Trip to Seattle

Paula & I took the kids over on the Ferry to Seattle, then we rode the bus to Seattle Center and went to the Pacific Science Center and saw The Day The Earth Stood Still at the IMAX theater. It was too loud for Emma - so I had to wrap her scarf around her ears - put her hood up and hold my hands over hear ears while the movie was going - but over all we had a great time. Brett wasn't all that keen to go - but after we got there - he was so enthralled by all the displays - and wants to go back again soon. I think one of the highlights of the day for Brett & Emma was getting to ride on Public Transit..

Wish I'd Seen This Before Christmas

This is so hilarious - love it!

Unconventional Christmas Part 2

The second part of our unconventional Christmas came about because we had snow on the ground - from the winter storms that we had been getting hit with - and as a result the Propane trucks couldn't make their rounds - and we ended up running out of propane - which meant no heat, no hot water, no dryer and no stove. So I had all the fixings for Christmas dinner here - but the venue had to be moved to Paul & Ruth's since they are all electric. I did as much prep work here as I could - here is the turkey ready to head over to their house to go in the oven, and here is another picture of the eggs boiling on the burner on the grill for deviled eggs. I also made the pie crust here - and ran over there to cook it and make the filling. The meal turned out wonderful though, the company was great - and so even though it was a most non-traditional Christmas - it was a wonderful Christmas.

Unconventional Christmas Part 1

This was always gonna be a very different Christmas for us this year - with Mitch being overseas - and his Mom having to work - it was going to be just me, the kids and Grandma Ruth and Grandpa Paul (our adopted neighbors). To start with, we had a good web-cam connection on Christmas Eve morning - so Mitch thought it would be best to go ahead and do presents then - so one by one - the kids opened their presents in front of the web-cam so that Mitch could get to be a part of the excitement of Christmas present opening. Here are some photos of the present opening - the kids loved getting their presents early - and having more time to play with them - they also loved having their Dad be a part of the celebration. So on Christmas morning all we had to do was Santa presents and Stockings - made for a nice easy morning.







and this is a bittersweet photo for me - as this could possibly be the last Christmas morning that I have with all my kiddos - since Braeden is 18 and on the verge of leaving the nest and living his own life - who knows where upcoming Christmases will find him?

Winter Storm 2008

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Here we go again!

Well I fell off the blog wagon again - so any posts from here to November 1st are new as of today. Sigh - one of these days I will learn to be a better time manager!!

Right now it is 28 degrees outside and we have the remnants of about 1 1/2 inches of snow on the ground. The kids had a 2 hour delay for school. I went and ran errands after they got off to school - and had to go back in and get my sunglasses because the sun was shining so brightly on the snow. Weather.com says that it is 28 feels like 17. Brrrrrrrr....

Christmas Card & Letter He**

I do this to myself every year - procrastinate until I am in Christmas Card & Letter He**.  Every January I decide to make my cards - and I vow to start sooner - and make it not such a rush, and every year finds me working on them during the first week of December. And instead of enjoying the process I can be found franticly trying to get  all 100 or so of them made, labels printed, christmas letter written and envelopes stuffed.  One of these years, I will actually start them early enough that I can sit back, drink hot buttered rums - and laugh at all the suckers still working on theirs.  Well, a girl can dream can't she?

Here are some photos of the process - and the final product.

Ready to start putting them together - after stamping and cutting out 120 trees and 120 stars, and using the Revolution, Cuttlebug and Nestabilities to cut out the rectangles and the scalloped rectangles - I'm ready to begin gluing. And here is the finished product, after I stamped a saying into the inside of each and then signed the back with my intials and year, and signed the inside - Mitch, Kim  & kids (although Mitch and kids had nothing to do with it).



I agonize every year over what to say in the traditional newsletter.  This year I took a class on BPS called The Scrappable Holiday Letter - and one of her ideas was to approach it like it were a gift catalog - and each of you was a gift.  Mitch and I sure had fun writing this one - although I do wonder if anyone will "get" it when they get it - LOL.  Below is the final letter - I bought a template and scrap kit from Scrap Girls to use to design the newsletter.


 So I finished it all up this morning - and they are officially in the hands of the USPS.  Whew!!

The kids sure do love living in Kingston, but if there were one thing they could change - it would be that we hardly ever get snow, and when we do get snow - it usually melts right away - or is just a dusting. Also we live closer to the water and at a lower elevation than most of their friends - so they get jealous when their friends call to say it is snowing at their house - and we got nada.

But last night - their wish came true! It snowed - and stuck - and stayed! We got about 1 1/2 inches of the fun white stuff. The kids ran right out to play in it - regardless of the fact it was 8:30 at night. They were so excited - they got up early this morning too - and headed out to play. They didn't stay out in the frigid cold (our high yesterday was 32) - but they came in to unthaw - and back out to play, many times over the day.

It sure is fun to watch the kids and even the dog, play in the snow

Traditional Tree Photo

I got the kids together to do the annual photo in front of the tree. Sad to think that since Braeden is 18 now that this will more than likely be the last time for this tradition.

Oh Christmas Tree!

We are expecting a storm to roll in tomorrow night and bring with it wind, snow and freezing cold temperatures. Since we hadn't put up our tree yet, I figured we had better get out to the shed and get it before the weather stopped us from going outside.

Braeden brought in the tree, ornaments and home decorations. We purged at the end of last Christmas - so there wasn't as much to bring in and put up as there usually is. Kinda made it nice, but Emma of course missed all the stuff that is normally out.

There was a bulb burned out on the tree - so the lower portion wouldn't light - of course it took FOREVAH for Braeden and I to figure this out - and replace the bulb. But - live and learn!

I put the garland on and the angel - and the kids put on the ornaments. We bought new silver and blue ones this year - and only put on the kids' first christmas ornaments. Nice elegant looking tree this year.

Here is a picture that Emma took of the tree

Updating

Football and Cheerleading are finally over - so I have a bit of time to breathe, and figured that I would update my sorely neglected blog. I am going to back date the posts - so anything between here and 10/5 is new as of today :)

Tonight is the awards ceremony for the Football/Cheer organization. Fun fun fun! We will be heading out soon for that event - and then tomorrow we are taking a road trip to Longview for MIL's birthday. This has been another busy weekend, even without Football/Cheerleading thrown in!!

My Day

Today was my 41st birthday. Sigh. I told Mitch not to make a fuss of it - because I'd decided to just go ahead and stay 40 from now on :) When he was home on vacation he brought me my gift - this gorgeous watch



It is so unique - I love it. Mitch had originally seen it when I was in Dubai - but the price was too high. So he waited a bit - and the price came down - and he bought it for me. He was so excited to surprise me with it - he couldn't hardly wait and gave it to me the same day he got in.

Brett & Emma stayed home to spend the day with Mom - we went shopping and out to Azteca for lunch. Brett totally ratted me out to the wait staff - so after we were done eating, here they came to sing me a song and make me wear the birthday sombrero. They also had a digital camera and took a photo - and before we left they gave me a copy of it. All in all it was a good day.

Corn Maze

Kingston opened its own corn maze and pumpkin patch this year - and I was soo looking forward to take the kids. We kept trying to plan a time to go and something always came up. Brett ended up going with friends and had a blast, it was Star Wars night - and they played flashlight tag through the maze and watched the movie outside. So I was really excited to go and talked my friend Lisa and her 2 boys into going along.

When we first got there - we had a run in with an older gal while the kids were riding tricycles for the 7 and under crowd - The lady asked my daughter how old she was - and Emma said 7 - and the lady said - are you sure? and Emma said yup - and I said I'm sure - and the lady said to me "Oh YOU'RE sure?" and I told the lady that Emma doesn't lie. I mean really - why lie about your age to ride some stinking tricycles. So, then we paid the exhorbitant $5 and adult and $3 per child to go into their small corn maze. Immediately the kids took off and Lisa and I just wandered around the maze getting our punches. We were almost through when we heard the kids hollering our names. So we finished and exited the maze to find that the same older gal had our kids in what I will call "corn maze jail" - she said that the kids had to be in our sight the whole time while in the maze - and since she had gone in and seen them walking without us - she made them exit the maze and sit with her until we came out. Can you say - over the top?? The kids weren't doing anything else wrong - they weren't running, screaming, picking corn, or going off the path. There were kids in there with their parents doing that stuff - yet our kids get pulled out for not being in our sight line. So needless to say - that took the fun out of the excursion - and next year - we will go to a different maze. Also their pumpkins were insanely high - and already picked - for like a really small pumpkin they wanted $3 and the larger ones were like $25-$45. Needless to say we didn't get any, I went to Wal-Mart and ANY SIZE was 2.96 total.

The farm was a pretty place to get pictures though and the kids had fun doing the pumpkin toss - and rolling down the hill as we left.

Chuck E Cheese

If you know me, you know that I DO NOT like going to Chuck E Cheese.  We got invited to a birthday party there - and I was totally dreading it.  But, the one thing to look forward to was Emma & I getting our picture "sketched" while we were there.  We did it last year at a birthday party for this same friend of Brett's - so now it is a tradition ;)

This is last years:

 

and this is the one from this year:



 

its kinda neat to be able to look back and see how we've changed.

Big Day for Emma

Emma and the other Kingston Pee Wee cheerleaders got to go the the Kingston High School homecoming game and cheer with the highschool cheerleaders.  Emma got pretty distracted looking to see if she knew anyone in the crowd, so she was behind on a lot of the cheers.  She loved cheering in front of a crowd though, all the girls did!!

Goodbye Again

We had to say goodbye to Mitch again. It was so sad, but it was so great to have him home for the last few weeks. The time really did fly. We went again to the same hotel we had stayed in before - and stayed there the night before he flew out. We pigged out on room service, swam in the pool, sat in the hot tub and watched lots of pay per view movies. I think we all had an excellent time - even though we were sad about Mitch leaving.

Here's a picture of Mitch & the kids at the hotel just before he left for the airport.

Kingston Football Homecoming 2008

Brett finally got to play at the KHS field and Emma finally got her cheerleader uniform. Before the game, the parents were introduced, given a flower - and walked onto the field with their player. Emma performed her 1/2 time dance routine with the other cheerleaders and then cheered for the last half of Brett's game and the first 1/2 of the B Team game and then did the dance routine again. Isn't she so cute in her outfit?

The big 18!

Braeden turned 18 today. Where did the time go? I'm so lucky to have had such a wonderful easy child to practice my parenting skills on! LOL. To celebrate, he took the day off school and went Pheasant hunting with his Dad. We went 1/2's with him on a new shotgun - and he was very excited to go and use it. For dinner, the neighbors are coming over and Mitch is making BBQ Chicken Pizza.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BR! I LOVE YOU!

BBQ day at school

Today was a busy day at the elementary school, they had school pictures, vision check, horses visiting, and a Parent BBQ.  I was volunteering in Brett's classroom - so I made sure to go out and sit with Brett then Emma during their lunch times.  They were really happy to see me there - as you can tell in the pictures.

 

New Card Challenges at the Shanty

Mel H. has agreed to join our team of Creative Coordinators and run a weekly card challenge. Mel makes awesome cards and is such a fun friend! I can't wait to try out her first challenge.

Hat Condom

Mitch has been wearing his Cowboy hat since he's been back - and he had to go buy a rain poncho for it - cause it has been raining here.

His friend Troy calls it his Hat Condom.

I'm back

Well, Kat has decided to leave Scrap Shanty - and Carrie asked me if I would come back on as an owner - and I said I would - since I have basically been doing all the tech work anyway - even though I stepped down as an owner three months ago.

I know that Carrie and I can work together well, and I'm excited to be a part of the leadership at the Shanty. Come check us out!

First football "game"

The NK Peewees did a little inter conference jamboree at Hamilton Field. We played C Black and C Purple. The rules were:
C" guideline:
coin flip or mutual decision
1/2 field - starting at the 30 yd line
20 Plays
5 minute break (teams switch sides)
20 Plays
turnovers stay with the offense and they start over at the 30 yd line
coaches are allowed on the field
5 minute break
Coin Flip - (same teams)
Live Scrimmage / 30 minute running clock
1/2 field - starting at the 30 yd line
turnovers will go to the defense and they will start at 30 yd on offense
1 timeout per coach
only other time the clock is stopped is for injuries
regular football rules will be enforced

We started out on defense, and C Black had all returning players (we have 7/26). They quickly made like 5 touchdowns against us - but our defense started to get in the swing of it towards the end and held them. Then our offense went in, and they broke through our line like nothing at first - but then we picked it up.

Against C Purple - we did really well and you could tell we were starting to get it. It was nice to be out in the beautiful sunshine and watch the kids play - although they were sooo hot!

Here are a few pictures.

First Day of School

Oops - forgot to post about the 1st day.

Braeden began his senior year of high school - with little excitement. Check out this picture - doesn't he look like he is on his way to the gallows?



Brett was excited to start 4th grade and learn some more history, he though he was hugely stylin' in his Van shirt, shorts and jacket.



Emma was completely excited to start 2nd grade and she was excited that she had the same teacher that Brett had for 2nd grade. She changed her outfit twice, cause of course she is a style diva!



The report after everyone got home from school - they had a great day

Stuck Song of the Day - BEWARE

Woke up this morning with this song in my head - been there all day. Heard it on the way home with the kids - and now they are in their room singing it!



Here is a link to the video - WARNING! If you haven't heard it - it will stick in your head!!

So What by Pink

Lyrics:Na Na Na Na Na Na Na

I guess i just lost my husband
I don’t know where he went
So i’m gonna drink my money
I’m not gonna pay his rent (Nope)
I got a brand new attitude
And i’m gonna wear it tonight
I wanna get in trouble
I wanna start a fight

Na Na Na Na Na Na Na
I wanna start a fight
Na Na Na Na Na Na Na
I wanna start a fight

So so what?
I’m still a rock star
I got my rock moves
And i don’t need you
And guess what
I’m having more fun
And now that we’re done
I’m gonna show you tonight
I’m alright, I’m just fine
And you’re a tool
So so what?
I am a rockstar
I got my rock moves
And i don’t want you tonight

Uh, check my flow, uh

The waiter just checked my table
And gave to Jessica Simp-Shit!
I guess i’ll go sit with Tom boy
At least he’ll know how to hit
What if this song’s on the radio
Then somebody’s gonna die
I’m gonna get in trouble
My ex will start a fight

Na Na Na Na Na Na Na
He’s gonna start a fight
Na Na Na Na Na Na Na
We’re all gonna get in a fight!

So so what?
I’m still a rock star
I got my rock moves
And i don’t need you
And guess what
I’m having more fun
And now that we’re done
I’m gonna show you tonight
I’m alright, I’m just fine
And you’re a tool
So so what?
I am a rock star
I got my rock moves
And i don’t want you tonight

You weren’t fair
You never were
You weren’t all
But that’s not fair
I gave you life
I gave my all
You weren’t there
You let me fall

So so what?
I’m still a rock star
I got my rock moves
And i don’t need you
And guess what
I’m having more fun
And now that we’re done (we’re done)
I’m gonna show you tonight
I’m alright(I’m alright),I’m just fine (I’m just fine)
And you’re a tool
So so what?
I am a rock star
I got my rock moves
And i don’t want you tonight

No No, No No
I Don’t want you tonight
You weren’t fair
I’m gonna show you tonight
I’m alright, I’m just fine
And you’re a tool
So so what?
I am a rock star
I got my rock moves
And i don’t want you tonight

Ba da da da da da

Did I mention...

I hate cheer? Emma is in PeeWee Cheer/Pom and she is loving it, me not so much!

It just reminds me why I was only a cheerleader for 1 year and then got the heck out of dodge.

They actually, and with a straight face - say this when the teacher wants to make sure they are okay with something.

Teacher: Cool, Cool?
Cheerleaders: Sweet, Sweet
All: Tight

with appropriate hand movements. GAG!

and when they are doing their spacing - they put their arms out to the side and say "Hit a "T" not a friend!".

Now I love watching them perform - but it is this off stage stuff that makes me gag.

Scrap That Stash September Challenge

I've taken over this monthly challenge at the Shanty - come play with me!!

Welcome to the my first monthly Scrap that Stash! Challenge. That's right, you'll have the entire month of September to participate in this challenge. I hope you join me!

The September 2008 stash challenge list:

Pattern Paper: American Crafts, SEI, Scenic Route, Rusty Pickle, Basic Grey, Crate Paper, Chatterbox, Making Memories, Die Cuts With a View, KI Memories, Cosmo Cricket, Doodlebug, Any slab/stack, Any monthly kit

Themed Paper: Anything school or sport related.

Lettering: Stickers, Rub-Ons, Chipboard, Stamped

Embellishments: Journaling spots/labels/tags, brads, buttons, eyelets, flowers, ribbon, rub-ons, eyelets, die cuts, chipboard shapes, anything metal, pre-printed words or phrases, fibers, frills or edges.

Photos: Any school or sports photos

Technique: Paint, hand or machine stitching, inking, distressing, stamping and/or embossing

The Rules of Play:
Stash = anything not purchased in the last 30 days.
You don't have to use all the items - even one from the above list will do.
Play as many times as you can during this monthly challenge.
You may combine this challenge with other challenges.
Link your LOs/cards/papercraft projects here and let us know what items you used from the above list.
Leave Gallery love for fellow participants if you have time.

Example:

You may post one LO and say you used letter stickers from the list.

You may post another LO and say you used Basic Grey, letter rub-ons, a journaling label, brads, flowers, and hand stitching from the list.

And so on.


So go create, use your stash, and have fun in the process!

Thanks for playing,

30 in 30 Layout #2

Using the September Ad Challenge from Scrap Shanty - here is my 2nd layout for the 30 in 30 layout challenge.

30 in 30 Layout #1

Here is my first layout for the 30 in 30 Challenge at Scrap Shanty. It is using the first sketch from the Sketch 102 class.

30 in 30 Layout Challenge

Jen came up with this awesome challenge to play during September at Scrap Shanty

Anyone interested in a little challenge? There are 30 days in September and I know I am in the need for a little push to get a bunch of layouts done. Back in January some of us did the Big Picture Scrapbooking's Layout a Day challenge and they didn't have specific challenges besides doing ONE LAYOUT A DAY!!

Who wants to try it? Starting tomorrow I will post a thread and just post your layout in the gallery and then link it in the thread. No prizes here just bragging rights for the month of October!!!

Come on fellow scrappers -- let's get scrappin!!

Jen

and I made the blinkie. Hope you play along with us - and feel free to use the blinkie!!

Brett getting slammed

Here is a video of Brett getting layed out by one of the players on the older team - the funny thing is that Brett is no where near the ball or the play and this kid just beelines right to him and after he knocks him flat - he turns and looks for his next victim. (Brett was not harmed in the making of this video) Brett is the one in the grey sweatshirt on the left side of the field.

Brett_Football

Cheerleader Emma

Here is video of Emma learning to do her cheers


Emma Cheerleading

She's the one in the white hoodie - in the back/middle.

How did the Milk pour?

Some of you asked how the milk in the weird jug poured . We opened it - and well - it has a wide mouth, so it pours quick - and it is taller than a regular milk jug - so harder for the little ones to pour. I'm not real impressed.

Weird

I went to Costco today and bought milk - and this is what the jug looked like





Weird eh? I've yet to open it - but I'm not too sure how it will pour. So I'm reserving judgement - but my first impression was not favorable.

The Joy of Creating!

We've been so busy with football, cheer and getting ready for school that I just haven't had a chance to be creative. I was playing in the SOSL Challenge at Scrap Love and I wasn't able to get my Week #4 challenge finished - so I've had to drop out - but they gave us a Second Chance contest so I had to finish the missed challenge and get my other challenges in on time. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to do it, but I managed it - yeah me!

Week #4 - Simplify

Tinkering Ink & Luxe PP, butterflies from a kit by ScarletLime
Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink
Bazzill Edges
K&Co Brad
Imaginisce Brads
Heidi Swapp Chipboard Alpha
Prima Transparent Tape
Misc. Ric Rac

I also got my Scrap Shanty Shantylympics Week #2 layout done

USA - Plaid Paper
Spain - Metal (metal photo corners and staples)
Denmark - Alpha Die Cuts (Quickutz Alph Die)
Germany - hand journalPapers are from Dream Street.
Quickutz Alpha Die
American Craft Thickers
MM Lil Alpha Stickers
Unknown metal photo corners
Misc staples
SU! Stampin Write Brown Marker
Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink

Journaling: Brett is a typical boy that will turn anything that remotely resembles a weapon into one! Here it is croquet mallets.
August 2008
Photos by Emma

Overwhelmed

I just wanna cry - I'm so overwhelmed right now. Brett wanted to play football and when I found out it was a 4 night a week committment, plus game days - I was less than thrilled - but he is doing so well with it and it has been such a confidence builder for him - that I sucked it up.

Well Emma is in Cheer/Pom - and I was so glad that practices were at the same place and time as football. We had to be there anyway - so woohoo!

We are off on Thursdays from Football - and I just got an email from the Cheer/Pom coach that practices are now on Thursdays. So that means that me and both kids have to be at the field 5 nights a week for 2 hours. Just the thought of it makes me and I just want to put my head down and cry.

And before you give me advice on what to do to occupy those 2 hours during practice or tell me to enjoy it because soon the kids will be gone, let me clarify it isn't the fact that we have practice that is overwhelming me - it is the fact that I had counted on that one free night per week - and now that has been taken away. I'll adjust - but I just wanted to vent.

My little cheerleader

Emma went to her first cheer practice today. She is so happy that they finally found a cheer coach and I'm so happy that practices are the same days and at the same place as Brett's football practice. 4 nights a week is plenty of time spent at the field :)



Isn't she cute??

Relax and create...

Ahh, nothing better than catching some time to create. I completed the SOSL Week #5 challenge and also did some challenges from the Scrap Attack Scrapbooking Birthday Crop.

Here is the SOSL challenge for Scrap Love



Uses:
American Crafts Thickers Alpha
Making Memories Passport Papers
October Afternoon Detours Paper
SU! Going My Way Punch
Elle's Studio Round Calendar

Journaling:
We met up with Jess & Rebecca in Boise, ID and took a trip to the Boise Zoo. It was so hot that day - we had to stop and buy hats in the gift shop and were thankful that Emma brought her little handheld fan!

and some cards for challenges on Scrap Attack Scrapbooking