournament we drove ALL over to find somewhere that didn't have every lover in town having lunch... what a pain in the bum! Never did get to meet up with Athene. (For which I am sooo sorry Athene.) It was just a long stinken day. I crashed as soon as we got home.
Celebrated 20 years of marriage to Steve. Alone. He was in Olympia Washington for work. I did get a bouquet of 20 roses which were beautiful.
Had another tournament (2/21)where they got their butt kicked royally. The sad part about it was that it was on their own turf. Oh well, practice, practice, practice.
The same weekend we went up to the mountains for the day just the two of us and went sledding. It was comical to say the least. I am glad neither of us broke any bones doing it. When I saw the photos my first thought was "What were we thinking?". Well, it was fun.
Steve and I have been trying to hike every chance we get so last weekend we got an hour or so in, up at Silly Mountain. The view at sunset was awesome! Went again this morning, but nothing compares to the evenings when the sun is going down.
As far as scrapbooking, I haven't done much lately. Just few here and there.
Well, Have a good one. I am off to do some yard work. The weather here is the best~
Half the time I don't kow what I am doing, but I love the effects I get when I use actions in photoshop cs. I found a website that has some pretty awesome ones. You can find it here. Also another one that I was directed to by Shawnna Clingerman found here. Then there are ones you have to pay for that I LOVE!!!! Found here I used the sweet set on the photos below.
Granted these are not my photos, but my cousin's. She had asked me to do some editing and I had a blast playing with them.
I then used the actions I downloaded for preview from www.gettotallyrad.com
Other than that, I have been playing taxi and trying to keep up with how many days or weeks Steve is out of town these days... :)~
So I went to see Ki for a long weekend and had a blast. We went on an over night trip to Jasper... Canada that is. Okay so if I didn't love Ki so much, I would never in my life go back to Canada in the winter time. It was SO cold. I have never had my nose hairs freeze before. That was an interesting first... to say the least!
I think the weekend ended way too soon though. I can't wait to go back in the summertime. :)
Morgan had her first Club tournament. Volleyball that is. They got 1st place. The entire team did a fabulous job! The only downside is Morgan plays libero. And in the club rules, that position can't serve. Ever! That sucks! She plays a pretty quick libero though. :)
Not much else to report... Just life going faster than I can sometimes. :)
Starting with Christmas. Steve's Mom was here with us for the Christmas holiday and we had such a great time!
She is the sweetest lady. I don't know how to explain it other than just that. We have always gotten along really well. We didn't keep in touch much about 10 years of mmine and Steve's marriage, but I don't think it has made a difference one way or another. It's like we picked up where time stopped. (longer story than I want to go on about) Before 2006, I hadn't seen her for about ten years. She had never met Logan and Morgan didn't remember her. So we had a reunion with all Steve's brothers in 2006 and have been in touch so much more than ever since. I think Steve's heart surgery made all of us remember how important family really is.
On with the recap. Steve and his Mom took Logan and Morgan up to the cabin right after Christmas for an overnight stay. They took their grandma sledding!!!
So, after Christmas, we have New Year's... I was in bed and asleep by 9 pm. Pretty sad. I woke up about 11:45, just enough time to hear the neighbors count down to midnight a half dozen times. :) Kissed my hubby on the cheek as he slept and went back to bed.
School started back up on the Th and hasn't let up since. I have to say that out of all the grades in school, Th grade has the most homework ever! All three of the kids had a ton of it. I am tired of homework. If it's not the regular every day stuff, it's reports due every month, science projects, poems of all sorts, fractions are killing me. I have completely spaced how to do them! So helping Logan I have resorted to http://www.math.com/ . Best website in my world these days. :):):)
January Th was my Dad's Th Birthday. We celebrated on the Th because Steve was going out of town on business Sunday. My Dad's brother and his wife are here trying out the "Snow Bird" role for a few months. They are from Utah. So my Dad got to have his big brother here for his Birthday. I thought it was pretty darn cool! Of course, leave it to me to not get a picture of them together... Got a few of my Dad and his presents though.
I haven't done much scrapbooking for me lately. I did a layout of my cousin Tamara. My cousin's took a bunch of photos of all of them together for my Aunt and Uncle as a Christmas present. I was lucky enough to get to edit them a little and print them out for the gift they gave to them. This is from one of the photos that they took.
This one was from some paper I bought at scrapbookeronline.com. They were having a big sale on everything, because they are going out of business and I couldn't resist the good deals. I bought mostly cardstock,(25@ a piece!) but there were a few paper lines that caught my attention and this was one of them.
I had Morgan take some pictures for me a few days ago though. I needed a head shot for a project and she was my photographer. :) The proverbial self portrait just wasn't working.
She did a good job! This is my favorite. She took quite a few and laughed a lot with me. She got alot of funny moments that made us giggle. I'm not sure the photos were what was needed, but we had a blast anyway.
Next up, I got to have lunch with my favorite ex-girlfriend of a friend of ours on Saturday. Miss Brenda and Mario dated for a couple of months starting back in April of 08. Sadly, threir relationship didn't last past 4Th of July, but my friendship with Brenda did. She lives on the other side of the valley, so we haven't gotten to see eachother in quite some time. We had lunch in Chandler at Olive Garden. Steve Morgan and Logan came as did Jessi, Brenda's son. We did a lot of catching up and it seems lunch ended way too quickly. We had a baby shower and a birthday to go to later that day so we didn't get to do much at all this time. Hopefully next time we will spend the day hanging out.
I guess that's it for now. I leave on Thursday to go see Ki for a long weekend. I am so looking forward to it. I miss that lady!!!
P.S. The frame on the photos...I saw them on Alissa's blog and had to have them. I know it's over-kill, but I just absolutely love them!!! You can find them here and here.
It was at my house this year. At first I was soooo stressed about it, because I had to change the date a few times to make sure everyone could make it. Then I had to change the location because of the distance everyone would be driving, yada, yada, yada... .
Well I spent all last week cleaning and decorating and getting ready for the big event. Made 40 greeting cards for my hand-made gifts for the ladies afterI found out one of my cousins was already making something similar to what I already had finished a few weeks ago...(not a bad thing though, because the cards went well with her gift.) 2 8x8 albums for my Mom and her sister, and canned a case of salsa for all the guys. It went very well. :) We all had such a good time and had lots of good food to eat, plenty of conversation and a whole lot of laughs and good times. Add one more memory to this life, eh? :) Have a great week!
My sister and I went up to Strawberry with my cousin Cathy over the weekend and started a new tradition.
In the past my Aunt (Cathy's mom) used to make cookies and cakes every Christmas and put them in a special tin for everyone to enjoy at Christmas. The last couple of years she hadn't done it due to her declining health. She passed away a few months ago and we decided we were going to keep the tradition. Before she passed, she had been working on a recipe book for Cathy so that she could still make the treats after my Aunt was gone. We used the recipe book and made a ton of cookies! They taste just like when my aunt would make them. :)
I thought Cathy might have a hard time being in the house that she grew up in, but it turned out soooo nice. I think she felt at home in a good way and really enjoyed being there. We are planning to do it every year now and maybe even through in some weekends where we scrapbook too.
Cathy's son Joe took our picture. :) He's 7. What a cutie pie!!!
I haven't had a lot of time to scrapbook for me lately so I took some this weekend and made a couple of layouts. The first one is my favorite! When I took that bigger photo of him yawning, it totally reminded me of the little one on the page. He still looks like my baby boy when he does certain things. I love that every once in while I get a glimpse of the baby in him.
All three are from the Studio Calico kits that I subscribe to. They have been sitting in a box collecting for the last few months. I think there are at least 6 months that I haven't gotten time to play with...Cleaned up my scrapbook room a couple of weeks back and now I can see what I have and I don't need anything scrapbook related except for adhesive for the next lifetime.
Logan was sick Thurs, Friday and Saturday so we hung out at home in my scrapbook room. He played on Lego Digital designer while I played at my table. Jordan was off with friends and Morgan went to the mountains with her Dad.
I made invitations for the Annual Family Christmas Dinner. I get to host it this year. I wanted to have it in Strawberry but things didn't work out to do so.... So here it will be. I have a ton of cleaning to do let me tell ya. :( Not looking forward to that part of it. The cooking I am looking forward to. I love to do things differently so we are having my favorite, Mexican food. The first Christmas Steve and I were together, he was shocked that we have Enchiladas for Christmas dinner. Now it has become a norm for the whole family, if it gets switched to something other than ham or turkey. Bla, bla, bla... I am rambling as usual. :)
I haven't taken the time lately to update here so I thought I better get busy and do so while I have some time.
Let's see, we went to Strawberry a couple of weeks ago for the weekend. While we were there, Steve took us to Fossil Creek. The whole time I lived in Arizona I have never been there. NOW I know why... The road there is a one lane dirt road full of rocks and bumps and off one side, there is nothing but DOWN. I am not exaggerating either. No guard rails, no nothing. Being the freak I am, I am extremely afraid of heights. Dirt roads with drop offs are #1 on my list of things I don't do. Steve knows this and yet he tells me later, "I didn't know you had never been down there..." Hello!!!! He knows I panic when put in these situations. I have no photos to show but believe me I will not do that again. So, to move on to the bottom of the mountain side. After I was done having my bawling fit and done being extremely peeved, we walked to the creek and took photos. I got one fairly decent photo of the kids together and a couple of Steve with Morgan and Logan. The kids aren't the most cooperative these days when it comes to posing together for a photo much less by themselves for one~ The leaves were finally starting to change some and the water was crystal clear. I have to say though, it still wasn't worth what I had to go through getting there and getting back to the house. (sorry)
Logan was given the Elks Student of the Month Award for outstanding character and academic achievement in October. He was not thrilled with having to stand up in front of so many people, but he was excited to get to wear his medal the next day to school.
Morgan finished up Freshman Volleyball last night. They lost the first game and won the second, but sadly they lost the third game. The team over all did great this year. Most of the girls have been playing volleyball together since 5th grade, so they do quite well. I felt so sad for them but also very proud that they handled every win/loss with dignity, pride and showed the utmost respect to the opposing team whether it was a win or a loss. Great going Lady Prospectors!!!
As far as scrapbooking, I am working on making a book about my school years. this is just one of the first pages. I still have a ton of photos to scan not to mention find before I can continue. The kit I am using is the Primary Elementary Palette. Very cute stuff!
The next project was something I conjured up after seeing an item in one of my son's fund raisers for school. I thought I would try to do something like it for his teacher as a little thank you gift for her and her class. It's a magnetic pass holder that she can put on her dry erase board. :)
Other than that I don't have much to post. Have a great rest of the week. :)
"I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it." Groucho Marx
Saw this quote in a newsletter and it reminded me of the fact that I have the power unless I give it to others. I have been forgetting this lately and wanted to post the quote to give myself a reminder.
Have a good week!
Since last update, Steve went to my Aunt's funeral for me and said it turned out beautifully. I wish I could have gone, but...glad I got to be here for Morgan.
Sunday was the day we had a family celibration for Jordan's 19th Birthday. I was all prepared to take photos of her blowing out her candles....or so I thought. I got the best picture of her on the last lit candle and I look to review the photos.... NO CF CARD!!!!!! I was soooo angry with myself. I had taken it out sat. night to download the Homecoming pictures and never put it back in. So I grabbed my handy little purse camera and told her to "pretend" she was blowing out the candles. LOL! What a reaction I got from that one. See below~
Completely korny, I know. But it works. Ha~ Monday morning I did the usual running around kids to school, getting vehicles checked, groceries, that sort of stuff. Then took Steve to the airport for his usual business trip. He gets home tomorrow. Yeah! Then leaves again on Monday.. :(
Tuesday was more of the same. I had to take my little car in for an oil change and have a new antenna put on. Some VERY RUDE person took it upon themselves to rip it off, so now I end up having to replace the entire thing which was not cheap! Three different pieces later and $205.00 just for the antenna, I finally have radio signal again. Took Morgan to lunch, and to the orthodontist to get wires cut, then went home to work on some CM projects. I wasn't too sucessful getting anything done there.... Went to the freshman volleyball game, and took a few photos. Dang that child is getting good! I love watching them play. They now have a 8-2 record.
Wednesday Jordan started her new job at a bank here in town and was really excited to finally start. She applied back in August and was just waiting for all the interview and background paperwork to go through. I couldn't tell you what I did.... I am drawing a blank.
Thrursday was another volleyball game in Paradise Valley, which is about an hour away. I picked up Logan an hour early and headed to the game. I hate freeways!!!! They scare the pooh out of me. And it was freeway all the way. On a good note, they won~ :):):)
So here I am today. It's friday!!! I got a couple of projects done and I am trying to catch up on email and blog writing. More in couple of days.
I was supposed to update. Well, #*%^ happens...
I haven't been on line much this week due a death in the family. My aunt passed away on the 21st and I have been back and forth out of town helping my cousin with funeral arrangements. (she is the one on the right) 
The funeral is set for 4:30 in the afternoon and is about 2 hours away. It's scheduled tomorrow, but I won't be attending. Morgan has her first Homecoming Dance and I don't want to miss it. My Aunt would be very upset with me if I went to her funeral and not got to see my daughter off on her first high school dance.
Long story on the whole family death thing. My uncle died in August of 2006, then his son passed away in July of 2007, and now my Aunt. Morgan's birthday is in August and since 2006 we have been attending funerals instead of celebrating birthdays. To top it off, Jordan turned 19 today. So, It has been a cruddy last three years.
So, update....
Logan turned 10 back in May, and we took him to Legoland for his Birthday. My parents, sister, Ryan and our kids all went. Logan had a great time and everyone survived the drive there and back.
I went to see Ki again the first week in June. I missed her sooooo much! I know it had only been a few months since I had last seen her... I spent what, 7 or 8 days with her and had such a relaxing time. She makes the best hostess when having guests. I love staying with you Ki!!! We did absolutley nothing but hang out and shop for scrapbooking supplies. That is the best vacation I could ask for.
June Morgan started a series of Volleyball camps one right after the other and about 40 miles away every day for four weeks. Not a lot of fun for me, but she loved it and learned SO much! (she made the freshman volleyball team for high school!!!) Right now they are 5 and 2. Not bad compared to last years freshman team only winning 1 game the entire season. :)
Ryan left for boot camp on the 5th of June and we got to tell him good bye at the processing center...(whatever you call it) He was gone for 6 weeks and Jordan was miserable for 6 weeks. Made it impossible for us to live with her. We were so glad when he got home. She became a decent person again. Well as decent as an 18 year old can be.... She worked most of the summer and finally got her GED. I am very proud of her on that. She scored so well she earned a 2 year scholarship to the community college here in town.
We spent 2 weeks in Colorado for vacation. That was amazing! We rented a 3 bedroom cabin in between Ouray and Ridgway. The view was breathtaking! I'll load an album of photos later this weekend and link it here. We went hiking, riding atv's, fishing, visited with family and just relaxed. I had the best time taking photos in those mountains! It was just heaven!!! I made the kids get their picturess taken at an old time photo booth and they had a ball. Sadly the family picture turned out like crap, because light got into the camera when the photographer was taking the pic... but the ones of the kids turned out pretty cool.
Steve turned 40 on the 9th of August, Morgan turned 14 on the 24th of August, I turned 40 on the 14th of Sept, and today is Miss jordan's 19th birthday. She is finally changing her her back to blonde or as blonde as her hair dresser can get it for the time being... This is what it looked like 4 hours ago.
Whelp, I guess I am done with the update for now.Like Jordan says.... Peace out~
So to speak. I am still alive and will be trying to be better at keeping my blog up to date. It's kind of late tonight, but I will spend a lot of the day tomorrow updating my blog and letting all (if any) who read, know what I have been up to the last few months. I have to be up at 5:30 in the morning to get kids off to school, so I am heading to bed and will blab in the morning.
Have a good night all. ~
update soon. :)
