Life is what you make it....

Hawaii last month

Hawaii last month

Happy 16th Birthday Baby!

I love you!  I hope you have a great day!

Happy Birthday!!!

 

Can you guess what is going to be happening in this house?

 

The middle of January...or closer to the end.

It rained like crazy for 3 days here in the beautiful state of Arizona.  I kept thinking it was going to be a terrible storm that floods out the backyard and tears up every plant I have painstakingly grown, yet it did none of that.  I was prepared for the rain and drained some of the pool water, hooked up a pump to a garden hose, setting it in the lowest part of the yard that always seems to get the worst or the water build up and sweet success it was!   

Steve was out of town for most of the week and I got the pleasure of cleaning up vomit from the walls, the toilet paper roll, the toilet seat, the floor and anywhere else Logan could find to aim it... 

He was sick Thursday with who knows what.  The school nurse calls at 2 asking me to come get him because he isn't feeling well.  Huh?    So....I get there and she says he doesn't have a fever, but she thinks it would be best for him to go home.  Thanks!  Okay so I haven't had to clean up vomit for quite sometime now.  I was fine with it when the kids were little, but for the last what, 5 years, Steve has been my absolute HERO!  He is the one who rubs the backs when they are puking into the toilet, or mopping up the mess when they miss or don't quite make it to the bathroom in the first place.  I appreciate that man is so many ways, but this is where he gets Hero status. 

I hate vomit!!!!  Not having him here on Thursday was so hard.  I knew I couldn't leave it there...that is just not possible.  The smell alone was the deciding factor on that one.  So, I prepared myself in the most ridiculous way.  I had a bandanna across my nose, tied as tight as I could get it with out ripping off my lips or eyes, doubled rubber gloves on my hands, shorts, (and I mean short shorts) flip-flops, and as many clorox wipes as I could pull out of the container in one rip.  Long story getting really short here.  I cleaned it up without vomiting myself and I am very proud of that! :)

The next morning, he was 100%.  He wasn't allowed back to school though...  24 hours after being that kind of sick is the rule.  We are having a 3 day weekend and so far it's been good. 

Celebrated my Dad's 61st Birthday on the 10th.  His oldest brother was here again this year to celebrate with him. :)  Everyone had a great time visiting and spending some quality time together.

My cousin Crystal had her baby boy on the 9th.  He is a cutie!  I have only seen pics, but he is still just the sweetest little thing!

Logan started Karate again.  He is really enjoying it this go a round.  I hope he keeps it up.  

Club season is in full swing now for Volleyball.  Morgan has practice every Saturday and Sunday, and when they don't have practice, they have tournaments.  Fun stuff for the next 4 months...  There goes any plans we have on the weekends...which really sucks!  We'll see what happens.

The best news...Ki is coming to stay with me at the end of February!!!!  I am so excited to have her here.  I can't wait!  I miss her like crazy.  We are going to have a blast while she's here.  Even if we go no where or do nothing but hang out, it's going to be so nice just to get to spend time together again.

Not much else to chat about.  Life is being lived in my part of the world.  Scrapbooking is still pretty much on the back burner.  No inspiration or creative juices flowing in these vains lately.  I'll let ya know though when it finally does come back. :0)  It has to come back sometime, right?
 
 

Christmas photo out-takes and a few other things

 

        

 
   

These kids always make me smile.  All of these and this is what I used. :)

Made cookies again this year up in Strawberry.  I wish I could have stayed forever.  It was a lot of fun to just hang out and not have to go anywhere or do anything, only what I wanted. :)

 

 

Had the family Christmas Party at my aunts house.  I took "some" pictures, but nothing worth bragging about or posting.  They were blurry and out of focus.  Lately, alot of my pictures have been that way.  Either I need my eyes checked or I just need to stay away from the camera for a while. 

I have little desire to create any more.  No scrapbook pages to speak of this time.  Just the couple above that sparked something obviously. 

I don't see myself posting again before the new year, so have a great one and hopefully I will feel more like blogging in 2010.

 
 
 
 
 
 
  

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Since the last time I cleaned the cob-webs off from here, we have celebrated Halloween and Thanksgiving, had October break, congratulated Jordan on 1 year working in the financial world,  had a friend pass away, finished up the volleyball season with an 11 win 6 loss record, and are starting the down slope of 2009.  Oh and.....

Morgan got her braces off on the 19th of November! She looks sooooo beautiful.

 

Kind of forgot about this....

Blogging thing.  Life is pretty much coming at me in the speed it has decided to go. FAST  I feel like I have no control over it.  Which really sucks sometimes.

Since the last unfinished update, school is top on the list for a time stealer.  We are up at 530 in the morning and go until 530 in the evening.  Homework gets done, dinner gets ate, showers, a little tv and then bedtime, which I look forward to every single night.

Volleyball started in the third week of August.  Morgan made J.V. this year.  She plays the same position, Libero. 

 

 

Logan has gotten used to 6Th grade and is making all A's, as is Miss Mo.  Jordan is still working at Chase and wants to become a banker.  All I want is for her to become independent! (still living at home...a good thing and a bad thing.)

Steve had a Birthday at the beginning of  August.  A really good friend of ours showed up for dinner and surprised him.  It was so nice to see such a big smile on his face.  It was a great day. :)  Thank you Mario!

Morgan turned 15 at the end of August and had a party at home with friends.  Swimming pool/volleyball were the activities.  I am guessing she enjoyed it.  I never did get a full "thanks Mom". 

 

My Mother-in-law had heart surgery at the beginning of September.  Poor thing.  She is a trooper!  She did fantastically and is feeling well.  I am so proud of her.  I didn't take any photos of her in the hospital, but did get a few of all her boys.  Sadly not all together like I had planned...

Sorry Harold.  This was the only one I got of you... :)~ 
 

I turned 41 and swore I would go backwards.  Sadly 39 is lost forever.  Going backward is not an option so here's to growing older gracefully, I hope.

Jordan turned 20 at the end of September.  She makes herself scares most of the time so getting her to go to lunch on a Saturday afternoon was nice.  We took her to Kona Grill and had a pretty good time. 

I can't believe she is 20.  I am very proud of her.  She is becoming a beautiful young lady.  She has gotten better about not fighting with her brother and sister so much and follows the rules for the most part at home.  I guess at this point that is all I can ask for.  I guess what I am trying to say is that maturity is coming...very slowly if you ask me.

So, as for the "creative side of this blog, I don't have much.  I haven't really been into creating a lot lately.  When I get time, all I do is piddle and waste it.  So,  what I have for now is this~

 
The pics are from the first day of school.  He was so nervous that I didn't take pictures that morning, but instead took him for ice cream after school and got these. 

And this one is from a bit back and goes with the post I wrote here.

Until the next update~
 
 
 

Never did...

I never got a chance to finish the previous post, but will eventually.

hmmm......

Let's see, it's August 1ST and July just flew by.  The kids start school in 11 days.  I think we are ready.  Think being the key word here.

So 4TH of July was spent in Strawberry.  We drove down to Payson to watch the fireworks.  Parked where we thought would be a good spot...Apparently so did quite a few other people.  We had a car load of "older folks" who must have all had a hearing problem.  They talked so loudly and didn't quiet down the entire time they were there.  I think we finally got used to it somewhat.  The fireworks were pretty cool and lasted quite a while compared to the ones at home.  I really enjoyed it.  The photos however where not anything to brag about.  I left my camera at the house so the pics I got were with my cell phone and my little sony.

Hence...

  

The kids had fun hanging out at the house catching bugs and Steve relaxed a little & read a book.  I had fun snapping pictures of the them and the things going on in the yard. :)

         

The following weekend Steve and I had plans to go to San Fransisco but plans are always changing shall we say...Instead we took a drive to Flagstaff, Sedona, Happy Jack, Camp Verde, and back down to Strawberry.  I got to take a lot of very cool photos until my battery died... The photos below were taken by Lake Mary on the way to Flagstaff through Happy Jack.

     

The photos here are just out side of Flagstaff at a farm I love to photograph.  I got a couple of shots and then my battery died.  So no pics of the farm as a whole. :(

    

About the dogone battery, thought I left it at home still plugged into the wall charging, but the next morning when we were packing up to leave I remembered that it was in my smaller camera case.  That really sucked!  I didn't get any photos when we were in Sedona or any other place we went that day. :(  BUT, when I did put the other battery in, I was sooooo glad I did.  Because we saw these 2 gorgeous animals on the way out of our neighborhood heading back down to the Valley.

     

Don't you just love the "smile" in the last photo?  I am guessing these are the bad boys that keep eating the plums off of the tree in our yard every time they are just about ripe for the picking.  This year we had a pretty bad freeze right after the trees had bloomed and they didn't produce any fruit.  So I suspect the elk have resorted to raiding the bird feeders in the neighborhood to make up for not having any fruit to steal. 

Scrapbooking has fit in some too.  My sister and I went to the house last weekend and spent the whole weekend making an album for her latest trip and I got 8 pages done for a book I am working on about my school years K-12.   I have up to 8th grade done. Kindergarten and the title page can be found here and here. It's very simple but to the point.  A photo and a little journaling box to put down what I remember about that year in school.  I have also been trying to make atleast one page from each of the Studio Calico kits that seemed to be stacking up like crazy.

      

I guess that's it for now.  I need to get to bed. ~
 

Anywhere?? Blog Challenge December 12, 2005

Blog Challenge December 12, 2005

---

Ok You have just been handed a plane ticket to anywhere in the world... Ok so it is a virtual one but never the less you have this ticket in your hot little hands right now. Where is it to? Who is it for (since it is a virtual one I can afford the entire family or just the so)? What is it that makes you want to visit this place, sentimental value, or just curiosity? Where you would want to take those pictures that would say everything about the trip? Well let me know and I will do the same.

Amy Wilson

__________________

This is going to take somewhat of a different direction, but it is where the question led me~

Anywhere?  Is there a virtual time machine to go with it?  I would love to go back to where I grew up, where I felt safe, happy and had all my family close by.  Living in the past is sad, but I miss so much about the time when I was a little girl.  I miss my grandparents and my cousins, my little tiny bedroom that I shared with my sister, the wood stove we kept warm by, the couch that rocked like a rocking chair, the furnace vents that we stood over and let our night gowns bloom with the warm air.  The fields and woods that we played in from sun up to sun down.  The treehoused we built, the memories we made.

I am so sappy when it comes to memories.  I miss childhood.

Me on my 1st birthday.

Me and my sister & Cousins at Easter one year.

My sister and I on the rocking couch. :)

Trying to slow down...

Mondays seem to be thee most stressful days of the week!  Nothing you haven't heard before or even felt yourself, I'm sure.  There are so many things going on and to top it off, it?s December.  Not just December, it's almost the middle of it!  Holey wow, time flies!  I still have wrapping to do, shopping to do and still baking and making.  I so look forward to the holidays, but just as they are coming up, I can't wait for them to be over.  That is just sad.

   When I was little, I looked forward to December so much.  Just like every kid did.  I looked forward to Christmas break, cold weather, snow, presents, seeing my Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, and cousins.  It was a wondrous time for everything to be happening.  Now, I have my own children to contend with at "winter Break".  Notice I say winter instead of Christmas?  Reason being that is the politically correct name for it these days.....  Cold weather is just that now, COLD.  Snow and I are no longer friends.  It's just as bad as COLD.  Presents are now a technological nightmare!  I am in the shoes of my parents 30 some years later and boy is it a lesson learned.  Kids want everything they see, hear about and imagine might exist.  As far as Grandparents go, mine have all passed away. I miss them dearly.  Uncles, Aunts and cousins are still here, but we don't see each other nearly as much as I would like. 

   Life is just so busy and different from what it used to be.  What happened to the "simple" life?  Gone and never to be seen or heard from again, I guess.  So what I'm trying to say to myself is: ?Slow down!  You need to enjoy and savor every second, because it passed by so quickly.  Life is too short to not enjoy and race past trying to stay caught up with the rest of the world."

Where does time go?

This month is flying by so quickly.  I can't believe it's already the 12 of December.  I don't have hardly any presents wrapped, I have DT projects due..I have  a gift album I need to start on, I have a disaster in my garage that I have to have cleaned up by day after tomorrow and I have no desire to go near it!  We have termites.  In, of all places, the one wall that has EVERYTHING stacked up against it.  Not a fun situation.  Steve is going out of town on the same day they are supposed to come drill and I am so worried that we arent't going to get it straightened up in time.... That stinks so bad!!!!

Went to Cathy's over the weekend and had the best time with family.  It was our annual family get together for Christmas.  I love having them.  Especially if it is at someone else's house.  When it is at mine, I stress way too much.

Posted: 6:36 AM, Nov. 28, 2005

He did feel it... I know you feel as though there is a small crack in your heart, however when you called him and he turned around with the "look" you must have known from his reaction he was thinking about it....so the love is there and always will be. Think of the crack as a scratch. Friends will come and go, but his love for you will always be there. Even if he hides it sometimes. Posted by Anonymous  at 11:34 AM, Dec. 3, 2005

Untitled Comment Scratch is definitley a better term. Thank you. I know he loves his Mom. It's just hard seeing the last one grow up so fast.. Posted by  at 7:24 PM, Dec. 6, 2005

Turning Points in life.

This morning I had a little crack start on my heart...  Steve & I both took Logan to school today.  When we got there I did my usual routine and got out, went over to the passenger side and opened the door to let Logan out of the car.  I got his jacket out and helped him put it on, put his backpack on and he said thank you Mom.  Then....one of his friends walked up and with out warning he walked away!  No "I love you Mom", No hug, not even a kiss!  I hollered after him and he turns around and gives me this look...Like "Geez Mom..." and just waves.

I was in total shock.  I knew the day was coming when he wouldn't want me to hug and kiss him in front of anyone, but I never expected it at that particular moment. 

I got in the car and started bawling like a big baby.  I know he loves me, but I was just so emotional about it.  I hate that he is growing up so fast.  So I think today was a turning point.  He isn't a little baby anymore.  I am just sad about it though.  No more hugs and sweet little kisses before he walks away to school.

Thanksgiving news~

The day after Thanksgiving...  wow time flies!  Before we know it, Christmas and the New Year will have been here and passed. 

Steve cooked the turkey for Thanksgiving this year.  It was fantastic!!!  I am not a fan of turkey because it always seems so dry.  But this year was a different story.  He had made "thee best" turkey I have ever tasted.  Being the typical scrap booker, I took pictures of him basting it, babying it, transferring it to the serving platter, carving it....yada, yada.  We had dinner at my sister's house with just us, the kids, my Mom & Dad and Tonia.  Very simple but very nice.  After dinner we started to watch Yours,Mine and Ours, but opted to go home and get to bed early.

So the moment to scrap this year was my hubby and his awesome ability to cook.  Did I mention that he is a great cook to begin with?  He is!  I don't hardly ever make dinner anymore...he does.  Since he's been home more, he does most of the cooking and I love it!  I am so thankful for him, not just on the holiday, but every day that I have had with him.  I know blah, blah, blah...  It's so true, though.

I had plans to get pictures of all of us together, but I never made it a point or got any of us organized to do it.  So one main goal before Christmas is the annual family photo!!!  ((Don't forget it, Jami))

November 17Th 2005

Took the kids to the park on Tuesday (11-15) and what a site toward the end of the day!  The moon was amazing!!!  Thought I would post a pic here to remind me of what kind of beauty the world has.

 

 

 

We had a picnic and played on the merry-go-round & swings.  Logan had so much fun on the swings!  He apperently doesn't remember them from when he was little and just couldn't get enough of them.

Steve got a couple of pictures of us on them.  What a great day!

 

Morgan Halloween Party (the next day) 10-29-05

Wholey moley! Did I get myself into an experience! I had 30, and I am not exagerating, 30 kids over last night and it was a moment to remember~ It started out pretty calm...almost too calm. But after everyone that was coming got here, wholey heck! My house was spotless for about a half hour and after that, it was down hill from there.
We had a costume contest, a bubble blowing contest, a dance contest, watched movies, played more music, and then the marshmellow fight started! It was fun in the beginning, until I got pegged in the eye. Ouch! And ya know who threw it? My son! He got back from cub scouts about a half hour before the party ended and was having fun with all the older kids. It was a blast and an experience but after the marshmellow, I was done. So, after everyone left, I looked around my house and I was dumbfounded! I have never in my life had my house in shambles like that. All I can say is that is "thereapy" for people like me who usually walked around behind the guests picking up every little cumb that falls on the floor.
Long story short, I went to bed and left the mess for morning.


Big huge surprise!!! I get up at 10:30 and I hear music blasting down stairs.......I thought I was still in the middle of all those "pre-teens".....




My house had been invaded! By the Clean Monsters!!!!! My husband, Jordan, Logan, Morgan's friend Kylie and a little bit of Morgan...had cleaned up the entire mess. I stood there and cried. I was so happy. After that surprise I think I can tollerate pre-teens again. It was a pretty good turn out!

Long time no type...

It's been a while since blogging here.  I have had a busy summer and then flew into a busy school year with the kids.

Logan is in Karate, cub scouts and does alot of reading for points at school.

Morgan started Middle school this year and has to be dropped off and picked up every day.  So it's 5 am every morning for me and then a late bed time. She was in basketball and it finally ended the last week in September.  She is skipping sports until after the new year so she can have a little time to herself and friends.

Jordan is still dating Nathan.  That seems to be where her world is at the moment.  Friends are not very high up on the list these days.  I hope that changes eventually and she realizes that he isn't all there is in life.

Steve and I are trying to get used to being back home.  We went to Kauai for 10 days and thoroughly enjoyed every second!  I can't wait to go back again in March.

Scrapbooking is still a huge part of my life...I don't get to do it as much as I thought I would when the kids went back to school, but I am getting all of my DT assignments done on time.  I guess that is all I can hope for right now.

Pictures of Morgan and Logan Spring 2005 School Year

May 3rd 2005

Today is tuesday the 3rd.  Logan turns 7 years old tomorrow.  I can't believe that time has gone by so fast.  He is getting so tall and is such a fantastic kid.  I get the nicest compliments from parents and teachers all saying that he is so good and so polite.  He follows all the rules and hardly ever has to be told twice.  It's nice to know that we have raised a great kid so far. Morgan and Logan got their school pics back yesterday.  They turned out soooo good.  I love them.  Post them later....

Posted: 11:36 AM, May. 3, 2005

April 30th 2005

Saturday April 30th, 2005 I have been riding my bike and walking 6 days out of 7 this week.  I need to start going longer becasue 2 miles isn't doing it at all!  I have cut down on eating so much junk food and still no weight loss.  It's been 2 weeks straight of riding and nothing to show for it except sore legs... Logan has a birthday party today to go to and we have a wedding this evening.  We are leaving the kids by themselves...until Papa comes over this evening.  I am a little worried.  But I don't want to say anything and make Steve think I don't want to go.  I do want to go.  I just don't like leaving the kids for that long while we are heading out of town.  The wedding is in Prescott.  It's for Scott More and I am not sure what his fiance' name.

Posted: 10:10 AM, Apr. 30, 2005

3-25-05

My weekend was good.  I got no where on the scrapping plan, but had a great afternoon with family on sunday.  My sister and parents came over for a barbecue and afterward, I helped my Mom design a really cool Birthday card for Logan.  We made a wallet out of cardstock and patterned paper!  Very cool!!  I even made a credit card and driver's license to go in it.  I scanned my hubby's cards and then changed the wording and numbers on the card and the picture and info on the licence and printed them out on photo paper.  They look so real~  I think he's gonna get such a kick out of it.

Posted: 9:37 PM, Apr. 25, 2005

Monday 25th 2005

It's monday and everyone is finally at school or at work!!!  No more sickies!!!!  YEAH!!!  I still have a busy week though.  Today Jordan has a laser surgery appt. to do some more work on the birthmark on her elbow.  She has been asking for years to have it removed.  So, we took her to a laser surgery center and have been doing laser removal for about a 18 months.  She's had 5 surgeries and it has lightened up alot, but still have more to go.  Then, tomorrow I am going over to my Aunt Wendy's to help her put together a shadow box frame for my oldest cousin, Roger for a Birthday present.  Then Wednesday, I have Morgan's volleyball tournament.  Thursday I have a break, I think... Then friday is back to busy with getting things together for b-days on saturday, a wedding saturday evening and then all day events at my sisters house, celebrating Logan's 7th Birthday on Sunday.  So, I guess I will be doing Birthday shopping on thursday.  LOL!

Posted: 12:38 PM, Apr. 25, 2005

April 22nd 2005

Ah, today is friday. I am so glad it's the weekend. I love having Steve home with me. He had planned on going to New Mexico, but changed plans at the last minute today and is now going to be home. Hopefully we can get his office put in working order this weekend. He really needs a room where he can lock the door and get things done. I got product in the mail yesterday for next months sponsors. Bound and Determined patterned paper and World Win Cardstock. I like both, but the B&D is going to be hard to work with. It's more for elegant photos like weddings and Professional portraits. I also got Leave Memories Stamps. Those I like except for the alphabets. The are way too small!

Posted: 2:00 PM, Apr. 22, 2005

My week...

What a week. Monday was your typical Monday... Trying to get the kids ready for school so I can have the rest of the day to scrap. Tuesday was nice, because I actually got a layout done for a board chat challenge. And Wednesday is where I think I lost time and missed a heck of alot of stuff here. I went shopping with my sister for a bathing suit. (for her, not me) I am not ready to put myself through that kind of humiliation! LOL! After that we went to dinner with my hubby and had some great Italian food. Thursday, I started riding my bike again. 2miles a day, 4-5 days a week is what I used to do before I had some invisible glue put on my butt and my chair....hee hee. I plan to start up again and keep it up. After the bike ride, my cousin Cathy came over. I made some invitations for her. She is graduating on May 12Th with an associates degree in medicine. She's a NURSE!!!! I am soooo proud of her! While she was here, her mom called and let her know that her little brother(he's 19) was going to surgery to have his lung scraped. He has Pneumonia. It's really bad. They were going to insert tubes to drain the fluid, but it's too severe. So later Thursday night, Cathy called and said he was in ICU and doing okay. After all that, I met Steve at an Oyster Bar and Restaurant for a fellow employee that was having a going away get together. I had a very nice time meeting a few of the people my husband works with. They seem to all be very nice and easy to talk with. So here we are now, FRIDAY!!!! I have been scrapping most of the day. I have have been pretty productive too.

Posted: 9:59 PM, Apr. 15, 2005

April 11Th

Had a great lunch with my baby today.  I love spending alone time.  Even if it's  at a diner.  I miss getting to be with him just the two of us.  More in a bit... gotta go chat with Mom and Dad. Chatted with mom and dad.  They came over to drop off a check for the cost of our Hawaii trip this summer.  Wow...Hawaii again.  I think it's going to be so great.  This time my mom, dad and sister are coming.  I can't wait, but then again I can.  I hate being away from home.  I don't know why... I just do.  I guess it's because I don't want anything bad to happen and my way of thinking is that if we don't leave home, we will all be safe.  What a whacked way of thinking huh? Well what else is on my mind?  Oh, lunch.  We had a really deep conversation about how our lives are going both as a couple and as individuals.  I worry about him soooo much.  Work causes him to get stressed beyond what it should.  Then his blood pressure sky rockets.  I hate the fact that he feels like he has to be loyal and protect the people he has working for him, because if it was the other way around, you can be sure they wouldn't even give a damn about him.  Hmmm...  Kind of cynical I know.  But the truth hurts sometimes. As far as me,  I have a lot of learning to do when it comes to people in general.  It seems like I bend over backwards to help anyone I see in need.  Hmmm... who does that sound like?  Now I get why he does what he does.  Because no matter what, we care about other people.  That is the bottom line.  So I guess I should back off and let him get done what he wants to do before he quits.  Bla, bla, bla... Time to end.

Posted: 7:19 PM, Apr. 11, 2005

Short and sweet.

April 5th Busy day!  Going to lunch with hubby....Had a nice quiet morning just the two of us.  I love morning that we can spend time together.

Posted: 11:30 AM, Apr. 5, 2005

Our Family Photo Easter 2005

The right way versus the left

Good Morning

April 5th The kids just left for school.  Logan learned how to tie his shoes this morning...  I know, IT'S ABOUT TIME!!!!  I am left handed, he is right handed so it was really hard for him to learn from me.  So. Steve showed him this morning before school and now he can do it all by himself!  YEAH!!!!