My newest cards

Here are some cards I made recently for some card swaps. Thought you might like to see.

October 20, 2009

37 years ago, I was born.

In thinking about my life so far, I realized I have done most things I set out to do. My life took a slightly different path than I imagined in high school, but heck what do you really know as a teenager. Life has been hard, but it has also had some great rewards. I'm thankful for my wonderful husband, who I love even more now than when I married him. I'm thankful for my children, though they may drive me crazy...they really are wonderful human beings. I'm also very thankful to all my friends and family past and present...each of you has brought something I have needed in my life and my life is so much richer because of you.

She's a little bit.....(and more)

Big girl.....

and a little bit baby. Everytime I turn around, she's a little bit older, wiser, smarter. She cracks us up with the things she says, or picks up on and how much she truly understands. *Sigh* Where has the time gone?

For all the fun we having been having with our dear A...it has been a stressful time around here. We are still unemployed and the unemployment extension is drawing to an end. I felt so sure that something was going to come through for us by the end of the summer. It is getting harder and harder to have hope, to believe that we will have what we need to survive. Enough depressing stuff, well almost...

We got a guinea pig a little while back. My son had saved up some money and got a great deal on Craigslist. This was Bandit, yes was...she only lived about a week. We really loved her, she was very sweet.

Just a few days later, with some help from a wonderful aunt, we found another fabulous pig. This is Cocoa. He is very funny and vocal. He likes to talk to us, especially to me after the kids have gone to bed. It probably helps that I usually give him fresh veggies at night. LOL We hope to have many years with Cocoa.

A Sentimental journey...well maybe a very short walk.

I'm still in awe of her.....over 18 months since she was born and I'm still in shock that I have her here. The other kids still fight over her, which I thought for sure would have passed by now. She blows us away everday with new words, new antics, showing us a new side of life. She is beautiful, daring, sweet, sassy, inquisitive, happy, full of laughter and love, and I don't know what I would do with out her in my life. A, I love you so much!

Retreat and more!

I needed that retreat and I'm so grateful I was able to go. I managed to do about 40 scrapbook pages, and 24 cards...along with an awesome 20 minute massage, finding a deal on Little People toys at a tiny second hand store, tons of laughter, fabulous friends and incredible food.

Then we had the last day of school, glad it is over but I'm almost ready for school to start again...these kids are too darn grumpy.

Then my oldest ds came to visit the next weekend and managed to coax my baby dd into trying walking again...now she is all over the place! I knew she was holding out on us! Sorry they are sideways, I couldn't find a program to help me fix it.

Well, I best be off to fix us some dinner.

Less than 63 hours to go!

In a little over 62 hours I will be...

...picked up by my friend Bob and adding my necessities

to a van full of other people's necessities.

...traveling to a little town in Idaho know as Hagerman.

...eating junk food and laughing my butt off

with some of the most wonderful women I have ever known.

...getting a wonderful, but too short, massage.

...getting my creative juices flowing.

...laughing so much it hurts.

Then after 48 hours of the best time ever with my friends,

I will be...

...wishing it could last just one more day.

...forcing myself to get back to the real world.

...looking forward to next time, and wishing it weren't so far away.

I LOVE GOING TO RETREATS...

IS IT FRIDAY YET?

Card swapping again...

This is not the best picture of it, but it will have to do ... my scanner refuses to work these days. It is for a Get Well swap and the image is from a free coloring page I got online. My friend Bob came up with the great idea to use free coloring pages as digi stamps and it works great! She made a card with the same image, she has it on her site here. Now I just need to get my second set of swap cards done. I have to color the images and mount them on my cards (all my background stuff is on and ready), then I need to set a bunch of eyelets (challenge tied to the swap). I will get it uploaded asap for all to see.

Here it is...it was a pain and the color looks like crap, but in real life it is quite nice. She was another freebie image I found online, wish I could remember where. Her tiny details nearly did me in and the eyelets didn't like me very much, but in the end she was worth it. Hopefully the gals in the swap will like both of these, I've had fun making them.

As for my household, we are both still unemployed but hanging in there. I'm thrilled but dreading the end of school, only 8 more days of semi peace left. The only good part is that the older kids can help with baby dd all summer.

Best get to my other set of cards......Just one more image to color and glue on the card.....I can do this.....if my hands will hold out just a little longer. *Sigh* Gotta love carpal tunnel syndrome!

May 12, 2009

My sister's visit was nice but not nearly long enough for all we wanted to do. I really do wish she lived closer. Hopefully we will be able to keep visiting each other every year or so.



As for me and my house, we are still unemployed and I think I might be getting used to the stress or atleast learning to live with it. LOL The kids have mentioned their worries to us...mainly asking if we are going to lose our house. I keep telling them, that would be a last resort, because that is the main thing we are committed to making sure gets paid every month. I can't promise we will have heat, power or even water...but we will have our home. I can tell they are still worried/stressed, it is showing in their lack of commitment to school but I don't know how to help. I have told them it will be ok, we are doing everything we can to keep things as close to normal for them but yet let them be involved with choosing some of the things we have to change.

In 16 hours...

give or take...my sister (and her 2 kids) will be here to visit. I am so excited! She is 6 months pregnant with her third child (a girl) and I haven't seen her since August of 2007.

I hope we manage to do everything we have planned...and we have planned as much as possible in the few days she will be here. Sushi lunch, shopping, swimming with all the kids, shopping, playtime with the kids somewhere fun, shopping, scrapbooking, and more shopping (we have better shopping here in Boise than she does in her town).

We are also notorious for staying up until all hours of the night talking, sleep is never much of a priority. We figure we have to make the most of our time together, because we just don't get to be together very often and we know how precious our time together is... (2 of our sisters passed away several years ago).

I am so very excited I just had to share it...now to get back to all my cleaning and visitor prep...so much to do before they get here!

Tooth Fairy problem

What is a tooth fairy to do if the child swallows his loose tooth while eating waffles for breakfast?

Darling daughter pictures

...15 months old...

2 months...15 months

We have now been unemployed for over 2 months and yesterday my baby turned 15 months old.

It is still amazing to me how quickly things can change. I have been home for all of my baby's small life and I'm floored by how much she has grown. I swear it was just last month that I brought her home from the hospital. She is such a light in our lives and I can not imagine what our home would be like without her in it. She delights me in some way every day. I feel so very lucky to have her.

Hubby has interviewed for a job and taken another of his tests (tests to become licensed). Back to the waiting game...I'm going nuts waiting. We should hopefully hear this next week about the job and who knows about the test results (they love to torture us by taking their sweet time).

I know, I know boooorrring. Well that is my life right now, stress, waiting, and normal life stuff. I'm looking forward to this week though.

My little sis is coming to visit me! I haven't seen her since August 2007 when I was preggy with my baby girl and my son and I went to her house to help out while she had some surgery. Now she is preggy with a baby girl and coming to see me...just for fun! I only wish we didn't have kids to deal with and could get some really good sister time in...well we are going to try to squeeze it in anyway.

Carp! (trying not to swear so much) I just remembered I forgot to take picts of baby girl yesterday/today (I haven't gone to bed yet so it is hard to call it yesterday). Oh well, hopefully I can remember tomorrow.

Can't sleep.......

Here it is after 2am in the morning and I can not get to sleep, so I figure I haven't blogged in a long while.....lucky all of you! LOL

For some reason just as I was getting comfy, all I could think about was dying and wills and what would happen to my kids if hubby and I just up and died. well after an hour and a half, I couldn't take any more and had to get up. I read my email, checked a friend's blog to see if she had her baby yet (way behind on blog reading...she did and the baby is so cute!) and now you are caught up.

As I get older, death seems to be more of a real thing to me, yet we have never really talked about wills before. We don't have worldly possessions that would count for much, but when I really think about it, there are things I do want spelled out very clearly (concerning my children). I think it is time to see about getting some wills drawn up, for our children's protection.

As for things in our house...we are both still unemployed. Over seven weeks since that fateful day and hubby finally has a job interview this Wednesday. We have mixed feelings over it because we know he won't get offered wages even close to what he was making and their are so many in his field unemployed, that the competition is going to be fierce.

For me, I apply to places all the time and I'm even looking into possibly going back to school. It is frustrating though. What I really want most is to be home and enjoy my last baby while she is still a baby. I just have a hard time with all the guilt...guilt if I don't work and guilt if I do.

As for the kids, this week is Spring Break and we are trying to find fun and cheap things to do. They really wanted to go visit relatives or have their brother come here, but they have to suffer with good 'ol mom and dad this break. We are also dealing with major illness right now. There is this nasty cold/flu thing going around and a couple of us already have it and the others are starting to get it. My poor nose has never been so sore, I cry when I have to wipe my nose...I'm not exaggerating...it is really that bad.

I think I can try to sleep again...maybe another dose of meds will help too. Goodnight all, I hope.

Over 3 weeks and counting...

It has been over 3 weeks since hubby was laid off. We are trying hard to make changes and get things in order so we can make it through another couple of months. So far not a single bite on a job for either of us, but we are pretty sure we can survive 2 more months...beyond that, who knows. We know in our hearts everything will be ok and it is comforting.

I'm certainly getting a glimpse of what retirement could be like...he has totally disrupted my schedule! I just hope I don't get used to a new schedule with him around, otherwise I will totally have to adjust yet again when job(s) come around.

So far we have given up our dog, cancelled our cell phones, prioritized our bills, divided up our tax return into categories of what to pay the next 2 months and hunted long and hard for affordable health insurance. The health ins hunt has been the most nerve-wracking. Cobra is beyond what we can even get from unemployment, and there are lots of scams out there saying they are health ins, when they really aren't. It has been so stressful to find something before our ins runs out, but we have...it isn't nearly as good as what we used to have, but it is better than nothing.

My self confidence is really tired of the stress acne, it just doesn't help me to feel confident...not good when you are trying to find work. My schedule has been way off (dang hubby...and we are busier than ever!) and my weight has creeped right back up. I'm determined to get back to my accountability on SparkPeople as of today...and stay with it. I know it works when I do it. I also need to get back into keeping up with friends...all of you are my link to sanity. I admit I have somewhat been in a hole for a couple of weeks and it is time to come out and re-join the world.

Another week over

The shock has worn off, well mostly. I'm now in do something mode...do anything to make the situation better. I just have to convince hubby of it too. We have to cut waaay back and I think I am willing to make some drastic changes. Just yesterday I wasn't willing to cancel the cell phones, now I am...it can save us a lot and we can always get them back when we are financially able. One change at a time, we can do this.

As for the weight war, I was terrified to weigh in and was given the OK from some friends to skip wieghing in for a week, but well, I just couldn't. It is part of my accountability...I need to know where I am, no matter what is happening in my life. So I weighed in, not too bad...I'm up a half a pound, (could have been so much worse if I had given up tracking my food all together through SparkPeople.com), I'm so glad I didn't lose touch with SparkPeople.com, I just know that that is what lessened the impact on my rough week.

Having a rough week

My week has gone downhill since hubby was laid off. With him home I'm all out of my routine and having a hard time getting anything done. It doesn't help that I have allergies or a nasty cold to deal with too...I don't know which it is because so far neither kind of meds are working.

I'm still tracking my food in SparkPeople, but I now officially know what I go to in cases of heavy stress...fatty stuff. My fat ratio has been way off, I'm trying but somewhat failing right now. I think I'm still trying to adjust to everything. Life as we knew it is gone, and not for the better right now. I believe my counselor is right, I'm grieving for what we lost...our security, our sense of normalcy, our income, etc.

I don't know how to get through this. I'm trying to focus on working a plan for our bills, but food-wise???... I'm finding it so much harder to deal with.

Acne

Yep, you read right. I would like to introduce you to my 2 newest pimples...the biggest one is called No Income, and the very slightly smaller one is called No Insurance. When did this acne show up? With-in minutes of being told my husband was laid off today (and I subsequently started to melt down). I have stress acne all the time, but it has never shown up quite so fast before.

If any of you have great ideas on how to cut way back, or how to save money on everyday stuff...please let me know. We have a lot of debt to deal with...hey do you think our credit card companies would take pity on us and reduce our APR, even a little?

The Davids and more...

The Davids are the only reason I watched Idol...and that was the only season I have ever watched. No one else has captured my attention like they did, while I was flipping channels to see what is on.

Love Song David



Rock-n-Roll David



His "softer side"...not bad, but I like him better doing his Rock-n-Roll.



I found this one too...I have never heard it before but I like it-it speaks to me.

Weigh-in day once again

The results are in and after gaining 3 pounds last week, I'm down 4 this week. I'm thrilled I took off the 3 I gained plus 1. It is still hard to manage to make good choices with what I eat and making myself exercise. I don't know what I would do without SparkPeople.com. Their tools are so helpful and easy to use. They have fabulous articles and tons of good information to help you find what will work for you. They even have a recipe site, that I am using quite often. If you don't know where to start, go to SparkPeople.com, they have nearly everything you would ever need to get moving toward a healthier life.

Time for a change...

As you can see I felt it was time to mix things up a bit. I love playing with my blog background but I haven't had time to design anything myself, so thanks to The Cutest Blog on the Block I found this one and am very happy with it. Enjoy!

Rest time...?

I don't know what my little dd is thinking, but I would love to know. She will play for a little bit, then crawl into the dog's corner and lay down on his bed with him, then go play for a bit, then back to lay down...it cracks me up. It also suprises me because just last night she was nipped when she was headed for his food. This is the only time he has done this (scared the shit out of me, happened really fast) and she goes after his food all the time, she loves to eat it....it makes me shudder to even think about it, so gross. Yes I'm keeping an eagle eye on her and him today. She hasn't tried to get his food today, maybe she learned from the nip....interesting, very interesting. Well here is the picts, I thought they were too cute so I had to share.

Healthy Living

One week ago I decided to take my life back. Now from past experiences I know that I don't do well with diets. Been there, done that too many times. This time I have decided to change my eating by being aware of everything that enters my mouth. Sparkpeople.com has a fabulous nutrition tracker to help me monitor just how much I'm eating. They can even help you set up an eating plan...all for free.

For me, I choose to eat anything I want, I just have to be accountable for it and know what it does to me. I'm finding this thought process is helping me to make better choices over all. I look at something and its calories and fat and such and make a decision based on if I think it is worth it or not. I'm not depriving myself of anything if I truly want it, but I am having much smaller portion sizes and filling my days with many more veggies and fruit and such. I have learned that I was probably eating atleast 4000-5000 calories and way too much fat before (gotta love depression and all that comes with it). Now I'm eating between 1750-2300 calories and I'm balancing my carbs, fat and protein better.

Just 10 months ago at my baby's blessing, I was down to 282...my lowest in a long time. Then post partum depression struck and my regular depression joined in to stay. (I miss that hormone high *sigh*) Last Monday I weighed in at 314 which is heavier than before I got pregnant. Today my good choices this past week have paid off...I weighed in at 308. I know I have a very long way to go, and I still need to work on motivation for exercising, but I'm feeling I have made the right choice for me.

My Long Term goals are:
1) become my friend's running partner by the end of this year
2) Be my best self: strong and healthy and active with my family

My Short Term goals are:
1) Make good eating choices
2) Work up to 30 minutes of exercise a day, 5 days a week
3) Get 7 to 8 hours of sleep a night
4) Drink 5 to 8 20 ounce bottles of water a day

I will share my journey in hopes that I can motivate someone else and some of you can motivate me as well.

My new color...a few days late.

By nature, I'm a bit of a punk at heart. As a trained cosmetologist, I love to get crazy with my hair, it is such an instant gratification thing. This is the only time my hubby has said anything about it being extreme.

I'm thinking he isn't that thrilled with it, but he knows I will change it again in another few months anyway.

DD turns 14 today!

About 8 months ago I was invited to a vinyl saying party. I was going to try not to buy anything but then I saw the saying above and it got me thinking about my teenage daughter. Every teen seems to have confidence issues of some sort and girls especially need positive reinforcement. She has always been a princess around here, and always will be. So I got the saying made, I re-designed the one in their catalog for more my taste, and then later found the crown through another company. The saying is on the inside of her door so she will see it everyday before she leaves her room and when she wakes up. The crown is above her mirror. I just applied them to her wall and door and love it, I hope she does too. Most of all I hope it reminds her of how awesome and wonderful she really is.

A Baby Year in Review

1 yr old...*sigh*... Where has this year gone?

Yep she is one...and it blows my mind. Where has this past year gone? I've enjoyed as much of it as I could, but it still passed way too fast. She has grown up and changed so much. Don't get me wrong, I'm loving that she is older and more fun to play with, she is much more entertaining now then one year ago. It's just that I know she is the last, the last chance to enjoy all the firsts of childhood. I'm a little sad for time gone, yet thrilled to see what she will bring next into our lives.

Fabulous Giveaway for Scrap paper Addicts

You must check out this giveaway @ Lainey's Altered Ego. She is giving away a fun pack of goodies for those of us who love to play with paper and embellies. Good luck on wining it, but I hope I do.

Visiting with Santa

We had a ward Christmas party tonight (can you say free meal? though not as good as past years), and of course after all the spiritual stuff (which was good for my soul at least) Santa came to visit. I like that they do this because then I can get picts with Santa without having to take my kids to the dreaded mall.

First, baby dd did fabulous! Most other kids around her age were crying, throwing fits, or just not willing to even get close. I think it helped that she was a little bit tired. Youngest ds...well I'm not so sure he believes anymore, which is kind of sad, but he was more than willing to hop on, tell Santa he wanted a laptop and receive his candy bag (which turned out to be only peanuts-they ran out of the good stuff).

I wasn't too shocked to discover my teens wanted in on the action. Middle ds played the part and asked for something (I can't remember), but older dd (back row on right) and her friends just wanted the photo op. I believe there is a part of them that just isn't willing to totally give up on Santa yet, and I'm good with that.

Then came the funny hubbys. This is my hubby on the right and his best bud on the left.

When these two get together, there is usually some kind of silly nonsense going down.

They both acted like little boys...telling Santa everything they wanted for Christmas.

Too bad they asked for such big boy toys, I know Santa can't afford those! LOL

We, the wives can't help it, we love these goofballs.

Christmas Tree Hunting

Ok, we went last weekend, but I forgot to get the photos up. Here is a sampling of our trip into the wilds of the Idaho City area of Idaho. We went with some good friends and were very grateful it wasn't icky weather.

Baby girl and I hung out in the truck.

Both of our trees loaded.

Our tree ... at home ... at last.

I wasn't sure how to get the best picture of it lit (I used my fireworks setting), if any of you have any better suggestions, please leave me a comment - THANK YOU!

Husband disgruntled because wife found new hobby to spend money on!

After a lesson with a good friend yesterday, and her generosity of letting me use her stuff...I made this bracelet for my youngest dd last night. I had to sneak in her room to measure her wrist, thankfully she didn't wake up, and then I got to work looking at possible combinations. So many possibilities! I like the final product with it's lavender and silver hues. I tried it on her today and it fit nicely...best of all she seemed to love it. She kept staring at it and gently touching it...it was so cute to watch.

Yes I wouldn't normally get an 11 month old jewelry, but she isn't receiving it until her first birthday and even if she doesn't wear it much, it will be a nice reminder of how little she was when she is older. Alright, alright! I'll admit it...it was more for me than her....I still love it.

I was going to make one for my older dd but nothing quite spoke to me. She is getting harder and harder to make things for (getting too picky). I gave up on her and now that I know what I'm doing, I'm thinking of making myself some matching earrings and a necklace. Thanks Dub for all your generous help...now I'm hooked on making jewelry! My hubby rolled his eyes at the thought of me getting a new hobby, he thinks I have too many already.

"Recycled" Gift

I was getting ready to recycle these containers, but when the label was off, all I saw was snowmen. I used black buttons for the eyes and since I didn't have any carrot noses on hand (and no money to go buy any) I searched and searched and found these tiny leaves that work just fine. I love how they came together and I'm sure my son's teacher, bus driver, and bus monitor will enjoy them...and the treats inside!

11 Months Old....christmassy

I love this outfit, but let me tell you...it is an 18 month size and I had to squeeze her into it! I'm a little sad she can't wear it for Christmas...she is so cute in it.

11 Months Old...(part one)

Here she was this morning...this was actually the second photo shoot, in an adorable outfit from "Bob". I love the "laughing" pict and the close up.

10 Months Old...

I can't believe I forgot to put these up...here she is...in her jammies.....10 months old and she would NOT hold still for anything. She is becoming such a character.

Halloween

We had a lot of fun. For the first time ever, I even dressed up. I forgot to have someone take a picture though. Our church did a trunk-or-treat and even though there were tons of kids, there was way more than enough candy for each child...in fact many of them made the rounds more than a couple of times. Below is what our trunk had in it, except I have no idea why the giant spider isn't there. I named him Fred and anyone 12 and over that wanted candy had to kiss him (Fred the giant hairy spider) in order to get any. I was really suprised how many wouldn't do it.

WIG FUN...

We just couldn't help ourselves...when we opened the box of costumes to see what was there, we felt we had no choice but to have some fun.

Steve didn't seem to mind too much...he was a good sport.

No matter what she wears...she is still too cute!

Call the Fire Department!

This is my birthday cake from last night (my birthday is officially today). Can you tell a man put the candles on? There are the right number, they are just clumped to form a towering inferno. It made me feel much older than I really am. LOL Ok, it really makes me laugh more than anything...I just had to have a picture! LOL

Another One Bites The Dust!

Just a couple of months ago, we had three of them. Our most recently acquired one, kicked the bucket about 1 month ago and this evening, the one we have had since Aug. 1990, died. Now we are down to one lonely, tiny one that is too old to hook anything "extra" up to. How will we survive? In this day and age, it may be a matter of addiction counseling to get over the loss. Things will not be "normal" around here for a long time, 'cause it is just too pricey to buy a new one anytime soon.

I miss my TV that worked with my VCR and DVD players.

9 months old...

I just can't get over how much she has grown up. 4 teeth with more on the way, constantly babbling dah-dah-bah-dah, and she is starting to test out getting on her knees. If everyone would quit holding her, I'm sure she would be crawling by now. We can't help it, we love to snuggle her.

She is looking older and older everyday. Time is just flying by...I hope I can truly cherish every moment I have with her. It is so different this time around, knowing she is the last. I really don't want her to grow up so fast. I'm really enjoying being her mom and seeing the world through her eyes.

(Beautiful dress given to us by a very good friend...I just LOVE it!)

Rabbits!

Sasha and baby update: I went into one of our local stores, did what they said, and then the next day Sasha had mauled the baby and we had to get rid of it. My dd has had a hard time with this, she was really looking forward to raising a baby rabbit. I'm sure it is for the best, I just have never seen my dd so broken up.

A couple of weeks ago I was talked into getting a rabbit. Her name is Sasha and she is the only thing my oldest dd is getting for Christmas and her birthday...it is all she wants anyway. Well Sasha is adorable and has been getting used to us and her new surroundings pretty well.

Well anyhow, things have been a little strange with Sasha the past few days and we were about to take her to the vet. We discovered tonight what was wrong...she was pregnant. Sometime today, she had 2 bunnies. OY! (She had been kept in a cage with her 2 sisters and 1 brother before we got her) Who knew rabbits could get pregnant so young? NOT ME!

My dd was sent to her room to clean it (and spend time with Sasha like she always does in the evening) and all of a sudden started screaming at me to come downstairs at once! Well I took my sweet time, it is nice to bug her a little. There were 2 black things, bunnies of course, in her cage. Unfortunately, one was dead...but so far the other is alive and so tiny. I'm not sure Sasha knows how to take care of them, she is only about 7 months old herself, I know I don't! LOL I'm hoping her instinct will kick in, 'cause it was almost too much to have to deal with the dead one. I'm not ready to do it again.

The things we mom's have to put up with sometimes...it is enough to make me want to scream...cry...pull my hair...etc. CALGON take me away!!!

Fabulous idea!

A friend sent me the link to a blog that has the best idea going on right now for any of you who are avid card makers. Heart to Heart Blog Candy is running a thank you card shower and giveaway. Please check it out at her blog. Here is my card and I'm going to get it sent off tomorrow. Good luck to all of you that choose to participate, but I really hope I win. ;) The stuff that was donated is truly incredible.

8 Months old and wiggly!

This is the first time she hasn't held pretty still for her photos...she was all over the place! I managed to get these (below) from the 30 I took and they really show her personality, and that is all I really wanted from her. It was kind of funny that I had to use my sports mode to get any good picts...she was such a crack-up that day. I love that she makes me smile! If only she would quite drooling/puking long enough to get a photo with a clean and dry outfit on! LOL

7 months old...I know, I know, I'm late again

They aren't very good pictures, but she is getting very wiggly these days and it's getting harder to get her to sit still. I also need to work on finding a better lighting solution. Nonetheless, she is still super adorable, atleast in my opinion.






She turned 7 months old while on our vacation, though these photos weren't taken until a week later. She loves to look at her new Yellowstone shirt whenever she is wearing it, it is pretty funny to see her pull it out and stare at it. Hopefully I will be on the ball and get her 8 month photos up in just 9 short days...I can always dream. LOL

Summer vacation comes to an end...

I'm a little sad to see it end, all the while being thrilled too, yes I'm nutty. Even with all the financial stress, it has still been a good summer. I didnt' get everything done on my to do list, but we did a lot and manged to have fun too. My new background is just one of our pictures from Yellowstone Park. I have always loved looking at/taking pictures of clouds and my hubby thought I might like this one, he was right.

As for the last month or so, things have been busy around here. We have been cleaning out drawers and rooms and packing for our trip, then on the trip, then unpacking and recouperating.

Packing our camper trailer and ourselves for our trip took a week. We headed to Idaho Falls for a 50th Wedding anniversary party, then my hubby's family reunion in Swan Valley for a couple of days and then from there we were off to Yellowstone Park with my sis-in-law and one of our neices for another couple of days. We camped at Madison Campground, near the west entrance to Yellowstone. It was nicer than I expected and only lacked showers. We got in kind of late, so we set up camp, had sandwhiches for dinner and headed to bed. The next morning we hurried through breakfast, secured out campsite and then started exploring the park. Our first picture spot was just along the road on the Firehole River, between Madison and the Fountain Paint Pots. I LOVE this funky tree!

Our next stop was the Fountain Paint Pots. These are my favorite picts I took there.

After that little hike we climbed back in our truck and headed to Old Faithful. The only other two times I have seen Old Faithful were in August 1992 (when my oldest son was only 2 weeks old) and August 1995 (while on an insane motorcycle day trip). It was nice to bring all of my kids to see it. Here are some of our picts. We ate in the Yellowstone Lodge Cafeteria, pricey but not too pricey, 7 to 10 bucks per person. Then we let each of the kids spend $20 in the gift shop.

Our next stop was Yellowstone Lake along the West Thumb portion. We just had to stop, it was so beautiful there. I stayed in the truck while my hubby took these. He did a pretty good job.

Next we drove to Hayden Valley along the Yellowstone River. My hubby took control of the camera there too and got some nice shots. (I was in the truck with a sleeping baby.)

We saw a few Buffalo just before Hayden Valley, in Hayden Valley and on the way to Canyon Village. We thought for sure we would see more, but not many were out and about.

At Artist Point, one of the lookouts spots for Lower Falls, took some great shots. I LOVE waterfalls and I plan to blow some of these up for framing on my walls. The canyon it is in is pretty cool too, though I got a little woozy looking down into it.

Then we headed to Upper Falls View and got to see a couple more animals, up close and personal...they walked not 5 feet in front of us. The falls pictures are great too.

By this time, it had been sprinkling off and on for a while and right after we left the falls it started to pour off and on. It took us another hour or two to get back to camp and everything was too soaked (including our firewood) to deal with making dinner so we headed into West Yellowstone and found a little diner, it was good, but not cheap. I'm sure anywhere we went would have been the same, and at that point we were too tired and hungry to care. After we headed back to camp and went to bed...it poured most of the night, I should know...it leaked through the camper's roof onto me! The next morning we secured all the wettest stuff into the back of the truck and loaded all the drier stuff into my sis-in-law's car and the camper trailer.

Dead tired and dying to take a shower we headed back to my other sis-in-law's house. Luckily she has a good hot water heater, we used a lot of hot water that afternoon. Then we cooked dinner for everyone, we made what we were going to make while camping, chicken cordon bleu. It was yummy! We all got a good night's rest and headed home last Saturday. I didn't get any pictures, but we did stop in Twin Falls to go on the tour of the LDS Temple there. It is beautiful and I highly recommend it to anyone.

I was very grateful to get home and it has taken all this last week to get things unpacked and sort of back to normal. I still have a bit of laundry, but that never ends anyway. The kids are ready for school, atleast as far as I know of, and I'm just hoping to enjoy my kids this last week before school starts.

Now if I can just find a job... ;)

Cutest giggles...

I don't know how well you will be able to hear this...but I had to try.

Happy Independence Day everyone!

I'm so thankful I live in this great country. I hope all of you are having as great of a day as I am. I got up about 8am and rushed to my friend's house to color her hair and it turned out fabulous if I do say so myself. Then after a much needed chat with her, I got back home to leftover ribs for lunch. They were the yummy ones my hubby makes.

We had 3 other couples over for dinner last night and were lucky to have any ribs left...they were just too yummy. Luckily everyone else's food was just as delicious and we filled up on everything.

During lunch I got to chat with another friend. I have felt very loved today by friends and family. Nothing big just little things they said or did.

Then I did something I would never usually try. I made something kind of gourmet for dinner. A few weeks ago we had a great coupon for Murphy's Seafood & Steakhouse on Broadway (in Boise, Idaho), so we ate out for a date. It was pretty yummy but very pricey. I had a Steak Oscar dish and my hubby had Prime Rib. While I was eating I kept thinking..."I wonder if I could make this?"...well I came home and did some online research and I made it for dinner tonight.

YES...I really did make this! 6 of them cost me less than just one at the restaurant and it was so easy! Now convincing the kids to try it was another story.

I first only made up two of them and then my hubby cut each child a piece to try and if they liked it, they got one of their own and if not, they got a sandwich. They all liked it! If you don't know what Steak Oscar is then I best explain it.

On the top you have barely boiled asparagus (about 5 minutes), crab meat sprinkled sparingly (ours was the cheap kind, lol), Bearnaise sauce (easy mix packet at the store), grilled steak (your favorite cut, just not too big of a piece), all on a bed of garlic mashed potatoes (mine were instant, easy)... so yummy!

I CHALLENGE ALL OF YOU TO TRY MAKING SOMETHING NEW (OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE, COMPLETELY DIFFERENT FROM ANYTHING YOU WOULD NORMALLY MAKE) THIS MONTH FOR DINNER and then share how it went. Good Luck!

6 Months Old Today...Captivating!

Love this smile!
Just chillin' out.

Such a serious look...it always makes me wonder what she is thinking about.
We can't help it, we get lost in her eyes everytime we look into them. She has stolen our hearts with her smiles and cooing. We love her so much. I can't imagine life without her in it.

5 Months Old

I'm way behind in things around here, so I'm going to play catch up a bit for a few days. Here is Little Princess looking way too cute as always. I found this outfit on clearance at Target and just couldn't resist, though i never thought she woud be wearing it so soon. It is a 12 month size and I hope it fits for a while, 'cause I love it.

ICE ICE Baby!

The "ICE (Inspiration Celebration Experience) a Scrapbooker’s Escape" was a great time! My main goal was just to get tons done, but I got even better than that out of it.

Friday
7am-Up and getting everyone out the door
8:30-Dealing with baby and making my list of what needs to get packed
10:30-sent dog off with hubby to vet to see what is wrong
12:00pm-ate lunch with hubby and scrambled to get packed while baby sleeps for a few
2:40-picked up dd at Jr. High
3:40-boys are home and my ride to escape is here
4:00-got to hotel and unpacked in room and crop space
started scrapbooking!!!
5:20-went to Olive Garden for dinner


Saturday
4 to 6am-got super silly with my cohort Bob, did crazy LO and left fun notes all over the room
8:15am-haven't gone to bed yet, ate yummy provided breakfast
9:00-headed to other room to hear Melody Ross (Chatterbox) speak, got totally inspired, won some of the newest, not released yet product from her
10:00-headed back to scrappin', and shopping the vendors (great stuff, made my list of what I wanted and bought it later in the day after I narrowed my list to the "can't live with outs")
11:00 ish-showered off my no sleep stink
noon ish-Lunch from Taco Bell, then back to scrapping and shopping
6:00pm-Dinner at Joe's Crab Shack
7:30-the rowdy scrappers got the party going...still scrapping (totally in the journaling zone and everyone kept thinking I was getting sleepy...NOT!), still haven't slept...in fact wide awake!

Sunday
12:39am-got to a good stopping point in my scrapping and decided I should try to sleep, even though I was totally wide awake
1:00am or so- I have been awake 42 straight hours, time to try and sleep, boy did I zonk!
8:50am-We all get up, didn't plan to sleep that late, oh well. Packed up stuff in hotel room.
9:10am-bought hot chocolate to have with the banana and dry Fruit Loops I brought...back to scrappin'
3:00pm-Bob brought me to my house to get my car so I could stay later, then back to scrappin'
3:40-started packing up all my crap so I could go have delicious pulled pork sandwiches, coleslaw, watermelon, and chocolate chip cookies at the park with friends (a couple of the hubby's made it all and it was so good)
5:40 or so-back to my house and thankfully it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been, they at least managed to get the dishes done and half the laundry washed, dried and folded...not bad for amateurs.
10pm-headed to bed

Monday
I did my best to get the final things ready for my hubby's pending suprise birthday party monday night...it was hard, I finally had to clue in the kids so that they would help me. They nearly spilled the beans 3 times. Finally with the house as clean as I could get it (without being too obvious that people were coming) and dinner started, I just had to wait until 6pm (ok, I was so busy all day that we only had to wait about 20 minutes, LOL). Our friends showed up and we had a good time, I think I managed to suprise him, though he said he knew something was up, he just didn't know what.

As soon as everyone left, I sat in the recliner around 9pm and don't remember much of anything until I woke up about 11:30pm and then headed to bed. I have never been so tired in all my life.

I slept until 7am Tuesday morning, dealt with getting everyone off their separate ways and as soon as Aila was settled down, I sat to watch a movie and crashed again. I didn't wake up until I heard her screaming. Now I'm wide awake from all that sleep and it is almost 1:30am on Wednesday morning...man my system is way screwed up! Well I best head to bed before I mess things up even more.

I had a great weekend and I will take some picts of what I got done and post them here sometime this week or so. We have lots of baseball and end of year things at schools to deal with, so it may not happen until the weekend, but I will try my best.

I'm never going to be ready!

Someone wonderful bought me my way into ICE this weekend and I'm excited to go, but I have no time to pack! Aack! This week and the next couple are very busy with the end of school baseball (including tournament playoffs for my middle son, who's team is ranked #1 right now) and just life in general. I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed. I'm also feeling a bit guilty.

You see it is my hubby's 40th birthday on Saturday and there won't be anyone here to help him celebrate it, except a house full of kids. I was going to take him to his favorite restaurant and generally treat him like a king...never mind, he gets that almost everyday anyway! LOL, kidding...but even though he has told me it is no big deal to him, it is to me, I'm going to miss his birthday, his 40th birthday, that only comes once and I feel bad about missing it.

Dang, baby is up, must go...well at least I had 4 minutes to myself.