feudalism, knights, and surfers.

these are scenes from my scrap-table. been busy making xmas cards and working on stuff for classes. i've been bitten by the quilting bug, and finally decided to pull out a quilt i started for shannon about 2 years ago. Maybe i will finish it this year and give it to her for xmas. Maybe. But i have been really inspired by all the fabric and patterns. Been stitching and adding a ton of embroidery to layouts i have been making. just makes me happy.

the kids have become monopoly maniacs. they really are getting good. drew really doesn't care to play...doesn't hold his attention, but then again he is only 3. but ryne and shannon love playing for hours, and ryne is a master negotiator. always trying to get something for nothing from shannon. makes me chuckle. this week we have been studying about feudalism, knights and serfs. Shannon keeps calling them "surfers". too funny. :) the kids made castles out of cardboard and have really been having a good time learning. off to the library. have a great day.

It's been like a zoo here lately. I'm always hearing animals roaring, monkeys screetching, and a hum of people talking. Ryne bought the game zoo tycoon a couple weeks ago and that is what they want to play all the time now. The game is great, you have to construct your own zoo. First you designing the cages, then pick the animals, and you can choose dinosaurs too. Really cool! Don't forget to add scientists to take care of the animals. The ultimate goal of the game is to try to make money and become a zoo tycoon. The first few days were spent building these elaborate zoos, with restaurants, and ferris wheels and lots of animals. Fast forward to yesterday....i'm in the kitchen making dinner and i hear the computer, but the animals are really roaring and people are screaming. I walk in the playroom to find Ryne and Drew on the computer laughing hysterically. They built a zoo that had a T-Rex and a yetti (abominable snowmonster) and they were feeding the guests to them. They were picking up the people and putting them inside the cage to be eaten by the animals. I didn't know whether to laugh or not. Rich walks in the door from work and he sees what is going on, and i quietly say to him, "do u see what they are doing?' he replies, "yeah, i showed them that!"

have a great day :)

so...this weekend i got to meet one of my "pea" friends in real life. lisa and i "met" last year when she put together our circle journal group. she is such a super sweet person, and I couldn't wait to meet her. She was in town just for a few hours, so we took the kids to the pumpkin patch and had a picnic lunch at the park. such a great afternoon. the kids had a blast playing together and shannon even got a little sad when frankie (lisa's daughter) was leaving. it was really sweet.

we were halloween'd out this year. Shannon had a harvest parade at school, where all the kids dressed up and they paraded around for the parents. it was really cute. sat night we were invited to an insanely awesome halloween party. and then last night was trick-or-treating. :) we had friends come for dinner and then go with us. so it was even more fun. ryne decided to be the hunchback, drew was darth vader, and shannon was the princess :) they had so much fun RUNNING from house to house. in the dark, this does not work so well. drew and ryne totally ran smack into one another. drew now has a black eye to remember halloween. :P

been scrappin lots and getting some picked up :) also been working on class samples. yeah. can't wait for january.
leave me a comment and let me know you stopped by.
have a great day!

here he is...skateboarding on a half-pipe. :) we visted our friends, the R's this weekend. they invited us for some fun and food. the kids had a blast on the half-pipe, along with dad. the tree swing was also a big hit. lots of laughs and catching up. seems like life is just moving so fast, we need to just take a minute and soak it all up.

friday night i took shan to her girl scout halloween party. such a fun idea. each of the troops had to come up with a game for the girls to play. so all the girls walked around the gymnasium playing games and collecting candy in their goodie bags. shan had a huge smile on her face the whole time. too bad i forgot to bring my camera :( but i did talk to a mom of one of the girls in shannon's troop. she was just telling me how sad she was because she can't come to all of her daughters outings, because she works. i could tell she was really upset and hurt. and then she asked me what i did, and i softly replied, "i stay at home with the kids." i felt so bad. seems like i just added salt to her wound, but it really was a reminder to me to appreciate the blessings that i have. i am very, very grateful that i am able to stay home with the kids, and get to attend all their outings and just spend as much time as i can with them.

a style all her own

she really does. this was the outfit she picked out to wear to school yesterday :) "but it matches mom! the blue in the tights goes with the blue stripe in the skirt, and the white in the shirt goes with the white in the skirt. " love the reasoning. LOL. and yes she did go to school like this. i couldn't tell her no after such a good reason.

tonight we are off to our first girl scout gathering, a halloween party. should be lots of fun. shannon really likes the whole brownie thing, and her mom is having flashbacks from her childhood :)

in scrappy news, just been working on some more heritage pages. finished this one the other night. it's a pix of granpa and dad, circa 1947. absolutely love this picture. so sweet.

have a great day !

lucky

things that are making me happy today.


finishing up this layout and a mini album for our local scrapbook store design team try-outs.

finally came up with an idea for a class i will be teaching. more on that later :)

pumpkin spice creamer in my coffee this morning.

shannon finally feeling better today and wanting to go to school.

rich not working the weekend.

sitting reading my country home magazine.

spent yesterday morning investigating oobleck with ryne for his science lab :)

getting love notes from the kids.

listening to the little ones having a conversation about santa, the elves, and his workshop.

this, this & this.

hope you have a great day!!

good stuff

sorry for the blogging hiatus but i've been super busy. lots of good stuff going on with the normal busy-ness. i've been playing with the new lines that My Mind's Eye will be debuting at Memory Trends, Bohemia Christmas and Magnolia. Lots of fantastic papers, transparencies, and diecuts. so yummy. love the colors.

so excited that i have been asked to teach at our local scrapbook store. trying to think of ideas for classes. i'm super excited about this opportunity. i've never taught a class before, so if anyone has any advice, let me have it :)

and drew has informed us that he would like to play football and be a "tackler". LOL
lots of football in our house today, can u tell?
GO PATRIOTS!!

random stuff

* the weather was so nice here this weekend. the kids jumped into the pool for just a minute. was a chilly 70 degrees. a little too cold for them. :) but it was the perfect temp for a little street hockey with dad.

*mom brought over some old pictures she found. really great photos. she had a picture of great-great grandma. i need to start working on my geneology stuff again.

*getting back into the school routine has been tough. lots of resistance, but we are finally coming around.

*big changes around our house lately. needed to do something different regarding reward/disciple system. what we were doing was not working. actually wrote down our family rules and went over them with the kids. the rules are now hanging in the kitchen so they can see them. i think that is the key. yesterday was the first day and we saw huge improvements. we'll see what today brings. :)

* been reading about all the benefits of fish oil and omega 3's again, but this time in relation to ADHD. been wanting to give it to the kids for a while, but they won't take pills. so i have been on the search for something to give the kids that they will ACTUALLY eat. finally found Coromega, and they love it.

friends.

been thinking about a certain friend a lot lately. really missing her. the boys and i saw her kids the other day, and it was like time stood still. the kids ran up to each other and hugged. they really missed each other. really miss the days when we had nothing to do but enjoy the kids and hang out all day, every day. the heart never forgets. :)

a tag

got tagged by Rett the other day and have been having problems with blogger, so
here are my answers, finally!

The rules are : List 5 weird things about yourself or your pets. Tag 5 friends and list them. Then, those people need to write on their blogs about 5 weird things, and state the rules, and tag 5 more people. Dont forget to let the people you tag know by posting a comment on their blog!

First I will Tag: rachel, *e*, katrina, wilna, michelle

5 Weird things about me:

1. i always wear my socks inside out. the seams bother me.

2. i am neurotic about time. i always have to be early to everything. and if i'm going to be late, i would rather not go than walk in late. my motto, " if you're on-time you're late!"

3. i hate to clean. i am a slob :)

4. i love rocks. was a geology major in college and just love collecting them, still have a big box from when i was a kid.

5.i hardly ever wear jewelery, other than my wedding ring. i have worn the same pair of diamond stud earrings since i got them. ( about 8 years)

how come nobody told me...

you can't throw toilet paper in a urinal.

this was the conversation with my two boys
yesterday while in the bathroom at school.
drew had to go potty yesterday while we
were picking shannon up. i would
usually just take him into the womens with me.
but since everything is kid height and made
for them...i figure...why not??
so ryne and i go in there with drew, and he shimmies
on up to the urinal, i'm just looking around...
since i've never been in a little boys room, and then
i here..."ohhh, i dripped on my leg...i need toilet paper."
i say..."no problem ..here's some."
so hand him the paper and he throws it in the urinal.
and then he flushes.
it's not going down.
try to flush again.
ask ryne....can u put paper in a urinal?
NO... don't you know that mom!
well...matter of fact i don't.
i've never been in a mens room :)

so there i am fishing toilet paper
outof the urinal with paper towels.
can u say EWWWWWWW!!!

that was my afternoon yesterday!
thanks for stopping by :)

pizza making 101

yesterday was full of fun.
we made homemade pizza
for dinner. well...i made
the dough in the bread-
maker. (yeah i cheated! LOL)
but the kids loved it anyway!
gave everyone their piece
of dough and they got to toss
it around. too funny seeing ryne's
piece go flying through the air.
shannon just kept flattening
out her dough and then rolling
it back in a ball, because it kept
getting holes in it :) she was
loving every minute of it.
she is going to be the next
food network star i tell ya!
drews favorite part was
putting on all the cheese.
i think i need to enlist their
help in the kitchen more
often.
tried to get pictures of the
kids with their pizzas
when they were finished
cooking. i kept saying,
drew look at mommy, every-
time...looked in a different
direction... and ended up dropping
the pizza on the floor a
total of three times.
"still tastes good mommy!"
"you bet it does, monkey!"

scenes from yesterday

just a nice relaxing day at our house. started working on my curtains today. actually, i'm making roman shades for the kitchen. got this awesome new amy butler fabric. and i'm in love with these colors. so bright and fun. rich was inspecting the underneath of our truck. friday, as i was running errands, i started up the truck and the starter kept on going. i rushed home with it smoking. turned off the car, jumped out and the starter was still running. LOL. finally stopped a few minutes later. totally burned up. so rich was checking out how big a job it would be. looks like it will be a big one. so the tow truck will be called today.
finally got to finish a scrapbook page i have been working on. love the bright colors.
and today we start homeschool, so yesterday i made this posterboard. it is our daily schedule. our house just runs more smoothly with a schedule. this way ryne knows what to expect at any point during the day, and if there are changes i tell him in the morning. and shannon has been asking what time it is lately, and trying to figure out the whole telling time thing, so this will help alot.

this is a great pix of drew. pretending to be jimmy page. daddy hooked up the new tv and stereo and was blasting led zeppelin. so of course the kids grab the guitars and jam. so funny. :)

i have really been trying to get better about meal planning and grocery shopping. we have gone an entire week without eating out. that is monumental for us. so we celebrated with a big mac and fries yesterday. HA! i've been dying for some fries and a mcdonald's coke. :)

if anyone has a good recipe, let me have it. i need to expand our menu.

hope you have a great day!

beauty is everywhere

especially when you're visiting King's Canyon & Sequoia National Park.
took a little day trip up to the mountains. the kids were so thrilled and excited to see the big
trees. it is amazing to think how really big they are. We visited the Grant Grove and saw the General Grant tree. which is the 3rd largest tree in the world. it's 268 feet tall, and it's circumference is 107 feet. until you see it up close it is really hard to imagine anything that large. after visiting the trees we stopped for an awesome picnic lunch and then it was onto boyden cavern. this was probably the most exciting thing on the trip, as i have never been inside a cavern. i'm embarrassed to say that because i once was a geology major :) the kids had been waiting to see the stalactites and stalagmites. and of course we were hoping we did not see any bats :). such a fun day full of new experiences. :)

thankful

i wanted to say thanks to everyone for
the comments and emails about my grandpa.
i am truely touched.
he will be missed.
i've been working on a collage piece
for the funeral. it will stand on an easel
next to the urn. i spent the other night
with mom and dad looking through pictures.
it was really fun to see my grandpa in his
20's. such a handsome guy. i started
putting together my piece and remembered
that dad had given me, many years ago,
construction plans that he had from my
grandpa. i decided to incorporate those
into the piece. i was telling my dad my ideas
and he said he might have some other things
i could use. he came over tonight and brought
the most precious items. my grandpa's rosary
from his first communion, his birth certificate, and
his signature that was made into a wooden stamp.
so many treasures. after i finish the piece
for the funeral. i told my dad i want to make
a shadow box full of all these little remembrances.

in other news, i finally get to share my piece
that i made for the maya road contest a few months
back. i was so excited and shocked to
make it to the top ten.

santa cruz

took the kids to the coast for a few days.
lots of sun and fun.
the weather was beautiful
and the water was cold.
the kids played in the sand
for hours and then we rode
rides on the boardwalk and
ate lots of junk food.
the kids did not want to come
home. drew asked if we could
come back to the beach
next year, and stay for the whole
year. :)

ETA: blogger won't let me upload
pictures thismorning. i'll try again
later on.

remembering

remembering grandpa.
grandpa passed away yesterday morning.
finally at peace.
finally with grandma again.
he will be missed.
they are missed.

picture is from 1993.

happy mail day

got my latest issue of legacy today. yeah...got to see one of my pages in there. so excited! they have had this page of ryne for over a year, so i've been anxiously waiting. in other news, got two circle journals in the mail, so i tried to hurry to get them sent off again.

the first pages go into Glenni's book about things we collect. I love to collect anything with a history, especially old photos, fabric, just bits and pieces. this photo is of my grandmother working in a candy factory in cleveland in the 30's. and the piece of fabric on the bottom is from an old feedsack, or flour sack. women used the flour sack material to make clothing in the 40's. love the patterns. such cool things to hang on to.

the second group of pages is for Julie's book about dreams. I just really felt like doing a collage page and since i had a dream the other night about numbers i figured it was a perfect topic. maybe i should go play the lottery :)

catch-up post

sorry it's been so long since my last post.
been crazy busy here, and now drew has
strep throat. the last few days have not been
fun. poor little guy.

this years school stuff has been arriving by ups.
i'm not really ready for school to start yet. feels like its
still june.

wanted to share a new art journal page i made. just had
fun with it.