The Best!

OK I hope this works because it is the cutest ever!




Lori is the one little girl in blue, center stage, I will have you note she matched her bell color perfectly. I am not sure why this is so blurry but it is just too sweet not to share. Lori's class did three songs with the bells for their Christmas program today and we were all blown away. They also recited a Christmas alphabet and sang several songs. They were just amazing!

Here is a joke from their class today,

What is the difference between the regular alphabet and a Christmas alphabet?

There is "no el"

Ha Ha Ha I love Kindergarten humor!

Quick Info!

Wanted to let everyone know again the I will be teaching my Doodling class over at debbiehodge.com again starting January 4th! I am excited not only to teach it again but because the class has been completely revamped and is all drawing/doodling! If you took the class before you can come see the new one for free, and if you missed it last time make sure to catch it this time! Those of yo checking in who are not scrappers (you know who you are) please pass this info on to friends who might be interested! Thanks so much!

SNOW!!!!

OK so I am back and forced into a home day. We are experiencing blizzard conditions and most of Des Moines has shut it's doors tight. John was supposed to make it in to the hospital for surgery but ended up in a snow drift one block from home safe but not making it in to work.

Last night we spent about an hour or more out in the white stuff playing with shovels and Dad snow blowing lucky for us our driveway is clear because of it! Just the 4 foot drift against the garage door to clear now Ha Ha!



We had a lot of fun! And now we are tucked into our home for the foreseeable future.

I will get going on my bragging later today or tomorrow, I am not done with that either!

Here is what you really came for though how about a Kindergarten joke to hold you over?

What goes Oh! Oh! Oh?
Santa Clause walking backwards :-)

Bragging rights - Part 1

I have put a challenge out there for the ladies at GIS and I will pass it on to anyone who stops by here as well. Take this holiday season to do some bragging. Not on yourself but on those around you. Take a few days and spend some time sharing some love with those you love.

This week I am starting with my closet, my family. (The ones I live with :-))




These three are the light of my life.

First there is Sara - I do not think there is a brighter, kinder girl out there. She is wise well beyond her years and beautiful to boot. Sara's memory can already out do John's and mine. She reads a book and can quote it back to you with the underlying meaning attached. She cares deeply for all those around her and feels deeply.

Then there is Lori - Can a ray of sunshine be tucked up into a little body? I think yes. This girl is the walking definition for joyful. She sings and laughs everywhere she goes. They worry about her in swimming because they can't get her to stop smiling to shut her mouth. Play hard, laugh hard, snuggle hard, love hard. That is our Lori.

And then there is my John - This man is my soul mate, my completing half. His drive and passion in his work is amazing. His tenderness and playful side as a Dad NEVER ceases to amaze me. And the love and care he showers me with brightens my life. I am very spoiled by John.

I love these three, more than words can ever express.

Thanksgiving

Well early wishes to all for a happy holiday season or start of it at least. I will probably be away from the computer to wish you happy closer to Thanksgiving so I am sending well wishes now. Starting after turkey week I am going to do a little bragging here on the blog. That is bragging on those closest to me so stay tuned for that.

This week is a busy one with parent Teacher conferences, getting ready for a trip and all the regular day to day. I did get to scrap this past weekend and got a few things completed.

Hi Beau and Bonnie!

Here is another one...
And one more for good measure, my favorite. Wouldn't you know the one that comes together easily and at the spur of the moment is the one I love.


Well best go hit the counters. Love to all. Be safe as you travel and hug friends and family lots! I am sending hugs your way too!

CLEAR!

Yep he did it and I will shout it from the mountain tops! JOHN PASSED HIS BOARDS!!!!!!!!!

OK needed that! It is amazing how your life can hang in the balance waiting on one bit of news. How it can create such a pivotal point in your lives. If this happens we can do this... if this happens we could plan this... don't plan anything there until we know about this... It goes on and on. But we are there, we know, and he passed so we can "acknowledge and move on". Words to live by my friends, words to live by.

So last week was tense but John was home and did get some good play time in with the girls and me. The weather here has been more then a blessing in the 60's and sunny most days. It gets dark around 5ish these days but it is not keeping us from our loops around the block. We know colder weather is quickly on the way so we will take advantage while we can.

A fun piece of news for me is that I will be teaching my Doodling class again on line. Originally I re wrote it to be set up as a class that people could come and take self paced, meaning they could just get all the lessons and do them whenever, but Debbie invited me to teach the class "live" again and I am thrilled. I will be teaching early January and the class is completely re-done so lots of fun new material. In the meantime I will be doing a tutorial in December at Get It Scrapped as well but I am not sure if we are announcing the whole plan yet so I better not spill the beans.

Like I needed another project I have also been playing with two classes that are currently running. One is working with stamps and I have made two cards already then the other is an art journaling class. I am not a big journaler but this class is SO much fun lots of messes, spray ink and paint here are some images of the pieces I have been working on. I am behind in the class but loving just tootling along at my own pace and really enjoying the process.

Here is one of my cards
Here are the inserts that will go in between some of the pages (we are making a book from scratch) The last image is of some of the pages themselves.


Well I think that is about all for now, whew! I obviously has been holding off posting!

Ah yes and I leave you with two new jokes from Kindergarten!

Who always wares their shoes to bed?
A Horse!
Why did the cookie go to the doctor?
He felt Crummy!

Happy weekend all!

Weekend Doings

Well John has been off to Dallas and the girls are home playing. We got lots of little errands done. Dropped off or extra Halloween candy (the peanut kind) at a dentist who collects it for the troops. We did a Sam's run ate out a couple times got to go see our brand new YMCA and even had dinner at a friends home. The Pederson's introduced the girls to Checkers and Trouble and then sent the games home with us so we have been playing lots. I also got a little scrapping done. Imagine that! Here are the latest...





It has been fun to go back and get these photos done from Matt and Janelle's wedding!

Happy week all!

October summed up

OK so the end of October has been rough. Too much, too fast , too sick, and too tired, BUT
these two are just too darn cute and I love them too darn much. They make it all worth it, enough said!



Sara the cuddly cat
Lori the marvelous monkey


Happy Halloween!

Bernard Pivot Questionnairre

OK so latest Blogging challenge. This one is from the TV show Actor's Studio" I guess it is a list of questions they all answer. Here are my answers...

What is your favorite word? Smock (Calvin and Hobbs fan)
What is your least favorite word? hate
What turns you on? art in visual, movement and music forms
What turns you off? arguing
What sound or noise do you love? rain and Lori laughing
What sound or noise do you hate? fingernails on the chalk board
What is your favorite curse word? darn - I stopped using them in college, I really did not like how I was sounding.
What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? Teaching art/scrapbooking classes more regularly and live as well as on line.
What profession would you not like to do? Sales.
If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? You have done your best. (And I hope and pray it is enough)

Weekly doings

Well it is Sunday and not much to report out of the ordinary here we did accomplish this yesterday!

The girls finally decided to try carving this year and both picked beautiful big pumpkins. To top it off neither one was too slimy or messy so the three of us layed out paper in the garage and had a grand time. Believe it or not the one with eyelashes is Lori's, I had to simplify her original design just a tad. Sara went with the traditional look. And last night while John was, guess what... I was busy doing guess what...


And this too!


I am getting back into last years left behinds and made these two layouts with kits from my friends "Scrap This Kit" monthly kit club. Last weekend I participated in a weekend crop on line and managed to complete 9 pages woo hoo. I liked several of them lots! A couple from San Diego and a couple from much earlier. Next Saturday I am scrapping away from the house while a babysitter watches the girls and Lori goes to a B-Day party. I am hoping to tackle the Bellingham wedding and see how many I can get done. Maybe a mini book too.

Here are some Kindergarten jokes for those of you watching for them...

How do you make a skeloton laugh?

Tickle his funny bone!

Why does a whitch ride a broom?

Because a vaccume cleaner is to heavy!

Have a very happy week all!

Where my feet take me (or fingers or car)

So my very good friend Tami has us blogging again and this time she wants to know where we go bodily and here on line on a day to day basis.

My day always starts with a quick check in at Get I t Scrapped some of my very best friends are there and they always start my day with a smile. I also check in with the ladies at Apron Strings, a kit club that I have enjoyed over the past three years.

Then off in the car to Kindergarten and then off again too first grade. Two schools this year so a little bit of driving.

Then I take myself to the YMCA usually these days teaching, in fact 5 classes there starting in November. No class on Monday but you can usually still find me there :-)

Shower at home or the Y and off to pick up the Kindergartner. Home for lunch and nap and a couple chores. Check in with online friends one more time.

Pick up the first grader and then it depends on the night Tuesday is dance, Thursday is Swimming Mo, Wed and Fri. are home but then dinner baths and bedtime routines and if I am lucky some scrappy time at my desk and one last shout to online friends.

Yep that's my day at least the abbreviated version.

Happy Tuesday all!

Class Assignments

OK so I fibbed I am back today and you all get to take a peek at more work. I am currently unable to post my work over at GIS who knows why so temporarily I am going to post my class work here. I am taking a spectacular class from Doris. She does amazing stuff with layouts and all the add ons and has a wonderful teaching style. She is a teacher in real life too imagine that, any hoo, at the end of each lesson she gives a funchallenge that really gets yo putting ideas and techniques together that you wouldn't on your own. Here is mine from her first class


The chick is created using a spray ink and then adding the doodled outline. The assignment was to use icons as part of creating the feel of your page (my chick and egg) use a large chipboard element (the egg) and use spray mists (my chick) and use some basics (brads for eyes)
Here is the layout for lesson #2
The assignment on this one was Creat a grid with a basic shape (the circle photos) include journaling lines to write on (the ribbon created my lines) paper piecing (the large flower boquet) and use different fonts in your title (yep did that too)

So until I figure out what I have screwed up on the computer you all get to see my assignments here, lucky you!

Late check in

OK so I missed Friday by a long shot so you will get a couple in a row, but I have a great excuse! My Mom and Dad were here spoiling me and that is the best excuse!

I even got to scrap Saturday evening with 3 friends uninterrupted and the girls had a blast at build a bear getting witch costumes for their bears and cinnamon pretzels for fun.

I managed to get a couple cards and layouts done here is one, I love the colors on this one!


Here is another, these girls are just way too cute!



All in all a very lovely weekend! John got lots of study time and the girls and I got lots of pampering from Grandma and Grandpa.

Lori has been bringing home jokes from Kindergarten every day so i thought I would add my favorites here. Just so you all can share in the Kindergarten chuckles.

What does a mother ghost say when her kids get in the car?

Bookle Up!

Or how about, What do you get from a shivering cow?

A milk shake!

These will have you all checking in regularly I know! You'll be waiting on the edge of your seat for the latest and greatest of Kindergarten humor! They make me giggle so I thought I would pass them along.

Happy Thursday!

A Good Day

OK so had to share this link! My brother passed this to me because of my background with dance and drill team. Little did he know that this is my current all time FAVORITE song! So cool Thank you so much little bro!

Black Eyed Peas

Anyway not a whole lot to report. The girls had great weeks at school, John is doing good, lots of studying but good. I am keeping it all rolling. Not much to show art wise right now, I am busy re-writing my doodling class so the two new layouts I did are going into that . As a tease though I created a tessellation for the background of one and it turned out soooo cool!

The weather here has turned to fall and the AC is off these days. The warmest it gets in the day is low 80's but it is cooling into the 60's and 50's at night so it is just perfect. This could last year round and you would not hear any of us complaining.

Have a great weekend all! Sending out hugs!

Update

Just a quick update for those of you wanting to know. My friend's son, Conor, has turned the corner and is doing well. He will be on IV's for two more weeks but is off oxygen and eating and blood work looks good. Thank you to all of you who prayed and were thinking of Gab and her family!

Finally Friday

Well Friday is here and I must admit I am glad to see this one arrive. Nothing major and I tackled it all pretty well but today I am a little tiered. Mostly lack of sleep, with John away I do not sleep well, but he is home yip skip! I have dealt with a couple of school issues and a swimming issue this week, none huge or life threatening, but well being threatening and just added that edge of stress tackling them here on my own.
So for the good stuff. Here is our beautiful wildflower garden. The picture does not do it justice. Who knew you could get this from a box of seeds just poured out and raked in? Sara announced this morning that she was excited to go to school today, a first since the first day of school this year, woosh, I think we rounded the bend. Lori is going to get bumped up into the older classes at swimming so I can throw them both in the pool in the same time and she is getting a lesson that suits her better. And John is home, hmm did I already say that?


Here is some of my creativity from the week, the first is Easter shots. This is in the lot that used to be empty across the street from us. These two would hunt for hours. Much fun!


And here is from the weekly challenge at the Apron Strings site. We were to use a die cut sheet as our base paper, so the blue you see behind the red and white edged paper is not attached. I LOVE how this turned out and it just fell together really quickly.


No plans for this weekend other then John counting down to boards in 6 weeks and hiding out at Pannera, and Starbucks. We are well! I will probably update here as my friend Gab gives me reports on her son so those of you who want to continue praying will be in on his hopeful progress.

Have a great weekend all and hug a friend! They deserve it!

Prayer request and new classes

Hi all!

I will update you on our lives tomorrow or Saturday but for tonight I am sending out a prayer request to anyone who is listening. I have a dear friend whom I have met through one of my scrapping sites, her name is Gab. She lives in Australia with her husband Anthony and son Conor who is about 7. Conor was born with CF and has struggled with related medical issues through out his young life. Yesterday Conor ended up in the hospital with a sever lung infection, which for people with CF can be life threatening. He is on at least 3 IV meds and antibiotics at the moment and other oral meds along with his normal "daily cocktail" which consists of 25 pills. This little boy and family could use any ones prayers who are out there and listening. So please send them heavenward. Thanks so much!

On a completely separate and lighter note classes have resumed over at Get It Scrapped. There is a fabric class dealing with how to add fabric to your pages, a class about how to deal with the "not so perfect" photos that we all end up with. There are two photo classes going on and digital classes too. Coming up there is a details class, a stamping class and a style class that all promise to be spectacular. So things are hopping so if you have never checked it out hop over the Get It Scrapped and see what's up!

Friday - Yipee!

Well we are finally at full throttle with our schedules. Swimming got added this week on Thursdays so we are in full swing. I think this year will be much more manageable then last without me teaching dance. And when John finishes boards and prayerfully passes we will all heave a sigh of relief and look forward to even calmer days. The flu swept through our home last week so I have been dragging this week. No new creations to share but hopefully the next two days will allow for some creative time.
Sara is doing better with school finding new and old friends, Lori is in LOVE with Mrs. Bassler and "reading" up a storm with her reading book she brings home. It is so fun to listen to her, look out all she has the "teacher voice"!
John is getting ready for his trip for his boards class and I am trying to keep them all clothed and fed and find a few minutes for me too. I think I am doing pretty good at it so far this year.

Happy weekend all!

Here are two of my latest creations. Both are based on challenges. And both are from new photos. This first one is Sara's first day of school and I was challenged to use a sketch. I adapted it quite a bit but like the results.


Here is another fun one. This photo is from the same day but taken right after Sara yanked her second front tooth out. Show no fear! She just yanked it! And believe me it was NOT a dangler. She looks awesome with her big gap!

Not much action here, we have been battling the flu so lots of Tylenol and psudafed for us and TV time. We hopefully are on the mend and prying that Lori manages to miss it.

Have a great weekend and enjoy an extra day all of you who are enjoying one!

Last Make a List Monday

Today I am looking out at...construction, there is a house across the street, a house next door, three houses around the corner and an entire elementary school being built in our back yard. (a cornfield away on the school but we look right out at it)
Today I might cook...salmon and chicken on the grill.
Today I am reading... lots of fun blogs.
Today my biggest priority is...balancing my check book, blahh. Why do I do this on Mondays? starts the week so blah!
Today I hope to talk to... my Mom.
Today I have already seen/talked to...ladies at the YMCA, I love that group of gals!
Today I am watching...my girls grow up too fast!
Today I am dreaming that...Sara starts to love first grade.
Today I am wearing... a fleece jacket over my t-shirt and slippers. We are having such odd cool weather for August.
Today my mood is... peaceful.
Today I am going to...start working on my classes.

Friday

OK so a little behind on the August challenges and probably not catching up. This week there were several projects involved, make a card, make a page and sadly I did not have the time. however I did have the time to make this!

Sorry I had to remove the image here it is going to be published in the June issue of Scrapbook.com.

and this



And celebrate my Sara's B-day like this!


So it has been a most amazing week. I also played around with a playlist so you can listen to music while you are here but that is a work in progress. So check that out a little later!

Happy weekend all!

Make a list Monday

Here is my list for today -

Today I have completed;
Getting up and making 3 beds, getting myself and 2 girls fed, dressed and out the door, dropped one off to school, taught two aerobic classes, showered and dressed for the rest of the day, back home with one girl, prepared lunch for three of us (dad is post call), two loads of laundry and a 20 minute cat nap.

Today I still need to;
Balance the check book and pay the bills, two more loads of laundry, pick up Sara, fold all the laundry, put away the laundry, cook dinner, bike ride with the girls, sprinkler for fun if the wind dies down, bath, brush , read to two girls and tuck them in, get an hour of down time before bed if possible.

Have a great Monday all!

A Snapshot from Sunday (for Saturday)

So our assignment for Saturday was to fill the frame. Use our camera and fill the lens to the edges, in other words get close! I knew what I wanted to take but couldn't get the shot until Sunday. We shared a Birthday cake with friends from our church and sang Sara Happy Birthday 3 days early. I got the shot too!

10 Random notes about me for Friday

So my assignment for Friday is to note 10 random not well known things about me. Silly or not just ten random details that are me.

1-I still have my Winnie the Pooh. He sleeps with me when John is on call, yes, I will admit it. And in all honesty it was a gift that was given to my youngest brother at his birth and I adopted and never gave back!

2-I love having my toes done. Pedicures are the best and crazy colors during the winter are a must. My toes are hiding all winter so I go for colors that make me smile in the shower, blue and purple are among my favorites.

3-I drive way too fast! Yep!

4-I have a sever fear of heights! I always feel like I am going to slide right off ski lifts and right through open stairways.

5-I can watch a good movie a thousand times over and still find it completely entertaining, and laugh at all the punch lines. And my version of a good movie is just about anything.

6-I adore the smell of coffee but can not stand the taste of it! How do you acquire the taste for something if you can not stand it? I do not get that one!

7-I could eat pizza and ice cream each and every day and have a smile on my face.

8-I am know as a heads down scrapbooker to my friends who scrap with me. They say I don't come up for air.

9-My Mom is my very best girlfriend! MY VERY BEST! And I am so blessed to have her.

10-I have been told more times then I can count that I am silly.

Hmm... yep sounds like me.

Toothless Wonder!

Well here they are! Sara the toothless wonder and her side-kick "I am NEVER going to loose a tooth" Lori. I can't scrap every time she looses another one but she is just too darn cute with her gaps getting bigger and bigger. Sara lost tooth number 6 and now has the big open gap of two front teeth missing to start off her first grade year.

The Thursday challenge was to post silly doings of our young kiddos and like most parents I have a few. I have to say though that one of my favorite sayings from the two girls came in similar situations two years a part.

When Sara was about 3 years old we were walking through the YMCA locker room after swimming. The older ladies who had just finished water aerobics were also in the locker room and in process of getting clothed. Sara in a louder voice asks "Why are their bottoms so big?" I am not sure how many of them heard but you can imagine I was a wee bit embarrassed at the time. Laughable now but mortified then.

Lori in a similar situation just this past year as a 4 year old asked why the lone older woman in the locker room was so fat. Again mortification on my part but they do point out the obvious don't they? Lori also says my chest is jiggly so the observations are not just saved for strangers.

Tuesday's Techie (hmm I am not sur I am!)

OK so here is the challenge. I am going to attempt to show you a photo that can be clicked on and take you some where else! Pretty cool if it works huh?! So I am going to share one of my latest layouts and hopefully if you click on the layout it will whisk you away to the wonderful site where I bought the kit I used to make it! Tami here's lookin' at you girl!





and just for good measure since I have umpteen sites open I might as well do a second one. (this one takes you to Scrap This Kit also, I am just playing here he he)





Well give it a try! Let's see if she floats!

Mid Month Check Up

Or maybe check in is a better way to phrase it. Tami at GIS asked us each to do a little mid-month check in on our day to day lives for our Sunday blogging. I was playing catchup on Sunday and did not see this request until this morning, but then I think she posted it in the wee hours of the morning so that might explain it.

I am getting back into the groove so to speak. I am home from a long and much needed trip, and my things are put away and tided. Last week I caught up on the general cleaning of the house, you know the never ending bathrooms, laundry, floors, groceries etc... We got through our last week of swim lessons, got new dance shoes fitted and tonight we go by Sara's school to meet her teacher. Sara starts Wednesday, my big first grader! Then we just fall into our pattern one piece at a time. Dance and Lori's open house are the following week on the 25th, Lori starts September 1st and swim lessons start back up the 10th. Then it is full swing. A little less chaos this year with me not teaching dance but that could be a good thing.

In the mean time I am still loving my scrapping and I am reformatting my doodling class to be added to the GIS store front. I am going to go back and do an art journaling class with a very dear on line friend, Gab, and in general am doing quite well. I tend to do better on a more predictable schedule and I am looking forward to it. All sorts of other little projects going on but that is me in a nutshell for now.

Weaver"isms"

Our family has things we say that just make us giggle. OK so Dad doesn't giggle but he gets a good chuckle going. But no one else gets the joke because they do not know the original context. So this morning I am making a list of a few choice Weaverisms and sharing the "rest of the story". You might not think they are all that funny but at least you have all the information.

"speedy quick" This is a new one for this summer. Have you ever read a Junie B. Jones book? You will get this if you have. My Mom and I drove with the girls from Des Moines to Denver this summer and we listened to a couple Junie B. books and then read a couple more on our trip. Junie B. cracks us up more then the kids, so we decided we would adopt one of her favorite sayings! "Mighty Fine" is another that we like from Junie B.

"I like ice cream!" OK so obvious right, so why the laughter? When anyone asks "who would like some ice cream?" in my family my father will quietly raise his hand and respond "I like ice cream" OK Dad this is one of the bigger understatements of the century! My father loves ice cream in fact he is one of the lucky few that can eat it every night and not seem to gain weight. And just the fact that it really is not the correct response to the question, we didn't ask if you liked it, that is a given we asked if you wanted some. But he never fails and it always makes us laugh.

"strap on the ol' feed bag" So many of these are from my Dad! This is one that popped out of his mouth at some point and stuck. We use it frequently when gathering to eat. I am sure he picked it up from an old western movie or T.V. show.

Or how about this one? "If it was a snake it would have bit ya!" This is for when you are looking for something and it is right in front of you, get it, close enough to bite you ha ha. OK just another one from my Dad. Another one for this very situation you might hear at our house is "it is tall and red" This one surrounds a specific indecent that my Dad was looking for a bottle of ketchup. He was staring straight at it and my Mother was getting a little tiered of waiting said "have you moved everything around?" "yes" is the response. Mom gets up and guess what it is right in front. So standing beside him now she says "Strode it is the tall and red one" and sits back down.

"Let's try this again" This is straight from me. I have this habit of getting out the door without one or two items and realizing it about a block away. The poor girls are always in the car with me and we circle back and have to start over. I didn't realize how often I had said it until they started chiming in "let's try this again!" Now we say it just because it makes us laugh.

"Ginormous" Meaning VERY large. Do not know where it is from but we use it often.

I added "Grandpa are you packin'?" to a layout that is shown in the entry below. Poor Dad again this time he forgot his wallet when we went out, so others were paying all day/evening. So now when we leave the house for a shopping eating event we always ask "Grandpa, are you packin'" as in packin' heat or packin' his wallet in this case. He he.

Well there are a few, I am sure there are more but a fun start for this Monday.
Happy week all!

Thought Provoking Thursday (again on Sunday)

So another little challenge to catch up on was Doris' Thought Provoking Thursday. She asked us to look at where our scrappy inspiration comes form and post a few things we have scrapped lately. so here are two of my most recent layouts both done this past week.

This first one is directly linked to a challenge to use punches. I love a good challenge to get the juices flowing. It gives me a place to start when I am staring at all my gear and wondering where to start.

The second layout has two inspiration pieces to it. The first is the wonderful kit I just got from Scrap This Kit run by my friend Tami. I love getting kits that have all the goods put together for you. Fun letters, papers and embellishments all ready to go. The second half of the inspiration was in the story. Turties is what Lori wanted most to see at Sea World! Turties you ask? Why turtles of course! I wanted to make sure we remember how excited to see them she was and what she has been calling them all summer.
And one more for good measure. This is a hint at tomorrows list making! This is all about the fun kit again but also the title and journaling. It centers around a Weaverism.

Snapshot Saturday (on Sunday)

Well the Saturday challenge was to take a few shots of the same thing, from different angles. These little flowers are right in our front patch. The girls and I went big and planted wild flowers in the front and side just to say we at least attempted some planting this year. They have done very well and are really just starting to bloom. Besides we promised Grandma we would take a picture when they started to bloom so she could see. Here they are Grandma!

Blue Tounge

I do not know what my assignment is from GIS for Snapshot Saturday yet, but I just had to share this shot! The girls got to feed the giraffes at our Des Moines zoo last Monday and I got this really good one. I wish you could hear the squeal of delight that went along with the lick!

Fun for Friday!

I do love a fun Friday and Jane has asked us to post a silly picture and title it with a well known "line" so let me see what I can come up with. How about this...














and instead of "Isn't she lovely?" "Aren't they lovely"

I posted the partner to this shot a few days back and they really are lovely but they can also be goofballs. I know... they come by it rightly!
Happy Friday all!

Wednesday - catch up

Favorite piece of furniture is what Torm asked for on our blogging challenges for Wednesday this week. She asked us to imagine starting over with just one peice and what would it be. The only one I can think of that would just rip me up if we lost would be the cradle my Grandfather made for me when I was born. We have it now and it will go to Sara when she has children. (A few years down the road.) It is currently housing an enormous pile of stuffed friends in Lori's room so I will have to post a photo later as she is currently catching a nap.

I have updated with the photos. This is a pared down stuffed friend view. usually it is overflowing :-)

Techie (ha ha)Tuesday

OK so a computer whiz I am not!

Our challenges on Tuesdays at Get It Scrapped are about Technical tricks or "skills" to jazz up our blog. So look at the neat scrolling do dad that I added! Yep all by myself! OK so it was really simple but I am feeling very grown up. We are also supposed to blog a little on something that we would like to do or might even say we will do but never in a million years would go for/attempt.

I am one of those who suffer from coming up with the great come backs AFTER the situation has passed. I tend to be a very sarcastic person so whit is by nature built in but when someone is hard on me or jumps all over me the sarcasm disappears and I tend to cower. Only to be followed about 5 minutes too late by the perfect retort. I wish on occasion that reply would come right to mind and just pop right on out there.
BUT on the same note I'll bet I have a few less enemy's because of it and a few more friends too. I don't really need the smart comeback I just wish they showed up a little more timely on occasion.

Make a list Monday - Wishes

We are back to Monday and I am sharing another list today, a list of wishes. I wrote a poem in the fourth grade titled if I could have three wishes and it has always stuck in my head, one of those ah ha moments in life I think. I wished for a best friend who cares how I feel inside, a pet that would not give away secrets and, somebody who would always be there. Fairly deep for a fourth grade wish list, while others were reading lists of money, cars, and more wishes. Today's list is probably a little on the lighter side but it is my wishes just for today.

my 3 wishes for today

1) I wish for a happy healthy school year for my two girls as they start school in the next couple weeks.

2) I wish for peace for my husband as he prepares for his next round of boards.

3) I wish for time to complete not only the things I need to do but a few minutes to do the things I want to do.

Burglary (oh maybe not)

Well today is Fun for Friday over at Get It Scrapped and our assignment is to retell a story from childhood or share a memory that will make us, and others smile. So here is mine! (Family members will all remember this well)

I was in about fourth or fifth grade, living in Flagstaff, Arizona. When weather was permitting I rode my bike to school on my own and sometimes picked up a friend on the way. My friend Shannon Madden was the pick up for the day so off I went to gather her up and head to school. I made it to her home in plenty of time and vaguely remember her not being quite ready so I went inside to wait. Shannon is a dear childhood friend and still is a friend today, we lovingly call her Bug. So I sat waiting for Bug, the rest of the family is already gone so the two of us are on our own to get to school. When she was just about ready to go she headed to the garage to get her bike, and here my memory gets a little fuzzy. I follow her out the laundry door into the garage and as she is trying to open the garage door she turns back and yells "Don't let that door close!" OOPS! Too late, the deed is done. The door has locked behind me, and for some unknown reason the garage door is locked in front of us so we are stuck!
Yep, two young girls around 11ish stuck in a garage trying to make it to school on time. My seance of responsibility kicks in and I am freaking out about not getting to school on time. Bug on the other hand is worried about food and water for the long day ahead. needless to say neither of us are thinking clearly. We try the laundry door. We bang, we shove we even try to pick the lock as I recall. Then we attack the garage door, we pulled up as hard as we could, we kicked and banged some more. Then we both climbed up on the work bench and started yelling with all our might for Bug's neighbor. All of these efforts were futile, nothing worked, we were stuck! Well almost.
We decided we were getting out no matter what. I am not sure who's brilliant idea it was but we decided to go out the window. The only thing stopping us was a screen. We could not figure out how to get it off so we literally shoved on one corner until it started bending. Bug and I made the whole big enough for us to crawl through and we escaped and were on our merry way!
We made it to school and as I recall not even very late. (It had seemed like hours in the garage.) And we went on with our day. I am sure we told the story to our friends and laughed over our adventure even then.
So fast forward to about 7pm that evening and my Mom gets a phone call, I remember hearing the one sided part of the conversation "Oh my" "I can't believe it" "Is everything OK?" you know the kind of call. When she got off I asked what happened and to who? "The Madden's had a burglary" was the response. GULP!
Pat Madden is the chief of police and nothing gets by this guy! He immediately notices the bent screen and calls in the troops. They were currently fingerprinting and looking for missing valuables. What they can not figure out is why the screen is bent outward, like someone escaping and why all the doors on the house were still locked tight. Hmmm... I think I have the answer!
I fess up right away and tell Mom the whole story. She hurridly calls the Maddens back to set the record straight and call off the chase. No one was angry, no harm, no foul. I can not remember where Bug was during all of this and why she was not the one to tell the tail but boy was it a doosy.
We have all laughed more then once over this tale and even when it happened there was much chucling.

Hope this added a smile to our Friday!

Fly Baby

Today's blogging assignment from GIS is to relate a story. One that could go directly from your blog to a scrapbook page so here are some thoughts with a photo taken only last night.

Baby number two is up and flying! Yep Lori is steady on her wheels too! The photo is a blur because I am running behind her trying to take it! John and I better get bikes, and FAST! What an amazing summer my two girls have had both learning to ride their bikes. There have been other adventures for sure this summer, art classes, dance camp, swim lessons, trips to San Diego and Denver, and lots of parks and play time. But learning to ride seems like such a right of passage. A step into independence and freedom. I remember as a young person riding all over our little community of Flagstaff. Of course on our own to get to the pool, or friends houses and then even to school. The freedom to move yourself to a new and distant location. HMMM I don't think I am quite ready to send them off on their own but it sure is a gimps into things to come!

Blogging Challenges

My beloved Get It Scrapped site is doing a wonderful blog challenge this month and I am busy playing a little catch up! Saturday's challenge was a little photo scavenger hunt we were looking for three things, something you love, something yellow and something from above. One of mine turned out horrible so is not included but I bet you can guess which the other two are!

Grocery List

OK so I am a day late in posting this but can I tell you that returning home from vacation is WORK! Ha Ha! We had an amazing couple of weeks in San Diego with the whole Weaver/Houghton clan and then back in Denver with the girls and I at my Mom and Dad's. A much needed break for me so the aftermath is well worth it! But a little catching up on house cleaning, bills and life await.
Here is a typical grocery list for me I thought it would be fun to actually scan it so you can see my mess. Because we have been away it was mostly produce needing replacing (we eat more then a small army in the produce department!) Grapes, peaches, apples, cherries, and blueberries were in there for fruit and then peppers, cucumbers, carrots, broccoli and lettuce for vegis. The circles are all the items I have to go get a different store. Blahhh. I could do all my shopping at one but it is quite a bit more expensive if I do. Any way here it is.

Not Pretty!

So yeah, this is me. Sara took this photo so excuse the unsteady hand but someone had to get this shot. This is me after I had single-handedly re planted three Maple trees. Dug 3 new holes 20"deep and 36" wide, pulled up 3 trees that had been planted 2 days earlier (yes by me if you are asking), refilled 3 holes and replanted the 3 trees. Needless to say heavy work on a hot day. the moisture you see is sweat, not a hose down. Then on Saturday I went to an all day Turbo Kick training for aerobics so you can imagine every inch of me is hurting! Boy do I need a vacation!

New classes at Get It Scrapped

One of the reasons I started this blog was to help out the amazing teachers at Get It Scrapped who helped me advertise my own class there. I promised myself I would do the same in return so just so everyone knows there are some amazing classes going on there this month!

For starters our very own Debbie Hodge has revamped her class Scrapbooking Everyday Life. The first two lessons are already out but it is not to late to join and I must say Debbie is ALWAYS a must read! She is an amazing writer and a stellar teacher!

Second Tania Willis is teaching a class on card making. You know the kind of cards you hate to throw away! They are beautiful and Tania is soooo creative, she uses all sorts of bits and pieces to create amazing hand made touches! Here is a link to find some more info

Cards: Beautifully Handmade

Thirdly Pattie Knox is teaching even more Mad Digital Skills! This lady is a pro! Now I will openly admit to being less then stellar on my computer but if I was in to it, this is the gal I would turn to! Her classes are just amazing! Here is link to get all the dirt on this one!

Still More Mad Digital Skillz

I think those are them. Although I know Dina is teaching another of her breathtaking art journal classes right now too. She is looking at Master artists and how to use their art and lives as inspiration in your journaling. Now doesn't that just sound yummy? I would say YES!

OK I must be off. More personal up to's next time! I have a one of a kind photo to post anyway! He He

This is a little prompt I was directed to from this site: The Simple Woman's Daybook

For Today - July 8th, 2009

Outside my window... are grey clouds and light breezes. And the four beautiful new trees standing in the ground.

I am thinking... I'm glad to be catching up on a few projects.

From the learning rooms...the house is quiet two girls asleep and John still at work.

I am thankful for... the peace that I have back today.

From the kitchen... I think we are having something with leftover turkey for dinner.

I am wearing... Comfy dark blue cargo capris and a pink old navy shirt. i am a little bit of a slouch today but I sure am comfortable.

I am reading... nothing right now.

I am hoping... to get one more chore done today and some scrapbooking time.

I am creating... lots of pages for challenges.

I am praying... for my husband and family always.

Around the house... we are finally pulling it all together. The basement still needs some organization but without shelving it may have to wait.

One of my favorite things... in my new home is my new scrapping table.

A few plans for the rest of the week... Clean up the floors, get ready for a training on Saturday, get our bed put back together, and have many people run through to do all sorts of minor repairs.

She did it!

Need I say more Miss. Sara did it! We were a little doubtful to be honest. We were not sure when we started if she would ever find her balance. Fitting her long legs for a bike just was not that easy either. But July 2nd she did it, she was flying. Now stopping safely, speed control, and starting are next on the agenda!